Karin Boutall: An Author is Born

Karin Boutall: An Author is Born

      Where have we been? What happened?? Well, alot happened. After our last blog post, Karin's father passed away. This had a great affect on the both of us. This happened while we were parked and visiting with my parents. So, after arrangements were made, we stayed in Edenton, NC for awhile. While we were there, we decided to sell our camper. 

      Why? We did have a wonderful time on the road, met many people that we keep in touch with today and visited beautiful places. But we both felt a need to have an anchor. A place that we could call our own and head back to at a moment's notice. So we canceled....no....postponed our world tour for the time being. 

      To make a long story short, a friend that we met while working at Amazon.com told us that we should check out the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. While in NC, we took a few days to cruise down south to check it out. We enjoyed our stay in the city of Gulfport. It wasn't until we left and drove along Beach Blvd on the Mississippi Sound that we pulled into a small town called Ocean Springs. We didn't stay long, but fell in love with it instantly. We said that we would be back, and six months later we returned to live here.

      We rented a small place upon our return, got jobs and started to branch out into the community. It is beautiful here. We looked for a house to be that 'anchor' that we needed and we eventually found it. A cute geodesic dome located across the street from Simmons Bayou. So that is where we are. Craig has a nice job and Karin began to write. That leads us to the title of this blog.

      Karin Boutall is Karin's pen name. She has just finished her first book call "Community Gardens". The genre is cozy mystery. The story along with the characters are fictional, but the locale is loosely based on the likes of our community.

      We thank each and every one of you for your support and understanding. For those that we lost contact with, we would love to hear from you again. We do plan to get back on the road in the future. But right now, we are enjoying life! If any of you are ever passing thru Mississippi on I-10, shoot us an email. We have a little room for you :)

     

 Click here to see the Karin Boutall Facebook page.

Click here to see the book "Community Gardens" at Amazon.com.

 

 

How to Balance the Budget

We have developed a very simple way to balance the budget. Federal, state or any local government can use this technique. Let's watch the infamous "National Debt Clock" run backwards for a change! When it reaches zero and begins to show a profit, then send the profit back to the people!

Are you excited yet? Are you ready to accept the brilliance of this concept? Ok, here we go. Here it is, how to balance the budget...... in two words:


Bowling  Shirts.

YES!! What do you think? Not sold yet? Ok, let us explain.

What entity is the true backbone of this country? Congress?? Hmmm, do they have backbones? No. The Senate? Nah, same as congress. The President? Unfortunately, he is just a puppet. The true backbone, behind the scenes people that get things done, laws passed and us Americans wondering "where the hell did that come from".....are Lobbyists.

Lobbyists make our world go around. Laws are not determined in congress or senate. The lobbyists sell their snake oil to our lawmakers way before they waddle their way into the capital. Deals are made in dark rooms down rough alleys in the gut of Washington D.C. It's time to change that.

Bowling Shirts.

During the super bowl, corporations paid (on the average) $2.7 million for a 30 second ad. Wow. It's time for us, the American people, to stake a claim on this outrageous way to "put the word out".

Bowling Shirts.

Here is how it will work. All Congressmen and Senators will be issued a bowling shirt. Lobbyists cannot contact any member of congress and/or the senate unless the lobbyist has purchased a Lobbyist Intensive Excrement
(aka LIE) patch. The lobbyist can then choose the member of congress or senate that they wish to "negotiate" with. That member of congress /senate will then have the LIE patch sewn onto their bowling shirt. The LIE patch will identify the lobbyist and whom the lobbyist represents. This allows for transparency within the government. If the lobbyists attempts to contact someone and has not purchased the LIE patch, then that lobbyist has broken the law. The lobbyist could choose his or her punishment:
death.....or a WWF cage match with Nancy Pelosi, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Charlie Sheen.

The cost of a LIE patch would be: $40 million per congressman and $80 million per senator, per year. There is a 4 year minimum purchase for the LIE patch. These costs are still a "drop in the bucket" compared to a 30 second super bowl ad.

So let's do the math. That is nearly $70 billion over 4 years via congress, if each had only 1 LIE Patch. Let's limit the number of LIE patches for each congressman/senator to 30. That's $2.1 trillion in earnings by congressman over a 4 year term, and $480 billion by the senators. Nice!

Or here is another option. Change the National Debt Clock. Instead of showing what each "taxpayer" owes, change it to what each "lobbyist" owes. Divide the debt by the number of lobbyists in D.C. That is the fee for the LIE patch. And each year, do the same calculation. If somehow, someway, there is no deficit, then the lobbyists get a free LIE patch....as they have for many years.

  

Repair Pal

Someone recommended a website to us. We don't always share each and every site that we use, but this one is different. It's not just for our fellow workampers or fulltimers. Do you have a vehicle? Then check out this site. It's called RepairPal.com.

What can you do at RepairPal.com? Do you need to replace a water pump? Well you can go to RepairPal.com and do a number of things: get an unbiased repair estimate, look through the extensive automotive encyclopedia, get expert advise, search through questions and answers, and so much more!

Do you want to find a reputable business in your area to perform the work? Let us look under Houston auto repair, where you will see several auto repair businesses along with reviews from other customers. Nice! 

We remember when Craig helped his son Josh replace the timing belt in his car. The information that you can find at RepairPal.com would have been very helpful. You can even track the service on your vehicle! That is great! We get tired of reapplying that stupid "change oil due date" sticker that never completely sticks to the windshield. Now we check and record all of our vehicle maintenance online. 

We just wanted to pass that info along to you while it was fresh on our minds :)

We hope that all of you are making it through the terrible storm that has the country blanketed in snow. Stay warm and stay off the roads!!

   





The SAD Gazette

Craigs parents, Thelma and Bill, listen to us as we sit around the table, drinking coffee and telling stories about our travels. They know most of the stories, since we do include the majority of them in our blog. They've printed out each entry that we make in our blog. This has spawned a new idea for Bill. He has decided to write his own blog. It's called "The SAD Gazette".

Yes, The SAD Gazette was born today. What does SAD stand for? You'll have to go and see....and yes, it's quite comical. At least the title is. Bill follows the political processes of the world. But he says that the blog will not always be political. Today Egypt, then tomorrow it could be about his beloved dog, Ladybug. Or, he may delve into "other" things.

So here is where we would like to include our disclaimer. CraigNKarin do not share the same opinions and views as those that may be expressed on The SAD Gazette. This may include, but is not limited to: conspiracy theories, men in black, ufo's, a new world order, bigfoot or any other "Archie Bunker" style rants. Feel free to leave a comment on his blog. Address it to Bill, or if he really got to ya, you can address him as Willie.

We wish him the best of luck in his new venture. You go, Willie! By the way, Craig had no input to this blog...it was all Karin's idea.  :)


   

Crapple

Hello everyone, it's Craig that will be writing the blog today. Usually Karin and I both put together our thoughts and then share them with you. Today, Karin is working hard on our other computer, the Crapple...er, I mean Apple.

I must say that I am a bit jealous when it comes to the Apple. Karin and I are truly in love with each other. But if Steve Jobs (co-founder and CEO of Apple) were to ever become available on the dating market, I could be in big trouble!

While Karin is in front of the Apple, pulling out her hair and swearing like a sailor, I'll bring you up-to-date on our travels.

We drove into Edenton yesterday and visited the library. Karin is an expert on genealogy and wanted to see if one branch of her family tree is possibly connected to this area of North Carolina. She won't admit to her expertise, but that's just the way that I see it. Anyway, as we pulled up the the library, the water was as smooth as glass. Edenton sits along the water of Edenton Bay, which connects the Chowan River to the Albemarle Sound. It was beautiful, but wouldn't you know it, I forgot the camera. So the next time we head there, I'll make sure and take some pictures for you.

Edenton is a beautiful little town. Revolutionary war cannons still line the waterfront. Cypress trees are seen throughout the bay. Edenton was established as the first colonial capitol of North Carolina in 1728. Many 1700 and 1800 historical homes are still standing and can be toured. By the way, the 1774 Edenton Tea Party is recognized as the first political action taken by women.

There was a major motion picture filmed here several years ago. The title of it is Dog Days of Summer, starring Will Patton. I'm not sure if it ever made it to the big screen, but it is available on DVD. My Father was an extra in the movie. You can see him several times, wandering down streets and in parks. He even makes a cameo appearance near the end of the movie, opening the door and being the first to enter a building. The movie was just ok, but if you are a Will Patton fan, Then you'll enjoy his character "Eli Cottonmouth".

By the way, Karin does some writing concerning finances, genealogy and other tidbits. If you'd like to read them, here are the links:

Simple Nomad
The Wiedeman-Fillebeck Family History
Make Your Money Matter


Whoops!!! I have to run! Karin has the window open and now she's trying to shove the Apple through it!! C'mon honey, it'll be ok.

I don't think I have to worry about Steve Jobs right now. :)

Due To Popular Demand...another Blog???

Rut Row. We've created a monster!

Let us explain.

Josh and Maynii

Our last blog, titled "Living and Traveling on Minimum Wage", was a huge hit! We were definitely not expecting that kind of response. We received so many emails. The emails ranged from "let us take you to dinner" and "you must tell us more", to a little bit of "you're full of it" and "yer a couple of socialistic sex-crazed migrant workers". Huh?

Here's an example of how crazy this week has been. Our blog is a year old. Up until last week, we had about 900 visits over that year, mostly from friends and family following along. In the last week, since making our last blog entry, we've had nearly 1000 visits!

So....here is what we decided to do. We have created another blog: http://liveandtravelonminimumwage.blogspot.com/
This is where we will talk about how we live the lifestyle that we do. We'll share how we make money on the road. It's not all minimum wage....sometimes it even less than that :)
We want to keep this blog as our travel blog. Pictures, stories (sometimes embarrassing ones), where we are at and where we are going to. There will be a link on each blog to the other one.

Right now, we sit in Edenton, NC. It's been a little cold here, but we can handle it. We thought about heading south, but it's been cold down there also. And, it's hard to pass up the free facilities here. Many thanks to Craig's Mom and Dad, and their neighbors, Carolyn and Lloyd. Also many thanks to Josh for the wireless router. You rock!
We plan on seeing some local sites while we are here. We also have some minor repairs to make on the travel trailer and truck. Where to next? We're not sure. We have applications in places as far south as Florida, as far north as Ohio and a few local ones here.

Life is good. We are not in a hurry.

Here's something that Craig's Dad shared with us. In the year 2011, there are some unique dates: 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11 and 11/11/11. Also try this: take the last 2 digits from the year you were born and add those to the age you'll be in 2011. Those numbers will always total 111. Cya!

Live and Travel on Minimum Wage

We can already hear the responses to our title.....

"No way"!

"You've got to be kidding".

"Ha Ha...dream on".

But, if your response is.....

"How"?

Then read on. We are doing it. We are coming up to our one year anniversary of travel and leaving behind those stressful careers and horrendous commutes. We are living just about debt free. We've traveled through 17 states along our journey. Are we frugal? Absolutely! Do we get to see and do what we want, whenever we want to? Again, absolutely! Are we retired? Nope, not even close. We have about 15 years (or more) to go before retirement. There are many retirees out on the road, but we're also seeing quite a few "youngsters" out here too. Did we go out and buy a brand new RV? No way. Our 26' travel trailer is 10 years old, yet it is in wonderful shape. We pull it with our 2004 Dodge Durango.

The jobs that we take (when we want to) are mostly minimum wage. Some jobs pay a little more than that. Some include a campsite with all the amenities, electric, water, sewer, WiFi and maybe even cable TV. So we work for a few months, then take a few months off. We have seen so many places in such a short amount of time. And the journey has only just begun.

We've received so many emails asking us questions about our lifestyle. We've thought about writing a book, but we are just having too much fun traveling in our RV! Maybe we will write a book down the road...who knows. But what we'd like to do now is share with you two of the travel and RV resources that we have used to get us to this point in our lives. These resources are in e-book format. To write, or blog about these e-books would take a very long time. We will just include a quick summary concerning each particular resource.

First, and deservedly so, is a wonderful e-book written by Jason and Kelly Odom. This is the e-book that helped us "look outside the box". Here it is:
Vanabode™ - how to happily camp, travel and live forever on $20 a day

Next: Well, we are traveling in a RV. With no experience with one whatsoever, we did purchase a couple of books from RV expert Mark Polk. We are so glad that we did! Here is a list of several books/ DVDs:
RV Education 101

If you haven't traveled along with us and are new to this blog, then follow us from the beginning at: CraigNKarin.blogspot.com

There you can see how it all began, check out some great photos and read about some funny situations that we've found ourselves in.

We'd like to thank everyone that reads along. For those of you that would love to "get your wheels on the road", then come on! And if you truly want to know "how"......then check out those e-books.