It’s a New Year After All…

Posted on January 2, 2016January 2, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Happy 2016! It’s a new Year, a new beginning, a new calendar, a new, well you get the idea.

Did you make resolutions? I did not. Too much of my life is like hanging onto a run away train and I don’t know any way to change that.

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Although I’m told that I work 9-5 Monday – Friday once the busy season starts that kind of goes out the window. Until we get going for this year I really have no idea what my personal time is going to be like.

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They are adding more staff this year. Most will be starting in February or March and they will be changing the teams so I can’t begin to guess what my work load will be like but glad to have more folks on board.

I got my summary from WordPress about my posts last year. I only added 90 new posts. Well, if you are one of my followers you probably know that already. That’s not very good. Part of the reason was that I was working 7:30 am – 11 pm and weekends for most of the spring and summer and even if I’d had the energy to post a story my mind was too overwhelmed with work to think of anything to write. I try not to write too much about work because I don’t want anything mis-interpreted, good or bad! I love my job but it got out of control last year.

So with fingers crossed that I will have a bit more time here are my hopes for 2016

#1. I’d like to say that I am going to make a real effort to increase my posts this year. If I can’t think of anything to say maybe I can share a picture of Rocky or Buddy.

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#2. My team gave me a membership to a photography museum and part of the membership is a portfolio review. I am totally an amateur who gets lucky sometimes with my photos so putting together a portfolio that can be reviewed by real professionals is going to be a challenge. But it will make me move out of my comfort zone. So that’s a another goal.

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#3. No goals about losing weight. By now I know its not gonna happen. Besides, I don’t look so bad for somebody who’s almost ready for medicare but I do have some financial goals.

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I raided my savings account to upgrade my time share. It was the smart thing to do but now it’s time to start paying myself back. I feel much better with a healthy emergency fund.

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And that’s about it for goals..note I did not call them resolutions. So wish me luck and I will wish you all luck with yours too. Have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016!

Off I Go Again!

Posted on December 14, 2015December 14, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Mystic Dunes. Sounds kind of like a Fantasy novel doesn’t it? I’m about to find out if it lives up to its name.

There are many perks to owning a time share but one that always comes as a surprise to me are the free trips. Well, not entirely free. They require you to listen to a sales pitch for 90 minutes. At my last “update” I decided it was time to upgrade my membership. Changes were coming and it was likely that I would not see these deals again and I do love my time share. As a thank you for upgrading they gave me a “Dream Vacation” to Las Vegas (including round trip air fare for 2)and a trial trip of 3 days and 2 nights at Mystic Dunes in Celebration, FL. I also had a ton of points (think time share currency) that I would lose if not used by December 31 so I found myself back in the air heading to Orlando a mere month after my vacation to New Orleans.

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To fly down, come back home, and fly back again didn’t make any sense so I negotiated an extra night at Mystic Dunes and rented 2 more nights (for about the same cost as that extra airfare would have been), making my planned stay Dec 1-December 6. Then I planned to hop a commuter flight from Orlando to Miami for another week in South Beach Dec 6 – Dec.13. I should be good and relaxed when I get back to work.

I flew Southwest from Providence to Orlando where I made a spur of the moment decision to upgrade my Enterprise rental car from economy to what ever they had on the lot with a GPS. What they had was a Lincoln Navigator. Talk about a top of the line upgrade. I wasn’t sure if I was going to faint from shock or laughter. This huge behemoth of an SUV just for me! It had automatic running boards that popped out when you opened the door and a good thing too or I would have needed a step ladder just to get into it.

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The salesman helped me load my luggage in back and set the GPS for Mystic Dunes before sending me on my way.

Now remember, no trip is without its pitfalls. If you keep that in mind you will be able to handle the little trials that come out of no where.

I had just left the airport and was trying to pull onto RT 528 when I realized I couldn’t adjust the side mirror. It was folded in on itself. Trying to navigate Florida traffic without a passenger side mirror is suicide but pulling onto the shoulder to make the adjustment was even worse so I drove very cautiously waiting for an exit.

Before I could find one an alarm went off on my dash board. The rear hatch wasn’t closed. Apparently the salesman hadn’t pulled it shut when he loaded my luggage. I had visions of my bags falling out and bursting open all along the highway.

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By now I was on RT 4 and exits were starting to show up. I pulled off at an exit for a Comfort Inn. Using their parking lot I first closed the rear hatch, breathing a sigh of relief that both bags were still there, then released the side mirror and adjusted it.

Getting back on the highway was a little tricky but once there I settled in for a GPS directed drive to Mystic Dunes. But such was not to be. I’d barely gone 2 exits when another alarm went off on the dash. This one said low tire pressure. Give me a break! The car didn’t have 5000 miles on it. The next exit was my old faithful. The exit to the resort I usually stay at, Cypress Point so I pulled off knowing there was a gas station.

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Before I did anything I looked the tires over. They looked fine to me. Big tires! Then I tried calling Enterprise roadside assistance who told me to fine a tire store and have them fix it. The “helpful” woman gave me an address for a Tire store but someone did not have up to date info. There wasn’t one there. After driving around for 2 hours (on the allegedly flat tire) I found a Walmart where they helped me out in the tire center. The right front tire was “soft”. They topped off the air and sent me on my way once more.

As it was now approaching 2 pm and I had yet to even have breakfast I decided Mystic Dunes could wait a little while so I could enjoy some lunch. There was a Golden Corral right down the street so that was were I headed.

Good Advice

Posted on December 31, 2014December 31, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I found this picture in an ad for QUIBIDS on Facebook but the advice is good even if you don’t use the bidding site. Great MEME Quibids!

Happy New year!

Rocky’s Antics

Posted on December 27, 2014December 27, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Rocky must have been feeling left out since Buddy was getting all of the attention. I had to protect the tree didn’t I?

So while Buddy attacked the Christmas tree, Rocky went missing. I saw him head into the bedroom but he usually doesn’t spend much time there if Buddy and I are in the living room so when he didn’t come back I began to get a little concerned. After all, he’s no spring chicken at 13.

I tried calling him..no luck . Not even an answering meow. I looked under the bed, in the closet, even opened the bottom drawers of the dresser. No cat. Buddy was at my feet but he wasn’t any help unless tripping me counted.

The tree box was standing on end at the bottom of my bed. I took a chance and peaked in the tree box and there was a little ginger face looking back at me. He got in and couldn’t get back out. I tipped the box on its side and Rocky flew out like he was shot from a cannon. Once out he gave himself a lick and a shake and walked off as if nothing happened.

Today Rocky gave me my Christmas present. A little late but no less sweet.

Rocky and I used to play fetch. He could go at the game for hours. The rules were simple. Rocky would bring a mousie to me and I’d throw it. He would retrieve it and bring it back and I’d throw it again. I was always careful to follow the rules because if I changed them he’d quit. He’d quit if Smokey decided to join in too. It was a very sensitive balance.

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Since Smokey passed over the rainbow bridge Rocky hasn’t once brought a toy mouse to me to play fetch. Oh he plays with the toys but like a normal cat. I tried to get him to play a few times and he’d just walk away.

Well today he brought me a toy mouse and laid it at my feet. I picked it up and you could see his body tense, a sure sign he wanted me to throw it. So I did and held my breathe. Yes! He took off after the toy, caught it and proudly brought it back. We played like that for about 10 minutes until the mouse took a bad bounce and escaped under the china cabinet.

In spite of my best effort to rescue it the momentum was lost but for a few minutes we’d enjoyed a fun game that I thought was in the past.

Thanks Rocky 🙂

(The cat picture with the mouse in its mouth isn’t mine nor is it of Rocky. I have never been able to capture that shot but this is exactly how Rocky looks. The same look in his eyes. Nice shot whoever took this.)

Got Kids?

Posted on June 20, 2014June 20, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Got Kids? I don’t but I “borrow” a couple every now and then when the urge to be maternal overtakes me. Well behaved kids are cute, even fun to be around. Sadly I see fewer and fewer well behaved kids when I’m out and about. Must be a sign of old age. I’m sure the same was said of my generations and we’re no worse than any other.

But I digress, I wanted to share a really cute idea. In fact I watched this amuse and entertain a bunch of kids for a whole afternoon.

Next time your kids complain about not having anything to do don’t plunk them in front of the TV or the computer with a video game. No! Give them a potato.

Give them some paint, pipe cleaners, paper and plastic wheels.

When I was a kid we cut a raw potato in half, then carved a design in the bottom. Once the carving was done we dipped the end in paint and stamped the paper. We made stars and lines and circles and all sorts of things. Tater Art!

Or maybe carving them like a pumpkin? But maybe you don’t want your kids to play with sharp objects. Ok then how about sticking some plastic wheels in your tater car?