Chores

Each phase of Snow Bird Life has its chores.  Coming back to our Idahome involves Chores Galore.

A lot of the Chores actually begin weeks before leaving Arizona.  Such things as scheduling electricity turn on, change of address and Idaho mail hold must be done well in advance.

Upon return to 12th St. the first chore is clearing a path through the piles of wind blown leaves. And then the fun begins.  This year the city was supposed to turn on the electricity April 12th.  But the city didn't.
So bright and early Monday morning we beat feet to City Hall to rally up the workers and "git 'er dun".  Then there's standing in a LOOOONG line at the Post Office to pick up our mail that was on hold.  And then a quick trip to the city water department to schedule someone to come and turn on the water at the street valve.

Of course, there's the Always "Fun" interface with Sparklight to reignite our internet.  We'll skip describing the Always "Fun" part.  You really don't want to know those details.

And then we must reinstate insurance for Susun's Town Car--the 1995 Suzuki Sidekick.  This year that turned into a Goat Rope.  Ugh.  We also had to go stand in a huge long line to renew registration for both our vehicles.  Oh, Joy!

Meanwhile, Susun was busy removing the think foam sheets that cover our basement windows.  Putting up the foam prevents the basement from becoming excessively cold in the Idaho winters.  Once the electricity came back on then we removed the "window shields" from the basement windows.  The easiest way to break into a 1939 house would be through the basement windows.  Our interior "window shields" are lag-screwed into the basement structure and you'd need a battering ram to get through them.  Ditto the front door brace to lag screw to the framing material of the old house.

Finally, it was time to bring in The Plumbers.  They reconnected our pipes roto-rooter our drain lines and double checks all the connections under full water pressure.

After than it was time to hook up the battery in Susun's Town Car and 'fire 'er up'.  It's always so gratifying when the little car starts on the first turn of the key.  We put fuel stabilizer in it each fall so the fuel system doesn't get clogged up during the long winter.

Of course, then it's time to empty the faithful 65 quart cooler we've used all winter and transfer the contents into a real refrigerator in the house.  Various vitals are brought from the travel trailer into the house.  Susun always makes sure the household TV is working, too.

So, all of that takes about 6 hours from start to finish.  Lots more misc. unpacking remains.  Lots of yardwork must be done.  However, by and large, the Big Chores are finished and we're moved into a cozy little home with hot running water and a real refrigerator.  Life is Good.

We drove out of Idaho Falls on Monday October 16 and we're settled back into our Idahome on April 15, one day short of six months.  It was a Joyous Snow Bird sojourn and we're Happy to be home once again.   And, of course, one of the Big Perks of being home is having Real Internet again.  YAY!