IT WAS THE ONLY TIME WE EVER GOT THE BEST OF OLD SPARKY

This past week’s country drive in our Motorhome with neighbor’s Barb & Don reminded me of my first time driving anything bigger than a car, but it wasn’t a Motorhome.   Both Kelly & I were fortunate to have driven Motorhome sized vehicles before we bought our first Class A.  We had driven large school buses & years ago back in the early 70’s I had driven 'stake trucks' in Vernon British Columbia for CP (Canadian Pacific) Transport.  Having never driven anything larger than an ordinary car my transition to driving a big truck was totally unexpected & happened rather abruptly one day.

WHEN BARB & DON ALONG WITH KELLY & I STOPPED FOR BREAKFAST AT ‘FLIPPIN EGGS’ NORTH OF GODERICH THIS PAST WEEK THIS WAS THE MENU SIGN GREETING US ON THE WAY IN

It was a Monday morning in Vernon BC in or around about the year 1973 or 74.  The local employment center in Vernon had sent me over to a store on main street called Bennett's Hardware Furniture & Appliances. The helper on their local delivery truck had just been terminated the previous Friday & they needed a new Swamper. (a Swamper is the helper person on a 2 man delivery truck) The stores large truck was commonly referred to as a Ford Cab-Over & had a hydraulic lift ramp on the back. To me who was only ever used to driving cars it was a big truck because I had to climb up & into it & the whole thing reminded me of a big boxy looking Dinosaur because as I recall it was painted an overall dark green.

DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT PIECE OF MACHINERY WAS IN THE GRASS TOM BUT THE REMAINS OF THIS OLD TRACTOR WAS RIGHT NEXT TO IT

 

I met the driver early that morning who went by the name of Garth. He showed me around & we were soon working to-gether loading the back of the truck with Monday’s morning's deliveries. Some furniture pieces & a couple heavy appliances I think. I soon became aware of Garth's discontent with the store as we headed out with our load. All morning long Garth went on with his concerns, complaints, rants, & ravings. Seems his previous swamper was also his best friend & Garth was unhappy that the store had let him go. We finished up the morning's deliveries & headed back to the store. Garth threaded the large truck up a narrow alley & maneuvered it around until he was able to back it into the loading dock. I wondered at the time how he was able to move such a large truck around in such a small space. Little did I know that I was about to find out........... real quick. With a flurry of unkind words about Bennett's hardware store he tossed me the keys, opened his door, & with the words, "I quit" he was gone & I never did see the guy again.

 NEXT TIME I’M UP THAT WAY I’LL STOP & HAVE A CLOSER LOOK TO SEE JUST WHAT THAT RUBBER TIRED THING WAS IN THE GRASS

The head sales fellow who was my immediate boss in the store had the nickname of Sparky & as I walked back into the store with the news about the driver quitting I soon found out why he was called Sparky. Sparks flew alright!!!! He was a very hyper man & I caught the brunt of his fireworks about the driver quitting. I handed him the truck keys & he thrust them right back a me with a stack of delivery bills & told me to get out there & start loading the truck with the afternoon's deliveries while he called manpower to get another fellow sent over. I assumed he was hiring another driver........but no, he hired a new Swamper. I was the new driver!!

 

NO PROBLEM WITH THE ID ON THIS ONE, IT’S A FROG IN A MURKY POND

There was no point in telling Sparky I had never driven a truck or anything bigger than a car before because he would have squashed me into the floor like a bug. He sure had himself a big bluster going.  In fact I was to quickly learn there was no telling Sparky anything, ever!! So with that in mind I climbed up into the driver's side of the big stake truck & just sat there looking around at all the big mechanical space around me. Had never seen a gearshift lever that long before or a steering wheel seemingly as big as a car tire. There were buttons & switches here & there that were definitely foreign to me as well. The road seemed a long way down & the far corner of the windshield seemed an acre away. Before I could get myself too scared or talk myself out of it, the passenger door opened & a young fellow hauled himself up into the cab with a big friendly, "Hi, my name's Frank & I'm your new Swamper." New Swamper?? Hell, it was only a few hours ago that I was the new Swamper.  Geeeeeezzzzz!!

YEP, I’M LIKING THIS VERSATILE LITTLE LIBBYGATOR MORE & MORE ALL THE TIME

Not wanting to let on to Frank that I had never driven a truck before I tried to look as professional as I could, but as soon as I ground the truck into some sort of forward gear & jerked away from the loading dock, the cat was out of the bag & Frank knew right away what was up. Frank was no dummy.  However between the two of us & with Frank barking out some fender warnings we wiggled around this way & that & somehow made our way down the even narrower alley now to the busy main street.  And we did it without breaking off any of the outside rear view mirrors or taking down any buildings. And I say ‘we’ here because we were already working as a team & I was needing all the help I could get.  I do remember scaring the beejeebers out of some pedestrians though as we lurched the big green Dinosaur out of the alley. Think it was a sharp right hand turn as we managed to make our way down the main street without scraping any paint of all the parked cars. 

AT THE ANIMAL FARM SATURDAY

 

Worked our way up & down the streets of Vernon that afternoon, fumbling in & out of driveways taking care of our deliveries.  Luckily both Frank & I had previous heavy delivery experience. Having not damaged anything or anyone yet I picked up a bit of confidence & we headed out of town for a couple rural deliveries on the Okanagan Valleys sharp curvy roads & steep hills. By a stroke of luck our day went well, nobody got hurt, & we returned Bennett's delivery truck unscathed to the store later in the day.  We were pretty relieved & happy with ourselves but no pats on the back for a job well done from old Sparky though......he was too busy snarling around about Tuesday morning's deliveries already!!

I was able to catch onto that large truck driving pretty quick & with Frank being a good Swamper we went on to work well to-gether over the next little while. We did have a few incidents though.  We once dropped a brand new kitchen stove down a flight of outside stairs on Christmas Eve & another time during a winter delivery Frank jumped out of the truck as I slid helplessly backwards down an ice slicked laneway with a steep drop-off on one side.  Felt like I slid downhill for about a mile but Frank said it was only a hundred feet or so.  But, in the long run we did OK & never put so much as a scratch on that big old Dinosaur of a truck. (well, none that we admitted to anyway) Despite the truck's intimidating size it was definitely a learning experience & proved most beneficial later in life for a little Volkswagen Beetle driver from a small town in southern Ontario..........................And a quick add-on to that sliding down the icy laneway.  Winter had set into the Okanagan & both Frank & I had repeatedly asked Sparky to replace the worn out bald truck tires with new winter tires but Sparky would have no part of it.  Couldn’t afford to have the truck off the road that long getting snow tires he said.  After getting the truck stopped at the bottom of the laneway that morning Frank climbed back in & we headed right back to the store & parked the truck.  Took the keys in & tossed them on Sparky’s desk saying we would not do another delivery until there were new snow tires on that truck.  And with that we both walked out of the store & went home.  It was the only time we ever got the best of old Sparky.   Got a call from Sparky later that night saying something like, ‘there’s new tires on the truck & be in early, you’ve still got this afternoon’s deliveries to do’!!!! (click)  I phoned Frank & next morning were back to work on the early side………………….. 

 

HAVING A HAPPY SATURDAY MORNING DUST BATH

Had ourselves a quiet Sunday.  A little puttering here, a little puttering there.  Phone rang sometime around 2 & it was my former supervisor from when I drove a wheel chair mobility van for Town & Country out of Clinton about 5 years.  Marie hadn't dropped around for a few years & called to see if we were home.  We were & half an hour later Marie rolled in with a big cup of Tim Horton's coffee for me.  We had ourselves good front porch chat catching up on things.  Marie has been a long time blog reader.  Thanks for all the kind words Marie:)) 

PART OF MY PUTTERING THIS MORNING HAD ME RELAXING BESIDE A BACK YARD CAMPFIRE

WHEN WE MOVED FROM THE OLD FULLARTON FARM HOUSE TWELVE & A HALF YEARS AGO WE BROUGHT THESE CAMPFIRE ROCKS WITH US

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Did you know......
-A bartender is just a pharmacist with a limited inventory. 
-A clean desk is a sign of a cluttered desk drawer.
-A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
-A closed mouth gathers no foot.
-A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

OK, SO HERE’S MY PLAN

It has been the culmination of reader feedback on my blog that finally switched on a light bulb in my head this morning.   In particular was this comment in my Shout Box which in part said, 'Do you have any unusual or interesting landmarks or buildings in your area you could share’.  I know this has been suggested before by folks but for whatever reason this morning my brain latched on to those few words.  From the moment I read that comment there was a creaking & grinding of gears in my brain as rusted wheels slowly began turning.  I remembered other comments & emails I've received & slowly I became aware my mind was actually beginning to formulate an idea.  Alas, a plan began coming together.  Encouraging readers have been right all along.  Here I am with some great camera gear, a desire to write, several modes of reliable transportation, & all kinds of time on my hands.  What a great combination of assets for anyone to have if used correctly.  And therein lies the key.

ALWAYS LOTS OF CURIOUS THINGS TO SEE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE & THAT IS WHY I PREFER TO SPEND TIME THERE…THIS PHOTO IS FROM AN EXOTIC ANIMAL FARM JUST A FEW MILES SOUTH OF DUNGANNON ONTARIO AT THE INTERSECTION OF HAWKINS ROAD & MILL LINE (PHEEBS FAVORITE STOP) >>>

The simple crux of my problem finally dawned on me this morning.  The reason I have 'nothing' days is simply because a lot of the time I have 'nothing' planned.  Back in the working days one wakes up in the morning with a purpose & a destination.  It's called a job.  As much as we retired folks may have complained about the working world over the years it does have it's merits & one of those merits is structure.  Waking up in the morning with no plans for the day, no focus, & no purpose, may sound wonderful to someone still grinding along in the 24/7 workforce and of course it is wonderful.....to a point.  However for some of us waking up without some kind of planned structure or purpose for the day is like a ship setting sail without a rudder.  Too often we drift aimlessly through the day at the mercy of winds, waves, & running tides.   We leave harbor but with no course plotted & no destination predetermined we never reach wherever we didn’t know we were going in the first place anyway.  In reality we are adrift & lost at sea.  In retirement being lost at sea for days, weeks, or months on end cannot be a healthy thing either mentally or physically.  We are in for stormy days for sure.  Ask me, I know about it…………….

So here's my plan.  Yes there are interesting landmarks & buildings in our area.  There are things going on, there are stories to be told, photos to be taken, & events to be attended.  In other words there are things to do.  Just as in our working days one has to have some kind of structure, a destination, a purpose.  ‘One has to organize their own day' because it is no longer organized for them.  And that organization begins for me by planning & organizing my time better.  Noticed in the 2015 Goderich Visitor's Guide they have a calendar of upcoming events.  Some car shows & by golly even an air show later this month featuring the Canadian Snowbird acrobatic team.  Been a long time since I've seen those fellas perform.  Once a big air show fan years ago this is something I would enjoy.  Something to write about, something to photograph.  Something constructive to do.  A purpose, a focus, & it all hinges on me getting myself organized.  And that is my plan:))

Our Saturday morning dawned bright & sunny so Pheebs & I headed for the countryside looking for a few photos.  Brown fields are turning greener as crops grow taller.  Rolled along stopping at a few of our favorite spots along the way.  At one point high atop a hill on Golf Course Line northeast of Goderich I could see the true scope of wind turbine encroachment across the countryside in that area.  I was totally surprised at how many wind turbines I was able to count from where I was standing.  My eyes counted 126 turbines & I know sharper eyes could have counted even more on the distant horizon.  And I understand there are hundreds more to come.  Maybe even thousands……………… 

NOT ALL OF THE WIDE HORIZON IS VISIBLE IN THIS PHOTO BUT I COUNTED 126 WIND TURBINES FROM THIS SPOT

 

OUR AREAS WIND TURBINES FOLLOW ALONG LAKE HURON’S SHORES CATCHING PREVAILING NORTHWEST WINDS SWEEPING IN OFF THE LAKE

It was nearly 1 p.m. before we made it home today & the rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing in my recliner thinking about how to better manage my time & get myself organized now that I said I would…………………………Oh Dear:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  When U Black, U Black
When I was born, I was BLACK ,
When I grew up, I was BLACK ,
When I went in the sun, I stayed BLACK,
When I got cold, I was BLACK ,
When I was scared, I was BLACK ,
When I was sick, I was BLACK ,
And when I die, I'll still be BLACK .
              NOW, You 'white' folks....
When you're born, you're PINK,
When you grow-up, you're WHITE ,
When you go in the sun, you get RED,
When you're cold, you turn BLUE,
When you're scared, you're YELLOW,
When you get sick, you're GREEN
When you bruise, you turn PURPLE ,
And when you die, you look GRAY.
So who y'all be callin'
COLORED Folks?

BY THE TIME I GET TO TOMORROW I HAVE ALREADY FORGOTTEN ABOUT TODAY

Aside from Pheebs & I heading to Goderich for a few things this morning there hasn't been much of anything happening today again.  A drive down around the town's north harbor & home through scenic Ben Miller pretty well sums up our short a.m. tour.  With a heavy cloud cover prevailing I simply couldn't drum up any photo enthusiasm.  A couple pictures along the water's edge & we were soon home again.

Our annual yellow pine pollen menace is upon us for another year coating everything with a fine talcum like powdery dust.  Will probably last for 3 or 4 days with clouds of wispy pollen visibly moving slowly wisp like through our surrounding pine trees.  Next week I will be cleaning vehicles all over again.  Inside & out!!

A few more Facebook 'Friend Requests' have come in so just a reminder to readers again that I do not accept 'friend requests'.  I have been hacked twice accepting requests so I put a stop to that.  I do not accept 'Linked-In' requests either for similar reasons.  Nothing personal, it's just a security issue.  Aside from using Facebook to publish my post each night & recently posting a few sunset photos to a couple Goderich sites I am not a Facebooker.

PHEEBS AT THE BEACH THIS WEEK

I find myself some nights sitting here at my keyboard in a rather frustrating frame of mind.  I am wanting to write something for the simple reason I enjoy writing but the frustration sets in when I can’t seem to think of anything to write about.  So easy to write of a day’s events when a day actually has events. It’s these kind of low key nothing days which throws the proverbial Monkey wrench into my writing enjoyment.  Some will say, ‘well don’t write every day & just try writing something a couple times a week’.  Well that’s all well & good for folks with a steel trap mind which securely seals in all the details of days gone by.  By the time I get to tomorrow I have already forgotten about today.  Well Okay maybe not quite that severe but to go back a day or two or more & write about something just seems like old news to me & even I am not interested in trying to revive it or frustrate myself further by attempting to recall details that are already fast fading out of my mind’s reach.  Well there ya go, I managed to eke out one more paragraph tonight from an otherwise ‘not much going on’ day…………………….:)) 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The Monday Afternoon Club, an organization of city women, met and decided that this month's outing was to be at a dairy farm. Most of them had lived in the city all their lives, and had never seen such a place.

The day came for the trip, and the ladies filed into the rented bus which whisked them off to their destination. On the way, they watched out the windows as the city squalor turned into lovely, unpolluted countryside.

After they arrived, they were greeted by the farmer who invited them to look him up should they have any questions. Myrtle, after looking about, and being amazed by what she saw, stepped into a building and viewed something she thought was quite remarkable.

She saw the farmer walk by and hailed him -- he sauntered in.

"Sir," she inquired, "Why doesn't this cow have any horns?"

The farmer cocked his head for a moment, then began in a patient tone: "Well, ma'am, cattle can do a powerful lot of damage with horns. Sometimes we keep'em trimmed down with a hacksaw. Other times we can fix up the young'uns by puttin' a couple drops of acid where their horns would grow in, and that stops 'em cold. Still, there are some breeds of cattle that never grow horns. But the reason this cow don't have no horns, ma'am, is 'cause it's a horse."

TOOK OUR NEIGHBORS FOR A SPIN IN THE BIG EEE THIS MORNING

AN ANCIENT MAYAN CANOE PERHAPS…NO, JUST A PIECE OF LAKE HURON DRIFTWOOD

Neighbor's Barb & Don have been talking about an RV lifestyle way of life for the past year or so & like all folks contemplating a big change they have a lot questions.  Like Kelly & I when first starting out 9 years ago one of the first big decisions they are working on is what kind of an RV to buy.   There are a number of factors which feed into that decision none of which I'm going to mention tonight because the pros & cons of RV types are many & it all boils down to what kind of an RV set up is best suited to a person's needs & wants.  We had heard Don & Barb were leaning towards a Motorhome.  Like Kelly & I years ago they knew very little about Class A's, had never ridden in one & had never driven one.  Seeing an opportunity for them to broaden their knowledge base I sent them an email a couple days ago wondering if they would like to go for a ride in our rig.  Yes they were interested so we picked them up this morning at 9:30.  They only live about a hundred yards from us.

A FEW PHOTOS FROM ONE OF OUR EVENING PHEEBER DRIVES AROUND BAYFIELD

FISHING ALONG THE BANKS OF THE BAYFIELD RIVER

<<< LIKED THIS PAINTING I SAW ON A GARDEN SHED

Needed to pick up a bit of fuel anyway so we headed up to Goderich with Don in the passenger seat & the ladies in back.  I enjoyed Don's enthusiasm & welcomed his questions about handling a 37’ Motorhome.  It took me back to September of 2006 when Kelly & I were excited about our decision to pursue an RV Snowbird lifestyle as well.  Wished we would have known someone with a Class A Motorhome at that time but we didn't.  We did know a couple with a truck & fifth wheel for sale though & that is what we decided on & headed off for the great American Southwest.  Like I said I'm not going to get into the pros & cons & endless debate of what's better, a truck towing a fifth wheel or a Motorhome towing a toad.  Let's just say our nice truck & fifth wheel wasn't quite the right set up for us & we traded the combo in on a Class A Motorhome in early 2007.

HOUSE ISN’T FINISHED YET BUT YOU CAN SEE THE ANXIOUS COUPLE ALREADY SITTING ON THEIR NOT YET QUITE FINISHED PORCH

LILACS ARE STILL IN BLOOM
I had never ridden in or drove a Class A Motorhome until the day we took a 33' Damon Challenger for a test drive in Grand Bend Ontario.  Fell in love with the way it handled right away plus a bunch of other things & we ended up buying this 2003 rig that very same day from Ron at Four Seasons Performance & we kept that Damon for 5 years.

HOW’S THIS FOR A NICE WASHROOM ON THE BEACH AT BAYFIELD’S DEER PARK LODGE

ALWAYS NICE PIECES OF DRIFTWOOD TO BE FOUND ON THE BEACH & I THINK THE ONE BELOW LOOKS LIKE A POOCH

<<< AND THE WASHROOM IS JUST AS NICE INSIDE
After our Goderich fuel stop this morning Barb, Don, Kelly & I made our way through town heading north on highway 21.  With lots more to talk about & having worked ourselves up an appetite we pulled into a little eatery alongside the highway near the airport called, ‘Flippin Eggs’.  This little place near the east end of the airports main runway used to be called 'The Spitfire' with a big sign on the roof shaped like a WW2 British Spitfire fighter plane.  Didn't take us long to demolish our breakfast & we did end up sitting a spell with lots to talk about.  You all know how well conversation flows when RV folks with like minded interests get together.

PHOTO TAKEN WITH KELLY’S BLACKBERRY…SEEINGS HOW WE ARE ALL GETTING OLDER MAYBE IT’S JUST AS WELL IT’S BLURRY (THANKS FOR BREAKFAST GUYS)
Walking out to the rig I handed Don the keys.  Figured it was a good opportunity for him to get his RV feet wet.  Driving something the size of a large Motorhome can be intimidating at first & even more intimidating if your on a dealer's lot & have to launch out into heavy traffic on streets you may not be familiar with.  I had already figured out a good route beforehand just in case Don decided to get behind the wheel.  Don made the right decision & we were off down a wide highway with light traffic.  A right hand turn onto an even quieter highway & the rest was history.  Like me 9 years ago Don was immediately impressed with the smooth ride & surprising ease of driving a big honkin Motorhome.  All those fears & preconceived doubts of driving something that large just vanished out the window in the first few miles & I think that probably happens with just about everybody who straps themselves into Class A for the first time.  With directions from Al in the navigator's seat Don motored us through southern Ontario’s beautiful countryside & had no problems driving us all safely back to our Park & right up the street where we live.  We even made it underneath a questionably low railway bridge along the way as well.  Always fun to throw in a little extra excitement eh:))

I THINK DON HAS ER UP TO ABOUT 140 MPH HERE
No idea which way Don & Barb's RV plans will head but at least tonight they will go to bed with some of their questions answered & a much better understanding into what so many of us know to be a great RV lifestyle whether a Snow Bird or a Full Timer.  And they even have a few Motorhome miles under their belts now as well:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A woman was sipping on a glass of wine, while sitting on the patio with her husband, and she said, "I love you so much, I don't know how I could ever live without you."  Her husband asked, "Is that you, or the wine talking?"
She replied, "It's me .............. talking to the wine."

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- 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 FEW WORDS A FEW PHOTOS

A fine sunny 72 degree day energized me into continuing with my Motorhome cleaning.  This morning it was storage bins, inside glass, & a good dusting of the front driver & passenger area.  Nice to see things sparkly again.

I really don't have anything to write about tonight so I will leave you with just a few words & a few photos I took when Pheebs & I slipped over to Deer Park Lodge’s sandy beach Tuesday night.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A schoolteacher was taking her first golfing lesson.  "Is the word spelled p-u-t or p-u-t-t?" she asked the instructor.  "P-u-t-t is correct," he replied. "Put means to place a thing where you want it. Putt means merely a vain attempt to do the same thing."