Sunday ; I started this morning with a wonderful strawberry jam roll pan dulce, followed by a cup of coffee and a cigarette sitting outside in the bright, warm morning sunshine. Life is good ! Well, except for the agony of my right knee and hip. I can’t walk this morning without a cane. But … I seem to have finally overcome both the colitis flare ups and the bouts of depression that have plagued me over the last few weeks. I am obviously much more susceptible to suffering from depression when the days are short. Seems to be a problem that recurs every November.
We need to teach / convince Sully that he has a reverse gear. He has a tendency to stand in the open doorway, blocking it, when Bo is coming back inside the trailer. As Bo charges up the steps and past him, Sully loudly hollers his displeasure at Bo.
At noon we headed to the clubhouse … with Sully … for our scheduled Skype call with Joanne’s family in Winnipeg. I am so impressed with Skype. First we had a lengthy video chat with all of the Carlson family, showing Sully to the nieces. Then Doug and I experimented with the Skype “share screen” functionality. I opened my photo program and shared a photo slideshow with them. Doug opened Google Earth and located exactly where we are, with us looking at what he saw on his screen, and guiding him verbally to find our location. He showed us the photo he took of Spotted Lake near Osoyoos when he and I went flying in the summer of 2008. His aerial photo of Spotted Lake is now attached to the Google Earth image of Spotted Lake.
We returned to the trailer, had lunch, then went back to the clubhouse for the regular Sunday afternoon ice cream social. We chatted with a couple from Alberta that arrived in the park yesterday. We had met them once before, 5 years ago, in Mesa, Arizona, at an Escapees Alberta Chapter 44 Winter Rally. After the ice cream social we returned to the trailer again, got Bo, and headed to the dog park for the daily dog party. Bo had been feeling sorry for himself since this morning when Sully got to go for a “drivey” and he didn’t. And he had missed yesterday’s dog party, so he was very excited to be going today. After the daily hour of dog romping I went into the clubhouse to get online and update my blog.
While Joanne prepared supper I printed and reconciled our Canadian dollar MasterCard statement. After supper we watched Amazing Race.
Monday ; Today was another sunny, mild day. We had a bit of a lazy morning. We went for a long, slow walk with Bo. Slow because my severe knee and hip pain continues. We continued working on reviewing, purging, and rearranging files, office supplies, computer manuals and supplies.
After lunch we went to the Pole Barn and washed the truck. Back at the trailer I worked on the computer, doing a disk cleanup, disk defragmentation, virus scan, spyware scan, malware scan, and finally, a backup of all files. I’m preparing the computer for shipment back to Hewlett Packard for repair of the loose screw in the hinge assembly. I have been communicating back and forth by e-mail on a daily basis for about a week with Hewlett Packard and have reconciled myself to the requirement to ship the computer back to them for repair.
About ten minutes before it’s time to head to the dog park each day Bo starts to do somewhat of an “anticipation dance”. He certainly has an accurate “internal clock”. When we arrived at the dog park today we found out that our friend Mischa fell off a ladder this morning and was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Fresno. He was back home by this afternoon with scrapes and bruises, most seriously a severely bruised hip. As usual, after the daily dog party I went to the clubhouse to use Wi-Fi to get online. I sent and retrieved e-mail, checked the stock markets and the status of our investments, and retrieved our U.S.$ MasterCard statement.
After supper we returned to the clubhouse again, this time to have a Skype video call with our friend Julie. Oh boy, like Doug, Julie also bought a webcam to have video chats with us. It was great ! We sure do like this Skype stuff ! We returned to the trailer in time to watch the final episode of “Jon & Kate Plus 8” on TLC.
Tuesday ; Today was sunny and warm. I have just returned from the clubhouse ( at 1 PM ), and I am extremely aggravated. I have been communicating back and forth by e-mail for over a week with Hewlett Packard about the loose screw in the hinge between the top / screen and the bottom / keyboard of my new HP Mini netbook computer. Yesterday I received a phone message from HP instructing me to phone to finalize arrangements for them to ship me a packing box for me to return the computer for warranty repair. Today when I phoned, the agent ( in India ! ) refused to finalize arrangements because their records indicate that my computer warranty expired two days ago ! NO … that’s incorrect ! ! ! And even if it was correct, my e-mails are a clear record that the problem has existed for longer than two days !
After lunch I returned to the clubhouse to fax a copy of my invoice to Hewlett Packard to verify that I purchased the computer a little more than a month ago, and the warranty has not expired ! I doubt very much that they can get the shipping box to me before we leave here in a week. While I am impressed with Hewlett Packard’s product, I am definitely not impressed with their warranty repair process !
I read. I napped. I helped Joanne with her project of reviewing / purging / rearranging everything in the bedroom closet. We went to the dog park for the daily dog party. When we returned to the trailer I was assigned the task of sitting outside and cracking open hazelnuts. Joanne’s contribution to the Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday will be hazelnut cookies. I sat outside in the twilight, cracking hazelnuts, watching a doe and a buck with a big rack graze on the leaves of a fallen Manzanita tree beside the gravel trail that runs just on the other side of the fence alongside our campsite. The gravel trail was the original stagecoach route to Yosemite.
After an excellent supper of seasoned fried catfish fillets ( seasoned by Joanne, fried by me ! ) I went to the clubhouse and used the piano there to tune my Arpa Magica I purchased in Palenque, Mexico last winter.
Wednesday ; Today was sunny, and very warm for this time of year and at this elevation. Fall has arrived in the Sierra Nevadas. The leaves are changing colours.
This morning I took the Wi-Fi phone and headed to the clubhouse to phone Hewlett Packard … again ! Hopefully ( maybe ! ) the purchase date and warranty period information regarding my computer has been corrected, and the shipping box is on its way. When I was dealing with HP by e-mail, everything seemed straightforward and simple, but when I began to have to deal with them by phone, things went awry. Maybe if their “call centre” wasn’t in India … ! ? !
HEY … GET OFF MY COMPUTER ! ! ! Sully just walked across the keyboard ! I think he was trying to type “cat wants attention” but it came out as “c x”.
After my phone call to HP we went to Oakhurst to do some grocery shopping at Vons. Wow … crowded store ! Day before Thanksgiving ! Turkeys were on sale for $5, and I wanted to buy one just to put in the freezer and prepare later, but we couldn’t find one small enough to fit in our RV oven. Why are 16 pound turkeys $5 in the United States but $1.89 a pound in Canada ? ! ? By the time we returned home I was in a lot of discomfort. My knees and one hip were really hurting ! Exercise didn’t help. Maybe more rest would help ?
I spent the afternoon in bed, napping and reading, hoping that rest would help my knees and hip. Well, after an afternoon of rest, my knees were improved, but my hip was still hurting a lot. Joanne spent the afternoon baking hazelnut cookies for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving Dinner. And she wouldn’t let me eat any ! We took Bo to the dog park for the daily dog party, then I went to the clubhouse to work online.
Thursday ; American Thanksgiving ; Today was another really lovely, sunny, warm day. We had a bit of a lazy day, enjoying the weather while taking care of a few minor chores. I spent time in bed trying to rest my hip enough to alleviate the pain. It didn’t help much ( sigh ).
Late in the afternoon we headed to the clubhouse for Thanksgiving Dinner. Turkey, dressing, and mashed potatoes were provided by Park of the Sierras. Everyone brought a side dish or dessert, potluck style. WOW … great Thanksgiving Dinner ! After dinner I stayed in the clubhouse to get some work done on the computer. Tonight wasn’t the first time since we’ve been here that my work was interrupted by someone who wanted a “sales pitch” on netbook computers. It seems as if many people have not yet seen a netbook. Or spoken to someone who has already been using one.
Back at the trailer in the evening we watched Survivor.
Friday ; Today was cloudy and mild. A few drops of rain fell in the afternoon. I woke up this morning with excruciating pain in my right hip. My knees and hip have been hurting for a week or so. I am reluctant to visit a doctor here for this problem. Our U.S. medical insurance has a $1000 deductible. I purchased insurance with that high a deductible because I feel that the insurance is for “catastrophes” like a heart attack or vehicle accident. Visiting a doctor here for a minor problem like this is likely to result in considerable expense, and an inconclusive or relatively meaningless diagnosis like “yup … your knees and hips are arthritic”. This morning I took some Ibuprofen hoping that that might reduce the discomfort. And I took a Prednisone tablet left over from an attack of gout a year and a half ago. I figured that couldn’t hurt, and might help. I was in such discomfort that we postponed our planned day trip. We had planned to spend the day exploring back roads north of here, up towards Yosemite National Park, including visiting an alpaca farm. We hope to be able to do this day of exploring on Sunday.
The location of our site within this park makes it an excellent location for viewing wildlife and bird watching. Beside our trailer is a grove of Live Oak trees. They are currently shedding their acorns, and a lot of bushy tailed grey squirrels and interesting birds are active in and under the trees. Our friends Erbon and Lorraine from Ottawa gave us a bird watching book a couple of years ago, and I have been identifying some of the interesting birds that we have been seeing here. With my hip this sore my activities have been limited to reading, napping, and bird watching. ( shrug ) Beats digging ditches, I suppose.
I spent most of the day reading in bed. Joanne continued working on her closet rearranging project. Late in the afternoon she took Bo to the dog park. By late afternoon the Prednisone and / or Ibuprofen had worked wonders. I suspect it was more likely the Prednisone. My hip pain was significantly diminished. I drove to the clubhouse to do some online work and wait for Joanne and Bo to be finished in the dog park.
When we returned to the trailer, we gave Bo a bath. Gee, what a stinky little dog ! Sully did not like being on the bed when Bo jumped on it to do his after bath, drying off “happy dance”. HA HA HA ! Sully was very annoyed !
Saturday ; Today we remember Toby the cat, who died 5 years ago, while we were WorkCamping at Trout Lodge up in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. While thinking about him today I realized that while I remember him fondly, I no longer miss him. I do, however, still miss Teddy. I’m very glad that we now have Sully.
Today was cloudy and cool. My hip was improved a lot, although not completely. I took another Prednisone today. After doing some online research, my self-diagnosis was hip bursitis. This morning we trimmed Bo’s and Sully’s claws. Gently squeezing Sully’s toes to extend his claws so that I can trim them hurts him. He must have arthritic toes. I’m sympathetic, Sully. I took an empty propane tank to the park’s propane refill station to be refilled Monday morning. I went to the clubhouse and did some online work. I checked at the office to see if my Fed Ex package from HP had arrived yet. It hadn’t. I checked Fed Ex’s online tracking system. Aw, gee whiz … they show an expected delivery date of Wednesday, the day we were planning to leave here. We’ll probably have to stay an extra day.
After lunch I read and napped, then we went to the dog park earlier than usual. Today’s “dog party” was rescheduled an hour earlier than usual due to the park’s communal hot turkey sandwich dinner schedule. After an hour of “dog party” I went to the clubhouse and Joanne took Bo home. She took a load of laundry to the laundromat then joined me in the clubhouse. We had voluntee
red to be the ticket sellers / money takers for tonight's hot turkey sandwich dinner. We had a great dinner, sharing a table with our friends Lynn and Mischa, our new dog friend Jane ( Parker’s owner ), and a woman whose husband died 3 months ago of cancer. She’s still pretty raw over the loss of her husband of 51 years. Tonight was Mischa’s first outing since falling off a ladder a few days ago and injuring his hip.We spent the evening watching TV. While we’ve been here we’ve enjoyed watching some networks that we rarely have access to ; The Learning Channel, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, History Channel, Arts & Entertainment.
DSK
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