February 21 to 27, 2016

Sunday ; Sunny and hot. I baked potatoes and eggs in the Sun Oven today, to make potato salad for supper tonight.

This morning we did Bo-gility in our back yard, in the dog park behind our rear fence, and ... along the top of our rear fence. < sigh > Bo is certainly getting old. Not as much "spring" as he used to have.

This afternoon I started a landscaping job. I removed a section of Mexican brick pave stones around our water spigot, perhaps six feet by six feet or so. I am going to replace the Mexican brick pave stones with gravel to provide better drainage around the water spigot. Joanne helped me load the broken bricks and the intact bricks into the bed of the truck. We dumped the broken bricks into one of the park's dumpsters, and piled the intact bricks on the large pile of Mexican bricks stockpiled near the landscape shed.

We went to look at a car a neighbour is selling. It's the right age and price range for us. It's in excellent condition, but ... it has a standard transmission. Joanne won't accept a standard transmission. So ... no sale !

We went to the regular Sunday late afternoon / early evening ice cream social. We chatted with a newly arrived couple from our home town of Winnipeg. We've met and chatted with them before, a few years ago. Before living in Winnipeg they lived at the RV park "next door" to ours back home in BC.

Monday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico
Sunny and hot.

This morning as I was using my WaterPik, my temporary crown ... fell off ! < shrug >

As we were preparing to leave for Mexico, for my 12:30 PM dentist appointment to remove the temporary crown and install a permanent one, there was a knock at the door. It was an old man, probably in his 90's. He wanted to visit our Arizona room. He was the original owner of this lot, when the park was developed thirty years ago. And most significantly, it was him who built the large shed and wonderful Arizona room that we now enjoy. He told us the very sad story of how his wife, dying of cancer in 1999, spent her final days in a wheelchair in the Arizona room, enjoying the sun, warmth, and view. Thank you for coming to visit, and sharing your story with us, Hugh.

When we arrived in Los Algodones Joanne went to have a manicure and pedicure while I went to the dentist. She arrived at the dental clinic after her manicure and pedicure before I even got in to see the dentist. I try hard to be patient, but ... I don't really succeed !  I understand that the dental clinic has a short window of opportunity to make money during the very short peak Snowbird season of January and February, but ... I'm VERY irritated by the number of "walk in" clients that they accept and "squeeze in".
It resulted in those of us with appointments being delayed an hour and a half ! When
I finally got in to see the dentist, the "installation" of the permanent crown went well.

After the dentist, because I was unable to eat for at least an hour, and because I was suffering a bit of discomfort, Joanne thought we should just leave Mexico and return home. We went to a pharmacy and bought the antibiotic mouthwash the dentist prescribed, then headed for the border crossing. The line up to cross the border today was only about twenty minutes long. Once back across the border we drove to the "secret" pet cemetery where Sully's grave is, and placed a red silk rose that Bill and Lynne gave to us to put on his grave. Thank you, Bill and Lynne. Once back in Yuma we stopped at Home Depot to buy an item.

Once we were back at home we both lay down to take a nap. At 6 PM ... dog pack walk time ... there was another knock on the door. Bill and Liz came to ask us to join them on a final pack walk, and ... to give us all their food. HUH ? ! ? Because Bill had a heart attack last week, their Canadian travel medical insurer called them today to tell them that they would no longer cover any heart related medical expenses, starting in five days. So ... Bill and Liz have five days to drive back to Canada. We went on a final pack walk with them ... and Riley, then put all their food into our fridge. Goodbye Bill, Liz, and Riley. Hope we see you next winter season.

I went cycling just after sunset. And watched an amazing full "snow moon" rise over the Gila Mountains to the east.

Tuesday ; Sunny, warm, windy.

This morning Joanne went grocery shopping while I took care of household chores.
I brushed Bo's teeth, a weekly chore, and decided I would try to clean / scale the four teeth that seemed to have a tartar build up. He wasn't happy about that, but it got done. While checking the truck tires' air pressures I discovered a tire with a large nail in it.
< sigh > And you know how much I hate changing the rear dually tires on the truck.
I'll probably change the tire on Thursday. Unless if it loses air before that.

This afternoon we went to the Humane Society for our regular Tuesday afternoon shift of cat cuddling and dog walking. After we returned home we took Bo and Lucy for a walk in the dog park. Just us ... no pack. Riley's on his way home to BC ! Afterwards we chatted with our new next door neighbours in our Arizona room. I barbecued burgers and a Portobello mushroom for supper. Thanks again for the food, Bill and Liz.

In the evening I did monthly computer backup work.

Wednesday ; Sunny and very warm. We roasted a chicken with carrots and potatoes in the Sun Oven today.

This morning I removed the fifth wheel hitch from the bed of the truck then did a 6000 km. inspection on the truck. OOPS ... I should have done that 1000 km. ago !

This afternoon we ran errands. First I picked up my second pair of sandals from the shoe repair shop. I had a brand new pair of SAS sandals that I bought in Texas on Black Friday modified slightly at a shoe repair shop here in Yuma. Then we went to Harbor Freight and bought some guy stuff. WOO-HOO !   I love shopping at Harbor Freight. Joanne HATES going to Harbor Freight. Buy she has to come. Each trip to Harbor Freight I buy two items. And redeem two free item coupons. BUT ... only one free item coupon per customer. SO ... HA HA HA ... you do the math !

We shopped for an item at Staples. They didn't have what I needed. We bought some advertised specials at Walgreens. I refilled the truck with diesel at Fry's Fuel Bar. WOW ... lowest diesel price so far this winter season ! $1.65 per gallon. For my Canadian friends, that would be ... wait for it ... 42.9¢ per litre !

Final stop was Yuma Nursery Supply. I needed about half a yard of gravel for our lot. HMPH ! They don't sell gravel down here by the yard. They sell it by the ton. OK ...
I'll take half a ton, I guess. They weighed the truck, dumped a load of gravel into the bed, and weighed the truck again. WHEW ... 1120 pounds of gravel ! That's going to be a lot of shovelling !

We drove home and worked on getting the gravel out of the truck and into the yard in the areas where it was needed. We finished at sunset, tired and a bit filthy. We walked the dogs, then ate supper. Great roasted chicken !

Thursday ; Sunny and hot.

< sigh > This morning I changed a rear tire on the truck. The tire that I removed has a large nail embedded in it.

Just before noon we left to run errands. I dropped Joanne off at Wal-Mart then went to Pep Boys with the damaged tire. This is the second time that I have taken a damaged tire to Pep Boys, expecting to have it repaired for free. As a member of their affinity "club", carrying a Pep Boys card, I am entitled to one free tire repair per year. And ... for the second time ... they were "unable to fix it". I strongly suspect that every "free" tire repair request may be met with the same response ; "OH ... that can't be fixed !"

I drove to another tire shop ... a tiny, dirty, disorganized, Mexican "llantera"
( pronounced "yanterra" ), just like the little tire shops found in every little village in Mexico, no matter how small. "Can this be fixed ?" "Sure ! No problemo ! Seven bucks !" They offered to repair it while I waited. I declined the offer, and will pick it up tomorrow morning. And then I think I will cut my Pep Boys card into little bits !

I returned to Wal-Mart, picked up Joanne, and we went to Peter Piper Pizza to have pizza buffet lunch. We had been there before and did not like it, but now we had some coupons so decided to give them another try. Yeah ... we were right the first time. They're not very good at all !

After a less than mediocre lunch we drove all the way out to The Foothills to refill a propane tank at Cactus Propane. Only because I had some discount coupons. We arrived at 2:45 PM. They were closed, despite their signage indicating that their hours are 9 AM to 3 PM. Since Cactus Propane was recently bought by AmeriGas, their service has deteriorated a LOT ! So ... that makes THREE local businesses that we won't be doing business with any more, as a result of today's experiences ! On the way home we stopped at a used car lot to take a look at a car. What a piece of junk ! This day certainly didn't go particularly well, did it ?

Back at home, Joanne went to take a nap while I did some chores. HMPH ... that was somewhat odd. She rarely naps. At 6 PM we took the dogs for a walk around the dog park. Today was only the second time in the two weeks that we've had Lucy the Dachshund that she eagerly walked all the way around the perimeter of the dog park. Her physical fitness has improved while she's been with us. HA HA HA !

Friday ; Sunny and hot.

This morning we picked up Laszlo and Gail ( and DeeOJee ) and headed out. First stop was a used car lot to take a look at a 2003 Dodge Caravan I had seen yesterday when
I was taking the truck tire for repair. The asking price of the minivan was so ridiculous
I simply waved goodbye to the salesman and walked back to our truck and drove away. I picked up the repaired tire and we headed out of the city, crossing the Colorado River into California.

We drove northwest into Picacho State Recreation Area and drove down miles of dirt trails across the desert until we reached the area where people have been using rocks to write their names on the desert floor for decades. There are thousands and thousands of names written over miles and miles of remote desert. We drove around for awhile, then parked and hiked around for awhile. Bo and DeeOJee romped and explored. DeeOJee came back with a bleeding eye. Don't know how that happened ! ? ! Tough dogs, them Pit Bulls ! We had our picnic lunches, and planned how many rocks of what size do we need to collect to write our names in the desert next winter season. A fun project to look forward to next year. On the way back to Yuma we diverted to Bard and had date shakes. All of us. HA HA HA ... Bo can eat a date shake faster than DeeOJee can ! Proving that age and experience beats youth every time ! HA HA HA !

Back at home we took Bo and Lucy for a walk around the dog park, then went over to say farewell to Bill and Lynne ( and Windsor the Pomeranian ) who are leaving tomorrow. I cooked Pickerel for supper and we watched Amazing Race and Hell's Kitchen.

Saturday ; Sunny and hot. Didn't put on a shirt until almost 8 PM !

This morning Joanne went out to run shopping errands by herself. She didn't return home until fairly late in the afternoon. I took care of routine chores. I disinfected the trailer's freshwater tank. I remounted our garden hose caddy on the side yard brick fence. I polished shoes. And, you know ... < whispering > ... after lunch I napped.
HA HA HA !

I went over to Laszlo's and Gail's to show / teach them a magic trick and discuss some trailer maintenance issues with Laszlo. I suppose after twelve years of RV'ing it's now my turn to be the mentor. After Joanne returned home we remounted the repaired tire underneath the truck as the spare. We gave Bo a haircut. We have decided that instead of giving him a haircut every six months as we always have, we're going to give him a haircut every four months. In the evening we did some travel planning.

DSK

February 14 to 20, 2016

Sunday ; Valentine's Day

Sunny and hot, temperature reaching 90 degrees for the first time this season. Joanne prepared and I cooked a pot roast in the Sun Oven today.

Joanne went shopping by herself this afternoon. I had a bit of a lazy afternoon. I did
Bo-gility. We turned the Welcome Committee golf cart and supplies and responsibility over to Carolyn, this week's Welcome Committee ( with her husband Bob ). We returned the borrowed flame thrower. Good riddance ! Scary piece of equipment ! Joanne borrowed an electric juicer to squeeze a lot of lemons to obtain fresh lemon juice to make lemon meringue pies for the upcoming pie social fund raiser. I did some investment update work. Great < tongue in cheek > ! So far we have lost about $55,000 this year ! ! ! Might as well go nap with the dogs ! HA HA HA !

We took Bo and Lucy for a pack walk before going to the ice cream social. While chatting with Canadian friends afterwards the chairman of the audit committee found me in the clubhouse to advise me that there would be an "emergency" meeting of the audit committee tomorrow morning to discuss one member's opposition to one of the committee's recommendations. < rolling eyes > I'm of the opinion that since the annual general meeting is on Tuesday morning, and this particular member of the audit committee missed almost all of our meetings, that the time for debate has passed.

Monday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico

This morning I attended an "emergency" audit committee meeting at the clubhouse. It went well, from my perspective. After the meeting was over I watered all our plants and gardens, then we left for Mexico.

We arrived in Los Algodones around noon. We walked across and through town to Farmacia Veterinaria Safari where we bought two packages of heartworm medication for a neighbour's dog. We walked back through town and had a very quick lunch at our favourite restaurant. It was very busy at the restaurant, as it was everywhere in town. Is it spring break week ? We had to rush to make it to the dentist on time.

I recently broke a tooth. Dr. Armando, a new dentist in Clinica Dr. Camacho, recently graduated from nearby Universidad Mexicali, examined and x-rayed my broken tooth, then confirmed that a repair was not possible, it would need to be crowned / capped.
< sigh > It took an hour and a half to grind down the broken tooth and install a temporary crown. And it took five injections of anaesthetic before I was "frozen" sufficiently to allow him to grind the broken tooth down to a stub suitable to accept a crown. By the time the work was completed, my jaw ached, I was sore underneath my tongue, and I was "frozen" from behind my left ear to the right side of my nose ! ! !

Before leaving Los Algodones we bought some pan dulce at the panaderia. The line up to cross the border was very long, as it always is in January and February, but ... it took only half an hour to reach the CBP inspection agents and cross the border back into the United States. As we drove home my discomfort increased.

Once we were back home I took some pain killers then napped for an hour before going on the daily pack walk, followed by bicycling at sunset. We didn't eat supper until 8:30 PM, and my face was still "frozen" at that time. SHEEESH !

Tuesday ; Sunny and hot. I am still sore in the mouth, particularly my left jaw and under the left side of my tongue.

We were up early to get to the clubhouse before 9 AM to register for the annual general meeting which started at 9 AM. The meeting progressed well, and quickly, and was over by 11:30 AM. Before coming home for a quick lunch we went over to console a neighbour who had failed in his bid to be re-elected to the Board of Directors.

At 12:20 we picked up Laszlo and Gail and headed to the Quechan Casino on Interstate 8 on the other / California side of the Colorado River for the annual local meeting of the Canadian Snowbirds Association at 1 PM. The meeting was okay ... somewhat of a waste of time perhaps.

By the time we got back home around 4:30 PM I felt in desperate need of a nap.
I napped with Bo and Lucy, then Joanne and I took the dogs for our daily pack walk.
I cycled at sunset, then while Joanne went to the clubhouse for the annual "Hail & Farewell" ceremony ( to say "goodbye" to outgoing Board members and "hello" to incoming Board members ), I made supper for myself ; cream of mushroom soup and pad Thai. Yesterday's supper and today's lunch were too "hard" for me. I need soft foods for awhile.

Wednesday ; Sunny and hot. Joanne cooked a Mexican Chicken & Rice casserole in the Sun Oven today for this afternoon's Happy Hour Potluck. My jaw and under my tongue are still sore.

This morning I drove to the shoe repair place where I had dropped off a pair of sandals a few days ago for repair. I picked up the repaired sandals, and left them a brand new pair of identical sandals to make an identical "preventive" repair / modification. I was home by noon, when I made a Skype test video call to our 94 year old friend Eilene in Oregon. I will be using Skye video to bring Eilene to the pie social in the clubhouse on Saturday.

After an early lunch we left for the Humane Society. We missed our regular Tuesday afternoon shift yesterday, so we went today instead. I dropped Joanne off at the Humane Society then I drove to The Foothills to refill a propane tank and buy a couple of propane fittings at Cactus Propane, then I returned to the Humane Society. I walked dogs, Joanne cuddled cats.

As we were leaving we received some very interesting information. Last week we brought home three kittens born a day earlier. They are now nine days old, and thriving with their foster mother in Phoenix. Today ... Animal Control brought in a sibling / litter mate of theirs. A kitten from the same address, now nine days old. It obviously had been nursing from the natural mother, still not caught. The fourth kitten went home with a Humane Society staff member for tonight. Tomorrow morning it will be heading off to Phoenix to join its three litter mates. It was pleasing to advise our friend Carol Mae tonight. She cared for the new born kittens last week for about thirty-six straight hours.

Upon our return home from the Humane Society we took the casserole out of the Sun Oven and headed to the clubhouse for the potluck. As the potluck was starting, in walked our dear old friends from Barrie, Ontario, Hans and Peta. WOO-HOO ! Three years ago Hans and Peta adopted a kitten that we rescued in this park. It had been feral born in our dog park. After dinner we visited in the clubhouse for awhile with Hans and Peta, then went over to their motorhome to see the cat. It was thrilling to see her now, three years later, all grown up, and named Kofi. A much loved and very cared for cat, living the good life on the road in a large motorhome with her "brother" Simon the Siamese. What a rescue success story !

Tonight we watched the season premiere of Survivor. WOO-HOO !

Sometimes life seems good, n'est-ce pas ?

Thursday ; Partially cloudy, warm, a bit humid.

This morning I compiled the tools and hardware needed for my water heater maintenance seminar this afternoon. After lunch I conducted the water heater maintenance seminar for about a dozen people at Laszlo's and Gail's trailer. Their trailer is about three years old, and the water heater has had no regular preventive maintenance, so it was a very good demonstration of what needs to be done to an RV water heater, how, and why.

After the seminar I visited with Laszlo and Gail for awhile, then came home and took a well deserved nap before going on today's pack walk with Bo and Lucy. Lucy's tolerance for walking is increasing. She has such short legs, and is a teensy bit pudgy. Afterwards I went to the truck camper and did a bit of preventive maintenance before going bicycling at sunset.

I cooked Manitoba / Lake Winnipeg Pickerel again for supper. My goodness, I certainly did buy a lot of it when we were in Winnipeg in October !

Friday ; Mostly sunny, a bit of thin cloud, warm. Joanne cooked Sweet & Sour Chicken in the Sun Oven today, a new recipe she created.

I had a lazy day. I thought it was earned and deserved. Joanne worked in the clubhouse with a group making lemon meringue pies for tomorrow's pie social. We chatted with friends. We chatted with new neighbours. We walked the dogs. Tonight we watched episode two of Amazing Race.

Saturday ; Sunny and hot.

We found out this morning that our friend Bill had a heart attack two days ago, in the middle of the night, Wednesday night to Thursday morning. WHAAAAAT ? ? ? ! ! !
We don't know how Liz kept that news from everyone, but now we know why Bill, Liz, and Riley have not been on the daily pack walks for the last couple of days. I walked over to their trailer to see if Liz was home and needed any help to care for Riley. She wasn't home, Riley was barking, their rig was unlocked, so ... I took Riley ! He spent the day with me, Bo and Lucy.

Joanne was busy from early morning until mid-afternoon with the Welcome Committee's pie social fund raiser. The pie social started at 2 PM and was finished about 3 PM. I set up my laptop in the clubhouse, connected and configured it to the clubhouse's big screen TV, and at 2:30 brought our 94 year old friend Eilene in ... from Oregon, via Skype video call. The featured pies were Eilene's recipe lemon meringue pies. The limited bandwidth this park's Wi-Fi has resulted in a poor connection, and the call was dropped within just a few minutes, but in those few minutes everybody got to see and hear Eilene on the big screen TV. About $400 was raised selling pies at a couple of bucks per slice, and some whole pies were auctioned off at about $25 per pie.

Shortly after the pie social, Liz arrived to retrieve Riley. And ... < sputter > ... Bill was with her ! ! ! Two and a half days, from arrival in emergency having a heart attack, to diagnosis and treatment plan, to stent insertion surgery, to discharge. WOW ! The Yuma Regional Medical Center certainly is capable of dealing with heart attacks efficiently ! I suppose there's a certain advantage to being in a "Snowbird" destination like Yuma. There certainly is a lot of expertise in geriatric medical issues here. HA HA HA ! Plus ... < whispering > ... I think there was some concern on the part of the hospital on how profitable it is ( or isn’t ) treating Canadians. The amount of time one spends in a hospital here has a direct correlation to how well insured one is. And the Canadian travel medical insurers “persuade” the hospitals here to “treat ‘em quick, and get ‘em out”, or the insurer will simply air ambulance the patient back to Canada for treatment.

Welcome back, Bill !

DSK

February 7 to 13, 2016

Sunday ; Sunny and warm. Joanne cooked a "lazy cabbage roll" casserole in the Sun Oven. < whispering > It didn't turn out as well as expected. Kind of ... "gummy" ! HMPH ! Overcooked !

This morning while I took care of routine chores Joanne went grocery shopping.

This afternoon I installed a new propane leak detector alarm in the trailer. I did some minor maintenance work on the camper. I tried but failed to connect the trailer's old stereo's speakers to the TV. We went on the daily pack walk.

This evening we attended the regular Sunday ice cream social. Announcements and conversation were made difficult to impossible by the Super Bowl game on the TV. Good to see at least two Canadians in Super Bowl commercials ; Drake and Eugene Levy ( from Schitt's Creek ).

Today was the first day of another week long stint for us as the Welcome Committee. Easy job today, no new arrivals. HA HA HA !

Monday ; Sunny and warm. Today we sun dried tomatoes in the Sun Oven.

I watered all my cactus gardens. I'm very pleased with how well my cactus gardening has developed over the last four years of living here during the winters. I printed the audit committee report to the annual general meeting that I wrote and I delivered it to the committee chairman for his review and ( hopefully ) approval. I did some final touch up work on the caulking I recently did on the truck camper's taillight and generator compartment door. While I was doing that Joanne went shopping in preparation for tomorrow's doggy birthday party.

For about two and a half years there has been a squeak underneath the trailer when we are inside the trailer moving around. I have made a few attempts to locate and rectify it. I failed ! Until today ! WOO-HOO ! Finally !   I spent much of the afternoon working on solving that problem. It was difficult to locate the cause. And even more difficult to eliminate it. And I was certainly filthy by the time I had finished. I wonder if my neighbours are as happy as I am that the squeak is finally eliminated. HA HA HA !

After getting cleaned up ... < "Joanne ... the bathroom sink is dirty" > ... we took Bo on the daily pack walk then did our Welcome Committee visits. Four arrivals today.

While I think she has over done it a bit, Joanne prepared for tomorrow's birthday party for Bo. And she has done a great job !

Tuesday ; HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY to BO    and    Mardi Gras

Sunny and hot ! It's about time ! Well ! Wasn't this an interesting day ? ! ?

This morning at 11 AM eight of Bo's dog friends arrived for Bo's birthday party. Along with their fourteen people ! As I am typing this at 10:30 PM Joanne is singing "It's my party and I'll snap if I want to ... snap if I want to ... you would snap too if it happened to you !" HA HA HA ! HEY ! What good is a dog birthday party without a pit bull fight or two ? HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

Bo's birthday party started in the dog park behind our back yard and eventually migrated into our back yard and then into our Arizona room as the crowd eventually thinned out around 12:30 PM. Joanne served birthday cake made out of canned dog food. It was a big hit with most of the dogs. Zona didn't really like it. Windsor wasn't allowed to have any. As DeeOJee the pit bull picked up a big square of it off a plate, Bo lunged at her face and bit off the half of the "cake" piece protruding from her mouth ! ! ! JESUS, BO ! ! ! Do you think that ripping food out of a pit bull's mouth is the wisest thing you've ever done ? ? ?

Spanky and Riley got into a little bit of a dog fight in our Arizona room. Spanky's owner Judy got bit trying to break that up ! Outside in the back yard ... Bo "attacked" DeeOJee the pit bull ... TWICE ! JESUS, BO ! Do you think that attacking a pit bull is the wisest thing that you've ever done ? ? ? ? ? Bo was on an adrenaline high during his birthday party. TWICE ... he perceived that DeeOJee might be walking threateningly too close to his Dachshund buddy Lucy ... so he lunged at DeeOJee, snapping and snarling viciously ! DeeOJee returned the snapping and snarling and quickly moved away. Lucy just cowered under a chair. HA HA HA ! What fun was had by all ! ! !

The Mexican work crew building a yard shed next door could NOT believe their eyes when sixteen loco gringos began singing "Happy Birthday" ... to a perrito ! < roflmao >

After lunch we headed to the Humane Society for our regular Tuesday afternoon shift of dog walking and cat cuddling. Our neighbour and friend Carol Mae was already there. AND ... < sputter > ... she had sort of volunteered herself AND US to share responsibility for providing emergency foster care to ... wait for it ... three kittens born less than a day ago ! ! ! OH MY GOD ! What a challenge !

Animal Control had just brought in three new born kittens ... without their mother ! Carol Mae had to leave shortly after we arrived. So ... after our shift of dog walking and cat cuddling, we ... brought the three kittens home ! Along with their supplies of KMR ( Kitten Milk Replacement ) formula, and feeding bottles, etc. We fed them for our first time. They had already been fed once at the Humane Society. They need to be fed about every two hours or so ! It was a steep learning curve, but we got the three of them fed. I fed one, Joanne fed one, our friend Lynne fed one. Then they needed their bellies rubbed gently ... simulating the licking by their mother ... until they urinated and defecated.

They still have their umbilical cords attached !
Before they needed another meal Carol Mae came over to get them. Shortly afterwards her husband Larry came over with a plea for help. Carol Mae was having difficulty feeding them. I went over and gave her the benefit of my wisdom and experience
< snicker >. Actually ... that experience left me feeling sceptical of our chances for success. I'm already thinking / feeling that maybe one of the kittens has a slim chance for survival and the other two may have less than slim to no chance.

< sigh > Wish us and the kittens a lot of luck !

Wednesday ; Happy 67th Birthday to my sister Sharon
Sunny and hot, temperature 86º F / 30º C. AHHHHH !

WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO ! ! ! ! ! The kittens survived the second night of their lives, their first night away from their mother, in the hands of Carol Mae. Congratulations, Carol Mae, well done ! AND ... this afternoon the Humane Society found a foster mother for them in Phoenix, so they will be leaving here at 6:45 AM tomorrow morning and by 10:45 AM should be in the care of their new foster mother in Phoenix.

I phoned my sister to wish her Happy Birthday. As the Welcome Committee, early in the day we visited a rig that arrived late yesterday. Later in the day we visited two rigs that arrived today. We hosted this afternoon's Happy Hour potluck at 5 PM, and at 5:30 presented the two part Bill and Lynne travel slide show. Part one, narrated by me ; Bill and Lynne visit Daniel and Joanne in British Columbia. Part two, narrated by Bill ; Bill and Lynne continue on to Alaska and Yukon. Afterwards we sat in the clubhouse and chatted until 8:15 PM. Joanne returned home and I rushed off to Lowe's to return an item.

Thursday ; Sunny and hot, very gentle breeze. What a perfect day for our road clean up event.

Around noon as we were preparing for our road clean up event Joanne was in the clubhouse and stumbled upon a couple from France who were here to check out our park. It's unusual to hear a French accent down here, so as soon as Joanne heard it, she spoke to the couple in French. She brought them over to our Arizona room and we visited for half an hour or so. He's originally from New York, she's from France, they live in France nine months of the year, and are "Snowbirds" like us in the southern U.S. for three months every winter. HA HA HA ... his French is a bit difficult to understand because he speaks French with a "New Yawk" accent. They store their motorhome in Dallas, and fly to and from France from there.

At 1 PM we led a group of sixteen people on the "3rd Annual Ronnie Labrecque Memorial Road Clean Up" event. It's an honour for me to organize this event each year in tribute to our departed friend. We were finished and back relaxing on the park's south patio by 2:30 PM. We rested and chatted for awhile before doing our daily "Welcome Committee" visits.

On today's pack walk we were joined by a new dog, Saxon, a Chocolate Labrador. His owner, a single woman, has been a full time RV'er for less than three months. We decided to treat ourselves to dinner out at Olive Garden. When we arrived at Olive Garden, there was a line up, and I did not feel like waiting. We bought a bunch of junk food at Del Taco and took it home to eat, stopping on the way home at Fry's Fuel Bar to refill with diesel.

Friday ; Sunny and hot.

We spent the entire morning participating in the annual spring cleaning of our clubhouse. WHEW ... we took on a very tough job. We cleaned all the windows on the outside. That included removing all the sun screens and cleaning out all the accumulated sand and spider's webs behind the screens using compressed air. We started at 9:30 AM and didn't finish until about 1 PM.

After lunch I napped briefly then worked on household chores until it was time to head to the south patio at 4 PM for a neighbours' sixtieth anniversary party. It was great to see Gary and Mickey celebrate sixty years of marriage, made especially wonderful by Mickey's astounding recovery from a debilitating stroke about a year ago.

We had no Welcome Committee visits to do today. We went on the daily pack walk and met new neighbours who have just purchased a park model manufactured home a few sites over from us. As the sun set and it became dark we set up two patio tables out front by the road and set up our surplus items for sale tomorrow morning at the park wide yard sale. While doing that I sold an item for five bucks. Delivery included ! HA HA HA !

Late in the evening we watched the season premiere of Amazing Race.

Saturday ; Sunny and hot.

We were up much too early this morning because ... Lucy the Dachshund was coming over at 8 AM and the park wide yard sale was starting at 8 AM. Joe and Alene brought Lucy over, then left for the drive to San Diego where they will be boarding a cruise ship to Hawaii tomorrow morning. Lucy will be living with us for the next sixteen days. Tonight she was not very happy about that !

I did not sell much at the yard sale. < whispering > I quite dislike selling stuff at yard sales. I would just as soon put it on a bargain table or donate it to a thrift store. Or even better yet ... let Joanne handle the selling while I do other things. Like sleep !

Mostly as a result of people stopping to view our items for sale, then being curious about our Arizona room and back yard, I gave ... < thinking > ... four tours of our Arizona room and back yard this morning. And had an impromptu audit committee meeting in the Arizona room. And the visitors from France that were here yesterday returned today. To put their money down to get on our lot waiting list. WOW ! They were very impressed with what we told them and showed them yesterday. So ... in four years or so they will get to the number one position on our park's waiting list and become lot owners / neighbours in our community.

This afternoon, as the Welcome Committee, we visited the newest lot owners / leaseholders in our park. Then we went shopping / running errands in The Foothills.
We returned home in time to "welcome" a new arrival in the park before going on the daily pack walk. Two new dogs joined us today, along with Riley, one of the "original" pack members. Lucy the three month old Australian Shepherd was almost too much for Bo to bear. But Bo's a good dog, and he tolerated the pup's exuberance as she leapt over him repeatedly as we walked a lap around the seven acre dog park. There certainly are a lot of dogs named Lucy in this park.

After the pack walk, with less than an hour of daylight left, and the temperature cooling, we burned our entire back yard patio area with a propane flame thrower, to kill all the Goat's Head Cacti seed pods and seedlings. First time I have used a flame thrower.
< blink blink > Somewhat dangerous piece of equipment, n'est-ce pas ? Good thing
I switched from sandals to solid shoes. Good thing I didn't set the Arizona room exterior walls on fire !

There was a Valentine's Day dance in our clubhouse tonight, but Joanne and I did not attend. Instead ... we spent the evening listening to Lucy the Dachshund whining.
< rolling eyes > She wants to go home !

DSK

January 31 to February 6, 2016

Sunday ; Sunny, warm, very windy.

This morning and early afternoon I worked on some month end financial work, including reconciling and paying bills. After lunch I headed to the clubhouse for an audit committee annual audit exercise.

We had been invited to Bill's and Lynne's for an early dinner before the ice cream social. Joanne and Bo went over to their place at 3:30 PM. I arrived after the audit committee meeting ended, at 5:20 PM. Sorry ! They were just finishing dinner. I ate quickly, took Bo home, and we went to the ice cream social.

Once again we were unable to receive a satellite TV signal for PBS, so we missed seeing Downton Abbey tonight. DARN !   I worked on the computer, posting my weekly blog entry, and reviewing the correspondence and minutes of the board meeting from our RV park back home in Keremeos, B.C. SHEEESH !   It seems as if the winter must be getting to those folks ! Relax, people ... take a pill ! ! !

Monday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico

Sunny, mild, very windy.

Late this morning we headed for Mexico. Once across the border Joanne went to Tere's Beauty & Barber Shop for a pedicure ( $10 ) while I walked across town to Farmacia Veterinaria Safari to buy some pet medications for a neighbour / friend back home in B.C. By the time I returned to Tere's Joanne's pedicure was complete and she was getting a haircut ( $5 ). I also got a haircut ( $3 ). And beard and moustache trim ( $2 ). And eyebrow trim. And ear hair trim. Mexican hairstylists are very thorough ! HA HA HA !

We went for lunch to our favourite little restaurant in Los Algodones. We each had tres tacos. Mine were carne asada, machaca, and camarón. Joanne's were carne asada, pescada, and pastor. I had a Coca-Cola Light, and Joanne had a Fanta Naranja. Great lunch, as usual ! Eleven bucks !

We wandered around town browsing, then stocked up on some pan dulce at a panaderia. On impulse I purchased a pound of fresh, huge shrimp. Caught yesterday at Puerto Peñasco on the nearby Sea of Cortez / Gulf of California, brought into Los Algodones this morning. Ten headless shrimp to the pound ! < blink blink > They don't get any larger than that ! Once I bought the fresh shrimp it was time to begin heading back to the border crossing. On the way to the border we bought some Mini-Nugs,
Mini-CocoNugs, and Creminos, our favourite Mexican chocolate bars and chocolates.

The line up at the border crossing was extremely short for this time of year. Once back in the United States we drove to the "secret" pet cemetery hidden out in the desert and paid a visit to Sully's grave. We placed some special rocks on it that we had brought from home. < sigh > We miss Sully. It's been almost a year since he died. Once back in Yuma we stopped at Wal-Mart to get a few items. We arrived home in time for the daily 5 PM pack walk.

Tuesday ; Sunny and warm, evening chilly.

This morning Joanne attended two meetings, one to count laundromat money, a regular "committee obligation" of hers, and another meeting to plan the upcoming pie social. We had a visit from Joe and Alene, neighbours from across the street. They brought over Lucy, their Dachshund. We are caring for Lucy today and overnight as a "test run" for her staying with us for a couple of weeks when Joe and Alene are on a cruise later this month. Lucy is currently ( 9 PM ) snoozing on the sofa, having just been walked, and fed, and finished her "happy dance". HA HA HA ... sleep well, little Lucy.

After lunch we took a large load of recycling to the local recycling business, then went to the Humane Society for our regular Tuesday afternoon shift of dog walking and cat cuddling. I made friends today with a new volunteer, a woman about our age, from West Virginia. Like me, she has had a lifetime of pet ownership, and a lengthy career as a very successful pet related small business owner. In the cat wing today was a gorgeous Seal Point Applehead Siamese that reminded me of Sully. We arrived back home just in time for the daily pack walk at 5 PM. Lucy was unable to make it all the way around the seven acre dog park with the rest of the pack. She has pretty short legs ! HA HA HA !

Now Bo is sleeping on the couch with Lucy. Where am I supposed to sit when I want to watch a TV show in ten minutes ? ! ?

After supper ... Pasta Alfredo with shrimp for me, without for Joanne ... I did month end bank account reconciliations. Joanne worked on preparing two desserts for tomorrow's Renters' Appreciation Dinner.

Wednesday ; Sunny and warm. Joanne cooked a huge pot of carrots and pineapples in the Sun Oven today as part of her contribution to our table tonight at the Renters' Appreciation Dinner. She was the hostess of our table of fourteen.

This morning I headed to the Humane Society to pick up the hooded sweater I lost / left there yesterday. After returning home I took Bo into the dog park for an obedience session, then into our back yard for a Bo-gility session. Well done, Bo, good dog.

After lunch I had a meeting with the chairman of the audit committee. I am helping him to write the audit committee's report to the Board of Directors at the upcoming Annual General Meeting. I am also writing and presenting the audit committee's verbal presentation to the AGM. I did some household chores and some annual maintenance chores, then it was time to prepare for the Renters' Appreciation Dinner.

Joanne was the host of our table of fourteen people. Each table was comprised of three lot owner couples and four renter couples. The lot owners provided all the food, as appreciation for the renters who spend their money staying in our park all winter. The Renters' Appreciation Dinner is an annual event. And tonight it was exceptionally well attended. Full clubhouse. About 250 people ! ! ! ALL renters assigned seating.

It was our intention to have a travel slide show presented tonight in the clubhouse, on the large screen TV, immediately after dinner. A two part travel slide show. Part one ; Bill and Lynne ... renters from Connecticut ... visit Daniel and Joanne ... lot owners from British Columbia ... last summer in the beautiful Okanagan / Similkameen region of British Columbia. Part two ; Bill and Lynne continue on to visit Alaska and Yukon.

I was sternly cautioned twice today that our travel slide show must be completed by 6:30 PM, when the "games players" take over the clubhouse. HMPH ! Tonight's "games", a five night a week activity, should have been cancelled ! Instead ... I realized as dinner was finishing around 6:10 PM, and the clubhouse was still a "zoo" with a couple of hundred people milling about, that presenting our travel slide show was not possible.

Good call, Daniel. Some decisions are just ... "right" !  I postponed our travel slide show until next Wednesday's potluck dinner, which Joanne and I will be "hosting". After the clubhouse quieted down, and many people left, and the games players settled into their tables, Joanne and I remained behind and chatted with friends for another three hours.

EXCELLENT Saskatoon berry matrimonial cake, my dear ! ! ! And our neighbour Bebe's Thai food was "to die for" ! ! ! Geez I love Bebe's Thai cooking ! Did I mention ... our neighbour Bebe was "Miss Thailand" forty-some years ago ?

Thursday ; Sunny and cool. Today we roasted a chicken in the Sun Oven for supper tomorrow.

This morning we gave Bo a bath. What a stinky little dog he gets to be !

This afternoon Joanne went grocery shopping by herself. I set up and configured an old computer monitor in the trailer, hooked up to my laptop, and positioned in the entertainment center cubby hole recently vacated by the repositioning / remounting of our TV. When Joanne returned home I went to the storage yard to work on the truck camper. I finished up some reassembly work inside the generator compartment, then silicone sealed the tail light assembly and generator compartment door. FINISHED ! The truck camper dinette seat reupholstery project is compete ! While I was working on the truck camper Joanne went to a park anniversary celebration at the clubhouse. When I was finished working on the truck camper I took Bo on the daily pack walk. Pack of one dog ! Just Bo today !

We wanted to go on a "date night" tonight. We had two choices for entertainment ; a free jazz "Big Band" outdoor concert at 6 PM, or a foreign art film at 7 PM. We weren't ready to leave in time for the 6 PM concert, and it seemed a bit too chilly for an outdoor concert tonight. So we headed "downtown" for dinner and a movie. We went for dinner to Copper Miner Kitchen. They were quite busy tonight and service was slow. At 6:50 PM we had finished our soup course, but our main course had not yet arrived. We told our waitress we were leaving and would be back shortly after 9 PM. We got up and left !

We walked to Historic Yuma Theater to see their monthly foreign art film presentation. Tonight's film was from France, a teen angst film entitled Respire ( Breathe ). It was preceded by a "short" entitled Bonne Esperance ( Good Hope ), a middle aged angst film. There's a lot of angst in France, apparently. HA HA HA ! Both films were good. We returned to Copper Miner Kitchen shortly after 9 PM and had the rest of our supper. MMMMM ... good liver and onions, tonight’s “all you can eat” special.

< BURP > OH ... excuse me ! Perhaps I shouldn’t have eaten that much liver and onions that late at night ? !

Friday ; Sunny and mild. Should be warming up again soon.

We spent much of the day shopping in The Foothills, on the eastern side of Yuma. First stop was the Helping Hands Yard Sale at Gila Mountain United Methodist Church. It's a massively huge yard sale held twice a year. Almost everybody in Yuma goes to the Helping Hands Yard Sale. Today we met two friend / neighbour couples there. We bought some items, a bit more than we usually do ; some guy stuff / hardware, a pair of shoes for Joanne, a coat for Joanne, a brand new shirt for me with the new tags still attached. Next was CVS and Walgreens, the two pharmacy chain stores located across the street from one another in The Foothills, same as they are in Yuma proper.

By then it was time for a late lunch. We went to Applebee's because we had a lunch special coupon. The food was excellent. And just like our visit there about a year ago, there was a problem with the processing of the lunch special coupon on our bill, despite me discussing it with our waitress before placing our order The "manager" who came to our table to discuss it was condescending. That cost our waitress any hope of a tip. And it lost them a customer forever. There are plenty of other places to spend our money !

While I shopped at Al's RV Service & Supply, Joanne shopped at the "99 Cent Only Store". Today was the monthly 15% off everything sale at Al's RV. Well ... not quite everything. Batteries are excluded. And I bought a very expensive new battery for Elsie the truck camper. As well as a new propane alarm for Harvey the fifth wheel trailer, another expensive item. Our final destination was Cactus Propane. When we arrived there it was closed, apparently due to some temporary problem. By then I was all "shopped out" and ready to return home.

On the way home we stopped at a roadside fruit vendor and Joanne bought some huge lemons. She needs a lot of lemon juice for the ten lemon meringue pies she will be baking with a group of other women for an upcoming "pie social".

We took Bo on the daily pack walk. I went bicycling at sunset. I helped Carol Mae set up some small animal traps to catch the feral cat and her kittens which have been living underneath a fifth wheel trailer in the park. It wasn't long before they were trapped ! And I went over to offer first aid assistance to Laszlo who was injured today while "mining" out in the desert. He sustained a very deep and severe cut on his arm when he fell on rocks. Way out in the desert ! While alone ! < whispering > Dumbass !

Saturday ; Sunny and warm. Joanne cooked chocolate rice pudding in the Sun Oven today. And I gave a Sun Oven demonstration to our new next door neighbour, including cooking her a "hard boiled" / baked egg.

This morning I visited Laszlo to check on how his injured / cut arm was doing. By the time he returned home last night the bleeding had stopped, and by this morning it seemed too late to go for stitches. Still a dumbass ! My home made ( by me ) pine sap salve seemed to have helped. I hope it continues to do so.

This afternoon I worked on the truck camper. I installed a new wireless security alarm system, and I installed a new battery. I printed the first ... and then the second ... drafts of the audit committee's presentation to the upcoming AGM that I wrote, and delivered them to the committee chairman for his review. I cooked chicken liver as a gift for Bo's upcoming birthday.

I cooked Manitoba / Lake Winnipeg Pickerel for supper. I spent the evening working on year end and month end financial statement reviews and reconciliations and analysis. YIKES ! The good news is ... we made some annuity type investment changes about six or seven years ago that had " fixed annual guaranteed growth" and those changes now look absolutely brilliant.

DSK