LOOKING AT DROUGHT, INSURANCE, CONFUCIUS.

Yesterday, I had to drive my Prius back across the river for the body and fender guy to take pictures of the inside of my vehicle so the insurance company could make their decision on whether to total it, or fix it.  This time I remembered my camera. Click the picture to enlarge it and you will be able to see the line of the old road down into the canyon before the dam was built.

Here is  closer shot. Tree tops are showing that once grew on the river’s bank.

A closer shot. I used to love to drive this road and was on the side of the protesters trying to keep the river scenic and wild.  A guy named Mark, forgot his last name, tied himself to a rock so that if it flooded he’d drown. His ploy didn’t work, obviously. The protests raged on for months and got desperate toward the end.

Of course it is all water under the bridge, to quote a cliché. By the way, I had two people ask me why I had to drive the 18 miles to the body shop instead of an insurance adjuster coming out to make the decision. The body shop guy told me, “Oh, we do that. We take the pictures and they make the decision from there. It saves you money” Huh!  Do I believe it saves ME money?  Not for a minute. The woman who hit me paid big premiums for her full coverage, $100 deductible, she told me. Another short cut, downsize jobs. Ugly. I’m very disenchanted with our corporatocracy. We need  some balancing socialized government, like medicare and no child left behind. Similar programs that protect people. Isn’t government supposed to be …by the people, for the people?   It reminded me of a great quote from a man who lived before Christ was born. Ever wise Confucius  said:

When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are things to be ashamed of. When a country is ill governed, riches and honor are things to be ashamed of.

Unfortunately, we do not learn from mistakes of the past.

 

A PICTURE PROJECT.

It rained most of yesterday, pleasantly. Jim and I took a walk between raindrops, but mostly I worked on my picture file. After having tossed all of my pictures and getting most of them back, I’m disaster shy and decided maybe I’d like to publish some of my blogs in a book like they advertise on Lulu or Blurb or half-a-dozen other outfits. The save-to-disk feature was difficult and having one of those outfits print your blog for you is a somewhat complicated organizing task. I ended up buying, online, a new laser printer instead. It  will print my stuff out very professionally for less than the publisher could do it.  All of this explanation to get to a bunch of barn pictures that had been lost, now found. The ivy covered silo above caught my eye on a rainy day, somewhere in the east in 2010.

Eastern barns, because of winter weather, are much more substantially made. These were taken with my old camera, and I notice it very much when I prowl around old files.

In fact, most of them were taken through the window while moving down the road.

I continue to think of barns as endangered species, so I expect I’ll keep getting as many pictures of them as I can in my travels. There is a website I used to visit often of a woman who chose barns, gas stations, bridges, signs, I can’t even remember all of the subjects she chose. She would say, “…oh, don’t get me started on another subject!”  She would travel around the U.S. with one subject in mind to preserve them in photos. Her photos will probably be famous some day. That is not my aim, but I think it is a fun idea.  She actually pinpointed where each barn or beach or sign was located and gave the exact date she was there.

If I went back and read my blog for March 2nd or 3rd  in 2010, I’d probably know where I was. Does that make sense?

This barn resembles a California barn and may be a picture I stuck in the same file. I think I’ll  go back to my project and call it a day.

 

 

 

 

MEET AND DINE AND DON’T WHINE.

There are times the only opportunity I get to be with some friends is at a meeting. Pam Quyle’s hours are long, John and Wanda Hofstetter stick close to home when they are home or they go away for months at a time, like me.

So, even if we have business, it makes sense to have some social time and enjoy a meal together. Wanda brought us a beautiful dessert.

It was quite nice since most of my day was taxes, insurance, logistics on the new building in Oregon,  problems at the television studio with their brand new equipment, and so it went. In fact, the new equipment was part of the reason for the meeting.  Resolutions in sight.

My seven-foot long table is covered with paperwork. Hopefully by next week we’ll actually be able to eat there. Oh, oh!  I think I’m whining.

Time to appreciate my Christmas poinsettia. I love them because they keep their bright beauty until late July. Cheers.

REAL TREASURE.

High stakes yard work is kind of an exaggeration. Difficult as it seems in this cool and rainy weather, I have to think about heat coming on while I’m gone. You can lose an expensive, mature shrub in a week in withering weather without an intact sprinkling system. My housemate and I checked the system and it needed two small repairs. The sprinkling clock works, and I can rest in peace when I return to the motor home, hopefully on April 15th. 

It’s killing me that Jim is having soooo much fun while I’m missing some great craft beers and the friendly folks of Vicksburg.

Brian, my computer guru is set to come tomorrow and help me out. This morning I’ll evaluate my insurance coverage before paying the bills and then attend an engagement party in the afternoon. Shoot, I haven’t been to an engagement party among friends in…?? (I’m not counting that extravagant engagement shower In Louisiana.)  I’m not sure what to expect. I know chocolate and cherries spell romance so I did put together a chocolate bouquet and a cherry surprise. These kids are 25 years old so I hope to toast them with this old saw:

Here is to Karli, may you always have diamonds on your fingers and knock-em-dead-destroy-the-paycheck-dresses to wear.

And to Danny, may you have an indestructible paycheck.

 Karli and Danny aren’t as materialistic as that toast suggests, but it always brings a laugh and they don’t read my blog. What I really like to impress on young people is the definition of treasure.

Before getting on-line this morning, I cruised through some old family photos and put on slideshows of my grandkids at an earlier age. What a pleasure my pictures are to me. A keen reminder that real treasure is our family and friends. 

The Marshlands of Southern Louisiana

Jim says: Yesterday Mary and I drove about 75 miles (the scenic route as opposed to the straight route of about 35 miles), much along the Bayou Terrabonne to Houma, Louisiana. The upside of driving along a Bayou is the beautiful scenery with the many variety of boats, etc… to be seen. The downside is since this is waterfront property valued highly by the locals, there a few places for a motorhome to pull over to take pictures. In addition, Louisiana’s secondary highways are quite narrow (about the with of our wide-body motorhome) and driving on them requires attention…never mind about taking pictures.

The first unique event of the day was a stop by a local sheriff at an insurance checkpoint. In my time I’ve been through a few checkpoints for drivers license, registration or driving under the influence of alcohol…but never solely to check insurance papers!

The first in 53 years of driving!

It was nice to experience a number of miles of marshland with no human habitation.

Average elevation in this area is 3 feet above sea level.

Throughout Southern Louisiana there are numerous canals and swinging bridges to wait upon while boats pass through the canal.

In the small town of Dulac, we stopped at Schoompy’s Restaurant, recommended by the Louisiana Culinary Guide. I enjoyed a delicious shrimp, crab and corn bisque and a small French meat pie. Yummmm!

Like most structures (including residential) Schoompy’s Restaurant is built on stilts.

Here’s a Wikipedia informational link about Dulac, Louisiana…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulac,_Louisiana

To see an additional 10 photos I took, click this kink..
http://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver/SouthernLA022610#

We continued on to Houma, Loiusiana where we are parked at an American Legion Post and expect to spend the weekend in this area.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com