January 3, 2006

January 3, 2006

Benson, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 200

 

Today was sunny and warm again.

This morning when I went to shower, I couldn't get any hot water. There was barely a trickle coming out of the shower when the hot water tap was turned on. I went to the shower building beside the office to shower. My theory was that the plumbing out of the hot water tank must be clogged with minerals. The water at Yuma had a high salt content. When I returned from showering, I phoned BMO Direct Banking and paid both MasterCard accounts by phone. Then I phoned Good Sam RV Club to sort out some matters pertaining to our membership in the Good Sam Fulltimer's Division. We got in the truck and drove into Benson. I dropped Joanne off at the small mall in town. She wanted to shop for a birthday gift for her niece. I went to the Post Office, bought some stamps, posted some mail, and picked up the last batch of incoming mail from Sharon at General Delivery. From the Post Office I drove to a nearby water refill kiosk and refilled 4 jugs of drinking water. I picked up Joanne from the little mall. She couldn't find what she was looking for. We drove to another nearby small department store. Still no luck finding what she wants to get Madeleine for her birthday. We returned to Saguaro Co-op.

I decided to flush out the hot water tank, hoping that would solve the problem. Joanne helped me remove the sacrificial anode drain plug, and flush out the tank with a special little RV hot water tank flush wand I bought at the Spring Escapade. Some mineral deposits flushed out, although not as much as when I flushed out the hot water tank at West Hawk Lake last summer. I resealed and reinstalled the sacrificial anode drain plug. The problem seems solved. I guess there were salt deposits in the tank, blocking the lines out.

I reviewed today's batch of incoming mail while Joanne prepared lunch. We were waiting for Joanne's driver's license renewal in this batch of mail. After a late lunch, Joanne went off to do laundry, and I went outside to do a long, challenging session of "stay" with Bo. He did great. My previous error was in following every "stay" with a "come", so he would only hold the stay until I walked about 50 feet away, then he would start to follow me in anticipation of a "come" command. Now I make him stay, then I walk around in all directions, up to a couple of hundred feet away, and return to where he is sitting, forcing him to hold the "stay" the whole time. Now he's understanding that "stay" doesn't just mean stay until I'm 50 feet away, then come. Good dog, Bo. I trimmed my beard. Four weeks since I got a haircut in Yuma. Good ... only 4 more weeks until I can get another haircut to fix this Mexican haircut I got in Yuma. I did today's accounting, and continued working on the incoming mail. Most importantly, I got Joanne's driver's license renewal prepared for return.

Joanne returned from doing laundry just in time for us to walk down to the clubhouse for daily social hour. HEY ... there's Sandy and Peachy McGeachy, from Ontario, and Don and Nancy Griffin, from Alberta. We sat at a table with our Canadian friends, who had arrived earlier today. After chatting with them for an hour and a half, I invited them over for an impromptu pot luck dinner. I offered to barbecue steaks, if they would provide salad and potatoes. I barbecued our last six Jack Daniels marinated steaks. Nancy prepared potatoes. Peachy brought vegetables. Sandy contributed wine. Joanne made a salad. We ate supper, drank wine, and reminisced until late in the evening. We don't really know Don and Nancy all that well, but Sandy and Peachy have been good friends for a year and a half. It was really wonderful to see them again.

Late at night, I went to the clubhouse to get online. It was my last chance to retrieve my investment data with an effective date of December 31.

DSK