Today Diane went shopping at the North Island commissary to, once again, replenish our food. She knows exactly what to get by checking what shelves are empty. Glad she can do that. I always have to ask her where things are. Perhaps I could pay attention when things are put away, but it’s easier (for me) to just ask when I need something. The things I eat most are laying on the counter – apples, bananas, avocados, tomatoes, and coffee. OK, that’s not totally true. The coffee doesn’t remain on the counter, and I know exactly where it lives.

While Diane was gone, I took Max for a long walk then I got out the cleaning gear and began the process of making the RV shine again. I’ve actually never done it before so it’s about time, right? Jeff used a buffer and got rid of a lot of mars caused by trees that got too close to us over the years, but it still needs to be cleaned. Not an easy task. I’m limiting my task to everything below the 5-foot level because my arms don’t work well above that height. I have a ladder, which would help, but that adds another element of danger besides ruining my arms. So, I’m keeping it low for now. Perhaps I’ll get brave before we leave here and give it a go. My decision about that will depend totally on what Diane thinks I should do.

Oh look! There’s a helicopter!

Did I mention there are lots of those around here?

After Diane returned, I brought everything she got into the RV, and she put it away so I wouldn’t know where it is. Then she did some laundry, and I helped a bit with that. When we got the clean stuff back to the RV, we had a wonderful dinner of one 4-minute microwave TV dinner each then she locked herself in the bedroom to watch TV. I had to stay in the living room area and watch the Oregon Ducks beat up on Michigan State 31-7. It could have been worse because the 1st two TD attempts by Oregon were intercepted in the end zone.

All afternoon we were serenaded by a really loud base guitar what sounded like it was right next door. I checked outside and think it was coming from one of the boats in the harbor. Outside it’s not nearly as loud as it is inside. Very irritating.

Today is my shower day. Diane said so. So, I need to stop, go brush my teeth, and make good use of our facilities.

Hope everyone is safe and happy. We only have 3 days and 1 nitenite remaining at this location then I’ll have to see if this thing still runs. Cross your fingers for us.

Diane did laundry. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a major accomplishment. And she does it a lot. I appreciate it.

We sat outside enjoying the cool breeze from the bay while everything got washed then I carried the laundry back to the RV. We had to walk all the way across the street to get it and fold it, so it fit in the basket she uses.

We walked Max and struck up a conversation with a young Navy Wife whose husband is a Submariner. They are staying in a large Dodge van they converted for use off the grid. Nice job. She’s from somewhere in Mid-West but I have no idea where specifically. I do know that they are here at Fiddler’s Cove because they had to leave a park on Point Loma that cost $35/night. Their 30 days were up but the husband’s scheduled deployment was moved out, so they came to Fiddler’s Cove and have to spend $70/night. Doesn’t make sense because they are parked on a pad and not connected to anything. Seems unfair.

Diane’s happy with her waterfront view.

The USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) left port today which made Diane very happy. She thinks all those ships should have left port more than once while we’ve been here, but the departures have been few and far between.

This is one of our neighbors, a very serious 5th Wheeler Camper from Minnesota.

Max begging for a snack. We had lasagna and he wanted some. I explained to him that he’s Mexican (Chihuahua), not Italian, but he doesn’t listen.

Diane had to do a little brain surgery on Max’s newest toys. He shook it hard once and emptied the head all over the floor.

That’s about it for now.

No, I’m not going to recap the debate. I admit I watched it, with my lovely bride and her dog, Max, but we’re not going to talk about it. Instead, let’s talk about helicopters.

Yes. Helicopters. Specifically, SH-60 Seahawk helicopters.

Fiddler’s Cove is surrounded by five naval stations: NAS North Island, Naval Station Coronado, and Naval Amphibious Base Coronado to the north, Imperial Beach Outlying Landing Field to the south, and Naval Base San Diego to the west. Off hand, I’d say we’re in a pretty safe place. With that safety comes lots and lots of air traffic, late into the night sometimes. Today was one of 2 late into the night days since we’ve been here.

I’ve probably mentioned all those bases before but not at the same time. This was so you can get a little more perspective about the Navy influence down here. So, please forgive me if I’m repeating myself. I do that once in a while because I’m old and it’s OK. People understand.

The helicopter noise I mentioned earlier isn’t really all that bad. It’s just one of those things that don’t really bother you until you concentrate on it. That’s a lot like tinnitus. You know it’s there all the time but normally it’s unnoticeable. I know this is true because I have tinnitus. I’ve had it for a long time but didn’t think about it because I didn’t know it had a name. When I discovered the name, it because a problem but I’ve learned to live with it, most of the time.

Now, about those helicopters. One of them spent all afternoon today going in circles over the bay between Naval Station San Diego and Fiddler’s Cove. All day it circled the bay. Once in a while it changed direction and shifted from a predominately counterclockwise direction and went clockwise with an occasional figure eight thrown in just for fun. It wasn’t entertaining all the time, mainly when it buzzed our side of the bay. All day that went on. You know, it probably would be OK if they would just drop leaflets letting us know what’s going on, but they don’t. They just go in circles. Then, all the sudden, they fly inland on the Naval Station side and disappear for a bit, but you could still hear the noise slightly, then it would dash out over the bay about 6 feet off the water and stop and hover, facing us, like a puppy wanting to play.

Having shared all that, it really wasn’t that bad. Yes, there is a lot of helicopter traffic flying over us on a regular basis, and an addition 3-5 F/A 18 Hornet fighter jets coming in for landings at North Island.

Sounds bad, right? It’s not, really. What I said is actually true, but it’s more interesting than annoying. One of the things I think about when I see all the helos fly over is, I wonder how much it costs to fill their gas tanks. Can’t be cheap.

Today the San Diego Padre’s beat the Atlanta Braves in their first game of the major league playoffs. When we lived here, we would go to a game once in a while. That was when Steve Garvey was playing first base after being traded by the LA Dodgers. Steve was fun to watch. Both Jeff and Jennie got autographed baseballs from Steve after one of those games. He signed their hats, too.

OK, it’s time to quit. My mind is jumping around like a ball, and I can’t focus on an interesting topic. Perhaps you’ve already figured that out.

I’ll end with this – I made some popcorn the other night and asked Diane if she would like some. She said, “sure, I’ll take a little bowl.” So, I found the smallest bowl I could and gave her some.

She didn’t even flinch. Just took that tiny little bowl and ate the popcorn. I was expecting a little more of a rise from her. Instead, she just asked for a refill.

So, g’night.

When I got up the first time this morning, at 0200 or so, I was still miserable and sore. I tried to stay up so I wouldn’t wake Diane, but I went back to bed anyway. Woke up again at 0500 and decided to stay up and keep Max company. We slept on the couch until 0830 or so. I was still really rummy, but I took Max for his morning walk anyway and that helped my disposition. After shoveling a breakfast dinner down my throat, I was sure I’d survive the day. I was pleased.

By the time I got almost semi-normal, Diane declared that she was hungry and needed a hamburger. She does that once in a while. After searching for a likely spot, she found a place called Eat Crispy Burger in National City. It’s a lot like Shake Shack but newer. Becca, the girl behind the counter, told me it had only been open for two weeks. The hamburgers were really good, so it was a great choice.

One of the positives about the eatery location was that it was close to the Super Wally Mart that we’ve visited before. We had things to get, like normal.

So, we ate, gave Max a ride around the store in a cart, then went home. As soon as we got back to the RV, however, Diane discovered that she failed to get one of the critical items that was on her list. So, she left us alone and went shopping on her own.

Max and I didn’t do much while she was gone, but I didn’t lay down and sleep, which may have been good for me. I figured if she could go out and shop in the shape I was in, the least I could do was to stay semi-alert in her absence.

When she got home, she gave me handed me a really nice long-sleeved shirt. Here’s what it looks like.

It’s very nice and I love it.

Nothing else is going to happen today so I’m wrapping this up.

Oh, OK. One more photo of Max for his fan club. He’s either watching sail boats, birds or anything else that moves. I suppose he could be deep in thought, too.

Now, g’night.

This morning Diane made me get a COVID booster and a flu shot. The pharmacist who gave them to me used the same hole twice, I swear. And she wasn’t in a hurry as she pushed the needle in very slowly, both times. Now my left arm hurts and I must cease doing anything that requires my left arm to move. Diane got her vaccines too and is without complaints.

One thing I’ve been meaning to share with you about this RV Park is that a garbage truck makes the rounds to our three dumpsters every day at least once. I don’t think they are all full every day, but no garbage spends the night in Fiddler’s Cove. Kind of nice. Diane’s thoughts about zero garbage accumulation are no food for rodents.

As the day progressed, my reaction to the shots got worse and worse. Not only the physical pain from the needles but I think I actually went through all the agonies of flu and COVID together before Diane made me take a shower and go to bed. I was actually miserable. I guess that makes me a whiner, but I don’t care. I just didn’t feel good. The shower was nice.

Since that reaction dominated my thought process most of the day, that’s pretty much all I’ve got to share. At least I got the news about garbage out to you. That was important.

I’m stopping now, right after this …

This was taken on 9/28/24 from behind our rig. I had to clarify that because I’m far to happy in this photo for it have been taken on the 29th. You can see the San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge in the background.

Here’s what the bridge looks like at night.

Yes, Saturday is usually my day to indulge myself a little and watch college kids learn the joy of victory and the sadness of defeat. All at the same time. Things worked out for my mental well-being because my Oregon Ducks, who deserted the PAC-12 for the BIG 10, beat UCLA, also a PAC-12 deserter. I don’t think I’ll ever understand the reasoning behind these changes and that’s OK, the Ducks are still my team. My only complaint about the game was that it didn’t start until 2000 which means that it didn’t end until 2 hours after my bedtime. I stayed up until he bitter end, though,

During the day, while Max and I played with the TV remotes, and dabbled a bit with electricity, Diane went in search of some thrift stores in Coronado. I’m pretty sure she already knew where they were and drove right to them. That’s OK for her, but me and electricity, without supervision is illegal in my section of this family. I wasn’t too concerned, though, because it was only 12VDC. That’s not the stuff that will kill you outright. That’s 120VAC which I ensured was not in my vicinity.

What prompted this electrical expedition was that I discovered the digital antenna that resides on the RV roof wasn’t getting any power to amplify the signal to the TV. Consequently, though it found a bunch of channels, they didn’t work all that well. It didn’t take long for me to discover the problem after I took everything out of the electronic repository, a cabinet above my driver’s seat. What I found was the two wires connected to the antenna completely cut neatly, attached to nothing.

Before going on with this narrative, I must share that having the electronics (Dish receiver, A/V switch and bunches of confusing wires) above my head while driving is a hazard when we forget to close the door on that cupboard. I’ve been bonked on the head more than once when the Wally fell on me while cruising down the freeway. One cannot help but wonder how something like that could be so easily missed, but we do it often. I’m happy to report that I haven’t run off the road even one time when things fall on me at 60 mph. Nope. I’m a pro.

Just before Diane returned, I managed to get everything back in place and the antenna programmed so had I not included that in my narrative she would have never found out what I did. That’s OK. If this becomes a big deal, I’ll fall back on when I saved Max’s life by inserting myself into the middle of a dog fight. I still have the scabs.

G’night.

Today is not a joyful day for us. Jerry battled COPD for over 20 years before he couldn’t fight any more. Nelda, his bride of 57 years notified us that she was holding Jerry when he left us.

We will miss Jerry’s unrivaled humor, his smile, his laugh, and his random phone calls just to check in. Though it’s been a while since we’ve seen him, there hasn’t been a day when something we saw, or heard reminded us of him. That will never end.

He will be missed.

We pray for Jerry, that he will enter God’s Kingdom. There were some shaky moments during our encounters, where we were having more fun that the law allowed and knew we all were in serious danger of going the other way. I have no doubt he prevailed and will keep an eye on us as we travel the road toward our next meeting.

We pray for Nelda, too. You have an entire village of friends, and we all love you.

Peace.