I JUST DON'T KNOW...

The last time I posted Jeanie and I were rushing around to get down to Douglas,Az to give a helping hand to 82 year old Belle Starr. Belle owns the 40 acre Silverado ranch. 

With this posting we are back at our sticks and bricks house in Orange county, exhausted, frustrated, disillusioned and smarter.

I must say that 3 positive things did come out of this almost 2 weeks AWOL from the blog. We met 2 very caring compassionate RVing couples, Al and Kelly and Motty and Patti, both who were also trying to help Belle. The other was we got over to New Mexico and took the Motor home out of non - op status. We had put it in non- op status when I broke my foot and we knew we were going to be down for at least 2 years.
   As for the rest of the trip as I said in the title " I Just don't know... I fricking just don't Know" The Electrical at Belle's was a nightmare and a disaster waiting to happen. I am amazed that no one has been killed.
   When AL got our attention on his blog http://thebayfieldbunch.com/    
That Belle had spent 2 cold nights without electric,Jeanie and I decided to go fix it , I had no Idea what a poop storm I was stepping into.Shortly after arriving at the ranch Belle told us her Electric bill was over $400 a month. She was trying to heat the old house with 3 electric heaters and the electric oven running wide open 24/7 plus she said the well pump was turning on about every 15 minutes.
 I started with stopping  leaky faucets scattered all over the ranch. Then I went to work on the electrical, which took about a week to sort out and repair.
   In the mean time back at the ranch, Jessie, a local good guy. and our new found RVing friends were feeding the 30-40 donkeys and horses as well as all the chicken, Peafowl, and exotic birds.I was grateful for that because I had all the horses, chicken and poop from them that I care to enjoy when I left the farm/ranch at 18. None the less I could not have let the animals suffer.The one time that I was going to have to bite the bullet, Al.Kelly, Motty and PattI drove in just as I was driving off to the hay stack. They volunteered to feed, I quickly bailed my butt off the gator and got back to electrical work.
   The rest of the story is not pretty and has many arms, no matter how you try to shake it out. Our old friend Belle who is now wheelchair bound from the broken hip and a latter fall with her walker is in need of medical attention but refuses it. Her hay bill  is 1/3 more than her income and she refuses to even try to stay focused on the present.Al,and Jeanie and I tried to get her to focus on now and not the past or on her dreams for the ranch, all were unsuccessful.
   Jeanie told me Friday night that she needed to leave for her health reasons and that she was not going down with a sinking ship, I was in full agreement.
  The local good guy who was for the most part volunteering his time, Belle did pay him a VERY small amount, did not show up to feed on Thursday or Friday because of the weather. He called both days and said he couldn't get a ride and it was to cold and wet to ride his bicycle the 8-9 miles to the Ranch. I told Belle I would be happy to go pick him up but she refused to let me do that.
  When he showed up about 8:30 A.M. Saturday, Belle fired him at the door, I told Bell she had cut her nose off to spite her face and she Blew up at me, that was the last straw, we were off the ranch by 1P.M.
Al and Kelly are about to move on.Motty and Patti have moved on and Jeanie and I are back at the sticks and bricks home in "OC"...... What now for Belle Starr and the Silverado?
  I told Al that I had really really really learned the true meaning of " And the wisdom to know the difference" which brings us back to the computer. I dropped Jeanie's mini while we were gone and it is in the shop so I gave Jeanie her desk top back and dug out my old dinosaur. It has crashed 3 times while I was trying to make this post,so far. Maybe the lesson I learned was to prepare me to deal with this old e machine.
  I plan to have a great day, I hope you will join me.
Rojo