Welcome to our Adventure!

Al and I are thrilled that you have found your way to our blog. We hope you enjoy reading our journal and viewing our photographs of the natural wonder of our United States of America. Let's hit the road together!
Homer, Alaska

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Progress

First and foremost, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and is looking forward to a safe Happy New Year.  I hope the coming year brings happiness and good health to all our family, friends, and new friends to come!

It's been a week since posting, but we have been very busy over the holidays, and had a blizzard thrown in for good measure! Blizzards are not very common here on Long Island, but it was a really good old-fashioned winter nor'easter with a good measure of snow thrown in. The snowfall accumulation could have been much worse, but the storm tracked closer to shore than forecast, and NYC and NJ really got the brunt of it. I don't mind :-). We did receive quite a bit of beach erosion though, as we have near hurricane force winds for a good long spell. Many homes are in danger, especially in Southold and Montauk.

Since it was so cold and ugly out, my mission for my 3 day weekend was to clean out the walk-in closet upstairs, sort clothes into keep/donate piles, go through piles of investment club paperwork dating back to the beginning, 1995 ( for those who were in the club, I found the colored-pencil graphed SSG's we did!!), and just get everything sorted out. And for the most part, mission accomplished. I can't believe the bags of clothing that went out for donation! And I still think I kept too much! We also started work in the garage again, I organized everything we had taken out of the Avalon when we traded it in, threw out a bunch of stuff, put what I'm giving to my sister's family in the car to take to them tomorrow, and I will say, between the closet and the garage, we filled a dumpster! Since it's suppose to be sunny and warmer (in the 40's!!) on Saturday, we will start packing the camping gear into the Cougar's basement. And I want to move my summer clothing into the closets, as it won't be warm enough here to wear them before I leave here, MARCH 26!

I also cleaned and packed the pictures off the walls upstairs, and packed all my Swarovski crystal and Disney figurines to go into storage. They will be relocated to Florida when the house sells. It is sad to start to see the vacant space in the house, but it means I'm making progress, and that makes me happy :-).

Technology wise, we have decided our internet option will be the Verizon 3G/4G aircard with 5gig service a month. Cradlepoint is working on the upgrade to our router so it will be compatible with 4G. Whereas 4G won't be rolled out on a wide basis when we leave, if we are in an area that has 4G it will be nice to have the higher speed. And we'll be ready when the nation-wide roll-out is complete. We were very undecided if we should try the Millenicom service first, as it is cheaper, no contract required, and has 20gig/month allowance, but it does use "leftover" bandwidth from verizon, and we're a little unsure how that will work out.

I will say, as we've been announcing our departure early next year from our business, it has been both gratifying and emotionally draining to hear the well wishes. I am most grateful for the customers that have been with us for so long, and who are taking the time to express their appreciation for the service we have rendered these past 30 years. It's so nice to know that we have made a small impression on so many people. It has always been my intention to keep the 'small-town" flavor of our shop, and even though our town of East Hampton has been taken over by big-name business for the most part, I feel we succeeded. I hope the new owners keep the same ideals, I feel that they will!

A last thought for the week, I have learned that a young girl in town has lost her battle to cancer today; please keep Katie in your prayers. It is difficult to lose anyone, but no parent should ever have to lose a young child to this insidious disease. May God willing, they find a cure for cancer someday!

Happy new year everyone! bring on 2011!!

3 comments:

  1. Hi. I discovered your blog from the Escapees Discussion forum.
    We live in Flushing Queens and our camper, for now is parked in Amityville.
    I just signed up with Millenicom this week. I thought I would give it a try since there is no contract. The most I can loose is the cost of the modem. I will let you know how it works out.
    We are planning to leave for 3 months the second week in January. Then come back get the house ready to sell in the spring.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We have the Verizon 3G and use a cradlepoint router. We are reasonably happy with the way they work.

    Our SIL has just introduced us to the Motorola Droid on Verizon. It can be set up with 4G and WI-FI and connected to the computer for unlimited access for $30 a month and he says it can act as a MYFI. We hope to try it out in the MH soon!

    ReplyDelete
  3. We are in the process of trying to find an internet connection/cell phone service that will work for our needs. I need to be able to call international so it limits it somewhat unless I want to go into a contract. Which I am hoping not.

    I am looking forward to the chance to meet you at the rally.

    ReplyDelete