It's bad enough having reached the age to finally collect on all that Social Security I paid into all my adult life. Yet at the same time, I'm glad to actually have the opportunity. It's just that...well, now I've reached that time of life we all look forward to...a life of rest, recreation and leisure (for the most part) but the brain seems to have taken a downward spiral. Thereby taking a bit of the joy out of it!
Here are a few examples of these downward brain spirals:
NEVER knowing what day it is anymore. We remind each other daily what day we're in, and often have to check our computers or phones to remind us.
Forgetting to take my daily meds. I've had to resort to using one of those plastic pill organizers with the days of the week. I check the computer or phone to confirm the day, then look at my pill organizer. If it's Thursday and there are still pills in the Thursday slot, then I need to take them.
Losing things; we live in about a hundred square foot RV. I mean how can you lose anything in such a small space? But we do! All the time!
Hopefully we won't be in the RV much longer. But we spent the last five years satisfying our nomadic urges, traveling, experiencing quite a few national and state parks, and generally being free spirits. It was all good, but now a static lifestyle is beginning to appeal once again. (Read: we're getting a bit too old for this stuff now.)
So if you have any experience with spending time in an RV, you're aware that the plumbing is 'a bit different'. I'm referring to the septic system. One is not hooked up to a city sewer system. The sewer system is the RV's 'black tank' which is connected with an RV sewer hose to the RV park's sewer system. (This is assuming you're in an RV park and not dry-camping somewhere where there are no water, electric or sewer facilities.) Yes, my first reaction to this sewage concept was 'Ewwww!', too.
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| Every blog should have at least one very classy pic like this! |
Basically, you have a big tank under your RV to catch your toilet flushings. To keep this from being totally disgusting and properly maintained, this tank must be dumped and flushed regularly, and treated with special chemicals that liquify the waste materials, enable easy disposal and control odor.
Hey, before we go any further, my deepest apologies for discussing such repulsive matters, but I need the reader to understand the process and be empathetic enough to my personal feelings about it to be able to picture the following scenario. What are my feelings? I hate it. It's revolting and a big pain in the...neck.
Anyway, the other day, it was time to do the deed and unfortunately, I'm not referring to any friskiness on my husband's part. Since he had been up on the roof cleaning the AC unit, I drew the straw to flush the tank.
My husband usually does this job and since our RV is older, it is not equipped with the automatic flushing system the newer models have. Ours requires us to open the valve under the rig, dump the contents, close it up, go inside and begin manually filling the tank with fresh water. Then dump the new water which flushes everything, close the tank, add the chemicals and 'charge' the tank. This is a time consuming and boring task. One must hold the flushing mechanism (a foot pedal at the base of the unit) down which opens the bottom of the toilet and simultaneously allows water to run into the bowl and thus into the tank. My husband stands there holding the pedal down with his foot, filling bowl after bowl of water one at a time and then letting each one flow into the tank below. And methodical creature that he is, he counts how many. Twelve is the magic number.
However, I'm impatient and a bit lazy. My method is to get a book, sit on the 'throne' and hold the pedal down all the way with the heel of my foot, allowing water to run directly through the opening until I think the tank is full enough. Genius, right? Except...
...this last time, I was so lost in Pride and Prejudice, I wasn't paying close attention. As I sat there, my attention to Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth was suddenly distracted by a strange, cold tingling sensation on the backs of my thighs. I pondered this for a nano-second then jumped up to discover that I had not been holding the pedal down far enough so the water had not been escaping into the tank. No, no. I'd filled that 'terlet' right up to the brim! Another few seconds and it would have flooded all over the bathroom floor!
Fortunately, the only catastrophe was the seat of my shorts got wet, which was easy to deal with. But still! Ewwww! Yes, ewww! even if it was just 'clean' water. Shower time for Bonzo!
Anyway, these little misfires, or senior moments or whatever you want to call them are just adding insult to injury in my book! Where did I put the rest and relaxation?
Till next time,
"Anyone can get old, all you have to do is live long enough." ~ Groucho Marx
"Growing old is like being penalized for a crime you haven't committed." ~ Unknown
"You don't really know the meaning of embarrassment until your hip replacement sets off a metal detector at the airport" ~ from the Will and Guy Collection
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