The Cure...

Isak Dinesen said that "The cure for anything is salt water -- sweat, tears, or the sea." Today has been a day for remembering and "curing". We got a call this morning, from our friend Jan's doctor in Florida, that she passed away the other day. Apparently the landlady, where she lives, had not seen her out in a couple of days so she called the police. The police found her in the bathroom. She had fallen and hit her head. We're not sure if the fall killed her or if she had a heart attack. We only hope that she did not suffer and passed quickly.

We had just spent seven weeks with Jan and had last seen her in mid February. We were at Jan's place visiting when I used her computer and found out that we needed to report to our last assignment in North Brunswick, NJ. We went back to our campsite, packed up and left Florida the next day. That was the last time we saw Jan.

Jan was one of the first RV'ing friends we made when we went on the road in 2007. When we started out in our rig we went to Texas and worked at the Escapees Care Center. Jan was staying there and we became friends with her. She had come off the road, after RV'ing for many years in a motorhome. Jan had applied to a housing complex in Florida and was hoping to relocate in the near future. She was so happy when she got the call that they had an opening and that she could now move. We were also happy that she would be on the east coast where it would be easier for us to see her.

Looking back, we are so glad that we got the break in our jobs that allowed us to go to Florida and spend that time with her. She had a wonderful sense of humor and loved to sit and watch the birds at the feeder outside her window. When we were down there we gave her a suet cake holder that attached with a suction cup to her window so she could see the birds even closer. We will miss her dearly. We stayed in touch on the phone and by e-mail. In her e-mail, around Easter time, she had asked us if we had bought a new Easter bonnet. Yeah...right. That was Jan.....a great sense of humor and a great friend. Happy trails, Jan !

More Pics...

Today was our first official day of work. We did a lot of paperwork, watched a couple of videos and poured coffee during the meals. The residents are great !..They are always laughing and having a good time. They have gotten a big kick out of both of us being named Linda...We've told them to call us by the nickname that stuck at our last job...."B" & "S"..that makes them giggle. We can't be BS because there is a gentleman here who goes by that. He's a Yankees fanatic !! Last night he gave us Yankees pencils and told us that we can't ever sharpen them. The door to his apartment is covered in Yankees stuff...his car too. He's a character !

Here are some pictures of the dining room. The entrance to our apartment is right off of the dining room. We use the back door, that exits onto the patio, to leave by each morning. That way Boomer thinks we are leaving for work and doesn't see people or activity and he is nice and calm throughout the day. We just tell him that it's "time to go to work"...give him a treat (that he has started to snub us on) and then we leave by the back door. Tricky, eh ? With a Border Collie, you have to be sneakier than they are. Sometimes they are just too smart for their own good.

Well, change of plans for our upcoming training. We got to meet our boss, Sam , this afternoon. He informed us that we will now be in Chesapeake, VA for six weeks of training instead of two. And probably not go to Charlotte at all for the last bit of training. So we'll be in one spot for all the training and it will last two more weeks than we anticipated. In several regards it will be better to have all on-site training instead of classroom role playing, etc. but it means 2 more weeks that our managers will have to work without us. They are exhausted and they only have floaters committed to help them for just this week. Yikes....Hope they can hold out for six weeks till we get back.

We are off tomorrow. Going to try and find a dog park and see the area before we head out Friday for Virginia.

Our New Home....

The back of our apartment...that's our patio where the brick columns are and the large overhang.

The view from our living room and bedroom windows....

The walking path behind the building...it goes all the way around the facility.

View of the front of the facility..

The parking lot that leads to the back where we parked Bertha and the rig....

Bertha and the rig in their new home...

An herb garden that someone has out back by our patio...

We spent today getting the rig squared away. Emptied and cleaned the frig...moved more items in and got them settled and have met some of the residents. Our apartment is bigger than I thought it would be. The kitchen is galley style with a full size frig (all the items from our RV frig fit on one shelf IN THE DOOR), dishwasher, garbage disposal, bunches of cupboards, electric stove and sink area. The living room/dining room kitchen area probably measures 12' x 30'. The bedroom/bathroom area is the same size...it's huge. At this point it appears that the furniture here will remain. There is a sofa, chair, TV and stand, 2 end tables, table and floor lamps, queen size bed (that is so comfy), 2 dressers and 3 large closets. Lots of storage space ! We're very happy with everything.

Our bedroom with a view of the grounds out back...

Whew....based on the three meals we had today, we're going to need to hit the exercise equipment upstairs if we don't want to pack on the pounds. For breakfast we had juice, coffee/tea, scrambled eggs and french toast casserole. At lunch, we had shrimp creole over rice, fresh baked roll, salad, broccoli spears and cake for dessert. Dinner consisted of home-made soup, egg salad sandwich with lettuce and tomato, french fries and dessert. Yumm !! It was all wonderful. I keep thinking that we need to leave a tip when we get up from the table since we've been waited on by servers. All of the staff members that we've met seem super. We are really enjoying getting to know Rick and Susan. I think we are going to have a great time working with them....it seems like we will work really well together.

We've met several of the residents already and they are all super nice, funny and very anxious to have us come on board. There are lots of great activities here. Our room is right next door to the activity room so we got to listen and watch some of the bell ringer group when they met today (they're called the ding-a-lings - how cute). It was cool to watch how they played these tunes by using color coded bells and flash cards with the corresponding colors. You see your bells color on the card when she holds it up, you ring your bell. And all the various size and type of bells ringing made for some beautiful music. It was really cool to watch. Tonight there are groups playing dominoes (Hey Bobbie and Jim - it's Mexican train!). There are some guys shooting pool. There are some others having a wine tasting party....Lots of neat stuff going on ! Linda has already spied several areas where there are big puzzles being put together - I think if she disappears some days I might find her in these little alcoves working on them. :)

We're trying to get permission to do our paperwork and start work tomorrow but no word yet. If not, then we're going to go out and explore the area to see what is nearby. I had a good feeling about this place when I drove through from the highway to here and passed Robin Hood Road, Guinevere Lane and Sherwood Forest. I love anything to do with Robin Hood....I'll save that story for another time. Stay tuned....

We Arrived....

On Saturday I had dumped and flushed all the tanks, emptied the hot water heater and got more stuff packed up. The weather prediction was for a lot of rain from Saturday night on so I really wanted to get all the outside stuff done. Saturday, after work, we went out to Omega Diner with Linda's brother and his wife for a great meal. It was a great way to spend our last night in Jersey....food was great and the company superb !

As I predicted, Sunday was a whirlwind kind of day. It started out slow in the office but there were plenty of last minute things for us to do with the rig. We stripped the bed and washed up all the sheets and the last of our laundry. It had started raining Saturday evening, as expected, so I was so thankful that all the outside stuff was done. Tried to get to the point where we could get hooked on and pull the rig out of its spot, around the corner to the back of the property so we could get turned around for a straight shot out the gate. That didn't happen....The new roving managers arrived to take over for us and there was all the transitioning of money and information that took place from 1:30 to 3, when we closed. We finished explaining everything to them about 2:45 and then started to get off the site. By the time we got the GPS fired up and got the rig turned around, it was 3:30 when we left the property. I followed Linda in the car and off we went...headed to Greencastle, PA for our first stop. Arrived at the truck stop in Greencastle around 8 p.m. and locked the rig up. We jumped in the car and went to spend the night at Linda's sister's house. Got to see her sisters Kay and Carol and their family....had a good time since it had been a while since we last saw them.

Left Greencastle, PA at 8:30 this morning...bound for North Carolina. Stopped in Virginia, at a Cracker Barrel so we could visit with Linda's sister-in-law who is also her best friend since high school. Had a great time catching up with her, while nibbling on some blueberry pancakes. Yum !! Got back on the road and made it here to our new home about 5:30 p.m. I had driven ahead to check out the entrance to the property and how best for Linda to get in here with the rig. I was worried when I saw the area where we were supposed to park the rig. It looked like we'd have to back the whole length of the parking lot, around one bend and then another sharper bend to get to the desired spot. Eeekk !! I made Linda stop at the entrance and we walked back to assess the situation. She said, "Oh, I'm just gonna drive back here and pull in there...straighten it up and back in there." Wow...and she did just that ! It was awesome !! She is turning into a super duper backer upper !!What a woman !!

So we have unloaded some of our stuff..Have to get the frig unloaded and more things in here but we are tuckered out. Rick and Susan are the couple we'll be working with and he asked what we're doing until we leave for training on Friday. Asked him why and he said that our boss figured we'd start work here tomorrow and learn about this property. Holy smokes...the engine isn't even cold yet in either vehicle and they want us to start work. Not seeing that happen tomorrow....lots to do yet with the rig to get it ready to store..so to speak...then we can start work. Maybe Wednesday....

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of our apartment. We have a wonderful patio in the back with a peaceful and beautiful view of the lush grass and landscaping. See ya tomorrow....

Yes, The Blog Will Go On....

Friends have asked and I keep forgetting to address it here. Yes, even though we are coming off the road, the blog will continue ! You're not off the hook that easy...LOL..Where else can I rant..a.k.a vent and feel so much better when I'm done ? There should be lots to talk about in North Carolina. A new state...new town....new job...and lots of residents with awesome stories to tell. Of course, the show will go on....Stay tuned...

I need Diversity Training....

Living in New Jersey, since last July, has certainly been eye opening. We've been exposed to all sorts of behavior in the customers we've encountered. In fact, today Linda and I had a "spirited" discussion with one of our tenants about why he couldn't come in every month and merely switch the owners name on the contract for his unit so he'd only have to pay the $21.07 move in special. Linda and I both told him that he couldn't do it so don't plan on doing it next month. Linda asked him how he'd feel if someone "ripped him off" by only paying the $21 every month. He responded that it wasn't ripping anyone off. I told him that he certainly was...a company would go out of business never renting a unit for the regular price and only having tenants pay $21.07 every month. Only then, did he seem to have some inkling of understanding (but only slightly). He said he'd keep trying and if he couldn't do it he'd move out....Linda said that's fine. Sadly, he's the norm and not the exception.

Earlier in the day, we had to drop the car off at the garage so I could get the brakes checked, oil changed, etc. On the way back from doing that, we wanted to get Bertha filled up with diesel so we'll be ready to pull out Sunday after work. We drove to the Gulf station just below work and asked them if they carried diesel...he said no. We asked where we could find it and said we'd prefer a station where someone spoke English. Let me explain why we asked...In New Jersey, you aren't allowed to pump your own gas...there are attendants that do that. Bertha is really temperamental about getting the tanks filled. Put it in too fast and it overflows. We know how best to do it but every time we go to a station with middle eastern attendants they INSIST on pumping it although Linda is screaming at them that we must fill it. Well, today was even worse than usual. We had to drive to three gas stations before we could find diesel (first didn't carry it, second was out). The diesel pump, at the third and final station, was at the back of the lot. It had a small nozzle on one side, a high flow nozzle on the other side. Since our caps are on the driver side we parked on the back side of the pump. The small nozzle pump (on the front side) had a really long hose so I proceeded to get that one ready to pump from. The "middle eastern attendant" came running over and waving his hands and saying words that were not understood by me indicated that we had to pull around to the front of the pump although the hose we easily reached our tanks from where we were. Yep, there was a line forming behind us and we needed to get on the correct side of the pump....NOT !!! Linda shared some popular American profanity with this fella and gunned Bertha to pull to the other side of the pump (good thing she's a duelie cause I swear she was up on two wheels). I started filling and sure enough, she was being temperamental again this morning...lots of foaming. This gentleman's fine customer service manners had not put me in the mood to monkey around with all the foaming, etc. plus I didn't want to spend any more of my hard earned dollars to pay his salary so I stopped at 10 gallons. We'll make it as far as we can into PA, on Sunday, where we can pump without someone hovering, etc. I will not miss this problem when we leave New Jersey. What happened to all the high school students who used to get jobs pumping gas after school ? Where are they working ? All we've seen (with the exception of the Gulf station that didn't carry diesel) are middle eastern attendants that work at the gas stations here. Would American businesses collapse of we didn't have all of this foreign labor here filling these positions ? You can't tell me that they are all citizens when they can't even speak English. As is said for alcoholics, we can't change what we don't accept. Well....my name is Linda and I'm in need of diversity training.

Perfection....

Today was our auction. It went extremely well....the best of any auction we've conducted. We started out with 52 names on the printout...about half paid some of their bill to get themselves off the list. In the end, there were 13 that went up for sale today. That was a lot more than what Linda and I had anticipated. All but one of them sold which is great for the new managers...means only one unit to trash out and after looking at this unit, there isn't much in it. Good news for them ! We went out to TGIF again to celebrate by having lobster tails again. They were heavenly! They have the cooking of these tails down to a science as they just melt in your mouth and tonight the broccoli was cooked more to my liking than last time. Scrumptious !!

The countdown of tasks begins for our departure on Sunday. I checked all the tire pressures today on Bertha, the rig and our Xterra. All are good.. Did some laundry. We're starting to box up some items as we think we won't need them again before leaving. After thinking about how it will be to store the rig at our new work site, we're going to take a look to see if we'd be able to get it into the field at Linda's family homestead and keep it there this summer. Since we'll only be six hours from Chambersburg, it would be neat to have it there so when we have a holiday weekend or some time off, we can come up there to visit family. Since we were in the field last summer, there have been a lot of changes. The street, near the lot, was dug up and curbing put in. We're not sure that the cut out will be wide enough for us to get through with Bertha and the rig or how firm the soil will be near the curb. I'm afraid that when we try to cross the fresh dirt near the curb that we'll sink in....that would not be a good thing. So....when we get to Chambersburg Sunday, we're going to check out the construction area and see if it's a viable choice for us. Another reason to put the rig there is that I'm not so sure there would be enough room for it at the facility where we'll be living. I've pulled up the satellite imagery of the parking lot area and I think it would be really tight to get it in there with no exit out the rear and no easy way to get back out of there. We could always take the rig down on one of our days off if we find that it will work. Gives us more time to check the space out before getting it down there.

We're getting excited to get started with our new adventure. Just a few more days here and then we'll be on our way !

Surprise Trip....

When Linda and I finished up work at 3 p.m. on Sunday we packed the car and headed out for my mom's in Pennsylvania. We figured since we're headed out for our new job next Sunday that we should go see her (we don't know when we'll get the chance to get up that way again for a while). We got to her place around 8 p.m. and she sure was surprised when she came to the door to answer the doorbell.

Today we went to Mansfield and had breakfast at Grandma's kitchen.....a gathering place for the locals. They have all kinds of home-made pastries in a dessert case that always look so yummy. I had two blueberry pancakes that were just loaded with blueberries...they were great ! After breakfast, we went to Wal-Mart to get some items and then headed to downtown Mansfield to go to the public library book sale. It was held in the social hall of a church and it seemed to be way too small a space for so many books and so many people. I turned Linda and mom loose on the sale while I went outside to enjoy the flowers and fresh air. They each bought some books and I even snuck back in and bought the book that George Stephanopoulos wrote on his work inside the Clinton administration. Finished up in Mansfield and went back to mom's house. Watched the Nascar race that had been rescheduled after getting rained out yesterday....exciting and disappointing all in one fell swoop.

At 6:00 we got together with my sister, Phyllis and her husband Mickey for supper. We had a good meal and had a chance to tell them about our new job and show them pictures of the property from the Holiday web site. We're having a good visit with mom and it was good to see my sister and brother in law. Tomorrow morning we'll leave to go back to New Jersey...stopping at our storage unit in Williamsport (yes, even we have a storage unit like the ones we rent out for Mini U), stop and pick up our air mattress at Linda's son's house and then hit the road. It will take us about 4.25 hours to get back.


Mom's Jelly Stash....

15 Years Later.....

Today is the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. The memorial in Oklahoma City was one of the things we visited on our way to South Dakota the first year we went on the road. It is an amazing exhibit to see the artifacts, reconstruction of the event and the investigation afterwards. They did a great job creating a tribute to the 168 lives lost that day and it is so moving to see the personal items that are on exhibit....shoes, eyeglasses with a broken lens, stuffed animals from the day care center, etc that were in the building.
When you see the giant walls, at each end of the reflecting pool, with the times 9:01 and 9:03 on them, it is very poignant. At 9:01 the morning of the bombing, all was normal. People were starting their work days.....children were playing in the child care center and all seemed normal. At 9:02 the lives of 168 people came to an end and their families lives were changed forever. A minute later...at 9:03 it was all over.

The memorial is one of those things you see that stays with you forever. Downtown Oklahoma City is a beautiful city and very easy to get around in, even with a large rig like ours. We parked right at the curb (took up a few parking places) but it was very easy to get in and out of the city. When this event occurred, it was the first terrorist plot that had occurred on American soil that had taken so many lives and had been carried out by an American. Linda and I still have the bumper sticker of the "survivor tree" and our ticket stubs up on the wall in our rig. It was a very moving experience to go through this exhibit. So today, pause for 1 minute and honor the 168 lives that were lost not so long ago. Normal people doing normal activities who paid with their lives.....And remember that each minute of life is precious !

Critter and Twitter....

They said on the news tonight that EVERY single tweet that has ever been posted to Twitter is going to be archived in the Library of Congress. Really ?!? I guess all 91 tweets that I've ever posted will go down in infamy. I can't see what historical significance all of these 141 character or less snippets will show about my fellow tweeters other than some pretty absurd or mundane thoughts. Oh well...our tax dollars at work.

Tomorrow is the last work day of this week. One more week to go before we pull out of here and head to North Carolina. Tomorrow is our short day...we close at 3. Today as I was driving the golf cart around the property I saw the groundhog that has taken residence in the back of the property. He went scurrying to his hole as I approached. I stopped about 20 feet from him and sat real still in the cart and up popped his head from his hole to see if I was around. He saw me...ducked down briefly then peeked up again. He kept up this jack-in the box routine until I reached for my cell phone and then he went totally down in his hole. He's a cutie !

Been watching the news of the volcanic ash in Iceland. They showed how pitch black it was outside for being in the middle of the afternoon, due to the cloud of ash that was falling. The reporter could scoop up handfuls of the ash off the hood of his car and he had a facemask on to protect his lungs from the ash. How horrible for the thousands and thousands of people who are stranded in European airports, unable to get a flight out to their destinations. Most of the airlines are not offering hotel or meal assistance to these folks. Surely they must have a few thousand bags of peanuts laying about that they could hand out in the terminal for these poor folks. They said that even once the eruption has stopped that it could take 7-10 days for the air space to clear before airlines could start flying through the airspace...Wow, gonna be a long wait for some of these people. Kind of freaky....

Tasks...

Since we made the decision to accept this new job, Linda and I have been tackling various things around the rig. On Tuesday, Linda sorted through our clothes and we bagged up four bags of clothes that we'll get rid of. (Hard to believe that there could be that many extra clothes in an RV) I defrosted the freezer while she was doing that. Today I flushed out the hot water tank...getting rid of all the yucky sediment there.

We went to Home Depot and picked up three tubs of Damp Rid that once we park the rig and store it, we'll put one in the basement, one in the living room area and one in the bedroom. This should go a long way towards keeping the dampness at bay. We'll also open the fan vents a bit to let the hot air escape and keep air moving through the rig.

Today the NJ Mini U locations all got together for dinner and a Yankees game. All of these sites closed at 2 p.m. in order for all of them to get there. Linda and I decided that since we are leaving the company that we'd stay and keep the unit open. Next Thursday there is another event...this time a mandatory one for employees. They are having a picnic and going to watch the Lakewood Blue claws ( A triple A baseball team). This is all part of a new sports marketing campaign that Mini U is doing. We had a lot of business this afternoon and got our auction prep work done; our auction is next Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Today we did the lock cutting. Here they use disc locks. So much easier to cut than cylinder locks ! Although I wore a face shield to protect my eyes and face from the flying sparks, I felt like a coal miner by the time we were done. As the grinder cuts through the metal, there is one point where this dark smoke/soot flies out and it's not much fun to breathe in. Although my face wasn't black like the pictures I've seen of miners leaving the mine, my sinuses could relate. We've got three more to cut but the tenants of these units have said they will be in to pay, within the next couple of days....so we will hold off. While I cut, Linda videotapes the whole process, from the point where I start cutting till the unit is opened and photographed and then closed and resealed with a wire tag and red lock. It's a pretty involved process. While the unit is open(and the camera is still rolling), we look at the items we see inside and check them off on an inventory sheet that gets placed in the tenants file. We finished up all of this about ten minutes before the close of day.....so it was a good day's work ! To reward ourselves, we went to the Omega Diner for supper. It was delicious, as usual, and we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. That is good since the cupboards are getting rather bare. We've been using up items that we have in our pantry. It's funny what you can come up with when you just open a can of this and a can of that and put it all together. Makes for some interesting dishes. We are down to just a few cans of mushrooms, a couple cans of soup and a few cans of veggies. A few french fries in the freezer but since I also cleaned the oven, I'm not too quick to want to dirty that up again..

Busy day tomorrow...The carpet cleaners are coming in the morning to shampoo the apartment carpets. Our second Mini U truck is still in the shop and probably will be till Monday (air conditioning went out and needs some other stuff). Need to put all the auction paperwork together from today's filming, etc. Lots of stuff...Hope you all have a wonderful Friday too !!

Big Changes Ahead....

Today we gave our two week notice to our current employer. We've gotten a new job, as co-managers of a retirement community, and our training will start on May 2nd. This decision took much deliberation on our part because it means we will come off the road and will no longer be full-time RV'ers. We have worked for our current employer since last July and have never made it out of New Jersey, although the company owns facilities in nine other states. I know that there are many definitions of what it means to be a FT RV'er but I'm not sure going from one Mini U parking lot to another meets any of those definitions. Linda and I commented to each other this morning that it's funny how nine months in New Jersey has changed us. A new, positive change is just what we need !

Our new company is Holiday Retirement . This company is the largest provider of independent living and has facilities throughout the US and Canada. The company was started by William E Colson in 1971. When Mr. Colson became ill with cancer he sold the company to Fortress Investment Group, with the understanding that the "Holiday Touch" had to be maintained as an essential part of the company's philosophy.

We will train in Virginia Beach for two weeks and then we go to Charlotte, NC for two more weeks of training. Once we finish training, our property will be in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This is a picture of our property. We will work with the property managers at this location...we will be co-managers. We will have our own apartment, complete with full kitchen and washer/dryer. Each facility has an executive chef who cooks everything from scratch and provides three meals a day to the residents and it's also one of our perks. We'll have full benefits...Blue Cross/Blue Shield, dental, vision and can participate in their 401K plan. Lots of bonus potential, which combined with all the other perks, sold us on accepting this new job.

It will be great to work once again in a place where we'll feel that we are making a difference. It's only when Linda and I feel that we are "making a difference" and not merely "making a living" that it means the most to us. There is way too much negativity, lying and deception, and downright rude people that we encounter in this business (I can't tell you how many times today Linda got hung up on)that it will be wonderful to talk and interact with mature adults and help them in their day-to-day lives. Will we encounter some grumpy ones from time to time ? Sure....but overall we'll be helping people to live better, more enjoyable lives. We can't wait to get started.

We're not getting rid of our RV. Taking this job will help us recover the money we lost when the market tanked in 2007...just as we went on the road. We want to get some money set aside so when we truly retire, we'll be in good financial shape. It breaks our hearts to come off the road but we've always been survivors and we do what we got to do to accomplish our goals. Our rig will be with us on-site so we can keep an eye on it and get out camping on our days off. Who knows...this new job might afford us more time to get out and camp than we've done boondockin' on blacktop for the last ten months. Anything's possible !!

Give Thanks !

Today was our long day at work. Some days are downright depressing when people lie to us about why they didn't come in to make their payment, hang up on us when we call or generally act like jerks but some days present opportunities to actually make a difference. I sensed something was different with this one particular couple today when they walked in the front door and they reeked of smoke. It wasn't cigarette smoke....but like the smell from a wood stove. The husband said he needed a storage unit and as I usually do, I asked him "how much stuff did he have to store". He said "Not much, it all burnt up today in a fire." Come to find out, while he and his family were sleeping the previous evening, a fire had started in the basement and luckily he awoke to find his house filled with smoke. All of his family got out of the house but the house burnt to the ground and he was only able to save a few clothes and some other items. Both the husband and wife reeked of smoke so I can only assume that they had the clothes on that they rushed out of the house in. Thinking about that kind of makes you stop in your tracks and ponder the gravity of what they had just been through. He was in sort of a daze as I showed them a unit and then we went back to the office to do their lease. We got them each a bottle of cold water and gave them a $25 merchandise coupon so they could get some packing supplies. We gave them some extra boxes in hopes that it would help them pack up what few possessions remained. Red Cross had given them a credit card with some funds on it so they could take care of getting a storage unit.

Another family that had been in yesterday and today had recently gone through the flooding that plagued the area. Their house is ruined, due to water that reached the second story of their house. Mold has overtaken everything and massive repairs are needed before they can move back to the house. They even lost their car in the high water. They salvaged what furniture they could and are putting their belongings in storage until the repairs are completed. Another sad situation.....

Today was also a day of celebration for one of our tenants. When the economy tanked, this woman almost lost her home to foreclosure. Since she is a Realtor, she knew the steps that the bank needed to take for that process and she worked with the bank to keep it from going to that end. She was forced to do a short sale and although she lost her house, she didn't have to succumb to foreclosure. All of her possessions have been in storage at our facility and she fell behind in her payments and was very close to being in this next auction. Slowly, bit by bit she has been making payments....working very hard at selling real estate so she can make enough to keep her items from going to auction. Today she paid off the last little bit she owed and paid an additional month to get herself totally caught up. We did a happy dance for her and it was great to see the look of relief and pride as she left our office knowing that her possessions are now accessible (since she is now caught up the overlock came off her unit so she can now get in her unit) and she is back on track financially.

These are three situations, occurring over the last two days, that give Linda and I a good feeling about what we do and how we have helped some people in need. We don't get these very often but they are rewarding when they do occur. Times are tough in more ways than one. Give thanks for what you have....you never know how quickly it can be taken away !

Double Your Pleasure...

We finished up work tonight and we were both starving so I decided I wasn't going to cook so we grabbed our TGIF coupons and off we went, in search of some yummy entrees. We had a coupon good for "Buy One Entree, Get One Free", and after finding out from the waitress that the twin lobster tail entree qualified...it only took us about two seconds to make that our choice. And boy, was it a good choice....it was delicious ! Two, four ounce lobster tails, cooked perfectly, with broccoli and baked potato with sour cream....Since we saved $19 on one of our entrees, dessert was certainly our destiny. We had red velvet cake with ice cream and a "specialty coffee". It was all so scrumptious !

The past couple of days Linda and I have been busy cleaning the apartment, here on-site, in preparation for a new couple. The position will be advertised soon and the interviewing will begin. Today I hung a new light in the dining room, put up a new smoke detector in the master bedroom and fiddled around with some other things. About all that's left to do is clean the oven (it's soaking in Easy Off as we speak) and get the carpets cleaned (scheduled for the 16th). We've been busting our tails to get stuff done so it will be all ready when it's needed.

Tomorrow is our early day...Ughhh !!! At least there is a race this weekend....something to look forward to on Sunday....Yippee !!!

Fun Weekend....

We are on the last of a four day weekend and it's been awesome. Friday night, as soon as we finished with work, Linda left to go join her son and his family at her brother's house....a short drive from here. She took them to Halo Farm for ice cream and was hoping to see some bottling going on in the plant but they were done for the day. They all got a pint of their favorite flavor of ice cream and dove in. Their homemade ice cream is cheap and super yummy so everyone enjoyed it.

The next morning they drove to Easton, PA to the Crayola factory. This is a wonderfully creative place for kids (and adults alike), with tons of fun activities. Here are some pics of the things they participated in.

While Linda was hanging out with her family, I was having fun with my daughter. She took the train up from Philly and got in about 9 p.m. Friday night. We went to the local farmer market where she bought a bunch of veggies....then we went to a park in nearby Somerset and sat on a blanket, taking in the warm temps, blossomed trees and people frolicking in the vicinity. Saturday morning, we went to the Omega Diner and had veggie omelets....yum !

On Saturday evening Linda returned home so the three of us spent Sunday together. It was pretty quiet around....most all of the stores were closed for Easter but we did find a K-Mart open and went there to do some shopping. Went back to the house and watched a couple movies...one on Oscar Wilde and one on another poet (was really weird so don't remember much about it). I kind of lost interest when the poet guy set his wife's hair on fire....yikes ! It's a movie that Leonardo Dicaprio was in, back before he was in Titanic....strange movie ! On Sunday afternoon, Linda and I drove Becky back to Philly....it was a great day for a drive !

Monday morning Linda and I left for the Berkshires...near Lenox, Mass. Spent the night there and returned this afternoon. Much cooler up there than it was here. When we left there this morning, it was very cool and rainy. We got back to NJ and it was in the upper 70's and sunny. Funny how different a few hundred miles can make in the weather. Tomorrow we head back to work. The managers here have moved out so the apartment will need cleaning and getting ready for a new couple. Lots of things to do in the next couple weeks....