Three relaxing days

Sparks, NV: With Bob working this week and me applying for jobs, I have had a fairly relaxing week. Most of my time has been spent online looking for jobs and cats [none yet].

Instead of applying for jobs online, next week I will visit employment agencies to find temp work. We will, hopefully, be leaving for Yellowstone at the end of April. The jobs I've been finding online are for full-time, permanent work. (No wonder I haven't received any calls back!)

Yesterday I worked out around noon, went to Costco to return some clothes for Bob and bought him a shirt in his size. Then I was off to K-Mart to buy jeans: one pair for him and one pair for me. 

I am amazed by the beautiful weather we're having and the cool cloud formations in the sky. I have got to get a picture! 

The sky has been filled with lenticular clouds, you know, the ones that look like flying saucers. In Oregon and Washington we would see them a few times, but mostly in the form of "cloud caps" over Mt. Hood or Mt. Rainier. Here, they are a dime a dozen. Take yesterday, as an example. In the afternoon there was a huge lenticular cloud which looked like the "mother ship." All around it were smaller clouds that looked like an army of spaceships coming out of the mother ship. Very cool.

Last night, we watched the Portland Trailblazers smash the L.A. Lakers. The Blazers are an exciting team this year with lots of run and gun plays. I love watching them zoom up and down the court and, most important of all, make lots of baskets..."nothing but net" as Bill Schonely used to say.

Today, I slept in, spent some time online, then had my hair cut and highlighted. After my hair appointment, I had a late lunch at In-n-Out Burger. I had not eaten there for over 30 years! Guess what? I don't need to go back. 

Bob, as usual, has been reading history about the local area and told me something pretty interesting. The Sparks Marina lake we walk around is 100' deep. (It used to be a gravel quarry.) When we walked around the lake we saw signs about scuba diving and couldn't understand what would be so interesting at the bottom of an old quarry--inquiring minds want to know. Apparently the Nevada Air National Guard donated a jet plane to the city of Sparks to put at the bottom of the lake. Another question answered.

Time for me to sign off. The Blazers are playing the Phoenix Suns and so far are not doing very well. Hey, it's only the first quarter. I better go root for them. We're closer to Phoenix now than we were in Hawaii or Portland. Maybe they can hear us yelling better. LOL. 

What a disgusting Blazer game. Bob watched the game on the other TV and I watched Nikita.

Bob is Back to Work -- Tues., Jan. 3, 2012

Sparks, NV:
Hey, no frozen or leaky fresh water hose! Good job, Bob!

It's official. Today Bob starts work for Kodiak Roofing as their Reno/Sparks/ Carson City Service Division Manager. Kodiak is a large commercial roofing company headquartered in Sacramento, CA. He interviewed with them in November just before Thanksgiving and let them know he's available until mid-to-late April. At that time we plan to work in Yellowstone National Park for the summer season (May - October). At first they weren't interested in him, but a couple of days later called back and offered him the position, saying when we're finished at Yellowstone, they would like him to come back and resume work. What a great employer!

Now that we are settled in Sparks Marina RV Park, we are very happy and comfortable here. This is a very well run park. The restrooms/showers and laundry facilities are super clean and well maintained. If we have a package delivered to the front desk, they send a note to our door. If we want to go in the hot tub in winter, we let them know about two hours ahead of time and they will turn on the spa for us. (It's too expensive to keep it heated all the time.)

Yesterday, the Reno area had unseasonably warm weather--67 degrees!--with a warm wind. We were out in our T-shirts in January. Today is another beautiful day but it only got up to about 60. Again T-shirt weather; sunny, clear as a bell. Our RV site is in town but we have a nice 180 degree view of hills. 

Last night, we watched "Storage Wars." I'm hooked. What an interesting show. They find some unique things when they bid on/purchase the contents of abandoned storage units.

Monday we joined "Fitness for $10" in Sparks. It's a big club and only $10 per month for each of us. That's such a bargain after my health club in Hawaii which was $80 per month plus a large initiation fee. As part of our joining package, we each get one consultation with a personal trainer. 

My consultation was today. I went in at 11:00 am and met with Steven who is very helpful and knowledgeable. We talked about diet, how much weight I want to lose, hydration, how weight training is preferable to cardio training, and he taught me some good exercises to strengthen my knees and rotator cuff muscles. $10 well spent for January so far. My goal is to use the club 3-4 times per week: build muscle and burn fat.

I am looking for employment. My online application was sent to Express Personnel in Reno and I e-mailed my resume to them. I am also checking out the local help-wanted ads online and will look at what the local Unemployment Office has listed. We will be here about four months and I'd like some spending money for personal trainer, hair, manicures, pedicures and movies. If that isn't motivation I don't know what is!

While we were in Fallon, I went to a hair salon. The hairdresser who cut my hair was, I believe, just a couple of years out of high school. She didn't cut enough hair off and I didn't like it, so I took my scissors to it and cut off some more. However, I'm not a hairdresser, so I asked a lady working in the RV Park office for a recommendation. (Her hair is cut short similar to mine.) She gave me two names. I now have an appointment with Vickie at Sapphire Salon for Friday. Vickie has been doing hair for 20 years and has a loyal following. Yeah! It is really hard to find a good hairdresser when you don't know an area...Now to find a good dentist!

As I sit here typing, the sun is going down in the southwest. I am facing northeast. The hills in the foreground are in shadow and the higher hills in the background are glowing gold in the background. It is very pretty here even if there aren't many trees.

This evening Bob is joining a local walking/running group and will go out with them for approximately six miles. He misses his running buddy Mike from Hawaii and hopes to find some good friends in this group. 


Life is good. Travel Bug out.