Author: Steve

  When I was young, driving a ’55 Chevy, I thought of motors as moving objects.  How fast could they change speeds; can they rev high and get there fast?   Now, driving the motorhome, I think of the motor more as a static object.  Set it at 1,600 rpm rolling down the highway.  The load varies with the terrain, but the engine holds steady.  Now it’s more about how constant a speed the engine can hold than about how fast it can change speeds.    

  I’m confused by speed bumps.   If a neighborhood wants you to drive 15 or 20 miles an hour down their street, why put in speed bumps that can only be negotiated at 5 miles per hour?  That guarantees braking, bouncing, and accelerating for every bump!  Why not put in speed bumps that are comfortable at 15 miles per hour, but uncomfortable above?  That would accomplish what they’re after; reduced speed, and also reduce noise, and pollution from acceleration.    

  Let’s say you have a tax base of 1,000 people and the city provides a service for those people at a cost of $1 per person.  They tax each person $1 and that covers the cost.  Years go by and the city grows to 10,000.  Now they have a tax base of $10,000 to provide the same service to each constituent, so even though there are more people there are more tax dollars to provide the service.  So far so good.   When we were young, and it was time to get a driver’s license, we went to the Department of Motor Vehicles, stood in line, and took our driver’s test.  Same day.  No problem.  Now in 2018, our granddaughter is ready to take her driver’s test, but the Department of Motor Vehicles is too busy to administer the driving test until mid-September, a month later!  What just happened?  We paid our taxes in 1961 and got a service.  Now in 2018, we’re still paying taxes and they can’t provide the service for a month?  Sure, there are more people now than there were then, but if there are 10 times as many people that means the local government is collecting 10 times as much money.  No matter the population, they have the same amount of money per person to provide the service.  Why would the service change?    

  2018 May Colorado Trip   A quick stop at the Falfurrias Rest Area and magical fractured light through the oaks.   And a nice sign over the door for our return.   What was to be a six week trip turned into three and a half months.  There were some things we did on purpose, and there were some unexpected challenges along the way, but the challenges were overwhelmed by love and support (and great medical care).  We had times with friends and family we wouldn’t have otherwise had.   Life on the road.  It’s just like life, only with wheels.  

  And they’re not mine!   One from Matt:   “I don’t know why but this just popped into my head. We have spent most of the last year, each at the age of the others birth year.“  (My note, Matt is/was 45, born in 1972.)   One from McKee:   “What you have here is an old race car trailer.  The guy made a small fortune in racing.  One does that by starting with a large fortune.  Then you park/junk/sell the race car and go low budget RVing.  But with a back porch.” D   We’re at George West, Texas.  We’re in an oilfield and refinery worker’s park.  We didn’t go very far, we’re still being careful with me and holding down the miles per day.  A short day tomorrow and we’ll be home.   2018 May Colorado Trip   I’d go outside and take a picture of the site, but it’s a hundred degrees out there!  I’m staying inside with the air conditioning running.   I know.  I’ll wait until dark, then go outside for the picture…