Working Here And There

Sherrri  and I have been on the road working here and there. We do get to go to the lake every weekend and take care of some things that we have to see to all the time...like mowing the grass. I don't know how it keeps growing here with no rain and unbearable temps. I guess the humidity keeps it watered with the dew in the mornings??
What ever...we have to mow that grass once a week no matter what. I don't know what I will do in the summer when I head north and I am not there to mow. I  guess it will grow over my head and then I will have to get a brush hog to knock it down.
I am sitting in the hotel room on the computer writing this entry. It is 5:27 and I am showered shaved and dressed ready to go down and eat some breakfast. Sherri is still getting ready so it will be 6:00 before we head out the door. We will eat and then jump in the Jeep and roll off to the store so we can get there about 7:00 when the fun begins.
If you have ever been in a store shopping when they are doing a full re-set...you know what a chaotic mess it is. Customers literally  cussing you out because you are in their way. They can't find what they are looking for and they say they will never come back to this store again. It would be like me telling the road crew that I will never drive on this road you are working on because you are costing me delays.
Well they do come back and they like the new set and they shop it and buy it and life goes on...

Somewhere in Time  

A Day at the VA

Got back from our world wind tour last night. I thought I might sleep in but then I remembered I had to go to the VA for my check up. Oh well so much for getting rested up.
I got up around 7:00 am...I don't usually sleep in that long but I could not drink coffee or eat so I just decided to stay in bed a while longer.
I did get on up and got dressed. I had to clean the Jeep out. We had been traveling all week and it was a mess. All our work cases and materials we have carried with us had to go on the shelves out of our way. The plan was Sherri was going to take me to Veterans Hospital and drop me off. She was  then going to head to North Dallas to take our daughters new cell phone by the Apple store to get it fixed. She just got the phone and already it is not working.
We made it to the VA Hospital about 1:00 pm so I had 30 minutes before my appointment. I had to get blood drawn and then I had a doctors appointment at 3:00 pm. I had not eaten so as soon as I got my lab work done I was off to the cafeteria for some grub.
By this time all the food had been setting out for some time and looked a little dry. I had no choice but to order a hamburger. This was not going to be my first choice but it was better than eating old dried out food. I ate my hamburger and drank a drink. I had brought my book with me so I just sat and read it and finished my drink until time to see the doctor.
They had double booked his schedule and one of the doctors was out. This put me in the last slot to be seen. It was about 4:30 before I got in to see the doctor. I think it was about 5:00 when I was released.
Sherri called about that time and said she was on her way. It all worked out real good and soon we were back at home.
I have to go back in about 6 months and find out how long I might have till the end...

Somwhere in Time

Headed West

I felt a rocking motion this morning and thought for a minute I was on a boat in the ocean. No it was different...more like a rocking chair...You know like when you are in your RV and someone is moving around. Well...do you see where I am going with this? OK Sherri was already up and she was in the kitchen making coffee and my jacks are not down good...This is just about how fast I was thinking when I first woke up. I don't think really fast anytime during the day and morning is my worst time.
I decided to roll on out and see if I could help with the coffee. You know drink it. Sure nuff there was some made and I poured me a cup and sat down at the computer.
Today is a travel day. We are headed west to Albany Texas. This is north of Abilene about 30 miles. We have a one day job out there and then we head back east. I know that is crazy but that is the way this company works. They pay us for our drive time and the fuel so we go where we are told.
I have to get packed this morning so I wont have just a whole lot of time to read but I will get started and finish up...

Somewhere in Time

I Got Some Response

This morning when I opened up my journal page I saw that I had two comments from some far away visitors.
Margie Anne and Rick Doyle came back to let me know where they were located. Gosh New Zealand and Vancouver Island...I would say that is quite a span across the globe.
Thanks for the come back on that post. I will have to look you both up and see what is going on.
When I got through checking my comments I got up and poured me a cup of coffee. I joined Sherri who was already on the porch. She had contacted Becky and told her to come on over to visit.
We all sat around until about 10:00 at which time Becky left us to go and mow their lawn. Sherri and I got busy on rearranging our patio side bays. We put all our inside supplies and our patio supplies on the passenger side so when we are sitting out we can get to our S T U F F easily.
We stopped about 12:00 due to the heat. We continued on about 5:00 when it had cooled off. We got all of Sherri's things stowed where she wanted them and I put what she didn't want in my bays in the back.
You know what this means...I have to rearrange mine now to work in this new S T U F F. I don't mine though...this gives me something to do here...

Somewhere in Time

Gosh Who Would Have Thunk it

This morning Sherri and I are headed East to deliver some display items to a store. We rolled out about 5:00 am. I had made the coffee the night before and went into the kitchen to flip the switch. Sherri was right behind me and we both sat waiting on the morning wake up fuel to fill the pot.
After our coffee was sipped dry I got ready to go and came back to set down at the computer. I brought up my journal and was scanning down to see who all had posted. While going down the page I noticed my new map I had installed some time back. It shows me where all my readers are located all over the world. Was I surprised to see where some of them are!
I had no idea that I had readers as far as Australia...Africa...Japan. I had to stop and think that with the Internet anyone can access my journal and find out what I am doing at a moments notice! How cool is that.
This brought me to thinking that I should stop and say HI to all those folks all over the world and tell them I appreciate them looking in on me from time to time. I would really like for them to comment on my journal and let me know something about them.
For those of you that have journals of your own and live in another country I would love to hear from you and would also enjoy reading your journals too!
We do live in a small world now! When we can communicate with neighbors thousands and thousands of miles away in just a few seconds! How cool is that!
Well it is time for me to head out now. Maybe when I get back I will have some new friends in some far away land that I can read about...

Somewhere in Time

Enjoying a Cool Morning

The Sun has passed me up this morning. I guess it will passed me up every morning from now until this Fall. It gets up before I do.
Sherri and I both usually get up around 5:00 when we are on the road but when at home we get up at 6:00. At 6:00 the sun is already up to light my way to the patio.
This morning was no different. Sherri was up much earlier than me. We made the coffee together and then called Becky...our SIL. We poured our coffee and then headed out to the screened porch.
The weather here has been hot during the day but I will have to say that some mornings the temps have been cool. We seem to always have a nice breeze through the barn and it keeps the heat from building up under the roof. Our screened in porch is under the barn roof so we are out of the rain and sun and as long as that breeze is coming through we can sit out there comfortably.
We sat on the porch and visited with our family neighbors. Becky and Rodney have lived out here for almost 20 years. They have the lots next door to us and we share a lot of time together on the weekends when they are up here. Becky still works so she only get up here on the weekends. Rodney has been retired for many years and has a house in Dallas that he stays at during the week.
The four of us have planned on traveling together for about 20 years. They have a MH and we enjoy going on short trips now and then. We really are starting to plan our maiden voyage now that the time is getting closer for Sherri and Becky to retire.
I think we have traveled about 300,000 miles in our minds on planned trips that have never come about. Today we are planning yet another trip that we will take...

Somewhere in Time

Going Going Going But Not Gone

I have not been very faithful in posting. I have been on the road from one side of Texas to the other and sometimes we have Internet and sometimes we don't. Seems like when we do I spend more time reading than I do posting. What you are doing is much more exciting than what I have been doing so I will keep on reading as long as that is the case.
We did go to the State Park next door to the lake lot here and spend three nights. It was so nice to be out away from the barn. You know being under the barn roof has its advantages but it also has its drawbacks. You don't get to see out when inside and that makes you feel like it is always night time. When we are at the park we have all the windows open and the sun comes in and we see all the trees...I could go on but you get the picture.
We are back now and life goes on. Sherri is off working and I am here holding down the fort. I would love to go out and work in my shop but it is already 95 outside and in the shop has to be 10 degrees hotter. Geee we had no Spring at all. One day it was 40 and the next it was 95. I guess we do have global warming after all.
OK that is about the sum of my life as it is now. I sit here in the MH wishing it was cooler and wanting to be in Colorado on the side of a mountain. For those of you that are you could post some pictures and maybe tell me how cool it is in the morning drinking your coffee on the patio. I will read it and pretend I am there...

Somewhere in Time

Back at the Lake

Well this morning I woke up in my own bed. How sweet it is. We have been gone most of the week. While staying in hotels it is just not the same when you get up. I like having my coffee before I get my day started but when on the road you have to get your day started and then get the cup of coffee. I have even side stepped the coffee in the morning being that I am already dressed and going...who needs coffee at that time?
This morning I am up and in the kitchen making a pot of coffee and I am going to enjoy sipping this cup and maybe a second one to boot.
My lawn mower cratered the last time I used it. I had changed the oil...air filter and the blade. This was enough for the handle on the mower to break. Why is that ? I have no idea but when I go and fix something up something else breaks making what I just fixed or tuned up worthless! I was not going to let that happen to my 8 year old lawn mower so I took this time to fix the handle. A drill and some bolts were all the things I needed to get me back in the yard mowing.
Next thing on the list of things to do is wiring some plugs on the screened in porch. This will take me going to the hardware store for some electrical supplies. Being that this day is just about used up I think I will make that trip...

Somewhere in Time

Missed the Eclipse

Sherri and I traveled to Texarcana Sunday afternoon. We arrived there about 7:30. We checked into our Hotel room and unloaded all our junk. We have to travel with computers and luggage and enough stuff to fill a hotel cart to the top.
We didn't stay long in the room before we decided to head out and get us some food. We found a Texas Roadhouse and I ordered me a steak! I have not had a steak in a good while. It was only 6 oz. but it sure was good.

On the way to the restaurant we took some pictures of the setting sun. We really did not get any pictures of the eclipse. The clouds and the buildings were in the way but I did take several pictures in hopes of capturing something.

We came back and got ready for bed. It did not take too much time and we were both dreaming of better places to be...

Somewhere in Time

Collection Calls Are A Joke

Sherri once again beat me to the coffee pot this morning. I guess I am just getting to slow and old to get up early. I could feel the MH rock back and forth as she moved about. By the time I got up she was no where to be found inside so I assumed she had retreated to the porch with her coffee.
Soon I mustered up enough strength to get up and go down to the kitchen. I found a full pot of coffee and poured me a cup. I slid down behind the computer and began my morning ritual of reading journals and emails.
Sherri was on the porch so I decided that I should go out and spend some time with her before the day got underway.
Later in the day while sitting inside I got a phone call on the house phone. I hardly ever get calls on that phone and when I do it is always a bill collector for some of the dead beats that had this number before me.
The phone call today was really funny because I had never had a collection agency present themselves the way this one did.
"Hello this is Blank Collection Agency calling for Mr Deadbeat". "If you are Mr Deadbeat please push 1". "If you are not Mr Deadbeat please push 2".
Now I don't know about you but if you where Mr Deadbeat would you push 1 or 2? Now take a minute to think about it...I don't want to rush you.
OK so I decided to push 1 seeing as how I was not Mr Deadbeat. What did I have to lose....
"Please hold your call is important to us". No kidding? I bet it is important to you...but Mr Deadbeat is surely not going to hold for you to harass him! But I did because...once again...I am not Mr. Deadbeat.
"Please hold your call is important to us".
"Please hold your call is important to us".
"Please hold your call is important to us".
Yes this went on for some time. Would a person owing money...with no intention of paying it back hold for a collection agent. I was amazed at the gall these people have putting you on hold so they can dun you for a bill.
"Pleas hold your call is important to us".
"Pleas hold your call is important to us".
"Pleas hold your call is important to us".
I held for some time and then the message changed and I was almost excited!
"This is the mail box of Cliff Collector...Cliff's mailbox is full and cannot hold any messages". "If you would please call back at a latter time". "Thank you".
This is when I fell out of the chair...
I wish I could have recorded this. I mean you could not have made up anything any funnier than this call. I don't know where Mr. Deadbeat is now but he sure is missing out on some good laughs here...

Somewhere in Time

Back Porch Trip Planning

This morning Sherri was up before me. I had slept in a little...being that I stayed up last night watching TV longer than usual.
She had the coffee made and was going out the door to the porch when I stepped into the shower. I cleaned up...poured my coffee and went outside to join her.
We sat for a while and then Becky, our SIL came over to drink coffee with us. She and Sherri's brother live next door to us in their MH.
It was not too long when the conversation turned to retirement and leaving on our maiden voyage. We will be headed south being that the time of year Sherri and Becky retire will be in the winter months. All the plans we make now are in jello as you well know. It is fun talking about it and I always quote some of our friends that have posted their trips on line. What they have done gives us thought for what we might do. We take a little of this and a little of that...put it all together and dream of what we might do.
This is all a part of the fun we have planning trips...that we might or might not do. Planning is half the fun.
We lounged around most of the day and then it was cool enough for me to start mowing the yard. Not the most fun thing to do but something that has to be done...

Somewhere in Time