The Adventures of Me & My Shadow #35 in MD,DE,VA,TN &
MS 7/29/99
2,362 miles this trip, odometer now 45,742. Total miles this year
13,707.
From Delmar, MD, Hi Everyone!
The Medicare fraud adventure turned out to be more difficult than
I expected, at this time I have nothing new to report, I'll keep
you posted.
As you can see, I did log some miles on the motorhome and it sure
felt good to head it down the road. I attended an Iron Angels
reunion in Tunica, MS, that's just south of Memphis, TN. I know
some of you find it hard to believe that I am an Angel, an Iron
Angel that is. The first Iron Angels were in the Navy Fighter
Squadron VF 14 in WW2. It was VF 141 in 1955/56 when I was an
Iron Angel and in the Vietnam War it was VF 53 so there are a
lot of old Iron Angels and I guess a lot of them like to gamble
as the reunions are usually held in, or close to a gambling joint.
I am content with what I have and I find no joy in pouring money
down a rat hole. I would rather pour it into the fuel tank of
my motorhome. In gambling terms I guess you could say I came out
ahead after the stay in the casinos. When I was checking into
the RV Park I was told that I could get a 10% discount if I had
a players card. So I signed up for one and also received a roll
of nickels ($2.00) for free to get me started with a slot machine.
At the other casino I signed up for a players card and received
a coupon for a free buffet (worth over $8.00). I used the buffet
coupon, got 10% off on my parking fee, and brought the nickels
home with me so I made over $12.00 and enjoyed it very much. I
met a lot of old friends, made some new ones and listened to a
lot of sea stories and some BS. I plan to be in Las Vegas next
July for the next reunion.
On the way to the reunion I had a learning adventure with my new
GPS program Co-Pilot 2000. I like what I saw and I'm sure I will
like it more as I learn more. I have to thank Gertrude's boss
for introducing me to it. After I use it in Southern CA I will
see if I can drop Gertrude. This new program is very friendly
and stays with me no matter what I do. If I miss a turn or deliberately
head off on a different road it plots a new course in a second
or two and it seems to know how I think and does it my way. It
has all the map including Canada & Mexico on one disk and
I have copied it onto the hard drive to make it run faster. With
Gus I need two disks, Street Atlas USA & AAA Map n Go to get
the same coverage. Gertrude has 9 disks for the metropolitan areas
in the USA only and she has no back roads or streets in the smaller
cities. The program says the voice is by Keith Bell so I'll call
him Keith. Keith talks to me and listens to me when I talk and
does what I tell him to do, If I thank him he has good manners
and always says "your welcome". I can tell him to "sleep"
and he does and as soon as I say "wakeup" he is with
me again. I'm sorry I can't tell you what brand the mike it is
that I use with Keith. I was looking for a throat mike used by
fighter pilots in WW2 as I thought it would block background noise.
My son Jeff pulled an old mike out of a junk box and it is just
what I needed. I can have the CD player on with the volume up
so this old man can hear it and the mike don't hear a thing. When
I put the mike up to my lips and give Keith a command he hears
me most of the time. I have that audio relay to turn the music
off when Keith talks so I can hear him, it's perfect.
Now for the dirty details of the trip. I headed south to Jenny's
then stopped and had lunch with Mark before heading for the bridge
tunnel. I handed the gal $13.00 and I could tell she wanted $18.00,
she looked at the rear wheels and asked if they were duel wheels.
I told her no, I only have six wheels. She did not believe me
and went out of the booth to look at my rear wheels. She came
back and accepted my $13.00 but she was not happy about it, I
guess, because the rear wheels have a wider track than the front
wheels, she thinks they have to be duel wheels. On the return
trip at the south toll gate I handed the gal a twenty dollar bill
and advised her that I was only paying class two. I was surprised
when she laughed and said "I know, I'm the one who lost that
argument once". I looked at her and told her she was much
more attractive with a smile verses the scowl she had the last
time I saw her. Some day I'll have them all trained.
Did a few honey do's for Virginia (my sister-in-law) in VA Beach
and got an early start for the trip west with the new GPS program
in charge. I was to go by Cornersville, TN where I would meet
my friends from Sarasota, FL Dick & Janet Headley. Janet was
going to stay with their friends in Cornersville and Dick was
going to follow me to the reunion and stay in the motorhome with
me and we would use his car to move around in. There was just
one problem, when I unplugged from the phone line and headed south
I did not have an address or phone # to call when I got there,
the Headley's were on the road. I thought I would find a way to
contact them when I got there. I had problems with the new GPS
program and lost time and finally put Gus in charge and got into
town about 10:00 PM and was looking for a place to park when I
met the city cop. I explained to him what I was up to and he suggested
for me to spend the night at a truck stop south of town. In other
words he was telling me to get to hell out of town so I spent
the night at the truck stop. I woke up and headed west knowing
Dick could find his way there. I had the new program in charge
and again I had problems. I was using only the voice instructions
and the map was not turned on. The problem was that Keith would
tell me to turn onto a TN route and TN does not have many route
markers out (they must save a lot of money) I would find myself
on a US highway and Keith would keep telling me I was on TN route
# something. On the return trip I had the map feature turned on
and I could see the road he wanted me on and I had no problems,
I left the reunion at 10:00 PM drove strait through and pulled
into VA Beach at 3:00 PM the next day. I will send Keith a message
to give instructions using US markers when available, I have already
sent in some corrections to the map and was informed that the
information would be verified and incorporated in the next version.
Another problem was Dick, he showed up and I was glad to have
the company, till the first night when he started snoring, not
as loud as my son Jeff but one time he sounded like a Rottweiler
dog snarling and I wondered if I could get out alive. Next year
I'll make sure I have some duct tape, to put over his mouth. If
that don't work I'll have a short hose to shove down his throat.
If that don't work I'll have a rope long enough to go twice around
his neck and when I tighten it up I should have some peace and
quiet.
I can't kick him out, he is the one with those delicious oranges
& grapefruit that I load up on every year and he is an Iron
Angel.
Till next time, Dallas or Dad if it fits. 7/29/99