NOTE:  This is a longish post with no photos.

SATURDAY 17 August 2024 — BdW guests leave & arrive, overseas travel planning, wood floor refinishing, DR furniture donation (HfH), ACI CPP via HH/BW, e-waste recycling and UofM Health.

Mike & Sheila came to front door to thank us for hosting them and say “farewell until next time” before pulling out.  Not long after they left I got a call from our Ontario, CA friend and fellow bus nut, Bill G.  I had commented to Linda several times over the last week or so that I needed to call Bill (and Marty, and Ed), but he beat me too it.  This happens a lot.  We had a nice/long chat, mostly about house/shop projects and cruising.  He and Karen have been going on at least an annual (January) cruise for years and are much more experienced cruisers than we are.  They have mostly sailed on Royal Caribbean, so they have a lot of loyalty points, but they are doing a Princess Cruise Lines repositioning cruise in the spring of 2026 from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Southampton, England because Royal Caribbean does not offer a similar cruise.  We will have to check the PCL website, but it sounds like the same cruise we are doing in the spring of 2025, with perhaps slightly different ports-of-call on the European continent.

After the phone call, Linda helped me load the electronics we were recycling into the back of the F-150 and drove to the county e-Waste recycling location.  The line was short, and I was in and out in very reasonable amount of time.  On the drive out of the facility, the line of vehicles coming in was backed up all the way to road, a considerable distance.  Timing is everything, and good luck helps a lot.

When I got back home, Linda and I had a long conversation about the floor refinishing project and its implications for the house and our ability to use it while the work was ongoing.  She has wanted to replace the dining room table and buffet/sideboard for a while now.  They are matching pieces to the living room and recreation room furniture that we have already donated to the local Habitat for Humanity (HfH) ReStore.  Most of our bedroom furniture is also from this same Bassett Mission-style product line.  We bought all of it the J.C. Penny store in NOVI, Michigan many, many years ago.  We still like it, but we have gotten our use out of it and are ready to pass it on to some who can use it, and getting something different for our house.

There are quite a few things we have to do before the floor refinishing work commences, and a few things we have to do after it is completed.  It was time to make a list.  The decision to donate the furniture, for instance, was a result of thinking about this task list.  By donating it we won’t have to find a place to store it.  And, we won’t need to replace it until after the floor project is done.  Genius.  This decision, of course, led us into an online search for a new dining table and buffet/sideboard.  More to come on that in future blog posts.

We have been in this house for just over 11 years, and plan to still be here for more years than that.  The recent flurry  of projects is motivated by wanting to refresh and improve things now, so we can enjoy them for many years, but still have the house and appliances in nice condition if/when we decide we want/need to sell.

While we were working on task list, BdW guest RamTam19 (Randy and Tammy B.) showed up.  They were our first visitors this year (April 16), so they just pulled in and parked in our guest RV site.  Normally I have people stop in the street but they new just what to do and just went ahead and did it.  No problem, in this case.  I went out to help get them into final position.  It was starting to rain, so we only chatted briefly and I left them to make camp.  They will be here for 5 nights, so I hope we have some good weather and get a chance to chat.

I got a reply from Kathy G. regarding the ACI/HH CPP system.  She was on vacation, but replied promptly.  While not necessary, it was appreciated.  She indicated that she was meeting with the ACI Executive Director and the HH software team on Wednesday, and would share my e-mail with them.  I replied to her e-mail, and reiterated the details of an unresolved concern regarding the logic of the BdW stay request system.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on blog posts, and e-mail.  I received an e-mail a few days ago about the passing of a long-time member of the South Lyon Area Amateur Radio Club (SLAARC), Larry G.   Larry (K8UT/SK) was a technical superstar, especially with computer networking, a highly skilled operator, and an important contributor to the Ham radio hobby in SE lower Michigan.  I received an e-mail today with the visitation information (tomorrow) and funeral Mass details (Monday).

Earlier in the day I got a message from UofM Health reminding me to check in for my upcoming audiology appointment on Tuesday.  I don’t think I have any serious hearing issues, but my new primary care physician in the UofM-H geriatric clinic sort of indicated that he would like a baseline measurement.  It’s been a long time since I have had my hearing tested, so this seemed like a good idea, even though insurance won’t cover it.  While logged in to do the check-in, I also checked for any new invoices or outstanding balances.  I did not have any.  Linda does a great job keeping our bills paid, as long as she knows about them.

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