There are 5 couples we spend a lot of time with when we're in Navarre. We've known Jeff and Diane Bloss for 3 years now. They are a fifty something couple. By far the youngest. They live in Quincy, IL. We were invited to their 25th anniversary party last summer in Carlyle, IL. It was very nice and well worth the $500 in gas that it took us to get there!! Right after Jeff got here he insisted on washing OUR trailer. He did a great job, except for the awning!
Speaking of awnings, our Canadian friends Gerry & Linda Foyle were only with us for a month this year, but Gerry took over awning responsibilities. Whether it needed to go in or go out, Gerry was right on the spot. Linda simply supervised, eh! They're spending there last month at a campground in Biloxi, MS. They love the casinos as much as Mary Ellen does. We met them one night for a buffet at the Hardrock. They are a fun couple.
There is a great deal that could be said about our Ohio friends, Dave & Janet Lundgren. Actually, writing about Dave would take a whole blog, and I'm not about to waste that much of my time. Let's just say, Dave wasn't invited to the Bloss anniversary blast. Of course he didn't have to spend $600 for gas and gifts! Diane Bloss made a point of letting everyone know they were expecting NO Gifts! I thus found it strange she went on to list the various high-end stores where they were registered!
Beth and Russ Jackson are a lovely "old couple". Russ is a wealthy retired farmer who basically sits around waiting for checks to be deposited. They have a beautiful black cat named 'Stretch'. Stretch and Beth are the nice ones in the family. Russ would improve his ranking if he was more of a philanthropist with his Millions.
Ron & Julie Linn have the most wonderful dog in the park. Sara is gentle and loving. Ron is usually a grouch! Julie is a doll. They left on March 10th. Ron had to get back to do something with trenches. I have no idea what you do with trenches, but whatever it is, Ron likes to do it. They live in Illinois, but nobody ever heard of the town. I think Ron made it up so we can't visit!
These five couples are the reason we've come back to Emerald Beach 3 years in a row. If we decided to try another campground, it would have to be a unanimous decision! We have too much fun together. Enough said.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
"I Cried Because I Had No Shoes"
By the time we got to our Florida destination we'd had our share of mis-adventures. Of course there was my shoulder, but prior to that we'd had a flat tire and a tongue jack that wouldn't work. But during our 7 nites in Decatur, AL we also had a flooded camper due to a leak in our water heater. It seems that the genius who "winterized" the RV had overlooked a critical element in winterization (drain the tank!) By the way, for those of you contemplating the purchase of a water heater, it will cost you $650 installed! I now believe falling off the ladder and breaking my shoulder was the punishment for overall stupidity. Needless to say we were very relieved to actually be settled at Emerald Beach RV Park thanks to Dan and Mark.
Our neighbors on site 16 are Betty and Art Stierley. They were here when we arrived. They hadn't been here previously. Art and I had exchanged pleasantries over the first couple days. Of course he noticed my sling and wanted to know the whole story. I'm not sure he really wanted to know about our "trip from Hell", but by damn he was going to hear it! Of course he sympathized with my graphic description of every friggin detail. I guess it was a couple days later when "Mr. Egocentric" got around to asking him some questions. I learned that Art & Betty were in Navarre to bury their 45 year old daughter. She died after a two year battle with breast cancer. For two days he listened to me complaining about my poor broken shoulder, when they were dealing with their own broken hearts. Kids aren't supposed to die before the parents. I don't care if the kid is 45. After hearing Art's story, I tried not to complain too much about our minor plight. "I cried because I had no shoes, and then I met a men who had no feet."
In all my 70 years of life I had never had a broken bone. Thus, operating with only one arm was a whole new experience. It wasn't just the arm, but entire left side from shoulder to hand was bruised and swollen. Initially I had no use of my left hand. The hand had grown to about 3 times its original size. It operated like a faulty prosthesis stuck to an arm but lacking batteries. Neither my wife nor I had thought to have my rings removed when we first went to the ER in Decatur. Now they would have to be cut off. Baptist Hospital ER in Gulf Breeze took care of that minor problem. Now Mary Ellen went in search of an Orthopedic surgeon. Baptist hospital told us about Andrews Institute next to the hospital. This building is orthopedic surgeons headquarters. There were autographed pictures of pro and college athletes all over the walls extolling the virtues of these doctors. Now they were going to be dealing with a semi-pro old person who fell off a ladder. They were not interested when I offered an autographed picture of yours truly. We were introduced to Dr. Ostrander, better known as Dr. O. He looked at the X Rays from Decatur and ordered an MRI. The MRI showed a piece of bone floating around in there. I, 'Mr. Obvious' realized this was probably not good. Dr. O told us that this piece of bone needed to be reattached from whence it came. This would require surgery. Mary Ellen and I quickly decided to give him the 'go ahead' and surgery was scheduled.
It was a 3 hour surgery followed by one nite in the hospital. Dr. O told us they removed the bone, ground it up, added super glue, and shoved it into the humerus at the proximity from whence it came. Don't you love 'from whence it came?' I don't think I've used the word 'whence' in over 50 years. I liked it so much I just had to use it 4 times.
Dave and Janet Lundgren spent the entire afternoon with Mary Ellen waiting for me to get out of surgery, recovery and back to a private room. Dave, and especially Janet are wonderful. More about Dave, later. The gift packages came pouring in. By the way, for those of you who haven't AS YET sent a gift, I'm registered at Ace Hardware!
Now the fun begins for my loving wife, Mary Ellen. I don't know what I'd do without her. Besides being a wonderful wife, she just happens to be a registered nurse. My only concern is she's a Hospice Nurse. By the time this is over I'm sure she'll decide maybe it's time for Hospice.
To be continued...
Our neighbors on site 16 are Betty and Art Stierley. They were here when we arrived. They hadn't been here previously. Art and I had exchanged pleasantries over the first couple days. Of course he noticed my sling and wanted to know the whole story. I'm not sure he really wanted to know about our "trip from Hell", but by damn he was going to hear it! Of course he sympathized with my graphic description of every friggin detail. I guess it was a couple days later when "Mr. Egocentric" got around to asking him some questions. I learned that Art & Betty were in Navarre to bury their 45 year old daughter. She died after a two year battle with breast cancer. For two days he listened to me complaining about my poor broken shoulder, when they were dealing with their own broken hearts. Kids aren't supposed to die before the parents. I don't care if the kid is 45. After hearing Art's story, I tried not to complain too much about our minor plight. "I cried because I had no shoes, and then I met a men who had no feet."
In all my 70 years of life I had never had a broken bone. Thus, operating with only one arm was a whole new experience. It wasn't just the arm, but entire left side from shoulder to hand was bruised and swollen. Initially I had no use of my left hand. The hand had grown to about 3 times its original size. It operated like a faulty prosthesis stuck to an arm but lacking batteries. Neither my wife nor I had thought to have my rings removed when we first went to the ER in Decatur. Now they would have to be cut off. Baptist Hospital ER in Gulf Breeze took care of that minor problem. Now Mary Ellen went in search of an Orthopedic surgeon. Baptist hospital told us about Andrews Institute next to the hospital. This building is orthopedic surgeons headquarters. There were autographed pictures of pro and college athletes all over the walls extolling the virtues of these doctors. Now they were going to be dealing with a semi-pro old person who fell off a ladder. They were not interested when I offered an autographed picture of yours truly. We were introduced to Dr. Ostrander, better known as Dr. O. He looked at the X Rays from Decatur and ordered an MRI. The MRI showed a piece of bone floating around in there. I, 'Mr. Obvious' realized this was probably not good. Dr. O told us that this piece of bone needed to be reattached from whence it came. This would require surgery. Mary Ellen and I quickly decided to give him the 'go ahead' and surgery was scheduled.
It was a 3 hour surgery followed by one nite in the hospital. Dr. O told us they removed the bone, ground it up, added super glue, and shoved it into the humerus at the proximity from whence it came. Don't you love 'from whence it came?' I don't think I've used the word 'whence' in over 50 years. I liked it so much I just had to use it 4 times.
Dave and Janet Lundgren spent the entire afternoon with Mary Ellen waiting for me to get out of surgery, recovery and back to a private room. Dave, and especially Janet are wonderful. More about Dave, later. The gift packages came pouring in. By the way, for those of you who haven't AS YET sent a gift, I'm registered at Ace Hardware!
Now the fun begins for my loving wife, Mary Ellen. I don't know what I'd do without her. Besides being a wonderful wife, she just happens to be a registered nurse. My only concern is she's a Hospice Nurse. By the time this is over I'm sure she'll decide maybe it's time for Hospice.
To be continued...
Friday, March 18, 2011
The Return of the Blog!
Its been almost two months since my last blog. I refused to type with only one finger. Now, finally, I'm able to use both hands on the keyboard. I just didn't have the patients to go from 60 words a minute down to 15. One finger just didn't cut it. So, here goes with two hands.
If I had to do it over again I certainly wouldn't have fallen off that ladder. I still can't believe it happened. I remember, as I climbed a lousy 3 steps on the ladder, Mary Ellen said "be careful Mr. Balance". Shortly after her warning, the ladder moved to the right, and I fell to the left. After laying in the mud for 15 minutes, with Mary Ellen's help, I was able to get on my knees and stand up. Mary Ellen kept saying "I'm going to call 911", and I kept saying "NO". However, once we got 'Mr. Balance' back in the RV, I decided maybe an ambulance was a good idea. And thus the adventure began.
The ambulance arrived in 5 minutes, and the EMT's couldn't have been nicer and more proficient. Decatur General hospital was only 5 minutes away. Again, we were impressed with the nurses and staff. The X Ray showed a broken humerus bone in the shoulder. ER recommended an orthopedic surgeon across the street from the hospital. After looking at the X Ray, he felt the bone was well aligned and didn't need surgery. ER had given me a sling. All I could do was take pain medication. The problem was I couldn't drive, and Mary Ellen was and is afraid to pull the travel trailer.
Point Mallard campground in Decatur was to be an overnite on the way to Navarre, FL. It turned out to be a 7 nite stay while we tried to figure what we were going to do. The people at Point Mallard were great. They unhooked the truck from the trailer and set us up for an extended stay. At least 3 times a day, a staff member would stop by to find if there was anything we needed. This campground is beautiful, but we found it was more than beautiful, it also had a very caring staff. Stay there when you get a chance, and tell them "Mr. Balance with the broken shoulder sent you". You won't be disappointed!
Now most of you know we have 4 sons. They just happen to be 4 wonderful sons. Dan and Mark were the closest to Alabama. They live in Indianapolis. Dan insisted that he and Mark would come to our rescue. Dan would pull the trailer and Mark would drive "the chase car". We had decided that going south was much more appealing than going back home to the ice and snow. The boys arrived after our 7 nites at Point Mallard and took us the rest of the way. Dan wanted his Mom to ride with him in the truck and I was to ride with Mark in the "chase car". I wasn't surprised Dan wanted me to be as far away from him as possible. I think he thought I just might give him a little too much advice if I was sitting right next to him. He did a great job, and the drive from Decatur, AL to Navarre, FL was uneventful. We wanted them to spend the nite in Navarre, but Dan was determined to start heading back to Indy. They were only here long enough to set us up and left after about an hour. They drove as far as the Birmingham, AL area before getting back to Indy the next day.
Our first priority was finding an Orthopedic doctor down here. More about that in my next blog.
If I had to do it over again I certainly wouldn't have fallen off that ladder. I still can't believe it happened. I remember, as I climbed a lousy 3 steps on the ladder, Mary Ellen said "be careful Mr. Balance". Shortly after her warning, the ladder moved to the right, and I fell to the left. After laying in the mud for 15 minutes, with Mary Ellen's help, I was able to get on my knees and stand up. Mary Ellen kept saying "I'm going to call 911", and I kept saying "NO". However, once we got 'Mr. Balance' back in the RV, I decided maybe an ambulance was a good idea. And thus the adventure began.
The ambulance arrived in 5 minutes, and the EMT's couldn't have been nicer and more proficient. Decatur General hospital was only 5 minutes away. Again, we were impressed with the nurses and staff. The X Ray showed a broken humerus bone in the shoulder. ER recommended an orthopedic surgeon across the street from the hospital. After looking at the X Ray, he felt the bone was well aligned and didn't need surgery. ER had given me a sling. All I could do was take pain medication. The problem was I couldn't drive, and Mary Ellen was and is afraid to pull the travel trailer.
Point Mallard campground in Decatur was to be an overnite on the way to Navarre, FL. It turned out to be a 7 nite stay while we tried to figure what we were going to do. The people at Point Mallard were great. They unhooked the truck from the trailer and set us up for an extended stay. At least 3 times a day, a staff member would stop by to find if there was anything we needed. This campground is beautiful, but we found it was more than beautiful, it also had a very caring staff. Stay there when you get a chance, and tell them "Mr. Balance with the broken shoulder sent you". You won't be disappointed!
Now most of you know we have 4 sons. They just happen to be 4 wonderful sons. Dan and Mark were the closest to Alabama. They live in Indianapolis. Dan insisted that he and Mark would come to our rescue. Dan would pull the trailer and Mark would drive "the chase car". We had decided that going south was much more appealing than going back home to the ice and snow. The boys arrived after our 7 nites at Point Mallard and took us the rest of the way. Dan wanted his Mom to ride with him in the truck and I was to ride with Mark in the "chase car". I wasn't surprised Dan wanted me to be as far away from him as possible. I think he thought I just might give him a little too much advice if I was sitting right next to him. He did a great job, and the drive from Decatur, AL to Navarre, FL was uneventful. We wanted them to spend the nite in Navarre, but Dan was determined to start heading back to Indy. They were only here long enough to set us up and left after about an hour. They drove as far as the Birmingham, AL area before getting back to Indy the next day.
Our first priority was finding an Orthopedic doctor down here. More about that in my next blog.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
THE TRIP FROM HELL
this blog will be short and in lower case...kinda like flying the flag at half staff...we were preparing to leave decatur, alabama (point mallard campground). i had one
last job to do...i had to clear some leaves from the slideout...it was raining...i slipped from the ladder and broke my shoulder...i will write more when i can use both hands,,,
jim
last job to do...i had to clear some leaves from the slideout...it was raining...i slipped from the ladder and broke my shoulder...i will write more when i can use both hands,,,
jim
Monday, January 24, 2011
Pulling our Home to Florida
Our departure began with a temperature of 6 degrees and the snow was falling as we attempted to dig the Sunset Trail (ST) out of its winter storage and get on the road. The hook up went smoothly enough, but then the fun started. We had lowered the tongue jack down on a concrete block. To our dismay, when we raised the tongue jack, we could not move the concrete block. It was frozen to the ‘frozen ground’. Mary Ellen and I spent a half hour trying to dislodge it. Finally, after using a shovel, hammer, and an ice pick, we dislodged and removed the concrete block.
Pulling the ST out of its snowy and cold storage wasn’t exactly a fun-filled experience. After several ‘outstandingly clever’ maneuvers, we managed to get the ST moving toward the ‘gated exit’. We drove to our favorite ‘fuel center’ and checked the air pressure in our tires. Once this chilly task was completed we were finally ready to head south.
Things went well for the first 65 miles, when a passing car gave us the dreaded signal. As they drove alongside us, the passenger began pointing toward the ground and mouthing tire! Oh yes, we had another flat tire! We called roadside assistance and WAITED. Apparently they decided the best person to remove the flattened rubber and replace it with our spare was located in DALLAS! Actually, it just seemed like he had come to INDIANA from DALLAS. Two and one half hours later we were again ready to roll!!
I’m glad we had planned to only go as far as our son Dan’s house. We had planned to take Dan, Jill and their two girls out to dinner. We now opted for ‘carry in’. Dan had checked various tire retailers to see who had a replacement tire to give us a much needed ‘spare tire’. A ‘Wal-Mart super center’ or as Dan had dubbed it ‘Wal-Mart super slow’ had the tire we needed. We decided to wait until Sunday morning to pick it up. Once we remounted the spare we ventured out with a stop at one of our favorite KOA’s in Bowling Green, KY. The owners, Paul and Susan are great people. Paul is a real character. They are the perfect hosts. If you want a great place to stay in KY, make a stop at the KOA in and tell Paul I sent you.
Of course the day wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t have another minor crisis. When we parked at the KOA, I lowered the tongue jack to prop up the front end. This went fine, but when I began to lower the front a little, the tongue jack froze in place. It wouldn’t move! I started the truck thinking perhaps my 12 volt battery had died, but it still didn’t do anything. I stopped at the office and talked with Paul. He told me about a friend who could certainly fix it. He was very reasonable. However, Paul said that he had a couple ideas. I asked him for a 30 amp fuse. Paul gave me a pack of 4 fuses (cost was $2.50). He didn’t charge me anything! He said it was his way of giving me a discount! As we were leaving the office with the intention of having his friend come out in the morning, he added that sometimes tapping it with a rubber mallet breaks it loose. He was ready to give me a hammer, but I said I had one. When we returned to the ST, Mary Ellen tapped or rapped it a few times and it worked! Paul saved me a few dollars and all it took was a rap with a mallet. By the way, when we left in the morning, I gave Paul the fuses back. He didn’t want to take them. He promised me a discount next time!
We left Bowling Green at 10 a.m. and headed for Point Mallard in Decatur, AL. We’d been here once before, but somehow we managed to get lost. It is about 6 miles off I 65, but signage is non-existent. Sorta like my brain (non existent). It was 54 degrees when we arrived. Kinda rainy, but nice. Up till now, I hadn’t bothered to hook up the water. Since it was so nice I decided to do it. I turned it on, and I heard Mary Ellen YELL, “we have a flood”. Water was coming into the room with the bunk beds by the rear door. Before I could turn off the water, all our floors only required mopping! We hadn't planned to clean until we got to Florida. Thanks to the flood we can cross that one off the list. The problem seems to be the hot water heater. We sopped up the water and decided to wait until we get to Florida to have someone check out the water heater. I have a feeling something froze, expanded and busted something.
Flat tire on day one, tongue jack on day two, and now the water heater! What will tomorrow bring??? Oh, I forgot to mention that we just heard there is a WINTER STORM WATCH for tomorrow!! I don’t want to think about what that means.....
jim
Pulling the ST out of its snowy and cold storage wasn’t exactly a fun-filled experience. After several ‘outstandingly clever’ maneuvers, we managed to get the ST moving toward the ‘gated exit’. We drove to our favorite ‘fuel center’ and checked the air pressure in our tires. Once this chilly task was completed we were finally ready to head south.
Things went well for the first 65 miles, when a passing car gave us the dreaded signal. As they drove alongside us, the passenger began pointing toward the ground and mouthing tire! Oh yes, we had another flat tire! We called roadside assistance and WAITED. Apparently they decided the best person to remove the flattened rubber and replace it with our spare was located in DALLAS! Actually, it just seemed like he had come to INDIANA from DALLAS. Two and one half hours later we were again ready to roll!!
I’m glad we had planned to only go as far as our son Dan’s house. We had planned to take Dan, Jill and their two girls out to dinner. We now opted for ‘carry in’. Dan had checked various tire retailers to see who had a replacement tire to give us a much needed ‘spare tire’. A ‘Wal-Mart super center’ or as Dan had dubbed it ‘Wal-Mart super slow’ had the tire we needed. We decided to wait until Sunday morning to pick it up. Once we remounted the spare we ventured out with a stop at one of our favorite KOA’s in Bowling Green, KY. The owners, Paul and Susan are great people. Paul is a real character. They are the perfect hosts. If you want a great place to stay in KY, make a stop at the KOA in and tell Paul I sent you.
Of course the day wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t have another minor crisis. When we parked at the KOA, I lowered the tongue jack to prop up the front end. This went fine, but when I began to lower the front a little, the tongue jack froze in place. It wouldn’t move! I started the truck thinking perhaps my 12 volt battery had died, but it still didn’t do anything. I stopped at the office and talked with Paul. He told me about a friend who could certainly fix it. He was very reasonable. However, Paul said that he had a couple ideas. I asked him for a 30 amp fuse. Paul gave me a pack of 4 fuses (cost was $2.50). He didn’t charge me anything! He said it was his way of giving me a discount! As we were leaving the office with the intention of having his friend come out in the morning, he added that sometimes tapping it with a rubber mallet breaks it loose. He was ready to give me a hammer, but I said I had one. When we returned to the ST, Mary Ellen tapped or rapped it a few times and it worked! Paul saved me a few dollars and all it took was a rap with a mallet. By the way, when we left in the morning, I gave Paul the fuses back. He didn’t want to take them. He promised me a discount next time!
We left Bowling Green at 10 a.m. and headed for Point Mallard in Decatur, AL. We’d been here once before, but somehow we managed to get lost. It is about 6 miles off I 65, but signage is non-existent. Sorta like my brain (non existent). It was 54 degrees when we arrived. Kinda rainy, but nice. Up till now, I hadn’t bothered to hook up the water. Since it was so nice I decided to do it. I turned it on, and I heard Mary Ellen YELL, “we have a flood”. Water was coming into the room with the bunk beds by the rear door. Before I could turn off the water, all our floors only required mopping! We hadn't planned to clean until we got to Florida. Thanks to the flood we can cross that one off the list. The problem seems to be the hot water heater. We sopped up the water and decided to wait until we get to Florida to have someone check out the water heater. I have a feeling something froze, expanded and busted something.
Flat tire on day one, tongue jack on day two, and now the water heater! What will tomorrow bring??? Oh, I forgot to mention that we just heard there is a WINTER STORM WATCH for tomorrow!! I don’t want to think about what that means.....
jim
Thursday, January 6, 2011
THE JOURNEY BEGINS
We seem to be spending a lot of time moving stuff from storage and bringing it back home. What’s that all about? Pretty soon the storage garage will be empty and everything will be back in the house! It started because of Christmas preparations. Of course this led to a lot of decorations we weren’t going to use this year As you can probably tell, we haven’t sold our house yet. We had hopes of selling it before we left for Florida. This probably won’t happen until Spring. We’ve had eight parties come through the house. Our realtor told us that two really liked it, but apparently not enough to buy it.
Three of our four boys were here for Christmas. Actually we celebrated Christmas on the 18th. As for the 25th, we spent it at Mary Ellen’s sister’s home in Ohio. The most exciting thing about New Years Eve was watching Notre Dame manhandle Miami in the Sun Bowl. During the 1980’s, ND-Miami was labeled ‘Catholics versus Convicts’. The rivalry got heated to the point it was decided it would be best to put a halt to scheduling each other...until now! The former ‘convicts’ have cleaned up their act since the notorious Jimmy Johnson left Miami. Starting in 2012 Notre Dame will start a home and home series with Miami again. Should be fun.
Well, the time is drawing ‘nigh’ and we’ve been making plans for our journey south. Don’t you love that word ‘nigh’. It’s so much nicer than ‘near’. It has a much more literary sound to it. And I being a ‘literalist’ (I think I made up a word) chose to express my literary leanings by using the word ‘nigh’. Now that I’ve beat that to death, let’s move on. We’re planning to depart on the 22nd of January and go as far
as Indianapolis. Our annual problem on day one of our journey is finding a campground that’s open in Indiana. We would have to go into KY to find one and that violates my time on the road rule! Some of you probably remember Mary Ellen’s characterization of my traveling schedule. It goes something like, leave the campground at 10 a.m. Stop for an hour lunch at noon. Proceed for another hour and a half and stop at 2:30 for the night! Some days I actually do 4 hours! My attitude is ‘what’s the hurry’. I’ve allowed 8 days to get to our destination. I didn’t mention that we will stay with son Dan and family in Westfield, IN for our first night. This presented a whole other problem.
The neighborhood, compound, cult where Dan resides prohibits RV’s parked on the street or driveways. Even if the RV is washed! Something to do with ‘trailer trash’ I guess. Anyway, with the help of Dan and my other Indy son, Mark, we tried to find a parking spot where I could safely leave truck and travel trailer from approximately 5 p.m. Saturday until 9 a.m. Sunday. First we investigated the Wal-Mart in Westfield, NO. I than called the local Kroger store. The manager told me they didn’t own the parking lot. When I asked who did she told me she didn’t know. I called the Westfield police department. They were supposed to get back to me if they found a place. I never heard from them. Finally, after checking a couple of far-flung possibilities, I called Marsh. Marsh is a semi upscale supermarket a couple miles from Dan’s house. After my second offer NEVER to buy groceries anywhere else (I guess we’ll have to drive 3 hours for milk), he relented.
So, we’ve got day one handled. I’m always surprised how much mental and a little physical preparation goes into leaving for a few months. This is further complicated by the fact my son, Mark is no longer handling the house while we’re gone. This requires more preparation and planning. First of all is mail. This year we’ll have all our mail forwarded. We’ve never had to do this before. Of course realtors will be showing the house (hopefully) while we’re gone. This will require some notes making sure they turn the furnace back down and be certain to recheck the doors so we don’t have any uninvited “lookers” who have no intention of buying the house.
We’ll get one of the teenagers in our neighborhood to start Mary Ellen’s car at least once a week. Of course the paper must be stopped and the driveway shoveled. There are a lot more little things we need to think about for the first time. We’re now realizing just how much Mark handled in the past. I guess we’ll just have to ‘grow up’ and deal with it!
I sort of made a resolution to stay away from too much political commentary in my blogs this year. It’s not easy for me to do. There is sooooo much stupidity to point out, it’s getting very difficult to choose. I will end this blog by pointing out the folly of our socialist leader. It reminds me of a wonderful quote from Margaret Thatcher on the subject of socialism. She said, “the only problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money”.
In a recent Jason Lewis show he summed it up this way. Government was first established for the sole purpose of protecting the citizens. A police force was put in place to stop people from stealing from others. So the government decided they would take over the role of thievery. They (the government) have decided they know better than any of us where OUR money should be spent. So they take it and give it (some of it that they don’t pocket) away to others. Can you say Robin Hood.
JIM
Three of our four boys were here for Christmas. Actually we celebrated Christmas on the 18th. As for the 25th, we spent it at Mary Ellen’s sister’s home in Ohio. The most exciting thing about New Years Eve was watching Notre Dame manhandle Miami in the Sun Bowl. During the 1980’s, ND-Miami was labeled ‘Catholics versus Convicts’. The rivalry got heated to the point it was decided it would be best to put a halt to scheduling each other...until now! The former ‘convicts’ have cleaned up their act since the notorious Jimmy Johnson left Miami. Starting in 2012 Notre Dame will start a home and home series with Miami again. Should be fun.
Well, the time is drawing ‘nigh’ and we’ve been making plans for our journey south. Don’t you love that word ‘nigh’. It’s so much nicer than ‘near’. It has a much more literary sound to it. And I being a ‘literalist’ (I think I made up a word) chose to express my literary leanings by using the word ‘nigh’. Now that I’ve beat that to death, let’s move on. We’re planning to depart on the 22nd of January and go as far
as Indianapolis. Our annual problem on day one of our journey is finding a campground that’s open in Indiana. We would have to go into KY to find one and that violates my time on the road rule! Some of you probably remember Mary Ellen’s characterization of my traveling schedule. It goes something like, leave the campground at 10 a.m. Stop for an hour lunch at noon. Proceed for another hour and a half and stop at 2:30 for the night! Some days I actually do 4 hours! My attitude is ‘what’s the hurry’. I’ve allowed 8 days to get to our destination. I didn’t mention that we will stay with son Dan and family in Westfield, IN for our first night. This presented a whole other problem.
The neighborhood, compound, cult where Dan resides prohibits RV’s parked on the street or driveways. Even if the RV is washed! Something to do with ‘trailer trash’ I guess. Anyway, with the help of Dan and my other Indy son, Mark, we tried to find a parking spot where I could safely leave truck and travel trailer from approximately 5 p.m. Saturday until 9 a.m. Sunday. First we investigated the Wal-Mart in Westfield, NO. I than called the local Kroger store. The manager told me they didn’t own the parking lot. When I asked who did she told me she didn’t know. I called the Westfield police department. They were supposed to get back to me if they found a place. I never heard from them. Finally, after checking a couple of far-flung possibilities, I called Marsh. Marsh is a semi upscale supermarket a couple miles from Dan’s house. After my second offer NEVER to buy groceries anywhere else (I guess we’ll have to drive 3 hours for milk), he relented.
So, we’ve got day one handled. I’m always surprised how much mental and a little physical preparation goes into leaving for a few months. This is further complicated by the fact my son, Mark is no longer handling the house while we’re gone. This requires more preparation and planning. First of all is mail. This year we’ll have all our mail forwarded. We’ve never had to do this before. Of course realtors will be showing the house (hopefully) while we’re gone. This will require some notes making sure they turn the furnace back down and be certain to recheck the doors so we don’t have any uninvited “lookers” who have no intention of buying the house.
We’ll get one of the teenagers in our neighborhood to start Mary Ellen’s car at least once a week. Of course the paper must be stopped and the driveway shoveled. There are a lot more little things we need to think about for the first time. We’re now realizing just how much Mark handled in the past. I guess we’ll just have to ‘grow up’ and deal with it!
I sort of made a resolution to stay away from too much political commentary in my blogs this year. It’s not easy for me to do. There is sooooo much stupidity to point out, it’s getting very difficult to choose. I will end this blog by pointing out the folly of our socialist leader. It reminds me of a wonderful quote from Margaret Thatcher on the subject of socialism. She said, “the only problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money”.
In a recent Jason Lewis show he summed it up this way. Government was first established for the sole purpose of protecting the citizens. A police force was put in place to stop people from stealing from others. So the government decided they would take over the role of thievery. They (the government) have decided they know better than any of us where OUR money should be spent. So they take it and give it (some of it that they don’t pocket) away to others. Can you say Robin Hood.
JIM
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
THE WEEK THAT WAS
Thank God it’s Over.
I’m speaking of the incessant string of politial ads that have assaulted our ears over the past few months. And when you consider the spin and the ‘out of context’ sound bites, 90% of what we’ve heard from both sides was nothing more than a poorly disguised pack of lies. But it’s over now, and I hope all of you have voted, and voted for a loud repudiation of the Obama agenda.
Going from politics to reality, I must report on our reality during the last week of October in particular. We readied our travel trailer for removal from Spaulding Lake RV Park and storage until January.
This didn’t go without some minor problems.
I had purchased a new hitch with easy to use load levelers. The reason for needing a new hitch was the result of some moron moving the travel trailer (not very far) without the load levelers in place. This moron assumed since he didn’t have to go more than a ½ mile, what could possibly go wrong. So much for assumptions. Anyway, I like the new levelers. Very easy to put on and take off. Now I’m trying to rationalize my stupidity. How’d I do???
It took us awhile to hook up and get the load levelers in place. Of course we had to pull it for 12 miles to my favorite hitch store (Dan’s Hitch). Dan had to make the adjustments so that hitch, trailer and the truck were all in sync. It did give me pause when upon entering Dan’s, I was greeted with “hi Jim”! This may be something I would look forward to at Cheers, but not at Dan’s Hitch. Anyway, we left Dan’s and parked the trailer at our storage area. We said goodbye to the Sunset Trail until we ‘dig it out’ in January. Yes, I did winterize.
Well, the fun was just beginning. Early the next week we woke up to
discover we had no hot water. Our hot water heater isn’t even 2 years old. Of course Lowes told us it wasn’t under warranty. Whatever gave me the idea that it would be? Lowes told us to call the manufacturer, Whirlpool. We did, and they trouble shot with us to try and re-light the pilot. It wouldn’t light.
Whirlpool told us they would have someone come out the next day to diagnose the problem. But, the next morning when we awoke, we discoverd we had no heat. Mary Ellen had what I would call a “blinding glimpse of the obvious”. Of course this blinding glimpse never occurred to yours truly. Maybe, there was no gas coming into our house. Before the Whirlpool guy arrived, I called them and told them we thought we had figured out the problem. We called NIPSCO, our crack gas provider.
NIPSCO arrived and informed us (as Mary Ellen predicted) we had a problem in the gas line. The next thing we knew, there were four NIPSCO trucks out front. One of these was towing a back hoe. They marked the gas line and began to dig. So much for “curb appeal”.
They found the problem and replaced ‘something’. I didn’t know what he was talking about.
They turned the gas on to the house and we thought our problems were over. NIPSCO re-lit both the pilots. But not so fast, Buzzard Breath! When NIPSCO re-lit the furnace he discovered a gas leak. This meant turning off both the water heater and the furnace!
Furnace repairman came the next day and replaced what he referred to as a relief valve. It was a large part. I would never have called it a valve, but who am I to argue with an expert. He relit the furnace pilot and we again had heat. But, no hot water yet. The next day the gentleman from Whirlpool came to “repair” the hot water heater. Turns out there was nothing to repair. He simply relit the pilot and the hot water heater came to life. But WAIT. The saga continues.
While the hot water guy was re-lighting the pilot he noticed a separation in the vent pipe. Its that sheet metal pipe that removes the bad stuff like carbon monoxide and sends it away. Because we had this gap, he recommended we shut off BOTH PILOTS. I expressed my disbelief in a language I don’t think he understood. Of course this gentlemen didn’t
work on vent pipe!
Mary Ellen and I had had enough. After all of this we still had no heat and no hot water. We decided WE could re-attach this vent pipe and re-lite the pilots. After struggling with it for an hour and using various tools we finally closed the gap. We sealed it with an aluminum tape that held it in place and WE re-lit both of the pilots. So far we have both heat and hot water!
I’m proud to announce the opening of M&J heating and cooling repair shop. We’ll specialize in re-lighting pilots and taping vents! I know this is a small niche, but there is a need out there! Right?
It’s the day after the election, but I’m disappointed. In our own district, the democratic incumbent got back in, and on a national level I can’t believe that Reid, Boxer, Frank and several other of the ‘usual suspects’ were returned to Washington. But, at least we took back the House. Not nearly the massacre I was hoping for. There are far too many government dependent people being ‘bussed’ to the polls. Far too many morons being allowed to vote. Hopefully the majority in the House is able to put a stop to some of the socialistic agenda of the current White House. Let’s hope so. I’m already anticipating 2012!
On a brighter side, we’ve had four ‘lookers’ come through our house. One of these was very interested, but no offers yet. I’m not too optimistic on selling it during the winter. We’ll just have to wait until spring I guess, but at least there are some shoppers out there.
Well, as a great man once said, “I have had about all I can take of myself”.
jim
I’m speaking of the incessant string of politial ads that have assaulted our ears over the past few months. And when you consider the spin and the ‘out of context’ sound bites, 90% of what we’ve heard from both sides was nothing more than a poorly disguised pack of lies. But it’s over now, and I hope all of you have voted, and voted for a loud repudiation of the Obama agenda.
Going from politics to reality, I must report on our reality during the last week of October in particular. We readied our travel trailer for removal from Spaulding Lake RV Park and storage until January.
This didn’t go without some minor problems.
I had purchased a new hitch with easy to use load levelers. The reason for needing a new hitch was the result of some moron moving the travel trailer (not very far) without the load levelers in place. This moron assumed since he didn’t have to go more than a ½ mile, what could possibly go wrong. So much for assumptions. Anyway, I like the new levelers. Very easy to put on and take off. Now I’m trying to rationalize my stupidity. How’d I do???
It took us awhile to hook up and get the load levelers in place. Of course we had to pull it for 12 miles to my favorite hitch store (Dan’s Hitch). Dan had to make the adjustments so that hitch, trailer and the truck were all in sync. It did give me pause when upon entering Dan’s, I was greeted with “hi Jim”! This may be something I would look forward to at Cheers, but not at Dan’s Hitch. Anyway, we left Dan’s and parked the trailer at our storage area. We said goodbye to the Sunset Trail until we ‘dig it out’ in January. Yes, I did winterize.
Well, the fun was just beginning. Early the next week we woke up to
discover we had no hot water. Our hot water heater isn’t even 2 years old. Of course Lowes told us it wasn’t under warranty. Whatever gave me the idea that it would be? Lowes told us to call the manufacturer, Whirlpool. We did, and they trouble shot with us to try and re-light the pilot. It wouldn’t light.
Whirlpool told us they would have someone come out the next day to diagnose the problem. But, the next morning when we awoke, we discoverd we had no heat. Mary Ellen had what I would call a “blinding glimpse of the obvious”. Of course this blinding glimpse never occurred to yours truly. Maybe, there was no gas coming into our house. Before the Whirlpool guy arrived, I called them and told them we thought we had figured out the problem. We called NIPSCO, our crack gas provider.
NIPSCO arrived and informed us (as Mary Ellen predicted) we had a problem in the gas line. The next thing we knew, there were four NIPSCO trucks out front. One of these was towing a back hoe. They marked the gas line and began to dig. So much for “curb appeal”.
They found the problem and replaced ‘something’. I didn’t know what he was talking about.
They turned the gas on to the house and we thought our problems were over. NIPSCO re-lit both the pilots. But not so fast, Buzzard Breath! When NIPSCO re-lit the furnace he discovered a gas leak. This meant turning off both the water heater and the furnace!
Furnace repairman came the next day and replaced what he referred to as a relief valve. It was a large part. I would never have called it a valve, but who am I to argue with an expert. He relit the furnace pilot and we again had heat. But, no hot water yet. The next day the gentleman from Whirlpool came to “repair” the hot water heater. Turns out there was nothing to repair. He simply relit the pilot and the hot water heater came to life. But WAIT. The saga continues.
While the hot water guy was re-lighting the pilot he noticed a separation in the vent pipe. Its that sheet metal pipe that removes the bad stuff like carbon monoxide and sends it away. Because we had this gap, he recommended we shut off BOTH PILOTS. I expressed my disbelief in a language I don’t think he understood. Of course this gentlemen didn’t
work on vent pipe!
Mary Ellen and I had had enough. After all of this we still had no heat and no hot water. We decided WE could re-attach this vent pipe and re-lite the pilots. After struggling with it for an hour and using various tools we finally closed the gap. We sealed it with an aluminum tape that held it in place and WE re-lit both of the pilots. So far we have both heat and hot water!
I’m proud to announce the opening of M&J heating and cooling repair shop. We’ll specialize in re-lighting pilots and taping vents! I know this is a small niche, but there is a need out there! Right?
It’s the day after the election, but I’m disappointed. In our own district, the democratic incumbent got back in, and on a national level I can’t believe that Reid, Boxer, Frank and several other of the ‘usual suspects’ were returned to Washington. But, at least we took back the House. Not nearly the massacre I was hoping for. There are far too many government dependent people being ‘bussed’ to the polls. Far too many morons being allowed to vote. Hopefully the majority in the House is able to put a stop to some of the socialistic agenda of the current White House. Let’s hope so. I’m already anticipating 2012!
On a brighter side, we’ve had four ‘lookers’ come through our house. One of these was very interested, but no offers yet. I’m not too optimistic on selling it during the winter. We’ll just have to wait until spring I guess, but at least there are some shoppers out there.
Well, as a great man once said, “I have had about all I can take of myself”.
jim
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
