tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115200273624330542024-02-01T23:19:54.282-08:00Seemed Like a Good IdeaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11398083992753921736noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111520027362433054.post-43631509703279589732013-11-23T11:00:00.000-08:002013-11-23T11:00:28.440-08:00Restoring 1000 Hanover in Chattanooga, TennesseeLocated on a quiet corner lot in the popular North Shore area of Chattanooga is a charming home whose history has been one of happiness and family harmony. Built in 1922, it had been the home of Helen Hubbuch for 46 years, where she and her husband Carl raised their five children. The 3,700 sq. ft. home had been neglected for many years leading up to Mrs. Hubbuch's death in March of 2001. Deborah and I were fortunate enough to be able to purchase the home in September of that year from Helen and Carl's five children.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfrB18uI0s8-0kLiWWsxU-JO-AE9aNYeRsTFbaiGRDEB_r_LnUFrqKxOxALjnN_fyqH8si__I6b-oGaMQuwTEJLnXqEOt-H5Rl0lO9N8Sh585HPnYek8pa3qky1DqSs3jFWWRPWJkKT44/s1600/ExtfrntA1s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="260" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfrB18uI0s8-0kLiWWsxU-JO-AE9aNYeRsTFbaiGRDEB_r_LnUFrqKxOxALjnN_fyqH8si__I6b-oGaMQuwTEJLnXqEOt-H5Rl0lO9N8Sh585HPnYek8pa3qky1DqSs3jFWWRPWJkKT44/s400/ExtfrntA1s.jpg" title="1000 Hanover after Restoration" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1000 Hanover Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3FuUOZRM_psq2EZ93MbA4ZOhpb2mBy6_yIAShsDbPa0MrduRouooP7ysmcEnYeE2PAqpDhwaU5BcSYA8MsvhokBKvpzIvSrhk52FBJQ4gYcndoXlKaLLCjbHiwcp_RcYoV93wMe3ygI/s1600/frntprch1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3FuUOZRM_psq2EZ93MbA4ZOhpb2mBy6_yIAShsDbPa0MrduRouooP7ysmcEnYeE2PAqpDhwaU5BcSYA8MsvhokBKvpzIvSrhk52FBJQ4gYcndoXlKaLLCjbHiwcp_RcYoV93wMe3ygI/s400/frntprch1.jpg" width="400" /></a>Once we decided on making Chattanooga our new home, the Hanover house was the second one we previewed. Our realtor, Bill Holmes, had selected it based on our price and desire for an older home with loads of character. At first glance, it was a little scary. Dark mildew covered all exterior walls and much of the paint was peeling. There were several cracked and missing windows. But the home was obviously built extremely well and had so much personality that the problems we saw seemed less overwhelming. We did not know it at the time, but we had just found our dream home.</div>
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Inside, all the downstairs floors were carpeted. The kitchen and breakfast rooms had aged vinyl. There were noticeable watermarks on many of the ceilings and walls indicating that there had been water problems in the past. The pedestal sinks in two of the baths had been removed and replaced with cheap fabricated cabinets and sinks. The beautiful cherry staircase had been enclosed with a door separating the upper floor from the downstairs. Aluminum windows had replaced two of the largest windows in an upstairs bedroom.<br />
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We could tell that there had been renovations in the past. The downstairs had partially upgraded wiring, copper pipes had replaced the original, and many of the plaster walls had been repaired. Also, a fairly new furnace, central air, and hot water heater had already been installed in the home.<br />
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To our surprise, when we attempted to insure the home, we found that we would not be able get insurance unless the wiring was totally updated. Much of the downstairs had been rewired but there remained much of the original knob-and-tube wiring throughout the home.<br />
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Later, after we had purchased the home, we discovered many other problems we would have to address. At the closing we met the wonderful Hubbuch family. We found that George Hubbuch had engineered most of the repairs and renovations made to the home over the years. He visited us the day after closing and shared colorful memories of growing up in the house. He was a valuable source of information about the history of the house. He pointed out construction features, past modifications and existing problems of which we were unaware. He also gave us many original plumbing and lighting fixtures that had been replaced over the years.<br />
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Never having tackled a renovation project before, we felt totally unqualified with no idea as to how to begin. Fortunately, our Realtor, Bill Holmes, came to the rescue. He was very experienced in restoring older homes and was himself with his lovely wife Kathy, at that time, restoring their own beautiful Victorian in the Historic Fort Wood district of Chattanooga. Also, to help us understand what we were getting into and what could be accomplished, he introduced us to several people who restored older homes for a living. Geoff and Amanda Tarr had moved from Atlanta and chosen Chattanooga as their home because of the abundance of beautiful older homes that were available at very reasonable prices. They were investing in the Fort Wood district and the up and coming Highland Park area. Amanda's parents, Pete and Diane, had also moved to capitalize on the affordable housing and wonderful Chattanooga life style.<br />
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Geoff and Amanda welcomed us with open arms. They were wonderful. They showed us their mission style home, which they were in the process of renovating. In addition to their investments in Chattanooga, they were also involved in renovation in the Grant Park and Kirkwood areas of Atlanta. Amanda worked as an international flight attendant while Geoff did restorations full time. Both were involved in a side business selling corn dogs and lemonade at the abundant festivals in and around Chattanooga.<br />
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The Tarr's introduced us to Amanda's oldest and closest friend, Jo Beth Kavanaugh, who had taken that leap of faith and purchased a run down home in the Highland Park area. Where Geoff and Amanda's home was in the early stages of renovation, Jo Beth's was done and done beautifully. After seeing her home and viewing the pictures of the house as it was when she purchased it, we realized that she had totally saved the home. It was beautiful, spacious, functional, and it had personality. That, seeing her home, more than anything reinforced our desire to have an older home, with personality.<br />
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The Sunday morning after the annual Micro Brewery Beer Festival, they all descended on our future home to be. Deborah was still apprehensive about the condition of the house. From the moment they entered the house they loved it. Compared to what they typically found when selecting a house for restoration, our Hanover house was in great condition. Not only did they give us insight into the condition of the house but they also offered ideas for correcting problems. They shared the names of excellent contractors they had used who were dependable, affordable and who could fix the problems. Later we would find that their recommendations were the most valuable help of all.<br />
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A major problem for us was going to be the coordination of all the contractors working on the house. Originally we had lined up multiple crews to accomplish the various task required the get the home in shape. There were the electricians who would totally rewire the house. There was the heat and air contractors who would install a new heat and air heat pump unit in the attic to service the upstairs. There were plumbers to correct any water and drainage issues. There was the contractor to repair all external problems. There were painters to re-glaze external windows and prime and paint the entire exterior of the house. And there was the flooring contractor to sand and refinish the hardwood floors. At the center of all this kaotic activity was the need for us to actually move into the house.<br />
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We worked out a project plan that required that we spend 3 weeks living out of a local Residence Inn. During that time we planned to overlap all the work crews in order have the house ready for us to move in. Exterior jobs were not as critical in this plan but we still wanted them finished as soon as possible. A critical task that had to be accomplished during that time was the finishing of the floors. It required 3 days were no one could be in the house. We set about coordinating with all the contractors. This required that they all be available during those weeks and that they be committed to getting their task completed on schedule. It looked good on paper.<br />
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We actually followed our plan fairly well. It did change but only to tackle additional task we had not originally planned on. There were two rooms upstairs where the plaster had collapsed that needed to be sheetrocked. It also became clear that it would be far easier to paint the interior prior to moving furniture into the house. We got additional bids on this work and decided to tackle this task prior to moving in. This delayed our move but did not prevent us from setting up residence in the house, without furniture. Deborah and I decided to live out of three rooms, the kitchen, bathroom and breakfast area (make shift bedroom with air mattress). Looking back on it, we are glad we made these decisions.<br />
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The Hubbuch's purchased the home in 1955, from the Fletcher family, and at that time the staircase leading to the upper rooms had already been enclosed. We knew immediately that removing the wall and door would open up the area. To us, this was the most dramatic change we would make to the interior of the home. We were so anxious to remove the wall. When it was finally removed, we discovered the decorative finials tucked carefully in the framework above the door in case the door was removed in the future. The craftsman who constructed the wall went to extreme measures so as not to harm the beautiful cherry wood banister and oak stairsteps. With the staircase once again open, the whole house started to feel like it was finally one home again.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carl and Helen Hubbuck</td></tr>
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<strong>Downstairs Hallway and Stairs</strong><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enclosed Stairway</td></tr>
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</strong>We were told that John Fletcher, a prominent attorney in Chattanooga, was the second owner of 1000 Hanover. He purchased the home within a couple of years of being built, from Lucias Blair. It is our understanding that the outside porch steps were added during the Fletcher ownership. These steps allowed entry to the second level from outside. We also believe that during this time, the Hallway staircase was enclosed with sheetrock and a locking door added to the foot of the staircase, restricting entry to the lower level from upstairs.<br />
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Rewiring and many other renovations was done by Higdon Electric. We got several estimates for rewiring the house. Included in the rewiring, we wanted to have multiple phone lines and cable entertainment run throughout the house. Jo Beth had recommended Bud Higdon and had told us that he was more expensive but he did not balk at every little change. He built some degree of change into his price.<br />
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The estimate for rewiring was around $8,000. This seemed like a very good price to us. The other estimates were in the same neighborhood but they did not include repairing the holes make by the electricians. Also, we did not have personal recommendations for the other companies.<br />
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Bud Higdon visited us the day after closing. He wanted us to understand that the job he was about to begin might look worst before it got better. His experience told him that we had little idea that the rewiring required him and his crew to break through the plaster walls and ceiling in order to get the wires run. <br />
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His crew descended on us, in force, two days later. It was obvious that his employees were motivated, that they enjoyed their jobs, and that they respected Bud. They were extremely professional, including us in any decision affecting the appearance of the home. I was, as horrible as it sounds, out of town during most of the renovation. This left everything on Deborah's shoulders. Bud and his crew, Richard and Hank, quickly became her guardians which I will always remember and appreciate. They really looked out for her.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwDscQ6bPD_CVHDpPMp5DBn5SHhncW_UpXs7eNuthsmPjt7QHYlltHc2gZJg8k6p_6jqPR1PXv4zOHIHIK7w8nsDaVVpF3dV_sDkuzwNR0EcY8gbokK4CSoAKjoBHPaQtclb6WDDyA3mU/s1600/ExtFrntB1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwDscQ6bPD_CVHDpPMp5DBn5SHhncW_UpXs7eNuthsmPjt7QHYlltHc2gZJg8k6p_6jqPR1PXv4zOHIHIK7w8nsDaVVpF3dV_sDkuzwNR0EcY8gbokK4CSoAKjoBHPaQtclb6WDDyA3mU/s320/ExtFrntB1.jpg" /></a>When everything was completed, Bud had totally rewired the electricity, phones and cable. There was an abundance of outlets throughout the home. They had professionally patched all the holes they had made as well as any that were already existing. His crew also hung all the light fixtures and added needed lighting to the extremely dark basement. We did exceed the budget in a couple of areas. I had them run the surround sound wiring for me which was not included in the original estimate and I did not expect it to be.<br />
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Years later when we decided to sale the property, a live knob and tube line was found beneath the house. It had been missed during our original renovation. We contacted Bud and he immediately came and corrected the problem at no charge to us. This was ten years after the original work. We worked with Bud on several other projects during our time in Chattanooga. <strong>Bud is one of the best contractors I have ever had the honor of working with.</strong></div>
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<strong></strong>JoBeth Kavanaugh recommended Joel Germany for redoing the hardwood floors. He met us at the house prior to closing and gave us an estimate that included totally sanding the floors, replacing the plywood patch in the dinning room with matching oak, patching were needed, and putting on 3 applications of polyurethane using a satin finish. Joel's estimate for doing the floors was right on what we had budgeted. It did require that Deborah and I remove the carpet and prepare the floors by removing all the carpet staples. This saved us over $400. <br />
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The floors looked rough but Joel told us they were in great shape. He could patch the area in the dinning room so it would look nearly identical to the original hardwoods. He could also be working on the floors while the other contractors were busy doing their jobs. He estimated it would take 2 weeks. The last 3 days required that no one be allowed on the floors while they applied the finishing coats.<br />
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Joel was true to his word. The floors tuned out beautifully. His crew worked hard and were pleasant to deal with. We also decided to let Joel refinish the outside stairs leading to the porch. We thought a natural finish on the pine steps would enhance the overall look of the porch and lighten what was a dark and uninviting part of the house.<br />
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Plumbing was the hardest of all areas to obtain solid recommendations from others who had, and were, restoring old houses. Based on a good recommendation from Jo Beth Kavanaugh, again, we asked Jeff Kenney to give us an estimate. Jeff is a hard worker all the way round. He was not much into to discussing or speculating about what needed to be done. He let us know right away that he charged the same for working as he did for talking. This was refreshing and we chose to let him work. We had believed that the plumbing expenses would be extremely high. We were pleasantly surprised. Jeff was able to replace all three toilets, remove the new fabricated sink and cabinets, reinstall the pedestal sinks with new hardware, and correct all leaks for less than $2,000. Not only was he very affordable, he was also very easy to work with and extremely professional.<br />
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Pictures of Home following Renovation</h3>
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<strong>Exterior</strong><br />
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<strong>First Level</strong><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This spacious Living Room is divided into separate conversation areas and features original tiger oak flooring and a beautiful fireplace</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oiUip3wFaOMzP02tS3aBp_gBgznFTZdHTW-6LSZVWmX_5Pxh0z8mFmlW29rZH40MfCGEbEsrYyoPOEi8xa9VL8LPKMw_N0NTImA_EcEk9Pqfm4qeCEXqxE4_R90iyKk5xr6FrLsRUYw/s1600/DiningRoom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oiUip3wFaOMzP02tS3aBp_gBgznFTZdHTW-6LSZVWmX_5Pxh0z8mFmlW29rZH40MfCGEbEsrYyoPOEi8xa9VL8LPKMw_N0NTImA_EcEk9Pqfm4qeCEXqxE4_R90iyKk5xr6FrLsRUYw/s400/DiningRoom.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Large Dining Room features a built-in cherry china cabinet and a wall of triple windows that look out on a private courtyard</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSDbjPTW5Sdkgj_VCenai5fVgJpGBy8silZbNZW6HXQ9ILo762s9xBRKT65Ph2up9aeqsKfZ8Wsg_1QkcybNNFDnrdlo_VyZ3bs31RCuXmtbpTIyMrtFviHI0FKd5r65Iipm3a5TpybI/s1600/Kitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSDbjPTW5Sdkgj_VCenai5fVgJpGBy8silZbNZW6HXQ9ILo762s9xBRKT65Ph2up9aeqsKfZ8Wsg_1QkcybNNFDnrdlo_VyZ3bs31RCuXmtbpTIyMrtFviHI0FKd5r65Iipm3a5TpybI/s400/Kitchen.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Dauphin; font-size: 13.5pt;">This unique kitchen was designed both for cooking and entertaining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It features a Subzero refrigerator and an inset </span><place><placename><span style="font-family: Dauphin; font-size: 13.5pt;">dual</span></placename><span style="font-family: Dauphin; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><placename><span style="font-family: Dauphin; font-size: 13.5pt;">fuel</span></placename><span style="font-family: Dauphin; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><placename><span style="font-family: Dauphin; font-size: 13.5pt;">Wolf</span></placename><span style="font-family: Dauphin; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><placename><span style="font-family: Dauphin; font-size: 13.5pt;">range</span></placename></place><span style="font-family: Dauphin; font-size: 13.5pt;"> with griddle surrounded by a heart of pine mantle and cabinetry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A beautiful Brazilian mahogany island and soapstone countertops provide ample preparation surface. The two built-in butler pantries provide abundant storage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKSm5ZB2oI_dmy8q-9C5OOg5U549-_j7w-kBdOxxxV-ke5jVRztFd082Revgaj_CNY0SigJRRiAdsNpwyqBZ9jJxmvCAlVbhrUh0TBhGMxxOMSN4QzlP_xZ-94aMsXD0RoRFOi1ugoSs/s1600/Breakfast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKSm5ZB2oI_dmy8q-9C5OOg5U549-_j7w-kBdOxxxV-ke5jVRztFd082Revgaj_CNY0SigJRRiAdsNpwyqBZ9jJxmvCAlVbhrUh0TBhGMxxOMSN4QzlP_xZ-94aMsXD0RoRFOi1ugoSs/s400/Breakfast.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Dauphin; font-size: 13.5pt;">The breakfast room that opens to the kitchen provides a comfortable spot to watch the morning news and for entertaining</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0ksvx-DuLM5NLai5yzV19_t0PMNtyfmn6sXI9rvtMdRGUeecp3OpdRLyV16ZqEabDJxaOWRWGR995ne9utQY9KUghYU0Ap01keXjgfbxf2twg9HM7fgF8ZMJqTRJ4AsUEI85f3dA1SY/s1600/SunRoom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0ksvx-DuLM5NLai5yzV19_t0PMNtyfmn6sXI9rvtMdRGUeecp3OpdRLyV16ZqEabDJxaOWRWGR995ne9utQY9KUghYU0Ap01keXjgfbxf2twg9HM7fgF8ZMJqTRJ4AsUEI85f3dA1SY/s400/SunRoom.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Gentle breezes enhance this airy Sun Room that features original trim framing three full walls of screened windows</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZXtAv5yIpPd1os3h1q3Iy36RprJLDiBueOyPCkJBC9YV5qfr-BsPwMGlFdVEIkcqSdNgmiMTyiSiYyoOxmxkE1jVFRarUe2ZPKu7GAIPCIY_AN-3t-dz8TINK_dbOuizuw3ZCs-tSE8g/s1600/MBedroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZXtAv5yIpPd1os3h1q3Iy36RprJLDiBueOyPCkJBC9YV5qfr-BsPwMGlFdVEIkcqSdNgmiMTyiSiYyoOxmxkE1jVFRarUe2ZPKu7GAIPCIY_AN-3t-dz8TINK_dbOuizuw3ZCs-tSE8g/s400/MBedroom.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The spacious master bedroom provides a cozy sitting area and fireplace that features an inset entertainment center. The room also features a window seat under a set of triple windows and an exterior door to the side porch.</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiECauFjurTRRtl_sQiwf_mDYoj0zqDYAR3LfXzZqPI3wi01BhKHzTPdLN16vXZQzhXoPbLb7UkEBFjVa2d8G4pJlropEMPMVxeRohGSNDONzxDa2DPFj64oHdbf7TWu5AEo3wy9GU5PJc/s1600/Porch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiECauFjurTRRtl_sQiwf_mDYoj0zqDYAR3LfXzZqPI3wi01BhKHzTPdLN16vXZQzhXoPbLb7UkEBFjVa2d8G4pJlropEMPMVxeRohGSNDONzxDa2DPFj64oHdbf7TWu5AEo3wy9GU5PJc/s400/Porch.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In town living at its best just sitting in the glider and enjoying a cup of coffee reading the morning paper or sitting with friends in the afternoon</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7PsQz99Xr3ELDpfeTw6Hjbx13fjptmnau1RHTz6uETKhsQIKlycryMwVtY_GDdvvRiGObDH5PF7MmXdjfpMjTGS25nWgW9mXC_BWLWM7kA62bI6CtC6gpfiR1jxIMlVtynkrvg9Bl7wI/s1600/MasterBath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7PsQz99Xr3ELDpfeTw6Hjbx13fjptmnau1RHTz6uETKhsQIKlycryMwVtY_GDdvvRiGObDH5PF7MmXdjfpMjTGS25nWgW9mXC_BWLWM7kA62bI6CtC6gpfiR1jxIMlVtynkrvg9Bl7wI/s400/MasterBath.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Dauphin; font-size: 13.5pt;">French doors lead from the master bedroom into this luxuriant master bath that features a 6 foot clawfoot tub and natural stone shower</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLWl8sM7f5hsPRb_ogaERvw8XeIjuuV4TuMr2xGOVCLxMLMHrqp4gzl8VgD95foDtY9NamnShOEMZKK4GqJP-TnpnFz2uUMfXVMd_q5Ll8n3OWwdbBQTTNFRlk2evuk3iSSTuNyb3ofQk/s1600/CarlandHelenEarly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="78" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLWl8sM7f5hsPRb_ogaERvw8XeIjuuV4TuMr2xGOVCLxMLMHrqp4gzl8VgD95foDtY9NamnShOEMZKK4GqJP-TnpnFz2uUMfXVMd_q5Ll8n3OWwdbBQTTNFRlk2evuk3iSSTuNyb3ofQk/s320/CarlandHelenEarly.jpg" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 476px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 2949px; visibility: hidden;" width="96" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11398083992753921736noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111520027362433054.post-50532629223142023812013-11-23T10:35:00.000-08:002013-11-23T10:35:16.042-08:00Co-Workers with Kids
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am retired now with my wife, Deborah, and miss that jovial
banter between co-workers in the office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have always seen the humor in most things and it has gotten me into
trouble at times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are living in a
co-op RV resort in Southern California now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I highly recommend retirement and our resort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can check out our resort website at
<a href="http://www.jojobahills.com/">www.jojobahills.com</a>. Thanks goodness most of the folks in our resort have a
good sense of humor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never know what I
will do next.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the 90's I was working as a contract programmer at
Haverty Furniture Company in Atlanta, Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We were developing their sales and inventory system on the AS400
platform.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was one of the first
programmers contracted and, over time, helped to bring in several of my contracting
friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a great place to
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The people were friendly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were right slab dab in the middle of
downtown Atlanta, right next to the Georgia Tech campus and a few blocks from
the Varsity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you know Atlanta, you
know this is awesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I worked here on
three occasions, each lasting about two years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We produced a lot of really good work and that's probably why they kept
bring me back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well that, and my winning
personality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The incident I am <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>recalling
at the moment occurred spontaneously, as usual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I shared a cubical with two other
co-workers, Jack Travis and Billy Smith, both of whom I had worked with at
other companies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Billy, one of the
smartest analyst I knew, had a very dry sense of humor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without saying a work he would give you the
most deadpan look that spoke volumes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was very quick witted and clever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jack
and I both had kids and whenever one of us mentioned anything about the kids
being sick, Billy would slip on this air filter he kept by his terminal, the
paper kind that a medic might use, and give us that look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was winter and because of the wind, cold
and wet of Atlanta, I was nursing chapped lips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was usually the first one in because I liked to get to the office
early to avoid as much traffic as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This particular morning, I was coating my lips with Vaseline to help out
with the chapping when I spotted the air filter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed like a good idea at the time so I
took a handful of Vaseline and coated the inside of his filter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we were all there and working I began
talking to Jack about my kids having some illness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept a watchful eye toward Billy and, like
clockwork, he did the expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
plopped that filter right over his nose and mouth and gave us that deadpan
look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I laughed so hard because he had
no idea what he had done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he pulled
it off, Vaseline was all over his face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
Jack realized the joke and was laughing as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Billy was not!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In retaliation, Billy later pulled a prank on me where
stupid messages started appearing on my terminal and no matter what I tried, I
could not make them go away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After long
frustrating attempts on my part and eventual capitulation, I sought the help
from the system techs only to discover the problem was no longer there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspected the brightest guy in the room who
happened to have that famous deadpan look on his face at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later, when he was gone, I surveyed his
terminal and, using a little used history facility he was unaware of, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was able to isolate the origin of the
messages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had run a background job
that pushed the messages to me every few seconds without identifying their source.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The job was still there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I left the job there but changed the message
and recipients to be everyone around us except for the two of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sort of thought he might give it another go
at some point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple of week later, the employee in the
office next to our cubical shouted something like, "What the hell is this,
Billy".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We both ran to see what was
up and when he saw the message, "Billy, not so smart to try this on me
twice".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He immediately rushed back
to his terminal, as others in the office started asking him what was going on,
and cancelled the prank job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I gave my
best gloating deadpan face look and did not get any more annoying
messages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11398083992753921736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111520027362433054.post-76951592712212656332013-09-28T11:54:00.000-07:002013-09-28T11:54:41.018-07:00Why Am I Blogging
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For a guy who can't write, I am surprised that I am
blogging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started out just trying to
put down some of my funny experiences so my kids would not forget them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I sort of did some reflective type
things to help them understand my decision to be a fulltime RVer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My reasons for posting things to the internet
seem to all revolve around imparting information to my kids and future
grandkids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were also my reason for
creating a family photo website, <a href="http://www.philanddeb.com/">www.philanddeb.com</a>, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>long ago where I could post and catalog pictures
and videos of our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I am
not that old, barely 60, I believe the internet will be around much longer than
I and for whatever reason I would like to think that someone above me on the
family tree will be interested in my stories. </span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9v9nkskuLsZFNPBf2K5xhlaVaNwVi8IcauBwrPvY7_pOV2V3d8pyCFYc7-a4nGwOmBY1tQRYsp-7Xh5wSJx7Spqqx5T9Ho98M5CItSshAdeV-_JbvPs_8Ts5QnDxzVD0fPp8Y52hqJsc/s1600/Deb+and+I.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9v9nkskuLsZFNPBf2K5xhlaVaNwVi8IcauBwrPvY7_pOV2V3d8pyCFYc7-a4nGwOmBY1tQRYsp-7Xh5wSJx7Spqqx5T9Ho98M5CItSshAdeV-_JbvPs_8Ts5QnDxzVD0fPp8Y52hqJsc/s320/Deb+and+I.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It's funny how I keep calling them "kids".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of them are in their 30's now so the term
does not really apply but I will keep doing it anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To get back on track, I am a lousy writer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The testimony to this is that my own wife has
yet to read many of my blogs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She knows
me better than anyone and you can trust her opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might be advisable to stop right here and
focus on something a little more constructive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What I like about writing is that I have the chance to change how I say
something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I put down what I am thinking
and may travel well on before going back and rereading my thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I change it to something a little
clearer and easier on the ears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My style
I find is very informal and friendly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
am one of the world's worst spellers, if not the worst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I depend heavily on my word processer to
identify misspelled words and to offer the correct spelling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I might also mention that I am also the most
unobservant person in the world and the options listed has not always prevented
grievous errors in my writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
working I was trying to convey the exemplary quality of our project staff and
ended up referring to them as imbeciles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My bad!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my interment wishes I
expressed my desire to be cemented instead of cremated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When questioned about that one, I just stuck
to my guns and figure I may end up in the foundation of a building
somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would love to hear stories
for others who have made similar mistakes.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have looked at the statistics on my blogs and found that
more people than I ever expected have viewed them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess it is not that strange since I
frequently look at other people's blogs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I do find it interesting though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What do they think when they read about my brother trying to lock me in
the bus with a huge German Shepherd or scaring my kids during a séance with
Michael Jordan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since I started RVing
around the country I have met so many interesting folks who travel the country
like ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all have different
stories and I love that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love to
listen to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love the variety of
their backgrounds. You might think that these folks would focus on their past
work lives but that is usually the least talked about subject. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all had different jobs and you do learn
about that part of their lives but mostly they like to tell you about their
adventures and the people they have encountered during their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For my
part, I tell the funny stories that I blog about, the terrible old cars I
somehow got to run spitting and spewing, the ice storm that kept us inside for a
week or my brother inspiring me to pick up the pace during my first cross
country race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are all very
interesting in our own ways due to our unique experiences and the people we
know. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My kids may read this someday and I hope they get to know me
a little better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will always treasure
being able to offer advice or pearls of wisdom those few times when they
ask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually wish I could go back and
get to know my Mom better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have
been nice if she had left a legacy of her life as seen through her eyes as I am
attempting to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In medieval days,
referring to the 60's and 70's, folks left their legacy through letters to
family and loved ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their letters were
for the most part very private and only a few got to share their thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is not the case with the internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I keep this in mind when I post things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I make things a lot less personal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In private however, I let those I love know
just how much I love them through words and actions.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11398083992753921736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111520027362433054.post-75546381641155805212013-03-12T07:44:00.000-07:002013-03-12T07:44:44.767-07:00Get Rid of It!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I just read an article from the New York Times about living
simpler and smaller.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It hit home with me
because for the last couple of years, that is what Deb and I have been
doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I look back on our extravagant
lifestyle and almost feel ashamed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
are so conditioned to consume in our country that we hardly think about
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably if we could categorize
everything we bought into things we need and things we want, I am sure we would
see that we need a whole lot less than we want. I agree that some things we
want do make life more fun, but a lot of that stuff is just stuff that ends up
being thrown away, donated or passed on to others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if you sell the old stuff, you never get
back what you paid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I grew up in a single mom family with very little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I literally started working in the third
grade by helping the family deliver newspapers in Atlanta, GA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I lived through the "pay check to mouth"
years after college and it wasn't until I was in my forties that life and
finances seem to come together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found
that I had money to spend and that is what we did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We bought a wonderful old home in Chattanooga
and totally restored it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had 3,800
square feet, 5 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths and a huge yard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We decorated it with antiques, art, and crap
you place around everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think we
were going for that restaurant look where there is something interesting for
the eye to settle on everywhere you look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cracker Barrel comes to mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
really did a swell job on it and it was very rewarding bring this home back to
its original glory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkgkUXJuFif-JAl98_StvrRfP8_qdswENai02pu3Bf9maP0s2hxW9FmWpVNPdGfgdT5izaME-wv8nHwNsVspBsrRHVfOPq-DVlQWsmPc0QdZKbp-EgW1HHzE1eoQ6D_8_fCObA__xxfHs/s1600/IMG_1831q.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkgkUXJuFif-JAl98_StvrRfP8_qdswENai02pu3Bf9maP0s2hxW9FmWpVNPdGfgdT5izaME-wv8nHwNsVspBsrRHVfOPq-DVlQWsmPc0QdZKbp-EgW1HHzE1eoQ6D_8_fCObA__xxfHs/s400/IMG_1831q.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home in Chattanooga</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We also bought some other old houses and restored them
during this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We sold these houses
once they were completed and did pretty well with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This just gave us more money to spend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also fell in love with yard work and spent
weekends and a lot of money in the yard, planting, cutting grass, pruning
bushes and weeding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was also a lot
of raking during the Fall.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our life, if you can imagine, was work and spend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a full time job running a software
company and managing the restoration of multiple properties and maintaining our
home and yard<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>consumed all our
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My lovely wife was the first one to come to her senses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After completing the remodel of our kitchen,
bath and bedroom, she suggested that we sell our house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was flabbergasted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was so proud of this home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the symbol of our success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Chattanooga Times Free Press even did an
article complete with pictures of our restoration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had sunk so much time, energy and money
into the house and it was beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
had also made great friends and hosted many parties in our house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During our eight years there, we had created
some lasting memories and established lots of lasting friendships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was not enthusiastic over the thought of
giving it up, not for any price.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, as
usually happens - we compromised and sold the home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sold quickly and for more than I had
thought possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it turned out, this
was an important step toward simplifying our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We moved into a two bedroom apartment, using
one of the bedrooms as an office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From
there we purchased a two bedroom condo in downtown Chattanooga overlooking the
city and the Tennessee river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had far
too much stuff for the apartment and the condo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We sold lots of it and ended up donating tons to Habitat for Humanity,
Community Kitchen, Goodwill and friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOEBQ2-34R_fuS8yqh1ARpzciVldwDjKMvsDzwiQBVTejuls9a2MbbaGRa1cXjVmjk6AvfeWSiU5iGriN-ALMxTnPE_XNffORYuJVIJvOAAFtUCK7liVWZKurKN7XisvTcT34wEm78p04/s1600/Dunedin+FL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOEBQ2-34R_fuS8yqh1ARpzciVldwDjKMvsDzwiQBVTejuls9a2MbbaGRa1cXjVmjk6AvfeWSiU5iGriN-ALMxTnPE_XNffORYuJVIJvOAAFtUCK7liVWZKurKN7XisvTcT34wEm78p04/s400/Dunedin+FL.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dunedin RV Trip and Tarpon Springs, Florida</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Out next great reality check came when we got a small RV and
took a trip to Dunedin, Florida.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
discovered retired people who followed the weather, living in their mobile
RVs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pretty sure you can call them
"snowbirds".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were only
there a week and, in that time,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>gained a
tremendous appreciation for warm weather in the middle of Winter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would ride my bicycle into Dunedin for
lunch or to Tarpon Springs for wonderful Greek cuisine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deb and I would ride the bikes over to
Honeymoon Island and enjoy the beach and have lunch while watching the pelicans
skim the surf of along the Gulf of Mexico shore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Since selling our home and starting our journey of
downsizing, we were already dreaming of retiring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We knew we could not do this while continuing
our expensive lifestyle in Chattanooga. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
dreams up to this point had focused on living abroad since it seemed the most
affordable solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using the internet
we had moved around to the world looking for the best places to live
comfortably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had even contacted a
real estate agent in Merida, Mexico after watching an episode of House Hunters
International and were contemplating a trip in the Spring to view properties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our trip to Dunedin opened our eyes to a
whole new world, one that did not involve learning a new language.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After crunching the numbers, Deb announced that she thought
we could retire if we started RVing fulltime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ordered a new 5th
wheel, a DRV Mobile Suites, from RVs for Less up in Knoxville, TN.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ordered a Ram 3500 Dually Longhorn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I gave my resignation to my partners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We put our condo on the market and it closed
two months later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were definitely committed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though we had already downsized, we
still<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>had a lot of nice stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>thought we would consign it to the Chattanooga Auction House to sell so
I took pictures of all the furniture, rugs and art and posted the pictures on a
website so they could evaluate</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwxn8pIcUXhAhh2zNnmfx-AyFRZRGx1eMoM-eDpbfZaDOlNjII6NHpNPMhAvX0ooCAIZ7r1F-tz7VG68qIY87HU7UprDWmOKuwndACR6JV3SMZwd6btcTAGDg9ntO8M8lKAm1UvpIDES0/s1600/IMG_0460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwxn8pIcUXhAhh2zNnmfx-AyFRZRGx1eMoM-eDpbfZaDOlNjII6NHpNPMhAvX0ooCAIZ7r1F-tz7VG68qIY87HU7UprDWmOKuwndACR6JV3SMZwd6btcTAGDg9ntO8M8lKAm1UvpIDES0/s400/IMG_0460.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our DRV Mobile Suite</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The auction house would keep 35% of all sales and there was no guarantee
of what things would sell for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deb
thought it would be a great idea if we also sent the web link to our
friends<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to see if they wanted to buy
anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were pricing everything to
go and there were some great deals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
just wanted it gone and we had very little time to haggle over prices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is very liberating to get rid of 90% of
your stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We only needed to keep what
was essential and would fit into our new RV lifestyle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within hours of sending the link to our
friends, we were swamped with buyers, all people we knew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They pretty much cleaned us out without any
haggling at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were happy that they
were able to use our stuff and we knew that our stuff would be in good
homes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We even sold both our vehicles to
friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The dealer who sold us our new RV also took our small motor
home on trade and allowed us to live in it until the new unit was ready.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This took about two months for the new RV to
be built.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have to know that this
dealer was absolutely wonderful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had
not planned on the condo selling so fast and we did not want to rent another
apartment and go through another move while waiting for the new RV to be
built.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJiIW9nCKG6KzQyBbe7jhayC6rF_v-av12TsYr0DgD0iX9ektmhlT3y64z5q_v78_I8tvN81DV-sJaSEovBaRoQ7i5Uc15QI2foo2VSSzhr07CrNuEP0_8IMviOw4k_Yohpn6SOoqgHM/s1600/Jojoba+Hills+Sports+Challenge.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJiIW9nCKG6KzQyBbe7jhayC6rF_v-av12TsYr0DgD0iX9ektmhlT3y64z5q_v78_I8tvN81DV-sJaSEovBaRoQ7i5Uc15QI2foo2VSSzhr07CrNuEP0_8IMviOw4k_Yohpn6SOoqgHM/s400/Jojoba+Hills+Sports+Challenge.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing Pickle Ball</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have now been full time RVers for two years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do not collect stuff anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We place more value on spending time living
life to the fullest rather than spending money on material things. We love
traveling to new places and meeting new friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have gotten to know a lot of great folks
along the way and have arranged to cross paths with some of them in different
places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We focus on staying healthy,
living long and enjoying our journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
stay in shape playing tennis and pickleball whenever possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have both adopted a vegan diet and dropped
over 30 lbs. each since we began our journey and we feel great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I believed to be important when I was
younger seems almost childish when compared to where we are today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I advise my kids to focus on life and not
things but know in my heart that they must find this out for themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can only imagine how much sooner we could
have started this wonderful journey had we saved back when we were spending.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPpGtASlToHCBbTWctJBknJI8T2B_4WaMr1DCMOPKU6RtdcTP3s0xqSGzZSIaDh6qtIY4ccwm79QWlJbzmnAkwJms0nLH5iVw2tckibuGxBsmJ3vpx6rgUxpeBO7UNG_QosBVsQwKzc5k/s1600/DSCF1374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPpGtASlToHCBbTWctJBknJI8T2B_4WaMr1DCMOPKU6RtdcTP3s0xqSGzZSIaDh6qtIY4ccwm79QWlJbzmnAkwJms0nLH5iVw2tckibuGxBsmJ3vpx6rgUxpeBO7UNG_QosBVsQwKzc5k/s400/DSCF1374.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deb at Our Site in Jojoba Hills, California</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I really have no regrets at all over our decision to RV
fulltime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably the biggest drawback
would be missing that constant connection with the kids and our
granddaughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the good side however,
we are extremely lucky to have cell phones, wireless internet, Skype, Facetime,
texting and Facebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It makes staying
in touch extremely easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We post our
photos on the internet so our family and friends can see what we are
doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We Facebook with family and can
see what they are up to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it
would have been far more difficult to be full timers before all this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our advice to all is to keep it simple and do your best to stay healthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11398083992753921736noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111520027362433054.post-18271209954481881832012-02-11T16:23:00.000-08:002012-02-12T11:50:32.056-08:00RVing is for Me<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Life has an uncanny way of changing. At least it has for Deborah and me. We started out hundreds of miles apart, living in separate cities and states. You have heard the saying that love will find a way and it certainly did in our case. We have gone from a long distance relationship in separate states to shacking up together in Atlanta, Georgia to restoring an old historic home in Chattanooga to a luxury condo on the Tennessee River to a 350 square foot 5th wheel. I have loved it all! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTmM_m4TlJCe56PXL4ukXGCx8EWEefk54DGIJBq5S0tYpGiNgXCQOjKtiiVQtAgbfiZbNuTyms5RWWqtCUoUUXeJ5VMtwx1DvCfZD1tsKXhfsekL5zh2JzSuG6NtT5nWoWHIVddWcNAEE/s1600/gypsy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTmM_m4TlJCe56PXL4ukXGCx8EWEefk54DGIJBq5S0tYpGiNgXCQOjKtiiVQtAgbfiZbNuTyms5RWWqtCUoUUXeJ5VMtwx1DvCfZD1tsKXhfsekL5zh2JzSuG6NtT5nWoWHIVddWcNAEE/s1600/gypsy.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">We began our RV journey back in June of last year (2011) after selling nearly everything we possessed. We said goodbye to family and friends and embraced our new lifestyle. I have always known that I am adaptable and that I can be happy wherever I find myself. Deborah has a different attribute that I call a wandering spirit. I find that she is a bit of a gypsy. Ever since we have been together she has loved each and every part of our lives. Eventually, her internal clock gets to a point that makes her ready for change. It does not happen on a regular schedule but it does happen. Just when I think we are settled in a wonderful place for the rest of our lives, she is ready for a change. From my point of view, it keeps life interesting and I am ready to go right along with her. This last change was the most dramatic of all when we decided to "go fulltime RVing". Using the old saying, "Eyes wide open", I fully expect another change at some point <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">which </span>I fully intend to embrace when it happens. That's one of the fun things about her. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZHs1d5X1hDUBdrSXT5YU8Pt-KcHZh7o8EGorQnTmdXlc7ou9vyPEIdHsvMqSGWW_UAj8_ci87WUcB7cTwcphtJqCc0T-49SeTMwcAECjPCiWzhtbO9JnkvvtjQVfbzmycbs7O3XcX5M/s1600/Deb+with+Judy+and+Allen+on+the+square+in+Sante+Fe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZHs1d5X1hDUBdrSXT5YU8Pt-KcHZh7o8EGorQnTmdXlc7ou9vyPEIdHsvMqSGWW_UAj8_ci87WUcB7cTwcphtJqCc0T-49SeTMwcAECjPCiWzhtbO9JnkvvtjQVfbzmycbs7O3XcX5M/s320/Deb+with+Judy+and+Allen+on+the+square+in+Sante+Fe.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deborah with Judy and Allen from Santa Fe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>As I have gotten older (now 59) I probably have certain things that I would not want to give up. I can assure everyone that I have not given up anything that would make my new life less satisfying. The biggest challenge in this new lifestyle is keeping in touch with my kids and with friends so they do not feel they have been abandoned. I feel fortunate that we live in this time period where we have access to cell phones and internet just about anywhere we travel. Not that long ago we would have been forced to find a hotspot to send and receive emails and cell coverage was very sporadic in a large part of the country. I cannot say that it is perfect, but it is pretty good. Using these technological marvels we have been able to keep in touch with everyone. I particularly love Skype and Apple's Facetime. Deborah is constantly on Facebook and keeps me updated on most of our friends and family. How did early RV pioneers ever survive?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJEzgZLFNUX79FexQp2dM2REIVu1Sg_lRLd7BDpFBoNt68XvRiYXYDU3vh9e_INxNb3dstyy5pljGZX-aPLnCiQhfWScIP7cneVzzQqbeEuhIdS_0Mcn6q6N0VeenEo2vAYKy7kyt0kQ/s1600/Antique+RV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJEzgZLFNUX79FexQp2dM2REIVu1Sg_lRLd7BDpFBoNt68XvRiYXYDU3vh9e_INxNb3dstyy5pljGZX-aPLnCiQhfWScIP7cneVzzQqbeEuhIdS_0Mcn6q6N0VeenEo2vAYKy7kyt0kQ/s1600/Antique+RV.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_LiI7TcGjQJBCiXOX8HkHMzBWYGkgqo_1FeA4tgkTA7aU_289is3BSlHAsmz2_79dEaEYvRYGai88AHRQcEE1o53kJ5z4hSCL_IIPM5ioeGQS_xPlEEY5A-FKcuojatvWjyGQVhfozCo/s1600/Kent+and+Phil+in+Rapid+City,+SD.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_LiI7TcGjQJBCiXOX8HkHMzBWYGkgqo_1FeA4tgkTA7aU_289is3BSlHAsmz2_79dEaEYvRYGai88AHRQcEE1o53kJ5z4hSCL_IIPM5ioeGQS_xPlEEY5A-FKcuojatvWjyGQVhfozCo/s320/Kent+and+Phil+in+Rapid+City,+SD.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kent and Phil in Rapid City, SD</td></tr>
</tbody></table>My biggest worry was that we would not make any new friends as we constantly move around the country. This has proven to be a non-issue. We chose to winter over in Yuma, AZ at the Palms RV Resort. We are here for five months. As I peer out our window, I can name every person parked around us and we have made tons of friends with Canadians and Americans from all over the park some of whom, I believe, will be lifelong friends. Even getting to Yuma we made new friends at places we only stayed at for far shorter periods. There was Bill and Gloria in Crossville, TN who are also in Yuma right now; Kent and Cookie in Custer, SD who we plan to hook up with in the future; Allen and Judy in Santé Fe, NM who just visited us here in Yuma. People who RV are in a “club” of sorts. We connect at a basic level by sharing something in common. I have met a few couples that I would not choose to hang with, but that is less common. For the most part, it is a genuine pleasure to get to know new neighbors, to hear their stories and to share new experiences. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catherine and Jo Beth with Deborah in Santa Fe</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">Before beginning our journey we attended a rally, RV-Dreams, in Sevierville, Tennessee. I had a new post recently and was thrilled to see Gin and Syl post a comment to my story. They were a beautiful and energetic couple that we met at the Rally. As we traveled to South Dakota to establish our legal residence, we stopped by a COE campground in Monroe City, Missouri and visited with a couple we also met at the rally, Bob and Janet. The two of them are just the most wonderful people you could know and Deborah is in touch through Facebook with them. Bob made the best pizzas in his Green Egg grill. While in Santé Fe we hooked up with an adorable and interesting couple, Catherine and Jo Beth, who we met at the rally. We are also keeping in touch with Dick and Michelle from Maine. There are many others we are staying in touch with that we met at the rally. I think that things like Facebook and Blogs perpetuate these connections and I thank my lucky stars that we live when we do.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYee7pjzO_T1kZU9nG3KlpZxOeK00XD-XHDBWEUBmyRDShU7hwtmzb_Xs16OCY0CbG8_Hf5UQtHq0_b0qrQJ4rXC6sINkoZ4w1bqBW45yUMV76EAdDeWsAdrS-BLDkrC_EY4TaoNFGXc/s1600/Bill+and+Gloria+Snodgrass+with+Deb+and+Phil.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYee7pjzO_T1kZU9nG3KlpZxOeK00XD-XHDBWEUBmyRDShU7hwtmzb_Xs16OCY0CbG8_Hf5UQtHq0_b0qrQJ4rXC6sINkoZ4w1bqBW45yUMV76EAdDeWsAdrS-BLDkrC_EY4TaoNFGXc/s320/Bill+and+Gloria+Snodgrass+with+Deb+and+Phil.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill and Gloria Snodgrass with Deborah and Phil <br />
in Crossville, TN</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I have learned so much about our rig from other RVers. One our first stops was in Crossville, Tennessee. We had to stay there longer than expected in order to have some warranty work completed in Knoxville. While there we became friends with Bill and Gloria. They had a DRV Mobile Suites unit a couple of years older than ours and a Ram 3500 dually truck like ours. Bill took me under his wing and advised me on how to maintain my unit and truck. He had been an aircraft mechanic in a prior life and knows the importance of staying on top of things. He and Gloria are just the best! They own a home here in Yuma and we have gotten together several times. Bill and I recently rode up to Quartzsite together. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phil's Wire Bonsai Tree</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">The pace of life seems slower right now but I think that is due to us being retired and not our new RV lifestyle. There is always plenty to do, especially here in Yuma at the Palms. I play tennis three times a week, volleyball twice a week, go to pottery classes three times a week, and try to make the burger bash on Saturdays. Besides that, we have traveled down to Alagodones, Mexico a few times with friends, gone to concerts at the Yuma theatre, and seen all the latest action movies. I have also conducted three multiple day classes to teach others how to make wire trees. This was my contribution to all the wonderful amenities provided to us here at the Palms. For anyone coming to Yuma for the winter, I recommend this resort. It is FAB-U-LOUS, capitalized! I have not seen anyone playing water volleyball yet but you can bet I will be in there with them when they start playing.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ocHZtJUKcKVBPtbRChKjCU_7IhN4t3THcNV4sgne7jDarDkbSDqxK26eTDEzi1fOOaG_QQNtH9WQBvQ8TsuQbzT-x4S7jDyOamhYuJZYPFcLJfyPRmrCvW7Y9EdhpydVp165lLqsxAU/s1600/Pottery.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ocHZtJUKcKVBPtbRChKjCU_7IhN4t3THcNV4sgne7jDarDkbSDqxK26eTDEzi1fOOaG_QQNtH9WQBvQ8TsuQbzT-x4S7jDyOamhYuJZYPFcLJfyPRmrCvW7Y9EdhpydVp165lLqsxAU/s320/Pottery.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phil throwing clay at The Palms RV Resort</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">It’s February and we plan on leaving at the end of March. We have begun planning our next path. We think we will head toward California, Oregon and Washington then head back toward Chattanooga and Atlanta by September. We are planning on taking our granddaughter to Disney World in October and that is the only fixed event in our schedule. We have a lot of decisions to make between now and then. We will definitely winter over in Florida next year in the little Scottish community of Dunedin.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Oh, and one more thing. Deb and I have had another lifestyle change. She has always been interested in her quality of food. She correctly believes in, "you are what you eat". While in Yuma, some new friends had us watch another of those propaganda movies about the evils of eating flesh and of course Deb insisted on me sitting through it. The movie was "Forks Over Knives". Most movies she pushes on me show nasty slaughter houses and inhumane treatment of chickens, pigs and cows. These movies never had an impact on me like this one. This movie was from the clinical aspect and focuses on the relationship of diet and disease, and that was what convinced me. I can now say that both of us are on a vegan diet which excludes all meat, dairy, eggs and cheese. Tough, right? I can be stubborn and as anyone who knows me will attest, I was a meat and potatoes guy. I ate very few vegetables. I encourage everyone to watch this movie and draw their own conclusions. After six weeks of being on the diet, even with my occasional cheating, I have lost 10 pounds and Deborah has lost 13 pounds. That fat above my abdomen has disappeared and my spare tire has all but disappeared in just a month. Deb is also looking pretty sexy. Deb has to be creative with me since I really don't like vegetables. She focuses on a lot of grains, beans, fruits, peppers, lettuces and tomatoes. You can get “fake” meat that is soy and wheat based that has a meat taste and texture, which is pretty good. I do a lot of stir-frying with these using a minimum amount of olive oil. You can even have a “fake” hotdog. I miss my standard old eggs and bacon breakfast but I like my newfound health. We are both firming up and plan to stick with it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Check out our travel photos at <a href="http://philanddeb.com/Photo_Album.htm">http://philanddeb.com/Photo_Album.htm</a>. I try to keep it fairly current with what we are doing. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Happy travels to all!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11398083992753921736noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111520027362433054.post-19771135337997738662012-02-10T15:16:00.000-08:002012-02-11T08:05:55.052-08:00Séance Interrupted by Michael Jordan<div class="MsoNormal">My daughter Lindsey for whatever reason has always had a fascination with the occult. This includes ghosts, witches and to a lesser extent, vampires. This fascination has been there since she was very little and it is not because we encouraged it. In fact, we never allowed them to watch those super scary movies at our home. She is a voracious reader and loved reading everything she could find on these subjects. There was an incident where one of her friends had taken one of her books on witchcraft to the local Catholic youth meeting and the youth minister saw the book and confiscated it. Lindsey, who was not a member of this church and not a Catholic approached the minister to get her book back. He asked her if she knew there were death spells in the book. She replied by asking him if he really believed in witchcraft. She was thirteen at the time. He did not return the book.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Lindsey wanted to have a séance at her thirteenth birthday sleepover and ask if I could help. I agree as this was something we had done as kids and I saw no harm in it. We took the seven girls to the local skating ring which gave me time to arrange some surprises for the séance. At the time we lived in an interesting house that had a medieval appearing staircase that went from the basement to the second floor. The basement was one large room that had a sofa, an entertainment area, a foosball table with overhanging light fixture and a large freestanding cardboard Michael Jordan that was close to actual size. The garage lead into this finished space and there were two access doors. I solicited my son Mark to help with the arrangements. We got some clear fishing line and tied it to the light fixture above the foosball table. We ran the line through one of the exits and secured it for later. Next, I got the great idea of attaching the line to the top of Michael Jordan's cardboard head and installed some grommets to lead the line out the other exit. I tested the lines and, sure enough, the light fixture and Michael Jordan definitely rocked. We were ready for the girls. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUwzwGAVrGTjw8Rsyl5n0dUH2PrJEJj2MY90g-U6ppiNysOhE0HSr-HYrxik4leNp_F_hjbdbgivaZapnubMxqpeMfxlnQ2Fwo_sHIaXXaprxCqv-RDm9yJRKSY7qtJgY_bOo1dgdM2vI/s1600/Czarina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUwzwGAVrGTjw8Rsyl5n0dUH2PrJEJj2MY90g-U6ppiNysOhE0HSr-HYrxik4leNp_F_hjbdbgivaZapnubMxqpeMfxlnQ2Fwo_sHIaXXaprxCqv-RDm9yJRKSY7qtJgY_bOo1dgdM2vI/s1600/Czarina.jpg" /></a>When the girls returned from skating and had had their birthday cake and drinks and Lindsey had opened the birthday presents, they retired to the basement for the séance. It was my job to explain how to communicate with the dead. They took for granted that I knew this process and they hung on my every word. I instructed them to form an unbroken circle by overlapping their hands and holding the hands of the girls on either side of them. I placed a single candle in the middle of the circle which was the only light source in the room. I then explained that only one girl should speak during the summoning and that the others should keep their eyes open to observe anything that might happen. I empathized that they should not interrupt the séance by shouting out if they observed something. Wait until the summoning was over and then they could compare what each of them observed. I know this is old hat to most of you but they were young and had no experience. I asked who they planned on speaking with and they all agreed it was the murdered Czarina, Anastasia. They had obviously given this some serious thought while at the skating ring. They elected a spokesperson and as I left with my son, Mark, Lindsey grabbed him and insisted that he stay in order to protect them. There was no getting out of it and I knew I was on my own. I had counted on Mark handling the lights over the foosball table and me, Michael Jordan. They got down to business as soon as I left. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkuLMgMXNbxcMs1o8LTPHlAVbrS7EEJ-o6KIZFfumN8YiNbgzZH7gtuL_gvmS1KJEUzYyWBdjKP8rZ-_LTqR6rL-gcdGRcW2gnKl-734L4YG5ZPXU1RCer2vG071f4xW4wy2EzZt99gLc/s1600/Michael+Jordan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkuLMgMXNbxcMs1o8LTPHlAVbrS7EEJ-o6KIZFfumN8YiNbgzZH7gtuL_gvmS1KJEUzYyWBdjKP8rZ-_LTqR6rL-gcdGRcW2gnKl-734L4YG5ZPXU1RCer2vG071f4xW4wy2EzZt99gLc/s1600/Michael+Jordan.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I knew the candle light on the floor would magnify the shadows case by the light fixture and Michael Jordan so I decided to only rock things slightly. I did not want to overplay my hand. The way I saw it was the lights moving was the first act and the finality would be Michael Jordan. I listened through the door and heard the spokesperson saying, " Anastasia, Anastasia, we request your presence" . I allowed this to continue for a time before I slowly tugged on the fishing line. It did not take long before was a chorus of screams and confusion. I immediately ceased my tugging and waited for the uproar to stop. It took a long time. During this time my older son Parks showed up and ask what I was doing. I explained and he was more than happy to help. I gave him responsibility for the foosball lights and I went to the other door to hand Michael Jordan. After what seemed like thirty minutes, I heard them start up again. After several minutes I indicated that Parks should start rocking the light fixture. Knowing Parks, I figured the fixture was swing hard and fast. I figured I had better get Michael Jordan moving. What surprised me was that there was not a peep from the girls. I had been pulling Michael Jordan's line fairly hard and unless the line to the foosball light had broken, it was swing wildly. I decided to give Michael Jordan a really hard yank and did so. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">All hell broke loose at this point. I am confident that every neighbor we had was startled by the noise level they created. I waited about thirty seconds and then barged into the room. I turned on the overhead light and observed seven little girls mangled together on the sofa with one little redheaded boy being suffocated in the middle of the pack. I exclaimed, "what is going on in here". By that time several of the girls were getting untangled and rushed past me. I asked, "Where are they going". Lindsey replied, "They're going home Dad!". </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Lindsey explained what had happened in the room. They had agreed that they would not panic if the lights started moving again and were ready for that. When they noticed Michael Jordan moving however, it seemed that he was moving to block their exit from the room. As I would pull the line tight, he would tip toward the center of the doorway and would eventually make a hoping motion toward the center. They were being very quite at this point trying not to alert Michael Jordan. Lindsey, being the brave soul she is, whispered to the other girls that she would get her Dad, that's me. She was just slipping through the doorway when I did that final and faithful YANK. Michael Jordan actually jumped onto her. Honestly, I think that would have even scared the crap out of me. My son, Mark, who had help set things up and who knew what was happening said it really was scary.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I freely acknowledge that I may have gone a bit too far on this thing as I pictured multiple lawsuits from the other parents for traumatizing these little thirteen year old girls. I quickly decided to come clean. I got all the girls to return to the basement and I showed them the fishing line used to make things move. With the mystery solved, Lindsey proudly proclaimed that I was definitely the best Dad ever. I still hold that title!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Lindsey will tell you that if she runs into any of these girls, they all recount that night. I am sure they will never forget it.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11398083992753921736noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111520027362433054.post-57817362129373315452012-02-10T15:00:00.000-08:002012-02-10T15:00:12.430-08:00Twenty Baseball Tickets<div class="MsoNormal">Another notable joke that demonstrates the uncanny ability of guys to intuitively join in on a joke with little or no verbal communication occurred while working at Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were four of us spread out along three walls in the room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At some point, Keith turns to D'Ann and ask her to call WGST radio in order to win twenty tickets to the Atlanta Braves game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She immediately snapped back that he could call himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He replied that the station specifically stated that the tenth lady who called would win.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>D'Ann gave in at this point and asked someone to call the station. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHF_w-VVW0nvsh-OFB6tck3MiLFwaPo7rvSw_bybjEqazqoK_i0vJpPQIGdRJ4WLCelAAB3RJUBnnV2eSnb1LtHvxhKaCSMv-OyYPeiEJx34_lx-8du_DMEFlSgFTHHkN5EcvWWD8kp_Q/s1600/wgst.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHF_w-VVW0nvsh-OFB6tck3MiLFwaPo7rvSw_bybjEqazqoK_i0vJpPQIGdRJ4WLCelAAB3RJUBnnV2eSnb1LtHvxhKaCSMv-OyYPeiEJx34_lx-8du_DMEFlSgFTHHkN5EcvWWD8kp_Q/s1600/wgst.jpg" /></a>Before I go on any further let me say that the date was April 1st.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That probable means something to most people but for those not from around here, it is "April Fools" day in the USA.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At the time Keith asked D'Ann to call the station, I am sure he was really trying to win those tickets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All three of the other folks in the room were huge baseball fans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Me on the other hand saw an opportunity for a prank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When D'Ann ask for someone to call the station, David immediately pulled out the phone book and looked up the number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was before the internet and online lookups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He even tried calling the number multiple times only to get the busy signal before I could get the joke going.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I had immediately jumped up and walked across the hall to where Rick was sitting and asked for his direct phone number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where upon I wrote it boldly on a sheet of paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I explain in a few seconds that D'Ann was about to call him trying to win twenty tickets to the Braves game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then walked back across the hall and stood behind D'Ann and displayed Rick's phone number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>David glanced up once and the game was on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rick took the call with, "WGST playing the hits all day long".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He asked her if she could tell him who wrote "Stairway to Heaven".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was excited to know this one and replied "Led Zeppelin".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He acknowledged her answer and informed her they would send the tickets to her home address. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-nIzSPZZJWqQhKZbdi0TUPIBH3TVYnL1-GrZeLng-gFvKWwxHhuOb9su_HNG7B7yMXQPq7hL-xC9_UwSjh6NVfO0TTZHX9u6HnPmM47rJaWOfYzZPuExnM5hyphenhyphenECbDxYcXLNMTTPGyG7c/s1600/Braves+Baseball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-nIzSPZZJWqQhKZbdi0TUPIBH3TVYnL1-GrZeLng-gFvKWwxHhuOb9su_HNG7B7yMXQPq7hL-xC9_UwSjh6NVfO0TTZHX9u6HnPmM47rJaWOfYzZPuExnM5hyphenhyphenECbDxYcXLNMTTPGyG7c/s1600/Braves+Baseball.jpg" /></a>When I got back in the room, D'Ann was real excited but also a little skeptical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was not totally buying into the whole thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked one of the receptionist to call her and ask her about the tickets in order to remove her skepticism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It helped but she was not totally convinced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then called D'Anns mom and explained what we had done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked her to call D'Ann and tell her that a couple of her friends had called her to find out if that was her D'Ann who just won the tickets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She did this about an hour later and that removed all doubt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all wanted to go with her to the game and other people in the department inundated her with request as well.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">David, Keith, Rick and I all figured her mom who lived with her would spill the beans that evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We thought that safer than us cowards doing it at the office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, her mom only perpetrated the joke further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Except for her, her entire family knew about the joke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were a little stumped and did not know how to end the joke so we decided to just let it ride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Over the next month, folks would drop by and ask if she had received the tickets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On one of these occasions, she proclaimed that she was going to call WGST and find out about her tickets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I immediately jumped up and got Rick's direct phone number from across the hall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rick was not there so it was up to me to answer the phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I displayed the number for David to call as I had done before and went to answer the phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I answered it the same way that Rick had done before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>D'Ann explained the situation and complained about not receiving the tickets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked if she knew the date that this happened and she spouted out, "April 1st".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I intentionally paused for a long time at this point before asking if she knew the significance to that particular day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, there was an even longer pause from her side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, I heard her exclaim "<b>Oh My God</b>" from across the hall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told her that this had never happened before and that we would have to put her on the radio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She begged me not to do this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">When I went back across the hall, D'Ann was explaining that it had all been an April Fool's joke perpetrated by the radio station and that there were no tickets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she left the room to tell everybody else, we gave each other hi-fives and they congratulated me on blaming the whole thing on WGST.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were feeling pretty good at this point.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As "bad" luck will have it, her husband brought the subject up that night at supper by asking if she had received the tickets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>D'Ann launched into the whole explanation about WGST playing the joke on her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This literally caused her entire family to fall to the floor laughing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Went they finally were able to communicate the real story, we were all in serious trouble!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me just say that it was not a pleasant time to be in the office that next morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have heard the expression, "If looks could kill"?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Refine that to, "If looks could mangle".</div><div class="MsoNormal">In a way, I blame her own family for letting this go<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on so long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you think?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The worst part may be that Keith and David really did wanted those Brave tickets.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11398083992753921736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111520027362433054.post-91424886508384363232012-02-10T14:41:00.000-08:002012-02-10T14:46:19.425-08:00Dr. Pepper "Win a Pickup Truck"<div class="MsoNormal">One truism that I have learned during my life is that guys are always ready to join in on a joke. I tested this with my own kids. Within seconds my sons, Parks and Mark, would be on board with a joke I was perpetrating. On the other hand, I was forced to pull Lindsey aside and explain to her that I was about to pull a joke on someone and needed her help. Otherwise, she would spill the beans and give away the joke.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I cannot describe all the jokes I have perpetrated but there are some noteworthy ones that I think you will enjoy. Keep in mind that practical jokes are not all them much fun to the target of the jokes. In my defense however, a joke done properly leaves no room for the target to suspect it is anything but what it appears to be. My advice is to simply appreciate the effort that one would go to in perpetrating an elaborate joke and laugh it off. And also, get them back "in kind" at some point in the future.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTGCFI76W8MvMA9GNJUZh3pqhUQw-kzOxP45-QgHXiaEZF0kgXboDVV3Gsl2HdlN5mtbKZvK-a2alwIOMqba77JZ6mfe6pMEnnRP64UUmyB6vVZWWo-Gfq8EoKGC4dOhCI2jCtugQRKE/s1600/Dr.+Pepper+Pickup+Truck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTGCFI76W8MvMA9GNJUZh3pqhUQw-kzOxP45-QgHXiaEZF0kgXboDVV3Gsl2HdlN5mtbKZvK-a2alwIOMqba77JZ6mfe6pMEnnRP64UUmyB6vVZWWo-Gfq8EoKGC4dOhCI2jCtugQRKE/s1600/Dr.+Pepper+Pickup+Truck.jpg" /></a>I was working at Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, Georgia alongside my good friends, Keith and David. David and I both liked Diet Dr. Pepper which was not sold in the hospital vending machines. Because of this we would both alternate bring in a carton and sharing them. During this time Dr. Pepper was having a contest to win a pickup truck and this was proclaimed in bold letters along the top of each can. </div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">"Win a Pickup Truck"<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">As it happened, I was working on some overhead transparent slides in the days before laptops and PowerPoint presentations. For those of you unfamiliar with transparent overhead slides, it is simply a printout on clear plastic that can be projected onto a screen or wall. I got the bright idea of printing up something that I could cut out and insert into David's empty Dr. Pepper can to make him think that he had won. I walked across the hall to ask my buddy Rick about what was available in a software product called Harvard Graphics. I specifically wanted a small pickup truck. I told him what I was up to and he was immediately on board, surprise, surprise. Like most jokes, I had not really planned anything and was acting totally from "guy" instinct. <br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Rick and I conjured up an image in a circle the same size as the can of a pickup truck with a serial number in the middle of it. Following the curve of the circle we put the word "WINNER" and placed a toll free "800" telephone number below the truck. For the "800" number I called a friend who had one and explained my plan. Of course he was on board as well. <br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Once the graphics were printed, cut and inserted into the can it appeared to be printed on aluminum bottom of the can. It was very professional. David was not in the office at the time and we played with showing the can around. We did not let anyone know it was fake. I called David and told him that I thought he may have won the pickup truck. I had bought this particular batch of drinks this time and he was so impressed with my honesty. He knew that I could easily have claimed the can for myself. Only, I knew it was a fake!</div><div class="MsoNormal">When David arrived the next day, I was ready. I had already contacted my friend Billy who had the "800" number. After peering into the can, David gave me an affectionate slap on the back and offered to let me have the truck. I declined because it would not have been all that funny for me to win. But I did think this was awfully nice of him. I had set it up with Billy so we could really get David.<br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In order to understand this you have to know David. He was from Pittsburgh, PA and was a huge Pirates fan. He followed their season and constantly threw out player stats. In fact they were in the playoffs with the Atlanta Braves that year and the winner would go to the World Series. With this in mind, I had instructed Billy to pose a question that only I would have the correct answer.<br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When David placed the call, Billy did great. He answered the phone with "Dr. Pepper Prize Line". After getting David's contact information, he asked him to provide the serial number in the bottom of the can. Billy then confirmed that David had indeed won the pickup truck. He then asked David if he could tell him the newest Dr. Pepper slogan. There were at least four or five folks in the room and I figgured correctly that David would throw it out to the group for help. Everyone engaged their brains immediately and while they were thinking I stepped forward and told him that I had just heard the new one. It was "Dr Pepper makes you stand on your head". David shook his head and gave me a sour expression. Someone finally shouted out, "Be a Pepper and Drink Dr. Pepper". David brighten up. I interceded and repeated my answer to him once more, "Dr Pepper makes you stand on your head". I got another shake of the head. David quickly repeated to Billy,, "Be a Pepper and Drink Dr. Pepper". To which, Billy replied "No, it is Dr Pepper makes you stand on your head". With that, David looked at me with sad eyes and proclaimed that his friend had told him that twice. I shrugged my shoulders and said, "you never listen to me". Then Billy provided the coup de gras and announced that he would have won a complete package to the World Series for all seven games including airfare and accommodations for four, meals at the finest restaurants and money for incidentals. With this, David went to his knees and said he would rather have that than the pickup truck.<br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Setting a joke in motion usually includes not a thought as to how to end the joke and let the object of the joke off the hook. That was somewhat true this time. I had built in one more punch that required me to be standing in the doorway in order to let David know it was a joke before things went horribly bad. The can had been sitting on his desk overnight. I suggested that David rinse out the can and while he was gone I wrote the "800" number on the white board. When David returned I told him that the Dr. Pepper folks had called back and wanted him to call them. The plan was for Billy to explain that his serial number had already been claimed by Andre, someone David knew in the office. I was at the doorway to prevent him from attacking Andre. Unfortunately, Billy did not answer the "800" number this time and David recognized the company name. I knew I was in trouble as soon as he glanced my way. I will put it this way, David is not a person you want mad at you. He is a tough Italian who could probably cause a lot of damage if he wanted to do so.<br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We are still friends now but he is wary of me. He and I along with Keith started a healthcare software company in 1994 which I retired from in 2011. The company is still going strong. David gave my son, Parks, his old Pontiac Grand Am not long after I pulled this joke on him. Parks has a lot of fond memories in that car.<br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">One side note that I would like to throw out. This joke would have been perfect if I could have used an ink during the printing that would have dissolved away when David rinsed out the can. I would loved to have seen that!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11398083992753921736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111520027362433054.post-8695823327529823482011-05-23T19:48:00.000-07:002011-05-23T19:48:38.527-07:00Vice Squad, Open Up!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">During my college years I had the bright idea of recording books on cassette tapes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was actually a good idea and the timing was right since Eight Tracks were being replaced with cassettes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pursued my dream by recording a number of books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was helped in this venture by my best friend, Callahan Burke. In my humble opinion, he is the best reader ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he reads he not only changes his voice but his facial expression for each character in the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have listened to numerous books on tape in the last few years and I still think Cal is the best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, we were a team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He read and I recorded and edited.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2z2BRBJfGcAuTGgc2E8lUP_IhWrdZTzAq_Nu7DJduyIZ0MoZT-DFg52WK9LMdGST-bo1nnULRUOPd2LzOzAecUbFaKs_Zy7Ih2DHpYfngKaePAEK8CBBXXPvCL_gylyMHxDA8LeQMuqc/s1600/CalSm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2z2BRBJfGcAuTGgc2E8lUP_IhWrdZTzAq_Nu7DJduyIZ0MoZT-DFg52WK9LMdGST-bo1nnULRUOPd2LzOzAecUbFaKs_Zy7Ih2DHpYfngKaePAEK8CBBXXPvCL_gylyMHxDA8LeQMuqc/s320/CalSm.jpg" width="238" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1FS2XV_NWLivqMwJaknoh_ZxwUio_YF6X4WEI6G4WQfS4tr5QZiBpDt8C_itWmrsDwBANF4HzJM44VoIwtCqdT8K4ZdesgSg9lqwwVUYxLAnPRClnjYZ-DS9hM7WBX5YiLLmZI9edr-A/s1600/Cal+Burke.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The only complication was that Cal also worked as a bartender and kept really late hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my jobs was to wake Cal up so we could work on the recordings during the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would typically show up at his apartment around ten o'clock each morning to get him up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since we didn't get paid for doing these recordings we would typically grab some breakfast before getting started.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cal's apartment which he shared with a guy name Benny was in the attic of an old house in the Midtown area of Atlanta, Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His room was all the way in the front of the attic facing the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, the door to the apartment was right in the middle of one of the sides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keep in mind that we did not have cell phones back then so there was no way for me to give him a call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me to wake him up I would literally have to pound on the door and it usually took a while to arouse him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was sort of a regular routine and I just got use to it. Benny, his apartment mate, had a day job at one of the local banks and was always gone by the time I got there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Benny was also a pot head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One notable day, I showed up as usual and wasted no time in pounding on the door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was not really paying attention to anything at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some odd, impulsive, thinking I was funny, reason I added a loud shout to my next set of pounds, "VICE SQUAD, OPEN UP!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually repeated this a number of times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I said before, it could take a while to arouse Cal so I was not expecting an instant response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finally heard some timid steps coming down the steps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I figured Cal was hanging on to the hand rail and trying to wipe sleep out of his eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To help wake him, I pounded again with the same shout, "VICE SQUAD, OPEN UP!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmWGNc3_xXbzlxJO22gCxAS6CECfDnCU_ZvaP5_0O-IWcrXv3xeptBmJlv5eQD7yF_zjoP5v9plizLyZEPVolzlZLZolaNpFPE-PlwfGdnZus8xemKBPBV7fVSiF_wLnSaERJOzZwIO6M/s1600/DeerInHeadlights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmWGNc3_xXbzlxJO22gCxAS6CECfDnCU_ZvaP5_0O-IWcrXv3xeptBmJlv5eQD7yF_zjoP5v9plizLyZEPVolzlZLZolaNpFPE-PlwfGdnZus8xemKBPBV7fVSiF_wLnSaERJOzZwIO6M/s1600/DeerInHeadlights.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The door slowly opened and a guy I had never seen before peeked out from the other side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had very long and not all that clean hair along with a full beard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew Benny, slightly, and this was not him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had moved to enter the door as soon as it started to open believing it to be Cal so I just kept going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What happened was totally unintentional and certainly not planned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It really was not my fault at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I entered and walked up the stairs with this guy following me I asked him, “How's it going”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I got to the top I found Benny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Playing on my vice squad joking, I looked at Benny and stated that I had heard somebody up here had been reported reading a Playboy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn't that clever but all I could come up with at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The funny thing was that both Benny and this other guy looked like a deer in headlights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their eyes were wide open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked if Cal was there and Benny shook his head, NO.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really don't think either of them said a word the entire time I was there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told Benny to tell Cal I had dropped by and I exited without a care in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Okay, obviously something was terribly wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only I did not see it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cal called me later, laughing hysterically, and said I couldn't come over for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He explained that Benny and his buddy had flushed all their pot down the toilet because of my little prank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It really wasn't my fault. How was I to know?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do remember the water draining through the pipes as I walked up the stairs but I just figured nature had called one or both of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Needless to say, Benny and I were not ever going to be good friends after that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I heard from Cal that Benny was going to make me pay for what they had flushed but Cal let him know it would not be a good idea.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11398083992753921736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111520027362433054.post-17634817949685637592011-05-23T16:05:00.000-07:002011-05-23T16:05:10.765-07:00Eat My Brother, Not Me!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This goes back to my first year in college and concerns my brother Mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an astounding realization at the time, but, like everything, a learning experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I preference this by explaining that Mark was one of the toughest persons I have ever known and I absolutely loved him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kJUTV7gqsEsadmQ1_HkqVLdJEcsare2ZmuY2ulEQ69bLlI1PwJH-YbAoc6Be8Ro75tGQwhbbpmYVw4cJ3WtKY9xMLd35sRvnBl4gCL-qyDPydysPPeBumFTtmWO4kqfzmDQEcfn7OKo/s1600/School+Bus.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kJUTV7gqsEsadmQ1_HkqVLdJEcsare2ZmuY2ulEQ69bLlI1PwJH-YbAoc6Be8Ro75tGQwhbbpmYVw4cJ3WtKY9xMLd35sRvnBl4gCL-qyDPydysPPeBumFTtmWO4kqfzmDQEcfn7OKo/s320/School+Bus.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were interested in buying this old school bus we had seen behind Bagley Park in Buckhead, Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bagley Park was where we played Little League baseball as kids and was near North Fulton, our high school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was already in college while Mark was in his senior year at North Fulton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was a Sunday and the park was empty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mark and I wanted to look at the bus to see what condition it was in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was parked out beyond the outfield fence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We walked around the field and saw that the bus door was standing wide open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We checked out the exterior of the bus briefly and then entered the bus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sat in the bus driver's seat and started studying the gauges and playing with the various controls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had the old lever that opened and closed the door and I proceeded to play with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We had not been on the bus long when Mark suddenly jumped off without saying a word and started frantically pushing on the door from the outside in an attempt to close it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the door lever and easily prevented him from closing me inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a bit of straining to shut the door, he took off running across the field and began scaling the outfield fence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had no idea what he was up to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stood up, and watched him through the windshield wondering what was going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was then that I heard a slight noise behind me and turned to face the largest dog I had ever seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a very large long-haired German Shepherd and he was heading down the aisle straight toward me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just had time to jump off the bus and turn to face the monster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stood perfectly still as he exited and, fortunately, bounded the opposite way as me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like to think he was as scared as I was but that is probably not true.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaFOrCAuQsaY6kx_Jreifk_EGvCD7-T0Lp77UxMs-arQ2owQ3lKVh217lFNma74ghmYOL4dtgSp6O11MoSvRTqMaLaC_CM9htl4erWTF8Bx-jBl5P_5M_ljz-QiMw1jQ3Yca_nUfa42DA/s1600/German+Shepherd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaFOrCAuQsaY6kx_Jreifk_EGvCD7-T0Lp77UxMs-arQ2owQ3lKVh217lFNma74ghmYOL4dtgSp6O11MoSvRTqMaLaC_CM9htl4erWTF8Bx-jBl5P_5M_ljz-QiMw1jQ3Yca_nUfa42DA/s320/German+Shepherd.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I looked toward Mark and saw him peering my way safely on the other side of the six foot high fence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can attest that Mark would stand his ground against anyone in the school and was tough as nails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I learned he could be spooked and sent into a panic by anything unexpected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I let Mark know how I felt about being offered as supper just to save his hide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had no excuse and was very embarrassed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He just panicked. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11398083992753921736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111520027362433054.post-58940555607203830172011-05-22T17:43:00.000-07:002011-05-22T17:43:15.177-07:00American Idol Adventures in Chattanooga<shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><stroke joinstyle="miter"></stroke><formulas><f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></f><f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></f><f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></f><f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></f><f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></f></formulas><path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"></path><lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></lock></shapetype> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7RyiSyrSRRudtGC6ggoLOJzmg5lRgyJbtfi05HrlmwtgRpjGnUjFqjHOxZEIAQpNmkvYGkIGhWpz0AvxY_wKXrCisZ9rvyokfPVEK5YQ9FTs5kOedbDxBGojvzqtkSrwOFoEShi8vepI/s1600/Lauren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7RyiSyrSRRudtGC6ggoLOJzmg5lRgyJbtfi05HrlmwtgRpjGnUjFqjHOxZEIAQpNmkvYGkIGhWpz0AvxY_wKXrCisZ9rvyokfPVEK5YQ9FTs5kOedbDxBGojvzqtkSrwOFoEShi8vepI/s1600/Lauren.jpg" /></a><shape alt="Lauren.jpg" id="Picture_x0020_7" o:spid="_x0000_s1027" style="height: 111pt; margin-left: 342.75pt; margin-top: 179.3pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 120pt; z-index: -1;" type="#_x0000_t75" wrapcoords="-270 0 -270 21308 21600 21308 21600 0 -270 0"><imagedata o:title="Lauren" src="file:///C:\Users\Philip\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.jpg"></imagedata><wrap type="tight"></wrap></shape><shape alt="American Idol.bmp" id="Picture_x0020_4" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" style="height: 120.75pt; margin-left: 324pt; margin-top: 51.05pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 161.25pt; z-index: -2;" type="#_x0000_t75" wrapcoords="-201 0 -201 21466 21700 21466 21700 0 -201 0"><imagedata o:title="American Idol" src="file:///C:\Users\Philip\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image002.png"></imagedata><wrap type="tight"></wrap></shape><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When it was down to the last three American Idol hopefuls, the contestants were sent back to their hometowns in a huge media extravaganza.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of those contestants happened to be a super talented sixteen year old girl named Lauren Alaina from Rossville, Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, Deb and I are from Chattanooga which borders Georgia and the town of Rossville.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are actually staying in Rossville right now in the Best Holiday Trav'l RV park off Mack Smith Road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have both enjoyed the American Idol show for a long time and I was excited and eager to support our hometown girl, Lauren.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw in the paper that she would make an appearance at Coolidge Park in Chattanooga so I planned to show up to support her and hoped that Chattanooga would make her proud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I openly admit I am prejudice but I really do think she is the most talented contestant and should be the next American Idol.<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> </span></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlptQtC85bdSR3xlXa8SpCwe69nd5nYWHdBPzNUEpmnG-mDNZtfhzbxx-pFl74UZyBo69wq6zgZmLZE84sW0ohCCRAb2ciq0gK-b80VmIqp6BimgTEwCwf3NqK47uStPhRCoLQbxL3Dd0/s1600/Teri+and+Lilly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlptQtC85bdSR3xlXa8SpCwe69nd5nYWHdBPzNUEpmnG-mDNZtfhzbxx-pFl74UZyBo69wq6zgZmLZE84sW0ohCCRAb2ciq0gK-b80VmIqp6BimgTEwCwf3NqK47uStPhRCoLQbxL3Dd0/s1600/Teri+and+Lilly.JPG" /></a>It was a long and really odd day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The plan outlined out in the paper was for Lauren to march across the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge in front of the Rossville High School and the nationally honored Soddy Daisy High School marching bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was scheduled for 11:00 Saturday morning and I was ready and waiting at the end of the bridge along with good friends Terri and Lily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Oddly, the Chattanooga police started clearing the bridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I was there just to cheer on our American Idol, Lauren Alaina, but there were parents planning on seeing their kids in the marching bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This all seemed odd to me as I had thought they would probably want some spectators to cheer on the parade as it passed and to hear the marching band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The police were courteous but persistent in herding the milling crowd off the end of the bridge to where it met Frazier Avenue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first impression was that it might be a safety issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bridge is very old and perhaps they were worried it might collapse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Better them than me, I always say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that was not the end of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They then proceeded to herd the crowd off Frazier Avenue and into the park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now the park was where Lauren was to end up but there would be time to walk down there after she passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really did not understand this need to secretly sneak her into the park without anyone seeing her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, it was suppose to be a parade, with two marching bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
I jumped up on a rock wall that was next to the sidewalk and got the attention of one of the Officers. Standing much higher than him in an attempt to project authority I stated; "I am off the sidewalk and bridge".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was not cowed and he instructed me to go to the park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pointed out that it was a parade with a marching band and that many of the parents were waiting to see their kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually sort of implied that one of those kids might have been mine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Didn't work!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked why they were clearing the parade route and he used the oldest cop out in the book, "I am just following orders".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That one has been used a bit too much if you ask me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked him to call his boss and explain my point of view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Didn't work!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know, no one wants to place themselves in a place where their bosses might jump down their throats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was to be tested again later in the day!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8FAwhanP8V9kzyCED2GoGC5dX-NW7PXVwbN8vzMPvol8nEebaP3lv9Qrvfc7xnypQfNdUYpeccDiCbfB_f1pMO8QZCPXsmARPaOZZk1AGOdCFgwBGXbCgTaajys_Z2QvI9bjg3BHA0kU/s1600/Yellow+DO+NOT+CROSS.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8FAwhanP8V9kzyCED2GoGC5dX-NW7PXVwbN8vzMPvol8nEebaP3lv9Qrvfc7xnypQfNdUYpeccDiCbfB_f1pMO8QZCPXsmARPaOZZk1AGOdCFgwBGXbCgTaajys_Z2QvI9bjg3BHA0kU/s320/Yellow+DO+NOT+CROSS.JPG" width="320" /></a><shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><stroke joinstyle="miter"></stroke><formulas><f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></f><f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></f><f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></f><f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></f><f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></f></formulas><path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"></path><lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></lock></shapetype><shape id="Picture_x0020_4" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" style="height: 207.75pt; margin-left: 204.2pt; margin-top: 53.7pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 275.8pt; z-index: -1;" type="#_x0000_t75" wrapcoords="-117 0 -117 21522 21616 21522 21616 0 -117 0"><imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\Philip\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.jpg"></imagedata><wrap type="tight"></wrap></shape>At this point, the Chattanooga police pulled out the yellow police "DO NOT CROSS" tape which gave me my opening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I quickly stated, “I will stay on the other side of that tape".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to be the force that forced them to string that "do not cross" tape everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The way they were going, I figured it would look like our house after it had been rolled with toilet paper following a big game with a rivaling school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, the police had no intention of doing any more than they absolutely had to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They ran a single strand of it across the end of the bridge and that was it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could watch the parade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">A rumor started making its way through the crowd that Lauren Alaina was hours away and the parade would be delayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The three of us decided to walk down to the park to see what was going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chattanooga is a really cool place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coolidge Park is located along the Tennessee River across from the downtown area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is connected to downtown by three bridges, one of which is strictly for pedestrians and bikers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deb and I actually lived next to the park until we decided to head out in our RV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we walked down, we saw these really fun looking cars and motorized tricycles for rent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lily was visiting Chattanooga and I thought she would like to see the city while we were waiting for Lauren Alaina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I rented a bright lime green modified golf cart that was street legal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXPYWF773Umul7SH91tObA-9rby5z-mqd0VxYRlR9_-HMV9e6NB5rL0nJNj26RgZG8gPe5b21Dvx7R8JC6cDrlxhqVD5OauM8Fn8dQnxdSQ7u6yi-MxDAWp_yPVWSL9kwn9mgu8fc-HK0/s1600/Funny+Car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXPYWF773Umul7SH91tObA-9rby5z-mqd0VxYRlR9_-HMV9e6NB5rL0nJNj26RgZG8gPe5b21Dvx7R8JC6cDrlxhqVD5OauM8Fn8dQnxdSQ7u6yi-MxDAWp_yPVWSL9kwn9mgu8fc-HK0/s320/Funny+Car.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">We buckled up and headed into the park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one stopped us when we got to the end of the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They even moved the barricade aside and we headed into the city proper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We felt like our own little parade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a hearty but amusing horn and we used it liberally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I personally made sure everyone noticed us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We practiced our ergonomic hand waving and got fairly proficient at it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had one hour and we made the most of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we reached the opposite end of the Walnut Street Bridge barricade, we told the police lady we were scheduled to escort Lauren Alaina across the bridge in our fun, lime green, buggy and she waved us on through!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I admitted that I was just joking and did not press my luck any further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtL63g7AaRE125Uq7_C9WtnptGe0pWAxbAPlqEmgyHv_gHvOPGNDpz4LpfWj6S1eE6080fD311WRKmyxcizIc0qz4L9AnvYi9yo5ftDqyz01DeAoPRiwNnFyBomrSmRYJZbJOYjvMG_4/s1600/63464-barricade.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtL63g7AaRE125Uq7_C9WtnptGe0pWAxbAPlqEmgyHv_gHvOPGNDpz4LpfWj6S1eE6080fD311WRKmyxcizIc0qz4L9AnvYi9yo5ftDqyz01DeAoPRiwNnFyBomrSmRYJZbJOYjvMG_4/s1600/63464-barricade.gif" /></a><shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><stroke joinstyle="miter"></stroke><formulas><f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></f><f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></f><f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></f><f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></f><f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></f></formulas><path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"></path><lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></lock></shapetype><shape alt="63464-barricade.gif" id="Picture_x0020_9" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" style="height: 86.25pt; margin-left: 372pt; margin-top: 55.05pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 101.25pt; z-index: 1;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="63464-barricade" src="file:///C:\Users\Philip\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif"></imagedata><wrap type="square"></wrap></shape>I planned on getting back into the park the same way I had gotten out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is where things got a little dicey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We came around from the Renaissance Park side which leads to the back side of Coolidge Park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the way we exited from the park earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were a couple of cars trying to get pass the lone police officer at the top of the hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both cars had kayaks on top of them and I figured they were just trying to get down to the river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both were turned around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I used all my charm with the officer explaining that I had exited this way less than an hour before and that the place I rented the little green car was inside the park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said the road was closed due to the pending parade and rally for Lauren.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did not think it possible for me to get into the park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked if I could at least try since I had to return the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said I could give it a try.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teri and Lily were very impressed with my silver tongue and down the hill we traveled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On hindsight, perhaps I should have laid off the amusing horn just a little.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">The next challenge proved to be my downfall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A police sergeant pointed at me from across the road and left no doubt that I was not to go any further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked Teri and Lily to jump out at that point figuring I was going to have to head back and try another entrance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I signaled the sergeant to come over so I could at least try to get through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't think this was a smart move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Begrudgingly he came over and I was actually surprised that this guy did not pummel me with his baton or something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I heard later that the police were all volunteers and were not being paid to be there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was really nice of them and might have accounted for their lack of patience and overall nasty attitudes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were probably not fans of American Idol either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did explain my plight and need to return the little funny car to their location which was right past that barricade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Didn't work and I was happy to get the heck out of there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Fortunately, Teri and Lilly had already gotten out of the car and I was alone heading back up the hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A large rotund, red-faced, officer hurried across my path with a single hand raised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not sure but on reflection, the other hand may have been on his revolver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point I was focused on how I would get this little funny car back to where I rented it before my hour was up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of this, I did not see the landslide of trouble I had unknowingly initiated. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">This new officer was a little upset to say the least.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was really glad I had dropped off Teri and Lily in case I had to make a run for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This guy proceeded to read be the riot act and I thought his big red face might explode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was upset because I had run the barricade, totally ignored the police blockade, tramped all over their authority and disrespected them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn't mean to, really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It turns out that the first officer had sort of bent the truth just a little bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Evidently this red-faced officer was his boss and he had not wanted to incur his wrath and frankly, I understood why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first guy had evidently informed this new red-faced chubby boss guy that I had blown right pass him as he tried to throw himself in front of my little speeding funny buggy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am sure that, at the time, the three of us in the lime green funny car posed a very menacing profile and he probably thought we were trying to get past so we could blend in with all the traffic in order to escape justice, or something like that.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Once I realized what was happening, I glanced up the hill and my heart when out to this poor fellow who caused this hell to be unleashed on me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that moment of compassion I humbly looked into that red, bloated with anger, face and expressed my undying sorrow for the misunderstanding and chocked up the entire incident to a simple (Cool Hand Luck) "failure to communicate".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the red faced man had had mirrored sunglasses, I might have laughed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was actually told to, "Never show my face again".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was finally freed to head on out of the park with my tail between my legs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I passed the first officer, I planned on letting him know that I had covered for him but he would not even make eye contact with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That said it all and I knew he was ashamed for his lack of gumption. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">My ordeal was not over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was now faced with a much weakened little funny car battery pack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chattanooga is a hilly place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, this section of the city was known as Hill City at some point in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I rented the car, I was instructed to avoid hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He explained that the "warp drive" on their buggies just couldn't take it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, all the streets were blocked for the parade and I did not feel lucky enough to push that envelope again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only way to get to the other side of the park was to loop way up Market Street to nearly the highest point in North Chattanooga and head down Tremont by way of Mississippi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a gamble but really my only move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Long story short, I made it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess it was about a two mile jaunt and fortunately the last half was all downhill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I approached the police blockade this time, I took on an extremely humble demeanor and was able to point to where I rented the little funny car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were far more considerate and let me through without use of batons or guns or attitude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I returned the car with one minute to spare, no harm, no foul. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps that is not totally true, I will have to wear a hoodie from now on in Chattanooga so the red faced officer will not recognize me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a 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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Chattanooga did proud with Lauren Alaina when she finally arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last Thursday we found that she had made it to the final round.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those kids who compete on American Idol all work so hard and are so talented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are all winners to me and I hope all their dreams come true.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"></div></span> </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11398083992753921736noreply@blogger.com4