Do Things Happen For A Reason?

Sandy and I were up at 5am this morning and headed out to VA Shreveport for the surgery on the old smeller. We arrived at 7:20 am checked in changed into the gown and assigned to a day room. Wasn’t there long until the RN came in and did the preliminary checks you do prior to surgery. I waited and waited and they advised me that I needed a CT Scan before surgery. I explained the schedule I received in the mail said the CT Scan would be after surgery. They said well this has been changed. So, down stairs I strolled to the CT room with me holding the open gap in the back of my gown. Got there and found out seven people where ahead of me. Nearly two hours later somewhere around 11:30 I was back in the room.

I waited and waited, noon comes and goes. Then its nearly 1:30pm at last they came and off down stairs to “OR” we go. Arrived in the pre-op room and was asked hundreds of questions, explanation of the surgery and the usual marking of the area that was due to have  surgery. Now mind you I haven’t had anything to drink or eat since midnight. My mouth was so dry I felt like I was in the Mojave Desert.

There were four more patients in this room each waiting his turn for their particular surgery. The other four were taken to surgery and there remains only me. The pre-op nurse explained the Doctor who was going to do my surgery was in the “OR” and the type was very similar to what they were going to do for me. So, I waited and waited 2pm comes and then about 2:30 pm the chief surgeon came in with this long sad face and advised me that my surgery was going to have be postponed to another date. The reason being they were having to send frozen skin tissue down to the pathologist to see if there were any more cancerous cells on the patient in front of me and there would not be enough time left in the day for my surgery.
Now mind you this happens to be my third re-schedule for this procedure. Now there will be a fourth when ever they call me with a new date. So….”Do things Happen For A Reason?”
The jury is still out.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

A Beautiful Day In North East Texas

This was our sunset yesterday evening. Today was just great as both the temperature and humidity were lower than they have been . I washed the motor home as it's been two months since I last washed it with soap/water and besides the roof needed cleaning. Prior washing/cleaning has been done with The Solution.
Sandy’s current job is winding down and they should be through with the Corsicana line some time next week. Their next job will be either the Port Arthur line or mowing the highway right a ways in Upshur and Titus counties.

Mom’s house selling is moving right along with out to many amendments that we haven’t been able to deal with. The next hurdle will be the appraisal the buyer wants himself. We have had our appraisal already but since they have applied for a FHA loan they need to get their own.  Our realtor tells us the appraisal should be in within the next 48 hours. We are hoping to close sometime the middle of September.

I purchased the software “Streets & Trips 2009 w/GPS”  for $39.99 from Amazon.com and installed it. Naturally with my luck the computer did not recognize the GPS locator. Contacted Microsoft and they could not get it to work either. So, it must be a detective device. They are to contact me sometime tomorrow and give me instructions on its replacement.

Mowed the three acres here today after washing the MH and will need to do some edging and weed eating tomorrow. While mowing the ditches  I smelled the strong odor of a skunk. The closer I got to the culvert the stronger it became. My guess was that critter was in the culvert waiting on night fall to do its roaming. I naturally left the area immediately and will wait till tomorrow to finish.

One day remaining tell I get my nose job. Will update all as soon as I can get a wifi spot.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Two Days and Counting

  We are down to two days and this on my nose will be gone. I have to be at VA Shreveport at 6am Thursday August the 27th. This means we will have to be up and out of here by 4:30 as its about an hour and half drive from Lone Star to VA. I will be honest the thought of this process has me a little jittery. The one on the left isn’t quite as big and certainly does not look as bad. If all goes well we should be back at the motor home by 2pm that day with a new nose. In reviewing George’s blog http://blog.vagabonders-supreme.net/  he had a swollen eye with bruises. I guess I'll have two swollen eyes with lots of bruising.

They had to rush my Mom to the hospital Saturday evening as her blood sugar was 485 and her BP 200/106. Had us a little scared but upon arrival they managed to get these vital signs well under control. I suspect EMS had a lot to do with this as they gave her insulin there at Rosemont.  My sister followed EMS to the hospital and spent the night. When I talked to Mom Sunday morning her sugar was down to 180 and BP 110/69. She should be returning home sometime today. Mom will be 92 this October and she is a fighter. The Lord has blessed her with a good mind. Her only problems is her inability to walk. She certainly enjoys her scooter. It becomes her legs and takes her places otherwise she wouldn’t be able to go. She loves going out on the front porch and watching the planes take off and land at George Bush International Airport.

Sandy really likes her 12/4 now as Friday gives her a three day weekend. We took her Mom for some blood work Friday and visited her sister Pam in Longview. They really have a nice home and beautifully landscaped back yard with a pool. Saturday we went shopping in Longview as we have not had that fix since Sandy started working. We couldn’t understand why the stores were so crowed and the traffic was much more than a usual Saturday. We learned it was tax free weekend and that explained everything. We managed to work through it. We passed by Sam’s Club on the way home and Sandy all of a sudden said “I wonder if James needs bottled water for the workers”. She called and he said yes get me about 10 cases. So, I whipped into the parking lot near the exit and in she went. A few minutes later out she comes with her basket loaded with 10 cases of 30 bottles per case. I could barley see the top of her head. Being the calm dude that I am I asked her “Sweetie now how do you think we are going to get this in the Jeep”. If you believe that I have some ocean front property here in Lone Star to sell you.
Now mind you we were already pretty well loaded with groceries and our goodies from earlier shopping. Sandy being the “I can make it work” person that she is started rearranging thing’s in the back and about ten minutes later we had all ten cases in the back. However, I might add the Jeep seemed like it was riding on the frame due to all the weight. So, Down the road we went and it was a little more bumpy than normal.

Saturday night we watched The Bristol NASCAR race on TV. It did not disappoint us. All the cautions, wall scrapping and wrecks make it a good evening of entertainment. We were kind a glad to see young Kyle Bush finally win one. He may not have the personality that you like but you do have to admit he’s one heck of a driver. Sandy’s nephew Jeff and his wife MJ were at that race (his first NASCAR race).

Right now I hear thunder outside so maybe we will get a ;little rain before the day is out. Hope it doesn’t rain on Sandy’s work.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Happy Birth Day Bev!

August the 31st is my sister-in-law  Beverly Walker birthday. Since we will not have wifi that day we are wishing her an early Happy Birthday Bev. She is a great sister-in-law and really likes the King of Country Music George Strait. We were going to get her his new CD “Twang” but she beat us to the punch and purchased it the day it came out. So, I knew we had to come up with something that  would make her day. I thought about it for a while and this idea came to mind. Why not make her a collage of George Strait photos to put on her desk top at work. So, here is the end result.

By the way she just loved it. Sandy also downloaded this on her Iphon3G and is using it for her Wallpaper. Unfortunately today's country singers are to much toward the rock side of music and don’t even come close to King George. Now I do have to admit that today's singers gear themselves more to the younger generation leaving the slower pace country music to us seniors. However, George attracts the full gambit.
We have just about every song he has released either downloaded on ITunes and/or the actual CD’s. I might add I met George Strait onevening when he was performing at The Warehouse in San Marcos, TX. He was just getting started with the Ace In The Hold band. My how many years does that go back.

Yesterday evening while relaxing in the old lounge chair I looked across to the clearing of my BIL land next to our MH out of the woods comes a family(4) of wild black hogs. They just leisurely wondered  across the clearing into the woods on the other side.  also  a deer family (a Doe and two small Fawns) cross this same clearing. Maybe we need to turn the MH into a hunting lodge or deer stand.

Until the next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Our First Motor Home

This is a photo of our first RV a 1989 PaceArrow by Fleetwood. The two ladies standing beside it are Sandy and her sister Pam. This was Sandy’s maiden voyage without me.Pam tagged along to give her support and help watch the right side when going through towns.The photo was taken at First Monday at Canton TX. Yes, we go back a long ways of selling goods at First Monday. This particular time we were peddling hand made Country Crafts. Our shop was located in what they called Old Town at that time. They have since tore down all the shacks and there's nothing but open fields now. Here is a photo of the shop and some of our wares hand made by Sandy and myself. She was the artiest and painter. I was the wood worker.

Another reason Pam accompanied Sandy was they had to go to to Camping World in Denton, TX to have leveling jacks installed on the motor home. They left Sunday evening after closing the shop and arrived at Camping World after dark. She said they drove around in the parking lot trying to face the bedroom away from I35 so the road noise would not keep them awake. Finally after deciding to have the MH facing toward the highway they went to bed. Laying there Sandy said this isn’t going to work because its to hot. So, up she sprained and went up front to turn the generator on so they could run the  A/C. Well guess what the old gen set was located in the outside compartment under the bed. It wouldn’t have matter where they parked as all they could here was the gen set running.

Laying there listening to the gen set Pam said I have read where campers have died from exhaust fumes from generators and what if we don’t wake up in the morning. Being the good sister that Sandy is she got out of bed and went to the front and turned off the gen set and A/C. About 2am in the morning Sandy woke up with sweat pouring off her body and immediately said “Sister, I don’t care if we don’t wake up in the morning it is to hot I’m turning the gen set and A/c back on.” About 6am the next morning Sandy woke up and turned to Pam and said “Sister guess what we did wake up.”

There are many other stories of our RVing experience and I’m sure all of you out there have similar stories to tell about your adventures in the life style of RVing. Have Speedy and Sheri  share some of their adventures. They will make you bust your gut from laughing.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

P.S. I don’t mean to bore you but since we don’t travel as much now we have no pretty photos and words about our trips to share. Besides this is my second time to use Live Writer and I needed the practice anyway.

Lonesome Dove

When AMC rebroadcasted the original Lonesome Dove TV mini-series about a month and half ago I managed to watch it again probably for the sixth time since it first aired twenty years ago.

Wow! What a masterpiece. It's hard to imagine it was done for TV. The cast, characters, plot, even the filming are first-rate. It always blows me away just like it did when first aired. Simply amazing. When viewing this movie its hard to imagine what this country was like back then…. hard living, for sure people striking out for new territories, new land, new lives. 
I recall reading some of Al’s post when they were in the Southwest traveling in their motor home  visiting all the ghost towns, old forts, places of the past and reading his words describing just how beautiful it was and wondering about those settlers before us navigating through the west. Its a lot like the RV Dreamers of
modern day as they travel different parts of Canada and the USA seeking out the beauty and adventures that these two great lands offer.

When Sandy and I where doing our major traveling for about seven years I was awed at the sites we saw.  From the east coast to the west coast we saw so much of our great country. I always wondered in my mind just what the early settlers did when they were traveling the same routes we do today. Their hardships, poor navigation, were so much worse than ours today. I also  wonder what people will be doing 100 years from now. Maybe rocket cars traveling to and from the earth to other places in our universe.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

The Solution

This is the side of my coach I used The Solution sold by Mark Hall who can be reached at the following URL:

http://rvingwithpoppa.blogspot.com

This product does an excellent job in washing your RV as well as leaving a very smooth protective finish. Best of all its very easy to apply and removed. I was able to do the entire 2/3rds all the way around in about an hour and half. I did not prewash the coach, now mind you it wasn’t filthy dirty but had two trips of road grime on the lower sections.

Mark advises you can use this product just about on any surface of your RV. Your mirrors, window glass and fiberglass. Contact him he will be happy to set you up. No, Mark did not ask me to provide this information on this excellent product. I am sold on using it between the Klasse treatment. When we get off the road it doesn’t take long to get the coach looking good again.

I was reading George’s journal yesterday wherein he put photo of himself showing his recent basal cell removal. He also gave a website address http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/procedure_folder/nasal_recon_folder/nasal_recon_bilobe.html

After reviewing this I have to be a little honest “It scared the H__  out of me”. I have one of these suckers on each side of the old smeller. Keep me in your prayers next Thursday the 27th. A word of caution to any of you out there who are sun worshippers please use the sun screen and if you have anything usual appear on the nose go get it checked out.

Until next time…MtnAire Travlers.

Sandy’s Visitor

Today was Sandy’s fourth week on her new job. They worked 12 hours today as starting Monday they are going to start 12/4 because the distance they are having to go now requires more drive time. She was a little pooped when she got home tonight around 8pm. She’s looking forward to the 12/4 as this will give her Friday’s off making it a three day weekend.

Today she had a visitor stroll up to the front of her RTV. She said this guy really was curious about her RTV and really like licking the front bumper. One of the weed eaters walked up from the rear and reached out his hand. The bull did not take well of that and chased him into the RTV. They weed eated four miles today and are now only about a mile behind the two mowers with their 15ft bat wing brush hogs. They hope to catch up with them Monday.

Here are before and after photos.

I just can’t imagine doing this job 12/4. Sandy is the RTV driver and line finder. Once she finds the line she will mark the line with fiberglass markers. They have the emergency phone number on them and usually are about 3/4 mile apart depending upon the terrain. If the line are exposed like across a creek she has to lay two markers. The team that is mowing from the Corsicana side are having about a three hour to and from drive. Another reason for the 12/4. Sandy’s crew consist of three weed eaters and her self. She also said they could not weed eat at two locations for fear of two bit bull dogs that where behind flimsy fences.

Today I did laundry and moped her title floors with water and vinegar. Dusted the furniture and washed what dishes I messed up during the day. I would like to say I had dinner on the table when she got home but I’m no cook. So my sweetie also prepared our dinner by going to the local cafe and getting us a meal to go. I would have done this but at the time she did not know when she would get home. We will go into town tomorrow which now with her working is once a week and do a major grocery shop. Maybe we can come up with some simple receipts that I can do.LOL!

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers

Windows Live Writer

I read about this tool on The Geeks On Tour Blog. I thought I would give it a try as posting my blog on Blogger adding photos is a chore. Here goes

  

My Father use to own a Gulf Service Station similar to this one. I can remember working on weekends that most of his lady customer’s would only want Dad fueling their car, wiping windshields, sweeping floor boards, checking oil and tires. That was back in the days where you received full service. I remember one lady particularly that would tell me she didn't  want me touching her car and she would wait for my Father. We hand washed and dried an average of 40 to 50 cars a weekend. After the Gulf he later purchased a Humble Service Station (Exxon today) and his sales really climbed. He also was a good mechanic which really kept him busy as everyone would bring their cars to him for auto repair. Well Its time to see if I can get this posted to my journal. It works !!!

 

Until next time….MtnAirer Travlers

Surgery Moved Back

I received a call from VA advising my basal cell surgery on my nose must be moved back until the 27th of August. I asked why and was told they had to move another patient in front of me whose surgery was more of an emergency than mind. I at first was a little put out as the anticipation jitters would continue for another week. Then I said to myself I needed to be thankful as the person that bumped me was a lot more serious than mine..... So I will have to wait tell this happens to update you. I was reading George's journal http://blog.vagabonders-supreme.net/ who had a similar surgery and he came through okay with the exception of a swollen eye which he said is normal with this type of surgery. I have two one on each side I can't imagine what that's going to end up looking like.

Sandy's job is just going great. She's up every morning at 5am and off by 6am. Her job is a little closer to Lone Star now so she's home a little earlier than 7pm. They started another line that goes nearly to Corsicana, TX. Her crew is starting from this end and going toward the other crew who started near Corsicana. They hope to meet somewhere half way in about two weeks.

This role reversal has me feeling a little guilty as this probably should be me doing this with her staying at home, however it's nice to know she loves what she is doing and more importantly paying off some of the major expenses we've had on the home on wheels.

Some good news we have a pending contract on my mothers home. Hopefully bar any last minute glitches will close on it by September 10th. The family has already been pre-approved by the bank with a couple of things that have to be ironed out but lets pray that all goes well. We put the house on the market in March and five months later sold it. I've read other journals where some of the RV dreamers have also sold their homes in the last few weeks. Maybe the economy is on its way back. Lets hope so.

Here are a couple of before and after photos of Sandy's weed eating crew at work.




Until next time....MtnAire Travlers.

VA, Canton 1st Monday and Sandy's Job Updates

Sandy got home from her job last Friday, July 24th around 7pm. I had the motor home ready to leave for our monthly trek to Canton. We arrived around 9pm. Set the motor home up and ate a late dinner. That weekend we set up our booth as Sandy was driving to her mothers Sunday nite as she had to go to work Monday morning at 6am. Sandy returned to Canton Tuesday evening the 28th as we had to get up at 5am to drive to VA Shreveport for my surgeons appointment for my basal cells on my nose. We arrived at 8;30am and checked in then proceeded to wait in the waiting room for about 30 minutes which wasn't that bad.

Finally they called my name and I was on my way to have those suckers removed from the old nose. But, as luck would have it the young whipper snapper of a surgeon advised the operation would require some skin grafting and maybe some plastic surgery. I knew it.... I was going to get that MJ nose after all. So.... I now have been rescheduled for a day surgery on August 19th 6am.

Will post an update after I get home. I did have to have several pre-op procedures done while there like an EKG, chest Xray, blood work and health history which I might add was real quick considering I had no appointments for this work. This facility is very nice and seems to be organized very well. You just can't believe the number of vets there that day literally hundreds.

After ll the test we returned to Canton and Sandy had to return to her mothers as yes she had to go to work the next morning.

I manned the booth by myself Thursday the 30th and Friday the 31st. It rained every night on those days. Our crowd was a typical August crowd.... non buyers. Sandy returned to Canton Friday night and I sure was glad to see her. Yes, particularly because she does a heck of a lot better job at running the booth than I do. I would make the sales pitch and some of the ladies would snicker and walk away. Glad I didn't have my MJ nose as no telling what they might have done. Anyway our August Canton was a bummer as we barley pulled out our expenses.

We returned to lone Star Sunday night as Sandy had to get up at 5am for going to her job. Looks like she will be able to put in her 10 to 12 hours per day this whole week without interruptions and rain. Were in the money!!! heehee

Also I've been doing the chores around the house while she is off doing the important stuff. I might add I had and accident the other day while cleaning the tile floors with water and vinegar....my cell phone fell into the bucket from my t-shirt pocket and yes it drowned.

Well stay tuned for more adventures with the....

MtnAire Travlers