Changing things around. Again

I was up at the storage unit Monday getting my summer shorts and short sleeve tops back out.  The air conditioner has been going all day, although it does go off for the evenings and nights.  That is how I know it is fall in the Valley.  The furnace hasn’t been on since the morning I left up north.

It is nice to be back where I have virtually unlimited water from the tap, unlimited (30 amp) electricity, propane fill a phone call away (for a price).  I am taking showers in my own shower again, rather than borrowing Mike’s or Mom’s showers.  I’m washing dishes in the kitchen sink rather than in dish tubs so I can dump the water on Mike’s compost pile rather than into my grey water tank.  I have EMPTY tanks!  The sewer connection is right there!.

I’m pretty sure I’ll renew my annual rent here in December.  I will only live here 5-6 months a year, but it is nice to have a place to come ‘home’ to.  Even with the traffic noise and sirens and heat if I come back a bit too early.

What have I done?

From running the furnace this morning up at 6000' to an increasingly warmer drive down to the Valley to the indoor thermometer reading 106* while the air conditioner tries to bring the temp down, I'm wondering if I'm still too early.  

Backed myself into the spot with many back and forths.  Knocked down a dry water spigot (one that is dripping water is next to it), which has my managers now promising to be here shortly.  The one I knocked down is the one I used last year, but it is rotted at ground level.  One that is dripping water has very rusted threads.  Mike will be here tonight and we can get a wire brush or something to clean it if the manager doesn't get me hooked up.

Welcome home.

On the Road Again

Soon.  Later this week I’ll move back down to the Valley.  It was still 100* yesterday when i was down there, but I have hopes that it will cool off quickly.  I’m ready to be near people again. 

I have my car back, and I went down yesterday and had the other 3 tires replaced.  I needed new tires at the time of the wreck (not a factor in the wreck…) and one tire was damaged so the insurance replaced it.  Now all 4 are new, and the rest of the damage is fixed, and I have a nice, like new car.  Hopefully I can keep folks from running into me for awhile.

I have new insurance on the ACA exchange until the end of the year.  I’ve found cheap (generic) places to get both of my prescriptions that don’t rely on insurance.  I was given year long prescriptions for each of them before leaving Mayo.  So, for now I’m good medically.

Today is laundry, and start getting things battened down for the trip back to Phoenix metro.  Bosley is a happy cat now, at least until the motor starts for the trip.  The RV has some this and thats to be be taken care of once I’m back to civilization.  All in all it is time to switch gears and go into fall.

What do I want?

I have the details of my  life settled down for a bit here. I’m basically house sitting at Mikes out in the middle of nowhere.  I am getting some of the small things accomplished that I never get around to.

I have finally signed up for health insurance for the next 3 months.  I need to check on it on Monday.  Boy, is that ever a messed up process in this state.  Since my checkups this month all came back as clear, no issues (thank God for not so small victories), I’m just counting on not needing medical care for the rest of the year.  I have catastrophic insurance, in that I pay over $6K before it pays anything.  I don’t pay anything out of pocket for the insurance, though.  I have a lot of thoughts on how this, among a few other things, puts me in the ‘poor’ demographic and what some of the emotional and social issues are that follow along.  Not for this post, though.

I was idling around on the internet a few days ago, and came across some old-school motivational audios on YouTube by Earl Nightingale.  Some interesting stuff there.  It has me thinking about what do I want, what goal(s) do I have now that I am retired.  I decided that I want to live a ‘competent life’.  See, especially after the wreck of my car my nerve started to evaporate.  I decided that I was not able to ‘gut check’ things as I usually do because my ‘gut’ put out a Do Not Disturb sign and went away to curl up in a fetal position for the duration.  I needed to drive the motor home down to Williams to dump the tanks, but the wind has been really fierce and I Just Didn’t Want to Do It.  I didn’t water Mikes garden last week, again because with the wind I just sat in the motor home and did nothing.  I felt my world becoming smaller because I was losing my nerve to get out.

Earl Nightingale said, make a goal.  Ok, a competent life, where I can   actually do things, have confidence again.  He said, banish negative thoughts.  Wow, do I have a lot of those.  Ok, I just repeat mentally ‘competent life’ over and over.  A lot.  I got off my duff yesterday morning before the wind was at its worst and dumped the tanks.  Yeah, me. 

I was going to go hiking this morning at the Grand Canyon.  I’m not all that far from it, and with my Golden Geezers pass it is free to get in.  But, you know, it was chilly this morning and coffee and computer time was going so well.  I decided that I’ll be busy tomorrow anyway, so maybe next week I’ll go hiking.

Then the phone rang.  A friend, Lesle, that I met when I was in Jr. High.  We reconnected when I was living in WA, and off and on since, but not for over a year.  She never calls me out of the blue like that, what with email and all.  Her words were ‘I just called to tell you I’m dying.  Sorry, I don’t know a better way to say it.  I’m calling my friends to say goodbye.’  She has advanced pancreatic cancer, a fast devil that she first found out about less than 2 months ago.  We talked for a few minutes.  I got off the phone and went hiking.  Because I can.

Not my fault

A guy turned into me.  This car is doomed.  Just got the dent on that fender fixed.  It is now sitting in the back seat.  I'm fine.  Frustrated, but fine.

I took a short walk today

I woke up today and decides I needed a walk.  Luckily I an about an hour from walking out my door to some nice scenery to enjoy on my walk.  I walked a mile, but road shuttle busses and saw more of the Canyon.

Rainy day

Northern AZ is not Florida or Cuba, but we are also having a rainy day.  It is also chilly.  I just put on another layer and I wish I'd remembered to grab my afghans from the storage unit before I left.  It is 60* in here.

I could probably talk Mike into starting a fire in the woodstove, but I'd have to walk in the rain up to the house.  I'm making oatmeal (old fashioned cook type) and hoping it warms things up.  Or I could just turn on the furnace.  I'm trying to be bada$$ and just get by without using resources.  I may fail at that.

What mice?

Lazy day.  Cloudy and breezy, so cool.  No mice to be seen, at least by the napping Bosley.

Boondocking lite

I'm parked behind Mike's place up by Williams, AZ.  He let me plug into electricity, so I'm not really off grid.  One step at a time.  It is marginally cool enough without the air conditioner, the extension cord won't support my roof air conditioner, but I brought a small floor fan that keeps a breeze going.  He is working out of state for most of the next two months.  I'm watching the place and watering the garden.  Bosley is on mouse patrol.

Even Bosley is bored

I'm almost finished with the tax papers shredding.  There is a bit more going on in my life, but not much.  I am trying to find an Affordable Care Act navigator to explore my options.  It is not straightforward.  

I joined the Elks Lodge and go over there a few times a week.  It is good to have a somewhat stable (mobility-wise) social group.  Croft and Norma will be happy to learn that I am getting accustomed to happy hour being from 3-5pm, not 6pm as my previous life dictated before retirement.

At the end of the month I will move... someplace.  Probably up in elevation and North.  Or, over to the Lodge RV park.  Free vs. cheap.  Leap of faith vs. known quantity.  Jury is still out.

Mom is doing really well, and despite the fact that her original incision on her face was, ummm, dramatic, she has healed to where it is not really noticeable.