Memorable Moments...

Been Three Years...

Yesterday was the first day of class at Penn College, kicking off the fall semester. Three years ago the first day of the semester would be my last day before us hitting the road to go full-timing. I'm sure this year's first day of activities, at Penn College, where no less hectic than three years ago and if anything maybe more hectic. Three years ago I had started working with the architect on the first residential dining facility that Penn College has ever had. There are nine operations on campus but they are all stand alone operations and none are in a residential (dorm) facility. The groundwork was laid out three years ago and that facility will be opening this semester. We left Pennsylvania for a few months but I had promised the President that I'd return in November to do some additional consulting on the design phase of the project. We returned and stayed for a few weeks before hitting the road again...this time bound for Virginia.

The morning we pulled out it was pouring down rain and the rig was surrounded by water, at the campground, where we were staying. I had to wear my aqua sock shoes cause the water was up to my ankles as I hitched us up to leave. Being our first time working with the new hitch, this is when Bertha got her dimple on the bed of the truck. We left under soggy skies and have loved every minute on the road since then.

Perhaps in the near future, Linda and I will get back to Williamsport to visit and I can see the fruition of the project that was started three years ago.

Monday..

Today was a pleasant day. Linda and I drove up the road to the Dobson area and had breakfast at a little place called Sue's Restaurant. We had a great breakfast of eggs, home-made biscuit, and hash browns for $7 total. Linda had bacon with her order but it was a super cheap, and filling meal. This place isn't much to look at but it's where all the locals go. The waitress was goofing around with one of the guys and told him she had something for him. She disappeared for a minute then came out with a bag of depends for men. Linda said that this guys face turned three shades of red and everyone was busting up so apparently there was some running joke between everyone about this.

While we were out we picked up a new battery for the rig. We discovered two weeks ago that one of ours was boiling over and making a mess of the battery compartment so figured it was time to replace the one that was leaking. This battery was original to the rig so it's lasted for almost 4 years.

Rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We made our call to the Dr. to find out why we flunked our blood work.Turns out both of our cholesterol counts are too high and the Dr. wants to put us on some meds for it (no thanks). Mine was even higher than Linda B's, which is really surprising cause mine has always been pretty low. This time it was 213 and Linda's was a little less than that. Yikes ! Well, goodbye Chunky Monkey ! It's been a great relationship while it lasted but it's over. My birthday is looming right around the corner and there's no time like the present to drop some weight, get my eating habits back on track and get some much needed exercise (yeah, gotta find time to squeeze it in when we're on call). I want to be alive for when we get back on the road to soak in all of the great things we're gonna see and experience. Waiting for a couple more tests to come back and Linda has some things to finish up.

Back to work tomorrow....

A Day of Rest....

Yesterday was a killer day at work so we are so glad that today is our day off. The week felt incredibly long !!

Friday night one of our servers quit without notice so Linda and I spent some of Saturday interviewing. We conducted five interviews, interspersed with a server calling off for breakfast and supper and two of the three servers, for lunch, were fifteen minutes late which really threw service off. On top of that, we had sixteen guests for lunch (thirteen of which were there for a new residents' house warming party)so it was not a good time for the servers to be late. That meant Linda and I had to jump in, after pouring coffee and tea, to get things started. Other things in the mix yesterday was taking down a defective smoke detector which set off the alarm the previous two nights (waking us and the resident in the wee hours of the night when we were sound asleep), giving a tour to a family, setting up for the house warming party and tearing down and washing the table cloths...putting away, making marketing calls and sending out mailings. While all of that was going on, our regional boss calls and asks what we're going to do to get move ins. He had already asked that he be e-mailed at 10, 3 and 6 with this info. Well, with all that our day consisted of, he didn't get any of those e-mails from me. We are getting increasingly frustrated with this company and their focus on numbers and nothing else, like resident satisfaction or facility readiness. We have a sprinkler system that hasn't worked in 2.5 years (yes, the grass tends to die without water), carpets that are in dire need of shampooing (but that requires labor dollars), a dishwasher that doesn't get the dishes clean (but dang new washer arms are awfully expensive), filthy balconies and patios that need pressure washing but that would entail getting a lift (yep, you guessed it...that costs money). So, Linda and I are the best dang coffee pourers we can be and hang in there. We love the residents but it's really tough to stay positive when they pay so much as it is and get slapped with annual rent increases of over 4% and don't get the services they should for what they pay. This week we won't have our shuttle bus running cause the bus driver is on vacation. When we were trained our trainers told us that there always needs to be transportation to take them to their medical appointments. Call a cab if you have to but that is something that needs to happen. We asked why a cab wouldn't be used and yep, it costs too much. ....Just another day at the office. Whew !! Come 9 p.m. we were ready to go to our apartment and collapse !

Today started out rainy. We ran into rain on our way up here, from Winston Salem, and it was coming down pretty good while we set up. Yep, we were pretty much soaked to the skin. Pretty crowded in the campground when we arrived but as usually happens, they start pulling out mid morning. There is a late checkout on Sundays (3 p.m.) so that makes it really nice for the locals to stretch out their weekend as long as possible before returning home. We were told that there is a really large rally next weekend so our rig will be on a different site when we come up next weekend. They like to keep the groups together so they can use the pavilions for their pot lucks and gatherings. Not a problem for us....just so we have a space somewhere. Last weekend we met a couple, from Florida, who came up for a week or so...just to get away. They are taking advantage of the storage plan ($1 a day to store your rig here and they will put it onto the site, hook it up to electric and start the frig for you before you arrive) so they'll come up again this fall. The husband wants to sell the sticks and bricks home and full time it but she says she isn't ready to do that. We chatted about the FT lifestyle and he got even more excited about the idea just hearing our stories. Penny's body language (arms folded across her chest) told me she wasn't budging....

No definitive plans for the rest of our time off. We went last week to get our annual check ups and need to make some follow up calls tomorrow on some of the results. Hopefully my new eyeglasses will be in tomorrow so we'll pick them on our way back into town Tuesday. Other than that, chill out...relax and regroup.

A good time....

Our friend, Lindig, came to visit us at the campground. We first met Lindig when we all worked together at Amazon, in Coffeyville, KS. Lindig's rig was parked next to ours and we would take Lindig with us when we'd go sightseeing on our days off. It was great catching up with her on the jobs we've all had since we last saw each other. She has had similar disappointments, as we have, with the companies and managers she's worked for. We recalled fondly what great people we met, while working at Amazon, and how much we enjoyed working there. The bosses were great, the "regulars" were great and there were things to see and do while in the area. It was just the grueling nature of the work that made it tough. You could give 110% there and it was appreciated. It was great to see Lindig....we had lunch at the Mayflower seafood restaurant which was less than great today. Had hoped for a wonderful meal, as we've had in the past but today wasn't to be the day.

Hump Day...

It's our middle of the week day here at work. Go in at 11:30 and will work till Sunday morning at 6 a.m...on call 24/7 till then. Then we know we're on a downhill slide to going CAMPING ! Yippee !!

Has been very humid and hot here..in the 90's again with heat index up around 100. Linda and I sat out on the back patio last night and once you get out there in the humidity (even at 10:00 it was still very hot and humid), and sit for a while, it doesn't feel too bad.

Nothing much going on the next couple of days. Shouldn't be too crazy here at work...no big events to work. Might have a new resident moving in...who knows. Although she has signed her rental agreement, we're really not sure when she'll arrive on our doorstep to move in.

Ordered some new eyeglasses on Tuesday...can't wait for them to get here so I don't have to look out through a haze of scratches. If you recall the ones I bought on-line didn't work (bi-focal field messed up). The eye Dr. said he sees that a lot...cheap Japanese plastic with poor peripheral field vision and lots of unhappy customers. Linda's are fine but she has the line bi-focal. Guess the Japanese haven't mastered the no line bifocal yet. We have a vision plan through work so will pay most of what these new ones will cost...my cost is $145. Will be worth it !

Gotta run....time to get ready for work !!

Rainy Monday...

Although the forecast didn't call for it and the radar didn't show it, while it was happening, it rained for most of the day. Not a downpour type of rain but a drizzly, cloud oozing with moisture and gotta let it go, kind of rain. We decided to go for a drive up towards the Virginia border to see what we could find. It was only about 11 miles to the border and when we got there we stopped at the Virginia Welcome Center. We looked around at all of the brochures and one caught my eye. It was for a general store in a nearby town. We got directions so we could find it and hit the road.

Red Hill General Store was really cute. It had all sorts of nifty things. Anything you might need to make yummy food...they had it. Old fashioned ice cream makers, crocks if you want to make homemade sauerkraut, jerky machines, wood stove supplies and even old fashioned bottles of soda. It was fun to poke around and see everything they had. They had one section that was gluten free products you could bake. That was nice to see since I dealt with some students at the college, when I worked there, that had problems with gluten.

As we took the exit for the general store, I had noticed a sign for a farmer's market. Once we left the general store, we headed to the farmer's market to check it out since it was around lunch time and we were both getting hungry. There we found lots of locally grown veggies so we bought a big, juicy tomato and some veggies for our lunch and dinner meals. Once we got back, I ran into Walmart and bought some rolls and we had tomato sandwiches with two thick slabs of tomato on them...Yum ! For supper Linda made one of our favorite veggie meals in the pressure cooker (got the idea from seeing all of the pressure cookers at the general store). Carrots, cabbage, potatoes and vidalia onions....Double Yum !

The rest of the day was uneventful. The rain cleared up and the humidity came back. When we arrived here, on Sunday morning, the temps were very cool compared to what we've had for the last two months. It was only in the low 70's yesterday which was so awesome.

Back to work tomorrow...sad to see our days off end but the great thing is that we get to see our friend Lindig next Sunday...when we come back up here. Yippee !! She is driving cross country now and will meet up with us here next Sunday. We worked with Lindig at Amazon, in Coffeyville, Kansas so it's been a while since we've seen her. We're excited to catch up with her and hang out for a while.

Hoe Down...

Yesterday we had our VA Hoe Down. It started with a VA benefit workshop, letting folks know about the Aid and Attendance benefit that so many veterans don't know about and could sure use the monthly benefit they are entitled to. We had a good sized crowd for the workshop.

After the workshop, we had a little bit of time before lunch started so anybody that wanted to take a tour of the community could do that. At 12:30 we kicked off a great meal of BBQ Pork sandwiches, BBQ chicken, southern style slaw, fresh guacamole and chips, potato salad, fresh corn on the cob and ice cream treats for dessert. We had a full house and everyone had a great
 meal. Once the meal was over, we kicked into high gear, clearing the tables so folks could sit back and enjoy the Centennial Squares as they danced up a storm.

The Centennial Squares are a team of square dancers that put on an exhibition and then invite some folks from the audience to participate. What great fun ! Our regional chef, who was at our place for the day to help out, joined in on the fun. Afterwards he said he didn't realize the song was going to be so long...he was sweating bullets by the end of it. One of the ladies who came to visit for the day, brought her tap shoes and joined in on one of the songs She tapped up a storm.. This lady is probably close to 80 years old and wow, could she dance ! I only hope I am that mobile when I'm her age.

It was a long day and my feet were hurting by the end of the day (another pair of socks bites the dust). Many of the residents told us how much they enjoyed the day, which makes the long day and fatigue worth it. We are now up at the campground relaxing so today will be a day of rest. (Linda is taking her turn at a nap...mine will come shortly.)It is very cool this morning (70 degrees) and compared to it normally being in the 80's by this time, it is very refreshing. We sat outside, under the awning,and finished off the drinks we bought at McDonald's on the way to the campground. A nice change of pace and weather.

We had a new resident move in yesterday during all of the craziness. She and her daughter came up to the office to see Linda and another resident, who recently moved in, was also there. Bernice, our new resident, introduced herself to the other resident and come to find out they grew up together....one street apart. What fun that was as they hugged and had a great reunion. They ate supper together and I'm sure they will be great pals once again....In the short time we've been there, we've seen these "reunions" happen several times. Neighbors reunited....distant relatives found...all so heart warming and wonderful.

Monday..

Tomorrow we'll head back to Winston Salem, as we need to be to work at 11:30. Right now the local TV stations have interrupted regular programming to track a storm that has produced a tornado warning. It is moving away from us here....it's a severe storm that is producing as many as 194 lightening strikes an hour. We haven't had any heavy rain yet although the warning said we could get some. The worst might be over...at one point three bolts of lightening came down and it looked like a claw scratch across the sky. It was really awesome !

We took a picture of this rig that has been here at the campground for about two weeks. It's a Teton brand 5th wheel and the big truck pulling it has a matching paint job....very pretty. We drove by and stopped to chat with the guy who owns it. He's a fulltimer, originally from Delaware. I asked him if he's had any problems getting parts for his rig, since Teton went out of business and he said no...he can get anything he might need. Only thing that would be a problem would be the fender skirts. Very pretty rig.

Here's one of the ponds at the campground. I took Boomer down there yesterday so he could go swimmin'....it drops off pretty quick so he waded in up to his belly and then turned around to come back to shore. It cooled him off for a little while. Got up to 97 yesterday and 91 today....too darn hot ! I went out around 9 this morning and washed the rig...it getting another rinse off tonight with the storm passing through.

Got a busy week ahead. We have several new residents moving in this week. On Saturday, we have a VA benefit workshop to talk about the Aid and Attendance benefit that many people do not know about. Along with the workshop is a special lunch and entertainment. We have over 30 people signed up to attend the workshop so we'll be looking forward to our day off on Sunday. Hope everyone has a great week !

Our Friday is Here....

We know we're heading "home" when we see this....

We're all set up. They left the rig on the site so only took us a few minutes to drop the back jacks, hook up the utilities and put the slides out. We left work around 7:15...got our wake up call at 5:30 with the call off of the dishwasher. Couldn't get back to sleep so figured we might as well get up and hit the road. This was the second morning of getting woken up at 5:30. Yesterday it was the alarm monitoring company calling to tell us there was an alarm going off in the fire panel. It's been going off every so often the last week but our maintenance guy thought he had the problem resolved by changing out the back up battery to the 3rd floor panel. Seem he swapped out the wrong battery. So I swapped out the truly bad one and so far it's been ok.

Found out the other day that our boss, the regional director, is leaving the company. The "official" notice, from corporate, is that he's leaving to spend more time with his family. The truth is, as he told us, is that he resigned back in May but was asked to stay on for a while to help the company. When he was asked a short while ago what his intentions were, he said he'd like to stay and continue with the company. At that point they told him that he'd turned in a resignation, they had accepted it so he needed to go. His boss has been demoted to take over his job so a huge impact to not just one person, but two. Our General Sales Manager told me that this is now the 5th change in that position she has seen since joining the company in January. Awesome...

Great news this week....we made our last payment on Bertha ! She is now wholly ours and not shared with the credit union. Now we can start applying the amount that was the truck payment and get the rig paid off. Hooray !!

Just saw a neat piece on Sunday Morning show about a micro sculptor. He uses a microscope to make art that fits in the eye of a needle or other similarly small areas. It was incredible ! His name is Wigan and he was ridiculed, as a child by a teacher.The teacher told him, "You are an exhibition of failure, and all the children in the school need to know about you, because this is what happens if you don't listen to me, children,' - you know, that type of thing? So, that made him feel that small." His mother noticed. Her advice then still guides him today.

"She said to me, 'You are now going to continue to make small things.' And I said, 'Why?' And she says, 'If you keep making small things, your name will get bigger!'


He laughed: "She said, 'The smaller your work, the bigger your name'." So he started sculpting super small items. His pieces are viewed through a microscope in order to be seen by people going to his art gallery shows. One of his pieces is Charlie Chaplin balancing on the end of an eyelash. He commands as much as $100,000 for one of his art pieces...pretty neat for someone who his teacher thought would be a failure.


No big plans today....we're pretty exhausted so I foresee a Nascar nap in my future. Need to call my mom and wish her a happy birthday...she's turning 85 tomorrow. Also think that a seafood dinner from the Mayflower might be in order. Stay tuned....