Hello again. Our last
chapter ended on Friday, January 31st while we were at our home in
Pahrump. Saturday, February 1st,
was a stay at home day for me. Jackie
went to help decorate the clubhouse for Valentines Day at 10:00 and then at
1:00 went with her friends Rhea and Linda to Secret Sisters resale store for
some shopping. I stayed home and did
chores all day. Among the most important
things completed was I got our 2024 taxes finished and emailed to the IRS. Last year we got our refund back in just over
a week when we filed the first week of February. We went to happy hour at 4:00, then came home
and had dinner. After dinner we watched
TV until bedtime.
Sunday, February 2nd, we went out about 10:30 and went to Walgreens so we could both get our Covid shots for the year. After our shots we went to the Nugget and gamed for an hour or so, then went to one of the new restaurants in town, Dad’s American Diner. It took the spot of a Mexican Restaurant which relocated to the building that used to be the Red Sky BBQ place. Musical chairs for food. Dad’s was opened by the same couple that owns an upscale Italian restaurant which is located in the same strip mall. It is not a big place and has a very limited menu, breakfast and burgers mostly. Jackie had breakfast and I had a burger and fries. The food was OK, but nothing spectacular and nothing that you can’t get as good or better elsewhere in town. The service was attentive, but slow. And, attention to detail was greatly lacking. Jackie didn’t get the avocado that the menu said came with her omelet, and she asked for burned toast (as always) and it came barely warmed. My bacon BBQ burger didn’t have the bacon or the onion it was supposed to have. They did bring avocado and bacon after we pointed out the deficiency, but I am not sure we will be back for seconds. After lunch we headed home and spent the rest of the day relaxing and doing some chores. We didn’t go to ice cream. After dinner I had my second night of security, then we spent the rest of the night with the TV.
Monday, February 3rd, we had nothing planned for today because Jackie historically gets sick after a covid shot. She was feeling a little out of sorts today, but not too bad. I spent the day doing some chores around the house, Jackie just relaxed with her computer and the TV. I went to happy hour at 4:00, then we had dinner and I did my last tour of security for the month. We watched TV until it was time for bed. Tuesday, I had a 10:00 dental appointment to get my new permanent crown fitted. I also got my upper dental plate back, so now I can eat more normally. At 1:00 I had a budget committee meeting in the clubhouse and at 1:30 we left to go to the chiropractor. We went to happy hour at 4:00, then came home for dinner. We watched TV the rest of the night.
Wednesday, February 5th, Happy Birthday to me! Yea, made it to 78. We had a pretty normal Wednesday, I went to play guitar with my jam group at 12:30 and Jackie went to play Pokeno at 1:00. We went to happy hour at 4:00. Jackie made a nice Key Lime pie for my birthday, which we shared at happy hour. After happy hour we had dinner, then watched TV until bedtime. Thursday was a busy day. First of all, when I checked the bank account first thing in the morning, like I always do, our income tax refund had hit the bank. We only filed our return last Saturday. Wow. At 10:00 I had a committee meeting for a new Policy and Procedure group. At 11:30 Jackie had a mani appointment. We had lunch and then went to a 2:00 chiropractor appointment. About 2:30 we went out to do some car shopping to try and find something to replace our C-Max, which is going to be totaled by the insurance company. We only have two major brand dealerships in town, the Chevrolet-GMC dealer and the Chrysler-Dodge-Ram-Jeep dealer. I have been watching the used car inventories off and on for both dealers and the selection of vehicles the Chevy dealer had that I thought met our desires had fallen to zero. We have agreed that our last two vehicles have been top tier models for their brands with most of the “bells and whistles” that we like. We want to get the same luxury items in the new vehicle. The Jeep dealership, Saitta-Truedeu, had at least five cars that met our requirements, no more than five years old, no more than 50K miles, and top tier models. We went there and looked at the cars, and settled on two Buick compact SUVs. Both were Buick Envision Essence models, one a 2020, and one a 2023. We drove both around and did some comparisons. The older one had almost the exact same milage as our C-max, 56K, the newer one only just under 30K. The older one was $22,000, the newer one was $28,000. However, the newer one was still under the factory warranty for at least another year or so. We had the dealership write up offers for both, using $12,000 as the down payment. The payment for the newer one was, of course, higher for than for the older one, but it was still affordable, so we decided on the newer one and made the deal. Since we haven’t yet gotten the insurance payment for our C-max, we thought we would just be able to give the dealer some “earnest” money to hold the car until we got our settlement. However, the dealer just told us to write a check for the down payment, which they would hold for a week. We did all the paperwork and drove the car home. What a deal! We didn’t get home until about 7:30 in the evening, but we had a new car. We call it a combo birthday anniversary gift, since tomorrow is our wedding anniversary. We spent the rest of the night watching TV. Friday, February 7th, Happy 21st wedding anniversary to us! We were on the road, in our new (to us) Buick and headed to Las Vegas about 10:00. Jackie is having an MRI of her head at the direction of the doctors hired by out attorney. The MRI was at 12:30, by 2:00 we were having a late lunch and then making a quick stop at Costco to pick up some vodka. We were back home just before 4:00 and went to happy hour to tell everyone about our new car and exciting day. The car was just wonderful going over the hill, although I am going to have to get used to going for gas more often again, since it is not a hybrid, just an all gas 4 cylinder. After happy hour we stayed for Bingo and made out there too. I won one game, Jackie one two games. And because it was a Valentine’s Day themed night, with a big participation, the prizes were bigger. Yea! After bingo we went home and watched TV until bedtime. Saturday, Jackie went to her monthly Ladies Lunch at 11:30 and I went to the Men’s Lunch at 12:00. We only had four guys, so I drove so everyone could see the new car. Both the men and women went to Mexican restaurants located only a block from each other. We all had a good time. After lunch we went back home and went to happy hour at 4:00. We then relaxed with the TV the rest of the evening.Sunday, February 9th, Super Bowl Sunday. As always, there was a big party in the clubhouse, which started at 2:00. We went over about 1:30. There were some fun games and the crew doing the party made both pulled pork sandwiches and Philly cheese steaks. Of course, for Kansas City BBQ and Philly, the two teams playing. There were lots of snacks and probably half of the park in attendance. I was running a $1 per square pool and another member was running a $5 per square pool. I won’t go into great detail but we were sitting at a mostly KC supporters table and it was a grim afternoon. After the game was over, about 7:30, we went home and watched TV until bedtime. Monday our housekeeper came about 10:00 and spent a couple of hours cleaning. I did some office work out in the shed and finished cleaning out the C-Max so it could be towed away for salvage. After lunch we went out to run some errands. While we were out we got a call from the Co-op office telling us that a tow truck was coming in the park to pick up our car. We gave our OK, so when we got home the car was gone. No long goodbyes, just no more C-max. Now we just have to finalize all the paperwork for the total loss payout, give most of it to the Jeep dealer for our new car, and we are finished with the property loss part of our claim against State Farm. After we got home we went to happy hour, then came home and had some chicken enchiladas for dinner. We spent the remainder of the evening watching TV.
Tuesday, February 11th, we had a 10:00
chiropractors appointment. After that we
went home and had lunch. I did some
office work and also went over to the clubhouse to do some work on the computer
systems for the various Zoom meetings we hold.
I am a member of the Communications and Technology Committee and we are
making some improvements to our Zoom abilities.
I also did some office work, including finalizing the settlement with
State Farm Insurance regarding our C-Max.
Now that they have the car and title
they sent the settlement funds, which is just over $14K. I transferred it to the bank and it should
show in our account tomorrow. We can
then let the Jeep dealer know they can cash the down payment check we left with
them last Thursday. The Buick will really
be ours then. Yea! We went to 4:00 happy hour, then came home
and had pork chops for dinner. We spent
the rest of the night with the TV. Wednesday
was the usual Pokeno for Jackie and guitar practice for me. We went to happy hour and then went home for
dinner and a night with the TV.
with the dermatologist. They did a biopsy on a mole that looked “suspicious” and had to pu
t in a couple of stiches. I have to come back in two weeks to get the stiches out and see what the lab says about the mole. Jackie went with me to the doctor so as soon as I got out of there we went down the street to the chiropractor for an appointment. After the chiropractor we stopped and had lunch at our favorite Mexican place, El Jefe, which is right in the same area as both the doctors. We went home and I went over to the clubhouse to make the spaghetti sauce for tomorrow night’s dinner. I have never made that large a batch of sauce, but I made 12 quarts and it turned out pretty good. After I was done it was happy hour time. We then went home, had dinner and watched TV the rest of the night. Friday, Valentines Day. Also one of my granddaughter’s birthday. Her middle name is Valentine, so it’s easy to remember. I went over in the early afternoon to set up my equipment for the dance after dinner. About 4:00 we went over to start getting ready for the spaghetti dinner. I heated up my sauce and helped in the kitchen. At 5:00 we fed about 45 people and everyone seemed to enjoy the food. Yea! After dinner I started the dance music and we had a group of about 20 people who actually stayed all night (up to 8:30) and danced and partied and had a good time. After the dance we went home and crashed for the night.
Saturday, February 15th, I had to go over to the clubhouse and clean up my equipment and get it put away. We then had the rest of the day to ourselves. We generally relaxed, did a few chores, and just had a pleasant day. Sunday Jackie went with her friend Linda to the Secret Sisters sidewalk sale. She came home with a couple of really nice things. We spent the rest of the day relaxing. We went to the ice cream social because it was the Sunday when they celebrate birthdays and anniversaries for the month, and we had both in February. Double cake!! We then went home, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.
Monday, February 17th, we had a chiropractor
appointment at 10:00, then came back home for a lunch in the clubhouse. They had sloppy joes and leftover pulled pork
from Super Bowl. We had a nice lunch,
then went out and ran some errands. We
got back in time for happy hour, then dinner and the TV for the rest of the
evening. Tuesday we were on the road
again to Las Vegas so Jackie could do her follow up appointment with the pain
specialist. She got the results of her
MRI, which were all good for her head.
They did find some weird things in her spine, but she has never
complained about back pain, so I don’t what that’s all about. I think she has been released from having to
see the pain specialist again. After the
appointment we went to Sam’s Club for some stuff, stopped for lunch, and then
headed back home. We got back for happy
hour then went home and relaxed with the TV for the rest of the night.
Monday, February 24th, the housecleaner came in the morning. Jackie played cards in the clubhouse from 10 to noon. I did some office work in the shed. At 1:00 both of us went to the clubhouse to meet with the Silver Seekers Board to do the March calendar planning. Although I am not on the Silver Seekers Board anymore, I still do the calendars and flyers for them. After that meeting we went home and did some chores. We went to happy hour at 4:00, then came home and had dinner. We watched TV for the rest of the night. Tuesday, the days have been getting warmer, but today was just wonderful, high 70’s for most of the day. We had a 1:15 chiropractor appointment after which we went home. About 4:00 we went to the Elks Lodge for the lodge meeting. Another of our Pair-a-dice friends, Ed, is getting initiated tonight. We had about 8 people from the park there. He brought in two big pizzas so everyone could get some dinner before the meeting. The meeting was over about 7:45, after which we drove home and then watched TV until it was time for bed.
Wednesday, February 26th, we had the usual day. Jackie played Pokeno in the afternoon and I went to a friends house for guitar practice. We went to happy hour at 4:00, then came home and had dinner. The rest of the evening was spent watching TV. Thursday we had a chiropractor appointment at 11:00. We were officially “released” by the chiropractor and don’t have to come back for any treatment related to the auto accident. This should trigger our attorney to make a demand on the other drivers insurance. We’ll see what develops from this point forward. After the chiropractor we went to Teriyaki Madness for lunch, then we both got haircuts. After we were done there we went to Walmart for some supplies. After we went home and put everything away we went to happy hour. After happy hour we had fish tacos for dinner and watched TV until bedtime.
Friday, February 28th, happy birthday to my brother Russ. I went to the dermatologist at 10:00 to have the stitches taken out from my biopsy two weeks ago. I also learned that the biopsy came back as “pre-cancerous”, so I have an appointment next Thursday to have further “excision” of the site. This means taking a bigger chunk out of my back. At about 1:00 we drove to Saitta Dodge/Jeep, where we bought our new car, to have a couple of minor issues taken care of. The salesman made the appointment to have an after-market alarm system removed and to reset the oil change reminder. The alarm had a large, annoying red light that flashed all the time, whether driving or parked. The dealership changes the oil on all their resale cars before they go on the lot, they forgot to reset the reminder. They don’t sell GM cars like our Buick, so they probably didn’t realize it even had one. After we were done there we drove to the other car dealership in town, Pahrump Valley Motors, which sells Chevrolet and GM trucks. We needed to get a new key fob for the Buick since it only came with one. I had called last week to order one, but we had to bring the car in so they could program the new key. This took about an hour and half. We made it back to the park just in time to go to happy hour. After that we had dinner then watched TV until bedtime.
This marks the end of February, time to get this published. Until next time, be nice.