Wednesday, December 11th

Another nice day in the Valley. 
  Marg had a meeting of the entertainment committee this morning, where they discussed activities for the next while.  This is a very busy time for them with: golf cart parade this week as well as Christmas [memory] tree lighting including caroling and treats, Christmas party, Christmas dinner, New Years party.  This also involved some running around in the park today.  Knowing these gals they will have all of their ducks in a row, but it takes a lot out of them.
  I spent some time on my pool cues.  I have the one with the hard tip that I have been trying to loosen up and the other that I put a new tip on that is to flat sided and I had to bevel the edges to get a nice even round shape.  The I went down to try them and they both seem much better now.
   We both finished up late in the morning and then had visitors.  It was the couple who are buying our park model.  They came to give us a considerable deposit cheque and talk about the transfer of ownership.  Anticipating this meeting, I had prepared an agreement for sale explaining that now that we have the deposit money it will protect their interest in the property and they seemed to appreciate the importance of doing this.
  We had sandwiches for lunch with some very nice bread that Marg had.  After I had a couple of the Mexican wedding cookies that Marg bought.  They are not shortbread, but sure taste like it and have a very similar texture.  They are dusted with icing sugar, so really nice.
  After lunch I went and played pool for an hour.  I had committed to play today, but had to cut it short so we could go and do some banking.  For the last few years we have dealt with everything on a cash basis or using the U.S. dollar credit card.  At the start of the season like now we have quite a significant amount of cash on hand that we hide in the park model.  They offered to get us a bank draft, but we said they could just bring us a cheque, which they did.  The cheque was drawn on a credit union in Wisconsin, so will need time to clear.  We went to Bank of America to open an account, but had to go back home to get our passports.  He gave us an appointment for an hour later, so when we returned we just walked right in.  It took a little over an hour to open the account and make our initial deposit.  They will be sending us a card to use for ATM access or use in purchases, but it will be about a week in the mail.  When they processed the cheque there is a hold funds on it for a little over a week.  Our thinking is we will eventually make electronic transfers to our U.S. dollar account in GP.  The main reason is at the border crossing we have to declare any funds we have on hand which means a delay going in to an meeting with a border guard to explain it.  In our initial meeting with the banker we clarified all of this as well as the fee structure and were satisfied before opening the account.  The bank is really casual and although both have friendly staff, it is much different than ours at home.
  After better than an hour in the bank we went down to Fry's where Marg went in to the grocery store to get a few things, well breakfast bars and Gatorade that I take when I golf at Encanto.  I needed to fill the truck, so we split up.  I had a bit of difficulty fueling up, so the time we each needed was about equal.  They have changed the process quite a bit from what we did last year.  the best part of the change is I didn't have to enter a ZIP code.
  It was getting tight for time when we got back home and threw the steak on the bbq.  It was a nice Tbone that Marg had picked up along with baked potatoes.  She also had a nice purchase of brussel sprouts and some cottage cheese. 
  After supper I went to play poker and Marg went over the banking.  She checks all the credit card receipts to the statement.  We had 7 players at poker tonight and it was a fun bunch.  In the first hour and a half I won two half pots, but my luck turned around after that and I really cleaned up.