you are the best thing

This is what trouble really looks like.

This is my nephew Blake, and this morning I got a text from my sister saying she was taking him to the hospital. The text said that his breathing was labored and that she was up all night watching over him. After a couple of hours she texted me with an update on his condition. Turns out the lil guy has pneumonia and has to stay overnight at the hospital for observation. They began treatment immediately and started him on antibiotics. The upside to all of this is he pulled the monitor lead off his foot this morning, and has been fighting the nurses every step of the way. This has been a tense day for the family, and hope tomorrow will be better for us. Especially for lil bubba!

We're waiting to hear back on some test results this morning, and hoping the antibiotics work fast against the pneumonia. It's the waiting that's the hardest part. My sister hasn't left his side or slept much since this started and I honestly don't think I could even imagine what she's going through. I don't know how parents handle this.

shelter

August is (thankfully!) almost over and we're due to get some rain this week too. I'm feeling better about my lateral promotion now that a little time has passed and I've gotten to know my new boss. Given what I've gone though in recent years, any changes in the work place make me nervous. I know that if I lost my job for any reason, I would have nothing to worry over since I'd simply start my plans sooner. It's the interruption in finances which in turn affects my plan to pay off bills that would really bother me. Things are good for now, but I will win my freedom!

I've been living vicariously thru Robi of Tumbleweeds and Lemonade since she hit the road over a month ago. She's had a bit of a rough start but is working the kinks out and starting to get the hang of things. It's been a great learning experience for us both even though I'm only doing this via phone calls w/her. I think the main thing I've taken away from her experiences is that I'm right to want to stay clear of major cities (guard shacks too). I swear that people living in large clusters are sometimes absolute dicks. Anyone living a mobile lifestyle in one knows what I mean by that. Maybe I'm just getting to be a grumpy old man, but I don't think so. I'm completely enamored with being in the desert, taking in everything around me, and (most importantly) simply slow down to enjoy it all.

weekly sundries

Hi guys! I know, I've been missing in action. A lot of recent changes kept me busier than normal these last few weeks. Here's a brief run down of what's occupied me. I was moved to a new team at work (same pay unfortunately), I was ill (not fun at all), I started talking longer walks (to help lower that bad cholesterol of mine), and resumed an old online habit which is known to siphon life away (eve online - for anyone interested (no it's not porn)).

I've gotta run to work now, but there's more to follow shortly ...

i've been a little busy lately

garbage on my mind

One of the things I wondered about was how to handle garbage in a full timing life style. I know RV parks have trash bins and can dump anywhere I travel making this a non issue. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about extended boondocking stays where there are no trash dumpsters. This got me to start thinking about how deal with garbage. The first thing I remembered was reading about how one full timer said he trashed unneeded packaging (after shopping) into the supermarket dumpsters. He also mentioned cutting out and saving any directions that hadn't yet been committed to memory so you avoid guess cooking food. It's a great starting place that helps reduce some of the bulky stuff. Over the last year I started putting into practice that and a few other ideas. My main push was to reduce the amount of trash generated. This is something I (we) take for granted growing up with weekly pick up and normally never give much thought to. I altered my grocery purchases by getting items that came in resealable bags (which are reused later) and/or items with minimal packaging. The difference was dramatic and I was no longer generating as much trash as before. Next I had to solve the issue with the smell and any bugs looking for a free meal. The last thing I want is for my trailer or truck to be overrun with flies or ants or both! For this I started reusing resealable/ziplock bags to hold discarded veggies, trimmed animal fat, and/or empty cans. As an extra precaution I tie them up in leftover cellophane market bags (double bagging it sometimes) to keep kill the smell of spoiling scraps. Also, make sure to squeeze the air out of each bag before sealing to reduce it's volume as well as smells. I've practiced this for the last year or so with great results. It now takes me two weeks to fill a 13 gallon trash bag versus 2 of them in a week. Perfection! I'm figuring the longest I'll sit anywhere before I have to restock is two weeks.

Since nature has a way of proving us wrong repeatedly I decided to put my practices to the test. I placed a full bag out on my patio to see what would happen. No bugs and better yet; the local cat and raccoon population never messed with it after sitting out for a few days. I hope this works with the coyotes, mice, squirrels, and the chipmunks in the desert. I'm not sure what I'll do in bear country and am thinking of just avoiding those areas altogether when they're not hibernating.

If anyone has any ideas that help please share them.

Steve