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