Us, December 25, 2021: Leo, Roy, Ondine, John, Shadow
Us, December 25, 2021: Leo, Roy, Ondine, John, Shadow
That last journal was so filled with major events (our doing the Coast to Coast Walk, getting a car for Leo, Cal State Games, insurance, and so much more) that we decided to archive it.
And it's been another event-filled time here!
Last weekend, we went to The Willows Resort and Spa, part of Viejas Resort and Casino, for a luxurious getaway for John's birthday! It's a slice of Las Vegas Luxe just 20 minutes away. The Willows is the brand-new adults-only side of the resort, and although it had been open for a while the spectacular front entrance had only just opened that very day.
We're not much for gambling (or cigarette smoke - it's like old Las Vegas in more ways than one), so we didn't spend more time than we had to on the casino floor, mostly going to and from the various eateries. We spent most of our time in our suite of rooms on the fifth floor, which included a massive bedroom with a king-sized bed, a living room with a couch and an office desk, a shower the size of a small van, and two gigantic television screens! We watched the Olympics and a couple classic John Ford/John Wayne Westerns: Stagecoach and Fort Apache.
We had John's birthday meal with the kints at Panda Machi in Alpine, which was recommended by John's friend, who lives on the rez. It's a down-home Chinese/Japanese fusion restaurant, and it was excellent! We would actually drive all the way to Alpine to have it again if we had a hankering for Asian food, as it's about the same distance as going into the Convoy area and parking is easier. Roy came with Leo in the Chevy Volt, and the two of them were in fine conversational form, like two bears.
Speaking of the Chevy Volt, we received the updated title and registration for it. Word to the wise: if you buy a used car, just do the title and registration transfer by mail, you'll save time. If you go online, you'll have to fill out the forms online, submit them online, wait several days for approval, then the final stage is ... to print them all out, sign them (a "wet signature"), and mail them all in! You'll save yourself several days by just going direct to mail.
In other car related news, Roy got the Corolla smogged along with a fresh oil change, and we just renewed its registration.
John saw his doctor for the first time in nine years, because he wanted a PT referral after tweaking his shoulder. The high point for him was when his doctor commented, while examining his shoulder and arm, that he was "pretty built." Ha! He also had a blood test for the first time in about nine years, with the result that he's going back on niacin for cholesterol control. Anyways, he's fine otherwise. And, lest we forget, "pretty built." :-) After all, he's an archaeologist now!
He also booked an appointment for his first of two shingles vaccines, which he got Friday after work, with the result that Saturday he was having a strong immune response and running a fever of 101.6. By Sunday, he was back to normal, and we made a run to Goodwill with a trunkload of stuff.
We also made an REI run to return Ondine's Black Diamond Distance Z trekking poles, which failed on the trail during the Coast to Coast when the pushbutton lock for the telescoping section popped out. REI, though, wouldn't accept the return, calling the failure "normal wear and tear," so that was a big disappointment. We have poles from Big 5 that cost a fraction of what the Black Diamonds did, and they're decades old and still working fine. They don't fit in a carry-on bag, though.
This week John has jury duty. It's U.S. District Court jury duty, so he couldn't be excused, despite the fact that none of the companies he works for offers jury duty benefits for their part-time employees. So this is basically a federally mandated two weeks off work without pay, even though today he was told not to report for jury duty. Rrrrggg.
In garden news, we think our peach tree didn't survive the summer; it's looking pretty dead despite efforts to save it with deep watering. A dove had built a nest in a hanging planter near the peach tree and laid two eggs. But, despite Ondine's making sure she had plenty of water, including misting her and buying a bubbler fountain to put nearby, last week she abandoned the nest. We think it was just way too hot.
John is engaged in a battle of wits vs the local raccoons, who have ravaged the persimmon tree every year. This year, he bought two motion-sensing ultrasonic pest repellers with flashing lights, and mounted one on the fence near the tree. He also bought a motion sensing Halloween decoration, a skeleton in a cage who pops out with eyes flashing red, screaming and saying a variety of snarky phrases. He put that atop a window grate with a view toward the tree. The remaining ultrasonic repeller he placed near where Shadow has a digging project, in the hopes of deterring more digging. Unfortunately, as we mentioned last time, Shadow is getting hard of hearing, so ... ??
So far, we still have persimmons, albeit green ones. The last couple years, the raccoons came and ate them all while they were still green. John's plan is to move the second ultrasonic repeller to the tree covering the other direction as soon as they start to turn even slightly orange.
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