Joan on the Road...of Life

Flu attack! We're still here after both of us got a short but nasty version of stomach flu, me worse than Jim. But today our appetites are back so we're on the mend.

I had an ortho appointment today and all is going ok wth the pinkie so now I have a curved splint on my fingers to stretch the extension ligament and allow the inside ligament to heal, This incapacitates my left hand a lot more so typing is sloooow.

So here, for your reading pleasure, is a fun link that my friend Lynn sent. Check out these penny postcards! I found a pix of the Hotel Moraine on the Lake where Jim and I spent our wedding night. It was demolished many years ago probably to make way for condos on Lake Michigan. We never had a picture. Guess we were busy with other stuff ;)

Posted by Joan at 02:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The verdict is in. Broken. After five days of fooling myself I decided to get the pinkie checked out. Got a speedy answer. Actually I might not have gone for xrays but we had repair work scheduled on the MH so we had a homeless day to fill. "Why not check out my finger?" Thanks to Granddaughter Naomi I had it perfectly taped to my 4th finger which was what the doc would have done. But they've referred me to an orthopedic guy to assure it's lined up correctly.

The doc I saw might be a good CA primary guy since we stay here in Hemet quite a bit. Through the process of getting xrays and finding the ortho doc we saw a lot of the medical facilities here and they seem ok...so it was an educational experience.

The MH repair was to fix the overdrive switch which has been working intermittently since Illinois. Of course, it usually didn't work as we went down the 6% grades. They put on a whole new shift lever and the problems is solved. One nice thing here in Hemet is that the Ford place does RV repair and so far they've been very good.

We'd been parked for 9 weeks so we had a lot of stuff sitting around that had to be packed up and we'd almost forgotten the packing routing...almost. So we started getting stuff put away on Monday night and talked our way through our routine. No problemo! It only takes us about 30 minutes to "break camp" on a moving morning. All systems worked fine and we had the MH at the shop by 9 AM.

We spent our "homeless" time doing the doctor thing, having a long lunch at Appleby's, shopping the books at Salvation Army ($1 for hardcovers:) and enjoying the warm sun....finally.

All I really wanted to do was sit around home and baby my bruised body but it's a good thing to have the verdict on my finger and to have the repairs and oil change done. But it was an all day affair and we were not resettled until 6 PM. After a glass of wine and a little TV watching things are back to normal....well almost.

Posted by Joan at 09:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wednesday we took a two hour trip to visit with Ann and Ken in Manhattan Beach. Annie and I were roommates our freshman year at U of Illinois. We had a great visit at their lovely beach front home. Annie cooked a delicous midafternoon dinner and we sat at the table chatting until way past sunset. This happened to be the day that it snowed in Malibu and we could see dark clouds all around our little patch of sunny beach.

Finally we realized we'd better head for home so we collected our stuff and started down the spiral stairs. Unfortunately I skipped the last step and wound up making a 5 point landing on the hallway floor. Don't know how that happened ;(. I didn't think anything was broken except my pride ( I felt like such a klutz) but by the time we got home I was in a bit of pain.

Two shoulders, two knees, one shinbone, one big toe and one little finger...owies!!!

So for the next two days nurse Jim helped me out. The worst thing is my little finger, left hand so I haven't been on the computer much at all. I don't think it's broken, just badly sprained, black, blue, red and stiff. The rest of my body parts are much better. Yikes! I was lucky not to break anyhing.

Today we welcome home the cruisers who had a wonderfully warm time in the British West Indies. After we hear all about it maybe we'll decide to cash it all in and live on a cruise ship :).

Posted by Joan at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We were feeling lots better so Saturday we headed for a dose of family. We actually hadn't seen anyone since Christmas. Several family members made it over to Renee and Tom's for a bit and of course baby Evan was there. At 15 months, stacking and knocking over blocks, I think Ill have to stop calling him a baby :).

Thanks to his mom, Naomi, we got to see Evan playing with these nesting blocks that we brought from Saguaro National Park. He played along with stacking but really only wanted to knock them over.

Son Jim stopped in to say hi and bye. He and his kids, Jim and Mary, plus cousin Hilly left Sunday for a 4 nights cruise out of Ft. Lauderale. Seems it's a Carnival Cruise featuring the Barenaked Ladies band...a favorite of the kids (I have no clue). Today we got text messages that they are out to sea and having a blast.

While they enjoyed 80 degree temps we were all freezing here. A heavy frost devasted SoCal and fruit crops over the weekend and there is no end in sight. In fact snow is in the forecast again for our area. Yikes! So there's very little sitting outside in the sun visiting with neighbors and sipping beer :) We talked to daughter Laura in Montana and she's reallllly cold...below zero temps.

I did get over to the Hemet Library and as a "resident" of Golden Village I got a library card. This is a very nice library.

I picked up another Amy Tan book, The Hundred Secret Senses, and got lost yesterday in the ghosts of Chiangmain.

Today we really needed some exercise so we biked around the park and noticed lots of new residents. In the last few days our street has almost filled up with Canadian snow birds. Hopefully, next week the wind will die down and we'll get some warmer weather so we can meet the neighbors.

Posted by Joan at 09:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I sat here surrounded by Kleenex, cough drops and juice, tired of TV, books and computers, I spotted the "states visited" map on the inside of the door.

My bored brain quickly realized that I could travel along the highways of each state, recalling and reliving our travels. Actually, if I close my eyes I can view my travel memories through my Imax window. Jeez...it's almost like meditation.

We have, I think, 29 states visited. We've been in each of them long enough that I feel very familiar in my mind's eye with the geography, vegetation and weather. Somehow this gives me a feeling of "ownership" maybe. I can say I know what that state is like. I know what the sculptured wheat fields of Idaho look like as they are being harvested. I know the feel of a hot and lazy Montana afternoon. I know the sound of stormy waves pounding the shores of Lake Michigan and the smell of orange blossoms and eucalyptus in California. I love knowing and feeling all this.

Posted by Joan at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After three days of being cooped up with this cold I felt a little better and told Jim I needed to get out...anywhere. So, on this gray day, we took a drive south on 79 to check out the Winchester Cheese Company.

The young man who served us said his Grandpa went to Holland in the early 90's an bought some cheese making kits. He came home and experimented, finally coming up with his own recipe for Gouda. We were a bit disappointed because we hoped to find some good cheddar, but the Gouda is not too bad. Maybe you can see in the picture that the "building" is actually a cover for 6 semi trailers that house the cheese factory. Our guide explained that this meant they could do business on a DMV license instead of paying for thousands of dollars for a factory. Hmmm....does that mean they don't have any health regs? Oh well, the cheese tastes really good :)

You can see that the mural looks like the California cheese ads on TV. I asked if the cows were happy and was told that they are very happy because there are 300 cows on a dairy designed for 1000.

Then we went up the road to Winchester Farms where we've been buying really good Texas Rio Star grapefruit along with our Mrs. Renfro's corn relish and other goodies. I like how they've recycled the old cattle grain feeder into the landmark signage.

We finished up at Von's grocery where we bought the fixings for vegetable beef soup because the temps are going to fall and rain is in the forecast. So it will be good to put a pot of soup on the backburner tomorrow.

Posted by Joan at 03:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All the pebbles are out of the road except this darn cold. Jim is still coughing but feels tons better. I am in the midst of it. I think tomorrow I'll be pretty good. Funny, we had all the windows open and could hear half a dozen other people in the neighborhood with the same deep cough. Not good.

So for the last few days, too much TV and a book a day. Good thing there's a swap library here at Golden Village. One of the books was a real change of pace for James Patterson, the gory mystery writer...Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. It's just a touching story and so out of character for the author. Now I'm reading The Opposite of Fear by Amy Tan, a collection of "essays" that give insight into an author's life. It's good.

Today the Christmas tree got stuffed in a box and in the process of putting it away we found my dancing Santa's stuck in the back of a compartment. Oh well! They'll go out next year :) Funny how Christmas decorations can disappear.

I'm so glad we cancelled our repair apppointment. It just didn't feel right, maybe a premonition feeling that I was getting the cold. We rescheduled for mid-February when we leave Hemet. I'm thinking we can also go to the Reagan Library when we're in that area. Right now we needed this down time and that's the beauty of this life...flexibility.

Posted by Joan at 08:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I haven't written this last week about the "stones in the road" of our life. They are probably pebbles but when you're in the midst of the issue..... On New Year's Eve Jim had a computer disaster. He downloaded a program that gave the computer great grief. And the problems went on from there. It didn't help that he started a cold which got progressively worse during the week.

He worked on the computer problem and things went from bad to worse. On Tuesday we turned on the TV for a bit of morning news and the TV feed from the satellite was dead. Tried a few things but no luck. No one on the Datastorm Users' group had any ideas. Jim's cold and cough are even worse.

We are scheduled to take the coach up to Lancaster next week (150 miles) to the factory for some work. I suggested we hold off because there are too many things in the works and Jim is not up to snuff. But he plods on trying to get things fixed and insists we'll still go next week.

Yesterday we pursued a few more ideas on fixing the TV/satellite. Voila! By changing the connection at the box on the roof (there are 2 connections I guess so that if one goes out the other might work :)...the TV came back on. Thankfully it was not the cabling and not the LNB. Now we just need to find out what to do if the second plug in goes out :)

Today Jim finally got his computer largely restored. So he's feeling a bit more confident that all will be OK soon. He finally conceded to sit down in his recliner and relax. And he agreed that maybe going to Lancaster next week is not a good idea. He really needs to get rid of this cough and feel better.

Amidst all this I cleaned closets, read books, took walks and went shopping. Experience has taught me to stay out of the way during computer disasters. Sooner or later he'll get everything fixed and all will be well again. I think we are nearing that point. :)

Posted by Joan at 05:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Before my "road life" I was an active founding partner in a consulting and training company, Bolero Associates. My partners and I started the business in 1995 focused on Total Quality Training. This year we missed the annual Christmas dinner blowout with partners and spouses so I scheduled lunch today to catch up on what the guys are doing and, in the back of my head, be thankful that I'm retired.

I was so lucky to have nearly 10 years working with these guys and always enjoy hearing what they are up to. I especially enjoyed my ride to the restaurant with Gary in his newly refurbed '57 truck...with a Corvette engine :)

As a retired member I enjoy the cameraderie and a bit of residual income...for the many, many hours devoted to creating the training materials several years ago. Do I miss it? On rare occasion I miss the excitement and fulfillment of classroom training. I miss the intellectual repartee with the partners and the fun of creating new material. I don't miss the really hard work of stand-up training, the constant striving for new business and having to meet deadlines and schedules. I'm very thankful that the guys have a successful, growing business and that I'm still a mini part of it.

Posted by Joan at 06:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok. My first resolution is...I will not have whipped cream on my Starbuck's Mocha. Well it's a start :)

I also walked around the park this morning for 15 minutes. Used our new Zen MP3 player to keep me moving. It's a start.

Jim has a really bad cold so I'm having to keep myself occupied. I don't have him to entertain me. I went shopping, put gas in the car, took stuff to the Salvation Army, completed the "moderate" level of my Sudoku series and moved on to the "tough"....got the first two puzzles done in a snap. The body may be out of shape but the mind is really sharp.

Posted by Joan at 08:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!!

Our New Year's day tradition is to watch the Rose Parade with a Mimosa in hand. Today was one of those beautiful SoCal days, with temps around 70, and people across the nation say, "let's move!" We are happy to be back here for the winter.

Last night we celebrated in our little home with champagne, snacks and a couple of movies. Safe and sound is our motto. We toasted the New Year for each time zone in honor of our traveling life :)

I've been contemplating if and what my New Year resolutions should be. I read my 2006 January blogs and realized I didn't accomplish much on my goals of last year. I wasn't too serious about them I guess. I've always been goal oriented and when I set the goal right, it works. As you can tell from my last post, "lose weight" doesn't work.

One year I resolved to always stop before the crosswalk line when I'm driving. To this day I keep that goal. (Guess I head a close call with a pedestrian). The secret is to be very specific. So I'm thinking on what short, sweet, memorable, specific goal I need to improve myself and my life. More later :)

BTW...the pix above is from my Canon Powershot in super macro mode. I'm not 100% satisfied with the focus. I'm still learning and it's a big curve.

Posted by Joan at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)