Diary published weekly since 2001
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Hi All: Most of you know John and I have always travelled with two four-legged babies. When our 18-year old ‘mom’ died 2 years ago, her ‘kid’ was so happy being Top Dog in this household – we just could not bring another pet into the Luxor. She was coping well with a large growth on her spleen that could burst anytime – due to her weak heart the vet could not operate. But meds kept her heart ticking away for another 2.5 years. She was 14 when she died but we did not expected her to last 6-months after diagnosis.. We called her our ‘Energizer Bunny’ because she usually perked up and kept on ticking after an occasional bad day. Unfortunately this week she quietly slept away late Wed afternoon. We are thankful we did not have to make the decision to send her off to be with her mom, nor did we have to deal with her growth that could have ruptured at any time. During a trip to Valley Animal Hospital in Pharr early Thursday morning the staff offered us com
passion and a reasonably priced cremation service. Nothing we do from extensive shopping to participating in park activities seems to minimize the pain.Having one dog was not the norm for us and now I know why. This house is so EMPTY it is devastating. It’s the first time since 1980 we have not had a ‘baby’ to love and care for. In the past we at least had one to care for while waiting for another to join us. Our breeder in Ontario has had two more registered Dachshunds (a mom and her daughter) waiting for us since Maddie (Katie’s mom) passed on 2-years ago – these two will become fulltime RVers as soon as we return to Canada mid April. However both John and I are so lost right now – I even had problems getting this Diary out.
It is unbelievable what impact these canine friends have on our day-to-day world. We know the time will drag to be a long 2.5 months. I do not like dealing with puppies, so our new ‘babies’ will be in the 4-7 range – a perfect age for us to take them into retirement. Flying new dogs in to join us is not an option – it would add unnecessary stress to them and to us. Guess in time we will learn to cope, but as most pet-owners already know, to say life is lonely with out a pet is a major understatement.
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EXCITEMENT THIS WEEK
Last Tuesday we visited Progresso on a picture perfect day. FYI, daytime temps have been variable since. I had my teeth cleaned for a mere $10.00 and I’ll return next Tues for a white filling, but N. Progresso is such a busy place right now, so I’m waiting till our return in Nov to have new 4-unit permanent bridge created.
I did however pamper myself with another $5.00 stylish haircut and an $8.00 pedicure – followed by lunch/dinner at our favourite Garcia’s restaurant.
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INTERNET SAT DISH
Last December my Internet Dish took a major tumble during a very strong wind – it was anchored at the time. The Dish continued to offer good signal till the rain came a week ago. Guess the ‘arm workings’ got wet in a hairline crack from the fall. My friend Bonnie is a very knowledgeable Dish user and she came down several times to help with diagnosing my problem. To make a long story short and after a lot of testing things, we determined that my ‘Transmit Arm’ and the ‘Dish” itself had both been cracked in the fall. My supplier Armand and I worked out a solution and the two more pieces will be here in a day or so.
Hubby Doug came with Bonnie and while we were working on the Dish, Doug helped John reset our main coach door that has not closed right for months. He simply turned the ‘Pawl’ (large knob) on the frame. This correction solved a very annoying problem of a door not seating for a long, long time. The four of us followed with lunch at Harold’s Country Kitchen.
Bonnie had joined the ‘Datastorm Users’ website www.datastormusers.com (I have not done that as yet). Through it, she discovered that Dick Scheit is a workkamper for cable, TV and Computer problems at Alamo Palms. He lives on site. To shorten another long story, on Friday Dick stopped by and since he is not using his Dish in this park because he is on a cable modem, he graciously set his Dish up for me to use till my replacement parts arrive. He did this mainly out of the goodness of his heart. I owe you big time Dick – many thanks. One point he did share is to always set a Dish up AS WIDE AS THE TRI-POD WILL ALLOW - this adds stability to the set-up. Dick had even removed the support chains on his tri-pod. When my system arrives we plan to have our new Dish ‘skin’ painted in Mexico and then Dick will revisit to help me put things back together.
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KEEPING BUSY ADDS SOME JOY TO OUR EMPTY HOURS
On Thursday we stopped in at the Collision Centre to offer the number of our paint colour we got from Winnebago and to verify a few points with owner Ben. Painting is booked from 12-14 Feb. He is being more than accommodating – besides being able to live in our motorhome during the painting, he is allowing me to use his WiFi. What more can we ask for?
On Friday we touched base with Bill and Sue at Tropic Star RV Park. This twosome bought a park model last spring and in November they began major renovations – mainly on their Texas room. They wanted to enlarge and personalize it as their own. The final result will be beautiful guys. Bill was installing a ‘Murphy Bed’ when we arrived. Although the task seems huge, we know you’ll be ready before your company arrives in 3-weeks. Thanks for sharing.
Our visit was short because John had to return for a Billiard tournament – I went shopping to take my thoughts off Katie – didn’t help much, but kept me busy. Dick was waiting for me when I returned to offer help with my Dish.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
As RVers we all face good, bad and sometimes ugly times during our travels. Our past week falls into the last category. Just like the sun eventually shines everywhere, we too will cope with our upsetting week and April be here before we know it. Maybe we’ll eventually return to the MH without looking for Katie or to think about feeding her. Life does goes on.
All Explorer RV Club Members who in the Rio Grande Valley – please remember the LUNCHEON is this Thursday the 31st Jan. Email me for details. Travel safe all. P&J
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