Prep for Valentine's Day

Josie actually got off work at a decent time last night - 7 PM - and she had put in about 10 hours for the day. That is not an unusually long day for the day before Valentine's Day. I can remember, and I'm sure Josie does better than I, Valentine's Days where she worked 20 hours to get ready for the big rush today. It is probably a combination of the downturn in the industry, not having a manager's position and working in a shop where there may be an unexpected surge that they will not be prepared for today. It should be an interesting day for her today, and I hope that it doesn't get out of control at the end of the day. This is the first big holiday the shop has had without the departed Alex, the general manager and the glue for the organization.

Other than that, there isn't much to report about yesterday except my cold is still hanging on. There may have been some improvement yesterday, but it is not going away fast enough to suit me...

 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY !!

Early Results

If the first tankful of gas is any indication, the new Ford Escape should do what we expected. While out picking up our final paychecks from Aramark for our Super Bowl work, I filled the tank at Sam's Club. It only took 10.7 gallons after the full first week of use and that translated to 25.6 mpg. That was done mostly on side roads and city streets, so it will only get better. We weren't sure how accurate the tank gauge would be, so we filled it with a quarter of a tank still showing. It cost a total of $21.50 to fill.

For some reason, the cold symptoms seem to get better during the day, and get worse during the night. Every morning I feel like I just came through a thrashing and I know it isn't the medication. I'm taking the same thing before bedtime and during the night that I take during the day. Go figure. At any rate, it is a very slow process of improving. I expect to wake up any day now and feel cured.

While picking up our mail at the office yesterday on my way home, I also grabbed a new rate sheet for the resort. They have raised the rates again - for the second consecutive year - and it is getting more and more difficult to justify the annual rate. Last year it went up 15%, and this year another 5%. Unfortunately, many folks will not swallow the increases and will move on. We will most likely call this our final year here also. Wait for further word on what our plans for the next year and foreseeable future hold for us...

You Can Leave Now

That's the message I have for this cold that just seems to want to hang around. When I was a smoker - before quitting 16 years ago - I had a good reason to expect a cold to hang on. I have gone through a couple boxes of Theraflu along with Josie who appears to have some improvement in her battle. I had to go to work yesterday at 3:30 PM and it was a struggle to make it through my shift that ended at 8:30 last night. Most of the medications only provide about a 6 hour period of relief, but I have been feeling the loss of the impact of the medicine after about 4 hours. I guess I'll just have to hang in there as there really is no other option.

I have a busy day scheduled today with a trip to Surprise to pick up our final Super Bowl checks at the stadium, deposit them and get a haircut while I am there. I will also gas up the new vehicle for the first time and I am anxious to see the gas mileage we are getting so far. Josie has been mostly traveling the city streets as I-17 is almost always backed up, so the mileage should be accurate for a "normal" commute for her. The tank is only 15+ gallons, so even though we will fill it as usual about once a week, the total gas should be less as the Jeep has an 18+ gallon tank. Both of those gas tanks together don't match the truck's main tank of 38 gallons and I had an auxiliary tank on the trunk of 50 gallons to make a total capacity of 88 gallons. I didn't fill both tanks very often.

The schedules from work are posted on both a board in the break room and online where any Associate can see his schedule. It turns out that the two schedules rarely match and I find myself calling the warehouse to confirm my working schedule. Yesterday was one of those days that I was not scheduled to work according to the online schedule, but the in-house schedule did have me scheduled. Sheesh! I thought I was suppose to work today. Instead, I'll enjoy this day off to continue the recovery process...

Little Relief

I'm beginning to think that our colds are being traded back and forth. Neither one of us sounds very good in the morning. We are going through Theraflu and Dayquil and cough drops like it is our main course. Actually, that is probably another reason why the colds are lingering - neither of us has been eating properly since before our Super Bowl activities. That is very difficult to do when we are both on busy schedules, but the last few days have been sedentary ones for me. I don't know what else to do except keep doing what we are doing and eventually the colds will work their way out.

We have about decided that neither one of us will be working the spring training schedule this year. It seems that the merchandising jobs are filled and neither of us wants to go down the path working in the concessions again this year. Last year was not as much fun as the first year, and there is no reason to believe that changes have been made to make it that much better. Besides, Josie has a full time schedule now at the flower shop, and I can work several days a week at Sam's Club, if I want to, in order to stay busy and earn some extra cash. Maybe we will visit the stadium to see a game during the spring training schedule to visit some of the nice folks we worked with over the last couple years. Some of those people also are not returning for the same reasons.

I received the last of my 1099's and W-2's for 2014 so it looks like I have everything I need now to start the taxes. That is a priority for the next week or so, along with shedding these colds...

The Cold Process

There is a saying that my mother used to use regarding colds - it takes 3 days to get it, 3 days to have it, and 3 days to get rid of it. I think that I am in the middle 3 days as it doesn't seem to want to go away. In fact, it doesn't want to improve that much either. Josie is probably a couple days ahead of me as she is beginning to feel better and sounds a lot better than I do.

Josie had her first experience driving the new vehicle to work yesterday and the verdict is good. She loves driving it and it looks like it will be a winner for us as far as comfort and economy. I heard from the new owner's credit union yesterday and the funds should arrive today to complete the deal.

As I wasn't feeling real spry yesterday, I spent a good part of the afternoon outside reading another book. While sitting in our gazebo on this beautiful day, I heard, and then spotted , this power glider that at first seemed like he was going to land right here at the resort:

Just as he got overhead, he veered to his left and went on to probably land at the small glider airport down the road from us:

I haven't seen too many of those this year so it was nice to finally get a view of one.

It's more nursing of the cold today and attempting to get rid of the congestion and soreness. This has probably hit me at a better time than Josie's hit her. She has to deal with the long days working while trying to handle the symptoms. Maybe today will be the turning point and we can both be in the final 3 day period and get rid of this nonsense...

Slow Recovery

We went for a drive in the late morning to give Josie a chance to familiarize herself with our new vehicle. The destination was Walmart where we needed to pick up a few items and we also stopped at Michaels where she picked up some yarn. She is now happy with the choice and will begin driving it to work today. I knew that it would be a good fit for us but she had to get on board with the choice before taking over the wheel for commuting with it to work.

All day we both suffered with our lingering sore throats and coughs. it was off and on Theraflu and Dayquil all day. Even during the night last night we were both up and down several times with the nagging cough and had to take more medication. I hope it doesn't hang on for too much longer. I hate to waste so much time sitting around and nursing a cold, but who feels like doing anything when your coughing all the time and have a fever and a sore throat.

I will be in contact with the credit union today regarding our new vehicle and the fact that we saved more money by using the dealer's financing. Also, I expect to hear from the credit union of the new truck owner to inform us that the monies have been overnighted to settle the deal. High on the list of things to do - when I begin feeling better - is taxes.. Ugh!! Maybe being sick isn't so bad after all...

Farewell to a Friend

It was time to say farewell to the F450 King Ranch truck that was my friend for over 10% of my life. The new owner came just before 9 AM yesterday AM to pick it up and drove off with his wife following in their second vehicle. This is the last shot (into the sun) of the truck:

It will be replaced with a new chapter and new experience with our 2014 Ford Escape:

It is very economical and a highly rated vehicle by both Consumers Reports and Auto Trader. The Ford should get about 50% better mileage than our Jeep and will be the vehicle that Josie will use to commute to work each day. So far, she hasn't driven it, but will get her first taste today. At any rate, we now have two vehicles that will save us lots of gas money.

Josie's shop decided to close for today which gives her an unscheduled day off. Both of us are struggling with congestion and sore throats that we believe we picked up from Josie's manager. I spent the entire day yesterday resting and taking Theraflu and Dayquil to help with the symptoms. I could hardly speak at all yesterday and it was a real strain to communicate with the new truck owner yesterday morning. We don't get these colds very often, but they sure take a lot out of us when we do.

Aside from getting Josie familiar with the new vehicle, today promises to be another recovery day for our colds...