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Spring/Summer: 2 0
2 5
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to "Fall/Winter" 2024-25 |
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Wednesday, April 23,
2025: After our morning Summer Buddies meeting Gwen and
I drove to the Amazon Bin Store for dollar day.
Click the left photo to see what the bins looked like
today. While searching the bins I found the
package at the left. All I could read was
"Ear-Care". The box had no lid so was in a sealed
plastic bag. I decided to take the chance and pay $1
(Wednesday is dollar day) for the package. Gwen found a
package with two decks of UNO cards, a package of
stickers and a notebook. So our total investment was $4.
After arriving home I opened the mysterious Ear-Care
package. What I found was the "bebird kit", photo
at the right. Be sure to click that photo to see the
whole kit. It is a tiny video camera you put into your
ears to search for wax and other foreign items. The kit
includes tips to drag the wax from inside the ears. I
found quite a bit of wax in my right ear and much less
in the left ear. The kit also has attachments to look
inside the nose and throat. Amazon sells it for $49. I
am very pleased with my $1 investment. |
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Tuesday, April 22, 2025:
This was a busy day. I donated some clothes to a thrift
store, deposited cash to our bank then visited Costco.
My main reason for the Costco visit was to have the tips
changed on my new hearing aids. But of course I found
many food items we just had to have. After Costco, I
drove to the Tucson East Elks Club. After 17 years of
Elks Membership in Susanville, California (that's a long
story) I transferred my membership to the Tucson East
Club. We use the Elks Membership to camp at the clubs as
we travel. We already have reservations as we drive up
the California coast on our way to Oregon.
I learned this Rincon Country East will allow us to park
in an RV space for two weeks at no charge unless we
connect to power. That gives us water and sewer for
cleaning. I set out our solar panels which keep the
batteries charged. The refrigerator is on propane and I
run one ceiling fan to keep the inside cooler. This will
be our summer home beginning May 1. Our first stop
beginning May 1 is the Dead Horse Ranch State Park in
Cottonwood, Arizona.
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| Sunday, April 20, 2025:
There are only a few people left in the park but nearly
100 showed up for the Sunday Easter Luncheon. One of the
park residents catered a chicken and ham casserole with
coleslaw plus a dessert. We had lunch with our friends
Gary and Jeanne. We enjoyed the meal and company.
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Saturday, April 19, 2025: Gwen and
I participated in a resistance rally objecting to the actions of
our current administration. It has always been my belief that
government should be making life better for the citizens of
their country. Government helps educate, protect from foreign
aggression, rescue from natural disaster, regulate and
provide food and water when needed and maintain the rule of law.
Our current administration is doing none of that, in fact doing
the opposite. I found a quote from Ben Franklin stating
government should not be "despotic". I had to
look up the meaning of that word. I describes our current
administration perfectly. "Abusing power, tyrannical, a cruel
and oppressive ruler, using power unfairly, unjustly, harmfully
and cruelly, caring little for the welfare of the people." I
estimate 2,000 at this rally. Click all three photos for more
views. |
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Thursday, April 17, 2025:
Yesterday I bought a TV stand at the Amazon Bin Store
for $1. I opened the box today and found all the parts
except the base. Apparently the base was glass filling
the box with 1,000 pieces of broken glass. All other
part were fine. I had a piece of plywood on hand so I
made my own base. It would actually look OK if I had
routered the edge and painted it black. But I have the
TV outside to watch while I ride Zwift on my
bicycle. I didn't feel I needed to do the extra
work to make the base look nice. Now the top of my
workbench is clear of everything and ready for me to
work. Click both photos for more views. |
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Wednesday: April 16,
2025: On the spur of the moment I chose to visit an
Amazon Bin Store. I have never visited a store like
this. On Thursday, the store is closed for "cleaning"
and installing new selections. Friday the store opens
and the price of everything is $15 each, Saturday $11,
Sunday $8, Monday $5, Tuesday $3 and Wednesday $1. The
photos show what the interior of the store looks like on
a Wednesday. I browsed a small fraction of the tables
for about 30 minutes. I found an unopened box of ear
plugs, a broken box of a TV stand and a furnace filter.
My thinking was ear plugs for Gwen (she wears them to
sleep), a TV stand to get the tiny TV off my outside
workbench and the furnace filter for our HVAC system. My
total investment was $3. When I got home I looked up the
ear plugs, $17, then the TV stand, $40. I think Gwen and
I will go again on Friday just to see the store after
"cleaning". We have nothing in mind that we need just
curiosity. Click the photos for more views. |
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Tuesday, April 15, 2025:
A few
days ago I added a storage shed to our carport. I
wanted the shelves, which I had on hand, to be inside
the shed but they were slightly too wide. Today I
brought the shelves out of the shed, took them apart and
cut 1.5" off the width. I reassemble the unit and
installed it back into the shed. The photo on the right
shows a close up of the shelf unit clearing the hinges.
Before I reduced the width the hinges would be covered
and not allow the door to close easily. Click both
photos for more views. |
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| Monday, April 14, 2025:
Gwen and I invited Gary and Jeanne to go with us to
another movie at The Loft. This time we saw "The
Ballad of Wallis Island". It was a slow moving
script which gave the viewer the time to understand and
become sympathetic with the characters. I could identify
with a couple of the characters. For example, the
awkward musical fan who didn't understand what to say or
how to say it. And the musician which was surprised to
learn his past musical partner didn't feel the same as
did concerning their relationship. The story was about a
musician finding a new identity after breaking from his
past success which included his past musical
partner. If they ever though alike, they didn't
now. |
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Sunday, April 13, 2025: Our
wonderful neighbors, Daryl and Mary have moved to Mesa, Arizona,
a 2 hour drive from Tucson. We drove there today to see
their new home and to take a tour of the Mesa Marketplace.
The Marketplace is four half mile long buildings with sales
booths on both sides of the building. In general, the items are
unusual and/or priced well. This reminded us of the Yuma
Arizona Marketplace we visited many years ago. The
Mesa Marketplace is probably four times the size of the one in
Yuma. Still, all the same products. The parking lot was full but
the inside did not seem that crowded. Did we buy anything? Nope,
we have no place to put anything else in our little travel
trailer or park model. We ended up at BJs restaurant for lunch
which we all enjoyed. Click the last photo to see Daryl and Mary
deciding on their lunch. Click on the other two photos for
more views. |
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Saturday, April 12, 2025:
Our park has a "Walk Around Sale" once each month. Today
was the day to walk the park looking for treasures. I
found this painting for one dollar and knew right where
I wanted to hang it. This painting is 2 feet
square. The door blackout curtain is on the left
and the window shade is on the right. |
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Wednesday, April 9, 2025:
Lots happening today. I first went to the last Wednesday morning
Park meeting hosted by the Activity office. They will be closing
next Tuesday. The Summer Buddies with take over the Wednesday
morning meetings. See the photo by clicking on the far left
photo. Next, I helped paint Gwen's craft room. Note the new desk
with multiple drawers given to her by our neighbors, Mary and
Daryl. Lastly, my vertical storage cabinet arrived so I
spent the rest of the afternoon assembling it. I don't have it
organized yet but this little shed will help to keep our carport
clear of clutter. Click all the photos to see today's projects.
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Monday, April 7, 2025:
Gwen and I went to The Loft theater again to watch a new
movie, "The Friend". It is a movie for people
who love dogs otherwise I think you would find it long,
boring and not understandable. This dog happened
to be a Great Dane which is not a popular breed so also
made the movie more interesting. I owned a Great Dane
many many years ago and found it to be a lovely dog
except they do not live to be very old. It was
refreshing to see this kind of movie where the only
tension came when Naomi was threatened with eviction
because her building had a no-dog policy. |
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Sunday, April 6, 2025: My
friend Gary and I rode our bikes to Cyclovia (30 miles
round trip). It is a family event where three miles of
Treat Bike Blvd is blocked off of vehicles so bikes,
skaters, and walkers could enjoy the activities along
the Blvd. There were a hundred booths to choose from
plus activities, games and music groups for
entertainment. It was enjoyable to see the families
riding bikes and enjoying the day. The weather was
perfect, no wind and mid-70s. Every street crossing was
controlled keeping the participants safe. One of the fun
things I tried was to load my bike onto the bike rack on
a transit bus. I'm thinking of taking the bus to the far
northwest part of Tucson then riding back. I learned bus
fair in Tucson is free. Click on all photos for more
views. I also made a video
of our day. |
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| Saturday, April 5,
2025: March Madness is coming to an end. The two
final four games happening today. Florida is moving to
the final game. Auburn was in front by 8 points in the
first half but just couldn't keep up in the second half.
In the second game, Duke took control early but Houston
made an incredible come back to win by 3 points. The
NCAA final game with be Florida vs Houston. |
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Friday, April 4, 2025: I have reached season two of the
"Cruising the Cuts" British documentary. The
narrowboats cruise the English canal dug 300 years ago.
The boats are only 6 feet 10 inches wide hence the very
narrow locks at left. I know this is as close as I
will every get to England, the main reason I'm watch
this documentary. It is RVing on water.
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Thursday, April 3,
2025: I called Arizona Propane only two days ago
to remove their huge propane tank. They surprised us by
arriving this morning. We use very little propane now
because the gas furnace was removed last fall. We have
only two appliances using propane, the cook stove and
clothes dryer. Neither seem to use much propane. I have
two portable propane tanks. The smallest tank is 4
gallons, the largest is 9 gallons (the maximum weight I
can move). I believe we can easily make due with those
two tanks. I have a plug for the propane line when
we leave for the summer months. Click both photos to see
more views. |
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Wednesday, April 2, 2025:
I made waffles today. That's why I'm getting the look
from Abby. She wants me to share with her. |
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Tuesday,
April 1, 2025: I have gotten hooked on what my friend,
Glen, calls a "SNOOZE". It is a documentary created by
David Johns titled, "Cruising the Cuts". David
quit his job, liquidated all his property then bought a
"narrowboat". A narrowboat is 6'10" wide and
David's is 56 feet long. They are used to cruise the
2000 miles of canals in England. He cruises at 3
mph over canals, thru long tunnels (some as long as 3
kilometers) and under the many bridges. It is basically
an RV on water. A cruising day may be no more than 7
miles but at 3 mph is 3.5 hours of cruising plus delays
to pass through locks and tunnels. I find the show
interesting because it is as close to England as I will
ever get so it's like I'm on the cruise with David. Glen
says it boring. Click both photos for more views.
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