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The Adventures of Me & My Shadow # 81 in MD,VA,NC,SC,GA & FL 12/18/02 1,487 miles this trip, odometer now 31,314, total miles this year 36,894 From Niceville, FL, Hi Everyone! Well, the response from my last letter came today 11/24/2002. Just as I expected, Ralph is doing everything according to the law. He said "A few (from information I received, there were many) members who just don't know the rules unjustly criticized him." Yes Ralph, I have known about the liability laws since I was a kid, it's been around for as long as there have been lawyers. In my younger days I violated it when I was a private contractor doing unscheduled maintenance on commercial airliners. I did not have liability insurance, not even when I let a bus driver come aboard a plane to try the pilot's seat on for size (he complained about there being no rear view mirrors for the pilot). I never worried about being sued and I never had any complaints about the work that I did. Ed Osborn of Osborn RV violated it when he had my GMC in his shop to have the engine rebuilt. The sign on the door said, "NO CUSTOMERS ALLOWED IN THE SHOP". I lived in my GMC the entire time it was in the shop. I even assisted with the work being done. On a weekend I was given a key to the shop, a key to the front gate and a key to a pickup truck. When I travel cross-country, I some times violate the speed limits. If the posted speed limit is 50 MPH and the heavy traffic is all going 60 MPH? I go with the flow, I damn sure don't want to be a traffic hazard out there going 50 MPH. Yes Ralph, there are still a few of us out here who have some common sense. Do YOU obey the SPEED laws like you obey the liability laws? By the way Ralph, with the world the way it is today maybe you should spend some more money to add a few more members to your security team. Besides checking for members who sneak in without paying the rally fee and those that would install windshields without having liability insurance. You could have a drug sniffing dog and a bomb crew to search each coach as they enter the park for drugs, guns, explosives and weapons of mass destruction. Now that I am no longer a member of GMCMI I plan to attend some FMCA rallies to see if they do everything according to the law as you do. Just the other day on the news on TV they were talking about how the Liability Laws will soon have the jurors in MS in trouble. They have been awarding million dollar settlements to fellow Mississippians for pain and suffering after they have seen their Doctors. Large numbers of Trial Lawyers have been coming into the State and large numbers of Doctors have been leaving the State. In a short time they will have to go out of state to see a doctor and even then the doctors in the bordering states will see the MS address and will tell them that they have a full schedule and can't see them. Yes, those trial Lawyers and the liability laws can make you a millionaire, but is it worth it? Now we know why they bury Trial Lawyers 12 feet deep, because deep down, they are OK. I survived another Thanksgiving dinner with Susie & John in VA Beach with their families and friends, all of my family except for Dave and his family out in Boise, ID. They called Dave and told him he would have to come next year. We all ate too much, I believe John deep-fried six turkeys, the first one is always devoured by all the tasters. The friends were still arriving when we left in late afternoon and there was still plenty to eat. There should be a law against it, everyone eats too much but I am looking forward to it next year 12/5/02 I had quite an adventure going to Norfolk, VA to get my defibrillator checked so that I can head for FL and some warmer weather. To complicate things I waited too long to get a new prescription for my glasses. Sam's Club sent out a $10 coupon for new glasses so I took it to them, they told me I would have to go to Wall-mart to get my eyes checked as their examiner was off. I did this and took the prescription back to them. They asked me to pick out some new frames. I told them there was nothing wrong with the frames I had. I just needed a new prescription. Well they told me they would have to send my glasses with the prescription to get the new lenses and they wouldn't honor the coupon unless I got new frames. I should have taken the prescription and headed to some place else. I can drive without my glasses (I'm not supposed to) for a couple days. So now I am without glasses when I head to Norfolk in the SNOW! Yes, the morning I woke up with four inches and snowing. I stopped at Jenny's for a fast lunch and as I had never been to the place before, it was a problem. I found the Hospital and knew that I was close to my destination. Without my glasses I could not read the street signs so I found the Visitor parking garage figuring I would have better luck on foot finding where they check defibrillators. I asked directions many times and I finally opened the correct door at exactly 1:30 PM for my 1:30 appointment, I couldn't cut it any closer that that! The gal told me everything was OK with the defibrillator but she wouldn't guarantee that the battery would last till the snow would be all gone in Sioux Falls, SD where I want to go to have it replaced. She insisted that I not wait longer than three months to have it checked again. I told her that if my plan works out I should be in Phoenix, AZ in three months with nice warm weather. I had to wait an extra day for my glasses before heading south at a high speed. I had forgotten that FL is a pretty good distance west of the eastern shore of VA so I had to spend a lot of time going west when all I was wanting to do was get to some warmer weather and sunshine. This didn't happen! I drove most of the night watching the outside thermometer and it never got up to 60 degrees. When I finally crossed the northern border of FL I knew it had to get better, it didn't. Right away it started raining, the further I went the harder it rained. During the my first 24 hours in FL they got three times the normal amount of rain for the month of Dec. There was some minor flooding here in the Fam-Camp at Patrick AFB. I did see a little sun between showers and it sounds like more of the same is forecast. I wonder if it will be more of the same later when I get to AZ. 12/13/02 I headed west to Kissimmee for the GMC rally with the Sunshine Statesmen and the Organization of the new Eastern States Chapter. The weather still is not what I was looking for but I had to agree with one of my FL friends, he said no matter how bad the weather is in FL it is better than the weather back where you came from. It sure is good to be back among my GMC friends. Again, I see a lot of new friends. I enjoyed a nice visit with my friends here in Sarasota after the rally ended in Kissimmee. Janet had sent me a e-mail saying that their Orange tree didn't have any oranges this year so I wasn't expecting any Oranges. Dick went over and picked me a bag of oranges from a neighbors tree and two bags of grapefruit from another neighbors tree before I headed to Niceville, FL to visit with my sister and her hubby. I had an interesting adventure coming to Niceville but you will have to wait for the next letter to hear about it as I am out of room in this one. I wish you all a Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year! Till next time, Dallas or Dad if it fits. |