Work, Work, Work

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. 

One of the fishing holes I showed Tammi -- close to her new home.

Memorial Day weekend was a certainly busy weekend.  Remember on Friday we visited all the graves of our loved ones in the area.  Saturday we headed to Bradley Trails for our family ATV event.  Saturday night Terry was up way past his normal bedtime helping Tammi and Robert buy a shed to install at their new home.  By the time Terry got back to our motorhome I was dead to the world.  Riding those ATVs was sure fun but I was beat.  However, he didn’t get home until long after I had already gone to bed.

The selection of the perfect shed wasn’t the hard part.  It was finding the one they had selected within a 50 mile radius.  Then, they had to get it, have it loaded and drive back.  Our ATV trailer sure has come in handy.

Sunday was not the day of rest.  Now that the shed had been purchased Terry was up for an early morning start to help Robert put it together.  Of course, not everything they needed was included in the box.  Following the directions and putting the shed up according to  those directions took all day Sunday.  For lunch Tammi barbecued hamburgers on her new deck to feed the workers.  By the time 6:00 rolled around Terry was a pretty tired camper.  Pizza was ordered for everyone but he was just too tired to stick around and eat it.  We talked about having a barbecue at Lee’s place Monday afternoon.  I bought all the food ….. but that didn’t quite work out as discussed. 

Tammi and Robert had a couple pretty heavy items in their garage that needed moving.  With five strong men around, we figured Monday morning would be a perfect time to help them get those items moved.  So, it was another early morning start and another trip where our little ATV trailer came in handy.  Moving isn’t a lot of fun but when you have help it’s best to use that help when you can especially with the bigger and heavier items.  A good sized load was made from one house to another. Every trip just means there is less to move in the end. 

The heaviest item they had in their storage shed was a phone booth Terry had purchased many, many years ago.  We had it in our home in Washington and then moved it to Texas when we moved.  Afterwards Tammi took it with her to New Jersey and then had it shipped to Washington.  Now it is in the Lee’s garage.  And, yes, it is a working pay phone.  The boys plan on putting it back in tip-top shape.

It was a very busy weekend. 

‘Tis life on the road.

All Work and No Play

A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice.

And, we certainly have decided not to work all the time.  Guess what we did over Memorial Day weekend.  We had another family outing and another chance to get a family photo of all ten of us together.

We started out in clean clothes and on clean machines
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All four ATVs were loaded up on the trailer and two trucks.  We were on our way.

As clean as the machines started out, there was no way they were going to stay that way.

We did discover riding in the mud was one heck of a lot of fun

Bradley Trails is a very popular place to ride ATVs.  There are miles and miles of trails.

Kids really don’t ever grow up.  It was mud puddle after mud puddle.

The mud just got deeper.

The machines got muddier.

Polaris -- Before

Polaris -- After

Eventually the fun ended and the cleaning had to begin.  It was very difficult getting all that mud off the clothes and the machines …. even with a good pressure washer.




We had a great time and we scored another great family get together.  Riding the ATVs in Arizona is definitely so much different than it is riding in the Pacific NW.


‘Tis life on the road.

Memorial Day

The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles than in growing with them

Memorial Day has always been a day we visited cemeteries and placed flowers in remembrance on headstones of those we loved.  Isn’t this something everyone does?   I’m not so sure.  This is something I’ve done with my folks ever since I was a small child.  We always picked flowers and went to the cemetery.  It is a tradition for most families I believe.  It is only right to remember not only the veterans but those you loved.  

 

I usually still try to make a trip to the cemeteries we visit before Memorial Day to avoid the biggest part of the traffic jams.  Those little one lane roads are packed bumper to bumper all weekend long.   Besides isn’t it better to have the headstones ready before the others get there?

I don’t have a flower garden and I’m sure folks around here wouldn’t appreciate it if I picked their flowers so it was off to Fred Meyer with Tammi to purchase a few bouquets.  In addition to the flowers, we also picked up flags for the graves of my father and uncles who served during WWII.   We sure miss them all!

Tammi and I headed out bright and early Friday morning to beat the rush and have the flowers in place and looking nice before everyone else showed up to decorate the graves of their loved ones.  Isn’t this tradition.  Isn’t this what most folks do for Memorial Day?

 

It was a nice day.  The sun was out and it didn’t have to compete with the rain.  It was a holiday and we took it off.  We also made a stop to visit Aunt Jenny.  She’s doing much better.  My daily visits changed to every other day.  Now I’m moving it back to just a couple times a week.  She still is having trouble walking, doesn’t eat right and has memory issues but after all, she’s not a spring chicken.  She’s 93 years young.

Later that day I caught Justin coming back from working with the local recruiting office.  Evidently five days of his leave doesn’t count if he volunteers five days helping the recruiters and that’s just what he did.  Some of those five days are very long and some of them are very short.  Obviously we prefer the short days.

I love this time of year.  One reason is because we get to eat lots of watermelon and that’s just what we’ve been doing most every night.






‘Tis life on the road.

Promises of Wealth

There’s no reason to be the richest person in the cemetery.  You can’t do any business from there.

We’ve all had them.  It’s amazing how many times I’ve been told that I’m the heir to a vast fortune.  I’ve also been the lucky winner of many awards or told a money wire by Western Union is just waiting for me to pick up.  Even better than that are the private little emails that I receive from unknown folks who seem to have discovered that I just might help them sneak unclaimed funds out of Africa and into my own hands.

Certainly you’ve received all these promises of wealth.  Things haven’t changed much in this field.  It’s still the same because if it sounds too good to be true, by now we should know that it is.

One of the first tip offs is the name of the sender.  Americans aren’t quite as formal with their English as the Brits are.  They rarely use the Mr. or Mrs. title in their own name unless they want your money.  Many of these emails are definitely speaking the Queen’s english and not the American slang.  To begin with if the sender just happens to be a Mrs. Barbara Jindal or a Mr. Robert Mueller or something similar, you can bet it’s some type of scam.   Another clue is the time of day you receive them because most are sent from the other side of the globe while you’re sleeping. 

We’ve all heard about the rows and rows of computers set up where con artists push out email after email of false promises.  They’re hoping for a taker.  There are many ways to be taken but these promises usually involve letting you know you’ll end up with great wealth. Nigeria is known for their internet cafes and even though posted signs say it’s illegal, it’s those internet cafes that produce thousands of spam emails.

Unlike other scammers not a lot of information is required from these folks.  Mainly they just want your money.  The email scams are numerous. Some may ask you to help them get millions out of the country.  Others indicate you are the beneficiary of a large estate and still more let you know you were chosen because of your honesty.  Oh, there are just hundreds of them.

Have you ever fallen for one?  Do you know someone that has?  We do.  Again, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  The single retired lady we know was asked just to pay the taxes. First it was a small amount.  Then, they needed a little more and then a little more after that.  After refinancing her home to get more needed cash, she had no more to give.  She had nothing left.  The con artist had taken everything she had and forced her into bankruptcy.

You may think the price of fuel will break you in this economy but schemes like this are truly intended to do just that.  Believe me unless you already know about it no one is going to leave you millions, no one is going to need you to sneak funds out of Africa and the FBI isn’t going to trust you to trip up some agency. 

‘Tis life on the road.

Password Managers

Middle age is when your classmates are so gray and wrinkled and bald they don't recognize you.

Almost every electronic gadget we own and every online site we access requires a password.  Passwords are needed for nearly all our private and very personal information including bank accounts, credit cards, forums, emails and the list goes on.

I’ve often wondered how safe the password manager programs are.  Lots of companies sell apps and programs for storing and hiding all the little passwords.   Just how safe are they?

Obviously, these programs are supposed to be foolproof in that if you lose your phone, computer or tablet containing password information, the thief or finder won’t be able to access that information.  What about the company that actually wrote the program?  Some software programs contain little “trojans” that send information back to the company selling their program.  I've really been hesitant in using one of these managers because I most certainly wouldn't want my information available to others.

To begin with …. all your credit card numbers would be available including online access codes.  Bank account information could easily be hacked.  Websites and passwords with secret questions could be available for someone else’s use. 

The list of passwords used is endless.  Passwords aren’t easy to remember since so many of them require unique combinations of numbers, letters and special characters.  We want those passwords to be securely locked up.   The ideal thing would be to have one single password that would work for everything but this isn't possible.  Some companies even require that you change the password every few months or so.  How do we remember all of this?

If you search through password managers available on your iPhone, you’ll come up with pages of possibilities.  They all indicate they are secure but I'm wondering if they really are.   Some folks just try to remember the passwords and IDs.  Others write it down on a scratch piece of paper, a file on their computer or mentally file it away in their own memory bank. 

Keeping passwords both secure and manageable is no easy task. Who can remember so many different nonsensical passwords?  As we age and our memory filing cabinets get fuller, we probably need to have a back-up system to remember all these very important combinations.  I’m thinking it’s about time to try jotting my passwords down in a very safe place.  Some managers advertise no backdoor but is that really true?   The search is on .... how do you remember all of your passwords?

'Tis life on the road.


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Our Navy Boy is Home

As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point in the wrong direction.

Tammi’s move is moving slowly.  However, that’s actually how they wanted it.  After all, when they were transferred from New Jersey to Washington State, they signed a lease for a year. Even though they have now purchased a home, they can’t really move into it completely for another month or so.  Michael and Sandi are still attending the school in their old neighborhood and the end of the lease is still a few months away.  

Big brother, little sister

His favorite past time -- eating.

We all had looked forward to Justin arriving home on leave.  His plane touched down about midnight but that didn’t mean we all didn’t hang around to welcome him home.  We were excited to see him and he was excited to be home.  He started it off by passing out the Christmas  presents he never got mailed. After the presents he started checking out the supply of food in the refrigerator, cupboards and fruit bowls. 

The family -- back together

Lee and Sabrina’s grocery bill took a big dive when the US Navy took over the job of feeding him.  For the next two weeks though, their food bill will skyrocket I am sure.  

Justin was always helping

Justin was always helping Papa with his many projects before the US Navy took over his activities.  Even though he figured the next two weeks would be all play, it didn’t take him long to check through the tool bag and give assistance on a few little things.

One of his first requested meals was a German dish.  It’s called rouladen  made with beef and a pickle.  This is a favorite dish that Sabrina grew up with.  When we first tasted it several years ago we were a little apprehensive.  However, it is absolutely fantastic.  Justin’s friend wasn’t quite so sure about it though.  Just the thought of a cooked pickle turned him off. 

We’re sure glad Justin is back.  Sabrina has some great meals planned ahead.  This the second meal she fixed.    It was wild salmon and razor clams!  This is going to be a great two weeks.






Right now the spotlight is on Justin while he is home.  In another ten days the spotlight will be on Michael as he graduates from high school.  Family is what life is all about .

I've still been making the 80-ish mile round trip to Vancouver nearly every day to spend 2-3 hours with my aunt.  She's doing so much better now than she was last week.  Sometimes she's pretty sharp and other times not so much. Sometimes she eats a little and other times I help her eat.  She's family.  So, along with this and everything else in our bucket .... that I haven't posted about ... there just aren't a lot of hours left in the day. 

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‘Tis life on the road.

Two Very Different Worlds

To make mistakes is human; to stumble is commonplace; to be able to laugh at yourself is maturity.

We definitely live in two different worlds.  Our life during the summer is so very different than our life in the winter.  During the summer we are mostly with family enjoying the perfect weather in the northern part of the U.S.  The winter is spent usually with friends enjoying the perfect winter weather in more southern areas.   It’s almost hard to believe when we're in one world that the other world really exists.   We think we're just very, very lucky to live in both. 

We followed this truck.  Did you read the back of the septic truck?

If you think big dogs are brave dogs, think again.  

Yep ... that's the post.  Can you tell just how busy we really are?


‘Tis life on the road.

Family, Food and Gifts

A family is a gift that lasts forever.

Being in the Pacific Northwest is so, so different than being in the southern states.  The days may be quite warm but the evenings sure cool down.  We’ve had temperatures pushing 90 lately and that’s hot for this area.  When the evening comes we know the cool breezes will cool that motorhome down.

Last Saturday we found ourselves back at the garden section of Home Depot.  On beautiful weekend days that place is packed.  This time we were there picking up fuchsia hanging baskets for the girls for Mother’s Day.

Beautiful weather usually means a little bit of yard work.  Terry was pulling weeds and Lee was spreading bark dust.

We also discovered why Duchess was always trying to dig around Sabrina’s rhododendrons.  She had discovered a little garter snake hiding there.

Sunday morning Jordan and Sabrina were off to church in their new Mother’s Day attire.  I made them pose …. obviously!

Lee took it upon himself to make sure the four ATV’s hiding in his garage were still working.  He gets a kick out of terrorizing the neighborhood.

Later in the day the grill came out and the rest of us sat around just enjoying each other’s company.   The last time we celebrated Mother’s Day together …. I think it was 2003.  I’ve told that story many times before but  I’m going to tell it again since it’s absolutely amazing to me that we’re all ending up in the same place again.

Twenty-three years ago we lived in the state of Washington together.  Then, a job transfer took us to the state of Texas.  In 2003 Lee took an opportunity to move back to the state of Washington.  In the meantime we hung around Texas with Tammi and her family for quite a few more years.  Eventually we retired and Tammi transferred to New Jersey.  Last year she had an opportunity to transfer again but this time it was to Portland …. Isn’t it amazing.  We’re only missing Justin to make the circle complete …. and he’ll be here this weekend!!!!

It was a wonderful day.  I made out like a champ.  Lee feels anything after 6:00 AM is fair game and that’s about the time he and Sabrina were pounding on our motorhome door with their one-of-a-kind Mother’s Day gift.

I just love homemade stuff.  It means people took their time to make something special just for me.

Now check that out.  Did you notice that all the little flowers are actually wrapped in florist paper but they are fat quarters for quilting!!!  I was amazed.  It is so cute. 

You know how much I love new electronic toys!!

Tammi surprised me with an iPad!!  She said it was the accumulation of Mother’s Day gifts since we hadn’t had a decent place to send anything for Mother’s Day for the last few years.  I still don’t know what to say but I’m busy learning the functions!! One major thing I learned is that the iPad does not support flash websites!  UGH!!  Thus, I had to change my blog header.  However, I just haven't had the time yet to come up with something a little more original but I'll work on it eventually.  It also does not support Microsoft Word and Excel.  However, there are ways around both of these by downloading specific apps.  I've done that now too.   I'm learning ....

It was an absolutely fantastic day.  I love days like this and would much rather get together in the backyard for a barbecue than meet at a restaurant.

It was a family day and everything was perfect.

‘Tis life on the road.