PAUL, The reluctant and lazy blogger

 

Yes, it is all too true., I am reluctant and lazy when it comes to blogging. This is particularly true when I am very busy doing a dozen other things that crop up. Last night it was a problem with the central air conditioning and I’m working on that while I’m blogging. Did I mention that I am also a GREAT procrastinator? I was going to put that first, but thought I’d wait awhile.

OK, so whet have we really been up to in recent weeks? Nothing!

No, that’s not true, we have been very busy. On May 23, Sam and Donna arrived from Dardenne Prairie, Missouri in their 5th wheel with their wonder dog, Riggs, the perfect specimen of the black Labrador retriever. Sam had everything hooked up in short order and we had an interesting time with them.

Riggs is, above all, a water dog and he was anxious to get in the pool with our three, Jodie, Coco, and Sandy. They were all together last year, so it was just some pooch friend catching up on old times.

You can catch up on all the old news by checking out Sam’s Daily Blog at http://samdonna-5thwheelvagabonds.blogspot.com/ He does a much better job than I do and you will get a lot more information.

Later in the week, We were joined by Sue and Brian, who befriended us in 2012 in Mexico. They arrived in their motorhome with THEIR wonder dog, Tilly. The stayed a couple of nights while Brian and I worked on one small modification to his rig. He also showed me his installation of LED lights throughout his camper. Foolishly, I ordered the same for me and now I have yet ANOTHER project on the list.

Next on the agenda were Ann and Gerry Wright and THEIR wonder dog Bear. He is mis-named as he is really Teddy Bear. Ann and Gerry we met at Xpu-Ha campground and you might find a little more about them if you check my blogs from December 2012 to February 2013.

One of my favorite blog tactics in Xpu-Ha was to refer my readers to Brenda and Gerry’s blog. Since we were doing the same things, diving, eating, etc, I would just refer my readers to Brenda’s blog. Again, Brenda is much sharper than I am and does a wonderful blog. Go back to the winter months and you will see. http://turtleondowntheroad.blogspot.ca/

You can also check out Gerry’s new blog http://gerryscamino.blogspot.ca/ as he treks the 500 miles or so across Spain on the Camino de Santiago.

OK, back to the air conditioning, then the Jeep, then the drivers window motor on the Lincoln, then the rear passenger window on the Lincoln, then AT LEAST START on multiple projects on the Motorhome. All the while calculating area and preparing to retile our kitchen/family room and computer/dog dormitory.

I’ll try to get some pictures up soon, but check out Sam’s blog in the meantime.

Time for my nap.

 

Paul

Moving Puppies for LRROF

 

Helen and I are loosely connected with Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida. Some years ago we adopted Jodie from Pat  and LRROF. Six months later we adopted Coco from Pat. In the following years we became the citrus County liaison for LRROF. As such, we would check the living arrangements for a possible adoption, arrange to pick up a dog given up for adoption, or pick up a dog from an animal shelter. More about that later.

Yesterday, Helen and I were privileged to participate in the relocation of four 5 week old puppies. At 5 weeks, they are not really old enough to leave Mom, so I don’t know what transpired. They hadn’t had any shots and had to avoid contact with other dogs and they were going to be fostered in homes without dogs until they get their necessary shots.

We met Cindy in Ocala and transferred the four cuties to our car for the ride south. They were taken from somewhere to Tallahassee. Then Tallahassee to Lake City. Cindy got them in Lake City and met us at Sam’s club.We drove them to Land o’ Lakes where we met Pat and Lewis.

Four healthy, happy female Labs, very alert and lively.

They gave us no trouble at all. What an excellent adventure for us.

This little cutie was keeping Helen company in the back seat. I was keeping my eye on both of them……….we have yellow and chocolate labs…..but no black ones. How long does it take for Helen to bond with a puppy? If pressed………how could I refuse?

Here is Helen, holding on to more than her share. The other folks are fostering two until they are old enough to be adopted. Pat and Lewis were taking the other two to a home in Odessa.

 

Helen didn’t end up with a puppy, but she did get a pot of beautiful flowers from Pat for Mother’s day. It was a very nice and generous gesture, but the real gift was a couple of hours with the pups.

 

Now, a little background on animal shelters and puppies. Most shelters are under funded, understaffed, and under everything. Especially further north in the state, they do not have funds or staff to give pups the necessary shots or care for them for weeks until they can be adopted. Hence, puppies are generally “put down” as soon as they are turned in. Helen and I were picking up a Lab in a northern county and a man was dropping off a basket full of mixed breed puppies. The shelter manager told him that all she could do was put them down. It was at this point that we had to leave and we don’t know if the man left the pups or not.

Back in 2010, we had to go to the Lake County Animal Shelter to pick up a dog that was going to be “put down” in the afternoon. we got there in the morning and were told that the dog was still there, but there was a complication……..she had a litter of pups the evening before. We took Sandy and all her pups. Our family room became a kennel for the second time and we raised the puppies from one day old to eight weeks old, when they were all adopted. During their stay, LRROF had all their shots done. Later Sandy was spayed and treated for heartworm. Helen was absolutely steadfast in keeping Sandy, the mother. So, Sandy is still with us today.

Sandy and part of her brood, September 16, 2010.

Just some of the high points in our lives.

 

Later.

We’re still alive, just busy.

  

Yes, we’ve been home for quite a while, but we’re still busy as can be. When we got home, Helen was pleased that all her plants had made it through the winter without losing any to frost. Her elation was short lived!

This is what we found March 4th. 25 degrees Fahrenheit! We had a few days that were even colder and many of the plants that looked so green on our return just wilted and died from the frost. Apparently we should have stayed in Mexico an other Month. It wouldn’t have helped the plants, but we would have felt better. It is now May 3rd, and we have yet to use air conditioning as opposed to past years when we would already be on the A/C 5 weeks or more.

I shouldn’t complain, but I REALLY don’t like cold weather at all. However, I was able to get a lot of hard work done while the days were cool. That’s COOL, I can work outside when it’s cool, but I didn’t do anything on the really cold days. I did change the oil on the motorhome and the two cars, as well as the transmission fluid in the Jeep. I repaired the exhaust leak and that was no picnic. Working from under the bed, I was so far down in the engine compartment, head first, that I thought Helen might have to call the Fire Department to get my carcass out. I got out OK, and I’m glad to have that done.

On the way home, our rear slide kept inching out and we had to stop numerous times to move it back in. The underside of the motorhome was covered with the fluid used in the leveling and slide units and I had to add about a gallon to the reservoir. After cleaning the underside with engine degreaser and allowing it to dry, I had Helen operate the slide a number of times with me watching from below. I could not see a thing and reluctantly turned the job over to “Save-a-Buck”, an RV repair a few miles away. There was a cracked hose and a broken fitting. A new hose was fabricated locally, but the broken fitting could only come from HWH and it was $120.00. I’m done with the motorhome for now, thankfully.

Off to Brooksville in Helen’s Lincoln and I noticed that the steering was loose. When we got back I jacked up the front end and found that both ball joints on the driver’s side were badly worn. Another job comes to the head of the work list. Since I have replaced ball joints a number of times over the years, I chose to do the job myself. The job has changed! In the past, the ball joint was held on with three bolts, and you can get them off any way you want as new ones come with the joints. Not with the Lincoln. The ball joints are PRESSED in. I bought the joints at Autozone and they loan out tools to make most jobs easier. The tool from Autozone only made the job possible, and just barely so. I got them in and had the front aligned and now the Lincoln rides straight and true.

During all this time, Helen has been working outside almost non-stop. Unlike trees in the north, ours do not lose their leaves in the Fall, but in the Spring. The trees are never really bare, but old leaves fall as the new ones grow out. Therefore, the leaves fall for weeks…….and weeks.

This is a picture of Helen sitting in her new hammock with a book in one hand and a drink waiting. Oh, if it were only true! She found a place for her hammock and wanted me to see how it would be. I put it up, grabbed some props, and had Helen pose. A moment later she was back working on the landscaping. As I look out the computer room window, Helen is STILL in the midst of planting and raking and trimming.

During this same period of time,our dogs were not forgotten. I worked at getting the pool uncovered and the pump working. We let them in the water from time to time, but they make their own opportunities, too. Busy working on something around the back, I inadvertently left the three doors to the cabana open. Coco has enough oomph to chase down any crack in whatever blocks her from the pool. This time it was the maze of doors, another time I was caught off guard as I opened the door from the family room and another time, our son, Scott, opened the door a crack. Coco throws herself through with such abandon that there is just no way to stop her. They do enjoy the pool though, so it’s worth it.

Jodie above and Sandy below, Coco on the bottom.

During this time we also celebrated Easter with a traditional Easter Dinner at “Peppermint Patty’s Restaurant”. Well, maybe it really wasn’t “traditional”. We found that a new restaurant had opened up on the east side of the county and specialized in seafood, northern and southern. The owner/cook is from Massachusetts and they have real whole clams, fried and steamed. On Easter, they had a special “clam boil” that included steamers with Portuguese sausage, onion, and potatoes. We’re used to steamers alone or with lobster and ears  of corn, so Helen and I  went with clams and scallops. Our friends Lynn and Jim Eckhardt tried the boil and I know they were not pleased. Steamers are something you grow up with and Lynn and Jim had not. It was messy and not to appetizing for them, though Lynn tried a fried clam and said it was good. Our other friend, Barbara, chose something normal as well.

After dinner, we all returned to our house where Helen had prepared a nice Easter table for desserts.

Left to right is Helen, our older son P.T. (Paul Jr.), Then Sara Anne Smith-Merritt, and Barbara Kennedy. Helen had enough pastry for about 40 people, but leave the macaroons for me!

Left to right again, it’s Barbara, Jim, and Lynn.

Now it’s back to the old grind and I’m working to repair the damage to the Jeep that occurred in Mexico. I have a plan and I’m seeing a welder tomorrow, so that will be done in a few days.

There has been a lot more going on, a new roof on the house, new computers, new TV, more miscellaneous stuff too numerous to mention. Now, we hope to chill out for a short spell.

Later!

Trying to Catch up, Part II

 

This blog continues our experiences in San Miguel de Allende. I must confess that I was not a gracious guest or companion here as my thoughts were constantly driven to the problems incurred at the mysterious tope and the damage it caused. So as I tried to enjoy my stay here, inside I wanted to get home and start on the work.

We got settled in Rancho San Ramon Hotel and Campground and it was quite a change from Xpu-Ha. Hot showers with sweet potable water. A beautifully landscaped area and many acres of land where the dogs could run free. Free Wifi and English speaking owners. Did I mention showering in sweet potable water?

I have no idea what was planted in this field, but our three dogs were acting like three cows, eating the grass like crop with relish.

Our first whole day there, Sue spirited Helen away to Dolores Hidalgo, the center for pottery in Mexico. There is a product called Telavera that is available everywhere, but not at the prices one gets at the factories. In fact, the pottery has to come from Puebla to actually be called Telavera, like Champaign has to come from Champaign, France to be called champaign. It’s the same kind of product, though.

This is the wall plate that Helen bought. From my seat at the counter, it’s right in front of me, just above the Telavera water thing on it’s stand. To my right is the canister set that I think came from the same place.

The main church of San Miguel and one of the most beautiful in all of Mexico.

Ornate doors and carvings are everywhere. We could see workmen restoring a door as we passed by. The amount of fine artistry is seen everywhere.

San Miguel as seen from the overlook coming into town. I had heard that San Miguel was “Gringoized” as there were so many expat Americans and Canadians living there. I did not find it so.

Sue and Brian showed us to La Posidata Restaurant where we ate at the roof top dining area. The food and the view were spectacular. The local people take great pride in their roof top gardens and beautiful flowers were everywhere.

Here’s part of the group for one happy hour or hours. It was an interesting group of Mexicans and Gringos. That’s Sue on the right and behind her is a warm water reservoir.

And this is the reservoir. At night, when electric rates are lower, the owner pumps this full. Then in the daytime, he uses this to irrigate the crops he has in the fields.

Next up……..working on projects in Florida.

 

Later.

Trying to Catch up, Part I

You may all know that I have been out of circulation with my blog since I spilled Gatorade on my laptop. It would not boot up at all. I took it to be serviced in Playa Del Carmen and although the computer would boot up, the keyboard was all but unusable. The señorita  at the service shop recommended using another keyboard with a USB connection. I tried that and it was marginally better, but not good enough to do anything. If I chose to look at a blog, the blog would load and immediately go to the oldest blog on the list. If I brought up a page it would immediately go to the bottom and I could not change. There was an interesting phenomenon with Streets and Trips. When I would go to a route on file it would come up fine, but if I went to do anything on the map, the world would spin and spin, finally stopping on the North Pole.
My IT Tech son told me that there was still a problem with the keyboard and to try to remove the ribbon cable from the motherboard. I did so and the computer worked OK with the Mexican/Spanish keyboard. I found a new keyboard on Ebay for $11.32 with free shipping and I’m using it now. Installation was a breeze and I’m using it now.
OK, when we left off, we were still in Xpu-Ha, in the campground with friends who felt more like family. Our last days were spent dining out. Of course, Friday night was pizza night at Leo’s and we had the usual turn out.

From the left is Carol, Me, Ann, and behind Ann is Gerry. From the right is John, Shirley, Rob, Reed, and Glen.
Another night a bunch of us went back to Oscar and Lalo’s.

Around the table from the left is Reed, John, Peggy, Helen’s seat, Me, Shirley, Rob, Gerry (Brenda’s Gerry), Maddy (Gerry’s Daughter) and Brenda.
Not having our fill of dining, We went to an Italian restaurant in Puerto Adventuras With Shirley and Rob.

It was a perfect evening! The temperature was comfortable and the area with the lagoon and shops is really pretty. I couldn’t help but wonder how I managed to live this lifestyle. Rich and Famous? No! But check us out Robin Leach.
All too soon it was time to leave Paradise and head toward home, via San Miguel de Allende. I worried about the topes in Tulum and crossed them slowly and carefully, listening for the sound of the motorhome scraping them. It never happened. However, Somewhere beyond Tulum we came over a rise or around a turn and encountered an unmarked tope of considerable size. I jammed on the brakes before making contact but it was too late to diminish speed enough. We bounced with quite a jolt. When I stopped to assess damage I was astounded to see the way the receiver extension was bent. What worried me more was that the bumper on the Jeep was bent up at an odd angle.

The rear mount of the base plate was torn from the chassis.  This picture was taken after the base plate was pushed back quite a bit by a “solderer”in Escárcega who removed the bolts. There was about a four inch gap between the bracket and the chassis at first. I made it back to Inverness by making many, many wraps of nylon cord around the base plate and the anti-sway bar. I monitored it closely and had no further problem.

The first day we made it to “La Selva” a small restaurant that allows you to overnight when you eat there. Helen and I ordered quesadillas and we saw the waiter/chef dash out in his truck for supplies. The food was good and the cost for dinner for two with sodas and overnight parking was 120 pesos. Our next night was spent in a Pemex station someplace between Villahermosa and Puebla. Then Cholula, and finally San Miguel.
In San Miguel we met up with some old friends (friends from last year) and some new friends (friends we met this year). We certainly were not surprised to see Sue and Brian, since we were there to see them, but we were shocked to see Mollie, Pat and Mike’s lovable dog, in the campground. We met Pat and Mike again later, but they were just passing through.

 Most campers going to Mexico would not venture there with out Church’s Mexican Campground book. Here are, left to right, Mike and Terri Church and our friends Sue and Brian.
This was our first day and Sue and Brian became our personal guides to the wonders of San Miguel, but that will be in the next blog.
Later

A Note from Texas

We have made it successfully to a campground east of Houston, Texas, but it was not without incident. Leaving Xpu-Ha, I was a bit concerned about the very high topes ( speed bumps to non Mexicans, pronounced towpay), but it was needless. I drove very slowly over them trying to hear the scraping sound of something under the RV, but there was no noise.

Later on, I was not as fortunate. Coming around a curve at considerable speed, I came to an unmarked tope of considerable size and although I tried to brake as much as possible before the front tires hit, we took an awful jolt. When I pulled over to look at possible damage, I was SHOCKED to see the tow extension bent up about 30 degrees and part of the base plate was torn from the car. With few options, I used many, many wraps of nylon cord around the tow plate and anti-sway bar. later I tried to get it welded in a good sized town, but without success.

Our first night was at the Selva Restaurant and our second was in  Pemex station. The third day we made it to SMA to meet our friends Sue and Brian. Sue took Helen to Delores Hidalgo one day and toured the Talavera factory and then they went shopping the next day also. We had a good time with the people at Hotel Rancho San Ramon. There is a lot of land there and the dogs had quite a good time doing more running than they have in a long time. 

I had a problem with the engine overheating on the hills and that had never happened before. Even running in low gears and keeping the RPMs up didn't help. Finally, I stopped and hooked up the hose to my water pump and gave the radiator a good, long back flush. I was shocked at the amount of dirt that has accumulated in the radiator during my driving over the dusty roads of Mexico. It's running nice and cool now, but I do have a small coolant leak which I think is coming from the low coolant level sensor. It's happened before.

After spending another night in  a Pemex, we approached Columbia Crossing early this morning. I wish I could say it all went well, but it wasn't as smooth as it could have been. In Mexico, I pulled into a wrong place, (well out of the way, but the wrong place) so I had to make another trip around the complex to park exactly where some parking attendant wanted. Then I turned in our Tourist Permits. The Immigration Officer wanted to see the receipt that said we paid for them. Who keep that? I don't even remember seeing the sample he showed me. He checked on-line and since we passed through that same office only a few months ago he was able to validate that we were leaving.

Over the bridge to USA. I stopped on the bridge and walked to customs to find out where I should go. Last year I got the royal run-a-round. One arrogant agent told me that if I could pass through the car lane, fine. Otherwise I would have to go through Cargo. I took a good look at the car lane and reasoned that I could do it. Please note that there are straight through lanes, but they were closed. The one open lane required a close turn, but I was confident I could make it.

I got back to the motorhome and pulled into the car lane and Mister Arrogant said "You can't seem to follow directions, I told you to go through the cargo lane." The other agents told him to leave me alone and we were visited by the agent that has the drug dog. He didn't come in with his dog, just to inspect and he got along great with our three. Something about dog people. Finally got the signal to go and we did. Much better than last year, but I could have done without the attitude on BOTH sides of the border.

I'm still working with Old Faithful, my Dell computer, so there are no pictures, but I hope to catch up when I get home.

Later

How to Compound Computer Problems

 

Friends who know me understand that I am not to be trusted after I have taken my sleeping pill. When my sons call in the evening, they will ask if it’s OK to talk to me or am \I under the influence of my medicine. Unfortunately, Helen isn’t always able to keep me from doing something stupid.

Several days ago I got up in the middle of the night to email a friend. He replied that I must be hanging out with a new group of people who were taking me home drunk. When I checked the message, I was embarrassed at the gibberish that I sent him.

that didn’t keep me from trying again a few nights later. I went to bed with the thought that I would have to get a new water pump for the motorhome and decided to do some web surfing in the wee hours. It just happened that I was also thirsty, so I turned on the computer and got a bottle of Gatorade. Somehow, the drink got sloshed over the keyboard and the result was not pretty. The next day, the computer would not even turn on. I found a place in Playa Del Carmen and took it in for service. It was ready in a few hours and I picked it up. In the shop it worked very well. Back at the motorhome it had a very hard time booting up and would not respond properly. It was back at the shop first thing the next morning.

I picked it up again this AM and was told that I would really have to buy a separate keyboard as the damage to the original was too bad to fix permanently. Drat!!!! A quick trip to Walmart and my problems were solved. NOPE!!! NOT QUITE!!

Here is where I tried to insert a picture of the new keyboard, with all of the Spanish punctuation keys, but the system will not ley me do so.

Oops, I found another way. Just another work a round, one after another. You may notice the letter ñ next to L. I did that by using the Alt key and 0241, which you can do on any computer. BUT, if I actually hit the ñ key, I get ;. Some of the punctuation I can get by looking at the laptop keyboard but some I cannot locate at all.

This my PC connection right now. Pathetic, isn’t it? This is the penance I will have to pay until I get back to my desktop in Florida. Gosh, am I a L O N G way from Florida.

 

Later