It's late .. we're trying to get out early tomorrow morning.
It's cold .. and raining. We're finally at the campground and staged for departure for our first leg of the journey. We worked .. straight from 7 A.M till 10:45 P.M. non-stop. We had a lot to do, a lot to finalize and a lot to plan. But it's done...as well as 'done' can be.
Now, I need a nap ... there's quite a day ahead of us tomorrow; about 470 miles of it.
Here we go. We are actually going.
This is amazing.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Final Countdown
10/11/08 (By Gary)
Work is done. We have done what is likely to be the most tangible step of or plans ... we walked out of work for the last time.
The facility that Robin and I have called 'our work' for over 23 years will not admit us back in after today. We turned in our badges, cancelled our security and medical clearances, handed over our keys and headsets and shook hands, got hugs, and said goodbye to coworkers and friends.
Our original plans called for a Saturday (10/11) departure, but we will likely spend the day doing final packing and cleaning (we're still pretty far behind our hoped-for schedule) but it only means that we will have to maintain a stricter schedule for the next five days. The fifth-wheel has been parked in front of the house for a few days now, and we are actively setting it up as our new home. There is still a lot to be done and our thanks go out to Brecca and Brandon and Nichelle for their help scanning, shredding and stacking and sorting the last of the material 'wealth' that is left i the house. We appreciate the time and effort that all our friends have put in. We are grateful for the support we have received and for all the work that everyone's done to help us along the way.
It is the most important blessing a person can have, the friendship of caring people.
Work is done. We have done what is likely to be the most tangible step of or plans ... we walked out of work for the last time.
The facility that Robin and I have called 'our work' for over 23 years will not admit us back in after today. We turned in our badges, cancelled our security and medical clearances, handed over our keys and headsets and shook hands, got hugs, and said goodbye to coworkers and friends.
Our original plans called for a Saturday (10/11) departure, but we will likely spend the day doing final packing and cleaning (we're still pretty far behind our hoped-for schedule) but it only means that we will have to maintain a stricter schedule for the next five days. The fifth-wheel has been parked in front of the house for a few days now, and we are actively setting it up as our new home. There is still a lot to be done and our thanks go out to Brecca and Brandon and Nichelle for their help scanning, shredding and stacking and sorting the last of the material 'wealth' that is left i the house. We appreciate the time and effort that all our friends have put in. We are grateful for the support we have received and for all the work that everyone's done to help us along the way.
It is the most important blessing a person can have, the friendship of caring people.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
The Pressure's On!
10/09/2008 (Gary)
"The bell would ring loudly over the end of the short but busy bar and the bartender would shout at the top of his lungs; "The Pressure's ON!!!".
That would mean the best and the worst to us in the confines of the old smoke-filled NCO Club deep in the heart of eastern Turkey. As part of the experience of being 8,000 mile away from home, the parties at the NCO club would be a great escape, a roudy and irreverent time of drinking, card playing, and bonding with your peers as we wiled away the nights on a small air base from which there was no 'shore leave'.
Every so often the barkeep, a senior NCO with a watchful eye toward his clientele, would put "the pressure" on everyone in the bar. This would usually happen a couple of hours into the evening's festivities when the bar was crowded and rowdy.
Now .. when the 'pressure' was put on, it meant free drinks for everyone in the bar; for as long as it took for someone, somewhere in the bar to have to call 'uncle' and go to the bathroom which was conveniently monitored by the barkeep himself. Then everyone went back to paying for their drinks (and forming a line to the restroom door) So ... who wanted to give up and end the spree of free drinks? No one, of course .. hence the 'pressure' was really on :)
As often as not, the event did not last very long (timing is everything) and it was all in good fun. The next day there would be some good hearted ribbing, and the whole thing would surely start again the next weekend if not sooner.
I feel somewhat that way now :) ... we are heading down to the wire on preparations to leave Longmont and the world we have known for the past 24 years. There is a pressure on both of us to continue packing up, storing and organizing. We are still finding things that puzzle us; momentos, valuables, trinkets and knick-knacks that we just haven't figured out what to do with. We really have four options when we come across anything left to pack. We can pitch it, or donate it (either to family or a friend or to a charitable organization), we can leave it behind in the house, or we can find a way to pack it along.
We still have a couple of items on Craig's List, and will have to impose on our friends to handle any callers, but mostly we're just trying to get organized and make tough dowsizing decisions.
If you've never really done this before, I must tell you that it is harder than you think.
We are pulling away in less than three days. We have this evening and tomorrow evening some of Saturday and then we're heading east for a couple of days and turning right for three or four more. I'm not nearly as prepared as I want to be, but I have to recognize that it's all part of the plan, the adventure and ultimately the fun. I think part of me is scared to actually start this trip because if how much change it represents. Our new home has a license plate on it, and we are pulling pretty much our whole (condensed) world behind us.
I think the correlation between the "pressure" of years ago and now is pretty slim actually, but I do not want to be the one to call 'uncle' and just leave a big mess behind for someone else to have to handle. At work, at the places we frequent, or at home. We are trying to clean up all the loose ends and there are many.
We are both working very hard to make a clean break. I'm hoping it'll be handled and we will not be taking a lot of tailings with us on the trip, but we will need to roll regardless of where we are when the 12th comes along.
Please pray for us that there is a safe trip in our future.
We have the route loosely planned, we have enough money to feed Fordzila along the way, and we are in the process of stuffing the fifth-wheel with clothes and foodstuffs to make it an easy trip for us. The schedule, while not excrutiating, is tight and we will need tomake a certain number of miles per day to make our goals. We did build in some margin should we have a flat tire or other delay, but we did build and intend to stick to a schedule as best we can.
OK, I need to pack... :) (and close out end-of-year ratings for my employees, and sell stuff, and clean the garage .. and .. umm .. well, you get it :)
"The bell would ring loudly over the end of the short but busy bar and the bartender would shout at the top of his lungs; "The Pressure's ON!!!".
That would mean the best and the worst to us in the confines of the old smoke-filled NCO Club deep in the heart of eastern Turkey. As part of the experience of being 8,000 mile away from home, the parties at the NCO club would be a great escape, a roudy and irreverent time of drinking, card playing, and bonding with your peers as we wiled away the nights on a small air base from which there was no 'shore leave'.
Every so often the barkeep, a senior NCO with a watchful eye toward his clientele, would put "the pressure" on everyone in the bar. This would usually happen a couple of hours into the evening's festivities when the bar was crowded and rowdy.
Now .. when the 'pressure' was put on, it meant free drinks for everyone in the bar; for as long as it took for someone, somewhere in the bar to have to call 'uncle' and go to the bathroom which was conveniently monitored by the barkeep himself. Then everyone went back to paying for their drinks (and forming a line to the restroom door) So ... who wanted to give up and end the spree of free drinks? No one, of course .. hence the 'pressure' was really on :)
As often as not, the event did not last very long (timing is everything) and it was all in good fun. The next day there would be some good hearted ribbing, and the whole thing would surely start again the next weekend if not sooner.
I feel somewhat that way now :) ... we are heading down to the wire on preparations to leave Longmont and the world we have known for the past 24 years. There is a pressure on both of us to continue packing up, storing and organizing. We are still finding things that puzzle us; momentos, valuables, trinkets and knick-knacks that we just haven't figured out what to do with. We really have four options when we come across anything left to pack. We can pitch it, or donate it (either to family or a friend or to a charitable organization), we can leave it behind in the house, or we can find a way to pack it along.
We still have a couple of items on Craig's List, and will have to impose on our friends to handle any callers, but mostly we're just trying to get organized and make tough dowsizing decisions.
If you've never really done this before, I must tell you that it is harder than you think.
We are pulling away in less than three days. We have this evening and tomorrow evening some of Saturday and then we're heading east for a couple of days and turning right for three or four more. I'm not nearly as prepared as I want to be, but I have to recognize that it's all part of the plan, the adventure and ultimately the fun. I think part of me is scared to actually start this trip because if how much change it represents. Our new home has a license plate on it, and we are pulling pretty much our whole (condensed) world behind us.
I think the correlation between the "pressure" of years ago and now is pretty slim actually, but I do not want to be the one to call 'uncle' and just leave a big mess behind for someone else to have to handle. At work, at the places we frequent, or at home. We are trying to clean up all the loose ends and there are many.
We are both working very hard to make a clean break. I'm hoping it'll be handled and we will not be taking a lot of tailings with us on the trip, but we will need to roll regardless of where we are when the 12th comes along.
Please pray for us that there is a safe trip in our future.
We have the route loosely planned, we have enough money to feed Fordzila along the way, and we are in the process of stuffing the fifth-wheel with clothes and foodstuffs to make it an easy trip for us. The schedule, while not excrutiating, is tight and we will need tomake a certain number of miles per day to make our goals. We did build in some margin should we have a flat tire or other delay, but we did build and intend to stick to a schedule as best we can.
OK, I need to pack... :) (and close out end-of-year ratings for my employees, and sell stuff, and clean the garage .. and .. umm .. well, you get it :)
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Smack Down
By Gary:
Our humble home is graced by the presence of my younger daughter Cora, visiting from Tacoma to attend a friend's baby shower. Since it's been more than a few months since she's been to Colorado, we toured the town a little and talked about the changes that've taken place here in Longmont, about what her life has been like in Washington state, and about all the upcoming plans on our end.
After enjoying a great Italian lunch at "Pinnochio's", then visiting what is slowly become an empty house, we departed to go visit the new 5th-wheel 'home' and see about grabbing some provisions for dinner later on (you know; Rum, Ice, and ather basic necessities). Our plans got changed at the intersection of Hover St. and 9th Ave.
It's a unique experience, getting hit by another car, and it defies reckoning in that split second between wondering what just happened, to denying that it happened, to wondering why it, whatever it really was, just happened.
I made a normal right turn on a green light, right lane to right lane. and was just accelerating out when "SMACK!" ... a loud slap on the side of the car, and a change in the direction of travel (our vector :) ). I never saw the other car coming. She'd attempted a left turn into the left lane, but was (I am guessing here) traveling too fast for the road condition(s) and the front end simply pushed through the turn and she tagged us just behind the rear wheel on my side.
Thankfully no one was hurt at all and the damage, while ugly, isn't substantial. The other driver is licensed and insured and readily admitted loss of control to the officer. Robin spoke with the insurance folks and I guess we'll be in touch with an adjuster in a day or two.
What shook me up about it was the possibility that I'd ,essed up and puled out in front of someone. I was sure it was all clear, and I was sure we had the green light, and I was sure that I had a clean line to make a routine turn, one I've made hundreds of times before, onto a street I've driven on innumerable times.
I do not recall seeing the oncoming dark-blue Civic as I was preparing to turn. If I did see it, I didn't register it as turning left and being a potential problem. Perhaps she changed her mind at the last minute and tried to make the turn. The intersection itself is descending, off camber, changes types of pavement and was slightly wet from a light rain shower. Who knows what the real cause was... At any rate, as we were rolling out, after we'd ascertained that no on was injured, and looking for a safe spot to get out of traffic I had that moment of doubt that I'd somehow missed something. I haven't had an accident since I can remember (well, actually, I do remember it .. it was nearly 25 years ago) and I dodn;t remember all the shakiness and worry that goes along with it. I'm so very thankful that everything broken or bent was just machinery.. I'm so grateful for our habit of buckling up, for the way it played out, and for the other driver's honesty.
Our humble home is graced by the presence of my younger daughter Cora, visiting from Tacoma to attend a friend's baby shower. Since it's been more than a few months since she's been to Colorado, we toured the town a little and talked about the changes that've taken place here in Longmont, about what her life has been like in Washington state, and about all the upcoming plans on our end.
After enjoying a great Italian lunch at "Pinnochio's", then visiting what is slowly become an empty house, we departed to go visit the new 5th-wheel 'home' and see about grabbing some provisions for dinner later on (you know; Rum, Ice, and ather basic necessities). Our plans got changed at the intersection of Hover St. and 9th Ave.
It's a unique experience, getting hit by another car, and it defies reckoning in that split second between wondering what just happened, to denying that it happened, to wondering why it, whatever it really was, just happened.
I made a normal right turn on a green light, right lane to right lane. and was just accelerating out when "SMACK!" ... a loud slap on the side of the car, and a change in the direction of travel (our vector :) ). I never saw the other car coming. She'd attempted a left turn into the left lane, but was (I am guessing here) traveling too fast for the road condition(s) and the front end simply pushed through the turn and she tagged us just behind the rear wheel on my side.
Thankfully no one was hurt at all and the damage, while ugly, isn't substantial. The other driver is licensed and insured and readily admitted loss of control to the officer. Robin spoke with the insurance folks and I guess we'll be in touch with an adjuster in a day or two.
What shook me up about it was the possibility that I'd ,essed up and puled out in front of someone. I was sure it was all clear, and I was sure we had the green light, and I was sure that I had a clean line to make a routine turn, one I've made hundreds of times before, onto a street I've driven on innumerable times.
I do not recall seeing the oncoming dark-blue Civic as I was preparing to turn. If I did see it, I didn't register it as turning left and being a potential problem. Perhaps she changed her mind at the last minute and tried to make the turn. The intersection itself is descending, off camber, changes types of pavement and was slightly wet from a light rain shower. Who knows what the real cause was... At any rate, as we were rolling out, after we'd ascertained that no on was injured, and looking for a safe spot to get out of traffic I had that moment of doubt that I'd somehow missed something. I haven't had an accident since I can remember (well, actually, I do remember it .. it was nearly 25 years ago) and I dodn;t remember all the shakiness and worry that goes along with it. I'm so very thankful that everything broken or bent was just machinery.. I'm so grateful for our habit of buckling up, for the way it played out, and for the other driver's honesty.
As for my own honesty? I guess I'm grateful that I didn't mess up.
Now we are left with a drive-able but distorted Solara. Can we get it fixed in the two weeks before we leave? Should we ship it Florida and try to find a reputable body shop, or scramble here to get it repaired and make arrangments for shipping?
Thankfully we have a weekend to ponder it ... and think we will.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
A Whole New World
By Robin:
A new fantastic point of view, if you wish..... Oh how I wish I said I wanted a high rise condo in downtown Miami. Well, truth to tell, not ever! This new and exciting ride we find ourselves on is more than I ever expected and more than I ever wished for. We're actually going to leave our comfortable warm and inviting home in colorful Colorado to live in a 36 foot 5th wheel in less than 3 weeks in sunny Flolrida. Am I crazy? or what?
I never dreamed of going to Florida, let alone live there... with the critters and gators and bugs and other things I haven't even considered to date.
We're actually moving into the RV at the moment. Posessions have sold, clothing and "stuff" is given away and STUFF?" is just STUFF!!!!! What do we do with our STUFF?!!!! The garage is still overwhelming. Brecca (Robin's daughter) will take the couch and love seat, but what about the paintings and table and chairs and rocking chair and well....what about the rest of the "stuff?"
Gary and I have enjoyed Disney to no end. We actually have reservations at an RV park AT Disney!!! on October 19th! SO... the "whole new world" theme has been around for a while. If you remember, "Alladin's" Prince Ali promises the Princess Jasmine during their magic carpet ride, that there's "no one to tell us no or where to go or say we're only dreaming."
WELL, I'M DREAMING! AND IT'S FOR REAL!!!! We have put this plan into action, with God's grace, and we're pulling up the stakes (so to say) and we're moving to Miami to someday SOON live on a sailboat fulltime and sail wherever the wind may take us.
WOW!!!!!..... I say again WOW!!!!! So who does this kind of stuff????? Who gets rid of their "stuff" to be able to do this kind of "stuff" that "stuff"that dreams are made of???????? Disney??????? FOR SURE! --- Robin & Gary????? -- well this seems to be FOR SURE also! Will you pray for us? Will you send us your encouragement? write soon, I say!
SO DO YOU WANT ANY STUFF? ??????
I'm sure I'd like to hear from you and for sure we want your encouragement and prayers.
Robin is signing off of her very first "BLOG" entry. Probably not the last. Keep tuned!
A new fantastic point of view, if you wish..... Oh how I wish I said I wanted a high rise condo in downtown Miami. Well, truth to tell, not ever! This new and exciting ride we find ourselves on is more than I ever expected and more than I ever wished for. We're actually going to leave our comfortable warm and inviting home in colorful Colorado to live in a 36 foot 5th wheel in less than 3 weeks in sunny Flolrida. Am I crazy? or what?
I never dreamed of going to Florida, let alone live there... with the critters and gators and bugs and other things I haven't even considered to date.
We're actually moving into the RV at the moment. Posessions have sold, clothing and "stuff" is given away and STUFF?" is just STUFF!!!!! What do we do with our STUFF?!!!! The garage is still overwhelming. Brecca (Robin's daughter) will take the couch and love seat, but what about the paintings and table and chairs and rocking chair and well....what about the rest of the "stuff?"
Gary and I have enjoyed Disney to no end. We actually have reservations at an RV park AT Disney!!! on October 19th! SO... the "whole new world" theme has been around for a while. If you remember, "Alladin's" Prince Ali promises the Princess Jasmine during their magic carpet ride, that there's "no one to tell us no or where to go or say we're only dreaming."
WELL, I'M DREAMING! AND IT'S FOR REAL!!!! We have put this plan into action, with God's grace, and we're pulling up the stakes (so to say) and we're moving to Miami to someday SOON live on a sailboat fulltime and sail wherever the wind may take us.
WOW!!!!!..... I say again WOW!!!!! So who does this kind of stuff????? Who gets rid of their "stuff" to be able to do this kind of "stuff" that "stuff"that dreams are made of???????? Disney??????? FOR SURE! --- Robin & Gary????? -- well this seems to be FOR SURE also! Will you pray for us? Will you send us your encouragement? write soon, I say!
SO DO YOU WANT ANY STUFF? ??????
I'm sure I'd like to hear from you and for sure we want your encouragement and prayers.
Robin is signing off of her very first "BLOG" entry. Probably not the last. Keep tuned!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
"Pop" goes the side-wall
This weekend marked another in the ongoing series of 'adventures' with the new home-on-wheels. Robin had planned to spend an evening, and overnighter, with her daughter in Denver so they could get some quality one-on-one visiting and serious shopping done. I had planned to stay around the house tending to the last of the projsects that needed to be finished before we leave (some finishing trim work, a couple of pieces of laminate flooring for the closet, and some touch-up painting). But ...
I decided on a whim to see whether our local "Camping World" store might have a washer-dryer RV-type combo machine in stock, or whether we'd have to order it, or drive clear to south Denver to get one. Of all things, they had it in stock ... and I decided that while Robin was away, I could get the machine, pick up the 5th-wheel, get it installed, and surprise her when she got home.
Ahhh ... such plans .... It didn't go quite that way.
I successfully picked up the merchandise and it took two employees to hoist it in the truck. I asked them to relocate the big box to in front of the hitch, thinking I'd leave it there, pull the 5th wheel to the house, and unload there.
When I arrived at RV America, I picked up the keys for the coach and began backing in to do the hook up. i got concerned that the box might hit the trailer if I had to make a tight turn, so I decided I'd try to get the washer/dryer into the coach right there in the parking lot. Well, it sounded like a good idea at the time ...
I had real trouble moving the box around, it was late in the afternoon, and most everyone was gone from the store, so I new I'd have to manhandle the thing. When I went to move it back over the hitch, it kept trying to slip out of its box so I reasoned I'd just unbox it and make it easier to handle.
As I was unboxing it, the front panel got scratched (dang it!) as it contacted the big tool box in the back of the truck. I eventually got the thing balanced on the siderail of the truck bed, hopped over and carried it, side-stepping under the weight, until I could lay it down on the carpet I'd spread in the entryway of the trailer. Mission accomplished, but it was harder than I'd expected.
Thanks to Mike, our trainer, for the strength training! :)
I hooked up and pulled home, but had to park a half-block away because all the parking spots were filled by neighbors, preventing me from stopping right in front of the house. No big deal, just a little more walking to get everthing done.
I relocated the washer into the bedroom, and found that it would not fit into its cubby unless I dismantled some woodwork and removed the closing hardware from the closet. I wrestled the thing into place, and then discovered that the factory's "Prep for Washer/Dryer" package did not include actually cutting a hole and putting in a vent ...
OK, let's call it a night and worry about it tomorrow.
I pulled down to the county Fairgrounds campsites, which is familiar territory except that it was now quite dark, and managed to take a entry turn a little too short and caught the front trailer tire on a railroad tie they use to mark out the road. I felt the tug, but by the time I saw what was happening I heard the loud hiss of escaping air and knew I'd punctured a sidewall. (dang it!). Well, I firured I'd best get parked right away, since I didn't want to roll on a flat tire and maybe risk the other one blowing out, so I puled right ahead to the first straight-thru spot.
I tried for the better part on 45 minutes get the coach up on the levelers, and secured on it's stabilizers, but the flat tire posed a significant issue so I left the trailer attached to the truck for security and began the process of discovery which would eventually lead to installing the spare tire. It didn;t help that the spare was underinflated, and it was way too late to run a pump, so I settled for a rather severely out of level trailer and decided to call it a night and get some sleep.
I had to sleep backwards on the bed, as the slant was too much for me to consider sleeping head-down, and I got maybe 4 hours of fitful sleep. It was just one of those days when it seemed everything I touched broke, and when I tried to fix it it made it worse. Very, very frustrating, but I am thankful that nothing got truly broken, and no one got hurt.
The next morning I looked for a place to get a replacement tire, but it was Sunday and almost everyone was closed. I relocated to a different spot, as the one I had stopped in was to close to a tree, and it precluded opening up the rooms and I didn't want the wind causing some branches to scrape the finish.
Needless to say, the project didn't go as planned, I was pretty spent and was thankful to see Robin and Brecca again for dinner and a wind-down time.
Got the tire replaced to day and will bolt it up tomorrow, putting the spare back where it should live. I h ave a lot of new knowledge, gained through a bit if hardship, that I hope won't come in handy any time soon. I am thankful that, if I had to bow a tire, it was in a contained space, with plenty of time to figure it all out. SHould this occur in some less favorable spot, I will be better prepared to quickly change it out and get back underway.
It all works to the good, you know :).
I decided on a whim to see whether our local "Camping World" store might have a washer-dryer RV-type combo machine in stock, or whether we'd have to order it, or drive clear to south Denver to get one. Of all things, they had it in stock ... and I decided that while Robin was away, I could get the machine, pick up the 5th-wheel, get it installed, and surprise her when she got home.
Ahhh ... such plans .... It didn't go quite that way.
I successfully picked up the merchandise and it took two employees to hoist it in the truck. I asked them to relocate the big box to in front of the hitch, thinking I'd leave it there, pull the 5th wheel to the house, and unload there.
When I arrived at RV America, I picked up the keys for the coach and began backing in to do the hook up. i got concerned that the box might hit the trailer if I had to make a tight turn, so I decided I'd try to get the washer/dryer into the coach right there in the parking lot. Well, it sounded like a good idea at the time ...
I had real trouble moving the box around, it was late in the afternoon, and most everyone was gone from the store, so I new I'd have to manhandle the thing. When I went to move it back over the hitch, it kept trying to slip out of its box so I reasoned I'd just unbox it and make it easier to handle.
As I was unboxing it, the front panel got scratched (dang it!) as it contacted the big tool box in the back of the truck. I eventually got the thing balanced on the siderail of the truck bed, hopped over and carried it, side-stepping under the weight, until I could lay it down on the carpet I'd spread in the entryway of the trailer. Mission accomplished, but it was harder than I'd expected.
Thanks to Mike, our trainer, for the strength training! :)
I hooked up and pulled home, but had to park a half-block away because all the parking spots were filled by neighbors, preventing me from stopping right in front of the house. No big deal, just a little more walking to get everthing done.
I relocated the washer into the bedroom, and found that it would not fit into its cubby unless I dismantled some woodwork and removed the closing hardware from the closet. I wrestled the thing into place, and then discovered that the factory's "Prep for Washer/Dryer" package did not include actually cutting a hole and putting in a vent ...
OK, let's call it a night and worry about it tomorrow.
I pulled down to the county Fairgrounds campsites, which is familiar territory except that it was now quite dark, and managed to take a entry turn a little too short and caught the front trailer tire on a railroad tie they use to mark out the road. I felt the tug, but by the time I saw what was happening I heard the loud hiss of escaping air and knew I'd punctured a sidewall. (dang it!). Well, I firured I'd best get parked right away, since I didn't want to roll on a flat tire and maybe risk the other one blowing out, so I puled right ahead to the first straight-thru spot.
I tried for the better part on 45 minutes get the coach up on the levelers, and secured on it's stabilizers, but the flat tire posed a significant issue so I left the trailer attached to the truck for security and began the process of discovery which would eventually lead to installing the spare tire. It didn;t help that the spare was underinflated, and it was way too late to run a pump, so I settled for a rather severely out of level trailer and decided to call it a night and get some sleep.
I had to sleep backwards on the bed, as the slant was too much for me to consider sleeping head-down, and I got maybe 4 hours of fitful sleep. It was just one of those days when it seemed everything I touched broke, and when I tried to fix it it made it worse. Very, very frustrating, but I am thankful that nothing got truly broken, and no one got hurt.
The next morning I looked for a place to get a replacement tire, but it was Sunday and almost everyone was closed. I relocated to a different spot, as the one I had stopped in was to close to a tree, and it precluded opening up the rooms and I didn't want the wind causing some branches to scrape the finish.
Needless to say, the project didn't go as planned, I was pretty spent and was thankful to see Robin and Brecca again for dinner and a wind-down time.
Got the tire replaced to day and will bolt it up tomorrow, putting the spare back where it should live. I h ave a lot of new knowledge, gained through a bit if hardship, that I hope won't come in handy any time soon. I am thankful that, if I had to bow a tire, it was in a contained space, with plenty of time to figure it all out. SHould this occur in some less favorable spot, I will be better prepared to quickly change it out and get back underway.
It all works to the good, you know :).
Fordzilla Lives!
Back in May (2008) we purchased this truck ... it was the biggest, newest, most expensive vehicle I'd ever been a part of owning, and we did a lot of searching before we finally settled in on this one and took the plunge.
So that you don't have to backtrack, it was a used 2008 Ford F-350 Dually.
Now, I've said that I'm not particulary an adherent to giving names to machines, but this one seemed to warrant a christening.
We thought of "Mongo", after 'Blazing Saddle', and of course we considered simply "Tom" (the dually, you see).
Somehow we finally settled in "FordZilla", just 'cause...
So we've gradually been talking "Fordzilla this, and Fordzilla that, and it has caught on even in the work circle a little bit. We got a copy of Blue Oyster Cult's song 'Godzilla' and enjoy piping up the volume when we pull away with the 5th wheel hooked up. The truck doesn't seem to mind a 13,000+ pound trailer, and it chews up the freeway and climbs up hills just fine. I joked about getting a logo for the truck, or commissioning one of my very talented coworkers to draw us up a vision of what "Fordzilla" would really look like.
Last week Brad (the aforementioned artistically gifted coworker) asked me to show him a picture of our 'rig', that is the truck and 5th wheel together. I obliged, not thinking too much of it.
Here's what I showed him:
-
-
-
The next morning I saw him as I came to work, and as he was just getting off work after having pulled an all-nighter. He said that he 'had something for us' and gave us this drawing. ... ...
Absolutely incredible piece of artwork! What a thrill to be handed a caricature that in our opinion perfectly exemplifies what we were thinking. Brad Maston is an artist in every sense of the word, and we are very grateful for the work he did and the gift he gave us. You honor us greatly Brad. This is just too cool!
So that you don't have to backtrack, it was a used 2008 Ford F-350 Dually.
Now, I've said that I'm not particulary an adherent to giving names to machines, but this one seemed to warrant a christening.
We thought of "Mongo", after 'Blazing Saddle', and of course we considered simply "Tom" (the dually, you see).
Somehow we finally settled in "FordZilla", just 'cause...
So we've gradually been talking "Fordzilla this, and Fordzilla that, and it has caught on even in the work circle a little bit. We got a copy of Blue Oyster Cult's song 'Godzilla' and enjoy piping up the volume when we pull away with the 5th wheel hooked up. The truck doesn't seem to mind a 13,000+ pound trailer, and it chews up the freeway and climbs up hills just fine. I joked about getting a logo for the truck, or commissioning one of my very talented coworkers to draw us up a vision of what "Fordzilla" would really look like.
Last week Brad (the aforementioned artistically gifted coworker) asked me to show him a picture of our 'rig', that is the truck and 5th wheel together. I obliged, not thinking too much of it.
Here's what I showed him:
-
-
-
The next morning I saw him as I came to work, and as he was just getting off work after having pulled an all-nighter. He said that he 'had something for us' and gave us this drawing. ... ...
Absolutely incredible piece of artwork! What a thrill to be handed a caricature that in our opinion perfectly exemplifies what we were thinking. Brad Maston is an artist in every sense of the word, and we are very grateful for the work he did and the gift he gave us. You honor us greatly Brad. This is just too cool!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
