Winnebago [insert name here] Makes Maiden Voyage

Posted on December 10, 2020 by Just Chuck

After picking up our Winnebago Micro Minnie 2108TB (we need to name him/her) on November 28, we decided not to wait to use it. Our friends had booked a TX State Park site for December 11-13 about 1 1/2 hours away and we did too, however we wanted to try things out close to home before driving such a long way from home. We wanted to get acclimated with our new hobby, toy, way of life, recreational endeavor. However you want to call it.

So we booked a site, December 5-6, at a local lake that is a 15-20 minute drive (non-towing time) from the house. Just in case we needed to shoot back to the house and get something we forgot or if we just wanted to give up and go home.

We checked into the park at 3:00 Saturday (it was pretty empty), found our site right on the lake, and I proceeded to entertain our RV neighbors with my trailer backing skills. It took me many times of pulling forward, cutting the wheel, pulling forward, etc. until the neighbor came over and directed me better than my wife and I was able to get the thing backed into the site.

All set up at Site 13, Lavonia Park, Lake Lavon TX
Site 13, Lavonia Park, Lake Lavon TX. Trailer on an incline. Not a good site.

We followed all the checklist pulled from YouTube RVers (we watch a lot of YouTube how-to for Noobs videos). We got everything set up – leveled the trailer, chocked the wheels, unhitched the vehicle, plugged into shore power, extracted the slide out dinette, set up the outdoor carpet and lounge chairs, deploy the awning. Whew! Not as bad as setting up a tent site but not a simple back into a site and you’re all set scenario.

View of Site 13, Lavonia Park, from the beach on the lake
The “beach” on Site 13, Lake Lavon.

Then the good part of the trip started. We took our chairs to the gravel/shell beach on the lake behind our rig, sat down, drank some adult beverages and watched the sun go down. This was why we bought an RV. The peaceful, serene area was only interrupted by the occasional small fishing boat passing by.

We were determined to exercise all the features of the trailer to make sure they worked. We cooked dinner on the burners, we used the microwave/convection oven, we had the fridge working, we watched TV, we listened to the stereo, we used the toilet, I took a shower Sunday morning. We even ran the furnace cause it got down to 40 degrees. We tried everything but the air conditioner and site water hook up and were satisfied.

We learned a few things too, like how the water pump works and it is noisy, how the water heater and furnace don’t work without the propane turned on. We monitored our fresh water tank. I learned to DOUBLE check your black and gray tank valves before removing the cover to connect the sewer hose for dumping (ugh, not good getting that stuff on you). We learned, which was the whole purpose of this one night trip. We feel ready to go out now with confidence, except for the backing into a site part. Ugh. Still getting comfortable with that.

So come this weekend, December 11, we shall see how things go with the long road trip to a State Park.

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Omada after 10 Weeks

Posted on December 10, 2020 by Just Chuck

I meant to post this back on December 5th as that would be 10 full weeks of Omada. So, anyway…

After 10 weeks I am down 10 lbs. I posted a 5 week update and I was down 6-7 lbs so I am averaging about a pound per week. Is the program the cause? Hmmmm not really. It has put a focus on my weight with the daily weigh-in each morning, but am I eating better? No. I’ve said this before, I know how to lose weight. Eat less calories. You don’t even have to exercise either. I track my calories through Lose It! and I know when I’ve eaten waaay too much.

That said, the Omada program has provided some interesting lessons that have got me thinking about things and how to handle situations and why I eat when I eat, etc. So there is that. It’s more of a mind conditioning program than a calorie counting, lose weight program. It definitely has given me things to think about when it comes to motivation, stress, sleep and the latest lesson about Brightening your Outlook. Those have been helpful.

But I’ve not adopted any new eating habits. Cooking and grocery shopping and planning is just not my (our) life style. We usually decide what we are eating the day of. What’s for dinner? I don’t know, what do you want? I don’t know, what did we have yesterday? Not that. And so it goes every evening.

And my coach has reminded me that eating healthy foods will improve my energy allowing for exercising, etc. I’ll try.

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PawPaw’s Vinyl Album of the Month – Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak

Posted on December 7, 2020 by Just Chuck

This post has Amazon affiliate links but since I’m not making some expected quota I’m about to lose that designation. So whatever.

Me and my Monza – 1980

I have a vinyl collection. Hell, I had a really good cassette tape collection too back in the day. And I’ve been known to own a few 8-track tapes but those were on their way out when I was hitting my teenage years and so I bought vinyl for the house and cassette tapes to play in the car. Alas I only have one cassette tape left, the first Rush album. I had a cassette tape carrier that stayed in my Chevy Monza (maroon colored hatchback) and I would blast my music through a self-installed Pioneer cassette deck mounted right under my glove compartment. It fed two Jensen speakers that were mounted in wooden enclosures (again all self-installed) via long speaker wire. The speakers would sit in the far back of my hatchback car and whenever we were out partying at the lake, empty field or the drive-in, I would pull them out of the car and set on my roof. If you’ve ever seen the movie Dazed and Confused, that was us in Texas as teens.

Columbia House

I made the mistake of selling off a bunch of my vinyl (the Great Vinyl Purge) when CDs came out and I started replacing my albums. Stupid stupid stupid. Now I’m rebuilding what I lost or gave away. It’s not easy like it was in the “old days”. You probably don’t remember the Columbia House record club. There were others similar. You would pick out 10 to 13 albums for “free” with the promise to buy 6 to 9 more at regular (inflated) prices over 2 or 3 years. I did this numerous times. I’d get the free albums, buy the promised albums quickly and then cancel my membership. Then I would then sign up under a different name or join a different club. That is how I built up my initial record collection. I still have many of those free and purchased albums. Sad I dumped so many of my good (and highly valued now) albums.

But I digress. This months PawPaw’s Vinyl of the Month is Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak. I’ve mentioned this album before when I was in a quandary over whether to buy Ted Nugent‘s first album or Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak. At the time I chose Ted but later when I got more money I went back for Jailbreak. Alas I gave/sold this album in the great vinyl purge and just recently bought a reissued version.

I’d read about Thin Lizzy in Creem magazine. I learned about all the latest bands through Creem and later Circus magazine. Jailbreak did not disappoint. Released in March 1976, Jailbreak was Lizzy’s 6th album release. Everyone has heard The Boy’s are Back in Town but my favorite song off this album is the Cowboy Song. Every band I’ve played in since High School has performed this song and many times I was the singer. In addition to that song there is Jailbreak, Warriors and Emerald that all stand out as excellent songs. The twin guitar leads that Thin Lizzy is notorious for are all over this album. Think Lizzy put out 6 more albums and then broke up. Sadly a few years later Phil Lynott (bass player and driving force from the beginning) died from sepsis brought most likely from his heroin addiction.

For being the first Thin Lizzy album and gateway to further TL albums, and opening the door to the twin harmony guitar leads, Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak is PawPaw’s Vinyl Album of the Month.

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It’s been 3 weeks since I talked to you, I’m a bad friend…

Posted on December 3, 2020 by Just Chuck

Happy Thanksgiving! Oh wait that has come and gone. How’s it been? Me? Not too bad.

  • Work has been 10 hour days including one weekend but I’m employed and payed well.
  • We had to let our 12 year old dog go to a better place due to various ailments.
  • Thanksgiving was a long road trip home to see Mom for the week. Sorry pandemic police, hadn’t seen my Mom in 12 months so no government or Fauci was going to change those plans.
  • The weekend after Thanksgiving we picked up our brand new Winnebago Micro Minnie 2108TB. Let the Adventures Begin!
  • Then it was back to work with the 10 hour days.
  • And I didn’t participate in Nanowrimo… again.
  • And I forgot to post a Vinyl of the Month. Try to do that tonight.

So here we are in December. Geez where has the time gone? I gotta tell ya, the pandemic sucks but I never stopped going to work. Back in March when the majority of my co-workers got to work from home and take Zoom and Microsoft Team meetings in their pajamas, I was driving my 30 minutes to work 3 days a week. Traffic was exhilarating. I got my truck up to 100 mph at one point on the tollway because there was only a few of us there. Even the State Troopers got the days off.

Am I an essential worker or medical person? No. My company just wanted to keep some things slow rolling and since my area has to do with support, supply, logistics and shipping, we (3-4 of us) were requested to keep manning the building. Even got a letter from the company in case I got stopped by the police that said I needed to get to work.

These days traffic is not quite as exhilarating but still not back to pre-pandemic bumper to bumper. The posted speed limit is 70 mph, the working speed limit is 85 mph. If you are not moving along in the vicinity of 75-80 mph you are going to get run over. Traffic is self regulating now and you need to have a Nascar level of abilities to keep up with Us. Or get in the far right lane, grandma.

Winnebago Micro Minnie 2108TB

How about that Winnebago news? Excitement and anxiety all in one. I’m excited to get out and camp and get away, but I have high anxiety when it comes to pulling and backing a 23 foot trailer. The longest trailer I’ve ever towed and backed is a dirt bike trailer… so 8 feet.

Driving it home was a slow and steady hour+ drive from the dealership. We haven’t taken it out camping yet. Backing it into our storage garage unit was a 35 minute ordeal that had me wondering what the hell had I done buying this damn thing. We plan to take it out this weekend (barring any work request) for our first night and pop our RV cherry. Then the weekend of December 18 we are going with some friends, who’ve had their RV two months longer, to a state park here in Texas. Should be fun if I can get the damn thing backed into the space successfully.

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I’m really bad at this

Posted on November 13, 2020 by Just Chuck

Blogging. It takes time. I maintained a blog during the early 2000’s, over a decade ago. I wish I had saved it and the content I produced, but in a fit a frustration and ambivalence I nuked it. I was blogging daily when blogging was big and folks were making money off of customer sites for people and I was part of a small community of folks, some of which I am still friends on Facebook. I knew what a meme was before those became a thing. I didn’t discover blogging, I had a good work friend introduce me to it and after seeing her blog, I wanted one. It pacified the writer, creator side of me.

Facebook, Twitter and the YouTube vlog pretty much killed off the large blog for fun community I was part of. We got rid of our dedicated domain names, dropped our monthly hosting service and started using Facebook. These days, and this is not a knock on anyone, but most bloggers are writers (I’m a wannabe) or have a special interest blog. You could say that for vloggers too. I do enjoy reading those who mix in daily life, even if boring, with their special interest posts. And I watch a lot of YouTube vids in the areas of my interest.

Anyway, I know there are a few people that read this blog and I thank you for your attention. I’ll try to be more attentive to this. Things should get interesting once we take delivery of our 2021B Winnebago Micro Minnie in the coming week or two. I should have some “Adventures” with that. For now my adventures center around driving to work, staying virus free while at work and driving home. Rinse, Repeat.

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Omada after 5 weeks

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Just Chuck

Omada. Does it work? After 5 weeks, which ended on October 31. I am down 6-7 lbs. So the focus that Omada provides is definitely working. The weekly lessons are informational. The occasional coach messages are ok. I respond when asked a question. I don’t share much with my coach as far as my “feelings”. I usually eat when stressed (work) or bored. I complained once to my coach about the world around me and how everyone is skinny and can eat what they want, woe is me. I’ve commented a few times in the groups on subjects. There seems to be only me and one other male in this group. This is my 4th time to try and lose weight. I’ve been successful at losing it, just not keeping it off. I regress. I know what it takes.

I am eating what I want (unlike Jenny Craig that made you buy $130-$150 per week of food), just in smaller portions. I’ve started walking again, baby steps first. A 1/2 mile at least every night, sometimes 3/4 mile. I have severe arthritis in my right hip which can be painful during and after walking. I have a slight limp these days because of it. So starting at only 1/2 mile walks is frustrating when just a few years ago I was running 2 1/2 miles in 30 minutes.

My doctor and I discussed my hip at my last physical two weeks ago. He asked if I wanted surgery. No thank you. At least not at this time. It’s a pain I can live with at the moment. So then my alternative is to lose weight first and see where we are. If that doesn’t help then it’s x-rays again and therapy and then…. surgery. Getting old sucks. It’s a catch-22. Need to lose weight so hip and knees feel better but can’t walk more than 1/2 mile without being in pain the rest of the night. And don’t get me started on mornings. It takes a lot of stretching in the shower to get the hip and back to stop complaining enough to dress and get out the door to work.

But I’m going off on a tangent. Omada has been good for focusing. I’ve shared some of the lesson information with my spouse who is trying to help. But cooking is not something we do. We eat out because it’s just easier. I usually weigh the best on Friday mornings after I have consciously taken a healthy lunch to work everyday and watched what I eat for dinner. But on Monday I weigh the worst because I’ve indulged myself on pizza and other unhealthy stuff. Weekends are the hardest to stay focused.

So another week is underway. This weeks lesson was about motivation. On Monday I started up 2 lbs from the weekend but I’m down 1 lb this Tuesday morning. Go figure. It’s a slow process.

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PawPaw’s Vinyl of the Week: Too Much Too Soon by the New York Dolls

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Just Chuck
Too Much Too Soon

I’m changing these to every other week as my schedule and what I’ve been doing over on Facebook during October have kept me busy. Once again I find myself typing this after midnight.

So this weeks’ vinyl is Too Much Too Soon by the New York Dolls. The album Too Much Too Soon was released in May 1974. It was the Doll’s second album. I bought it during the Fall of 1974.

I had known about the Doll’s from Creem magazine articles of course. That magazine is where I learned about all the bands during the time I was in Puerto Rico, 1972-1976. So I was reading about the NY seen with all the glamour bands like the Doll’s and KISS as well as the up and coming punk seen – Patty Smyth, Lou Reed, etc.

Why is this vinyl of the week? Like the other albums in this blog series it invokes a memory around the time I bought it. I bought this album from a base exchange (PX) on, I believe, Roosevelt Roads Navy base on Puerto Rico. I bought it while seeing my brother who was in the hospital from complications from the mumps. He had contracted the mumps and for whatever reason it had caused other issues in his body to beak down requiring hospitalization. My brother recovered with some side affects that went on to affect his life in adulthood. Not to worry though, he is alive and well. I question his mental health occasionally but don’t we do that with all our siblings?

Every time I see or play this album those memories of that time come up and that trip down to the hospital to see my brother. It was a sad sight at the time. For that reason Too Much Too Soon by the New York Dolls is PawPaw’s Vinyl of the week, or bi-week, or every other week.

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NaNoWriMo

Posted on October 17, 2020 by Just Chuck

To do or not to do… again? National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) starts November 1 and I’m debating whether to give it another try. This would be try number 5 or 6, I lost count. I know I did not try it last year.

NaNoWriMo runs every November and the goal is to draft a 50,000 word novel during the month. I say draft because there is no way you can write and edit a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. It’s hard enough to write the 1600 or so words each day plus maintain a day job or mange a household or whatever us non-professional writers do to pay our bills.

Every year I’ve gone into it with an idea and sometimes even a half-ass plot outline of chapters but every year I get about 5000-8000 words into it and stop. Stuff comes up, life interferes etc. I have many a self-help book with titles like – “How to write a novel in 30 days” or ” How to succeed at NaNoWriMo“. I certainly want to accomplish this, it’s on my bucket list. But its hard.

This year though I have a possible way to succeed. Write my memoirs. Write my life story. No one said your novel had to be a best seller. There are no rules regarding whether it be fictional or non-fictional or autobiographical. It just has to be 50,000 words long and readable, meaning no nonsensical crap, coherent sentence are a must. So I think this may work. I’ve been outlining my life on my Facebook account all this month with daily postings about bit and pieces of my life (see this posting – Started my 60th orbit around the Sun). I even have a name for my novel – Army Brat for Life.

So, to do or not to do? I think to do. I’m finding it very limiting when writing short post about my life. I want to expound on certain things but limited by normal posting on Facebook. Already I’m pushing the word limits of a post. So putting all this down in a book would fulfill a bucket list item and also leave something for my children to know about me. I have tons of pictures to go with the stories. This is something I wish my Dad had done. I never knew much about his childhood, his time at West Point or his time in Viet Nam or even what his favorite color was. Anyone who knew has passed on as well.

So yeah, let’s do this.

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PawPaw’s Vinyl of the Week – Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Just Chuck

Wow, I completely missed this past Sunday posting for this. This weeks album, The Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack released in 1975, comes from the summer of 1978. I had just completed my junior year in high school and was off for the summer to work at a church resort called Mo-Ranch. It was a first time away from home. I went with my best friend, we had been recommended by his church for the jobs. Us two and five other guys and seven gals made up the summer staff that year.

We worked pretty much 6 days a week with one day off. I was a housekeeper so I cleaned toilets, replaced linens, etc. It was an OK job except when you had to clean a toilet that had been thrown up in. Even though this was a church resort, people drank, and drank excessively sometimes.

This album was one of a bunch that summer one of the staffers brought with him. Somehow he knew we had a record player in our staff lounge where we would hang out at lunch and read (Conan books) and listen to music or gather after work to unwind. I had never seen the movie (this is all pre-internet and YouTube) but based on the album cover and descriptions from a couple of co-workers who had, I was told I did a pretty good Frank-N-Furter impersonation. Tim Curry’s inflections when singing the song make for great facial expressions. A couple of years later when I finally saw the movie I was hooked. I already knew the words to all the songs and it is a great sing-along movie.

We listened to this album a lot. I still listen to this album and have the vinyl version. I have a DVD version and special edition Blu-ray version of the movie. I have a special edition photo book from the movie. I just watched it for the 100th or so time on Hulu.

For being such an integral part of that summer, The Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack is PawPaw’s Vinyl of the Week.

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Started my 60th orbit around the Sun

Posted on October 11, 2020 by Just Chuck

Yep, had a birthday yesterday. Completed 59 orbits around the sun. Happy New year to me. I think its time to start thinking about a bucket list. My father lived to 82, so what does that give me… 23 more years on this planet? Yikes!

I’ve been posting on my Facebook account daily snippets of my life starting on October 1 and continuing until October 31. I’ve included where I was, what I was doing, what I like, favorite things, etc. Things that some people may not know about me but most don’t. I decided to do this so my kids would know a bit more about their Dad. I never sat down with my Dad and asked him questions about where he was when he was 15? When did he learn how to drive? What was his favorite color? I don’t know many details about my Dad and I’m sad for that.

Maybe I’ll turn these snippets into a memoir one day when I’m retired.

I spent my birthday watching my Grandson play soccer, then shopping at Target to buy a Lego set to build when both Grand kids arrive at 5:30. Then relaxed some. The kids came over, we heated the pool and hot tub and swam, had some pizza (not good for weight loss) and worked on the Lego set.

Today we’ll work some more on the Lego set and then ride bikes in the nearby park or perhaps up to the neighborhood school. Maybe I’ll get the drone out finally and try it out.

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