We’ve been parked at the house since my last post and I’ve been taking my time to wash and wax the Urban Escape Vehicle while Stilla is inside the house cleaning in preparation for son William’s visit from Germany this coming Sunday. The undercarriage and especially the wheelwells got pretty muddy when we left Westley, CA in the rain as I mentioned in this earlier post: (http://www.urbanescapevehicle.com/westley-ca/). We also drove through a lot of rain along I-70 while hurrying back from Las Vegas.
My washing efforts got slowed down yesterday when my expandable hose burst. I’ve been carrying around one of those “pocket hoses” that I got from WalMart which has been great for it’s storability characteristics but apparently not so great for durability. When I went to use the hose, I noticed that water was squirting out of a pinhole. It wasn’t long before the green outer covering split and the clear plastic inner hose oozed out… it looked like a big fat sausage skin that bloated up until it exploded in a shower of water. This incident made me think about the commercial regarding the X-hose where they warn you not to be fooled by imitations. Wish I saved the receipt. Anyway, I got rid of all of my old hoses here at the house when I was down-sizing to go full-timing, so I need to go buy a new hose. I certainly don’t want to use my drinking water hose for washing, it’s important to keep it clean and free of contamination for filling the water tank and hooking up at campgrounds.
I got a surprise message from my good friend, old co-worker, and former roommate, Maile Unten, who follows the blog and noted that we were back in town. She kindly invited me on behalf of the agency that I used to work for, the Missile Defense Agency Integration & Operations Center (Schriever AFB), to come to their “end of fiscal year” celebration to be held at Cheddars on the North end of town. The end of the fiscal year (FY) is a big deal for the Contracting Directorate that I used to work for… a lot of long hours and hard work is put into getting all the funds obligated and contracts awarded before the end of the FY when funds expire.
I went alone since Stilla was in the middle of cleaning the house as I mentioned earlier. It sure was great seeing most of my old co-workers again. There were a couple new faces too.
We caught up on things while we passed around appetizer dishes between folks. Bob, the “Contracting Directorate” Director, graciously showed his appreciation for everyone’s hard work and dedication by paying for the first round of drinks. Thanks Bob!
And Maile surprised me by paying for my appetizer and drinks… Thanks Maile! You didn’t have to do that. And thanks for the invitation! It was nice seeing everyone again, I just wish that my old boss, Sandra Yaden, had been there as well… I was told that she is on a well-deserved vacation. Take care Sandy – hope all is well with you.
I was told that the group’s annual Christmas Party is already scheduled for Dec 10th at the EdelWeiss restaurant here on the South side of COS. Our current plan calls for us to be far South by then to stay ahead of the freezing weather, but you never know…
I made it back home in time to watch the sun go down behind Pikes Peak from our front porch. Our house is situated at the end of a cul-de-sac, so we get a nice unobstructed view of the mountains up the street from the front of the house. The back of the house overlooks downtown COS.
In other news – the camping group we belong to along with my Dad and Stepmom; the Rolling Springs Chapter of the Family Campers & RV’ers – is holding the last group campout of the year this weekend. It is down in Colorado City at the KOA. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to attend since William is coming in on Sunday and we have to drive to Denver to pick him up along with his new girlfriend. If time permits, we plan on maybe driving down in the Silverado on Saturday to visit with folks. My dad already went down a day early on Thursday to get the most out of the weekend. Hope you guys are having fun Rolling Springs FCRV!
Welp… I have to go find a new waterhose, so that’s all for now.
Stay tuned…