Here it is only about 8 PM Eastern Time - and there are already a million plus people standing in Times Square in NYC. Only in America can you gather a million people, free to express whatever opinion they have, and have them have a good time - waiting for a shiny ball to move a few hundred feet signifying the end of one year - and the beginning of the next. No riots - no Molotov Cocktails - no tear gas - no rock throwing - no AK-47s. America is truly an amazing experiment in self government!
Twenty Ten was a wild year for the Maineiacs. Plans were made and plans were changed - and then changed again. We ended up traveling some 14,229 miles in the Winne this year, through 37 different states, 1 Canadian Province - and staying in 52 different RV parks/campgrounds. All-in-all we spent 257 nights sleeping in the Winne (well at least I did). For 2010 I guess I made it to being a 70%er - not quite a RV fulltimer - but close.
We started the year leaving Maine in January to seek out the warmth of the deep south. That didn't work out too well as even those southerners were experiencing an abnormally cold winter.
We did get to experience our first Mardi Gras celebration while we were in Lower Alabama staying at the Escapees Rainbow Plantation. A great time was certainly had by all!
Then we tried to warm up by heading west. First we tried the cajun country of Louisiana. We had a lot of fun at Betty's RV Park and really enjoyed the cajun cooking - but still not what I would call warm.
So we continued to the hill country of Texas. We found some pretty nice weather in the hill country and had a great time visiting all the missions of San Antonio and LBJ's ranch up near Johnson City.
Then it was time to head home. But only for a few days to load up on provisions and head out again - this time for the Central Valley of California to help support Nan during the cancer treatments. We took the southern route west and did manage to visit a few new places including the Petrified Forest, Painted Dessert, and Meteor Crater.
We spent pretty much all of May in Redding, CA helping Nan and then hit the road for the return trip. This time we decided to take the northern route and see a few states we hadn't seen before. But first we decided to visit Yellowstone National Park again. This time we got to visit in the snow!
On our way back we searched for some more Evringham's in Harrisville, Michigan where we were able to find the grave marker for Jane Evingham - my Great-Great Grandmother.
After arriving back in Maine in mid June I left Peggy behind for a few weeks to help with wedding plans while I took the Winne back to near Albany, NY to start a short term consulting job.
Then there was The Wedding. Lots of plans, lots of tears, lots of fun. Gave away a daughter - gained a great son-in-law.
After working for a few more weeks I needed a break again. Actually I was playing hooky to come back to Maine to participate in the 2010 Maine Event. Our sorta impromptu gathering of 3 fulltiming RV couples/friends and the Maineiacs. We had great weather - great fellowship - and great touring.
I spent the next several months supporting the decommissioning of Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) of the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL) for the Department of Energy (DOE). Those folks really like their acronyms! Thankfully - Peggy was able to spend many of those long weeks with me in NY.
We finished up our work stint in NY and made our way back to Maine in early December.
Whew - I told you it was a wild year!
So ... we made it through another year. Lots of interesting times. Some fun - some not so fun - but always interesting
On to Twenty Eleven!! I'm ready - Are you?
Today's blog entry has little to do about anything important. And it probably will bore most readers - but it's my blog and I get to put stuff in it that matters to me! It is all about me ya know!
Back when I was younger, thinner, and had the world all figured out - I bought my first car. The year was 1967 - it was the summer before my Senior year in high school and I needed some wheels. I had a small motorcycle that was my first motorized love - but I needed something to cruise the streets of McCloud, California and impress all the girls. Before I continue - you need to know a couple of things. #1 - McCloud, California in those days was a small logging community nestled in the shadow of Mt. Shasta with a population of about 3,000 folks. McCloud had (still has) about a dozen streets and "Main Street" is about a 1/4 mile long. #2 - My graduating class had a total of 38 kids. 27 girls and 11 boys. So cruising Maine Street didn't take long and there weren't all that many girls to impress (although the boy-girl ratio wasn't bad).
Nonetheless - I was growing up in California and needed some wheels. One day my dad tells me about a guy he knew at work that wanted to sell his work car - a 1955 Plymouth Plaza. Low miles - had hardly ever been driven out of town - one owner - a real "cream puff." The best part - he only wanted $80. It just so happened that I had $80 and before you knew it - the Plaza was mine! From here I'll try and keep the story somewhat short - but once I cleaned out all the wood debris and bark from the back seat and trunk (it seemed the Plaza also served as his wood hauling truck), and spent tens of hours rubbing out the 1/8" of oxidation that had accumulated on the paint (it seems the Plaza spent most of its days parked near the constantly sprinkled log decks where the previous owner operated a loader) --- I had a real car! It may have only had a flathead 6 cylinder engine - but she was a real car. Once I added a few absolutely necessary custom touches from the J.C. Whitney catalog she would be a real headturner. Yessiree - those bolt on headrests, walnut gearshift knob, blue vinyl seatcovers, and the chrome exhaust pipe extension, were some real performance enhancements. I only have this one picture of the Plaza - and as you can see the original photo is in pretty bad shape - but there she is in all her glory.
OK - We survived the Blizzard of Ought-10! The wind blew and the snow fell sideways for about 24 hours and then it quit. So today I started up the snowblower and cleaned out the driveway, made a path around the house, and helped Peggy shovel off the deck. That's it - I have officially had enough snow for 2010! All-in-all we got about a foot to a foot and a half depending on where you measured. As a matter of fact I have had enough snow now to get me through to December of 2011. So it would be really nice if the next Maine snowstorm were sometime after January 20th - when we plan on heading south. We had given some thought to visiting with the NJ Evringhams for Christmas - but as it turned out - I'm sorta glad we stayed home. I think they got as much if not more snow than we did!
On a scale of 1 to 10 I would say this storm was about a 7. We got a lot of wind, up to 60 mph or so, and a bunch of snow - but I can recall several that have been worse. SO what's up with the NFL postponing the Sunday night game between the Eagles and the Vikings? Those NFL Namby Pambys are not only ruining the game with all their latest rule changes - now they won't even play in the snow! What would Y.A. Title and Vince Lombardi think about this! Oh well - we'll watch the Eagles-Vikings tonight and hope the Eagles win. I'm looking forward to being in Jersey on Conference Championship weekend to see the Patriots and the Eagles qualify for their second Superbowl matchup. The first one was a great game - I'm sure the second would be just as good.
Peggy and I made it out to Target today to pick up a few things we needed around the house - and to take advantage of a gift card we received from the NJ Evringham's for Christmas - thanks guys! While in the store I noticed not only the 50% off sales on the Christmas ornaments but the displays for all the Valentines Day stuff were already in place. I suppose I should be surprised that the stores are already marketing for a "holiday" some 7 weeks away - but I'm not. Afterall - I was seeing Christmas stuff on display along with Halloween stuff back in October. I'm not complaining. If it helps those folks keep afloat during these tough economic times - I say go for it.
Speaking of difficult economic times ... I continue to read articles telling me that us Baby Boomers are unprepared for "retirement," that we have overspent in our best earning years, and over indulged when we should have been saving our money. Therefore we cannot achieve the traditional American dream retirement where we move to Florida, join the country club, take cruises twice a year, and visit the kids at Christmastime. Now I suppose those sentiments do apply to many but I can't help but think about those who worked their butts off to improve their family's situation, were maybe fortunate enough to take a family vacation or two while their kids were growing up, perhaps were able to help their kids through college without having to resort to government (or other) sponsored loans, and continue to work hard just to make ends meet. These are the Boomers I tend to see everyday. These Boomers intend to do whatever it takes to live the rest of their lives gracefully. Some may chose to work to the very end and will do so enjoying everyday of their lives. Others will do as many of our fulltiming RV friends have done and simplify their lives, their obligations, and their liabilities - while choosing to enjoy their chosen lifestyle. So while others may think that the "traditional," American dream style, retirement is out the window - I say - look around - I think you'll find a lot Boomers redefining the American Dream.
Now if the government will only let them ...
Merry Christmas to all from the frozen north. Here it is Christmas Eve - we have a couple of inches of snow left over from the snowstorm we received yesterday morning - we attended Christmas Eve services at church - we spent some time visiting with Stacy and Kaj after church - we opened our gifts - and once again - life is good!
Well - I got my wish. We got an inch or so of snow yesterday. Unfortunately it was pretty much all gone by noon today. Yippee - it looks like we may get another opportunity tomorrow. Not too much exciting happening around here the last few days. It's pretty much the routine scenario. Peggy has been planning and shopping for Christmas dinner. Mike has been doing a few chores, doing a bit of reading, and playing auto mechanic for Stacy's car - so what's new! In retrospect - life has been pretty good these last few weeks. We're not living in a motel in NY, I don't have to go to work 50-60 hours a week, I can sleep in to whatever hour works for me - yup - life is pretty good.
Well - we have sorta made a few decisions. It looks like we will be heading south on or about the 20th of January. First stop - New Jersey - for about a week to visit with Brian, Nicky, Alyssa, and Emily. We haven't seen them since Stacy's wedding in July so we are looking forward to catching up on what they have been doing. Alyssa has been learning to play the flute in school and is having some sort of recital on the 24th - so that pretty much fixed the departure date. Six months is too long between grandkid fixes!
From NJ we are thinking about heading to Savannah, GA for about a week. We enjoyed our visit to Savannah 2 years ago - but we only stayed a couple of days. We are looking forward to experiencing more of their southern hospitality (and perhaps some southern cooking as well!).
Next on the penciled in itinerary will be our annual visit to Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, AL. We have always enjoyed our past stays at "the Plantation." The weather has been great (except for last year) - the camaraderie is always good - and the shrimp at Big Daddy's can't be beat! Who knows - if the weather cooperates we may even stay to enjoy Mardis Gras again!
Then we figure we'll head west. This time we're thinking of making it clear to Arizona. We will probably spend some time at the Escapees Co-Op Park in Benson and also in Tucson. We are hoping to have Nan fly down to spend some time with us in Tucson. We have spent time in Tucson in the winter during my working past and know our way around a little. I'm sure we could keep ourselves occupied there for at least a few weeks.
That ought to get us to around the first of April. By then I figure we will both be more than ready to head home to enjoy a few months back in Maine before our next adventure.
Sounds like a plan to me. Now all I gotta do is get everything ready to roll. No Problem - I've got a whole month to figure that out!
The weather has turned for the worse here in Maine. Earlier in the week we had it pretty good with highs in the 50s - today however - not so good. I think we might have made it up to near freezing - and tomorrow's not looking much better. All kinds of snow in the Midwest and anywhere near the Great Lakes - I hear it's even snowing in Phily tonight - but none here in Maine. It looks like we may have a grey Christmas if things don't change pretty soon!
Kaj and Stacy returned from their Honeymoon Cruise this afternoon. It sounds like they had a great time enjoying all the amenities on the Cruise Ship and the sun and nice weather ... down Mexico way. They spent a day or two in Cozumel and Costa Maya before heading back to Tampa today and then flying home this afternoon/evening. So Tut the wonder puppy has headed home with them. It's going to be a lot quieter around here without him - but we'll miss all his playful puppy energy.
Peggy has been waay busy today getting all the Christmas stuff out. The tree is now all decorated, her snowmen and angel collections are prominently displayed, the nativity scene is atop the "mantle," and the dancing Santas/singing reindeer/and other assorted battery operated gifts provided by our son Eric and DIL Jen over the years are also out. This is where my fulltiming RVer friends have an advantage over us part timers with too much storage space. If you can't carry it with you - you can't keep storing it and bringing it out every year. I'm only partially kidding here - Christmas traditions are fun and different for every family. We may have a fake Christmas Tree now and mostly new ornaments - but we still put on one that has survived all our married lives and put on a few that have special meaning to us from our past Christmas's with kids and grandkids.
We just need a couple of inches of snow now and we are all set for a beautiful New England Christmas.
Then the snow can stop until we've readied the Winne and have her well south of the Mason-Dixon Line!
Here it is - the twelfth day of Christmas and what did my true love give to me? Not a "partridge in a pear tree" - she did make me a great breakfast this morning, and she did let me take a short nap this afternoon, but nope - not one partridge have I seen!
A dozen days before Christmas and we have gotten the Christmas tree up. My true love congratulated me last night for picking such a beautiful tree this year and I have to agree. It looks better every year I set it up. I especially like the parts where I didn't have to trim the trunk to make sure it picked up water for two weeks and to make sure it fits in the stand, the part where I get sap all over me, and the part where I get to pick up all the stray needles that fell all over the carpet as I put it in place. Only in America can we take a Germanic tradition, turn it into a money maker selling and growing real trees, and then turn the whole process over to our Asian friends to make great quality - good looking fake trees that take the work out of the process for us and give the money to them. I'm not complaining - just noting the facts!
We have twelve more days to complete the process. Christmas greeting cards to address and mail, Christmas nic-nacs to place throughout the house, and Christmas songs to hum [Humming is the best I can do - singing is out of the questions!]. Twelve more days to get some new snow to pretty up the neighborhoods and twelve more days to watch Christmas specials on TV.
Dontcha just love Christmas? The only thing we will be missing is watching the little ones tear open the gifts. That's actually my favorite part. To me - Christmas really can't be fully enjoyed without watching kids enjoy the whole thing!
12 more days 'til Christmas - 19 more days until a new year - and then what? It's looking more and more like Peggy and I will be heading south again this winter and hoping for warmer weather.
Right now we are thinking of spending January in Maine and then heading south around the 1st of February. After spending several days in New Jersey visiting the kids/grandkids we will more than likely find our way to Summerdale, Alabama to visit our RVing buddies, enjoy some of Larry The Cook's cooking, and participate in Mardis Gras 2011!
Then we're thinking of heading west "a ways." Maybe as far as Arizona - maybe less - maybe more. See - it doesn't take me long to get right back into that "retirement" mode does it?
Yup - only 12 more days to go. Do you remember how long 12 days was when you were 12 years old.
An ETERNITY!
Daughter Stacy and her new husband Kaj decided to delay their honeymoon from July until December. This way they figured they could enjoy some warm weather when it was cold in Maine. Good plan I say. They plan on leaving Portland waay early tomorrow morning and fly to Tampa where they will meet their cruise ship and take off for Mexican ports on Saturday. So Peggy and I get to dogsit their "puppy" Tut. Tut is a cross between a black lab and a boxer ... and is a typical "puppy." He wants to explore everything and play all the time. Actually he is settling in here very nicely and we should all do fine. If it snows a bit - I think he is big enough and strong enough to pull me down the street in a sled - that might be fun!
Since it is December and getting colder every day (about 15 degrees last night and heading towards 11 degrees tonight) - it must mean that it's time for Mikee's Maineiac Gumbo! So today was the day for Mikee to don the apron - ask Peggy for permission to invade her kitchen - and go to work. Chop the white onions, celery, bell pepper, green onions, parsley - get the frozen okra and frozen shrimp out of the freezer - prepare a bit of kielbasa - make the roux - mix it all together - bring to a boil and then simmer for a couple hours. Fix a little rice and ladle on some gumbo - season to taste (tabasco is my favorite) - and yum yum. Too bad we were out of wine!! It was pretty darn good tonite but I suspect it will be even better tomorrow when all those flavors mix together a bit better - and when I get a nice bottle of wine to go with it!
Did I ever tell you how talented my sisters are? Don't tell them I said so ... but they are. Among their many talents - they both enjoy quilting and are really good at it. Here is a sample of their work - they made this one for Stacy and Kaj for a wedding gift:
This one was given to me for my 50 - tenth birthday:
This one just arrived for Peggy's 50 - tenth birthday: (You Sodoku fans will appreciate the pattern on this one):
I suppose I never adequately appreciated my sisters while growing up ... afterall they didn't really like doing the kinds of stuff their brother wanted to do. I suppose I still don't appreciate them enough - but I sure do love 'em.
Whew - we just made it! We spent a good deal of time on Sunday getting the leaves raked and bagged and the flower beds cleaned up - just in time for the snow that arrived yesterday morning. We didn't get all that much snow, only about a half inch or so, but we got enough to make it look like winter. For several hours here yesterday it looked like a snow globe - really pretty - if you like snow. Actually I don't mind snow - as long as it goes away in a couple of days. This time of year, even in Maine, that will be the case. Then comes January ... I believe that the snow we get here in January is the last stuff that melts away around the 1st of April!
Winter is here - whether or not the calendar says so. From reading the blogs of my RVing friends - it appears that much of the nation is in a cold grip already. It's starting to look an awful lot like last year when the cold spread throughout the country - even in the southern states. So ... what to do - what to do? Do we assume that everyplace will be cold again and just say the heck with it and stay home? Or do we roll the dice and play the averages? Hmmmm - let's take a look at the averages ...
The average high temperature on the 1st of February in Topsham, Maine is 32 degrees - the average low is 10 degrees. No matter how I look at it - that's qualifies as a "Three Dog Night." (Remember Them?)
So how about Summerdale, Alabama? - we like it there and it is usually relatively warm in February. Average high on February 1st is 62 degrees and the average low is 39 degrees. Not too shabby - I could probably be in short pants on some days!
How about further west? The average high/low on February 1st in San Antonio, TX is 64/40 degrees. A little better than Summerdale but still a ways from "warm."
There is always Florida - say around Tampa. Feb 1 averages there - 70/52 degrees. Definitely acceptable - but we've decided that Florida is really not our cup of tea.
How about the desert southwest? We've spent some time in Tucson in the winter attending work related conferences (OK - I was playing golf) and some years it was quite nice. Average February 1st high is 68 degrees and the average low is 43 degrees. The average high is almost equal to Tampa but the low gets quite a bit cooler at night - ahh that cool/dry desert air!
Decisions - Decisions - Decisions
I think I'll roll the dice - or at least give them to Peggy.
Whew - we made it! I finished up my final week in NY, "turning over" the project I was working on to my replacement. And then I had to survive a couple nights of "let's take Mikee out for a few drinks after work." It was fun and all - but Mikee's body doesn't respond quite as quickly to such things as it used to!
After a hearty and late breakfast at the Route 7 Diner - Peggy and I loaded up the vehicles yesterday morning, hitched the Vue to the truck, and made the drive back to good 'ol Maine. We had a pretty nice day to drive - although it was a bit nippy outdoors. We arrived back in Topsham in time to transfer all our "stuff" back in to the house and then we headed over to Eric & Jen's place in Auburn to meet up with them and Stacy & Kaj for some conversation and a bite to eat we picked up at the local BBQ joint - Little Dan's. We (I) couldn't stay long because the combination of excessive partying the last few nights, driving all day long, and a full belly was quickly pulling me towards bed.
So we're home! Now it's time to try and finish getting the yard picked up in time for the first big snowstorm which can happen any day, time to work on those home projects that have been put off for many months now, and time to sit back and relax a bit ... now where should I start?
I feel a bit like Martin Luther King Jr. during the famous "I have a Dream Speech" - as he recalled the words of that old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
This year we had another great Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Kaj and Stacy. Those two did a great job on everything ... the food was great, the visiting was great, and the Patriots won - couldn't have asked for a better Thanksgiving. Except for having the NJ Evringham's there - that would have even been better!!!
The Winne's chassis builder (built by "Workhorse") announced several months ago that it was starting a recall campaign for the brake calipers on the Winne. It seems that too many units have suffered from brakes sticking "on" leading to high heat, loss of braking, cracked brake rotors, and other consequential damages. This problem has been known for several years but it took a long time for Workhorse to do its investigation, then work with Bosch (the brake supplier) to come up with a "fix", then produce several hundred thousand new brake calipers, and then get the replacement campaign going. Even though I have never had a brake issue with the Winne - I figured I better take advantage of the recall and while I was at it - I might as well get new brake pads installed - afterall the Winne has 74,000 miles on her and since the calipers where coming off anyway - might as well "get 'er done." So I made an appointment a couple weeks ago to get the work done here in Maine at a local Workhorse Chassis Service Center in Portland - on the day after Thanksgiving.
So we awoke yesterday - the day after Thanksgiving - Black Friday - to a bit of white on the ground - mostly from an overnight bit of freezing rain. But I already had the appointment - so we might as well "get 'er done" - right? After getting Peggy up early - lured out by the promise of breakfast at Cracker Barrel - we cleaned the ice off the Vue - went over to where the Winne is stored - scraped the ice off the Winne's windshield - and drove to Portland.
We dropped off the Winne and made it to CB by about 9:00 AM - just about the time all the Black Friday Early Birds were finished shopping and in need of breakfast - and right about the time the normal risers were getting out for their breakfast before shopping. Ah - don't I love hanging out in the CB store for a half hour waiting for a table - Oh well - at least we have a CB in Maine now!
We spent the rest of the day doing small chores around the house and a bit of running locally - just taking care of "stuff." The "stuff" that you can't get done while hanging around in NY all Fall! Then around 4 PM we get the call that the Winne is ready - drive back to Portland - and then back home. Busy Day!
Today we'll get Winne back in her parking place (by the way - the new brakes work great - and by the looks of the old brake pads - it was definitely time for some new shoes) and get ready to head back to NY for my final week of earning gas money.
We hope everybody had a successful, safe, and satisfying Thanksgiving holiday!
I know - two posts in one week! What is Mikee up to? Well - for one thing Mikee is sitting in his own Lazy Boy, in his own house, and is watching his own TV! Howz that for an improvement! Things are definitely looking up.
Peggy and I drove the Vue home today from NY. As we drove that 300 or so miles we decided that we needed to stop at Maine's newest tourist attraction - The Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant in Portland, ME. That's right ya'll - good ol southern cookin' - Southern Maine style! The only reason I mention this is to give Randy and Terry Guiler a hard time. Randy and Terry claim to have stopped at over 80 different Cracker Barrels in their RV travels - but this one in Maine just opened a few weeks ago so I'm pretty sure Peggy and I have been to 1 that Randy and Terry have yet to visit. We have never counted the different CBs that we have visited - but it has got to be a pretty high number - but not as high as Randy & Terry!
Now for my next very important observation. As anybody knows who has visited a few CBs - the store layout is almost exactly the same in every store. You walk in through the "store," you enter the restaurant in the back left of the store, the shotgun is always above the fireplace, and the rest rooms are straight back from the entrance door. Men's on the left and Women's on the right. EXCEPT in Maine and one other CB we have visited - I can't remember where! So who gets to decide which sex rest room is on which side? And why mess with a working layout? All they are doing is increasing the likelihood that one of us CB Frequent Flyers is going to find himself or herself embarassed in the wrong room!
I intend to take this up with CB management in short order - this is important - keep the men's on the left and the women's on the right. As a matter of fact - I recall that Gene and Judi Curp are hanging out in Nashville as we speak. They could run right over to the CB headquarters in Lebanon and file my complaint for me.
Just don't let 'em change the bacon, biscuits, or the french toast!
Another wild and crazy week here in NY.
Peggy has been spending her days shopping (mostly for Christmas) while I've been spending my days working on recovering from all the project changes I found out about the previous day. I think it's safe to say that this project has taken more turns than a NASCAR driver on a typical Sunday on a "road course." I had to add the "road course" part because not all turns have been to the left. Some have been to the right, some have been U-Turns, but after all the turns ... we do end up at the same place ... just like a NASCAR driver.
The bad news is - my project has been delayed even further! The good news is - I'm going to work on Monday - then we are driving to Maine on Tuesday to spend the rest of the week enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday. We will be returning to NY on Sunday the 28th and I'll work 1 more week to December 3rd - THEN I'M DONE!!! Yippee ... the end is in sight!
After that who knows? This last several months have been a real challenge in many ways and I think Peggy and I both need a rest. I think we will be spending at least a couple months at home figuring out how that routine works again. At some point we will want to head out again for warmer temps but we will have to balance that desire against how much pain we want to go through to get the Winne ready to roll in the dead of winter. We've done it before - but it's not necessarily a pretty sight!
The 2010 chapter of Maineiacs in Motion has been more than interesting - and certainly not much resemblance to what we had in mind going into 2010. Stay tuned for the 2011 Chapter - I can't wait to see what's next!
This last week was pretty wild and crazy here in NY. We started the week off with a little welcome from Ol' Man Winter.
It only collected to about a 1/2" - but it was enough to remind me why I'm not supposed to be here. All my RVing friends have escaped to warmer climates and here I sit - with no snow brush in the vehicles I may add - I left those in Maine!
As you may remember - back in May of this year I was called by an old friend wanting to see if I would mind coming to NY for a few months to help him out on a project. No big deal - show up - play Project Manager for a few months, pick up some gas money for the winter travels - and be home for Halloween. Sounded like a decent plan to me - so off I went.
As September arrived it looked like my project would be delayed for about month and probably wouldn't complete until mid-November. No problem I said - I'll stick around to finish it up - still plenty of time to get back to Maine - enjoy the Holidays with the kids - and then off to warmer climes.
As September closed ... "things" took a turn for the worse and it looked like the project may not complete until December. "Well Now" I said. That will definitely put a cramp in my style - so ya'll better find a replacement for me cause I need to get outa here before Turkey Day. That's where it all went wrong! I guess these folks aren't used to people telling them they need to leave.
Whadda ya mean you're going to leave! We need you! We can't do it without you!
"Sure you can" I say - "You guys represent a really big company with offices all over the country - I know you can find a replacement." Then came the hard part ... .
Remember the old friend that started this whole mess back in May? He and another old friend (who happens to be a Vice President with the company I'm working for) come to me and say "What would it take for you to stay."
I knew it was coming - I really didn't want to hear it - but there it was.
So after thinking about it for a few days - I came up with an unreasonable amount of money for me to stay until the first of the year ... they accept ... and here I am - watching the snow fly in NY.
2010 has been a wild and crazy year so far - and it looks like it's going to keep it up ... right to the end.
Howdy again from the Empire State. Peggy and I made the trip back to NY from Maine last Sunday - driving the truck and pulling the Vue. That combination actually worked out OK. The truck's gas mileage suffered by about 4 MPG - but it was cheaper than driving both vehicles - and I had somebody to talk to on the trip!
We have survived out 1st week here at the local Residence Inn where we are living in our "Studio" apartment. It's actually a lot like living in an RV as far as space goes. As long as we are going to be here without the Winne - I suppose this will do.
Well election week is over. I think we are all thankful for that. For us that still have landline phones - and transfer the landline phone to our cell phone when we are away - the constant political calls have stopped, the lawn signs are slowly disappearing from the landscape, and the TV pundits have something new to talk about. Overall - I feel much better after this national election that I did after the last - but we've got a lot of fixin to do before we can say that America is back on track. I do believe that when we look back on this period in our history we will view it a lot like the late 60s - full of turmoil and one of the key periods in our history when we, as a nation, had to take one clear path or another. I see it kinda like a period of adolescence when you have to decide that it's time to leave all the protections of your parents behind, grow up, and start making the hard decisions that come with being an adult. Did you ever notice that we go through this every 40-60 years? The "roaring" 20s followed by the economic calamity in the 30s, the post-WWII 50s followed by the tumultuous 60s, the "me" generation 90s followed by the bubble bursts in the 00s. The problem is - the swings get wilder and wilder, the world gets crazier and crazier, the blues get bluer and the reds get reder. We all recognize the symptoms - we just can't seem to cure what ails us.
Enough of that soapbox ... time to move on to my next favorite subject "Early Retirement." About 5 years ago I was fortunate enough to be in a situation where I could "retire" at age 55. To me, that meant that I could 1) Not have to get up and go to work everyday to earn $$ for Peggy and I to survive and 2) I could do more of the things we wanted to do rather that just what we "had" to do.
Knowing that I COULD stop working (as long as we didn't go financially crazy) was a nice feeling but then came the reality of SHOULD I stop working? What about all the opportunities I had to profit from my experience? How long would these opportunities continue to exist? Didn't I want to take advantage of those when they came available? How was I going to avoid going crazy (or driving Peggy crazy) with "nothing to do?"
Here is what I've learned in the last 5 or so years:
1. Nobody promises you tomorrow.
2. Family is number 1.
3. Friends are number 2.
4. There is never (and will be never) enough time to do all that I want to do - So I'll never have "nothing to do."
5. "Opportunities" will always present themselves. Some are best passed up - some are not easily recognized as opportune.
Come to think about it - I guess I knew these things all along!
It appears that "retired" life is a lot like "working" life - we get up - we make decisions - we try to enjoy life - we go to bed and do it all over again the next day.
But then many of my "retired" friends would claim that I've never really retired - so how would I know!
This was a short week at work as I only worked through Wednesday and then Peggy and I hooked up the Vue and drove the Winne home to Maine on Thursday. I need to be back in NY on Monday so we have a few days here to sorta winterize Winne, take care of a few things around the house, including trying to get some leaves picked up and the lawn mowed one last time before winter.
Yesterday I accomplished getting the Winne's water system drained, blown down with air and then added a few gallons of RV antifreeze (the "pink stuff" - while Peggy worked on getting a bunch of stuff out of the inside that we either still need in NY or stuff that shouldn't be left out in the cold while Winne is in storage for a couple on months. Today I'll go through the basement compartments, give her a good washing, fill her up with gas and then put her in storage. She's had a busy year and will appreciate the rest! The last I looked - she has been our home for almost 80% of the last year! Not quite full timing - but close!
I also managed to get the oil changed in the truck and the Vue yesterday as we are planning on taking both back to NY - so Peggy can have something to drive while I'm working. We will be staying at a Residence Inn for a few weeks and there are a few shopping centers nearby so maybe she can get our Christmas shopping done! I'm not sure whether we'll drive both cars to NY or pull the Vue with the truck ... never done that but can't see why it wouldn't work? We have the tow bar - the truck has a hitch - it even has the "trailer towing" package - so I guess it aught to work.
Well - my RVing friends were no help at all so I went ahead and ordered the Cyfre Amplifier and a few accessories. The package was waiting for us when we arrived here at home. So I had to check it out. Our signal strength here at the house is pretty good normally so I couldn't really test the unit on a weak signal but I installed the amp in the Winne between the USB760 in our Cradlepoint router and the Wilson omni-directional external antenna on the Winne's ladder and the signal strength indicated on the router went from "3 bars" to "4 bars" almost instantly. Last night I moved all the equipment into the house and hooked up the system to the mag-mount antenna that came with the amp. I put the antenna on a large cookie sheet to provide a ground plane. Once again the router indicated a full "4 bar" signal strength. I played around a bit using different combinations of both antenna and amp, antenna only, no antenna and no amp. The amp definitely works! The signal strength indicator internal to the Cradlepoint showed 67% without the amp and 81% with the amp in service. Not too bad for a small mag mount antenna sitting on a cookie sheet inside the house! But the real test will be while we are on-the-road in an area of poor reception.
We hope everybody is doing well. Be sure to make it through Halloween with only treats and no tricks!
Another week down - and things are improving. Only 53 hours this week - it felt like a vacation - I actually got home before dark on two days!! OK that's enough feeling sorry for Mikee. Mikee knew the risks going in and we can hack it for a few more weeks.
Our move north last Sunday went really smooth. We weren't the last ones to leave Deer Run - but we were probably close. The campground was looking pretty abandoned by the time we pulled up jacks around 11:00 AM, filled up with propane on our way out, and made the trip up here to Greenfield Center, NY - just a bit west of our old home in Saratoga Springs.
We are now staying at Whispering Pines Campsites in a 50 Amp - full hook up site in the middle of a really beautiful pine forest. Peggy thinks it's her forest cause we are just about the only folks here! According to the owner - they really close this place around October 15th but they keep one section open till the last minute (October 31st) as they prepare the rest of the place for winter.
So poor Peggy has been stuck here in the middle of the forest all day while I head out to earn a bit of gas money for future trips. We do have a pretty decent cable TV setup but the Internet and cellphone coverage is pretty shaky. She has managed to survive up here in the wilderness but I think she was ready for seeing real folks, and stores, and stuff as we took off this afternoon to do a bit of sightseeing/shopping. We'll be staying here through Wednesday night and then we'll head back to Maine on Thursday for a few days. I need to be back at work on Monday the 1st - so it will be a short trip to get the Winne home and sorta winterized, clean up the yard a bit, check the mail, and head on back. Then we'll get to see how well we survive a few weeks at the Residence Inn!
Like I said - our Internet and cellphone coverage here is pretty shaky. The phone signal goes away pretty often and the Internet connection is slooow at best. While we are in the Winne we use our Cradlepoint wireless router and Verizon Broadband USB760 modem hooked to an outside antenna mounted on our roof access ladder to access the Internet. This works pretty well in most places we have been - but every once in a while we find ourselves in a remote location where the signal is poor to non-existent. SO - I've pretty much talked myself into purchasing a cellular signal amplifier to help out on these occasions. Right now I'm leaning towards the Cyfre direct connect amplifier - but welcome any suggestions from my RVing friends who may have good or bad experiences I can learn from. But you better hurry - once I get my mind made up - I pull the trigger pretty fast.
That's probably why Peggy didn't let me look at the new motorhomes today when we were at the RV store!
Two weeks without a blog entry! Sorry about that but I've been a bit busy. No need to go into details here but 67 work hours 2 weeks ago and 61 work hours last week has just about wore me out. What part of "retired" did I forget? Oh well - hopefully this upcoming week will be a little less chaotic.
This is moving weekend. The campground here at Deer Run closes tomorrow so we are pulling up jacks and heading north a bit to near Saratoga Springs where we found another campground that is open till the end of October. It's only two more weeks and then we will need to take the Winne home.
When I agreed to take this job I expected to be done no later than just about now. As the job unfolded - it became apparent that the project I am working on wouldn't be completed until around mid November ... so I agreed to help out until then. Now it looks like it may take until perhaps January to get-er-done!! So I had to break the news to the Project Director yesterday that although I really wanted to see the project completed, Mikee needs to move on down the road soon - so they better start finding a replacement. Right now I'm planning on being done here on November 19th.
Since we will be moving the Winne a bit north tomorrow - and since the poor girl has been sitting here since mid June without a bath (outside water use restrictions pretty much all summer) - today was scrub-a-dub-dub day. First came the top - man was it filthy. 4 months of sitting under a bunch of oak trees made for a pretty mungy mess. But after a couple hours of scrubbing - the Winne's roof is all nice and brite white again. After a bit of a rest break - it was on to the outside vertical surfaces. More water - more suds - more scrubbing and that was done! Phew - I needed another break. Then I accomplished the last few chores on the list for today - top off the tire air pressures (I had to add about 5 psi to all tires since it was about 90 degrees outside when I last filled them and it's closer to 60 degrees today!) - and charge up the chassis battery. OK that's enough - I quit for the day. We are pretty much ready to roll tomorrow - even if it is only about 35 miles.
Then what? ---- After our stay up near Saratoga is done in a couple of weeks we will be taking the Winne back to Maine and get her winterized. Then it will be back to NY for a few more weeks to finish up my work commitments - while living in the Residence Inn. It certainly won't be as nice as living in the Winne - but it will have to do for a few weeks.
When we are done in NY - the present plan is to head back home for Thanksgiving and stay till shortly after Christmas. Then we plan on heading south. I know we will be stopping in NJ cause it's been waay too long since we've played with the grandkids. After a bit of time in Jerzee we'll keep headin' south. We still haven't figured out whether to go southwest to AZ and/or TX and then travel back to AL or go to AL and then head further west before heading back to Maine. We are considering attending another FMCA rally in GA in mid March. I'm sure a plan will come to us before we head out.
Well that's about it - not much else new here on the working man front - except that I remain pretty convinced that being retired is not all that bad and needs to be tried again. This work stuff is waay overrated!
Peg and I drove back home yesterday. 300 or so miles of rain, rain, and more rain. Sometimes I could even see the taillights on the car in front of me! Oh well that's done- we're home - and it looks like a beautiful day out there today.
Our main reason for coming home was simply to take care of some yard work - normal fall stuff to get ready for what follows. Mow the lawn, clean out some gutters, clean out the flower beds. That kind of stuff. It may sound a little early to start getting ready for winter - but not really. I may need to work next Saturday, I need to change campgrounds the following Saturday because the one I'm at is closing for the season, a couple weeks later the new one will be closing so I need to bring the Winne home for pre-winter trip maintenance. All that - and I still need to finish up this job so I can get back to being retired. See - not much time left!
Last weekend, before we left for the reunion banquet, Peggy and I decided to try out some more geocaching. I went online and found a couple of caches listed in a nearby park - next to one of the locks of the Erie Canal Waterway. After a quick download of the info into the GPS Gadget - we were off to find the park. We got a little confused as to what side of the river the park was on but we finally found it.
We quickly found a nice walking trail through the woods next to the river and the Gadget was pointing down the path. 500 and some feet later the guiding arrow on the gadget swings quickly to the left and we leave the trail heading into the woods - only about 70 feet left to go. 20 feet to go - 10 feet - 1 foot! We're there!! But where is the cache? We're near a big tree but nothing that looks man-made around here. Then I look up.
Sure enough - right above my head - about 30 feet up this tree is a plastic tube hanging by a rope that is looped over a branch and then run several hundred feet over to another tree - where it is attached by a clip device. Disconnect the clip, lower the tube to the ground and voila - there's the cache.
After signing the logbook and checking out the goodies in the cache - taking none and leaving none (TNLN in geocacher talk) - we closed up the cache and re-rigged it for the next geocacher to find.
Then we we're off to find the next one. Another tenth of a mile or so down the trail we take another side trail and then once again the needle swings quickly to the right this time. About 20 feet off the trail the "distance to our destination" goes to 0 and we start looking. This time we found the cache in a typical geocache old army ammo can hidden in a hole at the base of a tree.
Once again we checked out the "stuff" inside (this one was dedicated to those serving in the armed forces), signed the log book and then re-hid the cache - just before some "muggles" walked by. I understand that "muggles" is a term from the Harry Potter world that Geocachers use to describe civilians that aren't looking for geocaches and you don't want them to find one by spying on what you are doing.
Yup - just as you imagined - Geocaching is a game played by us kids of all ages. But all-in-all I think it's a good thing. You get some exercise, you get to learn the skills of using a handheld GPS which could really be useful if you spend time hiking in unfamiliar territory, and it's kinda fun.
Just don't let the muggles catch you
Peggy and I have been hanging out in New York all week - watching Fall come to New England/New York (New York is not considered part of New England you know). The temps are dropping into the 50s and sometimes 40s during the evenings so the leaves are really starting to change colors now.
From March 1970 through April 1980 I served in the US Navy. In March 1970 the world was kinda different. We had just landed a man on the moon and safely returned the crew to earth, the Vietnam War was still going hot and heavy, we were trying to figure out what happened socially in the late 1960s, and the "Cold" War was still very much in progress. For those of you who weren't around then let me explain the "Cold" War. The "Cold" part of the war refers to the fact that both the US and the Soviet Union had lots of nuclear weapons - but didn't use them - just threatened their use. If you nuke us - we'll nuke you back. This was affectionately known as "mutual assured destruction" (AKA "MAD"). Sounds pretty crazy doesn't it! It was - it still is - and it has worked since the mid 1950s.
In order for MAD to work - the other side had to believe that we could deliver on the threat ... that's where nuclear submarines come in. Both sides had long range bombers that could carry nuclear bombs - and both sides had radar to see them coming and fighter planes and missiles to shoot them down. Both sides had land based ICBMs that could deliver missiles across thousands of miles to hit the other side - and both sides knew where the other sides' missiles where located - so those would be the first locations targeted. But that left the missiles on-board those nasty stealthy submarines that could hide just about anywhere in the ocean and fire their missiles with little to no warning. The only countermeasure to a submarine launched attack was to find the submarine - track its movement - and sink it before it could launch its missiles. This is where the "War" part of the "Cold War" comes in. The missile firing submarines (SSBNs) would go out for several months at a time and basically hide. The attack submarines (SSNs) would go out and find/track the SSBNs - prepared to sink them if it looked like they were going to fire their missiles. Hide & Seek - underneath the oceans - played by 20 year olds with nuclear weapons. And it still goes on today, albeit to a lesser extent.
So that's what Mikee did for a living back in the 70s. Actually - I was only assigned to 1 SSBN during my career - the USS Ethan Allen SSBN 608. During the two years I was assigned to the "Allen" I made 4 "Nuclear Deterrent Patrols" as they were called.
So why am I picking this moment to reminisce about the not-so-good ol days? Well it seems a reunion of all those who served aboard the USS Ethan Allen was being held in nearby Saratoga Springs, NY this last week - so Peggy and I attended. She was an ex-officio member too ya know - the wives of submariners also have a special bond.
We attended the reception on Thursday night where we met my ex Executive Officer and his wife. We had a nice visit and decided to have dinner together in downtown Saratoga Springs. I gotta tell you - it was kinda strange having a social relationship with a fellow who was second in command of the submarine I was on - and later commanded two submarines himself including the USS Hyman G. Rickover. I still wanted to call him "Mr. Spruitenberg." Regardless - we had a good time.
Last night we attended the reunion banquet and we sat with Bill and Lynn Baxter. I worked with Bill at Maine Yankee for many years and it turns out he was on the Allen in the mid 60s. Not only that - they are also avid RVers - traveling the country in their converted Bus. Good Fun and Good Conversation.
While at the banquet - and as a doorprise - I "won" the opportunity to pick an item from the prize table. There really wasn't too much to pick from so I chose a T-shirt that was size 3X. No - I don't need a 3X yet - I chose the shirt because it had a message that really explains what bonds submariners.
First let me finish off the logging story. Last Sunday I had to head back to New York for another fun-filled 4 days of w*rk. That left Peggy to watch as the Tree Guys finished up their work on Monday. On Friday and Saturday they had already cut down most of the small maples, chipped up all the limbs, de-limbed the big pine and shortened it up a bit. So Monday it was time for the big timber to fall.
This was the main reason I hired the Tree Guys - That big pine needed to come down without hitting the deck or the house or ME. So the Tree Guys aimed it to about the only place it could go and "TIMBER" down it came right where it was supposed too! As you can see in the pictures - that was a pretty solid tree. So all the trees along the back fence are gone - the stumps are ground down - and the holes and dents in the lawn are sorta filled in. The plan is to let the ground settle over the winter and then replace the fence and re-loam/re-seed the yard next spring/summer. I guess we will have to stay home long enough to get that done!
