December 8 to 14, 2019

Sunday ; Cloudy and mild.

This afternoon I did some maintenance and “improvement” work on the minivan and Arizona room. This afternoon / evening our neighbours / Canadian friends David and Shauna came over for dinner and visit. Joanne prepared her wonderful Beef Bourguignon recipe. In the evening I did some annual budget planning work.

Monday ; Sunny and warm. Joanne cooked a meat loaf in the Sun Oven today.

Routine puttering around today. Did an exercise session in the swimming pool at sunset / dusk. Great time to use the pool and hot tub.

Tuesday ; Sunny and warm. Joanne cooked Hawaiian Chicken ( with fresh pineapple ) in the Sun Oven today.

Late this morning we headed out to run errands. First stop was the address of a cobbler / shoe repair shop, acquired from the Yellow Pages. The locksmith who occupies that shop advised me that he has been in that location since the cobbler died ten years ago ! ! ! The Yellow Pages won’t allow him to remove the cobbler’s listing because … it’s not his account !

I picked up a special order from O’Reilly Auto Parts ; a box of ten small PC579 automotive bulbs. These specialty bulbs … of which I needed two … only come in packs of ten ! So … I used two, and … now have eight spares !

We did some shopping at Wal-Mart, including buying a “console” for the minivan to keep our “stuff” organized ; sunglasses, garbage bag, small flashlight, phone charger cord, etc. Just like the one in our minivan back home in BC.

Picked up Ozzie’s ashes at the veterinarian’s today. Wasn’t expecting them to be in a lovely ( expensive ! ) little cedar chest, with a little gold padlock, and an engraved name tag. Wonder what the hell we’re going to do with the tiny cedar chest after scattering his ashes ? ! ?

We miss Ozzie !

Gave Emma a little bit of a hair trim around her rear end using electric clippers. SHEESH ! I hope the neighbours didn’t hear her protests !

Wednesday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico

This morning we left home at 10 AM heading for Mexico. Our neighbours / friends David and Shauna followed in their car. They wanted to come to Mexico with us today, but did not want to be there for as long as we were planning to be, so they drove there in their own car, allowing them to leave earlier than us.

Through town to Interstate 8, west on I-8, over the Colorado River into California, about seven miles west, then south to the Mexican border. We arrived in Mexico at 10:45 AM. First stop was Meyer Optical. David and I left Shauna and Joanne there to shop for eyeglasses while he and I walked to Farmacia Veterinaria Safari so that David could buy HeartGard medication for their dog Zona.

By the time we returned from the veterinary pharmacy Joanne had had an eye exam, had selected frames, and was ready to order her new glasses. She was helping Shauna select frames. Easier said than done. HA HA HA ! After awhile at Meyer we walked over to another optical shop and Shauna continued shopping. At 11:50 AM we left. Joanne and I had dentist appointments at noon. David and Shauna walked with us to our dentist’s office, then they went to continue shopping for Shauna’s eyeglasses.

Both Joanne and I were seen without delay. Joanne had an uneventful dental cleaning, followed by an examination by a new dentist. All is well. My dental cleaning was conducted by my periodontist. Somewhat unusual, but … she’s done that before. After the cleaning she conducted a thorough periodontal examination, including producing a periodontogram, a somewhat new computer generated graphic portrayal of my teeth and gums, and periodontal examination findings. My teeth are fine. My gums are … mostly fine. My cleaning and periodontal examination and periodontogram took an hour and fifteen minutes, a long time with a periodontist for a fee of only fifty bucks, I thought.

When we were finished at the dentist’s we rejoined David and Shauna who were just finishing up ordering a pair of eyeglasses for Shauna at Best Optical. We took them to Tacos Molcas for a late lunch. We had a wonderful lunch, as always at Tacos Molcas. Joanne and I each had three tacos. Joanne had dos carne asada y uno pescado / two seasoned diced beef and one fish. I had uno carne asada, uno camaron, y uno chivo / one seasoned diced beef, one shrimp, and one shredded goat meat. David and Shauna shared a platillo pollo asado con frijoles y arroz / barbecued chicken platter with refried beans and Spanish rice. After lunch we browsed very briefly in a nearby mercado / grocery store, then left David and Shauna shopping for yard art. They were leaving from there to return home to Yuma.

Joanne and I returned to Meyer Optical where she ordered a new pair of glasses. Next we went to Tere’s Beauty and Barber Shop where we both had pedicures and haircuts. YIKES !  It has been a very long time since my hair has been cut that short ! ! ! Oh, well … it will grow ! Not the first time my hair has been cut too short in Mexico. As we walked back to the border we stopped at Liqui’s where we bought two tiny bottles of wine and a package of Cremino chocolates. Extremely surprisingly there was no line up at the border when we arrived there at 4:15 PM. We were back home a few minutes after 5 PM.

After supper we watched Survivor.

Thursday ; Sunny, warm, windy.

This morning I removed a headlight from the minivan to remove the water from inside the headlight, and dry it out. I’m not sure how the water got inside. It rained heavily recently, shortly after I installed the new headlights. But … rain should NOT be able to find its way into a headlight !

Joanne volunteered to briefly dog sit Nikki, the dog belonging to the site renter across the street. Nikki howls when left alone. Like Ozzie did ! And Nikki’s owner Pat has been getting complaints. So … we took care of Nikki for an hour or so. We took her for a two lap walk around the dog park. It’s been quite awhile since we walked around the perimeter of the dog park, because Ozzie didn’t like it. Too many “pricklies” for his tender feet. Bo’s ashes are sprinkled in the dog park here. It’s the first time we’ve “visited” with the memory / spirit of Bo in about a year.

Late this afternoon we did an exercise session in the swimming pool, starting in daylight shortly after 5 PM and finishing in darkness shortly after 6 PM.

Friday ; Sunny and warm. Joanne cooked Beef Provencal in the Sun Oven today.

For the last few days we have been putting cat food out in our back yard to feed a small, black, feral cat. Today Joanne named it “Cobra”. < shrug >

Right after lunch we headed east to the Foothills, to run errands. First stop was Wal-Mart for a few items. Then while Joanne shopped for a few items at the 99¢ Only Store I bought an automotive item I needed at O’Reilly Auto Parts. I took the minivan to Express Auto Lube for an oil change and car wash. YIKES ! Under the high pressure of a car wash, the sunroof leaks a bit … on Joanne ! HA HA HA ! 

I bought a few items at Wally’s World on our way to the Arizona MarketPlace flea market. At the flea market we picked up the custom made dash cover and seat covers we ordered two weeks ago.

We returned home … I fed Cobra … and we began to work on the installation of the seat covers. We hadn’t made much progress when I received a phone call. The buyer of OB … the Oldsmobile Bravada … was eager to make the final payment and get her “new to her” car. We had supper then drove to her home … in both vehicles … and completed the sale. The buyer was thrilled to have the car. I was thrilled to be rid of it ! We returned home in the minivan and I cancelled OB’s insurance and registration / license plate online. Bonsoir la visite, OB !

Saturday ; Sunny and warm. Joanne cooked Thai Chicken in the Sun Oven today.

Cobra the feral cat now arrives in our back yard three times per day hoping / expecting to be fed. It has a notched ear indicating that it has been previously trapped, neutered, and released, a program( TNR ) operated by the Humane Society to reduce the reproductive capacities of feral cats.

Our primary task for today was to install the custom made seat covers in the minivan. HMPH ! Much easier said than done ! It took us about four times as long to do the first seat as it did the second one. Lots of mistakes and learning curve doing the first one ! We had not made much progress when the buyer of OB phoned. < sigh > She was attempting to transfer the vehicle title and get the car registered and licensed. The third party DMV outlet was insisting that my signature on the title transfer document be notarized. **** ! ! ! We abandoned the seat cover project and headed out !

After meeting the buyer at the DMV outlet and having my signature notarized we ran a few errands. Returned an item to O’Reilly Auto Parts. Refilled the minivan with fuel at Fry’s Fuel Bar. Had lunch at Church’s Chicken. MMMMM ! Last stop was Goodwill Thrift Store. Today was half price day. I bought a pair of jeans, two pairs of shorts, and two shorts. Joanne bought … nothing. Well … that seemed odd. HA HA HA !

We returned home and spent the rest of the afternoon installing the seat covers. From 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM we did an exercise session in the swimming pool. I had an opportunity to tell an obnoxious asshole that … he was an obnoxious 

asshole ! ! ! Well … that’s what you can expect if you dive into the pool right beside us and splash over our faces and heads !  Asshole !

It was dark when we returned from the swimming pool. So … we took the minivan to the storage yard and I aimed the headlights against a brick wall. We went for a short drive to verify that my bush league headlight aiming technique worked. It did ! Well done, Daniel !

DSK