Well, let’s catch upon the first 15 days of May at our volunteer position in White, Georgia.
We’ve been here for one month as of May 1st and are settling in to a routine of fulfilling our volunteer duties and taking care of our personal lives.
I spent a difficult May 2nd and 3rd writing my “Saying Goodbye To Bella” post for my personal blog that was published on May 4th, five weeks to the day after we helped her cross the bridge. And love doesn’t stop just because a life ends. We still miss her so, SO much!
There are still nights when it’s bedtime and, for one second, I think “I need to take Bella out to go potty” before I catch myself; or mornings when I walk out into the living room and momentarily look toward my recliner expecting to see her curled up in my chair; or when I drop a piece of ice and as I’m picking it up I start to drop it into her now non-existent water bowl like I always did before; as well as other almost-constant little times where my mind (or more precisely, my heart) seems not to have fully accepted that she’s no longer with us physically.
And as hard as it feels for me I know it is even harder for Cindy. Bella was her constant companion at the cabin when I was on the road working, from when she was a puppy and through the years since. Bella was a large part of her life and heart for long before I retired and was around more. Her mother’s heart of caring and loving Bella for all those years is feeling like a huge hole is left in it.
Monthly Maintenance
May 4th I spent about 2 1/2 hours in the morning taking care of things around Nomad that we need to do once a month, especially while we’re stationary.
- Clean and lube the tracks and rails of the slide outs
- Bring the slide outs in and back out
- Make sure tires are inflated to their proper 65 psi because they lose air not moving
- Put covers on the tires to protect them from the ultraviolet rays of the sun while we’re not moving
- Cleaned the gutters on each top side of Nomad. They had gotten clogged with leaves and pollen from the trees that surround us
- To help out the maintenance guys who mow and weedeat around our site I moved the power cord and water hose under Nomad
When we first got the Starlink kit we had set up the router on what was Cindy’s side of our shared desk, and then we switched sides (I don’t even remember why). But she could not get used to that arrangement, so we fed more of the cable in through the slide-out flaps and moved it over to the far side of the desk AND also switched backed to the sides we had before. Now my wife is happy and that is all that matters.
I was worn out from crawling under Nomad and climbing up the ladder to work on the roof. It kinda pisses me off that a few hours of hard work wears me out. Of course, the bad knee doesn’t help. I’m hoping the Orthpedic doc can see me soon and make this thing feel better and stop hurting all the time.
Blood Tests and Breakfast
On Tuesday, May 5th, Cindy and I both had blood tests scheduled at 9 am due to upcoming virtual appointments with our respective doctors. Since they were fasting blood tests we had to wait until they were over to have breakfast. We decided to give the Hardee’s around the corner from the lab a chance, but it was as bad as other locations we have tried so I think we’re done for good with them. The past 3-5 years we’ve had universally bad experiences with them. From quality of food to quality of service the visits have been disappointing. Time to stop hoping a different location will result in a different occurrence; their issues are apparently across the entire chain.
Then we both got haircuts (well, mine was cut and hers was styled, ya know) and spent the remainder of the day at Nomad and doing our duties.
CO2/LP Alarm
On the afternoon of May 6th our CO2/LP detector started blaring for no apparent reason. Since it’s located at the base of our kitchen island, I had to lie down on the floor to examine it. For the first time in 5 years. Looking at it, I discovered that it SHOULD have been replaced in December of last year and it was going off to tell me that. Upon researching the detector, I discovered that these devices have a 5-7 year life expectancy (italics) from the date of manufacture. So ours was apparently made one or two years before it was actually installed.
They don’t look hard to replace. Just disconnect a couple of wires, reconnect them to the new detector and you’re set to go. It’s the getting down there that is the biggest effort. I ordered one from Camping World in nearby Woodstock, GA for pickup on Monday the 11th.
Speaking of the 11th, I finally got my appointment with an Orthpedic doctor to look at my knee on that day at 3 pm. I’m hoping there will be no talk of surgery; just give me a shot and let me be on my merry way, lol.
On Wednesday, May 6th I finished “Daredevil: Born Again” season two. This was a good 8-episode story this season and I’m looking forward to season three next March.
Some bad storms came through around 6:30 pm and lasted until about 10 am Thursday morning and we were also under a tornado watch from 6 pm until 4 am. Fun times.
More weird weather on Saturday when it was supposed to rain, then didn’t, and then misted for an hour followed by the sun scorching everything.
On Monday, May 11th we drove over to Woodstock, Georgia to scope out a campground we may stay at during our travels next year. We had a good conversation with the volunteers there who were manning the campground gatehouse.
Then we stopped by Camping World to pick up the CO2/LP detector I had ordered and also picked up a flush valve handle to replace the one that broke on ours.
What A Lousy Joint
I had my Orthopedic doctor appointment at 3 pm and was very happy at the end of it. After reviewing my MRI’s from December and doing some x-rays of their own, the diagnosis was a combination of a torn meniscus AND arthritis in my left knee as well as arthritis in my right knee (which had been hurting more and more lately and I just assumed it was because I was favoring my left knee). Surgery will most likely NOT be needed for the meniscus tear. A series of shots in both knees over a three-week period beginning in June and I should be good to go for another year for the arthritis, which will ease the meniscus pain as well. Getting some pain pills in the meantime to get me through the next 3 weeks until the first injections.
Tuesday May 12th I got my pain pills. Thank you Jesus! They don’t help much, but anything is appreciated.
For the rest of the week we’re close to wrapping up the third and current season of “Shrinking” on AppleTV. It’s really been a much better show than I expected it to be and hate to think of waiting almost a year to see the next season.
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