NEVER Thought We Would Be Homeless

We run into homeless folks all the time here in Holiday Florida...never thought we would be joining the ranks of being homeless.  But you know, it just takes one event in your life to turn the tables around.  Might be a fire.  Might be a Squatter problem.  Might be that you just can't afford the taxes, insurance and HOA fees.  Perhaps a United Airlines plane flew over and dropped an engine on your house.  In our case it is none of these...it is . . .

After having our motorhome for ten years, driving 90K miles (give or take), it was time to make a move.  After talking to the representative we were dealing with to buy another motorhome, it became apparent that we were going to be lucky to get $5K for the Isata due to a list of items that needed to be repaired.  Areas of the paint needed attention.  The slide awning ripped on our recent trip home.  The fresh water tank sprung a leak sometime last summer.  A check engine light came on somewhere in Texas on our way home, although it did not affect the operation of the engine, although it has been using just a little more oil these past few years than it use to.  The Radio/GPS busted a couple of years ago.  The carpet needed to be replaced throughout.  And the generator has not worked for about four years.  I am sure there are other items, but that list alone makes it an "AUCTION" motorhome when you deal with an RV dealer.  

By donating your RV, you become part of our organization that does philanthropic works for the benefit of our veterans. By donating, expect to receive the following rewards:

• You will have the chance to create an impact on the lives of our veterans.
• You will receive a hefty tax deduction.
• Towing will not cost you anything. It is free of charge and you will also have the convenience of choosing the time, date, and place for pickup.
• You will be free from any obligation of putting your RV to auction and selling it to interested buyers.
• You will be free from additional costs of expensive RV repairs in Florida

I did a Google Search and quickly found Veteran Car Donations.  They had a website tailored just for Florida.  It really is pretty simple.  You can either call and give them the information, or they will take it over the phone.  They wanted recent pictures, so I went next door where it was being stored and got the pictures and email them.  Within 3 hours of my initial phone call, I had a date and time for the pickup.  In our case, they had two guys come out to the storage lot, one of them drove the motorhome away and the other drove the car they came in away.  I signed over the Title, they gave me a letter for the donation, and they took my license plate off and gave it to me and they put a 'dealer' type plate on it.  When it is sold at auction they will give me an IRS form showing how much the donation was.  In our case, since we don't have many write-offs, it would have to sell at auction for way more than it is worth for it put us over the standard IRS Tax deduction.

NOW we can put our attention toward getting a motorhome van so that we won't be 'homeless' anymore.  (Of course, we do still have the condo, so it is not like we are out living on the streets)

 KNEE NEWS

Yep, my knees look more like the one on the right than the normal looking knee on the left.  Good news, the Diclofenac drug does wonders for me.  As for not being a 'long term solution', Dr. Peter said that he will monitor my kidneys and liver twice a year and if things start going bad, he will take me off them.  He does not want to give me any Cortisone Shots because he wants to 'hold off the Calvary until they are needed', or in other words, when and if I need be taken off of Diclofenac.  As for how this drug is helping me...

 

In late January I bought a ANCHEER Under Desk Elliptical, Electric Ellipse Leg Exerciser machine.  The first day I did a 30 minute workout and a 15 minute workout before bed...the next morning I could hardly walk my knees hurt so much.  THAT was all before my first visit with Dr. Peter.  As of today, I can two 30 minute workouts, one in the morning and one in evening, and my knees hold up just fine.  I find my self walking without my cane inside the house now and then, before I always had cane in hand.  So YES, the medicine is working.  I now am doing arm and hand exercises while the leg machine is going at it.  And at speeds 1-3 the machine is more of an assist, my legs are pretty much doing the pumping, and at level 4 it is more of a mixed bag.  But at the fast level, level 5, my legs are more in there for the ride...level 5 goes pretty fast.

 

Marcia

Marcia just had her last Dr. Apt, except today's lead to a future appointment in June, and a home health care situation to help deal with her short term memory loss.  The doctor wants to have a electroencephalogram done in April since she had not had one since 2018.  I doubt there will be much of a change.  Then he wants a follow up in July which can be changed "IF" we are out of town, which I doubt will be the case.  

 

After Grooming Hot Dog Treat!

INDY

Indy is doing well, the Alligator has not come after her, and we are still keeping her away from the Dog Parks due to the Dog Flu (I call it that because mom use to call anything we caught the 'FLU' when I was young) that is still going around.  I think I got a picture of the Alligator, but I need to post this and will save that for the next post.

 

Hey Marcia, load up the grocery cart...we gots to find a safe place to stay tonight...