23 February 2010

Routine Maintenance

18-22 Feb 2010--Not doing a whole lot this past few days, mostly working on the RV, but I have a few other pictures to pass on also, so I thought I would post them now.

Here are some trainees, male and female, marching around the base...to think I was one of them 30 years ago! And that I was the one yelling at them 10 to 20 years ago! Where does the time go?



Went to the BX again the other day. This is our friend Tia, who sells cell phones and is married to a retired GI, and then there is Amir again...I am telling a very funny story (haha).



Cathy and I had several things around the RV we had to tend to, starting with checking the batteries. We have 6 batteries here, 4 house batteries (white) and 2 to start the engine. We are supposed to check the water in the house batteries every time we stop somewhere, which we just found out from Cathy's uncle Robert when we were in Tallahassee. They were good this time, but the last time we had to put water in them, they were very low.



And then we had to get up on the top of the RV again, first to change out the 2 air vents on top of the RV and then to clean the 2 air conditioner units. This is a picture of one of the 2 old vents...notice it is all cracked. That is me pulling up the old caulking. I know this is not earth-shattering, but I had to get my picture in there somehow! I always take action shots of Cathy, and she almost always gets me sitting down! haha


After replacing the vent, screwing it down and re-caulking, look how good they look now!


On to the 2 Air Conditioning units...I made Cathy take this picture and made sure I wasn't sitting down.


First we had to blow out the surface dirt, leaves etc., so we had to hook up our air hose. We have something inside by the generator that we can hook up a hose to, that I guess runs off the air brakes when the RV is not on, so we used that.




Then we used some spray stuff that Walter got for us to spray foam on the A/C coils...Cathy got a cut, but she didn't know where it came from. All we had to do was spray and then wipe up the run-off, so that was a pretty easy job. Thanks Walter!!!



Hallie and Donna stopped by after they picked up their dogs from the groomer. The groomer puts these handkerchiefs on the dogs necks, but we put them on their heads...makes them look like old-time immigrants, huh? haha

Here Hallie and Donna are getting ready to leave. Notice that Hallie has to ride in the back seat because Sammy and Luna ride in the front while Hallie rides in the back with Emmy!!!! Is that pathetic, or what??


Back to work...our front step is supposed to lift up and cover the hole when we are driving, so someone doesn't fall down the stairs when we are moving, but the motor wasn't working, so Cathy pulled it apart to see what the story was. As it turns out, the motor is completely broken, so we have to find out where we can buy one before we can fix it.

That's all the maintenance we got to so far, so I will keep you posted. Here is a picture someone in the park has on the back of his RV...I thought it was nice.



And do you remember me telling you about the kids at the Stock Show and Rodeo raising and selling their animals? This is Doc, the champion Steer, who sold for $80,000...his owner was 16 years old and said he would use the money for college.


Yesterday we started selling sunglasses at USAA, the insurance company exclusively for military and military-related people. They have 16,000 employees there, so we usually sell quite a few pair. Christopher used to work here. We will work there till Friday.



And here is a picture of our friend Breena in Dallas...a couple weeks ago they had 12 1/2 inches of snow...can you believe it? We are supposed to have a few flurries here in San Antonio today, but I haven't seen any yet. We haven't had snow here since 1985! Sunday was 80 degrees! Climate change anyone?

17 February 2010

Hallie, No Pigs, & HEB

14-17 Feb 2010-I am on a roll now...it seems I have to have either Hallie pictures or pig pictures to get a lot of responses, not both as I had assumed previously. So tonight I have Hallie pictures, so time will tell on the responses.

Hallie and Donna came to visit and to dinner Sunday night. I blackened some fish for Cathy, Hallie and me...Donna had it plain...and yes, you read that right...I, Paula, blackened the fish and it was delicious. I know Brian made fun of the hot dogs I served him, so I will do better the next time I see him! haha



Donna is, by far, younger than the rest of us, but age is catching up with her too, so we were showing her some stuff we bought to make protein drinks. The trainer I had before I left San Antonio back in August suggested these protein drinks to aid my muscle healing when I was working out with him. Seeing as Cathy and I are back in the gym now, we are back to needing muscle repair (haha).



In my last posting, Hallie commented about how much she laughs with us...no one is as amused as Hallie is on anything...she is great!



I told you Donna was getting on in years, too...look at her stretching trying to get that sneaker on. Anyone reading this over 40 knows how your feet seem to get further and further away from you the older you get!



The way you know Hallie is truly comfortable in your presence, or your house, is if she takes her bra off while visiting. She had her bra on the dashboard, and just as they were leaving she told Donna to throw it to her. She knows no shame!


The weather took a real turn while we were all talking inside the RV. We almost lost the awning outside the door, but once we secured everything, I got the camera and took a few shots.

Then it was time for Hallie and Donna to leave...Donna felt like I was stalking her with my camera, but I love taking pictures now.



After giving the dogs a haircut on Saturday, we had to go get them some sweaters to wear because the weather keeps getting colder than we expect. They had sweaters before, but we got rid of them when we sold the house, etc. This time we decided to get them matching sweaters...we like them a lot more than the dogs do. haha
We put them on the dogs in the house, trying to let them get used to them. Jabba absolutely doesn't like it...in the second picture she looks like she is looking over at Fluffy to see if she is liking it. Fluffy, meanwhile, adapts quickly. By the way, the Fluffy has lost weight and is now 17.5 pounds...she was about 20 in Boston, so she is keeping me motivated in my own weight loss quest.

When we got home from the gym this morning we took them on their maiden walk in their sweaters...is this too funny or what? In the 3rd picture you can tell Jabba is being pulled along, as opposed to voluntarily walking. We just love these babies!



And here is an entry for Christopher...This was last week's HEB Meal Deal Chris...get 4 free items with this purchase. Do you miss San Antonio yet?