REDEMPTION!!

 Happy Sunday from sunny California.  Slowly but surely we will be heading back down to the low 90's this week.  A few clouds came sailing through to brighten up the sunrise a bit, making for a nice "sit" on the patio.  

I really wanted to hit the grocery store, but first, let's waste some time being amused by my phone.  I really can't imagine being without one now.  From the bag-O-phone I carried in the truck that looked like the one sitting on your kitchen counter, to the tiny little thing you keep in your pocket now, it's kept me connected to a construction crew, to the police department, to the County Auditor's office and now to all my friends I play games with.  It's just amazing!!

It's also kind of fun when you run across something like this.  I laugh every time I see one fueling up with GAS.  On the other hand, I have to give it up to Mr. Musk.  Since all the devastation from the hurricane, no one has phone or computer connections.  He took care of that in a hurry the day after it happened.

Sections of the country can be turned on and off on the satellite itself.  Elon made sure that entire area could link up to his StarLink satellite at absolutely no cost and sent out the units for free.  I guess I can't say much about the gas fueled vehicles any more.

Our Elks Lodge is helping out also.  I've been calling back East to several other lodges to see who needs help.  Most of the devastation for them has taken place in Tennessee and Georgia.  At the lodge initiation meeting, we approved sending cash to these lodges (I can't say how much, but Bingo is doing well) to help them rebuild and to help their members with housing.  Luckily, this one is just flooded with downed trees.  There will be more after more phone calls are made.

I finally made it to Wally World with a big sigh.  It was crowded, as I knew it would be.  There was no hoarding going on here as there was at Costco due to the shipping ports going on strike.  No kidding, people were lined up around the block at Costco trying to buy ..... you guessed it ..... toilet paper.  Seriously folks, don't we make that stuff here in THIS country?

I made it quick ... light bulbs, Taquitos, some canned goods and a few boxes of yummy (not so much) pasta.  I would have bought that chunk of Velveeta Cheese for my Mac n Cheese, but it was a whopping $6.00.  

And then ... THEN ... I found these!!!  Oh yeah ... Oreo has redeemed themselves.  Who would not buy these?  They have marketing down pat!!

I did of course have to fight the checkout machine once again.  It would not ring up the tomatoes.  The lady came over and fixed it, but tried to tell me it had rung them up twice.  I was watching the screen like a hawk ... and that wasn't true.  

I asked when they were going to bring back REAL checkers and save some money.  She said they have been trying, but after two days they quit.  No one wants to work.  No kidding Sherlock ... because we've been giving away money for free for several years now ... who would WANT to work?

I digress ..... just LOOK at these cookies!!!  Whoever thought this up is pretty smart.  What kid would not want to eat these?  Obviously I'm just a BIG kid.

REDEMPTION!  A cookie FULL of frosting!!  My bad, I think I ate five ... or maybe it was six!!

After cleaning some windows around the house so I could see out .... I know, pretty shocking it is ..... I made some pico de gallo.  There's a lady at Bingo that makes the best stuff I've ever tasted.  I've tried to duplicate it for years with no success.  

Finally ... on this October 5th ... I DID IT!!  Not too much onion, not too much cilantro ... it was perfect.  I savored every bite because it probably won't happen again!!  The green stuff is that sauce I bought awhile back.  YUM!!!  There actually is some chicken down under!!

Today will be filled with fun ... I've got two lightbulbs in my 12 foot ceilings to change ... always an exciting ordeal hanging on with my toes ..... before I do some research on what Dave said about some button I can push when my battery is dead.  Assuming of course the HOUSE batteries are charged, which I think they were.  Wouldn't that be something?  I don't have to carry battery cables??

Oh That Feeling!!!

 There's nothing better than waking up refreshed and ready to face the world.  Today was NOT that day.  Several things contributed to that.  Not only the late night, but the coughing and sneezing that cones with the almond harvest when you live in the middle of almond orchards.  That requires a box of tissues attached to your waist.

All this taking off to work has also made my boy an UN-happy camper.  When you see this face, you KNOW!!  Sadly however, that propane leak will not wait any longer.  

I was out the door just as the sun came up to take out anything of value.  I opened the door, got in and it was suspiciously silent.  No dinging of the key fob and no lights on the dash.  OH NOOOOOOOO!!  I'm sure you know that feeling!  I tried several things, all to no avail.  You KNOW what it was.  I haven't driven it in 3 weeks and I have the dreaded DEAD BATTERY!!  

How could that be?  I had absolutely everything turned OFF!!  Big sigh .........

I headed for the garage to get my jumper cables, thinking there's no way they are going to be long enough because I can't get my truck close enough. My neighbor heard me saying bad words I guess, because he came over to help.  

I got the truck so close I had to get out the passenger door, but YAY the cables were long enough.  I showed him where to hook it up ... and we left it for about five minutes (truck running) before starting the van.  Only it wouldn't start.  OH GOOD GRIEF ... or words similar to that ... once again I forgot to put my foot on the brake before starting.  It fired right up.

I let it run for 30 minutes, though Mercedes says do NOT do that ... something about the new whatever it is engine.  I ignored them completely.  Back in the house, I got ready to go, gave Mr. Cooper a big hug and I was off to Toscano RV.  

It was a nice drive, though I forgot to turn off the Assist Everything settings.  They don't work at ALL on a two lane road, even dangerous in my book.  I made it to the shop and wandered around until I found the door ... and the nicest service guy I've ever met.  No kidding ... Bobby was one of those guys who listens, answers questions and didn't ONCE try to upsell me or talk to me like I was 2 yrs old.  Too bad he's 30 something.

About that time my ride showed up with questions of her own about tire pressure monitoring systems.  Again, he didn't try to sell us anything, but said he had some if we were interested.  I already had mine in hand.  

They will check for propane leaks, fill it up and check the chassis battery .... should be done in a couple of days, unlike the service department where I bought it who said 5-8 weeks.  They are even covering it all under warranty, which is unusual unless you purchased it there.  NICE guy!!!

On the way back, my friend and I discussed all things photography.  We met in a college class many years ago.  She has been trying some light trail images that I would love to work on too.  Though our schedules don't match up for the rest of the year, we are determined to head up into the mountains for some nighttime work.

I had just enough time left for lunch before heading back to the Lodge to process all the paperwork and money from the initiation.  Here's one of those TASTE TESTS I put myself through for the benefit of everyone's taste buds.  

DO NOT BUY THIS ... I should repeat that 25 times.  I was buying Marie Callendars and saw these for $1.29.  Might as well give it a shot.  Boy what a bad decision THAT was.  There were five pieces of carrot, only ONE green pea in the entire box and something brown that was unrecognizable.  I should have read the ingredients.  CHICKEN LOAF.  Ever heard of that?

It's ground up BROWN pieces, probably including chicken feet and gristle, made into a loaf, and then sliced up into chunks.  It was like chewing on leather.  I try not to be wasteful, but two bites and it went in the trash.  It was THE most disgusting thing I've had in years!  This makes Taco Bell look like gourmet food!

After three hours of frustration at the "office" (which I'll relate tomorrow), I came home to a happy puppy that gave me kisses for an hour.  We rolled around on the floor chasing the ball and playing take-away with his toys.  Don't you just love how happy they are to see you??

Though I'm not really sure what day it is ... Saturday? ... I'll be heading to the grocery store.  Maybe ..... if I can gather up the energy.  

I Survived!!!!

 I feel like I got run over by a herd of elephants, or at least wild horses!  Early mornings and late nights just don't add up for me, so this is going to be a short one.

I arrived at the Lodge in time to check emails and the mail.  There were three more membership requests to process.  It just amazes me how many people we are bringing into the lodge every single month.  That was followed by requests for tickets to our next big Octoberfest dinner ... 20 at a time.  

Time passed by in a flash as I headed to the library with a huge box of stuff for the meeting.  One by five or ten, new candidates came in to get their name badges and dinner tickets for tonights initiation.  All went well until TWO showed up who were NOT on the list.  Panic set in as I rushed to find their applications.

I don't know the protocol for this, but what the heck, I signed them up.  

As for the actual meeting, it went fairly well, except I missed the first cue to announce the number of candidates.  Oops ....... from there on it went pretty well.  I dimmed the lights, rang the bell and read the minutes like a pro.  Pretty sure I left some stuff out, but oh well ... it made the meeting shorter, which is the goal of every one of us.

Here we are ... 32 new members and I think six officers, with at least that many more waiting in the wings for the NEXT initiation.

Way too early for me this morning, I'm off to another small town RV repair/sales shop to have them look at my propane tank for leaks.  The ridiculous place I bought it from gave me an estimate of 5-7 weeks to look at it and MAYBE get it fixed.  This place said maybe a week.  I'll let you know how it goes, and hopefully it's good news.

After that, I'm headed BACK to the lodge to do something with all the checks I collected last night.  What I don't know, but I'm sure I must have to do SOMETHING!!  Lucky for me, I get to spend the weekend sleeping!!  Mr. Cooper will love that!!

Work Work Work!!!

 YAY, I survived the big day at work AND the first hot day of the week.  We are back up to 101 degrees with 72 degree nights.  It's a good thing the lodge puts on such great dinners because it pays for the PG&E bill to keep the building nice and cool.  

I was finally able to get SOME of my email accounts to work after deleting them a few times.  About three hours worth of my time to get two working.  So at least there are now some pictures, though completely uninteresting pictures!!

Here's my little stool at Bingo.  There was no middle ground for a long time.  You were either looking up at the infernal machine or you were standing up and looking down.  As uncomfortable as it is, this little chair is right in the middle.  Wires everywhere are for the debit card machine and internet access.  This building is over 100 years old, so there are no modern conveniences.

Did I mention that we have a backup infernal machine?  It is programmed the same as this one.  If someone accidentally unplugs this machine for 30 minutes, all the programming disappears.  Yes it has batteries, but someone has to go BUY them.

SO .... someone unplugged the BACKUP machine and it lost its mind.  Maybe ... just MAYBE I can download the brains from this one on to a small disk and feed it to the backup machine.  Otherwise I will be spending 2-3 hours manually re-programming another infernal machine, which is why it's called an infernal machine.

Enough of bingo ... now I'm back in the office at 8:30 in the morning to try and get the system to tell me exactly how much each candidate needs to pay at tonights initiation, along with printing their membership cards.

Thank you for all the good luck you sent, because it went VERY well.  Though it took me three hours going through all the selections, I was thrilled to have finished.  That's when I got the phone call from a past secretary asking if I had added the $50.  WHAT $50?  No one said anything about $50.

Oh yeah .... we went back through the system one screen at a time while she tried to figure out how to do that.  Thank goodness for good Eks ... she did every one for me and saved the day!!

From there it was on to key codes not working to get in the door, craft vendor signups, paying dues and marking THEM paid along with going to that second program again to print cards.  How I ever got it to print the right card on a sheet of eight, I'll never know.

I definitely have to remember to take pictures, because I KNOW you would have loved seeing Taco Bell tacos for lunch!!  I finally snuck out of the office at 2:00 and headed home to my sweet boy.  He's always so happy to see me!!

Today I have a growing list of to-do's before dressing up in my monkey suit and heading back to the lodge.  I have to meet and greet the 31 folks being initiated, sign them in, take their money and explain everything before taking the Secretary's seat for the meeting.  

Roll calls, reading minutes, turning lights on and off, calling names of the departed, all stuff I have never done before.  Hopefully it doesn't turn into a wreck.  Oh .. and don't forget TAKING minutes for the next meeting because no one can find the tape recorder.  

Oh yeah .... this is a disaster in the making!!!!!  I'll let you know how it goes.  

You Flooded WHAT?

 Here I am, WAY too early in the morning after a very late night, trying to gear myself up for another morning of delight.  I will be trying to figure out an entire membership system, processing new members names and numbers.  This should be fun.  

In case you think there is any exaggeration in what happens at Bingo, there is not.  Sometimes I even try to downplay some of the shenanigans going on.  This would NOT be one of those nights.

I worked from 1:00 until 3:30 trying to figure out how to mark folks PAID.  It's hard when the name is misspelled.  We finally had to call the Sheriff's Department in order to come up with the correct info.  I think I finally got that right, but if not, I'm sure folks will say I PAID YOU!!  We'll leave that to the Secretary when she comes back.  I headed straight downstairs to Bingo.

My Lady in Waiting was late, but I knew that.  Thank goodness for my Fairy Godmother who always steps in.  That can make for some craziness which I try ever so hard to ignore.

I had pictures, but none of my four email accounts will connect this morning.  No matter how many times I enter my password, it refuses to accept it.  I've no idea why.  I can still tell the story, just no pictures!

There I was, sitting on my tiny little stool waiting for the next winner.  All of a sudden I heard MARK -- MARK -- EMERGENCY -- MARK!!  Mark is our go-to handyman as well as the Manager of our RV Park.  Mark can fix anything and that certainly comes in handy.

As the caller was calling a game, he heard plop plop plop.  UH OH ... as he turned around, he saw water coming from the ceiling light fixture.  Oh that's NOT good!

Mark ran upstairs to find someone had plugged the women's bathroom sink and turned the water on high.  Why oh WHY would you do that?  They thought maybe someone had a few too many at the bar, but I don't believe it.  I think it was intentional.  

The entire bathroom floor was covered in 2" of water and it was running through the ceiling, through the light fixture to the stage below.  Thank goodness for the caller who HEARD it.  No telling how long it had been running.  Can you imagine if it was NOT Bingo night and it ran until the next morning?

Mark got it all mopped up and cleaned up.  I told him to remove the drain plugs in all the bathroom sinks so that doesn't happen again.  Who would do such a thing, and WHY???  Was it a Bingo person?  It's possible one snuck upstairs, but only members would know where that bathroom is or how to get to it.  I can't believe a member would do that ... but a NON member I would believe, or maybe someone mad at us for something.

The rest of the night went as well as can be expected with only a few pitchforks coming out and getting inches from the second caller who can't hear anyone yelling Bingo.  I heard it four times ... he missed it altogether.  We are going to have to do something about that or we will all have holes in our bodies.

Just another exciting night at Bingo.  Hopefully the ceiling dries out by this morning when I arrive for a few hours of frustration.  Wish me luck ... I'm going to need every tiny bit I can muster up to get this job done today so we can initiate our 30 new members tomorrow!!!

Let's Try That Again

It was a beautiful morning, though we are heating up once again.  Good grief ... here it is October 1st and we are facing a week of 100+ degrees.  You watch ... one day it will turn to freezing and we will all complain about how cold it is!!  I'm looking forward to it since I'm a flannel shirt and jeans kind of gal.

So let's try this again ... Mr. Cooper and I went out for a lovely walk last night since he seems to be feeling much better.  I cooked up some special beef for him in my mini instant pot, which he enjoyed a lot.  Whatever bug bit him, is hopefully gone.   

It was time to head on out to the JOB, but I cheated.  I was late to work .... and NO ONE said a word.  I really didn't think I would be busy, but turns out there was a lot more stuff to learn.  One was how to retrieve the phone messages.  I finally called the secretary, who couldn't tell me either.  Makes me wonder.  

At any rate, I finally got it (I've no idea how) and took care of about 30 emails before getting in a little break.  None of the work is hard, but it's more difficult when you have no clue what to do.

Thank goodness we have an amazing bookkeeper who always has a handle on things.  Adding to MY problem is the Windows computer.  It's been 20 years since I had to work with that, and it's much more difficult than a MAC, especially when nothing in windows has EVER been deleted.  There are over 300 emails alone!!!

The best part of the day was when one gal went to a little Mexican food shop I haven't heard of before.  She brought us lunch.  Boy I was in HEAVEN!   I do love good street tacos, and come to find out, it's right on my way home.

I left about 2:30 and headed home to watch a little bull riding.  Out of about 20 riders, only 3 made it to the bell.

All the big rodeos are now over until the grand finale in the first week of December.  They've got two months to heal up before getting stomped on again.

Having been to the store to once again be shocked by the prices of food, I quickly threw stuff in my mini crock pot for a Dan Chance stew.  He makes the best stew on the planet.  I've tried to copy it for years, without success.  It just NEVER tastes the same.  

I ran this one on high for six hours until I couldn't stand it any more.  It's quite tasty, but still not the same.  At least this will last for several days so I don't have to both work AND cook.

Today is of course BINGO, so I'll go in a couple hours early in order to get frustrated doing office work before facing the Kingdom peasants (that's tongue in cheek for those new readers out there).  My Lady in Waiting won't be there ... oh wait, yes she will ... ummm well not until really late, so I'm not sure that counts.

Wednesday is looking like a fabulous day doing computer work no one in our office knows how to do, followed up Thursday by the initiation of 47 new members while I try to play Secretary at the Lodge Meeting.  Oh yeah ... this should be a fun week!!!  Stay tuned .........

Nothing Like A Sick Puppy

 Very short and sweet this morning.  My bestest of the best puppy has an upset stomach this morning.  At least I have easy-to-clean hardwood floors!!

This was us yesterday out for a lovely morning walk before we met up with the two golden retrievers running loose in the neighborhood.  Sweet as pie they were, but Mr. Cooper is VERY territorial, a trait learned from Miss Jessie who hated everyone.  It was all I could do to keep him from attacking the sweet boys five times his size!

As soon as I get this mess cleaned up, I'm off to WORK!!  I can't believe I'm saying that!!  I'm going to make it a very short day!!

Out On The Town!

 I've been watching lots of videos of South Carolina after the last hurricane.  Those beautiful mountains had so much rain that many areas were completely flooded.  All those lovely RV parks and resorts next to the rivers are gone.  It is utter devastation in many places.  My prayers go out to all of them.

That made me feel pretty bad as I sat in my nice warm kitchen making breakfast.  If I am facing a flood, it's a flood of this pure maple syrup from Canada.  It doesn't make Cooper very happy since it's not on his "edible" list, but it makes me smile with every single bite.

Truly, this was a day of rest for me.  The only thing on my list was pick up my new prescription and get a few groceries.  It took all of two seconds for that to be waylaid.  It's Saturday and everyone got paid for the month.  Walmart and Target parking lots are full to the brim.

I was headed to Tar-sjay for the pills that the doctor said to get from the cheap guy Mark Cuban.  Too bad for me, the office called the script in to Tar-sjay.  Instead of $5.90, it was $35.90 WITH my discount.  Any other shopping was out of the question due to the huge crowds.

By the time I got out of there, it was noon.  NEVER go to town when you are hungry.  I drove around scoping out the location of the big event I was to attend as a representative of the Elks Lodge.  It happened to be just across the street from KFC!!!  

I mean just look at this beauty!  It's a HUGE bun and the chicken is even bigger!!  Remember, I try these things so you don't have to.  Except for the overabundance of mayo, it was fabulous.  I admit, I do like the SPICY chicken better, but this really hit the spot for $7.00.

I figured I might as well bite the bullet and try this one for you also.  This is Mac n cheese with nuggets, a $5.00 item.  I haven't eaten it yet.  It's for lunch today, so I'll report later.  AND they now have a chicken pot pie for $5.00.  I'll try that next time.

In what seemed like minutes, I was off to the El Capitan Cheer Squad dinner to raise money for them to fly to Florida for the championships.  This is a Bingo charity item.  Almost anything that involves kids, gets a help out from us.   

We always buy the whole table, then pass the tickets out to any member who wants to attend.  The problem arises when they do NOT attend ... as they didn't on this night.  Four folks did not show up.  That's a no-no, so guess who won't be getting any more tickets.  

Those of us who did show up were surprised to find appetizers and wine on our table.  Woohoo!!  Drinks were extra, so I just had coke.  As we waited for dinner, the band serenaded us with the loudest music I've ever heard, out of amps taller than me.  It's an old building with absolutely NO acoustics, so you can imagine we were screaming at each other across the table.

There was a live auction for these items ... sad that you have to bid for graduation tickets because they only allow 4 per family.  I'm not sure if the cake comes with it or not.  

Want to have a big party?  This one gets you 100 jello shots, a big bottle of booze and a crazy candy cake.

There were more, but as you can see, the men were not impressed.  By the way, our wine was Red Portugal (??).  I declined on that one.

Dinner was amazing.  We were supposed to eat at 6:00.  We got ours at 7:00 and were the first to be served since we donated a chunk of moolah.  NICE!!  Smoked tri tip, Mac n cheese, the best green beans I think I've ever had and a salad with everything in it but the kitchen sink.  YUM!!  

The bad part was it was way past 8:30 before the last folks got served.  I'm not sure what the problem was, possibly that only one waitress was serving over 120 folks. 

There was also a silent auction with many baskets full of great stuff.  It was suggested maybe we could bid on this one made by a particular girl so she could get credit since she's one of the cheerleaders.  No problemo!!  I'm really good at silent auctions when it isn't my money!!  

Of course we won, but I had a terrible time getting this huge thing out the door.  It's a baby basket for a new mom.  None of us know any new moms, but I'm sure we will find someone.

Except for the boom boom boom of the really REALLY loud music, we had a great time.  I'm pretty sure us old folks were the first ones out the door at 9:00.  Oh my gosh ... the quiet was SO nice!!!

I actually have a do-nothing day today, then it's back to work tomorrow.  I foresee that my hours will be shorter every day.  Just don't tell the boss!!

Work Day #1

We are about 33 days from Halloween (I didn't count exactly) and it's STILL 95-100 degrees here.  Whoever is pulling the string dragging us closer to the sun, would you please quit?  Just like everything else, it's cyclical ... you can look back over the years and see its happened before, but boy would I like to see some cool weather again.  I'm a flannel shirt/levis gal with very few summer things to wear.  

Surprisingly however, I received my PG&E usage assessment and I'm in the lowest percentage of homes in my entire town, even with my AC going quite often.  I guess I'm also just a desert girl.

This was pretty amazing to watch ... the hurricane Helene (don't you wonder who names these things?) started out as just a storm.  One minutes it looked like this .....

And the next it looked like THIS!!  Yikes!!  I guess if you were born there, you get used to it.  I'm hoping they get everyone's power back on quickly.  

I got up at the usual time, but my normal schedule was not to happen.  Shades of getting up and going to work flew through my head.  I'm seriously not liking this so much, but off I headed to the OFFICE.  The doors were locked and there were no cars in the parking lot.  I was SURE the bookkeeper was there, so I called and she came to open the door.  Rarely is the kitchen ever closed down, which is my normal entrance.

I plopped in the chair and looked around.  There is stuff stacked everywhere from the floor halfway to the ceiling.  How anyone could work in this mess is beyond me.  I contemplated completely tearing the place apart, but decided it wasn't my problem.   First things first, check for emails.  

My oh my ... the secretary doesn't erase anything.  This is crazy!!  I spent more time hunting for things than I did doing work because nothing is bookmarked.  You have to look up every program.  I guess it works for her, but it could be SO much easier to navigate!!  I'm beginning to see why it takes so long to get the work done.

It took us several tries to print out membership cards for folks who came in and paid.  The problem was how to put the sheet cards in the printer.  That brought on rounds of laughter as we missed the right spot time after time.

If it weren't for the bookkeeper, I probably would have gone screaming out the door.  There were lots of payments for Jamboree tickets to process, before I went looking for our mail.  We actually have a slot where the mail falls into a box.  This time it included several payments for dues.  Oh boy, another huge computer program to be learned in ten minutes.  Luckily I figured that out in record time.  TADA!!  I actually did something RIGHT!!  

The next hour was spent on my phone.  I wanted SO badly to reorganize everything so I could at least get my feet under the desk, and my fingers in between the file folders in the drawer, but I figured it wasn't my space, so I should leave it alone.  It could be ever so much more efficient.

After five hours, I headed out the door.  I had packages being delivered and I didn't want them stolen off the porch like my neighbor had happen the day before.  Here it is ... my new floor mats for the rig.  Rather hard to get in place because it's one big piece, but it fits perfectly.  Yeah, it's flexible plastic rubber-ish not rubber, but hopefully will last a long time.   At least now when Cooper's water spills, it won't run under the seat and into the electronics.

Next up, I forked out the money for a doggie ramp.  The one I was trying to make on the cheap just wasn't going to work.   It was not Cooper approved.  Neither is this one, but he's at least using it ... sort of.  It's completely adjustable, so I kept it low to begin with. 

He jumped up on the old set up last week and went completely sideways, falling to the floor.  I'm hoping this will curtail the jumping part.  It also has a handle, so it's easy to carry and will lay flat.  It's a little wide, leaving me zero space when seated on the couch in the rig, but it will work with a little practice.

As for the quilts ... they are all on hold.  The second I got home, I crashed on the couch ... even missing the latest and almost the last rodeo of the season.  I guess I've just been away from working for too long.  That is a GOOD thing! 

I would like to have a day off, but alas, I'm headed for a fundraiser dinner.  When Bingo donates money, many times it is to buy a "table" at a fundraiser.  There have been times when no one showed UP for that dinner ... a complete no-no in my book.  Whoever gets the tickets should GO!!  It makes us look bad if you do not attend.

This one is for an elementary school cheer squad who is actually going to the National Finals in Florida.  A good portion of our donations go to school organizations like baseball, soccer, swim teams and football.  In fact, we were recently named number one in the central district for donations to school children.  How cool is that!!

The good news is I will have ALL DAY SUNDAY to gear up for another fascinating day as Secretary!!

You Just Have To Shake Your Head!

 Am I the only one that has crazy experiences?  Do I have something stamped on my forehead that says MESS WITH HER???  

Thankfully, my ever sweet puppy dog starts the day out right every single time.  How could I not love this kid.  It didn't last long however ... I had a doctor's appointment.  

Okay, I know I live in a small podunk town where no Doctor in his right mind would want to practice medicine.  All the good guys have retired and we are now stuck with the NEW breed.  Here's what that means.

My appointment was at 10:00.  I arrived to find four folks in the waiting room.  One I'm sure was a homeless guy, along with two high school age looking kids and one 30-something.  The forms I had to fill out were epic.  They asked things like WHAT were you born?  Female or Male.  What are you NOW?  Female or Male.  Are you kidding me?  What would you like to be called ... he, she, thou ... it went on and on.  I was THAT close to walking out.

They wanted my picture, I declined.  They wanted my monthly income, I declined.  They wanted to know things like am I happy with my partner.  Do I have sexual problems with him/her/it.  Does he beat me.  Not kidding here ... it was so far out in left field I laughed out loud, which drew ugly looks from everyone. 

So here I am staring at the floor about to walk out the door when the nicest looking of the group walked out grumbling before I could stand up.  We had both been sitting there for 90 minutes while they ushered in the next four people that walked in the door AFTER us.  I got up and had a little talk with the girls at the counter.  

I was escorted back in less than two minutes.  The doctor was something else altogether, but at least it was a real doctor, not a nurse.  He didn't even ask why I was there, but went on about how I needed to be proactive, have test after test AND set up a MONTHLY phone meeting with a nurse who would ask me the same questions he was asking.  

It's the way of medicine he said .... government controlled.  I said no.  He insisted saying somewhere there was a 400 pound man sitting in a chair eating candy who is using up all of his and MY medicare money on himself.  Might as well use it too he stated.  I see the writing on the wall, because that money will go into HIS pocket.  I said no for the third time.

Not once did he ask why I was there.  I finally interrupted him to say it was for different blood pressure medicine because this one was bothering me.  I gave him the notes I had made on what the readings were for the last week.  He threw them in the trash.  He insisted I buy a particular blood pressure machine (I already have TWO) and he took my phone, looked it up on Amazon and put it in my cart.  WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!!!

Finally, he mentioned the name of the new medicine.  It escapes me now.  You should have seen his face when I told him I buy all my meds in Mexico!!!  I laughed out loud again.  He insisted I go online ... he took my phone once again ... and looked up Mark Cuban CostPlus Drug Company.  What is $25 at Walmart, is only $5.90 on that site.  They mail the prescription to you, whatever that cost might be.  I actually agreed with this one, but when I got home, the OFFICE had sent the prescription to Target CVS.  Really??

I finally walked out with an appointment in TWO MONTHS, by phone of course, because there's no need for offices any more, whereupon he stated that I should stick to accounting and HE will be the DOCTOR.  I'm pretty sure after I pick up this first prescription, he will never see me again.  You just have to shake your head.

Want to hear more?  I went to the Elks Lodge to play secretary, but couldn't get in the door.  The one who held the magic key forgot to bring it.  I sat down for lunch ... a magnificently HUGE club sandwich with onion rings ... $12.00.  Boy do I love our kitchen!  This is all that was left.

Alas I found a key person and sat down at a desk with the most uncomfortable chair I've ever sat in.  I don't mean to complain, but GEEZ!!!  I couldn't get anything out of the files because they were so completely packed in the drawer I couldn't get my finger in between the folders.  Oh yeah, this is going to be a HOOT!!!

 I'll fill you in tomorrow, because this is already WAY too long and I have to get ready to head back today.

It's All In The Presentation

It's another wonderful day in sunny California, which makes me appreciate NOT having huge hurricane-like storms hitting my house like this one in Florida.  YIKES!!  I don't think I could stand the stress.  

When traveling in my big RV back east, following Barbara and Tom Westerfield, we hit several big storms that scared me to death.  The wind and water was so bad it pulled my electric hose (which was attached to the rig) ... right on down the gutter.  

My slides were pulled in and we were rocking and rolling as I sat on the couch with the puppies, calling Barbara every ten minutes.  Should we head to the tornado shelter???  I do not EVER want to experience that again.  I think it happened at least three times on that trip!  Let's face it, I'm a wimp when it coms to storms!!!

Back to sunny California, it's HOT once again.  I was pretty tired from Bingo, so I tried to sneak in a nap to prepare for the impending MEETING.  I truly try to miss all of these go-to-another-Elks-Lodge meetings.  I'm not a social butterfly.  I've been extremely shy all my life ... a sit in the corner kind of gal.

Only lately have I forced myself to actually talk to people I don't know.  So to try and gather up some brave, I had my favorite lunch.  Chicken pot pie.  It's all in the presentation, don't you think?  I mean really, of they served this to you in a restaurant, you would probably say NOPE ... not today.  

I on the other hand, do not care what it looks like if it tastes good.  I admit, the nasty slimy Cooper ball sitting on the table did not whet my appetite.  Still, it was quite tasty and gave me the strength to pay a couple of bills.  

Truly, I debated even going to the meeting when I found out our ER (president guy) was sick with strep throat.  He said he got his flu shot AND his Cvd shot two days ago and got sick as could be.  I decided I should drive myself in my virus-free truck just to be sure.  It was a long 90 minute drive up into the mountains.

I have driven this route many MANY times in my past motorcycle life as Miss Patty Chance will attest.  I snuck past the big accident where two cars ran over the bank and parked in the first little town of Jamestown.  I'm happy to say nothing has changed up there, though a few businesses have left the country.  

That's when I discovered this is not an easy location to find.  I followed my GPS on the scenic route, having missed the first switchback turn.  I found the building at the top of a very high mountain and parked for a few minutes, gearing up my SOCIAL personality.  It all went downhill from there.  Well not exactly, but the secretary did not make a reservation for me.  Come to find out, she did not make a reservation for THREE of us.  

This is a small lodge with beautiful accommodations for about 60 folks.  As I walked in, our Treasurer motioned me over as he had saved a seat for me.  Nice.  Especially since at these functions, the women sit at one table and chat while the men sit at another.  I always seem to go against the grain as I sat down at the MENS table.  You want to know what they talk about?  I can't tell you ... but it involves alcohol.

In no time, dinner was served.  We had a lovely salad and a REAL Hawaiian dinner roll ... YUM.  Someone mentioned as they set our plates of food down ... it's all in the presentation.  This is it ... corn and smoked half a chicken.  It may not be pretty, but that corn was DELICIOUS ... as was the chicken, cooked to perfection.  

The problem was how to eat it without using your fingers, while ensconced in a long sleeve jacket and white blouse.  Some came home on my lap, but the rest in a nice to-go box.  

Time for the lodge meeting.  As I've mentioned in the past, the Elks lodge is all about tradition, pomp and circumstance.  The order of things is the same at every lodge ... except here.  Tradition got thrown out the window.  I like that ... I was having a good time, but I could hear the rumbling of "what the heck?"

They got through everything, even if it was out of order.  Who cares was my thought.  

At long last the meeting was over and I of course, headed straight for the door.  I mentioned I was hoping I could find my way out, and a nice gentleman said I could follow his car.  YAY!  The bad part is due to my bionic eyes, I don't see all that well at night.  In the ocean scuba diving (which is why I have different eyes) I can see great.  On a dark country road with no white lines to follow?  Not so much.

The good news is I know the roads pretty well, kept my lights on high beam every chance I could, and made it home in one piece.  It's going to be a quick morning with a doctor's visit (which won't be quick at all I'm sure) before my first day of playing secretary.  I'l let you know how that turns out!!!

Bingo Bingo .....

It was a nice calm, quiet night.  Too bad my eyes just would NOT shut.  It's okay, I'll try to make up for that today around noon!!  

I spent much of the morning watching the weather be weird.  Much of western Canada is under stormy skies while we lounge around in the 90's.  In the meantime, I've heard tales for two days of a massive storm heading right for Florida.  I didn't see much of it at all until this morning, but there is no spinning ... so far anyway ... the telltale sign of a hurricane.  I've got my fingers crossed for Dave, who just arrived home, only to pack for an emergency exit.  

I tried very hard to rest up all day long before the 2:30 onslaught of Bingo and all things Trustee in the office.  That worked until I got an invitation for lunch.  Who could turn down a great meal in the best Mexican restaurant in town?  

Then I made a mad dash back to the house to make sure Mr. Cooper was set for the night.  As I got near the back door, he was howling the saddest sounds I've ever heard.  He was SO LONELY!!  I hung around as long as I possibly could before heading back out to the Magic Castle.

 Into the lions den I walked.  That's when I found out that my first day on the job will be tomorrow and NO ONE will be there but me.  Wait, WHAT??  I don't think I signed up for this!!  The good news is I have not one, but TWO help line numbers on speed dial.  This should be fun, yes?

I went downstairs to set up, but there was so much grumbling and complaining going on about how much money THAT person spent and how THAT one always wins, that I made a U-turn and went right back up to hide in a quiet corner of the building.

Soon it was time for that favorite neck throttling game of Bingo.  Things went quite well.  We ran out of programs which tell you exactly what you need to win, meaning many folks had to SHARE (the dreaded word in Bingoland), we ran out of speed bingo cards, we ran out of register tape, and we forgot to get our life breathing COCA COLA before we opened.   

Here's the thing ... if you want to win, you have to spend LOTS of moolah and not care one bit if you lose it or not.  THOSE folks are the ones that win.  I don't think it's the crazy amulet you wear every week or the color of dobber you use.

As you can see, it's just as stressful on the caller!!  When you scream BINGO, a worker runs over to the table and reads a number off your card.  How it works, I don't know, but the machine knows if that is a good bingo or not.  There were EIGHT winners, and as you can tell, he has already pulled out much of his hair!!  They got $31.00 each.

The gal?  She's one of the lucky ones.  I don't know how much she spends every week, but she goes to at least four other places to play.  She won over $1,000 at our Bingo alone.  I rub her shoulder every chance I get, hoping some of her good luck will rub off on me.  Just kidding ... she's a great lady and a good friend.  This is big business because overall she will pick up $2-3,000 a week playing Bingo.  Pretty crazy.

Luckily there were no fights on this night and no hair pulling, but a LOT of complaining about SHE WON AGAIN??  The infernal machine was pretty nice to me at the end, just in time to find out that the extra BACKUP infernal machine ... should this one lose it's programming ... was unplugged long enough to completely lose it's mind.

In a poof of smoke, it became a blank canvas.  Big sigh ... there are only two people who know how to program it.  I'm one ... and the other is in Chicago.  

I'm sure I can find time to do that ... NOT ... while I'm in the office on my first day as Secretary ... ALONE.  Oh boy ... this is going to be just peachy as I explain I DON'T HAVE A CLUE HOW TO DO THAT.

But FIRST ... let's get all dressed up and head out of town to another Lodge for THEIR audit.  My ride however is sick ... on antibiotics he said.   YIKES ... sorry, but there's no WAY I'm riding with you!  I'll take my OWN car.  I would cancel, but this one has already been paid for ... so I'm kind of stuck.

It should be an interesting few days!!!  If you don't hear from me, it's because I ran screaming off into the forest!!!