March 24 to 30, 2019

Sunday ; Sunny and warm.

Late this morning the couple from Idaho that arrived yesterday, and were planning to leave this morning, phoned asking for help. Their towed car’s battery was dead, and they needed a battery boost. I drove over to the lot they were on and with the help of the booster cables in Obie ( our Yuma SUV ) got their car started. We chatted briefly, then they left for Anza Borrego State Park, their next destination, for viewing the spring wildflowers in the desert. We plan to do exactly the same thing when we leave here in about three weeks.

After lunch I napped then began to work on taking inventory of all our ( mostly 

my ) medications in the trailer to determine if I need to buy any more medications on our final trip to Mexico in a few days. And what prescriptions I will need to refill as soon as we are back home in BC in about a month. Late in the afternoon we walked Ozzie, then I went for a long bicycle ride, something I should have been doing daily all winter season, but haven’t been. HMPH … bad Daniel !

Monday ; Sunny and hot. AHHHHH !

Late this morning we headed out for a day of errands. First we drove west to the Foothills to get a propane tank re-certified … and refilled. Then back all the way across town to Yuma Palms Shopping Center. We had lunch at Del Taco. Food was okay. Service … so to speak … was unacceptable ! The cashier / manager added an unauthorized “up-sell” to our bill, and when I called him on it, he played dumb ! I wonder how often he gets away with that … because most people don’t look closely at their bills ? I thought that kind of “extra buck a gringo” scam was confined to … well, you know … south of here.

Next stop was Harbor Freight. Bought a few items but the primary item I wanted was out of stock. We refilled Obie with fuel at Fry’s Fuel Bar, then our final stop was at Walgreens, for an advertised special … that was out of stock. < sigh >

Back at home, I took inventory of all my medications in the camper. I played musical propane tanks, attaching the newly re-certified small propane tank to the camper’s step bumper as the camper’s barbecue tank, and moving the camper’s small tank … which requires re-certification soon … to the trailer as the trailer’s barbecue tank.

In the evening I reconciled our Bank of America US$ MasterCard monthly billing statement. And watched multiple episodes of … Love After Lockup. HA HA HA ! Almost as much fun as Ninety Day Fiance a few years ago. HA HA HA !

Tuesday ; Sunny and hot.

This morning we worked on routine household chores. Mid-afternoon we headed “downtown” to Yuma Historic Theater to attend the first of six movies we are planning to see this week at the Hispanic film festival / Festival Cultural de Cine. This afternoon’s movie was No Manches Frida, translated into English as WTF Frida. HA HA HA ! It was a romantic comedy, and we enjoyed it.

Wednesday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico

HAPPY 15^th BIRTHDAY TO OZZIE

We left home this morning about 11:30 AM headed for Mexico. We were across the border and into Los Algodones around 12:15 PM. This was our fifth and final trip into Mexico this winter season. First stop was Tere’s Beauty Shop where we both had haircuts and pedicures. Well, and a beard trim for me. Joanne’s pedicure took longer than mine, so while she was having her toenails painted 

I went shopping at farmacias for medications. And shopping for belts at street vendors. I bought two belts and the ear drops and antibiotic ointment I needed. 

I picked Joanne up at the beauty shop and we went to Taqueria Molcas, our favourite Los Algodones restaurant for lunch.

After a leisurely lunch of tacos for Joanne and plato pollo asado con arroz y frijoles for me we went shopping at a variety of mercados ( grocery stores ) and dulcerias ( candy stores ) for Zuko drink mixes, vanilla, con leche, a couple of tiny bottles of Mexican wine, and … of course … our favourite Mexican chocolate bars, Nugs, Coconugs and Creminos.

We were back at the line up to cross the border at 3:40 PM. We crossed the border at 5:10 PM. All winter season long the Customs & Border Patrol staff have “manipulated” the wait times to about an hour and a half. And everybody … Americans and Canadians alike … are sick and tired of the government employee games playing ! We spent our time in line chatting with an old man from Oregon.

We were home around 6 PM. We walked Ozzie, had our supper while watching Survivor, then gave Ozzie his birthday present ; a bowl of home made applesauce, made by Joanne last fall with apples from the trees in our RV park’s orchard. Happy Birthday, Ozzie. He thought the applesauce was the best birthday gift he’s ever had ! HA HA HA !

Thursday ; Sunny and very warm.

This morning I sorted and put away the few items I purchased at Harbor Freight a few days ago, and the many items we purchased in Mexico yesterday. After a quick and early lunch we left, in the truck and camper, with Ozzie, to go downtown to attend two movies at the Hispanic Film Festival.

First movie was Ladron Que Roba A Ladron, translated as It Takes A Thief To Rob A Thief. It was somewhat like a Mexican version of Oceans Eleven. We liked it. Second movie was La Bamba, one of the few English language movies of this festival. It was the “bio-pic” of Ricardo Valenzuela, a.k.a. Ritchie Valens.

For supper we had planned to have salmon fillets in Bearnaise sauce. Joanne was going to cook the salmon fillets, and I was to make the Bearnaise sauce. Joanne had purchased two very cheap, frozen, pink salmon portions recently at a grocery store. When she opened the two packages, the portions looked different from one another, and she called me over to take a look. I flipped the portions over, took a look at the skin side, and immediately recognized why the two fillets were different. One was a pink salmon fillet, as identified on the package, and the other was … wait for it … a chum salmon fillet ! I threw it out ! I’m a salmon snob ! I’m not going to eat “dogfish”, especially one that has been frozen, and is “mushy”. YUCK !

Note to self … and little wifey ; don’t buy frozen, cheap salmon, especially down here in Arizona, where they apparently don’t know the difference between pink salmon and chum salmon !

Friday ; Sunny and very warm.

Today is the eighteen month “anniversary” of my coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The “healing” should be complete. It’s not ! I suppose this is as good as it is going to get, from a “healing” perspective. Oh, well … I’m lucky and grateful to be alive !

Again, after an early lunch we headed downtown to Historic Yuma Theater to attend two more movies in the Hispanic film festival. Again, we took the truck and camper, and Ozzie. The first of the two movies we attended today was the one 

I was most anticipating ; Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos / A Rooster With A Lot Of … < ahem > … Eggs … < nudge, nudge, wink, wink >. HA HA HA ! It was great, a hilarious “adult” animation about a “chicken” rooster who becomes brave. Second movie was A Better Life, a powerful story about a middle aged Mexican illegal in Los Angeles, a single parent raising his teenaged son, and working very hard to give him “a better life”. Every American who voted for Trump should be forced to watch this movie ! ! !

After the second movie ended around 6 PM we drove to a new “taco stand” food area on Pacific Avenue to try out some new foods at some new food stands. One of the “taco” stands was Mexican, Vietnamese and Filipino foods. MMMMM ! We had two “entrees” from there, and a third entree from a different food stand … with questionable food handling practices, we realized a bit too late.

For the second day in a row, Ozzie really enjoyed his seven hour “camping trip”. HA HA HA !

Saturday ; Sunny and very warm. Joanne baked a Saskatoon berry cake in the Sun Oven today.

Late this morning I headed out to the Foothills to run some errands. First stop was Cactus Storage & Propane to have another small propane tank re-certified and refilled. Then to Foxworth & Galbraith ( hardware store ) to buy an advertised fire extinguisher for Obie ( the SUV ). Last stop was Wally’s World ( guy stuff flea market ). They didn’t have what I needed.

Late this afternoon we headed downtown to attend the Hispanic film Festival. The movie we saw today, the last of the six film festival movies we attended this week was “Cesar Chavez : History Is Made One Step At A Time”, a documentary 

bio-pic about the Yuma born man, born on this date, who organized / unionized the California agricultural workers, almost all of them Mexican, into the UFW, United Farm Workers, during the 1960’s and into the 1970’s. My goodness ! We knew some of the Cesar Chavez story, but … we thought this unionization of farm workers took place in the 1940’s and 1950’s, not during our lifetime !

This was another powerful story, and one that reinforced for us how racist previous Republican governments ( Reagan as California Governor and Nixon as President ) have been, and apparently still are ! ! ! And how violent American culture always has been … and still is ! ! !

After the movie we went to Olive Garden for supper, but it was too crowded / the wait was too long, so we went to Golden Corral for an overpriced buffet dinner.

DSK