What's a SHE-OAT??

We have been on the road now for over 2 years and have encountered many creatures along the way. We have seen many reptiles, snakes in particular, insects, cattle and a bunch of other animals, too many to list.

At our current location there are some cattle that likes to come close to the trailer and graze. Nothing to worry some about the cattle but one interesting travel companion that is with this herd is a SHE-OAT.

Now you may be wondering what the heck is a SHE-OAT?? I know I am. Well I think it is a SHEep and Sherry thinks it is a gOAT, henceforth we call it a SHE-OAT.

Can you decide??

Here's another.

And one more.

I am somewhat of an educated man but this one has me stumped. I went on line to get some education on this and the only thing, well not the only thing, i found that made sense was that if the tail is pointing up it is a goat and if pointing down a sheep.

I guess by these pictures and what I read it must be a sheep. But I think I will keep my opinions to myself. What do I know, I am ol' city slicker from Phoenix. Have fun with this one and let me know what you think it is.

Until Next Time............................Be Safe.

Not Much Going On

We have been on this job now for about three weeks. I would say that we average about ten license plates that I check per day and nothing at night. It really makes for an easy day.

Sherry has made up a list of things for me to do around the place to help keep me busy and the list is getting smaller. I am sure she will probably add more to it in the near future. It can get somewhat boring around here but I have my books to read, Sherry has her quilting and Bri has her school work.

We might get switched to another location but we will just wait until the boss man tells us to move. Until then we just keep on keeping on. We did have some excitement yesterday. I went to check out a little store and when I was gone our dog Gizmo decided to go exploring on his own. Sherry went to check on a license plate and he darted out the door and took off. Sherry went after him and about ten minutes later finally got him. She was just about to give up on catching him. She will start training him by the door starting today.

The weather around here has been decent but very windy. First we had strong winds coming from the south and then a front came through and the winds switch from the north. The front did bring some cooler temps but the wind was bad. It shook the whole trailer but died down in the evening time. Today looks like a very nice day with no strong winds.

Tomorrow is payday so Bri and I will make our trip into town to get groceries and supplies for the next two weeks. Bri gets all excited about going into town. I think it's that she gets a happy meal along the way.

Oh speaking of Bri we have now started to pay her for little jobs that she does around the house. She noticed that she wanted a particular Barbie doll and she saved her money to buy it. I told her that the Walmart we go to didn't have it but introduced her to the world of buying online. We went to Amazon.com and there it was. We ordered it and I told her that it will be sent to our office and it will take about 5 days to get there. She went to the calendar and counted out the days and realized how long it will take. It about killed her to wait that long. But she did get her doll and she was happy. Now she is saving her money for a another Barbie toy, she needs 20 dollars more and she will have that one.

Each day she comes up to me and asks if there are any jobs that she can do. I think she is getting the idea. I just hope that she will take this lesson into her adult life that you have to save your money if you can't afford them right away. A lesson that I wish I would have learned when I was young.

Well not much more to say other than that I have not forgotten the final pictures of the floor. I will get them up soon. So.......................

Until Next Time................................Be Safe. 

The New Floor

I must admit this was not an easy job. I mean it was easy putting the floor together but the up and down and on your knees about killed me. I am still pleased how it all turned out. What I thought I would do is just post pictures with some added comments, so let's get started.

Time to get the old carpet out.

UH OH, had a few boo boos along the way. The one on the forearm was a scratch from one of the staples in the carpet and the index finger was cut from the razor blade. That one really hurts.

Carpet all but gone and pulling up the last few staples. They really wanted to make sure that carpet wasn't going anywhere.

Time to start the flooring.

This was one of my challenges, trying to cut a curve and lay it under the slide. Not too bad, what do you think?

Almost there.

I have to apologize for not have taken any pictures of the final product but I will later on. On to the bedroom.

The toughest part of the whole floor was the angles and getting them right. As you can see the angle around the shower was quite the challenge.

The flooring going down and all but finished. Once again I will post pics of the finished floor.

What is left to do still is put flooring on and around the step to the bedroom and a few trim pieces. For Christmas I got Sherry one of those robotic floor cleaners and it works great.

In case you would like to do this yourself the tools I used was a chop saw, battery operated drill, circular saw and a jig saw.

You can do this job yourself but if your back and knees give you trouble I would opt for someone else to do it.

Until Next Time..........................Be Safe.

Back At Work

Well the holidays are over, rang in the New Year watching a movie and spent time with the kids and grand kids. Now it is time to go back to work. Due to the weather we extended our stay in Tomball by a week or so. We just didn't want to drive in the rain if we didn't have to.

We left Tomball last Friday under beautiful skies and no rain. We drove to a state park just north of Gonzales, TX called Palmetto State Park. We really liked this park with a lot of trees and spacious sites. The price was very reasonable at only 18 dollars a night for water and electric. We left the next day and drove to our office to see if they had any jobs for us.

All of the sites were taken so the boss said that we could park next to the office building. We got settled and the boss said that he might have a place for us on Monday. Not too far from the office which is good because we can have our mail delivered and pick up our check there as well.

On Sunday we went into town to get some groceries and stuff. We had lunch and headed back to the trailer. Early Monday morning I woke up to find out that we had no power. I checked the circuit breakers and they were fine. We were far enough from the building that I had to use two extension cords for the trailer. The extension cords that I mentioned were the 30 amp RV type cords. I usually don't like to use them but I guess you have to do what you have to do.

Once I realized that the circuit breakers were fine, I got dressed and went outside to check the box and it was good as well. Then I checked the connections to the cords and sure enough the one plug coming from the trailer was burnt.

OK now what?? Last April I remembered that we went to an RV store and I picked up some cord plugs. I used one of them to repair an extension cord (I have two of them) and the other I put in storage. Now I just have to remember where I put the damn thing. Oh yea I remember, it's in a box under the trailer. I hunted for the plug end and found it. While I was making the repair the lady from the office told me that we would need to be ready to leave for our assignment in about an hour. I got Sherry up and she started to pack up on the inside.

I was finishing up with the repair and came inside to get some coffee and warm up. After the repair I started to do my thing on the outside. Things went smoothly and we were ready to leave only to be 15 minutes behind schedule. We were to follow one of the workers to the location. I guess he forgot that we were pulling a fifth wheel because we lost him a few times, luckily I was somewhat familiar with the area.

We found our location and talked to the couple that we were releaving. They gave us some info about the site and they left. I surveyed the area and proceeded to park the trailer. There were a few adjustments that I made but nailed the trailer exactly where I wanted it. We are level and stable on a pea gravel type pad. Very happy.

The couple told us that this site is very quiet with only a small handful of license plates to check, not bad, now I have some time to get the floor finished.

By the way, that will be my next post with pictures (hopefully). So............

Until Next Time.....................Be Safe.
 

Christmas.............A Happy Time

We have been here in Tomball, TX now for about four weeks and have been enjoying our stay. We have visited with the other kids and their families, seeing the grand kids playing and having a good time. Tonight we will join our oldest daughter's family for dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. Should be fun.

Sherry and I decided to build a Christmas gift for one of the kids and we finished it up yesterday. Now getting it over to my daughter's place could be another thing. I can't say what it is because I am afraid that they may read this post.

The Christmas shopping is done and so is the wrapping. Depending on the gifts, wrapping in an RV can be quite the challenge. But none the less it is done. Now that that project is finished I can start on the other one.......Laying down new wood laminate flooring in the trailer. We have purchased the flooring so I must get it done before we leave here. No Pressure, No Pressure at all!

Once the carpet is up and out of here, laying the floor down should be pretty easy up to the angle part. I am not going to say that I am bad at angles, but I want to make sure I do it right with the least amount of waste. Right like that's going to happen. I have a game plan and I will start ripping the carpet out in a few days. Sherry will be taking pictures along the way so that way I can give you a post about the whole thing.

As the title of this post, Christmas should be a Happy time for all. But as we know it isn't always a Happy time. We will meet at our eldest daughter's house and the other kids will be there as well. We will all have a good time and then go home, put the kids down to sleep and wait for Santa Clause. Should be fun.

Some families will continue with their regular traditions and some will start new ones as like my third oldest daughter, with her new husband. The families in Newtown, CT will have a hard time I'm sure this Christmas. I can only hope that they will have a wonderful Christmas and know that the world will be with them in thoughts and prayers on Christmas Day. Especially knowing that God will be with them to help them overcome this.

To all of our armed forces serving our country and won't be able to make it home this Holiday season I say, "Thank you, be safe and have a Merry Christmas this year."

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you.

Until next Time................Be Safe.

Christmas..... Full Time RV Style

When one decides to go full time Rving some sacrifices will have to be made. Downsizing, possibly sell the "sticks and bricks", and what to do about the Holidays.

We have met some real nice people on our journey. One couple comes to mind that we met in San Antonio this past Thanksgiving. When I asked her what their plans were for Thanksgiving she said,"Oh probably just go out for dinner." I guess that's OK for some but not me. I love Thanksgiving and love to cook. I used to deep fry a bird but that was one of the sacrifices.

Christmas time around here is like any other house, but smaller. Since we travel with our daughter Brianne, and being 10 years old, we feel she needs a regular Christmas. Now do we go out and get a Christmas tree that is 6 feet tall and 5 feet in diameter? No. We still have to be practical even when it comes to the tree.

We started out with a four foot tree in front of the TV and decided that didn't work to well. Next Sherry came up with the idea of a table top tree and we have been using it for two years now.

See what you think.

Not bad. Sherry and Brianne decorate it like any other tree but smaller. Bri had a good time putting the ornaments on. I like this tree because I don't have to mess with any lights. This tree is small enough to fit into a box and is kept in the belly of the trailer.

Sherry continues to decorate the trailer to give it that homey feeling just like at our old house. One year Brianne asked us how will Santa get in since we don't have a fire place. Mom told her that there will be a "Golden Key" hanging just outside the door.(old skeleton type) This way he can use the key to get in to deliver your presents under the tree, on the table, on the floor, under the table.......Well you get the idea.

We have found that you really don't have to give up any of the Holidays just because you full time. This year starts a new tradition with us. We work in the later part of the summer and the fall and take the month of December off for the Holidays. We will go back to work sometime in January.

All things are possible with a little imagination and thought. Have a wonderful Holiday Season.

Until Next Time......................Be Safe.
 

How Does a Smartphone Get So Smart?

Quick update on what's been happening. We left San Antonio and headed for Houston and arrived at our favorite county park in Tomball. We got there on the Monday after Thanksgiving. It is our favorite because it's free. We left there the following Saturday, the first, and went to Corral RV Park also in Tomball.

When we were at our job in south Texas one problem we have is that our bank is no where around. So we usually open an account at a local bank. No problem until we decide to close it and they have no cash to close us out.

We saw a commercial from our bank on this mobile banking thing. You use a smart phone and take a picture of your check and Boom it's in your account. We started to think, "Would this work for us?" I did some research and talked to our bank about it and they said that it should not be a problem. The only thing is how much we can deposit in one month but overall still a good thing.

When we got to Tomball we have a list of things that we need to get and a Smart phone was one of them. I asked my oldest daughter about which one to get and she recommended the Samsung Galaxy S III. So now I have a phone in mind and was told that this was a good one to get. I have no clue about these phones. I have seen people with them and have seen some aspects of what it can do, especially pictures.

So into the AT&T store we go to get this thing. I told the guy we already have an account with them and he started to go to work. In a nut shell we walked out of there with the phone, my same number, some instructions on how to use it, and gave them over $300 dollars. Is this a good deal??

I figured out how to download the bank app and was able to do that. Then is came time to turn it off and couldn't figure out how to do it. So I texts my son-in-law and asked him how to do it and he replied back saying, "In a soft voice say, Pleas turn off". So I thought well it's a smart phone I guess this will work. I did and it didn't. Then he texts back and said "No not really I'm kidding." Then he told me how to turn it off. Boy I felt like an ass.

I even had a hard time making a phone call, but was able to work it out. We got our mail and our last check was in it. So I followed the instructions on taking pictures of the check and it was deposited into our account. Yahoo it worked. This will definitely will work for us on banking and I can figure out the rest of the stuff later.

Until Next Time.......................Be Safe.