Author: Gary Kessler

Gary’s post: Humpday. Our youngest arrived yesterday after a crazy two-day drive from Seattle. The RV is now so crowded with dogs and stuff that walking around is difficult. Fortunately, it’s only for a week, so things will settle into a routine.

I’m finding that the longer I sit in the trailer, the less flexible I am. I get into a routine and find that I don’t want to do anything but just stay here, even though it drives me crazy to stay here all the time. It’s one of those personality traits that I need to overcome. I can see my dad in myself. I love him, but I’m not him, so I need to drive myself to do better. Hard stuff.

I’ll be good to have Jay here. Keeps me from being a hermit. And there’s a lot he can help me with to keep me mentally healthier. He can help us rearrange our “warehouse” full of stuff so it’s more useful. Lots to do. I need to start working on getting out and meeting more people. I’ll have to attend the local gun club meetings, and we’ll start getting engaged with our local church down the street. It’s all about just restarting for me. Wendy has roots here so she’s already working on building a new network.

We have a skunk somewhere on the property. Every morning it smells like a skunk has been around. I’m worried the dogs will find it and get sprayed which would be nasty. I can’t decide if we should shoot it or trap it and move it somewhere. I’ll talk to my father-in-law and get his opinion.

Today is about work. Need to get travel arrangements made for Orlando. Still not crazy about going, but it’ll be good for me to go and get out of NM for a few days. Need to get some more dirt spread, so that will be tractor work. And with a front coming through, there will be wind tonight. Things are starting to fall into a routine which helps me. I used to thrive on change and being busy, but now time goes so fast that it feels like I never get anything done, so that’s frustrating. I also need to check with our contractor and see if we got CID permission and when the groundwork starts.

‘nough for now. Today is busy, especially with adding another human and dog to the party. Take care!

Gary’s post: Tuesday, last week of February. Wow, time as passed so quickly. Yesterday was madness, between work, contractors and trying to get some personal items completed, it wasn’t until four o’clock before things slowed down. Had to move a bunch of dirt from the holding tank install, with 20 mph gusts. Fun stuff. Thinking I’m going to order more gravel just to keep the dust down when the wind blows.

Today is going to be chaos. Jaret arrives with his crazy dog Juni. That will generate drama as he’s a walking drama generator. It’s crazy how he can generate so much stress. BUT, it will be awesome to see him before he heads out to Utah and his new job. We’ll put him to work at his grandpa’s cleaning up leaves and getting the place cleaned up. And I can use him to help with building out our gate access. We need to get his truck registered here and a NM driver’s license. Someday he’ll find his footing and get established. His sister is considering buying property in Utah to snowbird and be close to us and him. I think that’s a great idea and will give her someplace else to work from.

It’s interesting working with contractors here. There’s a lot of “cash” work that gets done. I’ve done a couple of jobs with contractors that are all cash. And I write a lot more checks for jobs. In Seattle, it was all about Venmo or Zelle. Interesting how different contracting is getting work done. And the contractors are a lot more concerned about the quality of their work and how they are perceived because it effects their ability to get more work. Lots of work based on referrals.

Weather here is a big deal. We’re supposed to get some rain this weekend which is the talk of the town. This has been the driest winter in 50 years, so the news is all about the weather. We do live in high desert, so being dry is to be expected. Of course, more wind as the fronts move through. I’ll keep an eye on my Tempest weather station, it’s pretty cool and gives me something to geek out about.

Talked to my VP about retirement. We’re working through if I retire in April or just reduce my hours to 30 a week to keep benefits through the rest of this year and actually retire at the end of the year. That might be better as we’re building the house, and having the insurance, cash flow and ability to get a small loan if necessary. We’ll see how that works out.

Time to get dressed, have one more cup of coffee and get moving this morning. Lots of meetings today, so I need to be on my “game” so to speak. Need to keep the energy levels up today, somehow.

Take care and to anyone reading this – have a great day and be present and thoughtful.

Gary’ post: Sunday, last week in February. Not much happening today. For anyone interested, here is a link to my Tempest weather page: Tempest. You can see the weather for today and at the moment. One thing I’ve noticed here is that the sky isn’t as blue as in Seattle (when you can actually see the sky!). In NM, we have a lot of sun, with a lot more intensity, but it’s a lot higher in elevation than Seattle, so there’s less air to reflect the sun’s light. That’s results in the sky being a lighter shade of blue than in Seattle. But I’ll take the sunshine over all the rain and grey skies. I’m susceptible to SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) – so I do better emotionally in NM that Seattle. Now if I can just figure out why my joints are sore all the time….. and NO it’s not old age!!!

The plan today is to have our weekly breakfast with Wendy’s brother, then hit up Costco for a few things (like that every happens at Costco) and come home to move the RV (Beverly) to her new location, 30 ft north of the existing location. Not sure why Wendy has the need to “name” our vehicles. Personification, have to explore that more in another blog…..

Last night was hysterical. We went to a local BBQ place called Tractors. We sat down at our table and about 2 minutes later Wendy jumped up yelling “What the heck!!”. Turned around and was ready to slap the guy behind her – turns out it was her parents’ neighbors from across the street, Tim and Susan, who are becoming good friends. Absolutely great people! Both of us were oblivious and Susan recognized us and prompted Tim. We ended up sharing a table, having some great BBQ and beer, swapped stories and ended the night in great company. Tim bought us dinner – so we owe him. We’ll see them next Sunday when I break out the Kamado BBQ. Should be a good time.

This coming week should be a bit calmer. I have a lot of Itron work to do, and I need to sort out if I can go to Orlando. Not crazy about that idea. I’ll put together the travel request today. No luck in finding my corporate travel card. Giant pain in the ass, finding the card, finding business clothes, finding suitcase for travel… All of it is in our “warehouse” in a jumbled mess. Such a pain for the next 8 months. And we HAVE to get a wine fridge ordered along with another safe and then find a place to put it in the warehouse… Sigh. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I thought this was going to be a “good idea”. I guess I was hoping that we could throw out more crap before we moved – and then we added Jarets crap.

I’m thinking that we should sell our RV when the house is built. I know we’ve put a lot of work and money into her with stringing Ford specific camera’s, TPMS and everything else. Maybe we should sell the RV with the truck as a package. I’d lose money on it but frankly, it’s one less thing to pay for and take care of. I probably need to seriously consider getting rid of “things” as I enter my last stages of my life journey. It’s a good concept that the Swedes endorse – it’s called “Death Cleaning”, reducing the amount of crap your loved ones have to deal with after you pass. Something to consider as every life ends.

Well, enough for now. Have to get organized and out of here to meet my brother-in-law for breakfast. Have a great Sunday and life each moment as best you can.

Take care!

Gary’s post: Above is a screen shot of the Tempest app that records the weather. It’s actually pretty cool, and I can geek out on the weather. Even better is this screen shot, which shows more technical details.

There’s more data too, but I like that it has a lightening detector, which is really useful in the Fall. NM is one of the states, outside of Florida that gets a lot of lightning strikes during monsoon season. And you can see the intensity of the solar radiation. So cool….

Today is devoted to getting some $$ to pay for the RV holding tank next week and spreading the gravel for the RV pad. I’ll shoot a picture when we’re done…. so exciting…. not. There are a few things we still have to get done, but it’s starting to feel a bit more normal. Once I get through taxes next weekend, I think we can start spending some time together visiting some of the attractions and enjoying some of the new things that have happened while we were away.

I’m going to have to get going on finding local medical support. NM health care isn’t the greatest and there’s a lack of good doctors. I need to sort out the shoulder and jaw issues as they are keeping me awake at night. Might just be the cold, but we’ll see. I do need to get organized with a dentist, regular doctor and the heart people.

Next month I’m being recruited to travel, which I’m not excited about. We’re not at a point where we have our support system figured out yet. I’m not comfortable leaving Wendy with Harp and Juni for 5 days and dealing with deliveries. I haven’t got a delivery box set up yet or a way to put the garbage out to the curb. We have to drag it for about 1/4 mile to Hwy 47. We’ll get it figured out but it’s going to take a few more months.

This weekend, I’m going to make my flights to Seattle to see my Cardiologist and do labs for my last visits with my primary care physician. In April, I’ll get organized with the health system down here. I’m still not sure how or if I’m going to retire in April. My company would support me working part-time (32hrs/wk) until I wanted to stop. I’m thinking that might be a good thing to do while we’re building the house, then once we have occupancy, retire at the end of the year. We should have a good handle on our finances and cash flow by then.

Next week should be exciting. Hopefully we will take delivery of our EX30. That will let Wendy start driving the EV to work and keep the gas costs down. I’ll get a cover for the XC40 and probably the truck – we’ll see. We really need to get one of those portable carports to protect the cars from the sun. Since we’re now officially NM residents with Real ID drivers’ licenses and registration plus bank accounts – we need to start protecting the cars and trailer from the damage of UV rays.

Well, enough. It’s almost 8:00am and we’re still in PJ’s. Time to get moving and go to the bank in Albuquerque. Then it’s spreading gravel and going through the workshop to find my Corporate Travel card and some other items we need. Tomorrow we’ll move the trailer, get some heat tape for the water line and generally get the RV situated in its final location until the house is built. I’m thinking about selling the RV once the house is built, then consider getting a different one that’s more attuned to NM – like an Artic Fox or Brinkley. That’s more for a different blog.

Take care. Have a great day and take time to enjoy your day and the people around you. Be present!

Gary’s post: Man, I do love the colors of the sky during a sunset. I HAVE to update my camera as these colors are washed out or figure out how to use photoshop on my laptop.

We finally got our gate installed. I think it’s a blessing and a curse. On one hand it secures the property and only those who have an opener can get in. On the other hand, deliveries are a pain in the ass. We did put in a gate to the south (left in the picture) which should help, but for now the delivery drivers just drop stuff over the fence. Not a good plan with fragile stuff. I’ll have to get some gate signs and a better address sign.

Today is a busy day this morning. I have the garage door guys coming in the morning, so I need to move a bunch of boxes out of the way so they can install a garage door opener on the workshop. Giant pain in the arse. I also have 10 tons of gravel coming this morning for the new RV pad. I’ll start spreading that later this afternoon and tomorrow. As always, sunny weather with some wind. Spring in NM. We will see how well the tractor holds up. It definitely needs some maintenance, and the hydraulics rebuilt.

I bought a Tempest weather station. I know, I know, why do you need a weather station in NM? It’s easy to predict the weather – sun and wind…. Well, first off, I’m a geek about this stuff, and it’ll be interesting to know the Solar intensity and wind speeds. I’ll get a post today and get the station mounted. If we ever get any rain, the station might measure that too.

Once we get the RV moved and the holding tank installed, I think things will settle down and move more into a routine. Then it’ll be all about building the house and catching up on my work items. I keep hoping that I don’t have to travel next month for work. I couldn’t find my corporate travel card anyway – it’s buried in the mound of boxes in the workshop. Speaking of which, I really need to carve out some working space. I think once the gravel is spread-out, we’ll empty the workshop and restack things in a more organized manner.

Should be getting the EV next week. Exciting and will save on gas and wear and tear on the XC40. I’ll apply for a refund from PNM and a reduced power rate as we have an EV. It’ll be interesting to see if the EV really saves money in the long run. The EX30 does have an 8-year battery warranty – so that’ll be a good thing.

I need to sort out why my joints are so sore here. First it was my shoulder, which is slowly getting better. This week, my freaking jaw is a problem. Makes eating a problem as it kills to chew. That is slowly getting better. Making me wonder if it’s medication, a virus or just lack of motion. I notice that doing push-up and strength work help the shoulder. Maybe I should start chewing gum. I’m going to start drinking collagen to see if that helps. One type for skin and hair to stop all the rough skin patches and help with the dryness and another for the joints. I’ll report out in a few months. I think I just need a tune-up! Need to find some good docs here….or better drugs!

Enough for now. Need to do some exercises (a total challenge in this RV), get dressed and start moving boxes. And I need to pair the truck garage door opener with the gate. We’ll see how that works…

Take care and find time to enjoy the sunrise and sunset. Have a wonderful weekend.

Gary’s post: Thursday, finally on the downhill side of the week. This month has gone so fast. I really need to focus on my taxes and get them done. I keep hoping Trump fires all the IRS folks and declares this a tax free year….LoL!!! So much to get done this weekend but I think everything is lined up.

Some totally awesome news. My grandson, Lucas, was evaluated by Seattle Public Schools and found to be “highly capable”. That means he has access to STEM and advanced learning programs through his K-12 years. We’re so excited and proud of him, and Wendy is just beaming. With her background in education, she understands what an impact these programs can have on a student’s education. We knew he was smart, but this is a great confirmation that somewhere in the genetic cesspool of the Kessler family, Lucas managed to get the good genes. Must be his mom!! I know Lucas’s parents will take advantage of these opportunities. So proud of that kid and his sister. They will be awesome human beings.

Today is all about getting our gate installed. And getting ready for a gravel delivery so we can move the RV. I worked on my father-inl-law’s tractor yesterday. It’s a subcompact tractor with a bucket scoop and a rear backhoe. It’s functional but a bit too small for a lot of the work I need done around the property. It’s a 25hp, and I need about 20hp more to do dirt work and move gravel, mow and do more heavy lifting. We’ll use it as best we can, but at some point, I’ll need to evaluate getting a bigger tractor assuming Wendy will agree. That’s a whole different discussion. I’m going to use the EV purchase to win her over!!.

Retirement. I keep getting more work at my real job. I need to get my head oriented and get focused on doing work work. It’s so hard when there are so many options to do more fun things!! And I HAVE to get travel to Seattle handled this weekend so I can visit my cardiologist and see my daughter. My son and his family will be traveling in Europe that week, so I’ll babysit the cats! Love those little furry guys.

As you can see from the picture above, they are “well-trained”. Great pets though and perfect for my son’s family.

Next week our youngest will be here. The stress level will rise, and he’ll bring his drama with him. Love the kid to death, but he really needs to relax and stop creating drama to keep him occupied. I’m hoping this fire training will give him enough drama that the rest of his life is more relaxed!! It’ll be nice to see him, and I’ll put him to work around the property!! He does need to get in touch with his uncle to arrange for sleeping quarters. I’m sure the drive down will be filled with “perceived” drama and excitement. I’ll have to talk to my daughter and see how she feels after he leaves. They’ve been cohabitating for the last several months. Fun family dynamics.

Alright, time to stop for now. Lots to do and lots happening. To anyone reading this – have a great day and thank you for all your support. I hope this blog is interesting. Once the house starts, I’ll focus on that progress. And I’ll start adding video’s.

Take care!

Gary’s post: Yes, another sunrise picture. Early morning and evening are the best times of the day. So beautiful. It helps to reset your attitude and remind you that there are bigger things in life than your current worries.

Today is a sad day for me. My beloved mother passed 4 years ago today. The sad thing is that she passed exactly one week after I told her that my brother passed. I really debated about telling her, especially since she was in bad shape after her stroke. I felt she needed to know. My brother was her “wounded pigeon”. He was her baby. She was blind to his addictions and always tried to help him, which enabled him. Sometimes love blinds you to the realities of people’s behaviors. It almost cost my mom and dad their marriage. It’s hard to be the “last man standing” for your immediate family. If my wonderful wife hadn’t pushed me to see a cardiologist, I might not be here either and that would be the end of the generation. Every life ends.

Still working on getting things organized so we can move the trailer this weekend. Called a couple of gravel places, but no call backs yet. This place is definitely slower than I’m used to. It seems like time just gets away from me. Yes, I did get maintenance work done on the trailer, cleaned the tanks and did laundry – but so much more needed to be done yesterday. This “COVID” trailer is a mess. I just discovered one of the USB outlets stopped working – so two hours to fix that…. Crazy how the little things eat up your time. And as you get older, time files, quite literally. Your perception of time morphs so drastically as you get older.

More crazy spring New Mexico weather. 17 degrees this morning and in the minus numbers east of us. Snowpack is really lite this year, but we still have spring to get through. May snow is a norm here. The trees are starting to come out as it’s in the 60’s and 70’s during the day, along with winds. I’d forgotten about the crazy weather.

Need to book my flight to Seattle for April. Have to see my cardiologist on last time. I’ll see my kids and some friends while I’m there. Dunno if I’ll be retired on not by then, we’ll see. I do need to retire, but thinking that until I get my workshop back, what’s the point. Can’t do anything or get to anything because it’s so full of “crap”. I wish we’d have purged more when we moved. My wife has some of her “pack rat” traits from her father. It’s the sentimental stuff that she claims to want to refinish but never gets done. I’m a big believer in the phrase “you make time for what’s important”, especially as you get older because time is so fleeting.

Alright, need to get moving today. Personal grooming day, and lots of Itron work needs to be done today. I’m struggling to get my head around the work. I’d much rather be focused on the tasks needed to get our house built. That’s how I know I need to retire.

Have a wonderful day. Stop and enjoy the sunrise, sunset or even the rain. You only get that moment once in life.

Gary’s post: Tuesday – one more day closer to groundbreaking on our house. Yesterday managed to get the EV charger installed and configured. Now we just need an EV. I know the EV thing isn’t popular overall with the American public and hybrids are starting to become the car of choice. Our needs are different, we are getting the EV for local travel and Wendy’s commute. EV’s are not ready to become the primary of second car. Batteries are the issue and always will be until technology and cost changes drastically.

Managed to get one more section of the workshop organized. It’s a huge task, but there’s still work to be done. I’ll take more of Jaret’s stuff to paid storage today which should give us a little more space. Once Jaret leaves for Utah in two weeks, we’ll move all the wine into my brother-in-law’s place for a bit until we get a wine fridge in the shop. We need a 280-bottle fridge!!

Spring wind is supposed to be in play today, so I’ll get some gravel ordered for this weekend and get our propane provider scheduled to move the propane tank on Monday. This weekend will be getting the new RV pad ready; I do need to order a 100 ft. extension for RV power. I should look into a water-proof cover for the extension cord where the two cords plug into each other. Next week will be installing a holding tank which should complete everything we need to make the RV more livable for the next 8 months.

Once the wind stops blowing for a bit, I’ll fly one of my drones and take some pictures of the house layout. I need to find the rest of my drones and more of the computer stuff. So much left to do. This weekend is the ABQ home show, which I’d love to go to but there’s so much work left on the shop to get it useable. I do need to get out of the RV and off the property for a while to keep my mental health viable. It’s not easy spending entire days in the RV and not being able to get our because the wind and dust make it miserable to work outside. I’m convinced that’s the cause for some of my joint pain and other health issues. It’s time to find decent doctors here and a vet for our dog. Another task to add to the really long to do list. Sigh. Not enough energy for this…

Alright enough Blog therapy. Need to get moving.

Take care.

Gary’s post: Monday, ugh. Start of another week with lots to get done. This week will be finishing up gate, prepping to move the RV and installing another 50-amp plug for the EV.

When we moved, the movers packed all the keys for our bike rack, that I gave to Jaret. Of course, now he needs the keys and he’s planning on leaving next weekend – so it’s a rush to get him the keys. That child is a walking panic creator. He is a victim of his own actions – constant crisis. I believe he can’t function unless he is in crisis, so he creates situations, which effects everyone around him. Wastes too much energy. Pending example; we’ve been telling him for months he can’t stay in our RV because there is no room. He’s coming down for a week before going to Utah. He hasn’t arranged to room with his uncle or his grandparents, so when he gets here, I’m sure he’ll want to sleep with us. The worse part, his mom will cave and then it’ll be a week of complete chaos. I know it’s coming. I’m thinking I’ll go live in a hotel for a week.

Today will be all about getting the EV stuff installed, clearing out the workshop so I can get the garage door opener installed on Friday and finding some gravel delivery this week. Need to spread some gravel for the new EV location so there’s not a mud mess when it rains. And it keeps the dirt out of the RV.

Installed some solar flood lights on the workshop yesterday. They work, so we’ll see how long they last. Eventually, I’ll replace them with hard-wired lights and security cameras, but for now, they’ll be fine. Keeps us from tripping at night.

My brother-in-law has a skunk under his manufactured home. You can smell it when you walk buy the opening where the skunk dug under the house. We’re working on a way to catch it and move it somewhere else. And I’m pretty sure we have a family of raccoons under the container we have on the back of the property. We’ll get that moved after the house is built, so that should be to see what’s under that. And Harp, our dog, keeps getting these stickers in his fur because he keeps sniffing in the weeds. I need to get a fence put up to keep him out of the weeds. Then I’m going to get a blow torch and burn those little bastards to the ground. And it’s time to start applying weed killer. Everything is starting to green up. Maybe it’s cheaper to concrete the entire two acres….

This spring I think we’re going to plant a hedge on the south fence. Our neighbors don’t muck their fields, so the pasture is overgrazed and full of cow pies. Don’t mind it, but I’m sure guests will find it a bit overpowering. I’m going to plant some cattle friendly shrubs on the fence that grow 6-7′, then a second row of lemongrass and more fragrant shrubs. That’ll help with the odors and keep the horseflies down. Fun landscaping challenges when you live in cattle country. Nothing we didn’t expect.

Enough for now. Lots to do today. More later.