Travel Thoughts Will Never Go Away

The thoughts of traveling the majority of the year did not go away when I tried pushing the ideas away between March 2013 - June 2013. I shut my blog off, moved all the bookmarks out of site and tried not to think about traveling in any form.

Those ideas never went away. I really doubt they ever go away.

As some of this blog's recent readers have seen, I stated a few days ago I was done, finished writing on this blog. I decided to do that because I wasn't traveling, I had stopped thinking of buying an RV of any kind and I didn't think it was fair to my followers to write about something they had come to expect from me .... traveling and traveling with the hounds. That was not only the title of this blog but one of the reasons I started this blog.

Instead I started a 2nd blog to cover living with the hounds, maybe touching on some retirement information or thoughts but there will be no travel stories and no RV stories. It fulfills my urge to write and 'over there' I seem to be writing daily, as in the tone of a personal journal. It will be easier to find information and photos years from now just by searching the blog, instead of searching the hard drive though a million different files. I like that blog and will keep blogging there.

Ok ... so why I am posting here on this blog, when I said this blog was finished? For various reasons I guess. Those reasons ranging from online friends, blog followers, new people sending emails  of suggestions ... photos of what rigs to buy ... photos of where I could be ... and some hoping that I will stick around here and blog on occasion when I have something to say about traveling and/or RVs. Other's telling me by email they are willing to wait for my decision to read about my future travel adventures with the hounds, even if there is a chance that may not happen. While others suggest the best thing to do is stand pat and enjoy where I am.

I really do appreciate all the suggestions, photos and the different ideas.

I can also add myself to that list of reasons. I still have thoughts of both of those topics, RVs and Traveling. So at least today I am writing a new post. I can't promise where or when the next one will be  but based on my past frequency, it will not be long.

I use to bet on horse racing out in Del Mar Calif, Santa Anita and Hollywood Park on a daily basis as they moved from track to track for different seasons. So I tend to bet on past frequencies. If I were betting on my blog, I would bet that I don't stop this one nor will the idea of traveling in some sort of RV stop. It's easy to see reading back through the history of posts here.

In March 2013 I shut everything down and pushed away the thoughts of traveling with my hounds. Two months later at the end of May 2013 I was back reactivating everything and the search continued for the last year of working a job ... because? ... The plans, the urge to travel all over the Western states would not go away. Like now. Some will say today that I haven't given it enough time to go away, but I tried that for two solid months in 2013.

When I picture living where I do and no traveling or RVing is involved, I think of one word ... BOREDOM! In the past couple of months of my freedom, I will be driving down the road locally thinking "I need to get out of here" ... only to get home and soon after think "there is no reason to leave here". That's insane!!!

Thinking that way may prove that I actually need professional counseling or heavy medication.

I've sat here for another week not doing one thing out of the norm and I know that isn't what I am suppose to be doing with my new found freedom of retirement. It's doesn't feel right. I'm not a couch potato, nor a tv watcher but I am most likely a computer junkie. I always have known in the back of my mind, if I were to retire here I'd have to do some traveling of some kind, go cabin fever insane, or move.

What about the hounds? They don't care about the hot muggy weather or how deep the snow is, they do ONE THING during their daytime hours, 12 months a year. Here is their favorite positions. I don't believe they are wondering about traveling in these shots.

A lot of snow outside - Winter 2014

May 2014 - All Winston needs is sun

All Winston needs is a soft leather couch

Heidi sleeps 23 hours per day in various spots in the house.

Sadie continues to think just like her owner while she sleeps - notice the frown

The hounds are a factor though and maybe more than I want to admit when I have tried to decide about whether to travel or not. I read recently that animals adapt better to change then people. In that case, they will not care if I trade their 7 acre field for traveling to different locations with different smells in the Western states. Or will it make a difference to them if their environment changed every few weeks?

I just know today is one of those days I feel like I am going ding bat crazy when I think of staying here, doing the same things I do for enjoyment over and over and over. That gets to be dull dull dull.

I told myself in the past year, that if I was going to retire and just stay home and keep the lifestyle I had with a job ... then I might as well not retire, live the same lifestyle and make a lot more money working a job I no longer cared for. Makes sense doesn't it?

The more I think about it the more I feel my reluctance in traveling with 3 hounds is the main reason I am landlocked here in the 'tropics' of southern Indiana. I hate to think they are one of my reasons for not traveling. Yet, when I think of my past many years ago prior to hound ownership, I was on the move all the time. I think I can travel with the hounds that I have.

The mental roller coaster is back online and is slowly chugging up that first long steep hill ......

The Considerate Farmer

The field behind my house is owned by my neighbor a couple of houses north of me. He's retired, does a little farming but nothing to this property where my hounds roam. He does let a local farmer come in and bale the hay twice a summer if it's a good year and at least once if it's been too dry.

I met him the first time a couple of years ago and showed him where I had a metal livestock stake pounded into the ground where the climbing rope is attached to hook Sadie up to at the edge of my house. That way if we come out some morning or evening and their happens to be deer in the field, I can hopefully get her on that rope before she takes off. Also, I can let her outside and let her roam 80' diameter without taking a chance of her taking off after an animal and ending up on the road 100' away.

The farmer didn't find any problem with it. That was much different than the previous farmer that use to bale the field. He was mad a the world most of the time. I told him I can usually guess about the time they will be baling the hay based on how tall it is and what the weather is like. I use to roll the rope up to the metal stake and then hide both of them under a rubber trash can that I turned upside down. It was tall enough for anyone to see from their tractor seat. I did this to make sure that metal stake would not tear up one of their blades when cutting the hay and also not do any damage to their ranking machine. Of course the side benefit of saving me from paying my cash for damages but it also protected the take.

This does not get pulled out of the ground. I've tried and ended up one year pulling it out of the ground with the cable tied to my truck bumper and I backed up the truck. That is to show you have much effort goes into getting that stake out.

The previous farmer that baled the field for the 14 years of the 17 years I've lived here didn't get along with anyone but I never had a problem with him. One year I came home from work and found not only the hay field cut right up to my yard, but my trash can I had turned upside down was thrown about 20' the opposite direction. He had pulled the stake out with his tractor and I could tell the way it landed, he had thrown the stake and rope as far as he could into my driveway. It was obvious he was mad.

This is the same mad at the world farmer that got his tractor stuck in mud on the edge of my yard one year, trying to fit it around my parked VW bus when I had a total of 4 vehicles. I didn't say a word about that, but I didn't forget. I could tell he had that tractor of his buried in my soft slanted backyard on the south border.

Thankfully there was a sale of the land a few years ago. That is where this considerate farmer comes in. Below are photos from today, where the farmer starts cutting hay before I was even awake. I did not have the trash can out there to mark it, nor had I pulled up my rope. I didn't expect him today because of the forecast of rain. The photos will show how considerate he was without him saying a word.

He moved his cutting blade that was out to the side of his tractor, around the spot that had the metal anchor and up to the edge of my yard. Not tearing up anyones property in doing so.

So like prior years I will go out with my metal blade weed eater and and cut what you see standing...then rake that out into the field so he can rake it up to bale into large rolls, without having to get close the metal rope anchor.

Sorry for the long narrative, I just wanted to show how considerate this farmer was cutting the hay around the metal anchor for Sadie. These photos show a good example of someone going out of their way to be considerate of others on a very hot and very muggy day. He will be rewarded when he comes back to rake and bale the hay into the big round rolls.

This was taken just a few days ago...needs cut.

After he cut the hay today. I will cut what is standing with my metal blade weed eater

My metal anchor is down inside this hay...the blue rope is attached at the bottom

This is what I saw when I heard the rumble of the tractor as I walked outside this morning. He has started by cutting away from the metal anchor, then moved a little closer each time.

The following photos show how he came back and cut a little closer yet did not disturb the metal anchor that he knows is in that hay somewhere.

Still a little bit more trimming around my rope anchor. I will cut all that is standing tomorrow. To the left of the cut is my property that I normally cut in July.

I was on my way back from the internet provider outdoor lunch today as the skies turned black and the winds increased speeds that were curling huge trees. By the time I arrived at my local feed store to buy 40 more pounds of dog food for the hounds ... the skies opened up. The last photo shows he got every cut before the rains came. A few days to let it dry out, then the raked hay will turn into huge round rolls. 

The best things about this ... the farmer gets his much needed hay and the hounds get "their" field back to do their daily walks. I in the meantime will have new territory right outside my back door to ride the mountain bike I bought a few weeks ago. 

Life is good.

Blog Plan & Internet Addiction

Blogging is such an interesting thing. I stopped one of my blogs this week after two years of posting, getting followers, having comments and a long blog role that was full of information and photos. I decided, instead of changing the blog title and writing about other topics entirely, I would leave that blog 'actively' closed to be used as a reference when people found it on internet searches. Instead I would start this new blog.

In the past month I've seen two people announce they were giving up blogging after a few years of daily writing. I've seen many others recently, myself included, that talked about giving up blogging all together, yet continue. One of those bloggers did what I did, left his older blog open as a reference and went to a new blog with different topics ... such as everyday living, similar to a journal. The other is on the side bar of this blog where he announced today that his blogging will definitely slow down and unsure of any future plans after his trip this summer.

Blogging can be addicting, whether you are writing one or reading a lot of them every day.

Even after a few short days I have caught myself thinking of what to write for my readers, where I may not have that many readers if any at all on this blog. I have a few from the comments I've received and a couple of people added my blog to follow. That is a common problem with people that blog. Most start one to record their own journal, or keep their family and friends updated with what they are doing. Others do it for business, by building a following and making income with affiliate links or advertising. This one is more of a journal for me.

This blog is not going to be about building an audience and I stated that in the very first post. This is more of a personal journal that I can look back on, instead of doing this in Microsoft Word or iMac Keynote.

So, the blog is pretty plain and simple and I think after a starting it this week, it is serving its purpose ... a place for me to write. If someone finds it enjoyable enough to read, then I'm fine with that and enjoy the following. I'm not a big fan of Google+, so I deleted the 2nd account I ad for this blog. Of course by doing that, it also doesn't give people an option to follow this blog using their Google+ accounts.

For those readers that want to follow this blog, you can follow by email (upper right corner), join with your old blogger profile (Google Follower) or use the free program that will give you notice when I update this blog and that program is called Feedly, at http://feedly.com.

It's going to be another hot day here in the 'tropics' of southern Indiana. I woke up later than normal this morning after getting up early to let the hounds out. I heard a familiar "rumble" sound outside and was happy to hear it. The field behind my house is owned by my neighbor a couple of houses down, but he leases it out to another farmer to bale hay. The "rumbling" I heard was their tractor cutting the hay. That's a big deal because now the daily dog walks can start again. The hay gets 4'-5' tall and thick enough in most places where the bassets are not interested in doing any recon missions, Sadie could care less as she will walk anytime, anywhere, in any temps.

I will show photos tomorrow of a "considerate farmer", in comparison to the last man that baled it who seemed to be angry at the world every time I talked to him.

I decided to start doing some different backups for my computer. That might include a trip to Best Buy in Bloomington to pick up a new external hard drive. The one I have currently I bought when I bought a new iMac, 4 years ago this October, and that is almost filled up. I use that hard drive for Apple's Time Machine, which will backup your files every hour and it has done that without a hitch. What that does not do is back up your hard drive system files and updates. That is what the other hard drive will be for, like a startup drive when needed.

I could buy a larger external drive, then partition it off where I can do both, Time Machine and backing up the HD system files. Since I already have the one external drive now, I'll reformat that and use it for the system backup and use the new external for the Time Machine.

I must say after a little less than 4 years of using my first Mac, I've had zero problems. (knock on wood). Whereas the ~15 years of a PC, I had more issues than I wanted to contend with. Due to needing the ability of linking a cell to another spreadsheet, I ended up buying Microsoft Office for Mac so I could use Excel, for that purpose. Open Systems and Mac's "Numbers"  in 2010 did not do that feature in their software. That was 4 years ago so maybe they have changed and if they have, I still will not convert all of my spreadsheets to those two programs, simply because I don't want to mess up the format of those spreadsheets that have the linked cells. Those Excel spreadsheets go back a lot of years and I don't want to take the chance of messing them up.

Well I need to get off of here and do something. I've noticed recently that I am falling more and more into a rut of not really getting anything done, nor doing anything. The days go by extremely fast but too much computer time. I am a true computer/internet addict. I do a lot of reading on the internet, some research, check on blogs and forums ... but really too much seat time in front of the computer. My internet provider is having a little customer appreciation day that will be from 11-1 today. They have a drawing that I hope to win, 6 free months of internet service. That would be a $240 savings for service that recently has been intermittent more than it has in the 6 years of service. They are still a good local company, family owned and will do anything to get your issued repaired as soon as possible. They have a number you can call and get a response 24/7.

The hounds will be staying home on this trip.  It's way to hot for them to stay in the FJ while I mingle at the luncheon and they would prefer to lay next to the floor vents where the A/C comes from and sleep all day. After all, dinner isn't served until 3:30-4:00pm every day, that gives them plenty of time for an all day siesta.

The Fire Still Simmers

I am finding it hard to stay away from the blog and others. Sadie turned 6 years old today.