Are we towing again?

November 24, 2009
Mesa, AZ

We'll see. We're at the Camping World store in Mesa, AZ, as I write this, and we're hoping that the towing system will be back in operation by the time we leave. We'll see.

But first, a little bit of catching up from the past week or so. Busy as usual, which is good I suppose. Tuesday was a "rainy day project day". Not that it rained, mind you, but we used the day to catch up on a whole bunch of things in the house. Geri tackled another mountain of laundry and I started catching up on bills, budgeting, and filing. Wednesday, I took the Range Rover over to Scottsdale to have the residual repairs from the September accident handled. All three washer pumps were missing (windshield, rear window, and headlights) and the external temperature sensor, which lives in the bumper assembly, was missing. This took about two hours to estimate (for the insurance) and repair. Replacing the temperature sensor fixed the problem we were having with the air conditioning (funny, the computer doesn't allow the system to blow a lot of cold air when it thinks it's -40°F outside).

Thursday was "medical day". We were up early and on our way to the urologist for Geri's follow-up appointment. She had the second of her follow-up MRIs done in late-October, and we had this appointment scheduled to hear the results. As we expected, everything was fine, the radio frequency ablation was a success, and the follow-up exams will gradually tail off. We'll do another MRI in the spring before we leave and then next winter when we're back. With this good news well received, we were off to the imaging center for her scheduled mammogram, which also came back fine.

We tried a new recipe for an old dish on Friday, working on a Lamb Ragu. We found this recipe in the Wine Spectator, and it was a bit of a project. It started with grinding the lamb, which meant trimming a bunch of shoulder chops and getting the grinder out. I was a little short on lamb after the grinding, so I had to make a run to the store in the middle of things. Geri did most of the prep work for the vegetables and spices. We made a "quick" trip for a couple of last-minute things in the afternoon, which turned into a three-store, two-hour project, but the end result was very good. It paired quite nicely with a 1997 Carpazo Brunello from the "wine box". I've got mixed feelings about all the 1997 and 1999 Italian wines I bought years ago. I'm so glad I did, since they are drinking so very well now and they were a relative bargain, but I'm sorry to see them go because I know we won't be able to replace them.

Over the weekend, we finished up on things around the house. Bills are all caught up, the laundry room is cleared out, and Geri started tackling the major housecleaning that's been waiting for us since we got back in October. I even had a chance to watch a little football (Colts and Cardinals won) and catch the final NASCAR race of the year from Florida. Of course, catching up on the finances means I now have a better picture of how much over budget we went wining our way through California and Las Vegas. Oh well, can't take it with us!

Yesterday we were back on the road, first to Geri's eye doctor in the morning (all OK, no glaucoma or cataracts) then dropping the pups off for grooming. I picked up and installed a new battery for Geri's watch in the afternoon, which turned into quite a project since one of the "set" buttons on the side wanted to stick. Some WD-40 and bending of the spring actuator back into alignment seems to have done the trick. We didn't get home from picking up the pups until after 7:00 PM (felt odd driving after dark), but Geri still managed to turn out an excellent Chicken Marsala with pan-roasted baby red potatoes and steamed peas. With a 2006 Curran Syrah that we picked up in our travels (it never made it to the wine box), it was a great end to the day.

As an aside about the weather, it's been almost 80 days since the last "measurable" rain, and they measure it in hundredths of an inch here. It's possible that 2009 may be the driest year on record, as there has only been 2.78" of rain all year against a record just under 3". We're not complaining of course, although temperatures have been cooler than we're used to. Or is it just thinner blood?

So, that brings us to today. We got the coach back to the house in the morning and I tackled a couple of minor projects, trimming a plastic guard that was rubbing against the kitchen sink drain pipe, and grinding the heads off several screws that were sticking up into the carpet in the rear closet. I replaced the broken handle on the washer, although that will take some testing since it doesn't feel like it's right yet. I wanted to have the coach with us so we can hook everything up and make sure it's all right before we leave. We headed over to Camping World for our 2:00 PM appointment. Now, mind you, I asked twice if a 2:00 appointment would allow enough time. Of course, the first thing the shop manager tells me is that there's no way the technician will be able to finish today. Hopefully, he'll have a conversation with his scheduler!

End of day update: "See you tomorrow morning and we'll finish up"...