There's still a lot to do to get ready for a road trip even after you think you've got all the stuff done already.
Heather Too needed her nails clipped back, and that's always a trip to the groomer. She hates it. She hates her new super comfy harness, webbing and padding, all pink. Because. The process predictably elicits a yelp as if she's being tortured. Maybe it influenced her previous owners. I just start over and keep going. A bonus to this trip was getting rid of one of those extra pieces of plastic in my billfold, the result of a return for store credit. I paid both for the nail trim and found a bag of treats to finish it off. On the negative side, with temperatures circling 100, I had to carry her in and out of the store to avoid burning her feet. Twice. I'd just stepped foot in the store when I realized I'd forgotten my mask.
Steve headed for his doctor to renew his meds before heading north, since his insurance only covers Arizona and emergencies. His good news is he's down three pounds. That may not seem too important but he was awful close to the weight limit for the jet boat ride up the Colorado from Moab that we've both been looking forward to. Now we don't have to worry about that.
His next errand was the jeweler. His watch face had quit glowing, so he needed a battery replacement. While there, they found a way to tighten his wristband without removing a link, aka without an extra charge.
My late afternoon errand was hitting Jiffy Lube. My last oil change has maybe a thousand miles on it, but the car will be spending three weeks in the mountains in places where any kind of servicing would be hard to get. Call it preventative care. Plus, the wiper blades needed replacing. I wouldn't have known if I hadn't needed to use the washer to remove dust. It's not like we get rain down here or something. Then I let them talk me into replacing the cabin air filter. They've been trying to talk me into replacing it for about 4 years now. I just laugh, take the filter and whack it upside down over their wastebasket, and show them how little dirt is on it now. Who needs a new filter?
One advantage of sitting in the car while they do all the work (they let you do it now, because covid) is finding out how to locate that thing. You open the glove box, squeeze the sides together so it falls all the way down, reach up behind it and remove a plastic cover so you can pull the old filter out. The new one isn't quite $50 which is why I've been putting it off. The windows are all washed now, including the brand new windshield I finally called the insurance company about. Lucky for my budget, I'm still using the same insurance company I was three years ago when the first (!) crack ran across it.
A bonus to this trip was getting rid of yet another piece of plastic cluttering up my pocketbook. This time it was a coupon card that Steve got from the Boy Scouts in exchange for supporting them. One of the offers was $10 off Jiffy Lube's oil change. If I get rid of enough of those one-use cards, maybe I'll have room in there for some actual money.
Oh wait, I quit using the stuff. Nevermind.
In the middle of all this out-and-about with the car was a stay-at-home errand: calling the county sheriff to report some vandalism. Luckily she showed up fairly promptly so I could still get to the dog groomer in time.
We have two new holes in our front siding. It's vinyl, which would never have been my choice in this Arizona sun. Heck, even in Minnesota we put steel siding on the house. The first one happened last March when Rich was putting on garage sales. Late into one of those, I noticed the hole under the big picture window, where a few pieces were still clinging in place and hiding what Rich later discovered later was a lug nut! We had passed it off as a fluke. Perhaps somebody carelessly bumped into the wall? I entertained for a while just removing the front siding and letting the white painted brick show again.
I was disabused of that notion yesterday when I found the second hole. This was a much bigger hole, and some kind of blue foam glued to the brick showed through it. This time I actually heard the hole happen. It was a fairly loud pop. It was simultaneous with some vehicle loudly revving its engine as it left from in front of the house. Whoever it was had been sitting there quietly, since it was loud enough to note it hadn't been approaching and then leaving, doppler effect and all. Just after the first vehicle left a large truck went by and the contrast, hearing it both come and go, quietly and at reasonable legal speed, 25 mph on this street, reinforced my impression of the first vehicle's activities. Where I sit, Steve's lift chair blocks my view out the window except for small pieces, so I didn't see either vehicle.
I went out to check. This hole was not only larger than the first, it was much closer to the picture window, and also had a lug not in it! I asked Rich to pick it out, since he had access to the tools and knew in all his chaos where the right one would be. He commented that there had been a lug nut in the first hole as well, something I hadn't known until then. I figure one can be a fluke, but two is deliberate vandalism. We filed a report on it, and should they ever catch the person responsible, yes, we would testify in court. Please note that I'm not holding my breath about them finding the person responsible unless it's part of a large pattern and somebody happens to see them in the act.
At least with this report, we can have a chat with the insurance company about replacing what turned out to be three pieces of siding. I know after the deductible, they'll pay for the three, which of course will never match what's there in color or pattern. Besides, likely the replacement will break more pieces. It's pretty brittle, despite being on the north side under an overhang where it doesn't even get the sun!
Don't anybody bump the rest of the house anywhere, eh?
Right now all my running around is inside the house. I have to go and charge all the camera batteries. We only (!) have 5 chargers going at once, and each battery needs a different amount of time, so off I go around the house to check which chargers in which outlets are now showing green, announcing time to swap out the next battery. I have a system to tell which are the charged and which not, so I better keep doing it before I forget what the system is! I started this morning, and I'm almost through them for the matching cameras. Tonight there's one charger and three batteries for the old camera I'm taking for star/ galaxy shots. Following all that, there's repacking them with their cameras, sorting new from old batteries, bagging against water exposure....
Good thing I used a red marker to date the new batteries from this spring. This was way too much system. The oldest batteries, freshly charged, will be packed separately, only coming out in emergency situations. It's about all they're good for after all these years, but they're still good for short times.
Meanwhile tomorrow there are more errands on the list. Both of us have pharmacy stops at different stores. I'm meeting a friend for dinner. I'm leaving the dog home from those of course. She's finally forgiven me for this afternoon's nail trim, and I'd like to leave it that way until we have to put her back in the harness for traveling.
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