Yeah... NASCAR is Done... Poor lil' Danica took the wall again. Her first win will have to wait for another race, but... THAT was not the "Again" I'm speakin' of.
Know how I whined that something always seems to come along and consume our NASCAR wages?
Uh huh... it's THAT that. A couple nights ago I got into bed and forgot to turn off the inverter. Sooooo I slid down the bed... I know, some of you have already caught it ;) ... I slid down the bed and reached out to punch the inverter button...
... zap!
A static charge jumped from my finger and hit the charge controller monitor panel.
I was only a small lil' zap. Wasn't even visible in the dark. Only enough for me to feel it. Buuuuut, it was enough to cook something in the Solar System Charge controller. I've disconnected the monitor. I've hit the Reset button on the controller in the dark, in the daylight, with and without the monitor connected... Nada.
The only thing I ain't done is do a hula dance on the roof in my jockeys drinkin' a beer and hummin' taps.
No joy. The charge controller is frozen in a mode that is telling it the system is fully charged, so it won't let any power flow through. Unless one of the guys at RV Solar Electric knows some trick to get it unfroze... I'll just replace it.
So before we start our slow Northern Migration via Death Valley, I'll spend the next day or so tracking down a fresh solar system charge controller and getting it installed. I can't complain much. This one is six and a half years old and done fine work that whole time.
Maybe we'll be lucky and the price of those has come down too. I checked the panel price the other day and those are down by 50%!!! The Kyocera 135 panels we have cost $640 a piece as I recollect. The new panels at the same place last week were $310!!! I was looking forward to at least another panel and maybe two in the near future.
With two more panels we'd likely not even need to run the generator if bad weather lasted only three days or so.
Ah well, They say when you're as purty as me you have to endure at least some sort of disappointment so you keep things in balance.
The sun's coming up here at PIR. The springtime flowers are Poppin' in Death Valley... and it's time to get packed up. Soon as we're loaded I'll make my parts phone calls and we'll figure out where and how's the best place and way to deal with this blip.
Stay Tuned... summer roaming is close to the start line!
Itchy and powerless ;)
Brian
A broken down Ol' Cowboy goin' RV Boondocking ...
...and Yondering, to the beat of a different Biker Cowboy Drummer
Monday, March 4, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
Hope is the Lighthouse that Guides Me Through the Dark
It's easy to get derailed. If you listen too long it will weaken you... and you'll find yourself diverted... No worries... Putting the wheels back on the rails is a doable task. I'm an old hand at it! ;)
When you get up in the morning do you read the news? Do you turn on the TV or the radio only to see brutality and cruelty that seems to be swelling like a cancer and leaves you stunned? Everywhere you look in the world there seems to be insanity that has an uneasy knot squirming in your gut?
It's not only in Syria, Croatia, Asia, a half dozen African countries, Mexico... Everywhere you look in our own land it seems you see a sickness of the soul and a blackness of the heart that has man turning on neighbor.
It would seem the world is gone mad and depravity has conquered civilization.
But... hasn't it always been so? Didn't the conquistador rain genocide on the Mayan and Aztec? Didn't the British Kings slaughter Scots in the Highlands, manipulate famine in Ireland? The Muslims have fought Christians since the first Muslim and Christian were born.
Cheyenne fought the Blackfoot. Both fought the white man. Tribe has fought Tribe in Afghanistan since the beginning of time, and will till the end of time. One Afghan nation is a western concoction... for which they hate and fight us.
Our leadership teaches us to revile each other and judge according to income and creed. They split us by race and gender, city and farm, conservative and liberal.
To raise up their greed they tear down respect.
Man has raped and cheated; murdered and pillaged since the genesis of the species. It is an old story. There is nothing new.
The only thing that's changed is the speed of the messenger. It twists the mind so it seems as if perversion has run wild; and yet, that is only another deceit. The world itself has not changed, not for better or for worse... nor the people in it.
Times are good for many. Times are brutally hard for others. The strong prey upon the weak. It has always been so.
But people! Take Heart! Listen to the whispers. Those tiny lil' voices in the back of your mind. That soft whispering from your heart.
There is a power that stands up to and defeats the world of sorrow and misery. There is a force that soothes the fear and the sorrow. There is a voice that shines a light in your life.
There is a belief, that if you hold it close enough in your heart, your strength shall never fail. Its strength flows back on itself and grows with irresistible power.
It is a belief that whether you realize it or not, you possess it. You own it.
That special gift, that strength... that shining star that is my lighthouse... Its name is Hope. Many will call it faith. Some will call it a simple toughness. I call it Hope.
When you stand alone... and those you held most dear and precious lay broken and torn around you, and you are left alone, all you have is Hope. When you feel your heart will burst with the pain as you scream your agony at the sky... Fall to your knees and in their memory... grasp the Hope that they hung to with their last breath.
Raise up your eyes, lift yourself from the ground and with the Hope they passed to you, continue. For them, in their honor if not yourself, live on.
Sure, we have been betrayed. It's not the first time nor will it be the last. Those cowardly few who swore to stand up for those who could not; those malicious frauds who promised to defend and protect have proven their deceit.
They are unworthy of our thought or consideration. It is no surprise. Deep down we knew it would be, we expected it. Our hearts knew their true character, even as our eyes were deceived... but we Hoped. The fraud of their word is not our shame but theirs.
We retained hope. It is our Glory. It is the fuel of our soul and the lifeblood in our hearts. Hope.
As the sun rises each morning... the dawn after our last failure... we shall pick up our tools, we shall stand in the morning breeze and we shall say; It is a fine day. I Hope others are as fortunate as I, for I am still warmed by Hope.
It is the purpose and the goal of all life. Though your dreams may fall to dust, your heart be broken and torn, you only fail if you surrender Hope.
It is not the man who easily rises without strife, standing on the success of others to claim the pinnacle, that is the champion and my moral compass. The one I revere is he who tries... she who strives without ever relenting, and never achieving their dreams; yet they never surrender, they refuse to yield. They live on with Hope.
Don't just look out the window and dream... break out the glass... crawl on through and seize that life you see...
It is that person who tastes the sweetest breath of Life. It is that glorious soul that fully appreciates the friendships and the losses.
With their final breath they reach out to take yet another step and point; "It is there... just over there..."
You look and see nothing. You turn back to them and ask; "What? What do you see?"
Their eyes gaze upon you... bewildered. To them it is as clear as the sun. With glittering eyes they cry; "There! How can you not see her? It is Hope!"
Retain your Hope... and you prevail. You shine a light that beats back the darkness.
It is a Fine Day.
Brian
When you get up in the morning do you read the news? Do you turn on the TV or the radio only to see brutality and cruelty that seems to be swelling like a cancer and leaves you stunned? Everywhere you look in the world there seems to be insanity that has an uneasy knot squirming in your gut?
It's not only in Syria, Croatia, Asia, a half dozen African countries, Mexico... Everywhere you look in our own land it seems you see a sickness of the soul and a blackness of the heart that has man turning on neighbor.
It would seem the world is gone mad and depravity has conquered civilization.
But... hasn't it always been so? Didn't the conquistador rain genocide on the Mayan and Aztec? Didn't the British Kings slaughter Scots in the Highlands, manipulate famine in Ireland? The Muslims have fought Christians since the first Muslim and Christian were born.
Cheyenne fought the Blackfoot. Both fought the white man. Tribe has fought Tribe in Afghanistan since the beginning of time, and will till the end of time. One Afghan nation is a western concoction... for which they hate and fight us.
Our leadership teaches us to revile each other and judge according to income and creed. They split us by race and gender, city and farm, conservative and liberal.
To raise up their greed they tear down respect.
Man has raped and cheated; murdered and pillaged since the genesis of the species. It is an old story. There is nothing new.
The only thing that's changed is the speed of the messenger. It twists the mind so it seems as if perversion has run wild; and yet, that is only another deceit. The world itself has not changed, not for better or for worse... nor the people in it.
Times are good for many. Times are brutally hard for others. The strong prey upon the weak. It has always been so.
But people! Take Heart! Listen to the whispers. Those tiny lil' voices in the back of your mind. That soft whispering from your heart.
There is a power that stands up to and defeats the world of sorrow and misery. There is a force that soothes the fear and the sorrow. There is a voice that shines a light in your life.
There is a belief, that if you hold it close enough in your heart, your strength shall never fail. Its strength flows back on itself and grows with irresistible power.
It is a belief that whether you realize it or not, you possess it. You own it.
That special gift, that strength... that shining star that is my lighthouse... Its name is Hope. Many will call it faith. Some will call it a simple toughness. I call it Hope.
When you stand alone... and those you held most dear and precious lay broken and torn around you, and you are left alone, all you have is Hope. When you feel your heart will burst with the pain as you scream your agony at the sky... Fall to your knees and in their memory... grasp the Hope that they hung to with their last breath.
Raise up your eyes, lift yourself from the ground and with the Hope they passed to you, continue. For them, in their honor if not yourself, live on.
Sure, we have been betrayed. It's not the first time nor will it be the last. Those cowardly few who swore to stand up for those who could not; those malicious frauds who promised to defend and protect have proven their deceit.
They are unworthy of our thought or consideration. It is no surprise. Deep down we knew it would be, we expected it. Our hearts knew their true character, even as our eyes were deceived... but we Hoped. The fraud of their word is not our shame but theirs.
We retained hope. It is our Glory. It is the fuel of our soul and the lifeblood in our hearts. Hope.
As the sun rises each morning... the dawn after our last failure... we shall pick up our tools, we shall stand in the morning breeze and we shall say; It is a fine day. I Hope others are as fortunate as I, for I am still warmed by Hope.
It is the purpose and the goal of all life. Though your dreams may fall to dust, your heart be broken and torn, you only fail if you surrender Hope.
It is not the man who easily rises without strife, standing on the success of others to claim the pinnacle, that is the champion and my moral compass. The one I revere is he who tries... she who strives without ever relenting, and never achieving their dreams; yet they never surrender, they refuse to yield. They live on with Hope.
Don't just look out the window and dream... break out the glass... crawl on through and seize that life you see...
It is that person who tastes the sweetest breath of Life. It is that glorious soul that fully appreciates the friendships and the losses.
With their final breath they reach out to take yet another step and point; "It is there... just over there..."
You look and see nothing. You turn back to them and ask; "What? What do you see?"
Their eyes gaze upon you... bewildered. To them it is as clear as the sun. With glittering eyes they cry; "There! How can you not see her? It is Hope!"
Retain your Hope... and you prevail. You shine a light that beats back the darkness.
It is a Fine Day.
Brian
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The Long and Winding RV Road... Keeps Winding on
Looking Back through photographs of the last three years travels... Pushes Me Forward...
The road is calling and I must go... a twist on another wandering fellas words, an addition really. The mountains call to me as well... They are sisters, mountains and roads. They whisper to my very soul.
This RV Boondocking road is far from its end. It continues to fade away into the mists of distance in front of me... beckoning me to follow. Something along that ribbon of highway has a pull I can not resist.
Another mountain poet sang; "To the Mountains I can rest there... to the Rivers I will be strong..."
All I have to do if I'm feeling low and weary... is step out onto a precipice and my spirit soars...
It happens so each spring. At the end of each long winter, I've built up this wiggly, uneasy feeling. Though we bump around all season in the Arizona desert... and her sky island mountains, we sure aren't static... it's somehow still not the same as "moving on down the road"... knowing that a week from now, I may be states away from where I am with uncounted visions refreshing my spirit.
My sense of wonder is renewed each spring; "What ridge will I cross this summer that I've never crested before? What road will I ride I've never gone down before? What trail will I walk that's never known my boots before? What new understanding will I gain?"
They are the times that feed my hunger to gather ever more of 'em.... before they slip away.
The road is calling and I must go... a twist on another wandering fellas words, an addition really. The mountains call to me as well... They are sisters, mountains and roads. They whisper to my very soul.
This RV Boondocking road is far from its end. It continues to fade away into the mists of distance in front of me... beckoning me to follow. Something along that ribbon of highway has a pull I can not resist.
Another mountain poet sang; "To the Mountains I can rest there... to the Rivers I will be strong..."
All I have to do if I'm feeling low and weary... is step out onto a precipice and my spirit soars...
It happens so each spring. At the end of each long winter, I've built up this wiggly, uneasy feeling. Though we bump around all season in the Arizona desert... and her sky island mountains, we sure aren't static... it's somehow still not the same as "moving on down the road"... knowing that a week from now, I may be states away from where I am with uncounted visions refreshing my spirit.
My sense of wonder is renewed each spring; "What ridge will I cross this summer that I've never crested before? What road will I ride I've never gone down before? What trail will I walk that's never known my boots before? What new understanding will I gain?"
From what camps will I look up and see that same moon shining back?
This wandering life has as sweet a taste as I could ask for. But, it is easy to take it for granted. It is easy to fall back into old ways and lose the trail. Every once in a while a traveler needs to stand back and check his pack. Make sure he's not Wandered off the Trail and got lost.
That can be sorta difficult to know... when you've no idea where you're headed. The only way I can describe knowing if you're following the right path is to judge yourself with a pragmatic eye; Are you still engaged? Is that quiet solid feeling still filling your lungs? Are you learning more 'bout yourself each day... or those around you? Can you see a bit of "yourself" in what you perceive as the failings of others... and find a bit more tolerance or forgiveness for their faults?
Ha Ha! I too often see a lil' too much of ME in those failings! But when those thoughts get too heavy... I search out a sight like this... and how can your spirit remain low? How can life carry a darkness... when THIS is the window you've opened into your life?
Looking back at photos from the last 40 or 50,000 miles of travels warms up so many memories, preventing their loss...
... and gets me excited and impatient for the coming season...
Soon we'll start finding our way north... We'll park our rig out in BLM... or in the National Forests... on occasion you'll find us in Forest Service, BLM and even the odd Corps of Engineers campground.
We'll turn up lil' two lane byways... shun the turnpikes and interstates... We'll BBQ our burgers and steaks under the Open Far Country Sky... We'll patch the tires and weld the cracks. We'll replace lost oil, broken glass and plug leaks in the roof...
Each day we'll gather in ever more riches of the Jewels the Boss has scattered across the landscape to keep us searching on...
But these aren't jewels you can put in your pocket and sell. They are gems that can only be held in your eye and protected in your soul. They are the Shining Times of life.
From crashing, thundering storms at Lost Trail Pass in Montana...
To post card moments high on going to the sun road...
... and jeweled sunsets along the Washington coast...
They are the times that feed my hunger to gather ever more of 'em.... before they slip away.
 |
| *If you look close at this one, you can see the rig in the trees on the far slope* |
 |
| *Our home is the far country. To the Mountains I can rest there...* |
The road keeps pulling me along... I don't resist, I can not... I love it so.
A Wandering Soul
Brian
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