Joe,

JM>  I plan to do that, along with Nancy, Jim and Ed.

  Get plenty of pictures. 

JM>  I plan a nice leisurely trip.  No "I gotta be at X by Y (time)" other
JM>than when I am due to meet someone, such as "I gotta be at x by y to meet
JM>so-and-so" all along the route.  All my trips before I've been Mr Mileage
JM>and passing something of interest and telling myself "next time".

  I hate having to be rushed on vacation. When I was traveling to the
National Square Dance Convention years ago, several asked me WHY I
didn't fly there instead of taking Amtrak?? I replied "I want to treat a
vacation like a Thanksgiving Day meal...savor every bite from the dinner
roll to the pumpkin pie. I don't want to "wolf it down", like I did
working at Burger King years ago"...that's likely why I have digestive
tract issues today.

JM>>   I just hope I don't need a blind ham radio operator to direct me out
JM>> of the parking lot (I think I've told that story before). 

JM>  I don't think so.

  I had been severely nearsighted since elementary school...wearing
glasses since 4th grade. The teacher said that "I couldn't tell time",
and my parents said "He can tell time...he can't see the clock!!".

  When I got into my 30's, it got so where I couldn't see to drive at
night, and I had to give that up. When I went to McFarland Eye Center in
Little Rock, it was determined I needed cataract surgery. The no stitch
cataract surgery was invented by Dr. Mike McFarland, namesake of the
eye center. When it came out, they thought he was nuts...now, it's the
industry standard. My visual acuity went from 20/2000, with THICK
glasses, and severe nearsightedness...to 20/20 with a little bit of
astigmatism, and only requirng reading glasses, for at the computer, or
when using my smartphone, or when reading documents.

  But, as for "getting lost in the parking lot"...I was chairman of both
the "Talk-In Station" and the "Packet Station" for a local area hamfest
one year. Talk-In is where the ham radio operators give directions to
the hamfest site to those coming into the area from out of town.
Obviously, you want to know where you're going. I also had a packet
station setup, doing one of the digital modes of the hobby.

  The thing was, I was LEGALLY BLIND...and I enlisted the assistance of
3 other COMPLETELY BLIND ham radio operators to help me. Now, while I
had to escort them to the restroom, and back to the table, and get their
food for them...their being at the table allowed me to "roam around the
hamfest", looking at other items, visiting, etc.

  Well, the joke got to be that "Talk-In was being run by 4 hams who
can't see a darn thing...but, they're giving directions to and from the
hamfest!!" <G>.

  But, the kicker was that it was a Friday night and Saturday day event.
Where it was being held was a former shopping center at the
Pulaski/Saline County line on Interstate 30...which is now the Pulaski
Technical College South Campus, along with a Culinary Cooking School.

  They had sealed off some of the exits on the west side of the
complex...the overhead parking lot lights were off...and they had just
repaved the parking lot, but hadn't re-striped it yet. I groaned "I'm
lost. I can't find my way out of this parking lot!!".

  Without missing a beat, this one blind ham (who I transported to and
from the hamfest), who already had the mic in hand, keyed up the wide
area coverage repeater, and announced to God and everybody, "QST!! QST!!
QST!! This is a Talk-Out Net For The Talk-In Station, Who Can't Find His
Way Out Of The Parking Lot!!".

  Sarcastically, I said "I want to use your seeing eye dog", and he
replied in kind, "No, he's tied to the front bumper right now!!".

  Several months ago, when my Mom was in a local hospital, I got LOST in
the parking deck at the local hospital!!

  To this day, I have people ask if I need help getting out of parking
lots, and parking decks...I'll never live it down!! <BG>

  But, if you can't laugh at yourself, you have a lot of problems.

Daryl

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