#i met a lady in the morning on the mesa and kind of hiked out with her and she offered me fritos but i was like no im just gonna see it

[digestionmachine]

snow mesa, colorado trail, july 2022

[vickisventures]

Don’t Lose Your Happy

I have heard from 2 of my co-workers from Mesa Regal since coming to Colorado.  I was a bit surprised.  Guess they miss me!  HA! Steve and I still plan to sit down one day and send out resumes to some other Phoenix area RV parks to see if there’s anything out there that might work better.  We’re also working on other possibilities where we might not to have to work 5 days for the winter season.  My niece is planning to stay another year at the community college and pitching for them, so we definitely want to be in the area so we can watch her play as many games as possible.   

I think we are on week 3 now.  Time runs together so it’s hard to say.  The first week we were here, we had a pot-luck type of meal and met all of the workampers. There are newbies and there are some that have been doing this a while.  Some are older and some are younger.  Our first 2 weeks were a bit frustrating schedule-wise.  We basically were working 2 on, 2 off. That was great for having free time, BUT this summer is about making money and we weren’t making much like that.  After having a few works, I think we’ve about gotten the schedule worked out.  It looks like we will have Wednesdays and Thursdays off and may worked a mixed schedule of mornings and afternoons.  The hours may vary since we are getting ready to start the 8am-8pm schedule beginning Memorial Day and they’ve already told us that things will change with that.  We should still be able to attend church on Sundays and then go to work.  So far we have opted to go back to online services with our church in Amarillo (thanks for still hosting them) until the church here in Durango loosens up some of their restrictions.   

One night we were invited to go to eat Mexican food with other workampers.  We decided we should go because we’d been feeling like the step-children.  Kind of on the outskirts since everyone else had been here for a month or more.  We weren’t feeling particularly welcome.  I think it was a good thing we did because it seemed to help us get to know a few others a bit more.  There are a lot of strong personalities here and it makes for an interesting work environment.  Our boss called a meeting a couple of days ago and told us he and Susan were going to be gone for a few days to go pick something up in Texas.  Then he got kind of upset with the workampers about something that had happened over the weekend.  Steve and I were clueless, but I guess a couple of the guys butted heads in front of guests.  Keith wasn’t happy and said we better get a long or they’d be managing the park by themselves.  Then he told the office staff that too many mistakes were being made that were costing them time and money.  Once again, I knew he wasn’t talking directly to me because I was too new and hadn’t had time to make any serious mistakes…yet.  Always love meetings like that!   

Yesterday morning Steve got up and found we didn’t have water.  He went out to check other faucets and got only a trickle.  Apparently, the tank had run dry.  This area has been in a drought for several years now and is very dry.  There are 2 wells on the property and then they use a tank to make up for the lack of water coming from the wells.  They think one of the wells is about to run dry and the other well is working part of the time.  Steve wasn’t supposed to be on duty until 1pm yesterday but ended up making water runs to refill the tank all morning.  He had a long, unexpected day!  We have also been working to “reset” the schedule, so we have a run of 8 days of work until our next day off.  Maybe we are making up for our lack of work for the first 2 weeks!   

On our last set of days off, Steve and I drove up to Purgatory Ski Area to hike.  I have skied there a couple of times, but it was a LONG time ago.  We hiked a beautiful trail that went straight down to the Animas River and then straight back up.  There was some snow still on the trail and we thought we’d see some wildlife, but we didn’t.  It was a great hike, nonetheless.  Afterwards, we took our sack lunch to a picnic table around a lake at the base of Purgatory and enjoyed a peaceful lunch.  We were so glad to have found the pretty part of Durango.  Apparently, it’s on the north side of town and we’re on the east.  It takes about 20 minutes to get from our RV park to the other side of Durango.  As you get farther north, it gets prettier.  The mountains start to surround you and you travel along the river at times. IF we had known, we would have looked for a place to work on that side of town where the views would have been so much nicer.  I guess we’ll just have to escape to that side of town every chance we get.   

We have tried a few restaurants in town and been disappointed.  The Mexican restaurant, La Hacienda, was the first place we’d eaten that we liked the food and would return.  It’s very expensive to eat out here.  Our budget used to allow us to eat out 2 times a week but here, it may be more like 1 time.  We’ve also had luck at Nayarit and Serious Texas BBQ.  We did not care for Animas Brewing Company nor Los Amigos del Sur.  We finally got smart and started asking people where they liked to eat and it’s paid off!  

One of the workamping couples, parked behind us, is from the Ft. Worth area.  They are a nice couple.  They told me at dinner the other night that a lady at a 55+ park had told them not to lose their happy and it had stuck with them ever since.  He said that we can let little things get to us and forgot how good of a life we have.  Our sermon Sunday was about peace and how we can easily lose more than our worldly peace (that surface kind of peace that we lose so easily with just a cross word or a car that cuts us off).  We can lose our unexplainable peace (the peace that we have when everything is falling apart).  Brian, our preacher, said to keep that special peace we have to have a prayer life, we need to have a right attitude, we need to have community to keep us centered and we need a huge amount of faith and to remember that God loves us and is in control.  With that, we can have than amazing peace and we won’t have to worry about “losing our happy.”  So don’t “lose your happy!”

[krasnousova6713-blog]

Can You Trust Your Moving Company? Video

Transcript for Can You Trust Your Moving Company? "20/20" continues with Matt Gutman. Reporter: Tonight, "20/20" viewers are sharing their hour row stories about moving. Isa complains -- They gave a quote in the beginning, jacked it up $1,800 at the end. Tara says -- I waited 65 days from date promised. Lived in empty house 65 days. Those furious complaints https://moversburbank.wordpress.com/ of rip-offs, of horrible service, of "Stress to the max," were just another day at the office for this guy. How often would customers call you and complain? That was a daily occurrence. Reporter: Jason Raffa spent nearly five years as a customer service agent in the moving industry. He confesses the process can be a minefield of potential rip-offs, especially if you hire a low-cost mover through a broker. So tell me the types of scams that you've seen? The most part of the scamming is from the price inflation, from weight, packing. Reporter: Raffa says watch out, your initial estimate can turn out to be a low-ball number that gets pumped up once the company has your stuff. I have actually seen movers come in close to 10 grand more than what they were estimated. Reporter: This is the kind of scam that goes on all across the country? Unfortunately, yes, sir. Reporter: J.j. Stroh of the Arizona department of weights and measures alerted us to the case of 81-year-old Kathleen Kennedy, who claims she got scammed when she moved from Burbank, California, to Mesa, Arizona. Stroh says rogue movers hiked the price of her recent move not once, not twice, but three times, demanding an additional $1,400 for extras like fuel, packing, redelivery and storage. And so the price can go from $775 to $2,600. Yes, sir. Reporter: And Stroh says ever since the client refused to pay the jacked-up price the company has kept her stuff. So what does she have with her? Basically nothing. Reporter: It's stories like that which have Felicia Karl of Guttenberg, New Jersey, sweating bullets about her upcoming move to Houston, Texas. So what are the nightmare scenarios that you've heard about? Number one, delayed. Number two, drivers only want cash. Reporter: And Raffa says that's not all she should be worrying about. You never know who's going to walk through that front door. Reporter: Take Andy T. Bueno, a mover with prior convictions for assault and criminal trespass and a recent bust in Texas for shaking down clients. Believe it or not, I have actually heard boxes being unpacked. Reporter: Taking out valuables. Looking for jewelry, things like that. Reporter: Or how about taking a porn break? These New York movers, recorded on hidden camera, couldn't resist ogling a stash of smut they discovered under this couch. One https://local.botw.org/California/Burbank/REAL_RocknRoll_Movers/1000897648.html by one they all take their turn. In fairness, it's not a crime to look. What's the worst thing you've ever heard movers do? The worst thing has to do with a $10,000 persian rug. And the mover got upset and did his thing on her rug, a number two on her rug. And uh -- Reporter: Number two. Number two. Reporter: Do you know anything about the person who's driving your stuff to Texas? I got his phone number, that's all I know. Reporter: "20/20" agreed to http://moversburbank.blogspot.com/ pay for Felicia's move. She heads off to Texas. A day later, she suddenly gets a call, her mover says he's five days ahead of schedule. She scrambles and puts the pedal to medal driving from Tennessee to Texas, more than 1,000 miles, in less than 13 hours. Don't try this at home. The next morning -- Amazingly, I should be receiving my furniture and stuff today. Very exciting. Reporter: That's when Felicia's luck runs out. What kind of big problems? The well? What exploded? Reporter: Felicia's driver tells her his truck is broken down in Louisiana. I mean, is this going to cost me anything else -- not good. Reporter: Her first fear has come true -- delay. Well, there goes my peace of mind. Reporter: Felicia doesn't need the aggravation. She's starting a new job in just two days and needs her stuff to arrive. It could be anywhere. It could be days. It could be gone! Reporter: After four days sitting in Louisiana, the truck is on the move again, and the driver demands that Felicia be in Houston the following morning to meet him. But just before he's scheduled to arrive there's another delay. Okay, so basically what happened is it just died again? Or did you have another explosion? Reporter: The driver's truck has broken down again, and Felicia Karl is furious. I've taken off this morning so I could get my furniture, and it's not here. It's just very frustrating. Reporter: Finally, five days and ten hours after Felicia was first told to meet the truck -- He's on the move. My stuff is on the move. Reporter: The moving van pulls into Felicia's driveway, and despite all her worries her mover does not hit her up for more money. So what do you need from me? Check. Mover may show up, everything's perfect, and the cost that was estimated. But they still sat, inconvenienced. Reporter: Those delays were a huge inconvenience, but on balance Felicia may have been one of the lucky ones. In the meantime, Kathleen Kennedy's stuff is still being held hostage, and we headed to Los Angeles to find out why. This lady's belongings were essentially hijacked, the feds say, for 2 1/2 months. We are just trying to figure you out why that was. That's not what happened. Reporter: At first, no one wanted to talk to us at this moving company. Honestly, we're just trying to get your side of the story. We were met with slammed doors. Okay. This is Joe. Who's Joe? We were then referred to the company's attorney. You say they have nothing to hide, but they've been slamming doors on us all day. I hope it's true, thank you. The company denies any wrongdoing and claims Kathleen agreed to the higher price. But just 30 minutes later, the company assures us the moving truck is headed to Kathleen's new home in Mesa, Arizona, right away. So, they're in Mesa? Sure enough, a moving truck magically appears just hours later at the destination, delivering Kathleen's stuff, now charging only slightly more than the original estimate.

We have the actual inventory of what's on the truck. Reporter: J.j. Stroh and his men are on the scene, and he wants to know how this simple west to east move wound up going south. These are all violations and they are all warnings. This document revised suspicious estimate with the inflated price. This is the one we're discarding. The original nonbinding agreement was changed by the movers. That's illegal to be done under federal law. Reporter: You may be wondering, where is Kathleen in all of this? Unfortunately, she had a fall. She's recovering in a hospital, but the good news is, when she does come home, her stuff will be here after 2 1/2 months. Feels good? I think it does. Based on ABC's phone, Mrs. Kennedy now has all of her furniture here in her apartment and life hopefully will get back to Normal quickly. Own &hl=en_US&fs=1&"> &hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="241"> This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate. &hl=en_US&fs=1&"> &hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="241"> http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/trust-moving-company-22829445