Sunday ; Sunny and mild.
This morning I set up the Sun Oven for the first time this winter season. Joanne prepared a beef pot roast in a slow cooker marinade and we had our first sun cooked meal of the season. It was very good !
I took an empty propane tank to be refilled. I repaired a leak under the kitchen sink. The brutal desert heat of the summer dries out plumbing seals and gaskets. I did some routine annual maintenance on Lanoire ( the truck ). I did some routine annual maintenance on Harvey ( the fifth wheel trailer ). I cleaned and polished shoes.
We did our daily "Welcome Committee" visits ; two arrivals today. We attended the regular Sunday evening ice cream social, then one of today's arrivals came over to visit with us and Bo in our Arizona room. Their dog died only six weeks ago, and the woman needed a "dog fix".
We had our wonderful sun cooked supper while watching Downton Abbey. Oh, boy ... the new and final season begins next Sunday. I posted last week's journal to my blog. How nice it is to have good Wi-Fi again.
Monday ; Sunny and mild.
This morning Laszlo and DeeOGee the Pit Bull came over for a visit. This afternoon Carol Mae and Osita the foster puppy came over for a visit.
I realized the other day that I have not yet paid our 2015 Yuma County tax bill. BECAUSE ... I have not yet received a 2015 Yuma County tax bill. We must have left home ( on Sept. 18 ) just before it was to arrive in our mail. I phoned Yuma County this morning and found out how much we owe, and we'll have to go downtown and pay it before the end of the year.
We both worked on annual cleaning chores inside the trailer today. I cleaned and polished another pair of shoes. We did our daily Welcome Committee visits ; two today.
At 5 PM ... two hours late ... Benjamin's RV Wash crew showed up. They had been having some equipment problems during the day that delayed them. And their equipment problems continued. They washed and waxed Harvey the trailer, and then Lanoire the truck. By then it was 6 PM, a few minutes until darkness, and they were not able to wash Elsie the truck camper. They will return tomorrow morning to do the truck camper. I was not completely satisfied with their work. They rushed, and their equipment problems continued. I had to have them redo the rear of the trailer because they had done it poorly. And they broke two plastic pieces on the trailer, partially due to the plastic pieces being made brittle by the brutal summer heat, but also because of their rushing and carelessness. Yes, yes ... it is hard to find good help !
After supper we went grocery shopping at Albertsons.
Tuesday ; Sunny and mild.
Yesterday the Benjamin's RV Wash crew was two hours late. Today they were six hours late ! Isn't it fun doing business with Mexicans ? ! ? < gritting teeth >
I got up early. To accommodate the expected 8 AM arrival of the Benjamin's RV Wash crew. < fume > When I finally got tired of waiting ... around 10 AM ... we went out to run some errands. I dropped Joanne off at the "99¢
Only Store" then drove downtown to pay our 2015 property tax bill at the Yuma County offices. After paying the tax bill
I returned to the "99¢
Only Store", picked up Joanne, and we went off in search of a recycling business. The one we usually use is temporarily inaccessible due to a bridge repair. We went from recycle business to recycle business, each one referring us to the next. One took only cardboard, one took only plastic, some of them don't deal with consumers, only commercial recycling ... and so on !
Back at home we had lunch, then the RV wash crew finally showed up to wash the truck camper. < sigh > That made us a little late for our regular Tuesday afternoon shift at the Humane Society. I spent two hours walking dogs and Joanne cuddled cats. As soon as we got home we went to do our daily Welcome Committee visits ; one new arrival ... from Ontario, Canada. We chatted with them until dark.
Wednesday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico
Sunny, chilly in the morning and evening, mild in the afternoon.
This morning we headed off to Mexico for dentist appointments. I had a rescheduled periodontal examination by my periodontist who had to leave unexpectedly while I was having my teeth cleaned two weeks ago. On that same day Joanne had cancelled her dental cleaning and examination because of her cold. Today after having her teeth cleaned she told the dentist about a problem she was experiencing with a back molar tooth. An x-ray revealed a crack in the tooth. The dentist was able to do the filling repair today. While Joanne was having her tooth repaired I walked across town to the veterinary pharmacy to buy some medications for our friend and neighbour Jeanine back home in B.C. She wanted me to buy for her four tubes of one medication, and six little bottles of another. < sigh > I bought one tube of the first and none of the second.
I back ordered the rest, with expected arrival date of February 1. I hate going to Los Algodones in January and February due to long line-ups to cross the border back into the U.S.
We returned to Yuma as soon as Joanne was finished at the dentist. We stopped at Lowe's where I needed to pick up a special ordered item. I had received a phone call yesterday advising me that it was in. < sigh > I got a surly, disinterested, Hispanic young man at Customer Service who could not get beyond his computer telling him that my special order item was not yet in. Then I got a young Hispanic female supervisor who simply echoed him. < sigh > Finally ... when I got the store manager involved, miraculously my special order item was found ! ! ! Yes, yes ... it certainly is hard to find good help, especially around the holidays !
We had a very late lunch at Subway then returned home. We did our daily Welcome Committee visit ... a couple that we know from B.C. arrived today ... then quickly got ready for the regular Wednesday late afternoon "light duty" potluck. Didn't we just have lunch three hours ago ? ! ? Joanne's contribution to potluck was a dessert recipe that she got from our friend Lynne a month or so ago in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. It was a big hit at today's potluck.
New Year's Eve ; Sunny but chilly.
Joanne now has her third cold in as many months ! ! ! Maybe the flu ! < sigh > My third cold is just ending. Wish me luck ! ! !
I puttered around with some minor maintenance chores. I trimmed my beard. I did some cactus gardening. When I began cactus gardening four years ago I assumed that cactus gardens were low / no maintenance. I was wrong ! Especially if they're left unattended for eight months. We did our daily "Welcome" visits. One new arrival and one new leaseholder / lot owner.
For supper I barbecued the last of our B.C. Sockeye Salmon. Joanne prepared a risotto with Crema CentroAmericana. After supper we went to the clubhouse for Kofa Ko-op's New York New Year's Eve party. That means ... at 10 PM local time everybody celebrates the arrival of New Year in New York, then leaves to go home to bed ! Isn't it fun to live with old folks ? ! ?
Joanne was feeling quite ill and left a few minutes after 10 PM. I stayed for another hour.
New Year's Day ; Happy New Year / Bonne Heureuse Année / Prospero Año Nuevo
WELL ! ! ! Wasn't that a boring and depressing New Year's Eve party ? ! ? HMPH !
Today was sunny and mild.
Joanne went Wal-Martin' this morning. By herself, mercifully ! I worked on trailer repairs. I took my bicycle to be serviced by a neighbour.
We were quite busy this afternoon welcoming new arrivals. Five of them ! Including our friends Bill and Lynne and their Pomeranian Windsor.
Saturday ; Sunny and mild.
This morning Joanne "undecorated". I did some minor truck maintenance. We trimmed Bo's nails. Then we headed out to do some thrift store shopping. We bought nothing at Salvation Army. I bought some clothing at Goodwill. On the way home we stopped for a late, all you can eat / ETYS buffet lunch at KFC.
This afternoon I completed the repairs to the Arizona room made necessary by the violent storm here last summer. I installed a new turbine vent on the roof of the shed. And I replaced three of the Arizona room's acoustic ceiling tiles and the bats of fiberglass insulation above them in the ceiling. Both jobs ... easier said than done !
In the evening I worked on reconciling month end and year end financial statements, and analyzing our financial performance for 2015. Not bad ! Not good ! Better than the overall performance of the stock market indexes, so ... better than "average", I guess. We’re not getting any richer, but we’re doing okay !
DSK
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