Mr. Martini and Mr. Rossi

Decided to have a Manhattan last night. Ran out of vermouth so picked up some. However, they did not have Martini and Rossi, except in big huge bottles. So, I decided to get an off brand for the first time. This is in spite of the fact that a wise sage once told me never to use anything but Martini and Rossi. Well, stupid me learned the lesson the hard way. Couldn't even finish the drink. Today I remedied the situation with a stop at Total Wine.

Had lunch yesterday with Tom and Nancy Widell at Phil's in Punta Gorda. The food was great last Wednesday and just as good today. We always enjoy our time with Tom and Nancy!! Today I went to see "1917" at the movies with my brother. Excellent film...very well done!  No pictures today and yesterday as I am a moron!

Almost bought a truck on Saturday up in Tampa at a wholesale dealer. Everyone was very nice but we really felt like cattle. It's like they are doing you a favor letting you buy there. And actually they are as the prices are fabulous. 2018 4x4 Silverado with 35k miles for only 22k. Wow! When it came time to buy we were informed that we needed cash or a cashier's check. No exceptions! So we passed but we plan to go back again in March.  Mooo!!!! Here is the truck:

Above is the "cattle pen" where you wait patiently for your vehicle to appear so you can take it for a test drive

The Wizard of Oz Meets Publix

Made my first bike trip to Publix today on my "Oz" bike. We are now rusted into one gear so thank goodness it is mostly a flat trip. You can see that I can carry quite a bit of cargo, thanks to the Dairylea crate I stole from Mike Tirrell's garage!

As some of you know, Publix is my favorite grocery store. Good prices, good service, good variety, and the best darn key lime pie in America!!! Many of you know the story of our epic journeys on the ICW in our sailboat, and the accompanying quest for the best key lime pie.  After trying this dessert delight up and down the east coast, I can say with a great deal of confidence that you can count on Publix key lime to be great. By the way, I must note that I did not get a key lime pie today as we are trying to slim down a little.

So while many of you are scooting around town in your vehicles running errands, know that I am riding my trusty pony whenever I can. My mighty Schwin leaves no carbon footprint, and it helps to build my appetite (which needs really no building at all). So what are you doing to lessen your carbon footprint? Meatless Mondays? Driving a Prius? Walking (skiing) more?

We are heading out for dinner tonight and I will try to remember to take a few fotos. I wonder if the restaurant will serve key lime pie?

The "Steve" Factor

Years ago I learned that most of the problems in my life are caused by me. I guess you will need an example, so here is one: When we owned our 38 foot sailboat, Cross Roads, we traveled down the east coast of the U.S. on the Intra-Coastal Waterway (ICW). It was a glorious adventure for Joanna and I, but right before we left I got the idea to redo our fuel system and add a second diesel fuel filter. I designed the whole new system myself and I was quite proud of the finished product that allowed me to switch filters on my diesel in just a few seconds should we get a clogged filter.

We were ready to go and all went well for the first 3 days. Then suddenly we started to have engine problems. My diesel was starved for fuel and we were cutting our daily trips short to deal with an engine that was struggling. To make a long story short, it turned out that I had used the wrong sealant on my fittings and they were leaking air. A no-no for a diesel! A day to redo all the fittings properly and we were finally good to go. The "Steve Factor" had been overcome. Time and again I have learned to look for the factor in any mechanical/electrical/technical problem. About 90% of the time any situation can be solved by taking the factor into consideration.

So yesterday afternoon the refrigerator quit working in the RV. I just happened to be working on it at the time. I have a tech unit that protects my fridge from damage when we are on the road. Basically it keeps the fridge from overheating when we go up and down hills. It's called an APR and it has worked well. That is until I decided to run diagnostics on it when the cooling fan ran overtime last week.

I was in touch with the company for tech support but somehow the system crashed. No fridge...dead and not running...food no longer being cooled...very stressful.  I spent hours testing and reading manuals and watching videos. I was miserable and stressed out because I knew the "Steve Factor' was somehow responsible. We went to bed with a dead fridge and it was a restless night. This morning I called a pro and he said he would try to make it later in the day. A $125 bucks just to show and $125 bucks an hour. Yikes! The Steve factor was about to get costly!!!

I finally got a response from tech support and they pointed out that I had made a programming mistake. In minutes I corrected it and the fridge was back online! Once again, the Steve factor had been overcome. The good news is that all the searching and reading about my problem has helped me understand my system much more clearly. So in the end knowledge is power and it is a win.

The lesson is clear. As my wife says, "When things are not going your way in any situation, don't blame others." Look to yourself first. It's good advice for us all! This doesn't apply only to mechanical, electrical, or technical problems, but rather in all areas of life and especially personal relationships. In any conflict situation, learn to identify the fact that in most cases, over 50% of the problem is you!!!!!!! I know it is true for me!

Tonight I am a happy boy! I have ice!!!!

Mr. Rogers and Trucks!

Joanna and I went with her sister to see the Mr. Rogers movie with Tom Hanks. Hanks pretty much nailed Fred Rogers and we enjoyed being part of his neighborhood.

We had a front roll through yesterday and it rained in the afternoon.  I spent time analyzing my refrigeration system which has an add-on safety unit called APR. The APR unit automatically shuts off the fridge if it overheats for some reason and has its own cooling fan. I thought there might be an issue with the fan. After spending time reading and studying manuals and running diagnostics I am satisfied it is working correctly. There are always things to do to keep the bus and its systems running smoothly.

I've been doing a lot of walking to improve my fitness and trying to do over 6k steps per day. So far this month I am on target. I enjoy seeing and talking to all the friendly people as I make my rounds. Today I had a nice chat with a lady named Ruth who has a menagerie of house plants and several cats.

I also enjoy walking around the RV loop and seeing all the trucks. Many of the RVs here are 5th wheel jobs that require a hefty pickup truck to provide a tow. Since I recently sold my 2001 Silverado I am now in the market for a good used truck. It's gotta be 4 wheel drive with no rust. I see trucks all around me that are potential buys but none are for sale. This is unfortunate as they all seem to be lavishly maintained by their owners. They all shine like they just came through the car wash!

Believe it or not if I buy a truck it will be only the third truck I have ever owned in my life. My first was a 1985 Dodge pickup that I purchased new in 1985. I kept it for 17 years!! My second truck was the 2001 Silverado which I just sold. I'd still have it as mechanically it was perfect. Unfortunately, it was badly rusted out and my mechanic, Dicky Krebs, condemned it. So now the search is on for a suitable replacement. Time is on my side! I can't possibly afford to buy a brand new one. Partly because the prices are insane, and partly because I don't think I will still be driving in 17 years. (I'm hoping to still be here!)

Home sweet home:

Trucks everywhere! All clean and shiny!

 Da pool

 Entrance to RV section of park

And so the new year begins!

We had a great time kicking off the new year in Naples with Rich and Robin.

Now we are back home in Ft. Myers and taking care of business here. I set up the awning on the motorhome this afternoon after we unpacked and did some walking.  The good news is that I met my exercise quota for today. The bad news is that I ate almost a whole bag of Cheetos a little while ago.
I've been looking for a "new" pickup here in south Florida and even looked at one but so far no luck. I will keep on trying!
Tomorrow we are heading over to spend some more time with Diana.

New Years

We  are spending new years with my brother Rich and Robin. We have been having fun playing cards, exercising, just hanging out and of course, eating. Robin made us a terrific turkey dinner!(turkey dinners are my favorite)

Rich exercising 

Rich's house is in trendy Naples 

Teddy loves it here, especially  chasing geckos!

And sleeping!

Family, Food, Fitness, and Fairness!

We spent a wonderful Christmas day with Diana and her family. Diana is an excellent cook and we had a Christmas dinner table fit for royalty and loaded with delicious goodies!! Ham, asparagus, 2 kinds of potatoes, carrots, biscuits, soup, and tasty pie desserts. Thank you Diana!! Later we got to watch Ian and Heather's children, Liam and Damiama, tear into presents! Heather's mom, Tery and her friend Joe were also in attendance but photo boy missed them!

One of my major goals here in Florida is to improve on my fitness, especially after being sick last month. So, every day I try to walk, swim, and ride my bike. It's about a mile and a half here to walk around the park which is just right. The pool is less than 100 yards from my door and they keep it dreamy warm. Just the way old people like it. No heart stopping plunges here!

And then there is my bike. It is right out of the Wizard of Oz!! I didn't get to start riding until 2 days ago as I had a little mishap. When I got the bike down off the back of the bus, the tires were flat. Hey, no problema! I have the sweetest pump you've ever seen complete with digital tire guage. The only problem is that I am getting old and stiff and I failed to get bend over and get close enough to read it properly while I inflated the front tire. I leaned over just enough to see that there was 11 pounds of pressure in the tire so I kept filling.  However, had I gotten closer, I would have seen the decimal point. Too late I realized that it really read 110 pounds of pressure in a tire that normally takes 40.
Imagine how I felt when the tire exploded with a deafening boom! I am indeed a fool! Stupid is as stupid does!

The guys at the JRA bike shop were very friendly and had a hearty laugh when I explained what happened to my tire. As I left the shop with my refurbished front tire it dawned on me that I now had more money invested in the front tire than in the whole bike, which cost me 25 bucks. Yikes!

Here is a shot of my trusty pony in her stall awaiting a run. How do I know she's a girl? Check out the bar!! (Easy on/off for clumsy old fool!) (Also good to have on the days when I am feeling gender fluid)

I need to get out my orange plastic milk crate and attach it to the rear platform to complete the Oz look!

Finally, I read an article by Anthony Esolen of Thomas More College in New Hampshire on tolerance. It spoke to me so I share part of it here:

"I am the father of a twelve-year-old boy. I want my son to be comfortable being a boy. I want him to grow up to be attracted to women, and to be attractive to them in turn. I want him to have natural, matter-of-course friendships with other men; not the suffocating touchy-needy relationships that stunt a boy’s maturity. I want him to walk and talk and work and play and fight and laugh like the man I see developing within him. I want him to love the beauty and grace and wisdom of girls and women, and to see himself as perfecting them and being perfected by them. I hope he will marry a good woman and raise happy children, who will look like him and his wife, and maybe a little like me and my wife. It’s perfectly natural for me to want this. It’s what fathers have always wanted for their sons.

Therefore it is natural that I should want no one to lay a snare in the boy’s path. Adolescence comes with a maelstrom of new feelings: frustration with still being so young, fear that one is already too old, longing for some indefinite thing of beauty, curiosity regarding good things that are mysterious, and bad things that seem so; no one can chart a map for every adolescent child. Adolescents are, then, peculiarly vulnerable. We owe it to them to make their passage as healthy and easy as possible.

All right, then. I understand there are men who have not attained the healthy masculine nature I hope my son will attain. I don’t make fun of them. I don’t wish them ill. I count some among my friends. I extend to them my tolerance of a state that is at least a significant falling-short of a natural good. But it requires pretty serious reciprocity. For one, the rights of my son should be respected. No snares in his path, thank you. He should not have to suffer, by suggestion or invitation or public example or enticement or moral sophistry, any complication along his way to becoming a healthy man, able to love a woman in a healthy way."

https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2012/09/6452/