Dog Days

Man, this Sun is unrelenting. It’s almost to the point where I would welcome a cloudy day. But I don’t, I figure I’ll get enough of that when I get home Feb. 10th. I’m poolside again today, there is a raucous water volleyball game going in the big pool. One thing that evidently doesn’t change with age is the competitiveness and obnoxiousness found in a small percentage of people. Not all people mellow with age. There’s no alcohol allowed in the pool area, so at least it moderates the rowdiness somewhat since they have to go and sneak a drink from under their towel during the time outs.

Been witness to many retired person conversations in the last few weeks. Evidently teeth are a big deal to people down here, at least for the people who still have them. I listened to many conversations about root canals, caps, and multiple trips to Mexico for dentist work. I didn’t get to hear any of the horror stories from Mexican dentistry, although people did allude to the fact it didn’t always go well. There is a hesitation on people’s part to unleash medical horror stories. The fact that they are in the high maintenance part of their life, and the fact starting one of these conversations would result in a very long lively discussion that would leave everyone in a depressed state squelches one from ever getting started. With as many conversations that I listened to, I would encourage everyone to brush and floss regularly. Dental insurance is a luxury for many of the older crowd.

I’ve been strolling around the park the last few evenings and have made some observations:

As I’ve reported before, each lot has a grapefruit tree planted next to the road. Well, on 13th street, all the trees are orange trees. Wonder what that’s about.

If you walk around meal time you can smell what everyone is having for supper. The smell from the grills really carries far.

Five feet on the WiFi towers would go a long way in making people happy. I just had two different people stop and talk about how they couldn’t get it just 40 yards from here. In some ways I’d love to tear into this whole complex and sort out the multiple problems here with this WiFi, but I’m retired, and I don’t think the Park management is really that interested in fixing it, since it’s a ‘free’ service. But there is a business opportunity to build an outdoor antenna/booster for WiFi that could easily be mounted on a trailer, and of course didn't cost much. Could easily sell hundreds of units in this park alone. And there are 300 more parks like this in Mesa.

They have rooms in this complex for all kinds of interests. There is Lapidary, Wood, Poker room, Pool Hall, Library, Computer Room, even an exercise room full of equipment. Too bad I didn’t see it earlier, it’s too late now. I’m leaving in a week and a half. Otherwise I would have been in there. I stumbled on one called the Tap Room and wondered why I didn’t know about it sooner. I peeked inside, didn’t see any taps, or even a bar. I think it’s for learning to play Taps, not serving drinks. That’s why I didn’t know about it.

There, that’s the end of the totally worthless information.

Tomorrow morning we pick Diane up at the airport, and Shirley already has plans for the day. It involves burgers and beer, so I think it should be fun.