How can this be, another month has passed. There are songs about the passage of time, but the one that comes to mind has a line something like - Time keeps on slipping, slipping away.. I guess the message is enjoy every day.
It was a nice day today, even though it was chilly in the house. The thermostat sometimes get set low during the day so that if we use the screen door the heat doesn't come on. Well when I got up it was at 66F, so about 19C, but it seemed colder. It was ok wrapped up under the covers, but when I got up at 6:30 it was an eye opener.
We had a cup of coffee, I had a shower and it was off to the koffee klatch. It was very well attended this morning, possibly having two guest speakers influenced people, or they may have got wind that donuts were free this AM. A couple in the park paid for them, very nice. One of the speakers was the park owner, Atmore, you may recall that is his given name. He spoke about improvements made and what they cost. He also had a surprise announcement on the lot rents. They will be moving all up to where we are at $2,600 and the new ones to $2,800. It will be interesting to see the impact, but the rate is still very attractive. The other was that all but 13 of the sites in the park are rented by the year. The second speaker was from the fire dept. She gave everyone a free smoke detector with a 10 year life battery. I just bought a new one for here a couple of weeks back, so I will take it home. I should replace the one there and as it's on a vaulted ceiling, it's one I don't want to change the battery on every year. The other hand out was a "File of Life". It is a magnetic holder of a list of contacts and personal medical information on residents. It is such a cool idea, I got a second one to show the fire dep't in GP.
After the meeting Marg stayed to make sloppy joe filling, something she has done for 10 years now. They will be a popular item tomorrow at the park wide patio sale. I went back to put out our sale items as we have quite a few things to get rid of this year. Most of them were Marg's, so pricing had to wait until she got here. The day prior is when residents go through checking things out, so I went out to have a look and in the process picked up a half dozen pin punches from a guy leaving the park. When Marg got back and priced stuff, she went touring around the park with the neighbour gal.
We sold most of what we had: bath mats, circular saw, pool cue, hammer, steamer, screwdrivers, etc. Marg went around the park with the gal across the road and came back with a couple of decorations and some hair spray. The gal bought a recliner chair that I had to take the truck to get for her. Shortly after Smitty was over and saw they chair for sale, I guess it didn't work in the 5th wheel, so he bought it and you know who helped him load it and put it in his house. He was at his friends who originally sold the chair, who said well you missed out on the chair, to which he replied, no I didn't. Pretty funny.
Then I went for a ride with Marg where she bought a HUGE wall hanging and I got a battery charger, each was $10. Back at our place I had a job to hang the thing and then find a place to hang the thing it replaced. At the place where I got the charger, he had an old Stanley hammer for sale and was asking $3 for it. I checked it out on line and found one just like it selling for $65, so went back to tell him he is a little low on his price.
We had enough running around, so never went for happy today. We put a nice steak, potatoes and a yams on the bbq and stayed in. Will be a busy day tomorrow.
Thursday 31 January 2019
Wednesday 30 January 2019
Wednesday, Jan 30th
A cloudy day, but very pleasant in the valley.
It was golf at Apache Sun this morning but I had forgot Gerry was going on his own, so I held back until the last minute before leaving. I did get there in time and Gerry was already there and had the cart ready to go. We were in the first group out and played with Mickey from New Mexico and Charlie from Red Deer. I was concerned about my back so really took a lot off my swing, slowed down both the back swing and the stroke. Someone said to me slow down and enjoy the extra distance. Well I really don' t think the distance was there, but I sure hit the drive straighter. I think I lost distance on the irons, so if this continues I may have to go up to the next iron if I continue this way. As it turned out, Gerry had told Deb he would be in the parking lot waiting for her at 10, well he forgot and after we hit our drives on #8 said oops. I hit my second shot and then as we were close to the clubhouse, ran him over to the waiting wife, who did not seem that happy to see him. Nothing serious, they just had to get their guest to the airport to fly back to Edmonton and needed to do that 3 hours before flight departure. I wonder if her luggage went with her. LOL I finished up and had a respectable score [for me].
Marg had an entertainment committee meeting this morning and it went on quite long as she wasn't back when I got in. I guess they were dealing with some of the upcoming events and their finances. The group has an advance that they spend and account for. The treasurer is resigning this year, so they are looking for a new one. When the position changed in the past I have always done a financial review to confirm the finances are in good order and write a report to the board to that effect. The same thing I do for the condo board. Anyway the outgoing treasurer is going around telling people they better have their books in order when I do the review or else. Not sure what that means, something like trolls hiding under the bridge or some such. Apparently a hot topic is the changes they are making to the ladies spring tea. Radical stuff like having a salad bar, LOL.
We had a bite of lunch and then Marg went to thrash & splash, errr water aerobics. I went to play some pool. I was fortunate to play with a couple of guys that are a lot of fun. We had made arrangements to meet back at our place at 2:30, so had to cut it short.
We went out to look for the paint to repaint a wall or two. We seem to have lost the color chip, so went to Home Depot and picked up a bunch that seem to be close, so we can get one. I need to paint the area I tore apart to fix the water leak and then a bit extra for a small area. Then we stopped at Walmart for a few groceries, you know, toilet paper, beer & ice cream and some other things. The price of beer has sure gone up here, I paid $18 for a cube of 30 cans.
We got back to the park a bit late for happy, it was at Lynett's so we went even if late. It was fortunate as we found out one of the couples just bought a park model and will be selling their 5th wheel. I also found out that the Links at Queen Creek, a beautiful course has been sold. The new owners plan to bulldoze it in 2 years to build a shopping mall and houses. A shame, but the construction boom here seems to have lots of excited investors.
Supper at home and then it was poker night. We had two tables tonight, so are continuing to get lots of participation. I'm not certain but I came out close to even. I started out slow, then did well for a while, then began losing again and finally picking up a few pots at the end. Much like a roller coaster ride, I guess.
Marg was checking the bank account today and it seems we received raises in our pension and old age security totaling $103 every month. The largest part of it is in my city pension, the old age security was only 60 cents a month for each of us. Good news in any event!
It was golf at Apache Sun this morning but I had forgot Gerry was going on his own, so I held back until the last minute before leaving. I did get there in time and Gerry was already there and had the cart ready to go. We were in the first group out and played with Mickey from New Mexico and Charlie from Red Deer. I was concerned about my back so really took a lot off my swing, slowed down both the back swing and the stroke. Someone said to me slow down and enjoy the extra distance. Well I really don' t think the distance was there, but I sure hit the drive straighter. I think I lost distance on the irons, so if this continues I may have to go up to the next iron if I continue this way. As it turned out, Gerry had told Deb he would be in the parking lot waiting for her at 10, well he forgot and after we hit our drives on #8 said oops. I hit my second shot and then as we were close to the clubhouse, ran him over to the waiting wife, who did not seem that happy to see him. Nothing serious, they just had to get their guest to the airport to fly back to Edmonton and needed to do that 3 hours before flight departure. I wonder if her luggage went with her. LOL I finished up and had a respectable score [for me].
Marg had an entertainment committee meeting this morning and it went on quite long as she wasn't back when I got in. I guess they were dealing with some of the upcoming events and their finances. The group has an advance that they spend and account for. The treasurer is resigning this year, so they are looking for a new one. When the position changed in the past I have always done a financial review to confirm the finances are in good order and write a report to the board to that effect. The same thing I do for the condo board. Anyway the outgoing treasurer is going around telling people they better have their books in order when I do the review or else. Not sure what that means, something like trolls hiding under the bridge or some such. Apparently a hot topic is the changes they are making to the ladies spring tea. Radical stuff like having a salad bar, LOL.
We had a bite of lunch and then Marg went to thrash & splash, errr water aerobics. I went to play some pool. I was fortunate to play with a couple of guys that are a lot of fun. We had made arrangements to meet back at our place at 2:30, so had to cut it short.
We went out to look for the paint to repaint a wall or two. We seem to have lost the color chip, so went to Home Depot and picked up a bunch that seem to be close, so we can get one. I need to paint the area I tore apart to fix the water leak and then a bit extra for a small area. Then we stopped at Walmart for a few groceries, you know, toilet paper, beer & ice cream and some other things. The price of beer has sure gone up here, I paid $18 for a cube of 30 cans.
We got back to the park a bit late for happy, it was at Lynett's so we went even if late. It was fortunate as we found out one of the couples just bought a park model and will be selling their 5th wheel. I also found out that the Links at Queen Creek, a beautiful course has been sold. The new owners plan to bulldoze it in 2 years to build a shopping mall and houses. A shame, but the construction boom here seems to have lots of excited investors.
Supper at home and then it was poker night. We had two tables tonight, so are continuing to get lots of participation. I'm not certain but I came out close to even. I started out slow, then did well for a while, then began losing again and finally picking up a few pots at the end. Much like a roller coaster ride, I guess.
Marg was checking the bank account today and it seems we received raises in our pension and old age security totaling $103 every month. The largest part of it is in my city pension, the old age security was only 60 cents a month for each of us. Good news in any event!
Tuesday 29 January 2019
Tuesday, Jan 29th
Wow we are closing in on the end of January, hard to believe how quickly time passes. The weather seems to be improving here, not like the rest of the country, where it seems a winter storm is taking it's toll. It seems that is a very common topic around here - what's the weather like where you come from. People are often surprised that our home temps are not as cold as theirs with us living a lot further north.
I started the day riding the bike with the guys. There were only 3 of us today. The Phoenix open is on this week and a couple of them went today as they had an opportunity in the Ping box on #16, always an amusing experience. We rode about 7 miles today, on our enhanced east route. It was a nice morning to ride, except for the wind.
Marg did some laundry this morning, a never ending job I guess. She likes to keep on top of it rather than have it pile up. One of her buddies, Linda, stopped by; she got a new to her golf cart and as it's her first one she seems to make a lot of laps around the park. When I got back I got out my California duster. It's a big stringy duster, almost a 2 hand effort. I use it mainly to dust the exterior of the trailer, but also use it on the vehicle. It has some unique properties in that it needs to sit out on some newspaper for at least 48 hours prior to use where an oily like substance comes off it. You can wash it once in a while, but its not recommended, rather just shake the dust off. When done with it you put it in a plastic bag like carrier until next time. Lots of people around here have them and they work just fine.
We had a quick lunch and then Marg went to water aerobics. They have been going at 1 for a while until the air in the mornings is warmer. They had a pretty good turnout, about 10 or so, but they never had the taped program today. They have all done it so many times the they can pretty much do it from memory. She does a modified version of the program so that it doesn't irritate her leg or hip.
I had a couple of visitors, one was Smitty who helped me with the golf cart. It's much improved by the way, the shoes seem to be seating much better. The other visitor was Kenny and the talk got around to small airplanes they have owned or flown. Some pretty funny stuff, some scary as well.
Happy hour was at Kenny's today, so one we always attend. It was a bit smaller group, so much better for conversation. It was a bit cooler today, but still very nice, so I had shorts on. A couple of people questioned whether it was that nice, asking what would your kids say. They must have remembered the kids always say that is like a weather vane for them. If I have shorts on, it's nice enough for anyone to wear them. LOL
Supper was dine in tonight. It usually works better on bingo night. We were concerned tonight that the money ball is getting large enough to attract a crowd. When we got there, that turned out not to be the case, it was actually a smaller crowd than last week. We were both close numerous times and I got really lucky winning twice, something that has not happened before. Marg was down to one number on the last game, which is usually the highest paying one of the evening. The money ball was not won, so will be over $600 next week. Now that would be sweet.
I started the day riding the bike with the guys. There were only 3 of us today. The Phoenix open is on this week and a couple of them went today as they had an opportunity in the Ping box on #16, always an amusing experience. We rode about 7 miles today, on our enhanced east route. It was a nice morning to ride, except for the wind.
Marg did some laundry this morning, a never ending job I guess. She likes to keep on top of it rather than have it pile up. One of her buddies, Linda, stopped by; she got a new to her golf cart and as it's her first one she seems to make a lot of laps around the park. When I got back I got out my California duster. It's a big stringy duster, almost a 2 hand effort. I use it mainly to dust the exterior of the trailer, but also use it on the vehicle. It has some unique properties in that it needs to sit out on some newspaper for at least 48 hours prior to use where an oily like substance comes off it. You can wash it once in a while, but its not recommended, rather just shake the dust off. When done with it you put it in a plastic bag like carrier until next time. Lots of people around here have them and they work just fine.
We had a quick lunch and then Marg went to water aerobics. They have been going at 1 for a while until the air in the mornings is warmer. They had a pretty good turnout, about 10 or so, but they never had the taped program today. They have all done it so many times the they can pretty much do it from memory. She does a modified version of the program so that it doesn't irritate her leg or hip.
I had a couple of visitors, one was Smitty who helped me with the golf cart. It's much improved by the way, the shoes seem to be seating much better. The other visitor was Kenny and the talk got around to small airplanes they have owned or flown. Some pretty funny stuff, some scary as well.
Happy hour was at Kenny's today, so one we always attend. It was a bit smaller group, so much better for conversation. It was a bit cooler today, but still very nice, so I had shorts on. A couple of people questioned whether it was that nice, asking what would your kids say. They must have remembered the kids always say that is like a weather vane for them. If I have shorts on, it's nice enough for anyone to wear them. LOL
Supper was dine in tonight. It usually works better on bingo night. We were concerned tonight that the money ball is getting large enough to attract a crowd. When we got there, that turned out not to be the case, it was actually a smaller crowd than last week. We were both close numerous times and I got really lucky winning twice, something that has not happened before. Marg was down to one number on the last game, which is usually the highest paying one of the evening. The money ball was not won, so will be over $600 next week. Now that would be sweet.
Monday 28 January 2019
Monday, Jan 28th
A nice day in the valley, even the night time temps were warmer. It was back to short pants during the day as it was a great day to get out and about.
I went riding with the guys this morning. We went the west route, I think we made about 9 miles today. There were 3 of us today. It looks that may well be our number for a few days. I went to dig out my old bike, but the kick stand fell off it, not sure what happened there. When I got back I washed the bike and the golf cart.
I decided to have another look at the noisy brake problem on the cart again today, so I took it over to Smitty's place. He has experience working in brakes and many other things. While there he had a lady bring her cart over to see if he could stop the annoying back up alarm. Now this was something I had experience with, so we pulled the dash plate out and unplugged it. We jacked up our cart and somehow one of the brake cables was detached, so we fixed that. This meant a bunch of adjusting on the cable tightener, after all this I could be wearing it out. LOL His next idea was the drums were not tight enough, so he snugged them onto the axle. Then we tightened all the wheel nuts. He has some other ideas, but these were the ones he wanted to start with. It's not perfect, but it is a whole lot better. We are going to see if they wear in better and achieve a better result. He also showed me some of the work he's been doing on the diamond willow canes and walking staffs. Very impressive.
By then it was lunch, Marg made the corn chowder with crab that we picked up at Costco yesterday. Nice soup.
After lunch Marg vacuumed the place and then steamed the laundry so she could put it away. This place gets so dusty she said the little dust buster was full to the point of being plugged. I went to play pool. It has been a while, but it all came back to me. LOL One of the guys broke off his game and came to play with me. He is a good player, but got off to a slow start, so I won the first two games. Then it was back and forth a bit, good games and a few laughs.
Not much time after pool as we were going out to San Tan Flats for supper. Its a kind of a western yard theme and you can eat in the restaurant or out in the yard sitting at picnic tables. There was a good sized group from the park, about 30 of us so we wanted to get there early. The drive is about 20 miles south of here so a bunch car pooled, we rode with Blanke's. The food was good and we went through a couple pitchers of beer. Lots of laughs with the group.
I went riding with the guys this morning. We went the west route, I think we made about 9 miles today. There were 3 of us today. It looks that may well be our number for a few days. I went to dig out my old bike, but the kick stand fell off it, not sure what happened there. When I got back I washed the bike and the golf cart.
I decided to have another look at the noisy brake problem on the cart again today, so I took it over to Smitty's place. He has experience working in brakes and many other things. While there he had a lady bring her cart over to see if he could stop the annoying back up alarm. Now this was something I had experience with, so we pulled the dash plate out and unplugged it. We jacked up our cart and somehow one of the brake cables was detached, so we fixed that. This meant a bunch of adjusting on the cable tightener, after all this I could be wearing it out. LOL His next idea was the drums were not tight enough, so he snugged them onto the axle. Then we tightened all the wheel nuts. He has some other ideas, but these were the ones he wanted to start with. It's not perfect, but it is a whole lot better. We are going to see if they wear in better and achieve a better result. He also showed me some of the work he's been doing on the diamond willow canes and walking staffs. Very impressive.
By then it was lunch, Marg made the corn chowder with crab that we picked up at Costco yesterday. Nice soup.
After lunch Marg vacuumed the place and then steamed the laundry so she could put it away. This place gets so dusty she said the little dust buster was full to the point of being plugged. I went to play pool. It has been a while, but it all came back to me. LOL One of the guys broke off his game and came to play with me. He is a good player, but got off to a slow start, so I won the first two games. Then it was back and forth a bit, good games and a few laughs.
Sunday 27 January 2019
Sunday, Jan 27th
A much nicer day today.
I got out to the service in the clubhouse this morning. It was well attended and the music was good, for us anyway. One of the reasons I attend is the sermons, but I would not rate today's as his best work. It was obviously a subject and area of scripture he feels passionate about, but I didn't share the same feeling, although the service was fine.
When I got back Marg had started in on the laundry. Then we went down to the clubhouse to deal with some of the aftermath of the pub night. There were things to put away in the entertainment committee storage space, that Marg did. I had the back stop from the darts game to take apart. Some of it went to the dumpster bin, the plywood to Malcolm and the remaining pieces to our place.
Marg made lunch today, french toast from a large french loaf [baguette] she had picked up the other day. It really makes a difference to have a nice loaf like that to make it with. We ate all but one piece. Now that not may seem reasonable if it was really that good, but she did make a lot! I know Charlene would have been impressed with the shaker of cinnamon and sugar. When she was little there was always a saucer of it in the cupboard. Not certain how many times it was spilled, but it was many more than one.
I had read all my pocket books, so we went to the Mesa marketplace so I could sell them and buy more. Marg was looking for Mexican vanilla, but gave up on looking for it. I'm not certain if it was hard to find, or if the price wasn't right. Hey they could make a show on that theme, a take off on the current one. When we got to the truck -- it wouldn't start! Arghhhh The truck is 6 years old and it is still the factory battery. Marg suggested I go see the Battery Dr, he was the one who put new ones in our golf cart. I walked over there and his truck wouldn't start, he was in the process of getting a "jump" as he called it. He recognized me so committed to come boost me as soon as he was running. As luck would have it, that was about 5 minutes later. No charge, get it - that's a pun. LOL
The truck fired right up and we were mobile again. Now what to do, no roadside plan, 3,400 km from home and we really rely on the vehicle. We made a decision to get a battery at Costco. They have pretty good product, excellent warranty and we could get any claim handled almost anywhere, but especially at home. Off to the Costco store we regularly visit in Mesa, they were out of the battery model for our vehicle. He was able to find 5 in the Chandler store, so down the freeway for us. Sure enough they had one that I picked up. Oh yeh, we never shut the truck off at either store, Marg stayed with it, not risking being stranded.
Back to the park where I installed it [Costco doesn't install batteries]. Then back to the Mesa store to turn in the core and get the deposit. Our cost after the deposit return was $155 U.S., so a bit over $200 Cdn. When anyone asks if I got a souvenir this year, this is it. Marg commented that it was the year of the battery, after the golf cart and truck we are close to $1,000 U.S. in batteries. The other good news on return to Costco [other than the truck starting every time I shut it off] was we filled up on gas at $2.35 per gallon [about 61 cents per litre].
With time running out, I threw some ribs on the bbq and Marg made baked potato and green beans for supper. The ribs we had picked up while at Costco. They were pretty good, but we prefer them with less fat and not quite as thick.
Ice cream social tonight, so another good news story, I had a banana split. They are $3.50 while a dish of ice cream with a piece of cake is $1.50. Marg always just has a dish anyway, but I gave them $5 and said this is for a banana split for me and she can have anything she wants with whatever is left. Anything for a laugh - right? Well that is what I thought when I got the mustache picture of her yesterday. Man is that ever attracting a lot of hits.
I got out to the service in the clubhouse this morning. It was well attended and the music was good, for us anyway. One of the reasons I attend is the sermons, but I would not rate today's as his best work. It was obviously a subject and area of scripture he feels passionate about, but I didn't share the same feeling, although the service was fine.
When I got back Marg had started in on the laundry. Then we went down to the clubhouse to deal with some of the aftermath of the pub night. There were things to put away in the entertainment committee storage space, that Marg did. I had the back stop from the darts game to take apart. Some of it went to the dumpster bin, the plywood to Malcolm and the remaining pieces to our place.
Marg made lunch today, french toast from a large french loaf [baguette] she had picked up the other day. It really makes a difference to have a nice loaf like that to make it with. We ate all but one piece. Now that not may seem reasonable if it was really that good, but she did make a lot! I know Charlene would have been impressed with the shaker of cinnamon and sugar. When she was little there was always a saucer of it in the cupboard. Not certain how many times it was spilled, but it was many more than one.
I had read all my pocket books, so we went to the Mesa marketplace so I could sell them and buy more. Marg was looking for Mexican vanilla, but gave up on looking for it. I'm not certain if it was hard to find, or if the price wasn't right. Hey they could make a show on that theme, a take off on the current one. When we got to the truck -- it wouldn't start! Arghhhh The truck is 6 years old and it is still the factory battery. Marg suggested I go see the Battery Dr, he was the one who put new ones in our golf cart. I walked over there and his truck wouldn't start, he was in the process of getting a "jump" as he called it. He recognized me so committed to come boost me as soon as he was running. As luck would have it, that was about 5 minutes later. No charge, get it - that's a pun. LOL
The truck fired right up and we were mobile again. Now what to do, no roadside plan, 3,400 km from home and we really rely on the vehicle. We made a decision to get a battery at Costco. They have pretty good product, excellent warranty and we could get any claim handled almost anywhere, but especially at home. Off to the Costco store we regularly visit in Mesa, they were out of the battery model for our vehicle. He was able to find 5 in the Chandler store, so down the freeway for us. Sure enough they had one that I picked up. Oh yeh, we never shut the truck off at either store, Marg stayed with it, not risking being stranded.
Back to the park where I installed it [Costco doesn't install batteries]. Then back to the Mesa store to turn in the core and get the deposit. Our cost after the deposit return was $155 U.S., so a bit over $200 Cdn. When anyone asks if I got a souvenir this year, this is it. Marg commented that it was the year of the battery, after the golf cart and truck we are close to $1,000 U.S. in batteries. The other good news on return to Costco [other than the truck starting every time I shut it off] was we filled up on gas at $2.35 per gallon [about 61 cents per litre].
With time running out, I threw some ribs on the bbq and Marg made baked potato and green beans for supper. The ribs we had picked up while at Costco. They were pretty good, but we prefer them with less fat and not quite as thick.
Ice cream social tonight, so another good news story, I had a banana split. They are $3.50 while a dish of ice cream with a piece of cake is $1.50. Marg always just has a dish anyway, but I gave them $5 and said this is for a banana split for me and she can have anything she wants with whatever is left. Anything for a laugh - right? Well that is what I thought when I got the mustache picture of her yesterday. Man is that ever attracting a lot of hits.
Saturday 26 January 2019
Saturday, Jan 26th
One of us got out early and went to the clubhouse for breakfast this morning. It was very good, the pancakes had some apple bits in them, which was new to me and very nice. They seemed to have a good crowd for breakfast, which is nice as I know how much work goes into it.
After I got back I sat on the heating pad and then went out to adjust the brakes on the golf cart. I had them set down a bit, but when Marg went to park on an incline they wouldn't hold, so some action was required. They seem to be fine now, but they are making lots of noise when they are applied. Probably should do something with the shoes again, but it's becoming a full time thing, you know annoying.
Just before lunch Marg checked the banking and discovered we had a problem with Telus. They charged us for all the services when the TV & Internet were supposed to be on vacation suspension, so $185 instead of $15. I got on a chat line with Telus as the phone lines were impossible. Service calls to them from here are a lot more difficult than they need to be. After an hour on the computer chat line with them I got acknowledgement that we are owed an adjustment because we were charged $185 for 3 days service last month and $185 for no service in February. Sure makes a person think twice about paying by direct debit with this outfit. After an hour on the chat line, we are supposed to have an adjustment next month, with any luck it will be the right way. This should all straighten out by April or so.
By the time I got done, Marg had gone to the hall. It was time to decorate for it for the pub night. The entertainment committee along with some volunteers were there to get the room set up. One of our residents had a bunch of flags, table cloths and a lot of beer box cutoffs, so it looked pretty darn good. The game operators then had to get theirs set up. I had to build a backboard for the dart board as a lot of folks miss the board.
Happy hour this afternoon was at Roger & Kathy's and was a birthday party as well. There were surprise visits from the birthday boys family, who live in Phoenix. The there was a surprise visit by a lady's daughter and her family that was quite emotional. It seem she and I were the only two people who never knew about the visitors from Edm. It was quite emotional as there were two very young grandchildren. Well emotional for the women, as Marg said she had tears in her eyes.
Supper tonight was the left over roast, potatoes and vegetables. They were very good and more than filled the gap. We just got cone and it was time to head to the hall for the event.
I put on my bowler hat, bow tie, mustache and away we went. The pub night was well attended and a lot of fun. Marg took pictures tonight and I was the game operator for darts. At the start they had a surprise presentation to the winners from last year, one of whom was me. The event was an unqualified success, with many people expressing a desire to do it again next year. I certainly got many humorous comments on my outfit tonight. They said make it fun and we seem to have accomplished that.
After I got back I sat on the heating pad and then went out to adjust the brakes on the golf cart. I had them set down a bit, but when Marg went to park on an incline they wouldn't hold, so some action was required. They seem to be fine now, but they are making lots of noise when they are applied. Probably should do something with the shoes again, but it's becoming a full time thing, you know annoying.
Just before lunch Marg checked the banking and discovered we had a problem with Telus. They charged us for all the services when the TV & Internet were supposed to be on vacation suspension, so $185 instead of $15. I got on a chat line with Telus as the phone lines were impossible. Service calls to them from here are a lot more difficult than they need to be. After an hour on the computer chat line with them I got acknowledgement that we are owed an adjustment because we were charged $185 for 3 days service last month and $185 for no service in February. Sure makes a person think twice about paying by direct debit with this outfit. After an hour on the chat line, we are supposed to have an adjustment next month, with any luck it will be the right way. This should all straighten out by April or so.
By the time I got done, Marg had gone to the hall. It was time to decorate for it for the pub night. The entertainment committee along with some volunteers were there to get the room set up. One of our residents had a bunch of flags, table cloths and a lot of beer box cutoffs, so it looked pretty darn good. The game operators then had to get theirs set up. I had to build a backboard for the dart board as a lot of folks miss the board.
Happy hour this afternoon was at Roger & Kathy's and was a birthday party as well. There were surprise visits from the birthday boys family, who live in Phoenix. The there was a surprise visit by a lady's daughter and her family that was quite emotional. It seem she and I were the only two people who never knew about the visitors from Edm. It was quite emotional as there were two very young grandchildren. Well emotional for the women, as Marg said she had tears in her eyes.
Supper tonight was the left over roast, potatoes and vegetables. They were very good and more than filled the gap. We just got cone and it was time to head to the hall for the event.
Friday 25 January 2019
Robbie Burns Day, 2019
We were up and mobile at a pretty good hour this morning. After a coffee and bite to eat I went out to ride with the guys. It was chilly enough that I layered a bit, but the others again were in shorts and tee shirts. There were only 3 of us today so we rode the short track and made about 5 miles. Along our route was a garage sale and one of our number wanted to stop in. The other guys looked over the junk while I chatted the owner. It was kind of funny as he said something like - you fellows ride past here most mornings, so I confirmed his observation. He had a funny looking truck that I commented on and it is an old corvair sedan that he made over to put a truck box on the back. It was pretty cool looking, but wouldn't be much of a truck. He had 4 other corvairs that were still original condition. When I mentioned it to Marg, she said that was what she was driving when she had the major accident that wrecked her back & knee and that the rear engine probably saved her life.
Marg had a nice roast beef in the slow cooker by the time I got back and she was looking for some more ingredients, like turnip, potato, onion. When I got back she went out for some groceries. I sat around on the heating pad for part of the morning, I may have overdone it with the golf this past week. She was keen to get some cranberry juice as she has been experiencing some discomfort and it usually tunes things up. She had quite a number of bags, so we must have been getting low on supplies. While she was away I tried sharpening the darts for tomorrow night. Most of the people will not be experienced dart players and will have difficulty getting even one stuck in the board.
After lunch we had a couple visitors and then we had to get our patio ready for happy hour, it was our turn again. I have to take the truck and park it outside the gate to make room, then get out all of our chairs, I think we have something like 14, everyone over that will have to bring their own. I also put out the gas fire pit as the sun will be going down and the day cools off quickly The fire pit area is always popular with the ladies. We had quite a group assemble here, something over 30. Most people only stayed the hour, but Gary came late so they stayed a bit longer, as did one of our neighbours. A large group from here went out to Long John Silvers for fish tonight, but we had tuna for lunch and the roast freshly prepared, so we decided to pass. After supper we had one couple stop in to tell us how good the fish was, but for me fish once a day is adequate. Oh I did give a couple of them a preview, at the very end I wore the hat I bought to use tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Raise your glass tonight in tribute to the bard on this Robbie Burns day, Slainte!
Marg had a nice roast beef in the slow cooker by the time I got back and she was looking for some more ingredients, like turnip, potato, onion. When I got back she went out for some groceries. I sat around on the heating pad for part of the morning, I may have overdone it with the golf this past week. She was keen to get some cranberry juice as she has been experiencing some discomfort and it usually tunes things up. She had quite a number of bags, so we must have been getting low on supplies. While she was away I tried sharpening the darts for tomorrow night. Most of the people will not be experienced dart players and will have difficulty getting even one stuck in the board.
After lunch we had a couple visitors and then we had to get our patio ready for happy hour, it was our turn again. I have to take the truck and park it outside the gate to make room, then get out all of our chairs, I think we have something like 14, everyone over that will have to bring their own. I also put out the gas fire pit as the sun will be going down and the day cools off quickly The fire pit area is always popular with the ladies. We had quite a group assemble here, something over 30. Most people only stayed the hour, but Gary came late so they stayed a bit longer, as did one of our neighbours. A large group from here went out to Long John Silvers for fish tonight, but we had tuna for lunch and the roast freshly prepared, so we decided to pass. After supper we had one couple stop in to tell us how good the fish was, but for me fish once a day is adequate. Oh I did give a couple of them a preview, at the very end I wore the hat I bought to use tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Raise your glass tonight in tribute to the bard on this Robbie Burns day, Slainte!
Thursday - a bit late
Had a long day yesterday, so never got to the blog post, so here I am on a Friday morning getting caught up.
The day started chilly again, but my Canadian friends are still in shorts and tee shirts. Me long pants and a hoodie in the morning.
We both went down for coffee and donuts. The donuts were free, well someone paid for them, but a nice surprise. We had a guest speaker, he runs an entertainment business and provides musicians, comedy acts, etc. and does a bit of it himself. He was really funny and did some magic acts [leger main] for us that were very good. The entertainment committee were in touch with him and he came to speak for 10 minutes, although I am sure it was longer. After the meeting ended the entertainment committee met to discuss the act as well as plans for Pub nite on Saturday. I think they found him a bit expensive, but have not ruled out trying to strike deal. As Marg is on the entertainment com I walked back to our place rather than sit around for more meeting.
The guys went bike riding, there were 5 of us. We took our traditional route to Idaho again, with the shortcut. That gave us about 4 1/2 or 5 miles. The odometer said 5 1/2, but I am not certain Larry had it set for the right size of bike wheel. A good workout for me anyway.
I wanted to look for some corner brackets and thought the selection would be better at a larger store, so we went to Home Depot. I got enough options there to deal with my sagging shelves [there are two now]. I also got a couple of small size metric wrenches. They are kind of rare here, so don't show up at many garage sales and they are two commonly needed sizes. They were only $2.50 so not much more that the dollar or so at garage sales. Oh yeh, a bigger plastic container for recycle stuff as the current one is too small.
When I got back I fixed the two cupboard shelves and they seem fine now. Then we opted to leave the liquor where it is, so got a bunch of stuff re-arranged in the now secure top shelf. We have so much less cupboard space here we have to work at managing it. I know we should be minimalists, but that doesn't seem to be in our nature.
A ride through the park to check the mail and we stopped to visit Mickey. He bought a second park model from Canadian lady who will not be returning. He gave us a bit of a tour, nice unit. He is going to be living in this one and already has renters for the other for the months of Feb & Mar. At $1,500 a month, if he can get 4 or more months rent every year, it will be a decent investment return. The unit has an Az room with stacking laundry, that should be OK once he gets the electrical in it figured out and he is not handy at all.
On the way back we chatted with the Blanke's for a bit saying we were going to Casino Arizona to play bingo, why not join us. Well they jumped at the chance, so we had six for the evening. Marg had already arranged with 2 of the gamblin' gals to go tonight. We had heard how good the food was, so opted to have the shrimp dinner for supper at the casino. It was mostly close, but no cigar, except for Lynett who won $200 at one of the first games. The gals did lots of kibitzing, so had a good time. This was the same place I had my previous big win, so you can imagine how disappointed I was to not cash in. We had to drop Cindy off, so never got back to the park until a little after 10.
The day started chilly again, but my Canadian friends are still in shorts and tee shirts. Me long pants and a hoodie in the morning.
We both went down for coffee and donuts. The donuts were free, well someone paid for them, but a nice surprise. We had a guest speaker, he runs an entertainment business and provides musicians, comedy acts, etc. and does a bit of it himself. He was really funny and did some magic acts [leger main] for us that were very good. The entertainment committee were in touch with him and he came to speak for 10 minutes, although I am sure it was longer. After the meeting ended the entertainment committee met to discuss the act as well as plans for Pub nite on Saturday. I think they found him a bit expensive, but have not ruled out trying to strike deal. As Marg is on the entertainment com I walked back to our place rather than sit around for more meeting.
The guys went bike riding, there were 5 of us. We took our traditional route to Idaho again, with the shortcut. That gave us about 4 1/2 or 5 miles. The odometer said 5 1/2, but I am not certain Larry had it set for the right size of bike wheel. A good workout for me anyway.
I wanted to look for some corner brackets and thought the selection would be better at a larger store, so we went to Home Depot. I got enough options there to deal with my sagging shelves [there are two now]. I also got a couple of small size metric wrenches. They are kind of rare here, so don't show up at many garage sales and they are two commonly needed sizes. They were only $2.50 so not much more that the dollar or so at garage sales. Oh yeh, a bigger plastic container for recycle stuff as the current one is too small.
When I got back I fixed the two cupboard shelves and they seem fine now. Then we opted to leave the liquor where it is, so got a bunch of stuff re-arranged in the now secure top shelf. We have so much less cupboard space here we have to work at managing it. I know we should be minimalists, but that doesn't seem to be in our nature.
A ride through the park to check the mail and we stopped to visit Mickey. He bought a second park model from Canadian lady who will not be returning. He gave us a bit of a tour, nice unit. He is going to be living in this one and already has renters for the other for the months of Feb & Mar. At $1,500 a month, if he can get 4 or more months rent every year, it will be a decent investment return. The unit has an Az room with stacking laundry, that should be OK once he gets the electrical in it figured out and he is not handy at all.
On the way back we chatted with the Blanke's for a bit saying we were going to Casino Arizona to play bingo, why not join us. Well they jumped at the chance, so we had six for the evening. Marg had already arranged with 2 of the gamblin' gals to go tonight. We had heard how good the food was, so opted to have the shrimp dinner for supper at the casino. It was mostly close, but no cigar, except for Lynett who won $200 at one of the first games. The gals did lots of kibitzing, so had a good time. This was the same place I had my previous big win, so you can imagine how disappointed I was to not cash in. We had to drop Cindy off, so never got back to the park until a little after 10.
Wednesday 23 January 2019
Wednesday, Jan 23rd
It as chilly this morning with temps in the 30's through the night, but a promise of the sun warming us up.
It was golf morning, so I was up early and ready to go when I got a phone call from Gerry that they were having vehicle problems. He had a tire problem, it kept losing air and they made attempts at inflating it without success. Finally they had to pull off the 202 and turn in to a Toyota dealer to get it repaired rather than being stranded on the road. I had to make a hurried departure a little after 7 AM to pick him up and it required travel in the rush hour traffic. With golf starting at 8:20, there was no time to lose. I got there fine, just took about 25 or 30 minutes. The return trip was good as I could drive the HOV lane and almost all traffic was going toward Phoenix. I stuck to the freeway turning on to the 60 until Ironwood then headed south to Queen Creek, just in the nick of time. Fortunately Terri saved us a spot in the second last group going out and we were in time. The lady who organizes the group was concerned something had happened, but when she called we were almost at the course. There was frost in the grass, so they were late getting out and the first group just went out as we got our cart. In typical Arizona fashion the sun warmed the day quickly and it was actually very pleasant on the course. Everything considered, the game went pretty well and we had a good morning.
Marg had been doing laundry this morning and had it close to being done, when she went with some of the gals to the Dillard's final call store. It is a place she has been before and where she finds great prices on quality garments. For the other ladies with her, it was their first time to this store and they had no difficulty finding great deals and picking up a few things. It must have been good as Marg even got a few things, so everyone was happy.
When I got home I went out to get a few things and then did my electrical repairs. I put in a new smoke detector, god knows how old this one was and they should be replaced as they are important in every home. The switch is now in good order and we have fully functioning lights again, fingers crossed this should be the end of it.
Around that time Marg got back from her trip to Dillard's and advised that we were having a few folks for happy today. This meant a trip to Safeway for a few appies and a bag of ice. Lynett's daughter is leaving for home back in Michigan tomorrow morning. We got back just before they arrived, so had to scramble a bit. When I was getting the tequila out of the cupboard, I noticed the shelf sagging from too much weight. I could see another job in the offing. Marg got the ice and tequila in the blender and made mango margarita's. These and the appies were a big hit and for those of us not partaking we had a few Miller high life's. In all there were only 8 of us, just a nice size for conversation.
We had to scramble a bit again as it was turkey soup tonight. This is an annual tradition and is more like a turkey stew. A new group made it this year and it was great. When we got to the hall it was packed, so we had to split up. I went to take some pictures and Marg accompanied by a golfing friend got our soup. One of the ladies at our table brought beer bread. It was great and I highly recommend it.
We had about an hour and then it was time for poker. I was tired and having second thoughts about going, but must have got a second wind when I got there. Anyway I made a little bit, although I was not the big winner at the table. When I got back Marg had shifted all the liquor bottles to a lower cupboard where the weight is not a problem. In fairness there are only 4 bottles of scotch, two of Irish whisky, two of Canadian whiskey and the rest is hers, but it seems to have solved the problem of the failing shelf.
It was golf morning, so I was up early and ready to go when I got a phone call from Gerry that they were having vehicle problems. He had a tire problem, it kept losing air and they made attempts at inflating it without success. Finally they had to pull off the 202 and turn in to a Toyota dealer to get it repaired rather than being stranded on the road. I had to make a hurried departure a little after 7 AM to pick him up and it required travel in the rush hour traffic. With golf starting at 8:20, there was no time to lose. I got there fine, just took about 25 or 30 minutes. The return trip was good as I could drive the HOV lane and almost all traffic was going toward Phoenix. I stuck to the freeway turning on to the 60 until Ironwood then headed south to Queen Creek, just in the nick of time. Fortunately Terri saved us a spot in the second last group going out and we were in time. The lady who organizes the group was concerned something had happened, but when she called we were almost at the course. There was frost in the grass, so they were late getting out and the first group just went out as we got our cart. In typical Arizona fashion the sun warmed the day quickly and it was actually very pleasant on the course. Everything considered, the game went pretty well and we had a good morning.
Marg had been doing laundry this morning and had it close to being done, when she went with some of the gals to the Dillard's final call store. It is a place she has been before and where she finds great prices on quality garments. For the other ladies with her, it was their first time to this store and they had no difficulty finding great deals and picking up a few things. It must have been good as Marg even got a few things, so everyone was happy.
When I got home I went out to get a few things and then did my electrical repairs. I put in a new smoke detector, god knows how old this one was and they should be replaced as they are important in every home. The switch is now in good order and we have fully functioning lights again, fingers crossed this should be the end of it.
Around that time Marg got back from her trip to Dillard's and advised that we were having a few folks for happy today. This meant a trip to Safeway for a few appies and a bag of ice. Lynett's daughter is leaving for home back in Michigan tomorrow morning. We got back just before they arrived, so had to scramble a bit. When I was getting the tequila out of the cupboard, I noticed the shelf sagging from too much weight. I could see another job in the offing. Marg got the ice and tequila in the blender and made mango margarita's. These and the appies were a big hit and for those of us not partaking we had a few Miller high life's. In all there were only 8 of us, just a nice size for conversation.
We had to scramble a bit again as it was turkey soup tonight. This is an annual tradition and is more like a turkey stew. A new group made it this year and it was great. When we got to the hall it was packed, so we had to split up. I went to take some pictures and Marg accompanied by a golfing friend got our soup. One of the ladies at our table brought beer bread. It was great and I highly recommend it.
We had about an hour and then it was time for poker. I was tired and having second thoughts about going, but must have got a second wind when I got there. Anyway I made a little bit, although I was not the big winner at the table. When I got back Marg had shifted all the liquor bottles to a lower cupboard where the weight is not a problem. In fairness there are only 4 bottles of scotch, two of Irish whisky, two of Canadian whiskey and the rest is hers, but it seems to have solved the problem of the failing shelf.
Tuesday 22 January 2019
Tuesday, Jan 22nd
Another chilly day in AJ, it was 42 [about 5C] this morning. So what do you do with a day like that, well me; I made oatmeal or porridge. To me it seems a good way to start the day with something warm and we enjoy rolled oats on a cold morning.
There were 5 of us who rode bikes today. We had a new leader and he took us out west, so we sort of rode backwards on our normal route with a few side trips that I had not been on before. Being a chilly morning, I layered and had 3 layers on and it was quite pleasant. He said it was about he same distance as going east, but I doubt it, should have checked the odometer before we left. We were a long way past the school on Mountain, so we made at least 8 miles today. The big difference was it was downhill most of the way out and uphill on our return. When we got back I knew we had a workout, I needed a rest and a shower.
Marg went out to get a few things and came back with a new bathing suit and some flip flops. When she got back she made biscuits and soup for lunch and they were great.
After lunch she went to Safeway. There seem to be lots of specials right now, like steaks but we have lots of meat in the freezer from the good deals she found before Christmas. We may seem to shop a lot here, but we buy smaller quantities as we don't have the ability to store as much as we do at home. I played pool this afternoon. I got in at a table of very good players, so even though I had good games did not fare as well as yesterday.
On my return to our place I stopped at Lynett's where our golf cart was parked. It turned out that her daughter bought her a new recliner/rocker and it was in back of her jeep. One of Marg's buddies and I took the old chair apart and took it down to the dumpsters. Then we got the new one out of the jeep, uncrated it and took it in her trailer. Her daughter also reupholstered the dinette chairs and they looked great.
Marg passed on happy again today as she didn't want to take a chance after just getting rid of a cold and cough. I went as it was on the patio. A bit different group today, however it was as noisy as ever. There seems to be a bit of turmoil on the tenants association executive so the outcome of the el
elections is not a foregone conclusion, stay tuned.
Supper was at home today, leftover scallop potatoes and chicken breasts. While Marg was cooking there was a bit of smoke in the place, so she started waving a towel to get the smoke detector stopped and all the kitchen lights went out. I thought it was likely a breaker, but after operating all of them, I ruled that out. After supper and an hour of trial and error and some experimenting, I determined it is a faulty switch. It worked after a fashion and we have lights, but tomorrow will have to change out the switch. One of the other guys in the park had a similar problem but final got an electrician to fix his problem, so I felt pretty good..
Didn't have all that much time so it is just working with a farmer fix as we had to go to bingo. The money ball is $522 today, can't miss an opportunity like that. I did manage to get a win on one game, so bingo never cost us anything tonight.
There were 5 of us who rode bikes today. We had a new leader and he took us out west, so we sort of rode backwards on our normal route with a few side trips that I had not been on before. Being a chilly morning, I layered and had 3 layers on and it was quite pleasant. He said it was about he same distance as going east, but I doubt it, should have checked the odometer before we left. We were a long way past the school on Mountain, so we made at least 8 miles today. The big difference was it was downhill most of the way out and uphill on our return. When we got back I knew we had a workout, I needed a rest and a shower.
Marg went out to get a few things and came back with a new bathing suit and some flip flops. When she got back she made biscuits and soup for lunch and they were great.
After lunch she went to Safeway. There seem to be lots of specials right now, like steaks but we have lots of meat in the freezer from the good deals she found before Christmas. We may seem to shop a lot here, but we buy smaller quantities as we don't have the ability to store as much as we do at home. I played pool this afternoon. I got in at a table of very good players, so even though I had good games did not fare as well as yesterday.
On my return to our place I stopped at Lynett's where our golf cart was parked. It turned out that her daughter bought her a new recliner/rocker and it was in back of her jeep. One of Marg's buddies and I took the old chair apart and took it down to the dumpsters. Then we got the new one out of the jeep, uncrated it and took it in her trailer. Her daughter also reupholstered the dinette chairs and they looked great.
Marg passed on happy again today as she didn't want to take a chance after just getting rid of a cold and cough. I went as it was on the patio. A bit different group today, however it was as noisy as ever. There seems to be a bit of turmoil on the tenants association executive so the outcome of the el
elections is not a foregone conclusion, stay tuned.
Supper was at home today, leftover scallop potatoes and chicken breasts. While Marg was cooking there was a bit of smoke in the place, so she started waving a towel to get the smoke detector stopped and all the kitchen lights went out. I thought it was likely a breaker, but after operating all of them, I ruled that out. After supper and an hour of trial and error and some experimenting, I determined it is a faulty switch. It worked after a fashion and we have lights, but tomorrow will have to change out the switch. One of the other guys in the park had a similar problem but final got an electrician to fix his problem, so I felt pretty good..
Didn't have all that much time so it is just working with a farmer fix as we had to go to bingo. The money ball is $522 today, can't miss an opportunity like that. I did manage to get a win on one game, so bingo never cost us anything tonight.
Monday 21 January 2019
Monday, Jan 21
A bit breezy today, well at times it was downright windy.
I got organized early enough to go for a bike ride, there were three of us today. We made close to 5 miles, so a good ride, well for me anyway. It sounds like we could have a few more tomorrow, but we never know until departure time.
After I got back I had a meeting with the group working at the Pub night on Saturday. It seems we are just about ready. My job will be the same as last year, I will run the darts event. I think there will be 7 events in all, some the same as last year, but a couple new ones. It gets a little frantic in the room at times with people coming and going, cheering, hooting; but a lot of laughs. They want us to make it as much fun as possible, not that it wasn't last year, but it is not all about winning. Kind of funny the one lady in the group had a bit of a WHAT moment when Malcolm announced that, but it passed quickly after he told them I was wearing a bow tie. I needed a back stop for the darts and knew someone left a couple of large pieces of sheet rock [drywall] by the dumpster. Unfortunately someone put them in the dumpster this morning, so I had to borrow a step ladder so I could dumpster dive. I got one and the red nose guy brought me another, so I should be good.
Marg made scallop potatoes in the slow cooker before she went for a ride around the park and by now you know that involves visiting. She was back at the trailer by the time I returned, so we headed out to pick up a few things I needed. There is a Party City not far from here and we expected they would have what we needed. I picked up a hat, bowtie, a whistle on a cord, a mustache and for a friend a red nose. Stay tuned for pictures of Saturday night. It was a little past lunch, so we stopped at Jack In The Box for lunch. They had an all day breakfast which by coincidence we both picked. It was pretty darn good: 3 slices of bacon, scrambled eggs, a hash brown and a bunch of bite sized pancakes with coffee. I think it was around $5. The hash brown pattie was even good, not like McDonalds.
Back at the park I went to play pool. I played with the red nose fellow and one other, but they were fun to play today. The other tables seemed to be more serious than us, but to each their own. It seems I had a A game again today, but its probably I'm not playing the best guys in the park and these fellows are not worried about what they leave for my shot.
In between times I have been doing my job at the condo back home. The annual financial reports are complete and I am the audit committee, well have been for 3 years. I finished my review and wrote my report to the board. The annual general meeting is Wednesday, so none too soon. Well I went to happy today too, although I was late, but in time for cake. It was one ladies 39th anniversary of her 39th birthday. Nice lady, she is a retired nun and her sister with her husband have a place in the park here. Supper tonight was cutlets and scallop potatoes, very nice.
I got organized early enough to go for a bike ride, there were three of us today. We made close to 5 miles, so a good ride, well for me anyway. It sounds like we could have a few more tomorrow, but we never know until departure time.
After I got back I had a meeting with the group working at the Pub night on Saturday. It seems we are just about ready. My job will be the same as last year, I will run the darts event. I think there will be 7 events in all, some the same as last year, but a couple new ones. It gets a little frantic in the room at times with people coming and going, cheering, hooting; but a lot of laughs. They want us to make it as much fun as possible, not that it wasn't last year, but it is not all about winning. Kind of funny the one lady in the group had a bit of a WHAT moment when Malcolm announced that, but it passed quickly after he told them I was wearing a bow tie. I needed a back stop for the darts and knew someone left a couple of large pieces of sheet rock [drywall] by the dumpster. Unfortunately someone put them in the dumpster this morning, so I had to borrow a step ladder so I could dumpster dive. I got one and the red nose guy brought me another, so I should be good.
Marg made scallop potatoes in the slow cooker before she went for a ride around the park and by now you know that involves visiting. She was back at the trailer by the time I returned, so we headed out to pick up a few things I needed. There is a Party City not far from here and we expected they would have what we needed. I picked up a hat, bowtie, a whistle on a cord, a mustache and for a friend a red nose. Stay tuned for pictures of Saturday night. It was a little past lunch, so we stopped at Jack In The Box for lunch. They had an all day breakfast which by coincidence we both picked. It was pretty darn good: 3 slices of bacon, scrambled eggs, a hash brown and a bunch of bite sized pancakes with coffee. I think it was around $5. The hash brown pattie was even good, not like McDonalds.
Back at the park I went to play pool. I played with the red nose fellow and one other, but they were fun to play today. The other tables seemed to be more serious than us, but to each their own. It seems I had a A game again today, but its probably I'm not playing the best guys in the park and these fellows are not worried about what they leave for my shot.
In between times I have been doing my job at the condo back home. The annual financial reports are complete and I am the audit committee, well have been for 3 years. I finished my review and wrote my report to the board. The annual general meeting is Wednesday, so none too soon. Well I went to happy today too, although I was late, but in time for cake. It was one ladies 39th anniversary of her 39th birthday. Nice lady, she is a retired nun and her sister with her husband have a place in the park here. Supper tonight was cutlets and scallop potatoes, very nice.
Sunday 20 January 2019
Sunday, Jan 20th
A nice day and I got out early enough to take in the worship service this morning.
When I got back Marg was dressed and ready for adventure, so we went into Phoenix to the Park & Swap market. This is one we never got to last year, but had in prior years. It is a combination of vendors selling new merchandise [even produce and kitchen supplies] and others selling used stuff, almost like a giant garage sale. It has a large following in the ethnic community, mainly Mexican. In fact after about an hour Marg commented that she thought she had only seen one other non-latino person. LOL I'm sure that was not the case, but I was more focused on what was for sale. It appeared that every used tool in the area was for sale there. Lots of Mexican music and food, we had a churro and it was really good.
It was a sunny day and I forgot to wear a hat, so that was my first purchase. The churro was second. At the end of the market I came on to a Mexican vendor from whom I purchased some Canadian coins two years ago and he had quite a bit of U.S. and Mexican, and a few Canadian coins. I ended up buying 8: a 50 cent piece [1950], 5 quarters [all pre-1967, one 1948] and 2 dimes [pre-1967]. After 1967 coins were no longer silver. The coins were all in excellent condition, which is hard to believe. We finally settled on $30 for all 8 and my check on the values indicates something in excess of $80 Cdn, although there were two that mainly made up the profit. The dimes for which I paid $3 each were the big losers, one worth 70 cents, the other $1.10. It is these last two that my lovely wife chooses to focus on. It is unbelievable the stuff that was for sale. One vendor had a huge array of brass knuckles and pepper spray, both of which are illegal in Canada. There were some really cute kids clothes and more bra's than I have seen in one place. There were rides for kids, you name it, almost like a carnival. Pretty neat experience.
On the way back it was just after noon, so we stopped at an off ramp from the 202 where there are quite a few restaurant's around the Bass Pro shop. We have heard several people rave about the food at Bass Pro, so it was a great opportunity to try it out. Marg had the fish & chips while I had the brisket sandwich, both were excellent, but made for a large lunch. We have eaten in that area numerous times, but mainly at Cracker Barrel and Famous Dave's.
Back at the park we took a bit of chill-axing time, including a bit of visiting. As a result we never had supper tonight, but went to ice cream social where Marg had a sundae and I had a banana split. Well that really killed any appetite we may have had. A bit later on [8 PM], we had nachos covered with melted cheese, a great way to end the day.
When I got back Marg was dressed and ready for adventure, so we went into Phoenix to the Park & Swap market. This is one we never got to last year, but had in prior years. It is a combination of vendors selling new merchandise [even produce and kitchen supplies] and others selling used stuff, almost like a giant garage sale. It has a large following in the ethnic community, mainly Mexican. In fact after about an hour Marg commented that she thought she had only seen one other non-latino person. LOL I'm sure that was not the case, but I was more focused on what was for sale. It appeared that every used tool in the area was for sale there. Lots of Mexican music and food, we had a churro and it was really good.
It was a sunny day and I forgot to wear a hat, so that was my first purchase. The churro was second. At the end of the market I came on to a Mexican vendor from whom I purchased some Canadian coins two years ago and he had quite a bit of U.S. and Mexican, and a few Canadian coins. I ended up buying 8: a 50 cent piece [1950], 5 quarters [all pre-1967, one 1948] and 2 dimes [pre-1967]. After 1967 coins were no longer silver. The coins were all in excellent condition, which is hard to believe. We finally settled on $30 for all 8 and my check on the values indicates something in excess of $80 Cdn, although there were two that mainly made up the profit. The dimes for which I paid $3 each were the big losers, one worth 70 cents, the other $1.10. It is these last two that my lovely wife chooses to focus on. It is unbelievable the stuff that was for sale. One vendor had a huge array of brass knuckles and pepper spray, both of which are illegal in Canada. There were some really cute kids clothes and more bra's than I have seen in one place. There were rides for kids, you name it, almost like a carnival. Pretty neat experience.
On the way back it was just after noon, so we stopped at an off ramp from the 202 where there are quite a few restaurant's around the Bass Pro shop. We have heard several people rave about the food at Bass Pro, so it was a great opportunity to try it out. Marg had the fish & chips while I had the brisket sandwich, both were excellent, but made for a large lunch. We have eaten in that area numerous times, but mainly at Cracker Barrel and Famous Dave's.
Back at the park we took a bit of chill-axing time, including a bit of visiting. As a result we never had supper tonight, but went to ice cream social where Marg had a sundae and I had a banana split. Well that really killed any appetite we may have had. A bit later on [8 PM], we had nachos covered with melted cheese, a great way to end the day.
Saturday 19 January 2019
Saturday, Jan 19th
The day started off with me screaming. My back was sore from the golf yesterday, so Marg put one of her Salon Pas heat patches on it. Well before my shower I asked her to take it off as I couldn't reach it. My back is quite hairy, so she just ripped it off. Well the pad came off covered with hair and I have a nice square bald patch where it was. Now I know what waxing is like and from now on will be using the heating pad only.
Then my job was driving Marg and two friends to a couple of park sales. The first was a smaller park but they got some good deals. The second was Rancho Mirage, one we go to every year because it is such a huge sale and they have good junk. The ladies were buying stuff at a pretty good rate and while they walked along, I kept moving the truck. Marg did amazingly well with the amount of walking today. She also got a few good deals, the one she was most pleased with was a floor cleaner like a swifter that she can use at home. It also had a gallon of the cleaner, all for something like $10. Most of the sellers were looking to get rid of stuff and priced it well. Me, well I did get out of the truck a couple of times, but only bought at one where I got a cool sheath knife, a ball small peen hammer and a small pipe wrench [all for $5]. I read quite few chapters in my pocket book today. That was pretty much the morning, with us returning to our park around 11:30.
When I got back I went out for water as our water cooler bottle was empty. Marg spent the time getting our supper chopped up and in the slow cooker. A nice chicken dinner with potatoes and vegetables.
In the afternoon I played pool. Had some great games and played with some fun guys who are also good competition. Marg went out for mail and that entails visiting in the park. She had a facetime with Vanessa and had a few visitors so a busy afternoon.
A funny thing happened yesterday. I received an email that was a joke from a friend in GP. The email still had the names of previous senders and recipients. For some reason I started looking at them and saw a name that looked like someone I used to work with at NWT, I clicked on it asking "are you the Alan I know". Well what a coincidence, he wrote back confirming he was and asking if I was still in GP. The last time I saw this guy was before we moved to GP in 1989. Still blows me away when I think what a huge coincidence this was.
We went to happy as it was just down the road today. The host was a guy I often play poker and pool with. It was well attended today and there were 2 or 3 couples who are new in the park. They are in RV's and her for anywhere from days to a month. Marg was telling pretty much anyone about the heat patch experience from the morning. Well it got a few laughs.
We had an invitation to go out for supper, but it was already prepared, so supper was from the slow cooker and it was excellent. After supper I printed off the December financials for the condo back home. It is year end and they need the financial review report to add to the agenda for the annual general meeting next week. This is something I have been doing for the last 3 years.
A bit later in the evening we a couple drop in. They were walking and got to talking. It was chilly so we invited them in to finish the chat.
Happy MLK long weekend. He was one of my heroes, especially his "I have a dream" speech. The world needs more people like that man.
Then my job was driving Marg and two friends to a couple of park sales. The first was a smaller park but they got some good deals. The second was Rancho Mirage, one we go to every year because it is such a huge sale and they have good junk. The ladies were buying stuff at a pretty good rate and while they walked along, I kept moving the truck. Marg did amazingly well with the amount of walking today. She also got a few good deals, the one she was most pleased with was a floor cleaner like a swifter that she can use at home. It also had a gallon of the cleaner, all for something like $10. Most of the sellers were looking to get rid of stuff and priced it well. Me, well I did get out of the truck a couple of times, but only bought at one where I got a cool sheath knife, a ball small peen hammer and a small pipe wrench [all for $5]. I read quite few chapters in my pocket book today. That was pretty much the morning, with us returning to our park around 11:30.
When I got back I went out for water as our water cooler bottle was empty. Marg spent the time getting our supper chopped up and in the slow cooker. A nice chicken dinner with potatoes and vegetables.
In the afternoon I played pool. Had some great games and played with some fun guys who are also good competition. Marg went out for mail and that entails visiting in the park. She had a facetime with Vanessa and had a few visitors so a busy afternoon.
A funny thing happened yesterday. I received an email that was a joke from a friend in GP. The email still had the names of previous senders and recipients. For some reason I started looking at them and saw a name that looked like someone I used to work with at NWT, I clicked on it asking "are you the Alan I know". Well what a coincidence, he wrote back confirming he was and asking if I was still in GP. The last time I saw this guy was before we moved to GP in 1989. Still blows me away when I think what a huge coincidence this was.
We went to happy as it was just down the road today. The host was a guy I often play poker and pool with. It was well attended today and there were 2 or 3 couples who are new in the park. They are in RV's and her for anywhere from days to a month. Marg was telling pretty much anyone about the heat patch experience from the morning. Well it got a few laughs.
We had an invitation to go out for supper, but it was already prepared, so supper was from the slow cooker and it was excellent. After supper I printed off the December financials for the condo back home. It is year end and they need the financial review report to add to the agenda for the annual general meeting next week. This is something I have been doing for the last 3 years.
A bit later in the evening we a couple drop in. They were walking and got to talking. It was chilly so we invited them in to finish the chat.
Happy MLK long weekend. He was one of my heroes, especially his "I have a dream" speech. The world needs more people like that man.
Friday 18 January 2019
Friday, Jan 18th
A beautiful day in the valley of the sun. The daytime high temp I saw was 21C, so shorts and shirt sleeves were the order of the day.
We got organized early today. Marg made a pan of monkey bread and that is what I had for breakfast. She also sent a plate of it for Blanke's, took some to Janice next door and then gave some to Linda. It was very good and everyone seemed to appreciate it as a great start to their day.
I left here about 8:45 to play golf at Encanto with Gerry. The traffic was good except after the 51 highway and through the tunnel, but hey this is the 5th largest city in America. The course was busy but not jammed, so our round took right around 4 hours. My game was OK, started off real well, but hit some rough spots that reflected on the score card. I tried my 60 degree wedge a few times and it was not a what I would call successful. Must think about lessons with this part of the game. We played with two other singles and they were both pretty good golfers. The older fellow was good, the other guy was really hyper. Good golfer, but we found out he was a medical marijuana user and I am pretty certain a recreational user as well from his constant chatter and demeanor.
Marg did housework today and had lots of visitors. When the weather gets this nice the park is really active with people moving about and stopping to chat. She must have got a lot done as the place was very clean when I got home. Oh I stopped for fuel on the way home while I was still in Phoenix. The price of gasoline is about 20 cents a gallon less than here in AJ. I paid $2.39 per US gallon.
The return trip was not as busy as the morning because I missed the rush hour. I was back at Carefree in the middle of the afternoon. When I got back it was about 3 and needed to get ready for the dinner in the hall. It has had several names in past years, but just Patti's dinner this year. The dinner was a porkchop with mashed and green beans. It was quite good and nice to see 113 people signed up for it.
After dinner we went to Gary & Linda's for a few wobbly pops. They had a pretty good group and Gary put out his propane fire pit. It's identical to the one we have, so a pleasant evening around the fire.
We got organized early today. Marg made a pan of monkey bread and that is what I had for breakfast. She also sent a plate of it for Blanke's, took some to Janice next door and then gave some to Linda. It was very good and everyone seemed to appreciate it as a great start to their day.
I left here about 8:45 to play golf at Encanto with Gerry. The traffic was good except after the 51 highway and through the tunnel, but hey this is the 5th largest city in America. The course was busy but not jammed, so our round took right around 4 hours. My game was OK, started off real well, but hit some rough spots that reflected on the score card. I tried my 60 degree wedge a few times and it was not a what I would call successful. Must think about lessons with this part of the game. We played with two other singles and they were both pretty good golfers. The older fellow was good, the other guy was really hyper. Good golfer, but we found out he was a medical marijuana user and I am pretty certain a recreational user as well from his constant chatter and demeanor.
Marg did housework today and had lots of visitors. When the weather gets this nice the park is really active with people moving about and stopping to chat. She must have got a lot done as the place was very clean when I got home. Oh I stopped for fuel on the way home while I was still in Phoenix. The price of gasoline is about 20 cents a gallon less than here in AJ. I paid $2.39 per US gallon.
The return trip was not as busy as the morning because I missed the rush hour. I was back at Carefree in the middle of the afternoon. When I got back it was about 3 and needed to get ready for the dinner in the hall. It has had several names in past years, but just Patti's dinner this year. The dinner was a porkchop with mashed and green beans. It was quite good and nice to see 113 people signed up for it.
After dinner we went to Gary & Linda's for a few wobbly pops. They had a pretty good group and Gary put out his propane fire pit. It's identical to the one we have, so a pleasant evening around the fire.
Thursday 17 January 2019
Thursday, Jan 17th
A nice day in the valley of the sun.
We went to the koffee klatch this morning and as luck would have it the donuts were paid by one of the residents. The meeting was over in pretty good time, well for me any way. Marg had to stay as there was a board meeting after and being on the entertainment committee she attends those meetings. Anyone can sit in and hear the discussions, but I walked home instead. There is a hunt for a treasurer for the association and I have taken great care to not appear interested, in fact have turned down several people, with my long laundry list of why I can't do it.
I went for a bike ride, there were 4 of us this morning. We made about 5 miles and that was enough for the two of us that have not rode for a few weeks. It was nice to get back out on these morning rides. There were two more guys, but one wasn't prepared so passed and the other had a flat tire and had to go for a tube so passed.
Later in the morning we were treated to a show right out front. The neighbour across bought a shed and it was delivered. The shed is large about 10 x 14 and is from one of the places in the area that makes and sells them. It came on a big trailer pulled by a single axle Kenworth. The truck had a small forklift type machine that crawls off of and onto the frame of the truck behind the cab. The trailer has long slides and has a chain under the bed that can move the shed along the slides. The forklift has very short forks [2 or 3 ft] but a cool set of wheels the operator puts under the opposite end. The operator stands on the machine and it is so maneuverable he can position the shed within millimeters of where he wants it. The large truck trailer also had a small set of wheels mounted sideways where the axles are and they could lift the trailer and move it sideways. All in all a well set up piece of kit.
Marg did some laundry today and had several visitors. I worked on the wall where we had the water leak back when we first got here. She was after me to paint the wall where I had taken it apart, but I wanted to make certain there were no other problems, so I opened it up again. I really wanted to see the repaired line, but it turned out the other one had a very small trace of water on it. It had the same goofy fabricated fitting as the one I previously repaired. So the laundry work was suspended while I shut the water off and cut the line. I took the fitting to the same fellow at the hardware store and he got the plastic fitting out of the brass part so I could put a shark bite fitting in its place. Then put the wall back together again. I should have replaced it when I did the other even though it was not leaking at the time. There was still enough time to finish the laundry.
Marg had Lynett and her daughter visiting in the afternoon and then the Wangens seeing us stopped in, so the six of us had happy hour here. It was a common thought that the larger gatherings at happy are not as great and it is much better to be able to visit with a few people.
We had supper in tonight and then went off to animal races. They were well attended tonight and I won 5 races, Marg won 6. I always bet #1, the elephant and for some reason never on #8 and that was the difference, she kept the faith and bet the elephant. I may lose my position as the head of the elephant lovers of Apache Junction.
We went to the koffee klatch this morning and as luck would have it the donuts were paid by one of the residents. The meeting was over in pretty good time, well for me any way. Marg had to stay as there was a board meeting after and being on the entertainment committee she attends those meetings. Anyone can sit in and hear the discussions, but I walked home instead. There is a hunt for a treasurer for the association and I have taken great care to not appear interested, in fact have turned down several people, with my long laundry list of why I can't do it.
I went for a bike ride, there were 4 of us this morning. We made about 5 miles and that was enough for the two of us that have not rode for a few weeks. It was nice to get back out on these morning rides. There were two more guys, but one wasn't prepared so passed and the other had a flat tire and had to go for a tube so passed.
Later in the morning we were treated to a show right out front. The neighbour across bought a shed and it was delivered. The shed is large about 10 x 14 and is from one of the places in the area that makes and sells them. It came on a big trailer pulled by a single axle Kenworth. The truck had a small forklift type machine that crawls off of and onto the frame of the truck behind the cab. The trailer has long slides and has a chain under the bed that can move the shed along the slides. The forklift has very short forks [2 or 3 ft] but a cool set of wheels the operator puts under the opposite end. The operator stands on the machine and it is so maneuverable he can position the shed within millimeters of where he wants it. The large truck trailer also had a small set of wheels mounted sideways where the axles are and they could lift the trailer and move it sideways. All in all a well set up piece of kit.
Marg did some laundry today and had several visitors. I worked on the wall where we had the water leak back when we first got here. She was after me to paint the wall where I had taken it apart, but I wanted to make certain there were no other problems, so I opened it up again. I really wanted to see the repaired line, but it turned out the other one had a very small trace of water on it. It had the same goofy fabricated fitting as the one I previously repaired. So the laundry work was suspended while I shut the water off and cut the line. I took the fitting to the same fellow at the hardware store and he got the plastic fitting out of the brass part so I could put a shark bite fitting in its place. Then put the wall back together again. I should have replaced it when I did the other even though it was not leaking at the time. There was still enough time to finish the laundry.
Marg had Lynett and her daughter visiting in the afternoon and then the Wangens seeing us stopped in, so the six of us had happy hour here. It was a common thought that the larger gatherings at happy are not as great and it is much better to be able to visit with a few people.
We had supper in tonight and then went off to animal races. They were well attended tonight and I won 5 races, Marg won 6. I always bet #1, the elephant and for some reason never on #8 and that was the difference, she kept the faith and bet the elephant. I may lose my position as the head of the elephant lovers of Apache Junction.
Wednesday 16 January 2019
Wednesday, Jan 16th
An early start to the day, Marg had a road trip with the gamblin' gals to the Fort and I had golf with the group from the park at Apache Sun.
Gerry drove today and we had 20 golfers in our group today. It was a bit cool with the heavy dew on the first hole, but by the 3rd hole we were in our shirt sleeves. The game went pretty well, hit the ball off the tee well except for #2, when I hit a tree. I have never seen a ball fly back in the air quite like that one, although it still landed on the fairway. Hit a great 3 wood to the green and salvaged a par. On the 4th tee our cart quit so we had to phone the clubhouse for them to send out a replacement. The most challenging part of my game today was chipping, but the score came out OK and I never lost a ball.
Marg had a fun day with the gals, there were 5 of them today. A couple of them won, but sadly Marg was not among the fortunate. She did get down to one number several times and on one game for $450 the number she needed was in the monitor when someone ruined her day by calling the dreaded bingo. They had fun, so it was all good.
I played pool in the afternoon. There were only 4 of us playing. It was Baker Boys today and a bunch of guys were baking butter tart squares. It seems I found my stride in pool again today, or maybe all the really good players were in the kitchen, not sure which. After pool I took the golf cart over to the front entrance for Marg when she gets back. I think she was glad to see me. I left her and Lynett to ride back and walked home.
Supper tonight was Taco Bell. This time we both had a $5 deal. We will have to take pictures of the food you get with one of these. Marg had the chalupa one and I had the burrito one. A burrito, two hard shell tacos, a drink and some lite crusty cinnamon things for $5. Hard to believe.
When we got back, Marg did some of her banking stuff. On of those is she checks all the receipts against the credit card statement to make sure they are right. There is so much fraud these days we are a bit anxious about it. The dollar has slid a bit since we got back here, down to $1.35 for each U.S. dollar. Kind of painful this year.
After I went to play poker and Marg dyed her hair. She had a dye from a beauty shop and it was quite a bit darker than she was led to believe. I think it looks good, but time will tell what she thinks about it.
There were two tables a poker again tonight. I probably ended up down a buck or two, but it was a good table to play at.
Gerry drove today and we had 20 golfers in our group today. It was a bit cool with the heavy dew on the first hole, but by the 3rd hole we were in our shirt sleeves. The game went pretty well, hit the ball off the tee well except for #2, when I hit a tree. I have never seen a ball fly back in the air quite like that one, although it still landed on the fairway. Hit a great 3 wood to the green and salvaged a par. On the 4th tee our cart quit so we had to phone the clubhouse for them to send out a replacement. The most challenging part of my game today was chipping, but the score came out OK and I never lost a ball.
Marg had a fun day with the gals, there were 5 of them today. A couple of them won, but sadly Marg was not among the fortunate. She did get down to one number several times and on one game for $450 the number she needed was in the monitor when someone ruined her day by calling the dreaded bingo. They had fun, so it was all good.
I played pool in the afternoon. There were only 4 of us playing. It was Baker Boys today and a bunch of guys were baking butter tart squares. It seems I found my stride in pool again today, or maybe all the really good players were in the kitchen, not sure which. After pool I took the golf cart over to the front entrance for Marg when she gets back. I think she was glad to see me. I left her and Lynett to ride back and walked home.
Supper tonight was Taco Bell. This time we both had a $5 deal. We will have to take pictures of the food you get with one of these. Marg had the chalupa one and I had the burrito one. A burrito, two hard shell tacos, a drink and some lite crusty cinnamon things for $5. Hard to believe.
When we got back, Marg did some of her banking stuff. On of those is she checks all the receipts against the credit card statement to make sure they are right. There is so much fraud these days we are a bit anxious about it. The dollar has slid a bit since we got back here, down to $1.35 for each U.S. dollar. Kind of painful this year.
After I went to play poker and Marg dyed her hair. She had a dye from a beauty shop and it was quite a bit darker than she was led to believe. I think it looks good, but time will tell what she thinks about it.
There were two tables a poker again tonight. I probably ended up down a buck or two, but it was a good table to play at.
Tuesday 15 January 2019
Tuesday, Jan 15th
It was forecast to rain today but only sprinkled a few times until around supper time when we got a couple of showers that didn't seem to last long.
I rode around the park a bit this morning as I had not been on the velocipede for some days now. The water authority were working on a leak in the main line to the park, so naturally I stopped to watch, along with a half dozen other guys. As a result I missed the guys riding this morning, so made a short trip of it inside the park. That kind of riding requires lots of stops, so is well suited to a short ride. When I got back we went out to the post office in the morning as Marg had some mail to send to England. On the way back we stopped at the hardware where I got a electrical outlet I needed.
Back at the park Marg had some visitors before and after lunch. We had a bite to eat and then I went to play pool. Marg's hip has been bothering her. She has been taking an antibiotic for the cold, so has to hold off on the anti-inflammatory that helps with that pain but has to wait until she is off the first meds. Cool damp days are her nemesis and that is what we are experiencing today. There were several visitors during the afternoon as well as a facetime with Char and a couple calls to others.
There were lots of guys playing pool again today, so a playing spot was hard to come by for late arrivals. Fortunately I was there early enough. The guys I played with were a bit different today and for some reason I played as good as I ever have. One of the players at the table was one of the best in the park and even managed to beat his team a couple of times. Being a 4 player game where you shoot for partners, sometimes it doesn't matter how well you play. As the third table vacated a lone player came in looking for a game, so I left the foursome to play with him as he's a pretty good fellow.
When I got back I got an update from Marg on her day. Then we went to happy at the Blanke's. We never miss when it's at their place. As it turned out a lot of other folks had the same idea. It was all good. We had to be one of the first to leave as we were bbq'ing for supper tonight. A nice T bone steak and baked potato and as it was bingo night in the park we needed to get that done in a timely way.
Gerry & Deb came as we were finishing up and we met them at the hall for the next couple of hours. I won a regular game, but had to share with another winner, so it was small pot of $15.. By the time we shared with Gerry & Deb, it wasn't anything to brag about.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Lyzi tonight, a tough day for her. God Bless you.
I rode around the park a bit this morning as I had not been on the velocipede for some days now. The water authority were working on a leak in the main line to the park, so naturally I stopped to watch, along with a half dozen other guys. As a result I missed the guys riding this morning, so made a short trip of it inside the park. That kind of riding requires lots of stops, so is well suited to a short ride. When I got back we went out to the post office in the morning as Marg had some mail to send to England. On the way back we stopped at the hardware where I got a electrical outlet I needed.
Back at the park Marg had some visitors before and after lunch. We had a bite to eat and then I went to play pool. Marg's hip has been bothering her. She has been taking an antibiotic for the cold, so has to hold off on the anti-inflammatory that helps with that pain but has to wait until she is off the first meds. Cool damp days are her nemesis and that is what we are experiencing today. There were several visitors during the afternoon as well as a facetime with Char and a couple calls to others.
There were lots of guys playing pool again today, so a playing spot was hard to come by for late arrivals. Fortunately I was there early enough. The guys I played with were a bit different today and for some reason I played as good as I ever have. One of the players at the table was one of the best in the park and even managed to beat his team a couple of times. Being a 4 player game where you shoot for partners, sometimes it doesn't matter how well you play. As the third table vacated a lone player came in looking for a game, so I left the foursome to play with him as he's a pretty good fellow.
When I got back I got an update from Marg on her day. Then we went to happy at the Blanke's. We never miss when it's at their place. As it turned out a lot of other folks had the same idea. It was all good. We had to be one of the first to leave as we were bbq'ing for supper tonight. A nice T bone steak and baked potato and as it was bingo night in the park we needed to get that done in a timely way.
Gerry & Deb came as we were finishing up and we met them at the hall for the next couple of hours. I won a regular game, but had to share with another winner, so it was small pot of $15.. By the time we shared with Gerry & Deb, it wasn't anything to brag about.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Lyzi tonight, a tough day for her. God Bless you.
Monday 14 January 2019
Monday, Jan 14th
The day got off to a bit of a slow start as we both slept in a bit, something we have not done in a while. It seems to have been the right decision as Marg's cold seems much improved today.
This morning we went out for some groceries, first to Walmart and then to the Ranch market. The ranch market is always good, the produce is fresh and very well priced. Marg had a buggy half full and the two bags of oranges she picked up are some of the nicest ones we've had this winter.
After lunch Marg was busy with the phone and facetime with the family. I went to play pool so missed out on those. I played with one group of guys for a while, but there was a fellow sitting around waiting for a game, so I gave up mine so he could play. Then I went on to play with a second group after Kenny dropped out. The unfortunate part was that he came over to play at my invitation and when he was late getting there, I started with the first group. It is unusual to have that many players, so I guess our game will have to happen another day.
I left at 3 o'clock as I needed to get a fridge blanket to wrap up our purchase later today. I went to Harbor Freight where I had a coupon for one for $5. I also got my freebie today, it's a magnetic dish to hold nuts or bolts when taking something apart. I have one here as well as at home, but need one for the lake.
Back to the park for happy hour. Some friends from Ontario hosted today. They used the patio at the clubhouse, so it was well attended. That was nice to see as they put quite a bit of effort into getting things for appies. The people who have the unit next to the clubhouse came out to go for water when we were all sitting there. I think Dale wanted to show off a bit. He drives a Tesla and has a tarp garage, much like we used to have for our boat. The only problem is that they can't open the doors inside the garage. Fortunately it's a Tesla. They park in front of the garage and get out. Then he pilots the empty car into the garage using his remote control. It certainly made an impression.
Again we had to make a timely departure in order to get in supper. A nice shrimp stir fry with angel hair pasta.
The reason for our haste was Marg had made a commitment to a lady in San Tan to look at a shelving unit. She found the listing for it on some buy/sell site in the area. Up until now we had a tv table in the corner that the computer sat on and the printer was in the closet. She wanted something for the corner that would accommodate both as well as a few other things. We had to use the GPS as it was an area we are not familiar with and it was dark. It gets dark as the inside of a cave here about 6 o'clock and there is not much twilight and nor are there many street lamps to light the roadways. When we got to the road, we couldn't read the house numbers it was so dark. I parked and thought I would walk up to a house to see the number and eureka it was the one we were looking for. The unit was just what she was looking for and in very nice condition, so she bought it. Got a pretty good deal and she was happy, so I have included a pic taken with the camera on the laptop.
This morning we went out for some groceries, first to Walmart and then to the Ranch market. The ranch market is always good, the produce is fresh and very well priced. Marg had a buggy half full and the two bags of oranges she picked up are some of the nicest ones we've had this winter.
After lunch Marg was busy with the phone and facetime with the family. I went to play pool so missed out on those. I played with one group of guys for a while, but there was a fellow sitting around waiting for a game, so I gave up mine so he could play. Then I went on to play with a second group after Kenny dropped out. The unfortunate part was that he came over to play at my invitation and when he was late getting there, I started with the first group. It is unusual to have that many players, so I guess our game will have to happen another day.
I left at 3 o'clock as I needed to get a fridge blanket to wrap up our purchase later today. I went to Harbor Freight where I had a coupon for one for $5. I also got my freebie today, it's a magnetic dish to hold nuts or bolts when taking something apart. I have one here as well as at home, but need one for the lake.
Back to the park for happy hour. Some friends from Ontario hosted today. They used the patio at the clubhouse, so it was well attended. That was nice to see as they put quite a bit of effort into getting things for appies. The people who have the unit next to the clubhouse came out to go for water when we were all sitting there. I think Dale wanted to show off a bit. He drives a Tesla and has a tarp garage, much like we used to have for our boat. The only problem is that they can't open the doors inside the garage. Fortunately it's a Tesla. They park in front of the garage and get out. Then he pilots the empty car into the garage using his remote control. It certainly made an impression.
Again we had to make a timely departure in order to get in supper. A nice shrimp stir fry with angel hair pasta.
Sunday 13 January 2019
Sunday, Jan 13th
Rained last night and as a result a bit cool. The cloud cover was only patchy during the day and it was actually quite pleasant.
I got organized early enough to make the worship service in the clubhouse this morning. The attendance was a bit less than the last time I went before Christmas. The message was good and the sermon was uplifting. It was kind of funny that the pastor had a new Christmas theme tie and was just waiting for me to notice. I left right after the service to make a road trip with Marg.
We had talked about going to Ikea and with our search for a stand for the computer we thought that might offer a solution. It was quite far from here, 35 minutes at 70 mph; a bit past the big outlet mall called Arizona Mills. There were several pieces we saw that could have worked, but we decided to look at a few other options. We did have lunch there: Marg had the Swedish meatballs, me a pork tenderloin in a rhubarb/habanero sauce. Both dishes were very good. We did find a few things at Ikea, most notably Marg got a hi density foam pillow with a special shape to it, something she was having a difficult time finding, as well as a few other accessories. A stop at Walgreen on the way home for a couple of things. Marg found an apple cider [1 litre] that was discounted 70% that she bought for a dollar something.
When we got back to the park we just sat around in the breezeway for a bit. Well I did, Marg had a couple visitors, one is a Jack Russell terrier that knows she has dog treats. Supper was soup and sandwich as we were not hungry from our big lunch.
After supper it was ice cream social, so we both had a small dish, well Marg had a piece of cake as well. Feeling the effects of all the walking around Ikea, we left right after to put our feet up.
I got organized early enough to make the worship service in the clubhouse this morning. The attendance was a bit less than the last time I went before Christmas. The message was good and the sermon was uplifting. It was kind of funny that the pastor had a new Christmas theme tie and was just waiting for me to notice. I left right after the service to make a road trip with Marg.
We had talked about going to Ikea and with our search for a stand for the computer we thought that might offer a solution. It was quite far from here, 35 minutes at 70 mph; a bit past the big outlet mall called Arizona Mills. There were several pieces we saw that could have worked, but we decided to look at a few other options. We did have lunch there: Marg had the Swedish meatballs, me a pork tenderloin in a rhubarb/habanero sauce. Both dishes were very good. We did find a few things at Ikea, most notably Marg got a hi density foam pillow with a special shape to it, something she was having a difficult time finding, as well as a few other accessories. A stop at Walgreen on the way home for a couple of things. Marg found an apple cider [1 litre] that was discounted 70% that she bought for a dollar something.
When we got back to the park we just sat around in the breezeway for a bit. Well I did, Marg had a couple visitors, one is a Jack Russell terrier that knows she has dog treats. Supper was soup and sandwich as we were not hungry from our big lunch.
After supper it was ice cream social, so we both had a small dish, well Marg had a piece of cake as well. Feeling the effects of all the walking around Ikea, we left right after to put our feet up.
Saturday 12 January 2019
Saturday, Jan 12th
A sunny day in the valley, but we got up a bit late, so I missed out on the hall breakfast. Marg has not been feeling up to par [she has a cold], so rather than wake her with showering and getting dressed, I had cereal and yogurt here.
When we got mobile we went out to a park wide patio sale at a large park where we seem to hit their big sale every year. Marg never found anything, but I got a skill saw. It's a bit larger, the guy said it was heavy duty and a contractor grade. He had a smaller one as well, but there was only $10 difference in the two. I have one, but there is a problem with it and I had been looing for a replacement. I also got a nice butcher knife. It's a bit larger than any that we have here and it was at the hall sale that is run by a ladies group in the park, so the old gal sold it for 50 cents. When we got back I sharpened it up and I think it is the deal of the day.
We went back to our place for lunch and Marg had some laundry in process that she wanted to get back to deal with. After lunch the laundry was going to take a while, so I went to play pool for a while. There was only one guy there and he is one who beats me regularly, although it was the first time I played him one on one. We had very good games and he said he thought it was even, but I am pretty certain he was a couple of games up on me.
When I got back to our place we went back out. I was surprised to see the people I had picked up at the airport had left a case of beer and a card with a gift card to Appleby's. We have been looking for a stand that will handle the computer and printer, so I don't have to drag the printer out of the closet when I need it. It also has to be flexible enough that I can use the scanner where it is. We checked out a couple of the thrift type shops around here, but no luck, so will continue the search next week.
While we were out, Marg had sent a text to Lynett asking if they wanted to come to our place rather than go to the large happy hour in the park. We are hearing more people complain about the size of the group at happy and starting to opt out. Her thinking was Lynett with her daughter, grandson and his wife might prefer something quieter as they had been to the large happy hour Thursday and Friday.
We never heard back, but when we got home they were are our place. They are leaving in the morning, so it was a nice chance to get to know them a bit better. They got to see the building inspector plaque his grandfather made for me when we renovated this place. One funny thing was Marg passed around some of her baking and they had never had a butter tart.
Supper was at home tonight.
When we got mobile we went out to a park wide patio sale at a large park where we seem to hit their big sale every year. Marg never found anything, but I got a skill saw. It's a bit larger, the guy said it was heavy duty and a contractor grade. He had a smaller one as well, but there was only $10 difference in the two. I have one, but there is a problem with it and I had been looing for a replacement. I also got a nice butcher knife. It's a bit larger than any that we have here and it was at the hall sale that is run by a ladies group in the park, so the old gal sold it for 50 cents. When we got back I sharpened it up and I think it is the deal of the day.
We went back to our place for lunch and Marg had some laundry in process that she wanted to get back to deal with. After lunch the laundry was going to take a while, so I went to play pool for a while. There was only one guy there and he is one who beats me regularly, although it was the first time I played him one on one. We had very good games and he said he thought it was even, but I am pretty certain he was a couple of games up on me.
When I got back to our place we went back out. I was surprised to see the people I had picked up at the airport had left a case of beer and a card with a gift card to Appleby's. We have been looking for a stand that will handle the computer and printer, so I don't have to drag the printer out of the closet when I need it. It also has to be flexible enough that I can use the scanner where it is. We checked out a couple of the thrift type shops around here, but no luck, so will continue the search next week.
While we were out, Marg had sent a text to Lynett asking if they wanted to come to our place rather than go to the large happy hour in the park. We are hearing more people complain about the size of the group at happy and starting to opt out. Her thinking was Lynett with her daughter, grandson and his wife might prefer something quieter as they had been to the large happy hour Thursday and Friday.
We never heard back, but when we got home they were are our place. They are leaving in the morning, so it was a nice chance to get to know them a bit better. They got to see the building inspector plaque his grandfather made for me when we renovated this place. One funny thing was Marg passed around some of her baking and they had never had a butter tart.
Supper was at home tonight.
Friday 11 January 2019
Friday, Jan 11th
Another cool day, well it started that way, but we were in shirt sleeves when the sun made its presence felt.
Marg went with the gamblin' gals to the Fort. There were only 3 of them this morning, but they were keen. One or two of the regulars were missing as a result of other commitments and Friday not being their regular day. The crowd wasn't too bad in the morning, but got busy later in the afternoon. There were no winners in the group, although Marg waited on one number several times for something like $600, once the number was in the monitor. They were not quite as jovial on their return.
I went out for a bit to pick up some stuff at Fry's. I wanted oranges as Marg is looking for vitamin C and when we eat lots of them it seems to work. Half of the place has sniffles as a result of the pollens and various other sinus issues and we don't seem to be immune to it. I also picked up some pico de gallo and a fiesta dip for nachos to put out at the happy hour later on. I stopped in at an estate sale, but it was just old junk, nothing good. I am looking for a table or unit that I could put the computer printer on a shelf and the computer itself on.
When I got back I wanted to look under the trailer as it seems there is a damp smell. I pulled off a section of the skirting at the west side and the dirt was still damp in places. It happens when it rains very hard here and that was the case last week. I had to make a trip to the RV salvage yard to get some ventilated panels for the skirting. Luckily they had two, so I bought both and installed them. A small repair but it took a lot of time. Fingers crossed it will be the solution as my next option is to put more ventilation of one of the other sides and I'm not sure where I would get them.
After a bite to eat I went to play pool. There are a lot more players in the park now, so had a good group to play with. In fact all 3 tables were busy today, a first for this year and there are other players in the park who were not out today. I had to quit by 3 to organize our carport for the happy hour today. I stopped by the gate to leave the cart there for her to get home with. While I was there I chatted Smitty and he showed me some of the sticks I brought him. He has the start of some great canes or walking sticks with the diamond willow. He really knows how to get the best out of them and is quite excited about a few.
Not that it took a lot of organizing, but I took the truck out and parked it on the road outside the park, organized the chairs, got out my propane fire pit and opened a beer. Marg had said to leave the snack part for her and she showed up minutes after 4, so just as people were arriving. She had lots of chips and tortilla chips she put out with salsa, and the other two things I bought this morning. It must have been good as it got eaten up pretty quick.
We had plans to go out for supper with the Blanke's after. A couple from Ontario just got in today and were at loose ends for supper so she asked them to join us. Good thing the truck seats 6. Appleby's was our choice and we all opted for the two can dine for $25 with an appie included. Everyone but the designated driver had a drink, I had coffee. How is that for a surprise ending?
Marg went with the gamblin' gals to the Fort. There were only 3 of them this morning, but they were keen. One or two of the regulars were missing as a result of other commitments and Friday not being their regular day. The crowd wasn't too bad in the morning, but got busy later in the afternoon. There were no winners in the group, although Marg waited on one number several times for something like $600, once the number was in the monitor. They were not quite as jovial on their return.
I went out for a bit to pick up some stuff at Fry's. I wanted oranges as Marg is looking for vitamin C and when we eat lots of them it seems to work. Half of the place has sniffles as a result of the pollens and various other sinus issues and we don't seem to be immune to it. I also picked up some pico de gallo and a fiesta dip for nachos to put out at the happy hour later on. I stopped in at an estate sale, but it was just old junk, nothing good. I am looking for a table or unit that I could put the computer printer on a shelf and the computer itself on.
When I got back I wanted to look under the trailer as it seems there is a damp smell. I pulled off a section of the skirting at the west side and the dirt was still damp in places. It happens when it rains very hard here and that was the case last week. I had to make a trip to the RV salvage yard to get some ventilated panels for the skirting. Luckily they had two, so I bought both and installed them. A small repair but it took a lot of time. Fingers crossed it will be the solution as my next option is to put more ventilation of one of the other sides and I'm not sure where I would get them.
After a bite to eat I went to play pool. There are a lot more players in the park now, so had a good group to play with. In fact all 3 tables were busy today, a first for this year and there are other players in the park who were not out today. I had to quit by 3 to organize our carport for the happy hour today. I stopped by the gate to leave the cart there for her to get home with. While I was there I chatted Smitty and he showed me some of the sticks I brought him. He has the start of some great canes or walking sticks with the diamond willow. He really knows how to get the best out of them and is quite excited about a few.
Not that it took a lot of organizing, but I took the truck out and parked it on the road outside the park, organized the chairs, got out my propane fire pit and opened a beer. Marg had said to leave the snack part for her and she showed up minutes after 4, so just as people were arriving. She had lots of chips and tortilla chips she put out with salsa, and the other two things I bought this morning. It must have been good as it got eaten up pretty quick.
We had plans to go out for supper with the Blanke's after. A couple from Ontario just got in today and were at loose ends for supper so she asked them to join us. Good thing the truck seats 6. Appleby's was our choice and we all opted for the two can dine for $25 with an appie included. Everyone but the designated driver had a drink, I had coffee. How is that for a surprise ending?
Thursday 10 January 2019
Thursday, Jan 10th
A bit cooler day today, I think the high was in the 60's, so still a long way above the temps at home.
We got out early and went to the coffee klatch this morning. Good thing to as we had a guest speaker and he bought donuts. He was from RV Traders, a popular dealer in Apache Junction. His visit was to invite people to a free lunch and to see their new models. Apparently it now takes 6 to 8 months to get a new park model and if you want a used one they put your name on a list in case one becomes available. There is one coming up for sale in our park and the seller [a friend of Marg's] is going to take bids on it and has 7 people interested. Since she has taken a position on the entertainment committee, Marg likes to attend these to keep up with events in the park.
After coffee we went out to Mediacom to pay our bill and then to Costco. My main reason to go to Costco was the security people the GP airport took away the bin I had my stuff in and when I still had not retrieved my hearing aid batteries. The pocket holder with two new batteries gone. I never discovered it until we were on the plane and one battery went dead. Kind of annoying the way they hurry you along. Along the way we stopped at Long John Silvers for lunch where Marg had the fish combo & I had the shrimp combo. On the route we passed the coin shop I generally have find good deals at, but I resisted temptation. Anyway Costco here don't have them down here, but have had several requests like mine. Duh! We always manage to find some things, so $150 later we had a nice bottle of scotch, a bathroom mat, socks, a top, etc.
Back at home we did a bit of visiting and watched a couple of guys move a barrel cactus. Shortly after sitting down at our place on of Marg's friends daughters came to ask a favour. Her son & daughter-in-law were stranded, so I volunteered to pick them up. They flew in to the Mesa airport to surprise his grandmother.
Got back to the park just in time for happy, it was at Gary & Patti's and a large group. It was kind of fun today. When the daughter showed up with her son they split up with the two surprise visitors coming around the trailer so they were hidden until they were right behind her. Pretty neat.
Supper was bbq steak and it turned out pretty good. We still have a large supply of meat in the freezer from all Marg's earlier bargains. Marg made up her usual potato and vegetable tinfoil dish to do on the bbq as well. Then it was off to the Animal races where they had a very large crowd, likely the most people I have seen. Marg won 5 races, me 4. The big surprise was the elephant won 3 times, so you know those are wins for me. Oh and they were short of people to tell jokes, so I told a couple tonight.
We got out early and went to the coffee klatch this morning. Good thing to as we had a guest speaker and he bought donuts. He was from RV Traders, a popular dealer in Apache Junction. His visit was to invite people to a free lunch and to see their new models. Apparently it now takes 6 to 8 months to get a new park model and if you want a used one they put your name on a list in case one becomes available. There is one coming up for sale in our park and the seller [a friend of Marg's] is going to take bids on it and has 7 people interested. Since she has taken a position on the entertainment committee, Marg likes to attend these to keep up with events in the park.
After coffee we went out to Mediacom to pay our bill and then to Costco. My main reason to go to Costco was the security people the GP airport took away the bin I had my stuff in and when I still had not retrieved my hearing aid batteries. The pocket holder with two new batteries gone. I never discovered it until we were on the plane and one battery went dead. Kind of annoying the way they hurry you along. Along the way we stopped at Long John Silvers for lunch where Marg had the fish combo & I had the shrimp combo. On the route we passed the coin shop I generally have find good deals at, but I resisted temptation. Anyway Costco here don't have them down here, but have had several requests like mine. Duh! We always manage to find some things, so $150 later we had a nice bottle of scotch, a bathroom mat, socks, a top, etc.
Back at home we did a bit of visiting and watched a couple of guys move a barrel cactus. Shortly after sitting down at our place on of Marg's friends daughters came to ask a favour. Her son & daughter-in-law were stranded, so I volunteered to pick them up. They flew in to the Mesa airport to surprise his grandmother.
Got back to the park just in time for happy, it was at Gary & Patti's and a large group. It was kind of fun today. When the daughter showed up with her son they split up with the two surprise visitors coming around the trailer so they were hidden until they were right behind her. Pretty neat.
Supper was bbq steak and it turned out pretty good. We still have a large supply of meat in the freezer from all Marg's earlier bargains. Marg made up her usual potato and vegetable tinfoil dish to do on the bbq as well. Then it was off to the Animal races where they had a very large crowd, likely the most people I have seen. Marg won 5 races, me 4. The big surprise was the elephant won 3 times, so you know those are wins for me. Oh and they were short of people to tell jokes, so I told a couple tonight.
Wednesday 9 January 2019
Wednesday, Jan 9th
A bit of a chilly start to the day. Gerry came and I drove out to Apache Sun for golf this morning. The dew lay heavy on the grass which never helps. It warmed up about half way through the game, but didn't get as warm as yesterday. The game went well, Gerry had an amazing round and I was happy with my score, although I did lose one ball. It was a zero turtle day, too chilly for them I guess. I had a shot at the closest to the pin on #7, but was beat out by someone in a later group.
Marg got the place cleaned up in the morning. It was vacant for 3 weeks, but no one told the dust bunnies. The vacuum got a work out followed by the swifter. After she had a shower until the water ran cold. Not sure how long that was as I always get out when its hot, but it must have been a while.
I posted some stuff on the tenants association FB site after I got back. We are having a Pub night again this year. We want to create interest in it so one of the organizers had requested info be put out this way. Then I went to check the mail and the mail lady was just filling the boxes, so I visited with a couple of guys doing the same thing as me. Told the mail lady if she put any of our mail with window envelopes in someone else's box that would be fine with me.
When I got back we had lunch. Marg fried up eggs and Canadian bacon. I chuckle at that as in means back bacon. Well in Canada we eat more side bacon than anything and its no different than what they usually have here, so the name appears to be a marketing ploy.
After lunch I went to play pool. There was a fellow waiting there for someone to show up and play. After we started a third showed up which made it more interesting. The games went pretty well, although I think I lost more than won. It was fun anyway. We usually play from 1:00 to 3:00, although it varies depending on who is there.
Marg had a few visitors and then went for a tour of the park. The cart is running well again. She came upon me on my way, so we toured together. I know I have said this before, but it's hard to get far here without visiting, so it is slow progress.
We opted not to attend happy today. We started out sorting my poker money and then rolling some of it. This is the $20 in coins I bought about 8 years ago. A couple years back I took about $80 of it in and changed it to bills. There was a little over $60 in the crown royal bag today when we sorted it out, so it appears my poker is not costing anything. It just gets so noisy that we take breaks. Another couple out for a walk stopped in to chat, so we had a beer and that was our happy today. He had never had a Kokanee and he seemed to enjoy it. I still have a couple of cans left. He is a bit of a beer aficionado and gave the Kokanee a good review.
We had to scramble to get to the hall as it was Gary's burgers tonight. We were running a bit late and paid for it when we saw the line up to order. We managed to get a table to sit at with a few friends. One of them always brings his special New Mexico chili to put on the burgers. In my opinion its not really chili, rather a green salsa loaded with garlic. It seems to be one of those love it or hate it things and I'm not really a fan. I don't even like the smell of it with all that garlic. The burgers were great, as usual.
Back home for a short time and then back to the hall to play poker. There was a big turnout tonight, so we had 2 tables. One had 4 women at it, so most of the guys formed up on a separate table. I played at the table with the 4 ladies and one other guy. One of the ladies does real well and in fact was probably the big winner. She is one of the gamblin' gals. The other ladies are not good poker players, so we were coaching them along quite a bit. It was fun anyway. How did I make out, probably close to even or slightly ahead.
Marg got the place cleaned up in the morning. It was vacant for 3 weeks, but no one told the dust bunnies. The vacuum got a work out followed by the swifter. After she had a shower until the water ran cold. Not sure how long that was as I always get out when its hot, but it must have been a while.
I posted some stuff on the tenants association FB site after I got back. We are having a Pub night again this year. We want to create interest in it so one of the organizers had requested info be put out this way. Then I went to check the mail and the mail lady was just filling the boxes, so I visited with a couple of guys doing the same thing as me. Told the mail lady if she put any of our mail with window envelopes in someone else's box that would be fine with me.
When I got back we had lunch. Marg fried up eggs and Canadian bacon. I chuckle at that as in means back bacon. Well in Canada we eat more side bacon than anything and its no different than what they usually have here, so the name appears to be a marketing ploy.
After lunch I went to play pool. There was a fellow waiting there for someone to show up and play. After we started a third showed up which made it more interesting. The games went pretty well, although I think I lost more than won. It was fun anyway. We usually play from 1:00 to 3:00, although it varies depending on who is there.
Marg had a few visitors and then went for a tour of the park. The cart is running well again. She came upon me on my way, so we toured together. I know I have said this before, but it's hard to get far here without visiting, so it is slow progress.
We opted not to attend happy today. We started out sorting my poker money and then rolling some of it. This is the $20 in coins I bought about 8 years ago. A couple years back I took about $80 of it in and changed it to bills. There was a little over $60 in the crown royal bag today when we sorted it out, so it appears my poker is not costing anything. It just gets so noisy that we take breaks. Another couple out for a walk stopped in to chat, so we had a beer and that was our happy today. He had never had a Kokanee and he seemed to enjoy it. I still have a couple of cans left. He is a bit of a beer aficionado and gave the Kokanee a good review.
We had to scramble to get to the hall as it was Gary's burgers tonight. We were running a bit late and paid for it when we saw the line up to order. We managed to get a table to sit at with a few friends. One of them always brings his special New Mexico chili to put on the burgers. In my opinion its not really chili, rather a green salsa loaded with garlic. It seems to be one of those love it or hate it things and I'm not really a fan. I don't even like the smell of it with all that garlic. The burgers were great, as usual.
Back home for a short time and then back to the hall to play poker. There was a big turnout tonight, so we had 2 tables. One had 4 women at it, so most of the guys formed up on a separate table. I played at the table with the 4 ladies and one other guy. One of the ladies does real well and in fact was probably the big winner. She is one of the gamblin' gals. The other ladies are not good poker players, so we were coaching them along quite a bit. It was fun anyway. How did I make out, probably close to even or slightly ahead.
Tuesday 8 January 2019
We're back 2019 already! Tuesday Jan 8th
Well it has been an eventful week already and it has just begun. We left home in a snowy cold day, I think it was minus 25C. But we were all dressed in our winter regalia, knowing we had to move around on our trip to the airport and then a walk on the tarmac in GP to the plane. Everything went well on the first leg of our journey, with a 2:30 PM departure. We got to Calgary about 75 minutes later, compare that to 7 or 8 hours of white knuckle driving in that blizzard like weather.
We had a long stay in the Calgary airport, thankfully it is just that much better than Edmonton for amenities. We had to go through another security screening even though we were never out of the secure areas and then the U.S. border control. At the security screening, it was a non-event for me, except they did a hand search on the backpack which turned out fine. It was a bit more thorough process as we had to take our shoes off and put them in the X-ray buckets. Marg on the other hand got pulled over for a full screening. They hand wanded her, swabbed her and then checked the bottoms of her feet. Good thing we had lots of time.
At the U.S. border check we had declared edible food so had to describe the cookies and butter tarts in Marg's case. Again he just gave me a cursory look and asked how many months we would be in Arizona, but seemed to have more questions for Marg. Not certain what she has been up to as this had never happened before. LOL
We got something to eat, it was Japanese and very good but the wasabi was very strong. A little went a long way. I had to go in to the men's washroom and take off my long johns and heavy sweatshirt, it was that much nicer there. The flight was not over crowded and was a larger aircraft, one of the Airbus planes, so a good trip. There was a good selection of movies on the flight and Marg watched one and then some of the other stuff on the system. Me, well I just put it on the map to see where we were. The distance really passes quickly at 800 kmph. We had to de-ice so got away a few minutes late and made it to Phoenix Sky Harbor right around 11. Our ride took a few minutes to find us and we were at our unit shortly before midnight. I had to turn on the water and water tank by flashlight. The good news was that I had remembered to shut off the furnace as the place was only 58F [about 13C] inside. That should mean we can expect of small power bill this month.
With nothing to eat that meant a trip to Walmart, they are open all night here. Now we know where all the freaks go after midnight in AJ. We were probably the only ones in there without tattoos of piercings. Wait I do have a tat. Anyway we got enough to get us by for a few days and got to bed close to 2AM.
Naturally we slept in a bit this morning, about 8 AM. People started coming by pretty early. I had to get my shop vac and pick up some water in the air re-circulating unit. They had a pretty good rain storm the day prior, so I expected it to be a problem in the big duct from the unit. One of these days I should do something to stop that, but its a bit of a complex issue. Marg cleaned up the place as much as possible with people stopping in to chat.
I had a problem with a loose wheel on the golf cart before we left in December, so my next project was to pull the rear wheels off the cart. I didn't need to do both, but I wanted to look at the brake shoes to try and stop the noise they were making. I needed some grease, so had to go and buy a grease gun. Naturally I went to Harbor Freight. No free gift today, I used the discount coupon. By the time I was done I had the gun with one tube of grease for $7.99. Back to the park where I re-assembled it, adjusted the tire pressures and greased the front end. Marg had been cleaning up the cupboards and making supper preparations in the slow cooker. Apparently the stove got accidentally turned on and there was a plastic pack with muffins in it on the burner, so her next task was airing the place out. Not a big deal as the temperature was over 70 [19 C] today.
After lunch cleaned up and putting my stuff away, I had to change to shorts and a tee shirt. It was hot in the sun! We had put a lot of stuff away when we left, so had something akin to setting the place up to do. Somewhere the day went and it was time for happy hour. It was well attended today so was very noisy. The place was rife with gossip today about events over the last 3 weeks. Kenny put it well when he said something like - everything was quiet, business as usual until we went away, not sure what the heck happened after we [them and us] left. Marg has made arrangements to go with the gamblin' gals Friday and signed us up for Patti's fancy dinner; I am signed up to be the darts master at the pub night and for golf tomorrow. Need to figure out how to dress like a darts master before then.
The slow cooker supper turned out excellent and we finished just in time to go to bingo. There were lots more greetings at bingo. A lot more people have arrived since we left for the Christmas break, some annuals and others who are among the 3 month winter visitors. We finished up just in time for bingo where it was a large crowd. That meant the payouts were large too, as was the competition. That didn't faze Marg as she won one of the games and was down to one number on several others. The money ball wasn't won and was already over $400, so it will be busy next week.
Time for us to turn in, almost forgot the pace of our life here.
We had a long stay in the Calgary airport, thankfully it is just that much better than Edmonton for amenities. We had to go through another security screening even though we were never out of the secure areas and then the U.S. border control. At the security screening, it was a non-event for me, except they did a hand search on the backpack which turned out fine. It was a bit more thorough process as we had to take our shoes off and put them in the X-ray buckets. Marg on the other hand got pulled over for a full screening. They hand wanded her, swabbed her and then checked the bottoms of her feet. Good thing we had lots of time.
At the U.S. border check we had declared edible food so had to describe the cookies and butter tarts in Marg's case. Again he just gave me a cursory look and asked how many months we would be in Arizona, but seemed to have more questions for Marg. Not certain what she has been up to as this had never happened before. LOL
We got something to eat, it was Japanese and very good but the wasabi was very strong. A little went a long way. I had to go in to the men's washroom and take off my long johns and heavy sweatshirt, it was that much nicer there. The flight was not over crowded and was a larger aircraft, one of the Airbus planes, so a good trip. There was a good selection of movies on the flight and Marg watched one and then some of the other stuff on the system. Me, well I just put it on the map to see where we were. The distance really passes quickly at 800 kmph. We had to de-ice so got away a few minutes late and made it to Phoenix Sky Harbor right around 11. Our ride took a few minutes to find us and we were at our unit shortly before midnight. I had to turn on the water and water tank by flashlight. The good news was that I had remembered to shut off the furnace as the place was only 58F [about 13C] inside. That should mean we can expect of small power bill this month.
With nothing to eat that meant a trip to Walmart, they are open all night here. Now we know where all the freaks go after midnight in AJ. We were probably the only ones in there without tattoos of piercings. Wait I do have a tat. Anyway we got enough to get us by for a few days and got to bed close to 2AM.
Naturally we slept in a bit this morning, about 8 AM. People started coming by pretty early. I had to get my shop vac and pick up some water in the air re-circulating unit. They had a pretty good rain storm the day prior, so I expected it to be a problem in the big duct from the unit. One of these days I should do something to stop that, but its a bit of a complex issue. Marg cleaned up the place as much as possible with people stopping in to chat.
I had a problem with a loose wheel on the golf cart before we left in December, so my next project was to pull the rear wheels off the cart. I didn't need to do both, but I wanted to look at the brake shoes to try and stop the noise they were making. I needed some grease, so had to go and buy a grease gun. Naturally I went to Harbor Freight. No free gift today, I used the discount coupon. By the time I was done I had the gun with one tube of grease for $7.99. Back to the park where I re-assembled it, adjusted the tire pressures and greased the front end. Marg had been cleaning up the cupboards and making supper preparations in the slow cooker. Apparently the stove got accidentally turned on and there was a plastic pack with muffins in it on the burner, so her next task was airing the place out. Not a big deal as the temperature was over 70 [19 C] today.
After lunch cleaned up and putting my stuff away, I had to change to shorts and a tee shirt. It was hot in the sun! We had put a lot of stuff away when we left, so had something akin to setting the place up to do. Somewhere the day went and it was time for happy hour. It was well attended today so was very noisy. The place was rife with gossip today about events over the last 3 weeks. Kenny put it well when he said something like - everything was quiet, business as usual until we went away, not sure what the heck happened after we [them and us] left. Marg has made arrangements to go with the gamblin' gals Friday and signed us up for Patti's fancy dinner; I am signed up to be the darts master at the pub night and for golf tomorrow. Need to figure out how to dress like a darts master before then.
The slow cooker supper turned out excellent and we finished just in time to go to bingo. There were lots more greetings at bingo. A lot more people have arrived since we left for the Christmas break, some annuals and others who are among the 3 month winter visitors. We finished up just in time for bingo where it was a large crowd. That meant the payouts were large too, as was the competition. That didn't faze Marg as she won one of the games and was down to one number on several others. The money ball wasn't won and was already over $400, so it will be busy next week.
Time for us to turn in, almost forgot the pace of our life here.
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