WE SURE HAVE US A LOT OF VISITING GOING ON…………AND AN APOLOGY

I’M GUESSING KELLY’S DAD PLANTED THE ROSE BUSH I FOUND THIS BLOOMING ROSE ON EARLIER TODAY

I was reminded of long ago tenting days when I awoke to the sound of a light rain on the rig's roof.  It was our usual 5:30 a.m. getting up time & a time which never seems to change much over the years no matter where we are.

BEHIND THE HOUSE AT THE END OF THE PROPERTY WHERE KELLY PLAYED AS A CHILD

 
IN HIS LATTER YEARS KELLY’S DAD WOULD WALK DOWN TO THIS AREA FROM THE HOUSE & SIT IN THIS CHAIR UNTIL HE HAD ENOUGH STRENGTH TO WALK BACK TO THE HOUSE AGAIN

It was a good opportunity this morning to check out the reception of our newly installed JACK ANTENNAE & sure enough we right away picked us up 21 channels with 18 of them being nice & clear.  And that was without doing a search by swiveling the antennae around.   Just have to figure out how to get the TV sound playing through our surround sound speakers now.  Trying to figure out new electronic systems can be a real hit & miss tolerance tester.  Although we never did figure it out I'm happy to report all our windows are sliding much more freely now that we are using them frequently.  A little silicone spray helped as well.

TRYING TO GET TV SOUND THROUGH OUR SURROUND SOUND SPEAKERS…MAYBE IT’S JUST NOT WIRED FOR THAT
A reminder once again to Facebook folks.  Because I have been 'hacked' twice on accepting Friend Requests over the years I stopped confirming friend requests a long time ago.  If you have sent me a Friend Request & I have not responded to it do not feel rejected or that I am arrogant or aloof.  I just do not want to go through the lengthy procedure of getting myself 'un-hacked' all over again.  I'm not a big Facebook fan to begin with & only use it to drop my daily post in at the end of each day.  I really don't spend any time in Facebook reading things, playing any games or accepting seemingly endless game requests.  I'm just not a gamer & have zero interest in that sort of thing.

PHEEBS CHASED SOMETHING LIKITY-SPLIT RIGHT THROUGH THE CREEK THIS MORNING BUT GETTING BACK ACROSS THE CREEK WAS A DIFFERENT STORY AS SHE TIMIDLY TRIED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET BACK ACROSS WITHOUT GETTING HER PAWS WET

Out of a sheer necessity to have something to do today I washed & partially waxed the Jeep.  Got about half the rig washed as well.  It was humid so I ended up about as wet as the vehicles.  Luckily for the second day in a row we had another weather front move through dropping the temperatures & blowing out the humidity.
 

Kelly's Brother Peter & wife Leslie came over late this afternoon bringing with them marinated filet mignon steaks for the BBQ along with fresh strawberry-rhubarb pie.  Peter did an excellent job on the steaks & we all did an excellent job on the pie & ice cream later.  We sure got us a lot of visiting going on…………………

I THINK THAT IS MY REQUESTED ‘WELL DONE’ STEAK AT THE BOTTOM LEFT:))

 
I do want to offer an apology to my fellow Blogger's for a careless unthinking remark I made in a post a few days ago about  a certain type of blogging style.  It's not for me to say how anyone writes their posts.   My fingers on the keyboard sometimes move much faster than the brain in my head.   However, I do have a personality that does care what it says & how & why it says it.  If I make a mistake it is important to me that I recognize & admit that mistake & try to make amends.   I have always been very fortunate on my blog to have mature readers & despite my obvious & careless slip-ups from time to time 99% of folks have understood my faux pas over the years & have not reacted with immature personal attacks & petty school yard Bullying.  And I thank you all for that.

GROANER'S CORNER:((    When Dad's satellite dish conked out, I found him on the phone with the help desk. The television set was pulled away from the wall, and he was staring at the mass of tangled wires that were spilling out the back of it. He looked absolutely overwhelmed.
"Tell you what I'm going to do," he said to the technician.  "I'm going to hang up now, go to college for a couple of years, and then call you back."

BAYFIELD ONTARIO TO SPENCERPORT NEW YORK……AN EASY TRIP:))

DRIVEWAY DOCKED TILL NEXT WEEK SOMETIME

On wet roads under heavy overcast gloomy looking skies we had the big wheels rolling this morning about 8:50 a.m.  Nice to be on the move going somewhere again.  Last week on our trip up to the Bruce Peninsula we had so much static on our Sirius Satellite radio driving up & back we could not use it.  Radio works fine if the rig is stationary but as soon as we turn on anything electronic like the back-up camera especially we can't listen to the radio because of the static.  Must be an electronic anomaly in the rig's wiring somewhere.  I remember years ago we used to buy a small device called a capacitor or something & install it somewhere in the wiring or on the engine to cut out static but that was 40 years ago & probably none of that technology applies anymore.  Anyone have any ideas what could be causing the static on our Sirius Satellite radio??

KELLY SNAPPED THIS ONE OF THE HAMILTON STEEL YARDS

The trip to Spencerport NY went fine.  Traffic was normal for the time of day.  A few slow downs, a touch of construction & that was about it.  We made a coffee/gas stop near Woodstock Ontario.  Only 2 vehicles ahead of us at the border & only two questions before we were on our way.  Where are you going & how long will you be in the country.  A second gas stop at Smokin Joes to fill up the rig & we were again eastbound.  We took traffic light alley route 31 all the way to Spencerport.  About 70 miles with about a dozen small towns & about a thousand & forty two traffic lights.....well that's the way it seemed anyway.  Pulled into Kelly's Mother's place about 2:40 p.m.  Trip had taken us about five & a half hours with the rig just a purrrrrrrin along all the way.

PROBABLY OUR EASIEST BORDER CROSSING EVER  (no that is not us ahead of ourselves)

 

SMOKIN JOES IS LOCATED ON THE TUSCARORA INDIAN RESERVATION ON HIGHWAY 31

Didn't take long to unhook the Jeep & get the Motorhome backed into position up alongside the driveway.  Kelly's Sister Becky & husband Norm are here from Florida.  Last time I had seen them was in Truth Or Consequences New Mexico back in the Spring of 08 when they were working at the River Bend Hot Springs.  They had a Class A Challenger similar to ours at the time.  Hadn't seen Kelly's Mother for about a year so lots of visiting going on here today & the next bunch of days.

“OK CLASS LISTEN UP”  CLASS ORIENTATION BEFORE THE MOTORHOME TOUR BEGINS…L TO R KELLY’S MOTHER, SISTER BECKY & BROTHER-IN-LAW NORM ON THE RIGHT

  

STAYING IN THE SHADE KEEPING COOL IN TODAY’S WINDY BREEZES

That's about it for today & we'll see what shakes out over the next week or so.  And sometimes I say the dumbest unthinking things in my blog.  More about that in a later post……..

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A game warden noticed how a particular fellow named Sam consistently caught more fish than anyone else. Whereas the other guys would only catch three or four fish a day, Sam would come in from the lake with a boat full of fish. Stringer after stringer was packed with freshly caught trout. The warden, curious, asked Sam his secret. The successful fisherman invited the game warden to accompany him and observe.  So the next morning, the two met at the dock and took off in Sam's boat. When they got to the middle of the lake, Sam stopped the boat, and the warden sat back to see how it was done.  Sam's approach was simple: He took out a stick of dynamite, lit it, and threw it into the air. The explosion rocked the lake with such a force that dead fish immediately began to surface. Sam took out a net and started scooping them up.  Well, you can imagine the reaction of the game warden. When he recovered from the shock of it all, he began yelling at Sam, "You can't do this! I'll put you in jail, buddy! You will be paying every fine there is in the book!"  Sam, meanwhile, set his net down and took out another stick of dynamite. He lit it and tossed it in the lap of the game warden with these words: "Are you going to sit there all day complaining, or are you going to fish?"

ALTHOUGH I NEVER LIKED THE TASTE OF IT I DRANK IT FOR YEARS & SAYING GOOD BYE TO RITA & HERMAN

Rains came in the night & clouded us up for most of the day.  Grounds were dry & the rain was welcome.  Also helped to wash our annual yellow pine pollen menace off things.  Each year at his time pine trees give off a very fine talcum powder like pollen which puts a yellow dusting on everything.  Comes through screens, closed doors & locked windows.

Washed the Jeep & cleaned all the bugs off the front end & windshield of the Motorhome today.  We will likely head out in the morning around 9.  Sure a lot more complicated getting things ready for cross border travel nowadays than it was years ago.  At one time there was no thought given to travel insurance & a drivers license was all that was ever needed for a border crossing.  Passports in those days were only used by wealthy folks traveling to European countries.  No cell phones so no special cell phone plans for the States.  No internet so no hassles there & televisions were only ever found in people's living rooms so no confusements there either & the word ‘remote’ meant somewhere in a far away wilderness & not a plastic device held in one’s hand for changing TV channels.  Indeed it was a simpler life & we all coped just fine without all our modern technologies.  We didn't miss anything because we didn't know what there was to miss.  Minds at the time had no way of seeing or comprehending the technology breakthroughs just over the horizon.  Guess it's the same now.  We just cannot fathom or foresee the ever increasing fast paced technology coming......just over the horizon.

I customarily have myself a cup of flavored Yogurt every night after supper.  Last night it was a never before tasted 'Wild Berry' from Danone.  With the first spoonful I detected a slight taste that brought back a familiar memory to me.  There was a slight tang of bitterness & it reminded me of something I drank an excessive amount of years ago and never did like the taste of.  From the very first bitter tasting beer I ever drank to the very last bitter tasting beer I ever drank there was not one single solitary beer in between that I ever sat back & said, 'WoW' does that ever taste good.  Never, not even once.  Well not that I recall anyhow.  Now that may sound very strange coming from someone who's life revolved around beer, hotels, bars, & that type of lifestyle for about 20 years.

Only reason I ever drank beer was for the effect & I liked the barroom atmosphere of sitting around with a bunch of friends drinking, carrying on, telling wild stories, living some of those stories, & just embracing the whole zany & carefree lifestyle.   But I never ever did like the taste of the booze that kept me in that lifestyle for the length of time it did.  Beer to me was horribly bitter & I hated it.  I choked down wine only because of the mellow way it altered my mind.  I could never stand the taste of that stuff.  No matter if it was expensive wine or cheap wine it all tasted the same to me.  Yuk.  And I never understood how anyone could drink whiskey, vodka, gin, rum, or any of that stuff yet I've drank them all.  Mixed them with all the usual suspects like coke, orange juice, sprite or whatever & yet every mouthful, every swallow or every sip tasted awful to me.  Gagged me more times than not.  But to be a part of the gang, the group, the boys, or the society I hung out with at the time it was the way to get your mind to where you wanted it to be.  Took me to heights where sobriety never went.  And for the majority of those years that is exactly where I wanted to be & I did whatever it took to keep myself there.  I loved that party atmosphere.  Cigarette smoke, booze, loud music, lots of people & the camaraderie of best buddies.  That world ended abruptly for me nearly 35 years ago.  And none too soon I may add. 

So what do I consider the best tasting drink that has stood the test of time for me?  Why, a cold glass of Skim milk of course.  It was my favorite drink as a Kid & it is still my overall favorite drink now as a Senior.  A cold glass of milk works for me every time & doesn't mess with my mind in the process.  And I don't have to hang around in the bars & live that kind of life anymore to enjoy a nice cold glass of skim milk either.  And for that I am very grateful:))

 

A FLOWER IN THE POND AT DEER PARK LODGE
We met Rita & Herman at 'The Docks' at 5 o'clock for supper.  Usually we are the early birds but they were there sitting on a bench outside waiting for us.  Rita was on the phone with her Sister Irmgard in Calgary.  She put the phone up to my ear & I was able to say a quick hello to Irmgard who incidentally is another blog follower of ours.  Seated inside we spent a couple hours chatting away & it turns out Rita & Herman have traveled far & wide in their varied RV's over the years.   And their first RV was a Triple EEE:))  They have been to Alaska 3 times & Herman an avid fisherman is quite proud of the 99 pound Halibut he caught in Alaskan waters.   Their favorite area of RV travel has always been the American Southwest & Herman especially liked the golf courses around Tucson.  He is one of those fellows with a perpetual twinkle in his eye & a ready laugh.  I think he is the spryest 90 year old I have ever met.  Truly nice people & easy to be around & talk to.  They have been following my blog for many years.  From here they are slowly making their way back to Ottawa.  Always sad saying goodbye to people like Rita & Herman because it is likely we will never see them again.  All the best folks, safe travels & thank you so much for taking the time to drop in & say Hello & thank you very much for supper:))

 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( When Beethoven passed away, he was buried in a churchyard. A couple days later, the town drunk was walking through the cemetery and heard some strange noise coming from the area where Beethoven was buried. Terrified, the drunk ran and got the priest to come and listen to it. The priest bent close to the grave and heard some faint, unrecognizable music coming from the grave. Frightened, the priest ran and got the town magistrate.  When the magistrate arrived, he bent his ear to the grave, listened for a moment, and said, "Ah, yes, that's Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, being played backwards."  He listened a while longer, and said, "There's the Eighth Symphony, and it's backwards, too. Most puzzling." So the magistrate kept listening; "There's the Seventh... the Sixth... the Fifth..."  Suddenly the realization of what was happening dawned on the magistrate; he stood up and announced to the crowd that had gathered in the cemetery, "My fellow citizens, there's nothing to worry about. It's just Beethoven decomposing." (you might have to think about this one for a minute:))

TODAY WE MET THE MOST DELIGHTFUL COUPLE:))

Looks like we will probably have the big wheels rolling Thursday morning rain or shine.  My reason for preferably wanting to go on a clear day was simply to avoid another big Motorhome road grime clean-up.  Call me lazy if you will.  Driving in rain is no bother.  Done enough of that over the years for sure.  Ice, snow, freezing rains, high winds, fog, yep done em all.  Our first year out with a truck & fifth wheel saw us iced up so bad coming home through Michigan that I had to get a propane torch to un-thaw & free up the hitch assembly when we got home in order to unhook the fifth wheel.

If we had left Saturday we would have had to be at the border early.  That's the key for beating the week-end cross border shoppers.  When heading south in the Fall we always leave early on a Saturday morning & there is hardly ever any wait time at the border.  Saturday & Sundays are the best travel days simply because there are no morning & afternoon rush hours.  Anytime we have to do a city or a heavy traffic area we find it is always best between the hours of 9 in the morning & 3 in the afternoon.  Before & after those hours can be chaotic.

I haven't made a decision yet on how to proceed with trying to restore the coaches finish to a nice white shiny & lustrous sheen......if that is even possible for me to do.  Lots of helpful ideas & products out there so it's hard to know which is easiest & best to use.  I did read about one product having about half a dozen stages to it.  That would definitely not be for me.  Wished we could take it somewhere & have it professionally done but I'm sure the cost would be too prohibitive.  I'm afraid both the Sunseeker & Winnebago spoiled me with their super shiny gelcoats.  After all my talk about not liking shiny-shiny here I am trying to figure out how to get our new to us rig all shiny-shiny.  You know, there just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of logic to my shaky reasoning sometimes:))

Late this afternoon we met the most delightful couple & it began with two unexpected phone calls.  The second phone call came this afternoon from Kirsten, owner of DEER PARK LODGE.   The first phone call came on the evening of March 4th 2013 well over 2,000 miles away in California.  But the phone call was not on our phone nor was it to us or for us.  We were boondocked at the Clark Dry Lake Bed near Borrego Springs.  Kelly, Pheebs & I were out scrounging around near the rig for a bit of campfire wood.  A truck camper had pulled in not too far away from us.   While carrying a chunk of firewood back I noticed a lady with a cell phone to her ear angling across the desert in my direction.  And our paths were about to cross.  Now rather than tell you all over again what took place I will just give you this link to the post I wrote today about that encounter.  RETURN TO THE 60 FOOT SNAKE  Scroll down towards the bottom of my post & pick up the paragraph beginning, 'I'm sure many RV'ers are familiar with the many coincidences’.

 

I’M THE WALRUS IN THE CENTER WITH THE HAT ON

Now if you read my linked post about the lady walking towards me with the cell phone I can tell you that this evening we met that ladies Mother who happened to be on the other end of the cell phone that evening.  And that brings me back to Kirstens phone call this afternoon.  A couple had checked into Deer Park Lodge & asked Kirsten if she knew Kelly & AL from the Bayfield Bunch.  Their names were Rita & Herman & they told Kirsten about their daughter Esther meeting us in Borrego Springs.  Kirsten thoughtfully phoned us right away.  Took me a few minutes to make my way through the many cobwebs surrounding the door leading to my mind’s memory department but I did recall the encounter in the desert with a cell phone carrying lady.  And I did remember talking to this ladies Mother in Ottawa Ontario.  Hmmm, could it be??

 

After supper Kelly, Pheebs & I drove over to Deer Park & located which unit this as yet mysterious couple were staying.  A nice white PLEASURE-WAY RV parked outside.  Yes this must be them.  Kirsten had put them in what is commonly referred to as the Penthouse.  Nicest spot at Deer Park with the best second story view out over Lake Huron.  Up the steps we went & knocked on the door.

  

RITA & HERMAN’S PLEASURE-WAY VAN & KELLY WITH THE GERBERA DAISIES RITA GAVE HER

And yes indeed it was the very same lady I had spoke to on the cell phone while walking in the desert just outside of Borrego Springs California back in March of 2013.  Rita & her husband Herman were on a final cross country RV trip & had decided to slip into Bayfield.  What a charming couple.  RV'ers for many years they reminisced about how they once traveled in larger Class A Motorhomes but over the years have downsized to several Class B vans.  Herman doesn't drive anymore so the smaller van is much easier for Rita to handle.  She wasn't too keen on driving their former 38' diesel pushing Newmar.  They liked Pheebs & Pheebs like them just as we did.  They invited us out for supper tomorrow night so we will head for a Bayfield eatery called THE DOCKS.  What a pleasant coincidence this all was & how nice to meet these folks.  A big hello from the Bayfield Bunch to Rita’s Sister Irmgard (hope I spelled that right) & of course Esther & Steve.  And Herman, here’s that ‘Beer Groaner’ I was telling you about………………………:))

SEE YOU TOMORROW:))
GROANER'S CORNER:(( And here's some Beer trivia for ya::  It was the accepted practice in Babylonia 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon".

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Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger into the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast. Too cold, and the yeast wouldn't grow. Too hot, and the yeast would die. This thumb in the beer is where we get the phrase "rule of thumb".

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In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's".

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After consuming a bucket or two of vibrant brew they called aul, or ale, the Vikings would head fearlessly into battle often without armor or even shirts. In fact, the term "berserk" means "bear shirt" in Norse, and eventually took on the meaning of their wild battles.
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In 1740 Admiral Vernon of the British fleet decided to water down the navy's rum. Needless to say, the sailors weren't too pleased and called Admiral Vernon, Old Grog, after the stiff wool grogram coats he wore. The term "grog" soon began to mean the watered down drink itself. When you were drunk on this grog, you were "groggy", a word still in use today.
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Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups.When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle", is the phrase inspired by this practice.

NOT A LOT GOING ON

Not a lot going on today.  Kelly vacuumed the rig & I did a bit of cleaning on the outside.  Haven't decided on a day to head for the States yet but it looks like Wednesday may be out because of bad weather headed this way.  Of course I am always in favor of lighter traffic days such as Saturdays.

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Words are not coming easy for me tonight so I think I had just better leave well enough alone & we'll see what wondrous delights tomorrow will bring.

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And a quote from Abraham Lincoln::  "“You can please some of the people some of the time all of the people some of the time some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.”

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Pajama-clad tot calling out to family: "I'm going upstairs to say my prayers now. Anyone want anything?"

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The father is telling his son stories to help him sleep. The only sound is the murmur of dad's voice. Two hours pass, and there's silence in the room. The mother creeps to the door and whispers, "Is he asleep, dear?" "Yes, Mommy" says her son.

WITHIN A FEW DAYS WE WILL HAVE THE BIG EEE HEADED ACROSS THE BORDER:))

TONIGHT’S PHOTOS ARE A COLLECTION OF PICS FROM THE BRUCE PENINSULA THAT DIDN’T MAKE IT INTO MY POSTS LAST WEEK

Methinks we will have the Big EEE rolling again in a few days & this time south of the border into New York State.  Will be heading for Spencerport NY for a few days then maybe a nearby State Park for a few more days on the way back.  Kelly's Sister & husband are at her Mother's for a few days so Kelly wants to slip down & see everybody.  She's not up to the usual long drive in her car so we'll take the Motorhome.

Cloudy day but Pheebs & I headed ourselves out for a ride in the Jeep anyway.  Picked us up a Tuna Sub at SUBWAY.  Decided to check out the wind turbine progress south of Bayfield.  The big windmills are creeping ever closer & before even leaving Bayfield I could see a wind turbine blade to the south stretching skyward.  Recently saw a map of future windmill locations & it looks like they will be right close in to our Park here to the east before too long.  I don't know where I stand on these things because who do you believe.  I do understand the need for cleaner power & better energy sources.  Pro wind turbine extremists will tell you they are good for one's health because of the kinetic energy they produce while extremists against the turbines will tell you they cause cancer to animals & humans living near them.  Two extreme radical viewpoints with lots of hooeygoop in between.   Who can be trusted to tell the truth.  My life's experience tells me when politics are involved no one is to be believed.   No wonder I have no interest in politics, politicians, or political views.
 
And speaking of extremists views, radicals, politics & hypocrisy some readers may be interested in seeing what Bad Nick has to say in his latest post entitled, THE BIBLE BUFFET.  Just as interesting as what Nick has to say are the many comments his readers have to say.  No doubt his post will stir up a lot of folks but that's what Bad Nick has a habit of doing.  I am sure there will always be folks out here in need of a good stirring up.

After reading fellow Blogger Steve’s post tonight entitled, MOVING SLOWER THAN PLANNED I left him in part the following comment which touches on several things he writes about in his post::::   Well Steve as you may or may not have noticed you & I have a lot in common with our thinking.  We post what we feel & we post what we think.  We hang our laundry out there for people to see.  Why do we do that?  Because it is the way we are & the types of personalities we have.  Real feelings, no glitz & glamor, no phony stuff, just every day ordinary honest thinking.  This makes people like us vulnerable to any one wanting to take a cheap shot at us.  There are always a lot of Egos looking for a chance to promote themselves........ I too reached a 'to blog or not to blog' point a long time ago after first starting out traveling.  I blogged about our travels for the winter then stopped the blog for the whole summer even though I still felt I had things to blog about.  But because we weren't traveling for the summer & my blog title said, 'Travel With The Bayfield Bunch' I figured it wasn't right.  I was wrong.  The following summer if I remember correctly I wrote more but not daily.  I think by the third summer I had resolved the 'travel blog' issue in my head & here I am still at it years later.  Do I sometimes think of changing the blogs name & taking the word travel out of it?  Ya sometimes but I will probably never do it.  I still try to center the majority of my posts around traveling.  And if it's not my traveling then I will often post links in my posts to other peoples travels.  I think the secret to being a daily or weekly Blogger is being creative.  Just writing in a straight reportive style  about what one does from the time they get up to the time they go to bed can get pretty old pretty fast for many readers.........If we were full timers I would no doubt be supportive of the lifestyle & extol all it's wonderful attributes of which of course it has many.  Having once seriously considered that very lifestyle & now years later sitting here in reflective hindsight I am quite satisfied with the way things turned out for us.  In the past I have posted about something we don't see much of here in RV land.  And that is the stories of full timers who didn't make it.  We only hear the happy stories not the sad ones.  I know people & I'm sure we all do who have gone the route of selling all their stuff including the house & setting out only to find out the full time RV lifestyle was not for them & they had made a huge mistake.  They are out here, we just don't hear about them because they simply do not want to talk about it.  I have blogged about the fact RVing does not go on forever & sooner or later everyone has to come in off the road.  Big shock for a lot of folks when they look at real estate prices for a nice cozy little place to settle down.  And wouldn’t it be nice to have some of those old keepsakes & carpentry tools back that were sold.   Trying to sell an old RV for enough to make a down payment on something can be quite a shock as well.   If your house is paid for & is in a good location why not hang onto it.  Don't like the cold weather location then just sell the house & move to an all season location.  Much easier for you American folks to do than we Canadian folks.  If there wasn't a border between our 2 countries we probably would have sold our place long ago & moved somewhere with a moderate climate year round.......Don't let the nay-sayers get you down Steve.  There is always going to be a lot of twisted jealousy & envy going on out here....................................

RE:  Saturday night’s, 'No Post Tonight'…………..I live in a real world so every day is not awesomely perfect.  I have always written my posts to reflect that reality as honestly as I can.  There are days when I just get down on myself a little too heavily & as a result I am not very communicative with anyone & that occasionally shows up by me not writing a post.  These bouts generally last a day or two before I can get myself back up to the point of at least communicating again.  And by the way it has nothing to do with that silly analogy of seeing a glass half full or half empty of anything.  Too many cutesy cure all phrases in this society & not enough common sense to understand them for what they really are.  Hallmark Cards has made millions with these things.  I think they got the idea from Chinese fortune cookies………………..10-4.
 
GROANER'S CORNER:((  Because I'm A Man::
- When I lock my keys in the car I will fiddle with a wire long after hypothermia has set in. 
- When the car isn't running very well, I will pop the hood and stare at the engine as if I know what I'm looking at. If another man shows up, one of us will say to the other, "I used to be able to fix these things, but now with all these computers and everything, I wouldn't know where to start."  
- When I catch a cold, I need someone to bring me soup and take care of me while I lie in bed and moan. You're a woman. You never get as sick as I do, so for you this isn't a problem. 
- When one of our appliances stops working, I will insist on taking it apart, despite evidence that this will just cost me twice as much once the repair person gets here and has to put it back together. 
- I must hold the television remote control in my hand while I watch TV. If the thing has been misplaced, I may miss a whole show looking for it (although one time I was able to survive by holding a calculator). 
- There is no need to ask me what I'm thinking about. The answer is always either cars, beer, or football. I always have to make up something else when you ask, so just don't ask. 
- You don't have to ask me if I liked the movie. Chances are, if you're crying at the end of it, I didn't. 
- I think what you're wearing is fine. I thought what you were wearing five minutes ago was fine, too. Either pair of shoes is fine. With the belt or without it looks fine. Your hair is fine. You look fine. Can we just go now?  
- I will share equally in the housework. You just do the laundry, the cooking, the gardening, the cleaning, the vacuuming, and the dishes, and I'll do the rest.

NO POST TONIGHT