Simple Living and Simple Travel

After eleven years, M&M’s window cage had acquired a good number of minor rust spots. So I wire brushed it and gave it a spiffier paint job. With June here, I figured summer was coming. But on June first it hailed, and it hailed again a couple days later. I’ve been in RVs when it was hailing, and I always wondered why the roof vent lids didn’t get cracked. That day I opened the bathroom door and there was water on the toilet lid; I looked up. Reminded me of that lame, old joke, when the guy says, There’s a dead bird. His girlfriend, with the color hair that is the brunt of many jokes, looked up. I was expecting at the worst, a crack. But there were two holes. Guano. The next day I applied T-Rex tape on both sides and I’m waiting to see if it will work. If not, I’ll put more effort into patching the holes. Then on June 10th, I had to light the Wave 6 to take the chill off in the afternoon. I had not used it for 3-4 weeks. I was getting ready to store the hose away for the...

It started warming up at night so I positioned the Nash for the summer. No longer needed the sun to shine in the back window first thing in the morning to warm up the inside. I like this spot, and most of the time it’s quiet, which I need. But no way is it going to be my Last Sands. Last month I talked with someone who grew up in a nearby town, not even a town, Wikipedia labels it a hamlet. Landan (his mom was a fan of Bonanza) made it sound pretty good, lightyears above Timberon. He gave me the name of a realter, and I plan to drive over and talk to her next month. I need to buy another piece of property somewhere. I heard a short interview on NPR with one of the surviving band members of the Sweethearts of Rhythm. They have been referred to as "the most prominent and probably best female aggregation of the Big Band era." I read a bit about them on the web. Wikipedia covered what the band had to go through when touring the South during the Jim Crow era. I downloaded a...

It does not take one long to realize many RVs take the same locker key, CH751. I know, it took a couple years but I finally replaced the cylinder locks with different ones. I replaced the cylinder locks with different ones. Just had to move the finger-pull to the other latch since the new 1 1/8” cylinder lock was a bit too short. I don’t care all that much about how my hair looks. So I bought a Wahl home haircutting kit. They range from $20-45, I got the $25 one and it came with way more attachments than I’ll ever use. The first time I tried cutting my hair, I was looking in a mirror. That certainly did not work well. I learned to just go by the feel of how the depth guard was moving across my head. Much better. I could give myself a really good haircut if my head was sitting on a table. But then I would have the being-dead issue. Why is a ‘w’ called a ‘double-u?’ Looks like a double-v. The Latin alphabet did not have a letter to represent the W sound in...

Last month The El Paso Times had a headline I forgot to mention. “El Paso Zoo will name a cockroach after your ex and feed it to their meerkats.” What‽ “A horrible ex is pretty much like a cockroach—hard to get rid of and always trying to crawl back in through any space. Which is why the El Paso Zoo is offering the perfect tribute to bad exes everywhere on Valentine's Day.” El Pasoans are encouraged to name a cockroach after their insignificant other through the Quit Bugging Me event, which will be marked on Feb. 14. And it's free.” Participants watched their cockroach fed to the meerkats, either on the zoo’s Facebook Live or on the website. Some went to the zoo and possibly sang La Cucaracha while watching the feast. The meerkat exhibit was decorated with the first name and last initial of all the submitted exes. I would have liked to been there to watch the people. Probably would have heard some choice comments. Way cool. Finally got smart about the electric brak...

This shot was taken on one of my hikes in the Canyon Rims Recreation area when I was back in southern Utah. It’s been a while. I enjoy a glass of wine in the evenings while reading and listening to music. I’ve handled many wine bottles over the decades, so I was bound to write something about them in these pages. Wine has been stored in various containers for thousands of years but the glass bottle and cork combo didn’t arrive until the 1600s. Glass wine bottles come in various shapes depending on the type of wine and in over a dozen sizes. The large novelty bottles are named after biblical figures and predominant kings of Israel. The largest, 18 liters, 24 standard bottles, is named after Melchior (a king of Persia, one of the three wise man) and Solomon (a king of Israel). That’s two cases of wine! How many wine drinkers does it take to pour from a Solomon bottle? In 1975 the European Legislation on packaging declared that wine could be sold only if packed in certain measure ...

On one of my walks, I came across this yurt. What caught my eye, was how well insulated it appeared. I never saw the guy who is living in it, let alone talk with him. So I accessed the company’s website, Groovy Yurts. It’s definitely worth a look-see. Watch the video of the story on these authentic Mongolian yurts, and you’ll understand their slogan, come full circle. There are also some great photos. The FedEx logo has an arrow in it, symbolizing the company’s forward motion. So far the most interesting people I’ve talked with this winter were a Canadian couple, Gord and Suzanna. They are spending a few months traveling around; at the time, they were five weeks into it. They wanted a rig that they could take off-road. Forest River’s No-Bo (no boundaries) trailer was their choice. I had never seen one and was impressed with what they had done with theirs. The size of the wheels, robust frame and ground clearance set this type of rig apart. I downloaded this photo from Forest Ri...

At the beginning of last summer, I made a deal with myself. If I got back into as good a shape as I was a few years ago, I’d purchase this e-MTB (electric mountain bike). I have the experience and knowledge to achieve this in maybe three months. I would just have to keep my mind focused on the long-term goal over the coming months. This is not the type of electric bike one just sits on and is pulled along by the electric motor. I mean, seriously? It’s me. The Trek Powerfly 5 is a pedal assist, 10-speed with different modes. Pedal assist means one must be pedaling to tap into the electric assist. No free ride. The bike has an approximate range of 20–100 miles depending on the power mode (4 in all), terrain, incline grade, wind, and one’s riding style. 20 mph is the top-assisted speed, at which point the assist cuts off. The bike can go faster, but it will be all pedal power. The bike comes with stellar components, including hydraulic disc brakes, a Bosch electric motor (the best)...