Nov 19 2016 - At Deland Fl.

07:07 Friday 18 November

I am listening to the Daytona Beach news on the radio.

I am safely in my RV on my buddy's property way out in the boondocks near Deland Florida.

The temperature is cold. About 6C (45F).

I was very fortunate, that the last night I spent in the RV, 2 years ago, must have been a cold night, because I had left winter sheets and many blankets on the bed. Very welcome last night. I was too tired to do any housekeeping. I did a quick cold water sponge bath and went to sleep. I slept 11 hours.

Sleeping in the RV is similar to camping. I usually have all windows open, I can hear all sounds.

It is so quiet this morning, I can hear branches breaking on the many trees. This property is magical. How my buddy can own this property, and NOT live on it is one of life's mysteries.

My buddy had the RV electricity plugged in, and the water and sewage hooked up.

The truck battery was bad, so he replaced it. Aren't friends nice? :-)

The two large house batteries are both dead. I will try to add water, but I think they are not recoverable.

OH!!!..A mother bear and 3 cubs just walked past. That must have been the noise of the branches breaking.! I love this place!!

The cubs ran and raced WAY up into a big tree.

It is amazing how paranoid the mother is. She jumps at every noise or sound, yet ignores the fact that the cubs are hanging from a branch way off the ground.

I can't see the cubs, they are way up a tree. The mother is just walking around under the tree.

The flight was long. I had the prosthetic leg on for about 38 hours. For most of the flight, I had the socket very loose, and pulled almost off.

Last night when I took off the silicone liner, I found 4 blisters. One is a blood blister. Today will be a rest day for my stump.

This morning my whole stump is sore. It was abused for sure.

The radio says that this weekend will be cold. Low about 4C (40F) and the high 20C (65F).

The cubs are still playing in the tree. Chasing each other around from branch to branch.

Delta Airlines was great. They assumed command of me the whole way. Traveling by wheel chair is very limiting. All their wheel chairs are built so the passenger can't get in or out of the chair easily, and the brakes are controlled in the back by the pusher. When they parked me someplace, they say that someone will come to get me, there is actually no option except to just sit. I did no shopping or anything fun on the trip.

The only way to pee was to ask the pusher to take me to a toilet.

The out bound flight from Johannesburg had 36 wheel chair passengers. This causes quite a problem for the airlines. I was talking to the Air hostess, and she said this flight is called the miracle flight. She said of the 36 wheelchair passengers that get on in Johannesburg, only a few will be in wheelchairs when the flight lands. The others will just walk off with the other normal passengers.

Sure enough, when we landed at Atlanta, there was a whole fleet of wheelchairs waiting, but only 8 of us used wheel chairs from the airplane in Atlanta. The other “patients” were miraculously cured during the flight. People take advantage of anything they can.

Handicap services is actually more of a “Fat and Lazy” services.

All the cubs are coming down from the tree.

They are running into and out of the thick brush. They definitely are NOT in stealth mode.

Does a wild bear shit in the woods? Absolutely, positively, 100%, without a doubt, a wild bear DOES shit in the woods. More precisely, a wild bear shits by the passenger door of an RV, that is parked in the woods.

I can also confirm, without a doupt that bears don't like it when you make coffee in a microwave.

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A friend just called. She is bringing over a picnic basket for me. Essential foods. :-) Aren't friends nice. :-)

Yesterday I drove my buddies car to WalMart for a quick shopping trip. My stump had shrunk lots, so I put on 2 stump socks while still in the parking lot. As I walked into Walmart, a lady came up and told me, “Your leg is too long, go see these people, they can help you.” She handed me a business card. Volucia County Amputee Support Group. Cool. I would like to try some of the Amputee training events. The have obstacle courses, and show you the best way to conquer each obstacle.

That would help me lots.

The mother bear just walked out of the bushes, then around the RV, then back into the bushes.

Her and the cubs were within 20 meters of the RV for over an hour and a half. :-)

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11:10

Three grown up bears just walked past the RV. Not near as cute as the cubs earlier.

I have very limited cell phone coverage out here on the property. I usually have 0 bars, but everyonce in a while, I get 1 bar and stuff gets downloaded.

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11:30 A big male bear just walked past.....I guess it is a male. It asserts itself like a male.

Wow 8 different bears in 4 hours.

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21:15

Another single bear...Maybe the same one...it is hard to tell. I need a paintball gun, and then color code them :-)

18:05

A friend came over and brought some food for me. :-)

We chatted for a long time. She is a keen cyclist, and also does war re-enactments. In a few weeks a WW2 training re-enactment will be held on this property. It is German versus Americans and New Zealanders. She will be a German Nazi Bicycle message delivery expert.

I will be right in the middle of WW2. I need a Swiss neutral flag for my RV, or a big white flag. :-)

The news says it will freeze this weekend

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Saturday morning 07:30

Brrr...

I see hunters are here on the property. It must be deer season.

There are many squirrels. I used to feed them.

Last night, my buddy brought by his car for me to borrow for a few days. I have lots of shopping and running around to do today.

I need to make some changes to the RV. Some things are very hard for me. I removed the shower doors, and the door to the bathroom. I still need at least 2 grab bars to be able to safely get onto the toilet. I want to build a seat across the bath tub to allow me to sit in the bathtub to shower.

I better get my leg on and start the day.

I'll mail this blog from one of the many wifi hot spots in town.

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