June 30, 2010 - Wayne's Last Workday!

Monday and Tuesday have been horribly busy for Wayne and today probably won't be much better. Many credits to review and decision so this last "half" week is no picnic for him. Today at lunch we talked about how it almost isn't real yet. I think it will take about 9-14 days of travel and some distance between us and Tennessee to make it feel right.

It is a great day!

The Final Weekend in Franklin

At last the final weekend and the last three workdays for Wayne. The weather is miserable hot with humidity and frequent late afternoon thunderstorms. On Friday morning and again Sunday morning, before the heat became oppressive, we took a load of heat resistant things to the motorhome. We fired up the generator and enjoyed putting things away.

The house remains sparce with buyers waiting for us to relinquish the bedroom, Wayne's recliners and the file cabinet. The previous three days I pulled together enough stuff to have a final inside moving sale. Using the cardboard boxes Kim gave us, I assembled makeshift counters and displayed my wares. On Wednesday afternoon, I sold about $100 worth and then another $100 the following day. I'd promised to hold a few things for a group of college students who came by on Friday afternoon. As soon as they left with their $30 worth of goods, I began disassembling the display, putting the remaining items into boxes for the Salvation Army. Wayne has had some good success with yet another fellow who can wear his clothes. Thomas came back for four shopping sprees, leaving us with less than a half-dozen suits, two sport coats and some sweaters. On Saturday, a young man came by and bought 2 of the last sportcoats. They were a little small on him, but he bought them anyway. That was good.

Old Folks Walking

Sometime in early June, I'm not sure of the date, we began taking 30 minute walks each evening after supper. This is a routine not completely unfamiliar to us as we walked religiously for a year while we lived in Boca Raton. Wayne's recent bloodwork shows continuing elevated cholesterol and his doctor is starting to think seriously about recommending medication. We won't go down without a fight though as we've committed ourselves to a more "hearth healthy" diet and exercise along with some weight loss.

Calendar note: Today would have been Mother's 89th birthday. She's been gone almost two years now and I still miss her and think about her every day.

100 Degrees and It's Not Summer Yet

For over a week, the area temperatures have been in the 90's with heat indexes making it feel like 100 + degrees. Oh, and we're down to this many days...

Loading Continues...

Lots of things to load into the motorhome. Blackie is full already and there's plenty more after that. We're at the 15 day mark now and the house is nearly bare. I have buyers for the last bedroom set, Wayne's leather recliner and his bedroom chair. Only the sofa, armoire and TV are left in the "real furniture" category.

Cullum-Maxey's TC Team

Tom Cartwright and Tonya Chambliss

Refrigerator: Fixed

The heating element for the motorhome refrigerator came in and has been installed. The apparent rear slide-out leak couldn't be found so there was nothing the technicians could fix about it. We're going to pick her up today at noon. During these last two weeks, we'll finish loading and be ready to go during the first few days in July!

Retirement Haircuts: Cool For Summer!

Wayne is an official "burhead" since his haircut Sunday. My own hair is about 3/4" but seems longer because it's soooo thick. No time for hair styling; our days will soon be filled with naps, bike rides, eating and sharing health ailments with other old people.

To Store Or Not To Store: That Is The Question

With virtually everything sold, we're beginning to see now exactly what will be left when we vacate the house. Most important to us: Photographs and family history. Cam doesn't have the space, Chad doesn't seem interested and Cara isn't able to take these items so we're left to decide how to dispose of them. Permanently in anticipation of never taking on a household again or temporarily in case we decide, in the future, to house them again for our personal enjoyment? We lean in one direction one minute, another direction in the next minute. If we store them, the cost to us will be $600 - $850 yearly. If/when something happens to us, these things must be dealt with by the children without further input from us so... do we want to spend money to store them now? If not, what do we do with them?

More New Stuff

UPS delivered the replacement nozzle for the Sani-Con late yesterday. This should allow us to screw the system onto the sewer opening instead of having to hold it in place. Sure hope it works.

The bicycle cover, awning extension and coiling water line were received at Columbia Campers yesterday so I drove down this morning to pick them up. Sweet Kim gave me a stack of boxes left over from their recent move. She and Jerry loaded them for me too. We will certainly miss this terrific group of people while we're traveling.

The new Garmin 465T came in today's mail. The features of this model impress me and it will be nice to have our width, height, length and weight acknowleged as we travel.

As usual, I'm excited to try everything so I'm really looking forward to getting Mona back. Haven't heard anything yet though...

Waiting For Parts

We're waiting for a heating element to come in for Mona's refrigerator. It's on order and shouldn't take long to install once it's received at Cullum-Maxey.

Strolling Down Memory Lane

Yesterday I enjoyed a visit with my very dear friend and schoolmate, Marilyn. The 2-hour drive to her home was a relaxing escape from the near obsessive downsizing project I'm in these days. Hours of reminiscing about our years in high school, punctuated by a delicious lunch and a swim in the pool was just the ticket! Driving home, I played (very loud) a cd of music from that time. When I got home, all was back to present day.

"We'd Like Our Senior Discount, Please"

Getting in practice...

Three old men meet on the corner.
First one says, "Windy isn't it?"
Second one replies, "Nope. It's Thursday."
Third one says, "Me too. Let's have a beer."

Can't wait for retirement.

"We're On Fixed Income"

Today we applied for Wayne's Social Security benefits!

Sani-Con Nozzle Problem

The nozzle on our Sani-Con mascerator (poop blender) is disgusting. Oh, it's plenty clean enough. It's just that the threaded cap is about 3" and all the sewer ports are 4" so Wayne has to sit on a little stool and hold the nozzle over the sewer opening while we dump the tanks. Last week I learned that Thetford makes the Sani-Con system and we can order, for $27.40 a new replacement 4" nozzle.

Full-Timer Mottos --

• A house is a pile of stuff with a cover over it.

• Fly first class. If you don't, your heirs will.

Termite Inspection

Our sellers termite inspection was done on the house today and it was, of course, clear. I spoke briefly the buyer's agent who said everything appears to be moving right along.

Another Columbia Campers Visit

I took a quick drive to Columbia this morning, taking the 35' 50 amp cord and the connector plug for Nathan to attach. Despite Jerry's instruction, it's a task Wayne's just not willing to undertake. While there, Kim and I discussed three items we need. She's ordering a nylon bicycle cover, a self-coiling fresh water hose and an awning extension shade. I'll make another trip down to pick them up when they're delivered.

ERR 13 is Refrigerator Speak for "Trouble"

At the start of the Montgomery Bell weekend trip and again when we began the Memorial Day trip, the refrigerator gave an error 13 message which translates to "trouble" for Mona. Looking through the Dometic owners manual, it seems the previous owners also had received this message. The freezer cools right away, but the refrigerator takes about 36 hours to begin to cool down. That's long enough for all the meats to go bad. Once it cools down, it seems to be okay, but we can't take a chance with it when we're full timing, so we'll take Mona into Cullum-Maxey today to have it checked out. We'll also ask the techs to check the air bags as the coach seems to sit high on the driver's side. There's also a leak somewhere around the rear of the curb side slide in the bedroom as the carpet was wet when we began the last two trips. It's always something. I'm sure that extended warranty will be put to good use.

Home Inspection

While we're on our Memorial Day camping trip, the buyer's inspection of the house will be made. It's scheduled for 9 am today, Friday, May 28.