January 13 to 19, 2019

Sunday ; Sunny and mild, a lovely day.

This afternoon I began working on a caulking project on the camper. I am removing old caulking, cleaning, and replacing with new caulking. I have done many sections of the camper previously, and continue to work on replacing old, dried, and cracked caulking, usually when a leak rears its ugly head. As it did late last summer on our trip to Bella Coola, and again on our wet trip down I-5 in November.

In the evening I did some work on our investment files, and posted my weekly blog entry.

Monday ; Cloudy, mild, intermittent light rain starting late in the afternoon.

This morning we cleaned the front patio roof fascia panels, finishing that moulding insert removal project. This afternoon we continued removing old, dried, cracked caulking from the top front of the camper. I used a scraper blade on a reciprocating tool to remove the old caulking. It worked well. I scraped off caulking, and Joanne cleaned. And … as soon as we were finished removing all the caulking … < sigh > … it began to rain. I wonder if any of the rain will find its way into the camper ? ! ? Story of my life !

In the evening I was dragged kicking and screaming to Wal-Mart. More “story of my life” ! HA HA HA !

Tuesday ; Cloudy, mild, raining lightly until early afternoon. Very thick fog late in the evening.

This morning I took an empty propane tank to be refilled and I repaired Joanne’s sunglasses. After lunch we went to the Humane Society for our regular weekly volunteer shift of dog walking and cat cuddling. In the evening I reconciled December’s investment statements.

Wednesday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico

Sunny and mild. Today was a long and tiring but productive ( and very expensive ) day in Mexico.

At 11:15 AM we left home heading for Mexico and Joanne’s noon appointment for her second ( of three planned ) sclerotherapy treatments. We arrived at the medical clinic at 11:55 AM and the dermatologist was ready to see Joanne. < blink blink > That was a bit unusual. Usually doctors in Mexico operate on … well … Mexican time. HA HA HA ! The dermatologist was pleased with the results of the first treatment.

After leaving the medical clinic ( about 12:20 PM ) we walked across town to Meyer Optical where we each had an eye exam, then selected frames and ordered two pairs of glasses each. Two exams by an opthalmologist and four pairs of glasses … U.S.$550 ! Seems like a lot of money ( equivalent to about $750 Canadian ) but four pairs of glasses in Canada would probably cost about $2000, not including the eye exams ! We have purchased glasses in Los Algodones before, a few times at Algodones Optical, and once at Meyer Optical. Algodones Optical is cheaper, but Meyer Optical offers better products and better services. We will pick up our four pairs of glasses in four weeks when we return to Mexico for Joanne’s next sclerotherapy treatment. Both of my two pairs of glasses will be in unbreakable / flexible Titanium frames. My “regular” glasses will have tri-focal, Sun Sensor, anti-reflective coated Crizal lenses, so … the expense is understandable.

By the time we were finished at Meyer Optical it was 2 PM. Time for a late lunch. We went to El Rancherito,a restaurant we had not been to before. Lunch was good. And so was the service. We will return there. I had dos burritos de pollo, con arroz, frijoles, y guacomole. Joanne had tres tostados de rez, con arroz. I had a Coca-Cola Light ( Mexican version of Diet Coke ), Joanne ordered a Fanta Naranja, was served an Orange Crush. Close enough, I guess. HA HA HA !

After lunch Joanne went to Tere’s Beauty Shop for a pedicure while I went shopping for medications. I bought the meds I needed then went to the beauty shop and waited for Joanne’s pedicure to be finished. As we left Tere’s I realized that I had lost my sweater, so we had to backtrack looking for it. I found it at the restaurant.

We walked back to the border where the line-up was obscenely long, not surprising, I suppose, since the Customs and Border Patrol agents are working without pay ! ! ! We arrived at 3:40 PM at the line-up to cross the border, and we crossed the border at 5:20 PM ! HMPH !

On the way home we stopped at Sprouts ( a new, upscale supermarket,a bit similar to Trader Joe’s ) to buy some advertised groceries, and at “DD’s” to ( unsuccessfully ) shop for some slippers.

Thursday ; Happy 20^th Birthday to Joanne’s niece Madeleine

Mostly cloudy, mild.

This afternoon I continued working on caulking the front and top of the camper. I did not quite finish. Maybe tomorrow, although I’m probably going to run out of caulking before I finish, and will have to go buy another tube of caulking.

This evening we went to the monthly foreign art film presented at Historic Yuma Theatre by Arizona Western College. Tonight was an Israeli film about three young Palestinian women and the trials and tribulations of their love lives. Good movie, although a sad ending. On the way home we bought Big Buford burgers and chili cheese fries at Rally’s to take home for a very late supper. MMMMM !

Friday ; Sunny, mild, windy.

After lunch Joanne left to go grocery shopping. I went to the storage yard to work on the camper recaulking project. I ran out of caulking before the project was finished. I had somewhat expected that. As soon as Joanne returned home ( at 5 PM ) we left for The Foothills. I wanted to view a set of four Fast Gun truck camper tie downs. I have wanted Fast Guns for quite awhile. The seller was asking much more than I was willing to pay, but … he was reasonable and flexible, and sold them to me for the price I was willing to pay. Thank you, John !

Saturday ; Sunny and warm. Joanne cooked a wonderful chicken and vegetables recipe in the Sun Oven today.

This morning I headed out to RV Connection to buy another tube of caulking for the camper project. On the way back home I refilled Obie with fuel. After lunch and a brief nap I went to the storage yard and finished the camper caulking project. AHHHHH … another big job completed !

Today I applied a “bumper sticker” to the rear window of Obie. It reads “Yuma Art Center”. I picked it up at the Historic Yuma Theater when we were there a few nights ago viewing the foreign art film. Historic Yuma Theater and Yuma Art Center share a building. I want to display it on the car as a political statement. So my neighbours can infer from it where on the political spectrum I reside ! As a counterpoint to my neighbour’s bumper sticker that reads “Friends Of Coal”. HA HA HA !

DSK