A car in our community

We are trying to take a walk every day (working on being ready for our April tour) and one day we walked on a street that we don't usually walk...

... which allowed us to see this beauty!

According to the license plate holder, it is a 1931 Model A.

It has Nevada plates -- we haven't seen it driving around the community, and I don't know whether they drive it down each season or not. 

Pretty car!

"Next Steps" class at Broadway Christian Church

Last season, we were involved with the worship service here at Venture Out, helping out with the coffee and donut time after the service (aka Gabfest). At the end of last season, when we got back from our cruise, the Venture Out services had ended so we decided to try visiting another church. We went with our friend Lesa to Broadway Christian and felt very at home there.

So, this season, when we returned to Mesa in October, it was before the Venture Out worship services had started up, so once again, we went to Broadway Christian. We like the continuity of the messages from week-to-week (the VO services have a different preacher each Sunday so the topics bounce around a bit). One of the Broadway pastors, John Enabnit, is one of the preachers who preaches at Venture Out once or twice a season and had been one of our favorite preachers even before we went to Broadway. 

At Broadway on Sunday, they announced that they would be holding a "Next Steps" class on Monday, so we decided to go so we could get more information about the church and its ministries...

They provided a booklet with information that they went over during the meeting and that we could take home with us.

They also provided a pizza and salad dinner!

Pastor John Klundt (and Pastor John Enabnit) shared information with us about the history of the church, their beliefs, and their ministries.

It was quite informative and we're glad we went!

A funny experience

Venture Out is a 55+ "active adult" community.

There are definitely *senior* adults living here with us (certain days, we definitely resemble that description!).

When I was volunteering at the Activities Office recently, a lady came in ... I said brightly, "How may I help you?" 

She responded, "I'm sure that there is a Michigan driver's license office here in Mesa, but I can't find where it is located. Can you help me find the address for the Michigan driver's license office?"

I am certain that the blank expression on my face made it obvious that I was not sure how to answer. The office manager, Denise, was at her desk just behind me and noticed that I wasn't responding. She said, "What was it that you need?"

The lady elaborated, "I need to know the address for the Michigan driver's license office. I've lost my Michigan driver's license and I need to get a new one."

Now, Denise had a similar expression on her face!

I asked Denise if we'd had a Michigan driver's license get turned in to lost and found (we hadn't -- we would have called the resident if it had). 

I responded to the resident, "I don't think that Michigan has a driver's license office here in Mesa. When I had a similar situation a few years ago with the state of Texas - not a driver's license, but we had lost our vehicle registration - I had to fill out information online with the state of Texas. It cost us $2 but we were able to get a duplicate copy sent to us. I don't know what the state of Michigan will require, but I think you're going to need to do it online or by phone."

I added, "Are you okay with looking things up online?" (There are more than a few residents here who are not, and I was willing to help her outside of my Activity Office duties if that was the case.)

She said she was okay with doing it online -- and left with a smile.

Denise and I looked at each other, grinned, and shook our heads! 

Protecting assets

Since getting the new Honda CR-V, Carl has been on Facebook learning about the vehicle from other owners. One of the things he had read about was that the front radar sensor could be removed pretty easily and stolen - which would then lose the functionality of adaptive cruise control and collision mitigation (https://www.cbtnews.com/thieves-target-radar-sensors/). Replacement if the device was stolen could cost $500-1500.

Carl also read that there was an aftermarket radar sensor cover and protector available (https://www.crvownersclub.com/threads/radar-sensor.251893/), so he had ordered it from Amazon. It had arrived and he installed it a couple of days ago...

The sensor is located behind the Honda "H" in the front grille. Separately from the concern about theft, it seems also that the sensor can be limited in functionality by rain or snow or obstructions that might obscure the front grille area. The protector device does not help with this.

After Carl took the "H" off, the sensor was revealed.

It was very easy to remove the sensor...

... all he would need to do to steal it was to unplug the wires. (Note: you probably don't want to purchase a used one as it was likely stolen.) Carl didn't unplug the wire as that would have required re-calibration of the unit.

The protector consisted of three stainless steel plates and four screws -- one of the the plates can be seen on the front of the mounting area, the other is ell shaped and you can just see the shiny edge peeking out -- the other part of the ell is behind the mounting area so the front plate can screw into it through the plastic components. A hex tool is used to tighten those two plates into place.

The final component of the protector attaches to the sensor and is then screwed into the plate that was previously attached.

The kit included a torque security bit to tighten the last screws and secure the protector into place. 

Replace the "H" and the task is completed!

Technically, if someone tries to steal it even with the protector is in place, they could break up all the plastic and still make off with it. But, if they were hoping to make a quick grab in a relatively public place, maybe that will make it enough more difficult that they'll seek out another vehicle instead of taking from ours. (Make your property harder to steal so they seek out someone else's.)

It is frustrating that we need to protect against this kind of theft. It is also frustrating that Honda hasn't made more of an effort to make it less steal-able, but... I guess they don't see an advantage to putting more money into protecting it -- they aren't out any money, they make money again through their parts department if a customer has to purchase a replacement sensor from them. (Why is it like this? "Follow the money," as my brother says!) 

Enjoying Mediterranean food

We had hoped to go out for gyros after our hike on Monday, but since the hike finished later than we anticipated, we decided to wait for another day. We visited MV (Most Valuable) Pita on Wednesday, and enjoyed some of the thoughts displayed on their walls:

<grin>

Working presales for the theater show

I volunteer in the Activity office for half a day a week. Denise, the office manager, asked for volunteers to help with the presales for the "VO on Stage" performances coming up later in February. We had training a couple of days before (after our hike and line dance review on Monday), and then we gathered on Wednesday morning to sell tickets in the Bistro.

Carl stopped by after he had gone to Stretch and Tone and took some pictures...

Most of the rush was done within about 45 minutes of our start but we stayed around for a bit longer...

... and Carl got pictures of us all ready to sell tickets!

The theater shows are scheduled for a Saturday matinee, followed by Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evening performances. There are assigned seats in the ballroom for these events so people get to pick the specific seats they want. The front rows went first, with seats on the aisle also being popular. We sold about 1/3 of the total tickets the first morning, and the rest will be sold in the Activity Office over the next couple of weeks. 

Anniversary Dinner

We decided to go out to Longhorn Steakhouse to celebrate our anniversary...

Six years -- we still know that we are blessed!

We had steak filets and...

Stampede cake for desert! If you can believe it, that is just a half serving of cake! We took half of it to go to enjoy on another day at home!

It was a wonderful day!