Orange City, FL.
35 deg. cloudy, NW wind @ 12 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 43 deg. cloudy, periods of snow and sleet this morning. NW wind @ 10 to 15 mph. Temperatures falling to 26 degrees tonight.
Yep, you read it right, snow and sleet in Florida!!!! I don't know if we'll have any right here in Orange City, but they are having some just North of here!! I've been watching the radar, and it looks like there's some heading this way!!
Oh goody, goody, just what I wanted!!!! Snow and sleet on my roof!!!
Jim took CLT and headed over to Winn Dixie yesterday morning to get some bread. They were forecasting rain, and sure enough, just after he got back, light rain started and it lasted for most of the afternoon. About 3:00 Laura called and wanted to know if Jim and Linda would be interested in meeting her and Lindsey at a restaurant for dinner. It was decided that they would meet at Bob Evans about 5:00. So.... about 4:45 CLT took them over there, and they had a good meal and a lot of great conversation.
Jim and Linda always really enjoy going out to eat with Laura and Lindsey.
Oh, I've forgotten to tell you about Dee Dee's mother. A few days ago, they sent her home from the hospital, and that very night, she had another heart attack, so she's now back in the hospital again!
Our thoughts and prayers go to Dee Dee and her mom.
Did you know that since the 1930's the town of Corona, CA has buried, and lost, all 17 of its tune capsules?
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
A Power Outage, Reorganizing CLT, and Dumpster Diving
Orange City, FL.
26 deg. clear, NW wind @ 5 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 58 deg. sunny, light westerly winds.
Another night with below freezing temperatures. :-( I'm getting tired of all this cold weather. It's just not supposed to be this cold for this long in central Florida!! I know I shouldn't complain, but it's really starting to get to me!! Yeah, I know it's been cold almost everywhere. I heard on the TV yesterday that they were having temperatures well below zero in South Dakota with wind chill temperatures at about -45 degrees!!!! Now, that's really cold!!!!
Not much happened around here yesterday. Jim went to the Post Office and bought some stamps.
Orange City, FL.
41 deg. clear, S. wind @ 6 MPH.
Forecast today = high temp. 52 deg. becoming mostly cloudy, with periods of rain. W. wind @ 5 to 10 mph.
Now, that was inconvenient!!! Just as I was typing yesterday's blog and the power went out!! Of course the first thing I did was to switch to battery power and keep some of the 120 volt things running with my inverter. The thing was, I didn't know if the power outage was just at my electrical box or if the power was out to the park. So........ after a little while, Jim went out and checked the circuit breakers on my site's post just to make sure.
Well, the breakers were OK, so Jim came back in and started turning off unneeded electrical items. One of the first things he shut off was his coffee pot, as it uses a lot of electricity, and would put a heavy load on my batteries.
Well, anyway, to make a long story short, the power came back on after about 40 minutes and everything returned to normal.
Now, I know I could have continued my posting on this laptop computer, on battery power, but I didn't, and by the time the power came back on, I didn't feel like it any more. So.... I'll have to back up a little and catch up.
Oh well!!!
After Jim came back from the Post Office, nothing much happened here, and the rest of the day was pretty much normal, with TV watching, leftover chicken and rice casserole for dinner, and then more TV until bedtime.
Yesterday, after the power outage, and it warmed up some, Jim decided to reorganize CLT's truck bed. The first thing he did was to pretty much unload everything and start repacking and eliminating items that were not wanted. By the time he got done, he had a fairly large pile of boxes and junk laying on the ground. At the same time, he also ran my generator for about half an hour to exercise it. (I think the power outage in the morning got him thinking about it), ;-)
While he was doing all of that, Laura came over and picked up Linda and they went out to lunch at Chili's and then went to check out a "used book store" that had just opened in the area. Linda bought a couple of books, (at half price), and in a couple of hours, she and Laura were back here again.
I think they both had fun.
While they were gone, Jim took the junk from the back of CLT and the garbage from my garbage cans, and headed over to he dumpster. While putting the junk in the dumpster, he notice a piece of blue carpeting laying along side of the dumpster. Well, it looked to be in pretty good shape, so he loaded it into the back of CLT and brought it back here. One back here, he unrolled it on the patio and determined that a good portion of it could be used to make runners to go over my light colored carpeting.
You see, the runners that I had were getting pretty shabby and were in need of replacement.
Anyway, Jim got out his utility knife and went to work. In a short time, he had new runners cut out of the piece of carpeting and was loading the remainder of the piece back into CLT to take it back to the dumpster.
While Jim was cutting out the runners, Linda and Laura came back, and Laura asked where he had got the carpeting. He said that he had been "dumpster diving" again, and everyone had a good laugh. :-)
Actually, that's not too funny. Jim has found quite a few items at the dumpster. A few things that I can remember, are a 12 volt air compressor, an electric space heater, a tote box, and a garden hose. All of these items either worked or just needed minor repairs and a good cleaning.
For dinner, Linda heated up some left-over pizza. Then, she and Jim watched TV until bedtime.
Did you know that when reflected from bright lights, (head lights) deer's eyes are orange, whereas cats and dogs are green?
26 deg. clear, NW wind @ 5 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 58 deg. sunny, light westerly winds.
Another night with below freezing temperatures. :-( I'm getting tired of all this cold weather. It's just not supposed to be this cold for this long in central Florida!! I know I shouldn't complain, but it's really starting to get to me!! Yeah, I know it's been cold almost everywhere. I heard on the TV yesterday that they were having temperatures well below zero in South Dakota with wind chill temperatures at about -45 degrees!!!! Now, that's really cold!!!!
Not much happened around here yesterday. Jim went to the Post Office and bought some stamps.
Orange City, FL.
41 deg. clear, S. wind @ 6 MPH.
Forecast today = high temp. 52 deg. becoming mostly cloudy, with periods of rain. W. wind @ 5 to 10 mph.
Now, that was inconvenient!!! Just as I was typing yesterday's blog and the power went out!! Of course the first thing I did was to switch to battery power and keep some of the 120 volt things running with my inverter. The thing was, I didn't know if the power outage was just at my electrical box or if the power was out to the park. So........ after a little while, Jim went out and checked the circuit breakers on my site's post just to make sure.
Well, the breakers were OK, so Jim came back in and started turning off unneeded electrical items. One of the first things he shut off was his coffee pot, as it uses a lot of electricity, and would put a heavy load on my batteries.
Well, anyway, to make a long story short, the power came back on after about 40 minutes and everything returned to normal.
Now, I know I could have continued my posting on this laptop computer, on battery power, but I didn't, and by the time the power came back on, I didn't feel like it any more. So.... I'll have to back up a little and catch up.
Oh well!!!
After Jim came back from the Post Office, nothing much happened here, and the rest of the day was pretty much normal, with TV watching, leftover chicken and rice casserole for dinner, and then more TV until bedtime.
Yesterday, after the power outage, and it warmed up some, Jim decided to reorganize CLT's truck bed. The first thing he did was to pretty much unload everything and start repacking and eliminating items that were not wanted. By the time he got done, he had a fairly large pile of boxes and junk laying on the ground. At the same time, he also ran my generator for about half an hour to exercise it. (I think the power outage in the morning got him thinking about it), ;-)
While he was doing all of that, Laura came over and picked up Linda and they went out to lunch at Chili's and then went to check out a "used book store" that had just opened in the area. Linda bought a couple of books, (at half price), and in a couple of hours, she and Laura were back here again.
I think they both had fun.
While they were gone, Jim took the junk from the back of CLT and the garbage from my garbage cans, and headed over to he dumpster. While putting the junk in the dumpster, he notice a piece of blue carpeting laying along side of the dumpster. Well, it looked to be in pretty good shape, so he loaded it into the back of CLT and brought it back here. One back here, he unrolled it on the patio and determined that a good portion of it could be used to make runners to go over my light colored carpeting.
You see, the runners that I had were getting pretty shabby and were in need of replacement.
Anyway, Jim got out his utility knife and went to work. In a short time, he had new runners cut out of the piece of carpeting and was loading the remainder of the piece back into CLT to take it back to the dumpster.
While Jim was cutting out the runners, Linda and Laura came back, and Laura asked where he had got the carpeting. He said that he had been "dumpster diving" again, and everyone had a good laugh. :-)
Actually, that's not too funny. Jim has found quite a few items at the dumpster. A few things that I can remember, are a 12 volt air compressor, an electric space heater, a tote box, and a garden hose. All of these items either worked or just needed minor repairs and a good cleaning.
For dinner, Linda heated up some left-over pizza. Then, she and Jim watched TV until bedtime.
Did you know that when reflected from bright lights, (head lights) deer's eyes are orange, whereas cats and dogs are green?
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Christmas Decorations, and An Update On Dee Dee's Mother
Orange Popsicle, FL.
27 deg. clear, NW wind @ 8 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 53 deg. sunny, NW wind @ 10 to 15 mph.
Would you believe it's warmer in Denver CO. and Salt Lake City, UT than it is here in central Florida? Yep, you read that right!!! And, the temperatures we are having right now are setting new record lows in some places across the state!!!
Brrrrr!!!!!
Jim got the tote boxes that he uses to store the Christmas decorations in, out of my basement yesterday morning and by a little after noon, he and Linda had taken everything down, and he had put the totes back. I kind of like it when I'm all decorated for Christmas, but it was time to put them away for another 10 months or so.
On and different note..... Yesterday, Jim got an e-mail from Dave, (you remember I told you about the bad Christmas that they had?), and he's down here in Florida now, but Dee Dee is still up in Illinois with her mother. Her mother is doing better and they are expecting her to be able to come home from the hospital soon. If everything goes well, Dee Dee will stay up there for a couple of weeks, and then rent a car and join Dave down here.
I hope everything goes well and Dee Dee will be able to come down here and join Dave.
For dinner last night, Jim and Linda took CLT and went to Steak 'n Shake. It had been awhile since they had been there, and besides, someone given them a gift card for Christmas, so they ate for free! :-)
After they got back here they played games ON the computers and looked stuff up ON the computers and then watched TV until bedtime.
Did you know that the coldest temperature ever recorded in Florida was -2 degrees? It was at Tallahassee during February of 1899.
Happy Dave? ;-)
27 deg. clear, NW wind @ 8 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 53 deg. sunny, NW wind @ 10 to 15 mph.
Would you believe it's warmer in Denver CO. and Salt Lake City, UT than it is here in central Florida? Yep, you read that right!!! And, the temperatures we are having right now are setting new record lows in some places across the state!!!
Brrrrr!!!!!
Jim got the tote boxes that he uses to store the Christmas decorations in, out of my basement yesterday morning and by a little after noon, he and Linda had taken everything down, and he had put the totes back. I kind of like it when I'm all decorated for Christmas, but it was time to put them away for another 10 months or so.
On and different note..... Yesterday, Jim got an e-mail from Dave, (you remember I told you about the bad Christmas that they had?), and he's down here in Florida now, but Dee Dee is still up in Illinois with her mother. Her mother is doing better and they are expecting her to be able to come home from the hospital soon. If everything goes well, Dee Dee will stay up there for a couple of weeks, and then rent a car and join Dave down here.
I hope everything goes well and Dee Dee will be able to come down here and join Dave.
For dinner last night, Jim and Linda took CLT and went to Steak 'n Shake. It had been awhile since they had been there, and besides, someone given them a gift card for Christmas, so they ate for free! :-)
After they got back here they played games ON the computers and looked stuff up ON the computers and then watched TV until bedtime.
Did you know that the coldest temperature ever recorded in Florida was -2 degrees? It was at Tallahassee during February of 1899.
Happy Dave? ;-)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
We Lucked Out, Outside Decorations, and More Cold
Orange City, FL.
33 deg. mostly cloudy, NW wind @ 9 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 50 deg. mostly sunny, NW wind @ 10 to 15 mph.
We lucked out last night because some clouds developed and that stopped the temperature from dropping as low as were fore-casted. But.....the weather people are saying that tonight, that's not going to happen and the temps are really going to drop down into the 20's.
Brrrrrr!!! I hope they're wrong again!!!!
Jim didn't do a whole lot yesterday. He said he was feeling OK, but just didn't have much energy. He went to the office and picked up the mail, and then when he came back, he removed my outside Christmas decorations. After that, he took a long nap and then watched TV and played with the computer.
Linda worked on her family tree program, (looking up ancestors on the Internet and then putting the information in her program), and also added some recipes to her recipe database. Then for dinner she put together a chicken/rice casserole that she and Jim both thought was very good.
The evening was spent with Jim watching TV and Linda doing some more ancestry research on the computer, and then watching some TV with Jim.
Whoa!!!! The weather gal on the TV just said that she's expecting it to stay very cold for the next 8 days!!!!!! She's also forecasting record cold for tonight and then again, later on this week!!!!
Brrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!
Did you know that is so cold that in a recent poll, 92% of Florida inhabitants no longer consider Global Warming to be a bad thing? ;-)
33 deg. mostly cloudy, NW wind @ 9 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 50 deg. mostly sunny, NW wind @ 10 to 15 mph.
We lucked out last night because some clouds developed and that stopped the temperature from dropping as low as were fore-casted. But.....the weather people are saying that tonight, that's not going to happen and the temps are really going to drop down into the 20's.
Brrrrrr!!! I hope they're wrong again!!!!
Jim didn't do a whole lot yesterday. He said he was feeling OK, but just didn't have much energy. He went to the office and picked up the mail, and then when he came back, he removed my outside Christmas decorations. After that, he took a long nap and then watched TV and played with the computer.
Linda worked on her family tree program, (looking up ancestors on the Internet and then putting the information in her program), and also added some recipes to her recipe database. Then for dinner she put together a chicken/rice casserole that she and Jim both thought was very good.
The evening was spent with Jim watching TV and Linda doing some more ancestry research on the computer, and then watching some TV with Jim.
Whoa!!!! The weather gal on the TV just said that she's expecting it to stay very cold for the next 8 days!!!!!! She's also forecasting record cold for tonight and then again, later on this week!!!!
Brrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!
Did you know that is so cold that in a recent poll, 92% of Florida inhabitants no longer consider Global Warming to be a bad thing? ;-)
Monday, January 4, 2010
Freezing Temperatures In Florida and A Bug?
Orange City, FL.
33 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast today = high temp. 52 deg. clear, NW wind @ 5 to 10 mph.
Brrrrrrr!!!!! I know it's not as cold here as it is in many parts of the country, but when it gets around the freezing temperature in central Florida, it's cold!!!!
Not much happening to write about around here again. Saturday, Jim and Linda went to Winn-Dixie and bought some groceries. Yesterday, Jim wasn't feeling too well. He either ate something that didn't agree with him or he picked up a "bug" someplace, cause his stomach was churning. In fact, it woke him up in the middle of the night and was up for awhile.
By late afternoon, when Laura called to tell Linda that she was out shopping and would like to stop by, he was feeling quite a bit better and so Linda said that she could come on over if she wasn't worried about catching what Jim had.
Well, she stopped by for about an hour, and Jim was careful not to breathe on her, ;-) so hopefully she didn't pick up Jim's "bug". (That is if he even had one).
I doubt if there's going to be much going on around here today. Jim was saying last night, that he wants to get my Christmas decorations taken down and put away, but we'll have wait and see how he feels.
Did you know that it was so cold here yesterday that the politicians had their hands in their OWN pockets? ;-0
33 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast today = high temp. 52 deg. clear, NW wind @ 5 to 10 mph.
Brrrrrrr!!!!! I know it's not as cold here as it is in many parts of the country, but when it gets around the freezing temperature in central Florida, it's cold!!!!
Not much happening to write about around here again. Saturday, Jim and Linda went to Winn-Dixie and bought some groceries. Yesterday, Jim wasn't feeling too well. He either ate something that didn't agree with him or he picked up a "bug" someplace, cause his stomach was churning. In fact, it woke him up in the middle of the night and was up for awhile.
By late afternoon, when Laura called to tell Linda that she was out shopping and would like to stop by, he was feeling quite a bit better and so Linda said that she could come on over if she wasn't worried about catching what Jim had.
Well, she stopped by for about an hour, and Jim was careful not to breathe on her, ;-) so hopefully she didn't pick up Jim's "bug". (That is if he even had one).
I doubt if there's going to be much going on around here today. Jim was saying last night, that he wants to get my Christmas decorations taken down and put away, but we'll have wait and see how he feels.
Did you know that it was so cold here yesterday that the politicians had their hands in their OWN pockets? ;-0
Saturday, January 2, 2010
The Weather and $3 Per Day
Orange City, FL.
41 deg. clear, NW wind @ 10 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 58 deg. sunny, NW wind @ 15 to 20 mph.
About the biggest thing that happened around here yesterday was the weather. It rained heavily at times during the morning, and then all of a sudden, the wind switched directions and the temperatures started dropping. In less than an hour, the temperature dropped 11 degrees!! Then, just before sundown, the sun finally came out, but by that time, it was too late to warm anything up. For the next 5 days, the high temperature is only expected to be in the 50's and the lows in the high 20's or low 30's.
Folks, for Florida, that's COLD!!!!
Oh, kind of on the same line, I wanted to tell you what my electric bill was for December. I don't know what the cost is per KWH, but I my cost averaged almost exactly $3 a day. Now, let me explain what that electricity is being used for.
First of all, Jim and Linda have been running my 2 built-in electric heaters whenever they have felt cool. They have not tried to conserve much at all on the heat, and have used them frequently. And, when it has gotten hot inside of me, they have run one or both of my air conditioners as needed to stay comfortable. Second, my water heater is running on electricity, and has not been turned off or switched to propane since we've been here. Third, my refrigerator has been running on electricity the whole time, and has only been on propane once when the power went out for about an hour. Fourth, there have been quite a few loads of laundry done in my washer/dryer during the 31 day period of time, and finally, Fifth, Jim and Linda have used lights or any other electric appliances whenever they wanted to, and the Christmas decorations were lit many days, and almost all evenings for the entire time period.
Now, Jim and Linda don't waste electricity. They turn off all lights and appliances when not needed, but they did not really try to conserve during this period either. So... I don't think $3 per day was really too bad.
OK, now I can hear some of you asking, "Why is he telling me all of this?" Well, I know that some of the people who read this Blog are just getting into, or planning on getting into, this full-timing lifestyle and are wondering about the costs of living in an RV. So, I'm hoping this may help them a little.
Oh, and there's one more reason I'm telling you this. Some people think that RVs are energy hogs. Well, I may use a lot of fuel when I travel down the road, but I'm betting that most people can't heat/cool their homes and run everything else they need in their stix and brix houses for $3 worth of energy per day!
Did you know that beer is made by fermentation caused by bacteria feeding on yeast cells and then defecating. In other words, it's a nice tall glass of poo!!
Anyone care for a drink? ;-)
41 deg. clear, NW wind @ 10 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 58 deg. sunny, NW wind @ 15 to 20 mph.
About the biggest thing that happened around here yesterday was the weather. It rained heavily at times during the morning, and then all of a sudden, the wind switched directions and the temperatures started dropping. In less than an hour, the temperature dropped 11 degrees!! Then, just before sundown, the sun finally came out, but by that time, it was too late to warm anything up. For the next 5 days, the high temperature is only expected to be in the 50's and the lows in the high 20's or low 30's.
Folks, for Florida, that's COLD!!!!
Oh, kind of on the same line, I wanted to tell you what my electric bill was for December. I don't know what the cost is per KWH, but I my cost averaged almost exactly $3 a day. Now, let me explain what that electricity is being used for.
First of all, Jim and Linda have been running my 2 built-in electric heaters whenever they have felt cool. They have not tried to conserve much at all on the heat, and have used them frequently. And, when it has gotten hot inside of me, they have run one or both of my air conditioners as needed to stay comfortable. Second, my water heater is running on electricity, and has not been turned off or switched to propane since we've been here. Third, my refrigerator has been running on electricity the whole time, and has only been on propane once when the power went out for about an hour. Fourth, there have been quite a few loads of laundry done in my washer/dryer during the 31 day period of time, and finally, Fifth, Jim and Linda have used lights or any other electric appliances whenever they wanted to, and the Christmas decorations were lit many days, and almost all evenings for the entire time period.
Now, Jim and Linda don't waste electricity. They turn off all lights and appliances when not needed, but they did not really try to conserve during this period either. So... I don't think $3 per day was really too bad.
OK, now I can hear some of you asking, "Why is he telling me all of this?" Well, I know that some of the people who read this Blog are just getting into, or planning on getting into, this full-timing lifestyle and are wondering about the costs of living in an RV. So, I'm hoping this may help them a little.
Oh, and there's one more reason I'm telling you this. Some people think that RVs are energy hogs. Well, I may use a lot of fuel when I travel down the road, but I'm betting that most people can't heat/cool their homes and run everything else they need in their stix and brix houses for $3 worth of energy per day!
Did you know that beer is made by fermentation caused by bacteria feeding on yeast cells and then defecating. In other words, it's a nice tall glass of poo!!
Anyone care for a drink? ;-)
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy New Year
Orange City, FL.
64 deg. rain, S. wind @ 5 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 64 deg. with falling temperatures, cloudy with rain and t-storms, winds becoming NW @ 15 to 20 mph with 30mph gusts.
I hope all of you had a great and safe New Year's eve. It was pretty quiet around here. There were a few people celebrating by shooting off fireworks, but that's all. Jim and Linda watched some old movies on TCM and then switched over to see the big count-down in New York City.
Soon after midnight, they went to bed.
Jim did some reorganization of my basement compartments yesterday. He still has more to do, but at least he got a start on it. Then for dinner, he cooked a nice big, juicy steak on the grill while Linda prepared and cooked some peas and potatoes inside.
Again, it sure all smelled good, and from Jim and Linda's reactions while they were eating it, it must have tasted real good too. :-)
Did you know that the popular New Year's Eve song, "Auld Lang syne" translates to "old long ago?
Have a great year! ;-)
64 deg. rain, S. wind @ 5 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 64 deg. with falling temperatures, cloudy with rain and t-storms, winds becoming NW @ 15 to 20 mph with 30mph gusts.
Happy New Year!!!!!
I hope all of you had a great and safe New Year's eve. It was pretty quiet around here. There were a few people celebrating by shooting off fireworks, but that's all. Jim and Linda watched some old movies on TCM and then switched over to see the big count-down in New York City.
Soon after midnight, they went to bed.
Jim did some reorganization of my basement compartments yesterday. He still has more to do, but at least he got a start on it. Then for dinner, he cooked a nice big, juicy steak on the grill while Linda prepared and cooked some peas and potatoes inside.
Again, it sure all smelled good, and from Jim and Linda's reactions while they were eating it, it must have tasted real good too. :-)
Did you know that the popular New Year's Eve song, "Auld Lang syne" translates to "old long ago?
Have a great year! ;-)
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