Friday, Jan 31st

  The day was windy from the start, a cool wind off the mountains.  The temperatures warmed and it was very pleasant in the sun, I saw 20 C on the truck read out.
  Fortunately I was up an about early as the riders showed up at 9 this morning.  We had a new one added today, so there were 4 of us.  We road out east to Idaho and that is my favourite direction as it leaves the downhill and wind at the back for the ride back home.  Our intrepid leader, Charlie took us on a bit of a circuitous route, adding mileage to the ride.  I didn't have the odometer on, but would guess we made 6 or 7 miles today.  It was enough for me as my body is starting to protest.
  Marg tidied up around here and got ready, so by the time I returned I had a quick shower & shave.  We went out to Costco for a few things.  It was busy today, but we got lucky and parked in a handicap stall.  That pass she got last spring sure has come in handy.  We have a couple of in-park functions that Marg wants to have appies she can bring to contribute.  We also got a few things for our meals in the next few days.  We met a few people from our park in the store, so that added to the time it took to get through there.  A lot of it needed refrigeration, so we headed straight back to our place.  At Costco there was a young couple with two little ones ahead of us at the cash.  The little girl was messing about looking at stuff on the belt.  The mother said to her something like - oh look what this lady is buying. It looks like good stuff for a party.  Then the cashier said something to Marg about how good our selections were for a party.  Looks like we both chose well.  Me for choosing her and her for the things in our buggy.  By the time we got home we had a text saying one of the functions was being delayed until later.
  After a bite to eat I went to play pool.  I played at the table with the very good players today.  I was about even on win / loss stats.  I was probably the poorest player at the table, but won one game paired with the second poorest, so did OK.  When the table wrapped up I went to play with two other fellows.  They were kind enough to let me break.  Well that is a bit facetious, when playing three, it is the other two against whoever breaks, so I was the enemy.  LOL  Still did OK
  Marg went shopping this afternoon to Walmart.  She picked up some things that were not available at Costco.  One we needed most was an air card for her cell phone.  She lucked out getting one of the handicap stalls.  While there are lots of them here, they get a lot of use.  Fortunately she also got bananas, we seldom buy them at Costco.  Something about their handling methods leaves the bananas tasting different in a way I don't care for.
  Happy was at our place today, every second Friday.  Marg had enough things that she put out appies today.  That is always popular.  There were a bunch of the regulars we happy with as well as some additions.  A couple across the road came as their happy group were all doing other things and the lady who bought our place came as she also went to the neighbours happy group.  There were a few others as well, so we had about 18 or 20.  It was noisy enough.  LOL
  After Kenny said they were going for fish tonight, so another couple and us went along.  We went to Long John Silvers tonight up on Power road.  It's kind of a fast food version for fish, but the food is good.  Ended the day having a facetime with Bill & Patti as well as Brennan, Jess and Paityn in the pool at their hotel.

Thursday, Jan 30th

A nice day in the valley, started out cool and warmed through the day.  The wind blew most of the day, so not quite as warm as we like.  The water aerobics bunch did not go on today even though the water was beautiful, the morning air was not where they want it.
  We both went to coffee klatch this morning, it was well attended.  Our table was second last drawn for donuts, so the selection was not great, but at least we got one.  There were so many that about a dozen or more missed out.  They had a show of hands so the buyer would increase his order for next week.  I went to the president to say our table would buy donuts next, but they are paid for the next 4 weeks, so I had her schedule us for the last week in February.  Hard to believe there are that many who are committed already.  I don't believe I can recall a year quite like this.  Marg took her pair of salt candle holders to donate to the raffle.  She tells me they are very trendy and being new will be popular.  The list of items is getting quite long now, so ticket sales should be good. At the end I picked up some balloons to put outside signifying our sale when the patio sale is on.
 After coffee Marg had a meeting with the committee and the person running the pub night [now called games night] and the person running the talent show night.  With the funding the committee has, they wanted to offer support to both to help make the events successful. 
  When I got home there were 3 guys waiting to ride bikes.  We went out the west route this time, its a bit longer and more challenging.  We got about 4 miles from here and I phoned Marg to see if she was out of the meeting.  She was so we discussed a road trip Kenny had talked about after coffee.  When she said it was a good idea, I told the guys I had to ride back.  They wouldn't let me ride home alone, so we all returned.  We made good time, but it ended up being a good workout.  This bike I have here [a giant] is such a nice ride, much better than the one at home.  When I got back I learned that the trip he spoke of was tomorrow and as we are hosts for happy, it will not happen.  LOL
  With the rest of the morning free, we went out for a few things.  First stop was the dollar store.  Unlike home where everything is a multiple of a dollar, here it is one dollar.  We picked up some price stickers for the garage sale, battery for the smoke alarm, a card, etc.  Still short a few things we went to Walgreen [pharmacy] where she got other things hair dye, high liters, laundry soap, etc.   Marg did a load of laundry this morning then we had some lunch.  I crushed some cans, they don't have a deposit, but are sold for the scrap value.  Generally I give them to the food bank locally.  Then I went to play pool.  Had good games today and it was fun thing.  Marg had the association pres as her afternoon visitor to deal with some of the stuff around events.
  It was time to go for happy by then, so we packed up so as not to be late.  The couple hosting didn't want to use their driveway, so told folks it would be on the patio at the clubhouse.  There was a bit of controversy with the way the hosting couple handled it as everyone is welcome on the patio.  Something that has to be discussed for the future.  The patio holds quite a few and it was pretty much full today.
  Supper was left-overs from yesterday.  Marg dressed them up and they were very good.  After supper we went to the animal races.  I helped out in a couple of the breaks with some jokes.  Our picks did not produce as many winners as we would like, the elephant only won one race.  It was fun none-the-less.  It was a tough day for Marg as her back was really causing her an unusually painful time getting around.  There have been a few of these lately and she is starting to look forward to returning home to deal with the problem.
 

Wednesday, January 29th

It was a decent day in the morning, pleasant enough with scattered cloud cover.  No short pants today, jacket weather for much of the day.
The day started early for me with golf.  Gary drove and we took Mickey with us.  There was a good sized group this morning and the 3 of us got to go out in the first group.  Lately we seem to get this so we can take out the markers for the long putt and closest to the pin on the par 3 at #7.  Mickey and I rode together in the cart so with both him and Gary it was a fun group.  I choked on the long putt and came up short, so I took a second one from the same spot that went in.  No guts - No glory!
  Marg got a text today from the Vreelings, they had been travelling and were in Sedona.  As they were just travelling around they wanted to stop by for a visit.  With their travel time, it would be mid-afternoon when they would get here, so we had a bite of lunch and then went out for a few groceries at Safeway.  The place was about as busy as we have ever seen it. In our rounds to pick up what we needed, we discovered why.  There were lots of good deals today.  The meat was the first one I noticed with sirloin steak packages on a buy one get 3 sale.  That would have been such a good deal, but our freezer is almost full, leaving us no room for all of it, so we had to pass.  Then beer was on sale if you bought two cubes.  They never had Miller high life, so I got MGD at 2 cubes of 30 for $15 each.  In the end our bill was over $70 before discounts; after it was about $40.  There was a very good deal on scotch, but it only applied on quantities of 6, so had to pass on that one as well.  Oh we did manage to get a very nice looking rye bread today, something new that I can hardly wait to try.
  We had a bit of time to sit around until they arrived.  A friend who was building something showed up as I had indicated I had some laying around.  It was left over from our renovations 5 years ago, so I guess I no longer needed it.
  Tammy & KR got here about the middle of the afternoon, so after a short visit with a cocktail, we took them for a ride around the place.  It was really a quick tour, but they had not been around here previously.  Marg had a nice piece of tenderloin in the slow cooker, so we could have them for supper.  It was a nice meal finished with the brownies she made earlier in the day.
  After they left, Marg did the mountain of dishes while I went to play poker.  I did offer to dry, but she declined - honest.  I should have stayed to help as I was no good cards tonight.  I did win a few pots, but none of the big ones, so that makes 3 weeks in a row of donating.  It was a good table, pretty light hearted with lots of laughs, so it was worth taking a hit for the entertainment value.  When I got home, Marg always asks how it went, not the money, rather was it a fun evening and it was.

Tuesday, Jan 28th

It was chilly last night, but again became a nice day.  We had a cool wind most of the day, but it was still short pants weather.
  A couple guys went for a bike ride this morning, so I joined them.  Earlier I had inflated the tires [tyres for those in the UK], but the rear one needed some air this morning.  Got it pumped up to 80psi and joined the guys for our inaugural ride of this winter.  We rode into the wind going east to Idaho, but coming back was a breeze [pun intended].  It gave us about 5 miles today, which was fine for the three of us until we get ourselves in shape.  The bike ran just fine, I almost forgot what a nice bike it is to ride.
  Marg went to water aerobics this morning and said the pool temp was just right.  There were 8 or 9 ladies and she said the workout went very well and she enjoyed it.  Although there are some of the routines she can't do, it seems to agree with her as she was able to do it within her comfort zone.  I think having the golf cart is a big part of it.  She also stopped for the mail and it was pretty much flyers.  Some of our friends here are interested in the snowbird association 2 day event in Mesa [details were in yesterdays mail], not that its free nor that there will be vendors handing out freebies had any influence on them 
  We had a large lunch today, a stir fry with noodles.  It was very nice and was the first thing Marg ate other than a yogurt mid-morning.  I had my usual banana, muffin and later a yogurt, but after my ride was ready for more.
  After lunch I went to shoot some stick, ie: pool.  I played much better today, probably a result of the guys I played with.  I won my share, but have to confess some were the result of others scratching on the 8 ball.  I did win one game with a very good shot, so that always keeps the opposition guessing. The association Treasurer stopped in to ask if we could schedule the financial review this year before I leave for home.
  Marg had company and they went over the events planned or scheduled for February with the lady who makes and prints the calendar.  It is always a bit of a juggling act to try and accommodate everything as some things compete for resources of space and others   The other thing they try to do is create a schedule that has opportunities for all, i.e.: not scheduling competing or over-lapping events where the anticipate conflicts on peoples time.
  Happy hour tonight was at Blanke's and we were late as we were on the phone with family.  It is always a popular event at their place so late for me is a problem.  I usually end up almost on the road.  Marg always has a reserved seat [the only one I might add] at their place, so for her not a problem.  If someone sits in it, they are advised they have to move when Marg arrives.  Talk about spoiled.
  Supper was a rush event, so we went out to Taco Bell, something that is becoming our normal  Tuesday.  It was bingo tonight and Marg has to be there an hour early to help sell cards.  I generally get there a half hour or more later.  The money ball is up to $650, so lots of excitement.  One of the residents had some family members to play tonight.  She doesn't buy the money ball, its an extra dollar per person, so they never.  One of the young ladies called bingo on the money ball number, but not having entered just got the regular payout of $30 rather than the $650.  A good case of false economy on saving the dollar I would say.  It was good news for the rest of us who will be there next week hoping to win the money ball.  Oh I won, but had to split with 2 others, so my big win was $10 tonight.

Monday , Jan 27th

Another nice day, although the wind was cool warming up throughout the day.  Well not all that chilly as I work short pants again today. 
  Started off the morning with a disturbing call from Roger.  It seems both their car and Daniels were hit sometime in the night or at least before they went out.  It was a hit and run, so they called the police.  Roger & Vanessa's insurance will look after theirs, but Daniel does not have collision coverage, so hopefully they will be able to repair it at a reasonable cost.  We could not help but worry about the poor guy as he just bought it and has limited financial resources to deal with this.
  Marg started a load of laundry first thing after coffee this morning.  When it went in to the spin cycle we noticed it was jumping around a bit, so I got out a level and adjusted the legs to stop that.  Then we went out to do errands this morning.  Our first stop was our insurance agency as our policy is due in a couple of weeks.  We wanted to discuss our options with our pending sale of the place, but decided to just go ahead and pay the annual premium.  We could have paid monthly, but the surcharge did not make it attractive considering the insurance co. will just issue us a refund on cancellation.  She also took our cancellation signature so we just have to phone her with the sale date to end the policy.
  Our second stop was Mediacom where Marg asked if she should go in after giving me instruction on what to ask about.  Well duh, there is no way I could repeat all that so my answer was the obvious - hell yes.  The ladies in the office are great, they haven't changed for years, unlike the bill.  One of the complaints we have this year is the same one as previous years; the bill is never the same amount from one month to the next.  It is always the surcharges that cause the changes, even though that hardly seems possible.  Marg's questions had her give us one response that was important, we had a service package that was free now, but next month would have a charge and it was one we never view.  There were some other things about what channels we have in our package, why our remote this year does not accept voice commands, etc.
  That was all we had time for, so headed home for lunch.  It was time to change the laundry load.  It was a good day for drying with a warm sun and bit of a breeze.  The lady next door wasn't doing laundry today so Marg put the sheets on her line.  After a bite to eat I went to play pool, Marg had a few visitors.  The ladies here seem to know more about what is going on than us fellows.  It seems there are several people in the park down with the flu right now.  The guys only find out about it when the laundry starts piling up, LOL.  The news reports are that the number of flu cases is at very high levels this year.  It seems the number of people down here who do not get flu shots is high, foolishly thinking being in a warmer climate is enough prevention.  The other concerning thing is there have been a few cases of Corona virus showing up in parts of the country.  Not an epidemic level and not from the Mexican beer, rather from China and not beer.  Pretty serious stuff.
  I had to do some work on my pool cue as the tip is too hard.  My favourite cue has a rattle in the handle from something coming loose.  I played a few games, but the pace of play was very slow today, largely a result of one fellow.  You would have to experience it, but it can be painful.  I must have reacted to it because I did not play well at all today. 
  When I got home, Marg had visitors and the laundry was done up.  Apparently she even had some while she steamed the clothes.  The happy hour today was scheduled for the folks that had it yesterday, so we went in search and found it on our street; well this is Happy Hour Lane.
  Supper was BBQ and what was left of the beans from yesterday along with baked potato, scallops on a half shell in a sauce.  There were more than we could eat, so Marg gave some to one of her friends to include in her dinner plans.  We certainly don't suffer down here in the sunny south.
 

Sunday, January 26th

A gorgeous sunny day in the valley.  Definitely short pants weather today.
  I got up and out early this morning, so was able to make the service in the clubhouse hall.  It was well attended this morning, so much so that there were no seats at the back of the room where I usually sit.  Had to move off to the side where there was room.  The sermon was related to Martin Luther King and his famous speech - I have a dream, one I have always found inspiration in and I think a defining moment in history in this part of the world.
  When I got back Marg was ready to go so we went out for brunch.  Went first to Mickey D's then to Village Inn, both were lined up outside so on our way to IHop, we were travelling on Idaho and we said wait, the Waffle House is on this road and that is where we went.  There was a line, but not outside so we waited but it was pretty quick.  We had a nice breakfast type meal but the waffles are no where near the ones Marg makes, so a bit below our expectations.  We met some folks in the line who are new to the area and stay in a park not too far from where we are.  They are in a very large park, 1400 sites I believe but are enjoying it.  The ladies were talking about eating spots and she said they don't travel very far to eat out.  Marg gave them a bit of a summary on buffets and the other lady must have been interested as they asked for directions.
  After eating we stopped by Safeway on the way home.  We were invited to a birthday party in the form of a pot luck supper and Marg wanted to make a pot of baked beans.  She was able to get everything she needed, so it was on home for her to put the beans together in the crock pot.  I spent most of the time sorting out pictures and posting them on the tenants association FB site.  Marg had posted one of me on her FB site and it sure got a lot of hits.  Marg had a call from one of her gamblin' gals who was going to the Fort for smokes, so she went with her.  I guess the prices there are a lot less with it being on a reservation.  Heck I never even knew Marg had her treaty card - LOL.  They took quite a while getting back as her buddy drove the bush highway and it is heavily traveled on weekends. In the meantime I was responsible for cooking the beans and I really sweated it out in the heated kitchen.  Well actually I stirred them a couple of times.  Hah
  When she got home there was not a lot of time until the happy hour, pot luck, birthday party.  The guy and his buddy turned 70 today.  It was a packed house, as his wife had sent out 54 invitations, most of which were couples plus some family members.  There were at least 100 people, so it spilled out on to the road, blocking it off.  To make some order in the eating they called people by age groups and when the 70 - 75 was called, many folks said I was faking it so I finally produced my drivers license.  I think they were misled by Marg looking so youthful that I must be younger.  I can see how that would happen.  The food was actually pretty good, for a pot luck.
  After Marg stayed in to work on her financial reporting for the Entertainment committee as they have had a few events and she wanted to document it while the details were still fresh in her mind.  I went to ice cream social where I had a dish of ice cream and a piece of the birthday cake.  After ice cream a group of us went to play pool.  There were 8 players tonight, so 2 tables.  We had some good games and lots of laughs, so a good evening. 

Robbie Burns Day, 2020

  It was a gorgeous day in the valley with temperatures in the 70's.  I wore shorts, so you know what that means, everyone was warm today.
  Early in the morning I went to wash the truck.  Down here it doesn't really get dirty, although we did have a rainy day last week that splashed a bit on the truck.  It was mainly just dusty so I took it to the spray wash.  The water here is a real problem for spots on the vehicle if you let it air dry, so I had to spray on the rinse agent and then wipe it all down, especially any chrome or glass.  I also went in to check my lottery tickets.  I buy the Mega millions and the Power Ball, both of which have jackpots in the millions.  I think one is over 80 and the other over 300, so if I ever win be prepared for the biggest party you have seen on short notice.
  Marg spent some time on the event for tonight and then when I got home, she took the truck shopping.  Her and Patti went to buy stuff for snacks and decorations for the clubhouse.  The entertainment committee hired a couple ladies who DJ and entertain for the Luau.  We had a bite of lunch at home and then went out for some stuff we needed at Hobby Lobby.  Marg bought a grass skirt, some lei's, drink straws with umbrellas, etc.  I got a cool straw hat and lei.  On the way home we stopped at Fry's where we got a 6 pack of Hawaiian lager and a 4 pack of pina colada's.
  I dropped Marg at the hall as they were decorating by the time we got back.  Then I drove to our place to unload the stuff.  When I opened the back door [the drinks were on the floor back there], the colada's fell out on the driveway.  One bottle shattered, one just leaked and two rolled around but were OK, tough bottles.  Anyway I had a mess to clean up before I could go help with decorating.  We got the hall looking pretty Hawaiian, thanks to the help.  Gary even cut some fronds off one of the palm trees and we made a decoration by sticking them in a pot of gravel.  The gals had the food all put out on trays and such then in the fridge until show time.  I even helped there chopping up the watermelon.
  Back to our place to have supper, but the time was short so I went to the golden arches for a couple of chicken burgers.  They are called buttermilk but the chicken is fried with a coating, pretty good anyway.  Right after eating, Marg had to go back to the hall to meet the entertainers, but it was shower time for me.  The dance didn't start until 7 so lots of time.
  There was a decent crowd, although there was room for more.  The charge was $6 which for some of these people is a non-starter.  I'm not saying they are cheap, but they usually try to spend both sides of the dollar.  There were enough to have a good time while paying for the costs of the event.  The colada's that were left were a hit and Marg consumed both, so she was in party mode.  The Hawaiian lager was also very good, so I was as well.  Got lots of compliments on my straw hat, so it was well worth the $3 I paid for it.  LOL

Now for a wee dram and a toast to the Bard, the poet of Scotland, Robbie Burns.  Alba go Brah!  Slainte.

Friday, Jan 24th

Wow, not much of January, 2020 left.
  The weather was nice today, cloudy for the morning, clearing in the afternoon but warm
  This morning we went out to Courtesy Chrysler where the work was done on the truck.  They had lost the copy or picture of my registration for use in submitting the warranty info to Chrysler.  He suggested I take a picture of it and send it to him, but I don't think I can do that on my flip phone, so we just went in.  Felt kind of bad as he had asked for this about a week ago.  It only took a few minutes and we were on our way.  On the way back we stopped for gas at Costco in Mesa.  The way they have the staging area is one of the poorest at any Costco I have been to as the traffic piles up for the first couple rows and no one can get to the back.ones.  So I just sat in my spot until it opened up and a bunch of us made it through the blockage.
  After lunch I went and played some pool with 3 other guys.  Not sure how many games we played but it was good competition and good fun.  Marg went out looking for a Hawaiian shirt for me to wear on Saturday nights Luau.  Then she went looking for the Party City to get decorations, but it closed the location on Signal Butte.
  We went to Happy on the other end of the park.  It kind of broke up when someone spotted the pair of Javelina's that have been hanging around here.  This is quite unusual in the city.  If you are facebook friends with either of us you may have seen them as there are a couple of posts from people in the park.  They have been around here for the last week or so, sometimes right in the park.  At one point they were around the fence surrounding the off leash dog area.   I'm not sure but I think they like pets, not as companions rather as appetizers.  They often root around digging up tubulars and roots, generally making a mess.  I don't believe they usually bother people, but can be nasty if surprised or feel cornered.  While I've seen them out in the desert in the past, I never bothered to go see these ones as I think they are getting too bold and should be left alone.
  A bunch from here went out for fish tonight.  This is often the case and seems to be a popular outing on Fridays.  They go to all you can eat fish [cod] places and for me that usually means one or two pieces.  We have gone in the past, however were disappointed the last time.  We opted to stay home and bbq a nice T bone steak as well as baked potatoes tonight.

Thursday, Jan 23rd

  Oops, no blog yesterday, it was a long day.
 Wednesday -- I went golfing in the morning, a friend in the park rode with me as Gerry left for home, I offered this other fellow a ride.  My game went OK, except for a couple of bumps.  I hit a good drive on #1 [a par 5] and still carded an 8.  The other bad hole was #3 [a par 4]where I hit a good drive and managed to score 7. 
  Marg went over the banking in the morning, where she checks all of the credit card receipts against the Visa account on line to be certain there are no surprises.  There have been quite a few credit card reader scams in the west end of Phoenix, so although not around us, she is extra diligent in this area.  Then she had a lengthy telephone conversation with Roger about some mail, some of which, although not a problem,  required my attention in a short time frame. Then I had a guy call asking me to look at a problem with his Lexus.  It was a piece of trim come loose on a side airbag.  When the trim came loose it broke, so I just advised him to see the dealer.  They told him the airbag had to be adjusted or reset when the piece was replaced to guard against premature deployment.  I also wanted to speak with him about a trip the next day he was interested in.
  When I got home we had a bite of lunch, after which I phoned Roger.  Through his determination and my direction he found the paper trail I needed.  Then he took some stuff over to Patti who scanned some documents and emailed them to me later in the day.
  I went to play some pool in the afternoon.  Marg did some stuff around the house, including dealing with a few visits.  She has a very active group of friends here.I only played pool for a part of the afternoon as I had committed to drive Marg to the gate [in the golf cart] about mid-afternoon.  She met up with the gamblin' gals and they went to Casino Arizona for the bingo.  I think there were 6 or 7 of them that went on the search for instant riches.
  There was a function in the park [turkey soup dinner], but Marg had left me some delicious pasta in a sauce left over from Tuesday, so I had that for dinner.  I warmed it up on the stove without burning it and made some nice rye bread toast to accompany my dinner.  It was still very nice.  A bit after I went to play poker.  We only had one table and it was a lot of fun.  Well, everything except that I lost again, 3 weeks in a row.  Not huge dollars, as we play for nickels and dimes, but you know how I dislike losing.  We justify it when that happens by saying - if we went to the casino we would lose more in 5 minutes than 2 1/2 hours of poker.  Oh well, I guess suck it up.  Late in the evening [after 10} I went down to the gate with the golf cart so Marg would have a ride home.  She also wanted to drop off a couple of the gals rather than see them walk home in the dark.

Thursday -- We went for coffee klatch and it was well attended.  We really lucked out as one of the ladies at our table bought donuts this morning to celebrate her husbands birthday.  When someone does this, their table is first up for donuts and that included us.  After coffee we both had a few things to deal with, Marg with the entertainment committee and me with some raffle items and plans for the day.
  After coffee we did some things around the house.  By this time I had the emailed information and was able to deal with the mail issues from here.  Pretty amazing really how easy it is to deal with almost anything from here, no different than home really.
 We had lunch at home, then Marg had some company while she did some laundry.  I went to play pool and it was a hoot today.  Played for a while with 3 very good players on the new table.  It went really well, but a 5th guy came in.  It's kind of understood that when that happens, someone leaves the others to play a game of 3 and goes to play with the new person.  After a couple of games, two others showed up, one of whom is probably the best player in the park [although a couple of others think they are - not me BTW].  I was only able to play 2 games, but my partner and I won both against the very good player and his partner.  Probably will never happen again.  LOL
  It was time for me to leave as we had a commitment to go to bingo at Casino Arizona.  There were 5 of us went and I drove, mostly because it involves travel on the freeway and returning in the dark.  We had lots of fun, the most you can have without winning.  We were very close, but could not get to the prize money.  Speaking of prize money, a lady won the jackpot on one of the big games, so that really delayed the game.  They took a lot of time verifying that she did indeed win as the prize was $29,600.  Supper tonight was at the Casino, the food there is pretty good, so we don't usually eat before going.  Marg informed me she is done with the place for a while as it is not paying off so far this year.

Tuesday, Jan 21st

  It was cool and overcast today with a light rain for most of the day.  From memory it seemed like a fine Scottish mist.  The difference is it will only be for today.  Whenever it rains we just remind ourselves how important an precipitation is out here in the valley.
  We mostly stayed indoors today.  We caught up on facebook, email and other things.  We had a facetime with Char.  We were sorry to hear it was a sad day for Katie as well as Char and Phil with a young friend passing away.  Life is a precious thing and nothing hits home like the loss of a young life.    I also finished a duster today.  It was titled the hunt for Tom Horn, a notorious outlaw in the wild west.
  After lunch Marg went out to Safeway for a few groceries.  She likes their bakery as well as the produce and meats, but most of all the deals she gets there.  This trip was not quite as good as the last one, but she still ended up with about 1/3rd off her bottom line.  She also picked up a gorgeous small pork roast that made it to the supper table.  I went to play pool and the place was busy today.  The group I played with was a lot of fun, but the table next to us was the rowdiest, so I guess they had the most fun today.  It's just the kind of thing guys around here do on a rainy day.  i got my share of wins and the other guys got lucky a few times, so it was all good.  Meanwhile back at the home place, Marg had the roast in the oven and the fixin's as they call it on the stove. 
  Later on we had a phone call with Vanessa and one with Roger where we got an update on the local scene. I got some good news in the mail on some things I was working on over a year ago.  The other good news was, it seems Daniel has an idea where he wants to go both with his education and training to work on a career path that could include an apprenticeship.  This was really good news as there is kids leaving school really need to prepare for the workforce these days.
  After supper we went to bingo.  The money ball was up to $600 tonight and it never went again, so will be higher next week.  We were close and I did manage to get a small win that was split 3 ways.  Nothing to get excited about, but it was a win - right?
  Not much exciting to report today, but if the weather forecast is correct we will have more going tomorrow.

MLK Day 2020

The wind blew today, but it was not cold.  The day while not hot, was certainly pleasant.
  Marg started laundry this morning thinking she had lots of time to get it done.  I went out on the back patio and washed my golf clubs.  The grooves in the irons get lots of grit and dirt in them that I need to clean out once in a while.  I use a small brush with bronze bristles and it doesn't harm the face of the club while doing a great job.  After that I cleaned the truck using the shop vac. 
  Marg made a nice breakfast of ham and eggs.  She decided I needed to be well fed given the hour I was leaving to play golf.  We just got done eating when a car with 3 ladies pulled up.  They had scheduled to go out for pedicures today.  I guess it was a success except the girl doing the pedicure for one of the ladies forgot to turn the water off in time to prevent it overflowing.  The resulting flood caused quite a stir and disruption.  The gal got rattled so it was not the positive experience they expected.  Each of the ladies picked a different color, Marg has bright red toenails tonight.  More importantly Marg has lots of problems with ingrown nails on her big toes, so she needs to do it as a preventative measure.
  I left for golf, picking up two fellows in the park.  We went in to Phoenix to play Encanto for 18 holes.  Traffic for me was very light on the way to golf, so travel speed was about 70 mph.  We got there a bit early, but Gerry who lives 10 minutes away was late arriving, in fact we were called to the tee when he drove in the parking lot.  The weather was great for golf so I wore my zip off pants and made them into shorts about half way through the first nine.  The course was in good shape and play moved along quite well for the first nine.  The foursome in front of us were pretty good players, but they were having quite a good time.  By the second nine the alcohol seemed to affect their play as they were spraying the ball and spending a lot of time looking for balls with poor success finding them.  The result was waiting on the tee box a bit so it took us about 4 1/2 hours to play the round.
  In the meantime, back at the home place.  Marg had to finish up the laundry.  While doing this she had some visitors that compounded her time pressures on a meeting she had to attend.  When she left for the meeting she grabbed some keys and headed down for her meeting.  When she arrived back at our place, she discovered she was locked out with no house key.  Fortunately we had left a full set of keys at the office here and the manager was in.  Other than a little kidding from the park manager, it all worked out fine, just took some time.  Knowing my return time was uncertain, she made a nice chicken dish in the slow cooker.  Our purchasers had relatives in town and brought them to the happy hour across the road they attend.  When Marg saw them, she offered them an opportunity to look at the place, which they accepted.  Apparently they were quite pleased with what they saw and expressed their appreciation for both having the opportunity to see it and for the couple having been given and opportunity to buy it.  Nice to hear that kind of thing.
  Traffic coming home was light.  One of the fellows has gone to this course with me several times, but for the other it was his first time.  He said they don't go this far west because of traffic, but my other passenger clarified that this was very light traffic for that area.  In fact we made it home in about 30 minutes as we were mostly at the speed limit only slowing down for a couple of busy sections.
  Arriving home the slow cooker meal aroma really got my appetite going and supper was delicious.

Sunday, Jan 19th

A nice day, windy, but nice today.  The night time temp was pleasant as well, so it seems to be gradually warming up.  That will likely mean more critters will start to become active soon, especially the reptiles, being the cold blooded ones.
  I got out in time to take in the the service in the park this morning.  It has been a while owing to other commitments, but it was a nice sermon today and there was good attendance [for us].  After Marg and I went out to the Mesa marketplace where I sold my books and bought new ones.  The book seller was busy, but that was not the case with all of the vendors.  The vendors must be taking a hit with the reduced traffic at the market this year.  There were lots of retailers commenting on the  reduced presence of snowbirds last year and it's even slower now.  That is certainly the case with us, but it must be with American snowbirds as well.
  After we stopped at the Tractor store where I returned some gasket material I bought yesterday and did not use.  The repairs I made on the golf cart have Marg saying it drives like a new one.  Not sure about that but it is noticeably better.  Then it was on to Harbor Freight where I used 3 coupons, two for better pricing on cable ties and the third a 20% off on my largest purchase.  They allow the discount or a free item and as I didn't need any of the ones I had a coupon for, I opted for the discount.  Marg went to Big Lots right next door and she had a handful of things she needed, so a good stop.
  Back home for a bite of lunch.  Desert was some of the lemon cake Marg made yesterday and it was very nice.  Apparently she used 4 lemons on the cake and frosting.  While we were sitting out in the breezeway our purchasers drove by, stopping to show her brother what they are buying.  Marg offered them to come in, but they were in a hurry.  After Marg asked me to look at a drying rack that was falling apart.  Using about a dozen of the cable ties and half a ball of string I got it secured.  Would probably been easier to chuck it and get a new one, but we'll see how long it holds together. 
  Somewhere along the afternoon Marg was chatting with a lady in the park who said they had cancelled their golf game for tomorrow.  Her husband is a good player and she was feeling sad for him, when Marg said we were going and only had a threesome tomorrow.  Well long story short, it is now a foursome.  I will be driving and our departure will be about 11:30 for a 12:40 tee time.  That will put us on the road home about rush hour, but we think it will be reduced traffic, being MLK day.  At least I will be in the HOV lane having passengers, so it should be OK.
  We went for happy at Blankes and there were only a half dozen folks, so a nice one.  Marg was helping Doris with her Facebook page as it has not been working.  She isn't getting any info about any stuff and has few friends.  It was quite a mess with a couple hundred messages and lots of bogus friend requests, so we'll see how it goes now,  Not really sure the problem is fixed yet as Marg sent out some friend requests that have not appeared.
  After supper we went to ice cream social. We both had ice cream in a dish, I believe Marg had a piece of cake as well.  This too was well attended.  A lot of people here are watching football today as it is playoffs to see who goes to the Superbowl game.  After ice cream Kenny and I went to play some pool with a couple other fellows and it was a fun event, lots of laughs.

Saturday, Jan 18th

A nice day in the valley, it took a while to warm up, but I saw 19C on the truck when I was out.  In the sun today it was very nice, shirt sleeve weather.

  I got mobile early enough to go for breakfast in the hall this morning:  pancakes, eggs, bacon.  There were other options, but having not been for a while, I definitely wanted the pancakes.  I sat with some friends, one of whom I gave one of my pieces of bacon as I usually do when they give me three.  You know already that Marg did not go for breakfast, not only is it not her favourite meal, she doesn't really even acknowledge it most of the time.

  When I went back home Marg was up and about having gorged herself on a yogurt an cup of coffee.  Apparently the electric bill arrived while I was gone and with the cold nights lower than average days we expected it to be higher, so the $133 was no big surprise.  Marg had been warning me about the temp in our place, but my response was I didn't come here to sleep in the cold. We needed a few things, so shortly after my return she went out to Safeway for groceries.  Ever since Albertsons took over Safeway here, she prefers it for her regular grocery trips.  She had been clipping coupons for the last while so when combined with her safeway loyalty discounts, the grocery bill was almost half covered by the savings.

  I decided to do something with the brakes on the golf cart as they have been squawking pretty bad.  I pulled the first side and it went pretty well.  One of the things I discovered was one of the keepers  [snap ring] on brake shoe retaining pin was distorted and not stabilizing the shoe.  I went out to get some new ones, which proved more difficult than I anticipated so after the auto parts store I went to Ace Hardware and then the Tractor store.  By the time I finished I had the keepers and rubber washers to try and damper the noise.  Then I took sandpaper to the shoes to take the glazing off the shoes and then ran it around the drum.  I thought dust might be part of the problem, so I cleaned the drums with brake clean and wiped them out.  Putting it all back together the brakes worked perfect, no noise even on hard or panic stops.  I did lose some time looking for a retaining washer, that I had put on the rear spring, so I wouldn't lose it.  Can you believe that a little over an hour and forgot where I put it.  When I was taking off the passenger drum I had the puller adjusted to put on a lot of pulling pressure and then beat on the drum with a rubber mallet.  Man it came flying off the axle.  When I reassembled it I wrapped tape around the drum to see if that helps dampen the sound.  A quick test run and it stops perfect and totally silent.

  Kenny and Doris stopped by to seen what we were up to and ask if we wanted Chinese buffet for supper.  Then Marg asked them to stay for happy.  Well that attracted another couple, so we had anther small group for happy hour. They also asked a third couple, but one said yes, the other no, so they never joined us.

  The buffet was busy but not bad for a Saturday night on a long weekend.  MLK day is on Monday.  The food was great as always and Doris had coupons, so we got a good deal on dinner.

  

Friday, Jan 17th

  A nice day in the valley.  The sun shone and we all took advantage of the day.  Tomorrow is the start of the long weekend here, MLK day on Monday.
  Marg did some laundry this morning.  Good day for it with the sun out to dry it.  I did a few maintenance things around the place, it seems there is always something.  Then mid-morning I went to pick up Kenny at; the garage down the road.  He noticed a noise in his front end and suspected a wheel bearing or assembly on his Explorer.  He did one back in Kansas at the Ford dealer that cost him $500, the garage here is $300, so he was happy.  Just before noon I took him back to pick it up.  It wasn't far, just up Ironwood at the Trail.  I stopped on the way back to get two lottery tickets, Mega Millions & Power Ball.  I told the clerk they sold me the wrong ones last week, I wanted to buy the lucky ones.  He just laughed and said, so did he.
  Lunch was some kind of jumbo salad and deviled eggs.  It was nice of her to dress up the eggs like that, knowing how much I like deviled eggs, kind of makes up for having salad.  LOL 
  In the afternoon Marg finished the laundry and had a few visitors.  Marg drove me to the pool room and checked the mail, none as usual.  It must be piling up back home.  I played some pool and for the most part my game was good today.  There were two tables going, so not bad considering all the things going on.  There were quite a few people in the pool today, so water aerobics will likely start soon.  That will be good as Marg really enjoys the pool time.
  We had happy at our place today, it was a small group, which was nice.  It was early today, 3 PM, to allow for people going to the sit down dinner in the hall.  We had tickets to as did about 90 or 100 other people.  It was the event I had consented to work at as an usher.  I had to go in a bit early to help get things set up, no heavy lifting there.  One of my jobs was filling water glasses on the table after the ice was in them, another was bringing out trays of cake to help the lady putting them on tables.  You know heavy responsibility stuff.  Once the doors opened there were two of us who escorted ladies to the table.  Some of the guys made comments, like what about me.  Funny guys!  Supper was pork chops, mashed potato, carrots, a piece of cake.  Patti to be funny at the Thursday coffee klatch announced the event, saying this year there would be apple sauce on the tables to go with the pork chops - for Dave.  Hah!
  Helped a bit with the clean up and then back to our place to post the pictures I took.
 

Thursday, Jan 16th

It was an overcast day and the little bit of rain forecast for the valley didn't happen.  From the weather reports it looks like they got measurable amounts east of the mountains and in the high country light snowfall.
  We started the morning going to the coffee klatch.  It was well attended and our turn to pick a donut was late in the process.  It was fortunate that the choices were still very good.  After the coffee, there was a full board meeting of the tenants association, so Marg stayed for that while I walked home.  We went out once this was done as I wanted a haircut.  Marg went with me and I dropped her off at TJ Max at Superstition mall.  The Mexican barbershop wasn't too busy and I had the same young gal as last month, who does a decent job. Picking Marg up after, she had a few things in a small bag, so I would rate that as limited success.  We planned to eat out on the way home, but changed our minds and got take away that we brought home for lunch.
  After lunch Marg chilled for a bit as she walked quite a bit this morning and didn't want to overdo it.  I went to play pool with 3 other guys and we had lots of good games and some laughs.  One of the challenges when playing with seniors is to keep the shooting order straight, because it can and often does change from game to game.  At one point the only way to deal with it today was to give everyone a number for their place in the order.  Anyway it got so we were laughing about it.
  When I got back we had a facetime with Brennan, Jess, & Paityn.  It was so good to see them and chat with them.  Paityn kept saying hi and waving to us, we were so glad she remembered us.  It really brightened up our day.  The only unfortunate thing was the weather back home, where it is bitterly cold.  Hope it warms up for them soon.  Earlier in the day we had a bit of a late lunch, so it was a lighter supper tonight.  It's funny how we almost always have a similar idea on things like this.  I guess that is what 50 years of living together do.  LOL
  After supper we went to the animal races tonight.  It was a slow start for us, but I won 4 of the 8 races and Marg won 3, but on one of them she had doubled up her betting, so it was like 4.  They were short one of the people who help run the races and tell jokes between them, so Clyde asked me to fill in on a few.  I told jokes for 3 of the breaks and they went over pretty well, so that was a winner for me.
  The weather is supposed to start improving here, so fingers crossed. 

Wednesday, Jan 15th

A nicer day even though it was chilly until the sun came up.  The rest of the day was very nice, I think in the 70's but started to cloud over a bit in the late afternoon.
  It was golf morning in the park when we all go to Apache Sun where we share a tee time with another park.  There were 18 to play this morning.  Gerry C came early and we left shortly after so we were the first ones at the course, something that has not happened before.  It was cool, but not too bad in the sun, the dew lay heavy on the turf.  We ride together and ended up paired with two very good players.  There was no one in front for a few holes, so our pace of play was about the quickest I have ever played for 9 holes.  We finished in about 90 or so minutes, incredible for a foursome.  On the fourth hole where everyone throws in a dollar for long putt we had a carry-over from last week of $14.  I hit a great chip out of the sand and holed my 8 foot putt to win the moola, $32 in total.  I also got a four to par the hole.  I had a decent score as well [for me that is] and it was a fun group to play with today.  This was my first round at the course this year and I was disappointed to learn the tortoise is no longer on the fourth hole.  It was a zero turtle day, so I never went in the water.  Somehow Gerry did, can't figure that out as he knows the turtle theory.  LOL
  Marg did up a couple loads of laundry in the morning and got things caught up.  She also had visitors for part of the time, so was very busy.  When I got back Marg had been doing bills and my charge for the golf was already on the account.  We had earned enough points that she applied them as a payment, so told me my round of golf was free today.  Lets see, if I made money at it today is it time to turn Pro?  Then we went to the Ranch market for veggies and oranges, which are awesome.  On returning home we had a bite of lunch.  Marg had made biscuits in the oven and they were delicious.  I love them fresh out of the oven like that.
  After lunch I went to play pool, ended up playing with a guy I really enjoy playing.  He's a good player, but had a poor start.  I eased off a bit after 3 wins and then he got his act together and then I couldn't get it together for a win.  I think there was a lesson in there someplace.  LOL
  Marg had a busy afternoon with lots of visitors.  She has lots of good friends here and it seems there is always someone dropping by.  Many people walk around the park, especially those with dogs.  One of them has left a package of dog treats here, so Marg is pretty popular with the dogs as well.  Sometime in the midst of this she got a dinner into the slow cooker for us.
  When I got back we went to happy hour.  It was on the other side of the park and the couple hosting are well known for their craft creations.  They do some amazing stuff, especially Kokopelli's.  There was  large group at happy today and it was a fun event.  After happy it was supper time.  We were just midway through supper when a couple stopped in to give us a couple pieces of lemon meringue pie which was very nice.
  After supper I went to play poker and Marg went to a fire in the big area in the middle of the walking track.  It seems some of the folks got enough wood to make a fire for folks to sit around and roast marshmallows.  It was something new here and was open to anyone.  Marg estimated they had about 40 people there, so it was a good time.  At poker we had too many for one table but not enough for two, so a few guys never got to play.  Apparently they went to the fire.  Financially poker was not a paying proposition, I donated tonight.

Tuesday, Jan 14th

  A nicer day today with the high temp reaching 70 F or maybe even a degree or two more.  It ended up being a shorts day around noon and in the afternoon.
  One of my FB friends had a couple of pictures from home of tossing hot water in the air then it freezes right in the air before reaching the ground.  This only happens when its really cold and with the temperature around the minus 40 mark, yesterday qualified.  I showed the picture to a few people around the park who could hardly believe it, in fact one asked to be copied with it.
  After lunch I went to help Kenny with his desk.  He has one in the breezeway and it has weathered on the top so it is really rough. He wants to put a covering on the desk top, so we sanded it smooth to get a better surface for the adhesive and new material.
  We were sitting around and had not heard from the dealership about mid afternoon.  With golf tomorrow morning I needed my clubs, so we went down to the dealership and take them from the back of the truck.  Just prior to our arrival our service rep. got the keys and the work order from the shop, now that is kismet or fate.  Marg went in to the customer lounge for a coffee while I took the rental car back to Enterprise.  It was an easy return, they checked the vehicle and mileage then said that was all, I could go.  The final bill was emailed to me and all I had to pay was the $7 a day, so $42 in total.  She said with my commitment to pay that amount at the start, even the taxes would be billed to the dealership.  I think the dealerships share was about $300.
  They gave me a ride back to the dealership where the paperwork was all done and we paid nothing.  Apparently the valve body is where all of the electronics are for the transmission.  The dealer had to provide the electronic test profile of the problem to Chrysler before they could replace it as the total cost was somewhere over $2,300.  They also had to provide copies of my drivers license and registration to prove I was a winter visitor, not a permanent resident here.  Not sure what that is about, but I do know they will not sell us new vehicles here to take to Canada as there is no warranty if we do that.
  We got back to our place in time for happy hour.  It was at Blanke's so well attended.  After happy we went to Taco Bell for a quick bite as it was bingo night.  Marg had her usual $5 meal box, I had a burrito combo.  We had to be back for Marg to sell cards for 6 o'clock.  I went down a bit later and we contributed tonight.  The sad tale is we were both so close, but that is not where the cash is.  I go because I also have a job, I sell the double daub cards at intermission and help put stuff away at the end.  Marg stays to wipe down the tables with a sanitizing solution after the games.  One of the people who helped tidy up commented last week that it seemed the only volunteers were the people least healthy enough to do the job.

Monday, January 13th

The nicest day in a while.  I think temperatures got up to around 70 and were close to that before noon, so a shirt sleeve day.
  It was cool enough this morning that I made oatmeal / porridge.  We haven't had any for a while now and are almost out of the rolled oats we brought from home, so am using it sparingly.  Yes they sell it here, but it's not the same, some of it is quite coarse even after cooking and we all know how important creamy is - right?
  After eating we went out to pay for our dinner tickets on Friday.  Patti didn't want to take my money saying I was working it so got dinner free.  I have such a minor part and want to sit with friends so insisted on paying.  She gave me a towel or square to drape over my arm, kind of like a maitre de, I guess.  We went looking for jeans after that where I managed to find a nice pair of blue jeans and a pair of black ones.  I kind of need a pair of black pants on Friday and never brought any down as we packed light this year.  Marg found a couple of things she needed as well, so a productive stop.
  Lunch was back at our place and we had some nice grilled sandwiches using the new rye bread we picked up at Basha's.  It was new to us and very good.  After lunch Marg did some steaming, including the new jeans.  She also had some visitors.  I went to play pool and she never realized I took the cart.  Later she noticed it missing so called me to ask if it was missing or if I had it.  I generally don't take it, but had to take the laptop with me so today was the exception.  Played with some good guys today and we had some laughs.  I think I won more than lost, so that was good too.
  The dealership called to say the repair was approved by Chrysler and the truck should be done by tomorrow.  Apparently the part alone is $2,000 so they needed this prior approval.  I asked about the car to be certain they extended the rental on it.  Even though it is only $7 a day, I will be dealing with the dealership back home as I don't think I should be paying anything. Tomorrow will make it a week since I took it in.
  We went to happy hour tonight and there were quite a few there, possibly 2 dozen.  We also got notice from the couples hosting tomorrow and Wednesday, so that was a bonus.  We are probably due to host again, so will consider it as the week progresses, after all we live on Happy Hour Lane.
 

Sunday, January 12th

The weather is pretty much as reported for the last few blogs.  It really doesn't change much here on short notice, rather we generally know several days in advance what to expect.
  We got off to a slow start today and went out to a coin show in Chandler at the legion.  It was a bigger show than the last one and with that had more opportunity to look at new stuff.  One of the most interesting things I saw today was a One dollar bill produced by the Dominion of Canada in 1917, so predates Confederation.  It was the only bill produced during WW 1 and had a picture of Princess Patricia on one side and the parliament buildings on the reverse.  There is quite a story on this as she bankrolled an army regiment that still exists today.  He was surprised I knew about it, we just call it PPCLI, Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry.  His asking price for it was $385, but he offered it for $300 to me.  The value of it, as with any currency is subject to condition and as it was in a plastic sleeve I couldn't really determine it and the value could easily vary by several hundred dollars.  If it was he represented it the price was great, if not it was still too much, so I passed. 
  Marg found 5 coins in a bin at a booth where he didn't think he had Canadian coins.  There were 3 small 5 cent pieces and 2 dimes, 2 of the coins were 1896 & 1898, so I made a deal on the 5 coins for about a third of book value.  One of the vendors next to him even commented on what a bargain he was giving me.  Then I found a good deal on a 1939 silver dollar, about half of what any other booth was selling it for.  Finally I met a guy from Peterborough, Ontario who had a large bin of coins selling for silver value only [I like these].  His coins in the bin varied from old to newer and poor condition to very good.  It's funny that 50 cent pieces are almost always in good condition, probably because they didn't get as much circulation.  There is always a danger of over-doing it with these, but I bought: 5 dimes, 6 quarters and 2 x 50 cent pieces.  My bottom line was coins with a book value more than double what I paid, so I was happy.
  On the way home we stopped at Burlington Coat where Marg got a pair of flip flops.  I looked for jeans and tried on several pair, but no luck.  We then made our way home and had a sandwich.  After that we went to Bealls in AJ again looking for jeans, but no luck, so quit.  By then Marg had enough, so we went home to chill for a while.  She had a visitor again to use our wifi to update her Iwatch and they visited while it was downloading.
  Supper was a nice home cooked meal of hamburger, mashed with peas and carrots.  No dessert as it was ice cream social tonight.  Marg passed on the ice cream, I just had a bowl of chocolate.  After I played some pool with 3 other fellows and that was our day.

Saturday, January 11th

  Another sunny but cool day.  I think the overnight temp got down to the low 40's and while the sun warmed the day only made it to around 60.  Knowing the weather at home I am reluctant to complain, so we are happy.
  We took a bit of time to get organized this morning so did stuff around the house.  Marg did a load of laundry and had a friend come for a visit as well as use our wifi to get a software update for her telephone.  I went online to review the financial statements at our condominium.  One of our friends who are here last week [Bonnie] is on the audit committee with me and we reviewed the recent financials up to the end of November.  The December statement was completed late this week and this was my first opportunity to look at it.  As luck would have it, there were some questions and I put them together for the treasurer to provide a response or explanation.  Mostly it was]s about reporting issues that were unusual, the kind of thing we accountants have trouble with.  LOL  Our time line is fairly short for this as the annual general meeting to deal with the year end is in about 10 days. I went to get the mail and an odd thing, there was a personalized insurance solicitation with Marg's name and all on it.  The amount of data mining and sales of data is sure frustrating.
  After lunch we went out, first to the dealership.  We wanted a couple of things out of the truck and the staff on helped us once I established who I was and what I wanted.  On the way back we stopped at Fry's where Marg got quite a few groceries.  They had a big meat sale [buy one get one free] but when we checked it out we weren't impressed with it.  It appeared the cuts were funny shaped and were not appealing.  From our experience [at home] the cuts should not have had the amount of gristle and fat they had and they looked liked hunks of meat rather than roasts or steaks. The place was sure busy.  Our Basha store closed and Marg wanted to check out the new one which is a bit further away as she has always done well there with meat.  It wasn't as busy, but they also had a meat sale.  Basha's deal was something like 70% off and the steaks were very nice, New York cuts.  Marg picked up a few that were an inch or better thick, well trimmed and great value.  She thinks this is going to be her number one choice for groceries.
  Back home it took a while to put the groceries away.  She repacks the steaks as one will do for a meal for us.  Then I checked emails and had a response to my inquiries on the financial reports, so I corresponded with my audit partner to get the report completed.
  Supper tonight was bbq steak, baked potato, baked yam and cauliflower.  Very nice.

Friday, January 10th

Another cool day in the valley, although the sun shone brightly the temperature only reached up around 60 degrees.  Now while this is warmer than home, it is not the Arizona we signed up for.  LOL
  After breakfast I went out to look for the park maintenance people about the water I saw last night.  It turns out that one tenant left a hose on and there was not water line break.  Judging from the amount of water it must have been on a very long time.  When I got back we made up the bed in the Az room as Marg had already done the bedding, then we stripped our bed to change the bedding.  I had a call from the dealership, it seems the valve body has to go to Chrysler for the work to be approved because of the dollar value of the repair, so we will not get the truck until Monday.  I asked them why I couldn't just get a new transmission.  His reply was because of the cost, a transmission would be about $8,000 and Chrysler would not approve it.  The valve body is apparently $2,000. Marg had some visitors and I went over to Kenny's to discuss plans for supper tonight.  I think I ended up with a job in the process.  Kenny is chairman of the election committee and there is a committee rep on each block with our block having an opening.  I have every reason to believe there will be an election for the tenants association board to at least 2 positions this year, so may have a job out of it.  It involves canvassing the block to see if anyone is interested in running and then the committee puts forward a slate of candidates they nominate.  On election day, the chairman opens nominations from the floor where anyone can run.  Failing any then the slate is acclaimed.
  After lunch we went to Costco, big mistake on the weekend and that apparently includes Friday.  The parking lot was packed and there was a long line to get tot he exchange counter. She had the 2 pair of jeans I had picked up as well as the sweater she had.  While she was doing that I went for fuel, which was a madhouse, almost a traffic jam.  She made it through the refund counter and walked almost to gas bar by the time I was done.  It was the first time putting gas in the jeep, so I took my time in line to verify how to open the fuel door as I didn't want to be searching for it with lines of  unhappy people waiting. 
  After returning back to our place I played some pool in the park.  Marg finished up her laundry and had more visitors.  We sorted out our supper plans and one of our friends was driving his van.  It's not a normal van, rather its high roof with 3 rows of bucket seats, fairly deluxe.  We went back to the Red Mountain Cafe which is quite a ways from here.  We had the all-you-can eat cod at $10.99 each.  The fish was pretty good, not quite as good as the last time we went as the batter was crunchy, not entirely to our liking, but a fun evening with friends.  Not sure if we will be back.

Thursday, January 9th

A busy day, kind of fell asleep before doing the blog, so it's first thing Friday morning.
  Thursday morning we were up early and went to the coffee klatch.  The selection of donuts was still pretty good when our table was called, so that was fortunate.  There is an opportunity to pay for donuts and the table you are at is called first.  We discussed doing this at our table, which would be a first.  Usually it is an individual who buys, but we are going to do it for by the entire table.  We'll see if it comes off in two weeks.

  We were to return the rental car, a Jeep today.  But it didn't work out that way.  The dealership called to say the problem with our check engine light is in the transmission, so they are replacing the valve body in it.  If they have it in stock the truck should be ready Friday, otherwise it could be Monday.  Made a quick call to Enterprise so they don't think I stole the vehicle and they will be confirming the extension with the dealer.  The Jeep has California license plates, so now we are incognito as Californians.  Probably need to wear more gaudy beach clothes now.  The car is a Cherokee and one of the fuel saving features is the engine stops at traffic lights when my foot is on the brake pedal.  As soon as I lift if off the brake it starts right up again.  You just feel the car kind of shudder and away you go.  Comfortable little car though and sure is easy to park.  I tell people its army green, but Marg says its ugly green.  Hey I had a truck this color not all that long ago.
  After we went out to Costco.  Marg wanted a few things and we bought some jeans, a golf shirt and a top, but most of it is going back, so looks like another trip there Friday.  She got some food, some vitamin C drink and oh yes a bottle of 12 year Glenlivet.
  After lunch I took the roof off of the golf cart.  Since we bought it the roof has been installed backwards and it causes water to drain off on the front windshield when it rains.  We will see if it's any better once it rains.  It was kind of a pain to get it on correctly, I suspect it is not the correct one for this cart, but it worked out OK.
  By then it was time to drive Marg to the pickup point.  The gamblin' gals were off to Casino Arizona today for bingo and a few rolls on the slots.  There were 6 of them today, so I can only imagine the chatter in the car, well van actually.  They went for the late bingo so left here at 3:30 and never got home until 10, so I had to go pick them up at the gate.  That is one of the reasons for no blog as I wanted to be able to tell you they arrived with an armored Brinks truck to haul their loot.  Sadly that was not the case as there were no big winners among them today.
  For my part I chilled a bit, it was very cool with some rain coming in.  Then I went for happy hour, there were only 6 of us, a really small happy.  The wind came up and it started spitting rain, so we broke up early.  It never really rained much, more of a sprinkle.  Supper was a quick trip to the golden arches and a MacDonalds butter chicken burger combo.  It was pretty good, better than my cooking anyway. 
  Went to the animal races after supper and not as good a result as the last couple weeks.  The elephant only won once and I picked two other winners out of the 8 races.  Pretty much a donation night as well as being on the receiving end of the taunts by a couple of winners.  Maybe I should stop doing the happy dance when the elephant wins.   Ahhh, no but it's a thought.
  When I went out to pick up Marg I discovered a lot of water in the space between the south row and the fence that was flowing out on to the road.  It was late, but I went to see if the manager or maintenance guy was up.  Their places were all dark, so I will send a text message in the morning.

Wednesday, January 8th

A chilly night and it was still cool when I went out to take the truck in.  My service appointment was for 8 this morning at Courtesy CDJR of Superstition Springs.  I had the same service tech as before and he was very helpful.  When I said I needed a ride home, he called for a Lyft car.  The ride was confirmed on a text on my phone, then when the guy was out front I had another text.  After the ride I got a text asking me for feedback.  At the dealership I  had a coffee but could have had donuts or rolls as well.  The driver was very personable and it was a good outcome.
  I stopped in and chatted with Kenny for a bit.  He wants to put a top on his desk in the breezeway.  He mentioned formica or arborite, which would be good as long as it doesn't weather.  Could be OK in there, as long as it doesn't get wet.  Marg had visitors this morning as there was no vehicle on the driveway. 
  After lunch I went to play pool.  There were two tables going today and the one I played on had competitive games and a few laughs.  A bit of a different group today.  We had one older guy from Nevada who is very hard of hearing, but he can shoot pool pretty well.  About mid afternoon I got a call from the dealership saying my truck would not be done done today and that if I needed a vehicle they would arrange for one at Enterprise rental.  I cut my afternoon short and got a friend to drive me to the rental co.  True to their word a car was reserved for me.  There was a cost for it $7 per day.  It's an almost new Jeep [it had to be a Chrysler product as warranty was paying the bulk of it].  When I got home, I mentioned we had to pay for the insurance coverage.  Marg recalled in a meeting with our contact at the insurance agency we were told this was part of our policy.  So a quick trip back to the rental co where they took the insurance coverage off.
  Back to the park with a quick stop at Safeway en-route.  Marg needed a few things for later in the day as she had invited some gals for Margaritas.  Then back to the park where it was Gary's hamburgers for supper.  They were good as usual and it was nice to be on the other side of the counter for  a change.
  After hamburgers, Marg had 7 ladies over for Margaritas [Mango].  She is famous for these and no one passes them up.  I went to play poker nad started badly, but it came together in the last half of he game and came away a little better off than I started.
  Oh yes, the lemon brownies were excellent.