Word Count

Just in case you were wondering, I am still working on my "Great Frantic Novel" as part of National Novel Writing Month.

A few good folks have inquired about my status with this nutty project, which to date is best described as a barely readable attempt at chick-lit. But, I'm pleased to report the words are adding up. And, this month, that's all that counts, really. Like I said, the 50,000 words I pull together this month don't have to be good. They just have to be done.

During a break in today's writing blitz, I did craft a couple of posts for Bullwinkle's Travels recapping our recent travels across Kansas to Abilene and Emporia. Then, I found a nifty little widget that will report my current word count right here on this lil' ol' blog.

So, now I'm really holding myself accountable. And, I'm still procrastinating!

Gotta go find a bunch of words.

50,000 Words

Despite a long and perfectly rational list of reasons not to, I have decided to participate in NaNoWriMo.

National Novel Writing Month is held each November. Last year I thought about it. This year, I've decided to do it.

You see, I've been working on my Great American Novel for over a year now, on and off. (Actually, it's been more off than on.) With NaNoWriMo, I have the great pleasure of joining thousands of professional and wannabe writers in penning my "Great Frantic Novel".

My mission, which I've fully accepted, is to write 50,000 words. That's about 175 pages. In 30 days. In keeping with the spirit of the month, this project is about quantity, not quality. (I'm going to have to remind myself of that.) This novel doesn't have to be good. It simply has to be done.

So, I'm doing it. My hope is this marathon will get my creative juices flowing and reinvigorate my desire to write the real thing. The discipline of writing every day will be good for me. Besides, I love it. The feeling of finishing a novel (even a crappy one) in a month will be joyous.

If I had to pick a month to try to write a novel, November would be my last choice. It's the second half of our annual visit to our old hometown. The doctor stuff is pretty much out of the way, but that's been replaced with a growing list of commitments and to-dos that will keep us running until our departure date. And, oh yeah. There's a holiday in there, too.

Even though it's not the best month, November is the month of this challenge. So, I've taken it on. The reason I'm sharing this news here is two-fold: First, I don't think I'll have the time or energy to do any blogging on top of my novel-writing. So, both blogs will be on hiatus during the month. (They already have been. I'm just making it official.) Second, this makes my goal pretty public. Now that y'all know about this, if I don't do it, I can just imagine how embarrassed I'll be.

Dear reader, did you have any idea how motivating you are?

I have many words to churn out today, and these don't count. So, I'll close.

See you after I reach "The End".

Better Numbers

It took awhile, but we're finally seeing better looking numbers around here.

A few months ago, the remote control on our Sleep Number bed went wonky. It still deflated and inflated the bed, which (most thankfully) still held air. But, the patented number on the dial started looking like a Chinese character. (And, we don't read Chinese!) The number, such as it was, would fade in and out. We replaced the batteries, not once but twice just to be sure. But, that didn't help. Eventually, the dial became completely undistinguishable.

In the scheme of our motorhome maladies, this was nothing. We had bigger issues to tackle at the time, such as our heat pump that was operating at half power and a refrigerator that went kaputt. With the bed under warranty until November, we put the Sleep Numberless project on our list of things to do in Kansas City. Shortly after our arrival, we went to work on getting a working remote.

The Sleep Number web site was of minimal help. It offered instructions on how to "reset" the remote. (That didn't work.) Apparently, this "numberless" problem is quite common. Select Comfort has spent tons of time and money building a brand around their unique "number" and their technology can't deliver the brand promise. Brilliant!

I called the Customer Service number and spoke to a customer service agent who I think was actually in the United States. She put a new remote in the mail, which arrived a few days later. We followed the instructions to "start up" the new remote. It still didn't work. The next call to Sleep Number Customer Service revealed that we'd been sent the wrong remote. The friendly tech set things up to ship the proper remote ASAP. I confirmed that the new remote would be sent to us here at the park, just as the first had been. A few days passed and we had no new remote. I tracked the package and discovered it was on a truck and scheduled for delivery...to our mail box in Livingston, Texas!

We thought this little project would be easier than the heat pump or the fridge. But, about this time we weren't so sure!

I called to alert Sleep Number about the problem. Another representative arranged to send another remote to us here at the park. I asked her to intercept the package on its way to our mailbox, and she assured me she would. The next day I checked the tracking number and, of course, the allegedly intercepted package was delivered in Livingston and is sitting in our mailbox!

Yesterday, a package arrived for us here at the park. We were delighted to find a remote that looks exactly like the one we have. We followed the startup instructions and within a minute we were back in business.

When our mail catches up with us next week, they'll be a remote in that package, too. We'll return the two "wrong" remotes to Sleep Number. With that "to-do" done, we'll move on to our next Kansas City project.

And, there are many!

Overload

Shopping was the big item on this afternoon's agenda.

So, it was destined to be a good day. Right?

Paul's Dad is in need of two new upholstered chairs. And, as his two least-furnitured next of kin, we were happy to take on the task of finding a couple of new chairs during our stay in Kansas City. After all, it's been so long since we've actually shopped for furniture that we were both eager to take on the project.

This afternoon, we ventured to the Nebraska Furniture Mart. (It's in Kansas, not Nebraska!) Now, if you've been there, you know what we're talking about. If you haven't, imagine a 480,000 square foot building full (and I mean FULL) of furniture.

Let's just pause for a moment and think about how big 480,000 square feet is. It's about 11 acres! That's big! Now, imagine an 11-acre farm of furniture. That's a lot of furniture!

Anyway, we went to the massive farm o'furniture and made our way to the chair department. We found a couple of possibilities. We'll see how that all works out. Chances are we have more shopping to do.

While we were there, we decided to wander around....through the sofas and chairs and bedroom suites and dining room sets and patio sets and kitchen stuff. We spent almost two hours wandering around, imagining. Some day we'll have a house again. And, when we do, we'll need all of this stuff.

YIKES!

I can only speak for myself, but I gotta tell ya. I started to get all sweaty. And, it wasn't about the money. No. It's about all the choices! There are too many. Way too many!

Besides, didn't we just spend an extraordinary amount of time and effort getting rid of a bunch of stuff like this?

Uh huh!

We must confess, these days it's pretty easy for us to imagine owning a house again. But, after this little shopping trip, we really can't imagine furnishing the thing.

Huh uh!

Too many choices. Too much stuff. Too much. Too much. Too much. It was a new level of sensory overload for us both.

By the end of our visit to "The Mart" we agreed that we could see ourselves easily furnishing a patio, a kitchen and a laundry room. The rest is too much. Right now, anyway.

We've often wondered how we'll know that it's time to come off the road. We don't know when we'll know. But, after today, we have a better idea of how we'll know.

When we walk into a giant furniture store and get excited about what's for sale, it's time.

Good to know!

120 in 110

Another week (and some) has passed here in our old hometown. And, we continue to keep ourselves busy. We're just about done with our health care stuff. This week it was the cats' turn. They paid a visit to the vet we loved for a decade or two. They're both doing great. Of course, our boy kitty was recommended a "dental plan" to the tune of nearly $700. Apparently, that's common practice for vets who practice in one of the 100 most affluent counties in the country. We passed on that. Instead, we'll let the boy chew on rocks or something until we can get a second opinion.

I've been working diligently to get our travel blog up to date. I'm not quite there yet, but there are new posts for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Crested Butte, Gunnison and Colorado Springs. More to come, of course. But, it's sure been fun reliving our wonderful Summer days in Colorado. We can't wait to get back!

Here in our old, decrepit home park, we've been dealing with other issues. When we arrived a couple of weeks ago, we were assigned the same site we had in September. It's long enough, relatively level (which is a big plus for this place) and satellite-friendly, which is a rarity in this tree-covered park. A problem we noticed during our five-day stay in September was that the voltage was frequently low. On those 90-degree days back then there were air conditioners humming all over the place, and we were running on just one compressor, so we didn't worry about it. And, since we've returned, the mild weather hasn't required the power demands of summer. But, in the last few days Mother Nature has turned down the thermostat around here. Things have definitely gotten chilly, and the power demands in the park increased. With that, our voltage plummeted.

We've been monitoring the situation carefully for the last few days, keeping a steady eye on our digital multimeter. This morning the voltage was so low we worried about turning on the toaster. It was time to do something.

A week or so ago we brought the situation to the attention of park management, and they promptly dispatched an electrician. His diagnosis was that we were sharing a "Y" with our neighbor from the main line. (That would explain why our power dropped when his AC came on!) There was a problem with the Y, but he couldn't locate it. The park offered to move us as soon as the place cleared out. And, today was the day.

We were reassigned to Site 110, just two sites up. It's just as long and more level than the place we had been calling home. The big question was if we would still be able to get a satellite signal. (This is the same site we called home without satellite in the very chilly days of December 2009.) After packing everything up (Whether you're moving two sites or 200 miles, you have to do that!), we made the move and carefully placed the moose in the hopefully most satellite friendly spot in the new site. We plugged in and headed straight for the TV. It worked! With that, we put down jacks, extended slides and called the new place home.

And, oh yeah, we pulled out the multimeter and put the new site to the real test. We're so happy to report we are rock steady at 120 volts in Site 110.

Life is good!

Rusty

Our first week back in Kansas City has been a busy one. Between stocking up on essentials at our favorite grocery anywhere, visiting family, doctors and dentists, we have managed to squeeze in a little fun.

Wednesday we drove south to Louisburg to finally meet up with fellow bloggin' fulltimers John and Bridget. We've followed each other's adventures for years, so when we discovered they were an hour or so out of town we decided to meet up on the outskirts. Over mighty big and tasty grub at Miss B's Cafe we shared lots of laughter and stories that somehow never made our respective blogs. (Those are some of the best!) It was a real treat to meet these fantastic folks and move their blogroll link from bloggers we only read about to bloggers we've met! We wish them safe travels toward home in Jackson, Mississippi, and look forward to catching up with them again down the road.

Yesterday, Paul brought the Jeep back to its original black after excavating a thick coating of earth collected across the Southwest. It was a big job! Early in the evening I took our bright shiny squirrel into a swanky part of the city for a happy hour reunion with "alumni" from a former employer with whom I was associated for a decade. It's been nearly a dozen years since I worked at this not-so-small local firm, so I wasn't sure I'd see anyone I knew. Sure enough, the third person I shook hands with was a familiar face, and that started the stories flying.

Over the course of a couple of hours I reconnected with a dozen folks from my past. A couple are happily retired, others have launched businesses of their own, and a few are looking for work in this tough market. Then there's me, the former workaholic who's wandering the country in a Winnebago. There was no prize for traveling the farthest to this event or doing the zaniest thing after leaving this denizen of corporate America, but had there been I would have cleaned up.

I would have taken last place in another category, though. It didn't take me long to realize these busy professionals were networking! Over glasses of wine, cards were being exchanged. Follow-up appointments were being booked on smart phones. Conversations centered around work, our old company and an industry that, until two-and-a-half years ago, was the focus of my existence.

Not anymore.

When it came to this kind of talk, I was really rusty! I felt like my brain was covered in the southwestern soil Paul had just washed off the Jeep. I don't think anyone noticed the smoke coming out of my ears as my gray matter struggled to gear back up on the subject matter at hand and recall names of colleagues, products and services for which I once felt heartfelt passion. One former colleague, who recently launched a firm that is similar to the one I left in California, was eager to hear about my work experience in Oakland. While doing my best to provide a helpful answer to one of his questions, I was so tempted to shout out above the trendy music that made it impossible to think, "I DON'T CARE! I DON'T DO THIS ANYMORE!" Instead, I graciously made that the last question and found another colleague who was curious about how it is to travel the country.

When the conversation shifted to travel and the places that all of us have been, I came alive! I love hearing about people and places, and I'll share as much as I know about any given spot with any questioning soul. These conversations are effortless and fun. I've suspected this for awhile now, but last night I witnessed a seismic shift in my passion. It's official. This former workaholic is a travelholic!

I don't even think that's a word. But, I love the sound of it!

Relief

Back when we were enjoying our Rocky Mountain High in Gunnison this Summer I did what I later thought was a dumb thing. I scheduled an appointment for a check-up with my brand-new, never-met-before doctor on the first weekday of our two-month stay in Kansas City.

Now might be a good time to mention I really hate check-ups, especially with new-to-me doctors.

So, when I awoke in the wee hours of this morning with high anxiety about this visit I cursed myself repeatedly. What the hell was I thinking? We have two months here. Why, oh why, did I have to do this nasty deed on one of the first days of our stay?

Fast forward a few angst-filled hours.

Minutes before my scheduled arrival time at the new doc, I was driving along the streets of suburban Kansas City wishing I could turn left and see my old, familiar doctor's office in California. But, that was not to be. There's nothing "central" about California. It doesn't make sense for us to have our doctors there anymore. As much as I don't like it, it's time for us to make a new home base here in the middle of the country. And, even though I was kicking and screaming inside, that meant getting ourselves established with new doctors here in Kansas City.

With pulse pounding and blood pressure rising, I made my way to the new place.

One hour later, I was relieved.

I love my new doctor! Really, she's a perfect match for me. And, the best news is, all is well! I have a few more this and thats to take care of in the next couple of weeks. Here's hoping all will be well with that, too. And, with that, this deed will be done.

There's something really wonderful about having that annual visit behind me just three days into our two-month stay.

It's called "Relief".