Errands and WORK.

Our Location today is Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada.

Once again sleeping with the windows slightly ajar has helped us to sleep more soundly. The only problem with that is we think we are experiencing the heavier night time humidity which is making our colds last longer than they should.

We were both up before 8:00 this morning with the plans to run a few errands but after breakfast we sat down at the computers and spent an hour more then we wanted.

Our first stop was to the Service Ontario Office for me to get my new Health Card. I have one of the 30 year old Red and White colored plastic cards. The Ontario government is trying to get rid of all those for the newer Photo ID health cards that have to be renewed every few years. The reason for doing that is to eliminate fraudulent cards that cost our health system millions of dollars per year by people not eligible for coverage. The line was as bad as when we went for the license tag for the truck but this time it only took us forty minutes to get through the long line up.

On our way back we stopped at the Metro grocery store to pick up things we couldn’t find on our list yesterday at the Freshco grocery store. 

Sanford looking for a ball.

At the apartment Kathy and I worked together cleaning up and recreating the leftovers in the fridge. Our lunch became an oversized version of a breakfast that would have a trucker waddling away from the table. This sized meal does not bother me when I know that I’ll be working it off and I knew that would happen this afternoon. 

Freshly painted rain barrel Karen wants to use for her plants.

After doing the dishes we drove over to our daughter Karen’s home. The main idea was to install chain-link fence posts at the rear of her yard. For years they have had a privacy fence between their home and her neighbor but only up to the railroad berm. They have now installed an above ground pool which requires a full fence being installed not something they or the neighbors want but the Bylaw requires. 

Here I'm explaining to Wayne what we need to do. 

First thing I did was to put a string line from the fence over the berm and down the other side up to the fence for the Railroad. Karen thought that was narrowing her yard so she moved it over. Once Wayne the neighbor came out I explained what I was doing and he started helping me. First we measured Karen’s yard then Wayne’s to determine the property line where the fence should end up. Karen was surprised to find the line back where I had originally put it. 

Getting my tools.

Since the post were not being cemented but driven into the berm I used masking tape to mark where each post would meet the ground. I then had to teach Wayne how to use a level as I slowly pounded each post in. Each post went in smoothly until the very last post which stopped about six inches from its intended depth. Since contractors typically bury construction debris in berms we figure we hit a rock, brick or cement slab. I simply trimmed the top off the length to meet the line of the other posts. We were lucky the temperature was not too hot and that part of the job went fairly quick especially for working on a forty degree slope. Now we have to watch the weather for when we can finish the job by adding the chain link. 

Here I'm driving the first post with a pounder as Wayne watches on.

Neither Kathy nor I felt like cooking after we left Karen’s so we used another A&W coupon where we both had supper for ten dollars. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Krackers

Office Jokes, Quotes, and Anecdotes

Doing my part to keep the coffee industry financially strong.

Ephemera

Chores, Errands and Cooking.

Our Location today is Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada.

It almost felt strange that I just woke up shortly after 7:00 this morning and was able to bring the laundry hamper to the living room plus opened all the windows in the apartment without waking Kathy. I even had the chance to get breakfast started and sort the clothes into piles before Kathy came running into the dining room before 7:45 thinking that she’d over slept. 

Once breakfast was over I was on my way downstairs before 9:00 while Kathy started her morning E-reading. With nobody else in the laundry room at that time I had everything in the washers and was on my way back to the apartment within ten minutes. This allowed me to start my morning reading before heading back to move things to the dryers. Again being the only person downstairs I had everything in the dryers and back in the apartment in another ten minutes. I actually had my reading finished before going down to fold the dried clothes. What really felt strange was to be back in the apartment putting the clothes away before noon hour. 

Kathy hadn’t been idle while I was gone either. She had once again been researching our route home from Florida next April as well as looking at what bargains the grocery stores were offering in their flyers. When I returned from folding the clothes I walked in to the living room to find all the furniture moved as she was doing her spring cleaning. After having lunch we completed the cleaning and putting the clothes away together. I also cleaned and sliced a celery root for Kathy to cook for us later for supper. 

We had planned on a few errands and the first one was to stop at the DMV to purchase the new license sticker for the truck. Imagine our surprised to find they had moved and the instructions posted in the window as to where they moved was not very clear. They had moved to the rear of a building five hundred feet away. By the time we got in the new location the lineup stretched around the inside which took nearly forty-five minutes before being taken care of. What really hurt was that the same sticker I got last year now costs over two hundred dollars more this year. 

We then stopped at the trailer to remove some things that we won’t need in the trailer when we bring it to White Lake Michigan next Thursday. Kathy also brought home some things from the pantry while I gathered a few tools. 

Weber cooking Spare Ribs.

The return trip home took us by Freshco grocery store where we were able to save some serious cash on the small list of items we needed to buy. That was the first thing we put away when we got back to the apartment. 

Kathy breading and cooking Celery Root.

I then warmed up the Weber on low and slow and started grilling some nice spare ribs we had prepared earlier. Kathy busied herself breading and cooking the Celery Root that I had cleaned for her earlier this afternoon. The meal was delicious and we still have leftover celery root for another meal or I can eat as a snack. 

Breaded Celery Root and Spare Ribs.

Tomorrow is looking like it will be another wonderful spring day weather wise. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Krackers

The World's Great Proverbs

A cat in gloves catches no mice.

Research, Rehabilitation and Relaxation.

Our Location today is Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada.

Surprisingly we both slept very well last night only waking a couple times throughout the night.  We even slept in until nearly 8:00 this morning. The first thing I did once I was up was to start opening all the windows in the apartment. That did cause a bit of immediate discomfort because even though it was sunny the temperature was only 50 F (10 C) at the time. Watching the Weather Channel we were happy to see lots of sunshine forecasted throughout this coming weekend with slowly rising temps. 

Once breakfast was over it didn’t take long to start our morning ritual of reading E-mails and blogs. From there we started looking at maps to visualize the return route that we could be taking home from Florida next April. This gives Kathy an idea of where to look for places we can stay on that route with things that we are also wanting to see. We have done some small trips in the past and sometimes we really didn’t get a chance to see everything we wanted. Many of the Canadian Snowbirds who also write RV Blogs were stopping at some of those places we wanted to return to on their way home this year. So the plan is if they can do it then why can’t we? Now the real planning begins. 

Kathy had an appointment this afternoon with the nurse from Healthy Heels. Because of her diabetes and our health care coverage they come to our apartment and take care of her toe nail problems right here. The only thing that has changed since she started this treatment is that we pay up front first and then they give us the paperwork mostly filled out to be submitted for re-imbursement. Shortly after the nurse left Kathy simply finished filling in the form and we drove the one mile to the health insurance office to drop it off. Our cheque should be in the mail tomorrow. On the way back to the apartment we once again used coupons for our supper at Wendy’s. 

Tomorrow we’ll be going to the trailer to pick up some things. The reason we didn’t go today was passing the storage yard last night all you could see was the reflection of water throughout the property from the rain storms. With the dryer weather today and tomorrow it should be a lot easier and dryer to work around the trailer. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Krackers

You Might Be a Redneck If

You've cited "gas" on a divorce petition.

Rainy Runaround.

Our Location today is Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada.

Kathy had a hard time sleeping last night. It seemed that every time she woke up through the night I wasn’t in bed so she didn’t sleep very soundly. I was having problems with the air from my CPAP mask pushing so much air down my cold aggravated throat that it would cause me to start coughing uncontrollably. Even though my body wasn’t getting properly recharged with oxygen by not wearing my mask it was the only way I could sleep without coughing. 

It was shortly after 8:00 by the time we had breakfast and neither of us were feeling too chipper. What didn’t help was looking out the balcony doors to the continual falling of rain. The Weather Channel showed we’d be done with the rain by lunch time but as usual that forecast would prove to be wrong. 

After going to the computers to catch up on our morning reading it didn’t take long for us to start researching other things. By midmorning our daughter Karen called us with a progress report of her morning appointments and verifying that our afternoon errand was still a go. No sooner had we hung up the phone from her when Jim from Windsor Gas and Diesel called to say the truck was ready to go. 

After having our lunch we immediately set out for Henry’s Camera Shop. Our large Canon SLR camera was having a problem. Since we only have the one lens for this camera when it was installed at their shop the day we purchased it was never removed it. Trying a different lens on the body Ted had no problems with the Autofocus feature on the camera. However when he put our lens on another camera it was having the same effect that we were experiencing. The lens would focus to infinite on things that were close and focus close on things at a distance. Luckily for us that Sigma lens when we purchased it had a ten year warranty. He said it should be back in six weeks but it could be back in three. We’ll keep our fingers crossed but in the mean time we’ll just use pictures from this past winter to fill the gap. 

Our next stop was to pick up the truck at Windsor Gas and Diesel. Even though the total bill hurt our budget the labor for fixing the flat, the brakes, changing a burnt bulb and doing a safety inspection was only 20 percent of the entire bill. The shop is a small operation but they treat everyone fairly and do great work. 

Kathy headed for home while I went to the Credit Union for some banking. On the way there I could really tell the brakes were working much better. 

At the apartment I put work boots on before we headed over to Karen’s. We had to drive about five miles to pick up some chain link fencing for her back yard. Unfortunately it was located in a new industrial park that we weren’t familiar with and it was still raining. We were fortunate enough to back into the shop door to get loaded up once we found it. 

After backing in to the driveway at Karen’s house she was going to have me just put the fencing in their garage. Instead I carried it to the rear of the back yard where it will be installed near the berm. Since it was still raining I had on my raincoat to keep dry my load belt to protect my back and stomach. Unfortunately because of all the rain we got today I found out that my work boots are no longer waterproof. 

Once I’d changed my shoes back at the apartment we weren’t long in heading out for supper as the balcony was way too wet to do any grilling on. We stopped at A&W on Walker Road where we both ate for less than ten dollars with the use of coupons. We then went to the Canadian Tire Store directly behind the restaurant so we could do some walking in a dryer atmosphere. 

Since today is Wednesday we headed out to our son Kevin and daughter-in-law Melissa’s for our weekly visit. After having a wonderful visit that is always filled with laughter it was time to leave for home. Something strange happened when we came outside. Would you believe the rain finally stopped. 

Tomorrow we have more appointments and errands that we have to get done before we head for White Lake Michigan next week on the 5^th. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Krackers

What is the best way to stop a fish from smelling?

Cut off its nose.

Expensive Day at Home.

Our Location today is Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada.

It wasn’t a perfect night’s sleep but we both slept more soundly even though we did have to turn on the AC before going to bed last night. The temperature in the apartment just got too uncomfortable and the forecasted storm we were supposed to get made it a bad choice to leave the windows open. Since we both wear CPAP masks to help us breathe while we sleep we would not have heard if the rain was blowing in the windows. 

For breakfast we finished off the last of the Strawberries on our cereal before heading to the computers. Once her reading was completed Kathy started doing further research for places to stop on our return from Florida next April because we plan on returning from a different direction. I take longer to read all the blogs than Kathy so it wasn’t until before lunch that I had gotten set up to collect data for a spreadsheet that I’ve been maintaining for years. 

For lunch today Kathy tried something different on the Quiche that we made the other day. She added cheese and spaghetti sauce on it. Everything we have been doing to it seems to be an improvement. We feel that one of the ingredients to the original recipe (Rice) is what caused it to turn out dry and bland. 

Shortly after lunch Jim from Windsor Gas and Diesel called to say we had a problem with the truck. The noise that we had heard while we were away in Florida was not from the front wheel but the rear wheel brakes. It seemed that the parking brake was staying partially engaged and caused wear problems on that rotor. That will definitely cut into our travel budget but considering that those are the original brakes on the truck that is not too bad. 

Our daughter Karen called to see if she could come over to photo copy a few documents in our office. A few minutes later she arrived and once she had copied what she needed we sat and visited for a short while until her back started bothering her too badly. 

After she left it was only a short while before we started hearing the sound of thunder off in the distance but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Within another ten minutes the sky was filled with clouds and the rain was pouring down accompanied by plenty of lightning that raised the sound level even more. 

Kathy couldn't wait for the picture.

Near 5:00 the rain was down to a light drizzle which gave me time to grill a nice Salmon fillet on the Weber that we bought last week. Using the same technique that George keeps using Low and Slow it only took about twenty minutes for it to be ready. The aroma was so enticing that Kathy had it half served before I could get a picture. Needless to say there were no leftovers because it was cooked to perfection. I know we’ll be buying a few more of those in the future. 

With not getting the truck back until tomorrow it is going to be a very busy day. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Krackers

You Might Be a Redneck If

Your dentist is also your taxidermist.

Always Busy.

Our Location today is Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada.

After I hit the bed last night I only rolled over a couple of times but slept until I woke up just after 7:00 but when I sat in the recliner to wait for Kathy to get up I fell back to sleep until she entered the room around 8:00. Kathy wasn’t so fortunate she slept until 2:00 then spent the next couple of hours awake making her very tired this morning. 

Once breakfast was over we sat at the computers with all the windows in the apartment wide open. Even though the temperature would be in the mid-70s today with the humidity it would feel like it was in the mid-90s before cooling down. While we sat having lunch Kathy commented that with the breeze that was cooling the apartment the temperature did not feel as high as the forecasters were showing. Then she realized that lower temperatures were feeling warmer when we were down in Florida so that means we became acclimated to the warmer temps. 

Shortly after lunch we needed to go across town because Kathy needed to get some tests run that her doctor ordered. It took less than ten minutes so while we were out we stopped at a number of stores looking to find things on our shopping list. Is it just us or has anyone else noted that something that is practical and reliable retailers discontinue stocking them but if it is something that is useless and falls apart the first time you use it they are stocked to the rafters. Kathy was finally able to find the pants that she has been looking for since we were in Florida.   

We went back to the apartment where Kathy dug out a gift card that we had been given at Christmas time for Swiss Chalet. Around 5:00 we drove over to the Manning Road location. While looking at the menus we noted a special on the table. Buy one entree and get the other for 50% off. We each decided to try their half rack of spare ribs and were surprised when we only needed to use our forks to eat them off the bones and they were delicious. 

From the restaurant we headed over to the Forest Glade Arena to watch our grandson Tyler play Lacrosse. Since the teams have no set goalie tonight it was Tyler’s turn in the net. Unfortunately Tyler’s team only has nine players on it so even though the players are constantly changing they are worn out half way through the game compared to the other teams with fourteen and fifteen kids on it. These kids are constantly running from one end of the arena to the other. 

The team they played tonight had some dirty players on it. There is no checking allowed from behind. Those dirty players made certain that the referees were looking the other way before hitting from behind hard enough to put players from Tyler’s team on the floor. 

After leaving the arena we returned to the apartment to get the truck. We then drove it over to Windsor Gas and Diesel for its safety test tomorrow. Since they were closed I parked it as close to the road in their lot adding to its security. On the way home we dropped the keys off at Don White’s home since he’ll be checking out in the morning. 

Now that we are finally home we had to turn on the AC because the apartment is suddenly hot and it’s supposed to storm tonight. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Krackers

The World's Great Proverbs

It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.

Sunny Sunday

Our Location today is Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada.

It didn’t take too long for both of us to be fast asleep after going to bed last night. Unfortunately by 4:00 in the morning I started coughing so hard that I was actually shaking the entire bed. Getting up to take more cough medicine and sucking on a cough drops only gave me momentary relief and as soon as I laid back down in bed the severe coughing started again so I simply settled into the recliner in the living room for the remainder of the night. When Kathy got up after 8:30 this morning is when I finally woke up myself because of the sun shining through the windows. 

Again we enjoyed more of the quiche this morning adding a bit more cheese to enhance the flavor. It did help make it less bland so we can try adding something else to it tomorrow. We spent most of the day working on and off the computers doing different types of research. 

Kathy took a few minutes to finish reading the last of NickRussell’s Big Lake mystery series books that she bought at the Escapade in Indiana. They kept her that captivated that she just had to keep reading until she had finished the last of them. Now she can’t wait until he gets the next installment of the Big Lake series published. 

For supper tonight we were invited over to our daughter Karen’s for a barbecue. When we got there Greg was outside in the sun cleaning his motorcycle so we sat inside talking with Karen. Once 5:00 rolled around Karen fired up the barbecue on medium preheat and let Greg know it was time to cook supper. I don’t want to say it too loudly but I think Greg could give George a run for cooking on the grill. Of course his is a much larger unit so he has that as a big advantage. 

He grilled hamburgers and sausages for everyone but whatever was left would be used in lunches for this coming week. After the table was cleared Karen started serving Strawberry Shortcake for dessert. Everything tasted great and was melt in your mouth delicious. We moved outside to sit on the side deck enjoying a combination of sun and shade. Soon their neighbors came over and joined in on the conversation. Since we are still having issues with our colds we used that as cue to excuse ourselves to come home. 

Tomorrow things will start speeding up for the rest of the week so hopefully we’ll have something a bit more interesting to talk about. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Krackers

Office Jokes, Quotes, and Anecdotes

You can send a message around the world in one-seventh of a second, yet it may take years to force a simple idea through a quarter-inch of human skull.

Charles S Kettering

Getting Things Done.

Our Location today is Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada.

Sleeping with the windows ajar or wide open is one of our favorite things to do if the weather conditions are in our favor. The last couple of nights conditions have been perfect for which it has helped to clean some of the germs we have been spreading throughout the apartment when we cough or sneeze. Waking to those same weather conditions also makes you want to roll over and go back to sleep but at 7:30 I resisted and started getting things ready for breakfast. 

By 8:00 Kathy was joining me in the kitchen as I started cutting pieces from the Quiche we had made yesterday. Kathy likes to experiment with different recipes instead of always using the tried and true ones from our past. After tasting it we noted things that we’ll add to try and enhance it. This recipe will not be repeated as it left the quiche too dry and bland tasting. 

Yesterday while we were out shopping we had picked up a countertop Ice Maker because a lot of people we ran into down in Florida had them and said they worked great. This morning after reading the booklet I set it up and started it only to turn around to face an instant disaster with water running all over the floor. After unplugging the unit and cleaning the mess I found that the drain plug was not fully in place to hold the water in the tank. 

Finally getting it refilled and working both Kathy and I found the unit noisy and it would only produce approximately a cup of ice every fifteen minutes. At the end of three and a half hours it had produced only a quart sized Ziploc bag of ice. Considering the lack of counter space we have not only in the apartment but especially the trailer and the electricity involved in making so little ice we decided to return it. We’ll be able to buy a lot of ice for the cost of this machine. 

In the meantime Kathy had busied herself wrapping a few things that are starting to gather in our apartment. It is a wise thing to do since there are only 215 days left before that special day for everyone rolls around again. 

I managed to change the bulbs on the light-bar of the truck that needed to be replaced with the new LED ones I bought yesterday. I also snugged a loose screw on the handle of our Weber Q before starting to make lunch. 

As we finished eating lunch both Kathy and I were having trouble keeping our eyes open. We both needed a Snap to help recover from this tired feeling that we figure is due to the colds we are both fighting. 

Kathy making the sides for supper.

By 1:00 we were feeling refreshed and on our way to return the ice maker. Using the excuse that it just wasn’t performing the way it should the store had no problem taking it back. We didn’t quite walk out with all our money as we needed to replace our toaster that just decided to retire today. We stopped at the Tecumseh Mall on the way home to do some walking and people watching. We even had a coffee and sat for a bit in the food court. 

Back at the apartment Kathy was once again creating a few snack type sides to go with the burgers that I was grilling on the Weber. 

With the beautiful weather forecasted I’m sure we’ll find more to do for tomorrow. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Krackers

The World's Great Proverbs

Fair and softly goes far in a day.