Hi there, glad to see you back. Our last chapter concluded on Friday, September 9th, while we were home in Pahrump. It seems summer is finally going to give up and start to fade away. It has been a hot one, but we did notice that it was also hot in Central California, which is the area we would have visited had we chosen to travel this summer, so we didn't miss much. Saturday we had the promise of rain, from both the forecasters and the clouds in the sky in the morning. I left the coach about 9:30 and drove to the VFW hall, which is right down the street from the Escapees Park. I am not a member of the VFW, they won't let me in because I never was involved in a “Foreign War.” However, the VFW here in Pahrump also hosts the local American Legion Post, of which I am a member, and the local Detachment of the Marine Corps League, to which I have belonged for about 20 years. I was headed to the VFW for a meeting of the Marine Corps League, the first in all the time I have been a member. I joined as a “Member At Large” because we were full time Rv'ers and traveling much more than we are lately. I thought it might be time to check out the local Detachment. It was a small group, about a dozen or so Marines, but they were very nice and very welcoming. I did go ahead and transfer my membership from At Large to the Pahrump Detachment 1199. I also won the 50-50 raffle after the meeting and made $35! The new guy scores! After the meeting I went back home and relaxed until about 1:00 when we went out to the Roadhouse restaurant for a late lunch. We had the liver and onions again, the best in Pahrump. After the lunch we went back to the coach. We were going to leave about a quarter to five to go to the Elks Lodge for karaoke, tonight was the first night back for Mike, the KJ, after taking six weeks off. However, when it came time to leave the wind had picked up and the radar showed a pretty strong storm coming down out of the Spring Mountains and heading for Pahrump. We also had several flash flood warnings come over the phone. With that we decided better safe than sorry and decided to stay home. Turned out the storm fizzled out, we got a few drops of rain and that was it. Oh well, karaoke next week. We spent the rest of the evening watching TV.
Tuesday, September 13th, we did laundry here at the park, just running back and forth with the golf cart until everything was done. About 1:30 we left and I drove Jackie to the local hospital for her annual mammogram. After that was done we picked up mail, did a Walmart run and stopped at Walgreens to pick up a prescription I will need for my procedure next month. After we were done we went back home and went to happy hour. After happy hour we had dinner and spent the rest of the night watching TV. Wednesday Jackie went to the Clubhouse at 1:00 for Pokeno and I went over there as well to check out the sound equipment for Zoom meetings. After Jackie's Pokeno finished at 3:00 we drove to the UPS store and picked up mail, then went to Walgreens to get our second Covid booster, the new BiValent version. After our shots we went back to the park and went to happy hour at the clubhouse. After happy hour we went home and spent the rest of the evening relaxing with the TV.
Thursday, September 15th, we had a stay at home day. As with the other three Covid vaccinations, the booster we had yesterday kicked Jackie's ass. She had a restless night and woke up headachy, aching all over and feeling weak. She had a nail appointment at 1:00, but didn't feel up to driving herself, so I dropped her off. Since getting your nails done requires no more exertion than sitting at home, she did OK. I picked her up after her appointment and she took a nap until dinner. I fixed chicken soup for dinner and she stayed on the couch the rest of the night. We hope that she recovers overnight, she did the last three shots, so we hope she gets up in the morning all better. Friday Jackie woke up in the morning after a good nights sleep feeling much better. She said she was still a little wobbly, but way better than yesterday. We left the coach about 1:00 and went to El Jefe Mexican restaurant for a late lunch. We are doing late lunch today because we have a “Meet the Candidates” meeting in the Clubhouse at 6:00. As one of the six candidates for the Co-op's Board of Directors I will be on the panel. After lunch we went home and relaxed until our usual 4:00 happy hour. After happy hour we went back to the coach, changed clothes and got ready for the Meet the Candidates forum. A little before 6:00 we went over the Clubhouse for the meeting. By the time it started we had over 50 people in the room, along with another dozen or so on Zoom, so it was a great turnout. The moderator opened the meeting and we had two hours of questions posed to the six candidates. Last year the same meeting, with a couple more candidates, lasted 20 minutes. I guess that is an indicator of how the members of the Co-op feel about the issues. I thought I did pretty well with the question and answer, as a matter of fact, all of the six candidates did well. After the meeting they served ice cream to everyone as a treat for coming. We got back in the coach about 8:30, changed clothes and watched TV until bedtime.
Saturday, September 17th, was a stay at home day. We spent most of the day in the coach, doing some chores and just relaxing. We did go to the 4:00 happy hour at the clubhouse. Normally we would have gone to the Elks Lodge for karaoke, but on Friday we learned that they were having a benefit dinner in the dining room at 5:00, which is the normal time for karaoke. When I called the Lodge they confirmed that there was a dinner but karaoke would still go on afterwards. When asked if they had any idea what time that might be they said they didn't. We decided not to go tonight. We relaxed with the TV all night. Sunday was also a stay at home day. We did a few chores and relaxed. I did go to the Sunday root beer floats, but after that we had dinner then watched TV until bedtime. Monday was again a stay at home day. We just relaxed for the entire day. We went to happy hour and then home for dinner. I had my first of three nights of security duty here at the park, so at 8:00 I went out and patrolled the park and checked on the security of all the Co-op buildings and facilities. After I was done we watched some TV and then went to bed.
Tuesday, September 20th, we picked up some friends of ours here at the park, Don and Julie Klien, to go to lunch. We have known them for about a year and talk to them all the time in group settings. But we haven't gotten to know them well, so we thought we would go to lunch for some one on one with them. We went to the restaurant at the Mountain Falls Country Club and had a nice lunch out on the patio. We spent almost two hours chatting and getting to know each other better. After lunch we dropped them off and went to the coach for a bit. At 3:00 we went over to the Clubhouse for a meeting with the group of ten people from our park who are booked on the February Panama Canal cruise. We hashed over a variety of things, mostly activities and what everyone had already booked in the way of shore excursions. The meeting went until 4:00 when the happy hour started. After happy hour we went back to the coach, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime. Wednesday Jackie went to play Pokeno in the Clubhouse at 1:00. While she was playing I did a Walmart run. After Jackie and I were both done we went back to the coach and relaxed until happy hour. After happy hour we had dinner. At 8:00 I went out for my last shift on security for this month. Jackie rode along with me tonight. After we got finished we went home and watched TV until bedtime. Thursday, I was up and out, going to the Clubhouse to help set up the Zoom equipment for the Co-op's open Board meeting at 9:00. The meeting went pretty well and was over in just under an hour. After the meeting I packed up my equipment and went back to the coach. We went out at 12:30 and went to Denny's for brunch, then went to the new Great Clips salon here in Pahrump and both got haircuts. After our haircuts we picked up mail and did a little shopping in a couple of clearance stores. A little after three we went to Walgreens and we both got our annual flu vaccine shots. After our shots we went back home and went to happy hour at the Clubhouse. After happy hour we went back to the coach, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.
Friday, September 23rd, we left the coach after lunch and drove to the main town park in Pahrump to walk through the grounds of the annual Fall Festival. It has a lot of local vendors and food booths, a carnival which we never go to, and a small display of arts and crafts. We were there about an hour and half before we decided to leave. We stopped at a thrift store on the way home and bought some new clothes for Bob, our yard skeleton. After we got home we went to happy hour, then came home and did some steaks on the BBQ for dinner. After dinner we watched TV and went to bed. Saturday we went out about 1:00 for our usual Saturday late lunch. Today we went to Las Patronaz, a new Mexican place here in town. It took the place of a pretty good Chinese restaurant that just couldn't make it work. The food was good, not the best, not the worst, but the service was a little lacking. They also didn't have a whole lot of clientèle, so they may end up going the same way as the Chinese place. After lunch we went back home and relaxed until just before 5:00 when we went to the Elks Lodge for karaoke. This is the first time we have gone to karaoke since they went on break back in late July. There was a big crowd, mostly the regulars, so the rotation was about 90 minutes. I only got two songs in. Our friends Don and Julie from the RV park joined us tonight to listen. We left about 8:00 or so, after the second rotation, and went back to the coach. We then watched some TV before going to bed.
Monday, September 26, I left the coach about 12:30 and drove to the Sheriff's Office for a citizen's ride along. This was the last thing that the Sheriff's Office included in the training syllabus for the Peace Officers Advisory Review Board. I was supposed to start at 1:00, but didn't get out until just before 2:00 because the deputy I was assigned to was on calls. He finally came and picked me up and we went out on patrol. I was riding with Deputy Justice, an officer probably in his late 20's early 30's. He is one that we have seen on TV watching the show “On Patrol Live” which includes Nye County as one of its agencies they ride with on Friday and Saturday nights. Of course, in my 27 years with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office I had at least ten years in uniform in a patrol car, between my Patrol Deputy days and Patrol Sergeant days. However, I was still looking forward to the afternoon. It was a relatively quiet five hours, we made a few traffic stops, had some citizen assist calls, a couple of trespassers/suspicious person calls, and a couple of private property accidents. After he dropped me off at the end of his shift, a little before 7:00, I drove home and we spent the rest of the night with the TV. Tuesday we left the coach about 12:30 and went to get our toes done. I just got a trim and then ran some errands while Jackie got her full pedi. After the pedi we went home and rested a bit, then left again around 3:30 and drove to Mom's Cafe for the Escapee Park's monthly dine-out. We had over a dozen people and it was a fun time. After dinner we went back home and spent the rest of the evening with the TV. All our regular shows are now back on with new seasons, so the DVR is already filling up.
Wednesday, September 28th, was a stay at home day. Jackie had Pokeno in the Clubhouse at 1:00 and I had a 2:00 meeting with the Audit Committee. We did happy hour in the Clubhouse at 4:00 and came home after for dinner. After dinner we watched TV until bedtime. Thursday I had a meeting of the By Laws Committee at 10:00. After the meeting we had lunch and then went to the laundromat to do our laundry. That took us until about 3:30. We went to happy hour at 4:00, then came home, had dinner and spent the rest of the night with the TV.
We are now three weeks into this episode, so time to publish. Until next time, remember, common sense is like deodorant. The people who need it most never use it. See ya soon.
