Another Emotional Day

I drove Josie to work yesterday and picked her up at 7 PM. She has real problems driving at night so I made the two round trips for this one scheduling exception. It was smooth sailing both in the AM and at night as the hours were ideal for freeway traveling. I hope it doesn't happen again. Supposedly, the manager is trying to hire a person who will be scheduled to close each night and that will ensure that Josie will not have to drive at night after it gets dark.

It was another emotional day as I watched and recorded (for Josie) the service that was held in Phoenix for John McCain. The guest speakers, including Larry Fitzgerald from the Cardinals and Joe Biden - former Vice President - were terrific. I watched them take the casket from the church to Sky Harbor Airport where they loaded his casket on the special plane, along with the family, and watched as John McCain left Arizona for the final time:

Now, there are three days of events in Washington that will further eulogize the Senator ending with his burial at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD on Sunday. He was one of a kind and I doubt that we will see another like him in our lifetime.

This morning, Josie caught up on the copies I made of yesterday's events and we will head out shortly for some shopping and perhaps a stop at a restaurant to have some brunch...

Dinner Out

Most of the day yesterday was spent doing normal stuff - Josie was at work and I did things around the house along with my normal computer work. She got off work at 3 PM and arrived home after 4 PM with a stop for gas along the way.

We met George and Cheryl at Little Bite of Italy in Sun City at 5 PM. They have a very good menu and everybody ordered something different with me having the only pizza. I am trying to locate other local pizza places where we can get good pizza and not travel very far for pickup. This certainly qualifies. I took this shot before we got busy eating and talking so I wouldn't forget:

Following dinner, we all came back to our house and visited some more and watched the first inning  of the Diamondbacks game against the Giants before they left at around 7:30 PM. We plan to have more of these get togethers and will look forward to seeing them more often.

Josie works the late shift today (11-7) and I will drive her to work and pick her up - this one time - as she does not like driving when it is dark - which is surely the way it will be at 7 PM when she gets off from work. This is, supposedly, a one time scheduling change for her. We hope so...

Catch Up

It turned out be a typical day for chores yesterday. Josie's day off was spent playing catch up on some chores like laundry, hair and some phone and computer maintenance. We didn't leave the house at all and will plan to go to the AJ's in Glendale on Friday which is her next day off.

The major memorial services and events for John McCain start today and will go through the weekend. I expect to watch as much of that as possible.

Josie works from 7AM until 3PM today and we will meet George and Cheryl at the Little Bite of Italy restaurant at 5PM. It will be the first time that we have visited that restaurant but the reviews are very good and we are looking forward to the visit.

That's about it for today...

Start of Week of Mourning

This entire week will be filled with events mourning the passing of Senator John McCain. We start Wednesday where he will lie in state at the Capital Rotunda in Phoenix. Thursday, there will be a memorial service in Phoenix followed by his body being flown to Washington, DC. On Friday, he will lie in state at the Capital Rotunda in Washington. Saturday is the funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral. A private service and burial will take place on Sunday at the cemetery at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. It promises to be an emotional week that reflects the honors he so deserves.

Josie has the day off today and we began with having our coffee outside and enjoying some rare time without wiping sweat from our brows. These shots were taken of the full moon that was visible from our deck:

and this one, of the little rabbit that hangs out at our lantana bush every day:

There are always rabbits in the area and some of them are regulars around our plants.

We plan to take another trip to the AJ's store at 67th Ave and the Rt101 in Glendale today. Josie wants to talk to the manager (not there on our first visit) to make sure she understands that Josie is anxious to transfer there from her current Arcadia location in Phoenix. It would be nice if that store, in the meantime, requests her help occasionally to break up the commuting she now has to her store.

The forecast is for the monsoon to take a short break this week and we are looking forward to perhaps having some quality outside time...

Emotional Weekend

The passing of Senator John McCain over the weekend took center stage over all other activities. He was a true American and patriot that will be missed by the entire world. Except by President Trump, that is, who continues to be an embarrassment to all Americans.

I kept hearing the name of Chuck Larson mentioned as a dear friend of John McCain's and that he will be buried near him at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. I did some research and have included a copy of the speech that John McCain made at the Academy in 1998 about his friend. Click on this link to read the speech: Chuck Larson. I now understand the reasoning behind the decision to have his final resting place beside his friend. Words cannot suffice to show my admiration for this great man.

Josie's schedule for this week has been changed to allow for some extra time to help with inventory at the store. Originally, she was scheduled off on Tuesday and Wednesday, but now has to work on Wednesday. She will get off at 3 PM which should allow enough time for her to return home and get ready for our evening with George and Cheryl which we have planned to start at 5 PM. The horrible commute is still the only major problem with her new job. We are hoping that she either gets used to that drive, or can get a transfer to a closer store...

Good Sports Weekend

This weekend just happens to be the beginning of the Fedex Cup Playoffs in golf. It is the first of four tournaments over the next four weeks to determine the $10 million winner. The favorites are mostly near the top which is fun to watch. Tiger is still in the running although he just barely made the cut for the weekend. It should begin to become clear next week who will have the best shot at winning it all.

The other exciting weekend event is the series between the Mariners and the Diamondbacks. I really root for the Diamondbacks unless they play the Mariners. So far, after two games of the three games scheduled this weekend, the Mariners have won both. I would like to see both teams make the playoffs at the end of the year and right now the Mariners need the wins more than the Diamondbacks. Even though the Mariners have a better overall record, they are behind in their division standings. Great games in a great season.

We are happy to see the weather slowly improving to cooler days...

Car Service Done

Well, we have the white Escape all set to go for another 5K miles before the next service. With Josie running up the miles for her commute, it won't take too long before that time rolls around again. Thankfully, the car gets close to 30 mpg, so the gas bill will remain tolerable. The red Escape still gas about 2K miles to go before service is due.

Josie was asked to work the 67th Ave store for one day on September 29. That, as you recall, is the closest AJ's store to us and is the one we visited on Wednesday. Maybe this will be the beginning of a regular trade-off situation where she can split time between the stores to help lessen the commute. Sounds good to me.

I am getting pretty good now at using our instant pot. Last night I made a salmon dinner from frozen fillets in 10 minutes and it was delicious. It sure is a good way to quickly fix meals when Josie is working and doesn't have the time - or energy - to prepare the meals. So far this week, I have also done chicken and pork chops that have all turned out to be excellent meals. There isn't much that cannot be done using that gadget and we can even do desserts in the pot. I'm not quite ready for those yet...

Scheduling Car Service

We noticed that our white Escape was overdue for service the other day so I made an appointment for this morning. Josie drives that car to/from work which means we had to switch cars this morning so I could take it in for a 7:20 AM appointment. We are mounting up the mileage now on that car after going for almost a year with only 10K miles on the odometer. The red Escape now has 37K miles on it, and is not due for service again for another 2K miles. I don't put many miles on the car that stays home everyday. Josie's commute is now around 30 miles each way where before it was only 13 miles. She is hanging in there and hoping for a transfer to a closer store sometime soon.

One other nice thing about her new job is that she gets paid weekly. This is the first job where she has ever gotten a weekly paycheck and that sure helps with budgeting. So, every Friday is payday.

The weather forecast is improving as far as high temperatures go. I like seeing the highs every day that are 105 or less. It will be great if we can keep this streak going, and hope that the remainder of the monsoon season is kind to us...

Day Full of Activities

Josie had her bone density tests performed in the morning yesterday. Of course, we have to wait on those results. From that appointment, we went to Fry's to check on a couple charges for vaccinations that our new doctor has prescribed. Two of the three were either not necessary or cost prohibitive. The third one was received last week and was the first of two pneumonia shots. While we were there, we decided to get our 2019 flu shots to get those out of the way. The shot for this year is the same as last year's as there was little change in the strains that are identified.

We then went to the AJ's store in Glendale to talk to the manager about lining up a transfer for Josie. The manager wasn't there, but it didn't seem to matter. The store is smaller than the one where she currently works and the floral department is only staffed by two individuals - the manager and one other employee who talked to Josie. It doesn't seem like a situation that would match Josie's needs at the moment as the person there now has no immediate plans to leave anytime soon. So, it's back to perhaps looking at other options, or sticking it out where is now located.

Following a stop at the store to pick up some groceries, we went home and relaxed the rest of the day and I did pork chops in the Instant Pot for dinner. Hmm, good...

Solution is a Joke

The problem I described yesterday with our DirecTV playlist still exists. The technician arrived at around 9:30 with no idea why he was sent. After reviewing the problem with him, he knew exactly what the problem was and proceeded to tell me that everybody has the same situation. Evidently, a new software release (in June) to include the new programming guide also had a glitch for the playlist function. It seems that, until a software fix is released sometime within the next 60 days I will have to continue to reset the receiver in order to retrieve all of our recorded shows. Now, isn't that a typical AT&T result? I had a long talk with the tech who is a 14 year veteran with DirecTV and he indicated that the acquisition of DirecTV by AT&T is the beginning of the end for satellite TV. He said that AT&T will be moving to 100% streaming of shows within the next 10-15 years. Awful news. That means that it will certainly cost more in the future.

Josie had her bloodwork done and we scratched that off the to-do list. Today she will have her bone density tests performed and I will take her to the office in Surprise to have that done.

We also plan to visit the AJ's store in Glendale to introduce herself to management and make it known that she is interested in transferring there asap. That was at the suggestion of her present manager. and is meant to clear the way for a potential change in her work location. That would cut between 30 to 45 minutes off of her commute, each way. With any kind of luck, she won't have to wait too long for that to happen...

DirecTV Issue

For several weeks now, I have been communicating with DirecTV regarding an issue we have had with our TV recordings. There are several shows, and series, that we faithfully copy each week. Those recordings are placed on a "playlist" which is brought up on our screen by pressing one button on the remote. We are then able to select the show and either save it or delete it when it finishes playing. Our problem has been that when we press the playlist button on the remote, only a portion of our recordings are shown. The only way we can get a complete list of our recordings is to reset the receiver which is nonsense and takes 5 minutes to restart each time. We have finally convinced DirecTV that the only way to fix this problem is to send a tech out to our house and do an on-site fix. That will happen today, between 8 AM and noon. I must say, DirecTV has slowly gone down the incompetent path that AT&T has laid out for them since becoming part of that deficient giant.

We also have some appointments today that Josie needs to satisfy on her days off. The first one is to get her bloodwork done and she will be doing that while I wait for the DirecTV tech. We expect to have both of her days off filled with necessary activities, plus some relaxation thrown in...

Work Gains

It appears that the more familiar that Josie gets with her commute and the folks she works with, the better she likes the new job. She is now saying that she likes the people she works with and the commute is just a requirement. That is a very good sign that it could work out to be a long term arrangement at her current location. The scheduling needs a little tweaking, but the signs are all positive at this point.

We completed our primary ballots this morning and I will mail them today. The primaries are always ho-hum elections, but there are some signals that the Republican majority in the house will disappear in November. I guess the mid-term elections tend to create gains for the party not in office anyway , so we'll see. The real test will be in November when the selections really count and the changes are made official...

Eager for Outdoor Actvities

I just wish this summer would end. There are so many outside projects that we have lined up to do at our house and having to sit inside and watch the temperatures rise is getting very old. Of course, we moved into our home at the absolute worse time of the year - May. If our original plans weren't sidetracked, we would have locked up the house and spent another nice summer in Jackson, WY.  We have to play the cards we are dealt, so here we are.

Our new A/C that was installed to replace the swamp cooler that we inherited needed a slight adjustment yesterday. We discovered some water on the floor in the den that was dripping from the unit. The installation of the unit was too perfect to drain the water outside. The unit was suppose to have a slight "tilt" to the back - or to the outside - so that the excess water (condensation) would drain outside. I drilled a hole outside under the platform of the unit so that the water would drain to the ground through the hole instead of running along the platform to the inside of the house. Otherwise, I would have had to take the installation apart and make the adjustment - not an easy task. We will find out soon enough if the fix did the job.

Josie has her new schedule for this week and she will be working the whole weekend and not have her next day off until Tuesday. Fortunately, the schedule has given her consecutive days off, so she will also have Wednesday off. There are still some "tweaks" that need to made to her schedule, but she is getting closer to a workable one...

Late Blooming Cactus

Just when you think all the cactus have bloomed for the season, we see another one with a single bloom. This one bloomed this morning and we think it probably does signal the end of the blooming season for cacti:

They sure do look beautiful when they blossom. It's a shame they only last for one day and then they are gone.

Our day yesterday was the second and last day that Josie had off this week. We caught up on more prescription activity and she also received a pneumonia vaccination - her first of two. I got both of mine over the last two years when we received our flu shots. By the way, it is about that time of the year again for flu shots.

Josie hasn't gotten her new schedule yet for this week but expects to pick it up today. She has requested that her schedule reflect consecutive days off, so we will see. We do know that she will be working today and tomorrow but we aren't sure about the schedule beyond tomorrow. The good part about working the weekends is that the freeways are generally clear and her commute is predictable...

About Paribus

About a month ago, I joined a free service that has already begun saving us money. It is called "Paribus", and it is a Capital One Group company that tracks your online purchases for price reductions on items you purchased from companies such as: Amazon, Macy's, Nordstrom, Old Navy. Walmart, Gap and Target. (REVIEW) As you recall, we recently purchased a small refrigerator (online) from Home Depot. I received an email from Paribus a couple days ago informing me of a price drop (15%) in the refrigerator that fell within the 14 day period following the purchase to become eligible for refund. They even included a phone number to call to have the refund credited back to us. I called the number, and within 5 minutes my credit card was credited for the $53.50 refund. I never would have otherwise known about it. Wow!

Josie is still dealing with different routes for her commute to and from work. Yesterday, she tried another way home and it didn't save her any time but relieved some of the stress she feels while on the freeways. There are several of those non-freeway routes that she is trying out so maybe she will find the right combination soon.

The monsoon storms are still threatening each day and it also is still muggy and humid almost every day. I don't remember the monsoon season being so relentless with the storms, winds and humidity in the years past. I do remember periods during the summer when they were active, but this year seems like they are non-stop. Only about a month to go...

Finally a Break

Tuesday

Josie was again - for the second consecutive day - about 15 minutes late to work. She has been trying different routes to work to try to find the best and most consistent one and she is eliminating some as bad choices. Of course, it depends a lot on the day of the week and the time of the day. It will be a long process. In the meantime, she will leave an extra 15 minutes earlier and allow for a 1.5 hour commute. Outrageous! Also, in the meantime, she will concentrate on the route she started with which is the 101 to 51 to Lincoln Ave to 32nd St to Camelback. Even though there can, and will be traffic jams, it has proven so far to be the most consistent.

Wednesday

Finally, a day off. We spent almost the entire day driving around taking care of business that Josie had to accomplish on her day off. Prescriptions were high on the list followed by a visit to AT&T (yes, again) to try to get her Facebook application up on her new phone and (yes, again) it was wasted time. The AT&T staff at the retail location performed in their usual incompetent manner.

We stopped at a couple furniture places to see if we could locate a small desk for her to use for her Basha's/AJ's work information and to have a work area for her computer and storage space for her personal activities. No luck there.

We stopped at Jersey Mike's for lunch and I had a Philly cheesesteak (of course) and Josie had the Italian sub (of course). It sure is good to stop there occasionally.

I'll try to keep up with the blog entries each day as I hate to miss one. Yesterday, I didn't realize I had missed a day until we were in the car and it was too late...

Commuting Woes

Josie's commute to work has become an unpredictable problem. Most days, she has been able to gauge the commuting time. Yesterday (Monday) morning she was 15 minutes late and the commute took her one hour, 25 minutes. Again this morning, she called me at 8 AM, and is still at least another 15-20 minutes from work. Her start time is 8 AM. The problem is so stressful and serious that she is going to have to get on the list for a transfer ASAP. It just will not work out with a 1.25-1.50 hour commute on any day. Mondays and Fridays will always be problems, but this is the summer and we would hate to see the traffic during the winter months when the snow birds all return. Tomorrow will be first day that Josie has off since last Wednesday. It seems like it has been a month.

Scheduling will also be an issue with her new job. Right now, she does not get two consecutive days off during the week. She will try to get the schedule changed to allow for that so we can at least plan for an overnight trip somewhere to get away occasionally. Of course, they could change her schedule to work only 4 days per week and that would probably help. That possibility exists if the management decides to cut back during the slow months.

The good news is that we are into the middle of August and the weather will soon begin to become nice. We have that to look forward to...

Tiger is Back

I witnessed something yesterday during the PGA Championship golf tournament that I haven't seen in ten years - Tiger Woods challenging for the lead on the final holes of a major golf championship. He finished in 2nd place, two strokes back of the winner, Brooks Koepka. However, for the final 4 or 5 holes, the entire gallery seemed to be following Tiger. To make it even more familiar, the other contenders did what they always did when Tiger challenged down the stretch - they lost their game, choked and folded under the pressure from Tiger. All except the winner who birdied two of the last three holes to win the tournament. The fact is - Tiger is back to again challenge, and perhaps win, more major tournaments. Great tournament.

Josie is in her stretch of seven straight days of working. This morning, on her sixth day, she ran into a problem while trying a new way to work and will most likely be late as a result of heavy traffic. This is, as expected, the only negative so far that we need to deal with over the long haul. She plans to ask for a transfer to a closer AJ's, but wants to make sure she has established herself enough to be granted an early transfer. Some days there are no problems, so we need to work it out.

It sure will be nice when the weather changes to where we can sit outside without sweating to death and we can also do more work to clear out our garage. Other than that, life is good...

PGA Tournament

The final major tournament (PGA Championship) of the season on the PGA Tour is wrapping up today. After the third round yesterday, the drama is building as several big names are in contention. The biggest surprise is that one of them is Tiger Woods. Just when everybody thinks he is on the downside of his career, he reaches down and has a great chance to win his 15th major tournament of his career at age 42. He handles pressure better than anyone who ever played the game. Actually, my personal favorites are Rickie Fowler - never won a major tournament but always is near the top finishers - and Justin Thomas - to make it consecutive PGA Tournament wins. I'll be watching, for sure.

Josie is working again today and will have worked 7 straight days since joining AJ's before getting a day off on Wednesday. It is probably good that she has this stretch of working days as she gets to use  her new knowledge while still fresh in her mind. The different hours have also served to test the best commuting hours and days for future scheduling. Of course, the weekends are always the best time to travel the freeways and she can make it to work in about 45 minutes.

It is nice that we got a break - as short as it seems - from the monsoon madness of the last week or so. I understand that more storms are possible over the next several days so I hope they are weak ones...

Monsoon Havoc

It was another night of monsoon rains last night. The first storm came through at 11:15 PM and lasted until almost 12:30 AM. The rest of the night was off and on lightening and thunder with rain mixed in. There is still one month to go for the monsoon, and it can't end soon enough. I stopped cleaning up after the storms as there are only more to follow. We bring the cushions inside at night from two of our outdoor chairs so that we have dry seats to sit out and have coffee in the mornings.

Josie is getting into the routine now on her new job. The commute is brutal and will eventually lead to a transfer request, I'm sure. It is 30 miles each way to work through some heavy traffic most of the time. Otherwise, it appears that she will like the job. Fortunately, AJ's has stores all over the Valley, most of which are closer to us.

Most of this weekend will be taken up watching the PGA Golf Championship on TV. It is the final major tournament of the season. They have experienced some lost time with rain delays. I believe they will get caught up by the end of today. The leaders are mostly familiar names, so it should be a very good tournament. There have been some surprises in the names of those that have missed the cut, namely Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Patrick Reed to name a few....

Dodged a Bullet

Probably, the biggest news of the day was that we dodged a bullet with the weather last night. All day we were hearing about the monsoon storms that were forming to the east and to the north. The threat is always there for the Phoenix area when the storms begin their march south from the Mogollon Rim. We went to bed at our usual time - around 9 PM - and all was quiet. Josie got up shortly after midnight to high winds and lightening and a little bit of rain to check things out on our patio. We were just on the fringe of perhaps the worse storm of the season. The eastside - particularly Tempe and Mesa - were dumped on and received as much as 3.75 inches of rain which resulted in heavy flooding in some areas. Of course, I knew nothing about it until the news this morning.

Josie's second day at her new job was, as expected, better than her first day. She is beginning to feel more comfortable and likes the folks she works with along with the way things are run at the store. Her commute was again easy this morning as she made it to work in about 45 minutes. It may be the starting time (7 AM) that is better for her commute, so we will follow that trend. There may be a chance that she will request a certain starting time to help with the commute. At any rate, I feel better because she feels better...

First Day Observations

Josie's first day of work at AJ's was mostly positive. The commute, of course, will be the toughest and least pleasing aspect of the job. Her starting times will vary from 7 AM to 10 AM. Yesterday was her first day starting at 10 AM. She learned a lot about the store operations, where everything was located, who her coworkers were and in general, how the flow of work will go in the future. The fact that she was left alone to work the last few hours in the floral department and close by herself was very stressful, but a good experience. The fact that the summer is a slow season everywhere didn't help with the time moving very fast. Once the summer ends, it is expected to get much busier. Day #2 is today and she started at 7 AM. The commute was totally different and it took her only 45 minutes to get to the store. Much better.

Most of the quail families have raised their young and, for the most part, have departed the area. I was amused yesterday by a few hummingbirds that are now hanging out at our feeder. I replaced the nectar with a different recipe and the hummingbirds have taken to the new mix with vigor. Below are a few shots of the activity during the day:

Guarding the feeder:

Waiting their turn and resting between feedings:

They are very entertaining and fun to watch. I am guessing that the number of birds will increase with the new nectar formula. The next challenge will be getting a shot of multiple birds feeding.😊….

Visit With New Doctor

We had received a letter from our insurance company about a month ago announcing a switch in our Primary Care Physician. The first time we went to the office was for the ant bites that we both received and the Nurse Practitioner took care of us. Yesterday, Josie had an appointment for her Annual Wellness Exam. Everything was fine and she really likes our new doctor. I have an appointment for my Annual Wellness Exam on September 13, so I will meet him at that time.

Today is the first day for Josie on her new job. She starts at 10 AM today and will work until 6 PM which means she will be closing on her first day. That's highly unusual for a new employee to be closing, herself, on her first day. We hope that goes OK. The biggest problem so far is her handling the stress of the commute. She really isn't confident about the route or the traffic until she gets some experience. According to Google Maps, it should take her 50 minutes for the trip. I'm sure that each time she makes the trip she will gain more confidence.

The week looks like a good one for cooling off a little bit from what we have been getting lately. Along with the cooler temperatures (100-105), we expect the possibilities of storms during the week. I hope they don't hit while Josie is driving either to work or home from work. Our fingers are crossed that she will have a good experience and will look forward to her new challenges...

Training Day

The first day on Josie's new job was for training. It was more of an informational kind of training than actual "hands on" training. There are three different stores in the Basha's company: AJ's is the higher end store, Basha's is the main store brand and then there is Food City which is a niche kind of store at the lower end of the brands. All of the stores were represented at the session yesterday and there were about 12 people in the class. Only two were from AJ's (Josie and one other) and they were all dressed in their store colors. Although the information was good, it was a long day that could have been shortened.

The biggest problem for Josie yesterday was the drive to the class. The class was held in town and the traffic patterns are adjusted based on the time of day. In other words, lanes that are open during non busy times are closed during rush hour times. Thankfully, she will not have to go to that location again. Tomorrow begins her regular job, and the trip will be on a different route. The excitement is building for her and we only have the commute to deal with at this point.

There appears to be some temporary relief on the way from our hot weather. I see where we will be between 101-105 over the next week. Of course, that is still hot but  not sizzling...

AT&T Sinks Lower

Our woes with AT&T continue. Yesterday, we stopped at the AT&T retail location in the mall area and struck out once again. Josie has not been able to get her password reset for Facebook since she got her new phone. There is not one person in any of the stores we have gone to for this problem that has been able to help. We left the store with no Facebook capability on her phone. I will, somehow, have to figure out the solution myself.

We also are still having some issues with DirecTV since they became part of the AT&T family. We sometimes (temporarily) lose some of our recorded shows and we can only recover them by resetting the receiver. We never had this problem with DirecTV before they joined with AT&T. It has become a nuisance and an unnecessary process that adds to our frustration with this company. The money we are saving by switching from Verizon is not worth all this aggravation. We can't wait to switch back to get excellent customer service again.

Josie has her training day today at a Food City store in Phoenix. She left early - at 6:20 - for her class which starts at 7:30. I have not heard from her, so I am hoping she made it OK...

Diehard Golfers

One thing I haven't commented on is the golfing activity during the extreme heat. We almost always get lots of golfers in the early part of the day, as you might expect, before the real heat of the day arrives. Usually, by around noon, the golfers disappear until late afternoon or evening when the final groups go through. Basically, there is no golf being played between the hours of 12 noon through about 5 pm. The diehard golfers that play in the mornings are playing in 95+ degree weather and sometimes with temperatures over 105. The late afternoon groups are usually playing in temperatures of 107+. They are crazy. I love the game, but on these hot summer days I enjoy it more on TV.

Just a note on Josie's birthday which was last week while Patty was visiting. One of the gifts she received - from Patty - was a "spinner" for outdoors that she purchased while we were at the small Fair in Prescott. The original one was defective, so we received a replacement yesterday and we hung it outside to enjoy:

It will provide a nice addition to the back patio. So, in addition to golfers, birds, bunnies and other plants and wildlife, we can enjoy watching the spinner during some nice breezes.

Josie is getting herself mentally prepared to begin her new job tomorrow. She begins with one day of training and then begins the real job on Wednesday. She is excited to begin and I am excited for her to experience this new challenge. It will be different from anything she has done before...

Temps on the Rise

I heard on the news yesterday that we average 18 days per year of temperatures at 110 or higher. We hit that number yesterday and we are just beginning August. The record for 110+ days is something like 32, so we have a real shot at breaking that record since all but two of the days this week are forecast to be at 110 or above. It would have been nice if this year set a record for fewest days at 110 or higher.

We continue to have decent electric bills through all the heat. Our new bill that we received yesterday was for $190.00 for the last 30 days which included some very high temperatures. That is also the first bill since we installed the new (extra) A/C in the den. I think it says a lot about the insulation in the house and the efficiency of the fans and other (2) A/C units. We hope it continues that way.

Josie has her one day of training on Monday at a Food City in town. We took a drive yesterday to see the place and were disappointed. The store is in a not-so-clean part of town and is almost entirely stocked with Spanish foods. It's a good thing she only has to spend one day there. Her regular schedule begins on Wednesday at the AJ's in Arcadia which she is looking forward to...

New Addition

We have been having a problem lately with finding enough room in our refrigerator to keep all the water we need to drink during this hot weather. There was a definite need to off-load the water to another location so that we could keep all the necessary items in the refrigerator with easy access. So...we did some research and had a new, small refrigerator delivered yesterday:

It is a 7.5 cu ft refrigerator and small enough to fit nicely in the slot next to our garage door in the laundry room/den. We loaded it up with our water and other beverages and we also have room to keep some overflow frozen foods in the small freezer. Thank you Home Depot.

We will someday replace the existing refrigerator in our kitchen, but it is not one that we can save in the garage - or anywhere else - as it is big, old, noisy and ready to die within the next several months. That one will be taken away whenever we get a replacement.

There was another bout with monsoon storms last night. Heavy rain, wind and lots of thunder and lightening were constant for about two hours before we went to bed. We just wish we could get lots of rain without all the other side effects...

Safe Trip Home

The drive to the airport with Patty was according to the planned schedule and we were home again before her flight departed from Phoenix. We had a wonderful time with her this past week and can hardly wait to see her and her family at Thanksgiving - if it all comes together. Between now and then, we all agreed that we work hard to get into better shape and to lose some pounds so that we can attempt the climb to the top of Yarnell Hill to see the rest of the monument created in memory of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who perished in that awful fire on Sunday, June 30, 2013. It will be worth the effort.

Before departing for the airport, we took a quick tour of the Rec Center so that Patty could see all the other activities that are available to the residents here. The facilities are complete and in like-new condition.

Patty's flight landed in Chicago close to the scheduled time and we heard from her when she arrived home at around 6:45 PM our time (8:45 PM her local time). It's all back to normal again for all of us. Josie begins her new job with one day of training next Tuesday and the weather remains a challenge to handle. Temperatures for the next week will hover around 110 with always the chance of more monsoon storms. UGH!!….

Scottsdale Search

The main objective for yesterday was to do a drive around in areas within Scottsdale that might appeal to Patty and her family when they move to the area. It also would have to be an area that would be convenient to Mark's new employment location. The biggest problem we faced was that many - if not most - of the nice, desirable areas were in gated communities and we had no access.

We did locate Patty and Mark's vacation home that they once owned in Scottsdale and was the home where Nan resided for some time. This shot was taken by Patty as a reminder of the home:

It was a nice home and brought back some fond memories.

There are several areas that would be worthy of follow up once they know more about budget and time frame. They will not have any problem locating a suitable area and nice home when the time comes.

We drove south to the Arcadia area of Phoenix to visit the AJ's store where Josie begins her new job next week. We met her new manager (Brynn) and walked around the store. It definitely is a "Fine Foods" store and will be a terrific place to work.

Today, we must take Patty to the airport to catch her flight home 😢. We had a terrific time together while she was here and will miss her until she can return again. The tentative plan is for her to return at Thanksgiving with the whole family. That would be wonderful if we can make that happen...