Trying out different culinary options

We've tried out a few different cuisines in the past few weeks...

YC's Mongolian grill -- a little pricey, but we can eat there and have enough to take home for another meal too! We also get to make our own mixture of proteins and veggies and sauces to go onto the grill.

On another day, we went out with friend, Lesa, for Indian buffet.

We had a taste for Chick-Fil-A, so went to the one that was closest. It turns out that it is take-out only, though they have a few tables for outdoor seating. The outdoor seating is under an awning and has fans and heaters mounted under the awning. At this time of year, it was comfortable, but in a few weeks, I think it might be uncomfortably warm.

We're enjoying having a little less to do in our community and having more time to do things outside of our community.

Different interpretations of signs

When we were at Banner Gateway a few days ago for Carl's biopsy, we had been asked to arrive early so they could get him all prepped, so we had a bit of time to wait until they were ready to do the procedure (don't want to keep the medical professionals waiting, but it is okay to keep the patients waiting). 

We noticed the labels on the small set of drawers in the room...

Just looking at the labels on the left side of the top drawer, it appears that they keep curious caps (though they seem to spell it differently) in there, along with butterflies (and their needles), and I don't know how they get Christmas trees in there, it seems too small, and I guess spare change goes in that drawer too! 

We shared our interpretations of the labels with the nurse, and she proceeded to show us the medical items identified by each of those labels... nowhere near as exciting as what we were supposing to be in there!

Sunday afternoon Music Jam

Throughout the season, we'd heard that the Sunday afternoon music jams (held each 2nd Tuesday during the season) were good country-western dance music, and that people were welcome to come and enjoy listening and / or dancing to the music. 

We finally made it to their last get-together for this season, in April,

...there was quite a group of performers ready to play and sing.

Similar to the Tuesday afternoon on the Terrace jam, each brought their own instruments and made a suggestion down the line of what to sing next. They went through the group twice allowing each to select his or her own song to sing, and the others joined in with the music.

A sampling of one of the songs: https://youtu.be/-GMihx1J40A 

The fellow singing that song on the recording seemed to be the organizer/leader of the event. I think that most, if not all, of the performers are fellow-residents of ours here in the park.

We enjoyed listening to the music and working on our Arizona two-step dancing.

A trip to MD Anderson

Back a few weeks ago, when Carl was in the ER for his pneumonia diagnosis, they found an enlarged lymph node that they recommended that Carl follow up with his primary care doctor to get a biopsy. His primary care doctor referred him to MD Anderson for their recommendations of what to do next. MD Anderson called us on a Tuesday a couple of weeks ago and got us in for Carl's first appointment on Friday. 

MD Anderson in Arizona is affiliated with the Banner system. When we returned to Mesa this season, we set about to get doctors within the Banner system instead of independent practitioners. It has turned out to be very helpful to have all our records in one place, and since MD Anderson is also affiliated, their records are integrated in as well.

The first appointment was with a nurse practitioner. When she came in, she told us upfront that she was not an oncologist, but rather was a nurse practitioner in family medicine, but that she had worked with oncology for 20+ years. Her goal was to get the appropriate tests scheduled and to get Carl in to see the correct oncology doctor. She said that, prior to using this intake method, the schedulers would try to get patients scheduled with the right specialty area, but sometimes there was a wait to get an appointment (6+ weeks) and then it would turn out to be the wrong specialty area and the patient would again need to wait to get an appointment with the correct specialist. In addition, the first appointment with the specialist would just schedule tests so it would seem that nothing would get accomplished for many weeks. Suzanne identified the tests that she thought would be necessary and got those scheduled. Carl had bloodwork drawn, a sonogram done, and then an MRI scheduled. An appointment with a genitourinary specialist (urologist) was also scheduled.

In the meantime, Carl's primary care doctor had also scheduled bloodwork to rule out Valley Fever (it has to be tested 3+ weeks from onset of systems for the antibodies to be detectable in the bloodstream) and tuberculosis. He also had a follow-up x-ray ordered by his pulmonary care doctor to ensure that the pneumonia was gone.

Through the Banner online records, we could see the results from all of the tests -- nothing abnormal seemed to be indicated. His white blood count was normal (it had still been elevated when he was discharged from the hospital). He didn't have Valley Fever and the TB test was negative. One of the tests indicated that he was not pregnant (whew!). We couldn't see the results of the MRI but were hopeful that we would see the oncologist and he would say, "No worries, go on your way and have a great summer!"

Well, that didn't happen... as we thought, none of the tests indicated anything abnormal, but the enlarged lymph node was still there. So, the doctor referred Carl to have a biopsy via Interventional Radiology (from wikipedia: Interventional radiology is a medical specialty that performs various minimally-invasive procedures using medical imaging guidance, such as x-ray fluoroscopy, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or ultrasound.). In this case, they will use CT scanning to direct the biopsy. After the biopsy, there will be 1-1.5 week wait for biopsy results before we meet with the oncologist again.

As we were walking out of MD Anderson, Carl said, "So, in the ER they said I had an enlarged lymph node. The oncologist just said that I have an enlarged lymph node. Have we made any progress in the past 4 weeks?"

I guess another way to look at it is:

The good news is that there is no bad news.

The bad news is that there is no good news. 

We're thankful to have a nice house to stay in while we await the go-ahead that we can head out on our travels! 

Refrigerator saga - part 4

As I indicated in previous posts, after moving into the "new" park model, we weren't real pleased with the refrigerator that was already in there (a side-by-side model). We swapped it out for a new French door model and are happy with that in our home. We had partially justified this swap by knowing that the refrigerator in the casa was older and did not seal well, so we could upgrade the refrigerator in the casa by moving the side-by-side one to the casa. We waited until the tenants moved out, and then our friend, Ervin, helped us move the side-by-side refrigerator to the casa. 

Before installing the side-by-side refrigerator into the space in the casa, we wanted to run a water line so the built-in water dispenser and ice maker would work.

The refrigerator opening in the casa

Water line coming up from underneath the park model

Access to water line under the house

The kitchen sink is on the opposite side of the house (and where we want to hook into the water supply), so we need to run the water line under the casa -- this is the opening under the kitchen sink. We eventually got the water line fished across.

Getting the water line hooked up behind the refrigerator before pushing the refrigerator into place

Refrigerator in the middle of the floor while we got the water line hooked up

Closing up under the casa

Carl still needed to hook the water line up to the water under the sink.

Refrigerator pushed back into its space

The water worked well through the dispenser and the refrigerator seemed to be cooling well. It is a bigger unit than the one that was there, but I think it is probably a better refrigerator. Carl will put a water filter in under the kitchen sink before the next tenant arrives.

A new (and unwelcome) tenant

The tenants who were renting our small park model (the older one next to the RV site) decided to purchase a unit in the park and moved out a week or so before the end of their lease term. When we went over there a few days later...

... we found that a squatter had moved in...

Nest built, eggs laid, setting commenced!

I figured that, since there was no one on the patio or using the house, the dove felt comfortable putting her nest there. I sent a picture to our former tenants, and Sharlene said that the doves had tried to build there while they were still living there, but Al would get the nest taken down before they laid eggs. The tenants were out on the patio every day and had two dogs... I was shocked that a bird would think that a busy place like that would be a nice place to set up their nest -- I don't think that these "tenants" (squatters) will leave it anywhere near as clean as Sharlene and Al did!

"We've invited you here..."

A few days ago, we went for Carl to get a chest x-ray. It was a one story building with a few medical offices located off a central hall.

When we went in the automatic doors into the central hallway, we found dozens of chairs set up along the hallway.

We thought, "Well, maybe the individual offices don't have many chairs and sometimes they overflow into the hallway," or... "Maybe during COVID they didn't let many people into the office waiting areas so the chairs in the common hallway were used."

Carl asked the radiologist, and she indicated that they had been there the whole time she had been working at that location, and she had never seen anyone using any of them (for at least the last couple of years).

Maybe a good place to have a meeting if you aren't able to schedule it anywhere else!

More live music options

One of the new couples that we had met invited us to join them for Music on the Terrace...

This group of musicians gets together on most Tuesday afternoons during the season and play together. With iPads or other tablets, they can share their music. They take turns, each performer choosing a song they would like to perform, sharing the music and the key of the song with the others, and they all "jam" together. It is really neat how they all work together!

Moving Gracie

Gracie has been in the storage lot here at Venture Out while we had tenants in our RV spot. They left a couple of days before the end of March, so on the last day of March, we moved Gracie back from storage to our RV lot.

When we got to the place where Gracie was parked, the recycling bins were set out both in front and behind her in preparation for the city to pick up the recycling on that day.

We moved a few of the bins in front...

... and then Carl was ready to get her moved.

We had to plan our trip a little carefully -- there are corners within our community that can be navigated by a car or golf cart, but not by a motorhome. We had thought through our trip and got her back to our RV lot with no difficulties.

Impromptu concert

The last Friday night dance of the season had been completed on March 27, so we figured our options for live music in the park had ended. But, the son of one of our fellow residents and his wife were visiting, and they did an impromptu concert on the patio on a Saturday evening...

The patio is an open area between the fired clay / sewing / laundry / real estate building and two tennis courts. It is used for various outdoor events...

It was a little warm the evening that they performed, but after the sun went down, it was comfortable enough.

They had a tip jar out and I think they felt they were well appreciated! They usually entertain near their home in North Dakota (https://49thparallelfargo.com/). They were glad to have the opportunity to perform for friends of their parents, and we were glad to hear them!

Window washing

We decided to have our windows in the park model washed. We had noticed that there seemed to be a film on the glass -- we think inside -- possibly from off-gassing of materials inside the house during the summer when the air conditioning is not on. We didn't know how long it had been since they had been washed, so it was time... 

The fellow who did the windows also lives in our community.

He did a great job -- taking all the screens off and cleaning them, cleaning the window sills, and cleaning the windows inside and out. Several of the windows required being up on a ladder, and we were glad not to have to do that. It is amazing how much brighter it is inside the house!

Volunteer appreciation event

The Activity Director, Kimberly, hosted a Volunteer Appreciation Event for those who had volunteered during the season...

Kimberly kicked off the event with thanks to all of us who had volunteered during the season. The entertainment was by a young lady comedienne and she had a slide up with Senior Citizen Texting Code.

The "snacks" were sub sandwiches and fixin's -- very good.

There was a good group of folks there for the event.

The comedienne was self-proclaimed "famous" and "seen on national TV" which she proved by showing a screen capture of her in the audience in an Arizona Diamondbacks game!

The comedienne was enjoyable, she provided a lot of "senior" humor (she obviously does a lot of shows in senior housing communities!). It was nice for the Activity Office to recognize those who help to provide services to others in the community.

Springtime romance

Even though the weather feels like summer to us winter visitors, it is springtime for the local residents...

We had our sliding glass door open, and we could hear some "billing and cooing" going on -- there was a pair of doves on the railing of our front porch.

I moved to another window to try to get away from taking the picture through the screen...

You can also see the yard decor of the house across the street.

Love is in the air!

End-of-year concert

The end-of-year event was a concert by an Eagles tribute band, Eagle Eyes.

We had gone over earlier in the afternoon and set our chairs up. Just before the event, we helped with parking before the event started.

We had set up our chairs toward the side of the stage area -- we didn't have the highest fidelity sound, but it wasn't as loud as the areas right in front.

We were sitting with other line dancers, and we danced in the area behind where we were seated.

Carl went out in front of the stage to take some pictures and experience the sound from the front area.

He said that even at the back of the seating area, it was still quite loud but the sound quality was very good.

This was the last evening that Pamela and Dylan would be with us -- they would leave early the next morning to return to Albuquerque. Carl took a selfie in our house -- I have Miss Kitty, and Dylan has some miniature tomatoes that we got from a friend in our Rooted group -- for snacks on their drive home.

We enjoy taking advantage of the activities around our community.

Parking duties for year-end event

The Ham Radio club helped with directing parking for the end-of-year event in our community at the sportsplex...

Carl took this picture from down at the end of the golf cart parking. Roger (a new Ham and tenant on our RV lot this season) and I were up at the area where people could stop to unload their golf carts before they would go for parking (you may be able to see Roger and me in the yellow vests at the end of the asphalt area).

The golf cart parking almost totally full

Ervin, VO Amateur Radio Club President, rode around on the golf cart making sure we had coverage in all necessary areas. When we started needing to park golf carts further out beyond the tennis courts, he would give rides back to the seating area to those who couldn't walk the distance.

The Ham Radio Club helps with various events through the season. It is helpful as they are able to communicate via their radios and get people to help in a different area as needed.

Dad and daughter Indian food chow-down

While Pamela was visiting, on Monday, Dylan was working remotely, and I was leading a review class of absolute beginner line dancers, so Carl took advantage of having a person who enjoys Indian food to go out with him...

Carl's plate

Pamela and Carl at Guru Palace Indian Buffet Restaurant

I'm glad he got an Indian food fix!

As the season winds down...

Once March starts, we're officially in "wind down" season around Venture Out. There are constant questions of, "When are you leaving?" as people prepare to return to their homes in other parts of North America.

The block where our RV lot and casa are located is an active block with regular block parties about once a month. Even though we are no longer living on the block during the season, we're only a block away, and they still welcome us joining their parties. The last one of the season was on Sunday, March 22...

The host for the party arranged for The Outlaws, a band made up of residents of Venture Out who also happen to be former law enforcement officers (thus the name), to entertain.

Cooper, the dog of our friends, Don and Linda, was auditioning for a position with the band. I guess since he isn't former law enforcement and since he can't play an instrument, he didn't get a place in the band (besides which Don was demanding that he return home!). (Cooper is the sweetest dog ever!)

Carl's youngest daughter, Pamela, and her husband, Dylan, drove over from Albuquerque for a few day visit -- they got to participate in several activities around the community -- including the block party!

Some of our friends at the block party -- we were all seeking shade as the temps were over 100F -- we were thankful when the sun went down enough that we had shade and the temperature began cooling.

Some of the block party participants enjoying the band...

Another view of folks enjoying the band -- note that they are all clustered in the shade!

Taylor was hosting the party...

The pot luck was set up on his driveway.

Folks enjoying the potluck -- 

There were quite a number of folks from the block (800 Douglas) as well as other friends participating. Taylor had the 800 block of Douglas folks introduce themselves and share how they ended up at Venture Out.

Phil was playing his "air guitar cane" at one point during the evening.

It was a fun time to get together with friends, and we were glad that being in the desert means that the temperature drops quickly once the sun goes down (and, even when the sun is up and it is hot, being in the shade can be comfortable, particularly if there is a breeze!).