I updated early last week. I missed the chance to relate all the details that made today interesting. Mary had called and related the details of her experience at Lowes. After a half hour to get a refund on two switch covers we did not need a total of $3.89 it took another half hour to buy a couple of items we did. Seems the terminal burped and refused to take Mary's card at the self-checkout. How's that for speed and convenience? But not to worry. the cook top would be installed at 1 PM. Unfortunately, the installer called about 1:10 and said he was running a bit late and would be here in 30 minutes. When he arrived two problems were discovered. First, the new cook top needed an opening about 3/4 of an inch larger than the old. That would have been enough to stop the install. He also stated that since the mobile home wiring was older that directly connecting without a junction box in the cabinet might void the warranty and he seemed concerned about his liability. Anyway he left and we still have the old cook top. Take heart we still have Bright House coming. I will have TV in my bedroom/computer room and a viable way to set up a wireless network. The time window for installation was from 2 to 5PM and we altered some plans to be here. At about 5:10 we got a call that they were running behind and would arrive at 5:30 PM. At about 6:20 I called and cancelled and was told I would have to make another phone call to reschedule the appointment. I need to call back and tell them that a week (next Thursday) is too long to wait, especially when they screwed up. Oh, well, another week with a cable across the floor. I watched the evening news and discovered my comments about the cold effect on the strawberries was incorrect. I had heard that the citrus crop was OK and probably assumed that the berries probably were also. You know what they say about assume. Anyway a report from Plant City, strawberry capital of Florida indicates that thousands of dollars worth of berries apparently did not survive.
Saturday we started the warm-up. We have moved into a likable weather pattern. Sunny and arm 70's during the day and cooler at night (sweatshirt weather). Mary and Kathi went shopping and I took care of some business. We had purchased a cook top with installation. A couple of problems prevented the installer from completing the work and after he left we discovered some damage. Our son-in-law will install it. So I went to Lowes to get a refund of the installation charge and arrange for an exchange for the defective product. I found them most courteous and helpful. A Lowes employee followed me home and they refunded the installation charge. They only other unit in the store was the display so they will find another on Monday and call us to pick it up. From there I went to Walmart to buy a shredder. I also bought a rake, a couple of old movies and a radio for my night table. In addition I found a musical dancing frog for Dirk. From there it was of to Knology to rearrange the cable service. Bright House, the other provider promised a rescheduled appointment for this Thursday. I had hoped to get something quicker. I arrange what we wanted and the salesperson promised to call the order in first thing Monday morning. About that time it was time to drop by home and get Mary to go to Kathi and Dave's for a cook out. Try that in Orland in January. It was a football party as we watched the NFL Wild Card doubleheader. We left at halftime of the second game. By the time we got home, Jacksonville had built a 28-10 lead and appeared to have the game under control. Shortly after, we watched Pittsburgh grab the momentum and score 19 unanswered points to take a 29-28 lead. Just when all seemed lost David Garrard and the Jaquars took over and drove to the winning field goal. The key play was a quarterback draw on a 4th and 2 which netted a first down and the opportunity to run down the clock before kicking the winning field goal.
Sunday we started a bit late. Mary was experiencing some respiratory problems and we took a pass on church. We met Kathi and Dirk for lunch at one of Dirk's favorite places Winners Sports Bar. Kathi had taken Dirk and was proud of our little gentleman's behavior. They even discussed church etiquette and the reason for remaining until the priest and procession have left the worship space. Dirk also drew favorable comments from those seated around him. Kathi is doing a wonderful job with him. It's enough to make a Grandpa proud. After lunch the girls went shopping for some items for Kathi's bedroom decor and I went to H&R Trains which bills itself as the second largest train store in the country. It had been number three but number 1 closed and everybody moved up, sort of like the football polls. The traffic was unusually light. It is good to shop while the local team is playing at home. I returned home in time in time to see most of the second half of the Giants-Tampa game. We had been at lunch at Winners when Tampa scored first and things looked promising. Unfortunately it was down hill from there. The Giants had a tough game last week against New England while the Bucs took a mini vacation resting first stringers.. Of course the pre-game chatter revolved around whether the Giants were spent from last week or could carry the momentum forward. Perhaps the Bucs took it too easy and would not establish a rhythm. One of the "experts" said that the losing coach would be wrong no matter what, even though he agreed with what the Bucs did in saving Jeff Garcia and some others. Doesn't matter, whether the Giants remained on a roll or the Bucs couldn't "wake up" ( a point which might be defended) the result is that New York goes to Dallas and the Bucs next date is training camp. That was followed by Tennesse at San Diego with the Titans winning the first half and San Diego winning the second. Unfortunate first half scores mean nothing and San Diego moves on. Kathi and Dirk stayed for dinner as the Bucs fans (Dave and company) went to dinner after a long day (including tailgate) at the stadium. Kathi and Dirk left for home about 8 and we attempted to find something interesting on TV to watch a sometimes impossible task on a Sunday night.
Monday morning Mary went to curves (her fitness center). While she was gone Knology called and indicated their first available appointment was Jan 24 between 8 and 10 AM. They also said that calling the sales rep might help. She might be able to get it moved up. I thought this Thursday was a long time. I decided to wait and see if the other provider meets their rescheduled appointment on Thursday. Mary returned home and we had some coffee before I went off to temporarily join a local fitness center. I have an appointment with a trainer tomorrow at 1 PM. They like you to have a machine orientation before starting. So, I stopped at Walgreen's and headed home, stopping at the Park Fitness Center to do a little work. Mary and I enjoyed an early dinner and began an evening of TV starting with a familiar favorite-two hours of Mash. Tonight is the so called BCS National Championship game. Last year's game turned out a total bust as Florida clobbered Ohio State.
Tuesday, after Mary
returned from Curves I headed off for my appointment with the personal
trainer at the local fitness facility. He is a very personable
gentleman and easy to work with taking good care of an old "fart".
We started slowly with the treadmill and a few strength machines. We
spent an hour and he very generously invited me back on Thursday for a
complimentary visit. He also offered a rate for his personal
training services at a heavily discounted rate. When I returned home we
went in search of a Circuit City. Since the one we are`aware of
(near Kathi's) was quite a distance, we went in search of one nearby on
the infamous Route 19 if you think LaGrange Road is bad try this) after
realizing we had missed it we decided to try Walmart stopping on the way
for gas. Mary provided a lovely dinner of polish sausage,
sauerkraut and potato salad. She had found a jar of Sabrett hotdog
sauce ( a tomato sauce with onions) a favorite from my youth.
Wednesday, upon Mary's return from curves I went to the fitness center and did 20 minutes on the treadmill. This evening we went for our weekly Wednesday Prime Rib Dinner. Although I had something else, nest week it is back to Prime Rib. Dave's Dad lives in a nearby gated Golf Course Community. On Monday and Wednesday nights the clubhouse is open for dinner. The Wednesday night special is Prime Rib. The petite (5oz) is $8.95. In addition, the other choices are 8oz at $10.95, 12 oz at $14.95 and the 16oz at $16.95. Pretty reasonable, especially since each portion appears to be cut more than generously. Tonight Mary had the 8oz with Asparagus. She also tried fried sweet potatoes for the first time and we both found them tasty. Are` we becoming southerners? We are packing it in for the night looking forward to our cable and Internet upgrade rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
Thursday the cable company surprisingly showed up early. Last week after waiting an hour past the given "window" I had to cancel. This time, the technician showed up more than two hours early. This was a different company than we had before but he was able to use some lines from the previous company to connect the desired Tvs. For one he ran a new line along with a line to reposition my Internet. He was soon finished and before he left, everything appeared` normal. Turns out, not so. I left to go to the fitness center, Target and to pick up the cook top which had come in damaged. Mary called and said there was no signal on the living room set and the other two "new" sets did not appear to be getting the channels for which we paid. Sure enough, on arrival home she showed me what was going on. On my new TV I was able to do an automatic channel program and get all available. However, the living room was not quite so easy. A call to Technical support found me checking controls and trying to follow the technicians instructions. I like toarrived home before I headed out to cancel the be helpful but finally in frustration suggested we needed an onsite visit. They scheduled one for Saturday.
Friday morning Kathi and Mary went exercising and then to the flea market to buy produce. The local farmer sells red peppers for half the price in the grocery store and they are delicious. They arrived home before I left to go cancel the current cable service and go to the fitness center. Soon they were off to look at some wicker porch furniture and I headed out for my errand and a workout. After the workout I went the car wash. We found a local car wash that does the hands on drying. Since the car had not been washed for a while, I chose the "Ultimate" with all the bells and whistles to get off 1100 miles of road crud. Although not perfect, some touch up is necessary, it looks like a different car. When I arrived home Mary was continuing her attack on the yard. After a dinner of scrambled eggs with ham and fried potatoes I sit in my living room recliner watching the kitchen TV. They say time flies, we have been her just short of 4 weeks but some days it seems longer. I am working on my living room laptop, so I will transfer this to a flash drive since the Internet connection is on the other computer and I have not yet set up the wireless.
