Leaving 1833, and getting the jitters about being on the road..again

Well, I'm 4 days away from leaving 1833, Now I have to do a rip down clean up of the place. since its 80% empty it should only take 6 hours..Then Its realy time to concentrate on the trip and this needed for it, as of April 3..no more logistic. if the items I've been trying to sell at flea markets for the past two months are still in the van, Then the landfill is going to get a bit fuller..I had thought about doing a sale this weekend Monday..and i was preparing for it..Then saw last night they are calling for a repeat of the past two Saturdays, bad T-storms in the morning hours, clearing up as the day moves on..grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..I hope this isn't a prelude of what I'm going to go through on the road. I'm sure my luck will change once I have Greensboro in the back of my mind..Not the people mind you, I'll keep them near my heart where they belong.

 

I'm feeling unprepared, in fact I know I am. Its coming down to what I really need for the trip..No water filter is going to be going with me,I'll just have to pack extra bottles. of water where ever I can find it. Then pray lol. I'll need the front rack and bags, THATS a must. plus parts for the bike..those too are a must. Chipping Murph E.Dog seems to be out of the question, I'll need to get the drops to control fleas ticks and mosquito bites for him Thats a must, along with his vaccines. The Whites Coinmaster pro looks to be out of reach, (sigh) I'm sure that could pay for itself about 1/2 way through I'm sure.. I've got my van on craigslist. But now I have another fuel line leak..ANOTHER. I'm fixing that line 5 times a year or more..I'm positive someone is messing with it, screws just don't loosen themselves when the van isn't moving..HAHA I'm positive that the people that use my vehicles as a fueling station is pissed that the tank has been emptied since the last time they drained it..I now put just enough in it to start it, to let people listen to the motor. but somehow, I have a feeling thats not going to sell either before its time to leave..No one wants to buy the items I have, But no one wants me to throw them out, They want me to give it to them instead..Its to nice for the landfill or scrape yard but not nice enough to purchase at any price, I've never heard so much BS before in the life of sales.

Next week starts a new life, No more issue with rent, power bills, and other headaches that come with being stationed in a home. April 29th the road will be my home for awhile..again, except this time..I welcome it. GOD I CAN'T WAIT!! If in wasn't for the trying to sell my stuff off, to buy supplies, I'd leave sooner, and deal with the whole thing of being 90% out of shape for the whole load down..But thats irresponsible for both myself and murph..

Saturdays Just wont cooperate,or compromise for me

My last weekend to sell the things I have, to make money for the trip, and mother nature funk'd me again. No rain when I went to bed, rain when I woke up to prepare for the sales, then the bottom opened up on the skies, so after waiting for two hours for it to stop, and the weather station SHOWING that it wasn't, I went back to bed to find out it quit raining around 8am....One hour after I went back to sleep...It played me the same way Last Saturday. I started these sales The second weekend of January, and ever since only two Saturdays were clear, But man where they cold and windy..Landfill is going to get full next week.. I Don't know what to do now. I have to move out from where I'm living next Saturday and Sunday. then its train, train, train, Ride till me legs feel like they are going to fall off..Now I'm forced to sell the van, I didn't want to sell it, But I must now..As I stated on Facebomb, The maps are in, now I need bike spare parts, water filter/purifier, front rack & bag for the bike, and some odds and ends for camping, and Last..MY Whites Coinmaster Pro metal detector, for finding fun and fortune..

 

I pray that all the bad luck I'm having to set this up will dissipate, for when I head out. The whole reason for this trip is to shake this black cloud over my head, and to refresh the more open and easy going person I once was, that most folks enjoined being around. Most can't stand to be around me for very long due to my negative look on life. Yes, even in my younger days, people said I looked at the negative side of things, But i tried to explain when it happens so much its not pessimism, its experience. Like playing the lottery, you play in hope of that 1 in 15,000,000,000 will be your lucky day, however experience tells you your NOT going to hit it, are you a pessimist now because you know the out come EVEN though you push on and continue?

THAT'S MY LIFE!!! I know the outcome, or I know hows its going to play out. I've read the script a hundred times over, I know my roll in the play..This computer and all the others I have, I have to have someone else work on them, If its as simple as putting a disc in the CVD rom and push OK, their still will be issues..ALWAYS, John H. has sat next to me and watched as I repeat his very steps in adding a program and making it work, and he's shocked on how it operates fine without a hitch for him, and I keep getting problems..""You don't need to be working with computers your cursed, AND You might want to re-think this trip your planning"". NO I'm doing it, and I know I'll have stop blocks popping up at every step along the way..and so far my pessimism hasn't let me down, thus my experience in MY life. The fights have been exactly where I knew they would be, And I see more to come before I gone. SO should I just stop and roll up into a ball and die?? Hell no I push on, YES I Bitch, I bitch because its so damn predictable. I'm not you, your not me, we handle our life experiences differently. If folks think I whine to much when I'm around them, good think they aren't around my windows when I'm alone, Then they would see the dark side of my whining, The anger that follows that gives me energy to push on further past what was dealt to me from the Gods of humor, boredom  and faith.. I can almost bet Gabriel & Loki has their hands in this. At least when I'm on the road, There might be new surprises in it for me. 

 

 The Tornado that has always been in me dreams when I was in my 20s to mid 30s might come about, no I don't die from it, but I am able to feel the wind in my face from it.. Making it to Oregon looking out at the Pacific ocean might be where my dreams of standing on black rocks while the waves crash before me, as I stare towards a full moon so large That it seems I could just reach out a pick it form the sky as if it was a apple hanging from a tree.. Something is calling me out, and I'm going to chase it now, the signs has been going on for two decades. and it seems the more I fight leaving, the more the fight I have at staying..

Time to get busy..

I'M REALLY SORRY PEOPLE, I'M NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PUT  UP A SLIDE SHOW UP ON THIS SITE,I'VE DONE IT OVER 15 DIFFERENT WAYS, ALL BY GOOGLE'S PICASA & BLOGGERS RULES AND WAYS..ITS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN..it loads, but when you click the link the numbers roll out 500, 504, 404, 503, 501, ect ect ect..I've spent 8hrs on two days nothing will work.like it works for everyone else, it just wont work for me..(my life's story)..Funny thing is..no one has a clue why it doesn't work. all I've asked is clueless.LOL go figure.

March is nearing the end I'm getting worried, but I'm staying calm.

Items are getting gone, but not fast enough for me..The apartment is 50% empty, mainly because, I got my van full of the items I want to sell. NOW IF the weather people would get on the ball and better do better forecast on Saturday mornings and mother nature stop making flea market morning the day the water pours from the sky..I stayed up till 1:30 am Friday, watching the weather, and they called for thunderstorms all morning long..So I canceled..woke up at 8am, (two hours past my set up time had I went) Not a cloud in the sky, or a wet item anywhere..It didn't rain till I went outside to work on packing more stuff in the van to sell next Saturday. And to bring that up..I"M GOING!!..You watch! Tornadoes will be landing that morning..lolz..I tell you people. I do feel like a kid all over again about this..school all week, and rain on the weekends, It reminds me of one of my summers in Ohio, going to summer school, then rain on the weekend..at least I passed my grade, but the summer sucked bad..

NOW for the good news..I have the maps on the way..I sold my Serato (I wanted to keep it in case I got a gig when I get back)..And Monte brought my tent that HE bought for me, i found it on CL for $10, a $140 backpackers two man ( in this case one man one dog) tent..I'm adding a metal detector to the list of things to take along..I was thinking about a American Hawk Navigator that has a LCD screen for $200. But Whites has what they call the Coinmaster, and Coinmaster pro. All three do the same thing pretty much, but the AH weights 12lbs and cost $200, But the Coinmaster weights 5lbs, and it has a built in pin pointer, without having to carry extra things, & I can select one type of metal to omits in my searches, plus the wand collapses down, the AH I would have to disassemble when done..and plus I can get the WCM for $180, NOW the WCM-pro does all the same as its lil brother, but it can omit more than one metal, it goes deeper, and is more sensitive..But its $280..I'll stay with its lil brother. But if I get the funds before I make the purchases..ITS MINE!! ..SO Now your wondering why in the hell would I need the WCM, simple..I'm not going to be riding everyday, I'll have my down times, a must. So to keep me busy and from spending money on junk I can't really afford nor carry. This should help keep me occupied, plus! riding through the heart of tornado ally, with the years and this past winter of unusual amount of tornadoes, I should be able to find something..anything of value to help Murph and I along..I'm mean really in three states where the wind tosses everything around like nothing,(I'm sure Murph and I will be part of that at some moment or another). I'm bound to find a decent if not maybe just a lil silver or gold that got pushed far from home.. SO thats why for that..let us pray I have a clear Saturday and many sales..(please,please,please)..

On closing..I want to give special thanks to John Preston, for donating some cash to help Murph and I. Now I need to get rolling on some things.. thanx for stopping by and keeping up..Also before i go, subscribe to Jerry Murphy Matney of FB..the profile pic is that of Droopy and Drooper..

March is nearing, time to get cracking on leg training..

The past 6 weeks of the moving sale has been a complete fail, between thieves, resellers, cold temps, and days of cold temps with high winds has turned my Moving sale into a joke..I'm sure by now people just look at the CL adds like they would look at a ad on any other page, skim right past it. It looks like I'm just going to have to wing it the best I can..As it stands now there will be no spare parts for the bike, camping supplies, and rain gear is out of the question..I must have the maps, I'll sell the $1,200 dresser chest of drawers and side table to pay for it, at a $150. I'm almost positive someone will pay $500 for it from someone else, just not me. My Brass collection is going to the scrap yard, I can get more for it than what I'm being offered for it..All in All I have over $15,000 in items I own, I'm going to be lucky if I get $1,000, and now I'm around the $425 mark. $2,800 was my goal..It would cover all the bases..Its not happening, nor will I even get close.SO I have to let it go! Its making me depressed to think about it, and when I do I get lazy, and nothing gets done, not even training or working out. SO March is leg training month, April is endurance month, I'll have to trust in the lord to provide for me while I'm on the road, cause I can't seem to get prepared on my own. I've spent, and burned all my resources to help out others in their time of need and left myself with a empty stash. I have no problem jumping in a giving what I have to other, But I can't bare asking people for something I need or want, it feels wrong to me.

No more of this..........Its time to look forward, Can't change the past, I need to focus on the road ahead of me , no pun intended..But if I keep letting the selling of my items "thats not selling for the price I need'" then I might as well give up and considered this as another failed goal in my life, as it stands the ratio of accomplished to failed. is way well, depressing. I won't stand for it on this trip..Its time to move forward.

Things are slowing down, While departure date is coming up qiuck.

The Moving sale are coming to a creeping halt, nothing is selling, and I see why. I guess I'm a trend setter. It's looking like the entire city of Greensboro is getting ready to leave, for every 10 "sales" 7 are "moving sales". I've never seen it as such and as heavy before..LOL. Jessie owns a second hand store on Spring Garden st, I guess I'll just sell everything off to him for the bottom of the barrel price, without having a lil extra for the trip, this will just purchase the needed items with enough foodies to get by for a week or two. Of course i'll search for work while on the road. The warm bed and shower might get cut down from 2 a month to once every six weeks. I'll be funkier than James brown in three weeks of riding.

The cards are done, and ..they...look sweet!. Problem is, the "donation" part on the bottom of the cards makes me feel like I'm begging. I was told by many that I should have it on there, so I put it there, now i feel a lil shameful about passing them out. On the back side of the cards I added a lil information about the route and the company Adventure cycling that keeps it together, and that also maintains the other 40,000+ mile of bike routes across the country. I also added the site that help me make up my mind about doing the trip on a bike. crazyguyonabike.com . the journals are from people that bike tour ALL over the world, at this moment there are two folks doing a world tour on a bike..Braver than I they are!. of course I'm sure they are more prepared for it and conditioned for it. Which brings me to this..I'm back and forth about the bike I using.

The bike is a 2001 Raleigh c40, the drive train has been upgraded, I've got a nice chunk of cash in the back wheel components and chain, but I keep having chain slipping and gear skipping problems when going up hill..NOT GOOD for someone thats going to be hauling a load of stuff on and behind the bike..I was looking at getting the Kona Splice, BUT its 29 wheels and disc brakes won't fit the trailer I got, then I looked at the Kona Dew, however for $500, and I'm spoiled on the front shock when I run off the road for a lil fun. the components on its drive train doesn't equal the amount I have in the derailleur alone on the c40..If I'm having problems with a $110 derailleur and $75 cassette, whats going to happen with a $13 derailleur, and a $20 cassette?.I'm going to have problems, no one has made it across without problems on their bike at one point or another..Now I'm leaning towards the Trek DS 8.2 (Gary Fisher collection). It has everything, and more, but its over a hundred more than I want to spend on a bike. but I can do off and on road..I don't know, until the sales start happening better, I'm not going to be able to afford a box of matches to start a camp fire..speaking of which, time to get back at it...

Sunday Feb,12, 2012...The sales have been going awful, people are wanting the items I'm not selling. Food in the cabinets, the computer, the tv used on the computer, the clothes I'm keeping, MY GLASSES AND CELL PHONE, helmet and yes even the bike and murph..THATS what they are wanting to buy..I had 10 up to date xbox games, a woman didn't want them..she wanted the xbox which is busted up, and needs to be broken down every week to cleaned out on the inside, in order to work properly. Things promised to people and things needed to survive now and on the road are the top things being requested..To boot, if  a box is sealed or room is off limits..THATS where they want to be..Its like dealing with unruly children.. you have to follow them and tell them no and stay out at every turn..I never in my life thought full grown adults had to be watched like children during a sale..The only things I've managed to sell so far are items I was wanting to keep..the bed, the microwave. the floor vac, and certain tools(which in turn I know I'll wind up having to buy to repair something..I have had some thing sold that I'm getting rid of, but that number is way under that of the items I have forsale..

Kevin (owner of Organized confusion on Spring garden st) has been the biggest help, he bought the xbox games, and donated $100 towards the trip, I had the money for Murphs trailer, but the phone bill and food along with business cards to pass out ate it up..badly The $10 vista cards came out to $64..even if I was to take the cards they offered at $10 it still would have cost over $30, shipping is $20... I got to rethink this, I'm spending to much time on logistics and not enough time training, the weather turned extremely cold, so bike riding has gone out the window..I have a house guest I'm having to take care due to his illness, and that to is putting me behind..I'm beginning to feel I'm having a flash back of the last time I tried to do this trip, other things are forcing me to put energy away from the trip, and forcing it to non-related events..The weight is coming back due to unhealthy eating habits..depression is setting in,I'm having to keep other people happy and putting mine on the back burner again..yep its a repeat of last year..The largest amount of  people that are closest to me have already stated that they don't want me to do this trip, where acquaintances are cheering me on, if I didn't know better I'd swear the house guest which happens to be close friends to my ex-employer (the person thats trying the hardest to keep me from leaving) had planned this up..Knowing I don't turn people away that are having harder time than myself..

I can't move forward, when being pushed backwards......