Peru in Milwaukee

Our entry step works.  Our backup cam works.  We didn’t have to stay overnight.  We didnt’ have to make a return to the dealership.  All is well in the land of cheeseheads and beer!

Seriously, our dealings with the Burlington Superstore have been very limited in the past.  And, I had heard negative comments about the quality of service from this store.  I hesitated to get service done here; but trusted my initial reactions to this dealership and went ahead with it.  Our visit last week showed the service writer willing to move things around to get us into the shop — even if just to diagnose the problem and then order parts in for the repair.  Accordingly I was a little unsure how far we’d get today; but surprise, surprise, we were all done by 1:00 and I can’t fault the apparent quality of the repair.  No adding on of unnecessary parts, no padding of the bill, just a conscientious service tech and fair pricing.  

Once we paid our bill and returned to the State Fair RV Park I took the opportunity of having our air bags completely aired up to install our new Go². I’ve had it sitting around in the coach for 5 months, but seeing as we were using a wired DSL line from the CORPS I never had occasion to hook it up.  I have some setup work to do to get it working, but I wanted to hang it before we extended slides, dropped airbags, and all that goes along with setting up a site.  We have public WiFi here, so it’s a good chance to mess around with the technical stuff that I’m not all that good with. 🙂

 

Luv the fresh, vibrant colors!

After getting ourselves sorted I realized we didn’t have anything defrosted for dinner so we checked out a new(-ish) place here in West Allis.  It’s called Chef Paz and it’s Milwaukee’s first (to my knowledge) Peruvian restaurant.  Our waiter, however, isn’t from Perus;  he’s a recent migrant from Puerto Rico!  We had a nice time with him; he’s still learning commercial English but he tries really hard and we had a lovely time.  The menu is heavy on seafood, so we were both happy.  I had a rice dish with shrimp, mussels, and calamari.  Peg opted to go for a fried fish dish with boiled sweet potatoes.  We both had more than we needed and the flavors were lovely.   Who can complain about that!

By the time we finished our meal the rain began again.  I had thought we were supposed to be dry all day today, but I’m not sure if we’ve had an all-dry day since arriving in Milwaukee.  Maybe…. 

Which brings us to open space — mental open space, and physical open space. We’ve got the better part of three weeks to enjoy being near Kathryn, to  explore around a little, and to relax.  I’m looking forward to it, now that our reasons for returning have been satisfied.

While eating dinner with Mchael & Kathryn he expressed some interest in doing our flooring job.  At some point during the coming weeks I hope he’ll come over and check out what we are looking at — then we can visit Bradd & Hall as planned and make a decision whether to have them or Michael do the ultimate job. It’s not a matter of $$$$ — it’s more a matter of timing and where the job can be done.

We might also look at some other campgrounds.  I’ve been wondering whether there are any in the Spring Green area of Wisconsin.  It might be worth a couple day-trips just to investigate.

So, there you have our second Tuesday in Milwaukee.  Looking good, having fun, and optimistic about the future. Thanks for stopping, and why not stop again tomorrow and say hi!

 

Giggles in the Drizzle

We’d planned Friday to be a roadtrip day with our daughter who took advantage of a remaining vacation day at work.  Except when the forecast started looking more and more rainy, drizzly, miserable the roadtrip idea washed away and we were left to our own devices.

The thing is, we don’t need to do anything to have a good time together.  We find plenty of things to talk about and to laugh about, but we weren’t in the mood to just sit in the coach and spend the day talking.

With the grand-one’s wedding coming up in a few months there are things to be bought — like a mother-of-the-bride dress, so we killed a little time trying on dresses; meaning that the mother-of-the-bride tried on dresses and the grandparents stood around watching and cheering.  And we did a little mall-walking, with stories and smiles and giggles. Nothing special; just the most special moments in life.  You know what I mean.  The most special times don’t have to be special at all!

Peggy had seen one or two TV adverts for the movie, The Queen of Katwe so we decided to check it out and what a delight! The story takes place entirely in Uganda, Sudan, and Russia.  It’s about a young girl who finds her power in chess and it’s literally the best story I’ve heard in a couple years.  I’m not a huge fan of anything Disney, but for this movie I made an exception.  It’s worth seeing. I’ll warn you that there are street scenes that will make you guilty as a comparatively rich American;  and if you don’t walk away feeling appreciative of what you possess — not matter how much or how little — then you must have slept through the movie.  But… the power is there, let it have it’s way with you.

To me, stories like these point out the wonderful diversity of humans.  We don’t all learn the same way; we don’t all find courage, our motivation, or fear in the same things, the same ways, the same circumstances!  Many years ago I was curious to hear that there was a professor at the U of Oregon who taught that there were 16 ways of learning.  At the time — back there in the days of limited knowledge — like in the 1980’s — I thought how great.  Now I think there are probably more than 16 ways, but I’m not going to argue with some Ph.D.  But I will rejoice in the different ways of humans.

One of the powerful messages that I personally took from the movie is how hard it is to rise up when you’ve been beaten down, beaten down for a long, long, time.  I know that I have lived a privileged life; and self-esteem has never been a big problem for me.  But then I’ve not been a female, and I’ve never been dirt-poor, and I’ve never been a minority; so I have no idea how other people in other circumstances cope with the realities of life in the U.S..  And I have no right to tell them how to live.  So I don’t, I won’t, and I’m not even in contact with very many folks who live that way.

That said,  I know that there are folks who go through such things among us as full time RV’ers.  I’ve seen them in public campgrounds around the country. Last summer we had numerous folks like that at the campground; folks at the end of their rope,  folks struggling for themselves and for their families/children.  Chess doesn’t solve every problem.  The optimist in me wants to say that there’s a solution for every problem — I really believe that.  But I also know that I’m not the person to tell someone else how to find their ‘chess’ — whatever it is that will help them find their way in life.

There are folks like the Jimmy Carter’s who have found their ways of helping.  There are some things each of us can do to help — like the chess teacher in this movie.  But in the end success or failure depends on the individual; on realizing in their heart that “challenges are not a curse.”

“Challenges are not a curse”

And there is the reality that while we see one young girl reach for the stars and achieve greatness, the fact remains that many in her home town know no difference in their lives; they are happy for a friend, but they, themselves, have not succeeded in the same way.  Perhaps that is the greatest challenge of humanity today.  How do we help the community on to greatness,  instead of individuals?  There is a challenge.  There is a challenge that is not a curse!

Thanks for stopping, and I’ll be here again tomorrow.  Why not stop by and say HI!