Honey To-Do List!

I took a day of leave to catch up on my list, and also to go to my sons' school.....well the school I went to, but didn't do ONE THING on my list. I haven't had a day off in a while and needed to catch up on my homework, that I did.

Maria was busy with her daycare children so I took care of my school work while she was with the kids. We had lunch together and that was nice.

Tonight we went out to dinner with our youngest son, Tom, and we had a good time.

Not happy with myself because I didn't get anything done with my motorhome. I'll definitely need to get it done this weekend before rain rolls back in.

As I said in my last post, I will post pictures of Iceland, Maria's homeland. Maria is a naturalized US citizen since 2001. Although her allegiance is to the United States she has an undying love for her Nordic roots in Iceland. So here's another picture of a truly awe inspiring landscape of Iceland:





Godafoss: One of the many, many waterfalls in Iceland

Thought of the Day: Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. ~Henry David Thoreau

Manic Monday followed by Crazy Tuesday!!

Well as you all know I had this simulated disaster that the U.S. Navy put into motion and we had to muster 1,392 Sailors/Marines and their family members. Monday it started about 0930 and we just finished it today at 1600. Absolute craziness throughout the entire event. But we got 100 muster completed 24 HOURS EARLIER THAN THE DEADLINE!! My Admin PRO's are so awesome, specifically my Admin Supervisor, YN2 Jonathan Broglie--good on him! So that made my Department Head and I look good and now I'm happy. I just sweat these things so much.

Another reason to get out of the rat race and get to our Full-Time lifestyle.

I want to say welcome to Maria's family from Iceland and Florida that are starting to read this blog. We're very excited about you all reading this and YES we're coming back to Iceland before we start our fulltime RV life. Hopefully we can come back and bring Joey and Tom with us. Don't forget when we come we want to go Husafell and go arond the island again! Great times to be had.

For all others here's a picture of Iceland. The mountain is the inactive volcano that is about 1/2 mile outside Grindavik (that's where Maria was born). The billowing steam is the famous Blue Lagoon. We went there many, many times when we lived in Iceland....we loved every time we went. The lava beds capped with Northern Moss surround the mountain....beautiful site to see. I'll upload photos often of the tranquil island of Iceland.



Thanks to the advice received by some of our RV-dreams chat room friends Jenny and Penny I'll be fixing my roof leak on Friday. Cross your fingers this works....and yes I know Penny....put the butyl tape on first then the sealant!

Thought of the day: Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
Calvin Coolidge (1872 - 1933)

Rain Wash!

Well as you can see by today's title that California is full of RAIN! What's nice about the rain is that my cars get washed. Although the rain didn't wash them as good I would have.

The weekend wasn't eventful--we didn't do anything exciting. Although I wanted to do some maintenance on the MH I didn't want to get out there in the rain, kind of defeating the purpose right now.

I completed my business management class paper...got 98%! I will sign up for next semester this week. I will be taking Statistics and Business Ethics--doesn't that sound fun and exciting?!

Today we did our grocery shopping at the base Commissary and then went to our favorite Mexican Restaurant, La Fiesta. We came home and watched a movie with Kevin Bacon titled Death Sentence. Good movie but at times was way too many curse words and a little unbelievable--but it filled the day with entertainment.

Tomorrow will bring my favorite pass time---WORK! Tomorrow will be crazy because the Navy is doing a muster exercise and my subordinates and I need to muster 700 Sailors/Marines and their families. Monumental task, and it will be disasterous to say the least. I will write tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

Thought of the Day: Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. ~Mark Twain

Day of Leave!

Today I took a day of leave (vacation) so I could take my Mom to have oral surgery. That went OK, she is home resting. She had to have her left top/bottom wisdom teeth taken out. She's 61 and just now doing it. I had mine out before I was 18.

After I returned from taking her I came home and spent the day with Maria. We had lunch together and just spent a few hours together. Well actually, I surfed the net while she watched Law & Order. But it does feel good to be off work just to veg. I would have done more but it is raining pretty hard so I can't get out to our RV to do some maintenance.

Not too sure what I'll be doing this weekend if it is still raining. I know I have a paper to write. This paper is about empowering subordinates and teamwork. Good subjects and fun to debate.

Well back to my internet surfing; I was reviewing information on camp hosting and workamping. I found a great website for seasonal work at Yellowstone. We are very excited about all the opportunities for us.

To update you on our plan: We retire in 30 September 2010 and hopefully our house will be sold by then. I will be 42 and Maria 41, so we are very able to work and we WANT to work. We know we can't just site see and "hang out" for the rest of our lives. Even though we will have our retirement checks and we'll have living money we still are too young to just completely quit the working life. So we want to camphost / workamp to keep things fun and interesting while making a few bucks.

Also during this time I will complete my MBA and be ready to reenter the "rat race" if we desire in the future. I have my GI Bill that will pay for that...it's use or lose and I certainly won't be in the lose category.

So we'll see what happens this weekend and what more information I can find. If any of you have information / websites for camphosting or workamping please share.

Thought of the Day: A person is a success if they get up in the morning and gets to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. ~Bob Dylan

Is Retirement Close?!

This was my thought today....I will retire from active service from the U.S. Navy on 20 September 2010. Wow, that seems so far away. So I'm working very hard to complete my B.S. Business Management degree so I can move on to my MBA. That sure will be sweet when that's complete.

But today was one of those days when I think, just can't wait to get away from the rat race. We're planning our hangar renovation and also trying to do our daily regular tasks...just lots of work to do. Doesn't seem like enough time in the day. But I just had to leave work early today to keep my sanity, so I left at 1700. Sometimes I stay until 1800 or later, but I'm just starting to get burned out with that.

Not much more happened today. Both Maria and I worked, kids went to school...just another day in the Borba household.

Tonight we'll watch the American Idol competition. Tonight is the girls' turn, yesterday was the boys'. They didn't do well, can't really see any of them in the top 3, but you never know. Other than, homework for the boys while Maria and I relax a bit.

Thought of the Day: "Work is the true elixir of life. The busiest man is the happiest man. Excellence in any art or profession is attained only by hard and persistent work. Never believe that you are perfect. When a man imagines, even after years of striving, that he has attained perfection, his decline begins."
-Sir Theodore Martin

Jury Duty!

Well Maria was on the hook for Jury Duty today. She has a real problem in doing this civic duty due to her self-employment. Remember, Maria owns/operates a home child development center. So anyway, when she takes time off it causes all kinds of drama with a few of her clients. Some are welfare-to-work and if she's off they don't work...you see where I'm going. So she had her turn to talk to the Judge and she told him that and he excused her...this time! She will have to go back in a year. We'll see what happens that time around.

Today for me was back to work and immediately got busy dealing with Personnel issues. So I did my usual morning rituals of reading the military message board, emails and voice mails. Of course, each of those gave me a new round of taskers to ensure I got done. So my Sailors and I worked, worked, and worked more...and YES, we got everything done. I have great Sailors that I can count on to get the work done. Good TEAMWORK makes all the difference.

I got my weekly haircut from John the Barber in Hanford. John and his wife Kathy are great people and have been very good to my family and me. They have been cutting our hair since 2002. I love to just sit down in John's chair, have a good haircut (that I don't have to keep giving intricate directions on how I want it), a close arond the ears/neck shave with a sharp razor and of course, GREAT conversation. We normally sit down for about 30 minutes and typically solve all the problems of the world before I leave....only to meet the next week and solve more problems. No I'm not running for President!

So tonight I will do some homework, read fellow RVer blogs and probably get on the RV-Dreams chat room.

Thought of the Day: "For success, it's better to be like a turtle. Sometimes scared and staying inside your shell for protection but never stopping, always walking, in one direction to achieve the goal."

Weekend Fun + Class "C" Roof Leak

We took out our MH and we had a good time. Just to be alone was great. It was peaceful. So here's what we did:

Friday: I secured my department at 1230, and let everyone go to get busy with their weekend plans. I left at 1230 to have lunch my good friend, Paula. But the problem was 1230 was our time to meet. I was 10 minutes late. I apologized for my rudeness but was quickly assured no worries. Paula certainly understands as she was my previous boss, my command's Command Master Chief. Great lady and American Patriot!

So after lunch I took out our MH from the on-base RV Storage and got it all set up on the campgrond on the base. Not a great place, but it works for cleaning, etc. You can see the campground here: http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=38#jreview_1670 I was set up in about 10 minutes and then went to the commissary to get food and then waited for Maria. But I still had 2 hours before would get off work and get to the base. So I went to the base "Single Sailor" center and internet cafe and got on line and chatted with my RV friends on the RV-Dreams.com chat room. Also did some homework on line until I got the call from Maria that she would be arriving soon. So logged off and waited.....I just love waiting around...NOT!

Saturdy: I went to work at 0800 and stayed until about 1400 doing my weekly homework and writing. I went to work because my computer WI-FI doesn't reach to the base campground and I needed to do some research and get my paper uploaded on line. So Maria slept in and I did my homework. After I returned, we just hung around the RV and cleaned. I didn't fix my leak because the stuff I want I can't get until Tuesday, so I'll fix this next weekend. Watched some TV and off to bed.

Sunday: We woke up and off we went to our favorite Mexican Food restaurant in Hanford, La Fiesta. After our great lunch we went home to check on the boys and our house (you have to do that with 16 year olds), everything was fine except they didn't do their chores so I wasn't a "happy camper". They quickly did what they needed to then they were off with their friends. So Maria relaxed at home while I caught up on RV blogs, and checked out my grade for the weekly paper. I got another "A"! YEAH!! So off to the MH for another night. We stopped off at the video store and got a few movies. I fell asleep and Maria stayed up for a while.

Monday: We put the MH away and back to home. House looked great and the boys were getting ready to see their friends. So here I am catching up on our blog again.

We talked quite a bit this weekend about our future Full-Timing Life. We both are very committed to do this as soon as possible. We will need to wait until 2010 for both boys to be out of the house, then sell this place. We're certainly hoping the housing market gets much better by then. We are sold on our plan to camp host, then take trips on our way from one host spot to the other. We'll have to see how this plan will work.

Thought for the day: Plan Your Work -- Work Your Plan.

* Mundane Monday *

Today was another repetitive Monday. Go to work, come home and read for awhile. Just started watching O'Reilly Factor -- Love the No Spin Zone. Today was another good talk about body language. I always catch myself being aware of my body language. How many of us have heard, actions speak louder than words? Prime example.

So much to do to get things ready for our departure in Oct 2010. I know that may sound far off, but it really isn't. Like Dee (an RV-Dreams chat frient), I am going to start scanning and chronical all of our photos; that will be a chore. I already have a scanner, but I want to get one that is really good for pictures. I'll have to do some research on that.

Well, not much to report and I don't just want to babble. So, that's it for tonight.

Stand-by for my next post.

Playing Catch Up!

Well sorry to my friends in RV-Dreams chat room. I know I said I was going to give you the details on the "plane wash". Well this last week has been crazy, just like every week at work is. I just got busy with work and this very hard business management class I'm taking. OK, so enough with that, here we go:

Tuesday: I went to work as usual, but this time I took my coveralls to work so I could participate in a plane wash. The reason I was in the plane wash is because I was PAID to do it. Yep, that's right, PAID. Well I didn't get any money, but the money was paid by my wonderful Sailors who wanted to see me wash the 30 million dollar plane!

Last October our command was raising money for our Annual Christmas Party. As with other Naval Aviation commands, the inevitable "KHAKI Plane Wash" comes to mind. Easy rules, Sailors pay $1.00 a vote and the top 5 KHAKI's (Chief's) with the most votes will wash the plane. So I tell my Divisional Supervisors and my Sailors that I WILL NOT wash the plane for anything less than $200.00...so get your check books out and pay-up.

Well this was successful to a point. I ended up getting the most votes -- 96 VOTES! But remember I said $200.00, that was the unsuccessful part, didn't get there. So we were going to do this plane wash in November 2007, but with all the detachments within our squadron and the holidays, we never go around to it.

So, Tuesday, 5 February 2008 was the date! Come hell or high water we were going to do it on this date....and we did! It took us 5 Chief's and 1 Officer (Our "Gunner"--Weapons Officer) 90 minutes to complete the task. So there you have it....that's how the Chief of Administration (HR Director) washed a fighter jet!

Now the next thing I need to do is post a picture. I would do that now, but can't get it off my thumb drive, I'll have to figure that out and get it posted. I'll let you know when it's posted.

Well Wednesday through Saturday was spent going about my daily routine at work and then press-on with the class. Well my hard-work paid off, somewhat. I received an "A" on the weekly paper, but got a "B" on my mid-term! I'm not loosing too much sleep over it. My grade is still a 94.33%.

Our boys stayed the night at their friends' house and they will be back later today. So Maria and I had a great time last night and she slept in until about 1000. But I told her since I was such a nice guy and "let" her sleep in she should take me to La Fiesta for lunch! So she said OK, but she made me pay for it!! What's up with that?! La Fiesta is a mexican restaurant in Hanford, CA---and it's the best we've EVER HAD! You know it's good when you walk in and 50% of the customers are Mexican and speaking spanish. That's the biggest compliment of all.

We didn't go RVing this weekend because of my paper and mid-term, so we pushed that off until next weekend. We're not sure where we will be going...but out of here! I'm hoping for the beach--just north of Morro Bay is a beautiful state park called San Simeon, and it's right on the beach.

Monday--Back to Work! And our Decision is Solidified!!

OK, to start off, Maria and I have solidified our DREAM! We have decided we are going Fulltime on 1 October 2010!!
We have chose 2010 for a myriad of reasons:
(1) Our second son, Tom, will graduate June 2010 from high school and is flying the coop. (Our older son, Joey, graduates June 2009 from high school and going into the Marine Corps).
(2) I retire from U.S. Navy active service after 23 years on 30 September 2010.
(3) Maria and I will be married 20 YEARS on 22 December 2010!
So 2010 has many GREAT things happening and we think it's only fitting to make 2010 a new year on many levels.

In the Navy we have a saying "When you grow up what do you want to do". What we mean by that is when you RETIRE (grow up) what are you going to do. Well I've told all of my friends at work about this and some think we're nuts! How many of you full-timers get that when you told your friends you were doing it?

So now on to our list of many, many things to do. I have to first say Thank You to Howard and Linda on RV-Dreams.com for creating a great website and chat room that has truly inspired us to make this move. Also to all those great friends on the RV-Dreams chat room---you guys are great! We will be bending your ear and I ask for one thing---PATIENCE! I will probably be venting now and again, but I know you all have been through this and will understand.

OK, so I digressed for a minute. But we are going to get serious about this.

Please stay tuned for what lies ahead....

Back on Track

Almost a month has gone by without a post. Thanks to my friends on the RV-DREAMS.COM chat I have a renewed desire to keep up the posts.

Yesterday was filled with work and writing a very long paper for my Business Management class. I certainly cannot wait until I have my education completed. Although I enjoy education, I think it is not always fun because I have to do it. I enjoy the reading and research...I love learning.

Speaking of learning, I just can't stay off the rv.net forum. I learn so much there and it certainly kept me from spending a lot of money once on my generator. Thanks firedude!

Update on the boys: Joey went to his NJROTC Ball Friday night, he really had a good time. Tom stayed with his friend last night, so we'll see if he's tired today. Tomorrow is a new school week and they need to jump back on track.

Maria and I have plans to take the RV out this weekend. I will need to get the propane tank filled and make the reservation. We're excited!

I'll stay on top of the posts. Thanks to the friends in the rv-dreams chat room for the rekindle!

Say a prayer for my comrades in the military -- we need it!