NEW WATCH & A SHORT DRIVE IN THE WINNIE WAGON

I KNOW I CAN BE A PRETTY BORING CONVERSATIONALIST BUT WHEN I START PUTTING PEOPLE & DOGS TO SLEEP…..GEEEEEEZZZ

It wasn't so much Winnie the Bago needing to head out for a drive this morning as it was Kelly & I needing to go for a drive in Winnie the Bago. Just one of those little ‘morale booster' drives to just assure ourselves that yes we actually do have an RV. 

A WINNIE WAGON LESSON LEARNED HERE THIS MORNING…..NOTICE THE SPACE BETWEEN OUR SIDE COACH DOOR ELECTRIC SLIDE OUT STEP & THE TOP OF THE CURB….COMING BACK FROM WALMART I OPENED THE SIDE DOOR & THAT STEP CAME OUT TRAPPING MY FOOT BETWEEN THE STEP & CURB.  LUCKILY I WAS ABLE TO EXTRACT MY FOOT WITH ONLY A MINIMUM ‘OUCH’

KELLY HAD TO GO BACK IN FOR SOME WATER & I KNOW PHEEBS IS HOPING MOM BRINGS BACK A SNACK

I was still without a wristwatch & although no receipt, Kelly decided we should take the broken watch band & watch back to Walmart anyway. And that's what we did. No problem at the courtesy desk. We then walked over to the watch counter & found me another watch which will do me just fine. Only requirements needed was that it had a dial I could illuminate in darkness, a face with some numbers, & two easily seeable hands. No miniscule digital finigery for me to try my patience & anger myself over!! My new watch is a Timex Expedition with a leather strap. Simple, & I'm good to go. I am a very time conscious person so for me a watch is a necessity. Might be able to get away without socks sometimes, but not a watch.

PLAIN & SIMPLE & THAT’S ALL I NEED

 

ON THE WAY HOME PHEEBS COMMANDEERS THE PASSENGER SEAT

AND KELLY GETS  SLEEPILY RELEGATED TO THE COUCH

Nice drive on a very fine Saturday morning & how nice to be out & about in the Winnie Wagon.

 

A COUPLE RV BUMS LAYING ON THE BED WATCHING OUT THE BACK WINDOW THIS MORNING

GROANERS CORNER:(( My wife asked, “What are you doing today?”
I replied, “Nothing.” She said, “You did that yesterday.”
I said, “I wasn’t finished.”

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

WE IMMERSED OURSELVES IN MUFFINS & CONFLABORATIONS

ONE OF MY OLD FAVORITE FILE PHOTOS

Blue skies & big fluffy white clouds were a relaxing part of my day as I drove to & from Stratford Ontario earlier on.  Picked up my buddy Jim at 9:30 this morning & we were off to a nearby Tim Hortons coffee shop for a three & a half hour conflaberation.  Lots of old memories to get caught up on, a couple muffins to eat, some new memories to take under consideration, & some good old shaky philosophizing mixed in with a shabby dose of theorizing.  No Bullshooting for Jim & I, we have always been straight shooters with each other since the day we met nearly 34 years ago.  And therein I believe lies the success of a long & lasting great friendship.

I left Bayfield on the early side this morning because I wanted to take a couple minutes to cruise around a few of my old familiar neighborhood haunts before picking Jim up.  Some may remember my story of THE ROCK a couple months ago.  Drove by the house I lived in when that Rock story took place.  Below is a photo of that house which I took driving by this morning.

<<< ‘THE ROCK’ SAT ABOUT HALF WAY UP THAT LAWN TO THE FAR RIGHT WHERE A SHRUB CAN BE SEEN

I called Stratford home for over 20 years back between 1975 & 1995.  A lot of old friends & tired ghosts for me there & an entirely different era of my life.  Driving through the south end of the city this morning it was as if I was returning to a long distant Planet I had once lived on in a different dimension.  Had been over 10 years since I had last cruised through the old neighborhood & although it looked the same it didn’t look much like anything I had remembered.  Oh, the old haunts are still there but many looked different to me, many had been altered, many had just ceased to be as I remembered them.  Saw the old abandoned & now derelict fleabag Hotel where I once had a room for a couple months back in early 75.  It was the heyday of the bad old days.  Another Hotel across the road where I once wasted countless hours of my life in the late 70’s.  Driving by these two old buildings this morning I could hear the voices & I could see the faces of old friends who in 1979 suddenly vanished from my life literally overnight.  Some I saw around town in following years & most I never saw again.  I got myself sober, a lot of my old friends didn’t.

After picking Jim up we headed a few blocks from his house to the east end of Stratford.  An area I once knew like the back of my hand.  An area as familiar to me as my own face.  But an area, like my face, which has changed so much in the past 10 years I was temporarily discaflabberated.  Have you ever peered at your face in the morning mirror & become temporarily discaflabberated?  Scary!!  The east end of Stratford’s Ontario street did not look as I remembered it.  There were trees where there had not been trees.  A giant Walmart under construction where there had been a car dealership for as long as I could remember.  Old business's gone & new ones in their place.  I had to ask Jim several times just exactly where we were because many of my old familiar reference points had been altered.  For a fleeting moment I was disoriented.  Entering the new Tim Hortons where once a Kentucky Fried Chicken place had stood I again felt like a visitor from another World.  I had no recollection of a KFC on that corner years ago despite driving by that intersection thousands of times in my 20 years in the city.  Even tonight typing this my mind is still searching through memory banks trying to come up with a visual image of that KFC.  So far no files have been found………………………

I don’t have to be in a city, I only have to be near a city, to be reminded of why I do not live in a city.  Any city.  Our 7 years in an old country farm house took care of any further urban living for both of us.  And for Kelly, Pheebs & I, that has turned out to be a good thing.  But here’s something odd.  My friend Jim grew up on a farm, drove tractors, plowed fields, herded cattle, & pitched hay.  I on the on the other hand grew up in a small village near a city & never did do any of those things.  We both randomly ended up in Stratford round about the same time many years ago.  Jim is still there & has no desire to ever live in the country again.  I on the other hand rebounded out of the city to land in the country with no desire to ever live in a city again.  Ahhhh, tis quite a pair of diverse lads we sometimes are………………me & my old buddy Jim:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Some female philosophy tonight:

Two ladies sitting chatting……….."Your a widow aren’t you.”  “I am, & may my husband rest in peace till I get there”.

“Has there been any insanity in your family”?  “Yeah, my husband thinks he’s the Boss”.

“We women are Angels and when someone breaks our wings, we simply continue to fly on a broomstick.  We are flexible like that”.

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

PLOP, PLOP, FIZZ, FIZZ, OH WHAT A RELIEF IT IS

Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is. No, not referring to the old Alka-Seltzer ad here but the key word is ‘relief’. Talking about the much cooler air that has moved in to our area & pushed out all that miserable gumbo like humidity.

 

Kelly's car went in this morning to have it's A/C problem fixed.  A needed part had just arrived Wednesday.  Later this morning the garage called saying, after checking the problem out closer they were once again back to their original estimate in that the problem was more than just replacing the coil. A closer inspection had revealed further problems with the A/C & they didn’t want to go any further without talking to us.  We told them not to go ahead with the work. We just didn't want to sink $700+ into an A/C repair. We are halfway through the summer & a month from now the air will begin to change bringing constantly cooler days & nights. Car is 10 years old & is not used every day anymore so we just could not justify spending that kind of money for that kind of repair. If we were living in Florida where humidity is even consistently worse than here we might have been forced to make a different decision.  Picked up the Santa Fe later & the garage did not charge us anything.

WE DO LIKE LIVING JUST A MILE OR SO FROM THE 3RD LARGEST FRESH WATER LAKE IN THE WORLD

 

Years ago I had dug in an electrical cord across our driveway to run a small yard light. Of course I completely forgot where exactly I had dug that line in. The Stump removal guy Thursday had no problem finding that buried cord for me. This morning I spent time repairing the electrical cord & digging in a new route for it back across our driveway again. Because of all my gardening & planting of trees & shrubs years ago I probably hold the record for the number of times a resident in our Park has severed a cable TV line to their house. Our cable company was always really good at sending out a repairman & we were never billed for any of my rather randomly rambunctious shenanigans with my notorious round mouth cable cutting shovel.

  

Gaelyn took some time off from her busy summer Ranger job at the Grand Canyon’s North Rim to return to Yarnell a few days ago.  It was a return to ashes & new hope.  You can read her feelings & see her photos at GEOGYPSY.

  

In the morning I am off to Stratford Ontario to pick up one of my 2 best Buddies.  Now that his Son has his driver’s license, Dad’s car has suddenly somehow become kind of inaccessible most days.  Jim & I will head off to a Tim Horton’s coffee shop whereupon we will likely spend about 4 hours once again solving all the world’s worst woes.  I have written about my best friend & our lengthy manic Magpie coffee blow-outs before so some readers may remember.  Looks like it’s going to be nice weather for a scenic country road drive all the way there & back again too.  I’d take the Motorcycle but I don’t think I have enough bungee cords to lash Jim down on the back of the bike.

NICE WAY TO SPEND THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS

Again tonight a video & this time by the BBC’s David Attenborough. You might want to see this & listen to the narration on IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD.

Can't say enough great things about our welcome cooler weather today. Just makes all the difference in the world.  Nicer walks with the Pheebs with less biting insects in the cooler air.  Also cool enough tonight to maybe put a light sweater on.  I like that.  Some days are just down right better than others…………………………  

GROANER'S CORNER:(( And here’s few more things my Parents taught me……..

--- My Parents taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it." 
--- My Parents taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"
--- My Parents taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

--- My Parents taught me about BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION.
"Stop acting like your father!" 
--- My Parents taught me about ENVY.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do." 
--- My Parents taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home." 
--- My Parents taught me about RECEIVING.
"You are going to get it when you get home!"
--- My Parents taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."
--- My Parents taught me ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"
--- My Parents taught me HUMOR.
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."
--- My Parents taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up." 
--- My Parents taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father."
--- My Parents taught me about my ROOTS.
"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"
--- My Parents taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."
--- My Parents taught me about JUSTICE.
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!"

WE GOT STUMPED TODAY…..TWICE

Pheebs & I were needing a Jeep fix this morning so we loaded ourselves up & headed for Goderich. I was kinda interested in seeing how much progress they had made on moving that old CPR train station down at the beach. Short stop for a Pheeber walk & we were off to Mr. Submarine.  One 6" Tuna sub to go & back down to the north end of the harbor to eat our dead fish sandwich by the water. The heat & humidity just kept building so we didn’t hang around long & headed for home via the scenic country road route through Ben Miller. Good thing we did because I had to move the Winnie Wagon soon as we got home.  And that’s where we got stumped………

STEEL BEAMS ARE ALL IN PLACE UNDER THIS HEAVY WOOD, BRICK, & STONE STRUCTURE

 

TRAIN STATION IN BACKGROUND TO THE RIGHT OF WHITE WORK TRAILER WILL BE MOVED TO FOREGROUND CONCRETE FOUNDATION

After her medical tests Tuesday morning Kelly had a long day at Deer Park Lodge & was back again this morning for a few hours. Hard enough as it is without not feeling a hundred per cent to boot. And then there are these energy sapping humid days that are upon us at the moment. I don't know how she does it sometimes but her condition has continued to improve from a month ago at this time. August 1rst is her next appointment with the Stratford Specialist.

So hot & humid today I ended up in the shower twice.  No doubt in this guy's mind about Global warming's affects on the world's climate. Anyone in any kind of awareness state has to be totally conscious of what is happening around us. And in the grand scheme of things it is happening quickly. The fires, the floods, the devastating hurricanes & tornados. In my mind it has everything to do with the reality of the way we human beings here on this Planet are conducting ourselves. We are a world on a collision course with ourselves.

THIS LARGE EMPTY LAKE FREIGHTER HAS BEEN DOCKED HERE FOR A FEW YEARS NOW 

 
GODERICH SALT MINE IN THE BACKGROUND

Well so much for that El-cheapo Walmart watch I was blowin about a few weeks back. Oh the watch itself is still working OK but the chincy crappy strappy broke & the watch fell off my wrist to the ground. Did I save the Walmart receipt in case I had to take the watch back? Hey, I'm not that smart:)) 

DOGGY WALKING AREA NEAR THE BEACH

Not surprised the new Lone Ranger & Tonto movie crashed & burned at the box office this past week. After seeing the previews for it at the Superman movie awhile back it seemed rather obvious to me it was pretty bad. And, apparently the critics & public agreed.

KIND OF A LAZY DUCKY DAY ALONG THE WATER’S EDGE

New Blog Follower this morning & someone also new to the world of blogging & Bloggers. A big welcome from the Bayfield Bunch to Margie Lambert hailing from the TRAVELING BOOMERS. Thanks for stopping by:))

Reading GYPSY'S post Tuesday morning I was reminded of something I see all the time that bothers me about many people's widespread laziness & inconsideration. Happens in every large parking lot across North America. Shoppers returning to their cars with a cartload of merchandise, loading things in their vehicles, & then abandoning their carts. Too lazy & too inconsiderate to walk that empty cart to a nearby cart station. I'm sure we all have had to stop & move abandoned carts out of the way.  To me it is just another indicator pointing directly to some of our society's ills & attitudes. I, like many others, am a cart returner & sometimes take the time to straighten up abandoned carts around the cart station & line them up in a neat fashion as well. Back in the early to mid 60's I worked in a Kitchener Supermarket for a short time. It was here I developed a working knowledge & habit of keeping things neat & organized on shelves as well as the stores parking lot.

BOTH THESE DRIVERS USED THEIR NOGGINS WHEN PARKING THEIR VEHICLES BY NOT JUST PULLING INTO THE SPOTS BEHIND THEM & STOPPING

ONE OF SEVERAL TUG BOATS USED IN MANOEUVRING  LARGE LAKE FREIGHTERS AROUND ONCE IN THE HARBOR

WORKING ON A NEW BREAKWATER IN THE HARBOR

And while on the topic of large parking lots here's another one of life's little mysteries for me. I've never figured out why when pulling into open parking places drivers don't move forward into the open space ahead of them making it much easier to later 'drive straight out' of that space instead of having to back out of that spot. I see it all the time. People will pull into that first spot & stop even though the space directly in front of them is open. I watch them later come out, get into their vehicles, then struggle & strain their necks trying to back out of their spot hoping to not back into or over anyone who just might happen to be returning their shopping cart of course.  And trying to back up without scraping all the paint & chrome off the car beside them as their front ends swinging around. Just another one of those little people mysteries for me.

Ok, ok, & why do people abandon their shopping carts right in the middle of the aisles all the time while they inattentively & leisurely browse the shelves around them. Treat your shopping cart like you do your vehicle on the road. Would you leave your car in the middle of the street while you walk over to chat it up with a neighbor? Same thing in the Supermarket aisle. Pull over & park your cart out of the way. Be aware of the traffic around you please. Oh, & can you return your cart to the cart station when your done & not scrape the side of my Jeep off when you reverse out of your parking space please................

 

Note on our mailroom chalkboard a couple weeks ago said anyone needing tree stumps removed on their property phone this #. We did & today the stump guy came with his stump removal machine & that' why I had to move Winnie the Bago when Pheebs & I returned from Goderich this morning. Fifteen minutes after Stumpy’s Tree Service arrived the stumps were gone & it had only taken me 7 years to decide on getting the job done. Had a couple Pine trees cut down back in 06 to make a parking spot for our RV. The Pine stumps were left in the ground & I have been tripping, stumbling, & falling, over those 2 darn stumps ever since. They were both right alongside the driver's side of our RV. Always in the way while opening bins & with the Class C Winnie Wagon it seemed my driver's door always opened right where the stump was. Nice to have them finally gone.............................

 

‘STUMPY’S TREE SERVICE’ SEEMS LIKE AN APPROPRIATE NAME

Liked this video I pulled off an Astronomy site on our side bar this morning. Called Full Moon Silhouettes it is very well done.  No easy feat for the photographer getting things just right but he does it.  A relaxing moon rise & watch carefully for the tiny silhouetted people on the horizon line.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  From A Mother With Love

Dear Child, I am writing this slow because I know that you can't read fast.
We don't live where we did when you left home.  Your dad read in the paper that most accidents happen within 20 miles from your home so we moved.  I won't be able to send you the address, as the last family that lived here took the house numbers when they left so that they wouldn't have to change their address.
This place is real nice. It even has a washing machine. I'm not sure if it works too well though.  Last week I put a load of socks & underwear in, pulled the chain, and haven't seen them since.
The weather isn't too bad here., it only rained twice last week, The first time it rained for three days and the second time for four days. The coat you wanted me to send you, your Uncle Steve said it would be a little too heavy to send in the mail with the buttons on, so we cut them off and put them in the pockets. We got another bill from the funeral home.
They said if we don't make the last payment on Grandma's grave, up she comes. John locked his keys in the car yesterday. We were worried because it took him two hours to get me and Shelby out.
Your sister had a baby this morning but I haven't found out what it is yet, so I don't know if you're an aunt or an uncle. If the baby is a girl, your sister is going to name it after me, she's going to call it Mom.
Uncle Pete fell in a whiskey vat last week. Some men tried to pull him out but he fought them off and drowned. We had him cremated and he burned for three days.
Three of your friends went off a bridge in a pick-up truck. Ralph was driving. He rolled down the window and swam to safety. Your two friends were in the back. They drowned because they couldn't get the tailgate down.
There isn't much more news at this time. Nothing much has happened.
PS, I was going to send you some money but the envelope was already sealed.

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

A WARM PERSONAL SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT

Disappointed this morning when I decided to fire up the Winnie Wagon & the battery was dead. No problem jump starting it with the Jeep. Winnie is wired to also start the engine off the coach batteries if needed but I didn't happen to think of that. It was only about a week & half ago Pheebs & I had Winnie the Bago out for a drive around a big country block & it had started fine at that time. Something must have drained the battery & I'm suspecting my iPod & Winnie's radio may have had something to do with it. Pheebs & I took the rig for a run this afternoon to re-charge the battery & it re-started fine when we returned home. Have unplugged the iPod unit from the power outlet so we'll see if there are any problems starting it in the morning.

GOTTA LOVE ALL THE HOLDERS & NEAT-O PLACES TO PUT THINGS IN THE WINNIE’S DOGHOUSE (ENGINE COVER)
Managed to update my 'About The Bayfield Bunch' pages this morning.   They can be found on our lower side bar. I have made a start on a Tribute page to Max, Checkers, & our little Motormouse, Cora but it's slow going.   Even after a couple years it is still not easy for me to write about 3 of my best dearly departed Pals.

On July 8th we passed one million 'Visits' on my blog. No way of knowing who the millionth 'Visitor' was but a big thank you to whoever you are. You clicked me to a place that completed a personal goal for me. And you did it about 8:45 p.m. Ontario time Monday night:))

A YOUNG ROBIN DRIES OFF AFTER HAVING A SPLASH IN THE BIRDBATH

I began my part time blog on Blogger in September of 07. It became a daily blog in November of 08 & as of today I have written 1,944 posts. Ironically, 1944 was the year I was born:))

I had decided a long time ago to retire my public Sitemeter counter if I were to ever reach a million visits on my site.  Now that my goal has been realized I have done that.  The counter will continue but it just won't be visible to the public any longer. I have no further goals in mind & from here on in I will just quietly coast my blog along one day at a time for as long as I & my blog readers are interested. In the meantime, thanks again to everyone. And even all the folks who may have clicked on my site by mistake over the years. It all finally came together in the end & allowed me a very warm personal sense of accomplishment.............Thanks Everybody:))

 
A FIBER OPTIC LAMP THAT AUNT JEAN BROUGHT US FROM FLORIDA YEARS AGO
GROANER'S CORNER:(( As soon as you are certain your son or daughter is definitely going to graduate from college, you’ll want to encourage them as much as possible to make a success of themselves. The best way to do this is to change the locks on the house.
-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.