A Change of Plans

The best laid plans can surely go astray, especially with me at the helm.  


Already I am shuffling around my reservations.  I am too pooped to travel today.  By the time I got everything done, well most of it, um, some of it,  I discovered I had no energy left to drive to the next campground. Plus it's Friday and sailors don't leave port on Fridays. It's also Friday the 13th. A good day to lay low anyhow. 


My friends who are moving to Brazil, gave me loads of goodies, so out with my junk, in with the goodies, so the dumpster is seeing me multiple times today. I guess you could say I am upgrading my junk to better stuff. How does that work?


Someone asked me today if I "missed" stuff I threw out or gave away, and that they no longer got rid of stuff, because they might need it one day, so it was better to just keep everything. 


My answer was, I've discovered that once you get rid of things, more "stuff" appears if you need it... Not sure how that happens but it does. "Stuff" even appears if you don't need it.  Argh!


But you can probably guess a woman owns and works on my RV. Half my tools are in an old fashioned hard sided makeup case, the kind women used to take as carryon luggage in the 50's and 60's. The other half of my tools reside in an old canvas purse.  I found the makeup case along with a complete set of matching luggage, on the sidewalk one day while walking the dog in suburbia. It was put out with the garbage, so I nabbed the makeup case because I needed a tool box. 

It makes a real cute toolbox. But recently the handle finally broke off, so it's not near as handy but it's still in use, holding tools and tent stakes and work gloves and WD-40 and duct tape and baling wire and...so on. 

Above, I am parked at Bill Frederick Park and Pool at Turkey Lake, Orlando, Florida.  I am getting ready for Easter dinner when this picture was taken. I had tried something new with the refurbished awning, I stuck one strut out porch style. Then I nailed it into the ground with tent stakes, so a certain little puppy dog wouldn't knock it over while romping around. 

In this picture, you can see he has already wrapped his tether around the pole once, then run it under the table, under a few chairs, then under the motorhome where he was playing when I took this. 


You would be surprised how strong a six pound dog can be when he sets his mind to it. I think he was a former sled dog in his past life. He used to pull so hard on the leash, that I would sometimes let go of it, just to watch the puppy fall down!


I know, me bad. 


He's on to me now, so he doesn't lean into the leash anymore. He is a joy to walk now. But when he wants to go somewhere different than where I am going, he will literally try to drag me over to see it his way. 


But in that case, I simply pick him up!  Then he can't do much about it, but he can squirm 99 different ways if he doesn't want to be held. But this is extremely rare. 


On his tether, I have taught him to stop and bark once when he is "stuck".  This is great because it keeps him from toppling over the folding card table I use for a desk or ripping out the electric cord from the utility pole at the campsite. If he can't move his tether freely, he does a "Yelp!"  that sounds like a "Help!".  He knows I typically reward him, by showing up post haste to untangle his mess.