Category: Blog

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.

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!