Winne really had a workout today. Start at about 3,500 feet - climb to about 8,700 feet then down a few thousand then up a thousand, mostly into the wind.
Not only that - she had to negotiate several long stretches of orange cones - placed there by who knows and for some unknown purpose. It couldn't have been construction -- I certainly didn't see anybody working!
Once again she performed flawlessly bringing us through much of southern Wyoming here to Rock Springs.
We have made this trip several times and each time we have noticed the huge bust of Abe Lincoln at the 8,700 foot summit near Laramie but we have never stopped at that rest stop to check it out. Today we did. It seems that travelers have been passing this spot since the last half of the 19th century and the original transcontinental highway - U.S. 30 or "The Lincoln Highway" passed near this point when it was completed in 1913. This bust was placed at the highest point on the original highway in 1958 and was moved to this spot on I-80 when it was completed in this area in 1969.
Imagine that only 100 years ago there was no transcontinental highway ... and today we can drive from Maine to California in a huge motorized box carrying all our "stuff" with us. Pretty awesome!
The remainder of today's drive was ---- well --- it was southern Wyoming. Driving along at 6,000 to 7,000 feet most of the day seeing mile after mile of high prairie scrub brush. I believe this area is still considered the Rocky Mountains - but it is much different than you will find a few hundred miles to the south.
Tomorrow we plan on finishing up Wyoming, driving through the Wasatch Range in eastern Utah, through/around Salt Lake City and then across 100 miles of the Western Utah Salt Flats to Wendover, NV/UT.
2,735 miles behind us and only 950 or so miles left to go!
Another day - another 350 or so miles - and here we find ourselves in Western Nebraska. More accurately, we are in Sidney, Nebraska -- world headquarters for Cabela's - "The World's Foremost Outfitter." Now us Mainer's are pretty proud of the L.L. Bean company -- and as a matter of full disclosure ... my son Eric and daughter in law Jen both work for good 'ol L.L. in Freeport -- but Cabela's is a pretty big deal here in Sidney. We are parked here at the Cabela's RV Park right behind the Cabela's Retail Store and right next store to the Cabela's headquarters building. There isn't much else here in western Nebraska -- but Cabela's provides a pretty nice RV Park if you need to rest for an evening.
Tomorrow we continue our western trek along I-80 - heading into Wyoming. We gained several thousand feet in elevation today traveling through Nebraska and tomorrow we will top out near 9,000 feet before crossing the continental divide near Laramie.
See ya tomorrow from the state with the lowest population. Yup - even smaller than Vermont. Wyoming the "Equality State."
Only about 1,300 miles to go.
As you may have heard, it is hot in the heartland. Tonight Peggy and I are in Lincoln, Nebraska having driven across some of Indiana, all of Illinois, and all of Iowa these past 2 days. When we arrived here in Lincoln it was around 97 degrees and it hasn't cooled down a bit as it now is approaching 7:30 PM. Fortunately Winne's AC system is doing it's job and we are staying comfortable inside. Tomorrow looks to be more of the same as we travel across Nebraska.
Our trip along I-80 has been uneventful ... which is a very good thing! Sorta boring ... but good nonetheless! We have seen a lot of corn and a lot of soy beans. This part of the country is certainly America's breadbasket - but is still a shame (in my humble opinion) that some 40% of all this corn goes to produce ethanol - driving up the price of gasoline and food at the same time. The drought in this part of the country is obvious in some areas ... but there is still a lot of corn out there!
We will be continuing to travel long back-to-back travel days (long for us anyway). Traveling in this mode is not our idea of fun - but sometimes fun has to take a backseat.
In the meantime - we will continue to try and keep you up to date on our whereabouts.
While we have been away - that Taylor Anne has continued to enjoy her swimming pool! And now she appears to be having pool parties as well! How about that stylish hat?
Only about 1,650 miles to go.
OK -- time to try and get ya'll caught up on the doin's of these Maineiacs In Motion.
We spent a relatively quiet day on Wednesday since it rained pretty much all day. We did manage to have a really nice lunch with Darrell and Judy over in their "old" hometown of Harbor Springs and we bit the proverbial bullet and found a laundry facility to get that chore caught up.
Thursday was a nicer day weatherwise. We started out by having another fun meal out with D&J - breakfast this time at a very nice spot called "Out For Lunch" ... then we accomplished a small bit of grocery shopping to fill in a few bare spots. Right around Martini Time we wandered over to D&Js place to get their help in finishing off some tequila that has been gathering dust around here. That Judy makes some really good Dortha's Margaritas. We also helped D&J grand-kid-sit. It takes at least 4 grandparents to keep an eye on 3 grandkids - especially while partaking in a round of Dortha's Margaritas.
Thanks to all of you who have been sending your best wishes and prayers for Nan's surgery and recovery. Nan made it through the hip replacement surgery OK on Tuesday and has a long a difficult rehab process in front of her. With this in mind ... we have decided to change the itinerary for our trip out west and we will be heading directly to Yreka, California by the most direct path. Soooo .... we changed our direction this morning and headed south through Michigan to intersect I-80 in Elkhart, IN rather than take the longer route north through the "U.P." We have taken this route several times in the past so we "know the way." We can do the sightseeing later - right now we need to help Nan if we can.
Only 2,260 miles to go.
The days here in northern Michigan sure are long. With sunrise around 6 AM and sunset around 9 PM one can certainly get a lot done - and wear oneself right out - such was the case yesterday.
Peggy and I got a leisurely start to the day after a decent night's sleep and joined Darrell and Judy around 10:00 AM to start our day of playing tourist.
We started our discovery tour of northwest Michigan with a quick stop at the local NAPA store to pick up a new serpentine belt for Winne. They didn't have one in stock but could have one in by 1:00 PM -- that worked for me so we ordered one and we then continued on our trip.
We took a quick ride-through tour of D&J's temporary workplace - the Hearthside Luxury Motorcoach Resort. Wow - that is quite a "campground." Now I know where those folks in their million dollar motorhomes go to "rough it" with their 6 figure fully landscaped "campsites." Don't get me wrong ... I don't want to deny these 1%'ers their luxurious lifestyle -- at least they are creating a few jobs when they spend their money!
We left the rich and famous folks in Petoskey and headed north towards Mackinaw City to see some more sights and play "fudgie." I'm told the tourists here in northern Michigan are called "fudgies" because they come up here to frequent the many chocolate/fudge shops. We haven't purchased our fudge yet but Peggy figures she might as well if we're going to be called fudgies!
We stopped at the McGulpin Point Lighthouse along the way to Mackinaw City -- well ... because it was there and needed to be visited.
Of course by the time we arrived in Mackinaw City is was time to feed Darrell so we found the Pizza Palace where we were promised the best pizza in Michigan or the owner would buy the better one. Well now ... we haven't tried all the others yet but the Pizza there was pretty darn good!
After our Pizza stop we wandered around downtown for a little while, found our way over to the Mackinaw City Lighthouse Park and walked around there for a while while just enjoying the beautiful day and the views of Mackinac Straights between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan ... and of course the Mackinac Bridge. We'll get to cross over that bridge on our way to the "U.P." in a few days. We did not take the ferry over to the famous Mackinac Island, nor did we go visit the famous Grand Hotel ... but we could see both from our vantage point. By the way ... does anybody know why "Mackinaw" City and "Mackinac" Island are pronounced the same? Must be a Michigan thing!
After our visit to Mackinaw City we drove back to Petoskey through the neighboring town of Harbor Springs. This is certainly a beautiful area this time of year and I imagine the fall would be spectacular as well. Winter I suspect would be a lot like Maine!
On our way through Petoskey we stopped at NAPA again and picked up Winne's new belt which they had all ready for me - just as they promised!
After arriving back here at Magnus Park Darrell and I changed into our work clothes and swapped out the failing belt in short order. The new one went on fairly easy - but it sure was easier with two guys feeding it where it needed to go, one from atop the engine and one from below, than it would have been doing it by myself along the roadside working on a hot engine!
Since he was already in his work clothes and since he was jealous that Winne was getting all the attention - Darrell then decided to go break the water filtration system on his 5th wheel so we could work on that before dinner! That Darrell --- never a dull moment around that guy!
We finished our day with another cookout with the Patterson's for dinner and then a viewing of the gorgeous sunset across Lake Michigan from the beach across from where we are parked.
Like I said ... the days certainly are long here in Northern Michigan!
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I also got a call from my sister Jamie last night informing me that my mom (Nan) fell and broke her hip yesterday. Nan will be having surgery today to replace the broken ball part of her hip. Here's hoping all goes well for you today Nan - we're on our way and we'll be seeing you soon!
Not a bad day ... but not exactly as I had it planned.
I had trouble getting to sleep last night so the morning came awfully early ... but so be it ... let's get they day started. We started our day by heading over to the Port Huron Cracker Barrel for a nice Cracker Barrel breakfast since it was right next door to the campground. That was pretty convenient.
Due to our breakfast out we got a bit of a late start - but not that bad ... if all goes well we should still make it to Petoskey by 3 PMish!
The day was pretty nice again, although a bit warm, as we headed west across southern Michigan to near Flint and then we headed north. The temperature made it to about 90 degrees by early afternoon and we had a pretty strong warm westerly wind.
So there we were - having yet another uneventful travel day, about 30 miles south of our destination when I heard "the noise." The noise was an intermittent rapping noise from the engine compartment - wait a minute - I've heard this noise before! After I pulled to the side of the road and put on my emergency flashers I exited the motorhome and viewed into the engine area around the front wheel. Sure enough - I've seen this sight before. The sight of the engine serpentine belt shredding itself. The first time this happened was in 2008 on a similar trip to California. At that point Winne had about 36,000 miles on her. After replacing the serpentine belt in 2008 I purchased another belt to keep on board as a spare. Last year, after carrying that new spare belt around for a few years I decided to install it and carry the old belt that had about 40,000 miles on it as a spare. Sounded like a good idea at the time - replacing the belt before it failed - but I guess it didn't prevent that one from failing within about a year! Anyway ... the belt was again about half gone with some sheds hanging off in a few places. These shreds were what was making the noise as they hit various engine compartment "stuff" as they rotated around.
Since the engine was hot, and since I really didn't want to replace the belt on the side of the road if I didn't have to ... I decided to trim off the shredded pieces and see if I could limp that last 30 or so miles into Petoskey on half a belt. Although I had to stop twice along the way to do more trimming - we managed to make it all the way to Magnus Park here in Petoskey with the belt still performing its function! WHEW!!!
Rather than use the old spare belt I have on-board - I think I'll get a new one tomorrow and put that one on sometime in the next few days. I'll continue to keep the old belt as a spare.
So ... here we are ... safe and sound in Petoskey just a few sites down from our RV buddies Darrel and Judy Patterson. We had a welcome to Petoskey martini with the Pattersons upon arrival and then we joined them, their son, and his family for a grilled chicken cookout dinner. After a nice dinner and some fun conversation - we decided to take a trip to DQ for a bit of dessert. I'm not going to say that it was Judy's fault this time ... it was ... but I'm not going to say it. Nope --- not me!
SO ... we had a not so uneventful travel day ... but it is "all good." We plan on spending a few days here resting up from our first 1,000 miles, seeing a few local sights, and getting Winne back in tip-top travel condition before continuing our trek to the Golden State.
Speaking of our destination, my Brother-In-Law Ernie sent me a picture of a few improvements he has recently completed to our parking spot at the Quiring RV Park, Bed and Breakfast, and Day Spa.
I wonder what the new rate will be now that we have 50 AMP electric service, cable TV, and water?
Today was international travel day. We continued our trek across New York towards Buffalo and then slightly north through the cities of Tonawanda and then Niagara Falls. Shortly thereafter we found ourselves at the Canadian Border with Passports in hand and wondering what sort of inquisition we may get from the Canadian Border Guard. The border crossing was quick and straight forward:
Where do you live? Where are you going? Do you plan on stopping in Canada? Do you have any weapons? Have a good trip and drive safely. We were on our way in just a few minutes. Just in time to pay the $12 toll for the bridge!
Our drive across Canada was smooth and once again - uneventful. In fact - it was very smooth. Considering that these roads are certainly in the "snow belt" and subject to extremes in temperatures -- they certainly were in good shape. The Canadians have done a nice job on this stretch of road!
The border crossing into the US was a similar experience as we approached Port Huron in Michigan. This time we paid the toll first - only $9.75 this time - and then we approached the border gates. The line was a bit longer here but we only had to wait for our inquisition about 10 minutes.
Where did you come from? Did you stop in Canada? Did you purchase anything in Canada? What is license plate number of your RV? Have a nice day.
After successfully getting through the border checkpoint we found our way here to the Port Huron Township RV Park, just a few miles from the border where we will spend the night before driving on to Petoskey, MI tomorrow where we will meet up with Darrell and Judy Patterson and spend a few days resting up before continuing our trip west.
All-In-All - we had a pretty easy travel day. The weather was a bit warm but certainly pleasant, the roads were great, and the border crossings went pretty smooth with only minimal delays.
Look out Pattersons - Here we come!
We had another very nice day weather-wise today as we drove west along the NY State Thruway. We stopped for the night in Byron, NY at the Southwoods RV Park. We have stopped here in the past - but not during the heavy vacation time of year on the weekend. This place is really packed with weekend campers, folks here to see Niagara Falls, and a few through travelers like us. The economy may still be in rough shape - but there are still a lot of folks out camping!
Tomorrow we plan on crossing the Canadian/US border just north of Niagara Falls and then traveling across a few hundred miles of Canada to Port Huron, Michigan. We traveled this route from West to East a couple of years ago and as I recall, it's a relatively boring drive - but we save around a hundred miles compared to going south around Lake Erie on the US side. Hopefully our experiences at the two border crossings will go as smoothly as last time.
Another uneventful travel day.
Well ... travel day one is complete. Peggy and I traveled about 320 miles today. Down I-95 to New Hampshire and then Massachusetts ... oops - but not before stopping at the NH State Liquor Store for some provisions - the Absolute kind. Then across I-495 to the Mass Pike before heading due west along I-90 to our destination for today - the Arrowhead Marina and RV Park here on the banks of the Mohawk River near Amsterdam, NY.
We got started a little behind schedule today as we went out to breakfast with Eric and Jen before leaving. We may have been a little behind our planned start time but breakfast with Eric and Jen was worth it. First of all we had a great breakfast at Jen's Place in Brunswick and second of all we got to hear all of their stories about the "cats" they have had living in and under their garage this past week. It seems a mama cat decided to have her kittens at their place and they have been trying to catch the kittens to get them to a cat foster care place and the mama to a vet for spaying and future adoption. Making a long story short - they caught the kittens, a skunk, and the mama cat. No one got injured ... or sprayed ... and the cats are now in a safe place.
Winne ran great today. It was nice to drive along without hearing that exhaust leak and the burnt spark plug wire issue we had to put up with during our winter trip.
So we'll get a good night sleep tonight and then continue on our way west. Next stop - Byron, NY ... only about 230 miles away so we'll have a short travel day.
The Maineiacs are back in Motion!
Wow - it has been a busy day. Not only did we accomplish all the items on the motorhome load list, we finished all the items on the household lay-up list, threw in a few hours of playing with Taylor Anne, and managed to do a little celebration of my birthday as well.
So tomorrow we will load the frig, hook up the Vue, have a breakfast out with Eric and Jen, and then set sail for points west.
As usual when we travel - we'll try and keep ya'll up to date as we travel along with blog entries every day or two.
Here's hoping for smooth roads, no orange cone zones, good weather and sane drivers.
Here we are, 2 days and a wake-up away from leaving on our 2012 coast-to-coast RV trip. We continue to make progress on getting Winne ready to roll ... but today we took a day off.
We left here around 11:00 AM driving northeast ... in the rain. Not that I'm complaining , because I'm not. It has been plenty warm around here for several days and we haven't had much rain so watching a few raindrops on my windshield was not a problem at all. After driving about an hour and a half the rain had stopped and we made it to Young's Lobster Pound in Belfast, Maine. Yessiree - Belfast, Maine - the home of that (in)famous Full Time RVer - Darrell Patterson.
We pulled into the parking lot at Young's and parked right next to a Chevy Equinox with Texas License Plates. Lo and behold that Equinox belonged to Jim and Ellie Meacham - full time RVers we met earlier this year in the Hill Country of central Texas. Since we had already shared German food in Fredericksburg, TX and BBQ in Kerrville, TX ... it was only fitting that we share lobster, clams, shrimp, and scallops here in Maine.
We had a fun two hour lunch with the Meacham's, hearing about their travels thus far in New England and their plans for further visits to the mid-atlantic area after they leave Maine in a few weeks. The Meacham's plan on being here in the mid-coast area in a few weeks - unfortunately that will be after Peggy and I are well on our way to California. Too bad! I'll bet I could have helped them overdose on seafood before they made it to points south!
On the way home from Belfast we decided to take the longer route home - down US 1 through all the summer touristy towns like Camden, Rockport, Rockland, and Wiscasset. Before we made it out of Belfast Peggy announced she was in the mood for ice cream. Now all ya'll know that I wouldn't have stopped if it wasn't Peggy's idea - but we found a DQ in Rockland to satisfy that craving -- and just in time! This time it wasn't "Judy's Fault" ... it was her sidekick.
OK - no more goofing off. No more spoiling ourselves with Maine seafood. Tomorrow we need to get back to finishing our travel preps so we can make our way out to the golden state - - and then enjoy their seafood!
OK - I've had enough. Enough hot and humid weather. I know ... it's July and it's supposed to be hot ... but I'm going to whine anyway. It was so hot yesterday I actually had to put some shoes on when going outside to stand on the deck for just a few minutes. And to make matters worse it's 8 AM or so in the morning and it's already near 80 degrees! Yikes.
In spite of the hot weather I have managed to get a few more pre-travel chores done and the list is getting down to just the stuff that needs to be loaded. Counting today - we have 5 more days to accomplish what needs to get done. We are pretty much at the point now that we could be ready to leave in a matter of hours if we had to. We have a few Doctor type appointments to take care of this upcoming week, an outing to Belfast on Tuesday to meet up with some RVing friends for lunch, a few house layup issues to deal with ... and then we're off.
The first leg of our journey will be to Petoskey, MI to meet up with our RVing buddies Darrell and Judy Patterson who are slaving away at their summer job taking care of the rich and famous at the Hearthside Grove Luxury RV Resort. From what I've heard - Hearthside is one of those places where you can park your multi-million dollar motorhome and enjoy all the amenities of your local country club before moving on to your next resort stop. Poor Winne will have to be satisfied with parking at the Magnus Park Campground - right on the shores of Lake Michigan with early afternoon martinis at the Maineiacs In Motion Tiki Bar, beautiful evening sunsets, cool breezes and wonderful company.
Alright ... enough of that daydreaming ... time to get outside and mow the lawn before the really hot weather sets in.
Here's hoping everyone has a GREAT summer day!
Dang that Taylor ... she keeps sneaking in here!
With one week to go before we head out on our trip to California we are now in full 'Get Ready to Roll' mode. Well ... except for a few items. Like today is daughter Stacy's birthday. She turns 20-Ten today so this one is pretty special. We are all going out for lunch in celebration and Peggy and Stacy are going to the Maine State Music Theater this afternoon to see their musical presentation of "Legally Blonde." Sounds like a fun girls afternoon out with me as the chauffeur.
We went and awoke Winne from her nap a few days ago and moved her home for her final trip preparations. I spent yesterday sanitizing and flushing the freshwater systems and installing the tire pressure sensors. Today I think I'll concentrate on cleaning and checking out the car towing stuff. Time to ensure all the bolts are tight, no welds are broken, all that needs to slide is lubricated ... that kind of stuff. We wouldn't want to lose the car on the way ya know!
It's also time to break out the loading list. We try not to unload too much between trips - but we always end up taking some stuff out that needs to go back in. For me -- it's mostly tools and electronic stuff. We'll need to move in our cellular phone based internet modem/wireless router and the printer. Then I need to remember all the various cords/chargers for all our electronic "stuff." Cell Phones, cell phone amplifier, cameras, computers, iPad, weather radio. Us modern RV travelers sure do have a lot of "stuff."
Then there is the clothes loading. Do we take warm weather clothes, cold weather clothes, or some of each. It doesn't really matter much to me. I seem to take the same stuff no matter whether we travel in the winter or summer. It's a much bigger deal for Peggy however.
Our final loading exercise is the food. When we plan on being gone for more than just a few weeks we tend to empty the frig here at home and take everything with us. Thankfully Winne has a pretty large on-board frig! We still need to plan things so that we don't take waay more than we'll need. This trip we also have to be careful not to take too many fresh fruits and vegetables when we leave. We will be driving across part of Canada and they get a little testy about importing such things.
So here we are ... Six and a Wake-Up before we head out ... loading up the wagon and fixin' to hitch up the mules. Ready to start the next chapter of adventures of Mike and Peggy -- Maineiacs in Motion.
We had our Independence Day celebration over at Eric and Jen's house on Saturday with a good old fashioned burger and hot dog cookout on a hot day in the summer with kids in the background cooling off with the hose and a spray nozzle and adults sitting around just visiting and enjoying the day. It was a fun afternoon spent with family and extended family!
The last few days I have been working on a Chevelle modification project. Anybody who has ever restored/modified an old car will tell you that the project is never done. This is certainly true with Mikee's 1965 Chevelle. For several years I have been thinking about manufacturing an aluminum shroud to fit around the aftermarket aluminum radiator on the Chevelle to help keep her cool on these hot summer days. The engine runs at normal temperatures as long as it is being driven but with an air conditioning condenser mounted in front of the radiator and a lot of heat produced by the engine - the Chevelle has always had a tendency to overheat when idling at a stop light on a hot day. Of course when one is dealing with a "non-standard" engine/radiator combination to begin with - adding something like this involves a lot of "engineering" to make it all fit, be functional, and of course - it has to look good as well! To make a long story short I will just add a picture of the finished project.
So far it looks like I have met at least 2 of my three objectives. 1) The car is back together, nothing leaks, and nothing hits where it's not supposed to hit and 2) I like the way it looks. As for the third objective -- Does it keep the car cool at idle? So far so good. I took it for a few mile drive to warm up the engine and then parked in my driveway at idle for a few minutes with no abnormal heat up! I'll save celebrations for later after a few more test drives.
Well now - here we are, 10 days and a wake-up away from leaving on our 2012 trip to the west coast. I suppose it's time I stop playing with Chevelle projects and start getting serious about getting ready to roll. Peggy and I both have a long list of stuff we want to/need to get done before we leave - so it's time to start checking those off.
My plan is take care of one more automotive related project tomorrow and then go get Winne from storage so we can start the loading process. We get better at this every time - but it still takes a few days to get it done.
I'm sure we will forget something - we always do!
Oops ... how did those Taylor pictures sneak in here?
I got my first job for wages in 1967 working for the County School District watering and mowing lawns at the local High School. Before I could take that job I had to obtain a Social Security Card. I had no idea what getting that card was all about - I just knew I had to get one. I still have it today.
After I starting receiving paychecks I found out that because of that card - some guy named "FICA" was getting a cut of my pay. I learned that FICA was an acronym for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act and that the money that was withdrawn from my pay was a "Tax" that the federal government collected from me. I also learned that my employer was taxed an equal amount. The purpose of the tax was to pay for something called OASDI (Old Age, Survivors, and Disabilty Insurance) as well as HI (Hospitalization Insurance) for old people. I certainly didn't understand what all this was about and I didn't really care - I just wanted my 40 or so bucks a week!
So here I am - 45 years later - and it's time to collect from good ol' Mr. FICA. Actually - since Peggy and I both turn 62 this year we both qualify to start receiving our "benefit."
Did you know that the money we and our employers provide the government for FICA is indeed a tax - not an insurance premium. Just like the Supreme Court recently decided in the "Obamacare" case - in 1960 the Supreme Court decided that no one accrues any property rights to benefits from Social Security taxes. We only receive benefits if Congress agrees to provide it - and only in the amount that Congress decides to provide - all subject to their collective will and subject to change at any time. So I guess we need to stop calling Social Security and Medicare payments an "entitlement." As it turns out - we aren't "entitled" to anything!
But I digress.
Since Peggy and I are both still alive - neither of us qualifies to be a "Survivor" of the other, and since neither of us qualifies as "Disabled," then I figure we must have become eligible for our benefit because we have officially reached "Old Age." I don't feel that old (most of the time) but if it means the government is going to return the money they "borrowed" from me (and my employer on my behalf) all these years - then I'll take it. They call it providing me a "benefit." I call it a return of the money I loaned them.
So based on my view of things - how much money do they owe me? As you might guess, I am just crazy enough to have kept track and know exactly how much I and my employer have paid into OASDI all these years. I won't bore you with all the facts and figures but the bottom line is that I receive my first payment in September of 2012 and I figure the government and I will be even around July of 2023. Now that assumes that I wasn't paid any interest on that loan over the past 45 years. Since Peggy didn't work for wages too often over her working career she will be receiving a "benefit" based on my earnings. I'll consider her amount "interest earned."
The good news is that the so called Social Security Trust Fund is projected to have enough money to pay all its present obligations through 2033. After that - who knows? Remember that Congress gets to change its obligations as it sees fit so they can lower payments or raise taxes to obtain more revenue any time.
All this --- and in only 3 more years Peggy and I will be eligible for Medicare. I've paid into that for 45 years as well. Since that Trust Fund is in even worse shape, and since the cost of health care has been increasing exponentially these past few decades, and since we have no idea what the new "Affordable Care Act" is going to do to us until we read the several thousand page bill - I can hardly wait.
Yessiree ... getting old is not for sissies!
On this date some 236 years ago - representatives of the independent colonies then under British rule on the American continent met to declare their independence from their distant ruler. They did so after stating that this was no thoughtless deed they were undertaking and presenting a long list of grievances they had against their unjust King. The British King didn't think much of these freedom loving upstarts declaring their independence and commenced to waging a war that he ultimately lost. These independent colonies then banded together to form a new form of government - a Republic, where the rights of the individual states were preserved yet a central federal government was created to further the will of the people as a whole within certain specified limits. A pretty novel concept for those days that has managed to survive for these last couple of hundred years. Or has it?
The limits established for our federal government have been slowly yet methodically eroded over these past several hundred years. Sometimes this erosion has happened through Amendment to our Constitution. I'll call this the "Right" way. Then there are all the "Wrong" ways that include activist courts, overreaching executive branch decisions left unchallenged, and then my favorite - apathy among the citizens. We are way too easily bought off when our government offers to "ease our burdens" and with all the offers of "free" stuff!
So on this Independence Day 2012 as we enjoy the food and fireworks I suggest we reflect on the message of 1776. Our government needs to be reflective of the will of the people - and the people need to be involved, declare their independence from their government when it overreaches, and then change it.
But then - that's just me!
Happy Independence Day!
I spent some time yesterday downloading Google's Picasa photo management application and figured out how to upload photos to the Picasa "cloud" so that I could then put them into this blog at a resolution appropriate for computer screen display. I learned that as long as you let Picasa upload at this minimal size setting it will not count against the 1 gigabyte limit they provide under their "free" account. So all is well again here in blogsville.
Here is the one picture of Taylor we took ("made" just for Judy Curp)). As I think you will agree - you can't really see much of a difference in picture resolution and it takes about 1/10th of the storage space I was using.
This little exercise in digital storage management caused me to think about how far personal computers have advanced over the relatively short span of my lifetime. Back around when I was in the 6th Grade I remember our school received a machine, that I'll call a calculator, that you "programmed" using wires clipped from point "A" to point "B" to input the numbers you wanted to add and it would actually add the numbers. The answer was displayed using a series of lights that had to be interpreted using the binary number system to determine the answer. It was certainly crude, it had no "memory," but it worked and I was amazed!
Actually - we used computers in elementary school before this machine arrived. I recall being taught how to use an abacus in the 4th grade. It worked for the ancient Chinese, it worked in the late 50s, and it still works today! Again - it had no memory. If you wanted to remember the answer - you had better write it down!
My next introduction to a "calculator" was the slide rule. I'll not go into how these worked except to say that once you learned how to use one - they were pretty amazing tools.
Of course engineers, scientists, and accountants had been using mechanical "calculators" for many years. These were marvels of mechanics with bunches of levers, dials, and gears that worked great ... if they didn't jam.
Except for using a few of the early Electronic Calculators in the 70s - my first introduction to what I'll call a personal computer was a Timex-Sinclair 1000 that I purchased used from a friend in the early 1980s. The Timex-Sinclair was housed in a very tiny box that used a Black and White TV screen as its monitor and you had to program it using the BASIC programming language. It had 2048 bytes or 2 kilobytes of "memory" that could be used to store your computer program (although I upgraded mine to 16K with a plug-in module) and no internal digital storage capability. If you wanted to "store" the program you worked hard to write correctly - you had to "download" the program using a standard audio tape recorder. That's correct ... you wrote the program yourself using a digital device - and then downloaded it to tape using analog technology! If you were fortunate and you had all the volume settings correct - you could actually "upload" the program back into the device later and it would work again. This was a tricky operation!
I spent a lot of time learning the hardware and software associated with computers during the 1980s and 1990s. It was mostly a hobby combined with my Amateur ("Ham") Radio hobby and there were a lot of advances during those years. We all had to learn new terms like "Floppy Disk" and "Hard Drive" and we got to be re-introduced to the metric system (sorta) using prefixes like Kilo and Mega ... to be followed by Giga and Tera.
And then there was the whole internet thing! It wasn't that long ago (back in the mid 80s) that I was "communicating" computer to computer via a telephone line and a 45 baud modem - pretty much one character at a time.
We certainly have "come a long way baby."
