Sunday ; Yes, yes ... still sunny and very warm, temperature about 80 degrees.
We slept very late this morning. This afternoon we went to the truck camper in the storage area of our RV park to leak test all the propane connections. I expected the job to take just a few minutes. WRONG ! I discovered two persistent leaks, both right at the propane tank valves. Tightening the connections wouldn't stop the leaks. I had to use Teflon tape for gas fittings, which isn't really intended for use on propane compression fittings, but ... it was the only way I could stop the leaks. I don't intend to refill either of the two propane tanks. When each becomes empty, I will replace them with new tanks. I did a bit of research tonight and found that horizontal mount propane tanks with gauges, for use in truck campers, cost over $200 each ! YIKES !
I also started working on converting the two fluorescent light fixtures in Elsie to LED.
I was almost finished the first when it was time to quit because of the ice cream social. We had to go early to the ice cream social, because as the winners of last week’s
50 / 50 draw, we were obliged to sell 50 / 50 tickets this week.
We had a late dinner while watching Doc Martin and Downton Abbey on PBS, our regular Sunday evening ritual.
Monday ; Sunny and hot ! Joanne cooked a really superb pot roast in the Sun Oven today. Steaks and roasts down here in the Desert Southwest seem particularly nice. Better beef ?
This morning and again late in the afternoon I worked on ... and finished ... converting the two fluorescent light fixtures in Elsie to LED. Two fluorescent and eleven incandescent fixtures have now been converted to LED. Well done, Daniel. Although
I did spend almost two hundred bucks on LED bulbs ! The fluorescent LED conversion bulbs are about thirty bucks apiece !
This afternoon I attended the first of four cooking classes I signed up for at a satellite facility of the Yuma Regional Medical Center a.k.a. Yuma Hospital. The cooking class program is called "Food For Life" and is specifically targeted at cancer survivors. It's cooking and foods to help prevent the occurrence ... and recurrence ... of cancer. The class was ... okay. < shrug> It promotes elimination / minimization of meats and dairy products, and significant increase in consumption of fiber and vegetables.
Did I mention how superb tonight’s pot roast was ? ! ? HA HA HA ! Now you tell me ... do I look like the kind of guy who wants to really significantly increase my consumption of garbanzo beans ? ! ?
Tuesday ; Sunny and very warm.
Last night, in bed, I perused the Food For Life cancer prevention / cancer survivor's cookbook I received at yesterday's cooking class. What an awful lot of unappealing recipes !
A few nights ago, after doing some online research, I booked an appointment online at Meineke to have the truck's tailpipe reattached to the muffler. I did not want to go to a muffler shop. They would simply want to replace the muffler and tailpipe. I didn't feel replacement of either was necessary. A skilled welder should be able to reattach the tailpipe to the muffler.
When I arrived at Meineke and explained what I wanted, they recommended that I take the truck to a different shop they recommended because the other shop had a welder skilled in exhaust system welding repairs. This is the second time that I have dealt with a Meineke repair shop, and both times I was very impressed with their integrity.
I drove to the other shop. They could do the work, but not until later in the afternoon.
I made an appointment for tomorrow morning. On the way home I stopped at Watch Hospital and picked up my Bulova Accutron watch, my father's Post Office retirement "gold watch", now repaired. Just before I arrived back home at Kofa Ko-op ...
WOO-HOO ... Yuma road kill ! HA HA HA ... I picked up about half a dozen lemons that had spilled out of a truck. There were more, but ... one can use only so many lemons at a time, n'est-ce pas ?
After lunch we headed to the Humane Society for our regular Tuesday afternoon shift of dog walking and cat cuddling. WHEW ... tiring work ! Walking a "puller" is fatiguing !
I walked five dogs, one of them twice, two of them "pullers". I was photographed by a newspaper reporter while I was walking Penguin, a lovely Husky. I wonder if my picture will be in tomorrow's newspaper ?
When we returned home we worked on cleaning the trailer kitchen's Fantastic Fan, including removing, cleaning, and reinstalling the roof vent MaxxAir cover. I went bicycling at dusk, as I often do. What a magnificent sunset !
Wednesday ; Sunny and hot !
This morning I headed across town to Arizona Auto Clinic. Very impressive shop. Owned by a 62 year old Mexican American. All employees Mexican American. A small, old, independent auto repair shop that believes in fixing things, not just replacing them. Rare in this day and age, in this country. I had the detached tailpipe reattached to the muffler by a skilled welder specializing in exhaust system custom repairs. Repair done promptly at appointed time, done well, at fair price.
This afternoon, after a nap with the cat ( haven't done that in awhile ) I crawled underneath the truck and figured out how to lower the spare tire when the truck camper is on the truck. Difficult, but can be done !
Went to the late afternoon Social Hour / Happy Hour / potluck. Worked on bill paying in the evening. Stock market doing well again this month !
Thursday ; Sunny and very warm.
Poor Bo ! He was up five times during the night, needing to be let out. Diarrhea attacks ! I woke up and took him out four times, Joanne once. By morning, he seemed to be improving. We fed him a home cooked meal designed to stop diarrhea. By evening he was completely fine. I threw out the bag of Charlie Bear dog treats that I had picked up off the bargain table and fed to him yesterday during an obedience training session.
Yesterday Joanne responded to an ad selling Birkenstock sandals. It was a lady who was previously a vendor at the Arizona MarketPlace, now out of business and selling her remaining small amount of leftover inventory. Today she came over ... to our home ... with a good selection in Joanne's size and sold Joanne a pair of Birkenstock sandals for less than half of what the local shoe store that carries Birkenstocks is charging for them. Unfortunately, she did not have any men's models in my size.
This afternoon we put Elsie the truck camper back onto Lanoire the truck. I have a service appointment tomorrow morning to have the Dometic fridge recall retrofit done. After we were finished putting the camper onto the truck I was reading the turnbuckle documentation I downloaded from the Internet and realized that I made some mounting mistakes. HMPH ! I'll have to remove the front and rear mounting turnbuckles and correct my errors, either tomorrow or the next day. Of course ... I could have read the instructions FIRST, but ... ! ! !
Tonight Joanne wanted to go to Famous Dave's Barbecue for supper. She received a Happy Birthday discount coupon by e-mail. On the way to Famous Dave's we stopped at CVS Pharmacy where I bought another WaterPik Water Flosser, this one to take home to Canada. I used a $10 off WaterPik coupon that I got online, and a 25% off any one item CVS coupon that I received by e-mail to buy a $50 item for $27.50 ! Supper at Famous Dave's was very good, as it always is.
Friday ; Cloudy and warm. Cloudy days are rare here.
Once again Bo was sick overnight. Frequently ! We were convinced last night that he was feeling better, and we fed him dog food. We were "conned" by his "I'm SOOOOO hungry" routine ! His digestive system was not yet ready for regular food. He's back on the home cooked ground beef and rice recipe today, and will be for the next three days.
I was up WAY too early this morning to head for an early morning appointment at Al's RV Service & Supply in The Foothills. I had the Dometic fridge recall retrofit kit installed. It should have been done years ago by a previous owner. Then I had one of their licensed propane fitters inspect my propane system additions and modifications to ensure all were safe and legal. They were. From there I headed to Cactus Propane where I once again had a licensed propane fitter examine my additions and modifications to ensure everything was safe and legal. It was ! It never hurts to have a second opinion. I bought two new propane regulator to tank "pigtail" hoses, and ... got the truck camper's two old propane tanks inspected and recertified, another item that should have been taken care of years ago. The propane tanks' certification "expired" in 2008 !
At home this afternoon I installed the two new pigtail hoses, and remounted the propane regulator mounting bracket. Until replacing the two pigtail hoses I was unable to reinstall the regulator mounting bracket because of space restrictions caused by the additional hose and fittings I installed for the Wave 6 heater installation. At last, all is well ... and safe and legal ... with the truck camper's propane system.
I spent the late part of the afternoon up on the roof of the truck camper working on cleaning the kitchen's Fantastic Fan roof vent, the bathroom fan roof vent, and the bedroom escape hatch roof vent, then installing a new MaxxAir style cover on the Fantastic Fan kitchen roof vent. WHEW ... sixteen or seventeen years of accumulated grime on the roof vents !
Elsie is just about ready for our upcoming week long camping trip !
Saturday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we headed to the Humane Society to attend a training session for volunteers. When it was finished we ran some errands in The Foothills.
This afternoon we worked on the truck camper, doing some minor maintenance and preparing it for our upcoming camping trip. I did some routine preventive maintenance on the truck camper's battery for the first time and discovered that the battery was quite new, seemed to be of good quality and ... < sigh > ... was not the correct type of battery for an RV application. Guess I'll be replacing it sooner rather than later !
Too bad we spent so much time and energy angering one another and sniping today !
DSK
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
January 12 to 18, 2014
Sunday ; Sunny and very warm, another gorgeous Yuma winter day. HA HA HA !
This morning we went to the Indoor Market Place, a more "upscale" flea market than Arizona Market Place or Yuma Park N Swap. Joanne wanted to buy some of her beloved Rada knives for Elsie the truck camper. I wanted to buy a new fanny pack. The fanny pack that I like comes from a vendor in the Indoor Market Place. The fanny packs I buy only have a one year life, but ... they only cost eight bucks, so ... I buy a new one every year. After the Indoor Market Place we headed for Harbor Freight Tools where
I wanted to buy an item that was on sale this weekend. Joanne waited in the truck because I was going in for only one item. HA ! Not likely ! It's Harbor Freight ! HA HA HA !
This afternoon I completed the truck bumper repair. I masked and painted the now repaired corner of the truck bumper. It's imperfect, as amateur auto body repair always is, but Lanoire is no longer a "spring chicken" so to speak, and this auto body repair is as good as any I've ever done. And certainly a lot better than just leaving a big chunk gouged out of the corner of the bumper.
Our next door neighbour, who's not much of a "dog person", was dog sitting another neighbour's dog, Domino the Boston Terrier. Domino and Bo are dog park / pack walk buddies, so we took Domino on the pack walk with us today.
Late this afternoon Carol Mae came over to discuss some Humane Society fund raising ideas she had. She's ill with a cold.
Tonight we attended the regular Sunday evening ice cream social. Each Sunday at the ice cream social Joanne buys a ticket on the weekly 50 / 50 draw. Tonight Joanne's ticket won. WOO-HOO ! Thirty five bucks ! We chatted with a couple from Ontario, Canada that are new full time RV'ers and new arrivals here at Kofa Ko-op and Yuma, Arizona. After the ice cream social we had a very late supper while watching Downton Abbey.
Monday ; Still the same ... sunny and very warm.
This afternoon I continued working on installing the Wave 6 catalytic infrared radiant heater in Elsie. I had to drill a hole through the back of the propane tank compartment and through a cupboard to get the propane hose to the heater. The job did not go as smoothly as I would have liked, but ... it could have been a lot worse, given the nature of what I was doing. All that is left now is to leak test all the propane fittings and connections, and test fire the heater.
This afternoon I went to my first ... and definitely my last ... geneology class here in the Kofa Ko-op clubhouse. To me, "class" implies ... teacher, students, teacher imparts educational information of value to students. This class was a 45 minute waste of my time. Old women gabbing and bitching. A teacher not "teaching" ! And ... I don't think
I have enough patience or interest to do geneological research.
This evening we had our new friends Bill and Lynn over for supper. They are leaving Kofa Ko-op and Yuma tomorrow morning, heading for Quartzsite. Joanne prepared Chicken Chile Verde for supper, cooked in the Sun Oven, as was the rice that went along with it. Lynn baked cookies for dessert. MMMMM ! ! ! Rather unusually, Sully cuddled up against Lynn on the sofa. How odd ... he's NEVER friendly towards strangers.
Tuesday ; Weather is ... you know !
This morning I decided that my heater installation in the truck camper needs ... revision. I was bothered by one component of the installation and this morning figured out a better way to do it. I will need to buy some more propane brass fittings and remount the heater about 5/8 of an inch lower on the wall than it currently is. Lots of "undo" and "redo" work, but ... I think "Plan B" will result in a safer installation.
I took two of my three watches to the Watch Hospital today. My Dad's retirement "gold watch", a Bulova Accutron needs a minor repair. It will cost twenty bucks. Okay ! My Rolex needs a cleaning and adjustment. It's running a teensy bit fast. It will cost ... WHAT ? ! ? Six hundred bucks for a cleaning and adjustment ? ? ? ! ! ! HMPH ! Maybe it's time to sell the Rolex ? ! ?
This afternoon we went to the Humane Society for our weekly volunteer work as dog walker and cat cuddler. I started my shift by ... getting bit by Otto ! ****ing little ****head Chihuahua ! That sharp little tooth went pretty deeply into the back of my thumb ! ****ing little ****head Chihuahua ! ! !
Wednesday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico
This morning my dog bite appeared infected. Great ! Just what I needed ! ! ! I started taking Cipro, an antibioitic.
This morning I set up the Sun Oven and put in some marinated salmon. When we returned from Mexico late in the afternoon ... voilà ... Sun Oven dried, maple syrup glazed candied salmon. Well ... it wasn't maple syrup glazed when we got home ... but it was soon thereafter.
After an early lunch we headed for Mexico. I got a haircut and beard trim ... four bucks ! We bought some Amoxicillin ... one dollar for twenty- four tablets ! The border crossing line up back into the U.S. was very long ... < sigh >. It's January ! BUT ... the length of today's line up would have been a three hour wait a couple of years ago. Today ... WOW ... thirty-five minutes. Great improvement ! Amazing what a bit of "political will" can accomplish !
We attended the regular Wednesday late afternoon Happy Hour / Social Hour and heavy appetizers potluck.
Thursday ; Joanne spent the day shopping again. Alone, thankfully !
I spent the afternoon removing, repositioning, and remounting the Wave 6 catalytic heater in Elsie the truck camper. Then I did some auto body work on the bumper of George and Betty's motorhome.
In the evening I went to a jazz concert. Tonight was the first of about a dozen weekly free jazz concerts in the courtyard of Yuma Palms Shopping Center. Tonight's performers were Yuma Jazz Band. Big band sound ! Joanne went with Carol Mae and Larry to a fund raiser event for the Humane Society, a trained bird show at The Palms RV Park.
Friday ; Happy 15th Birthday to Joanne’s niece Madeleine
This morning we headed to The Foothills where we ran a variety of errands until it was time to go for lunch at the home of our friends Lynn and Micha, and their dog Gypsy. We spent the afternoon visiting with them.
Saturday ; Still sunny and very warm.
Recently I've been working on repairing some minor damage on the corner of the bumper of the Class A motorhome belonging to our neighbours / friends George and Betty. Today should have been the final step of the repair ; painting it. This afternoon
I painted it and ... the finished result was ... absolutely terrible ! I'm very embarrassed.
I will have to sand it down, and start over. < sigh > George and Betty are leaving tomorrow for a week, and just as they return, Joanne and I will be leaving for a week. So ... < sigh > ... it will be at least two weeks before I can start the job over.
Today we had a new dog join our daily pack walk. Our neighbours / friends Tom and Pat have a new beagle, named Lola. She has separation anxiety, and manifests it by howling when left alone, and ... eating the upholstery in the truck. Not funny ! I've offered my dog knowledge and skills to help Lola overcome her separation anxiety.
This afternoon I finished the installation of the Wave 6 catalytic infrared radiant heater in the truck camper. WOO-HOO ! Finally ! It's about time ! I also installed a new smoke and carbon monoxide detector.
I finally got around to opening the "scratch & dent" / demo model / test model Sun Oven I recently ordered and received. It's the same as our existing Sun Oven, and that's now a "non-current" model. Sun Oven was selling these "scratch & dent" / demo model / test model units at a greatly reduced price. However, the "scratch & dent" / demo model / test model unit that I received and unpacked today is ... none of the above ! It's a perfectly brand new, never been out of the box unit !
DSK
This morning we went to the Indoor Market Place, a more "upscale" flea market than Arizona Market Place or Yuma Park N Swap. Joanne wanted to buy some of her beloved Rada knives for Elsie the truck camper. I wanted to buy a new fanny pack. The fanny pack that I like comes from a vendor in the Indoor Market Place. The fanny packs I buy only have a one year life, but ... they only cost eight bucks, so ... I buy a new one every year. After the Indoor Market Place we headed for Harbor Freight Tools where
I wanted to buy an item that was on sale this weekend. Joanne waited in the truck because I was going in for only one item. HA ! Not likely ! It's Harbor Freight ! HA HA HA !
This afternoon I completed the truck bumper repair. I masked and painted the now repaired corner of the truck bumper. It's imperfect, as amateur auto body repair always is, but Lanoire is no longer a "spring chicken" so to speak, and this auto body repair is as good as any I've ever done. And certainly a lot better than just leaving a big chunk gouged out of the corner of the bumper.
Our next door neighbour, who's not much of a "dog person", was dog sitting another neighbour's dog, Domino the Boston Terrier. Domino and Bo are dog park / pack walk buddies, so we took Domino on the pack walk with us today.
Late this afternoon Carol Mae came over to discuss some Humane Society fund raising ideas she had. She's ill with a cold.
Tonight we attended the regular Sunday evening ice cream social. Each Sunday at the ice cream social Joanne buys a ticket on the weekly 50 / 50 draw. Tonight Joanne's ticket won. WOO-HOO ! Thirty five bucks ! We chatted with a couple from Ontario, Canada that are new full time RV'ers and new arrivals here at Kofa Ko-op and Yuma, Arizona. After the ice cream social we had a very late supper while watching Downton Abbey.
Monday ; Still the same ... sunny and very warm.
This afternoon I continued working on installing the Wave 6 catalytic infrared radiant heater in Elsie. I had to drill a hole through the back of the propane tank compartment and through a cupboard to get the propane hose to the heater. The job did not go as smoothly as I would have liked, but ... it could have been a lot worse, given the nature of what I was doing. All that is left now is to leak test all the propane fittings and connections, and test fire the heater.
This afternoon I went to my first ... and definitely my last ... geneology class here in the Kofa Ko-op clubhouse. To me, "class" implies ... teacher, students, teacher imparts educational information of value to students. This class was a 45 minute waste of my time. Old women gabbing and bitching. A teacher not "teaching" ! And ... I don't think
I have enough patience or interest to do geneological research.
This evening we had our new friends Bill and Lynn over for supper. They are leaving Kofa Ko-op and Yuma tomorrow morning, heading for Quartzsite. Joanne prepared Chicken Chile Verde for supper, cooked in the Sun Oven, as was the rice that went along with it. Lynn baked cookies for dessert. MMMMM ! ! ! Rather unusually, Sully cuddled up against Lynn on the sofa. How odd ... he's NEVER friendly towards strangers.
Tuesday ; Weather is ... you know !
This morning I decided that my heater installation in the truck camper needs ... revision. I was bothered by one component of the installation and this morning figured out a better way to do it. I will need to buy some more propane brass fittings and remount the heater about 5/8 of an inch lower on the wall than it currently is. Lots of "undo" and "redo" work, but ... I think "Plan B" will result in a safer installation.
I took two of my three watches to the Watch Hospital today. My Dad's retirement "gold watch", a Bulova Accutron needs a minor repair. It will cost twenty bucks. Okay ! My Rolex needs a cleaning and adjustment. It's running a teensy bit fast. It will cost ... WHAT ? ! ? Six hundred bucks for a cleaning and adjustment ? ? ? ! ! ! HMPH ! Maybe it's time to sell the Rolex ? ! ?
This afternoon we went to the Humane Society for our weekly volunteer work as dog walker and cat cuddler. I started my shift by ... getting bit by Otto ! ****ing little ****head Chihuahua ! That sharp little tooth went pretty deeply into the back of my thumb ! ****ing little ****head Chihuahua ! ! !
Wednesday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico
This morning my dog bite appeared infected. Great ! Just what I needed ! ! ! I started taking Cipro, an antibioitic.
This morning I set up the Sun Oven and put in some marinated salmon. When we returned from Mexico late in the afternoon ... voilà ... Sun Oven dried, maple syrup glazed candied salmon. Well ... it wasn't maple syrup glazed when we got home ... but it was soon thereafter.
After an early lunch we headed for Mexico. I got a haircut and beard trim ... four bucks ! We bought some Amoxicillin ... one dollar for twenty- four tablets ! The border crossing line up back into the U.S. was very long ... < sigh >. It's January ! BUT ... the length of today's line up would have been a three hour wait a couple of years ago. Today ... WOW ... thirty-five minutes. Great improvement ! Amazing what a bit of "political will" can accomplish !
We attended the regular Wednesday late afternoon Happy Hour / Social Hour and heavy appetizers potluck.
Thursday ; Joanne spent the day shopping again. Alone, thankfully !
I spent the afternoon removing, repositioning, and remounting the Wave 6 catalytic heater in Elsie the truck camper. Then I did some auto body work on the bumper of George and Betty's motorhome.
In the evening I went to a jazz concert. Tonight was the first of about a dozen weekly free jazz concerts in the courtyard of Yuma Palms Shopping Center. Tonight's performers were Yuma Jazz Band. Big band sound ! Joanne went with Carol Mae and Larry to a fund raiser event for the Humane Society, a trained bird show at The Palms RV Park.
Friday ; Happy 15th Birthday to Joanne’s niece Madeleine
This morning we headed to The Foothills where we ran a variety of errands until it was time to go for lunch at the home of our friends Lynn and Micha, and their dog Gypsy. We spent the afternoon visiting with them.
Saturday ; Still sunny and very warm.
Recently I've been working on repairing some minor damage on the corner of the bumper of the Class A motorhome belonging to our neighbours / friends George and Betty. Today should have been the final step of the repair ; painting it. This afternoon
I painted it and ... the finished result was ... absolutely terrible ! I'm very embarrassed.
I will have to sand it down, and start over. < sigh > George and Betty are leaving tomorrow for a week, and just as they return, Joanne and I will be leaving for a week. So ... < sigh > ... it will be at least two weeks before I can start the job over.
Today we had a new dog join our daily pack walk. Our neighbours / friends Tom and Pat have a new beagle, named Lola. She has separation anxiety, and manifests it by howling when left alone, and ... eating the upholstery in the truck. Not funny ! I've offered my dog knowledge and skills to help Lola overcome her separation anxiety.
This afternoon I finished the installation of the Wave 6 catalytic infrared radiant heater in the truck camper. WOO-HOO ! Finally ! It's about time ! I also installed a new smoke and carbon monoxide detector.
I finally got around to opening the "scratch & dent" / demo model / test model Sun Oven I recently ordered and received. It's the same as our existing Sun Oven, and that's now a "non-current" model. Sun Oven was selling these "scratch & dent" / demo model / test model units at a greatly reduced price. However, the "scratch & dent" / demo model / test model unit that I received and unpacked today is ... none of the above ! It's a perfectly brand new, never been out of the box unit !
DSK
Sunday, January 12, 2014
January 5 to 11, 2014
Sunday ; Still sunny and warm. I baked a beautiful loaf of bread today, using the bread maker to mix the dough, and the Sun Oven to bake it. Gorgeous !
I started the day with a back yard Bo-gility session. Well done, Bo, good dog. I wrapped Joanne's birthday gifts. It's her sixtieth birthday in three and a half weeks. I did a bit of work on Elsie ( the truck camper ). I paid our December electrical and propane bills.
I compiled our previous dental and eye exam records for our trip to Mexico tomorrow.
We went to the regular Sunday evening ice cream social. We had supper while watching Doc Martin on PBS. After supper Joanne went to clean the laundromat, a daily chore she volunteered to do this week. Then ... the long awaited season four premiere of Downton Abbey !
Monday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico
This morning we picked up our friends Bill and Lynn and headed for Mexico. First stop was Best Optical. Bill and I each picked out new eyeglass frames, then each had an eye exam with Dra. Ana < pant pant >. After we both finished ordering and paying for new eyeglasses, the four of us walked across town to Farmacia Veterinaria Safari to buy some pet medications. We walked back "downtown", Bill and Lynn went for haircuts, Joanne and I went for dental cleanings and examinations. For the last few years I have been seeing Dra. Esther Estolano, a periodontist from nearby San Luis Rio Colorado, but now ... my Los Algodones dentist's daughter has just joined the family practice. She has recently graduated as a periodontist. Joanne had a dental cleaning, followed by a dental examination by Dr. Juan Camacho. I had a dental cleaning followed by a periodontal examination by his daughter, Dra. Lilia Camacho.
When we were finished Bill and Lynn were waiting for us. We went with them for a late lunch to a restaurant that Joanne and I like. After lunch we returned to Best Optical to pick up our new eyeglasses. My prescription trifocal glasses with Transitions lenses in new frames cost $119. My prescription trifocal sunglasses in new frames cost $49. The eye exam and glaucoma test ... were included at no additional charge. Great deal !
We shopped for and bought some medications ... and chocolate bars, of course. When we arrived at the border crossing back into the United States at 5 PM there was ... NO LINE UP ! ! ! WOO-HOO ! We were home before 6 PM.
After supper we ... Joanne, I, and Bo ... went to PetsMart to buy some dog food. Bo LOOOOOVES shopping at PetsMart. HA HA HA !
Tuesday ; Cloudy and warm, chilly in the evening.
This afternoon we went to the Humane Society of Yuma for our weekly session as dog walker and cat cuddler. I walked six dogs ... none of whom wanted to walk once I got them outside. SHEESH ! I named five of them. They were new. Only one of the six dogs was here last week ( and the week before ). Most of the dogs were "new" inventory, suggesting an inventory "turnover" about every two weeks or so. Joanne said it was the same thing in the cat area. Most of the cats in there today were "new".
We took Bill and Lynn out to have supper at an EL Salvadoran food truck. House specialty ; papusas. Joanne and I have been there a few times before. We like it. So did Bill and Lynn. After some papusas we went in search of some more interesting "street food" amongst the food trucks area in the vicinity of Avenue B and 8th Street. We stopped at a Mexican food truck and had some tacos and burritos. Back at Kofa Ko-op we spent the rest of the evening visiting with Bill and Lynn in their motorhome.
Wednesday ; Still sunny and warm.
I started the day with an obedience session in the dog park. Well done, Bo, good dog.
At noon we headed for the Humane Society with Bo to attend their vaccination clinic.
I wanted to give it a try, if the line up wasn't too long. It's a no frills, first come, first served, low cost vaccination clinic. I thought the line up was too long, but Joanne wanted to wait it out. And it wasn't too bad, maybe fifteen minutes. They were cranking dogs through like an assembly line. Bo got his annual vaccinations, and a 2014 Yuma winter visitor dog license valid for six months. Guess I'll cancel next week's appointment at our regular veterinarian. Bo's now taken care of, and we've decided not to subject Sully to any more vaccinations at his very advanced age.
After lunch I worked on the truck bumper repair. It's coming along slowly. Today
I applied Bondo body putty, and after it dried, sanded it. Not bad, but will need another application. I won't be seeking employment as an auto body repairman any time soon ! HA HA HA !
Late in the afternoon we went to the clubhouse to host the weekly Happy Hour / Social Hour and heavy appetizers potluck. As "host" I changed some of the regular "procedures". You know me ... I believe "change is good" ! Joanne had some advance anxiety about my intentions / plans, but my changes were well received. Especially by the "new arrivals", to whom I gave special attention and recognition.
In the evening we tried ... for the third time ... to watch The Lone Ranger on a borrowed DVD. The DVD must be damaged. It was frequently "crashing". Maybe the problem is the DVD player, or my computer, or the software, but ... I don't think so. In frustration we finally gave up. I guess we'll have to see the movie some other time, some other place.
Thursday ; Sunny and warm. Joanne cooked an excellent beef bourguignon in the Sun Oven for supper tonight.
I spent most of the day running shopping errands. First stop was the brand new to Yuma Tractor Supply Company to buy a rubber bed mat for the truck. Next was Al's RV Supply & Service to return some items for a refund and revise an appointment for service. Then over to Cactus Propane to get some propane fittings and hoses custom made for the truck camper. Late lunch at Burger King was ... mediocre at best. Last stop was Wal-Mart, where most of the items I needed were out of stock. HMPH ! On the way home I stopped at our regular veterinarian's office to cancel next week's appointment.
I was home in time for the daily pack walk in the dog park. As soon as we returned form the pack walk our neighbour / friend who is from Thailand brought over freshly made ( still piping hot ) spring rolls and peanut sauce. OH MY GOODNESS, her Thai cooking is great !
Friday ; Well ... her Thai cooking might be great, but ... I guess I should have asked if she put pork in the spring rolls. Obviously, the answer to that question was "yes". I was sick today as a consequence. Oh, well.
Another sunny and warm day. And forecast to be the same for the next two weeks. This morning I used the bread maker to mix a batch of raisin bread dough, and this afternoon I baked it in the Sun Oven. Nice looking loaf of raisin bread.
Joanne spent all afternoon out running errands and shopping. I worked on the truck camper, mostly working on reinstalling the propane regulator and new propane hoses. I've added a new hose, for the catalytic heater I intend to install, and that new hose created difficult to resolve reinstallation and space / fit problems in the propane tank compartment.
While bicycling, I visited with Bill and Lynn, Carol Mae, Pat and her dog Lola, and a newly arrived couple from British Columbia's Gulf Islands, in a Lance truck camper similar to Elsie. Late in the evening we gave Bo a bath, his first since we recently gave him a short haircut. It certainly is easier to bathe him when he has short hair.
Saturday ; Today was sunny and very warm, no wind, gorgeous sunset tonight. I like to go bicycling at dusk, and watch the sun set over the desert as I bicycle down East County 17th Street, the road on which Kofa Ko-op is located.
This morning I worked on Lanoire the truck's damaged bumper, finishing the sanding and preparation for painting. When I was finished I went over to the storage area to do some minor auto body work on a neighbour's motorhome. My truck isn't the only one with a "boo-boo" on the corner of the front bumper !
This afternoon Joanne went to the Humane Society for a training course on cat safety, made necessary by some recent incidents of volunteer cat cuddlers getting bit by cats. While she was gone I worked on installing the Wave 6 catalytic infrared radiant heater in Elsie the truck camper. Custom hose is made and installed in the propane tank compartment, heater is wall mounted, next step is drill through the back wall of the propane tank compartment and through a cupboard wall to get the hose to the heater. Wish me luck !
This evening, after a late supper of barbecued chicken, with refried beans, and seasoned rice / pollo asado, con frijoles y arroz, we went to Wal-Mart to buy a few items, once again violating my "no Wal-Martin' on weekends" rule. It was okay, that late in the evening there were few shoppers.
DSK
I started the day with a back yard Bo-gility session. Well done, Bo, good dog. I wrapped Joanne's birthday gifts. It's her sixtieth birthday in three and a half weeks. I did a bit of work on Elsie ( the truck camper ). I paid our December electrical and propane bills.
I compiled our previous dental and eye exam records for our trip to Mexico tomorrow.
We went to the regular Sunday evening ice cream social. We had supper while watching Doc Martin on PBS. After supper Joanne went to clean the laundromat, a daily chore she volunteered to do this week. Then ... the long awaited season four premiere of Downton Abbey !
Monday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico
This morning we picked up our friends Bill and Lynn and headed for Mexico. First stop was Best Optical. Bill and I each picked out new eyeglass frames, then each had an eye exam with Dra. Ana < pant pant >. After we both finished ordering and paying for new eyeglasses, the four of us walked across town to Farmacia Veterinaria Safari to buy some pet medications. We walked back "downtown", Bill and Lynn went for haircuts, Joanne and I went for dental cleanings and examinations. For the last few years I have been seeing Dra. Esther Estolano, a periodontist from nearby San Luis Rio Colorado, but now ... my Los Algodones dentist's daughter has just joined the family practice. She has recently graduated as a periodontist. Joanne had a dental cleaning, followed by a dental examination by Dr. Juan Camacho. I had a dental cleaning followed by a periodontal examination by his daughter, Dra. Lilia Camacho.
When we were finished Bill and Lynn were waiting for us. We went with them for a late lunch to a restaurant that Joanne and I like. After lunch we returned to Best Optical to pick up our new eyeglasses. My prescription trifocal glasses with Transitions lenses in new frames cost $119. My prescription trifocal sunglasses in new frames cost $49. The eye exam and glaucoma test ... were included at no additional charge. Great deal !
We shopped for and bought some medications ... and chocolate bars, of course. When we arrived at the border crossing back into the United States at 5 PM there was ... NO LINE UP ! ! ! WOO-HOO ! We were home before 6 PM.
After supper we ... Joanne, I, and Bo ... went to PetsMart to buy some dog food. Bo LOOOOOVES shopping at PetsMart. HA HA HA !
Tuesday ; Cloudy and warm, chilly in the evening.
This afternoon we went to the Humane Society of Yuma for our weekly session as dog walker and cat cuddler. I walked six dogs ... none of whom wanted to walk once I got them outside. SHEESH ! I named five of them. They were new. Only one of the six dogs was here last week ( and the week before ). Most of the dogs were "new" inventory, suggesting an inventory "turnover" about every two weeks or so. Joanne said it was the same thing in the cat area. Most of the cats in there today were "new".
We took Bill and Lynn out to have supper at an EL Salvadoran food truck. House specialty ; papusas. Joanne and I have been there a few times before. We like it. So did Bill and Lynn. After some papusas we went in search of some more interesting "street food" amongst the food trucks area in the vicinity of Avenue B and 8th Street. We stopped at a Mexican food truck and had some tacos and burritos. Back at Kofa Ko-op we spent the rest of the evening visiting with Bill and Lynn in their motorhome.
Wednesday ; Still sunny and warm.
I started the day with an obedience session in the dog park. Well done, Bo, good dog.
At noon we headed for the Humane Society with Bo to attend their vaccination clinic.
I wanted to give it a try, if the line up wasn't too long. It's a no frills, first come, first served, low cost vaccination clinic. I thought the line up was too long, but Joanne wanted to wait it out. And it wasn't too bad, maybe fifteen minutes. They were cranking dogs through like an assembly line. Bo got his annual vaccinations, and a 2014 Yuma winter visitor dog license valid for six months. Guess I'll cancel next week's appointment at our regular veterinarian. Bo's now taken care of, and we've decided not to subject Sully to any more vaccinations at his very advanced age.
After lunch I worked on the truck bumper repair. It's coming along slowly. Today
I applied Bondo body putty, and after it dried, sanded it. Not bad, but will need another application. I won't be seeking employment as an auto body repairman any time soon ! HA HA HA !
Late in the afternoon we went to the clubhouse to host the weekly Happy Hour / Social Hour and heavy appetizers potluck. As "host" I changed some of the regular "procedures". You know me ... I believe "change is good" ! Joanne had some advance anxiety about my intentions / plans, but my changes were well received. Especially by the "new arrivals", to whom I gave special attention and recognition.
In the evening we tried ... for the third time ... to watch The Lone Ranger on a borrowed DVD. The DVD must be damaged. It was frequently "crashing". Maybe the problem is the DVD player, or my computer, or the software, but ... I don't think so. In frustration we finally gave up. I guess we'll have to see the movie some other time, some other place.
Thursday ; Sunny and warm. Joanne cooked an excellent beef bourguignon in the Sun Oven for supper tonight.
I spent most of the day running shopping errands. First stop was the brand new to Yuma Tractor Supply Company to buy a rubber bed mat for the truck. Next was Al's RV Supply & Service to return some items for a refund and revise an appointment for service. Then over to Cactus Propane to get some propane fittings and hoses custom made for the truck camper. Late lunch at Burger King was ... mediocre at best. Last stop was Wal-Mart, where most of the items I needed were out of stock. HMPH ! On the way home I stopped at our regular veterinarian's office to cancel next week's appointment.
I was home in time for the daily pack walk in the dog park. As soon as we returned form the pack walk our neighbour / friend who is from Thailand brought over freshly made ( still piping hot ) spring rolls and peanut sauce. OH MY GOODNESS, her Thai cooking is great !
Friday ; Well ... her Thai cooking might be great, but ... I guess I should have asked if she put pork in the spring rolls. Obviously, the answer to that question was "yes". I was sick today as a consequence. Oh, well.
Another sunny and warm day. And forecast to be the same for the next two weeks. This morning I used the bread maker to mix a batch of raisin bread dough, and this afternoon I baked it in the Sun Oven. Nice looking loaf of raisin bread.
Joanne spent all afternoon out running errands and shopping. I worked on the truck camper, mostly working on reinstalling the propane regulator and new propane hoses. I've added a new hose, for the catalytic heater I intend to install, and that new hose created difficult to resolve reinstallation and space / fit problems in the propane tank compartment.
While bicycling, I visited with Bill and Lynn, Carol Mae, Pat and her dog Lola, and a newly arrived couple from British Columbia's Gulf Islands, in a Lance truck camper similar to Elsie. Late in the evening we gave Bo a bath, his first since we recently gave him a short haircut. It certainly is easier to bathe him when he has short hair.
Saturday ; Today was sunny and very warm, no wind, gorgeous sunset tonight. I like to go bicycling at dusk, and watch the sun set over the desert as I bicycle down East County 17th Street, the road on which Kofa Ko-op is located.
This morning I worked on Lanoire the truck's damaged bumper, finishing the sanding and preparation for painting. When I was finished I went over to the storage area to do some minor auto body work on a neighbour's motorhome. My truck isn't the only one with a "boo-boo" on the corner of the front bumper !
This afternoon Joanne went to the Humane Society for a training course on cat safety, made necessary by some recent incidents of volunteer cat cuddlers getting bit by cats. While she was gone I worked on installing the Wave 6 catalytic infrared radiant heater in Elsie the truck camper. Custom hose is made and installed in the propane tank compartment, heater is wall mounted, next step is drill through the back wall of the propane tank compartment and through a cupboard wall to get the hose to the heater. Wish me luck !
This evening, after a late supper of barbecued chicken, with refried beans, and seasoned rice / pollo asado, con frijoles y arroz, we went to Wal-Mart to buy a few items, once again violating my "no Wal-Martin' on weekends" rule. It was okay, that late in the evening there were few shoppers.
DSK
Sunday, January 5, 2014
December 29, 2013 to January 4, 2014
Sunday ; Still sunny and warm.
This morning we headed out to Yuma Park N Swap a.k.a. Dog Track Flea Market ... again ... to exchange a couple of items purchased yesterday ; wrong size socks ( her ) and wrong size J bolt ( me ).
In the afternoon we gave Bo an overdue haircut. Like a bath, he hates the process of getting a haircut but loves the results. He had a lot of desert grass "quills" embedded in his skin underneath his long hair, especially in his "armpits" and on his abdomen. Poor Bo.
At 6 PM we attended the regular Sunday ice cream social then spent the evening chatting with friends in the clubhouse. Until 9 PM when we had to cover the pool and hot tub, a job Joanne signed us up to do this week. We had a very late supper while watching Downton Abbey on PBS.
Monday ; Still sunny and warm. Joanne cooked a wonderful Mexican seasoned rice and vegetable medley in the Sun Oven today.
She did a lot of cleaning chores today. I puttered around with gardening chores and did some "home improvement" project work on Elsie. And for the first in quite awhile I napped after lunch with Sully. He appreciated it and was very cuddly. This afternoon I installed a headlight and a flashing taillight on my bicycle. And at dusk when I went for my daily bicycle ride I felt much safer.
Tuesday ; New Year's Eve
Still sunny and warm. Joanne cooked a marvellous Mexican Chicken Chile Verde in the Sun Oven for supper tonight.
We spent the morning at the Humane Society, doing our weekly dog walking and cat cuddling.
In the afternoon while Joanne did a lot of laundry I worked on repairing the damaged corner of the truck bumper. Previously I had applied fiberglass gel to the damaged area, then sanded it. I applied fiberglass gel a second time, and today sanded that second application. It's coming along nicely, and I think I'm just about ready to apply Bondo body putty.
As we do every day we took Bo for a walk around the dog park, walking the perimeter of the seven acre dog park twice. Great physical exercise and socialization for people and dogs. I went cycling at dusk, up and down each road in the RV park, then down East County 17th Street to Avenue 4E and back to Kofa Ko-op. I started a little later than I usually do, enjoying the security of my new headlight and taillight. I did some online banking work, getting all bills paid before year end, even some that aren't due yet. Year end finances look pretty good. While eating dinner we watched the holiday edition of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, a Canadian comedy show. Hilarious year end episode ! The show has improved over the years.
After Joanne washed dishes we headed to the clubhouse for Kofa Ko-op's New Year's Eve party. Along with the "eat & run" mentality of this RV park, the New Year's Eve mentality is one of the very few things I can bitch about. At midnight New York time, everybody "celebrates" Happy New Year ! It's 10 PM here ! ! ! About 75 % of the people leave a few minutes later. At midnight New Orleans time the process is repeated. It's 11 PM here ! ! ! Most of the remaining 25 % leave at that time. At "real" midnight, we were two of the only TEN people still left in the clubhouse !
Because we had volunteered to be the swimming pool and hot tub "closers" this week, we covered the swimming pool at 9 PM but left the hot tub uncovered. A few minutes after midnight, everybody left the clubhouse. Joanne and I went home, changed into bathing suits, and went to spend about a half an hour in the hot tub, musing on what a good year 2013 had been for us.
Wednesday ; Happy New Year / Bonne Heureuse Année / Feliz Año Nuevo
Another lovely day, still sunny and warm.
We had a fun obedience session with Bo in the dog park behind our back yard. Our 93 year old friend ( mostly Joanne's friend, actually ) Eilene brought over some freshly baked date cookies, her specialty. MMMMMM ! ! ! Never met a date cookie of Eilene's that I didn't like. HA HA HA ! Our new friend Connie and her Golden Retriever Sassy stopped by for a visit in our Arizona room. I did some home improvement / refurbishment work on Elsie this afternoon. We had a pleasant daily pack walk, twice around the perimeter of the seven acre dog park, with a pack of four dogs.
This evening we went to the regular weekly Wednesday Social Hour & Potluck. We sat and chatted with new friends Bill and Lynne for five hours !
My ambitious "to do" list for today got thwarted by too much socializing.
Thursday ; Still lovely weather. Joanne cooked an Italian Sausage casserole / stew in the Sun Oven for supper tonight.
This morning I went out to Pep Boys to buy some auto body repair materials to continue work on the damaged corner of the truck bumper. And I have a neighbour who would like my help to repair some minor damage on the corner of the bumper of his fairly new Class A motorhome.
This afternoon Joanne went out to shop and run errands by herself. I spent the afternoon mounting artwork in the Arizona room. We brought to Yuma some of our artwork that had been in storage in Winnipeg for the last 9½ years.
Our friend and neighbour Shauna asked for my help today to remove a tick from her dog Zona's ear. Odd shaped tick, from my perspective. Not the same shape as the ticks I'm used to seeing in Manitoba, Ontario, and British Columbia throughout my life. Shauna ( and her husband ) and Zona were in Southern California during the Christmas and New Year's season. Must have been a Southern California tick. I wonder if it was a bad driver ? Or an asshole tick ? HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !
I ordered another Sun Oven today ! Sun Oven sent an e-mail to their previous customers advertising a "scratch & dent" sale on a discontinued model of Sun Oven, selling test units and demo units. It seemed like a good opportunity to not have to cart our Sun Oven back and forth from Arizona to British Columbia every year. We'll leave our "old" one here, and take the "new" one home in the spring, and leave it there.
In the evening I printed year end banking and financial data, and worked on year end reconciliation and analysis.
Friday ; Still sunny and warm.
This morning we headed to The Foothills, the eastern side of Yuma. Today was the monthly 15% off everything sale at Al's RV Service & Supply. And I had a lot of supplies to buy for Elsie the truck camper. Including about $150 worth of LED light bulbs ! They're not cheap ! Especially the fluorescent conversion kits !
While I shopped at Al's RV Joanne shopped at the 99¢ Only Store. After finishing at Al's we went to Foothills Shoes to look at Birkenstock sandals for me. Too expensive here in Yuma. I'll get them in Laughlin, Nevada in the spring. I withdrew cash from the Bank of America ATM to pay for my eyeglasses and our dental cleanings next week in Mexico. We drove to a thrift shop Joanne wanted to browse in. We went to Wally's World and I bought more truck camper stuff. We came home for a very late lunch.
With what little there was left of the afternoon I worked on refurbishing the truck camper's propane regulator and hoses, as well as sorting and prioritizing today's purchases. A neighbour and his dog came over to visit. Well ... first the dog came over looking for Bo. Then the neighbour came over looking for his dog. HA HA HA ! We went on the daily dog pack walk. Afterwards I went for a bicycle ride.
In the evening I installed and configured my new Wi-Fi booster antenna / external adaptor ... that Santa brought me. Should have much better range and reception of
Wi-Fi now.
Saturday ; Warm but mostly cloudy today. Unable to use the Sun Oven to bake bread as planned.
Joanne defrosted fridge in trailer. We worked on Elsie again today. I changed all incandescent light bulbs to LED. Joanne cleaned dinette upholstery. I flushed scale out of water heater, installed new sacrificial anode.
Late in the afternoon Joanne went to run some shopping errands. I connected computer to TV with HDMI cable purchased on Thanksgiving. Spent most of evening trying to download DVD player software. Didn't know until trying to set up DVD for "movie date" tonight that ****ing Windows 8 doesn't have DVD player software. I downloaded three different software programs ( and deleted two of them ) before I found one that worked properly on my computer and DVD drive configuration.
By the time we were finished supper, and I finally succeeded in getting the damn DVD to play properly, it was quite late. Our "movie date" was supposed to be a viewing of borrowed copy of Lone Ranger. Halfway through movie had a malfunction, and by the time I rectified that problem, Joanne was asleep on the sofa with cat. < sigh > Sent her to bed. Will watch remainder of movie some other time, I guess.
DSK
This morning we headed out to Yuma Park N Swap a.k.a. Dog Track Flea Market ... again ... to exchange a couple of items purchased yesterday ; wrong size socks ( her ) and wrong size J bolt ( me ).
In the afternoon we gave Bo an overdue haircut. Like a bath, he hates the process of getting a haircut but loves the results. He had a lot of desert grass "quills" embedded in his skin underneath his long hair, especially in his "armpits" and on his abdomen. Poor Bo.
At 6 PM we attended the regular Sunday ice cream social then spent the evening chatting with friends in the clubhouse. Until 9 PM when we had to cover the pool and hot tub, a job Joanne signed us up to do this week. We had a very late supper while watching Downton Abbey on PBS.
Monday ; Still sunny and warm. Joanne cooked a wonderful Mexican seasoned rice and vegetable medley in the Sun Oven today.
She did a lot of cleaning chores today. I puttered around with gardening chores and did some "home improvement" project work on Elsie. And for the first in quite awhile I napped after lunch with Sully. He appreciated it and was very cuddly. This afternoon I installed a headlight and a flashing taillight on my bicycle. And at dusk when I went for my daily bicycle ride I felt much safer.
Tuesday ; New Year's Eve
Still sunny and warm. Joanne cooked a marvellous Mexican Chicken Chile Verde in the Sun Oven for supper tonight.
We spent the morning at the Humane Society, doing our weekly dog walking and cat cuddling.
In the afternoon while Joanne did a lot of laundry I worked on repairing the damaged corner of the truck bumper. Previously I had applied fiberglass gel to the damaged area, then sanded it. I applied fiberglass gel a second time, and today sanded that second application. It's coming along nicely, and I think I'm just about ready to apply Bondo body putty.
As we do every day we took Bo for a walk around the dog park, walking the perimeter of the seven acre dog park twice. Great physical exercise and socialization for people and dogs. I went cycling at dusk, up and down each road in the RV park, then down East County 17th Street to Avenue 4E and back to Kofa Ko-op. I started a little later than I usually do, enjoying the security of my new headlight and taillight. I did some online banking work, getting all bills paid before year end, even some that aren't due yet. Year end finances look pretty good. While eating dinner we watched the holiday edition of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, a Canadian comedy show. Hilarious year end episode ! The show has improved over the years.
After Joanne washed dishes we headed to the clubhouse for Kofa Ko-op's New Year's Eve party. Along with the "eat & run" mentality of this RV park, the New Year's Eve mentality is one of the very few things I can bitch about. At midnight New York time, everybody "celebrates" Happy New Year ! It's 10 PM here ! ! ! About 75 % of the people leave a few minutes later. At midnight New Orleans time the process is repeated. It's 11 PM here ! ! ! Most of the remaining 25 % leave at that time. At "real" midnight, we were two of the only TEN people still left in the clubhouse !
Because we had volunteered to be the swimming pool and hot tub "closers" this week, we covered the swimming pool at 9 PM but left the hot tub uncovered. A few minutes after midnight, everybody left the clubhouse. Joanne and I went home, changed into bathing suits, and went to spend about a half an hour in the hot tub, musing on what a good year 2013 had been for us.
Wednesday ; Happy New Year / Bonne Heureuse Année / Feliz Año Nuevo
Another lovely day, still sunny and warm.
We had a fun obedience session with Bo in the dog park behind our back yard. Our 93 year old friend ( mostly Joanne's friend, actually ) Eilene brought over some freshly baked date cookies, her specialty. MMMMMM ! ! ! Never met a date cookie of Eilene's that I didn't like. HA HA HA ! Our new friend Connie and her Golden Retriever Sassy stopped by for a visit in our Arizona room. I did some home improvement / refurbishment work on Elsie this afternoon. We had a pleasant daily pack walk, twice around the perimeter of the seven acre dog park, with a pack of four dogs.
This evening we went to the regular weekly Wednesday Social Hour & Potluck. We sat and chatted with new friends Bill and Lynne for five hours !
My ambitious "to do" list for today got thwarted by too much socializing.
Thursday ; Still lovely weather. Joanne cooked an Italian Sausage casserole / stew in the Sun Oven for supper tonight.
This morning I went out to Pep Boys to buy some auto body repair materials to continue work on the damaged corner of the truck bumper. And I have a neighbour who would like my help to repair some minor damage on the corner of the bumper of his fairly new Class A motorhome.
This afternoon Joanne went out to shop and run errands by herself. I spent the afternoon mounting artwork in the Arizona room. We brought to Yuma some of our artwork that had been in storage in Winnipeg for the last 9½ years.
Our friend and neighbour Shauna asked for my help today to remove a tick from her dog Zona's ear. Odd shaped tick, from my perspective. Not the same shape as the ticks I'm used to seeing in Manitoba, Ontario, and British Columbia throughout my life. Shauna ( and her husband ) and Zona were in Southern California during the Christmas and New Year's season. Must have been a Southern California tick. I wonder if it was a bad driver ? Or an asshole tick ? HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !
I ordered another Sun Oven today ! Sun Oven sent an e-mail to their previous customers advertising a "scratch & dent" sale on a discontinued model of Sun Oven, selling test units and demo units. It seemed like a good opportunity to not have to cart our Sun Oven back and forth from Arizona to British Columbia every year. We'll leave our "old" one here, and take the "new" one home in the spring, and leave it there.
In the evening I printed year end banking and financial data, and worked on year end reconciliation and analysis.
Friday ; Still sunny and warm.
This morning we headed to The Foothills, the eastern side of Yuma. Today was the monthly 15% off everything sale at Al's RV Service & Supply. And I had a lot of supplies to buy for Elsie the truck camper. Including about $150 worth of LED light bulbs ! They're not cheap ! Especially the fluorescent conversion kits !
While I shopped at Al's RV Joanne shopped at the 99¢ Only Store. After finishing at Al's we went to Foothills Shoes to look at Birkenstock sandals for me. Too expensive here in Yuma. I'll get them in Laughlin, Nevada in the spring. I withdrew cash from the Bank of America ATM to pay for my eyeglasses and our dental cleanings next week in Mexico. We drove to a thrift shop Joanne wanted to browse in. We went to Wally's World and I bought more truck camper stuff. We came home for a very late lunch.
With what little there was left of the afternoon I worked on refurbishing the truck camper's propane regulator and hoses, as well as sorting and prioritizing today's purchases. A neighbour and his dog came over to visit. Well ... first the dog came over looking for Bo. Then the neighbour came over looking for his dog. HA HA HA ! We went on the daily dog pack walk. Afterwards I went for a bicycle ride.
In the evening I installed and configured my new Wi-Fi booster antenna / external adaptor ... that Santa brought me. Should have much better range and reception of
Wi-Fi now.
Saturday ; Warm but mostly cloudy today. Unable to use the Sun Oven to bake bread as planned.
Joanne defrosted fridge in trailer. We worked on Elsie again today. I changed all incandescent light bulbs to LED. Joanne cleaned dinette upholstery. I flushed scale out of water heater, installed new sacrificial anode.
Late in the afternoon Joanne went to run some shopping errands. I connected computer to TV with HDMI cable purchased on Thanksgiving. Spent most of evening trying to download DVD player software. Didn't know until trying to set up DVD for "movie date" tonight that ****ing Windows 8 doesn't have DVD player software. I downloaded three different software programs ( and deleted two of them ) before I found one that worked properly on my computer and DVD drive configuration.
By the time we were finished supper, and I finally succeeded in getting the damn DVD to play properly, it was quite late. Our "movie date" was supposed to be a viewing of borrowed copy of Lone Ranger. Halfway through movie had a malfunction, and by the time I rectified that problem, Joanne was asleep on the sofa with cat. < sigh > Sent her to bed. Will watch remainder of movie some other time, I guess.
DSK
Sunday, December 29, 2013
December 22 to 28, 2013
Sunday ; Sunny and very warm.
This morning I set up the Sun Oven and put three drying racks of thinly sliced Roma tomatoes in to be sun dried. MMMMMM ! It's been about a year since we've had fresh sun dried tomatoes. A few days ago we bought six pounds of Roma tomatoes at Food City, on sale for thirty-three cents a pound. Carol Mae came over to discuss Humane Society fund raising ideas.
This afternoon I did back yard Bo-gility. I did some minor maintenance and "home improvement" projects around the yard and trailer. We went to the storage area and did some work on Elsie the truck camper. We've done a lot of cleaning, minor maintenance, and refurbishments / improvements to Elsie in the short period of time we've had her, in order to make her "ours". And we have a lot more that we want to do during this winter season. I did some cactus gardening in the dog park behind our rear fence, positioning pre-cast concrete tree ring sections around all my plantings back there. We took Bo for our daily walk around the dog park. No one else joined us today, so ... Bo was a pack of one.
Late in the afternoon we went to the regular Sunday late afternoon / early evening ice cream social. We chatted with new arrivals, and new full time RV'ers, from Texas about their interest in visiting Canada next summer. Afterwards we had a late, light supper while watching Downton Abbey on PBS.
Monday ; Still sunny and warm, and forecast to remain that way for at least the next week. Don't ya love Yuma ? ! ? We finished the sun drying of the Roma tomatoes started yesterday, then Joanne put a Hungarian Chicken casserole into the Sun Oven to cook for tonight's supper. It was very good. That recipe is a keeper !
This morning we walked over to the other side of the RV park to give Bo's Christmas gift to Dulce, and say goodbye and wish Merry Christmas to Carol Mae and Larry. They're going to celebrate Christmas "in the desert", a common euphemism around here. There is a clique of people here who spend all holidays boondocking out in the desert, avoiding the large communal dinner gatherings of the RV park.
I continued working on the repair of the corner of the truck bumper that I damaged in Bullhead City a month or so ago. This afternoon Joanne went shopping by herself. "What ... again ?" you might ask ? I watered all my cactus gardens and plantings. Joanne returned home just in time for the daily pack walk. After the pack walk I washed the truck. A nearby, old lemon grove was set on fire a few days ago ( intentionally ... the lemon trees had reached the end of their useful life ) and ash floated over our RV park and settled on everything !
Around 1:15 AM Sully and I were awakened by the sound of coyotes howling nearby. It scared Sully and he came to sleep beside my face, using my cheek as his pillow. After a few minutes of howling the coyotes were silenced immediately following the sound of seven rapid fire shots. Yup ... them semi-automatic assault rifles are certainly effective at blowing coyotes to Kingdom Come. Especially around a populated area like this ! ! ! God Bless America ! ! ! And I say that as only a pinko Canadian atheist can !
Tuesday ; Christmas Eve
AHHHHH ... sunny and warm !
Today I remember my father, who died on Christmas Eve eighteen years ago.
We were up a bit early this morning so we could head to the Humane Society of Yuma. When we signed on as volunteers recently, we chose Tuesday afternoon as our weekly "day of work". But today the Humane Society was closing at noon, so we wanted to get our weekly "work" done this morning.
It was our first day as trained volunteers, me doing "dog walking" and Joanne doing "cat cuddling". We both enjoyed our two hours of "work". I walked six dogs, and named four of them. Tonight I'm stiff and sore from "wrestling" a young, intact male pit bull that was a "puller". I was naming the dogs alphabetically, so by the time I got to him, I was up to "D". I was sorely tempted to name him DORK, but settled on DENNIS. The fifth dog
I walked was a cute little Terrier cross named Santa. Sadly, Santa did not leave on Christmas Eve.
Back at home we had lunch in our Arizona room, as we do most days. It's wonderful to be in there on sunny, warm afternoons. I spent the afternoon puttering around with home improvement work, while Joanne worked in the kitchen, baking for Christmas, and preparing her special Christmas Eve dinner. Upholding her family’s tradition Joanne prepared tourtière ( French Canadian meat pie ) for Christmas Eve dinner. Thank you, my dear.
I'm typing this at 7:15 PM. Supper is almost ready. I've got a Zydeco Christmas album playing in the computer's CD / DVD drive. We've just returned from a long, slow, leisurely walk up and down every road in the RV park, admiring the hundreds of luminaries laid out along both sides of each road and lit at dusk, a Christmas Eve tradition at Kofa Ko-op.
It's a wonderful life !
Wednesday ; Merry Christmas / Joyeux Noel / Feliz Navidad
Well ! ! ! Life may have been wonderful last night ... BUT ...
Today was sunny and warm, as Christmas always seems to be in Yuma, Arizona.
We got a bit of a late start to our day. And ... while preparing our traditional Christmas morning brunch of Belgian Waffles, we had a vicious little squabble. It really soured us over brunch and for awhile thereafter. We finally came to our senses when we went out to the Arizona room to open gifts.
As always, we allowed Bo to open all gifts. HA HA HA ... what a gift opening frenzy he experiences every Christmas. I'm certainly going to miss that when he's gone. He was so enthusiastic about opening gifts that I received a hardcover book as a gift ... and it has dog tooth marks on one corner of the hard cover. HA HA HA ! Slow down, Bo, you're leaving tooth marks on the gifts. HA HA HA HA HA !
Not long after we were finished opening and admiring gifts Joanne had to get dressed and leave for the clubhouse. She was a "greeter" for our park's 3 PM Christmas dinner. I thought 3 PM was a very odd time to schedule Christmas dinner ! I had time to phone my sister and chat for half an hour before I had to get dressed and head to the clubhouse. I was a server, serving turkey and gravy.
The Christmas dinner organizers actually had a strategy for planning dinner at 3 PM. They were trying to combat this park's "eat and run" mentality by scheduling dinner for 3 PM ... and dessert at 5 PM. They mostly failed. How discouraging ... and frustrating ! People finished eating their dinner well before 4 PM ... and most left. Most returned for dessert at 5 PM ... and the clubhouse was almost deserted again by 6 PM. A handful of us remained and chatted for a couple of hours.
You'd think that after this many years spending six months a year in the United States ... we'd have figured out how to avoid to getting drawn into discussions with Americans about their "constitutional right to bear arms" and Canada's universal / "free" health care system. < sigh >
Still sunny and warm. Except late in the evening. We went for a walk around the park with Bo after 9 PM. BRRRRR !
We spent much of the day visiting with friends and neighbours. Visited Tina and Everett, and their dog Maddie in the morning, then visited Lynn and her dog Windsor all afternoon. In the evening Penny and Paul came over to visit.
We walked Bo in the dog park. I rode my bicycle. I puttered around with Elsie the truck camper a little bit.
Friday ; Sunny and very warm, a really gorgeous day.
Let me tell you the story of my Scarlet Macaws wood carving.
On October 13, 1999, the day after our 25th wedding anniversary, we spent the day browsing in the open air market place in Ocho Rios ( Eight Rivers ), Jamaica. As we entered the market in the morning, a wood carver was just beginning to carve a five foot section of burled Cypress tree trunk. Throughout the day, as we passed by his location about every hour or so, I was fascinated watching the carving develop. It became apparent that he was carving a series of six Scarlet Macaws, large parrot like birds, in the burls of the tree trunk. The more he carved, the more fascinated I became.
Late in the day ... OMG ... the carving was finished, and ... he was painting the birds in the vivid colours that Scarlet Macaws possess. At the end of the day, as we were about to head back to our cruise ship ... he attached a price tag to the finished and painted carving. The paint had barely dried. Yes, yes ... I bought the damn thing ! It was a bit expensive, but ... it did represent an entire long day of work for the artist / carver.
I hoisted the heavy, five foot section of the Cypress tree trunk onto my shoulder and lugged it back to the cruise ship. A few days later I lugged it from the ship to Miami Airport. American Airlines wrapped it in a lot of bubble wrap. Thank you, American Airlines. Back in Canada, at Ottawa Airport, we underwent a lengthy inspection of the carving by Canada Customs, which included X-rays and drilling a long hole up into the bottom of the trunk to ensure that it was solid, and not stuffed with drugs.
It was on display in our living room for almost five years.
In June, 2004, as we prepared to begin our new life as full time RV'ers, I packed the carving into a tall box, filled it with styrofoam popcorn, taped it shut, and hauled it to Winnipeg, Manitoba where it went into storage in my sister's basement for nine and a half years. Thank you, Sharon.
In September 2013, we retrieved it from Winnipeg, Manitoba and hauled it to Keremeos, British Columbia. It was in our way on the entire journey !
In November 2013, we hauled it from Keremeos, British Columbia to Yuma, Arizona. It was in our way on the entire journey ! ! !
Today ... TA DA ... I opened the box, removed the carving, and set it up on display in our Arizona room. And yes, yes ... it's every bit as appealing to me as it was on the day that it was carved over fourteen years ago. Hello, beautiful birds ! Nice to see you again !
Anybody wanna buy a lot of styrofoam popcorn ?
Joanne spent the entire day out shopping by herself ! < scowling >
Saturday ; Partially cloudy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon, warm.
We spent most of the day out shopping, most of it at Yuma Park N Swap, a.k.a. Dog Track Flea Market. Sears for a minute, Salvation Army for a few minutes, Goodwill for a few minutes, then Harbor Freight ... for many minutes ... HA HA HA ... a few minutes at Walgreens and a few minutes at Bank of America before an early ETYS buffet supper at KFC.
Stock market doing well ! Looks like a good year overall for our investments. Unless if the sky falls in the next couple of days. HA HA HA !
DSK
This morning I set up the Sun Oven and put three drying racks of thinly sliced Roma tomatoes in to be sun dried. MMMMMM ! It's been about a year since we've had fresh sun dried tomatoes. A few days ago we bought six pounds of Roma tomatoes at Food City, on sale for thirty-three cents a pound. Carol Mae came over to discuss Humane Society fund raising ideas.
This afternoon I did back yard Bo-gility. I did some minor maintenance and "home improvement" projects around the yard and trailer. We went to the storage area and did some work on Elsie the truck camper. We've done a lot of cleaning, minor maintenance, and refurbishments / improvements to Elsie in the short period of time we've had her, in order to make her "ours". And we have a lot more that we want to do during this winter season. I did some cactus gardening in the dog park behind our rear fence, positioning pre-cast concrete tree ring sections around all my plantings back there. We took Bo for our daily walk around the dog park. No one else joined us today, so ... Bo was a pack of one.
Late in the afternoon we went to the regular Sunday late afternoon / early evening ice cream social. We chatted with new arrivals, and new full time RV'ers, from Texas about their interest in visiting Canada next summer. Afterwards we had a late, light supper while watching Downton Abbey on PBS.
Monday ; Still sunny and warm, and forecast to remain that way for at least the next week. Don't ya love Yuma ? ! ? We finished the sun drying of the Roma tomatoes started yesterday, then Joanne put a Hungarian Chicken casserole into the Sun Oven to cook for tonight's supper. It was very good. That recipe is a keeper !
This morning we walked over to the other side of the RV park to give Bo's Christmas gift to Dulce, and say goodbye and wish Merry Christmas to Carol Mae and Larry. They're going to celebrate Christmas "in the desert", a common euphemism around here. There is a clique of people here who spend all holidays boondocking out in the desert, avoiding the large communal dinner gatherings of the RV park.
I continued working on the repair of the corner of the truck bumper that I damaged in Bullhead City a month or so ago. This afternoon Joanne went shopping by herself. "What ... again ?" you might ask ? I watered all my cactus gardens and plantings. Joanne returned home just in time for the daily pack walk. After the pack walk I washed the truck. A nearby, old lemon grove was set on fire a few days ago ( intentionally ... the lemon trees had reached the end of their useful life ) and ash floated over our RV park and settled on everything !
Around 1:15 AM Sully and I were awakened by the sound of coyotes howling nearby. It scared Sully and he came to sleep beside my face, using my cheek as his pillow. After a few minutes of howling the coyotes were silenced immediately following the sound of seven rapid fire shots. Yup ... them semi-automatic assault rifles are certainly effective at blowing coyotes to Kingdom Come. Especially around a populated area like this ! ! ! God Bless America ! ! ! And I say that as only a pinko Canadian atheist can !
Tuesday ; Christmas Eve
AHHHHH ... sunny and warm !
Today I remember my father, who died on Christmas Eve eighteen years ago.
We were up a bit early this morning so we could head to the Humane Society of Yuma. When we signed on as volunteers recently, we chose Tuesday afternoon as our weekly "day of work". But today the Humane Society was closing at noon, so we wanted to get our weekly "work" done this morning.
It was our first day as trained volunteers, me doing "dog walking" and Joanne doing "cat cuddling". We both enjoyed our two hours of "work". I walked six dogs, and named four of them. Tonight I'm stiff and sore from "wrestling" a young, intact male pit bull that was a "puller". I was naming the dogs alphabetically, so by the time I got to him, I was up to "D". I was sorely tempted to name him DORK, but settled on DENNIS. The fifth dog
I walked was a cute little Terrier cross named Santa. Sadly, Santa did not leave on Christmas Eve.
Back at home we had lunch in our Arizona room, as we do most days. It's wonderful to be in there on sunny, warm afternoons. I spent the afternoon puttering around with home improvement work, while Joanne worked in the kitchen, baking for Christmas, and preparing her special Christmas Eve dinner. Upholding her family’s tradition Joanne prepared tourtière ( French Canadian meat pie ) for Christmas Eve dinner. Thank you, my dear.
I'm typing this at 7:15 PM. Supper is almost ready. I've got a Zydeco Christmas album playing in the computer's CD / DVD drive. We've just returned from a long, slow, leisurely walk up and down every road in the RV park, admiring the hundreds of luminaries laid out along both sides of each road and lit at dusk, a Christmas Eve tradition at Kofa Ko-op.
It's a wonderful life !
Wednesday ; Merry Christmas / Joyeux Noel / Feliz Navidad
Well ! ! ! Life may have been wonderful last night ... BUT ...
Today was sunny and warm, as Christmas always seems to be in Yuma, Arizona.
We got a bit of a late start to our day. And ... while preparing our traditional Christmas morning brunch of Belgian Waffles, we had a vicious little squabble. It really soured us over brunch and for awhile thereafter. We finally came to our senses when we went out to the Arizona room to open gifts.
As always, we allowed Bo to open all gifts. HA HA HA ... what a gift opening frenzy he experiences every Christmas. I'm certainly going to miss that when he's gone. He was so enthusiastic about opening gifts that I received a hardcover book as a gift ... and it has dog tooth marks on one corner of the hard cover. HA HA HA ! Slow down, Bo, you're leaving tooth marks on the gifts. HA HA HA HA HA !
Not long after we were finished opening and admiring gifts Joanne had to get dressed and leave for the clubhouse. She was a "greeter" for our park's 3 PM Christmas dinner. I thought 3 PM was a very odd time to schedule Christmas dinner ! I had time to phone my sister and chat for half an hour before I had to get dressed and head to the clubhouse. I was a server, serving turkey and gravy.
The Christmas dinner organizers actually had a strategy for planning dinner at 3 PM. They were trying to combat this park's "eat and run" mentality by scheduling dinner for 3 PM ... and dessert at 5 PM. They mostly failed. How discouraging ... and frustrating ! People finished eating their dinner well before 4 PM ... and most left. Most returned for dessert at 5 PM ... and the clubhouse was almost deserted again by 6 PM. A handful of us remained and chatted for a couple of hours.
You'd think that after this many years spending six months a year in the United States ... we'd have figured out how to avoid to getting drawn into discussions with Americans about their "constitutional right to bear arms" and Canada's universal / "free" health care system. < sigh >
Thursday ; Boxing Day ( in Canada )
Still sunny and warm. Except late in the evening. We went for a walk around the park with Bo after 9 PM. BRRRRR !
We spent much of the day visiting with friends and neighbours. Visited Tina and Everett, and their dog Maddie in the morning, then visited Lynn and her dog Windsor all afternoon. In the evening Penny and Paul came over to visit.
We walked Bo in the dog park. I rode my bicycle. I puttered around with Elsie the truck camper a little bit.
Friday ; Sunny and very warm, a really gorgeous day.
Let me tell you the story of my Scarlet Macaws wood carving.
On October 13, 1999, the day after our 25th wedding anniversary, we spent the day browsing in the open air market place in Ocho Rios ( Eight Rivers ), Jamaica. As we entered the market in the morning, a wood carver was just beginning to carve a five foot section of burled Cypress tree trunk. Throughout the day, as we passed by his location about every hour or so, I was fascinated watching the carving develop. It became apparent that he was carving a series of six Scarlet Macaws, large parrot like birds, in the burls of the tree trunk. The more he carved, the more fascinated I became.
Late in the day ... OMG ... the carving was finished, and ... he was painting the birds in the vivid colours that Scarlet Macaws possess. At the end of the day, as we were about to head back to our cruise ship ... he attached a price tag to the finished and painted carving. The paint had barely dried. Yes, yes ... I bought the damn thing ! It was a bit expensive, but ... it did represent an entire long day of work for the artist / carver.
I hoisted the heavy, five foot section of the Cypress tree trunk onto my shoulder and lugged it back to the cruise ship. A few days later I lugged it from the ship to Miami Airport. American Airlines wrapped it in a lot of bubble wrap. Thank you, American Airlines. Back in Canada, at Ottawa Airport, we underwent a lengthy inspection of the carving by Canada Customs, which included X-rays and drilling a long hole up into the bottom of the trunk to ensure that it was solid, and not stuffed with drugs.
It was on display in our living room for almost five years.
In June, 2004, as we prepared to begin our new life as full time RV'ers, I packed the carving into a tall box, filled it with styrofoam popcorn, taped it shut, and hauled it to Winnipeg, Manitoba where it went into storage in my sister's basement for nine and a half years. Thank you, Sharon.
In September 2013, we retrieved it from Winnipeg, Manitoba and hauled it to Keremeos, British Columbia. It was in our way on the entire journey !
In November 2013, we hauled it from Keremeos, British Columbia to Yuma, Arizona. It was in our way on the entire journey ! ! !
Today ... TA DA ... I opened the box, removed the carving, and set it up on display in our Arizona room. And yes, yes ... it's every bit as appealing to me as it was on the day that it was carved over fourteen years ago. Hello, beautiful birds ! Nice to see you again !
Anybody wanna buy a lot of styrofoam popcorn ?
Joanne spent the entire day out shopping by herself ! < scowling >
Saturday ; Partially cloudy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon, warm.
We spent most of the day out shopping, most of it at Yuma Park N Swap, a.k.a. Dog Track Flea Market. Sears for a minute, Salvation Army for a few minutes, Goodwill for a few minutes, then Harbor Freight ... for many minutes ... HA HA HA ... a few minutes at Walgreens and a few minutes at Bank of America before an early ETYS buffet supper at KFC.
Stock market doing well ! Looks like a good year overall for our investments. Unless if the sky falls in the next couple of days. HA HA HA !
DSK
Sunday, December 22, 2013
December 15 to 21, 2013
Sunday ; Sunny and warm. And getting warmer over the next few days.
This morning we headed to Wal-Mart. In violation of my "no Wal-Martin' on weekends" rule. Especially applicable on the second last weekend before Christmas ! After
Wal-Mart we went to Wienerschnitzel for a quick lunch. Then across town to Gila Ridge High School for a matinee performance of "Harvey" by Yuma Community Theater.
Long play ! And not a very good one. And not performed particularly well by the actors. Shades of Port Aransas, Texas's community theater !
Joanne drove home from Gila Ridge High School to Kofa Ko-op, her first time driving the truck with the camper on. We arrived home in time to attend the regular Sunday late afternoon ice cream social. We visited briefly with some new arrivals from the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia.
I cooked pickerel for supper, then we watched the three hour finale of Survivor. While cuddled with Bo and Sully on the sofa, doing "TV time", I discovered a lump in Bo's "armpit". It was an embedded, festering desert grass "quill". We pulled it out of the lump with tweezers. OUCH ... sorry, Bo, I know that hurt. As soon as the quill was out, the lump began to drain blood and pus.
Monday ; Sunny and very warm.
I did a Bo-gility session. I watered my flower beds / cactus gardens. I did more camper maintenance and improvements. Joanne cooked some chicken thighs in the Sun Oven, to use in making chicken enchiladas for supper tonight. We visited with a neighbour in our Arizona room.
This afternoon Joanne went to the Christmas cookie exchange. Last night and this morning she baked three dozen peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, her favourite. She took them to the clubhouse, and along with thirty-five other women, exchanged cookies, returning home with three dozen assorted home baked cookies. MMMMM !
I loooove Christmas cookie exchanges !
We took the camper off the truck. A few days ago I arranged to have a site in this park's storage area. Once the camper was off the truck, Joanne went shopping by herself.
I've wasted at least a couple of hours tonight attempting to get some online work done, and failing. As in previous years, the Wi-Fi service to this RV park, and surrounding neighbourhoods, is HORRIBLE ! ! ! ! ! It's the most frustrating aspect of living here for the winters !
Tuesday ; Bard, California
Still sunny and warm. Late this morning we headed out with our new friends from Connecticut, Bill and Lynne, and their little black Pomeranian, Windsor. Destination ; Bard, California. Objective ; date shakes ... and free lettuce. HA HA HA !
We drove in their car out of Yuma heading west on Interstate 8 across the Colorado River into California, then north a few miles through the lettuce farming area to the date farming area. We stopped at a couple of lettuce fields that had been harvested yesterday or earlier this morning, and "gleaned" some "leftovers", the lettuce heads left unpicked by the pickers / harvesters because they were too large or too small. On the way to the date farms we picked a couple of heads of Romaine lettuce, and on the way back we picked some heads of multi-coloured artisan lettuce.
We went to Sun Gardens Date Farm, our "usual" place for date shakes, only to discover that is was closed and for sale. HMPH ! We drove a short distance further to Imperial Date Gardens where we all enjoyed date shakes. Especially Bo ! And ... HA HA HA ... Joanne and I really enjoyed watching Bill and Lynne and Windsor discover the joy and wonder of date shakes. Windsor got one lick of date shake ... and his eyes just about bugged out of his head. HA HA HA ... looked like a case of a Pomeranian with instant glaucoma ... HA HA HA !
Back at home we all visited for the afternoon in our Arizona room.
After our daily dog pack walk Joanne went shopping by herself. I did a tiny bit of work on the truck camper, then worked online, paying bills and reconciling bank statements. When Joanne got home she made a fresh salad while I baked potatoes and barbecued a sirloin steak. MMMMM ! That would be one of the "buy one get two free" sirloin steaks she bought yesterday. We had supper while watching Swamp Pawn, one of our new favourite TV shows.
Wednesday ; Partially sunny and totally warm. HA HA HA !
This morning we decorated for Christmas. Finally ! We're running a bit behind schedule. And we put up some lights this year. First time putting up Christmas lights since ...
< thinking > ... December 2003 ... ten years !
In the afternoon we went to the Humane Society of Yuma for volunteer training.
I trained to be a "dog walker". Joanne trained to be a "cat cuddler". While undergoing my training, I had an opportunity to walk an unnamed dog. And ... as one of the privileges of being a dog walker ... I got to name her. Hello, Bonnie !
In the evening I did some online research and discovered that the fridge in the truck camper is subject to the recall of 2008. DARN ! The retrofit has not yet been done on Elsie and will have to be done.
Thursday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico
Sunny and very warm, another beautiful day, until ... it just started raining lightly ( at 10:15 PM ).
Late this morning we headed for Mexico, about half an hour away, first west into California, then south into Mexico. First stop was Dr. Camacho's office to make appointments for dental cleanings and examinations for both of us, and a periodontal examination for me. It was a bit of a struggle to overcome "resistance to change". I have been seeing Dra. Esther Estolano, a female periodontist for a few years. Her periodontal practice is in nearby San Luis Rio Colorado, but she does periodontal consultations at various dentists' offices in Los Algodones by pre-arrangement. BUT ... Dr. Mr. Camacho and Dra. Mrs. Camacho ... our husband and wife dentists, now have a new periodontist in their practice ; their recently graduated daughter, the new / second Dra. Camacho. I made an appointment for a periodontal examination by the younger Dra. Camacho, despite my reluctance to give up Dra. Estolano.
We walked across town to Farmacia Safari, the veterinary pharmacy, and bought Heartworm medication for Bo. We walked back “downtown” and had lunch at our “regular” restaurant in Los Algodones. Joanne had dos tacos pescados y dos tacos carne asada ( two fish tacos and two seasoned diced beef tacos ) ... she was hungry !
I had uno taco carne asada, uno taco camaron ( shrimp ), y uno taco chivo ( goat ).
I wanted borrego, but they were out of lamb, so the owner suggested I try chivo.
< shrug > Okay, sure ... I’ve never had goat meat before.
After our late lunch we went shopping for eyeglasses for me. We visited a couple of different optical shops, I made my decision on which shop I preferred, selected two pairs of ( free ) frames, one for regular glasses, one for sunglasses, and made an appointment for an eye exam in two weeks on the same day as our dental appointments. The eye exam is free / included in the cost of the glasses. The frames are “free” / included in the cost of the glasses. My regular glasses ... trifocal and SunSensor / Transitions ... will be $129. My sunglasses ... trifocal and dark tinted ... will be $59. Good deal !
Next stop was one of the larger farmacias in town to buy an assortment of medications, then next door to buy Creminos, mini-Nugs, and mini-CocoNugs ... Mexican chocolates and chocolate bars. We walked back to the border crossing, where ... GADZOOKS ... no line up. No waiting ! We were back home at Kofa Ko-op just in time for the daily dog pack walk at 4 PM.
While we have often bought "street food" while travelling in Mexico, we've never had an opportunity to do so in Los Algodones. But today ... while we were having lunch, a man came into the restaurant with a cooler filled with his wife's ( still hot from the oven ) fresh baking. We bought three bags of her baked goods ... at two dollars a bag. As I type this at 11:30 PM, I'm eating a large piece of cinnamon coated, brown sugar "stuffed" pan dulce ... literally "sweet bread", and dinking a large glass of egg nog. Good night !
Friday ; Started out cloudy and warm, became sunny and very warm. After lunch Joanne put a pot of ratatouille in the Sun Oven to cook for supper.
Joanne went shopping by herself again this morning. One of the very few things I don't like about Yuma is ... it provides her with apparently endless shopping opportunities !
I suppose there are worse flaws in a wife than chronic shopping, n'est-ce pas ? Especially since her shopping usually results in very little money spent. One can only spend so much at the Salvation Army. HA HA HA !
I puttered around with minor maintenance on Harvey the fifth wheel trailer and Elsie the truck camper. And I did some gardening.
In the evening ... BAH ! ... HUMBUG ! ... I hate wrapping Christmas gifts !
Saturday ; Sunny and warm.
This morning we went shopping to Arizona MarketPlace, the local large flea market. My main objective was to comparison shop for a radiant infrared ceramic brick heater, or "Blue Flame" heater for the truck camper. We also bought some tools and hardware and household supplies.
As we drove down Avenue 4E from Kofa Ko-op to Arizona MarketPlace there was a dead cat on the road, obviously a recent kill. It's disconcerting enough to see somebody's pet lying dead in the middle of the road, even more upsetting if it gets repeatedly run over and mangled. I stopped, put on gloves, and moved the carcass to the side of the road. Rest in peace, little black kitty.
After lunch at home we went out to run some errands and do some thrift store shopping, and grocery store shopping.
Tonight we went on the YCAT ( Yuma County Area Transit ) Christmas lights tour of two Yuma neighbourhoods with outstanding Christmas lights and decorations, 55th Street in The Foothills, and Candy Cane Lane in central Yuma. After an early dinner at home we drove to Historic Downtown Yuma where the tour started. Like last year, the first time this tour was done, the wait for tickets and boarding was over an hour. Not very impressive, in that YCAT learned nothing from last year's experience to improve their efficiency this year. AND ... < sigh > ... I was suffering from an ulcerative colitis flare up tonight, with cramps and nausea for about twenty minutes of every hour. It really put a damper on my ability to enjoy the outing, especially standing in line for over an hour while feeling ill.
DSK
This morning we headed to Wal-Mart. In violation of my "no Wal-Martin' on weekends" rule. Especially applicable on the second last weekend before Christmas ! After
Wal-Mart we went to Wienerschnitzel for a quick lunch. Then across town to Gila Ridge High School for a matinee performance of "Harvey" by Yuma Community Theater.
Long play ! And not a very good one. And not performed particularly well by the actors. Shades of Port Aransas, Texas's community theater !
Joanne drove home from Gila Ridge High School to Kofa Ko-op, her first time driving the truck with the camper on. We arrived home in time to attend the regular Sunday late afternoon ice cream social. We visited briefly with some new arrivals from the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia.
I cooked pickerel for supper, then we watched the three hour finale of Survivor. While cuddled with Bo and Sully on the sofa, doing "TV time", I discovered a lump in Bo's "armpit". It was an embedded, festering desert grass "quill". We pulled it out of the lump with tweezers. OUCH ... sorry, Bo, I know that hurt. As soon as the quill was out, the lump began to drain blood and pus.
Monday ; Sunny and very warm.
I did a Bo-gility session. I watered my flower beds / cactus gardens. I did more camper maintenance and improvements. Joanne cooked some chicken thighs in the Sun Oven, to use in making chicken enchiladas for supper tonight. We visited with a neighbour in our Arizona room.
This afternoon Joanne went to the Christmas cookie exchange. Last night and this morning she baked three dozen peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, her favourite. She took them to the clubhouse, and along with thirty-five other women, exchanged cookies, returning home with three dozen assorted home baked cookies. MMMMM !
I loooove Christmas cookie exchanges !
We took the camper off the truck. A few days ago I arranged to have a site in this park's storage area. Once the camper was off the truck, Joanne went shopping by herself.
I've wasted at least a couple of hours tonight attempting to get some online work done, and failing. As in previous years, the Wi-Fi service to this RV park, and surrounding neighbourhoods, is HORRIBLE ! ! ! ! ! It's the most frustrating aspect of living here for the winters !
Tuesday ; Bard, California
Still sunny and warm. Late this morning we headed out with our new friends from Connecticut, Bill and Lynne, and their little black Pomeranian, Windsor. Destination ; Bard, California. Objective ; date shakes ... and free lettuce. HA HA HA !
We drove in their car out of Yuma heading west on Interstate 8 across the Colorado River into California, then north a few miles through the lettuce farming area to the date farming area. We stopped at a couple of lettuce fields that had been harvested yesterday or earlier this morning, and "gleaned" some "leftovers", the lettuce heads left unpicked by the pickers / harvesters because they were too large or too small. On the way to the date farms we picked a couple of heads of Romaine lettuce, and on the way back we picked some heads of multi-coloured artisan lettuce.
We went to Sun Gardens Date Farm, our "usual" place for date shakes, only to discover that is was closed and for sale. HMPH ! We drove a short distance further to Imperial Date Gardens where we all enjoyed date shakes. Especially Bo ! And ... HA HA HA ... Joanne and I really enjoyed watching Bill and Lynne and Windsor discover the joy and wonder of date shakes. Windsor got one lick of date shake ... and his eyes just about bugged out of his head. HA HA HA ... looked like a case of a Pomeranian with instant glaucoma ... HA HA HA !
Back at home we all visited for the afternoon in our Arizona room.
After our daily dog pack walk Joanne went shopping by herself. I did a tiny bit of work on the truck camper, then worked online, paying bills and reconciling bank statements. When Joanne got home she made a fresh salad while I baked potatoes and barbecued a sirloin steak. MMMMM ! That would be one of the "buy one get two free" sirloin steaks she bought yesterday. We had supper while watching Swamp Pawn, one of our new favourite TV shows.
Wednesday ; Partially sunny and totally warm. HA HA HA !
This morning we decorated for Christmas. Finally ! We're running a bit behind schedule. And we put up some lights this year. First time putting up Christmas lights since ...
< thinking > ... December 2003 ... ten years !
In the afternoon we went to the Humane Society of Yuma for volunteer training.
I trained to be a "dog walker". Joanne trained to be a "cat cuddler". While undergoing my training, I had an opportunity to walk an unnamed dog. And ... as one of the privileges of being a dog walker ... I got to name her. Hello, Bonnie !
In the evening I did some online research and discovered that the fridge in the truck camper is subject to the recall of 2008. DARN ! The retrofit has not yet been done on Elsie and will have to be done.
Thursday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico
Sunny and very warm, another beautiful day, until ... it just started raining lightly ( at 10:15 PM ).
Late this morning we headed for Mexico, about half an hour away, first west into California, then south into Mexico. First stop was Dr. Camacho's office to make appointments for dental cleanings and examinations for both of us, and a periodontal examination for me. It was a bit of a struggle to overcome "resistance to change". I have been seeing Dra. Esther Estolano, a female periodontist for a few years. Her periodontal practice is in nearby San Luis Rio Colorado, but she does periodontal consultations at various dentists' offices in Los Algodones by pre-arrangement. BUT ... Dr. Mr. Camacho and Dra. Mrs. Camacho ... our husband and wife dentists, now have a new periodontist in their practice ; their recently graduated daughter, the new / second Dra. Camacho. I made an appointment for a periodontal examination by the younger Dra. Camacho, despite my reluctance to give up Dra. Estolano.
We walked across town to Farmacia Safari, the veterinary pharmacy, and bought Heartworm medication for Bo. We walked back “downtown” and had lunch at our “regular” restaurant in Los Algodones. Joanne had dos tacos pescados y dos tacos carne asada ( two fish tacos and two seasoned diced beef tacos ) ... she was hungry !
I had uno taco carne asada, uno taco camaron ( shrimp ), y uno taco chivo ( goat ).
I wanted borrego, but they were out of lamb, so the owner suggested I try chivo.
< shrug > Okay, sure ... I’ve never had goat meat before.
After our late lunch we went shopping for eyeglasses for me. We visited a couple of different optical shops, I made my decision on which shop I preferred, selected two pairs of ( free ) frames, one for regular glasses, one for sunglasses, and made an appointment for an eye exam in two weeks on the same day as our dental appointments. The eye exam is free / included in the cost of the glasses. The frames are “free” / included in the cost of the glasses. My regular glasses ... trifocal and SunSensor / Transitions ... will be $129. My sunglasses ... trifocal and dark tinted ... will be $59. Good deal !
Next stop was one of the larger farmacias in town to buy an assortment of medications, then next door to buy Creminos, mini-Nugs, and mini-CocoNugs ... Mexican chocolates and chocolate bars. We walked back to the border crossing, where ... GADZOOKS ... no line up. No waiting ! We were back home at Kofa Ko-op just in time for the daily dog pack walk at 4 PM.
While we have often bought "street food" while travelling in Mexico, we've never had an opportunity to do so in Los Algodones. But today ... while we were having lunch, a man came into the restaurant with a cooler filled with his wife's ( still hot from the oven ) fresh baking. We bought three bags of her baked goods ... at two dollars a bag. As I type this at 11:30 PM, I'm eating a large piece of cinnamon coated, brown sugar "stuffed" pan dulce ... literally "sweet bread", and dinking a large glass of egg nog. Good night !
Friday ; Started out cloudy and warm, became sunny and very warm. After lunch Joanne put a pot of ratatouille in the Sun Oven to cook for supper.
Joanne went shopping by herself again this morning. One of the very few things I don't like about Yuma is ... it provides her with apparently endless shopping opportunities !
I suppose there are worse flaws in a wife than chronic shopping, n'est-ce pas ? Especially since her shopping usually results in very little money spent. One can only spend so much at the Salvation Army. HA HA HA !
I puttered around with minor maintenance on Harvey the fifth wheel trailer and Elsie the truck camper. And I did some gardening.
In the evening ... BAH ! ... HUMBUG ! ... I hate wrapping Christmas gifts !
Saturday ; Sunny and warm.
This morning we went shopping to Arizona MarketPlace, the local large flea market. My main objective was to comparison shop for a radiant infrared ceramic brick heater, or "Blue Flame" heater for the truck camper. We also bought some tools and hardware and household supplies.
As we drove down Avenue 4E from Kofa Ko-op to Arizona MarketPlace there was a dead cat on the road, obviously a recent kill. It's disconcerting enough to see somebody's pet lying dead in the middle of the road, even more upsetting if it gets repeatedly run over and mangled. I stopped, put on gloves, and moved the carcass to the side of the road. Rest in peace, little black kitty.
After lunch at home we went out to run some errands and do some thrift store shopping, and grocery store shopping.
Tonight we went on the YCAT ( Yuma County Area Transit ) Christmas lights tour of two Yuma neighbourhoods with outstanding Christmas lights and decorations, 55th Street in The Foothills, and Candy Cane Lane in central Yuma. After an early dinner at home we drove to Historic Downtown Yuma where the tour started. Like last year, the first time this tour was done, the wait for tickets and boarding was over an hour. Not very impressive, in that YCAT learned nothing from last year's experience to improve their efficiency this year. AND ... < sigh > ... I was suffering from an ulcerative colitis flare up tonight, with cramps and nausea for about twenty minutes of every hour. It really put a damper on my ability to enjoy the outing, especially standing in line for over an hour while feeling ill.
DSK
Monday, December 16, 2013
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