My Weblog

We're back

Our time in Palm Desert was wonderful.  The facilities were lovely.  Joe kept saying over and over how GREEN it was (partly just to rankle me with the repetition, partly because it was truly wonderful for these two desert rats).  There were large expanses of beautifully manicured green grass throughout the area.  From our balcony (actually we had 2 balconies, but we only used one) there was green grass and large trees and a pond frequented by ducks.  Lovely.  We had what is commonly called a two-bedroom lockout.  Meaning, if we were owners and only owned a one bedroom, they could have locked us out of the second bedroom.  But, our friend owned the two-bedroom, so we had access to both.  We really didn't use the second part of the suite much--I think Joe went potty in there once.  We mostly hung in the main area which consisted of a living room, a dining area, a kitchen, a bedroom, and two bath areas--one with a sunken whirlpool tub and sink area, the other with a shower, sink, and toilet.  There was a large patio/balcony area with entries from both the bedroom and the living room.  Everything was beautifully decorated in shades of green, orange, yellow--my favorite colors of late--so I was in heaven.  Of course, the kitchen was fully stocked with pretty much anything you could need.  The only thing I hoped for and didn't find was a small saucepan and a broiler pan.  The second bedroom also had a sunken whirlpool tub, a standard bath area, space enough for 2 queen sized beds, coffee pot, microwave and an under-the-counter refrigerator and opened onto a smaller balcony.  My favorite part was the whirlpool tub; I think Joe's favorite part was that there was a TV in the bedroom, and a comfy easy chair in front of the TV in the living room.  Of course, the facility offered several large pools and an outdoor spa or two for those with a mind to take advantage of them.

I am convinced, if you can afford it, that timeshare is THE way to vacation.  All the comforts of being at home and none of the responsibilities.  How often, when staying in a hotel or motel, I've wished for space enough to get away from Joe's blaring TV.  This time I had that much space and more.  We cooked all our dinners but one right there in our very own kitchen which really made eating no more expensive than it would have been at home. 

The trip from here to there was in the neighborhood of 4-4.5 hours.  On the way into the area, we drove through a "forest" of windmills--alternative energy at work.  There were windmills in every direction, as far as the eye could see.  We got to do some sightseeing which was fun.  First we drove through the area.  There are actually about 4 smaller towns butted up against each other, Cathedral City, Indio, Palm Desert, and Palm Springs.  I think Joe just wanted to get the lay of the land, but I wanted to see how "the other half" lived.  I love the GREEN and the abundant flowers that one finds in California.  We drove through "old" Palm Springs and the tall trees and blooming bougainvilla were magnificent.  So many beautifully kept homes and yards, though they were older homes.  Many had been remodeled and were very nicely done.  Many were in the same style that was prevalent in the 40's and 50's when they were built.  Many were completely sheltered from the street by tall hedges or bougainvilla trimmed hedge-style or even wall enclosures.  One can't help but wonder what rich and famous person hides within all that privacy!  There were tours one could take to see the homes of all the rich and famous people, but we chose not to spend our money on that.  But, had we had a more lavish budget, we could have viewed homes owned by Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Ford, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Hope, and many, many other Hollywood stars who seem to flee to Palm Springs for its climate and more relaxing style of life. Palm Desert, where we were, is much newer than Palm Springs and still lovely with palm trees and grenery and flowers everywhere.  There seemed to be no concern for water though I don't think they get substantially more rainfall than we do.   There are beautifully kept golf courses a-plenty in the area, but Joe decided not to even take his clubs.  He loves the game, but it IS expensive so, no golf.

About 60 miles out in the desert there was once a "Desert Training Camp".  It was here our soldiers were sent to train for the invasion of North Africa during World War II.  Tanks were tested there, and various "war games" were used to train the troops, even to help them acclimate to the extreme desert temperatures they would encounter in North Africa.  This training area actually encompassed more than 1500 square miles of desert in Nevada, Arizona, and California.  Not much remains of the original camp--Just the altar and benches that were part of the chapel, and some rocks, painted white, which were used to mark off a site where a tent once housed men without electricity in the middle of the desert.  It is said that water in their canteens reached 100 degrees there.........  We read that more than a million men passed through this camp!  A museum, called the George Patton Museum, has been erected there.  THAT was interesting.  Specifically, there were any number of pieces of memorabilia from General Patton himself, who at one time commanded the Desert Training Camp.  But, that was not all.  Most anything you could think of from the WWII era was also represented there--all the various guns that were carried by our soldiers, shells that were so large we couldn't help but wonder just what gun could be used to fire those!  There were posters urging housewives to save their paper, metal, and bones for use in the war effort--I understand the paper and metal, but what on earth did they do with the bones??????  Letters written overseas and sent home to family and friends with 1 cent and 3 cent postage stamps.  Complete uniforms--I'm sure there's a better name for it, but by that I mean every stitch of clothing that a soldier would have been issued from dress uniforms to boots to fatigues.  We saw camp desks used by officers and clerks as they marched across North Africa or Europe.  Old typewriters of that era.  Samples of every ribbon or medal given to our servicemen.  All the different models of radios and field telephones used for communication.  And on and on.  It was amazing.  The building is sizeable, but it was cram-jammed with "stuff".  I'm just sure you could tour that building 5 or 6 times, or more, and still spot things you'd missed on all your previous trips.  Outdoors, there was an accumulation of WWII tanks which was only fitting since Patton was a tank commander.  To my sorrow, we did not get the opportunity to see inside them.  Honestly, if we'd been able, I would have climbed inside one, just to see what it was like, but they were all locked down.  Anyway, we learned a lot, saw a lot of actual history (as opposed to what one sees in the movie "Patton"), and had a great time. 

We also went to Big Bear.  What a difference 100 miles makes!  From the tumbleweed and cactus of the Desert Training Center to the tall pine trees of a 9000 ft elevation.........  Big Bear is a beautiful place.  A small town, more or less, in population, but stretched out over a fairly sizeable area.  Many mountain "cabins" ranging from tiny places the size of a good-sized garage to mini-castles.  All with mountain vistas and/or views of the lake.  We hit Big Bear at just the right time--just before the first snowfall so we were not surrounded/overrun with skiers who'd come for the weekend.  Nope, just us and the locals........  Gorgeous area and I could move there in a minute if only we could afford it.  We picked up a couple of those free magazines advertising homes in the area.  Some were reasonably priced and some were 1.5 million dollars and up!  Yeah, let's just buy one of those right now! 

We spent Wednesday just hanging around the apartment.  I didn't feel really well, I had a good book, and I had a great desire to just sit on my rump and do nothing more taxing than turning the pages of my book!  That, however, was a mistake.  Joe decided he'd had enough relaxation and wanted to come home.  (I, on the other hand, could easily have stayed another month or so, as long as my stash of second-hand novels held out.)  However, on Thursday afternoon we headed home.  I was very sad to close the door to that gorgeous place......

I think Joe thought he could snag some signings if he was here on Friday.  As it turned out, he snagged only one.........  Then, yesterday, we both worked til we were ready to drop.  Foreclosure auction at the Plaza, and though the auction wasn't scheduled to start til 9:30, we had to be there by 8AM.  They warned us we would be too busy to go anywhere and buy lunch so we brought food.  Joe actually got a lunch.  I was "stranded" in the investor pit from 1PM til 5PM--no potty breaks, no smoke breaks, no lunch.  By the time I finally got a chance to eat a little something and take care of other needs, they handed me yet one more deal to sign.  We each signed 5 so, hopefully, if they all close, we will eventually make $1000 for working the day, but we were both about 3/4 pissed off and 150% exhausted when we got home.  From our viewpoint, it was a true "Murphy's Law" kind of day--everything that could go wrong did.  They were poorly organized (not Fidelity's team but the auctioneer's team), the photocopy machines didn't work consistently, and the auditors seemed to see their mission as finding anything at all they could unearth to keep from passing a file, regardless of how long the customer had been waiting.  Joe had one file that went through 5 reviews!  I waited an hour and 45 minutes to have the three files reviewed from my tour in the pit.  Finally, my client just got desperate and left.  Somehow, I was supposed to prevent him from leaving, but he'd already missed one flight out of Vegas and was on the verge of missing the one he'd scheduled to replace it.  I had one auditor come back wanting the client to initial off where she'd added the area code to the phone numbers.  Hey, fool, they're Vegas phone numbers and we're signing in Vegas and the files will be processed in Vegas.  Why do we need to specify "702"?  Another came back to me complaining that there was no copy of the cashier's check in the file for the downpayment.  Well, duh, it was a cash downpayment?  I asked in my most wide-eyed stupid manner, "Oh, I'm sorry--should I have had them photocopy the cash?????"  Grrrrr.  To make matters worse, the pit is extremely loud.  There was one fool from the auctioneer's team who was running around with a whistle--the kind your coach blew OUTSIDE in Phys Ed to indicate you should start your lap around the track.  Unfortunately, this idiot was blowing it INSIDE and right behind my chair.  I jumped in my chair everytime he blew that whistle, and I was ready to cram it down his throat after his 4th or 5th time of blowing it, but he just kept it up......  You really can't talk in there, just point and hope the client signs where you pointed.  In the meantime, he's in the pit in the first place because he plans on buying more than one property so he is doing his best to follow what's up for auction now and to ignore you.  It's a real experience.......  But, we are so grateful for the opportunity, even if I DID go to bed at 8PM.

Of course, while we were gone, we worried about the dogs.  They did fine, but I think it will be a while before Punky trusts us to come home again if we both leave together.  Her face, yesterday, when we both left together for the auction, told quite a tale.  Since Jennifer reported that Punky nearly attacked her when we were in Mexico, we asked Matt to stop by and check on them this trip.  Of course, that means you have to call him and remind him and then call him and see if he remembered that you reminded him.  And, he is usually surly whenever you talk to him, so all in all that part of the trip left a lot to be desired.  No peace of mind that he would really come by and check on them and dealing with his attitude when we called.

We have still not discovered what it is about our computer system that is messing with our access to the internet.  We only know that if we try to work through the router, we are blocked from any number of websites we would normally visit.  Joe has finally given up and hooked my computer up directly to the internet, and he has no access except on my computer.  It's a pain.  It is possible the router is bad, or it is possible there's a problem with the wiring.  We actually have two routers, he's tried both of them, and that hasn't fixed the problem.  In any case, this is not a desirable situation. 

I have been having a lot of problem with my shoulders and arms.  I honestly think that I've been experiencing a series of muscle spasms in that area.  Anyway, certain ways I move my arms bring on a cry of pain.  It was wonderful to sink down into that whirlpool and let the hot water work on some of the soreness at the timeshare.  Of course, one has to use one's arms to get out of a sunken whirlpool tub and that was a real challenge.  I had one episode where it hurt so badly I had to give up on just getting out like usual and get out from a kneeling position.  I would really appreciate your prayers about this!  I know I'm healed because the Bible says "by his stripes we WERE healed".  But, I'm more than ready for the symptoms to be gone.  This has been going on for several weeks now.........

Thanksgiving is coming up.  Matt and Patti are headed to California as they do for EVERY holiday so we won't see them.  I see Matt every day I work, so that's just fine with me.  I don't need any more time with him til he has a significant attitude adjustment.  It seems we are having Thanksgiving dinner at Jason's with Jennifer doing the cooking.  I think it will be her first time doing a turkey--hope she remembers to take the bag of goodies out of that turkey before she cooks it.  I know I didn't with my first turkey, LOL. 

We came home to find that my paycheck from the 9th of November had bounced.  And my paycheck for Friday this week wasn't ready.  So, my bank account is pretty ugly looking.  Joe and I have about made up our minds that we will have to convert my paychecks to cash immediately and then make a deposit later from now on. 

Well, I'm sure there is more I could think of to say, but I've been at this for almost two hours and enough is enough.  I've got much to do.  Hope all is well with you.........  Have a blessed day.

Life goes on

We are doing a bit better with the loss of Indiana.  There are still moments where the tears come.  For instance, most days we eat lunch at my desk.  The usual arrangement was Indy at Joe's right elbow, Toby at Joe's left elbow, and Punky lying next to Mom's chair.  The other day Punky showed up at Joe's right elbow and it was almost too much for us.  Punky is still so lonely.  We (I) have begun praying for a dog.  We want another BIG dog, approximately a year old, spayed or neutered, current on all shots, with short hair.  They say with the foreclosures going on, there are many dogs available.  I suppose many people can't afford to take their dogs into apartment housing.  We will start looking in earnest in about two weeks.

We made a quick trip to Mexico last weekend.  We left here on Friday and came back on Saturday.  As usual, Joe waited til the last minute to get reservations for us, but this time it worked out well.  They had only a suite left, so we got a suite for the price of a regular room.  It was quite nice.  We've kind of settled on one particular place as "our" place to stay when we're in Yuma.  We both really like it.  We were up bright and early and I went to the lab and had blood drawn.  Then we headed to the restaurant right by the border, from which the most delicious smells are emitted, and had breakfast.  I didn't like mine much, but Joe really gobbled his up.  Then we had hours and hours of time on our hands.  This time, unlike in the past, we'd paid a small fee and acquired Mexican insurance which meant that we could drive across the border.  So we set out to explore Algodones in earnest. 

The first thing we learned is that it is a much larger town than we'd first imagined.  In our previous trips, we'd seen mostly just about an 8 square block area, the area most Americans see.  Even where the doctor's office is located was a new area for us which we only found on our last trip.  But, there is much much more to the little town than I'd ever imagined.

I'd expected to see a lot of abject poverty, like one might see when traveling to the Dominican Republic or Haiti.  Though we drove and drove and drove and covered most of the town, I can honestly say I only saw 4 "homes" that were as bad as I expected.  That's not to say that the rest were palaces.  Many were very small and run down.  But there were "palaces" as well, and everything in between--some lovely homes that would make a perfect place to retire!!  Joe was surprised at the small number of mobile homes we saw.  It was his thinking that a single wide trailer would sell for pretty cheap in the US and that folks in Mexico would be sorely tempted to drag them home.  Well, we saw a few, but maybe only half a dozen.  The streets "downtown" are quite narrow and once you're out of that area, few streets are paved.  Perhaps transportation of a mobile home is just not all that easy in Algodones?

We joked that Algodones is a town of "becoming".  Most of the homes are constructed of brick and reinforced concrete.  There is not much wood in Mexico.......  Over and over again, we saw structures that had been started, or someone had started adding on to.  Some of them, when completed, will be quite large.  We were not sure whether someone had started construction and was just waiting for a fresh influx of cash to continue on or whether the projects had been abandoned.  I would say we saw about 6 finished homes that were for sale.  All of the construction seems to be done the same way.  There is a reinforced concrete foundation, then bricks, then more reinforced concrete to carry the load of the roof.  Most of the roofs are, of course, "spanish" tile, which is quite heavy.  There does not seem to be any central air conditioning, but window shakers were quite common. 

We noticed two other things we thought were pretty interesting.  First, it's all about the "front door".  Even the humblest of homes has a fancy front door.  This was so common one has to wonder if they're manufactured in the area somewhere.  Leaded glass in the door itself, leaded side windows, etc.  Many of the homes also sported beautiful windows as well.  And, of course, the fancier the home, the fancier the front entry way.  I was quite envious of many of them.  The other thing that we found interesting is that each home seems to have a wall around it.  The entire property is walled in.  Some are concrete, some are stuccoed, some are a combination of concrete and wrought iron or stucco and wrought iron, but each wall serves to make a private "compound".  Cars are parked inside the walls, and each owner has his own private spot on earth to which to retire at night.  The "yards" of many homes were a tangled mess of overgrown weeds and refuse, but many other homes had beautifully cultivated gardens spotting all sorts of tropical flowers and trees.  Of course, there don't seem to be any zoning laws, so your beautifully cultivated garden could be right next door to a yard that looks a bit like a trash dump, but you're in your private space so apparently that doesn't matter much.  There seems to be no shortage of water as we saw many a Mexican homemaker outside with the hose, watering her plants.

One other thing that surprised me was the cars and trucks.  I had expected to see a lot of rusted out old clunkers.  No way!  Most every home that had a car parked outside it, the car was relatively new, say 2003 or later.  Just like north of the border, many homes had 2 or more vehicles parked outside and they appeared to be in running order. 

I came to the conclusion, and who knows if I'm right, that Algodones is not representative of the standard of living in Mexico.  I believe the proximity to the border allows many people to go across the border to work where they are paid more than they would be paid for the same job in Mexico.  Even the overgrowth of pharmacies, doctor's offices, eye doctors, and dentists, I believe, contributes to the employment in Algodones.  So, I believe, there is much more cash floating around in Algodones than would be common in other areas. 

We saw three schools, one a private Catholic school.  We saw three churches.  Two were of reasonable size and one was housed in a building not much larger than a free standing single car garage.  Of course, there are no "supermarkets", but those are a 15 minute drive away in Yuma.  And there are some quirks we Americans are not used to.  For example, the sewage system just is not built to accomodate toilet paper.  So, there is a plastic bag lined trash can next to each toilet and that is where the tissue goes.  Perhaps some of the fancier homes in the newer areas of town have better sewage processing, but I kind of doubt it.  Trash there is both burned and picked up.  We saw trash cans by the curb, but we also saw many strategically placed burn barrels.  There were many small markets.  In fact, we puzzled over the meaning of this particular Mexican word we saw on so many buildings.  Only when we found one with the door standing open did we figure out all these little places were corner markets. 

All in all, exploring Algodones was fun and an uplifting experience.  And, since we have often thought this may be one of the few places where we can afford to retire, I was pleased with what I saw.  I'm sure I could get a job, perhaps as a receptionist in a doctor or dentist's office (It would be a huge advantage to be English-speaking) or perhaps even teaching English in one of the little schools.  It would be nothing for Joe to hop across the border and sign some loans if he was of a mind to do so.  It's food for thought, but not, at least, for 8 years, when Social Security kicks in.

The doctor was quite pleased with my blood tests.  As I had expected, the increased dose of thyroid medicine has dealt with the cholesterol problem quite well.  He basically told me to keep doing what I'm doing and not to come back for a year.  However, he will have to deal with me before then.  It seems that the blood pressure meds I've been taking are no longer going to be manufactured in Mexico.  So my 100-pills-for-$30 will turn into 15-pills-for-$17 unless he comes up with an alternative.  I believe I just might have gotten the last four bottles of Serriten Retard in all of Algodones this trip.

Once we finished at the doctor's office, Joe got all antsy to be on the road.  There was a VERY long line of cars waiting to cross the border.......  I was dispatched to find my meds while he got in line.  Well, I tried three stores, very close to the border, and no blood pressure meds.  I started walking toward the pharmacy we usually use, stopping to inquire at each pharmacy along the way.  They didn't even have the meds I needed at our usual pharmacy, but one of their other stores had them and delivered them to the store where I was waiting.  It was HOT, 100 degrees on the first of November, and I was sweat soaked so they treated me to a bottle of water and I rested in a chair while I waited for the meds.  I tried to call Joe but my cell wouldn't work.  But he got a call through to me, saying "Where are you!!!!!!!!!!  There are only about 15 cars ahead of me.  You need to get to the car!"  So I took off again, and arrived at the van just as we were about 8 cars back, totally drained by the stress, the heat, the humidity, and my sprint from across town.  Then we headed home.

Joe had been fighting a cold when we left for Mexico.  But, of course, I drove all of about an hour--he has to be in control, even if he's sick.  When we arrived in Yuma, he was totally exhausted and fell asleep quite early.  And, as is normal for us, about the time he was feeling like he might live, I came down with the cold he so generously shared with me.  So, I've been snuffling and blowing and coughing and sneezing all week.  Thanks, Joe!

A few other pieces of news.  FIrst, the painting has begun.  Joe has been so against even starting and I know it's because he thinks he has to work himself into the ground til it's done.  Of course not!  So, two weekends ago, he put the first coat of sealer on two walls in the living room.  Yesterday, he put a second coat on one wall and a first coat on another wall.  Apparently he's decided we're going to scrape the ceiling to get rid of this ugly awful blown on junk.  I'm glad as that will bring the home into the 21st century.  NO ONE builds homes using that junk anymore.  Our neighbor, George, has a 12 ft ladder which he has allowed us to borrow.  Since we have very high ceilings on one side of the living room-dining room area, that is a God send.  I would be doing more of the painting, but Joe is "in control" again.  We bought the sealer in a 5 gallon bucket.  That sucker is heavy enough he grunts when he has to lift it.  My chances of pouring paint out of it and into a roller tray are nil.  I've asked over and over for him to fill up a 3 pound coffee can of paint for me, but that just has not happened.  Yesterday I was allowed to cut in a few areas, to remove some nails and spackle the holes, little jobs like that.  Maybe this afternoon he'll allow me to be a bit more useful.......Lord knows I'm a way better painter than he is.  All I can say is Thank God we were planning on getting rid of this carpet anyway!

In scrapbooking news, I am officially a scrapbooking designer.  I have about 6 kits complete and 3 sets of quickpages as well.  And, I have a contract with a store.  Three kits and three sets of quickpages are on the store's server.  However, some sort of glitch between us and AOL (we think) is preventing me from putting the products in the store.  I've been working on solving this problem for more than 2 weeks and am no closer to a resolution.  I don't expect to necessarily get rich from this, but with God's help, who knows--the sky's the limit.  Some scrapbook designers, during good times, earn as much as $6000 a month we are told.  So, if anyone feels like praying for a malfunctioning computer/internet connection, feel free. 

Finally, apparently the Lord has decided that after 6 years of marriage, we deserve a vacation.  We've never had the money to do anything more than a long weekend away from home.  But, one of my clients owns several timeshares and has decided she can't use one week of her time.  She's offered it to us for free!  So we are headed to Palm Desert (near Palm Springs) on the 15th.  We were originally scheduled not to return til the 22nd, but now it looks like we will have to come back a day early.  There is a foreclosure auction and we've been invited to work it.  Since that usually means $500-$1000 extra bucks, we'll be there.  I've been looking at some web sites about Palm Springs and Palm Desert.  It looks like there might be some good photo opportunities.  Joe also wants to drive to Big Bear one day so we'll likely get some snow pictures there.  And, if he can find a CHEAP public golf course there, maybe he can play golf.  He hasn't been able to do that all year.  I suppose that would be a decent anniversary present for him--our 6th anniversary is November 28th.  For me, just getting to go is present enough--that and coming back to a serious dog search.