Storing the scooter

This afternoon, I had to load the motor scooter into our utility trailer.  Knowing that I won't have enough strength to do this after the hospital gets done with me, it is best to get it done my way now.

As you can see, I strapped it down a bunch of ways with new straps and the older straps from last year. 

The cross strap over the handle bars is a new item that I purchased about a month ago for this purpose, and the heavy orange straps to the floor are also new.  They are rated for a 1,000 pounds each.

I put the wheel chock in last year when we took the little red Kymco to Arizona.  I purchased it at Harbor Freight for around $50 if I remember correctly.  I had re drilled it moving the back part of the wheel holder forward for the smaller scooter wheels.  It grabbed the front wheel as I drove into it and worked like a dream.

After I took these pictures, I covered the bike with a black cycle cover and hauled the whole works back over to the storage place.

The rest of the day here was kind of depressing, as I went after supplies to get ready to go into the hospital.  They want me there at 5:30 in the morning.  What's up with that?

I guess I'll be there for the duration, so what difference does it make?

Thank You!

I am honored and humbled by all the nice comments that I have received about my upcoming procedure.  This blog business has been so much more than I anticipated it would be when I first started out.  Thank you all!

While I have met a few of the folks whose blogs I often read, mostly I have not had the pleasure.  But it is amazing, that I count each and every one of you as close friends.  I feel as though I know you almost better than I would just sitting around a campfire.

There is something about writing our thoughts on a computer screen, that seems to mesmerize us into being almost more honest than we could be in person.  We explain our goofs, and dumb moves almost shamelessly and think nothing of it.

Usually we get a bunch of comments, telling us not to be so hard on ourselves, and that the commenters have done exactly the same thing.  Or encouragement and suggestions how to get out of our trouble.  So I have grown to really like blogging, and the friends it has brought me.

I never thought that I would face a nasty procedure at the hospital, and turn to my computer friends for love and encouragement, but that is just what has happened. And I am richer for the experience.

I am also thinking about Al over at the Bayfield Bunch, and his decision to turn off the comment box on his blog.  If my comment box was off, would I really have gotten to know each of you, as I feel I now do?  Or would I have been able to go into the RV Park where Rick and Paulette were staying last winter and have the courage to barge right up and say howdy? Hummmmm! I'd bet not.  So barring any bad experiences, I think I will leave mine open.

Today, I went to the barber shop and got a haircut so I won't scare the surgeon!  We talked sports, and of my operation, and of course there was the guy there that had already had the same thing.  I'm not sure his story was actually encouraging, but he tried to make it seem that way.

And I spent a lot of time just riding the motorscooter.  It is like therapy for me, and I am painfully aware that I will have to put it up for quite a long while.  I was out looking for a folding table for Loyce to use in her crafts.  I went to about four different stores, but found nothing that would work better than the broken one she already has.

So in the end, I ended up over at the hardware store buying screws and stuff to cobble her old one back together,    again!   It is made from particle board, and the screws pull out when she moves it.  It has casters, but on the carpet, it still puts stress on the joints.  All this so called furniture made from particle board is really junk.

One day closer to getting fixed up!

Retired Rod

On a serious note!

This fall has taken a serious note for me this year, because I failed the colon scope test that I had back in late August.  I have a growth that is too large to remove with the scope probe up inside my bowel.

That has caused numerous tests and trips to all kinds of Doctors and has captivated my time ever since.  They are not calling this cancer as of now, because they say it is a benign growth.  But of course once they remove it, it will be tested.

Friday of this week is my surgery, and I am not looking forward to that at all!! Chicken!!!  But the cup will not pass.  So I will be missing from the blog for about a week or so.  They anticipate a 5 day stay in the hospital.

So now you know why I was looking for a bath robe, and why I needed to winterize the motorhome.  I will not be able to do these things for about 6 weeks once the operation is over.  The whole no lifting over 10 pounds scenario.

I do not want this blog, which I started as a travel blog, to turn into General Hospital, where I report and complain about how much misery I currently perceive myself to be in.  See comment about being chicken above.

So today was again back over to the medical center complex where they checked out further unmentionable and humbling areas of my anatomy.  And I am also attempting to get last minute loose ends taken care of before I become out of the picture for a while.

And of course I was configuring this new computer with email accounts and loading a bunch of pictures to it and all the other stuff that isn't ready for prime time.  And that necessitated a nap in the afternoon.

I will have to put the motorscooter into storage about Wednesday afternoon, so That will be the end of my riding until much later in the year.  I do plan to take it to Arizona if possible, since it will be nice down there by mid January, and hopefully I will be back in shape to once again command the roadways.

So as this week progresses, I will lose control of my own destiny, which is very hard for me.  But I seem to be in very capable hands with great Doctors and a built in RN nurse as that was Loyce's profession before retiring.

Tomorrow I will continue to try and think of all the stuff that needs to be attended to before Friday.

Retired Rod

New Computer

There was a reason that I didn't figure out that the blog had not posted on Saturday morning!  When I returned home from some errands on the motorscooter, I found that my Ubuntu computer had a scrambled screen.

That is never good, and I couldn't get the attention of the processor, so I turned it off and began to reboot.    Uh,  not coming back on.... unplug the main cord.  Plug back in..... not coming back on........  Its dead.....  Get the meter...... open the case..... no voltage from the power supply!

OK, this thing is a 2001 and came with windows 2000 on it.  It has a slow processor and is outdated in every way.  I only paid about a hundred for it used, and had put a new hard drive in it for about 60 more.  Oh, and I bought some outdated memory last summer, and that was $40.  Won't be able to use that over either.

So I made a quick decision to go buy some pieces to build an new box.  Lets see case for $66, and a AMD Athalon 3.1 gig dual core processor for $69.  The mother board was $49, and had a Nvidia Geforce video card and a sound card on board.  The memory was $40 for 2 gig, and a dvd for $21.  With sales tax, I was out the door for $269.

I planned to reuse the 160 gig hard drive as it should still be good.  I would have really liked to get a new Sata drive, as the DVD was a Sata, but the old one still worked, and I really cannot see using more than the 160 gig anytime soon.

So the rest of the afternoon, and some of the evening was spent assembling the new box.  It didn't all fit together as I was planning, and I had to do some remodeling of the plastic parts inside the case.  Nothing serious, but the cooling fan on the CPU was bigger in the wrong direction, so a little grinding wheel on the ducting fixed that.

The Wifi adapter came from the older full sized case, and had the long mount for the slot, and the new case is the short one.  So, I had to do some cutting and grinding and a little new bending, but it plugged in once it was remodeled.   I'm sure a new one would only have been $20, but I had the old one that worked, so I made it fit.

Late last night, after midnight, I downloaded a completely new version of Ubuntu 10.04 Long Term Stable, and reformatted the hard drive.  I lost a lot of messages, and it will take me all week to get it reprogrammed like I like it.  But I am up to the task.

So we are up to date with our Ubuntu machine here now, but my old flat panel monitor is looking aged now next to the new box.  What are you going to do?

That's when I got it figured out that the blog didn't post, well after it was time to go to bed.  So I just reposted it with an explanation on it.  I was way too tired to write something else anyway!

Retired Rod

Sam brought it to my attention that I didn't say where I bought this stuff so it was purchased here in Overland Park, KS at:

Hpyertech Computers 

This is a mom and pop type of store that has all the no name brand stuff for really good prices.  It all comes from overseas anyway, so why pay for the Dell name?

Something new!

This was written on Friday night before bedtime, but for what ever google reasons did not post automatically like it was scheduled to.  So I will just miss the day tonight and post this for tomorrow.

Saturday morning's Blog

Ok, its time for me to admit what I was up to yesterday afternoon!

At the lake we have a 15 year old Kawasaki Jet Ski.  We bought it brand new back in 1995 and it has served us flawlessly.  But it is really old, and starts very hard after it has been unattended for a week or more.  It does run OK once you get it going.  But this year, I haven't trusted it to get me home.

I'm too old to try and swim several miles when it dies.  But it hasn't left us out on the lake, almost ever.  We have got debris up in the pump from time to time, and have had to idle back to the dock.  Usually we get it back on the trailer and clean the drive impeller in the garage.

So I stopped by the dealer to see what the year end deals looked like, and one thing led to another!  They wanted to see the 15 year old ski, and I went to get it.  Since I was driving the truck, it was a simple task to bring it in.  Ben and I had removed it from the lake on Labor Day and put it in the garage for storage.

They went thru the ski, but had news that was about what I expected.  Seems it is on its last leg with the main bearings in the jet pump.  Also the trim motor that needs replaced is over $400 plus labor.  Also the starter is bad, and so is the battery.  And all of that is before we rebuild the carbs in order to make it start better.  Alright already!!!!

They wouldn't give me much on trade either!  Essentially it is a parts machine.  The main engine seems sound.

So, what about that new one?  Well it is discounted $500 for fall, and we expect the new ones to be at least that much higher when they arrive.  So you will save about $1,000 buying a 2010, and we only have just a few left!  Sounds like a sales pitch to me!!!

But after a while, I owned a new one!

I didn't buy the trailer, as our old one will have to do.  We only use it to store it in the garage, so we can get by with it.  This is one of the smaller models, but still has twice the power of the 1995 model.

I seldom ride these anymore, but my company, kids, and grandkids have a blast on the old one.  The grandkids excitement to go out with their dads is palpable.  So do we need a reliable ski at the lake?

I decided the answer was yes!

I spent today over in Missouri at the license bureau paying the sales taxes and buying a tag.  Missouri doesn't trust a selling dealer to collect the sales tax, but rather makes you go pay the tag agent.  So waiting over in the office at Belton, Mo. wasted about 2 hours of my day.

Belton is a suburb of  Kansas City, Missouri, and it doesn't matter where in Missouri you go to get your tags.  So I routinely register stuff here in the KC area, even though it is parked back in the center of the state.

I thought about riding the motorscooter over to the tag office, but it is quite a jaunt over there, so I wisely took the car.

I did sneak out and ride all over the place on the scooter this afternoon, and finally found the bath robe I was looking for at a Sears.  They generally have stuff that attracts us more senile, no wait, more seasoned folks!

Now you know why I got home so late last night!

Retired Rod

Another trip back to KC

Since I was at the lake all by myself, and it was go home day, that meant the domestic duties to get the place cleaned up were all mine!!   I hate it when that happens!

But I was up early and went to the pontoon and installed the second battery tender on the bigger boat battery box.  It came right on and began charging.  I'm sure it will charge for quite some time before it gets to the float stage, so I just put the cover back on the boat and secured everything.

The boat is good to go for a long period of storage now.  After the domestic thing I finally left to go back up town for a while.  This included my hamburger stop.  And finally, I left for KC.

Just the same old same old, as I back tracked over the country roads coming home.  I really haven't a thing to report, so rather than bore you, I will just end off here for today, and hope that tomorrow will be more interesting.

PS, don't tell Loyce that I don't do too well at all those domestic duties, she might make me do more of them on a regular basis.

Retired Rod

Firefox 4.0 beta 6/ Battery tender installed.

I am a FireFox kind of a guy.  I downloaded FireFox 4.0 Beta 6, and turned off the Menu Bar, so it would look minimal like Chrome, and IE9.  It has the tabs on top, like the others, but I am more used to having them right above the viewing window, so I changed that back to how I like it.

But most importantly for me, I have the separate query box to type a inquiry into and not have to mess with the URL address line.  It seems that I never get it highlighted in order to delete the last info correctly, and end up typing a search into the old URL info.  I know that I can just type new stuff, and it should wipe the old, but I seem to violate that somehow on Chrome and I am spending time manually deleting the old URL before I can search for the next subject.  And by the way, if you want to type your inquiry into the URL line like IE9 or Chrome, go ahead, it will look it up just the same as the competitors do.  Your choice!

I'm used to Fire Fox, and 4.0 gives me a lot of the slick changes and increased speed of the others, but keeps me happy with familiarity.  I have yet to play too much with the new groups tabs, but they really look promising, in order to organize the use of my browsing.  But I think they should have made the groups button more prominent rather than two little black stripes on the upper left.

Do you want to download FireFox 4.0 beta 6  Aw, come on you know you want to try it!

It will load in a different Icon than your old FireFox 3.6 and if you don't like it you can go back to the old one at any time.  Or, you can uninstall it completely and leave the old one still there.  But remember, it is beta, and might crash, or maybe not, and they do ask you to send in your thoughts once in a while.  They really want to make it better for you.

I'm still here at the lake, and it began to rain in the middle of the night, and kept it up all morning.  I wanted to change the oil in the outboard, but even though it is under a roof, I chickened out and didn't get started on the work until it began to let up some after noon.

I've done this work now 5 times, and I have it down to a science, so I have to report that I didn't spill any in the lake or on the dock.  And none in the carpet of the pontoon either.  Since I am overwhelmed with stuff to service with oil changes, it does seem a lot like work!

Late in the afternoon, I went in to Wal Mart with the old used oil and dropped it off at the garage.  I was a good boy and went in and signed the book.  Usually I leave it when they are closed and just pass on the signature part.

I decided that I will leave two of the little battery tender gizmos here, with one on the motor scooter and a second on the boat.  So I went in and bought another one.

This evening I installed the first one on the Kymco motor scooter.

 

I installed the harness under the battery screws intending to leave that part on the scoot permanently.  I actually put the floorboard piece back in after I took the picture, leaving only the connector sticking out from the side where the crack is next to the upper right of the charger.

That will allow me to plug in the charger on any moments notice, without messing with the battery compartment.  I think that is kind of neat!

Retired Rod

In Lake Ozark

I got to thinking about the fact that I never got the oil changed in the Honda outboard engine on the pontoon boat when we were in Lake Ozark over the Labor Day weekend.

Of course that began to work on me overnight, and to make a long story much shorter, I am now in Lake Ozark.  I didn't leave until about 1 PM and arrived here about supper time.  I brought the pickup truck, since it hadn't been on the road for a while.  It also had most of the tools on board so I didn't need to reload stuff.  I am here by myself.

After arriving, I had forgotten that the AC was turned totally off when we left after labor day.  But it was instantly noticeable, as it was almost 100 inside the house.  That made things a tad hard to adjust to while packing my stuff inside.  I finally turned on the AC and went up town.

A trip for some supper and to Wal Mart for oil and a filter took an hour or more and allowed the AC to cool the house some without me having to wait it out.  It was still in the 80s inside when I got back, but that was not so unbearable.

Tonight, I have spent time on Skype talking to a friend up in Des Moines, and catching up on reading blogs.              First thing in the morning, I will get started on that oil change for the outboard.  It is on a floating lift  on the water, and the work is done above the open lake.  So, no dropping tools, if you ever want to see them again!

I wrote a blog about changing the oil in the Honda Outboard once before, and it is one of the most searched blogs that I have ever written.  The statistics for that post are about 10 times any other blog in my career.

While here, I will mount that battery tender on the Red Kymco motorscooter, since I drained the gas out of it and will not try to start it until next summer.  Or spring, anyway.

So this will be kind of a whirlwind trip, and those are common in the fall of the year, as having a second home becomes somewhat of a liability when winter is coming.

I just went back to that post about the oil change and noticed it was on September 22, 2008.  That is exactly two years ago to the very day.  Isn't it amazing how our lives become so routine?  But to the very day?  Oh well some things are not meant to make sense.

Retired Rod

What's that?

Since I wrote Two blogs for Monday, and I really didn't do much today except for more medical stuff as we get ready for winter, I don't have anything to write about.

I did read all of the blogs that I normally keep up on and then a bunch of the ones down the side bars of other folks blogs.

Tonight, I backed the motorscooter out of the garage and went looking for a bath robe.  Wal Mart didn't have one.  Target didn't carry them.  The young fellow in men's clothing didn't know what a bath robe was.  He just looked at me with a wondrous look and said what's that!

Well, perhaps Sears, or Penny's!

And I have to say thanks to Al for featuring the Battery Tender blog on his blog, as that always causes my hits to go way up.

Maybe tomorrow will be a more interesting day.

Retired Rod

Battery Tender

Since I have gotten some questions about the battery tender charger, and a picture is worth a thousand words, here it is.

This little guy senses the voltage of the battery it is hooked to and initiates a charge when it falls below a normal range.  It knows if the battery is 6 volts or 12 and charges correctly for each.  When the battery is fully charged, it shuts itself off.

Over time, as the battery discharges, it comes back on to top off the battery until it reaches the correct voltage again.  Thus you do not boil the water out of the cells of the fully charged battery.

It is designed to be left on the battery for long periods of time in a maintenance mode.  And comes with a second plug in lead with terminal eyes on it so you can mount that onto you battery more permanently.

It charges up to 1.5 amps, so it will keep a car or trailer house battery charged as well.  If it did fail to turn itself off, at 1.5 amps times 12 volts, thats only 18 watts.  That would take a really long time to hurt a car battery anyway.  But the point is that it is there all the time, watching over the attached battery.

I got this at Wal Mart, back in the tires and batteries section where you go to get your oil changed or you tires balanced.   It cost $20.86 in US funds in Kansas.  If it works as described, I am sure there will be more of them hanging on various things around here!!!!

Retired Rod

Rambling on Sunday

Well so much for not watching football!!!   They changed to the Iowa Arizona game after the early game was over.  And I had to watch that!  Iowa had given away two touch downs early in the game by allowing a blocked punt to be ran into the endzone, and then coughed up an interception for the second easy score.

All that happened before I could watch on the TV, so I was following along on one of the internet stats and scores programs.  And about when I finally could see what was going on the pesky Arizona folks ran one back the length of the field for another score.  I all but gave up!  27 to 7 Arizona at the half.

It was getting quite late, and I wanted to just go to bed, but Iowa came back with a nice passing touchdown, so I had to stay up.  Then they scored two more and tied the game.  But it was not to be, as Arizona marched the length of the field and scored again.  We lost and I got to bed at 1:30 AM.

Last night we had a storm come thru Kansas City at dusk.  It was a real lightening dussey.  Our northern suburbs had hail as large as tennis balls which broke out car windows and left dents in cars like soft balls.  This was all over the news as folks emailed hail pictures to the TV stations.  We were still experiencing lightening at 2 AM.

Once I got out of bed mid morning, I had a date with Mr. John Deere and the hay field that was my yard.  It was in the 90s here today, and the humidity was just as high.   The yard was still wet from the night before, but I mowed it anyway, as we are scheduled to get more rain again.

Late in the afternoon, I headed out on the scooter just to shop for a battery tender.  This is a little charger brick that plugs into the house power and floats the battery all winter during storage. Trouble is I have way too many batteries that need to be floated.  The motorcycle shops all want $40 for essentially the same 750 ma charger on a card.

Late tonight, I stopped back in the automotive section at Wal Mart and found a floating charger for half of the price that the motorcycle stores want.  They are all made in China, but the Wal Mart one is 1,500 ma.  So twice the size and $21 and still has the same float cycle so it can be left on a battery indefinitely. Sold!!!  It even came with the little pig tail wiring adapter that connects permanently to the battery, they get $7 more for that at the MC shops.  Buy in the specialty stores and get the special prices!

I'm trying not to turn on the TV for tonights football game, but I know I will succumb.  I have a real problem here and I admit it!!

Retired Rod

Service the Onan, and the pink stuff!

No Football yet today!  Footballers Anonymous !  I am powerless  with Football TV time, and I admit it!   I need help from a higher power with my football addiction!  Well you get the idea......

So I went over and brought back the motorhome.  Today was generator service day.  We had only put about 35 hours on the Onan this past year, which is not very many, (We usually use it to run the ACs while driving) but it has been a year since the last oil change so my rule is once a year at least.

The generator is a diesel, since the big engine is a diesel, and that is the fuel in the tank.  Diesel makes an oil change a grungy process.  Its like draining tar out of the engine. Black, sooty, nasty stuff.  So I parked with that side of the coach toward the driveway, and crawled under with the 10 mm socket and ratchet.

It is just a little pipe plug thingy and it comes right out with out any problem.  And then so does the three quarts of goopy oil.  But that is not the rub, here.  Its the filter.  It is up inside of a trap door on the bottom of the green case, and you can reach up there and get your had on it easily.  But just try and turn it to loosen it.  I can never budge it.   Ya, I put it on last year! And it didn't seem tight at the time.

So you end up taking out a gazillion 10mm bolts that hold the neat green case together.  Inside, there is a really normal looking engine.  It is about 750 cc and three cylinders. It has a radiator and a fuel pump and all the normal stuff.  I had to use a strap style wrench on a half inch breaker bar to move the filter.  They really cook themselves on.

It takes more time to take the case off and put it back on than to change the oil and check all the fluids.  That's done for another year!

So since we will not be using the coach until we leave for Arizona sometime in December, I decided that there was no time like the present to pump the pipes full of the pink antifreeze.  This is also a relatively easy process, since Tiffin provides a hose to install right on the water pump.  The other end goes into the gallon jug.  Go inside and turn on the pump and open the faucets until you get antifreeze instead of water.

I have the habit of catching the pink stuff in a basin, once it is not diluted with water.  I let it run a bit to make sure, and then go pour the stuff back into the jug outside. This allows me to run it until I am for certain that the pipe is full.  But remember, I had a pipe expand under the kitchen sink last year too, so perhaps my technique is not good.  I still think they didn't use any pink stuff the year that it sat without being sold.

It is kind of ironic that it was 90 degrees outside while I was doing all this, and I was soaked in sweat.  Usually I am freezing to death, as I have let it go until the very last minute, and its going to freeze tonight.

Maybe it won't freeze before we leave here!!!  Ya right, fat chance!!!

Retired Rod

A nice fall day!

I spent the morning with my wife doing health care things.  That always causes me to be impatient, as I have way too much of an A personality.  But the day was reawakened when we came home about noon.

In the afternoon, I went out on the motorscooter heading for one of the cycle apparel stores up about 10 miles north of our house.  The day had started today at 50 degrees, but by mid afternoon I was reading mid 80s on the bike dash.  It was nicely warm but not overbearing.

I was looking for a certain glove style, and they did have that style but in a 3X.  I usually take a 2X, but decided to go ahead and get the bigger ones, since I have never found another pair that I can put my hand into.  These were just a tad too big, so rather than go without, I will have something.

I rode back here by about 5 PM and have messed around with the computer ever since.  I'm not sure where the time goes when I get on here, as I accomplish almost nothing, but I must be having fun, somehow!

I went back over to Wal Mart and bought a package of sliced roast beef to make a sandwich with for supper, and now its late again.

Tomorrow is college football again!  I'm sure that day will just evaporate as well!

Retired Rod

Fall maintenance

We are winding down the days when motor scooter riding will be possible.  Last year, it came to an end abruptly on September 30th.  I washed the red bike and put it in the garage that night, only to have the next several days be cold and rainy.

After that it cleared some during the days, but was never really warm enough to go use the bike.  So with that experience behind me, I now realize that bike maintenance needs to be accomplished in September.  So today is the day for the fall oil change.

This isn't really too much of a task, as the only thing needing changed is the engine oil, and that drains with one big plug on the bottom of the case.  The oil filter is a little more tricky when you don't take off all the plastic shrouds on the left side of the bike, but with the factory filter tool, I got it out too.  The oil only had about a thousand miles on it, but I don't like to leave old oil in an engine that doesn't get run for a while.

Now I hope to take the bike to Arizona with me in December, but will it come out of the trailer before mid to late January?  We hit a big rainy stretch last winter that kept motor scootering down to a minimum in January, so who knows?

After the oil was done, I washed the bike with a big sudsy sponge and the pressure washer.  Carefully polishing it with a chamois when done.  It sparkled.  Black is really a good color when it is clean.

So after a Wendy's burger, I decided to go get an oil filter for the Onan generator in the Motorhome.  Our dealer is in the next town Southwest of here, and I rode the bike out thru the countryside.  I had to put the wind liner in my ripstop jacket as it was only 69 degrees and overcast. Thats really cool at 50 mph.  But fall is in the air here too, and the ride was enjoyable.

The RV dealer was very busy, with a rig in every doorway and I was glad I wasn't making appointments for service.  As always, there was a big stack of Onan parts on the endcap of the main shelf inside the parts department.  They knew exactly which one I needed, and I was on my way home just like that.  Onan parts are pricey, as the filter was $17.  I'm sure you could use an ordinary Fram, if you knew which filter to purchase.

While overcast, the ride home was fun, as I took a different way along the old Santa Fe railroad.  This is the old trail and is marked with signs.  The railroad tracks followed the Santa Fe Trail in the mid 1800s, and eventually put wagons out of business, by the 1840s.  The history is really quite impressive, but otherwise it is just an old blacktop road next to the tracks.  The interstate is to the East, and carries the traffic now days.

I didn't go get the coach or start on the genset, as it was 5 PM by the time I was home.  That will be for another day.

Retired Rod

Rain and more rain

We seem to be the only place in the country with big nasty storms!  It started about 5 AM and has not let up here all day long.  I was overcast and in the middle 60's, and made me go looking for long pants for the first time since back in May.

Of course I had long pants out in Colorado, but cast them off when we got home.  I think it is to be warmer in the up coming days, but this is a quick reminder that winter is on its way.

We had the older grand kids over here after school tonight, and watched sponge bob square pants on the dvd player.  Grandma took them to DQ for supper, and then they had Dilly Bars for dessert! MMmm!

So with computer time and some TV, baseball tonight, the day has slipped away.

Retired Rod

Football keeping us awake!

Yes, KC was in Monday night football against the San Diego Chargers last night, and I was on board as they started the game.  It was the second game of the evening, so it started quite late.  But then I am a night owl.

Kansas City has had their problems with pro football in the last several years, and they are reconstructing a team from almost scratch.  New coach last year, remodeled stadium, you name it we've done it over.  And over.

So with great trepidation on my part, I began to watch the game.  We looked better!  And had some luck with our special teams on long run backs.  And we had bad weather.  Another of those storms like I rode the motorscooter home in on Friday night was brewing.  I could see the lightening off to the Northwest.

It was a cool rain, if not almost cold, and it seemed to bother the Californians more than us.  But after half time those pesky folks from San Diego seemed to find themselves and another touchdown to come within one score of tying it back up.  We rallied on defense, something we never seemed to get done in past years, and held on to win the game.

I was glued to the set.  Remember, I wasn't going to do that!  Ya right.  I was wound up and didn't actually go to sleep until after 2 AM.

So bring on this morning.  And I couldn't get myself out of bed.  Wanted to snooze!!!!!  But Melisa was bringing us the baby for the day.  Had to get up.

So we played with the baby during the morning, and I went out on the scooter for a Wendy's at lunch.  You would think I would be sick of it by now, but It doesn't upset me as much as the other fast food places.

After the kids were gone in the early evening, I went out and worked in the yard some on the weeds around a couple of our trees.  Round up, and plain pulling will slow them down.  Oh and it is Income Tax estimate day tomorrow too, so I had some office time while that got done.

Finally, I rode over to the motorhome storage lot to open the water tanks on the rig.  We are not able to get in a fall trip, like we hoped, so the tanks need to be emptied.  Pulled out the corrosion rod on the water heater as well and let it drain.  May as well start from dry tanks next time.

It may, and probably will freeze before we set out for Arizona, so at some point the pipes will need some pink stuff.

Just another day in the adventure of life here in KC.

Retired Rod

Electricity, we need electricity?

No motor scooter today.   We needed to decide why we didn't have electricity in several rooms at my son's house.  Melissa took off all the cover plates and helped me access the wiring.

Deciding how all of this is supposed to work when you weren't in on the plan when it was wired is somewhat of a challenge, but after several hours of testing, we decided that we have a broken wire.  Now what to do about it is the next step.

I bridged the wire, so she will have juice for tonight, and we put everything back together.  By then it was almost 4 PM.

But we had fun, thinking it thru as it is kind of like a big jigsaw puzzle.  Deciding how it was meant to work.

When I came back to our side of town, I got into the Wendy's drive thru line and ordered my three dollar lunch, for almost supper, and then realized that I didn't have my wallet.  Oooops!  Had to jump the drive thru line.... And of course they know me by sight in there, so I went and got the missing cards and came back.

This time I went inside and apologized, but they said it wasn't a problem, once they figure out what happened and thanked me for coming in and explaining.  And of course now I had an order for a salad for Loyce too.

Tonight is catch up on the blogs time, but perhaps a football game???  Now I said I wasn't going to do that........ you know I'll break down and have to watch some!!!

Retired Rod

Another Sunday!

Sunday's just seem a lot slower.  For us retired folks, every day seems like the next.  We don't go to work and have that structure to set our lives out as we used to.  But, when we are looking for goods and services, we are usually needing to rely on the week days, as most things are closed on the weekends.

So for that reason alone, we are slow on Saturday, and even slower on Sunday.  Saturday is the big day when all the folks that worked all week need to shop, so we just try and stay away from the stores on Saturday.

And on Sunday, we tend to interact with our kids and grandkids, so that becomes a day to kick back as well.  So we can't get away totally from the weekly structure no matter how hard we try.

So today was a kind of an interact day with our son and daughter in law Chris and Melissa.  Seems as though the lightening and rain from the other night had caused an electrical problem at their house, and we spent some of the day trying to understand what happened.

I am supposed to be an electrician from my navy training, and the ham radio hobby as well, but I was not successful in figuring out the troubles.  So, I will give it another go later.

But that about used up my working time today, as the rest was ride the scooter, and go to Wal Mart for prescriptions and stuff.  Nothing exciting, but I did manage to leave the TV off all day.

After yesterday, football has to be suspended.  I just can't take a full diet of TV for days in a row, even if it is Football!

Retired Rod

Hawkeye game and car repair.

I spent all day watching the college football games,  and especially my Iowa Hawkeyes.  As a graduate, I have to watch that.  And not always with an objective eye!  But I am happy to report that we won 35 to 7.  This is the interstate rivalry and several of my readers are Iowa State fans, so I will not bloviate  here too much.

I lost much of the game, as I had to go retrieve the Camry right in the middle.  I had made the appointment for the brakes to be looked at two days ago when I was over at the Harley dealer.  The front disk rotors were obviously warped, as the pedal had a bunch of flutter at high speed.

When I made the appointment, the lady ticket writer told me that brakes were expendable, like tires and gasoline.  And consequently were not covered under warranty.  That I would need a complete brake job and it would be just short of $200 for the fronts.  Dealer prices, and I just about said nah, I'll get it done somewhere else.

But for some unknown reason, I went along and made the appointment.  Now today I had a different ticket writer, and he said that this was fairly common with Camrys and to let him see what he could do.  OK

By three in the afternoon, I was beginning to wonder what had happened with the brake job, but the game was in the second quarter.  And that's when I got the call to come get the car.

When I got there, the guy recognized me and got my ticket out of the stack from memory.  He then explained that just as he had remembered, there was a Technical Service Bulletin on brake flutter, and the brake job was to be on Toyota.  Atta Boy!!!  I was more than pleased, as the car is only about 18 months old.

When I got back home, I spent the rest of the day with the football games.  Kinda of a waste, but I enjoy it so much, and after all I am retired!!!!!

Retired Rod

Rain, What rain?

For some reason, this didn't automatically post last night at midnight.  I just now caught it, so I posted manually. Sorry!

I went to the motor scooter shop and bought an oil filter mid morning, and the guy behind the counter said it was going to rain around 5 PM.  Oh, OK!

So I went home and fired up the John Deere, and the push mower and zapped the yard. It was looking long, and Loyce told the neighbor that I was on strike!  Well lazy perhaps but not on strike. LOL

So along about 4 PM, it did cloud all over and sprinkle, but within the hour it cleared and the sun came right out.  It looked really nice so I jumped on the scooter and went to supper.  It was ham club night and the church is about 75 blocks away.  I rode up there in really nice weather.

But of course my radio brothers immediately told me there was a big storm developing to the Southwest, and tracking right for us.  I took a wait and see attitude.  The meeting began, and I waited until the mid meeting break and went back outside.  Well now, 45 minutes later you could see that it really was coming right up the highway.

I quickly decided that it was time to leave.  Jumped on the scoot and headed straight South.  That wasn't good enough!  Big blotchy drops, and then wind.  I had ten miles to go.  So the lord was handing me lemons, and I didn't have a lemonade pitcher.  I had on my ripstop gear, but not the rain proof liners.  They were back home.  Since I had a full face helmet, and the rain wasn't hitting me right on the nose, I pressed on in the downpour.

So now it is 9:30, and the meeting is over with, they are all enjoying Godfathers Pizza, and I am home sitting here in wet pants.  But of course the rain has stopped again.  It hasn't stopped up North where the meeting is, but it won't be long.  And it has not been lost on me that I should have just sat tight.

But then I wouldn't have had the character building experience of riding in the pouring rain on a dark night, with my smoke wind screen on the helmet.  One car passed me and drove thru the biggest water puddle in the street, and just covered me.  You know he enjoyed that!!  Of course Loyce was mad at me, when I arrived.

It has since started to pour again, and it looks like an all nighter!

Retired Rod

Rainy and I do an oil change

Today was a rainy day!  We have the remnants of the hurricane that came ashore in Texas.  It turned North and slowly moved over Oklahoma and into Kansas and Missouri.  By now, there isn't much wind left in the storm, but is just a rain event.

So with no scooter riding since I do not ride much in the rain, unless I get caught out when it starts, I needed another project.  That project was to change the oil in the BMW.  As you will remember, the car is now older, and I keep it because I will never get another one.  It doesn't cost anything other than the license and insurance.

So I don't take it over to the big fancy scmancy dealership unless it is really broken.  An oil change there will spoil $150.  It has to be changed once a year or 15,000 miles which ever comes first.  Since I only have 39K on the car, I would only be on the third change by mileage, but it is 7 years old, and has had more oil changes than that.

Back in July, I went to the dealer and purchased the little oil filter, paper cartridge that goes into the removable plastic housing.  It cost about $22.  Oh, but it comes with new O rings to seal up the whole deal.  I've been putting it off, saying it hasn't been driven much.  And other assorted excuses.

Today I went out and purchased the 9 quarts of synthetic oil that is required to fill it, and decided to get it behind me.  Its been more like 15 months since it was done, and I had driven over 6K miles in that time.

To drain the oil, requires a hex stud mounted on a 3/8ths drive ratchet.  That is unusual, in itself.  Removing the oil filter, requires a smaller hex stud to take a small plug out of the filter canister and actually drain it.  All of this stuff is sealed by O rings, that need replaced.

Removing the canister is accomplished with a 24MM 12 point socket.  It is plastic, and the socket on a 1/2 inch drive ratchet would break the housing into smithereens if you apply any force at all.  Careful is the byword here.  25 Ft pounds only!!

Because of the strangeness of this setup, most quick lube places do not have a filter in stock, and have never ever seen such a thing.  They will over torque the little stud bolts and strip out the pan.  Or break the filter housing removing and replacing it.  So Wal Mart or Jiffy Lube is out of the question.  So its do it yourself, or pay the dealer.  And remember my motto about being tight!!

By mid afternoon, I had the job all done, and the old oil repackaged to go back to Wal Mart reclaim.  Of course I had to stop by Wendy's for another really small burger.

It was still raining like crazy, so I decided to go over to the local Harley Davidson dealer, just on a whim.  And no I didn't buy and new bike.  The sportsters seem quite small now that I have had the maxi scooter all summer. Of course the 883 is smaller, but even the 1200 seemed small.

Now the road king is huge!  And they didn't have any V Rods, but I never asked why.  Their clothes are all HD monogrammed and have gigantic prices on them.  They obviously make more money on the clothes than selling bikes.

I went to the Toyota dealership next door to inquire about working on the Camry's brakes, and made an appointment to get them looked at.  That was the reason for going in the first place, but the HD dealership was an interesting side trip.

That was my day other than the computer again tonight.  I continue to run Chrome, and it doesn't seem so strange tonight.  You get used to the quicker speed and now I wonder if I will go back to FireFox.  I guess time will dictate that.

Retired Rod

Grand kids and working on Linux

Another day rolls by without much in the way of accomplishments.  This retired thing could get habit forming!   We were having our one year old over for a little visit mid morning, so we both settled in for that.

I headed out for another Doctor's appointment about mid morning, but came back within the hour.  And by early afternoon, I had ridden the scooter over to Wendy's for the Jr cheeseburger and small fries.  That meal deal is $2.99, so you know about how small it really is.

Once back home, I settled in to surf the web and work on Ubuntu.  I was using Chrome, and I am becoming more used to what to do next.  I still look at the menus at the top in a kind of amazement as to how simple they are.  But the buttons are in the wrong place, since I am so used to fire fox.

My Skype program hasn't worked under the latest version of Ubuntu.  Research offered a number of fix ideas, but after a while and an uncontrolled nap, I decided to change a driver program back to the older version, and just like that I had a bingo!  These are problems that are not as easily repaired under the linux.

So if you are easily frustrated by computers that don't quite work just perfectly, then linux may not be for you.  Some folks thrive on these issues, and write numerous entries on the Wiki describing the 'how to' on fixing stuff.  All I do is read their posts.  Then decide what might work here.

Maybe I ought to get a little more main line and use microsoft more..........Nah!  What am I saying?

Tonight I went on the scoot over to Wal-Mart and bought a tie down strap for the scooter.  A heavier set than what I used last year, since the bike now weighs twice as much.

Also, I spent about an hour on the skype phone with a friend up in Iowa, just to prove that it now works OK.  And it did!

So its midnight and I haven't much to show for another day!

Retired Rod

Chrome has arrived

That pesky Rick up in Victoria, BC went and did it to me again!  He wrote a blog about using Chrome as a browser, and that it was a lot faster than my old standby, FireFox.  Well I thought to myself, I won’t have to load that because they won’t have a linux version!

Wrong!!!   They most certainly have a linux version, or several linux versions depending on which linux you use.  And it downloaded easily, and installed without much fuss.  And it seemed alright, different than what I am used to, but alright.

I messed around for a lot of the morning trying to decide how to do stuff without the main old command line that I learned way back.  I had trouble understanding the bookmarks menu, or lack there of.  And, the biggest problem was that I didn’t know how to add a bookmark to the list. 

See I haven’t used or bothered to learn any Internet Explorer versions after IE6.  I usually just dump the program off of my computer.  Since it won’t work on linux, and I only want to learn programs that work both on linux and windows.  Using windows live writer as I type, it keeps underlining linux, as they are not willing to even recognize that such a thing exists.  And no live writer doesn’t run under Linux either, but I broke my rule on that one since it is so powerful.

So I went ahead and downloaded the Windows version of Chrome on the W7 machine and low and behold, it is almost identical to the linux install.  And yes that pesky star on the address/search line is the add bookmark command.  I knew it had to be there, because the Ctrl D command made it work.  That goes back almost to the beginning of browsers.

But somewhere I wasn’t using IE when they began to add favorites with the star, and google decided to use the star like microsoft.  And I had no idea what that star was there for.  Well until I finally decided to click on it just to see what it did.

So I have been messin with Chrome all day.  I put the loading Icons right beside each other on both machines, so I will have to make a choice each time I want a browser.  And Chrome loads in about half the time, and pulls up windows equally as fast.  Well, nothing can help my internet connection when it gets slow.  But otherwise it seems to work like dandy!  Google usually has stuff right by the time they introduce it.  I didn’t look to see if it had an Apple version.

I took a couple of motor scooter jaunts during the day, but other than that, it has been a down day other than the computering.  At least I enjoy that!!

Retired Rod

Drop me a comment if you have tried Chrome, I’d love to know your opinion, even if it is bad!  Tell me why!

Go home day!

We tried our darnedest not to leave today, as it seemed we would be busy well into the night.  The work on the day you leave the lake is overwhelming.

Loyce started on the pink jobs the moment she got up, and I worked on the blue stuff.  Well, for me, the blue stuff included running the gas out of the red scooter.  So I just had to go on a 25 mile ride.  Up to the town of Eldon along a state lettered twisty road.  And I didn't take the camera, dumb, dumb.

It crosses a creek that empties into the Osage river below the dam.  That creek can be quite high at times, as they have a water depth gage along the side of the road.  You actually drive right thru the creek.  There are culverts under the road, but when the water becomes more than the culverts can handle it goes over the road.  The depth gage goes up to six feet deep.  I'm sure no one could drive thru that.  I've seen it in the spring, and it moves quite fast.  They put up barricades so no fool hardy fellow can get himself into trouble. You really are miles away from any town.

Once that was over, I came home and drained the rest of the gas out of the tank by removing the hose to the carburetor.  Then I ran it out of gas.  That will keep it for the winter.

We mixed up a mixture of gas and Stabil to put into the pontoon boat to pickle the gas.  This will hold the tank for an extended period of time.  We will more than likely use the boat again, so we will just continue to mix the stabil into the gas we add as we boat.  Then when we have put the engine away for the last time, it will be ready for winter.

We did take about a three mile ride up the channel into the wind, which was blowing really steadily.  It  was rough, and the water sprayed over the sides of the pontoon.  It was also quite warm in the high 80s so no one minded a bit.

When we came back, it was time to put the Jet Ski back on its trailer and into the garage.  Ben rode the ski over to the takeout ramp, while I took the trailer over.  Jet Ski trailers are very short and hard to back up.  But I managed to get him hauled out.

When we got ready and finally left for home it was after 5 PM.  The ride takes over three hours, so it was dark when we got to KC.   We had a car full of groceries, as we had emptied out the big fridge, of all the stuff that had accumulated during the summer.  We threw away even more stuff than we brought home.  Why do fridges collect so much left over and half used stuff?

Of course the left overs end up in the freezer when you are leaving for another week.  I tossed a lot of stuff last year too.

So back to KC!

Retired Rod

Boating and Fireworks

It was another banner day here in Lake Ozark.  The weather was mid 70's in the morning, but the wind was out of the South at about 20 mph.  That made the lake overly rough.  We headed out about 10:30 in the morning.

Our son Chris and his family wanted to go home today, so they decided we should  boat in the morning.   We really didn't go too far, but we went in and out of several coves. It is great sport to boat past each lake home and slowly look over your neighbors lake place.

Of course we have a regular parade past our place here as well.  I always wave at the folks when they get to staring at the house and the dock too much.  We try to just be ordinary folks and blend in.  Not buying too much expensive stuff and trying to be better than the next guy. Some places have every imaginable toy prominently displayed from the dock or sea wall.

We went past a place today where the guy had purchased his neighbors house, and had it torn down.  In its place he constructed a giant above ground swimming pool and a surrounding deck.  Since everything is on the side of a hill, he had built a concrete back wall with a canopy over the entire area.  There were several bars and a stage like area. Perhaps he has live entertainment at night when he has the giant party.

My problem would be that we don't have that many friends, to invite over for the party.  He had 4 boat slips, with a cruiser, and a inboard pontoon, and a cigarette style off shore racing boat, and the last slip full of jet skis.  And then to my surprise there was another Tiki bar beyond all the boats.  Just in case it was too far to walk back up the hill to the party deck.

Of course, everyone boats by out front really slow gawking at all of this.  The owner was on the dock in his white tennis shorts, and a boaters hat, with his long pony tail down his back.  I looked to see if it was one of those fake tails sewed on the back of the hat, but no it was rubber banded and came out below the back of the hat.

I have had several questions about wanting pictures of the grand kids, and I would post some, but it makes our daughter in laws very nervous.  They are really not too keen, that I even name their names on a public blog.  Every once in a while I will sneak in a photo, but for the most part, I honor their wishes,  So that is the reason I refer to the kids as the one year old or the four year old.  I do understand that we can never know who might be reading our blogs, and that all people do not have our best interest in mind.

I do not want to belabor the point, but wanted to explain why I seem so distant at times.

Tonight was the last holiday for fireworks over the lake, and we headed out after supper.  It was dark rather quickly, but they didn't start the show until 9 PM.  The wind was blowing us all over the lake, and we had to get out both anchors to hold us in place.  Even then the boats were making wide swings on the end of their anchor ropes.  Seemed like we were always swinging too close to our neighbor's boat.  Again there were hundreds of boats waiting for the show.

It was a good show, but not spectacular, as that would have been the fourth of July.  Still it wasn't bad.  It did have a nice grand finale, as it built from smaller shots until they were giant explosions way high in the air.  Seemed as thought there are many more patterns than just the standard star with a report from years ago.

Everyone went to bed about 11 tonight, as tired was the watch word.  The kids get up at about 6AM, and that kills us old folks.  Of course the kids were asleep out on the pontoon boat as we were coming back from the fireworks show.  Another summer is now officially over, after the Labor Day fireworks.

Retired Rod

More Holiday

We hung out down on the dock, and talked while the kids swam.   Talked and talked.  Where did the day go?

Oh, we had to watch the opening game of the Iowa Hawkeyes, and that kept us men busy for most of the morning.  Our second son, Ben and his family arrived from KC in the middle of the game.  All three of us attended the school, and remain very loyal.

We had not used the pontoon for six weeks, and like usual the bugs had webbed it into one big cocoon.  This needed some serious washing.  So we spent most of the afternoon power washing the boat.  Not overly exciting!

Late in the afternoon shadows.

The Panasonic camera messed these up by showing the shadows as blue.  I had to fix the photos, in Picasa, but even that wouldn’t correct the colors.

Our dock

We headed out with the pontoon, but it was really late in the day.  The kids had swam most of the day, so they were tired and the ride began to get long quickly. 

This is the first time in several years that we have had all eleven of us on the boat at one time.  Our youngest grand daughter is now 15 months old, and got to go along for her first time.  She did quite well.  It was fun to watch her look all over from the boat.  I only wish she could talk and tell us what she was thinking.  That will come quick enough though.

We came back home and barbequed the skewers that were planned.  They were quite good. After supper,  I got to have several grand kids sit on my lap all at once!  Well until their moms made them all go to bed.

I think we really enjoyed our day!  We are just too tired to know.

Retired Rod

Lake Holiday

When ever it is a bit slow here at the lake, we always have the humming birds to entertain us.  They buzz and dive bomb each other as they all want to get the best position at the feeder.  Never mind that all positions have the exact same food, and that they could share with each other, as I would fill it up again if they drained it.

It never stops.  But today they are all females, and they seem to be getting along a tad better than when the male sits up on the wire above and guards everything. 

Hey look no ones here!

Its all mine!

Now what do you want?

Chased her off!

The birds were buzzing our window this morning wanting their feeder filled up as it was very empty.  The only thing in the bottom was the dead bugs that somehow manage to crawl into the tiny holes where the birds drink.  They make a one way trip, as they don’t seem to be able to get back out.

When I filled the clean feeder, the birds were waiting in the big tree in front of the neighbor’s house.  They don’t seem to be afraid of me a bit, as they flew right over as I was hanging the feeder back up. 

Mid morning, I started the little red Kymco scooter and headed up town.  You will remember we left the small scooter here when it didn’t sell on craig’s list.  It has been fun to have the scooter down here already when we come.  I rode into Wal Mart and bought some small groceries and a big box of Powdered humming bird nectar.  Since most of it will sit here over the winter, I bought the powder. I haven’t used powder before so that will be a new experience.

Tonight, Chris and Melissa arrived with Claire and Abby our grand daughters.  They we all excited to be here, but since it was kind of late, they had to go to bed.  They must have been tired, as they crashed almost instantly.  But we adults, sat up and talked to midnight. All the family stuff, that makes for a good holiday.

Retired Rod

Arriving for the last big holiday of the summer.

I've written the blog about driving down to the lake house several times in the past.  And today was essentially no different than all the other times, so I reflect back to see if anything was special.  Well,,,,, not really.  It takes over three hours to get here, and we didn't leave until after 3 in the afternoon.

It rained for most of the day, and we had a cool front that followed us down here as we drove.  The sky was very unsettled and all boily looking.  It finally over took us just as we arrived.  The heavens opened up and a downpour began.

We drove over a number of tree limbs as we got here, so there must have been some high wind before we arrived.  We just opened the garage door with the automatic opener, and scooted inside.  That kept us dry as we unloaded things.

The house was 90 inside, but after the rains, it cooled off  70 or so outside. That allowed us to  just run the fans with the sliding doors open.  The forecast is for really cool nights for the next couple of days, so perhaps the AC can remain off too.

We expect my older son and his family tomorrow, so not much time to prepare the house for company.  That will be fine, as we generally clean up before we go home.  Never good to arrive to a mess from last time.

We had some really big strikes of lightening out on the lake beyond our porch tonight.  One particular strike hit the water hard, so we will see if we have a computerized lift control that works in the morning.

Last year, we took a strike that burned out most of the ground fault outlets on the floating dock.  One of them was the ground fault shorty drop cord that protects the lift motor control box.  The lightening strike caused the cord and ground fault to explode into pieces.  Somehow the electronic lift control survived, so perhaps I will get lucky again tonight.

As I type this the rain is coming down in a torrent outside, so we are huddled here in the living room listening to the rain on the lake.

We are about three miles from town around the North shore.  It is quite wooded, once you drive over the dam to the North.  Originally the highway went over the dam, but now because the 1930's road is so narrow, the highway is re routed to a bypass about three miles to the East.  That makes our road out here much less traveled, so we are really in the woods.

Just us and mother nature.  Well and the neighbors, when they are here.

Retired Rod

Out like a light!

I spent the morning out like the light, after a night of running to the room.  Never did like Hospitals much.

And after the knock out dope for the morning session, I couldn't stay awake to read the chapters in the Grisham book.  It was after 5 when I finally could stay awake long enough to read the rest of the last chapter.

So I am a little short of a blog topic tonight. But perhaps that's just as well, as it wouldn't make much sense anyway.

Retired Rod

Thoughts and plans

I see that we have 40 followers as of today, and that is somewhat of a milestone for us.  And in case I have never said thank you for your interest in our web site and becoming a follower,  Thank You

Each of you are special to us as we spend time writing and enjoying the RV lifestyle.  As you know, we are not full timers but summer vacationers and winter snow birds.  But we do enjoy and embrace the RV lifestyle.

We have talked some of another little trip this fall, but have not decided where or when.  Our schedule is somewhat up in the air for now.

We have been doing the doctor appointment thing this late summer and early fall, trying to get all of those pesky things taken care of so we can head on out after Thanks Giving.

Last year we went in November, but came back for much of December.  We drove from Arizona to Kansas in a toot with one overnight in Tucumcari, Nm.  On our way back from Kansas to Arizona, we all but decided that it was too much to try and come back for Christmas.

So as we are thinking now, we will wait to leave until after Thanksgiving, and then not return.  Oh, and the nasty Christmas Eve snow storm that we had to shovel our way out of, kind of cemented our thinking too.

Of course, this could all change as we make those plans in quick sand.  But we do have reservations at Valle Del Oro Resort in Mesa, Arizona starting December 1.  I sent almost one months rent with the reservations, so changes will be harder.

We have found that Mesa is a wonderful place to hide during the winter months, and are looking forward to repeating the adventure again.  Valle Del Oro is a different resort than we stayed at the last two years, being larger and a lot newer than Mesa Spirit.   It is not all that much more expensive, and is located farther East, almost out to Apache Junction.  The area surrounding Mesa Spirit is becoming quite old and run down, it is time that we make this change.

Mesa has had its share of hard times since the economic downturn, as has all of Arizona.  It is our hope that the economy will improve for the Phoenix area, and that we will enjoy better time this year.  Of course time will be the judge of that.

On a more mundane subject, I have one of those aged over 50 tests scheduled for the morning, that are not too blog about able.  You know, where you get to drink the gallon of laxative, which I am doing as I write this.

So I think I will just end off here tonight, and scramble for the .........little room.......

Retired Rod