The perils of gate guarding/Easter storm damage.

One of the perils of doing this kind of work is the rapidly changing weather conditions. Andy Jones from My Old RV suffered significant damage late Easter due to a storm over in the Millet/Los Angeles area. He has posted pictures on his blog as well as a description of events during the storm.

Andy has been a guiding light to many a gate guard and unfortunately is unable to financially absorb all the costs of the damage incurred to his RV.  I want to ask all of my readers in the gate guard community to please head over to Andy's blog and make use of the donate button there.

Its that time of year.

Andy over at My Old RV has an excellent blog post today about the availability of Gate Guard jobs this time of year. I won't recreate it, but if you want to read it you can do so by clicking here.

Things have definitely slowed a bit here and we count ourselves lucky by having a gate. We had planned it out to spend a few of the summer months here just for that reason. It's easy to forget that up north it is quickly turning to winter and the "Winter Texans" are on the way south. I guess that we are in the same category this year being as it is one of transition for us.

We are still in our first year of full timing and so far it has been quite an adventure. We realize, now, that this is just the tiniest tip of the iceberg, so to speak and that many more adventures are in our future. We are learning that we really like the San Antonio area, not enough to re-invest into a sticks and bricks lifestyle, but enough to make it one of our winter-time favorites.

Toie and I were discussing satellite TV the other day after she saw a post on Facebook from Edgar Hansen about it being crab season in Alaska. We were weighing the option of doing it now or waiting until we get into a newer coach. She told me about a satellite setup that one of the ladies at a gate guard luncheon had told her about and how she thought that would be the way to go being as there isn't any real setup to it. Place the unit where you want it, turn it on and it does the rest. I've seen what she is talking about and will definitely research it further as an option if our newer coach doesn't have satellite installed.

We are hoping that our next gate is a longer term than the ones we have been on previously. One reason is so we can save more quickly for that newer coach and another is so we can setup mail service.  We still haven't decided if we are going to keep our residency in Iowa or change it to an RV friendlier state next year. 

We are digging the full-time RV lifestyle though.  We may check out options for the northwest soon, the freedom is so exciting.

Food and other happenings

I have been trying to post for the last few days with no success.  Our internet access has been a little spotty again, I may have to upgrade to a directional antenna for the Wilson Cell Booster.  I have to say that I am more than impressed with its performance thus far considering the nearest sprint tower is about 30 miles away.

I mentioned in a previous post about the food being delivered to the site for the "frack" crew.  The meals we received were absolutely amazing. In addition to the bbq pork chops and chicken & sausage we were blessed with steak, meatloaf, hamburgers and crawfish ettoufle(sp).  That doesn't include the bbq sandwich that was given to me by one of the vendors.  While we only had catering in once a day there are gates that see them multiple times a day.  The amount of food contained in these meals was plentiful and quality was excellent.   I can't imagine what the guards that have catering come through more than once a day do with all that food.

I finally talked Toie into getting one of those "Magic Bullet" blenders that you see on tv.  Its great, its small size makes it a cinch to store and its power requirements are small at 250 watts so it can be easily run off of a 400 watt inverter.  While not suited for any "heavy" blending, it does exactly what they advertise.

We had a casualty yesterday when we had a dust devil collide with our easy-up that was next to the rv. Other than the easy up frame being destroyed and a small dent in the side of the rv there was no damage.  I did have to get up on the roof to disentangle a few extension cords that had wrapped themselves around the refridgerator vent.  Toie is much more upset over it than I am, my reasoning being that I would much prefer to have a 99 dollar easy up destroyed by the wind than a 500 dollar awning that would have caused some real damage had it flipped over the rv.

We have had temperatures in the triple digits over the past few days so I have been going inside at about 2pm and just listening for the bell until about 7:30 and then coming back outside to stay.  The evenings here are just wonderful, we have had a gentle breeze most evenings and it makes it so pleasant to just sit outside.

Yesterday during my shift and not long after the easy up was destroyed I had the pleasure of seeing the ugliest cow i have ever seen.  There is a pasture that is right behind the rv and  I  walked around to open the dump valve and was quite surprised to find some cattle so close to us.  I have seen them in the adjoining pastures but never behind the rv.

I'm gonna post this before I lose it again...


Have a GREAT day!!!!

Ticks, Poison Ivy and things that make you itch

The ticks this year in Iowa have been absolutely ridiculous.  I think that Toie and I have killed over 40 so far, eleven in just one evening.  Its a creepy feeling when they crawl on you, or you have to remove them from your hair.  We have Moe on Comfortis and it seems to take care of any that get on him, we have only found one or two on him that were still alive.  The poison ivy seems to be prolific this year as well. As of this writing both of my legs are covered in a rash and its spread to my hands.  The funny thing about the poison ivy is that I know I exposed myself while removing the foliage from around the sand rail and beetle that I traded for the generator that now sits on the rear bumper of the RV.  The dogs have been my other source of exposure, they walk through it and then brush against a person.  Toie is lucky, poison ivy doesn't seem to affect her the same way it does me.


There is a post on a blog  I read regularly that touches on the subject of internet privacy. I have always said that once you put it out there, you can't get it back.  I can remember the days before the internet and Facebook, when you wanted to talk to someone you actually had to speak, or write a letter.  With the integration of social media, like Facebook, into society, everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, needs to be conscious of what they put out there. That even includes smart phones and tablets. The tablet I use is so interconnected that I have to be super diligent what I keep on it. 

I have been playing around with the layout settings on the blog, please leave me feedback on the changes I've made or changes you would like to see made.
We had to renew our drivers licenses recently and are just waiting on them to come and we are out of here and on our way. 

Have a GREAT day!!!