Rainy Days Are Productive

The weatherman says last month was the second wettest May on record for this area, and I believe him. Yesterday alone we got over three inches of rain in the New Smyrna Beach area. Much more of this and I’ll be able sit in my pontoon boat and fish without ever leaving the garage!

The good thing is that rainy days can be productive. Well, they can be if you can resist taking a nap. And fortunately, I’ve been able to resist the last few days and have been getting a lot of writing done. Yesterday it rained hard most of the day and I worked pretty much nonstop for about six hours. By the time I wrapped it up for the day I had just under 7,500 words done, which puts me at about 2/3 of the way through my new Big Lake book.

I love productive days like that when the words just flow. I remember when I was a teenager my dad telling me that if you found something to do that you absolutely love doing, and would do even if you weren’t getting paid for it, you’ll never work a day in your life. Back then I sometimes thought my old man was pretty weird, but the older I get the more I realize just how wise he really was.

Today I’m not sure if I will get a lot done, because I have a chiropractor’s appointment in the morning and Terry has a doctor’s appointment in the early afternoon. Usually both places get us in and out pretty quickly, so we’ll just have to wait and see how it goes.

I received quite a few comments on yesterday’s blog about RV insurance, and even more emails. While most people agreed with me completely, I did have one fellow that told me that he’s been fulltiming for five years now, and as far as his insurance company knows he lives at his daughter’s address and the RV stays parked there except for a few weekends a year, so he is paying minimal insurance. Hey, if you think you can get away with it, do whatever you feel is right for you. It’s your life, and you’re the one who will have to deal with the consequences if things go bad.

I have to be honest, I don’t understand some people’s obsession with saving a buck here and there, no matter what it takes to do so. I remember once when Terry and I were at Elkhart Campground  in Indiana and were headed to Pennsylvania to teach at Life on Wheels. Another RVing couple who were there with us couldn’t believe we were going to take the Indiana Toll Road and the Ohio Turnpike when we could take US highways and avoid paying any tolls.

We have always been fans of getting off the interstate and traveling the two lane roads whenever we can, if it’s reasonable. But there are those occasions when you have to be someplace at a certain time, and it’s just more expedient to stay on the superslab and pay the tolls. We all left Elkhart about the same time, and that evening we were parked and set up at the college campus where the event was being held, went out to dinner, and were sitting around in lawn chairs visiting with the other instructors before going to bed.

The other couple made it in sometime well after midnight, worn out from a very long day on the road, much of it spent working their way through a long series of construction zones. But what the heck, they saved about $30 in tolls! Yeah, it took them about six extra hours on the road to do so, which means that for the two of them they saved $2.50 an hour. I don’t know, that may be good wages if you’re an exploited immigrant working in a basement sweat factory somewhere, but my time is worth a lot more than that.

Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Big Lake Burning, the sixth book in my Big Lake mystery series. To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.

Thought For The Day – Neuter your dog. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of curs.