Dr. Vu…how do you do?

Today is a rarity here in Southern California…it’s raining! Actually, we’ve had showers for a couple of days now. Maybe Global Warming is a hoax after all?

Charlie and I have been using these rainy days to get a lot of errands done. Today we visited Dr. Vu, a plastic surgeon, who checked Charlie out stem to stern, on the lookout for large lipomas. He found nine of them that were annoying enough to Charlie to warrant surgical excision. She’s been living with these fatty tumors for many years, and some are quite painful, especially when JayJay or myself happens to poke one of them. Dr. Vu will now send his report to our medical insurance group and, hopefully, they will authorize him to do some slicin’ and dicin’.

Charlie and I are unlike in many, many ways, but it is probably most pronounced with our health histories. I’m lucky to have inherited pretty good genes (my Mom is 89 this year, and I believe that my grandmother lived that long, as well), and have had very few health issues other than accidents. Charlie, on the other hand, has a medical chart that must be several feet tall. Bad genes and bad luck have plagued her for almost all of her life. So, when one of us has to fill out her medical history at a new doctor’s office, it can take some time. To help out, Charlie carries in her purse itemized lists of surgeries that she’s endured and current medicines that she’s been prescribed.

The biggest problem that she will have in receiving authorization for the seemingly routine excision of these subcutaneous tumors is…from the anesthesiologist. Most of them are reluctant to put Charlie “under”, thinking that she may not come out of it. She’s a heart patient, she’s taking many sophisticated drugs, and she has a history of pulmonary emboli. She will have to temporarily go off of her blood clotting medicine for this surgery. Been there, done that, most recently for a colonoscopy. Anyway, it’s routine for us, but scary for her doctors. Hopefully, we can get approval, get this thing safely done, a be rid of those pesky lumps.

We had dinner last night at our friend Jason Friedman’s house. He’s a very good friend of Charlie (they met in LeTip, a business networking group) and he’s my hiking buddy (we did Mt. Whitney awhile back). Jason has a large, beautiful home in Menifee that he shares with his Husky dog, Ashka. Unfortunately, he has no one else to share his life with. He’s had bad luck with women, and is snakebit, to some extent. Charlie and I feel so bad for him, for the loneliness that he’s experiencing. He’s  “desperately seeking Susan”, or anyone else, for that matter, but just can’t find that perfect match.

Maybe that’s his problem…being too picky. Sometimes opposites attract. Take Charlie and I, for example. We’ve been married for 42 years, have been through good times and bad, and we find a way to make the partnership work, despite the fact that we are very different people. In every situation that arises, our Yin/Yang team has two ways of looking at the problem, usually with my brain and Charlie’s heart. Sometimes my way prevails, sometime hers, and sometimes we compromise to reach a solution that satisfies both of us. There’s a synergy at work in our marriage, something that is lacking in many others that I see. I honestly feel sorry for them, when one party dominates the other.

Jason is a very driven guy. His motor seems to always be going 100 mph; lots of nervous energy. He’s immersed in work, doing Iron Man training, helping out at Alcoholics Anonymous, going to church, working on his house, etc. It’s like his life is a burning fuse, where he’s trying to cram as much into it before the bomb goes off. He could be a very dominating, stubborn guy…who knows? How a woman would fit into this frantic existence, I don’t know. Personally, I think he needs someone to curl up on a couch with, someone with a sense of humor, someone to walk (not run) with, a person whom he can trust. I hope he can find one; I did.

We have a big family get-together scheduled for Christmas Eve. We anticipate 16 bodies, including sons Jeff’ and Tim’s families (with some friends) and my sister Claudia and her squeeze, Ted. We’ll have a lot of food, do a White Elephant gift exchange, and gorge ourselves on pasta, Mexican food, chicken wings, and desserts. Charlie has had a very good year, business wise, so she’s bought oodles of presents for the kids and grandkids. There should be many smiles all around.

 

 

Holiday Season Fun

It’s the time of the year when Charlie and I put on the holiday feed bag. My size 32 pants are beginning to feel pretty tight.

In the past week we’ve thrown a few dinners and have attended some, as well. We’ve got another tomorrow, then another on Thursday, Christmas Eve at our house on Saturday, then Christmas day at my sister’s on Sunday. By then I’ll be ready to explode! A few days after Christmas we’ll be heading up to Santa Barbara for a short vacation…of shopping, eating, and drinking. Weight Watchers, here I come!! I think another long hike up a tall mountain is in order.

Yesterday I bowled in the Bear Creek League. Nowadays, I’m only bowling one day a week and am having a tough time rolling a 200 game. My league average is under 175 now, as compared to over 200 two years ago. I used to go the the bowling alley wondering if I would throw another 300 game; now, I anticipate rolling a 150 game, or two!  Perhaps more practice and commitment is needed. I hate mediocre bowling.

Same with golf. I played today for the first time in a month. I hit a few good shots, but, overall, my game was pretty ragged. At least the company was good: Gary, my best friend; and two other friends, Maz and Fran. And, because the latter two work at the Murrieta Driving Range, we got a $35 rate (normally $85) at Temecula Creek GC. We had a good time, too, partially because we don’t keep score. We’re just trying to hit a few good shots, tell some jokes and stories, and give each other a hard time. Golf should be fun.

Maz (who is 80) and Fran (who is in mid-70’s) have worked at the driving range for quite awhile, going back to the time when youngster Rickie Fowler was taking golf lessons there. Rickie is now a world famous golfer, and visits the range from time to time. He was there this week, and, according to the guys, drank beer out of the Ryder Cup trophy with some of the driving range guys. His caddie/old high school buddy, Joe Skovron, and his dad were on the course today, a couple of holes ahead of us. Can you imagine…being Rickie Fowler’s caddie on the PGA tour? What a blast that must be!

Charlie has several doctor’s appointments this week. Tomorrow, she will be seeing a plastic surgeon to see if he can remove some of her many lipomas. They are subcutaneous fat deposits that she has on her arms and legs. The are naturally-occurring and benign, but can be painful when they occur over a nerve. We are hoping that the surgeon will agree to excise several of them now, and then maybe another bunch of them later in the year. Charlie could probably keep the guy busy for five years! Hopefully, our insurance will cover this elective surgery.

We got new neighbors this week. His name is Carl and hers is Kerrie, and they’ve moved into the house next door to the Pace’s. Carl is a urologist, so we now have three doctors living in our cul-de-sac (Dr. Herz is a retired neurosurgeon and Dr. Wakabayashi is a retired thoracic surgeon). “Is there a doctor in the house?”…yes, there is! (And, a nurse, too. Charlie used to be a LVN.) If there are any neighborhood medical emergencies, we’ve got it covered.

On Christmas day I will be retrieving my Mom from her house in Vista (about an hour’s drive south) and taking her to the family celebration at my sister Claudia’s home in Temecula. My Mom will be 89 this year, and still drives her own car. But, we don’t want her on the road competing with all of the holiday traffic on Interstate 5. And, she can’t see well enough to drive at night. So, I will drive her to/from the festivities so she can concentrate on the decorations, the food, and the gift-giving (which she really likes!). This year, for the first time in many years, we will be spending Christmas day with my Mom, Claudia and Kellie (my other sister), and my brother, Terry. Health issues considered, I don’t know how many more of these events we will have together. So, I’m looking forward to Sunday.

So are the dogs. We have some toys in the dogs Christmas stockings (hanging from the fireplace mantel). Booger knows they’re in there; she can smell them. Christmas can’t come soon enough for her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Beast

Charlie and I fondly call our 40′ 2005 Monaco Windsor motorhome “The Beast”.  We love traveling in it, and it’s quite comfy for the four of us (including the dogs!).  Compared to most RV’s, it pretty luxurious.

It’s not without issues, of course, as it is now 11 years old and counting. Like your home, or any piece of equipment, parts of it wear out, get damaged, or just stop working (from old age!).  Everything has a shelf life, I guess, and The Beast is constantly undergoing renovations.

We’ve been repairing, replacing, and updating parts of The Beast for a couple of years now. The batteries, the slider canvas, the tires, some ceiling fans, the toilet, etc… the list goes on. It costs money to live this lifestyle, and, luckily for us, Charlie is bringing in some pretty good money right now and feels like the rig is a good place to use it. So, we continue…

This season we are changing out all of the flooring. The original ceramic floor tiles have yellowed and several are cracked. And, the carpet is about what one would expect after a decade of abuse. So, at considerable expense, we are re-doing the floors with hard surface wood-like laminate and re-carpeting most of the previously carpeted areas with some Mohawk medium pile material.

We are also upgrading our audiovisual system with a new 40′ HDTV, an upgraded surround sound receiver, and an external Bluetooth music system (for outdoor patio users) that our guests can use with their Pandora phone app.  And, we will now have Dish satellite TV reception in both the bedroom and in the living room. Yeah!

Last year, we bought some very nice artificial grass in Las Vegas to use under the patio. We really liked it, and so did the dogs! We’re going to get another section this coming year.

Luckily, some of this expense can be “written off” against Charlie’s business. It is our home, and her mobile office, for half of the year, complete with her computer, dual monitors, printer, WiFi hotspot, and business phone.

It would be nice if she didn’t have so much work during our road trip, but she’s still enjoying her business, and I help her out with a number of the clients. I can only hike and walk the dogs so much; plenty of extra time on my hands.

When we’re on the road, I try to get Charlie out of the rig as much as I can, and we have at least one “date night” per week when we go out to dinner. And, we both enjoy our afternoon alcoholic beverage break under the patio with the doggies.

It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to do it.

 

2017 RV Travel Schedule

The holiday season is upon us.  The dogs are happy.

But, planning season is also underway.  Charlie and I intend to hit the road again in the motorhome beginning in late May.  We are going to do an abbreviated road trip this year, in terms of mileage, because we will not be swinging up into Montana, like we have for the past two years.  In 2016, we traveled as far east as the Black Hills of South Dakota; in 2017, Moab, Utah will be our easternmost stop, with most of our 5-month trip taking place in California.

Unless something comes up to change our plans (note: something usually does!), our itinerary will look like this:

Las Vegas, May 29-June 1

Grand Canyon, June 2-9

Hurricane (Zion), June 10-19

Moab, June 20-29

Park City, June 30-July 3

Winnemucca, July 4

Reno, July 5-7

South Lake Tahoe, July 8-11

Truckee, July 12-15

Napa, July 16-29

Santa Cruz, July 30-Aug 8

Carmel, Aug 9-15

Santa Barbara, Aug 16-22

Oceanside, Aug 23-Nov 4

I’m looking forward to some more good hiking this year.

Hopefully, some of our friends can join us on the journey.  Please check out the itinerary and meet us on the road!

Happy Holidays!

 

 

 

Wood Mtn Christmas Tree and Noodle Company

I recently completed my annual trip to Oregon to help the Wood Mountain Christmas Tree organization ship natural trees and tree products to fundraising groups in California and Arizona. My good friends Randy and Denise Wood own the Wood Mtn business, and they are good friends of both Charlie and I.  Basically, Wood Mtn works with charities who pre-sell the Christmas trees and/or “greens” (wreaths, swags, and garland) to their donors, allowing the charitable group (usually a school booster group) to make some money, and for the donor to acquire a super-fresh, high-quality Christmas tree or decoration in the process.

A lot of people are involved in bringing these products to market.  The tree grower, Angel Guerrero, leases many plots of land in Oregon where he raises several types of trees: Douglas Fir, Grand Fir, Noble Fir, and Nordman Fir. The trees grow about 1 foot per year, with most trees sold in the 5-6′ through 8-9′ heights, although Wood Mtn does ship some larger trees to a few customers.  Angel’s crews harvest the trees, load them into trucks, bring them to the shipping lot, and then stack them by type and size.

The trees then have to be tagged with Wood Mtn tags, which are color-codes by type and height.

Then, the trees need to be loaded into the 53′ trailers.  Angel’s workers use elevators to get them into the trailers, and other workers pack them tight in the trailer compartment.  This goes on for three days, rain or shine, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., until all 23 semi tractor-trailer loads are complete.

Angel has several crews of Hispanic laborers who do the heavy lifting.  The workers are small in stature, but wiry and strong, and have a cheerful attitude while doing this very hard labor.  I’m sure most of them are illegals, but…they are doing some extremely exhausting labor that very few Caucasian men would put up with for very long.

The Wood Mtn crew consisted of Randy Wood, our jefe, myself, Randy’s son Kyle Wood, and another fellow named James Tardy.  The four of us have worked together for several years.  Randy’s brother Joe Wood also joined us this year.  To be truthful, the week-long trip is a male-bonding experience, a frat party without the music, dames, and booze.  We enjoy each others’ company, the camaraderie, the food, and the goofing off.  This year, James entertained us with the drone(s) that he purchased and attempted to fly (in the motel room!).  He and Kyle eventually got pretty good at piloting the thing out at the tree assembly lot.

This is Randy Wood and the grower, Angel Guerrero.


Here’s a photo of our crew (minus Joe) plus one of Angel’s laborers.


Our crew’s job is to make sure that the 13,000 trees that are being loaded are properly tagged and are of good quality, and that each “drop” within the trailer load is properly marked and the contents of the drop are correct in number and type of tree and in the number of greens (wreaths, swags, garlands) that were ordered.  Each drop is separated by a sign designating the charity/booster group that will be offloading the trailer down in California and Arizona.

My primary job is to make sure that Kyle, James and Joe have all the tools they need to process each truck load, and to make sure that each of the 23 truck drivers has his proper instructions and documentation before he leaves the assembly lot.  My secondary job is to assist Randy by running errands, helping Wood Mtn resolve “brushfires” as they occur, and providing support to Kyle, James and Joe, who do the actual counting of products being loaded onto the trailers.

I was helping Kyle retrieve a piece of equipment on Wednesday when I cut my left thumb (with my pocket knife) while trying to remove a thick zip tie.  Actually, the knife blade was ceramic, not metal, and it broke due to the thickness of the zip tie…jerking over into my thumb and slicing it pretty deep.  I had to go to the local Urgent Care to be patched up.

Anyway, I survived, and was back at the lot in a few hours to help finish to day’s work.  In the end, Wood Mtn shipped 23 truckloads of product, consisting of 13,000 trees, 10,000 wreaths, several thousand swags, and several miles of garland.  Our customers in California and Arizona would have these products in their homes within 48 hours!

Another aspect of the Wood Mtn operation is “Trees for Troops”.  Again, it is a fundraising vehicle for schools, primarily, wherein the end product, a 5-6′ Douglas Fir tree is provided to active service military family free of charge.  Fed Ex works with Wood Mtn to ship the trees to military bases around the U.S.  This year, Wood Mtn was the largest “Trees for Troops” provider in the Nation, with 3,200 trees shipped.

The weather stayed pretty decent all week (for Oregon, in Winter!), so  at least our crew (and Angel’s laborers) didn’t have to suffer in the cold, rain, and snow like in previous years.  We even had time to fly a drone!

It was a nice week.  Randy and I drove up to Oregon (1,034 miles) and back in his nice Silverado pick-up truck.  We had a great time shooting the bull, telling old stories, and debating politics.  I’m looking forward to doing it again next year!

Fast forward one week:

Charlie and I had dinner with the Woods (Denise and Randy last night). I asked Randy how things settled out after we came home.

One of the King’s Trucking semis was extremely late arriving in So Cal. It was, in fact, the load for Murrieta Valley High School, our local school where several of our grandchildren have gone to school. After many hours of waiting around for the truck, the leader of the booster group was extremely pissed off and threatened Wood Mtn with lawsuits, bad publicity, etc. She demanded a full refund plus the profit that the charity would have made. Of course, the late shipment was not Wood Mtn’s mistake, but a decision was made to cut the group a check and try to smooth things over. At about that time, the missing truck reported in and announced that it would be at the school in a few hours. Randy went down there with check in hand, but hoped that things could be worked out with the irate booster group leader.

The truck arrived, backed in, and Randy had a glimmer of hope that the situation was going to be resolved peacefully. That all changed, dramatically, when the doors of the trailer were opened…to reveal a truckload of Chinese ramen noodles!

Needless to say, the irate lady remained irate, Randy was flabbergasted, and the Wood Mtn organization looked like it was being run by the Keystone Cops. The check and apologies from Wood Mtn were provided to Murrieta Valley High School.

There had been a massive screw up by King’s Trucking, and Randy said that the manly truck driver broke down and cried. Evidently, truck trailers were switched at the company lot, from the guy who had picked up the load to the guy who would drive the thousand miles down to So Cal. Someone wasn’t paying attention.

This seemed to be the theme of King’s Trucking in 2016. Almost all of their trucks were either somewhat late or massively late arriving at their designated locations in California and Arizona. The whole Wood Mtn operation was hobbled and its reputation tarnished because of something not really under its control. That’s life, I guess. But, Randy will make them pay, big time.