2026-07-26 - Another week of doing stuff

Kind of an unexciting week, but we sure were busy.

Dean got some new shoes this week, he really did need some.

Got Kris's Dad a new cell phone.  He doesn't really use one a lot, but the one he had was costing him around $70 a month, and it did not even function it was so old.   That took a bit, as the phone was not working, so could not get a text to confirm we wanted to get a transfer pin so we could switch provider.  3 trips to the Verizon store, and two long calls to the help center, but we finally prevailed.

We have been taking a 2-mile walk every morning for some exercise.  Saw deer, geese, rabbits and a small snake.

Startled this fawn, who ran away quickly

Did not startle this doe, who did not even get up

Snake was only about 8" long, and quickly got off the road after we passed

You can really tell what areas here get water and which don't.   High desert all around, until you water it.

You can definitely see where the sprinkler hits and where it does not.

Kris spent a lot of time going through about 15 boxes of old tax records sorting and cleaning.  Tossing out past years not needed, and making sure all documents were found, labeled and filed for the years that were needed.   Took her about 3 days total to tackle that mountain of paperwork.  She is still working on the office and files to make it easy to find everything, and label all the files correctly, which they were not, and things were filed in the wrong spot.   Not to mention sorting through over 100 pens, pencils, and sharpie markers all stored in the desk.  Plus paperclips, push pins, and more post-it notes than a person could use in year.

Still a mess, but you could not even see the floor a few days ago.

We had some interest in my Dads F-27 Trimaran, so we pulled it out again, and made sure the battery was still charged and the outboard running well.   The outboard ran well, but gas not flowing.   About 4 hours working and diagnosing that issue - fitting on the gas tank - and now it purrs like a kitten on steroids.

We took two trips to the dump, one for recyclables, and one for hazardous waste.  Bend has a nice recycling center, paper, electronics, plastic, and more.  And the hazardous waste is twice a week and no charge for either.

Dean washed our car and Norms GMC Envoy, and Norm got down to polish the wheels.  Dean quickly took over, as Norm's hand was already going numb from the work.

He still tries, but the body just can't handle it anymore.

Norm (Kris's Dad) enjoys doing puzzles, and we were working on a particularly difficult one, when Norm accidentally spilled his coffee on it.   Those puzzle pieces really absorb liquid quickly.  

The puzzle is fully coffee soaked. 

I think we were all a little relieved, as we had many hours into the puzzle, and not a lot of progress. It was a difficult one.

We will head to Boise this coming week for some family time with the Hearst side of the family, before returning to Bend.