Photos from my garden

I think my "oops" blog yesterday was inaccurate - thank goodness, because we all find little things in our postings, correct them, and re-save.  In the comments section Rick said he didn't think that was the problem I was having with the "four posts."  Well...  upon further thinking, I realized what I did that particular day was actually delete the post and start over again.  I was so frustrated that it wouldn't format correctly.  Sometimes it's just better to start all over again, and that's what I did.  I'm now thinking that's why it kept posting as a new blog post - it actually WAS new each time.

Thanks Rick for your comment, it really made me think further.  Whew!  I apologize for misleading everyone, and thank goodness we can continue to correct and post with no worries.

I was writing the other day about my rose garden not being at it's best right now.  It's starting to bloom again.  It's in the front of my condo by the walkway in front of my door, and my kitchen window overlooks the roses.  Here are three of the varieties.  There are also some reds, but there were no blooms today.  I don't know the names:

  

 

 

This one is huge and sturdy.  

When it opens, it looks like a porcelain rose.

These roses were planted by the original owner of my condo, and I think they are very old.  The stalks are very thick and thorny, and the blooms are very fragrant. I love having them to cut and bring in the house. 

 

This is one of the spider webs in my back patio area.  Every year a huge spider sets up housekeeping in the same place and builds a web.  He wasn't at home when I took this photo.  Probably hiding nearby waiting for his lunch to fly into his web.

 

This is another web, but in the front by my front door.  If you click on it, you'll see the spider right in the middle of the web.  Every year this web appears, and it's anchored from my roof in a couple of places back to the juniper tree.  It's huge.

Since I keep getting these webs in the same places every year, I wonder if it's a family of spiders, or the same spider.  I'll have to look that up.  How long do spiders live, anyway?  Couldn't be that long.

This is a bush, not very compact, that is a volunteer, sprouted up a few years ago by my front door.  I've let it grow to fill in a bare area, and all of a sudden I noticed last weekend it's bearing some kind of fruit.  I have no idea what this plant is.  It was just a green bush, but now it's really pretty with this fruit.

I wonder if it will flower.  Or if it's an edible fruit.  I'll have to wait and see.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Friday, everyone!  : )

Blogger blunders: posting, oops... editing and re-posting

Stargazer from Boondocking Blogger posted an apology to her readers, explaining that she found a misspelled word on a previous post and made a correction, not realizing this made the post come up on her readers' lists as a new post.  You can go to her Blog for a better explanation.  This was my comment to her:

"Thank you for an interesting post - I didn't realize each edit causes a post to appear again and again to our followers as if it is a NEW post.  I sometimes find little things in my posts and make corrections.  Probably driving my followers crazy, and I didn't even know it. Live and Learn! "

Last month I had a problem with some information not formatting correctly, and the line spacing was all screwed up.  They were the posts about the many ages of a woman, the Captain Underpants post, and maybe another one.  I had saved that information previously in other programs and was doing a "cut and paste" into my post. Then I added to it, and published.

I have lots of old files of interesting or funny things I've saved through the years.  A couple of times when I've purchased a new computer, I saved documents on CD's (before thumb drives, etc.) and have them filed in my desk.   One day I was going through some of the old CD's and found things I had forgotten about.  I really enjoyed re-reading some of them, they brought back memories of times and places in the past.  I decided to use a few of them in those posts.

So, anyway, I was really frustrated, because they looked fine as I was putting them together and then when I'd hit Publish Post and check them, again they were spaced wrong.  I didn't know why they were formatted wrong.  I'd change the spacing in the edit mode and publish it again.

One of my readers commented that my blog appeared four times, but I didn't realize what she was talking about. Now I know.  I thought it was appearing after itself, four times in a row, but now I think she meant she was being notified over and over that I had a new post.  And it was the same each time.

So, I guess I should offer my apologies to anyone who has clicked on my blog thinking a new post is ready, only to find the same one they have already read.

I did finally find out later when an "Aha Moment" happened that if you take text that's formatted in a different program, it might look okay, but you have to take the formatting out, and re-format it to fit the program  it's going into.  Someone I know had some line spacing difficulties on her professional website, and when I figured out why I was having problems, I e-mailed her and she was able to fix her spacing problems, too.

You would think posting something every day would be pretty simple, but I keep learning new things.  I guess it's obvious, just not something I thought about, that it would re-post as if its new.  I'm going to need to make sure I do all my edits before I hit the Publish Post button.  And check it out on "Preview" too!

Do you ever find a misspelling or something you need to change, do an edit and re-publish?

That's it for today.  Thanks again, Stargazer.  It's always nice to learn something new, especially when it stops me from making the same mistakes in the future.  And - sorry for the misspelled word in my comment. : (   I'll have to start using the Preview function there, too!

From Me and My Dog, have a great day, everyone!  : ) 
(Hitting PUBLISH POST now...)

5-year-old Little League game

A big WELCOME to Carolyn and cpatinjones, two new Followers who are coming along for the ride with me and Katie on our journey to full-timing.  Thanks for your support, and I hope you enjoy reading about our daily goings on.

On Sunday I met up with my son and his three kids, Kennedy - 7, Gavin - 5 and Graydin -1 1/2 at Gavin's Little League game.  Tom's wife is out of town, so he was running all day.  He fed them breakfast, got them all dressed and took all three kids to church, went back home to change clothes, then off to Gavin's Little League game where I joined everyone.  Then after the game, took us all out to lunch in Encinitas, to the Yellow Coyote Tortilla Factory in The Forum. I had the taco salad, and it was fabulous.

After lunch I left them to run my own errands, and Tom took the kids home to change clothes again, then it was time for Kennedy's cheer leading practice.  OMG.  Now I know why God gives the kids to the young people.  After cheer practice, it would be dinner, baths, get ready for bed and school on Monday.

Tom takes it all in stride, but I'm tired just writing about it!

Here are some pics from the Little League Game on Sunday.  Remember, Gavin is only 5 years old, he'll be 6 in December.  He is an amazing little ball player!  It's hard to see the ball in some of the photos, if you click on them, you can see the arrows I've added.

This out was so close, I didn't realize the runner was out until I ran the film clip at home.  Gavin said they won the game, but I don't think they keep track of the score.  Everyone bats, and most of the kids can't throw or catch well enough to make many outs.  Once everyone has their ups, the side is retired.

 Second out.

And another out at first base.  This was the second inning, they play three innings.

Everyone gets up each inning.  They have a bunch of tries to hit a ball thrown by a coach.  If they don't hit it, the T is brought in and they hit from the T.  Most of the kids were able to hit a pitched ball, though.

 

Running to first base.

The game was really fun to watch. They play a different position each inning.  Gavin was Right Field, First Base, then Center Field.  I was pretty proud of him!

From Me and My Dog, have a great day, everyone!  : )

Katie's 2009 Halloween costumes

Thank you all for your comments on my post about buying my RV and going to the Pomona RV show.  I think I'm going to listen to you and drive up.  Actually, they are also having some seminars, and I wanted to at least attend the one about full-timing.  Sounds like I should keep gathering information, and I guess this show is the best place to be for that. 

At the Del Mar show I got the free coffee travel mug.  I have lots of them, but this one is a good size, and perfect to throw the coffee in I don't finish in the morning.  Finish it on the drive in.  Usually I just toss it.  I used the mug this morning, and it worked great. 

Some of the comments said something about a year going fast - from your lips to God's ears!

Last year I concocted three pretty lame costumes for Katie for Halloween.  My daughter Kristy e-mailed me that Lauren, just turned 2 at the time, asked her what Katie was going to be for Halloween.  You have to realize this was coming from a 2-year-old, and she was completely serious.  Lauren loves Katie, and Kristy and Matt tell me she talks about her all the time.

So, not wanting to disappoint Lauren, and not wanting to spend $20 at the pet store on a costume, I looked around the house and came up with these:

 Katie, Katie, Fancy Lady

Katie, Detective Dog

Katie, Master Putter

I got these props together quickly, snapped photos, and e-mailed them to Kristy.  I guess Lauren was okay with them.  I suppose I should come up with something new this year.  New and Better!  : )

I'll let you  know what I come up with.

From me and Katie, have a great Tuesday everyone!  : )

The Del Mar RV show, and living below one's means

So, I attended the RV show on Saturday.  It's only 20 minutes from my house, and it was a beautiful day.  Perfect for walking around checking out RVs.

I saw one I would have definitely been interested in if I was ready to buy.  It's a Tioga - somewhere around 29'.  I didn't get lots of information, since it really doesn't matter at this point, but I sure liked the layout.  It was listed at $39,999 I think, something like that.  In my price range.  It's a 2006.  It was so clean and spacious!  I don't care if I have slides, but they sure do make a difference.

 The colors are good - won't show the dirt as much as a lighter color.

The couch was really padded and comfortable, and the bed-over-cab was very airy.

 Nice sized bed, lots of windows, cross breezes.

 Good storage space, and a nice counter for photos or flowers.

 Loved the kitchen area - seems spacious and good storage.

 The bathroom was nice and clean, big enough shower.

It was really clean, and very light and bright.  I don't care about slides, but I will admit they do add a spacious feeling, and that would be nice for full-timing.  From what I've read and heard, there is very little that goes wrong with slides, but I think given the choice, I'd go without slides.  The Tioga had everything I wanted as far as the inside goes, and I could see myself living in this one with Katie.

This one below - have you seen it?  I didn't write down the name/model but I guess if you can afford it, you already know about it.  See the price?  $899,999. 

It actually has a slideout deck with a large TV that looked like it slides back into the RV when not on the deck.  In addition to lots of other slideouts.  Large rooms, everything anyone would want or need.  Beautiful. Tons of counter space. Very nice rig!  Of course, it's almost a million dollars!

But you know what I walked away thinking?  This is my second RV show now, and there's another one in a couple of weeks in LA - marketed as the biggest one in California - that I was very excited about going to.  I realized, though, that I have at least a year before I can realistically buy my RV.  I think I'm about a year ahead of myself. 

At least I know some of the RVs that are out there, and some of the things I want.  But I'm so easy, I've lived in so many places and really liked them all.  I think I'll be happy in almost anything, as long as it's clean and safe and mechanically sound.  It's really going to come down to finding those three things in a rig I can afford.  Being in the right place at the right time, with enough money to get what I need.

So I decided I'm not going to spend the time or gas driving to LA for the other show.  I'm going to continue downsizing my "stuff" and paying off my debt, and saving my money so I'll be ready in about a year to seriously look for and then buy my RV.  I just have to keep my eye on the prize.  It's easy to forget when something is so far away, at least for me, and I think writing this blog, and reading your blogs, is what will keep me moving ahead to my goal. 

Which brings me to my second topic, living below my means so I'll be ready financially when the time comes to "hit the road."

The above quote is one I found years ago, and have tried to think about from time to time.  When I first saw it, I printed it out on a sheet of card stock and hung it near my desk.  I do live within my means, but when I first saw this I was not.  In fact, now I'm trying to live below my means, and most of the time I'm accomplishing that. It is such a feeling of empowerment to live below my means.

I'm not doing any big - I still have cable (although it's basic cable), I eat well (but I always cook at home, seldom eat at restaurants), I have a nice phone and laptop, so there are things I can't (or won't) live without.  But there are so many small things I do that end up saving money, and hopefully will make a difference over time.  I'm also not buying any new clothing unless it's something I really need.  I have lots of shirts, shorts and jeans, which is what I'll wear when I retire, so if it's not something I'll need then, I don't buy it now.  In my spending days I wasted a lot of money on clothes.  Wish I had all that money now!

That's it for today, and now I'm going to cook some chicken breasts, an artichoke and a baked potato with all the trimmings.  Maybe some wine.  See?  I DO eat well.

From me and Katie, have a great evening, everyone!  : )

The First Poll - totals and some insight

Happy 10/10/10!

WELCOME to stitchnship, and thank you for signing up to follow along with Me and My Dog, Katie.  I checked out your blog, and really enjoyed it.  I agree about the bunnies.  We have lots here where I live.

Taaa Daaa!  Here's the graphic of the first poll response:

Thank you!!! to everyone who participated.

It looks like everyone who responded participates in polls.  I didn't expect that, although as Judy said in her comment the day I posted the poll:  “I’m not sure you’ll get any “Heck No” votes, since that would mean the person answered a poll.”  I had to laugh when I read that!  But since there weren't any "No, I couldn't care less" votes either, ...  You know  -- that was a really bad poll, now that I think about it.  It just occurred to me as I'm writing this:  If you couldn't care less, you wouldn't answer either.  How funny!  

When I lived in Placerville, I worked for the Department of Human Services and was able to work 4-10s.  Four days at 10 hours a day.  I thought that would be great, but actually it gave me three days off, like now, with not a lot to do.  No problem this time around! : )  My friends worked, so the extra Friday, after a while, got kind of boring.  Some of my fellow workers got part time jobs at a local political polling company and encouraged me to apply.   They liked hiring Eligibility Workers because we were good at asking questions and were dependable, they said.  I worked there for a number of months until I moved back to San Diego.  It was very interesting and I really liked the work.  I worked one day on the weekend and three nights a week, right after my other job. (We had to work a minimum of 20 hours.)

What I learned was that if you aren't getting the answers you want, you tweak the questions until you do.  It was like a boiler room that they have for telemarketers, and we'd each get our script and our lists of names/phone numbers.  At the end of the shift, the manager/owner would tally the answers we logged and report them to her client.  (We never knew who the client was.)  Sometimes we'd get a different script the next time around, same questions, but asked a little differently.  

Just like my poll above.  If I wanted the answer to be that everyone who reads my blog participates in polls, the way I posed the five answers would be perfect.  Interesting.

That's why "they" say not to believe all the statistics that are thrown around.  The people doing the polling have bought and paid for the correct answer.  Maybe not everyone, and maybe not all the time, but it can be done, so I guess we have to assume it IS being done.

But, anyway, I still like polls and I love answering them.

I'm still going to include them from time to time.  But I have to admit, I hang up on people who call me on the phone wanting my answers for a political poll.  I know what they are doing and I don't want my views skewed to fit their needs.

When I started writing this post, I was going to say I have to assume RVers are a pretty social group if everyone answers polls.  Being involved, wanting their voice heard.  But we already knew that without the poll.  All the RVers I've met are nice, social people.  Then again, it's easy to be nice and social when you can smile, nod, turn on the ignition and drive away. LOL

I attended the RV show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds Saturday.  I came to another conclusion while at the show, and will write about it tomorrow.

From me and Katie, have a fantastic Sunday, everyone!  : )

Yesterday's errands

A big WELCOME TO CeiPui, Places We Go, Things We See who, like me and others, is now deciding on which RV to purchase, and is planning with her husband to join the rest of you out on the road.  Happy to have you along, CeiPui!

Yesterday I got everything on the list done.  Katie and I slept in, then watched TV and read blogs (me not her : ) ), and lounged around a bit early in the day.   I decided to leave her home when I left on my errands because I wasn't sure how long the oil change would take.

First I went to the Kinkos/UPS store.  I was mailing a good bottle of wine and a gift card to Donovan's (a VERY nice steak house here in San Diego).  They are a thank you gift for a favor someone did for my boss, and I had planned to mail them yesterday on my way home from work.  Unfortunately the store was crowded when I arrived, so I decided to do it today.  They said I couldn't send the wine through UPS, so I asked him to wrap it and I'll figure out something else to get it there.  Maybe drop it off myself next week.

Then I left for the oil change.  I went to a local shop in my area where I have been bringing the Escape since I've lived here. They have a 3-for-2 deal, where you pay for two oil changes, and you get three.  This is my second of the three.

I got there 10 minutes early and when I parked, I saw two birds under a canopy near their door.  It's amazing the things you see in unexpected places.  The birds had a large play area with a bunch of toys and things to chew, and were having a fine time.  They were very vocal and beautiful.

He was just raising his leg to scratch his head.

I don't know what these are - "Red Tailed Parrots?" - Judy, help?

The mechanic said it would take around an hour, they were backed up.  So I walked a half mile down the road to a shopping center and had breakfast.  It was 3:00 and I hadn't eaten yet, so I was really hungry.  I went to the Broken Yolk, and it was really good:

My walk to and from the auto shop was interesting.  It was a half mile each way, and when I walked to the restaurant, it seemed like a long walk. I was hot and tired when I got there.  After eating, drinking water, and relaxing a bit, I walked back and it went really quick.  That's why they say to eat a good breakfast before doing a 5K or any long walk.  I never realized how much difference walking on an empty stomach made.

I brought my Droid and camera and took a few photos.  I brought my Droid to see if there were any geocaches along the way.  Nope.  The walk to the shopping area was along an industrial road, but now that I'm blogging, I'm bringing my camera along more and noticing things I wouldn't have seen before:

For some reason, I thought this was funny:

And I thought this lamp post was sad - there are two unkempt houses on the street in between the industrial buildings and vacant lots:

AND HERE COMES A RANT:

After picking up my car, I went to the gas station. I always go to a Shell station that's close to where I live.  It's very convenient.  Unfortunately every time I go there, I get mad.  Since my company pays for my gas, I have to get a receipt every time I fill up.  After filling up I put the gas nozzel away, screw the gas cap in, close the little cover and WAIT AND WAIT AND WAIT for my receipt, while Shell runs an ad across the readout where it will ask me if I want a receipt.  They are trying to get me to apply for a Shell credit card.  Does your gas station do that?  It infuriates me that after paying over $3 a gallon and pumping my own gas, and cleaning my own windshield, and sometimes paying another $6 for a car wash, I then have to WAIT AND WAIT AND WAIT to get my receipt because I'm watching their ad.

I used to go into the little store and complain.  Didn't do any good.   So, what I decided to do a few weeks ago is, I kick the gas pump and hit it with my fist where the receipt is going to come out.   I kick, kick, kick, hit, hit, hit, until the receipt comes out.  Sure makes me feel better.  Today a man came up to me and said maybe I needed to go inside for my receipt.  I said, "No, it'll come out after their ad stops scrolling.  Until then, I'm just kicking and hitting the gas pump.  My response to their unsolicited ad."  He just smiled, nodded and walked away.

Someday I'm going to get arrested...

I finished off my errands with a trip to the grocery store, uneventful.

From me and Katie, have a wonderful Saturday, everyone!  : )

Poll is over soon, fake names, and Sunshine Katie

Two more days until the Poll about taking polls ends.  Looks like everyone answer polls, but mostly it depends on the poll.  If you haven't responded to my first poll which was originally posted on September 26, vote now.  I'll post the totals on Sunday.


One thing I learned is that keeping the poll open for two weeks is too long.  The reason I did that is because we all have new readers joining us, and I wanted to give new people a chance to read older posts, see the poll, and answer if they chose to.  But I think that's way too long, and from now on I'll close the poll in one week or less.  Most of us keep up pretty well, I think, with our blog reading, and three or four days is probably long enough.  Otherwise, who even remembers the poll, or cares after two weeks?  Even I forgot about it, and it's my poll!

Merikay commented about my FREE gift at the RV show.  Thanks for reminding me about my Fake Name!  When my friends and I go to a fair or trade show, we try to remember to bring a sheet of mailing labels with our name and address and phone number.  Then we can just stick them on the forms they want us to fill out to get something free.  We had the REAL ones, and the FAKE ones.  I had forgotten all about that - today I'll print up a sheet of labels, one-half will be the real me, the other half will be Elizabeth Anderson, my "other" name.  I always use Elizabeth Anderson if I don't want someone to have my real name.  I love that name. It looks good, sounds good, has lots of potential nicknames, and is at the front of the list alphabetically.  My favorite name.

Katie just came in from the patio for a snuggle.  She is SO warm!  She loves laying out on the patio in the sunshine.  Her favorite place is on the carpet in front of the patio slider.  Softer and warm.  But once the sun moves over the house and the sun leaves the carpet, she's out on the patio.

 Sunshine Lover, Katie

Have you noticed Katie's Daily Puppy Pic?  What a cute puppy today!  I check out these pictures every day, but some of the puppies are just okay, and some I love.  This is a really cute one.

Hope you are all feeding the fish.  Don't forget the turtles at the bottom of the page.  : )

From Me and My Dog, have a nice evening, everyone!

My weekend plans

It's Thursday night!  The beginning of my three-day weekend.  Katie and I have a lot to do this weekend, and hopefully we'll get it all done.  As you know, I DO have a tendency to be lazy sometimes. : )

Tomorrow we have grocery shopping, some packages we need to have wrapped and shipped at the Kinkos/UPS store, and then we have an appointment to have the oil changed in the car.

I have a 2001 Ford Escape, I've loved this car since the day I got it, and I hope it keeps running until I need to sell it to go full -timing.  I REALLY don't want to have to buy a new car.  So far, so good.  It still feels like a new car to me.  I've never liked a car so much or driven one so long.  It has 132,330 miles on it, but I've never even thought about trading it in.  So, I try to keep the maintenance up, keep the tires good, etc.  I bought it when I moved to Pollock Pines, right on the snow line, because I wanted a 4-wheel drive and snow tires so I never had to worry about getting stuck somewhere.  You know, Just In Case.

This photo looks exactly like my car.  You'd never believe it's ten years old:

2001 Ford Escape

I noticed tonight I have ants all over the kitchen.  Not swarming, but a thin stream coming out of a high cupboard, down to the stove, across to a drawer and continuing to an upper cupboard.  Also going in the opposite direction on the other side of the stove, across the counter, down by the fridge.  I have had a few now and then out on the patio, but nothing in the house that I can remember this year, and I want to nip it in the bud, so to speak.

I had ant poison in the cupboard, and some spray.  I sprayed the areas lightly (hate doing that in the kitchen) and put the poison stuff out.  Now tomorrow I'm going to have to really clean that area thoroughly.

That's Friday.

There is an RV show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds this weekend, about 20 minutes from my house, and I plan to go either Saturday or Sunday.  It opened today and runs for four days. They are showing new and used rigs, so it's right up my alley.

I just went to the website to check the dates and times, and it is FREE, with FREE parking, and look at this:

It's part of a form you print out and bring with you.  I just printed it out.  Put your name and address on the form, and you get a FREE gift!  I love FREE gifts!  Guess who's coming home with a FREE gift???

I don't know how big the RV show is, but I'll let you know. I'm looking forward to it.

My grandson Gavin has a T-Ball baseball game on Sunday, and I'm planning to meet my son at the ball field to see the game.  He's five, and this year he's totally gotten into sports.  Watches ESPN, collects baseball cards, knows all the players, their teams, all that stuff that guys know.  He's a big Padres fan.  My son has season tickets, and he and Gavin have gone to a lot of the games.  If I can get some good pictures, I'll post them on Sunday.

Then the usual cleaning, laundry, dog walking, tiny bit of gardening, and I want to replace a house plant that died, too.  That should be enough to keep me out of trouble this weekend.

I've been watching hulu.com tonight, catching up on some shows I haven't had a chance to see yet.  I saw the first three episodes of The Whole Truth tonight.  It's pretty good.  I don't know how I've missed the first three weeks. It must be opposite something I usually watch. That's why hulu.com and ch131.com are so great. You don't have to wait for re-runs.

So, I'm now going back to hulu.com to see what else I've missed.

From me and Katie, have a great night, everyone!  : )

Trees, bushes, plants and bud vases

I wanted to show you photos of some of my favorite plants and trees in the area I live, which was built in the early 1960's as a retirement area.  There are still lots of retired people here, but more and more we are having younger people moving in.  I've lived here almost six years now.

This is the lake, with the fountain they've put in to aerate the water:

You can rent little boats, and the condos and homes on the lake can have private docks and keep their own boats.  One couple has pedal boats, and sometimes when Katie and I are walking along the accessible part of the lake, I'll see them pedaling from their condo across the lake, over to the side I'm on, where the pools, restaurant, meeting rooms, etc. are.  I see people fishing, too, but I think it's catch and release.

The gardeners in this area do a fantastic job.  Each homeowners association has their own gardener(s) on staff, and ours is great.  When I first drove around here, I kept noticing these Pyracantha bushes growing up walls, and I thought they were trying to shape them into words.  I couldn't figure out what they said.  Well...they aren't letters, they are just trimming them the way they are growing.  But I think it's very cool.

Katie and I usually go to the lake on our walks.  We pass these bushes growing on the walls on our way to and from the lake:

A couple of the homes up the street from us have these plants, Yucca?, that are flowering now:

This spider spun a web in the Oleanders down the street at the corner.  I also have a huge spider like this right outside my front door.  Every year at this time, these spiders are in the area, and they are huge. 

Every day to and from work, I drive by these trees a block from my condo.  We have a lot of trees in the area that are trimmed into a half circle like this:

or flat and round like this:

I just love walking around the area and looking at all the beautiful trees, bushes and flowering plants.

These Bougainvilleas are in my little grass/patio area in the back of my condo:

I have a rose garden in front of my condo, but it isn't at it's best now.  Also lots of bulbs and a lavender plant, among others.  I cut them all and bring them into the house when they are blooming.

I have some hanging vases that I bought with the intention of bringing them with me RVing.  They are small, lightweight, and some of them hang, so I can always have a flower or rooting stem, even on the road.

This photo is from Pottery Barn, where I got mine.  If you look closely, you can see a wire around the top that extends so you can hang them.  There are a lot of different hanging bud vases here. I will probably get different kinds and colors for my RV, since they are cute, colorful, and easy to keep filled.

From Me and My Dog, Katie, have a nice evening, everyone! : )

Cords for electronic items

WELCOME to Rick and Paulette, new Followers of Me and My Dog.  The funny thing is, I've been reading "Rick and Paulette's RV Travels" for so long, they have always felt like members of my little blog family.  Thanks for making it official you guys! Welcome aboard.

WELCOME also to Joe64, who has a blog (Joe64-Weg-nach-Canada) which is written in German.  Joe, I noticed you have the Google translate gadget, which works very well.  And beautiful photos!  Thanks for following along on our journey to become full-time RVers!

Well, I've made an appointment with my local Social Security office in two weeks, so I'll be signed up in plenty of time to get that first check in January.  : ))))  Thanks for the comments received, I appreciate them.  The article Diana references in her comments is a very interesting read.  If you want a clear, detailed look at various options, check out the comments from yesterday and use the link Diana left.

So, to end this post, I'm showing you a photo of why I need a label maker.  At least one of the reasons.  Can you say OCD?  But really, how else can I keep track of all these?

I've finally gotten a system - attach a label as soon as I unpack any electronic item and put in the same drawer with the rest of the cords, so when I need it, I can find it. 

These are from my old cell phone, 3 for my new DroidX, phone earpiece, 2 for my Olympus camera, Kodak camera, 2 Kindle cords, Logitech mouse, Garmin GPS, MP3, and 2 universals.  15 cords.  And that doesn't include the cords in my car so I can re-charge while driving or away from home.  Unbelievable!

From Me and Katie, have a nice evening, everybody!  : )

Social Security

Hey, msucheermom, WELCOME to Me and My Dog!  Thanks for signing up to follow along on our journey.  Feel free to comment.  I didn't see that you have a blog, but if you do, let me know so I can check it out. : )  We're not on the road yet, but that's THE PLAN.

I have no good photos to go along with my post tonight, so here's a photo of Katie in her spiffy new walking vest.  It has safety trim that glows when light hits it at night.  You can kind of see it in this photo.  It also keeps her from pulling out of her collar when she gets excited.  And I worry about those coyotes,  if I need to yank her up fast, I don't want to choke her.  Isn't she a cutie?

 Since it's October, and I'm eligible for Social Security in January, this is the month I sign up (three months prior).  This evening I'm working on signing up on-line.  I've gotten almost to the end of the form but I'm afraid to complete it.  From what I've heard in years past, once you decide when and how you're signing up for your benefit, and the application is done, there's no going back.

The Social Security Administration employee that I went to see last year when I signed up for Medicare told me I can collect one-half of my former husband's monthly benefit since we were married more than ten years, and I am now unmarried.  If I decide to do that, my Social Security benefit will continue to grow until I decide to collect under my own SS number.  She said it was some kind of loop hole that benefits divorced women (or divorced men if they earned less than their former wives).

I assume some of you retired RVers are collecting Social Security.  Anyone start collecting their Social Security by taking one-half of their former spouse's benefit in a reduced monthly payment, then later on down the road switch it to your own, for a larger benefit?

One-half of his benefit is less than my whole benefit amount, but not by a lot, and since I'm still working full time I can afford to take less now, so that I'll receive more later.  When I'm full-timing, every little bit will help.  But...  once I push the final button, that's it.

I think I'll hold off on completing it tonight, and make an appointment to file in person, so I can be sure I have my facts right. I'd hate to reduce my benefit for the rest of my life because I misunderstood.

I am soooo looking forward to that extra check each month.  $$$$$

 Two weeks to go, can't wait.

From me and Katie, have a good night, everyone!  : )

DroidX geocaching app

I found an app for the DroidX at geocaching.com.  They had an advertisement for Groundspeak's Geocaching for Android Application, which showed there is an app.  I clicked on the ad, and that brought me to the Groundspeak website.  I read the reviews, which said the app is very good, it costs $9.99, and you have to be sure your Droid's GPS is "on." The default is "off."  These are some screen shots from the Groundspeak website:

I went to the "market" app on my phone, searched for geocache and the first one in the list is the Groundspeak one, and I bought it.  I figured it was worth trying for so little cost, when the hand held GPS units are $300 to $400.  And it did have very good reviews. 

When I try it out, I'll let you know how I like it, but just going into it a little bit, it showed me the nearyby Geocaches, just like on the geocaching.com website, and other things.

I also saw this book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geocaching on line - it looks like the best price is at Amazon.com.

Whenever I start something new, I always look for books to read about the subject.  I'll probably get this one when I get into geocaching more. 

 BTW, I was toooooo lazy today to leave the house.  The weather is erratic and Katie and I snuggled, and I ate Cheerios, strawberries, grapes and jelly beans, and played "computer" all day.  So I didn't check out my new geocache app. But I will, I will.  (I can be so lazy...)

I've been reading comments from bloggers on other blogs, and everyone seems really happy with their DroidX.  So I 'm glad that's the one I chose.  It's been three years since I've gotten a new phone--you can imagine the learning curve I've got.   I'm trying out some of the apps that are mentioned.   The grocery one I'm going to look up - they said no more grocery lists. That sounds good to me! 

So, from me and Katie on a lazy, erratic Sunday, have a nice day, everyone! : )

Updating my Garmin GPS and the hand-held version

I have a Garmin Street Pilot c550 GPS for my car.  I am so directionally challenged, it truly changed my life.  Before I got the GPS, when presented with a choice on whether to turn left or right I would ALWAYS turn the wrong way.

I was never very good with north, south, east, or west.  If someone gave me directions, and said to turn east, I'd ask, left or right?  So, the GPS was a Godsend to me. 

I bought the update program a while ago, so I can update my maps whenever there is a new one, for a certain period of time.  Right now, as I'm typing this post, I'm updating it.  Bring it from the car into the house, plug it into the laptop with the appropriate cord, go the the site, and "update maps."  Couldn't be easier.  But it takes quite a while for the whole process to update.

When it is done, I'm going to see if I can download free POI stuff.  I learned about POIs from the blogs I've read, so Thank You, everyone who has blogged about them.  I noticed they have POI files for phones, so I'm going to see if I can download POI information for my new DroidX, too.

Another thing I've learned from bloggers is geocaching.  While waiting for the maps to finish downloading, I was looking around the site, http://geocaching.com/, registered, and put in my address to see what was near me.  There are LOTS of things, one about 1/2 a block away.  My friend lives up on one of the hills here, and there are tons of things hidden by her.  I might give her a call and see if she wants to take a walk soon, and see what we can find.

I think tomorrow I'm going to take Katie and see if I can find something by my house.  There are a few nearby.  I don't have a regular hand-held GPS device yet.  I tend to buy things, and then not follow through with the activity.  So, I want to do a bit of searching and finding and see if I like it before I buy one.

Geocaching is something I plan to do when I'm full-timing, though.  I think it might be a way to "get me out of the house" and walking and/or hiking in the area I'm staying.  Good for Katie, too, to get in more exercise.

This looks like a highly rated hand-held GPS on the geocaching.com site. It's a Garmin GPS 60CSx Handheld GPS Navigator.  I'm sure some of you have one.  

I checked in at Costco.com to see if they had it on-line, but they don't, at least not right now.  Pretty expensive item, I'd definitely want to purchase it at Costco or on Amazon.com at less than the MSRP. By the time I'm out on the road living in my RV, they might have updated units, though, so I'm probably better waiting.  Expecially since I'm trying so hard to be frugal.  The old me would have bought it now.  The new me is going to wait.

Well, my Garmin maps just finished updating, so I'm going to play now - see if I can download the POI places to my Garmin.  AND, I just thought, in addition to downloading the POI to my DroidX, maybe I can download the geocaching info to my phone.  Use it as a hand-held GPS.  Wouldn't that be great?  I'll let you know, I noticed at least two other bloggers are getting or just got a DroidX.  You might be interested, too.

From me and Katie, Have a nice evening, everyone!  : )

I did it - earned the September badge!

I did it!  Blogged every day in September.  I earned the September badge.

 SEPTEMBER

Now I'm going to try for October.  I don't love the October badge as much as September, but it's cute, and I'm going for it. : )  This is the preliminary badge, and if I make it, I'll put the I Did It badge below in the right margin.

 OCTOBER

I'll work pretty hard for a cheap prize.  Works every time with me.  I think that's how I met my goal in Weight Watchers.  They have rewards that you get for every five pounds lost, you get a star sticker and other stickers for various things, etc.  I got a some key chain attachment rewards, but didn't need to lose enough to earn the actual key chain, so all my prizes are sitting in my desk, sans key chain.  But that's okay, I still earned them.  And lost the pounds.

It's Friday, and today is my day for donating blood at my local blood bank.  I try to go every 60 days, but was thrown off schedule when I went to my daughter's house.  Then they called and said they had a need for my blood type, so I'm going in today.

We had the greatest weather yesterday!  LOUD, rolling thunder, went on and on, fabulous!  Lots of lightening, lots of rain.  Dark skies.  It was great.  We kept the front door open all day at work so we could hear the storm.  I think it's supposed to keep up for a few days.

From SignOn San Diego: "Three days after coastal temperatures broadly soared above 100 degrees for the first time since the early 1960s, a second, unrelated system moved into San Diego County early today, producing at least 1,100 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes."

Here's a cool photo I got from that website of a lightening strike :

September 30, 2010 | Michelle Murrett

"The Blue Angels rehearse off Governor Drive for the start of the annual Miramar Air Show, which begins Friday."  Our old office (that we moved from in September) was near Miramar, and during the practice days preceding the Miramar Air Show, the jets were so loud, we couldn't hear on the phone.  Our new office is far enough away that we only heard a few that went right overhead today. 

I've always complained about the weather in San Diego (I'm probably the only person in San Diego County complaining about the weather), but this year I've changed my tune.  It hasn't been the usual "warm and sunny, clear skies, light breezes" predictable weather EVERY DAY; the San Diego weather people have actually had to work this year.

From me and my Katie, have a happy Friday, everyone! : )