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Borrego Springs, CA

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The cattle are not lowing…

I was off to the booming community of Beaumont this morning to do my every other week shopping.  I had quite the list of places to stop in town this time.  First up was the DISH network store.  You see I had this brilliant idea that if I got one of their ‘Tailgate’ things, I could eliminate all the hassle of finding the signals when I stop somewhere in my travels.  It automatically finds the various satellite signals.  It’s also a lot easier for me to carry out to set up than the heavy dish and holder that I’ve had for the last eight years. 

That way I could also set it up quickly on my one night stop overs in various campgrounds.  Right now I only haul out the dish if I’m stopping somewhere for about a week.  My hopes were dashed as I talked to the folks in the store.  I have two TV’s in the rig.  One in the bedroom, and one in the main living area.  I presently have a receiver with a DVR that handles both TV’s, but it turned out that the Tailgater would only accommodate one TV.  I know some of you couldn’t care less about having any TV’s, but I really like that DVR feature so I can zip through the commercials and record a couple of shows while I’m watching something I’ve already recorded.  It’s not like I have anyone to chit chat with in the evenings, and I do love listening to the ‘Golden Girls’ as I drift off to sleep.  Anyway, I sure wish it could have worked out.

I had a few more stops to make.  I was running out of Jean Nate After Bath Splash, so I headed for a Walgreen’s, then the bank to cash a check before I finally made it to my favorite HEB grocery store.  About a month ago I bought a twelve roll pack of Scott septic safe TP.  That usually lasts me three months.  Well I didn’t notice last time that I grabbed the ‘extra soft’ version, and while it is very kind to your private parts, it’s so fluffed up that I was already running out!  Those Charmin bears would be really littering the forests if they used that stuff. Disappointed smile

Then I tried to buy one or two bars of soap.  Ha! The Oil of Olay, that I like, only came in a ten bar package.  What’s up with that?  The only soap I could buy by the bar was Lava.  Exfoliating your skin is nice, but that’s a little too invigorating for my shower.  Are soap and TP wonderful topics for an RV blog?  Probably not, but it sure is life as I live it.

Yesterday, I got an email from Janice, the volunteer coordinator, at Tamarac NWR in Minnesota where I’ll be returning this summer.  It seems they want to build a storage shed for the two volunteer sites to use, and wanted input on what size would be best.  I’ve never had a storage facility in my volunteer stints, so I had to think about what I might use it for.  I decided I’d put my bike in there along with the big crate I have in the rig for Emma when we are traveling.  Then there’s that second refrigerator compressor that Samsung sent me last fall when the fridge broke down.  I’ve been toting that heavy thing around ‘just in case’ in front of the passenger’s seat in the car ever since.  I told Janice that I appreciated the storage area, buy would have preferred a hot tub instead.  Winking smile

Now for the cows.  There is a very large pasture behind the Winnie maintenance facility where I stay, and I’d guess about 75 cows have been residing there all winter and we haven’t heard a peep out of them.  February and March seem to be the time for the cows to drop their calves, and there have been a lot of little ones in the last few weeks.  Tonight while I was sitting out with Emma, it wasn’t lowing that we heard.  I’d say it was more like  caterwauling going on.  Egad!  My guess is that the calves were taken from their mothers today, and an earsplitting protest is going on.

I leave you tonight with a picture that a friend sent me of what the birds are having to do to survive through this bitter winter in Minnesota…

                                          

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

19 comments:

  1. You CAN save programs with Dish via the Tailgater. For a $40 one time fee, you hook up an external hard drive to the Dish receiver, and save the programs on it, just like your DVR. Email me for more information as we have that system and have had it for a couple of years, or email and I'll give you my phone number and we can discuss. The one limitation is that you can only watch one satellite program at a time, though you can watch a recorded program while another is being recorded. And, if we want to watch it in the bedroom, we just turn the satellite on, tune the bedroom TV to satellite, and watch. Of course the remote control for Dish doesn't work from the bedroom. Anyway, I believe it will do what you want it to do. Someone in our park was giving away a Dish receiver like you'll need. I'll see if it is available tomorrow if you're interested, and can mail it to you or send it through Jack.

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  2. A St. Louis Cardinal in Minnesota? Well, I guess if you ignore the Twins (which many peopla say is a good thing to do), the Crds are a reasonable alternative...

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  3. Storage sheds are nice... but when it's time to leave you might start to wonder where the heck you stored it in your own rig.

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  4. I'm with ya' on the hot tub. Maybe when you store that compressor in the shed, you'll have room to carry a portable one? :cD

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  5. Poor cows and poor calves. I feel sorry for them both. And for you that they are putting in a storage shed rather than a hot tub.

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  6. I read a few weeks ago that bar soap was not good for grey water tanks as they have to much oil in them and gunk up the tank. I never use bar soap anyway. But you might want to look into it just to be sure. I also always used chemicals in my grey tank and they did recommend this.

    Having a storage shed will be nice but yes a hot tub even better.

    Love the Cardinal in his winter attire.

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  7. Great photo of the Minnesota Cardinal (why does that not sound right?). I usually use Scotts 1-ply, but happened to be in Costco and bought Kirkland brand. Oh my goodness, it's 2-ply and so soft, but I feel guilty using it. I bought a pkg of Scotts since then and when I used it I couldn't believe how rough it seemed, and I felt I had to use double the sheets to equal the soft kind. I'll eventually go back to Scotts and get used to it again. I also buy Neutrogena shower gel at Costco and love it. Couldn't go back to bar soap now.

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  8. Love the photo of the Cardinal. I think all topics regarding traveling life are appropriate for blog posts; I found this post very interesting. Your mention of Jean Naté gave me pause. My mother, who passed away in 1977, wore Jean Naté. Every time I hear of it or smell it I think of my mom. Thanks for the memory. I was surprised a few years ago when I walked into my daughter's bathroom and found that she, too, loves Jean Naté for the same reason (it reminds her of Grandma) and uses it as her preferred perfume!

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  9. Another reason I am vegan. It is wrong to separate offspring from their mothers, whether human or cow. Hearing that would break my heart.

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  10. I made that mistake with the TP once also. Ran out in no time.
    Love the Cardinal photo. What some people will do for a laugh!

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  11. I'm with you, I would rather have the hot tub!

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  12. You're a funny lady. I was talking to a friend recently, and she told me that she does'nt put TP down her toilet, and thus can use any brand she likes. She would also like to know if you find your soap in a small package and where did you find it!

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  13. Hope the bawling subsides soon. Yikes! I am with you on the TV's. We have a big ole sat dish on our patio because I want to be able to use the DVR here and then load it up in the RV.

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  14. Usually the soonest they should separate cow/calf pairs is 120 days unless they are milk cows then it is just a few days.
    Yes you should have a hot tub at Tamarac. Saw a Bald Eagle on our way up to Ice Cracking today, after those couple of warm days there is some open water on the streams.
    That bird needs snow boots:)


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  15. so true. . .such is the life we lead. I always get tickled on the RV Tips Blogs. . .any mention of TP or Black Water Issues always gets tons and tons of responses.

    Would love to stop by and see you in Minnesota this summer. . .will stay in touch as summer gets closer. . .

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  16. While TP and soap aren't always exciting topics, that IS our lives on the road. And nothing is more upsetting than not being able to get the soap you want...I guess you could get the big package and do some early Halloween window soaping in...just sayin'.

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  17. Cute picture...a Starbucks coffee sure hits the spot on those wintry days!
    Poor calves...
    And I do think soap and TP are excellent things to write about...we all use them (I hope!).

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  18. Ahahaaa, good one -- that Cardinal looks ready to play hockey! It might opt for the hot tub, too. Everything we buy these days is either "new and improved," or "bigger and better." For RV'ers that's not necessarily a good thing!

    PS: Now that we're home and Jimmy has fired up our hot tub, I believe I'll hop in!

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  19. Winegard has a automatic dome that works with Dish, http://www.winegard.com/carryout/, and supports 2 TVs.

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