November 19, 2023 - November 25, 2023 - Trip Down to Florida and Setting Up the House and Settling In

Trip down:

The trip down to Florida this year was much different since we were not pulling a fifth wheel trailer, as we did for the last 10 plus years. Since we weren't hauling we let Apple Maps lay out our route. It took us to places in Tennessee and Alabama we didn't know existed. It was a zig-zag route which ended up being 50 miles shorter but took the same amount of time. It was an interesting route but we won't go back that way. 

Sunday:

We arrived at the house about 2:30 p.m. on Sunday and wasted no time unloading the contents of the truck onto the lanai. (They don’t have porches in Florida, they have lanais. LOL) Celina invited us over for supper, which was great because we had no food in the house.

Monday:

Monday was spent getting the Spectrum internet hooked up, buying groceries, unpacking totes, and deciding where we wanted things to go. I brought down a rolling toolbox and found space for it in the shed and loaded it with the tools I brought. I also unloaded and glued together a shelf I made by cutting down a wider folding shelf we weren't using at home. We are using it as a spot to hold our phones and haring aides when they are charging, as well as a place for small items like sunglasses. We had been using the kitchen table, which created a constant mess. Here is a picture. We may paint it in the near future the same color as the accent wall. I like the natural wood color but I've always been partial to the natural wood look.

Tuesday:

Tuesday was spent buying a TV, organizing the shed, getting the golf cart operational, and attending a Golden Nuggets meeting here in the park. The Nuggets are a group in the park which puts on potluck suppers, dances, etc. throughout the year.  At the Nuggets meeting I mentioned that I wanted to try shuffleboard and a lady invited to come Saturday morning at 10 a.m. and she would show me the basics.

Wednesday:

Wednesday morning I met with my new Florida GP for the immediate purpose of getting my allergy shots. I brought the serum down from my allergist in Perryville. Dr. Iyunni was quite busy and, as a new patient, I had lots of paperwork to complete and they needed time to put it all into the computer. The visit ended up being a two-hour affair. I was pleased with the time Dr. Iyunni spent with me. I then headed to Walmart to pick up a few things we needed.  I hate the local Walmart for a lot of reasons, but it is handy since it is next door to our park.

Thursday:

Thursday morning I switched out a number of light bulbs to LED to get more light. The lamps and the ceiling lights had fluorescent bulbs, which I hate.  

The new LEDs are brighter and more efficient. Thursday I also started individually charging the six golf cart batteries. It took a full day to disulfate each battery, so I got the process started. I also put all the empty totes in the back shed to get them out of the way until we head home in March. 

Then, on a whim, I next decided to check the AC filter. I was absolutely shocked at what I found. It was totally black. I never saw anything like it. Here are a couple of pictures. We thought maybe it was a charcoal filter, but it wasn’t, it was just a cheap Home Depot filter. Crazy! I think it was a lot of mold, which you fight all the time down here because of all the humidity.

The inside of the grill needed a good cleaning as well.

I also checked the master bath toilet because Kelly said it was running at times. When I pulled off the tank lid it was easy to see the problem. The flapper was crusted in calcium deposits and sometimes would not set down right to make a seal. Here is a picture. I never saw anything like that before either. The flapper color was black.

We had Thanksgiving Dinner at Celina’s. She and Kelly split the food preparation chores. Since there were just the three of us, we had a roasted chicken for the main course instead of a big turkey. It turned out great and nobody went away hungry. After dinner Celina taught us how to play Mexican Train dominoes. After dominoes we had our pumpkin pie for dessert. A nice evening.

Friday:

Early Friday morning, as in 6:00 a.m., I went to Walmart and got a new AC filter and a new toilet flapper. I learned that early in the morning is the best time to go to Walmart here because it is not crowed. People get up later here. Many businesses do not open until 10:00 a.m. I came home and installed the filter and the flapper both of which have to help with the utility bills.

The hall closet is very dark. There is no electric in there so no light. I installed a battery-operated ceiling motion light I bought. Before I could install the light I had to hunt up a piece of plywood to cover a whole in the ceiling. We have no idea why it was cut out. The light works great, here is a picture. 

Once Kelly was up and moving around we started moving furniture and hanging pictures we brought down. We rearranged the living room furniture and hung the Sandhill Crane wall hangings above the couch. My friend Ron bought these for his Florida condo in 2006. We bought the contents of his condo from his estate ten years ago and had the cranes hanging in our basement at home. They are back in Florida where they belong. Here is a picture.

On the lanai there was a wreath of colorful plastic flowers hanging over the water heater access door. It was ugly. We took it down and hung up two items Kelly purchased the other day. Here is a picture

Also on the lanai we hung a three-dimensional hanging of parrots in a tree, which we also got from the contents of Ron's condo. It really livens up the area.

On each side of the shed door on the lanai there was a little shelf with plastic flower baskets on them. We took the flowers down and replaced them with bottles of silver and gold tequila and margarita glasses. It gives the lanai a little party atmosphere we think. Here is a picture.

On Friday all of the golf cart batteries were finally individually charged. I headed up the street and down the next but barely made it back to our place. In fact, I had to hook up the charger to get it all the way up beside the house. I won’t be going anywhere in the cart until new batteries are purchased. LOL

While moving furniture Friday Kelly vacuumed with the Hoover vacuum cleaner that come with the place. She turned it on and OMG it smelled like twenty-year-old dirty socks. It was disgusting. I took it outside and opened it up, removed the bag, and began cleaning it out. The area behind the bag was caked with white stuff. I don’t know if it was baking soda or what. After I cleaned it all out and sprayed the guts and hose with Febreze it smelled fine. There is supposed to be a filter on the side. It was missing. In opening the filter holder the plastic tabs broke off. I superglued the pieces back on then used JB Weld to reinforce the area. I ordered a new filter and bag for it.

Here in the park people put things they don’t want out near the sidewalk. Sometimes they notify everyone via the Facebook page but often not. People walking by can take the stuff if they want it. Wednesday morning I put a plastic lawn chair, the plastic flower wreath, and the little flower baskets out. Within an hour all of the items were gone. It beats having to drive to a donation center. Here is a picture of the next pile of items we took off the walls and will put out on the street. You can see the prior owner loved fake flowers and little shelves, we do not.

Saturday:

Saturday morning I had my first experience playing shuffleboard. The courts were packed. We played three games. Folks play on Saturday and Tuesday mornings. It costs $.50 to play. If you get the high score, you get your $.50 back. LOL. The rest of the money goes into a pot for a party at the end of the season.

While waiting for the TV to be delivered we put a couple of strings of Christmas lights out on the porch. I also decided to clean the shower doors. They had lots of water spots from the hard water here. I took them off and scrubbed them with vinegar then sprayed them with Rain-X window cleaner. It is supposed to shed water. Time will tell. They look better for now. I also installed a new Oxygenics shower head. It is a big improvement.

My friend Gary asked what the size of our place was. I didn't know so I went out and measured it. It is 43 feet by 23 feet, which comes out to 989 square feet. It also has an 8 x 10 shed attached which provides space for the washer and dryer, storage, and a small work bench. There is an addition metal shed out back that is 5 x 8 foot. That is where I am storing the totes, my bike, etc.

About 4:00 p.m. Best Buy delivered Kelly's new TV. She wanted a large one. This one is actually smaller than the one she had her mind set on. I'm glad she settled for this "smaller" one. Here is a picture of it in the living room before we unpacked it.

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It was a two-hour ordeal to get it unpacked and set up. We switched to Spectrum TV and we could not get it to work without a call to tech support. The guy was very helpful and got everything going. Clearly the instructions were not complete. Here is a picture of it up and running. I need to work on hiding the modem, router, and all the cables. Kelly agrees it is plenty large.

Sunday:

Here is a picture of the raspberry accent wall in the living room as it was when we moved in. This wall is going to be painted a medium green next week, along with the wall behind the China cabinet in the dining room, which you can see on the left edge of the picture.

This is a current picture with the love seat there instead of the couch. Yesterday Kelly purchased the two prints from a man in Clearwater, about fifteen miles away. They are framed St. Petersburg "Mainsail Art Festival" prints from past years. He delivered them and we quickly hung them up to enjoy, even though they are on the Rasbery wall.

Yesterday the plastic handle broke off the sprayer in the kitchen sink. I HATE plastic.

I went to Walmart this morning after church and purchased a new one and installed it. Of course it leaked until I made a modification using parts from the old one.

Three plumbing projects and we've only been here a week. LOL.

Our first Golden Nuggets event is this evening - a Sunday Social consisting of a light dinner and a dance with live music. It should be worth the $10.00 admission charge. I will report.