Cake

9am - On my bike, I went thru the Jojoba Hills main gate. My destination. The ranch at the bottom of the hill.

The former ranch owner also owned Rocky Top hill. Did I write about Rocky Top? Can't remember. Anyway, I'm interested in finding out if this hill is for sale.

I met the present ranch owner. He bought the place about 10 years ago. My plan is get the county recorder to do a search for me and find out the name and address of the former ranch owner. I want to get the "lay of the land."

11am - Let them eat cake!
Now iP5 and myself are up at Friendship Hall. It's very pleasant here. Cool. Outside its over 100℉.

I'm inside Jojoba Hills meeting/dining room. When I arrived here, I was told that there is some food things on the counter. One of the food things is "Ralph's Colossal Coffee Cake." Pretty neat, huh?

I took a piece, put it thru the microwave for 15 seconds, and it came out scrumptious!

My morning cake. Free! 😎

3pm - Exercise

For some reason, I took it into my head to go to the Exercise Room after my 

5 O'clock hour soak in the Spa. If I did that, I might get out of the Exercise Room after Sundown. Possibly after dark!

Not good for me and my balance issues. I am like drunken person, when trying to walk when it's dark. So, this afternoon I was in the Exercise Room before the

5 O 'clock hour.

This my first time exercising in that Room. It's a terrific Exercise Room. I am able to do almost all of the exercises that I did in the YMCA at home.

George in the Exercise Room

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New RV Trailer

7am - The new RV Trailer that was described here on my Blog, is the one that I plan to purchase. It's [this] one.

However, it was not until Reader Sandy Matts made a comment about my needing space for an "easy chair", that I came up with a solution for that space.
Thank you, Sandy! 😎

The plan is:

• Remove the queen size bed. Replace it with a comfortable couch which shall be my bed.
• Remove the dinette. Do what is necessary to make this slide out area into a location for my La-Z-Boy recliner. Put a table in the remaining space [Or perhaps a bookcase.]

Please click on trailer diagram to enlarge

Note: Enlarge does not appear to work with Safari browser.

11am - Sleep!
I've had bad sleep, all of my life. Caused me great distress!

Recently, my Kaiser primary care doctor, prescribed Trazodone. I'm now getting 5, 6, 7-hours great sleep each nite.

I attribute a huge increase in my ability to reason to Trazodone. Oh my! How my poor brain and I suffered since I was a young teenager. 65 years!

But it's over now 😎

12 Noon - Bike or golf cart?
As I was eating breakfast [at noon!], I noticed a golf cart parked outside. Belongs to my site neighbor.

It crossed my mind, that a golf cart may be a better choice for me. Rather than purchasing a new electric bike.

A golf cart, in my opinion, is safer than a bike for me!

12:45pm - Eating
During WW2, I was a kid [born 1937] living in Los Angeles. At meals my Mom always was admonishing my sister [1940],

"Remember the poor starving children in Europe."

Well, I remembered until my 70s. Then I came to my senses. After that remembering event, I gradually lost about 20 lbs and about 4 inches of my waistline. 😎

At breakfast today, I was reminded of my Mom's admonishments. I made too much food. Dumped the left-overs. Felt sooooo much better than if I had eaten the whole thing!


5:30pm - Spa time during the 5 O'clock hour
Pete and I drove to the Apple Store in the City of Temecula. Pete had his MacBook Pro checked out. Afterwards, we walked the store looking at the Apple products, on display and just waiting for a customer.

I played around with a large iPad and fell in love with it! ♥️ Sale price starts at $500. Hmmmm?!

We drove to a Five Guys. Pete ordered fries. I ordered a "Little bacon burger with mayo, lettuce and pickles only. Yummmm!

We returned to Jojoba during the 5 O'clock hour. Off I went to the Spa! Gotta love it.

George is sitting on the edge of the Spa

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Shopping online

9am - There are two things that I am shopping for:

• Trailer RV
• New electric bike

In order to go on the Waiting List at Jojoba Hills RV Park, there are several items that I need to complete. A Trailer RV, is the highest priority item.

I've selected a 2017 Coachmen RV Apex Nano. An RV dealer located close to Guava Gardens has this trailer in stock. The plan is to inspect and likely buy it, next week.

Would you like to read about this trailer? Click [here] for the web page!

Here it is!

3:30pm - Ice cream floats

Today, the Jojoba Hills SKP RV Park has a member meeting at 4pm. A fun thing happens before! We all get served an Ice Cream float. Mine was a root beer float. What a good time 😎! 

My float was $free because I'm a guest at the park.

Gotta love it......


Why am I getting a new electric bike?
There is a "getting worse" problem for me with Mariner 7. In order to mount Mariner 7, I must swing my leg over the rear wheel. This maneuver has been getting a bit dangerous for me lately.

A combination of less balance ability and pain in my right hip joint are the reason. I want to get an electric bike that has a "full pass thru" for my right foot. Such a bike will make bike riding for me a LOT safer.

4:30pm - Bike for sale
After the Ice Cream Float and the Member meeting, I was enjoying a shaded place at the swimming pool. A married couple came by, and we began to chat.

The husband was interested in my electric bike. I gave him the bike's keys, and he went off on a ride. When he came back, I asked how he liked it.

I believe this fellow might be buying my bike!

5:30pm - Hot spa

During the 5 O'clock hour, every afternoon, is my time to soak in the hot tub. Back at Guava Gardens, my tub time was in the 7 O'clock hour. Here at Jojoba Hills [pronounced 'hohobah'], sunset comes about 7:15pm. If I did the spa here in the 7 O'clock hour, I'd be returning to Site 224 in the dark. Not a good thing for me with my balance issues.

On the spa wall here, is a clock with a thermometer. Ms iP5  captured a pic of that clock and she told me, look at the temperature!

Click clock to read temperature

PS: Ms iP5 is our team's iPhone. She's a Model #5s.

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Pete's gig

11:30am - Pete has a gig at a restaurant in the Town of Idyllwild. He picked me up, and we both drove together to that town.

I'd never visited Idyllwild, best as I recall. 

1pm - Arrive Idyllwild 

This is a busy place. And a happening town! The Pacific Crest Trail crosses a road close to Idyllwild. Hikers take a rest here. Lot of tourists here too. The place is jumping!  

Pete moved his equipment [amplifier, speaker, guitar] into the restaurant. I found that lots of people know Pete here. He's a popular guy. 

Then, Pete began to entertain.

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Pete Olson entertaining in the Town of Idyllwild

August 28, 2016

Note: This was supposed to be a video recording experience for me. It turned out to be an iPhone learning experience. 

What happened was, my iPhone's storage was pretty much maxed out. I'd never paid attention to that. So, I did not have the opportunity to record hardly any of Pete's songs. When the storage in the iPhone went to zero, the camera just stopped recording. 

The song above, cut-out before the finish. Turns out that iPhones do not behave when an owner does not know how to do it right!

7pm - Pics around sunset
The sun goes down this evening at 7:15pm. iPhone wanted outside, so of course George went with him.

First iPhone captured a pic of the long-term RV storage area.

Long-term RV storage lot

Then we sat together at the fence line of the park, waiting for the moment of Sunset. Here is what we captured. Not great. Sky at horizon hazy. May be better next time.

Moment of Sunset - August 28, 2016

PS: Here's a pic of the front entrance sign at Jojoba Hills RV Resort.

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Joined Escapees

11am - I biked to the Jojoba Hills office in order begin the process for living at Jojoba Hills RV Resort. Didn't I mention to you a couple of days ago, that things were moving fast for me?

Whatta you think after reading this?

There are several things for me to do in order to get on the list for joining Jojoba Hills. The biggest thing is to buy an RV!!

I'm thinking about a trailer, 20 to 25 feet, 1998+. Jojoba Hills has a 20 years old or newer policy.

Escapees headquarters in Texas

2pm - Biking to Stagecoach Inn
Mariner7, Ip5 and myself took off for lunch at the Stagecoach Inn. On the way, we came across a ton of sheet metal sculptures.

Of course Ip5 got all crazy. She wanted sooooo much to take a pic of the old west guys on the stagecoach. So, we stopped to take that pic.

Steel sculpture stagecoach driving hard!

4pm - Views at the pool
Ip5 and myself are down at the Friendship Hall swimming pool to take some pics for you to see. This is a gorgeous place. Way up high.

After Ip5 captures the pics, George plans a soak in the pool. But not until the 5 O'clock hour. George likes to do the same things at the same time each day.

Wow! This is a beautiful view!

View from the edge of the pool area

6:30pm - Chat with Judy
As  Mariner7 [electric bike] , Ip5 [iPhone] and George drove back to Site 224 where we are staying, we met Judy Bell messing with her naughty irrigation system. So, we stopped to see what was going on.

Seems the irrigation system wasn't watering the right place. Judy was a little angry about it. But when we stopped to chat with her, she seemed to chill out. "Not really a big thing", Judy told us.




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My life's work

Midnite - I have received comments recently, from Readers thanking me for my Blog writing. Telling me that it is because of my Blog, that they had the courage to venture out and become an RVer.

I've written in my website, the following goal for myself:

May, 2003
My life's work now, is to be of service to my RV friends and others who cross my path. If you get some value from reading my story, than I will have achieved success in my work!

At that time, I was about to commence my great adventure with MsTioga. I had come to understand, that to have a friend, I must be a friend. And friends do things for each other. I went about on my daily journey, doing things for my fellow RVers. I did that by sharing my story with them.

If I have achieved this goal, it will be the greatest thing that has happened to me in my lifetime.

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Tioga George Lives!

9am - A recent Blog of "The Adventures of Tioga and George" had the 11pm post begin with:

"Back when I was Tioga George"

Several email arrived to take issue with this post. One email stated:

"In your blog post the other day, you said "When I used to be Tioga George..." but you are still Tioga George to many of us!"

Nice to know! 😎


5pm - Last Friday Dinner
This dinner has this name, because it held on the Last Friday of the month. This is a free dinner. 

My good friend Pete Olson, musician, singer, composer, has a gig at Last Friday Dinner.

I made a video!

Pete Olson sings!

10pm - Joined Escapees!
I just joined Escapees. Yep! Paid for a one year membership. Things are moving fast for me.

It's too soon to clue you in yet. But soon 😎,

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Judy Bell

10am - I'm walking over to Judy's park site, only two sites from me! Do you feel that perhaps destiny is taking over for this meeting?

When I return, I'll show you a pic of Judy and myself 😎.

Click [here] to take a peek at Judy's "Travels With Emma" Blog.

Judy Bell and George

Please click closeup pic to zoom in!

2:30pm - Friendship Hall
I'm in the library again, sitting on the same couch as yesterday. I sent a Blog pic to you showing that couch, also yesterday.

The Library is inside Friendship Hall. So is the swimming pool, covered and uncovered spa, some small meeting rooms and a huge meeting room. I believe that there is a very professional looking kitchen here, large enough to feed several hundred at one sitting.

I brought my bathing suit in order soak in the covered spa, later on in the afternoon.

Video rental collection, Jojoba Hills Escapee Park

5:30pm - In the spa
We all knew, that iPhone was dying to use her camera to take a pic of Old George soaking in the spa.  But Old George had a senior moment! He forgot to bring the camera clicker 😩

We all agreed to a plan for tomorrow.  Before we leave for our bike ride down to Friendship Hall, we will all say to Old George, "Don't forget the clicker!"



.

First day at SKP Jojoba Hills

1pm  - Well, my sleeping plan last nite, was to get to bed before midnite. That didn't work?? I got to bed after 3am! But that's OK. Because I got up at 10am 😎.

I had bit of a problem getting online with my iPhone's personal HotSpot. I could not figure out what was not working? Tried rebooting both iPhone and MacBook Air. Still the HotSpot still did not work?

Just a few minutes ago, the HotSpot began working again. On its own. I did not do anything. Hmmmmm?

2pm - Paying the rent
Having my electric bike here at the SKP park is a blessing. I am able to go all over the park with ease. On the iPhone, there is an App that tells me where the RV that I am living in is located. The App points an arrow in the direction of the RV. It also reports how far away from me is the RV! Cool.

I am staying at Jojoba for 10 days. Until September 2nd. The rent and electric comes to $240 for the ten days. $24 bucks a day. Pretty good, huh?

3pm - Exploring
The electric bike's battery is charging now. As soon as it is charged, I'm going out exploring. Take pics for you to see 😎.

5pm - Hot tub and library
The Jojoba Hills swimming pool, [2] hot tubs and library, have something that is in common with my Guava Gardens Apartments. Hardly anybody uses the facilities?? Hmmmmm?

I took a pic of the uncovered outdoor hot tub [there's a covered hot tub too.] The pool had one person in it. It's a HUGE pool!

For sure I will use this hot tub a lot!

A lovely library. I did some blogging 

sitting on the couch [right]

11pm - Cooking supper
Back when I was Tioga George, I did a lot of cooking in MsTioga's kitchen. Now, MsTioga is no more. But I remember what went down,

I really got a kick out of cooking up supper out in the wilds of Montana. Or down in southern Mexico, right up against the Guatemala border!

MsTioga and I have cooked up supper all over western Canada and the United States. And pretty much all of Mexico

You might wonder if I miss those times? If I miss MsTioga? I don't miss those things. But if you asked me how I do feel? I would answer that:

"I am filled with nostalgia for those times."

Would you like to see supper this evening? Hmmmmm?

From L-R: Brussel sprouts, Fajita chicken, 

Sweet corn, Cherry tomatoes & Baby carrots

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Jojoba SKP Park - Aguaga California

2pm - My very good friend, Pete Olson, drove to Guava Gardens to pick me up to take me to where he lives. Pete and his wife Frederika, have lived in the JoJoba Escapee Park in the Town of Aguanga for over a year. Pete has told me a zillion times, "We love it there. It's sooooo beautiful.

Pete and Frederika live in a lovely 5th Wheel. I am staying in their 31 foot Lazy Daze. We likely will not arrive at the SKP Park until after dark.

4pm - Sizzler
Pete and I stopped at my favorite Sizzler off Hwy I-15 at the Aero Drive exit. We ate at such a leisurely pace, that it took nearly 3-hours to eat our dinner, and get on the road again!

Man-O-Man! In my opinion, the food at that Sizzler is fantastic. There is a gorgeous salad bar. A soup bar. Mexican food bar. Dessert bar. Ooops! I almost forgot to tell that Sizzler's steak is really, really good!

Customers do not leave hungry from a Sizzler Restaurant.

7pm - Groceries at Trader Joe's
I need to shop for groceries for my stay at the SKP Park. The plan is for me to remain ten days at the Park. Maybe longer?

I bought about $50 bucks worth of food. Good food too! Not the junk I have eaten all my life. I am on a healthy food kick now. I am hoping that my healthy food kick becomes a real permanent thing in my life. Sometimes the heart is willing and the soul is weak. A guy never really knows what will happen when beginning an adventure like this one. However, I truly believe I will make it over the top!

8pm - Escapee Park
When we arrived at SKPs, Pete took me on a tour of the whole place.

• Wood shop
• Metal shop
• Huge kitchen
• Big swimming pool
• Hot tub/spa
• Recreation room with a lot of tables for eating, meetings and even poker!
• Sewing room
• Hobby room
• Post office

Click on  this [link] to see a nice map of Jojoba Hills Escapee Park.


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Rushing around

10:30am -  When I have a day with a lot of things to do, there may be a tendency for me to rush around like a chicken with it's head cut off. It's sub-conscious. There is little awareness in my head that I am rushing.

This morning, while shaving, I thought about using my bike. But I have things to carry for errands this morning. The bike wouldn't do. Right then, it occurred to me that I could easily use the bike to do the light weight things. And then do the rest of the stuff in the Honda FIT.

I have stopped rushing around today. And that makes me feel good. Calm!

Potting in the garden

9am - At the Wal*Mart, yesterday, a bunch of red clay pots were bought. Big ones, and medium size too.

I've been busy this morning using some of those newly bought red clay pots. Re-potting from ceramic pots which feature an included dish. Those included dish pots do not drain correctly. That's bad for the flowers.

The Tiny Waterfall side, on the right of the garden, is done. Only fine tuning to do for that side.

In the pic below, you may see the left side. Some more concrete bricks may be needed over there.

I love this gardening business! 😎

Left side of garden

11am - Weber Grill
Yesterday I picked up the Weber 1Burner Q1000 Gas Grill that I bought from the Wal*Mart. Now I will be able to invite friends over to eat at the park with me!

I bought the folding hand truck, that you see in the pic below, to help me move the Weber when I go to the park. I plan to attach a wood platform to the hand truck. The Weber will sit on the platform when I'm moving the grill.

The first thing that I plan to do with my new Weber Grill is to take to the park and test it. Make sure that it gets hot. And grill a chicken breast to see how that works.

The Weber Q1000 does not come with a temperature gage. So, I bought one and will install it myself when it arrives. It's really easy to install the gage. Just drill a hole in the cover, and hold the gage in place with a wing nut.

Now I am able to invite my friends, John and Mimi, to a park party and I will prepare the food that we will eat myself! I've eaten at John & Mimi's home many times since I met them in 2003. I never invited them over to eat, until now!

Weber and his friend, Hand Truck!

3pm - PF Chang's
My intention when I made a reservation at PF Chang's, was to do some blog post during lunch. When I was seated at a table and opened my backpack, the MacBook wasn't there. I had forgotten it.

But I had my iPhone! I had attempted blogging on the iPhone before. However, I did not remember how that went for me.

After spending about an hour trying to blog, I put the phone away. Blogging on a screen that is as small as my iPhone, is an exercise in futility! If you are able to do it, I am in awe of your skills.

5pm - "In Search of Israeli Cuisine"
I'm up in La Jolla, to attend a viewing an Israeli movie. It is named:

"In Search of Israeli Cuisine"

A Temple Emanu-El friend sent me a blurb about this movie. It looked good. So, I bought a ticket. If you like to view a trailer, click [here].

The title of the movie is kind of an inside joke. Israel is not known for making good food. At least that was the case during Israel's first 30 years.

8pm - Best thinking in the spa
When I returned to Guava Gardens, I saw a group of my lady friend/tenants out at poolside talking. I went over to the group, and sat down.

We talked about my going hot tubbing every evening. And I invited them to go tubbing with me. None of them came. Hmmmmm?

Actually, it's better that they didn't come. I do my best thinking every evening in the hot tub. It's so calm there. So quiet. Having the ladies in the tub, would spoil all of that. 😮

PS: I've invited other ladies to the hot tub. Ladies who don't live at Guava Gardens. They didn't come either. The last one told me, "I'm not ready for hot tubbing yet." Double Hmmmmm with sugar on it!

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Am I going camping?

9am - Do you ever do something, and then wonder why you did it? i Just bought another cot, and with it, I also bought an Everest Mummy +5F/-15C Degree Sleeping Bag?!

 I do not do camping anymore. Could destiny have a surprise in my future?

The reason that I needed to buy another camping cot is, the cot that I had broke! I busted the aluminum frame by plunking my body down on it, instead of sitting down gently.

Here's the thing. It would be better for me to sit on a folding camping chair. I have one of these in my apartment. So why didn't I junk the broken camping cot and begin sitting on that camping chair?

And why the sleeping bag??

See what I mean? The sub-conscious is a mighty force. It must know that I am healing now, and soon will be in condition to go camping! 😎

Whadda you think?

11am - Stepped on my doctor's toes
Last Thursday, my cardiolgist gave me really good advice. Here is his message:

Glad to hear that you're feeling better. We could add back the meds one at a time, very gradually, that way we can see which one(s) is causing the problem.

The most important med for now is warfarin - this will prevent stroke
Then losartan
Then atorvastatin
Then metoprolol.

Let me know

What happened next, after I went back on Warfarin [The first drug on the list above] was completely unexpected. By the doctor and me. My illness symptoms returned like gang busters!! So, I immediately went off Warfarin again [On my common sense]. And by the end of that first day after going off Warfarin for the 2nd time in one week, my right hand and arm ceased twitching and my energy returned in spades.

My doctor was resolute. "Warfarin does not make hands twitch", he messaged me.

But I believed that my experience with going off and then back on Warfarin, showed me that the this drug did cause my hand twitching.

During last nite, I did Google searches about this mystery. And I unearthed something. Warfarin was found to cause the brain to bleed. If my brain did bleed, and that bleeding caused a mild sub-dural hematoma, could that cause the symptoms I've been having? [link]

3pm - Reader comments
I am at the Claim Jumper for lunch. I've been on my computer replying to comments. Some of these comments appear to be sooooo angry. So disbelieving.

I am wondering why?


10pm - Down to the spa
I'm usually down in the spa [hot tub] during the 7 O'clock hour. Today I brought stuff home [Weber Q1000 Grill, a bunch of red clay pots for the flowers]. I guess that I got so busy messing with this stuff, that I forgot about the spa!

So, I went down to the spa at 10pm! 😎

The apartment does not mind me going in the spa during nite time. Just as long that I am quiet, and do not disturb the tenants.

In the whole apartment house, I am the only regular user of the pool and spa. It's like I have my own private pool!

Just before I enter the spa, I turn on the timer switch which starts the spa water system circulating. That switch turns on the spa's heater as well. Larry the manager tells me, the spa is set for 92℉. That's a really nice temperature!


12 Midnite - A word about readers
I've been blogging since May, 2003. 13 years. 3,864 Blogger posts. I met most readers on the net. A lot of readers called on me where I was camping with MsTioga.

Nearly all my readers treated me wonderfully. Respectfully. Every once a long while, a reader would take exception with what I did. And what I wrote.

The worst case that happened to me was a Stalker Reader! This reader some how figured out that I had inherited some money. He wanted to debate me online, to make me acknowledge the facts behind this event. He dogged me for about a year! When I had enough of him, I researched him and his family. I found out that he had a wife and three sons. Found out where they lived, and their names.

Then, I asked him if his wife and three sons [Mary, Mark, Luke and Matthew]
[Not their real names] knew about his Stalking life? I mentioned all their names when I wrote to him and the city that they lived in. I never heard from him again!

Nearly 100% of my readers are kind, supportive and respectful. Once in a great while though, a reader will pop up who is troubled. In comments, such a reader will criticize and question in a mean way, what I am doing. I try very hard in replying to such a reader, to be thoughtful and respectful. Some times, being thoughtful and respectful doesn't take. And that reader may lose it, online.

I just wanted to clear the air about this subject.

How'd I do? 😎


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Good hint

11am - A promise to fellow RVers
At the time I first began my Tioga George Blog in 2003, I made a promise to myself to be of help to my fellow RVers. Below I am posting a suggestion. I believe that this suggestion will be of great help to you.

It is to use "LastPass". Click [here] to go to the LastPass site.

I use LastPass Premium which costs $12/year, and is very much worth it. If you do not use the Premium version, LastPass is free.

LastPass is very much like a Bookmark manager for websites which require you to have s User Name and Password. Your websites are stored in LastPass in an almost perfect, secure environment. You may use your LastPass on your computer and have it sync to you LastPass on your cell phone.

You may receive a Trial LastPass by clicking the link above.


1pm - Straight from the horse's mouth
A clerk at the Wal*Mart Neighborhood Grocery informed me that plastic bags will soon not be used for packing purchased items.

Wal*Mart will instead offer what appeared to me to be cloth bags with a handle. These cloth bags will be offered for sale @ $1/each.

If you do not wish to buy a $1 cloth bag, I suppose that your grocery purchase may be loaded helter-skelter into your shopping cart! 🐼


10pm - Bonsai, structural pruning
I don't remember when I bought a small Juniper Tree at Hunter's Nursery. Must have been many months ago.

I did not do anything with this tree, because I did not know what to do! Then I read [this] web page. Now I know, pretty much how to structurally prune my Bonsai tree.

Below is a before and after pic.

Do you remember when I wrote to you that my taking up the "Art of Bonsai" was a very optimistic enterprise for me? Do you understand why I wrote that?

Before

After

Rebuilding cascade

1am - Just yesterday afternoon, I was struggling with attempting to design the cascade structure for the Tiny Waterfall. I was using wood in that design, and found it hard to do.

The problem was, that the cascade needed to be assembled and disassembled many, many times over an extent of time. I would not be able to do that easily with wood materials. When I came to this conclusion, it dawned on me that the concrete bricks that I had used originally, are really the best way to go now.

Please look at the two pics below. They show how it began. And where it is now!

 4pm yesterday

1am today

Note: Please understand that I was not working on the 1am version of the cascade from 4pm yesterday afternoon to 1am this morning.

I stopped at 4:30pm. Biked over to John and Mimi's home for pizza dinner. Did a zillion different things. Then got back on building the concrete brick cascade just before midnite. Took me an hour before I was satisfied and took the "1am today" pic above.

Right now it is 2am, and I'm going to bed!

Nite, nite,
George


9am - Reply, prescription question
I received a reply from my cardiologist answering the question that I posed for him. I Blogged to you about that yesterday.

Here is that reply:

Glad to hear that you're feeling better. We could add back the meds one at a time, very gradually, that way we can see which one(s) is causing the problem.

The most important med for now is warfarin - this will prevent stroke
Then losartan
Then atorvastatin
Then metoprolol.

Let me know

3pm - A lucky life
I'm at a shady table in the park near the YMCA. After I upload this 3pm Blog post, eat my Crunchy Taco bought from El Pollo Loco, I'll go the "Y" to work out. This is the first time in a month that I will workout. I did not go to the "Y" because I had little energy. Little stamina.

There is NO doubt in my mind, that my recovery is an order of magnitude improvement! This has to be a miracle!

I am a very lucky guy. Luckier than most persons that I know. Much luckier than my two children, who were challenged by inherited traits that plagued them all their lives. Likely traits that were passed on to them by me.

My Father was a very challenged person from birth. He had difficulty with relationships. Wives, co-workers, management that supervised him. He may have been kind of a sociopath.

Myself and my sister had personalities which were warped because of our Father. But I was the lucky one! About six months after I began my great RVing adventure in 2003, I happened upon a thread that was written about me on the RV.NET Forum website. Can you imagine that? Finding that thread was a lucky miracle. Because from that moment on, my future was aimed at a far different destination than before.

My psychiatrist [that I had back then] informed me that my successful self-therapy was extremely rare. He told me that he had read about person's who were successful with self-therapy. But I was the first he had met in person, or as a patient.

When I go back in memory, and think about my life, I AM BLOWN AWAY!

A lucky guy! 

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Are meds making me ill?

1pm - I've written to you before about my questioning about the possibility of my med(s) being responsible for my recent health decline. I have experienced during the past five days, indications that this may be a real possibility.

I've sent a message to all three of my doctors raising this issue. My primary care doctor, cardiologist and neurologist. I am publishing that letter below, for you to read.

The message

Dear Doctor,

Because of a scheduled colonoscopy for today, I went off all meds, vitamins, and supplements last Friday. Five days on no meds.

Today I am feeling better than I have for months! No right hand and arm twitches. Much more stamina and energy. I've even noticed a lessening of my stability/balance problems.

My feeling is, that there is a relationship with my complaints/medical conditions and my medication and maybe even vitamin consumption.

So, I have a dilemma. I do not wish to continue my meds because I am unsure how to go about finding which one(s) are responsible for my recent health decline.

In the meanwhile, I am now off all meds.  This may bring me into an area of a serious medical condition. I am willing to temporarily risk that, in order to find out, at long-last, what is going on.

I await your advice,

George Lehrer

4pm - Bricks are better 😛
I'm anxious to get started on putting back together, Tiny Waterfall's cascade. By cascade I mean, an angular construction with Tiny Waterfall at the top and descending or cascading down at an angle to the balcony floor.

My thinking is, that the cascade should begin at a height higher than before. Around the height of the balcony wall. The planning had begun as a wood construction cascade. I was running into a challenge to build this cascade without a whole lot of revisions. A project like this one, rarely ends up the way it started.

So, I changed back to construction with concrete blocks. These blocks may be assembled into almost any idea possible. They are blocks. Did you ever watch your kids building things with their wood blocks? I wanted to be free, like my kids when they were playing with their wood blocks!

Cascade begins

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What I hate

6am - Do you know what I hate about this health crap that is attacking me? It's the unpredictability of nearly every thing I do!

• I reach for something, and it goes flying across the room. A fork, a vitamin pill, a pencil. Everything goes flying around.
• I'm eating soup. I fill the spoon and move the spoon to my mouth, and the damn soup goes back from the spoon into the bowl.
• I'm walking out on the balcony, trying my best to watch where my feet go, and my foot strikes a brick that's up there for the flower pots to sit on. The flower pot goes flying and breaks.
• I go to sit down on my bed, and I roll backward across the bed. My head hits the wall next to the bed.
• I stand up from a chair, and suddenly I am sitting down again. Sort of out of control sitting down. I've gone backward when this happens, the chair tipping over backward, with me in the chair.

There's more, but why go on with this complaining list? 

My Uncle Seymour, 10 years older than me, is in better shape than I am. He never complains to me about his health stuff. Why do I piss and moan about this crud to him? Uncle Seymour is the smart one in the family. Maybe that's the reason. That makes me the dumb one, doesn't it?

Why is this out of control dude smiling?

6pm - Pre-Colonoscopy errands

I've just returned from going on an a Colonoscopy errand run. Got 3-gallons filtered water from a 20-cent/gallon dispenser. Picked up some movie videos at the library [Sicario is one of the movies!]. Got Colon Lavage prescription at the Kaiser Pharmacy. And some other stuff too.

This Colon Lavage stuff is to clean out the large intestine. It does this task by going down to the large intestine, causing me to go to the toilet until only clear liquids are coming out, instead of the normal brown stool,

Sounds like a real good time. A treat! 😡

10pm - Yuck!

That Colon Lavage is terrible stuff. About an hour after I began drinking it, I was not sure if I should be sitting on the toilet, or kneeling down with my face in the bowl. I was hoping that I would NOT have to do both at the same time!

Tomorrow morning, Mimi [John's wife] [John was my golfing partner] is driving me to get the  Colonoscopy. I need a driver to check in with me. Kaiser will not do the procedure if I arrive without a driver. I will be sedated. Cannot drive that day.

Tiny Waterfall

7am - Yesterday I was describing to you how I was going about sealing the Tiny Waterfall. After I had coated the inside of the pool and the fall, I found in the Rust-Oleum website a Technical Data Sheet on the LeakSeal product that I was using.

That was when I read:

Can LeakSeal® be applied in areas that will be immersed in water?

No, LeakSeal® is not intended for use in areas that will experience constant contact or submersion in water.

Darn! Have I messed up the Tiny Waterfall?

8am - Phoned Rust-Oleum tech support

I found the Rust-Oleum tech support on a Google search, and phoned them. I described how I had applied LeakSeal to a tiny waterfall made of fiberglass. And then I asked what would happen if the LeakSeal was applied in an area always in contact with water.

The tech told me, "The LeakSeal would eventually peal off."

Then she advised, "Are you able to apply LeakSeal to the outside of the waterfall?"

And that is exactly what I am doing now!  "Yippee!!"

Tiny Waterfall after 1st outside coat of LeakSeal

11am - My Bonsai trees
I've had Bonsai trees before. But, I never understood Bonsai back then. Now, with my life passing in slow motion, I have the time to look at my two Bonsai and consider them. What do my Bonsai want?

My Bonsai answers this question. But only if I look at one of them for a very long time.

My small Bonsai is only 5" tall. From the bottom of its trunk to the tip of its uppermost branch.

Last week, I bumped the small Bonsai, and it fell. I bumped it as a result of my balance issues. I fell against the garden bench where the small Bonsai was sitting, and down it went! That fall doomed Small Bonsai's China dish!

Yesterday, while I was chilling out on the balcony, Small Bonsai said to me,
"I think that you should repot me using that old Bonsai dish over there." And Small Bonsai pointed a branch at the old Bonsai dish!

So, this morning I am preparing to transplant Small Bonsai into a new, and slightly larger home!

Do you see the broken edge of Small Bonsai's dish?

1pm - Mario's de la Mesa
I grew up in a machine shop environment. My Dad owned a machine shop. I started work there when I was 9-years old, in 1946. My Dad's shop went busted in 1953 when I was 15-years old. And that was the end of that job.

My Uncle Seymour owned a machine shop which was founded in 1953. My Uncle Seymour and his partner started their shop inside my Dad's shop [Before my Dad went bust.] They paid my Dad rental time @ $1/hour, for each of them.

Of course, I hung around Uncle Seymour and his partner, Del. They were both miraculous people in my eyes. They built tool, dies, jigs and fixtures! That's what I wanted to do. I would sweep the shop and clean the machine tools for free, just so that I could talk to these two guys.

You may be wondering why I titled this post, "Marios de la Mesa?" I'm getting to that. Just taking a route thru my history to get there.

When I got married in 1963, I was working for the Post Office, in Los Angeles. My wages were not great. $4,800/year. My Wife wanted kids, so did I. You really could not afford a family on $4,800/year. Not in 1963, anyway.

I approached Uncle Seymour at a party at my Grandfather's home. Seymour told me, "Talk to Del." So, I talked to Del, got hired into Commercial Tool and Die, and quit the Post Office.

My starting wage was, $2.35/hour. At Commercial, employees got to work all the hours they could handle. My target was, 72 hours a week. That came to $169/week straight time. But I got 1.5x overtime pay for hours over 40. My weekly overtime came to $112/week. So, I was hauling down $281/week. For 52 weeks, that came to $14,612/year!!  Man-O-Man! I was rolling in $dough$. 😎

I was in the machine shop apprentice program at Commercial. But I never got to be a journeyman machinist. Because one day, about 6-months after I began at Commercial, Uncle Seymour walked out into the shop and told me, "I want to talk to you in the office".

Seymour informed me, "I need help in the office. I want you to work in the office 4-hours a day. Then finish your day in the shop." What actually happened though, is that the day I went to work in the office was the last day I ever worked in the shop!

The company was growing like crazy. I filled all the shoes of that company. I was the purchasing agent. The shipping clerk. I received everything that the company bought. I did job costing. Produced operation sheets for machine shop jobs that the company took on. Commercial got a production job to manufacture baby seats. I setup the assembly line for the baby seats.

I was everywhere. Doing everything! [Bet you didn't know I was that good, huh?]

OK, we are finally, at long last, back to Mario's de la Mesa. Mario's prices their soft drinks, iced tea @ $2.95. Why does Mario's charge $2.95? Why not $3.95? How about $5 bucks flat?

Now I was brought up in a Job Shop environment. Everything in a Job Shop came down to knowing how much it cost to make something. Once you knew the cost, you had a good idea of what you could charge.

I used to be in the restaurant business. Bought the first place and started the next two from scratch. I knew the costs of everything! Do you know what it cost for a glass of Pepsi? About 10-cents. Yes, that's right. That is the reason the big fast food operations can afford to have customers fill their own drinks. Because soft drinks don't cost Bupkis. [Bupkis in Yiddish means: Nothing, zero, zilch]

So, I get a big kick out of Mario's charging $2.95 for maybe 20-cents of Pepsi.

Note: Now wasn't that a nice story to share with you? Hmmmm? 😍



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Balcony upgrade

12 Midnite - I just finished installing spacers to lift up the balcony rail's protector board. Having the spacers allows fresh air under the protector board. This board used to be screwed down to the rail.

Rail protector board with 

spacers installed underneath

8am - Cascading shelf
I'm sitting on the balcony cot-bed, looking out at the small forest of trees to the north of Guava Gardens. It occurred to me, that when I am sitting on the cot, the only outside view that I have, other than sky, is between the balcony rail and the balcony wall.

That was when it dawned on me. If I went ahead and built the Balcony Project, that I told you about a couple of days ago, the flower pots sitting on the new shelf would block my only outside view of the small forest!

Gotta re-think this Balcony Project idea!

If instead, a Cascading Shelf shelf took over the project, that shelf could provide a place for the tiny waterfall and all the camouflage plants surrounding the fall. At descending individual shelf heights! 

10am - Leaky waterfall
The tiny waterfall is the biggest thing on the balcony that caused water to go on the concrete floor. There are leak(s) in the fall.

 I did not pay much importance to the wet around the waterfall until landlord Robby got involved with water on his balconies.

If I wanted to continue to use the tiny waterfall in my balcony flower garden, I would have to fix that leaking! When I went to Dixieline Hardware the other day, I asked for advice on how to fix the waterfall leak.

I was handed a can of Rust-Oleum LeakSeal. Wow! This stuff looked perfect. And it's from Rust-Oleum. I've always had good luck with the Rust-Oleum brand.

4pm - Some good about sickness
I've actually found some good things about my sickness. My sickness has slowed me way up. Being slow means that I think a lot more about stuff that I am doing than before I became sick.

Example: I never really enjoyed my balcony flower garden before becoming sick. I didn't even spend much time in the garden.

Now, I am out in the garden a great deal. I go slower now because I run out of energy and become tired. Being tired requires rest. I usually rest on the cot out on the balcony.

My right hand and right arm control issues slow me down as well.  Everything that I do that requires using my right hand and arm takes longer than before.

Watering flowers

9am - Yesterday was a learning experience for me! It never dawned on me that watering my Impatien flowers on the balcony could destroy the concrete floor out there.

After Robby, the apartment owner, told me of a long time tenant destroying his balcony's concrete floor, I got busy changing where I water my flowers!

Keeping balcony dry
Three things that I do in my balcony garden put water on the balcony's concrete floor:

• Run my tiny waterfall
• Water the flowers
• Pot new flowers

After the waterfall developed a leak, the area under the fall was always wet. Bad wet! Yesterday when I went shopping at Dixieline Hardware, I bought a can of "Rust-Oleum Flexible Rubber Coating". This Rust-Oleum product is designed to seal leaks such as the waterfall's.

Watering and potting flowers put lots of water on the concrete floor. However, by simply doing my watering and potting in an inside sink, not one drop of water will fall on the balcony in the future. 

Fan drying
I'm using a fan to assist in drying the concrete floor. The temperature is going to 90℉ this afternoon. The heat should help the drying a lot.

Fan drying balcony concrete floor

3pm - Camping trailers
Do you know why I stopped RVing? Of course there's MsTioga's demise. But I could have gotten another RV.

No. The reason I stopped RVing was and is, I was not physically able to do it anymore.

If that is true, and it is, then why did I spend about an hour online this afternoon, browsing camping trailers?

JayCo

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Balcony project

8am - A new project is in the works this morning. I'd like to have more flower pot space. My thinking is, to construct an additional railing from the top of the balcony wall.

This rail will have to extend inward from the balcony wall. The apartment owner recently cautioned a tenant to move her flower pots more to the inside of her balcony. The owner warned that a pot too close to the balcony's edge could fall and hit somebody walking below. That tenant's view looks to the south, toward the apartment's courtyard. Making that tenant's balcony easily visible to the owner.

My balcony view looks toward the north. Very difficult for the owner to casually view my balcony from below. Nevertheless, I do not want to tempt fate or the apartment owner's wrath. So this project will extend inward from the balcony wall. Not outward.

 I will install a new rail extending inward from the wall in this pic
[Click on pic for a close-up view]

Floor garden
The balcony project might require moving all of the garden now sitting on the concrete balcony floor to move inward 8 inches. But that is doable.

I just love to do this kind of stuff! 😎


10am - Project on  HOLD!
I was on my way to buy the lumber for the project, when I stopped at the Guava Gardens recreation room just to visit. While visiting, Robby, the apartment house owner, asked me to go outside so we could talk privately.

Robby explained, that when the apartment of a tenant who just moved out was inspected, it was found that he had damaged the balcony floor by causing the concrete to be wet for several years. That balcony would have to have its concrete balcony floor jack hammered up and replaced. Robby was concerned that my balcony floor could become damaged if I also kept the concrete wet for several years.

Next week, Robby wants to go up to my apartment with Vince, his maintenance man. They will inspect the balcony to see if my garden is causing the concrete floor to be wet.

It so happens, that my garden work is ALSO causing the concrete to be wet. BUT, I could very easily have that wetness dry out permanently! And that is exactly what I intend to do before Robby and Vince inspect next week.

Lucky George!
I believe that I am sooooo lucky to have gone to the Guava Gardens Recreation Room this morning. If I had NOT gone there, it is very likely that Robby and Vince might have inspected my balcony, unannounced!

An unannounced balcony inspection could have doomed my precious garden!

Garden patch
While I was outside in the apartment courtyard talking with Robby, he offered me a garden patch. He even offered to pay for the plants and supplies in the garden patch.

Wow! I would LOVE that! 😍


2pm - Dixieline
I am at Dixieline Hardware and Lumber to buy the lumber and material for my balcony project.

I'm confident that when Robby and Vince inspect my balcony next week, that they both will trust me to be NO threat to the concrete balcony floor.

6pm - Shabbat [Sabbath]

This evening at sundown begins Shabbat, the Sabbath to the Lord. Which means that I will be at Temple Emanu-El to observe.

I love to go to Temple Emanu-El for the Shabbat. Especially when Rabbi Lawson is conducting Shabbat service! He has many good bible stories to share.

Rabbi Marty Lawson

[I love this guy!]

Here is the Commandment from Exodus 20,7 to 20,10: 
[Hebrew is read right to left] 

ז  זָכוֹר אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת, לְקַדְּשׁוֹ.	7 Remember the sabbath day,     to keep it holy.
ח  שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תַּעֲבֹד, וְעָשִׂיתָ כָּל-מְלַאכְתֶּךָ.	8 Six days shalt thou labour,       and do all thy work;
ט  וְיוֹם, הַשְּׁבִיעִי--שַׁבָּת, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ:  לֹא-תַעֲשֶׂה כָל-מְלָאכָה אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ וּבִתֶּךָ, עַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתְךָ וּבְהֶמְתֶּךָ, וְגֵרְךָ, אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ.	9 but the seventh day is a             sabbath unto the LORD thy         God, in it thou shalt not do any     manner of work, thou, nor thy     son, nor thy daughter, nor thy       man-servant, nor thy maid-           servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy     stranger that is within thy gates;
י  כִּי שֵׁשֶׁת-יָמִים עָשָׂה יְהוָה אֶת-הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת-הָאָרֶץ, אֶת-הַיָּם וְאֶת-כָּל-אֲשֶׁר-בָּם, וַיָּנַח, בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי; עַל-כֵּן, בֵּרַךְ יְהוָה אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת--וַיְקַדְּשֵׁהוּ.  {ס}	10 for in six days the LORD    made heaven and earth, the sea,    and all that in them is, and  rested on the seventh day;  wherefore the LORD blessed   the sabbath day, and hallowed   it. {S}

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