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The RV adventures of Sparky and (the late) Jett |
I have received enough positive feedback on my printed blog booklets that I am going to post the PDFs online. Here are the first three, 2011 to 2013.
OurWanderYears 2011 (13.9MB) – preparation and planning
OurWanderYears 2012 (22.5MB) – rig acquisition, more preparation and the Great Trip West (GTW)
OurWanderYears 2013 (35.4MB) – California, the Quick Trip East (QTE) and the Quick Trip South (QTS)
Electrical (and cable) prep
Our shed will be arriving soon – sometime in February, I think. It will be plopped down on our site with no additional foundation work. Four of the six hurricane tie-down points will be on pavers and two will be on grass. I was initially concerned about this, thinking that the corner on grass might be vulnerable to settling. And I might be right about that, but it seems to not be an issue for everyone else – the majority of the sheds in the park have one corner or more sitting on grass. Besides, it is just a shed, so if I need to jack it up a bit I can do it myself with the 10-ton hydraulic jack that I carry with me wherever we go.
But some other prep work was needed. We had to get the electric service run from the pedestal (and meter) on the right side of the site over to the left side, near where the shed will be. We are going to need electricity in the shed. More electricity than we need in the RV. The shed will be wired for 80 amps or more while the RV has only 50. The power is needed for the washer/dryer, the A/C and the on-demand water heater.
Our GC, Roger, said that a conduit is typically run under the site before the concrete is poured in anticipation of this. But because our site was modified to have pavers instead of concrete and because the pavers were extended to be as wide as possible – wider than the typical concrete pad – he was concerned that he would have to dig up some pavers to find the end of the conduit. Dollar signs started running through my head. Fortunately, that turned out to be unnecessary as the marker for the end of the conduit was found hidden under a bush.
So Roger ran wire through the conduit and extended the conduit to the location where the back left corner of the shed will land. He also ran the TV cable from the pedestal, through the bushes to the same location. I was puzzled why he did this as I have no intention of watching TV in the shed. But he said that residents typically put their cable TV modem and wireless routers in the shed. Makes sense. I am glad he took the initiative.
Maybe I can mount my third TV on the outside of the shed…
Copyright 2017 by Lee Child, published by Bantam Books
Yes, another Jack Reacher book by Lee Child. I like them, for sure, but the fact that I have read 3 in a row is pure luck. I have a stack of, usually, 6 to 12 books in my to-be-read stack and I choose my next volume randomly, by flipping a coin. To get three Reachers in a row is beating the odds since I had only 3 in the stack and there are still 9 more books there after picking this one.
But the book. This is the 23rd in the Reacher franchise. It is not my favorite Reacher ever because it is, compared to most, very grim. But any Reacher is worth reading.
This one starts in Wisconsin, which makes it unique in my Reacher experience so far. He is on a bus, heading to some random destination in northern Wisconsin, chosen not by flipping a coin but by buying a ticket on the next bus out. But he gets off for a rest break somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin and wanders into a pawn shop where he spots a pawned West Point class ring. A West Point grad himself, he knows how valued these rings are. He immediately starts wondering why the owner pawned it and who that owner was. He decides he would like to return it to its owner. Some of his interest probably derived from the knowledge that it was a woman’s ring – it was very small.
He managed to extract some information from the pawn shop owner using some very Reacher-esque techniques (but no broken bones). He subsequently obtained more information from a member of a motorcycle gang after subduing several of the bikers. That led him to South Dakota where, in the course of observing a laundromat owned by a guy who reportedly provided the ring to the pawn shop, he runs across a PI who is looking for a missing person. It is not immediately obvious that the missing woman and the owner of the pawned ring are one and the same, but it is a logical conclusion.
Again, using the persuasive Reacher charm on the laundromat owner, he obtains information the leads him to Wyoming. But there the trail runs cold as the guy who purportedly supplied the ring died 18 months earlier in what was called an “accident”, his body ravaged by bears and his bones spread around the forest. But Reacher doesn’t give up easily and eventually hooks up with the PI whose missing person trail also led to the same little town in Wyoming. Soon the PI’s client, a woman from Illinois, joins them. The missing person is her twin sister, a West Point grad. They team up to search the area, convinced that she is still alive.
She is, but grievously injured and, all-in-all, in a bad way. The guy who became bear bait was, for a time, her boyfriend. She is reluctant to talk about either herself or her dead paramour. But for various reasons she is living a tenuous existence and the 3 amigos try very hard to find a solution to her problems. Meanwhile, Reacher has to survive a couple of attempts on his life, kill contracts issued by the laundromat owner who clearly is doing more than cleaning sheets.
The rest of the story is about how the amigos get the West Point grad better situated and how Reacher extracts retribution on the laundromat guy.
This is not the best Reacher novel by any means, but it is pretty satisfying in its conclusion.
7 out of 10.
Anybody engaged in an athletic endeavor has his good days and his bad days. Ted Williams hit a home run in his last at-bat; that was a good day. Hockey players sometimes get hat tricks and sometimes get their faces flattened against the glass. Downhill skiers sometimes win and sometimes wipe out. With senior softball, any day where you don’t pull a muscle or fall flat on your ass is a pretty good day. But every now and then you have a game that is immensely satisfying.
Today was that day.
We were down 6-1 after the first 2 innings, thanks to some remarkably inept fielding and some very weak hitting. It was looking bleak, but the defense improved, as did the offense. After 6 innings we were down 9-7. As we were home team we batted last. In the top of the last inning (the 7th) we played some outstanding defense and held them. In the bottom, I got to the plate with bases loaded and one out. If I hit into a double play (all too likely given my poor summer softball performance) the game would be over. If I hit a fly ball it would likely score 1 but still leave us behind by a run. My goal was to get a solid hit and, hopefully, tie the game.
I hit a sharp line drive that the left fielder tried to quickly field, no doubt with the idea of throwing out the tying run at the plate. But he let the ball skip by. Three runs scored. We won 10-9.
Glory. And a very good day.
Foxboro’s
Another view of the bar
The New England Patriots are a perennial winner, with Bill Belicheck and Tom Brady (coach and quarterback) teaming up for 5 championships in the first 18 years of the 21st century. Some people are tiring of their winning ways, making them a Team That Some Love To Hate. So when, a few days ago, the Patriots had their first playoff game, against the San Diego Chargers, I wanted to get out and watch the game in the company of some true believers.
Patriots Burger
My first plan was to go down to our home from last season, Paradise Pointe RV Resort in Naples (now The Waves, don’t ask me why) and watch with the friends that I watched the games with last year. But that plan was thwarted by newly-installed security gates. I didn’t have the phone number of any people there and didn’t want to deal with the hassle (and who knows if I would have been welcome anyway), so I switched to Plan B: Foxboro’s Sports Tavern, just a few miles north on US 41. This is southwest Florida’s preeminent Patriots sports bar. It was wall-to-wall Patriots fans. I was in a friendly crowd for sure.
The game? It was competetive early, being tied 7-7 through most of the first quarter, but the Patriots scored before the end of the quarter to go up 14-7, then scored 21 unanswered points in the second quarter to turn it into a rout, 35-7 at halftime. The Chargers came back a bit to make the final score 41-28, but the game was never really in doubt in the second half.
Anyway, it was a successful game viewed in a friendly environment. It is nice to know that there is at least one bar where Patriots fans can gather and not be annoyed by The Haters. The Patriots Burger – 1/3 pound of beef on a brioche bun with bacon, tomato, pickles and onions – was very tasty, too.
Next Sunday: the Patriots’ 8th straight conference championship game.
I have made another pass through my family tree in Ancestry.com, making corrections and adding some 25 newly-discovered ancestors. Some of the new ancestors are also Jett’s ancestors, meaning that we are related some 11 generations back. Good thing we didn’t have children.
Number of American ancestors: 349
Location of graves, by state:
Number of immigrant ancestors: 209
Country of immigrant birth:
Night lighting
I might as well throw in the photo of the homemade ice cream that I had that night. A full bowl for $1. Very affordable. I had half vanilla and half salted caramel. Also pretty good.
$1 bowl of ice cream
Free burgers and dogs
First rigs on the new sites
Our RV park has nearly completed the fourth and final stage of its development – the addition of about 50 new sites. They were supposed to be ready for occupancy on Jan 1, but as with most construction projects there have been problems and delays. The most significant problem was Hurricane Michael. The arrival of the hurricane in October did no direct damage to the park, but drew all of the utility workers north to repair the damage. As a result, the new section is not wired for electricity yet. In desperation the developer has installed a generator that will provide electrical service to half of the new sites. I guess half the revenue is better than none.
So, on New Year’s Day, the first RVs took up residence in the new section. After months of looking at nothing but empty sites it was nice to see the area being used. But apparently the generator was having some problems. Four of the first seven occupants complained of some kind of electrical issue.
The park greeted the rigs arriving on New Year’s Day with a cookout – free burgers and hot dogs. It was a nice gesture and a beautiful day. I volunteered to help with the grilling and Jett volunteered to help with the greeting.
Over 200 people
We attended the New Year’s Eve party at the resort. 208 people dining on prime rib or chicken, with steamed vegetables and baked potatoes. Cheesecake for dessert. A 5-piece dance band. All cooking and entertainment provided by residents of the park.
Jett and I did our part by prepping the baked potatoes. Over 200 potatoes washed, trimmed as necessary, seasoned, wrapped in foil and put into roaster ovens. I did most of the washing. Jett did most of the seasoning. Not too bad – it took just about an hour. But the work made the food taste better somehow.
Jett also cut the cucumbers for the salad. She made me add that.
We didn’t do any dancing. The band was okay but certainly not great. We were told that line dancing took over after 11 pm. We don’t know because we left around 10:30. Jett went outside for a moment and heard fireworks. We decided to go check on Rusty and we are glad we did. He was a quivering mess. We stayed home, cuddling with the poor beast. I fell asleep about 11. Jett woke me to tell me it was 2019.
I probably could have figured that out.
Our table, pre-meal
The band and dance floor
Honoring our veterans
Major General Kropp
POW/MIA table
Military Appreciation Month for 2019 started on January 4. I was never aware of any such month and, had I been aware, probably would have ignored it as I am not myself a veteran. However, the RV park where we now reside did not ignore it and, being home to quite a few veterans, scheduled an event in their honor. It was a ceremony in which each individual’s service was recognized and a few words of appreciation were offered by he ranking veteran in the park, Major General (retired) Kropp of the Army Corps of Engineers. As a Civil Engineering graduate myself, my ears pricked up when I heard the title. The Corps of Engineers are, in my view, heroes and men who complete incredible feats of engineering under very difficult conditions. They have always had my respect. It was an honor hearing a man who commanded an entire division of these brave men.
He was an entertaining speaker and surprised me with a few observations about the current state of the armed forces. For example, according to Major General Kropp, just 24% of American men currently eligible for service are sufficiently fit to serve. Shocking, but probably not surprising when I think about all the overweight young people that I see on the street.
Jett and I were both moved by the “POW/MIA table”. I can’t recall the import of every item on the table, but it was a sobering reminder of the sacrifice of many.
After the ceremony I made it a point to shake Major General Kropp’s hand and to express my admiration for the Corps of Engineers.
Then we ate hamburgers.