Winter in California 2014

Please forgive my spelling and punctuation, I'm a plumber and not an English major. Just read and have fun.
We had an uneventful trip to our home in California from Thailand. 

This winter was a little different, in my head, as Mom had passed away in September. Mom, you will always be loved and remembered. 

It was nice to be home. 

On my birthday, I got up early and went to see the folks at Flagship Health Care Center in Newport Beach.  I'm told that what you do on your birthday is what you will do the rest of the year.  

It is also a good excuse to eat a donut as I'm taking a bunch of donuts to these folks.

Yes, I'm on a diet. Daeng is trying to help me and she told me if I loose 30 more pounds I can be on top. 

After the visit to Flagship I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew my driver's license.  Because I'm really old they had me take an eye test and written test.  

With my glasses I passed the eye test, I wear them all the time anyway, and the written test.  I thought it was a little strange that the man doing the written test made me stand for the taking of the test.  Anyway, I passed everything and they renewed my licence in California for five (5) more years. 

By the way, I love these glasses because when I wear them I can say: "I've got a heart on!"


My sister, Diane, found this old Christmas card from 1961, back in the day I was young, skinny and had lot's of hair. 

Christmas was very relaxed this year.  

Daeng was very happy with Santa, also. 

Spending time with friends over the holidays is always wonderful.

I had plans to take Daeng to New Orleans in February to give her the Mardi Gras experience.  When she found out how much it was going to cost she said: "NO, we can feed 16,000 meals to the kids in Thailand.  I could not argue with her. 

We also want to thank all the folks that donated money to help the "Kids in Thailand".  As many folks know we try to help the kids here on the Myanmar (Burma) border to have food, shelter and a friendly environment to learn. 


My Mother, before she died, told me she wanted Daeng to have the "Happy Bears" that I had given her many years ago.  You can see them in many of the pictures of Mom as she wore them almost all the time.

If you look closely at them you know why they are happy. 

Even though I typed the note in Daeng's card I got wet eyes when I read it to Daeng. The grieving process continues.   

You can always tell when Deang is in a good mood. I call it her food language. 


Here is an example. 

We think the best part of returning to California is to hang out with friends. 

Here is a picture of two of our friends. I call them the "Mud-Flap Girls" as they remind me of the pictures of girls on truck mud-flaps. 

We also got to spend some time and break bread with our friend Tom Rhiel and Catrina Bowman.  Tom has been doing websites and videos for us for many years, Thanks Tom. He also is a very funny man!

Catrina has a collect of Buddha's that we like to add to when possible. Her collection won an award at the Orange County Fair this summer. 

Daeng hand sewed the apron that Tom is wearing in the picture.  I think he looks great in it. 

It doesn't matter which home we are staying, there is always Thai rice and peanut butter. 


We, along with many other people in the world, think Jasmine rice is the best rice. It has a very nutty flavor. 

Our friends, Michael and Charlotte, took us to the river for Super Bowl.  

Daeng likes Laughlin better than Las Vegas.  She says that folks are more friendly in Laughlin.  

You can tell by the smile on her face, she does like to play the machines. 

Here is a picture of Daeng with here favorite American Breakfast. 

We did spend a little time in the Sport-book. 


Everyone else won but at the last minute I lost.  What a stupid play to pass the ball.  Oh well, it's only money.

While getting the thousand of old records ready to try and sell I came upon this old, beat up picture of me.  

It is back in the days when I would do anything to get attention. 

That is a lot of fire!  Brings back found thoughts of AMACO 100 Octane gasoline. 

That was the best tasting!

Over the last 70 plus years we have accumulated thousands of records, tapes and CD's.  Our Mother also had a ton of 78 and 45 rpm records.  Some looked good but we did not know what to do with them.  

A friend, Jeff Baker, suggested we take them to Ameoba Music in Hollywood as he had sold some of his collect to them.  They are the largest independent record store in the world. He said they were very honest and fair. 

We took the tons of records and dropped them off while we went to visit our friends, Lahna Turner and family. 

We had a fun time with them, as always.  We went to Sweet Lady Janes in Hollywood and ate pie. It was kind of like John Travolta in the movie Michael. We just had slices instead of the whole pie. Thanks Sweet Lady Janes for putting up with us. 

The unfortunate part is all those old records in front of Daeng have almost no value.  They gave us enough money to pay for our gas. The nice part is they are gone and out of our way. 

Well, it's time to get ready to fly back to the "Land of Smiles" for the spring.


We had our car serviced by Omar at 1 Stop Complete Auto Care. It is wonderful to find a repair garage that cares about you, the customer.  

Thanks Omar and good bye Simpson Chevrolet Dealer Service. You guys suck!

We will see you all again in June. 

Winter 2009-2010

We had a good winter in California but we're getting ready to have a little vacation in Thailand, again.

We spent most of the winter fixing heating systems although it really wasn't very cold this year.

Here is one of the dirtiest filters I have ever seen.

December was a mild month for Southern California so that gave us time to spend with Mom.

Daeng also enjoyed cooking over the holidays with my sister, Diane.

We had a nice Christmas although most of us just got rocks as presents.

Santa told me coal was to expensive for us.

We enjoyed getting together with some of our friends over a cup of coffee and a "Yum-Yum" donut.

Daeng had fun with Christmas. She played Santa's helper most of the season.

We also got some pictures of the kids at Christmas in Mae Sai, Thailand.

We'll be glad to see them, again.

In January we visited "Medieval Times" for a medieval feast and some entertainment.

Our friends Robin & Carol joined us.

I was thinking about buying a new dress to exchange with my pink one. How do I look in this color?

To see me in my pink dress just "CLICK HERE".

Daeng & I went to see Disney's "Holiday on Ice" at the Honda Center.

We recommend that show to all the kids under 70 years old.

We helped Courtney Ca get the "Comedy in Recovery" show up and running again at "Club Changes" in Anaheim.

It is a free show where comedians come to try out new routines and jokes. If you would like more information CLICK HERE!

It really is a fun place and you never know who will come by or what will happen.

Thailand is a warm, no hot, climate. That means NO SNOW.

To show Daeng what snow was about we took a little trip to Big Bear so she could touch the cold, white stuff. We had fun!

Another tip to help the economy: "BUY AMERICAN"!

Remember to always have fun because if you don't you probably won't stick around very long.

We will write more when we get to the "Land of Smiles"!

Love always,

Terry & Daeng

Getting your Furnace Ready for Winter

During this time of year almost everyone is getting ready for winter.

After spending 42 years in and around the Heating, Cooling and Ventilating business I wanted to pass on some tips for homeowners.

Replace your heater's air filter monthly or at least as needed. Your heating system will work less hard, use less energy and last longer as a result. Most homeowners can replace filters and do such simple tasks as cleaning and removing dust from vents or along baseboard heaters.

Examine your house's heating venting and ducts for leaks. Think of your duct work as huge hoses, bringing hot air instead of water into your house. Mostly out of sight, ducts can leak for years without you knowing it. They can become torn or crushed and flattened. Old duct tape - the worse thing to use to seal duct work, by the way - will dry up and fall away over time, allowing junctions and splices to open, spilling heated air into your attic or under the house. It's wasteful. According to field research performed by the California Energy Commission, you can save roughly 10 percent of your heating bill by preventing leaky ducts.

Furnace vents and chimney flues should be inspected -- preferably by a professional -- to insure proper venting of the gases created during combustion of natural gas or oil.

NOTE: ''Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is created by many combustion appliances, particularly furnaces,'' said Andrew L. Port, a certified industrial hygienist with Environmental Waste Management Associates, an environmental consulting firm in Parsippany, N.J. ''Basically, carbon monoxide is an asphyxiant that takes the place of the oxygen in your blood. "First, it puts you to sleep; then it kills you.''

Use your set-back thermostat. California houses built today must have them. If you have an older home, consider installing one. A set-back thermostat allows you to automatically turn down the heat when you're away at work or when you're sleeping at night, and then boost the temperature to a comfortable level when you need it. Remember - it takes less energy to warm a cool home than to maintain a warm temperature all day long. Properly using your set-back thermostat could cut your heating costs from 20 to 75 percent.

Make sure all hearing vents are opened and unblocked by furniture or other items. This will ensure that the air is evenly distributed through the home.

Note: If you are vacuuming out your furnace or heating appliance DO NOT VACUUM OUT THE BLACK SOOT WITH YOUR VACUUM. The black soot can still burn and under the correct conditions can explode inside your vacuum cleaner. That could injury you and at the least make a big mess when all that dirty explodes inside your home. Use a small brush and a playing card for a dust pan to remove the black soot.

To keep things working correctly keep the area around your heating equipment clean. Remember it takes almost ten (10) times more air than gas to make a flame. If the combustible air coming into the equipment is clean the equipment will work better and longer.

If your heating system is old, you might consider updating it. A pre-1977 gas furnace is probably 50 percent to 60 percent efficient today. That means only half of the fuel used by the furnace actually reaches your home as heat. Modern gas furnaces, on the other hand, achieve efficiency ratings as high as 97 percent. By replacing an old heating system with one of the most efficient models, you can cut your natural gas use nearly in half!

Insulate your attic. In an older home, that can be the most cost-efficient way to cut home heating costs. Before energy efficiency standards, homes were often built with little or no insulation. As a result, large amounts of heat can be lost through walls, floors and - since heat rises - especially ceilings.

If I can help answer questions about your heating system just email me at DIALONEToday@hotmail.com or visit our website http://www.dialonetoday.com/ for telephone numbers.

Get a routine maintenance and inspection of your heating system each autumn to make sure it is in good working order. In many cases the gas suppler will do this for free.

Remember to always use a trained professional to work on your most valuable single possession, your home.

If you live in an area that has steam, oil or other types of heat you may find this story in the New York Times helpful. CLICK HERE

Here is another link on getting your furnace ready for winter by FOX 5 NEWS. CLICK HERE

PLEASE STAY WARM AND SAFE!