Our RV Adventures

Well, not completely, Karma’s hanging around too.

Jan and I headed for Katy about 1:30 with our first stop the El Pollo Loco just off I-10 south on Mason Rd. Jan wanted to stock on a couple of their 2 Piece White Meat Chicken Meals with Pinto Beads and Side Salads.

Then it was a little further south on Mason to the HEB for more Pet-Sitting survival supplies. For my part, I was happy to encounter the sales guy for the our favorite Lola Savannah coffee.

Told him that our HEB at I-45 and FM646 no longer stocked their coffee, and we had to go to another location to pick it up. He noted the address and said he’d check it out, since all HEB are contracted to carry it.

He also told me that they’re introducing some new flavors, and gave me a 1# bag of one of them, Cinnamon Stick. Since all their coffees are only sold as Whole Bean I went ahead and ground it up right there. And the smell was just fantastic.

Like their Texas Pecan has big chunks of pecans in it, the Cinnamon Stick has large pieces of cinnamon bark in it that get ground up along with the coffee.

We got to Brandi’s about 3:45, and after I got all her stuff unloaded, I got her laptop and Kindles logged in the house WiFi, and her device charger hooked up to keep her phone and Kindles topped off with juice.

A little later, after Lowell and Landon showed up, we drove over to have dinner once again at Astor Farm to Grill. Our first visit was when we were on the way from our Waco trip about a month ago after getting together with our long-time friend’s Bill and Carol Alverson, and Bill’s cousin June.

Jan got the same thing this time as last, the Lemon Chicken Breast with a side salad,

I went with something new, the Monster Pork Chop with Mashed Potatoes and Grilled Squash. as well as their homemade BBQ Sauce made with Macallan Whiskey.

Delicious, and the first time I’ve ever gotten a little buzz from a pork chop.

Back at Brandi’s I killed a little time to let the traffic die down, finally getting back to the rig about 8:30, about 15 minutes late due to road construction at FM517 where I normally get off I-45.

Tomorrow I start hitting my chore list.

Oh Boy!

I mentioned that Brandi, et. all, are going to Costa Rica for a week, leaving tomorrow afternoon. Which is why Jan is pet-sitting.

But this afternoon we finally got a look at where they’re staying. And all I can say is WOW!   This place is fantastic!

It’s the Manuel Antonio 10 Bedroom Villa.

There are a total of 17 people going down so so they’ll need the room.

And it comes complete with a chef and a sous chef. And just about anything else you can think of.

Click on the link above for all the amenities and more photos.

Landon’s looking forward to all the monkeys that will come to the porch to get  treats.

Thought for the Day: 

“I am not entirely on anyone’s side, because no one is entirely on mine.” – J. R. R. Tolkien

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Jan watches a lot of ‘reality’ shows, and her most recent favs, and Miss Piper’s too, are Below Deck and Below Deck: Mediterranean, showing on Bravo. In fact it’s become one of their highest rated series.

Jan usually watches these shows using headphones, but I catch bits and pieces, reading the closed captions while I’m on the computer. And I’m always amused on how ‘real’ these reality shows are. Or aren’t, as it were.

Jan was talking about a crew member that she doesn’t like, in this case it was Rocky, the 3rd Stew. She was always getting into arguments with everyone, causing a lot of problems and just stirring up trouble.

When Jan mentioned that she didn’t like Rocky, I said, “Did you ever think that was on purpose?”

Every single season on both shows, six seasons of Below Deck, and four seasons of BD: Mediterranean, has a Designated Villain or Troublemaker. And if you don’t think that’s deliberate, think again.

These shows all have to have some drama, otherwise most them would be pretty boring. It would just the ship’s crew catering and pampering their rich guests. And by RICH, I mean very rich. It costs between $140,000 and $300,000 PER WEEK to charter one of these 150 ft. to 190 ft. Super Yachts as they’re called.

And having done so much video production over the years, I always notice how the camera shots are set up, with so much of it obviously staged.

In one recent episode, Rocky, after having a big fight with someone, has a big blowup, strips down to her bra and bikini panties, runs to the railing and dives off into the water about 30 feet below.

Now you see all this from behind as she goes over the railing. But the next shot is the camera looking over the railing down at her as she makes a perfect dive into the water below. Turns out she’s a championship diver.

But the real question is where did that camera shot looking over the railing come from? There was no cameraman standing there when she leaped over. Which means she had to dive off the ship twice, once for the shot of her going over, and then another time for the camera looking down at her.

But it’s a reality show, right?

The only redeeming part for me is all the pretty girls in skimpy bikinis. But we won’t go there.

I sent my Panasonic Lumix FZ80 camera off to the Panasonic Repair Center up in McAllen to get it repaired. About a week ago when I got it out and took a couple of photos with no problems. But when I turned it off, it didn’t.

I tried to turn off and on a number of times with no result. The only way to turn it off was to remove the battery. So I tried leaving the battery out for a few days to let the internal power run down, hoping something might reset. But no luck.

Since I did purchase the Asurion 4 Year Protection Plan that Amazon offers on higher priced items, I first contacted them. But they turned me over to Panasonic since this should be covered under the factory warranty.

The Asurion policy covers any damage to the camera like dropping it or spilling something on it, with no deductible or shipping charges. A good deal at about $8 per year.

Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be taking Jan up to Brandi’s to pet-sit until Sunday week while she and her family are vacationing in Costa Rica. Then after we all have dinner together I’ll head back home. Then it’ll just be me and Karma for the next 10 days.

Thought for the Day: 

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometime you will find you get what you need.

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