Wednesday

Always a busy day for us, we were up and about fairly early.  It was a nice sunny day and as with most mornings a bit cool, but warmed up very quickly once the sun got up.  Gerry Canuel showed up just before 8AM to golf with the park bunch this morning.  We went out to Apache Sun and got off in the second group.  Marg got up and ready for a trip with the gamblin' gals to Fort MacDowell.  There were 5 of them this AM as Rita joined them as well as Lynette's daughter Tammy.
  The golf course was busy but in nice shape.  Hit the ball reasonably well, probably my best effort this winter.  Had some nice drives that I failed to take full advantage of and missed a couple of putts that, well you know how it goes.  I always tell everyone that I was never intended to be any good at the game anyway.  We were back in the park by around 11:30.
  The gals as usual went the back way up to the Fort.  It seems Nancy doesn't like the freeway, so goes on the bush road, which is 2 lane.  They appear to have a standing joke about a parade behind them, so I take that to mean they don't speed.  It seems to work for them as they always get there and return safely.  There were no big winners, although Marg did tell me she made out fairly well between the casino and bingo coming very close to the break even mark.  I would take that as she was net down a couple of bucks, but pretty minor.  She was back in the park around 4:00.
  During the afternoon I went to the awning store where I bought a bag of small Styrofoam like triangles.  These I stuffed into the gaps between the carport and the Az room.  We had been seeing small bits of fiberglass insulation on the driveway and lots of bird activity along the eves on the east side.  The openings are small, but so are the birds, I think they might have been cactus wrens.  My guess is they were taking insulation to make nests.  The light came on for me when I saw this.  When I pulled the ceiling out earlier, there was an area with virtually no insulation and I wondered what would have caused that.  Now I think I know and have the problem pretty much stopped.
  By that time it was time to go to a celebration of life for Bob.  He & Bev were residents here for quite some time and was a well known character in the park.  He passed away last summer and his wife and some of the family came here to have this function and clean out their park model, putting it up for sale.  It was a neat ceremony, particularly the part where residents got up to tell stories about Bob.  I didn't feel compelled to make one, but I used to go sit and chat with him on a regular basis.  His driveway has a sign on it - Bob's Office & was popular as a place to keep abreast of things in the park.
  After it was happy hour and as usual we sat around until the gamblin' gals return.  It was a bit quieter as the numbers of females was way down today.  I think there were as many men as women.  When they got back we went over to the rec centre as Gary's crew made burgers tonight.  They are always good and good value.  Since they also started doing fries along with chili, it is a good option to cooking and very well attended by park residents.  In fact shortly after we got served, the line extended right through the room to the door at the back.
  Back to the trailer where Marg made coffee and we had a turnover for desert.  Then I was off to play poker.  Had a good group, 6 tonight and lots of laughs.  The game went a bit better for me, with winning early and then losing some of it back.  I thinks I was very close to break-even, but then I don't count it.  It's a little like not keeping score, it helps me keep a different perspective.
  On the head cold front, I think we are making progress and although we are still sniffling lots and using lots of tissue, there is an improvement.  While I was playing poker, Marg extracted the juice from a handful of oranges that were getting a bit old.  It came out to be fairly pulpy and will be great for vitamin C, so that might push us over the top.
  Good friend of Marg's had hip replacement surgery today.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Beth this evening.