Simple Living and Simple Travel

I met a lady full-timing in a small trailer and has a dog, Raindog. I tend to ask questions. On a rainy day, a dog came onto her site, hoped into the back of her capped pickup, and stayed. There are four or five ladies here who walk their cats with a leash and harness. One lady’s cat is Miss Kitty. I asked, From Gunsmoke? I also met a couple who full-time in an older Class A. They use an electric oil filled radiator for heat. Have not come across such heaters so I looked it up. The inexpensive units are sealed, so no topping up the oil. All the electricity used by such a heater is used to generate heat, by warming the oil. No wasted electricity. There are probably pros and cons. An English professor wrote the words, ‘a woman without her man is nothing’ on the board, and directed the students to punctuate it correctly. The men in the class wrote:  ‘A woman, without her man, is nothing.’ The women in the class wrote: ‘A woman: without her, man is...

Two weeks into my four months of NMSP reservations, the governor closed the parks for two weeks. Hopefully, they will reopen on Dec. 1st. The NM state parks are possibly the safest places for RVers to stay this winter. The parks are closed to none NM residents this year and the park I was at, was pretty much empty. Safe! And they were closed. My MacBook Pro went to a black screen while I was working on a Pages doc. Dug out my old MacBook Pro, went to Apple Support and tried all their suggested fixes. Nothing. Guano. I do a lot of work on my computer. When I have daily wi-fi (6 weeks this winter) I download many pages to read at a later time. Unfortunately, my last backup was two weeks ago. Will go back to daily backups. Sounds like the repair will be $530 and my hard-drive will probably need to be erased. Not smiling. Called Apple to have the laptop picked up. A problem arose when I heard the computer will be returned to the same address where it will be picked up. This would no...

I pretty much stopped taking care of the Nash after those surgeries, wound care and PT. The siding turned chalky. I took a week and applied polishing compound to a section each day. Some sections needed rubbing compound. I’ll wax the Nash this winter or in the spring. It was time to add more color to the interior walls. I went to order three more Bali 1” blinds in ‘forest shadow’. But Bali no longer offers ‘forest shadow’. Bummer. Next year I’ll choose a lighter shade of green blinds. One morning this shadow on my 5x8 caught my eye. The Montezuma quail stuck around until the beginning of October. One day last week it snowed all day. I leaned the ladder against the Nash so I could climb up and sweep snow off the solar panels. Had to do it four or five times during the day. I also used the shrub rake three or four times to clear areas where I threw out scratch grain and cracked corn for the birds. And it was cold! It never entered my mind to take a p...

Notice the buck’s ears? And here he is with Meadow. Deleted the slap joke from last month’s page. If I start off with, ‘not my kind of joke’, that should have told me something. I’m thinking of a guy who works in a somewhat round office and he is meeting with his advisors. ‘Honesty is the best policy. Okay, now, what’s the second-best policy?’ I have thoughts on why so many people believe politicians over doctors and scientists in regards to our medical crisis and climate change. I’ll just say that they are not my kind of people. Remember “We the people”? Now it seems to be, We the parties. I’m disgusted and apprehensive with the state of affairs in this country. I cannot see things improving all that much in my lifetime. Glad I’m 70. I hope to take a road trip next fall, looking for property. Hopefully outside of a University town or at least, a community college. I need to get away from people who are so easily snowed. I ordered a new Wave 6. M...

There are quite a few hail storms in Timberon. One took out the bathroom roof vent. I looked up and saw way more sky than I wanted to see through a closed lid. So for awhile it was shoveling up hail from the floor before it melted. What a mess, and pieces of plastic all around. Guano. After the hail changed to rain, I put on a duster and Filson, brought out my ladder and climbed up to the roof where I found the next problem. The roof was covered in hail, ½” ice marbles. Back down for a straw broom. Then I just had to cope with a domed, wet, rubber roof. No problem. Covered the 14” hole with a rubber doormat, tarp and rocks. The next day I went back up on the roof. The TV antenna also had some holes in it. I didn’t realize the Nash was coming with one or I would have told the dealer to not put one up there. I don’t live with a TV. So I finally took it down and patched the hole. The propane tanks cover also had a hail hole in it. Not a happy couple of days. No leaks. I can ...

The Tire Table (tailgatertiretable.com $140) is working out well. It’s easy to set up and plenty sturdy, with a fold-down leg if needed. The table stores flat with all pieces locked in place. Not bad. Gives me a handy spot for preparing a meal and use a stove outside. The Nash can reach 90 degrees or more on hot days when I don’t have the option of setting up in the shade. Another good purchase. If one has not looked into what type of mask to purchase by now, here are some points to be aware of. Look for 3-layer surgical masks. True surgical masks have an electrostatic charge. The masks I’m presently using have a spunbond polypropylene 1st barrier; a non-woven melt-blown polypropylene 2nd layer filtration; and a spunbond polypropylene final barrier. Couldn’t find if these are the best materials for the three layers but I’ll use them until I find data for a better mask. One source stated that surgical masks do “not provide the wearer with reliable level of protection from inhaling...

I finally finished tweaking the summer-orientation parking spot and moved the Nash. That’s my 5x8’ cargo trailer in the back. I found the mouse nest in the Ford. I really need to get back in the habit of carrying a camera in my pocket. But then again, who would want to see a mouse nest? I use the passenger footwell for storage. The nest was under the stuff, made mostly from the saddle blanket and paper towels, in a bundle of rope. Sure looked comfortable. Out the back window. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has a 450 page how-to manual on crisis communication. More than 180 people contributed to the CDC manual, including experts from the CDC, American Red Cross, FBI and EPA as well as federal and state health departments. “The fundamental principles behind good public health communication are almost stunningly simple: Be consistent. Be accurate. Don’t withhold vital information, the CDC manual says. And above all, don’t let anyone onto the podium without ...

As I walk around and see so much, I realize that at some point, I will never experience them again. Coming across a single colorful wildflower. A pair of ravens flying in sync. Sitting outside in the evening with a friend, talking, sipping wine. Sipping a cold glass of water. All such things strengthen my resolve to be grateful and not take things for granted. Surviving my BMT gave me this second chance at life with all its stellar moments is a most thankful bonus. I’m smilin’. Antlers are just starting to grow on the bucks. The last three summers I had no trouble with rodents getting into the bags of cracked corn and scratch grain. Not so this summer. A mouse chewed a hole in a bag of cracked corn and had ready access. A couple days later, there was another hole in the same bag only a few inches away. A maze reject? I generally keep M&M’s dry food and the birdseed bags in my truck. Can you make a guess here? A mouse got into the Ford and chewed through the birdseed bag. Gua...

Yep, neighbors are starting to come around. I think I was listening to Pandora when a commercial came on about Bondic. I only listen to Pandora for two months in the winter when I have wi-fi from the Nash so I stick with the free version, with commercials, but at least they tend to be different. Anyway, the product sounded good so I ordered a starter kit. Bondic is a LED UV plastic welding unit. It is not a glue. Shortly afterwards, the frame of my off-the-rack reading glasses broke. I sanded the surfaces, squeezed on a small amount of Bondic, focused the light on it for 3-4 seconds, held it together for another few seconds and the glasses were as good as new. Didn’t even bother to sand the weld. The kit went into the bottom galley drawer where some tools and fixit type things reside. I only used the kit once so far and it worked as advertised. It’s a keeper. After cataract surgery, 20% or so develop posterior capsule opacification (PCO). PCO occurs because cells remaining afte...

I’m back in Timberon. It feels good. Well, not so much being back in Timberon, since I no longer like it all that much. But back to the lifestyle. I need the parks for my annual social-fix but I need to find some place other than the parks from mid-Feb to mid-March. I’m maxed on the parks by the middle of February and it is too cold to go back up to 7,000’ with just solar power. It’s pretty quiet, having no close neighbors. Deer come by most days and I’ve heard some wild turkeys but have only had one come near. More should be coming by soon. Birds are at the feeders and sprinkled grain. Some hummingbirds have found their feeder. A couple weeks ago, a realtor put a for sale sign on the next lot. Guano. If that sells, I might go back to hard-wall camping off the grid, but at this time, that could be problematic. We’ll see. The realtor is asking $10,000 for the acre. The county’s assessed value is around $4,500. Someone’s going to get taken. I found the lifestyle that I get the mos...

I got tired of trying to get Meadow and Mesa into their individual fold-down carriers. They still make like flying squirrels with the new carrier but it’s way easier. This is a SportPet Designs Foldable Travel Cat Carrier, size XL. It folds down to 5”. The carrier also comes in one or two smaller sizes. It sure got comments at the Vet. One can easily take the door off and set it up as a cozy spot for their cat/s to sleep or hang out. The new carrier along with two Vet visits only cost me $1560. What a deal. I guess Vehicles for Charity is the organization that handles donated vehicles, such as from NPRs Car Talk Vehicle Donation Program. They sent me a letter stating that my 2004 Ram 1500 was sold for $2,000. The new owner got a good deal with the new trans, brake rotors and other parts. A few years ago I took an online driver safety course recommended by GEICO. The course wasn’t through GEICO, many insurance companies offer discounts for taking a driver safety course. I taug...

All I am trying to get across on this page is to accept statements while maintaining a degree of skepticism about the truth. Simple. But in the current political situation in this country, exceedingly important. (‘Take with a grain of salt (or a pinch)’ comes from the fact that food is more easily swallowed if taken with a small amount of salt.) A while back, I heard a clip on National Public Radio of the current president attacking two of his opponents about the homeless situation on their home turf. Three years ago, being a listener of NPR, I learned to question statements coming from White House. So I questioned what was not said in his homeless statement. What about the homeless situation in cities overseen by his own tribe? I then googled the homeless situation in Washington D.C., his own turf. I was not the least bit surprised. Look it up. Partial truths can skew the true story. If I hear a politician discrediting her/his opponent, I’ve learned to take...