Typical Day on the Road

June 2008

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We can't help thinking of that old song by Credence Clearwater Revival about being stuck in Lodi; of course, the song was actually written about a town in some eastern state, but many people assume it refers to Lodi, Ca., which is where we are, stranded with yet another vehicle problem.

Pep Boys said they don't work on motor homes, so we called Good Sam back and asked to be towed to the repair facility that sent the mobile mechanic yesterday: J & E Truck Repair, which is in Stockton, about 10 miles from where we are, and in the wrong direction from what we need to travel. But hey, at least getting towed there will save us that much gas.

At first, Good Sam told us that the ETA would be in FIVE HOURS!! But then they located another towing service that could make it within the hour. Trouble is, they told us our trailer would not be covered under our Roadside Assistance Membership. (We have platinum membership, the highest level available. What level do we need to get full service -- petroleum?) They explained that the policy didn't cover the trailer because it wasn't disabled -- maybe we should have deflated a tire. We explained that if we had to pay even once to have the trailer towed, it would cost about the same as a year's membership, which therefore wasn't worth the investment; and consequently we'd be canceling with them and resuming service with AllState, which covered both vehicle and trailer with no hassles.

Fortunately, when the tow truck arrived, the driver was sympathetic to our plight and adjusted his truck so that he could tow both at the same time. Phew!

J & E Truck Repair is a facility that specializes in repairing semi trucks, but also tackles RVs. It has a gated fence requiring an entry code, which we have, so it's quite secure. And there is a 24-hour waiting room with a microwave, a refrigerator, a TV, and bathrooms with showers. So we took our laptops in and got some work done, and mostly had the place to ourselves. But in the afternoon, Kimberly tried to bike into town and run some errands, and discovered that she didn't pack enough weight to trip the sensor that opens the gate from the inside, so she had to wait for the weight of a truck to exit so she could. In other words, it's a high-security yard that we got into quite easily, but have trouble getting out of.

June 2

No longer stuck in Lodi, but stuck in Stockton. All day at the shop, and the problem was not solved. They replaced the distributor, but that didn't do the trick. So we're stuck for another night -- rehearsing and working on props at a truck repair shop in Stockton rather than the comfort of Kimberly's parents' house in Reno.

June 3

Another day at J & E Truck Repair, and still the problem was not solved, even after replacing the Electronic Control Module (and making greasy bootprints on our carpet). But the new ECM they installed was faulty, and they were unable to get another one today. Then they decided they really can't help us at all, so they farmed us out to another shop down the street, which they say has better diagnostic equipment for our vehicle. Which means we get to extend by at least one day our vacation in Stockton.The positive side is that this shop isn't going to charge us anything for all their time, even after installing a new distributor (which probably would have needed replacing soon anyway).

Today we biked into town to get online at Cafe Aroma, a coffee shop in the lobby of a grand ole Art Deco movie theater.

June 4

This morning we cranked up Ol Bessie and puttered and sputtered about a mile down the road to Jaas Auto Repair, which diagnosed the problem as a bad fuel pump. They had it replaced in no more than 3 hours, despite having to siphon about 30 gallons of gas out of the tank (we'd just filled up) and then of course putting it back in afterward. Quite a relief -- we feared the worst after the first shop was unable even to find the problem. Then at last we were off to Reno, after a brief stop in Sacramento to pick up a trunk of Shakespeare props that we'd left at the home of Kimberly's brother.

We arrived in Reno about 5:00 pm, only about 4 days behind schedule. Previously, we'd been facing an usually frantic "hell week" of putting together the new show; now we have to cram that week into a single day. That's going to require cutting some corners and postponing some things; and Kimberly is prepared to do some sewing while Dennis drives across country to our first show in Arkansas.

June 5

Kimberly spent the entire day, until after 3:00 in the morning, sewing the set in her parents 'garage. We both worked on props, although Dennis made two trips to storage to retrieve more materials and props. On top of all the other time constraints, we're missing a tub of props we'd set aside for the new show, which means we'll need to spend some time shopping for and making new ones -- and we just don't have the time to devote to it. Additionally, when Kimberly first sat down to sew, the motor dropped out of her machine! She was able to put it back together with her dad's help; but the gremlins are out in force this week.

Another guest arrived by train in late afternoon: Mary, who was Zephyr's friend when they were infants in San Francisco. She'll be spending a few days on the road with us; unfortunately it could be a pretty stressful time, but it's the only time she could do it.

June 6

Finally packed our things out of the garage, and headed out. After getting gas at Costco (thanks to the membership card Kimberly's parents have), we made a final trip to storage and -- joy of joys -- we found the "missing" props!! Phew. After we dropped off things we don't need and picked up things we do, we had an astonishing amount of room left in the trailer -- we probably unloaded at least 200 lbs., which will help with gas mileage.Then we went to Trader Joe's to stock up, since we'll be in non-TJ territory for at least a couple of weeks. Mary picked out things for herself, and she's not a vegetarian like us -- it's the first time we've EVER bought meat!!

Then it was off on our 2000 mile trek to Hot springs, AR. As expected, Dennis took the first leg of the driving while Kimberly cranked up the old sewing machine. And the motor stayed in place this time. Good thing, because even with the missing items found, there's some catching up to do. With all the sleep we've lost, and all the driving we have ahead of us, we're going to be living in Caffeine City for the next few days.

And the gremlins weren't finished yet. In Carlin, NV., we filled our gas tank at a Pilot, and as the tank was filled, a pool of gas started forming under the RV, gushing out from the top of the tank. Dennis yelled for everyone to get out of the vehicle, afraid of a fire, and everyone scrambled out in their stocking feet. The gushing stopped, but we were of course still concerned about driving farther. Kimberly commented that we might need to find a mechanic yet again, and a man nearby overheard us. He turned out to be a mechanic himself, and he crawled underneath to have a look. He said the leakage appeared to be coming from where the fuel pump was attached, and we guessed that the mechanics who installed the new fuel pump may not have installed it securely enough. The man called his co-worker, who wa still in the shop (it was about 8:00 by now), and asked if he'd be interested in remedying the problem. He said he would for $100, and so we said they had a deal. We The man headed to the shop a couple of miles away in his car, and we followed. On the way, a policeman pulled us over for doing 38 in a 25 mph zone. But when Kimberly, who was driving, explained the circumstances, and that she hadn't seen any speed limit signs, he just let her off with a warning, and on we went to the garage.

The two mechanics inspected the tank more closely, and saw that it was no longer leaking, and decided that the problem wa a cracked overflow hose. They said there was no immediate problem as long as we didn't keep pumping gas after the tank is full. (Dennis was doing this, trying to get in as much of the lower priced fuel as possible.) We can have the hose replaced later on, when the tank is not full -- it will need to be, once again, removed from the chassis.

And once again, we were on our way.

June 7

First stop this morning was Wendover, where Kimberly once spent a week filming "Independence Day". We showed Mary the Visitors' Center, which has a display commemorating the dozen or so movies that have shot scenes in the area -- including the most recent "Pirates of the Caribbean". A woman working in the center informed us that next week, Brad Pitt will be in town filming.

Then it was on through Salt Lake City and into Wyoming, spending the night in Cheyenne. Along the way, we each took a shower in the RV while it was barreling down the freeway -- not an experience we recommend, but a necessity in our case, as we couldn't afford to stop long enough to do it while stationary. One stop we absolutely had to make, however, was the Little America travel stop in the middle of Wyoming, where we always get a 35 cent ice cream cone whenever we pass through. Well, the cones are up to an outrageous 50 cents now, but we all got one anyway.

June 8

Stopped in a suburb of Denver to take care of some urgent errands this morning. Sunday morning, of course, is not the best time in the world to take care of such errands -- in fact, it's just about the worst possible. But we had to do some online work, and pick up some more materials that we need for our props. Dennis had to buy some paint to paint Babe the Blue Ox for our Paul Bunyan story. And the only blue he could get was either spray paint (which was impractical) or oil-based. So he got the latter, and since it has a long drying time, he had to paint it inside the vehicle while we were driving, and leave it there for several hours. The paint is not toxic, but the fumes rather annoyed all of us anyway.

June 9

Now in the Central Time Zone, which means we've lost an additional two hours, we breezed through Wichita and Tulsa. And perhaps "breezed" is an appropriate word, since we were driving all day through a midwestern rainstorm. But come to think of it, we didn't breeze through Tulsa too quickly, because the confusing turnpikes caused us to exit when we didn't intend to, and then there was no entrance to get back on. So Dennis, who was driving while Kimberly caught a much-needed nap, asked for directions at a gas station. (Yes, men really can do that.) But the entrance they told him to get to was blocked off due to flooding. So by the time we finally got back on the freeway, some more of our precious time had been lost.

But we still managed to arrive in Hot Springs by late evening, with a day to spare. We all stretched our legs with a stroll down historic Bathhouse Row, and we introduced Mary to the ritual of taking a mineral bath by hauling in the hot water from the spring downtown.

June 10

We began the day with breakfast at a picturesque pancake house in Hot Springs.

Desperately needing to catch up on some Internet work, we headed to the library, where we'll be performing tomorrow. While we were there, we asked if we could set up for the show today, so we could do some last-minute tweaking on the set. They graciously let us do so, and it was really a big help -- we made up for some of the tech time we lost in Reno, or rather in Stockton en route to Reno.

June 11

We premiered our new show at the library, our first performance without Zephyr in about 14 years. It went quite well, despite all the hurdles, and we had a good sized audience. This was the kind of miraculous coming through in a pinch that Kimberly's mom likes to attribute to St. Jude, the patron saint of miracles. If that's the case, St. Jude's been working overtime for us lately.

After breathing a huge sigh of relief, we spent some time strolling through Hot Springs, and took a Duck Tour, as Mary never had been on one. A duck, as you may not know, is an amphibious vehicle that was built during World War II for use by the military. (And they were generally built by women, who contributed a great deal of factory labor while the men were engaged in war.) But despite being sturdy vehicles, they were found to be not very efficient for military use, so they were scrapped and sold to whoever would by them. Later they were put to use for tours in certain cities -- we previously rode one in Wisconsin Dells, WI and we've also seen them in Memphis.

This tour was driven and narrated by a colorful character who made some pretty funny and entertaining comments. He pointed out the history of Hot Springs as a gambling mecca (illegally, but prominently) even before Las Vegas became one. (In fact, it was after spending time here that Bugsy Siegel decided to open a casino in Nevada.) He also drove us by the old Hot Springs High School, from which Bill Clinton graduated. And of course, he drove us on Lake Hamilton for a while.

After a brief visit to the YMCA -- "our" YMCA, where we actually signed up for membership -- we went back downtown and dropped in at a coffee house called The Poets Loft, which we've walked by many times before, but never gone into, because it always seems to be closed. This time, it was open, and they were having one of their weekly open mic poetry readings, which they've held every Wednesday since 1989, the longest continually running open mic poetry series in the world, they claim. It's a spacious and very flavorful venue, looking very much like a coffee house you'd find on the West Coast, with a large stage (on which plays apparently are mounted at times) and ample seating. We heard a variety of performances of varying quality, overall quite enjoyable. But as far as we're concerned, the highlight was Mary, who'd decided to read one of her own poems, which she hastily scribbled into a notebook from memory. And she added an a cappella rendition of "Goodnight Irene"... IN JAPANESE!!!

Two of the other poets, though locals now, also had lived in California previously -- one in Santa Monica, and one in the Bay Area city of Concord. Another of the poets, a retired teacher, was giving away copies of his recent book of poems, so we snagged a couple.

By the way, if you ever have a chance to drop in at The Poets Loft, be sure to check out the display of photos of haiku posted on movie theater marquees.

June 12

Our first challenge of the day was to come up with a new video camera, since the one we have finally gave up the ghost. It's had a very interesting life, including its strange adventure of being lost (or perhaps stolen) in Hawaii. We have an urgent need of a newer, more recent promo video than the one we've had on our web site recently, and this afternoon's show is the first opportunity to record one. Fortunately, there is a Best Buy in Conway, and we were able to cough up yet another unexpected expense in this year that's been packed with them so far.

Having reluctantly left Hot Springs, we presented our second show of the summer, a return engagement at the Faulkner County Library in Conway. Dennis's sister, who lives in Arkansas, came to the performance and then went to lunch with us. We were joined there by her son Matt, a recent college graduate. She then accompanied us to a laundromat, as Mary had no clean clothes left. And we were joined there by Matt's (twin) brother Mark, also a recent college graduate. It was the first time we'd seen either of the "boys" in about 3 years.

We cooled off at Hastings Bookstore (not exactly our favorite bookstore franchise, but the only one available) then after dinner we found a RedBox and rented "Stranger than Fiction", which we found to be a surprisingly substantial and literate film. And then, being parked close to a Lowe's hardware/home improvement store, we noticed that they had large overhead sprinklers outside that were turned on to water the plants they had set out. We saw a golden opportunity to beat the heat, so we all got out beneath the sprinklers until we were drenched.

June 13

Yes, it's Friday, but we didn't have any bad luck except that the intriguing ice cream parlor we wanted to go to this afternoon was closed. And it would have been a perfect day for it. So, after visiting Toad Suck Square -- just because with a name like that we couldn't have stayed away no matter what -- we said goodbye to Conway and headed on to Little Rock. First stop was the Whole Foods store (formerly Wild Oats) where we bought enough food for a few days as well as the ice cream we so desperately craved. Then it was off to the YMCA, and then we spent the evening at Barnes & Noble. During the night we experienced one of those notorious Midwest thunderstorms.

June 14

In Little Rock, we took Mary to see the Clinton Library, which we've been to before. This time, however, there's an additional temporary exhibit, a miniature cutaway model of The White House -- "miniature" meaning about 5 feet tall. It's quite impressive, as well it should be; it took 42 years to build.

Back to Hot Springs, where we dropped in this evening at the Brauhaus, the German restaurant where the Itinerant Locals play delightfully unorthodox oom-pah music. We met them when we were in town last year, and they brought their kids to our show at the library. (Their son, believe it or not, is named Zephyr!) It was quite a fun night, and we all got up and danced to their music at various times -- polka, schottiche, and we even formed our own "mosh pit" to a polka tune. And when the musicians played the theme from "Star Wars", Zephyr (ours, not theirs) and Mary got up and had a "light saber" duel in time to it.

June 15

We began this Father's Day with homemade waffles and local blueberries at the home of The Itinerant Locals, where we spent the night. Then, after finding a place to dump and fill our RV tanks, we spent an afternoon at the YMCA, and part of the evening with our computers at San Francisco Bread Company.

The Two Zephyrs

June 16

Mary's last day with us, and being in Little Rock, we decided to drop by Central High School, the site of a major milestone in U.S. history. Like certain other southern cities (e.g. Montgomery and Greensboro), Little Rock became an unwilling mecca of the civil rights movement, thanks to a clash over integration that began at this school in 1957. Nine courageous African-American teenagers volunteered to transfer to Central High from "colored" Schools, in response to the recent Brown Vs. Board of Education ruling by the U.S. supreme Court, striking down the concept of "separate but equal". At first, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus sent the national guard to block the students from entering the school; but then President Eisenhower sent out the army to override him, and even snatched control of the National Guard (so some of the same soldiers who'd been blocking the students' entry now were blocking anyone else from blocking them).These incredibly brave 9 kids endured constant harassment, ridicule, threats and abuse. They were pushed and shoved and cursed and pelted with objects and spat on. Picketers sported signs that said "Integration is Un-American", "Integration is Un-Christian", "Integration is Communist", etc. (The same arguments still invoked nowadays to justify more current forms of bigotry.) Even so, we should note in all fairness that contrary to media impressions, the troublemakers by no means represented the majority of the school's students, the majority of its teachers, or even the majority of Little Rock residents. We also should note that the governor made matters much worse by appearing on national television and calling for white Arkansans to show up at Central High and make a stink. And we should note that today there are 9 stone benches in front of the school, each inscribed with the name of one of the students; while there are zero benches honoring Orval Faubus.

This grand old building, erected in 1927, is truly one such as they don't build 'em like anymore. Its Art Deco design, including four classical (and symbolic) statues on the facade, is as inviting a venue as a student ever could wish for. We were surprised, though, to learn that the structure still is the home of the high school -- most schools would have moved to more modern quarters long ago, and given the historical value of the building, we would have expected that it had been converted into something else. Nope, it's still the high school. But classes are now dismissed for the summer, so we were able to go inside and sneak a peek at the auditorium, an enormous facility that dwarfs a good many professional theatres we've seen.

Then we went diagonally across the street to the Visitors' Center (which sits across from the preserved vintage Mobil station whose archaic pumps post the price of gas at 22 cents per gallon). Mary had been here once before on an organized outing, and had made the acquaintance of one of the guides at the center, who happens to be the daughter of Minnijean Brown, one of the Little Rock Nine. And lo and behold Mary asked if the daughter was in, and she was indeed, and came out and chatted with Mary for a while. (Her first name, fittingly enough, is Spirit.)

The exhibits in the Center are few but powerful. They include photos and film clips of the crisis (the latter featuring appearances on the scene by such notable newsmen as Howard K. Smith and a young Mike Wallace) , as well as chronicles of general racist ugliness in America -- there's even a section on the imprisonment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. One of the most poignant and encouraging things you'll see here is a poster called "Reconciliation", which is for sale in the gift shop. It consists of two photos, taken 40 years apart, of the same two individuals. One photo is very well known; in fact, it was named one of the 100 most memorable photos of the 20th Century. It captures black student Elizabeth Eckford walking stoically to school while being followed and taunted by a white mob. Most prominent among them is a girl named Hazel Bryan, whose face is grotesquely distorted by her own shouts of hatred. Later, Hazel changed her mind about civil rights and repented her actions that day. Tormented by her conscience, she contacted Elizabeth to apologize and arrange a meeting. And as the other photo shows, the two became friends. They've even appeared together on Oprah Winfrey.

After dropping Dennis off at the University of Arkansas Medical School's Family Clinic to get his annual checkup (about 5 years overdue now), K & Z saw Mary off at the airport.

June 17

We stayed in Little Rock last night because the clinic wanted Dennis to return to have a blood sample taken (what fun) when he has an empty stomach (even more fun). Then we started heading north. Failing to find a place on the way where we could get propane, we stopped in Searcy to spend most of the day (and night) at Midnight Oil, which is one of our favorite coffee shops, and it really is open until midnight.

June 18

Another morning session at Midnight Oil, after which we almost found a place to do our oil change, and did find a place to fill up our propane. Then it was on farther north to visit Dennis's parents.

June 19

Visiting Dennis's parents. His brother, sister and sister-in-law all came by to visit as well.

June 20

Still visiting the Gozas in Arkansas. A new billboard as you enter town heralds the fact that this tiny town has produced three major league baseball players.

Both D & K took early morning bike rides -- it's too muggy later in the day. More relatives came by, including an uncle from Mississippi whom Dennis hadn't seen in about 20 years, and who'd never met Kimberly and Zephyr.

June 21

Still visiting folks in Arkansas. Kimberly took a lengthy bike ride on a country road, detouring around some rather vicious dogs. We've been busily doing some touch-up on the new show, rehearsing every day and fixing up props to iron out some little bugs. Dennis also has been doing maintenance on the motorhome and the trailer, though it's been rather difficult to find supplies.

June 22

Still visiting Dennis's parents, and today is their anniversary. But they were unable to do anything special, as his dad is in very poor health.

June 23

Said goodbye to the relatives and headed to Paragould, site of tomorrow's show. We badly need to get some online work done, as we've had no Internet access the last few days. But when we arrived at the library, we discovered that it was closed due to the recent fire. (Not to worry, the performance for tomorrow already was scheduled at the high school.) But we found Cafe Java, which has wi-fi, so we're cooking.

We were saddened today to hear of the death of George Carlin, one of the most brilliant comics ever. Although best known for his scathing, off-color antiestablishment rants, he also was an accomplished actor and even a children's entertainer. (He replaced Ringo Starr in the role of the conductor for the American edition of the Thomas the Tank Engine series, which Zephyr passionately loved as a little child.) When we saw him perform in Las Vegas a few years ago, it was clear that his act had "headed south" quite a bit. But in his heyday, he was just about the most daring and thought-provoking social commentator in the history of show biz. Not to mention one of the funniest. We'll miss ya, George.

June 24

Did our performance at Paragould High School for the library, then headed north, stopping in Cape Girardeau, MO to get online at Panera.

June 25

Got a pretty early start driving north, hoping to spend most of the day in St. Louis taking care of business. But alas, it was not to be.

We'd only driven about 20 miles when our brakes started seizing up, just as they had done a few months ago. Didn't we already solve this problem? Haven't we already pumped enough money and time into it? We pulled off on the shoulder and prepared to call a tow truck yet again. But before we got around to doing so, we were shaken by a loud "Whump!" and shattered glass all over the couch. We'd been sideswiped by a vehicle, a commercial van that we saw speeding away without even breaking stride. Fortunately, there was no damage to the RV'S body, or to one of ours, but one of our windows was smashed to bits, and our rearview mirrors demolished on the driver's side.

After the brakes had cooled off a bit, we were able to drive to the next exit, which was a mile away, and there we were met by a sheriff's deputy, who informed us that someone driving behind the hit-and-run driver had witnessed the incident, called the highway patrol, and followed the van. A short while later, after he'd been in contact with headquarters a couple of more times, he came back over and said, "They got him, and they're bringing him back."

This was very good news that we didn't expect: we already were wondering how many meals we'd have to give up to pay for a window and a two mirrors on top of the brake problem. But with the culprit in hand, especially given that he was driving a company vehicle, we feel assured that his damages will be paid for by him, his business, or his insurance company.

We were expecting a young, reckless speedster, possibly intoxicated. But in fact the driver was a grandfather -- he even had his granddaughter in the van with him, which makes at shudder at the kind of example he is setting. He also was apologetic and insisted that he didn't know he'd hit us -- he claimed that he thought he'd just hit a road sign. If so, it was still suspicious that he didn't stop, especially considering the damage he did to his own vehicle. And all because he was reaching down to get a cigarette! Just goes to show you how dangerous smoking is. In any case, the police gave us his insurance information and the police incident number, so we should be able to follow through. When they asked for our registration and insurance papers, we had to do a bit of scrambling to come up with them, because some of them had become misplaced. We never did find the registration for the trailer, and were afraid we'd get a ticket, which would have been a supreme irony after getting hit by another vehicle. But the police apparently decided we'd had enough troubles for one day, and let it slide.

So then we managed to drive to the BP station/ Dairy Queen just off the freeway, and waited two hours for the tow truck that was supposed to arrive within an hour. It took us to a Chevrolet dealership in St. Genevieve, where it didn't take them long to diagnose the problem as a faulty "hydro booster", which we'd never even heard of, but which sounds like something you'd find in a health food store. Sometimes we suspect that mechanics make up parts and problems just for us. Anyway, this newly minted device won't be available until tomorrow morning, so they've allowed us to spend the night in their lot, and in the meantime, we at least were able to plug into one of their outlets and get some work done. The police seem to be aware of our presence, but one young officer who'd just started his shift apparently didn't get the word, and stopped to question Zephyr, who was outside talking on the cell phone.

June 26

We were up at 7:00 because the part was supposed to be here by then, and it was supposed to be installed right away so we could be back on the road. Instead, we were informed it wouldn't arrive until about noon. So meanwhile, D & K took a bike ride into the historic district of Ste. Genevieve, which really is historic; about every other building appears to be 200 years old. This town has always been heavily prone to flooding; there is a marker in the heart of town with the water levels from various floods in the past, going up to about 15 feet deep. The last big one was in 1993, not long before we performed here at a Catholic school, the only other time we were here. This time, despite heavy flooding elsewhere in the Midwest, Ste. Genevieve is dry, thanks to the floodgates down at the levee, closing off the road to the river. (Although the way the water trickles in under the bottom of the gates surely doesn't inspire confidence.)

We called the insurance company of the business whose van hit us yesterday, and they said they'd have an adjustor call us back. Instead, we received a call from the owner of the business, who said that he'd prefer to pay for the repairs himself rather than have us file a claim. That sounds okay to us, since we can have him pay up front rather than perhaps waiting weeks to be reimbursed.

The repair here was finally completed about 3:00 pm, leaving us just enough time to stop in St. Louis to run some quick errands, then hightail it on to Quincy, IL for tomorrow's shows. But first, we turned back to the Chevrolet place after driving only about a mile, because our ABS light started coming on. They quickly checked out the system and said that it was fine, and the light coming on was caused by a loose wire, which they supposedly fixed. But on down the road, it started coming on again; we just figured it wasn't a problem and kept on going.

On the outskirts of St. Louis, we stopped to go to a bank, then Trader Joe's, and then on to Quincy. Along the way, we crossed over the river at Hannibal, and looked back to see that the whole waterfront park appeared to be underwater. We may be in for some muddy Tom Sawyer Days this year.

And we made it to Quincy! Huzzah!

June 27

Two morning performances at the Quincy Library, both well attended.

Across the street was a glass company, so we had them look at our window that's no longer there to see if they can replace it. They said they'd have to order the window, which would take a few days even if their supplier has it in stock. But to even find out if they had it, they had to remove the frame to read a serial number off the top of it, and there was a charge for this. Once they had it out and called the supplier, they found out it would have to be ordered from the manufacturer, which wouldn't be available to take orders until July 7; and the entire process would take 4 to 5 weeks. So we'll just have to get it done somewhere else down the road. In the meantime, they installed a faux window made of plexiglass that will serve quite nicely to keep out the elements. The charges today, by the way, were paid by the owner of the business whose van hit us.

We are disturbed, though not surprised, to hear of the Supreme Court's ruling that rewrites the Second Amendment to the wishes of the gun lobby. The Second Amendment specifically mentions neither guns nor ownership -- merely "the right to keep and bear arms". More important, that phrase is not even the subject of the sentence; it's "A well-regulated militia", the only thing the amendment decrees "shall not be infringed". But by declaring that the framers intended to say something they didn't actually say, five justices have set a very scary precedent, and have virtually guaranteed that the streets of America will be flooded with even more guns.

June 28

Stuck around in Quincy so we could spend most of the day at Panera getting caught up on Internet work. Also worked in a visit to the YMCA, which is nearby.

Having a very difficult time trying to replace the broken window. The plan was to contact one of the Glass Doctor franchises in the Boston area, where we're going to be about a month from now, and have them order the window in advance, since it takes about that long for the item to be delivered, and then have it installed when we get there. But out of four Glass Doctors in northern Massachusetts, only one, the one in Peabody, ever touches an RV at all. And when we talked to the manager at that location, he said, "I don't want to get involved in that. Get someone else to do it." We're not kidding. The MANAGER of a business actually spoke that way to John Q. Public. Guess they don't run businesses like they used to. We have to say that the Glass Doctor here in Quincy has been extremely helpful and courteous; but that's only one out of five so far, which we don't consider an impressive batting average at all.

June 29

Still in Quincy, doing essentially a repeat of yesterday. Someone left a note on our windshield in the parking lot saying that they had read the article about us in Muse Magazine, and found it very interesting. Neato!

There must be something in the air that is having a drastic effect on mechanical devices. Not only have we experienced a bank account full of vehicle problems in the last few months, but our (musical) keyboard has decided to give up the ghost. It's the keyboard on which Dennis has composed the music for our last few shows that have featured music, but we don't have the budget to repair or replace it at the moment -- the budget has been more than gobbled up by the RV.

On top of that, Dennis's computer suddenly stopped getting online; the wireless card appears to be history. He spent an agonizing hour on the phone today, trying to get to the root of the problem with customer service personnel who hardly spoke English. They had him round up a screwdriver and open up the back of the computer himself. Is that scary, or what? The upshot is that they're shipping a new wireless card (after which we'll have to find someone to put it in) by FedEx, which raised the problem of actually getting it into our hands. FedEx won't ship to our mailing address, so we had it sent to Kimberly's parents who then will send it to us somewhere on the road. Then we'll have to ship back the old one in order to avoid being charged for the new one.

June 30

Still in Quincy first thing this morning, then we moved on to Hannibal, MO. The lower areas of Hannibal are quite underwater -- it appears to be about 3 feet deep on some parts of the baseball/softball field downtown. But fortunately it's a hilly town, and so the higher elevations survived without damage.

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