8-26-12 Sunday (Rule Breaking)

This weekend we are going/went to Augusta.  Thursday night we did our typical night before Augusta stuff.  We packed.  We loaded what we could into the car, this way Friday after work I’d be ready to load up the last minute stuff and the dog and then head South to pick up Jim.

Every time we go to Augusta, we have the Mazda jam packed.  I hoping that eventually we won’t have as much to bring.  I’m glad the car is as big as it is.

Jim usually leaves his car at work which is great because his job is right off the interstate we have to travel on to get to Augusta.  This time he left the car at Plaza Fiesta with an upholstery place so they could replace the fabric on the A and C pillars.

Pillar

We’ll pick up the car on Sunday.

We stopped at a rest area not very far from Jim’s office to eat dinner at the picnic table pavilions they offer.  We had salads.

2012-08-24 002Above: No Pets Allowed:  Breaking all the rules.

It was about 10pm when we arrived to the RV.  We had the usual electrical issues (dead batteries) and had to jump the RV so we could power the slide and steps.  We unloaded the car, organized everything real quick and then went to Boll Weevil Café for dessert.  We’ve been here once before but apparently I never mentioned it in the blog. They have a case of awesome cakes and we couldn’t remember what we’ve previously tried.  I tried looking it up and the blog and no luck.  We chose strawberry cake and banana chocolate chip cake.  Yum.  By the way, here’s their dessert menu.  Below is a picture from our last visit.

Cake

Huge cake.  Anyway, we took the cake to go.  We had a bench picnic on the downtown River Walk which is a block or two away from the café.  Maybe sometime we’ll get there during the day for some good photos.  For now, if you really want to see it, click here

Saturday Jim weed whacked and and organized some of the inside as well as vacuumed.  The sand being tracked into the RV is ridiculous.  We’ll just have to take off our shoes when we get into the RV. 

2012-08-25 004

Jim said his arms took a beating by holding the weed eater for so long.  He said he was going to invent giant casters or something for it to rest on so he wouldn’t have to hold it airborne.

Lunch was awful.  We used a Living Social coupon for Sweet Lou’s Crab Shack.  We walked in and there were only 2 other tables in use.  One a large party and the other only 2 people.  We stood at the front door unsure of what to do.  Do we order at the counter?  Do we seat ourselves?  Do we wait to be seated?  The server standing at the counter area didn’t say anything so we walked up to him and confirmed it’s full service… if you want to call it that.  Drinks took forever.  Eventually we ordered the same meal, steak with onions, mushrooms and cheese.  It was listed with the sandwiches but we weren’t sure how it would come.  $11.  He asked what we’d like for a side.  He gave the choices with the last one being “or baked potato I think…”  He thinks?  We opted for the potato salad.   The steak had to have been 3-4oz at most.  Remembering my Weight Watchers days of estimating portions, the palm of your hand is 3oz.  It was smothered in the cheese, onion and mushrooms which was good but the steak was overcooked.   When we got the check, we were charged for side dishes.  Not knowing that something or nothing was included in our meal and just being disappointed overall, we didn’t argue or care, we just wanted out. 

Jim and I took turns going to the restroom while one of us sat at the table.  We had to walk through the kitchen and around the cook to the bathroom which was located in the kitchen.  We didn’t see any grill other than a consumer sized plug-in griddle.  A dorm room has a better equipped kitchen.  The back door stood open too.  How can people walk through your kitchen?  How is this place legal?  What if I cough or sneeze while I walk through?  Ewwwww.   I wished I had seen the kitchen before we had ordered/eaten.  The service was horrible, the restaurant was horrible.  I know, I know, tell you how I really feel?  Where’s the Health Department?  I looked up the reviews on this place from several different websites and most of them were pretty bad.  Some mimicking our thoughts to the T.

We strolled around the downtown shops.  There was a huge antique store complete with 3 stories.  The top floor was the “clerence” (that’s how the handwritten sign spelled it) area and pretty scary at that.  I took photos.  Of course.

2012-08-25 013Above: The elevator (I think it is) looks cool, the rest was trashy.

2012-08-25 009

Above/Below: Credit card receipts from 2003 with full account numbers on them.  Shame on them.  Even deposit slips. 

2012-08-25 010

2012-08-25 011

Above: Old mattresses.  Really?  Who’s gonna buy them?

2012-08-25 012Above: The “try selling it now!” on the bar seemed creepy to me.

Back to the pool for more floating, swimming soaking and even a little impromptu volley ball.  No teams, no scores, just hitting a ball back and forth.  It was fun.

Eventually it was dinner time.  Jim suggested redeeming a restaurant.com certificate.  Learning from today’s earlier experience, I Googled the restaurant and found way too many negatives.  In fact, Urban Spoon had a summary of votes:

Urban

More than half the reviewers didn’t like it.  That’s enough for me.  We decided to go check out a country buffet instead.  When we arrived it was going to close in a half hour.  We don’t do buffets that are close to closing.  We drove and drove and saw a Chinese restaurant.  The sign said lunch buffet.  It didn’t say anything about dinner.  I thought that either way it would be good.  We confirmed that the buffet is only lunch time.  I was very pleased with that since it’s difficult to find a non-buffet Chinese restaurant these days.  The food was great.

Whether it was too much food or too much time in the sun today, by late evening we were very tired.  We skipped “going out” and opted for bed.

Sunday we didn’t even go to the pool.  We packed up and departed by 11am.  We stopped off to pick up the car.  The fabric replacement looks good.  They tried matching the color as best as possible.

While grocery shopping, Jim saw a device that attaches to the weed eater with the same premise as what he had said on Saturday.  Here’s Jim with The Big Balls.

2012-08-26 014

2012-08-26 015

Oh and the receipt description?  “Big Balls”. 

8-19-12 Sunday (Better Than Watching Paint Dry)

It’s been a great weekend.  It started with our Saturday morning delivery of the washer and dryer. 

2012-08-18 001Above: Bye bye old crap.

h.h.gregg electronically called the night before stating the delivery window was 8:53 – 11:53am.  Bizarre but I’ll take it.  Sadly, with the new washer in place, I started a load of laundry immediately.  Jim and I watched the cycle for longer than I’d care to admit.  “Ooooo, look what it’s doing now.”   “Wow, that’s weird.”  “That’s cool.”  Exciting.  Maybe I’ll film part of the cycle and post it in the blog.  Or maybe not. 

2012-08-18 003

The dryer is nice but the lint filter is annoying.  Maybe even enough to return the dryer.  While trying to open the damn thing, lint is flying all over.  Closing it takes squeezing it in 3 places to snap it together.  Since all of this  isn’t mentioned nor pictured in the owner’s manual it’s even more frustrating.

filter

2012-08-19 008Above: The lint goes down into that plastic case.  Instructions on the lint filter itself read “clean before each load”.

Saturday night we met up with new friends, Doug and Dave, for dinner at Savor Café.   We all enjoyed our dinners.  Turkey burgers, meatloaf and a pimento cheese fried chicken were among our entrees.  Next we had a discount coupon for mini-golf and go karts.  Off to Adventure Landing we went.  This place has recently undergone a name change.  Probably ownership as well.  Some of it was being remodeled.  Some was worn down.  We had fun though.  Isn’t that what counts?

I took one photo of Dave and I which came out horribly blurry.  I took another of a praying mantis. 

2012-08-18 004

That’s it for photos.  Just having met this couple, I thought it might have been a little weird to snap photos of them and us.  It turns out they usually do the same but also refrained so next time there will be lotsa picture taking. 

After the entertainment we returned to Savor Café for cocktails, coffee and dessert.  Mmmmmm.  They do have some good desserts there.


Beth has been on blood thinning medication because of the blood clot in her lungs that she suffered with several months ago.  The doctor said no alcohol during recovery.  This afternoon we celebrated her full recovery with brunch at Mimi’s.  Bloody Mary’s and Mimosas.  Mmmmmmmmm.  Service was an issue.  We waited and waited for a table.  Jim noticed that quite a few people who came in after us were seated before us.  His inquiry led to the fact that somehow we kept getting skipped.  We got seated with an apology.  Next the server took a long time to come to the table.  He arrived, took a drink order but was short my water and said he’d be back.  It took a really long time to get that.  One of the other tables behind us were seated and soon after got up and left.  We think its because our server didn’t make it to the table?  The food was yummy and by the time we got our buzz on, service didn’t quite matter.

We stopped into an h.h.gregg to check out the other dryers.  All the Samsung dryers had that ridiculous lint screen.  We might return the damn thing and pick up a different brand.  We’ll see.  Maybe I can “master” cleaning the lint filter without getting it all over the place.  Over the weekend I did like 5 loads of laundry.


2012-08-19 006Above: Dasher: Just for the hell of it.

8-12-12 Sunday (Purchase Excitement)

My Mom and Aunt have booked a flight for a visit toward the end of September.  If you remember, they cancelled the last time back in April.  They’ll come together but my aunt will leave a week later; my mom will stay a week longer.  I’ve had a list of things to do going for a while now.  A trip here, a visit there.  We’ll keep as busy as she wants to.  If they just want to “relax” then that’s cool too.  I’m gonna take off a bunch of 1/2 days from work.

Sometime during the week a filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau regarding the brakes on the Jeep.  Aside from the original visit, they’ve made 8 repair attempts to fix these noisy brakes.  Beth has been driving it for a couple of weeks and confirms that they squeal at nearly every stop.  I’ve requested a refund for 2 visits in which I’ve paid for pads, rotors, calipers and brake lines.  We’ll see what happens.

If you’ve been cruising my blog for any length of time you know that I typically have my camera with me AND that I love photographing obscure, funny or weird stuff.  I have tons of photos over the years.  I worked on uploading more of my “funny and unusual photos” to Facebook.  You can see them HERE (a new window will open) without having a Facebook account.  Like magic or something.  Be warned, there’s 435 photos of goofiness.

On Saturday Jim did some organizational projects.  He hung up some more slat-board, this time in the guest room closet.  It’s to hang our tablecloths.  We keep our tablecloths on PVC pipes so that they don’t wrinkle.  We simply unroll them onto the table, wash them, roll them back up.  They never need ironing.  I think Jim spotted this idea on some HGTV tip.  I can’t remember.  We’ve done it this way for years.

2012-08-11 001

Don’t hate.

It took a few weeks (June 30th - July 29th) but Mazda of South Charlotte posted our delivery photo on Facebook.  I was beginning to wonder why we hadn’t appeared.  I was about to get a complex.

Mazda Delivery

Jim and Beth went to a Def Leopard, Lita Ford and Poison concert tonight.  They said it was awesome and they had a great time.  I don’t do concerts.  I find myself disappointed when the music doesn’t sound exactly like the radio edit version.  Yeah, I’m strange but that’s OK.  I’ve been to two concerts that I remember.  KISS when growing up and a Madonna concert with Jim.

My new cookbook arrived!  Ruby Ann’s Down Home Trailer Park Cookbook.  I’ve wanted this cookbook for a long time and finally decided to get it.  I love the humor in it.  I’ve mentioned this cookbook in the past – click here.  It will be display in the RV.  Maybe even used.

Ruby

Sunday was a fairly laid back day.  Jim slept in late due to last night’s concert.  Once showered and ready, we did our typical grocery shopping.  Afterwards we headed to the Sear Outlet/Clearance store.  They typically have appliances that are discontinued, damaged or returned by the buyer.  I want a new washer/dryer.  Maybe even need. Their prices were negated by the delivery/setup fees so we didn’t feel as though we were getting a great deal. 

Our washer was a front loader Craigslist deal for $240 for the set.  It washes horribly.  It never seems like it gets into between cycle spins and the pump is very noisy.  The repair guy said all is fine other than the pump noisy.  It doesn’t clean well.  Stains don’t come out.  Spots where I’ve  pretreated still have soap residue.  It’s not very large and never seems to use quite enough water.  I’ve owned 2 front loaders prior to this and never had issues with it’s performance.  My only bitch about front loaders is the odors from the door gaskets.  I have to clean/bleach them often.  I have to leave the door open to help stop mold.  The whole thing blows.  As for the dryer it recently started to rattle and of course it’s too small to accommodate the larger washer. 

We went on to h.h.gregg.  They had the top Consumer Reports rated washer, an LG 3.7cu ft.  Jim spotted a Samsung deal that included a $200 mail in rebate when buying a washer and dryer.  It was more money for the unit but at 4.7 cu ft seemed much larger.  The Samsung was the #2 rated washer.

CR

They also had free delivery.  Jim mentioned we had a Lowes 10% off and they honored that.  h.h.gregg will make deals!  Although we spent more than I thought, it was a great deal for an excellent washer.  Even the reviews are awesome.  I know I’m getting old when I’m excited by a washer purchase.  Delivery is Saturday!

WA5451ANW

Washer

The inside looks like a cheese grater although it’s gentle.

On the way home we caught this:

2012-08-12 002

A box truck with a car kind of hanging out of it and towing another car.  Hardly seem safe.

8-5-12 Sunday (Recycling Can Be Daunting)

2012-08-04 001It’s an Augusta weekend getaway!  Ahhhh, stress-free and relaxation.  OK, maybe not to start with.  We arrived Friday night.  It was pouring rain.  Everything was muddy.  The RV stairs didn’t slide out when we opened the door.  Oh boy.  Here we go.  Luckily we have other steps we can put at the door.  In the rain.  Done.  We get inside and attempt to deploy the slide-out.  Nope.  No noise.  Nada.  In the bathroom, we find the “toilet humor” picture fell off the wall.  Fortunately no broken glass. I discover that I forgot the dog food.  A trip to the store will be needed but first we address the slide-out issue.  The “house batteries” are dead.  We hook up the Mazda to the RV and then the steps work as well as the slide-out.  Great, there’s 2 batteries and we replaced them not too long ago and they’re expensive.  Yeah there’s warranty but we just want the damn things to work.  We charge for a while and then all seems right with the world RV.  We went to Walmart.  As we left the store, it was pouring rain again.  The umbrellas were inconveniently located in the car.  Across the lot.  In the rain.

The highlight to that adventure was having Krystal Burger for a late snack.  We didn’t have Krystal in our part of Florida, nor in Charlotte so having it here in Augusta was a treat.  When I lived in NY we had White Castle (similar) which we often referred to as “belly bombs”.

So… we got home, we had a very late night.  Bedtime was 3am.  At 4am the carbon monoxide detector beeped 3 times.  We woke up and thought “what the heck was that?” and went back to sleep.  Jim thought it was the smoke detector.  That happened several more times with 3-5 minute intervals.  Jim investigated.  Just in case we turned off the propane supply.  There’s a handy-dandy control panel in the RV for this.  The leak detector still beeped.  Next he removed the sensor from the wall and cut the wires.  That will teach it to make noise.  Bad sensor, bad.

2012-08-04 004

1229228-SaturdayThe next morning (so yes, we did survive) I switched the propane back on but couldn’t get the water heater pilot light to stay on.  There’s yet another handy-dandy control panel in the RV for this!

2012-08-04 003

I tried lighting the stove.  No gas flow.  We finally figured out the house batteries were dead again (we tried the slide-out again), and apparently this is what is powering the propane sensor and carbon monoxide sensor.  Low voltage issues.  So now we think we might have a power converter (110 to 12v) issue.  We jumped the house batteries again and the propane worked.  He reinstalled the carbon monoxide detector and it worked too.  He changed a setting on the converter and so far it’s working.  We’ll see what happens.

2012-08-04 002

We went to Publix for lunch.  Jim found a location that had a café seating area.  We ordered some subs and ate them while people watching.  We love their subs.

2012-08-04 005Above: Folks, wear contrasting colors.  Variations of pink or blues just don’t work together.

We decided to drive through some neighborhoods.  We came across this:

2012-08-04 006Above: It’s a house with mannequin heads and hats in the window.

Next, onto Walmart for yet another visit.  Jim wanted to have a trickle charger on hand in case we have converter issues again.

2012-08-04 007Above: Excuse me, ma’am.  You’ve got a giant butterfly on your back.

Finally, some pool time.  We spent a lot of time just swimming around in the pool and socializing.

Jim had a coupon (shocker, I know) for Red Lobster.  He craved Cheddar Bay Biscuits so we cleaned ourselves up and off we went.  After salads and biscuits I was feeling ill.  Nauseated.  I forced myself (I felt guilty like I was wasting it) to eat my fried shrimp and fries but left a lot of it.  Jim noticed my unusually slow eating pace and asked what was wrong.  He took me back to the RV and then he’ll go shopping on his own.  But first, Jim spotted this on the side of the road.  He said we have to go back for me to see it.  So a u-turn here and there and viola:

2012-08-04 008

The poor thing has a broken wheel.  Yes, it’s a plastic toy wagon.  There’s a recycling place a block away.  The best we can tell is someone didn’t quite make it there.

We arrived back at the RV to find that damn CO2 detector beeping again for low voltage.  We had power issues again. We always seem to have power issues. The battery maintainer (trickle charger) he bought didn’t have a long enough cord.  I laid down sick, listening to a loud beep in the bedroom.  I put socks around the sensor to muffle the alert sounds.  It was the best I could do till he got home.  I slept on and off (because of the beeping).  Once he got home to fix the issue (temporarily) I slept a little longer.  By 8ish I was ready to go for our usual evening swim and socializing. 

Sunday

Our Sunday here in Augusta is typical now.  We wake up, surf the internet, pack up a little, go to the café for a breakfast sandwich, take a dip in the pool, finish packing up and shower.  Naturally as we were packing the car up, it started raining pouring.  To save some time, Jim stripped down, put on his swim suit and loaded the car in the rain.  He also did our other “getting ready to leave stuff” like dump the holding tanks and such.  The rain did delay us by about an hour though. 

We did our typical grocery shopping.  In the back to school section they had a Bissell PowerForce Compact vacuum for only $35.  We chose pink!  It’s for the RV.  We have our older self propelled Hoover at the RV but it’s cumbersome, very heavy and too wide for some of the RV areas.  Before we leave the RV I vacuum and mop.  The ground all around the RV is pretty much dirt/sand so the carpet and floor is always filthy.

Bissell

We gave the vacuum a test drive when we got home and it’s powerful.  This makes me happy.  One thing I hate about bagless is that it may lose suction over time.  We’ll see.