J01W1

Monday, January 14, 2019

We picked up Phil and Joyce and we were headed toward our favorite eating place this morning. Henry and Arlene would be meeting us again at the Cottage Too somewhere around 9:30.

On the way in to the restaurant we saw the remains of what seemed to be a horrendous accident right in the middle of Palm Drive. Palm Drive is the main road that serves Desert Hot Springs from the South. We saw what remained of a pick-up truck overturned in the middle of the street with its axle missing. We didn’t see a second involved vehicle but the street had been blocked off at that time and we observed from a half a block away from the scene. It took us extra time to get to the restaurant because of the detour and Henry and Arlene were already drinking coffee when we arrived. It was a good thing that they were already there because the place was packed along with the parking lot. We parked on the street today in front of the restaurant.

We had a lovely Breakfast and some great conversation for the hour and a half that we were there. I’m lucky that I have friends that love to go to Breakfast, because that’s my favorite meal of the day.

After Breakfast we headed toward home stopping at the Post Office for a quick stop that tuned into a 20 minute visitation. Sharon was in there so long we thought we might have to go in and check on her.

She finally came back out and we headed toward home again. As luck would have it, We awoke to another we needed to take the detour again. They were just finishing the final cleanup on the accident that had happened that morning.

By the time we got back home it was overcast and the weather had turned a little nippy. We didn’t think that the pool would be happening for today. In fact Sharon went directly to the bedroom for a nap instead.

She got back up just in time to fix Chicken and Rice for Supper tonight. It’s one of my favorite ways to eat chicken. She makes chicken about 8 different ways but this is one of my favorites.

We camped out in front of the boob tube after Dinner and watched everything we wanted to see. We had no trouble with any recordings tonight except for Jeopardy. We don’t know when that is going to be straightened out. We were up until just after 11 tonight.

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

We awoke to another crappy day today. It was supposed to rain all day and the overcast sky would attest to that.

Sharon took off with the laundry while the sky was not pouring out its heart today. But for the rest of the day the rain was on and off.

I finished up the Newsletter today and sent it off to all my e-mail recipients. I also printed up the 6 “snail mail” copies and got them all ready to mail. As luck would have it we only had 5 stamps for 6 letters. It seems to happen that way for the first “Letter” every year even though we stopped at the Post Office yesterday. A classic example of one-dimensional thinking.

This afternoon Henry and Arlene called and asked if we wanted to come over for happy hour at 3. And with such a depressing day in the forecast we decided that we would go.

We got over to their campground and couldn’t get in the gate. We’ve had trouble with that gate before. After about 12 tries to get in, we finally called Henry and he came out to the gate. He tried the keypad ONCE and the gate opened. I joked that we weren’t coming back here anymore cause the gate won’t let us in.

We stayed at the Leduc’s for about 3 hours discussing everything under the Sun, but mostly about DirecTV and our faulty receiver. Arlene put out snacks and we had a good time while we were there.

After we got back home the first thing we did was fire up Jeopardy and, lo and behold, it had recorded all the way through for the first time since we’ve been on the road this year. We just hope it continues, but we’re not really optimistic about future recordings.

The rest of the night we enjoyed all our recordings without interruption. We even surfed a couple of times to carry us through to 10:30. It had been a very good night.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

This will be our third Taco Wednesday today. Phil and Joyce will be picking us up at 11:45 to go to the VFW. We were expecting a huge crowd today but we were surprised to find that we still had plenty of places to sit when we got inside. In fact Henry and Arlene were waiting for us at the table, along with two other couples from Canada.

We ordered our food early today, not wanting to get caught like we did last week, having to wait well after 1:30 to get our food. When I got my food it was a “crisp” Taco instead of a “Fish” Taco. Barb Gauthier and I have a similar problem at home when ordering our “french” Dressing. We have to make sure it’s French and not Ranch. It must be our accent.

We had a very nice lunch with all parties having discussed almost everything from Mad Cow disease to the economy. With the Canadian currency at .73 cents on the dollar it cost them quite a bit to come down here for the Winter. I don’t think its as expensive as staying in Canada, but it is expensive.

By the time we got home Sharon was fighting not to take a nap, and she actually held out for quite awhile before she finally announced that she was bored and headed toward the bed.

I stayed up watching TV but I may have actually slipped into a little slumber while I was there. A couple of shows that taped I watched later on and they seemed like repeats. I recognized some of the dialogue as it played again.

Since we ate lunch late again today we didn’t have anything formally for Supper tonight. We were fending for ourselves again tonight. We each had a couple of snacks before settled in to the TV for the rest of the evening. Sharon actually watched TV for the whole evening tonight. She has had a book, cross stitch, jig saw puzzle or cross word puzzle keeping her busy during TV watching time since we left home. But tonight she hung in there with just the TV. I, on the other hand, am completely captivated by the TV. And I was captivated until about 10:15 tonight when I got “bored” and headed for the feathers.

Thursday, January 17, 2019

We woke up this morning with absolutely nothing to do today. It would be raining off and on for most of the day as it has for the last 4 days. The weather over the last week has been very disappointing except that we expect that January is not going to be ideal weather conditions. It hasn’t been in the last 20 years that we’ve been coming out here.

Sharon made us Egg McMuffins for Breakfast this morning. It was a very welcome offering since we haven’t had them for a couple of weeks. She likes to surprise me every once in a while with them and I don’t “complain.”

After Breakfast we had nowhere to go and nothing that couldn’t wait until tomorrow when the weather is planning to improve some. Sharon finished up her jig-saw puzzle that she had been working on for the last couple of days.

The afternoon was consumed with shows that had been recorded on the DVR over the past couple of days. They were mostly Dr. Jeff, Rocky Mountain Vet and Dr. Dee, Alaska Vet. But they got us through the afternoon.

We had leftover Rigatoni and Meatballs for Supper tonight along with garlic toast made from hot dog buns. Sharon always has a way to make meals better the second or third time around.

We got a phone call from Terry and JoAnne Bertamini tonight saying they would be back in town tomorrow afternoon. They weren’t due back until the 22 nd of this month but I guess they decided to come back early. They had gone back to Canada for Christmas and were now coming back for the rest of the Winter. On the way, they stopped in Las Vegas to watch their Grandson ride in the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) as the Canadian Junior Champion.

We sat in front of the tube for the rest of the night watching everything except Jeopardy tonight. I’m so tempted to go to DISH TV but they want a 2 year contract to sign up. I don’t want to commit myself to that. We’re not having trouble with any other channel except ABC out of New York.

Friday, January 18, 2019

It was a little chilly this morning when we got up, but Sharon still when on her walk this morning. After she came back home she left to do some grocery shopping and to mail some letters.

I wrote my Journal entry for the day and then I got my other computer out and continued editing a movie that we had shot in 2017 of the Winnebago Rally in Forest City, Iowa. By the time I stopped it was about 3pm. Just in time to shower and clean up for our Dinner tonight with the Bertamini’s.

Terry and JoAnne picked us up at 5 and we headed across the valley to Applebee’s in Cathedral City. The place was absolutely packed when we got there but we managed to find a parking place that someone had just left. Inside it was as busy as it was outside. I had never seen the place so full before. We had to wait for twenty minutes before a place to sit had freed up for us. I had the Half Rack of Ribs that was really good, and Sharon had a steak that she really wasn’t too thrilled with. She said it tasted good but there was some marbling that she couldn’t eat. In any event we had a nice Dinner and some sparkling conversation.

On the way home I realized why I hate to drive at night anymore. The lights from the cars approaching us were haloing and it was hard to see past them. But Terry was driving so I wasn’t worried about that.

We got back home about 8 and got settled in front of the tube for the rest of the night. We had a whole night’s taping that we had to catch up on. By the time we watched what we wanted to it climbed up on 10:30 and time for the sack.

Saturday, January 19, 2019

We got up this morning and the Sun was shining as bright as it’s ever been. It looked like it was going to be a really nice day today.

Sharon wanted to stop by a couple of other parks this morning for their Rummage Sales. We had two parks that were close to us that she wanted to visit. We took off before showers and everything but the only thing she found to buy was a jig-saw puzzle. But that seems pretty typical for us in the last few years. We just haven’t found much at these Rummage Sales.

Phil and Joyce were doing the same thing this morning because after we got home, they called us on the phone and asked if we were receiving visitors. Of course we were, so they stopped over. But before they got up to our door they were hijacked by our neighbors Bob and Neila Lowe and taken on a tour of their house. Bob is a real talker and can keep you busy for quite a while.

After they “arrived” we sat and talked for awhile and made a date to meet each other at the All Star Burger on the corner of Dillon and Corkill just a couple of blocks away. We’ll meet them at 5:30 tonight.

Me and the Mrs. went to the pool this afternoon and the temperature of the water was very inviting. We were the only people in the pool even though Bob and Neila were in the Hot Tub. We stayed for about an hour and a half or so including a stint in the Hot Tub.

We got home and got ready to go to the Burger Joint for Dinner. We arrived right at 5:30 and surprised Phil and Joyce by coming through the back door. They were there already sitting at our table. We all had Burgers and Fries and they were quite good, but when we go out for burgers it’s usually McDonald’s because they’re much cheaper.

After our Dinner Date we headed back home and camped out in front of the tube for the night. We still had taped shows from the night before when we went out with the Bertamini’s to Applebee’s. We settled in, and aside from a card game that Sharon played with herself, we watched until it was time for slumber.

Sunday, January 20, 2019

We awoke to a bright sunshiny day today that looked like it was going to warm up nicely. If it does we’ll probably go to the pool this afternoon.

Sharon was up and off to church this morning for mass at 9AM. She had a couple of stops to make this morning, including some shopping stops. I got a phone call before church started that Sharon told me that the “Tamale Ladies” had their wares outside of church this morning. That meant that we would be having Tamales for lunch today after she picked them up on the way home.

Neither of us was hungry when she first got home, so we waited until about 1 o’clock before we had lunch. Sharon had picked up BBQed Pork Tamales and they were delicious. They were the ones that we liked from a couple of years ago. They make them chicken and beef also but the lady that makes the BBQed pork ones are amazingly good.

Well it warmed up nicely today and we were off to the pool about 2pm. There were a number of people over there today which was surprising to say the least. The last couple of days that we went over there it was lonely in the pool. But we had people to talk to today.

We came back home in time to get ourselves in front of the TV to watch the playoff game that we were watching earlier. It was a game between the Saints and the Rams and the Saints got screwed on an interference play that wasn’t called. It happened at the end of the game and I thought changed the final outcome. The second playoff game commenced right after out taped game ran out. It was between the Patriots and the Chiefs and was a barn burner right up to the end. Both games ran into overtime before they were decided. The Super Bowl will be the Rams vs. the Patriots.

We reserved our usual seats for the rest of the night to view the network offerings. We were up until 10:00 tonight before I gave it all up. Sharon followed shortly thereafter.