Monthly Archives: November 2022
Kountry Katfish . . .
Jan and I were out the door this morning about 9am heading up to Conroe to meet up with Debi and Ed Hurlburt at a favorite of ours, Vernon’s Kountry Katfish.
The food was great and the company was even better, so good in fact, that in the 2-1/2 hours we were there, I didn’t remember to take a single photo of the food or the people.
Coming home this afternoon, we saw a billboard for the King Tut’s Tomb Discovery Experience at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
We had been waiting for this, so we’ll have to get tickets soon, though it’s here through May so we don’t have to rush. So next year.
Another thing was saw on a billboard recently was one for the The Four Tops appearing in Galveston on January 28th, 2023.
Since Jan and I love the old Doo-Wop groups, and over the years have seen most of the top ones, Little Anthony (both with and without the Imperials) The Drifters, The Coasters, The Del-Vikings, The Temptations, and most recently The Platters in Branson last December, I decided to check this out.
But it looks like The Four Tops are going to be a little out of our league.
Appearing at the 2023 Annual Meeting Of The Galveston Regional Chamber of Commerce, here’s the price list from the website.
Jan and I are still trying to decide if we want to be a Presenting Sponsor for $15,000 or Dance Floor Sponsor for $10,000.
Decisions, decisions.
2023 Annual Meeting Back to Detroit City Non Member Pricing ($225.00)
2023 Back to Detroit City Presenting Sponsor ($15,000.00) – Reserves 20 attendees
2023 Dance Floor Sponsor ($10,000.00) – Reserves 16 attendees
2023 Four Top Sponsor ($10,000.00) – Reserves 16 attendees
2023 Hybrid 7 Sponsor ($10,000.00) – Reserves 16 attendees
2023 Recording Studio A Sponsor($10,000.00)- Reserves 16 attendees Sold Out2023 Recording Studio Snake Pit Sponsor ($10,000.00) – Reserves 16 attendees
2023 Boogaloo Dance Pod Sponsor ($5,000.00) – Reserves 8 attendees
2023 Table Décor Sponsor ($5,000.00) – Reserves 8 attendees
2023 Motown Lounge Sponsor($5,000.00) – Reserves 8 attendees Sold Out2023 Era Car Sponsor ($5,000.00) – Reserves 8 attendees
2023 Drink Sponsor ($5,000.00) – Reserves 8 attendees
2023 Arcade & Games Sponsor ($5,000.00)
2023 Motown Sweet Shop & Coffee Sponsor ($5,000.00) – Reserves 8 attendees
2023 Big D’s Diner Sponsor ($5,000.00) – Reserves 8 attendees
2023 Hitsville Table Sponsor ($3,500.00) – Reserves 8 attendees
Photo Opportunity Display Sponsor ($1,200.00)
Getting back in our area, we made a Cowboy Coffee stop for Sugar-Free Hot Chocolates before getting home about 3:45pm.
And our Old Faithful 2004 Dodge Dakota, with over 309,000 miles on it, made the 140 mile roundtrip with no problems, holding 70-75 with no problems.
Good Girl!
But as I’ve said, she does smoke.
So I told Jan I going to get a set of these Magnetic Signs for the doors.
A set of two 12” x 18” signs is only $24.95 on Amazon. Should take care of any problems.
Thought for the Day:
Scientists say that a long, long time ago nothing exploded and created everything. How does that work exactly?
I think they left something out.
November 17, 2009
Sweet Home Alabama…
Today started off with a big scare!
About 9:15 am our daughter Brandi called and told us that our son Chris had collapsed at work and was on his way to the hospital by ambulance. He had suddenly fallen to the ground, clutching his stomach, and throwing up.
She said she was on her way down to St. Johns Hospital in Nassau Bay and would let us know something as soon as she knew something. She called back about 10 to tell us that she was at the hospital and Chris was awake and talking.
She called back about 11:15 am and said that Chris had had an attack of kidney stones, and they were sending him home with pain medication and antibiotics to pass the stone.
Although it was painful for Chris, this was really pretty good news, considering all the other much worse possibilities it could have been.
At 11:30 pm we met my Uncle Tom and Aunt Lenette at Bob Gibson’s BBQ for lunch down in Decatur. My Uncle Tom played for the Pittsburgh Steelers for 4 years back in the 1950’s, after playing football for the University of Alabama. He then coached high school football in Alabama and is considered “The Winningest Coach in Alabama High School History”.
About 4:30 pm, my cousin, Glee, her husband, Dave, and my cousin, Joy, my wife Jan and I all headed out to eat supper at Catfish Cabin, a local seafood place.
We had a great time talking over old times. I haven’t seen either Glee or Joy in over 40 years, but as Jan said it was like we had known them for ever. And she had never met them before.
About 5:30 Chris called and talked to us for a few minutes. He was home and really enjoying the pain medication. Apparently they were going to just wait for him to pass the stone. Ouch!
November 17, 2010
Pretty Toes . . .
Jan got an early start this morning by heading up the road to Kemah about 9:30 to get a pedicure. She now has pretty blue toes with glitter. I wanted purple with glitter, but they didn’t have it with glitter, so blue it was.
Jan and I headed out for our walk about 11:30, and it was another beautiful day, mid 70’s, and then mid 40’s tonight.
And of course, coffee was waiting for us when we got back.
About 2 pm we drove up to Kemah for another dose of Hooter’s XXX wing sauce. Not sure why, but it seemed a little hotter this time.
Still great though.
After Hooter’s we stopped off at Wal-Mart for some groceries. Jan’s started stocking up on stuff for our Thanksgiving meal and I’ve already booked a HoneyBaked Ham for us.
We’ll be taking the ham and several dishes up to Brandi’s BFF, Shawna’s for Thanksgiving dinner. Over the years its become kind of a tradition with our families. Usually it’s Thanksgiving, occasionally Easter, and even once for Christmas. But no matter it is, we always have a great time.
Finally, we went by Kroger’s to pick up a couple of things that we didn’t find at Wal-Mart. And by the time we got back to the rig, it was almost 5:30.
Sometimes you wonder where the day went.
November 17, 2011
Viral Again . . .
About 10am Jan and I headed out for the day, first a few sites down the road to see Eldy Tompkins and Jeanne Sparks. They just got in last night, and we wanted to set up a time for a supper get-together tonight.
Then it was off to Pensacola via Alabama Point. Our first stop was our favorite Sonny’s BBQ, where we try to eat every time we’re in this area. And we’re always sure to have enough leftovers to bring home.
Our next stop was at Artesana, a really neat gift shop that we’ve been visiting for more than 30 years. And every time we find something new and interesting.
Heading home, we came back via US98 thru Foley. I wanted to stop there because I had seen signs for the Holmes Hospital Museum.
The reason was two-fold. My mother, an Army nurse during WWII, and a Public Health nurse in Birmingham, worked here for Dr. Holmes as a part-time nurse after we moved here in late 1950.
And I had my tonsils out here in 1953 or ‘54.
The hospital opened in 1936 and was the first hospital in Baldwin County. It occupied the top floor over Crosby Drugs, as seen here, and closed in 1958 when the Baldwin County Hospital opened north of Foley.
This would have been the operating room where my tonsils were yanked out, and the room below is where I remember walking up. My bed was against the far wall, and I remember my throat hurt and I got ice cream and a new toy truck.
They also had a book listing all the people born there, and I was able to find several kids in there that I went to school with, including my childhood friend, Claudia Coleman.
Really brings back a lot of memories.
We got back to the park about 3 pm, and then at 4 we picked up Eldy and Jeanne and headed up to Lulu’s at Homeport, Jimmy Buffett’s sister’s place.
On the way, our son-in-law Lowell called and said our roller coaster pic had gone viral again.
We had a bad connection so I don’t know who saw it, but the website for Ch. 2 in Houston has a series called Scared Straight – Best Roller Coaster Faces Ever, and if you check out #16, you’ll once again see our happy faces. Well, mine’s happy, anyway.
I really loved the comment at the bottom of the picture.
Eldy and Jeanne really enjoyed Lulu’s and said they’ll go back before they leave in 10 days or so.
Tomorrow we’re taking them up to Lambert’s for some Throwed Roll dodging. Hopefully they like it too.
November 17, 2012
Snakebit ?
Since this was our last morning here in Gulf Shores, we wanted to end it with a delicious breakfast, so about 6:45 (OMG!) we headed down to Orange Beach to have the breakfast buffet at Hazel’s Seafood Restaurant. Hazel’s is known for their buffets, especially their Sunday Brunch and evening Seafood Buffets. But we love the breakfast buffet and always try to visit at least once each time we’re here.
We were back at the rig by 7:45 and on the road by 8:45. The rig cranked up with no problems, and we were on our way back to Texas.
But our first stop was Dodge’s up in Foley to top off our diesel. Jan had followed me in the truck so it would be easier to get in and out of the station to fill up. She waited for me right down the street where we hooked up the toad and were on our way.
And everything went smoothly until we were in Mississippi several hours later. As we were coming off a section of rough pavement on a bridge, I noticed a funny vibration. But since we were planning to make a rest area stop about a mile up the road, I decided to wait until then to check it out.
Getting out of the rig I did a detailed walk-around. Something didn’t look right but it took a little checking to figure out what the problem was.
At first I thought one of my rear airbags was deflated, but after crawling under the rig, I discovered that neither airbag was airing up. Since my dash air pressure gauge was showing normal pressure I’m thinking the problem is in the proportional valve that equalizes the air between the front and rear airbags. But I’ll have to wait to get back to Houston to track it down. By taking it easy we should be able to get home OK. We did about 200 miles today after I discovered the problem.
I’m beginning to think our travels this year have been kind of snakebit. It seems to have been just one thing after another.
We pulled into Poche’s RV Park in Breaux Bridge, LA about 4:30pm and got park and set up. Then it was off to supper at another of our favorite places, Pont Breaux.
We’ve eaten here for more than 30 years, when it was called Mulate’s. But when we got here last year, we found it had changed hands and was now called Pont Breaux. But lucky for us, they’ve kept the same menu and it’s as good as ever.
So after a great meal, we were back at the rig for the night, but on the way in I did get this great sunset photo over the RV park lake. If you look carefully you can see a great heron perched on a float out in the lake.
And to make it even better we have new Landon pics.
Brandi, Lowell, Aunt Sherry, and Landon, along some friends, Jason and Shawna Oakley, and some of their family, all visited the Texas Renaissance Fair north of Houston.
It was his first time and Landon had a ‘Two’fer’.
His first big Turkey Leg.
And his first elephant. If you look at his face, he’s not too sure of the whole thing.
Tomorrow will be our last day of RV travel this year. We’ve got about 230 miles to go which will give us a little over 7100 miles for the year. Far short of the 10 – 12 thousand we usually do, but since we spent 4 months oil rig gate guarding in south Texas, it cut down on our traveling this year.
November 17, 2014
Last Days on the Gate . . .
Tuesday:
Recapping our day off the gate, we finished up by having a great steak dinner at Solodak’s Beefmaster, a place we pass every time we travel to and from Bryan/College Station. And lunch or dinner, the parking lot is always full, a good sign.
And our experience was no different. Our steaks, Jan’s Sirloin, and my Ribeye, were great and so was the price. A really good meal.
We got home at little before 8 to find that Charlotte, our relief guard, had things well in hand and had done a good job working our gate.
Wednesday:
Today our drilling rig, that’s been here since the first week in September, started moving out to their new location about 10 miles away. Of course the first thing Jan wanted to be sure of is that they didn’t forget Russell the rig dog. One of the guys said Russell had already moved to the new site. Said they just opened the truck door and he jumped right in. He said they’d bought him a new fluffy bed and put it right next to the heater in the common room and he made himself right at home. Turns out that the rig originally adopted Russell when they were on a location in the Dallas area and he’s been with them ever since.
Thursday:
Our frack started moving out today, with a lot of big stuff coming out of the pad right next to us.
But at least no more sand trucks are coming in and out.
Found out that even though, the frack crew is all headed to a new job near Shreveport, all the equipment is headed back to their yard near Longview to be reconditioned, as it is after every frack. The crew in Shreveport will be using fresh equipment
Friday: Starting to Break Down
I spent the time behind trucks today breaking down our canopy and the rest of our camp. I wanted to get a jump on this since it’s supposed to start raining tonight and continue through Sunday morning.
Saturday:
So by the time Saturday rolled around, we were working completely out of our truck (and staying much warmer) and everything else was packed away and ready to travel.
Sunday: Leaving the Gate
I had hoped that I would be able to get a couple of hours of sleep after Jan relieved me at 7am, but that was not to be as we were notified that our replacements would be arriving closer to 9am than the original 10am. So I was up about 8:30 and got the rig ready to move out of our spot so our replacements could pull right in and park.
But because of this early start, we were able to pull out about 9:45am and get on our way. Our first stop was the Buc-ee’s on I-45 in Madisonville for diesel (at $3.39 a gallon) and breakfast kolaches for the trip. Then it was on down south to the Two Texan’s Truck Wash in Huntsville where I hoped to get all the dust, dirt, and drilling mud washed off our rig. But that didn’t work out.
I found it pretty much impossible to nail the guy down on the price. Finally he said $2 a foot, which would be $80, about twice what Blue Beacon charges. Then he wanted to charge an extra $1.50 to $2.00 a foot for the roof. So we were looking at $160 for what Beacon charges $40 – $45 for. No way.
So it was back on the road, still dirty but no poorer, for the last 25 miles to the Lake Conroe Thousand Trails. Luckily we were able to get a site in the ‘E’ area, in a site we’ve stayed before, E-59.
By the time we got backed in, plugged in, and set up, I was running on flumes, so a nap was in order
Later we met Lynette and Gregg McHenry, their friend Arlene, and Donna Huffer and Bob Parker at El Bosque for dinner, only to find that location had closed. So rather than track down the new location, we adjourned to the Ryan’s across the street for our usual great meal there.
And our usual great time.
Monday: Our First Day of Freedom
We started out by sleeping in, in fact I didn’t get up until about 11:30. But ironically, that’s the time I usually got up when we were on the gate. Of course on the gate I wouldn’t have gone bed until about 7:15 am when Jan relieved me. So this was much better.
A little before 2pm Bob Parker dropped off his Netgear WiFi router for me to take a look at for him. There’s a problem with the WiFi setup or the configuration. I’ll take a look on Tuesday.
After a nice two hour nap, we got ready to meet everyone for dinner at The Fish Pond Restaurant, which is part of the Convenience RV Park and RV Parts Store about 4 miles north of here.
We had a big group with Jan and I, Donna Huffer and Bob Parker, Lynette and Gregg McHenry, their friend Arlene, Debi and Ed Hurlburt, and Rick and Janice Binns.
The Fish Pond, a downhome type of place, turned out to be really good, with Ribeye’s (mine), catfish and shrimp (Jan’s), Chicken Fried Steak, Hot Beef plates, etc. Of course as usually when you get a bunch of RV’ers together, we spent a couple of hours just talking after we finished eating.
A great meal with great friends.
November 17, 2015
Missed It By That Much!
We Will Rebuild !
It’s only a scratch. A few tie-wraps and some Gorilla Tap and that’ll buff right out.
Well, we almost made it.
For each of last three years we’ve gate guarded, we’ve lost a canopy sometime during the year.
Year 1
Year 2
Couldn’t find a photo
Year 3
But this year, since we only have 5 days left for this year, I thought we had managed to dodge a bullet.
WRONG!
Although running a little late, Mother Nature finally caught up with us this morning. After riding out the high wind gusts all night, (according to the Weather Channel, 45 to 55mph) I finally gave up and went inside. I had been watching the heavy squall line running southwest to northeast west of us. But it was also sliding sideways in our direction. And as it did, the wind gusts increased even more.
So I moved all the electronics and other stuff into the rig and the truck, and then garbage-bagged the heaters, and anything else not waterproof. Then about 5:30 I retreated inside the rig to ride it out.
At that time I wasn’t really worried about the canopy since it had braved the high winds all night, but I didn’t want to be out there when it was raining sideways. I had even added a couple of extra tie-downs using 220# rope, one to the tow bar attachment on front of the truck, and the other to the hitch on the rear of the RV. I figured if the rig and the truck didn’t stay in place, I wasn’t going to worry about the canopy.
About 6 am the bottom fell out with a loud WHOOMP! All at once it was coming down so hard that I could just barely see the truck 10 feet away. We even had some hail for the first few minutes. The wind gusts were now rocking and rolling the rig back and forth with no let up. I finally went to bed about 6:30, with the canopy still holding its own.
Even in the storm we were still getting the water tankers coming in and out. Jan would waved them in from the door, and try to get their tag numbers on the way out. But usually it was just tanker at 8:05, tanker out at 8:25.
Jan said the canopy went down somewhere between 7 and 7:30, and a little bit later we lost the floodlights and the bell alarm as water got into some of the connections and popped the GFCI on the generator.
I was back up about 11 and we were going through lulls as the bands of rain passed over us. About this time a truck that I didn’t recognize pulled up so I ran outside since it was only drizzling at the time. Found out that it was the advance guy for the workover rig that’s coming in tomorrow.
Well that was a surprise since flowback wasn’t supposed to be finished up until Thursday or Friday. But it looks like they’re getting an early start. Told the guy they picked a hell of a day for it. He agreed and said that driving over from Longview he had trouble just seeing the road in front of him.
The storm had pretty much died out by 5pm so I went outside to survey the damage and try to figure out what happened. And it quickly became obvious what caused the canopy to go down.
All four of the 12” metal had been pulled sideways out of the now soggy ground, leaving only the 220# test rope holding the canopy against the wind. And at some point it had snapped like a strand of spaghetti. I figure it must have been a big gust that did it, since a steady wind of enough strength to do that would completely shredded the tarp, and it was still pretty much intact.
I also found the ground littered with these connectors.
These are what holds the cross braces of the canopy frame together. In some cases the bolt snapped, but in a couple of others it looks like the bolt threads were just stripped out.
Wow! That was some wind.
That’s about it for today. We’re working out of the truck for tonight, and tomorrow I’ll see if I can pop the canopy back into place.
We’ll see.
November 17, 2016
The Prime Directive . . .
Several of our blog readers noted that the detailed specifications for the Porter-Cable 150 psi Air Compressor that I mentioned yesterday say the unit is ‘Gas Powered’.
It’s not. It is 120VAC.
Also tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 18th, Amazon is discounting their normally $99 Prime membership fee down to $79 for one day only.
Here’s what they say:
In anticipation of the launch of the Amazon Original Series The Grand Tour, Amazon is offering a limited time promotion—new members can sign up for Amazon Prime for just $79, a 20% savings on the first year’s annual membership fee. The first episode of The Grand Tour will premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, November 18, and the one-day discount will be available starting Friday at 12:00am ET and ending at 11:59pm PT.
Go Here for the Discount Price:
Note that this discount price is for individual memberships only, and not for gift memberships or renewals.
Following up on yesterday’s blog, here are some products that we use and recommend:
I mentioned several times how much we like our Zero-G RV water hose. It never kinks and stows away easily , even when it’s 40 degrees outside. Although it is flexible, it’s not expandable, and has a canvas-like feel, like a fire hose. Well Recommended.
Although I just got this a few days ago, so far I really like it. After charging it up, I used it to power my phone for a 24 hour period with plenty of juice left over. Check it out.
PowerCore 13000 Portable Phone Charger
And this Tactical Pen
Tactical Pen and Glass Breaker
You’ve heard me sing the praises of Strike-Hold numerous times over the last few years for good reason. It’s great for resurrecting flakey electrical connections of any type. Just a single squirt into a phone or Kindle connection will work wonders. And like WD-40 it will displace moisture, but unlike WD-40 it is also a real dry lubricant made originally for military firearms.
I replaced our 8 year old Shurflo water pump this past May with this new one. The old one started leaking and then quit turning on. This new one is much quieter and has better pressure. So far, so good.
We started using these 900 lumen LED flashlights on our frack gate up near Carthage, TX last year. They’re the brightest ones around for the price, and are fully focusable. They also have a flash mode that is blinding. We’ve got about six of them scattered round the rig.
Over the last year I’ve replaced almost al the fluorescent tubes in our rig with these LED strips. The only ones I haven’t replaced are the ones in the two 18” fixtures in the bedroom. I already have the strips, but I’m waiting for one or more tubes to die.
The two links below detail how two strips will replace two 18” tubes and six strips will replace two 4’ tubes.
https://ourrvadventures.com/2015/12/cooking-for-christmas/
https://ourrvadventures.com/2015/11/grey-friday-2/
These Mighty Mules are the best vehicle alarms we’ve found. And we’ve been through a bunch of different ones, believe me.
What makes them pretty much false-alarm-proof is the fact that they only sense large pieces of metal moving through their magnetic field. So no cows setting off the alarms.
Unless of course it looks like this bison taken near Glacier National Park.
This is one of Jan’s favorites. The keys light up in your choice of 6 different colors. Great for computing at night when you’ve only got the light from the monitor to work by.
Several years ago I replaced the original Xantrex/Heart Interface Source Manager Power Converter/Transfer Switch/Inverter combo unit that originally came with our rig. First the transfer switch died, and then the power converter followed it into oblivion.
So I replace the 4’ long, 18” wide, 18” high, 80# unit with two boxes the size of a shoebox
Progressive Dynamics 50 Amp Transfer Switch
PowerMax 55 Amp Power Converter
I didn’t worry about replacing the inverter since we almost never boondock anymore, and when we do, we just run the generator. But if I had it would have been another shoebox-sized unit.
I use these modules to monitor the 12 VDC and 120 VAC systems in the rig. They’re cheap and easy to install.
For dinner tonight Jan whipped up a delicious batch of her Pasta e Fagioli soup. Very spicy and very good.
So we’re set for the next couple of days of good eatin’.
I’m going to bed about 10pm tonight since I’ve got to be up at 4pm to be on the road by 4:30 to be at my gate by 5pm. And that goes for the next three days.
Yuck!
November 17, 2017
My New Toy . . .
My new toy, my Harbor Freight Circuit Detector, worked perfectly this morning, finding the correct circuit breaker in about 15 seconds.
I just plugged the small transmitter into the plug strip, and seeing the light was on, went to the circuit breaker panel and ran the detector down one side of the breaker row and back up the other side. And then did it again.
As the directions said, the first trip up and down gave me a couple of false beeps, but the second loop narrowed it down to one particular breaker. So crossing my fingers, I flipped the breaker and went back in to check the power strip. And finding the light on the transmitter light off and everything else still on, I had my separate power outlet and was now clear to move the server.
After being sure that no one in-house was logged in, and no users were in the shopping cart, I shut down the server and unplugged everything.. First thing I moved was the UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) and got it plugged in to the AC power. Then the server followed and 5 minutes later it was back up and online.
At this point I started scrounging up a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for the server so I don’t have to keep switching them back and forth.
While I was letting it all settle in, I drove down to the nearby O’Reilly’s Auto Parts to pick up the parts for a front brake job for our truck. Two new rotors, and a set of pads ran me about $160.
I don’t worry about having the rotors turned down. I just replace them every other pad change. It’s worked great for 267,000 miles so far. And lucky for me I have a son who’s really good at this stuff, so we’re going over to his house tomorrow afternoon and let him take care of it while I supervise.
When we were in Kroger’s the other day, I came across this new flavor of Lay’s Potato Chips.
Really? Chicken and Waffles?
What’s next? Liver and Onions?
And there’s more.
OK, I’ll give you Sriracha. But Cheesy Garlic Bread?
We’re bordering on heresy here.
November 17, 2018
I’ll Be Back . . .
In A Few Dollars.
After a nice, quiet morning and good coffee (a Texas Pecan/Mocha mix) we left the rig about 12:15 for an afternoon of fun, frolic and . . . stuff.
Our first stop was the J.C. Penney at Victory Lakes, and the Sephora right inside the front door.
And “I’ll Be Back In A Few Dollars.” was her parting shot as I let her out. Apparently her definition of a ‘Few Dollars’ is $56.16.
Who knew!
Our next stop was lunch at the newly-opened breakfast/brunch/lunch place, Snooze The AM Eatery.
By getting there about 1:30 we had hoped to avoid the weekend crowds, but it seems like a lot of other people had the same idea, so we had about a 30 minute wait.
To speed things up we did take First Available so we ended up outside on the patio, but it was sunny and in the low 70’s so it was fine. A little breezy at times, but fine.
One thing different about Snooze from other breakfast places is that it has a full liquor license so you can get Bloody Mary’s, Mojitos, and Margaritas, as well as Mimosas and several craft beers.
However Jan and I started out with Lattes, Jan’s Pumpkin, of course,
and mine Hazelnut.
Jan went there planning on getting their Avocado Toast, her new fav, but after looking over the menu, and wanting a treat this weekend, she went with the Smashin’ Pumpkin Pancakes.
Served with cream cheese filling, and topped with bourbon-infused maple syrup, sweet cream drizzle & maple-spiced pepitas (shell-less pumpkin seeds), she said it was well worth the calories.
And rather than my usual Eggs, Bacon, English Muffin, and Fruit, I went with the Shrimp & Grits . . . and Fruit.
It’s cheesy grits with sautéed shrimp, andouille sausage, peppers, leeks, and topped with an over medium egg. Very nicely spiced, but of course could be a little hotter. Next time I’ll bring my hot pepper flakes in with me. And it really had a lot of shrimp.
Everything was very good, and we’ll definitely go back, maybe when the crowds have died down a little.
Our last stops were WalMart and Sam’s before we headed home about 4:30.
Yesterday morning we ordered some stuff from Costco for the first time, and were surprised to find that anyone can order from Costco.com, but you only get the full discount if you’re a member and enter your membership number.
And it seems like Costco is trying to match Amazon, since we ordered yesterday morning at 9am, and it was shipped about 3am this morning. Nice.
Now that I’ve got a good address in South Dakota, I went online and ordered the new vehicle tags for our Dakota and American Eagle. And I was surprised to find out the price of this year’s tag stickers.
Several people had said that since my address had moved from rural Madison to Sioux Falls, that I would be paying a lot more now in a ‘wheel tax’. But checking back, this year’s tags were exactly the same as last year, $474.40. Still not bad.
So I still don’t know about the ‘wheel tax’, but it didn’t make any difference for me.
November 17, 2019
Back To Santa Fe Tomorrow . . .
We’ve had a Great Weekend getting together with the whole family up here in Kingsland.
And we’re looking forward to doing it again soon.
I’ll try to catch up with real blogs either tomorrow night, or Tuesday night at the latest.
So Stay Tuned.
November 17, 2020
An Old Friend In Town . . .
I’ll do a full catch-up blog tomorrow, but tonight we got together with an old friend in town for a few days.
November 17, 2021
It Wasn’t Me . . .
Today was my first day back at work since my surgery and I walked right into a big problem. Our website was down, and had been since around 8:30 last night, since that was when the last order came in.
But a few minutes of checking things out told me that the problem was on GoDaddy’s server end, and not on mind. And after about 30 minutes on the phone with them, they said it was a server problem and it was being worked on.
And sometime around 7:30pm it all came back up.
Tomorrow we’re heading up to the Spring area to meet up with Ed and Debi Hurlburt at El Palenque once again. Really looking forward to it.
Since we’ve been doing a lot of searches involving ‘spinal cords’ recently, this article popped up that seems to show a lot of promise for people with a lot more serious spinal cord problems than I have.
Mouse study points to potential breakthrough against spinal cord injury
Severe spinal cord injuries are incurable today in humans, but a new injectable therapy that restored motion in laboratory mice could pave the way for healing paralyzed people.
The therapy — liquid nanofibers that gel around the damaged spinal cord like a soothing blanket — produces chemical signals that promote healing and reduce scarring, researchers report.
“We found that in about four weeks effectively, somewhere between three and four weeks after injection of the therapy, the paralysis was completely reversed and the mice are able to walk almost normally,” he said.
Dead & Alive . . .
As I have in the past when one of our vehicles is in the shop, I looked into renting a car from Enterprise. And I don’t know if it’s the holidays, or the economy, or a little of both, but the last time I rented a Malibu from them, it was about $265/week.
But right now it’s over $500/week.
Yikes!
A couple of weeks of rentals would probably make a big dent in whatever it’s going to cost to fix the Jeep.
I called Roland’s Precision Machining up in Alvin to confirm that they had gotten our Jeep and spent some time going over the problems with Roland himself. Said he’d called as soon as he knows something.
Tomorrow we’re heading up to Conroe to meet up with friend’s Debi and Ed Hurlburt at Vernon’s Kounty Katfish for lunch. Really looking forward to it.
Thought For The Day:
November 16, 2009
Heart of Dixie…
About 11:30 we drove over to Huntsville to eat lunch at a favorite Mexican place of ours called Rosie’s Cantina. We first ate here last November and it’s still good.
Next we went by Sam’s Club and then stopped off at Petco to pick up some new collars for our cats, and also a new feeder.
Right as we got back to the rig, my Aunt Janice and her grandson, Harlan, showed up in the golf cart to say Hi.
A little later I went over to Janice’s house to talk with Glee, her daughter and my cousin, about a computer project she’s working on, and also get her computer working on Aunt Janice’s WiFi system.
About 5 pm I went back to the rig to bring my Jan over to Aunt Janice’s for a delicious casserole for dinner and had a great time catching up with the family.
November 16, 2010
Amazon and the Landon Cam . . .
And then our friends, Al and Adrienne called. When we called them back, we found they’re still in Fernley, NV which is about 30 or so miles east of Reno, where they’re working for Amazon at one of their distribution centers. Amazon hires about 15,000 people a year to work shipping out orders, and they like to hire RV’ers because they bring their own housing with them. In some cases Amazon pays for their site at the RV park.
They said it’s an interesting experience. Not sure exactly what that means. Hopefully we’ll find out more when we see them back in Tucson next year.
Proud papa Lowell sent this picture of Landon at his first full day of daycare. He looks like he’s not too sure about the whole thing, but there’s no way you’re getting a smile out of him, no way, no how.
Brandi went back to work yesterday after her 3 month maternity leave, but she started putting Landon into half-day daycare last week to help him get used to it.
The daycare does have one neat thing, although it’s debatable how useful it is.
The Landon Cam.
They have two cameras that you can log into on the Internet. Normally Landon is in the middle crib on the right. Don’t know where he is now. You can’t pan or zoom the camera either. So you just have to hope he’ll be there when you look in.
Finally, about 12:45 pm we got to take our walk, and it was a perfect day for it. The sun was shining, the temperature was in the high 60’s and there was a nice breeze. Couldn’t be better for a nice walk.
I set the machine so we had coffee waiting for us when we got back, so that was nice too.
Later in the afternoon I went out and set the ladder up next to the slide to check out why it’s suddenly started leaking. I found a small tear in the inner seal. The heavy black rubber wipers look to be intact on all three sides, but where they join together at the corner, there’s a gap. I plugged it up temporarily with some rubber insulation and taped it over. Will have to see if that fixes the problem during the next rainstorm before doing a more permanent repair.
A little after 5 Jan and I headed over to Dickinson to meet Maria and Bob Sutton for supper at Monterey’s Little Mexico. Then, after dinner I drove Bob back to his house, while Jan and Maria drove down to La Marque to play Bingo at the Knights of Columbus Hall. They did it last Tuesday, and Jan really had fun, so she wanted to do it again.
She didn’t win anything, but she did come within 3 numbers of winning one of the big prizes where you have to fill in the entire card.
I went down to pick her up and we got home about 10:30 and were in for the night.
November 16, 2012
Jan said she wanted a Nooner . . .
Here’s my Friday blog that didn’t get posted yesterday due to computer problems,
Since this was our last day in Gulf Shores we wanted to eat at King Neptune’s Seafood Restaurant, another of our favorite restaurants in this area.
We’ve been eating here for years, and although it’s on the main drag and popular with tourists, the lunch specials are very popular with locals. And besides being delicious, the prices are extremely reasonable. Jan had the Roasted Turkey with Pecan Cornbread Dressing, Giblet Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Deviled Eggs and a Biscuit. And Homemade Coconut Pudding for dessert. And all this was $4.95.
I had Seasoned Shrimp with Pimento Cheese Grits, Sweet Potato Soufflé, Turnip Greens, a Biscuit, and dessert. All for $6.95. And these prices also included our iced tea.
Our total bill with tax was only $14.19!
And did I mention it was delicious. All perfectly seasoned.
Leaving King Neptune’s, and after a NAPA Auto Parts stop for some transmission fluid, we made our obligatory tacky gift shop stop at Souvenir City.
This place started out as 8’ x 10’ hot dog stand in the 1950s, and now is a chain of shops all along the Alabama and Florida Gulf Coasts.
When we got back from lunch, Jan said she wanted a Nooner.
Unfortunately she meant a NAP!
So after she napped and I worked on getting everything ready to travel tomorrow, we headed out about 5pm to finish up our Gulf Shores visit the same way we started – with dinner at Lulu’s at Homeport, and as before, we finished off our meal by splitting an order of their Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding. Hmmm! Good!
On the way home we made a Wal-Mart to pick up the ingredients for Jan’s Heavenly Hash (Ambrosia). We saw on Facebook that the Galveston Bay RV Park where we’ll be staying this winter is having their Thanksgiving Dinner Sunday afternoon. And since we’ll be there earlier in the day, who can pass up another Turkey dinner. So the Heavenly Hash will be our contribution.
Tomorrow morning we’ll begin our two day journey back to Houston.
Here’s hoping the rig starts. 
November 16, 2013
Pay No Attention to that Man behind the Curtain . . .
or the inner workings of WordPress blogs either.
The other night I was working on the formatting of an ad that will be going up on my blog, and I was posting it as a private page so I could see how it would look online.
Then suddenly, after about 4 or 5 times, Live Writer and WordPress decided that I really wanted to post this to the whole world, or at least the 200 or so readers who get this blog by email. So that’s why some of you got a blog post entitled “Test-Page” with just an ad on it.
So, as Emily Litella says, “Never mind”.
The only real excitement today was getting hosed down, watered down, or maybe sprinkled on. Well, not sprinkled exactly. That implies a light shower.
This was more of a deluge. Maybe even of biblical proportions.
Semi-irregularly a water truck comes by to spray the road to help keep the dust down. The truck consists of a full size tanker with a big fan-shaped spray nozzle on the back that the driver can turn on and off from the cab.
I saw the truck turn off the highway and the water came on, spreading out around the rear of the truck. The first thing I noticed was how far out it was going, about 20 to 25 feet on either side, much wider than the 10 or so feet we usually see, so I began to get a little worried. But then as the driver in the cab came even with me, he gave me a thumbs up signal, which I took to mean he saw me sitting here and would turn off the spray right before it got to me and then turn it on again after he passed.
WRONG!
So I was yelling at the driver, closing my laptop, and grabbing up the logbooks and any other non-able-to-swim items, like Jan’s Kindle Paperwhite.
It seems at the last second the driver realized what was happening and pulled to the left as far as he could. Now this spray is not like a garden hose. Think more like a fire hydrant, but it does have a very sharp cut-off to the spray pattern. Lucky for me.
Because the driver swerved at the last minute, I was only completely soaked from the knees down. And I mean soaked. It was like I had just waded into the ocean up to my knees.
Well, I guess I needed Saturday bath anyway.
One week from today (Saturday) we will be at the Gate Guard Services yard here in Whitsett getting ready for the 280 mile trip back to Houston on Sunday. Jan’s so excited she can’t sit still.
November 16, 2015
Just Do It Yourself . . .
Well, it looks like we dodged a bullet on most of today’s rains, with it never getting very heavy, and pretty much over by 2pm. And even tomorrow’s ‘Heavy Thunderstorms’ have been downgraded to ‘Storms/Wind’. It would be nice to have it ‘downgraded’ to ‘Sunny’ for tomorrow, but that’s probably not going to happen.
But on the upside, this weekend is still looking nice.
Todd, our GGS service guy, came back to top off our diesel tank. I figured he’d wait until he came back on Sunday to service the generator, but he went ahead and did it today. He said he probably won’t be back on Sunday since our replacements, Donna and Joe Shelton, were experienced enough to get themselves hooked up.
Of course when you think about it, with everything already here, and set up and running, it’s no different than pulling into an RV park and getting hooked up.
I had mentioned a while back that as of right now, we’ll be moving back and forth between the Lake Conroe TT park and the Colorado River TT park in Columbus, TX for the rest of the year, into next, depending on park openings down the League City area.
Since I originally set things up on a Friday for some reason, all of our 10 upcoming two week reservations start out on Friday. But since we’re leaving the gate this Sunday and going into Lake Conroe, I had to lop off two days of our reserved 14 days to make things come out right.
But I was thinking this morning that if I pushed everything back two days that it might make things a little easier in a couple of ways. First off, the traffic looping around the top of Houston on Beltway 8 should be a little lighter on Sunday, not that it’s usually that bad in the middle of the day when we travel. But maybe more importantly, by coming in on Sunday when a lot of weekend campers are leaving, it might give us a better choice of sites.
Anyway, rather than me starting at the last of my ten reservations and backing each one up two days, one after the other, going forward, I thought I’d just call Thousand Trails Reservations and let them do it.
Surely their sophisticated reservation software would be able to move all the reservations forward two days, automagically, all at once. But I quickly found that they would have to do it one at a time, just like me.
Geez! I’ve seen cheap, badly-written campground software that would do this with no problem. So I ended up doing it myself, since the last time I let TT change a bunch of reservations, they screwed it up.
Sometimes the only way to get something done right, is to do it yourself.
Of course sometimes I screw it up too, but at least then I know who to blame.
One chore I forgot to tell you about yesterday was to check the water in our rig’s house batteries
I was immediately surprised to see how much dust from the trucks going by, had accumulated in the battery compartment. When we get settled in after our move this Sunday, I’ll pressure wash it to clean up. I also noticed a little corrosion on the terminals that I’ll take care of at the same time.
Because of the internal bracing in the bay it can be hard to get distilled water into the back set of batteries, so I made up this water hand pump using a well rinsed out windshield washer fluid jug and this Pennzoil Gallon Fluid Transfer Pump
This lets me put the hose nozzle in the cell opening and just pump to top it off. No fuss, no mess.
I’ve given you a link to one on Amazon, but I think I got mine at Wal-Mart.
My engine batteries are sealed and on a swing-out tray above the house batteries. And since they’re sealed, they need no maintenance, just like the battery in our truck.
One less thing to do.
As far as today was concerned, I didn’t schedule anything major since the weather was supposed to be pretty rainy. But it actually didn’t turn out bad. So I took care of some small stuff that had been pushed down on my list by bigger stuff.
First up, I wanted to install some grommets on the floor mats in the truck. Unlike a lot of vehicles, our Dakota doesn’t have any way to fasten the mats down and they get scrunched up under the pedals after a time.
So I got out my Lord & Hodge Grommet Kit and installed two grommets on each mat like this.
When we get back to Conroe I’ll stop off at an auto parts place to pick up some of the screw-in hooks that will hold the mats in place.
I’ve also used the grommet kit to put some additional grommets in our canopy tarp here on the gate to be able to put tie-downs exactly where I want them.
Finishing up, I liked the paracord boot laces I made for my Red Wing boots so much, I made up a set for my steel-toed boots too. I started wearing these boots again a week or so ago when it was so cold and rainy, and my other boots got wet.
I hadn’t worn them since last year’s gate when we had to wear all the Frack gear, and I’d forgotten how comfortable they are. Especially considering they only cost about $30 vs. $175 for the Red Wings.
The only real downside is that they are a good bit heavier than my others, but I certainly feel light on my feet when I take them off.
FYI the little American Flags are called ‘lace keepers’. They keep your laces from gradually getting uneven over time. Most people are stronger in one arm than the other, usually on their ‘handed’ side, I.e. right-handed or left-handed. So they tend to pull harder with that hand than the other one, without even knowing it.. And so the laces gradually get mismatched in length.
But the lace keepers provide enough drag to stop that from happening.
And you can get them in hundreds of different styles, including military branch insignia, sports teams, car manufacturers, and many others.
A few years ago when we were on a drill rig gate, I was waiting to talk to the Company Man, along with another couple of guys. One of these guys was about 6’ 6’ and built like a pro linebacker.
I happened to look down at his boots and couldn’t resist a chuckle. Seeing where I was looking, he smiled at me and said, “My 6 year old daughter gave them to me for my birthday a couple of weeks ago.” And then I understood.
And I must say he did look resplendent in his well-worn boots, complete with large pink Hello Kitty lace keepers.
A Good Daddy.
November 16, 2016
A Beautiful Evening . . .
Several readers have recently asked about a couple of things that we use regularly and recommend.
The one I use most is one I mentioned the other day during my Splendide dryer repair. It’s the WORX Power Screwdriver
It comes with two different cartridges contain12 bits of various types and sizes. You can also use standard screwdriver bits and well as drill bits. But the thing I really like about it is the torque it can generate. You literally will not be able to hold on to it if the screw stops. So it can power through just about anything.
The next one is our Porter-Cable 150 PSI Air Compressor.
We bought ours in 2009 when it was being sold under the Sears name. I don’t use it as often as my WORX driver but it’s always worked when I needed it. Even more important it’s capable of airing up our rig tires to 105 psi quickly, and with no strain. And has done friend’s rig tires up to 120#.
As it stands right now Jan and I plan on making the 160 mile trip back to our daughter Brandi’s for Thanksgiving. And somewhere along that trip over and back we’ll reach a milestone.
Our 2004 Dodge Dakota will reach 250,000 miles, that’s a quarter of a million miles! We bought the Dakota the end of 2007 specially to tow behind our RV, and at time it had 104,000 miles on it. According to CarFax it had been a T-Mobile supervisor’s truck and already had the bed cover on it. With 4WD, it was towable 4-down and perfect for our needs.
And incredibly, it also has another 75,000+ miles being dragged around behind the rig that doesn’t register on the odometer.
Even better is how reliable it’s been. Over the years, we’ve had to replace the AC compressor, the radiator and a water pump. Right now I need to replace the AC evaporator fan which I’ll do when we get back to Houston.
I’ll also put on a new set of shocks at that time, the second new set since we brought the truck. And that’s about it. ]
A really good truck. But then I’ve always had good luck with Chrysler products.
Around 4pm Jan and I headed out to have dinner once again at Bella Sera, our 3rd visit. We’re gradually working our way through the menu, and so far it’s all good.
We both started with salads dressed with their delicious Ranch, which Jan and I agree is probably the best Ranch dressing we’ve ever had.
And because we both liked their Chicken Soup last time, so this time we split a bowl as an appetizer, Still very tasty.
For our entrees, Jan went with the Bella Sera Chicken, the same dish I had on our first visit.
With chicken, olives, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes in a white wine sauce over spaghetti, it’s a great treat.
I went with the Chicken Arribiatta, with chicken, red peppers, mushrooms, and onions in a marinara sauce, it was a spicy dish. Very good.
Then after a quick stop at Wal-Mart for a couple of ingredients for the Pasta e Fagioli soup Jan is making tomorrow, we were home for the night.
November 16, 2017
Porker Piglets . . .
I got several comments about the “Support Pig” in yesterday’s blog.
What’s next, Support Pythons, Support Piranha?
From the size, I guess it’s probably a Vietnamese Pot-Bellied Pig, but even in pygmy size it probably weighs around 100 pounds. So I guess she must be pretty fit to sling it over her shoulder and stalk off down the aisle like that.d
Of course that’s probably better than a Support Possum.
During the late 80’s, at the peak of the Pot-Bellied Pig craze, the story was that pig farmers in California would set up road-side stands selling baby Pot-Bellied piglets for $1000 a porker.
But it turns out that they weren’t really PBP’s, but just plain, ordinary pigs. So six months or so later, the buyers had a 500# sow in their living room. So you go from this little cutie
to this.
Seems it’s time for a BBQ!
I guess I’m running behind the times since several blog readers commented that their recent credit cards have all been numberless on the front like my new PayPal card. But the new Chase Band card that I just got a month or so ago, still has the numbers of the front. So maybe I’m not the only one falling behind.
About 10:45 Jan and I headed up Hwy 6 to the Pearland area to visit our long-time friend Bonnie. Jan and Bonnie used to work together in the same hospital years ago and have kept in touch ever since. On our way we stopped off at the nearby Jason’s Deli to pick up lunch for us all.
While we were there, I got a call from my client that they were having some email problems, so when we left Bonnie’s about 3pm, we drove over to Clear Lake to stop in. Once there I rebooted the server and waited for everything to come back up.
And it didn’t.
No websites, no email, no nothing.
Oh, crap!
So crossing my fingers, I rebooted again. And this time everything came back.
Whew!
I’ve got to get rid of this thing. So back at it tomorrow morning.
November 16, 2018
Mystery Solved . . .
Today was another hardware day at work, so I never did get back on the Shipping program.
We did solve what was apparently a long-running problem though. There are two standard connectors found on the foot pedal controllers for the machines, one rectangular and one round like this.
The problem was that some round connector pedals would work with some machines and not with others. But other pedals would work with those machines and not with the first group. So I was determined to get to the bottom of this.
Grabbing up several machines and several foot pedals, I started running tests by swapping things around, And as I was told, some worked with some and not others. So then I started testing the pedals themselves.
The pedals are just simple microswitches, either on or off, with the switch wired between the two outer pins, while the center shaft is grounded to the metal case of the foot pedal. And an ohmmeter across the pins confirms the switch continuity.
But, confusingly so, other pedals that didn’t show continuity across the pins, worked just fine on some other machines. So, activating the pedal, I checked the continuity between each of the outer pins and the center ground pin. And that was the problem.
Just to be sure, I took apart one of the machines to double-check and found that these machines were wired with the ground pin being one side of the switch, while other machines of the same make and model were wired differently.
Nobody seems to know why this was done. And it’s not just on the machines from one manufacturer. But it does explain why someone can order a replacement foot pedal and some times it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
Tomorrow will probably be an errand day, WalMart for more stuff, Cracker Barrel to order Thanksgiving Cornbread Dressing, and a few other stops, as well as lunch somewhere along the way.
But a fun weekend anyway.
November 16, 2019
Another Long, Fun Day With The Family . . .
More Later.
November 16, 2020
Wanted . . .
I got my Jeep paperwork off to South Dakota via Priority Mail this morning. Since we’re still driving around with no tages, hopefully they’ll get it turned around pretty quickly, but then there’s the blizzard.
When I talked to Katherine at Dakota Post after she had helped me through filling out the necessary forms that I would need to send them, I asked her about the weather up there in Sioux Falls.
“Well, we’re kind of having a blizzard here.”
So then I said, “Well, it’s going to be 79° here today. What’s your high temp going to be?”
She laughed and said, “Just pick either one of those digits and you’ll be pretty close.”
Brrrrrr!
November 16, 2021
Four This Time . . .
A number of you asked how the DJO Bone Growth Stimulator is used, and how it works.
The unit generates a 70Hz electromagnetic field, a little above the 60Hz frequency used in household AC current. The 70Hz is at the center of the frequency band shown to accelerate bone growth.
That signal, generated in the control box, is fed into the coil of wire that’s mounted inside the plastic ring.
It’s kind of a big electromagnet in a way. And it emits a magnetic field that extends out about 6 inches from the flat face of the coil which projects into the neck area. Actually the field projects out from both sides of the coil, but only the one side does you any good. Though I guess if someone else needed to use one, they could just stand back to back with you. Two for the price of one.
As far using it, the center of the coil is centered on the back of my neck and held in place with the straps draped around my neck. Then I just press the button on the control box and wait 30 minutes for two beeps.
When I used it this morning, I noticed that the unit is also logging the number of times it is used. When I used it for the second time, the display showed 001/002.
Of course, there’s actually no way to tell if it’s really working, I.e., generating a magnetic field since it’s completely quiet. So, just out of curiosity I may try to cobble together a field detector of some sort just to see it I got my money’s worth. Of course since the unit didn’t cost me anything, I guess I will, regardless.
Today at lunch I was able to tear open four Equal packets at one time for my Iced Tea. Double the two yesterday.
Again, it’s the little things.
