Another boring day at the beach, ha ha. The bar opens at 2 p.m.
Actually, we’ve been down here in Oceanside, at Paradise by the Sea RV Resort, approximately 400 yards from the ocean, for a couple of weeks now…and I’ve yet to put a foot into the surf! And, the weather has been great: High mid-70’s, low-mid-60’s, with lots of sunshine. God’s Country.
We’ve just been so busy. Charlie’s catching up on her work, after a couple months of doing stupid audits for Workers’ Comp and General Liability for several clients. It really put her behind the curve. Luckily, our son Jonathan has picked up the slack. He be “The Man”.
I’ve kept busy walking the three dogs multiple times per day, doing laundry and dishes, making the bed, keeping our exterior living area neat, running errands in the car, making meals, and driving Charlie back and forth to Murrieta for special tasks. I work up a real thirst for Margaritas by early afternoon.
Oh, yeah, I tried to cut off my left index finger one day, while demonstrating to my son Jeff the appropriate and safe way to stow away our tri-fold couch sleeper. I had to go to Urgent Care and get six stitches. That sucked.
The good part of that accident is that I therefore avoid having to do the dishes for a couple of weeks.
I’ve been visiting my Mom (who is in hospice) in Murrieta every Thursday.
Thursday is also my bowling day, so Charlie and I (and the dogs) will make a day of it up there. She’ll get her nails done, we’ll get some materials distributed to clients, picked up our prescriptions from Costco, collect stuff from the dry cleaner, etc. It’s a 50 minute drive, so we try to maximize the utility of the trip.
I really sucked at bowling last week. Our team won the match, but the guys didn’t get a lot of help from me. I will have to bring my A-game tomorrow or they’ll toss me.
I got my left knee injected with Syn Visc for the fourth year this past Monday. It is necessary because I have relatively zero cartilage left in the joint, and I either have to go the Syn Visc route or consider a knee replacement. The injection is good for one year and works like a champ; my knee has no pain and I can do anything I want. Normally, after the injection, my knee is stiff for a week. But, this time, no stiffness, so I will be able to avoid missing a week of the bowling league.
Last night was a dud. A good friend and his wife were supposed to come down to our RV site and do drinks and snacks with us. We were really looking forward to it, and had bought about $25 in goodies to make it real nice. But, alas, they didn’t show! It turned out that our friend had mistakenly put Wednesday on his calendar when the get-together was scheduled for Tuesday. He was humiliated, and Charlie was pissed. But, we will get over it.
Speaking of friends, we’ve made a few here at Paradise. A nice Canadian couple with two girls was sited next to us last week. They got run ragged taking their kids to every attraction in Southern California, and the mother was exhausted. On their last night before the return run up to British Columbia, we share drinks and war stories. And, I gave them some tips on good RV parks on the way north, which they really appreciated. They were going to try Ocean Mesa (Santa Barbara) as their first stop, and then maybe Santa Cruz Redwoods after that.
The dogs got their physicals this past week. Baby is now 17-1/2 pounds, while Booger and JayJay are about 26 pounds apiece, a bit chubby for them. Too many treats; shame on us. But, it’s vacation…
Today, Charlie and I spent some time on the Internet making preparations for our October cruise out of Boston. We’ve never spent any time in New England, so we’re going to do a few excursions in Main and Nova Scotia. In addition, we’ll see a bunch of Boston, as we will spend two days prior to, and three days after, in that city. We may rent a car and head out into the country to see the Fall leaves. And, I expect we will frequent a number of bars and dives to sample the cuisine. I’m looking forward to it.
We’ve been on many cruises (maybe a couple dozen?), and usually don’t do the “sit down” dinners in the dining room. However, on this cruise, which will be more formal (cause it’s in New England in the Fall), we will probably revert to the Main Dining Room routine, with all the bells and whistles. And, gain 8 pounds apiece!
Speaking of the Fall, I am again signed-up for the Oregon Christmas Tree gig. This year, Wood Mountain will be shipping more product. So, we will have a bigger crew, and we’ll be up there (in the crummy weather) for twelve days rather than seven, packing who knows how many semis full of trees, wreaths, swags, and garland. I don’t know how many more of these man-cations I will do; twelve days is a lot of bonding with the guys. This year we will be staying in a rented farmhouse rather than a motel. I hope it doesn’t get too crazy in there. A couple of the guys are much younger, and they like to party a bit. And, their music sucks. So, we’ll see…
My role up there is mainly a supervisor of logistics, so I don’t have to get my hands that dirty. I make sure that the right products are on the right truck, in the right order, and that the truck driver is headed to the correct drop-points down south in California and Arizona with the right paperwork. In between, I do whatever The Boss (Randy Wood) needs me to do, whether it be running errands in the car, labeling trees, providing the guys with supplies, and interacting with the hard-working, Spanish-speaking worker bees (who would all be out of jobs, along with the collapse of the Christmas Tree industry, if Donald Trump had his way).
I’m expecting a raise this year, due to the extra five days away from my Sweetheart. Maybe that money can fix some of the bumps and bruises on the RV?