Wondering if the guitar case will show up today.

As I mentioned in my blog yesterday a vendor at the flea market promised me last week that this weekend he would bring me a case made for my deep dish Ovation guitar.  Like I said I have one that works but it is getting worn out.  He didn’t show up yesterday, but during the summer, only a fraction of the vendors show up on Saturday but Sunday is a different story; it is then packed with vendors.  They figure that since the heat in the summer is hard to take and since Sunday draws a much larger crowd than Saturday, if they are only going to set up one day it would be more productive to set up on Sunday.  Of course there is always an exception to that rule.  One of our favorite and also the most successful outside vendor has started coming only on Saturday.  After he retired from the business world, he started his own business of cleaning out homes.  He then sorts through the stuff and saves the good stuff to sell.  He has done very well and sometimes he discovers real treasures.


There are all types of people that sell at the market and we have become friends with some of them.  Would you believe that some are even older than we are?  One of these, a wonderful lady, is having a birthday so my wife is wrapping up a Mickey Mouse doll for her.  No, my wife didn’t get it from the flea market, but she did get it from a yard sale (grin).  This couple is quite active.  The husband restores old Volkswagen cars and busses.  He also restores old vintage travel trailers.  They not only come to our local flea market, but use some of their restored RV’s to travel to other flea markets when the spirit moves them.  They seem to be a wonderful couple and enjoy visiting with them.  Visiting with the people is the main reason we go to the flea market although my wife is more into looking for treasures than I am.  I only buy what I figure I need now or can use now.  At my age, you don’t collect things or buy things to sell at a higher price in the future because ninety percent or more of my life is behind me.  Now you all have a great day and maybe we will see you at the flea market someday, somewhere.

Wondering, “What the H”.

Now, what the heck else is going wrong with my RV?  Where the “H” is my “H”?  I suppose I got you confused, but I want to know where my “H” went to.  OK, let me explain.  The name of my RV is on the front; “Dutch Star”.  The word is in black glued on letters and somewhere, sometime when I had the unit out on the roads, the “H” disappeared.  Now my wife says I have to get that fixed.  Well, probably the easiest thing to do is take off all the other letters, right?  Guess I will have to order a letter “H”.  Bet I have to get the whole name, what do you think?  I guess it will not steer straight or something since it is missing a letter.  I miss a lot of letters, since I do not spell very well, so it doesn’t bother me.  Since it is the last letter in a word, I just wonder how many people would really notice it and even if they do, it wouldn’t bother me.  I would just tell them that I forgot to run the spell checker (grin).  OK, off to the flea market.  A fellow I talked to last weekend told me he would bring me a guitar case especially built for a deep dish Ovation.  I looked up the serial number and discovered that my guitar was built in the 1960’s.  The case it came in was not original but it fits in it well but it is getting old and the lining is deteriorating.  You all have an “H” of a good day now, you hear?

Wondering what your pastime is.

Everyone has some things that they like to do when they have some free time to kill and I am wondering what some of those things are that you all do.  I suppose it depends on where you are, the weather, and how you feel, right?  So Let’s take it by locations.  What do you enjoy doing as a pastime when you are home in good weather?  I like to take walks, do light outside chores, cut grass with my new lawn tractor, and take the Jeep and go somewhere.  My wife likes Hobby Lobby or Michael’s so if we take a ride that is one destination and the two stores are right across the street from each other, although in different small shopping plazas.  In bad weather I like to paint, watch TV, lie on the couch, or just lie on the couch.  In fact, in good weather I like to lie on the couch.  Of course I always have a Sudoku book handy.  I just love doing those puzzles and I usually have a lap-top or a tablet handy to play on line games or read blogs or search for whatever interests me at the moment.  Even if I seem to be doing nothing I am really busy.  I have been writing poems (mostly silly ones) for the cards that either my wife or I make each weekday to mail to my Aunt who has been in a nursing home in Pennsylvania for a couple of years now.

Now, when out in the RV what do you like to do as a past-time?  Me?  I like to talk.  Yep, I like to walk around and stop and talk to anyone who will allow a conversation to get started.  When I take a dog for a walk, my wife wonders if I get lost but I just find people to talk with and really enjoy doing so.  I wonder why?  Maybe it is because I have worked from home most of my life and we live back in the middle of a wooded twelve acres and can’t see the neighbors.  My wife and I talk and the dogs and I talk (yes we do and I am not crazy. . . I mean the part about talking to the dogs not the wife.)  I talk on the phone, but much prefer to talk in person.  I am a ham radio operator and talk on the air.  I haven’t been doing much of that lately, guess I will have to fire up my radios and see who is on and where.  OK, enough about me, tell me what some of your favorite pastimes are and then go do the ones you like best and have a great day doing so, you hear?

Wondering about timing.

The timing of events has changed world history many, many times and I am sure it will continue to do so as long as time exists.  The best definition of timing comes from Wikipedia which states: “Timing is the time when something happens or the spacing of events in time”.  For instance, it was bad timing that I decided to put my RV into the shop to have non-emergency problems taken care of.  At the time I thought that it was the perfect timing since the new awning was delivered the day before.  As I look back in time, it was the worst time to put it in the shop.  As I told you earlier, my wife has an injured back and ribs.  It is easier for her to ride in the recliner in the RV than in the Jeep.  We also have three dogs and can’t leave them for long periods of time and they just love to ride in the RV.  Therefore, although we really wanted to go to Ben’s memorial, we didn’t since the motor-home was not available.  Then the AC went out that serves the house during the triple digit days, and no RV sitting in the driveway waiting with cool air-conditioned air.  That is an example of bad timing.  Of course Ole Ben passing on at such a young age was also bad timing, especially after just getting a Casita and having lots of travel plans.  Of course there are also times when I had good timing that saved me bodily harm or extra expense.

Now, the other type of timing is the one I really like.  You know, like the timing of a drag race and the difference in time of the two cars passing the finish line.  Why just the weekend before last, I was watching the top fuel races at Bristol, TN and they hit the finish line close to 330 mph but it looked like they were tied.  With modern electronics, it was determined that the winner got there .0001 seconds before the loser.  No human could have seen that and by all practical purposes, I would have called it a tie.  We use time in many ways, like speeds, schedules, the important one – meal times, and distances like “that star is 250 light years away.  A light year is the distance that light travels in one year, a long way.  You want to know how far that is, look it up, I don’t have the time (grin).  Speaking of astronomical stuff, the timing had to be perfect to create the way this spot we live in is actually here.  At least I think we are actually here, or maybe. . . . OK, a good subject for a future blog.  Now you all have a great time today, you hear?

Wondering when I will have AC

It always happens on one of the hottest days of the year.  What, you may ask.  Well, my central AC went out.  When my wife and I got back from grocery shopping, the house felt a little on the warm side.  It didn’t take long to figure out that the AC unit was not working.  The fan was running but just blowing hot air.  (Something I have been accused of a few times.)  I went outside and the unit out there was just humming.  I did not enjoy the song that it was humming.  I called the repair people but this is their busy time and they said that they couldn’t come until Thursday, but if possible, they would try to work us in tomorrow (which is today)  I have my fingers crossed but the odds are not in my favor.  So later in the afternoon, I called the RV place and explained my problem and wondered if I could come and get my RV and bring it home to stay in until my AC was fixed.  The guy said sure, so I hurried right over there and when we went out to get it, the driver’s area was torn out for access to the power window motor and it was not safe to drive.  Dang!!!!  I headed back home and we spent a very warm evening (indoor temperatures in the mid 90’s) and a hot night.  This morning is a lot cooler than any for quite some time and they are not predicting the triple digit numbers like we have had in the past few days, so maybe it will be more bearable today.  In the mean time, I am not going to put much effort into anything to get over heated.  There is no way to cool off if I do.  We are hoping that the AC guy can get here today and that it is fixable.  If not, it may take longer to get a new one.  It just seems to be one thing after another.  But, you all have a great day and keep cool, you hear?

Wondering about Fort Davis Observatory and Ben’s Memorial.

I have been near Fort Davis and its observatory many, many times but was always in a hurry to get to someplace else, so never stopped.  I need to stop sometime since I really love astronomy.  Of course I know that I would not be allowed to use the four big telescopes.  I would prefer to tour the place in the daytime when the scopes are not in use.  I have never seen a telescope bigger than the one I own and would like to see the observatory as a whole.

Did you know that back years ago that a fellow ran into the dome and fired three shots from a handgun into the 107 inch mirror?  I have no idea why he did it but I do know that a reflector mirror that size would be very expensive and take a long time to build or repair.  Fortunately, it did not do extensive damage to the big scope and it still had 98 percent of its light gathering ability still intact.

My wife and I wanted to attend the memorial for Ben that will be held in Mansfield, Texas tonight, but since my wife has broken vertebrae, she is in too much pain to go that far in the Jeep and back home the same night.  We also have three dogs to worry about, and the motor-home is still in the shop.  She could stand the trip if we had the RV to use and could stay the night and the pups could come along.  I can’t leave her here alone, since she cannot even open the sliding door to let the dogs in and out.  We have another appointment with an M.D. this morning and hope they can figure something out.  We both think that this is something that will just have to heal itself.  Neither of us likes to take medication, and do not take pain meds.  I think that pain medication is just a mask over the real problem and could cause a person to hurt themselves even worse when on the pain medication.  Pain is the body’s way of warning us that there is something wrong.  OK, the pain has warned her, so hope it will get better quickly.  Now you all have a great day now, you hear.

Wondering about the heat and the shed.

This is not a good combination, trying to do outside work when the temperature is around the century mark and the humidity is approaching it.  I unloaded and carried the cement blocks over to the tentative location of my new lawn tractor shed, got the large package unwrapped, and found the instruction/parts list information.  It seems that a lot of “extra” stuff needs to be purchased to complete the shed.  The floor framing needs doubled if you are going to put any weight on it at all, and flooring, other than the week framing, there is no floor panels supplied.  In fact, there is nothing to cover the roof panels and shingles will have to be purchased.  I am going to slow down and completely read the information that came with the shed kit and make a complete list of what all I may need.  My son offered the use of his truck if I need it to bring some bulky stuff home that may not fit in my Jeep Liberty.  Now, the only thing that is missing is for me to find enough energy to work on it.  Those panels are quite heavy and I seem to be a lot weaker now that I am getting a little older.  Now, I didn’t say I was old, so don’t take it the wrong way.  I will not be 70 until my next birthday and that is about a half a year away.  Sixbears offered to come and help but traveling would take up all his time.  I guess his private jet is grounded for repairs or something.  Right, Sixbears?  But like he mentioned in the comments yesterday, it is only a 4000 mile round trip.  You all have great day now, you hear?