Devil's Fork State Park

Devil's Fork with Lake Jocassee in the background

On Friday, November 18, I had the first treatment for my skin cancer. It went very well, and I have another on Dec 16th. Saturday we took the RV to Devil's Fork State Park in South Carolina. It is about 150 miles from our house. We stayed there till Yesterday.  I had to stay out of the sun light or keep my head covered for the first 48 hours.  Anyway, the RV had no problems, and everything operated great.  It has an old antenna on the roof that you crank up.  The TV's are analog, and so before we left, I stopped at Best Buy and bought a converter box.  The antenna was able to pick up about a dozen more channels than you can watch at once. Some friends from our congregation also came for the weekend and watched the football games on Thursday. In all there were lots of kids and lots of activity all around the campground.

Left to right-Sammie, Lilian, Eric, and Quintan Blando

11/11/11

Yes, today is 111111. I have not posted in a while. I have not dropped off the edge of the earth, although it seems like I have been around it twice. I've been trying to keep things afloat. I went to Little Rock, AK, for a work project. We were visiting Little Rock because they have a street car line that uses the same Gomaco, reproduction street cars that we have in Charlotte. It is common practice that agencies will share lessons learned with other agencies. In the cooperate world you would never admit mistakes to a competitor, but we are not competitors. Little Rock is a tourist town and their street car has a slightly different purpose than we have in Charlotte. Little Rock street cars set the stage for their historic city tourism. Charlotte will have a dual purpose of tourism and transportation. The future street cars will be modern cars like the Kinkisharyos that I posted in January of this year. Charlotte has 3 replica Gomaco cars that are the same as Little Rock, as you can see from one of the pictures. These will eventually be phased out in favor of new technology. Next week I will need to go to the dermotologist on some more skin issues. I think after that we will take the Bus on a little R&R for a few days before I winterize it. And as you can see parking and overhead powerlines can be an issue.

Break from the brakes.

Saturday, Alex told me that the brakes on the car were making noise. So I drove the car around and they seemed OK, but were making a little noise in the rear. I jacked it up and put stands under the back and took the wheel off the right side. When I pulled the drum off, pieces of broken springs fell out. The brake adjusting lever was bent and the piece that separates the shoes was also bent.  The drum was scratched and shoes were also chewed up. I went to the auto parts store and bought a brake hardware kit and shoes and a new drum. However; the separator piece was a dealer item. So, I went to the GMC dealer across the street and ordered the piece. I won't get it till Tuesday.  So, the car is on vacation till then.  We finished the day by going to our friend David and Carol's house for a fish fry. Very good time and a welcome break from the brakes.

iSad

Last night Steve Jobs laid down with his ancestors in death. Death is not natural, because man was created to live. He will stay their till the creator of all things says it is time to bring those sleeping in death back. I like a lot of people, learned of it on my iPhone. He has changed almost everyone’s way of life. Even his competitors try to imitate his vision. He will be missed, till he returns.

This last weekend Alex and I went on our first weekender in the Bus. We went to Myrtle Beach Travel Park, where I stumbled through figuring out all the different systems on the bus. Learning the gas, sewer, fresh water, the inverter and even how to operate the stereo.

Everything seems good, and here are some pictures that we took.

Registration for the Bus

Yesterday was a little stressful for me. To explain, I will start by saying that, like most things, we bring it on ourselves. When we went to financing our bus, we found a very low interest rate. That is the other side of not being able to sell our house. We got the loan in my wife and my name. Then I purchased insurance for it from Nationwide insurance. All was good so far. Then a friend told me about a company in Montana that will set you up with an LLC, and you can register your vehicles to your company, and just drive a company vehicle. The company that sets up your company, will go to the DMV and register all your vehicles and send you the plates. So, I ask, "Why"?


The State of Montana has no state sales tax, and any vehicle over 10 years old will be issued a permanent plate. The cost of this service is about a thousand dollars, and they provide a permanent address for your LLC business. After it is complete you pay a fee of about $150 per year for the permanent company address. You only need to file income tax, on an LLC if you make a profit.

My personal integrity, will not allow me to be dishonest in any way, which includes paying taxes. However; this is legal for those who do the necessary research and follow the law as written. We all know that the intent is to flees as much money from working people as possible. I have no problem with avoiding unnecessary taxes if it is done legally.

This brings me to why I paid North Carolina $1470.00 for the license plates on the bus, yesterday. I learned of the Montana laws after I got financed and purchased insurance in my wife and my name, and this would require us to refinance and buy insurance in Montana under the company name. All said, this is just food for thought, and may help someone else. My plates will expire on 9-30-2012, and will require a safety inspection to renew.