Today is Monday, May 30, 2016. I need to practice. I use my PC desktop all the time. Once in a while I dig out the ole laptop because I am looking forward to making a trip. On trips the laptop and I become as one. This is a practice bluggy to make sure all is working
Sometimes I get this yearning to write on my blog when I make a trip. Then, I get worried. What if some burglar reads my Blog (notice capital letter B on Blog). If a bad guy knows I am gone, he might decide to break into my house. Not good.
Lemme give a couple of reasons why this is not a good idea:
#1) My new next door neighbor is really somewhat nervous about living out here. He has come out of his house to check things when I have come in late. The gentleman just retired from being a Police Chief. He has weapons. He gets nervous. What more can I say?
#2 My house has an alarm system which goes to battery power automatically if something disrupts the electricity. The system has this enormously loud alarm on top of the house which has accidentally kicked in a few times. I'm tellin' ya. You do not want to be in front of that Horn when it sounds. (Refer back to #1 and nervous retired Police Chief)
#3 Our house is at the end of a (FRENCH WORD) cul-de-sac. Once you enter this housing development, there is only one road in and one road out. The entrance is well over a mile from my house. The local Sheriff Department is all over this area. A thief would be hard pressed to make it out of the area.
#4 I have a relative coming to stay here while we are gone....drives a big white F-150.
Review:
To break into my house, you will have 30 seconds before the alarm Horn on top of the house sounds off. At that time the alarm company calls the Sheriff. My excitable neighbor WILL hear the alarm. The relative in the house will be unable to miss the alarm - trust me - I have been in the house when it sounded off. 30 seconds clicking down. Now, after you figure out I don't own anything worth value, . . no jewelry - sure a 1980s TV in the living room that weighs 300 lbs - furniture - maybe a bit of food in frig - various unsalable souvenirs from trips gone past - you now have less than 30 seconds to get out and drive over a mile - up and down hills - around tight curves - one lane road - to make it to the area exit. Once there, you can only go one of two ways. A Sheriff will be on at least one of these roads.
You have to drive out. We are surrounded by wilderness. The wilderness is full of snakes, bobcats, wild pigs (that would be fun) and various other complications.
Might I suggest you rob a 7-11 instead of this place?
There use to be an old bit where a problem is presented to a teacher (usually in August at the first day of InService) - after much groaning and gnashing of teeth, the Administrator would end with "Let it be a challenge to you." Hopefully, I have not presented a challenge to anyone. I end with: "Don't do that."
Thus ended the prelude.
More will follow over several days.
over and out
M3
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Showing posts with label Motorhome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Motorhome. Show all posts
Monday, May 30, 2016
Sunday, June 29, 2014
home, home, home at last
this be a quickie.
cause me is hot & tired.
.
As a preview of coming attractions here on this page, we have just returned from two weeks on the road in our motorhome with our 4 dogs. I believe that if you are going to travel with a pack of critters, a motorhome (travel trailer) is the only way to go. If I get inspired, I will write more of the adventure on the next blog. Right now, we are home and pleased to be here.
.
When our two little boys got home, they had what my wife calls a "runaway." They just ran back and forth and in circles all over the place - inside and out - chortling - making throat noises as they ran. They were so happy to be back home. 30 minutes later, all 4 pooches were coiled up on a bed fast asleep. They were so happy.
.
I think I am pleased too - didn't go running around in circles though.
.
But the yard - two whole weeks of growth after a substantial rain or two - just waiting to be mowed. What critters lie hidden beneath the grass awaiting my wrong step? This morning I mowed the part of the yard that requires my hand push mower. Sure it is a power mower, John Deere driven, rear wheel drive, electric start, loads of power -- nevertheless, mowing outside takes it toll. Later I'll climb on the ole John Deere tractor and smooth out the rest of the yard.
.
The week before we left, my weed eater just quit. It has the nickname: "The Terminator." What a machine!! But it quit. It would run maybe 10 seconds then putter out. I figure the carburetor was dirty and clogged after six years of tireless whacking. It had lost its air filter too. Into the shop it went. They warned me of a two week wait. Perfect! Call on answering machine yesterday; it is ready.
.
The week before we left, our ice maker just quit. It has the nickname: "The Coolerator." What a machine!! But it quit. No ice tumbling into the container; none. I tried to go in and remove the ice maker from the freezer, but it is just too dangerous for me. If it just needs to defrost, fine. But, if I break it in the removal process - I get to buy a new one. After six years of tireless cubing, it stopped. Clunk. No more ice. I am thinking of trying a hair dryer just to see if it would release all of that pent up energy.
.
The week before we left, the sound on this computer just quit. It has no nickname. Now, c'mon, the sound quit. The computer tells me I have not installed a sound driver. Well that is just wrong. Question: do you argue with a computer? Waste of time, me thinks. I'll find a guy in town who can figure this out for me. I don't listen to much on the computer anyway. My wife likes the sound things on facebook and I do get some emails which have nice things.
.
That's all for now. I have almost stopped sweating from the mowing. I soaked 2 (wide) head / sweat bands. Came in; drank a big glass of water; ate a tomato with salt; now here. I think I will see if the cool water still runs in the shower.
m3
cause me is hot & tired.
.
As a preview of coming attractions here on this page, we have just returned from two weeks on the road in our motorhome with our 4 dogs. I believe that if you are going to travel with a pack of critters, a motorhome (travel trailer) is the only way to go. If I get inspired, I will write more of the adventure on the next blog. Right now, we are home and pleased to be here.
.
When our two little boys got home, they had what my wife calls a "runaway." They just ran back and forth and in circles all over the place - inside and out - chortling - making throat noises as they ran. They were so happy to be back home. 30 minutes later, all 4 pooches were coiled up on a bed fast asleep. They were so happy.
.
I think I am pleased too - didn't go running around in circles though.
.
But the yard - two whole weeks of growth after a substantial rain or two - just waiting to be mowed. What critters lie hidden beneath the grass awaiting my wrong step? This morning I mowed the part of the yard that requires my hand push mower. Sure it is a power mower, John Deere driven, rear wheel drive, electric start, loads of power -- nevertheless, mowing outside takes it toll. Later I'll climb on the ole John Deere tractor and smooth out the rest of the yard.
.
The week before we left, my weed eater just quit. It has the nickname: "The Terminator." What a machine!! But it quit. It would run maybe 10 seconds then putter out. I figure the carburetor was dirty and clogged after six years of tireless whacking. It had lost its air filter too. Into the shop it went. They warned me of a two week wait. Perfect! Call on answering machine yesterday; it is ready.
.
The week before we left, our ice maker just quit. It has the nickname: "The Coolerator." What a machine!! But it quit. No ice tumbling into the container; none. I tried to go in and remove the ice maker from the freezer, but it is just too dangerous for me. If it just needs to defrost, fine. But, if I break it in the removal process - I get to buy a new one. After six years of tireless cubing, it stopped. Clunk. No more ice. I am thinking of trying a hair dryer just to see if it would release all of that pent up energy.
.
The week before we left, the sound on this computer just quit. It has no nickname. Now, c'mon, the sound quit. The computer tells me I have not installed a sound driver. Well that is just wrong. Question: do you argue with a computer? Waste of time, me thinks. I'll find a guy in town who can figure this out for me. I don't listen to much on the computer anyway. My wife likes the sound things on facebook and I do get some emails which have nice things.
.
That's all for now. I have almost stopped sweating from the mowing. I soaked 2 (wide) head / sweat bands. Came in; drank a big glass of water; ate a tomato with salt; now here. I think I will see if the cool water still runs in the shower.
m3
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Set-up, Crisis, The Answer, & How
Some stones are difficult to explain. They take a great deal of explanation before you get to the punch line - so to speak. First of all, this is a stone about my wife who actually giggled about it. It turned out to be a fun time in the kitchen. Read the prep, then end up in THE CRISIS. THE CRISIS. THE CRISIS.
.
"fun time in the kitchen" --- good title for a blog
.
Explanation or two:
1. My ears ring all the time. It is loud. I think it interferes with my hearing and comprehension a lot. But, I understand, there is little to be done. I have been around loud noises (and music) too much during my lifetime; my inner ear has been damaged.
2. My wife does not have any ringing in her ears - that is because I am so soft spoken, and we have always had such a quiet way of life.
3. Our motorhome is fixed up pretty nice - y'know, TV, bathroom, chairs, refrig. A few years back we lived in the m.h. for over a year while the house was being built - that is not easy with 3 dogs. At Christmas we went out and bought a fake tree - about a foot high - with all the decorations attached. We set it up on the dash and pretended it was a big tree. It did take a lot of imagination. We have a place over the driver's compartment where we store it in anticipation of next year's Christmas season.
4. Because we may make a trip in our motorhome someday - and we had time today to do it - we drove to town to clean up the inside of the m.h. Actually, she cleaned. I dropped off my wife and ran errands in town. She mopped and swept ( or is it swepped? ) while I went to the post office, the bank, and to the courthouse to pay the yearly car registration on the Marauder. I always go inside to do that because it saves a dollar. As I walked into the courthouse I was greeted by a enormous deputy sheriff who said something scary like, "Good morning, sir." It intimidated me. I was careful not to make any threatening moves.
The ladies in the payment room are always nice and extra friendly. it makes paying the $64.35 a bit easier - perhaps. I sold my little Explorer about a month and half ago - I learned that the new owner had not registered it properly yet. That means if it is used in an armed robbery, the cops will show up on my doorstep with guns drawn. The lady gave me a form to let the govt. know that it was not my car anymore. Is that a relief?
5. If you read my previous bluggy-bloggy-blog, you will know that I had Sirius put into the motorhome - the antenna went up in the compartment over the driver. That means I had to empty out the compartment - which I did - piling stuff on the couch. One of my wife's tasks was to put the Christmas tree and other stuff back into the compartment. She did that with fervor.
6. After our morning's excitement, we had a coupon for Cici's pizza: buy one get one free. Sounds good to me. Off we were for Cici's. I can tell you, this was a mistake. It turns out that today is the last day of school for Corsicana and the several of the surrounding schools. Many had early noon release. It could be that the entire town came to CiCi's today. That was one noisy joint. The pizza was typical. Kids were everywhere. It was good to finish eating and escape. Noise is Noise and will cover all sorts of conversations.
7. On the way home, we went by the car wash and rode through the spray. Fun. We opened the little skylight door and watched the soap as it sprayed the top of the car. More fun. We don't have fun like this often.
8. THE CRISIS: Home at last. Back in the house for a couple moments my wife said something about a high pitch sound she was hearing. I heard nothing. She said it was like glass clinking against other glass. Seconds passed. She continued to move about the house looking for the cause of the tinkling sound. Still I heard nothing, which is not new. The air cond. turned off but she still heard the noise. I said something about ringing in the ears, and, maybe her ears were starting that.
She figured out that as long as she stood still, there was no noise. That didn't make sense. She swung her head back and forth. No tinkling. I tried to get her to bend over really fast. No sound. She experimented with more walking. The tinkling returned to her ears. I suggested putting fingers in the ears to see if the noise was still there. She kept talking about the tinkling in her ears. I made the point that maybe saying her ears were "tinkling" was not good. Who wants ears that tinkle?
She laid down for a nap. I pointed out that aspirin sometimes causes ear ringing to get worse. I closed the door and she slept.
DING DONG. The front door bell rang and the dogs went crazy. No nap now for sure. She got up - I went into the other room (it had been a box via UPS).
9. THE ANSWER: Several minutes passed and my wife walked into the kitchen laughing. She was truly full of glee. It took a moment but she handed me a tiny bell with a pipe cleaner attached. She found it in the cuff of her pants. When she walked, the bell tinkled. Her ears didn't tinkle at all; her ankle was the tinkle.
10. HOW? Remember the little Christmas tree she put in the upper compartment? A bell fell off the tree and landed in the cuff. She was so busy working - Cici's was so loud - she couldn't hear the bell until we walked into the house.
Now, you folks may not think that was funny. But, you were not here. Trust me, it was funny. My wife spent a few minutes good naturely making fun of herself - as well she might. But it was a good ending to a busy morning.
m
.
"fun time in the kitchen" --- good title for a blog
.
Explanation or two:
1. My ears ring all the time. It is loud. I think it interferes with my hearing and comprehension a lot. But, I understand, there is little to be done. I have been around loud noises (and music) too much during my lifetime; my inner ear has been damaged.
2. My wife does not have any ringing in her ears - that is because I am so soft spoken, and we have always had such a quiet way of life.
3. Our motorhome is fixed up pretty nice - y'know, TV, bathroom, chairs, refrig. A few years back we lived in the m.h. for over a year while the house was being built - that is not easy with 3 dogs. At Christmas we went out and bought a fake tree - about a foot high - with all the decorations attached. We set it up on the dash and pretended it was a big tree. It did take a lot of imagination. We have a place over the driver's compartment where we store it in anticipation of next year's Christmas season.
4. Because we may make a trip in our motorhome someday - and we had time today to do it - we drove to town to clean up the inside of the m.h. Actually, she cleaned. I dropped off my wife and ran errands in town. She mopped and swept ( or is it swepped? ) while I went to the post office, the bank, and to the courthouse to pay the yearly car registration on the Marauder. I always go inside to do that because it saves a dollar. As I walked into the courthouse I was greeted by a enormous deputy sheriff who said something scary like, "Good morning, sir." It intimidated me. I was careful not to make any threatening moves.
The ladies in the payment room are always nice and extra friendly. it makes paying the $64.35 a bit easier - perhaps. I sold my little Explorer about a month and half ago - I learned that the new owner had not registered it properly yet. That means if it is used in an armed robbery, the cops will show up on my doorstep with guns drawn. The lady gave me a form to let the govt. know that it was not my car anymore. Is that a relief?
5. If you read my previous bluggy-bloggy-blog, you will know that I had Sirius put into the motorhome - the antenna went up in the compartment over the driver. That means I had to empty out the compartment - which I did - piling stuff on the couch. One of my wife's tasks was to put the Christmas tree and other stuff back into the compartment. She did that with fervor.
6. After our morning's excitement, we had a coupon for Cici's pizza: buy one get one free. Sounds good to me. Off we were for Cici's. I can tell you, this was a mistake. It turns out that today is the last day of school for Corsicana and the several of the surrounding schools. Many had early noon release. It could be that the entire town came to CiCi's today. That was one noisy joint. The pizza was typical. Kids were everywhere. It was good to finish eating and escape. Noise is Noise and will cover all sorts of conversations.
7. On the way home, we went by the car wash and rode through the spray. Fun. We opened the little skylight door and watched the soap as it sprayed the top of the car. More fun. We don't have fun like this often.
8. THE CRISIS: Home at last. Back in the house for a couple moments my wife said something about a high pitch sound she was hearing. I heard nothing. She said it was like glass clinking against other glass. Seconds passed. She continued to move about the house looking for the cause of the tinkling sound. Still I heard nothing, which is not new. The air cond. turned off but she still heard the noise. I said something about ringing in the ears, and, maybe her ears were starting that.
She figured out that as long as she stood still, there was no noise. That didn't make sense. She swung her head back and forth. No tinkling. I tried to get her to bend over really fast. No sound. She experimented with more walking. The tinkling returned to her ears. I suggested putting fingers in the ears to see if the noise was still there. She kept talking about the tinkling in her ears. I made the point that maybe saying her ears were "tinkling" was not good. Who wants ears that tinkle?
She laid down for a nap. I pointed out that aspirin sometimes causes ear ringing to get worse. I closed the door and she slept.
DING DONG. The front door bell rang and the dogs went crazy. No nap now for sure. She got up - I went into the other room (it had been a box via UPS).
9. THE ANSWER: Several minutes passed and my wife walked into the kitchen laughing. She was truly full of glee. It took a moment but she handed me a tiny bell with a pipe cleaner attached. She found it in the cuff of her pants. When she walked, the bell tinkled. Her ears didn't tinkle at all; her ankle was the tinkle.
10. HOW? Remember the little Christmas tree she put in the upper compartment? A bell fell off the tree and landed in the cuff. She was so busy working - Cici's was so loud - she couldn't hear the bell until we walked into the house.
Now, you folks may not think that was funny. But, you were not here. Trust me, it was funny. My wife spent a few minutes good naturely making fun of herself - as well she might. But it was a good ending to a busy morning.
m
Monday, June 2, 2014
Flex and the hitch drama
Since I am sending this to my whole family - it
is in blue and I will make a couple of comments before the Stone starts. I
realize that many of you could care less, but that doesn't matter to me. Here
is the Stone.
.
We bought a Ford Flex last month. Our plan is
to pull it behind our motorhome and to use it as our everyday car. We sold our
2001 Explorer Sport. To pull it, we have to have a tow bar and brakes installed
on the Flex. Where does one go but to Camping World.
==============================================
here is the Stone about the trailer
hitch.
==============================================
By the numbers of
course.
1. Bought the Flex
2. Drove the 50+ miles to Camping World
in south Ft. Worth to select the proper tow bar and
braking
system.
3. Ordered same while we were there and set up
the install date. A very nice young lady with tattoos handled the
transaction.
4. One week later + plus a day, we drove the
Flex back to Camping World followed by our Marauder. The Plan: Leave the Flex
so it would be there for the 8 a.m. service on the next day. Drive Marauder
home. Then, on the next day - late, drive the motorhome up there for the rest
of the install - possibly driving behind in the Marauder.
5. Brenda's uncle Kent died in
Lubbock.
6. New Plan: drive Flex up and leave it for
the early morning installation followed by the Marauder. Next day drive
motorhome up - followed by the Marauder - leave it there. Drive Marauder to
Lubbock for the funeral returning that next day to pick up motorhome and
Flex.
7. See #4 above. We arrived to leave Flex and
key.
8. The young man, Shawn, I believe was his
name, greeted us at the bar and
discovered that the tattooed lady had not
ordered all the parts. She was "new." We re-selected what we wanted, and all
was ordered "before 2 p.m."
9. Drove both cars
home.
10. Left next morning for Lubbock in the Flex
- first road trip - attended funeral, came home same day as funeral arriving
about 12:30 - that would be the 12:30 in the nighttime.
11. One week later - less one day - drove Flex
to Camping World followed by Marauder.
12. Dropped off Flex and key; drove home in
Marauder. This time it would be one and a half days of working to fix the
Flex.
13. On the very next day, I drove to Best Buy
in Waxahachie and had a Sirius radio installed on motorhome. I was told that it
was "Sirius Ready" which means nothing. it took over 6 hours to finish the
job.
14. The installer had told me that If I just
show up, he was never busy during the week. I showed
up at 10 a.m. when the store
opened. Installer didn't come in until 11. At least I was first on his list.
About 2 hours later it was installed. I kissed him on both cheeks and
left.
15. As I drove away, I stopped for gas at a
nearby Walmart. It required me to turn and drive north. Sirius would not work
facing north because he had installed the antenna when it was facing
south.
16. Back to Best Buy and the repositioning of
the antenna drama. Now you know why I spent 6 hours in Best
Buy.
17. While I was waiting at
Best buy, I received the call from Camping World. The selected braking system
would not work on the Flex. We needed an alternate plan. I picked my 2nd
choice. Nope, if we picked it, parts would have to be ordered and another week
would pass us by. I went to the 3rd choice: Brake Buddy with proportionate
braking. They seemed happy with that choice.
18. The next day we drove the motorhome - no
Marauder - to Camping World. They said we would need to be there about 11
a.m. to match up the two vehicles for towing. We arrived at
10:30.
19. Now we are told it would take about
another hour and a half to complete the installation on the Flex and the
motorhome.
20. Give or Take: about 4 p.m. (that would be
5 hours later) we connected the two vehicles and pulled out after paying the
bill.
21. Ate lunch.
22. Now home and reading the instructions.
It says that the trailer hitch on the motorhome and the hitch connectors on the
Flex should not be over 3 inches difference in height.
23. I drove into our storage space and
measured. 4 inches it is. I need what is called a "hi-low" hitch adaptor.
It makes up the difference. But, the nearest adaptor is 50+ miles away at
Camping World. You might think they would have thought about this. They
didn't.
24. I have ordered one online - when will it
arrive?
==================================================
My wife's brother lives in New Hampshire. He
plans to move to Florida next winter instead of wintering it again in New Hampshire. Florida has motorhome parks for snow birds. But, rightfully so, he would like to look at an RV park before
he signs on the dotted line. Sometime later in the summer we may drive to Florida to share in his experience and, also, look a "hysterical" places of historical interest. Nobody but me wants to go to
Disneyworld. August will be a good time to go - or maybe September when the kids are all back in school. Hopefully, we won't still be waiting for the new hitch to arrive. The
Pressure - Oh, the pressure. Meanwhile we plan a few short trips around this part of the country.
===================================================
The stone endeth but the malady lingers
on.....
m3
Friday, October 4, 2013
La Grange - Quilts - Huntsville
Here it is the first of October - ghost and goblins lurking in the shadows. As they might say in Alcoholics Anon ( I can't spell anonymous with confidance or is it confidence? ) as they say: it has been 3 weeks since I last entered a comment on this page. Does this mean I am not addicted?
.
Certain family members told me to write a blog - instead of sending them email stones. I bit and began. Now they don't read the blog either. Tho ( sic: so ) I will continue wallowing in my self, alone pity. Can anyone hear me out there?
.
anyway, nuff of that stuff
.
We made a motorhome trip about a week ago to La Grange, TX. They have = what is billed as = the Texas State Quilt Museum. Our daughter Christine drove down from Round Rock - great name for a town - and stayed in the M.H. with us for a couple of nights. If you have not been through La Grange, and stopped, you should. It seems to be a very nice little town with things to do and see.
.
1st: the quilt museum has its limits. It is housed in two downtown bldgs which have been redone quite well. The quilts are pretty and the folks are friendly. Every 3 months they change their display of featured quilts. Oct. 1st will be the new display; I guess I should say that Oct. 1st was their new display. The Sept. one was a display of art type quilts. Scenes made from cloth and swirly things made from cloth.
.
My family is into traditional quilts, so this was not the best thing. Yes they were pretty; but, they were not traditional quilts. We enjoyed the viewing however. As it turns out, while we were in La Grange it was festival day. Every small town has at least one day of festivities. This was their county's 175th birthday. That's a long time in Texas. They fired a cannon off on the hill top, they did this, they did that. At 4 on the courthouse square the party began. Politicians recited at 4 as well as local well-respected folks who probably have been politicians.
.
A crowd gathered beneath the courthouse balcony and listened to - at least - 45 minutes of speeches about the wonderful day. Yes, it was a Wonder, Full of speeches and the crowd stayed. They had an oldie car display, little ole ladies sitting and quilting in costume, a guy making cornmeal with the help of eager children and and and..
.
but my favorite was the Round Top Brass Band which struck up after the speeches. I don't know who they were . . . . a bunch of old guys and gals in black pants, white shirts, and cute, little, period-black box hats - reminding me of olden days fireman hats when they weren't working. Some were terrific players; others could have done with another rehearsal or two. While they were a brass band, two clarinets sat in and warbled beautifully.
.
What I noticed is: the band played a song. Then, the band sat around a talked for a while; then the band played a tune. Then, the band sat around a talked for a while; then the band played a tune. sat around a talked for a while; played a tune. My guess is, they only knew about 6 or 7 songs. The drummer on a trap set started each tune with a woodblock knock knock. All in all, it was a fun group, and I would be please to play with them if asked.
.
Our motorhome park was right on the Colorado river. It had rained the day before - as we drove that way, all day, rained, drove, more rain - I had not experienced this much driving fun since we drove through Pennsylvania one year as part of a hurricane blew through. Rain rain rained. Back to the river: it was flowing with all sorts of tree litter flowing as well. We walked along the shore with the 5 dogs and looked for squirrels and other deeply hidden critters. I can say, that I believe La Grange would be an excellent place to retire if you are tired of the big city.
.
One last thing - my wife really enjoyed the streets. It seemed that all over town, they built streets that left giant trees standing in the middle. The street would just go around both sides of the tree - put up a warning marker - travel on. I suppose that was nice. It might be a hindrance to a certid dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd ncvvvcvv
let's stop here for an explanation. I was typing along. I wanted to type "certified." The "F" was stuck in the down position. How's that happen? Must I quit eating and drinking while I type? I just went in between the keys with my handy dandy pocket knife and removed cracker crumbs, cheese, hair, garbage, and elephant dung. Maybe I should take the back off the keyboard and blow the thingy out. Or maybe I shouldn't. Let's leave air compressors to the professionals.
back to original paragraph. trees in road. It might be a hindrance to a certified drunk. And I would think in a Czech/German community - there might be a few.
.
move on
.
We decided to take two days to get home. Our next stop was in Huntsville on I-45. They have the Huntsville State Park. Now this is a nice State Park. You should go see. Trees and Water. Lovely picnic area. Really nice. Next morning, we took our time and loaded up. Walked the dogs 4 different times to empty certain body parts, and took off for town. Finding a place to park the motorhome, pulling a car, at an eating place was hard. Eventually we squeezed into an area behind the Golden Corral of Huntsville.
.
I have been in thousands, if not millions, of Golden Corrals. I believe this one is in dire need of refurbishing. I thought it was a tad scuzzy. The food was the same. I know, some of you think the food is scuzzy at all G. C. or buffets, in general. it was okay. We sat in a secluded area beside a group of 6 adults. Next to them was an elderly Spanish man and his wife, who had their laptop opened on the table. The screen showed their playlist and the music was being played through those little tiny speakers. Yes, this couple had brought their own elevator music to enjoy as they feasted at Golden Corral.
.
Wanna guess what kind of music? Go ahead.
You're wrong.
It was music from the 40s and 50s. All of the stuff I truly enjoy. Good big band sounds, old songs and dances - all pop. It was a pleasure having this gentleman sitting near with his playlist emitting the golden sounds of a golden era. Is this a trend for the future? Little kids bringing in laptops to play Barney music while they eat? Some acid punk rock dude playing his trash for the world to hear? Think about it for a moment. Why not? They left, leaving us alone in the area with the 6 adults.
.
A phone rang; the lady picked it up and started having a conversation. She was not obnoxious or anything...very pleasant. She passed the phone around the table. Finally it reached this one low-middle age guy who talked briefly. Then he said: "Yes, I just got out." He described who was there: his mom, his brothers, and so forth.
.
I'll cut to the chase. "I just got out." Huntsville. Gray uniformed individuals picking up several containers of food to go. Where are we? Huntsville. Home of the State Prison - one of them. Yes, this guy behind us with all his family had just been released from prison. And, where did he choose to go eat lunch with his favorite people? You got it. Golden Corral. If you had been in jail for any period of time, you would choose Golden Corral too, I imagine. None of that fancy Mexican or Italian food for you. Go to the trough.
so with that I close. It was nice to get home. It was nice to leave home. Soon we will travel again. Y'all take care now.
m
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Certain family members told me to write a blog - instead of sending them email stones. I bit and began. Now they don't read the blog either. Tho ( sic: so ) I will continue wallowing in my self, alone pity. Can anyone hear me out there?
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anyway, nuff of that stuff
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We made a motorhome trip about a week ago to La Grange, TX. They have = what is billed as = the Texas State Quilt Museum. Our daughter Christine drove down from Round Rock - great name for a town - and stayed in the M.H. with us for a couple of nights. If you have not been through La Grange, and stopped, you should. It seems to be a very nice little town with things to do and see.
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1st: the quilt museum has its limits. It is housed in two downtown bldgs which have been redone quite well. The quilts are pretty and the folks are friendly. Every 3 months they change their display of featured quilts. Oct. 1st will be the new display; I guess I should say that Oct. 1st was their new display. The Sept. one was a display of art type quilts. Scenes made from cloth and swirly things made from cloth.
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My family is into traditional quilts, so this was not the best thing. Yes they were pretty; but, they were not traditional quilts. We enjoyed the viewing however. As it turns out, while we were in La Grange it was festival day. Every small town has at least one day of festivities. This was their county's 175th birthday. That's a long time in Texas. They fired a cannon off on the hill top, they did this, they did that. At 4 on the courthouse square the party began. Politicians recited at 4 as well as local well-respected folks who probably have been politicians.
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A crowd gathered beneath the courthouse balcony and listened to - at least - 45 minutes of speeches about the wonderful day. Yes, it was a Wonder, Full of speeches and the crowd stayed. They had an oldie car display, little ole ladies sitting and quilting in costume, a guy making cornmeal with the help of eager children and and and..
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but my favorite was the Round Top Brass Band which struck up after the speeches. I don't know who they were . . . . a bunch of old guys and gals in black pants, white shirts, and cute, little, period-black box hats - reminding me of olden days fireman hats when they weren't working. Some were terrific players; others could have done with another rehearsal or two. While they were a brass band, two clarinets sat in and warbled beautifully.
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What I noticed is: the band played a song. Then, the band sat around a talked for a while; then the band played a tune. Then, the band sat around a talked for a while; then the band played a tune. sat around a talked for a while; played a tune. My guess is, they only knew about 6 or 7 songs. The drummer on a trap set started each tune with a woodblock knock knock. All in all, it was a fun group, and I would be please to play with them if asked.
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Our motorhome park was right on the Colorado river. It had rained the day before - as we drove that way, all day, rained, drove, more rain - I had not experienced this much driving fun since we drove through Pennsylvania one year as part of a hurricane blew through. Rain rain rained. Back to the river: it was flowing with all sorts of tree litter flowing as well. We walked along the shore with the 5 dogs and looked for squirrels and other deeply hidden critters. I can say, that I believe La Grange would be an excellent place to retire if you are tired of the big city.
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One last thing - my wife really enjoyed the streets. It seemed that all over town, they built streets that left giant trees standing in the middle. The street would just go around both sides of the tree - put up a warning marker - travel on. I suppose that was nice. It might be a hindrance to a certid dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd ncvvvcvv
let's stop here for an explanation. I was typing along. I wanted to type "certified." The "F" was stuck in the down position. How's that happen? Must I quit eating and drinking while I type? I just went in between the keys with my handy dandy pocket knife and removed cracker crumbs, cheese, hair, garbage, and elephant dung. Maybe I should take the back off the keyboard and blow the thingy out. Or maybe I shouldn't. Let's leave air compressors to the professionals.
back to original paragraph. trees in road. It might be a hindrance to a certified drunk. And I would think in a Czech/German community - there might be a few.
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move on
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We decided to take two days to get home. Our next stop was in Huntsville on I-45. They have the Huntsville State Park. Now this is a nice State Park. You should go see. Trees and Water. Lovely picnic area. Really nice. Next morning, we took our time and loaded up. Walked the dogs 4 different times to empty certain body parts, and took off for town. Finding a place to park the motorhome, pulling a car, at an eating place was hard. Eventually we squeezed into an area behind the Golden Corral of Huntsville.
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I have been in thousands, if not millions, of Golden Corrals. I believe this one is in dire need of refurbishing. I thought it was a tad scuzzy. The food was the same. I know, some of you think the food is scuzzy at all G. C. or buffets, in general. it was okay. We sat in a secluded area beside a group of 6 adults. Next to them was an elderly Spanish man and his wife, who had their laptop opened on the table. The screen showed their playlist and the music was being played through those little tiny speakers. Yes, this couple had brought their own elevator music to enjoy as they feasted at Golden Corral.
.
Wanna guess what kind of music? Go ahead.
You're wrong.
It was music from the 40s and 50s. All of the stuff I truly enjoy. Good big band sounds, old songs and dances - all pop. It was a pleasure having this gentleman sitting near with his playlist emitting the golden sounds of a golden era. Is this a trend for the future? Little kids bringing in laptops to play Barney music while they eat? Some acid punk rock dude playing his trash for the world to hear? Think about it for a moment. Why not? They left, leaving us alone in the area with the 6 adults.
.
A phone rang; the lady picked it up and started having a conversation. She was not obnoxious or anything...very pleasant. She passed the phone around the table. Finally it reached this one low-middle age guy who talked briefly. Then he said: "Yes, I just got out." He described who was there: his mom, his brothers, and so forth.
.
I'll cut to the chase. "I just got out." Huntsville. Gray uniformed individuals picking up several containers of food to go. Where are we? Huntsville. Home of the State Prison - one of them. Yes, this guy behind us with all his family had just been released from prison. And, where did he choose to go eat lunch with his favorite people? You got it. Golden Corral. If you had been in jail for any period of time, you would choose Golden Corral too, I imagine. None of that fancy Mexican or Italian food for you. Go to the trough.
so with that I close. It was nice to get home. It was nice to leave home. Soon we will travel again. Y'all take care now.
m
Monday, December 5, 2011
Not all drips are jerks
We have this newer motorhome. As with any vehicle, once you get it and drive for a while, you can take it back to the dealer and have a couple of adjustments made. The stone follows.
We took the machine back to Ancira Motorhome in Alvarado the 3rd week of October. On our first trip out, I woke up the first morning and slipped on my bluejeans which I had thrown on the floor beside the bed. The first thing you must do every morning is walk the dogs who have been caged up all night. They are not full of patience. Barking - shaking - howling - you name it, these dogs know all of the tricks to get you movin' in the morn.
So I grabbed the jeans and slammed my bare legs into the slots. That was an eye waking experience. The jeans were soaked. The were on the floor and soaked. When the dog trip was completed, the floor was checked. The carpet was soaked and almost dripping. Outside water was dripping from under the coach.
We had to wait 2 weeks to get in at Ancira. Their highly touted repair system (highly touted by the sales staff) turns out to have only 2 guys doing the work - so are they getting behind? The machine went in - we got a call a few days late - all ready EXCEPT they couldn't make it leak. That's what the repair guy said. He did find the outside shower had a small leak. I accepted this as an explanation cause I had no choice.
A couple weeks later, the M.H. took us to Round Rock where we stayed at the RV park attached - more or less - to Dell Diamond. Water was hooked up. No leak. Still we were uneasy as one should always be when dealing with ... surely you have all been there before.
Took a trip this past weekend - first since Round Rock. Hooked up the city water - yep, within an hour or two, I found a wet spot on the carpet. Didja expect less? By the next morn, water dripped outside, and carpet was slowly soaking. Turn off the city water supply - use water from the coach's water tank. The drips stopped.
Called Ancira this morning. Taking it in this week....but, as always, it is over 10 days before they can get to it. I figure it is better up there - maybe, just maybe (I dream a lot) they will take it in early. I would indeed like to make another trip soon.
==========================trip stone to follow===================
m
We took the machine back to Ancira Motorhome in Alvarado the 3rd week of October. On our first trip out, I woke up the first morning and slipped on my bluejeans which I had thrown on the floor beside the bed. The first thing you must do every morning is walk the dogs who have been caged up all night. They are not full of patience. Barking - shaking - howling - you name it, these dogs know all of the tricks to get you movin' in the morn.
So I grabbed the jeans and slammed my bare legs into the slots. That was an eye waking experience. The jeans were soaked. The were on the floor and soaked. When the dog trip was completed, the floor was checked. The carpet was soaked and almost dripping. Outside water was dripping from under the coach.
We had to wait 2 weeks to get in at Ancira. Their highly touted repair system (highly touted by the sales staff) turns out to have only 2 guys doing the work - so are they getting behind? The machine went in - we got a call a few days late - all ready EXCEPT they couldn't make it leak. That's what the repair guy said. He did find the outside shower had a small leak. I accepted this as an explanation cause I had no choice.
A couple weeks later, the M.H. took us to Round Rock where we stayed at the RV park attached - more or less - to Dell Diamond. Water was hooked up. No leak. Still we were uneasy as one should always be when dealing with ... surely you have all been there before.
Took a trip this past weekend - first since Round Rock. Hooked up the city water - yep, within an hour or two, I found a wet spot on the carpet. Didja expect less? By the next morn, water dripped outside, and carpet was slowly soaking. Turn off the city water supply - use water from the coach's water tank. The drips stopped.
Called Ancira this morning. Taking it in this week....but, as always, it is over 10 days before they can get to it. I figure it is better up there - maybe, just maybe (I dream a lot) they will take it in early. I would indeed like to make another trip soon.
==========================trip stone to follow===================
m
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