Blog Archive 2024 Jul
Mon Jul 1 = Today I drove way back down to Maryland and Delmar, Deleware.
- Dan Bell, the owner of the property where the Moon Cat Open Mic is held has done wonders. He turned a little personally cluttered space into an official comedy club with split-unit AC, ADA compliant bathroom and everything. I wish him the best of success. It is now the
Dream Big Performing Arts Center. Being my third year there I had a lot of friends.
- I did my MCMXLI, Maui and the first part of my Airline Bathrooms Routines. I even sold more T-shirts. Unfortunately I had run out of some of the sizes of the
Lou design. Also Lorenzo, the host, became my latest fan.
- As with previous years, I spent the night, backed in diagonally, west of the building. Had an excellent night, as, until morning, no trains went honking by and there were no loud cars.
- Got to bed at 11:56 for 8:56 hours of sleep
Tue Jul 2 = In the shade of Dan's building I had breakfast and, in my van office, worked on my T-shirt spreadsheet which helps determinge how many of which size to order.
- When the sun reached the van, I found a shady street north of the State Street Park in Delmar where, still in my van office, I used another spreadsheet to create the actual order.
- Then on to GED (Deleware Costal Airport) where I had Internet and placed the T-shirt order (48 of Lou head design), uploaded the five videos from Sundays show and cought up on my blogging and my fans.
- For supper it was a sandwich and banana in my van and a salid in the airport terminal from
Arenas Restaurant.
- From a phone all to the Walmart where I intended to spend the night, I found that they are towing vehicles that park overnight, so I moved my van to a new parking spot at GED for the night. Although few of the parking spots were occupied, none had any shade.
- Got to bed at 11:16 for 8:48 hours of sleep
Wed Jul 3 = First thing this morning I fixed (sort of) the floodlight switch on my headlight. The rubber pad was not pressing the microswitch below it.
- At GED (the Deleware Costal Airport) I worked on my fans, website, updated my T-shirt sales spreadsheet, sent the profit from my merch sales and donations to the Banner Alzheimer's Foundation, made some booking contacts and got a new fan.
- At noon I fixed lunch in the airport parking lot, then drove to
King of Prussia, PA Walmart for a little shopping, two new fans in the checkout area
and a night spot with good morning shade.
- This morning my van's running water reservoir had run out, so this evening I refilled it at Walmart's Primo dispenser - the slowest I have ever seen. It took 15 minutes for five gallons. At 6pm there were about five people waiting with about 120 gallons of containers. I went out and worked in my van office until 10pm. Then there was only one guy ahead of me for water. So I got the water and got acquainted with several people while waiting for my turn and while waiting for my Jerry can to fill.
- For the second time this trip I siphoned the condensate water from the bottom of my refrigerator.
- This evening I phoned
- George
- younger brother who lives in Mesa, Arizona
. We had a long, pleasant talk.
- Got to bed in the
King of Prussia, PA Walmart parking lot at midnight for 8:47 hours of sleep
Thu Jul 4 = My pick for parking last night was excellent with almost perfect shade until 11:00 when I moved to better noon-time shade. I spent most of the morning with bookings, doing a final phone/text check for shows through July 11th.
- Before leaving the Walmart parking lot I fixed lunch and while eating it headed to the nearby LA Fitness where I did a heavy torso workout, did a
- poster trim
- weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
, took a shower, trimmed my toenails and got three new fans:
- I knew it was a long shot, but I drove about 13 miles to the Heritage Field Airport (used to be called the Pottstown-Limerick Airport), hoping to find a pilots' flight planning area in which to hang out. No dice. Everything was locked all up and no one was around.
- The next logical target was the Trappe, PA Any Time Fitness where I had a good place to work with Internet until about 10pm.
- On the way to Trappe I discovered a large July 4th celebration with food, lots of canopies and people in the parking lot of Goose's Montecristo Lounge parking lot in Limerick, PA. I joined them. Robert Kehler Jr., the DJ had a fancy set up with big speakers and a stage in the adjoining field. Naturally I introduced myself and told him what I was all about. He invited me to take the mike for a few minutes. I did 2:12 minutes of comedy, which including telling the crowd of 70 about tomorrow evening's show at the Trappe, PA VFW. This was my 1,547th appearance.
- After my mic time I ate the good food. The deserts were so good, I had some, jumpping the gun by a day on my Friday night Treat Night.
- For the night, there was no Walmart with overnight parking or Cracker Barrel within reasonable driving distance, so I spent the night in the Anytime Fitness parking lot. Had an excellent night
- Got to bed at 11:04 for 9:06 hours of sleep
Fri Jul 5 = This morning I hung out at the Royersford Library until they closed at 2pm, then the nearby Collegeville LA Fitness for a heavy legs workout - no new fans today.
- At 5pm I arrived at the Trappe (pronounsed TRAP) VFW Post 7155. John was very helpful with my setting up for the show and packing up after the show. Commander, Doug Franks, helpped by carying out my big merch box.
- It was a good show with a responsive audience of 21. Two things, however, weren't real good. First, I forgot to turn on my body mic recorder. Second, the noisy, somewhat distracting bar was separated by a semi-open wall.
- Got to bed parked west of the post at 10:45 for 9:20 hours of sleep
Sat Jul 6 = I spent some time at the Ridley Township Public Library. To my Smart Stuf web page I added the
Seven Stages of Alzheimer's chart:
- I went to Planet Fitness for a heavy arms workout and a new fan.
- Tonight's show was fun. The post gave me this signed card. Also I got two new fans there but did not sell any merch.
-
-
- Got to bed at midnight for 9 hours of sleep - hottest night yet. When the temperature in my van got over 90° F I decided it was unhealthy, even with my ceiling fan on high, so I idled my van for ten minutes which broght the temperature down to a more reasonlable 87.7° F with my ceiling fan on high.
Sun Jul 7 = This afternoon's 2:00 pm show was fun with an opening "comedian" provided by the post. Also Ian was a big help with setting up my merch and cameras before the show and packing up everything after the show. I also got a new fan:
- After the show I updated my website and added "Merch Table" to my turquoise side menu because every time I set up for a show I need to refere to it.
- I did several, for me, very unusual things after packing up my van after the show. It was 5:00 Sunday evening and I was not looking forward to driving down I-95, the main artery for the east coast, as it usually involves a lot of stop and go. So I took an hour nap and rode a 120' Ferris Wheel at a large carnival celebrating the 4th of July, got gas and then headed south on I-95 at 11:00pm. Virtually, no traffic &nsp; :)
- Since I had my van's rear AC pumping out cold air, when I got to the Camden, DE Walmart, the back of my van was about 68 degrees. By the time I got to bed the van warmed up to 73 degrees and I turned in with my giant towel for covers. By morning the van had heated up to 86 degrees.
- I got to bed with perfect morning shade at the at 1:20am for 8:05 hours of sleep
Mon Jul 8 = This is the first of three days I have to get all my ducks in a row for 10 straight days of comedy: 11 shows in 10 cities. I started by depositing some T-shirt cash into my credit union through a shared branch.
- Today's big project was to improve the 110 V charging of
- LiFePO4
- my van's 100 Amp-hour Lithium/Iron/Phosphate/Oxygen
house
battery
by inclreasing the size of the wires leading to the
- LiFePO4
- my van's 100 Amp-hour Lithium/Iron/Phosphate/Oxygen
house
battery
.
The AWG 18-2 I had installed got up to 123° F during my test, slowing the charging, heating up my van and wasting energy.
- This project involved Internet research, calculations, shifting a lot of stuff in my van to access the
- LiFePO4
- my van's 100 Amp-hour Lithium/Iron/Phosphate/Oxygen
house
battery
,
stopping by an Ace Hardware, Dover Electric Supply (where I got Julian as a new fan),
an Advanced Auto Supply a Lowes, and finding a shade tree to make my van tolerable while doing the work. Thanks to Lowes for the wire and to their shade tree, I now have three sizes larger wire installed: AWG 12-2.
- Then in the Kent County Public Library in Dover, DE I did my Monthly Blog Rollover from June to July and made some final comedy show checks.
- After the library closed at 8:00 pm I got acquainted with Jefrey, a jobless US Army veteran, who also became a new fan:
- Then supper time in my van and on to the Dover Planet Fitness and then back down to the Camden Walmart for perfect morning shade.
- Got to bed at 12:13 am for 8:58 hours of sleep
Tue Jul 9 = I got a lot done today at my office (table on the second floor of the Dover, DE Library). Among other things, I scheduled these four open mics:
Mon Jul 22, 2024; 8:00pm; The Getaway Bar & Grill; 3049 Sussex Ave; Pittsburgh, PA 15226 - open mic
Tue Jul 23, 2024; 8:00pm; Corner Cafe; 2500 S 18th St; Pittsburgh, PA 15203 - open mic
Wed Jul 24, 2024; 8:00pm; Scarpaci's; 307 Shiloh St; Pittsburgh, PA 15211 - open mic
Thu Jul 25, 2024; 7:00pm; Antonio's Pizzeria; 758 Brookline Blvd,; Pittsburgh, PA 15226 - open mic
- After the library I went north to the Dover Planet Fitness.
- During the day I got eight new fans:
- At the Comdon, DE Walmart, I got to bed at 11:10, running my ceiling fan on high all night for 9:10 hours of sleep
Wed Jul 10 = I was busy in my "office" on the second floor of the Dover, DE Library, although I was slow. With some distractions, it took me almost two hours to do the monthly pay-off of my credit cards, then something that I had not planned: Making and posting a short reel, to five social media sites. Of course I also added to my fan web page and updated this blog.
- After the library closed at 8pm it was off to the Dover Planet Fitness for a heavy legs workout and four new fans:
- Got to bed at 11:40 for 9 hours of sleep at my favorite Camden Walmart spot
Thu Jul 11 = After breakfast I drove directly to the Milford, DE Planet Fitness for a heavy arms workout, a
- poster trim
- weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
,
updating my Blog and Fans web pages with their Internet and a new fan:
I fixed a quick lunch and ate it on the way.
- I made it to the Deware Veterns Home right on time Dianne, my contact, was on vacation but Amy, Ashley and April took good care of me. I did a 48 minute show at 3:00pm for 37 residents and staff in the central hall area. The show included my TV segment.
- I have two packs of
David hot sunflower seeds in the shell to keep me awake driving, however they contain way too much sodium. I got gas tonight and rinsed off the sunflower seeds and found a new use for my wind cage: Sunflower drying. I canted it over the condenser of my refrigerator and, overnight, the slightly warm air dried out the seeds.
- Before heading out, I worked in their brake room for about an hour. It's a good thing I had updated my website at Planet Fitness because FTP did not work with the Veterans' Home's Wi-Fi.
- I drove all the way up to the Bloomsburg, PA Walmart, did a little shopping there and then parked for the night tucked away in their Auto Center, the only place in this Walmart's parking lot for morning shade.
- Got to bed at 11:35 for 9:10 hours of sleep
Fri Jul 12 = I hung around Bloomsburg Walmart until 10:30 this morning, getting two new fans who bought two of my T-shirts. Cindy wanted two
Lou shirts in Large, but I ohly had one, which she bought, plus a
Comedy shirt. I expect to receive a new shipment of the
Lou shirts on Monday at :the
VFW Post 3448 in
Tobyhanna PA .
- Before leaving Walmart I arranged for today's "office" at the Bloomsburg Municipal Airport. I appreciated the tranquil beauto of PA Highway 487 crossing the Susquehana River just south of the airport.
- My I worked in my airport "office" from 11 to 4 was at the Bloomsburg Municipal Airport before leaving for tonight's show at the VFW post 8317 in Benton PA.
- We had the show in the pavilion: a little warm and, unfortunately, the way we set things up the audience was looking toward the sun at the last. It was a good show.
- Parking for the night was as perfect as it gets. Under the pavilion with a nearby bathroom, perfect morning shad, electricity for charging my van's
- LiFePO4
- my van's 100 Amp-hour Lithium/Iron/Phosphate/Oxygen
house
battery
with my perfected charging system. Things were simplified by having my little Engle refrigerator run from the LiFePO4 while it was charging with the charger and its fan noise outside the van. Excellent!
- Got to bed at 11:42 for 9 hours of sleep
Sat Jul 13 = This morning I did several projects since I had good shade (although it was a little warm).
- First of all I reoriented the charging cord's eye down on the negative terminal of the
- LiFePO4
- my van's 100 Amp-hour Lithium/Iron/Phosphate/Oxygen
house
battery
to give an extra half inch so the cord can extend out the bottom of the van's sliding door on the outside about an inch for easily hooking up the charger's alligator clips.
- Second I removed the label gunk from my new 96-oz apple juice bottle with solvent that I always carry in my van.
- Nearby was an active shooting range with two brothers using antique rifles for target practice. They became my latest fans:
- Before leaving the pavilion I fixed lunch to eat on the way to the Wings Field (KLOM) in Bluebell, PA for my office for
- Time got away from me and I got to the
American Legion Post 100 in
Glenside, PA only one hour before showtime. This post has more activity per square food and less parking per square foot than any other post I have been to. The show was outside in a semi-covered area with some sun and some shade. It would not have worked out to set up my cameras or a merch table, so I used my little shirtcase and sold a T-shirt.
- It was a very good show with excellent support from the post. After the show Jess showed me the air conditioned hall upstairs as a good site for a possible show next year.
- I found a fairly good shady spot to park across the street for the night.
- Got to bed at 12:56 for 3:30 hours of sleep
Sun Jul 14 = Today's busy day started with a drive to a nearby shopping center with just about all I needed:
- a laundromat for my second load this trip, which included all my comedy shirts and zipper sweatshirt
- an Anytime Fitness for web work, eliptical and a workout
- a Acme Grocery store that was rather expensive for DUCK EGGS, franks and the worst broccoli crowns ever
- Then on south to Philly for comedy. It turns out that what I expected to be an open mic at Kim Cooks Cafe was also a comedian workshop conducted by
Dr Holly, so I did my Stanley Routine and got some good feedback and a new punchline that I will start using to end my Middle Child segment.
- Second and last was Fergies Pub for a really enthusiastic crowd of 29 mostly comics. Due to the nature of the room I did my Viagra routine to a positive response. Also I got a new fan, the security guard:
- Heading north, I spent the night parked in the Wyncock, PA Walmart with absolutely no morning shade
- Got to bed at 12:08 for 8:56 hours of sleep
Mon Jul 15 = The "litlte" walmart did not have any produce.
- Today I phoned Josh Boyle about doing social media for me.
- This evening's show was for the VFW in Tobyhanna, PA in their masive air conditioned pavilion. It was a challenge getting some of the people to sit near the front, but was a good show anyway, and I got three new fans there:
- Got to bed parked west of their pavilion at 11:55 for 8:34 hours of sleep
Tue Jul 16 = For this evening's show at the Berwick, PA VFW, Mark and Gino helped me set. The audience cooperated and sat at the fron tables. We had a good show with lots of laughs. I got good recordings with with my camcorders and body mmic. Definitely a good show to upload to my external hard drive and consider producing. I even got two new fans.
- Got to bed parked on the gras west of some huge shade trees at 12:28 for 8:46 hours of sleep
Wed Jul 17 = Last night I had a nightmare and I wasn't even sleeping! At 3:37 am when I got up to comune with mother nature, I noticed my whole
- LiFePO4
- my van's 100 Amp-hour Lithium/Iron/Phosphate/Oxygen
house
battery
system had shut down. That meant no USB charging, ceiling fan, phone charging, water pump or refrigerator. It couldn't have been an
- LVD
- Low-Voltage Disconnect. To avoid battery damage, it shuts off the load of my LiFeMnPO battery at 11.5 Volts.
because the battery's voltage was 13.3V. I spent about an hour trying to troubleshoot the system to no avail. Idling the van showed the LiFePO4 charging.
- My refrigerator had gotten into the upper 40's so I plugged it into my van's 110V outlet and idled my van for 10 minutes to keep the frig cool so the food would not spoil, then went back to bed.
- Glory be to
- MIMF
- My Invisible Magic Friend
,
the solution to the LiFePO4 was super simple. After breakfast I rearranged things for access to the LiFePO4 and jiggled the system's inline spade fuse and everything started working again. Thank
- MIMF
- My Invisible Magic Friend
!
- After I "fixed" the
- LiFePO4
- my van's 100 Amp-hour Lithium/Iron/Phosphate/Oxygen
house
battery
,
I went to an Anytime Fitness in Lansdale for an elliptical, a heavy full-body workout, shower,
- poster trim
- weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
and five new fans:
- That put me too late to make it to a library so I went straight to the Lansdale American Legion. I barely had time to upload the five videos from last night, but not time to set up my camcorders. Joe and Joyce helped me set up for the show using my PA system, which quit working after the first few minutes. I think it was the batteries in the wireless microphone. Later in the show it worked, which was a good thing because I needed it to save my voice and specifically with some of my jokes. Joyce and Teena, the bar tender became my latest fans:
- Because there would be no morning shade at the post, for the night I drove about a half hour down to the King Of Prussia Walmart for perfect morning shade.
- The
RV Parky app on my phone showed overnight parking was allowed so I parked with perfect morning shade right by a sign that said, "No overnight parking allowed..."
- Got to bed at 12:04 for 9:21 hours of sleep, making up for lost sleep last night.
Thu Jul 18 = After breakfast and a little Walmart shopping I drove to the Tredyffrin Library in Strafford, PA for a good time at "the office" and one of the librarians for a new fan:
- I made it to Post 668 in Wayne, PA two hours before the show and, against the advise of Beth, the bar manager set everything upstairs in the hall, including all five cameras powered and focused, their TV with my video ready, all my merch and my PA system. At showtime no one went up to the hall and no one wanted to, so I took all my stuff down to the bar and set up my PA system there. It was a moderately successful show with 24 audience members who laughed at the first. It seems that they mostly wanted short quips and were not into longer jokes where they had to pay attention for more than a few seconds. By the end of the approximately 45-minute show all but five had left. I forgot to record the show.
- After packing up all my comedy stuff,or the night I parked on the north side of their parking lot (the ONLY place with morning shade) with a note on my driver's window for them to tap on it if they needed me to move my van, because in the morning the Land Rover dealer to the west used that part of the parking lot. I never before saw such a variety of Land Rovers.
- Got to bed at 11:40 for 9 hours of sleep
Fri Jul 19 = I got away from my shady parking spot after breakfast about 10:30 am, headed toward the Quakertown Library, but noticed the Quakertown Airport on the way, so I forgot about the library. What a neat little airport and good for my day's "office" and three new fans:
- Phill runs an active flight school,
Penn Flight Academy.
- After the airport I drove to the Quakertown American Legion where my shipment of "Lou Design" T-shirts was waiting. A couple of the guys helped me fold them. In the hall-side of the bar I started with a good crowd of 28 but most of them left by the end of the show, but one became my latest fan:
Next show I may try switching up the order of my bits to see what happens.
- Got to bed at 12:12am in the post parking lot and then, about 2:30am relocated to the bar tender's parking spot where I would have shade in the morning for 8:49 hours of sleep
Sat Jul 20 = Today was a long driving day across Pensylvania from Quakertown to McKees Rocks, with a stop at Costco for gas, two meals and two naps on the way.
- At the Parkway Theater, Chris Kemp opened for me. She and her friend became my newest fans:
I enjoyed Chris's set with some new jokes thrown in about being old. The audience laughed but was disappointing, with six at the beginning of the show. Two of them had to leave before I went up.
- Fortunately, I did not take in all my merch stuff (just my shirtcase) because I sold no T-shirts. The couple that had to leave bought an Album #2 and made a donation to Alzheimer's research.
Got to bed at 11:38 at a Lowe's parking lot on the way toward Atlantic Aviation, the FBO at the Pittsburg International Airport for 9:00 hours of sleep
Sun Jul 21 = After breakfast I went into Lowe's to see if I needed anything. Didn't find anything.
- and then on to the Moon Twp, PA Planet Fitness for a heavy legs workout and another new fan
- Then on northwest to Atlantic Aviation, the FBO at Pittsburgh International Airport, and a first for me: Nikko the shift supervisor asked me to leave after several hours. There was no reason that I could figure, as they weren't very busy and I was not in the way of any of their operations or paying customers. Maybe I should have spoken with him when I first arrived. Due to that one person, Atlantic Aviation gets a black mark from me.
- After driving to the Moon Twp Cracker Barrel and a beef sandwich and banana in my van, I finished off supper with a salad in the Cracker Barrel and worked on my website until they closed. I updated the image of my Album #2 to one without my glasses and with a transparent background, which image you can see in yesterday's blog.
- Back to the only tree in the area with good morning shade, in the parking lot across from Lowe's for the night.
- Got to bed at 11:30 for 9:00 hours of sleep
Mon Jul 22 = This morning shade was a moot point, as there was no sun today and a lot of rain. After breakfast I went into Lowe's in NW Pittsburgh and bought a pack of AAA cells and got a new fan:
- After breakfast I went to the Settlers Ridge, PA LA Fitness for an elliptical, a heavy arms workout and five new fans:
- I drove to the Green Tree Library parking lot for lunch in my van and, in the library, worked on my stops for tomorrow and my routine for tonight until time to leave for the open mic at the
The Getaway Bar & Grill in
Pittsburgh.
- The show host, Vini Palatis, ran a fun show. I sold a T-shirt and raised an additional $12 for Alzheimer's research by selling four stickers - two of which I signed.
- After the show, for the night, I drove down to the Bethel Park, PA Walmart, which was the closest free overnight parking spot according to
RV Parky, the app on my phone.
- Got to bed at 12:20 for 9 hours of sleep
Tue Jul 23 = The Walmart does not have a produce department so I did my shopping next door at the
Giant Eagle.
- Then, at the Green Tree Library, amazingly and thank
- MIMF
- My Invisible Magic Friend
,
my checking account balanced on the first try - to the penny!
- Driving the side streets in Pittsburg is a real adventure. The narrow roads are not straight and there are lots of steep hills.
- Comedy tonight was a lot of fun with six laughing comedians for an audience. I received my first
Trophy (4" high), the "Grand Supreme Award" from "Just Around the Corner Comedy Open Mic" at the
Corner Cafe,
Pittsburgh, PA, and three new fans:
- Got to bed at 11:17 for 8:44 hours of sleep
Wed Jul 24 = Sometimes I read from my Kindle while eating meals in my van and while answering the call of nature at night. For the last couple of days I have been reading
Mark Twain Letters after finishing Michael E Gerber's
The E-Mith Revisited.
- After breakfast this morning took a 30-minute nap to make up for last night, then planed the rest of the day which, typically, means a gym, a library and comedy open mic. At the gym (Planet Fitness) I did a heavy arms workout, my
- poster trim
- weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
,
a poo and shower. The library was the Carnegie Beechview Library on Broadway Ave.
- Another driving adventure on my way to comedy, included the longest tunnel in Pittsburgh (one mile long Liberty Tunnel), a round trip across the Monongaheia River on the Liberty Bridge (due to a missed turn) and driving up a mountain, looking down on most of the Pittsburgh skyscrapers, to Scarpaci's (skar PAY sees).
- It was a typical bar show with a few people listening to the comedians. During the show Bob, a patron who I got acquainted with before the show, was sitting under the speakers, not paying attention, and and had to practically yell to be heard as he visited with his table mates, and certainly had the voice for it. After I had enough during my set, I said, "Bob, Shut up!" and he mostly did. That got an applause from the rest of the audience.
- I did my Silly, Floss, Creatine, BackPain, T-shirts & Stickers and Anemometer routines. Sold no merch, though.
- Another Pittsburgh driving adventure, in the rain, was driving down my steepest hill yet. It seemed that I was driving off a cliff - probably a 30% grade.
- For the night I drove out to Pittsburgh's Davis Blvd Cracker Barrel, because the ideal night spot was taken by a box truck at the nearby Lowe's.
- Got to bed at 10:10am for 9:00 hours of sleep
Thu Jul 25 = On the porch of the Cracker Barrel, sitting in one of their rocking chairs with my cell phone, I planned my stops for the next couple of days.
- First stop was the nearby Costco to fill up with gas, then to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Beechview where I got a new fan:
The library has an interesting rule: No one is allowed downstairs in the children's department unless they are accompanied by a child.
- On to Antonio's Pizzeria here in Pittsburgh for tonight's open mic. It was interesting. Jim Skiff the guitarest, vocalist and producer streamed the show on FaceBook. Since there was no time limit for me I did 20 minutes of stuff for the four people in the room and the 128 live FaceBook viewers.
- Later Jim let me do a second set. I only did 2:38 minutes about Grandma and Avalanche.
- Out on the sidewalk after the show I had some fun with these four gals who became my latest fans:
- Got to bed at 11:44 for 9:01 hours of sleep, allowing for the 45 minutes I spent with my Sony ICD-PX370 Voice Recorder, finding and adding new batteries at the Bethel Park Walmart.
Fri Jul 26 = This morning after breakfast I drove to the Bethel Park Century Heritage FCU and deposited some accululated merch cash.
- Next was the Brentwood Anytime Fitness for an elliptical, a torso workout and the manager as a new fan:
- Driving to the Brentwood Library, I stumbled across a touchless automatic car wash with undercarriage rinse and air-drier, so I ran my van through it.
- I also ran across the Brentwood VFW Post and stopped by, but no one was there. As long as I was parked in the shade of a tree, I added velcro loops to my little digital battery tester so now I can simply open my tech drawer and drop an AA or AAA in to test it.
- Ariving at the Brentwood Library about 3pm, I got a lot done before they closed at 5, but did not get my ham radio licence renewed - a pretty involved process.
- I ate supper on the way to the Pittsburgh Improv to see Steve Trevino, who became my latest fan:
The audience enjoyed his show which was mostly about him, his wife and family.
- For the last time this year, I spent the night at the Bethel Park Walmart
- Got to bed at 12:35 for 9 hours of sleep
Sat Jul 27 = After breakfast and planning my stops for the next couple of days ending up in Cincinnati, OH, I drove up the hill for my first visit to a Save-A-Lot grocery store for bananas, bread, apples and their Romaine lettus on sale for 99¢.
- Next stop was the Bethel Park Library, which was close today for a special community event. There in the Bethel Park building I found their Conference Room #202 was unlocked and not being used. It became my "office" until about 5:30.
- The main thing I accomplished there was to figure out how to change my Phoenix "audience" to a Kansas City, MO "audience" using MailChimp's contorted system and to send out 44 emails about the open mic on Thursday.
- I left a thank you note on #202's whiteboard and headed down to my van. I had planned well and although my van was not parked close, it was under a shade tree the whole time. I fixed supper and ate it on the way to my overnight spot at the Reynoldsburg, OH Walmart, just east of Columbus. On the way I drove in three states: PA, WV and OH.
- At the Walmart, I did a little shopping, got a new fan
and worked in my van "office" for about an hour before driving across the parking lot to a spot for the night with trees for perfect morning shade.
- Got to bed at 11:45 for 9 hours of sleep
Sun Jul 28 = My big Walmart purchase this morning was a 2 lb bag of Sunkist raisins. I spent five minutes waiting in the self-checkout line because, according to corporate instructions, they had five of the self-check registers closed due to theft. It seems to me that they could come up with a more customer-friendly approach.
- The Crunch Fitness in Reynoldsburg, OH was on my way to the Columbus Airport. I got five new fans there at the gym:
- I made it to a good shade tree for lunch across the parking lot from Signature Aviation, the FBO at Columbus International.
- Signature was super and helpful and accommodating. Nadia there bought two Comedy T-shirts and became my 1,697th fan:
- I tried to leave Friday's comedian a note, but he contact form on
Steve Trevino's website didn't work for me. I tried about 50 combinations to leave him a message and got, "Your submission failed because of an error" and then gave up. No word about what they didn't like about my submission attempts.
- With the help of AI, I left this announcement for my KCMO appearance on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.
IÕm excited to announce, on this year's "National Comedy Tour for Veterans," that IÕll be joining a stellar lineup of comedians for an Open Mic on Thursday.
DonÕt miss out on the fun:
Thu Aug 1, 2024; 9:00pm; The Bird Comedy Theater; 103 W. 19th St; Kansas City, MO 64108
Come early, grab a seat, and get ready to laugh your sox off!
Best to ya, Lou
- Back to MailChimp: Since the email addresses I used from Kansas City were old, I was prepared for a whole bunch of undeliverable emails, but it appears that one or two were not deliverable.
- For the night I drove from the airport down to the Grove City, OH Cracker Barrel. Before going to bed I scheduled a service for my van in Florence, KY at Jake Sweeney Kia to check the coolant smell and check the van out before the 100,000 mile power train warranty expires, which it will do before Phoenix.
- Got to bed at 10:25 for 9 hours of sleep
Mon July 29 = I got up early this morning (7:25am) to phone Josh Lindsey at Jake Sweeney Kia in Florence, KY to arrange bringing it in. I ate breakfast on the 2-hour drive and delivered my van to Justin Puckett. They are booked up and may not get around to my van, but if they do I will owe them $199 for the diagnosis.
- Kia did get around to my fan and it cost me $199 to find that everything is OK and there is no coolant leak. I believe that is called peace of mind.
- Naturally I got acquainted with a few people at Kia, five of which became fans.
- After Kia I went to the Florence Crunch Fitness for an elliptical, a heavy arms workout, my
- poster trim
- weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
two days early (because I will be mostly driving on Wednesday) and some new fans:
- For the night I drove to the Florence Lowe's Home Improvement with good morning shade.
- Got to bed at 11:48 for 9:02 hours of sleep
Tue Jul 30 = Today was a grand day. I met my son and his little family. I do not give additional details because I respect his desire for privacy.
- At a Chick-fil-A we had an early lunch and a good visit.
- Then we went to the Florence Mall where we did a little shopping and ended up trying a lot of couches at a giant furniture store. While sitting on one of their couch sets, we had an excellent visit, including a discussion of an important subject that seldom gets the attention that it is due: what is to happen when I kick the bucket, so far as arrangements, accounts etc.
- Then on to Dave and Busters. With the Transformers Virtual Reality Game, ÒDecepticon InvasionÓ (with headsets and motion seats) naturally my granddaughter beat me. She beat me on all but one of the other things we played.
- While sharing some nachos we discussed the situation of the US and the world.
- After we parted company I fixed supper and ate it while driving to the Corydon, IN Walmart to do yesterday's blog in my van in their parking lot, a little shopping and get four new fans:
- Got to bed at 11:58 for 9:02 hours of sleep
Wed Jul 31 = After a little Walmart shopping I streatched the 5.5 hour drive to almost seven hours with a stop to fix lunch and a couple naps when I lost my edge.
- On the way, I stopped at the Walmart in Harrison Township, IN to take a break and buy a couple of things. They already had some halloween stuff out (as did a Lowe's Home Improvement) - over three months early! I guess they figure you'll buy some halloween stuff now, forget that you have it and buy it again. On the way back to my van I saw this creative tailgate:
- As you can see, my tour shopping list panels are full. I use both sides and change the pen color every day to make six shopping lists. I don't take the shopping list in to the store, but memorize what I need, hopefully staving off Alzheimer's.
- I arrived at the Anytime Fitness in Columbia, MO in time for a Torso Workout, a website session and two new fans:
-
I tried to register online for tomorrow's Bird Comedy Theater 7:30 Improv Jam but got, "There was a problem..." with no explanation. The next morning I registered successfully with my cell phone.
- For the night, I backtracked four miles to the Columbia, MO Cracker Barrel with perfect morning shade.
- Got to bed at 10:32 for 9:09 hours of sleep
- According to Google, during July, I visited 167 places (150 new) and 61 cities (43 new):
