January and February
January and February
Take a look at, “Cruising Belgium On A Canal Boat (full tour)” on YouTube. It’s a bit different since the coupe rented a Magnifique C555, not the standard canal boat. They set up the reservation through leboat.com and it advertises no experience necessary. At Westhoek Marina in Nieuwpoort, Belgium, they took care of the paperwork, learned how the boat and locks worked and cast off. Nice video but after awhile I was wondering if the guy had any beaver blood.
In 2015, David Johns quit my job, sold his house and went to live in a narrowboat on the historic canals of Britain. I came across his videos on YouTube and checked out his “Cruising the Cut” YouTube channel.
His website is https://www.CruisingTheCut.co.uk
David started with videos of his travels and now documents various aspects of canal life. Nicely done.
Was finishing healing of the left foot when a screw started to back out of the big toe. No problem, what’s one more setback! Woke me up one night when it broke out the top of my toe (confirmed it in the morning with a mirror, guano). After half an hour thinking the pain would ease up (yes, I know, not too bright) so I could get back to sleep, I had to get up for a pain pill. It worked. My doctor numbed the skin with some swab, clamped the screw head with a hemostatic forceps and backed out the 2” screw. (Saved it and put it with the 4-port Hickman line from by bone marrow transplant. Hope not to add to this morbid collection.) Didn’t really feel it, just felt it should not be happening. The doctor decided it needed a suture. So far not so bad. He took out a suture kit with the thread attached to the curved needle. Then he said something like, I could give you a shot to numb the toe, which would hurt a bit, or I can just go ahead and strart (WHAT?) as he pushed the needle in and went ahead with the suture. Not kidding here. After he tied off the suture, my other leg started jumping up&down, and then the left. By then the pain had eased up but it was as if my body was screaming WHAT JUST HAPPENED!? Kinda funny at that point. Then it was back in the boot for another two weeks.
A sheep, a duck and a rooster (I know, sounds like the beginning of a joke) were the first passengers in a hot air balloon. In 1783, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier were pioneers in the field of aeronautics and had been experimenting with hot air balloons. The Montgolfier brothers believed that by selecting a variety of species, they could study the effects of flight on living creatures. The animals successfully landed and behaved as it nothing had happened.
You might want to read CNN’s piece, Analysis: Trump’s 13 biggest lies of his first month back in office. Hard to believe so many believe the false rhetoric.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/20/politics/analysis-trumps-13-biggest-lies-first-month-2025/index.html
One should also be listening to Heather Cox Richardson’s, ‘Letters from an American.’ Always Facts and Truth.
Letters from an American February 17, 2025 — Starting with Washington, the character and honesty of a president.
On the Feb. 16 show of, ’Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’, Oliver discusses the first four weeks of Donald Trump’s second term as president, the strategy behind some of the choices his administration has made. Worth watching.
Have you listened to the song, ‘Hostile Government Take Over’?
These two old guys were talking about making a movie for folks their age and calling it "Pumping Rust.”
I’m working my way through a third online driving course. The insurance deduction from my last two lasted 5 years each. This course is from Improv. Like the others, it’s a defensive driving and traffic school course. “Trusted Nationwide by DMVs, Insurance Companies, and Courts.” The courses are worth it for the insurance cut alone, but more so for the knowledge, either forgotten or new. Take one.
I have not been breathing as efficiently as I should be, so I’m doing something about it with a Bas Rutten O2 Inspiratory Muscle Training Device. The O2Trainer restricts air intake (16 levels) to strengthen one’s diaphragm and external intercostal muscles. The ones responsible for opening up one’s lungs. If I continue to use it (& it is only 3 minutes a day), I’ll be training my body to properly take deeper breaths, taking in more oxygen. Ball’s in my court.
I’ve read a number of articles on barefoot shoes and decided to try a pair. Most comfortable shoes I’ve owned. From time to time I go to put my outdoor shoes on by the door, without realizing I still have the barefoot ones on. Grounded Footwear is frequently rated the top brand. So far I’m pleased with my pair of Whitin.
Sometimes his wife just sits and admires the gray in her husband's hair, how distinguished it is becoming. She is thinking—‘I did that!’
The ball is in your court. Pick it up and do something with it.
is the most valuable thing in the world.
John Steinveck, East of Eden
Table of Contents
RVwest article ‘Following a Free Spirit’
RVwest article ‘The Space Between the Places’
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