Normal Things, Thonotosassa and A Name

DeBary, FL.

50 deg. overcast, N. wind @ 7 mph.
Forecast = Partly cloudy. High 72F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.

Not a whole lot happening the last few days. The laundry has been done, Jim's been working on re-arranging the workshop, Linda's been doing some embroidery work and they've both been trying to do the normal things that people do, day to day.

We've had a lot of rain the last few days so other than Jim taking Linda to the chemo place to get her blood test on Thursday, they haven't gone out much. It did stop raining for a short while yesterday afternoon though, so Jim took the new truck to the station and filled it up with some #2 diesel at $3.99 per gallon. He had 2 reasons for wanting to fill it up. One, was so that he could start to calculate the mileage that the truck is getting and second, unless Linda is not feeling well when she gets up later, they're heading to the fish fry in Thonotosassa this afternoon!!!! :-)

Speaking of the new truck. I suppose that you've noticed that it doesn't have a name yet. Well, I've been waiting for Jim or Linda to come up with a name, but so far they haven't. So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  I'm taking the "Ram" by the horns and doing it!!! ;-)

First of all, the other day when I was out there checking it out, I realized that there is nothing meek or timid about this truck and with it's Cummins Diesel engine it's big and strong. To me, this means that it's a "he" and not a "she". The next thing I noticed when I was out there was that he had a name tag on his tailgate so he already has a name.

It's Laramie!!!!

When I was on his hood, (acting like a hood ornament), I talked to him a little and asked him if he minded if I called him Mr. L instead of Laramie? He said that he didn't mind and in fact he kind of liked it.;-)

So,  ,  ,  ,  "Mr. L" it is!!!!

This morning, Jim and Linda will be getting ready for the trip down to Thonotosassa this afternoon. Linda baked a cake yesterday afternoon, and Jim will be putting some lawn chairs in Mr. L. The weather is supposed to be nice for a change, so it should be a great day for a nice ride and a cook-out/fish fry!!! ;-)

Did you know that the oldest man to compete in the Summer Olympic Games was Oscar Swahn of Sweden in shooting (1908, 1912, and 1920)?  He became the oldest gold medalist when he won gold at 64 years and 280 days old in 1912, and the oldest medalist when he won silver in 1920 aged 72 years, 281 days old.

Woof!!!!

Busy Busy Busy, Groceries and Reply To A Comment

Virginia Beach, VA.

65 deg. mostly cloudy, SSE wind @ 2 mph.
Forecast = Today: Partly cloudy with isolated showers. Highs around 70°F. Windy, with a south wind to 23 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 30%.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy with scattered storms. Lows around 55°F. Windy, with a south wind 18 to 24 MPH, gusting to 29 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 95%.

Joe, Nancy and the girls were busy most of the day yesterday, so Jim and Linda didn't see much of them. Joe came out here to the MH for a short while to talk and Sami waved as she left for her soccer game, but that was about the extent of it.

Jim and Linda took CLT and headed to the Farm Fresh grocery store near here. They brought back what I thought were too many groceries, but they did manage to find a place for all of them. ; )  Then, since Joe and  Nancy were busy at dinner time, they headed to a Hardee's Restaurant for a sandwich.

I have no idea of what's happening today. Hopefully there will be some time to visit for awhile.

One of the comments on yesterday's post was from Retired Rod. One of the things he was curious about was the fuel mileage that Bobbie T is getting. Well, the news is not as good as Jim had hoped. Emrys with his 450 hp Cummins diesel engine was averaging right at 7.8 mpg. So far, Bobbie T. with her Ford V-10 gasoline engine is averaging 8.5.  Currently,  diesel is running about 40 cents a gallon more than 87 octane gas, so Jim is spending less on fuel, but he was really hoping that Bobbie T would be getting something closer to 10 mpg.

We have been traveling almost completely on non-expressway roads, so we have had a lot of stop and go driving, but I'm sure that if we would have been on Interstate roads instead, we would have been traveling at a higher speed, which probably would have offset the stop and go driving. Also, Jim says that he thinks the wind has more effect on Bobbie T's mileage than it did on Emrys, so that may change the mpg too.

The 7.8 mpg figure that I gave for Emrys was the average mpg for almost the whole time that Jim and Linda owned him. (Many thousands of miles). The 8.5 mph figure for Bobbie T. is only for 840 miles, so time will tell if it gets better or stays near that figure.

Did you know that the Great Dismal Swamp is in Virginia near the North Carolina border?

Woof!!!