Pro Pain: The Saga Continues

It was a grey day in Texas today, and that reminded me of winter when the sun went down early and I froze half the time. And I remembered a great story I hadn't shared yet. It's a doozie.
By now, you know how much I hate being cold, and how easy it was to run out of propane in the winter. Well, one cold winter's night, I am curled up in my bed under about 3 blankets and a sheet along with a personal heater in the shape of a cat watching a scary movie when I realized that I was bundled up under layers of warmth and still really cold. Fearing the worst, I got up and turned the thermostat to 80 degrees. Lo and behold, nothing happens. I'm out of propane. Go figure. Shady Grove fills propane tanks every week day for a fee, but all you have to do is unhook your tanks from the lines into your RV and set them in your driveway for the propane guys to pick up. They return them to your space full, and you can hook them up to your RV and bask in the warmth they give. So, I get my coat and boots on and go out to unhook my tanks so I don't have to do it tomorrow morning before I leave for work.
I shut the tanks off and try to unscrew them from the hose, but the collar on one of them won't budge! I wrap it in my jacket and try. It doesn't give an inch. I go back in the trailer to find a pair of gloves to use, but I can't find them anywhere. I end up grabbing a towel and trying that, but to no avail.  I'm pretty sure it's frozen shut. That sounds like a big problem to me, so I call Bob the best future-father-in-law ever to see what can be done if the collar gets frozen onto the propane tanks. It's about 9 o'clock at night, but he answers with what can only be described as an unamused tone. When I explain to him that the hose connector is frozen onto the propane tank and I can't get it off, he tells me to get that pair of gloves he left. When I tell him that I've already looked for them and can't find them, he's not too happy and gives me a little lecture about making sure I know to fill my tanks BEFORE they both run out. But, being the great future-father-in-law that he is, he offers to come out there to unhook them for me. It's a 45 minute drive for him to come out there from where he and Fran live. I tell him it's really ok, I can go one night. I said I would borrow a pair of gloves from the place I worked and unhook them tomorrow after work.
"But then you'll have to spend another night in the cold because they won't fill the tanks until the next day." He lets out a big sigh. "I'll come out there, just hold on. There better not be a pair of gloves there."
I assure him there isn't, and we hang up. Well, it is still freezing, and I have 45 minutes, so I get back under the covers and start the movie again.
I was watching You're Next, a movie about a holiday that goes terribly wrong. It was just getting good, the bad guys were trying to kill the main character and the suspense was building, when I heard a knock on the door. I was so engrossed in the film that the sound jolted me out of bed before I realized that a killer probably wouldn't knock before he busted in to murder me. Nope, Bob was here. My hero.
I open the door and tell him he almost gave me a heart attack, to which he replied, "Why are you watching a scary movie by yourself?" Good point.
He handed me a pair of gloves he brought and we head to the propane tanks. I put the gloves on and try to turn the collar on the hose. It spins easily. I look up at him (he's 6'6") with my mouth wide open.
"I tried my jacket! I tried a towel! It really wouldn't move before! Really!"

He shakes his head and lets out another sigh. "Gloves make all the difference. You really don't have any? I thought I left a pair for you."
"No, I looked. I didn't find any."
We start back towards the door of the trailer.
"If I find a pair of gloves in here, I'm kicking your ass."
I chuckled at that. Then Bob looked in a drawer I swear I had looked in, and he came up with 2 pairs of gloves. TWO.

I felt what can only be described as hilarious shame.The look he gave me... Well, let's just say I was glad he was leaving. I felt so bad, I apologized profusely and promised I would do a better job of getting my propane tanks refilled before they both ran out.
As he is walking out the door he says, "And don't watch a scary movie by yourself!"
"Don't knock on my door!"
He turns around and says, "Then deal with your own fucking propane!" and climbs in his truck.
Deep down, he's really glad I'm part of the family.


May you always find what you're looking for (before a large, angry man gives you a death stare),
Ray

I'm a Sightseeing Adventurer

Today, I went on a run. By run, I mean of course that I sprinted for 10 seconds and walked for 50 seconds for 10 minutes. I'm not a distance person. It's important to have endurance, sure, I mean you've got to be ready to outrun the zombies when the time comes, but I think you're a little crazy if you run marathons and nonsense like that. Bad ass? Yes. Crazy? Yeah, you're that too. Let's be real; the first guy that ever ran a marathon DIED. Yeah, look up your Greek history. That being said, I'll never be one of those people that enjoys running. I do, however, love going on walks. At that speed (which isn't too much slower than my long distance running speed), you can see and take in so much more. You can feel the sun on your skin and the breeze in your hair. It's heaven on earth. So in my running/walking-then-walking-some-more excursion, I saw some pretty great things that I didn't know about my community. Let me introduce you to Shady Grove through pictures...

The dog park

We have our very own troll bridge!

Enclosed yard with a ramp? Living the dream.

Who doesn't want a ramp?

'Merica!

These are actually weather vanes.  Cool, huh?

See that bricked walkway up to their DECK??? #fancy

These folks aren't playing around.

They have a house behind their house... No clue.

The corner lot did some landscaping. Pretty sweet!

And then there are these people who are actually my neighbors. Now, that is what's up. #Firefly

I live in a pretty cool place. My neighbors wave and say hello when they see each other. A man who didn't speak English helped me fix a machine in the workout room. (I thanked him in Spanish, and thank goodness he didn't believe I actually knew Spanish. I have a very limited vocabulary.) All in all, it's a nice community with nice people who just like the nomad lifestyle. Who came blame them? Don't we all have that adventurous spirit within us that makes us wonder what's just beyond our vision?  That makes us strive for something new, something exciting? Don't we all thirst for that? I know I do. Let's really experience life and have some stories for the grand kids. 

Stay thirsty, and take a walk,

Ray

Thank You!!!

Just want to give a shout out to all the readers: my blog has reached 1000 views! Thank you so much!
To commemorate the occasion, here's my home sweet home in all its glory:

What a Beaut'!

I was struck this weekend with the thought, "I'm about 100 days to my wedding day." It's getting real, ya'll. Some days it feels like I'll never leave this tiny house on wheels, but the clock is ticking, and I know I'll be out of here before I know it. Don't worry though! I still have plenty of stories to share about my time as a vagabond (guys, I still haven't gotten through the winter tales yet). And now I'm singing Cher's Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves... If you don't know it, look it up!
Anyway, we still have 100 days of fun left, and adventures are still being had. I'm glad you're on this journey with me because writing about it helps me keep it light. Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this.

You really rock, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise,
-Ray

PS: I'm on Facebook at /AdventuresinTrailerParking and Instagram @adventures_in_trailer_parking