Monthly Archives: December 2019

Two Nights Out

We pulled out of Mission Bay RV Resort on Sunday as planned and left San Diego. I took my time packing up – I was still feeling a bit under the weather as I’m having a hard time shaking the head cold that hit on Christmas day.

We have an inline dual canister water filtration set-up that I always use to filter fresh water coming into the coach. I’ve had a few people question whether it’s necessary when they are connected to city water. When we arrived in San Diego, I put a fresh, new sediment filter in the first stage canister. This filter element is made from spun polyester and was pure white. When I disconnected the water supply, I removed the filter element. This is what three months of city water left in the sediment filter.

Sediment filter after three months of city water

You can see the amount of rust and dirt particles it captured. The city water supply may be sanitized through the use of chlorine, but whenever a line is opened up anywhere along the supply route, dirt can enter and old valves may be rusty. This is why I always filter our water. I change out the sediment filter every three months. The second stage is an activated carbon block filter that removes chemicals and odors and I change that after six months.

We made the usual eastbound run on I-8 over the three summits in the Laguna Mountains – Laguna Summit, Tecate Divide and Crestwood Summit. Each summit is over 4,000 feet above sea level and there was snow on the side of the road. We exited I-8 at the Imperial Dunes Recreation Area – about 10 miles west of the Arizona border.

Our friends, Jeff and Deb Spencer (Rolling Recess), were boondocking there off American Mine Girl Road. Donna had texted Deb and she met us on the side of the road and led us to their piece of desert. Donna mentioned to me that when she tells people we’re going to spend the night “out in the desert,” some people ask how do we get “out in the desert?” First of all, you need to know the rules for the area you’re in. At Imperial Dunes, some of the public land requires a camping permit. Other areas of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are open for free dispersed camping.

Again, it’s public BLM land and it’s free, but there are rules. You can’t just bushwhack your way into an unmolested area – you have to stick to established paths. Of course most of those paths became established after someone starting driving in and others followed. Many of the points of entry are created by BLM personnel and some have markers and numbers. So, these paths are dirt two-track trails that lead away from roads and civilization. You are allowed to camp for up to 14 days, but you are supposed to leave the site as you found it – no improvements or structures are allowed.

Two-track on BLM public land and dispersed campers

Many people camp in groups in this area and use their ATVs or sand buggies to explore. I think they like the comradery and sense of safety in numbers. Others prefer solitude and keep plenty of space around them. We usually keep our distance – about a quarter of a mile is good separation – unless we’re with friends. In this instance, we camped near Jeff and Deb’s rig.

When we did the RAGBRAI event with them in 2017, I made Memphis-style babyback ribs one night on the Traeger for us to share. Jeff decided he needed a Traeger wood-pellet-fired smoker/grill. The thing is, they have a fifth-wheel RV, so storing a Traeger is problematic. He could store it in a basement compartment, but it would be a pain to remove and set up and put it away again. So he mounted it on the rear rack on their trailer.

Traeger on the rear trailer rack

He used an aluminum drip pan as a heat shield to keep excessive heat from reaching his bicycle or the rear of the trailer. He has a thermocouple he puts on the pan and an alarm set to notify him if the temperature exceeds 135 degrees. Smart set-up!

I kept my visit with Jeff and Deb brief as I wasn’t feeling good and didn’t want to infect anyone. Donna visited for a while. Later Jeff brought us a plate with St. Louis spare ribs he cooked on his Traeger. Yummy! Thanks, Jeff!

Sunset in the desert can be spectacular, especially when high clouds are present. I shot these photos within a few minutes of each other – the first just as the sun was setting and the second a few minutes later when the sun was below the horizon.

Desert sunset
Fire in the sky

Monday morning we rolled out of there and continued east on I-8. We found a new Pilot/Flying J Travel Center had opened at Tacna – about 40 miles into Arizona. I topped up our tank there. We continued east past Casa Grande where I-8 merges with I-10 and took the first exit at Sunland Gin Road in Eloy. I needed to have the oil changed and chassis lubed on the coach. The Cummins ISL diesel engine holds 28 quarts of oil. I don’t change the oil because I can’t deal with seven gallons of waste oil!

Last year, Speedco was bought out by Love’s Travel Stops. I wasn’t too happy with their service in Denver. I’ve used the Eloy Speedco several times before. Love’s ownership hasn’t been an improvement. They’ve raised their prices and the employees seem indifferent and lacking motivation. The good news was, I didn’t have to drop the trailer and there was no wait. They had me pull in over the lube pit with the trailer still with us. We were in and out in about half an hour!

From there, we backtacked a bit through Stanfield and headed north on AZ347 toward Maricopa to Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino to spend the night. The paved RV lot was a little crowded but we found a new graded dirt lot. This large lot was level and only had one motorhome and one tractor-trailer rig in it. We set up for the night.

Shortly after we set up, another RV arrived – a truck pulling a small fifth-wheel trailer. You would think that a lot with a few acres of open space would allow him to give everyone some space. For some reason, he set up right next to us.

Really…
Couldn’t find any space over there?
Or maybe on the south side of the lot?

I don’t mean to be unsociable, but I don’t understand what he was thinking.

It was cold overnight – the temperature might have been down to the 30s. We had the heat pump on before we went to bed and it’s back on again this morning. The high today will barely break 60 degrees. That’s how we’ll end the second decade of the millennium. Tomorrow we’ll welcome the 20s – hopefully with a roar!

We’ll head to Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort this morning. We plan to pick up Donna’s new Trek Dual Sport 2 bicycle this afternoon and settle in for another three-month stay.

Wet Christmas

I hope all who read this had a great Christmas and are continuing to enjoy the holiday season. I wrote in my last post about Donna’s start to the festivities with the Santa 5k Run. On Wednesday, December 18th we were invited to a Christmas party at my friend, Tye’s, house in Bay Park. He lives up the bluff on Galveston Street and has an outstanding view of Mission Bay all the way to Belmont Park.

We enjoyed good food and drink among friends there. Donna made deviled eggs with bacon bits that were outstanding. I wrote in my last post about my friend, Bob Babich, a former NFL player. He was in attendance at the party as was Ralph Perretta. Ralph was an offensive lineman – guard and center – drafted by the San Diego Chargers in 1975. He played here until 1980 then played two seasons with the New York Giants. Tye had old NFL FiIms productions playing on his DVR and it was fun to hear stories of the good old days of professional football from guys that were there on the field.

One of the things I’ve figured out recently is this. I’m getting older and don’t recover or heal like I once did. On the 11th, I cut my finger and had to have it stitched. I’ve had stitches several times in my life and it isn’t a big deal. Usually after a week or so I’d just clean the area and remove the sutures myself. The doctor told me this time to give it seven to 10 days. So I split the difference and on the 18th I removed the sutures. Well, I don’t heal so fast anymore or maybe the cut was deeper than I imagined – anyway I may have been a couple of days early.

This is what it looked like after I pulled the sutures

A couple of days later, it looked better, but it still wasn’t fully closed. The thing is, I’ve left stitches in too long before and it makes removing them difficult. I guess I should have waited the full 10 days in this case.

Two days later it looked like this

It’s in pretty good shape now and I’m able to play the guitar without any issues other than the lack of callous on my finger tip. Santa put a guitar-clarinet duet music book in my stocking, so Donna and I will see if we can play a few of the arrangements together.

Rain moved into the area on Christmas Eve. We kept it low-key and did the typical taco Tuesday night at Offshore Tavern and Grill and saw a few friends there. It rained off and on Christmas day. I had a restless night and woke up Christmas morning with a sore throat, congestion and lacked energy. I spent most of the day in bed reading and napping. Last night it stormed with heavy rain and gusty wind. Right now, the sun is shining, but I can see on the Radar Express app on my phone that another bout of rain is likely to hit us today.

I’m not complaining – things could always be worse. I was reminded of that when we came into the park the other day and saw the entrance gate and fence was damaged.

Gate and fence badly damaged

Apparently, someone hit it while entering the park. Later, I found out it was a new neighbor. He cut the corner at the entrance in his tag-axle Newmar Dutch Star. This coach is north of 40-feet long and he turned in too early. You have to really drive deep into a turn before you start to turn in or this is what happens. As you can imagine, the coach suffered damage as well.

Damaged Dutch Star

It’s hard to see in the photo, but the damage starts behind the right front wheel with dents and scrapes across the first two basement compartment doors. The third door was completely torn away. Ouch!

The forecast calls for the rain to clear up and we should have sunny days starting tomorrow and through the weekend. This is fortunate timing as we have to prepare to move. We’ll pull out Sunday and head to the desert. I need to organize and pack the trailer. I’ll check and adjust all tire pressures – coach and trailer.

We still have Ken’s car. I notified the lender in writing about his passing and told them where they could pick it up. I haven’t heard anything from them. My friend and attorney, Dan Cullen, will take care of it if they don’t pick it up by Sunday. I also ordered a new bike for Donna from Two Wheel Jones bike shop in Mesa, Arizona. They said they could have the bike in the shop and set up for her by New Year’s Eve. I was supposed to be kept in the loop on the progress via e-mail, but I haven’t heard from them. I’ll follow up today with a phone call.

So, the plan is to head out on Sunday and spend a quiet night in the desert. Then we’ll move on to Casa Grande and get the Cummins ISL diesel engine in the coach serviced and move on to Maricopa for the night. Then we’ll be back at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort in Mesa, Arizona on New Year’s Eve.

Holiday Thieves

Another week has flown by here at Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego. I’ve been in a regular routine, visiting with friends for a happy hour cold one at Dan Diego’s or Offshore Tavern and Grill on Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday respectively. We’ve been playing pickleball at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center on Monday, Wednesday and sometimes on Friday.

One habit I’ve fallen into is the Tuesday Taco Special at Offshore Tavern and Grill. They have large, tasty tacos during happy for $3.00 on Tuesday and they are the best. One thing I discovered there is Curt’s hot sauce – made right here in San Diego.

Grimm’s Blood Reaper Pepper Sauce

The label says Extra Extra Hot, but it’s not really all that hot – it is very flavorful and I love it.

One of my pals I often have a cold one with is Bob Babich. Bob was an NFL Football player – he was the 18th player drafted in the first round in 1969. He played with the San Diego Chargers for three years then, in 1973, he was traded to the Cleveland Browns for a first and second round draft choice. He played in Cleveland until 1978.

Bob Babich at Dan Diego’s

One of the bartenders at Dan Diego’s is Mike Fulton – brother of chef and part owner, Ryan Fulton. Mike found and ordered a Babich number 60 Cleveland Browns jersey. I’m not sure if the color and layout is period correct, but it was nice touch and Bob was really surprised to see Mike behind the bar with it.

Babich Cleveland Browns jersey

Donna’s been faithfully practicing with her clarinet and going through the break-in process with her new wood Leblanc clarinet. I ordered a variety of reeds for her and I’m learning how to adjust and balance the reeds. Clarinet and saxophone players all have a love/hate relationship with their reeds.

I adjust the reeds by carefully scraping the reed to balance both sides. I use a new, razor sharp utility knife blade to do this. On Wednesday, I was pulling a new blade from the dispenser and it was stuck. I gave it a good yank and it suddenly popped free. I swiped it right across my left index finger. Dumb! It made a clean, deep cut. We were off to the Pacific Wellness & Urgent Care Center.

Doctor Moore at the center fixed me up with three stitches. The worst of it was when he numbed my finger tip with injections into the cut. Finger tips are very sensitive!

That was dumb

We had really nice weather on Thursday and Friday. Donna had friends over for dinner Friday evening and rented a fire pit for the occasion. Sini, Mona and Sharon Hinton joined her. John Hinton also came down for awhile. On Friday afternoon, Donna picked up her race packet for the San Diego Santa Run on Saturday. The race packet included a “sunny Santa” costume.

I’m making a Christmas wish on Santa’s lap

The San Diego Santa Run is a 5K fun run in Pacific Beach held the morning before the Christmas parade. Donna rode her bike to the starting area near Garnet and Cass Street. She found our friend, Brooke, there along with about 4,000 other Santa’s.

Donna heading out to the San Diego Santa Run

She had fun and found out that Cass Street is actually uphill as you head north. Not so much that you think about it in a car, but you can feel the incline when running it!

A few nights ago, Donna made a dish that we haven’t had in a long time. It was spiced pork tenderloin with maple-chipotle sauce. I don’t know why we haven’t had it in while, it’s a real goody.

Spiced pork tenderloin with maple-chipotle sauce

Last evening, I finally caught a nice sunset over the bay. With all the rain we had lately, I haven’t seen many sunsets.

Low tide and a nice sunset over the bay

This morning, it was cold in the coach. We don’t like to sleep with heaters – we’d rather put a down comforter or extra blanket on the bed. This morning was coldest of the year – 52 degrees in the coach. We decided to go out for breakfast. One of our favorites we’d discovered in Maui is a Hawaiian breakfast dish called loco moco. Loco moco is rice topped with a hamburger patty, fried eggs and brown gravy. We found it here in San Diego at Leilani’s in Pacific Beach a few years ago. We went for it this morning. I had the Hilo style with spicy fried rice.

Loco moco at Leilani’s

When we came back home after breakfast, Donna made a grim discovery. A thief had cut the lock off our bikes and stole them! They were locked to the picnic table and covered with a plastic tarp. Either during the night or while we were at breakfast, the thief struck. They must have cased it out – they had to know what was under the tarp and how to steal it. It looks like they used bolt cutters to defeat the Kryptonite brand cable lock. I can see now how poorly made this cable lock is. Neither of us can say for sure if the bikes were gone when we left for breakfast or not. The thieves took Donna’s new Trek Dual Sport and my Specialized Crave 29er mountain bike.

Cable lock cut with bolt cutters

I’ve been asked if we’ve noticed much difference here since Campland took over managing the property. The biggest thing that stands out is the lax security. Before, anyone entering the park without a vehicle tag was stopped and had to surrender their driver’s license at the security shack for the duration of their visit. Now, anyone can just drive right in, no questions asked. Also, parking enforcement is almost non-existent. Rules are meaningless.

Campland was granted an $8.1 million lease credit to complete the clean up of the old manufactured homes surrounding the RV park. Final demolition and clean up was slated to begin in October. To date we’ve seen little or no activity. It must be nice to manage the park with no lease payments – cash flow is positive for sure!

After a few days with temperatures reaching about 70 degrees, it looks like we’re in for a couple of cooler days in the low 60s before it warms up again over the weekend.

*Just so you know, if you use this  link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Early Christmas Surprise

The last week was a bit of a whirlwind. We were able to close escrow on the sale of Ken’s house without having to drive up I-15 to Riverside County – thanks to the concept of electronic signatures and a service called DocuSign.

Once the funds were transferred into the trust account, I made a distribution to beneficiaries. This involved running around to three different banks to distribute the funds with the least cost. I only had to wire money to one account. Wire transfers cost $35 per transaction. By using free cashier check service, I was able to directly deposit into two other bank accounts that have branches here in San Diego.

I’ve held back funds in the trust account to cover any bills that may still be outstanding – things like ambulance transfer costs, medical, and personal income taxes for 2019 on behalf of Ken. Overall, my duties as Successor Trustee progressed quickly and relatively smoothly. I’ll be glad when we can wrap things up and close the trust in four or five months.

Wednesday morning, Donna had her alarm set for 5am. I could hear rain drops on the roof of our coach once I was awake. She was planning to call Lyft for a ride to the airport, but I drove her there and dropped her off around 5:45 am for a flight to Albany, New York. She was heading to Bennington, Vermont for a surprise visit with her parents. The occasion was her mom’s 80th birthday. I would be on my own for the next five days.

On the way back from the airport, I hit the drive-through at Jack-in-the-Box. I don’t think I’ve been to a Jack-in-the-Box in thirty years or more. I went for a breakfast burrito and was surprised by the size of the thing. It had egg, sausage, potato and cheese and was over 1,000 calories! Yikes, I can’t make a habit of eating like that!

I played pickleball at Ocean Beach Recreation Center (OBRC) and hopefully worked some of those calories off. It continued to rain throughout the day and all day Thursday as well. That left me shut in for a couple of days. I had an idea for a Christmas present for Donna, but I had to do some research. The rainy days gave me plenty of time to search the Internet.

Donna has been really diligent at practicing the clarinet. She played the instrument in her junior high school days and picked it back up in July. I’m amazed at how well she can play it. Clarinet is not an easy instrument to play. There are tone holes, keys and levers that require an number of different finger positions to create notes in different registers. I think I read there are 24 tone holes altogether on the instrument.

Donna’s clarinet is a used student model she picked up when we were visiting my daughter, Alana, in Arlington, Washington. Donna has an ambitious goal of playing in the Viewpoint Golf & RV Resort band when we get to Mesa, Arizona next month. I have no doubt about her reaching this goal.

I didn’t know anything about clarinets. I know from my experience with guitars that the step from a beginner instrument to a more advanced, higher quality piece can be a vast improvement. For example, going from a $400 electric guitar made in Asia to a $2,000 Gibson is a huge leap in playability, tone and overall quality. I decided to research clarinets and see if there is a similar step in quality of the instrument.

Over a few days I learned more about clarinets than I ever thought I would. Indeed, the step from a student model to an intermediate level clarinet is a big difference. Once you reach this level though, the next level of instruments follow the law of diminishing returns. For example, going from a $400-$500 student model to an intermediate model of around $2,000 makes a very noticeable difference in the quality and playability of the instrument. But, unless you’re a professional musician, going from a $2,000 clarinet to a $4,000 clarinet doesn’t make that same jump in quality. It’s more subtle and probably only a pro would be able to pick out the nuances that make a clarinet cost $4,000 or more.

The thing is, buying a musical instrument can be a very personal decision. What speaks to one person may not be the same for someone else. So picking out a clarinet to buy for Donna was a bit of a conundrum. I finally decided on a few models and concentrated my research on those. I read opinions on musician forums and reviews. I watched countless YouTube videos. Then I bit the bullet and placed an order. The deal is this though, that meant I had to reveal her Christmas present early as returning a musical instrument is a time-sensitive issue. You can only test drive it for a week or so or most shops won’t accept a return unless there is some kind of defect.

The rain moved east by Friday and we had a sunny day. I took advantage of the weather and got Midget-San out of the trailer for some exercise. I drove to OBRC for more pickleball. I loaded it back in the trailer when I came home. It was a good thing I did as rain started again in the evening and rained off and on all weekend.

I picked Donna up at the airport Sunday around 5:30pm. After we settled in back at Mission Bay RV Resort, I told her about the clarinet. I told her it would most likely arrive on Monday and she should try it out. If she didn’t like for any reason, we could exchange it and my feelings wouldn’t be hurt. It seems like I always have reason for an early Christmas present reveal over the past few years.

The clarinet, which is a Leblanc Serenade model made of African blackwood (Granadilla) with silver plated keys came on Monday afternoon. It’s a real beauty.

Leblanc Serenade in carrying case

One of the cool things about a clarinet is the compact storage – just right for someone living in 300 square feet. The instrument breaks down into five component parts and is easily stored or transported. There’s a break-in process recommended for wood clarinets and Donna’s already on it. It should be fully broken in and ready for long session use by the time we get to Viewpoint in Mesa, Arizona.

Another item I received was an air filter element for our coach. I prefer the Fleetguard brand of filters for the Cummin ISL diesel engine and that’s what I got. Air filters are a tricky item to set a preventive maintenance schedule for. Much depends on the conditions it is operated in. High exposure to dusty conditions mean more frequent replacement while more “normal” driving conditions can extend the life of an air filter. Changing it too often is not recommended as the air filter element gains efficiency once it traps a certain level of particulates. Most diesel-powered coaches have an air restriction gauge for the intake that would reveal an air filter that’s becoming clogged.

Some people think these gauges are worthless while most air filter manufacturers will tell you they’re the best way to know the air filter condition – they say it’s impossible to tell the actual condition of an air filter just by visual inspection. Judging by the restriction indicated on our gauge we didn’t need an air filter element yet. But, there’s also a time factor to consider. Over time, the element (paper in our case) can weaken and eventually break down. It only takes about a tablespoon of dust to completely ruin an expensive diesel engine. I’ve also heard of a case where a paper element disintegrated and pieces entered the combustion chamber with catastrophic results.

So, I’ve arbitrarily set a two-year air filter change interval as long as the restriction gauge shows the air filter is still good. In other words, if the restriction gauge showed excessive restriction before two years, I would change it sooner. But if the restriction gauge remains in the acceptable range, two years is the maximum time. Our filter was last changed in October 2017. We haven’t run the engine since we arrived here in late September, so I’m at the two-year interval although this is December.

Air filter restriction gauge – still in the green

It’s importatnt to keep things clean when you change the air filter element – it’s doesn’t take much dirt to ruin an engine.

Old filter on the left, new on the right – it’s hard to judge condition by visual examination

The Fleetguard filter comes with a new rubber sealing washer for the wing nut securing the filter. I always renew this washer to avoid having a leaky seal that could allow dirt to enter. It’s also important to tighten the wing nut sufficiently to compress the seal on the backside of the air filter element sealing it to the housing.

New seal on wing nut

The last step was to note the date of the filter replacement – I use a strip of duct tape and a marker.

Date of change recorded

Today it’s partly cloudy but there’s no rain in the forecast. The rest of the week should be dry, but it’s cooler with the temperature only reaching the low to mid 60s. It’s December, so I can’t complain about cooler temperatures!


*Just so you know, if you use this  link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Got Junk?

Wow, December 2nd already. We’re into the last month of the second decade of the millennium. It doesn’t seem like it was all that long ago when we were warned of impending doom when Y2K would cause everything to crash. Well, we got through it and now here we are, two decades later.

Donna and I have continued to whittle away at the task of preparing my step-dad’s house for sale. We went up to Menifee and had a charity called God’s Helping Hands take everything they could as a donation. They were very picky and left behind way more than we expected. My brother Eddie and his wife Rachel had already moved some of the larger pieces of furniture out and also cleaned many of the cabinets. This was much appreciated, but we were still left with way too much stuff for us to handle.

The answer was 1-800-Got-Junk. I set up an appointment for them to come to the house last Wednesday, survey what was left and give me an estimate for removal. We were running out of time as we expected to close escrow on Monday, December 2nd. On Tuesday while we were up in Menifee, I spent a full hour at the escrow office reviewing and signing a pile of documents. I really didn’t want to make the drive back up there on Wednesday when the Got Junk people were scheduled to come. My brother took on that task for me. They kept delaying their estimated time of arrival – it was raining and traffic was terrible.

Their estimate was quite a bit higher than I expected. Admittedly, we had more stuff left in the house than I anticipated. We went for it – they removed everything for a cost of $415 and were out of there around 7pm.

Speaking of rain, the weather changed drastically last week. Well, maybe not that drastic compared to many parts of the country, but it’s cooler and rained Tuesday night through Friday morning. The rain was quite heavy at times with gusty winds. I’m sure this spoiled many Thanksgiving plans for people – Thanksgiving is usually a very busy time here at Mission Bay RV Park with most sites occupied. Not so much this year – cancellations left a lot of open sites.

We spent Thanksgiving with Donna’s sister Sheila and her significant other, Dr. Jeff Sandler at Jeff’s house in La Jolla along with a friend of theirs and Jeff’s son and his family. Sheila prepared a 19-lb. turkey and we had a traditional Thanksgiving meal and watched NFL football.

Donna and I have been getting a little pickleball in, though not as much as we would like with all the travel we’ve been doing up and down the freeway. We’ve only been playing a couple of times per week. Donna’s keeping up with her strength training and bicycling.

The skies cleared up over the weekend, but the temperatures only reached the low 60s. It’s a little early for the rainy season to start – San Diego usually gets the majority of its rainfall in late December through February.

Friday night, after the rain stopped, the wind died down. We’ve had large tidal swings in the bay. The tide was high, the wind calm and the bay was glassy. I shot a nighttime photo looking east at the Bay Park neighborhood. The lights from the houses reflected off the dark, glassy bay water.

Reflections of Bay Park on De Anza Cove

This morning, I learned that the closing is delayed. The buyer’s agent failed to update the sales agreement to reflect the latest changes and the settlement statement was incorrect. Grrr. Apparently, the agent put off updating the documents before giving them to the escrow company, then disappeared over the Thanksgiving weekend. It irritates me because the buyer insisted on a quick escrow and we’ve scrambled to close the deal.

As a seller, I was happy with a quick closing. Real estate transactions are never complete until escrow closes and, in my experience, the longer that’s delayed, the more issues tend to arise. As a buyer, I wouldn’t want to close this fast though. I would’ve wanted 30 to 45 days to allow me time for due diligence. This buyer was shooting for a 21-day close.

I’ll close again with a couple of dinner plates Donna prepared last week. First up Chicken Gabriella, which is a skillet dish with lots of onions, fresh sage, and lemon juice.

Chicken Gabriella with green beans and sweet potato

And Sylvie’s Chicken, another skillet dish made with a cut-up chicken and a yummy sauce. It took over an hour to cook, so Donna said she’ll just use chicken thighs next time to cut the cooking time in half.

Sylvie’s chicken with garlic cauliflower mash and fresh spinach

*Just so you know, if you use this  link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!