Sunday, March 15, through Sunday, March 22, 2015: The Week Of The Trailer:

This week we will rent a trailer to carry to our house in Arizona some of the extraneous stuff we carry in the rig, plus the stuff from Bill Shelton's house that we are taking.  That will involve leaving Pahrump on Wednesday, spending two nights in Pasadena while loading the trailer, then taking a two-day trip to Williams (spending Friday night in Needles), emptying the trailer, spending Saturday night in Williams, and returning to Pahrump on Sunday.  We prepared a little on Sunday, taking the hitch out of the truck, reorganizing the bed, and otherwise starting to get ready to leave for several days. 

Becky took Ramsey and Kelsey on a walk in the desert outside our RV park on Sunday---letting both of them off-leash for a while.  She started that with Ramsey just recently.  Kelsey has always been very good off-leash and Ramsey is beginning to understand---and cooperate. 

Sunday night we splurged on Filets Mignon and a good bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for dinner.  I sautéed onions to add to the mix.  Quite tasty.  Becky continued her pickleball playing on Monday while, as usual, I tended to the dogs and read.    

The Monday night redbox movie was The Theory of Everything, an absolutely terrific film with an astonishing performance by Edward Redmayne.

Tuesday morning, we started off with a breakfast of very nice French Toast in the lodge after which I finished The Fourth K, which was too long and not that interesting.  We then proceeded to get ready in earnest for our trailer adventure---sorting stuff and packing what we could in the truck bed, and setting up the rest in our living room to put in the trailer Wednesday morning.
 
Wednesday morning at 8:00 I was at the U-Haul place to pick up the trailer.  It might have been the oldest trailer in the world, but it was just fine.

We loaded the trailer and headed out about 10:30, arriving in at Becky's dad's house in Pasadena, 254 miles away, in mid-afternoon after an uneventful trip.  We loaded the trailer with the stuff we're taking from the house, but left the trailer parked in the driveway. 

We then headed for Le Reve, the hotel in Pasadena where we were to spend the next two nights.  We were tired from the trip so we ordered a pizza from the nearest Papa John's.  It was very good.  Wednesday morning, I dropped Becky off in downtown LA for a facial at her favorite salon, then spent the next 1 1/2 hours killing time.  I first stopped by Becky's grandparents' former home at 340 N. Beachwood Drive in the Hancock Park area to take pictures for the family's enjoyment,

then drove by my old house on Las Palmas Avenue which looked the same as it did when I sold it to the current owner in 1984, then did a drive-by look at a house that had been rehabbed by my friend Mark Brown and his inamorata, Pat Thomas, that is across the street from Mark's house (about two miles from Becky's grandparents' house).  I then picked up Becky and we returned to Bill Shelton's house to finish looking through the hundreds of books for anything stuck in there that might be interesting. 

We found a few items, including Becky's sister Carrie's first bible, but nothing that was earth-shaking.  We then used our truck to help Becky's sister Wendy move some stuff from the house to her house---only 1/2-mile away.  On the second of three trips, we got a call from Becky to the effect that Ramsey had escaped from the yard heading for who-knows-where.  We joined in the search.  Becky finally located him in the yard of the house just below Bill's house, but had quite a time getting him out because the gates were locked.  But all was well.

We then went to Becky's brother Peter's home in San Gabriel for a meeting of the trustees of the family trust created by Bill and Nancy Shelton several years ago.  The current trustees---Becky, Peter, and Wendy---held their meeting while Kai Kuwata, Terry Shelton, and I watched, and tossed in a few words of course. 

After the meeting, Wendy, Becky, and I went to Nikki C's restaurant in Pasadena for dinner.  I had Cioppino, while Becky and Wendy shared Fish Tacos and a Kale salad.  The food was pretty good, but otherwise we weren't terribly impressed with the place.

We packed up Friday morning and headed to Bill's house to hook up the trailer and start out on the first leg of our trip to Williams.  On the way to the house, we stopped at a nearby park to give the dogs one last chance to "prepare" for the trip.  At one point, Becky looked up at a couple passing on the sidewalk just outside the park and recognized Al Nicol, a long-time co-worker from her Union Bank days.  We had a nice chat with Al and his wife. 

Our first overnight stop was Needles, California, 250 easy miles away.  We stayed at the Best Western Colorado River Inn. 



We were too tired to go out for dinner so we ordered take-out from the restaurant next door---Juicy's Famous River Café.  It was a "party platter" of deep-fried stuff that was actually pretty good though terrible for our diets.  The next morning we had a free breakfast of scrambled eggs at Juicy's (as part of the stay at the Best Western) and headed out for the 175-mile leg to Williams.  Again, the trip was easy.  We arrived in the early afternoon, deposited the trailer's contents at the house, mostly in the garage,

and said hello to Danielle Worthington, our broker and new friend, who stopped by.  We walked around the house and congratulated ourselves on having bought such a nice place.  Then, while Becky walked Ramsey and Kelsey around the nearby Cataract Lake County Park, I dropped off the trailer at one of the local U-Haul establishments.  We then checked in at the Travelodge for the night.  We were exhausted so I went to the Safeway to pick up cheese and crackers for dinner.  After stuffing ourselves, we crashed for the night.

Williams had an anonymous donor who gave the town a large number of solar lampposts to adorn both Route 66 streets, the eastbound one-way Main street and the westbound one-way Railroad Street.  It turned out that many of them don't work so their solar panels have been removed for repair.

After waffles for breakfast at the Travelodge on Sunday morning we left early for the 265-mile trip back to Pahrump.  Without the trailer we were able to make better time.  We stopped at a Lenscrafters in Las Vegas so Becky could see whether it was worthwhile getting her glasses fixed (she suffered a slight chip while rescuing Ramsey from his great escape on Thursday) which turned out to be not worthwhile, then proceeded on to Pahrump.  It was nice getting back.  For dinner, we finished up the cheese and crackers from Saturday night, then I watched a couple of Red Eye episodes on the DVR, and we hit the sack.  It was the end of a nearly 1,000-mile roundtrip, and we were tired but had a good feeling of accomplishment.     

 

 

 

Sunday, March 8, through Saturday, March 14, 2015: Week Two in Pahrump:

Since Becky did not play pickleball on Sunday, the focus of the day was washing our rig.  Becky, of course, was the primary worker; I was mostly a hose connector and ladder mover.  The rig looks really good when it's clean.

Our movie watching binge continued.  The Sunday redbox movie was Love Is Strange, with John Lithgow and Alfred Molina.  It's a nice portrayal of the tribulations of an aging gay couple, but doesn't seem to have a point.

Monday was the second day in a row Becky did not play pickleball, so she went on a 13-mile bike ride instead.

The Monday night redbox movie was The Guest, a cheapo indie that turned out to be pretty good.

Becky returned to pickleball on Tuesday, while I started Sail, another James Patterson novel.  Ramsey was a pain in the butt all morning.  When we went out for a walk, he didn't want to go where I wanted to go, and several times refused to move in the direction I indicated.  Within minutes after returning from a walk, he would start signaling that he wanted to go out again.  As soon as Becky returned at noon, Ramsey hopped up on the bed and slept for a couple of hours.  I spent most of the afternoon engrossed in my book.  We took the night off from our movie binge.

We went on a 65-mile field trip to the Furnace Creek area of Death Valley on Wednesday.  Ramsey and Kelsey went with us.  We saw Jerry Smith at the Inn.  He and Becky worked together at the El Tovar Hotel at the South Rim some years ago.  We had a nice chat with him. 

We had sandwiches from the general store for lunch, then headed back.  We had a little drizzle off and on, but it was a nice trip.

Immediately after returning, I finished Sail. 

The Wednesday redbox movie was Nightcrawler, with Jake Guyllenhaal and Rene Russo.  He was his usual creepy self (typecasting?) and the movie was very entertaining,

Becky played pickleball again on Thursday while I started reading The Fourth K by Mario Puzo (and shepherded the dogs).  The Thursday night redbox movie was Kill The Messenger, with Jeremy Renner.  It was so uninteresting that we had it on but didn't really watch it.  I don't remember what it was about.  I took Friday off from reading and watched (in addition to the dogs) a bunch of old Frasier reruns on the Hallmark Channel.  That was a terrific show.  It's still funny 20 years later, the sign of great writing.  The Friday night redbox movie was John Wick, with Keanu Reeves.  It was a way-over-the-top shoot-'em-up, but quite entertaining nonetheless.          

Saturday was a pickleball day off for Becky, so she wore out the dogs with extensive walks, while I read and did some chores.  Pretty normal.  The redbox movie was Rosewater, the film written and directed by Jon Stewart.  Becky liked it more than I did; I thought it was too slow. 

     

Sunday, March 1, through Saturday, March 7, 2015: Basking in Peaceful Pahrump:

We left just before 8:00 in the morning, and had a wet but otherwise uneventful 6 1/2 hour, 337 mile trip to Pahrump, Nevada.  The rain was never more than a drizzle, but it made our start kind of messy.  (We tracked wet sand all over the rig just before we left.) 

This was probably the farthest in distance and the longest in time move we have ever made, having chosen to be on an Interstate all the way to Las Vegas to avoid being in the boonies for many miles on such a bleak day, but it was not difficult.  Our only fuel stop was in Primm, Nevada, at Whiskey Pete's.  It's right on the California/Nevada border.  It was interesting to see how much traffic there was on I-15 leaving Nevada (at the border, three lanes became two) bumper to bumper, stop and go, until it finally spread out several miles into California.

We arrived at our RV park---the Preferred RV Resort, at which we are members and at which we plan to stay for the entire month---at 2:30 and slid right into a nice spot very near where we stayed last year. 

Setting up in the rain was easy but cold (43 degrees) and damp, and we quickly decided that Chili would be a great thing to have for dinner.  Fortunately, we had the fixings in house and Becky whipped it up in time for an early dinner. 

Ramsey and Kelsey are familiar with this place and enjoyed exploring it for all the wonderful new smells that exist here.  It was altogether a nice way to start our Pahrump adventure.

Monday, we had an almost free lunch at the China Wok buffet. Technically, it was free because we were willing to sit through a pitch for a medevac service that caters to oldsters.  Actually, it was not free because we signed up for the service.  But the food was good.

I finally started reading a book on Monday.  I've been out of practice lately.  This one ("The Quickie") is a James Patterson thriller I got from Bev Newhouse.  We'll see how long it takes me to finish it.

Our Monday night redbox movie was Whiplash, the film for which J. K .Simmons just won a best supporting actor Oscar.  It's a terrific movie, with great music, and Simmons did a masterful job---as really a lead actor, not a supporting actor.  If he had not previously appeared primarily on TV, he probably would have been a best actor nominee, in which case he probably would not have won.

We woke on Tuesday to a 37 degree temperature.  I had not expected it to be so cold, but we have the right clothes anyway.  I think we'll survive the last three weeks of winter.  The snow-capped mountains between Pahrump and Las Vegas were gorgeous! 

I was assigned shopping duty for a change, and I mastered Wal-Mart and Albertson's after a while.  At one point on the way to Pahrump, we received a dashboard warning that our coolant level was low.  On Tuesday, I bought some coolant to add and when I opened the hood I discovered that the radiator cap was missing.  The most obvious possible reason was that the last time I had the truck Jiffy-Lubed the mechanic forgot to put the cap back on after checking the fluid level.  I bought a new one at the nearby O'Reilly Auto Parts and the problem was solved. 

We had a brief heavy wind and light rain experience in the afternoon, which caused me to hop in the truck and rescue Becky and the dogs who were out on a walk when it came up. 

The Tuesday redbox movie was Foxcatcher.  It was eerie and not as good as I had expected.  But Steve Carell did an excellent job as the creepy John DuPont.

Wednesday was back to normal---a few chores and a little dog walking.  And some reading.  We are planning a run with a U-Haul trailer to Pasadena (and then on to Williams) in a couple of weeks to pick up some stuff from Bill's house and to empty our rig of extraneous things. 

We went to the local U-Haul franchisee to discuss things and Becky had a who-do-you-know session with the owner, who had spent a lot of time in the San Gabriel Valley area.

The Wednesday redbox movie was St. Vincent with Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy.  It was a very sweet film.  Murray is a better actor than most people give him credit for.

I had a busy Thursday, dropping Becky off at a pickleball venue,

making the reservation for a U-Haul trailer, having one of our propane tanks refilled, having blood drawn at a nearly-impossible-to-find Labcorp facility, stopping at a Humana office to ask a question about my Part D insurance, picking Becky up, visiting an RV show at a local casino parking lot, fixing the wheel assembly that had ripped out of our bed, walking Ramsey and Kelsey a few times, and watching the Thursday night redbox movie, The Drop, with James Gandolfini (which was pretty good).

Friday was a lot simpler:  Mostly reading and dog-walking while Becky played pickleball.  The Friday night redbox movie was The Judge.  Not bad, well-produced, good courtroom stuff.

Saturday morning, while Becky played pickleball, I finished The Quickie.  Typical James Patterson; very complicated.  We had sushi for lunch at Ohjah Japanese Steak House.  It was delicious.  The Saturday redbox movie was Calvary, a fascinating Irish film.

Thus ended our first week in Pahrump.

Friday, February 20, through Saturday, February 28, 2015: The Last Week (or so) Back In The Desert:

The first order of business was to find out about the mystery box.  According to the packing slip, the box contained two bar stools that were supposed to go to an RV dealer in East Lansing, Michigan.  I called the dealer, who picked up the ball from there.  Shortly, I received a call from Forest River, the manufacturer of my trailer and who had sent the bar stools, who tried to figure out how the stools ended up with me.  After a second call, he gave up and simply told me I now had two free bar stools.  They're nice, but we have no use for them in our trailer and we will take them with us to Williams.

For no stated reason, Brian cancelled our afternoon session at the gym.  I'm becoming disenchanted with the people at EOS Fitness.  It's good we're leaving the area at the end of the month, so I won't have to decide about a future with them.

Early Saturday morning I dropped off the dogs at The Grand Paw Pet Resort, we finished packing, and we headed for Los Angeles for the weekend.  The first stop was at The Lazy Dog Café in Rancho Cucamonga so Becky could have lunch with Olga Contreras, one of her former secretaries. 

While they chatted and chomped, I plied the aisles at the next-door Costco, actually buying all the stuff Becky had on my to-do list.  I was so proud.

After stopping at the downtown LA Ralph's for my dinner supplies, we completed the run to the Jonathan Town Club, where we checked in for two nights.  The dinner supplies were for me alone since Becky had a dinner date at the Jonathan Beach Club with Aileen Garrigues, a former Union Bank colleague, and Nancy Chestnut.  We met Nancy when she and Aileen visited us at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in 2009.

We were in LA for the celebration of Becky's dad's 89th birthday (post mortem, of course) and meetings with the family about his estate matters.  The focus of the birthday celebration was the depositing of his ashes at various locations that were special to Bill Shelton.  We first gathered at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Westwood, the site of Bill and Nancy's wedding in 1951, for the first deposit, then moved to the Quad at UCLA, Bill's alma mater, where the second deposit occurred,

then on to the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house on Gayley Avenue, for the third deposit.  Plans were made for Peter to deposit more ashes at the San Gabriel Country Club, where Bill had been a member for years (and which is located across the street from Peter's home), and for Becky to deposit more ashes at Bill's former weekend home in the '80s at Santa Rosa Cove, adjacent to the La Quinta Resort.

Sunday evening, we watched the (generally boring) Oscar telecast and ate pizza at Peter and Terry's home,

then crashed at the Jonathan Club.

Monday morning, we packed up and headed back to the desert, picking up the Ramsey and Kelsey before noon.  We drove to the La Quinta Resort to deposit some of Bill at the former Santa Rosa Cove home (Mission accomplished!)

and getting back into our normal rhythm before heading for an appointment with my heart doctor---scheduled for 3:30.  We arrived on time at Dr. Bagheri's Palm Desert office, then learned that the appointment was for his Palm Springs office, not his Palm Desert office.  Becky drove the next half hour like we were on fire, then we cooled our heels for an hour or so in the doctor's office because he was not there yet---having an emergency of some sort at the hospital.

For dinner, I broke out the delicious Cioppino from Trader Joe's.

Tuesday was a busy day.  Becky and I both got haircuts and Becky played pickleball for a few hours.

We had an appointment to see some old friends for dinner.  We met Ellen and Mark Burson at Chef George's restaurant just a few blocks away.  The Bursons brought along their friends Peter and Marilyn Lambert, with whom they were spending a few days in the desert.  The six of us enjoyed a marvelous dinner at Chef George's, which is nominally a Hungarian restaurant but has a quite varied menu.  Becky and I shared a gigantic (and wonderful) plate of Paella, a Spanish creation, along with a yummy Hungarian salad and a not-so-yummy Hungarian merlot.

Wednesday evening, we met Kathy Sage, her husband, Peter Shapiro, Richard Petrie, and his fiancé, Honoria Vivell, at the Arnold Palmer restaurant in La Quinta for dinner.  Very nice (and very noisy) place, but the food was fine and we had a great time catching up with our dinner companions. 

We met them again (minus Honoria, who slept in) Thursday morning for breakfast at the Classic Club Golf Resort, just under 3 miles from our RV park.  It's a beautiful setting.

Later on Thursday, Becky headed for Pasadena and a couple of meetings relating to her father's estate.  I cooled it with the dogs.  Because Becky would not return in time, we cancelled our dinner with Karen and Stephen Sloat.  I substituted a nice phone conversation with Karen. 

Friday was largely devoted to a pickleball tournament for Becky (she took second place in the women's bracket)

and my preparing to leave the area on Sunday---picking up prescriptions, stopping at Trader Joe's for things we can't get where we're going, and packing up the stuff with which we adorned our RV site.

Saturday was a repeat of Friday, pickleball tournament for Becky (she tied for second place in the mixed bracket)

and my finishing up getting ready to leave, including the un-fun task of crawling under the slideouts to inflate the tires and disconnecting the sewer drain.  In the post-tournament drawing, Becky won a free wash for our rig.  We can't use it right now, of course, since we're leaving first thing in the morning and won't be back for at least nine months and the certificate expires in 2 1/2 months.  Maybe we can extend its end date.  Anyway, it's a nice ending to our stay here. 

      

Friday, February 13, through Thursday, February 19, 2015: Back In The Desert, Week 8:

Friday morning, we had the carpets cleaned by one of the companies that that circulates through the RV park.  To facilitate that work, we had to rearrange the furniture inside the rig, which was sort of a pain.  But worth it.

My Friday afternoon session at the gym with Brian went well, and I also talked with Kurt who happened to be there.  He explained that he was no longer going to work at that particular gym as he was consolidating his schedule to work at only one gym.  So, it was OK that I had already found another trainer.  I also told Brittany, the sort-of-manager I had spoken with the day before and who had taken charge of managing my situation, that Kurt had not really abandoned me the day before. She said she was happy to hear that.

Friday evening we watched Gone Girl from the redbox.  Very interesting film with a lot of twists.  Well worth watching, even though it starred Ben Affleck, the least interesting actor in Hollywood.   

Saturday, Becky rode her bike to the street fair, and I drove there, since we had to pick up the piece of artwork we had ordered a few weeks ago.  It's just what we envisioned, and I can't wait to get it to Williams to hang it in our entry hall.

 

 

I then transported it home while Becky rode her bike back.

We had originally decided to celebrate Valentine's Day (Saturday) by cooking steaks and having a nice bottle of wine at home, but fate intervened and we postponed that celebration to Sunday.  The intervening fate was a last-minute invitation to join Beverly and Bruce Nickerson at their Palm Desert home for some adult beverages prior to their dinner appointment with some people.

They had just come down for the weekend.  We went to their home and discovered it is only five blocks away from my brother's Palm Desert home (on the same street---Grapevine).  Quite a coincidence.  Bev was a neighbor and high-school classmate of Becky's.  We had a great time catching up with them, and the snacks accompanying the beverages made our planned dinner superfluous.

Sunday morning we actually went to church!  We hadn't yet spent any time this winter with our old friends Karen and Stephen Sloat.  Stephen is the Lead Pastor at the Coachella Valley Christian Church in Indio and Karen is very involved in the weekly service, so we decided to show up and see them. 

It was a nice service and a nice reunion.  We are now scheduled to have dinner with them in a couple of weeks.

Sunday evening we had our Valentine's Day meal.  Becky had picked up filets mignon and lobster tails at Stater Bros. We added a baked potato and broccolini, and the wine was a delicious ten-year old cabernet sauvignon that we had received as a gift from Barbara Coad at Christmas. 

The only low moment was when Ramsey stole one of the pieces of filet off the kitchen counter while Becky's back was turned.  It didn't really matter; we had plenty of food and Ramsey was elated.

Monday morning, we rearranged a lot of stuff inside the rig again so the carpet cleaning people could come back and properly shampoo the carpets.  (Becky thought their work a few days ago was substandard and had talked the boss into a redo.)  But, their machine broke and they didn't show up.  I received my right-ear hearing aid back from the factory.  For the second straight time, they had replaced it with a new one rather than repairing it.  That works for me. 

 

Monday night's movie was Fury, with Brad Pitt, from the redbox.  It was perhaps the grittiest war movie (WWII) I have ever seen. But it was very engaging, and worth the effort. 

Tuesday, we had to do the furniture rearranging all over again.  This time the carpet people showed, and did a fine job. 



After they finished, I went to the gym to have another session with Brian.  It was good.

Wednesday's excitement was having an unexpected lunch with Peter and Terry Shelton (Becky's brother and sister-in-law) who happened to be visiting in the desert for a day or so---without any prior notice.  We met them at the clubhouse at the Desert Willow Golf Resort.  It's a beautiful setting, I had a terrific Reuben sandwich, and we had a good time just chatting.

After lunch, we watched Get On Up from the redbox.  Starring Chadwick Boseman, who did a fabulous job as James Brown, the film had some confusing flashbacks but was otherwise terrific. 

Wednesday evening was Ramsey's last session with Valerie Masa.  He seems to really enjoy following orders now, and Becky has even stopped using his pinch collar on walks.  Kelsey seems to be picking up some of the training---by osmosis I guess---since she's not involved in it.

Thursday, the four of us went to Pasadena for another round of stuff-sorting at the house.  I was only slightly useful, picking up lunch, cutting up cardboard boxes for the trash, and watching the dogs a little, but my presence gave Becky the right to drive in the carpool lane both ways, which is a big advantage on that road.  Several of us had dinner at the Canoe House restaurant in South Pasadena.  It has a Hawaiian theme.  I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich. 

When we got home, we found a large box outside our door.  It was from the manufacturer of our trailer.  We hadn't ordered anything, so we had no idea what it was.  It was too late in the day to find out anything so we just left it there.  That ended this week in the desert

             

Friday, February 6, through Thursday, February 12, 2015: Back In The Desert, Week 7:

Becky dropped off the dogs at The Grand Paw early and at noon we headed out on the 116-mile trip to Newport Beach.  Becky's here for the 45th reunion of her high school class.  I'm here for no particular reason.  I won't be attending any of the reunion functions, and I will spend a lot of time in our room at the Holiday Inn Express on Coast Highway. It sounds like the kind of weekend I like.

The trip to NB was uneventful and we avoided any traffic hassles.  As soon as we arrived we headed for the Pavilions market to load up on necessary supplies.  Just before 6:00, Becky went to the Balboa Inn for the first event of the reunion, a cocktail party from which she returned at 8:00.

It had already been a long day, so we crashed immediately.

Saturday morning we had the usual businessman's breakfast available at this kind of hotel, and Becky left to start her day of walking at least five miles.  We are due to meet John and Sherry Phelan at their home in Irvine at noon for lunch.  After getting lost only once, we arrived on time at their home in what is called Shady Canyon.  We chatted for a while, then hopped into John's Tesla for the short ride to lunch at their local club, the Shady Canyon Golf Club.  The menus they gave to Becky and me did not have prices on them.  How's that for style?  I had a BLT with avocado.  Very nice.  We then returned to their home for some more talk.  We hadn't seem them in more than two years, so we had a lot to talk about. 

We then headed back to the hotel, stopping first at Pavilions again to stock up for my dinner, and Becky lay down for a nap before going to her reunion dinner at the Balboa Inn.  This time she didn't return until after 11:00, reporting that she had a wonderful time with all of her buddies---but they ran out of food and she stopped at Taco Bell on the way home for a snack.

We slept in only a little Sunday morning because we had to get back to the desert and pick up Ramsey and Kelsey before noon.  We had the usual hotel breakfast and hit the road by 8:15 for an uneventful trip back to Palm Desert.  The dogs were happy to see us, as usual, and, again as usual, they were so tired they slept the afternoon away.  I spent some time revising the speaker wiring setup for our "home entertainment system" in anticipation of receiving the new unit on Monday.

Monday was  typical---pickleball and dogs---until my replacement home entertainment system unit arrived by UPS.  Then I swung into action to install it.  It's one model newer than my old one, but it works just the same---except that this one actually works!  Yea!!!  I also got rid of the old DVD/VCR player that was part of the living room system since we rarely watch tapes any more, and we still have the combination player in the bedroom if we need it.  The clutter is now much reduced.

Tuesday involved another trip by Becky to Pasadena for more work on getting the housed emptied of stuff.  I stayed back with Ramsey and Kelsey, taking them on several walks.  Kelsey needs less exercise than Ramsey, so she actually opted out of two of the walks that he initiated.  I was so exhausted from dealing with them that I cancelled my workout with Kurt.  Becky returned from Pasadena at 6:00 PM with food from Panda Express.  Yummy, as usual.

Because Tuesday had been so tiring, the only activity of significance on Wednesday was Ramsey's training session in the class with Valerie Masi.  He did very well, again.

Kurt did not show up for our session on Thursday, so I had a long discussion with the folks at the gym who suggested that I engage another trainer because Kurt was "having some personal issues" that were interfering with his schedule.  It seems he and his pregnant girl friend have decided to get married, and they are setting up housekeeping---clearly a priority.  I scheduled a Friday session with a fellow named Brian, whom I never met.  I later discovered that Kurt had sent me a text message at 6:00 Thursday morning telling me that he had an emergency that would prevent our meeting.  I need to make sure the people at the gym learn that.