It's all Good - So Far ...

As I reported in my last post - we didn't go to the 2011 Great State of Maine Air Show - sorta.  It turned out to be a nice afternoon (the calm before the storm) so we decided to drive a few miles to the Town of Topsham Recreation Fields to see what we could see from there. The recreation fields are right on the flight path for the runways and there are a couple of nice places to view many of the arial manuevers. Although we took a bunch of pictures and "movies" with our camera - most don't due justice to the display. But I thought I would post a couple that were pretty impressive.

You have to "wait on it" on this next one:



As I post this we are experiencing a bunch of rain and wind from Hurricane - now Tropical Storm Irene. We still have power - but Eric/Jen and Stacy/Kaj do not - hopefully they will get it back soon. Last I heard Brian/Nicky and family were doing fine down in NJ.

It looks like we will have more rain and wind through the night and tomorrow will be windy as well. For now:

It's all good ... .

The Sound of Freedom!

In my last post about meeting up with Howard and Linda I forgot to mention The Great East Coast Earthquake of 2011. I probably forgot to mention it - because we never felt it. If it could have been felt clear up here - I suspect we missed feeling it because we were in the car driving back to Howard and Linda's Rig from lunch. As we arrived in Freeport we did get a call from Brian down in Jerzee who did feel the quake and wanted to let us know that he and the family were fine. I understand Nicky was evacuated from her work building for a short period - but except for the hype and excitement - it was no big deal. A magnitude 5.8 quake is pretty significant for us right coasters but pretty much a normal Tuesday for those on the left coast. 

Now that the quake excitement has passed ... it's time to get excited about Hurricane Irene. As I sit here writing this on Friday afternoon - it looks like we will not be able to escape this one. Irene has been sticking pretty darn close to the track the forecasters laid out a few days ago and it looks like it will track pretty near Brian, Nicky, and the grandkids in Jerzee before hitting Long Island and then heading just west of us here in Maine. The track looks a lot like Hurricane Gloria did back in the mid 80s and that one caused a lot of tree damage and loss of power here locally. So we decided we better take some actions to get prepared.

The storm shouldn't affect us up here until late Saturday and most of the day on Sunday but I think we are as ready as we're going to get. The generator has been tested, we have extra gasoline, the outdoor furniture is put away, the window A/C units have been removed, the sump pump hose has been deployed should the sump pump be needed, we have plenty of food and water - I guess we are as ready as we need to get. We also have Winne and her resources if we need them so I guess we are double ready. Now we'll just sit back, watch Irene make her way up the coast and hope that none of our preparations were needed and that everybody, including our family and extended families make it through without serious issues as well.

While we have been making our hurricane preparations these last couple of days we have also been treated to daily viewings of the Blue Angels. The 2011 Great State of Maine Air Show is being held this weekend in Brunswick and the Blue Angels are once again the featured attraction. They have been practicing for the show the last couple of days so we have been treated to LOUD, FAST, and LOW flying Navy jet fighters for a few hours each afternoon. The Blue Angels are supposed to put on their Flight Demonstration on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.... but I suspect Sunday will be cancelled due to the storm. That means that the thousands of folks who will be coming to Brunswick to view the show - will all be coming on Saturday. So although Peggy and I have enjoyed going to the show in past years - I think we are going to watch this one from the front stoop of our house.

LOUD or not ... who can not appreciate the skill and bravery of these young American pilots - besides ... it's the sound of Freedom!

RV-Dreamers

Sometimes you have a fun and interesting day - and you had no idea it was coming.
Waay back in 2004 we decided to buy a motorhome and do a lot of traveling/sightseeing when I retired in 2005. Since it's just the way I am - I decided I needed to learn more about traveling in and maintaining a RV. Naturally, I turned to the internet. In those days there weren't too many good sources of info.

One site I ran across was www.rv-dreams.com. This site was created and maintained by Howard and Linda Payne. Howard and Linda, both in their early 40s had decided to leave their fast pace and high stress jobs to become full-time RVers. Living in a RV full-time wasn't all that unique - lots of retirees were doing that. But Howard and Linda were far from retirement age and they had little (perhaps 0) experience in the RV lifestyle. What they seemed to have was each other, a willingness to learn as they went -- and a willingness to share it all with those out there in cyberspace. Since that time Howard and Linda and their RV-Dreams internet community have become a great resource for folks interested in learning about and transitioning to full-time RV living. Even though we weren't really interested in becoming "full-timers" we have followed their travels and tribulations by reading their frequent blog/journal entries over these past several years. 

Howard and Linda finally got around to visiting Maine and just happened to be staying in Freeport for a few days - so after exchanging a couple of emails yesterday we decided to get together this afternoon for a face-to-face visit. We met up with them at the Recompence Shore Campground early this afternoon and then went for a drive to Harspwell for lunch at Estes Lobster House. A nice late summer day in Maine (read: sunny but cool) eating outside on the deck looking over Casco Bay and visiting with interesting folks  - it doesn't get much better than that. 

Thanks Howard and Linda for spending a few hours with these part-time "RV-Dreamers" and for a fun and interesting day.

I'm Just Sayin'

Did I ever tell you that I hate windows? No - I'm not one of those Apple PC nuts that swear by everything Apple makes and hates everything that Microsoft ever made. Not that kind of "Window!" I'm talking about the kind you look through!!

More specifically - I hate old windows that have multiple windowpanes. These type of windows when installed in a house in New England constantly need re-glazing and repainting. I made that sound easy didn't I? Not so fast there - the actual procedure is much more difficult and time consuming. First you have to scrape out all the old flaky glazing and loose paint, then prime and let dry, then replace the glazing material and let dry, then prime the glazing material. then paint the window, and finally ... scrape all the paint off the glass that inadvertently (or sometimes on purpose) was applied. Yup - I hate windows ... but enough whine-ing.

As you could guess, my last week has been pretty much spent in scraping, glazing, and painting - with a little door threshold and kitchen cabinet repair thrown in for good measure. Yessiree - the homeowner life is one maintenance item after the other! And it doesn't matter whether your "home" is made of Sticks & Bricks or is on wheels - stuff always seems to need fixin'. 

Remember our attempt at growing vegetables we started last May? We have started to reap the harvest over the past week or so - picking a tomato here and there as they start to ripen and we have harvested a lot of the sweet, bell, and "hot" peppers. Who knew we could actually plant something and have it produce food? What a concept! We may have to try that bigger garden next year after all!

Speaking of harvest time ... how did it get to be late August already! We are starting to see the first signs of late summer here in Maine as the high temps are staying in the 70s and the lows are getting into the 50s. This is my favorite time of the year in Maine - Peggy? well maybe not so much! She would much rather see those 80-90 degree days. I'm sure Stacy will appreciate the cooler days as she enters the final month of her pregnancy. It won't be long now before "Baby J" arrives!

*** Caution ... Peggy should not read this next part!!!

So ... late August leads to early fall and then the leaves on all the gorgeous Maine hardwood trees turn their bright and beautiful colors. This is followed by leaf raking and snow blower maintenance. Yup - I think it's getting time to start thinking about waking up Winne from her summer slumber for a little exercise and maybe a fall wax job. 

'Cause you all know what follows:  

I'm not sayin' - I'm just sayin ...

They Are Not ALL Fruits and Nuts in California

This blog entry is for all of you out there who watch too much TV (like me), pay too much attention to the bad news of the moment (like me), and don't hear enough of the good stuff that happens out there in the real world (like me)!

Those of you that have followed our travels and this blog for a few years already know that my 13 year old grand nephew Derek has been a quadriplegic and also reliant on a ventilator for the last couple of years following a life saving surgery he had to go through in July of 2009 on a brain stem tumor he has had since he was a toddler. Peggy and I traveled out to California in the fall of 2009 and spent a month there helping out the family as Derek went through a lot of therapy at the Children's Hospital in Oakland, CA.

Since that time Derek and his family have come a long way. Derek is now making it through the daytime hours off his ventilator and has gained some movement in his extremities following a lot of therapy. Not only that - but a group of volunteers in his hometown of Redding, CA have banded together to donate their time, expertise, dollars, and building materials so that his family's home can undergo some major modifications to allow Derek the mobility within the house that he has not had for the past 2 years! This is a major big deal!!!

Anybody out there looking for a "pick me up" story to really make their day? Try this link

http://www.redding.com/news/2011/aug/12/builders-unite-for-compassion/

Now that's some community organizing you can believe in!

Mikee Hires a House Painting Crew

The weather mostly cooperated this week and I got some teen aged assistance ... so I got a lot accomplished on the house painting chore. I finished up with the front of the house on Tuesday but took Wednesday off since it was to rain on-and-off pretty much all day. So what did we do on my "day off?" - we jumped in the Vue and headed west with no real destination in mind.

We ended up driving clear to Concord, NH to visit the closest Camping World store to Maine. What did we need at Camping World? ... absolutely nothing. What did we buy? ... a four dollar electrical adapter to use with our new outdoor RV outlet here at the house that will convert the 30 Amp outlet to a "normal" 15 Amp Outlet. Ya just never know when I might need to plug in a regular type extension cord for some project! After our big purchase we toured some new and used motorhomes to "kick the tires." Once again - not one of them was so inviting as to convince us to give Winne a new home. I think we are finding the Winne has pretty much what we need - where we need it!

Then it was back in the Vue and we made the drive back home. But not before stopping in Hampton Falls, NH at Al's Seafood for a shared fried seafood platter.

But it was back to work early Thursday morning when Stacy brought over Bailey and Kyla who had foolishly "volunteered" to help paint the house ... and I was quick to accept the help! We got to work right around 8:30 on Thursday and Friday and worked pretty steady throughout both days except for a snack break in the late morning and a lunch break around noon. Bailey and Kyla both turned out to be great workers and we got a lot accomplished on both sides of the house/garage and the rear of the garage. I found that all you really had to do was show them what you needed done, keep their paint cans full, buy extra food for Bailey, and don't get too excited when Kyla decides to paint the lawn red! They worked so well - they even earned some cash to help out the economy and buy whatever it is teenagers buy these days! Those two can be part of my painting team anytime!

So after a couple days in a row of painting - I think I may take another day off tomorrow. What to do? What to do?

Stay tuned .... .

Life Continues to be Good - Topsham, Maine

Peggy survived Vacation Bible School last week and then moved on to playing hostess for a Baby Shower for Stacy on Saturday. Thankfully - she got a lot of help from DIL Jen and Stacy's BFF Jenn (Ball) Anderson - and by all reports the shower was a big success! I wouldn't know personally - I left the house as the shower was about to start and did GUY shopping for a few hours while the gals participated in that female right of passage known as the Baby Shower. I went to one of those once - all you need to remember is "Ooooh - Oh - Isn't that cute!" and you pretty much got the necessary lingo down. From my review of the pictures - it appears like everybody had a great time and "Baby J" received a lot of neat "stuff."

It has rained on-and-off over the past few days so my painting project has been sorta slowed down. I did accomplish a bit more today in between rain showers and it looks like I will be able to finish the front of the house tomorrow before the rain returns on Wednesday. Slowly, but surely, the house painting project continues.

Well let me see now ... today the stock market dropped over 600 points (~ 5.5%), over the last month the market has dropped 1800 points (~ 14 %), the US debt is now north of 17 Trillion dollars ($17,000,000,000,000), the US credit rating has been downgraded by one of the 3 recognized ratings agencies, we and all of our kids, kids-in-law/grandkids are happy and relatively healthy, and we have another granddaughter on-the-way - Yup - all things considered - Life Is Good!

Happy Birthday to a Great American!

For those of you who wanted pictures of the the Chevelle in the parade last weekend - sorry - we had the camera but were busy driving and waving to the crowd. We had fun participating but I think that may be the Chevelle's last parade. It was a pretty warm day over a long parade route and the Chevelle's engine really doesn't like running at those slow speeds for a long stretch ... and I didn't like watching the engine water temperature that high for that long! After the parade Peggy and I drove the Chevelle home (the engine cooled right down after about a quarter mile of getting some air through the radiator) and then traveled back to Richmond for a fun BBQ at Stacy and Kaj's place. Another great summer day in Maine!

Other than that --- scrape, sand, prime, and paint ... that's what I've been up to. I knew there was a reason I have been putting this project off for a few years - now it's time to pay the piper. I have managed to complete about half of the front of the house painting project and the part I have completed looks pretty good - but I still have a long way to go! Oh well - I'll just keep plugging away and eventually it will get done.

Peggy has been super busy with VBS this week. Nothing like keeping 10 2-3 year olds actively engaged for several hours a day to completely wear you out!! She loves it - but she is pretty wore out. Today is the last day. It is a toss up on who will be more tired/sore come tomorrow ... me from scraping and painting ... or her from VBS!!!

Today is the birthday of a fellow who was born in Hawaii many-many years ago. He has grown up to be a great guy and deserves a lot of respect. Yup ... our son Eric turns 36 today .... Happy Birthday Son!!!!

and you thought I was going to bad mouth our president - didn't ya?!