Update on the "RANT"

Earlier this month I blogged, well ok - I did a rant on 'facilities' - mainly women's restrooms in public places. And no, I am not recanting. I still prefer, and I believe 98% of the women I know want to tinkle in clean restrooms. We want the entire room to be clean AND it would really be great if restaurants, in particular, did NOT use the "universal" uni - room that both men and women must share. Because let's face it ladies, men/teens/boys are pigs in bathrooms. (I'm just sayin'!) And if the owners would at the bare minimum have the toilet seats securely fastened AND stocked with plenty of tissue - we could at the minimum not be repulsed during the entire time we are using their bathrooms.

Now that I think of it, do these same owners have bathrooms in their own homes that are disgusting? Do they not sweep the floors or empty the trash when it is full? If you are going to have soap dispensers hanging on the walls - could you have them filled? If not, remove them - then I will know you are harboring germs in ALL areas of your establishment - because the means the employees who are preparing my food/drinks are also NOT washing their hands with soap and water. EEuuwwww.


Again this past week I had the extreme pleasure to use the women's restroom at the Desert Museum in Tucson. Beautiful park setting, great docents and volunteers, lots of interesting exhibits AND the piece de resistance...SUNSCREEN in the ladies room.

And they had hand sanitizer as well, just inside the entrance.

Classy, classy place ~ !

Hand Sanitizer





Must be telling that so many places are now feeling the need to put sanitizer out for the masses. Or maybe it was there all along and I am now just noticing that they are available.

Ciao!

Finding the repair shop prior to the breakdown...

Reality is smacking me upside the head. I am about to start a job of sorts…writing about certain products or businesses on the internet in my blog. Let's see where this new path takes us…that old universal 'us' don't you know…as always feel free to send me your thoughts .


We're traveling and of course being gone this long means that we have to find somewhere to do car maintenance. This is definitely one of those times when having the internet and search engines works to narrow the field down to businesses in your vicinity. We are considering Southern Texas for a winter vacation, and in looking about for the services we will need to live there for 4-6 monthsI wanted to be sure that if using search engines it could help me find a Houston auto repair shop - so I clicked on this link: http://repairpal.com/ and viola` I was able to find http://repairpal.com/houston-auto-repair.  The yellow pages of auto repair/maintenance for the entire nation - all in one website: http://repairpal.com/. Now if there was such a website for housepainters and gardeners I'd be in heaven!


Two tabs which I thought would work best for us was the 'Directory' and the 'Estimate' tabs, the first allows one to search for car repair/maintenance shops by zip codes and car make, the other allows you to plug in what service you need and that gives you an estimate range of the repair. I plugged in an oil change http://repairpal.com/engine-oil-filter-changeand brake job (http://repairpal.com/brake-rotor-replacement) for an Acura TL (http://repairpal.com/acura-tl-1999). In addition to the estimate it also includes an Encyclopedia of terms, which is used throughout the website-so when you hover over highlighted words-descriptive text boxes appear with the information. So, if automobile repair and maintenance isn't your passion - as is in my case - both you and I are able to become educated about your particular vehicle.

Additionally there is a tab/page, MY CAR which enables the car owner to keep all repair/maintenance records in one place. This website http://repairpal.com/ is easy, containing drop down lists, thus, allowing the user access across the site quickly and accurately; it's very user friendly.

I really do not like having to shop for car service and I no longer have warranty coverage on my beloved car, thus having a website that consolidates this type of information will certainly come in handy when I need to get some repair done without closing my eyes, flipping open the yellow pages and thrusting my forefinger onto the page - praying that this business isn't the one to take advantage of a woman's ignorance of 'all things mechanical' (aka - male oriented).

Community~~~~the center is in my head....

Currently I am sitting inside out RV - space #53 of Gilbert Ray State Park, SW Tucson area. It's been gorgeous outside, although the wind is gusting at a good clip. Lola and Lucy are both asleep in their baskets, conveniently located in front of windows with the Sun warming our space.  Saguaros surround our space, we have a long distance view of the valley below us. 

I have a blessed life. It's true - I do. However, lately it feels,  well-unfulfilled.  There is something I am suppose to be doing and I have yet to figure that piece out. Recently in meditation the awareness that something was missing  was revealed. It feels like a longing, it haunts me. Am I imagining it? I don't think so.  I have  for years had a desire to work as some sort of exercise instructor and I could never figure out how to support myself with that as a job…so I'd let it go. Whether it was yoga or aerobics the desire didn't leave.  It still hasn't, so when we get home I'm going to do a bit of investigation to see what is available in my town to become a yoga instructor.

In tree or dog years - I am old. Inside I feel much, much younger…so I drift off into the world of yoga teacher training and wonder whether I could "that"? Not so much to support myself, but as a means of community as we travel. It would also keep me engaged in fitness outside the 3-4 mile walks that  my husband and I do together.

'Community'  has become a new word for me. Last week over laundry I met another woman, a few years older than I, as we did our laundry.  Funny thing about laundry facilities….no matter who you are, laundry evens the playing field. Everyone has dirty laundry…doing it in RV parks is a bit easier than some of those suburban coin operated places that one approaches with care.  I digress…Back to community  with Lenore, she and her husband are from Wisconsin and have now spent the last 3 winters  in the Tombstone area of AZ, for a variety of reasons which they compromised to reach.  She used the word community and it resonated.  I also felt an instant connection with her - which at the time felt odd, as I think of myself as a bit of a loner.

At home I have a 'community' of women and activities that I miss.  I am wanting to create that for myself on the road - teaching a yoga class when we are parked for a period of time would be a way to engage that concept.  At least the exploration will stimulate new dendrites and maybe a larger community for me.

Ciao~