Gas Prices Keep Falling

When I arrived at work yesterday at 3 PM, the first thing I noticed was that the gas price dropped once again. The cost of a gallon of regular unleaded at Sam's Club was $1.89 yesterday:

You just wonder how much more it will fall.

I had another unbelievable experience at work. Not one person in the entire store knew how to replace the roll of labels that is in the plastic "gun" that is used for returns. I ran out of the stickers and couldn't find a sole that knew how to place it into the gun. The people that knew were on duty in the AM and left for the day by the time I arrived. The other person I worked with at the front doors was new like I am, and therefore also didn't know. Sheesh! I just manually took the unstamped stickers off the roll as returns came in.

I received a wonderful gift from Patty which arrived yesterday. It is a cap from the Idaho Potato Bowl where Austin played his first Bowl game. Here is a shot of this treasure:

I couldn't have asked for a better gift. Thanks, Patty.

Well, the year is coming to a close today. I can't say that it was a good year for our weight control program as we both gained a few pounds over the year - all of which occurred just in the last month which is when we all tend to gain a little weight with holiday treats. The plan now is to get it all off again in 2015. Josie and I both work today so our New Year's Eve will be a shorter one. Most likely, we will turn in early and just wake up to 2015 tomorrow AM...

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

Tough Schedule

Yesterday was an example of how our schedules conflict with each other. I went to work after Josie and arrived home after she got home. Today is even worse as I don't start until 3:15 PM and work until 8:45 PM which will get me home at around 9:30 - just in time to go to bed. As I mentioned before, we'll see how this goes following the holidays when I get my "real" schedules.

We received an email from the Aramark folks requesting our availability from January 19 through February 3rd. We have an opportunity to work many days more than just the Super Bowl. The NFL Pro Bowl is also scheduled for Phoenix and we could work that also if we chose to do so. Of course, the problem for me is that I haven't worked at Sam's Club long enough to dictate when I can take off and how to schedule my time. I plan to take a copy of the email into work today and review the Aramark schedule with the HR person that hired me, Shawna, to get some ideas and/or suggestions on how to proceed. I make more money with Aramark, so if it comes down to choosing, it would be difficult. The Aramark work is temporary and short term whereas Sam's Club is most likely going to be long term - if I want it to be. Decisions, decisions.

I took the shot below of the gas price at Sam's Club as of yesterday:

Just when you think it has bottomed out, it drops some more. It will be interesting to see how low it goes. It's too bad that diesel fuel isn't dropping as fast. I still pay $2.91 per gallon for diesel. That is still better than the $3.60 I have been paying. That's about it for now...

Playoffs Set

It was fun watching the final push for the playoffs in the NFL yesterday. The Seahawks are once again the top seed in the NFC and the Patriots are number one in the AFC. Frankly, I don't see any team that matches up with the Seahawks so I'm hoping for a Super Bowl repeat. The only team that appears to be a question mark is the New England Patriots that the Seahawks have not yet played. It would be nice to see that match up in the Super Bowl.

We took down some of the Christmas decorations on the inside of our rig and still have some to go. The outside will remain as-is for another week or so. Josie did our laundry and that about sums up the day.

It is back to work for both of us and we have a full day today. This will be the final week before the end of the holidays and it will be interesting to see my schedule beginning next week. I expect to have a lighter schedule but if it gets too light, I may have to look elsewhere for a better paying job. I don't want to work 40 hours per week, but I will need more than 8-15. It seems like 22-30 would be just right. I should know about that this week when the January schedule begins to appear...

Asked to Work Again

Once again I received a request to work extra hours at Sam's Club. This time, I denied the request for two reasons: it was only for 3.5 hours, and, we already planned to drive around some new home neighborhoods. I wasn't going to give up a day off together. It may have been different if Josie was working, but it looks like we will be getting very few days off together.

We drove around some neighborhoods in both Peoria and in Scottsdale all day and saw a few really nice homes. We are probably getting more serious about making a move than we have been in a long time. The idea of settling in one place for awhile has some appeal, even though we would still maintain some kind of RV lifestyle. We are sure it will work itself out.

I missed the Pinstripe Bowl yesterday where Penn State won a thriller in OT against Boston College 31-30. Patty had to text me with the results of the game which I would certainly have loved to watch. It looks like Penn State is about out of the darkness from all the embarrassment of several years ago.

Today is another day off together and we will most likely spend this day taking down and putting away some of our Christmas decorations. As much as we love all the decorations, they take up valuable space in our rig. We'll leave all the outside decorations stay for probably another week or so. We say this every year, but the joyous Christmas season always seems too short when it is all over and done with for another year...

Familiar Faces

Prior to yesterday, I had been surprised that in the entire time I have been working at Sam's Club  I haven't seen one familiar face. Yesterday it happened. At about 11 AM Cot and Lois and their daughter Karen came into the store. They were as surprised to see me as I was to see them. They didn't realize that the Sam's Club where I work is the one down the street from their house. I knew that eventually some familiar faces would come through the door.

It was a day that went as expected for both of us. It was filled with many returns - replacements, in Josie's case - and a day at Sam's Club where gift cards were redeemed. It was almost as busy as the final few days before Christmas. I'm sure that this next week will also be busy but I'm wondering what it will be like after the first of the year. I hope to find out.

While driving home after work yesterday, I saw many balloons in the area which were probably people cashing in Christmas gifts of balloon rides. There are about 6 or 7 in this photo that you can make out if you look closely:

This one was just taking off from the other side of the road:

We have the weekend off together and probably will begin taking down some of the Christmas decorations in the fifth wheel. The empty boxes have created some clutter for us and it will be nice to get some things put away. The winds have picked up again today so I'm not sure how much we will get done outside...

Christmas Day

We spent a quiet and uneventful Christmas morning at home. It was nice having the day off together and sharing gifts. We had a nice, big breakfast that we can only have when off work together and enjoyed talking with Patty about their Christmas together with all the boys, which has become increasingly rare with their busy schedules.

Our afternoon and evening, including a wonderful dinner prepared by Cheryl and George, was also fun and the visit with Brian, Amy and their family was also special. Below is a shot of the group, taken by Jesse, just after having our dinner:

Now, it's back to normal while Josie and I both work today, although they will be shorter than normal days. We get to enjoy the weekend off together which promises to be a rare occasion. It will interesting to see if, and how, our schedules change following the holiday season.

We hope everybody had a great Christmas and enjoyed some quality family time...

Curve Ball

Just when we thought we might have some extra time on Christmas Eve, I ended up being the one who worked late. They threw a curve ball at our plans to go to church and enjoy Christmas Eve when one of the scheduled Greeters at Sam's Club called in sick. Sure. I was asked if I could stay the full day, so being the new employee that wants to satisfy, I accepted their offer. Instead of getting off work at 3:30, I ended my shift at 6:30PM, and by the time I picked up dinner at the only open store - Walmart - and made it home, it was 7:30 PM. We get to enjoy Christmas day and then it's back to work tomorrow.

We will enjoy Christmas dinner today at George and Cheryl's and with Brian and Amy and family. We wish we were closer to our family to enjoy this special holiday but maybe, someday, it can happen.

Most of our gifts to each other have been given before Christmas so there wasn't much to open this morning. It doesn't change the fact that we are very grateful for what we have and wish peace on earth and goodwill to all. Enjoy this special day everybody...

Santa Packing Up

I did some things around the fifth wheel that needed attention - like replacing a light in our kitchen, raking the driveway (smoothing out the fine gravel), organizing the shed and tying up the sides of our gazebo that flap in the wind. Yes, the wind has arrived once again, just in time for Christmas. I also did some computer stuff to get ready for Christmas. It was another long day for Josie at the shop. She didn't get home until after 6:30 last night and I know she will be happy to see the day end today.

Santa is packing up his sleigh and getting ready for his big night tonight. We both have to work which is a change from most years. I'm not even sure that we will be able to go to church tonight, but we will give it the old college try. This year is very different from last year as we both are working on Christmas Eve day and, actually, the day after Christmas. There is no time for a trip to Laughlin that we were hoping to schedule over the holidays. We'll find some way to enjoy our days off which won't be until the weekend.

Listen for the pitter-patter of Santa and his reindeer on your roof tonight, and have a terrific morning tomorrow opening all your gifts...

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Alone Time

The schedules we have seem to put us in the mode of only seeing each other in the early morning or at night. Josie worked an extra hour and a half yesterday while I spent the day at home. I did some small things - like putting leather conditioner on the seats of the truck and sorting through the stuff in our shed we have on site for some items we haven't been able to find this season. I also did some work on my new cross stitch project.

I forgot to mention that the other day while at work, a woman came into Sam's Club and mentioned that there was a strange and very unusual cloud formation outside. I went out the door to see what she was talking about and, sure enough, there was a formation that looked like mountains. There are no mountains where these clouds were and it only lasted a short while before returning to normal again. This is the shot that I got of this unusual cloud formation:

We have seen situations like this on the Weather Channel where certain wind effects result in unique cloud formations.

Well folks, there are only two more days 'til Christmas, so it's kinda late if you have been naughty and not nice this last year...

More Football

As I was working on Saturday and didn't catch Austin's first three quarters live on TV, I watched the game again on the DVR. I missed possibly the best play of the game for Austin when he tackled a punt receiver on a terrific play late in the 3rd quarter. Here is a shot of him as he ran off the field to congratulatory high fives from teammates and cheers from the faithful WMU fans:

Way to go Austin!! We're proud of you.

The exciting football didn't end with that special play as the Seahawks pounded the Cardinals last night 35-6. Even though I again missed most of the game because of working, I got updates from Josie while she texted them to me. I did see the last quarter and game highlights and it is hard to believe that any team in football can beat them right now. The Cardinals got caught up in the Seahawks' buzz-saw.

The transformation in the crowd at Sam's Club yesterday was astounding. When I arrived at work at 3:30 PM the place was mobbed with Christmas shoppers. At about 6:30 PM, when the Cardinals/Seahawks game started, the crowd disappeared and there was hardly a soul in the store. In fact, my last two hours from 7 PM until quitting at 9 PM, there were probably a handful of people each half hour that came into the store. I could tell they were not football fans. Even the gas line at the Sam's Club pumps were nonexistent. Gas is $1.99 per gallon and I filled up on my break at 7 PM and there were only two other vehicles.

I now get a couple days off while Josie hits the busiest time of the season at her shop. With only three more days to go before Christmas, it is crunch time for shopping...

Bowl Game Results

The main activity - aside from work - was the Idaho Potato Bowl yesterday in Boise, ID. WMU lost the game to the Air Force Academy, 38-24. It was a close game throughout. and was played in horrible weather. It was the first experience like this for Austin and he was very aggressive and played  a very good game. His one "big" play was tackling an Air Force punt receiver that resulted in a penalty. Unfortunately, Austin didn't see the "fair catch" signal, and his team was penalized. Looking at the replays of this particular play, we can see how the signal was missed and still credit Austin with a tackle that could have been a key play for his team as it would have backed-up Air Force deep into their own territory. Next year, his team will be even better as most of the players are returning and the experience will help.

I worked from 10:30 AM until 4 PM and it was another circus day. I was given a radio to use at my greeter's station but it had dead batteries. I needed to contact people for help to get a new battery, baskets replenished at the entrance and sanitizing wipes to be replenished at the entrance and couldn't leave my station to get the help. I had to wait for an employee to relieve me for my break before getting any attention for the problems. I'm only working for the extra money is what I keep telling myself, so I won't make a big deal out of the problems. The Christmas shopping crowds are very heavy, and the day is filled with activity at both the entrance and the checkout station at the exit.

Josie and I both work again today. Josie's schedule is from 8 AM to 2 PM, while my schedule - which changes each time I check the time on-line - now has me working from 3:30 PM until 9 PM. The original schedule showed my time as 10:30 - 4 PM, then 3 PM until 8:30 PM before showing the latest time as of last night. I think that I will call-in this morning to verify my hours.

The last thing to mention is that I filed my last claim for the Wyoming Unemployment benefits this morning, so they will cease as of my first day of working at Sam's Club on December 9. I actually received more money from unemployment than I'm getting from work, but I'm having lots more fun at work. Sure...

Keys Scare

Aside from both of us working yesterday, we had a scare following Josie's work day. She called at the usual quitting time around 4:45 PM, but not to tell me she was on her way home. She couldn't locate the keys to the Jeep so she had to find out where they were. After spending a half hour scouring the work area at work, looking in the car to see if they were still there, checking the trash to make sure they weren't swept up and emptying her purse, they were still missing. She called again to have me drive down to the shop with our spare key - which is only a "valet" key, and wouldn't start the car. We thought , maybe, there was a chance they fell on the floor of the car and she couldn't see them. Well, I started out to go to her shop when she called and said she found them - on the floor in the cooler. We don't know how they ended up there, but that is the happy ending to the story.

My work day was ho-hum as I greeted folks for 5 1/2 hours at the entrance to Sam's Club.

Today is the big game for Austin and his Western Michigan University football teammates against Air Force in the Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, ID. Mark is the only member from Patty's family that will attend since it would have cost $4K for the whole family to go - Boise is not the best place to spend time sitting outside watching the game in what could be a snowstorm. Watch the game on ESPN that starts at 3:45 PM, and watch for number "23" on the WMU Broncos. Good luck to Austin and the Broncos!!

Looking at New Homes

Our only day off together until Christmas was one where we were out and about and enjoyed a visit to some new home models in the area. There were a few last minute gift cards that we had to mail and since we were going to visit our storage unit, the post office in Surprise was convenient. We gassed up the Jeep at the Sam's Club in Surprise and then made our trip to storage. We were looking for a particular item that we thought was taken to the storage unit, but it wasn't there. It is a mystery now where that item got to, but it will turn up. Anyway, we had a late breakfast - early lunch? - at The Village Inn in Surprise following our stop at the post office.

There are several new housing developments in Peoria that are in a nice area along the Happy Valley Road not far from George and Cheryl's house that we wanted to visit. We liked one particular model in a Pulte development that has us seriously considering. The only problem, and one that we are struggling with, is the fact that we need to sell the truck and trailer in order to make any home purchase work for us. Also, would we be ready to change our lifestyle without working out details. This is a terrific time to buy as it is month-end and year-end for Builders and they are dealing. The interest rates are still attractive and this particular home would make both of our commutes a lot easier for our jobs - if we decide to keep our jobs on long term basis. Decisions, decisions.

It's back to work for Josie today and I also am scheduled for a 5 1/2 hour day from 8:30 AM until 2 PM. It's hard to say how long Josie's day will be as we are getting closer to Christmas and the big rush for last minute arrangements is about to begin...

Stormy Day

It was an overall ugly day yesterday. The sun only peaked through a few times and the high for the day was only 55. There was off-and-on rain and we had a heavy rainfall in the late afternoon. The storm produced some nice rainbows along with about .25" of rain. Below are a couple shots of the rainbow - actually, a "double" rainbow - that appeared near the end of this big afternoon storm:

We have been getting our share of rain the last couple weeks but not nearly as much as California where all of our rain is coming from. We also need the rain but California needs it more than we do.

The main accomplishment yesterday was getting all the Christmas gifts in the mail. The major part of our shopping is done, with the exception of a couple small items for our stockings.

Today is the only day between now and Christmas that we both have off from work. We aren't sure yet how we will spend the day, but it is nice to have a choice. Whatever we do, it looks like it will be done with more clouds and possible rain on another cool day...

Long Day at Sam's Club

Most of the work days that I will have at Sam's Club will be less than 6 hours. Yesterday was one of the longer ones at 8 hours and it was an especially long day. I worked the entire day, with the exception of a 15 minute break in the AM and another in the PM, and one half hour lunch break. I worked the Exit the entire shift and was on my feet the entire shift. I worked from 1 PM until after closing at 9:30 PM. I don't particularly like that schedule.

There are some policies that will take some getting used to. One is that you cannot take your breaks or lunch break unless there is someone available to take over your location while you're gone. I had to wait an extra hour before taking my "scheduled" lunch break, and an extra half hour before taking my regular afternoon break. Also, sitting on a stool or seat of any kind during lulls at the exit are verboten. I fail to see why an employee cannot sit down while waiting for the next member to come with a basket to check-out. Like I said before, we'll see how it goes.

Josie will work today while I have the day off. We finally get a day off together on Thursday.

We are trying to get everything done that needs to be done to prepare for Christmas in between our working schedules. It seems that the in-between times are better taken with rest and relaxation rather than necessary homework. 'Tis the season though, and we are enjoying all the TV shows that make the season a happy one...

Lazy Day

I had a chance to pretty much sit around and not do too much yesterday. I finished the prep work for my next cross stitch and chased down a replacement lens for one of our kitchen lights that broke. The lens turned out to be a new light as that's the only way to replace the glass lens. Thank goodness that Doubletree had some in their parts inventory. Anyway, that about sums up my day off.

Josie worked her normal hours to start the week but the holiday crunch is looming. She expects to work some longer hours toward the end of the week. My schedule requires a late, and long afternoon and evening. My hours today are 1 PM to 9:30 PM which includes closing. I don't have any other days on my schedule that look like that - not yet, anyway.

We heard from the Super Bowl coordinator at Aramark yesterday. The effort begins on January 19. Our orientation and training will be on January 21, 22 or 23rd when we must attend one of those days. So far at least, there is no reason to cancel our participation as we haven't seen our work  schedules for those dates. I did request the day off on February 1 which is Super Bowl Sunday. Josie has every Sunday off, so that is not a problem for her. I sure hope we can fulfill that obligation as it will be a once in a lifetime proposition for us - and a fun day...

Completing First Week

My inaugural week at Sam's Club is in the books. While switching back and forth from the entrance to the exit, I began to feel more comfortable with the job. It isn't tough by any means, but it still carries a huge responsibility - especially at the exit. I did discover another couple of errors which is the big part of the job. As I mentioned yesterday, discovering errors in full baskets is tough, if not impossible. The Christmas season is in full swing though with lots of toys being purchased and lots of full baskets going out the door.

Josie enjoyed another day off - alone - and did some shopping of her own while also making more cookies. There won't be much weight lost, if any, this month. It was the same last year when we gained weight that we never did shed during the year. We can't afford to gain too much weight or we will be out of clothes to wear and have to go back to our storage unit to get the larger sizes out again. That would be depressing. I think we are doing a better job this year trying to maintain control, so we'll see.

I finally get a day off today while Josie goes back to work. The next time we have the same day off will  be this Thursday, so planning something to do together would be nice...

First Day Greeting

Yesterday was the first day working the Greeter position at the entrance and checking receipts at the exit. The first half of my shift between 8:30 AM and 2 PM was at the entrance and we had to spend a lot of time wiping down wet baskets from the rain the night before as members came into the Club. That, hopefully, won't be a regular detail. That part of the job is the easiest. The second half of my time was spent at the exit checking out members and validating their receipts against what was in their baskets. Of course, when a basket is full it is impossible to check every item. In those cases, we check the bottom of the basket to make sure the items were charged, and we also check the high priced items to make sure they are accounted for. I found one error on my first day which was an item in one woman's basket that was scanned at the wrong price. It happened to be a sale item that was scanned at the regular price.

The Club offered up free lunches which they do on occasion. They put out a nice spread in the break area for anybody that wanted a Sub. This is what it looked like:

I'm not sure how often they do this, but it is a nice gesture and they had a sign in the break area Friday reminding everybody that it would be free-Sub day.

I'm into the job now and Josie snapped this photo of one of the newest Greeters at Sam's Club #4732 in Glendale:

I work from 1:30 to 7 PM today while Josie is off again. She filled the day yesterday with baking cookies and working on her crochet projects. It is really cool outside this morning - 48 degrees - but at least the rain is gone and, so far, there is no wind...

Done With CBL's

I was able to spend the entire work day finishing up on the CBL's (Computer Based Learning). Without counting the total number of modules I completed the last two days, I would guess that there were at least 30 and probably more. I've got information overload right now but know all about the culture, hazardous waste procedures, safety, how to work the Baler and Trash Compactor, and know just about everything else there is to know to do any job at the warehouse. It was an 8 hour day, spent entirely on the computer with the exception of two 15 minute breaks and a half hour lunch. I'm ready to do some real work.

Josie has the weekend off while I work 5.5 hours today and tomorrow. She goes back to work on Monday when I get my next day off. It seems - right now at least - that the only common days off for us will be Thursdays. My schedule will change following the Christmas holidays, but I don't know how drastically.

All I need to get before diving into my schedule is a locker assignment and a vest to wear during working hours. I will get those this morning before I begin work at 8:30 AM. It's about to get crazy in the store as we get closer to Christmas, especially on the weekends. I think I'm ready...

A Bit Disorganized

This company may have among the best benefits, but this particular Sam's Club, at least, seems very disorganized. I arrived at work about 15 minutes early because I needed to cancel my previous membership. Associates get a different kind of membership which I was given at orientation. Nobody seemed to know how to process this cancellation which refunded all the fees we paid for the old one. I clocked in on time and came back down to the membership desk to pick up my refund. When I went back to the employees area to do my computer assignment, there were no computers available to use. There are 3 computers in this area and all 4 of the new hires from Wednesday - myself included - were assigned to use them all day for the CBL's (Computer Based Learning). OK. Three computers, and four people that need to use them. There was nobody at work that knew what to do. The HR person was not in, my supervisor was not in, and nobody knew what to do with me. I finally located a floor manager who suggested I "shadow" one of the Greeters until a computer became available or one of the other managers came in to make a decision. I eventually got to use one of the systems after two hours of "shadowing" a Greeter. The rest of the day was spent sitting at a computer doing these exercises. I don't know what they found to do for the other person that I replaced at the computer, but I know I got some time on one. The same schedule is set for today, but two of the people have different schedules so I will get to use one of the computers from the start.

Josie enjoyed the day off and made some cookies along with working on some more inside decorations and a Christmas afghan she is making. She also works today, so we both will be out for the day. Her time is 9:30 to 6 PM while I work the same noon to 8:30 PM schedule today.

It's been a fairly rough start on this new job, but I'm sure it will all work out. Actually, I was thankful that I got a chance to see what my responsibilities will be as a Greeter. The greeting part seems fairly easy, but working the exit and checking receipts carries a heavy responsibility to discover any errors on checkout receipts - especially with the longer lines created by the Christmas season. I'm hoping that familiarity with the job will ease the pressure. We'll see how day number two goes on the computers...

Calm Before the Storm

I'm not sure why we were given the first day off on the day following our first day of work, but it is back to work today. Maybe they want us to review all the information we were given on our first day. Anyway, I will be working from 12 PM to 8:30 PM the next two days. Both days will be spent doing nothing but CBL's (Computer Based Learning) about my position. It is a series of modules designed to train me for my position and tests follow each module. I have two days to complete the modules. I don't know what happens if I finish all the modules early, or if I don't finish them, when I'm suppose to complete them. I'll find out all that stuff today. I also have to sign up for the benefits that I want. Most of the long term benefit programs - like the 401K and perhaps the stock plan - are too late for me to gain much, if any benefit from. I don't expect to be working as a full time employee.

One of the problems with my schedule is that I will be working many days that Josie has off. Of course, the holiday season has both of us working longer hours and more days, so it's not much of a problem now. Josie is off today while I work a very long afternoon and evening. It will be interesting to see what happens with my schedule following Christmas.

The other situations we need to address eventually are our planned working schedules at the Super Bowl and at Spring Training. Both of those activities will depend upon my schedule at Sam's Club. It may turn out that neither of us will work those occasions this year. In fact, depending on what happens with both of our jobs, we may decide to pass on Wyoming this year. Nah, I don't see that happening.

We don't have much time to spend together today, so I guess I'll end this entry and do the best we can to make the most of the short day...

On The Job at Sam's Club

The beginning of my experience of working at Sam's Club followed the same strange path the recruiting phase followed. It was mentioned to me last week during all the attempts to get started that the orientation would probably be on Tuesday at 2 PM. Well, 1:30 came and went and there still was no word from them. I called Shawna, the Personnel Manager, at 1:40 PM and asked for an update. She first indicated that she was waiting on the drug test results and that the background check was received on Monday and was OK. She started to ask if I could attend an orientation at another store location on Wednesday (today) when she suddenly said it would be OK if I could make it to the Club for the 2 PM orientation. Really. It is at least a half hour drive to Sam's Club from home but, fortunately, I was ready and expecting to go.

I made it at 2:15 PM and they weren't ready to start the orientation. There were three other new hires that were waiting for the session to begin which finally happened at 2:35. It was an interesting and informative session that lasted until 10 PM last night. We completed all the paperwork for new employees, went over all the corporate culture, benefits and programs, and ended with a tour of the store. The time went fast, and I commented to Josie when I finally got home at 10:30 last night that I wished I had joined this company 20 years ago. The benefits are among the best in any corporation and the company is very employee oriented. I will go into those benefits at another time, as there are many.

I didn't get a chance to take many photos, but I did get this one of the break area which reminded me of the break areas at Amazon.com where we worked for two seasons:

There aren't many employees on break at 9 PM at night. The area is very clean and complete with free coffee and beverages of all kinds and the lockers are available to any employee that wants one.

I have the day off today and begin my regular schedule on Thursday. As expected, I will work a lot of the hours that most of the employees don't want - weekends and late afternoons. That's OK though, It amounts to 4 days a week and, right now, between 24-30 hours. That is just right.

My goal of getting into their system was successful. After 6 months, any employee is eligible to transfer to any Sam's Club or Walmart in the U.S., Canada or Mexico. Shawna told us about a woman who works at this Sam's Club for 6 months of the year, and the other six months at a Walmart in Ames, IA where her children live. I signed on to work as a temporary, part-time employee, but I have the opportunity to work as a full time employee.

I'm looking forward to the start of this new chapter in our life's journey...

Storage, Haircut and Michaels

Before getting into yesterday's activities, I want to post this nice shot that Josie took on the way to work of the morning sunrise yesterday:

There are some mornings  - nights also - that the sun creates some spectacular effects with the clouds and surrounding hills.

I spent most of the morning running around Surprise doing some errands. I got a haircut at the Mario's in Surprise where I usually go and have the same individual cut my hair. He is an older guy that spends quite a bit of time in his RV and riding his motorcycle during the summer months. He goes to Wyoming most of the summers and visits his son who lives near Cody, so we have a lot to talk about while he cuts my hair.

There were some items I returned to our storage unit and a couple that I picked up to bring home. After putting a little gas in the truck, I stopped at Goodwill to drop off a couple of the components that we had removed from our TV cabinet in the fifth wheel. I advertised them for about two weeks and got no response, so I'll just take a tax deduction for the donation of the items to Goodwill.

We made a trip to Michael's after Josie got home from work at around 5:30 and I picked up my cross stitch that I raced to complete to take advantage of their framing sale. Below is a shot of the finished product:

It is titled "The Legend". As I mentioned before, it was one of the most difficult projects I've done. The reason is mostly because of the buffalo hide that the subject is wearing. It had no distinct lines like the rest of the piece and took many hours to complete. It turned out really nice and I look forward to entering it in the Teton County Fair this next year.

I am still waiting to hear about my training and orientation at Sam's Club that is supposedly scheduled for today. I'm assuming that they haven't contacted me yet as they are waiting on the results from the background check and my drug analysis. I hope to hear from them this morning so I can get that done and pick up a schedule for work. It should be interesting...

It's the Potato Bowl

It's official, the Western Michigan University Broncos will face the Air Force Academy on December 20th in Boise, ID at the Potato Bowl. There was some disappointment in the bowl announcement as many of the WMU players are from FL and they were wanting to be near home, I'm sure, for the big game. Patty also was a little disappointed as she said it would be much like watching a regular season game in the cold weather. But it is still a good match up and a great occasion for Austin and his team that turned around the football program at his university.

We watched the Seahawks torch the Philadelphia Eagles 24-14 yesterday as the Seahawks are beginning to look like a Super Bowl team again. It was good to see the Cardinals win again also, so it should be interesting to see how the playoffs line up in a few weeks.

Other than football, the day was taken up with Josie doing some laundry while I again did some organizing on my new project. We also have another photo of our Christmas tree that Josie enhanced with more decorations:

Nice job!

We start an interesting week today which will include my start at Sam's Club on Tuesday. That is, assuming I get my instructions from them today about the training and orientation that is supposedly taking place tomorrow afternoon...

Organizing for New Project

While Josie was busy at the hairdresser yesterday, I took advantage of my free time to begin my next cross stitch project. This one is even more difficult than the last which was probably the most difficult one I've ever done. I should be picking up that last one any day now from Michael's where the framing is being completed. This new project uses more than double the number of different colored floss and there are "blended" colors that exceed half the project. Blended means the use of two threads, both of different colors. I am separating all the floss now and creating the final color schemes before beginning the actual work. It will be another year, probably, before this one is completed.

We are anxious to hear which bowl game Austin's team will be playing in this year. There is a banquet being held for the team today at which time the bowl game will be announced. Patty and her family will be attending the game, wherever it is played, and we hope it is in an exciting place. The team made tremendous strides this year and we look forward to watching another WMU Broncos "win" on ESPN whenever it is scheduled.

Today should just be a relaxing day for both of us as we have nothing scheduled...

New Job on Busy Day

I finally got through the entire interview process at Sam's Club and was offered - and accepted - the huge and exciting job of Greeter. It is a job to earn some extra money and the important part for me is that I get into the Sam's Club/Walmart employee system which should allow me to obtain employment anywhere we go if I need to work. The job is the one you see when you enter these warehouse stores and your membership is presented at the door and where you are greeted. It also is the job of the person that checks your receipt at the exit to check for shrinkage. I begin Tuesday with orientation and training. I will receive my work schedule at that time.

Josie was with me, so we stopped at the Village Inn in Phoenix for our lunch - or late breakfast in her case. The next stop was at the Westbrook Vision Center where we each had an eye examination. It was the first one in two years for me, and the first in probably six or seven years for Josie. My eyes haven't changed much so my eyeglass prescription isn't worth buying new glasses. Josie, on the other hand, needed to get glasses - especially for driving. So, we went to Costco following the exams and bought a pair of glasses for her that will be ready for pickup in ten days. Merry Christmas again.

The next stop on our busy day was at the Moore Chrysler/Jeep dealership near Costco to get scheduled maintenance on our Jeep. I had an email offering a Christmas deal on an oil change, so we took advantage of the offer. The only problem with that stop is that the dealers take forever to do the work. We waited for about an hour and a half to get the oil changed where it should normally be a half hour, at most, for that job. I must admit though, we got a car wash thrown in for the Christmas special. We are good to go for another 6,000 miles.

We ended our day and arrived home at around 6 PM last night. Today should be less hectic as Josie has a hair appointment at 9:30 and I don't have any "must-do" chores for the day. There is no update on the arrangements for Josie's brother, so we are still waiting on word for those...

Sadness

Josie's brother, Louie, died yesterday. Although he has been suffering from the results of a series of small strokes over the last two years, he died suddenly yesterday from a heart attack. There was no suffering and he died while eating lunch with his wife Ida. Funeral arrangements are not complete at this point, so we will wait to see what happens. Josie now has only herself and two sisters - Pauline and Marie - left in her family. She had just mentioned recently that she wanted to pay a visit to him. Louie was the last of her four brothers.

My interview yesterday at Sam's Club was  a long experience. It started out that my application still needed some work - completion of an assessment test - before I could continue with the interviewing process. I completed that using the Club computers in the retail area. It seemed like I was interviewing for an executive job. I went through two interviews - one with the team leader, and a second one with the manager of the group I would be working with - and have a third and final one scheduled at 9 AM this morning with the Club Manager. If that goes well, I will be hired as a seasonal employee and work as a greeter to start. More on that role following my final interview. Today marks my fourth trip to Sam's Club this week to complete the hiring process.

George is home from his surgery and brief stay at the hospital for follow up. It appears that everything went according to plan and he will rest the next couple of weeks before doing much of anything except normal walking and sitting. There is a good chance that the surgery has repaired the worst of his back problems. We hope so.

The rain total for the last two days is .85". That was badly needed rain for all of AZ and it came down at a rate that didn't result in any serious flooding. We'll take it that way every time...

First Real Rain

We have not had any measurable rain here since we arrived in October - before yesterday. Since yesterday afternoon through this morning, we have received over .3 inches and it is still coming down. We need the rain and it is fine, as long as it doesn't turn into the type that CA is getting where flooding and mudslides are the result. The forecast is for more this morning and gradual clearing late today.

We had a call last night from Cheryl informing us that George's surgery went well. It lasted 2.5 hours and he was resting comfortably last night. He is expected to be up and about today and possibly being released tomorrow. We were happy to hear that news and that perhaps his pain will be gone and he can begin to live a near normal life again.

I get to try the interview process again at Sam's Club this morning. My appointment is for 9:30 and maybe we will get it done this time.

There are five potential bowls for Austin and his WMU team this year. They are definitely eligible and they should find out at their banquet this Sunday. The five locations are: Boise ID, Montgomery AL, Boca Raton FL, Nassau Bahamas or Mobile AL. The odds on favorite is Boca Raton since 17 of the players were recruited from FL. Wherever they go, we will be watching with pride. There is no possibility of our attending since the games, with the exception of the last location, will be held just before Christmas and Josie will not be able to take any time off during that week. All of those games will be televised on ESPN.

We are down to 21 days before Christmas, so it's getting to the time when we all need to get our shopping done...

Another Schedule Change

It's hard to figure out how the HR department works at Sam's Club. I have the application all updated and ready to go, and Shawna, the HR Manager, wants me to come in at 9:30 AM on Thursday. I was ready to have the interview yesterday when she initially rescheduled the interview. I'm guessing that she still wants to hire me (or somebody) to fill a position or she would have indicated that they weren't hiring right now.

There wasn't much else to report as Josie had her late day yesterday and didn't get home until 7 last night. That will be a one-time thing, we hope, as she doesn't like driving at night.

George has his back surgery scheduled for today - or rescheduled from tomorrow - so we hope all goes well there for him. With the actual surgery not taking place until this afternoon, he must go the entire day with no food or liquids - including water. That's tough. Good luck, George.

There are just a few things left to do for the inside Christmas decorations so I will get some of those done today. The main thing is the lights in the windows, and I will get those installed today. Our tree is up, and it looks pretty good (below):

and also, here is a sample of the decorations around the TV:

I'll provide more shots of our "decor" as we get closer to completing everything.

That's about it for now so have a good day everybody...

Weird Day

My interview at Sam's Club wasn't until 2 PM, so I left the fifth wheel very early to stop at a couple places on the way to get some last minute stuff for decorating the inside. I arrived in plenty time for my interview so I walked around the Club looking for Cyber Monday deals, or leftover deals from Black Friday.

I met the HR Manager, Shawna, at 2 PM and she couldn't pull up my application on her computer that I did online several weeks ago. She surmised that it either expired or, for some reason, was only available at another store. She sent me to the computer section in Sam's Club to get an Associate to bring up the webpage on one of the computers and complete the application again. Well, to make a long story short, Cyber Monday Internet traffic kept kicking me off the system and I never was able to complete the application online. Shawna said I should complete it at home when the Internet traffic isn't so great and we would reschedule for today. At least she asked me to call her at around 1:30 when she expects to arrive at work today. She is not able to do anything until she gets the valid application. I even took my resume and reference letter that she couldn't use until the application is in her hands. Oh, well - I'll try again today.

We had a beautiful sunrise this morning which Josie captured just a little while ago:

It sure is beautiful when there are some clouds to reflect the early rays of the sun.

Josie will go to work at 9:30 this morning and work until closing at 6 PM. Her normal hours are 8 to 4:30 but the manager needed her to close tonight. So, we'll attempt the interview thing again today and I'll try to finish up the inside decorations while Josie works her later schedule...

Lights Are Up

As is customary around our home, we set up the Christmas Lights outside following Thanksgiving and, with a few exceptions, all the inside decorations. The only problem I ran into was that one of our rope light sections was dead and I had to make a trip to Walmart to buy a replacement. Of course, by the time I got to Walmart, all of the lights had been picked over and I had to settle for a strand of a different color. We now have one strand of red, and two strands of multi color. It doesn't look that bad though with the red strand in the center. Below are a couple shots of our outside setup. The first one is before the sun had totally gone down:

and then this one, just before darkness:

All that is left to do are the window lights which I will install today.

Josie tried twice to do laundry at the Laundromat here at the resort and each time all of the machines were taken. The third attempt was successful at around 5 PM.

We then had our turkey that we make following Thanksgiving. The main meal that we have at Brian and Amy's is terrific, but we like to have our own turkey to use for sandwiches and follow up meals the week following the holiday.

I have my interview at Sam's Club scheduled for today, so my fingers are crossed that it results in at least a part time position...

 

 



Project Finally Done

I finally finished the cross stitch project that has consumed so much of my time the last week or so. It was around 1 PM when I finally took it apart from the frame and washed it with Goop, pressed and dried it between towels and headed to Michael's to take advantage of the huge custom framing sale that ended yesterday. I have the same gentleman - Howard - doing this one that has done the last three of my projects and does such a great job. The 60% plus 20% sale was significant and I saved over $350 on the frame and materials. I'll get a photo of the final product around the middle of December when I pick up the piece. Next year, I will plan better and have my project done earlier.

I can now concentrate on the Christmas decorations that need to be set up outside. We will do mostly just lights this year and not set up the tree that Josie made last year. The problem we had with the tree was the effect that the winds had on the garland and the cone itself. It was a challenge last year keeping the tree upright. We also have decorations that will be set up inside the fifth wheel in our windows and around the inside.

Another nice thing about this time of the year is the almost constant Christmas programming on the Hallmark Channel that we love to watch each season. The movies are terrific and are all about the holiday season. We copy most of the shows and watch them at night when nothing else is good on TV. 'Tis the season to be jolly...

Black Friday Experience

We were up early and out the door by 6:15 AM for our Black Friday shopping trip. We started with a stop at the Sam's Club in Surprise. When we arrived at just before 6:45 for the 7 AM opening, there were already about 100 people in the line. The Sam's Club employees were very considerate. They were walking down the line asking shoppers what item(s) they were interested in, and they were pointing out the location inside the store where they could be found. They also passed out flyer's with all the sale items listed. Josie was afraid that all the people in line were after the same item she wanted - the Cuisinart cookware set - so she was concerned.

The doors opened at 7 AM and we went directly to the area where our item was located and there was as a stack of about 50 of them. No problem. We then walked around to check out other deals before checking out and heading to Costco for our other items.

Costco didn't have more than about 25 or so people in line at 7:45 AM. We thought they were going to open at 8 AM, so we waited. Folks standing in line around us also thought it was going to open at 8 AM. Wrong. It turned out that 9 AM was the opening, so we walked away from the line and went to the local Denny's for breakfast. When we returned at 9 AM, the doors were open and no line was present. We got our items there and left. Following a car wash at Costco, we returned home at about 11 AM. That about summarizes our Black Friday experience. We both forgot our phones, and therefore, our cameras, so no photos were taken of our experience.

We watched Austin's game against Northern Illinois for the MAC conference lead and thought they were going to win their seventh straight game - until the second half which began with WMU leading 21-7. The NIU defense completely shut down WMU's offense and the game finished at 31-21 in favor of NIU. Austin was hurt on the final play of the game where he was drilled by an NIU player and hurt his hip. Patty said he received a shot from the team doctor and came home with them for the weekend. We hope he is OK and will be well enough to play in the team's bowl game - to be announced at their banquet next Sunday in Kalamazoo. What a great turnaround and great season for his team this year. They went from 1-11 last year to 8-4 this year, and will only get better for next year.

That was the extent of our Black Friday. Josie goes to work today and I will - finally - complete my cross stitch project and take it to Michael's for framing. Somehow, we will also get the Christmas decorations set up over the weekend...

Thanksgiving Dinner 2014

We left a little early to drive to Brian and Amy's for Thanksgiving dinner. There was a home that was available for rent just off of Carefree Highway close to their house, so we did a drive-by to check out the possibilities. It was a very nice home, on over 1 acre of property with a nice swimming pool and private backyard. The problems we had though were that it was pretty far off the main road (2 miles), the final block leading to the home was a dirt road and finally, the grounds were not in good shape and we could see that much of the property had been neglected. Anyway, there wasn't a reason to follow up on it with the agent.

We arrived at the Reeds' residence just before 3 PM and enjoyed a nice afternoon of conversation and watching the football game on TV outside on the patio. The dinner was excellent, as always, and there was probably enough food to feed a group twice the size as ours. Here is a good shot of our group:

Amy took the picture for us so that is why she isn't in the photo. Then, there is this shot of Jesse and Jason doing marshmallows in the firepit next to the pool:

It was a fun time and as always it was great to see everybody.

We are ready for our Black Friday excursion to Sam's Club to pick up a great deal on Cuisinart cookware. It's hard to believe that we are going to Sam's Club at 6 AM in the morning the day after Thanksgiving. Oh well, We'll get an early start on Christmas...

All Set for Turkey Day

The frustration set in for me yesterday as I haven't finished my project yet after spending most of the last three days working on the thing. It is a difficult cross stitch, but the real problem is I waited too long to work on it in order to get it done in plenty of time for the framing sale at Michael's. I will still finish it in time for the sale, but it will be a last minute trip to Michael's on Friday or Saturday.

Josie was home early for the second consecutive day this week which is unusual for a holiday schedule. Even though the business was a bit better this year, it is still way down from the pre-downturn days. It's tough owning a floral business these days.

It's not very often - in fact, I can't ever remember - putting together a list for the Black Friday shopping days. This year, we will participate in the frenzy by going to Sam's Club early on Friday to buy a couple items. Speaking of Sam's Club, I received a call yesterday from the Union Hills store asking me to come into the store on Monday for an interview. I wouldn't mind working there at all, so I hope the job and terms are suitable if I receive an offer.

We are looking forward to a fun time at Brian and Amy's house today and look forward to seeing everybody.

Have a great Thanksgiving everybody!

Getting Ready for Holidays

We say this every year, but it is true - Christmas comes earlier every year. Usually, it is Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving weekend  that kicks off the Christmas season but sales, decorations and even the music have begun already. In fact, I heard Christmas songs on TV over the weekend. I will say though, that we have followed the store offerings for the Black Friday store sales more than at any other time. I'm not sure if it is an earlier start to the season or just more blanket coverage for the big stores. Whatever it is, it seems to be working. I'm still going full speed ahead to finish my cross stitch to take advantage of the Michael's custom framing sale which runs through Saturday.

Josie took her chili to work yesterday and everybody loved it. At least, they ate all of it which says a lot since she took a crockpot full and brought it home empty. She left work a little early which indicates either they are super efficient with the orders or the business is still down from the economic downturn. It may be a little of both.

There is an auto show - the annual new car show - this weekend at the Convention Center in Phoenix. We went last year and thought it was pretty much a waste of time, but we are interested in looking at options to replace our truck and smaller Jeep. We are thinking of a Grand Cherokee, but might want to make sure by looking at all options. We'll see.

In the meantime, I will be cranking away on my project which is taking longer than I thought. I need to get it done soon so that I can concentrate on other things...

Component Ads

I put together a couple online ads for the equipment we removed from our entertainment "cabinet" in the bedroom that the TV guy emptied. Our DirectV receiver is now in the living room - where it belongs - and the old equipment that was used for our surround sound system and DVD carousel player is now available for sale. Of course, it is over 6 years old and considered old technology, so the prices are very low. If I don't get any interest from the ads, I will take the equipment to Goodwill and take a tax deduction for the donation. It's unfortunate that when they were new in 2008 they were worth hundreds of dollars, but today I would be lucky to get $150 for both of them.

Josie was busy at work doing Thanksgiving arrangements. We went to the store last night to pick up ingredients for her chili which she made to take into work today. I guess everybody helps with providing goodies for lunch during the holiday work seasons. She is also baking some corn bread this morning before going to work. I get to try a little bit of each for lunch today.

We caught another nice sunset last night on the way to the store, so I'll end this post with another shot of the Arizona sunset:

Storage and Michael's

The main thrust for yesterday was to pick up our Christmas decorations from our storage unit. Since we were going to Surprise anyway, we stopped at Sam's Club to pick up some glasses for Josie and, of course, a few items that we didn't have on the list that were on sale for the Black Friday early birds. We also stopped at the local Michael's in Surprise to see if Josie could pick up some yarn that she is trying to match to complete an afghan that she started a while ago.

The pressure to complete my cross stitch project was off for yesterday and I didn't spend much time working on it. There are still probably two days worth of effort remaining and then I will take it to Michael's for framing. We made a late afternoon trip to the Michael's store in Peoria to take advantage of their 25% discount on the entire purchase. I purchased all of the materials for my next stitching project and saved $20 which always helps. I have the rest of this week to get the huge discount on the framing.

It's back to work for Josie for this Thanksgiving week. She will work Mon-Wed, have Thursday and Friday off before working again on Saturday. I get to begin the decorating process this week by setting up the outside lights.

We are looking forward to a nice Thanksgiving dinner with family at Brian and Amy's on Thursday...

Stitching Day

I spent almost the entire day just as I planned yesterday while Josie was at work - stitching my latest project. I thought I had to complete the project by 4 PM today to take advantage of the sale at Michael's - 60% off PLUS an extra 20% off on entire custom framing order. That's a huge savings for anything requiring a custom frame. I discovered a coupon this morning that extends that sale from today through Saturday the 29th. It's a good thing, as I don't believe it will be quite done today. The pressure is off.

We have pretty much decided to move forward with our plan to leave the fifth wheel set up permanently on this site, sell the truck while it is still worth some money, and purchase a smaller trailer to travel with and upgrade the Jeep to be able to tow the new trailer. I plan to get the truck prepared for sale and I expect to get top dollar for it with only 45K miles and being in perfect shape. We'll see. Our whole plan depends on it.

Just a note on the game yesterday between Western Michigan University and Central Michigan University. Austin's team won for the sixth consecutive time, 32-20, and they are a shoo-in for a bowl game. They are 8-3 overall and 6-1 in the MAC conference and tied for the lead. Talk about an improvement from a 1-11 team last year. Wow! Congratulations again to Austin.

We will finally make our necessary trip to our storage unit today to pick up our Christmas decorations. I expect to set them up during the week while Josie is at work. The only hole in our plan described above is the removal of our storage unit which has been a fairly high priority for us. That in itself is not a reason to get a house. We'll have to figure out something else for that problem. In the meantime, life goes on with the storage unit in our foreseeable future...

RV Show at Glendale Stadium

There was a huge RV show being held at the University of Phoenix Stadium for four days, beginning Thursday and ending this Sunday. We went to the show yesterday and even though there was only one dealer represented, it was the largest dealer in the Phoenix area. La Mesa RV is a national company and they have a huge inventory of several different manufacturers.

We saw several nice trailers that would qualify for our intended use. The best one, and one that we are seriously considering, is a 30' Winnebago Ultralite. We took several shots of this rig. Starting with the outside views:

The inside is very close to the kind of arrangement we now have in our fifth wheel and like very much. We like the flexibility we get with a table and chairs versus permanent dinette and the island kitchen is also a plus. These are the inside shots:

It's very good quality and would due nicely during our four month stay in Wyoming each summer. It would also work for any other trips that we might take on weekends or longer. With this plan, we would turn our fifth wheel into a permanent home on the annual site we now have at Lake pleasant. We would sell the truck and purchase a trailer - like this one - and upgrade our Jeep to a Grand Cherokee which would tow up to 7200 lbs and would work with this Winnebago trailer. All we need to do if we implement this plan is to first sell the truck which I will pursue this coming week.

We left the show and stopped at Cabela's to check out their Black Friday deals:

They had some real nice apparel for sale but the prices were still too high for us.

Josie is back to work today and will have tomorrow off. We still need to get to our storage unit to pick up Christmas decorations, so that looks like tomorrow's activity...

Unexpected TV Fix

The surprise for yesterday was an unexpected problem with the TV, a visit from the TV repairman and a $330 bill when he left after 3 1/2 hours.

Last year we had the same problem - rolling and jumping picture, and shadows - and the TV repairman (Dan Dotson) fixed the problem. He is from Happy Trails in Surprise and is the only TV repairman we have used since we got our fifth wheel. He is also the individual that installed our satellite system back in 2008. He knows our setup, for sure. Anyway, the problem was in the same box that he fixed last year but this time the box died. It happens that this particular "box" is out of production and we couldn't find one anywhere, including online. I even contacted Doubletree to see if they might have one they could sell to us - no dice. That meant a re-work of our entire setup.

One of the negatives that we have lived with in our fifth wheel is the location of the entertainment system components in a cabinet in the bedroom. This was our chance to relocate everything to the front, where the TV is located and where they belong. He spent 3 1/2 hours relocating our DirectV receiver and cabling  to the front This is a shot of the cabinet location that now is practically empty:

The TV that is in our bedroom remains with its' receiver still in the bedroom. The components that were removed will be sold on either eBay or Craig's List, as they are all older technology anyway. Dan had to run cables on our roof to the location in the living room, so that is a different problem to be addressed down the road sometime before next summer.

That activity pretty much consumed our entire day, so we will use today to catch up on what we had planned. There seems to be an RV show at the University of Phoenix Stadium which we didn't know about, and will try to make today. Josie also has laundry to do and we both are working to complete craft projects in order to take advantage of Black Friday sales, so we expect to be busy all of today...

More Lake Debris

I took what has become my usual daily bike ride which takes me to the south ramp of the lake each day. All of the winds we've had the previous three days have caused another debris flow from the north of the lake. They had to close the ramp again for the second time this season. This is a shot of the latest debris:

In all the years we have been coming to the lake, we've never seen this problem occur. Whatever activity has taken place at the north end of the lake has resulted in this problem and one wonders what care was taken by the crews that did the work up there.

Josie worked her last day until Saturday and has the next two days to enjoy. She took this shot of another postcard sunset on the way home:

We don't have much planned today except we will make a trip to our storage unit, shake our heads, and grab the Christmas decorations so we can get set up at the site. We  hope to be ready for the holidays by the end of the weekend.

Along with holiday setup, we hope to take advantage of at least some of the early Black Friday sales. At least, there is the one at Michael's that runs on Sunday night. 'Tis the season...

Race to Finish Project

Since we've gotten all the notifications of Black Friday sales and the dates and times that they are in effect, we both have zeroed-in on a couple items that we would like to take advantage of during those sales. One that I have seen is the huge sale at Michael's for 5 hours only, on November 23 between 4 PM and 9 PM where everything you purchase is 25% off, including sale items. I always get my cross stitching projects framed at Michael's when they are completed. They usually have 50% off the regular price of custom framing and, occasionally, an additional 20% off. With this special sale, I can get at least 75% off the framing which is not ordinarily an inexpensive item. Now I am racing to have my project completed before the sale on the 23rd.

Josie gave one of her hats and one of the scarfs that she crocheted to Alex for his going away gift - and thank you for all your support  - before he leaves for Colorado. His last day at work is Tuesday and as he travels to all of the Phoenix Flower shops , she wanted to make sure he got these before then. Here is a shot of Josie and a very grateful Alex:

He will be missed.

The winds finally stopped yesterday at about noon and I was able to get a bike ride in between sessions of work on my cross stitch project. There wasn't much else to mention, so we'll close for now and I'll be back tomorrow...

Black Friday Ads Overload

Emails over the last few days have created an overload on Black Friday Deals. The advertised sales from many of our favorite stores - Costco, Sam's Club, Michael's, Walmart and others - are getting our attention. The problem we have while reviewing these ads is to separate "must haves" from "would like to have" from "wish list" items. The other problem is to make sure the windows for these sales (which are all different) are times when we are available. I can see us now - starting at Costco at 8 AM on Friday, making it to Sam's Club by noon, getting to Walmart by 3 PM and making sure we hit the Sales sales window at Michael's between 4 PM  and 9 PM. Whew! There are some great prices so make sure you check them out.

The wind yesterday didn't allow for much outside activity although I did take a 6 mile bike ride. The dust was blowing all over everything and it took a long time to get all the dust off the furniture late in the afternoon. It picked up again during the night just when I thought it was done.

We're getting closer to decisions on how we plan to spend the next several years. The plan needs to be implemented before it gets too late to take advantage of prices and before the best deals go away. We'll let you know when it all is in place - it shouldn't be much longer...

Mesa Park Models

I had done some research on park models as an option for a full time, permanent setup in Lake Pleasant. I was surprised to find that there are very few dealerships in the Phoenix area that even carry these rigs which are actually called "Destination Trailers". These trailers differ from park models in that they have slide outs and also have wheels and a hitch that can be removed if necessary. Park models are built without slides and are meant to be set up on a foundation or other permanent base. Anyway, I found a couple dealers in Mesa that carried a few of the models we would be interested in - Little Dealer with Little Prices and Camping World about a mile away from the first dealer.

Our time at the first dealership was cut short when we discovered that the model we wanted to see was still on order and not in the inventory. We instead looked at a couple smaller trailers that would potentially replace our fifth wheel for summer travel. We then moved on to Camping World RV and saw the Cedar Creek Cottage unit that we had information on and appeared to be very nice. It was. We actually loved the unit and here are a couple shots that we took. This first photo is of the outside:

Here is the first shot of the inside:

and the second shot:

It was very good quality and had all the nice options. The one big problem and probably the fatal negative was that it didn't contain anywhere near the inside - or outside - storage that we now have and would need to have in any replacement rig. Even though there were plenty of cabinets, they were all shallow, with the exception of the counter cabinets. We spent a lot of time talking with the sales people and probably would have pulled the trigger if it had the right storage requirements. Anyway, we may keep the option open and keep looking for one that might satisfy our needs.

We left Mesa and made one stop at Michael's in Glendale to pick up some special yarn for Josie's project and got home around 3:30 in the afternoon. She starts her week today and will work M-W and then Sat for her scheduled time.

The winds were really fierce during the night and we had gusts upwards of 40 mph during the night. They are still blowing this morning but we hope to see them end sometime today...

Watching WMU Rout

The most significant activity of the day yesterday was enjoying watching Austin's team at Western Michigan University (WMU) trounce Eastern Michigan University (EMU) 51-7. Once again, the turnaround by that team is incredible. The individual that stole Austin's main position at halfback is among the leaders in rushing throughout the country. He is averaging 150 yards per game, and Austin will have a hard time displacing this freshman. It doesn't matter though, as the team now has won 5 in a row to bring their overall record to 7-3 and are almost a cinch for a bowl game as they are tied for the division lead in their conference. Austin is still playing on all the special team plays and is doing very well. Congratulations to him.

I also took a five mile bike ride before the game started and got a couple of nice shots. This first one is of the pretty desert that surrounds the resort:

This next one is of the lake with all the sail boats on the water. There seemed to be more boats than usual so I wonder if there was a regatta or race of some kind:

The day was beautiful but has turned sour this morning. Already we have wind gusts up to 30 mph and it is only 7 AM. The forecast is for breezy - here, that means very windy - for the next couple days. We plan to take a drive to the Camping World RV store in Mesa today to look at a couple of park model RV's that is another option we have been thinking about. We'll (hopefully) get some shots of those and shed more light on that option tomorrow...