We met this very inquisitive sheep walking the roads outside of the campground.
Another dull and miserable day weatherwise although it was not actually raining, just damp and foggy and on the chilly side. I put on my heavy jacket with the hood to take the dogs walking and we strolled around the park and on the outside road for a bit before returning to Miss Daisy. One of the dogs, Mikey I suspect, had found a corner to pee in which I had not noticed before. The problem was it had soaked under the single mat that I have inside of Miss Daisy. Luckily, it is in an Indoor-outdoor mat, so no actual harm done. I took the mat outside and hosed it off and left it to dry and then went about the clean-up needed because of the dog pee. I also sprayed with anti pee spray in the hope of deterring both dogs from going indoors in the future. Mikey and I had a serious discussion as to his actions and he acted very contritely as I lectured him. I hope he got the message. No good further punishing him as he would not associate it with the peeing. He needs to be caught in the act for anything to register, and I suspect it all happens at night when I am asleep or during the day when I am away.
With the clean-up done, we settled down to breakfast and coffee following our usual routine. Included in that routine, are the taking of the few medications and supplements that I take daily except for my memory loss pills which are taken at night. if I can remember that is. I spent time on the blog and worked on a few pictures as we have nothing officially planned for today. I decided that I should do laundry but I still have plenty of clean clothes so there is no real urgency. I thought about it for a bit with one part of me saying, “Let us do it now” and the other part saying, “Nah, leave it for another day.” I thought of a couple of other excuses like, “Maybe there are no machines available,” and “It can wait until tomorrow.” Then I reminded myself that tomorrow never comes and, in the end, I sucked it up and headed for the laundry room as I really did not have anything else to do. I should mention that prior to that, I had to go through the dreaded change the sheets on the bed routine which I have complained about before at least a half dozen times. This time, it went much smoother as I think I have figured out a way to make it work and twenty minutes later, the bed was made.
I usually drive to the laundry room rather than carry the heavy laundry bag plus detergent and today was no exception after having previously watching a gentleman carrying an empty bag, go into the room. I sat outside waiting for him to come out knowing that with him finished, there would be at least one open machine. True to form, the washers closest to the window were both open and I split my laundry between the two. This time, much to my delight, I managed to get the app that not only pays for the wash but also lets me know of the progress, to work, although it did not register the same time for both machines for their completion time. It was off by 10 minutes even though both were set the same. Go figure. I headed back to Miss Daisy to wait for the next phase of putting everything in the driers. When both machines showed, by the wonders of modern technology and this same app that the wash cycle had completed, I walked back to the laundry room and transferred everything into one dryer adding several sheets of static control, and then, back to Miss Daisy to wait it out. By checking my phone periodically, I was able to tell when to go back. Love this system when it works. With the clothes all folded, I headed back to Miss Daisy and then took the dogs out for their evening walk. The rest of the evening was spent in the usual fashion which included putting away the freshly laundered clothes.
We got up late as I slept late after a peaceful night with no wild dreams or thrashing around and went out for a short walk. It was a dull and miserable looking day with a lot of moisture in the air. I could feel my clothes getting damp as we walked although it was not actually raining. We did less than a half mile before returning to Miss Daisy. Thank goodness that we have no plans for today as it came on to drizzle harder as we ate breakfast, and it really is a dull and gloomy day. Reminds me a bit of the English weather which was one of the reasons that prompted our coming here to America in the first place.
Following breakfast and a kitchen clean up, I settled down in front of the computer. My recent neighbors from across the street have all pulled out including the parked truck and trailer in the lot next to me. My other neighbor who lives across, must have had problems with his Airstream as he had towed if off about a week ago but had left his mats and such still outside, a sure sign that he was returning. Today, I noticed it was back in its parking space so hopefully whatever was wrong has been repaired. On our walk about this morning, we usually walk the park to see the comings and goings and there is a brand-new Airstream parked in one of the lower lots. They really are nice rigs. I wonder why I never really looked at them. Probably because they are so expensive, and I was set on a Class C because of the ease of travel, setup, and parking.
I had received Birthday wishes from the Salesman that had sold me Miss Daisy, a nice gesture on his part which also reminded me that I needed work done on her, most of it of the service and warranty nature. I emailed him and am now waiting to hear back. The problem with having any work done on Miss Daisy is that as I live in her full time and unless the repair shop has space and hook ups for overnight stays, then I will have to make other arrangements like a Motel, for the time it takes to do the work.
I worked on different things and even wrote a couple of poems to pass the time which will get posted on Saturday which I have designated as my Poetry Day. It had stopped raining, so we went out for the final walk of the day around the park and out on the lane leading to Hwy 290. For some reason, both dogs had a strong interest in whatever was in the breeze on the far side of the road and spent a lot of time just sniffing the air. Of course, I could not see or smell anything, so I have no idea what interested them. We got to see the two Zebras that are in the fields across from the RV park but not close enough for a picture. Have not seen them in a while and it is nice to know they are OK. Altogether, we covered a little over a mile for the day. Not bad considering how miserable it was outside.
We finished off the day in the usual way with food and drinks and English soccer on the television.
Sunday, start of another week here in Henly. Compared to last week when we had something going on nearly every day, this week is slow, so far. I do have a Dentists appointment on Thursday to get the new crowns installed but other than that, nothing else. We did our short walk around the park in the morning with nothing unusual going on. It was cool but this cold front has passed on and there is nothing in the forecast for the next several days. It is quiet around the park but as today is Sunday, it is supposedly a day of rest. Not that it makes any difference to us as every day is a rest day unless we choose otherwise.
I went into Dripping Springs to the HEB and did some shopping although not needing a great deal. On the way out, just on the off chance they may be open, I stopped at the Starbucks and saw a lengthy line of cars so felt hopeful that I might get lucky. I watched as the car in front of me, pulled up to give its order and then turned out of the line and knew without bothering to stop, that they had closed and once again with customers in line. It is though they have a clock that switches off all the equipment at whatever is the designated closing time for the day. Sure enough, as I passed the order kiosk, there was that sign that said, “Sorry, we are closing at ….” If they got to close, at least put the sign at the start of the drive thru. I drove home and had time to bring in the groceries before taking the dogs out walking. I covered 2 miles for the day, the dogs, not quite as much but as they do not count the miles anyway, it does not matter for them as in my mind, a successful dog walk is that each one does his or her business at least once. More is a bonus (for me).
Back in Miss Daisy, I put the groceries away and then went about preparing the evening meal for us. Currently, I am on a salad and chicken kick, the chicken, one of the Roasters from HEB. The dogs like this choice of a meal as they get their share of the chicken’s skin and such. The problem with that is they will not eat their canned food even if I mix it as they just pick out the best parts (chicken) and the rest sits. Their choice, their loss. As Marie Antoinette is reputed to have said during the French Revolution, “Let them eat cake” in this case, let them eat dry dog food. The rest of the evening was spent in the usual fashion watching the television with a glass of cheap wine.
I awoke late, surprise, surprise to a beautiful sunny day. It was still cold out but no longer freezing as we walked around the park and the outside lane and managed to walk 1.3 miles making it a good start for the day. We passed the two dogs that live in a house along the way and was greeted with a very noisy reception from them. Obviously, we did not belong in their territory. We walked on past and continued for a bit before heading back to Miss Daisy for breakfast.
Generally speaking, it was a very quiet and slow day. I worked on emails and then the blog for a while and then a few other things that needed my attention. I turned my attention to Miss Daisy where the radio/everything else are on one big screen that supposed to open when the ignition key is turned on. It is a fold out unit and has never worked properly since I had it. I tried to get it to work just to be sure that it did not as I need to contact my Crestview Salesman and get it replaced because it is still under warranty. A brand-new vehicle and this unit has never worked right. So much for quality control at the Ford end.
Getting an RV worked on when it is your only home, is somewhat of a challenge, unless it is a simple problem and easily fixed. That is why, it is easier to use the travelling mechanics that come to you rather than take it to the repair place. Those mechanics do not work on warranty projects or anything to do with the Ford parts of Miss Daisy. Some of the repair shops, are set up to let you stay in the RV at their place of business while the work is being done if it is only an overnight thing. With this being a warranty repair, Miss Daisy will need to go Georgetown and hopefully for a one-day repair. More on that later.
There has been a lot of activity across from me in the temporary lots. Temporary in the sense that short timers park in these pull through lots before moving on. I watched as an Airstream appeared to be setting up. I had not seen it come in or noticed it in site 33 where it was now parked. I was busy and not paying attention but the next time I looked, it was gone. Later, two others pulled into the same row and set up. One of them had also parked a tow vehicle pulling a large, covered trailer in another space and the two occupants joined one of the new RV’s. They must be caravanning and had to book two lots even though one is just used as a parking place.
We went out for our afternoon walk and managed to cover 2.1 miles for the day. We are averaging between 10-12 miles a week consistently which is surprisingly good when you consider it is all short walks around the RV Park. Gotta stay fit somehow as I can’t run and jump anymore and my weightlifting is now limited to 5lb and 10lb hand weights, that is, if I can find them. Sure, they are around somewhere. The rest of the day was spent in the usual fashion.
The old way to travel. You didn’t need a license for one of those.
At long last the time had come six years after it had begun to make the trip a distance far in my trusty little car forty miles to a place well known a place my friend has her home Bastrop is the name of the town and in that place can be found a DPS office where I could renew my driver’s license and some could argue that at the age of eighty-five why on earth would I want to drive and the simple truth that I live alone dependent on no one as I have shown for the past thirty-six years not by choice and with many tears my only company in all of that time were the pets who I could always find close by when I needed a friend keeping me company to their end giving me love and raising me up if they felt I was down in the dumps so, I made the trip and made good time arriving there just to find a small wait and fill out a form answer questions that I had to brainstorm take a picture and fingerprints too acting dumb like I haven’t a clue and before very long I was on my way with a new license with which I could play at living my life as I want it to be travelling the highways in my RV.
With the excitement of having yet another birthday out of the way and hoping that they never end, we settled back into our normal routine although not without incident. Sandy was demanding that we get up in no uncertain terms which is unusual for her so I deemed she must have an emergency on hand and quickly threw on my clothes and we hustled out of the door. Neither she nor Mikey could barely make it to the small patch of grass outside of Miss Daisy which is considered as “mine” before relieving themselves. I knew something was wrong before that as one of them, I suspect Mikey, had an “accident” inside of Miss Daisy overnight luckily on the floor and not on the floor mat which I cleaned up on our return. It must have been something I fed them that caused their upset tummies. After cleanup, I went back to shaving and showering that I had foregone in view of Sandy’s urgent and desperate pleading.
I refrained from feeding them any sort of canned food for breakfast in view of their upset tummies and if they get hungry, they can eat the hard food which is always available to them. It was cold out on our walk, and I was glad of the heavy jacket. We did not see any other dogs walking their humans. I made breakfast and coffee for me as I did not have the same problems as the dogs and felt perfectly fine and we settled down to our normal routine. We do not have anything planned for the day except for maybe a trip to the local HEB. I really do have to find something interesting to eat for my evening meal as most of my latest efforts have been very disappointing. Even the stew I made in the InstaPot was a disaster and just did not taste right. Something was missing but I do not know what. Food has now become just a necessity something, I must do to stay alive. I do not eat for the pleasure of it except for things like ice cream or chocolate or something similarly as bad. Oh well, like everything else in my life, things are changing.
I sat and wrote for a while and posted a couple of blogs before deciding that I really needed to go into Dripping Springs to the HEB store and get some necessities. There are a few staples that always need replenishing, bread, wine, frozen food, more wine, milk, and so on. Oh yes, did I mention wine? Actually, I am very good and always limit myself to no more than two small glasses an evening and I prefer white over red, and it is always of the cheap variety. As I know nothing about wines, cheap stuff tastes just as good to me as the more expensive variety. I noticed that about 50% of the shoppers wore masks and it looked an even split between young and old. I wore mine and the one good thing is that my new glasses did not fog up anywhere near as much. I have no idea why not but maybe it’s the different lens size or the lack of frames. With the groceries stowed safely in the Jeep, my next move was to stop at Starbucks as I had already forgiven them for their previous lack of service only to discover that, yet again they were closed due to the shortage of staff. They must be losing money hand over fist.
I drove back to Henly, and I was met by my two little buddies ready to go walking. First though, I put the groceries away with lots of help, I might add before we trucked off around the park for the last walk of the day. I remembered that I had to add water to the freshwater tank for the evening as another frost was forecast which only took 10 minutes before unhooking the water pipe from Miss Daisy and covering the water spigot so it would not freeze. Just like in a regular house where one covers the outside faucets, we do this it is to prevent the hose from freezing up and either bursting or causing damage to either the RV or the water standpipe. Putting water in the freshwater tank gets us through for however long there is danger of freezing. That was our last chore of the evening apart from the usual food preparation and clean up before settling down to watch the television. So ended another day, the first of my new year as an 86-year-old. Funny, I don’t feel any different…
We did not have much planned for today except a trip into Austin to CRN, the company that builds and colors the teeth implants that we are currently working on. They needed to confirm that the coloring was correct and would match my existing teeth. As this was not until later in the day, we went about our usual business of dog walks and breakfast before settling down to read and answer emails.
The appointment was for 1:30 pm which meant leaving by 12:00 pm to make sure to get there on time. I hate being late for any appointment and usually err on the early side preferring to wait around rather than be rushed or even worse, late. The traffic is so unpredictable especially with the road construction going on Hwy 290 in Oakhill. I did arrive 30 minutes early and per their instructions, called them to let them know I was in the parking lot. Twenty-five minutes later, I got a call to “Come on in”. I must have spent 5 minutes in the office as they matched colors before I was out of the door and on my way home. Before leaving the parking lot, I thought and thought if there was anything that I needed in any of the stores before heading back to Dripping Springs, but nothing came to mind. I stopped at the Farmers Market there but was a bit early and rather than wait around even more today and not really needing anything, came back to Miss Daisy and to two excited little dogs.
My neighbor across from me who had first problems with one of his slides and then having to get the rear bumper on his RV re-welded back on, had James, the travelling repair person stop by again. He had mentioned that the slide needed parts and that is what they worked on this time around. With such a busy week, I was glad to not have anything specific planned for the rest of the day. We went out walking as is our customary fashion and met a couple of other dogs walking their owners along the way with Sandy doing her best to make friends. Mikey not so much. Altogether, we covered 2.0 miles for the day.
01/20/2022 Thursday
UT Cheerleaders
I woke up to a big day in my life, my 86th birthday although there were no fireworks, marching bands or pretty girls in pom poms to welcome it in. It was quite literally freezing when we got up this morning, and I had to put on warmer clothes, except for the shorts and I haven’t decided just how cold it needs to get before I wear long pants although my metal/plastic knee replacement does get a bit cold. I think I wore long pants maybe a half dozen times last winter, and it was the worst winter on record so more of an exception. It’s not that I have anything against wearing long pants, but I am a creature of habit and wearing shorts is who I am.
We went out for a very short walk and even Sandy was ready to come back in for breakfast and coffee for me. I sat in front of the computer and read a bunch of emails many of which were of the congratulatory sort from friends and well-wishers before it was time to go to Northwest Austin to PostNet to pick up my mail which had accumulated over the past couple of weeks. On my drive back to Henly, I stopped at one of the Starbucks stores on the way as the company had offered me a free drink or goodie of my choice for my birthday and after all the money that I have given them over the years, getting something free from them was too hard to turn down.
Arriving back to be greeted by my wonderful companion dogs who always miss me and make me feel special when I return, I promised them we would go out walking, but I had to check emails first. I wish I had done this while I was in Austin as one of them was from my Optometrist telling me that my new glasses were in and ready to pick up. Cursing silently under my breath, I jumped back in the car and made the 12-mile drive back to the Optometrist’s office where I tried on and walked out with the new ones. They have improved my vision quite considerably, thank goodness. I even went a bit fancy, and the glasses are almost frameless, very lightweight with big lenses all in an effort to get as much vision as possible to my old eyes.
The drive home was uneventful, and we went out for a very short walk around the park. It has been cold all day with a strong wind and trying to rain. With the temperature hovering around freezing, any sort of precipitation is not a good thing, and we are under winter precautions here at the park. This means to fill up the freshwater tank in Miss Daisy or at least, have enough water in it to last a couple of days and turn on the pump inside the unit and disconnect the hook up to the city water to see us through this cold spell. Hopefully, it will not be too severe or too long. I do have a backup space heater of the tower type that swivels from side to side, and it does mean wearing a sweater inside Miss Daisy. The bedroom is the warmest of the two rooms so if we really get cold, that is where we will go and crawl under the covers, but I don’t anticipate that having to happen.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way with food, wine and television, nothing special or different. So ended my 86th birthday. The many birthdays wishes that I received, some from friends and acquaintances that I have not heard from in years, was very heartwarming. Long gone are the days of birthday celebrations and wild parties or just plain old having a few beers with my mates. Now I celebrate reaching one more year in this journey of life and wonder what the next may bring.
When you need your license renewed, then these are one to do that. When you see flashing lights in your mirror, maybe not so much.
Today was the BIG day as far as I was concerned and the outcome of it would shape my life for the immediate future. It started off as it normally does except that I got up early and took the dogs out walking. They seemed a bit confused at the change of time, much earlier than they are used to but did not complain too much as we walked the park returning for breakfast. I had time to catch up on a few emails and to check if there was anything of importance that might require my attention, but true to recent form, there was nothing to worry about. I had set the time to leave the park at 11:00 am but as nervous and worried that I was, I left earlier than that for the drive into Bastrop, a forty-five-mile trip, where I was scheduled to renew my driver’s license. The last time was 6 years ago as that was how long a license in Texas, when renewed, is good for under the age of eighty-five. As I had reached that magic number, with an 86th birthday coming up, it was time to renew. I arrived early and sat in the parking lot for almost 30 minutes and watched as people came and went. Some stayed inside and others quickly returned to their cars probably not knowing that to renew your license, you had to make an appointment due to Covid regulations. No more waiting in line. I walked in the door to be met by a very pleasant young lady who gave me a form to fill out and a number. I did not have to wait long before my name was called and I sat down in front of but separated by a glass panel, another older and very talkative lady and we began the process. I should mention that I and all the others in the office on the visitor’s side of the panel wore masks. I guess the office staff felt protected as none of them did.
The clerk worked on my application asking questions here and there and making corrections and notes. I had to prove I was a citizen which I did by showing her my Naturalization Documents. Before long it was fingerprint, actually thumbprint time along with a couple of signatures plus of course a picture, which incidentally is terrible and really shows my age and looks like I just got out of bed after the results of a hard night drinking. It took longer to print everything than it did getting it ready as her computer system was running very slow. I thanked her and walked out with a massive load off my mind knowing I was good for another couple of years of this RV’ing life. I did not get a new license right then and there but the old one returned with the corner cut off and a temporarily printed paper one until the new one arrives in the mail.
This time around seems so different than the last time 6 years ago. I remember that I had to look through a viewfinder and answer some questions and was having trouble with the small print. The lady who was working with me at the time asked if I had any other glasses, I might be able to use which I did in the truck, and she waited while I ran out to get them before completing the process at that time. This time was nothing like that, not that I am complaining but it was the reason I was so worried about the renewal. I have another pair of glasses on order with the latest prescription which is a bit stronger for reading but of course, they have not arrived in time. As it happens, I did not need them. The drive back to Henly was just as long as the drive in although with a much easier frame of mind and I did not run into any traffic or holdups. It was well worth the ninety-mile round trip to get the license renewal out of the way. Actually, the load off my mind and the worrying I had been going through made it even more worthwhile.
I arrived home with two little dogs jumping around and ready to go walkies and we managed to cover 1.5 miles for the day. All I all, a very good day.
We got up early for no reason other than I was wide awake and there did not seem to be much point in trying to go back to sleep. Our walk around the park was uneventful but it did require a heavy jacket, hat and gloves as the weather was very chilly. It warmed up through the day to around sixty something degrees, but we do have several nights of freezing weather forecast for this week. At least it will warm up through the day, but it does mean having to disconnect the water every evening and making sure that the standpipe is protected.
With my computer repaired after yesterday’s trip to Best Buy, I spent time catching up on the couple of blogs that needed attention, happy to be back in my old routine. I watched as the Park Super worked on the RV across from me that had slide out problems previously although this was a different and unrelated problem as they were re-attaching the back bumper to the RV. This required some welding which Daniel, the Park Super was an expert. I saw the owner, an older gentleman like myself, although I am not sure about me being a Gentleman, work on the problem yesterday and obviously not able to fix it. It is hard for us old folks to get down on the ground and crawl under the unit. Not only hard on the knees but the body is just not as flexible as it used to be. Things we took for granted just are no longer possible. What is the saying, “The mind is willing, but the flesh is weak”? I notice that it also takes a lot of mental effort to do anything nowadays especially if you have the means to pay someone else to do the dirty work. Another problem with growing older is that it is so easy to put things off and say to yourself, “I’ll do this another day.” It’s all in the mind…
We have a really big week coming up with something every day or night as is the case tomorrow evening when I plan to attend an Olympus course for my new camera at Precision Camera. I try not to drive at night anymore, but needs must. Tuesday is the day when I must drive to Bastrop to renew my driver’s license which will decide our whole future. Wednesday is back to CRN for the final color check on my new implants and then Thursday is the really BIG day, my 86th birthday. The only big thing about it, assuming I make it through the next few days, is that I reached it at all.
01/17/2022 – Monday
My new camera.
We were lucky that the frost promised for last evening did not happen and my gamble of not disconnecting the freshwater hose paid off. I rely a lot on the weather forecast on my phone and in this sort of situation, can only hope we do not get any last-minute changes to the forecast. We did the usual walk thing around the park chatting to a few people along the way. The Park Super pulled up in his 4-wheeler and Sandy immediately recognized it and trotted over to get her head stroked. Even Mikey sort of advanced instead of his usual hiding behind me although not as bold as Sandy. I also chatted to the camper across from me that had his bumper fixed yesterday. Turns out, the original one had broken loose on the Interstate and was dragging. He was alerted by a passing motorist, pulled over, unloaded the unit, and drove on here to Henly, hence all the repairs. There is always something to work on with any RV and you just must hope that it is nothing major. Then you have the choice of trying to repair it yourself or calling in a travelling Specialist to do the job. Even my brand-new Coachmen Leprechaun required some repairs due to failure of the Quality Control team to spot the problem which was as simple as not tightening the connections to a water valve during the assembly. This resulted in water pouring out all over the place below the RV when I filled the freshwater tank as I prepared for the frost.
I took the dogs out walking early as I knew that I would be gone all evening. We walked around the park and along the road before returning to Miss Daisy where I patted them on the head and drove into Austin. I stopped at two different stores trying to locate a nighttime visor to help with the glare of the oncoming traffic but with no luck. All that was offered were anti-glare glasses which would not help as my own glasses have prescription lenses. No good eliminating the glare if the vision is blurry. As it happened, the drive home was uneventful, and I did not have any problems with the oncoming glare of the headlights.
The class itself at the Precision Camera Store was interesting although some of it was way over my head. I learned most of the basic stuff and with the knowledge of the other stuff available, figured that I could learn the rest as I mess around with the camera taking pictures. Not that I am a serious photographer anyway and rely on Photoshop to pretty up my pictures. There were 5 of us in the class, 3 ladies and 2 men including me, and everyone asked questions. The instructor was very knowledgeable, and I learned a lot.
It was late when I got back, almost 9:30 pm and I took the dogs out for a short walk around the park with me carrying a flashlight which was actually fun and much different to our usual routine. So ended the second day of a busy week.
I got up early as I needed to make a trip into Austin to the Best Buy store to get my computer worked on. It had gone through one of its periodic upgrades as happens overnight only this time, something had gone wrong, and I mean seriously wrong. I knew we might be in trouble when it took forever to boot up and then a bunch of stuff was missing off the opening screen. Further examinations showed that most of the links were not visible to the operating system. I played around with it, but the technical side of any computer is way beyond my pay grade, so I shut down thinking to myself that I needed to take a trip.
We did our usual walk, and the weather was extremely windy and had turned much colder making it uncomfortable to be outside. Even Sandy was ready to come back to Miss Daisy for us to have our breakfast although true to form, both dogs ignored theirs. Then I put everything in the car that I needed and drove into Austin. The drive was uneventful, and traffic was light, and I made good time causing me to arrive way too early as they do not open until 11:00 am every day, something I was not aware of. I sat in the parking lot watching people try the door, read the posted times on the door and head back to their cars to wait it out and at 11:00 sharp, we all trooped inside. I was the only one in line for Computer Service which made me feel good until the first words that the counter lady said were, “Do you have an appointment”? Not aware that I needed one as I have never had to make one before on the other occasions when my computer needed work, I choked down the urge to tell the person behind the counter what I thought, swallowed my temper and had her book me an appointment at any of the closest stores. Turns out that the Bee Caves store had one open for 2:15 pm, a 3 hour wait but I took it anyway. What else could I do as I was out of choices and my computer needed help.
I filled in the time by going to Walmart’s which was just around the corner and wandered around really for grocery shopping which had been a part of my original plan. I was standing in one of the aisles just blankly looking at what was in front of me when a gentleman pushing a stroller accompanied by his wife and another young boy, obviously shoppers, stopped to inquire what I was looking for. I told him the item was a visor for night driving and he immediately told me where I could find them. Just to be sure, he asked a passing Walmart’s employee and they directed me to where I needed to go. I thanked them profusely and they went on their way. I made my way to the grocery section and did a bunch of shopping finding everything that I needed before we ran into each other again as I was looking at what they had in the way of visors and again thanked him for his help. Unfortunately, they did not have what I wanted in the way of Night Visors, only Night Glasses which I already have. I completed my shopping and checked out and made a slow drive to Bee Caves which is only a few miles up the road but at least, on my way home and sat in the car for 15 minutes until it was close to my appointment. I was early so I checked out the new computers before wandering over to the repair desk and even though I was still earlier than my appointed time, the young gentleman asked me what the problem was and proceeded to go to work doing things that I did not understand at all as he busily typed in instructions that he was reading from another laptop. After a few minutes and a couple more changes, he turned my computer to face me and asked how it looked. It was perfect and what’s more, it didn’t cost me anything. I thanked him profusely and made my way back to Dripping Springs. Deciding that I had got over being mad as Starbucks for their last episode, I pulled into the drive thru only to find that they were closed,,,again, this time, due to shortage of staff. With a heavy sigh I drove back to Miss Daisy to two very excited little dogs. I unloaded the groceries and put them all away before we went out walking. Altogether, I covered 2.9 miles, the dogs not so much as they didn’t get to walk around Walmart’s. A very good day indeed.
I had a restless night with very weird dreams with some of the characters, members of the award-winning Women’s Soccer Team I used to coach years ago. Maybe, I was trying to turn back the clock to some of the best days of my life with that bunch of adult ladies. Anyway, I woke up much to the consternation of Mikey and Sandy who looked at me as if to say, “You OK Dad?” I must have been thrashing around as I sometimes do and if I get violent, they disappear off the bed to safer places. As they were still with me, it must not have been too bad this time around. I remade the bed, and we all went back to a much sounder sleep with no more dreams waking to another bright and sunny day.
Again, it was another day with no special plans or trips, and we hung out in Miss Daisy following our early morning walk. Maybe, I should call that the First Walk of the day as it is generally not very early especially by our standards. This was followed by the mandatory coffee and breakfast which included feeding the dogs although they can be very fussy eaters. Sometimes, they will gobble down their food the instant it is put in front of them. Other times, it sits around, sometimes all day before they condescend to eat it. Mikey must have had an upset tummy as he suddenly started vomiting while he was sitting on the couch. When I hollered at him to get down, he did only to jump up on a different chair and continue throwing up. Furthers shouts only increased his movement as he then went to the passenger seat of Miss Daisy to complete what he had started. I was angry at him which I should not have been as he could not help being sick, but he made a poor choice of where he did it not once but three times. He knew I was mad at him and sat there looking at me with his big brown eyes as if to say, “Sorry Dad, bad choice on my part.” I cleaned up the mess and made a fuss of him and he settled down alongside me as he usually does. It was probably my fault as I had stopped him from eating grass when we were walking which usually results in his throwing up outside. Live and learn.
I spent time writing the blog and watched as one RV, this time an Airstream, pulled out but not before it had to have some repair work done by James, the gentleman who worked on Miss Daisy. As soon as he had completed his work, they were gone obviously with another campground in mind. Almost immediately as if by rote, anther Airstream pulled in. It is unusual as they are not the most common of RV’s mainly due to their cost which is considerably higher than most RVs of the same size and type. They are renowned in the RV world for their quality of build and their silver aluminum exterior and unique shape. Not only that, but they have also been around a very long time.
We went out for our usual afternoon walk and covered almost 2 miles for the day followed by food all around. The evening was spent in the usual way watching TV. I watched an FA cup game which is always interesting as the minnows from the earlier rounds are now thrown into the hat against the big boys with sometimes surprising results. Written 01/15.2022 – Check out my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
Our walk around the park, well actually on the lane leading to Hwy 290 was uneventful except for the passing of a couple of cars who usually give us a wave of acknowledgment. Most slow down as they pass but occasionally, some redneck drives by at breakneck speed. I always pull the dogs in, and we stop walking until the way is clear, just in case. Following our usual procedures of coffee and breakfast, I sat in front of the computer to answer emails and write the blog.
The mechanic from Safelite Auto Glass pulled up right on time as he was here to replace the cracked windshield in the Jeep. This had happened with a stray stone thrown up by a passing car while I was parked in the Lawyers office way back in August, but I could not get the timing right to have it replaced sooner. I sat and watched him work and marveled at his proficiency as he went about his business. It took a couple of hours and he left me with instruction on what to do with the tape that held it together and so on. My share of the bill was $480.00 with the insurance covering the rest and I was glad to pay it. Now, if only he had cleaned the back window while he was at it….
With that out of the way, I went ahead and put together a beef stew that I had already planned for the next few meals. I put everything in the InstaPot, set the timer and let it do its thing and in a few hours, it will be ready. Maybe not in time for tonight’s meal but at least tomorrows and the next few days.
With the Jeep and the stew taken care of, the rest of the day was spent writing and working on pictures. Later, the dogs indicated that it was time that I got off my fat butt and take them out walking as they had their own special needs to take care of. We wandered around and managed to cover 1.6 miles for the day. All in all, a very productive day by our standards.
01/13/2022
Magnificent rack on this guy as he takes care of his harem. These are in the fields across from the park.
Again, another day with nothing planned except for the usual things. It was a beautiful sunny day and although a bit chilly requiring a jacket for the walk, the temperature moved up into the low 70’s by the afternoon. Following breakfast, I sat and answered emails and then worked on the blogs for a bit. My thoughts turned to my upcoming birthday on the 20th of this month which then led to thinking about my life in general and how diverse it has been as it winds down. I wish I could say, slowly winds down but that is just not the case as time is flashing by at a remarkable pace. I swear that the 12-hour days of old are now only 8 hours long and even though we rarely have things planned, there is always something to do. I spent a lot of time working on the blogs and even jumped ahead to write a blog and a poem for my birthday coming up on the 20th of this month. I also worked on several pictures that I have recently taken many of which get included in the blogs especially if they are relevant or have some bearing on the subject in hand. It was not long before it was time to go out walking again. This time, we covered the outside lanes in a different direction just to change the monotony and by the end of the day, had covered our requisite 1.3 miles. We shoot for a mile a day and everything else is a bonus especially if I get to walk around HEB or Walmart’s where I can easily wrack up an extra mile.
Another day with nothing planned so there was no real reason to get up early. I did make the effort though and rolled out about 9:15 am for our usual routine of walks and breakfast. Today was laundry day so gathering up my trusty bag full of soiled clothes plus a couple of towels, I drove over to the laundry room, which, as it turns out was busy. I managed to locate a couple of empty machines and divided my laundry between them. Try as I might, I could not get the App to work that allows for pay-online and also keeps track of the progress. I resorted to the old-fashioned money in the slot after also exchanging my dollar bills for quarters. There was another gentleman also doing his laundry and he did not have any problems in getting the app to work for him. Malinda, one of the Park Super’s stopped by and managed to get the machine working for me using my quarters. Frustrated at not getting the modern technology to work for me, I drove back to Miss Daisy for breakfast knowing that I would just have time to eat it before having to go back to transfer the laundry to the dryer. I only needed one dryer but again, could not get the app to work but the end result was an hour later, I was back and folding the laundry.
With it all folded and out of the way and everything back into their respective drawers and closets, I sat down and decided that I seriously needed to make an appointment to renew my driver’s license, something I had been putting off in the hope that my new glasses would be here in time but somehow, I do not think that will happen. The current ones I am using are now third generation with the new ones that are on order being the first. The second generation have scratched lenses making them difficult to see clearly although they may be OK just for reading. The last time I took the test 6 years ago, I had to run back to the car and get a different pair of glasses then as I was having trouble. I barely squeaked through back then so you can see why I am a bit worried this time around 6 years later. The requirements are also much stiffer as I must provide proof of citizenship which I can do with my Naturalization Certificate. I have never had to do that before that I can remember.
I also spent time on answering some of the test questions in the practice test section and I need to do that again closer to the day. Most were straightforward but the ones on things like what speed is safe for xxxx or those with multiple choice answers were a bit tricky. I will practice every day from here on out. Most of the tricky ones they ask are not things you deal with on a daily basis or at least not in a straightforward way and many are things that are second nature as you drive but more difficult to put into words. Things like, under certain circumstances, do you slow down to 30 mph or 35 mph like that 5 mph makes a difference at the time. Maybe in a court of law but out on the road. Please….Oh well, all I can do is my best and hope that my memory does not fail me.
Sandy kept giving me the look enough that even Mikey noticed, and he too became a bug, so I knew it was time for us to go out walking. The weather was really chilly, and I was glad that I had found the heavy coat. Need to find some gloves too as my hands got cold and I had to keep switching the leash alternating between each one with the other in my pocket. I have decided that with unfinished business still to attend to, some of which is very close to the end of the month and keeping in mind how severe the weather was last February, we will stay here through the end of January and February before heading out. I texted Malinda and made the necessary arrangements today and we are all set. Of course, a lot depends on the DL thingy as without it, I ain’t going nowhere which does lead to some interesting and disturbing thoughts. If I can’t drive anymore, there is no point in having Miss Daisy as I bought her to travel and see the country. I would have to find a location to permanently park my RV and then I might as well buy another used 5th wheel for the extra space and have someone else park it permanently at the campground of my choice. Things to ponder on.
We have nothing planned for today or at least, nothing requiring a trip into town or a meeting with some Doctor or another or even with my friend BJ. I have things I need to do here in Miss Daisy such as to go through the boxes stored in the bunk area to try to locate a missing jacket. If I cannot find it, I will need to buy me a heavier coat for these cold mornings. I have searched everywhere else even in the Jeep to no avail. I cannot believe that I donated it as I did with so many of my clothes just not having the storage room for very much. Come to that, I do not need much in the way of formal clothes anyway as I cannot remember the last time, I wore a tie. It must have been years ago, and I can’t remember how to tie a Windsor knot anyway. Shorts and Tee shirts are my modus operandi nowadays.
We did our usual walk around the park thingy this morning. The air was quite chilly but there is no frost forecast for the next 10 days although the temperatures will be low at night but not freezing. Before living in an RV, I never used to think or worry about frosts and freezing weather and just turned up the thermostat if needed to but now, due to the structure of the RV itself and having to watch for freezing pipes, I pay a lot more attention to the weather forecast, especially in the winter.
With the first walk of the day and breakfast out of the way yet again, I settled down to read the emails just in case there may be one of interest or that requires an answer. As usual, most were junk or from fellow bloggers who I always take the time to read and sometimes respond. I usually get some from the political parties and they always want money, so I have decided to take myself off their mailing lists and drop out of all form of politics. I may still vote but only because my vote counts to keep the Democrats in power. I am so sick and tired of the political hassling and that neither party want to work with the other for the sake of the American people. Our Democracy is in real trouble, and I fear a bunch of civil unrest is in the future even more so than there is today.
As I mentioned above, we have nothing planned so I decided that I would check out the boxes in the bunk storage area not only to find the jacket but also to see what else I have stored up there. At the time, I did not label the various container boxes as I was transferring the stuff from the Eagle to Miss daisy along with help from my good friend B.J. and we were not only late but it was also dark. At that time, our thoughts were to get everything put somewhere out of the way and worry about it later. Well, now it is later, and I need to see just what is in some of those boxes. I should mention that the storage area is located above the driver’s cab and in order to get to it, one must climb a short iron ladder which is hooked for safety. Once up there, the headroom is just high enough for small kids which is the original intent of that area as a bunk area for them. I could really have used some help, but needs must, so I went about the business of bringing down the packing crates one by one going up and very carefully down the ladder until everything was stacked on the floor.
I spent a couple of hours going through each box, sorting and in some cases, discarding the contents or transferring them to each designated and this time, labelled crate. Eventually, satisfied that it was the best I could do and with the contents of each crate identified, I went about the business of lifting the now much heavier crates back up the ladder and onto the bunk area deck. With the work completed and now with a couple of spare and empty storage crates which I took outside to the other storage areas and happy with having a job well done, plus, I had the added bonus of locating my winter clothes including the jacket which was the original intent in the first place. I found a bunch of other useful things as well
By this time, it was late in the afternoon and the dogs fed up with having to help sort out boxes, decided that we needed to go out for their afternoon walk. I harnessed them up and off we went, this time taking the long lane outside of the RV park. Altogether, we covered 1.5 miles for the day which finished in the usual fashion.
We awoke to another lazy day which began in the usual way of walking the dogs around the park, checking out any comings or goings. As it was a bit early for any such activity with most travelling campers leaving before the allotted time of 12:00 pm and new campers arriving any time after. Unless of course, if the leaving Campers have a long trip ahead of them to their next stop, then they leave earlier. A big percentage of the campers here are either long term somewhat permanent residents or those like me, here for a couple of months or more. One gentleman I spoke to was here to Supervise the building of a store, one of the well-known chains, before he moved on to the next one, wherever that may be. Interesting way to work and bring your home with you and it did not matter where the next project was.
In my much younger days in England, I worked for a pipe-line construction company, and we travelled all over to wherever the projects were. As that was sixty years ago and RVs or Caravans as they were called over there, were not that popular an item back then, I had to find lodgings in the local town for my out-of-town stays. I stayed at some very interesting places both good and bad and in retrospect, wish I had a Miss Daisy way back then. As I wrote and watched out of my window, another camper was breaking down his RV ready to pull out. He and his family were weekend warriors out enjoying camping and were probably heading back to their “Bricks and Sticks” to resume their normal life. Between them, including a couple of small kids, they very efficiently broke down the camper after hitching it up to their truck and in no time flat, were pulling out. I was impressed in how quickly and how well they performed this task obviously well used to doing it and in a very organized and businesslike manner.
We have no plans for today other than what we normally do. I sometimes wonder what I would do with myself if I did not have this blog to fill in my time although I have been writing since 2011 in my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com which is still active. That blog was all about my hiking trips and the 5 ponds I had built in my backyard. As my interest’s changed and having sold my house of thirty-five years and moving full time into an RV, so did my blogging take a different path. Now my blog is really a diary of daily events whatever they happen to be again more reporting than writing as I do not have to think up a plot or invent characters as my normal life is doing all of that for me. Interesting enough for a few folks but I do not get the followers I used to when I wrote about the ponds and the hiking trips. In truth, other than daily walks, I have not been on a real hike in a long time. I miss hiking but circumstances have changed. I have gotten older and when I do go out very occasionally, I always take the dogs which does not make for easy walking for any great distance as I keep them leashed all the time. This also makes it much more difficult for me to use my both of my hiking sticks, usually resulting in having to use just a single stick even though the leash is a single handle with a double leash.The sticks really help if I am wanting to cover several miles aiding both in speed and balance and goodness only knows, I need all the help I can get. That plus I carry my camera and am always on the lookout for any interesting shots and dogs tend to frighten off any wildlife or birds.
We have nothing planned for this week except on Wednesday when Auto lite is coming to replace the windshield on the Jeep that was cracked by a rock way back in January. It is just a single crack and does not impair visibility and due to being away, I was unable to get it replaced sooner.
With the day almost done, we went out for the final walk mainly on the outside roads and managed to cover 1.5 miles total. It had turned cold with the wind blowing and we moved at a brisk speed for me. The dogs just trotted along without a care in the world just happy to be out. I even tried running just to see if I still could and not very far and although my legs and breathing were fine, my balance was a bit off, so I need to work on that. The rest of the day was spent in the usual fashion with food for us all followed by TV and a glass of cheap wine for me.
The House wher I was born. Huggletts Lane, England
Yesterday was my birthday 86 years ago. I was born in England in a house located on a hill that was named Huggletts Lane in the village of Old Heathfield where I lived during the Second World War. I had two brothers and a sister who were all in the Armed Services doing their part and I was the youngest by 10 years to my sister. Although not witnessing the actual horrors of war, I lived in the flight path of the German Luftwaffe as they made their nightly bombing trips on London and watched dog fights as the two sides were locked in mortal combat and followed the path of the Doodlebugs hoping that their engines would not stop, and they would come down and explode near me. I also watched as the planes and gliders flew over to land in Arnhem and other locations as the tide of the war, turned. All of this as I grew up as a 3-year-old until the war ended when I was 9.
With my parents divorced when I was 11, I led a troubled childhood bouncing from one relative to another before at the age of eighteen, I took charge of my own life which included 3 marriages, 2 sons and a daughter, 2 stepdaughters and a stepson before dragging half of them around the World to meet up again with my mother and her GI husband that she had married many years ago, another outcome of the Second World War. She had followed him to America directly after the war ended.
Then in 1967, I and my family made the big decision and moved to America, and I have been here ever since never having been back to the old country. Would I like to go back? Sure, but not at my age as I do not think I would enjoy it having memories of it as it used to be. My version of England is the idyllic one that you see on television with beautiful countryside and quant houses with thatched roofs and friendly neighbors. I do not think I would like the modern version. I would like to see my two grown-up sons and get to meet one of my heroes, Solly March, my Great, Great grandson who is living out my dream by playing professional football for Brighton and Hove Albion in the English Premier League.
After my last wife left for pastures greener, thirty years ago, I remained a single man having had enough of women and the problems that they can bring on a man and lived in Austin, Texas until last year when I sold the house and moved full time into an RV doing some travelling and spending a couple of weeks or more at each campsite especially if it was one that appealed to me. I returned to the current one, Henly RV Park located in Henly, Texas just outside of Dripping Springs for the winter months.
Now, my time is running out as the years roll on by. I have no endearing wishes but hope to make it to New York State later this year when all signs of winter are gone. After that, who knows? Find a nice campground, sell Miss Daisy for a larger RV, and settle down to live out what remains of my life? Hopefully, I will get to see a few more birthdays and still be lucid enough to write about them. If not, I will just shoot myself and be done with it. Just kidding but I really do not want to end up in an Old Fogey’s Home and as the song goes, “I want to live until I die”.
I cannot believe that I am this old for if the truth be told I do not feel my age today even though can’t run or play football like I used to do as my body has not a clue on how to run and jump and kick the ball just in case I trip preferring to keep my feet on the ground better safe than sorry is what I have found as balance is something that goes with age like the body is turning a whole new page to remind us that with the passing years our body grows weak and our greatest fears are the mind stays strong and not fail us today remembering the thoughts, we need to say in order to function in a normal life managing ourselves with little strife now when I try to remember a date or a name or a place or even what I ate I have to think so very hard and not get discouraged and my efforts discard as losing memory comes with old age and in life’s book just another page along our journey that starts when we’re born and continues through life when we are torn between good things and bad suffering and pain and yet we would do it all over again for life is sweet and comes only once before we all turn into dust I am eighty-six years old today and if I could have my say I would try to live just as long if I could keep my body strong and my mind stay functional all of the time for what use is a body if the mind declines on the other hand, when my time draws nigh and I know that I’m going to die let it be in a peaceful sleep dig a hole and bury me deep under a tree somewhere quiet and green out in the country where I can’t be seen and no one will know that I am there for I will no longer care having led my life to my very best not knowing if I passed the test happy instead for my time living my life so sublime.
It was a dull and cloudy day with a light drizzle when we went out for our short morning walk around the park. We did not go far as it was uncomfortable to be outside and quickly returned to the warmth of Miss Daisy. I fixed the dogs their breakfast but as is sometimes the case with them, they both chose to ignore the food. Obviously not that hungry. Their choice but it probably due to the fact that I have spiced up their last couple of meals with the skin and stuff from a couple of roast chickens that I have been eating carefully making sure they do not get any chicken bones. As we are out of chicken, they had better eat what is in front of them. I, on the other hand had no trouble devouring the food I prepared for myself along with the morning coffee and feeling much better about myself and the world in general, went about our normal day. For me, this means catching up on emails and correspondence and the world news before settling down to write the blog. We have nothing planned for the day of exceptional importance although a trip to HEB is in the works.
I completed work on the three previous blogs and posted them after attaching pictures that we have taken. I noticed that I write a lot of “we” which is including the dogs even for things like writing and such and of course, their contribution is negligible, nothing, zero. They are too busy sleeping each in their own respective spot and figure that they contributed by taking me walking. Of course, it is a lot more than that as without them and their attention to me, it would be a lonely life. Besides, they keep me on track and make sure that I get exercise every day. Now if only they could do something about my aging brain although , indirectly, walking and exercise is supposed to be a big help
Later in the afternoon, I went in to the HEB to stock up again. Generally speaking, we go about a week in between grocery trips and even then, it is only because we have run out of certain necessary items. On the way home, I decided that a Latte would be nice, wary that the last time I tried the local Starbucks, they had closed because of a staff shortage. There were three cars in line ahead of me as I pulled up to the order window only for a voice to tell me, “Sorry, we are closed at 5:00 pm today”. I looked at my watch and commented on the fact that it was only 5.01 but to no avail as the voice said the same thing over again, “Sorry, we are closed at 5:00 pm today”. Totally disgusted and thinking, but not saying, a few choice words I pulled out around the 3 cars in line and headed home. I had 11 miles to ponder what had just happened as I fumed my way home thinking of all the nasty things that I could have said before the saner, gentler part of my brain had kicked in and I got to analyzing what they should have done. I understand that they need to follow orders, but I doubt that their instructions included not waiting on someone wanting to order and was already in line. What they should have done was to close when the line was empty, and the last customer served. It is not like that store is nonstop busy as there have been many times when I have been the only customer. I am sure, if they knew, Starbucks Management would not be too happy to hear of this.
It is either pretty sad or an indication of just how trouble free my life is right now that something of this nature made such an impression on me. There are millions of people all over the world that are not sure where their next meal is coming from, and I am worrying about poor service at a Starbucks? That truly reflects my values and how I have allowed life to become all about me. We are all so ingrained with our own perceived self-importance, real or imagined, that we have lost sight of the meaning of life and how it affects other people.
Putting those dark thoughts to one side, I went about the normality’s that I am used to by unloading the groceries from the car and putting away the ones that needed to go into the freezer leaving the rest, still in their plastic bags, spread all over the floor. The dogs were jumping up and down to remind me that, “We gotta go, Dad” so I slipped on their harnesses and with my two little friends, went out for the evening walk. Unless I need to steer them away from other dogs, Sandy usually decides where we walk so, we never really know which direction she will take us. One thing is certain, it is not going to be a straight line. If by chance, she is going somewhere I do not want us to go either because it is time to head back or something down the road like another dog, I gently re-direct her back on track. Back at Miss Daisy after about a half mile of walking for a total of 1.5 for the day, we went ahead with our usual evening routine of food, a glass of cheap wine and television before heading off to bed where we all slept like the proverbial babies.
The catlle across the road from the Park. They must look enormous to the dogs especially up close.
A late start by design as we have nothing important planned for the day. We did our usual walk around this time on the outside road leading to Hwy 290. The livestock that roams the fields across from the campgrounds were all under the trees close to the road. Sandy was not at all sure about those massive beasts and although inquisitive, kept her distance. Mikey just did his usual thing, hiding behind me. It took a long time to cover that half mile as both dogs were picking up what to them were the most interesting of scents and smells and each one required inspection from both dogs. I wonder what it is that they smell and is so interesting to them? I sat at the table working on the blogs and looked outside to see that every car in the immediate neighborhood and within my view was gone. Not even one at the eight RVs in my site line. Must be a busy day for some people although there are plenty more like myself with nothing important to do at least today. I worked for a while attaching pictures and posting the blogs that I had completed before deciding that I really needed to go to Home Depot for a part for the hose hookup and as it was Wednesday, maybe stop at the Farmer’s Market that is held here. In the Home Depot, I was standing and looking when one of the store workers came up to offer his services and eventually, between us we figured out how to make things work at least in theory. The truth will come out when I work on it tomorrow as we have another freeze expected for the next couple of nights. I thanked him and checked out and headed for the Farmer’s Market where I walked around for a bit. The place was remarkably busy and practically everyone was mask less except for those serving behind the stalls as they wore theirs. I wore mine as I checked things out, but I really did not see anything that grabbed my attention so jumped back into the car and headed for Starbucks only to discover that they had closed at 1:00 pm due to a staff shortage. Imagine that, a staff shortage in a Starbucks. Where are all the High School students that usually fill these kinds of jobs, doesn’t anyone want to work anymore? Disappointed at not being able to satisfy my needs, I made my way back to Miss Daisy and took my frustration out on the dogs by making them go out for our evening walk covering a little over 2 miles for the day. Not that they cared as they were jumping up and down with excitement and they tore around or as much as their combined leash would allow as we walked the lanes.
Thursday 01/06/2022
The horses we meet on our walks
The weather was brisk when I opened the door to Miss Daisy for the first walk of the day requiring that I put on something a little heavier than a Tee shirt and reminding me that we are due another freeze this evening. We walked around the park and on one of the outside roads before adjourning to Miss Daisy for a leisurely breakfast. We have nothing planned for today except some maintenance work I need to do on Miss Daisy that I bought the parts for with yesterday’s trip to the Home Depot. I wrote for a while before venturing out to work on the water attachments and discovered that the parts I had bought would not work. I jumped in the car and headed back into town, this time stopping at Tractor Supply figuring that as it was hose connections that I needed, they probably would have them. Sure enough, with the help of a knowledgeable salesperson, I was soon out of the door and heading back to Miss Daisy. Incidentally, Tractor Supply is the very first store that I come to on my way back into town which makes it very convenient. Back at Miss Daisy, I worked on the problem and had it fixed in a very short time although I had to borrow a wrench from my neighbor as for some reason, I could not locate mine other than the one I had on hand, and it was a two-wrench job. I also spent some time locating my frost blankets and covered up the water spigot although I will still have to disconnect the water a bit later this evening just to be on the safe side. With the work taken care of at least the part that I could do this early, we went out for the last walk of the day but as it was getting both dark and chilly, we did not walk far and soon returned to the warmth of Miss Daisy and the evening meal and entertainment. Later that evening, I went out and shut off the water and disconnected the hose from the RV after making sure there was water in the freshwater tank to see us through. Such are the trials and tribulations of living in an RV in winter.
Snuggled in between the rock walls.
Friday 01/07/2022
We got up early this morning as the RV Repair guy was coming around 10:00 am and I wanted to have the dog walks and breakfast out of the way when he arrived. The weather was very chilly with the temperature still below freezing and a cold wind blowing. Reminded me of the winters up North when I lived in New York State and why I moved south to get away from it. Lucky for us, Texas winters are not usually too bad or too drawn out lasting a day or two at the most although the winter in February of 2021 was the worst on record. Hopefully, that was a one off. We did not walk far, just enough for the dogs to stretch their legs and do their “thing.” James Langstone, the RV repair man showed up around 10:30 and went to work on locating the leak problem. I had already cleaned out the storage areas where the low point drain is located. It took a while, but he found the leak and it was nothing more than a bad factory assembly of not tightening a part on that drain. Does not say much for their quality control. With it out of the way and the whole thing reassembled, I discussed him installing a tire pressure system I had bought which he looked at and, in the end, decided that it would need valve extensions to make it work which he did not have. He also not only showed me how to remove the air filter but did so that I could clean it as it was very dirty. I paid him and very gratefully thanked him for his efforts which I considered to be money well spent. A couple of other people approached him with their problems so hopefully for him, he has more work ahead. I drove into Austin to Stauthouse Coffee to meet BJ who had arrived before me. It was great to see her again and we spent a busy 30 minutes sitting outside in the cold playing catch-up until it was time for her to move on to another appointment. I headed for my Bank to take care of some business before going to the Home Depot in Dripping Springs where I purchased yet another small plumbing part for Miss Daisy as the last part, I bought I could not make work as I wanted it to. The drive home to Henly was uneventful and I was met at the door by two excited little dogs who were impatient to be harnessed up for their afternoon walk. They had to wait a little bit as I needed to complete the water hook up to Miss Daisy before we set out. Our walk was short, just a turn around the park before we headed back for the rest of the evening. I noticed that my next-door neighbors with the big Class A had already pulled out, Safe journey to them. It started a light drizzle as the temperature began to rise and there is no frost forecast for the next few days.
Just as we feared would happen, Mother Nature decided to take a turn for the worst and presented us with our first overnight frost. We knew by the weather forecast that it was coming but even so, no one likes to get up to below freezing temperatures. We did suffer some frost damage to the filter requiring a replacement but as far as I can tell, everything else is OK with no internal damage to the plumbing. We went out for a short walk, and it required a jacket as it was still below freezing, and the wind was cold. The dogs did not care and if anything, it gave them a boost as they were frisky, running and jumping around at least as far as their leashes would let them.
Following breakfast, I went out and took another look at the water hookup. As I already mentioned, the filter was shot but everything else was intact. I unhooked the hose and managed to clear the ice from it and then re-hooked it again. While I was doing that, Daniel, the Park Super stopped by, wrenches in hand and helped me finish hooking back up. I thanked him profusely and he went on his way to help others in need. With the water turned back on at least until this evening when I will need to shut it off and disconnect the hose, I turned my attention to the usual things we do on a daily basis.
Later that afternoon, I went looking for a new water filter trying first Tractor Supply and then Home Depot in Dripping Springs before finally heading into Austin and the Walmart’s store there where I was able to purchase what I needed and added a Roast Chicken for the next few evening meals. No sense in wasting a trip. Incidentally, the gentleman that helped me in the Home Depot went above and beyond as he not only advised me to go to Walmart’s, but he also called to see if they were open and had what I was looking for. I thanked him profusely and wished him a Happy New Year before I went on my way. The drive back was uneventful, and I arrived to be greeted by my buddies who knew that they would get to go walkies. Back at Miss Daisy following the walk, I spent time talking to a couple of my neighbors and learned a bit about one of them who is originally from the Chicago area and winters here in Texas. My other neighbor is a young lady who lives alone with her Boxer dog in a ridiculously small Airstream, and she offered me water this morning when she knew that mine was off. Great to have such people as neighbors knowing the current state of the world or, I am just a cynic. Incidentally, the dog amuses himself for hours when she ties him up outside her RV and is really funny to watch. He has all of these toys that he plays with shaking them in his mouth and then letting them go and they bang against the side of her RV. He then does it all over again much to my amusement. That is why I love dogs.
January 3, 2022
I woke up early as I thought that I had a Neurologist appointment, so I called just to make sure that whether it was an in person or was it a Zoom meeting? As it happens, it is not until tomorrow and is in person which is OK as I already know what they are going to tell me and that there is nothing we can do about it. A shrinking brain is just that and is not repairable. We had another overnight freeze but this time, I was prepared and had gone out around 9:00 pm to disconnect the hoses. I noticed there is a drip from somewhere meaning that we have a leak and as usual, difficult to find. I am hoping it is from the fresh-water tank which does not normally get used except when I must disconnect the hoses like during a freeze. Then, for us, it replaces the normal hose hookup, and this is the first time we have had to use it.
I had a 1:00 pm appointment in Austin with my Dentist which was the follow up to last week’s cleaning. Apparently, I needed crowns on the two front teeth although they look perfectly OK to me but then again, what do I know about teeth or anything else, come to that. Last time, due to unexpected traffic delays, I was 30 minutes late, so I made sure I left in plenty of time and quite naturally, the traffic was light, and I arrived 30 minutes early. I waited around in the parking lot before venturing in and then proceeded to sit in the Dentist chair for the next 2.5 hours as both the Hygienist and then the Dentist took it in turns to do their work. Luckily, with modern Dentistry, it was completely painless after the initial prick of the needles, that is. This is only the first step as tomorrow I must go somewhere else to have the new teeth color matched and then wait a couple of weeks to go back for them to be inserted. Fun, fun, fun. In the meantime, I have temporary crowns.
I stopped at Starbucks on the way home and as I have mentioned before, as the coffee is not agreeing with me, I decided to try something else. I settled for a Coffee Frappuccino which turned out to be an expensive waste of time and really a kids drink as it was very little liquid and lots of whipped cream. I drank it anyway…I cannot believe how expensive fancy drinks like that are as it cost me almost 6 dollars for a bunch of coffee flavored whipped cream.
I arrived back as Miss Daisy to be met by two excited little dogs just begging to go out walking which we did. We backtracked and seesawed around as we tried to avoid other dogs which made for an interesting walk before returning to Miss Daisy for the evening.
January 4, 2022
We got up early, for us, this morning as we had an 11:00 am appointment back in Austin and with the traffic as uncertain as it what it is, I wanted to leave in plenty of time. Besides, we had the dog walk thing to do and then at least some semblance of breakfast and coffee before heading out of the door. I noticed that my neighbor from across the way was outside and went over to talk to him to ask him for the Service Mechanics number who had been working on his RV a couple of days ago. I explained to him what my problem was, and he said he would pass the message along as the mechanic was due work on to his RV later that day. I would like to have stayed home but the appointments that I had were made a week or more ago and I needed to keep them.
I reluctantly left my little buddies bribing them with a couple of treats which was more to ease my conscience than to appease them and made the trip in to see my Neurologist. That went better than I expected, and I scored well on the tests, giving me some hope for the future. Of course, nothing can be done for my failing memory recall but at least it had not gotten any worse. I set up another appointment for 6 months’ time but who knows where I will be then.
From there, I drove to North Austin and had a couple of hours to kill wasting some of it in Walmart’s although I did not buy anything but just wandered around. I did spend time in their RV section, but they did not have anything that I wanted. When I came out, I still had an hour and a half to kill and drove around for a bit before just sitting in the sun listening to an Audiobook. I was there to have the color matched on the implants that were made yesterday. Well not those ones as they are just temporary but others that will be made in the future. Overall, it took about 10 minutes for that before I headed home. I stopped at Starbucks resorting to my old favorite only this time with non-fat milk which tasted much more agreeable to me. Anything had to be better than the Frappuccino that I wasted money on yesterday.
Back at Miss Daisy, my neighbors knocked on my door to tell me that the mechanic had looked but would not work on it without me present as he needed to get into the storage areas. They gave me his card so that I could set up an appointment. I thanked them profusely for their help as they went back to their RV, and I took the dogs out for their evening walk. We wandered around all over the place with Sandy guiding the way and Me and Mikey and getting dragged along behind. Altogether, I covered 2 miles for the day and as my Neurosurgeon pointed out that exercise was exceptionally good for the brain, felt that we had accomplished something. Now if only I could remember what that was…
