Updates from the desert

Boy life sure does tend to get busy all the time, which leaves no extra time for writing.  I hate that but I know things won’t be like this forever.

Luckily, we aren’t working seven days a week now so that’s a good thing, although short-lived most likely, as the holidays aren’t even here yet when we seem to live at our place of employment.  As bad as it is holiday decorations are up all over now.  Xmas stuff showed up the end of September.  This is so disgusting to me.  It seems Thanksgiving is left out entirely most of the time.  Don’t people celebrate this day anymore?  Instead the isles are crammed with Halloween costumes and decorations and Xmas trees, ornaments and gift wrap. 

 Check out this beautiful sunrise

 

Thank goodness we have still had some decent temps here in the desert.  I know this situation will be changing soon, but for now it’s lovely to have the windows open and of course the cats love that.  I just wished it never got any colder.  I’m not looking forward to those days at all.

Hubby had cataract surgery last week and still has to do the other eye in another week.  His are spread two weeks apart, which I’m sure is because of Columbus Day coming up on Monday.  His experience has been different than mine.  He saw red lights and then white lights during his surgery.  Now is the stage when glasses aren’t really helping much at all (okay for one eye, but not the other one).  But this doesn’t keep him off the computer, or from watching TV.

 This is a male finch sitting on the edge of the water bowl on the patio

 

I have another eye appointment next Tuesday to see a specialist who comes here from Seattle once a month.  One of my eyes drips and runs constantly.  Supposedly, there’s another surgery to correct that.  The doctor says it’s covered by Medicare, but I have no idea at this point what the copay is or how much it is and what will be done to my eye.  The other eye is responding well to the dry eye drops I’m using in combination with an allergy eye drop.  I don’t know what I’m in for yet, but I’m really tired of having to wipe my eyes every five minutes.  But it’s that or let the tears run down my cheek all day.

 This is the amino acid for circulation.  I'm hoping it works.

 

When I had my consultation with the foot doctor who took care of the blisters on my feet, I was telling him about my circulation problems in the winter.  This only affects my hands and slightly my feet.  He recommended an amino acid called L’Arginine.  It’s not cheap and is bitter, but I figured I can endure anything to see if this helps.  After all, dead-looking fingers aren’t too attractive and I do have to work with the public serving food.  Plus, I can’t be rubbing them under a hot water faucet several times a day to bring them back to life.  So I started this stuff on the autumn equinox.  It’s powder that I mix with white grape juice.  There will be an update on this later.

In other news, car problems are an issue again.  I now need new shocks on the back of my car and the suspension system has to be serviced and straightened.  (I have to say this is original though and has never been replaced.)  This problem is wearing the inside of my back tires bald.  This repair is over $1.000, so my mechanic suggested I just buy new tires every year instead of doing this repair to a twenty-year-old car.  Tires aren’t cheap either at about $200 a piece, but I can afford to drive the car a while longer this way.  He said I may be able to go longer before replacing tires because I don’t put many miles on the car.  This is still in the thinking stage so hopefully the car will cooperate a bit longer before I have to replace the worst back tire.

 This is Jamie and Claire from Outlander

Here's Jamie from Outlander.  What a hunk of man and so brave and chivalrous.

 

Working doesn’t allow me much extra time so usually after dinner I try to watch recorded episodes of Outlander on Starz.  This is relaxing time for me.  I got hooked on this book series a few years back and have read all the books, but watching this show makes me want to drag them all out again and reread them.  I simply couldn’t put these books down the first time and even carried them to the kitchen to read while cooking.  If any of you are fans of time travel, historical Scottish highlands, sword fighting, romance and history, you should check this series out.  They are well researched and written and exciting enough to keep you turning the pages to see what happens next.

 The roadrunner preening itself on our wall.

 

I guess this is long enough for this time.  It’s back to work tomorrow serving free lunch to the Costco members, some of which never buy anything and have told me they are there only for lunch.  I sure hope my golden years aren’t so boring that I look forward to my daily Costco lunch.

Living in a whirlwind

That’s what my life has been like lately.  I have no time for anything, which is sad to say, or even think about.  I haven’t been on this computer for about two weeks now.  I haven’t had time to write anything to post, although there’s plenty going on that I could write about.  My problem is that I’m working way too much.  I hate to think that the holidays haven’t even started yet!  Yikes!  There are times when I feel I’m too old for this much work.  There’s no energy left over for other things.

Plus, we have a lot of home projects in the fire at the moment.  There are several of those to tell you about, as well as my trips to the mechanic with my car again.  I spent four hours there on my only day off last week.  I know I’ll have to wrap my head around getting another vehicle soon.  That will be a sad day indeed.

Hubby has cataract surgery tomorrow.  I’m off work to drive him about and be there for support.  I sure hope all this goes well.  But, as some of you know, men aren’t always the greatest patients in the world.  One can only hope for a mellow day. 

Bear with me.  I’ll be posting again soon.

Here we go again - Round Two

Loaner car number two is a Plymouth Grand Prix

Last week my car decided to die again, so I have a second loaner car until the issue in mine is found.  The mechanic told me it was only a matter of time.  It did last about a month before this electrical situation reared its ugly head again. 

Mike, my mechanic, was kind enough to bring me another loaner car so I could get to work.  This one is in slightly better condition, but is very smoky.  I guess all those guys at the shop must be smokers.  Thankfully they don’t smoke in my car.

I feel a bit more comfortable driving this car, although I have to sit on folded towels so I can see over the steering wheel.  I could adjust the seat forward but not any higher.  This engine has a throaty roar so I don’t know if it’s just the big engine or it needs a new muffler.  It sounds like the Mustang convertible 5.0 that I used to have years ago.

The heater in this car is fantastic, which is good because we had snow the other day and it’s not very warm.  We finally saw blue sky for the first time in week today.  That’s unusual for here.

I think this car is a bit of a gas hog though.  I put some gas in it today and was wondering if I’d make it to the station as I don’t know this car and how far it will go once the fuel light comes on.  I sure wouldn’t want to call Mike for that.

This loaner car also has a broken windshield, so if mine’s in the shop very long I imagine he’ll give me a different car.  Until then, I have this car for a while, or at least until they find the electrical problem with mine.  I suspect it has something to do with the passenger side mirror because it seems to operate itself.  Worst case scenario the fix will cost me from $500-$700 this time.  Ugh!  I’m investing so much in this car, I’ll have to keep it for the next five or so years.  It’s a good thing I’m not tired of it.  

I hope your new year is starting off better.

A ray of sunshine in the dark clouds

I’m still plagued by car problems and now hubby also has to have a windshield replaced in his vehicle.  It had a pit in it from his trip to Oregon in October and a few days ago it split all the way across due to the cold weather. We had to scrape a quarter inch of ice off the windshield before we could get on the road.

I just got my car back out of the shop again, this time for an electrical problem that the mechanic thinks is in the front door panel.  This could be up to a $700 repair but he replaced a fuse and so far it’s working.  I’m crossing my fingers it continues to do so for the long term.  The tech told me he didn’t know how long it would last, a week, a month or a year or longer.  There was no way to know since everything showed up fine when he scoped the car on the machine they use.

The ray of sunshine in all this is that the guy came to my house to get my car and take it to the shop about ten miles away.  That evening he gave me a loaner car that he delivered to my house at 8:30 PM.  I would like to know what other mechanic does this?  He made sure the car was an automatic too and had gas so I could get to work and back while he had my car in the shop. 

 This is the loaner car, which reminded me of a demolition derby car

 

Now I have to say this loaner car was like driving a tank and not the prettiest thing in the world but it was wheels and got me where I needed to go.  Beggars can’t be choosy, right?  Also the car was definitely a smoker’s vehicle.  It about knocked me over to stick my head in there so I emptied half a bottle of Fabreeze in the car and let it sit overnight so I could breathe driving to work and back. But again, beggars can’t be choosy.  I was extremely grateful he loaned me the car because he didn’t have to do that.

 This thing had dings everywhere and you could view the trunk from inside the car

 

Be thankful for all your blessings, big or small.  There’s always something to be grateful for, even when a dark cloud hovers over your head.

She wants to join the family

We live in a place where we’re lucky to see a lot of wildlife coming by at various times.  The last few weeks this female roadrunner has made it clear, she wants in the house. 

 Not the greatest pic but I had to hurry

 

She jumps up on the top of the bench we have on the back patio and pecks at the window.  This sends the cats into a frenzy watching with wild eyes.  I’m not sure what this lady has in mind because I don’t think her or the cats would actually want to meet face-to-face. 

Female roadrunner trying her best to adopt us

She makes her rounds of the backyard near the house, hopping from chair-to-chair and perching on the table.  Last week she even tried her best to fly up and land on the ceiling fans out there.  Maybe she got into some loco weed, or ate some juniper berries.

 Here she is on the patio chair

 

Today, she jumped off the patio roof and took her place on the bench to peck at the window.  Her eyes scan the place from floor to ceiling.  I imagine she’s looking for food and expects me to provide it.  I don’t have any lizards or bugs lying around to give her.  Right now I’m not sure what else she’s trying to tell me, but she looks plump enough and not starving.

At this point, I’m not sure how long this activity will last.  The bird of prey that was taking a daily bath here has gone to other areas.  I haven’t seen him in a while.

Other than that, I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and spent a relaxing day being grateful for all we have. 

Below are a few pics from our Thanksgiving drive along the back highway to Mesquite NV and back.  These are taken from the car window so aren't the best photos in the world.  This country passes through an Indian reservation and is mostly sagebrush and Joshua trees.  But the day was beautiful and about 50 degrees.

 
It’s onward toward Christmas now.  Some neighbors already have their lights up.  I’m only perturbed at the one who put his up a week before Thanksgiving.  That’s disgraceful!  These days everyone rushes things. 

We have a few leaves left on our trees, but they’re quickly littering the ground.  I watched some flutter down in a gust of wind this morning and wished I had the camera ready.  I did spend the next half hour trying to capture some but didn’t have much luck.  I guess things like that are better in person.

 Most of these fluttered to the ground today

 

I hate to see winter coming but that’s beyond my control.  All I can do is count the days until spring – and I shall be doing that – in the near future.  December and January are in the deep freeze here some years.

Now that those awful ulcers are about gone from my mouth, I have a raspy cough to take their place.  I attribute this to working near the coolers all day at work last week.  I was chilled to the bone from head-to-toe by the end of my shift, so I’m now stocked up on all sorts of cold products and extra vitamin C to get me through the winter months without becoming too ill.

Added to all this was another car problem, a dead battery this time, but I can’t say my mechanics didn’t warn me about that when they replaced the radiator.  So I spent part of yesterday getting that fixed.  

Now if I can just fix the garage door, which has gone on the blink lately, I may be able to sit back for a while.  I’ll be opening it manually for the time being because the openers and the opener have become enemies apparently.  They aren’t talking to each other now and the batteries are fine.  It’s back to my old friend, Google, to see if I can find a solution.  What did we do before the internet?  It’s too bad they didn’t teach courses like this in high school – something we could really benefit from as adults.

More of life’s issues

My Caddy - I love this car and I'm going to have to love it a lot longer

As the old saying goes – when it rains it pours.  That seems to be the case right now with my car issues.  Of course, it is a sixteen-year-old car so I don’t expect things to be perfect.  I just hope this is the end of an expensive list of repairs for a while.

It all started out with the A/C, which had to be repaired this summer.  I could have let it go for a while if it wasn’t in the triple digits here.

Things went smoothly for a month and then the starter went out.  That happened when hubby was in Oregon taking care of his dad’s affairs, so I borrowed my neighbor’s car so I could get back and forth to work.  Thankfully, she has two vehicles and one sits in the garage most of the time.  After three days in the shop and about $500, I was able to get my car back. 

Now the car still had a shifter issue, which I’ve been nursing along for a year or more.  I wasn’t ready to shell out another couple hundred to have that looked into, so I’ve been putting up with it, although it’s getting to be a very sore spot having to fight to get the car out of park every time I get into it.  I think this is a brake switch and not a solenoid, which is a good thing because the brake switches are the cheaper of the repairs.

So back up a couple days ago when we were running around town and I had hubby drive my car so he could see how bad the shifter was.  He was getting pretty frustrated trying to get it into gear.  It smelled hot when we came home, but he couldn’t smell it, assuring me all was fine.

So the next day I went to work and noticed I left a trail of wet splashes and drops after I locked my car.  I touched it and it looked like water on my finger.  My car had the hot smell again, plus this time my heat gauge was slightly above the center spot, which it never is, so I knew there was another issue.  Things weren’t just fine.

Hubby brought a gallon of water and filled up my radiator.  The oil was fine.  I called the shop on my break and asked to bring it over after work.  The guys are so good over there and said they’d stay late so I wouldn’t be stranded and would take a look at it for me.  They even offered to give me a ride home, but hubby picked me up.

The verdict is it needs a new radiator and new radiator hose.  The tech pressurized the radiator for me, it was leaking in the front, and the main upper hose is almost worn to the point of having a hole in it.  So this problem is now being fixed, leaving me without a car again for a few days.  The shop ordered the new radiator right away, but they sent over a defective one and the mechanic can’t get another one until Monday.  That seems to be the story of my life, but things happen and it could always be worse.  Thank goodness, that’s my philosophy in life or things could get depressing in a hurry.

So I’m also having the shifter fixed as long as the car is in the shop again anyway.  Actually, hubby suggested it after his round with the car the other day.  I don’t have the estimate on that repair yet and am crossing my fingers because the radiator job is going to cost me $480.  Yikes!  You can see where my paycheck is going.

If things happen in threes, maybe this is it for a while.  I’m keeping a positive mind.

The good and the bad of working part time after retirement

I’ve done this for two months now--almost.  It’s nice to have the extra money for bills and other things and that’s definitely an upside.  But I have to say that even a part time job at my age is tough at times.  It leaves me worn out most of the time.  Would you believe it takes me about ten minutes to get out of my car once I get into the garage after driving home?  After standing up for six hours, my legs don’t want to move and are content to stay put for a while.  It’s those nights that I wish dinner would fix itself.  LOL

Of course, this standing for work isn’t helped by the fact that I’m up and down cleaning this house and working in the yard on my day off.  I declared war on all the spiders on Sunday and spent three hours in my courtyard getting all the webs up and spraying out there.  Now if I can just get up enough energy to do that patio in the back, which is twice the area of the courtyard.

The other downside to working is being called to fill in at the last minute.  “How fast can you change clothes and drive over here?”  Oh my!  I’m not used to that at all.  I don’t mind picking up an extra shift, but more notice than that would be nice.

I also about froze to death last week when I had to work outside the dairy coolers all day.  That was my fault though for not taking a sweater to work.  Luckily, someone had left a sweater in the back, so I borrowed that for my last two hours.  It was excessively big, but I didn’t care.  I would have taken a blanket or anything at that point.  My teeth were beginning to chatter and I was cold from head to toe.  I usually sweat in the store.  I never know what the job is for the day until I arrive for work, but it’s busy and the time goes by fast.

On the upside, it’s fun talking to all the people you see during the day, the co-workers are all great people and will pitch in to help me if I need it, and the boss is fantastic.  So you can’t beat that.  I learn something new everyday I’m there.

On another note, I took my car to the shop today for a new starter so will be using my neighbor’s vehicle to go back and forth to work until I get my car back on Thursday.  It’s been acting up so I don’t want to take any chances with being stranded.  Winter is coming and, along with that, the shorter days.  It’ll be dark when I get off work soon and I hate that but it’s beyond my control so best not to stress over it.  That’s all I would need is to be stranded in the parking lot after dark with a car that won’t start.

Taking all this into account I’m wondering how I’m going to work on my NaNo project in November.  I have so much on my plate this year.  A little voice in my head is telling me I can do it, but so far I haven’t listened and signed up for it.  This would be my fourth NaNo (National Novel Writing Month), but right now 50,000 words is looking overwhelming, especially since I can’t seem to get my mind wrapped around a story theme yet.  More on this later.  I promised myself I’d try to get to bed earlier and here it is almost midnight again.  Sigh… I guess that’s not happening for me.

Dodging curveballs can be a full time job

I know each of us has run into this situation at times, enough going on in life to make your head swim. 

If any of you keep up with my blog, you’ll know there’s always some crisis when hubby is out of town.  The last time it was the water heater.  I really thought this time it would be the washer because it’s been giving us shots across the bough for over a year now.  But I was wrong, at least for now (knock on wood).  This time it’s my car, which is refusing to start a lot of the time.  Now this issue has been going on awhile too, but you must understand we’re like most people and never fix anything until it’s on its last legs and there’s no other choice.  The car decides to misbehave a while, then it behaves itself again, and there’s no issue for months.

This is the car in question

Yesterday I had some errands to run and had to make about nine stops.  It decided not to start at a few places, but eventually did because I was patient.

I don’t know how many others out there have been married as long as I have, but I wonder if your husbands also think you can’t manage the situation without their expertise as if you have no mind for such matters and couldn’t decide what to do about it yourself.  At these times, I feel as if he thinks I don’t have a clue about life predicaments.  Somehow, it’s hard for some men (all men?) to believe you weren’t born yesterday.  Last night it was impossible to carry on a conversation with my husband who thinks I’m a six-year-old in these situations.  He was sure it was the battery and wanted me to have that checked before I left for work today.  I had already decided I’d do that, although I had a sneaky suspicion it was the starter and not the battery, but best to rule the battery out first anyway. 

Because of this whole mess, I only got four hours of sleep last night and had to stand on my feet all day to sell and demo products.  I’m wiped out tonight.  I set the alarm for before daybreak and was up, showered and dressed, so I could I make my phone calls, get in for the car check and get to work.  I couldn’t fall asleep for the life of me.

I ended up calling the garage before it was even open and was lucky the guy answered, but he has his calls transferred to his cell for work.  He told me to bring it in and he would be there shortly.  Now my car’s battery is under the backseat so that had to be taken out to get to it. Who ever heard of such a thing?  They determined it was my starter, which I wasn’t surprised about because the car is sixteen-years-old.

In the meantime, last night, I spoke with my neighbor who will lend me a car to use until mine is repaired.  So I had that base covered.  I felt good about that.  She offered, even though our conversation started out about other things.

This morning I called and added roadside service to our car insurance policy in case either of us needs it.  I felt I was ready to face the day, tired or not.  I also have my ducks lined up for what is coming later in the car saga.

I took the car from the shop to work and it started fine for the drive home.  It may well go on like that, but it’s probably wise to have it repaired.  My hubby went about calling around to get the best price for that starter job today.  Most likely, I’ll be taking it in on my next day off.

I took my chances and the car didn’t leave me stranded in the parking lot at work.  I suspect I’ll continue to press my luck until I have a day off during the week so I can take my car in and leave it at the shop.  I also have to coordinate this with my neighbor’s schedule.  Meanwhile, I have a positive attitude about it because what else can anyone do really?  It does no good to add more stress to your life by worrying over whether the car will start or not.  Things will be the way they’re going to be.  Of course it’s hard for hubby who doesn’t understand my attitude or philosophy much of the time.

This repair isn’t cheap, so I’m hoping the washer holds on a bit longer.

Does anyone else have experiences like this to share?  Can you make adequate decisions in a crisis?