Did I give everyone the day off?

There was a phone disconnect, but it had nothing to do with winter!
But hopefully it's in the past and will stay there! "O"

How have you been old friend share a few recent details of your life please So we don't feel so all alone"O}

I looked cross-eyed every day for for weeks, nay months at poor Patti for moving me to a place without... anything... well a few had cell phones that occasionally gave them two bars and let them text out to the forgotten world. So she sees their phones and makes the entirely unwarranted assumption that they were real phones not just toys for those who could not wholly accept the loss of, well everyone outside of clear water

But I tell you Bob, for all the messy trouble of the last few months, we are both convinced we are where we should be and are happy of it.

Our door fell apart!
(The rest of the trailer is sound and after continuous pouring rain like I have never experienced before in all my years in the Northwest, We are dry as a bone! Patti did the caulking and much newer trailers were putting plastic sheeting over their trailers to stray dry.)

So Todd pulls it off the hinges takes it to a wood shop out side his trailer you would not believe, (is that a pun?)Takes it apart and rebuilds it putting the old cover back on over his work. Door works great!

This is the first time I have ever gotten to know my neighbors ..so far, so good!

I'm glad you have helpful neighbors. Please do let us know your contact info when you know what it is; then we won't have to fret about you again

I really have missed being here. I was in a time warp where TV, movies, telephone, Internet, social media were all yet to come into being. I played Borderlands 2 until it was borderlands 4 and I could take no more!
I was afforded undue status because I have a computer and can make it go, unlike some computers in our park! LOL

But I watched for Elk at night and about 4 days ago, My tenacity was rewarded I saw a half an Elk twenty feet from my bed. I hope to see the rest next time! "O}

Imagine a two hundred foot high wall of flame! I didn't see it but Todd was working as a volunteer and told me about it. He said He could not yet see the fire but he could hear it, You could not hear your self scream over it's roar. When he did see it, it was nothing like anything he had seen in his work.

Our world has gotten much more dangerous for firemen. So I ask we say a prayer for fire men and women and say a prayer for those in need of them...I almost lost my new home. I'm a lucky man."O}

Are you now connected from the house?

Sounds like you can barter computer services for other stuff, like carpentry and etc.

I will have to go slow here Most are just getting use to their smart phones.

Not their fault! They do everything right on our end! It's just that their ten thousand complains went UN-noticed because wow! There was no one to receive our complaints!!

But Todd excepts no limitations he has not endorsed. Todd when straight to our local bar ( yes it's 40 miles away!) And set Century-link straight! Two week later, yesterday, after Todd waved his magic "I used to be a fire man" wand everyone got hookup!

Are you going to be the one who says no to a fireman who had a house fall on him to gain early retirement? Me neither!

But I have already met a camp cast off. An old compac It works, that is it boots Win 7.
I want to install Mint on it but have been waiting for us all to get on-line. Will a proprietary Compaq accept a Linux install? Or would I just lose win 7 in the process?

How odd! This has been by far the worst move among many in our lives, yet it's brought us to the best place of our lives.
Darn! I forgot to say in a previous post that 6 hours after we revived our get ready to bug out warning
a small group of firemen and a firewoman came by to give me the "All clear for now".

These four who came by me had been on the front line just hours before. This was their "rest period"
"Their time off the front line" spent going door to door.

I don't know how they are usually greeted But when I gave my thanks and asked that they at lest try to stay safe, something happened I was not prepared for.

The small pretty young fire woman turned to her at lest 6ft 4 inch partner With a smile that could dim sunlight, so bright and full of joy. She said not a word but reached way up in a high-five!


He was right there with her in his joy It was like no one had ever told them. Like they had never been thanked before!!
I told that they risked their lives to protect mine and they would never hear any complaints of any kind from me from me.

And that just set them off! Like a roman candle their spirits flew above all the flames
They saw though the smoke to all the lives they had saved and would save and knew of our gratitude.

That's all I said. But for these courageous men and women on the front lines of life fighting off death
it was enough, it was more than enough.

Lesson gained. No matter how obvious and undeniable their deeds seem to us, No matter how in inherently good the deed, People still need to hear from us that we DO appreciate what has been given to gain our safety.

Never pass up a chance to give them our thanks. For tomorrow they go again to meet the fire and to stand in smoke filled darkest fighting for the light and for air to breathe.

As so many before me I have come to know the debt they are owed and that for such as these, a simple thanks cancels all debts.

I'll have Patti scribal it out and post it as soon as I can, promise.":O}

Just happy to hear you are both still here and well on planet Earth!

Dear George, you are a wellspring of kindness.
Please set your worries aside. We have cut our rent in half. Our electric bill is half what in was before coming here, we pay barely $60.00 a month. Our food bill is improved as once again I must diet, oh the laxity and weakness that put on pounds! Our water and sewer is included in our rent payment.

Basically we have finally found the life we can afford and move ahead with by actually being able to save a bit, not quite yet mind you, but I can see the inevitably of improvement. Oh! Patti's boss finally got the message when her car broke down and Patti couldn't get it repaired and get to work She's finally make a wage we can live upon.

Your concerns were well founded and I don't believe we would have made it though if friends had not come to our aid. But that time of darkness has passed as it always must in the end yield to the light.

Please remember that my absence was not due to lack of buying power, just the lack of preinstalled connectivity. Very frustrating.

Now we are heading into winter, Which I am told is going to be quite cold and very white on the ground.
We still have things to do in order to prepare. But we are literally surrounded by help on every side.
Truthfully I never had neighbors such as these. They just keep coming!They've offered and given us stuff to often to list.. We could have done this alone. But they have made our lives so much easier that we find we are struggling to keep up our end. Not that they have indicated in any way the repayment would be desirable.

So no worries George. We are in better shape than we have been in a long time., Now if we can just fix the hot water heater and furness..LOL

Dan, so glad to hear that you and Patti are finally at a place where things are looking up. Be well my friend.

Were that wellness was in my hands! LOL
How have you been Chris? See your not the only ones who can be concerned! I can have just as much concerned as any one else!
":O}

This one is mostly for TR...you'll understand as we go along patient readers"

Rain....Rain....RAIN!

WE live in a aluminum trailer...much like the tin roofs I have seen in nearly every picture of Thailand's
SUPER green countryside..again in pictures. But it seems even greener than the moss covered North woods.

Around 10 days ago a super rain set in. I felt sheepish about reaching for my bedside knife, around 11PM...until I saw two of our neighbors circling their trailers armed with pistolas looking for their assailants! Cassy had his trailer knocked of his jack stands. Something hit Todd's trailer hard enough to wake him from a sound sleep. To Patti and I It sounded and felt like a giant fist caught us with a full round house punch. it was loud and it rocked our trailer.

Mind you were in the middle of a real storm, constant thunder and near by lighting, rains to rival the monsoons, AND! I have seen "Rains Of Ronchipor" (SP?) With Richard Burton and Liz Taylor!!

Only a complete madman would be out around midnight playing practical jokes.

I thought of panicked Elk, and there was quite a bit of fresh droppings (we all keep track as best we can of all Elk doings.) But it seems unlikely a dozen Elk who know the campground would start bumping into trailers widely set apart.

Todd thinks it was the North East wind...but he was one of the armed investigaters.
I asked him about that, he laughed and said that the North East wind was known to criminal!

So TR! Hows the Rain In Thailand? Is hot and humid rain worse than cold and moldy rain?
Personally I would think it would be. You can always put on layers to stay warm, but you can only get just so naked to stay cool...Am I right? ":O}

A little clarification on On life in my new country.

Reports of a population of 83 are greatly inflated.
even if one conflates the dozen trailers residence ( combined population of 15)
with the 23 landed gentry we fall well short of the 83. And lets face it the conflation could in reality, never take place.

There's been a rather nasty spit among those who live in houses without wheels. One of their own. some one they trusted to do the right thing and help keep the rift raft out.Betrayed them years ago. They blame, or so I hear her constant dope smoking and the desire to meet people "who weren't born in Clearwater."

"Most of those who are born here go there, why not bring some from there here."

And with that she abandoned every principle they had adopted in their isolation.

She opened a trailer park campground!!!!

Here's the thing. We have a 24/7 gas station and a store across the street from them is the afore mentioned fabled Clearwater Campground and Lodge.( That doper lady owes it as well!)

We have exactly 12 trailer spaces and a very nice green for summer tent campers. No where in any direction can you see or sense any other human presence.... the natives could hardly even know we are here... but never the less there have been incidences Where people who live over wheels have been publicly castigated and disparaged.

As there is no place that such a meeting might take place here I have to assume these occasional spots of friction arose in a bar 40 miles from here. I further assert that it might well be that their resentment stems from the presence of several of our 14 "invading" their favorite bar.

In any case I have yet to meet any who do not live here, except the guy with the store.

I just think it so exciting being trailer trash. Totally liberating as well.

WE are still "moving in." Patti can't find her phone so I can't tell give you my exact addy as yet, maybe tomorrow(?)

But we are space #2 in Clearwater campground. Just ask anyone which one that is.Contrary to popular opinion trailer park trash can do numbers..just not me...":O}

It's been rainy season here for the last 3 months, we're just about to pull out of it now. From November to February, perhaps the world's most perfect weather in the 'cool' season.

I'm located 400km ESE from Chiangmai; 70km south of Vientiane and the Mekhong, maybe 500km SW of Hanoi. 200km west of Lao border and 60km south of Lao border [Laos surrounds this region. The border is defined by the Mekhong]. The locals call this region Isaan, and historically it used to be part of the Kindom of Laos until some deal was made a long time ago to cede the area to Thailand. Most everyone here is ethnically Lao, and they speak a language similar to the Lao language.

Our weather is a bit milder than lower Thailand, but still has a lot of extremes in the hot and rainy seasons. Floods are the word of the month right now, some areas under water for weeks already.

Well the rivers are rising here, doesn't bode well for down stream. The rain continues unabated The rocks have disappeared in the river and small ponds appear and disappear as rain varies in volume.

Campground has excellent drainage and no one is getting their feet wet so far. The river is wide and fairly shallow as it passes us, but one feels the brooding strength beginning to mass and move out.

If current conditions continue we may be in for record flooding when she hits the lowlands.

The ground just drinks the water. I'd say we were no more than 10 feet above the river. I'd be surprised if drain water takes longer than a day to reach the river This area is a maze of very high hills and extinct volcanic mounds It perks like crazy, but then it rains like crazy to.

Still no Patti cell phone, but everyday is an adventure in rearrangement and it has to surface soon

So TR you go to another country and learn a new language.. When did you learn you would have to understand Lao as well as Thai?

Did they have to speak very slowly and with great compassion when they told you? ":O}

George, your accumulated world travel and experience continues to Amaze!

Chris if you kept your posts shorter more people would read them.":O}

As it is I must read them several times over Or I leave your table hungry for more.
I search for hidden messages and have even brought out my decoder ring for some of the shorter ones.

But that you answer me at all is a blessing I'll be thankful for until you learn better letter writing etiquette":O}

I really am just so very happy to be back in touch.
Danrok, this should give you comfort..there really are smaller places than your island.
I can't say why It should comfort you, but I was half way thought writing the sentence and couldn't turn back!
If this didn't comfort you I hope something else does!

Be very well my friends, it's indeed good to be home.

PS
The fire dragon has been subsumed by the water dragon and the fire Dragon sleeps at the rivers shore until rivers dry and fire lives once more.

The white and Greenwater rivers meet a 1/4 mile below us. Little to no chance flooding here. We are on the outside curve of a turning river, but it picks up real power when the Green water and White meet.

Still very dramatic, this river life.":O}

The rain stopped yesterday and last night the stars were out. The forecast says dry today and tomorrow rain returning soon there after.

Snow. Everyone including us is scrambling to block the wind from getting under our trailers.Despite the lack of leaks we have been strongly adviced to cover our trailers with a plastic sheet as the weight of snow tends to open cracks even in new trailers.

There's but a little movement. Two trailers have left and two arrived. I'm told the New folks moving in next door have two young kids. It's has been decades since I was able to observe children in the their play. Quite looking forward to it while fearing the possibility of abuse.
Confined places tend to produce friction and conflict. My hat comes off for those who can successfully raise their kids under such conditions.

But this place, I can't think of another way to put this, this place is full of loving hearts. A young family will receive not only welcome but tons of help.

We lost a member to booze, a Vet with real difficulties. He served in Germany on the wall before it fell. He saw friends "Turned to red mist" while standing duty on the wall.

Most really liked him when he was sober. No one could deal with him drunk....sadly he had to go.
He had four very small dogs and the a very friendly cat...in a 22 foot trailer. Please to say one dog and the cat will be staying adopted by two of our fellow campers.

The Good news is that he found a trailer campground here in WA. created by Vets for Vets...it seems to be just what he needed. Counseling and fellowship that understands and can help in recovery.

Fair thee well Casey.


We are all hooked up, We have to some of the fastest connections around. I'm twenty feet from the pole our DSL comes in on. and there is only around eight of us coming off that. So off of our phone line we get phone Internet and ROKU the wonder of modern streaming! LOL

I loved Ravensdale, I loved the Ravensdale's store, I even loved our post office! I scarcely believed that when we had to move we would ever find a place as well suited to us.

But God is good.

I must of said to Patti as hundred times that All I still longed for is to be by a river.
Now as leaves fall the River can actually be seen (in small patches between the trees.)

I'm about 200 ft. I'd guess from it's shore....And she is racing to the Sea!
Very fast water I'd guess to be around four foot deep. Once in it I see little hope of getting out alive.
Cold as ice and turbulent, angry, seeking the doom of any who play the fool upon it's shore.

Yet she brings life to the low lands. Where some of the greenest UN-irragated dairy land Ive ever seen supporting dozens of small dairies.

I personally feel this post might have been better presented had I a spell check.
OK I was gone for a while and no one needed a spell check. But now I'm back and any who read my posts will soon find them selfs in desperate need of one....if only to be able to read my posts!

As a public service I'm going to spell check this in my Documents...Just so you know how great my love of you all really is.":O}

Some one of you might do the same by fixing my spell check!

No need to find a new forum where folks can spell! Our Spell Check is back on line.
I give me credit for that! LOL

"a quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest."

Albert Einstein