Thursday July 31, 2014

Thursday July 31, 2014: The last day of July, the summer is almost gone. This morning I got up at 0645 and after the at home routine I got on the Bad Boy and pedaled to Panera to get coffee and read the WSJ. I left at 0915 so I could make the 0955 pool time. I swam 30 minutes. It is 28 minutes from Tahoe to MVP. I came right home after the swim. At noon Nancy and AJ headed to Kathi’s house for a pool party. I loaded Ms P in the C2 and headed to the Vets. The Vet was behind schedule so I had to hold Ms P for 45 minutes. Ms P got her rabies shot. I took the shot certificate to the Kent County Animal Shelter and renewed her license for three years. I got a call today from the Doctor’s office saying my recent catscan showed a normal chest. Good news. I emptied the garage of all the carboard boxes left over from the move and headed to the recycle center. On the way I stopped at the post office to get a stop mail form. We are heading to LA next week for several days. Nancy and AJ got home about 1700. We had a light dinner. It is now 2055 and AJ is talking to Missy. Bed time will come soon.

Wednesday July 30, 2014

Wednesday July 30, 2014: Today is my easy day so I slept in until 0715. After a quick breakfast I took a 90 minutes bike ride. Todays route was Tahoe, Thornhills, 28th St, Cascade, Thornapple River Drive, Buttrick, 36th St, Cascade and home. This is a very hilly and scenic route. I had to use the granny gear several times. My other route, so far, includes Ada Drive and Spaulding. This also is a 90 minute ride. Nancy worked at the Gardens this afternoon. AJ and I went to a movie, How to Train Your Dinosaur, Part 2. AJ liked it but I gave it a C. After the movie it looked like rain so we headed home. At 1600 AJ, Ms P and I jumped in the Taurus and headed to the Gardens. Nancy’s shift ended at 1630. For dinner tonight we ate at Russ’s. Russ’s comfort food hit the spot. Our backward was a golf course. Tonight Ms P and I took a nice stroll along the fairways. We will watch some TV before turning in.

Tuesday July 29, 2014

Today ends Bob and Nancy's 41 year association with 1555 Mackinaw. I got up at 0630 and did calisthenics at 50% because I am meeting a trash hauler at 0800. We had a lot of items that were not sold or wanted by Goodwill. Nancy and I piled all this trash in the garage. I called the hauler at 0800 and he said that he was running late. I took advantage of the spare time to stop at the Hall Street Bakery for coffee and to purchase four cookies that were made yesterday and sold at 50%. I also stopped by the recycling center to unload my trunk of cardboard boxes. The trash man arrived at 1000 and it took him about 30 minutes to load his truck. I left the garage door opener on a shelf in the garage and drove off. 1555 Mackinaw is now history. Nancy and AJ visited a Cascade Twp Park and I got on my bike and took a bike ride around the neighbor. Nancy scheduled a horse back riding for AJ this afternoon. The riding stable is located on Patterson south of 76th. Nancy and I think AJ enjoyed her ride. We might do it again. I continue to clean my desk. I called Blue Cross to provide them with my new address. It took almost 30 minutes. For dinner tonight Nancy made ham and turkey sandwich. We also had potato salad. Nancy's sister, Peg, had surgery today to remove a brain tumor. The surgery took all day. Nancy was told that everything went well. Our prayers go out to Peg.

Monday July 28, 2014

Up at 0645, at home calisthenics, no swim but took 90 minutes bike ride. Love my granny gears, I can climb the Ada hills. Today the shades were installed. The condo is looking goOd. Later we piled into the Taurus and ran errands. First stop the DOLLAR TREE for a slinky. Stopped at Talsma Furniture searching for kitchen table. Found potential table, Nancy is reviewing. Last stop Costco, bought paper supplies and had lunch. AJ hah pizza and I had a hot dog. At home fixed Grand father clock, and placed shelves. We have carbon filter that removes chlorine from water. It is a scam. Called to remove. Removal next Monday. Got in C2 and ran errands. We had light dinner and are spending a quiet evening at home. I think we are having a very cool July.

Sunday July 27, 2014

Finally I am caught up. I can start writing daily blogs. I did forget to mention in my previous multi day blog that last Thursday or maybe Wednesday I was called by Barb at SCECO (LSE) about the River Street Bridge project. It has been a long time since I visited the Office and it was good to see Barb, Ryan and Fred. Sunday: I went swimming today. Nancy stayed home with AJ. After the swim I headed home and we loaded up the Taurus and headed to Meijer's. AJ's sweet tooth was acting up so we bought her a donut. Nancy fixed her world famous scrambled eggs for breakfast. I took a nap and Nancy and AJ went shopping. After the nap I spent some time going through all the equipment that came with the condo. The previous owner did not like chlorine in his water so he bought a charcoal filter. The filter was expensive and I do not think it is necessary. I will call the supplier and have him shut it off. I like chlorine. I spent several hours cleaning off my desk and paying bills. We plan on spending a quiet evening at home. AJ will continue her art project and us big folks will read the GRP. Nancy is fixing sloppy joes for dinner. Tomorrow the window shades will be installed.

Saturday July 26, 2014

Catch up time for Bob and Nancy: The last blog was Wednesday July 2. We have spent a hectic two and a half weeks. Our biggest problem has been lack of internet. The following is a quick catchup. Thursday July 3, AT&T said our phones at Tahoe would be activated. Big laugh! We rented a van from U-Haul. It was a new model and easy to drive. U-Haul gets an A. We continue to load the van and make trips to the condo. July 4 and we watched the Hollyhock Lane Parade. It was kind of sad because this is our last year as members of this community. We had breakfast at Hall Street Bakery. We loaded the van and made several trips to the condo. Saturday July 5: We had breakfast at Anna’s. I loaded the van for a final time and then turned it in. Still no ATT and no phone. Sunday July 6: Today is our last day at 1555 Mackinaw. Forty one years of great memories. Kim took Ms P today. The moving might stress her out. Monday July 7: Moving day. We hired “Two Men and a Truck” and they did a great job. The total time for the move was about 8 hours. I turned in all our gear from Comcast today. Kim came today and help with the move and clean up. Tuesday July 8, We start unpacking and settling in. Tonight we worked the concert at the Gardens. When we got home Ms P welcomed us. Wednesday July 9, Breakfast Club Wednesday. PC Specialist came and set up our computers. He talked to ATT and we would have phone and internet by Friday. Clean Sweep came today and took a big load of trash from 1555 Mackinaw. I drove Nancy to bookclub and then had pizza at Fred’s. Thursday July10: I had a morning appointment with Dr Santos the eye nerve specialsit. I have a problem with my immune system. I started taking pills today. Larry Fill who is handling the estate sale came and set up. We had dinner at Sundance. Friday July 11: ATT promises service today. The security folks, EPS, came and upgraded our alarm system. At 0900 I get in the C2 and headed to Gaylord. My cousin Ann passed away and we are attending her funeral. Got to Gaylord about 1230 and we immediately head to Alpena. Funerals are a sad occassion and Ann’s death was no exception. Ann was one of five girls of my Uncle Jim Scott and Aunt Ruth. Ann was 73 and the middle girl. Her sister Joan, 79, passed away a month earlier in RI. We did have an opportunity to talk with Ann’ sisters and their families. Helen, Don and I drove around Alpena. It has not changed much. We had dinner in Alpena at John Laws. I spent the night in Gaylord. I called Nancy and she said no ATT. Saturday July 12: Left Gaylord about 0800 and drove home. Today Art Van delivered our new box spring and mattress. This evening we had dinner at Bagger Daves. Bagger Daves is less than a mile from the condo. Our TV supplier is Direct TV. We have watch several movies on HBO. Sunday July 13: Back to normal. We did our Sunday morning swim at MVP. We shopped at Meijer’s. We now shop at the Cascade Meijer’s. Nancy fixed her world famous scrambled eggs for breakfast. Afternoon nap etc. Monday July 14: Rode my bike to MVP. It is 3.5 miles vs 4.5 miles for the Mackinaw address. The phones are now working but still no internet. ATT promises a service man will stop by Tuesday or Wednesday. Tuesday July 15: No ATT. I pedaled to MVP. I take sidewalks all the way. I have been downloading WSJ at MVP which has free wi-fi. Every day we spend some time either shopping for the condo or putting away items we moved from Mackinaw. Wednesday July 16: My easy day. Nancy and I take turns waiting for the ATT service man. In the afternoon I took a bike trip around the neighborhood. Cascade Twp has a series of nice paved bike paths. The trails in Cascade and Ada Twps are much steeper than the old neighborhood. At 1800 I met the window installer at Mackinaw and he put in a new bay window. We have now completed the repairs requested by the new owners. Thursday July 17: At 0800 I had a catscan. The doctor wants to look at my thymus. We had dinner at the Gippers a sports bar about 0.5 miles from the condo. The food was good. Yesterday Nancy was told that ATT had no internet service in the area. How can a communications company be so incompetant. Friday July 18: I pedaled to MVP for my swim. When I got home I called ATT internet. Now I am told that an internet slot is available. We will have service on Monday. We stopped by Lowe’s and bought a deck table and chairs. The table is too large for our car so we were told to rent a truck from Lowe’s. Easier said than done. Our credit card was rejected even though it worked when we purchased the table and chairs. We went home empty handed. Saturday July 19: We had breakfast at Anna’s. After breakfast we stopped at U Haul and rented a van. We drove to Lowe’s and purchased the deck table and chairs. The whole operation took less than an hour. In the afternoon I took a bike ride. I stopped at Ada Bike and bought a 27 speed bike. Now I can easily made it up the hills. I also assembled the new deck table. We had dinner at the Namy’s. It was just the four of us. We had a very pleasant evening. Sunday July 20: Swim at MVP and shop at Meijer’s. Nancy fixed her world famous scrambled eggs. We ate out on the deck. I took a nap and then made several trips to ACE Hardware to get some light switch face plates. An ATT repairman stopped by and said everything was ok. However, he could not turn on the internet service. I took a long walk around the neighborhood. It was a pleasant walk. Nancy fixed ham sandwiches for dinner. It is now 1942 and I am sitting out on the deck finishing this blog. Monday July 20, 2014: The day started normally with the at home calisthenics and then the bike ride to MVP. I did stop at Panera to download my email and the WSJ. The pool was crowded this morning. I waited 10 minutes to get a lane. AJ and Missy are scheduled to arrive around four today. However, like all things lately the flight did not get in until 1800. It was good to see Missy and AJ. We had dinner at Olga’s in EGR. Tuesday July 21, 2014: Got up at 0500 in order to get Missy to airport. Nancy and AJ went swimming at Kathi’s pool this afternoon. Nancy worked the concert at Meijer’s Garden this evening. AJ and I spent about two hours in the children’s area of the Gardens. Nancy fixed a picnic dinner so we ate and watched the concert. Wednesday July 23, 2014: I attended Breakfast Club this morning. Came right home because Nancy had a Doctor’s appointment this morning. Still no internet but ATT keeps promising. Nancy worked at the Gardens this afternoon and AJ and I visited the Zoo. The place was very crowded. The Estate Sale starts today. Thursday July 24, 2014: Calisthenics this morning but no swim or bike ride. Estate Sale ended at 1300 today. Nancy met with Larry Fill, the Estate Sale manager, and he said everything went well. AJ and I went over to 1555 Mackinaw and helped Nancy box up and move all the items that were not sold. Goodwill said that all items they pick up must be on the ground floor. We spent several hours moving furniture from either the basement or second floor to the ground floor. Not a pleasant job. For dinner Nancy fixed pasta with tomato sauce. We sat out on the deck and ate. Friday July 25, 2014: I had to meet the Overhead Door folks this morning to fix our west garage door. They arrived at noon and fixed the door in about 10 minutes. I found time at 1000 to pick up my new bike. It is a Cannordale “Bad Boy”. We had two very heavy items in the basement so we hired a local boy to help us move. Goodwill came about 1430 and took everything that remained. We had dinner at Culver’s. Nancy and I both gave it a C. AJ liked the ice cream. Saturday July 26: Nancy and I drove separately to 1555 Mackinaw. We met the new owners and gave them a tour. This afternoon Nancy and AJ are attending a pool party at Kathi’s pool. I took out the Bad Boy on a ride of 90 minutes. I needed the Granny gears to get up several hills. It is now 1558 and I am sitting out on the deck typing this blog. Nancy and AJ should be home soon. A final note: Ken our computer guru got our internet working. It appears that ATT dropped our internet account. However, Nancy still has a glitch. She get get on the net but no email. I am ok

Wednesday July 2, 2014

I was at the condo at 0800. A service man from the Security came and reset the monitor in the lower level. The alarm system is now 100%. Kim, our cleaning lady, came and continued cleaning. Nancy was busy filling shelves. Nancy had to work at the gardens this afternoon so she headed home about 1100. I moved boxes from the Condo's garage to the lower level. I continued making trips from Mackinaw to Tahoe. The weather has made a dramatic change. Today we had the coldest July 2 on record. I gathered up all the metal I had in the garage. I accumulated this metal over the years. Tomorrow I will take it to the scrap yard. I might get $50 if I am lucky. The Home Inspector hired by the new owners of 1555 Mackinaw found a leak in one of our front window. We had ordered a replacement. The replacement window was shipped from Ohio but the supplier in GR has not received it yet. I spent several hours trying to find the window. No luck so far. I had cereal and a fried egg sandwich for dinner. Most of our dishes and silverware have been moved to the condo. We will use paper plates for about a week. Stay tuned.

Tuesday July 1, 2014

Another busy day getting the condo ready. I met the painter at 0800. He finished the lower level painting. We have many items that must be moved. These items can easily be moved by us. Two Men and a Truck will move just the furniture. I rented a van from U-Haul. It is much bigger than I thought but is very driver friendly. I made several trips from Mackinaw to Tahoe. Nancy spent a lot of time cleaning and filling shelves in the kitchen and bathrooms. It appears that the carpet installers dislodged a monitor in the lower level so I did not set the alarm system last night. For dinner we finished the sloppy joes from Sunday. We watched NCIS reruns and then dragged ourselves upstairs.