20 Mar
We are doing what I will call pre-packing as we are leaving TX on the 26 th Mar, intending to arrive home on or about the 3 April. Since the Ladies World Curling is on this week we will be watching the games that are televised at a reasonable time. The games that are on at 2 AM will be watched on the re-run as they are not important enough for me to stay up to watch.
It also seems that when we leave home we have to take everything we can think of and once we get we wonder why the Hell we brought stuff we will never use. As an example we brought 2, folding chaise lounge chairs , thinking we would sit in them on our deck. As it turns out , we never took them out of the bags. Once we got here we realized that if we are going to sit in the Sun and read a book, we would do it at the pool where we could take a cool dip if it got too hot. I told Carroll that 6 Tee shirts and 3 pair of shorts,2 pair of shoe and 1 sweater was all I needed but " Oh No", she had to pack 15 Tee shirts and short and I swear I never worn 1/2 of them. I didn't even know I had some of these clothes until I got here.
Actually pre-packing meant Carroll making a list of things we brought and must remember to take home and me pretending I'm interested, because we are not leaving for 6 more days.
I also play Euchre on Monday evening but our group is dwindling as some folks have left already but I finally had the top point score for the first time. The top prize money is a dollar !!!! Cheers
21 Mar
As mentioned earlier I was looking all over NA for a used fridge door for our MH ( it's a 4 door fridge ) as the plastic hinge broke this past summer and since it is molded to the door you can not just replace the hinge. Incidentally, they do not make that fridge anymore. I finally for one in Red Bay, Alabama for the tune of 250.00 so I had it shipped UPS with hopes that it arrive before we left. It arrived today. It came in a box, 4 ft by 18 inches by 10 inches and this had to be included in our car that was already full when we came down. The roof was not an option since we don't have a roof rack. So I will cross that bridge on Friday when I actually pack the car.
We also got a call from some friends who have invited us to a Happy Hour followed by supper. They also said that the menu will be something in our fridge as we are cleaning it out, as they too are leaving on Sunday. Anytime there is a free beer and a meal , they don't have to ask me twice. Cheers
22 Mar
Today we actually stopped talking about packing and did some packing by putting things in boxes. I packed all the booze in a freezer box that I hope to get thru customs with paying a duty. I have 6 bottles but they are not all full. I found 4 bottles of wine so I will drop them off with our friends in Mesa whom we are visiting for 2 days. Those 4 bottles would definitely put me over the limit.
Carroll got the suite case out and packed it with the clothes we will need for our trip home which will likely take 9 days. Living out of a suite case is not much fun so we sure do miss our MH for travelling.
We decided to clean out the fridge freezer as we did have lots of frozen stuff so we gave it to our friends who had just return from their 2 month trip to South Africa. They mentioned that their daughter and family ( 3 Kids ) where coming for a week so they could use much of our frozen goods. These are the same folks who provided us with 2 days of B and B while we were in Nfld in Sept so this is our pay back. We then gathered up all the other food stuff's like cake mix, dry cereal, flour, sugar and condiments and gave it to the lady who does the daily cleaning of the rec centre. This lady wins the "food " Lotto at this time of the year because everyone gives here " leftover items " that won't keep until the fall when they return. Again , if we had the MH , all these items would be going home with us. Cheers
Wednesday, 29 March 2017
Wednesday, 22 March 2017
Texas Rose.... 22 Mar 17
19 Mar
Next Sunday we will be on the road heading for AZ on the way home. So today it was our last Sunday breakfast with the 3 couples who are our friends. This group always chooses a different restaurant each Sunday and every restaurant , so far, has been a Mexican style menu. They do have all the "American " type menu items but those Hispanic's just have to have a "burning hot sauce " and "Re-fried Beans" for every meal.
During the breakfast conversation someone suggest that we go to the Texas Rose Bar in a small town at 2 PM which is about 10 KM away. We had nothing urgent so we agreed to join them.
As with most small Bars they serve only Beer and Pop so you can, if you want too, bring your own Liquor drinks. This bar has an outside dance area , with a covered roof with a 3 guys who actually play excellent western music. The roof over the dance floor would probably not meet any construction codes. The tables are set up in a long row so it is long before you are in conversation with someone you do not know and in fact will probably never see them again. But for today , all stories are fair game and many strangers are very interesting.
I joking ask if the was a cover charge which got a laugh out of many folks. Then I seriously ask if there was table service and the answer was '"Are you kidding ". I took that as a NO so I wandered into the bar and Holy Moly, I thought it was 1930. The bar was full with about 75 guys and a smattering of ladies. I glanced around the room to see what decade I was in , making sure not to stare , even thought it was not easy. Most people where dressed in " Early American Garage Sale clothes" and I was advised that a Plaid shirt is called a " Crona Jacket".
I bellied up to the Bar to put in my order, hoping the only bar maid would see me. Several guys at the tables where calling to the Bar Maid to bring them a beer and they would hold up the bottle so she could identify the order. The bar maid was partial running around the room, and these guys where hollered for a beer so I thought their beer would be deliver up their Ass or down their throat but she did not seem to mind. I did notice that the tip Jar on the bar was a gallon jug and it was full so maybe the tips are good. She actually passed me 3 times and then she finally assured me I was next and I did get served.
The Music boys looked like " Willie " and his 2 buddies but their music was great as they kepted the dance floor full. I can laugh at the Bar but I bet it is a money making with very little overhead and lots of Drinkers. I have concluded that Texas does not have any building codes, fire codes, liquor codes. Cheers.
Never laugh at your wife's choices ; you are one of them.
Next Sunday we will be on the road heading for AZ on the way home. So today it was our last Sunday breakfast with the 3 couples who are our friends. This group always chooses a different restaurant each Sunday and every restaurant , so far, has been a Mexican style menu. They do have all the "American " type menu items but those Hispanic's just have to have a "burning hot sauce " and "Re-fried Beans" for every meal.
During the breakfast conversation someone suggest that we go to the Texas Rose Bar in a small town at 2 PM which is about 10 KM away. We had nothing urgent so we agreed to join them.
As with most small Bars they serve only Beer and Pop so you can, if you want too, bring your own Liquor drinks. This bar has an outside dance area , with a covered roof with a 3 guys who actually play excellent western music. The roof over the dance floor would probably not meet any construction codes. The tables are set up in a long row so it is long before you are in conversation with someone you do not know and in fact will probably never see them again. But for today , all stories are fair game and many strangers are very interesting.
I joking ask if the was a cover charge which got a laugh out of many folks. Then I seriously ask if there was table service and the answer was '"Are you kidding ". I took that as a NO so I wandered into the bar and Holy Moly, I thought it was 1930. The bar was full with about 75 guys and a smattering of ladies. I glanced around the room to see what decade I was in , making sure not to stare , even thought it was not easy. Most people where dressed in " Early American Garage Sale clothes" and I was advised that a Plaid shirt is called a " Crona Jacket".
I bellied up to the Bar to put in my order, hoping the only bar maid would see me. Several guys at the tables where calling to the Bar Maid to bring them a beer and they would hold up the bottle so she could identify the order. The bar maid was partial running around the room, and these guys where hollered for a beer so I thought their beer would be deliver up their Ass or down their throat but she did not seem to mind. I did notice that the tip Jar on the bar was a gallon jug and it was full so maybe the tips are good. She actually passed me 3 times and then she finally assured me I was next and I did get served.
The Music boys looked like " Willie " and his 2 buddies but their music was great as they kepted the dance floor full. I can laugh at the Bar but I bet it is a money making with very little overhead and lots of Drinkers. I have concluded that Texas does not have any building codes, fire codes, liquor codes. Cheers.
Never laugh at your wife's choices ; you are one of them.
Monday, 20 March 2017
Supper with Friends.... 20 Mar 17
18 Mar
Our friends from Nfld, whom we visited in Sept, while touring Nfld, have just returned to their winter home in TX from a 2 1/2 month trip to South Africa ( ZA ). We provided them with our maps of our trip to ZA and we also gave them a chip for their GPS and we also provided our experience which they found very helpful.
Our friends returned from ZA on the 16 th and they had a small window of opportunity to visit with us so we had them over for a Happy Hour and for supper. We spend a few hours to swap our ZA travel stories as they did visit some areas that we did not get the opportunity to visit and vice verus.
During their travels around the world they write an excellent Blog complete with picture so we follow they on a daily basis both on the blog and on FB. Cheers
Our friends from Nfld, whom we visited in Sept, while touring Nfld, have just returned to their winter home in TX from a 2 1/2 month trip to South Africa ( ZA ). We provided them with our maps of our trip to ZA and we also gave them a chip for their GPS and we also provided our experience which they found very helpful.
Our friends returned from ZA on the 16 th and they had a small window of opportunity to visit with us so we had them over for a Happy Hour and for supper. We spend a few hours to swap our ZA travel stories as they did visit some areas that we did not get the opportunity to visit and vice verus.
During their travels around the world they write an excellent Blog complete with picture so we follow they on a daily basis both on the blog and on FB. Cheers
Happy St. Paddy's Day... dated 20 Mar 17
17 March
All the "wannabe " Irish where wearing green today and as being a Friday it was grounds for many parties. Although we did not partake in any, for reasons I can't recall. I had other things on my mind like a dental appointment.
Today is the day I got a partial Plate to complete my dental work. My appointment was for 9:30 AM ( in Mexico ) but I showed up early, hoping that I would be the first customers, which I was. The last time I had a partial was 20 plus years ago ( in Med Hat ) and I recall that I returned to the dentist several time for some adjustments so I expected the same this time. The fit was much better than my expectations but they had to adjust ( meaning grind away ) one tooth in the partial so my bite was to my satisfaction. Once I was happy I made the finally payment and got my receipt. Now I hope that the Dental Insurance will cover most of the cost. A friend told me he paid 2100.00 for his partial in Canada so I would think that my Insurance company would be glad to pay 385.00 USD for mine.
We decided to go to Dirty Al's for supper in McAllen. A little history on Dirt Al;s.
Dirty Al's first restaurant was built on the Wharf , just above where his fishing boat was tied up , on South Padre Island ( SPI ) many years ago and it just served sea food and was famous for its' shrimp. We first visited Dirty Al's original restaurant in 1999, which incidental is still operating. It was and still is as basic as it could be and still meet the health regulations. You do the "walk up " order and they call your order number when ready. Then you grab a table, with an oil cloth cover( easy to clean ) normally with several other folks because these are large tables and hold about a dozen people. Hence , a conversation ensues with these folks. Also the napkins are a roll of paper towel so you get the picture of the ambiance.
Then a few years later, Dirty Al opened another restaurant in SPI , which is a normal type restaurant and we are told it is run by his son. This year we where told that there was a Dirty Al's restaurant in McAllen so we had to check it out. This restaurant has a complete menu and is more upscale, much like a Keg or a Tony Roma's. We had to wait 20 minutes for a table so you know that it was a busy place and has up scaled from the original Sea Food idea. The food was great and the cost was 40.00 which include my 4.00 beer. cheers
Did you ever wonder why there is a Stairway to Heaven but a Highway to Hell. Apparently there is more traffic going to Hell.
Saturday, 18 March 2017
Fridge Door... 18 Mar 17
16 Mar
Our MH has a large 4 door fridge ( 2 doors for the freezer and 2 larger doors for the Fridge ) and the hinge on one of the fridge doors snapped off this summer. Because our door has the hinge molded to the door you can not buy the hinge, hence you have to purchase a new door. So I called Norcold, the Mfg, and the bad news is that they no longer make that fridge hence , no spare parts. I went to Bruce's RV just to verify that the fridges were obsolete and he confirmed my worst nightmare.
My choices are to buy 4 new doors but I would need to buy a panel for each door and the estimated cost would be about 1500.00 My other choice is to search every RV/MH salvage yard and hope that someone has replace a fridge like ours and it is sitting in a salvage yard. This sounds like the "needle in the haystack " story and even then I never liked my chances
In my earlier blogs I mentioned that I had some Do Nothing Days but actually I was looking for this door. I first contact an America friend who spends the winter in Mexico and owns a MH just like ours and I recall that he had replaced his fridge. He gave me 3 possible sites that he has " Mined " for parts over the years but I had no luck. Then I did a search on all RV/MH salvages yards in North American and I got 3 pages of result which at first glance left me with much, but short lived optimism. I started calling and/or emailing each site but every thing was negative and nobody seemed to know where I could get help.
Finally I got back to my American friend, who is still in MX. He insisted I tried McKenny Salvage again, even thought I did call before. I called again and I ask if this was Mckenny Salvage and the guy sort of hesitated and said , it use to be, but it is now Bunkhouse New and Used RV Services so this was why, on my first try, that they said it was not McKenny. Anyhow the agent said he would check for a used Fridge door for our model and return the call later. I waited for 4 days without a return call so I called again. This time I got a lady and she took the model number and said she would call back within 2 hours. She called back and said I got your door but it will cost you 250.00 plus shipping. I was elated !!! She said I will send you a few pictures and if it's what you want please call back with your Visa and the address. She also said she would check on the shipping cost.
Once we seen the pics we knew it was the right door. We just could not believe that someone would have a used door for a fridge that was built in 2003 and was no longer being built. The door was shipped on the 16 March from Alabama and of this AM it has reach , Mesquite, TX near Dallas. It will arrive on Tuesday. One other problem we had to overcome. They would not accept my Cdn Visa so I had to get our friend Terry (from Med Hat) to pay for it with her US credit card. Cheers
The Founding Fathers said that Capitalism was created by Genesis' so it could be run by Idiots.
Our MH has a large 4 door fridge ( 2 doors for the freezer and 2 larger doors for the Fridge ) and the hinge on one of the fridge doors snapped off this summer. Because our door has the hinge molded to the door you can not buy the hinge, hence you have to purchase a new door. So I called Norcold, the Mfg, and the bad news is that they no longer make that fridge hence , no spare parts. I went to Bruce's RV just to verify that the fridges were obsolete and he confirmed my worst nightmare.
My choices are to buy 4 new doors but I would need to buy a panel for each door and the estimated cost would be about 1500.00 My other choice is to search every RV/MH salvage yard and hope that someone has replace a fridge like ours and it is sitting in a salvage yard. This sounds like the "needle in the haystack " story and even then I never liked my chances
In my earlier blogs I mentioned that I had some Do Nothing Days but actually I was looking for this door. I first contact an America friend who spends the winter in Mexico and owns a MH just like ours and I recall that he had replaced his fridge. He gave me 3 possible sites that he has " Mined " for parts over the years but I had no luck. Then I did a search on all RV/MH salvages yards in North American and I got 3 pages of result which at first glance left me with much, but short lived optimism. I started calling and/or emailing each site but every thing was negative and nobody seemed to know where I could get help.
Finally I got back to my American friend, who is still in MX. He insisted I tried McKenny Salvage again, even thought I did call before. I called again and I ask if this was Mckenny Salvage and the guy sort of hesitated and said , it use to be, but it is now Bunkhouse New and Used RV Services so this was why, on my first try, that they said it was not McKenny. Anyhow the agent said he would check for a used Fridge door for our model and return the call later. I waited for 4 days without a return call so I called again. This time I got a lady and she took the model number and said she would call back within 2 hours. She called back and said I got your door but it will cost you 250.00 plus shipping. I was elated !!! She said I will send you a few pictures and if it's what you want please call back with your Visa and the address. She also said she would check on the shipping cost.
Once we seen the pics we knew it was the right door. We just could not believe that someone would have a used door for a fridge that was built in 2003 and was no longer being built. The door was shipped on the 16 March from Alabama and of this AM it has reach , Mesquite, TX near Dallas. It will arrive on Tuesday. One other problem we had to overcome. They would not accept my Cdn Visa so I had to get our friend Terry (from Med Hat) to pay for it with her US credit card. Cheers
The Founding Fathers said that Capitalism was created by Genesis' so it could be run by Idiots.
Thursday, 16 March 2017
Going Shopping dated 16 Mar
14 Mar
I got up at 7 AM today , which is late for me and the temp was 12 C and this made me snicker because I turned on the Calgary CTV station and they predicted a high of 14 C today. However, I knew that we would overtake the temp in Alberta by noon and we did reach 30 C as we do most days.
After breakfast Carroll mentioned that we had to go shopping at the Outlet Mall and said what the hell for. After we pack the car, we would be luckily if there is enough room us.
Apparently , we can not go home without clothes for the "Okotoks " Kids. The last time that I checked their closet, they had clothes that still had tags on. Carroll thinks they will grow out of those clothes and how could I argue. This mall has hundreds of empty stores and every store has sales of 70 %. As an example. if you shop at IZOD you get a 10 and a 20 % discount if you buy at anyone of several other stores. Additional, the food court is partially empty.
We finished the day by hitting the Hot Tub as we usually do. One couple has there son, wife and G/Kids ( 2 teenage boys ) visiting. They are originally from Winnipeg but their son is an Engineer with Rockwell Inc and has been posted to Iowa for years. One boy was born in Wpg the other is an America. I ask the family if they would every return to Wpg and the wife said , not for a few more years because she is close to full pension as she work for the State. They agree that the weather wasn't much different. Cheers
15 Mar
We had another Nothing Day until 4 PM as we were invited to our friends place for Happy Hour and a delicious Bar B Q supper. One other couple in attendance from Wpg ( where else ) had just bought a Mobile home in the park. They forked out 20 K USD which equates to 27 K CDN. We returned home by 8 PM and hit the Hot Tub again. Cheers
Wednesday, 15 March 2017
Dental Run.... dated 15 Mar 17
13 Mar
Today I have an appointment at 1:30 PM to have the permanent Crowns installed and since Carroll wanted to get her teeth cleaned and to do some shopping , she accompanied me to MX. Amazingly , there was a Mexican Customs Officer at the entrance to the Border, which is surprise to all us Winter Texan because we have never see Officer there in all the years we have been here. I figure that they are just making sure that No Mexicans sneaks back into MX but that is just a guess on my part.
I arrived at 1: 30 PM and the Dentist said that the Crowns would not be ready for 30 Minutes. So said , do mean 30 mins or do you mean 30 mins which is 1 hour. He said , well maybe one hour so I said that we would go shopping and return in 1 hour, but first Carroll wanted her teeth cleaned which the Hygienist did right away before we went shopping. We returned at 2:30 and I still had to wait about 10 Mins before I got into the chair.
They removed the temporary Crowns and install the new ones, less the adhesive and they felt great except for a slight edge on one so they polished it and it felt good so they permanently installed the new Crowns and so far I am very happy with the fit.
They then took the impression to make the Plate and I will return on Friday to get the Plate. The Dentist always want to be paid for some of the work they have done after each appointment so I gave them 400.00 : cash or cheque, no Visa. Cheers
Condoms don't guarantee safe sex: a friend of mine was wearing one when he got shot by a woman's husband.
Today I have an appointment at 1:30 PM to have the permanent Crowns installed and since Carroll wanted to get her teeth cleaned and to do some shopping , she accompanied me to MX. Amazingly , there was a Mexican Customs Officer at the entrance to the Border, which is surprise to all us Winter Texan because we have never see Officer there in all the years we have been here. I figure that they are just making sure that No Mexicans sneaks back into MX but that is just a guess on my part.
I arrived at 1: 30 PM and the Dentist said that the Crowns would not be ready for 30 Minutes. So said , do mean 30 mins or do you mean 30 mins which is 1 hour. He said , well maybe one hour so I said that we would go shopping and return in 1 hour, but first Carroll wanted her teeth cleaned which the Hygienist did right away before we went shopping. We returned at 2:30 and I still had to wait about 10 Mins before I got into the chair.
They removed the temporary Crowns and install the new ones, less the adhesive and they felt great except for a slight edge on one so they polished it and it felt good so they permanently installed the new Crowns and so far I am very happy with the fit.
They then took the impression to make the Plate and I will return on Friday to get the Plate. The Dentist always want to be paid for some of the work they have done after each appointment so I gave them 400.00 : cash or cheque, no Visa. Cheers
Condoms don't guarantee safe sex: a friend of mine was wearing one when he got shot by a woman's husband.
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