Jabba's back problems have been accelerating. We have been to the Vet and the x-rays showed that 2 discs in her back are basically gone, and the bone is fusing in their place...sort of in an upside down "V" formation. We are now on the third different drug attempting to ease the pain. She walks in circles continuously trying to get away from the pain, and is seemingly only pain free when she is exhausted and finally lays down. She likes to hang out of her bed like in the picture below...she has always done this, isn't she a doll!?
We went to dinner with friends you haven't met before, Norman and Samantha. Samantha used to work in the base barber shop, and Norman used to sell jewelry at the base with his brother Harry. Norman is from Iran; his Persian name is actually Hooman, but he humors us by allowing us to call him Norman. He went into business for himself a couple years ago, and is now a big kahuna in the cell phone business.
We have had great weather here over the past couple weeks, mostly between 75 and 80 degrees, and have also had some really pretty skies, which everyone knows I love.
We have had to do some more maintenance on the RV. From talking to people over the last few months in the RV parks, I guess this is a regular exercise. Probably not a whole lot different than maintaining a house, except now we have a house on wheels, so I think it may be a constant state of affairs. We were told by a friend up in Dallas that we had to check the anode rod in our water heater...that we should check and/or replace it anywhere from every 6 months to a year. So we went outside to the water heater access door and prepared to take a look.
We knew that little round thing at the bottom of the picture had to be removed, but 1st we had to try to get all the hot water out of the RV. Once we did that, Cathy unscrewed it.
Once all the water flowed out, Cathy removed the old rod...look at the difference between the old and new one.
Once the rod was removed, we had to flush the bottom of the tank. You have to do this anyway, but we realized that whoever was the previous owner of our RV had placed their replacement rod in the hole with the paper wrap still on it. It makes you wonder who could actually be that stupid.
With a little plumbers tape, we were ready to replace the rod. Look at how old my hands look...I am horrified!
We also had to fill this tank with Hydraulic system oil...the book said it controls our steering, and it was almost bone dry!
This one was a little more than maintenance, we actually had to take the RV to a repair shop. We noticed that out of the blue some of our electrical outlets weren't working, so after asking the people at escapees.com, we checked the electrical box on the outside of the RV. We had hoped that it was just a loose screw, but after inspection we realized that part of this box was melting, so we knew we had a problem we didn't dare just try to fix ourselves. Our friend Donna gave us this flashlight Cathy has on her head, and did it ever come in handy!
When the Tea Party had their 1st rally in San Antonio last year I went to see what was going on, and they not only had Glen Beck, they had an estimated 5000 people. Unfortunately, the Coffee Party doesn't have a network news organization to promote them (Fox), so we only had 30 people at the meeting. We actually had a native Russian woman, a German woman, and a man from India there...all now American citizens and all disappointed at how negative American politics had become. I felt bad that they were disappointed in my country. 
The people running the meeting were definately "kumbaya" types, so I was a little frustrated that they weren't ready to take to the streets (haha). But at least they were meeting on the hopes of getting something done in this country. And they gave us all the switchboard number to the US Congess, in the hopes that we would call and tell our Congessperson what we felt about healthcare, etc. If anyone wants the number, it is:202-559-4225. Call away everyone! 
With a little plumbers tape, we were ready to replace the rod. Look at how old my hands look...I am horrified!
We also had to fill this tank with Hydraulic system oil...the book said it controls our steering, and it was almost bone dry!
This one was a little more than maintenance, we actually had to take the RV to a repair shop. We noticed that out of the blue some of our electrical outlets weren't working, so after asking the people at escapees.com, we checked the electrical box on the outside of the RV. We had hoped that it was just a loose screw, but after inspection we realized that part of this box was melting, so we knew we had a problem we didn't dare just try to fix ourselves. Our friend Donna gave us this flashlight Cathy has on her head, and did it ever come in handy!
My friend Barb called me yesterday morning telling me that the new "Coffee Party" was having a meeting here in San Antonio...its inaugural meeting, so we decided to go. For those of you who haven't heard about this, the Coffee Party is trying to get established as an alternative to the Tea Party folks...they say they are not Democrats, liberals, progressives, etc., but if they are the opposite of the Tea party folks (which I was hoping for) that is exactly what they are. Their website is coffeepartyusa.com if you are interested.
When the Tea Party had their 1st rally in San Antonio last year I went to see what was going on, and they not only had Glen Beck, they had an estimated 5000 people. Unfortunately, the Coffee Party doesn't have a network news organization to promote them (Fox), so we only had 30 people at the meeting. We actually had a native Russian woman, a German woman, and a man from India there...all now American citizens and all disappointed at how negative American politics had become. I felt bad that they were disappointed in my country.
The people running the meeting were definately "kumbaya" types, so I was a little frustrated that they weren't ready to take to the streets (haha). But at least they were meeting on the hopes of getting something done in this country. And they gave us all the switchboard number to the US Congess, in the hopes that we would call and tell our Congessperson what we felt about healthcare, etc. If anyone wants the number, it is:202-559-4225. Call away everyone!
Poor Jabba, I hope she is doing better. It makes me sad.
ReplyDeleteI dig the head light on Cathy!
Lastly, your friend in Dallas is a smart one. Wow, that friend could have just saved you alot of money in the long run. Good job doing what that friend advised. :-)
Wow! That friend in Dallas used to have a light like the one on Cathy but it doesn't fit any more. Wonder why.
ReplyDeleteWhat would we do without friends?
ReplyDeleteHi Paula and Cathy,
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you! I hope Jabba is ok.
I hope the meds work so she is not in pain.
As far as the fixing of the rv, blah, blah, blah.
I have to ask Paula, did you ask all those people at the coffee party to pose for you????
You better watch out though, they may think your a spy for the tea party people!
Ellen,
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean blah, blah, blah? I know the maintenance is sort of boring, but I have to put something there so you know I am still out here.
I didn't have to ask them to pose for me, although I might have had they not done it anyway (haha). They had everyone pose so they could post it to their website at coffeepartyusa.com. I am a little disappointed that I didn't see a single thing on it on the news or in the newspapers.