Fun at Jan's

This evening we went over to Jan's for dinner with her and some friends. When we arrived, her neighbor Tina was there, so we got a chance to chat and catch up with her for a while and with her two dogs, Sadie and Muffin. Later, Ron and Lisa arrived. These are friends that Jan went to spend a weekend with at their cabin near Big Bear a couple of weekends ago.

We enjoyed the evening. Regrettably, Ron had forgotten his cell phone, so we didn't get to hear its distinctive ringtone--the USC Fight Song. Ron grew up in Orange County, but left when he was only seven. His grandparents lived in Huntington Beach, so he is familiar with the area where we lived in Long Beach.

For dinner Ron grilled a flank steak he had marinated in teriyaki sauce. Jan had made a fruit salad, and she drizzled olive oil over the asparagus we bought yesterday at the farmer's market, seasoned, and baked it. Dinner was delicious and the company fine. Jan is lucky to have many good friends.

Earlier today we removed the old damaged fender from Venture and installed the new one.

Taking the old one off involved cutting and peeling off the old sealant and removing the screws. That part was relatively straightforward. Putting the new one on was a bit more challenging. The screw holes didn't line up, and we ended up having to drill a new one at one end, put that end screw in, and then flex the ABS bumper to put in the screw at the other end. We also reused the putty tape that we found around the screw holes on the old bumper (Jack hadn't mentioned that part). Now we still need new sealant.

While we were working with the bumper, I noticed a rather dried up dead ground squirrel nearby. Later looking out the window, we saw nature's cleanup crew at work.

We felt pretty good about our teamwork in installing the new bumper. We worked more or less harmoniously despite the frustrations. Good for us.

We also found the missing walkie-talkie. How we managed not to see it for so long is a mystery--it was in the bottom of the console. Meanwhile I had tossed the charger, but we still have the car charger. We actually don't expect to use them very much except when we're traveling with friends. We use our cell phones on speaker to coordinate parking the rig now--that's easier since you don't have to push a button to talk.