OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/Phone rang around noon this past Thursday & it was my old former Town & Country Boss, Marie, saying she was headed out our way & would I be home for a few minutes. "Sure," I said, "Come on over." Marie had been the very busy, dedicated, & very efficient dispatcher co-coordinator person at the company where I am still a part time mobility van driver. I used to be a full time driver there until we started going south for the winters & am now just part time in the spring, summer, & fall. Marie had been a great boss for the past 4 & a half years & we worked well to-gether. About 3 years ago Kelly & I gave Marie a big "Teamwork" coffee mug for Christmas & it always sat on her busy desk between daily coffee runs to the office's coffee machine.
Back in the spring of this year Marie left Town & Country but we have kept in touch since then & it was nice of her to drop in. She has followed our Bayfield Bunch blog adventures over the past year & read the blog about me losing my old best coffee cup buddy a few weeks ago. Before leaving Thursday Marie reached in her purse & pulled out a very familiar looking coffee mug. It was the "Teamwork" mug Kelly & I had given her for Christmas years ago. She said, "and here's your newest best buddy." What a sweet thought from such a sweet person. I noticed a folded piece of paper in the mug but didn't open it until after Marie had left. I couldn't take a chance on getting all emotional you know, just in case there was something nice written on that piece of paper. (women have a natural habit of doing things like that) We men have a bad habit of keeping up phony appearances sometimes & I'm sure no exception. Well, there was something nice written on that note & I have decided to share those thoughts...............
Thanks Marie, & I never even thought to give you a big hug:((
Men huh!! (click the photos to make them bigger)
I few weeks ago I closed a bin door on the motorhome a little too hard & broke a piece of the mechanism inside which left the door in a locked state. Fortunately I discovered the problem when I took the rig down to the Bayfield Garage to get the propane tank filled. Luckily a mechanic came out & within a few minutes had the door unlocked. Well, it was back on the computer & phone again to Elkhart, Indiana to order a new door lock assembly from a Damon dealer down there called, True Value RV. This is a good place & within days UPS rolled in the driveway with the new part. Now here's the really strange thing. I was able to take the old assembly out, figure out the new part & actually re-install the whole thing correctly. But, that's not the strangest part........it worked!! It really did, it actually worked. Walked immediately to the end of driveway & peered up through the pine trees to see if there were 2 moons in the sky.....and of course there were. I'm still gloating over that unusual accomplishment so the tip for to-day is.......don't slam your bin doors!!
We took our Hyundai Santa Fe in a couple of weeks ago for it's annual tune up so it's now ready for the trip south. Hope I can remember how to assemble all that tow bar stuff. I figure the key to a Senior's memory success is repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, & it's been about 6 & a half months since I worked with all that tow bar stuff so no doubt I'll have to get the instruction manual out again to see what bar goes where & what chain hooks up to who. Oh boy, wait until I try setting up that tri-pod internet satellite system again. That oughta turn the air blue for a few miles around!! Good thing that the Bayfield Bunch has Kelly on it's team. She's got the most good brains for everything & if it wasn't for her I'd still be back at Sandbox 101.
We sure had a go-around with the Actia company in Elkhart, Indiana who are the makers of speedometer/odometer clusters for motorhomes. There has been a software problem for quite awhile in their computer versioned set-ups. The cluster in our motorhome was originally replaced back in 2005. The software goes & the LED read-out becomes unreadable. You lose your mileage, trip meter, fuel calculations, oil & transmission pressures, etc. It does a lot more calculations, engine updates, & reminders but do I really need it to tell me when my next colonoscopy appointment is. I think not!!
Ok, looks like I've nearly worn out another keyboard here but it's raining this morning so figured it was a good time to catch up the blog. Been a busy morning though. Kelly's working at the Lodge to-day. I'm on the second load of laundry, dishes are done, been to the store for milk & bananas, vacuumed the sunroom, have 2 of about 23 windows cleaned, dogs are fed, forwarded some jokes, took a picture of the wiper blades, made a coffee, & am contemplating making my bed. (that's always a tough contemplation) Might even go & BBQ me up a big bowl of oatmeal. All & all it seems like I'm quite the little multi-taskar this morning & I'm looking forward to my next favorite multi thing soon.........multi relaxing. Hey, I might even catch a few minutes of Sesame Street:))))) 
Oh ya, passed my 1rst complete physical in 3 years with almost flying colors last week. That cholesterol thingy is always a tough one but I've been working real hard at it. Have dropped from 212 pounds in June to 203 as of yesterday. Totally cut out all fried foods & sweets for starters. Doctor says I'm good for another 50 years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first................ And with that, I'd better get back to my morning multi-taskinating. (Had to use a tele-photo lens shot through our living room window for the windshield wipers because it's pouring rain out there. RV television photo shows where the TV folds back to the wall for travel & is secured there. Forgot to add that pic in the previous post. The 2 geese on the pond photos was taken yesterday morning across the road from our place & once again I used a telephoto lens so as not to stampede the geese off the water)
Awhile back when I started up the motorhome to run the engine for a bit I noticed the digital odometer cluster was not legible. This is the computer driven little device that gives you info like how many miles you are getting to the gallon, how many miles of fuel left in the gas tank, trip meter, plus a host of other technical info. To make a long story short, we found out that these clusters made by the Actia company have faulty software in them & many people with the Chevy Workhorse Chassis like ours have had to replace them. Some folks have been lucky enough to get it done under warranty, but of course, not us:(( In fact when I re-registered the motorhome with Workhorse a few months ago we found out that our coaches cluster had already been replaced once in 2005. It's been quite a run around but after many phone calls to local dealers, Workhorse in Arizona, & finally to the Actia company itself in Elkhart Indiana we're finally getting the problem solved as how to go about getting it fixed. I guess I should say Kelly is getting the problem solved because she is the one who makes all the phone calls. To make an even longer story even shorter.............the cluster is in transit right now & UPS should be delivering it to-morrow. Our motorhome is scheduled to go in for servicing shortly so we'll have the garage do the cluster switch. It certainly has not been cheap!! $354 for the cluster & we had a call from UPS at the border to-day saying it's going to be another $107 for taxes & duty to bring it into Canada. Had we known that we might just have simply stopped in Elkhart Indiana on our way south this year & picked it up ourselves. Oh well, so much for the old saying about the older we get, the wiser we get. Ya right!!!!
It's a cool, gray overcast, & rainy Sunday morning here in southern Ontario & a good time for catching up on computer stuff & doing inside neglected chores that need some attention. Might even kick the furnace on for a bit to get that nice cozy warmth in the house to take off the early Autumn chill to-day. Yes, the seasons are a changing & I'm glad they are. 
It's nearly mid August & once again the signs of our summer slipping away are beginning to emerge. The tiny invisible crickets have a different chirp to them, once lush green leaves are taking on a harder edged look, days are becoming noticeably shorter, & our ever present resident pond frogs are quieter now as they contemplate their long winter's hibernation. Who's going to get the best spot in the mud this year. The nights are definitely cooling down & soon the Autumn crispness will be in the daytime's air. It is my favorite time of the year which approaches. The exciting freshness of spring is long gone & summer's steamy rush is rapidly winding down. Autumn is a time for quiet reflection. Everything seems to slow as we shift to a lower gear. In a month from now the kids will be back in school, the Labor Day week-end will be behind us & a few trees will be starting to show some of their early artist's brush colors. Autumn is also a time of anticipation & preparation for the long cold winter months ahead. It's a cozy time as we scurry about like little squirrels getting ourselves organized & hunkered down to await the chilling winter winds. It's also a time of new learning. I've always had a theory that I think is probably true. Ever since we were kids first starting school we have become programmed to begin an educational process every September. This continues for many years in our early life & becomes embedded in our very beings & I think it lasts forever. Even though I've been out of the school system since the early 60's I still feel that learning process beginning to kick in around mid August. Over the years I have enrolled in various night classes starting in September. Half a dozen photography related courses, a beginners computer course, Tai Chi exercise classes & probably a few others I've forgotten about. It's always a nice feeling to be learning something new & especially at a time of year when we have been programmed to do our very best learning. It takes me back to my early public school days & that fresh smell of new books, erasers, new ink in the ink wells & fresh apples in our knapsacks. Aw yes, Autumn. My favorite time of the year:)))))) Think I just talked myself into brewing up a fresh cup of coffee, lighting up a cinnamon scented candle, & kicking on the fireplace for a cozy stay at home musically relaxing day. 
The photos are from our flower gardens around the house. The one above shows a white Yucca growing up through some orange Day Lilies.
