090521 - DUCKS

May 21, 2009
Pahrump, NV
Terrible’s Lakeside RVP

DUCKS

The man-made lake is a great attraction and the center of activity for adults and children who play at the beach area, and swim and boat in the water.

In addition, there is a small family that calls the lake their home and frequent it daily. They are a family of ducks. I don’t know where they stay at night, but in the morning, this group of quackers can be seen wandering the park. They occasionally stop at campsites where they probably have been fed in the past, hoping for another meal. When their tour of the grounds is complete, they head for the lake.

There is one duck called Goldie, who is fawn colored. Most of the boy ducks seem to follow her.
There are a pair of white ducks I call the bandits because of a red band that covers their eyes resembling a burglar’s mask. They seem like a married couple and tend to avoid the main group most of the time.

The remainder of the group of about 5 or 6 ducks appear to be of the mallard type – dark brown bodies and green-black necks and head. They quack and waddle around the park and are so cute I could watch them parade for hours.

I think most of the others are boys but I am only guessing, because I have no way of determining the sex of a duck. In fact, if your recall, when Walt Disney drew Donald and his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, the never wore pants. Perhaps he didn’t know how to tell the sex of a duck either.

While watching the group one day, I noticed that one of them was not waddling like the others.
He seemed to be hopping or limping, but he managed to keep up with the group and participated in all their activities.

As they approached the waters edge, some jumped into the lake and some just settled on cool grass under the shade of the trees. I followed “Hoppy” and observed him more closely, curious as to the reason for his unusual gait. At first it was differcult to detect in the grass, then to my surprise, I could see that his right leg was merely a short stump without the large webbed foot that adorned the other leg. but he managed to use his right stump for balance and waddled and hopped on his left foot for propulsion. From its appearance, I am guessing that this was a birth defect although I can’t rule out an accident.

Regardless, I was awe stuck at the adaptability, perseverance and determination that Hoppy had utilized to overcome his handicap and remain an active member of his family.

Either by birth or by accident, we know that imperfections occur to all species, but unlike us humans, in the animal kingdom there seems to be a lack of sympathy, guilt, patronage or charity for the disabled.
They are driven by the need to survive and prosper or be left behind.

I do not know his age or position in the pecking (or quacking) order in the family, but he appears young and strong. I did not see him in the lake but I’ll bet that his one good webbed foot works as well as two when it has to.

This is my first time visiting this park and I don’t know when or if I will ever return, but I will always remember Hoppy and the lesson he has taught me about coping with and overcoming disabilities in life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nYmOoJmZaQ&feature=email

090519 - Pahrump, NV

May 19, 2009
Pahrump, NV
Terrible’s Lakeside RVP and Casino

This Park was a little bit of a diversion, about an hour west of Las Vegas in the Kingdom of Nye. It sounded like a nice place to stay for some R&R, different from the usual membership parks. It’s built around a large man made lake for boating, fishing and kayaking (none of which I plan to partake of) with lots of grass and trees. This is the kind of park Peter would have enjoyed. The RV sites are nicely paved and easy to hook up to. Of course, the main attraction is the casino and restaurant. No gaming tables, just slot machines, but penny machines so you can spend hours being mesmerized by spinning wheels and flashing lights and not worry about going broke. To be daring there is the option to up your bets to a nickel, quarter or even a dollar, but it doesn’t seem practical or even tempting (although I have pushed my bets to a nickel or dime after wining hands).
The restaurant is small but has the typical buffet as well as tempting steak and rib specials. They are no threat to Morton’s of Chicago Steak House, but if someone else is doing the cooking, that’s where you’ll find me.

The temperature has stayed in the high 90’s, giving the Beast’s air conditioner a real challenge, which it is responding to adequately. The rule of thumb for an A/C is to be able to decrease the temperature by 20 degrees. It makes difference.

The main drawback here is the poor cell phone reception, which also means my wireless web connection, is not working. I even resorted to signing onto a park WIFI service but it turned out to be lousy and I pulled the plug on it. My PDA (Palm Treo smart phone) is picking up most email messages but it cannot display attachments or long messages, and sending email is a real challenge for my numb fingers and thumbs. I will reserve that activity for emergent conditions and hope they don’t arise.

090516 - TIREWORKS

May 16, 2009
Las Vegas, NV

From Kingman, Arizona thru Laughlin, Nevada to Pahrump, Nevada is about a 200-mile lap with elevations from 1000 to 6000 feet. The weather has really warmed up to the point where we are now complaining how hot it is when the temperature wanders between 90 and 100 degrees. As the road’s angle of ascent increase, so does the strain on the engine, as we are forced to pull into the truck lane with a convoy of 18-wheelers using their low gears to climb slowly but steadily up the mountains. There are times when we can muster some extra power and pass a few trucks but it will not change our arrival time, so we just stay in the convoy.
About 10 miles west of Vegas, while stopped at a red light, a cloud of smoke or steam erupted from the engine compartment obscuring my vision and I knew something was wrong. My temperature gauge was off the dial.
To my right was a small strip mall, out in the middle of nowhere with a Walgreen’s on the corner and lots of empty stores not yet leased.
I figured I could boondock here if need be and at least I was off the road. Opening the hood to survey the problem was not very comforting. The inside of the engine compartment was wet and steam was coming from behind the radiator so I could only guess at the problem. My mental choices were either a broken hose or a hole in the radiator. I also noticed that my coolant reservoir was empty. Of course my first reaction was – oh great, after spending $1,300.00 to fix the generator in Phoenix, (which I think I got ripped off for), the beast is just telling me its getting old too.

I took a deep breath, tried to calm myself down and looked around. Just off to my left was a store call TIREWORKS. They apparently did tune-ups and shocks as well as sell tires, so I did not have any great expectations, but ventured inside anyway.

Behind the counter, Ken was very pleasant and attentive, and had one of the mechanics do a quick inspection. They advised a pressure test of the cooling system to determine a more exact point of damage. Of course I consented.
Eric, the chief mechanic reported that a hose behind the radiator was split but was in a very differcult position to reach. He assigned George to work on removing the broken hose, which took him about a half hour of tedious work.

With the broken hose in his hand, Eric asked me for $20 so he could send George to an auto parts store for a replacement. It sounded a little strange, but I gave him the money.

10 minutes later, Eric handed me a receipt for the hose, which was 15.49 and $4.51 from my twenty.

45 minutes later, Ken called me to the counter, handed me my keys and told me I was good to go.
When I asked about my “ticket” and charges he just smiled at me and repeated, “you’re good to go”.

I thanked him although I was not really sure what had just happened, then sought out Eric, gave him a twenty-dollar bill and told him to split it with George, and drove off.

From that corner strip mall to Pahrump is 49 miles of open road thru the desert without any signs of life or service or even an emergency phone box. Had that hose broken any later than it did, I would have been stranded on a desolate road and up the old proverbial dry creek without a paddle or a prayer.

Why and how things happen I have long given up trying to question or analyze.
That corner, that store, those guys – all part of an event you could call fate, luck, chance, accident, destiny or divine intervention. What do you think?