No, I didn't get lost, just took more turns than I should have ;)

[Ian]

G'day Framily. Has been a while since I was last around. Still alive and well in Sunny South Australia. Coping with self-isolation and wondering when will all this end so we can start to work out what the new world is going to be like post-COVID-19.

Still keeping active though my Volunteer roles have both shut down. Was just too dangerous for me to continue. One was a Volunteer in the nearby Hospital's Emergency Department. So much fun but not at this time.

Still doing Santa too. This last Season made it my 16th year as Santa. Photo attached is me and a helper at such a fun gig, for the 2nd year I was the official Santa for the Departures area at the Sydney International Airport. Saw so many people from so many countries. Had way too much fun LOL
I also was privileged to get on the Cover and have a full-page article in our National Seniors newspaper. That really made my day.  Thanks to the wonders of Digital Publishing you can see the issue here, and the article is on page 12.
https://digital-print-edition.austcommunitymedia.com.au/SNRSA/2019/12/01/3dissue/index.html
No idea what I will be doing this December. Will we have International travel back up and flourishing by then?

Anyway, lots of love to all my friends of old, and my old friends too
Take care of yourselves. Wash your hands and above all Stay Safe.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Good to hear you are still safe & well, Ian.  The situation is much the same here - we are all taking precautions and hoping the end is not too far away. Even though it is still over the horizon at this point.

 

[Tom]

Well I'll be darned - I was thinking about you just yesterday Ian, and wondering how you were doing. Glad to hear all is well. Congrats on the front cover feature.

 

[ArdraF]

It's good to hear from you, Ian.  Yes, we're all hunkered down just like everyone else.  There probably won't be much of an RV "season" this year, but as long as we all stay healthy that's the important thing.  Hope you get to do your favorite impersonation at Christmas!  Cheers!

ArdraF

 

[Ian]

Thanks, ArdraF, Gary and Tom, nice to catch up with you again.

I was reminded about this place when I was responding to a clip from a gentleman that I have been following on YouTube for the last 2 or 3 years. I have always had an interest in the Narrowboats that ply the canals of the United Kingdom and when I found his channel I latched on. Since then I have been following quite a few of the group - they call themselves Boat-Tubers, as they show life on the canals. One of these days, probably before or after I get my RV (and you gents know how that dream has been building up) then I want to buy myself a little canal boat and putter around for months at a time. What a lifestyle that would be.
Now, to put it back into focus, when he isn't on the boat during the winter, he is running around and sleeping in his converted van. See, there was a reason I was mentioning him LOL
This is his Van Conversion Channel:  Vandemonium https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCj8eNFXQf1GfzhMDQB4o2w
This is his Narrowboat Cruising Channel: Cruising the Cut https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6SNxiLzSlh8e0yjndE9o_A

 

[Tom]

Thanks for the links Ian. I've previously watched (almost) all of his narrow boat videos, but wasn't aware of his Vanemonium channel.

 

[Ian]

LOL, always happy to spread the word.

Another new link to help wile away the time spent in isolation is Viking TV: https://www.viking.tv/
A wide range of travel videos and guest presenters plus partner organisations providing great content.

 

[camperAL]

Hi Ian,

Good to see you post here! I've wonder a bit what you were up to and hoping all was well with you. I still haven't made it down your way yet. I would look you up if I were to visit. Stay well and keep us posted here once in a while you have a few fans here!! Best!

 

[John From Detroit]

WOW have been missing you Santa-Ian... I can tell you we need more Santas these days .

Welcome back.

I do not recall your other hobbies but I have added to one of mine..  "Santa Icom" gave me a birthday present last year. Yup I got an E-mail "You won the weekly drawing, where do we send it and what's your shirt size?"  So I gave 'em my delivery address and 3xl. But added "I'd rather win the radio"

So they sent me a second Email.. OK> What's your callsign and license class (WA8YXM and Extra).
I won the radio
Then I got an ID-051A+2 (Hand held) (Paid for that) and a used ID-880H
So now I"m on D-Star..  with zero mW of power (Radio off) I can talk to folks all over the world..  Kind of neat.

 

[RVMommaTo6]

Hi Ian, nice to meet you. I love Santa! When I had 2 kids, 3 & 4 years old, we were walking into a Home Depot store during summer and in front of us was a man who looked like Santa wearing overalls. My kids said loud enough for him to hear, look it's Santa! I was immediately embarrassed and shushed them. He turned around and leaned down to them and said quietly as if he wanted them to think he didn't want me to hear, "have you been being good?" They both said yes and right there in the middle of summer he pulled out 2 small candy canes and gave one to each of them. It is one of my favorite memories, so heart warming!

 

[Ian]

Hello John, such great news about the radio.

My other main hobby is Model Railways, specifically N scale T-TRAK modular railways. This is a quick overview of my current building activities...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC_33pBGxLE

One thing with T-TRAK, being modular and table-top it could easily fit into the RV Lifestyle. A Single module is (in my Metric sizing) 310mm across (left to Right), 300mm wide (front to back) and 70mm high (base to the level of the rails). A corner module is a box that turns the line 90 degrees (365 x 365 x 70).
Any other modules are multiples of that standard. So a simple oval can be as little as 2 standards and 4 corner modules.
It is that easy.
Here is a diagram of a standard box as well as my first Single module from around 2009.
Always happy to answer any questions.
Official US T-TRAK website: http://www.t-trak.org/

 

[mel s]

Ian
When I take "more turns than I should have" I call it a SHORT CUT.

 

[Ian]

Ian
When I take "more turns than I should have" I call it a SHORT CUT.

ROFL. My Dad was notorious at getting lost. Inevitably my Mum would explode at him. His response was always to calmly point out to her that he wasn't lost, he had just found a new way to get there