Another great day in Nevada…

Posted by worldwide-admin on February 17, 2024 with 0 Comment

Sunset in Kauai Hawaii, across the street from our condo in 2015.

It’s another busy morning. We cleaned the condo yesterday, but I still had a few more tasks to do, including cleaning the bottom of the oven. I sprayed it with oven cleaner last night. However, this morning, I still couldn’t scrape everything off it from a prior spill. I’ll keep working on it until it’s sparkling.

I’ve already started walking for the day with lots more to reach my daily three miles. As of a few days ago, I head out the door every 15 minutes to do a complete walk of the long corridor, up and back. But it’s only about 800 steps each time, requiring me to go out to the corridor many times each hour.

One of our readers reminded me of the five miles (8 km) I walked daily while we were in the hotel in lockdown for ten months in Mumbai, India, during the pandemic. Now, my legs aren’t strong enough to do more than my three miles daily. It’s enough. At least here, I have other things to do as opposed to trying to kill time in Mumbai.

Right now, I’m not wishing time to fly by quickly since we’re enjoying each day in Lake Las Vegas. Soon, we’ll head down the one flight of steps to head to Season’s Market for a few things and to stop at the salon to see if Tom can get a haircut, either today or another day. I left a few messages for the hair salon but haven’t heard back after two days. Stopping in is the next step to get him an appointment.

As we do each day, we’re currently listening to the Garage Logic podcast while I prepare the post and head back and forth to the corridor. Tom stops the podcast while I am walking and turns it back on when I return. It’s always interesting to hear what’s going on in Minnesota, especially for Tom, who lived there all of his life until we began traveling. I lived there from 1969, and it also became home for me.

People often ask if we’d ever live in Minnesota again, and we don’t plan to do so. Most seniors go South in the wintertime. We have no interest in dealing with the frigid winter months and short summers. The amount of snow and ice is dangerous for seniors, often resulting in broken hips and other serious injuries. As clumsy as I am, walking on ice isn’t a good idea.

It’s easy to recall how difficult it was pushing a grocery cart out to the car in the icy parking lot. It was expected to see shoppers slip on the ice. Most days, even going to the health club and work was hazardous with glare ice. Then, in the spring, although less dangerous, walking in slush as the ice and snow melted was annoying and uncomfortable.

The summers in Minnesota resulted in hot, humid weather, and nasty mosquitos often prevented us from spending time outdoors at dawn or dusk and evening when, after the long winter, being outdoors, cooking on the grill was much desired. That’s a life we don’t care to experience again.

It’s hot and humid, with many mosquitos in South Africa in summer. But, while there, we live an entirely different lifestyle, spending most of our time outdoors on the veranda, totally distracted by the visiting wildlife.

The timer on my phone just went off. It’s time to walk again. I’ll wrap this up when I return, and we look forward to ‘seeing” all of you again.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, February 17, 2014:

Louise and Danie hosted a fantastic dinner in the bush, in Kruger National Park, at night, surrounded by wildlife. This was my plate of delectable morsels of food I could eat. For more photos, please click here.

Making plans for the next few months…Time in Nevada ending before we know it…

Posted by worldwide-admin on February 16, 2024 with 0 Comment

In February 2016, we stayed in a beautiful house on an 85-acre alpaca farm. with over 100 alpacas. We love these gentle animals and their adorable faces, as shown in this photo.

We’ve started checking out rental cars for our four upcoming road trips, the first from Las Vegas to Apache Junction. Once we leave Arizona, we’ll drive to Los Angeles, then to Milwaukee, and then on to Minneapolis. The cost is higher to pick up and return a rental car to two different cities.

Of course, we’ll try to rent cars for more extended periods to accommodate all of these trips, but it doesn’t always work out financially and with the most convenience. It is no big deal to pick up and drop off vehicles at various airports.

When we head to Apache Junction on April 1, we plan to pick up the car at Las Vegas airport and drop it off at the Mesa, Arizona airport closest to Apache Junction, where we’ll stay for about six weeks. It will all work out.

Today, when I checked the Date to Date Calculator, it indicated we have 44 days until we leave Nevada. This short period will fly by in a blur. In the meantime, we’ll continue to enjoy each day we spend in this lovely condo and location. In a way, I will be disappointed to leave, although we have so much to look forward to as time marches on.

Plus, going on these relatively short road trips will be fun. The only drive requiring us to stay overnight in a hotel will be the trip from Los Angeles, where we’ll visit my sister Julie, and then on to Milwaukee, where we’ll visit Tom’s sister Betty. Once we leave Milwaukee, it’s only a six-hour drive to Minnesota to see our kids, grandkids, Tom’s family, and friends.

It will be the first time in our 11 years of world travel that we’ll embark on so many road trips, especially the long three to four-day drive to Milwaukee. We don’t like driving for more than eight hours in a day. It’s approximately 2057 miles and listed as a 30-hour drive on Maps. If we drive seven or eight hours a day, it’s easy to see how it will take us four days with three nights in hotels.

In any case, we’ll make the trip fun. I plan to download a few audiobooks we can listen to during the long trip. The plan will be to figure out a book we’ll both enjoy since our tastes are very different in reading material. Most likely, it will be a fiction thriller, one that we can find to be most entertaining. Any suggestions would be appreciated, considering for me, the technology must be current to hold my interest.

Soon, our grocery order will be delivered. We have good leftovers, and thus, tonight’s dinner will be easy. All I have to do is make a salad and reheat our food when it’s dinnertime.

I’ve done the laundry this morning and almost half my daily walking. I have picked up the pace to head to the corridor every fifteen minutes, hoping to get done a little earlier today than on other days, walking every 30 minutes.

I wish I could do all the walking at one time, but my legs can’t continue straight through for three miles, which is how much I am accomplishing per day at this time. I don’t see any benefit to walking further than three miles, but I am trying to shorten the time.

That’s it for today, folks. We’ll be back tomorrow for more. Thanks to our many readers who write with such kind and supportive comments.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, February 16, 2014:

Annoyed by our presence, this Cape buffalo and a few other “Retired Generals” moseyed on down the road in Kruger National Park, during our last game drive before leaving South Africa. For more photos, please click here.

Lovely Valentine’s dinner at Luna Rossa…

Posted by worldwide-admin on February 15, 2024 with 0 Comment

Tom’s rigatoni bolognese, which he said was mediocre and dry without enough sauce.

It was a lovely evening at Luna Rossa. It was a good thing we had a reservation since the Italian restaurant was fully booked. We didn’t have a window seat, which we’d have preferred (I forgot to ask when booking the reservation), but we had a lovely little table for two away from the service areas. I am a real stickler for avoiding tables near a service station or kitchen door for the staff. The commotion detracts from the experience.

Tom had one beer, and I had one glass of Malbec wine, which I liked while we were in Argentina in 2018, where Malbec is produced. For our entrees, Tom ordered a rigatoni beef Bolognese, which he said was mediocre, stating their red sauce was nowhere as tasty as mine, which I make from time to time…a nice compliment on Valentine’s Day.

With only a few dishes on the menu that were suitable for my way of eating, again, I ordered the mussels and clams in a delicious soup-like sauce. It would have been great to soak chunks of delightful Italian bread in that sauce. Instead, I ate it with a spoon, like a soup. I had asked twice for a small spoon but was ignored twice and given a tablespoon.

Neither of us prefers to eat soups, sauces, or desserts with a tablespoon. A teaspoon seems much more appropriate and contributes to savoring the item more slowly than gulping down a tablespoon at a time. After all, there are three teaspoons in one tablespoon. Getting a server to bring a teaspoon to the table always seems challenging.

In any case, we had a good evening. When we returned to our condo, we streamed another episode of The Chosen on Amazon Prime and cntinually enjoy this profound series. We’ll finish the three currently available seasons tonight and look forward to when more seasons are released in the next several months.

We always prefer to stream series with every season available, but many streaming services dole out their seasons periodically. When the new season returns, we’ll often watch the last episode again in order to catch up. A perfect example of this has been Yellowstone. Many of us loved the first seasons and have waited for them to return. With the recent writer’s strike, future episodes of many series were postponed for as much as a year or two.

Yesterday was my best day of walking since I began again three days ago. I’ve picked up the pace even further and look forward to increasing the pace and distance as time passes. Right now, I am focused on being able to walk further for the upcoming event for my birthday, hosted by Richard on February 21, the day after my birthday. On the actual day of my birthday, with his season tickets for the Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey games, there is a game on the 20th, so we are happy to go the following day.

Today, I booked a pedicure appointment for the 21st at a nail salon down the one flight of stairs. Today, Tom will book a haircut appointment for himself, also down the one flight of stairs. He hasn’t had a haircut in two months.

Tonight, I am cooking baby back ribs for Tom with rice and salad while I have my favorite coconut flour pancake, which I love. Often, when I mention recipes we’ve made, I will receive countless email messages from our readers requesting the recipe. We are always happy to share those recipes we find worthwhile.

Otherwise, today will be another low-key day with only some food prep on the horizon and lots of walking in the corridor. I do better walking in the long corridors than using the treadmill. For now, this is working for me.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, February 15, 2014:

This is a Golden Tail Woodpecker, which we were thrilled to spot yesterday afternoon. For more photos, please click here.

Happy Valentine’s Day to our readers, friends, family…Have a lovely day!…

Posted by worldwide-admin on February 14, 2024 with 0 Comment

Photo of us in January 2018 while we were in Buenos Aires, Argentina, only days before we left for Antarctica.

We started our day lounging in bed, laughing, talking, and reminiscing. We have so many unforgettable memories over the past 12 Valentine’s Days we’ve celebrated since we began traveling the world.

The Valentine’s Days before traveling are but a blur of memories that all jumbled together in our minds; I recall baking a heart-shaped cake each year using a heart-shaped pan I purchased at a yard sale for $1 over 40 years ago. I always gave Tom some romantic-type gift, and he always appeared with a bouquet of flowers and a sweet card.

We were never disappointed, and when his work schedule allowed us to be together, we often went out to dinner at a fine restaurant, or, on a few occasions, I made a gourmet-type dinner to enjoy at home. Once we began traveling the world in October 2012, we both agreed to forego buying gifts and cards for one another. In many countries, there weren’t readily available shops with cards and gifts and…they took up room in our luggage.

Neither of us has ever been disappointed not to receive cards and gifts from one another. Instead, we made the special day all the more special in one way or another.

On this date, February 14, 2014, I wrote the following post found here. For today, I decided to repost some of the text from that day’s post, since ten years ago seems to have added significance. I wrote the following:

“So, today, I give this online card to my husband, lover, friend, and traveling companion. I offer these words, which is all I can give as we carry on with our travels. This will make sense for our readers who have followed along with us. For new readers, some of my corny poem may be confusing.

How We Share Our Love

Romantic notions, views of oceans, is how we share our love
Birds singing, church bells ringing, is how we share our love
Ships that sail, a stormy gale, is how we share our love
Security checks, broken steps is how we share our love

Power’s out, endless doubt, is how we share our love
Centipedes, constant needs, is how we share our love
Guards with guns, your silly puns, is how we share our love
Gluten free, a sight to see, is how we share our love

A flight delay, a humid day, is how we share our love
A lion roaring, a movie boring, is how we share our love
Outdoor living, kindness giving, is how we share our love
Broken PC, doesn’t blame me, is how we share our love

WiFi trouble, fees are double, is how we share our love
Memory making, pleasure taking, is how we share our love
Our stuff is gone, we continue on, is how we share our love
We don’t know when, it will ever end, is how we share our love

Happy Valentine’s Day to my love, our family, old and new friends, and all of you.”

Photo from ten years ago today, February 14, 2014:

Honey, if I can’t make your favorite butterscotch pie for Valentine’s Day to celebrate, I present you with this photo of one that I had made many moons ago when we ate sugar and flour. For more, please click here.

The walking escalates…Streaming the Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey games…

Posted by worldwide-admin on February 13, 2024 with 0 Comment

Logo for the Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey team.

In a few minutes, I am heading out the door to do my walking, increasing daily to rebuild my strength, stamina, and endurance. This aggressive attempt is in preparation for next week’s birthday gift from my son Richard, which will require a fair amount of walking. (More on that later).

Each day since I started walking again, I’ve increased the number of steps and hope to progress and the day’s approach for the event. My birthday is on the 20th, but Tom and I don’t have any big plans since we’ll be doing the event with Richard the following evening.

Since we arrived in Lake Las Vegas, I’ve been frustrated that we haven’t been able to watch the Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey games on TV. Since we don’t have access to local channels on Dish Network, who terminated their contract with the Knights for reasons unknown, we haven’t been able to watch a single game.

Last night, we signed up for an annual service offered at the LVGK website for $39 a year. Since it’s so expensive (for decent seats) to go to a game, the hours of enjoyment we’ll get being able to stream the games made it worth the expense. With our VPN, we can watch the games from anywhere we may be in the future.

Sadly, they lost the game last night but are still in second place in their league. Last year, they won the Stanley Cup and are an excellent team. It’s funny how, for years, I wasn’t interested much in sports, but in the past few years, I’ve developed an interest.

When my sons were young, we often attended the Minnesota hockey games. At that time, they were the Minnesota Northstars, and over the past several years, they are the Minnesota Wild. Hockey is a fun, fast game to watch and generally can hold my attention, which tends to wander when watching some sports.

Last night, I slept well for the first time in a week. Before bed, I drank a cup of tea containing herbs known to aid in sleep quality. Much to my surprise, it worked, and I slept through the night, getting much-needed rest. Even Tom slept well last night and didn’t drink the tea.

I’ll continue to drink the tea, and if it improves the quality of my sleep, it will become a part of my nightly routine. Once I see if it continues to be helpful, I will post the name of the tea and where to buy it. Any “safe and natural” treatment for inadequate sleep would be a dream come true (No pun intended). I prefer not to recommend anything unless I know it is safe and effective.

This morning, I ordered all of our mail accumulated at the mailing service to be shipped here. I want to start working on the tax before we leave Las Vegas. And I need to collect my new Medicare and supplement cards, which will go into effect on March 1.

I know I’ve said this in a past post, but I can’t tell you how relieved I am to have health insurance. Using only travel insurance for which we never made a claim with its limitations and restrictions offered little peace of mind as we traveled. With my Aflac Plan G supplement, I’ll have reliable coverage outside the US, although there is a $50,000 cap per year. We’ll head back to the US if more treatment is needed while away.

Today is an easy day. We have our final batch of leftover stir fry for tonight’s dinner, and all I have to do is fold the laundry and prep a few side dishes. Ummm…Life is good.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, February 13, 2014:

Pam and Jerry are newlyweds on their honeymoon at our resort at LaruBeya in Placencia, Belize. For more, please click here.

What a fun day!…We loved Super Bowl Sunday…

Posted by worldwide-admin on February 12, 2024 with 0 Comment

It was a fantastic day for us. We had so much fun watching the news leading up to the game, the game itself, and the after-game events.

We were cheering for different teams: me, the Kansas City Chiefs, and Tom for the San Francisco 49ers. It was unusual for us to choose to be on opposite sides, but in this case, it was enjoyable. What an exciting finish to the game! It was a great day.

During halftime, we had dinner, during which I had my eyes on the screen. On the other hand, Tom was less interested in the show with Usher and others. The show was well done, but I have never followed Usher’s career or music. I enjoyed many other halftime shows more when I became familiar with the performers’ music.

Over the years, I have paid attention to current music and am familiar with many performers and their music. I like current pop music and oldies from the 70s, 80s, 90s. Last week, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Grammy Awards, but Tom didn’t have a clue about who was who.

When he watches auto auctions on a rare occasion, I don’t know the types of cars, years, and values. The only time he gets into the music is when we sit on the veranda in Marloth Park, having sundowners and playing music on our portable JBL Bluetooth speaker.

Last night, we enjoyed our flat-iron steak and stir-fried vegetable dinner topped with peanuts and broccoli salad on the side. I got everything cooked and ready to go just before the game started so I wouldn’t miss any of the game. It all worked out well. We reheated it before we ate. We have enough leftovers for tonight and tomorrow night, and then, as mentioned, we’ll head out to dinner on Wednesday, Valentine’s Day.

We have plenty of food left in the freezer to get us through to Friday, when our next Smith’s grocery order will be delivered, and we’ll start over again. It is handy to shop online and have our food delivered. Sometimes, the picker forgets to select a few items, but we place another order for the missing items the next day. As long as the order costs $35, there’s no additional delivery fee. In most cases, what they’ve forgotten is meat, chicken, or fish, and most often, that alone is enough to total the $35.

If it is short of the $35, I can always add a few items from the list for the following order. It always works out well. We never call and complain if our order is short unless we’ve been charged for the item(s). That’s why I carefully review the receipt each time.

Today, as yesterday, I am doing a lot of walking in the corridors and will continue to do so now that I am feeling better. With only three more days on the antibiotics, I am looking forward to being done with them entirely, which will help me further along in feeling better.

Today is a quiet day with no big plans facing us. We’re feeling well; both are cheerful, enjoying the moment and hopeful.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, February 12, 2014:

Shaded by dense vegetation and the early morning sun hidden behind the trees, we couldn’t get closer for better shots. Plus, giraffes are so tall that one can’t get too close to get a good photo. For more photos, please click here.

It’s here…Super Bowl Sunday…

Posted by worldwide-admin on February 11, 2024 with 0 Comment

For those who enjoy US football, have a fun Super Bowl Sunday!

We bolted out of bed this morning, grateful for another day and anxious to start our day. I had a lot of chopping and dicing to get ready for tonight’s flat iron steak stir fry dish with celery, green and red bell peppers, yellow onions, green onions, fresh ginger, garlic, and a wide array of Asian sauces and spices, all topped with dry roasted peanuts.

I don’t have a recipe for this. I throw it all together and season it to taste. I am making a big enough batch to get us through Tuesday since on Wednesday, Valentine’s Day, we’re heading out to dinner down the flight of steps to Luna Rossa (as mentioned in a prior post). We love leftovers, and this particular dish reheats nicely. We only add the peanuts and green onion separately. Each night, so they don’t get soggy in the dish.

As mentioned earlier, we don’t make snacks during the game; instead, we’ll wait for the dinner, which we’ll serve fresh later in the game. We’ll be streaming it on Paramount Plus, so we can move my laptop to the center island and continue to stream the game during dinner so we don’t miss a beat.

At 11:00 am, the pregame show also starts live on Paramount Plus, so I am rushing through today’s post to set up my laptop near the HDMI cord hanging from the back of the TV. This TV doesn’t have the major national networks, and thus, we can’t wait for anything on the major networks.

This morning, while I chopped and diced, we streamed “Sunday Morning” directly from the CBS website, which is available to stream as soon as the show ends in New York, which was a good distraction while I prepped the vegetables. I could see the TV from the spot at the center island where I prep food each day, keeping me entertained.

This upcoming week will be fun with Valentine’s Day, and the following week will be my birthday on the 20th. On the 21st, we’ll be celebrating with Richard and his girlfriend, who is hosting an extraordinary event on the Strip, details of which we’ll share when it gets closer and with photos after the event.

A fair amount of walking will be required for that event, so I started ramping up my walking program yesterday with a plan to beat the number of steps on my Fitbit daily. Today, I will walk the long hallways before the game begins, which is different from walking on the treadmill.

With all this in mind, I am stopping here a little earlier than usual and will return tomorrow with more. For football fans in the US and outside the US, we hope you have a fun day cheering on your team. We certainly plan to!

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, February 11, 2014:

This tree frog on the rafters on the veranda has been watching us all day, occasionally sticking out her tongue in a feeble attempt to grasp a flying insect. We laughed at how she stayed there, at least during the days we stayed at the African Reunion house for the entire few weeks. For more, please click here.

Happy Saturday…One day until the Super Bowl!…A crazy Super Bowl party, Las Vegas style…

Posted by worldwide-admin on February 10, 2024 with 4 Comments

Fontainebleau Las Vegas Exclusive Preview — Not our photo. Fountainbleau Resort Las Vegas. See the article below.

Again, today, we’re staying in with no big plans on the horizon. With the house clean, all I have left is folding the clothes on the rack. Tom has leftovers from the freezer, and I am having a delicious large keto pancake with sugar-free syrup. On the side, Tom will have rice, and we will dig into the huge batch of low-carb broccoli salad I made yesterday morning, enough to last for several days.

Last night, we enjoyed more episodes of “The Chosen” on Amazon Prime Video, and we’re now starting Season 3. What a fantastic series! We’re excited about tomorrow’s Super Bowl Game, beginning at 3:30 pm here in Nevada. We wanted to mention We spotted a story on Facebook that we’re sharing since it’s “so Las Vegas,” unlike anything anyone would find anywhere else in the world.

Check out the story below:

“Troubled new Vegas hotel selling $55,000 Super Bowl afterparty tickets

By Katie Dowd Feb 6, 2024

A new Las Vegas hotel that has seen four executives leave in the first month appears to be trying to recover some of its reported $3.7 billion price tag — it’s selling $55,000 “upper stage” tickets to its Super Bowl afterparty.

The Fontainebleau, which opened in late December, has already seen the departure of its vice president of revenue management, senior vice president of casino operations, chief operating officer, and chief marketing officer. It took nearly two decades to build the property, including multiple stops and starts, allegations of “yelling and screaming” meetings between stakeholders, and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Calvin Harris — coincidentally the onetime boyfriend of Taylor Swift, who will likely be in town to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce — kicks off his set at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday after the Super Bowl. The venue is the LIV nightclub inside the Fontainebleau, and the cheapest tickets available were $7,000 (now apparently sold out). For that price, up to six people can make use of a table on the “back wall of the balcony.” If you want to be on the upper dance floor, the cheapest option is $35,000 for a table seating up to 10 people. “With a nice and steady flow of traffic behind the table to ensure your group is in the action!” LIV’s site promises.

But to get “directly” on the dance floor, you’ll need to spend anywhere from $35,000 to $50,000. The $50,000 booth seats up to 12 people and has “direct views of the DJ.” So if each of your 11 best friends has about $4,200 each to spend on seeing Calvin Harris, this might be the choice for you. For $55,000, you can be seated on the upper stage, “raised above the DJ booth in the main room.”

Not even more famous parties have those kinds of get-in-the-door prices. The Sports Illustrated party on Saturday night, which features Kygo and The Chainsmokers, starts VIP access at $499.99; general admission tickets start at $149.99.

Those seeking to attend the ritzy Fontainebleau party should check the dress code first. The extensive dress code bans, among other things, tank tops, shorts, flats (but only for women), “baggy” clothing, jerseys and, athletic gear and hats — sorry, 49ers and Chiefs fans.

For partygoers looking for a more laid-back experience, where tank tops and shorts are highly encouraged, the Wynn is hosting Gronk Beach on Saturday. That party is “personally curated” by four-time Super Bowl-winning tight end Rob Gronkowski and claims to have “massive cultural impact” (your massive cultural impact may vary). Previous celeb attendees apparently include Kelce, who will certainly not be attending this year. It’s $75 for a “female” general admission ticket and $125 for a “male” ticket.”

What was most shocking to me, besides the cost of attending this party, was the dress code mentioned that women couldn’t attend the party wearing flat shoes. Only high heels would be acceptable for entrance. That would eliminate me and many others from attending this party. I haven’t worn high heels in years! I can barely walk well on my flat shoes, let alone spikes! Ha!

But this is Las Vegas, and they go over the top with everything they do. Perhaps this party will give much-needed attention to this expensive property and save it from further financial ruin.

Today, I started walking again to build up my stamina again. I haven’t exercised in a week and look forward to getting fit. I have set my phone’s timer to go off every 30 minutes, after which I’ll walk vigorously for five minutes until I’ve done a total of 30 minutes. Once I’ve done this for a few days, I’ll return to the fitness center to do it there on the treadmill and return to using some of the other equipment.

That’s it for today, folks. Have a fantastic Saturday. We’ll be back with more tomorrow.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, February 10, 2014:

Louise invited us to also stay at African Reunion House, named after the island off the coast, is considerably larger than it appears in this photo, with four bedrooms, five bathrooms, two huge verandas, a Jacuzzi room, an open kitchen with a dining bar, an over-sized dining room, and an inviting entertainment/TV/living room/lounge. It was a wonderful stay we thoroughly enjoyed. For more photos, please click here.

Busy day…Not 100% yet…

Posted by worldwide-admin on February 9, 2024 with 2 Comments

While visiting my friend Lisa, who rescues bushbabies in Marloth Park, I had the thrill of feeding this little one. Caring for the bushbabies until they are ready to return to the wild is quite a commitment and I commend Lisa for her devotion and dedication.

Today is cleaning day. I am at a loss without a house cleaner. Even having one every other week would have been good, but at $250 for two to three hours, there was no way we were willing to pay that amount for this two-bedroom condo. Tom and I can get everything done in less than an hour.

Also, we needed to wash the bedding today and dry it in the laundry room way down the hallway on a long tek, about 500 steps according to my Fitbit up and back, which I had to do twice. It took everything out of me. Whenever I’ve taken antibiotics, as I am doing now for a ten-day course, I’m left weak and feeling unwell. I still have six more days to go.

It feels like all the progress I’d make working out is lost when I’ve spent most days since last weekend sitting on the sofa, playing with my phone while streaming documentaries and news. However, I am hopeful that the UTI symptoms will continue to waft away each day since beginning the antibiotics on Monday of this week.

I have tried to go about household tasks as usual to get back into a comfortable routine. I haven’t had to do a lot of cooking since we had plenty of excellent meals in the freezer. I made a huge batch of low-carb broccoli salad this morning with our frozen leftover dinner. So, besides popping our homemade frozen entrees into the oven, I won’t have anything to do for dinner.

Soon, we’ll put the clean bedding back on the bed, and I’ll hang the last load of the laundry on the portable drying rack. Tom will vacuum and wash the floors in a while, and we’ll be done for the day until next Friday.

We’re both looking forward to the Super Bowl on Sunday. Since we aren’t “snackers” and don’t eat “junk” food, we’ll have a nice dinner and enjoy the game and the day together.

On Valentine’s Day, we booked dinner reservations at Luna Rossa, the fantastic Italian restaurant down one flight of stairs and a short walk. Even if I’m still not feeling perfect, I will stick with the plan. I’ll be done with the antibiotics on February 15. Yeah! Hopefully, sometime in the next several days, I’ll feel well enough to return to the Fitness Center to get back to where I was a week ago.

Last night, I checked with Medicare’s online app and found that my Part B enrollment is processed. What a relief! There’s a card I can print online. As a result, on March 1, I will be fully insured for the first time in 11 years, which will give me great peace of mind.

Again, sorry, we don’t have any exciting news to share right now. Before we know it, in 51 days, we’ll be on the move again. How time flies, especially when we’re enjoying ourselves as we have in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, February 9, 2014:

Some years ago, in the evening, Linda (and Ken), alone while sitting on the veranda at their home in Marloth Park, heard what sounded like a scream. She immediately went inside the house, locking the door behind her. The following days, she wandered through their property to find the remains of this impala, who’d been attacked by a leopard, as confirmed by the Park Rangers whom she called to assist. All that remained of the impala was this skull they’d displayed in their yard as a reminder that there are wild animals in this area, and one must always exercise caution. For more photos, please click here.

A very weird thing happened last night…It was a first for us…

Posted by worldwide-admin on February 8, 2024 with 0 Comment

We’d never seen soap bubbles overflowing in a toilet. The toilet has an attached bidet, but we don’t use it since the water is cold.

Last night, while streaming an engaging series on Amazon Prime, “The Chosen,” we were both startled when we heard loud gurgling sounds coming from all the condo’s plumbing pipes. We both jumped up simultaneously, looking for an issue, and we were shocked when we entered the ensuite bathroom in our bedroom.

The bathroom toilet was just about ready to overflow with soap bubbles! What! We’d never seen such a thing! Why were there soap bubbles in the toilet? We ran back into the kitchen, and Tom turned off the dishwasher. Apparently, the soap was coming from the dishwasher! Go figure.

Now, the dishwasher and bathroom are not close to one another. This is a good-sized condo. We checked the bathroom at the other end of the condo, and that toilet was fine. After the bubbles went down a little, we tried plunging, but the toilet wasn’t plugged. It was just filled with bubbles.

Immediately, I texted the owner to let him know we’d need a plumber in the morning, but not immediately. We were fine for the night and would use the other bathroom’s toilet in the interim. With my UTI not completely resolved after less than three days on a ten-day course of antibiotics, I knew I’d lose sleep when walking back and forth to the more distant bathroom during the night.

Before I started taking the antibiotics, I had to get up four times during the night. I am down to once per night, which is a good sign. Before this UTI, I never had to get up during the night. Fortunately, last night, I fell back to sleep quickly.

As I write this, the plumber is due to arrive before noon, and it’s 11:45 now. We’ve heard that these days, various workers don’t necessarily arrive on time in Las Vegas. Whether this is true or not, we shall see. We aren’t going anywhere today, so it won’t be a problem if he’s late. However, I’d like to get in the kitchen to prep for tonight’s dinner.

This morning, I headed up one flight to the lobby level and then outdoors to the mailboxes. A few packages arrived from Amazon sellers that send their products via the US Postal Service instead of through Amazon, which we prefer since they come directly to our door.

Once I arrived at the mailbox with the key the owner had left, I opened the box to find dozens of pieces of mail for the owner and a few small packages for me. Inside the mailbox was a key to a larger mailbox in the same area that I had to open. For the life of me, I couldn’t open that larger mailbox.

I had to ask one of the staff members at the reception desk if he could help. He explained that many tenants also struggle to open larger boxes. He fiddled with it for a few minutes and finally got it open. I left the key in the larger box’s lock so the mailperson could use it again.

Moments later, I was back on the elevator, my hands full of my few packages and tons of the owner’s mail, and continued to our floor. Once I exited, I couldn’t get into the corridor on which our condo was located. The two doors to the corridor were locked. I was stranded in the elevator access area. I headed back to the lobby, one floor up, and asked them to help.

The cleaning person was vacuuming and accidentally locked the two doors. When I returned to our floor, the doors were unlocked, and I could proceed to our unit.

The plumber has arrived and is working on the issue. Hopefully, he can get it resolved today. These situations remind us of how happy we are that we don’t own a house and have regular everyday maintenance issues most homeowners encounter. We love that it’s not our problem.

That’s my news for today. I hope we’re not boring you with our little daily snippets!

Be well.

Tag: Lake Las Vegas

“Troubled new Vegas hotel selling $55,000 Super Bowl afterparty tickets