2012 July 05

            It was a pretty laid back 4^th for us.  We actually celebrated Independence Day on Saturday, June 30^th.  That was when all the activities and fireworks were at the resort.  On the 4^th there were things like three-legged races, pie eating contest and watermelon feed.  Both of us worked on the 4^th.  I worked 8 to 4:30 and Ella worked 5 to 8.  There was not much traffic at the gate for me.  Ella had a slow day also as no activities were scheduled at the Club House so it was mostly people coming in to swim in the indoor pool.  With the temperature hovering around one hundred, I would not have wanted to use the outdoor pools, but evidently I’m in the minority.  Only one new RV showed up while I was working.  Most of the activity was guests of campers coming in and needing directions to their site.  Being Wednesday, we went to Village Inn for free pie after Ella was off work.

            Today we took the new pots and pans set over to the Hitch Hiker and then went into town to Verizon.  We had gone slightly over the data on our air card this month and I wanted to see if a new plan would be better for us.  Our son-in-law works there and he agreed with our salesman that the plan we have for our phones is the best for us.  We did upgrade the data usage on the air card from 5G to 10G.  This past winter we hardly used the air card because we could use Cutty’s WiFi.  However, since the beginning of the camping season the signal strength has been to poor for us to use at our site.  I don’t know if it is because there are more RVs between us and the antenna, more people using the system or some other reason, but I miss using THEIR nickel instead of mine.

            While we were out, we also stopped at WalMart to get a phone charger cord for Ella’s phone.  Verizon had one but it was only about six inches long.  WalMart had a three foot cord.  Ella also purchased a couple of matching t-shirts for the great granddaughters.

            The plan is to stay inside with the air conditioning today and rest until this evening when we will be going to a visitation for our grandkids’ other grandmother.  She died a couple of days ago.  The funeral is tomorrow.  However, I will be having my knee surgery in the morning, so we will not be attempting to attend the funeral.

2012 July 3

            Today I go to the VA to see a cardiologist.  This is the last step needed before my surgery on the day after tomorrow.  While I am at the VA I will double check to make sure that all the test results have been faxed to the surgeon.  I will be surprised if they have.  I’ve ended up carrying the physical records with me from the VA to Iowa Ortho the first two times, because they had not been sent as requested.

            While I was at the VA last week I went to the people at Patient Records and signed the release forms so that I would be able to access all my medical history/records on line through the VA website.  Hopefully, when that step is complete (which it wasn’t as of yesterday), I can immediately update any doctor that I see in the future.

           

            Yesterday, Monday, was a day off for both Ella and I.  As a special treat, we got to see Charlotte and Lorelei in the morning when Linnea brought them out to go swimming.  Then in the afternoon Adam and Leigha came with Tate and Emery for a visit as they were passing through to Colorado.  Tate and Emery have started swimming lessons and I was surprised in how much they have learned since they were here last.

            Adam brought a juicer for me.  I was going to borrow his while he was on vacation.  However, instead, he brought one for me to keep.  It is a used one and very much like the one I used to have.  He also gave me some recipes along with some advice to stop eating meat for a few days before I started juicing.  I think that he is under the impression that I am planning to do nothing but juicing.  That isn’t my plan at all.  I intend to replace a meal and a snack a day with juice.

            On a related note, when I was at the doctor’s in January I weighted 297 pounds, which is pretty normal for me.  For many years now, I’ve weighed a little more or a little less than 300.  This last week when I was at the doctors I weighed 285 with clothes, shoes and cane in hand.  Yesterday evening I weighted myself at home sans clothing at 284.5.  I don’t know what to expect about my activity level in the short term after the knee surgery.  I am, however, hoping that after it heals I will be able to do more walking, which I haven’t been doing for quite a while now.  I also don’t know what type of physical therapy, if any, I will be doing.

            One more item can be crossed off my list of things to do before going to Texas this winter.  I bought a set of pots and pans to go in the Hitch Hiker.  It is an 18 Piece Wolfgang Puck set. 6 of the 18 pieces are utensils and pieces 5 are lids.  There are also 3 skillets, 2 sauce pans, a stockpot and a chef’s pot.  I’m not really sure what the chef’s pot is for.  It looks like a large mixing bowel but it has the heavy base to be used on the stove.  I suppose I’ll use it like a wok and for cooking spaghetti.  Everything is nice heavy stainless steel.  I, of course, have several cast iron skillets already in the Hitch Hiker.  I also purchased a set of mixing bowls for the Hitch Hiker.  They are a heavy melamine with a silicone ring on the bottom which keeps them from sliding.  They also have snap on plastic lids.  And most importantly, they nest nicely in the cupboard.  This is the second set of them that I’ve purchased.  The first ones were so nice that instead of putting them in the Hitch Hiker for future use, I kept them in the Excel to use this summer.  Next on my list of items for the Hitch Hiker are a Mr. Coffee coffee maker and a toaster.

            I’m getting excited about spending the winter in Texas and seeing kids and grandkids that I’ve spent too little time with.  I’m also a little anxious because we haven’t been putting the savings away like we should.  It’s going to take a fair amount of cash to haul the Hitch Hiker down there.  Also, we don’t have a clear destination yet.  The working plan is to get into the Austin / Cedar Park area and find a Corp of Engineers or State park where we can stay while looking for a nice, reasonably priced RV park where we can have a long term site for the winter months and have a place to store the fifth wheel during the summer.  The hope is that we won’t have to drag it back and forth.

            Maybe we can do some workcamping to make the dollars stretch further.  Since we’ll be there over Christmas, maybe I can get a gig as Santa.  Anybody know of job openings for Santa’s in Austin / Cedar Park?