Well, I over slept by more than 45 minutes.  A very sound sleep last night indeed.  I think I like the new mattress topper!

With the oversleeping I’m running behind this morning.  No big deal.  Right after blogging I’ll go shave, hit the shower, and get myself ready to roll.  Glad I’ve got a little wiggle room.  How much wiggle room?  Enough to do a little reading for the morning.

This morning I read an article from the Financial Times regarding current economic conditions.  Now, keep in mind, this article goes well beyond my concerns.  It’s all about worst case scenarios.  The thing is, the scenario overall is much more realistic today.  What’s described is a 12 step program into extremely hard financial times for the U.S.  Read through it, and you might understand the signs of what’s occurring a little better.  Just my word of warning for the morning.

Keep in mind, don’t worry too much.  After all, I overslept. 

Full-timing in an Airstream is truly a unique way to live.  For some, it means constant travel from place to place.  In my case it was travel for a while, and now it’s a stationary life.

When you’re on the road you develop a system for packing and unpacking, being ready to hitch up at a moment’s notice, and keeping needed things available while keeping infrequently used items packed away.  Unfortunately, once you settle in for a while you can really “spread out.”  That’s what happened here.  The creep of items from their normal storage spots outward, and all over.

Since I’ve been parked so many months day to day living has taken over.  A small printer permanently on the table, paperwork here and there, and an accumulation of tech books that you wouldn’t believe.  And I’ve spent a good part of today, reorganizing and preparing to head off to Anza-Borrego.

My morning was spent in the laundry room, at Wal-Mart getting storage crates, rounding up some needed supplies, and repacking the Airstream.  In addition, a new tempurpedic mattress topper was added to the bed (I hope that helps my sleep).  Definitely a busy morning!

With the Airstream’s organization coming back into travel mode I concentrated on the truck.  Climbing gear has been stored under the Airstream, and needed to find its way back into the truck bed.  That took a little while to get all squared away as well.  Whew!

In addition to getting the truck ready and packed, I also decided it was time to get a wash for the truck.  It’s been looking a little dirty to say the least.  Time to get a good wash and hand polish!

I stopped by my favorite wash service across town, Ponderosa Carwash, and settled in for a short wait.  Amazingly enough, there was a long line at 1 in the afternoon.  Who would have expected that?  Not me.

The car in front of me was a little Mazda Miata.  When it came time for the owner to pull up and exit the vehicle I noted the owner was slightly over dressed for the car wash.  A woman easily in her late 40’s or early 50’s, poofy perm, and white frilly shirt stepped out of the little car.  She went over what she wanted with an attendant and made her way into the building with her ticket……  And she returned moments later waving the ticket at the attendant and began yelling at him.  She didn’t like what she was signed up for, and wanted a lower end wash apparently.  Ah well….

Once it was my turn I pulled up and asked for the 4 star wash.  Didn’t have time for the 5 star you know.  They really do a great job detailing.  I asked the attendant how his day was, and he said, “It was good until the last customer…she blew up over a $3 addition for detailing and didn’t want it.”  Well, I didn’t blow up at him, so hopefully his day picked up a bit.

Entering the building to pay I found the woman with the bad perm arguing with the clerk.  While she got her $3 off, she still wanted interior detailing and insisted that it was owed to her for the trouble she’d had so far.  Hmmm…..owed (her word).  Nice.

I paid my bill, took my change and headed out to sit on a bench and watch the cars come out.  It’s actually fun to watch how well organized the staff is.  Clockwork honestly, and every employee there has been there since I arrived in town last March.  That says something about the business in my opinion.

While sitting and waiting for my truck to come through I saw the little Miata make its way out.  The attendants began buffing it down, and then moved it to a parking spot where they continued to polish it.  Immediately the walking frown with a perm walked up to her car, and stood a few inches behind the attendant doing the work on her car.  She stuck with him for more than 15 minutes while he buffed every inch of the vehicle, and detailed the interior.  When he finished she began pointing at her door’s interior and yelling at him about the poor quality of the detailing.

It’s at this point I have to admit, I was watching and waiting since the moment I saw this clearly unhappy person argue with the attendant who filled out her slip.  I knew she’d have a bad experience no matter what.  And she clearly wanted to make everyone around her have a bad time too.  I watched the detailer closely as his customer hovered over him, and I knew whatever he did would not suit her needs.  I’m sure if someone looked at me on the bench they would have seen me snickering as she started yelling, as I knew it was coming.  She stormed into the office once more……and I watched my truck being detailed.

As my truck neared completion I watched the shop’s owner and a manager come out to inspect the Miata.  The woman was now yelling about the car’s roof not being glossy (it’s a soft top dopey), and about the interior detailing.  I looked off to my right and saw my detailer coming toward me, as he was done with my truck.  I handed him my receipt and a tip and asked, “Are you glad I’m your customer?”  He laughed really hard, thanked me, and I hopped into my truck.

While closing up the Titan I heard the shop manager apologizing and offering to re-wash the vehicle and re-detail it.  I kept the door open a moment longer, as the woman whipped out her cell phone, called someone, and complained about how horrible her time was at the wash.  And the only reason it was such a horrible time was because she made it so, and continued doing it.  If I owned that shop I would have denied her service after getting a discount and still insisting on the higher end service.  From that point forward, a refund and request to never come to my place of business again.

But that’s just me….. 

On other notes…..

I received a note from Airstream today regarding the use of one of my photos in a recent newsletter.  I received a nice compliment regarding the blog, and an apology for using the photo without a link.  Next month’s newsletter will correct that oversight.  Nice.

See, I didn’t even need to stand over anyone, act grouchy, or get a big perm! 

Maybe I’m getting a cold again.  Something is up.  Maybe it’s being out all day, and being out too long.  I don’t know.  But I do know I returned home last night, made some tofu dogs, and then flopped on the couch with no energy left.  Of course, making tofu dogs takes a lot of energy. 

Fortunately tomorrow will be a day of rest!  And boy howdy, I need it.  Of course, I’m going to run around and take a few more photos.  Unwind a little.  Hopefully I’ll be rested enough.

Bed time will probably be 7 tonight……I think that’ll work…..after making more tofu dogs, or tofu patties of course. 

For tomorrow, I’m thinking about taking a ride to Wickensburg.  I drove through the other week after my Phoenix meeting.  Unfortunately, I had a few more things to get done here in Prescott, so I didn’t take the time to look around the town.  And I got the feeling there were many interesting things to see and shoot.  So, a return trip is in order!

If you have any suggestions about places I should visit there, please leave a comment and let me know.  I’ll be playing tourist!

Now I’m going to shift gears, and make a small note (oh yeah) about economics once again.  Sorry. 

I heard this morning that the head of the GAO is resigning.  Who is the head of the GAO, and why is it important?  Well, his name is David Walker.  Basically he’s the head bean counter for the government.  He’s been there a while, through many Presidents.  And the guy has always stayed out of politics, and never commented on the economy.  A few months ago he started making comments.

The GAO is basically a neutral organization.  They just keep track of government spending.  Walker has never wanted to influence politics, elections, etc.  So clearly, for him to come out recently to warn about how out of control government spending is, it must be pretty serious.  Did you know the U.S. keeps 3 sets of books?  You know what would happen to a business that did that?  Yeah, investigations, resignations, and eventual failure.

Mr. Walker’s warnings were pretty simple.  With our current spending and current debt load every man, woman and child currently owes over $400,000.  And the load is increasing.  Soon we won’t be able to pay for current programs, as we’ll only be paying the interest owed on government debt.  The numbers aren’t debatable, they are what they are.

Isn’t it nice to see every Presidential candidate talking about new programs, new expenditures, and not cutting any programs?  All sounds sensible when your accountant tells you that you’re going under.  Did you know we fund cancer research and subsidize tobacco growers?  Seems like cutting one program would help the other…..we’ve got lots of that stuff.

So, what do we do?  Hey, don’t ask me.  My solution would be cutting so many expenditures.  You can’t keep living off your credit card, and rolling it to a new card.

Too bad we don’t have a backed currency…..silver coins are awful pretty, aren’t they?  At least they make a good macro shot! 

While traveling I created a ton of podcasts. I also created some fun climbing podcasts too. But the podcast well has been dry lately. That’ll be changing soon with the Borrego trip.

Now comes the question. What to shoot? More driving footage??? How about some hiking footage? Maybe just a tour of Anza-Borrego??? I don’t know, but I do know that I plan to create 3 more podcasts after the trip is over. That’ll get me to Podcast #50. I’ll get the footage while there, and then compile it once I return to Prescott.

So, now to the regular readers & viewers here.  If you could see only one podcast from the trip, what would you like to see?  Take a look through the poll below, and vote wisely.  The winner will be one of the three podcasts from the upcoming trip for sure!

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An extra long day. And more to come. Tomorrow will yield another long day, and another late arrival at home. So, no big fun with photos. Instead I’m still toying around with new macros in the Airstream.  If nothing else, it is possible to use an Airstream as a mobile studio.  Pretty cool if you ask me!

Sunday won’t have much in the way of shots or posts either.  Sorry.  It happens.  But I promise, neat stuff is coming up when I head back to Anza-Borrego.  I keep reminding myself I’m almost there.

Bill and Larry will be heading to AB.  Bert and Janie might be returning as well.  I wonder who else will pop up???  You just never know.

Hey Lois…..hitch up the trailer and start rolling west.  You’ll be in Anza-Borrego by the 28th……  :)  There’s the big tease, right???

Ah, another post about getting things in the mail……

No gang, no further tickets to speak of.  No photos of me happily thinking I’m doing the speed limit while rolling through a speed trap.  Today’s mail call is mostly positive…..mostly……

Getting home today I was downright excited.  Packages were scheduled to arrive today.  Well, only one package was officially scheduled for today (thanks to 2 day UPS delivery).  But another package was expected as well.  That’s where the real excitement was!

I popped by the office on my way back to the Airstream, and sure enough, there were two boxes for me.  One via US Mail, one via UPS.  But there should have been one more…..the one I was counting on……alas, it was not there.

Have you ever had a craving for a certain food?  A favorite treat maybe?  You know what I’m talking about!  That special something that gets your taste buds in an uproar days in advance of getting it?  Well, the missing package has my special treat…..and it’s currently in limbo.  So, I had some Jelly Bellies instead.

At the start of the week I placed a call to Vermont.  Specifically, I placed an all important call to the Vermont Beef Jerky Company.  See, I’ve been all over the country.  I’ve sampled beef jerky across the U.S.  And you know what?  Nothing compares to the Vermont Beef Jerky Company’s jerky.

Heck, Sedona has a store named the, “World of Jerky,” and nothing there holds a candle to the Vermont Beef Jerky Company.

I’ve shopped my favorite treat around to friends here, and they’ve all agreed, best they’ve ever had.  When I contracted for US Cellular in VA and WV the locals tried it, and began ordering from Vermont.  Everyone who’s tried it agrees….and everything else disappoints after you’ve tried it.

Currently, at some UPS stop, my beef jerky waits……..and I won’t see it all weekend!

So, 2 out of 3 packages arrived.  Where did the other packages come from?  My family in New England sent along one package.  It contained some mail that needed to catch up to me, and a few little treats, including an old favorite.  Coffee syrup.  You mix it with milk (I can’t have milk).  I’m trying to figure out if it will fly with Soy Milk.  We’ll see.  But I loved the stuff when I was a kid, and I sure would like that trip down memory lane….we’ll see how it goes.

The second package came from New York, New York.  I’m sure you’re humming that tune in your head right now!

BHPhotoVideo sent me package number 2.  I’ve been experimenting a lot lately, and branching out further.  In a recent read I became captivated by Canon’s 580 EX Speedlight.  Not only is it a super cool flash, but it can control other flashes via a wireless connection (like the 430 for instance).  There are so many ways to work with the flash, well, I couldn’t help myself! 

There were a few other items from BH as well.  But the flash was the “big ticket item” in that UPS box.  And I’ve already experimented with it a good deal tonight. More will follow for sure.

But in the end, while happy to receive two out of three, I’m still a little let down.  My entire ride home I was getting ready to get a little sick on jerky tonight!  Overindulge, just a tad.  And you know how we all react at the thought of a salty snack…. Well, it’s been hard to find anything to snack tonight that can deal with this craving.

Please kind UPS driver, be good to my VT Beef Jerky treats, and get them here as soon as you can!  And no sampling!  Order your own!

Earlier in the week I was sure we were going to see an early Spring here in Prescott.  Wonderful temperatures, fun hikes, and me running around without my jacket.

Spring in February!  Hooray!

Yeah, well, Spring left yesterday.  The clouds rolled in, the winds whipped up, and some snow started falling again.  So much for breaking out the shorts in the next two weeks.  I guess it was one of those happy little warm ups.

Of course, if I want warmer weather I could head down to Phoenix.  Better yet, I can head out to Anza-Borrego in two weeks.  Guess that’s the plan.  You know, it’s over 70 in Borrego Springs right now….. 

Since Spring said good bye I didn’t take any fun photos yesterday.  I’m falling down on the photo of the day category.  It’s more like “photo every other day.”  Ah well, when I get the good days I’ll have plenty……and when winter pops back in I’ll have the slack days. 

Still, I can’t complain.  We’re not experiencing deep snow, I haven’t had to break out the snow blower, and every day it warms up above freezing.  I sure do like Arizona!

Ah yes, no entry yesterday!  Whoops, so much for covering every day.

Really, nothing to blog on yesterday.  A few morning errands, then nothing.  Just nothing.  For some reason I was super tired.  So, I addressed it.  Lots of napping, and it was good.

I doubt you can really blog much about napping.  Maybe you could work into pillow arrangement, couch comfort, background movie noise, and closing the shades.  Hmmmmm……maybe I could have blogged yesterday.  Ah well, sorry for not writing an exciting, “How to nap in your Airstream,” post. 

In other news….. 2 weeks until the Anza-Borrego trip!  I’m getting very excited.  This morning I received confirmation from Larry & Bill that they will be popping out as well.  Too fun!

Looking at the maps this morning I think I’ll have a 6 hour drive (that’s about right).  If I leave early enough I could be out there before 1 p.m., leaving a little time for evening exploration.  Should be fun.

And yes, I’ve been re-arranging the Airstream’s storage lately.  So many months not on the road leads to things being in places that aren’t conducive for travel.  Gotta get back into the transport mode, not the settled mode.

Well, that’s it for this morning.  I’ll work on a napping post for the near future. 

I really have to stop reading financial stuff in the morning before blogging.  It just doesn’t help at all.  Not at all.  The worst part….readers of this blog pay the price.

This morning I read a super short piece from Reuters regarding the IMF and a planned gold sale.  By the way, the IMF is the “International Monetary Fund.”  These guys are out there every day watching out for our interests…..really, they are.

Apparently, the IMF plans to sell some gold in the very near future.  They’re looking to raise some funds to reinvest elsewhere.  The specific statement…..

“This is arguably a good time to consider selling some of these gold holdings and investing the proceeds in financial securities with positive yields.”

Ah, sell gold so you can invest elsewhere in paper assets that have positive yields.  Hmmm.  In the decade I’ve followed the yellow metal it has gone from $270 per ounce to well over $900 per ounce.  I guess the yield isn’t positive enough.  Maybe they’d like to invest in some securities backed by sub-prime mortgages.  It would make sense…..those things were super high yield…..oh wait, isn’t that falling apart?

Maybe they’d like to invest in ethanol.  There’s a good bet!

Several years ago the Bank of England dumped gold too.  The man in charge at the time isn’t so popular now in England……ah well.  Somebody should send him a VT. Teddy Bear to cheer him up.

One of the key arguments against gold (for those who want to stay away from a pegged currency) is that it doesn’t yield a return.  It costs a lot to store it, and it’s not easy to deal with in international trade.  These are also the people who think printing money at will is a good idea, and that as long as we under-report the true state of inflation everybody will be ok.

So, if you’re interested in a little financial security there will surely be a dip in the price of gold in April.  If the IMF dumps the price will dip, and you’ll have a buying opportunity.  Oh, by the way, the whole point of the sale isn’t to cash in….it’s an attempt to slow gold’s giant leaps ahead (a clear indicator of economic weakness and inflation).

Ok, not a truly candid moment.  Everybody is looking at the camera.  Why is that?

Oh, I know why.  They heard the shutter slamming away and the all looked to say, “You’re not taking photos of us, are you?”

Of course I’m taking shots of you.  Look away darn you!  Do something.  Point at an eagle or osprey.  Wrestle with a mountain lion…..oh, better yet, wrestle with that crazy bobcat that keeps torturing me!  Alright gang, look away and do something super interesting already.

Nobody looked away once they noticed the lens.  Can you believe I paid them to model?

So, who’s in the shot?  Denise, Sadira, and Tom.  Tom later posed in several interesting ways for the camera (hamming it up you know).

Hmmm….I’ll have to check Tom’s blog.  I never saw his camera pointed at me, so maybe he got a candid shot of me.  Hmmmm, that should probably be kept off the web.  I was looking like a dumpy hiking guy yesterday you know.

Turning to other photographic items……

The shot to the left shows the spray coming out of the base of the dam.  You can see the pipe controlling the flow.  I just wonder if it’s meant to be spraying right now.  You can also see the really cool ice pack…..an ice pack in Arizona!

Yeah, I know, not the best photo.  I just couldn’t get to a good spot for a better angle on it.  I might take a walk out on Wednesday and see if I can get right under the dam.