It's about time.

Many of you can relate to Working long hours at your career. Raising your families. Buying a home and paying all the bills related to being homeowners and parents. We're now retired and don't need all that work and expense. Now "It's about time" and what we do to follow our dreams.

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Thursday, January 12, 2017

Listening to Noisy Generators, No Sun, Resolving Problems and Finding Materials.


Our Location today is Lake Havasu, Arizona, U.S.A. 

Having arrived here on the Early-Bird parking day we thought that it would be wise for us to start setting our alarm clock to get used to getting up earlier. Since the cold weather has set in here in southern Arizona we had grown lax about being up at the crack of dawn so we’d sleep until we woke up. The pictures of early sunrises were taken by myself but the reason we came to the Lake Havasu Balloon Festival is to see these Beautiful Hot Air Balloons up close and personal. The only problem is we now have to wake at hours we dreaded most days of our working careers.  
Our site in La Posa South LTVA has already
been taken over by a group.
When the alarm went off this morning our practice day, I got up and started getting things ready for breakfast. When I noticed that Kathy wasn’t moving in the bedroom instead of going in and waking her, I reset the alarm for an hour later and got back in bed myself. 
The Sun never looked this good today.
When the alarm went off the second time it was Kathy telling me to shut the alarm off while she got up. We were both downstairs opening the window shades with the expectation of seeing a morning sunrise over the mountains but that was not meant to be. The cloud covering was so intense it appeared to be twilight for the entire day. That didn’t help as I monitored the battery voltage slowly dipping towards the twelve-volt mark. As soon as I was dressed I went outside to turn the Inverter off. I’ll be so glad when I can fix the problem with the Solenoids. Even with the very limited Din of light the Voltage level slowly started to recover through the afternoon.
Neighbours in La Posa South, Quartzsite.
We had calls to make this morning to figure out what was happening with our Credit Union Accounts. After repeated attempts to talk to a living being Natalie finally answered and listened to what I had to say before telling us what had happen. Kathy had made a payment to our Credit Card Company one morning from our account. Later after reviewing our finances decided to make a second payment to save on the Interest Fees. Because she made both payments exactly the same amount the Computer at the Credit Union automatically kicked the second one out as a Duplicate Payment, as if she had hit the Enter key twice but only meant to do it once. Next time she will either wait one day or change the exact amount by at least One Cent to avoid this problem. 
Lots left to explore.
The next call was to Verizon to make our first payment on our new MiFi plan. Verizon like most other services has a voice message that says if you want to save time to go to their Website and handle your business Online. When you try to do it Online all their Websites makes it Impossible for you to complete your business any other way but on the phone. Nathan calmly talked me through setting up the account Online for future payments. 
The other day when I purchased electrical parts at the Ace Hardware Store in Blythe, California the plug to fit our generator was for a 220 Volt not a 110 Volt connection. They have a different twist-lock and the blades are shorter. When I held it near the Generator this afternoon the difference was really noticeable so we can’t use it. 
Kathy looked up addresses to Local Hardware Stores as well as the nearby Big Box Stores. We drove through Lake Havasu to two different Hardware Stores with no luck. One even recommended an Electrical Contractor but when we got there at 2:00 MST the place was Closed. The next stop was Lowes down on Highway 95 and I was able to get exactly what I needed. 
Our early breakfast and early lunch were long gone by 5:00 this afternoon and with the stress of the last two days when we saw the sign for Golden Corral we stopped in for supper. Since we were wearing the wristbands we were given for attending the Balloon Festival we received free beverages and then we got our Seniors Discount for our meals on top. We ate sensibly by not over filling our single plates starting with Salads, then our Meal and finishing with a small Dessert. 
We still needed to walk off supper because even that was more than we are used to eating. When we saw Hobby Lobby we went inside for a walk. Leaving there we walked a few doors over to Big Lots and did more walking. In the process of walking through those two stores we did scratch a few more things off of our 2017 Christmas Shopping List. 
Back Home the Remote Charge Controller Monitor showed a bit of battery recovery. All around us is the sound of Class A RVs running their noisy generators because they don’t have Solar. We’re setting the alarms early for the next three days to watch the Mass Ascensions in the mornings, the daytime Balloon Festival as well as the Night Glow all of which is dependent on the weather. If we have time to take a break in the afternoon, I’ll see about getting our Honda Generator going. The only problem is you won’t hear it running like the rest because it is that quiet.  
Our View Yesterday.
We were in such a Frazzle today we didn’t even bring the Camera with us so all these are from our files. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy! 

It’s about time.
Krackers 

Joke of the Day 

Why did the chicken cross the road? 

To show the armadillo it could be done.

5 comments:

  1. I'm looking forward to some nice colourful pictures of the hot air balloons. Getting the right material/parts for ongoing projects is always the most difficult and time consuming we found. So rewarding when all is accomplished :-)

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  2. I got one credit card just for things like Verizon, Dish Network, stuff I have to pay every month. I set it up for automatic payments just so I don't HAVE to use their websites. It's pretty simple to check the amounts every month and just make one payment that covers it all. I can also challenge any amounts I feel are not correct. Sorry for all the rain ... I'm in Indio and it's doing the same thing!!

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  3. I'm sure it doesn't take long for spots to get filled up at Quartzsite. We also had a 90% cloudy day, not good for solar.

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  4. Free boondocking does have its downside. Loud generators are just part of the experience.
    If you enjoy this Balloon launch, you need to put the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta on your list of "must" see.

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  5. Enjoy the balloon festival! Looking forward to seeing your pictures.

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