Sunday
;
Sunny and very warm.
Ozzie’s week long battle
with diarrhea continues. < sigh > We continue to employ all
the common veterinary “tricks” to put a stop to it. Wish us …
and him … luck ! Poor old Ozzie !
I found a Chrysler minivan for
sale in Phoenix that is of interest to me. We will probably head to
Phoenix tomorrow to view it. We’ll take the truck and camper, and
stay overnight in or near Phoenix.
Joanne went grocery shopping
today while I stayed home with the animals.
I prepared the remaining
vinyl wall panels on the Arizona room for removal, and after Joanne
returned from shopping we removed the remaining panels. AHHHHH … I
love our screened Arizona room ! It’s like a huge, screened,
living room.
This afternoon I watched the
Grey Cup, Canada’s national football championship. WOO-HOO,
WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO … my beloved Winnipeg Blue Bombers won their first
Grey Cup in twenty-nine years ! ! ! You can count the number of
sports events I watch on television on an annual basis on … one
finger ! HA HA HA !
Monday
; Yuma to Phoenix, Arizona
Sunny and warm. This morning
I made phone calls and arranged to view three cars in the Phoenix
area this afternoon ; one in Goodyear, a western suburb of Phoenix,
one in downtown Phoenix, and one in Tempe, an eastern suburb of
Phoenix. We left home around noon, heading east on Interstate 8. We
stopped at Dateland, the date business in Dateland, Arizona and
bought date shakes to accompany our lunch which we ate in the camper
in their parking lot. Poor, sick Ozzie did not think it was fair
that we would not give him any date shake. Sorry, Ozzie !
After lunch we continued east
on I-8, then turned north on Hwy. 85 to Interstate 10, then east on
I-10 to Goodyear. We met the seller of a 2006 Dodge Caravan in a
restaurant parking lot. He was a “repo man” and was selling a
car that he had repossessed for a bank. It was a total piece of junk
! We continued east on I-10 towards downtown Phoenix.
As
we drove to downtown … our GPS died. I mean … really
died ! Screen went blank, and sizzling noises came from inside.
YIKES ! ! ! Darn ! We only had that GPS for about a year and a
half, but … we really liked it ! And used it a LOT
!
We tossed it in a garbage can at the restaurant where we had supper,
afraid that the battery inside might explode or catch fire or … !
We
found our way … without benefit of GPS … to the downtown location
where we were to view the second car, a 2005 Dodge Caravan. It was
parked behind a … bail bondsman and repo business. REALLY
? ! ? C’mon !
< sigh > Another piece of junk, even worse than the first !
We struggled out of downtown and back onto the freeway to head east
to the third car ... in Tempe.
It
turned dark
as soon as we left downtown around 5 PM. We encountered gridlock on
the freeway thanks to an accident. Even without the accident, the
rush hour traffic around Phoenix was horrible !
Now I remember why we chose Yuma as our winter home. Without GPS
the closest we could get to the third car was a nearby ARCO fuel
station. We called the seller, and he agreed to bring the car to us
at the fuel station. While waiting for him I refilled the truck’s
almost empty fuel tank.
The third car was a 2006
Chrysler Town & Country minivan, the upscale version of the Dodge
Caravan. Nice car ! I bought it ! We made arrangements to meet
tomorrow to finalize the sale.
Joanne wanted to go to Cici’s,
a pizza buffet restaurant chain we like that has a couple of outlets
in Phoenix. She found one in Mesa, another suburb, east of Tempe.
Not easy to find things in an unfamiliar urban area, at night,
without GPS. HMPH … GPS is now at the top of my Black Friday
shopping list.
We had supper then headed
north to find a casino to boondock overnight. We knew there were two
to the north. We found the first one, found a spot in their RV
parking lot, then Joanne took Ozzie for a walk. And discovered
signage that said overnight parking cost $25 ! Yeah … I don’t
think so ! We headed to the second one a bit further north.
Talking Stick Resort Casino.
Nice casino. Well … nice casino parking lot, at least. We never
went inside the casino. HA HA HA ! Wi-Fi reached our camper, so I
was able to get some online work done before bedtime.
Tuesday
; Phoenix to Ak-Chin, Arizona
Sunny and warm. Before
leaving Talking Stick Resort Casino after lunch this afternoon we
relaxed a bit and I did some vehicle purchase preliminary work. Most
importantly I purchased insurance online, so that as soon as we were
finished getting the title transferred and the Arizona license /
registration arranged around supper time, we could drive away.
Like
yesterday, our drive through the Phoenix area today was in extremely
congested traffic, with a lengthy delay due to another highway
accident ahead of us. Eventually we made it to the Bank of America
across the street from the ARCO
fuel station we were at last night. We withdrew cash to pay for the
car, then continued to battle congested traffic to the “third party
DMV” business where the seller was going to meet us after his work,
to complete the sale. There are considerable “upcharges” in
transferring title and obtaining registration and license plate at a
“third party DMV” business, but … they’re open late ! <
sigh > As much as I hate to pay for something “unnecessarily”,
there was no better option.
The
seller was to meet us at 5:30 PM. The third party DMV business was
to close at 6 PM. At 6 PM while I was inside the business begging
the manager to stay open a few more minutes, the moron seller … <
sputter > … ran out of gas a block away !
What a ****ing moron ! I was livid ! And did not hesitate to let
the moron know. He did not like my tone of voice. Yeah
… you and a whole lot of other people too ! Too
****ing bad, moron. I don’t like your stupidity ! ! ! So I guess
we’re even !
The
manager and some of her staff stayed late to complete the title
transfer and registration and licensing process. Thank
you, EZ Title !
We did not finish in there until 6:30 PM, half an hour after their
closing time. Continuing my hissy fit,
I … < ahem > …
“persuaded” the seller that it was going to cost him an
additional $50 to pay for a full tank of gas to complete the car
sale.
With
a full tank of gas in our newly acquired Chrysler minivan we left
Tempe at
7 PM headed south, first on Interstate 10, then on Hwy. 347,
Joanne driving the Chrysler
minivan
and me in the truck and camper. Despite it being after 7 PM it was
still rush hour, bumper to bumper traffic, travelling at 70 MPH. In
an unfamiliar vehicle, in the dark, in
an unfamiliar urban area, on the freeway … those
were extremely
challenging and
frightening conditions
for Joanne. Well done, my dear !
We drove south through
Maricopa, to the Ak-Chin Indian Reservation, about halfway from
Phoenix to Tucson. We boondocked overnight at Harrah’s Ak-Chin, a
large casino.
Wednesday
; Ak-Chin to Yuma, Arizona
Overcast and mild. We left
Harrah’s Ak-Chin around 11 AM and continued south on Hwy. 347, then
southwest on Hwy. 84 to Interstate 8. West on I-8 to Gila Bend where
we stopped at Holt’s Shell to dump our waste holding tanks.
Further west we stopped at Dateland to buy date shakes to have with
lunch. As we entered the Yuma Foothills area from the east we
stopped at Fry’s to refill both vehicles with fuel. We arrived
home around 4:30 PM.
Dancing Baba’s varenykiys
for supper while watching Survivor !
Joanne likes the minivan !
Thursday
; Thanksgiving ( American )
Cloudy, windy, chilly during
the day, heavy rain and heavy wind in the evening.
For the first time in two
weeks Ozzie had a “normal” bowel movement, after repeated cycles
of diarrhea followed by constipation. Hope he’s now going to be
okay !
Joanne prepared a wonderful
Thanksgiving turkey dinner today. Thank you, my dear. We were both
thankful today that the dead neighbour’s dog had a normal shit. HA
HA HA HA HA !
I puttered around with the
Chrysler minivan a lot today, doing minor maintenance and
transferring everything from the Oldsmobile Bravada SUV to the
Chrysler minivan. I adjusted the tire pressures on both vehicles.
In the evening I posted an online “for sale” ad to sell OB.
Joanne
found a used GPS similar to our recently deceased unit, for sale,
online on ebay.
In the evening I bought it.
For three months I have been
growing moustache “extensions” in a “horseshoe”
( biker )
moustache style. < sigh > Today I trimmed them off. Joanne
didn’t like them.
Friday
;
Cloudy
and chilly.
Ozzie remains ill. < sigh
> Might have only a few days left !
Yesterday evening I posted an
ad to sell our SUV. Within minutes I started receiving a barrage of
responses from a variety of scam artists ! And that continued
throughout today. With the addition of the psych disabled /
delusional. What’s the motivation ? For both the scammers and the
nut jobs ? Had one “real” couple come to look at the car.
Fairly young couple, maybe thirtyish ? Want to buy a six thousand
dollar car. But pay a thousand bucks ! Sorry, folks ! Doesn’t
work that way ! If you respond to an ad for a car being sold for a
thousand bucks … it’s a thousand dollar car ! ! ! If your needs
are going to be met only by something worth perhaps six thousand
dollars … don’t be looking at cars advertised for a thousand
bucks ! ! ! ! ! Aren’t some concepts self-evident ? ! ? ! ? DUH
!
Ordered two pairs of SAS shoes today from factory outlet store in Laughlin,
Nevada. Black Friday special ! Went shopping to Arizona MarketPlace
flea market today to buy dash cover for (
new
to us )
minivan.
Bought dash cover and … (
too ) expensive, custom
made, custom fit seat covers. Leather front seats in minivan worn !
Should never have leather seats in desert climate !
Saturday
;
Sunny
and mild.
< taking deep breath >
Ozzie’s illness reached a new level overnight. He soiled his bed,
and didn’t even wake up ! We decided this morning … < another
deep breath > … that it is time to end his suffering. I made an
appointment to have him euthanized Monday afternoon. We are both
very sad, but know that our decision is the right one … at the
right time.
I
sold the Oldsmobile Bravada today. Although … not quite exactly as
I had expected. I sold the car to a Mexican woman who … needs a
couple of weeks to pay for it. She paid me 50% today, will pay me
another 25% in a week, and the last 25% in two weeks, at which time I
will give her the car and its title. < shrug > For us, it’s
a peek into a different socio-economic class … than
our “white privilege” one.
Today
I checked the Chrysler minivan’s fluids and filters. And I
removed, reinflated, and reinstalled the spare tire. Which is very
awkwardly mounted underneath the middle of the car, made necessary by
the “Stow & Go” middle row and rear row fold down seating. I
removed a headlight and replaced a burned out bulb.
I
cleaned and polished shoes and sandals. In
the evening I downloaded some month end banking and investment data.
And did computer file monthly backup procedures.
And
gave Ozzie affection. < sniffle >
DSK
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