MERRY CHRISTMAS 2011

December 18 to 24, 2011

Sunday ; < sigh > I spent the morning tediously editing / correcting the typo on my Christmas e-cards ... one by one ... before the recipients viewed them. I managed to get about half of them corrected before they were viewed. The other half of our family and friends thinks that I can't spell < sigh >. Actually, I can spell very well, thank you. It's typing I can't do !

This afternoon I installed Mexican bricks as "pave stones" to close the 1 foot by 10 foot gap between the carpeted concrete floor in the Arizona room and the concrete floor / wall of the storage shed / workshop. Late in the afternoon our next door neighbour, the lady from Thailand brought over another plate of freshly prepared Thai food. WOW ... her Thai food is great ! Tonight she brought us a couple of spring rolls, some peanut sauce for dipping, and ... a couple of melted cheese between thin flaky dough thingies that are like the Thai version of Mexican quesadillas.

At 6 PM we went to the weekly Sunday ice cream social. Joanne and I ended up at different tables. She was "selling" Kaydee to a woman who might be interested in adopting her.

Monday ; Today was supposed to be another day dedicated to minor maintenance and "home improvement" projects. I spent way more time chatting with friends and neighbours than working. Taking a bag of garbage to the dumpster took me an hour and a half. HA HA HA ! I did get some work accomplished including planting four prickly pear cacti ; three in front of the shed, and one by the rear side fence between an agave and an Aloe Vera plant. The purple prickly pear with the long needles certainly did "bite" me in the finger. I suppose planting cacti is an acquired skill ! Now I want a huge, honkin' ocotillo in front of the shed as the "masterpiece" of my cactus garden.

This afternoon I took Kaydee over to the Miller's for a visit so they could see how much "transformation" has taken place in the last ten days. The Miller's actually initiated the rescue of Kaydee a few minutes before we came along and joined in the effort. They are as pleased as us to see Kaydee becoming a "happy ending" story.

It's almost 6 PM, Joanne is out shopping somewhere, and I'm procrastinating wrapping Christmas gifts, a task I have been putting off for a few days already. Wrapping gifts by myself always reminds me of my wonderful mother-in-law, who always helped me wrap gifts. I miss her !

Tuesday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico

Well, we had a very productive day in Mexico today. I was in desperate need of a haircut and beard trim for Christmas, so ... off to Mexico we went ! First stop was our dentist's where we made appointments for cleanings and examinations with our dentist, and an appointment for a periodontal examination for me with my periodontist, in two weeks. Then off for a $3 haircut and beard trim for me. Excellent work ... gracias, Fabiola. While I was getting a haircut Joanne was off shopping at the mercado. We wandered around from farmacia to farmacia comparing prices on medications I needed ( or wanted ... hey, it's Mexico ! ). We got all the meds I needed or wanted and then we headed over to Meyer Optical, the new optical place in town, for free eye examinations and free glaucoma testing. We had coupons for both. We have previously dealt with Best Optical once and Algodones Optical many times. Both were very satisfactory. But today at Meyer Optical we got better eye examinations than at the other places. By the time we were finished getting our free examinations it was getting late in the day and they were near closing time, so there wasn't time to order glasses. I had planned it exactly that way.
I wanted the examinations without feeling obligated to immediately buy glasses. I wanted to evaluate and compare before buying glasses. But ... based on the superior eye examinations, and the competitive pricing, we will return there in two weeks to order new glasses for Joanne. Her prescription has changed considerably since she last got glasses about five years ago. Mine has stayed the same since I got glasses two years ago. I'm undecided about whether or not to buy new glasses. I got a pretty significant scratch on one of my lenses a few months ago.

From Meyer Optical we headed back towards the border making a final farmacia stop for meds, and a stop at The Purple Store to buy Creminos, Nugs, and Coconugs. The line up to cross back into the United States was .. non-existent ! I don't recall that ever happening before. We thought that this close to Christmas there would be a lot of gringos down there buying booze for the holidays and there would be a long border crossing line-up / delay. Going down there late ( after lunch ), and consequently crossing back late ( after 5 PM ) like we did today might be the way to go to avoid the horrendous border crossing line-ups that can exist in mid-afternoon.

When we returned home, our next door neighbour, with his big dog Ardee ( for Red Dog ) joined us for a pack walk around the dog park with Bo and Kaydee. Kaydee has developed enough self-confidence that she actually growled at the big dog when he sniffed her where she didn't want to be sniffed ! HA HA HA ... you go, girl !

Wednesday ; This morning while Joanne went to morning water aerobics, as she does five days a week, I went to the clubhouse to attend a Tai Chi demonstration. I'm contemplating joining a ten week Tai Chi program that will start here on Wednesdays in the New Year.

This morning we included Kaydee in Bo's weekly obedience training session. Good girl, Kaydee ! She follows cues from Bo excellently ! BO, SIT, STAY ... KAYDEE, SIT, STAY ... BO, COME ... KAYDEE, COME ! Well done, pack, good dogs !

We went shopping. So what else is new ? HA HA HA ! We ordered a screen section for the front patio. Again ! Let's hope this place does better work than the last one ! We went to a "farmer's market" at Gila Mountain United Methodist Church in The Foothills. It was more of a flea market than a farmer's market. We had lunch, bought groceries, and refilled with diesel at the new Fry's "super store" in The Foothills. I picked up a special order that was waiting for me at Al's RV Service & Supplies. I returned the defective door knob and bought some other hardware at Wally's World.

Back at home I enjoyed the fine late afternoon weather and brilliant desert sunset while sitting in the Arizona room with the dogs, working on the computer and doing some online Christmas shopping and bill paying while Joanne went off to join the group wandering around the park singing Christmas carols. Chacun à son goût, je suppose. In the evening I retrieved, printed, and reconciled the monthly MasterCard statements before we went to put the solar covers on the pool and hot tub, a job Joanne volunteered us to do nightly for the next two weeks.

A neighbour back home at Riverside RV Park Resort sent us a picture of our lot, covered lightly in snow, with one of our two new little Douglas Fir trees decorated with Christmas ornaments. HA HA HA ... thank you, Janet.

Thursday ; Goodbye, Kaydee ! And Merry Christmas !

Kaydee went to her new home today. DAMN ... letting her go was harder than I thought it was going to be !

There is an RV club / social network called Wandering Individuals Network ... WIN ... for single RV'ers. One of the residents of Kofa Ko-op is a member, and is currently attending the WIN Christmas boondock rally out in the desert behind the VFW on Hwy. 95 a few miles north of Yuma. And there she met a man who was looking to get himself a new dog for Christmas. So ... Carol Mae was right. It really does "take a village" to rescue a dog. HA HA HA !

Around noon there was a knock on the door. As I grabbed and picked up the dogs, Joanne opened the door and there stood a man and a woman. He said he was looking for the dog that was available for adoption. We initially misunderstood their relationship. We thought they were a couple. They weren't. He was shopping for a new dog. She was a friend tagging along to give moral support. As they entered our trailer, Kaydee leaped out of my arms. BAM ... onto the floor from the height of my chest. I was so embarrassed !

To make a long story a bit shorter ... before driving over here to see Kaydee, they had visited the Humane Society of Yuma. There were no dogs there that were particularly appealing to him. But ... he and Kaydee hit it off pretty well. So ... Kaydee now belongs to a single man. Her new home will be in Quartzsite, Arizona. Ron gets a new dog for Christmas. Kaydee gets a new home for Christmas. "God bless us, every one !"

Joanne began work on painting the shed door today. A previous resident had painted ... symbols and icons ... on the back of the shed door, visible when the shed door is open into the Arizona room. And she had her visitors / guests sign their names and visit dates, etc., turning the door into a huge "guest book". Yeah ... that's nice ... but dark brown paint looks nicer, thank you !

Somewhat thanks to Kaydee, we ran out of dog food tonight. We had to make a late evening "emergency" run to PetsMart. WOO-HOO ... Bo's never been to PetsMart at night ! Between where we parked the truck, and the door of the store, Bo peed four times. "MY PETSMART !"

Friday ; What a day ! I've had a disagreement / misunderstanding / falling out ( by
e-mail ) with a friend. I hope that can be repaired. And if that's not enough ... Kaydee's back !

The following paragraph has been heavily edited, censored, and rewritten. What a ***** ! What an ******* ! ! ! Twenty eight hours and he's returned Kaydee to us. By tying her up to Bo's outdoor tie-out and ... taking off without even leaving a note, while we were out walking in the dog park for about 15 minutes. What a **** ! ! !

This morning I went to Big O Tires and had a screw in metal valve stem installed on the trailer's spare tire. Now all twelve truck and trailer tires have screw in metal valve stems. Finally ! And Bo appreciated going for a drivey.

After lunch I napped with Sully and Bo while Joanne went shopping for some advertised specials at Food City, the "Mexican" supermarket in Yuma. Around 4 PM Judy and Terry came by with Spanky for our regular daily pack walk around the dog park. When we returned from the pack walk, and I was climbing back over the brick fence into our back yard ... HUH ? ? ? ! ! ! ... there was Kaydee ! To say that we were all stunned would be an understatement. And then, to discover ... < sputter > ... that he was gone without even leaving a note, well ... yeah ... we were "gob smacked" ! ! !

An hour later there was a message from him on our voice mail. From our perspective, his rationale lacked merit. I typed a lot more, but deleted it. Perhaps enough said ! Welcome back, Kaydee !

In the evening we went to see the Christmas lights displays on 55th St. in The Foothills, a street renowned in Yuma for its Christmas light decorations. Very impressive !

Saturday ; Christmas Eve ; Today I remember my father, who died on Christmas Eve sixteen years ago. Ever since his death I have felt melancholy on Christmas Eve.

This morning we went to the Kofa Ko-op Christmas Eve potluck brunch. This afternoon we installed the new section of front patio screen. "Lace on" installation was no problem. What a difference good quality workmanship makes !

After our daily pack walk, Judy and Terry joined us in our Arizona room for a Christmas Eve drink of eggnog and rompope, a Mexican liqueur known colloquially as Mexican eggnog. Bo and Spanky were both asserting dominance, and being somewhat "bad" dogs.

At dusk we went for a stroll around the RV park to view the luminaries lining the roads, one at each lot, a Christmas Eve tradition here at Kofa Ko-op. Joanne had Bo on his retractable leash and I had Kaydee in Sully's sling carrier over my shoulder. She fits in the sling carrier really well.

Upholding her family’s tradition Joanne prepared tourtière ( French Canadian meat pie ) for Christmas Eve dinner. Thank you, my dear. HA HA HA ... Kaydee loooooves Christmas fruit cake !

DSK

December 11 to 17, 2011

Sunday ; This morning we walked with Bo and Kaydee over to see the Miller's who helped us capture Kaydee two days ago. We wanted them to see the amazing transformation ! We visited with them for awhile in their lovely back yard. They are from the north end of the Okanagan Valley in BC ( we're from the south end ).

This afternoon we went shopping ( so what else is new ? ! ). First stop was Yuma Park N Swap, a.k.a. the Dog Track Flea Market. What a busy place on Sunday afternoons, typically "family day" for Mexicans. Yuma Park N Swap is more the Mexican flea market and Arizona Marketplace near Kofa Ko-op is more the gringo flea market. Joanne bought produce. I bought hardware and a case of Awesome cleaner, about a year's supply. Then it was over to the Indoor Marketplace, the newest and more "upscale" flea market
( as "flea markets" go ) to buy myself a new fanny pack. Last stop was Lowe's for yet more hardware.

This afternoon we trimmed everybody's claws. First Kaydee, then Sully, then Bo. Kaydee tolerated it without complaint, as she has tolerated everything so far ... except trying to clean around her eyes. She won't allow that. Joanne is eager to take her to a veterinarian to have her eyes checked.

We had a lot of neighbours / visitors come by today to see our Arizona room and Kaydee. Word travels fast in this park. We went on a pack walk with Bo, Spanky, and Kaydee. She follows the two males well, and takes her cues from their behaviour. At this evening's ice cream social, while Joanne made an announcement about finding a new home for her, I stood in the doorway with her showing her off. She's a pretty cute little dog. Alas, there were no takers ... yet. But we will persevere. I have decided to do everything I can to ensure that she is transformed into a "gringo" dog.

Monday ; This morning I trimmed Kaydee's feet ... and legs. I started out trimming just the feet, but ... the more I trimmed, the more there seemed to be that needed trimming. Now she looks a bit goofy, long hair on the body, skinny toothpick legs.

This afternoon our friends Lynn and Micha and their dog Gypsy came over for a visit. They have a winter home in The Foothills. Just as they arrived, the weather turned very cold. We took the three dogs for a pack walk around the dog park, then went inside the trailer to have some tea and escape the cold. By the time our visit ended a couple of hours later, the sun had returned and it was warm again. That was an odd weather phenomenon !

As Lynn and Micha left with Gypsy, Judy and Terry arrived with Spanky. Again we took the three dogs for a pack walk around the dog park, then Terry & Judy spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with us in the Arizona room. Bo and Spanky have become good friends.

While Joanne did laundry, I did our Christmas decorating. Now as she prepares supper and I type this, we're listening to Christmas carols play on the CD / DVD player. Dreaming Of A White Christmas ! ? ! PHHHHHTTTTT ... I don't think so ! ! ! I had to wear a long sleeved shirt today and I was unhappy about that ! HA HA HA !

Tuesday ; Wow ... heavy rain ! In Yuma ! ! ! How rare is that ? ! ?

This morning we took Kaydee to the Humane Society of Yuma's Spay & Neuter Clinic. Our new SKP friend Carol Mae had pulled some strings with her contacts there to arrange for their veterinarian to examine Kaydee's eyes. He diagnosed Kaydee's eye problems as simply an infected "trauma injury" consistent with being ejected out of a slow moving vehicle ... and landing on her face ! He prescribed an ophthalmic antibiotic / antifungal ointment ... which is proving to not be very easy to administer to her ! That diagnosis would also explain the inflamed gums that she had when we first rescued her. That gum inflammation has receded somewhat over the past few days. Poor girl was likely dumped out of a slow moving car at the front gate of the park, which is where we first saw her at dusk on Friday evening, and landed on her face ! The veterinarian examined her teeth and estimated her age at 4 to 5 years. I had estimated it at 3 years, so ... why don't we average it out and declare her to be 4 years old ? !

Thank you very much, Carol Mae. As a small gesture of our appreciation for the assistance she provided by arranging for the veterinarian examination, I gave Carol Mae the ceremonial privilege of being the first to administer eye ointment to Kaydee. HA HA HA ... that proved to be such a difficult task I'm not sure it was all that much of a "privilege".

This afternoon I took Bo over to our neighbour Sharon's for a trial run of him pulling a stroller with a small dog and a cat in it, for tomorrow's Christmas parade in the RV park. HA HA HA ! Bo was confused. "Why am I harnessed to this stroller ? And why do you expect me to pull it ? What do I look like ? A little reindeer ? ? ?" HA HA HA ! Good dog, Bo, pull that sled !

While Joanne went Wal-Martin' I gave Kaydee a haircut. SHEESH ... there's not much of her left after all that hair was cut off ! She's pretty scrawny !

Wednesday ; We have new next door neighbours ... from Oregon. The woman immigrated from Thailand not too many years ago. This morning she showed up at our door with a steaming hot plate of freshly prepared Pad Thai for our breakfast. How unusual ! MMMMM ... how wonderful ! Not your typical North American breakfast but ... great taste ! Sure beats porridge !

Sully thinks that F-16 fighter jets, with afterburners on, doing aerobatic manoeuvers over our RV park, is very disruptive to his nap time. HA HA HA ! Well, at least we didn't have a Cobra attack helicopter make a forced landing ( that's pilot speak for "crash" ) on our road, as happened yesterday in a different area of Yuma. Ya gotta love sharing your living space with the Marine Corps Air Station !

This afternoon we gave Bo a bath in preparation for tonight's Kofa Ko-op Christmas parade. After a pack walk around the dog park with Bo, Kaydee, and Spanky ... first time all the way around the dog park with Kaydee off leash ... we went to the regular Wednesday afternoon "happy hour / appetizers potluck". Afterwards it was time for the parade. Our neighbours Sharon and Susan had their bi-level pet stroller all decorated, with Sharon's cat on the upper level and Susan's dog on the lower level and Bo towed it as an ersatz reindeer. HA HA HA ! The parade route was up and down every street within the park, more distance than I had imagined. The parade route and pace were a bit too much for my sore knee and for Bo. Neither of us is as young as we used to be. Good dog, Bo, well done !

When the parade was finished I found Joanne standing by the clubhouse with Kaydee in her arms, chatting with residents from the other side of the park from where we're located. Joanne was "selling" Kaydee to Nancy and John. Their Lhasa Apso died at some point in the not too distant past, and they seem just about ready for another dog. We invited them back to our Arizona room where we sat around for awhile visiting, giving them a chance to get to know Kaydee. I am hopeful that after they sleep on it, they will decide to adopt Kaydee.

Thursday ; It's now been 24 hours since Nancy & John visited with us to meet Kaydee, and we haven't heard back from them. I guess they've decided not to adopt Kaydee. We're disappointed !

Today was a day dedicated to minor maintenance projects. One of the things I was going to do today was install a new passage set ( door knob ) on the door between the Arizona room and the storage shed / workshop. When I tore open the blister pack that the passage set was packaged in, it ( the passage set ) broke ! Maybe they could make those blister packs more difficult to open ? ! ? I bought the passage set at one of the flea market vendors and I expect their position will be "no refunds or exchanges / all sales final".

Kaydee's eyes have improved a lot in the last couple of days. The ophthalmic ointment is obviously working very well. Now we have discovered that she has inflammation / infection between her toes. I guess walking in shit for the dog's entire life, without bathing or hair trimming, will do that ! ! !

Friday ; Once again ... < sigh > ... we spent most of the day running errands and shopping.

This morning our neighbour across the street ( Sheila from Vancouver, BC area ) was trimming her cactus garden and offered me some cactus cuttings to transplant.
YES, PLEASE ! ! ! She gave me two agave cuttings and three prickly pear cuttings. WOO-HOO ! Along with my recently acquired Aloe Vera, these will be the beginnings of my cactus garden.

After a long, slightly boring day of running errands and shopping, we went out in the evening with Sheila & Ramon, and Judy & Terry, to have dinner at Mi Rancho, a Mexican restaurant, to celebrate Terry's birthday.

For the first time since we got her a week ago, today we were able to clean Kaydee's face around her eyes. She did not resist at all. It's obvious that she was in a lot of pain around her face, and no longer is, thanks to the eye ointment. Poor baby ! Despite being ( probably ) four years old, her intellectual, emotional, and social development levels seem to be those of a four month old puppy, not a four year old adult dog. Her sore / injured gums have healed, and her sore / infected toes are healing nicely. She's a very sweet, cuddly girl ! Who follows Joanne around as if they are attached by a string.

Saturday ; This morning I planted two agaves in the back yard. My cactus gardening has begun !

In the afternoon I demolished a large, heavy shelf attached to the front of the shed. I think it was a planter shelf. Then ... I installed new entry steps on the trailer. WHEW ... tough job !

This evening we went to the Tamale Festival in Somerton, a small town a few miles southwest of Yuma ... as close to Mexico as one can get without actually crossing the border. It was disappointing and we left without even eating a tamale. The only other tamale festival we've attended was in a suburb of Palm Springs. I guess we're "spoiled gringos". There's a world of difference between a tamale festival in Palm Springs and one right on the Mexican border in a little border town.

On the way home we decided to stop at Arby's to have roast beef dip sandwiches for supper. Arby's was closed for a staff Christmas party < sigh >. BAH ! HUMBUG ! Very late in the evening I worked on preparing and sending a Christmas e-card. I was tired, and rushing, and I sent it with a typographical error in the greeting. BAH ! HUMBUG !

While I was working on the Christmas e-card, on the sofa with the computer on my lap, Sully was cuddled right beside me. Joanne was also sitting on the sofa, with Kaydee on her lap. When I was previewing an e-card with cats meowing Christmas carols ... HA HA HA ... Kaydee's head was tilted at 45 degrees as she tried to figure out how / why Sully was meowing Christmas carols out his ass. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

DSK

December 4 to 10, 2011

Sunday ; I recently purchased an oscillating multi-function power tool at Harbor Freight. WOW ... what an excellent bougainvillea trimmer it is ! HA HA HA ! I trimmed the bougainvillea, then trimmed it some more, then more, and more, and then ... HA HA HA ... dug it out of the ground. Goodbye ! It was neglected, overgrown, and out of control ! After digging it out I removed the decrepit trellis that was attached to the Mexican brick fence.

This afternoon we did a backyard obedience and toadstool agility session with Bo. Joanne baked a cake for this evening's ice cream social. And she worked on cleaning / refurbishing our "new" vacuum cleaner, a bigger job than it first seemed. I reinstalled seven snaps that broke when I removed the snap-on vinyl walls. And we began to install the new front patio screen section that we had custom made, but we didn't get very far when one of the grommets came apart and fell out. We'll have to return it to Specialty Sewing Senter to have that fixed < sigh >.

I installed a couple of long extension cords in the Arizona room and the shed / workshop, securing them along walls and over doors with clips. Half of the electrical plugs in the Arizona room and half in the shed / workshop don't work. And there is a spot in our main electrical panel where a breaker has been removed. I think the Arizona room and shed were initially wired by an electrician from < ahem > "south of here". And I don't think the wiring was done to building code. When I installed a new motion detector light fixture recently I found that the wiring was ungrounded, typical of wiring in Mexico. I surmise that the missing breaker and non-functional outlets mean that at some point some authority required that one of two breakers feeding power to the Arizona room and shed / workshop had to be removed.

Late in the afternoon we attended the weekly ice cream social. One of the park's residents announced that they had dug out some Aloe Vera plants and they were available for the taking. After the ice cream social I went over there ( in the dark, with a flashlight ) and picked one out, which I immediately transplanted ( in the dark, with a flashlight ! ) where I had dug out the bougainvillea. Wish me luck. When it comes to desert landscaping, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing !

Monday ; Another day mostly dedicated to shopping and running errands ! First was PetsMart. WOO-HOO ... Bo loooooves shopping ! Then Smart & Final for advertised specials on groceries, and Harbor Freight for advertised specials on "guy stuff". Lunch at Burger King, a brief stop at the Post Office ... nah, forget it, line up waaaaay too long ... Lowe's to return an item for a refund, last minute cancellation of our plan to attend a dog show, and Specialty Sewing Senter to have a defective grommet replaced on the new front patio screen. Final stop was Direct Connection, a local satellite TV provider. Yeah ... I don't think so ! Next year we'll just bring along our Canadian satellite TV service.

Back at home we began ( for the second time ) installing the new front patio screen. Again, we didn't get very far before discovering a problem < sigh >. First it was a broken grommet, now it was a missing grommet < sigh >. It's still hard to find good Manuel labour. HA HA HA ... sorry ... border town bigot humour ! I guess it's back to Specialty Sewing Senter tomorrow.

While we were working on the front patio screen section, our friends Terry & Judy came by to ask if Bo could go on a pack walk with Spanky, now a daily activity. We were too busy at that moment, so we didn't go but sent Bo off with them. Bo has no problem going for a long walk around the dog park with them.

When I turned on my computer late in the afternoon there was a phone message from my sister. My brother-in-law is home and recuperating. I'm hoping and expecting that he will follow in his father's footsteps and be a long term cancer survivor.

Kofa Ko-op did some major changes to their Wi-Fi system today, hoping to improve the very poor performance. My early assessment is that there is no improvement. I don't subscribe to the common theory that the problem exists here at the park level. I think that's the "spin" from the service provider who has grossly "oversold" their service in the area. This park's Wi-Fi problems are similar to the problems that existed last year down the road at Rancho Bonitos RV Park.

Tuesday ; The weather has been a bit cooler than it should be for early December.

This morning we headed over to Yuma County Fairgrounds for the "Welcome Back Winter Visitor Bash". Many local vendors had booths set up outside on the fairgrounds.
I bought a "Wednesday & Sunday" subscription to the Yuma Sun newspaper. On the way there we stopped at Specialty Sewing Senter and had the missing grommet installed on our new front patio screen section. Afterwards we went to Albertsons to buy a few grocery items, then over to the Post Office ... again. The line ups at the Yuma Main Post Office are ridiculously long ... always ... but I've learned how to use the self-serve machine in the outer lobby.

After we had a very late lunch at home Joanne began to clean the storage shed / workshop above eye level. Up to eye level was already done. From high shelves she pulled down three very large, very good condition ( like new ! ), probably very expensive screen sections that attached to the "roofed RV port" before it got turned into a screened Arizona room. We surmise that attaching these large and heavy screen sections to the "RV port" roof must have been too difficult, and so the "RV port" was converted to a screened Arizona room. What a lot of money somebody invested in those screen sections, and they've been sitting up on high shelves in the shed for ... a lot of years, apparently. What a waste of money ! And we were perplexed about what to do with them. We contemplated trying to sell them through the White Sheet, a local bargain newspaper, but decided to just put them in the clubhouse beside the bargain table and hope that they can be used by someone else in the park.

While Joanne went with Bo for a pack walk with Judy and Spanky, I refurbished the swamp cooler. A few minutes of time, and less than $5 worth of parts, and it's as good as new again.

After talking to a neighbour who is receiving "over air" TV signals using his trailer's roof top antenna, I tried again using Harvey's antenna. When I tried a few days ago, all I could receive were two Spanish stations. Same thing today ... until ... I decided to disconnect the VCR player and run the antenna cable direct to the TV. BINGO ! Eleven digital channels, four analog channels. Excellent reception on eight of the eleven digital channels, excellent but somewhat intermittent reception on three of them. And, of course, one of the three is CBS, the network with the two shows we want to watch on a weekly basis, Survivor and Amazing Race !

This afternoon I took some photos of those dangerous Devil's Claw / Horse Crippler plant things that we occasionally find in the desert dog run.

Wednesday ; Well ... today was the day of "broken" ! I broke a new switch that I was installing on the furnace, I broke the flexible blade on my flush cut saw, and I ruined the blade on my new oscillating multi-function tool < sigh >.

This morning we climbed over our back fence and did a great obedience session with Bo in the dog park. Good dog, Bo, well done. We rewarded him with a large beef rib bone from last night's dinner. I did a minor eavestrough repair job then began to work on installing a new switch on the furnace. That job ended when I broke the switch ! And so it went with my work projects for the rest of the day.

We went to the late afternoon happy hour / appetizers potluck. Afterwards there was a ... performance ... by some of the park’s resident musicians. Joanne stayed. I went home.
I needed a “success”. I replaced all the stove top igniter assembly components. I have been acquiring all the necessary little parts for a month and a half from RV dealers from Penticton BC, to Yuma, Arizona.

We spent some time in the hot tub, my first time in the hot tub since we arrived 2½ weeks ago. I was trying to ease the extreme pain I’m experiencing in my left hip the last couple of days. This evening we watched Survivor on our own TV for the first time since we left home on November 1. Afterwards I went over to a nearby neighbour, one of Joanne’s morning pool aerobics buddies, to help her with a computer / Wi-Fi problem.

Thursday ; Well ... today was our second "bad day" in a row ! Our priority this morning was to install the new section of screen on the front patio, our third attempt at this installation. The previous two attempts were thwarted by grommet problems. We got the lace on screen section half installed when ... AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH ... another grommet popped off ! As we were removing the screen section to take it back in for a third time to have a grommet replaced ... another grommet popped off !

After lunch we took the screen back to Specialty Sewing Senter. I was pretty steamed up ! While I was having a heated discussion with the manager his wife came over ... listened to our discussion for a few seconds ... stuck her long fingernail underneath one of the grommets and ... POP ! Off it came ! To shorten this story ... we left with our money back in my pocket ! ! !

We went to RV Connection to pick up the last of the special order items we were waiting for. This is the third time that I have been delayed a looooong time ( like 20 to 30 minutes ! ) at RV Connection by ineptitude at the computerized cash register or credit card terminal. And it's always when a man from the sales floor steps behind the front counter and one of the front counter women steps aside. The sales floor men are idiots at the front counter. Why don't they just stay out from behind the front counter and let the competent women behind there do their jobs ? ! ? I will no longer shop there as my first choice for RV supplies. I'd rather drive out to The Foothills and deal with Al's RV Service & Supplies.

This afternoon I worked on refurbishing the furnace. While we have installed two Wave catalytic infrared radiant heaters as our primary heating source, we have decided to refurbish the furnace and keep it installed as a "back up" and "quick heat" system. The furnace heats the interior of the trailer faster than the Wave heaters, so we want to use it to heat the trailer quickly when necessary, then switch to the Wave heaters. I didn't finish the furnace "refurbishment" today because yesterday I broke the new switch I was installing to bypass the thermostat and allow us to turn the furnace on and off manually.

After Bo's and Spanky's daily pack walk in the dog park, Judy and Terry came over and visited with us in our Arizona room for awhile. Bo and Spanky have become very good "pack members" and "pack walkers". Today I gave Bo a beef rib bone in the Arizona room while Spanky was visiting to test whether Spanky would try to take it away from Bo and whether Bo would "resource guard". Spanky did not try to take it away, and Bo did not "resource guard". Eventually Bo left the bone, and Spanky quickly grabbed it, but only after Bo had abandoned it. Bo was unhappy about that, and looked to me to "solve the problem", which I did not do, but Bo did not try to take it away from Spanky. Everybody passed their tests with flying colours. Good dogs !

Friday ; This morning we headed to The Foothills to go to the Helping Hands Yard Sale on the large grounds of the Gila Mountain United Methodist Church. It's a huge, annual fund raiser and ... WOW ... what a lot of stuff ! I wonder where they get it all ? We bought some tools, an end table for the Arizona room, and two step stools to help us get into the dog park over our back fence. Next stop was Foothills Hardware, then the brand new Fry's to buy diesel and groceries. WOW ... what a great new grocery store ! Bought some interesting items for supper tonight. A seasoned Mahi-Mahi fillet and some Portobello mushroom caps stuffed with spinach and Mozzarella cheese. Barbecued it all for supper tonight. It was all ... horrible !

After Fry's we went to Al's RV Service & Supplies to order a part, then Wally's World for some hardware items, then home for a very late lunch. Should have gotten an earlier start this morning ! After lunch I worked on ( finally ! ) finishing up the furnace refurbishment project, including installing an "on / off" switch to bypass the thermostat, and resealing the exterior wall fresh air intake and exhaust vent assembly. Joanne worked on cleaning the old fridge in the shed / workshop. I noticed as the sun was setting that it was a pretty sunset. I suggested we take Bo for a walk and go outside the park to view the sunset. As we came back into the park we came across a perplexed couple trying to figure out what to do about a little stray dog running around. With their help we captured it. PEEEEEUUUUUWWWWW ... what a stinky little dog ! ! !

Say hello to KD ( for Kofa Dog ). She's a sweet little Lhasa Apso. Who cleaned up rather well ! BUT ... it's been a long, difficult evening getting her cleaned up. After getting her cornered and capturing her on the park's shuffleboard court, I picked her up in my arms and ... what a stench ! We carried her home, took her into the workshop, and spent an hour and a half cutting filthy mats off her, especially around her anus where the mats were filled with feces and dried diarrhea. YUCK ! But ... we got the worst of it all cut off her then took her inside for a bath. During this ordeal she was scared but docile. Except when we tried to clean around her eyes. Her eyes bug out, and seem sore / sensitive to touch. I think she has glaucoma or some other eye disorder.

After a bath we wrapped her in a towel and she settled down on the sofa. After we had our horrible supper we put a harness on her and took her and Bo for a walk. She walks well on a leash and "pack walks" well with Bo. By the time our walk was over and we returned home she had dried out and looked ( and smelled ! ) a whole lot better than a few hours earlier. She spent much of the evening wrapped in a blanket snuggled beside Joanne on the sofa while Joanne continued to cut mats off her.

We're undecided whether to take the easy route, and simply take her to the local SPCA / Humane Society as a stray, or invest some time and money in cleaning her ( more ), grooming her ( more ), maybe taking her to the veterinarian to have her health and eyes checked, then attempting to find an adoptive home for her here within the park. Now that she's clean, doesn't stink, and is cuddled beside Joanne on the sofa ... she's sort of sweet ! I think we'll keep her until at least Monday.

While we are in the United States, we're within a few miles of Mexico, and there are many Mexicans living on this side of the border. Near Kofa Ko-op are residential developments with lots of Mexicans. There are many nearby homes where multiple dogs live outdoors, with little to no attention. Mexican "culture" and "attitudes" towards pet dogs are extremely different than that of middle class white America ( and Canada ). I think she's a "Mexican" dog. And I would like to see her become an "American" dog !

Saturday ; What irony ! ! ! Yesterday we rescued KD in the Yuma, Arizona Escapee RV park on December 9, 2011. Today Joanne realized that exactly seven years ago to the day ... we rescued Bo in the Summerdale, Alabama Escapee RV park on December 9, 2004 !

We slept late this morning, a well deserved rest. Joanne spent the rest of the morning cuddling with KD on the sofa ... while she slowly isolated and cut off more mats of hair. KD has now had a lot of hair cut off her, yet there's still plenty left ! She has quite lovely, long hair. This afternoon Joanne finished cleaning the fridge in the shed / workshop, then we plucked and cleaned KD's ears. I doubt that she has ever had that done to her. The insides of her ears were very dirty and matted with ear "fluff" hair.

Late this afternoon we went to Yuma's historic "downtown" to attend a performance of Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" by Desert Pointe Productions at Historic Yuma Theatre. It was great ! When we came out of Historic Yuma Theatre, the sidewalks were packed with people waiting for Yuma's annual Christmas Electric Light Parade to come by. So ... we sat down on the concrete border of a large flower garden ... and watched the parade ! The apparently endless parade ! We watched for about an hour and a half, then left to go have supper. The parade wasn't finished yet. HA HA HA ... from now on, when we go to parades, I want to have a five year old with us. HA HA HA ... watching the parade beside us was five year old Alaina ... she proudly spelled it for me. What enthusiasm ! She was SOOOO impressed when I told her we live up north "in the land of ice and snow" near where Santa Claus lives. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

I told her that as someone who lives "in the land of ice and snow" where there is lots of snow on the rooftops for Santa to land his sleigh, I always wondered where Santa landed his sleigh down here in the desert. Alaina explained that Santa just lands his sleigh on the ground, and since the houses have no chimneys, he just comes in the front door. "He has keys for every house !" HA HA HA HA HA !

We shopped for a few advertised specials at Walgreens then went for supper to Eat Asian Super Buffet. First time there for us. T'was a very nice Chinese buffet restaurant. What a great "date night" the entire outing was. When we got home, Bo and KD were very glad to see us. Sully was just pissed off at being left alone for six hours with two dogs !

DSK

November 27 to December 3, 2011

Sunday ; Joanne spent today cleaning, sorting, and purging the storage shed / workshop. And she's not finished yet ! But things certainly are coming together nicely on lot 52.

This morning I did a "toadstool agility" session with Bo. HA HA HA ... good dog, Bo, well done ! This afternoon I worked on installing clamps on the more than 30 feet of propane hoses to the new heaters. I'm not finished yet !

This evening we went to the weekly ice cream social, then watched Amazing Race.

Monday ; Today we remember Toby the cat, who died 7 years ago, while we were WorkCamping at Trout Lodge up in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.

The cleanup continues. The storage shed / workshop is almost done. And today I finished installing clamps on the new heaters' propane hoses. All that's left now to finish the heater installation job is to replace the Wave 6 heater's wood mounting strips. Initially I used cheap Douglas Fir because that was all I could get at the time in Oakhurst, California. Now I have bought oak, cut it, drilled it, and Joanne is staining it. In a few days I will remove the Douglas Fir and replace it with oak.

Late this afternoon just as we were preparing to take Bo for his daily walk around the perimeter of the seven acre dog park, Sully expressed a desire to go outside. So while I walked around the dog park with Bo, Joanne stayed with Sully as he explored the dog park / desert right behind our lot. We now enter the dog park by simply climbing over our back fence. Sully was interested in checking out the cholla cactus behind our back yard. Joanne wouldn't let him. Now he's pouting !

Tuesday ; This morning while Joanne went to Wal-Mart I installed a new motion detector light fixture on the exterior front wall of the storage shed. There had been one there already, but when I went to adjust it a few days ago, it crumbled like a potato chip. The intense desert sun here bakes plastic light fixtures, I guess.

This afternoon I had my inaugural nap on the sofa in the Arizona room. With Sully and Bo, of course. While we napped Joanne planted herb gardens, using about half a dozen large flower pots that were in the storage shed. Good luck with growing herbs out here in the desert, my dear ! Actually, they probably will grow alright. She's positioned the pots on a large shelf on the front wall of the storage shed, and it's shaded from direct sunlight for most of the day by the trailer and the screened front patio.

This evening I ( finally ! ) completed the catalytic radiant heater installation job ! I removed the Wave 6 heater, removed the Douglas Fir mounting strips I had made, installed the now stained oak strips I made, and remounted the heater. Bring on the cold weather !

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and very warm, perhaps the last for awhile. Starting tomorrow the weather is forecast to be cooler and windy.

This morning I did an obedience session with Bo. He has been a bit of a "bad dog" lately, and needed some "reinforcement" regarding who's the "leader of the pack" ! Neighbours are dropping by, curious and interested to see our Arizona room, which has been hidden away behind its vinyl walls for at least the last four years. We spent much of the morning chatting with neighbours.

This afternoon we went shopping. Main destination was Harbor Freight, a "guy" store, to buy some advertised specials. But ... they were out of stock of most of the items I was interested in. We stopped at an air conditioning service business, looking for a few little items I need to refurbish the swamp cooler. I got the items I needed, and learned what I needed to know about the operation of swamp coolers. I don't anticipate we will ever use lot 52's swamp cooler, but I'm too anal retentive to leave it non-functional for the sake of a couple of bucks worth of parts. We went to Specialty Sewing Senter to pick up the new front patio screen section we had them make for us.

Back at Kofa Ko-op late in the afternoon we attended the regular Wednesday Happy Hour & Appetizers Potluck. Our television reception in the trailer ( using the park's cable TV ) is very poor, so I went to the clubhouse in the evening to watch Survivor.

Thursday ; Today was mostly overcast, a bit cooler, and a bit windy.

This morning we went shopping to Arizona Marketplace, the large flea market nearby.
I needed some hardware. Joanne bought fresh produce. This afternoon Joanne went shopping by herself while I napped with Sully and Bo. Sully is obviously of the opinion that I'm not fulfilling my obligation to nap with him often enough.

This evening we went to Arizona Western College's Christmas Gala. It took us a long time to drive to and find the venue, Cibola High School. When we finally got there ...
< sigh > ... we discovered that the venue had been changed to Kofa High School's Auditorium. Needless to say, we were a bit late. The concert featured the Arizona Western College / AWC Community Band, AWC Chamber Singers, AWC Youth Choir, Yuma Civic Orchestra, and Yuma Chorale. The concert was ... okay. It served to remind me what an "orchestra snob" I am and how much I miss the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.

Friday ; I just got off the phone with my sister ( at 6:30 PM ). My brother-in-law's prostatectomy surgery yesterday went as well as could be expected. He was on his feet today. Might be able to go home Sunday. Way to go, Bud ! Our best wishes for a speedy recovery. Begone, ye evil cancer !

This morning we headed to The Foothills to shop at Al's RV Service & Supply. Today was a "Welcome Back, Snowbirds" customer appreciation day sale with 15% off everything in stock. I have been wanting to replace the trailer's entrance steps for a long time now, and I wanted to check if they had a replacement step assembly. I knew it was unlikely because there are so many different sizes and configurations of RV step assemblies. But ... lo and behold ... they had one step assembly in stock and it was the right size and configuration. WOO-HOO ... I bought it ! Just what I needed ... another big job on my "to do" list !

After lunch I went to the clubhouse to help out with a computer project. The park is getting a new Wi-Fi configuration and all users must be identified by their computer "name". Volunteers were needed to help those who did not know how to identify their computer "name".

We met our new next door neighbour, a woman from Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC ... and her cat. We went to the late afternoon TGIF happy hour. It was not very well attended this week, perhaps due to cool weather.

Saturday ; We spent the entire day running errands and shopping again. I'd like to spend less time shopping and more time working on home improvement projects.

First stop was Salvation Army Thrift Shop. Fifty percent off again today. Then Goodwill Thrift Shop. Same 50% off story. We bought an excellent vacuum cleaner ... for $7.50 ! We ran around looking for an upholstery shop that was difficult to locate, and when we finally did find it they were unable to do the folding chair repair we need done < sigh >. We went to Food City for some advertised specials. WOO-HOO ... avocadoes were 4 for $1.00 ! Sure beats paying $4.69 per avocado in Penticton !

We had a very late lunch at Subway then headed over to Lowe's for more hardware shopping. Then the Dodge dealer. The money I saved on the vacuum cleaner got spent on a hubcap for the truck. GEEEZ ... $67 ! Oh, well ... that beats the Penticton Dodge dealer's price of $90 !

As we arrived home our friends Terry and Judy came by asking if we would go for a walk in the dog park with them and their new dog Spanky. Bo and Spanky met a few days ago and have become “pack walk” buddies. Spanky was recently adopted from an animal shelter in the Vancouver, BC area. He has some insecurities that are diminished by socializing and “pack walking” with Bo. While we were walking in the seven acre desert dog park, Joanne picked up a gruesome looking desert plant thing on the back of her shoe. Terry identified it as a Devil’s Claw / Horse Crippler. YIKES ! Appropriate name !

In the evening we went to the clubhouse to see a Christmas concert by Rainbow Station, a local children’s choir comprised of children from four to fourteen years of age. And we had an opportunity to express our condolences to Betty, who has just returned to the park after visiting family in Massachusetts. It’s the first time we’ve seen her since her Quebec born husband Reynald / Ronnie died this spring. We will certainly miss our friend Monsieur Labrecque.

DSK