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| October 2010 |
October 25 - 31, 2010
Tuesday, October 26. Yay! We have new flooring, the 1st thing we did was snap a few pieces together to see if we like it - and yes, we do!
Not much went on yesterday, not sure where the day went. I made a pot of Chicken Tortilla Soup and told the neighbors, Spike and Nita that I would bring some over for their dinner. Nita recently had some surgery, has been home recovering for the last 2 weeks and is getting a bit frustrated at the slow healing process. Spike is 90 years old, has offered his guidance in getting our floor installed (he even offered to do it for us) and is having some health challenges himself. He amazes me, he recently re-plumbed the entire gas line from the meter in the back yard into his house because of a leak that was detected by the city. He has built several homes through and undertaken many remodeling projects in this community - he kind of reminds me of the Energizer bunny that keeps on ticking.
The couple (Norm and Chris) that we talked with at Mike's class reunion that told us of the house they bought just a half mile from us arrived last Friday, so we went over to see their place yesterday. They found it on Craig's List, had his son-in-law check it out, and then bought it last summer. Its a cute place and they have a little work to do but not bad for $7500.
Norm stopped by our house this afternoon to check us out and we sat around talking and having *bleep*tails for a couple of hours. I think we're going to have fun with them this winter.
After Norm left, we grilled some pork chops, sweet potato, and onion and boy was it yummy. I was chewing the best part off the bone when I heard a crack and naturally I thought, was that my tooth. Sure enough, a big piece of enamel broke off one of my back molars. Dang! Fortunately, the filling is still in place and I'm not experiencing any pain but it is going to need some work - in fact, I've been hearing that those old fillings are going to need some work for many years now. Oh, well - guess I won't be able to put it off any longer. Dang!
Wednesday, October 27. We got busy this morning putting down the laminate floor. Spike set us up with his tools (one for every purpose) and got us going on the install, making sure that we were level and helping us with the cuts around the register holes. We now have a 5' x 24' section of new floor and it sure does look nice.
Now this project is going to lead to more painting, as the wood-like surface on the cabinet in the dining room cannot remain a wood-like surface - it just doesn't look right up against the new floor. Somehow, I knew this was going to happen.
I picked Monica up from the airport this afternoon and had to warn her that she might just get a ticket in the mail. I saw a flash of light from the camera at the intersection, just as I was completing a left turn when the arrow turned from yellow to red. She had a great time in Springfield visiting with family.
Thursday, October 28. Boy, are we making progress on the floor installation! I can't believe that Mike is actually enjoying it and doing a great job on some of the crazy cuts. The doorway to the kitchen had to be cut out today and the wall that it was going against wasn't quite straight. I measured, he checked my measurements and the 1st board was not cut right - it was a bit of a challenge to figure it all out, make a couple of additional cuts, but it came out perfect.
Tonight, we took some friends from Wisconsin to Rustler's Roost for dinner. Craig and Diane were friends from when we all worked together at Hazleton Labs back in the 80s. We also lived within 5 miles of each other, so carpooled whenever we could and Diane and I played softball together for a while. Boy, did the memories come to the surface, stories about experiences, parties, and other people we worked with. They recently bought their retirement home in Mesa, so we will look forward to hanging out together when they visit and then, when they retire.
We talked a lot about how small the world really is, that through your experiences in life you make so many connections and through them you learn about so many common links with people. It really makes it all more interesting.
Saturday, October 30. A lot more progress on the floor was made, we got to the front door, had to cut out another floor register and make a hole for the tv cable. All is good and we are loving it! By about 3:30 we were both exhausted and decided to take the weekend off.
I went to garage sales this morning with Diane, as their community was having sales and she is looking for a few things for their house. After about 2 hours, we had both had enough and gave it up.
We took the windows off the Jeep and then picked them up this afternoon and took them on one of favorite desert drives, the Peralta trail, a 7-mile road that goes to the base of the Superstition Mountains. We walked around a bit and I spotted a tiny little horned lizard, about an inch long and Mike stopped to check out a dead snake in the road - it was only a little garter snake. I collected another rock for the yard.
From there we headed to San Tan Flats Restaurant and Saloon in Queen Creek for a *bleep*tail. We had heard about this "watering hole" from some of the locals - another outdoor eating place with fireplaces scattered around for the cool nights and winter days. Stacks of wood are available and when your fire dies out, you just add more. It was plenty warm today and we didn't need a fire, just the firewater inside. It was a great time and we're looking forward to spending time with Craig and Diane in the future.
Sunday, October 31. Happy Halloween! Our intentions for today were to just hang out and relax. After breakfast and giving Frisco a bath, we ended up inviting Nan and Dale over for some local caught Blue Gill that were given to us by Craig and Diane (they ran out of time and weren't able to cook them). I had the ingredients for cole slaw but nothing else. That meant an added trip to the grocery store. Also, Mike had recently found a recipe for a *bleep*tail called the "Frisco" (a concoction of Rye Whiskey, Benedictine, and fresh squeezed lemon juice, shaken over ice and served in a martini glass). It sounded good so we decided to try them and that also meant a trip to the liquor store. Naturally, the grocery store didn't have what we needed, so another stop at a liquor store was required.
We got home just as Nan and Dale arrived, in fact they pulled up to the gate right in front of us. The groceries were unloaded and we headed to the golf course and played 9 holes. It really was fun for all but Mike - he thought it was too hot out there in the sun and gave up on it about half way through.
After our round of golf, we sat on the patio and had our "Frisco" *bleep*tails along with Nan's Guacamole. The fish turned out to be delicious, almost like a Wisconsin fish fry. Thanks to Craig and Diane for the delicious dinner of Blue Gill, coleslaw, and cornbread. MMMMMMMMM!
The day ended up to be full of activity, but also quite enjoyable.
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October 18 - 24, 2010
Monday, October 18. We got our first section of carpet ripped up and were quite pleased to find that the floor underneath is in great condition. We were afraid that there would be lots of dust built up under there, but no, it wasn't bad at all. Since we only have the Jeep for hauling it to the trash, we cut 4-5' sections. The worst part was pulling up the carpet tack strip, scraping up the glue and pulling the tacks that were holding down the pad. We knew we wouldn't be lasting long, so after about 3.5 hours and our backs and bodies getting stiff and sore, decided that was enough work for us old farts.
I completed my early voting ballot this and its ready to hit the mailbox. It was like going back to school - it took me about 2 hours to make my decisions and cast my votes. We've gotten publications in the mail recently that cover all of the propositions and open positions - the stack of those publications is about an inch thick. I've never had a voting experience like it and I'm glad its over for now. I really can see why this state allows early voting, as I would have spent way too much time in a voting booth - its crazy! I can't wait for all of the political signs to be taking down - talk about litter!
Tuesday, October 19. Made some more progress on getting rid of the carpet today and have only about a 6' x 8' section remaining - then comes the tile - the dusty and noisiest part of the job. I'm afraid that is going to be a mess and I think we should get some dust masks before tackling that job.
Last week, our Kinetico RO drinking water system quit on us and I placed a service call to have the filters changed. I technician showed up and reported that they have never serviced the thing in over 10 years - so what's up with that? Have we been drinking crappy city water all this time? Apparently, they are the only providers in this area and would have a record of all filters purchased and service done. We had to weigh the pros and cons and make the decision to either spend about $300 today with the possibility of the main component needing service in the near future to a tune of another $350 or replacing it with a new system. We opted to start fresh and ended up putting $900 on the credit card. Easy come, easy go.
Mike had a good afternoon with his guitar lesson and then he met up with 4 guys from our community in the club house for a 2-hour picking and grinning session. It sounds like he will be quitting his lessons in Phoenix and starting up with Bruce just a block away from our house. He's having a great time strumming along and even singing along.
The sunset this evening was gorgeous - check out the photos.
Wednesday, October 20. We took a break from pulling up the floor today, did some shopping at Costco instead.
I also had to come up with a way to keep the rabbits from chewing on my new plants in the yard - they think everything is a delicacy, even the trunk of those little trees we planted. Once the plants mature, they leave them alone but they sure go for the young, tender stuff. I ended up taping the trunks of the Palo Verde trees and scattered blood meal around the base of the plants they've been nibbling on - supposedly they don't like the smell of that. Also have been spraying with a homemade pepper spray concoction that I found on the internet. Hope something works.
Ever heard of a swamp cooler? It is actually an evaporative cooler that works best at temps above 80 degrees with humidities below 30%. It is a large metal unit that looks kind of like an air conditioner, it sits on a metal table and is connected to a unit in the wall that looks like a window AC unit. Well, we had a non-operating one at the back of our house that was connected to the wall unit in our master bedroom closet - of all places. One day when I was getting rid of my recyclables, I got to chatting with Rod, the maintenance guy in our community. I asked him how to dispose of it and he offered to come haul it away for us. Well, he showed up this afternoon and did just that. For a $20 bill, we got rid of an eyesore and got that big hole in the wall patched up and sealed - what a guy! It sure is appreciated. He also volunteered to haul away our old carpet and pad that he can reuse in his shop or one of the rentals.
Saturday, October 23. Thursday and Friday were spent prying and prodding the tile to come off the floor. I believe it when they say this is a permanent flooring material and is meant to last a lifetime. The tile itself came up easily but the cement and cement board were more of a challenge. We got a system down and finished the job and are ready to start putting down the new floor, hopefully the fun part.
Yesterday, I heard that Frisco and I were rejected as Companion Animal volunteers. They said it was because he is a terrier and I stated on the application that he can get excited around big dogs or cats and that is not acceptable behavior in a nursing home situation. Since family members and other visitors are allowed to bring their pets, they are not willing to take the risk of having a volunteer dog that might act out under some situations. DARN! Frisco can be an excitable boy at times and I wouldn't want to be involved in someone getting hurt. I am very disappointed, as I was looking forward to the experience.
This morning, I took Monica to the airport as we offered to let her keep her car at our house so she didn't have to pay for parking at the airport. She is headed for Springfield to visit her Dad and some of her Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. On my way home, I went to a few community yard sales and stopped at the grocery store.
My neighbor, Arlene, gave me 2 huge pieces of her pencil cactus that she was cutting back (it got top heavy and started to lean from the recent wind storm. Each piece was about 4 feet tall. I put the 1st one in the ground and it tipped over. It was definitely top heavy, so I ended up cutting a lot of it off and planted pieces about 3 feet tall. They look real nice in the yard.
We tackled the cleaning of the car this afternoon as it becomes necessary to de-hair it once in a while - Frisco really sheds a lot.
Sunday, October 24. After a nice breakfast this morning, we decided to take a drive and do some exploring. We planned a route (on paved roads since we had just cleaned up the car), I packed a lunch, and we took off heading south. We were headed south to take the Hunt Highway east toward Florence. It looked like we would drive to the mountains we could see in the distance and then turn left. That was true. We drove through Gilbert - all urban sprawl, then Queen Creek - all urban sprawl, then Florence - nothing to speak of except closed up shops in the old historic part of the downtown and lots of prisons.
Driving north out of Florence on AZ 79 was a pretty drive but it wasn't long before we reached US 60, the road we would take the last 20 miles to get back home - we hadn't even been gone an hour. At the intersection it appeared that AZ 79 came to an end but then we spotted a sign for El Camino Viejo, a paved road that went off toward the mountains, so we took it. Now that was the kind of drive we were looking for. It became a dirt road for a short distance, it was only about 5 miles long, but it got us off the main road where we could see some countryside. The road wound around the hillsides and we ended up back on the US 60 - might was well just go back home.
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October 11 - 17, 2010
Tuesday, October 12. Grocery and flooring shopping yesterday - what fun! We finally decided on the flooring - it will be a Northern Maple laminate. The sales person came and measured today and we learned that we need 100 sf less than what we originally thought - that and a $150 rebate is going to get the price down to about $1.69/sf - not bad a for a good quality Mohawk floor.
I did some more painting in the kitchen today - it seems that every time I turn around, I decide something needs changing or touching up. Little by little its coming together though.
We attended our first homeowners association meeting this afternoon and got a feel for whats going on - we won't actually join until next month when the new year starts. The biggest complaint on the agenda was the water pressure within the park - a petition was sent to the city of Mesa and we were told that they have done all they can do - the rest is up to ELS (the owners of the park) and there wasn't a good feeling about them doing anything about it. After seeing the condition of our neighbor's leaky gas pipe, I'm afraid to think what the other pipes that are underground look like. His pipe had huge holes where the rust ate through. We've already decided that if we should have a problem with the gas line, we will replace the gas furnace and water heater with electric and shut the gas off at the meter - who needs that kind of problem.
Friday, October 15. The flooring has been ordered and it should arrive next Thursday. Guess we had better get busy ripping out the carpet and existing tile (front door and hallway). Yuck!
I checked out some garage sales this morning and found a nice set of curtains for the spare bedroom/office. Nice!
Nan and Dale invited us to join them for spaghetti and meatballs this evening. It was delicious and we enjoyed the evening.
Its been a pretty uneventful week.
Sunday, October 17. The weekend's highlights were conversations with family (Ben & Rita) and friends (Sonja and Pat). Saturday was pretty slow around our house - Mike said there must have been something in Dale's meatballs that made him feel a bit under the weather - you all know that story.
We did go and browse around an antiques mall today - an activity that we still enjoy but rarely do we make a purchase. I did find a real nice Art Deco glass *bleep*tail pitcher and set of 6 matching glasses and what a deal I got. The only price I could find was an $8.95 tag on the pitcher. The clerk called the owner of the booth to verify that was the price for the entire set. When I got them home and was washing them, I found a tag on one of the glasses - $19.95 for the set of 6. Oops - guess I got a really good deal. Guess we now need to have a fancy dinner, followed by a sip of bourbon or whiskey - any volunteers to join us?
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October 4 - 10, 2010
Monday, October 4. Happy Birthday, brother Bob! We futzed around the house today, somehow we seem to find plenty to keep us busy. I did go to a nursery this morning and purchased 2 Desert Museum Palo Verde trees, 3 Ruella (Mexican Petunia), and 3 bright red Lantana plants for the back yard. I managed to get them all in the back of the Jeep by putting the back seat down, rolling up the rear plastic window and having them hang out the back. And now to get them in the ground.
We had some stormy weather this afternoon when a dust storm blew through followed by a few thunderstorms - not a lot of rain, but enough to cool things off and make everything smell fresh again.
Tuesday, October 5. It was a nice cool morning, so I got busy planting a few things before the storms hit. I haven't seen storms like this in quite a while. We got so much rain that it pooled up in the yard, but then it has soaked in between storms. The winds came up this afternoon and knocked down a beautiful Mesquite Tree down the street from us - it probably was the nicest tree in the park - so sad. Several of the neighbors came to the owner's rescue and had the thing cut up and hauled away within an hour of when the storm stopped. Nice guys!
A few TV antennas came down, some roofs were damaged, and there was lots of debris down from the palm trees. I was watching the hummingbirds and they continued to come to the feeder during the storms. Some of them were hovering at the level of the feeder but not landing for a long time. I was wishing I had a place for them to perch, as it must have been tiring.
Mike went to his guitar lesson in Phoenix (a 45 minute drive away) and I was worried that he would be involved in one of the many accidents that I was hearing about on the news. He made it home safely, about 45 minutes later than usual. He said that he saw lots of craziness out there on the roads, mostly from cars that drove through flooded roads and got stuck.
Wednesday, October 6. Another storm woke us up around midnight when the hail started to hit the roof of the carport. It wasn't real bad, not enough to claim any damage. The roofs on the carport and patio were previously damaged but not repaired.
We will have a guest at our house for the next few days as we will be dog sitting for Princess Caroline, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She is the pet of one of Monica's friends that watched Frisco for us last fall when we went to Rocky Point. We're looking forward to the adventure and I'm sure Frisco is going to have a ball. Monica's term for the 2 of them is "Lady and the Tramp" - it fits perfectly.
I got busy painting this morning and finished the kitchen - definitely an improvement. Every little project makes it seem more and more like home.
Ariana dropped Princess Caroline off around 6:30 this evening and she is settling in just fine. We had a nice walk and she tried to go up every sidewalk and every driveway. Tomorrow, she will know exactly where she is.
Friday, October 8. All is well with the 2 dogs but they have been keeping their distance from each other. PC is hoarding her toys and Frisco steals them every chance he gets. We have kept them separate at feeding time and that seems to work quite well. This morning, they were playing and chasing each other around - seems like they will be good friends by the time she goes home.
Allan and Sharon came over and joined us for some take-out pizza from Vito's and a salad that Sharon and I put together. We had a nice visit and as usual, plenty to talk about.
Sunday, October 10. Not much to write about yesterday other than we went to the pancake breakfast in the morning and had a nice time getting to know folks and a very nice breakfast. Mike talked with a couple of guys that get together and play music once a week or so. He will join up with them the next time they get together.
Ariana and Monica came to pick up Princess Caroline this morning and shortly after that, we headed to Cave Creek to connect with a classmate of mine from Stoughton, Sonia and her husband, John (who was in my older sister, Rita's class). Now, we've only seen each other and had brief conversations at class reunions, but it took no time at all and we were comfortable with each other and learning about the last 44 years of our lives. We learned that we have much in common and it will be nice to do some things together now and then.
They took us to Greasewood Flat for a burger, a fun place that we had heard of from the locals but had never been to. We had good burgers, heard good music, and had lots of great conversation.
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October 1 - 3, 2010
Friday, October 1. OK, where has this week gone? Not only that, its the 1st of October too - it seems to have just whizzed right on by.
Mike had another guitar lesson on Tuesday and he is working on repetitive finger exercises and positioning. While he was gone, I got busy reorganizing the closet in the spare bedroom. Since we are no longer living in the motor home, it isn�??t necessary to have a portable filing system for our bills and insurance documents, so I also worked on getting that stuff organized, resulting in one full trash bag full of garbage. I kind of like how that works.
On Wednesday and Thursday, we took care of shopping; groceries, meat, and booze are now fully stocked. We also shopped for flooring and still haven�??t made a decision. We will get one more measure and quote on Monday and see if he comes up with an offer we can�??t refuse. The big sell on this product is that it is made in the US or Canada and not in China. I�??m not sure if that is worth an additional $.50 - $1.00 per square foot but it does appeal to us.
Today, we had a cultural experience with Allan and Sharon, going to the Arizona Arts Alliance opening of a new gallery in Scottsdale where we perused a nice variety of paintings, jewelry, pottery, and sculptures. From there, we went to Andreoli - Italian Grocer where we had a delicious, authentic Italian sandwich, a nice little place with really good food.
Just when I was pondering what we should have for dinner, Dale called to see if we wanted to join them for a burger at Mac�??s, a watering hole near their house. We had a really nice time hanging with those 2 again.
We didn't do a lot on Saturday, but I did go browsing the local garden centers for trees for our yard. I think I've settled on the which trees to buy but want to shop around a bit to see if I can get them for less. I got 2 cuttings of cactus from friends this week; one is a Pencil Bush
and the other is a Paper Spine Cactus (Mike calls it the penis cactus). The yard is filling up with lots of cactus varieties and they really do grow quickly.
We spent a hot Sunday afternoon with Nan, Dale, and Monica at the Oktoberfest celebrate in downtown Tempe, starting with brats at their house. It was fun listening to live music, having a couple of beers, and people watching. We walked over to see Tempe Town Lake that had a disaster this summer when the bladders that keep the water in the lake broke and all of the water from the Salt River drained out of the lake. The rubber bladders have been repaired and they are in the process of refilling the lake.
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Created on 10/01/2010 06:18 PM by bridge
Updated on 11/01/2010 09:42 AM by bridge
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