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 Being Retired now, I thought that it was time for a new name to this Blog |
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Talk about perks, my career had one of the best I can think of! I traveled in the course of business, delivering classes for my employer. I was a Senior Training Specialist for Motorola Solutions, and taught classes on a wide variety of subjects centered around 2-way radio communications. I knew that when the time arrived that I would retire, and I have. I've always said that if you can't stand the heat in the kitchen, get out! I can't handle the heat anymore. I was qualified to deliver approximately 32 different classes, but about half of those were 'Legacy' classes, and were not in demand anymore. My students were technicians, those who maintained, programmed, calibrated, and repaired large 2-way radio systems. Some of these systems are statewide, and use TCP-IP networking to allow sites to communicate with others. Some are small, traditional type radio sites. The size doesn't matter, in each case the systems must be kept operational at all times, since many of them are Public Safety Systems. So I traveled, sometimes frequently, 3-4 weeks in a row.... where have I been? Some of the places I've been (I can't list them all here, the list would be too long) are pretty interesting. 1. Hawaii - Four times, Oahu, Maui (twice), and the Big Island 2. BangkokThailand, twice 3. Frankfurt Germany, twice 4. Algiers, Algeria 5. Melbourne Australia 6. Bismarck North Dakota, Summer & Winter 7. Los Angeles, Too many times to count 8. Washington DC, Too many times to count 9. Seattle three or four times 10. Texas, all over the state 11. Florida, all over the state 12. New Mexico, HOME! Several times  Best Cultural And Regional Honorable Mention |
A Day In The Chicago Area A day in almost any large city is a day too much if you ask me. I've gotten very used to life in a smaller town, and love it. But, we had to get up to the Great Lakes Naval Station to pick up a prescription for Kathy. True, we could have gone to a Pharmacy here for it, but she would have to pay $300 or more for it. It's free through Tricare, so the drive is definitely worth it. We had a long discussion about which Van to drive there. The older Transit Connect gets better gas mileage than the CamperVan does, that was the argument she used. I said we had bought the CamperVan for longer road trips like this. Any guesses as to which one we drove? Yep, the Transit Connect. Then again, you knew that before I gave the secret away. It was a decent drive, not stressful for me at all. But heck, it was almost 8 hours total. Only 6 hours drive time, but with stops for nature breaks for us and the dogs, stopping for lunch and gas, 8 hours it was. And yes, we were sore and tired after it. I know we would have been much better off in the CamperVan. Then again, the Transit Connect has all those things that the Camper doesn't have. You know, things like GPS, Satellite Radio, Backup Camera. Of those three things, I used the backup cam. We didn't listen to the radio, didn't need GPS for a drive like this. In my eyes, no benefit was gained driving it and not the CamperVan. On a completely separate note, I head to Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta Tuesday. I'm taking Amtrak, she insisted I take the train, and insisted I get a Roomette also. I will travel from here to Chicago, then board the Southwest Chief heading to Albuquerque. I'll have the Roomette from Chicago to Albuquerque, and from there to Kansas City on the return trip. I am looking forward to both the trip, as well as seeing home again. It's gonna be a fun time, I'mbsure of that! I'll be sure to snap a lot a photo's too! |
Two Mystery's About Our New Van Solved! This morning I received a call from Aaron who works in the Camping World Springfield Illinois store. He had called the Woodstock location and learned that the extra-long running board had been received at the Woodstock store. Apparently it is now on it's way to Springfield. My bet is it was shipped today though. No matter, at least we know what's going on with that. It's amazing what can happen when one location calls another about a customer who is not entirely happy. After that call, Mason, from the Woodstock store called me. He's the Finance Guy that I signed all the Van paperwork with two weeks ago. The title was not presented for signing because they didn't have it yet. The original owners (Yep, we're the Second Owners of the van) still had it financed through Bank Of America. Camping World paid off the loan and sent that to the Bank for Title release. We were too fast for them though, and bought the van before they received the title. That should have been discussed during our time signing papers. It would have allayed all thoughts/concerns we had about the Title. So now we wait. The Woodstock Store will send the signed title to us via Overnight Express. Yeah, we'll see if it comes overnight. Anyway, once that's received we can go to the DMV. Again, Only Time Will Tell. |
What I Forgot! Two weeks ago today I flew to Atlanta and completed the purchase of our new (to us) van. It is a 2018 Dodge RAM Promaster Camper Van. It has just 25,000 miles on it though! Before I travel, I never sleep well, that Wednesday night was no exception. I couldn't sleep on the flights either (Bloomington-DFW, DFW-Atlanta). When I finally arrived in Atlanta, I was very tired, boarding on feeling exhausted. On arrival at Camping World, I went through a walk-thru of sorts. This meant I was shown everything about the camping portion of the van. Things like the Fresh Water Connection, how to drain the Black & Gray Water Tanks, connecting 'Shore Power' to the van, the amperage service of it, and more. After that, I met one of the men from the Finance Department to sign my life away. There was no financing though, we paid it in full with a Cashier's Check. But there was one important piece of paper that was never presented to me, thus it was never signed. The TITLE for the van. I feel half at fault in forgetting this, plus I was so tired that once I got to my hotel (5 minutes after leaving Camping World), I napped for two and a half hours! Still, I ask myself, how did a person in Finance with Camping World fail to have that available? Everything I signed that day is in a zippered nylon carrier, owners manual, operating instructions, all that and more. The title is not in that in it though. Also, we foolishly had Camping World in Woodstock Georgia order a new running board for us. One that extends to the passenger door. My wife is short (5 feet, 0 inches), and cannot make that step up to get into the passenger seat. I say foolishly because we should have told them we'd buy the van (the new running board was included in our purchase agreement, labor and all) once that running board was replaced. But, we agreed that the Springfield location could install it, so it was to be shipped there. We would coordinate with them to get it done. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! I called each location about the title and the running board. I never got to speak to anyone about this (everyone was always busy or out that day), so I left message, after message. It wasn't until yesterday that I finally managed tp speak to the Service Manager at Springfield. He has started the ball rolling on both issues Finally! A little, I do mean A LITTLE progress on getting answers. Now, time will tell, like it always does. |
Alton, Illinois, Again! Yesterday we took the camper van for a drive to Alton Illinois. We considered driving the 'other' van, the one I've had for almost 6 years now, but we bought this van for long(er) road trips. Two and a half hours to get there was long enough in my mind. The camper van does have a much nicer, smoother ride to it than the Transit Connect does. When we arrived back home, we weren't achy and sore like we would be if we took the Transit Connect. We decided to go to Alton for one reason. A WW II LST (Landing Ship Tank) would be open for visitors. An LST is a World War II American-built Landing Ship Tanks. LST's were generally 328 feet (100 m) long with a 50-foot (15 m) beam. They could carry a load of approximately 2,100 tons and were designed to carry tanks and other vehicles directly onto a beach. Key dimensions varied by load and operating conditions, including different drafts for light, sea-going, and landing configurations. An LST has an odd looking bow. The bow (front of the ship) had a large door that opened to either side. The ship had a very shallow draft. Draft (Depth of hull below waterline) was: Light (Unloaded): ~2' 4" forward, ~7' 6" aft, Sea-going (Loaded): ~8' 3" forward, ~14' 1" aft & Landing (with 500-ton load): ~3' 11" forward, ~9' 10" aft. One can see that this shallow draft is what allowed the LST to pull all the way in to a beach-head, open the bow doors so Tanks, other Motorized Vehicles, as well as men, could debark. Obviously it wasn't a completely dry 'drop off', but at least it was shallow water. Another thing about the LST dimensions, was that it has a flat bottom. The flat bottom was necessary to allow Tanks and other Mechanized Vehicles to be driven in from the bow. But, this meant it rolled heavily in even light seas. Imagine being in a storm! We got there about 2 pm, and I immediately decided I wasn't going on the tour. (About 20 minutes before we arrived, my wife told me she wasn't going on the tour. She does not like crossing a brow, even one as low as the LST's would be)  Why? I mean we drove all that way only to not go on the tour? Yeah, you should have seen the line! It was longer than the ship, and being a guided tour, you didn't have much of a chance, if any, to just wander around. That's what I wanted to do. And the line didn't move very fast either.I snapped a few photos, walked around a little, then got back in the van and headed home. Along the way we stopped for lunch. It was a good day, it just didn't turn out the way I thought it would. |
Medications, Medications, Medications ... As you might imagine I take quite a few prescribed Medications, as well as many vitamins & Supplements. There's a love/hate going on with my meds though. First, I was taking nothing at all in 2008. That was 17 years ago though! That changed after I had that very minor heart attack on St. Patrick's day, 2008. It happened about 11 pm as I was driving a fellow server home after our shift at Pappadeaux. It was just a slight chest pain, it wasn't moving down my arm or anything. I told him about the pain and that instead of going home, I would head to the hospital. He insisted on coming along to make sure I got there safely. All I remember about it was that the ER staff essentially hurried another patient out of his curtain area so I could be seen. After that, I don't remember much, it was now after midnight and I fell asleep. I remember essentially signing my life away giving them permission to do what was necessary. I know they put one of those large needles in my groin so they could look at my heart. Once that was done, I underwent Angioplasty. I slept thru the whole procedure. I only remember the nurse telling me not to bend my right leg that night. The needle was removed in the morning and I was back to normal. This happened on a Tuesday night, I was released just after noon on Thursday. That's why I always say it was a minor heart attack. After that I was placed on several medications of course. As I've aged, and with the onset of Multiple Myeloma, those medications have increased in numbers, but not in strength. I also take supplements to help me. In fact, the number of medications has decreased slightly, and one medication's strength has been lowered. The medication I wanted to discuss today is Dexamethasone. It's a steroid, I take it to combat any ill effects I might have from taking Revlimid, the Chemo drug I've been on since 2021. There is one major side effect from that medication though. Insomnia. I usually take it on a Thursday because when I was working, I didn't want to lose sleep that week. Thursday was chosen because I typically traveled home, plus Friday was always a half day. It worked, it seemed. I took it this past Thursday, and did not sleep a wink that night! I tried to nap yesterday, no-go. When I went to bed about 9:30 last night, I slept like you wouldn't believe! Almost 9 hours, and up only once, so a good night's sleep overall. I am much better today, I'm not a complete Zombie. However, I'm not 100% yet, nor will I be until tomorrow or Monday. About the time I get back to normal, it will be Thursday again. A vicious cycle every week. |
A Day In A Life It would be very easy to write about a day in my life right now, but I find myself wondering about things that typically occur in your life! For example, I know that Ja-Ja-JINX   takes a walk every morning. These aren't short walks either if I'm not mistaken. He typically walks at least a couple of miles each morning. I can't do that. Why, am I lazy? No, far from it. I have Spinal Stenosis which causes a bit of Sciatica pain in my left leg. It usually centers in my left hip joint, or left knee. There are times that I walk with a pronounced limp, and on two occasions (only two thank God) that I've resorted to using a powered cart in WalMart. The fix will be having a Neuro-Surgeon widen the space that the nerve resides in at the L5-S1 vertebrae. That is scheduled for 10/29 right now. After that, we'll see, won't we?Here's a basic run-down of a typical day in my life. I usually wake at 6am (thereabouts) and let the dogs out. Of course I have to have coffee, so I brew a cup. The dogs come in, and I settle on the Love Seat for an hour or so of peace to start the day. I feed the dogs about 7:30 or so (the time is never consistent, a timer is not set for this.)  . Kathy gets up about 9 or so, again, no timer used. I may or may not get her coffee or Hot Cocoa, and one of us will fix breakfast. If neither of us feel like doing that, we'll either go out, or I'll drive to a Fast food place <Gasp!> to get it. After that, there is no plan. I usually power on this PC, log on to WDC, and complete those five daily tasks. I've almost gotten to the point of sending 2-3, or more, reviews in a given day. Most of them are Anniversary Reviews, some are items found on 'Read & review'. We may go out somewhere, usually Estate Sales, but we're working on getting out of the house more.So, do any of you feel like sharing a typical day in your life? And having said that, I wonder if there's a story in there. Names changed of course, but a short story about what goes on in say, five peoples lives on a typical day. Hmmmmmmm |
Voyager Spacecraft Finds A 50,000 Degree Kelvin Wall Of Fire? Well, they've done it. Several Science Fiction writers (Philip José Farmer's is one who wrote about this, Robert A. Heinlein also wrote about this in his novel Universe) have written about our inability to travel beyond our Solar System due to hitting a wall beyond Pluto. I remember reading a novel by Farmer that dealt with essentially an alternate method of travel, because spaceships encountered a type of physical wall beyond Pluto. And now, it seems that the Voyager Spacecraft have found a 50,000 Degree (Kelvin) Temperature about 13-15 billion miles from Earth. This caused me to think of Philip José Farmer's novel that mentioned a wall around our Solar System. Sadly, I don't remember the name of that novel, nor anything about it. On top of it all, Philip José Farmer is probably best known for his Riverworld series, a completely different type of Science Fiction novel. Those I do remember to some extent. While I don't recall Robert A. Heinlein's novel Orphan's Of The Sky covering much about a wall being found, it did deal with lost generations of humans who were on this spaceship, and had regressed a lot. Those inhabiting the ship had lost all knowledge of Space Travel, and the purpose of the ship. The ship was traveling to nearby Proxima Centauri at less than Light Speed. Hence the generations of people who lived on the ship and forgot about technology. If I'm not mistaken, a young man studied the stars from the bridge (I don't recall if that was allowed or not), and realized the ship was approaching a star. I think he managed to get people/friends to board a type of landing craft and managed to get to a planet circling the star. I found myself wondering how far mankind progressed while they were traveling, and would they have found humans already there? Humans who traveled far faster than they were able to, and arrived long before this ship did. Finding this wall of fire is very interesting though. I ask myself, 'Can the Spacecraft survive this much heat?' Well, they can, because it's not like a wall of fire. The very energetic particles that sparsely fill this area of space are very far apart leaving little chance of a collision occurring. It's not a wall, per se, it's an area in space with very energetic particles. Still ... it's just fascinating to me. And once again, Science Fiction Writers wrote about something 50-60 years ago, and we're discovering something similar now. Still ...I'm enthralled with this idea. |
More Money To Spend It's always nice to get a new vehicle, but living in Illinois makes it a pain in 'you know what', and very expensive, if you ask me. We have to transfer the title to Illinois, and register it. To do this, we must pay taxes of course. It looks like we're going to end up paying around $3300 for the registration, taxes, license plates and such. Then there's the radio issue. It has an AM/FM radio with a display that is less than an inch high. Obviously no backup camera is installed. I know, I know, I'm spoiled. We'll go to the DMV this week and find out just how costly this will be. Once that's taken care of, it's off to a place called Mobile Audio to have a new radio installed. The main reason I want the radio replaced is so the van has a backup camera. (At least it fits in a parking space). Imagine trying to back out of a parking space at a grocery store in a 20 foot vehicle with no back up camera. Yes, it can be done, I've done it. I'll just be more comfortable with the camera installed. Yep, I'm terribly spoiled. Once everything is settled and the dust clears, we'll probably park this in our driveway and use my other van for daily runs. Her CMAX will sit in the garage and be used once in a while, like it is now. I will never ask her to sell it, nor will we move it out of the garage. My older van might fit in it, the new van definitely won't. Nor will the new Van fit in a carwash. We'll have to take it to a Semi-Truck carwash. I took it for a drive around town yesterday with my wife. I seriously doubt she will ever drive it, she can't see the front end of it, but neither can I for that matter. Not being able to see the front end makes her very uncomfortable. I intentionally drove on a road that is a little bumpy. Bumpy in that it seems like the pavement sections are not level, so every little bit you are on a bump. This van rides that road much smoother than my other van. One reason we wanted a van like this is so we can have a better, more comfortable ride on long distance trips, like to Maine or Yellowstone National Park. Now we just need to stop spending like we have (needed to spend to get the van of course), and plan those trips for next Spring! |
Driving My New (Used) Van Home I will start by saying it's been quite an adventure getting this van. I had planned on withdrawing the money from my bank on Tuesday, flying on Wednesday. But I learned that even though I deposited the money on Saturday (I didn't get home Friday in time to deposit the check until then), Saturday is not a business day, even though the bank was open. That meant I couldn't withdraw the money until Wednesday, My flight was scheduled to leave at 7 am, as a result, I couldn't withdraw it before leaving. I ended up changing my flight to Thursday and driving home yesterday. After making those changes and informing the dealership that I'd arrive Thursday, things still weren't that smooth. Getting to Atlanta was easy, at least that went smoothly. Being picked up by the Sales Manager's wife was a little bumpy; try meeting someone for the first time, neither of you know what the other looks like. Plus, my wife gave her my phone number, but there was a typo in it! What else could go wrong? Well, how about me sending her 4-5 texts (I verified the number when we met), but she never got them! We finally met, and once we did, things went smoothly. At the dealership, I went thru an Orientation. That consisted of seeing and connecting everything this camper has to offer. The Electrical connection to it, the fresh water supply connection, how to drain the Black Water & Gray water tanks. You know, minor (major) things like that. Now, how much will I remember? Once that was done, it was time for the all important paperwork signing. That took a little bit of time, then it was my time to get into my New (used)van and head to the hotel. Hotel? C'mon Jim, you have a camper van now, won't you sleep in it? Having flown that morning, I hadn't packed a sheet for the bed, nor pillow and light cover. Hotel it was, I had thought ahead and had a reservation at a Marriot Fairfield Inn & Suites next to the Dealership. I never sleep well before travel, even though I'd had 4 months of relaxing retirement, nothing had changed there. After driving to the dealership, I was pretty tired (actually exhausted), so a nap was needed. Two hours later I was hungry, time for dinner. But wait, I'd seen a 'Service Engine' notification when I arrived at the hotel, when I left for dinner the Check Engine light was on. That meant I wouldn't be leaving until at least 10, maybe 11 am. I had to wait until Camping World opened. That was a new chapter in van maintenance for me. I learned that Camping World will support me in all things related to the camper itself. Anything related to the Motor or transmission would be something that Dodge would handle. At about 9:45, I was the nearby Dodge Dealership. Coincidence? In this case, possibly. Of course I didn't have an appointment and explained to the Service Coordinator (I'm not sure of this man's exact title) my predicament. Yet they had me on the road right about 2 hours later. The drive home was uneventful. I got to know the an decently well. I saw that in making turns to park somewhere, I am at an angle most times, and cutting it a little tight at the back end. I didn't roll over any bumpers or curbs, still ... It has a 6 cylinder gas engine, I spent maybe $85 on gas getting home, about the same as my other van. Basically I used a tank and a half. In getting it filled the first two times, it was just below 1/2 tank. Obviously I didn't need gas, this old man needed a 'Nature Break.' I just combined the stop. I drove from Woodstock, Georgia which is a little north of Atlanta, essentially a suburb, to the north side of Murfreesboro Tennessee before stopping. From there to Paducah Kentucky before stopping again. My last stop was in Illinois for KFC (there aren't any in this area at all, and she loves her fried chicken. I decided to top off there because it was low enough. I paid $2.53/gallon in Tennessee, $2.68/gallon in Kentucky, and $3.06 in Illinois. I was getting right about 20 gpm while cruising at 70-72 mph. I think that's pretty good! I arrived home right about 10:20, and knew I didn't have time to complete the 5 daily tasks, so I set my priorities to complete my daily post in "Smile! (Groan?) You Know You Love These!"  , with "Holy Cow! & Aleksandar Mileusnic" . I tried to post in "Question of the Day!" , I posted it right at 11 pm my time, it wasn't posted in time for yesterday. Oh well. The van is here, it needs a couple of very minor fixes. A piece of hard plastic on the drivers side (it shields the undercarriage essentially) needs to be refastened, two of the rivets have worn thru the plastic. Of course I need to register it and move the title to Illinois. What I find really odd though, is it doesn't have a Bluetooth equipped radio, nor a back up camera. At about 20 feet in length, I think a backup camera is a necessity! I'm the second owner of this. It looks like the original owners went as cheap as they could in buying this van. For me, those two things will be completed first. |
Getting Our New (Used) Van Well, it seems like I'll be flying to Atlanta Wednesday to complete the purchase of our Van. It's in Woodstock, Georgia, about 40 miles north of the Atlanta Airport. An early flight, completing the paperwork needed to make the Van mineours, and an orientation on the Van itself. Why an orientation? Good question! Invalid Photo #1075259 The orientation will involve learning what this Camper Van has to offer. It will involve things like knowing the connections for the Black & Gray Water hose. Yuck, that hose will carry the contents of Black Water Tank, which fills when you flush the toilet. You empty the Black Water tank first, then the Gray Water tank so the hose is flushed, then it's cleaner than it was. The Gray water tank contains the water that you use to wash dishes, etc. So I need to see those connections in person. Also, what they call the Shore Power Cable. Now this makes me laugh, because we has Shore Power Cables on Submarines, they weighed 60 lbs/ft! This cable is much smaller and lighter. I need to see that cable, connect it, and maybe purchase adapters for it because campgrounds have different connectors for power based on their amperage carrying capacity. I can adapt down, not up, which makes sense (to me at least). The van also has an awning on the passenger side, that will be opened during the orientation. Essentially, we'll do every thing that might need to be done when camping. Except, we're buying this for a more comfortable travel experience, not necessarily for camping. It looks like I will arrive at either 9:30 (If I fly Delta Airlines), or 1:30 (If I fly American Airlines). I'm waiting to speak with the Sales Manager to see which will work better for them, since they will pick me up at the airport. Once I know, I'll book that flight. The advantage to flying American Airlines is that I can use my flight miles for the ticket, plus $5.60. I don't have enough miles to fly Delta, since I flew that airline very infrequently. That would be $499 to fly one way to Atlanta. I can pay that, but I'd rather not of course. So I'll see what works best for them. I mean, arriving at 1:30, it would be about an hour drive to the Dealership. Could we complete the paperwork and orientation before they close at 7? I guess we'll see, huh! We have a few things to buy once we have the van. I will call today to see about getting a new radio installed, one that supports a backup cam. Right now the van doesn't have a backup cam, I would feel a lot more comfortable having one. It doesn't have to support Satellite radio usage, but that would be nice too. There's a bit of camping stuff we need too, despite not planning to camp often. If we do decide we'd like to go camping, we need a portable fence that we can connect to the van, much like a fence in the backyard. That would be for the dogs of course. There's more, we'll get it slowly but surely. If any of you have camping experience and want to offer advice, please do! Til next time ... See ya! Jim |
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Non-interchangeable parts - now there's a surprise. There are times you can't interchange parts for two editions of the exact same car that vary "only" by model year.