January 23 to 29, 2011

January 23 to 29, 2011


Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm, but windy.

This morning we headed to Kofa Ko-op to pick up Joanne’s friend Eilene for a day of shopping at Yuma Park N Swap a.k.a. Dog Track Flea Market a.k.a. Swap Meet Los Perros ( Spanish for The Dogs ). She wasn’t at home so while Joanne went looking for her I finished my project of taking photos of all the lots. Eilene was visiting Monica, a mutual friend who has just returned home after a brief stay in a hospital in Phoenix. Monica fell a week or so ago, breaking some ribs and her arm. She was taken by ambulance from Kofa Ko-op to the Yuma Regional Medical Center where it was determined that she needed to go to Phoenix for orthopaedic surgery on her arm. Another ambulance took her to the Yuma Airport, an air ambulance flew her to Phoenix, a few hundred miles away, then an ambulance took her from the Phoenix Airport to a hospital there. Her ambulance bills were … wait for it … $44,000 ! ! !

I wasn’t feeling well, so from my perspective it was a long half day at the flea market. We had an enjoyable lunch at a Mexican taco stand. The Yuma Park N Swap flea market is favoured by the Mexicans / Hispanics while the Arizona Market Place is distinctly a gringo kind of place. I bought a dash cover for the truck. It’s a sewn product using material that is almost like a thin carpet. It’s moulded to fit the top of the dashboard. It eliminates glare off the top of the dashboard, and provides a non-slip surface, so I can toss my glasses on the dash and they won’t slide off. It’s custom designed to fit each specific make and model of vehicle. The vendor had one in stock for a 2005 Dodge truck. It’s worth the asking price of $30. And I negotiated the price down to $22 so I’m pleased.

As we left the flea market two Harrier fighter jets were on final approach to the airport beside the flea market. I pulled over onto the shoulder of the road to watch them practice their vertical landing capabilities. WOW ! On the way home we bought a Sunday newspaper then dropped Eilene off at Kofa
Ko-op. At home we read the newspaper for awhile then took Bo for his daily long walk. Joanne found Eilene’s purse in the back seat of the truck < sigh >. She drove to Kofa Ko-op and returned it to Eilene.

I downloaded and processed my photos of the Kofa Ko-op lots while Joanne prepared supper. After supper we watched the movie “A Man For All Seasons”. I have bitter memories of when my class performed this play during our senior year of high school. Geeeeez … 39 years ago and I still remember my soliloquy as Cromwell. Some nightmares never end ! HA HA HA !

Monday ; Today was sunny and very warm.

This morning I did an obedience session with Bo. Well done, Bo, good dog. And it only took you six years to master it. HA HA HA ! Sorry, Bo, that’s not fair, nor is it really true. It only took you an entire ****ing year, at twenty minutes a day !

After lunch Joanne went shopping. She has decided that it’s more pleasant for both of us if she does most of the shopping errands ( like Wal Martin’ ) by herself. I agree ! I installed an assist handle / grab bar on the wall beside my side of the bed to help me get out of bed on those mornings when my knees hurt. Having to do things like that sure makes me feel old !

I worked on typing a couple of recipes into the computer. My sister’s daughter, my niece Andrea, is a magazine editor. One of her responsibilities is a “foodie” magazine. I’m going to send her a couple of “our” recipes ; my “hamburgesa y frijoles” recipe “created” by me while on one of our Mexican trips, and Joanne’s grapefruit pie recipe from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

Tonight’s movie was The Theory Of Flight. What an odd, funny, touching movie !

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and warm. And … < sigh > … it was one of those days !

This morning we were supposed to meet our friends Barry and Marty at Yuma Bark Park for a doggy play date for Bo and their dog Sunny. Before we pulled out of our driveway I “thumped” the truck’s tires. Almost every day I check that the air pressure in all the tires is okay by thumping each tire with a fish bonker bat and listening for consistency of sound. Each thump should sound the same, and by deduction, all the tire pressures should be okay. So this morning … THUMP, THUMP, SPLAT … huh ? ? ? THUMP, SPLAT … what ? ? ? Okay … I pulled out the tire pressure gauge and checked the SPLAT sounding tire. < sigh > It was flat ! Which is not visually evident on a rear tire of a dually.

When a tire goes flat on our truck … either this one or our previous one … I have learned to suspect a valve extender problem before suspecting a puncture or other road hazard damage. We drove to the nearest service station … which can be cautiously done when only one of the two rear tires on each side of a dually is flat … to put air in the flat tire. Usually that will make it apparent whether the problem is the tire or some other problem like a malfunctioned valve or valve extender. As we were putting air in the tire, our cell phone rang. It was Marty. They were already at Yuma Bark Park and … < another big sigh > … it’s closed for maintenance on Tuesdays.

They decided to meet us at the service station we were at. We finished putting air in the tire and it became apparent that the problem was a cracked valve stem. I removed the valve extenders, hub cap, and wheel liner. Barry and Marty met us at the service station. We drove around looking for Purcell Tire where I wanted to have the valve replaced. I couldn’t remember exactly where it was. I led us on a bit of a two vehicle caravan wild goose chase looking for Purcell Tire, and when I was finally frustrated enough with that I drove to BIG “O” TIRES. < sigh > They didn’t have the metal screw in valve stems I wanted. Barry knew where Purcell Tire was on 4th St., so he led us there. I left the truck there to have metal screw in valve stems installed on both the rear tires on the side with the flat.

We all went in Barry and Marty’s vehicle to Bard, California for date shakes at Sun Gardens Date Farm. On the way there we stopped at the Post Office in Bard so I could buy a stamp. And … on the way there my carelessness resulted in Bo being hurt. I find it nearly impossible to forgive myself for that ! The men sat in the front, the women in the back. Bo came into the front of the vehicle and climbed on my lap to look out my window which was open slightly. Fortunately it was open only enough for his nose to stick out and not his entire head. He stuck his nose out as he stepped on the armrest of the door and … stepped on the window switch … and closed the window ! ! ! His muzzle got pinched in the closing window and he yelped loudly ! I quickly lowered the window, but … that’s somewhat like shutting the barn door after the horse is gone, isn’t it ? ? ? ! ! ! I examined him closely, and he doesn’t seem to be harmed. His muzzle doesn’t seem to be bruised enough to be tender when I touch and squeeze all over it, but … I’m very angry and displeased with myself. Sorry, Bo !

Date shakes for lunch helped sooth and calm my frazzled nerves ! Both dogs enjoyed their “lunch”. On the drive back to Yuma we stopped twice beside recently picked lettuce fields and I picked “left behind” heads of lettuce for Marty. They returned us to Purcell Tire where Lanoire was waiting with two new metal screw in valve stems. Maybe I should have done all six tires ? ? ? Oh well, too late for that now ! We shopped briefly at Lowes and Wal-Mart on the way home.

Back home at Rancho Bonitos we went to the hot tub for awhile before taking Bo for his daily long walk. Then we went to the clubhouse and signed up for a bunch of the activities at next week’s “Fun Days”, a week of indoor and outdoor games … and eating !

For the last 24 hours or so, Sully has been ill, having difficulty keeping food and water “down”. He has vomited a few times. We’re watching him closely, and will take action if his illness persists for longer than another 24 hours or so.

Tonight’s movie was The Bourne Identity. It was interesting. Wasn’t that the first of a trilogy ?

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and warm, a bit windy.

This morning I torqued the lug nuts, reinstalled the valve extenders, wheel liner, and hub cap on the passenger side rear tires of the truck before we headed off to Yuma Palms Mall to meet our friends Lynn and Micha at Olive Garden for lunch. We had a nice, leisurely lunch and a long visit with Lynn and Micha, first in the restaurant, then out in the parking lot. Just as we were about to wrap up our parking lot visiting an elderly couple in a rental car pulled up beside us looking for directions to a nearby hotel. They were lost. They were from Oliver, BC, very near to our home. They had just arrived in Yuma by air, had rented a car at the airport, and made it as far as Yuma Palms Mall before getting lost. I offered to guide them to their nearby hotel. I did that, but not as smoothly as I would have looked. We sort of took the scenic route < shrug >.

On the way home I stopped at a Chevron station to adjust the air pressure in the two truck tires that got new valve stems yesterday. < sigh > The Chevron station’s air hose was not working. I drove to Kofa Ko-op and used the air hose there. Back home at Rancho Bonitos we took Bo for his daily long walk, then found that two acquaintances of ours from Escapees BC Okanagan Chapter 33 who own a residence here had just arrived. We chatted with them briefly.

Thursday ; Today was sunny and very warm, a bit windy in the morning, a common occurrence around Yuma. Many people seem to dislike Yuma and area because of the frequent winds. We don’t mind. Same holds true for our home in BC. Frequent winds, we don’t mind.

This morning Joanne went to water aerobics in the swimming pool. She has been going on a sporadic basis since the sessions started a couple of weeks ago. I puttered around with routine maintenance chores, enjoying working outside in the sunlight. Wind’s okay, but I gotta have my sunshine ! I’m a sun junkie.

After lunch Joanne went flea market shopping. I read … napped … read some more. One of the items Joanne bought today was a $1 plastic juicer. WOW … great little device ! I juiced enough lemons to produce a cup of lemon juice, and with that Joanne made 2 quarts / liters of fresh lemonade. Emphasis on FRESH ! We spent the hottest part of the afternoon at the swimming pool and hot tub. I “gave a piece of my mind” to a fellow whose actions I considered rude. I don’t accept that kind of s**t, and keep my mouth shut, just for the sake of being “neighbourly”. I was in the hot tub by myself. Air jets / “bubbles” off. I don’t like the air jets to be on when I’m in the hot tub. The bubbling action causes the disinfectant chemicals in the hot tub to evaporate. The rising chemical odour bothers me. This fellow ( and his extremely obese wife ) walked over, turned on the jets without so much as a word to me, and climbed in. I climbed out, and … < ahem > … expressed my displeasure ! You a*****e !

We took Bo for his daily long walk. As we were walking back home alongside a field Bo began to dig a hole in the soft sandy trail. HA HA HA … you go, Bo. We laughed … I encouraged him. Dig, Bo, dig ! We continued walking slowly. He continued digging. We looked back and called him. He continued digging. The hole was getting so deep all that was visible out of it was his hind end, tail straight up in the air … and flying dirt. HA HA HA … come on, Bo, let’s go ! Suddenly his body and head rose out of the hole … and he was shaking something furiously. OH, NO …. BO ! ! ! We ran back, hollering at him. He finished shaking, then dropped … wait for it … a rotting Desert Rat carcass. Oh, Bo … you’ve been waiting for that your entire Terrier life, haven’t you ? ? ? ! ! ! HA HA HA … good dog, Bo … that’s exactly what you were bred for. HA HA HA … how the hell was I supposed to know there was a dead Desert Rat buried that deeply under the sand ? ? ? I guess I shouldn’t encourage him to dig any more, should I ? ? ? ! ! !

We picked about a dozen oranges and half a dozen grapefruits from the trees lining the long driveway into our RV park. I used the new juicer to produce about 2 quarts / liters of fresh orange & grapefruit juice … with pulp ! Oh, boy … < smacking lips >. And I didn’t even use up all the fruit we had picked.

Tonight’s movie was Starship Troopers. Geeeeezzzzz … how do movies that bad even get made ? We couldn’t even tell whether that was meant to be satire or serious ? ! ?

Friday ; Joanne’s 57th Birthday

Happy Birthday, my love !

Today was sunny and hot. Late this morning we drove to Historic Downtown Yuma where I dropped Joanne off at Yuma School Of Beauty for her “day at the spa”. I continued on to Lowe’s where I used a discount coupon to buy a very expensive, high quality garden hose for home at Riverside RV Park Resort in Keremeos. From there I went to Bank of America for “stage 2” of a new money management scheme I’m trying. After waiting a very long time in a very long line I was told by the teller that I couldn’t do what I wanted to do without producing both my BC driver’s license and my passport for identification. < sigh > I didn’t have my passport with me. I tried to do a much smaller transaction at the ATM, to get enough money to pay our lot rent, but the ATM wanted to charge me a service charge of $3. Oh, **** that ! I went to Wal-Mart where I bought a birthday cake for Joanne. I asked the little blond bimbo at the bakery counter if she could “write” on the cake I had picked out of the bakery cooler. Sure ! But … she didn’t mention that she was illiterate ! ! ! Hey, sweetheart … can you spell “bimbo” correctly ? ! ?

I returned to Yuma School of Beauty late in the afternoon to pick up Joanne. WOW … she’s gorgeous ! We headed for “The Big Curve” where I dropped her off at Fry’s to buy some groceries and I went to Bank of America for my second attempt at my “new financial scheme”. This time I had my passport and everything went smoothly. I returned to Fry’s to pick up Joanne.

Back at home we took Bo for his daily long walk. He certainly was interested in that spot where he found the dead rat yesterday ! Leave it, Bo … good dog !

Tonight’s movie was Batman Forever with Val Kilmer and Tommy Lee Jones. Well … I preferred the earlier Batman with Keaton and Nicholson.

Saturday ; Yuma to Quartzsite and return

WHEW … what a long and exhausting day of shopping in Quartzsite. And we had an “up close and personal” experience with one of the desert’s weather phenomena. Here in the “Desert Southwest”, the night time low and day time high temperature spread is often about 50 degrees. As it was today ! Which made dressing for a long day in Quartzsite somewhat difficult. When we left home this morning at 7 AM the temperature was 34 degrees. BRRRRR ! But by mid afternoon it was about 50 degrees warmer than that.

We caught the Buffalo Bus Tours bus to Quartzsite this morning at 7:30 AM in The Foothills. It took us to Quartzsite, about an hour and a half north of Yuma, to attend the 28th Annual Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show a.k.a. The Big Tent Show. We arrived about 9 AM and spent 7½ hours browsing and shopping. And walking and walking and walking ! My knees can’t tolerate walking that much and for that long. They HURT tonight ! We bought a lot of stuff. Tools and hardware and bathroom and kitchen gadgets. It’s been said that “if you can’t find it at Quartzsite it doesn’t exist / you don’t need it”. Every time we go to Quartzsite we find stuff that we didn’t know existed, but once having found it, can’t live without it. Today’s “big find” was a very expensive plumbing conversion system that converts a regular toilet to a toilet with built in bidet. We had a bidet in our last “brix & stix” home, and I miss it. But … when we arrived home tonight I took a quick glance at the design of our RV toilet and I don’t think this conversion system is going to fit. Darn ! I’m too exhausted tonight to check it thoroughly enough to know for certain. I’ll do that tomorrow.

We caught the return bus at 4:30 and were back in Yuma at 6 PM, home by 6:30. I know that the early wake up and long day affect my outlook on life, but gee whiz, a busload of old people can be obnoxious ! You’d think that by the time you reach old age and are living this lifestyle you’d develop some class and / or wisdom ! Being on a bus full of 70 year olds is as bad as being on a bus full of 17 year olds ! ! !

DSK