Happy New Year.
Time just keeps marching on. It seems like it was only yesterday that there was the great concern that the world would stop turning when the year 2000 arrived. A friend of ours put it very nicely when he told a news reporter when she asked what his opinion was of the Year 2000 issue. He responded "It is only an issue created by a few people so that they can write volumes of books and get everyone excited about it so that their books sell!" Such was the case.
Sandy and I are enjoying a quiet evening here in our motorhome, both of us on the computer becoming more educated about the world around us. I read lots of news articles and Sandy searches the internet for appetizing sounding dishes that she can make while we're boondocking. (We leave our park (with full hookups) on Tuesday with the intent to boondock (i.e. no hookups) until April.) We may weaken a day or two between rendezvous That is why we have a Passport America membership.
.We had a first in the park today. A member of the park fell off of the steps of her RV and severely gashed her head. We learned about it when the local siren sounded off. It was then only a minute or so until about a half dozen golf carts went zipping by. Then it was only 2 or 3 minutes until the local fire district EMS truck arrived. The truck was guided by a local resident who met the truck at the road gate. In another 5 minutes, the big fire truck showed up and shortly thereafter an ambulance arrived.
In summary it was very satisfying to see how the park residents responded to the emergency, since we are several miles out of town. Some members served as traffic control, others grabbed the medical equipment and everyone converged at the accident site. (I didn't stick around to get in the way, so I'm not sure what caused the lady to fall.) Considering the age of the park residents, we're fortunate to have so many willing volunteers.
Again, Happy New Year.
Gene
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Wrapping up 2011, looking forward to 2012
We've had a moderately relaxing week here at Paradise Park. Nothing earth-shattering that upset the apple cart. (And we like it that way.) We thought that there would be some comments about a "Mud Track" west of the park two miles that has a 3 day event starting today. But it is not to be. Friends who went into town said that everything went well, no lines or hold ups for them going either way. Considering all of the stories that were going around earlier, we're happy to hear that it was a nothing today.
Yesterday we worked on Lavonne bathroom stool. What a pain. Airstream has the stool in a little room so small that you can't even get your hand down beside it. I had to lay on the floor to un-bolt it. Plus the water line had to be removed by feel. We took the stool out to see why it would not hold water in the bowl. I thought that they problem was a lime build up on the active surface of the seal. So we used lime away and cleaned the seal as best as we could. But this morning, she reported that all of my effort was wasted. It did not hold water. (I guess as a friend in the service used to say, "You win some; you loose some and some get rained out."
On Wednesday, I helped Lee replace a since faucet in Lavonne's shed behind the trailer. This job was a little bit easier. The problem was that we could only rotate the sink, not pull it into the open. Miraculously, the four screw on connections held water. I guess it helps when they are not cross threaded to begin with.
A friend came over yesterday morning with his computer and his Mi-fi card. He had taken his computer into Office Depot to be speeded up and now he can't get onto his Mi-Fi. It was our first look at a Mi-Fi and it was impressive. His problem was that they had taken his wireless driver out of his startup file, so the wireless adapter never ran. We fell into the solution real quick. However, when we tried to connect our notebook to the Mi-Fi, it was a no go. As we talked with him, we learned that the Mi-Fi is a replacement for him. When they sent it too him, they had told him to switch the "chip" from the old unit to the replacement unit. The end result is that Mi-Fi has an attached label that is wrong. It is no problem until he needs to replace his computer and now doesn't know what the security code is. We sent him on his way with instructions to lean on Verizon until they tell him what the code is. He needs it if he gets a new computer or e-book.
We are really done with any productive work here in the park. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and it will be a quiet one in this house. Sunday will be a quiet day as most of the folks have stayed up well beyond their bed time hours. Monday is our last day here, so we're putting the final touches on our stuff and Tuesday we hit the road again, pull the anchor up or what ever you want to call it. Tuesday, we're headed off to another location to join our "Boondocking" friends!
Gene
Yesterday we worked on Lavonne bathroom stool. What a pain. Airstream has the stool in a little room so small that you can't even get your hand down beside it. I had to lay on the floor to un-bolt it. Plus the water line had to be removed by feel. We took the stool out to see why it would not hold water in the bowl. I thought that they problem was a lime build up on the active surface of the seal. So we used lime away and cleaned the seal as best as we could. But this morning, she reported that all of my effort was wasted. It did not hold water. (I guess as a friend in the service used to say, "You win some; you loose some and some get rained out."
On Wednesday, I helped Lee replace a since faucet in Lavonne's shed behind the trailer. This job was a little bit easier. The problem was that we could only rotate the sink, not pull it into the open. Miraculously, the four screw on connections held water. I guess it helps when they are not cross threaded to begin with.
A friend came over yesterday morning with his computer and his Mi-fi card. He had taken his computer into Office Depot to be speeded up and now he can't get onto his Mi-Fi. It was our first look at a Mi-Fi and it was impressive. His problem was that they had taken his wireless driver out of his startup file, so the wireless adapter never ran. We fell into the solution real quick. However, when we tried to connect our notebook to the Mi-Fi, it was a no go. As we talked with him, we learned that the Mi-Fi is a replacement for him. When they sent it too him, they had told him to switch the "chip" from the old unit to the replacement unit. The end result is that Mi-Fi has an attached label that is wrong. It is no problem until he needs to replace his computer and now doesn't know what the security code is. We sent him on his way with instructions to lean on Verizon until they tell him what the code is. He needs it if he gets a new computer or e-book.
We are really done with any productive work here in the park. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and it will be a quiet one in this house. Sunday will be a quiet day as most of the folks have stayed up well beyond their bed time hours. Monday is our last day here, so we're putting the final touches on our stuff and Tuesday we hit the road again, pull the anchor up or what ever you want to call it. Tuesday, we're headed off to another location to join our "Boondocking" friends!
Gene
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
One week left to empty my bucket list!
We leave the park one week from today and so far our list of things to get done is getting whittled down. I think we'll make it. Today we went with Lavonne to Arcadia for fuel (her car) and to give her moral support to pump it herself. I feel like a hick standing there while she pumps it, but that is the only way she will learn how it is done. One of her problems is that she has difficulty reading the LCD panels at the pumps.
While there it was grocery time, but that came second to Sandy getting her Kindle touch. We turned in her Kindle 3G last Friday and the Punta Gorda store was out of the touch. So now she has her toy! She decided that the 3G version was un-necessary since we have a router and she does not intend to buy books from Amazon. She has learned of a number of sites where she can obtain books for free via libraries and another place. (The 3G version would also do the wi-fi to our router, but she didn't need the 3G capability, which costs and extra 50 bucks.)
Back at the park, we briefly worked on our backup LP tank connection. We are carrying a 20 pound LP tank to use when the main tank runs empty. At least that is the plan. The reason is that the gauges on LP tanks are wildly in-accurate and too often we find that we are filling when we still had nearly a half of tank of gas. Now we can run it nearly empty if we want to! (And not be in trouble if it does run out.)
I've been kind of bragging about the weather here for the last month. Well, the worm has turned, briefly we hope. This evenings temperatures outside are 15 degrees lower then they were yesterday. They may get into the 40s tonight.
Enough for tonight!
Gene
While there it was grocery time, but that came second to Sandy getting her Kindle touch. We turned in her Kindle 3G last Friday and the Punta Gorda store was out of the touch. So now she has her toy! She decided that the 3G version was un-necessary since we have a router and she does not intend to buy books from Amazon. She has learned of a number of sites where she can obtain books for free via libraries and another place. (The 3G version would also do the wi-fi to our router, but she didn't need the 3G capability, which costs and extra 50 bucks.)
Back at the park, we briefly worked on our backup LP tank connection. We are carrying a 20 pound LP tank to use when the main tank runs empty. At least that is the plan. The reason is that the gauges on LP tanks are wildly in-accurate and too often we find that we are filling when we still had nearly a half of tank of gas. Now we can run it nearly empty if we want to! (And not be in trouble if it does run out.)
I've been kind of bragging about the weather here for the last month. Well, the worm has turned, briefly we hope. This evenings temperatures outside are 15 degrees lower then they were yesterday. They may get into the 40s tonight.
Enough for tonight!
Gene
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Christmas Day and we're winding down
Christmas day is nearly spent and we're relaxing here in the rig. Of course, our tummy is still well satisfied from dinner at 2 pm today. A late afternoon walk did not wear it down either. I guess like so many other things in life, "Just give it some time and all will settle down."
I was pleased to learn a little tid-bit about hip replacements today. One of the fellows at our table sitting next to Sandy had a hip replaced not too long ago using a new approach. He was ecstatic about how well it worked for him. I was enough impressed with his comments that I looked up his surgeon online to see what was said about the surgery. I've known for years that since my mother had both hips replaced, my dad had one hip replaced and three sisters have each had one hip replaced, it is probably something that I can expect.
The only fly in the ointment is that last summer as part of my physical, they x-rayed my hips. The results were, "yes, I had a problem developing in the right hip, but it is the left hip that needs replacing". I think they looked at the slides backwards! One thing it did do is to convince me that when the time comes, I want a second opinion!
For those of you that are envious of our temperatures here in south Florida, you'll be happy to hear that on Wednesday, it will drop by about 10 degrees. The days will be in the mid 70s and the nights about to the mid 50s. I think we can hand that okay!
We trust all of our friends have enjoyed Christmas also. God bless you all.
Gene
I was pleased to learn a little tid-bit about hip replacements today. One of the fellows at our table sitting next to Sandy had a hip replaced not too long ago using a new approach. He was ecstatic about how well it worked for him. I was enough impressed with his comments that I looked up his surgeon online to see what was said about the surgery. I've known for years that since my mother had both hips replaced, my dad had one hip replaced and three sisters have each had one hip replaced, it is probably something that I can expect.
The only fly in the ointment is that last summer as part of my physical, they x-rayed my hips. The results were, "yes, I had a problem developing in the right hip, but it is the left hip that needs replacing". I think they looked at the slides backwards! One thing it did do is to convince me that when the time comes, I want a second opinion!
For those of you that are envious of our temperatures here in south Florida, you'll be happy to hear that on Wednesday, it will drop by about 10 degrees. The days will be in the mid 70s and the nights about to the mid 50s. I think we can hand that okay!
We trust all of our friends have enjoyed Christmas also. God bless you all.
Gene
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
MERRY CHRISTMAS (and remember the reason for the season.)
What a Joy it is to celebrate another of Christ's births. Here we relax in the sunshine of south Florida where if anyone is complaining, it is because the temperature is headed for 85 degrees again today. No bundling up or putting a coat on around here. We've had our morning walk (to the dumpsters) and Sandy is currently out for her morning walk around the park. With the fog about gone and the sun beginning to appear, it is going to be another nice day. As a friend says, "Another great day in Paradise".
We went to the early Christmas Eve service last night at church so that we could return to the park before it was too dark. (At 6:30, it was really dark!) We had little time to waste, but for some reason, I was driving with the cruise control on at 50 mph. Suddenly we noticed a dark blob in the right ditch that was moving towards the road. Instinctively, we hit the brakes and watched a black wild hog cross the road in front of us. We cleared it by ten to fifteen feet as it darted across the road. One gives thanks immediately that we missed it.
For those from the farm, Texas and Florida wild hogs are usually coal black and flat as a pancake side to side, perhaps five inches at most. I suspect that they are about 200 pounds more or less. We've often seen the results of their rooting in the ditches but this was first one that we've seen at night. Let's hope it is also the last one. (We learned that it is better to drive below 50 mph while in the Everglades 3 weeks ago. The speed limit on the Tamiami Trail between the Everglades NP and the Big Cypress Preserve is 60 in the daytime and 45 at night, in an effort to reduce car-panther collisions.)
Friday was our shopping trip to the big city so that Sandy could return her newly purchased Kendle 3G back to Walmart. The advantage of the Kendle 3G over the cheaper model is that the 3G version has unlimited access online, but only to the Amazon bookstore to buy books, so she found out. But why does she want that when she can get all of the books she needs free from many online library sources? Plus the unit automatically reverts to the wifi link if there is an active wifi in range. So since our Cradlepoint router is always on (if we have AC to the rig), her Kendle would be using our wifi, not the 3G service. When using the wifi service, the Kendle has unlimited online access via the used network. She returned the 3G model and then we went to buy the cheaper wifi only version. Sorry, but they were out of stock. Come back next week!
This afternoon we'll join the others in the park for our Christmas dinner. I was a little late again this year about pushing to change how the park does the Christmas dinner. We sign up on a table of 8 for the dinner. The park provides the meat and gravy and the members of the table provide the rest, usually one item per couple. I'd like to see it done in a table setting of 16 (2 eight foot tables). Then you have two choices of everything. However, it has always been with a table of 8 and a table of 8 it shall be!
I finally made a temporary fixture for one of the LED lamps I've purchased via eBay from Hong Kong. I put the lamp in a tin can with aluminium foil to provide a reflector. Well, the house chairman vetoed it as a suitable lamp. The light it too blue-esh. So I'm back in the market for a suitable fixture. Someday we'll find one. (I love it because the lamp is very low power and saves on my battery when boondocking.)
Again, Merry Christmas.
Gene
What a Joy it is to celebrate another of Christ's births. Here we relax in the sunshine of south Florida where if anyone is complaining, it is because the temperature is headed for 85 degrees again today. No bundling up or putting a coat on around here. We've had our morning walk (to the dumpsters) and Sandy is currently out for her morning walk around the park. With the fog about gone and the sun beginning to appear, it is going to be another nice day. As a friend says, "Another great day in Paradise".
We went to the early Christmas Eve service last night at church so that we could return to the park before it was too dark. (At 6:30, it was really dark!) We had little time to waste, but for some reason, I was driving with the cruise control on at 50 mph. Suddenly we noticed a dark blob in the right ditch that was moving towards the road. Instinctively, we hit the brakes and watched a black wild hog cross the road in front of us. We cleared it by ten to fifteen feet as it darted across the road. One gives thanks immediately that we missed it.
For those from the farm, Texas and Florida wild hogs are usually coal black and flat as a pancake side to side, perhaps five inches at most. I suspect that they are about 200 pounds more or less. We've often seen the results of their rooting in the ditches but this was first one that we've seen at night. Let's hope it is also the last one. (We learned that it is better to drive below 50 mph while in the Everglades 3 weeks ago. The speed limit on the Tamiami Trail between the Everglades NP and the Big Cypress Preserve is 60 in the daytime and 45 at night, in an effort to reduce car-panther collisions.)
Friday was our shopping trip to the big city so that Sandy could return her newly purchased Kendle 3G back to Walmart. The advantage of the Kendle 3G over the cheaper model is that the 3G version has unlimited access online, but only to the Amazon bookstore to buy books, so she found out. But why does she want that when she can get all of the books she needs free from many online library sources? Plus the unit automatically reverts to the wifi link if there is an active wifi in range. So since our Cradlepoint router is always on (if we have AC to the rig), her Kendle would be using our wifi, not the 3G service. When using the wifi service, the Kendle has unlimited online access via the used network. She returned the 3G model and then we went to buy the cheaper wifi only version. Sorry, but they were out of stock. Come back next week!
This afternoon we'll join the others in the park for our Christmas dinner. I was a little late again this year about pushing to change how the park does the Christmas dinner. We sign up on a table of 8 for the dinner. The park provides the meat and gravy and the members of the table provide the rest, usually one item per couple. I'd like to see it done in a table setting of 16 (2 eight foot tables). Then you have two choices of everything. However, it has always been with a table of 8 and a table of 8 it shall be!
I finally made a temporary fixture for one of the LED lamps I've purchased via eBay from Hong Kong. I put the lamp in a tin can with aluminium foil to provide a reflector. Well, the house chairman vetoed it as a suitable lamp. The light it too blue-esh. So I'm back in the market for a suitable fixture. Someday we'll find one. (I love it because the lamp is very low power and saves on my battery when boondocking.)
Again, Merry Christmas.
Gene
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
We're getting into the park routine and out of the writing routine
I just realized this evening that we haven't been posting anything to our blog. An even greater misfortune is that we haven't been updating our journal which is a daily diary of our activities. Perhaps we're too busy? Or perhaps we can blame it on the fact that we now have electrical hookups, and we're surfing too much. But it has only been four days since the previous posting.
We're gradually getting things crossed off of our bucket list (our to do list). I did get a call back finally from Shurflo about our water pump problem. He asked if I needed it right away and I said "no, we are using a friend's pump!" His reason for asking was that he'd like to not send me a pump for about a month, after which he'll have a new version of the pump. (Of course, the new version will be better, more reliable etc.) I agreed to wait a month or more so that we can have the better pump. We hope it is better.
Yesterday, our renter from last year stopped in and returned our gate opener control. We had asked them about it and they thought they had turned it into the park. But they just found it and realized where it belonged. So we returned the one we checked out from the park. Now if we could only get the opener we have for our park in Casa Grande to do both gates! It has two buttons.
For those of you not following the weather, it turned bitterly cold Sunday night. Yesterday morning the low was 55 degrees and we turned some heat on in the motorhome. Tomorrow is to be a bit better. The high today must have been up to 80, which was just fine for us.
In the cool of the morning sunshine today, we decided to work on our black tank drain valve. (We emptied the tanks, then use the jacks to tilt the motorhome so that there is no drippage out of the tank. Then I can pull the valve to clean it. The problem is that the inside of the tank, drain tubing and valve pick up a layer of lime. The lime is rough and is like sand paper, which will eventually cut the valve seal. We noticed that the valve was dragging some, so we cleaned it before it ruined the seal. Interestingly, the lime problem is only in the black tank. The gray tank lining is smooth as silk, probably the result of the various soaps that we use.
One of the joys of being here for 2 weeks is that we can get our mail and have other things shipped in. We've ordered four LED lamp assemblies from Hong Kong, so we hope they'll make it also. The lamp is one of the best ones we've seen for light output. (It only has 120 LEDs.) The other benefit of the lamp is that the current draw is only 0.6 Amps, about one fourth of the other lamps.
One of the downers of getting our mail is all of the "stuff" we get from our Medicare provider. There were some major changes in our health insurance this year and we hope that we end up covered about the same way. I'm sure we'll have less coverage and it will cost more, all part of Obama-care. (Enough about politics!)
Gene
We're gradually getting things crossed off of our bucket list (our to do list). I did get a call back finally from Shurflo about our water pump problem. He asked if I needed it right away and I said "no, we are using a friend's pump!" His reason for asking was that he'd like to not send me a pump for about a month, after which he'll have a new version of the pump. (Of course, the new version will be better, more reliable etc.) I agreed to wait a month or more so that we can have the better pump. We hope it is better.
Yesterday, our renter from last year stopped in and returned our gate opener control. We had asked them about it and they thought they had turned it into the park. But they just found it and realized where it belonged. So we returned the one we checked out from the park. Now if we could only get the opener we have for our park in Casa Grande to do both gates! It has two buttons.
For those of you not following the weather, it turned bitterly cold Sunday night. Yesterday morning the low was 55 degrees and we turned some heat on in the motorhome. Tomorrow is to be a bit better. The high today must have been up to 80, which was just fine for us.
In the cool of the morning sunshine today, we decided to work on our black tank drain valve. (We emptied the tanks, then use the jacks to tilt the motorhome so that there is no drippage out of the tank. Then I can pull the valve to clean it. The problem is that the inside of the tank, drain tubing and valve pick up a layer of lime. The lime is rough and is like sand paper, which will eventually cut the valve seal. We noticed that the valve was dragging some, so we cleaned it before it ruined the seal. Interestingly, the lime problem is only in the black tank. The gray tank lining is smooth as silk, probably the result of the various soaps that we use.
One of the joys of being here for 2 weeks is that we can get our mail and have other things shipped in. We've ordered four LED lamp assemblies from Hong Kong, so we hope they'll make it also. The lamp is one of the best ones we've seen for light output. (It only has 120 LEDs.) The other benefit of the lamp is that the current draw is only 0.6 Amps, about one fourth of the other lamps.
One of the downers of getting our mail is all of the "stuff" we get from our Medicare provider. There were some major changes in our health insurance this year and we hope that we end up covered about the same way. I'm sure we'll have less coverage and it will cost more, all part of Obama-care. (Enough about politics!)
Gene
Friday, December 16, 2011
We're back in Paradise Park near Punta Gorda, FL
(This should have been posted last night.)
Yesterday was the last day we could stay free at Monument Lake, so we (like just about everyone else in the campground) bailed out. It was a decent drive to our park with a stop at the small town of Immokalee, which is a migrant and farmers' business community. English is rarely heard and the town is nearly over-run with semis hauling farmers' products now. We decided to do some exploring at the local commerical exchange for the growers.
The first problem was finding a parking place for the RV and car. Then I went to the market while Sandy stayed with the RV in case someone didn't like the way we were parked. I've never seen so much in the way of good garden product and it looked great. We decided to price a lug of grapefruit and when she told me $6 for the lug, I decided I could carry it back to the RV. (They may not speak much English, but they all know how to price the produce in American dollars!)
It was then another 20 miles on up the road to the next small town where we refilled the pantry. Sandy was able to get what we needed but she complained about the prices (not Wally prices). We finally reached Florida highway 74 and headed west to our park. What a refreshing drive, finally we had a tail
wind! (While heading north, we had a strong cross wind.)
Once in the park, we settled in and relaxed. It is always a great feeling at the end of the day to be able to park it, hit the automatic levelers, plug in the power cord and relax. Friday starts our list of "to do" items, which needs to be done in two and a half weeks. Already Sandy is complaining that she'll barely get used to living with connections when we'll pull up and head back to the world of boondocking.
Life moves on.
Gene
Yesterday was the last day we could stay free at Monument Lake, so we (like just about everyone else in the campground) bailed out. It was a decent drive to our park with a stop at the small town of Immokalee, which is a migrant and farmers' business community. English is rarely heard and the town is nearly over-run with semis hauling farmers' products now. We decided to do some exploring at the local commerical exchange for the growers.
The first problem was finding a parking place for the RV and car. Then I went to the market while Sandy stayed with the RV in case someone didn't like the way we were parked. I've never seen so much in the way of good garden product and it looked great. We decided to price a lug of grapefruit and when she told me $6 for the lug, I decided I could carry it back to the RV. (They may not speak much English, but they all know how to price the produce in American dollars!)
It was then another 20 miles on up the road to the next small town where we refilled the pantry. Sandy was able to get what we needed but she complained about the prices (not Wally prices). We finally reached Florida highway 74 and headed west to our park. What a refreshing drive, finally we had a tail
wind! (While heading north, we had a strong cross wind.)
Once in the park, we settled in and relaxed. It is always a great feeling at the end of the day to be able to park it, hit the automatic levelers, plug in the power cord and relax. Friday starts our list of "to do" items, which needs to be done in two and a half weeks. Already Sandy is complaining that she'll barely get used to living with connections when we'll pull up and head back to the world of boondocking.
Life moves on.
Gene
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