A nice day / Dentist

For those of you that are freezing your back side off, you have our sympathy.  And I sit here and know that is exactly why we left the Midwest for warmer places.

If it didn’t get so darned cold back there, we would have no excuse to come down here.  So that validates our reason for doing this winter RV thing.

With that said, it is up to the mid 70’s today, and I saw 80 on the dash of the car, but the sun causes it to read higher than it actually or officially is.

We woke to the awning flopping in the wind this morning.  I thought about putting it up in the middle of the night, but somehow going out at the well past midnight hour, and retracting the thing wasn’t appealing.  So this morning, we had enough wind from the East to make it rock the trailer.  Murphy was here. LOL.  Luckily nothing seemed to be damaged.

Our day was gorgeous, but right in the middle, I had to go to the dentist.  They are going to remove an old crown and order new replacements.  So there will be several of these visits.  Weekly while we are here. 

Still I had the gas and some novacaine, so my mouth was all numb.  Not pleasant.  Oh well, we will live on. 

Tonight we went to an Old Country buffet once my mouth came out of the numb mode.  It was quite pricey at 11.95 each but included the drink.  They had every kind of food that is normal and ordinary at a buffet.  I stayed away from the steak, as I didn’t think I could chew it very well.

We both ate more than we should, but it was good for a buffet.  We both liked the feature item tonight of Orange Chicken.  This was Chinese style, with the orange sauce and the wok ed vegies.  I’m sitting here stuffed to the gills.

My internet connection with Tengo internet here in the park is poor at best, and will not sustain a very good connection over skype.  We did get to talk to our oldest son Chris last night, without dropping, but tonight, it dropped constantly when we were talking to a friend in Des Moines.  We finally gave up and quit.

Retired Rod

Moving a Park Model / Organ Stop Pizza

This was the morning that the neighbors park model was moved. All the local men showed up to get in on the act. To the point that the owner was almost not in control of the project anymore.

The guys broke into groups and took on specific jobs. This picture is before the blocks were taken out. The truck wasn’t hooked up yet, but was parked in place ready to go.

Does it really take that many guys to hook up a trailer hitch. The ball wouldn’t latch and had to be jacked into the coupler.

Ok here we go, several of the men were on each support of the carport. They were on dollies to roll forward with the trailer.

It only needed to move four feet, and it was moving as I took this. The rear truck wheel in now out in the street.

The move forward is really evident at the back. That’s our trailer on the right.

The move was complete by 10 AM, but the leveling and hookup of the utilities took the rest of the afternoon. The water is in hard copper, and needed to be lengthened. The sewer was re piped. The cable TV wire was too short, which I corrected since wiring is my specialty. By late afternoon, the household was back ready to live in. They were much relieved that everyone worked to help them get the job done.

I think the point here is that the RV community is much like the old rural farm community, where a neighbor that needs help, gets help, no questions asked. No strings attached.

Supplies came from many different families, and were donated to the project without cost. I had the connectors and wire on board to lengthen the cable for example.

They did have to go buy some copper pipe, but the torch, solder, flux and many other supplies arrived from many tool boxes. They were sorting out what tools belonged where, at the end.

Tonight we went to Organ Stop Pizza here in Mesa. This is a pizza parlor that happens to have the worlds largest Wurlitzer Theatrical Pipe Organ installed in its dining room. Or maybe they let you eat pizza in the organ theater.

I tried to take this picture when they had the lights up, but it is available light and doesn’t show the entire organ, as it is installed all around the room. Some of the pipes and instruments are in the balconies.

The music is so overwhelming to your senses, that it almost makes you emotionally over react. It is beyond your ability to absorb, that this sound is coming from just one performer.

This instrument has 78 ranks, 17 tuned percussions, and innumerable traps and effects. This gal is not one of their headliners, but still she made the organ really shine. We will be back again, even if the pizza isn’t the very greatest. It wasn’t bad, but I like other places better, you know how that goes.

I will have trouble posting all these pictures, so I will stop for now and get this posted.

Retired Rod

Warmer Yet and the Playoffs are Coming!

We saw 69 this afternoon on the car dash thermometer!  That is the warmest we have been in about a week, or more.  Last week at this time, it was raining, and in the 50’s so perhaps we have turned a corner toward spring in the desert.

This was another stay at home day, with a total kick back, relaxed mode. 

I did go over to Home Depot in the morning to get some little hardware to install a screen over a muffin fan.  I purchased the screen yesterday at the hamfest, for a dollar.  Two little sacks of tiny bolts and nuts to install the screen was two dollars today.  That was twice what the screen cost.  That’s how things seem to go.

I’m not sure what occupied the early afternoon, but as the day progressed, I went over to the TV room in the unit I clubhouse, and watched the NY Giants loose to the Philadelphia folks.  That was a good game to start with, but the Giants could do nothing right by the end of the game.

So everyone here in the Phoenix area is very excited to have the next playoff game here at the new Cardinal Stadium, West of Glendale.  Tickets will be on sale for out of staters on Tuesday.  That would be fun!  They are pricey though.

Tonight, we have been on the phone, and skype for most of the evening, talking to folks back in Des Moines, and our kids back in KC.  Good to hear from everyone.

Des Moines is slated to get some more snow, and high winds according to one of my ham friends there.  Boy we wish the folks there, the best of luck with that, and will try to pipe some of the desert weather their way real soon.

This has become somewhat of a ramble with nothing new to report, so we will sign off for now.

Retired Rod

WestFest 2009 Glendale, Az

Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club

Thunderbird School of Global Management Activity Center

7:00 AM Saturday January 10, 2009

There must have been more than 300 folks in here at any one time.

Tables of new parts and cables, and accessories.

This was largely light emitting diodes, and products that use them.

These folks had all the Anderson Power Poles products from West Mountain.

There were trays and trays of new connectors.

I could have taken pictures of all the tables and the wares displayed, but then you get the idea without all of that.

The fest did have radios, both new and used, but did not have a mainline radio dealer present to sell brand new equipment.  This surprised me since there is a dealer right here in town.  Even if they couldn’t discount equipment due to the economy, you would thing they would want to promote their store just the same.

So we were up at 5:30 and drove the hour thru the city to attend this show, and stayed for over 2 hours.  After the drive back, I was home to attend the RV park flea market at everyone’s site by 10 AM.

I didn’t buy anything from my fellow RVer’s and only purchased very small items at the hamfest.  Things that would fit into my pocket.  We do not need any more big items that weigh a lot, to haul around.

I say that, but at 4PM we went over to Camping World, and purchased a small plastic table that folds up flat, for Loyce to put her sewing machine on here in the trailer.  It doesn’t weigh very much, and will not take up a lot of space either.

Tonight, we went back to Fuddruckers for another small hamburger.  Not the half pounder, that I am always tempted with.  I do order their sweet potato fries, as they are better for me with the diabetes.  It is always good.

It is now 11:30, and I have been up since 5:30,  so I need to zzzzzzzz…………….

Retired Rod