Happy Penultimate Day!

A fantastic title for Young Readers. 

One Christmas season while working for some extra cash at a retail store, I said, "It’s at the end of the penultimate isle," when asked for the restroom.  I am pretty sure they didn’t know what the heck I was talking about, but they followed my direction anyway.

Athletes are precise 

in deed and word. 

Isn’t it the Penultimate frontier? 

I enjoy seeing esoteric words such as penultimate and its ilk in print.  Sometimes I get to hear penultimate, my current favorite word, in BBC podcasts.  It seems to be a common word in Great Britain.  

        

From two separate points, each eye sees its own rainbow.

        On this first annual Penultimate Day,
heretofore unnoticed every December 30,
we shall celebrate some noted penultimates:

Y    
Ti                              
November  
Alaska    
Indigo

Woefully under-used is the problem of Penultimate

And last but not least, This Little Piggy, who had None!  On this special day, he doesn't have ‘none’ anymore - he has a great new title.      
                                                                                     

Little Piggy Penultimate

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/penultimate

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-penultimate-mean.htm

http://www.myfavoriteword.com/P.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Little_Piggy

http://eo.ucar.edu/kids/sky/colors1.htm

http://eo.ucar.edu/rainbows/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast

http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/

http://www.classicsforkids.com/teachers/training/handsigns.asp

Merry Christmas &  Peace on Earth

James Moody

Thank you James Moody, for singing the song twice.
 I'm glad that I got to meet you.
Moody Mood for Love is the only song that I cannot live without.
http://www.jamesmoody.com/

The Best Gift EVER !!!

Thank you Rena & Joe! I'm gonna keep these up 'til I hit the road!! 

                                                     

I am staying on Terra Firma.

On May 24 1999, I joined SETI’s search for ET. They borrow my computing power by sending me bits of radio signals to analyze for signs of civilizations on distant planets. Of course I don't do it alone, SETI @ home has lots of help. So far I have completed 27,746 credits of data! You can do this too! It works in the background, you won't even know it's running.

http://seti.berkeley.edu/setiathome

http://www.seti.org/

Collectables

On my journey I’d like to collect trinkets along the way.  They have to be small and inexpensive.  Something unique, a common tourist tchotchke that’s not hard to find. 

They can’t be Pink Piggy Banks - to fragile. Or Spanish language learning books - too heavy. 

Postcards? Magnets?  Spoons?

What’s a different kind of thing to gather?

The Complete Idiot's Guide to RVing

    I wonder if this book is for complete idiots or is the guide complete?  Maybe that’s why this book is written with a little humor, and it is pretty complete.  In the back there is a section a called Where To?. A nice glance of interesting tidbits about each state.  Included is a resource section with lots of web sites.  Not many pictures though, and I do like pictures. 

By Brent Peterson.  Second edition, 2006

Over the Hill and Through the Wood

    During the holiday season Lifetime, Hallmark and other channels of their ilk, show a plethora of cloying Christmas movies.  Usually about sagging christmas sprit and ending in a wedding!  Naturally the locations are towns with Christmas-ie names.  So, I've made a list and checked it twice of some places to explore.

Holly Santa Fe Depot

Holly, Colorado is the home of the historic Holly Santa Fe Depot. They also have the annual Holly Bluegrass Festival and a public pool.

A Snowflake Historic House

Welcome! 

Snowflake, Arizona has its Annual Pioneer Days. The Snowflake Heritage Foundation has a walking tour of several houses that have demonstrations including weaving and blacksmithing.  Snowflake also has a swimming pool! 

A Noel Bluff

Noel, Missouri is the Christmas City and the Canoe Capital of the Ozarks.  You can have your personal stamped letter canceled with a Noel Christmas Postmark, for free. 

Welcome to Rudolph, Wisconsin.  I’ll have to go to the  Rudolph Country Christmas, celebrating Rudolf the Red-Nose Reindeer.  It is jam packed of several days of events.  Not only about Christmas, this town has the Rudolph Tractor Show once a year. Tractors food and raffles, I’m in! 

http://www.townofholly.com/     http://www.ci.snowflake.az.us/
   http://www.4noel.com/    http://www.visitrudolphwi.com/

Christmas, Florida Style

 Merry 
    Palm 
          Tree! 

About Color

Additive Color System

http://www.rgbworld.com/color#add

Subtractive Color System

                    

A Cold Talking Plant

So can we come out now?

We bundled up over night        

It did warm up a little today

Burr, another cold night ahead!

In the Meantime . . .

 While Pokey sits around waiting to go, I am volunteering at the Science Museum.  I love science, especially the kind that makes my head spin.  They have a very large telescope.
http://www.sfsm.org/   




I plan on learning about the stars. The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, in West Virginia, is on my list of places to go. http://www.gb.nrao.edu/GBT/GBT.shtml

The West Palm Beach Amateur Radio Club meets at the Museum. One of the guys there suggested I should get a radio license of my own to use on the road.  Good idea.  http://www.wpbarc.org/

A Good Fit

         I measured the doorway and the hallway of the Flying Cloud.  And all I can say is - it fits!  I’ll just have to remove one of the twins.  Then I can put the sewing  machine, with its cabinet, in the back.  Just where it belongs.

25 feet

                            I can have my sewing room.  
                            After all, this is something I need to make this a home. 

The Icebox

        Also known as a refrigerator, but I like the home sweet home sound of The Icebox.

The 12 Volt Plug in the Back Room

The link to Cold!

In the really big gigantic SUV there are two (!) 12 volt plugs just made for the traveling icebox.

       The icebox in the Airstream runs on an electric hook-up or uses propane.  Some have told me that it's okay to drive while using gas to keep the icebox cold.  For me, there is no way I can take that risk while I journey to different parts of the country.   

       But I need to save the ice cream, or at least the mayo. 

 So, look what I found trolling the net:    truckfridge.com

Can I train the Kitties to bring me a cold soda as I'm driving down the highway?   

Movie of the Week: Cats & Dogs, The Revenge of Kitty Galore.

Mr. Tinkles
Don't miss his bit after the credits.

Why? Talking Cats! Talking dogs! A talking pigeon, mouse and hamster too!! I’m in! Oh yeah, there are real talking people too. This is not a cartoon. The animals are really talking! (They are, aren't they?)

Who doesn't want to see a cat dressed like a Bunny?

Kitty Gallore’s alibi?  She is owned by a magician. And what do ya know, he lives in an Airstream, and uses a Mac computer (an original imac).  An excellent combination. 

Mel, the man knows trucks

        A salesman walked up to me at the car dealership.  After a quick greeting, I showed him my note pad.  I had GVWR 7300 circled and told him this was the most important thing I needed to know.  Does he know what it is? 

This hitch is welded to the frame

Um Um Um . . . Really, he had no idea, he seemed to be trying to guess. 

trailer indicator control

Little trailer light

Mel in Control

I went back to the trio left behind, and of the three, Mel spoke up.  He said, that's the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating!  Without hesitation!  Of course it is.  After all, if you're gonna sell trucks to pull big things, you ought to know about the most important part of the equipment! 

I did tell him that I was 4 years out - I'm not buying today.  He took me for a test drive anyway.  And he gave me all the time I needed.  And he answered tons of questions.  I looked all around, in and under a Tahoe and a Suburban.  The inside of these big, gigantic SUVs feels bigger than my kitchen. 

A garage to go!

         I need a GVWR of 7300 and the smaller Tahoe  starts at 8100, and the super-size Suburban tops at about 9600.  Which to that I say:  Can you ever have too much pull?