Back On Line!

Virgin Broadband is back! There never was a "network problem", that story was just to shut me up. The actual problem was they reduced my account from unlimited to the smallest amount they offer and showed me as having used up all my time. They reset everything and gave me an extra five free days, not that I can use it as we will be back in Canada.

The Bootlegger

We had a great time at Las Vegas' The Bootlegger last night. Good food, a great table and the Jazz singer made a big deal about our 48th Anniversary and she sang a couple of Billie Holiday songs for us (my request). $128 US after tips but what the heck, my annual RIF (Retirement Income Fund) payment is due in a few days! :) We had dinner, a glass of wine each and a liqueur with our coffee after. Almost an hour to drive each way!

Catching Up

We made it to Las Vegas with no problem and checked into the Road Runner RV Park. It has a ten yea rule on age of rigs but Norma smiled sweetly and told them it was an '08 model and they let us in. $107 plus electric for a week.

My Virgin Broadband would not connect and after a call to Support it was determined that their cell tower was down and expected to be repaired by Wednesday. The park WIFI would not reach our site so I had to walk over to the office. Then on a whim, I tried my Hawking WIFI dish on the dash and guess what? It is picking up the signal! Weak but workable and I don't have to walk!

Last night we drove over to Arizona Charlies, a local casino where they had a Tuesday Special of two buffet dinners for the price of one. Not bad for $12 for two. Shrimp, salmon, roast beef and a huge desert table. On the way out we stopped at the slots where I turned $5 into $23 and Norma turned $20 into $0. Has she lost her touch?

Tonight is our 48th Anniversary (actually yesterday) so we made reservations at The Bootlegger, a Mafia era Italian restaurant down on The Strip featuring a live jazz singer. The restaurant was featured on an Anthony Bourdain program on CNN.

Otherwise, we are happy here in the sun until we leave on Monday.

Heading For Las Vegas!

We left our relaxing two months in Mesa yesterday morning after an early morning visit from Paula and her mom. We followed Highway 60 north (fighting the GPS all the way as she had a different route in mind) and ended up at Dazzo's RV Park in Wikiup, AZ. which is about half way to Vegas.

Dazzo's is a strange place. Last year at this time his restaurant and lobby looked like a Donald Trump Campaign Headquarters. This time, everything is gone including his extensive Glen Beck book display and his huge collection of anti-Obama sign, posters and post cards. The walls are bare except for American flags and one lone sign on the cash register stating, "We The People Are Pissed Off!".

Other than Dazzo's politics, the RV park is basic but nice. Great showers, free WIFI, long pull-throughs, easy satellite TV hookup and dozens of talkative birds making their homes in the cactus' growing between the spaces.

The four hour drive yesterday left us both a little stiff so we are thinking of staying another night at Dazzo's welcoming Passport America Rate of $10.50.

It is going to be a slow trip home, just the kind we like. We will get to Vegas tomorrow and will stay for six or seven nights, scheduling a dinner at The Bootlegger, an old time Italian restaurant featured on one of Anthony Bourdain's shows. We tried last year but their reservations were full for the next few days and we could not get in.

Our shopping list on the way home has expanded to include a new microwave for the kitchen at home, new chrome rings for the stove and maybe a new wide screen TV for the bottom room. Brooks and LindaLee complain that the screen "flickers" but my 71 year old eyes can't see that.

Magic Honda Repairs

Weird. I took the Honda with it's non functioning right turn signal into Zemp Auto here in Mesa.The mechanic checked everything with his meter, took out all the relays and checked them. He talked with his boss and the boss told me all they had found was that it was not a simple repair. All the parts worked properly but the signal was not getting to the right side bulbs. The next step is to get into the wiring and find the problem and that would take some time which they did not have this week. He told me to call on Monday and set up an appointment. While we were talking his mechanic plugged all the parts back in.

I pulled out and a few blocks later I signaled for a right turn and IT WORKED! Now I feel like a jerk. He put maybe 20 minutes into it and did not charge me. Pulling the twenty-eight year old relays in and out must have cleaned the contacts. I probably should stop in and give them $20 for their coffee fund or something.

International Women's Day

To all my Sisters out there on International Women's Day! Enjoy your day, you have earned it!

Lyrics

As we go marching, marching
In the beauty of the day
A million darkened kitchens
A thousand mill lofts grey
Are touched with all the radiance
That a sudden sun discloses
For the people hear us singing
Bread and roses, bread and roses
As we go marching, marching
We battle too for men
For they are women's children
And we mother them again
Our lives shall not be sweetened
From birth until life closes
Hearts starve as well as bodies
Give us bread, but give us roses
As we go marching, marching
We bring the greater days
For the rising of the women
Means the rising of the race
No more the drudge and idler
Ten that toil where one reposes
But the sharing of life's glories
Bread and roses, bread and roses

-James Oppenheim (1910's)

Update

We have decided to stay here in Mesa, AZ for another month. We had planned to carry on to the Texas Gulf area but the weather everywhere is very unpredictable this winter. It is 90% nice here so we will save the gas money and stay until April when we will start the slow trip home.

I am ignoring the fact that it has rained here for the last day and a half and the thunder is rolling across the valley right now.

Still Here!

Some friends from back home emailed to see if we were OK so I better report in. Nothing has been happening except for the odd walk around the park and some swimming. The weather has been good in the day and cool at night, in other words, perfect.

The dome/skylight over the shower got cracked from light contact with a branch. It has an inner and an outer layer, The outer bubble survived but the inner cracked. I took it out the other day to try to find a replacement and it broke up as I removed it. No one had the same size so I ended up ordering it on line for $110 plus $40 shipping. All in US dollars of course. It will be here in a week.

Anyway, that is the sum total of the action around here. We haven't even been out for dinner since we got here a month ago. Lazy but nothing wrong with that. I will let you know if Norma wins the PowerBall lottery.

Lenovo Ideapad 110S

I am really happy with the $119 Lenovo I scored from Best Buy a few days ago. I was concerned that the 32GB (28GB after the hidden restore partition) solid state drive might not be large enough but my guru friend Rick Doyle reassured me that Windows 10 would not crowd it too much and he was right (was there ever any doubt?). I took it over to the clubhouse and used the park WIFI to do all the updates and Windows used only 15 GB.

I downloaded Chrome just because I prefer it to Edge and installed my Quicken. The drive is still only 60% full so there is lots of room. I just will not be able to use the machine to store photos.

It is blazingly fast due to the solid state drive and is ready to use just a few seconds after turning it on.

The only possible complaint I have is that the case is white, the only choice available in this sale, so it might be a little difficult to keep clean. But that complaint is very minor as it is a quality machine!

Gunshot!

About six last night we heard a terrific BANG outside our rig. Norma thought it was a firecracker and I thought it might be a tire blowing out. Then we wondered if if was a gunshot. Our neighbor came out and said it definitely was a gunshot.

Ten minutes later sirens were heard and about six police cars entered the park and blocked off the row just around the corner from our site. Then a police helicopter started circling the park with it's spotlight on. That made it too noisy to hear what was going on around the corner, if anything.

Curious Norma of course was outside walking around. I told her if the helicopter was looking for someone sneaking around acting suspicious they would lock in on her! She ignored me but eventually came in.

The police stayed a while and then left. That was it, we don't know anything else. Maybe someone who lives closer to the source will fill us in.

Just another night in gun happy America.