The sign finally went up not so long ago. I wanted to add more, but I was anxious to get the sign up to identify the business. HeWho procrastinates seemed to think the business is self explanatory. Even with the sign, we are often mistaken for the state park that is a mile further down the road. I like the raised letters.
The old sign was one-sided, facing the traffic as it arrives. I suppose it was because the road is a dead end into the state park. I thought the sign should be two-sided, so I lettered and painted it. Today I added my frog, dragging his camper in. Yes, I know he is bigger than his camper. And he is a little creepy looking. But, he does draw attention. Never claimed to be an artist, did I?
I added some frogs to the front of the sign. They are supposed to depict a game of leap-frog. HeWho seemed to think they looked a bit too frisky, and not in a good wholesome way. Not my intention. Given the current news stories, maybe it was sub-conscious?
This Christmas tree is a live one. It should grow as the years go by and hold lots of lights and garland. I am hoping I won't be here to watch it grow ....
Wonder where I have been? It is a long story ending with me looking so stupid. I WAS stupid, but that is beside the point.
You will recall the update on my Apple phone and all the trouble that ensued. It involved many texts and calls from Apple and Sprint. So, when I answered the phone and was told that my I Cloud account had been violated, I figured it had something to do with the phone thing. I asked HeWho if I should press "1" and see what was going on, he said "Sure."
Same thing he said about that update, now that I think about it. The only good thing to come of all this .... I now have proof that he answers me without actually listening to what I say.
By the time I realized I was being scammed, HeWho had come back inside and saw what was happening and took the phone from me and yelled at the scammer who was telling me I had to go to the Dollar General and buy $500 worth of "cards". While HeWho should always listen to me, but doesn't, was scolding the man, I shut down the computer and called my son.
He chastised me and made me feel stupid, then apologized. My son is a kind and sensitive soul. My baby girl, not so much. She yelled at me like HeWho yelled at the scammer. But, let's not dwell on that.
So, my computer has to be dewormed. My son said to send it to him, but I decided to TAKE it to him. Save that postage, right? I wanted to go anyway. But after the last trip in the Bounder, breaking down on the way there and again on the way back, I was not looking forward to another trip in it.
I have been trying to gently persuade the purchase of a newer, smaller rig. A class C, perhaps. I planted the seed and waited for him to realize that it was his idea all along. He finally promised me on Wednesday morning that we would go look at the dealers close by and take a look. He piddled the day away with this and that and we did not go. I even put make-up on!
I may have expressed my annoyance. Mildly. Friday morning, he proclaimed that he thought we should just keep the RV we have. He was sure it was running well and would not break down. Although this did nothing to reassure me, I accepted his decision and went about the business of planning my trip. I texted him and told him to pull the carpet out. Oscar marked it in his special way and even though I loved that old dog beyond measure, I did want to smell his urine for a 9 hour trip.
Not 20 minutes later me texted me to get ready to go see a camper he found on Craigslist. A 29' Class C and 9 years newer than the Bounder. We spent most of the day driving there and then back. We bought it. It had been donated to an animal rescue and all that money I had so carefully scrimped and saved went for an excellent cause. We closed the deal among 300 cats, some in kennels, but most just freely roaming the facility. Big cats, little cats, skinny cats and fat cats. Cats with too many toes and cats just looking for a kind hand. Was I tempted? Oh, yes, I was. HeWho would not let me check out the canine building. We all know how that would have ended.
Looks pretty good, though she needs a good bath.
While HeWho was dealing with negotiations, I was outside taking pictures for my kids. The awning has some mold on it. A good scrub will take care of that.
The sleeping quarters are tiny with a queen bed. A short queen bed. We will be replacing it with a regular mattress. It will be tight.
The sofa slides out and will turn into a bed. The dinette booth will also make a bed and there is a bed over the cab. Says it will sleep 8! I cannot imagine 8 people in here!! The stove still has the original stickers on it! I guess the previous owner was not a cook. Actually, I am not planning on cooking either.
So, we will hit the road Thursday. I can hardly wait to see my kids and their kids!! And get the computer wormed. In the meantime I will make do with the old cantankerous laptop.
You know the best thing about having company? No, not seeing them leave! It is cleaning the house! All of a sudden you look at your surroundings and realize the mess you find totally acceptable is not!!
The day began early. I have been looking to buy an Instant Pot. It is Yvonne's fault. She keeps posting recipes on Facebook and constantly extolls the virtues of this appliance that will replace several I currently have. In case you may have forgotten, we plan to live in a motorhome. This means limited space. The one appliance will replace my crockpot and my pressure cooker! Oh, and it will do so much more!
So, I was in Walmart just this week and I was stroking the one on display. It was on sale for $79.99. A helpful associate (this is what workers at Walmart are referred to, despite Hillbilly Mom calling them the devil's handmaidens) approached me and told me that the Instant Pot would be on sale for $49.99 and that sale starts TODAY at 6:00. I am not a Black Friday shopper. I wanted to save $30 .... who doesn't? But, my dinner today begins at 4:30 and I am not leaving my guests. It would be rude and I don't really want to shop today.
I began my day as I normally do and was sipping my portion of caffeine when I decided to check out the Walmart ad in my e-mail. My Instant Pot is on sale on-line!!!! Not only did I order it and got a discount for deferring shipment until the 5th of December, but I also took advantage of applying for a charge card and got an additional $35 off my purchase. Free shipping with a 25 cent discount and $35 off means I just bought my Instant Pot for a mere $13.75!
HeWho helped me with vacuuming and dusting and setting up and I am all done with my prep work. Just waiting for the oven to tell me it is time to stick my stuff in and then all my guests will be here. We will pop some corks and eat some food and be thankful for the fellowship!
My phone is still not working. I sent HeWho was too impatient to help me set up my own phone and did it himself, to the Sprint store to try to recover the phone.
I went on a mission to gather all the necessities to host Thanksgiving for a group that seems to be growing ..... started out as 9 and now it looks like 14. You will recall that I have been downsizing as we prepare to retire and live in a motor home. This means that I no longer have dinnerware or even enough forks for that many. But, I love a good challenge! As much as I would prefer to eat on real plates, we will be dining disposable!
Nothing wrong with that, clean up will be easy. Food is no problem, I am not even the main chef in this endeavor. HeWho likes to cook outside will be smoking the turkey and I will be making the dressing and gravy. Another turkey will be roasted and a ham will join the two birds on the table. Mashed potatoes and green bean casserole are coming. I grabbed a can of cranberry sauce today, you can't have Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce. I hear tell some dinner rolls will be here, too.
All this is good, but what about dessert? I am usually the dessert maker, but this year, others have it covered. I did buy a couple cans of whipped cream ....... just in case. The more the merrier, I am quite certain there will be more than enough food!
Time to pull out the Christmas decor and light up my world. I keep seeing reference to bringing back "Merry Christmas" as a holiday greeting. I don't know about the rest of you, but I never stopped. Furthermore, I haven't noticed anyone else stopping. I think it may have been one of those politically motivated things someone started up just to have something to stir folks up.
Not really what I was going to write about. My limited space means that putting a tree up inside is not practical. But, though my living quarters may be small, my grounds are not. I have 5 artificial trees I put up every year. I store them outside in the shed that houses the water tanks.
Every year I ask HeWho has long arms and legs to pull them out for me and I take it from there. I am the one to hang the lights and spread Christmas joy through our land. I will admit that I hang the lights because the eaves are low and require nothing more than a kitchen step stool for me to accomplish this. And there is the fact that I prefer to do this task myself. HeWho has been known to grow impatient with me in past times.
So, the day was fairly warm last week when I pulled out all the lights and various ornaments. I decided to get started on things. I went outside and was going about the business of tugging out the limbs of the trees getting them "in shape". The trees are small and I was chatting with HeWho was fiddling around in his truck.
I was holding the tree in one hand and pulling the limbs out with the other. I had the tree at eye level, so when I saw it, it was right there in my face. I almost grabbed it. My hand was automatically heading in that direction, on auto pilot. My mouth was talking while my brain was processing what my eyes were seeing. My hand was still moving, but slower ...... as I squinted in the sunlight to get a better view.
To my credit, I did not scream as I shook the tree vigorously and the mummified mouse fell out! I was speechless as I grabbed the arm of HeWho was not listening to me. Words would not come out, I just sort of made some grunting sounds as I pulled him over to the still rodent on the ground and pointed.
Of course he laughed. It is funny now, but I will be very careful in the future when I am playing with anything that is stored outside in a shed. Too bad I didn't find it when I was putting up Halloween stuff!
I was so excited when I saw these doggy steps at the re-sale store! For only $8! My babies NEED these! Long spines are easily injured jumping up and down.
Our current arrangement involves me bending over to lift them onto my chair, or using the recliner as a lift. Cujo will eagerly scramble up the incline to get to my lap, then wait patiently for me to create a ramp for him to get down. Cujo is a sweet little guy and will do anything to please me. That would be anything short of using these doggy steps. He looks at them disdainfully and then waits for me to lower the chair for his ascent.
Eddie, on the other hand, has no problem with the steps. He just prefers to have me lower the chair, then use my feet to grab his back end and elevate him to my lap. And no matter how I scold him for jumping down, he pretty much does as he pleases. While Cujo has a "spot" he squiggles into on my left side; Eddie is no respecter of other's space.
Eddie is currently sprawled across the part of my recliner meant to hold my legs. I can only put one leg on it and the other leg is on the arm rest. Eddie likes to stretch while "resting" and will push me out of his way. He has even been known to climb up onto the laptop, pushing buttons and displacing my hands so that I am available to pet him.
I have to admit that I would not trade my little tyrant for anything!
Just to make my life more complicated, I downloaded an update on my cell phone. In my defense, I did ask HeWho initially programmed my phone if I should respond to that pop-up. "Might as well." So, I did.
Now, I am locked out. Why did I listen to him? I usually don't. I do everything on this phone. I have my audio books on this phone. I check my e-mail on this phone. To say I was annoyed is an understatement.
When we got the phones, HeWho procured them free from Sprint programmed both phones. I do remember that he asked me some questions, like what the name of my destination city of my first airline trip was. Did I find the question strange? Of course, but I did not find it strange that HeWho would ask some trivial nonsense. The problem with this is that I don't remember the numerical passcode. I was not really paying attention.
Now, had he taken the time to show me how to program my own phone, instead of shooting nonsense questions at me, I probably would have remembered. I never ask him to show me how to do anything. He is not a good teacher, he is impatient and will just grab the device out of my hands and do it. I end up figuring it out on my own in utter frustration.
When I complained that I was locked out of my phone because of the update, he seemed to think I should fix it on my own. I did try. I answered all the security questions and then came to an abrupt halt when I was required to supply a numerical passcode. He was not concerned that I could not get to the book I was listening to. He did not care that I was inconvenienced as far as e-mail went, I do have my laptop. But ...... he did get unwound when I reminded him that the business line was forwarded to the locked phone!
The office phone is a cheap desk top corded phone. This would require me to spend the day near the phone. We don't heat the office. This is not a bad thing, I will sometimes find sanctuary in there when he gets the woodstove so stuffed that it is downright tropical in our living area. To remedy the phone situation, I offered two solutions. He could un-forward the phone, then I would have to jump up every time it rang .... or I preferred that he forward the line to HIS cell and then HE could answer all the calls.
He has been relentless in trying to un-lock my phone! Faced with having to deal with all the calls did not seem to be appealing to HeWho likes to be a free spirit. Though, I am locked out until we take the phone to the Sprint store, my phone will receive calls ..... I just can't make any calls. Or listen to the ending of the book I was reading.
Funny how the very thought of having to answer the phone for the business sent him into immediate action!
I have been thinking of changing my profile picture. This place is taking a toll on me, I seemed to have aged dramatically. I must have been telling lies, just look at how long my nose is!
Fortunately this is not my real face .... this is just how I feel lately. I wore the mask on Halloween, just for the benefit of HeWho rarely pay attention to his surroundings. To his credit, he did notice my new look.
As the weather is deciding when to change I am taking advantage of the warm afternoons and tackling some gardens. I was gifted some mulch by a kamper. Black mulch, in bags. As you all know, I am a big fan of free stuff and usually wait until the tree trimmers come through for the power company. I am so nice, I let them dump the chipped up branches by the truckload. I am nice like that.
Remember a while back, when I was lettering and painting the sign to replace the main one in the front of the property? I prepped the main part of the sign, painted it and then lettered one side and painted that. I painted all the trim and painted the individual letters to put on the side of the sign that most of our incoming traffic will see. This sign identifies the property. Important for first time visitors. The sign has been waiting to be mounted for quite some time.
The sign is heavy. The 4 X 8 piece of plywood is heavy alone, but HeWho fancies himself to be a wood worker, routed a "frame" out of treated 4 X 4 lumber. This made the sign really heavy, so much so, that I decided I would not be helping lift it. This helped with the many excuses about the delay in erecting the sign.
1. It is too windy.
2. Nobody is available to help lift it.
3. Too cold.
4. The wind, again.
5. The need to locate an electrical line, so the sign can have lights.
6. No help available.
7. Too windy.
8. Waiting to have the electrical line marked.
About the power line ..... no digging was required to mount this sign. It was to be placed on the stacked stone mount already there. When we put in the emergency shut-off for the propane dispensing station, HeWho ran the line out to the sign in order to put a light on the sign. This was some time ago. Seems "someone" either ran over the outlet with the mower or the weed eater and did not fix it immediately. Time allowed the extended wire to disappear. I since bought a solar light .....
This is the front side that most of the traffic sees.
And, this is the back side. This side was previously just blank. The letters on the front side were cut out of thin plywood and then painted. The back side is painted directly on the plywood. I think the space below the letters cries out for something more. Maybe ..... frogs?
The sign went up yesterday! Today, HeWho does not paint, asked me to touch up any spots that needed it. "Do I need a ladder?" I am not tall and I am old .... I am not going to attempt to climb on the rock base under the sign. HeWho looked at me like it was an unreasonable question. I painted as high as I could manage to reach.
I lack motivation. I eat, sleep and get up and do it over again. Yesterday I finally forced myself to go on a shopping trip for some lights and stuff to decorate for Christmas. It did make me feel better.
This is not to say that I have done absolutely nothing. I have been pulling up dead annuals and gathering seed. Painted fence boards until I no longer had paint. I have two 6' panels left and I picked up more paint yesterday. Too cold to paint today or I would have knocked out the last two panels.
Instead I took the refrigerator apart. I checked all the expiration dates and tossed any leftovers I could not recognize. I won't bore you with my dusting skills.
Inspiration hit me this morning. As usual it HeWho is my life mate. After a restless night, I dragged myself out of bed and was sitting here in relative peace, sipping coffee and situating dogs on my lap as I tried to come fully awake. Still in my night time attire, I was interrupted by the appearance of a camper ringing the bell.
No matter that I am not open for another 30 minutes and am not ready to face my nation. The canines in my lap see the door opening attempt on the monitor and begin barking to let me know of an intruder to my waking up ritual. My head is aching and I am annoyed, but I stumble into the nice dark cavern where HeWho is still abed, to grab some daytime attire.
Do I begrudge his ability to get a full 9 hour, uninterrupted sleep? Of course, I do. Do I wonder if just once in a great while he could take over the bladder needs of my dogs? Yes, but I don't even ask, since I would have to wake up to wake him up, defeating the whole purpose. Did I make enough noise to wake him on purpose? Yes, I did. It was time for him to get up anyway.
By the time I get to the door, the camper is gone and I can resume my coffee sipping in relative peace. I settle in again with one dog on the left and one on my lap and one on the arm of the chair. I am much adored by animals with four legs.
HeWho and his dog blunder around noisily and he announces his upcoming trip to McDonald's for his morning biscuit and fizzy beverage. As is his habit he asks if I want anything. Sometimes I do, most times I don't. I don't mind his asking, I do mind the follow-up asking. "Are you sure?" "Pancakes?" "Iced coffee?" "Anything?"
If I say 'no, thank you', that should suffice! I am not at my best early in the morning and if anyone should know this, HeWho has been with me for almost 43 years, should! So, this very morning I raised my considerable voice (just in case those hearing aids were off) and let him know beyond any doubt, that I was not interested in anything McDonalds has to offer. It is going to be a long day.
I paid for my day off. Yesterday was almost 80 degrees. It was so hot that HeWho did not even attempt to build a fire. He did dress like it was 40 degrees, even when I warned him that the long sleeved flannel shirt would be too much.
Since the weather was so nice I decided to tackle painting the back of the house. We re-sided the main building and that has been done. Well, sort of. There is still some painting that needs to happen on the east side that would require me to go well above my comfort level of two steps on the ladder. I would have to stand on top of the ladder to even begin to reach the peak, so that was out.
The back of the house is nice and low and only required one step up on most of the length. It was still a big job. Last time the back was painted, HeWho loves anything mechanical, used a sprayer. He sprayed it all, windows, whatever might be in the way. Fortunately, there are only two small windows and I have long since scraped and cleaned them several times. There were vines covering the back of the house when we moved here. I pulled them all down and had every intention of scraping the boards. I didn't and what was left of the vines was painted.
Yesterday, armed with a 4" scraper and a pail with a brush, I scraped and painted the entire back of the house. I did a really good job, if I do say so myself. Took most of the day, but I still managed to do laundry and cook and take down Halloween décor. What did HeWho loves to ride do, you might be asking?
HeWho bought himself a truck last week. I agreed that he could. It was a fantastic deal and he really needs a truck to haul things. BUT, I did say he had to get rid of the Jeep. And the other F-150 that needs a motor. So, last weekend he said he had emptied the Jeep. That was no easy task, as anyone who has ever seen the inside of his vehicle will tell you. Well, yesterday he spent the entire day cleaning out the Jeep. Lest you think he did some intricate detailing, he didn't, he just finished the job he said he had already done. These things take time if your wife is not keeping you on task.
The biggest obstacle I faced yesterday was not the ladder or the scraping ..... it was the beetles. They were clinging to the side of the house I was trying paint. They bite, you know. I sprayed my body and clothes with Repel, even my hair. It did not repel them. I tried some general outdoor insect spray with little results. Then I pulled out the big guns. Wasp and Hornet spray, my weapon of choice hat sits next to my cash register in lieu of a firearm. I pretty much soaked the back door and the house with it. It helped, but they still managed to work their way into my hair and under my shirt.
When I was finished for the day and came inside and hit the shower, I was washing them out of my hair and finding all the tiny bites they left on me. Then I went into my bedroom to grab some clean clothes and discovered the window was full of the little devils. I vacuumed them out of the window and immediately emptied the container, because they will crawl back out!!
I dreamed about them last night. It was not good.
I am writing this on new computer! The keys respond to my every touch and this bad boy is fast!
This morning the phone of HeWho can't hear rang out loud and clear. Just a text alert, but it woke me up. I woke him up (nothing wrong with my ears) and we both just got up. Earlier than we wanted. Since the time is changing back this weekend, I have been trying to stay up later and sleep in a little later. Just planning ahead.
So, there we sat, the two of us in our recliners, dogs in our laps, staring blankly at the TV. I finished my coffee and tipped back, promptly falling to sleep. When I woke, about 15 minutes later, I looked over at my life companion and wondered aloud if we should feel guilty about just sitting there doing absolutely nothing. HeWho loves me assured me that we had earned the right to sit and do nothing.
He may be right, but I could sit no longer. I decided to deep clean our sleeping quarters. I put clean sheets on the bed, vacuumed, dusted, and then cleaned out my drawers. The ones that hold my clothes. I tossed out a lot and organized a lot. I was content to be busy all day with my cleaning supplies.
Until HeWho loves a short road trip to run errands said the magic words ...... "I am running to Menards, do you need anything." Do I need anything? Why, yes I do! I need to get out of this place .... even if it is temporary. I made him wait until I could wash my hair (it was standing on end) and changed my clothes. I was ready in 10 minutes flat. I knew if I played my cards right, I would not only get to shop, but eat out, as well. He would even think it was his idea and I wouldn't have to cook tonight!!
It all worked out, just as I knew it would!
My new laptop is on the Fed-Ex truck!! It will be here soon. And wouldn't you know it ..... the old laptop is behaving. Too late!
Yesterday was a lost day. I sat like a giant slug in front of the TV. I was cozy all day with dog warmth. Always Cujo, lots of Eddie and Wall-E and at one point all four were in my lap. Eddie is jealous of the laptop. He will lay his sweet little head on my hand and prevent me from using it.
I know I could push him away. I tried that and he looked up at me with such a hurt expression. Besides, old laptop was misbehaving. So, Eddie had his way.
Misbehave, behave .... those words always make me think of my Adrienne. She used to say. "But, Mommy, I was being have (long "a"). She had her own vocabulary and in an odd sort of way, it made perfect sense.
But, all this has nothing to do with the title. I usually write, then give the post a title. I changed it up today. There is a chill in the air. I pulled all my plants inside and closed the storm windows. I was quite content with the air temperature. I put a pair of socks on my toes and slipped my feet into my favorite Dawgs. Long pants and a long sleeved shirt. I was comfortable, HeWho was not.
We have the same argument every year. I see absolutely no need to turn the heater on. I think 66 is fine. If you are cold, grab a lap blanket and a dog. If you are up and moving around, you won't be cold. He will happily turn the air conditioner down to 66. This makes my toes cold, but he insists that it is too hot.
So, yesterday, while I sat covered in hot dogs (pun intended), he built a fire in the wood stove. I was hoping he would just build a small fire, then let it simmer. You, just to take the chill out of the room. I should know better. We were watching Judge Judy and then I was asleep dogs tucked in around me and my recliner reclined to the fullest extent.
The phone rang and I woke with a start. I was sweating. The dogs were sweaty. HeWho builds fires was at it again. I complained, the dogs complained. I took care of the phone call and bumbled around the kitchen with thoughts of dinner. HeWho went out to fill some LP tanks for customers and the temperature slowly became bearable again.
As the night wore on, HeWho loves a fire could not seem to stop shoving logs in wood stove. I had stripped down to my underwear and finally announced that I was going to bed. I let the dogs out and discreetly checked the thermostat to find that the temperature was 85 degrees. I went outside to gather Eddie and friends, good excuse to cool off before I could secretly open the bedroom window. 85 degrees. If it was summer and the temperature was 85, HeWho would have the air on.
I may or may not have mentioned, in posts past, that HeWho loves to run errands. He will volunteer to go get anything I might fleetingly think about. I will prevent this unnecessary trip, which leaves him to invent his own errands.
Today is Friday. Friday in a campground. The busiest day of my week. I am booked solid, despite some cancellations. People are always surprised when the weather turns cold. It happens every year, usually about this time; and yet there are those who are caught completely off guard. Some of my cancellations will provide me with a reason, some don't. Matters not at all to me, since I don't charge a cancellation fee. But that would be an entire post .... reasons for cancelling.
No, my rant today is about Errand Boy and his need to leave the property. This morning I mentioned to him that today was Friday and we were going to be quite busy and to PLEASE not leave me. I can handle a lot, but I cannot be two places at once. Since I am stuck in the office all day, I decide to begin the process of bring in all my hanging plants to over-winter them. This will keep me right here close enough to stop and check in campers and still be productive.
Another kamper/friend will also be bringing up her outdoor plants, so I have to do some rearranging to accommodate all of our combined plants. HeWho has already made two trips to run errands and is planted in front of the TV watching National Geographic and eating peanut butter sandwiches. I asked to go help the camper on 18 locate the sewer and had also asked him to have another camper move their vehicle because it is blocking a site.
Andrea and I are in the thick of plant hanging and relocating when he says he is going to town to get an elbow. Andrea reminded him that he already had two and I was laughing at them, totally forgetting that it is nearing 4:00 .... on a Friday in the campground. Prime check-in and problem time.
So, while I am dealing with winter weather and digging up my banana trees and checking in campers, I get a call. The car blocking the site did not move and the camper assigned to that site cannot back in and does not seem to understand exactly where the site I am moving them to is located. The right/left thing again and me trying to use site numbers to direct her. Totally forgetting that HeWho needs to keep the road hot under his wheels is not here, I text him to go show the camper what I have not been able to convey with mere words.
Andrea drove me there and I solved the problem while HeWho promised not to leave me here was shopping for boots. I am not cooking tonight, no I am not!
This is the snout that greets my eyes every morning when they flutter open. Toni Louise is a sweet girl, if a little clingy. The eyeball sniffer. She is the dominant one of my little pack. Do not try to monopolize the affections of her master! She will get vicious! She belongs to HeWho rescued her from the pound. She loves him above all others. That does not mean she doesn't appreciate my affections, too.
Of course, Eddie is the baby and takes full advantage of that status. He is happy all the time, enjoying the affections of everyone. At the end of the day, though, he always finds me and snuggles close. Who could not love that face?
These guys are the background. They wait patiently for attention. Cujo is secure in the knowledge that I am his person, his only person. I pray that this dog does not out-live me. He is so very needy. So damaged by life before he became my little guy. He is only content when I am holding him. I hold him a lot.
Wall-E, the curiously homely dog, is the martyr among the pack. He always wants everything to be okay. He loves routine. You could set your clock by this one. He is a patient one, this Wall-E. He waits patiently for me to wake, never nudging or whining. Toni Louise will bark at me! He waits until last to go out and it stresses him when all four dogs don't come in together. He will stand at the back door to remind me that I have forgotten one or two of his fellow canines. He waits until all the others have eaten before he approaches the dish. We have one communal dish for them and they all eat the same food. If a fight breaks out for whatever reason he will bark incessantly until the world is right again. Wall-E is the peace maker.
This is the world I live in. Wouldn't trade it for anything!
As I was mowing today I remembered that I had crafted a clever post not so long ago that was eaten by the devil computer that will soon be replaced.
It had rained all week and was finally dry enough to mow, much like today and as I was mowing the side yard near the pool and the playground I noticed what looked like rocks in a large circle. I walked over to see and to pick them up before HeWho mows over things could damage his blade. Remember, I do all the prep work involve in mowing. He will either mow around obstacles, such as picnic tables or move them WITH the mower. Then wonder why the frames of the tables are bent ...... but I digress.
I thought that perhaps a child or two may have placed the rocks on the ground for whatever reason. You can't really tell from the picture, but this was a very large circle. I even grabbed a bucket to put them in.
Not rocks! These are mushrooms! In a circle! On my property! Creepy!!
These are close-ups of the mushrooms and I never thought I would say this, but I wish we had a drone for a bird's eye view! I tried to get a picture of the entire circle, but I had to get too far away. It was big enough to park a few cars in and have room left over. Mushrooms. In a circle. Wonder what that means? I am happy there was no bull's eye in the center!
Today is a very special day. Today is Layla's 17th birthday. I have no recent pictures to post. It has been a year since I have seen my girl. I am busy researching locations to park our RV so we can head north soon. Most RV parks that far north close for the winter. I wonder how many days we could dry dock in a Walmart parking lot? We could move from Walmart to Walmart. That would be interesting.
I am missing my kids and my grands today. Wish I could just hop in my car and zip over to see them. But wishing won't make it so.
On a lighter note .... today is also Charming Eddie's birthday. He is one. He celebrated with a nice bone to chew on and is currently napping in my lap. He doesn't know it yet, but he will be having a bath tonight. If all the dried mud on his fur is any indication, I think he may have dug another hole in the back yard while celebrating.
I knew Eddie was special when I discovered that he was born on Layla's birthday!
My laptop is behaving well this morning. Perhaps it knows that I am ready to give my affections to a newer model. At any rate, I will take advantage of it. I am enjoying a quiet morning, sipping coffee, the TV a mere murmur in the background, and two long dogs lounging in my lap.
Cujo is considerate. He tucks in next to me on my left side. Eddie is a sprawler. He likes to command as much space as possible. He is between my legs, with his sweet little head on my thigh. He is restless when he naps. He stretches and pushes my legs to odd angles, as I bend my knee to accommodate my little guy.
Makes it hard to balance the laptop, but the sweet warmth is worth it. Makes the dripping faucet in the background less annoying. I woke this morning and went in the kitchen to hit the magic button that started the process of making my morning jolt of caffeine, I noted that the faucet was dripping. Reminded me that we are due to submit a sample to the DNR, as we do every month.
I filled out the necessary paper work, while HeWho plumbs collected the sample. The faucet is no longer simply dripping, it is a steady stream. You would think he would have noticed. I could hear it as I boxed up the sample for him to take. I even pointed it out to him. "I guess I didn't turn it all the way off," he says as he tries to tighten the faucet.
That was a couple of hours ago. He decided to take a cab call while he was out. Guess he forgot he needs to fix this faucet. I think I will go outside and do anything other than listen to this steady stream of water hit the bottom of the sink!
"What do you want for dinner?" asks HeWho loves to run errands. I guess the absence of any food preparation in the kitchen was a good clue about what I had in mind. "I don't know, what do you want?" is my standard answer.
Obviously, it will be some sort of take-out, since we can't very well leave on a Saturday night. I would love to tell you that limitless possibilities awaited my perusal in the way of take-out menus. I would be lying. Let's see, we have Chinese, Mexican, a diner, Subway, or McDonald's. Almost forgot, deli fried chicken from a gas station, or the grocery. The fried chicken tends to be greasy and the sides of potato logs unappealing to me. My stomach rebels at the thought of spicy Mexican and I don't want a sandwich or a burger. Chinese, I guess.
Chinese it is. I opt for the roast pork and vegetables and HeWho always orders the same thing, does just that. General Tso and his chicken. He speaks into his phone to automatically dial up the House of China. He really loves the General and his chicken. While the phone is ringing, he looks at me and says "beef or chicken?". And he wonders why I say he never listens to what I say.
Okay, I was able to post!! This exciting, I keep wait
That is as far as I got yesterday before my words would no longer appear, shortly after that the entire thing froze up and I couldn't even read other blogs.
I shut it down and said some words and sent a message to my son.
It is working today, so far. A storm is brewing. We are supposed to have a rain storm with hail and high winds. That will pretty much wipe out the movie tonight. Even if we were under the pavilion, the wind would have us all soaked. I am tired and not all that disappointed.
Last week with a couple of little old ladies tent camping has left me ...... annoyed? Disillusioned? The lady making the reservation was with my church group on Labor Day weekend. I give them a really good discount. They are a large group and have always been respectful of my property and my profit margin. They are mainly tent campers and they squish those tents together and leave me as many open spots as possible for me to rent. They never complain and the guy who organizes the event handles everything for me. He counts the heads and gathers the money, making it one of my easiest holiday weekends.
So, this sweet little old lady cornered me before she left after the holiday weekend. She told me she didn't have much money and wanted to bring her friend/relative on a camping trip. I made the reservation and gave her a very nice discount. It is my prerogative to extend such discounts as I see fit. I have been known to let some stay free and even feed them. I am quite sure I have been taken advantage of before and no doubt, will be again.
The ladies arrived and set up camp and then started to shadow me for entertainment. I was elated to lock up after the first day. I treasure my alone time. I enjoy being on my own as I go about my daily chores. The next day proved to be as trying as the first day. I hated to go outside, lest I find myself in the position of entertaining. I was trying to get the sign painting done and ready for hanging and really wanted to be done with it, so I could move on to another project.
They were here for three days and the last day was much like the first two. The church lady came in and plopped down in the chair. She announced that her tire "was low" and wanted to know if I could "blow it up". Really, me. As most all my friends know, I do not even fuel up my car. I am a kept woman as far as my driving needs go. I told her that my husband was out by the barn (aka Fred Sanford's Emporium) and that he did have a compressor. She said she didn't want to bother him, as he was busy. I will pause here, as you imagine those words playing in my head.
She wanted me to bother him to fix her tire, but before any more was said, Martha, the boy cat, sauntered into the store. She jumped from the chair and ran out the door exclaiming that she was allergic to cats. If only Martha had made himself available earlier! I did give him an extra treat and simply forgot about the "low tire".
Next morning, as we were starting the day, Church Lady (having erased the sight of Martha from her mind) arrived in the store to chew out HeWho owns a compressor for not attending to her tire the night before. I heard the exchange from the kitchen, but did not appear to back up HeWho. He took the assault and apologized to her and told her she should have brought her car to the barn and he would have been more that happy to help her. That silver tongued devil is a sucker for little old ladies.
The tire was sitting on the rim and something tells me she is quite familiar with "low tires". Nothing was stopping her from traveling the mile to the nearest gas station to take care of the problem. I was still feeling kindly towards her, though ..... until I went out to clean and stock the bathrooms.
They apparently kept all their trash and garbage at their campsite until they were ready to leave. When exiting the campground, one must go right by the dumpster. Most campers bring the trash with them and toss it on their way out. Instead, they took the top off the would be rain barrel that was full of water, underneath the gutter at the end of the building where the bathrooms are and SHOVED THEIR GARBAGE DOWN INTO THE WATER.
No longer feeling charitable, I used considerable force to tip the barrel over in order to get the now soggy contents out. My hands were encased in gloves as I picked up the remains of their dinners and tons of wet paper towels. The cold water faucet in the ladies shower was broken and evidence of their daily hygiene was on display. No good deed goes unpunished.
To sum it all up, the phone call of the week: "So, tell me, what kind of activities do you have planned for the kids?" So many answers to that question bounced around in my mind, but I just replied that we didn't have any planned activities for kids and went on to extoll the amenities of the park, the playground and the pond for fishing.
"No planned activities for the children while my husband and I go to Oktoberfest?"
I suppose I could do that, but it would cost the parents SO MUCH!!
Unwelcome guests will sometimes appear to scare and annoy me. Like the one pictured. Not all of them slither on the ground, though. They cannot be dispatched easily with a shovel to the head ....
My computer seems to be in it's death throes and I will have to acclimate myself to a brand new one soon enough. Being old, I don't like lots of changes in routine happenings. I do not really type. It is a sort of three finger ballet I prefer and I can apparently do so with much haste. Because the computer cannot keep up with me. I find myself editing every other word for dropped letters.
I only have one window open while I am "typing", but it still happens. That is annoying, but it has started turning off and on with no warning. The keypad has a sticky "c" and the internal mouse died long ago. Once again I will impose upon my son to find what I want and get it so he can set it all up for me. I have a very good son. I don't mind paying for it, it is the set up part that I hate and he knows how to get his mom a good deal.
This is usually my favorite time of year. The week days are slow and easy and I can get a lot done .... well, they used to be, at any rate. We are still super busy with lots of travelers and winery goers. I had two older ladies here for three days in a tent. The weather has been perfect for that sort of camping. Warm days and cool nights.
Just because we are still busy in the office doesn't mean there are not a lot of pre-winter chores to be done. I still have quite a bit of fence to paint and the big sign in the front is about to collapse. I suppose it should be in a great state of rot, since it is almost 50 years old. Not that we have been standing by waiting for it to collapse. I have painted it several times and it has been reinforced throughout the years, but the time has come to just put up a new sign.
The old sign is made of 2X6's, cedar, of coarse and the letters were routed out, making it easier to paint, but still not great. Someone gave us a stack of 4' 2X4's and HeWho knows things said they would work great. He went on to tell me how he was going to route out some 4X4"s to frame the sign. The only thing he wanted me to do was to outline the letters on the 2X4's ...... so he could route them out "otherwise, it won't look right".
Being a dutiful wife I went out to the barn where he had this all set up on a picnic table (after he pondered what he would put it on for me to work on. He was going to purchase a piece of plywood to put on sawhorses .......). Anyhoo, his wife suggested the picnic table, what with it being the same size as the sign. I battled the wind and did my part.
A few days passed. A couple of times, I even heard the router. But, he made very little progress. I even suggested using some different materials. I asked if, perhaps wooden letters might be an alternative to paint or routing the letters. I researched and neither one of us liked the price of the letters. HeWho seemed to balk at the shipping time, like we had not already wasted a couple of weeks.
Next thing I know, he is dragging in a piece of plywood for me to letter and then he cut the letters out with the jigsaw. Just $24 and we have all the letters we need and extra material. Everybody knows how much I love a bargain. I don't think he was too happy with me when he started to cut out the letters .... I laid them out very carefully to use as little material as possible.
My part is done , all the painting of the letters and the big part of the sign, just needs to be erected and then touched up.
At the end of the day, though, I have the sweetest little guy waiting for me to cuddle with!
It has been really quiet here for the past week since my little buddy, Parker, moved away. Not too far, but still, it is not the same.
I seem to have rediscovered my sewing room. I sold out of sock monkeys and had some of the campers ask if I planned to make more. I dug out my secret stash of hoarded socks and got busy. This one is made from infant socks and is my current favorite.
Seems I had quite the stash of socks and nowhere to display them. So I went to the ceiling for room and let them hang from a tree limb.
Not all of them are hanging by the tail.
This one looks like he might be stealing some ketchup!
This one has freaky long legs.
Tied in knots over chocolate.
Once I started, I couldn't stop. I made 21 last week and sold one over the weekend. I still have a big stack of socks, I might as well keep going while the rain is falling.
Last week, during my self-imposed break from the internet, I managed to accomplish quite a bit. During breaks in the rain storms, I pulled up all the cow pea plants and harvested what was left on the vines. Turned out to be 3 quarts for the freezer.
The heat from the boiling water used to blanch the peas and the smell of the peas hitting that water took me back in time. I remember many mornings spent shelling peas on my grandmother's carport. Everybody's fingers were put to use until all the peas were shelled out along with butterbeans. I hated shelling butterbeans, my thumbs would be sore for days.
After all the shelling was complete, the women folk would start the kettle to boiling. Then while the water took it's own sweet time, many arguments over whether to add salt to the boiling water would ensue. No air conditioning to keep things cool. Just an old oscillating fan on the floor. When the boiling of the salted water commenced (salt always won, after arguing over just how much salt), all the ice trays in the freezer would be released into the biggest bowl in the house. The ice trays were then refilled in hopes of freezing before the evening meal. I still wonder why they did not empty those trays in the morning and store the ice in the freezer ... or even invest in more ice trays.
The heat in the kitchen would be near to unbearable by this time and tempers were short. The blanching would be over and the peas plunged into the icy water, then the bagging began. A day long event that would yield dozens of pint freezer bags of peas and butterbeans. Always more than ever got eaten in the winter months.
Anyhoo, where was I before I wandered off down memory lane? Oh, yes, my kitchen was also hot and I would have opened the back door to take advantage of the nice breeze if my screen door functioned properly. The damp weather had the flies flocking to any opening available. Just letting the dogs in and out had created a bit of problem.
I was swatting flies non-stop, so I hung some of that nasty fly tape. Struck by inspiration, I hung some of the fly tape outside, thinking to capture the flies looking to come inside. It was actually working, too. This fly tape is really sticky and comes with a thumbtack on the end you pull out. I used it inside to stick the tape in the door way. I knew It would not stay stuck outside. We have lots of wind here. So I looped the tape around a metal flower pot holder and stuck it to itself.
How it came loose is a mystery. I was unaware that it had until my Charming Eddie came inside with it stuck to his tail. Poor little Eddie always manages to find things he shouldn't. We ended up cutting it out of his fur. He was a little indignant about the whole thing. I was quick to remind him that he started it all when he decided to rip the screen out of the door.
But, really, I blamed HeWho did not rehang the door properly .......
It rained and rained all week long, it rained. The temperature was quite nice. When the rain was not falling, cool breezes made one want to throw open the windows. And doors. Where screen doors would/should be in place to prevent insects from entering one's humble abode.
The screen door is back up. With a sizable gap at the top and it doesn't close. The wire mesh used over the screen to prevent one young dog from chewing his way out was applied to the entire door. Preventing the closing of the door. Oh, he trimmed some away after I lodged a complaint. Now, it still does not close all the way and the raw edges of the mesh tends to grab at my clothes and scrape my hands.
I will continue to encourage him to take it back down and trim away all the excess mesh and tack some sort of trim to cover the raw edges. HeWho says it is the fault of the door jamb needing repairs. I will also encourage him to repair that while he has the door down.
After almost 43 years, I realize that he is still not properly trained.
I finally have a minute to myself! Only a quick minute. The park is nearly full with Otoberfest enthusiasts and it is Saturday ....... time for Saturday Night at the Movies. With a twist this week ...... dinner and a movie!
This, from last week, getting it all set up.
HeWho gets to play with electronic stuff.
I made popcorn ........ three flavors!
Guess which chair is mine?
I am ready for tonight. Sloppey Joes simmer in the crock pot. All the sound equipment is loaded onto the cart and ready to roll. Thanks to me. HeWho was making 3 trips on the golf cart to get it all out to the pavilion. I unearthed this old metal cart that I bought at a yard sale many, many years ago. This cart is the best $12 I ever spent.
Not big, but big enough, it is the same size as those three shelf kitchen carts from the 80's. This one has only two shelves, but it is sturdier, with bigger wheels. The top shelf had that old boomerang formica, while the bottom shelf and all the rest of the cart is chrome. Was. It was all rusty and ugly. Nothing a piece of sand paper and a can of paint couldn't fix. I love this old cart and it will be with us when we live on wheels ...... it folds flat!!
Time to go out and see how wet the chairs are. It rained this morning, has rained all week, but the sun is shining now and clear skies are supposed to reign over the land.
You may (or may not) recall my post about Charming Eddie and the screen door. I like screen doors, especially this time of year. A nice breeze can flow through my kitchen as I slave over the hot stove .....
I asked for a screen door as soon as we moved the kitchen and the back door. It took nearly two years of nagging an complaining to finally get it installed. It was a storm door combination, with the window and screen on the bottom. I immediately knew that it would be a problem, that the screen was on the bottom. I knew that at least one of my dogs would take on the challenge of ripping that screen out. I asked him if the door could be installed upside down, so that the screen would not be with-in the reach of the canines.
Made sense to me, but HeWho had someone else install the door did not agree. As I had predicted, the screen did not last very long. A couple of years went by and the storm door did let light into the dark hallway leading to my kitchen, but I still longed for screen and a breeze.
I did exhaustive research on screen storm doors with solid bottoms and a screen on the top half. They are expensive, these doors with windows on top. So began the campaign for a plain old wood screen door. I harped on this subject on and off until he thought it was his idea. He bought the door and it sat waiting to be installed ..... not as long as the storm door waited, but only months.
This door was screen from bottom to top, but with a guard on the outside of the bottom half. I wondered loud about putting a similar guard on the front side. You know, a preventative measure, if you will. My idea fell on deaf ears and the door was installed. The breezes flowed into my hot little kitchen and all was well in my world throughout Spring. I leave the back door open when the weather permits. I can hear the dogs easier and they seem to be willing to stay out longer if they hear me in the kitchen.
Not long ago Cujo learned to open the screen door and go out by himself. I had considered a doggie door, but given Martha, the boy cat's, hunting abilities and the fact that he likes to bring special "gifts" to us, this idea was quickly vetoed. Cujo has a shorter body than Eddie and he is stockier. He could give the door a good tap and scoot out before the door came back to the frame. Toni Louise could do it, as well. I am pretty sure that Wall-E was capable, but he would rather martyr himself and sulk around inside, than join the others outside. I think he secretly hoped I would find the behavior to be bad and the other dogs would receive a good scolding, but Wall-E's martyrdom is another story entirely.
Charming Eddie is not one to shy away from a good challenge or to be left out. He watched and he tried the door trick. He lacked the body bulk to give enough oomph to his push and could not make it all the way out before the door came back to trap him in the threshold. I witnessed a few of his attempts and laughed at him.
Perhaps I should have not mocked him. After a particularly busy day, I came inside to find him strutting around with something caught in his teeth and hanging from the sides of his mouth. Screen spline. The spline is black and Eddie is black, making him look like a walrus. After I freed the spline from his teeth, I inspected my screen door.
He had pulled the screen out, in an attempt to escape, but was thwarted by the screen guard. This would be the answer to the question HeWho asked when I suggested guards on both sides.
Fast forward to this past Wednesday. HeWho took the screen down to rescreen the bottom and put the wire stuff on the inside. The door languished atop a picnic table until yesterday when it was re-installed. He bought a roll of the stuff and covered the door top to bottom with it. It makes me dizzy when I try to look outside. Not only that ..... he did not trim the stuff very well and the door would not close this morning.
I hear a drill out there as I write. I am afraid to look.
Have you heard? Fall is here. The leaves are turning and the stores are putting Christmas decorations out .... must be fall. School starting is over and now we wait for ghosts and goblins. I hauled out the bins I so carefully labeled some 10 years ago.
One would think I could put the stuff back into the correctly labeled bins. I didn't. I have to open all of them to see what is what. I know I have more stuff, but can't be bothered to crawl up the ladder to see what surprises I might have tucked away in the other bins labeled Christmas.
I found some of those lights for the windows with the pumpkin stuck on top. Bulbs didn't work. I know I have some .... somewhere here, but I just pulled the tops off and used them for the gnome garden. Perfect size and just think how much money I saved on our electricity bill!
Took a picture and now I am wondering where the third gnome is. I have no energy left to go out and look. I am biding my time, waiting for 7:00 to roll around so I can lock up and go kick back and hold dogs until it is time to go to bed. I have been feeling "poorly" this week. All the things I usually do in one day have taken all week. I know the pollen count is high and mold spores are in the air, but the pollen count is always high here with the wind blowing and, let's face it, you can't really escape the effects unless you live in a bubble.
I sometimes feel like I live in a bubble. My housekeeping efforts are pretty minimal when we are busy and we have been busy this season. I do make an effort to keep up with the dusting and floor cleaning. But, I have been really lax lately and I know this because, as I sat in my recliner receiving canine comfort, I happened to look in the corner of the room where the wood stove is and noticed a cobweb. A truly magnificent one! No, I did not jump up and grab the broom and pull out the vacuum. Remember, I was feeling poorly.
No, what I did was close my eyes and then slit them open just a bit to trick Toni Louise into thinking I was asleep so she would stop sniffing my eyeballs. I stared at the cobweb, like one would stare at the clouds and imagine different shapes. My cobweb looks like a hammock!!
I did manage to put out a bit of seasonal cheer. I don't plant lot of corn and we eat the few ears that grow. So, I only have a few stalks for décor. I beef them up with the tiger lily stalks that I carefully remove from the thousand or so plants I have. Tie a bow and stick a gourd or a witches face in it and there you go.
Notice the chainsaw art frog? We had some chainsaw art guys stay here for a awhile and HeWho commissioned the frog for my happy birthday. I do like frogs, and it is the logo for the park, and one should not be picky ...... but I would have preferred a rendering of Charming Eddie or Cujo. The frog is great, though. He welcomes visitors as they enter the office to register. Well, him and the witch .......
It has been a frustrating week. The weather has turned hot and humid again, making outdoor chores unpleasant. I tried to do too much on Monday, making me feel like crap on Tuesday.
Wednesday morning, HeWho hears very little without aid, announced that his hearing aid was kaput. So, he called for an appointment and I decided to ride along, since he was heading to Columbia and I knew I would get to see my bestie, Martha. He dropped me off and we gossiped for not nearly long enough before he was back. No quick fix for the hearing aid. It had to be sent off.
We had a very early dinner and then returned to our everyday drudgery. Thursday was another hot and crappy feeling day. I managed a very short nap, but never made it to feeling good. My canine friends must have known because they gave me wide berth and let me sleep until 6:30 this morning.
I mowed my allotment of grass in the early morning hours, despite the fact that HeWho said I should wait for the dew to dry. He never does and I would rather mow damp grass than mow while the sun cooks me in the midday heat.
I managed to get the laundry done and meal cooked while I await the arrival of all my weekend guests. Since September is notoriously slow, I have not been meticulous with my reservations. Yes, I screwed up.
I took a couple of overnight reservations as I was mowing this morning. I was in a hurry to beat the heat and I did not put my bifocals on ....... and I over-booked. So, you know how it is when you are faced with a problem, and it is easier to figure out by talking to someone? Well, that approach does not work when the person you are trying to bounce ideas off DOES NOT HEAR.
He literally walked out the door as I was asking for his assistance. So, I grabbed my phone and started texting him. I could see that my texts were being delivered and I was on the second text when a text came through "This is Adrienne, not Dad."
Add to that, the phone ringing every two minutes or so ...... When I was finally able to text him, the text did not go through and I ended up calling him and shouting out my request. I think I hurt my back, right between my shoulder blades, while trying to make the deaf man hear. To add insult to injury, he informs me that he has to go do some tow job.
I am on my own. I mean, I was on my own anyway, as far as solving the problem that I created myself, but a little moral support would be nice. I think I have the problem solved, at any rate. I will just need to convince the overnight travelers to take a site without sewer. I can always lie and say that my husband messed up the reservations, but I would creating bad karma if I did that.
No, I will fess up and admit that I am the one who screwed up. Give them a discount, make them happy.
Earlier today, While HeWho hears not, was playing on the front-end loader, moving rock hither and thither, I heard the bell alerting me that a customer was in the store. I was picking over the green beans fresh from my garden and not paying attention to the security monitor. There stood a wizened old man in t-shirt and jeans. Sweat was dripping from his face and his shirt sleeve was rolled up around his pack of cigarettes. He absolutely reeked of alcohol and nicotine. I stayed well behind the counter as I covertly texted HeWho for assistance. In a gravely voice the man told me that he had no money and was hitch-hiking his way to California (I am pretty sure he meant California, MO). He wondered if I could give him some money or a can of beer.
Before I could respond, the door flew open and my hero was there! I was amazed at how fast he responded to my text. He looked at the man and said to him, "I already gave you some money when I saw you earlier at the tow shop, you have no business here and you need to be on your way!"
Wow, way to protect your woman! The man left after he realized he had already hit us up for a hand-out. So, I said to my hero, "That was a really quick response!" He looked at me blankly. He didn't get the text until then and had seen the man walking up the drive. Here I was thinking he had come to save me.
Not that I could not have handled it on my own, mind you. I missed my opportunity to educate this alcohol soaked man. First thing that pooped into my head was the fact that he claimed to be hitch-hiking on a dead end road. He needed to be coached into a better story, or learn how to read road signs. Next thing was the request for alcohol because of the heat! Water, water is what he needed and if I gave him anything, it would have been a bottle of water!
