January 9 to 15, 2011

January 9 to 15, 2011


Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm. This morning I repaired Sully’s 12V heated blanket … his “heater blankie”. This is the second heater blankie we’ve had, and the last ! The workmanship and design quality are poor.

This afternoon I did some online work including posting my weekly journal to my blog. I reconciled my December investment statements. HMPH … more year end fees than I remember ! I reviewed the U.S. IRS form 8840. This is a form that I recently became aware of. It’s a form that the United States Internal Revenue Service requires to be filled out by “aliens” who spend significant periods of time in the U.S. each year … like us “Snowbirds”. It establishes that we are exempt from treatment as U.S. residents by the IRS on the basis of a “closer connection” to a country other than the United States. I would suggest that almost all “Snowbirds” are unaware of this form. However, since we are likely to become U.S. “property owners”
( lifetime leaseholders, actually ) in 2011, I think I had better begin submitting this form annually, starting with the 2010 taxation year.

In the evening we went to the monthly birthday social, followed by the weekly card bingo games.

Monday ; Today was sunny and mild.

It wasn’t until this morning that we heard about the incident “down the road” in Tucson on Saturday. Six dead, fourteen more wounded … at a ****ing Safeway grocery store ! ! ! ? ? ? ! ! ! “There but for the grace of God go I” ! ! ! I should refrain from typing any more about this incident, because I’m feeling in a pretty foul mood right now about God blessed America’s constitutional right to bear arms ! ! !

This afternoon we drove to The Foothills ( east side of Yuma ) to buy two tickets at Buffalo Bus Tours for a day trip to Quartzsite. We are going to Quartzsite on Saturday, January 29, the day after Joanne’s birthday, and the second last day of the massively huge 28th annual Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show. We’ve been to Quartzsite a few times before, but never during the “big show”. And the price of two tickets on the bus trip is less than the cost of gas for the truck if we drove there ourselves. After buying the bus trip tickets we went shopping for sandals for me at Foothills Shoes. They carry the SAS line of shoes that I favour. We spent more time there than I would have liked. I chose a pair of sandals but did not buy them today. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping at the Wal-Mart in The Foothills.

When we returned home we took Bo for his daily long walk, then picked grapefruits. This park has many grapefruit, orange, and lemon trees, providing residents with an unlimited supply of fresh fruit. We’ve been eating grapefruits for breakfast. Joanne has made fruit salads. Today she made a grapefruit pie, a recipe she learned in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. I’m eagerly awaiting the marmalade she said she would make for me.

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and cold.

This morning we headed for Los Algodones for my 10 AM appointment with Dra. Camacho. When we arrived at the dentists’ office, we were immediately advised that my appointment would have to be rescheduled because neither Dr. nor Dra. Camacho was in today. HMPH … right … this is Mexico … it would be too much to expect that the office would phone the patient before they left home ! ! ! The Camacho dentists were not in today because they were in the hospital in San Luis Rio Colorado, a nearby border town. Their teenaged son required some manner of emergency surgery. My oral surgery appointment was rescheduled for Saturday morning.

We went shopping for some special “hocus pocus” health teas at the health food store in Los Algodones before heading back across the border. I had read an article about magnesium chloride and wanted to buy some. I thought it was available as a tea. It wasn’t. We bought magnesium chloride powder and fennel tea. The fennel tea tastes … bad. The magnesium chloride, mixed in water to the correct dosage, tastes … awful ! I suppose I’ll try it for a few days, but after one taste today I doubt that I can tolerate it as a daily habit.

This afternoon we gave Bo a bath, brushed his teeth, trimmed his dew claws, and brushed Sully’s teeth. So there … you’re both done ! Sheesh ! They both acted like we were torturing them ! In the evening I calculated the days in each country … Canada, United States, Mexico … for the last seven calendar years, data I require to complete the U.S. IRS 8840 form < sigh >. As if completing our Canadian income tax forms on an annual basis isn’t tedious enough !

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and mild. This morning after a brief but “enthusiastic” squabble, Joanne and I went our separate ways today, trying to give each other some time and space to cool down. I headed out to run errands.

I refilled a propane tank at nearby Fruit Growers Supply Company. A neighbour recently advised me that propane was available there. From there I went to the Wal-Mart mall on Pacific, refilled a water jug at one of the outdoor water refill kiosks, then went into Wal-Mart to buy cat food. They were out of stock of Sully’s food. Okay … over to PetsMart at Yuma Palms. WOO-HOO … Bo loves going to PetsMart. I bought cat food and dog food at PetsMart. I forgot that we needed pet toothpaste ! Back to “The Big Curve” where I activated our new debit cards in the ATM at the Bank of America. Then over to Sears to see if the Auto Center Manager had resolved my “dually tire rotation” issue. He wasn’t there, but I left a message for him and he phoned me a few minutes later as I was driving home. YES … having purchased six tires at Sears … for a dually … I was entitled to free tire rotations for life … at any Sears store in the United States. There’s no difference between spending $1000 to buy 4 tires for a car and getting free rotations, and spending $1500 to buy 6 tires for a dually and getting free rotations … which are probably 50% more difficult on a dually, but … I spent 50% more, didn’t I ? ! ? Now I’m going to be eagerly awaiting an apology from the manager of the Sears Auto Center in Fresno, California.

Back at home I had lunch then napped briefly with Sully. Joanne went out. I polished shoes. I sharpened knives. I took Bo for a long walk in the warm afternoon sunshine. I did some accounting. I wrote this journal entry. I worked on the IRS 8840 form. I spent the evening working online. It took a long time to accomplish not that large an amount of work due to network congestion, a seemingly common problem in California and southwest Arizona !

Thursday ; Today was sunny and warm. This is the second day that Joanne and I have kept our distance from one another, and that seems like a good idea at the moment !

This morning I discovered that the pinion seal at the rear differential of the truck is leaking … again ! I had the pinion seal replaced about two months ago in Fresno, California. For it to be leaking this soon after replacement suggests to me that the replacement was not done correctly. Yes, yes, apparently it’s still hard to get good help < fume > ! I took the barbecue’s little propane tank to be refilled. Bo enjoyed the drivey. I made an appointment with Fisher Chrysler to have the pinion seal replaced in a week. I took Bo for a long walk in the desert. WHEW … hotter than I thought it was ! Had to take my shirt off ! That’s okay … it’s about time I get some sunlight on my poor white skin. I look so … Canadian ! I went to Kofa Ko-op and took photos of lots 1 to 35. I want to have photos of all the lots in the park so that when we get offered a lot, I can look at a photo of it and know what we’re getting. Our Kofa Ko-op friend Ronnie ( actually Reynald, but nobody here can properly pronounce a French Canadian name like that ) is in the hospital with double pneumonia. < sigh > Could that be an unintended result of the aggressive radiation therapy he’s currently undergoing for a malignant growth on his lip ? I think we’ll go visit him tomorrow.

In the evening I watched a movie ; Con Air. Oh, please … get real !

Friday ; Today was sunny and warm but quite windy. A depressing day of continued “relationship angst”, illness, and visiting a very sick old friend in the hospital.

A few days ago I began to take a new mineral supplement I bought in Mexico. And … at the same time, I began “experimenting” with the dosages of my regular medications. Well, the result was … I became very ill this afternoon. I don’t know which was the cause of me becoming so sick, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. I suppose I should discard the mineral supplement, and return to my regular dosages of medications. What the hell was I thinking ? ! ?

And after three days of difficulties, Joanne and I made some progress today … but not much … and not without a lot of turmoil.

This evening I went to the hospital to visit our friend Reynald / “Ronnie”. He was born in Quebec, but left when he was a child. He’s 84 years old now, is battling cancer, was undergoing an aggressive regimen of radiation therapy until a few days ago, and now has double pneumonia. He doesn’t look good ! I hope he recovers.

Well … ! ! ! ! ! And to put a nice finish to this day, I have just retrieved e-mail ( at 10:30 PM ) to discover that an Escapee BC Okanagan Chapter 33 friend has died.

Saturday ; Today was sunny and hot … finally ! This morning we headed for Los Algodones for my 10 AM dentist appointment, rescheduled from Tuesday. Upon arrival at the dentists’ office we were advised that neither Dr. nor Dra. Camacho was in today … again !

In Mexico, at midnight on New Year’s Eve, it’s not unusual for guns to be fired into the air. And … it’s not unusual for people to be injured by the bullets falling back to earth. The teenaged son of Dr. and Dra. Camacho was struck in the leg by a bullet on New Year’s Eve. And they were unaware of that for ten days. He thought he had been slightly injured by a firecracker. After ten days of the injury becoming worse and worse, they took him to the hospital where an x-ray revealed the bullet. He had surgery to remove the bullet, and then the family decided they needed to take a short holiday for him to recuperate. Dr. And Dra. Camacho and their family are currently vacationing in Guadalajara.

Before leaving, Dra. Camacho arranged for my appointment today to be handled by Dra. Esther Estolano, a periodontist from nearby San Luis Rio Colorado. In addition to her periodontal practice in San Luis Rio Colorado, Dra. Estolano is in Los Algodones on Wednesdays and Saturdays, providing “mobile” periodontal services / consultations at other “generalist” dentists’ offices. That’s fairly common in Los Algodones for the dental specialists such as periodontists and orthodontists. Dra. Estolano examined me, took a slightly different approach than Dra. Camacho to my required oral surgery, then scheduled me for two oral surgeries, one in three weeks and one in four weeks. After that she wants Dra. Camacho to remove and replace a crown that I have had for twenty years that has become troublesome from a periodontal perspective.

As if my mood wasn’t foul enough … when we crossed the border back into the United States, the primary Customs and Border Patrol Agent pulled me aside for a secondary “inspection”. Apparently he didn’t like the tone of my voice, or the many pockets in my cargo pants, or whatever criteria these brilliant professionals use to make their decisions ! The secondary agent had me empty all the pouches on my fanny pack and all the pockets on my pants, and asked even more stupid questions than the first agent did, then sent me on my way. Keep up the good work, fellas ! Keep your Homeland Secure from them fat, old, fat wallet Canadians coming back from dental appointments in Mexico ! ! ! < mumbling under my breath > You jack wagons !

This afternoon we took Bo for his daily long walk then went to spend time in the pool and hot tub. Around 4 PM I headed to Kofa Ko-op to continue taking photos of the lots. As I was taking a photo of lot 67 … HEY ! Our friends Robert and Sharon from Escapees BC Okanagan Chapter 33 were pulling into the lot. I accepted their invitation to have a beer, and visited with them for awhile. They’re here in Yuma for a week. I hope we can get together while they’re here.

While at Kofa Ko-op I learned that our friend Monica fell yesterday and broke her arm so severely that she had to be flown to Phoenix for surgery. Sheesh !

HA HA HA HA HA ! ! ! While I’m typing this Joanne is making marmalade with lemons, oranges and grapefruits freshly picked from the fruit trees around this RV park. Bo is begging for fruit. Bo loooooves fruit ! She just gave him a chunk of lemon. HA HA HA HA HA … Bo has never had lemon before. Not quite what you had expected, was it Bo ? ! ?

DSK