Thieves Steal More Than Stuff

At home in Fort Worth...

Arriving home from work a couple of weeks ago, I turned the key in the front door and found it was unlocked.  This was highly unusual, as I knew Sandy was gone and that she is a stickler for locking all the doors and setting the burglar alarm.  However, thinking this was one of those rare omissions on her part, I opened the door, only to hear the unmistakable beeping sequence from the burglar alarm indicating that it had been tripped.  If I had had my wits about me, I should have gone outside immediately and called the police, for I didn’t know at the time if some unwanted person was still in the house.  Obviously, I hadn’t accepted what the alarm was telling me, for I simply walked over to the keypad, entered the code and shut off the urgent beeping. It was when I walked into the den and saw the back door ajar with remnants of the door latch strewn across the floor that I began to realize what had happened. 

Stupidly, I still didn’t leave the house, even though the intruders could still have been in another room waiting for me.  Instead, I calmly began to look around to see what was missing.  I noticed that none of the electronic gear or computers had been taken and that a new pistol in its case was still on my desk in the study.  Walking into the master suite, I noticed that the drawers in Sandy’s jewelry case were strewn about the floor, all empty.  It was only then that I called 911, wondering why the police had not already arrived after the alarm was tripped.  I later learned that, while the alarm system activated the interior siren upon the break-in, the system failed to contact the alarm monitoring center.  The company immediately sent out a technician who replaced the controller that had malfunctioned.  This revealed another mistake: I had not tested the alarm in a very long time.  It was probably because the siren was sounding that the thief (or thieves) went only for the jewelry and didn’t look for other valuables.  I’m told a burglar knows that he has about six minutes on average before a police response to the location is likely.

While waiting for the police, I called Sandy, who was en route home herself, and told her what had happened so that she wouldn’t be alarmed to see a police cruiser in front of the house when she arrived.  She was mortified, of course, over having our security violated and the loss of jewelry worth many thousands of dollars, almost all of which I had given her on special occasions over the past 36 years.  It was not until we began taking an inventory of the pieces that were missing and assessing the replacement value that we realized how imprudent we were for not having nearly enough insurance for this kind of loss. 

After moving through several stages of shock, anger and grief, we realized that it was just stuff, after all, and that we were not harmed was what was important.  What will never be the same is a sense of security.  We now realize how vulnerable most of us are, considering how easy it was for a thief to gain entrance with one kick to the rear door.  It was all the more shocking because no one in our neighborhood could recall any trouble of this kind for many years. 

We installed a new, stronger door, of course, along with a barrier bar, and we upgraded the security system with an outside siren.  We also installed cameras on all sides of the house and at the entrances with a digital interface for the images to be visible from our smart phones.  I’m not sure what will be gained from this, other than having the capability of watching a break-in in real time, but maybe it will provide some kind of deterrent and perhaps help in identifying criminals if, God forbid, something like this happens again.  

Even as I am writing this, it is difficult to accept that our culture has come to this.  Growing up in the fifties in a small town in east Texas, we had no concept of crime.  Our doors were never locked, our parents often left the car keys in the ignition when parked, and my friends and I roamed the neighborhoods at will with no fear of any evil befalling us.  The answer is fairly simple, however.  Considering the degree to which God has been pushed out of our institutions and our lives, it is no surprise that ungodly things take His place.  I am very fearful for our children and grandchildren.

I read the blogs of many fulltimers out there who have jettisoned their S&B houses and don’t have to worry about criminal mischief at their residences while they are gone.  I envy that freedom, but I’m thinking now that we’re not really safe anywhere these days. I suppose that feeling will lessen over time, but I really miss the days of my youth.

Stuck at home? Why not buy more toys?!

At home in Fort Worth... 

I enjoy a fairly generous leave allowance in my government job, but I burned a good deal of it recovering from hip surgery. Until the leave balance accumulates again, I will be on a pretty short leash in terms of time available for travel in the next several months.  This means we will be restricted mainly to short trips taken over extended weekends.  We took Phannie to San Antonio recently in a caravan with Bubba and LouAnn in their new coach that he has named “Woody.”  (You’ll have to ask him about the name; I’m not going there.) 

We enjoyed the trip immensely, and it was my first time driving Phannie after rehab.  The only casualty was a broken end cap on the entrance door awning, that damage having happened as we left home and struck a low hanging tree limb not far from our neighborhood.  The awning still works, but the broken end cap is being ordered by Bobby, my new mobile RV service tech.  If you ever find yourself in need of a first class RV repair service in the DFW area, I strongly recommend Bobby Dowdle at (972) 697-6325.  He’s also an expert satellite TV technician.

Corralled as I am by the leave gods, I am using this time to add more improvements to Phannie.  (What better thing to do with my money since I’m not spending it on diesel fuel right now?) 

The first “toy,” as Sandy calls these things, was a Pro Fill battery watering system, sorely needed in Phannie because Tiffin didn’t see fit to install the batteries in a pull-out service tray in 2006 Phaetons—in my book, a major oversight! This makes checking the water levels in the house batteries very difficult and the engine batteries almost impossible, because these are even further out of sight behind the house batteries!  I'm thinking about having the engine batteries moved to a small compartment adjacent to their current crowded location.

The Pro Fill System

Phannie's crowded battery compartment with Pro Fill installed

The next improvement was to replace the cockpit map lights.  The cheap plastic ones with tiny bulbs that Tiffin installed at the factory were almost useless in terms of brightness.  The only value of these things was perhaps to enable you to find a map; you certainly could not use them to make out any map details.  Lighting a candle would have been an improvement!  I ordered a couple of nice LED lights from Camping World, and they fit perfectly in the space available over the front cockpit seats.  They cost about $100 for the pair, but they are obviously of high quality and provide more than enough light for map reading (not that we do much of that now, with GPS and all).

The original two-bit map light over copilot's seat; Tiffin should be ashamed.

The solution:  About $50 from Camping World

Installation - A Snap!

Light galore - What an improvement!

The next “toy” was an induction cookplate.  I had been reading about these for some time, waiting for the prices to come down and, being a gadget freak, I just had to try it.  It is truly a marvel, and I’ve added a video here.

Induction Cookplate

So, what’s shaping up here with Phannie and all of her new accouterments is a very expensive static display.  We've got to get on the road so we can try out all the new stuff!  By the way, you may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned retirement day in a while.  The date I had set is not far off!  Will I actually take the plunge?  Who knows… I can’t wait to find out!

It's Bubba's Fault!

At home in Fort Worth...

You may have read earlier in this rag about our previous trip to MCD Innovations in McKinney, Texas when we had them install custom day/night shades in Phannie’s living area.  At the time, we elected not to install shades in the cockpit in deference to our budget but, as time went by, we couldn’t help but bemoan the fact that the cockpit looked so shabby in comparison to the rest of the interior of the coach.  The old sliding curtains filled the need for privacy, but they were becoming faded and droopy, held together by clothespins where they met in the middle of the windshield.  In this regard, Phannie was sort of like a well-dressed lady who had toilet paper stuck to her shoe.

We knew it was only a matter of time until we returned to MCD for the full shade treatment, but it was Bubba who actually made it happen.  If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know that longtime friends Bubba and LouAnn often caravan with us on our RV trips.  We both owned fifth wheels for years before Sandy and I acquired Phannie, an upgrade in travel comfort that certainly was not lost on Bubba and whose merits I lorded over him good-naturedly but constantly.

Not long ago, I invited Bubba to drive Phannie on a short local jaunt, and it was easy to tell that he was smitten; in fact, I thought he was going to gnaw the door handles off the coach.  It wasn’t long afterward, then, that he was flogging the internet in search of his own “Phannie.”  Suddenly, he located a real steal at the very dealer—Motorhomes of Texas—where we had purchased Phannie.  Within a couple of days, Bubba and LouAnn were the proud owners of a 2012 Thor Tuscany, forty-two feet of unfettered luxury with a tag axle, four TV sets and two bathrooms! As happy as I was for them, I was already hunkering down for what would be a major payback from Bubba in the gloating department. 

Bubba and LouAnn's New Coach

Now in comparison with Bubba's new rig, Phannie began to look something like an ugly duckling—especially the old cockpit curtains with the clothespins.  I couldn’t help but envy the Thor’s motorized windshield shade that moved almost silently up and down with the touch of a button.  Frankly, it became more than I could take!  I called MCD for an appointment and drove Phannie up to McKinney on a recent Monday morning.  I told them I wanted their best day/night shades, motorized on all cockpit windows--front and side.  (I knew Bubba’s coach didn’t have power shades on the side windows. Yes, that’s pathetic, I know, but I was desperate.)  The following Thursday, we picked her up, hardly able to wait to see the transformation.  It was everything we expected.

The new shades are wonderful, of course, but what did this little fit of jealousy cost me?  Well, I won’t be so crass as to mention numbers, but the cockpit shades cost more than twice the price of all the rest of Phannie’s unpowered shades in the living area.  A good deal of the extra cost was the installation of custom wood valances to conceal the rollers and power mechanisms.  Am I glad I did it?  Absolutely!  The powered feature is really handy; I can’t imagine not having it now.  I’m already wondering if Sandy will let me do a retrofit to powered shades in the cabin…

Here's a video and some photos for you:

Josh from MCD measures for the windshield shade.

Wilson comes in to measure for custom wood valances. Wilson doesn't work for MCD, but they recommend him highly...for good reason!

 Windshield Day Shade

 Windshield Night Shade

Door and Side Window Night Shades--check out Wilson's wood valances.  Nice job!

While Wilson was doing the woodwork on the valances, we hired him to replace the the bedroom clothes hamper with drawers.  Mui of Two to Travel's Phaeton Journeys recently had this conversion done at Red Bay, and we really liked the idea.  It's not clear why Tiffin put this hamper here; most owners we know don't use it, and the extra storage is most desirable.

Before Wilson's modification

After Wilson's Handiwork

No Cane, No Pain!

At home in Fort Worth...

I suppose it’s about time for an update on the new hip.  I ditched the cane a couple of weeks ago because I’m walking without limping most of the time now.  There are a few exceptions, as when I have sat for a long time or had an exceptionally active day; but that is to be expected for a few more months.  Oddly enough, the only limitation remaining is my ability to put a sock on my right foot; the range of motion needed is just not sufficient yet.  Physical therapy will soon take care of that and, in the meantime, I have a very effective sock installer in Sandy, God bless her. 

All in all, the experience has certainly had positive results.  The prosthesis will never be the same as the original joint, of course, but it’s pretty close, and it’s certainly a blessing to be rid of the arthritis pain.  Strangely, I have a slight sensation—not painful at all—of the presence of my prosthetic device instead of the natural feel of the original hip joint.  I don’t know if the sensation will eventually go away, and it doesn't really matter.  It’s just a gentle reminder of the miracles of modern medicine and my good fortune to still have access to good healthcare.  I hope it remains so, but I’m not at all confident, given what’s going on in Washington. 

I’m even driving Phannie again!  Last week we took her up to MCD Innovations in McKinney, Texas to have new shades installed in the cockpit.  But that will be the subject of the next post, which will be out in a couple of days.

As you might imagine, it was so good to get on the road again, even for such a short drive!

Look ma, no cane!

Hip, Hip, Hooray (and Goodbye)!

At home in Fort Worth...

I was standing in the shower a couple of years ago when I first noticed something was wrong with my hip.  I had just turned slightly when I felt an agonizing pain in my right hip socket.  This caused me to retreat quickly to the stance I had before I turned and, when I did, the pain went away.  There was no recurrence for a couple of weeks, so I promptly forgot about it, thinking it was just one of those age-related anomalies to be expected now and then as I get older. The next occurrence was also in the shower, but the pain did not immediately go away then.  As time went by, the episodes became more frequent and longer lasting.

A visit to Sandy’s orthopedic surgeon confirmed the diagnosis:  Arthritis.  Dr. Williams offered me  steroid injections to gain some temporary (a few weeks to a few months) relief, and I agreed to that.  But only twice.  The first time was without anesthesia, and I decided that was not something I wanted to do again.  The second time was with general anesthesia, but I thought that if I was going to be subjected to that much fuss and expense for relief of such short duration, I may as well go ahead and have the hip replaced and be done with it!  The only question was...when?

Sandy had not yet ended her physical therapy from her second knee replacement in August, but my condition was rapidly deteriorating--to the extent that I was limping significantly and having trouble sleeping at night.  Finally, we settled on January 14 for my hip surgery.

I must say, I am so thankful to be living in a time and in a country where such medical techniques are (for now) readily available.  It was not too long ago that an arthritic knee or hip meant immobility for arthritis sufferers--but no more.  My procedure was performed in a boutique hospital here in the DFW Metroplex that specializes solely in orthopedic surgery, and my care was first class by any measure.  I was astonished to be released on Wednesday following the Monday surgery.  Dr. Williams said that my new prosthesis' fit was especially successful and stable, even though the old joint was in pretty bad shape, as the surgery confirmed.

One day after surgery:  Grandson Mason does not seem sufficiently concerned about my condition!

I would not say that the recovery has not had its painful moments.  However, the painkillers are generally effective and their side effects are manageable. Fortunately, Sandy has been fully engaged as my nurse, and she is largely responsible for the speed of my recovery, to say nothing of fulfilling all of my whims, no matter how numerous or infantile.  She is truly wonderful in this role and the myriad of others she performs for me and our whole family.  I am truly a blessed man!

Did I leave out physical therapy?  There must be a reason that I tried to blank out of my mind the visits by Chuck, the physical therapist assigned to my case.  Chuck, a stocky, muscular guy of about 40, comes to the house and tortures me three times a week.  Obviously having been trained by Al Qaeda, Chuck appears to take great delight in forcing my bum leg to do things that God never intended even before I had any problems with it!  (I wonder if Chuck knows I have weapons in the house?)

Actually, the foregoing was a bit of exaggeration, as you might imagine.  I am convinced that the more effort you give toward physical therapy, the better your results will be.  So, I’m paying attention and doing what I’m told, but I still don’t particularly like it.

Since this post covers about two weeks of recuperation after the surgery, I am adding a couple of photos to show my progress.  In this one, my purpose is to garner sympathy from you, dear readers, over Sandy's forcing me to vacuum the house in my weakened condition just a week after surgery.  I'll leave it to you to decide whether this depicts a true representation of the facts or a cheap hoax.   (I know, it's hard to tell, given my innocent face.)

So abused!  Can you believe the suffering?  Oh, the humanity!

After a couple more days, Sandy allowed me to take her out to dinner, even though I hadn't vacuumed the house very well.  (That was so sweet of her; it was so hard to get in all those tight places with my walker...)

Mike's First Outing!

So, this finishes the medical issues Sandy and I have been working on for the last couple of years.  Compared to her four surgeries, my one procedure hardly measured up as anything significant.  But thankfully, it appears we are getting repaired back to normal with nothing serious remaining that we know of.  We are very grateful for the skill of our medical caregivers and all of the kind thoughts and prayers of loved ones, friends we have met and those out there whom we have yet to meet.  And we are very mindful that, even with all we have been through to get to this point, there are many others who are struggling with more serious health issues. To those fine folks go our heartfelt thoughts and prayers for healing.

Washing a Big MoHo Windshield-Help Has Arrived!

At home in Fort Worth...

Every now and then a cool thing comes along that makes RVing easier, and I just have to tell you about this one:  The Shurhold Flexible Water Blade (Squeegee).  In terms of favorite accessories, this comes in second place. (First place is, and will always be, my electric shoreline reel.)

Let’s face it; if you own a motor home, you are going to have to clean the windshield from time to time, and a squeegee (for me, at least) is an essential tool for this endeavor.  Now I can’t tell you how frustrating it has been for me to squeegee the big curved glass with my standard non-flexible squeegee; it is an exercise in futility. Cleaning the curved edges of the windshield with the straight blade was almost impossible.  Until now.

Bubba and I made a little video (with Sandy as the cinematographer and wannabe announcer) to show you this handy device, and you can see it here. With this squeegee and the simple method demonstrated, you can clean the entire windshield spotlessly without using a ladder or water hose.  In fact, in the video, Bubba and I are standing about 18 inches lower than ground level in front of Phannie, and we can still reach the top of the windshield without a ladder.  See what you think.  (A word of warning for slow internet connections:  The video was shot in HD on my new Canon SX-40 camera, so it is a really hefty file.)

By the way, you can get this squeegee at Amazon for about $25, but I would recommend that you also buy the telescoping handle made especially for it.  I don't think any other handle could be made to fit.

Robin Hood Planning (Or Taking From Rich Planners and Giving to Poor Planners)

At home in Forth Worth...

Now, about the teaser from the end of my last post regarding our upcoming RVing plans:  It appears, Lord willing, that I will indeed be able to retire in June!  That is, unless the loopy politicians in Washington finally kill off capitalism and our investments all go south.

Sandy and I have given much thought to the kind of retirement ours will be.  It would be easy for me to toss the S&B and all of its expenses and irritations.  However, we both think we would need to have a home port somewhere with at least a modest bungalow that we could call home, with Phannie parked a few steps away when we aren’t on the road.  And since that’s essentially the living arrangement we have now (although it’s perhaps not quite a modest bungalow), the operative question is whether we can afford the expense of keeping the property and putting up with the worry factor when we’re away.  We think the answer is yes, but we’ll have to confirm that in actual practice.  So, we’ll see.

Now, back to the planning thing:   As I explained in the previous post, planning is not something that comes easy for me.  I occasionally have to do planning for the sake of avoiding chaos, but I generally keep it to a minimum, preferring spontaneity as I do.  Basically, my planning is limited to financial matters and trips.  Sandy isn’t particularly interested in planning either of these, so that’s where I have to man up and do it.  Luckily, the financial planning was largely done a long time ago and is more or less on autopilot; I don’t have to tweak it much.  As far as trip planning goes, I’ve always thought that less is more.  For me, planning a trip is simply envisioning a part of the country I would like to see and then considering what major attractions we might encounter along the way. But this is minimalist planning, done from a very high level and requiring rest afterward.  I could not possibly include at the same time planning about how to get there; that would be much too laborious.  I’m just smart enough, however, to know that picking a route is necessary at some point; after all, I probably need to know what direction I should point Phannie on the day of departure.   

With this in mind, it occurred to me that I might get blog readers to do some planning for me on our trip to Yellowstone this summer.  This will be our first trip after retirement—and the first one that will be open ended in terms of when we must return.  That in itself is a fantasy for which I’ve waited during my entire working career.

Departure from Texas will be in July, and we will be making haste toward Colorado to escape the blast furnace that is a Texas summer.  I don’t need much planning to get to Colorado, as that is pretty much a no-brainer.  I just point Phannie north by northwest and stop when we see mountains—piece of cake!  Near Colorado Springs, we’ll drop in on Ed and Marilyn for a few days at Mountaindale.  From there to Yellowstone, it gets a little fuzzy.  We love mountain scenery, but we’re not too interested in being frightened in our big rig on narrow roads with hairpin curves. We love bucolic settings such as those found in national and state parks, but sometimes we just don’t fit.  It’s a sacrifice we don’t mind making, however, for the sake of traveling comfort. 

We like small town settings, historical venues and eating in restaurants frequented by the locals.  We don’t follow sports, golf, fishing or hunting, and we can’t do much in the way of long walks or hiking (bad joints).  We like music, museums, festivals, rallies, tours, roadside stands, waterfalls, rivers, creeks and lakes.    

So, here’s where the Robin Hood thing comes in:  We would like for those of you who have more planning than you need to give us some since I'm too lazy to plan.  Somehow this seems entirely appropriate these days; even Warren Buffet thinks so! 

We would love to hear your ideas about a good route and attractions from Colorado Springs to Yellowstone, given the criteria I’ve described.  We’ll get to the rest of the trip later; I can only take so much planning right now.

Are You A Planner?

At home in Fort Worth...

I’m not; but I married one.  Sandy loves to plan things, and I don’t.  Here’s an example:  In preparation for our wedding day and honeymoon, Sandy spent weeks planning and packing her things for our trip to Hawaii.  Judging by the luggage she had placed in the trunk of our getaway car, she had prepared for every possible contingency of weather, activity and act of God, including perhaps even another attack on Pearl Harbor.

When we left the church at the conclusion of the wedding, we drove to what would be our apartment where I had already moved my things in preparation for our setting up housekeeping.  (Yes, I know it was very provincial to be living apart before marriage, but Biblical principles were important then, and they still are to us today—although we now seem to be in a rapidly shrinking minority.)

After carrying her over the threshold, I put her down and went to the bedroom to pack my bag for the trip.  She stood, mouth agape, in utter disbelief that I had given so little forethought to our honeymoon.  Within ten minutes, I was ready to travel without even once changing my mind about the few things I was tossing into my suitcase (note my intentional use of the singular form of this noun).

Sandy was initially hurt, I think, that I had devoted so little time to planning and preparing my wardrobe for our honeymoon.  Actually, she probably should have given me more credit:  In a very uncharacteristic and uncomfortable fit of planning, I had actually secured the reservations and tickets for the trip to Hawaii. (I really needed our honeymoon vacation to recover from this.)

Sandy soon came to realize that she had in her life partner a person desperately in need of her gift of planning expertise and, like most nurturing women, she definitely liked to feel needed.  At that moment, she probably said—under her breath—“Don’t worry, honey, I’ll take it from here.”  And so she has.  And it has worked, oh so well, for 36 great years.  I admit, somewhat sheepishly, that my honeymoon suitcase was the last one I ever packed.  She considered me so inept at planning that I could not possibly be trusted with packing even my own things for a trip.  Did I put up any resistance to her usurpation of my packing responsibility?  Are you kidding?  I was happy as a clam and still am.

That is not to say that my preference for spontaneity has not had a beneficial effect on Sandy. One more than one occasion, I devilishly announced that I was taking her on a surprise trip to an undisclosed location.  While her initial reaction was delight at the prospect of flying away on a romantic holiday, her giddiness quickly turned to panic as she contemplated how she could possibly prepare for such a thing.  My fear was that we would not be able to afford the excess baggage fees, as I fully expected her to pack, well, everything.

Over the years, however, Sandy has mellowed a great deal in her penchant for preparedness.  It’s a good thing, too, as the aging process has dramatically lessened my capability to tote around a massive number of suitcases.  In this regard, having an RV has proved a godsend, as we really don’t have to do much in the way of power packing when we go on a trip.  Much of the stuff we need stays on board when we're not traveling.  For several days in advance of departure, however, I’ll take a few things out to Phannie as instructed by Sandy, where they will stay—organized, thanks to her—until our return.  And on other trips not taken by RV, Sandy has also mellowed in her packing obsession.  One of the (few) benefits of getting older is attaining a greater discernment over what is important and what is not.  Comfort and simplicity trump just about everything, and there is a certain satisfaction in having attained that wisdom.

Why, you may ask, did I feel the need to go into this epic piece of reminiscence? Well, there is a reason, and it has to do with Phannie and planning, hence its appearance in this travel blog.  But that will have to wait for the next post.  This one is long enough.

Phannie's Turn for a Little Attention

At home in Fort Worth...


I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  Tyler, Mindy and Mason were out of town, and we were invited over to Bubba's and LouAnn's. We had quite a Thanksgiving spread with these good friends, and we thank you fine folks for including us in your family's getogether.

Amazingly, I am making good on my pledge to devolve as a political junkie.  I just stopped watching all the pundits cold-turkey after the election, and I feel better--much better, in fact--having done so.  This doesn't mean I will stop praying for our country and exercising my voting privilege, but I'm definitely focusing more on getting ready for retirement and travel.  Maybe the next generation will be able to fix things; I certainly hope so.

I spent a good bit of the weekend tending to Phannie.  Nestled forlornly in her RV port here at the house, a little exercise, grooming and winterizing seemed in order.  She had not been moved for several weeks after returning from the ladies' annual pre-Christmas shopping orgy at Canton Trade Days, and it was time to bring the coach to life, as has been my monthly custom for years.  

Onan recommends running the genset for a couple of hours each month under load, so I cranked it up and turned on the heat pumps to warm up Phannie's interior.  After that, I fired up the Cat diesel, which started easily, and after warming it up for a while at the recommended 1000 rpm, I made a couple of passes up the driveway to stir the fluid around in the Allison transmission.  I'm not sure if all this is necessary, but it seems to be agreeing with Phannie. She has been remarkably trouble free, so I'm going to continue with this monthly ritual when she's not on the road.  And it looks like it may be a while until the next trip, as my hip surgery is getting closer--probably in December.  Gulp!

Since Phannie's RV port is not enclosed, it is necessary to drain all the water from her system between November and March.  Although it doesn't get very cold here in north Texas, we do occasionally have a hard freeze, so I never fail to perform this little chore.  Tiffin makes it relatively easy with three convenient lowpoint water drains.  After opening these, I drain the water heater, checking the anode rod in the process.  Call me lazy, but I don't replace the water with antifreeze as some of my RV buddies do.  However, in really cold weather, I run a small electric heater in the coach to make sure it doesn't freeze inside.  This scheme has worked well for the eight years we've been RVing, so I'm not going to mess with it.

Removing the drain plug and anode rod

Anode rod is still in good shape; a little cleaning is all that's needed.

After the water drained, I decided to polish Phannie's headlight lenses.  These had become a bit cloudy over time, and the old girl's headlight throw just wasn't what it used to be. It was sort of like she had cataracts! I picked up a kit at CVS Pharmacy the other day for this purpose.  The box contained a bottle of a polishing compound and a bottle of protectant fluid along with a sponge covered with fabric on one side for polishing and the other side for wiping on the protectant.

Before

Lens polish

Voila!  Like new!

It only took a few minutes of light rubbing for the lenses to become crystal clear; I was impressed and grateful that this stuff worked as well as it did!  However, my delight at having found this product was soon tempered, as I learned from reading someone's blog that they had accomplished the same thing using toothpaste!  Go figure.  This just joins many other things in my life for which I overpaid due to ignorance; it probably won't be the last.

I did a little vacuuming in the lower compartments and, when I got to the electrical service compartment, I was reminded of the two gadgets in there that have proven to be among my favorite additions to Phannie when we bought her in 2011--the surge protector and the electric shoreline reel.  It's so nice to push a button to roll up the cable, especially for those of us with arthritis. The surge guard is valuable in giving me peace of mind that it will not allow current into the coach that is not up to par.  The last thing I need is damage to a bunch of expensive electronics.

Electric shoreline cable reel

Surge Guard

So, that's about enough attention for Phannie for a while; I have post-surgery trips to plan.

Moving On...

The election is over, and it has taken a few days for me to get through shock, anger, grief, disappointment and now, acceptance. What's left is great sadness for our nation and a resolve to focus on faith, family and friends, knowing now that the takers outnumber the makers in our country and there's not much I can do about it. For my own peace of mind, I'm devolving from a political junkie to as dispassionate an observer as my fears will allow, knowing that I must keep informed enough to try to take protective steps when the need arises. But that's it; I'm done. I will just pray for our kids and grandkids, whose future our leaders—of both parties—have mortgaged.

My new paradigm will be to get Sandy and me through our health issues and get retired and on the road by summertime. We're not sure what that will look like, because I've never retired before, although Sandy has about ten years’ experience and recommends it highly. It's a bit scary to contemplate, because I've worked for 45 years and don't know what not working will be like.

   

Sandy is well on the way to full recovery from her three surgeries. I still have a hip replacement to go, but that may be a few months away. I’m not looking forward to the surgery, but I am eager to get rid of “Herman,” the moniker I have bestowed on the painful arthritic nemesis that is my right hip. 

Phannie and Mae are running superbly well. We have made a couple of short trips lately, and I can’t help but marvel at this delightful mode of travel where we carry all the comforts of home with us everywhere we go. The motorhome just loves the road, and it is so much easier on Herman than the fiver; that’s been pretty important to me for a while now.

We’re thinking our first post-retirement trip will be out west. Sandy has never seen Yellowstone, and I haven’t seen it since 1956, so I don’t remember much; that’s got to be on our bucket list for sure. It doesn't really matter where else we go; wherever we want sounds pretty good. I can hardly wait to experience the freedom from the fixed schedule we have always followed in order to return to work on time.

I’m liking this new paradigm better all the time. Who would have thought that something so positive would have its roots in something as disgusting as this election? 

In any case, this the last you'll hear from me about politics.

New Month, New Gadget

At home in Fort Worth...

One of the advantages of reading a number of RV bloggers is that they are a rich source of information based on personal experience.  I can’t count the number of ideas I’ve gotten from these folks, the latest being the purchase of a new camera.  Most of the photos appearing earlier in this blog were taken with a Canon Power Shot SD 780, which is 

a perfectly serviceable little camera that is easy to use and wonderfully portable, but missing some features that I really wanted. 

I had recently been influenced toward a Canon SX-40, a camera touted by Kate and Terry, among others--so much so, in fact, that I went ahead and bought one.  

I can report that I am extremely satisfied with this purchase, the considerations for which follow:

Simplicity.  There was a time when I foolishly decided to get into photography as a serious hobby, going so far as to purchase a medium format camera and all kinds of associated upscale accessories and books to learn more about the craft.  It was only after acquiring this expensive gear that I found I was missing a couple of key elements—talent and tenacity.  My brother-in-law, a semiprofessional photographer, made it look easy, much like Al of the Bayfield Bunch does.  But it soon became clear that their prowess in artful photo composition was more of a gift than something they learned from a book.  Realizing my inadequacy in this area, I sold most of the photography gear and decided that I would rely instead on the next best thing—digital camera automation.  The new cameras were getting more and more amazing in their ability to produce good results in spite of the shortcomings of the users.

The SX-40 has automation in spades, and for those photos that don’t turn out so well for me, there are always the photo editing features of Picasa which, in the world of homely photos, is something like a boob job.  I learned about Picasa from bloggers like Al and Rick, and I’m forever grateful.  So, at least I know my limitations:  I will point and shoot and let the camera (and Picasa) do the rest.  I should add, however, that my brief foray into the more esoteric elements of photography was not all in vain.  I did take away some basic appreciation for the influences of light and shadow and some rudimentary recognition of scale and balance, but that’s about all.

Video.  Some of our most treasured possessions are videos or home movies from years ago that captured memories of loved ones and friends, and we wanted our next camera to have good video capability.  The SX-40 takes great HD videos with sound captured through stereo microphones and yes, it’s simple and wonderfully automated.

Zoom.   I’m just not going to be bothered with changing lenses, so I needed a robust zoom capability, which the SX-40 does with its incredible 35x zoom feature.  It even has an instant zoom-out-and-return button when you lose a target at a long focal length.

Value.  At a tad over $300, this camera is a steal, in my book.  There are many more features that I didn’t bother to mention, but I doubt if I will use any of them.  An Ansel Adams I will never be.

I took a few photos with the new camera that may not interest you at all, but I'll include a comment on each from the standpoint of a novice using the automatic setting and no flash:

This photo showing Sandy and Bubba at Lake Grapevine near nightfall is remarkable in how much light the camera grabbed in the very low light setting (note the illumination of the interior of the fiver).  It was much darker here than the photo indicates.  

This is a closeup of wild Mexican plums in the yard.

This is an intriguing shot I took as I was panning around with the zoom in the front yard.  The features on the bark of this river birch tree looked for the world like a face expressing great alarm.

Here's the same tree with no zoom.

The Butterfly Emerges!

At home in Fort Worth... 

After a month’s confinement, Sandy has emerged from the small world that consisted mainly of her recliner, the TV and the endless hum of the pump that recirculated cold water in the little jacket that enveloped her right knee.  This cloistered existence was not new to us, as she also had her left knee replaced a couple of years ago.  She was not prepared, however, for the more difficult recovery this time. The surgeon said this knee was in much worse shape than the first one, and the pain after the operation was significantly more severe.  We were not surprised at the surgeon’s post-op report, as Sandy was suffering terribly in the last months before the operation.

Because the post-op pain needed to be treated aggressively, Sandy was provided with a high-dose regimen of oxycodone, of which she took full advantage for a couple of weeks.  As the pain level decreased, however, she decided to discontinue its use in favor of Tylenol 3.  This sudden change proved to be a very bad idea, as she had not been clued in to the fact that abruptly stopping the use of oxycodone can have very undesirable consequences.  I won’t go into the details here, but suffice it to say that this was a very harrowing experience for her, the likes of which I hadn’t seen in all  36 years of our marriage.  Information about these side effects is easily available on the web, but we customarily don’t second guess our doctors’ prescriptions, and we didn’t bother to check it out this time.  We may be a bit more inquisitive, however, after this nightmarish episode.   In fact, Sandy muttered something about tossing all the pain meds next time and biting on a bullet.  She seemed serious, but we’ll see.  I certainly hope there will be no next time as, thankfully, she has run out of knees.

After about ten days with a multiplicity of very disagreeable withdrawal symptoms, the dark clouds parted and, on Saturday, Sandy suddenly was her old self again.  Fortunately, she was able to count on the support and prayers of many friends and loved ones during this time.  Her good friend Cathy was especially helpful in that she had recently suffered a similar reaction from this kind of drug and was able to commiserate with Sandy.

We were able to commemorate Sandy’s first real outing on Saturday with a photo as she went (where else?) shopping!  

It was only a short trip to the grocery store, but it was a big deal for her to escape from the cocoon of her house like a newly-winged butterfly!  It was gratifying for me, as well, as I had been so aware of how much pain she endured prior to the surgery.  Mercifully, that pain is now gone.  She will be using a cane for a while until her physical therapy is finished and she has gained full use of the new implant.

We feel very blessed to live in a time and in a country where modern medicine can so miraculously prolong quality of life.  I can’t help but remember my grandmother, who suffered terribly with arthritic knees and was unable to walk for most of the time I knew her.  Knee replacement surgery was not available then, as the technique and prostheses had not been developed until the 1970s.  However, I’m very fearful that these kinds of operations may not always be available if a panel of bureaucrats is to decide what my quality of life is to be.  I suppose we’ll know for sure on November 6.

New Parts for Us (Phannie doesn’t need any)

Yes, I am aware that I haven’t posted anything for a while but we have an excuse.  As I mentioned in an earlier post as an upcoming event, Sandy has just finished the last of three planned surgical procedures, the most recent being total knee replacement.  If you’re wondering, her full list included carpal tunnel surgery and a septoplasty (repair of a deviated septum) all within the last five months.  As in her recovery from similar surgery on the other knee a couple of years ago, progress is slow and painful—perhaps more so this time because this knee was in much worse shape.

Somewhat coincidentally, I am looking at hip replacement surgery myself as soon as Sandy is well enough to help me shuffle around afterward as I recover.

I’m not sure how we managed to need all these body repairs at the same time but we are grateful that we don’t have worse health problems; we know too many people who do.  Having been blessed with good health for 65 years, I guess I shouldn’t complain about the prospects of having my very first surgery soon (a tonsillectomy when I was a kid doesn’t count).

I have a new respect now for whoever first said, “If you’ve got your health, you’ve got everything.”  It’s amazing how poignant this old bromide has become since Sandy and I have been confronted with our wicked new nemesis, Mr. Arthritis.  

Another reason to get these expensive procedures out of the way is the uncertainty of our having access to them if Obamacare stays around.  Big Brother might just tell us we don’t have enough quality years left so…too bad!

Dear friends Jim and Terri came by this afternoon and brought a delicious dinner of homemade enchiladas; it was muy sabroso!  Thank you!

Sandy with her knee elevated and Terri

Jim (sorry for the poor photo composition)

Jim and Terri took a tour of Phannie and seemed to enjoy looking around as they saw in person all of her features that I had mentioned in my posts.  As we walked through the coach, I couldn’t help but feel sad that our travel in this fine rig has been circumscribed for a while. 

Yesterday I fired up Phannie’s engine and the Onan genset then ran through the gears.  I do that every couple of weeks when she isn’t being used and, so far, this seems to be working well in keeping Phannie’s systems exercised.  Since we have full hookups in her RV port, battery upkeep is not an issue.  We probably won’t be taking her out for a couple more months as we continue our recovery.

For our blogger friends who are still enjoying good health and mobility, I would encourage you to savor every day and offer a prayer of thanks for this and all the rest of God’s wonderful blessings.