RV'ing

11-7-10 Sunday (Bloody Feet And Mary’s)

I forgot to mention winterizing the RV yesterday. Yes, it was that sad time of year where we put the MoHo into it’s winter slumber. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to use it as often as I wanted. Every other weekend would have been great but of course I haven’t been working and then when I was I didn’t have weekends off. So it’s either lack of money or lack of time. Now it’s back to a lack of money.

Naturally, we had a lot of difficulty and spent a lot more time than we needed. Here’s the key problems: uThe winterization waterpump kit I bought wouldn’t fit where it needs to go. uAll batteries were dead. uWe couldn’t find the flexible funnel. uWe had to go buy 2 more gallons of anti-freeze. uWe only had one bubble blower.

Above/Below: Jim blows bubbles while we wait for the batteries to charge.

The most important thing about winterizing is replacing the water in the lines with anti-freeze. It’s a special RV anti-freeze.

The biggest holdup was getting power to the waterpump since the batteries were dead. We eventually got the generator start so we could winterize the washing machine as well. What a process. Next year should go much better – we’ll be pros!

Today Jim and I hosted another brunch (10:30am)!

Ruby brought a delicious bacon and cheese quiche along with Bloody Mary Mix. I had 2 Bloody Mary’s. Yum!

Deanna brought a wonderful fruit assortment. Cantaloupe, raspberries, grapes, etc.

Beth brought OJ and champagne for Mimosas. I can’t believe we drank so early.

Carl & Tim supplied the waffle ingredients and made them here as we hungrily awaited.

I fried up some delicious Jimmy Dean Maple sausage. Yum.

Above: The beverage bar.

Above: The dining “area”.

Above: Ice on the hot tub!

Above: Tim playing with ice… better than fire I suppose.

Above: Ruby and her dog, Little.

Above: Jim, Carl, Beth, Deanna.

Above: Beth.

Above: Beth and Deanna. Gizmo at the lower left side.

Above/Below: Little.

Above: Ruby making a Bloody Mary.

Above: Bloody Mary section.

Above: Ruby – after her 6th Bloody Mary. OK, not her 6th.

Above: Dasher and Little.

Above: Fruit, waffles, sausage, quiche. Yum!

Above: Jim, Deanna, Beth, Ruby.

Above: Carl, Tim, Ruby, Deanna

Above: Tim & Ruby

Above: Dasher with a bandage on his foot.

Sometime last week Dasher hurt the pad on his rear foot. Occasionally he munches on it and causes it to bleed again. Today he left blood dots on the furniture and carpet so we had to wrap his foot to get him to leave it alone.

After brunch, Jim and I drove around checking out more houses/neighborhoods. That’s all I got!

11-6-10 Saturday (Your Tiny Dancer)

So, just some miscellaneous stuff for the week.

I decided to expand my job hunting to include Craigslist. I hate Craigslist. I do. I don’t trust it. The last time (here and here) I used it I felt it to be full of scams. Here’s one ad that made me giggle. It’s nice to know “little people” are needed.

Some pictures from the week:

Above: Tim listens for the ~~ocean~~ snow in Santa’s hat.

Above: Garret looking “cool” or as cool as one can expect while standing in a Family Dollar store.

Above: No worries. Carl is passing gas.

Above/Below: Tim’s cigarette break at the Northlake Mall. A beautiful (not him) backdrop of green soft grass, red tree and some grass bush of sorts.

Above: Animal-lover Tim while

Above/Below: Garret at a Spencer’s at Northlake Mall.

Our weather forecast is cold. It seems too early for below freezing temps! Time to winterize the RV!

Carl and Tim took Gizmo for a stroll through a local park. Tim texted me these photos:

I’ve had to turn the heat on today (Saturday). I had to give in… I just couldn’t get warm.

Carl & Tim, Jim and I went to dinner at Olive Garden. Man, did I put away some food. Bread sticks galore, salad galore, my meal, and even alfredo sauce to dip breadsticks into. I really pigged out. I really need to start eating better again before I gain all the weight back.

Above: Tim waiting for a table.

After dinner we watched “Furry Vengeance”. Don’t. Say no. Well, maybe if you’re under 15 or something. Ugh.

Sunday, Jim and I are hosting a Sunday brunch. Stay tuned…

10-31-10 Sunday (Drag-O-Ween)

At the beginning of October Carl, Tim and Jim went to a Gay Pride event and picked up a flyer for a drag brunch event that was happening today. Earlier this week, I had made reservations for the 4 of us to attend. Yesterday while driving around house-hunting, Ruby called me. I told her about the drag brunch and invited her along. Who’s Ruby? She’s the branch manager of the travel department at the Triple Letter location I worked at. We’ve been keeping in touch since my separation from Miserable-ville. Ruby, Carl and Tim met here at our house. After introductions we socialized for a short time before heading to the drag brunch. Ruby drove Jim and I, while Carl & Tim followed to Hartigan’s Pub. Ruby has been there in the past.

Above: Our Southern-Belle, Ms. Ruby.

When we arrived I think we boys were surprised by the size of the place. Small. We were told there was a dance club of sorts down stairs which was not open. Luckily they had a table reserved for us which was perfect since the place was packed. The brunch menu was their “express menu” which was basically a very small version of their normal menu. None of the food options were “brunchy”. No quiche, no crepes, no eggs benedict, nada. We had a burger or chicken finger platter. It was bar food. It’s a bar!

I must tell you that other than the size of the place, I didn’t have a favorable first impression. We stood at the door waiting to be seated for a long time. Staff seemed to ignore us. Finally we asked someone and were told the reservation names were on the tables. We had to find the correct table which wasn’t difficult but that’s not the point.

We did enjoy the drag show. There were probably 6 or so drag performers.

Above: Ruby & Garret

Above: Garret & Jim

Above: Carl

Above: Carl enjoys a Pixie Stix.

Above: Tim

Above: Carl

Above: Not our table but there’s a drag queen standing there.

Above: Tim watches the drag queen.

Above: A drag queen fondles Garret’s head.

Above/Below: Jim said, “There’s a whole lotta Spandex there.”

Overall it was enjoyable. Our reservations were for 1pm. The drag show ended at 2 even though the flyer said 12-3. I guess from 2-3 it’s just brunch as opposed to a drag brunch? I’m a huge Wonder Woman fan. Funny read that previous sentence and drop the word “fan”. I’ll wait. I think it was a cute costume. I love that this “woman” was bold enough to do this costume.

The bar has drag brunches monthly. Jim and I may attend them.

After lunch/show, Carl & Tim went home for naps. Now there’s something that never happens – NOT. Oh well, their loss. We drank lotsa wine with Ruby and exchanged life changing stories. OK, maybe not life changing but we did swap stories. Tim eventually came over and enjoyed some wine with us. Carl continued napping or lounging or whatever it was that he does.

10-30-10 (Flavorless Foods)

Jim and I ventured to South Charlotte’s Ballantyne area. What’s Ballantyne? Click here and here if you want to know. The short of it is that it’s an upscale area of Charlotte. Oddly, we’ve lived in Charlotte for 10 months and hadn’t checked it out. We used an entertainment.com coupon to eat at the Delancey Street Bistro. If you’re planning to a book a flight to go there and have dinner you’re an idiot. Although I am a wee bit jealous that you have the money to do that but I think you’re an idiot so that trumps the money thing. Where was I? Well, my point is that, nevermind, just don’t go. I had Chicken Alfredo. It sucked. I tasted butter and pasta. The cheese flavor was practically non-existent. I know, I ordered an Italian dish at a café but bite me, it was with the server’s recommendation. It’s so hard to talk to you; you’re so critical.

Above: Not related to the story about the restaurant at all. As a matter of fact, this is from a few days prior. This is Tim making a return at Walmart. Anyone who knows Tim personally knows that Tim doesn’t return anything. He just throws it out. This was his SECOND return for the day! Now back to the story:

So, my food was a butterful, flavorless heap of carbs. The good thing about my meal sucking was that we used a BOGO coupon worth $8.00 off the meal. The other thing is that it was so lame I only ate half of it. I assure you, if it had been worth a damn I would have licked the plate. That’s how I roll.

Above: The portion I left behind.

Jim ate some chicken wrap with fresh mozzarella and a balsamic vinaigrette. He said it was good, although those are ingredients that are somewhat hard to screw up.

One of these days I’ll learn to research a restaurant BEFORE eating there. Below is the rating for this place. 38% of 73 people liked it. Ugh.

After lunch Jim and I drove around looking at houses. While we’re not in the position to buy right now, it’s nice to check out what neighborhoods the money we want to spend will get us into. Understand? Anyway, here’s a few photos from our drive: