An Interview with Gary

Gary has given up his keyboard to allow someone else a crack at his blog.  As long as the subject was an interview with him of course!  So having a few moments to sit down with a recent travel nurse and a someone I consider a great friend I jumped at the chance to ask a few questions and write an entry for the blog.

Hey Gary thanks for giving up the reins on your blog for the day, you and Mary have had a fantastic 2008, and it’s great that you are willing to sit down and reminisce with me for a few questions.

Oh yeah, it’s been a whirlwind of a year, and hey, I don’t mind answering a few questions.  As long as I get to proofread what you’re putting on the blog.

You started the year by leaving a six year position with a nearby hospital for a new one, right?

The hospital I was with initiated budget cuts which meant cutting a weekend option position I held there, resulting in a thirty percent cut in pay for me.  You know, I don’t mind taking one for the team but saving their budget by devastating mine wasn’t an option.  So I took a local registry position at another nearby hospital resulting in a pay raise; made for a great move on my part. Learning to adapt to change can be rewarding.

You and Mary took your first road trip that winter, right?

We wanted to take a test run of how we would do with life on the road so drove to San Antonio Texas.  We had a fantastic time, and I think it helped Mary a lot to see how adaptable I am.  When we drove home an ice storm began in Oklahoma and it was so bad in Springfield Missouri that our friends told us not to come home.  No power at the house etc.  So we actually spent two nights at a Tribal Casino resort before returning home.  When we did finally make it home; sure enough still no power, no heat, no water.  We wondered why we left Texas.

After the road trip, it was time to get ready for the wedding.  How did that go?

You were there, it was awesome!  The ceremony was everything we wanted, a small casual gathering of close friends and family.  The party afterwards was a blast.  Several visitors said they had never seen so much dancing at a reception before.

What is your fondest memory of the wedding?

Oh that’s easy.  All of it!  You know, a lot of weddings are so structured and busy, not to mention the couple being so nervous they miss out on a lot or don’t remember as much.  I took it all in and loved it.

Any other thoughts on the wedding?

Sure, it wasn’t until later in the year that I perceived the wedding as a marking point in my life.  The party after the wedding also combined as a farewell party since Mary and I would be leaving the Ozarks just a few weeks later.  So it served as a time to say goodbye to friends I made in the Ozarks as well as a celebration for my new life with Mary.

How did the transition to being a traveler go?

Getting rid of all the stuff actually felt like a great release, I had no idea how much of burden it all was until it was gone.  I recommend it even to those who don’t travel.  Live with less. 

I know we accumulate most things because we think it will make life more convenient, and owning is better.  What we now have must fit in our Honda Accord or it doesn’t go.  We have exchanged things for time, convenience for experience, and gained a new respect for living in the moment.

Hey hold on their Gary, you trying to become a philosopher?

Not so much philosopher, it’s just that living as a traveler really does require a difference in how to approach life.  It has its own set of values that often are in stark contrast to conventional American way of life.  A difference which often becomes quite evident as we socialize and converse with locals; our values are not the same.  Not better values, just different.

Did you plan on staying at the same hospital as long as you have?

No I didn’t.  That is one thing that has been a surprise to me.  It’s OK to make plans but I have learned that they are always subject to change.  Mary and I intended to make the most of traveling right away but learned that if we like an area, it’s OK to stay awhile. No point in moving just for the sake of it.

While I have kept the same nursing position, we have relocated from Santa Monica to life on the Beach in Ventura. The slower pace has been good for me; it has been such a whirlwind of a year.  Now that I think about it, over the past year I have actually held three different positions; two units at the same hospital in Missouri before leaving and the current one here in California.

What is the one best ingredient for making your travel life a success?

Oh, now you’re getting some fun questions.  I suppose our adaptability. 

Mary and I can make the most of any situation.  Wherever we are, Mary keeps her eye on what is important to her; Me.  After that, it’s all good and we strive to make our lives better from there. The small living quarters in Santa Monica we considered cozy, and made for reason to get out more often.  Mary took up gardening. 

The beach house is much larger and most of our neighbors are quite wealthy.  We learned to share their appreciation for beach glass, an item holding little monetary value.  It’s real worth being it’s representation of time spent on the beach. 

So realizing that plans are subject to change, what is in store for the coming year?

My contract has been extended till the first of April, so we will remain at the beach house till then.  While here I hope to have family and some friends over for visits.  Winter is not the warmest months in California but they are a heck of a lot better than Missouri.

As spring approaches I hope to promote my Easter tradition of Peep roasting.  I’ll be sharing more about that in the coming months.

Our goal is to move to Hawaii in April and after that I can’t honestly say, though we plan to return to southern California for the winter.

Well thanks for sharing your thoughts Gary and I know you will keep us posted on your interesting year coming up.

Gifts for a Traveler

 
What kind of present can you get a traveler?  That is the question Mary and I asked ourselves when thinking of our landlord, David.

Of course we too are travelers and knew the answer is, not much.  Chinese plastic won't do, or anything that takes up space in a bag for that matter.   Dave is a master of regifting.  A gift barely sits still before it belongs to someone else.  Just the other day he brought over a box of chocolates but forgot to remove one that was bitten and replaced. 

How tacky Dave.

When you understand that Dave just doesn’t have an attachment to stuff, you take his antics with a grain of salt. To Dave, gifts are to be given; he never mastered the part that gifts are also to be received. 

 So what is the answer to what do you give a traveler? 

For Dave I painted the above mural in a dummy doorway.  It demonstrated our appreciation for him without taking up space in his luggage. 

“Now that is a perfect gift.” he declared.

I have a few more pictures at our picture blog, click here.

Dave is here through Christmas day and will be taking off for Mexico, after that he is not sure, but may not return for another year.  We will miss him, but wish him well in his travels.

Molly & AmeriCorps Crash for the Night

More pics here.

We had quite the surprise this week.  It started as Mary and I were on our way home from Santa Monica, a phone call from Molly.  She is in the AmeriCorps for almost a year and we haven’t seen her since the first of October.  Her and her “team” was returning to Sacramento from Austin Texas where they had been working with FEMA and hurricane Ike victims.  

“Dad, we can’t make it to our hotel thanks to snow and highway closures.  Can we stay at your place for the night?” she calls asking.

“Of course you can.” I reply.

“Um, how many of you are there?” I think to ask.

“Just eleven, and oh thanks a bunch, we’ll see ya in a couple of hours.” She says excitedly, and hangs up.

“Eleven young adults in our small house,” Mary states, “oh how exciting!”

Mary truly is a great hostess and when we arrived home she set to work borrowing mattresses and bedding from a few neighbors.  Why a pillow here and foam pad there on the floor and she managed room for everyone. Truly amazing!

A few hours’ later two passenger vans pulled up as a bewildered neighbor watched them pile out and cram into our small home.  Fortunately they had already eaten before arriving though we did provide an evening snack of milk and brownies.

Molly looked just great. She seemed happy and just the past few months of being part of a team has made a great change in her attitude.

“I can tell you aren’t so caught up into yourself.” compliments Mary.

“What, you thought I was all about myself before?” asks Molly.

“Yes!” we both reply laughing.

AmeriCorps has created some hopefully life changing attributes for Molly and I am so proud of her for joining and taking it to heart.

 

Holiday Update

Merry Christmas!
You can view more holiday pics here.

Winter in California is amazing.  The temperature on the beach reaches the mid 60's but if you turn around and look up to the mountains in the nearby distance you can see snow atop them.  How cool is that?

Last evening we returned to Santa Monica to spend time with friends there and went ice skating outside.  A real surprise for this part of the country!

I have been working on a Christmas present for our landlord, if it's not posted yet, it will be shortly. It is a small mural I have painted of a deep sea diver that you can only view when opening up a dummie door ajoining two seperate living areas.  He will be surprised!

We attended a Christmas party  held across the street from a parade of lights in the marina.  The boats get all lit up and sail along the marina to compete for a small cash prize for the most creative lighting.  Visitors line along the shore watching them, but we had a view from the third story of the house.  We did take a stroll to the shore but a nippy wind changed Mary's mind.

This year we are passing on giving  and receiving gifts, but we did get a present that we both enjoy.  It is  a digital picture frame that displays pictures.  We are extra cautious on any purchase as ultimately whatever we buy must find room in our small car, and this certainly made the packing criterea.  We have already placed two years of pictures on it and barely made a dent in it's memory capacity.  Pictures to anyone else; memories to us.

If you haven't already heard, I am extending another contract in Thousand Oaks and we will remain at the beach till the first of April, from there we hope to move next to Hawaii.  One thing I have learned though; plans are easily subject to changee.  Flexability is the name of this travel nursing game.  

"We currently have lots of positions in Washington state." says a recruiter. 

"Yeah, cause it's so stinking cold up there."  declares Mary.  

One thing we are not flexable in is cold weather.  The cool temperature in this part of California is as low as Mary would stand for.  

Already the itch to move is working on both Mary and I, but the slow down-time at the beach has been good for us.  It is the friends and relationships that we have made in the area that has really made all the difference for us.  

"You will have to pay an extra charge for a second bedroom in Hawaii."  says a nurse recruiter.  That's OK.  We suspect several folks will be visiting and the extra room will come to good use.

New pics and videos.

New pics and videos at the pics blog,  click here.

Obama's Health Care Reform Discussion

Over on Travelrngab I have a new post regarding President-elect Obama’s encouragement for health care reform discussion.  I muddled reforms ideas around in my head, and discussed it with a few neighbors but only managed to find the whole topic daunting.

I did however manage a short list of ideas that can launch conversation regardless of where you fall in the political spectrum and would encourage you to take a look and send me your thoughts.

You can visit the post here.

 

skype me!

Our neighbor Dave is an interesting fellow.  He owns no automobile, the pick-up he drives belongs to his son who has been in Mexico for the past year.  Dave hasn't worked a job in years and because of this many in the neighborhood either think him wealthy or a beach bum.  

"It's neither" he insists to me, "more like somewhere in the middle."

This summer Dave spent a month fishing in Alaska and in the next month he intends to spend the rest of winter somewhere in Central or South America.  He doesn't know how long he will be gone; he just knows when it's time to come back. 

Dave has never owned a computer, until that is, the day he came into my kitchen for coffee and met Hannah, my daughter and Lidia, my 20 month old granddaughter on the computer using skype.  Skype is a free video phone application you can use on your computer.  You can get the free download here.

Lidia hopped down from Hannah's lap during the conversation to show off how she spins on an office chair then gets off to dizzily stumble about the room.  Granddad laughed at her, Dave was amazed that he was watching this on a laptop.

"It's like visiting with your family right here in your living room."  he says.

An hour later he is back at our house with a handful of advertisements while Mary and I join him for a ride to the local stores to help him pick out a laptop.  Even in the stores I noticed computers that stated they were Skype ready. 

This will be our first Holiday season away from family but already we were able to join post-turkey dinner celebrations via skype, and you can bet that we will be part of Christmas celebrations as well thanks to this wonderful technology.  With the portability of the laptop I have even been able to give house tours of our seaside home!

After you download Skype you can find me by using my user name "gcox1958" or my email address.  Be sure to give me a ring!