DAY 2 - My Life is Brilliant

DAY 2--  Tuesday am --trying to average 280 miles/day x 10 days...which leaves 4 days for sightseeing or detours around forest fires, Drove 270 miles yesterday, arriving at the Presque Isle Casino in PA (free camping) at 2 am. Won $400 on 50-cent slots before going to bed at 4 am. Note the 240 free games, followed by 50 more. Luck of the Irish? Surely, no skill required.

Tuesday 11pm -- Stopped after 240 miles, near the western end of the Ohio Turnpike, because the Turnpike Authority has thoughtfully provided 10 campsites for RVs,  removed from the scores of semis with their idling diesel engines. I rarely pay for overnight stays, but I'm tired after getting caught in Cleveland rush-hour traffic. The modest cost, deducted ftom my gambling winnings, saves me the trouble of starting up a noisy generator.  I can use my electric heater (Holy Toledo! It's cool here tonight) rather than burning propane.

On My Way! DAY 1

Thanks to help from friends,  Joe and Loral, I'm on my way West. Only a day behind schedule. J Just stopped for a nap near Rochester, NY. Looking for the wormhole to Rochester, MN.

Thanks to the generosity of 50 relatives, friends and strangers, RunVinnyRun.Fund is halfway to the goal of $10,000. However, it seems to have reached a plateau. Nonetheless, I'll be soon heading west with faith and hope that the rest will show up somehow. I have about 200 FB friends. About 150 of them are musicians, many of whom have struggles of their own. For example, I'm sure that some of my friends from Open Mic Night at Oswego Music Hall would make a donation if they could. I ask for their prayers, which I will replace in kind.

 

If I Had a Hammer...

An open letter to Home Depot --

Dear Mr Depot:

In accordance with the "Americans with Disabilities Act", I request that you provide utility trailers for the handicap bumper cars in all your stores. I am usually there at closing time, and assistance is seldom available.  "Disabled" people do stuff, you know.

Sincerely,

Vinny

***Speaking of hammers,  "When all you have is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail. That's my response to the 4 surgeons who recommended amputation, despite the fact that the circulation in my leg is not bad.  What about phantom pain? Huh?  I am grateful to Dr Pinney, the orthopaedic surgeon at Cleveland Clinic, who referred me to the Exosym program at Hanger Clinic. You can learn all about it here:  http://RunVinnyRun.Fund

VITRUVIAN MAN WITH A LIMP

 

Adaptation by Leonardo da Vinny

Let's face it, nobody's perfect.

If you want to help Vinny walk again, maybe even run,

please say a prayer. 

 Sincere thanks to those who made a pecuniary contribution.

We are almost half-way to our goal !

If you are able, but have not yet done so, please visit

http://RunVinnyRun.fund

THE PROMISE OF A NEW DAY

 

I wrote this Haiku 5 years ago.

I forgot about it, 

        but Mark Zuckerberg didn't.

Thanks, Mark!

It's more appropriate than ever.

SHE IS WITH ME ON THIS JOURNEY

Our 1969 Mustang Grande

Pics from my wedding album -- 50 years ago. Note the cane. I'm actually grimacing in pain during the dance. It wasn't fair to Debbi -- she could have been a ballerina. It's been 7 years since she waltzed into a higher dimension. JUST BECAUSE THEY'VE LEFT DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE GONE. She is with me on this Journey. It was her birthday when I went to Hanger Clinic in Syracuse for my initial evaluation for the new prosthesis.  Assuming a successful fundraiser, I'll probably be arriving in Gig Harbor, WA, on October 10, our 50th wedding anniversary.

I know there are at least a few people who don't really like me, either because I'm a smarty-pants (guilty, as charged) or for some other reason that may or may not be valid.  Everyone loved Debbi. So if you're one of them and you have refrained from making a donation to the fundraiser, please do it for Debbi, not for me. After all these years by my side, she is surely tired of hearing me bitch and moan. Thank you!

LIVING THE DREAM

 After my wife passed away, I sold the big house, paid off all my debts and bought a cabin in the woods -- 7 acres on a private lake.  The Amish are marvelous carpenters, but they don't do plumbing or electricity.  Either did I, but I couldn't afford contractors, so I learned.

I learned that LIFE OFF-THE-GRID (especially on a hill) is a lot of work: firewood, propane, whatever.  It's a problem just getting the groceries from the car into the cabin.  Hoisting a 300-lb Amish chimney into place is a challenge. The cost of perseverance is pain, lots and lots of pain...but I manage to get by on Social Security.  I retired at 48 for health reasons, so there are no retirement savings.

(Photo from Google Earth, so the vertical scale is exaggerated) 

 It is quiet out here.

____________________________________________