Vacation in Gulf Shores at Best Deal in Gulf Shores! La Bella Vita!

What a treat! It was my first longer winter absence from the North's cold and snow! It was winter cool but certainly no snow was seen on the Gulf of Mexico. Only the white sand beaches were white ! I spent hours on the condo's balcony sunning myself! The beach was a constantly changing walkway! The backyard tropical area was a refreshing bit of the areas summer in winter! The boat docks provided many hours of bird watching. I will do it again. My condo was named the La Bella Vita by its owner. They post more details on http://www.vrbo.com/196958 where one can find specs, phone numbers, and pictures. I strongly recommend this unit! South facing balconys are not always available but this one has one! I would love to spend some summery time there some day too.

Hey, It's 60!

I woke up this morning and while getting my coffee ready I heard what sounded like some kids noisy pickup outside! Then I realized it was coming from across the highway from the motorcycle shop! It must now be officially spring! Yup, sure enough bikes were out on display and the place had lookers a plenty! Noisy little bastards! Anyway, about 11am it was so inviting sunshine wise that i took the 25 minute walk over to Hardee's for a cup of coffee! I even took off my cap to sun the bare spot up there! One has to work on that so it doesn't burn later! Maybe I'll spread some sunscreen up there and take another walk! And it's funny how that sun and all makes me want a new summer jacket!

How Time Flies

Here we are in the final hours of March! Wow! Where did the past 4 weeks go? I guess they passed unnoticed into history. I've been putting up with the miserable climate of cool nights and not much better days. If we get to 40 I rush out for a walk! I like to see the sun pushing back the snow banks at least on the north side of the streets. Some sidewalks for what they are worth are appearing too. Strange what the melting snows uncover! Yesterday I saw a lost bike, a few hubcaps, and other odds and ends! Come on lets get on with spring with some nice sun and nice temps and a few crocus and daffodils!

The House is in Good Order

Well after waiting a few months and then moving for a week I have things in pretty good order in the new high rise suite! I'm actually having fun "decorating" if that is the proper term! I found a place for most everything to start and then made more space when necessary! I enjoy the separate rooms and the kitchen! I don't have to stare at the unmade bed all day now. The kitchen is not stainless steel and tile but it allows me to use a stove for the first time in a dozen years! I can actually cook in pots on burners now! I need to get accustomed to the highway noise which I didn't get much of in the old house since it was in the back! All things considered I have decided I like the new house! Tonight I had a steak to celebrate!

Melting Today!

It looks like the weather is heading toward spring! Highs will be in the 30's today! Its nice to see the white stuff starting to disappear! Soon I'll be walking again! The cold of winter has kept me indoors a lot. I have to loose another bunch of fat this summer! Sunshine please!

In Two Months

Oh my I have been delinquent in posting here on Driving Around but I guess its because in part that I've been driving around or for starters flying west to home since that last post from Gelderland! Its been a busy two months with a few major events.

1.Picked up the Ex-pats now Unexpats at O'Hare on New Years Eve and had a leisurely trip back to the U.P.
2. Spent near a week in Canada with the Staffords fulfilling some legal requirements! Had a good time with the cute little baby at a nice cozy cabin in the Canadian Soo!
3. Made a couple overnight trips to Hancock to visit with the cute little one who was staing with her mama and dada at Grandma's house.
4. Convoyed to Birmingham with the Pensky truck and the Grand Caravan and spent a few days there enjoying the sun and warmth of the South!
5 Enjoyed a morning in the hospital just Tuesday having a port put in to make infusions much easier! We already used it yesterday!
6. Moving to a new suite here in this building! A real cute apartment with a real bedroom and small kitchen with a stove! I can actually cook now! My view changed from east to west too! Does that mean I will be facing the setting sun!

I promise to enter here more often as things settle down now and we wait for spring and the melting of the snows and greening of the earth here on this cold, cold -4 degree morning!

The Sun Shone Today in the Nederland's Gelderland!

As the sunshine warmed the Dutch countryside the weeks accumulation of frost on the trees and ground melted off but the freezing temperatures of the past few days left the flooded areas along the dikes frozen stiff! Hundreds of folks were out enjoying the almost endless skating rinks there as is the tradition here. We then went through the outdoor market in Wagenining where each Wednesday and Saturday shoppers can find a big assortment of fish, meats, cheeses, fruits, vegatables, bakery, fresh and live herbs, of course, fresh cut flowers and live plants, and more and if course visit with plenty of people doing their Saturday shopping! Beth bought a bunch of budding tulips and Buga got a loaf of bread which she gnawed on for the next hour or so and ate the "whole thing" by herself!

Thanksgiving 2007

At my age its hard to say what and who in what order I should be offering to thank on this Thanksgiving Day. I guess the fact that I still live to talk about it is one thing. Thank you Baxter and Accredo and Drs Smoot and Bruner and DCH and the staff there for your help. Thank you Mr G and company for your support and help and for the fun we had with the horses. And thank you, family and friends, for your support during those scary times!

I've managed nearly a year now in retirement and have no regrets that I couldn't continue working. Thanks to all and everything that made and continues to make the lazy life possible.
I've been thinking about family and am happy and thankful that all of you are safe and sound and doing your things. Thanks to all and everything that makes that possible. Of course we keep Grandma J in our thoughts!
Of course there are many more thanks to give but that would take a book!

I'll conclude by saying thanks again to Mike and Lupa for today's meal and company. Knowing you two is one of life's special treats!

The $64,000 Question!

I had my chance at the money but blew it!

Yes, I Was There!

A truck driver with manure a fork! It was a bad combination but necessary since Mrs. G wasn't there!
Ross poses for the camera after his 2nd place showing in the men's cart.
Grand Champion Belgian Gelding! His name is Cash!
This is our horse wagon! Done up in Mr. G's shop from a used furniture type trailer. The front third is the trainers/drivers quarters and is complete with hot and cold water, bathroom facilities, fridge, stove, bed, storage, heat or AC powered by an on-board Honda generator. The center area has stalls for 6 horses and it too is air conditioned. The rear area has room for the big show wagon and other show supplies. Its suspension is completely air so the horses have a very smooth ride! They do complain once in a while with comments like "Are we there yet?"

It was quite an experience for one who has not been to the "big time" as far as horse shows are concerned. Its too big to put into words but you can imagine what 1100 horses could do for 4 days in an arena which easily held 92 two thousand pound horses hooked by 6's to 16 wagons. Absolutely incredible! The Wilderness Ridge Farms horses did their tricks some of which we can brag about and some which will need more work over the next months. Mr G can be proud of his gelding named Cash who was named the Grand Champion Belgian Gelding. We can be proud of Ross and his 2nd placing in the men's cart class! I think we can be proud that we were there and survived the week without any major "hitches". I did, however, give Mr. G a black eye when I smacked him with a chunk of harness I was cleaning! I guess one should not get too close to a dumb truck driver demoted to harness cleaner!

Help! Too Many Horses!

Here a horse,
There a horse,
Everywhere are dozens of horses!
One cannot escape the horses!
Hear a horse banging on the wall
There a horse clomping down the aisle,
Everywhere is a horse click'n n clack'n
One cannot escape the horses!
The sights and sounds
The smells and textures
Everywhere are horses of every breed
One cannot excape the horses!
Not at this horse place!

By Monday morning when we leave this horse mania I will have seen more horses for more days than I ever thought could congregate in one place for so long!

Today was a Real Nice Fall Day

It was so nice in fact that I took two long walks in the neighborhood. The sun was out and the northwind wasn't howling too much. A few folks were out mowing lawns and there was even a painting crew outside at the local pub. Some late fall flowers were displaying their final colors as our first big frost hit this week. Maybe next spring I will have the ambition to put in a little flower bed downstairs. All in all, how many more such days will be coming! I hope quite a few. I really hate the thought of freezing cold and blowing snow! But, it too will come and I'll watch from my window....if I'm here!

With over 1,000 draft horses from around the U.S. and Canada, the MGLI is unarguably the most significant annual draft horse show in North America.

And we are on our way Tuesday morning to high step around the arena at MSU's Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education! They hitch 8 horses there! Hopefully just for fun! Take a look at this U-tube tape of some of the 2006 events! Will Wilderness Farms six horse hitch take a top placing again? The video is of our hitch in Ohio.

So You Think I Do Nothing?`

I just counted! I have 11 medicallly related appointments in October! One is already done at the dentist's place where he is making me some new chompers! Also in October is the 6 day trip to Lansing for the GLI Horse Show! Such is the life of the retired horse pulling invalid!

Holy Smokes Again

Man, its been along time again. I have been so busy again that I just havent gotten to sitting here and typing! Between hauling the bills home from the post office and hauling the horses to Ohio and dieting all day and walking two miles and pumping iron and whatever else I hope you can forgive me for not blogging. I noticed today that some of you check regularly and I do appreciate your interest! Sometimes a total stranger gets to the site too! One day I saw that someone from South America somewhere followed a link to Driving Around! Anyway all is well here. I guess I proved to myself that I was still capable of running a 700 mile day twice in a few days as those trips to Ohio amount to such. We just can't pull in to a rest area and take a nap with 8 sweaty, angry Belgians stomping and scratching in the trailer! The excercise and diet are putting the numbers in line with normal. The nurse at the ACU last week wondered if the pressure meter was working right cuz the pressure was so low. The scale might lie but belts don't. That belt that was too tight in May is now running out of holes! I'll have to punch a new hole pretty soon! Havent had much else in activity. Tried to get out camping again but the weather was threatening when I could have gone. Mid October brings us to one more horse run. This one to Lansing for one of the biggest of the nation. Its at the MSU Campus and is the Great Lakes Invitational Show. I hear we will be gone from Tuesday the 16th till Monday the 22nd!

Walking Around

I can't leave out dieting around and infusing around and "biking" sitting still! There was no "horsing around" this week so I've been sitting around watching the weather for a good camping window. It was nice Thursday but I figured I had better stay home to wait for any reactions to my proteinase inhibitor infusion. None showed up. The phone, however, kept ringing with calls from the good folks at Baxter Heathcare Corporation developer and manufacturer of Aralast, the stuff the IV dribbled into my veins, and Accredo Health Group supplier of specialized biopharmaceuticals checking to see how I am feeling and of course hoping that I was still living so they could depend on me for bunch of profits spanning the course of whatever number of years they can prolong my life! Then on Friday I decided it was nicer to sit here on the patio and get a good dose of sun instead of fighting the hoards of campers out for the weekend! Upon taking a walk I decided this walking around the neighborhoods stuff is really hard on the local dog's naps so I decided to go to Kmart and get me a stationary bike! So now I can ride in peace in air conditioned comfort! As far as the dieting and finger pricking go I think I've managed a bunch of successes. Most days of the last three weeks I have managed to stay at 1500 or fewer calories, fewer than 200 carbos, and fewer than 60m grams of total fat. In the past couple of days I have started to boost protein consumption (for those abs) to about 100 grams a day. Look out Charlie! We all know scales can lie but belts can't. In May prior to departing for The Netherlands I was forced for the sake of comfort to make a last minute longer belt buy at the Big Lots near my motel in Green Bay. Now I have gone down to the third hole on the belt which was too short then! Congratulations to me! And then there is the finger pricking! Hey this blog sounds like a doctors daily journal! But anyway it answers the question everyone asks like "How are you doing?" I'm sure they aren't concerned about my checkbook or how badly the stock market recently insulted by investments or if I am succeeding at my retirement or whatever! When people ask an invalid, "How are you", I presume it to mean that they want a rundown on my health. Anyway, most of the finger pricking results are very low so either the $4 per month Metformin, the diet with absolutely no donuts, and the exercise is doing the trick or I was misdiagnosed. Oh, I almost forgot a few things. The heart is pumping with reasonable pressures, the cholesterol is under control and the foot tingles might be subsiding with the daily dose of Parkinson's pill (be sure to follow that link and hope I WIN BIG) and I've been a month on only one Albuteral inhaler! Let me know if I missed anything because its hard to remember it all! I started out talking about looking for a camping window and maybe one will develop by tomorrow! Want to come along?

I Love These Silly Headlines

This is today's after closing headline on Yahoo's financial site


Dow Jumps 150 Pts in Late Rally AP -
Wall Street shot higher in a last-minute advance Wednesday after careening through a session made turbulent by ongoing concerns about U.S. home loans and the credit market.








The way it looked I thought I was going to lose another shirt off my back today. But for some reason the market rallied and the American Way is safe for another day!

Zero

Back few weeks ago I presented a piece about my Coke dilemma. I just want to say that I have adjusted very well to the new drink and would highly recommend its consumption to all who long for the taste but not the calories or the carbos or the sugar! Since it is totally sugar free I think it would even be fine to give the kids for breakfast before school! The only nutrition it has listed is 40 mg of salt! Try it, you'll like it!

My Great TV Show Ratings Gig

The Nielson lady called a few weeks ago and asked if I would help her out by participating in the TV ratings game going on this week! She asked a bunch of questions and said I would get the stuff to record my viewing habits in a few days. Well, its almost over now and I have faithfully kept my diary since Thursday morning at 5 am. Actually I was asleep then so I told the diary that I was not watching TV. Who in their right mind would be at 5 am? People are supposed to sleep until 8 or 9 or so or get up and go to work.. Anyway I show that I don't watch a lot of TV. I watched the Today show a little, then Regis and his girlfriend a little less. I caught a twenty year old Cosby show once. I spent a few hours watching Animal Planet and TLC and the History Channel. Ice Road Truckers is on the History Channel. What a bunch of wimps! Anyway pardon the swerve. If I remember and if I am not busy I watch the TV 6 local news but the Peterson lady half anchor drives me nuts with her speech and presentation. I often wonder where they find these people. Anyway, I didn't help the big time networks much because I didn't watch any of their garbage takeoffs of American Idol. So I did my share and I'm sure they will appreciate my efforts. They even paid me already! There was a one dollar bill stuck in with the paper work!

Camping and Fly Killing

This excursion into the hills of the wilderness of the Porkies gets a "D". Not so much for the campground but for the flies and the heat and the beach! Seldom have I seen the Lake Superior shoreline as hot as it was on Monday evening, Tuesday, and this morning! It was hot! And I suppose the heat brought out the flies who chewed on me temptingly! And then of course my enjoyment of the beach or should we say the rocks wasn't all that great given the heat and the flies!
It is very easy to find a rock to sit on at the beach. Actually it looks like one or two big rocks! Darn near should have rock walking boots, knee pads, and padded gloves and maybe even a helmet to walk this beach!
Then there is the view of Lake of the Clouds and its surrounding hills. This sight sort of makes up for the beach and the heat and the flies!

But can you believe I tended the campfire for a few hours. I guess I was trying for an outdoor sauna! It wasn't the only campfire either! I think the smoke helped chase the flies to wherever they went....like into car!

These folks woke up real early in the morning to claim their personal island! I don't know if the guy was banished from the island or what but he was standing out there in the water as if he was begging to be allowed back on rock! The Porcupine Mountains are home to the largest Hemlock forest in the United States and possibly the world. Huge Hemlock forests once dominated much of the Lake Superior region of the Western Upper Peninsula.