Martial Arts Demo - New Setup - Sock Hop

 Shalimar, FL  (Hi 93   Lo 76)  High humidity 80%

Monday was something different.  We had a martial arts with a couple of men demonstrate how to do some moves. Even some of our residents did some which makes you move and use your body core for balance (with kicks). It was very good to see an older person can do it too. They have several older people in their group 80 and over. They'll bring them next time. (Click on photos to enlarge)

The best move was the 55 year old instructor doing push ups with the 92 year old resident. They did 30 push ups and the instructor gave up.  Al our resident is in the gym with weights and on the equipment many hours a day. He's working toward the senior Olympics in Pensacola this year. What a guy!

Tuesday same routine, diamond art then wellness class. Topic was Curiosity as a senior. Do you have curiosity of the future and beyond? I worked on my gnomes for the craft fair in December the rest of the day and that's basically what I do in any of the spare time and when I'm home. 

Wednesday started out with zoom death cafe. We had two more people join us and tell us about how they care for the elderly in Spain and Australia which is nothing like we do in the states.  When that was over I went to "Passport" which was on Italy this month. Youtube video on different areas of the country. 

There's all kinds of info. Well worth the time to watch them every month.

Thursday was full and I had to make some choices. I was supposed to go to crochet, but I bailed out. I had another death cafe that I attend two times a month a podcast I wanted to hear and my Hellofresh meals were all going on at the same time.  I stayed home and listened to both online events and was here when the meals came. At 90 degrees I didn't want them outside the door if I was in another building. It all worked out. The decision was a good one (this time).  At 7:30 I had another zoom class on how to heal the body with fascia. Interesting, but not sure yet just how it will work. 

Friday was an early start with Style squad, decorating the commons for the sock hop later in the day. I love doing that and there were several of us doing it. It was sunny on one side so the curtains are pulled over the decorations.

I'll continue with the sock hop. At 2:00 they started the music and eating. 

I don't dance, I have a knee that collapses, not good. 

Saturday started with a zoom class. Then zoom with a couple gals was for fun. We try to get together once a week but one of them is moving so we skipped last week. I helped a neighbor with computer trying to load Mahjong game. I finally got it downloaded after three tries then it wouldn't play, not the right graphics and not enough memory. Now working on an Amazon fire tablet to see if I can get it downloaded.

Some  other things going on in the week. Our lounge was outdated so we're upgrading it. The table was found online from a guy close by and it's bigger then our other three for card playing. 

                                        

                                                        Here's what we had setup. 

A start on the new setup. We'll get the walls repainted before doing anything else. 

Sarah is our vacuum gal. 

I wanted to get both computers together in the living room so I found a spot for Jim's computer which is heavy and huge beside the TV.  Now I can have three weather stations going at the same time.  Two computers and my phone. 

Rainy Season is Here - HOT! - End of July

 Shalimar, FL   (Hi  89  Lo 76)   We hit 114 heat index this week

I stay really busy but most of it isn't reported on the blog. I spend a lot of time on zoom with all kinds of classes both learning and me teaching. I also love being with people all over the world in tech talks. It makes the blog not interesting for readers. 

I did get normal daily stuff done, like laundry and cleaning up. I'm thinking what I can get rid of this year that I haven't touched since I've been here. I took a huge bag to the thrift store and they weren't open and there's cameras saying don't leave if we're not open. I have to do another trip to Ft Walton Beach at some point. Maybe when I go I'll have another bag. 

I signed up on Monday for the second WII bowling day like I did two years ago. Not that I don't have enough going on, but I'll be bowling with my traveling partner and it will give us time to keep things up to date with the trip next year. I'll also have to bowl better, they're a top team. 

Tuesday was "beat the clock" day. I had diamond art then wellness class, zoom class and cards and chat. I made all the time lines. 

Wednesday six of us did the newsletter folding for the month of August. 

I got home in time to listen to a zoom class, then went to another building for hand, knee and foot card game. I love that game and I'm glad to play when I can. I had another zoom with some friends then cards and chat that night. whew, another timed day.   Why do I do all the time crunches, I love it and so far it's been no problem.  Beats sitting home alone with the TV. I'm out meeting and listening to people. 

Thursday I did a tiktok podcast which was really fun. Then  over to V6 building for crochet. The gals are doing all kinds of shawls and they're beautiful. I'll take picts when they're done for next week. 

I also finished my puzzle 6 of 8 lighthouses. My neighbor finished hers too but there's a missing piece that we can't find. 

These two puzzle were really difficult.  The pieces are only two different sizes and shapes. They look alike and they seem to fit but there's another one that's even better, so you spend a lot of time changing them out.  We have two more to do but we'll do something else instead to break the difficulty. 

Friday I did another podcast then worked on budget and more house work. I'm still working with charge cards and found my credit went down because of the charge card being declined. We had that card since 2015, so there's a reason but still aggravates me just to put it in my name and not Jim's. There's always something. I still can't get the phone company out of his name. Not going to try anymore, it would be my luck they'd cancel it and I wouldn't be able to restart it.   In the evening I had a good time with North Carolina group on zoom,  which I look forward to every week. 

Saturday we had the village meeting for the start of August. We're wanting to get the room changed and update it. Not many suggestions so the team doing it are doing it on their own and hope it turns out well. I didn't do anything but practice WII bowling with my new team in two weeks. They do it differently and I'll have to figure it out. I hear they bowl close to 300 every game. I have some work to do.  I visited a couple neighbors, went to social hour and chat for night time fun. 

Please take time to watch this from Greenland. It's really worth the time. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UufMqwyO7pY

NOT AGAIN - TS Bertha - Craft show - HEAT

 Shalimar, FL  (Hi  95  Lo  80)

Sunday started with a bang. I'm casually going down the rabbit hole with laughing at Facebook funnies. I get an alert on my phone about a charge in Las Vegas and two from Illinois at the same time. Oh boy, this isn't good. I went to the charge card site and there were a few questions I answered and the card was cancelled at that point. Whew, it was a big bill!  In an instant I was given my new card number that I can use till the new one arrives. The neat thing that happened, the companies I deal the most with  already updated the new card, I don't have to. nice!!!!     At the same time that was happening, I got three alerts on the phone about the tropical storm and winds coming in the next 48 hours. I moved the little stuff out in  back yard (gnomes) and put them in a safe place. 

Monday, I dealt with  the credit card problem most of the day.  I noticed the new card was in Jim's name. Not thinking to wait for the card to arrive I called to ask for my own card, very bad decision. I had to apply for my own card and  there's a very long tedious story, I was denied because I don't have enough credit cards. What?  so I'm relying on another card and debit card. The debit will be an account with very little in it, just to cover what I charge. There's been too many people that have lost everything in the bank by using a debit card, not a good idea. I hope I don't have a problem with the other card. That would be rough. 

We had a birthday party for Connie with a pound cake and strawberries. 

Tuesday was back to normal. Diamond art then wellness class. I did the class on medical, doctors and insurance, the changes since the 1940's. Always stand up for yourself and have an advocate later in age. You're only a dollar sign and at this age, if you need help with medical you're given pills to cover the real reason  that something is wrong, there's no help. I worked on puzzle and went to cards. 

Wednesday, we're still getting rains off and on from "Bertha" the tropical storm. It's slowly going west and south of us. Rains are fine feeling and swirling which looks like fine snow. It's a different feel when you're in it. I learned that with hurricanes in North Carolina. Very humid and temperature in high 80's. Luckily, it's not constant rain and quick band type showers. I thought I'd be playing cards but ended up at the craft group in the afternoon. Things always change around here, I've learned from the rv'ing day to go with the flow. 

Thursday I got up early to go to get a massage and chiropractor appointment. I really needed it, my hip was out of place again. I also have a bad shoulder that won't move freely, so both were taken care of and feeling better.  I got back home for a zoom class. At 12, I went to crochet group. I got home for another zoom then cards at 5:00. Whew, I made all of it on time. 

Friday was the six month inspection. They check for the gurney to get thru to the bedroom and if any leaks under the sink. I filled my calendar with the events for August, so I'm going to have another busy month coming up. I had a couple more zoom get togethers in the afternoon and the nightly chat. 

Saturday I took a couple gals,  Ellen and Priscilla to the craft show at VFW that we went to last year. There were fewer tables, but some really neat crafts. I couldn't take pictures, except the whole area. 

We were only there for 15 minutes then went across the street to Golden Corral. We waddled back to the car an hour later really full.  We all like that place. I worked on computer stuff and did some computer stuff with a couple gals. I went to happy hour at 5:00. Some one gave us this platter of goodies tonight. I sure was good. 

It's been HOT this week, high 90's with high humidity. At least we haven't had rain the last few days. 

Here's the sprinkler out of whack I found this week. 

Storms - Smoke - Earthquakes

 Shalimar, FL   (Hi 93  Lo 76)

This week I'm watching storms all over the USA along with heavy smoke from the Canadian fires, pray for the families that are losing everything north of us. Earthquakes are getting bigger in intensity and so are the storms in the Midwest.  What a week for a weather geek.

Ok, I have to confess, this week was a little quieter, mainly because it's too hot to do anything outside. The week was pretty normal for keeping me busy. 

Sunday I caught up in talking with people. I try to do that once a month. I do a lot of zooms with people, not calling on the phone. 

Monday the ONLY thing I did was meet with the wellness teacher and setup August topics. When I'm filling time I work on a puzzle or crochet. I did finish the military Air Force gnomes.  Now I need to make a few more for the craft fair.  (Click on the photos to enlarge). Female and Male, gnomes have beards for men and braids for female. 

Tuesday the United Way volunteer day was putting stickers on envelopes and coins for kids. We were done in about 1/2 hour. There were several of us doing them. 

Wednesday   I had a cool zoom at 10, then at 2:30 I went to council meeting. It's the first time in two years I wasn't on the front table. My two years is up and I'll have to wait a year to get back on if I want to do it. I did another zoom 7pm. 

Thursday was beat the clock. How fast can I get from one event to another. My new lenses (glasses) came in so I got up early to get them. I went to crochet group at 11:30 and at 1:00 I had death cafe zoom. I'm learning so much from those so I'll be adding a couple more. I had to hurry to the main building from village 6 for computer help. There's three of us that help people with their computer/phones. It's a learning curve and fun to do. I got home in time to do another zoom for how to have money for nursing homes and how much it is now. That's a scary thought. Everyone should check into that. I don't want the kids taking care of me if I get to that point. 

Friday I went to coffee talk where management asks questions for us to get to know each other. We had three that went through WWII and told what it was like as a child. It was very interesting. We should have the older folks talk more about it. 

Saturday I worked on puzzle and went to happy hour, that's it. 

Boring week actually, but stayed busy. 

Car Service - Birthdays - Crafts

Shalimar, FL  (Hi 88  lo 77)   it's been hot and humid this week high 99

To update about the Typhon in Guam where my friends are, they're ok. They have water back and electric. The island has a bit of damage but no deaths. I'm checking on drone and photos for the island that people are taking. It could have been much worse. Rota the next island had a direct hit with the super cat 5, 180 mph winds. 

Sunday afternoon I took the car in for service. There's been a clicking noise and a guy here thought it was the AC, it didn't click when the AC was off. Service guy couldn't find anything wrong, so I got the car back on Monday and hopefully all will be ok. 

Monday I did nothing but puzzle with neighbor, laundry and cleaning up. We did have a birthday party for Mickie. (Click on the photos to enlarge). 

Tuesday the normal diamond art and wellness then cards. 

Wednesday I went to crafters corner instead of cards this week. I'm working on a paint by number picture and adding diamond art to it. I'll have a photo when it's finished.  I think it will turn out great. 

Thursday the only thing I did was crochet in village 6. We didn't have a lot of people but we had a good time laughing. It's a great group and so much learning and knitting or crocheting. 

Friday was busy. I went to lunch/brunch with a couple gals one from the village and one from down town. We thought we'd go to our favorite place, Sugar Mill, but they were closed for three weeks. The gals had another idea so we had a really good sandwich and salads at Corner Cafe.  I had a turkey and ham wrap. I'll go back to that place it was great!  The gals still wanted something "sweet" so we found another place that had sweets. I passed this time. I keep forgetting photos for these places, but didn't want to bore you. This is a lamp assembly they had though. 

I had a couple hours for the next event, going to an ice cream social. I didn't want to eat much, dinner was at 5:00. 

At 5:00 we went to AJ's for a group dinner. There were 25 in all, but this was just our table. I learned they have lobster rolls. They were big and delicious. 

The price was really good. $35

Ellen had crab legs. They were good she said, but little.

There's a lot more pictures and all the fun stuff on Facebook under Bob Hope Village. 

Saturday I didn't get up till 10:00. Nothing going on and I just didn't feel like getting up. A storm came thru and was quite noisy so my day started about 10:10. I didn't have anything planned today so I crocheted. I did work on the puzzle a bit and at 5:00 went to happy hour. 

Finish up Medical - 250 Celebration 4th - Typhon in Guam

 Sharlimar, FL  (Hi 93  Lo 80) 

The Northeast is dealing with over 100 degree weather. We haven't hit that yet. 

I have to admit, this week went faster then I've ever seen. That's unusual for me to say. 

Sunday was relaxing and I had a couple zooms, meeting with friends across the USA. 

Monday I had my eye appointment. I have stigmatism and it's getting so much better that my glasses are too strong. This is the second year that's happened. My peripheral is outstanding, guess it's all those computer games I play.  I'm getting new lenses for reading and computer work. I worked on a puzzle and had a zoom meeting in the afternoon, still keeping out of trouble that way. 

Tuesday I had an early dermatology appointment. I had one little precancer cell on my arm that she froze. All good for everything else. I'm not in the sun much so far I'm doing well with no cancer, or precancer. I made it to wellness class on time, We had a gal come in to speak to us about pills, and all the poison we put in our bodies instead of doing holistic medicine like the early pioneer days. If we quit the meds, we'd be a lot better off. She had very good details and what explained some herbs to take, the over the counter drugs are interacting to the prescribed pills and making it even more dangerous. Our bodies are capable to healing itself,  Ok, off my soapbox.  I finished the day with another zoom, a class on psychedelics. I had to see what the hype was all about. 

Wednesday I had an early massage and chiropractor. My hip went out of place a couple days before appointment. I was limping.  After the sessions I could walk normal, and no headache. I love those two, they work well on me and keep me moving and in less pain.  Later  I went to France. It's called passport and they do another country every month.  (Click on the photos to enlarge). 

That was very interesting.   When I got home I found a youtube video that was on the tall ships coming into port for the 250 celebration.   This is so impressive with all the men on the sails. 

I also went to crochet group. I'm now working on military gnomes for the craft fair in December. I played cards in the evening and had two zoom meetings in-between. Another day of beat the clock. I made every event on time. 

Thursday I helped decorate the dining room for happy hour, theme was the 4th of July celebration.  We had no guidance. There were five of us that could do anything we wanted and each table didn't look the same. It turned out really neat. 

Friday It was too hot to get outside. I cleaned up the place a bit, did a puzzle with my neighbor, Her turn to come to me. I watched storm chasers and keeping an eye on the videos of a typhon in Guam. I have a friend that moved there last month and it looks like they're getting hit with a super Typhon, (Cat 5) on Sunday. It looks huge on radar. I'll be watching that closely. 

Saturday was a full day with lots going on. The monthly meeting was first at 10am. We had 20 come. It's hot so that was a great turnout. They're all caught up for the month of July.  At 12:30 we started the cookout. Seventeen signed up and 32 came. What a crowd. I learned how to work the grill.  We were roasted when we were done. I'm with Lane. 

My second helper was Joel

Not everyone fit inside. 

I cooled down and watched the celebrations in NYC with the tall ships and flyby's.  I went to happy hour at 5:00 and back home to watch the fireworks on TV. 

Fireworks in NYC

We had hard rains this week and this is where the water pours over the spout. Maintenance was here the next day to clear out the eves "again".  A tree is putting down little flowers that stops up the spout and eves. 

The typhon heading to Guam as of 7/5/26  6 am their time

Something else that was a first in my storm chasing watching was this little fox eating something on the road and didn't mind at all that a car was in front of him.