Retirement......sort of....is finally here.

 Retirement has finally happened.   I am no longer driving truck for Stevens Transport.  I may have to find a job to make about $2000.00 a month, but that won't be forever.   I am looking for work from home work, and since I write and type really well that may happen.   

I have been off work for about a month now, I still have my CDLA and am adding doubles and triples to it.  That is needed if I get the drive away job I have applied for.   But for the most part I am just retired.   I have plans to go fishing and have gone deer hunting twice now.  I will probably get a deer this week.  My brother Bob, aka shoreparty got me a 8 mm mauser rifle to hunt with.   It is really very pretty and very accurate to about 200 yards on open sights.   If I make it a serious deer rifle I will have to get a scope for it.   That may happen for next year, or I may get a modern .308, or a 30/30 to hunt with.  The Mauser is nice, but ammo is about $2 a round, so that sort of cuts down on how fun and accurate it is to shoot.

Jessica is growing fast and is pretty much completely house broken.   She has accidents, but usually at the doorway and because I didn't pick up on her wanting to go out.  She is getting pretty good at telling me that she needs to go.   She sleeps through the night and goes in the morning.  After her breakfast she usually sleeps another hour or so and then we go for a walk.  I have been walking her at least a mile a day, and when I can we do two.   Her legs are getting longer, and she is starting to learn that the leash is for her protection.  She tolerates it most of the time. But without is she stays right with me when we walk, unless she is in explore mode.   She comes when called though and sits when told to.  She also drops anything when told to leave it.   

This week she started bringing toys and  balls back to be thrown again.  Not 100% of the time but most of the time.  She also sits and waits to eat until told it is OK to do so.   All in all she is a smart little girl and pretty loyal.   Still growing daily and she is about 15 pounds and about 12 to 14 inches tall.  Her legs are growing fast.   I have had many dogs, lots of rescues and fosters that were older, but Jessica is the first puppy I have had in a long long time.   She is a challenge and a joy at the same time.

Clyde is retireing soon. His replacement is known as Big Red

 When I started this blog it had no title.  I think I started it in 2006.  It was started because of another blog.  Breaker 19 was its name.  The writer of that blog said something about trucker that I seriouly disagreed with.  I naturally wanted to comment, and the writer of that blog had it set up that in order to to comment people had to start a blog.  initially I refused to do that, but I had to repond to the outrageous comment and there was no cost.  So I started a blog, no title, no theme, and no entries or posts.  But I made my comment on the other blog.  I do not even know if anyone read or responded to my comment, because right after I made it that blog disappeared, or maybe the writer decided to block me.  But I now had a blog.   I bought and named Clyde in 2005 for the first of 16  Runs for the Wall that I did.   I still have Clyde, he has new paint, new tires, new brakes and a new clutch.  I wanted to pass him on to my son Luke, and he is willing to take him but logistically that has not happpened yet.

The title of the blog is going to stay the same, at least for  a while.  In January I will be titling and registering Clyde in Texas.  Maybe sooner..  Big Red has a Wisconsin Registration that is valid until April, so I am going to save some cash and wait until then to register it.  Clyde's plate "FNG05" is on Big Red. If Texas allows for it I will keep that plate.  I was after all an "FNG"  which translates to "Fun New Guy (or Gal)" on Run for the Wall in 2005.   For my military friends it translates to something else but that is okay too. If Luke doesn't take Clyde I will keep him.  I do not know what the new title will be, the only decision is that it won't be Bounce and Big Red.  I want to broaden the range of the blog.  The trailer needs a name too.  I might name the blog after the trailer.  Also I plan to retire so the thought of driving truck and riding motorcyles won't work anymore.

Okay house keeping done.  I have a new place to live.  A 42 foot long toy hauler trailer.  It is nice but can and will be nicer.  I need to organize it and to get some storage issue taken care of.  I want to make sure that when moving it nothing shifts or falls down.  I have one wheel dock for big Red and I plan to get another one for Clyde.  The one I have for Big Red is very nice, but pricey.  I will probably get another one for Clyde. very secure system. It is called a Wheel Dock and can be found at Wheel dock motorcycle products.  I just Google Wheel dock.  they cost $325.00 but are very well made and sized for individual front wheels.  If you get it too big they sell spacers to tighten it up but they will hold a bike upright and require very limited tie downs.

Now for me. I like Clyde, am retiring.  It is more than past time for me to go fishing. I will have to work some, but  over the road truck driving was slowly killing me both physically and mentally.

I plan to blog here, and I have a new past time, or hobby, or challenge.  About three weeks ago a friend of my friend Dean showed up at the Goldthwaite farm market with 9 puppies born on September ninth.  He was giving them away trying to just find homes for them.   Well we picked one up.   Jessica is now the queen of our toy hauler.  Good news is she is very smart.  She is a mix of Boston Terrier, English Bull dog and Border Collie.  She is great and has already decided potty is outside not inside.   She has grown some, but not the way the rest of her litter has.  They are still getting mothers milk so they are fatter.  She walks with me every day (I try to walk at least a mile, sometimes two and she stays right with me)  We experimented with a leash last week.  Jess does not approve but tolerates it.

So now that I am retired I plan to blog every day.  I may even open up a YouTube channel for Jessica, she is cute smart and fun to watch.   

I will be riding Big Red, and probably Clyde too, as soon as I sort out the space issue.  I up sized my living space from 60 inches to 41 feet, but I have to down size my possessions.  Life in its self is a work in progress.  Hopefully I can do this.   

Pictures and even videos of Jessica are coming, they are on my face book and Instagram feeds.

Honor and Friendship

 This post is about a trip that I am making with my brother, Bob Shoreparty Talley.

A while ago he called me and told me that he had a friend that was dying of Cancer as a result of either being stationed at Camp Lejune, NC or Agent Orange.  They were going to come to Camp Lejune together after the last Run For the Wall that Bob's freind did, and events overcame that plan.  They promised each other they would do this together someday.  Bob is taking a flag and the Memory of his friend here.

There is a memorial here for the Marines that were killed in the Lebanon Barracks bombing.  They were both in the unit that this happened to.  Bob did me the honor of asking me to accompany him on this trip.  I promised him almost two years ago I would do this.  LeAnn Larson is working so I can keep the job I need and I am doing it.

The trip has been tough, and fun.  Bob and I are brothers but we had some bad years.  When we were kids we spent a lot of time trying to kill each other, and as adults we did not always communicate well.  But we are brothers, and I am proud that he is also my friend.

This is the first of a few posts about this trip.  Bob left Colorado Springs Colorado and met me in Oklahoma City.  I left Lometa TX so my first day was shorter than his.  But he rides a lot more than I do.  I have about 70k miles on touring bikes, but only now about 40000 on my Big Red Yamaha.  It is a nice bike but I am getting old.

Our first night we stayed in a "Bunk a Biker" home in Harrah Oklahoma.  They were great people. The Thompsons welcomed us, fed us and garaged our bikes.  They are a GOLD STAR family.  They lost their son CPL Michael Eyre Thompson on 9/18/2008.  When we pulled into the garage I saw Roger's  Harley which is dedicated to Mikey.  A thought here, I enlisted in 1977 because my then Wife was pregnant with our first child and the Air Force was the only job I could find that would cover that.  Yes I made  a career out of it, yes I deployed to some silly places and some bad places, but there was no war going on when I enlisted. It was simply a job that I grew to love.  I was in a combat zone but there were dependents there so it was not really that dangerous.   The people that are enlisting today in all branches of the service are doing so at a time when our country is at war and I truly respect and admire every one of them.

The Thompsons have a great home and we plan to stop back there on the way home.  

The above photos are of Bob Shore Party Talley and a couple of Marines we met at a gas stop in Tennesse and a young sailor he met this morning.  Funny little thing about the two guys at the gas stop.  Bob said hi to them and greeted them like any biker would, the tall guy was like "yeah whatever".  Then Bob turned to get on his bike and the tall guy said "I am sorry sir I did not see your patch.  We are both Marines too."  The conversation went very friendly at that.  Bob asked the Sailor if he was a plumber, he replied yes (for those of us that do not speak Marine a plumber is a Corpsman).  They had a pleasant conversation, and I enjoyed it.

The above photos are of Bob and Bill's Memory and Flag at the Memorial.  That    place is very Hallowed Ground.  There is pain there, not at much as at the Wall in D.C., but I could feel it.  A lot of pain has been left there.                                              

That is it for today, Revelry is at 0500 and that is sharp, since I am traveling with a Marine and a Memory of a Marine I will be ready to go.

Okay a lot has happened int the last four monthd.

I am now owner and partner in Reluctant Dragonfly LLC.  My things are now in Texas. I have a trailer to live in and park the bikes in,  Dean and Tish Hopkins going to help me set it up to live in it.  LeAnn is a partner and a driver. We are going to pay the trailer off in about a year, and once its paid for we are going fishing. Or I am. She is a published author and is planning on promoting her books, and working with veterans too.   The rodeo pictures and the video are from a youth rodeo at the Goldthwaite Cowboy chruch.  That was fun to watch.  I had to ask what the "Goat Slapping" competition was about, but it was fun.   In the goat slapping the younger kids ride up to a goat while someone holds it.  Once within about twenty feet of the goat the kids jump off their horse run up and slap the goat.  The timer stops when they slap the goat.  The older kids don't have anyone to hold the goat, it is tethered with a long lead and can run from them. They have to tie three legs together for time, and the tie has to hold for a while. not sure how long, but if the goat gets free there is no time.

Above are pictures of the bikes loaded on my utility trailer in Wisconsin, and of our toy Hauler travel trailer

     I am here to participate in a Green Knights event.  Not sure what it is for but I am going to enjoy it if I can.

 Two more years and I will retire.  There are several things I must do to acheive that.  I have changed from being a trainer to being a team driver.  Hopefully there will be enough revenue generated by that to pay everything off and get the trailer I want.  I also hope that I do not age much more.  Getting older is okay, but aging hurts a lot.

I have a good chance to buy a small piece of land, and if that happens then I may just buy a nice single wide and use my pick up to pull the utility trailer and camp in a tent and go see places on the bike.  That is a possibility.   

My diabetes is well under control, I am still losing weight, not as fast but still losing weight.  The 38 inch pants that I was gifted by the great and mighty Gallupe are loose on me.  He did send three pairs of 36 inch pants too, but I have about 30 more pounds before I get into those.  Thinking I will need my suspenders for the 38's soon though.  

The folks renting to buy my house may be actually buying it soon.  That will give me an additional $250 or so a month to apply to bills that need paying off before I retire.   

I visited with my friends at the Goldthwaite TX senior center at the end of Febuary.  I played bingo one week and had lunch the next week.  I really miss working there, and when I retire I will be there a lot.  Texas is not a bad place to spend the winter, it gets cold but not for long.  Those folks are a great bunch and they are growing in size every month.  Billie is doing a great job there.

Well that is about it for this post.  There may be some interesting videos coming. Working on doing an interview with a new driver and me (the old driver).  That should be a lot of fun.  I am also going to work at finishing my book on truck driving.  It started as a how to do it and became a comic way of looking at the expierences that I have had over 23 years.   In April I will have been driving truck for four years longer than I was in the Air Force.

Thanks for reading

Bounce

Last thought I am going to reunite with good old Clyde in about a month or so.  He may or may not be pissed at me, I have been enjoying warm weather and he has been stuck in a barn in Wisconsin for three years.

 This post is the first in a long time.  I have to apologize to folks that follow this blog.  I have been working pretty hard.  I have driven over 20,000 miles since November.  I have trained three students. So I haven't driven all those miles, but I did get paid for them.  So that is my excuse for not posting in a while. 

Going forward I am going to try to post a couple of times a week.  

Last week I visited with my friends at the Mills County Senior Center.  That group is growing, not by leaps and bounds, but it is growing.  They feed almost eighty folks a day now.  When I was there it was about sixty a day.   I played Bingo and won twice.   Picked a set of colored pens, and a daily pill box.

Then Saturday I did evening chores for Dean and Tish.  That was fun, Fed all three cats, a baby sheep that is on a bottle feeding routine, two dogs, and four cows a Llama and a Donkey.  takes less than an hour and it is fun to do.  I walk up to feed the cows so it is also good exeercise ffor me too.

On Sunday I went to the Mother Earth Fair in Belton TX.  That was fun too.  Saw a lady from the organ donors organizatoin.  There is an interview with her in an earlier post.  She is doing well and is always looking for events to present information about organ donations.

Then I met some folks from  "All about Exotic Wildlife.  Their web page is allaboutexoticwildlife.com.  They actually rescue deer and other wildlife that have been hurt.  I have some pictures from  them.

It is a little hard too see in the bottom picture but that is a South African version of a Raccoon.  They had two there.  The middle picture is supposed to be the goat that they are raising to nurse deer fawns that have lost their mothers.  She moved when I took the picture.   i got to speak a little german with the lady holding the raccoon.   It was an interesting display.  They are a 501C3 and if you are interested in donations they are at:

PAYPAL.ME/AAEWILDLIFE

Then I got to use a machine to cleanse toxins out of the body.   Well I paid $20 for thirty minutes.   It was fun and sort of interesting.  I have a picture of my feet from that.  The water was clean even after I put my feet into it, but the electrode in the water pulled a lot of gunk out of me.   I am going to get one of those machines.  It actually lowered my blood sugar.  I tested myself in the morning at 150 and before taking my nightly pills I was at 90.

This is what the water looked like after.  The lady next to me actually had parasites floating in hers.  I didn't but there was a lot of gunk there.  Machine costs $1200 but I think it works so I am going to get one as soon as I have the money..

Then I got a video of a lady that treats cloth with bees wax to make covers for storing leftovers.  The takes cloth and treats it with bees wax so that it will seal jars and bowls.

I can't figure out how to get the video to work but here is a picture of the cloths and the lady that was making and selling them.

I also sat through a few seminars on bees and raising bees.  I have always thoght bees we just stingers with wings.  Turns out they sort of make the world go round.  Without bees nothing grows.   They do not live long, and they do not fly far either, but they are responsible for all of our fruits and vegitables growing.  No bees no gardens or crops.  They do swarm from time to time.   If you see a swarm, or have a bee problem in your house, do not kill them.  Call a bee keeper, they will probably help you out.  You may have to pay a fee but most likely not.

The first three pictures are of some new born lambs at the ranch, then there are the cows and my buddy Eeyore and the sheep herd, or part of it.  All in all I had a fun weekend.  Thanks for reading

 Well today I found out when I am going back to work.  I will be in Dallas Saturday November 26th and in class for orientation on Sunday the 27th.  Because of the amount of time I have been off work I am required to go through a rehire process.  This means that I won't be driving again until the first of December or later.   I won't be making any money for three months.   I hope that I can pass the physical, but since the company Doctor is not someone that I trust I doubt it seriously.  I have several jobs I could go to, and will be working somewhere.   I had hoped to volunteer at the Mills County Senior center until the Wednesday before Thanksgiving but that is not to be.  Short story is the new cook wants differrent help.  That is as far as I will go with that.  I will use the extra time I have  to get ready to go back to work.

Last week there was a visitor from "theultimategiftoflife.com".  Her name was Judy Whaley.  She told us that even though 80% of Americans support organ donation, only about 60% are signed up to do so.  The ultimate gift of life foundation is a 501c3 non profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness about organ donation and to register new organ donors.  Organ donors can save 8 lives and retore sight to 2 people.  

After Judy talked to the group I asked her a few questions.  One was about restrictions to donation.  There are very few.  Example I and my children cannot donate blood because we were in Germany in the 90's and most of our meat came from Europe, and we may  have been exposed to Mad Cow disease.  This doesn't mean we cannot donate our organs, also folks that are H.I.V. positive can donate because there are many with H.I.V. that need replacement organs.  If you have any further questions Judy's email address is:

judy@theultimategiftoflife.com.  Her phone number is 575-430-3671.   She gave a great talk and many many people who think that their organs might not suitable for donation but wish to be organ donors should email her.  Also anyone that has signed up for organ donation should let their family know it.  I am signed up as an organ donor, and have been since 1972 when I got my first license.

Well that is it for today, I have to go fill my truck up for the trip to Dallas tomorrow, and get some groceries for the next two weeks.   Then next Saturday I go back to work.  I hope that I can maintain my diet while in class, and when I get back to work.

Once again any and all comments are appreciated, I do moderate them.

Thanks

Dave Talley

Known as Bounce to some.

this is a challenge coin I carry at all times. I received it from a great friend Dan Farren also know as Gallupe  the road guard from Run for the Wall.  My readers should look at rftw.us.  You will like it there.

Recap for the week

 This week was pretty good.  I had a phone appointment with the VA about my treatment.  It went very well.  My numbers are very good.  I am switching to a primary care doctor in Goldthwaite TX.  I am hoping to be back at work before Christmas.  I will be changing from direct insulin shots to a pill that almost does the same thing but slower.  The technician that I talked to said I should start testing my sugar every other day and at different times of day.   That will take some getting used to.

Yesterday I went to a luncheon for Veterans day with Dean and Tish.  It was enjoyable, lots of good people there, several of the folks from the Senior Center are Veterans, and the director is the Widow of a Veteran.   Also for the first time I was at a Veterans event and not everyone was if leathers.  The Goldthwaite Lions Club did great, the student council of the Middle School served lunch and when the roll was called they delivered carnations to all the Veterans, and Widows of Veterans.  I have not done many of these, but I enjoyed it and if able will do it again.

One of the presenters was there to promote a book she wrote called "Lest we Forget". It is about people from Mills County that lost their lives during WWII.  There were about 43 of them, and one was a Woman flyer who died in North Africa.  The reason that the book was written is that one young man who died was forgotten about when the county built a memorial to those who fell during World War II.  The book is $25 and I believe I am going to buy it.  All the proceeds go to the museum in town (Unless you buy it on Amazon, then they only get $11).  But since I am here I will buy it at the museum.   I will report on the book here after I read it.

Theses are a few pictures that I took with my phone at lunch

This is the photographer who took pictures of everyone that got a carnation.

These are Dean and my carnations.  He got a red one, I got a white one because they did it alphabetically by last names, and H and T are just far enough apart that we got one of each color.

So it has been a good week, I am getting healthier, and really want to go back to work.  If I can't drive, I will try to get a position that I can do from home, and of course I will need to actually find a place to live at that point, status here is just temporary.

Thanks for reading.   Comments are encouraged.  I do still moderate them, but all will be posted.   I am working on an interview that I did on Wednesday with a lady that came to the Senior Center to talk about organ donation.   I have notes, and pictures but that will be a seperate post.

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts and story

Dave  (Bounce) Talley

Tomorrow is Veterans Day

 America has generally forgotten the meaning of this day.  On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month the "War to end all Wars" ended.   November eleventh is set aside here and in Europe as a special day to commemerate the end of World War One.   

World War One was fought with machine guns, large machine guns.  The casualty rate was listed at over 40 million. There were 20 Million deaths and 21 million wounded. The total number of deaths includes 9.7 million military personnel and about 10 million civilians.  (Information found on Google).

Of course these numbers do not include the mental injuries, Post Traumatic Distress was not really considered a wound in the 1900 to 1920 time frame, but there were many many men women and children that suffered from that malady too.

I am a verteran, of what you wonder?  The cold war, Operation Desert Storm and the start of anti terrorism.   Unfotunatly, 9/11/2001 was not the first terrorist attack either in Europe, or the United Stated, or the Orient.   Many of the people that I trained with over the years died in either accidents preparing to fight terrorists, or in actual terror attacks.

When Desert Storm happened I was not allowed to deploy because I had Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders.   My Unit deployed and I stayed behind.   After I moved to my new Unit, I deployed to Turkey for Operation Provide Comfort.  This was really part two of Desert Storm.  Incerlick Turkery was considered a combat zone.  (Initially the military pulled all the dependents out of the base. After the Iraqi's surrendered the dependents were brought back. But it was still considered a combat zone.)

I spent almost ten months here.  It was really only a 45 day tour, but because the base I was at Bittburg AFB Germany, was slated to be closed I was left in Turkey as a continuity person for deployed security personnel.

While there we were shot at at least once.  This was not an attack, but poachers that were using hot reloaded ammo.  We could see them on Thermal Imaging.  We actually watched local police catch and litterally beat down several teen age poachers.

The point of all of the above is to explain the following thoughts.

I never know what to say when someone thanks me for my service.  I enlisted because I needed a job and my wife at the time was pregnant.  The Air Force wanted me, they offered me a great job that paid four times what I was earning to start.   I missed my daughter being born (I was there for my son and second daughter, but I was in Technical School in San Antonio in May of 78 when my oldest was born) and because of that wonderful job I was deployed a lot of the time that my children were growing up.

So when folks thank me for my service I thank them for the compliment, but what I really want to say is "It was a job like any other.  I both hated it and loved it."   I am not any sort of a hero.  I have many friends that are actually heros. Two of them have the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Those guys are heros, they were actually in war.   My brother Bob (aka Bob the Computer Guy and if you know anyone in Colorado Springs that needs their computer repaired they should call him) was in Vietnam and many other hostile events, he is a hero. Me I just had a well paying job and attended college.  I actually have a degree in Industrial Security and about sixty hours of paralegal studies. With all that I drive a truck for a living.  But I would do it all over again if I had to.

So to all the folks I know that have served thank you for your service, to those that have enlisted since 2001 realize you are welcomed home and appreciated by this country.  If anyone gives you a hard time about your service find either a guy like me, a cold war vet, or a guy like my younger brother, a Vietnam vet and let us explain to those folks that the only reason they have the right to protest or tell you  that you are evil, is friends of yours, you and friends of ours sacraficed their lives, and body parts to make sure that this is a free country.  Don't get me wrong. People have a right to protest, we all veterans worked hard to insure those rights, but having the right to do something doesn't automatically make you right.   Let us old guys take care of your light work and you guys just enjoy your lives.  

Bounce is done for today.  More tomorrow with pictures of the Veterans day Luncheon and more pictures from the Senior Center.