Mishaps, Illness, Urban Move and Chores, 3/23/2016

I have been disconnected from our blog for a month, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy! Here is what has been consuming our time... 

Mishaps: 

• Camera: Well, it all began when we were visiting Joshua Tree National Park (what a beautiful place!). After taking lots of photos with my Canon Powershot SX60 HS camera, after this photo I got a lens error. We tried turning it on/off, taking out the battery, etc., to no avail. The camera was totally inoperable. We purchased it just 5 months ago!
• iPhones: We are staying at Sam's Family Spa Hot Water Resort in Desert Hot Springs, CA, and have been enjoying daily soaks in the mineral hot springs here. We sauntered down to the pools for a nice soak and both eased our way into the very hot pool. John realized he had left his phone in the pocket of his bathing suit! We promptly dried it off (while cursing a little) wondering how he could have forgotten about it (very unlike him to do so). About 15 minutes later, I realized I had my iPhone in the bra of my bathing suit!! Are you kidding me?!? Both iPhones destroyed in one sweet soak. At this point, there was a lot more cursing. Seriously, we need our phones!! Was it a bout of senility or what?
• iPad Case: When I cracked my iPad last year, I started using a ZAGG Case and Keyboard to protect my iPad Air. What do you know, it broke for no good reason as well. Is this a trend?

Illness: About three weeks ago I started feeling awful with a sore throat, headache, aching ears followed by congestion and an annoying persistent cough. This is the first time I have been sick since we have been full-time RVing and it was not much fun. After about a week, John then started with the same symptoms. We were both sick for about 2-3 weeks. Very annoying, indeed. 

Urban Move: Our daughter, Amanda, found a fantastic new job in New York City as Production Manager at HERE Arts Center (HERE.org). She has been living in Chicago working at Million Dollar Quartet, Blue Man Group, Steppenwolf Theatre (plus various freelance gigs) for several years. I flew to Chicago (from San Diego) to help her with the final week of her move. Because she lived in an urban setting in Chicago and was moving to an urban setting in Queens, the coordination of the moving trucks and loaders/unloaders was very time consuming! Plus, she had been working 6-7 days a week for the last month or so. Her last day of work was 3/12, she flew to NYC 3/13, and started her new job Monday, 3/14. The movers came on 3/14 in Chicago and I flew back to San Diego on 3/15. While everything went very smoothly, it was exhausting (particularly since I was still sick!) Now Amanda is all settled into her new job, apartment, and reconnecting with lots of friends who live in the area. Whew!

Chores

• Camera: We found a high-end camera shop in Palm Springs (www.camerawest.com) who sent our camera to Canon (as it was still under the manufacturer's warranty). Canon returned a refurbished PowerShot SX60 HD with all of the same features (wifi, etc.) a few weeks later. No charge to us...nice.  

• iPhones: After placing both phones in bags of rice (advice I read online) they never did turn on again. Personally, I think that rice thing is a myth! Off to the AT&T store we went. Fortunately, AT&T has a current promotional deal - buy one iPhone get one free. Well, with the cost of these phones, today, that is still a chunk of change. We also bought "Lifeproof" cases that reportedly protect an iPhone from water submersion and makes the screen shatterproof ($80/each). That wasn't in the budget...  

• iPad Case: After some on-line research, I decided to purchase a ZAGG Rugged Book Case (list price $149.99, but got it from Amazon @ $90). It features a fully functional Bluetooth keyboard that is great and the case is very sturdy. I love it! 

• Renovation: We have been unhappy with the carpet in our bedroom in the motor coach. Although it has been professionally cleaned several times, the carpet just never looked that great. John ripped the carpet out and laid down a beautiful Allure Traffic Master vinyl floor. We selected Rustic Maple and it looks fantastic!! What a major improvement for that space! We are now looking at replacing the carpet and linoleum in the living area.  

• Administrivia: We got our 2015 taxes done; I did a detailed (and time consuming) analysis of our expenses in 2015 for our annual review meeting with our Financial Adviser at Ameriprise; and renewed our registration and insurance on our vehicles. Glad to get that stuff out of the way. 

With all of that done and finally feeling healthy again, I am thrilled to be back to our normal, happy, fun retirement lifestyle! I will be catching up on my posts and exploring more of the area here in Desert Hot Springs.

Happy Spring!