It’s gonna be hot today…93 degrees! Spring is upon us here in Southern California.
Lots of things going on. Preparations for our Cancun trip, continued potty training for Baby, a patio party, car for sale, RV repairs and spiffs, my Mom is about ready to be relocated into a Board and Care, and tax season is over. Yippee!
Son Jeff and wife Carol left this morning for Tulum, Mexico (actually, Tankah Bay), where they will vacation with others for a week. Then, they will mosey up to Cancun, where they will meet Charlie and I next Saturday for our week’s stay at The Villas at the Royal Cancun resort. They will look like raisins when we Pasty White Folks arrive for our week in the Caribbean sun.
Our little puppy Baby is still working on her potty training in the house. She seems to “get it” about half the time, but, then, she’ll crouch down and drop a gooey turd on the hardwood floor while staring right at me. WTF! We’ve given her some leeway on this project due to the fact that she had a nasty case of Giardia (intestinal parasite), but…now the gloves are off, Dammit! We’ve only got 5 weeks left before we all have to live in the close confines of the RV, and pee and poo on the floor there simply will not be tolerated. No, Maam..
We threw a small patio party for our long-time friend, Marilynn Robinson, last night. She’s just turned 80 years old, and still has all of her marbles (and lots of money, too). Anyway, she and five other long-time Bear Creekers ate and drank and bullshitted for several hours, reminiscing about “the good old days” in the community and catching up on all of the local gossip. One of the guests, Larry, and I recalled some of the characters who’d been involved in the BC Golf Club and some of the goofy incidents that we remembered from our 30 years in this garden paradise.
Larry was once part of a group of well-heeled Southern California redneck golfers called “The Good Ol’ Boys”. They would descend upon a golf course for a day’s entertainment and proceed to get sloshed before, during, and after the round, during which large sums of money were wagered. Then, they would re-assemble at a local bar, drink some more, and become even more obnoxious. After they closed down that joint, they might go on to pester someone in their home. That’s what happened to our joint friend, Bud Reid, who was a “Good Ol’Boy”. After a GOB tournament here at Bear Creek, the drunkards eventually ended up at Bud’s mansion in the wee hours, enjoying free booze from Bud’s well-stocked bar. He finally gave up, left them in the bar, and went to bed. When he awoke in the morning, his carousing buddies were gone, but on the bar top was an uncorked, almost entirely un-sipped, $1,000 bottle of vintage wine that was a prized possession of Mr. Reid. According to my friend Larry, this was par for the course for the fun-lovin’ Good Ol’ Boys. With friends like that, who needs enemies?
My 2012 Hyundai Veloster in on the block. It’s surplus now that we have the 2017 Jeep Cherokee 4×4. I put ads on Autotrader and RVT.com, but have not had any serious inquiries as of yet. What I have received is phishing/scam hits on the ads, where someone has tried to fleece me out of money and/or the car. It’s amazing how these criminals sniff out ads like this so quickly (within a few hours of the ad going on line!), and descend upon their would-be victim in earnest. I was suspicious about one of them, who asked the wierdest questions about the car, so I did some Internet research and found that this scammer used the exact same language and questions over and over when he approached (via email) his marks. What is the world coming to?!
The RV is almost ready for the 2017 Road Trip (to begin on May 29th). The last step is to have a local paint guy touch up some of the dings and scratches that we’ve collected over the past two years. Most of them were caused by the cliff scrape incident in Sedona two years ago. Anyway, once our paint tech Nelsio Castillo gets through with his magic, the rig will look brand spanking new.
My 89 year-old Mom, who broke her hip over a month ago, is about done with rehab and will be discharged this coming week. Little does she know that her days of living alone in her home are over. Doctors have agreed that it is not safe for her to live unsupervised, so she’s going to be relocated to a Board and Care facility and we kids are going to sell her house. It will be another adjustment for her, and it’s a tough time for the four of us siblings, having to shut down that part of my Mom’s life. My son Tim, who is a licensed Realtor, is going to help the family sell the Vista home. We’re expecting perhaps $300K to $340K proceeds from the sale, which will be needed to keep the Trust solvent while my Mom lives in B&C facilities for the rest of her life. The net draw on her estate will be about $20K per year, so she has plenty of money at this rate. We are all hoping that she will adjust to this type of living and not deteriorate (mentally) too fast. It’s been tough experiencing her mental demise over the past year. But, at least she still recognizes me and we can share fond family stories. I’m going to see her today.
Tax season ended four days ago. Life is resuming it’s slower pace now, smiles are beginning to form on my wife’s face more often, and we can now look forward to the fun part of the year.