RAIN, OXYCODONE, BLOGS, WORKING ON THE ROAD, TYPEWRITER, & RV’ING’S END DAYS

AFTER THE MORNING RAIN CAME A NICE SUNNY DAY IN OUR PARK

Living only a mile from Lake Huron we are accustomed to small rain showers sometimes forming up out over the lake & traveling inland. Maybe only 20 minutes or so & that is what we had on our morning walk. Just a nice light rain shower but it was Pheebs who drew my attention to it. Walking just ahead of us I could hear her softly humming a song to herself by B.J. Thomas from the movie, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid............ Raindrops Keep Falling On My Nose:))

 

PHEEBS IS LOOKING A LITTLE WET AFTER WE STARTED OFF IN THE RAIN THIS MORNING

Our rainy morning was over by 10 as clouds gave way to morning sunshine.  Hadn’t had the bike out for a couple weeks & as expected, it didn’t fire right up.  Our colder nights had run down the battery a bit so it was out with the battery charger.  An hour later I was cutting through sunny but cooler morning air to give the bike a run.  A stop at Tim Horton’s in Goderich for a decaff coffee & I was on my way home again.   Nice:))

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We have a TV show here in Canada called, Market Place. Similar to the 60 minutes type of show they go after scam artists, fraudulent business owners, etc. I enjoy these types of programs that have the courage to deal with real issues & real people. And, they are not afraid of the big drug companies. Just this week we watched Market Places' program on the harsh & terrible realities of the drug, Oxycodone. This morning I noticed a post from Mike over at PHANNIE & MAE that dealt with this drug on a first person basis. This is a must read for anyone taking or thinking of taking Oxycodone!!  About 5 years ago I was in severe pain from an old back injury.  A friend gave me an Oxycodone.  It made me sick & turned me into a Zombie for a day.  That was my one & only experience with Oxycodone & that was enough!!

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There is just something about typing that I enjoy. Always have. I remember my first typewriter. It was a huge metallic monster kind of thing & weighed about as much as small foreign car. Bought it from a lady in Toronto back in the late 60's. Something about getting that white piece of paper lined up & rolled in made it all seem important or something. Probably saw Walter Cronkite doing that on television one time. All manual keys on that machine & no electronics. The typewriter was shiny black & I remember the keys were round. Long thin arms on each letter carried them from the carriage to the paper with a loud thwack. I had learned to type in high school so I could get those thwacks almost sounding like a staccato machine gun at times. Of course the faster I typed the more I had to stop & pry apart jammed metal arms too. But, I loved this old typewriter & would sit up late some nights just a hammering away on it. And, what did I write about??

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Well, that was my poetry & short story phase & I can tell you it is very rare for me to go back & embarrass myself by reading any of that stuff now. Still have it somewhere though.  But, no matter, I just liked to drag out my old typewriter some nights & hear the clack-clack-clack of keys striking paper. Wonder how many people remember a computer communication program about 10 years ago called ICQ. Kind of similar to Microsoft Messenger & Yahoo chat etc. The program had a feature you could turn on that gave you the sound of typewriter keys striking paper. I loved that & always had it turned on. Late at night in the old farm house I would have the lights turned down & the volume turned up.  Kelly, already in bed, would  holler, "turn that typewriter sound down will ya"!! Well, I did turn it down......but only a little:))

 

AND, WHAT DO I LIKE ABOUT MY LAWNMOWER BEST??       NO NOISE:))))))

Reading GYPSY'S post this morning I was reminded of why Kelly & I decided early on in our RVing days not to try our hand at working on the road.   Kelly spends 6 & 7 months each year dealing with the retail public & all the stress that goes along with that. I had my share of that aggravation for a few years back in the mid 80's. Neither one of us has ever wanted to be bound by commitments, time schedules, rules or regulations while traveling. Yes, like many other folks, we could definitely use the extra income, but at what cost. RVing for us has always meant freedom of choice. Our choice, not somebody else's.  I remember how we talked about different types of working scenarios on the road & the one thing we totally agreed on was that it would never include working & having to deal with the public. Figured as long as we had a couple extra dollars in our pocket we would try to hang onto our way of doing things.  Figured as long as we could come & go as we pleased & kept our people contact to a minimum, our loner RV lifestyle just might end up being everything we hoped it would be. And, it has:)) We did enjoy our Ranch sitting days at Jeanie & Ray's near McNeal Arizona the past 5 years with one of those years on another property for security purposes. But, there was a difference with that. We had no public to deal with & we had our quiet out of the way privacy. Nice:))

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Gypsy, in her post, also touched on another topic that is close to the heart of all Bloggers out here. Just soooooo many blogs to read. Both Kelly & I have cut our blog reading way back. Times have changed & are still changing from just a year or two ago when I spent a lot of time reading & commenting on fellow RV'ers posts. This past year & especially the past 6 months I have cut way back on my daily reading & commenting by about 80%. I still have a few blogs I read every morning & others I drop in periodically to see how folks are doing. I have narrowed my reading down to a few friends & RV folks with 'interests' akin to my own. No point in me trying to read through somebody's tour of a Marmalade factory in downtown Baltimore. Probably nice folks writing the blog but my interest just isn't there.

 

ANOTHER HEAVY DUTY PLAY DAY

 

NO, I DIDN’T POSE LITTLE SQUIRRELY FOR THE PHOTO, THAT IS EXACTLY HOW THE 2 OF THEM ENDED UP AFTER THEIR PLAY TIME:))

Also, reading Donna's post from TRAVELS IN THERAPY I was again reminded of something else important to all RV folks.  Always lots to read about the positive, fun, & exciting times of RVing whether it be full timers, part timers, or week-enders. Not too many posts about the day when all that comes to an end. 'Coming off the road' awaits all of us in one form or another one day. Donna blogs about some of the reasons & realities her & Russ are facing right now.

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And, lastly but not leastly, George, over at OUR AWESOME TRAVELS left the following comment on our blog this morning....." Dumb things just seem to happen sometimes, like me flooding our coach with black water, not once but three times"!   ……………… Say, d'ya suppose maybe if we all got after George, he just might write a post telling us, in detail of course, exactly how he did that:))

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And, be sure to check out this PANTOMIME CLOCK.

KER-POOPED AFTER ANOTHER DAY OF JUST BEING THE MOST BESTEST LITTLE DOG IN THE WHOLE WORLD    zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((   As a young minister, I was asked by a funeral director to hold a grave-side service for a homeless man, with no family or friends, who had died while traveling through the area. The funeral was to be held at a cemetery way back in the country. This man would be the first to be laid to rest there.

I was not familiar with the backwoods area, and I became lost. Being a typical man, I did not stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late.

I saw the backhoe first, then spotted the crew eating lunch. The hearse was nowhere in sight. I apologized to the workers for my tardiness, and stepped to the side of the open grave where I saw the vault lid already in place.

I assured the workers I would not hold them long, but it was proper to offer a eulogy. The workers gathered around, their sandwiches in hand. I poured out my heart and soul.

As I preached the workers began to say "Amen," "Praise the Lord" and "Glory." I preached and preached like I'd never preached before, from Genesis all the way to Revelations. I closed the lengthy service with a prayer and walked to my car. I felt I had done my duty for the homeless man and that the crew would leave with a renewed sense of purpose and dedication, in spite of my tardiness.

As I was opening the car door and taking off my coat, I overheard one of the workers saying to another, "I ain't never seen anything like this before......................................... and I've been putting in septic tanks for 20 years"

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- 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.

- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

WHERE I THOUGHT I HAD SEEN ONE, THERE HAD BEEN TWO….PLUS, ‘DUMB & DUMBER’

JUST A FEW PHOTOS FROM AROUND THE FRONT YARD TODAY

Heard some distant thunder out over the lake before the rains made their way to shore late Friday night & continued steadily into Saturday morning. Nice to feel the cooler energy laden air & I hope we have seen the last of the miserable humidity for another year.

LEAF SHADOWS ON A NEANDERTHAL SKULL…………..OK, IT WA A ROCK

Bit of an odd thing this afternoon while Pheebs & I were out for our afternoon walk. Noticed a small white Cabbage Butterfly flitting about a wild grape vine. When it settled on a leaf I snapped off 3 quick photos from slightly different angles using my Nikon D40 & 300mm lens. These small white Butterflies do not stay in one place long so I had to be quick. Pheebs was standing beside me & when the Butterfly flew up off the leaf, Pheebs lunged forward & grabbed it in her mouth. An instant holler from me & she immediately opened her mouth. And, here's where the odd thing happened. Not one, but two Butterfly's fluttered out of her mouth. Was I seeing things? How could this be? My logic was in overdrive the rest of the way home trying to figure this out. Wasn't until I sat down at the computer later & enlarged the photos that I had an explanation for two Butterflies. Where I thought I had seen one, there had been two:))

LOOK CLOSELY & YOU WILL SEE THE HEAD & ANTENNAE OF THE SECOND BUTTERFLY AT THE BOTTOM

 
There was a movie out years ago with Jim Carrey called ‘Dumb & Dumber’. Can't remember if I saw the movie but I can sure relate to doing something one time that related to the movie title. It was dumb, & then it got even dumber. It was our first RV winter in the south-west & we were driving a truck & fifth wheel at the time. We were staying at an RV Park called Hickiwan Trails near Why, Arizona. The story, which long time readers may remember, begins here............

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I had been re-organizing my wallet after cleaning sand out of it in the afternoon & laid it on a small wood table beside my lawn chair. Max or Checkers, in their playful dog frolicking, must have bumped the table at some point & knocked my wallet over the edge into their water dish. By the time I noticed it my wallet was in a pretty soggy state of affairs. In order to dry everything out I made the first part of a big mistake. I laid my wallet on the tonneau cover of the pick-up truck to dry. Laid out my credit cards, driver's license, CAA card, etc. The tonneau cover is black & felt warm from the sun so figured everything would dry quick. Well, you probably know what's coming. A couple of hours later just after supper I decided to head down the road to check our email at a remote wifi spot near the neighbouring Coyote Howls campground. Out I went, jumped in the truck, & took off out of the park & down the highway.

When I reached the wi-fi site nearly a mile away I stopped, got out of the truck, walked around to the passenger side to access the computer, glanced at the back of the truck & "OH NO!!" In a sickening flash I remembered my wallet & cards that I had laid out on the tonneau cover earlier, and..........they were all gone. Frantically jumped in the truck & raced back to the trailer, rushed in & told Professor Rockhound (that was my nickname for Kelly because was collecting a lot of rocks at that time) what had happened. I knew the only hope I had of ever finding anything lying on the ground was to get an expert ground scanning person involved. She quickly headed out the driveway to the highway in full scan mode. I took the truck & started driving the highway shoulder & immediately found my Scotia debit card lying right in the middle of the road.

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Continued up the road a few hundred yards & turned around. By the time I got back to the area where I found the debit card I saw the Professor busily scooping things off the highway & alongside the road that I had obviously missed in my panic. Oblivious to traffic, she was on the job!! By the time I got the truck stopped she had already retrieved my wallet which had been lying open upside down in the eastbound lane. I probably drove over it myself in my rush to get back to the trailer a few minutes before. She had also found what was left of my driver's license. It was the only thing damaged. I found one more card on the southbound shoulder & that completed everything. We were only moments away from complete nightfall but the eagle eyed Professor had saved the day. Nothing missing from inside the wallet either. Both American & Canadian money were intact. It sure would have put an unfavourable dent in our vacation plans if all had been lost.  It was a close call & I had to promise that I would not be so dumb in the future. Well, that promise didn't last long because here's what I did just a few days later........

Decided to clean up the cab of the truck so opened the passenger door to pull the floor mat out. I was wearing my new black cowboy hat which I had just purchased near Carlsbad New Mexico a few weeks earlier. As I bent over I knocked my hat off so just reached down, picked it up & casually tossed it around the corner onto the tonneau cover behind the cab. Sound familiar!! Finished the clean up & went inside the trailer. Kelly said she was heading into Ajo for some groceries & would be back in an hour or so. I had some stuff to catch up on with the computer so said, "ok, see ya later." It was probably about 10 minutes later when the hair on my head almost stood straight up as I suddenly realized............my hat was on the back of the truck!!!! Oh Noooooooo!!!! I rushed out of the trailer, down the road, around the corner & up to the highway vainly looking off in the direction Kelly had traveled. No black object on the road or shoulder resembling a cowboy hat. Walked a short distance along the road but knew it was futile. My hat was gone forever & that's all there was to it.

I'm not a hat person & this cowboy hat was the only one I had ever stuck on my head that I thought didn't make me look like a total nerd. I was like a little boy who had just lost his most prized possession of ever. And I was still mad at myself because of the wallet incident just a short time before. Why didn't I learn my lesson that time about setting things on the back of the truck. I beat myself up so bad for the next hour that I was barely human by the time Kelly got back. I was in the trailer slumped in a chair when I heard the truck pull in. How was I going to explain to her that she had probably married the dumbest creature on the planet. The thought did occur to me that she was most likely quite aware of that already:(( The screen door opened & Kelly came in with a couple bags of groceries and there perched atop her beautiful blonde head was............................ my cowboy hat:)))))) At that moment I was the happiest little cowboy kid west of the Pecos.
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It was a movement in the rear view mirror that caused her to look as she was accelerating down the highway after leaving the park. That movement was my cowboy hat beginning it's take-off roll across the tonneau cover runway in preparation for lift off into the big blue Arizona sky. She quickly backed off the gas, slowly braked & pulled over to the side of the road & retrieved my precious hat. Now she was faced with a decision. She could turn around & bring the hat back before I probably even knew it was missing or she could keep on going & let me stew about my missing hat until she got back. She made the right decision. She cranked up the burner, continued on her way, & let me stew for an hour real darn good!! Do you think I learned my lesson?? Say, did I ever tell you about the time I.................................................:((

LAMP POST LIGHT BULB
GROANER'S CORNER:((  Politicians and diapers have one thing in common. They should both be changed regularly, and for the same reason.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.

- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

PHEEBS & I TAKE THE MOTORHOME FOR A SPIN

How nice to be rolling down the road in our Motorhome this morning. Still 5 weeks away from our departure date, Pheebs & had the rig out for it's monthly summer run. With a bit of luck, the next time I back the rig out of it's spot here, it won't be back for another 6 months or so. Forgot to pick up a prescription in Goderich Thursday so little Muffin Face & I cruised on up to Walmart.  While there, we picked ourselves up a new set of seat covers for the Jeep. A bit of gas & topped off the propane tank. Also stopped at Bayfield's STORMRUNNER on the way home. Harry easily replaced a worn out torsion bar on one of our bin doors & I was on my way again.  Yes, I did try to change it myself but I think I must have been using the wrong end of the hammer or something……….

It was while taking out the old seat covers & putting the new ones on that I finally found our small triangular shaped 'off-roading' fluorescent orange flag that mounts atop our whip aerial on the back of the Jeep. Been keeping an eye out for that all summer & found it on the floor behind the passenger seat under a coil of heavy rope. Right where I had left it of course. While back there I figured I'd better get the vacuum out & do the Jeep's interior. Another job off the list.

NEW JEEP SEAT COVERS…..DON’T KNOW WHATEVER POSSESSED ME TO PUT BLACK SEAT COVERS IN HERE A COUPLE YEARS AGO:((

I think Gypsy's ON THE ROAD AGAIN blog is one of the first blogs I put on my side bar years ago & I have been following her life ever since. Her ups, her downs, her adventures while on the road, & her home life. I like Gypsy's honesty with her feelings. She doesn't sugar coat anything & if she is having a bad day she will tell you about it. I admire her courage as a single lady to strike out on her own taking on new challenges. A few years ago she hauled a big fifth wheel around the country with a big truck living a full time life on the road. She now has her boots on the ground & calls Sacramento California, home. But, that hasn't stopped her from venturing out in her car all the way over to the east coast of America & back several times. At the moment she is camp hosting at LASSEN VOLCANIC NATIONAL PARK, a place I remember her being just a few short years ago as well.  This Gal’s got a lotta spunk:))

 

OUR FRIEND BRUCE BUILT US THIS NEAT LITTLE PLATFORM FOR THE BACK OF OUR JEEP A COUPLE YEARS AGO…PHEEBS LIKES TO TRAVEL BACK THERE & LOOK OUT THE WINDOW, ALSO GOOD FOR MY CAMERA EQUIPMENT TO BE OUT OF SIGHT UNDERNEATH…LIFTS OUT EASILY

Read another blog this morning that I can totally identify with. Fellow Snow Bird, Peter, over at AMERICAN TRAVELER is feeling the stirrings of travel for the upcoming season. We are like minded about our destinations & love of the great American south-west. The very morning we received a phone call from our Real Estate agent in Prescott Arizona saying 'the deal was done, the Congress house was ours' we were sitting outside in the shadow of Wickenburg's Vulture Peak this past March having breakfast with Peter. Minutes later we were in his Motorhome beginning what would turn out be an almost endless trail of paper work over the following weeks.

 

TOPPING OFF THE PROPANE TANK THIS MORNING AT THE SOLO GAS BAR IN GODERICH

In April of 2008 shortly after returning to Canada from the American south-west I wrote a humorous little post about our travels to the States.  Well, I thought it was kind of humorous but apparently not everyone shared my thoughts.  I received this comment on our blog the following day…. "Why can't you Canadians stay on your side of the border and quit complaining about the USA in your blogs?"  Well, I couldn’t let that one go could I.  Following, are my original comments, but with a difference.  I re-posted the article, answering each & every one of my comments with an explanation of sorts.  Here then is the post…………………

 

A COUPLE PHOTOS ALONG THE TRAIL THIS AFTERNOON WITH MY LITTLE POINT & SHOOT CANON POWERSHOT SX 210IS
(written in April of 2008) Below are a few thoughts, opinions, ideas, observations & basic musings I have concluded about our trip. Some are greatly exaggerated, some are slightly humorous, some are angry, some have no basis in fact whatsoever, some are biased, some are off the wall, some are pure speculation & some I have no idea where the thought process came from in the first place. However, they all have one thing in common. There is an element of truth in each one. Even the ones with no basis in fact whatsoever:))

 

AN EARLY SPLASH OF AUTUMN COLOR 

So, let’s just look at this as my own personal…..GROANER’S CORNER tonight:((

1. Why does the American southwest have to have sooooo much wind!!
>>Just a curious question on my part. Probably has something to do with the mountains to the west & the flat plains to the east & the fact that most prevailing winds come from the west. Complaining?? I think not!!
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2. There are more McDonald's restaurants than there are grains of sand!!
>>Complaining?? No sireeee!! I happen to like McDonalds & we've got lots of em here too:))
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3. There are more shards of broken glass along some of the roadsides in the southwest than there are stars in the sky.  We find this problem in many places & the Reservation lands between Tucson & Why Arizona comes to mind. >>Unfortunately, this one is fact. And it's a sad fact too. I just don't understand why some areas have let their roadsides become such a mess. We have similar problems here in Canada as well. Is it a complaint?? Yes, but it applies here as well.
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4. Why can't convicted drunk drivers & alcohol related driving offences people be made to crawl on their hands & knees along the countless thousands of roadway miles picking up all the broken glass from a ka-zillion booze bottles they have thrown out of their cars year after year after year!!!!
>>This applies to any country, anywhere, & not just in the USA.

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5. What are all those American military planes doing in the sky every night over southern Arizona. >>Pilot training is the obvious answer here. This was not a complaint, just an observation.
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6. What ever happened to simple gas pumps. Nowadays you need a degree in engineering just to figure out all the different types of pumps & how they operate. I hate those things!!
>>This one's about gas pumps. All gas pumps everywhere!! Complaint, yes. Specifically about America...no!! Gas pumps are gas pumps wherever they are.
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7. Why can't we just do away with the border between Canada & the U.S. & cut down on those long border waits & silly customs questions. And stop those stupid agriculture checks. The customs officials make enough money to buy their own food!!
>>Well, this one is self explanatory & works both ways. Canadian or American customs practices coming or going no matter which side of the border your on. Anti-American?? No, not at all.

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8. And if I fly my Canadian flag it doesn't mean I'm there to claim I have just defeated the United States of America in some big huge war or something. It's just a Canadian flag to say, hey, we're from Canada guys. Your friendly & helpful neighbors to the north, remember. Geeeeezzzzzzzz!!  However, I have done a little search on protocol here & in the future we will fly the American flag above our Canadian flat & hopefully that will smooth the troubled waters.
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9. How come the United States hasn't smartened up to Tim Horton's coffee yet. That Charbucks stuff you got is awful.
>>Well, I could get me in big trouble over this one but I'll have to defend myself by saying it's a personal choice I guess. However, they don't call Starbuck's, Charbucks for nothing you know. Anti-American, Anti-caffeine, or anti-anything?? Nope, just happen to think Tim's brews a better cup of coffee:))
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10. Why can't some places put butter on the toast.... I'm talking to you Cracker Barrel!! And while I'm at it, why can't you people include the price of coffee in the breakfast price. Coffee is separate??...why is that!!
>>And, I'm squawking about toast not being buttered here. Not exactly earth shattering & probably something I shouldn't have squawked about in the first place but some days you just got to complain about something & for me right now it’s unbuttered toast. I don't know if we have Cracker Barrel here in Canada, but if we do.........I hope they butter the toast or I'm gonna be really ticked!!!!!!!!!!!!

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11. How come so many towns have so many wrecked & tumble down buildings in them.
>>I think this is a legitimate question & I'm assuming the southwest has a different set of by-laws & building codes about derelict old buildings. I think most places in the east tear the buildings down for safety reasons. However, on the flip side of that question........Every time you tear down some of those old buildings, your destroying a part of history forever. And after all, isn't that what the American West is all about..........history of the old west. So, I'm on the fence here. But complaining........... no, just wondering.
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12. And, why can't you Americans put some color in your money so us Canadians up here can tell a one dollar bill from a hundred dollar bill.
>>Alright, you got me on this one............maybe we should stay on our side of the border before we all go broke!!
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By the way, I didn't include all the favorable comments about America I've made because for sure I'll have some Canadian with his nose out of joint emailing me to say, "well, if ya like it down there so much, why the hell don't ya just stay there!!

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Lastly, a word to the commenter……. I'd like to thank you for your comment because it gave me something to think & write about on an otherwise boring Sunday night & if you have the time to read the blog about our recent trip to the southwest you will see that we love the USA:)) My positive comments about your country probably outweigh the negative comments by about 500 to 1. Have yourself a good day & welcome to our Canadian blog......on both sides of the border!!
P.S. My lovely American wife is from Spencerport, New York.  So there!!    Toodles:))

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.

- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

WE ARE ALL FREQUENT VISITOR’S AT….’THE PROBLEM STORE’

Another fine September morning had little Sweet Pea & I on the road again. Our usual weekly errands run with a stop for gas, some groceries, & a shared turkey salad sandwich. Many years ago in the late 70’s I had come across a rather unique farm near Dungannon Ontario. It was a farm like no other. Frolicking Monkeys, Flamingos, strolling Peacocks & I may even remember a Zebra & Buffalo or two. It was a labor of love for the farm owner with fenced acres of trees & ponds for all the animals . I have been by this farm several times in recent years & everything has been maintained & kept up nicely, but most of the more exotic animals are gone now, but not all. I knew Pheebs would enjoy seeing the animals along the roadside fence line so that is where we headed, sharing our sandwich along the way.

As soon as Pheebs jumped out of the Jeep she was greeted by a dozen Llamas, a couple of Horses, half a dozen Elk, (or were they Deer) and an assortment of Goats, Geese, Swans, & Ducks. And, there may have been other inhabitants there as well which we didn't see. Pheebs was so exited by the Llamas that she raced up & down along the fence line.  They had no fear of her.  If not for the fence between them, Pheebs would have been right in there bumping noses & wanting to play with the Llamas. Remember how well she got along with all the free range cows last March near Congress, Arizona.

 

While looking up some info for my Wednesday blog I came across a post I had written a couple years ago. It's a little something about trading in old sacks of problems for new ones. It may be relevant right now for Donna & Russ over at TRAVELS IN THERAPY as they wrestle with a frustrating problem regarding their present & future RVing plans.

We will always have our little sack of problems. The weight & size may very but the sack, whether it be filled with new or old problems, remains with us whether we like it or not. And nope, no amount of 'positive thinking' makes your sack of problems go away. You may handle that sack differently than a negative or realistic thinker, but one thing is certain, we all have that ever changing sack of problems from the beginning of life to the end. To keep it simple, I will try to relate this all to the RV side of things.  And, I should add, these are only my opinions & theories:))

 
Here's the way I see it. Through life we are constantly burdened with ever changing sacks of problems. Some bigger & heavier than others. We humans are always steady customer’s at the 'Problem Store.' It's probably the busiest store in the world. When you tire of a set of problems, you take that sack of problems to the "Problem Store & get rid of it. In other words, you deal with that specific set of problems. However, you do not walk out of that store problem free. You only trade in that sack of old problems for a sack of new problems. A sack of new problems is generally more exciting than that old sack you just traded in though. I for one sometimes tire of old problems & head off to the problem store to trade them in for some brand spanking new ones.

 

A YOUNG SWAN

Applying this theory to the RV side of life it could go something like this.  You have a dream to be free.  A dream to live a full time RV lifestyle.   You sell your house & all your stuff.   No more problems with yard work, shovelling snow, house cleaning, not to mention all the house maintenance, taxes, house insurance, on & on & on. How nice it would be to not have to worry about all those problems. Whoooops, forgot one little thing here.

 

OK, I AM JUST ‘ASSUMING’ THESE MIGHT BE ELK…MAYBE THEY ARE DEER

Despite having just been to the problem store getting rid of that whole sack of old ‘sticks & bricks’ problems you now exit the store with a new sack of problems in your hand.   Remember, it was only a trade in, & now you must begin dealing your new set of problems. Its just the way it is & there is no getting around it!!.

THE LLAMAS WERE SURE FOCUSED ON THE PHEEBS

 

Your new sack is going to contain some surprises for you. Yes, there are still all the old stand-by favs like leaky plumbing, electrical headaches, leaking doors & window, carpet spills & stains, plugged toilets, hot water shortages, blackouts, leaky roofs, & furnace failures, etc. etc. But, some of the new surprises may come in the form of rooms (slides) becoming stuck & leaving you boondocked out in the middle of nowhere with no way to go anywhere. Or how about one of your hydraulic jacks not retracting & leaving you in the same position as above.   Don't laugh, both those things have happened to us. Maybe it’s a blow-out on an Interstate with the resulting flying rubber disintegrating the front of your tow vehicle, or worse yet…... fire!! 

NOW, I DO KNOW THESE ARE COWS FOR SURE

Other surprises hiding in your little sack of new problems might have to do with things like a sudden & messy break in a sewer line at a dumping station, wind gusts while driving or boondocking that are trying to totally eliminate you from the face of the planet, crowded campgrounds that require you to grease the sides of your unit to fit it into a space or hauling 50 or 60 feet of RV through unfamiliar large cities & crowded downtowns.   Breakdowns, accidents, soaring fuel costs, shaky security, sudden or long term health issues with no immediate health services around, no personal physician, & no Tim Hortons for a thousand miles in any direction.   The endless list just goes on & on & on. How about the fact of living in small box about 8 feet wide, 15 or 40 feet long for weeks, months, & years at a time.  All those things can probably be found tucked away neatly in your new sack of problems just waiting for their 15 minutes of undivided attention.

Anyway, I think you get my drift when I say the RV dream lifestyle has to looked at through totally realistic eyes. However, don't look too hard or you just might be forced to abandon your dream focus. You just may resolve yourself to hanging onto your old sack of problems. After all, at least they are predictable.  You may convince yourself that at least with them you know what to expect in their usual boring humdrum routine. 

But, you know what, gimme a new set of problems & let me go live & play where I wanna be. Give me the cold nights, the big winds, the broken water pump, & the flat tires. Just don't make me grind along with the same heavy old sack of boring problems day after day.

Hmmmmmm, I think I just may be long overdue for a good old trip to the 'Problem Store'.....10-4!!

GROANER'S CORNER:(( If a man is alone in the garden and speaks, and there is no woman to hear him, is he still wrong??
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