Up and at 'em

This morning I woke up, for church, without an alarm clock. I thought the a/c was acting up. But once I was up I found that it was just the wild wind. And boy is it wild. I'm sure in the outskirts of town the dirt is really flying making breathing difficult. The temps are to be quite high today so the wind will be a mixed blessing.

Mark works again today and tomorrow. That will make 4 days in a row. The schedule is so mixed up these days with people just not showing up. There are a few that should be fired. WM is so strict on some of their rules and so lax in others. A very disorganized clueless company. It's very true, that they really do not care about their employees. Some of the floor managers should get a medal for dealing with such turmoil and indecisiveness of the store and company management. Mark works under a great department manager, who Wm would be lost without. She is an amazing worker and person. That makes Mark a lucky employee.

With Mark working I really hope to get some cleaning done and not just sit in front of the tv. I won't be shaking out rugs, but can vacuum a few of them. With the wind and the heat, it's not wise to be going in and out of the house. Yesterday Lola didn't even want to go out to go potty until 5 pm. She just didn't want to go outside before that. Good decision on her part, the sun was on the other side of the house so the ground wasn't quite as hot as when it was in the sun. But how she made it that long is beyond me. I drove her down to the dog walk in the evening so neither she or I had to deal with the hot evening walk. Today will be more of the same.

Church and dinner out then sit and do nothing for a bit while Mark takes his nap. hehehe This is why I don't get much done when he is home. Who am I kidding, lately I don't do much when he is gone. LOL

July 23

Another nice ride yesterday. Put on about 140 miles this trip and with only 2 breaks, my you know what got a little sore…….. Lol

Headed North out of town toward Yuma Proving Grounds but got sidetracked just before the turn off on AZ Hwy 95 instead I heading south thru Dome Canyon. You would not believe all the farms in this Canyon that must stretch for 30 to 40 miles. It is like driving section and county roads in MN but with water canals, farmed fields, mountains and the Gila River guiding your diction of travel. Lots of 90 deg turns but paved the hole way.

Did I mention troopers? Well you see border patrol F150 Pickups stationed about every t0 miles or less. I know I ran across 15 on them on my last trip out this way. But it was obvious they were looking for someone as they were stopping anyone in a dark colored GM SUV for inspection.

Ok back to my travel. This road lead me onto what so far has been one of my favorite roads. Old Hwy 80. I connect to it just east of Wilton, (which btw has a park on it’s east side that actually has a few trees you can park ender for a shaded brake), and then heading east on it you follow along side the I8 Freeway or I should say the I8 follows Old 80 as the name says Old…..Lol.

One of the nice thing about Old 80 is it travels thru some of the oldest and smallest towns in the area as well as passes one of the larger cattle feedlots I have ever seen. Keep in mind this is all part of the Sonoran Desert.

My travels east ended with me criss crossing I8 and eventually taking a break in Dateland AZ some 60 to miles east of Yuma. After the brake and now the temp climbing to the point you wanted to be riding rather than stopped, I took a few shots of the bike again and headed back toward Yuma taking what is called the Frontage Road just north of the I8 in Dateland thinking this would connect me to Old 80…….

There I go thinking again. Frontage Road is a one lane service road traveling along 1000’s of acres of desert property that is for sale stretching for almost 20 miles. I am not really sure how long it is as I am basing that on the pounding my butt took traveling down it. Again using my old dirt bike skills I got thru it but it was a task and challenge to behold.

Finally I find the not so familiar stop sign before entering Old 80 Even though I had never been this Far East on it before I sure was glad to see it’s name just the same. And so was the bike. P/S before I forget the “Frontage Road like so many DIRT roads in AZ has a Stop Sign at both it’s beginning and at it’s end”. Not sure why as there was no road entering or crossing Frontage Rd, and I had to have been one of the only travelers on it for quite some time but it had a stop sign at each end just the same.

So I now have a new decision to make as I travel up Old 80. Do I try to follow my steps backward to the Yuma Proving Grounds cutting thru Dome Canyon to Hwy 95 again or do I take I8 thru the mountain and shoot back into Yuma the short way.

My butt told me “Take the shortest route Mark” but far be it for me to be accused to thinking with my butt. So I took the longer and more scenic route heading back viva Yuma Proving Grounds after all I have all kinds of time.

Well by now it is well into the 100 deg’s temps as I roll back into Yuma on Hwy 95 and soon am home calling it a day. Cindy and I went to Lutes Casino for lunch as they have some of the best food in town and then we headed back for what I was going to call nap time.

I stopped at the computer to check what I had missed so far today when Cindy comes in and say’s Aren’t you going to get read for work? Work I think I am not scheduled to work on Tuesday! Oops it wasn't Tuesday, it was Monday one of the extra days I had agreed to fill in for. Oh %%#&**

Well needless to say I was late by almost two hours. When my manager called to see what was going on I was just pulling into the parking lot. After a mad dash across the lot… ok a brisk walk across the parking lot as I do not do mad dash any more, I punched in to everyone asking why I was late.

All was forgiven as I am the old guy in the department so after I told them I thought today was Tuesday not Monday. They all just laughed it off accepted it is as an old guy thing and everybody went on as if it had never happened.

It is Always and Adventure!

Rain

Today when Lola and I were walking back home from her morning jaunt, we got sprinkled with drops of rain. By the time we got inside the house it was raining good. But it never lasts long. This morning it lasted just long enough to make it muggy. Not humid like in MN, but by Yuma standards, and it's feels awful. The humidity and arthritis are not friends and my hands are screaming at the weather to clear. But this too shall pass. Thank God for medications that help with the tenderness.

If I can muster up the ambition the house needs a good cleaning. Not just a lick and a promise this time, but the whole nine yards. It's so easy to get lazy around here, it's just so relaxing.

Monday Mark went on a long motorcycle ride. It's too hot for me  and in the winter too many people. Looks like I'll never ride anymore. Might just as well sell my bike. We could use the money more than I will ever ride. My hands don't grip like they used to so not sure how far I would get if I did go anywhere. Mark seems to like to just go by himself anyway. Which is fine with me in this heat.

Same ole Same ole

Thursday we finally got Mark some shoes. The Sketcher's Outlet store in town had a good buy one get one half off on top of their discounted prices. So I got a pair too. Saturday night when Mark got home from work he couldn’t believe how good those shoes made his feet feel. I love Sketchers so I was really hoping that a pair would work well for him too.

Not much happening here, just the same ole same old. Mark’s been working quite a bit lately but I still don’t seem to get anything done at home. I’ve not been in the best of moods, just really down. Even Lola has noticed and has been a big hugger.

The cases for our new phones came yesterday so now it’s easier for me to hold onto the cell phone. My hands just don’t like to do some of the things that they used to. And the art in my left hand is a pain in the butt. But at least my right hand is pretty good yet. For that I’m thankful.

The other day I made some strawberry freezer jam, and it turned out pretty good. I'm not much of a jam or jelly eater but Mark loves it on his toast. The recipe I made took a lot of sugar so I hope to make some with Pectin this next time. Fry's has strawberries on sale for 75¢ a pound. Great price and great berries too.

I believe that I should try journaling my thoughts and feelings. But I'm having a hard time getting started and not comfortable putting my real feelings down on paper. But it's been said it's a good way to get rid of any anger or hurt feelings in a constructive manner.  Not sure I want to write a book though. Writing is hard for me to do, typing is much easier on my hands, but writing  by handit is supposed to be more beneficial.  Hmmmmm. I've got notebook(s) and pencils, now to just get started. Where do I start?

For a few days we are suppose to have some humidity. Not humidity by MN standards, but to us Yuman's, 40% is high. We are more used to the teens and twenties. The temps are on the rise again for a few days too. I'm not real nuts about the temps when they hit the 111+º but it's more tolerable than when it's 85º and humid. Yesterday was pleasant with mostly cloud cover. We stayed out of the hundreds anyway. 😎  Today we have full sunshine so it will be warmer and the a/c will work harder than we will. 😂

Week of July 14th

Tuesday Mark had it with my worthless phone and we headed to town. First stop was AT&T since that is our carrier. Their prices were way too high so off we went to Best Buy. We got the same phone for about half the price so we got Mark a new one too. The Samsung phones we had were a piece of crap. I hope our new Motorola do much better. I had one years ago and loved it so we thought we would go back to that brand.

We had a late lunch at Godfathers so we didn’t need a supper. But we had a root beer float. It was late when we got home from town so the float really hit the spot. A nice cool down. The day was pretty much shot from shopping. The rest of the night we set up our phones the way we like them.

July 17

Mark worked today at 3. I took Lola to the vet for her annual check up and shots. She was such a good girls too. Just sat and waited her turn. But when it was her turn she changed her mind and decided going home was a better idea. hehehe But she got on the scale as she was told and was a good girl for the vet and his nurse. She did let them them know she wasn’t happy with the whole deal by pooping in the office. P U, what a smell in a small area. But I’m a good pet parent and carry doggie poop bags in my pocket and cleaned up the pile. The nurse said that happens more times than not. Yesterday Lola had her appointment at the groomers so the last two days were Lola days. She will be happy to not go anywhere today.

The excessive heat has subsided so now it’s just hot. hehehe But we do live in a desert so it’s hot and dry in the summer. And the a/c is working good again too.

I got tired of all the brown and beige in here so I bought some blue pillow and rugs for the living room to brighten it up. The kitchen has red rugs and curtains, bathroom of course is purple, bedroom is maroon and now the living room is blue. The AZ room needs to be done next but that would require new curtains and the windows are huge so that will have to wait until next year. And the room is all windows. Although we have them covered with insulation in the summer. In Minnesota we covered the windows in the winter, here we cover them in the summer.

This morning we are going to get Mark some good shoes. His feet get so sore at work and he is more than due for new. He worked  5 days in a row and he was shot. A gal was suspended for two weeks so he was given some of her hours.He really doesn’t want to work more than 4 in a row anymore. 

OH NO!

It's a hot one out there already. When I took Lola down at 9 it was already 90º, but there is wind. Lola was a smart little girl and walked on the concrete and not the tar. Her mamma was a big dummy and didn't drive her to the dog walk. It wasn't until we got home and I was sweating bullets and puffing like an old steam engine did I realize that I should have taken the car. Good thing Lola was smart. I now need to change into dry clothes and take another shower. I hate to sweat or be sweaty. You can bet big money I won't make the mistake of walking that far in the heat again. hehehe

After so many early rises and Mark working so many days in a row we slept in until 8. Too late to make it to church. It will be too hot to leave the house for any other reason today too. Although Mark works today and again tomorrow. They suspended a gal for two weeks so they gave Mark some of her hours. Nice money but he is getting mighty tired. The excessive heat warning is still in effect. It didn't get as hot yesterday as it was predicted, PTL, but today and tomorrow, wow.

Well we now know why Mark was given extra hours at work. Today our a/c unit went out. God knew we were going to need the extra money. It was getting warmer and warmer in the house. First I thought it was just me, but then I checked the thermostat and yes, it was getting warmer. It was 84º in the house. I could feel very warm air coming out of the vent in the bedroom so I went to check the vent in the kitchen, same thing. So I called to get the a/c fixed. The first guy couldn’t come until tomorrow at 12:30 or so. Nope that’s not doable. Then I went to the neighbors and borrowed their phone book and I called someone else. They called back in 5 minutes, showed up in 20 minutes and had it fixed in 25 minutes. It was the dual starter switch. Luckily for Lola and I that we have a wall a/c unit in the family room. So we closed that door and stayed comfortable in there. The house is now at 85º instead of 91 that it was earlier. It will take at least until bedtime before it cools completely in here. But much better than it was and better than having to stay at a motel. Praise the Lord prayers were answered.