February 5, 2016 More on the Shower Leak

Hi Everyone,
When I wrote about the repair on the shower being successful, I was speaking too soon!  The men were here on Thursday, and we thought all was well.  We let it "cure" or seal or whatever until Saturday morning.  When I first went into the bathroom, we saw water on the floor at the front corner outside the shower.  We hoped it was just a little residual from before, so I went ahead and took my shower....after which we had water running out into the hall again.  I called Brad and he said he would try to get back later that day.  As it turned out, he was not able to get here on Saturday, but to my surprise, he did show up later Sunday afternoon.  We showed him where we thought it might be leaking and he re-sealed the whole area.  Monday morning we got up and took showers again.............and there was a very significant leak into the hallway again.  We called Brad and he was back early in the afternoon.  He and his son checked the faucet connections inside the wall, and the drain connections under the shower.  They tightened and sealed everything they could find, and were ready to leave.....when water began leaking yet again.  After more searching and many body contortions, he spotted where the previous owners must have attempted a repair on the hot water intake hose, up inside the wall, by placing a coupling on it that was leaking a steady drip!!!!  He wanted to replace the entire piece of hose, but his connector would not fit on our faucet connections inside the wall............so he had to put a new coupling on our old hose and put it back in..........but it's been three days now, and a total of four showers later.............NO MORE LEAKS!!!!!  It was not an easy find or fix, but the hard working men of Miller RV Repair did not give up until the problem was solved.  Please consider calling them if you are in this area and need RV service.  As I said before, their rates are reasonable, and they will do whatever needs to be done to fix your problem.

When I wrote about the many electrical appliances we use to make our lives comfortable and save on propane usage, I forgot to mention one more that I would like to share with you today.  Last year we purchased the Ninja Nutrient Extractor Blender with Auto-IQ, and it is just wonderful.  

We use it to make fruit and vegetable smoothies that are delish!  We can also puree veggies to make a nice soup that we can heat up in the microwave.  Our microwave is not one of those combination micro/convection ovens.  It's just a plain old microwave, but I wouldn't ever want to be without it.  The first use of the day is to warm up the soft food for our dogs.  They each get a tiny amount of Little Cesar mixed with their grain-free dry dog food, but they won't touch it if it's cold!  We use the microwave to bake potatoes, make pop corn, make smores and much more.  I'm not saying the combo unit couldn't do all of these things, but just that we are happy with what we have.

Last night, like all the nights lately it has been very chilly, in the upper 30's over night.  This morning Jim saw a woman and small child get out of a pickup truck that they had slept in wrapped in blankets.  One could say that sleeping in the truck was better than sleeping on the hard, cold ground, but not a whole lot better.  Many areas of this country try to deny that they have homeless or people living below the poverty level.  It is not true, there are many unfortunate souls barely getting by.  Please look into your hearts and see what you might be able to do to help these people.  Maybe you can donate blankets or food to homeless shelters.  Maybe you can volunteer at a soup kitchen or at a church that feeds poor people.  It's easy to feel sorry for ourselves until we look at the less fortunate that are around us.  There will always be people who have more than we do, but if we have a roof over our heads and a warm bed to sleep in, if we have a few dollars in our pockets, and clothes to wear............we are more fortunate than millions of people in this world.  As a Christian, I cannot look the other way and pretend they don't exist.  I hope you feel the same way, and will do whatever you can.  Remember the phrase "There but for the Grace of God, go I".  Not every homeless person is a criminal or drug addict.  Many are either mentally ill or victims of the economic down turns.  Things like that could happen to anyone.

 On Tuesday we took the furry kids to see the doctor at Menifee Valley Animal Clinic.  They were both due for their rabies vaccines, and Willie was due for a combination vaccine.  We could have just gotten them vaccinated, but we decided we wanted them checked over and to see if we liked this doctor, for any future veterinarian needs.  He was very nice, and gave them very thorough exams.  He said that Millie has a congenital knee problem, and showed it to me so I can keep tabs on it.  IF it gets worse, she might need surgery, but at the present time, it is not necessary.  He also said the dogs are a little over weight.  Shame on us!  We have begun a diet for them of smaller portions.  We will also try to increase activity (walking) but we must balance that 
 against the need to prevent further injury to Millie's knee.  He said we shouldn't let her jump up and down off the furniture, but that will be a major challenge, since she loves to do that.  I'm not sure why visits to the vet and getting shots takes so much out of the dogs, but they always seem 
exhausted after a visit.  Here they are resting on our bed after they got back home.  I guess they were comforting each other for what they had been through.  LOL.  They both were quiet and rested a lot yesterday too.  I wouldn't call them lethargic, just not as peppy as they are most days.  I'll let you know how we do on helping them both lose some weight.  I expect we will lose weight too, well at least I can hope and try!   

We heard from our dear friend Rhonda this week.  She mentioned that her "new rig" was working out well, so I wrote back and said "wait a minute, I haven't heard about a new rig. Let's have some details."  She sent me a picture and said in November she bought herself a 36 foot Winnebago Vectra.  She is very happy with it.  For any of you who don't remember my writing about it, she lost her beloved and wonderful husband Wayne at the end of May last year to a dreadful pulmonary disease.  We met them when we all worked for the hot springs in New Mexico, and became good friends.  They visited us here at Wilderness Lakes when they were working at Anza Borrego, and again last January in Quartzsite, AZ.  Wayne was an awesome guy who is sorely missed.  They had been traveling in a big truck towing a very large 5th wheel trailer.  She has decided that a motorhome better suits her needs.  We are very happy for her, as we have always felt that a 5th wheel trailer is a lot of work to set up and tear down for travel.  She is currently in Pensacola, Florida, and we look forward to seeing her later this year when she heads west again.  She has our prayers and best wishes always.

Yesterday my brother Tony had a second surgery on his knee (sorry I can't remember which knee, but the first surgery didn't solve the problems and he still had a lot of pain in it).  He is at "home" in Culver City, with his lady, Jan, who is going to nurse him back to health.  Please pray for him that this surgery will make him as good as he can be again.

Bye for now.  Take care, keep warm and always count your blessings.  Have a great day and many, many more.