GVWR GAWR GCWR GVW

I have to admit, the days have been gorgeous.  I've even had to put on shorts in the afternoon, it's so warm.  Perfect spring weather in my book.  That of course means there's no excuse for not walking.  I trotted off in the morning for my two mile walk of pain.  

I could hear the peacocks calling before I even rounded the corner.  What a gorgeous buff beauty this guy is!!  It's interesting that the males have the run of the place.  This big boy and two more smaller ones are always outside the pens.  Obviously he's the king of the roost!  

The ladies on the other hand are confined to big cages.  On this day they were up and calling to their girlfriends one enclosure over, which is probably why the male is keeping a close eye on them.  Did you know they make great watch dogs??  

We had some on the old ranch back in the 50's that let my dad know when anything came around looking for the taste of turkey.  They would sit high in the trees and scream like crazy if anything entered the yard.  Pretty cheap watch dogs!!

 

Amazingly, when my walk was done, I felt worse than ever.  Oh yes, I remember this feeling from the old days of running.  A couple aspirin fixed me up right nicely.  

For the next three hours I tried to figure out how to do those calculations on how much you can tow.  I'm an accountant ... I can do this!!  Good grief ... so many letters.  GVW GVWR GAWR GCWR ... it goes on and on.  I might be better off just to buy a one ton truck and be done with it. 

At long last I spotted a tow calculator on the internet.  You just plug in the numbers it has taken you two hours to locate and it will either tell you RED RED RED ... YOU ARE OVERLOADED, or it will give you a green check and you are good to go, except don't forget their huge disclaimer on the first page.

So in the end, including the extra 25 gallons of fuel I carry in the truck, I can still load up about 400 more pounds in the trailer.  Does anyone actually know the weight of the stuff they add?  Like clothes, food, quilt fabric, dishes, quilt fabric, tool box, more quilt fabric.  I wouldn't even have a clue!!

I'm guessing many people are overloaded, especially those towing trailers with F150's.  I'll try to keep it down, or at least drive the speed limit.  In the meantime, I'm double checking my numbers.  In other number related stuff, I was asked how much my tires were rated to carry.  

What?  Isn't a tire a tire??  I crawled around the garage on the floor with my flashlight trying to read those teeny tiny numbers.  AHA!!  Found it!!  They are rated to carry 3400 pounds.  My hitch weight is about 1200.  I'm guessing (that's what I do best) that I'm okay.

Late in the afternoon, my brain now fried from too much calculating, I took a walk around the corral.  You know what THIS picture means!  Truly, I can't see where anything has come in under the fence, but sure enough, there are two piles of you know what and two HUGE holes dug in the dirt.  These are the biggest holes yet, one of which was at the edge of the flower bed right up next to the lawn.  NOOOOOOOO!!!

I still can't see how anything could get in the yard, but I set the trap anyway.  This morning I'll go see if the camera caught anything.  If it wasn't for the puppies it would be fun stalking them, but I don't need another critter encounter like the last one.

Now to clean house before company arrives!!!!

CHICKEN WARS GETS AN "F"

I'm still working on those chicken war advertisements about the BEST chicken sandwich on the planet.    THIS one was the biggest failure EVER.  McDonald's get a BIG FAT "F" on almost all fronts.

At one point Mickey D's had a chicken wrap was pretty tasty.  They should have stuck with that.  Behold the spicy chicken sandwich.   At least so far all their prices are about the same.  $8.97 for this one that was like throwing a $10 bill in the trash.

First off, the fries were cold and needed salt.  That should have been fair warning about what was to come.  I pulled the bun from the chicken and was rewarded with sauce all over my fingers.  I took a taste.  WHAT THE HECK?  That was pretty hot ... instantly hot, not the back of the throat heat that's nice about it.  This just flat burned and tasted TERRIBLE.  I can't even begin to explain the flavor.  Vaseline came to mind.

The tiny 2-1/2 inch piece of chicken was swimming in at least four tablespoons of goo.  You can also probably tell the bun AND the chicken were burned almost black.  Oh my goodness!!  The sauce was so terrible, I took the tiny piece of chicken off and wiped it clean.  The bun got the same treatment.

When I saw the extent of the black color, I decided I would eat the chicken alone.  Gracious me ... it had soggy breading, a huge piece of skin and lots of gristle.  I didn't know chicken could have gristle.  Do not ..... I repeat DO NOT buy this sandwich.  

This morning I'm going online to fill out their survey ... something I never do ... just to tell them how terrible it was.  It all went in the trash.  The only thing even worthy of mention was the Sprite.  It wasn't watered down.  I'm pretty sure this will be the last of my McDonald purchases ...   forever!

So it was off to Home Depot for fire ant killer.  I scanned the walls for almost fifteen minutes, finding nothing to kill ants except this one container of Amdro.  It said it killed almost every variety known to man.  Ok, I'll bite so maybe the ants won't.  

When I got home and checked out the battlefield, I found a few more coming up out of a different hole.  I dumped a small amount around the edge.  They completely ignored it.  It seems some ants are there to do nothing other than bring tiny grains of sand to the surface.  Those guys were working their butts off.  No one else showed their little face and no one moved the Amdro.  

However ... all the other teeny tiny black ants that had appeared, were now gone with the wind.  At least SOMETHING is working.  

I bought another gallon of Home Defense for good measure.  This is the stuff that seems to have put a dent in the ant population as I poured it down their tunnels.  I've used this for several years and it works really well.  I only have to spray outside the house and in the garage once a year.  It even kills all those lovely black widow spiders.

Along the way I had to get fuel.  Sadly, this is only the beginning and prices are going to sky rocket even more.  It stings to the bone when I have to fill up my truck.  The last time as I left California, it was $100.00 to fill the tank with about the same amount of fuel.

THIS time ... and I'm not exaggerating here ... it cost me MORE than it did to fill my 100 gallon RV tank.  THIS time it cost me $140.00 to put a little under 40 gallons in my tank.  I had planned a little trip up to Yosemite for some photography, but with prices like this, I guess I'm just going to stay home.  Boring for sure, but with a fixed income, these outrageous prices just kill me.  

We aren't quite up to Barstow's $3.96 a gallon, but Union 76 and Shell stations are very close.  This was at cheap Arco.  At least not having that huge RV payment has given me a little room to breathe.

Today is frantically clean-the-house day since I have company coming.  My Sacramento girlfriend is headed this way for a couple of days.  Plus it's walk day ... putting more miles under my belt in spite of the after-burn pain incurred.  It's so hard to be motivated to stay in shape when it hurts!!

No Luck Is Lucky

I had no luck with the game camera last night, which is probably a good thing.  In this case, no luck is good luck since that means there aren't any skunks living in my back yard.  At the moment anyway.  

Cooper scared me half to death when I let him out and he went running and barking towards the fence line completely covered in dark.   Skunks are so black you cannot see them at night.  On a sad and uh-oh note, the huge burn pile near where we let them loose caught fire yesterday.  Apparently some homeless guy thought it would be fun to see flames.  The fire is out now, but I'm afraid those skunks will be looking for a new home.

Here's my latest "kid" looking like she's up on her tippy toes.  It's an optical illusion since the bottom line is also black ... OH NO!! ... I bought a black and white skunk rig!!!!  Anyway, you really can't see the bottom line.  

My next little project was to find my old horse trailer hitch lock.  Sure enough, there it was under the back seat of my truck ..... minus the key.  I went through all of my 99 keys with no description (left over from the ranch since we had to lock up literally everything) with no results.  No key.  

I probably could have had a locksmith pick the lock and rekey it, but it would cost me just as much as this lock which is much easier to install.  It's pretty funny that they attach a plastic chain with a tag that says HITCH LOCK IN PLACE.  No kidding!!  Someone must have tried to hook up and and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't latch.  I'm sure the chain will disappear in a day or two!

The next new gizzy, always required in any RV, is peanut butter cookies.  They made great snacks to keep you from starving, can entice big dogs away and calm the savage parrot beast that lives inside, not to mention the nerve-wracked owner.

Next up on the to-do list was the Elks Lodge initiation practice.  This time we were forced to wear microphones.  Trust me, you can hear me a mile away, but I finally said okay.  The problem with that was when the guy is telling you what you did wrong and you answer, the entire building hears you.  Nancy learned to zip it!

I stood up a little too early, didn't open the door wide enough and sat down before I was supposed to.  These are all new members who have no clue what we do ... so what if we make a mistake!  Uh no ... mistakes are not allowed.  

At least I had my lines memorized.  Others read directly from their piece of paper.  We got through it with a few hiccups before heading to the Trustee meeting.  One of five was on time.  Two were 30 minutes late and two didn't show up at all.  Well that was fun.  

The best that came out of that was the acquisition of my purple tie.  Which reminds me, it's stuffed down in the bottom of my purse.  I guess I better go rescue it before heading out on my walk.  I didn't walk yesterday, as I was reminded by all those really achey muscles when I tried to sleep last night.  I'm determined to make this a habit again after eight years.  Gosh, has it been that long since I ran???

Propane Tanks .... BOOM!!

SO much stuff to learn about the new Grand Design fifth wheel.  I started out by reading the owner's manual page by page.  I got to about 50 when I gave up.  It's all sort of familiar, but so confusing!!  On my Class A everything was so much easier.  Want to know how much propane you have left?  Push a button.  Want to know where your grey tank is at?  Push a button.  

The propane would last me well over a year, even though I kept the heater set on 45 degrees to keep things from freezing up.  This rig is completely different.  I have tank heaters ... something like heating pads for the grey and black tanks, except I have THREE tanks.  So are they all heated?  I was warned not to turn those on unless the tanks were half full to keep from melting the sides.  WHAT????

For those last chilly nights in Tucson, I kept the heat on low, hoping the water lines would not freeze.  How much propane did I use?  I've no idea.  Here's one of two tanks, one on each side of the rig, basically under the bed so if something goes wrong I will die.  The detector is of course in the farthest back corner by the license plate.

I kept reading everything I could find on the internet hoping to come up with a few answers.  Oh ... there's a valve you turn that points to the tank that is currently in use.  Might it be this red one?  That would be a NO.

Finally I discovered something called Mopeka.  It's a little flat gizzy that magnetically attaches to the bottom of the tank.  Download the app on your phone and VOILA!!  It shows how much is in your tank.  I ordered one ... guess I should have ordered TWO.  Now if I can only figure out WHICH tank is being used.  

I was guessing it was not THIS one because I did use propane in Tucson.  I had a fleeting thought about expansion of the gas, but honestly, no clue!!

I went around to the OTHER side and checked out THAT tank.  EUREKA!!!  I see a big black valve pointing to the passenger side, so that must be the one it's using.  At long last I discovered THIS valve, hidden behind the hoses.  With my great powers of deduction, I decided the red meant it was empty.

No wait .... when I left Bakersfield, I turned both tanks OFF.  Maybe, just MAYBE .... so I turned the valve on and the red turned to green!  BOOM!!! ... we're in business baby!!  So now my question would be ...... is this for the tank on THIS side or the one on the OTHER side???  

The valve is pointing to the OTHER side, but I turned on the gas on THIS side to get it to turn green.  It's all too much for my pea brain.  

Truth be told, I didn't figure ANY of this out by myself.  I'm sure you already knew that.  Luckily I again was able to talk to expert fifth wheeler Bill Richards who explained everything about the little valve with the red thingies.  That's MY technical term for it.  It would probably behoove me to spend a couple nights in the rig while parked in my back yard to get used to things.

In the meantime, not that I see any problems, but I'm going to set up my game camera and see what floats. The ants are still fighting me tooth and nail, coming up with new ramparts every morning.  It's time for a Home Depot run since I'm now out of ammo.  

AND tonight is one last practice at the Elks lodge for the first big initiation of new members next week.  That's where I have to wear the fancy tux and remember my lines!!  I'm getting nervous.

Running Through The Neighborhood

Good Morning California!!!  I'm trying to improve my countenance.  It really is nice this time of year, unless you are fighting the war of all wars with fire ants.  I do have to be careful since they are roaming the same back yard as my two puppies.  

I'm like a cutting horse pro and the puppies are the cattle.  I keep running interference to keep them away from the herd where bleach and insect poison now reside.  The bite of a fire ant would be even worse.

As a diversion from all the carnage, I went for a run.  Okay, it was a fast jog.  Or maybe it was a fast paced walk. Okay okay ..... so I went for a walk.  Just a walk around the neighborhood, but in the end, it was a 2-1/2 mile walk.  That has to count for something!!

Like most old folk ... and I AM old ... between the weight and my blood pressure, it's time to get out of the house now and then.  It's all that sugar my sweet tooth craves that gets me in trouble.  If I'm not careful, I won't fit into that tux any more!!

Beautiful trees are blooming everywhere, just not in MY yard.  I would love to be a gardener again, but I'm gone too much to keep an eye on everything.

 

This was pretty fabulous.  I'm not sure what it is, maybe ice plant?  It's actually growing in the gravel on the side of the road.  The picture doesn't do it justice at all.  

Once back at the house, Cooper just went crazy.  He loves nothing more than a walk through the neighborhood so he can mark his territory every two feet.  I kid you not, it's the slowest walk you will ever take.  

Even when he has nothing left to mark with, he marks ... just for good measure.  I'm pretty sure there's a doberman in this little body.  There are lots of dogs in this area ... BIG dogs with LOUD barks.  He talks back to every single one of them!!

Obviously all that barking tired him out.  He just got through kicking me with his hind legs because I'm taking up too much of HIS couch!!!  The good thing was he slept for over two hours.  That's two hours I didn't have to throw the ball.  I think this may become a daily habit for us.

In the meantime, I was able to finally finish the 400 inches of binding on this quilt.  It's a weird one ... and wasn't I surprised to find out it was a KING sized quilt instead of the QUEEN I was going for.  I even double checked the pattern after I saw it went almost to the floor on either side of my queen bed.

In my defense, it did look like a really cute baby quilt when it was hanging on the wall in the fabric shop, which is why I purchased this material.  As a king sized mammoth of a bed covering, it's not really my favorite colors.  Kind of blinding when you walk in the room.  

In the meantime, I'm learning more and more about my fifth wheel.  Today's lesson was on propane tanks. There are two and I have no idea which one is being used.  I'll make my RV report tomorrow.

Dead Bodies Everywhere

I have to admit the weather in California has been pretty epic since I arrived.  75-80 degrees during the day and 45 at night.  Obviously my blooms think it's pretty epic also.  My carpet roses are coming out and showing off their beautiful blooms.

A little tall for carpet roses you say?  Well yes, you are right.  When I had the back yard planted, I wanted to be able to see the horses over the fence.  I asked the landscape/gardener guy to plant carpet roses along the entire edge.  He did a fabulous job until a year later when the roses grew taller than the fence.  

The only good thing about that is they actually smell like roses, something I don't seem to find much nowadays.  I think they have developed roses to be pretty, but with no beautiful scent.

The NOT SO PRETTY part is where the roses end and the fire ants begin.  I went out to check my Amdro handiwork to find them happily hauling sand out of the holes, one tiny grain of sand at a time, and setting up housekeeping again.  Those dirty rats!!!

In fact, they were actually grabbing the Amdro and hauling each tiny piece out with the grains of sand.  Of course that killed that one, but no worries, there are thousands more to take his place.  

I ran for the house and got a big bottle of bleach.  THIS should do the trick.  I carefully poured an entire bottle down their little ant holes while hundreds scurried to the surface.  DIE DIE DIE.  Sorry, I got carried away!!

Anyway, it worked somewhat because they too died.  Even more fascinating was when I found a huge pile of dead bodies off to one side.  Apparently they had removed one body after another and piled them up.  I felt quite the satisfaction as I spotted more and more very dead little ants.

BUT ..... it was not enough.  The WAR WAS ON!!!  The very next afternoon there they were, hundreds coming and going hauling dead bodies out of the hole and dumping them in this pile.  THIS time I grabbed the Home Defense killer spray.  It's all I had left for a weapon.

I carefully poured 3/4 of the gallon down the holes, flooding everything.  To be honest, I doubt even THAT is going to get rid of them.  I was at least hoping they would get tired of the killing and find a new hole way out in the corral.  

I'll check again this morning.  If this doesn't work, I suppose I'll have to call the County and see if they have anything I can use.  

In the meantime, I've purchased a little gizzy for the fifth wheel ... actually TWO little gizzies ... which I'll report on tomorrow.  Anything to make life easier when it comes to keeping that fridge running when not plugged in.  

I'm off to count dead bodies .........

Never Send Me To The Store

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Day.  I'm looking forward to seeing pictures!!  Besides being ever grateful that I wake up every morning, it was the perfect day to hit the grocery store.  If you go early enough, there's hardly a sole around, meaning it's a no mask trip.  Or better yet, I wear one, but around my neck!!

The problem comes with my complete lack of self control.  Never send me to the store.  I will always come home with something akin to this ... the best ice cream on the planet!  It was part of my great plan! 

You see when you leave your house for a period of time, no matter what temperature I set the thermostat at, it becomes "old" smelling.  Yes I plug all the drains so there's no smell escaping from the P-traps, but nothing seems to help.  

The solution?  Bake a pie!!  Yeah there's that other thing about changing all the air filters (which I do immediately) and spraying smelly stuff everywhere, but nothing works like a fresh baked PIE!! Since Marie Callendar loves to bake, it works out very well for me.  It doesn't hurt that caramel butter pecan ice cream goes perfectly with dutch apple pie.

The next major problem of the day was quickly solved by finding Rice Krispies at the grocery store.  Gee ... what should I do with that entire bag of marshmallows I found in the freezer??  Honestly, I don't even know where they came from, but waste not want not.  Rice Krispie treats it is!!  Do you see a pattern here???

I'm blaming every bit of it on those cute little Easter bunnies.  They made me do it!!

I did actually buy some legit stuff, like eggs and cheese, but for the most part I think I'll be eating dessert three times a day.  I perused the meat section, but the cheapest I could find was $7.99 a pound .... for hamburger.  Funny how our prices have suddenly gone sky high!!  It must be the summer vacationers traveling through, kind of like our fuel prices.

I'm still making the rounds of the sprinkler system, finding my Lillies blooming on the perfect day in spite of the fact their water was looking like Old Faithful, shooting straight up into the air.

I have four of these shrubs (no idea what they are called) that are also blooming like crazy.  I do love it when the flowers take care of themselves.

The best part of the day occurred when I heard the doorbell ring, then saw someone run away.  What??  Upon further investigation, which took the better part of an hour, I discovered my neighbor had fixed the fence between us by nailing up the missing boards.  How exciting is that ... and a big relief not to worry about the puppies sneaking away when I'm not looking.  

On further inspection, I did NOT find ONE SINGLE HOLE in the back fence where some critter was trying to make my life miserable.  At least for the time being!!

On the other hand, sadly the war with the ants continues.  I'll give you a blow by blow description tomorrow!!!  

HAPPY EASTER !!

I can't believe another year has gone by so fast.  It's EASTER again.  Sadly, I completely missed Good Friday.  Isn't this little guy cute?  So here's the story, and I'm sticking to it.  Rabbits give birth in the spring to big litters called kittens.  Legend has it that the Easter Bunny lays, decorates and hides eggs as a symbol of new life.  

This all seems to have come from German immigrants whose children made nests for the bunnies to lay their brightly colored eggs in.  Who knew bunnies laid eggs in Germany? 

What I knew yesterday was that when there's nothing in the fridge to eat, you open the door sixteen times thinking maybe you missed something hidden in the back.  Nope ... just that same old bag of Halloween candy.  The good news is I don't like Kit Kats ... but there may be a few Reese's peanut butter cups hiding in the bottom.

Just like the baby bunnies in Arizona, these guys are cute as buttons.  I'm sure all of you grandparents had a great time fixing up that basket of bunny eggs for the kiddos.  I spent most of the day trying to sew 400 inches of binding on to my latest quilt (with my sewing machine) before beginning the hand turning and hand sewing process.  I'm beginning to think that 28 inches of hem on those pants wasn't so bad after all.

I did try to get very creative in the afternoon after seeing Patsy's blog about making an apple crisp for dessert.  I actually stole Jonathan the parrot's last apple, slicing it as thin as I could and smothering it in oats with brown sugar, flour and cinnamon.

This dish is only 4" x 6", so obviously it didn't make a lot, but it was good enough to go with the chicken I scrounged from Cooper's dinner supply of frozen pieces to make mustard glazed chicken.  Nothing like stealing your "kids" food.  I promise this morning I'm going to the store.

A double check of the ant destruction has revealed MORE who have come to clean up the carnage.  You would think they would say OH NO and run away.  Nope ... they are making new holes in the sand.  Guess one round wasn't enough, so I'll be back out there today since I also have to repair two more sprinklers who had their parts separated from the main line.  

 Happy Easter, HE is risen!!

Having A Killer Time

The best part about owning a smaller trailer is having to make 10 less loads into the house.  Instead of five trips to unload the household fridge, it only took TWO.  There is something to be said for downsizing.  On the other hand, it took three MORE loads to get everything out since I kept forgetting where I stashed stuff.  The routine will get better with time I'm sure.

 I did have one concerning problem on the trip home.  When they fix the freeways, they do NOT fix the overpasses or underpasses.  The crossover is always terribly rough and bounced my trailer pretty good a couple of times.  So for you trailer haulers out there, is it the tires?  The air pressure?  Do I need stiffer springs?   Is this just a normal thing with fifth wheels?  I don't remember having this problem with my horse trailer, but it didn't weigh this much either.

In the meantime, I think I fixed the DMV problem.  Since I don't have the pink slip to mail in stating I sold the vehicle, I went online and muddled through 2500 pages of something akin to horse apples, before finding the one page I needed.  I filled it out, although I didn't really have the exact mileage.  

Since the paperwork said it went to LaMesa in San Diego, that's what I put down, although it never did, because LaMesa Tucson sold it a week later.  I know that because apparently I left some paperwork in with the warranty material and the new owner started calling me!!

Anyway, with that done I figured to do something easy.  Hem those tux pants.  I'm a bell bottom girl from the old days.  Not hippy-ish but cowgirl-ish.  We always wore very long bell bottom Levis to cover our boots, keeping them nice and shiny instead of scratched up by brush.

I don't know what happened to that eye catching trend, but the pants nowadays barely go over my foot, let alone my boots.  What a pain in the butt THIS was!!  Here's what I cut off before the hems went in.  Do they fit?  NO!!  The back edge catches on the back of my heels and doesn't hang right.  Oh well ..........

With that done, I tried on the new Tux shirt.  Amazingly, it fits!!  So why the picture?  Because I spent almost an HOUR trying to iron out the wrinkles.  I don't think I have ironed a shirt in 20 years!!!  This is NOT my idea of a killer time.  I won't be doing that again.  It's off to the dry cleaner for this one!!!

In the afternoon I finally went to check the sprinklers.  I have to admit the yard looks REALLY nice.  The gardeners have been doing a bang up job ... except they cut the wires to my landscape lights.  They promised a fix, but we shall see.  

I have three drip lines cut also, but that's not so hard to fix.  That's when I spotted the three big ant hills.  This is in the same spot where I got bit last year.  Big fire ants these guys .... so I got out my trusty bottle of Amdro (thanks to Dave) and sprinkled a little around.  The ants went nuts over it.  They hauled piece after piece down the hole.  I got quite a bit of satisfaction watching that!!  Now THIS is definitely having a killer time.

This morning there were dead ants piled up outside their door.  Just like McDonalds, I'm lovin' it!!!  Hopefully these guys won't be back for a LONG time!!  My apologies to Doug for killing the ants, but if you've ever been stung by one, you won't care one bit.

This is how I felt at the end of the day.  Miss Jessie has the right idea!!  Sooner or later I will recover from the tension of pulling a new trailer.  

By the way, did I tell you I got a letter from LazyDays telling me I did not qualify for the loan on the trailer?  They said sorry, but my credit report was rejected.  Interesting since I just got a payment book from that exact bank along with a note saying how super great my credit was!!!

I'm down to tortillas and butter, so I guess I'll hit the store today.  Or maybe I'll just snuggle up with Jessie!!

Pomp and Circumstance

 I'm starting off today with two of the things I detest most in the world, even more than scorpions and wolf spiders in my house.  I received a letter from the California DMV stating that I still owned my old Class A rig, as in I'm STILL the registered owner, but the LIENHOLDER is now LazyDays.  WHAT?  Did LazyDays not send the appropriate paperwork?  I certainly signed everything!!  

So now I have to deal with them.  If ever there is something that will make me scream, the DMV is IT!! 

Next to raise its ugly head is the IRS.  Thank goodness I have a lifelong friend Accounting Firm owner who takes care of all this stuff for me.  Hang on to your hats folks, it's going to get very bad very soon for all of us, NOT just those rich folks who make over $400,000 a year, as was promised by your President.

To add insult to injury, believe it or not I received five insurance bills in the mail, all dated in the last 15 days.  I've never dealt with this company previously, nor since I switched everything to Arizona, but it's been a nightmare.  To make it worse, my agent only allows messages on their phone system, and she never calls me back.

Add to that morning fun the notice I got that my medicare and supplemental insurance, neither of which cover anything but doctors and hospitals, has risen to $350 a month.  That is $4,200 a year for one doctor's visit each year.  Pretty crazy, right??  By the way, that cost is going up also.

So I was pretty happy to have my attention drawn to the Elks Lodge for the initiation practice.  Lucky for me one of our elders who knows every move you have to make, took me under his wing.  Gosh the pomp and circumstance is exacting.  

Thankfully I was sent a letter with the words I would be required to speak.  Have you memorized anything lately?  Good grief ... maybe ten sentences and I struggled to learn them.  My poor little brain was on fire! Amazingly, I blurted them out perfectly, to the surprise of everyone there, me included.  Now I just have to hem those tuxedo pants and squeeze my size 9 running foot into those size 8 fancy work shoes I found in my closet on the very back shelf covered in dust.

Once done, we went downstairs in our 130 year old building for a fabulous rib eye steak dinner, prepared by our Sheriff and his crew for Law Enforcement night.  It was well attended considering the circumstances and the crew sold over $1500 worth of raffle tickets.  No surprise, I didn't win a thing.

Then it was back upstairs for my first meeting as an officer.  Suddenly I had not one, but TWO jobs since one person did not show up.  There was a short installation for my position and a quick meeting because we all wanted to get home after eating so much food!!

Today I get to make the rounds of the yard irrigation system.  I heard three geysers this morning when I took the puppies out.  I just can't understand why these guys aren't more careful with their chain saw!!!

Oh DEER!!

I know I know ..... but it IS April Fool's day.  Something about in 1582 when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.  Those that didn't get the word until April were called fools, for not catching up.  At any rate, here's a meme just as bad as the reason for the day.

 I love it when you least expect it and something really awesome happens, like the morning before I was ready to leave Arizona.  I had not captured anything worth mentioning on my game camera for some time.  In fact, I had already loaded my big camera into the truck.  

When I looked out the window and spotted this guy having breakfast at the expense of my finally-blooming roses, I made a beeline for the empty table where the camera lives.  RATS!!  I'll have to use my phone, so the pictures aren't the best, as I had to shoot through my windows.

I had about ten blooming roses and now only one is left.  It didn't last long.  I'm not sure what is so tasty about roses, but he consumed them with relish!!

Before finishing off the last bite of pink, he cleaned up all the new growth.  I suppose my roses needed to be pruned anyway.

When this baby showed up, all the flowers were gone, but this bush seemed to work just fine.  

The second one finally wandered off down the hill and this baby didn't want to be left alone.  Here's the question of the day.  Why don't they eat the 6" tall grass on the lawn?  My horses would go bananas over such delicious morsels, but these guys don't even touch them.  Weird.

Breakfast is over as he retreats to the escape route halfway across the yard.  

It's no wonder we think reindeer can fly.  With absolutely no effort whatsoever, from a standing still position, he just lifted up and flew over the wall.

Obviously the wall isn't that tall, but the ground is much lower on the other side of the sloping hill.

Oh deer ...... deer butt!!

And just like that he landed, stood still for a second or two and wandered off down the hill after his buddy.  These two were pretty small, meaning they are young.  Maybe when I come back I'll bring a bale of alfalfa or oat hay and see if they are interested.

I'm happy to be home, but the constant paperwork of STUFF is driving me crazy.  Today I have to be at the Elks Lodge for practice (whatever that is), attendance of a Law Enforcement dinner (can't miss that) and a boring meeting.  I'll let you know how it goes.