Need Food! No Power! - Mon., June 10

The cupboard was getting bare. For the last few nights we've either brought pizza in, bought take out, or gone out to eat.

On the way to Costco, there is a $5 drive through exterior car wash with free vacuums. Now that the rain seems to be over for a while, it was time to clean the Escape pod.

Then I took action on filling the bare cupboards, refrigerator and freezer. I went to Costco in the middle of the afternoon so it wouldn't be too crowded. I had to pick up my repaired hearing aid. They never tell me what's wrong with them, but when you buy hearing aids at Costco, repairs are free under warranty or $135 out of warranty. Way cheaper than having to buy a new hearing aid! I had to wait for them to reprogram my hearing aid, so while they did that, I ate lunch (hot dog and water), then went shopping. By the time I finished all that, my hearing aid was ready. Checked out, paid, and headed for home.

Once home, I lugged in all the Costco purchases and put them away. Next stop, Walmart. I think I walked 3/4 mile because I hit all four corners of the store. This was a big shopping trip. Loaded up the car, got home, put all the groceries away and realized I forgot to return my too-small rain boots. Oh well, next trip. Walmart is only 1.5 miles from here.

Once home, I chopped up garlic, onions and red peppers to start a pot of chili. When the chili was simmering  and the timer was set, I sat down to play Scrabble on the computer. A few minutes later I looked at the timer on the microwave and it was dark. Sherlock Susan Holmes went into action. The lights were still one (but they would be running off the battery). So I looked further. The alarm clock in the bedroom was dark, the TV and DVD player didn't work. Yep, power was out. The A/C was not working. It was 90 degrees outside. This could get ugly real quick.

I called Bob, but he was busy. He said he'd call me right back. I took the phone and went outside to see what the status was of our big surge protector. It, too, was dark. No power coming off the post. Hmm, could it be that the whole park was without power? I knocked on our neighbor's door and asked him if his power was out. Sure enough, it was. Then I saw other people coming out of their trailers saying they had no power. (Sad thing to have no power. LOL.)

The park maintenance man was by the office so I walked down to talk to him about the problem (in case he didn't know--but he did know). The whole park was without power.

Another park resident gave me a ride back to the 5er in her golf cart. Such nice people here! I opened all the windows of the 5er and waited. Luckily, I was cooking chili on the propane stove and I had switched our refrigerator to propane so dinner preparation was not interrupted. About an hour later, the power came on. I was then able to finish dinner preparation.

Bob worked until 10 pm (all day at his full-time job and in the evening on one of his consulting jobs). Now he's crashed out in the recliner.

Speaking of crashed out in the recliner...on Sunday afternoon, Bob, Randall and I wanted to watch the Spurs play-off game at a restaurant. We tried a sports bar at City Base but it was packed. Instead we went next door to the City Base Diner. Their TV was on the fritz. The only way it would get a good picture was if Randall sat next to it and held the antenna or put his hand on the wall by the antenna. No fun for Randall.

After we ate, we went back to the 5er and the guys sat down to watch the Spurs and the Heat. Here's what watching sports looks like in this house...

Randall and Bob claimed they only slept during halftime.

When it was obvious Miami was trouncing the Spurs, Bob drove Randall back home to Austin. In all fairness, I took a good photo of them too!

Bob and Randall in the 5er kitchen.

That's what's happening here. How about you? Any good stories lately?

Travel Bug out.