Not every day of retirement is full of sun colored daffodils. Take today for instance. I slept late which I rarely do. Since I dropped Robin off at the airport yesterday to begin a ten day vacation, there was no one to adjust my sleep tactics. Taking care of personal business, I pushed the button on the electric toilet. Nothing. Press it again. Nothing. OH NO. No flush, no water coming in, no action at all. I checked the back of the control panel and found nothing amiss. I went to the fuse box and found the 7.5 amp intact and not blown. Nothing to do next but clean it out in preparation for service. Not a pleasant task and why in the hell did I send Robin to the Caribbean at a time like this. I removed the control panel to take to the local RV doctor. I’ve been dealing with Jones RV for some years now. Bob re-soldered a loose connection and gave me wire nuts to re-assemble the unit. The was the second trip to his shop as the first one was to find out what I needed to do without moving the rig. 
Actually, Bob couldn’t take it anyway as its the end of the week and he’s pretty busy at the moment. Back home to wire everything up and wallah! Still nothing. I called Thetford as this is their Tecma Silence Plus model. I told them the problem stating that we’ve had this rig for five years with absolutely no problems whatsoever. After trying the manual override as the tech suggested on three different times, we decided the problem may lie in the controller or even worse, the built in macerator. Jones RV is closed for the weekend and I’ll have to wait until Monday to see when he can fit me in. Thank goodness there’s a second water closet in Robin’s bathroom. When wondering what to do on a day with no plans, there always seems as if some unforeseen problem eats up much of the day.
No Sunshine and Flowers Today
Brutus Here Again
I’m going to give this one last shot, for two reasons. I had to go to the vet today. It seems as if I have some kind of rash that I picked up while trekking below the 36th parallel this winter. So it seems I’m back on the steroids for a few weeks until this itching goes away. Secondly, the gypsyman wants back on here again. But let me tell you about last Saturday. Mom and Dad wanted to make a day trip to Lancaster County to find the Lake-in-the-Wood Campground. I was kinda looking forward to this but then, lo and behold, they put Sadie in the truck with us. Thank goodness I saw her cage come along. Oh no, they’re leaving the cage door open. This chick is going to be all over the place, jumping and yipping. But to my surprise I was wrong. Not only was she well behaved, she didn’t even bother me. A couple of times I looked her way and Sadie was so content lying on the back seat that she caught a little nap. Not for me though. I had to keep my eye on her just in case she’d take to bugging me once again. An hour or so down the road we found Lake-in-the-Wood just off the turnpike. Wow. This is no campground. This place is a resort. You know how much I hate water, but I must admit, the view down the center of the six acre lake is just so surreal. Like that word, don’t cha. And you just thought I was an ordinary dog. 
My command of the King’s English is not too bad for a shihtzu. We’re going to work here this summer in the Gnome Cafe. I’ll tell you more about that as the weeks go by but I’m in dog heaven. The trails through the woods are calling my name. After spending over an hour here, we made it back to Jersey by dinner. Robin and Larry went out for Italian, I nibbled away at my dish while Sadie devoured her evening helping in no time. I see I’m going to have a lot of work on my hands with this chick. I’ll try to sneak in here again but it tough when the gypsy get in his picture mode and I”ve seen him shooting a lot lately. So until then, good sniffing.
Brutus’ Big Disappointment
I’ve been hearing talk this week about driving to New Jersey to babysit a little one name Sadie. It must be a new addition that I was unaware of, but it doesn’t matter. I just love to lick little kids. They just smell so good. This time we packed up the truck and left the rig behind. I’m used to this as I ride with my mom most of the time this way. A five hour ride on the Turnpike isn’t my idea of a road trip. My only salvation was a lady in a booth at the Valley Forge exit. My dad handed her money and she handed him a white piece of paper but also a little treat for me, saying how cute I was. Another half hour and I’m excited as can be, walking to the door to meet this little cutie. Carolyn let us in, we exchanged hugs and kisses and then, there before me, was the biggest disappointment of my life. Not a little baby, not some sweet smelling bundle of joy to lick. No, it was a Beagle. Can you believe it. I was carted all the way out here to babysit a puppy. And I’m going to have to spend the whole weekend with this chick. I’m going to try and make the best of this but I”m not happy about this at all. Mom and Dad were people I’ve never seen before. They doted all over this Sadie, rubbing her, playing with her, and almost totally ignoring me. She tried to pay attention to me but I didn’t want to have anything to do with her. 
It was a good thing it was late and we were all going to bed. Sadie got caged for the night while I slept in my usual place between my mom and dad. Awaking the next morning thinking some fun was in store for me, I soon found out that everyone was going to the airport to retrieve Ryan. Sadie was pestering me, wanting to play, nipping and jumping to the point that I had to get downright nasty with her and growl back. Thankfully she was caged while they left and I had the run of the entire house. I checked things out real good but there was nothing of much interest here. Most everything is put in its place and doors upstairs were closed so I could do no snooping. It seemed like forever until they all came back. And would you think they came over to pick me up. NOOO. It was Sadie who was queen of the hour. It was like I was never even there. I just settled in for a long nap. Everyone was doting over this chick and I was having none of this. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.
GypsyLarry
