Waterfront Living

OMG, what a month this has been. My plans to sell the trailer I had been living in were squelched when the owner of that park sprung the news that I had to REMOVE that trailer from the park if I left. Nice, huh? The chances of finding someone who wanted to buy the trailer AND pay to move it were pretty slim (since I had paid less than $5000 for it just one year earlier), so I gave it to a neighbor who was able to remove it (at no cost to me) and use it himself for a hunting camp. Win-win. I chalked up my original cost of buying that trailer as still less than apartment rent for that year.

Then I move over to this new park and the manager starts making noises about my RV. She's concerned that it's too short (?), too old (it's a 1998), "is it self-contained?" she asks. This new park is under new ownership and the manager doesn't seem to have a clear picture of what they want. I'd like to think they want clean, quiet, employed people who will pay the rent in a timely fashion, but what do I know? After two weeks of not knowing if I could stay or not, I enlisted the assistance of one of the maintenance guys here who helped clarify things between the owner and the manager and now I have THE BEST SITE!

I am in "the ghetto", as they call it here. It's in the far back of the park, on a cul-de-sac, ON THE BAYOU (yeah, waterfront, baby), and pretty much all permanent renters here, versus older, retired snowbirds. We're all around the same age +/-, we all work, and we all like to hang out and just get along with each other. If there's a downside, it's that Hillsborough Avenue is within a few hundred yards of this section. After living off I-75, though, this highway is nothing. It has already become white noise.

I can launch my kayak right from my backyard. I can sit here and look at the water and I even heard we get manatees going by. Yes, this park and this site are a bit more expensive than my last place, but it's still less than $500 per month for site rent. The cost of electric for the first two weeks I've been here, in the dog days of summer with the a/c running? $20.

Long Time, No Blog

I am SO not into commitment. After one full year of living in a 26' travel trailer in an RV park in Wesley Chapel, I have decided to divorce the trailer, move back into My Way (my class B) and move to a different RV park on the far west side of Tampa (Westchase).

The park where I've lived for the past almost-two-years is becoming less "RV park" and more "trailer park", with an increase in questionable folks coming in and a decrease in budget on maintenance and staff. Maybe it's just a sign of the times, but I'm not happy with what the park is becoming ,so I'm getting out of here before it gets any worse.

The park I am moving to is at the top of Tampa Bay and I'll be able to put in my kayak right from the park and paddle the creek to Tampa Bay. The park is more spacious, less crowded, better staffed and cleaner than where I am now living. And yes, it is more expensive, but I'm willing to pay more to live in a nicer park. It's closer to my work, restaurants, shopping and to my friends and the beaches in Pinellas County.

My rent here is paid through mid-September and I'm going to start my lease at the new park on September 1, so I'll have time to transition. The first thing I need to do is get a shed on the new lot for storage. After that I'll be all ready to move.

So I'll be back to fulltiming it in the Class B. Actually, I've missed that and have really enjoyed the times I've taken off in it for several days at a time. I just love the simplicity of living in that really, REALLY, small space. Stay tuned.

Florida Longhorns

I suppose these are descendants of the famed Texas Longhorns, but these are right here in good, ol' FLA. Aren't they cute? But heed the sign, as I did.

Lesson Learned

Last month I took a two-week RV road trip to Hershey, PA. On my way up I was on the road three nights, dry-camping each night at either a Walmart, Cracker Barrel or highway rest area. No problems, nice and quiet, nice level parking. When I finally arrived at the Hershey High Meadow Campground, I registered and paid and then discovered I had been assigned a site so angled and uneven that no number of lynx levelers would get My Way anywhere near level. I complained to the manager, who was nice enough to move me to a more level site for the same price, but it really taught me a lesson. Now, before I plunk down my credit card, I ask permission to check out the campground first. I look at my assigned site, I check out the bath facilities, and I even carry a volt meter so I can make sure the electric box to my site is properly wired and won't fry me or my rig. Overall I make sure it's a place I want to stay regardless of the price. Having spent many perfectly fine nights dry camping for free at different spots in the past year, I now expect quite a bit more from any campground that wants me to pay to stay.

Brand-New Antiques

I hate used antiques. So old and dusty and, well, used. Antique tables made daily. NOW you're talking.

First, I'd Wash My Hands

As we're coming into cold and flu season, I figure it's my duty as a nurse to talk a little about the number one thing you can do help keep yourself from catching something - wash your hands.

The first thing we learned in nursing school was how to wash our hands. It's the best way to keep from transmitting germs from one place to another, like from a doorknob to your eyes, nose or mouth. It's the first thing doctors and nurses should do when they enter a patient's room, before they touch the patient. It's also the last thing doctors and nurses should do when they are done touching a patient and are leaving the patient's room. Frankly, anyone coming into or leaving a patient's room should thoroughly wash their hands. If you are ever a patient, don't hesitate to remind anyone and everyone to please wash their hands.

The title of this post comes from the statement we made as student nurses when we were being checked off on the various practical skills we had learned. Because our classrooms usually didn't have sinks, we'd always start off by saying, "First, I'd wash my hands" and then proceed with demonstrating the rest of the skill.

I actually learned the way the state of Florida wants healthcare workers to wash their hands when I became a Certified Nursing Assistant. It's pretty involved, but it's the right way to do it. Basically you wet your hands, add soap, work up a lather and scrub both tops and palms of hands, scrub each hand's fingernails on the opposite palm, individually scrub around the thumb with the opposite hand, and scrub your wrists up to the width of your hand. Rinse your hands and wrists thoroughly. It should take 20 seconds or the length of time it takes you to sing your ABCs. Then you dry with a paper towel, use the paper towel to turn off the faucet and open the bathroom door (if you're in a public restroom). The thing to remember is that your hands are only as clean as the last thing they touched. Period.

New Closet Drawers

I've made a change in the clothes closet of My Way. I used to have one of those three-drawer plastic storage bins in there, but that left about a foot of space between the top of the unit and the shelf of the closet. I would store my toaster oven and George Foreman grill in that space, but every time I was underway those two items would crash against the closet door. I figured it was only a matter of time before I did some damage to something so I bought a taller, seven-drawer unit. It has the same three larger bottom drawers and four smaller upper drawers all in one unit. It was 41" tall, which was a bit too tall for the closet, so I took the top drawer section off and reattached the top cover (the whole thing comes apart and goes back together). I was actually able to use just that extra top drawer to store my spices and squeeze that drawer on top of the whole unit. For extra security I use a bungee cord to hold it all in place.

Now I've got a real junk drawer for things like my utility knife, duct tape, zip ties, etc. and two more drawers that I can use for miscellaneous papers and who knows what else. The toaster oven and George Foreman are now on the shelf with my coffee grinder and two cookbooks. The stuff that was on that shelf is packed into the old TV cabinet. Somehow, it all fits and much better so than it did before.