March, 2015 – A Month Of Lost & Found!
March 18, 2015 by admin
Did any of you notice that this website was OFF THE AIR last week? I know that my fifteen-year-old granddaughter, Molly, sure did! My daughter emailed me to find out what happened.
Boy, is that a scary feeling to see the black screen with the green words: “This website has expired!” . I didn’t know if things go “Poof In The Night” if you suddenly don’t pay your annual fee of $10.88 to Domain Launchers on time every year, though I hoped and prayed and somehow suspected that they must preserve your precious life story on a shelf somewhere until you get right with God again. As you might suppose, since you are reading this on said precious website, they do give the owner thirty days to redeem themselves. Here’s the backstory:
In February, I was suddenly asked to housesit for my dear friends, George and Jo Burdeau, while they live temporarily three months in California for work. We became acquainted a year ago when all of us were expats in Montevideo, Uruguay. George is a Hollywood movie producer/director and he suggested that we try to interest a network in doing a reality television show on my traveling life, since I’m still backpacking and staying in hostels as I travel around the world alone at nearly eighty years old. “Around The World In 80 Years!” will be the theme of my next trip, which could well take three to five years.
So, I developed a plan for a pitch on my third, years-long, solo, around the world trek throughout the Equatorial Region beginning later this year. After visiting my family in Denver, I came to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and rented an apartment both to be more handy to my daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren; and to follow up on working out this TV plan with George and Jo. Little did I know that I’d soon be taking care of their house, three dogs, one cat and 93-year-old Marian, Jo’s mom. Things were busy from the get-go!
Then, Granny Marian, became ill; called 911 herself; went to the hospital and died two days after she returned from that hospitalization. Things got even busier! In the middle of all this, Domain Launcher began to send me emails that my heyboomers domain was about to expire. My only thought was: “Thank goodness I have Webmaster Chad to take care of this! I must be getting duplicate warnings.” I didn’t check with him, so confident was I.
The family gathered to take care of all the death details. George and Jo flew in from California for a ten-day stay to rearrange their life and prepare the house for sale…. as much as one can do so early on. Suddenly, here was the notice that my Hey Boomers website had EXPIRED! Yikes, what happened? Well, Chad had taken that one on after someone else had designed it and I guess I hadn’t shifted the responsibility to renew it to him. I can’t even remember! Now I couldn’t figure out the system to do it and even remember my password to that domain company. Help! I begged him to rescue me……which he obviously did…… and I am now more appreciative than ever to see these seven years of hard writing still alive and in existence for me to continue.
Because I’ll need it in our approach to the networks this summer as George and my other producer, Rock, present the sizzle tape we have shot. How ironic if the proof of all those former travels had disappeared from the internet! Whoosh! I have it back!
So, that’s two losses for March – Granny and Hey Boomers! Then I couldn’t find my new drivers license. High and low…. where had I left it? One needs a car in the U.S. (Grrrrrr! That’s not true overseas) and I must drive to my Tom Bird’s Intensive Writers Retreat tomorrow for a long weekend in Sedona, Arizona. Can’t rent a car or drive one without that license. Living out of suitcases does this to one…..I never know where anything is! At last, I found it, tucked safely away with my passport, I guess, so that no one would rip it off my body if I carried it in my belly bag, where it has lived for years. Okay, solved!
Then, a few days ago, as things settled down enough to think about taking pictures, I couldn’t find my camera! That’s always in my backpack! Where is it now? I tore everything apart several times but still no camera! Wait a minute! The family went through Marian’s things and divided them up. Do you suppose I had left my camera lying around in her room during that hectic time? Yep! After a few inquiries, I found it and all is well. Clem, her son, had chosen it while the women were dividing things like clothes and jewelry. He will bring it back when he comes to town this week. Whoosh! Okay, solved!
So, I’ve lost everything and gotten it back again…… all except Granny….. who probably doesn’t want to be rescued. I’m sure she’s much happier now that she can walk around better and doesn’t need that oxygen tank wherever she goes. As Shakespeare can tell you: “All’s well that ends well.” Now, let me share two blog posts written by my favorite around-the-world travel advisors:
http://wanderingtrader.com/travel-blog/best-travel-tips-traveling-the-world/
https://mail.aol.com/webmail-std/en-us/suite
Though they are much younger than I am, they know lots of stuff that I don’t; so this will help you get your own start in taking on the world by yourself. Meantime, let’s all enjoy being online and be sure not to let your own websites expire for pennies.
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