The problem, it turns out was that there are supposed to be two screws through a bracket attached to the back side of the panel to hold the front in place, but they had never been installed, and the vertical section on the rear of the panel, and well as the top of the panel were glued in place. Without the screws, the panel just worked it's way lose over the years, and we didnt notice till it got bad enough that Ann could see it in the rear view mirror. Looks like I need to get some glue, and screws for this repair.
The second repair job was to reglue the bottom of the weather stripping between the windshield sections. This came lose sometime ago, but only is a problem when we drive in a strong crosswind.
Looks like a pretty easy fix with the right type of glue.
Then there is the lawn chair. When I went to set it up for Happy Hour on Saturday, it didnt look or feel right. Upon further review, I noticed that a part had come out, and the chair sagged to one side.
I think the "repair" for this is to "replace". These are nice chairs, and they have served us well! Thanks, again Shanda and Matt for giving them to us a few years ago.
After Happy Hour on Monday we went along with two other couples to the nearby Olive Garden for dinner. The food was great and the conversation even better. Hearing of other's travels and adventures is most interesting!
Tuesday December 28: Tuesday morning we awoke to a mostly clear sunny day, except is was cold enough during the night to leave frost on Ann's car.
I also got a few pics of the first rays of the morning light coming over the Catalina Mountains.
While I was out there I also got a pic of our Wilson Trucker antenna on top of a 10' pole, which is part of our amplification system we need here to get a good signal on our Virgin Mobile usb modem.
The major task for today was to get to the Main Post Office in Tucson to pick up our mail that we had forwarded from Iowa.
The trip down was pretty easy, and I found the place with no problem. However, the window clerk said there was no mail for us today. MMMMM We were quite sure it would be able to get from Iowa to Tucson in four days, even with a holiday in between, but oh well, what can you do but wait. Looking on the bright side, at least I knew where the place was and coming back tomorrow would be easier.
The trip back was a piece of cake and is stopped to buy some glue for the windshield, and an extra power strip(cant have too many of them), but was unable to find a suitable glue for the side panel.
We did have a Happy Hour on Tuesday despite it being a little chilly, but nothing like the weather back in Iowa, and other places up north.
After dinner I settled in to watch the Iowa Hawkeyes defeat a very good Missouri team with a late interception, and run back for a touchdown. I hope the Hawkeyes get their act together for next year, In the mean time Ann worked diligently on her Facebook games.
Wednesday December 29: Happy Ninth Anniversary to us! Doesnt seem like nine years since Lyle Lovett(inside joke) married us at the chapel in Bally's Casino in Las Vegas! Time flies when you are having fun!
Even though it was our anniversary, Ann still had lots of work to do, and I needed to make another trip to the post office hoping our mail would be here today. I got to the post office a little after 10:00AM. General Delivery mail is supposed to be ready by 9:30AM. After waiting in shorter line than yesterday, I asked for our mail. Sorry, no mail for you today. Somewhat puzzled by the fact that our mail wasnt there, and being a former postal employee, who knows that the post office never makes a mistake or mishandles mail, I decided to call the Postmaster who forwarded our mail. After a brief discussion with her, I realized that I had not given her the correct address for General Delivery mail. Oops, so it was back to talk to the clerk to see where our mail might be. After a discussion with another clerk, the clerk waiting on me went to look for our mail, and in a couple minutes, lo and behold, here he comes carrying our mail! I knew I could count on the USPS to go above and beyond the call of duty for a customer! I owe them a big thanks for not returning our mail back to Iowa!
Then it was back home go through three weeks mail to see what to keep, and what to pitch. The process looks like this.
We received some very nice Christmas cards, which we appreciate, along with a couple of family letters from Ann's Mom, and one of her aunts. It is nice to hear what has gone on in others lives this year, even though, not all of it was good news.
For our anniversary dinner we picked a place called Amarsi just a couple miles from here. It is an Italian place, and Ann loves Italian food. When I went to get my coat before leaving, I remembered that I had left at the Olive Garden, when we had dinner there on Monday. Glad I brought two coats!
The place was not all that big, nor that busy, but it is nice. I had spaghetti with a Bolognese sauce, which I thought was pretty average, and Ann had veal picatta, which thought was great!
Thursday December 30: The last day of work for Ann for the year! This after noon many in the group were planning on taking an evening guided tour of the Saguaro National Forest, with an early dinner before hand. We were not able to go as Ann had to work later than their departure time.
The weather today was not normal Arizona weather; rain and snow is better left up north, however, I did get a couple of nice pics.
After Ann got done working for the year, we ran some errands; I did some clothes shopping, Ann bought a Glee dvd, and we exchanged an empty propane bottle for a full one.
The sun did come out later and so I took more pics of the snow on the mountains.
When we finished our errands, we went to Taste of Chicago for dinner.
This place was recommended by our friends Randy and Deb. Randy is from Chicago, and recommended the "Chicago Dog", which I ordered, and Ann had a delicious looking pizza.
Once again after dinner there was football to watch as Nebraska was playing Washington in the Holiday Bowl. I felt bad for Nebraska as they were not the same team that had trounced Washington earlier in the year. Martinez, the quarterback looked like is was about 30% compared to his play before injuring his ankle, and it was his speed and quickness that made Nebraska so good earlier in the year.
Ann went off to bed about 10:00PM, and I missed the last couple minutes of the game when I hit the sack about 11:00PM. Tomorrow is the last day of the year, gotta get ready for the New Years Party with the RVForum gang!
Friday December31: Except for being the last day of the year, it is a pretty average day. This morning it was cold, with a few flurries. Is this Arizona? Oh well, at least we dont have to scoop it!
About 10:00AM this morning Ann went up the street to one of the other coaches to see when one of the ladies in the group was going to Trader Joes. They left about noon and returned just before 3:00, with some goodies for tonight's party. While Ann I was gone, and after she returned, I worked on the blog. It takes a while to remember and organize what you did all week. The rest of the after noon was taken up with resting for tonight's festivities.
While sitting in my recliner and playing on the computer, I looked our outside window, and decided the view was worth of a pic.
If the pic looks a little fuzzy it is because I bumped the settings wheel on the camera, but I hope you get the idea.
About 5:00 Ann made us a light dinner of brats and mac and cheese. We didnt want to eat a lot, as there will no doubt be lots of hors d'ourvres later in the evening. During dinner I noticed the sun shining on the mountains, as it was setting, so I had to get a pic of the last sunset of 2010.
We hope everyone has a better year next year! We will see you then!
Paul & Ann
Posts
Happy New Year! I like the new picture of the mountain.
ReplyDelete