December 19, 2005

December 19, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 185

 

Today was sunny and warm. The forecast is for even warmer temperatures over the next few days, in the high 70's or even low 80's. Am I dreaming of a white Christmas ? I don't freakin' think so. Merry Christmas ! ! ! HA HA HA !

This morning I wasn't feeling well, so I asked Joanne to get up and take care of the regular morning chores that I usually do, and I stayed in bed for a couple more hours. Later in the morning, I went to the office to inquire about buying a lot / share in this park. The cost is quite reasonable, although they have a waiting list that is 8 or 9 years long. Perhaps by next summer we'll have a better idea of our long term plans, and maybe we'll decide to get onto the waiting lists of some of these really nice Escapee parks. I went over to see a lady that we were talking to last night at the ice cream social. She's a middle aged woman from California, travelling full time, alone, in a Lazy Daze Class C. She was having problems with her cable TV connection not working. I spent awhile checking connections and wires, then discovered that she didn't have the TV antenna / cable power booster turned on. She didn't know it existed. Problem solved. I phoned a local GM dealer to discuss the possibility that the ongoing starter problem might be related to worn out ignition keys and / or a worn out ignition cylinder, and the anti-theft sensor in the ignition is malfunctioning. They thought that was definitely a possibility, and quoted me the cost of a new ignition cylinder, and new keys cut using factory key codes. After the phone call, I thought about it and decided I should have a new ignition cylinder installed, and new keys cut using the factory key codes.

We had lunch, then set off to run some errands. First stop was the local metal fabricator to pick up my custom cut and drilled piece of aluminum diamond plate. Of course, they hadn't even started the job by the time I arrived, so I not only had to wait around while they did the job, I helped them do it. Shops down here run by Mexicans have a fairly laid back attitude towards customers being in the shop, even helping out. From what I could see of their work habits, they also have a fairly laid back attitude towards safety, as well. That might explain why the foreman walks with such a pronounced limp. From Arellano Fabrication, we headed for the Post Office. I needed some stamps. When I went into the Post Office, I took a number for service. My number was 64. They were serving number 34. Oh, gee ! I went into the lobby, and found a stamp machine. I needed a 60¢ stamp for a postcard to Canada. The machine only sold domestic 37¢ stamps. Fine ... two domestic stamps, overpaying by 14¢ , was preferable to waiting in line for 30 customers to be served ahead of me. From the Post Office, we drove to Wal-Mart. I dropped Joanne off at Wal-Mart, and drove to a nearby GM dealer, not the same one that I spoke to on the phone. I went in and had a lengthy discussion with both their service department and parts department about the starter problem, and theories to solve it. Well, their idea and opinions are quite different than the first GM dealer. The GM dealers don’t seem to be particularly adept at problem solving. However, they'll be quite happy to replace any one of a few $150 parts, with $400 worth of labour involved, with the faint hope that the intermittent starter problem will be solved < huge sigh >. I decided to do nothing, until the problem is less intermittent / more frequent. I'm not eager to spend large amounts of money chasing after an intermittent problem that could possibly be caused by any one of a number of different components. I returned to Wal-Mart, and helped Joanne with the shopping. We returned to Kofa Co-op, and put away the groceries. I wasn't going to install the aluminum plate until tomorrow, but Joanne was eager to get it done, as the idea to install a stone guard plate was hers. We installed the plate onto the lower front of the trailer. The job went well. It looks good, and will function well as guard to protect the fibreglass from stone chips. We took Bo for a long walk, just as the sun set. The temperature here in the desert plummets when the sun sets. When we started the walk, it was quite warm. Fifteen or twenty minutes later, it was quite cool.

I did today's accounting, and started today's journal entry. Joanne went to the office to ask if the local towns of San Luis Colorado, and Calexico, in Mexico are as tourist friendly as Los Algodones. We were planning to make another day trip into Mexico tomorrow. The office people told Joanne that neither town is really a tourist friendly area like Los Algodones. Maybe I'll just spend all day tomorrow sitting outside in a lawn chair, reading a book. Haven't done that since West Hawk Lake.

We prepared supper together. Joanne prepared a salad while coaching me through a new omelette recipe. I seem to have more success with egg dishes than she does. We had supper and watched a bit of TV. Dessert was from yesterday's visit to Imperial Date Gardens. A fresh, juicy Medjool date, stuffed with a pecan, and rolled in coconut. MMMMM ! It was a nice follow up to the Medjool date covered in chocolate that I had earlier as a snack. I went to the clubhouse to get online, send and retrieve e-mail, update my blog, and research anti-virus software.

DSK