Archives for April 2025

Hi Darlin',
Started the day after chores up on the roof again. I finished most of the roof seam, except for about the last 14 inches, because I didn't want to open another tube of lap sealant for such a short section. I can finish that when I do the rest of the small stuff, and the sunroof. I tried to strip back the coax on the radio antenna, but it's so short, and I really don't have the right tools, I decided to wait and see if I can get the trailer repair guy to do it for me, assuming they show up tomorrow as promised. Headed out to the hospital after that. Happy to report that I passed my pre-surgery exam, including the EKG, with flying colors! None of that nonsense like we had last time, thank goodness (which, frankly, I think was a money grab on the part of the Cleveland Clinic...just staying). The RN was very personable and helpful and we had a nice chat. I also called the surgeon's office and spoke with the gal there, they only just resubmitted the notes from my visit, with amendments, late this afternoon, so hopefully the insurance company will see the error of their ways and get me the approval we need to proceed with the surgery. Such a bother! Stopped at Walmart to pick up a couple of pre-surgery prescriptions (a special body wash and some antibiotic cream), and a tomato cage for my new tomato garden. Got back to camp and rested the rest of the day. That's my life at the moment, I do one thing and that's all I have the stamina for. Hopefully, we're almost done with that cycle! Anyway, settled down to a quiet evening, hot tub, shower, tea and soon bed! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Darlin',
Well, I had great plans to get a whole lot of roof work done today, before the rain moves in tomorrow, but am sorely disappointed that Amazon did NOT come through! I specifically ordered the lap sealant from a company that said it would be delivered on Sunday, so after chores and starting some laundry, I climbed on the roof and starting scraping off the old sealant from some of the other components that are on the roof, which included the radio antenna, the vent near the shower and two things related to the satellite dish installation, if we had one. I decided not to do the shower sunroof yet, since I wasn't sure how involved that was, and I was worried it would take too long. I got all of that cleaned up, and discovered that the radio antenna connector was terribly rusted, which explains a lot about my poor radio reception, and I'll need to get a new connector for it to get it fixed right. The cable is very short, so I'll have to be careful not to cut it back too much putting the new connector on. All of that didn't take terribly long, so I worked on a few other things. Because I had a feeling about Amazon, I took some of the butyl tape leftover from the vents and covered up everything reasonably well, so hopefully, even if it rains tomorrow, the rain won't get through the roof. Later I discovered baby birds in the Lost and Found box, which I hadn't look at in a long time. One got scared when I opened the lid and flew out, but I managed to catch him and put him back with the other two. When I checked later, they were all gone, so I guess Mama came and moved them. They can't have been flying for long, or maybe this was their first time, so I hope they're okay. I kept watching for Amazon, but they never showed up! Around 5:30 I finally climbed on the roof with my heavy tarp and covered up as much of the one remaining roof seam that runs from about the last third of the slideout to the attic, but couldn't cover the whole thing. There's maybe four or five feet over the horse compartment exposed, but I'm not too worried about that. I just hope it doesn't start rotting the walls! It was after 10:00 when I finally got a notice that the package was left in Jacksonville, and now they're expecting a Tuesday delivery! Crap! Maybe I'll get lucky and the rain will miss me, but the farmers sure do need it around here. Fingers crossed everything will hold out the water until I can get the rest of the sealing done. I also emptied and refilled the hot tub, it was getting kind of smelly and I didn't want to put up with that, even if it was only for another ten days. Of course, that meant it wasn't hot enough in the evening, so I just took my shower, now I'm having tea and just about ready for bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Woke up early, even got up a little early, but felt pretty tired, no doubt because of all the exertion and especially the heat the last few days. Decided to mostly rest today, since I can't do more on the roof until I get the lap sealant, which is scheduled for delivery tomorrow. Too tired anyway. Met Helen at Willards for lunch, since we didn't get to do it yesterday, and when I got back and relaxed in my recliner, I ended up napping for a bit. Skipped dinner (still trying to lose the weight I've gained since the holidays and my injured knee) and watched a great Matt Damon movie, Ford v. Ferrari, which you would have loved. Had to sort out a campsite issue, someone camped in the wrong site, and the rightful owner showed up and knocked on my door. Got it settled after a bit. Don't have those problems too often, but they're mostly easy to solve. That was about it! My usual hot tub and shower, headed to bed right after tea! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Had a busy day today, first getting a laser treatment at Val's, then a drive into Ocala to the SSA building where, miraculously, my 10:30 appointment actually happened at 10:32! When I walked in the place was packed, I figured I'd be waiting awhile, but they had quite a good system, and since all they wanted was to see my ID, I was only there for about five minutes. On my way back, I stopped at a hardware store (well, two, to get what I needed) because I had decided that it didn't make much sense to put fresh sealant over stripped screws, so first thing this morning, I went hunting for the type of screw that would work, and managed to find one, slightly bigger and longer, but worked like a charm. So on my way home, I picked up three 100-count packages to make sure I had enough. I postponed my usual lunch with Helen until tomorrow so I could get this job done today, which I almost did! I replaced all the bad screws, ran another coat of alcohol to clean it up, then finally got busy with the actual lap sealant. It worked beautifully! Unfortunately, I didn't have enough. I had bought four tubes for the vents, but that only took one tube, and I had another one already, so I had five to use. I hoped that would be enough, but it wasn't. I did managed to get about 3/4 of it done, and most importantly, the part around the AC. Last night after going to bed, I heard dripping and discovered that water was coming out of one of the light fixtures, so obviously the condensation was pooling and running through the roof to the ceiling. I had put some towels down, but on the other side of the AC, not where it was actually leaking. Anyway, I managed to get it mostly done, and I ordered another six tubes, since I still have to redo all the little components on the roof (besides the vents), like a couple of antennas and the sunroof over the shower, which I'll try to get done asap. Much smaller projects, so it shouldn't take as long (famous last words!) I did run the AC for awhile, though I waited almost the whole requisite four hours (before the sealant is deemed waterproof), and had the towels in the right place, so hopefully no water got in the ceiling. Exhausting, hot on the roof, but productive day! Had a relaxing evening, hot tub, shower and tea, ready for bed soon! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Another busy day, was on the roof before 9:00, starting where I left off using DeDe’s new blade, only to have the corner break off during the first ten minutes. Got another 10 or 15 minutes out of it before the other corner broke off. So much for my straight edge! I put the old blade back on and did my best, managed to just reach the end when it was time to leave for PT. Couldn’t get my AC working again, darn it, so it was a warm drive in. Arrived at PT and the therapist (the same one for the third time, guess they took my suggestion of not switching therapists every session!) asked me what happened, so I told him, and he suggested we skip the session and just do the discharge today, which was fine, since I was already sore from all the work I’ve doing on the roof, and have been taking ibuprofen since yesterday anyway. I headed over to Ace hardware for new blades, and made a fascinating discovery about the different thicknesses in blades, which explains a lot! The kit that DeDe opened up for me had blades that were something like .0016 thick, whereas the replacement blades that I was looking for were .22 thick! What a difference! No wonder the darn thing broke, it just wasn’t enough for this job. So I bought the thick blades, and when I got back and started using one on the roof, it made a huge difference. Stopped at HQ on the way back for a quick meeting with Logan to update him on my schedule, so that’s taken care of. So grateful they’re extending my contract! Whoo hoo! Climbed onto the roof again as soon as I got home. I brought out my faux Drexel and started to use that to get it really clean around the screws (probably overkill, but I really want to get this right!), but the battery didn’t go very far, so I ran an extension cord so I could charge it up there. Apparently I can’t use it when it’s plugged in, I have to wait for it to charge and unplug it. So I did the next step, which was tightening all the loose screws and wiping it all down with alcohol. I discovered that about four out of five screws were stripped. Not much I can do about those except cover them with a lot of sealant when the time comes! Managed to finish that step by about 5:15. I’m leaving the faux Drexel to charge, and tomorrow when I get back from my other appointments, I’ll hopefully finish the job off in the afternoon. I need to get it done, because I discovered a leak where the condensation from the AC is coming in. I put a towel around the base of it before coming down, but I evidently put it on the wrong side, because the water was coming in over the dining room table, right through an overhead light. Obviously I won’t be switching that on anytime soon! Hopefully it will dry out okay before I seal it up tomorrow, we don’t have any rain in the forecast until next week and even that is a pretty small chance. Took my hot tub and shower early, going to bed soon! Good night, babe! Love you!

Heya Babe,
What an exhausting day! But very productive. I was on the rood just after 9:00, and stayed up there until almost 4:00. The goal was to get as much prep work done as possible before I seal it with lap seal. I had a pipedream that I might get it done today, but, of course, that was wishful thinking. Step One was to use a stiff putty knife to scrape off the chunkiest of the old seal, then Step Two was to use the flat razor scraper to get the rest of it off. I managed to get Step One done and about 2/3 of Step Two before I really ran out of gas. I took three ibuprofens because I knew I would be in serious pain if I didn't. My scraper blade is pretty dull, and I couldn't find any new ones, but DeDe stopped by and brought me some. We visited for a while, and she's offered to help me with everything once I have the surgery, which is great, because Jo is going to be gone the first weekend after the surgery, so she can't help. After she left, I had dinner and my usual evening, more than ready for bed! I'm hoping to finish off the scraping, and maybe even Step Three, scrubbing down with mineral spirits, but that's probably a bridge too far, since I have to leave by 12:30 for my 1:00 PT appointment, which hopefully will be my last until after the surgery. I was told that they would be sending Home Health to me for the first couple of weeks afterward, which surprises me, sure hope my insurance pays for that! That's all I have energy for. Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hi Sweetie!
Finally, progress is made! Had my usual morning, then got ready to leave to go to the surgeon's office, but I had to mess around with my AC, still not working properly. I somehow managed to get it going, so I had a pleasant drive. The appointment went well, the PA did a good job of explaining everything, and the conclusion is that it's too complicated for the scope, it has to be either a partial or total knee replacement. They can't tell which until they get in there, apparently. But the good news is, the only delay is how long it takes to get the authorization, and Amy at that office figured two weeks would be plenty, so I'm scheduled for May 7, with the proviso that if we get the authorization sooner, we may be able to get the surgery done sooner. Can't be soon enough for me! Well, I shouldn't say that, because I do have a lot of stuff to do before I leave, but considering how much I'm doing now with a bad leg, it should be a piece of cake with a new knee! Well, once it heals a bit, anyway. The only issue was that they would like a CD of the MRI, which I didn't get, so after the appointment, I drove up to Gainesville to get it, and was happy that it only took me a few tries to get the AC working (pulling the fuse sort of works, but weird stuff is happening with the blower), then home after that. I feel much relieved that we're making progress, so much so that I bought the first of three airline tickets that I'll need. One was at the lowest price I've seen it, thanks go Google Tracker, but the other two are a bit higher at the moment, so I think I can afford to see if they drop again. I checked the seating and they're not too many seats taken so I figure I have time. So glad things are moving along! I'm going to have to get very busy to get everything done that I want to do before I leave. Happy days! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Woke up earlier than usual, but read for a bit, as usual. I reached out to a couple of haymakers because I am flat out of hay as of this morning, but the local guys were all sold out. I really didn't want to go to the feed store because of the markup, but on Marketplace I found some in Trenton, which is about 40 minutes from home, so I headed up there and picked up 18 big bales of very nice hay for just $8 each, a bargain for Florida, as you know. Got back to camp and just managed to put it away before I had to leave for PT. My AC wasn't working at all this morning, some more weird stuff is going on with it. Had my PT session, which was difficult because I had already done so much physical work with the hay, and I'm really only good for one physical job a day these days. Left there for Walmart just to get fuel, no AC again. Filled up, then did my old trick of pulling the fuse and putting it back in, an voila! This time it started. I'm beginning to think that the whole control panel replacement was a crock. Anyway, got home and settled down for the rest of the day, per my usual routine. Off to bed soon. Good night, babe! Love you!