2012 August 1 & 2

2012 August 1

            I juiced a peach, an apple, an orange, a kiwi, and a half dozen strawberries.  When I tasted it, it seemed really sweet so I juiced a small cucumber into the mix.  Not bad.  But mostly it tasted like a really sweet cucumber.  (Grin)

            As I was leaving for work this morning I noticed a tomato had fallen off of the bush.  So, I said to myself, “I’ll just take that and eat it as a snack this morning.”  When I picked it up I realized that some other creature had the same idea.  I don’t know whether to blame a rabbit or a ground squirrel.  Actually I don’t mind sharing this one.  I just don’t want them to think that I’m running an all-you-can-eat buffet.   I know that they make rabbit proof fences.  I’m not sure if they make squinny proof fences.

            I ordered the “Guide to Free Campgrounds” book from RVBookstore.com.  That is just another step in being ready to head south to Texas this fall.  We intend to take our time on the way down and maybe do a little sight seeing.  The book is supposed to have a huge list of campsites under $12.00 a night plus detailed instructions on how to find them.  One night of free camping would pay for the book.

            Ella brought lunch to me: Fresh tomato wedges (from our ‘garden’) and a baked potato with cheese and ham topping.

            Ella has been busily buying Christmas presents.  Some will be taken to Texas for Christmas in December.  Some will stay in Iowa for next year’s Christmas in July with the family here.  Now we just have to wrap and remember which gifts stay and which ones go.

            Speaking of Christmas in Texas, do any of you know of anyone who will need a Santa at Christmas time in the Austin / Cedar Park area?  I charge $50 and hour with a one hour minimum.  I would also like to volunteer (free) as Santa for a worthy charity or two.

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            Time passes

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            After work, I took the truck to the body shop so that they can fix the Opps!  Enterprise Rent a Car had a car waiting for me at the body shop.  I had requested a PT Cruiser or an HHR because I knew that I could get in and out of them easily.  Being over six foot tall and around 275 pound, (check my “Tracking my Weight” page) I have trouble getting behind the wheel of some cars.  For instance the Grand Prix.  I don’t have enough joints in my body to be able to fit in the driver’s seat of that model.  Well … Enterprise didn’t have and of the requested vehicles. (Why they didn’t say that when it was requested … I don’t know)  So, what I ended up with is a Chrysler 200.  It is a nice enough vehicle with plenty of leg and head room.  It just isn’t easy getting in and out of.  I guess it’s true; You Can’t Always Get What You Want.

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            More Time Passes it is now August 2, 2012

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            Shortly after eight this morning Ella and I took a road trip.  The rental car has unlimited miles and gets MUCH better gas mileage than the nine mpg I get with the truck.  We had one stop to make.  We were to go to son-in-law Rob’s work and pick up a blood pressure cuff that Ella had loaned Linnea.  We arrived an hour early at the store … so we moved on.  Because the only direction we could turn, as we left the store’s drive, was south; we drove south.  We drove south until we came to a T intersection and then we drove east.  (This is how the rest of the day went … unplanned wandering)  We ended up following highway 69 from Des Moines to Osceola.  It was a very pleasant drive through some lovely rolling hills in southern Iowa.  Once in Osceola we were only about thirty miles from where Ella’s sister Mary lives outside of Creston.  So we started heading that way.  Ella tried calling Mary but didn’t get any answer.  But we continued in that direction anyway.

            The small town of Afton is along the way and Ella wanted to drive through there and see if she could find houses that she remembered from her childhood.  Then we once again headed toward Creston.  At this point, since we hadn’t been able to make contact with Mary, we could have changed direction.  However, it was approaching lunch time and I remembered that there is a Pizza Ranch restaurant in Creston that has very good fried chicken, we continued into Creston and had lunch.

Pizza Ranch's story

Ella becoming aware that I was about to take her picture

The remains of the meal 

            As we were finishing lunch, Mary called.  She had gotten Ella’s voice mail.  When she heard that we were at the Pizza Ranch in Creston, she said to stay put and she’d come back into town.

            She did and the sisters had a nice long visit while the restaurant went from very busy to nearly empty.  Mary invited us to go to her home but Ella had to be at work at five so we declined.  As it turned out, because I like wandering back roads, we ended up going less than a mile from her house on the way back.

            We got back home around four.  We had left the windows open and the a/c off when we left in the morning.  It was 96 outside and 100 inside when we got home.  We quickly closed windows and turned the a/c on. 

            Since Ella was going to be working at the clubhouse (which has laundry facilities) and we had about a week and a half of dirty laundry, we got the laundry ready to take with us.  At this point our friend Stoney  (Tom Stone) called to see if we were home.  He is preaching at our worship service this Sunday and had information for me to put in the bulletin.  (I create the bulletin and email it to our home church for the secretary to print).

He came with the information.  I did my thing and got it emailed out.  In the mean time Ella walked over to work.

            Once I had everything done with the bulletin, I loaded up the laundry and took it to the clubhouse where I washed, dried, and folded the clothes.  By the time the laundry was done, it was nearly time for Ella to be off work at eight.

            We came home to a nice cool RV and I typed this post.

THE END

2012 July 31

            Monday afternoon did include a nap (see previous post).  It also included a trip to our Hitch Hiker fifth wheel in the storage area. We needed to take somethings* that will be going to Texas with us and put them in the HH.  *The George Forman Grill that we just purchased along with a toaster and a Christmas wreath that we bought at Goodwill a couple days ago.

            While we were in the storage area, Ella asked, “Would you like to take a drive?”  So we drove to son John’s house.  We arrived just after he did (we saw him drive in his drive just ahead of us) and before his wife, Dawn got home from work.  Ella said that the reason for the drive was so she could see the rose bushes that John and Dawn had planted.  However, everyone knew that the real reason for the drive was so that she could ask John if he would work on our truck.  John is a professional mechanic and gives us the family discount.  (To be fair, I did ask if he would rather do the job at home or should we take it into the shop where he works.  He said that we couldn’t afford the shop where he works At $90 an hour.)  Before we hitch the HH to the truck, I need to know that we’ve done everything possible to insure we arrive in Texas safely.

            We didn’t stay very long.  As I said, they were just getting home from work and were tired and hungry.

            On a similar note; when we arrived home, I juiced a couple of peaches and some apples for our supper.  I also had some frozen seedless grapes as a snack later.  Frozen is my favorite way to eat grapes.  They are like little popcicles.

            So much for yesterday.

            Today I worked from 8 to 4:30.  Ella had an 8 o’clock doctor’s appointment with the surgeon who had preformed the appendectomy on her last week.  She had to get a release from him so that she could get back to work – which she will starting tomorrow evening.

            I called the VA hospital today.  On July 13^th the surgeon, that operated on my knee, said he was making a referral to the VA for me to have physical therapy because my right leg will not fully extend and I’ve lost muscle strength in that leg.  Since I had not heard from the VA, I called them and left a message in their voice mail system.  The scheduler returned my call to say that they had not received a referral.  She was adding a note to Dr. Perryman’s file and requesting that he refer me to the physical therapy department.  She also said that someone would call me within seven days.

            Ella followed up with our Progressive Insurance agent about getting the truck in for body work.  To undo the OPPS that Ella had created the other day.  We are to take it to the bodyshop when I get off work tomorrow at three thirty.  I am to call Enterprise once we are on the way and they will have a rental car at the shop when I’m ready to leave..

            Hmmmm….it occurs to me … I had knee surgery, Ella had an appendectomy, the HH had a complete deep cleaning and restock, the Excel had the problem air conditioner taken care of and now the truck is getting a face lift.  The only one in our “family” that hasn’t’ had any work done is Kramer the cat.  Way to go, Kramer!

            Check out this picture of our corn stalk.  The fields around here are full of very sad and stunted corn this year.  Too hot too soon and too little rain has really put the farmers in a bind.  We, on the other hand, have this one corn plant that grew up from bird seed knocked out of the feeder.  Normally the guy who mowes these sites would have cut it down when he did the trimming.  However, for some reason, he didn’t.   Look at it with my five foot wife standing next to it.

2012 July 30

     Saturday, I had stopped at the Goodyear Tire Store and asked them to reinflate one of my tires.  At the same time I had them set an appointment to check that tire for a leak.  This morning I took the truck in and they found a screw in the tire.  Because I had purchased the Road Hazard Insurance when I purchased the tires, it did not cost a thing to have the tire repaired.
     After that I picked up Ella and our paychecks and took them to the credit union. (They would only deposit the checks and not Ella) - Sorry! Rather than correct the grammar in that sentence, I decided to point out my error with humor.  One of my pet peeves is people saying (or writing) something incorrectly and then expecting me to understand what they meant to say rather than what they actually said.  Most of the time the react as if I were the one who was in error.  Okay, now that I've pointed out my own error and had a little tirade, I'll return to the regularly scheduled post.
    After Ella and I had deposited our paychecks, we stopped at St. Vincent De Paul Thrift Shop.  She found a little outfit for William, our newest great grandchild.  I found a large George Forman Grill.  I have been looking for a duplicate of the grill we already own, which has interchangeable plates, including waffle irons.  I have found it online for $139.00.  However, I'm unwilling to pay that price again.  Therefore, we've been checking thrift stores for it.  The one I purchased (for $3) today is larger but does not have the interchangeable plates.  It is a grill and only a grill.  Now I'll start checking thrifts stores for a waffle iron.
    We also made a stop at the D.A.V. thrift shop but did not make a purchase.
   From there we went to Sam's Club to buy produce.  Because we are juicing for one meal a day, we are using produce faster than usual.  Previously, it did not make sense for us to purchase fresh produce at Sam's because we couldn't eat it all before it would spoil.
     The rest of our day remains unplanned, as neither of us work today.  An afternoon nap may be in order.
      Later!