Town Hall Meeting and Arizona Propane

These two things - a morning Town Hall and an afternoon going nuts with an Arizona Propane office worker - took up the majority of the day.  

The RV park, when we bought our site in May, was owned and governed by the developer.  The sites are all sold now and the developer has stepped out of the picture (with lots of $$ in his pocket) and we are now on our own as a co-op government.  The first order of business is to elect a Board of Directors, Section Reps, Advisory Board, etc.  Today we had the first of what we think will be many Town Hall meetings.  The agenda was to listen to the candidates who are running for the five member Board of Directors.  There were eleven candidates and next week we will elect five of them to lead us.  We were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly things went and at the quality of the candidates.  It's going to be interesting to see how everything moves forward as we govern with a democratically elected board. We do already have one objection to the process - the current by-laws call for one vote per site not per person.  Some folks own multiple sites (and rent them for income) and therefore will have more votes.  We shall see how that goes.  It's a good start, though, to a self governing co-op.

This afternoon I was reconciling my "checkbook" with the banks and credit cards and as always there's at least one issue.  Today it was Arizona Propane.  They service the RV park - they come three days a week and if you need propane you put out a sign and they stop and fill your tanks.  (This keeps Roger from having to do the heavy lifting of taking out the tank, putting it in the truck, going somewhere to fill it, then returning it and lifting the full tank into the bay on the side of the RV.)  Well, my accounts weren't balancing and each card I reconciled did not have a charge for any propane.  I kept moving the charges to another card thinking I put them on the wrong one.  By the time I had done all three I realized that we have not been charged and I had no idea what card I had given them when we opened the account.  I called the main number.  It was over half an hour before I gave up.  

What's your billing address?  Sparks, NV.  We don't service in Nevada.  No, that's the billing address for the account.  We are in Desert Gardens RV park outside of Florence.  Ok, what name is the account in?  Roger Keith.  No account.  Look under Keith Roger because sometimes the names get put in backward.  No account.  Look under my name.  No account.  Tell me again where you are.  What site are you in?  What type of building do you have?  We have an RV.  Oh, well, when do you want us to deliver? and on and on and on.  She asked me three times when I wanted propane delivered.  Look, I just want to know why my card hasn't been charged for propane service and if you could give me the card number's last four digits.  Well, we are behind in our billing but I think I have your account here now.  It looks like the last four are xxxx.  OK, thanks,  I'll just wait until you get caught up on your billing.  I just couldn't talk to her any more.  Then I went to our wallets and looked at all of our cards.  We don't have a card with the number she gave me.  So, what do we do now?  

Unfortunately, this has been typical in dealing with this company.  I set up the account easily but Roger called several times because they didn't stop and fill our tanks.  We put out their neon orange sign so the driver could see it.  Others on the street would get delivery but we didn't.  Rog got the same run around about the account and kept being told that they couldn't send anyone out.  So, until this month, he was taking the tank somewhere himself.  We decided to put it out one day this month and the guy stopped.  Same thing today.  No problem.  I don't know who is paying our bill or even if anyone is.  I think this is going to be an on-going issue.  

Rog worked in the shop  and at the park's wood shop this afternoon, but, he too, had a frustrating day.  The wood he cut in the wood shop was off square by about an eighth of an inch   because the chop saw blade was out of alignment by about one degree.   So, he's got to reconfigure the whole project to fit what he ended up with.  

That's about it from here.  

Super Blue Moon Tomorrow

This evening, though, it is just a beautiful moon.  

We went into Casa Grande today to get items for projects.  I got yarn at Michael's and Roger got wood at Lowe's.  With an obligatory stop at the Culver's Frozen Custard on the way out of town, we had a nice afternoon out.  

That's about all that is going on here.  The wind finally stopped and people came out of their RVs today.  The walking path was busy with people and dogs this morning.   It got over 80 degrees this afternoon and the forecast is for more days like this.  Oh, darn ;-)  

I told myself when it got too cold to go to water exercise that when it got back up to over 80 for several days in a row I would start going back.  Looks like that time has come - I just need to do it.  

Why can't I go chase those squirrels?

Maggie is Back to Her Normal Pesky Self

Whatever it was that got to Maggie yesterday seems to have disappeared. She wants to eat anything and everything.  She wants to play ball. She wants to sniff out ground squirrels and she has to be in my lap when I am working on the computer.  Yep, back to normal.  

Lots of sightings of our hawk today.  It was pretty busy hunting.   It probably has a nest with some babies to feed.  It really was awesome watching it riding the wind today with it's tail and wings totally spread out.  It is so beautiful - as long as it stays away from Maggie.  

No walk today - WIND.   

We went to Walmart this morning to get Roger some puzzles to work on.  He spent the afternoon in the shed listening to his book and working on one of them when he wasn't taking Maggie out for walks.

I did some computer work - trying to move files around so they are more organized and retrievable.  When we got the new phones the other day we switched carriers and needed to show a copy of Roger's DD214 which says he was in the military to get a 15% discount to vets.  I have scanned them in and put them in "the cloud" for just such an event.  Well, do you think I could retrieve it?  One of the reasons we were there so long was me trying to find it, retrieve it and email it to the clerk who was helping us.  Fortunately she was young and tech savvy and was able to get a copy for their records.  I also did some software updates and some shopping this afternoon.

I found rings that we both like and ordered them today.  They are coming from a jeweler in New York through Amazon (of course).  It'll be a week or so before we get them.  Yellow gold and cobalt two-toned bands.  Supposedly hand made. We had to do a little research on the cobalt as we had never heard of it being material used for jewelry.  Turns out it is an up and coming thing like titanium and tungston rings.  More durable than gold and sterling silver but looks like white gold.  So, sure hope we like them once they get here.  

I took the rug we have down in the living room outside today and scrubbed it down after yesterday's doggie tummy upset.  It looks like it will be ok and the spots did come out.  We are letting it dry in the sun and wind.  I really soaked it so it will be tomorrow before it's completely dry.  Maggie doesn't like the bare floor so we need to get it back down soon.   

Hoping for a walk tomorrow.  It's supposed to be another beautiful day minus the wind.  

Maggie's Feeling a Little Under the Weather This Afternoon

Poor Maggs - had a tummy upset this afternoon.  She had several bouts of vomiting and didn't know what was going on.  She was sure she had done something bad. She was very confused.   She's now had a small portion of white rice with some chicken broth (which I had to borrow) on it to help settle her stomach and her tail is occasionally wagging.  She's curled up in her bed right now and we will keep our eyes on her.  We have no idea what she got a hold of but she does like to "hoover" things when she is out walking.  

It was a windy day - 15+mph winds all day.  But...the sun was shining and it almost made it to 80 degrees.  Maggie and I did go walking this morning - had to force myself out there.  Tomorrow it's supposed to be worse - 35-40mph winds.  I just might not make the walk in the morning.  We shall see.  Right now - at 6pm it is dead calm.  Go figure.  

A neighbor across the street whose husband is away for a couple of weeks on business,  took her bike out to ride the paths this morning - for the first time.  She saw Roger when he had Maggs out and said, "if I'm not back in an hour come look for me."  Well, we didn't see her come back so he took off on his bike in the wind and spent 45 minutes or so looking for her.  He got home and went to her motorhome and knocked on the door.  She was home.  She had put her bike in her shed so we didn't see it.  So, Roger did his good deed for the day, earned some karma points for sure, and got a cardio workout at the same time as it was a tough ride in that wind.  

Sunday afternoon laundry - just me and the washers/dryers.  It's a good time to go.  People must have better things to do.   I took my iPad and wireless keyboard and answered emails.  Very productive couple of hours.  Rog and Maggie watched a movie and went for a walk while I was gone.  

No plans yet for tomorrow.  Shall see how our puppy is feeling and what the wind is doing.  

Dinner With Friends

Our friends, Lert and Lona, treated us to a Chinese dinner and surprised us with a "wedding" cake for our 50th anniversary.  I had told Lona the story of our marriage day and that it didn't include any of the usual activities such as a cake.  She decided we needed one tonight!  

What a sweet gesture.  We enjoyed the evening very much.

We went to the Safeway pharmacy this morning and Rog got started on his meds. His face is hurting, but he should now be on the road to recovery. 

Otherwise it was just a quiet day being at home.  We had a hawk sighting but it was after a dove and not Maggie this time. 

A Crazy Couple of Days

We are still seeing the hawk every day but it hasn't gone after Maggie again.  It did go after a neighbor across the street who has a smaller dog, but weirdly enough it flew past the dog and buzzed the woman.  Today we watched it fly low over our RV heading west over the RV park.  Maybe there's a nest somewhere that direction?  Rog did fuss at me today, though, because I left Maggie outside while he was gone and I was inside.  I obviously wasn't thinking and put Maggie in harm's way.  

Yesterday we went to Tucson.  To Davis-Monthan AFB to be exact.  We wanted to go to the base exchange.  We are looking for new wedding bands to celebrate our 50 years together and the promise of many more to come.  We thought we could find them there and not have to pay tax.  Well, it didn't work out.  We did see some we liked but they had nothing in our sizes in stock.  So, that was a wasted effort.  We will be on the lookout and get them one of these days.  

We wandered around the store and picked up a few things we needed and then we saw the cell phone kiosk.  Roger has been looking at new phones for a few months.  His is very old and hasn't enough memory to update any apps or operating systems.  He's several years behind the curve.  Well, they were having a special deal (nice size rebates) if we switched carriers (which we had been discussing doing for a while).  So, several hours later we walked out with new phones.  It took forever.  Rog says it is like buying a car only you have no place to sit down while they are processing all the paperwork and setting up accounts and doing whatever they do to the phones.  We ended up in the furniture section nearby sitting on a couch along with another couple who were doing the same thing.  

We had also planned on going to a wood place to get some wood for Roger's next project but we never made it.  It's almost a two hour drive from here to Tucson and we had left Maggie at home, of course.  We left at 9:30am and it was 3pm when we left the base.  Fortunately, I had asked our walking buddy to give Maggie her lunch and take her out after.  I texted that we would be late and she was good enough to come over and take Maggs out, give her a treat, and then sit with her til we got home.  She and Maggie bonded - and she's not a dog person.   

The evening was spent updating our new devices -  Roger in particular, because the leap forward in the technology made his phone almost unrecognizable to him.  With my iPhone I was pretty much caught up with the latest updates, so there wasn't much I had to mess with. Today, though, I spent a couple hours trying to connect our wireless printer.  It had been connected to our old hotspots on the phone but they were now gone.  It took a while, and some frustration, but I finally got all the devices talking to it and it talking to the WIFI.  

Rog got up this morning with the beginnings of a shingles/ herpes outbreak on his right cheek.  He's had the issue in the past but it's been over ten years since his last outbreak.  He had no meds with him for it, so he got to go to the local urgent care today.  He said it wasn't bad - he was the only one there - in and out.  But...it was a two hour wait at the Safeway pharmacy.  We will go get his meds tomorrow morning.  

We sat outside in the sunshine this afternoon and visited with a neighbor for a while.  We are supposed to have another beautiful day tomorrow and Sunday, but then high winds are predicted for Monday and Tuesday.  :-(



  

A Dull Day After Yesterday's Excitement

No hawks looking at Maggie for lunch today.  We didn't even see it, but our neighbor two doors down did.  It apparently sat on the fence behind his RV for a long time today.  Maggie and I were watching out the back window for it to come get some of the ground squirrels but we never saw it.  

Windy AGAIN.  Fortunately, though, it was fairly warm today so Maggie and I got our walk this morning.  The gusts weren't strong enough to blow sand around but it was whistling in my ears as I walked, and Maggie's ears were flapping like Dumbo's.

We cleaned house after lunch since we had to stay inside.  Even Roger, who sits outside in the sun whenever possible, couldn't sit out today.  He did spend some time in the shop coming up with a list of the wood he needs to buy for his next project.  We are going into Tucson tomorrow and there's a Woodcraft store where he can go shopping.  I messed about cleaning up my spreadsheet for the budget and getting more accounts to download automatically to Quicken.   Then I read for a couple hours when I wasn't watching for hawks until it was time to make dinner.  

Like I said in the title - a rather dull day.

Maggie Was on the Lunch Menu Today

This big, beautiful bird of prey - we think it's a red tailed hawk - came swooping down on Maggie this afternoon while she was out on the patio!  Rog had her outside on the leash and had attached the leash to a chair while he was getting something out of the basement.  He said he saw something out of the corner of his eye as it came within 10 feet of Maggie.  He ran over and grabbed her and the hawk swerved off and flew away.  It landed in some trees behind us and I tried to get pictures with my phone.  I didn't get any good shots - all fuzzy.  (I'm thinking my photo days are over unless I use a tripod.)   I managed to spook it about the time Rog went inside for his camera and he then followed it and found it perched on a big saguaro. It was quite a sight! The wingspan on this guy was huge!  Rog thought at first it might be an eagle but it has the bright red tail feathers of a hawk.  Later we saw it go swooping past the RV looking for dinner.  The berm behind us is full of ground squirrels and I'm sure it was hunting again.  Maggie must have looked like a Whopper compared to the Single Patty ground squirrel!  It was all pretty exciting.

It was a bit warmer today but the wind was back.   We waited until mid afternoon for a walk and Roger went with us today!  He was hurting by the time we got back, but he made it all the way.  

We did go into town and get our "ears lowered."  We are now well groomed for the time being.  

We finished the season of Longmire last night.  I was a bit disappointed in the end but it is still one of our favorite series.  On to season three of Madame Secretary.  We've got a lot of catching up to do.

Taxes and Scaveging the Burn Pile

It was another cool day - high 50s after a close to freezing morning low.  The sun was out most of the day and, if dressed properly, it was fairly comfortable.  

Maggie and I had a walk this morning without our walking buddy (she is out of town for a couple days) and we took the path that was a bit longer than our usual one.  We did it in the same amount of time, though, as our walking buddy has arthritis issues and is a slower walker.   While we were out, I spotted some cholla and saguaro skeleton pieces on the burn pile where the grounds keepers throw the detritus from their efforts at keeping the path and grounds cleaned up. I convinced Roger we needed to take the truck and go get some of them to complement our cacti and boulders.  We found a few interesting shaped pieces and brought them home and added them to our yard decor.   

An order for some peel and stick tiles to make a backsplash behind the stove came in today.  The order had six tiles.  We are one short!  Now we have to get another package of six to fill in the blank spot!  Oh well, we will find a place to use the remainder, I'm sure.  If not in the RV, at home.  

I started the turbo tax thing today!  Oh, does that make the neck muscles tighten!  I'm always so afraid of making a mistake.  One mistake I did make last year - not doing it on-line - cost me a lot of time this afternoon filling in all the basic information that in the past autofilled from the year before.   I've learned my lesson - don't download and e-file.  Do it on- line.  I'll need to get back to it in about a week as some of the information is not yet out there.  

Roger is letting his beard grow back - it's looking good!

Tomorrow - haircuts for both of us.  I'm not sure what else will be on the agenda.  We are expecting one more cool day and then the temps are supposed to be back up into the low 70s during the afternoons.  

Yep, Groceries and Laundry Today!

The prediction was correct - it turned out to be a day busy with going to get groceries (32 mile round trip) and doing laundry (2 hours in the laundry room watching the clothes spin in the dryers for 40 minutes).

We left right after the morning walk so we could stop at a local cafe for something to eat before hitting the grocery store.  We found this place a week or so ago - little cafe in a strip mall next to an urgent care and Dollar General.  Good food, good service, and something on the menu we can eat.  Well, we forgot it was Sunday - even with our day clock we still have a problem knowing what day it is - and the place was packed.  We stuck it out, though, waiting outside in the sunshine for a table and then it seemed forever for food.  We won't make that mistake again - lots of older folks in there for Sunday brunch - and one fussy baby.  We will have to make groceries on another day of the week or find somewhere else to eat before we go.

It was a cold start to the morning and it felt weird to be bundled up for the walk.  The sun was shining and it really was a nice walk.  Temps got up to about 55 today but warmer weather is in the forecast.  

Maggie has made more friends here than Roger or me.  She greets everyone on the trail and now people are bringing dog treats with them to give her.  She knows who they are and can spot them a long way off!  They all stop and talk to her, she sits pretty, and they give her a treat and then she begs for more.  She's quite the scrounger!  

We Did Get Some Rain Today as Promised

It turned out to be a perfect day for staying inside and catching up on computer work.  It was 56 degrees when Rog got up at 7am and the highest we saw on our thermometer all day was 59.  There was a nice gentle rain all afternoon which was the best thing for our new plants.  Tonight we are supposed to be near freezing and tomorrow about the same temps as today - only with sunshine.

Part of my afternoon was spent on Google looking up the name of the cactus from the list the nursery gave us and downloading a photo of it.  Of course none really looked like ours, as the photos are of mature plants and I still had trouble figuring out which plant matched which name.  I think I've got it now though.  I ordered some plant identifier stakes like you see in botanical gardens so I can label them.  Otherwise I would never know the name of most of them.  Some are obvious, of course - prickly pear, saguaro, and agave.  The problem is there are several varieties of prickly pear and agave.  The saguaro isn't a problem figuring out. 

A neighbor told me about an app for the phone called PlantSnap.  It is supposed to be able to identify plants when you take a photo of them and upload it.  It is $3.99 and the jury is out on whether it’s worth it.  We just put in 16 cacti (14 varieties) here on our lot.  I have a list of the names, but can’t match them up, so thought this would work to help me identify what I have.  Well, the app didn’t work very well yesterday - hence the time spent on Google today.  This morning, on my walk, I used it and it identified three species of cactus right away.  They were mature - my plants are babies.  Maybe that’s the issue.  

I also spent time downloading updates for all the electronic devices as well as cleaning out and answering emails.  It was a pretty productive day for me.

After Roger made a batch of brownies, he spent a lot of time bundled up in the shop with a space heater, listening to his current story and working on a puzzle.  

Maggie went from the back of one couch to the back of the other watching out the windows for critters. 

Tomorrow will be quite exciting - groceries and laundry!

It's feeling like home now

After three days of being inside because of gale force winds, today was wonderfully calm and warm.  Maggie and I were back to our walk routine this morning and it felt very good to get out and move about.  

We spent most of the day sitting outside in the sun and visiting with the neighbors who came over to tell us what a great job we did with the landscaping.  It made us feel good.  Now two of our neighbors are raring to go to get their lots finished up.  One lady across the street took photos of the plants to take with her to a nursery!  Our projects are done for the year, but Roger is already talking about a few things we might do next year! 

We enjoyed the sun, warm temps, and no wind today because now the forecast forecast for the next three days is very cold nights and only 50 degrees during the day.  Roger will probably sit outside with his hooded sweatshirt and plug into his audible book in the sunshine when he isn't in the shop, but I'll be inside after my walk.  He's not working on any projects right now but is anxious to start a new one.  He can now watch woodworking youtube videos to his heart's content to get some ideas.  I'm teaching myself a new crochet stitch - what I'll make is anyone's guess.  

Oh, it was so nice last night to have Netflix back!  Rog got the Roku hooked up and we watched "Longmire."  We had to go back to last season and watch the last episode to refresh our memories and then we watched the first episode of this season. We have so much catching up to do on that series and several others.  There will be no more sitting here in the evenings flipping through the over-the-air channels looking for something that might entertain us.  At two hours a night, we have plenty of things to watch.

Up until a week or so ago we hadn't seen any ground squirrels.  Last March there were hundreds.  Maggie has been able to be off leash and she has been good about staying in her yard.  They are back and taunting her.  She sits on the back of the couch looking out the window and they sit on the berm behind us and she just gets her little shorts in a knot.  We can't open the door without hooking her up to the leash, nor can we unhook her until we get back inside or she takes off like a predator after prey!  She did find one hole that she dug out enough to get her body half way into before I dragged her away.  Sadly (for her and for us), her days of freedom are over. 

It feels good to get back to the blog.  During the three week hiatus we didn't have much going on anyway.  Now we are back; to rambling on about not much!!  Stay tuned.  

We are back at last!

We have internet!  Yay!  We can now blog to my heart's content and upload as many photos as we want.  We've got some catching up to do for sure. 

We also have landscaping, a patio, and a shed.  So this post will be photos of those projects and We will later catch up on the news of the last three weeks - not that there is much.   


Our lot/site projects are finally done and we happy with the results.  We have 14 cacti planted on three little mounds and two just in the open area.  I'm told they will be slow growers and should be ok during the summer when we aren't here.  Let's hope we don't have to replace any of them.  The palo verde tree was already on the lot.  

Last March when we bought the empty lot.

Today with patio, shed, and landscaping completed.

View from RV steps towards road.

A New Year Awaits

Happy New Year.  May 2018 be a good one!  

We haven’t been up to much lately but enjoying the weather.  40s at night and the last few days in the mid 70s with sunshine.  I take my walk around the perimeter with Maggie about 9 (I’ve got a neighbor going with me) and I dress for the 55 degrees and by the time I’m back 45 minutes later I’ve discarded my sweatshirt.  It’s pretty awesome being able to enjoy this weather - especially as we see the news about the horrible cold that the midwest and east are having.  Saying our thanks that we are here that’s for sure.  Our RV shades the whole patio in the mornings and it’s a bit cool for sitting out there, but we have a couple of chairs set up at the rear of the rig that gets the morning sun.  In the afternoons we do sit out on the patio area.  We even had lunch outside the other day.  It felt so good.  

We are going to a nursery this week on the 5th to pick out the15 plants for our lot.  All cactus.  The landscaper put $400 into the budget for the plants and he wants to use 15.  If we spend more, of course, we will owe him more.  Just not sure at this point what we will get, but we have been walking around the RV park checking out people’s yards.  I definitely know the ones I don’t want!!!  So, we pick them out, the nursery sets them aside and then the landscaper picks them up the day before he comes.  Right now we are scheduled for the week of the 15th for the work to be done.   I’m having trouble picturing the whole set up, but I’ve been assured it will be nice.  He kept saying he would make the yard “cute.”   I kept saying, “I don’t want cute.  I want aesthetically pleasing with curb appeal.”  Shall see what we get. 

I found the greatest hummingbird feeders here at that old fashioned hardware store in town.  They are small.  I’ve got two - one hanging from the other.  They each only have one opening.  We aren’t allowed to feed any critters other than the hummers.  I guess the bird seed would encourage pests.  That’s ok, I’m happy with watching the hummers feed and the woodpeckers try.  I hung a small birdbath nearby and keep it filled with water for the other birds to drink.  So far I’ve only seen the woodpeckers and cactus wren, but they do come in for a sip now and then.  Haven’t seen anyone “bathing.”  

We’ve given up trying to live without the internet and only use our cell phone’s data.  Two months and we really can’t stand it any more!  We don’t want to use the park’s wifi as there is a lot of traffic which makes the wifi pretty slow, so we are opting for an individual antenna that we will mount on the shed and modem/router that we will put inside shed.  Our neighbor just did this set up and he is very pleased.  We are waiting for an install date.  Can’t wait.  Netflix, AcornTV, Amazon, and Ancestry, here we come!  We are waiting for a phone call to schedule installation.  Hopefully it won’t be too far down the road.  

We had a quiet evening at home last night - as usual.  There was a dinner dance at the activities center with a disc jockey.  We were not at all interested.  We are always in bed at our usual bedtime on New Year’s Eve.  We did hear fireworks from somewhere at midnight but not sure where they came from.  I thought here, but people I talked with today said they didn’t think so.  At least Maggie was not freaked out as our previous dog, Sara, would have been.  Maggs and Roger slept right through it.  

I’ve been suffering with some gastro issues - some major heartburn.  We are adjusting my diet to see if we can’t calm it down.  I’m missing my sweets and chocolate already and it’s only been two days.  Good start, I guess, on losing weight for the new year!  Unless, of course, I make up for it in sheer volume!  

My friend, Lona, and I are planning a trip into Casa Grande on Wednesday to the JoAnn Fabrics in search of yarn for our projects.  Should be a fun outing.   That and our trip to Mesa on the 5th to get plants will be the excitement for the week.

Beautiful super moon tonight over the desert!  

Here is my view at dinner from the dining room table.  It looks like this almost every night.  It doesn't get old!