Life on the Road

Yesterday on the TV news, I heard this statement, in connection to a recent death on a cruise line. The speaker was discussing the risks of cruise travel in general, and the footage was stock footage of various cruise boats.

“What people don’t realize is, of course, is…. it happens more often than not.”

More often than not? Oh, my god– I am so glad I survived my 3-day cruise in Ensenada, then! The phrase “More often than not” indicates that something happens more often than it does not happen. So, more than 50% of the time, that thing happens.

Thus, according to the speaker, who was clearly not thinking while his mouth was flapping,  more than 50% of cruises (or perhaps, more than 50% of cruisers!) will result in a death by someone falling overboard.

Now that I think of it, there was an emergency on board our cruise– someone had an existing medical condition that required them to be picked up by the Coast Guard and returned to shore for medical treatment. But they didn’t die, and they rejoined the cruise later that day.

Here’s a tip for writers, commentators, and in general anyone who doesn’t want to look or sound like an idiot: Know what’s going to come out before you open your mouth.

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the park
Not a creature was stirring, not even a lark.
The stockings were piled on the rig’s steering wheel
And we were home from the buffet after a great big meal.
The presents were on their way to loved ones,
We dreamed of a Christmas in Nevada’s sun.
When what to my wondering eyes, don’t you know?
But a stiff breeze and sleet and then– SNOW!
It fell soft like wings. It flew in flurries!
It blanketed campsites and made little dogs worry.
The white stuff it fell until early dawning,
And left layers of white stuff on every cold awning.
The palm trees, they sagged with the weight of the stuff.
The hoses, they froze. The retirees cried “ENOUGH!”
And I in my wooly slippers and hat
Was surprised by a sight, “Well, look at that!”
Twas a round little man in a jolly red suit
With sequins and spangles– almost a zoot.
His hair how it shone, his hips how wiggly!
He crooned to himself a tune quite jiggly.
As he passed by the rigs with barely a touch,
I heard him mutter “Thank you very much.”
The sun rose to spread its rays the next morn
We all were relieved to again feel warm!
It’s a curious sight in this land of mega
Hotels and casinos, Christmas in Las Vegas.
And I have a message here, a note from a friend,
A thought for you all, feel free to re-send.
Before you run off to win a few bucks,
Merry Christmas to All, and to All: GOOD LUCK!

We are here, in beautiful Anthony, Texas. In a parking lot. OK, it’s a glorified parking lot– we have hookups, after all. But our rig spent 2 days at the local Camping World service center getting a few repairs done, and it’s probably going to be back in the shop all next week. With two major mechanical repairs still waiting because the shop “doesn’t do that.”This is the complicated part about RV ownership. Part of the rig is automotive, part is living quarters. The parts that are automotive might be engine and might be chassis– and a service center that will work on the chassis might not do work on the engine and vice versa.To add to the complexity, some service centers won’t work on diesel engines (ours is diesel). And our hot water heater is a diesel-fueled AquaHot system which stopped working properly last November. Now, there are two water heating systems– one is powered by electricity, and the other is powered by the AquaHot (and there’s a third which heats the water as part of the engine cooling system, sow when we stop after driving for a day, we have lots of hot water). As a result, we have gone for a year with only the engine and electrical hot water systems. With the full system including the diesel, we never run out of hot water. Ever.Many of these repairs we can do ourselves. I defrosted the fridge and John fixed the ice maker using a service bulletin from the manufacturer. He’s been able to fix and replace lights and electrical components all over the place.But some are not so easy. Like the bedroom lights, which mysteriously stopped working after flickering for a while. Replacing the bulbs didn’t work– it seems that the ballasts had gone bad. The problem? Each ballast costs over $80 and has to be special ordered– and we were unable to find them when we took the lamps apart. Yes, it seems like a ripoff to me, too.Every day that the RV is in the service center, we go hole up at a local hotel. We didn’t used to do this, but last year we sat in a service center for 5 hours before they even touched the rig, and then another 3 or 4 while they discovered that replacing the big awning was not a 30 minute job. I was ticked off, but more than that, my cat had been inside his carrier for that whole time, without access to a litter box (and subsequently, he triggered a urinary tract infection), while we were told repeatedly “it’ll just be another 20 minutes.” We have yet to find a service center that will let us leave the cat in the RV until they’re ready to actually get someone in the rig, so now we take the cat and his litter box to a hotel room until all the repairs are done and we’re ready to go home. The hotel has Internet access, so I can work while the cat hides under the bed (or behind the microwave in this case), and we’re generally pretty content with the arrangement.Most people who own motorhomes and have service repairs done are doing so under warranty. When you buy an “as is” RV like we did, you end up paying out of pocket any time something breaks, so a lot of times, you find a way to get by without it. Whether it’s the fuel pump or the shower, entropy does occur and parts do fail eventually. This is true in stationary homes, too– you can buy an old home and spend your life fixing stuff, or you can buy a new home and spend your life fixing stuff. A home is, like a garden, a constant source of activities and chores to do. 

I took some time off from the USTravel.today.com blog. Mainly, I needed to do a little life balancing. See, I had an epiphany recently. I have time in my life for work, knitting, reading, writing, social life, tourism, music, etc… but only if I pick 3 of those things to focus on in any given week. For about 6 weeks, I was near family, and so one slot was taken up with “social life.” With work being an ever-present slot-filler, that left 1 slot for anything else– and I decided to spend that on some things I’d been neglecting, mainly knitting and reading for a while. I also had a speaking engagement in Austin earlier this month– in short, it’s been a busy absence.

We’re now in Terlingua, Texas, which is next to Big Bend National Park. This week, I finished knitting a shawl, which I blogged about yesterday (go read it, even if knitting holds no interest for you– it’s all about a very bad night spent in the RV).

There are several RV parks near Big Bend, but there’s also been a lot of damage from the Rio Grande flooding last month. The park where we’re staying started out as a high-class golf resort but…. well, the economic downturn didn’t help, and the new owners bought it just in time to have the golf course turn into a challenging river rapid. Whoops!

In any case, John and I scouted the RV parks in the nearby area yesterday. For the most part, this part of Texas is big and flat (except for the mesas) and has a lot of sun and not many trees. The RV parks are the same. Most have 50 amp service. Some are flooded– you take your chances, I guess.

I have to apologize for yesterday’s post title– it was supposed to be about how I’ve felt like a truck hit me, after my 5-day, 5-plane trip out West. Instead, I whined about the airlines’ new policy on seating.

So, a return, I suppose. I managed to get through the entire trip without succumbing too much to the “stuff acquisition” temptations, though I did buy a couple of used books at Powell’s in Portland. I also lost a very nice gold bracelet on my trip, something that makes me sad whenever I think on it– my husband gave that bracelet to me, and it was the second nicest piece of jewelry I own.  One of the things I liked about it was that it had blue stones– nobody ever buys me blue jewelry because it doesn’t go well with my coloring, and my birthstone is peridot (which is kind of a crappy washed out green stone, btw). But he had seen this bracelet and decided to give it to me, perhaps thinking it would be pretty on my arm, or maybe because he realized that blue is one of my very favorite colors.

Dangit. I don’t mind parting with”things” if I’m ready to do so, but I hate it when I lose stuff.

Yesterday, before we left Eastern Massachusetts, I disassembled the great wheel that I inherited from my grandmother and took it to the auction house to be sold. My reasoning went like this: I don’t have space. For the amount of hassle and expense it will take to transport it from here to our storage locker in California, I can buy one out in California. It’s not a family heirloom; so far as I know, it’s been at least 5 generations since anyone in my family was a spinner, and we know the provenance of this wheel is that it was bought at a thrift store. It’s also non-functioning: in an RV, everything has to have two functions, and “a big block of useless wood” is not an acceptable function.

So, away to the auction it goes. I’m also putting up an eBay auction as soon as we’re settled in somewhere for a few days. I have a whole box of electronics that I need to get rid of, everything from my Sony Reader to a spare Bluetooth headset.  I’m thinking of writing the auction description something like this: “I live in a small space– a motorhome– and I need to sell this stuff so I can afford to buy ebooks for my Amazon Kindle. Please buy my stuff– it all works, and you’ll get many hours of amusement out of it, I promise!”

As ad copy, I don’t think it wins any awards, but every so often, someone comes up with a hilarious listing on eBay that seems to drive the price up.  And even if it doesn’t, at least I’ll have found homes for these various electronics that I’m, frankly, just not using anymore.

Air travel has to be one of the worst industries in America. I say this with a lot of respect for the airline personnel, who come into contact with the frustrated public every day, and do the best they can with the hand they’ve been given by the airlines.

Take, for example, Northwest. It’s an old adage in customer service that your employees will treat your customers the way they themselves are treated. While I am sure there are many happy Northwest employees, I can also tell that the airline isn’t making their employees happy, nor their customers. Their newest money-grab? Charging for the seat. No, not charging for your ticket. Charging extra if you want an aisle or window or exit row seat.

Personally, I would only pay extra for an exit seat– the only seat worth paying extra for is one where you are legally guaranteed there won’t be a 2 year old child discovering the joys of shrieking squirming on the lap of the person next to you.

After being wedged into an unusually narrow seat in between two ladies who were even larger than me (we were in an extra legroom aisle– these aisles have more legroom but less seat width, and they put three short, round ladies there…. why?!?) I resolved never to fly Northwest again. Ideally, I would like not to fly ever again– John Madden doesn’t fly. Why should I?

In other news, I’ll remind everyone that today is the deadline for the postcard giveaway! I only have a few valid, non-spam entries, so drop a comment or your entrecard today!

Lonely Planet USA by Jeff Campbell et al. ($28.99)
I will admit, this is the more current version of the 2006 book, which is the version we have (but I just didn’t want to link you to the out of print version). But this is a meaty book with lots to offer for travelers in the US.

One of the best things this book gives you, in fact, is the perspective of someone from outside the US. The introductory section is worth reading, because the assumed audience is clearly a European traveler coming to the States. The US’s foibles and strange little cultural quirks– which we take for granted– are exposed for all to see!

It also gives you a perspective of what people from outside the US (and many from inside) think of the “important” parts of the US to visit. So, California and Florida take up huge chunks of the book, while entire regions like “New England” are lumped together. This is a shame, in my opinion, if only because there is a great deal to see in the non-tourist states… but I suppose it’s nice to have all the tourists funneled into one corner or another. Makes us easier to keep an eye on, don’t you know.

It’s another one that’s worth buying if you’re going to travel the US for any length of time. It’s a particularly good pick for road-trippers and folks who hop from place to place for business, because many of the destinations are focused around cities, and the Lonely Planet editors have clearly paid attention to common business and conference-related destinations.

Since I’m going out of town this weekend, I decided this would be a good time to pre-write and post a few book reviews for your enjoyment while I’m away.

1000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die by Patricia Schultz ($19.95 retail).

This is a very handy book, especially if you aren’t squeamish about tearing pages out and carrying them around like a mini-guide. The book delivers exactly what the cover promises: 1000 places to go and events to attend in the USA and Canada. It’s a great book for RVers, because it gives us a guidebook to the whole US, not just one little section of it. Also, it’s inspiring to read the book and realize that, hey, a great historical or artistic legacy is just minutes away from wherever you are.

Are there more places to visit than listed here? Absolutely! There’s no doubt that any book like this has to leave something out– the beauty of guide books, of course, is that you can keep drilling down (1000 places to see in California… 1000 places to see in Lake Tahoe…. etc.) until you find yourself describing a visit to a single tree. For this book, however, that tree better be majestic to compete with the 999 other things to see in the US and Canada.

And, of course, this book is available on the Kindle. Since I carry my Kindle with me everywhere, having an enormous encyclopedic book of destinations without adding any extra weight… well, that’s just icing on the cake!

I don’t post very often about my work, because my clients like discretion. When you’re trusting a writer with your unreleased products and specifications, it’s a good policy not to “talk shop” in your blog. And I’m working on a project right now that requires me to be a little discreet with my own intellectual property, to keep the secret from getting out too soon.

On the one hand, I feel like things are “slow” because, well, I don’t have a lot of money coming in. On the other hand, I’m working on four major writing projects, including this blog.  And here we come to the crux of the problem with financial freedom and simple lifestyles: what do you do when you’re there?

I’m not there, not by a long shot, but we’ve reached a point now where we’re able to take a bit of a breather and pursue less money-intensive activities. When your adult working life has been driven by market forces, finding opportunities that do not devalue your skills while still celebrating the freedom of your creativity…. that’s hard to do!

Right now, I’m just going to focus on the four big projects on my plate. One is scheduled to launch in September. One in January. This blog is ongoing and already live. The fourth is a test project to help me build some skills for other potential projects coming in. November is spent doing NaNoWriMo, and I won’t be giving that up.

Whew! I guess things aren’t so light around here after all!

Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes both died over the weekend. I liked Hayes in South Park, but I’ll be honest, I thought Bernie Mac’s comedy was irritating. Nonetheless, both did well in bringing more black faces to the small screen– the television industry’s chronic tokenization was embraced by both, then ruthlessly used to give them greater exposure and celebrity.

That’s one thing about living in an RV: most of the people we encounter at the parks are white. This probably has something to do with the longstanding (and not altogether untrue) belief among African Americans that there’s something inherently foolish about deliberately sleeping out of doors.

No matter where we’ve gone, from Arizona to Atlanta to Florida, the faces around us are predominantly white. I wonder if the lack of diversity is a function of the parks we’ve been to, or of the lifestyle itself. Certainly, we’re not in the urban centers, although we did stay terrifying close to Camden, New Jersey in June.

I suspect it’s due to the company, really. While our neighbors are friendly and helpful to us, I’ve found myself gritting my teeth and trying to think of a polite way to hold someone’s head underwater to get them to stop using “the n word” in a hot tub conversation. If I were contemplating going camping or even living the full-timer lifestyle, I would certainly think twice about uprooting myself from my own support network if I experienced that kind of welcome.

It does not speak well for the future fate of this nation when my overwhelming impression of our country is that too many people are too quick to judge others based on the colors of their skins. In addition to the “n word” guy, I’ve been told by some otherwise seemingly intelligent people that “the Cubans are all crooks, and you can’t understand them” (to which a quietly spoken “we speak Spanish” was enough to inform that, perhaps, we are not the people she mistook us for).

It may simply be an aspect of camping mostly in the South, as well, but I doubt it. We encountered “n word” guy, after all, in our own home town of Santa Cruz, California– a bastion of liberalism and tolerance (which is why I didn’t hold his head underwater in the hot tub).