Onward to Ehrenberg BLM land, a frustrating $$$ day, and a RANT

On Tuesday Jeanne and I left Quartzsite and headed west to Ehrenberg.  Our friend, John, is here and we wanted to spend a few days visiting with him.  The weather has been great, warm and no wind, since we've been here.  We're leaving tomorrow, heading to the Yuma area to visit with more friends.

Thursday I had a couple of appointments in Blythe, CA - about 12 miles from where we're camped.  Neither turned out very well:

Social Security Office/Discover Card Issue

1.  First I was off to the Social Security office.  I had an appointment and they saw me right on time.  When the woman asked if she could help me, I told her  "Well, according to Discover Card, you are the only person in the whole world who can help me. "   She laughed.

What is happening is this - since Social Security declared me deceased last August, things have been good.  My banks, credit cards, etc. have all resurrected me, and Bank of America even opened a checking account for me, as well as giving me a debit card and a credit card.  This was when no one else would talk to me because I was dead.  B of A was great.  Of course, I was there, in person, with all my IDs, etc., so they took a chance and believed me.

Anyway, the only credit card I have that wouldn't remove the "Deceased" notation on my account is Discover Card.

I've talked to them twice and they INSIST that they need a letter from Social Security stating "THEY made an ERROR,"  no letter = no removal of that notation.  Period!  I told them I had spoken to the SS four times on the phone, because other businesses also wanted something like that, and I was told they DON'T do that.  So the other businesses accepted a notarized statement that I was alive (Proof of Life), a current Social Security Award letter showing what I receive each month (you can print out a current one with the current date from their website).  I scanned and photo copied and faxed current bank statements showing my Social Security automatic deposits, etc.  LOTS OF PROOF.  Discover card also got all the proof, but they won't accept it.  ONLY A LETTER FROM SS ADMITTING THEY MADE AN ERROR WILL WORK FOR THEM.

So I'm sitting there in the SS office, and start telling the woman my tale, and she interrupts me, "We don't do that."   Don't do what?  "We don't send letters to ANYONE except our clients when we need to inform them of a change in their Social Security Award." 

I told her that I'd talked to various people at SS on the phone and that's what they said, but they suggested that maybe I could get a letter in an actual physical SS office.  Maybe the offices have the letter that is needed.  That's why I was there.

Then I told her that three different people at Discover told me I needed that letter from SS.  I told all of them that SS doesn't send that letter.  They INSISTED they have many, many letters in their files from SS stating they made the error.  One was the first person I talked to, Carlos, the next was his supervisor, Zenda.  I faxed the docs to Zenda, who promised to contact me when she received them.  When I didn't hear from her, I called back two weeks later and talked to Jerry.  (I have names, dates and time of day for my calls.)  He found my documents, proving that Zenda DID receive them, but DIDN'T call to let me know.  Jerry confirmed that I need that letter from SS.  Totally frustrating.

My lady at SS looked me in the eye and calmly said, "They are lying to you."   She said they can't have the letters they are talking about in their files, because this IS no letter like that sent out.  TO ANYONE.  She wouldn't even give ME a letter that said what Discover Card wants.  She told me to call Discover back and keep asking for supervisors until I go up far enough to get one that will remove the notation of my death.  Then she did print out a copy of the letter stating what my benefit will be for January 2015, direct deposited into my checking account in February.  She said that's the only letter she can give ME. 

So....

I'm going to call Discover Card on Monday and tell them again what I need them to do.  I'll write, call and e-mail everyone important in the company up to the President/CEO/Board of Directions if I have to.  And CC the governmental agencies that regulate them.  And I'll CC AARP, too!  After all, they are denying a senior citizen her credit record!

The reason this is an issue for me isn't that I want my Discover Card.  I NEVER used it, and once I was deceased, they immediately closed it.  But that Deceased Notation on my account with them is preventing the credit reporting agencies from showing that I have any credit.  Even though other credit cards have removed the Death Notation.  If I try to log into one of the Credit Bureaus' websites to purchase my credit score or look at my credit bureau account in the "one-free-per-year-per-agency" deal, either there is nothing there and no option to press, or it shows no accounts.  Absolutely no credit account for my entire life.  And until Discover Card cooperates, I have no credit.  If I need to purchase something like a car or a park model, or, say, rent an apartment and they want to run my credit to make sure I'm a good credit risk, I won't have a report.  And that's a really crappy thing for Discover Card to do to me.

I'm putting all this down so that when I call Discover Card on Monday I'll have my post in front of me to fact check as I'm talking to them.  I'll let you know what happens. Fingers crossed. :)  

New Tires

2.  Next, down the road to Standach Tire and Auto - a Goodyear shop - to have my annual tire rotation, balancing, pressure check, and have the front end aligned.

Last year it cost me $89, and that's what I was expecting this year.  Turns out my inner left rear tire was separating inside and had a bubble.

It was recommended that I purchase two new tires.  He said if they put a new tire next to a 4 year old tire with it's wear, it would affect the new tire.  I agreed to the two new tires, and they put them on the front, and put the two front tires on the left rear.  Thank goodness I had that appointment before the tire blew!  I'll be going through the mountains on the way to San Diego for Easter, and that could have been a real problem on those roads.

I checked to make sure they were giving me the same size tire and checked the dates they were made.  They were the same size, and both dates showed they were made the week of November 10, 2014.  I didn't know what else to check, so...  I guess everything's okay.

I kept the other rear tire and when I go to San Diego for Easter, my son is going to take me to his tire guy where he gets a really good deal (he has a fleet of trucks - around 50, I think) and will get me a better deal on the cost of four more new tires.  And I want his guy to see if my current spare, which is 10-years old but in perfect condition, or the tire just removed from the left rear, is a better spare.

They checked my spare at Standich and said it looked perfect.  No cracking, no anything that they look for to show the tire isn't good.  They said because it was covered and on the rear of the RV rather than stored underneath where it would get lots of dust and dirt, etc, it probably would be good longer.  I don't know, though.  I've heard different stories about 6-7 years MAX, but then I've also heard it depends on the actual tire.  So I want another tire guy to give me his opinion.

$520.88 later, I was heading back to camp.  What a frustrating, expensive day!

Hawk

But I did get this great photo of a hawk with his dinner up in a tree.  After leaving the SS office I was driving along a side street when I saw him fly up into the tree.  I stopped to get a picture, not realizing he had the bird in his talons.  I took a bunch of photos, he was turning his head back and forth, wanting me to leave, and checking his exit options.  When I got out of the truck he took off.  But I did get one good clear hawk face:

For My Lazy Daze Friends

I was driving along headed toward Blythe, slowing down for the entrance to California, this older model Lazy Daze was in the next lane.  It was a short motor home. like mine.  It looked to be in very good shape - those LazyDazers take good care of their rigs:

I haven't been doing much here in Ehrenberg, AZ - just hanging out taking an occasional walk with Jeanne and Riley.  They have take some long walks with John, but my heel was bothering me last time I walked a distance.  Today the three of use went to Wal-Mart in Parker and I bought a pair of their good shoe inserts to see if that would help.  I've taken two walks longer than my usual 20 minute ones, and both times I had heel issues.  It went away in a day or so, but still.  Hopefully these things will make the difference.   

Sunsets and Full Moon

I wanted to show you our gorgeous sunsets Tuesday and Wednesday, and the full moon rising on Wednesday evening.  None of these photos have been touched up.

Sunset Tuesday evening:

Then Wednesday evening as the sun was going down, the eastern mountains were beautiful with the glowing colors and the shadows:

The sunset was so brilliant, it was hard to get a picture of it:

A bit later I took Katie out to go potty and saw the moon just peeking over the mountains that were now dark:

I always miss the moon when it first starts coming up, but Wednesday I got to see it from the glow on the mountain top, to the edge of the moon coming up, then almost all the way...

 ...then completely risen from the mountains.  It was really beautiful.



Next time I'm posting a review of a cooking product I just got and tried out.  It got a Thumbs Up from me.  

From me and Katie, have a great Saturday, everyone!  :)

Last days at Quartzsite - and Stove Top Grill review

The Goodyear Blimp

The day after Superbowl Sunday I saw this in the sky - The Goodyear Blimp.   I remember seeing one when I was a kid in San Mateo, CA, just floating overhead.  I think it has a motor now - maybe it did then, too.  I wondered if it was going home after flying over the stadium on Sunday.

Kind of cool to see it moving along in the sky over the desert.  When my son, Tom, was little, he called it "The Blump."  Always made us laugh.

Another Foodie Episode

At the Big Tent in Quartzsite, Jeanne, Nancy and I walked over and Jeanne was looking for this Stove Top Grill.  She had seen it the day before, thought about it, and decided to go back and get one the next day.  It looked pretty good to me, too, so I got one.

I did what the demonstrator/salesman did - marinated some sliced chicken, two kinds of squash and a potato (in Italian Salad Dressing with some garlic and herbs added), then popped them on top of the grill when it was heated. 

You place the grill over one of your smaller burners, add at least a cup of water in the trough in the outer metal thingie, place the grill down in the middle and add food.  I turned them over to grill each side against the metal twice.  

When the slices were soft enough, I plated them - and added some cranberry sauce for the chicken and a little butter on the squash and potatoes.  Then a little dab of sour cream on the potatoes.  


OMG!  Every bite was a little slice of heaven.  I was surprised it was sooooo flavorful - I'm soaking more squash and some artichoke hearts (that were in a jar in water from Sam's Club or Costco) in marinade right now, and with a little chicken again will grill them all tonight.  Add a baked potato and this will be dinner.  I'm hoping to have enough for leftovers for tomorrow with some rice on the side. 

I love it when I get into the cooking mode.  It comes and goes, but it's here big time right now.  :)

This is what the box looks like that mine came in:

And here's the photo that was on-line showing the Stove Top Grill:

It's super easy to clean, and flat enough to fit in my pot drawer, so I didn't have to make space for it. 

I looked out the window the last morning at Quartzsite and who did I see up on her roof?  Nancy!  Checking for shadows on her solar panels.  She ended up moving her rig to get more sunshine on her panels.  I think she said her TV antenna was causing an issue by casting a shadow on one of the panels.  Hi, Nancy!

That's it for now.  I have another review of a little $1 cooking thingie that I'll post soon that was a great deal, too.

From me and Katie, have a great Friday, everyone!  :)

Warm Cherry Pie with Rich Vanilla Ice Cream

Denise invited Jeanne, Kim and me over for Pie and Ice Cream.  She said she'd go to Sweet Darlene's to get the pie if we would bring some GOOD vanilla ice cream.  Deal!!!

So on Saturday Jeanne and Kim and I went to Roadrunner Market to pick up the ice cream, and these beautiful Chow Chows were in the car right next to us.  The man who owned them said they love people, and feel free to pet them.  Aren't they beautiful?  Look at the black tongue...  These dogs are HUGE!

We got the ice cream and headed over to Denise's site.  Do we look determined and hungry walking through the wash?

After quick hellos and visiting for a tiny second, we got the ice cream out of the bag, and Denise started cutting the pie.  She already had plates, and napkin-wrapped forks ready for us.  She individually heated each slice, just perfectly - added the ice cream scoop and handed them out.   Oh, Yeah!

This is my plate, half eaten.

When was the last time you had warm cherry pie with ice cream?  It's been years for me.  Conversation stopped.  But the smiles continued.

Good to the last drop - not bad manners, just great cherry pie flavored melted vanilla ice cream:

UMMMMM, GOOD!

Then we went outside and relaxed for a while in the beautiful warm afternoon weather.

It was a fun visit.  Denise was trying to get a group photo and set the timer on her camera.  When the timer is set, it takes three photos in quick succession.  The first time it went off, Kim and I were laughing so hard I was crying.  Finally we got it together, but she had to set the camera twice more to get decent photos.

WELCOME to our newest Followers, George and Suzie from Our Awesome Travels!  They have been RVing full-time since August 2006!   They both retired young and have been traveling and exploring Canada, the USA and Mexico.  George ran his own restaurant for 10 years before retiring, and still loves to cook.  I've read about his fabulous dinners on other people's blog posts. George is one of the planners of BloggerFest 2015, but unfortunately they had to miss it due to pressing family issues that sent them to Ontario, Canada.  Thanks for following along, George and Suzie - Katie and I are very happy to have you on board!

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everyone!  :)

More Quartzsite fun with friends and fire lanterns

I didn't want to post again until I finished replying to the comments from my last post about the BloggerFest.  I don't usually reply to comments, but these were so special I wanted to add my two cents to each one.   It didn't feel like the post was complete until I responded to everyone.

The BloggerFest kind of felt like a family reunion where you meet the aunts, uncles and cousins you've heard about but never met.  I'm hoping for a BloggerFest 2016 where conversations will be easier now that we've met a lot of the other bloggers we follow.  Maybe reading about all the fun will encourage some other RVers to start their own blogs, too. 

I've been camping over here in the La Posa West LTVA in Quartzsite, AZ with the LazyDaze group.  My friend Jeanne is here, and also Nancy, who are both LazyDaze'ers.   Kim is here, too, so we've had a few visits and walks and lunches.  Denise is down in another La Posa area, but we still manage to meet up from time to time.

Had a nice walk with Kim and Jeanne and Riley - I wish Katie could have come, too, but she just doesn't' walk far and the terrain is too rocky here for the stroller.  We did a big circle going to Kim's rig then across the desert to Old Yuma Road, down to our "exit" then back to the rigs.  Perfect weather for walking.  I took a bunch of shots; these were the best I thought:

Me and Kim:

Jeanne and Kim and Riley:


I didn't realize they were fuzzy until I put them in the blog - oh, well, you get the idea.  :)

As of lunch today all of the LazyDaze people have left, and we're down to Jeanne, Kim and Me.  The diehards - the holdouts.  The crazy three staying with rain in the forecast.   I love the rain, though, it's so warm and cozy in The Palms and I love the rain on the roof.

Denise, Jeanne, Kim and I had brunch today at the Mountain Quail Cafe in town.

We had such a good time - I hope we weren't too loud.  We were all talking a mile a minute and laughing and laughing.  Really fun group! 

Here's the view in front of the Palms out my windshield:

So pretty - I love the mountains around here.  That's not snow on the mountain, just the sun's reflection.

So far this has been a great winter.  The Big Tent is down and many of the smaller vendors have buttoned things up so it's much quieter in town, but there's still enough going on to make it interesting.

Jeanne took some photos the other night at the group campfire when they were getting the fire lantern ready to fly.  I wanted to see how they did it, so I walked over to watch.  I'd never seen these before this year.  It's a small hot air balloon made of paper with wire crossed over the bottom and some kind of fire started on the wire.  You light the fire starter, wait until the lantern is expanded from the heat, then you let it go and it floats up and up and up and the night air and breezes float it up and out of sight.  It was really neat to watch.  They call them Sky Lanterns, Chinese Lanterns or Fire Lanterns.

They are just ready to let it go:

Thanks for the photo, Jeanne!

The picture below shows the lantern in more detail - photo from Wikipedia.  There are lots and lots of them in the sky above:

The first night I was here at this site I took Katie out for her potty walk, and looked up into the dark sky and there were four of them floating in the distance.  I couldn't figure out what in the heck they were.  I guess they aren't new, and they sell them on Amazon, but I've never even heard of them until this year.  

That's about it for today - cloudy skies but no wind and not cold outside.  And beautiful desert all around us.

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everyone!  :)

BloggerFest 2015

First, a big Thank You to Jeri and Sandi, who organized this event.  (I don't know if anyone else was involved - if so, I apologize for not including you.) UPDATE - I just learned on Jeri's blog post that Marsha also helped put this event together, and George, along with Jeri, was one of the original schemers for this to happen, then he had to head out of town and wasn't able to attend.  We'll see you there next year, George, I'm sorry you missed it.  Thanks to you both, too!  :)

This was such a great idea, and a really fun event.  I heard there were 52 people in attendance, and some dogs, too.  I was so sorry I didn't bring Katie, she would have loved it and if there is a BloggerFest 2016, I'll bring her for sure.

I've spent the morning reading everyone else's post about this new "happening" and loved seeing all the photos.  I think we probably got everyone between us all.  I wish I had more photos - and discovered when I was going through the few I took that I didn't get pictures of Jeanne, Kim, Gayle and Jim and other people who are not only bloggers, but are friends - who also attended.  I guess I was trying to meet people through my camera.  I did get a chance to meet and chat with some super nice bloggers that I really enjoyed, but I missed some, too.  Next year?

Anyway, I'm just going to post the pictures in the order I took them, and hope you'll forgive me for not identifying ALL the people.  You'll recognize some of them, I'm sure.

(One of the suggestions at the beginning was that we all make sure to minimize the size of our photos before posting them.  I already do that, to the smallest web size my program offers, so when I post a lot of photos I hope they all pop up right away and don't use too much of your bandwidth.  I think most of us already do that.) 

Here are Jeri and Sandi, welcoming us all and asking if we would spend a minute giving our names and the name of our blog.  I have to say, being a bit of an introvert, I was thinking, "Rats, I hate it when they make us do that."  But it wasn't so bad, and if we hadn't identified ourselves and our blogs, I would never have known some of the people were there and probably wouldn't have met them.  So, for the 10 seconds of my discomfort, I was able to enjoy the introductions of everyone else.  :)

I wish I could remember what Jeri was saying - it must have been good!  Or at least Sandi thought so - LOL:

Listening to the opening statements from Jeri and Sandi:

Our Famous Judy!  She was telling us who she was (I think most of us identified her right away) and explaining that her glasses broke just as she was standing up.   Anyone have a tiny screwdriver?  I was happy to finally meet Judy.  She's pointing to where her glasses should have been:

Marianne - I have her Frugal Shunpiker's Guide ad on the side and bottom of my blog posts and was glad I was able to meet her and chat.  I've purchased some of the guides and they're worth having, for sure:

Sandi and Denise - I don't think I saw Sandi without a smile - and of course, Denise is a hoot.  (The only introduction that we had to "bleep" out a word.  You Go, Girl!)


Wider shot of Marianne's introduction:

Hazel and her two Greyhounds, Dawn and Jim, and the top of Doug's and Yuma's heads - sorry Doug, but nice hat!:

Al and Kelly - I never got a photo of Pheebes, she was moving too fast!  I enjoyed chatting with Kelly a couple of times - loved her jacket! - but didn't meet Al - have to make sure I do that next time.  I did get to pet Pheebes, though. :)

Diana - she was one of the first bloggers I followed and I got such great boondocking information from her when I started out:

And those are the only photos I took, wish there were more. 

I chatted with Sharon and John (Hey Duke), but didn't get photos - rats!  And Gaelyn who I hadn't met before.  And lots of others.  Hopefully I'll get more close-up photos next year to help me remember everyone.  :)

I hope anyone who blogs or read blogs will attend in 2016 if there is another BloggerFest.  Even those people who are real "solos" and introverts (and that describes me) will have a great time and be happy they stepped out of their comfort zone for a couple of hours.

Click on the links above to read more and see more photos from the BloggerFest.  There are lots of posts already published about the event and everyone has a different slant and different photos to enjoy! 

From me and Katie, have a great Sunday, everyone!  :)

THE BIG TENT... TPMS and... Lunch at Sweet Darlene's

We got our mail Thursday morning at the postal service and drove right on up to Quartzsite.  We are staying with the Lazy Daze group here at La Posa West.  When we got here, I saw Jeanne right away, she met us on the road to help guide me into a good site.  Then we walked over to Nancy's rig so I could say Hi to her.  We made plans to walk over to the Big Tent in a hour and  I went home and got settled.

So, Jeanne, Nancy and I walked over to the Tent, walked around for a while, then went outside and checked out some of the smaller vendors on that side of the street.  (We'll go back and check out the other side of the street another day.)  When we got back, my pedometer had logged in over 10,000 steps, and my feet were so sore!  I'm not used to walking that much, but Friday morning, all was well and I was raring to go again.  :)

You've all seen pictures of the crowds and tents along the street and the traffic and vendors - well,  here are a couple of vendors I thought were different and interesting:

Beer Belly's Adult Day Care...  food, drinks, and some great live entertainment.

Need a firearm?   Where, here you go...


I bought a Tire Pressure Monitoring System at the Big Tent - every year I try to make one big upgrade to The Palms - last year was the new generator, this year it's the TPMS.  This was my main reason for wanting to visit the Big Tent this year.

A TPMS is something I've been thinking about for a couple of years and finally this year I got one.  This is the same system Nina - Wheeling It - did all the research on (THANK YOU, NINA!) find that post here, and Denise purchased the same system last year, using Nina's great research and explanations as her guide.  I decided to do the same, why re-create the wheel?  :)

That's the one thing I'm not as good with as I should be - checking my tire pressure, and yes, I DO know how important it is.  I don't know why I don't check as often as I should, but now I have a monitoring system to keep me informed 24/7 on how the tires are doing.  So far my tires have always been good - maybe a little low, but not much.  This time, when Dion checked, they were lower than they should have been, and it was time to add some air.

Tire-SafeGuard Tire Pressure Monitoring System is the brand name, you can check out their website here: Tire-Safeguard.  They are out of Cerritos, California.

Dion was a great salesman, offers a pretty nice discount for cash, and will come out to where your RV is camped, even if it's not at the Big Tent area, to install the system for you.  It's really simple, take off the tire stem cap, screw the sensor cap on all the tires (its all wireless) and then set the monitoring system and put it on your dash.  Done.  But I'm glad he came out and did it for me.  One of my rear tire stem extenders was a little iffy letting air through, and might not have registered properly on it's sensor.  Luckily I had extra tire extenders, so he switched that one out for me.  One of my front tires had a short extender on the stem, and the other didn't.  The one without the extender was recessed too much to screw on the sensor so I need to purchase a few more of those, one for that tire and a couple to have in reserve just in case.

So now I'll have more confidence when driving down the road that my all my tires have the proper pressure and temperature - all right where they should be.  :)

Yesterday a group of us went to Sweet Darlene's Restaurant and Bakery in town - I love that place!  Jeanne, Denise, Nancy, Kim and I went, and boy were they busy!  We had quite a wait for our orders to be taken, and then for our food to come, but we were so busy chatting away that it didn't matter, and when the food came out it was delicious. (I'm sure ALL the restaurants in town are super busy and crowded this week.)  I had a Ruben sandwich - I've never had one before and it was so good!  I saved half for lunch today and I'm really looking forward to it.

At Sweet Darlene's:  Nancy, Jeanne, Denise and Kim.

Today is the BloggerFest - from what I hear, it's going to be very well attended - I'm looking forward to it - and hope to see you there.  If you're not a blogger but would like to meet some of the people who are, maybe people you read all the time, come on out and join the fun!

From me and Katie, have a great Saturday, everybody!  :)

Pictureless Wednesday

I know, I know, it's supposed to be Wordless Wednesday, but I have some words and no pictures today.

Okay, finally - we're heading back to Quartzsite tomorrow.  :)  People to see, places to go, things to do.  Yeah!

My package was delivered yesterday afternoon to the post office service at the Christian Service Center down the road.  They are open from 9 to noon four days a week, closed Wednesday, so I can pick it up tomorrow morning and head north to Quartzsite.

I have a couple of things I want to check out at the Big Tent and the other vendors up and down the street, and wanted to arrive before the end of next weekend.  I'm hearing and reading in blog posts that it's starting to wind down - really?  It's only Wednesday, half-way through their SHOW TIME!  I guess a lot of people must have visited the tents early on and are done shopping, which would help the traffic, I'm sure.  Quartzsite people - is the traffic getting lighter?

Today is the third Wednesday of the month - the day my Social Security check dances happily into my checking account.  Man, it's so hard waiting for a check ONCE A MONTH.  When I worked for my son, we were paid weekly, my favorite timeline for paychecks.  Once a month takes FOREVER to come.

I always eagerly anticipate this third Wednesday, and wake up raring to go - turn on the computer, pay the few bills I have every month, and put the rest in the savings account.  It doesn't take long, but I've always loved paying bills and have an elaborate Exel spreadsheet to record everything on.  I'm trying my darnedest to build up the savings account to purchase a PARK MODEL.  I want one SOOOO BAD for a home base.  Each month gets me a little closer.

Every Social Security check day, I want to post - YEAAA, I got my check!  Dumb.  But I do. And now I have.  LOL  I'm betting everyone out there receiving a Social Security check each month feels the same way, right?  (Wish I was the first Wednesday.)

WELCOME to our newest followers, Michael & Imkelina!   They are on the verge of taking possession of a brand new Arctic Fox 25P.  You can read about it on their blog, BlaNicS Waypoints - and guess what?  They have a BATHTUB in the new rig.  I'm so jealous!  But happy jealous...   Welcome Aboard to you both!

From me and Katie, have a great Wednesday everyone!  :)