We picked the hottest month in the history of the world to camp at Spaulding for the month. The heat has kept us inside in order to take advantage of the AC. It’s really not what we had in mind. The temperatures have bounced between 98 and 101!

Of course what would be a Doyle camping adventure without a repair issue coming into play. No, it wasn’t a tire issue, but rather a holding tank issue. It seems the tank came loose from the brackets that hold it in place. Only one side of the tank dropped, but in the process the pipe that connects to the sewer hose was bent and developed a leak. Hard as it was for me to believe, we had difficulty finding a service person that would do an onsite repair. I thought we lived in the RV capital of the world, and yet repair services seem to be limited. We finally found this clown who agreed to come to the campground. I say “clown” only because he was totally unprepared. For example he hadn’t charged any of his batteries for his drill. He needed a rubber mallet that I had to supply. The same was true of duck tape. I thought everybody in the world had duck tape. Anyhow, he did manage to get the tank rebolted. It no longer leaked. However, attaching the tank cover was a whole other problem. He duck taped the cover in place. Two days later the cover came loose and is now laying on the ground!

I paid $210 for his service. I told him the job he did was unacceptable. He is scheduled to return this afternoon. Hopefully he’ll bring a few tools.

It’s now Sunday, July 22^nd and I can tell you that the repairman did return and completed the job. Hopefully it will hold together when we next move the trailer. Speaking of our travel trailer, we have decided we will sell the five year old Sunset Trail. We had mixed emotions about selling it, but believe the time has come. It’s becoming more and more difficult for me to do the work necessary to maintain, set up, tear down and haul it. When it becomes too much work for the return on the effort invested, it’s probably time to move on. So if any of you know anyone who might be interested in a five year old thirty foot travel trailer, let us know. I should add that it will not be available until September 18^th.

We now have all heard and seen the details of the mass murder in Colorado. A mass murder that makes utterly no sense. What has caused the rise of mass murders, killings, and bizarre behavior in the United States? I believe it’s the gradual change in our culture over the past fifty years. It has been so gradual we haven’t even noticed. I’m sure many of you have heard about the frog and the kettle of boiling water. Scientists found that if you throw a frog into boiling water he will immediately jump out. However, if you place the frog in cold water and gradually get the water to the boiling point the frog will stay in the water and eventually die. I believe that is what has happened to our country. There is no longer any accountability on the part of individuals, corporations, and most of all the government. No one is responsible. There is an excuse for everything. We bend over backwards trying to find a reason why people do what they do. What we should be doing is letting them know what the consequences of their actions will render them. Don’t you just love it when the mass murder is constantly referred to as a “suspect”. I’m surprised he isn’t being labeled ‘a person of interest’. I believe the decline in our cultural morals began with the decision to remove prayer from our schools. I’m fine with a small percentage of students not taking part in prayer. I’m NOT fine with that same small percentage dictating to the vast majority of us because of some morons (mostly liberal courts) concern that we might offend someone. This excuse for any and all types of behavior makes me want to puke. We’re moving closer and closer to replicating the Roman Empire. Glenn Beck said it best a few days ago. He said “our country has a hole in its soul”. Bill Cosby wrote a piece in which he lamented all the various actions and behaviors he is tired of hearing and seeing. Lastly he said he is glad to “be on his way out rather than being on his way in”. I feel exactly the same way. I only hope our country will change course for the sake of our grandkids and their kids. It’s now up to them to turn this culture around.  

JIM

 

My wife spotted a yard sign that simply said, “Vote for the Mormon, not the MORON”! Kinda says it all. If you don’t intend to vote for Romney, do us a favor and don’t vote. We can’t take four more years of this dictator. Day by day we’re looking and sounding more like Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Egypt, Syria and so many more delightful places where people have lost all of their rights and freedom. If you intend to vote for Barack, you may want to consider relocating to one of the aforementioned vacation spots (prior to casting your vote of course). One way tickets are very afordable. Enough bitterness already.

Today the temperature hit 92 degrees. That’s bad enough, but the weather gurus are telling me it will hit 100 on Thursday, followed by several more days in the 90’s. What are you people doing. Your carbon footprint is a size 14 and growing! You’re destroying the planet. And, you are doing this with impunity. Oh wait a minute. If King Barack is re-elected, forget the impuniy. You will be punished. Count on it.

Oh I forgot, I was going to lay off the bitterness. The older I get the more difficult it is for me to curb my "cyn i cal ity" (this is a word we didn’t have until now); accent on "cal" You can thank me at your leisure.

We’ve been quite busy since returning from FL. We traveled to Greenwich CT for Cameron’s 1^st Communion. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich. We were able to get a deal there. If you stayed two weekend nights, the third night was free. This was the only reason we could afford the Hyatt. Beautiful place and only a mile from my son and families’ home. On our way back we spent a few nights at my sister-in-law’s home in Stow, OH. We were able to visit with my sister in Akron, OH. Both are doing well.

A couple weeks later we drove to Nauvoo, IL. Nauvoo is a Hebrew word meaning beautiful place, and it is. The main reason for our visit was to see my good friend Steve McBride and his wife Darcy. We hadn’t seen them in 20 years. They live in Salt Lake City, but are spending 18 months in Nauvoo on a mission. They conduct tours through the historic sites. In the evening they take part in the entertainment. The music and singing was great. We got to see the BYU top rated dance troop. They were outstanding.

From Nauvoo we travelled to Quincy, IL to visit our friends Diane and Jeff Bloss. We’ve spent 5 winters at Emerald Beach RV Resort in Navarre, FL with them. Jeff has 3 working Jukeboxes that Jeff completely reconditioned. He also has a collection of radios (about 600 of them and 90% of them work). What a talented guy. We had a wonderful visit.

Next on the agenda is a month at Spaulding campground in Niles, MI. We’ve stayed there a number of times. We pull our travel trailer out of storage on July 1^st. We are only 30 minutes from home, so we will be back and fourth several times during the month. It’s like having a summer cottage on the lake. A change of scenery in a very quiet setting.

The week of September 10^th we’ll be meeting up with our Florida gang at Indian Lakes, a campground just south of Shipshewana, IN. There will be 14 of us taking over Indian Lakes. Should be a blast. 

  

JIM

Back Home Again in Indiana

After spending a night with son Dan and family, we had brunch with son Mark in the morning and arrived in Elkhart on the 10^th of April, only to be greeted with 35 mile an hour winds and snow! Since then its been several trips to the storage area to gather more items that needed to come to our apartment. I think we’ve finally gotten halfway back to normal. It’s amazing how 3 months away left us confused as to where things were in the apartment. Notice how I attributed the confusion to our 3 months away and not to our aging dementia.

It’s really great to be home, but we’ve already started a box for items we will need in our condo next year. Even though the condo is competely furnished and equippecd, there are things like office supplies, printer, CD’s, trash bags and files that we will need. It goes without saying, we are looking forward to the Navarre vacation with the Gulf of Mexico just 20 steps away from our back door. Of course there is also the benefit of great gas mileage next year since we won’t be dragging the Sunset Trail behind my gas guzzling truck. We’ll be driving Mary Ellen’s little PT Cruiser.

Our agenda over the next two months requires a few road trips. In May we’re going to CT for my youngest grandson’s First Communion, On our way back we’ll be stopping in Stow, OH at Mary Ellen’s sister’s and visiting my sister in Akron. In June we’ll be going to Nauvoo, IL to meet up with my good friend Steve McBride. Its been about 20 years since I’ve seen Steve. We both were employed at Bayer Diagnostics. Steve lives in Salt Lake City, but he and his wife, Darcy, are spending a year in Nauvoo on a

Morman Mission. When we leave Nauvoo we’ll travel to Quincy, IL and spend a couple weeks with our friends Diane and Jeff Bloss. Now that Jeff has gotten up off the floor, I should  confess I made up the part about a couple weeks. Ten days should be plenty of time to get reaquainted!! We didn’t see much of Jeff and Diane at Emerald Beach RV park in Navarre. Jeff and Diane moved to the high rent district of the park. Jeff made the lame excuse that he needed more space for their new travel trailer. We saw right through that one. They simply wanted a change of scenery if you know what I mean! Ten days in Quincy should more than make up for that!

In July we will take the Sunset Trail out of storage and set up camp at Spaulding Campground in Niles, MI. Since Spaulding is only 25 miles from home, I’m sure we’ll be back and forth a few times during the month. Lastly, our summer reunion with the Emerald Beach gang is scheduled for September. This year we’ll be setting up camp in Indiana. The site hasn’t been finalized as yet, but it looks like it’ll be Bass Lake Beach in Knox, IN. Mary Ellen and I will check out the place in May to see if it meets our very high standards!

I should mention that our trip home from Florida almost came off without a problem. The brakes on the truck worked well and the tires on the trailer ran smoothly. The one problem occurred at our last campground before Indy. We were staying at the Louisville South KOA. The morning prior to leaving for Indy I planned to flush the black water tank. I opened the valve to drain it and nothing happened. After spending an hour applying my vast amount of knowledge in an attempt to solve the problem, I resigned myself to spending some $$$ and having a real expert solve the problem. However, the ever crafty Mary Ellen approached Rex, the work camper, and used her best “poor female in distress” approach. Rex fell for it and told her he thought he might be able to help. He brought his magic wand with hose attached and after about 20 minutes he broke up the log jam and the draining began! I would recommend the KOA south in Louisville if your in the neighborhood. Tell Rex ‘thanks again’.

jim

AN ABERRANT WINTER 2012

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. I believe this quote sums up our winter of 2012.

I felt as though we were wintering in Minnesota.  The weather was a little better than Rochester, MN, but the number of hospital and doctor visits had me thinking of the Mayo Clinic. Normally one doesn’t plan their vacation around medical issues, but this winter was just that. It started the first two weeks we were here. For some still unknown reason I was running a low grade fever each and every day. No other symptoms, just that dragged out feeling you get when running an elevated temperature. A doctor visit, an antibiotic, and things returned to normal after two weeks.

But the real medical focus was Mary Ellen. It started with mid-sternum pressure. But when Mary Ellen said she thought maybe she should see a doctor, I knew it must hurt more than she was letting on to me. When she first saw the internist, he immediately sent her to the ER at Baptist in Gulf Breeze.

This Tuesday will be her third and hopefully final hospitalization. The right leg femoral artery is the one in need of stents. Doctor Carter, who specializes in problematic leg blockage will be doing this surgery.

Until this month, the weather has been atypical as well. We’ve had several days where Elkhart, IN had higher temperatures than Navarre, FL. January and February were disappointing weather wise. One water line freeze and plenty of fog and moisture made for a few ‘cabin fever’ days. I don’t want to give the impression that winter 2012 was all about negatives. There were plenty of positives as well.

The crew that changed all four tires on our camper comes to mind at the top of the list. Jim Murdy, Jeff Bloss, and John Pratt handled most of the labor. They did a super job in record time with nary a vulgar word spoken. Jim also provided knowledge and the tools to help me construct a guttering system for my sewer line. I’m sure many of you are thinking, “didn’t you do anything”? Let me think about that one...I guess not!

I did manage to have a two day battle with an upset stomach that brought on nausea and unpredictable vomiting The most memorable sudden onset nausea occurred at Walgreens. I did manage to get out to the truck where I proceeded to puke on one of my tires!

I’m still trying to fully recover from what I assume is a pulled muscle in my back. I’d say I’m 87% cured. In the past it has usually taken a couple weeks and that’s just about what its been. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Certainly in the realm of the atypical was a five day trip to Ohio for my sister's funeral in Akron. In my last blog I talked about the funeral, but I don't believe I mentioned that the wind and cold at the cemetery was very close to unbearable for the six of us who carried the coffin to her final resting place. 

We have had some memorable get togethers and will most likely have a few more. My total focus now is getting Mary Ellen “fixed” and back home. There’s probably a better word than “fixed”, but you get the idea.

We’re looking forward to 2013 and a reversal of fortunes. Say a prayer for my wonderful wife.

jim

Saint Paddy's Day

 

Shortly after my last blog, and one day before Mary Ellen’s leg surgery, my 93 year old sister died. We left for Ohio the next morning. We got back to Akron in  record time (for me) of two days. My niece, Mary, did a wonderful job of planning the funeral. Everything came off exactly as my sister would have wanted it.

Mary Ellen’s surgery has been rescheduled for this Wednesday, March 21^st at 1 p.m. The surgery is called an aorta gram with stent placement. The problem is in the right leg which is 90% blocked. If all goes as planned, she’ll stay overnight and be discharged Thursday morning.  Doctor Razek told her she will be a new woman and I’ll never be able to keep up with her. I think she’s looking forward to this. Maybe a little more than I’d like!

Last night the “bumpity bumpity gang” and friends held a carry in down at the newly erected ‘gazebo’. It doesn’t really look like a gazebo. I like to call it the ‘outer deck’. The outer deck is on the sand closer to Santa Rosa Sound. That would make the ‘inner deck’ the one attached to the pavilion. We had twenty four people and I think everyone had plenty to eat and drink. The ‘outer’ and ‘inner’ decks is my way of differentiating the two decks. Any of you who cares is certainly welcome to use this copyrighted nomenclature.

This evening about thirty of us met at the Cactus Flower restaurant to wish two of our camp workers well. Leon and Lillian are moving to Cherokee, NC. They will both be missed.  

Tomorrow is Saint Paddy’s day. We are planning on meeting some friends at the Beach Monkey on Navarre Beach on the Gulf. The Beach Monkey has a huge deck. Tomorrow they will have a DJ and I’m sure some unplanned entertainment. Should be a fun afternoon.

Happy Saint Patrick’s day.

CHANGING LANDSCAPE

 

Of late we’ve had a paucity of sunshine and a plethora of rain. On Saturday it rained for 18 hours straight. I had intended to complain about the lousy weather in Navarre this year (for all the good that would do), but after hearing about the 39 people who died due to a different kind of weather I decided my minor complaint paled by comparison. It reminded me of the quote, “I cried because I had no shoes, and then I met a man who had no feet”.

As you know, Mary Ellen is scheduled for surgery this Wednesday at Pensacola Baptist Hospital. We’re hoping she won’t have to cancel. The reason the aortagram is questionable at this time is the deteriorating condition of my 94 year old sister. She could die anytime in the next week or so. Of course nobody can predict these things with surety. Whenever her death occurs, we’ll be heading to Akron, Ohio for the funeral. If it happens before Wednesday, Mary Ellen will have to reschedule the surgery. If you’re so inclined, please say a prayer.

Sunday and today were lovely. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I guess the skies totally dryed after the 18 hours of rain. There was nothing left for the clouds to do except to rest.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that the letter “G” has made a curtain call. Actually it was far less dramatic. I bought an auxillary keyboard. To replace the keyboard on my MacBook would have cost $200 +. Since my MacBook is 4 years old I may buy a new one next year. In the meantime I’ll make do with a $20 keyboard.

jim

 

My laptop won’t type a “_”. Obviously, you don’t know what letter I’m talkin_ about, since my laptop won’t type it. Here’s a clue. It’s the letter after F and followed by H. Mary Ellen su__ested that I clean the key. Oops. She was thinkin_ of my IBM Selectric back in the sixties. I’ll probably take it to the “_eek” down the street. I have no idea what mi_ht cause such a malfunction. All of you are probably sittin_ there with “worms in your mouth”, a.k.a “with baited breath”, waitin_ to find out.

My new set of 4 tires are now on the Sunset Trail (S.T.) and ready to roll. They are a _oodyear heavy duty tire “D” rated. They looked so _ood that I _ot new black wheel covers for them. I have to thank 2 Jim’s and a Jeff for doin_ all the heavy liftin_. All I did was transport the tires from the _oodyear store. The way the “Pit Crew” did it was to jack up one side and remove the 2 old tires. I took them to the tire store where they mounted the new ones. When I arrived back the crew put these on the S.T. and moved the jack to the other side. The process was repeated and before you knew it I had 4 new tires on the S.T. The _oodyear store is only a mile up the road. The entire process took  just under two hours.

As for my brakes, I’d like you to ima_ine each and every part that is involved in stoppin_ your vehicle, and than ima_ine replacin all of these! Than, ima_ine what that mi_ht cost. Than ima_ine passin_ out. The rotors, pads, calipers and a bunch of other stuff had to be replaced.

In my last Blo_ I told you about Mary Ellen’s cardiac cath. It went so well she decided to have Dr. Razek do a little more ‘stentin’. That’s ri_ht, she’s _oin_ to have her ri_ht le_ fixed so she’s able to walk without pain for the first time in a couple years. She’ll have the Aorta_ram done this Wednesday the 7^th at Pensacola Baptist hospital. If all _oes accordin_ to plan she will stay overnite and be dischar_ed on the 8^th. Say a prayer that all _oes as well as it did on her last visit to Baptist Hospital. I’ll let you know.

jim

THE HOSPITAL

 

It’s been at least a month since last I wrote. A lot has happened, not all of it good. First it was my brakes. Then it was new tires for the Sunset Trail. Lastly, we bought Mary Ellen two stents for her right coronary artery!

I’m very happy to report Mary Ellen’s cardiac cath went so well. On the 16^th, Mary Ellen was experiencing some mid-sternum pain. It was bad enough for her to decide to see a doctor. We went across the street to the G.P., and when he heard her history he told us to go to the E.R. at Baptist Hospital in Gulf Breeze. Gulf Breeze is about 20 miles from Navarre. It’s the same hospital where I had my shoulder surgery last year.

The E.R. decided to admit her overnight and do some further testing. The overnight turned into six nites. They were trying to rule out coronary involvement causing the mid-sternum pain. Enzymes were normal. The EKG was normal, but the nuclear stress test pointed to a problem with the blood supply to the heart. Dr. Razzic did a cardiac cath and was able to insert two stents and open the artery. We were so thankful they didn’t need to do a bypass.

The first few days at the hospital I was without a truck. People offered me their cars or were more than willing to transport me back and forth. My friend, Dave Lundgren, ended up providing the transportation for at least five round trips to the hospital. Our friends here are without peer. They’re the best.

The first nite Mary Ellen was in the hospital I decided to stay the nite in her room. Her day nurse said she would bring a blanket and pillow, and I could sleep in the recliner next to her bed. Now, I should mention she was in a semi-private room. When the day nurse didn’t bring a pillow, Mary Ellen asked the nite nurse. She told us I couldn’t stay in the room because there was another patient in the room. Of course by this time it was nine thirty. I certainly didn’t want to call Dave to come get me, so I asked the nurse where I might sleep. She told me the ICU waiting room had the only couch. Their idea of a couch, and my idea of a couch are miles apart! This “couch” was a vinyl covered board! It made for a restless sleep surface, but I survived.

The best thing that happened during Mary Ellen’s stay in the hospital was the “surprise arrival” of my sons Tim, Dan and Mark. They made the 24 hour round trip arriving Sunday evening (the day before the cardiac cath). They made the return trip late Monday evening and were back at work on Tuesday. I was glad some of you at Emerald Beach got to meet them. They are the best.

Next time I’ll tell you the story of my brakes and the new tires. I know you’re on the edge of your seats.

jim

From the Panhandle

Looking like another nice day in Navarre. It's supposed to get up to 70 today with a slim chance of rain. We've had some rain, but nothing severe. Twenty four days into the month and no tornado warnings yet. Just after I wrote that last sentence I heard Thursday may bring some severe weather. Had to happen sometime. Could be a laundry room night. That's where we go to survive.

I'm told tonight is "the State of the Union". I'm looking through the TV guide to find something to watch. I already know what the state of the union is, and I know we'll never hear the truth from 'what's his name'. I pray this his last state of the union.

Our casino trip to Biloxi last week resulted in our usual contributions. Mary Ellen lost a little while I cleared $.14! You heard me right. I actually played the entire time with $10 and cashed out $10.14. That's the first time I've won in ten years.

The Luau last Friday night was the best party ever here at Emerald Beach. The food, the entertainment and the decor was excellent. The hula honies were great. Many of us thought it would be a good laugh, but they were excellent. We also had a steel drum band and the guy and gal could really sing. They were very entertaining. A good time was had by all (there were 90 people there).

Last night, our friends Dave and Janet hosted cocktails. There must have been twenty of us on their site. It broke up a little early when lightning appeared to the west. By the time we got everything put away and found our way home, we had a downpour. It didn't last long.

My fever is back. No congestion or coughing, just a low grade fever that usually makes itself known in the evening. The prescribed antibiotic knocked out the first round almost immediately. I guess I'm going to make a return trip to the doctor for another round of antibiotics.

It's difficult to believe we've been here over three weeks and have yet to visit Panera.  I've also not been to Barnes & Noble. Glad we have a couple more months to catch up.

I've got to get some sleep. Tomorrow morning is the weekly 'coffee and donuts'. It's the social event of the week!

What's Happening

Well I'm cured. After two days on antibiotics the cough and congestion vanished. My goal now is to remain in a state of wellness for the balance of the winter. The Nurse Practitioner, (Jameson) at the walk-in clinic across the street was a delight. Her history and physical was thorough, her diagnosis right on, and she did all this with a smile and wit not always associated with the practitioners of medicine.

The weather here has been erratic. We've had days in the low seventies, followed by days in the high forties. We've had very little rain, but we're supposed to get some this evening.  We've been told they really need the rain down here. Brush fire warnings have been posted since our arrival.

We finally got neighbors next door to us. Site 19 has been vacant since we arrived. Bill and Kathy are from Huntsville, AL. They are staying until the 15th of February, at which time they are being 'forced out' by a couple from Quincy, IL. We're hoping they are as nice and friendly as Bill and Kathy! We've heard rumors they won't be. There goes the neighborhood so to speak.

Tomorrow we're taking the casino bus to Biloxi, MS and the Hard Rock. There are thirty of us from the campground scheduled to go. The bus is picking us up at 7:30 a.m. after an early coffee and donuts at the pavilion. We should be back here by 7:30 p.m.

On Friday we're attending a Luau at the pavilion. It includes dinner/dancing and entertainment. I understand some of the ladies have been learning the hula. That should be good for a few laughs.

We had dinner at the Shrimp Basket with Gerry and Linda. Very nice and the food and service were excellent. The place was full.

After six flats in five years on the trailer I've decided to buy four new tires. These are heavy duty weight bearing tires. I think the ones that came on it weren't handling the weight very well. We're not going to have them put on until March sometime. There's really no point in having them mounted to sit here until we leave in April. We look forward to a "flat free" trip home!

jim

SICK DAYS

One week is 'in the books' here in Navarre, FL. The weather has been very nice. A couple cool days, but the rest in the seventies. The only downside to week one for me has been a persistent cough and pneumonia-like congestion. I finally broke down and went to the doctor today. Armed with an antibiotic and codeine cough medication, I look forward to rapid improvement during week number two.

We've still managed to take part in several activities. Wednesday was coffee and donuts as usual. I think it was the biggest crowd ever for our Wednesday gathering.

We attended the New Years Eve party. I believe I mentioned the party wound down at 9 p.m. It was a good thing since several of the "old people" were dozing off. Mary Ellen and I were very proud to be one of the last couples to leave. And it didn't come any too soon!

Our good friends Gerry and Linda Foyle have sold their RV and are renting a Condo right on the Gulf. It is gorgeous. They invited Dave, Janet, Russ, Beth, Mary Ellen and I over for drinks last night. The views are spectacular and most importantly they both love it. We went to dinner after at TC's front porch.

On another positive note, I haven't fallen off of anything this year. Of course this may be due to the fact Mary Ellen won't allow me to get more than a foot off the ground.

Other than the aforementioned activities, most of my recreation has involved lying down. I don't think I've ever packed as much sleep time into a week as I have the past several days. It seems like such a waste of time, but I feel much better after a couple hours in the rack. Once I get rid of this bug, I'm sure 'nap frequency' will revert to once a day.

Navarre

Its been awhile since I've put together an article. It's January 3rd, 2012 and I decided now was the time. I plan to do a weekly, more as a journal of our time in Navarre, FL than a brilliantly written BLOG.

We arrived in Navarre on Sunday the 1st. It was a good decision to store our travel trailer down here last Fall rather than having to dig it out of the snow in Elkhart. Just driving the truck down here sans trailer made so much easier. We spent our first nite only as far as Indianapolis. We visited two sons (Dan & Family) and Mark. Spent the night at Dan's and left in the morning to head down this way.  First stop was Bowling Green, KY followed by Greenville, AL.

We spent New Years Eve at Day's Inn in Navarre and "crashed" the New Years Eve party at Emerald Beach RV Park. Good seeing many friends. The ladies who have been here since December 1st did a great job with the decorations, and there was enough food to feed every camper. About 50 people attended.

On the first of January we drove to Milton to pick up our trailer. Dave and Janet Lundgren also drove to Milton with us. Both of us stored our units in Milton.
Dave's battery in his 5th wheel was dead. We ended up jumping and charging it for about 30 minutes. We checked in around noon. Thusfar we hadn't experienced any problems, so I had to do something stupid to maintain my mishap record.

I won't go into the gory details, but suffice it to say the trailer fell off the blocks. This meant of course we now had no way of lifting it back unto the blocks. Of course we had more help than we needed from fellow campers. Our neighbor Jim had a jack which enable us to lift the trailer back onto the blocks. We were now ready to begin unpacking.

Yesterday, our Canadian friends, Linda and Gerry Foyle invited us for cocktails at their condo. They decided to sell their Class A motorhome and rent a condo for 3 months. It's on the 7th floor of the Colony Beach Condos. Three bedrooms, 3 baths and a view to die for! It's less than 10 minutes from their condo to emerald beach. We're planning to spend a lot of time with them, both here and their condo.

Many of you know about Dave Lundgren's surgery a few weeks prior to coming here. He is doing well but isn't there yet. This isn't a bad place to recuperate, but the post surgical problems make it less enjoyable than it might have been.

I failed to mention the weather. On the 1st, the day we moved in, it was 74 degrees. On the 2nd and again today the temp won't get above 44!! Of course we're being blamed for this change in the weather; at least the sky is clear and the sun is shining.

Till next time.

jim

Occupy Wall Street

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, he and the morons that surround him have shown their support for the OWS deadbeats. That’s right, he understands why these scum of the earth are out there. After all, the “economy is bad”. People are unhappy. I guess this gives these losers the right to be out there committing violent acts, raping, stabbing, shooting, bombing, public sex and all sorts of bodily functions in public. Today they are planning to throw Molotov cocktails thru Macy’s windows. But, according to our so called leader, this is understandable. They’re upset!!!

The former speaker of the house (Pelosi) is quoted as saying, “God bless the protesters”. Of course I’ve known dear old Nancy was a nutcase for several years. How can you explain these people. If they have a cause it seems to be opposition to the Banks, Wall St., Jews, and of course, Capitalism. Now we know of course that if you interview twenty of these creatures you’ll get twenty different lame excuses. Excuses like the ‘bank wants me to pay my student loan’. Duh!! Of all the nerve. Solution, lets graffiti the bank building. Wow, what a concept. They complain they can’t find a job while they are adding some very bad behavior to their RESUME. And, they are trying to destroy the people and the institutions who are the very ones creating the jobs!!

Then there’s the idiot who is whining about Target wanting him to come to work at midnight on Thanksgiving. If I managed that Target store I would downsize the “cart roundup crew” by one. Give the job to someone who wants and needs the job. This bonehead can join the ranks of the unemployed and start whining about that.

The United States is becoming the ‘2^nd coming of Rome. We the people must quit bending over and allowing no prayer, no Christmas, no English language, no pledge of allegiance and on and on. We’re in trouble gang. Complacency is not the answer. We may wake up one day with ‘jack-booted thugs’ knocking down our door.

jim

Thanksgiving

Nov. 16, 2011

It’s a Wednesday, and I made myself a promise that I would spend two hours a day writing. So hear I am sitting in front of my MacBook screen with the keyboard under my nimble fingers waiting for an inspiration.

Thanksgiving will be hear in a few days. Normally I don’t give the day a lot of thought, but as I grow older it has more meaning than it did in the past. Thanksgiving day is simply a reminder telling us we have many things for which we should be thankful. These are a few of mine.

·      The most wonderful wife and mother to our boys that a guy could ever wish for

·      Our four wonderful sons

·      The best nine grandkids on the face of the earth

·      Selling our house in record time

·      Finding an apartment that we both love

·      The wonderful friends we have

·      The fact that one of our friends (Dave Lundgren) made it thru surgery and is on the road to recovery

·      That Julie Lee is looking great after her nasty surgery

·      Our three delightful daughters-in-law

·      The fact we are both healthy with only 27 minor complaints!!

·      The fact we have plenty of money if we die before next month!!

·      The fact we only have 14 months of “you know who”

·      The fact we haven’t had a flat tire on our camper in a month (Oh, I forgot it’s in storage)

I knew if I listed more than a few I would eventually “go off the rails”! But you know what I mean. We should all reflect on how fortunate we are.

Happy Thanksgiving!                                JIM

October Surprise

We decided some time ago that rather than wait till the snow accumulates in Elkhart in January, we would take our trailer to Florida this month and store it there. We won't have to dig it out of two feet of snow as we did last year in January. Now we can just drive the truck to pick up the trailer in Florida and pull it a few miles to Emerald Beach in Navarre.

So, on Saturday the 22nd of October we picked up the trailer from Wana RV in Shipshewana, IN and hit the road. We had taken it to Wana for a Fall checkup. Since we were twenty five miles East of Elkhart we didn't go toward Indy on Rt. 31 as we've done in the past. We were close to I 69 and decided to take 69 to Indy with plans to spend the nite at the KOA south of Louisville. Alas our plans were about to change.

I've come to the realization that our FLAT TIRE in the Muncie, IN area has become somewhat of an annual event! You heard me correctly. We had our 6th flat in 5 years. None of our Florida friends can match that. To add to the misery, we sat in our truck along I 69 for 2 hours and 15 minutes waiting for Good Sam to dispatch help. Part of the problem was that Good Sam dispatched the 'tire fixer man' from KOKOMO. If you know Indiana, Kokomo is about 50 miles on country roads to get to the Muncie area. It took the guy another thirty minutes to accomplish the task. When he finished we resumed our journey. We had to find a tire store and buy another tire. God knows we wouldn't dare drive very far without a spare.

My friend Jeff Bloss is my tech support guy when it comes to everything you need to know about RV's. This includes tires. Turns out I have 14 inch wheels. Don't get me wrong, I did know this. What I didn't realize was that Jeff's former trailer from the same manufacturer as mine came with 15 inch wheels. Jeff believes my trailer is too heavy for the size of the tires. Rather than bore you with more details, suffice it to say that Jeff is doing in depth research (at no cost to me?), in order to come up with the best possible solution to my tire woes.

Discount Tire in Muncie sold us and mounted our new tire as a spare. We were there for about an hour. By this time Louisville was out of the question. We camped near Muncie. We were both in need of sleep.

Sunday the 23rd was uneventful. In other words, no more flat tires. We're at the KOA in Bowling Green, KY. We've stopped here a number of times, but it's under new management and it didn't meet our expectations. The site and grounds were OK, but they now close from noon to four every day. They don't have a brochure. They sell propane but they didn't have any. The women's shower room was a mess. Just so you don't get the wrong idea, Mary Ellen told me about the shower room!

Tomorrow we're planning on getting to Birmingham South. I'll let you know how that turns out. Wish us luck.

Jim

Lackawaxen

The month of August has come and gone. It seems the entire month has been spent 'on the road'. We've just returned to our "condo style apartment home" which we continue to love by the way.

We spent five days at my son's (Jim) vacation home in the Pocono mountains of Lackawaxen, PA. Jim's five kids were there. They range in age from seven to sixteen. They are blessed with my good looks and they are all witty and charming. The three girls also happen to be beautiful! We had a good time between trips to the lake and the top of the mountain. The Lake and Ski area were required trips in order to use cell phones or be able to connect to the internet. The lack of TV and the internet necessitated conversation while we were at the house.

Deer and the occasional bear made the indoors rather appealing to me. We didn't see any bears, but they have wandered through the yard at other times. Jim, Pat and the kids left on Saturday, and we had planned to stay a few more days. However, Mary Ellen's sister, Carol, had another stroke (number 5 according to the MRI). She is doing very well now, but we left the mountains on Monday to spend a little time with her in Stow, Ohio.

Before we departed we managed to find a casino! Surprise, surprise. So on Sunday we headed down the mountain and 90 minutes later ended up in Wilkes-Barre, PA and the Mohegan Sun casino. We spent four hours or so. It was a very nice casino. I highly recommend it. Mary Ellen proceeded to lose $60 or so, while I managed to win $.14. I actually managed to play for three or four hours on twenty dollars and still came out ahead. I believe I'm blessed with a skill for managing slots. Managing slots does NOT mean winning, it means NOT losing. It was fun.

When we returned from the Casino we had dinner at the Summit restaurant at the top of the mountain. It was a beautiful nite and we sat on the patio overlooking the ski lift. The food was outstanding. I had a half rack of baby back ribs. I can't imagine anyone eating a full rack. The entire meal exceeded our expectations.

So on Monday we left around noon and proceeded toward OHIO. We had planned to stay over somewhere on the way to Carol's. We had stayed in Dubois, PA on our way to Lackawaxen and we ended up stopping there again. On our trip east we stayed at the Hampton, so we decided to try one of the other hotels. We pulled into the Best Western. I went in to see about reservations. Mary Ellen remained in the car but decided to turn off the engine while she waited. Before I go further I should mention that every time we venture outside the borders of Elkhart, Indiana, whether we are driving the truck, the PT Cruiser or pulling the trailer with the truck, we have had some type of incident requiring roadside service. So, on returning to the Cruiser after getting a room for the night, Mary Ellen turned the key to start the car. NOTHING. It was dead. No click, no nothing. Dashboard lit, but no headlights. Warning bells worked to alert us to an open door, but no ignition.

Rather than call emergency road service from Good Sam, Mary Ellen suggested we use our Chrysler roadside assistance. She called and with very little discussion with the gentleman on the phone, he told us he was sending a tow truck. Within ten minutes the tow truck was there. One of the nicest men I've ever met came over, introduced himself and suggested he try jumping the battery. He did and it started. However, he said that chances were very good that if we turned the car off, it would never start again. He suggested he would tow it to the Chrysler dealer down the street (3 miles away). Of course it was five o'clock and the mechanics had gone home. They assured us they would get to it first thing in the morning. They called us around nine and told us the battery had a hole in it and wouldn't take a charge and had to be replaced. Why you ask did the battery have a hole in it. It developed a hole due to bouncing around under the hood. Why you ask was it bouncing around. Simple, there was no battery tray holding it in place. The dealer said he had never seen a car without a battery tray. They didn't have any trays, and we didn't want to spend another day waiting for one. So, they held the battery in place using duck tape, bungie cords and glue. I made that up. But they told us they thought it would be OK till we got home. So we paid the $176 and left Dubois by ten a.m.

We arrived at Carol's about one p.m. Our dealer in Elkhart where Mary Ellen bought the 2009 PT Cruiser ended up reimbursing us the $176. They have no idea why the Cruiser came without a battery tray, but we have one now.

After a visit with my two sisters and another dinner out with Carol we left for our "condo style apartment home", which we continue to love.

jim

ON GOLDEN POND

Oops, it's not Golden Pond, it's Hunter's Pond. It's just that some days it seems like Golden Pond. I'm not getting lost in the yard or bumping into trees. If I start doing that we'll have to move somewhere without woods and a pond! Actually we still love this place. We are getting tired of the dirty and nasty Canadian Geese, but they usually only pay us a visit once a day. We do have a friendly deer that stops by once a week. She's beautiful. She seems to be a loaner. Most deer I know run in packs. I think our deer is somewhat antisocial. We also have a cardinal couple (Carl & Carla). Recently another male cardinal showed up. Carl wasn't happy. He chased the new guy. Recently I saw Carla talking with the new guy. A think a divorce is imminent! I failed to mention 'tommy the turtle'. Tommy is about 10 inches long and has a beautiful black and gold shell. Tommy walks across our patio about once a week. I think it takes him a week to make the circuit of the apartment buildings. Well, enough about our nature preserve lest you think I'm losing my marbles. Or maybe you've thought that all along. Anyhow...

So let's talk about people...we met our snowbird friends for a 'summer reunion'. We met at a campground in Champaign, Illinois. Now normally one would assume that if you are going to an RV Park, one would have some sort of RV or at least a tent. However, the day we were to pull our trailer to Champaign, the brakes went out on the truck. This was on a Saturday afternoon. The only place open was Sears. They found a broken brake line on the left front. The only problem was they couldn't get the part until Monday. We decided to drive Mary Ellen's car and stay at a hotel in Champaign near the campground. On interstate 80 around Chicago we had a blowout. By the time we waited for emergency services to arrive, had lunch with our Son, Tim, bought 2 new tires and got underway, we had lost 4 hours. I should mention Tim lives just a few miles from where we had the blowout. The rest of the trip was uneventful. We were the last to arrive at the campground, but made up for it quickly. The gathering was fun with the exception of Dave's back. He has had back problems for some time now, and the doctors can't seem to find a cure. On the last day in Champaign Dave developed severe pain that radiated from back to front. He wouldn't go to the E.R. of course, and eventually the pain diminished enough that Dave felt he was ready to drive home. Just prior to the reversal I told Dave we were going to take him outside and shoot him! I was very glad we didn't have to follow through. Dave has a difficult decision coming up. Whether to have surgery or not. We're all hoping he's in much better shape when we get to Florida this January.

I can't believe it's August already. I have to admit I'm actually looking forward to some cold weather. The ninety degree temps are really getting old. We have plans for another trip to Ohio, perhaps PA as well, and will probably take our camper to an RV Park for the month of September. The end of October we're planning to take the camper to Florida and store it down there. When January comes around, and it's time to prep for Florida, it will be such a relief not having to dig out of the snow and ice. We'll only have to drive the truck to our Florida storage facility and we're home free.

Lastly, I just have to mention the morons in Washington. I won't even bother giving you any details. I'm sure you're all as sick of this crap as I am. If you're not, nothing I can say will ever change your mind. My suggestion to all of you who are fed up with this Washington crowd is to vote for ANYONE who ISN'T an incumbent. That's right, throw them all out. And most of all throw out the clown that occupies the White House.

JIM

FALLING RAIN

We're are at home again today. Even though our travel trailer is at the Spaulding Lake Campground, we decided to come home due to rainy weather, AGAIN. We began our month of camping on June 10th. We left for OHIO on the 11th for a graduation party. Mary Ellen's grand-niece is headed to Dayton University. We also visited my two sisters and of course stayed with my sister-in-law, Carol. Since we've returned its rained almost every day. I don't know about you, but sitting inside a camper with the rain coming down brings on 'cabin fever' quickly.

Mary Ellen had a slight accident last Wednesday. While getting dressed alongside our bed, she tripped on a drawer that was open and covered with the bedspread, which made the drawer invisible. She fell backwards and hit her left lower back. She has had a nasty pain in her back ever since. There is no bruising and appears not to involve the kidney. It could be a broken rib, but she doesn't see any point in going to a doctor since they don't do anything for a broken rib.

The rest of this week is supposed to be dry. We'll head back to the campground tomorrow unless the weather changes. I should mention we live only 20 miles away. So coming home every few days is no big deal.

How about that wonderful, upstanding young ex governor of IL. Old Blago bit the dust today. With 17 out of 20 charges in the guilty column, he could get 300 years behind bars. How ridiculous is that. The press is saying he may get 7 to 9 years. Why attach all those years when there is no way anyone will ever be sentenced to anywhere near that many. Blago said in a post trial interview that he 'just couldn't understand how this could happen'. Didn't he hear his own tapes? Guess not.

Speaking of politics, I think Gingrich has shot himself in the foot once too often. That leaves Romney, Bachmann, Pawlenty, Cain and perhaps a few others. As things stand today, anyone of these people would beat Obama. Of course that's as of NOW. All or any of the aforementioned has plenty of time to shoot themselves in both feet. Hopefully it's Obama who goes 'limping' into the voting booth on election day.

Mary Ellen and I are looking forward to our "summer reunion" with our friends we winter with in Florida. We're meeting at a campground in Champaign, IL on July 11th. We'll spend a few days trying to remember what we did this past winter. Of course there will be a few lies and other assorted BS. I can hardly wait...I'll be back in my element.

RAMBLINGS

Another rainy and cool morning in lovely Michiana. Thought it would be a good day to sit at the keyboard and 'bang out' another of my 'highly anticipated' BLOGS. I base this comment on a statistical analysis I've done that shows 2.5% of you do 'highly anticipate' this blog. I realize 2.5% isn't statistically valid enough for me to extrapolate and use 'highly anticipated' in my advertising, but I don't advertise much, and who is going to bother turning me in? Now that I've clarified this, I'll move on.

We'll be parking the travel trailer at Spaulding Lake in Niles for a month starting June 10th. This is a "poor man's" version of having a summer home on the lake. So, from June 10th till July 10th we'll be spending some time in Niles, MI. When we leave on the 10th of July we'll head to Champaign, IL for the REUNION with our Florida gang. The ten of us are gathering for a few nights to solve many of the world's problems. That's not to say we didn't solve most of them during our winter gathering in Florida, but for some reason a few more problems have developed since then.

Government's spending of OUR money is totally out of control as most of you have probably noticed. It's incredible what the D.C. dingbats can come up with. Whose the imbecile that decided we need signs in every school zone that state, "This is a Drug Free School Zone"? Really? How nice! I've been driving around looking for a school zone that advertises drugs. Damn, they are all DRUG FREE. Wouldn't you love to know what it cost to produce and install these ridiculous signs. One small example of the people we've elected going out of their way to screw us. Don't you love it?

Speaking of spending, I bought myself a new phone. Not just any phone. I bought an iPhone!! This is the most amazing gadget I have ever encountered. I'm sure some of you also have the iPhone from Apple, so I won't detail all of the fantastic features of the iPhone 4. I love it. I hate to admit it, but it virtually eliminates the need for my MacBook and my Nook. In fact it virtually eliminates the need for anything other than Mary Ellen. Yes, I do love her more than my iPhone, but it was close!! I actually bought the book, iPhone for Dummies. This book takes an in depth look at all the features with shortcuts and tips that make navigating the many apps much easier.

We are 90% settled into our new home. It's actually looking like we've lived here forever. Of course we have numerous boxes packed onto the many shelves in the garage. Some of this stuff will eventually go to Goodwill or some other worthy cause. There is plenty of room for Mary Ellen's PT Cruiser. There are still a few things that we haven't located yet. The biggest headache is changing our address with the numerous magazines and accounts. I didn't realize we had to apply for new driver's licenses in order to give the BMV our new address. You have to bring a couple bills with our new address on them. What we didn't realize, and what makes no sense to me, is that these bills must also have Mary Ellen's name on them. We took bills from our electric company and newspaper. Both of these had my name on them with our new address. I could apply for a new drivers license, but
Mary Ellen couldn't. We failed to take anything with her name on it. Even though we are married and both living at our new address, she was unable to apply for a new license. Our State government in action. Mary Ellen will need to make another visit to the BMV when we can find something with her name and our new address on it. She's really looking forward to her return trip!

We'll be heading to Indy at the end of this month for the Indy 500 weekend. Mary Ellen and I won't be going to the race this year, but we'll spend time with sons Dan and Mark and Dan's family. Erin has a soccer game and Ally is graduating from Kindergarten. I think she had a 4.0 cumulative!! Elementary school scholarships are pouring in!

JIM

BOXES!!!

The past two weeks have been draining. Mary Ellen and I end each day physically exhausted. I know what your thinking, "get over it. It can't be that bad". Three of our sons did a tremendous job on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. On Monday afternoon Two Men and a Truck moved the heavy stuff. One might think with all that help it would pretty much take care of it. If you thought that, you'd be wrong. Its all the little stuff, not to mention all our clothes. It has taken us the last five days to totally clear everything out of the house. We got it as far as the garage. Tomorrow we'll get it into my truck and haul it over to our new home. The good news is we both love our apartment! Thank god we have a garage. We thought we had gotten rid of most of the excess baggage. We've made numerous trips to Goodwill, Women's Shelter, Faith Mission, and of course "the dump". Even after all that plus Craig's List, we've managed to have way more stuff than we have apartment! The lesson learned is NEVER stay in the same house for 36 years.

So, for those of you planning to send us a 'house warming' gift, and I'm sure many of you were thinking just that, DON'T. In fact Mary Ellen and I have a plan. It's called a 'reverse house warming'. So, all of you can plan to receive a surprise package in the next few weeks. Nothing elaborate mind you. Most of what we'll be sending you are items we were too embarrassed to drop off at St. Vincent De Paul. So you've got that to look forward to.

For those of you who have moved in the past 36 years, have you noticed how things that you truly valued seem to disappear during the moving process? What makes this even worse is we're finding ourselves saying stupid things like "I know I saw it in a box". My God, that's all we've seen in the past three weeks. Just yesterday I asked my wife, "have you seen my knife"? This is a knife that I always carry in my pocket. It's my favorite knife. My Son, Tim, bought me this knife. It's a really good knife. It has simply disappeared. That same day I took some pictures of the apartment complex. I had my camera bag in the truck with, of course, my camera and the USB cable with a little gizmo that goes into the camera. With this simple little cable I'm actually able to send pictures from my camera to my Mac Book. Truly amazing. Well, I'm no longer able to do this. My cable has vanished. This is why none of you are able to see the lovely place where we now live along with 567 boxes!

Speaking of boxes, most of what we moved now resides in our lovely attached garage. The plan was to have all of this stuff that we weren't mentally capable of trashing to reside on the right side of our garage, leaving plenty of room for Mary Ellen's PT Cruiser. My truck of course would reside in the parking area. At this moment both vehicles reside in the parking area. I'm betting on 2013 for PT Cruiser indoor parking!

We moved one of those lightweight plastic shelves we had in our former garage. I honestly thought this five tiered shelving would handle most of the stuff. The rest would hang from some cleverly positioned hooks attached to the walls and ceiling. Last Wednesday I purchased two more five tiered shelves. But the boxes kept coming. Last night we returned to Menard's. I now have five of the five tiered shelving. I do not plan to purchase more shelves. However, I've purchased 280 more hooks to be cleverly positioned on the walls and from the ceiling.

Mary Ellen has two mis-matched shoes. She's upset. You would think with 175 pairs of shoes, something like two shoes that don't match wouldn't be a big deal. But don't tell that to Immelda!

Still no knife nor camera cable. The quest continues.

JIM