Wow, end of July

Well I can't say I'm unhappy to see the end of July because of the heat, but August is starting out much worse. So I'll just be very thankful that your a/c is working and working well. In two months the snowbirds will start to return. 😢 When we first got to Yuma we didn't know what the summers were like without the snowbirds. We only knew the heavy traffic, rude people, and no elbow room anywhere you went. But once they left we saw how nice it is to live here. And then came the heat. The first year is like any first, it was a new adventure. Now it's like winter in the northern states, not so welcome. But the nice part is no neighbors, no congested traffic, room in restaurants and stores and we have the pool to ourselves all summer long pretty much anytime we want to be in there. I've got the best tan I've ever had. Once the snowbirds get here, that will be the end of our pool time.

We are starting the 6th month of our stay at home agenda. Thanks to trump for not doing anything to slow down the trump virus, we will be this way even longer. We never realized how privileged we were to be able to come and go as we pleased, until the trump virus hit and hit hard and stronger every day. Wearing a mask has become as much of a habit as putting on deodorant. We don't leave home without either. 😂The highlight of our weeks are when we go pick up our grocery order from WM and go to the pool to cool down and get some much needed exercise. 

Mark is finally caught up on all his cardiology tests. We was none to happy to have to get it done. I was unable to go along with him due to  the trump virus, so when the doctor went over the results with Mark, Mark put me on speaker phone.  The doctor seemed to connect with Mark and never made me feel like I had no right to ask questions. He spoke in layman's terms so we could understand and answered every question. Mark is always unsure of what to ask so he depends on me to do the asking and understanding. He has a tendency to not hear what he doesn't want to hear, and forget all that he needs remember.  

Not much more to write since we don't do much right now. Maybe someday we will be able to go out and about as we used to before the trump virus. Until then we will wear our masks, social distance, wash our hands, sanitize everything that comes into our home and  be thankful that we have not contacted the trump virus like so many others. 

Dust devil

Yesterday coming home from a ride we saw a large Dust Devil crossing a cut hay field throwing hay in every direction. We saw it cross the road creating an un-passable amount of hay making a roadblock in one lane. We don't know when or where it stopped, but it sure was throwing dirt and hay around. Many times we have seen little ones but never one this large and throwing debris. What an amazing sight to see from a safe distance. Glad it wasn't coming at us.

A dust devil is a strong, well-formed, and relatively short-lived whirlwind, ranging from small to large. The primary vertical motion is upward. Dust devils are usually harmless, but can on rare occasions grow large enough to pose a threat to both people and property.

Not much

Summer in the desert makes for some long boring days. Just like the cold winter days and hot humid days in MN. Our big excitement is when we pick up our WM grocery order, go to the pool or go for a ride. Not much else you should do in the midst of a pandemic. Not if you want to stay healthy anyway. We made it through a HOT weekend. Saturday we went to the pool but Sunday got hot too quickly. When it gets hot that fast we stay inside, the pool doesn't even feel good when it's 115º. Especially when there is no breeze.

The dry air and high heat attacked the batteries for the solar. The water had evaporated and needed to be filled. It took a whole ice cream bucket of water to fill them. The batteries were acting "confused" once they got the water, but came back well. One of the voltage/current monitors went out, but after little tweaking it did come back on as well. The monitor has been giving grief for awhile now too. Guess it comes with age and extreme heat. It takes some pretty tough stuff to live through the summer heat in the desert. I don't know how the birds and other wildlife do it.

Haircut

Well I did it, I finally got my long hair cut. It's much easier for me to manage now and so far I love the way it looks. Over the years my hair has gotten very wavy, in the back anyway. So when Bobbi cut the back it looks as though I got a perm in the back. I've never liked the few waves that I had, now I wish I had them all over my head. 😆

My ponytail was 18 inches long and all total Bobbi said she cut off at least 23 inches of total length. That's a lot of hair. The floor looked like she hadn't swept the floor all week. Wow, lots of hair. No wonder I was getting headaches. All that weight! Anyway, I like the cut and Mark said that he does too. But if I'm happy he is happy too. He knew how difficult it was for me to work with anymore. Now I just washed my hair shook my head and done.

Before the cut......

And now, after the cut.....

Hmmm, now if I could just lose some weight this easily. 😦

Better

Mark was a good caregiver and I'm back up to normal, whatever that is to be. The pain is gone and I'm back to just the arms being a pain, but that's better than what I was dealing with the last couple days.

Today is WM grocery pick up day and groomer day for Lola. The last cut she got was not as short as it should have been. So she has been quite uncomfortable in the heat we have. An english cocker spaniel has several layers of fur, much like a collie, so it's very heavy when longer. Today her usual groomer is back so she will get her short cut and feel so much better. She has been laying next to the floor vent to get the cool a/c air. Poor baby.

This weekend the heat was nasty but we are back down to the lower 100's for now. July is usually quite hot so it's not like it was something new. Just not what anyone really likes. No matter where you live there is no ideal weather on a daily basis. So you just have to go with the flow and grin and bear it.

Some businesses are closing once again due to the increase in COVID cases. They are expected it to get higher as the fourth of July cases are just starting to come into play. It's been 4 months that we have stayed sheltered and masked up. It's beginning to feel like this will be the new way of life for many many more months. Businesses are beginning to worry about the lack of snowbirds here this winter. There is talk of schools not opening until Oct. Many parents are looking into online learning which has been growing in popularity for some time now. I know that is what I would choose for my child's safety.

Oh oh, something is wrong

July 12 at 11:52 AM · 

So yesterday I go out to the shed and there is an alarm going off. It was the inverter alarm saying battery voltage was low. I shut off the alarm and started looking over the system. Seems it had done a power shut down. Which is what my fail safe was designed to do.

I pulled the plug on the inverter and checked the voltage coming in from the panels. Zero volts, the whole system had no voltage what so ever.

I finally found the main charge controller circuit was down because of 50 amp circuit breaker had tripped. Man over 50 amps is a lot for this system to be pushing, no wonder the batteries were way down.

So I reset the breaker and restarted the system but it still it was not running right. Low voltage and slow charging after many hours told me we needed to get further.

I swapped out the charge controller and if anything that made it worse. So ether I have two bad controllers or something else is wrong. I get to playing with my temp gun, which is also giving me grief because of the heat in the shed and test and tighten all connections.

This reveals one power connection from the main line coming in from the panels had a much higher temp (160 deg.) than the rest of the connections. So I again shut down the solar system again and pull the connection apart.

Now the circuit I am working on is an enclosed circuit but I striped it down and found the problem. The connections were loose and had disintegrated most of the wire leading to the charge controller which is why it was giving me so many weird voltage reading. Pulled the wire completely out and replaced it with a new 8 gauge wire (The original was 10 gauge) and replace the end caps on the 50 amp circuit breaker.

Bam we are back up and running hard. Panels voltage went up to 19 volts and amp output pegged in at 21 amps. Now we are really cooking considering it is an almost complete overcast day.

I am leaving the system to charge itself back up so I have the shed running on isolated power I put in from the stand up park power post till the batteries are back up to full charge. They got really drained down and hopefully nothing happened to them and they make another comeback……….. As it is not good to let them get that run down on charge.

It’s Always an Adventure! Although a little less adventurous at 118º……… LOL

OMG it's hot

Yesterday we hit 109º but to tell the truth, it felt much higher than that. Today we could break a record of 120º. Needless to say we will not be leaving the house other than to drive Lola to the dog park to go potty in the morning and evening. Too hot for her feet to walk anywhere yet.

Yesterday my neck did a number on me and pinched a nerve so badly that a muscle just above my shoulder knotted up and pain radiated down my left arm to my fingers. I haven't hurt that bad in three years. It happened once before and we went to the emergency room, yes it hurt that bad. I couldn't move without screaming in pain. Well, I still had some of the pain pills so they helped me get through the night. But during the day I just sat in my recliner. Mark was a great help, I really needed his help to move at all. This morning it's back again but so far not to the point that I can't move. I just received orders that I am to do nothing at all today other than take my shower. Not sure what will become of our meals.

Only one word is needed, Hot

  A little warm Yesterday at 110º with 17 percent humidity for the high..... Little to warm to go motorcycle riding. It was another pool day.

On another note we just paid the utility bill and even though we have been in a heat wave from out of Cali most of the month and the adding a new and larger window a/c in the Az room. And also installed the one removed from the AZ room into the shed the electric bill only went up $15 over last years bill. I can live with that.

The pool feels extra good right now too. But going in the morning is the better choice. The sun is a bit dangerous in the desert this time of year. So we need to use common sense when out and about. We never leave to go anywhere without water, no matter the time of year, but having water with in the summer is very important. We even take water with us when we go to the pool. The only place we go really is to pick up our online order at WM and once a month to Fry's for meat that is on sale.

Today we made a meat run to Fry's grocery store. It was great to see that EVERYONE was wearing a mask. The shelves were back to full capacity and hand sanitizer was plentiful as well, but at a premium price. Liquid hand soap, on the other hand, was not in full supply, but we managed to find two bottles. Mark likes the foaming kind and there were a few of those left, we only got the two we needed. 

My hair has gotten so long that my poor arms are struggling to wash, comb and put it up. My hair is  down to my shoulder blades, thick and heavy. If my arms weren't always so painful I would keep it long. Not sure how much longer I can wait to get it cut off and short once again. I just don't know how I want it cut. But knowing me, I'll go back to the way I have worn it for years. And I'm not looking forward to getting it cut every month either. I wish there was a way to stunt its growth. LOL 😆

Bike is running great

What a great day……. 160 mile ride on the motorcycle into California where I met another Yuma resident out for a ride at an intersection. He and I both took a short break and he told me he had been riding from Yuma as well and said he to was just out enjoying the morning.

Then after lunch Cindy and I took an hour long dip into the pool to round out the day. The water was perfect and a nice breeze came up making the temp today 104 deg. more tolerable.

I timed leaving this morning just right as heading into Cali the traffic was low to sparse and coming back just before noon all the traffic which was substantial was headed into Cali while the traffic I was not dealing with going to Yuma was again sparse.

I did get a chance to run across a 1956 Chevy Nomad cruising I8 on the way back. It had a turquoise and white pant job and was in very nice shape, With some deep chrome wheels and some nice wide treads. I gave them a thumbs up as I passed and they did the same to me.

Kicker was I had to bucker the motorcycle up to 85 to get around them. So the Chevy had to be going at least 70 to 75 mph and it sounded like it was running in it’s sweet spot. Nice Ride! The two guys in the car looked like they were throw backs from the 70’s.

You often times come across street rods or super tricked out bikes down here. I posted a trike last year that had a V8 in it. Somewhere else odd, here oh yeah I’ve seen that one before. Not that long ago I watched a guy and his wife, had to be in their late 70 load his wheelchair into the back trunk of a 32 Ford Street Rod all tricked out with a lift.

As Cindy and I like to say “That’s Yuma For Ya”!

It is Always an Adventure.

July is heating up

Here we are in one of the hottest months and it is heating up each day now. There is little need for the hot water heater anymore. The water coming into the house is almost as hot as the water out of the hot water tap. We have to keep a pitcher of water in the fridge to fill Lola's water container and Murphy's bath and drinking water. We always have bottles of water in the fridge and plenty of ice in the freezer. The pool will be more of a blessing each day.

The virus is in full bloom and growing each day here in AZ. So we are staying diligent in our safety routine and more than likely for more than the next 3 months. Countries blocking any and all travel to and from the US will have a big impact on many lives for some time to come. We are wondering what kind of impact it will have on the snowbirds this year. Will Canada allow travel to the US or will the snowbirds still have to stay home ? Or how many will want to venture far from home period.

Mark is on day two of his three day testing with the cardiologist. Yesterday he had an ultrasound done and a stress test. The stress test was to be the on the treadmill but they gave him the injection one. He had called on Monday to change the injection to the treadmill but communication was short handed. And he never questioned what they were doing. This is why I usually go with him to the doctor appointment. I question everything. But with COVID running rampid here no one is allowed with the patient. Anyway, the injection really kicked his ass and it took the wind out of his sails for some time. Today he goes in for an echo and I hope he remembers to mention their mistake of yesterday. Thursday will be the last of the tests with an end of the month appointment with the results. Sooner notification would mean we need to act sooner, but we are praying for better results. It has been around 6 years since his heart was last tested, which is why so many tests are needed now. That and the fact that he has been having problems. He is seeing a regular cardiologist and not a general practitioner too.