Friday, Nov 30th

It rained pretty hard last night, typical for this time of the year.  In fact there was snow in the high country, Flagstaff had 6 inches and Snowbowl had 10 inches yesterday.  That too is common this time of year, but generally only at higher elevations, not down in the valley.  The only bad thing about it was the golf cart seat was wet.
  The guys came by to go bike riding, but I was still in the shower, not thinking they would go with the weather being cooler like it was.  We went out to pick up a few things.  First I stopped at the AJ Food Bank where I dropped off my aluminum cans as a donation.  Then we went over to Best Hardware where I found Spray Nine.  I was glad to finally find it here as it comes in handy for so many things, but especially bugs on the car front and yellow headlights.  While checking the place out, Marg came across a coffee urn that was priced to get rid of it and offered the sales guy $10 for it, which he accepted.  Next we went to the Superstition Ranch market where Marg got vegetables and oranges.  I also threw a package of Horehound lozenges in the buggy.  They seem to be one of the more effective ones for a nagging cough and work pretty good for Marg.  Finally we stopped in at Safeway.  It's funny Marg's Safeway card doesn't work at home now, but it still works here.  With it we both get better prices on most products and a fuel discount.  Apparently our fuel discount is 20 cents a gallon now.  This stop was mainly to pick up things we needed for happy hour today as well as for the house.  An unexpected bonus was a deal on TBone steaks.

I think she picked up about a half dozen.  The steaks are nice and thick, so will be great on the bbq and they have a large tenderloin piece.  Best of all the deal was about 65% off the regular price.
  When we got back to the park we had a bite to eat [planned overs] and I went to play pool.  Marg stayed in to get a few things ready for happy hour.  I played with a guy from California, one from Missouri and a third from Ontario.  I took an extra cue along for the guy from Ontario.  I have played all 3 many times, anyway a pretty good group.  We had some good games, but the last one was the most competitive.  My partner and I won, but it involved a lot of tactical play and a few snookers before it happened.  My game has been struggling a bit lately, but I can still shoot a hook, er snooker pretty well.
  We had a good group for happy today, probably about 20 or so.  Marg had some nice snacks out, a cheese roll, nachos, hot chili cheese sauce, cheese & crackers and a nice pot of hot chocolate in the new urn with marshmallows and whip cream topping.  It was a bit cool, so this went over very well.  A lot of people went to a pig roast in the park.  We were invited to the roast, but passed because of prior commitments to host happy and to go out for dinner.  There were a few people at happy that don't normally attend and one lady who lost her husband a while ago and has been keeping to herself a bit too much.  I had the gas fire pit out which made it nice and cozy in the breezeway.
  After we went to dinner with: Kenny, Doris, Jerry, Pat & Lynett.  All good friends.  We went to Golden Corral where everyone over-eats at the buffet.  I just had a small steak and not too much for sides, so would have been OK but they had bread pudding, oh well it was pretty good.

Thursday, Nov 29th

A little cooler day so changed to long pants today, although there were still lots of guys in short pants as you know I am not the first one to do so.
  I went to the coffee Klatch this morning and just had coffee as I had eaten just prior to going.  When Lynett was handing out donuts, I told her I wasn't having one this morning, to which she said - cant afford it after last night?  I confirmed that I took such a beating that I had to quit donuts.  LOL  There was a pretty good turn-out and they asked me to give a talk on the associations facebook site.  I wasn't really prepared, but gave them a brief insight in to how it works with the two accounts.
  When I got back Marg was up and about and ready to go out.  I had told her I wanted to go for a haircut today, so she thought she would get in a bit of retail therapy.  The barber shop is on Power rd, close to Superstition mall, home of TJMax, one of her fav's.  After dropping Marg off, I went to get the Mexicans to chop off some of my hair.  I had a young fellow who I had not seen before, but he did a good job and even Marg thought it was OK.  I stopped in a Vans golf shop next door to look around and always end up looking at drivers.  They had some of this year models they were clearing out at a discount of $100 or better.  Nice clubs, but a tad pricey at $300 and I didn't think my game was at that level where it would help.
  Back to the mall where Marg had scoped out a buggy full of good deals.  I ended up adding 2 belts to her buggy, a dress one and an everyday one.  They were certainly well priced.  She even bought a purse, which really surprised me as it usually takes a couple of years to make that decision and she just bought one last fall.  I don't believe 2 purses have ever been purchased in such rapid succession before.
  By then it was around noon, so we decided on lunch out today.  I thought there was a Ruby Tuesday's at the mall, but it must have closed and some kind of pizza place is there now.  There was a cheesecake factory there, but that didn't seem to appeal, so we went to Soup or Salad.  You can pretty well guess what lunch was.  Marg was happy, she always likes to eat what food eats.  LOL  In fairness it's a pretty popular place for lunch and the food is OK if you like that kind of thing.
  She had been looking for a beauty supply store called Sally something or other.  Apparently they were recommended as a place most likely to have what she was looking for.  As luck would have it, the store was across the road from the restaurant so I got an opportunity to read my book while sitting in the truck for a while.  She came out with a small bag, so it seems another successful stop.
  Then on to home where she made something like a chicken stew in the slow cooker while I worked on updates to the association FB site here in the park.  There was the December calendar and some posts for ice cream social [starts next week] and breakfast on Saturday.  I also had more information on the Christmas party, so updated that event as well.  Time just slips by and it was time to go for happy.  Today it was at Garry & Patti's, so a must go.  They have a large patio out back and a bar that looks like a road-side fruit stand.  I think they had about 35 or so today.  Probably the largest one yet.  Lorraine is next door and she was there, so we were able to tell her that we had to decline her invitation for supper tomorrow night.  They are from Montana and he had bought a whole pig, so they were doing a pig roast and invited us.  She expressed her disappointment saying something about fun guy or was that fungi?  We already had a commitment with some other folks to go out for supper tomorrow.  It was also a bit of a tearful farewell for the Saskatchewan couple who will be leaving tomorrow.  Well no I didn't cry, but it was a bit sad!  Tonight they were expressing sellers regret and said they think they will be back.
  Back home for supper, the chicken thing in the slow cooker was very good.  It was complimented by fresh biscuits out of the oven, always a nice treat. 
  After supper Marg went with the golf cart to pick up Lynett.  They went to Sierra Leone, the park just to the east of us, to play bingo.  It's so close they just drove the golf cart down the boulevard along the road.  They laughed, it was their first golf cart road trip.  This was a small park with a small number of players, so they were very grateful for the 3 players from here that went.  Marg & Cindy won along with 3 other players, so they got $3 each.  Lynett won on her own and got $12.  Pretty funny.  They made it back in the dark on the golf cart and believe me it is really dark as there are no street lights, it all worked out well, another road trip adventure for these two gals.

Wednesday, Nov 28th

Another chilly morning followed by a very warm day.
  I got up early as Gerry was coming to join our golf group today.  Apparently there was lots of traffic on the 202 coming our way, but he managed to get here before 8 and we got to Apache Sun in time to play.  There were only 13 golfers today as lots of folks are still at home, but it will get busier.  The course was heavy with dew, or maybe it had been flooded last night.  My game started out real well, but I struggled in the middle.  It was a one turtle day, so no one went in the water, although my shot hit a branch and I didn't fare well.  On the putt I was on the green in two, but my long putt was wide.  Gerry was on in 3, but drained his one putt and managed to win the money on the hole.  On the other money hole, I hit another branch and instead of falling the right way, I had my ball retriever out to it's maximum length, but I never lost the ball.  We played with Patrick & Diane from Saskatchewan and had a few laughs, so that was nice it being their last day here.  They sold their place and are going to Mazatlán from now on.
  Marg went with the gals to the Fort today.  There were only 3 of them, but everyone came away a little better off than they left with.  Marg was the big winner at bingo, winning by herself on a $300 prize.  One of the others won at bingo, but had to split, the other won at the casino.  So they came home in very good spirits today.
  We were out of bread and I had to make my own lunch, so made a quick trip to Safeway, then made my own sandwich.  Life can be tough.  In the afternoon I went out to get propane for the bbq as my tank ran out the other day.  I intended to go to the food bank as it is right by where I go for propane.  I donate my crushed aluminum cans, but they were closed, so will have to go another time.  The rest of the afternoon I did some personal stuff.
   When Marg got home it was time to go to happy hour.  It was at the other end of the park today and the hosts were from Red Deer.  It was an unusually large group and turned into a bit of a farewell to the Pat & Diane.  They're going to miss us.  LOL  After we came home where Marg made supper, which is always nice on poker night.  Otherwise it can get to be quite rushed.
  I went to play poker and Marg had a long facetime with Vanessa. I won one hand and split another in 2 1/2 hours of poker, so you know I was not a winner.  One of Marg's gamblin gals was the big winner. 

Tuesday Nov 27th

Another nice day, yes I know, but it really doesn't change all that -- well you know.
  Had a great breakfast, leftover french toast.  I prefer to use the toaster to warm it up and it is a great way to start the day.  So for all you people who have heard Marg say I don't like left overs, well there is living proof that is not entirely correct.
  After breakfast we worked on the two recliner chairs.  The material we got yesterday worked well, so we put the stiff material under the seats and stuffed the fiber fill in the lower back area.  It was kind of neat, this area has a zipper on an opening to make doing this easy.  When we finished, the chairs were much improved.
  Then we went to Mediacom's office to pay the next month.  They moved, so we wanted to see where it is, but more importantly we wanted to find out about some of the features of our cable system.  This is quite a cool system, one of the features is it operates by voice command.  If you want to watch a program or show, just ask the system to find it and voila it goes to the channel with the program you want.  Anyway the lady was quite helpful and we have a better understanding of what we have..
  Om the way back we went to Walmart where Marg wanted to return the foam we purchased.  I had planned to use it to build up the seat cushion, but the stiff material did the job just fine.  It took quite a while, I guess there were lots of folks taking things back.  Driving home we spotted a store being operated by the orphanage near here.  This is the one that the tenants assoc. here have supported in the past with donations as well as having the children over for Christmas concerts and providing a fun evening.  The organization accept donations of goods as well and they operate a store right where the orphanage is.  We stopped in to check it out.  Funny we also ran in to a couple of ladies from our park in there looking for some things.  We both bought a couple of things, not that we really needed them, but we wanted to support this good cause.
  Lunch was back at the park.  Marg has heard so many people talk about SPAM and how much they enjoy it with eggs, she bought some.  So that is what we had for lunch.  It is a form of ham or pork, but it is very different than what we imagined.  We ate it, but I don't think it will be on our shopping list for the future.  Can now check that off the bucket list.  LOL
  In the afternoon, I went to play pool with a few guys.  Marg had some company, went for the mail and did some visiting.  Happy hour tonight was on the patio.  The couple who were hosting are in a lot that is not well suited to having a large group, so we just used the patio at the clubhouse today. 
  Supper was a bbq steak and roasted potatoes / vegetables.  Then on to the bingo tonight.  This was the first time the popcorn machine was used since Marg cleaned it and they were well impressed with the result.  At the bingo we had a lot of close calls.  There were two winners at our table but success evaded us.

Monday, Nov 26th

A nice day in the Valley, I think the temp made it up to about 74 today, oh yes 23 C for my family, but that was only for 4 or 5 hours after lunch.
  We went out for a quick trip to Walmart this morning to get some upholstery materials, mainly foam and fiberfill.  The recliner chairs have some compaction in the seats and backs, so we plan to firm them up a bit.  Not certain why, but I suspect it might relate to the high temperatures in the summer when the place is closed up.
  Speaking of lunch, Marg went with the group of ladies from the park for lunch at the Olive Garden.  There were to be 30, but a few more decided to go at the last minute, so she was running around with one of the organizing ladies sorting out the rides.  As it was Marg took 5 other ladies with her, so short of putting them on benches in the box, she was full.  It seems everyone wants to be in her posse.  Sounds like they had a fun time and lots of good food and a few drinks were consumed.  Typical of Marg she drank water and ate appy's and salad.  Knowing the gals in this park it must have been a lively event.  In case you are wondering, my lunch was not so great.  LOL
  I spent the morning digging out the Agave plant in the front area.  When Marg & her friend planted it two years ago, it was a bit large, but not overly.  In the 3 years since it has sure grown fast.  I wasn't too concerned as it never gets watered or fertilized, but it seems these cactus plants don't need much to prosper.  Anyway I couldn't get near the window or awing without being skewered.  It's not a bad looking plant, but the fronds have dozens of sharp points that I have ripped clothes and skin on.  To remove it I had to use a hand saw   After I had all the fronds cut off, I had to stack them on the back of the golf cart for transport to the bin.  The center spire on it was about 4 feet high, all of if requiring good leather gloves.  Well it's not all gone, it seems it had sprouted a small new growth under all it's foliage.  This I moved and planted, its about 8 or 10 inches high, so if we still have the place in 5 or 6 years I'll be doing it all over again.
   In the afternoon I went to play pool.  The 4 guys playing at the main table usually say - hi Dave, but today they all did it in unison.  Pretty funny, so I said now I know how Norm felt on Cheers.  Got in with a different group of guys today and had a tough time staying on the winning side.  When the final results were in I think my win / loss ratio was on the negative side, but it's all good.
  I was delayed getting to pool because of an email I received just before noon. It tried to appear as coming from Telus, but was in reality a scam.  Most of my time spent on this was the 45 minutes while on hold listening to elevator music.  If you saw my FB post you already know the story on it, but fortunately I never opened the link to update my profile.  It look real enough except I wanted to ask Marg if our November payment was made so had to wait for her to get home & it was.  There was a typo on the warning, odd from Telus.  But I could not figure out why the email came to me when we use Marg's in our Telus account.
  Happy hour was just up the road and was well attended today.  While I never heard it, I guess the ladies talked about the mess the popcorn machine was left in by persons unknown.  Anyway after happy we went and picked up the bucket that makes it.  I took the lid off and she got is sparkling clean inside.  When the ladies were carrying on about how good it looked, she just said that was why she's known as Mrs. Clean.  LOL  The days are getting a bit shorter and the sun is low on the horizon by 5 o'clock, so happy breaks up pretty quick these days.
  Supper was a slow cooker affair.  Pork chops, vegetables, potatoes, all in that wonderful little appliance. 
  Almost forgot, got an email and golf starts this week, so Wednesday I have plans.  Gerry was playing today and called to invite me, but I had to decline - no wheels.  LOL

Sunday, Nov 25th

Got off to an early start today and went to the church service in the hall.  Much smaller group than last week, but it was good.  The pastor had is family from N Dakota come including two grandchildren.  The sermon today dealt with this being the start of Advent in the Christian faith, being 30 days before the birth of Christ.  I had brought a Christmas tie from my large collection at home and gave it to the pastor as he mentioned that he is always looking for them.  I had another one that I left at home as I didn't think he would wear it.  It has a row of small Santa's with the bottom one pulling a moon.  They are so small you can't really tell unless you get a close look.
  We had a nice facetime with Charlene and family today.  In particular we chatted with our two great grandchildren, Sophie & Benji.  They were quite excited and playful during the call, it gave us a lot of laughs to see them in action.  They had lots to show us, including grandmas tree. 
  A bit later, Marg & I were discussing a commitment we had made for today to go to eat with two other couples; it being Pat & Jerry's anniversary.  Yesterday she decided on the German restaurant and Marg on think about it questioned whether Kenny would enjoy it.  I rode over to speak with Jerry about it and by coincidence they were having a similar conversation and wishing they had suggested someplace else.  When I assured them we were fine with whatever they chose, we ended up with a change of venue.  We had to wait to leave until Kenny & Doris got home from church as they attend one out of the park.  When Jerry picked up both couples and left, Kenny was thinking we made a wrong turn, but by the time we got close, guessed we were headed for Cracker Barrel.  It was a nice dinner enjoyed by all.  The portions were huge, so we were well fed today.  Lots of laughs with this group today & Jerry has a large van that was very comfortable for 6. 
  It was quite a way, so by the time we got back to the park it was 3:30, almost time for happy hour.  We don't usually go on Sundays, but the rest did.  We didn't really feel like it so skipped today.  While we were chilling, Smitty stopped by to thank me for the sticks I brought him for walking canes.  Apparently there were about a half dozen he is quite excited about, one in particular that he brought to discuss how great it will be.
  Besides it was the Canadian national drunk today.  You know - Grey Cup Sunday.  I found the game on ESPN here and the broadcast started at 4:00.  We watched Calgary hand Ottawa a beating and had our own little Grey Cup party.  That was a drink and a plate of nachos.  We were still not hungry so that and a piece of apple pie with ice cream was it for me.  Marg had a little ice cream, not sure why she passed on the apple pie.  Well that was enough to tide us over, so another day where we skipped supper.
 

Saturday, Nov 24th

Another nice day in the Valley, by now you know the story on this.  The amazing thing about the weather here is that it really doesn't change all that much from day to day, changes here seem to take a much longer time.
  I got up and out early today and went to the breakfast in the hall.  It was a new crew, nice to see these people getting more involved in park activities.  There was a pretty good crowd for them which is also nice to see the support.  I sat with a group of guys, this might seem repetitive, but it's not always the same group of guys.  It seems there are quite a few ladies who either don't do breakfast like their men-folk.  Anyway it was very good, a pleasant surprise to me this morning was the sausages were very good.  They either changed suppliers or this group have a better process, not certain which.  While I was gone, Marg did a load of laundry.  There always seems to be something in the hamper and she deals with it in small loads.
  When I got back we went out for a bit.  There is to a golf cart parade planned for before we go home for Christmas, so Marg wanted to get some decorations for ours.  We went to Dollar General and Hobby Lobby, both of which have an incredible array to pick from.  Lots of people at both doing exactly that, so it took a while.  I was almost out of fuel, so stopped at Circle K up on Superstition.  Even these stores don't all offer the same fuel prices and this one is 5 cents less than the one on Ironwood, about 8 blocks apart.  To pay at the pump here I need a ZIP code.  Not having one I learned a work around using the numbers in my postal code from home.  Unfortunately it didn't work this morning, so that meant a trip in to pre-pay at the cashier.  A pain in the butt.  Then I stopped to spray off the truck.  It really doesn't get dirty here, rather dust that really sticks to the surface.  All I had to do was rinse it off and then spray on the spot remover.  The water is so hard here it makes water marks if left to its own.  The best solution is to wipe everything down to dry it with micro fiber cloths when I get back, so quite a process for a dusty vehicle.
  After returning we did some housework, yes that is WE.  I vacuumed the place and it took quite a while.  I discovered that I had left the window insulation under the bed and behind the sofa, so I had to pack it all out of the trailer so these areas could be cleaned.  Storage is always a problem here, so we try to be minimalists, but we are not good at it yet.  I can't toss this stuff as it helps keep the place cooler in the summer heat and that is important.  Then Marg did her part washing the floors with her swifter. 
  After  lunch I went and played pool for a while.  There were no players, but I took a 2nd cue and got a fellow from Ontario to play.  He is new here and only has a site until the end of December as the park is fully booked.  He is trying to get a spot for next year as they have enjoyed the park.  He's a good player and after he won the first two games, I was sorry I brought him a good cue to use.  LOL  I did manage to win as many as I lost, so they were good games.  He is just getting accustomed to the version of 8 ball they play in Arizona, but has picked it up quickly.
  There were a few visitors today, most seem to be Marg's friends to discuss plans for Monday, they have a ladies lunch planned with about 30 going.  Happy hour was about 20 people today, so a decent sized gathering.  Apparently we have plans for supper tomorrow with two other couples, one of whom is celebrating their 56th anniversary.  It is always at 4 o'clock and by 5 today the sun was low and the weather cooling right down.  The sun really loses heat quickly, so there were no people sitting beyond the hour.  We headed home for a nice dish Marg made with shrimp and pasta. 

Black Friday, 2018

Chilly night again that turned in to a very nice day.  One thing about the cool evenings is it keeps the critters in hibernation mode, so we don't see the reptiles, like snakes, lizards that kind of thing, but it does require a light jacket when the sun goes down.
  Marg did laundry this morning.  She had bought a new set of cotton sheets and when she went to open the package discovered the store clerk had not taken of the anti-theft tag.  The problem happens when the clerk bags the item and assume they did their job.  How many times do you pull it out and check, well never would be the correct answer.  This has happened to us once or twice in the past, so we have some experience dealing with it.  I just cut the packaging away and then cut the pin that holds the two parts together.  It does require a bit of care so as not to release the permanent stain ink in the large part of the tag.  If it had been me, you would be asking - did he pay for it?  But as it is Marg you are probably asking - why didn't the store clerk do her job and remove the tag?
  The neighbour across the road is having some sewer problems in his 5th wheel trailer, so I lent him a few things to help, but he seems to have the problem in hand.  I took the sticks I brought down over to Smitty as he is in the park now.  We will see very shortly whether I brought firewood or diamond willow good for canes.  Then I went out to Harbor Freight to get a wheel for the bbq.  One of them broke, just cheap plastic and it does need to be level.  Also got a couple paint brushes and my freebee was a blue plastic tarp.  I probably should have waited as black Friday lines at the till were not good.  I think each line was at least 20 people long.  Got back in time to have the bbq fixed before lunch.
  Lunch was a grilled sandwich, very nice.  After lunch I went to play pool.  I played an old guy who beat me 3 straight, Oh well, some days you are the windshield, some days the bug.  Fortunately Marg came along to get me to go on a road trip, so left when we finished up the 3rd game.  She had tried to phone me before that, but apparently the phone needs to be charged every so often or it doesn't work.  I guess I'm still getting accustomed to having one as we only have the one that we share at home.  It turned out that Kenny and Doris wanted to go to Sears.  They are all in chapter 11 here so in liquidation mode and he has a credit on his account that he wanted to use before they are gone.  The big rush on Black Friday is for the door opening specials, but we weren't certain how long it lasts.  Earlier I had found a couple of stores that seemed to be operating, one in Phoenix and the other in Glendale.  The chain had split off all it's appliance business so there are still Sears Outlet stores selling appliances while the rest is failing.  Anyway we went to he Phoenix store at Paradise Valley.  It was about 40 km on the freeway from here, so I offered to drive knowing it would be close to rush hour on our return, so Kenny wouldn't have to navigate that traffic with it possibly being increased by black Friday.  I managed to get a pool cue carry case, Marg didn't pick up anything, although there were a few things she looked at.  I tried, unsuccessfully, to get here interested in gold earrings as they were 75% off and there were two real nice sets.  They were a real bargain at that discount level.  Kenny got a nice solar watch & Doris a few things to wear.
  We were back in the park to catch the last part of happy hour.  It was a smaller group today, maybe some of our park were out in that freeway traffic.  Then it was back home where I bbq'd a couple burgers and Marg made a pot of beans.  A nice change from the huge meal we ate yesterday.  Then we went out to Walmart after supper.  As it turns out the store was still fairly busy and there were still some deals to be had.  We mainly went for groceries, but got a few other things.  We were looking for solar lights and decorations for the golf cart as there will be a Christmas parade before we leave.  We weren't all that successful on these two things or in finding any other great deals, on anything we really needed.
 

Thanksgiving [U.S.] 2018

  Well here we are celebrating our second Thanksgiving day this year.  As I said yesterday Marg & I worked on the kitchen crew that cooked the turkeys, dressing and made the gravy.  Not sure how we got on the crew as there were only 6 of us, but I suspect it had everything to do with her friends who are the other two ladies on the crew.  It wasn't our first time doing this with these people.

  The day started with the peeling of the potatoes she agreed to bring to the dinner for not one, but two tables.  Friends moved to a different table so there would be room for us and then we ended up on the crew who have their own table, so not to disappoint anyone she made potatoes for both tables.  She also brought cranberries for the one we sat at and the pie [butternut squash] our neighbour brought over yesterday.
  Marg served with the two other ladies, someone from each table brought a platter for turkey, a plate or bowl for dressing and a container for gravy to the serving windows and the gals brought them over to us to fill.  My job was to put turkey on the platters.  The breasts were sliced and in the hot trays, so the challenge was to pick them up intact, the dark meat was more of a scoop the pieces on to the plate.  It went very well and we had lots of positive comments on both the turkey and the gravy.  I guess the combination of oranges and butter in the body cavity during roasting made the difference this year.  The gravy starter they used was really good as well and Marg said she is going to bring  some home for Christmas.  I really didn't do any cooking, although I got to stir the gravy until it thickened.  Looks like it got too thick, eh? 

  Most of my jobs were moving the trays in and out of the ovens, cleaning up dishes, you know the working around the cooking.  Oh and when Gary wasn't there I had to light the two ovens, something we always did on the breakfast crew in years past.  We had a great dinner, the food people brought to our table was awesome and there was lots of it.  The pies Doris makes are legendary and they made certain we each had a piece of coconut cream pie, one of Marg's fav's.  Then we almost forgot the butternut squash pie, you wouldn't believe it, but it seems there were lots of folks looking for a second dessert.  We ate such a large dinner that we never even bothered with supper.  Well that's not entirely correct, I had apple pie and ice cream with a cup of coffee.
  We had lots of help from other people with the clean up.  Folks here are really good about that kind of thing, so that made the day go really well.
  I took a few pictures and posted them on the tenants association FB site.  The pictures really drive traffic to the site and we put them on disc and play them in the hall during events like this.  The ones from last year were in a display loop, people seem to enjoy that.
  After we just kinda chilled a bit and then ran a bundle of branches over to Smitty.  He is the one who makes diamond willow canes and several times in past years I have done this for him.  It seems he has to buy the willows here and they are quite expensive, where I can just chop them out of the bush, so he really appreciates it.  Some of the ones I bring are good, some are very good and some are firewood.  LOL  We'll see what we brought this year after he looks at them.
  Happy Thanksgiving everyone.   Think I might just have a nap now.  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wednesday, Nov 21st

It was a gorgeous day in AJ, not quite as nice as yesterday, but still very nice.
  We did a few things around the house then had to be at the hall for 10AM to help with the turkeys. Before we left our neighbour across the road came over with a butternut squash pie, she said it was just like pumpkin pie, so can hardly wait to try it.  They are very friendly, good neighbours.
 We are on the kitchen crew to cook for Thanksgiving, so being here early this year we will have two of them.  We had 5 turkeys to prepare this morning.  Marg worked with the ladies chopping stuff to put in the dressing.  I had the job of running a Turkish bath, well not really but I did wash the turkeys.  Then they were stuffed by the ladies.  The routine here is a bit different than we are accustomed to.  The cavity is filled with halved oranges and a lot of butter is put in the turkey.  They are cooked in roasting bags held in aluminum roasting pans.  There was lots of clean up as we went along and everyone helped with it.
  After the turkeys were in the ovens we went home for lunch, French toast today.  This always makes for a good day.  After lunch I went to play pool, Marg went to Ross's for a look around.  She found a couple of tops and a set of sheets.  Last year we took the spare set of sheets home and we forgot to bring them back, so only have one set of cotton sheets.  I played with one guy who has been here quite a few years and another who is new in the park.  We had some good games and a few laughs.  I always try and invite new people who are interested, remembering that we too were once new.
   By 4 PM we had to be back in the hall to carve the turkeys.  The birds turned out nice and the ones in the big convection oven came out a bit darker than the ones done in the conventional oven.  They pretty much leave the breasts to me and the other 5 people did the dark meat.  The association has two electric knife's since our first year doing this, so I just used one rather than bringing my own.  It went pretty well and we were done in a little over an hour.  This all meant missing happy hour today, but we don't go every day anyway.
  Supper tonight was a bit of a rush affair, so we went to Taco Bell.  Marg is funny, she almost always has the $5 special. Hers was a chalupa combo, I had a burrito supreme combo.
  The rush was so I could be back to play poker.  We had 7 players tonight, so a full house.  LOL, get it very punny.  I started off really losing, then my luck turned and judging from the weight of my bag I came out pretty close to even.  Marg stayed in and had some self time, so dyed here hair and some other stuff around the house. .                                                                                                                                                                    

Tuesday, Nov 20th

A bit windy today, but that too got better as the sun warmed things up.  I think the temp got up to about 76F [24C], so a pleasant day.
  The guys stopped by early on, so I went for a bike ride with them.  There were 4 of us, but that may change as I think a guy across the road may join us.  We went up to Idaho and that is uphill with the wind in our face all the way.  Two of us cut off after about 4 miles and the other two went down to Signal Butte, so about 10 miles.
  After I got back we went out to Sears at Superstition centre where they are closing the store.  It was pretty much like the one in GP, stuff was mostly 15 or 20 percent off.  The stock is getting pretty picked over but there were a few things I was interested in, however the prices are not where they need to be to convince me to buy anything,  On the way back we stopped in at Lowes and they had Craftsman tools at better prices than Sears with the discount.  We were looking for a bbq cover, our old one is torn and we used it to cover the AC / heat unit out back last summer and I think we have one that will work.
  Lunch back at the park and then Marg went out for a few things while I went and played pool.  I played with two other guys [on the A list] and about as well as I am capable of playing.  When 3 play it's always 2 vs 1 and I managed to get a couple of wins, but I think I lost more than won. It was fun anyway.  Shortly after I got back Marg pulled up and we unloaded her purchases.  She stopped at Walgreen for some of their advance Black Friday deals and then on to Walmart.
  By then it was happy hour at Blanke's.  There was a new couple in the park, they had been here in prior years, but missed last year because of some medical issues.  They live in Branson, Missouri and he usually plays poker with us. They were amazing, remembering almost everyone's name.  Me on the other hand I remembered his name when someone used it in conversation.  LOL
  Supper was a nice chicken breast Marg had put in the slow cooker.  It was in a pasta sauce and it turned out very nice.  She made a joke about the need to get away from happy in a timely way so it wouldn't be blackened, but no fear, it was perfect. 
  Just got cleaned up and it was on to bingo where we had 3 winners at our table.  Marg was one of the winners tonight, so that was a nice bonus. 

Monday, Nov 19th

The sky was clear blue today and it warmed up to a very nice day.
  After breakfast I spent some time on the phone with Tracfone trying to get the account details sorted out.  This was a good call, the lady spoke reasonably good English and we got the account details sorted out.  Much better.
  Then I went into Phoenix to play golf at Encanto with Gerry & his friend.  This meant no co-rider, so no HOV during rush hour.  As luck would have it I went there outside of the morning hours and returned before the start of the afternoon hours.  There was no one ahead of us all day and just a pair about 2 holes behind, so almost like playing a private course from what I recall of Moseley.  Hit the ball reasonably well as I never lost one today, but struggled a bit with all the parts of the game not coming together on the same hole.  Our tee time was 11:00 but we got off a bit early and we were done and off the course by 2:00.  On my way home I missed the off ramp to the 202, so was heading south on the 10 highway to Tucson and Mexico.  Got off it on the ramp to Sky Harbor and drove through the airport area to get the 202 there.  When I was going under one of the overpasses, a 737 jet went over right in front of me, very cool.  This might even be a quicker route, if all those pickup and drop off people weren't in the way.  LOL  The freeway was pretty busy until I got through the area around Scottsdale where the 101 joins it and then it was clear sailing.
  Marg did laundry this morning and then did all the banking.  She checks the credit card receipts to make certain the charges are right and then pays the bills on line.  She has been doing this so long that it works like clock work.  She also had several visitors stop by as she sits out in the breezeway and folks are always walking past here.  She also uses this time to make phone calls and keep in touch.  Even the park managers grandchildren stop in to chat with Marg periodically, they have always chatted us up, especially the youngest girl.  When we used to be by the office, Marg was always giving them treats and when she was in girl scouts she always came up to where we are now knowing Marg was good for a couple boxes of cookies.
  When I got home we had facetime chats with Charlene in Birmingham, Haylee in Edmonton and later Paige in Vancouver.  Sure is a nice way to keep in touch.  Yesterday we had facetime chats with Bill and Char with them using their I-phones for it.
  Went to happy at 4 today.  It was well attended, there must have been 20 people there.  There are some folks who don't like it being too spontaneous and feel uncomfortable looking for the place, so a couple ladies have undertaken to organize them in 2 week rotations.  I think we are on for Friday this week.
  Supper was bbq steak and baked potatoes.  The steaks we got at Fry's and they were very nice strip loin, but the way they were cut they were more like what we would call a New York cut.  They were thick and very tender.
  I think the weather was in the 20C plus range today, it was definitely short pants weather here.

Sunday, Nov 18

Another nice day in the Valley.
  I got up early, well so did Marg when Gerry called to see if I wanted to golf tomorrow.  After a bite to eat I went to the worship service in the clubhouse.  Most of the people here call it the church service, but when I posted it on the FB site, pastor Don asked that I refer to it in this way.  It was well attended this morning and while I had heard that the singing was really bad, it was quite good this morning. 
  When I got back I messed around with FB a bit as I was having problems yesterday.  Something has happened that causes problems trying to go from one identity to another.  Never got is solved, so I was ready to take it to the Geek squad at Best Buy, but after a facetime with Charlene & Katie, things looked somewhat better, so decided not to just yet.  We moved over to google chrome and it seemed to help, so the problem is not quite as annoying.  We also had a facetime with Bill & Patti, nice to keep in touch that way.  The news on the weather at home is rarely good this time of year.
  Just before we left our neighbours across the road pulled in.  Chuck & Jenn have been in that spot for about 4 years now.  We know what its like when you first get here and folks start coming by to visit when you are trying to get set up, so we left after a quick exchange.
  Marg was ready to go to Target.  We had googled where we might find Hellman mayonnaise and that is what came up.  It's just down by Superstition Mall on Power, so an area we are pretty familiar with.  It turned out they never had it, the clerk said in Arizona it is marketed under a different name., Best Foods I think.  We did pick up a few other things there, so it was not a total waste of time.
  We still needed groceries, so on the way back it was the big Fry's store on Crismon.  We picked up mainly lunch stuff.  We didn't buy it, but they had bottled water - 32 bottle packs priced at 4 for $10 and there are no deposits on the bottles here.  Small wonder the world is facing a crisis with discarded plastic.  We also got the paper as Sunday has the TV guide for the week.  This is only half the key as it only gives network, so we have to figure out which channel number matches with the network list.
  There was not a lot of the afternoon left, so we chilled for a bit.  Around a little after 5 we went out to Ihop for supper.  Marg had the fish and chips and said they were excellent.  I had a spicy chicken burger and for a side they gave me half and half onion rings and fries, a novel idea.  It too was very good and not too spicy.  During supper Gerry called, so I am golfing tomorrow with him and a friend at Encanto.
 
 
 

Saturday, Nov 17th

A nice day in the Valley, but again started cool and warmed up by mid morning.
  I went to the breakfast in the hall and had french toast, eggs & bacon.  It was pretty well attended for this early in the season.  When I got back Marg was prepared to hit the road, so we went to 4 park sales in large RV parks.  The parks were each very large, so there were lots of things for sale much of it household items.  Marg found a few small things, like the two large tree ornaments she bought for the community tree that will erected.  The idea is to have everyone write their name on the ornament and it will be a kind of memory tree or legacy.  She bought one for our name and the second to put one in Larry & Nancy's name.  We also found some Levelor blinds, but on getting them home decided they really don't fit our bedroom window.  The only thing good about them is we only paid $7 for the two of them.  Now we have something to put in the park sale here.  We also went to an estate sale at the end.  It was in a private home and in the past these have proven worth the time.  That was not really the case here, in fact the only thing I bought was a 3 hole punch for 75 cents.
  When we got back home it was time for lunch and then we hung around for the afternoon.  Marg had a commitment to be at the clubhouse to arrange things for the Welcome Back dance tonight. I put a second coat of white paint on the pyramid block to get it ready for our address numbers.  We had a facetime with Charlene and then went to check the mail and see if anyone was playing pool, but the answer to both was no.  After 3 Marg went to the clubhouse and they got everything organized for the dance.
  Supper was our last time warming the stew and it was still very good.  After we went to the dance which was pretty well attended for being early in the season.  I think Marg surprised even herself as she was up on the dance floor quite a few times.  Everyone who came had a good time, so it was well worth the effort.

Friday, November 16

Got off to a bit of a slow start today, but that's partly by design.  The nights are very cool now and it takes the sun a while to warm the day up even though it got to 76F [24C] today.  Besides it takes the hot water tank a while to recover so we both can shower in the mornings. 
  After breakfast we went out to Winco.  It's an employee owned grocery store and they offer some very good products at competitive prices.  The only drawback is they don't take credit cards, so we always have to pay cash.  How good are the deals, well Marg picked up a basket of fresh strawberries for 98 cents.  She also found some Tempura batter, something she can't find at home anymore, so it was a good trip.  On the way there and back she picked up on 3 park sales that go tomorrow, so you can guess what our morning will be like.  Fortunately most of them end right around noon.
  After we got back we had some lunch and then I went to play pool.  I played with 3 of the better players in the park today.  It was pretty good when there were 4 of us, but when one left we had to play 2 vs 1 and that is tough with players like this.  I got lucky once and beat the two, but my other solo's were not so good.  Marg cleaned the house, so it probably wasn't as much fun but I know she takes a lot of satisfaction from a clean house / bathroom.
  When I got back we went for a ride around the park. I stopped at Gary's place to tell him about burned out lights in the pool room and ended up going back with him to replace half a dozen bulbs.  While we were gone Patti and Carmen stopped over at the cart, so they were all visiting when we got back.  This is such a friendly park, you can't get around it without something like a visit or two.  She did learn that Carmen's neighbour Bev found a scorpion in her bedroom yesterday, not really something you want to hear.  When we got back moving around the park, she saw a clothes drying rack on set out with the sign "Free" on it.  Well; it was like a magnet, she was on that like white on rice.  She had just been talking about getting another to accommodate larger laundry days, so she felt good about holding off.  I think her words were something like - It pays to wait.
   When we got back I painted the concrete pyramid I got the good deal on yesterday.  It's white, but the jury is still out until Marg sees how it turns out.  It may need to be a darker color.  Supper was eat in tonight as we haven't started the friend, fish, Friday just yet.  It's early yet and many restaurants have not started offering the all-you-can-eat cod, but I'm certain it will happen. All I can eat is usually 2 pieces so I often have something else, but the rest seem to get good value from it.

Thursday, Nov 15th

I slept in a bit this morning and Marg had been up and about quite a while by the time I got up, now that isn't something that happens every day.  We both had to go to Koffee Klatch this morning, so I had to scramble a bit.  The reason, well Marg had an Entertainment committee meeting right after coffee and I just like the donuts.  Well I usually have an apple fritter, but today to shake things up I had a blueberry fritter.  We were very fortunate to be the first table chosen, so that meant pick of the litter.  A great way to start the day.
  I left right after but got involved with a couple of guys in a discussion and before I knew it she was finished her meeting and gone, so I had to walk home.  When I got to our place she was already busy at making a stew for supper.  She has this new method where I season & brown the meat on the bbq.  The meat today was thick chunks of chuck steak.  When she bought it we had a lengthy discussion about the merits of this meat vs a nice steak, so the proof will be in the outcome.  What was kind of funny was she [as always] got a bit carried away and was using the small slow cooker.  After finding the cooker too full, she transferred everything to the large slow cooker and had to wash the small one to put it away.  There were no dumplings in the cards for today, rather the meal plan was fresh buns.
  A bit earlier she had discovered a bike rack for sale near here.  It is one that fits into the trailer hitch receiver offered at a good price after very little use.  She called and gave a commitment to look it over at 3:30 today.
  Then I went to play pool as it was tournament day.  The format was different today as none of the parks have enough players so we draw for tables and partners.  It was a fun way to play as the teams get mixed up pretty good and you get to meet different guys.  I started out well, but ended up with a 50% win loss, so I guess that's a testimonial on how well it worked to even up the teams.  While I was gone Marg finished up the stew preparations and then went shopping.  I was impressed, she went all the way to Superstition Mall as it's quite a ways.  She has done this often in prior years, but that was a while back and she had to deal with some construction road closure.  She had pretty good success at Ross's.  She found a high density foam pillow in the style she likes, some slippers she liked and a couple of other things, so a good day of retail therapy.
  When she got back I was finished at pool, so we went over to look at the bike rack.  It was a nice one and in very good condition, so we picked it up for $40.  I have two bikes here now and I want to bring one home and maybe ride a bit more.  Still have to figure out which one will be going to GP, but I've got lots of time on that.
  By the time we got back to Carefree we were a bit late for happy hour.  It moves around lots now and was in the opposite end of the park today.  With our friends who used to host most of these selling out, they are trying to organize a schedule so we know where to go.  Not sure if that is needed, but Marg did commit to a day next week, Friday I think.  Our hosts are going to Yuma next week and talking about going to Los Algadones [Mexico].  It's a border town where lots of folks go for medications, dentists, glasses and where we took the Proulx's when they were here.  He wants to go but she is concerned at some of the stuff they are hearing.
  After happy we had Blanke's over for supper.  With that much stew, we needed help. They were at the skin doctors most of the day.  They both have a bit of skin cancer, well Kenny more than a bit.  Every year they go and he gets a few chunks whittled off, no wonder he is so thin.  Anyway they were happy with the invitation as they never had an opportunity to think of supper yet.  Oh you think I forgot about the chuck steak.  Well it was fall apart in your mouth tender, that woman of mine really knows her way around stew.  We also had some very nice fresh buns we picked up on the way back with the bike rack.  Safeway had lottery sales, so I checked my tickets from last week, nothing.  Bought tickets on the Mega Millions and Powerball for the next draw, so the dream is still alive.
  The weather was much nicer today, back to the short pants.
  I was looking at yesterday's post, some serious typos in there, this darn word forecasting or spell check anyway.  Hope you were able to understand the hidden meaning.  LOL

Wednesday, Nov 14

Still a little chilly in Apache Junction, but it seemed a bit warmer than yesterday.  The nights are definitely jacket weather lately.  It got to about 18C today, so not too bad for us northerners.
  This morning we did a few errands around the park.  While Marg went to the hall to pick up a bunting bag she ordered from one of the ladies in the quilting group, I went to the office to make arrangements for transport to and from the airport next month.  The park manager offers the service, but he is getting lots of requests before and after Christmas.  Marg also checked the Thanksgiving dinner schedule and two groups have us booked in their table.  How did this happen, well apparently she agreed to help carve turkey for the dinner, how come I never knew this until now?  She has it sorted out now, but there is quite a lengthy story about this.
  That done we had lunch, it was French Toast, one of my all time favourites.  I brought a bottle of the maple flavoured syrup from home and she bought a nice French loaf.  Made for a very nice lunch as it is one of my fav's.  I always tell her you don't even have to ask if I would like French Toast, the answer will always be yes.
  After lunch I went to play pool for a bit.  There were a couple guys looking for a victim, so I joined them.  They were both normally very good, but may have been having an off-day.  Anyway I never played on a loosing team, so it was fun.  Marg has decided that small laundry loads are better than having a large batch, so did a couple loads.
   Then we went out to fine a stone to put our address numbers on.  We have a site number on a rock out front, but it is very faded form the sun so we want to do something better.  First stop was an rv salvage yard where we bought a concrete block that looks a bit like a pyramid.  She didn't like the easy to get ones, so I had to push back a thorny bush to get the perfect one.  The junk yard guy charged me $3 for it.  After thinking about it, we stopped in at Home Depot.  They had some that were nicer for $2, so that gave her a story she could hardly wait to share.
  When we got back happy hour had already started, so we went to join in.  Of course she told the story about my good deal on the block of concrete.   It got lots of laughs.  Supper tonight was burgers.  It was Gary's burgers and they are always good.  I don't believe we have ever missed having them.  Very tasty and very filling at a very good price.
  After supper I went to play poker.  We had a full table and the money seemed to change from person to person.  in the end there did not seem to be a large winner, but Lynette seemed to make out fine,  Me, well the crown bag was a little heavier and we had lots of laughs.  Well most of us, you know winners tell jokes - losers just say shut up and deal.

Tuesday, Nov 13th

Another chilly day in the sunny south.  I believe the daytime high was 64 or 65F, for my metric followers, that would be something like 15 or 16 C.  I still had shorts on for that part of the day, but had to go to the long pants in the evening.
  We hung around the house the first part of the morning, after yesterday I had to set the brakes up a bit on the cart, but it is running great.  About mid-morning Marg went down to the hall and a couple of them cleaned up the bingo machine including washing all the balls.  While she was doing that I went down to see Jim.  They had a real bad water leak in their 5th wheel in the night and he had a fall hurting his arm, so I went to see if he needed any help. 
  A couple of the guys rented a driveway/patio washer.  They were doing some driveways in the park, its kind of like a very large floor washer.  It has a large gas ending to provide pressure water to feed a rotary pressure wand that is operating like a floor finisher.  It worked pretty well and left the driveways very nice, the road way not so much.  We never had ours done as we washed it when we first arrived and it was too much work to empty it now.
  When I got back I went with Marg for a few groceries.  First I stopped to take the puller back to OReilly's and I was surprised to learn they were prepared to refund the entire amount, it was a FREE loaner.  I wanted one for myself to do the cart at home, so they gave exchanged it for a brand new one.  What a great service.  Then it was over to Walmart for some groceries.  Very busy in there today. 
  We got back just at lunch time and right after we unpacked, Marg got a few visitors.  Time was wasting, so I skipped lunch and went to play pool.  The guy I was playing was really giving me a lesson for the first few games, but I did manage to win 3, so not too bad.
  Happy hour was at Kenny & Doris' and theirs was one of the very clean driveways.  There were about 20 or so today. It was a good opportunity to solve all the major world problems over a beer, as usual.
  Supper tonight was chicken in the slow cooker.  Marg puts the potatoes and vegetables in with it and it comes out sort of a cross between a stew and swiss steak.  It was very good anyway.  Dessert was apple pie and ice cream, it just doesn't get any better than that.  It was a bit of a rushed affair as it was bingo night.  We always sit with the same two couples and one of the gamblin gals.  Marg was the only winner at our table tonight.  A successful evening.

Monday, Nov 12

  The weather took a turn for the cooler today, I think the daytime high only got to about 68F, mainly a result of the cool wind.  I got out early in the day, so wore long pants and a jacket. I saw on the TV weather that they are opening the ski hill up at Show Low this weekend.
  Well it must have been a long weekend here as it seemed there were a lot of people with the day off.  For some reason they were having Veterans day parades in the Phoenix area today.  I guess that is fine, but I can't help but think if they did that at home I'm not sure what the reaction would be.  I think Kenny said it best when he asked what is next - having Christmas on the 24th?
    The battery doctor showed up at our door right around 8:30 this morning.  He did a great job of removing the old batteries and cleaning up all the battery acid residue.  To keep the mess to a minimum he put down a tarp and collected everything that fell off.  He installed 6 new batteries including new cables, even the nut & washer on the terminals.  In the end the cost was $800 USD, but it was nice he came right to our place and took away the old ones.  After he went down to Kenny's and did the same thing for him.  We both got the US 2200 6 volt that have more amp hours than any others on the market, the supplier said they should last 5 or more years.  After the guy left I had to mess with the connections a bit to get the horn and lights working again.
  Marg went with the gamblin gals up to the Fort, but they left a bit later this morning.  There were only 3 of them this morning.  I guess the place was packed, so they have decided that Monday is not a good choice and will be changing in the future.  The Casino part of the day was not too kind to the gals, but Marg did win at bingo.  It would have been a nice win, except for the 5 others that also shared in the prize.  Oh well, a win is a win!
  For the balance of the morning I wiped out the under floor heating duct.  There has been quite a bit of dust from the supper dust storms this year.  I tied rags on a garden hose to use and it seemed to work pretty good.  I had quite a mess when all was said and done.  Then I put filters on the floor grates, so hope this helps with dust levels in our place.
  Lunch was not up to the usual good standard, but I did manage to feed myself with a pastrami & chees on whole wheat and a bowl of fruit salad.  I thought I did pretty good for as I didn't have to resort to peanut butter and jam.  LOL
  After lunch I spent almost 2 hours with Tracfone getting our new phone set up and renewing Marg's phone.  Fortunately I was able to do that on the land line as the quality of the speaker is that much better.  When you are dealing with English is a second language people you cannot over-estimate the value of voice clarity.  It was a good thing I got Marg's set up as the new flip phone is still not operating.
  The balance of the afternoon I spent on the golf cart going over the brakes.  Jim had made me a bar to get the remaining wheel drum off, but it never did the trick.  I had enough, so went to O'Reilly auto parts and bought a puller.  They offered to rent it to me for $26, but I opted to buy it for $27.  Didn't make sense to me, but the young clerk seemed to think it did.   Back a the park, the wheel drum popped right off with the new puller.  Could have saved myself a lot of frustration if I had bought it last year.  The brakes are about 98% better since I beveled the leading/trailing edge and lightly sanded the glaze form the surface of the shoe. 
  By the time I got everything put away it was time to meet Marg at the front gate.  Picked the ladies up and this was her first time driving with the new batteries.  She seemed impressed with the zip in the old buggy, so it might be worth the first born we had to pay for the new batteries.
  We did a quick turnaround and caught the last bit of happy hour.  The new owners of Nancy's park model were our hosts tonight, so it was a bit like old times even though Marg's friend was not there.  It was nice that she had a lot of things that were surplus to them that she just put out for anyone who could use them.  Marg took and ice maker and some bbq tools, both of which will be handy.
  For supper we went out to Denny's.  Kenny & Doris were kind of at loose ends, so when Marg said well I'm not cooking, they asked our plans.  As Doris had put her beans on late, they opted to join us.  It was nice that Kenny treated us, said he wanted to repay us for the times Marg had fed them. 
  From the weather when we got back, it is going to be a cool one tonight, something like 48 F, so about 8C.  This is close to what would be considered brutally cold here.

Remembrance Day 2018

It was chilly last night, the day warmed up a little slower than yesterday, but still got to be very pleasant. 
  I went to the Veterans day parade here in AJ.  It was a pretty good parade with lots of entries, someone said 60, so it took a while.  I was alone, so took a lawn chair and sat in the first opening I found.  I had an old guy, well older than me on each side.  One was only 4 years older, he had served in the navy.  The other was 87 and he had served in Korea and had a Korean War Veteran hat.  He got a lot of attention from marchers in the parade.  They weren't able to arrange a fly over with the airforce, but someone in an old bi-place did one trailing smoke and made 3 loops, then waggled his wings as he flew along the route.  They don't wear poppies in advance here, rather the legion members hand them out at the parade.  I had been wearing one I brought from home and the lady who gave me one complimented nice Canadian poppy.
  Marg did some laundry today, two loads I believe.  The weather was good for drying with a bit of wind all day.  The temp got up in the high 70's but the wind was cooler.  She has a steamer that stays here as well as the folding clothes rack to hang things on when steaming, so she doesn't need to bring one from home.  She wanted to get things caught up today because tomorrow the gamblin gals are headed to the Fort to do their thing.
  She also had quite a few visitors today. I overheard her playing videos of Sophie performing karaoke to a few of them. 
  When I got back to the park I worked on the golf cart.  There is a problem with the brake shoes making too much noise when stopping, so much its embarrassing.  I got the driver side hub off and beveled the leading & trailing edge of the shoes and buffed the shoe face where it was showing signs of glazing.  I made a puller that worked on that side, but it wasn't strong enough for the other, so I will tackle it tomorrow.  I wasted a bunch of time running around to get some steel to make the puller, so a bit frustrating when it folded like a tent on the second wheel.
  Supper tonight was the leftover swiss steak and it was just as good as yesterday.  Something like stew I guess, in that regard.  Marg made biscuits to go with it.  I love biscuits, so that was a real treat.  In fact dessert was a bit of peanut butter or honey on them.
  After supper a neat thing happened.  The fellow who helped when I took the wheels off last year stopped by after supper to see how I made out.  At this moment he is probably fabricating a piece of hard steel to make a puller strong enough to get the other wheel off, we will see but I am pretty certain Jim will come up with something that works.  The battery doctor is coming to put new ones in the cart, so will probably take another look at it after he leaves.

Saturday, Nov 10th

It was another nice day in the Valley.  It is noticeably cooler at night, but the daytime highs are still in the high 70's, low 80's.
  I went out for breakfast to the hall, first time this year.  Earlier I thought they wanted me to take cash for the crew, but the assoc. treasurer stepped in.  The crew that were to do breakfast fell apart when the leader had a stroke and his partner was at the hospital with him.  The people that stepped in and did a commendable job.  I sat at a table of guys, there seem to be quite a few couples where only one goes for breakfast, much like us.  Kind of like animals in the wild who form bachelor herds.
  When I got back Mediacom had called and the tech showed up shortly after.  He was quite good at his job and got us connected much quicker than in previous years.  The wifi was the easy part for him, then the television.  For the land line he had to contact the office as there was a problem with the way they had set up our service order.  He was impressed that we still had our documents from last year as it made things go much smoother.  He used the same identity and password so all we had to do was turn on the laptop and ipad and they were operating.    Our phone number on the landline is 480-935-1493.
  After the guy left we went out to a few park wide sales.  It was getting close to noon, so it was getting too late for that as many vendors had packed up and the rest were getting pretty picked over.  Marg never bought anything, I found a craftsman 1/2 inch combination wrench.  I only had a box end one in my tool shed, so I spent the dollar.  LOL  We gave up on this pretty quickly and went to Big 5 sporting goods.  I am looking for a bike rack that fits on the hitch at the back.  They had a couple different ones, but not what I was looking for.  That was about it this morning.
  Back at our place we had lunch and then I went to play pool.  There were no players, so I went and got Bob from Ohio.  He started out with a couple of quick wins, but then I got lucky on him.  They were all close games and we had a few laughs in the process.
  Marg made a swiss steak in the slow cooker and let it do it's magic all afternoon.  She had a few visitors this afternoon, one was the fellow who was in the hospital last night [after having an artery opened] and his wife.  I guess he is doing just fine and came to thank us for our concern.  Later she went to check the mail box and we had some, even though we have not forwarded our mail from home.  Mainly it was junk, but Mediacom was already sending stuff.
  Happy hour was at Kenny & Doris' place.  As usual they had a large gathering.  There was a couple who just pulled in to the park that came.  They are from Ontario and this is their 2nd or 3rd year travelling to AZ for the winter.  They have the right idea, if you put yourself out a bit, you get to meet people and get more out of a place.  Supper tonight was the delicious swiss steak. 

Friday, Nov 9th

It was a bit cooler today, but was still in the high 70's, although the wind blew hard all day. 
  We got up and were out checking out garage sales early in the morning.  There were a lot of them in our area and Marg did manage to find a few things.  I bought 8 pocket books, all westerns.  It was funny I walked up to one sale and the guy said - Where do I know you from?  It turns out they were in Carefree a few years back, but now have a house in an area having a community wide sale.  It turns out they were almost right behind us one year.  We saw one that was huge on a rural like property as a fund raiser for abandoned animals.  That was where I bought the books.
  After lunch we went to Walmart in Mesa to deal with our cell phones down here.  We have been having trouble with voice clarity on the our flip phone and our other phone contract expired and needs a new SIM card.  We picked up a new flip phone, yes Charlene a new flip phone and a time card to renew the expired one.  By the way the flip phone was $19.98, what a deal.  I wanted to try my new VISA and fortunately it worked just fine. 
  On the way back I stopped for fuel at a Circle K.  The points we earn at Fry's grocery store can also be redeemed at Circle K and as luck would have it we have already earned 10 cents a gallon discount, so that made it $2.73 per gallon, that would be about 61 cents a litre.  Almost all places are pay at the pump now, but you have to enter your ZIP code which is 5 numbers.  I have tried our AZ code, but it doesn't work.  We Canadians don't have a ZIP, so that means a trip in to the store to prepay where you try to estimate how much your tank will hold.  Usually that means picking a number like $50 or $100 and if you want a proper receipt, a second trip where they print it out.  A real pain.  I found out in Montana on the way down that we can use our postal code numbers, even though there are 3 letters & 3 numbers.  We just use the 3 numbers followed by 2 zeros.  I've only been doing this for 10 years, I wonder how long this has been an available.
  When we got back, Kenny & Doris stopped in for a bit.  He went to the Mesa Market and ordered batteries from the same Dr. Battery that I did.  He even ordered the same ones that are supposed to be the best available and the guy said he would do Kenny's when he finishes ours on Monday.  His prices are pretty competitive and include installation right here in the park, all new cables, cleaning up the battery brackets and spray painting them.  It's about $100 more than doing them yourself, but it eliminates the mess, the problem of taking the 6 battery cores back plus they clean up the brackets and put a coating on the terminals.  An error in connecting them can be very costly.  For example one of the problems can be not keeping the cables tightly twisted in a 36 volt system.  One of the ladies in our park had someone install hers.  In the process they must have turned the cable causing it to loose some of the twist.  That caused a minor explosion that broke the terminal right off the battery.
  We went to happy today and there was a pretty good sized group there.  It's a good news/bad news thing.  It's nice seeing the camaraderie, but pretty had to carry on much of a conversation at times.  Supper tonight was BBQ burgers, we got some nice ones from Costco.  We have started having them with chips, which is very common here instead of fries.  A common mistake many tourists make is ordering chips when they mean fries down here. 
 

Thursday, Nov 6th

  An early start to the day today, I had to be out the door by 7 AM.  Pat picked me up for golf, he got a deal at the Links at Queen Creek.  It was $20 for 9 holes with a cart and it included a breakfast sandwich [just like a bacon & egger at A&W].  The course had a group playing off the front 9, we started on #10. The course was very wet and seemed like a very heavy dew, but they either watered or flooded it over the night.  By the second hole we had our jackets off and it was drying up quickly.  It played quick with a twosome and we were under 2 hours.  The funny part was we ended with the same score which for me was quite respectable and I never lost a ball.
  When I got home, Marg had gone out for a little retail therapy.  There is a new Ross store in the area vacated by Frys, so she went there and Bells.  It turned out pretty successful.  The main win was a purse, which for her is no small thing as she has been looking for a long time.  I believe there is a fairly long list of needs to be met and this one must have hit on every one of them to rate a purchase.  There were a few other really good deals she managed to find while there.  The latest purchases had an exchange rate of $1.34, so that really puts a damper on anything that is not good value.
  After lunch we went to check on the UPS outlet as the note on our door said the credit card we were expecting would be there after 1:00, but it wasn't.  He thought it should be shortly, so we went over the strip mall across the road.  I went to Harbour Freight, Marg to Big Lots.  She came out with about 3 bags of good deals on stuff for the house and I got a parts holder for screws and what not.  Then we went over to Bashas where we picked up some stuff she was having difficulty finding.  There was some slow cooker sauces and she got a great deal on some sirloin steaks to use in making a stew in the slow cooker later this week.  She also got some coolers [4 for $2.99], a bottle of Baileys and a couple bottles of wine at a very good price.  We found the Swedish  vodka Bill likes on sale, it was $6.29 for a 750 ml bottle, but as we don't drink it never brought any home.  Checked back for the UPS, but the drive had still been there not there to drop it off.
  Back at our place I had some stuff to scan and post for the tenants association here on its facebook page.  The combination of pictures and information are what drive traffic to the site and contribute to increased participation.  We have been so successful that the tenants site eclipses the parks site by several times.  While I was doing this we got a call that the UPS parcel had arrived, so Marg went and picked it up.
  Supper was a beef dip, using one of the sauces we picked up early this afternoon, accompanied with a salad.  After supper we went for a walk around the park.  There were not as many people out at that time, so we only had to stop and visit about 3 times.  I took a flashlight and my scorpion black light along.  We checked several likely spots, but never saw any scorpions tonight.  I was careful poking around as there are still some active snakes although they are usually inactive when it gets chilly at night.  They will be hibernating soon until it warms up again in February or March.  One of our neighbours scared one up on Friday when he was cleaning around his shed.
 

Wednesday, Nov 7, 2018

Another gorgeous day.  The temps were in the low 80's and while this is great we are both experiencing a bit of difficulty adjusting to the heat.  By mid afternoon we are both experiencing some fatigue.  Not sure what to do about it, perhaps we should buy a hammock.  Yesterday was election day, but the close races won't be finalized for a few days yet.
  I went for a bike ride with two other Canucks this morning.  I went for what I thought was a long ride, especially for my second time out.  I think I made about 7 or 8 miles before turning back, the guys went on.  When I got back to our place, Kenny & Doris were there.  Marg had invited them for breakfast as they still had not been out for groceries.  It was a bonus for me as I had worked up a good appetite on my ride.  It was bacon, eggs, fried potatoes and toast.  A great way to start the day.  While they were here I gave Kenny a choice of a couple of things Nancy had given me and he appreciated having something from her & Larry.  Bill & Patti had sent a few things for them that I passed on, which they were also happy to receive.
  After they left we both did a few things around here & Marg had a visitor.  Nothing too strenuous.  Did I mention that it was hot, not a cloud in the sky.  Well in the day anyway, at night it falls into the 50's, so about 9C, brrr.  I spent some time on the phone arranging golf cart batteries and he is coming here on Monday.  Another good reason for gas powered carts, which are pretty rare around here.
  A quick bite for lunch.  Marg had made a fruit salad a couple days back, we finished it along with some cinnamon toast as were not very hungry.  Then Marg did some laundry.  She tries to keep up by doing small loads.  I went out to play some pool.  I ended up playing a guy who is really quite good and as luck would have it I won more than I lost.  Joe and I are the same age, but he has more grandchildren than me.  He also has a lot darker complexion than me.  We had good games and I was really playing above my usual level today.
  Marg was going to go out, but stayed home all day waiting for the other UPS delivery.  I went down to 4 Sons and got a paper and some lottery tickets.  Can't with the powerball without a ticket.  That is my next plan, it's only 80 million, but that would be enough for us.   The paper was to see what was on sale for groceries.  Crown Royal is $13 this week and some vodka for $6.25. 
  We didn't plan on happy hour today, but got a call from Kenny.  There wasn't one planned for today, but they were sitting with Beth & Jim and he wanted to return the favour of a cold beer from yesterday.  LOL
  For supper we went to Taco Bell.  Marg had the $5 special.  It was a chalupa, among several other things [drink, etc.].  Not only was it good value, but very tasty.  I had a burrito supreme package that was also very good.  All this for $13, hard to believe.
  When we got back I went to play poker.  Marg looked through the banking transactions.  She goes over them to make sure we aren't having problems with unauthorized charges.  It hasn't happened to us since last year, but other people we know have experienced problems with charges that weren't correct.  I made out OK at poker, won a lot of hands at the start, but gave it back throughout the last half of the game.  We had 5 players tonight that included one of the gamblin gals.  We had lots of laughs, it was a good group.
  A pretty good day in the valley.
 

Tuesday, Nov 6th

Got up at a good hour this morning and  went out for a bike ride with three other guys in the park.  One of the guys wanted to only do about half the distance, so I kept him company as we try not to leave anyone alone when they are having problems.  It was a gorgeous day for a ride and nice to get going again.
  I went to take Nancy to the FedEx depot so she could return her cable TV equipment, but they said she had to go to a full service FedEx store.  As she had another commitment, Marg & I took it down to the store on Power.  I spent about an hour on the phone with Direct TV to get the return sorted out, which made the FedEx stop very brief.  If the wifi had been working it would have simplified much of this.  She was very appreciative as not having a vehicle it has been challenging to finalize things.
  We returned home for lunch as the cupboards are so full we need to eat in.    After lunch Marg had a meeting of the entertainment committee so I went to play some pool.  There was a small group there, but I played in a group of four.  They were good fellows to play with and we had a few laughs.  Marg's group were setting out plans for the activities this winter.
  After that it was happy hour.  It was a large group today and there were two new couples who just arrived today.  Kenny & Doris were finally here, but only about 20 minutes before, so I brought some extra beer, it was Kokanee that I brought from home and he seemed to enjoy it.  They were late getting here this year while they were waiting for Ford to put a new motor in their coach.
  After happy Marg had them over for dinner as they hadn't picked up any groceries yet.  It was Reuben sandwiches for supper tonight. Nice to see them again.
  It was off to the bingo in the hall tonight.  We never won anything and the crowd was small, but it was nice to see the games start.

Monday, Nov 5th

Another gorgeous day in the Valley of the Sun, I think at it's peak the temp was in the low 80's.
  Marg got up and was gone early as the Gamblin' Gals left for the Fort at 8:30.  There were 6 this morning, a special day as it was to be their last opportunity to go with Nancy.  The bingo was pretty good to some and the casino to others.  In all I think 4 gals came away ahead with Nancy being the big winner.  Marg kidded her that the casino was concerned they had not seen her last year, so let her win big so she would return.
  I put the wall back together to cover up the pipes where I did the plumbing repair.  I had left it open to be certain it was dried out and that the fix didn't leak.  After that I went out to the hardware to get filters for the air circulation system.  A quick stop at the post office to mail a letter.  I replace the filters every year before we use the unit for heat or AC.   While I was out I also went to a local golf cart supplier to look at batteries and saw some amazing deals on carts.  The owner got me thinking about options and whether this old cart is worth the investment in batteries [$600 to $800], tomorrow Marg & I will look at it again.  When I got back I went to replace the air filters, only to discover another problem.  The air recirculation system has an underfloor box where it collects air to either heat or cool.  The recent heavy rains must of had it deep in water because it had quite a bit pooled in the bottom.  Scooped it out, then used my wet vac to get it as dry as possible, then left the fan on it for most of the day.  After a few hours I sprayed the mold treatment on it and put in the filters.
  It was a good thing I was home as UPS came twice.  The first time to drop off the Mediacom package the installer will use when he gets here.  About 20 minutes later he came with the new bank card for Marg.  I said, see you tomorrow as I have another delivery coming.  The next one will be my bank card.
  My next project was to get one of the bikes mobile, the guys have been asking me when I would be able to go.  I got my old one pumped up, so we will see how it goes tomorrow.  The tires were just low, so we'll see how it goes.
  When Marg got back I was at happy and had the cart running, so was able to give her a ride home.  The cart runs fine, but the batteries just don't last very long.
  Supper was a nice chicken dish & baked potato Marg put together.  It was very nice.
 

Sunday, Nov 4, 2018

A busy day, it really started about 1:30 this morning with Marg waking me to tell me she heard water running.  It took a while for it to register and even then I didn't hear it.  Checked around outside first, then in the trailer finally found an area where the sound was faint, but after putting my ear right to the wall located the source.  It was too late to do anything other than turn the water to the place off at the pedestal until morning.  Marg's comment after this was that now this should be the final word on how good her hearing is.
  In the morning Marg made a monkey bread.  She forgot her recipe at home, so had to google for one that looked like hers.  While she was doing this, I pulled the wall apart, then had her go turn the water back on.  A fine spray confirmed it was in the hallway behind the walls and coming from the shower taps.  The cause was a bad connection where a plastic fitting had been screwed into the brass fitting on the tap body.  Rather than used Teflon tape whoever did the repair years ago used some type of adhesive.  Incredible but true.
  Marg took a chunk of it to Nancy and her daughter and a second piece to Janice next door.  No wonder she is so popular around here.  LOL  After I finally got a piece of it, I went to Best Hardware where I really lucked out.  The guy who helped me was just excellent, he managed to break the plastic fitting up and remove it, then chased the threads to make sure they were in good order.  After that he got me a Shark Bite fitting to turn in to the valve body to match with the Pex water line.  He declined any payment for his help with thanks for patronizing the store.  What a great experience.  The fitting was perfect and the repair was quickly finished.  The wall is still open to let it dry out and I sprayed a treatment to prevent mold .  Water crisis solved, it was time to shower.
  We went out to the big Mesa marketplace right after where I traded books with the old gal.  I must have bought books from her for more than 8 years now, anyway she seemed to recognize me and directed me to what she thought were the best selections.  Then it was up to look at 2 battery suppliers, one advising me to go with better batteries the other to buy the ones we have now for about $150 less than the quality ones.  Then it was off to Costco where Marg picked up a few things, including a nice bottle of Irish single malt and some stuff to eat.
  We  headed back home as we had frozen food.  Marg invited Nancy & Lynette for supper after happy hour as Nancy and her daughter don't have a car and have been living off sandwiches.  In the time remaining of the afternoon, Marg did some housework and then some food preparation.  Me I worked on cleaning up the wall pieces so I could reassemble it.
  Happy Hour was at Nancy's as she wanted to host one last time.  The turnout was pretty good and we got a few nice photos for her.  It was a little emotional for her as she has really enjoyed her 20 years in the park.
  Marg made margaritas when the gals got here.  Supper was BBQ hamburgers, caesar salad, chips and a dessert she picked up at Costco.  A fun evening for the ladies.

Saturday, Nov 3rd

Another gorgeous day in the Valley of the Sun.
  We started the day at Fry's to get enough groceries so we can start eating in more.  We had a buggy full of groceries and as Marg's U.S. Visa no longer works, oh did I forget to tell you about that.  Well it seems she entered the PIN number more than once and it froze her card.  I call Visa last night and after an hour on the phone, they are sending her a new one by courier.  At that time he assured me my card was fine, so I went to pay for the groceries.  Put the card in, entered my PIN [only once] and my card was frozen and rejected for a $200 purchase.  Had to use my Canadian dollar Visa to pay.  Aside from being embarrassed I was annoyed having been told it was fine last night.  Oh yes the cupboards & fridge are much better now.  There were some really good deals, like a pound of butter for $1.99.d
  When I got home another call to Visa and as luck would have it the same guy I spoke to last night, so only a half hour on the phone.  I used it to pay for supper last night and it was fine.  These security things the banks are doing can be frustrating.  Now they are sending me a separate courier delivery with a new card.  Then I was transferred to a customer service agent so we would not have a service charge on each transaction.  Arghhh
  The good news was we had a nice lunch with all the groceries on hand.
  After lunch I went and played pool.  As luck would have it the fellow I played had not played in a while, so we had good games.  I've played Bob many times in the past and we have a bit of fun in the process.  Marg went out to the ranch market where she gets fabulous deals on fruits and vegetables, then to Safeway where she filled another buggy.
  After we went for a bit of a ride with the cart around the park, stopping to chat with a couple of friends from Saskatchewan who are here for the month, having sold their 5th wheel.  They are going to start going to Mexico instead.  She is going with the gamblin gals on Monday as it will be Nancy's last trip to the Fort.  It will be both a fun and sad day for all the gals.  There are a couple of guys riding tomorrow, but I have no bike I can use as both have flat tires.  I guess I should have worked on that today instead of playing.
  It was on to Happy hour at Lynette's place where there was a pretty good crowd.  We had to leave quickly as our golf cart battery was dying.  It seems we have a problem with the batteries not staying charged.  It seems to be fine and then fades quickly.  I have fully charged it about 4 times now and it is starting to look like 6 new batteries may be required. 
  I seem to be having a problem with the concrete beside the AZ room, it is crumbling.  I think my neighbour might be allowing his water conditioner to purge in that area.  As the discharge is salty water, that my be the culprit.  Will have to have a conversation with him I guess.
  Supper tonight was a BBQ with some nice steak and baked potatoes, another benefit of the grocery shopping today.

Thursday/Friday Nov 1 & 2

Thursday
  We got up an at 'em early as it was our last travel day.  We never even stopped for breakfast or fuel, right out on the road.  We crossed into Arizona and gained an hour in the process as this is one of the two states that never change the clocks for Daylight Savings Time.
  We made it to Kingman at 10:30, so figured we were entitled to a big sit-down breakfast.  The food was good and the portions generous.  Fueled up we headed down highway 93 getting in to Phoenix about 1, but it was still another hour until we reached our place in AJ.  As usual the place was dusty with lots of leaves and crud blown in.
  Marg took to the park model and got it opened up.  I did the breezeway and driveway before we put anything on it.  I washed the trailer down, using vinegar in the water and it made a great job.  Worked steady until supper time.  For something easy we just went down to the Village Inn.  Marg had a chicken dish, I had the turkey.  Best of all there was an option, so Marg chose a salad starter, while I chose pie to end the meal.  A quick stop at Walmart for a few basic provisions and back to do a few more things.  Unpacked most of the truck and put away most of the stuff.  Watched a bit of peasant vision, but the aerial tv here has lots of channels and pretty good choice.
  Through the afternoon we had several visitors and renewed some old acquaintences.
Friday
  We had a bit of a lay in and then breakfast.  Then we went down to visit with Nancy and her daughter.  She is one of the gamblin gals and has sold out and is leaving for good.  A sad reunion but nice to see her again.  She had lots of stuff to deal with and wouldn't hear of me not having her deceased husbands bike, compressor, ladder, etc.  Such a generous lady.  We are taking her and her daughter for dinner to the buffet tonight.
  We got all the stuff out of the Az room and got the patio set up as well as the numerous other loose ends we have to do.
  Went out and got water for the cooler and beer in the fridge, so things are looking up.
  Stay tuned the wifi seems to be OK, but Marg has ordered Mediacom as our backup plan.