Life on the Road

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I hope you’ll enjoy this little story I read recently.  It’s cute, but the question it asks us is profound… 

—————————————————————

An American tourist was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.

Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The tourist complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “Only a little while.”

The tourist then asked, “Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”

The Mexican said, “With this I have more than enough to support my family’s needs.”

The tourist then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, and stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos.  I have a full and busy life.”

The tourist scoffed, “I can help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you could run your ever-expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

The tourist replied, “15 to 20 years.”

“But what then?” asked the Mexican.

The tourist laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”

“Millions? Then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos“

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I kinda worry about this…

I grew up in the country. We would pull over on the side of the road sometimes to go hunting or fishing. Heck, we would just pull off and stop to look across a field at something or other. I have seen plenty of driveways or parking lots that were gravel instead of paved asphalt or concrete.

But they have really got me worried here – I never know where to park down here in Florida.

Everywhere we go there are parks and houses and even businesses that don’t have a driveway or parking area. Well, they don’t have a clearly marked area. I’m beginning to wonder if this is a Florida law or maybe the lack of. From one place to the next, you just can’t be sure where the “parking area” is. It’s pretty universal here, but I worry that I’ll pull off into someone’s expensive sod.

We noticed it right away when we arrived here a few weeks ago. We drove by place after place with no driveway that was evident. And then people were just pulling off the roads wherever they pleased. They park anywhere and everywhere. And I was beginning to get a little used to it, after all, even my driveway isn’t there … or maybe it’s everywhere.

Then I was on the road again for a few days last week. I went to make the final commitment to the Florida life. We moved all of our stuff from storage in Arizona to the house in Florida - That was quite a drive.

For days I drove through state after state. Through towns and through the country. Rolling along past houses, farms and fields. Passin’ trains that have no names, freight yards full of old black men and the graveyards of the rusted automobiles. Sing along … Good morning America how are you? Yea, all of that. It was a long drive. And after almost two thousand miles, when white line fever is making me crazy, I get to Florida. I didn’t need a sign to tell me either.

As I cross over from Alabama to Florida, not even 100 yards from the “Welcome” sign, there is a little shop on the side of the road with no driveway or parking lot. BAMM!!

I just don’t get it. Is it just me??

I continue to pray for wisdom and discernment. Maybe I’ll figure it out one day.

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Well, today’s the big day.

We’re leaving our ant-ridden spot in Ohio, and heading out to our new digs in Florida.  Tonight we plan to be in Knoxville, KY, and we won’t actually arrive in Homestead until Saturday.

Today would have been my preferred day to start our homeschool school year – the old-fashioned way, it seems – but we decided to give Nick the week off since starting a whole new program is challenging enough without trying to do it in the car.  So theoretically we’ll start next Monday.  (I hope that’s not too optimistic as we’re trying to get settled into the house and all…)

Poor cats.  By now they probably thought we were here for good and they weren’t going to be subjected to any more travelling!  Too bad they don’t understand that that’s at least what we’re headed for.

We’ll, I’d better get busy.  Everything we’ve been carelessly sitting around the RV these last few weeks needs to be “stowed for travel”…

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I keep asking myself that, but I’m not entirely sure how we ended up here.

We’re in Middletown, which, aptly named, lies in the middle of Cincinnati and Dayton. 

There are a lot of gret opportunities for our business around this area, so we thought we should check it out.  It also looks like an affordable place to buy a fixer-uper house – something we’re considering for the next year or so due to Baby Blessing (due in March).

We were originally thinking of Dayton, but driving around there yesterday quickly nixed that.  At some 200,000 population, it is far more “city” than we want to deal with.  After living so long in Los Angeles (me) and San Diego (Wolf), we understand all the benefits – and don’t think it’s worth it.

Now looking for a bargain, obviously one doesn’t end up in the most upsacle parts of town…  but, really!  One neighborhood we were looking at, Wolf stopped to chat with a man standing outside his home.  The man proceeded to explain how there were lots of nice people in the neighborhood, but the house next door belonged to a peddler of illicit narcotic substances, and there was a man shot in the yard last week…

Ummmm…   No.

So we’ve moved out to the middle ground.

Trivia:  Did you know that Ohio is the only state whose flag is not a rectange?

Might be fun to live in Ohio, just for that! 

Unfortunately, with all the heat warnings and what-not, we aren’t able to fly by the seat of our pants quite as much as we often do.  Boondocking isn’t an option, since our generator won’t run the a/c in extreme conditions.

So we’re actually parked at a mobile home park, where they are willing to rent out their vacant lots to RVs on a daily basis.  What a friendly bunch of people – the man across the street even came over while we were getting parked and gave us each a cold water bottle!  Quite a change from the unwholesome image “trailer parks” often conjure.

Well, off to look at more neighborhoods – and of course put out more business flyers.  It’s nice to be able to get our work done without ever having to go out of our way…

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Indiana? I don’t know that I ever gave it more than a passing thought until recently! LOL

A lot of these “sights” are actually from Kentucky, both before we crossed over into Indiana, and as we’ve travelled around near the border this past week.

The first fun stop was actually a complete accident… One of our favorite things about our lifestyle! We were driving around the Richmond/Lexington Kentucky area putting out business flyers, when we decided to take a scenic back highway. Imagine the shock when road went right up to the Kentucky River – and a Ferry crossing!

Nick, Mama and Jewel had never ridden on a ferry before, so it was a neat shared first. It’s a little hard to tell what’s going on in the photo – that’s our passenger side mirror, looking out past the ferry’s side to the river.

Jewel also got an up-close and personal view of where that corn-on-the-cob she loves so much actually comes from!

Here’s how Nick spends most of his time in the car (at least when we won’t let him play computer games). I wish I could do that without getting carsick!!

Ummm, Jewel? I don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to use the car seat!

Nick and Papa went to Louisville, and although they didn’t visit the Louisville Slugger museum, they were quite taken with the giant bat outside.

And back at the campsite – a majestic visitor:

Wow! Guess I haven’t kept up with posting pictures of our travels, eh?

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Hello Everyone!

I haven’t blogged in a while, been really busy, plus we’ve had no internet for a few weeks so I just haven’t had the opportunity. I’m writing this post from Berea, KY in our RV in the Wal-Mart parking lot. In Bowling Green, where we’ve been for a while, we could not get online in the RV. Now that we are in Berea, I can blog all I want to.

I am writing this over a piping hot bowl of Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs. They are very good for the RV because cans of Chef can cost just $1 if they are on sale and there are 2 servings in a can. It is best if you put some pepper in it because it is somewhat bland, and if you have a banana with it to make it filling enough.

I am trying to lose weight and so am on a 2,000 calorie a day diet. I am having 5 small meals a day of 400 calories or less (400 X 5 = 2,000), and half a can of Chef Spaghetti and Meatballs has 270 calories plus about 50 cals from fruit, which is 80 under max which is good because dinner is usually bigger than 400.

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I mentioned that we’re visiting family in Memphis… Did I mention that Memphis has the second highest crime rate in the nation? (Check out This Article and This Chart)

So we are parked on the street next to my, ummm, Aunt-in-Law’s place, and we had our generator stolen out of the back of the RV overnight! 

Yeah, the generator…  That really nice, quiet, EXPENSIVE Honda we keep talking about.  That one.

I have not thusfar been impressed by the service I’ve received from my insurance company, but I’ll wait until everything is resolved before I call them on the cyber-carpet.

Dealing with the Memphis Police has been a mixed bag.

Aunt Erin placed the original call, then handed the phone off to Wolf.  He was greeting with a hostile, “Are you afraid to talk to the police?”  Yikes!

After that initial report, though, we’ve been in contact with a Sergeant who has been really nice.  We got him the serial number for the generator (many, MANY thanks to Robinson’s Western Auto in Starkville, Mississippi, who faxed the info to me, as my receipts are in storage in Arizona!), and he assured us that they would actually be looking for it…

I was shocked to hear that they have THREE officers who are assigned full-time to Pawn Shop detail.  They take the list of stolen property serial numbers, and go around looking for it.  Three officers?  How many Pawn Shops are there in Memphis?  And how much stolen property?  As Nick would say, Double Yikes!

My first thought was that I wished we’d heard them when they were rustling around back there…  But after another look at the fact that violent crimes are even a far worse problem than property crimes, I’m glad we didn’t.  $1200 is a small price to pay for all of us to still be alive and well…

I’m not sure how much longer we’ll stay in Memphis, though.

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Just got this email update from the AFA, and found it disturbing enough that I wanted to pass it on… 

 

July 6, 2007

Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire email list of family and friends.

Maryland Board of Education: State’s right supersedes parent’s rights

Only a positive view of homosexuality can be taught in classrooms

Dear Tiffany,

The Maryland State Board of Education has ruled that the right of the state supersedes the rights of parents in teaching children about homosexuality. The Board said the “right (of parents) is not absolute. It must bend to the State’s duty to educate its citizens.”The ruling means that the teaching of homosexuality as an accepted and approved lifestyle in Maryland public schools can move forward. Very important!  Some professionals feel that the Maryland curriculum could become the model for promoting the homosexual lifestyle in public schools across the nation.  That is the reason we are asking you to send the email.

The new policy prohibits any unfavorable view of homosexuality from being presented. A video for use with eighth-graders instructs students on how to put a condom on a pen-s.

The Board has been trying to incorporate the promotion of homosexuality into their sex-education classes. A federal judge overturned a previous attempt to include the promotion of homosexuality because of the curriculum’s expressed hostility toward Christianity.

But in approving the new curriculum, the Board refused to hear arguments from those who oppose the promotion of homosexuality in the classroom.

AFA suggests that parents find out if sex education is being taught in their schools and, if so, ask to examine the curriculum being used.

To read the Washington Post article on this, click here.

Take Action

Send an e-mail to the president of the Maryland Department of Education and to the Governor of Maryland. If you have children in public schools, ask the local superintendent if they have a sex-education program. If so, request an opportunity to review the curriculum. Please forward this to your family and friends.

Â

Send Your Letter Now!

Thank you for caring enough to get involved.

Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your family and friends.

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

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It’s been a whirlwind of travel in the last couple of weeks.  Nick’s summer camp in Kentucky, family visit in Mississippi, Convention in Texas, back to Mississippi… and now we’re in Memphis, TN!  WHEW!

We’re visiting Wolf’s aunt Erin, as well as his mom and brother who are also visitng here.  The tentative plan is to stay here for at least a little while and work on doing some business in this area.  Lots of providers, so if we can find the right places to target in the suburbs, we should be in good shape.

Wolf has lots of great ideas for kick-starting the business from Convention so we’re looking forward to an exponential increase in our income this year! 

We recently had dinner at Cracker Barrel in Jackson, TN and Jackson, MS within the space of 3 days.  Quite the Jackson-fest!

In Tennessee it was thoroughly average.  Food pretty good, some better than others.  Atmosphere smokey and not too fun.

In Mississippi we enjoyed it much more, and it’s close on the heels of our top picks.  Green dot on the CB rating map, Hooray! 

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Well, the last few days have been pretty hectic.  This is our company’s annual convention, and we’ve had our share of challenges trying to work out how to make the most of it.

We only bought one ticket, figuring Wolf and I could switch off who went in and who stayed with Jewel.

Well, the RV park where we are staying is about 45 minutes from the hotel where the conference is.  There aren’t really any RV parks in Downtown Dallas, go figure.  So it’s not exactly convenient to drive back and forth, and it’s no fun to have the kids trying to amuse themselves in a hotel lobby for hours on end.

Thursday was a half day of workshops.  We all went in, and I checked in and got my badge.  Then Wolf went to a couple of workshops while the kids and I checked out the vendor booths and played on the computer.

Yesterday (Friday) was a full day in the big ballroom, including lunch being served.  That didn’t sound really conducive to swapping back and forth.  So, since Wolf is the one who does most of the front-end of our business (talking to people), and I’m the one who can nurse the baby, he went to the convention and the kids and I stayed at the RV.

We went to pick him up at 5:30, and grabbed some dinner at Burger King (have you heard about the Visa/BK Free Meal?).  Then back to the hotel, quick change of clothes (I had everyone wearing different shirts, since otherwise there would have been a ketchup crisis, I’m sure!)…  And we got our picture taken with Dennis and Daniel Bloom, the founders of the company!

(This is a stock photo, obviously.  We don’t get ours until mid-July)

Today we sent Papa off alone for the longest day of convention.  He’s there from 9-12, we packed him a lunch, then 1:30-5:30, then he has a break.  The big awards dinner is 7:30-10 pm tonight.

He got a TON of great ideas and inspiration from yesterday, so today should be another great day for our family’s fortunes.    

Don’t know yet what we’re going to do.  We’re camped at the Trader’s Village RV Park, and Trader’s Village is a huge weekly indoor swap-meet.  Maybe we’ll go browse…