Katie's bike ride, a little Christmas decorating

Last weekend I tried out the bike with Katie in the basket.  Unfortunately there's something wrong - I'm going to have to bring the bike to a bike shop or have the man next store look at it for me.  When I put Katie in the basket and walked the bike, there was a rubbing sound.  I couldn't tell where it was coming from, somewhere in the front, and the front tire looked like it had lost a little air.  I think I'll take it down to a bike shop and have everything checked out.

It was really hard to ride - even downhill - so I decided not to risk wrecking the bike and just walked Katie for a couple of blocks.

 Hey, Mom, this is fun!

I have to tell you - Katie was a natural!  She just loved it.  Never even tried to jump out.

When I walked her back up our little hill I parked it and held on the the handlebars to steady the bike to get her out and she wouldn't budge.  Just looked away from me.  So I checked what I could on the front brake, tried to see where the rubbing was coming from, but - nothing obvious to me.

Don't park - let's going again!

Finally I had to MAKE her get out of the basket, and she let me lift her out.  I have no worries that she'll be fine when we're streaming down the roadway.  If I can get in good enough shape to stream anywhere! : )

 Okay, Okay!  Lift me out already!  But I'm not happy.

Today I did a little Christmas decorating.  I put up a lighted wreath on my mantle mirror and hung my Barbie ornaments from it, a couple of outside decorations, wreath on the front door, etc.  Small things here and there. I have scented candles lit and the fireplace going.  It's very cozy here tonight.

 This is an Electric Fireplace, I love it!

Christmas presents all wrapped -  a few more to buy!

I am going to a Christmas show/service at my friend Alice's "other" church.  Alice is in her 80's, as quick, bright, healthy and busy as any 40 year old I know.  MUCH busier than I am.  She married a man a few years her senior around three years ago.  They had the BEST marriage for close to two years, then he died.  He and his family were very active in a different church, so Alice started going to his church with him.  Now that he is not here with her, she is dividing her time between his church and our church here at the lake.  The service tonight is at her late husband's church.

Alice invited me and Jan, from our church here at the Lake.  I haven't seen Jan for a long while, and am looking forward to seeing them both tonight.

That's it for today.  It's been a busy weekend, and now I have to get ready.  Alice is coming by at 6:00 to pick me up.

From Me and My Dog, Katie, have a nice Sunday evening, everyone! : )

Subscribed to Norton and an AOL RANT!

WELCOME to our new follower - I don't have a name ("Hi" is all I've got) or blog site, so I can't thank you by name, but we're still very happy to have you along on our journey to future full-timing. 

Unfortunately my blogging has become very sporadic lately, I'll try to do better!  I've been either too busy or too lazy.  And there's not a lot going on in my neck of the woods lately.  When I have real "woods" outside my windows that should improve. : )

I decided my laptop needs a new program to protect it, and my brain doesn't.

I subscribed to Norton Internet Security.  My original 30-day trial is up so I'm going to continue it. It really does make me feel safer and more secure, so that's the one I've chosen to protect my laptop. It's also the one recommended by our IT guy here at work.

Warning - long winded rant ahead:

Then I TRIED to cancel my subscription to Cognifit that I posted about a month ago.  They have a 30-day refund policy, and I opted to use it.  I still think it's a great program, it ended up costing me nothing, and I found out my brain is still working just fine. Good to know. : )  (And there are other free programs you can access that seemed to do the same thing for you.)  If I was having difficulty performing the tasks, I would have kept it, because then obviously I would NEED it.

I e-mailed Cognifit that I wished to cancel and have my initial payment refunded.  They immediately e-mailed me back (this was over the weekend, so I was surprised to hear from them so soon) that since I went through someone else to purchase, I had to cancel through them. 

So, I then tried to cancel through AOL, since I purchased through them.  Since I am not a member of AOL, I didn't have the option to speak to a live PERSON, but had to send an e-mail.  I needed to go onto my personal page and click on the program I purchased, then cancel it from there.  Soooooo, I go onto my personal AOL page, where it shows I am not subscribed to ANY programs.  That 's funny, since I was already charged through AOL for the first month. 

There was absolutely no option offered by AOL to contact them. 

I could not call - I tried the number provided and was informed by a message voice that if I didn't have an AOL account number, I couldn't speak to a live person. However, if I wished to join AOL as a paying member.....   

I couldn't send an e-mail.  You can cancel certain listed services provided by AOL by e-mail, but Cognifit was not listed.  I was not subscribed to any services on my "page."  Therefore, I couldn't e-mail. 

I looked everywhere I could think, did a bunch of Google searches, clicked on every "contact us" link provided by AOL, only to be brought back to the same messages. : (

I finally called the number shown on my AMEX bill that is associated with the charge.  The woman I talked with was very nice, but she said I was not signed up for any programs.  She was very sorry, but since I wasn't signed up, she couldn't cancel it for me. 

My only option at this point was to dispute the charge through AMEX.  Which I did, and asked to have it removed.  It's in process now, according to a letter I've received from AMEX, and they will let me know.

I'm thinking that AOL takes your application, charges your account, but does not show the service on your AOL page until the 30 days are up.  Then they probably list the service, but at that point, it's too late to take advantage of the 30-day refund policy.  Since I was unable to reach anyone other than the number provided in my AMEX bill, I don't know for sure, but ??????

I think it's awful to provide a service that bills monthly, offer a 30-day refund policy, then have absolutely NO WAY to contact the company to cancel.  So, beware purchasing anything that you see on the home page AOL has - they often have interesting stories I click on to read, and they are really "advertorials," trying to sell something.  If it looks good, GO TO THE PRODUCT'S WEBSITE AND ORDER FROM THEM.  It might cost a bit more, but at least you can reach the provider if you want to cancel it.

Thanks - it's nice to get that off my chest!

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

Santa's message to Katie

WELCOME to our new Follower, Taz -  Only a Moment in the Grand Scheme of Things.  Thank you for following along with me and Katie on our journey to future RV full-timing.

My daughter sent me e-mails with messages from Santa to her kids, and I thought they were so cute, I did one for Katie.  Honest, I'm really a normal person with a dog who is a pet.  I really don't think she's a real person,  I just think these things are cute.

This is free, and you can go on the website and make them up for your kids or grandkids.  Or husband or wife.  I'm going to e-mail Katie's to my grandkids.  I doubt they will question that Santa will bring Kristy a present from the North Pole.

 Santa checking his book for Katie's file

My grandson Andrew was doing well, just needed to try a little harder to keep his room clean and help around the house - he's five.  Lauren, on the other hand, little darling Lauren who is three, Santa put her on the "Naughty List" for now, and told her she needed to keep her voice quieter in the house.  Poor thing.  Oh well, maybe she will try harder for Santa.

 Katie's file in Santa's Book

So here it is:

Santa's Message to Katie

Click on the link above; be patient, it takes a minute to load.

Have a happy weekend, everyone, from Me and Katie! : )

It'sThanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I am very thankful for all my loyal Followers and also the other folks who read my blog.  I am thankful for the wonderful comments I receive.  And I'm thankful for two new followers:

WELCOME to Karen, our new follower!  It's nice to have you along for our journey.  I don't see a blog listed for you, let me know if you start one.

And WELCOME to Tom at Big Sky Chief, a man who cooks!  It's nice to have you along to share our daily adventures as we prepare to RV full-time.

I'm thankful for this RV blogging community.  I'm thankful for having my dream to RV full-time with my dog, Katie.  When I am able to follow through with this dream, it will open so many doors to  me and also solve a lot of problems I would otherwise have when I retire.  It will be, I hope, the perfect solution to retirement for me.  I can't wait! : )

The first Thanksgiving was in 1621 and lasted three days!  That sounds like a long holiday, but these days most of us get four days off, so...  Lucky Us!

I'm thankful for so many things.  I'm not going to list the things I'm thankful for - it would be too long.  Every year it grows.  All year long I appreciate my family - I have two wonderful kids who've given me five perfect grandchildren and they would top the list, and of course Katie.

I'm sitting here typing as I watch the Macy's Parade - there's a really good float of a huge turkey going down the road right now.  I'm thankful even for little things like that.  I'm in my warm home, Katie is laying out in the sun on the patio, four days off ahead of me. A fridge full of food, cupboards full enough to find almost anything I'd need for any recipe I'd care to make.  A car full of gas - I can drive anywhere I want.  Great neighbors around me.  These are the kinds of things I'm lucky enough to have all year long, and I DO appreciate them all year long.

 Isn't he beautiful?

My son and his family drove up to visit my daughter and her family in Vacaville, and I know they are all going to have soooo much fun.  The grandchildren all love to be together, so it's a treat for them when the families visit.  I'll see them all together during Christmas week down here in San Diego, and I'm looking forward to that.

 
Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving everyone, from Me and My Dog, Katie! : )

Lots of new Followers, and a First Place Winner!

Well, I have an embarrassment of riches today - four new Followers - WOW!  WELCOME to you all, and thank you for joining Me and Katie as we get ready to pursue our (my) dream of full-timing.  Well, actually, if she could talk, I think Katie would say this is her dream, too.  You've seen her in the car seat - she's always ready to go!  Just yell, "Road Trip!"   : )

Dee and Jim, Tumbleweed - I've been following your blog, too, and always enjoy your posts.  Nice article about you guys in the Garner newspaper - congratulations!

Terria Fleming from Daily Good, I LOVED the story about The Whale!  Definitely nice to read about Good Things.

Laura from Pursuit of Idle Pleasures - great blog and great house and great RV.  You've got it all covered! And you're retiring next month.  Soooo covered!

Kate and Terry - Travels in Cholula Red - I've been a Follower of your blog also and love your photos. Sunday's hummingbird shot with the feeder is fantastic. How'd you do that?

My eldest granddaughter, Kennedy, who is 7 years old, is a member of a competition cheer squad.  They practice twice a week, during the week they practice cheer, and on Sunday they have a gymnastics class.

 Kennedy's flip in September at practice

On Sunday Kennedy attended her first competition.  I called her when they were on the way home from Los Angeles (I think, somewhere up there) and she said she was kind of nervous before competing, she didn't know what to expect.  And guess what?

They won First Place for their division!  

That big trophy will be displayed at the facility where she practices, and on Tuesday evening they are having a ceremony where all the team members will be awarded ribbons.   I'm very proud of her and all the hard work she put into earning that trophy with her team!

Is Katie's Daily Puppy Pic the cutest thing, or what?

Short week for us at work.  Today, tomorrow, Wednesday, and that's it.  Nice! I'm also taking Monday off in lieu of my paid holiday Friday, which is a regular day off for me.  My boss isn't happy about me taking an extra day off, but the rest of the company gets Thursday and Friday off, paid, so we had a little discussion about it this afternoon, and he agreed to give me an extra paid day off.   From the research I've done on-line, that seems to be what most companies do, so...  He thinks I'm taking advantage - what do you think?  Any opinions?  Am I wrong?  I'd appreciate any input, and am willing to be flexible.

That's all for today - From Me and My Dog, Katie, have a wonderful Monday evening, everyone! : )