121 - Boredom does strange things to a person

Here's my big exciting moment for the day.

Really.

While the repair guy was fixing the shower, an old man came to the door, knocked and asked, "Is that man in there-a-fixin' yer RV?" (I'm not exaggerating his accent) Affirmative. "You mind if I come in and talk to him for a minute?"

I minded, but managed to restrain the urge to be sarcastic about it. I told him when the guy got off the phone I would have him come outside and talk to him. He truly seemed oblivious to the fact that people don't just walk into a person's home without an invitation. I'm not sure if he thought of it more as a vehicle than a home, or if he's just that innocent... regardless, I don't like strangers in my vehicle *cough* house.

Oh, and there was the bird who flew into the window... not once, but twice. It was more like he was fighting his reflection than a mishap because he didn't crash into it, he just bumped it with his beak. Too bad the repair guy was here, Gracie would have enjoyed it. Or maybe it's good that he was here since the screens are on the inside of the window and she probably would have been in trouble.

Taking good pics of yourself is harder than it sounds. For one thing, the arm you extend always manages to find its way into your photograph. Then there's the lighting, different angles are more or less flattering, sometimes you blink. Since the only way I have a clue where I'm aiming is by the reflection of the display in the bathroom mirror, there are also pesky toilet paper rolls to contend with... and sometimes toilets. I have to really play around with it to get a photo I'm happy with, and out of dozens, these are the two that made the cut.

This was going to be my Facebook profile picture, to show my support for the second amendment... alas Facebook foiled me, and I had to crop the picture so much that you couldn't even see my Glock. Note that my finger is *not* on the trigger like that idiot senator or congressman who pulled his stupid publicity stunt. That's because I know how to handle a firearm... and people who don't... shouldn't attempt to involve themselves in my affairs. Side rant: This quote pisses me off. Who is he to say our culture needs to be changed? New York is known for it's rudeness and grit. "“New York is a little different and more progressive in a lot of areas than some other states and some of the southern areas have cultures that we have to overcome,” Rangel told anchor Thomas Roberts, who asked if New York’s model of banning firearms should be used in other states."  Much like one of my (former) friends who is not even a citizen of the United States - if you don't live here, you don't get a say in what we do; it's none of your business and it is arrogant to think your opinion matters. End of rant.

So now this is my profile picture. Our friend/realtor wore her hair in a side ponytail for an event and I never thought it would look cute on me, but I think it kinda does.

Thursday I'm going to meet my cousin Jason for lunch. We were going to do dinner, but I really don't want to drive the truck in the dark especially with the temps as low as they've been. Most of the trip would be a non-issue, but about 10 miles out there is a steep ascent/descent where the temp seems to drop by about ten degrees as you approach the top of the mountain. Call me chickenshit - I don't care, but I have enjoyed the past three weeks with a relative absence of bad luck and I don't want to tempt fate.

Tonight it's going to get down to 23 degrees. I wish I could say it was going to warm up as the week progresses, but it stays about the same except for the rain they forecast for Friday. It's usually in the low 40's during the day. At least the wind isn't blowing tonight; sometimes it sounds like Gremlins are jumping on my roof, plus it lowers the effective temperature. Surprisingly it's not too bad in here, the furnace comes on more often, but it's not much more chilly than any house I've lived in, and with blanket on the bed at night it's comfy.

Oh, and I had to laugh. Yesterday was OFFICIALLY the most depressing day of the year. Some scientist claims it's because of wintertime, post-holidays, yada-yada. I submit that it coincided with inauguration day.

120 - That's Entertainment

Tonight I decided to subscribe to all the premium channels. Since tv is my only outlet it seemed worth it. The more you get, the cheaper they are, so it actually cost less than I anticipated. I figure once I get my car I might treat myself to some Redbox movies every once in a while, but in the meantime I'm being tempted by pay-per-view movies - and at $4.99 a pop that's a dangerous habit to get into. The more options I have, the more of my sanity I get to keep. For now anyway. Justifications. I got 'em.

This month is turning into an endurance test since Mike has already been gone for the last two (?) weeks and is now visiting family in Austin and Houston. Not that I'm complaining... Okay maybe a little, but I don't begrudge him the visit, it needed to happen. I admit that I'm not fazed by a week to myself... two weeks starts to get lonely... three weeks is going to be a little isolating. It's getting to the point that I will chat with anyone just to interact... the repair guys... DirecTV customer service reps... old guys who approach me about all the equipment we have on the windshield of the Dodge... My favorite person to talk to by far, is the guy who works at the cafe here at the resort. He's so nice (and grandpa-like, so don't go getting the wrong impression). Admittedly I could make all my meals here and be fine, but sometimes it's just nice to get out of the 5'er and be human. Once I have the car I can be a little more adventurous.

But I digress.

I was also able to get our local channels updated as well. When you travel, your receiver stays tied to your address unless you change it, so we were still showing the Houston channel lineup... but you don't get Houston channels in TN, GA, KY, AL, FL... you get my drift. Since we were moving around so much it wasn't worth bothering with, but now that we've settled for a while I decided enough was enough. I miss some of the network shows. Yes I can switch the source to antenna instead of cable, but having everything in one place, with a satellite signal instead of antenna (which sometimes cuts out) is much nicer. Plus it gives us the option to DVR them.

Speaking of satellites, I was reviewing our insurance claim and I'm really glad I did. I bet a lot of people don't. They never did add the 'smaller' items I was told to catalogue, and even discounting that, it cost us about $400 more out of pocket than our deductible and claim check covered. I left a voicemail for the adjuster to see about getting that taken care of, because once you include the smaller items in that total it's about $740. Pretty significant.

Today I focused on cleaning the house. It's been a while since I vacuumed; was kind of waiting on the rain to stop so I could 'mop' the kitchen area and just do it all at once. The central vac is acting sluggish and I don't know where the bag is to see if it's full or not. I checked the user guide but it's not much help so I used the smaller handheld vac Mike bought for the truck/cat litter area. It's amazing what a difference it makes because the carpet look fluffy instead of flat and compacted. Of course... then you step on it and it's pretty much the same as it ever was... but at least it seems cleaner without all the little pieces of debris, crumbs and hair. I don't know who sheds more, me or Gracie.

One good thing did come from that. Yesterday morning I lost the screwball top to my navel ring and couldn't find it. Tried using a flashlight to get a glint, but since I had no idea where in the RV it might be, it was a shot in the dark and I didn't find anything other than a lot of dirt. So as I was moving the vacuum around, it popped out of the carpet and somehow registered in my mind as an object of significance rather than a piece of debris. I spent hours on the internet yesterday trying to find a new navel ring that I liked, and while there is a lot out there, there's also a lot of crap, and a lot of dangle... Dangle won't work because my belly isn't flat. I ended up getting another one almost exactly like the one I had except it has a gem in the screwball (I don't know the official name, but I like screwball... it is a ball that screws on to the top... makes sense to me). So I guess now I have a backup. Isn't that always the way it works?

Anxious to get started on The Plan and see if it helps, but I am waiting on my probiotics. Apparently if you have too much yeast in your system it can overtake your friendly gut flora and that makes you crave sugar, and will cause some of the gastric upsets that plague both Mike and I. So she suggests that if you eat chocolate, have wine and eat balsamic vinegar one day, then wake up to a white coated tongue the next morning, you should take a seven day course of probiotics before you start The Plan in order to see the best results. Sounds reasonable. Since I had that episode when I was wearing the Invisalign braces, I figured I probably did have systemic yeast issues, but I really wasn't sure because I've had no other signs. Anyway I'm ready to get started. I have my shopping list ready to go, have read the book all the way through, and I have my scale. It's pretty cool, they make travel scales that are the same width but about half the length, awkward at first, but not bad once you get used to it. With my car, I can make the trip to Publix fairly easily... I think it's 25 miles away IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION!!!! I GET TO SEE WHAT ELSE IS OUT THERE!!!! Publix tends to have the largest selection of fresh produce and I doubt Walmart, Piggly Wiggly or Foodtown will have a couple of the foods that are on the menu... at least from what I saw.

Speaking of, I ordered some goat's milk cheese and sheep's milk cheese from iGourmet... Oh my gosh, they have the Rosy Goat we got from the farmer's market once upon a time in Kemah. It's a firmer cheese and so, so good. But there is another cheese that steals the show, it's also a goat's milk cheese, with basil oil and potato skin to flavor it. I know, it sounds weird, but it's so flavorful. And the firmer cheeses don't have as much goaty taste. They also have goat Gouda and other flavors. The Plan says that goat and sheep's milk cheeses are usually lower reactive than cow's milk, so it's part of the menu and I have to say, while it wasn't exactly cheap, I got a lot of cheese for the money, and it's good quality. There is a marked difference between supermarket cheese and good artisan cheese.

Alright, enough jabber. I guess I had a lot to say and none of it very interesting. That's what happens when you sit in an RV all day with no one to talk to. I'm going to see if the vacuum is charged enough to finish the rest of the floor. Hope no one calls the cops. From all the rowdiness. And the mayhem.