It rained on and off all weekend here in Sparks, Nevada. Donna had a long travel day on Saturday. Her flight to Albany, New York had two connections. One in Denver and one in Washington, DC. Her flight left Reno on time and her connection in Denver was fine. Shortly after landing in Washington, DC, she learned that her flight was delayed due to a late incoming plane.

She utilized the extra hour by finding food and a glass of wine. Then her departure was delayed a further half hour with no explanation. Then the flight was pushed back again due to a maintenance issue. It seems the airline was buying time in one hour increments – she finally departed Washington, DC after sitting around for four hours. Back in my workaday life, I was in an airport monthly. I don’t miss airline travel at all – I haven’t set foot in an airport since I retired nearly three years ago.

I spent the day staying dry indoors reading and watching TV. Sunday was more of the same. I watched three motorcycle races and two car races – that filled much of my time. Donna left me a honey-do list – something she’s never done before. I am the great procrastinator though and the list will keep me moving on a few things that need doing.

On Saturday, I re-glued the trim around a vanity mirror in the bedroom. The trim came off a while ago, but since the mirror is inside a cabinet door, it was one of those “out of sight, out of mind” things. Donna uses the mirror frequently though, so the missing trim bothered her. Next up, I started to clean and condition the wood cabinets in our kitchen.

I used a product I mentioned before called Kramer’s Best Antique Improver. I don’t have any affiliation with this company, but I mention the product because it is something I really like. You wipe it on the wood with a clean cloth, then rub it dry with a cloth. Couldn’t be easier and the results are great!

Kramer’s Best

Looking good

Ozark the cat seems to have separation anxiety with Donna gone. She’s very vocal and needy. She rubs against my legs, clings to me and wants to be held and petted all the time. I guess Donna gives her a lot of attention and talks to her a lot. I don’t talk all that much most of time and when I’m alone, I talk even less.

We’ve had cats in our family in the past, but I was never much of a cat person. I always preferred dogs. It’s not that I dislike cats. I love our little Ozark. But when I think about it, it comes down to a basic difference between the two. Dogs aim to please. Cats aim to be pleased. In other words, dogs naturally want to do things that please their humans. Cats want their humans to do things that please them. It’s this attitude of indifference and independence that many people find attractive in cats.

I once had a Weimaraner named AJ. He was the greatest dog that ever lived. I trained him and he competed in North America Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) events. He was a natural hunter and we went bird hunting together regularly. He liked nothing better than to freeze a game bird on point and retrieve the bird after I made the shot. We enjoyed lots of pheasant, quail, chukar and partridge on the dinner table.

AJ was very disciplined and rarely barked – he would only bark when he had good reason to. He could run and hunt all day. In our current lifestyle, we don’t have room for a dog. It wouldn’t be fair to the dog. I wouldn’t want to leave one in the coach while we went out. I know lots of RVers – even full-timers – travel with dogs. It works for them and that’s fine with me. I didn’t intend to have a cat in our coach, but Ozark found her way into our lives and we like having her along.

The weather forecast looks good for the coming week. Daily highs will be in the mid 70s to low 80s with no rain expected. Today I might ride the Spyder to a recreation center in Reno for pickleball. Then I’ll tackle cleaning and conditioning the rest of the kitchen cabinets.