I have arrived! And it was so nice to see a friend coming to greet me and to show me where to park. He has been watching the entrance to catch hams as they enter. Did you say hams?

Well, that term does need a little explanation, doesn't it? A person becomes a "ham" when they receive an Amateur Radio License from the FCC. (I received mine about 30 years ago.) Ham radio is a great hobby. The basic idea is that someone produces a signal and sends it out. Someone else receives it and responds. That is the bare basics.

Of course, there is a lot more to it. Talking to Europe and Asia is very common and so is talking to an astronaut. Some talking is done as you drive along I-10 at 70 mph, or as you pedal your bicycle. Some signals are sent and received via satellites or the moon.

Some ham radio requires no talking at all. Instead the signals are pictures or weather data or current location (GPS).

I am here in Christmas to attend a Ham Radio Rally. At the end of the week, we will all drive into Orlando and attend the Hamvention at Orlando. This is a VERY large gathering of hams and vendors. I am going to purchase a radio there.....and it is going to have that GPS feature that I told you about earlier. What that will mean for me is that I will travel along, and my parents and my brother and my aunts, uncles, cousins, and my friends will know where I am.....updated every two or three minutes. That is.....if I turn the radio on!

Anyway, I'm here in Christmas, and it's good to see all my friends whom I haven't seen since the last rally I attended. I am also meeting friends that I know "on the air".

I'll talk with you later,
Suzanne

I have left East Texas and gone on a 4-week trip. Yesterday and today were major travel days.....that means 7 to 8 hours of driving. But now, I am a very short distance from my destination of Christmas, FL. I had originally planned to arrive in Christmas on Monday, but then I remembered that the Super Bowl was Sunday. So, I changed my plans so that I could arrive Sunday around noon and then have lots of time to relax and start watching all the Super Bowl Fun. So, did I rearrange my trip to accommodate the Super Bowl. Well, yes.

Traveling with a dog changes the way you do things. And when your dog has a backache and weighs eighty pounds, and when the vehicle is a pick-up, things definitely are different.

An aching eighty pound dog can still exit and enter a car very easily. But there is no way that my poor Paris can do that in a pick-up.

So, the RAMP comes out at every stop. I resisted purchasing the RAMP for quite a while. (It comes with a hefty price tag.) I tried to think of a way to build a ramp, but I could only think of wood....which would be way too heavy for me. I also considered aluminum, but that would involve hiring someone to build it for me.

So, I bought the RAMP, and it is wonderful. You should see Paris exit the truck. She walks slowly down the RAMP looking around as if to view her subjects who have come to honor her. Paris the Princess.

Paris is an ideal dog for traveling. She never whines, she never barks, and she hardly ever stands up. She sleeps so good......I look back at her and am envious. Every once in a while, she begins dreaming and those feet start twitching. An easy traveling dog.....except for the big size!

That's all for now. I'll write you from Christmas!

Suzanne

I am a handy person. I'm just untrained. One neat thing about living here is that there are lots of handy AND trained people around. I've only lived here three months, and I've already learned how to replace a circuit breaker and how to fix a furnace.

And today, I learned about grease guns. This lesson actually began four weeks ago when I wanted to grease some fittings on my trailer before leaving on a trip. I got out the guns and the grease tube cylinders. I opened one of the guns and tried to insert the tube. It only went in partially. I pulled it back out and pealed away the paper that seemed to be hindering the process. I tried again. I pulled it back out again and pealed more paper off. I tried it again. I read the directions on the tube. The directions said "Insert This End First". Shortest directions I have ever read.

I gave up on that gun.

I tried the second gun. I made good progress on this one. I inserted the tube without any problem! I then tightened the gun down and squeezed the trigger. Nothing came out. I squeezed again. Still nothing. So, I loosened the cap and then retightened it. (I figured that if I can solve some computer problems by powering down and then restarting, then I might be able to solve the grease gun problem by loosening and then tightening.) That didn't work either.

I gave up on that gun. And, I put both guns away until I had the time and energy to deal with them.

Today, I packed the guns in a bag and walked into Home Depot. I was counting on One-Stop-Shopping. I would get those guns to work, OR I would get new guns! The plan worked. I found out that the first gun really doesn't take tubes. And, I found out that the second gun works if you remove the foil from the end.

Tomorrow, I grease fittings again. I'm going on another trip. My Life-on-the-Lake will become a Life-on-the-Road. I'll let you know how it goes.

P.S. In case you're wondering, I did grease those fittings for the trip a month ago. I did it by hand.

My family celebrated today with a special meal. Just good, good stuff--potato salad (how does Mom make it so good?), coleslaw, cornbread, navy beans, and Burr's Sausage.

You heard it right. Burr's Sausage.

It is in operation again.

Burr's Sausage was knocked out back in September when Hurricane Rita roared ashore along the Louisiana/Texas border. With all the news of Katrina hitting New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, it is understandable that Rita is easily overlooked. However, Rita hit cities that I am familiar with.....

Beaumont, TX
Orange, TX
Lake Charles, LA

Burr's Sausage is located in Orange, TX, and it is simply the most delicious sausage ever. So, it is really good news that Burr's is back in business. Everybody in South East Texas knows about Burr's. It is just the right blend of spices.....not too hot, not too boring.

So how good is it?

SO GOOD THAT RITA COULDN'T STOP IT!!!