RAIN!! And TV Stars!

January 17, 2013

   

Today the cold front is starting to come through South Florida.  It got up to 81 today but was very cloudy and we had real rain in the afternoon.  It was the first real rain we have had, in the day time, since leaving NJ in August.  Today also breaks the record heat wave South Florida has had.  It has been above 80 each of the past 15 days which is a new record for South Florida at this time of year.  The next couple of days including the weekend are to be in the mid-70s with a chance of rain.  I actually like it to be just a bit cooler and mid-70s looks good to me.  The overnight is still in the low 60s so that’s still good.

Ugly day.  View from our dining table window

 We did mostly inside stuff today as there wasn’t much sun.  I worked on a budget spreadsheet that I created a couple of weeks ago.  I actually like creating spreadsheets and playing with data. We really needed to start this budget because we were just winging it since leaving NJ.  We were sort of like, “we need to get to these destinations so whatever it costs, it costs.”  Well it cost a lot and that sort of travel for us is not sustainable.  I did work out a budget before we left but I really didn’t know at the time just how we were going to live this life.  Now that we have the jaunt across the country under our belts and we are sitting still we can put together a travel schedule and budget that works for us. 

I also rewired the sound system with the TV.  We were moving so fast from August to December that we didn't know how to use the TV with the surround system.  Well, after we figured that out, I broke one of the audio cable connections off in the TV receptacle.  I was lubricating the bracket that allows the TV to pull out and swivel away from the wall.  So I pulled the TV all of the way out as far as the bracket would let me.  That, was not a good move!  The RCA audio cable has a center pin that when pulled too hard sideways can and did break off in the TVs connection.  What a pain in the ass!  I finally pushed the broken pin up past the top of the connection inside the TV using a small pin.  After that I used a new audio cable I bought from Radio Shack and completely rerouted all of the cables so that they would not put stress on the connections.  That little job took almost 2 hours! 

Back of TV after rerouting the cables.

The pin broke off the white RCA connector in the TV!

In the afternoon Patty went to her first Physical Therapy session for her elbow.  This is related to the bike fall she had back in September in Ohio.  The elbow has healed but she has what is called epicondylitis (golfers elbow) now.  Seems that she did not heal right and she has some pain when she moves the arm in certain positions.  She will go to PT 2 times a week for the next 4 weeks. 

We still have not done the air boat ride in the Everglades.  It’s just been too hot!  We decided to put that off until next week when the temperatures are to be in the 70s.  That’s one of the good things about this lifestyle; we can do things when we want to do them.  It’s also sort of hard to leave the resort.  For us, having a pool a hot tub and bike/walking paths is enough.  Anyway, it’s enough for right now. 

We may be TV stars soon!  That’s a real big maybe though.  We got an e-mail from a club we belong to, RV-Dreams, giving us information about an RV reality show that is being filmed this month.  Seems this company is putting together a pilot show to see if there is interest in making a series.  We filled out the paper work on-line and were contacted within an hour to  make a video and upload it by tomorrow, Friday.  Patty and I did a practice run and will do the real video on Friday.  The video is be no longer than 4 minutes and it is to be like a conversation telling about ourselves.  I don't think we have any real chance at being in this show as we are just way too ordinary.  We are thinking though that the nudist element might help us to be less ordinary. 

Tomorrow I am planning to complete our Taxes and do the video. 

Stay tuned!