Sharing photos, videos, vintage images I've discovered, and -- occasionally -- commentary and thoughts from retired life and travels.

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Our accident

December 26, 2010

“The coast ain’t clear, __-___”

image

This isn’t our car and it’s not even the same model year, but the front end of our car looks something like this.

If I had just a moment and could turn back the clock, that’s what I’d tell the person that waved the kid through.

It’s what I would tell the kid, too.

We had just seen “True Grit” at a new theater that just opened about an hour’s drive from home. On the way home, we decided to go ten miles out of the way to go out to eat.

When it happened, we were driving on a road that  is two lanes in each direction with a center turning lane.

We had just gone through a traffic light as it turned yellow. The next light had just turned green and the cars stopped there had started to move.  We were in the southbound lane next to the turning lane and there were fewer cars ahead of us than there were in the other southbound lane.

Just after we made it through the light that had turned yellow, a car that I hadn’t seen darted through a gap in the other lane of traffic.

They had been waved through by a driver in that lane.

“The coast ain’t clear, __-___s”

We were about three blocks from the restaurant we had decided to go to.

I hit the brakes and thought that we just might make it – but realized, just before impact, that we weren’t going to.

We hit hard, but not so hard that the air bags deployed.  The impact moved us a little sideways, so that the front, driver side tire was over the yellow line of the turning lane.

Shortly after the impact, the kid backed his car back into the drive of the convenience store, clearing one lane of traffic. The __-___ driver that had waved the kid through didn’t even stop to see if anyone was hurt.  The accident happened right in front of their vehicle, but they just drove off.

Our car wasn’t going any place under it’s own power.

“My chest hurts.”

Karen still had her seatbelt on.
_____________

Karen’s brother brought us home after she was released from the Emergency Room.

Karen is still hurting, but nothing is broken – according to the x-rays – and her heart is fine.  She got a shot for pain at the Emergency Room and got a prescription for the same medication – something that doesn’t cause nausea.

I’m fine – no pains that I can attribute to the accident. Tomorrow may be a different story.

The car is 6 years old with quite a lot of mileage on it.  It’s probably totaled. The cost of repair will probably be more than the value of the car.

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Holiday Cheer.

December 25, 2010

2010 12 24 015ed

Well Christmas has come, and soon will be gone.

It’s cold here and, while we had some flurries this morning, it’s not a white Christmas.  The winter storm that hit the southeast US missed us.

Our youngest daughter, her hubby and kids are traveling from the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee on their way home.  Part of their travel was to be through some areas with snow, but, hopefully, it wasn’t too bad.  Living in the north, they are familiar with winter weather.

We had an abbreviated visit with our older daughter – shorter than planned.  Her husband had a bad cold and stayed home.  She had a short visit with her mother-in-law and then came up the hill for a middle of the day meal with us and a few hours with us before leaving with enough time to get home before dark.

I hope that the rest of the holiday season – and next year – is great for everyone.

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Traveling in Tennessee, Virginia and Wednesday Weigh In

May 7, 2009

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There are more images at Out ‘n About

We are currently camped near Staunton, Virginia. Tomorrow we will be camping in a small campground in Virginia Beach and will be visiting my Mom in Norfolk.

This hasn’t been the greatest week for a traveling and camping trip. When we are camping, we like to take hikes and we only got a couple in. It’s been raining every day and every night — not continuously, but heavy at times and often enough to make things a little difficult.

When we’re traveling, we stop every couple of hours or so and find some place to walk.

Sometimes, we are able to walk at rest areas. When we are able to do that, we make from a couple of “laps” on the walkways to several if the walkways are limited. It helps loosen us up and makes the trip go better. Today we were able to walk at three rest areas. One of them had a “pet trail” that turned into a half mile loop trail into the woods and we had already done the generous rest area walkways.

Off the interstate highways, rest areas are few and far between. We’ve found other places that work well for walks. Shopping malls, of course, are good. However, we’ll often stop at a “big box store” like Walmart, Lowes, or Home Depot, and make several laps around the inside of the store.

We also walk at campgrounds. Walking the entire campground that we were at in Great Smoky Mountain National Park was probably about a mile, which we did 3 evenings, I think. The campground we are at now is at least that, but also has a rather generous uphill section.

We did get several short walks in that on a couple of days when we were able to dodge the storms. Yesterday afternoon when we the campground, the rain had stopped, so we decided to do one of the closest trails, a 2.6 mile round-trip hike to Laurel Falls. It was nice. I’ll post pictures later.

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So far as food, I generally don’t overeat too much when we are traveling. We’ve eaten out twice, McDonald’s and Subway. We’ve been eating sandwiches mostly for lunch and regular food for supper. I’ve been eating less snacks, I think.

See other participants’ results at Blog to Fit – Wednesday Weigh-In.

Wednesday Weigh-In – May 7, 2009, exit78.com

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Recycled Tip – Think About The Audience That Reads Your Blog

February 8, 2009


posted on flickr by jot.punkt

Note: This post was originally published August 4th, 2007. With it’s publication, Exit78 saw its first “spike” of comments — all 10 of them plus several link backs. Check the end of this post to see how many of them are still active on the blogs they linked from.

I was a sailor. Spent nearly nine years in the US Navy – fifteen full months under water.

Have you ever heard the phrase, curse like a sailor?

Even though I spent what seemed like a lifetime around other guys that did, I don’t curse like a sailor. On a few occasions when I did use a choice expression, I can recall a few raised eyebrows.

The reason I don’t often swear is that I considered who my audience would be if I slipped up and let my bad nature show. I really didn’t want to be sitting down for Christmas dinner with the family only to blurt out something in front of my Mom that would embarrass both of us and others.

It was a conscious decision to take into consideration possible audiences and change bad habits that were already developing before they became very difficult to alter. It’s worked.

I believe the same concept goes for blogging, whether it’s for blogging for money or blogging for fun. Will your blogging voice, your blogging personae attract your audience or will it drive your audience away? There are some internet income related blogs that I have tried and then left because of what I perceived to be the attitude of the authors.

For me, it comes down to:

  • Be yourself,
  • Be nice, and
  • Be family friendly.

In the last few months, I have decided to really be myself.

I’ve stopped being anonymous online. I use my name when I blog and when I comment. My family, friends, and former co-workers are welcome here, though they may not agree with some of the opinions expressed here.

While I’m not a blogging expert nor an expert about making money online, this tip is just good old fashioned common sense. You are a part of what you are trying to sell online.

The comments and link-backs for the original post provide an interesting indicator of the life-cycle of blogs. Below, I’ve shown the most recent post date or status for the link-backs and commenters to the original post:

  • 8/21/2007
  • blog no longer exists
  • blog no longer exists
  • current — but confusing
  • current — but confusing
  • closed “in light of recent events.”
  • current — but confusing
  • February 7, 2009
  • Dec 10, 2008
  • February 2nd, 2009
  • February 8th, 2009
  • January 20, 2008
  • blog no longer exists

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Opportunity in Unsettled Times

November 25, 2008


One of my favorite places in the world is 20 miles from the nearest town and seven miles from the nearest road.  Nearly treeless except for those few planted to provide breaks from the harsh winds of winter, it is a broad expanse of lush grass covering the dunes of an ancient desert — land unforgiving of those who tired to break it to the plow — land perfect for ranching.

I never knew the whole story of how the ranch came to be.  All I can remember of it is that a farmer in the days of the Great Depression, with no market for his crops and beef, was able to save his land and his herd by being able to buy a large supply of grain at extremely low prices.  As a result of taking advantage of an opportunity in an unsettled time, the family was able to make it through the hard times and, a little later, buy 21 square miles of range land where the farmer’s son and his bride settled in 1941.

The ranch hold significant positive memories for me. Experiences associated with the ranch, its owners and their family helped shape who I am.   The ranch — a result of a farmer taking advantage of an opportunity in an unsettled time.

The world again faces unsettled times — and opportunities.

What kind of new opportunities might be on your horizon?

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We did everything right…, and now we may have to pay anyway!

September 22, 2008


To support his family during the
Great Depression, my wife’s grandfather
had to travel to places where there was
work.  He built this small “camping
trailer.”

We did everything right…, we thought.

We “bought” a house that we could afford on our budget and never re-financed, though it probably would have been smart in order to get a better interest rate…, or to pay it off earlier.  But now it’s paid off and that doesn’t matter.

We never bought more on credit than we could afford…, but sometimes it was close.

We did without the toys that others bought…, no bass boat, no four-wheeler, no recreational vehicle — until recently.

However, we did travel, sometimes on our own dime and sometimes on company business, with us paying Karen’s way and the cost for the side trips that we made.

And we saved, saved, saved — most of the time on a single income.

Our vehicles — except for one — have always been new, never used.  But we always drive them until they are just about falling apart — except for one, a different one — , so we generally get decent value out of them.

And we always, always pay our bills on time — except for that one bill that fell behind the couch back in 1978.

Creditors usually like us — we did everything right.

And now it’s likely we’re going to have to pay because others didn’t do it right…, and I’m just a little upset about it.

I’m not upset at the people who were able to finance more than they should have been able to.

Its.. not… their… fault!!!

I’m upset at the greedy bastards that let them finance more that they could pay for — the people who came up with variable interest loans and other creative financing schemes that were going to make the loans possible for those who were too close to the edge — the regulators that deregulated — the politicians that made it legal to deregulate.

I’m upset at all the people who worked to change the rules that said you had to live within what you could afford, that said you had to be able to afford whatever debt you took on.

The way we did….

Damn greedy bastards!

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