COVID 19 #30 - USING YOUR TIME STUCK AT HOME TO WORK ON ORGANIZING

 Welcome to 2022.  

2020 and 2021 have not been easy years for any of us.  We all hoped that by now life would be back to close to normal, if not fully normal.  But we seem to be mostly starting over – again.  

So how have you been using your time at home?  Have you been working on decluttering and organizing your home – or your life or you have been sitting and watching things on your TV?  

I have been trying to catch up on decluttering.  I am close to finishing a project to scan instruction  manuals, warranty papers, travel information, etc. onto flash stick drives to use in my computer.  (We keep all data on same not on our hard drives.)  I back up daily and weekly onto other flash stick drives and monthly onto an external hard drive – just in case. I did go through the travel brochures, old travel ticket stubs, and maps when I started this project.  I kept very few - I consulted with my husband about many of these items.  I scanned items (not maps – except some of those handout maps from various communities we visit often) we decided to keep onto the flash drive I take with us when traveling (can be used in our laptops while traveling).  In a number of cases we checked to see if the attraction that the brochure was for still existed – a very nice restaurant in a community towards the western side of Virginia that we had been to a couple of times – decades ago – still exists, menu is different (it was in the brochure) and the prices are higher – so it was scanned and kept as we hope to head in that direction again. Three hanging folders emptied and the papers recycled.

I have been working on instruction manuals/papers and warranties more recently.  I had one overstuffed hanging folder just for same for our RV.  I have scanned this onto a special stick flash drive so they can be taken with us when we travel – something we could not do with the large number of manuals and warranty papers themselves (it is a VERY small RV.)  I am almost finished with this project.  I will then go back to see what else I can scan and toss or just toss from the drawer.  

In addition to getting rid of all of these physical papers it is now much easier to actually find the item needed.  Before I would I open the filing drawer – bottom of two – and have to lean down to see in the drawer – when I do this my eyeglasses swing forward (and sometimes fall off) so I have to grab them and hold them where they help me see what is the file drawer.  Now I just put the flash drive in a computer – if none are running, turn on the computer and I can quickly find the needed information – and if the print is too small (especially for husband if he is the one looking) I can make it larger and easier to read.  

Of course some instruction manuals are just TOO BIG for this and are being kept in the drawer they were in.  

You do have a scanner for your computer – don't you?  One of the best things to help organize papers.  I wrote about same way back in October 2016  to see the article -

 http://wheredidileavethat.blogspot.com/2016/10/scanners-and-printers-and-how-to-use.html

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

What projects have you been working on while home?  Have you been using your time wisely or just wasting it?

BACK AND FORTH - TWICE - ON THE SAME TRIP AND FALLING BEHIND

Late again posting - sorry. 

We did go away last Thursday and Friday.  When I telephoned Wednesday afternoon to make the reservation the woman I spoke with, was rather odd about the entire thing.  The spaces I asked for were not available for two nights - we had decided to stay through Saturday.  When I asked if any of the spaces were available just for the one night, Thursday there was still confusion.  I finally worked it out and reserved one of the spaces for Thursday night and figured that we would ask what was available for just Friday night when we checked in - just in case something was available that would work for us.  I made sense to me that Friday would not be available even though Thursday was as Friday is a weekend night and more people travel.

Our trip down was fine - better time than the usual mess.  As we drove down husband suggested, which he acknowledged was crazy, that we drive back again on Tuesday of the following week for the day.  We have not been to the farmers market that is on Tuesday most or all of this year and different vendors are there from the Friday market.  The idea hit me, I suggested that we drive down Monday and stay until Tuesday. This would relieve the problem of possibly getting stuck in traffic on the way and arriving too late to have enough time at the market.  (Mostly we have lunch and walk around, perhaps buying some small items we need or see, good shop at Tuesday market to look for bears for my village and I have not been there since the village went to year round.)  Plus, if we use the toilet in the RV it has to be dumped at the RV park.  It needs to be 2/3 full minimum, to dump so that there is enough force, so Friday morning we were going to have to fill the tank (having only stayed one night) to dump the tanks.  By coming back, there would be double in the tanks when we dumped and it would fill faster.  The weather promised to be nice for Monday and Tuesday and I would make the reservation when we checked in.

Remember I said that it had been suppose to rain there on Tuesday?  When we arrived in the general area we saw lots of fields (this is farm country) with huge puddles- almost pond size in them.  We went around to several touristy we go to in the area and then around 5:30 pm went to the RV park to check in.  We paid for our space for the evening and reserved the same space for Monday night.  It is a fairly small RV park along a stream.  As we were walking out of the office the employee said “Oh, if the space is too wet, just come back and we will give you another one.”  Huh!?  Apparently they had trouble from the rain on Tuesday.  As we drove to our space we were driving along the row of spaces facing the stream.  We saw what they meant - the spaces had MUD in them.  Our space is in the next row so we were concerned.  We drove to the space and it seemed mostly okay.  I got out of the RV as we do a few things when we arrive at a space at the start of a stay there.  First husband will back in (rare that we get a “drive through space”) and we will find the level spot.  I guide him.  This time I checked that the actual space was dry - it is gravel and the gravel looked different, very light in color, apparently washed in the flood.  I saw mud on the sides of the space, so I walked to the back of the space and it was not muddy there - where we have to walk to hook up the electricity and the TV (and water if we hooked up same), so it seemed okay.  He backed in, we found the level spot and marked it with markers he made.  Although we have been in the space numerous times, when we arrive there we check the electricity to make sure it is functioning properly and we did so and went off again. 

Well, now I understood why there was confusion about reserving a space when I called the afternoon before.  Apparently the general area did not just have rain, it had RAIN!!!!!.  FLOODING RAIN!!!!!   As we went around over the rest of the two days we saw the result of flooding in many places.  At the Friday market there was mud on the foundations of buildings and pavement.  One building, which had flooded badly once in the past, had obviously been flooded as there was no merchandise on the bottom 3 shelves of the fixtures - tossed out as it was soaked.  There is an auction in a room at the end of one building.  I have never seen it closed.  It was closed and through the wall I could hear fans running trying to dry the room. 

If any of you are from the Lancaster, PA area - I hope that you were not hit by the flooding. 

Friday night we returned home.  I did not unpack much of the RV.  I left my clothes, the snacks, the towels, etc.  Husband insisted on taking his clothing into the house.  After 2 days, I repacked the RV on Sunday night for the drive down on Monday.  By then it was much dryer, although some of the space in the RV park needed work on them and were still closed. Understand, we were away for 2 days, 1 night, then drove home for 2 nights, 2 days, and then back again to Pennsylvania for another 2 days, 1 night and then home - and I won’t bore you with the local traffic mess on the way home last Tuesday night.  Of this time, we spent the equivalent of over half a day traveling forth and back and forth and back again.


I am behind in everything I was suppose to do the last few weeks.  I notice this when I went to change towels Tuesday night. I normally change all the towels on Monday, then change the bathroom towels again on Thursday and the kitchen towels on Wednesday and Friday.  The towels are all assorted - I had Monday bathroom towels out downstairs and Thursday ones upstairs.  (No, I am not that anal.  I put blue hand towels upstairs and green ones downstairs on Monday and another color on Thursday - as I have 2 sets of each color and all my other ones vary in color by pair.  This way I can tell by looking if I forgot to change the hand towels.)  I went to change husband’s weekly hair towel and 2 of the 3 were in the laundry and I was pulling the third one to wash.  My pillowcases are either white (2 sets) or beige (1 set) I have 3 white towels and a beige one on the bed.    I forgot to do the laundry last night.  I have been keeping up with washing clothing over the past several weeks of colds and travel, but not the rest of the laundry. 

So right now clothing is being washed (a day late).  I spent last night writing and rewriting the newsletter for my embroidery chapter.  I had figured to write it quickly as it usually does not take long.  We are starting our meeting year and I had not heard from the chapter president with her president’s message.  We are doing a project for most of the year and I had to figure out how to write up what we are doing at the meeting.  (I also list information from our national and region, as well as giving list of related exhibitions and events in a travelable area - this takes up most of the newsletter).  In addition we are doing a “stitch in public” that we do every year and I wrote a page to encourage someone other than myself and the chapter president (and husband who joins us) would also come with us.  I then found out, in reply to an email I had sent, that the chapter president had sent the info - apparently when I downloaded my email - from 3 days - it did not download on most of my email addresses.  When I downloaded it again after hearing from her, it all downloaded.  Her president’s message included this info for the meeting.  So I had to fit in her message, splitting it to the meeting information and get rid of what I had written.  Then send out 3 versions of the newsletter (members, prospective members, and other region newsletter editors).  So last night was gone - which is why I did not get a chance to write this post then.

I have a piece I am entering at the local three county, county fair - huh?  Our local fair, which dates back to 1842, is the legal county fair for 3 counties.  It is held at the restoration village I have mentioned before where there is an exact copy of the original fair grounds from photos) and is held in the style of a late 1800s fair, with many of the volunteers dressed in period dress.  The heart of the fair are the art, craft, needlework, sewing, baking, canning, fruits, vegetables, flowers and the like which have been entered by people from the three counties. 

I used to enter several items each year including an angel cake.  Lately it has been one or two items and no more baking - as there have been less entries they cut some categories all around, including angel cake.  I have one piece to enter this year - if I finish it.  I have about one or maybe two more nights of stitching it, then I need to assemble it and then husband has to have time to frame it for me.  I keep Thursday nights (which means 11:30 pm to 2 am Friday) for stitching and other crafts for me.  I have not had a chance in at least a month to do so.  I planned on tonight finishing the stitching.  Obviously I will not as I am writing this post and have other “must to do” items for after this.  If I don’t finish it, it will be entered next year.  I am not going to panic over not getting it done in time. I am a procrastinator, I know this and try to push myself to finish ahead of time.  When husband was still working I would drop off our entries while he was at work.  One year on the day the entries had to be in, I called him at work and - in a panic - asked where the craft wire was in the house, I was still finishing a doll I was making of Theodore Roosevelt and he needed eyeglasses.  He on the other hand, would have his entries done in July!

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

What must be done gets done.  What is nice to do or one wants to get done, may or may not get done - and that is okay.  We can only do a certain amount and cannot kick ourselves for not getting everything done.  

LISTS FOR REPETITIVE TASKS

Husband has spent the last week and a half with cold - which we are guessing he caught from me.  I had been feeling fine and was doing things he would normally do concerning food - such as when we went to Wendys for lunch I would order, pay and pickup the food instead of him - this intended to keep me from catching back the cold.  Well, it worked for a while.

I had planned to be telling you about our being in our little RV and dealing with the problems of organizing it for the trip.  We had planned on leaving this past Monday and coming home on Friday as the weather was suppose to be nice there all week.  As the trip date came closer, Monday and Tuesday were to have RAIN there.  Wednesday would be okay there, but there might be some rain on the drive down.  Since one cannot cancel RV park reservations this close to a trip, we waited to make same. 

Our idea was that we wake early (for us) today and call and make reservations.  During the night I started having cold symptoms again - bad and heavy ones.  I had trouble sleeping.  When we woke earlier than the alarm, husband was concerned about reaching the RV park to make the reservations as the office opens at 9 am, but it is hard to speak to someone before 11 am usually and we had to be on the road by 9 am to try to avoid the dreaded Belt Parkway and the construction along the entire length.  I was trying to breathe.  We sadly decided to not go today.

As we thought about this during the day - and I started to feel a bit better (amazing what 2 little aspirins can do in getting rid of a headache) and able to breathe again.  We decided that I would call the RV park and make reservations for tomorrow night and Friday night and have a 3 day trip.  We tend try not to be in Lancaster, PA on Saturdays - especially in summer - as there are too many tourists.  (Yes, I know we are tourists also, but we are polite ones who try to blend in, not act rudely as many of our fellow New Yorkers and those from New Jersey do.  We go there not for the novelty of the visit, but because it feels like a second home to us.)  I was only able to get a reservation in a space that we know (and know it will be level) for tomorrow night, so we are going for just 2 days - and will hope that along the way there will a space we like for Friday night also. Oddly the 6 spaces that they had available for the 2 nights in the section we like, were all ones we have had problems with in the past - maybe others know that they are not level?  (For those who have never stayed in an RV or trailer, if the RV or trailer is not level one feels off - walking uphill and down, the cabinet doors either swing shut or swing open, most of the refrigerators for same need to be level to work, etc.  Most units have automatic levelers; ours does not.  So we will go and see what happens as to how long we will stay.

Yesterday I packed the RV.  As I have mentioned before, we keep basic items in it so we don’t need to remember or pack them - toothpaste, soap, dish soap, shampoo, an electric razor for husband, cleaning supplies, office supplies (pens, pencils, paper, stamps, clear tape, stapler...), dishes, pots, tableware, blankets & bedding (bed is still made up from last time as we only used it two nights then - covered the pillows on the bed with the blankets), towels - hand & dish, flashlights, sun hats, rain gear and the like.  It is much easier to buy extras of these items than to have to remember to bring them each time - and then remember to put them away when we get home. We filled the water tanks on Monday - this gives us 25 gallons of water for drinking, cleaning, flushing, etc.  Yesterday I packed clothing for us for 4 days (we always bring an extra days clothing on a short trip, 2 days worth on a longer one) into the shelves in the RV “closet” (a small cabinet).  I packed snacks for us into plastic boxes which snap lock closed and put them into one of the “kitchen cabinets” - two thin shelves one about a foot long and the other about 18 inches long which have doors that snap closed.  When we first got the RV we would fill both of these cabinets. Now I use only one for food as we have learned that we do not need as much as thought we did.  (Heck, there are supermarkets and farmers’ markets everywhere there - including 24 hour Walmarts.) The other cabinet gets used to hold items such as plastic shopping bags, sweaters, whatever.  The refrigerator gets soda - a big bottle to use at night and some cans in case we have lunch at a farmer’s market - which is common - or such, we will not have to buy something to drink.

Shoes were brought in and stored - I bring or wear sneakers and bring leather shoes in case of rain.  We keep slippers in the RV.  I have a pair of slip on sneakers that I keep in it - in colder weather I might be wearing shoe boots and if I need to run outside, it is easier to slip on these sneakers.  We also each keep shower slippers in the RV. 

I put the batteries in the thermometer for the fridge - better to find out I need new batteries then, rather than find out when we are leaving.  I also put the toll reader into place in the front window.  I bring in the store coupons from our car. 
   
How do I keep track of all of this - what needs to be put in the RV when.  I have a list of course.  I have it memorized in my computer in a spreadsheet.  I have a “Do Ahead” section  - put water in the tanks, fill bottles of water to bring in the fridge, fill our travel medication boxes and such.  I also have a “Check Ahead” section - this is for items which get used up on trips - paper plates, cups, bathroom cups, napkins (well, okay generally these don’t run out as we end up picking up some at different places as we travel) is there enough paper towels, toilet paper and tissues; soaps and related items; did the towels go back in after laundering after the last trip; and such.

I then have categories of what to pack -
    What clothing items we need; what snack/food items we need/want.
    Items to take from our car and bring - sunglasses, glasses.
        Electronics - you know, tablets, laptops, extra or old cell phones as backups (we would not forget our current ones of course), camera if it is touring trip.
        Household items - laundry bags (we bring our clothes into the RV in 2 laundry bags to unpack them. One is stored away until the end of the trip and is used to take unworn clothing back into the house.  The other is used as a - well - laundry bag and then the dirty clothing goes back into house in it and tossed down the stairs to the basement. 
        I have some coupons which were picked up on earlier trips or came in the mail related to where we are going and I keep them in an envelope that I bring (it’s on the list of course).  Also for our regular main trips (well they used to be regular and main) I have an envelope for each that labeled on the outside on a edge with the name and approximate date of the trip.  For example - Labor Day trip- September, Fourth of July trip, etc.  I keep them in date order with the next trip in the front of the stack in the same 3 section holder on the wall next to my desk as I keep our unpaid bills (the travel coupon holder is mixed in the same section as these envelopes.  If say we pick up coupons for the Kutztown festival in advance - they are put in the envelope for same and will be there when we need them.  I also have backpack
        Things to do - magazines, my embroidery, etc.  Generally they are not touched while we are away, but I always bring them. Husband gives me whatever he wants of same.
        Finally, our “last minute bag”.  This contains items we might need at home until the   moment we leave.  I have 3 plastic boxes in the bag. One has OTC medications - if we our stomachs feel bad at home, we take the pill out of the box.  If ditto while on a trip, well, ditto.  I don’t like to buy these items special for the RV as we use them so rarely, that even the one bottle is not used up by any stretch of when the expiration date is or beyond that seems safe.  One has a bit more of same and our thermometer - one can get ill even on a trip and again, we did not want to buy 2 of them.  The last box has items we will need on the trip - prescription medications for example - and will taken out of the bag the first night of our trip and stored in the cubby that has our personal items needed for the evening and the morning.  We add other items as we use them for the final time at home before the trip.  Much of what is in the bag will stay in the bag for the trip and it is stored where it can be more or less easily accessed.       

The list also has a section for what we need to on our return to make sure that everything that needs to be is out of the RV and back into the house - and there are always items that we bought on the trip in addition to what we brought.  I have a pattern for taking everything out of the RV - but don’t worry I am not going into that now.  The list for our return reminds me of what needs to come out and that we need to shut off the refrigerator, air conditioning, inside light,  and the RV battery - and put a towel into the refrigerator in case there is any leaking from the small freezer section.  (There is a quick version of what absolutely has to come out/be done in case it is raining.       

So, everything but the last minute bag, this laptop, and the rain jackets we might have needed for the trip is packed in our RV.  Tomorrow we will bring these items, turn on the RV batteries, start the refrigerator in the RV, back out of our driveway and be on our way. 

Oh, that sounds so easy. To back out into 2 lanes of traffic on our side of the road involves me standing in the road with a walkie talkie and telling him when he can pull out - talk about needing planning and organization!

I also have a short list, kept on a little clipboard that we use to check off each day of the trip that we have done everything we need to do before pulling out.  We would not want to forget to unplug the RV from the electricity so the system is not broken or to lock a cabinet or the refrigerator door and have everything in it go flying when we drive.  A common thing that we husband forgets is after we disconnect from the camp’s sources he needs to open the curtain at the back of the RV so he can see out same - good thing it is on my list and I turn around see that it is open and if not send him to open it.  Even odd things are on my list.  We have an outside light next to the side door. (Same as the light next to your front/back door at home.)  We don’t turn it on.  One day after driving around much of the day I realized it was on - it must have gotten turned on by accident the night before - I turned it off of course and I added it to the check off list.  This short list has several columns so that on a trip up to 4 days can be marked off on the same form. 

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

If you do something that has many steps or many parts as a repeated thing, make up a list on your computer for what you need to do.  Print it out each time you are doing to do the task and actually cross the items off the list.  If needed I list the items that are going to be done at the last minute on the side as I see them - and circle them on the list.  If I find that there is something that I need to add - I list it on the back of the page and add it when we return home.

BOY DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG

First of all. I am not suppose to be here.  I mean in our house, not sitting here posting to you.  We used to go away for Memorial Day weekend, but since we have the RV it is easier to go away during the week before or the week after.  Why?  Well, when one makes a hotel reservation (at least when we used to) one could generally cancel it until the day one was suppose to be there or at least the day before.  RV parks usually require a week or more notice of cancellation to not charge for a reservation - if they let you cancel at all.  It is hard to get a reservation for big on season weekends (like Memorial Day) - we make our July 4 reservation for next year when we arrive at the park or we will not get one.  Also it is crowded in Lancaster for the weekend and husband does not like all the “tourists” (yes, we are tourists too, but he considers us regular guests as we go so often) as the tourist places are too busy - and remember we have to park a huge over length van.  But it is easy to make reservations at the last minute during the week before or after and there are less fellow tourists around so we have been doing this.  Last week I had to go to work at a client, so we planned on going away this week.  Of course it is raining almost every day this week in Lancaster, so we did not go.  We may go tomorrow to Connecticut for the day - maybe the Hartford Cabella’s store and then a casino for walking around and dinner - we don’t gamble - I never have and husband no longer does as he has just as much or more fun just walking around and he doesn’t lose any money.

Now, what I did.  Husband (and I) are Type II Diabetics.  Husband takes a once a day insulin.  It comes in “pens” and must be kept cold until the pen is started.  That means, we bring home a box of 5 pens and they go in the fridge.  He takes one out to start using it - it lasts him around 10 days - and then it stays out of the fridge at room temperature.  There is a fixed range for the pens in the fridge, so I have to keep the fridge in range.  I generally keep the fridge at 38 degrees Fahrenheit as it is in the middle of the range, but not so warm as to be a problem for food stored in the fridge.  This allows for variations in the temperature in the fridge from use.  When we travel in our RV I keep the fridge in it at the same temperature - but it is harder to keep it at temperature as it is more weather sensitive - oddly at night when it is cooler, the RV fridge gets warmer.

Normally the house fridge though, stays at the correct temperature fairly easily.  If it needs to be warmer, I turn the dial (on either fridge) until it just shuts off. If it needs to be cooler, I turn the dial until it just kicks on.  In the RV when traveling we keep the remote reader for the fridge in the front while traveling so we know what is going on - I have been known to jump to back to adjust it on trips when we stop for gas or other reasons.

So, Sunday evening I noticed that the temperature in the (house) fridge had dropped 2 degrees to 36 which is the lowest the insulin can go.  I turned the temperature dial until it shut off.  Worried that it had dropped 2 degrees and it was still running I did something I do sometimes.  I opened the drawer in the fridge and used it to prop the door open a bit so it would heat up a bit inside it. 

Only this time I lost track of the time!  Husband came down and the fridge was at 46 degrees - the highest the insulin can go.  We turned the fridge up but the temperature was not going down.  He was convinced that I had broken the fridge.  The insulin will last for 42 days out of the fridge, so 2 of the pens would have to be tossed if it was not working - plus the cost of the food in it and the cost of repair or a new fridge. 

There was a scene - much panic yelling by him and apologies and crying by me.

He decided the fridge was not cooling because it needed to have the vents cleaned - so he vacuumed them - front and back - for me.  (Well, one job less for me to do - not sure when last they were vacuumed.) 

By the time we went up to bed the temperature was 44 degrees.  Rather than both of us stay up all night and stare at the temperature remote, I had suggested we go up to bed and I would come downstairs every hour.  We turned the air conditioner on and the overhead fan and went upstairs.

After we finished getting ready for bed, he went back downstairs and the temperature was down to 43 degrees - he was still in a panic, but I was pretty sure that the fridge was okay.  I went down in an hour and it was at 41 degrees.  I set the alarm for an hour and went to sleep for an hour  - well, mostly I was awake.  It was then down to 39 degrees.  I turned the temperature down, just so the fridge went off.  I went to bed for another hour and the temperature was holding at 39 so I went to sleep.

The fridge seems to be a bit more sensitive - it jumps around within a range okay for use more than it used to.  Husband barely lets me open the fridge to take stuff out or put in - I have to grab everything at once, but the fridge seems okay and stays 37-40 degrees and corrects fairly quickly back to 38.

Why did this happen?  Well, I was on the computer “talking” with some embroidery friends around the world and  ----- forgot!  What I should have done was set the timer in my mobile phone for maybe 5 to 10 minutes to remind.  I do that for other chores - right now I am doing laundry and in 26 minutes (and some seconds) it will remind me to switch loads.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

Don’t count on remembering things to be done - or noticing that it is time to do them.  Use a timer or an appointment in your phone or a mechanical timer to remind you when to do something. 

STARTING TO SEE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

Since I “spoke” to all of you last I have actually made progress catching up what fell behind the last couple of months. 

I have all the bank recs done.  I have posted all the checks I had written before.  Papers are filed away. The leak under the kitchen sink has not returned - even when husband used it to wash his hair again. 

Today we installed the new propane monitor.  It involved screwing a piece of wood over the hold the old one left and then drilling a hole for the wires for the new monitor and installing it. It works correctly.  The old one must be returned to the manufacturer - at our postage cost - but since we don’t trust it, we are just glad to return it.  The carbon monoxide monitor is still not replaced, but we have replaced that one before and the new one is a duplicate of the old ones.

Today I just finished backing up my computers - a monthly backup and a quarterly backup since no monthly backup was made last month.  This computer which I am working on was the last to be done.  It is the least important and is very slow and needs a good deal of time to backup.

We managed to find a new insurance policy for our reenactment unit - almost all the board agreed and today the application and check were mailed out.

I did get pushed back a bit today and ended up putting some items into the folder that had held the unfinished items for lack of time today.  I hope to be done with them by Monday.

My embroidery chapter has to send the dues collected from members to our region and our national by the end of the month - and I am sure that you can guess who does this - yes, me.  I will have it done in time.  I also have the June newsletter for the chapter due out next Wednesday.  Thanks to a reminder in my computer calendar, an email went out today to the rest of the board to see what they want to include.  Since we are having our annual end of program year meeting of a luncheon, I specifically asked the member in charge of the luncheon to let me know what people promised to bring so I could list same in the newsletter.  One slight problem I might have is that we have been planning on and off to go away next week for a delayed Memorial Day trip (if we go on the actual holiday the areas which is heavily tourist based, is just too busy for us, if we go during the week before or after - it is much nicer) and I will need to send the newsletter out in the middle of the week.  My plan is to write it before I leave and copy the membership’s addresses before I go away - or if I have all the info I need, it will go out early.

Tomorrow I am going to my client for my monthly trip there.  I have paid the bills to be mailed out on Friday so if I get home late tomorrow it they are ready to go.  It was good that I asked to come on tomorrow (Thursday) as today in the President is in this area - and a relatively short distance away our state Democratic party is having their convention - with the losing Presidental candidate from our last election as their speaker.  All of the roads into and out of New York City in all directions were backed up this afternoon.  Tomorrow should be (at least a little bit) a better drive.  My client does not use the Internet or a computer.  Last month her business telephone company installed a router for her.  I read up on the default passwords during the month as I want to change them for her for general security purposes.  I have an email address which I set up to use for her for assorted business matters.  Since I could not use at her business I never set it up in my business laptop.  I went to do so today.  I have no problem signing in on my home computer - but the sign in screen on my laptop keeps coming up with new problems so I may not be able to use it to sign in on my computer at her place until next month.  My attempts to get the email address set up on the laptop took about 45 minutes of wasted time.

But, I feel as if I am getting back to normal for me.  Little step by little step - or sometimes big jump by big jump I am catching up.

If we do go away next week, there will be a good deal of preparation of the RV before we go away. The RV will need to have the bed made up - as I have mentioned before this is about an hour’s process as the bed goes wall to wall sideways and headboard to kitchen/toilet at the foot with only the head of the aisle at the foot of the bed (less than 2 feet wide) and one basically has to be in the bed to make it up.  The usual fill the water tanks, pack snack foods, pack clothes and such - I will have to remember what packs where.  It really is a lot more complicated than organizing a house - what is in your house does not have to be packed so as not to shift or bounce while moving - the “stuff” in the RV has to be.  And remember, this is not a one of those huge RVs you see on TV (and the road)  - it is a Chevy van converted to an RV - while the roof was lifted and part of the floor was dropped slightly, the square footage is the original van so there is rather limited storage.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Slow and steady wins the race.  Working when one can on a back up of stuff to do will get it done.  Maybe not as quickly as one would want, but eventually. 

To those in the U.S .- a good Memorial Day. 

NO VACATION

In this part of the U.S. this week is the winter school vacation.  This dates back to the 1970s when there was an energy shortage and closing the schools this week saved a week of expensive heating of the schools.  For those of you not in the U.S. the third Monday in February is an annual Monday holiday related to George Washington’s (our first President back in the 1780s) birthday which is February 22.  It is still officially called “George Washington’s Birthday”, but since the purpose of it is to celebrate all of our Presidents, it is commonly called “President’s Day”.  So, around here the 3 day weekend resulting from this Monday holiday was extended to a week of no school.

While many to most people are off from work on Monday, only those working at schools have the week off.  The only connection that others have with the week off is what to do with their children while the children are off from school and they are working.  Husband worked at an agency for children with mental health problems which followed a school year as it was also a school program for the children so he is used to this week being a vacation week.  While he was still working and I was working full time for myself (back when we still stayed at hotels when traveling) we would go away this week to Lancaster, PA.  It would be nice and quiet as was/is not a school vacation in Pennsylvania and in many other adjacent states so not many people were traveling mid week.

Husband had planned to go there for the day this coming Friday - but it is suppose to rain, so he moved it back to Tuesday (yesterday) which was suppose to be and was nice.  At the last minute he changed his mind and we did not go.

Okay you are thinking - What does this have to do with organizing?

Well, a lot actually.  If we are going away - even for a day - I have to plan around the trip to get done what regularly needs to be done in the house plus have everything ready for the trip.  Even a day trip seems to take a bit of packing these days.  I bring my work laptop, which has to be charged.  I bring a small case with a spare wallet, just in case we were robbed while traveling or one of us lost their wallet and the credit cards had to be canceled.  There is a credit card for me that he does have and a credit card for him that I do not have, there is extra cash, and there are assorted store cards and such which are for stores out of the area.  We used to carry Travelers checks in also, but found out that no one takes them any longer so we (with much trouble) cashed them in a couple of years ago.  I bring a spare set of one day’s medications - just in case.  I might also have some craft business related papers so if we buy materials (fabric, wood, yarn) that will go into something we are making for sale, we will not have to pay sales tax - different forms for different states.  If we are looking for something specific to buy while away we might bring something to match it to for size, color, etc. Depending on the weather we might bring warmer - or cooler coats/sweaters than we plan to wear - maybe even a rain coat when it is warmer weather if rain is possible.  We also might bring a spare pair of shoes each - again depending on the weather.  So much for the carefree easy travel of our younger years.

This year we have been traveling on these one day trips to Lancaster in our RV.  Not that we plan to stay, but the RV is not driven enough - especially off RV season (late fall to early spring) and the engine needs the exercise.  Last year we did not so this and we went to have our annual state inspection for the RV, it had not been driven enough for the tests to work, so we had to drive it locally for a few hours just to put enough mileage on it.  Waste of time, waste of gas and we had to work it out so we went and came back between rush hours.  So we take the RV when we go to Lancaster for day trips - well, this would have been the second time we did so.  The other advantage to taking the RV is that the refrigerator can be turned on in it when we leave in the morning and will be cold by the time we are there.  A can of soda for lunch will still be cold (especially if it is cold outside) when we have it and we can buy food items we like that are local to Lancaster and not available at home that need to be refrigerated and bring them home safely.  (Last year when we went with the car husband bought chicken salad - he likes the type they make there and not what they make here) without the fridge and it got too hot in the cold bag in the back of the car, even with ice blocks in it and it had to be tossed.

So Monday I pointed out that if we were going away on Tuesday, we should get extra cash at the bank and did so.  When we came home I packed what papers and such we would bring with us and had the laptop ready to charge.  I then paid bills which were due out today so they would be ready to go out today even though we would not have been home yesterday. 

Then Monday night - after not doing things I planned to do Monday so we could go away, he decided we were not going.  It was a question I asked - “Do we need to take the stuff we stored in the RV out of it?”  There is all sorts of stuff for the RV that we keep in the house when traveling (in the dining room) and then put in it for the off season so we have a nice dining room for the holidays.  He thought about it and the fact it was raining and decided not to go. 

So I got a day to work at home that I had not planned on. 

I managed to finish filling the corporation tax forms for a client - due March 15.  I still have to proofread it (and check the numbers and math) and print it all out, but the hard part is done. 

I have been working on storing the Christmas stuff.  I took the ornaments off the dining room tree and took the tree apart to store.  It goes in a cardboard octagonal box (opens down the length of the box) which then “slides” into a carry bag (opens on one end).  It has never been easy to get it into the box  - much squeezing and many hand scratches and packing tape to hold the box together and then hard to get the box into the bag.  This year the entire setup exploded - okay, part was my fault.  I thought there were 3 sections to the tree (in height) and there are four.  I was so confused that the tree section was longer than the box that the box got ripped apart on one end from my attempts.  Even after I figured it out and took the 2 sections apart - the box was far gone.  I then tried to tie each of the tree sections together so the branches would be compacted into place for storage - did not work either.  I finally sort of got the box together - much packing tape - and still it only fit partway into the bag as the box was not as compact as it should be.  I gave up - the entire thing was put downstairs on the box the main tree is stored in, as is. 

I packed up the large figures we have in the living room.  Someone husband worked with would give him these figures as a Christmas gift.  Somehow they grew on us and we kept them even though we would not have bought them - well...  It started with a Santa who is about 3 or 4 feet tall.  He was joined by a wooden elf a bit shorter.  Then a Santa who is a bear with toys and a bird in a cage.  I had made separately and unrelated an elf who is making a doll - he joined the others instead of sitting standoffishly across the room.  We found a small plastic Santa from when husband was a boy.  I liked a girl elf figure that finally came down cheaper enough (well below 50% off) who joined them.  Add 2 angel bears and it is a friendly group.  It goes where a chair is moved to the dining room during Christmas to get it out of the way.  They are also stored on top of the box for the main Christmas tree - in large plastic bags.

Then I took the small figures - mostly bears (oh, the angels above join them in storage) and stored them in their box in the basement.  Our Christmas stockings (embroidered and commercial) and some other “soft” decorations I have made store in the box with them.

Three fancy gift boxes I use for storage have been packed with the items stored in them each year and are upstairs for storage when the Teddy Village comes down (they go in the trunk the village is on).

While doing the laundry now, I brought up the last 2 boxes to store Christmas decorations in - except the bear village.  I will pack these two over the next couple of days.

So, we missed out on a day trip, but I have made good use of the day we were home instead - and kept working until it was done . 

To feel a bit like we had a trip we went out to dinner tonight to a fancier (more expensive) Asian buffet tonight.  The really nice one is much more than we felt like spending this year (technically this is our Christmas dinner out) so we went to one in between.  Very nice and much better than the ones we go to normally.  It made him happy and it that is worth it.

THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK -

1 - Even short day trips work better with a bit of planning.

2 - When one gets an unexpected day to get work done - get as much done as possible.

TRIP WENT AWRY - AGAIN

We have not been on a trip really this year as each time we planned one, something happened.  We traditionally go away for my birthday and planned to be away for 5 days for it.  We were to leave on Monday and return home overnight Friday to Saturday.  Once again our plans went awry.  A huge nor’easter (for those not from the U.S. this is a MAJOR wind and rain storm and is considered a winter storm, even though it does not involve snow) was to hit us Sunday through Monday.  Luckily we had not made reservations at the RV park in advance - this time of year the parks are usually not anywhere near full here in the northeast U.S. and since we go midweek - we avoid the possibility of the park filling with weekend guests - as well as avoiding the crowds that come to the Pennsylvania Dutch country. 

When we going on Monday we planned to start packing the RV on Sunday night with plenty of time on Monday to finish doing so as we would not be in a rush.  I made up the bed in the RV last week to have it done in advance - I pull the blanket and sheets over the pillows to keep them free of dust.

I have a checkoff sheet that I keep in the computer and print out each trip to make sure we don’t forget anything. The check off sheet includes a section on things to be done in advance - making the bed, filling the water tanks, checking supplies such as toilet paper, tissues, paper goods, soaps & paper towels, and so on.  Then there is a section on personal items - clothes, shoes, jackets, my embroidery - I don’t list the clothing items individually as we know what we need in clothes.  I have a food section as we bring items for snack - soda, cracker, water, cereal - and on longer trips I will bring soup, peanut butter and bread - just in case.  We have never used the latter, although one lunch time in a bad rain storm we came close.  There is a section of electronics to come - laptops and such.  There is a section of paper items to bring - coupon holders, directions, reservations (I actually keep an envelope for each of our regular trips for reservations, coupons and other papers I want to bring).  There is also a section of what to do before we leave - unplug the washer, turn off the dryer and stove breakers, take out the garbage when we leave.  And, lastly, there is a section of what needs to be done when we return - what not to forget in the RV when it is unpacked, turn off the refrigerator, lights and RV battery, and related matters.  Very organized -right? 

We were planning to go to a farmers’ market on Tuesday so we had to be out and on the way early (for us).  I packed the RV Monday night except for our “last minute bag” which has things we need the night before so they cannot be prepacked and my laptop computer.   Our plan was for me to call and make a reservation Tuesday morning just after 9 am as the RV park office opens at same.  I called.  I got a message telling me the office opens at 9 am - at 9:10 am.  I left a message to call me back and we kept going.  Husband was upset about what would happen if there was no RV space available.  I pointed out that he keeps telling me the RV need to be driven; he was looking forward to going to the farmers’market, and I wanted to be away for my birthday (if you have not calculated - this is Halloween - there is much less of same where we were going than at home).  I told him that at worst we would have had a day trip and accomplished all 3 things and would come home that night.  We left.  When we leave I direct him to back out of our driveway using walkie talkies.  We also use these for me to direct him into the space at the RV park.  Since it was Halloween we wanted to make sure that the house did not look too different as if we were away, so when he was out of the driveway, I drove one of our other cars into where the RV usually sits - and then ran and got into the RV and we were off.

Along the way - around 11 am - I finally was able to make reservations, although not for any of the spaces we prefer - and so far this trip 2 of the 3 spaces we prefer have remained empty and the 3rd was empty tonight.  The trip down was actually better than most  - much less traffic.  When we got to the farmers’ market it was freezing - or at least it felt so to me.  I had on 2 sweatshirts and wished I had brought gloves.  I had thought of treating myself to ice cream
for lunch for my birthday - there is a stand at the market (actually they are at both markets we go to) that always has a crowd and the ice cream looks yummy, so I thought I would go off my diet and have it for lunch - I planned this last year and the stand was closed.  This year it was open, but I was so cold, I could not imagine doing so.  We went around at the market and then had dinner (mine was free as it was my birthday) took a walk around Walmart (as we normally do) and went to the RV park. 

Being level is very important in an RV  - or doors will not open or will fall open and one is uncomfortable.  One problem, while driving today on the trip here, I realized that we only had one walkie talkie - the other one I had left in the car at home when I moved it!  I waited until we were in Walmart to mention it to husband and quickly suggested alternatives - including buying a  pair of walkie talkies in Walmart (which is why I told him then).  We decided we would deal with it by using our cell phones.  The only level spot we could find in this space was on an odd angle - which we would have to duplicate the next two nights when we came back at the end of the day.  We then settled in for the night. 

I checked email on my (this laptop) and unpacked the last minute bag.  Then we went to get ready for bed.  The bed in the RV consists of two bench seats which face each other and two pieces of wood which slide between them and then the bench seat cushions are rearranged into the bed.  I was kneeling down to store the laptop and some other items under the bed (the center which would be the aisle between the bench seats is used for storage) and as I bent down towards the bed - WHACK!!!  I slammed my head into one of the insert wood pieces.  I figured out that I had not pushed it all the way into position between the beds, so where I thought was an open space or wood covered with cushion - was the wood.  Owwwww! We checked and there is no bump or bruise.  I checked for signs of concussions - none - I made sure to stay awake for several hours to make sure.  Tonight, 24 hours later my forehead still hurts if I move the muscles in my face a certain way or if I (or husband who of course does so often to make sure I am okay) touch it. 

It was so cold that we had turn on the propane to run the propane furnace in the RV.  We had to be very careful and many things could not go where they normally go at night and that nothing flammable was near the furnace.  We made it through and should not need the furnace tonight (there is alternate heat down to 40F from a heat sink in the air conditioner).

I then took our medications to take and to replace in our pocket pill boxes to take today.  I forgot the over the counter vitamins and such that the doctor has I take - they are either sitting on our kitchen table or my dresser at home.  Oh well, at least we have the prescription medications.

Unfortunately all of this mess is becoming more and more common when we take trips.  No matter how organized and prepared we think we are - we are not.  Well, somehow we always deal with what needs to be dealt with.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Mistakes happen.  There is nothing to do but go ahead as well as possible.  No matter how much I try to figure out in advance what can happen and what to do - something else will happen and will need to be dealt with all one can do is one’s best.

WHY DO ALL THE APPOINTMENTS COME AT THE SAME TIME?

Well, it has been another one of those weeks.  Most of our weeks are fairly devoid of appointments.  Not this week - or next week.  Plus of course the normal things to be done in a week.

This story starts back in June - yes, June.  My husband does not like to know when he is going to the doctor and as a result I make the appointments and then tell him at the last minute.  When he worked outside the house I would contact his secretary and make sure the appointment times were clear and she would make sure he did not have anything to do on those days.  Now it is all up to me.  Back in June I had to make appointments for us to go for bloodwork and then, around a week later, for the doctor.  June was a busy month - as was July, but I found two dates a week apart in July and called the doctor’s office.  I was told that the doctor retired.  Now, the doctor was a man in at least his 80s so it makes sense, but I would think that some sort of notice would be sent to his patients so I was surprised.  His son has been in practice with him and we have seen his son a couple times when our doctor was not available and husband’s mom used him as a doctor, so I did the natural thing - I made appointments for us with the son.  This was the simple part.

While husband is now on Medicare and can see any doctor, I am still on our old ACA medical insurance plan and have a doctor who is in charge of my care and referrals who was our doctor.  So I went online to my medical insurance company to change my doctor from him to his son.  Only apparently the insurance company had been told that he had retired and instead of doing the logical thing of assigning me to the other doctor in his practice - his son - they assigned me to a strange doctor we had never heard of.  I picked his son as my doctor and the insurance company’s software showed that I had done so.  I kept checking for him to show as my doctor - but he did not.  When it was a week before the bloodwork appointment and he still did not show - I called the doctor’s office and canceled the appointments - apologizing like crazy and explaining the problem.  Since husband is always around it is hard to make calls and not have him hear me or ask who I am calling - this had been the easy part.  I now had to call the insurance company and fix the problem - which could result in sitting on hold for who knows how long - not something that can be done while hiding in the bathroom and pretending that I am there for other reasons.  I finally managed to get husband set up with a scarf to weave so that he would not come up to the office (my other choice would be to call sitting in the car in the commercial garage when I went to a client) and called the insurance company and a very nice young lady changed him to my doctor as of May (I presume that is when he retired and the other change made.) I now could call and make new appointments.

But we were going to go away on a trip in August - sometime in August, for some length of time, to somewhere - how the heck can one make an appointment under these circumstances.  I kept hoping the trip would be planned and I would be able to make the appointments, but they were not.  Finally I went to refill a prescription of his and was told - not without an appointment.  I found two days, a week apart in September to make the appointments and figured I had enough of his pills to last through the bloodwork appointment.

Then we found out that our dentist is also retiring and I have been having weekly visits to him since August to get a new upper partial made and fitted - and I am not done and then I plan to have him add to my old one for a spare.

Throw in I have to go to two clients this month - one to pick up information for his tax return (on extension) and the other for the regular monthly visit - including the work I did not do when I did not go in August (an annual thing to skip August as she is away in July and there is not much to do in August as a result). 

We are also involved in our county fair , which serves as same for three counties.  We started about 30 years ago entering items in the crafts, needlework and baking categories, then started demonstrating leatherwork and needlework, and finally we started judging the junior crafts and needlework categories.  So the fair takes up parts of at least 4 days each year - dropping off entries, judging, demonstrating, and then picking up the entries.  In the past we would demonstrate every day of the fair so it took even more time, but now I go on one day with other members of my embroidery chapter and husband either joins us or finds something else to do at the fair. 

There is a quilt show in Pennsylvania this coming weekend.  We would like to go there for a few days - a day at the quilt show and the rest at our normal things there, but we are driving down for the quilt show and then home. 

Our reenactment unit had an event last weekend and a meeting next week.

And there are the 2 major Jewish holidays this month - one is an evening and 2 days and the other is an evening and the following day. 

Somehow everything has managed to fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle and then - my dentist called and said that the mockup for fit was not in for last Friday and could I come on Tuesday?  I could not as we were going for bloodwork at the same time as I would be going to him - but remember, husband does not know this and does not want to know this.  I told them no and we would go with the Friday appointment I had for this week, even though that would push everything back a week.  Husband heard part of the call and wanted to know what happened - I lied and told him that they wanted us to come Monday - when we were doing the judging. 

Then, the dentist’s office called and actually suggested Monday - and they were open late, so we went to the judging, had lunch and then went to the dentist.  After calling the lab they wanted us to come next Tuesday - I told her we couldn’t and it was all being pushed back another week - husband asked me why not in the dentist’s office and I told him I would explain later - he did not ask again.  By the time we got home I figured out that if we could go to the dentist in the morning, we could make it to the doctor in the afternoon - so another trip to the bathroom phone booth and that was done.

Now, I am sure I have mentioned that we live on a later schedule than normal people.  Due to all this craziness we had to get up three days in a row EARLY, well for us.  We had a reenactment on Sunday, the judging on Monday, and the doctor on Tuesday.  (So husband now knows that we have an appointment next week and that our doctor is retired and I got his prescription renewed.) So nice to get to sleep to our normal time today. 

Tomorrow I am going to the tax client to get his information.  We meet at the library near him and due to my crazy bed bug fear, when I go back to the car I change my clothes (I wear a top with straps under my shirt and shorts under my skirt and replace the clothes over them) - but I think it is suppose to rain.

We will go to the quilt show either on Friday or Saturday or there is slight chance we will to the quilt show Friday and stay overnight.  I have paid all the bills due this week and transferred money for next week’s bills so that same is done with, even though Friday is our normal banking day.

Monday night is the meeting of our reenactment unit - I will prepare my report to be made either Sunday or Monday.  Today while I actually had a bit of free time and was photocopying magazine articles to keep the info and get rid of the magazine, I went through some old records of the unit’s and shredded those past 10 years and boxed the rest to take to the meeting and put in the file there.  Also dumped some magazines that started to the unit some years ago in case anyone wanted them - too late now. 

Oh, and when I planned to be writing this earlier in the evening, husband needed me as he found out that online sales sites has mostly incorrect shipping costs listed and he needed my help to fix them.  So instead of starting this post on Wednesday night just after 11:30 pm, I did not start until 1 am on Thursday. 

Tuesday we have the dentist and the doctor.  Wednesday night starts the holidays.  Next Saturday I/we will be demonstrating at the fair.  The day after, Sunday, is pickup day at the fair. 

I then have 4 days the last week of the month that are open - but there will be more trips to the dentist to fit in.  My mom tonight told me that she needs to go to the doctor and plans to go this month (I told her not next week - the last week of the month is okay and I am not sure they will have an appointment this quickly) so the last week will be as busy - and husband plans to try to, yes go to Pennsylvania for a few days. And that Friday evening and Saturday are the other holiday.

And of course - there is the regular housework and such to be done.  Oh and we do have to go to the eye doctor next month...

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

There are times when there is lots of nothing to do.  Then there are times when what needs to be done if overwhelming.  All we can do is what we can and not get sick over what we cannot.

     

PLANNING A TRIP WHEN ONE DOES NOT WHEN ONE WILL GO OR FOR HOW LONG

First, if any readers are in the area hit by Hurricane Harvey - I am so sorry for you and the others hit by the storm. I live in the area hit by Hurricane Sandy - just out of the heavily damaged areas, but my mom was in the area where she had extensive water damage to our family home - and know how bad that was - and you are in a much worse situation.  I hope that all are safe and well.  It will take a long time, but life more normal will return.

In the old days when we went to hotels when we traveled - like normal people - we would take several short weekend trips during the year to the Lancaster, PA area and a longer vacation during which we went to Washington, DC for a weekend, then Charlottesville, VA, then someplace different each year (although the place might repeat every few years) and then to the various historic areas near Williamsburgh, VA, two days in Lancaster and then home.  It was so much the same that we would take out the prior year’s schedule and change the date - change the few days that varied and book the same hotels.  We had it worked out that we stayed in each area when the hotel price was the cheapest - DC on the weekend, Lancaster midweek, etc. 

Since the bedbugs and the switch to our tiny RV this has changed.  We go away for shorter times, fewer times during the year.  Our trip is also much more weather based - why go to some place outside if it will rain and we will not be able to go.  We have also changed what used to be weekend trips to Lancaster to midweek trips - it is easier to get last minute reservations at campgrounds and we avoid weekend tourists plus on Sundays most activities and restaurants are closed, so when we went there Friday to Monday - one day there was little to do.

So this year we have only traveled for multiple days once - just before July 4th weekend.  The weather has been wrong or something has been happening to cause us not to go away.  We have taken a couple of one day trips as a result of this.  So we were all ready for a nice week to 10 day trip like we used to take (although back then generally 2 and a half weeks). 

We were going back to the Williamsburg, VA area, a place that as lovers of our country’s early history find so many places to go and learn something new each time.  Then the trouble in Charlottesville occurred and we decided that we were uncomfortable traveling down there as we were concerned about similar problems arising there among the American Revolutionary and Civil War battle fields and historic sites. 

So we were looking elsewhere - meaning Pennsylvania - for a longer trip.  Two separate people - in totally unrelated circumstances - told us to go to a textile museum in PA. I took this as a sign that we were intended to go there this summer.  We started planning a 5 day trip which would involve our normal Lancaster places plus this museum and a couple of other places. 

We were to leave this past Monday and stay through Saturday. Then we found out about our dentist retiring and I have to get my new upper dental plate done before he does.  I got a telephone call last Friday that they needed an extra appointment  - Tuesday (yesterday).  So the trip was postponed and shortened to today (Wednesday through Friday).  The museum is out.

Have you ever tried to make arrangements for and around a trip when you don’t know when the trip will be? Oh boy - that takes odd organizing!  

So last Thursday I paid and mailed out last Friday all of the bills due until next Monday and transferred money into our checking account for cash for the trip and if any additional bills popped up.                                             

I normally would email out the monthly newsletter of my embroidery chapter tonight.  I sent it out a day early so I would not have to do it while away - easier to do it from my desktop computer.

I have a check list that I print out each time we go on a trip.  It lists all the things we need to do for the trip by category.  I cross out anything that does not apply to a trip and then cross out each thing as I do it.  Whatever needs to be done at the last minute is circled and also listed on the side of the paper and crossed off when done. 

I normally will do laundry the night of two days before we go on a trip - so the next day (the day before we leave) we can put the clothes and  we need in the RV for the trip.  I also normally pack snacks that we bring and assorted other needed items.  If the bed in the RV is not made up - I make it up.  In this case since we had not been away a full week and the next planned trip had been for maybe 3 days, I left the bed made up and covered it over. 

I was not really able to do any of the normal things to get ready. In the pouring rain yesterday we did fill the water tanks.  If stuck we can fill them at the RV park, but it is easier to fill them at home.  I did the laundry last night - filled the laundry bag we use to bring our clothes to the RV (who needs luggage - laundry bag in, put clothes on hanging shelves in “closet”.  Use laundry bag for dirty laundry and carry it back into the house in same. 

Last night I used a table in the dining room to line up what needed to go out today.  Laundry bag of clothes.  Cloth tote bag with stuff that goes in the “car” part of the RV - spare eyeglasses, coupons etc.  Cloth tote bag with general items to go into the RV - spare paper cups, paper towels, etc.  Two cloth tote bags with food related stuff.  One, which is the only one with a blue handle, had the stuff for the refrigerator.  Soda, juice (in case of a Diabetes low), home bottled water (the water gets rather warm sitting in the tanks on a hot day and such.  The last tote bag had the non-refrigerator snacks. Although, since the fridge bag is the heaviest (by far), I did put the 2 liter bottle of soda in the other food bag.  All of the snacks which are not in the fridge travel in plastic boxes which seal close to prevent animals smelling the food and getting in to visit.  Laptops/tablet were charged overnight and on the kitchen table to go.  Spare shoes were in plastic shopping bags to go out.  EZPass for tolls was put on the windshield. Bag of last minute stuff to Ready to go!

The weather still seemed to be holding as nice, so this morning I called the RV park and was able to get a reservation for 2 nights - tonight and tomorrow night - for the space next to the one we usually get - so now we know about another spot level enough for us to use. 

So we took about 4 trips of stuff out to the RV this morning - I had figured out where to store the various packed bags so that other than the fridge stuff, it did not have to be unpacked until we were in the RV tonight.  I have told husband that we could do this and now we have. 

So we are finally on a short trip again this summer.  So far, so good.


THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Being able to plan for something that is fluid takes a bit more work, but it can be done.  If you do something on a regular or semi-regular basis - make up a checklist and keep it in your computer and print it out each time - and use it.  It makes rushing through getting ready so much easier.

   




               

MOVING INTO THE NEW PHONE CONTINUED - AND A TRIP IN THE RV

I have made some progress on getting info into my new mobile phone.  Husband found a memo program that allowed me to cut and paste on my computer from my old memo program - a good thing as I needed to transfer some shopping info before we went away.  I managed to get all the contact info we might need during the trip into the phone.  I made sure to copy the info about our reservations into the new phone so we would have it with us.

Of course while doing all this I was also getting our tiny RV ready for the trip.  I had to make up the bed - I have mentioned before that this is an extended process involving making up half the bed as a single bed, then making up the other half by making it up on the back cushion laid flat, then sliding wooden boards between the two bench seats that form the bed, then placing the seat on this second side into place, and then - while lying on the side of the bed already made up - finish making up the second side of the bed.  It takes at least 45 minutes and a hot day is not a good time to make it up.  But I did.  Then the night before I have to bring out everything else we need and store it - clothing, snacks, computers, etc. Think about this - you have to move everything you need for 5 days into a house and then everything has to be stored in such a way that it will not move, shift, break or bang around and make noise.

We have been having a bit of a comedy of errors on this trip - lately this always seems to be the case.  On our drive here we got stuck on a limited access road near us which has no alternative for 45 extra minutes on a half hour segment of the trip.  We thought it was due to ongoing (for years) construction - no, it was a car stuck in the right lane - how the heck can a car still be stuck in the right lane at least 45 minutes (and probably a lot longer than that for traffic to have backed up the way it did) with no help or decision to move the car?

There are two main ways once we are out of our home state to get to where we are going.  All ways involve the tolls on two bridges in our area (which run combined almost $20 dollars even with an EZ Pass discount).  One way then involves tolls on turnpikes in two states, plus a bridge toll between the two turnpikes.  (This latter a new toll they dreamed up to start charging in 2016.)  I suggested to husband that if we went on the trip by the second way which involves one toll for $1 (to cross the same river as the one the bridge with the new toll crosses in another location between the same two states) we would save over half the remaining tolls - each turnpike one way, plus the new bridge toll - which is collected for round trip in one direction - for us that is the “going” direction, so we would save somewhere around $18 in tolls, less the $1 toll on the alternate route comes to a nice chunk of money saved.  So we went using the alternative way.  Husband hates the road this uses - while it is a limited access highway there a lot of huge interstate trucks using it (saving their tolls on the turnpikes) and it involves a lot of hills, but 17 bucks is 17 bucks.

When we got to the $1 toll it had suddenly become $6.50 for “two axle RVs”.  We have driven this way before to other places in this state and always paid $1 - so all the extra time and effort on the trip was greatly decreased - we will not try to cut the tolls this way again - it is not worth the extra travel time and effort for $10.

We did not really figure out where to eat lunch and thought of making a stop along the way if we had time and eating at that stop.  With the time we had lost we decided not to continue to the stop and headed south towards our destination.  Husband had a GPS running and also a mobile phone GPS running (sometimes I swear the 2 GPS programs are arguing), the latter is used as it is an RV program and knows which roads have to be avoided.  Suddenly the mobile phone started whispering.  We thought we would pass someplace for lunch (aka fast food place) earlier than we did and by the time we pulled it off it was on the late side for lunch and husband was upset at the trip so far, the cell phone problem and low blood sugar (he is Diabetic).  The kid (and he was a kid) at the McDonalds did nothing to help with his being upset.  Husband orders “a hamburger plain, two cheeseburgers and a senior soda”.  Seems simple, right?  “What size soda do you want - they are all $1 - a large?”  “A senior soda” “No, they are all the same price.”  So husband tells him a small soda - “Large?”.  “NO, SMALL!” (Husband was upset that the soda was going to actually cost us more do this nonsense.)  We ended up with a “regular”.  We pick up our order, get soda and go to the table.  Husband is playing with his mobile phone trying to figure out what is going on - the phone can make and receive calls with correct volume - but there are no sounds - no ringers, no alarms,etc.  I open my burger - it is the burger as it normally comes not “plain”.  I went up to the counter, got the manager’s attention and got a new burger - he was so involved with his phone he never noticed I was gone and why.  Lunch eaten we leave to last part of our trip to here.  Husband is VERY upset about his phone.

The RV park was sold as part of package of properties about 2 years ago and has changed in terms of policies and the physical access to property for the worse.  Under the old management the place would be full for July 4th week/weekend.  They had 3 spaces available at the last minute.  We asked to book for the same Monday through Friday stay next year.  No problem in the past - now the (new) staff is confused by this - it used to be “Sure”and some taps on the keyboard and we had the reservation in hand - this year “can you come back later for the reservation confirmation”.  We checked the space (we request the same one) and all was well.  July 4th stay there are lots of kids running around unsupervised, but we managed not to run over any of them - including the little girl from the space next to ours who seems to be around 3 or 4 and was riding a tricycle in the middle of the road in the RV park.  After checking our spot we marked where we had found a level area (hoping none of the kids would take the markers - they have disappeared in the past - only at this park and only during July 4th stay). This lets us come back to just about the same spot each time we take the RV out.  (Really, being level is important or doors fly open when you start to open then and stuff falls out - remember what I said about packing the RV to keep it all in place?)  We also put out a sign that says we are coming back and a decorative flag to sort of “mark our territory” - although last year someone stole our flag and the cast iron holder it hangs from at  - yes, this park during the July 4th stay. Most people set up their RV or trailer in their space and it stays there all the time.  If they leave they use the car they towed the trailer with or towed behind their RV.  We have a small RV and a relatively easy set of connections to the electricity and TV service - we carry water in our tanks and only use the water at the site if we are out on a long trip and only hook up to dump at the end of our stay - unless we are out for more than 5 days and then we will hook up, dump, and then disconnect until we are going to leave.  People with most units hook up to water and the dump pipe, as well as the electric and TV service all when they arrive and leave it in place until they leave.  So leaving the space for most people means they are leaving at the end of the trip, so we try to leave indications that we are coming back.

Husband played with his cell phone - he has an earpiece for it and put that in to see if worked as he would use same when we are apart from each other (the only time he actually needs to know if he is getting a text or call - from me during the trip) and that worked.  When he took the device out of the phone at night it seemed fixed.

First night here we had problems with the TV and the wifi. The TV had very poor reception on channel 2 and neither of us could sign into the wifi - we have been here many times and have the page to sign in bookmarked - husband finally figured out what to do and then we did same on my computer - it rejected the info which had always worked and we had to put in a totally different set of info - at first we could not even get the sign in page to come up.

Yesterday, July 4th,  we went to a large farmer’s market - it is actually a general merchandise market including an flea market across the street.  We like it.  Husband bought us sandwiches for lunch and we turned on the a/c (and the generator to let us do so) in the RV and we ate in it, in” air cooled comfort” (a 1940s/1950s claim of air conditioned movie theaters).  I found a vendor selling some ceramic bear figurines which I collect Yes, I know I should be getting rid of stuff, not acquiring more, but I love this line of little bears and they are discontinued.  I have photos of the ones I have in my cell phone - well, my last cell phone, which I brought with me on the trip and to the market just in case I saw some for sale (although I expected it to be at a more permanent vendor who sells them) so I could double check that I did not buy any I already have.  (Husband will transfer the photos for me to the new phone when we get home.) Oh, did I mention they were only 25 cents each?  How could I pass them by - only bought ones I liked, did not have, and were not missing paint.  A number of vendors were not at the market due to the holiday and it closed early.  Of course during the day his cell phone stopped having sound for ringing and alarms again.  He looked up the problem after seeing how expensive the replacement for his phone would be - and apparently it comes from dirt in the ear phone jack and the phone thinks the ear phone is plugged in -?  We were planning on buying a case for my new phone at one or the other of farmer’s markets here where there are many vendors for same, but apparently my phone is too rare for them to carry anything for it. I have it in a piece of felt in the case for my old cell phone to protect it until we can order something online for it.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

Sometimes there is nothing which can be done to resolve a problem as we want it to be resolved.  Sometimes problems just arise out of nowhere and have to be dealt with as best as one can.  It sounds trit, but sometimes one just has to go with the flow.

I hope those of you in the US have had a good July 4th holiday and to those of you in Canada, I wish a belated Happy 150th of your founding.

               

SAGA OF THE NEW MAIL BOX

Getting things done moves slowly in our house.  To give you an idea of how slowly - we have been in the house over 25 years and still have not had a house warming party.  Most things do not take that long, but we tend to be over cautions and take our time.  We shopped for 3 years before buying a new snowblower  - our old one not having been used in decades and was no longer working.

Now some background.  For over two decades we had a great Post Office where we live.  The mail was delivered with no problem.  When we went away for summer vacation and had our mail held, when we picked it up there was no problem and mail delivery was immediately restarted.  About 3 years ago we started having problems with our mail delivery - in the past 2 years, when I started keeping track,  three items for my accounting business from IRS - with all my personal and business identification information in all three - went astray and never made it here.  Two credit card statements - from two different banks - ditto.  A few bank statements from assorted banks - ditto.  Several pieces of mail - mostly ads, but still they could have been important mail, has shown up having been opened by someone else and then taped closed again - obviously delivered to someone else and opened in error by them, taped closed and dropped back in the mail.  We have gotten a number of items addressed to other people and delivered to us.  Now, I don’t mean the neighbor next door or down the street - these are addressed to people on streets we have never heard of and we have lived in the immediate area for almost 40 years and husband grew up for another 15 or more years, so these are not streets in the nearby area either.  We have been working on switching our mailing address to our Post Office box, which is at a different Post Office than the one our house mail goes through.  When we mail items out they go through the Post Office with our box.  (Due to the design of the different Post Offices’ coverage areas by community our Post Office is further away from us than two other Post Offices as we live at the far northern end of the coverage area, so we have always used one or the other of these two nearer Post Offices to send out mail.)

When we used to travel by car and stay at hotels we would take several weekend trips during the year and a longer summer vacation (up to 3 weeks when husband was working).  We would not have our mail held for the weekend trips - we would leave after Friday’s mail was delivered and take it in before we left and then just Saturday’s and possibly Monday’s mail would be delivered depending on whether we came home Sunday or Monday night.  We would have the mail held by the Post Office for summer vacation and then go in, pick up the mail, and restart delivery.  (We would not notify the other Post Office to hold the Box mail either, except for the summer as they automatically set aside in the back any excess mail over the size of our box.)

We now tend to travel in the middle of the week instead of the weekends for our short trips - and there are fewer of them.  It is easier to get a space at a RV park midweek  - a reservation at an RV park generally cannot be canceled close to the date so we tend not to make reservations for short trips until we know for sure that we are going.  Also the place we normally go for short trips is a heavy tourist area with a lot of weekend visitors which crowd many of the places we go and annoy husband, so we go midweek instead.  Now when we go away the mail three to four days of mail ends up sitting in the box in front of our house.  (We tend to leave earlier in the day on the trip as some local main roads are under construction and we have to get to a certain point after the worst of rush hour and before construction starts for the day, so the first day of the trip’s mail is now in the box where before we took it in before we left.)  So we now feel more uncomfortable leaving the mail in the box in front of the house while we are away.  We don’t want to have the mail held as this has become a problem with our Post Office.  The solution?  We decided last year that we need to have a locking mailbox for the front of the house.

We have a post mail box, meaning we have the type of box that sits on top of a post, similar to those in more rural areas where the boxes sit along the side of the road so that the postal delivery person (who used to be the “mailman”) can put the mail into the box without leaving his vehicle.  However, we have our post and mailbox adjacent to our front door not at the street - just a bit more secure than having the mailbox at the street.

On and off since the beginning of 2016's travel season we have been looking at replacement mail boxes.  We picked out one that we liked - it is shaped like a regular post mail box (round top), but locks closed.  Somehow that idea got set aside for the winter and nothing was done - not unusual as I mentioned at the start of the post - for us. 

About a month or so we again went out looking at mail boxes.   This time we decided that box was too small and we were looking at larger rectangular boxes.  We have a choice of buying a mail box at Home Depot or Lowes.  I guess Ace has them too, but they are more expensive.  We made our choice. 

Last week husband brings up the subject again - we go to Home Depot and Lowes and compare what they have and the prices.  Looking at the box we were planning to get, we started thinking - “Hmmm, does that make it look like there something really exciting in the mail box as it is so large and locked.  Will it make it more attractive to someone to break into it?”  We decide to get the first mail box which looks more like a regular mail box and might not be more attractive.

Sunday we buy the mail box.  Now remember, we are not morning people and our normal Sunday is a trip to Costco, BJs, and a different Walmart than usual in the next county, with lunch at the Costco.  So by the time we buy the mail box and head home it around 4 pm.  (Can you see where this is going?)

We take the mail box into the garage (and climb over the snow blower which we still have not bought a shed for it to live in and over the leaf blower we used 2 years ago, etc. plus all the power tools set up in this with all in disarray as husband always says “I really have to clean up in here” but we never do).  We open the box and check the mail box and it looks fine.  It come with 2 matching sets of 2 keys (four keys which each fit both the front and back locks on the box).  The keys are there and of course get taken out of the envelope they came in.  Logic would say to put one set of keys in one of our pockets and leave the other set of keys in the envelope, but both sets are taken out of the envelope. 

First thing to do is remove the old mailbox from the post.  We do this very easily - four small screws, two in each of the left and right sides of the mailbox.  The old mailbox is set aside in the backyard - just in case this all does not work out. 

We had to buy a piece for the mail box which allows it to be on the post, on a different type of post or on a wooden arm (in choice of 2 different directions).  So the second thing to do is attach this piece to our post.  We open the piece and take out the instructions and find the hardware needed to put it on the type of post we have.  This involves putting four LONG screws into the wood of the post - two in the front and two in the back.  Now understand, husband has a major assortment of power and hand tools.  Problem - the hole in the piece is slightly larger than our post - it will not affect the piece sitting around the post, but the piece has to be level with the top of the post, but slides down it.  We both have the same idea - he screws a scrap piece of wood diagonally over the hole and now it sits on the top of the post.  We place the piece in position on top of the post.  He takes out a battery operated screwdriver and starts screwing one of the back screws through the piece and into the post.  It stops about half way in and will not go further.  Husband goes and gets a plug in drill and tries - same problem.  “I guess I should have drilled a pilot hole.”  He unscrews the screw and gets a thin drill bit.  The drill bit goes partway in and breaks.  So now there is a drill bit in the wood where the screw needs to go.  We decide to ignore this screw for now.

He goes to the front and, with a larger drill bit, drills a pilot hole and with the combination of battery operated screwdriver, plug in drill, and hand screwdriver - he finally gets the screw in.  Yay!  This is repeated on the other front and the other rear screw - these having their own problem as he stand on the flattened (for this purpose) branches of a shrub..  Along the way he looks at his watch and says “so much for dinner” - it will be too late to go out for dinner, as we do on Sunday evenings, when we are done.  We can’t stop as it will be too dark to finish later and we won’t have a box for Monday’s mail delivery.

We test the piece and it rocks as it is missing the first screw which we were unable to put in.  What to do?  I came up with the idea of using the four small screws that we took out of the old mail box and post.  The side of the piece to hold the mail box has holes in the side for a different assembly - but that assembly is for the piece to be raised up so the sides overlap the holes.  We manage to get these screws into the side holes and the piece no longer rocks.

Third step - putting the mailbox in place.  We need a key for this as the bolt heads go inside the mail box.  I go back to the garage - I can only find one set of keys.  Rather than waste time I figure husband has the other set and this set is plenty to work with.  Putting the mailbox in place actually goes rather well.  (It does bother me that a security mail box has nuts on the bottom of it connecting it to the connecting piece, which itself is screwed on by accessible screws - so either set of screws can be removed - but that is how it is.)  We try the doors and they work - there is room to open the back of the box from the house door (we were worried it was too close to the house).

I then mention the missing keys.  He does not have them.  We go back into the garage and find them.  We go into the house.  I immediately take one of the keys and put it onto my key ring - just in case.  We have dinner and the evening passes. 

Husband suggests that we put up a “decorative” hook in the front hall for a mailbox key to be hung from - “we will look for one”.  Oh yes, more time wasted shopping and juggling the key in the interim and how long will that take?  Then I remember something which I did not donate when I thought to do so.  A nice, small brass plate with a double hook at the bottom.  I think we got it as a gift from his sister - that is in the back of my head.  It was a bit “Victorian” for our “Georgian” style decor so we did not buy it.  But there it is - in the bottom drawer of my desk - wow I even found it exactly where I thought it would be.  He likes it and rushes to put it up.

Now we have to put a key on a piece of yarn to hang it up - here’s the single key on a ring - where is the other ring with two keys?  (How can I be able to find something I haven’t seen in years on the first try, but a set of keys for something we bought the same day keeps disappearing?)  We find them and I put in them with the instructions, etc. to put away.  He puts the key on a piece of yarn and hangs it up.

The mail box works!  We have taken in mail from it for three days now.  It is not a problem to open with the key.  Now we can go on a trip and not worry about the mail sitting at home snug in its locking box.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

Find something you keep putting off doing - one thing.  And do it!  Every step forward is something done.


Epilogue -

We had to take the old mail box into the garage due to a MAJOR rain and wind storm Monday.  I plan to clean it up a bit and take it to Goodwill on my next trip to same with items to donate.  This will keep it out of the garbage and help someone who can use the mail box as its only problem is that we wanted a locking one - the box itself has much life left in it.