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Off the Sick List

5/31/2023

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My brother-in-law, Ken, has always said that RV ownership is not for the financially timid. That has certainly been true for me this spring. Numerous battery issues resulted in a week at a dealer's shop and the purchase of two new house batteries and a new chassis battery, plus a converter. When the very nice and competent technician walked me through what they needed to do, the first thing he pointed out were issues with the front tires--what he called "blowouts waiting to happen" and explained that they don't sell tires, but that it was the biggest problem Agatha had. So when I got her back, we headed for a local tire and repair place to get that done. The tire guy told me I needed to keep covers on them when it is parked. and I ordered those. My bank account is dizzy with the withdrawals.

Since I was grounded this month, I have made several half-hearted attempts at projects that need doing around here. Last weekend daughter Kate came for a visit from West Virginia and son Andy from Illinois. We celebrated Andy's birthday Saturday and I felt very lucky to have not only two of my three children here, but also three of the eight grandchildren--scattered across the country.


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But, back to the projects. The next day, Andy began working on the deteriorating back steps on the deck. I was his assistant. It brought home to me the desperate need to organize the workbench in the garage. Things were piled so deep that I couldn't find the crowbar or brackets we needed or even a hammer. Yesterday I spent a couple of hot sticky hours trying to bring some kind of order to the area. I made no attempt at the plethora of small bins of screws, nails, drill bits, etc., but at least cleared off the top so that there's a place to set things down while you look for something else. I did find the crowbar but not the sander I've been looking for for a month. Several treasures emerged though; including a pair of WWII aviator goggles Butch had obtained somewhere.

Next week, Agatha and I will head for Ledges State Park for a Midwest Glampers' frolic. I feel like an athlete must feel when recovering from an injury enough to get back in the fray.
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Hooks and Home Runs

5/12/2023

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Spending a few days at Geode Lake State Park near Burlington. The occasion is the district community college baseball tournament. Don's grandson Miles plays for Kirkwood. Butch and I camped here almost every year at least once but then they closed the campground for renovations and drained the lake so I haven't been here for some time. The sites have new gravel and there is a new shower house. It is the type that contains private individual restrooms--a trend in the state parks. But get this: not a single hook in the whole building. No where to put dry clothes, towels, shoes, etc. Even at the bare bones budget Iowa keeps it's state parks on, a few hooks shouldn't break the bank. The other issue is this shower house is apparently where June bugs come to die.

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But as I said, we are here for baseball, and yesterday didn't disappoint. In the first place, the forecast included storms and high heat. But it turned out quite nice--a good breeze and enough clouds to make it comfortable. 
 
Kirkwood's first game was with DMACC and stayed pretty evenly matched so that at the end of nine innings it was a 4-4 tie. This continued to the twelfth inning when DMACC scored three runs. When Miles came up to bat, the bases were loaded. One of those situations that if it was a movie, you know how it would turn out. But this was real life. Wait!--Miles hit a grand slam home run and Kirkwood won the game. Just like the movies--at least if you were a Kirkwood fan.

So today they played Southeastern Community College--the local Burlington team. They weren't able to pull off the same kind of miracle and lost 7-4. But this is a double elimination tournament so we are patiently waiting for the outcome of the second game to see if Kirkwood plays again at 5:00, or we stay at the campground and grill steaks.


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