March 3 to 9, 2019

Sunday ; Sunny and warm.

This morning we finished cleaning and replenishing in the camper, then put it away / parked it in our space in the storage yard. I removed one of the camper’s propane tanks and took it for refilling. I went to the office and paid our February electricity and propane refill billings.

In the afternoon Joanne went grocery shopping by herself, while I worked on the computer, retrieving and reconciling monthly and annual banking and investment statements. I also worked on uploading two videos I took in Las Vegas of the Bellagio’s dancing fountains. I uploaded them to YouTube and from there I sent them as e-mails to our sisters and attached them to my blog. Well done, Daniel, that was quite a challenging achievement for an old man.

Too bad I screwed up accessing one of our online investment accounts, and managed to get myself “locked out”, necessitating a phone call tomorrow to their security department to resolve that. HMPH !

Monday ; Sunny and warm.

This morning we ( yes, yes … both of us ) phoned Sun Life and resolved my online account access screw up of yesterday. Of course, it was actually Joanne’s account that I screwed up … < looking sheepish > ! After getting that fixed, and retrieving the statement that I was trying to get, we took another propane tank to the propane refill station beside the storage yard. I cleaned some shoes, and pulled some weeds in my remaining cactus gardens in the dog park behind our rear yard fence. I watered all our plants and gardens before lunch.

After lunch Joanne went thrift store shopping. I declined the opportunity to join her … < rolling my eyes >. I took a nap instead, a much better use of my valuable time. HA HA HA ! I used the afternoon to analyze and reconcile the annual annuity statement that I had retrieved. Then I trimmed my beard.

A few minutes after Joanne returned home we had a visitor, the man who adopted the little dog we rescued in this RV park about seven years ago. He was paying us a visit just to update us on how well the adoption has worked out for him and his wife and Molly the little Shih Tzu, now middle aged and getting a bit pudgy. What a wonderful rescue / adoption success story. Thank you, Jim, for updating us about Molly. And thank you for giving her a wonderful lifetime home.

In the evening I updated some computer files, then did monthly computer backup.

Tuesday ; Sunny and very warm. Joanne cooked a huge pot of chili in the Sun Oven today, some for supper tonight, and some to be left over for making chili cheese dogs and chili cheese fries.

We slept late … again !

Every Tuesday morning I examine, clean, and treat Ozzie’s ears, to ensure that they remain infection free. And I brush his few remaining teeth. We picked up our two refilled propane tanks, and reinstalled them ; one in the camper and one in the trailer. I began a new “home improvement” project. The Arizona room trim moulding needs to be replaced. Today I removed a small section of it to take with me when I go shopping at Lowe’s. Too bad I caused so much damage to the paint on the wall when I removed the section of trim moulding … < sigh >. In the evening I finished my monthly updating of investment files.

MMMMM … good chili.

Wednesday ; Sunny and warm.

Took care of routine household chores this morning. After lunch we went to the Humane Society for our regular weekly shift of dog walking and cat cuddling. I walked four very large, very unruly dogs over a period of an hour and a half, then went to the cat wing and finished fixing cage doors, a project I started last week.

From the Humane Society we drove to Wal-Mart. I dropped Joanne off to do some shopping, and I drove to Lowe’s to buy some materials for my Arizona room trim moulding replacement project. I picked Joanne up at Wal-Mart and we returned home where Joanne made home made chili cheese dogs and chili cheese fries for supper. MMMMM ! Take that, you coronary artery bypasses. HA HA HA !

Thursday; Sunny and warm, until late evening when it became chilly and windy.

Today I worked on two projects. First was repairing and reinstalling the passenger side rear view mirror of the car. It fell off yesterday as I was driving to Lowe’s ! I think this SUV is a piece of junk, but … Joanne likes it, so … we keep it. My second project today was to start the removal and replacement of the Arizona room’s exterior trim moulding. It went … okay … I suppose. I damaged a section of screen on the Arizona room, making a small tear near the bottom, where I was removing caulking. < sigh > OOOPS !

In the evening we went to the monthly foreign art film at Historic Yuma Theater. On the way we stopped to have supper at Panda Express at Yuma Palms, the large shopping mall. First … and last … time we eat at Panda Express. The movie … a Cuban and Canadian production … was … very sad. And not “Hollywood” sad. It was an excellent movie, but … certainly could not be described as uplifting. It was entitled “Un Traductor” / A Translator, and was about a Russian and Spanish speaking university professor in Cuba, sent to be a translator on the children’s ward of a Havana Hospital where many children from Chernobyl were sent by Russia for treatment following radiation poisoning in the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Friday ; Sunny, mild, windy.

Late this morning I headed out to Arizona MarketPlace, the local flea market, to buy an item. They did not have what I needed. The vendor that used to sell that product is no longer at the flea market. He died ! From the flea market I headed to Lowe’s to return an item, and buy six more lengths of trim moulding for the Arizona room. I returned home in time for a late lunch.

After lunch and a nap I made campfire starters out of a cardboard egg crate, dryer lint, and melted paraffin wax, an old boy scout technique I learned as a child. Joanne baked cupcakes to contribute to our street’s block party tomorrow. We will make a contribution to the potluck lunch, but will not be attending the block party. I spent the rest of the afternoon working on finances / budgeting.

Saturday ; Thin overcast, mild.

This morning I finished repairing the passenger side rear view mirror on Obie the SUV. Let’s hope my “silicone caulking as adhesive” repair works. At noon I delivered our potluck contribution of cupcakes to the next door neighbour who was hosting the “block party”, and we left for an afternoon of running errands in the Foothills.

First stop was Goodwill, for another 50% off everything sale. I shopped for half an hour and bought six items, then went to wait in the car with Ozzie. Joanne shopped for another hour, for a total of an hour and a half, and bought three items. < sigh > How that girl loves recreational shopping ! After Goodwill we went to KFC for a late lunch. It wasn’t great, and we think we are going to switch our “fast food chicken” allegiance from KFC to Church’s. Next stop was the 99¢ Only Store, then finally Green Tree Grocery, the local “scratch & dent” grocery store. At the last two stores we bought a lot of grocery items without spending a lot of money. We were back home at 5 PM just as our street’s “block party” was winding down. With a small amount of the afternoon left, I repaired the damage I did to a section of screening in the Arizona room, and mounted “house numbers” on the rear of our shed, facing the dog park.

Joanne and I researched all of the movies being exhibited at the Hispanic Cultural Film Festival being held in Yuma in a couple of weeks, and made our decisions about which films to attend. We are planning to see six movies over four days during the week long event.

DSK