HAPPY THANKSGIVING

IF you haven’t heard from my Facebook page, I am having computer issues so posting here will be limited for awhile. My laptop crashed and with no power source available on it, it will have to be sent back to the company where I have the warranty on it. This will take time..precious time for me to say the least. I at least hope for them to resolve the problem or replace the whole thing. I have had issues once before with this same laptop, so maybe it was just time. Given the holidays and such, I expect it will be some time before they can get it back to me. I will be doing the best I can to keep up at least at Facebook with all of you.

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT AND SAFE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY!

p.s. KATE AND MAGGIE will return.. they are still on the road and having a ball!

KATE AND MAGGIE Part Two

Kate, being a person who did over the road work most of her life, knew all too well that this trip would be expensive. Gas, lodging, and Maggie's newer vehicle would be a major road block in the whole trip idea. They agreed to meet the next day though and look at used vehicles. Kate was sure that Maggie would balk at seeing how costly a newer vehicle would be. Little did Kate know that Maggie was already aware and had plenty of resources for the trip. Sure enough, before the sun went down, Maggie had a newer used van all insured and ready for a road trip. Kate helped by letting the dealer know that she was very knowledgeable about used vehicles. They agreed to pack up and leave as soon as Maggie could get things together. In two days time they were headed down the major highway bound for all the excitement a trip could be. Kate knew the roads like the back of her hand. She knew the speed traps, the great places to eat and stay over. It was an exciting time for Maggie who hadn't been out of her hometown in at least 25 years.


 They got about 700 miles down the road when the van began to make noises that Kate didn't like. Perhaps it was a hidden thing that she just didn't catch when looking the vehicle over. Kate pulled into a major truck stop and proceeded to check the van out herself. An 18 wheeler pulling into topped off his air horn and made Kate and Maggie both jump. Behind the wheel was a scruffy guy wearing a Detroit Tigers baseball hat, with a cigar stuck in his cheek. He parked his rig and jumped down and sauntered over to the gals standing over the disabled van. Kate knew this fella, his name was Tom, but all the truckers called him "Detroit" because of his love of the Tigers baseball team. He was divorced three times, had one child with each wife. Maggie was  surprised when he opened his mouth and a southern accent came out. "Howdy young ladies..what's up with this van?" Kate introduced Maggie and she and Detroit checked out the van. "Well, Detroit said..looks like a crack in the distributor cap.. easily fixed, but it will take some time to get to it". Kate knew they were going to have to stay at least overnight to find a mechanic. Maggie was excited,, to her, the whole thing was a new adventure. Kate, on the other hand, would rather be on the road driving to their first destination. Kate had never spent this much time with a person over 70 years old before. She had no idea how talkative and repetitive Maggie could be. She began to wonder if she really had taken on more than she had planned on.


If this was such an adventure for Maggie why was she sleeping so much of the time on the road?

KATE AND MAGGIE

KATE AND MAGGIE

Maggie sat at the kitchen table, drinking her morning coffee, looking out at the clear blue sky. She picked up the local easy shopper paper and looked to see what garage sales were listed. Most of her Saturday mornings had started the same way for over 40 years.She was proud of the fact that she looked and felt great  for 76 years old and didn't look a day over 65. Her kids were grown and had kids of their own and lives that were stretched across the country away from her. Maggie's husband of 45 years had passed in his sleep several years before, leaving her with a comfortable life, but a very lonely one. Turning the pages, and sipping her coffee her eye caught a very small ad at the bottom of a page.



"Kate,retired, 35 years long haul trucker,will drive you anywhere you want in any kind of vehicle, you pay expenses." Maggie chuckled to herself and thought that would be quite an adventure. She moved on to the garage sale section and decided today she would pass up the sales and do the laundry that had been waiting over a week. 

There was just something about that ad in the shopper  that kept nagging at her though. What did she have to do all day long? She would love to go cross country and visit her kids and grand kids. She didn't think her old car would make a trip that long though. She would have to get a newer one. The more she thought about it the more she want to call that woman Kate and ask questions. Laundry done, she went through the paper again and found the ad. She dialed the number and a woman answered. Kate told her that she placed the ad because she was bored not being on the road but didn't want to drive semi-trucks anymore. She would be glad to get together with her and talk over a trip and just what it would take to make one across country. They talked on the phone for a while when Maggie told her to just hang up and come on over to her place. She could not wait to see Kate and talk to her in person.

Maggie was excited to see Kate at her door.She was a small woman with big blue eyes wearing a jean jacket and a cowboy hat. Kate laughed at Maggie's expression.   Maggie immediately wondered how in the world she could handle a semi-truck. All that power and her being a slight 5 foot 3 inches tall. Kate explained that she used to sit in her father's lap as he drove a big rig and was clearly in love with trucks from an early age. She adapted well and when she got her license to drive she could not wait to try out the big rigs. She had some close calls in her years on the road, but nothing that she couldn't handle. The more the two women talked the more Maggie was convinced this was exactly what she wanted to do.The next decision was how much it would cost for such a trip and what kind of a vehicle she would get to make it all work.

This was the beginning of something that would change both of their lives forever.

CLEAR BLUE

EVEN our weatherman is amazed at how clear the skies have been and how wonderfully warm the past few days are here. High 60's in November, well that is just amazing. One last chance to go and do all the things that need be done. I sure know how that is. Busy boxing stuff for the Goodwill ..took a whole car load in
the past two days. Feels so good to get rid of the stuff no longer needed. I never went into the store though. I don't know about you, but ME.. I won't go NEAR any used clothing or anything now days that might have the dreaded bugs on it. The local TV stations here did an undercover thing and well the news wasn't good.  Now I just get the creeps going into a store with used items like that in it. All my donations were NOT CLOTHING. Talk about scary..
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Our washer is on the fritz. We have a replacement agreement on it so if it can't be fixed.. YIPPIE we get a new one.. course this old Kenmore mom got probably 20 years ago so it's time is up I believe. The last time they did maintenance on it the man shook his head and told us that they just don't make washers to LAST anymore. I sure believe that.. what DO they MAKE to last now days? Not much! When I called for service appointment they told me there would be a WEEK wait! Yikes laundromat here I come...now to gather up the quarters. Mom looked at me in amazement when I told her that each load costs at least $2.00, she remembered when we could do a whole load for clothes... wash and dry for $1.00. Ahhhh for the good old days.
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Watched some of the last 5 dancing on DWTS.. I must say I thought Brandi and
Jennifer were tops!! Gonna be hard to tell who wins this year. Think it will be a woman though. Have seen Blue Bloods with Tom Selleck and so far really enjoy it. I really can't get into the new Hawaii five-0 show though. I miss 24 so I watch NCIS instead and CSI (the original one). Still love Survivor but hate the new night. It is so hard to get used to it being on mid-week. Watching a lot of the shows that Oprah does with all the celeb interviews. Quite interesting.
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Well must wrap this up, time to get busy with the laundry detail..
glitter-graphics.com

RIGHT PLACE..RIGHT TIME...

EVER find yourself in the right place and the right time? Sometimes you wish you were anyplace else..sometimes not. While shopping for supplies at the K store I spied some teens looking at watches and jewelry. Wouldn't have thought anything about it , EXCEPT the clerk was really staring them down. I guess if you work there long enough you tend to be skeptical about things. Anyway, the girl said to the other girl, that watch on sale looked like hers. YES, she had a watch on, I saw it on her. The clerk did NOT. I moved on to see what gloves and such were on sale. All of the sudden a big commotion made me look to their direction. The young girl was in tears and the clerk was talking loudly to them both. I moved some closer and heard the clerk accusing the girl of stealing a watch. Now most times I would STAY OUT OF IT..but this time I decided NO.. the girl DID have a watch on when she was standing there, I saw it.

I stepped over to the counter and told the clerk that I saw the watch on the girls wrist way before she stepped to that side of the counter. I told her I believed that the watch WAS HERS. The manager stepped behind the counter and was told what the clerk suspected. I just stood there waiting to see what would happen next.  Low and behold the clerk saw that this watch the girl had on her wrist had the correct time and that the band looked used and not brand new. Talk about jumping to conclusions. Well if I was a young person and was accused like that, I think I would be very leery of shopping there again. The young girl looked very relieved and thanked me profusely for stepping forward to help her out.  You know what I told her....
PASS IT ON.. when you KNOW something is wrong and you can help another person out.. please pass it on and help someone out. She just smiled and nodded and I went on my way. If there is ANYTHING in this world I HATE is being accused of something I did not do. It just sits wrong with me to the core. Talk about being in the right place and the right time.. it sure was for me today.

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HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY!!