One year ago today: January 12, 2017, hello from Dade City.
Five years ago today: January 12, , blonde babe next door.
Nine years ago today: January 12, 2009, the McPherson guitar?
Random years ago today: January 12, 2012, about a half-million more.
Here’s your mystery object for the day. Shhh, if you know what it is because most guys I know have never seen one. It’s plastic and the two pieces fit inside each other, but that is only for storage. They are used separately as shown here. Both are used for the same purpose. I’ll make you return next day for the answer. I know I wouldn’t have guessed. You want one more hint? Okay, it is used in food preparation. Ah, but what kind of food? It’s things like this why I got so little done, but hey, that’s why I moved to half-way to the middle of nowhere.
Anything new? No, I looked into the plans for Mars, which they are now saying 2035. Every administration announces some space program but they never carry through. The tards who don’t realize Trump was elected because he wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is are in an uproar for saying “shitholes”. Hey, he isn’t the first, he’s just the first president to use the term in public. There’s not a loyal American alive who likes what immigration is doing to this country. And I’ve been in those countries, and they are shitholes. Trump asks what we need more Haitians for. Nobody answers the question because they can’t.
All this excitement got me over to the other coffee shop. I’m more than just disappointed with the lady guitarist. How did she think she was going to learn to accompany a bassist by listening to tinny laptop speakers. What was she even thinking? What? I heard that back there. Yes, as a matter of fact I can learn a song when I can’t hear the guitar, but this is a completely different order of events. I’ve put in my 10,000 hours. I left a message for the third guy on the list, he’s now at the top.
However, he’s played in a band before and that’s a different challenge. Usually, I have to convince the guy to drop his old song list. And make sure the first time he says “bass is easy” is usually the last time. From experience, I know once a wanker (six-string guitar player) gets his brain infected with the “bass is easy” disease, he’s a goner.
Apartment building, New York.
($2.5m for a 2-bdrm.)
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Like most wars, it was about money, greed, and power. After the fighting stopped, it was Ulysses Grant who said if anybody had told him the war was about freeing slaves, he would have thrown down his sword and fought for the South. Or something to that effect. None of this helps us find out the value of these pieces. They are here drying after being sparkled up a bit.
ADDENDUM
I ran into Mark, the guitar guy, at the coffee shop. He’s the guy that plays great guitar, but just retired and doesn’t want to commit to a band. I’ve been retired (from working for a living) since 2004 and with my experience, that’s the same guy I warned he will eventually regret every moment he didn’t play every chance he could. Well, he’s six months into retirement and he’s got a ton of questions. That tips us off he is going through the transition and hitting the same potholes I was lucky enough to plan around. Or smart enough? So I’m not going to pick on Mark, but let’s do some comparisons.
Mark dreams of selling the house and traveling full time. Myself, I’ve learned the value of a home base. I’ve lived on the road, not necessarily by choice, and it is not the freedom it used to be. Furthermore, all of my trips that lasted longer than a few days, including overseas travel, I purposely went alone. That’s the only way you find out that there is nothing out there unless you create it yourself. While it is nice to have company, you’ll see and experience maybe a quarter of the potential adventure when you are lugging someone else along. I’ve met only two women who were exceptions to that rule.
Our discussion centered on travel. I’ve got a lifetime of it; he’s been living in the same house since he was twenty. The big decision is whether to keep the house. Don’t even think of renting it out, this is not a piece of revenue property, it is your home. Let strangers in there, even well-qualified ones, and that’s asking for trouble. My place was custom-bought to be left empty for long stretches. I’m not a full-time traveler, for that matter, I dislike traveling when there is cold and snow. My average tour away from home lasts around a month. Thus, I’m not really qualified to give advice on cutting all ties and heading out there.
But I know exactly what to expect when on the road. America is shutting down on Daniel Boone types. And when you consider the different sets of chores and expenses, the concept of freedom through travel is fiction. The most carefree times were on the batbike pulling the cPod camper but that is hardly something the average person can have or even consider. Thusforth, we are talking about RV travel, or at least a small trailer or camper to sleep and possibly cook in. Face it, there are so few safe budget motels left in the country, even if you could conveniently find vacancies, don’t even consider that mode of travel.
It also takes a certain personality to travel more than, say, a week at a time. You are leaving behind familiar situations. And out on the road, don’t expect any pre-arranged tour packages. Your curiosity is your best guide. I speak of car camping or equivalent. No staying in motels, etc. My travel costs per day, to really enjoy the trip as much as the destination, are around $33 by motorcycle and $48 per day by car, that’s overall long-term. Most of the expense is gas, I’m presuming you stop for coffee and eat at Burger King and not the Ritz—but I allow for some luxury when the situation warrants.
For me, the best compromise is a home base, from which you set out traveling when the weather is warm enough, which for me means above freezing. I’ve forgone this since 2013 due to this house. You remember my five year plan? In 2014, I consolidated, in 2015 we scoured the state for a place, and I finally bought in 2016. There was a lot of in-state travel centered around house-hunting. That was the era of the auction sales, the lying real estate agents, and a dozen not-all-that-cheap trips to the interior. It’s all documented in here somewhere. The downside of a fixed starting spot is you frequently must drive the same old to reach the unknown.
This house was vacant for years when I bought, proving it can take care of itself. That’s probably the ideal situation to get away for a while, then return to take up where you left off. Bear in mind even when you travel, there are still the related expenses of a system set up to keep tabs on you. Things are arranged to pressure you to have a steady address. Tax forms, pesky census people, banking, keeping in touch, prescriptions, and, critically, insurance. You must keep on top of your health, vehicle, and liability insurance. I’m saying you will still need some point of reference, but it doesn’t have to be a house. I just prefer a house, if only because I always hated paying rent while I was away.
On the road? That’s either heaven or hell, you’ll know after a day or two. For me, it is an adventure by car and a super-adventure by motorcycle. My two major cross-country motorcycle trips on my ancient sidecar were life-changing, irreplaceable, unique, and beyond compare. I broke down, half-froze, half-cooked, loved and laughed, got rained out, and stayed in sometimes iffy locations. I have friends who consider such travel a horror story, but they’ve never done it. I don’t really travel to meet people unless it is girl-people. I know where most libraries are between here and Yakima. I carry most of what I need and have some light emergency gear.
Cooking on the trail is not worth it for the solo traveler. Hauling a camp stove, plates, water, it’s not for me. This is the US of A, you’ll know if you more than a few hours away from a market. Stopping whenever you feel like it beats spending the same money on shopping and storing food. Besides, I tend to snack a few times a day rather than dining. If I do stop, I avoid the franchises, but any place will do for morning coffee. I never plan on meeting anyone, for that matter I have never since I turned 40, met a worthwhile woman on my travels. And I’m a gregarious womanizer, hitting on every woman I find attractive. But after that age, women become quantity over quality.
I can’t give you a rundown of the entire process, though over all it is probably in this blog. There are always books written by people who have chucked the old farmstead and just headed out. Alas, the one thing they have in common is they are older than me. Do not expect to meet hippie chicks any more, that era is long gone. Anybody on the road under 30 these days is probably homeless and looking for a handout. Campgrounds have become as expensive as motels used to be and there are no upscale free places that let you park overnight. I would not miss it for anything, the only solid rule I can impart is the bigger your rig, the more comfort but the fewer rare places you can get to.
After all, how else could I have found out my carburetors wouldn’t work over 10,000 feet above sea level? How else would I have got to the Alamo and spent a week in Savannah. Sure I miss it and I’ll do it again soon. You just keep reading.
PS: Aside, to the dude who mentioned my motorcycle trips. The coffee plantation guy. Please write back again. I am taking what you say very seriously. Of the tiny proportion of people who talked dollar figures, your account was the most realistic and definitely the most believable. No obligation, I seek only to collaborate on contacts you may steer me toward. And remember, if I connect via your advice, I enjoy a lifelong reputation for having a highly-developed sense of fair play. $$$.
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