What are Friends for!

SINCE leaving Glendale back in January, I have had several sets of friends use the condo.

Although not a 'rental' place, since I bought it in April of 09, it has seen visits from my daugther Lisa and her friends, Tom and I, and several other groups.

Holly was scheduled to come this time last year with her East coast cousin Amber, when tragedy struck Amber's Mom, my former sister in law, Karyn.

Riding their Harley home one day, a young driver in a van turned left into the path of the big HD.  Paul was killed instantly and Karyn went through a years worth of rehabilitation to bring her back to some semblance of normallcy.  As much as one can be after such a foolish and needless act.

The girls cancelled their planned trip, but I hope I can host them at some other point.  I plan on keeping this place for all time.

The latest visitors were long time biking pal, Dave... and his buddy Keith.

They Dodged the route only recently, bringing along several dual purpose bikes and spent the better part of 2 weeks exploring the area around central/south Arizona.

Sometime in the near future, we'll have some of their AZ biking adventures along with photographic evidence, here as a guest Blog.

I've spent the first two days onsite, tidying up the inevitable dust bunnies.  Sweeping off the deck/patio, getting groceries in the fridge, sorting out the required paperwork for the XT and about a hundred other things that don't look after themselves.

Finding a broken window in the spare bedroom upstairs, cleaned up the shards of glass, and contacted my Phx buddy Bob C of Bob and Val fame, to help me out with a replacement window.  We should be able to get that sorted on the w/e.

Last night as it was cooling off into the 80's... I had a wander around the complex.  You know, many Cdns would opt for a different type of Phx home than I.  Gated communities, with lots of facilities, homes with granite countertops... I wanted a more typical community feel where I felt part of rather than isolated from, the hood at large.  Of course there are advantages and disadvantages to both schools of thought on that.

Several of my friends and former clients (yes I'm retired!) have part time homes in Phx.  The most recent of which is Connie Z and her guy Dale.  They are building in south Phx, Mesa if memory serves.

Dianne and Nadia already have park model homes here, in Nadia's case... for 20 years.  It was her place where I got my first 'taste' of the area  back in 98.

This morning, my patio thermometer shows 23C at 8 am.  Sure glad I have those shade trees in my west facing yard!

Getting back to visitors, one thing that puzzles me about Dave's visit though...

I can't for the life of me figure out if those clippers he left me, are for my toe nails or nose/ear hairs?  I very nearly clipped myself Van Gogh style, trying to use them last night.

In any case, Thanks guys... I appreciate the gesture. (I think)

BTW... who knew peacocks tasted so yummy...