The tale of the washer continues.....

June 6 – I thought today was going to be boring and I’d have lots of time to work on some projects I brought along, but it just never works out that way.  I had to take Bill to the maintenance shed at 8:30 to get his mower and he spent all day mowing and still isn’t done.  The mower broke down twice.  First a wheel fell off and they put it back on, then later it just stopped and they had to tow it back to the shed and he drove up another one and finished the area he was working on.  He was so filthy and disgusting.  He was covered from head to toe with red clay dust.  Most of what he was cutting is very spotty with grass to say the least.  He had to wear a bandana over his nose and mouth like a cowboy on a cattle drive.

So after I delivered Bill and had my breakfast I planned my dinner menu, then sorted the laundry since no matter what, I had to wash 3 loads today.  We had one guest leave a day early so I went out and cleaned and raked the site and later Terry brought our reservations tickets and I went back around and put out our 8 that arrive on Friday.  I was going to shovel out around a broken sprinkler but since Terry ran them for 2 hours last night it was just mud.

I watered my plants and looked at adding rope lights to the ones we already have out, but the connections are not the same, naturally!  Bill called to tell me he’d be home shortly and to have his lunch ready as he was too dirty to come inside and would eat at the picnic table.  Just before I started to make it, the appliance guy came, with his very pregnant wife, to look at my washer.  She said they had a doctor’s appointment in Durango and it was easier for her to go with him all day than for him to drive back to Pagosa Springs and get her and then an hour or more to Durango.  It’s their first and she thinks she could go any time so I think she’s going to ride with him every day.  Bill came, got fed and headed back out.  The washer needs a motor.  I remembered Southeast Steel, where I bought it, said I had an extended warranty on some parts.  The tech said the motor would be expensive so he will call tomorrow with the amount and for me to contact the warranty people and we’d figure out who was paying for what.  Then I spent the next 45 minutes making calls and still have nothing resolved.  The warranty people need the part number and the guy didn’t give it to me so I left a message at his office during lunch time and no one called back, so that’s where I will start in the morning.  He also said the washer would need to be taken outside for him to work on it and he has a bad back and can’t do it.  It’s really heavy as Mark and Kurt struggled to get it in the first time.  Now it’s got to be taken out and put back.  I hope some of the guys here can give us a hand as Bill has a bad back also and I’m not as strong as a man to help lift it out, up and over the bed, down the 3 steps and out the door and down 3 more steps.  Always another problem.

After I had some lunch I took the kitchen drawer out that was so hard to slide and emptied it and the bottom was coming apart at the back and items were sliding out and apparently got it off track a bit.  I didn’t have the right materials to repair it but made do with one tiny screw and one brad.  We will stop at Home Depot tomorrow for some parts for that and to tack a piece of ceiling trim back up.  I hung my other hook I had by the stove to hang a dish towel on.  Then it was time to head to the laundry.  Ugh!  I loaded the truck and drove up and got it all going.  I did get my checkbook balanced, well, it was .20 off and I wasn’t in the mood to look for it, so as far as I’m concerned it balances.  It was hot out and we had a nice breeze so to speed up the drying process I put some things in the dryer here and strung a line from our shelter to our tree and hung up some.  It dried faster than the dryer load so I did a second batch and a second load in the dryer. 

About to get a drink

Yum!!!

I decided I could get some better photos of my humming bird with the camera part of our video camera so I sat out there and zoomed in and did get some closer photos but they don’t print as well.  I also got the swallow parents that nest in our shelter.  Mama was in the nest and dad was standing beside it.  No one has eaten from my bird feeder at all.  I’ll need to refill the hummingbird nectar as I think the wind loosened the feeder and some has run out.  I can’t let them feed somewhere else!

Bill was a tired puppy when he was finished for the day.  Xena and I drove the Mule down to pick him up from maintenance and he couldn’t wait to get a shower.  He said he has more to mow but it will be Monday or Tuesday before he can since we’re off tomorrow and Friday and it makes too much dust to mow when we have lots of guests here.

For dinner I marinated to boneless pork chops in mojo crillo and grilled them on the George Foreman.  I made brown rice pilaf and fresh lemon dill green beans.  I made another rhubarb crisp with the rest of the crumbs I made and the rest of the rhubarb.  Maybe we will find more tomorrow in Durango.  We walked Xena after dinner and then had our dessert and watched our new season of shows on TNT.  I dialed into RWA and got some data I need to work on the rest of my contracts.  Would like to finish them this weekend and get that project completed so I can move on to some others I brought.

June 7 – It was our day off so no hurry to get up, but we did want to leave for Durango by 10.  We had smoothies for breakfast and gathered our lists and a bottle of water.  We made arrangements with Rebecca to take Xena out twice while we were gone so we stopped and gave her a key and let her know we only had one site vacating that she would need to check on.  On the drive into Durango we saw several dead prairie dogs along the road.  No deer or armadillos, just tiny little defenseless prairie dogs.  We did see some live ones scurry across to get out of our way.

It was a shopping day, but not a leisurely, take your time and look kind of day.  First stop was Home Depot for nails, brads and wall anchors.  Then Bill dropped me at Wal-Mart to buy my non-perishables and drop off his prescription while he was across the street getting a new SIM card in his phone.  That took a while as he had to wait about 30 minutes for his turn, then we headed to Nature’s Oasis.  They have a nice deli that we wanted to try and I bought some bulk corn meal.  I had a salad similar to what they serve at Panera but it had way more goat cheese, cranberries and nuts on it, but it was deli chicken, not grilled.  Bill had his first pressed Tuna Melt.  He liked it well enough that he said we needed to come back there for lunch as it was better that last week’s BBQ.  We went to a TINY used book store and when I say tiny, I mean it, but it is so packed with shelves and books you could not go in if you were claustrophobic.  Even the small porch has milk crates stacked and full of books.  I didn’t find anything I was interested in but Bill did manage to find 3.  Actually he got a bit discouraged at how things were double stacked and not totally in order.  Not nearly as orderly as Book Rack at home.

We knew City Market was going under renovation but not sure when they were starting so we drove down to it and it’s in the process until the 17^th so made a stop at Albertson’s instead.  Bill was very pleased to see Bing cherries and huge blackberries in the cart  -- only because they were on sale!  We made a quick stop at the mall at Bath and Body Works so I could use my coupon that was due to expire and then to the movies.  Storyteller Stadium 9 is just off the mall lot and has very little parking for a 9 theatre location.  We found a great spot on the street.  We went to see “Battleship” with Liam Neeson, Rhianna and I don’t know who the others were.  For a bit of futuristic stuff in it, it was pretty good.  Some romance, some nostalgia, some comedy and very patriotic, I’d give it a 6.  Heading out of town we hit Wal-mart for our perishables, the car wash and a fuel stop then headed home.  I had planned leftovers for dinner, so it was easy to make salads and Bill had the tortellini and I had the chicken.

Bill lost all of his phone numbers when they changed his SIM card so he’s been tracking them from his “recent calls” and some from my phone, now to input them all.  He was not a happy camper.   When we got back we had a new guest and the one that was leaving just changed spots.  We have one leaving tomorrow, but it’s our day off so don’t know if we will clean it or let our coverage couple do it.  We need to borrow an 8ft ladder from maintenance so I can repair the awning; then in the afternoon if the weather is conducive we will inflate the kayak and go out for our maiden voyage.

Oh, I almost forgot  -  the tech called about the washer and said the motor was $600.  I called the warranty people and they said they have one in stock that we don’t have to pay for, but it would only be $160 if we did.  So I worked on coordinating the shipping of the part to the appliance people and have hopes of them receiving it by Wednesday so we can get it installed.  We have to pay the trip charge and labor only.  At $600 we’d be getting a new one!