Getting Busy

It has been a little while since I wrote my last post. The days are getting a little busy with work, and I can hardly find some free time. It is hard to get used to this ‘new concept’ that you actually need to work to earn money.

Magnificent Times

Sunday, January 24, 2010 – It was a beautiful sunny morning outside, and we woke up slowly, taking our sweet time having the morning coffee and tea. We had to go back to feed the animals again at Belle’s. Last night I emailed Al and he responded this morning inviting us to the farm they are staying. So today we get to see both Belle and the animals, as well as Al and Kelly again. What a great day!

Morning at the Ranch

We drove to Silverado Ranch and fed the horses, the donkeys, the dogs, the birds and all the rest. We did not stay too long as we wanted to spend some time with Al and Kelly. I think in 45 minutes we are done with the feeding.
Belle was in a good mood this morning, listening to music. Actually her own music she wrote some years earlier. Among other traits, Belle had played the keyboard, and would love to play it with me (I play the keyboard too). Unfortunately, Belle’s keyboard is in storage, and I hope we will have time to stop by when we come back from TX, and spend another day here, and play together. Belle told us that tomorrow a new guy is going to come and stay with her – he is a horse trainer, and will bring his horse too.

A day with the Bunch

Before noon, we were ready to go and meet Al and Kelly. We punched the address to our Tom-Tom and started driving. The ranch is near McNeal, AZ and the way our Tom Tom took us was through some narrow gravel muddy roads. We thought something must be wrong, but before long – we saw the motor home parked beside one of the ranch houses on the road.
It was a big brown house insulated with straw! Very big and nice house. The yard was clean and well taken care of, and a group of three donkeys was playing in the pasture. Before we opened the car door, a group of 3 or 4 dogs have greeted us, and Moe started to get excited. We introduced Moe to his new friends and let him run around loose. Moe was so happy – it has been a while since he could run free like that, with friends.
Moe played and ran around, and had a great time with Checkers, who joined him to a tease play with the donkeys. Every time they came near by, Moe had to tease them until they started singing together in a chorus.
Al, Kelly Patti and I opened some garden chairs in the porch, sat down in the sun and just had good time talking. When you meet great people – you just know it, and it did not matter what the subject was, it was interesting and pleasant. I felt so comfortable around those guys – we could so easily connect together. We stayed there until later afternoon and had hard time to go. it was just magnificent time together.

Working again

Monday, January 25, 2010 – Just before we got laid off from the company we worked for, we were ‘on the bench’. What it means is that the company could not assign us a project, and we were in stand-by waiting for work. Since last June, the company came with new rule, that if we are not utilized, our pay is cut in half. Unfortunately, that was our situation in the last 3-4 months. This situation has two sides to it – on one side, we were paid to do nothing – very easy to get used to, believe me! But on the other side, we were paid only half, and of-course, that could not last for ever, so we ended up without a job at all.
Now, that I work on my own, I actually need to do something to get paid. Don’t get me wrong - this is great that I have projects to do, although short term, and I still need to find a long term solution. I am just adjusting to the new reality – from having fun to actually working full days. I am in my adjusting period. Better get used to it, and fast :)
Anyways, as I was handling the morning calls this morning, I mentioned to Patti that something did not sound right with Belle, and asked her to call and check if everything is fine.
Patti called Belle and found out that the guy that was supposed to be there never showed up. I was still on a conference call with a customer when Patti said
“Good Bye, I am going there”.
I said – “Let me help you, just wait few minutes, the hay bails are heavy”.
“Oh, I will cut them and load them in pieces” was the answer and before I know it, Patti was on the way.
The rest of the day was nothing but work, work work. I sit on the little desk I have in the RV, overlooking the back window, and program.

Great dinner

Patti decided she is going to cook for me one of my favorite dished today. Curry Coconut Chicken. I love the combination of coconut curry – I think it is a winning taste. Almost any meat could be cooked in this sauce, and you can add to add so many different ingredients to make it more interesting.

Visiting old Bisbee

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 – A start of a ‘normal’ day. Getting up early and going to work. The difference is that I work from home, and home is wherever I am parked. so this concept is a little odd, but in many ways it is similar to what a ‘normal’ person (read: non RVer) would normally (read: not laid off yet) do.
As I was working, the sun, the trees and the mountains are teasing me through the window just in front of my eyes, calling me to get out, see the city before we leave here and head back to TX.
At about 2:00 we decided that we are going out to see the town. We first drove to Shady Dell – a unique campground style hotel, where you are living in renovated old RVs. But I mean very old – the wheels are still made of stone, and the food is the daily catch. Well, maybe not that old, but pretty old. Here, have a look:
When we were done, we looked at each other puzzled – OK, what now? We drove back to the campground and decide to simply walk around. Patti looked for geo-caches and found one right in the parking lot of the Queen Mine tour, just below the campground.
We continued on Main street, and looked at the antique stores, the art galleries and the old inns and hotels along the road. Some interesting attractions caught my eye, and you can enjoy them in this slide show (click the Play to restart the slide show)

We really wanted to visit with Al and Kelly one more time, but they were busy today, and it did not turn out. I am sure that we will see each other again.
From all this work pressure I got as of a sudden, I did not even have time to properly say good byes to Belle, and I hope on our way back we will be able to stop by once again. Will see.

Turning back East

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 – Yet another conference call this morning. Actually two! Patti took care of everything this morning by herself! The hookups, the inside the outside – the whole nine yards. By the time I was done with the phone, all I had to do is hook up the truck and drive.
Our destination for the day is Deming. I am expecting the part to my RV to arrive Camping World in Anthony, TX tomorrow, so it would make sense to get closer, instead of driving over 300 miles in one day.
Why Deming? because I wanted to see the Escapees campground there. Many RVers are talking about it, and I thought it worth a visit.
The way to Deming was a little over 3 hours on highway 10, and my pick-up had some hard time at some parts of the road to pull the heavy weight, but slowly and safely we made it.
The campground itself was a Parking-Lot style place, with a little space for each RV on one flat surface. No Internet! and although the price is right, I think this is not our type of campground. We will head out tomorrow morning, and try to stop on the way at the Wal-Mart we saw in town. It has been a while since we showed our loyalty to the firm.
Tomorrow morning, guess what? You got it! Conference call! this time is at 8:00AM WOW! Need to go to sleep early! Good night!