Working on Projects This Last Week

Here are the photos from the Animal Park trip I promised.  I'm a bit late getting them posted but haven't had anything worthwhile to write about so had forgotten to upload them from Steph's text message to post them.  We are quite the group, no?  

This has been a busy week although we haven't done any tourist stuff or gone anywhere exciting.  We got the new satellite dish settled in and working only to discover we had forgotten that we don't watch TV at home as it is aired, but we record our programs so we can zap through the commercials and watch them later in the evening while something else is recording.  Oh dear, the new receiver didn't have recording capabilities.   We watched TV for two nights and went crazy! How much time is wasted every evening sitting and waiting through muted commercials? Way too much!!! Rog found a solution - for a one time fee to Dish and an attached hard drive we could record our shows.  Yay!  But, 1) added expense, and 2) you can't watch anything else while it is recording! Oh, well, such is life. Better than commercials or no TV and worth the effort and expense to come close to a good viewing experience.  It took a couple of hours of Roger's time and effort to get everything set up once we found the external hard drive that would work with the system.  Now we have to plan our evenings around recording and watching.  I can tell it won't be long before we have more to watch than time available when we are not recording.

Our biggest project this week was making a "patio" with shade. Our site is wide open and has direct sun on the door side all day. This is good when it is cold because it warms up the RV - no so much when it is above 75 when it heats up the RV!  We like to sit outside for lunch and Roger sits outside as much as he can and listens to his audio books or just putters around.  I have to cover up to sit in the sun and then it's too hot, so I find myself inside a lot.  (Although it does give us space and time away from each other!!) To find shade we had to go sit under the overhang in the front of the RV or over on the sewer side.  Neither spot is optimal as one site allows for bonking of the head if you forget you are under there, and, the other is a view that isn't very pleasant all the while intruding on our next door neighbor's space.

So,  we opted for a portable canopy for shade and an additional rug to enlarge our footprint.  As you can see, this still left us with afternoon sun since it is low in the sky this time of year and with limited shade.  The table was shaded at lunch time, but by late afternoon no shade under the canopy. 

Yesterday we went to Home Depot and bought some sun screening that they use in plant nurseries.  We bought a roll and I made curtains for the two most sunny sides of the canopy!  It's been so nice having a place to sit when we come back from our walk and to sit at the picnic table for lunches!! As the days get longer maybe we will be able to have dinner out there, too.  I don't feel so out in the open when I sit out there now and have some feeling of privacy.  I'm a lot more comfortable.   This just might work out!!!

We think we have the credit card issue squared away and Target has given us a year of free credit reports and fraud protection through Experian.  I think we will be luckier than most who got caught up in the debacle.    

We had a recall on the truck and that turned out to be a non problem but used up most of an afternoon.  Our recalled part didn't need to be replaced so we lucked out there. 

I've been saving my allowance since the new iPhones came out in Sept.  I soooo wanted one!   I finally found a vendor who had a 32GB gold one in stock!!! I've been having fun playing with it. iPhone to iPhone made for a very smooth transition and I am having a blast with Siri!!!  Now I need to sell my old one and recoup some of the cost.  

We are spending a bit of time outside with the other Maggie and her people (the shrine people).  He is an inspiration.  Wounded in Vietnam at 20 - only survivor in a mortar attack. He's 65 now. Spinal cord injury and lots of his insides are missing.  He's had cancers related to Agent Orange and is in pretty poor shape with infections all the time because he has no spleen.  He whips around in his wheel chair and is outgoing, sociable, and just enjoys every day.  He talks of their plans for traveling in the next five years and is so upbeat. It makes us and our everyday whining about our ache "de jour" seem pitiful!  I'm not sure I would have his attitude with his issues.  In addition, she is incredible as well and seems to just go with the flow.  They make one re-evaluate a lot of things!! 

We enjoy your comments and are glad to get them - it means someone is still checking up on us even though the postings have been so far apart.   Thanks for keeping tabs on us.