Forgetfulness

Have you ever left some of your groceries at the check out counter in Wal Mart? Well I did and didn't discover it for three days. The four items were non perishable and not items I needed right after the shopping spree but when I did need them I couldn't find them. Double checked the pantry, the car, and all points in between, no items. The whole time I am searching I am telling myself I remember taking the items off the shelf, didn't I? Or did I just think I did? Then dig out the receipt to discover I did indeed purchase them but somehow they didn't make it home. So on my next trip to Wal Mart I asked the cashier if there was anything I could do about my forgetfulness since I had no way to prove I left them in the store. She informed me that cashiers are supposed to take any bags left at the check out to customer service. Customer service then records the date, the items and their UPC codes in a little notebook. They then place the items back on the shelf. Then when you discover your forgetfulness simply go back to Wal Mart, re-collect the items off the shelves, take them to customer service along with your receipt, admit how forgetful you are, and when they have verified all the information they bag your items and you are on your way. This works for perishable items as well but since my items weren't perishable and I didn't need them right away I didn't discover them missing in action for a few days. Hopefully you would discover perishable items missing a lot sooner and if not I truly hope they were left at the store and not in the car. I heard about one lady who left some meat in the car and a few days later couldn't understand why the buzzards were flying around her garage and when she went to investigate discovered her forgetfulness. Thought some of you might be interested to know you haven't lost your money and your product. I now have one of each of the items in stock because I didn't find out the process until I had repurchased the goods. Oh well, live and learn! Happy shopping.    

Another Milestone

My father has always loved motorcycles about as much as I do and like me (at least until a few months ago) he never owned one either. Not that he didn't dream and look (because I've looked with him) but it just didn't happen for whatever reason. Daddy served in the army during WWII. He first drove a DUKW. The DUKW was developed quickly during World War II to meet the need for amphibious cargo transfer from ship to shore. The nomenclature DUKW was assigned by the manufacturer, General Motors Corporation, from:

D= First year of manufacture, 1942

U = Utility vehicle (amphibious)

K = All wheel drive

W = Rear tandem axle

Someone quickly noticed that DUKW could be pronounced "duck" and the "Army Duck" was born. The DUKW was based on the GMC “deuce and a half” CCKW, fitted with a watertight hull and propeller. Following the war, many of the versatile DUKWs were transferred for Coast Guard duty, river patrols or later Civil Defense work.

OK, back to the story. Daddy said that the army trained additional DUKW drivers very quickly and he found himself taken off the DUKW detail and assigned to the motor pool. The Sergeant of the motor pool came in one day and told Daddy he was going to send him to motorcycle school and the next day came in and said he couldn't go to the school because the Lieutenant wanted Daddy to drive jeep for him. So as he says he came that close to being trained and then missed out and if he had gone to the training would most likely be riding today. But alas, it wasn't to be.

When I was approaching retirement I told Daddy I wanted to get a three wheel motorcycle and he started looking for deals and he found a few but as you know now I waited on the Harley. I thought I would take delivery of the bike, immediately ride over to my father's house, surprise him with the bike, pick him up and ride off into the sunset. Well, when I got to my training class it suddenly dawned on me I had a lot to learn before I could just hop on and ride, much less have a passenger. So after taking delivery of the bike I set about the training process (oh such a difficult task :-) ). Jim took Daddy for a short ride shortly after we got the bike and while I was thrilled to have Daddy ride, it wasn't me with him on that bike. But finally today (10/18/2009) I was able to ride up to my father's house, pick him up and ride off into the sunset. Well, not exactly the sunset but into a most glorious afternoon. Today was one of the first "cold" days of Florida's fall. It was 43 degrees when I got up this morning and it didn't get much over 65 degrees all day. So Daddy and I both bundled up and he said I blocked enough wind off of him so that he didn't get uncomfortably cold and off we went on a ride of about 40 miles round trip. No where in particular just some pretty side roads.

I can't tell you what a thrill this ride was for me. To be giving my Daddy a ride on my bike is just too much for words. I think Daddy had a good time too. I wish we could ride everyday. I love you Daddy and hope we have many more rides.

We Are Home

Arrived home safely although early. Things didn't totally work out as we had planned for our Kentucky trip and we decided home was the best place to be. We drove straight through and of course wound up in Atlanta at 5:00 pm. Fortunately we never got tied up in stopped traffic but it was very slow moving in several places.

Becasue of observance days and rain on the other days we only got in a short amount of motorcycle ride time in the mountains. On our first mountain ride (Jim drove!) we took our favorite route from Becknerville (which is where we stay) back down the mountain to the main highway and back up and on a side road we had never traveled. The road from Becknerville follows the Kentucky river and is super rural. Beautiful farms, trees, river ... The side road was much the same just without the river. It was fun, scarry, and exhilirating all at the same time. No Tiffany, we did not ride on Log Lick Road.

The weather was sensational (we could have done without the rain but oh well)! Temperatures during the day in the low to mid 70's and at night into the low to mid 40's. Some of the days were windy and felt colder but we bundled up or found places to get out of the wind and enjoyed the day. One night we went to bed it was 65 degrees and when we woke up it was 45 degrees. Quite a drop. A couple of nights Jim got chilled and we had trouble warming him up - I told him that is a side effect of the weight loss. Nights he could sit by the campfire and drosh with the guys were really good for him. The guys would sit by the campfire almost all night (and they say women talk a lot).

We got to reconnect with old friends and catch up on their families and of course made new friends.  Since we were the first to arrive in camp we got to witness everyone else arriving. It was fun to listen to the little girls scream with glee when they realized their friends had arrived. The boys were excited in their own ways but the girls were the cutest.  The kids played endlessly. I heard one little girl just crying her heart out one night when daddy said it was time to go on to bed. Through her tears she kept saying "it's not fair, it's not fair" and I'm sure daddy's heart was breaking but he knew she was already exhausted and needed a bit more rest. And, we were asked to use the electric hand blowers to dry our hands to save on paper towels. One afternoon while I was in the bathroom and washing my hands I turned to the electric dryer to dry and a little girl (she's probably 6) said to me I should be using the paper towels. I reminded her we needed to use the electric dryer to save the paper and she said "but don't you realize how many CO2s you release in the air when you use electricity?" Her daddy said she didn't think of those when she gets the spray cans of deodrant and air freshner going!  The little ones are learning and even though they may get the words wrong they are at least listening. Kite flying, unicycles, skateboards, scooters, volleyball and the playground were all favorites.

It was still too early for leaf change. The reds were very prominent and the yellows were coming on. Surprisingly enough there was more color in Tennessee than in Kentucky. As we drove south the temperatures rose considerably. By the time we were in Atlanta the temperature was up to 85 and stayed that way all the way home. Then of course the temperatures back in the high 90's here at home. We're liking the fall cast to the shadows here at home but we are looking for some of the cooler temperatures to go along with that.
 
It's always good to get away and always good to get home.

Arrival

We have arrived in Kentucky. Left around 8:00 pm on the 29th. The temperatures have steadily decreased as we have gotten farther away from Florida. Low in the mid 50's during the night last night and a high of  70 today! What a change and what a welcome relief. Travel was without incident and we will go into camp tomorrow to set up. The leaves are just starting to turn here and the reds are the most prominent of course. We trailered the motorcycle up and plan to take some of the scenic tours recommended for this area. We have several places we have always enjoyed driving in the car or truck and can hardly wait to do it on the bike now.

We are here to visit friends during the time of sukkot. We will live in tents, share meals and other fellowship with a small community of believers, dance, and sing. A time of celebration and thanksgiving to YHWH for the fall harvest and HIS never ending provision for our lives.

I'll keep you posted when I can get back to an internet connection.

Work, Work, and more Work

I haven't blogged the last couple of weeks because, again, I think what we do as a normal course of days or weeks isn't part of our exploits and then I think they really are, just not as interesting as others.

We have continued to clean up around our place and it really does look great. Even the UPS guy commented on how nice things looked. We have cleared an eight acre piece that was totally overgrown and now is almost totally cleared, we have new fence in some areas and had others refenced, we hauled several tons of garbage to the dump (mostly from the 8 acres), rerouted electric and water lines in the yard etc. etc. etc.

This week begins the preparation for a long trip, something we haven't done since last November. We are leaving next week to go to Kentucky to celebrate sukkot (we will live in tents) with our friends from that area. And then we may be will stay over and help them work on their house. They are doing an addition. We'll see how that goes. However, this week Jim has been hard at work preparing the place for us to be gone. He has mowed, mowed, and mowed some more and I have to admit the place looks really nice.

I on the other hand have gone shopping with Tiffany, had my hair done, lunched with Marge, had dinner with my parents and generally goofed off. Sunday will be crunch time for me to be sure we have all the necessary items inventoried, cleaned, prepared, and ready to be packed up in order to leave out on time after sundown on Tuesday. Jim will be helping with the preparations also, no goof off time for him!

I'll try to find time to blog from the road. Kentucky should be into fall leaf change during the time we are there and we are taking the motorcycle to get some good ride time on the mountain roads. I can hardly wait.

Night Rider

Last night (09/09/09) Jim took me for a long night ride on the motorcycle. Now this isn't the first night ride but it was the longest. We went out 470 to 44 and wanted to go across on 475 back to Marion County line but that is still closed for repair so we continued east on 44 down to 468 (Adamsville Road) to 501 to 470 home. I didn't take any pictures because I still need to read up on night photography, however I have incentive - the Cemex plant at Sumterville is beautiful at night with all the lights. This will most likely be my first night photo.

Then tonight, since I was such a good girl all day, Jim took me for another long night ride. Can you tell we are likin' this? Both rides were about an hour long. Tonight we went north on 301 to Wildwood and out to the Girl Scout road over to 239 and back to 44 and then ... Jim got on the interstate - his first night practice ride on the interstate. His first trip on the interstate was southbound from Lake Panasoffkee to the Webster exit but that was in the day time and a little shower of rain.

I didn't drive on either of these trips and haven't tried to drive on the interstate yet at all. But I have driven once at night for a short distance. Both will require more practice for me.

The Harley Mamas

09-01-2009 - Today is the day! Ever since we bought the Harley, Marge (my very best friend in the whole world) and I have been planning to ride together. Jim took Marge for a ride around the block a few days after we took delivery, but I had to practice, practice, practice. We decided there was no rush and we prefer safety over speed. So today, after many weeks of practice (every mile was fun, fun, fun), I rode to Bushnell to pick Marge up for our first practice ride together. We plan to practice together a few times around town before we hit the road to any other location.

First we went by Marge's office where Vicki and Ashley took photos. Then it was off to the Mexican Restaurant. We went down Florida Street at about 30 mph to Seminole and across to 301. Marge said it seemed awfully fast (and we didn't get over 30). It does seem different on the bike and takes some real getting used to. Then after lunch we went west on 476 to one of the county roads that cuts back over to 48 and then east on 48 back home. Marge didn't like the traffic on 476, but she'll get used to that eventually too. First time experiencing that on a bike is rather unique. She never said what she thought of the speed at 55 mph, so she must have adjusted quickly. We'll go again soon for more practice.

Marge and I have experienced a lot of things together over the years and always have the best of time together. Today was a stand out moment in our exploits. As Marge said, this is what retirement is all about! I'll keep you posted.