I will not be stymied by a freakin’ leakin’ hose

Posted on by March 12, 2018

I will not be stymied by a freaking….leaking…hose.

Man.

When you finish the job like you knew you could….and get everything back together….and the high pressure line leaks out of the top of the nut at the new power steering pump…..just weeping enough that you can’t get it right…even though you know that it’s “close”…..welllllll……..GACKKKKKKKKK!

Gack.

And….if it’s raining….so working on the vehicle in your gravel floor, open sky garage is uncomfortable….what do you do?

I’m taking it to someone.

I’m spending money to avoid discomfort.

I’m hoping that experience will keep an easy job quick and easy.

I’m hoping that a mechanic other than me will look at it and laugh at how easy the fix is and put it together for me and get me back on the road before I have to use the Mail Jeep on the route tomorrow.

Awwwwwwww…..where’s the right O-ring when I need it?

Why you gotta be leaking like that?

fifty one percent

Posted on by March 11, 2018

Jenny and I were talking about the whole “glass half full” situation on the ride back up from Greenville.

Maybe it was me who was talking about it.

I don’t know why it came up.

Anyway, I started ranting like a street corner preacher when we were discussing it….fooling around….amusing myself….probably at Jenny’s patient expense.

What I said was something along the lines of, “I think that the glass is 51% full all of the time, but that we buy into the illusion that there’s a decision to be made about the condition of the liquid in the glass.”

We buy into the illusion….because we don’t know any better.

The glass is 51% full….even if it looks like it could swing either way.

Fifty one percent….all of the time.

Fifty one percent doesn’t give us the option of pessimism….even if it looks like we have that choice.

I guess that I didn’t want to come off as a Pollyanna-ish optimist and say that the glass was even more full than it was.

It sounds goofy to say that the glass is always completely full.

That’s crazy talk.

That’s not close to being true.

There are unfair and sad things that happen all of the time.

People exist in a tragic state, sometimes.

But….believing that the glass is even slightly over “half full” might give us the chance to move towards something that feels like healing.

All we have is the illusion that is our perception.

We color everything in our world by accepting a mindset.

Acception can be a dangerously debilitating thing if it’s not steered in a positive direction.

I can’t say that the “world is the way it is”.

I don’t know enough about the world to be able to say that it’s completely good or completely evil…..or, even, completely anything.

I lean heavily towards the “good” side….even if it comes mostly from that ignorance.

I do like my thought about 51%, though.

In a company, the entity that has 51% ownership is said to have a “controlling interest”.

My controlling interest is that my world has a lot of potential…that it is governed by good.

I believe that it’s governed by God….but that makes some people uncomfortable for some reason…so….I will say that….God is good and let it rest there.

I could see why other people might think that the glass is half empty on occasion, though.

It’s tough to see straight when you don’t know my secret.

 

everything costs money….

Posted on by March 10, 2018

We saw a commercial yesterday that inferred that the only thing holding you back from getting the things you need (and want)…and having the life you DESERVE…. was not having a credit card.

That information is…PRICELESS.

It was a beautiful commercial.

Everyone was happy when they had the things they wanted.

You can have a beautiful life if you have a credit card.

Here’s a video about the economics of ranching.

That’s some crazy stuff.

You almost have to have a second or auxiliary income to keep a ranch going.

We do what we need to do to keep a lifestyle going.

I don’t think that a credit card is a necessity, either.

Bankers won’t save you.

That’s for sure.

real guys working….

Posted on by March 9, 2018

The story behind this engine rebuild is harsh.

To lose an engine in a foreign country….in this case Mexico…could be spooky.

And….it was.

No engines….no mechanics…no fix for a broken timing chain in an expensive Mercedes engine.

So….they ran across the border….back to the States….back to the safety of other pampered Mercedes owners and the dealers that support them.

These two got the YouTube community to pay for a remanufactured engine.

WHAT?

How do you do that?

And….when you get a new engine, and you zoom off without a “break-in period”…why do you immediately head back to Mexico?

I do stupid things….maybe I should get the YouTube community to pay for my stuff, too?

The real stars of the show are the competent mechanics.

I love to see how people do this stuff.

Those mechanics let them do the stupid stuff and still didn’t rip them off….even if they probably did “see them coming’.

And….watch for a vicious roast of this video by this guy…..

It should be good….he’s got a lot to roast.

Here’s a video about “Dave’s Rig”….I deliver mail in a RDH Cherokee that isn’t as heavily modified as this wheeled abode.

Dave?!! WT…Heck?!

The Last 10 Minutes….

Posted on by March 8, 2018

I get up at 5, feed the cat, get dressed for work, make the coffee….and then waste 20 minutes on the internet….then, with 10 minutes to go before I need to see if the Jeep still runs….I realize that I have 10 MINUTES to write a blog post.

That’s if I plan ahead.

No…I’m just kidding.

I think that poor time management factors in somehow.

So…with 10 MINUTES to go….why not feature a motivational video that’s 10 MINUTES long?!

We’re having a mail count at work right now that determines how much we’re paid the following year.

They count the volume of mail that comes in, run it through some computations that they call (fittingly) THE MATRIX….and then tell you if you’re going to get more or less money the next time they cut a check.

Of course, the mail volume is low at the time they do the mail count.

Should I worry?

What would that do for me?

I do a good job.

I take care of my customers.

All the rest is out of my hands.

Like this video says, “Find the laughter….”

Joy really shouldn’t be conditional.

I should take care of the things that I might have some control over….like caring for my family.

That’s all we have.

where you live….

Posted on by March 7, 2018

Where you live isn’t really all that important.

It’s how you live.

Live.

If you’re going to do it….why not do it?

I don’t have anything to “escape”….but….traveling looks good….all the time.

And….living in a van is a good way to get some miles under your wheels.

This has some good thoughts on how to get online while on the road….and being a digital nomad is a good way to fund your lifestyle if you can figure out how to do it.

Some of my happiest moments are the ones I spend “in between”.

It’s the journey…not the destination…that sometimes brings me the joy.

I need to get back on the road.

Fred Rogers….

Posted on by March 6, 2018

We watched a show called “Mr. Rogers and Me” the other day.

What a good dude Fred Rogers was.

When you pursue kindness over a long period….when you pursue a gentle demeanor and always look to find the best in people…I think that it becomes so ingrained that what you want to be becomes “you”.

I wonder if I could do that?

That would be a good thing if I could.

This is from another documentary called “America’s Favorite Neighbor”.

What a good dude Fred was!

A really good man.

van life….very profane and funny roast…(cussing like a sailor….)

Posted on by March 19, 2018

Dave2D Vlogs….YouTube….roasting a couple of VanLifers playing the YouTube thing hard.

Awwwwwww…..Dave! So profane! Funny…..but profane.

Potty mouth.

It’s funny when somebody latches on to something like this ….and shakes it until it can’t be shaken any more.

And Dave won’t quit.

He’s a juggernaut….whether it’s a vlog from his van or a vlog from his apartment, he’s on to these people.

Something that I think….watching these videos….is that, if I ever live in a van, I’m going to have one of the largest breed dogs I can get to share the space with us.

We have a Great Pyrenees and I can’t imagine Appa sharing any enclosed area with us.

It would be a nightmare.

These people are nuts….vegan nuts….and they make money on YouTube.

What the heck?

They deserved to be roasted hard.

And…even though 5 videos at once are too many….this is “unwatchable”…it’s such a funny commentary on the reality of living in a little space for a while.

Hahahahahahaaha!

PS….a month or so later….here’s the followup to all the roasting….after the other videos were taken down.