Saturday around the park

It was a bit rainy and chilly on Saturday.

While Carl went to an Amateur Radio meeting, I headed to the Fired Clay Arts and Sewing rooms as they were having open houses.

In the Fired Clay Arts hobby room -- lots of items for sale and some also on display so we could see what kinds of things can be made there.

Similarly in the Sewing room, lots of items for sale as well as many on display that members have made.

In the evening, the VO Ham Radio Club had a Fish Fry scheduled -- the club president, Ervin, and his wife had brought Walleye that they had caught near their home up north...

Ervin and his wife...

Potluck!

The gathered group

"Go box" -- Ham radio and battery ready to "go" in case of an emergency - built this past week by the Ham club. The money for the battery, case, and electronics was requested from the Social Board by the Electronics Club on behalf of the Ham Radio Club.

Dessert table, Yum!

Lightly fried Walleye -- delicious!

Enjoyable day!

Friday activities

On Friday afternoon, we joined neighbors to enjoy Karaoke in the afternoon...

We could see the words as well as the singers.

There was a good crowd there...

Nice to have time with neighbors

The control board -- they got the sign-ins of folks who wanted to sing and had them all timed and the music lined up.

We enjoyed being there with neighbors, but... we don't really like karaoke...

In the evening, we had tickets for the Friday night dance...

Line dancing with others who are also in the "beginning" group!

Eight member band!

Name of the band - Rhythm Edition. They are a new band to the park and we enjoyed them quite a lot!

Always lots to do each day!

Wellness Program visit to Banfield

We have Miss Kitty enrolled in an "Optimum Wellness Program" at Banfield Pet Hospitals -- usually located within Petsmart stores. As a senior kitty, this includes two checkups a year as well as her vaccinations and other services (though many "other" services are additional cost too). It is nice because they have access to her previous visits to Banfield Pet Hospital locations with any test results or recommendations which have previously been done (we want the same for our own medical and dental care!).

Waiting for her appointment -- Carl has his hand inside the kennel giving her attention. She makes everyone in the area is aware that she is *not* pleased to be there!

Check in desk at Banfield

I am not certain whether this is a hold-over from COVID or what... but they seem to have "drop off" appointments only. We check in at the desk, someone comes to take Miss Kitty to the back -- in this case, when the vet was ready to see her -- we wait out front, the vet comes out to chat with us about any concerns we have or anything she wants to communicate to us, and they someone brings Miss Kitty back to us. Why we don't go into an exam room with Miss Kitty and communicate with the vet there, I'm not sure... there *are* exam rooms, and for some types of appointments, I guess you go into the exam room with your pet, but not for checkups. 

I did ensure this time that we got a "drop off" appointment at a time during which the vet would not be doing surgeries or otherwise occupied. A few times, we have dropped Miss Kitty off and she has been at the pet hospital for a few hours, not for any care of her, but because she is waiting until the vet can see her. It seems that this upsets Miss Kitty and she does not seem to be "normal" for a day or so afterwards. I know that we are overprotective pet parents, but, we're trying to minimize the stress in her (and our!) lives!

So, we saw the vet very quickly and were done in a matter of minutes.

We generally like to see the adoptable kitties at Petsmart, so once Miss Kitty was done, we walked around looking for the adoption area. There had been a place near the Pet Hospital, but there were no animals in there, so we checked to see if they were somewhere else in the store.

Instead, on the far side of the store, we saw a number of dogs in a room with one staff person overseeing them. Some were playing, some were sleeping -- I should have gotten a picture but didn't think of it...

It turns out that it was a Doggie Daycare, or PetsHotel. This list was a "sample" of the types of activities that the dogs might engage in!

We talked with a lady who was coming out of the PetsHotel check-in area with her dog. I asked her if she brought her dog there for daycare - she said she brought her dog once a week for playtime with other dogs - that back home in Iowa he would get to play with his "cousins" but during the winter season here in Mesa, he didn't get a lot of play time.

The things we do for our furry friends!

Marketplace at Venture Out

On Thursday, there were a number of vendors who came in to the Baja Bistro to display their wares so we could enjoy shopping without even leaving the resort!

Checking out what the vendors have to offer...

There were quite a number of vendors -- many with handmade items, also Avon, Norwex, Mary Kay...

It is fun to look!

One of the social clubs was selling Taco Salads too -- they smelled really good!

We didn't buy anything at the Marketplace (remember, if we buy something, something else needs to leave the rig!). After shopping, we went upstairs to the ballroom for our Absolute Beginner Line Dance Lessons. We're finally getting to the point that we actually know some of the dances before they teach them, and we also know the "language" (terms like jazz box, grapevine, rocking horse, mambo, rumba box, K-step, etc.) so when the instructor says one of the terms, we don't have to think *quite* as hard as we used to!!!

Ham Radio Get-together at the Park

Thursday morning is the time for the SunLife Amateur Radio Group to set up in Red Mountain Park. We had gone a week before for a pancake breakfast with the group - this week, it was just to set up and see who they could contact.

This activity is part of an activity to ensure that the Ham Radio Operators know how to set up their equipment out away from their home, without electricity (using batteries for power source), to ensure their emergency readiness. It also allows them to be in contact with the public, raising awareness and interest in the hobby.

Chuck is sending Morse code (CW) in communication with an amateur radio operator in Switzerland.

Battery to provide power and Morse code key in Chuck's setup.

Carl said that, while they were set up at the park, a young lady came by and asked what they were doing there. She was surprised to learn that they were amateur radio operators and were, in fact, at that moment, in communication with another operator in Switzerland! There were several antennas out, and the Hams there were able to share with her about the club and about the hobby of Amateur Radio.

Ham Radio Get-Together at the Ham Shack

Wednesday evening was a scheduled time for interested Amateur Radio operators to get together in the Ham Shack. After our community potluck, Carl headed over there to meet with other Hams...

A few people came out...

... some folks wanted to chat...

... others wanted to talk on the radios.

They settled down to chat -- talking about what the requirements were when they initially got their licenses to be Amateur Radio operators.

Our friend, Laura, shared that, when she got her license in 1961, she had to pass a Morse code exam first with the FCC, having to complete so many words per minute, and if she got even one letter wrong, she had to do the test again. The test was also at a special testing location - an FCC location. After passing the Morse code segment, then she could test for the Amateur radio levels. At that time, there were tests for 5 levels: "Novice", "Tech", "General", "Advanced", and "Amateur Extra" (and another called "Commercial", and Carl is not certain where that fell within the levels) - the higher levels allowed you to work in more frequency bands. Today, there are only three levels, which are "Technician", "General", and "Amateur Extra", and Morse code is no longer required for any of the levels. Passing levels beyond "Technician" still grants you access to more frequency bands.

Even though Morse code is not required for amateur radio licensing, CW ("continuous wave" as it is also known) is still actively used but not quite as popular among amateur radio enthusiasts. It can transmit further and be picked up better in poor transmit conditions as opposed to voice (aka phone) communication.

It is interesting to learn about how the hobby has changed through the years.

Wednesday night potluck

This season, the park has restarted a tradition that existed here pre-COVID -- potlucks. Evidently, they used to be scheduled on Tuesday evenings every week. When a group of residents communicated with the Activity Office that they would like for the potlucks to start up again, Tuesdays were already booked for other events, so they settled on an every-other-week (or so) schedule on Wednesday evenings. They had a couple while we were away, so this was the first time we were able to join.

One of our neighbors sent out a message earlier in the day and asked if anyone else was planning to go -- so we planned to sit with them.

When we got there, there were a number of long tables set up -- we sat with our neighbors and another two couples joined us at our table.

The technique was that you put your food on the table in front of you, and then everyone got up and circled your own table, taking servings of whatever you wanted. Since we had a less-than-full table, the table next to us invited us to circle their table too so we would have more options.

After everyone at your table had taken a serving, the dishes were moved to common tables where anyone could go and take whatever they might want!

After about a half hour of eating, a park resident played and sang some songs for us to enjoy.

It was an enjoyable get-together!