A Day Of Changes

No fear, nothing drastic in the 'change dept' it's just that the weather has had some distinct changes as you can see here in the first two pictures. I was expecting rain early in the morning and got it. Enough rain not to go riding during the time of day I like to ride. So I turned my focus online to finding the black wheels for the FJ, the same brand and design that I had on my first FJ in 2014. I found them right under my nose at the TireRack, a company I had used years ago for one of my Mini Coopers.

Within an hour after sunrise Stella and I put our walk into a 'rain delay' just like baseball. I didn't mind getting wet under the light rain but I didn't feel like toweling her off when I got back. With the natural oil in the coat of a hound, the water is never absorbed by the towel. So we waited and I went back to my searching online, comparing prices and where they were in stock. I was hoping I could make a trip to Tucson and get them today but that was not possible. They will be here with free shipping within 2-3 days.

I like the Duluth Trading Company and their tv advertisements. I've never bought anything from them but after my first order I placed last Sunday I doubt that I will buy again. In fact by late tonight if I don't get some kind of update about shipping I may cancel the order. It wasn't a hard order. Another flannel shirt since I am finding out that might be the winter shirt around here. They had a short strap that attaches on a seat belt of a passenger seat, to Heidi's collar. It's a safety thing, keeping her from flying into the dashboard on our road trips if I ever had to slam on my brakes.

In this day and age of online sales and surveys in your inbox anytime you buy anything online or in person, I may be expecting too much ... such as an email telling me my order has shipped within two days of the weekend order. If not that, at least have my order show up on my online account when I log in to check status ... instead of NO RECORD OF ORDER. I have their order confirmation email with an order number. Seems simple, maybe not. Yes, I have called and talked to a real person the last two days, who told me it was shipping that afternoon. I lose my little patience with stuff like this.

Note:  It has come to my attention at 5:17 AZ time, from a blog reader that lives in Duluth MN, not only is the 21" of new snow a problem but many roads are closed or not passible. With all the snow and ice their major lift bridge is not working. So even if my order were ready to ship, highly unlikely it would get anywhere. As she said "the point" where Duluth Trading Company is located has been closed and just opened up for residential traffic. SO MY APOLOGIES FOR BAD MOUTHING DULUTH TRADING COMPANY.

I should have turned off my kitchen light when I took this picture.

REI is another disappointing online order. You would think companies such as this would be on top of their game with so much competition for online sales other than Amazon. I ordered three things November 23rd ... they shipped them in three different shipments and based on tracking information they all came from the same warehouse in Kent Washington. The problem is on order#2 they decided to send it cross country to Richmond VA first, then figured out that Arizona is in the opposite direction. I am suppose to get it today in the mail. Let see ... Amazon delivers in 1-2 days after the order is placed or REI for 12 days after the order?????

I keep reminding myself that nobody's perfect but really ... it's not that hard to ship something correctly and on time. I DO KNOW I will not buy anything else from REI or The Duluth Trading Company online ... I'll go back to Amazon.

Later in the morning it was time for a walk. My lower back needed some exercise from that huge error in judgement I had Monday afternoon. You remember how I was going to lay on my back under the side of my FJ to lift a very heavy rock rail with brackets, up into the area to bolt it to the frame of the car. I didn't succeed but Toyota did yesterday. In the meantime all that twisting, turning and lifting irritated my lower back on the new hip side. Sore enough, stiff enough that I wasn't going to get on a bicycle today. Stella trotted a lot during her walk. Heidi stayed behind to finish her late morning nap.

I had a feeling that as the weather turned to sunshine that the winds would pick up. They did, making that 67° feel a little cooler than it was. Am I not adapting to the SE Arizona winter like I thought I would, turning into a whimp instead so soon after moving? I never thought temps below 70° would give me so much problem. I'm already looking forward to springtime and a hot summer.  Ha Ha

Stella and I rarely hear the puppy next door anymore. They surely didn't get rid of it already. I haven't seen them walking it on the sidewalk in front of the house, so it's hard to say. Stella will stand and listen for the puppy barking or crying every morning soon after 8am.

Another change I was feeling today was my lack of motivation. Granted I got up early (5am) but that is not a rare thing for me. Normally on a day that I don't feel like riding a bicycle, I feel like taking a hike somewhere or driving around the local area with my camera ... but not today. Those urges were nowhere to be found.

So while Stella slept on the patio and Heidi was on the bedroom floor in the sunshine, I sat on the patio facing the sunshine and feeling the cool air whip by my face. The sun was so hot on my face but the cool wind kept me in my sweatshirt. It didn't take 30 minutes before those winds blew in the gray rain clouds to mix with what you see here. No rain is on the hourly forecast for today.

I guess Stella was feeling the same way I was today.

Since I didn't have a lot of pictures for today's post I decided to pull some from the library like I have done before. All of these next pictures were taken on the 4th of December in different years.

2018 Dec 04

2017 Dec 04

2016 Dec 04

2016 Dec 04

2015 Dec 04

2015 Dec 04

I think I have come to the phase where I have to have an exercise program on a regular bases that consist of stretch and some basic exercises. The doctor on Tuesday did not mention doing anything like that but I know when I feel I should. He did say I would not see a lot of improvement from here on out based on what I told him. Past patients have told him it takes around 8 months before they were feeling normal. I mentioned the small aches and pains I sometimes have and he said that is normal and part of the process then once again reminded me that I also have a femur that was broken before the hip replacement.

He did say I can do everything from here on out, except those activities like running, skiing, snowboarding, basketball games, racquetball, tennis etc. He did not verbally tell me those activities but they are listed in the book they gave me the day before surgery at the hospital. So stretching, some pushups and some resistant band training should be okay.

It's one of those days where the words don't flow easy. I sit in the chair grasping at something to write and at this point in the blog I cannot think of anything else to write about. I guess it's like I said on Facebook this afternoon with that picture of Stella stretched out sleeping next to my chair "Sometimes it's just good to take a day off during the middle of the week" ... I guess that is what I have done mentally today.

It's sunny, with dark gray clouds mixed in and gusty winds just like you would imagine in the 'Wild West.

A Weekend Full of Activity

Up until a few minutes ago, the weather was great for the weekend. For the first half of Saturday it didn't seem like I was going to get anything done. My tent needed to be returned to REI in Indy, about 90 miles away. My camera was still not working the majority of the attempts. I had a long list of things to do on the house that really had not been started and ... I was just lazy.

Sometime around 1pm I became highly motivated on Saturday. I backed the FJ out of the carport, pulled out the ladder, a 5gl bucket, a pair of gloves that were rubber coated and my long water hose ... and headed up on the roof. I think I missed cleaning my gutters last fall and after I started Saturday I was sure of it. Still it wasn't bad. There were more cinders from the shingles in the gutters that had washed off than leaves or sticks. It didn't take me long to make two trips down the ladder to empty the bucket of muck.

By the end of the cleaning I was spraying fresh water the full length of the gutter. While I was up on the roof I decided to trim back some low hanging limbs from the mahogany tree in back. I did a quick roof inspection and found out I will need to replace a sheets of shingles for the one that was damaged in high winds this spring. Otherwise the temps were cool enough in mid afternoon to sit on top of the roof for a whole different view on the neighborhood.  I like it up there.

Once back inside the house I knocked off a couple of more easy things on the list, so by Saturday night I had put a thick black line through four things on the list. I ended up being pretty sore from all the bending, scooting on my knees while on the roof and climbing up and down the ladder a few times. I didn't realize I was that out of shape.

Sunday was a bright, sunny morning. Over my two cups of coffee, some blog reading and a game of Mahjong on the new laptop, I decided to miss traffic and all the construction hold ups on the way to Indianapolis that would take place during the week. I decided that I would run up to REI to exchange my tent that had a hole in the mesh after the night of high winds in Utah. 

Before picking up the exact same tent I did look over their inventory and a few times I almost decided to buy a different tent. Yet, I liked that Marmot Tungsten 3P. It kept us dry. On the warmer night in Rifle Gap SP, it was nice to sleep without the vestibule and having a great view of the sky. There was plenty of room for me, a bloodhound and two basset hounds.

It was fairly tall at 48". So I decided to give that tent another try. When I got to the cashier with my replacement tent, she commented it was my lucky day. Most of their tents were on sale, including the one I was exchanging. So I picked up a new tent in exchange and a $74 refund for the price difference due to the sale.

Feeling pretty good about that, I headed south to Bloomington's Best Buy to have them check out my Nikon D3200 that stopped working properly when trying to auto focus. Now ... based on my past experience with the "Geek Squad" last fall, I was expecting nothing more than filling out some paperwork and having them ship it back to Nikon for a repair under warranty.

They didn't disappoint me. Their Geek Squad Tech Rep verified that the camera would not auto focus. He then asked me questions that were answered two or three times during our conversation. He filled out the paper work and under condition "scratched and worn", then tried to get me to sign the paperwork with out reading the find print. You know, one of those "check this box and sign here" things.

Last fall's experience told me to do otherwise. Last fall they also put "scratched and worn" on my iMac that was in mint condition. So when I saw that same condition today, I couldn't resist, I asked the tech rep to point out the scratches on my camera and also any parts that show abnormal or even normal wear.

I knew there weren't any ... so I was curious what his answer would be. 

I know they put that as a condition to protect their asses, in case someone drops it while working on it, damaged in shipment, it falls off the counter ... whatever ... but I'm a stickler for paperwork being filled out correctly. At least this time the date of purchase was correct and not just a fill in date.

The tech rep could not find any scratches, even on the big rear monitor. Nor could he find any places that were worn ... I mean the camera was bought 9 months ago ... give me a break!!!!

After a stare down, he changed the "condition" on the paperwork to "like new". I still dislike Geek Squad with all my heart. I am saying that in a "politically correct kind way". Their phone service even sucks worse than they do in person. I might fall off my diet and celebrate when my 1 year membership expires this fall.  I will be that thrilled about not having to talk to them again.

So I get a new tent plus a refund but give my camera away for 2-4 weeks, maybe less time than that. I marked off somethings from my "to do" list, putting the hounds and I close to the travel mode.

I would say that was a pretty successful weekend.

I took a siesta when I got back ... it seems that's the norm again on weekends. The hounds are always in agreement with a siesta since that IS their favorite hobby.

I know what my next plan is on the list and that should be completed by Monday afternoon. All inside work since it will be raining tonight and most of tomorrow. Can we give some of this rain in the Midwest to California??

I still plan to head west again as soon as my list is complete. I know my last trip wasn't long but it was long enough to show me what I needed to adjust for future travel. Heidi's skin continues to improve and grow more hair on those bald spots. Her appetite is still good but I'm not sure if the vet prescribed Pepsin AC is working ...  I think she is constipated now.

Is it timing or just a coincidence that she seems to be doing better on food with chicken and rice, no fruits, no veggies and only one protein source ... compared to months of eating no grain food with fruits, veggies and multiple protein sources? In past years during the month of May and June she was getting allergy shots. So far this year there has not been a need for shots or meds in May and June.

I have a few photos today from the Nikon D3200 but starting tomorrow it will be the iPhone 5s camera and my small Nikon CoolPix 3100 taking the photos, until the D3200 is shipped back to the house.