Elvis Has Left the Building

And here ends Part II - the Middle Years. I finally left Memphis on Tuesday at 11 A.M. Didn't get a photo of it, but it feels good. Being homeless is both good and bad. In Memphis I'm now know as the Nomad. I think Gypsy is more exciting. I could only drive 400 miles yesterday, so stopped at a Days Inn. It was not one I would recommend to a friend, but I slept well. Today was more of the same. I did manage to stop along the way and have breakfast. I actually went inside the restaurant and sat down. So my normal two-day trip from Memphis to Delaware has become a 3-day trip. It's nice because I get to find a hotel before I am over tired.

Tomorrow I will be heading out from here, Front Royal, VA, skirt around Washington, D.C., go over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge into MD, and on into Milford, DE. (Now home of the nominee for Veep) I'm already hunkered down for a night of Democratic Convention speeches by Joe Biden and Bill. If the unfathomable should happen in November, then I think we should go together and buy a huge chunk of land in Canada, divide it among those of us who can live within 5 acres or so of each other and get out of town. So be thinking about what you have to take with you and what you can live without up there in the cooler climate. Heck, I already know of at least 8-10 persons who have already had this thought.

My next move is to meet with a realtor on Friday morning and look at some more land and homes to see if anything exciting has come up since I was last there in June. See - I'm still optimistic that I won't have to leave my home country.

Stay tuned for photos of the further wanderings of Fifi.

No Rest For The Weary

 
This morning I decided to face my fears and paint the high spots of the west side of Ed and Sandy's pole barn/apartment. (Sandy did most of the rest of it.) It really isn't so bad, so long as you don't a) look down, b) reach out too far, or c) lean back. I wimped out at the very top. I decided not to tempt fate,and have the Contractor finish it. He seems to have no fear whatsoever of heights.

I'm enjoying the temporary digs here at Greeneview Springs. Last night I surprised the varmint who has been raiding the bird feeders with a double spot light. He (a raccoon) was gone in a flash. Now we know for sure what it was. My room is just inside from all of the bird feeders, so I always hear the tinkling of the small chimes when the raccoon comes up to feed.

Tomorrow will be more of the same. We'll most likely paint the north side of the barn. It has only a couple of windows and is 20'X40', but without the unreachable peak of the west side. The Contractor will be painting high spots, eaves, adding and painting trim, putting up gutters and taking care of the ongoing landscaping projects.

I am still awaiting the dates that Piano Man and Juanita will be arriving in Philly Town so we can book at Bookbinders. Come one you two. Don't drag your feet on this. It will be loads of fun!!! 

Family is Everything

On the afternoon of Thursday, August 7th, 2008, I eagerly headed out for Bloomfield, Indiana, home of the Contractor (my brother, Ed) and his wife, Sandy, to vegetate for a couple of days after the hectic week of packing, cleaning and fixing up that preceded Thursday's closing. By the time I had been on the road for about 3 hours, I was so tired and sleepy, I just had to stop for the night. When I walked into the hotel room and turned on the air conditioner, I saw it was already set to 70 degrees. I thought to myself, "That sounds like a very good number to me", since I had been so hot for so many days prior to this. After an uneventful sleep under the blankets, I headed out for Bloomfield. The photos show what awaited me as I drove into the drive, and at the door to my temporary housing quarters. The room was outfitted with sofa bed, flat screen tv on the wall, windows overlooking the myriad of birdfeeders, and wireless internet service. Cheese! You just can't beat family, can you? On Saturday, after going to downtown Bloomfield with Sandy's daughter and family for lunch, I mentioned that if the lettering on the shelter sign had been any larger, one could view it from the main road - Indiana 54. They said there was a reason for not making the letters that large. We can all figure out that reason. . .

But they weren't finished yet. No, Barely an hour after my arrival we were off to a multi-tasking auction run by the Amish about 30 minutes away. They had various buildings with simultaneous auctions going on; large and small animals, poultry, peacocks, pheasants, etc.; building supplies; garage sale type items; lawn equipment, bicycles, and more; produce; plants and flowers; furniture and appliances. It was an experience and I hope to go again soon.

Stay tuned for more of Fifi, footloose and fancy free. What will she do next? Where might she go? Even she doesn't know. Ha Ha  

Yankee Go Home

Thoughts while loading the RV today.

I asked myself this morning;
How lucky can I be
To be starting life all over
Somewhere far from Tennessee?

Now Tennessee is fine, you know
For rebel folks and such
But as to heat, the dirt, the crime
I won't miss those so much

What I've wanted all these years
Is a place at home called home
And that such place is just not here
It's the place where I come from

What matters most is not where I've gone
What I saw, or what I'll see
But the friends I've made, family I love
And the times that are yet to be

Fifi

"Laissez Les Bons Temps Roulette"

"It's not too late."  

Dog Days of Memphis

Well, here I am, getting ready for the closing on the house. Photo is titled: "Still Life With O-Gravity Chair, Printer and Computer" These will be the last to get loaded into the V on Wednesday night.

The closing has been moved from Tuesday,the 5th, until Wednesday, the 6th, now to Thursday, the 7th. Last minute items to be repaired are taking longer than estimated, yet not longer than I expected. I found at my former company that the formula for project completion is to double the estimate and add 1/2 again as much. It pretty much works most of the time. The same applies here.

Overall, I will say that I have learned a few more valuable lessons in the past 10 days - several of them I have learned for the second or third time. But it's good to be reminded of these lessons.

I also have learned again who my friends are: those who are routing for me, who always volunteer to help in some way. Those friends have not waivered over the years. Oops, I'm getting sentimental - let's save that till the closing papers are signed.

That's it - just a short note to update my blog reader pals all over the world.