Wednesday, January 2, through Tuesday, January 22, 2013: At Palm Springs:

We left Indio at 7:40 AM on Wednesday to get to the Palm Springs Thousand Trails park early---to get a decent spot in the pull-through section.  We arrived at the park (which is actually in Palm Desert) before 8:00 AM, after driving a measly 8 miles, and got the only site that would fit our rig.  Whew!  It also happened to be right where we like to be.

After setting up, Becky immediately headed for the pickleball court and Ramsey and I headed for the adjacent desert (Ramsey's official bathroom). We relaxed the rest of the day.

Wednesday afternoon, we met the Wheelers, the Van Dusens, and Barb and Joe Clark (he’s the FEMA guy we met here several weeks ago) at the Elephant Bar and had an early dinner of delicious hors d’oeuvres. And a few adult beverages, of course.

We were going to drive the Van Dusens to the Elephant Bar in our truck, but it had a sudden attack of battery trouble and Larry had to drive, instead. Thursday morning, the AAA man advised me that both of our batteries needed to be replaced.  I took care of that by visiting the local NAPA parts store to buy the batteries and Cam Stone’s Auto Repair shop to install them.  (NAPA no longer installs batteries due to an incident a couple of years ago where they blew up a customer’s electrical system by mistake.  It was probably a good business decision to stop the practice.)  The old batteries were from NAPA and were so relatively new that, after the appropriate pro-rations, the new ones cost only slightly more than half the regular price.

We now spend enough time in the desert on a regular basis, that I have decided to link up with a doctor here so I have a southern California medical reference.  Thursday afternoon, I stopped by the office of a doctor to whom I was referred for a “meet and greet” session.  This doctor (Robert Czako) won’t make an appointment for a new patient unless he first meets with the patient and decides to take on the job.  Interesting.  Apparently, I passed the interview, because he immediately ordered a bunch of tests to establish my baseline numbers.

Friday morning, I returned to the doctor’s office to let them take some blood for testing.  The nurse was able to hit the appropriate vein on the first try. Hurray!

Friday evening, we went to a local Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Vu, with Ken and Faye Ewbank, fellow RVers and pickleball players, and two friends of theirs, Karen and Joe.  The food was tasty and the restaurant was crowded---both of which surprised me because, in view of our culinary experiences in Vietnam a year ago, I imagined that we would be the only ones there.

Saturday morning, we woke to a temperature of 32 degrees.  Winter does really hit the desert, I guess.  It eventually warmed up to the 60s.  Much better.  Whatever the weather, Becky played pickleball most of the day.  Saturday night, I made Cioppino, from Costco, of course, not homemade.  As usual, it was delicious.

Sunday afternoon was spent by me watching the Seahawks/Redskins game.  I was rooting for Washington.  Alas, they lost.  But I enjoyed the beer and peanuts I had laid in for the occasion.  It was like being in the stadium---without the cold weather.

Monday we watched a 2012 Richard Gere movie (Arbitrage) from the Redbox, which was pretty good.  (We later found out he had been nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actor for the role.)  Occasionally, during the movie, I would sneak a peek at the Alabama/Notre Dame BCS Championship game, which was a rout by Alabama.  I’m not a fan of Alabama and I really don’t like Notre Dame, so I wasn’t particularly interested in the game, anyway.                               

Tuesday was a long day.  We left at 8:00AM, headed for Pasadena.  Becky’s father was scheduled to leave Huntington Memorial Hospital after successful blood clot surgery on his leg, and we stopped by to check on him.  He was in very good spirits.  Wonderful.

After that, we had lunch in the hospital cafeteria, and then headed for Marshall Rutter’s office.

I had agreed to spend the afternoon going through my old files and stored documents I left with him ten years ago when I retired.  Since our old law firm broke up a year ago, he has been holding my “stuff” pending a decision on what could be kept, shredded, returned to clients, etc.  While it was fun re-living some of my past triumphs and humiliations, it was a laborious process, and we finally finished at least this first round just before 6:00PM.  (Becky had been tending to Ramsey while all this was going on.)

We then headed back to the desert, with some rush hour traffic, and arrived “home” at 8:45PM (after a quick stop at the Panda Express in Beaumont).

Wednesday morning (the 9th) we went to Dr. Czako’s office to review my test results.  It was an upbeat meeting, with the usual results:  I need more exercise and less booze.  Otherwise, no surprises.  Good.  We celebrated by heading for Costco. That afternoon, we went on a 6-mile bike ride to start my new exercise regimen.

Thursday, Becky played pickleball and had her hair done while I made some phone calls and ran some errands and got a haircut.  Then the two of us played some singles pickleball in the afternoon, in furtherance of my dedication to get some exercise.  (We’ll see how long that lasts.)

Friday, we determined that our old H-P printer was on its last legs, and we went searching for a replacement.  Naturally, they don't make that model any longer, so it looked like we would have to toss out all of our toner cartridge inventory.  Luckily, Becky found a replacement for our particular model on the Internet.  Now, we just have to wait for it to arrive.  We celebrated by taking a 7-mile bike ride to Indio and back.



Saturday, I watched most of two NFL playoff games:  Denver/Baltimore (in which the Broncos, in overtime, snatched a loss from the jaws of victory when its defense went home with a minute left in regulation) and San Francisco/Green Bay (in which the 49ers had a relatively easy time).  While I was doing that, Becky went for a 20-mile (roundtrip) bike ride to the Street Fair again.

Saturday evening, Becky watched two movies from the Redbox:  Looper and Beasts of the Southern Wild.  I'm not sure she liked either one, but the two of us watched Beasts... (Becky, for the second time, of course) Sunday morning, and we're still not sure what it was about.  But, it was captivating.  In any event, the 6-year old star---Quvenzhané Wallis,

who, at (now) nine years of age, is the youngest person ever to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Actress (or Best Actor, for that matter) category---was quite something to watch.

Sunday's lowlight was my miserable play at pickleball, including a dazzling fall onto my right hip (Ouch!) which will, I am sure, hurt for several days.  The day's highlight was going to a real theater (the Regal 8 in Indio) and seeing Zero Dark Thirty.  It was an outstanding film.

We picked up some yummy Panda Express food for dinner on the way home from the theater.  That night we watched the mostly-boring Golden Globe Awards on the New York NBC feed, and hit the sack at 8:00PM.

Monday morning, we woke to 32 degree weather, again.  Brrrrr.  I slipped on one of our stairs taking Ramsey out for a walk, and now I'm nursing a slightly twisted knee along with my sore hip.  The joys of aging.  Monday afternoon, we discovered that both of the two new batteries in our truck were dead.  Becky had previously noticed that the air conditioner continues to run after we turn off the ignition.  I dismissed it as a momentary phenomenon.  Apparently, it continues far longer than I realized.  We must have let the truck sit too long between starts this time around, and the batteries were drained.  I had the AAA jump start the truck, and I dropped it off at the nearby GM dealer (Coachella Valley Buick/GM) to fix whatever was happening.  (I wonder if, in fact, this is the same thing that happened less than two weeks ago when I was advised to, and did, replace both batteries.)

    

The next morning, the dealer called to say the truck was ready.  When I arrived, the service writer explained that they were unable to duplicate the problem that caused the battery drain, so they had done nothing to fix the problem, but in the process they found hundreds of dollars worth of other problems, including the immediate need to replace the two brand-new batteries.  I smelled a hustle (the reason most people hate car dealers) so I just picked up the truck and went home.  I still don't know what caused the battery drain, but we hope that whatever it was has gone away.  (Good luck.)

Tuesday (the 15th) our new printer and our new wheel arrived. 

I immediately set out to get a new tire and have it mounted on the wheel.  I went to the Pep Boys in Indio.  All went well.  I then called Freddie Garcia, a local mobile RV repairman, who agreed to come and switch the wheel and spare on our trailer some time before Saturday.  (He arrived Wednesday afternoon and took care of it.)

Becky also successfully installed the new printer on Tuesday. 

Wednesday, we met Chuck Conway (Becky's old boss from years ago) at the Elephant Bar for lunch.  Yummy, as usual.   (Becky and I both had Cobb salads.)  Chuck is a very interesting fellow and we always enjoy spending time with him.

One of the remote controls for our living room TV seemed to die late last week.  After engaging in a long conversation with DirecTV, and trying numerous tests, it was agreed that a new one would be sent to us.  It arrived on Tuesday.  I couldn't make it work.  After engaging in another long conversation with DirecTV, and trying numerous tests, it turned out that the wrong type of remote control had been sent, and it was agreed that a new one would be sent to us. 

(The "wrong" one works in our bedroom, however, so we now have three for that massive room.)  Amazing(!), the replacement arrived Wednesday!  I struggled with the new one to no avail, and after engaging in another long conversation with DirecTV, and trying numerous tests, it turned out that the remote control was simply bad, and that yet another new one would be sent to us.

In the meantime, my body seems to have healed enough that I can return to playing some pickleball on Thursday.  I arrived at the courts so late that a crowd had developed and I got in only one game before Becky and I left.

We hit the Mary Pickford Theater in Cathedral City (affectionally known as "Cat City" hereabouts) for the 11:30AM showing of Les Miserables after Pickleball.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they give seniors free popcorn.  What a  deal;  the last time I bought popcorn it cost $7.00, and that was a medium size. 

Les Miz was just fabulous.  We became big fans of the show when we saw it in London in 1986, and we were eagerly anticipating the film.  We were not disappointed.  The music really grabs me, and it didn't surprise me that I wept at the ending.

When we returned from the theater, our new remote control was waiting for us.  Again, a long conversation with DirecTV, this time resulting in success!!!

Friday morning, I watched our videotape of the (1995) 10th anniversary concert version (costumes, but no sets) of Les Miz that was recorded at the Royal Albert Hall with most of the original cast performing.  It was very touching. 

One of the highlights at the end involved bringing on stage 17 of the actors who were then playing Jean Valjean in productions around the world.  They took turns performing in sequence---in their native languages---the stirring "Do You Hear the People Sing?"  It was magical. 

Saturday morning, I played in a pickleball tournament at the RV park.  There were two brackets; I was placed in the “recreational” bracket.  That was the one for unserious players.  I was my usual inconsistent self, but I did not end up with the worst record of the five people in my bracket.  Becky was in the other bracket, and won a ribbon and ball for being 6th (out of 20 players)---the only female to win anything.  Yea, Becky!

On Sunday, we met Angie and Mike McCaffery

and Jeannie and David Agatstein

for brunch at the Agatsteins’ Palm Springs weekend condo.  The ladies were 5:30AM workout buddies for years at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.  The six of us would get together occasionally for fun and frolic.  We hadn’t seen them for 10 years---since we left on our wheeled adventure.  It was great spending time with them again.

That evening, I watched the San Francisco-Atlanta NFC Championship game.  It was on the air live at noon, but I had recorded it since we were going to be partying during the game.  I had scrupulously avoided knowing the outcome, making it very exciting to watch the recording.

Monday was mostly a lazy day.  Becky played only a little pickleball.  Eventually, I got off my duff and had the truck lubed and its oil changed.  We had filet mignon for dinner.  Delicious.

My few scheduled projects for Tuesday mostly involved getting ready to leave for Menifee (the Wilderness Lakes Preserve) on Wednesday.  We took time out to go to lunch at Le Basil in Palm Desert, featuring "Southeastern Asian" food.

We opted for our usual Thai favorites, Pad Thai and Cashew Chicken.  They were not as spicy as we usually get, but that was our fault for not specifying a level when we made our orders.  In any event, the food was delicious. 

On Sunday, a local cat had climbed one of the very tall palm trees at the RV park.  It was not a feral cat, but seemingly one that had once lived around here but had been abandoned.  The consensus was that it had been "chased" up the tree by two feral tomcats.  Whatever, it was still there on Tuesday, meowing constantly.  Calls to the SPCA and the fire department had been fruitless.  They basically said to let it get hungry and it will come down.  On Tuesday, someone saw that a local electrical contractor was nearby, with a "cherry picker" attachment on its truck.  The fellow was asked to help.  He entered the park and within just a few minutes was able to pluck the cat from its perch high in the tree.  Late in the afternoon, we donated our old soft dog crate (the one we had used for Daisy) to a lady who was willing to shelter the cat temporarily, and all was well.        

Much of the rest of the day was spent relaxing.