119 - Fail.

Was going to attempt to make bread and realized I don't have strips of yeast in the cabinet like I thought. So much for being a girl scout. Or trying out my KitchenAid for the first time since I bought it... over a year ago... Unfortunately yeast is a key component of bread so it will have to wait until I decide to go into town again. If I'm lucky they'll have some at the camp store, but somehow I doubt I am.

Other than scooping poop, and waking up to gunshots... again (they love them some duck hunting around here)... my day was pretty unremarkable. Until sunset. Sunset was pretty nice.

And then there was this Dali-esque reflection in our windows that I thought was pretty cool. Hey - desperate times...

Went to town a couple of days ago to return my bluetooth plugin (didn't work on Windows 8), get my check co-endorsed, and grab some groceries. Someday when I go grocery shopping I will have a plan... I'm sure that would work out much better in the longrun. The local Goodwill wasn't very exciting, but I did get two Pilsner glasses for $0.50/ea, and two small round glasses for the same price. Instead of drinking soda in a can, or from a plastic cup, now I can drink it like a big girl. Certain things seemed like a great idea when we started out, like plastic to save on weight and reduce breakage, but Mike's right... plastic just doesn't feel sophisticated. Going to town is an all day thing. It takes about 30 minutes just to get there (17 miles), which isn't so bad except in one spot. It just seems to suck up the whole day, and I didn't want to be crossing the mountain after sunset. Some day I'm going to see what's in all the other directions... there has to be a less arduous way to get groceries. Once I have my car maybe I won't be so hesitant, but the truck still feels unwieldly to me. I'm getting used to it, but parking is still a pain.

The water is still soaking into the ground. The ground had gotten so soft that even pulling forward slowly created ruts under the wheels. I'm talking turtle creeping slow because I was trying not to create ruts. Several days of going to the office to check for mail obviously didn't help. The day I went into town I started to pull forward and went nowhere. Tried again a little more forcefully and still nothing. I had to back up. Yes, I could have put it into 4WD, but I figured backing out would be the more gentle approach.... less mud being slung, and I didn't want to slide at all since I park near the 5th wheel. Now I'm parked on the side. No one has pulled into camp recently so I figure I'm not in anyone's way, and if I am, they can ask me to move. Once the ground firms up I'll put it back where it was. So there.

Watched Taken 2 last night. My big hurrah. Kristy's date night with herself. It was pretty good. There was a part in the beginning that I didn't really watch. They pulled scissors out and I heard screaming. I figured I probably didn't want to know what was happening, but I got the gist - it was bad. Seems like I go to bed around 3-4 am now and get up between 11 and noon. Doesn't matter much as far as my day goes, unless I'm trying to accomplish something outside of the RV, and then it can complicate matters.

Really looking forward to March. I have two potential visitors! Woohoo! And I can't wait to see Mike again. He's going to Austin and Houston before driving back in my car. I don't know how long a break he has in between jobs, so I'm not sure how long he'll be here before he has to head out again. I really, really, really miss him, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the greater good, and he needs to make this trip. I guess in the end, I get something out of it too... my car will be very, very nice to have. And I'll get him next time. :)

118 - Pictionary

It's been such a merry-go-round of weather lately that there hasn't been much of anything going on except rain, wind, sleet, snow, mud and lots of television. Even now as I type this, the wind is having a field day with my awnings and the flag outside the lodge. They say it feels like 19 degrees outside, but unless my jacket is incredibly adept at keeping me warm, I would say it's warmer Then again, it snowed earlier, so I know it had to be below 32, and the heater has been kicking on pretty regularly... seems like every 10-15 minutes, and I have it on 67.

The repairs have been made to the RV so I have a microwave again, and the fridge is now running on electricity rather than LP. That's progress.

So instead of boring you with tales of dishes and laundry, I will bore you with pics I took, since that is my other entertainment.

Rammathorn, causing destruction everywhere he goes. The ground is so wet and spongy that just moving the truck causes ruts.

Pretty golden sun this afternoon.

It was so foggy out that my flashlight beam looked like a light saber.

So cold out that my windows are foggy, but it was kind of cool because this tree looked like the fog framed it.

Ice chip on the window from sleet this afternoon.

Water was sheeting down the window and it gave the view a cool effect.

Fog. Usually you can see the mountains behind the trees.

Sunset shining though the dew on the window.

Sun! On a tree.

Geez it's windy... like a tay in the win...

117 - Rain, Rain Go Away. Seriously.

It's no secret that it's been gloomy and wet here for the past several days. Last night I fell asleep to the soothing sounds of rain falling on the roof... all day today I looked out the window and was fairly unphased by the continuing rainfall. That changed a little when I went outside. The window I have been looking out faces in one direction and that direction was fairly benign, it reassured me that the lake is several yards away and while there were puddles and everything was muddy, I had nothing to worry about.

The window behind the television would have told me a slightly different story... had it not been almost completely obscured by the television and foggy condensation on the windows. There were several large puddles out there, seemingly all converging into one large puddle, and one of them appeared to be connecting with the lake. The lake is pretty low so I really wasn't worried that it would flood and I still don't think it will for the most part, but that one large puddle was slightly unsettling. The water that worried me most, however, was the pool my two front jacks were sitting in, which was about two inches deep a few hours ago. So I freaked out, and you really can't blame me given our recent run of bad luck. I called the front office and asked if I should be worried. I even started putting things away so I could move. They sent someone out and said I should be fine, that I'm actually better off than a lot of the people here. It didn't reassure me much, especially since he didn't stop in to pass that information along; I had to call back and then they told me he'd been by. He said he'd let me know if I needed to move, and said they'd help me do it if it came to that.

What actually helped (somewhat) was getting in the truck and going to the office to pick up a package and take some trash to the dumpster. When I came back I had to drive down the road where all the puddles are, and they hadn't actually crossed the road, it just looked like they had because of the way the light reflects off of the wet pavement. I'm also in a spot that doesn't drain well, and looking around I'm in good company. It's just that I'm nearer to the lake than they are... and the angle I'm facing plays tricks on the eye. That's not to say I'm not sitting here at 1 a.m. wishing the rain would stop... but looking at the forecast, it's probably not going to until tomorrow morning, or rather, the percentages drop around 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. And then it gets colder.

Huntsville is icy and has gotten some sleet. A little further west they have had snow and power outages. Speaking of which, my power cord is off the ground, away from the puddles. I at least thought that far ahead, but when the rain abates I'm going to check it again... and I think it just did.

This is a zoomed in shot from earlier... around 5 p.m. You can see the puddles. The foremost part of the picture is, I think, wet pavement and not actual standing water, but you can also see where it appears that the lake is part of the puddle.

This is the living room end of our 5'er with a window that looks out to one (muddy) side and the other window faces the road and a part of the park that isn't riddled with standing water. The front window that you can't see is facing out toward the tree, which is where all the water is. There is a puddle underneath me, but the swath that goes across the picture to the right is wet road with a couple of small puddles. So it looks bad, and in some respects is bad, but is not as terrifying as it seemed at first.

We just need a reprieve from the rain for a while so the water can soak into the ground or wherever it goes. We seem to get that in half hour increments, an hour if we're lucky. Right now there is a lull and I'm hoping the percentages hit somewhere else for a while. I have heard that a 50% chance of rain means that 50% of the viewing area is likely to get rain... it is someone else's turn (and it doesn't have to all be dumped in one spot... share the love... I don't want anyone else to flood tonight either!). Anyway, I can see all the jacks now, so the water has receded a bit, and my power cord is still fine. I'm going to be hoping for clear, cool skies for the rest of the night.

Until then I'll attempt to get further along in my story. I have five pages now and had a good rhythm going with a couple of paragraphs that I was proud of. I'm thinking it's best to write scenes in tandem with my current mood, so tonight promises to be dark and scary. I liked the funny and snarky I had a couple of nights ago.

And I'm serious about the pontoons this time... because here it comes again...

116 - Why My Life Sucks Today

Yesterday the RV repair guys came out to assess the damage and make repairs. They were able to repair the toilet and they brought a new satellite out. I was pretty excited about the satellite because I'm tired of watching talk shows and sitcoms from the 50's, and I'm tired of paying for cable and not being able to watch it.

Yesterday was incredibly foggy.

^ That's pretty much the same view except the fog had gotten so thick you couldn't see the little island anymore.

Hence, the dish kept looking for a signal but it couldn't penetrate the fog.

Later on, once it started to rain I figured I'd try again. I moved the dish because it didn't have a clear southern view. I moved it three times. In the rain. And never got a signal. Then I realized the dish wasn't doing anything, no movement at all, it was just sitting there dead. I checked the connections, I plugged and unplugged, I turned breakers off. Nothing but frustration and a sudden wish to shoot something.

So this morning I got the idea to reset the GFCI's in case one had tripped for some reason, they're both on the slide that seemed to sustain the most damage so it was plausible. Then I swapped outlets. And lastly, I plugged the satellite into the truck. It started making noise again, looking for a signal. Eureka. I found the problem. Checked the camp store and they didn't have the part I needed, but I figured a quick trip to Walmart would resolve the issue.

Sometimes I can't believe how naive I am.

What I needed was basically a power inverter, but exactly backwards. Something with a male plug that goes into an electrical outlet, and a female receptacle for a 12v plug. Hard concept for people to grasp... and after a while it got old having to pretend they were still helping me and not just walk away in the middle of their spiel. Especially the lady at Walmart who got it backwards every time.

So as you've guessed, Walmart didn't have it. Radio Shack had something I could gerryrig, a large power supply for about $86 plus another $10 jobber that clipped onto some terminals to give me the 12 volt outlet. Pass. O'Reilly Auto Parts, Staples, Cowboy's Gas Station (supposedly a truck stop but it was soooo not a truck stop), Lowe's, two RV stores, another Radio Shack, K-Mart, and a phone call to a Verizon store. All I came home with were groceries and a USB bluetooth adapter so I could print from this computer, which is incompatible with Windows 8. So except for the groceries, I wasted a whole day for nothing and actually have to go back to Staples to make a return.

So now I have ordered it from Amazon and it will be here Tuesday. Probably by the end of the day since I am always last on the route. The irony is, even having it shipped overnight, I still paid less than what the RV place quoted me and will have it about the same time. Thank you Amazon Prime and your free 30-day trial (which I actually already used once but somehow got a second shot at).

The moral of this story is: I'm going to go batshit crazy between now and Tuesday. But I did get a lot of practice driving and parking the truck. I even navigated a difficult parking lot and backed my way around a car and through a gate. I still don't like a couple of spots on the way to the campground, but I am finding that I'm not the only one who slows way down when I encounter the steep twists and turns.

I simply cannot believe that there is no RV store, or marine retailer around here - given the number of fishing spots and parks around - that doesn't have it, sitting there, waiting for an idiot like me to take it off their hands. The closest I came was Staples... the guy had something exactly like I needed behind the counter and I think he was going to give it to me, but it was only 1 amp and I need 5.8.

Anyway, the guys come back probably Wednesday with the microwave and a part for the refrigerator so it will run on electric once more instead of LP, as well as a couple of other items. And then things will finally be back to normal around here. Hell, Mike might even be home by then. :)

115 - Housekeeping Issues

Not much going on here at the ol' homestead... just rain and fog, dishes and some network tv. I have been doing a little writing but not as much as I'd like to. I have a character in my head but I can't nail down what she does... not specifically, so there's not really a story yet. I guess I'm just going to write scenes that pop into my head until something happens to make them cohesive. Eventually I'll come across something that starts my wheels turning whether it's something I observe in real life, something in the news, song lyrics... you never know. Hopefully it leads to something good.

My new laptop came in last night. I don't know how I always end up at the tail end of the UPS/FedEx route, but I do, and my delivery came shortly after 6 pm. My friend Matt, who works for UPS said they only make right-hand turns... which makes sense because I am on the left-hand side of the road. :)

This machine was loaded with Windows 8. Takes some getting used to. I'm glad I had the other laptop in order to look things up because it took that for me to figure out where to find my IP address, how to find my desktop, where my control panel is, and how to restart the damn thing. Now that I know these things it's not so bad, and I have a '97 version of MS Office so I won't have to worry about horrors that might have had in store. Between the processor and the fact that I have a 4G hotspot, things are pretty quick, and since I'm not a very patient person quick is good.

Now the tedium begins... transferring files from one machine to the other, updating my bookmarks and adding all the little things that make my computer fun. I'm trying to be smart about it, especially where my music files are concerned. I've been cleaning iTunes up for a while now, but really all that's done is shrink my playlist, it hasn't deleted duplicate files off my hard drive. I'm adding my favorite bands, comparing files, and actually deleting duplicates and then I'll take my time to sort through the stuff I'm not as familiar with. Anything I don't like will live on an external hard drive in case some day I need it... but I don't need to clutter up my computer with it. It's going to take a while, but once it's done it will clear up some storage space for us to use for other things (pictures come to mind as well as movies). And while it isn't tangible clutter, it's clutter that bugs me because I have so much crap that I can't find what I want to listen to. (I think I just heard my dad say I probably still have a lot of crap... he doesn't like Motley Crue or Ludacris, hahaha). Just going through the files has reminded me that sometimes I just want to listen to good music, and I haven't been doing it.

But probably my favorite thing so far is the wireless mouse I bought. It works on the couch, it works on my leg, it works just about anywhere I try it - flawlessly. I can't figure out how to scroll using the touchpad, even though I enabled it, and the mouse is just easier. I bought some games over Christmas and I figured a mouse would come in handy, but I didn't expect to use it for everything else. I haven't used a mouse since I quit my job in June because the touchpad worked okay. I'm spoiled now. Yeah - I just devoted a whole paragraph of my blog to a Logitech mouse.

Speaking of mice, Gracie actually went to the toy basket and picked her toy mouse up, flung it up in the air and started playing with it. And this morning I was awakened by the sound of a galloping cat, tearing ass from one end of the RV to the other. Maybe it's the weather, I dunno, but she's been more playful for the last couple of days, and every evening she joins me on the couch. Mike says she's becoming a real kitty. I contend that she's always been a real kitty, she's just undergone a lot of changes lately and is now getting comfortable with it all.

I miss the hubs... Even an hour or two together a day makes a huge difference. I'm not sure when he's heading home, they give tentative schedules but things always run long for one reason or another.

Forgot to post pics. The fog looks cool. I feel like I'm in a Jesse Stone movie.

All those black lumps are ducks. Drives Mike crazy because he wants to eat them. And someone is, because I hear shotgun blasts every so often. Even saw a little smoke rising up from that little island the other day.

InfranView has a color correction option, is made for a cool pic. The pic below is how it really looks out there.

The cabins at the park. They're really nice and this one is on the next row over from us. It has a clear view of the lake.

Porch facing the lake. Looks inviting... tempting even...

114 - A day

The adjuster came by today. He took pics of the microwave, fridge and plug then wrote down a couple of items like the satellite and washer/dryer. He told me to make a list of the 'little things' that were damaged as well. I don't know if the check is cut based on that visit, or if there is further investigation into it. I'm supposed to hear from a couple more people and then I can contact an RV service to see about getting things repaired/replaced.

I finished rearranging the RV this morning, finding homes for things. In every home there is a 'perfect' place for everything, and when you find it the house just feels better... that's where I'm trying to get to. I now have a coffee station set up on the dining room table, found homes for most of the appliances so I don't have to drag them out and put them away anymore, repotted my rosemary, did surgery on the bamboo. It's feeling much more homey in here now. Made a sandwich for lunch and a salad for dinner. Now I'm watching tv... there really isn't much on network tv anymore and I really miss my satellite. I also hate paying for something we're not using, it rankles me. Last night I watched a movie on HBO Go... it really is a sanity saver sometimes.

Used my Christmas money to buy a new laptop this evening. The one I have now has been giving me fits. I get a lot of blue screens lately, an IP address conflict pops up pretty regularly, and when I reboot there is something that it thinks is running that's not running, but until I bring up the Task Manager I can't get rid of the message or make the computer do anything but ding at me. Ain't nobody got time for that. I decided to go with Toshiba this time and found a great deal at Staples.com. With rebates, instant savings, my cash back site, etc. it was around $414. The awesome thing is I get 6 mb of memory and it is expandable up to 16, and I will have a 640 GB hard drive now instead of 581 GB. I am pretty sure the processor is faster too. I can also charge my phone with the lid closed... which doesn't sound important, but I can't do that with this laptop, or maybe I can but just don't know how to.

Feels like things are falling into place to some extent. My hotspot works great here, fastest internet I've had in months. And the great thing is, the cabins here are awesome, so if people feel like taking a vacation out here, it's actually feasible. The water is gorgeous, nice and relaxing. I haven't taken many pics, but here are a few:

Coffee station for Mike

Kitchen looking toward the living room

Gracie being all cute and curled up on the couch with me

Kitchen appliances and bar with paper goods storage above. I love the produce basket too, it keeps everything where I need it without adding clutter.

New configuration with couch facing the tv. It puts the heaviest object in the center of the RV which I think stabilizes it, plus those windows used to mostly be blocked by the recliners so it lets more light in. The corner that you can't see would make a great place for a plant. And I have shelves by the wall that let Gracie get to her litterbox through the cat door but also gives us a place to put a lamp and sit drinks down.

Recliners are where the couch used to be. It's a little crowded, but about the same as they were on the other side and now Gracie has another perch to look out the window.

The bedroom. Nothing has changed but I figure you're curious about the RV now. King-sized bed, a closet, the w/d is behind the wooden door and we have a built-in dresser at the foot of the bed.

TV with fireplace underneath.

Stove and microwave. Very small and inconvenient pantry... I need to figure something out to make it more functional. Things just get lost in there.

It's blurry, but this is the view we have. If you followed it around to the right there would be a playground, and continue following that and you have the clubhouse you can see through the living room window (pic of the sofa). The cafe is within walking distance straight down our row. I have to drive to the dumpster, it's not far, but when you're carrying a trashbag it isn't walkable, and the office is a little too far to get to on a cold day.

So you see, I don't have it too bad here. I know when you say you're living in an RV people form impressions that may or may not be true. We decided that since we were going to be spending a lot of time in the RV, we wanted something nice and homey, that didn't feel like an RV. It was good before, but I think with the tweaks I've made in the last couple of days, and things we've done in the past, it's even better. Once I find solutions to some of the other issues I'll be even happier. Storage is the biggest issue we have... for clothes, for food, for miscellaneous things. We improve it day by day, but there's a finite amount of space so eventually it is what it is.

113 - American Badass

So Mike is in Pittsburgh again. We got up this morning and he drove to the airport... since we couldn't afford the autopilot module for the truck, guess who drove back? Guess who was not a happy camper? Guess who had to get over it? Each leg of the trip was an hour and a half... that's a lot of driving when you're nervous. The worst part is that when I get nervous, and especially when I'm nervous and cold... I end up having to pee. It comes on suddenly, and it is almost immediately urgent. So about ten minutes out from the airport I'm already feeling like a potty break, and then once we got to the airport I had to get past the hospital district before I could find a place that I was willing to stop at. I decided to get gas while I was there but the pump was so dang slow that I cut it off at $15... about four gallons... which means I will have to get gas again if I go anywhere. There's a station just up the road so it's not bad, just sucks that I couldn't fill up while I was there.

Actually the airport itself was easy - there was no one there; hope it's that way when I pick him up. There were bits and pieces of the trip home that made me nervous, but all in all it wasn't bad, there's not a lot of traffic on 85% of the route. There were some pretty narrow roads, but the speed limit was 40-45 mph in those parts so that helped. Actually the worst part for me was the last few miles because even though the roads don't get any narrower, there is a soft shoulder with a steep dropoff into the water... and that makes me nervous because it feels narrower. There are also a lot of twists and turns which might be fun in the Mini or the Green Machine, but not so much in the truck.

Stopped off to get groceries on the way back since I saw a Publix. They carry arugula. You just don't know... I love arugula. I don't even make it fancy... arugula, lime juice, salt and a little shredded parmesan... Heaven. They also had the good ginger ale... Buffalo Rock. If you can find it, get you some, it actually tastes like ginger, not that lame sprite-with-a-hint-of-something-spicy that passes for ginger ale where we're from. It's very spicy. And good for your tummy.

Then I came home and rearranged everything. I moved the couch in front of the tv and put the recliners where the couch used to be. I like it. It's warmer and the windows are easier to get to, there's more light. I figure we don't have to put the slides in any time soon so we have options now. Now we can both sit on the couch. :) Rearranging the sofa meant I had to find a home for all the crap around the dining room table that was bugging me anyway, which led to laundry, which led to moving things around on the counter, which led to putting things in the truck, which led to vacuuming the floor, which led to rearranging the truck, which led to washing dishes... It just wasn't as simple as moving furniture... It never is, is it?

Tomorrow the adjuster is supposed to come by and evaluate the damage to our RV. Glad to finally be able to get that going. I hope I can find a mobile RV repair person here, it's not only convenient, it's kind of necessary. We really can't take the RV in to have it repaired. That last stint in the shop was horrible, if it hadn't been for friends I don't know what we would have done, and I refuse to go through that again. I want to be in my own home with my own stuff, comfortable at last. We deserve that after everything we have been through. The only thing that makes me sad is, I thought my computer was damaged by the surge because the speakers kept buzzing and the music would hang up every few seconds, but it only happened at grandma's house so I guess it was something related to her plug. Phooey.

Doing a lot of thinking lately. I've come to the conclusion that Mike and I get too wrapped up in trying to make things happen. It's hard to be patient, we both feel like we got a late start on our life together and I think we're trying to make up for lost time. But you can't. You have to start where you start and face the consequences of each decision you make, sometimes decisions you made years ago. It's frustrating to find that we are no closer to where we want to be than we were last year. Feels like we're further away in many respects.

I used to believe things would fall into place if they were meant to, and to be honest, that approach seemed to work. It's hard when there are two of you, each trying to please the other and sometimes both misunderstanding what the other actually wants. That's kind of what happened in April. Mike thought I wanted him home at the end of April, he planned on staying through June, I thought he was staying through the end of May... it got all confused and we both got it wrong. As much as we talk about things, as well as we think we communicate, sometimes we miss the mark. I think this last year has taught us to really think things through, to step back and look at the big picture, because instant gratification isn't always so gratifying long-term. If only there was a rewind button...