For those of you who have followed my blog, on my travels, thank you so much.

 

I have started a new adventure: I am in a PhD program for Journalism and

Mass Communications. As a full-time student, who teaches as well,

I am quite busy, but I love it!

Cheers to all,

Laveda

 

With all my schoolwork, and the people coming to the resort, which means I will be working more here, I felt the need to make sure I have any projects I wanted to do, underway, or done, before the season really kicks into gear.

I was sick over the weekend, and did almost nothing, so I was glad to feel better and get back to my routine yesterday. It was a little overwhelming, since I have a lot of things which need to get done. It is amazing how just one person can make so many dirty dishes, and two dogs can create so much dust and hair. Good news is, after a couple of hours, the RV looks all clean and shiny again, and I have clean silverware in the drawer. I also filled the bare fridge with some great deals, and worked on videos and school projects.

I did check out the internet and read my emails, so after cleaning the RV, I was intrigued by the article I saw from an email I subscribe to. It was about a woman who has pared her life down in an effort to simplify. She and her husband had a lot of debt, and a lot of stuff. In an effort to simplify, they got their debt down and she has decided to simplify her life by getting rid of her stuff.

Living in an RV, I have already cut my stuff down a lot, but I can still get rid of more, and her blog has shown me I am living the big life with all my stuff in comparison to her simple existence. I have always been fascinated by people who live very simply, mainly those who have no clutter. Now the lady in the blog has limited herself to 100 personal items. She even lists them, and has decided to replace an item if she gets a new item she likes better. Therefore she doesn’t have 25 pairs of shoes anymore, however, she is not including her household “stuff” in this list. This is more about personal clothing and effects. Her blog is http://bemorewithless.com/2012/my-100-thing-challenge/ if you’d like to read about her list.

I thought about this and through my weightloss, I have had to part with a lot of clothing already, but maybe I should consider her ideas, for other things. It is hard for me to get rid of things. I am a hoarder by nature, saving anything with any possible future use, because you don’t get rid of something which you might need someday. Basements were made for this. I have a trailer now, but try hard to monitor what I put into the trailer, knowing I have only so much room.

I was pondering the 100 item list as I took the dogs for a walk, and decided if I could use her idea of grouping items, such as underwear, by counting them as one item, I would try it out. I will go through my items again, and especially my over packed closet and see what I can do to get the “stuff” pared down. I would rather give it away than throw it away, so I will pack a few more bags and see if I can get my closet less crowded and therefore reduce my stress. It almost seems like a challenge which would be too difficult for me to do with clothing. Mainly because I have two drawers full of t-shirts. I enjoy my shirt collection from various events, and until they no longer fit, or I ruin them somehow, I will wear them. So I am going to try to do the challenge, using underwear, socks and t-shirts each as their own collective unit. After that, I am going see how well I can do. I have never thought of myself as a clothes person, but I know I have more than 100 various clothing items. I thought fitting everything in the RV was the challenge, and except for a couple of new smaller sized items, I have not bought too many clothes in the past year. I would say maybe 10 items total.

The person who backpacks across a country, is my real heros. How do they do it? And do they really have no other things, or do they have a room full of stuff at their parent’s house? I have found many items I brought with me, have stayed in their original place, and really have not been useful. But, I am not sure I am ready to get rid of them yet, since I think as soon as I get rid of them, I will wish I had them available. Most people living in RVs have found this to be true. They usually have too many clothes and “things”, and say that it takes a while to determine what is important and useful and what id not.

Limiting myself to 100 items in total, would stress me out, but I do think I can pare down my total number of items, and have less clutter. And I can put the things in the trailer for now and later donate them, if I don’t use them in 6 months. I think we all need to change our thinking, and adapt to what our lives become. I think this is the lesson to learn. Whether you can, or feel the need to live with less, is a personal decision, and one I keep revisiting. I like to go to the library, and read magazines and have some quiet time. One of the magazines I always read is called Simply Living. I am on board with its message and I like the idea of less, I just struggle with the “letting go” part.

 

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” 

–Steve Jobs (who passed one year ago, today)

Yes this is true. As I stayed up very late last night to finish the Powerpoint presentation for my class, I was thinking about the time I have spent working, and going to school. I enjoy what I am doing right now, at the resort. It does not pay as much as a “real job” would, but I like it, so far. It is fun to be the “newscaster” for the resort, and to take pictures and post them.

How much should money play a part in what you do? If you can do something you enjoy, isn’t that worth the difference in pay. I have always believed it was. I can spend less on frivolous things, and have a lot less stress. Maybe in the long run, will I save the money in healthcare, or in care for some disease which sets in due to the stress I was experiencing.

I think getting paid a lot of money is a great advantage, but if given the choice, I’d prefer less money, and enjoying my days and nights. I see people all of the time on Facebook, just counting down the days until Friday. Is that really living your life? If you plod through five days to get to the two, you are not really enjoying your life.

I remember when I was working at US99, I was so thrilled to be working there, I looked forward to going to work. Of all the jobs I have had, I think that one was the one which paid the least, and I loved every minute of it. I learned so much, and I got to do something I wanted to do, so it was more fun than work.

Although even in the best jobs, there are things you may not want to do, or times you may not feel like doing it, but overall if you enjoy your work, what a wonderful life you will have. And how much better of a job will you do? I know I get more into a job I enjoy than one I am in it only for the pay.

Sam and I judging a Lego competition

On TV the other night, on The MIddle, the mom wanted to start her second career, and looked at all the various avenues, and wondered what she REALLY wanted to do. I think that myself, as I work towards another degree in hopes I can teach audio editing, and communications classes at a University, maybe even some online classes. But as I work towards this education degree I start remembering how much I wanted to teach when I was in grade school. The public teachers went on strike, and I was asked to come in and fill in for one of the lower grades. I was in 8th grade and one of the best students in the school.

The kids were acting like you’d expect kids to act when they knew they had a substitute teacher who was only a few years older than they were. The one kid was throwing spitballs at the blackboard so I told him he had to go to the office. He took his stuff and left the room. At lunchtime, I was called into the Principals office and a lady who was a secretary (which was why she was there and not on strike) told me the boy went home and told his mother I yelled at him and sent him home. I was so upset, because that is not what happened. I may have yelled when I sent him to the office, after he was being a jerk, but still, I did not send him home. While she was admonishing me, she said “And whatever you do, don’t ever become a teacher!”

Later she would come and apologize to me, because other students told her what had really happened. But in that time, her words stuck with me, and I always kept away from thinking I should teach. So, I taught Bible School, CCD and sports, I even taught a kids class of bowling at the Community College one semester. This was something I had always wanted to do, and her words hurt me so badly, I never went in that direction again. In fact, whenever I have thought about teaching, I think I need to teach adults, because the problem I had was with kids. But as I do these various teaching projects, I am really drawn to teaching younger kids.

We take our work seriously.

When I had to answer the questions about Sam, the young lady asked if I had wanted Sam to do something particular, and I thought about how I always wanted my kids to do something they love. I remember Sam coming to me and saying he wanted to attend the one college, and I had a hunch it was because of the bowling team and his friend was talking about it, so I asked him what he was going to major in and he said Culinary. I literally laughed out loud. He had a thing about making smoothies, but before that he had no desire to cook anything. I had taught him to make french toast, but he never made anything else, so I thought he was joking. I feel terribly guilty to this day, because now he calls me and sends me pictures of his food, and he really enjoys cooking, so maybe he could have been a great chef if I had not laughed at him. I think he enjoys what he is doing, but I still feel badly. Maybe cooking can be just a hobby for Sam, or one day he may want to be a chef, it’s nice to have that option and be able to think that you should do what makes you happy.

 

 

Sam and I working on videos together.

 

 

So, as I keep learning more about teaching, I keep changing what it is I may want to do. I dont think it is ever too late to change what you want to do, and to do something you truly enjoy. You only get one chance in this world, so you have to make it count.

More and more RVs come into the resort each day. It is almost “the season” here in Arizona. I have been fortunate to have spent one of the hottest (according to the weatherwoman last night, there have been the most 100+ degree days this summer since they began keeping track!) summers here, and now I am hoping to get the reward of a cooler, allbeit warmer than the Midwest, winter!

I have been busy with making videos for the author, and keeping the Facebook page for the resort up to the minute, attending meetings and doing my schoolwork . I have projects due this week, but I wanted to post a few thoughts I have.

Right now, my life revolves around modern technology. My job here is based on doing social media, editing and uploading videos for websites, and I am taking my Masters degree classes via the internet. When I stop and think about it, it seems mind boggling to me. I am being paid to do a job that didn’t exist 10 years ago, taking classes in a way that could not have occurred 10 years ago.

I was sent a few questions from one of Sam’s classmates. It seems they are doing a project where they interview people and do a real indepth project about the person. Sam told me she’d be sending me some questions, but I was surprised at them. She asked if I could describe Sam in 3 words, which would be next to impossible, but I tried. Then she asked me about my favorite memory. That is another one which I cannot say, yes, THIS is my favorite memory of Sam. There are so many. it made me think back to a lot of great memories when the kids were little. This is always a fun thing to do, since it was the best time in my life. I enjoyed thinking about all of the anecdotes which revolved around Sam, and shared a few with her.

Then came a question which made me think a lot about my life. What can you see Sam doing in 5 years? I am certain I got this right about him, but if someone had told me 5 years ago where I’d be, I would have certainly laughed at them. Even 5 years ago, my position as a social media director, and taking online classes would be a far fetched idea. Even if there was such a thing, it was not something I thought I would be doing.

If you had told me I would be in Arizona, I would have probably debated that and certainly if you had told me there would not be anyone from our family living in Illinois, I would have doubted that as well. Life takes funny turns and the future is not for us to know. Sometimes I think the people like myself, who worry and fret over things are the least productive. The people who roll with the flow seem to be the happiest, and most content. Striving for things and to make everything perfect, just makes yourself crazy. Nothing is ever perfect, and maybe those imperfections are what gives us character?

I got a picture last night on my phone. It was of Sarah, doing her editing. It is always nice to get a picture from any of the kids, which means they are thinking of me, and want to share. This is something I never could have thought would be so much a part of my life. I send pictures to my kids of food I made, the dogs, what I am doing and they send me the same. It is another way technology keeps us connected in five different states. Yes, that’s right, currently we are in Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Missouri and Arizona. I never would have thought that either.

I watched the Presidential debates last night, and I have never enjoyed them more. I usually watched, while doing something else, and this time it was not much different, but I enjoyed this debate far more than any other. I had my twitter account open, and the people I follow are insanely clever. In real time, they commented on the debate, and I laughed out loud as if I was watching a sitcom, without the laughtrack. This is something I had never thought of, five years ago, but I have to say my Twitter people certainly entertained me during an otherwise awful debate.

I sent the answers to the young lady and thought more about what I had written. Who’s to say what Sam will be doing in 5 years, or any of us for that matter. I can’t see the future, and I am glad for that. But I do know that for right now I am glad that we have this marvelous technology which keeps us connected and helps me try to move forward.

Things usually fall into a routine, and around here, we have one as well. Not only do the dogs dictate most of the routine, they force me to follow their needs, and adapt my schedule around when they need something.

For the past month, we have been getting woken up around 7:45am, Arizona time, by a very low whine which Wrigley has used since being a little puppy to announce to the world he is ready to start his day. I plead with him to give me a few more minutes to which he does his best immitation of a snooze alarm and is quiet for another ten minutes before starting again. I have learned the hard way, he will not relent the second time, he will get louder and louder until you respond to him. Knowing this, I get up and talk to him while I make my bed, brush my teeth, get dressed, etc. then I gather the various things we need to go to the dog park.

My alarm clock

This is not a small list. There are leashes, doggie bags, my keys, sunglasses and once I have shoes on, we head out the door. The two of them head towards the gate, and I follow unlocking it to let them into the canine version of a big bathroom. They do their business, and after smelling all the new smells, they head back to the gate where I leash them and we go for our walk around the resort. They pull and tug at first but after about 5 minutes they are good walkers and if it’s not too hot, we even head to the back part and get a few more “blocks” in before we head back to the RV where I make their breakfast, and my coffee.

The middle of the day can vary, but the dogs don’t do a lot, until about 4pm, then they will start wanting to go out, and for a second walk which sometimes gets pushed to later, or when it was too hot, gets nixed all together. But at 5pm, they start wanting their dinner, so I give them dinner, and then they watch the other dogs go to the dog park and start asking to go out every hour for the next 3 -4 hours. At 9-10pm, Wrigley will start pulling Snowballs’ tail, and taking my socks and basically asking for me to get a treat and ask him if it is “bedtime for Bonzo?” After more than 2 years, he knows what this means. Some nights he will calm down and find something to chew on quietly, other nights I hold up the treat and ask him and heads right for his bed where he is ready to call it a night. I hear nothing out of him, most nights, until 7:45am when we start all over again.

Last night, however, I had a phone call planned and decided to take Wrigley into the cooler night with me at about 8pm, and we went to the dog park where he played with the puppy who has even more energy than he has, and after they ran around like crazy little doggies for about 30 minutes, my phone rang, so I took the leash and we walked for about 40 minutes more while I talked, and when we got back to the dog park, all alone, Wrigley laid down. We walked back to the RV and when we came inside Wrigley headed for his bed, and looked at me, asking for his treat, from inside the crate where he has slept his whole life, except for a couple of nights.

I put him to bed and took Snowball out and came in, to finish some work I was involved with. I did not get it done until almost midnight, and I went to bed then. I was tired, but when I saw that the sun had come up and I rolled over to get a few more winks before rising, I was hoping for more sleep. I drifted back to sleep and as I do many mornings, when I decided it was time to get up, I assumed it was about 7:30 and I would hear Wrigley in a bit. But when I looked at the clock next ot the bed, I thought there was something wrong with the clock, because it said 9:45am. I wondered if it had stopped the previous night, and grabbed my phone which confirmed that the time was a good two hours past when it should be!

My heart started beating faster, because I could not fathom how Wrigley could still be breathing if he was not up yet. I came into the room and looked at him. He was curled up, and so I called him. He looked very sadly at me, as if I was bothering his slumber. I got dressed, made my bed, brushed my teeth, and still, nothing. This was such a foreign concept for me I was not sure what to do! I got all the leashes and bags ready and he started stretching as if he decided it was finally time to get up.

We went ahead with our doggie park visit, walk and breakfast routine, but because I am usually up so much earlier on Sundays, I can usually go get the paper before the football games start, but here, they start at 10am, so I hurried to get the paper, forgot to get coffee, and all day I have had a hard time getting into the swing, because it seems like it should be earlier than it is! Wrigley has slept a lot, so I am not sure if he just overdid it yesterday, or he is getting sick, or what.

It’s funny how I depend on his dependability to get the morning started, and this morning, he really dropped the ball!

Since I bought the RV two years ago, (yes it was exactly 2 years ago this week!) I have probably used the awning twenty short times. I enjoy the shade it provides, and certainly love how much cooler the RV is when it is open while the sun is beating down in the desert here in Arizona. I usually put it up, only to take it down an hour or two later. This is to avoid, what I have been told repeatedly, is the biggest accident issue with RVs; a broken awning.

I have been a first person witness to two such mishaps while traveling the country. One was rain induced, the other wind. In addition, I have heard countless stories about broken awnings. When I arrived back here, in Arizona, a neighbor had just had his awning blown to bits while he went to the store. The winds can whip up here pretty good, and quickly. I have seen people use weights and other tie downs to secure their awnings, but I was not sure how, so I continued to pull mine out (manually, as David pointed out when I was in Kansas City, “Mom I thought you had everything on the RV, but not an electric awning?) and then put it back in, before I would leave it, and yes, I would worry the whole time it was up, because if a wind whipped up, what could I do anyway?

As I walked the dogs around the RV Resort, which is filling up, more each day, I saw numerous awnings out, shading the RVs from the warm sunshine. I looked at all of them and noticed they all had a ground stake, of some sort, and something around the awning to tie it down. I felt like a detective trying to solve a mystery as I looked at various awnings, and then tried to determine if I had the right equipment to do this myself. I became more certain that this would solve my sun/shade issue, if I could only figure out how to do it.

When I got back to the RV, I decided to clean up the remaining mess the monsoon had left, by washing my slab of concrete down. The monsoon left it full of sand, and I thought the next rain would take care of it, but instead it just baked in the sun and became a mess. I had been using an old rug, someone had given me on the porch,(glad I was since the monsoon ruined parts of it) and I decided it was time to get my good rug out and spruce up the place before all the new people arrive. I washed down the cement, and then I fixed my water hose which had been leaking at the RV connection. I had tried to tighten it, but it continued to trickle water out. I discovered that the second hose was not needed here, the one actually made it from the RV to the water faucet on the ground behind the RV. I was happy and relieved to see that when I connected it, there was no leak at all. Better to be a leaky hose connection than RV connection!

Once I cleaned off the slab, I pulled out the awning and tried to set up the arms of the awning on the ground, as I was shown, once, 2 years ago. I did this, but honestly, the awning sagged, and it did not look right. I envisioned a rain with pooling water up there, and decided I could live with the extending ams from the RV, which I will occasionally bump into, and have better piece of mind if rain should start while I am not there. Then I dug out the alligator clamp things Chuck had bought me for the scooter, before we found the cool Harley ones which work like a seat belt buckle. Chuck had tried to explain to me numerous times how easy the alligator tighteners work, but for some reason, I just couldn’t get it. We tried over and over, and he kept saying, “Oh it’s easy, Laveda, you’ll get it.”, but as soon as we bought the Harley ones, I was so relieved to not need to use the others. He insisted I put them in my RV, because “you never know when you’ll need to secure something.” So I have driven all over with them in my bin, just in case, but the fact I had a very loose idea of how they worked meant I would really need them, before I would sit down and figure them out.

Today was that day. I pulled them out, and mustering all of my brain cells together and willing them to remember how Chuck said these things worked, I looked at the awning and then at the loop and clasp. This seemed to go there, so I secured that part over the awning itself, and after seeing where the other part dangled down, I used my big fat sledge hammer (Chuck also made me pack) to hammer the (tent) stakes into the very hard ground. These were the tent stakes from the tent, which have a loop on the top. I went to secure the other clasp to the loop, and it was too short.

Now the beauty of these things is, they adjust. I looked at it, and if I could figure out how to adjust them, I think they’d make it. I pulled it down, and spent the next 30 minutes trying to figure out how this alligator thing worked. I know how to make it tighten, but making it looser was what I needed to do, and Thank God they were put away already rolled, because I never would have figured them out otherwise! Finally, my memory kicked in, and playing with it enough, I got it to give back some of the material, to make it longer and this time when I attached it, the clasp reached. Then with a couple alligator cranks, it was pulled tight, and I have to say, I was quite proud  of my work. I repeated the same procedure on the other side and felt like for the first time, I would not worry about the awning.

I moved the old rug to the back, by the wall for the dogs to use, but I needed something to secure them both down, so I went to the store. I bought the plastic stakes and some solar lights. I had to put the solar lights together, (that’s what I get for buying the cheaper ones in the box!) but I really liked how they looked and they put out a decent amount of light. I secured both rugs and put out my big blue chair, which is so comfy, I have fallen asleep in it before.  I discovered by accident, my outdoor radio actually plays my satellite radio feed from inside directly. I discovered this about 2 weeks ago, which is nice when I am outside. This would have been good to know the past two years! Once I was finished with that, I went and got the wooden sign I bought back in March which tells passersby that this is “The Peterlins”, and that we are from Chicago. I put in the hangers and secured it to the front of the RV. Around here, almost everyone has such a sign. I enjoy reading the names and where they are from as we walk through the Resort, which is why I wanted to participate.

Once I finished, I sat in my blue chair, under the awning, listening to the satellite radio and admired my work for the day. Yes, right now I love the awning.

My Finished Work

Today is the day.

I will run in my new running shoes for the first time. I will miss my Tiffany shoes, which made me feel cool walking around the gym, and I will still wear them around, but my feet have started to hurt after running in them, and since I have used them for the gym for ten months, I am guessing they are just no longer giving me the support I need.  I went with a shoe I had bought at a running store a couple of years ago, but was on sale online. I used tons of codes and coupons to get a great deal. I put them on, and they feel comfy so today will be my first run in them.

The new running shoes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is the post from when I purchased my now retired Tiffany shoes.

Rodeo Drive, Ca

I remember hearing about Rodeo Drive as a kid. It has always been pictured in my mind as a very special place full of expensive stores and boutiques with large windows and the items inside the windows would cost too much to even consider buying.

Sarah and I ventured to the famed part of Hollywood on her last night in LA. We strolled into the familiar stores we know and love. Mine included the teal colored boxes, and Sarah’s included almost any kind of store with fancy handbags.  We walked up and down the actual Drive and many stores were not open on a Sunday night, but the chain stores were. Unfortunately,  these were all stores we could have and did visit on Michigan Avenue many times. Sarah found a gift she would like, and I bought it for here now, because having an actual item from Rodeo Drive seemed cooler than from just any name brand store. Like a kid on Christmas morning, she and her new gift were inseparable the rest of her time here. I dropped her at the airport, still clutching it, which made me smile.

In the Nike store, I purchased a pair of new workout shoes in the cool teal color which adorned the store I truly love items from. This was my nod to the beautiful stores on Rodeo Drive. The gel inside the shoes made them even more appealing to me. For me these shoes were my splurge on the grand Rodeo Drive, so no matter how many times Sarah made me swear I would not wear them outside the gym, she never made the correlation between my love for the store which prompted the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” where every treasure is sent out in a teal box, with my treasured new shoes. The treasures I saw in the store were definitely pricey for me, and the shoes were something I truly needed, so I combined my two loves and I am now the proud owner of a pair of super comfy shoes I vowed to never wear outside the gym!

 

My home

 

The trailer has been the best thing and worse thing for me. I bought the trailer back in New Jersey, when the scooter carrier quit working. I needed a way to tote the scooter and quite honestly, with the carrier I had, I was worried every time I loaded and unloaded the scooter, since I was not very strong, and the scooter seemed really heavy to me at the time. I think my improved strength would help me if I had that type of carrier now.

I had the worst experience of my traveling soon after I bought the trailer, when I was stuck in the road in front of a viaduct and could not turn around the RV and, it started raining as well! Read that post again if you’d like a laugh!

However, I got much better at manuevering the trailer, and that came in handy when I rented a uhaul trailer and backed it into the driveway and loaded it up to take some belongings to David In the Kansas City area.  I was able to feel comfortable with the trailer and for that, my own trailer experience was helpful.

Wire shelves in the trailer

While I was helping David and Jody move into their new home, I spotted some shelves Jody said she no longer wanted. I took them, mainly because they came completely apart and were easy to take back with me. I had a “vision” of how I could put them in the trailer and organize my things better. Hah! Famous last words.

While I was gone, without the trailer, I managed to stuff things into every compartment in the RV. I had the notion of organizing things once I was back reunited with the trailer. It felt chaotic and  couldn’t wait to get all my things organized again.

The resort here has a rule about trailers not being allowed on your site, which is not very good for me. My trailer is not only the garage for my scooter and bicycle, it also has a lot of things like tools that I store there, until needed. Basically, if the RV serves as my home, the trailer IS my garage. With the trailer stored in the lot, I have to go over and get whatever I need. It is just not nearly as convenient. However, when I returned to the resort I was told I could keep the trailer on my site over the summer, which made me really happy, so it has sat right next to me, which has been very convenient, and will really make me miss it even more once I am forced to move it back to the lot.

A couple of weeks after I returned here, in August, I was so excited to get

More shelves for my “stuff”

everything arranged in a somewhat reasonable fashion. I went outside and brought a fan, and set it up. I opened the back ramp door as well as the side door to the trailer, so the air could flow through. I worked hard, removing all the things from the RV compartments, and the trailer and reorganizing all the stuff I felt I needed to have with me. This is very debatable, since some of the items have not been used yet. But since I have lost weight, the good “skinnier” clothes I stored have been put back in my closet and I am glad I have them now!

I took the wire shelves and had to tie them all together and hang them, in a manner which I hope will be secure once I am pulling the trailer behind me again. This was my plan, since the sides of the trailer have some odd material which make it hard to secure things. It looks like wood, but it is not, and it is not nail friendly, either.

I was drinking water, but apparently I was not drinking as much as I should. The sun was beating down and in the 114 degree weather, just being in the shade was not enough. I was not even sweating, probably because it was drying as fast as the perspiration apeared. I became thristy, so I came in and downed a big glass of cold water, and went back out, thinking that was all I needed. I refilled my water bottle and continued to sip it.

I was learning how fast dehydration occurs. I finished up my organizing and proud of my work, went inside. This was about 5 hours after I had started, and all I wanted was liquids. I kept drinking, but could not satisfy my thirst. Then I felt tired, and not well. The symptoms of dehydration all came and I was like a ragdoll for the next 24 hours. Actually, it took me two full days to feel good again.

I learned my lesson with the heat of the dessert, which I knew was there, but did not realize how it can sneak up on you and when it does, you will succomb.

I have learned so much about this part of the country, which I did not know. If you had told me the dessert would be a regular place for monsoon season, I would have said “What is, not true, Alex” , but I also found out that there is a monsoon season. I was in the middle of it, and it was scary. More to come on that, I am going to drink more water.

Wrigley enjoying the scooter

The scooter has been one of the best gifts ever. I love it. No matter what, I enjoy getting on it and going. The scooter is now basically my only mode of transportation, since I do not take the RV out. The RV is now my home, and the scooter, my wheels.

I had a conversation before I left Chicago, and was told it was illegal to use earbuds while riding the scooter in several states. Since this was what I always did, I was upset to hear this, from a reputable source. I decided I would plead ignorance if caught, until I could solve the issue. As I traveled around the country, I took my scooter out and rode it, along the ocean, rivers, and scenic drives, all with my ipod playing in my ear, rebel that I am!

As I sat across the intersection from a policeman a few weeks ago, I got worried he would pull me over, so I decided it was time to stop pushing my luck and fix the scooter-music issue. I went home and found my pair of very good speakers which I knew would be heard while I am zooming down the street at 50 mph with the wind blowing. The problems with these speakers were not only were they white, which clash with the scooter, (but can be fixed with spray paint) but they are battery powered, so I can envision getting ready to go, and the batteries being dead. I tried it out, using velcro to hold them to the scooter at the front of the footboard, so I could hear. I also got out my remote controller and attached it, so I could easily change the volume as needed. This worked, kind of.

I got stares as I sat at intersections and then noticed nobody else on motorcycles had music playing. I also noticed the volume had to be changed a lot, which made me vervous, since I think two hands for scooter driving is most important. I had looked at the helmets with speakers inside, but not only are they big and bulky, they are expensive.

I went into the local Walmart, and they had a small pair of black speakers which did not use batteries, and were on sale for $5, yay! I bought them, attached them to the scooter and took off. At the highest level of volume, and going 30 mph, I could not hear the music. well this was not going to work. I noticed the effort to put the speakers out and then away, (since they are not waterproof), for short jaunts did not seem worth it, so I looked into a professional radio. This type of radio would cost money to install, and would have automatic volume control. It was quite costly, but music is my thing, so I was trying to rationalize it as I looked at my options. While I was doing some research, I found a site which showed which states required what, for motorcycles.

I checked it several times, and found although some states restrict earbuds, some restrict them to one ear only, but both Illinois and Arizona have no such restrictions! I can ride my scooter with my music in my ears any time I like, with no worries! Take away from this: Always check the facts!

I am glad I did not spend a lot of money on this project, I hope to find some use for the $5 speakers; maybe I will put them up to use in my newly remodeled trailer which I will tell you about tomorrow.

I also bought some touch up paint for the scooter, to help with some of the dings it got while I was gone. They are not too bad, but I wanted to fill them in and make it look as good as possible. The scooter is quite a champ, starting up after a few turns when it was left for over four months amidst the sand storms and sun. Then a week ago, the monsoon piled on water to the floorboard before I could move it to higher ground, where it stuttered, but started up. We hit the 2000 mile mark just a couple days ago. I still get excited when I go to the gas station once a week and fill it up for $3.50 or so!

The best part of the scooter around here has been the reactions, not from young people, but people older than myself who want to get one for themselves! The guy yesterday who stopped me, told me he could no longer drive a car and wanted to know if he needs a driver license to drive the scooter, is not what I mean! I deterred him by telling him he not only needs a driver’s license but a special motorcycle license. But the others who have asked have been older ladies who think it looks like fun, and they are so right. I enjoy telling them how much fun I have just going to the store. Everyone at the fruit and veggie store always stare as I get so much stuff put in my scooter trunk. And the bungie cords I always carry get plenty of use. I have yet to leave something behind, I always find a way!

I have found the one big drawback to riding a scooter in this area: the sensored intersections. I have spent countless minutes, waiting for a light to change, when there is nobody else around, and yet, because the sensors do not pick up my scooter, they do not change the lights. I end up turning right (on red) and doing a u-turn and coming back and turning right again. I have never seen this before, but around here, I pray for a car to be behind me at these intersections, and I have also altered the way I go on the weekends, because there are so few cars, the lights never change! This is a small aggravation for all the fun the scooter brings. I smile inside every time I get on it and ride away.

One of Sam’s 3 jobs this summer, includes being cameraman for the local cable TV station here in Davenport. He is shooting the River Bandits baseball game here.

I am in Iowa, where Sam is upgrading my editing skills, showing me the software I will be using for my position at the RV park. Sam is quite the editor, and is truly talented when it comes to camera work and editing video. I am very proud of him and admire his passion for this calling.

Since I am working with new equipment I decided to get a little help from my in-house professional, so we practiced on one of my old video shots from the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery last year. With the precision of a master, in his element, Sam showed me the various tools I would need to use. I was a wizard (One of my true talents, which I do not feel the need to appear modest about) at audio editing, but it has been a while since I last edited video, so the refresher was much needed and most appreciated.

The video, whose link is pasted here, was what we did in a short amount of time, but I wanted to share it-

http://youtu.be/o6dCg0b2Y38