March Re-cap

 Here we are at the end of March, 2026 already. For us, that's another winter in the books. We have had about 3 false springs this month. It seems that Mother Nature just cannot make up her mind. We started March with a lot of snow on the ground and then all of a sudden we will get a couple of days of unseasonably warm weather. Meaning above freezing. It will melt much of the snow. Our first false spring. 

Then just as quickly, the temps drop to around zero for a week and again, all of a sudden warmer weather. This will last a few days and then the ground starts to thaw out. That turns our gravel driveway into a mud bog. Thankfully both of our vehicles have four wheel drive and for a few days you really needed it. Our second false spring.

Then the temps drop again. Freezing the driveway now with big giant ruts in it. Then it will thaw out again and we are back to mud. I don't know if Mother Nature is having hot flashes or what but she needs to make up her mind on what she wants to do. Hot or Cold. Pick one.

As our life is always changing (like the weather), we said good bye to another faithful friend. Our pickup camper. It was just time to let it go. It let us go on many adventures but it was just getting too small for extended lengths of stays. 

Somewhere in Alaska.

We originally bought it to go on the Alaska Pilgrimage. It worked perfectly for that trip. We loved it. If you haven't driven that trip in an RV, you are missing out. We took it on a month-long trip to Colorado. We have been to Florida with it. We even ended up staying in it for almost a year down in the deserts of the south west. Then that pesky Covid hit and changed how we would RV forever after that. Remember we sold our fifth wheel a couple of years ago. Now our pickup camper follows suit.

Camping on a Texas beach.

Another Texas beach.

Somewhere in Missouri I think.

With the pickup camper, you can almost go anywhere with it due to the small size. We have some friends who have one and they just love to go to Walmarts for the weekend. Why? I don't know. With that camper you can get into all of the National parks. With fifth wheels and motorhomes it can be tough at times, if not impossible. 

With our campers gone, what does that mean for us? Well as the young people say, "We did a thing!."

We decided to go to a travel trailer. It's a 2023 Grand Design Imagine travel trailer. It is 26 feet long. Just over half the size of our 40 foot fifth wheel and twice the size of the pickup camper! It has more room and what Lisa really loves about it, it has recliners and a shower big enough for two! 

So you may see us back on the road again soon. If you do that means we did not see you first. LOL. I wonder where our first destination should be?

Still Hibernating

 Mid February here at the SSUVFL. I don't care what that groundhog says, we always have at least 6 more weeks of winter. 

I got a telegram from my most loyal reader the other day. (Ah, who am I kidding, I think he is my only reader.) He said to me that he thinks it's time to write a blog. To which I said to him, "Why are you sending telegrams Jethro? Have you not heard of texting or emailing?" His reply was that "The 
Government" can track those communications, so he prefers to travel to Mexico and then communicate from a different country. You just never know what's going on inside the mind of a prepper.

So I got to thinking about a topic. When we are in hibernation mode here deep in the wilderness of Minnesota, we don't do a whole lot of anything. I have been bingeing a lot of TV. Specifically James Bond movies. Did you know there are 26 James Bond movies? I started with the first one. "Dr. No". It was released in 1962. Two years before my birth. If it would have come after my birth he may not be named "Bond, James Bond". Instead it would most likely be "Oliver, Dino Oliver" being the influence that I am. 

I love looking at the old technology of the day. I'm sure that in their minds that stuff was cutting edge and I am sure that it was. It was nothing compared to today's tech. I love seeing the cars of the day in action. Like seeing a 1957 Chevy convertible in a high speed chase. I am a gun aficionado (big word Jethro), it's true. James Bond started out with a 25 caliber Barretta and moved up to his iconic 32 caliber Walther PPK. They describe the move in the movie like this. The .32 caliber bullet hits like a brick through a plate glass window. Not by today's standards I'm afraid. 

Back in the olden days kids, we would get mailed to us, something called a TV Guide.

It was just a small magazine with articles about celebraties and it would list every show that would be on the Television for the month. So you could look at a glance at what would be on. Not like todays version of scrolling for hours just to find something to watch. I would get excited if I saw that a James Bond, Clint Eastwood or John Wayne movie would be coming on. Then I could plan accordingly. However back in the day I would never get to see those movies on our giant 19 inch color RCA console TV that sat on the floor. Noooo! I would have to sit in the corner of our kitchen and watch it in black and white on our tiny 13 inch TV. But I got to watch them so I am not complaining.

Watching James Bond is great. They made a few movies called Austin Powers, that was a satire of James Bond. Watching that and seeing the similarities to James Bond just makes it even more funny. In Austin Powers whenever he was going to hit somebody he would say "Judo chop!" Watching James Bond now, he would be fighting people and then he would do a karate chop on them. You can see it coming in every movie and now when I see it I'm saying out loud "Judo chop!" Then I chuckle to myself for being so clever. LOL! If you haven't seen the Austin Powers movies you must. They are hilarious.

Watching these spy movies jogged a memory from the past. Do you remember reading comic books and in the back you would see a page full of ads? There was some really cool stuff on them like X-ray glasses. Magic tricks, Itching powder. All kinds of things that young boys could get to torment their friends and family.

In one such comic book I found a miniature spy camera. So I ordered it. It was like this one in the following picture.

It was very small and it came with a roll of film. I snuck around for days taking pictures only to find out that when the roll was full, there was no place to develop it. It was fun while it lasted.

I thought since we were hibernating that I could write a great spy novel. After being inspired by the great James Bond. I mean if Jethro can do it, how hard could it be? But after doing some research I found that the titles for the books I would write have already been written. Like these.

That's some funny stuff right there.

This one is my favorite.

The Angry Dame book series. I guess someone has already written books about Lisa. Lead sandwiches are the only thing on the menu. I love it!

That's it for this little trip down memory lane. I hope you enjoyed it. Soup season is right around the corner and we are already booking events for the summer. 

Until next time. Keep your powder dry and keep reaching for the stars.

Cabin Fever

*Some images may not be suitable for young readers. 

Somewhere deep in the bowels of northern Minnesota, far, far away from the Ice storm in Minneapolis, sits our hero's, Tango and Glady's (aka. Dino and Lisa). We are experiencing the coldest weather to date now. Up until now it has been mild they say, for the arctic I guess. 

We have lived up here in the north for many years. 61 for me and 29 for Glady's. It's amazing how she celebrates turning 29 every year. But I digress. If you have lived here for any length of time at all, you know that it's going to get cold in January and February. No ifs, ands or buts about it, our weather forecasters want to put the fear of God into us with the way they report it which just drives me nuts.

Just look at the scare words in just this headline. Onslaught of dangerous snow, crippling ice. Potentially historic. Set to unleash life-threatening cold. I just don't get it. Maybe if people would quit wearing shorts and hoodies when it is 20 below zero, that might solve some of the problems. But I'm just going to shake my head at this point and move on. 

When it's this cold out, we don't do a whole lot outside. We'll just stay inside and binge shows on the ole boob tube. That's where cabin fever starts to set in. Here is a screenshot from Wikipedia about it.

We often find ourselves asking each other "What are we going to do today?" Over and over it goes. Same question every day. I think that we ask ourselves that in hopes that the other person finally has something or someplace interesting to go to so that we can get out of the house for a brief moment. For me, the highlights of the days have been going to medical appointments. How old and sad am I now?

But on the medical front I do have some good news. My ankle issues have gotten better. I have graduated from physical therapy. So last week I had my last follow-up appointment with my podiatrist and she was happy with the results. However when she was examining my ankle she saw my ingrown toenail that I have been suffering with for weeks. If it's not one thing it's another.

She said she could take care of that while I was there, so she did. She numbed it. cut it out and I was done. 10 minute procedure.

After the procedure.

A few days later.

It feels so much better. Now I can get back to my foot modeling career. Here is another example of how hard my life is. I went in for my semi yearly physical. With that they do a lot of blood work. I have noticed that the last few times that the phlebotomists have been having a tough time finding my veins. Could it be that my veins have collapsed from having been poked so many times? Well she could not find my veins at all so do you know where she drew the blood from? My bicep, that's where! Never have I ever had blood drawn from there. Boy did that sting. Now look at the final result days later.

A big giant bruise. Sheesh!

Well that's it. Until inspiration strikes again. Good news! It's warmed up outside from -26 below to -18 below zero. I may have to put on some shorts and go outside.