Blogs from Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States, North America

The good news is that I woke up to power this morning but it was still windy and rainy. The wind and rain gave way to a beautiful day. I had received all of 6 claims up until this morning so I was quite concerned that I’d be making enough money here to cover my costs. I mean really who has earthquake insurance here. I was so upset about the few claims but then calculated and determined that I would probably make the advance that I’m supposed to receive, and soon I hope. I spoke to the supervisor on this storm and he told me that he had 2 catastrophe adjusters here; one to work Virginia and myself to work D.C. and Maryland. He thought that we would be receiving more claims before the whole thing ... read more

Luggage arrived this morning so I could take a shower and put on clean clothes. We never realize what we have until we do not have it at all. A shower and clean clothes was just want I needed! After I ran to Target, across the street and bought a lighter in the event that I needed my candles. A few (precious few) earthquake claims came in today so I called and set appointments when possible. By afternoon, after a little power nap, I was trying to find a motel for Monday p.m. when the power went out. The internet continued for another hour but then that went down too. The outer bands of Hurricane Irene had already started hitting but winds weren’t so high that it caused any concern, also rain was coming down but ... read more

June 2 - Thursday - Fredericksburg, Virginia 0944 AM I just paid for 2 more days here so that's done. I will be here till Saturday at least. Been up since 6 AM drinking my tea and thinking things over while making up my to do list for today. Then started working my way through the pile of brochures and maps I got yesterday on Fredericksburg and the Fredericksburg area. Supposed to be another hot day with high humidity and I need to get dressed and out the door soon so I can see the battlefield here before it gets too hot. Evening: June 2nd, Thursday Today the humidity was surprisingly low and it turned out to be a really nice day. I paid for two more days at my rathole here and toured the Fredericksburg ... read more

This is truly a new beginning. I have decided to retire (finally) and will be officially retired as of 26 March 2011. This is after 10 years teaching and 31 1/2 years working for the Federal Government. It has, for the most part, been wonderful. I've had great students (some of whom I still keep in touch with); worked with marvelous fellow teachers (most of whom have been retired for several years and we still stay in touch); been supervised by lousy, good, great and a few exceptional leaders; and shared coffee, laughs, and the ups and downs of assignments and change with some lousy, good, great and exceptional Federal employees. We've had the opportunity to move and live in a variety of locations: Ohio, NH, Pennsylvania, NY, Japan, DC, and Virginia. We've found good everywhere ... read more

A guy could spend a lot of time in Virginia. We moved over to the east yesterday to a different park. It is very nice. We are about 30 miles from Washington DC to the northeast near Annapolis. But yesterday I went solo down to Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville which are just to the north of Richmond. These were both pivotal battles during the Civil War. Fredericksburg was a devastating Union loss in December of 1862. Ambrose Burnside was in command and pretty much incompetent just like all of Lincolns generals until he found U.S. Grant. He sent his army across the Rappahannock River up hill toward the Confederate army that was perched nicely on high ground and behind a stone wall. What a loser. A flanking maneuver would have been better. General Lee could not believe ... read more

So, the 2009 season is about to start! We've done our planning and preparations by attending three RV shows this winter: Chantilly (DC), Richmond, and Fredericksburg. We drooled over new RVs, met friends at several of the shows, and worked the Richmond show where John was in the Virginia Good Sam booth, explaining the benefits of local membership to visitors. (Yes, we joined a local chapter last fall--So-We-Go Sams out of Spotsylvania. Our camping buddies, Dave and Bonnie Lodge also joined.) At the Fredericksburg show, we heard Gary Bunzer, The RV Doctor, discuss how to winterize the RV (already done at that point) and how to prep the vehicle for spring and summer. We took his advice to heart and pulled the RV out of storage in mid-March and headed off to Lake Anna for a ... read more