Author: Gary Kessler

Gary’s post: Less madness yesterday and today. Yesterday was my contractor hauling dirt into the property to build up the pad for the house. As I said earlier, we’re going to build it up 3′ to keep the foundation out of the flood plain for FEMA. That will reduce our insurance quite a bit.

From the picture, we’re at about 7 piles of dirt. They are going to move more on Monday and Tuesday which should bring us to 21 piles of dirt. Then the contractor will bring in the front loader, spread it, compact it and leave about a foot of extra dirt to spread on top of the blanket. Our GC is going to spread a blanket and insulation over the pad, then cover it with more dirt which will keep the house from moving and the slab dry and warmer. That will help keep the floors warmer in the house. My GC has ordered the wall panels and windows for April. That would imply that by May we should have a shell up and a roof. Pretty exciting.

Got some rain last night, about .05″ with a couple of lightning strikes. That’s one feature I like about the Tempest weather station is that it detects lightning strikes and determines how far away they are. In NM, monsoon season is rich with lightning and NM has one of the highest incidents of lightning behind Florida. Crazy stuff. This morning was a light dusting of snow. Now we have dirt that’s just wet enough to stick to your shoes and the dogs’ paws. Time to get out the wet mop and mop the floors of the trailer.

Speaking of dogs, finally got them schedule with a vet for some shots, heartworm meds and checkup. I’ll take them to the vet on 3/18 after I get back from Orlando. We’ll feel much better once they have a checkup and are groomed. Here, there is heartworm which will kill them. And we live below 5k feet, so there are critters that will give them all sorts of diseases if they are not vaccinated. I’m waiting for them to tangle with the skunk that’s living under my brother-in-law’s mobile home. That’ll be a treat.

Today is just some routine stuff. Grocery shopping, get some breakfast and then focus on taxes. Probably do some wine tasting at the local winery and do more updating of our EV. We’re considering getting a side-by-side UTV to ride with Wendy’s brother. I believe I talked about that a couple of blogs ago. For those interested, I think we’re focusing in on this particular vehicle:

Holds two people, turbo charged and should be a ton of fun to drive over the ditch banks and trails. We’re thinking that we can take this to Moab and do some riding there also. Will probably have to get a spare tire and some racks to carry gas. We’ll see.

Enough for today. Need to get going and feed us and get shopping done. Enjoy the weekend and every moment you have with family and friends.

Take care everyone.

Gary’s post: Yesterday started the process of building out house. We had 5 piles of dirt delivered before the wind got so bad that they quit. It was blowing the dirt to the next pasture. Crazy wind again, 55mph gusts. I expect today will be more dirt delivery and the front loader to the property. My general contractor posted the worksite sign and order the porta-potty for the property. That’ll all get delivered next week. I’ll be interested to see how much work gets done while I’m out of town.

Not much happened yesterday, it was a crazy day to be outside with all the wind. It does get bad here during the spring. Air quality was terrible with all the blowing dust. There was a dust storm advisory for Albuquerque and Los Lunas yesterday – the air was brown. It’s crazy how the weather here dominates the news so often. Driest winter on record here – no precipitation since November 17th. 100+ days. Hoping for some rain today and tomorrow with snow in the forecast. I’ve been graveling the main areas that we walk on to help eliminate the mud issues when it does snow.

And with the warmer weather comes the weeds. I’ve been spraying them with some serious herbicide, and they just seem to think it’s fertilizer. I can’t kill them. I’m only doing the gravel areas and letting them grow where there’s dirt. Keeps the dust down. I am targeting the sticker bushes – they get these nasty spikey seeds in Harps fur which are a pain to get out.

Going to get the dogs a Vet appointment today for week after next. Once I get back from Orlando, I’ll focus on getting our support set up – dog sitting, dentist, doctors and vets. We’ll need that going forward so that travel and appointments are more routine. It’ll be a pain getting doctors here, but patience and persistence will be the keys.

Jaret is somewhere in Moab, camping. He’s having fun but not enjoying the snow and wind up there. Fortunately, he has a truck camper on the back of his Tundra which keeps him warm at night. He’ll do some mountain biking today and tomorrow and then head to Filmore to start his new job on Monday. Finally, hopefully, he’s found his place in the world. Looking forward to hearing how he’s doing. He does keep in close contact with his sister, so that’s a good thing.

Lauren is looking to buy some property in Utah as a second home to get away from the stupidity in Seattle. That would be excellent for us and Jaret. She’d be closer and we would see her more often which would warm my heart. I miss her and Matt and his family. I’ll be going back to Seattle in April, but Matt and his family will be in Europe. It’s so good for the grand children to travel, and I’m glad that Step pushes Matt to travel with the family. It opens their minds and hearts.

With more room in the RV now, I can get back to doing my basic exercises until the house is finished and we can create a workout room. Thinking about getting another outbuilding and making it Wendy’s workout room and she shed. We’ll see how much space I have in the shop once it’s cleared out. For today, it’ll just be some basic stuff to get the muscle mass back.

We’re thinking about getting a side-by-side to take out into the desert and trails. There’s lots of open space and desert here for outdoor activities and trail riding. My brother-in-law has his and he seldom rides it since his wife passed. We’re thinking if we get one, he’ll ride with us, and we can get him out of the house and start his rehabilitation. It’s not standard therapy but just getting him interested in life again would be progress. We’ll see how that plays out.,

It’s that time again, to get ready for the day. Lots of work to do and errands to run. Dunno what the contractors have planned, but my GC will probably call around 7:30am with the plan for the day.

Happy Friday to those who are reading this blog. I wish you all a great weekend and slow down to enjoy your loved ones and every moment. Take care.

Gary’s post: Sad day today. Jaret left yesterday and we’re watching his dog, Juni. She’s pretty bonded to him, but she’s also bonded to me. She’s on the sofa, missing her person. Lots of love and attention for the next week and she’ll get better.

More wind today as a massive cold front moves through. We were supposed to get dirt yesterday but that didn’t happen because the contractor was behind on the job in front of us. With the wind today, which is supposed to be worse than Monday, I doubt we’ll see any progress today. Tomorrow is supposed to be rain, but that changes every two minutes. In NM, if you don’t like the weather, just walk 20 ft and it’ll change.

Today doesn’t have a lot of meetings, so I can focus on getting some work done. With the wind, it’s not fun going outside, especially if there’s blowing dirt. Supposed to take out the garbage to the curb but I’m considering passing this week. If it’s blowing a lot, Hwy 47 will be covered with our garbage. Not a good look and a traffic hazard. I’ll probably run it out to the curb and if the wind picks up, I’ll go check on it to make sure it doesn’t get blown all over the place.

Now that we have our trailer back but with an extra dog, we can clean a bit this weekend and wipe down the fine dirt. I REALLY need to get the dogs to the vet for their heartworm and shots. Both of them need an allergy shot and some supplements to help with dry skin and scratching. Harp as a grooming appointment in two weeks, so bath and haircut. I’ll try and get Juni in for the same, so she gets cleaned up. It’s hard because of all the dirt, the dogs just lay in it and play in it so it’s everywhere. This fall, I’m going to really work on getting the pasture and dirt planted in grass, so we don’t have all the dirt blowing around.

I’ve been thinking about buying myself a compact tractor instead of using my father-in-laws. In reality, I think it makes sense for me to take his tractor into the dealer and get it completely serviced along with a hydraulic service which should update it, and it’ll work better. Jim is good at taking care of his equipment, but he’s not as anal as I am about maintenance. And with his stoke, it’s really hard for him, so I’ll take care of it for him.

We’re learning about how different it is to drive an EV. Last night we went through the videos. You don’t think about all little things that effect range. And with ICE (Internal Combustion Engines), weather does not play a huge effect. With an EV, weather plays a huge role in range an on the battery. These batteries like 70 degrees, so the car works hard to keep the battery at 70. And there’s preconditioning, driving technique, how heating you use all of those use energy from the battery which reduces range. So, for now this car seems to get about 220 miles which takes the battery to about 20%. She has to charge it every other day. That’s very really different than her XC40 which is a tank of gas once a week. And with this car, it’s almost like you should just plug it in whenever you’re not driving it because it’s using power to keep the battery warm or cool, monitor the surrounding area and attaching to Wi-Fi. It’s essentially a computer on wheels. Fun to drive, nimble and great for around town. It’s a different experience and you think about the car differently. More things to consider.

Time to get ready for the day. Wind, wind and more wind. Tiresome just as much as the constant rain and cold in Seattle. Everyplace has its issues. If you’re reading this, take care today, enjoy the moments and breath. Life is too short to miss any moments.

BYLTR – Blog You LaTeR….. 🙂

Gary’s post: Today starts the dirt work on our house. Super exciting. We get a lull in the windstorms today, so hoping that we can get all the dirt dumped. The dirt work is to create a compressed building pad that’s 3′ above the current grade. That will take the house out of FEMA flood plain and reduce our insurance. Once the pad is compressed, then the plumbers come in and place the plumbing rough outs and the foundation is poured.

On the flip side, our youngest leaves today for his wildland firefighting training. He’s going north to Moab to spend a few days camping with some friends and doing mountain biking. Then he’s headed to Filmore, Utah for 8 months. He’ll be leaving his dog, Juni with us until he’s done. Hard on the dog as she’s really sensitive and bonded to him. I’m sure she’ll transition as she’s been with us for two years before this and it’ll be good for Harp.

Things are beginning to become a bit more routine, so that’s good. Hard to get Itron work done though as there’s always something happening that needs attention. This weekend will be cold with snow, which is rare here. That’ll limit what we can get done outside and in the “Where House” to organize things. We need to move all our wine into my brother-in-laws house until our place is built. That was supposed to happen this weekend. On the flip side, if it’s crummy and cold, then I’ll do taxes this weekend and get them off my plate. And I can get ready for Orlando travel on Wednesday.

I ordered some hydrant socks for the water hydrants that supply the RV. I was trying to keep them from freezing when it gets cold. I checked on the shipping as they are late. Well, typical Amazon, they shipped from Texas, arrived in Albuquerque, then went back to Texas and now are delayed in transit because of the severe weather in Texas. No wonder Amazon’s shipping is losing money, they have monkeys routing the packages! Ridiculous. And the saying “You get what you pay for”, is so true with Amazon.

Need to get out of my head today and be more positive. It’s hard living in this trailer all day w/o a lot of people contact. Just me and the dogs. I need to start working on reaching out to my kids more and connecting via video and voice to stay engaged with them. I tend to be more of a hermit and just be a grumpy old man. REALLY need to stop that behavior and mind set. Hopefully it’ll get better as we have contractors coming every day.

Short post today. Need to get moving and get Jay out the door, lots of work meetings and I need to schedule some meeting for next week in Orlando.

Blog ya’ later….

Gary’s post: Well, it’s spring wind season in New Mexico. This week windy with sustained in the 20-mpg range and gusts into the 50’s. It’ll be a rockin’ good time in the RV!! And the dust will be everywhere. The weekend brings snow shows that will evaporate in about 20 seconds. Weather in New Mexico is always the topic of conversation.

Today is all about finishing up a draft of messaging for Itron’s DTECH show at the end of the month. I’ll be focused on this and trying to get a draft of it done by end-of-day. I need to get Jaret focused on getting ready and out the door tomorrow. He’s going to take his motorcycle test today. Hysterical watching him get comfortable riding his bike around the property. Can’t count how many times he killed the bike. On the plus side, his dog, Juni chased him around the property until she couldn’t run because she was too tired. Only good dog is a tired dog!!

Falling into more of a routine. With the winds, it’ll be tumbleweed mania outside our gate. Our entrance faces west, so with south-west winds we get tumbleweeds stacking up from, the neighbors’ properties. The wind blows them over the fences and into our fence where they stack up. I have a large tumbleweed pile in the back of the property which I’ll burn once the winds die down. If I had a chipper, we could create tumbleweed mulch – interesting thought.

Yesterday my oldest turned 40. He had a great day and was enjoying his family, which we were missing being here. Unfortunately, can be everywhere. I do miss them but here is where I need to be and retire. It’s slower and I’m more active around the property. I need to be more careful though. Keep getting bumps and bruises because of the blood thinners. I’ll be off them in a couple of months, which will be better. I still have to get my trip booked to Seattle for April!! Hopefully later this week.

So much more to talk about, but I need to get moving on today. Laundry, work and just going to the bank later if I have time. Considering replacing my Garmin smartwatch with an Oura ring and going back to a normal watch. I need to monitor my health, but having a smartwatch ties me to work too much. I’m thinking it makes more sense to get untied and try to relax as bit more.

To anyone reading this, have a great day and practice patience and relaxation. Take care.

Gary’s Post: Wow, it’s a month of living in a trailer and I’m still not completely insane. It’s an adjustment for sure. We’re picking up my son’s dog, Juni, so that will complicate things. And I’m traveling in a week for a couple of days, leaving Wendy to deal with all of the stuff that needs to be done. Things will work out, somehow.

Today is NM version of Seattle rain. It’s going to be windy for the next few days. Blowing dust, which permeates the RV and leaves a fine layer of dust all over everything. One thing about NM is when a front comes through, it’s accompanied by wind. We had 29+ winds coming through last night, so it rocks the RV a bit. Makes sleeping a challenge. This is typical spring weather here. It’ll get better. It would be good if it rained this week, so the dust gets washed out of the air.

Drive the EX30 yesterday. It’s definitely a fun car to drive as it’s quick and is a “point and shoot” car. When it’s charged to 90%, the range is currently about 218 miles depending on what accessories are running in the car. I think Wendy will be able to drive it all week and then charge on Friday’s. I do need to get on the PNM EV rate, so I’ll get that done. We did manage to take advantage of the $7500 rebate before Trump shut it down. And NM has a 3K tax rebate if we buy or lease it. Since the car is from a Chinese owner, Geely who owns Volvo, we had to lease and use the loophole. Anyway, I think this will work out pretty well for running around town and doing short trips to ABQ and Sante Fe. That was why we bought the car. Anything longer and we’ll use the XC40 or truck.

Yesterday, I cosigned for my youngest on a motorcycle he can use while in Filmore, UT. Small town, so it’ll keep him from using his gas guzzler truck for running errands and running around town. He still has to get his NM motorcycle endorsement and take the safety test, but he can leave it here and rid around the property until he comfortable and proficient on the bike. It’s an old school dual use bike, so it looks a lot like a trail bike with street wheels.

Alright, again, lots to get done today. Need to get to Costco for some basics, start taxes and do some real work to meet the deadline on Tuesday. Hoping the wind dies down and we can get the bike off my truck. And we need to fix the bicycle rack as it lost a rivet to rust. I expect the day will get away from us again and we won’t get half the stuff done we need to. And Jay’s leaving tomorrow, so that will be traumatic for Juni. Poor dog hasn’t had a stable home life since he left Texas. We’ll try and give her good care and keep her groomed. It’ll be good for Harp too.

Take care everyone. Need to call the oldest as he hit’s the big “Four Zero” today!!!

TTYL!

Gary’s post: Well, we’re now the proud owners of a Volvo EX30 EV. This thing is a computer on wheels and it’s definitely going to challenge me to remember everything it can do and use the features effectively. Fun little SUV for running around town instead of using our big cars. And for Wendy to commute to work. Gets good mileage on a charge and we managed to get the $7500 EV rebate as we’re leasing it. And NM will give us a $3000 tax rebate next year, so all in all, made sense. While gas is MUCH cheaper here than in Washington, we’re 20 miles from Albuquerque, so using this to run up to ABQ and run around Los Lunas make sense.

It’s my Granddaughters birthday today. She’s officially two (she’s a leap baby). Since we’re not there to celebrate, we’ll video call her. Wendy and I miss her and Lucas. While we didn’t see them a lot, when we did it was pretty special and made us feel wonderful. I do wish they were closer, but now that we’re here in New Mexico, I think when they visit it will even be more special.

Lots to do today. I MUST get a yard hydrant sock to keep the darn water hydrant from freezing in the morning. Giant pain in the arse. I have to take Wendy’s hair dryer out and heat it up until it starts running again. Makes the mornings interesting. We need to make a Costco run, start our taxes, I have to help Jaret pick up his motorcycle for Utah. Just a lot of stuff to do. And I think we’re going to unload the “wherehouse” to find our stuff on Sunday.

Okay, time to get moving. Everyone reading this, have a great day and remember to spend time with your loved ones.

Later!

Gary’s post: Excellent morning this morning. Woke up to no water, the hydrant froze, and I drained the freshwater tank. Nothing better to wake up to – and to start a Friday. So, I went out and took a hairdryer to the hydrant to unfreeze it. Fortunately, it worked, and we have water in the RV now. I MUST get off my ass and get some heat tape put on the supply line and FINISH insulating the supply line. Has to be my first focus and stop getting distracted.

I need to stop trying to get everything done at once. Then I get nothing done. And it makes me insane, crazy frustrated and stressed out. After I get some oat milk (another thing I didn’t get done), I’m going to focus on finishing the water supply, stop the leaks and get an insulation bag for the top of the hydrant. Then I MUST focus on work as I have a deadline on Tuesday that I’ve been procrastinating on because I can’t seem to get focused.

I wonder if my issue stems from the fact that I can’t seem to feel good. I wake up every morning and feel like crap. Shoulder keeps hurting, jaw hurts and now my hips are starting to hurt. I really need to find a good doctor here, which is impossible, and get this crap sorted out. I think some of this is because I’m not exercising in the morning and keeping active. I was better in Seattle when I exercised on a regular basis. Exercise here is more aligned around yard work. It’s raking rocks, digging trenches, running the tractor and generally doing farm work. And at the moment there’s no room in the RV for exercise. I’ll get it figured out, but for the moment it’s just distracting.

Lots of errands today. I have to keep focused on getting the water fixed and getting work done for Itron. We have a car appointment and Jaret wants to get his motorcycle today as he leaves for Utah on Monday. Too much to do.

So, I need to defeat my Type A thinking today and work on living in the moment and try to keep the stress at bay. It’s hard to live in the moment as you get older because the moments are so brief, and nothing gets done or the list keeps getting longer. Maybe that’s part of living in the moment – not worrying about tomorrow and the “to do” list. Something to think about.

Anyway, enough complaining (even though it’s therapeutic to a point) and it’s time to get positive and make Friday a good day along with a great weekend. So much positive stuff in my life, I drive myself crazy thinking about the little stuff and making it negative. I blame my grandpa… 🙂

Off to challenge my brain and piss poor attitude today. To anyone reading this mess of a blog today – please take the time to NOT do what I’m doing. Slow down, enjoy the moment and hug your family and loved ones. Especially the dog (or cat)….they love you no matter how much of an idiot you are….

Later!

Gary’s post: Crazy wind last night. 25+ mph winds across the property. Hard to sleep and blew stuff all over the place. Winds are supposed to drop around noon today. Made sleeping a challenge.

Today will be more gravel, 7 tons, to spread. I’m going to try and get some of the loose dirt covered so there isn’t as much dust blowing around and gives us a bit more parking space for the cars. I’ll expand the car wash area a bit more too. That way when we wash the cars, it’s not a mud bath when you’re done. We’ll use the tractor to get things spread. I need to take the tractor in for a hydraulic rebuild or service. The bucket and backhoe aren’t working smoothly, and the hydraulics seem to be a bit weak. I’ll check it out over the next week.

More work today that I need to get done. I managed to book travel to Orlando for the 2nd week of March. Hard to get work done though with our youngest here. More fun to hang out and get some things done. Thank goodness my company is going to let me go to 25 hrs/week, still be considered a full-time employee with benefits. I think I’ll do that for the rest of the year, then fully retire at the end of the year. Makes the most sense financially and from a health, benefits perspective.

My contractor will be picking up our final building permit approval today. That will open up our ability to start the dirt work in two weeks and get the foundation poured. That will really start making this real and having a house! Looking forward to celebrating that.

Going to keep this post short today. I have a lot of morning chores before I can start real work. Need to get focused and ready. Take care and stay present.

TTYL.