Jan 1 - unposted

I wrote this as the beginning of the Dec 26 blog and then wrote an entirely different blog ....

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We really don't own any thing.  Things own us.  More and more they also tell us what to do, like the Generac maintenance.  Cars have been like that for quite some time, requiring maintenance at regular intervals and as computers made their way into cars, "check engine" and service due messages increasingly, irritatingly, telling us when we need to do something to kee the device, whatever it is, in tip top shape.

Obviously some things going wrong with a car require immediate attention.  A blown tire is a good example but there are engine issues as well.  Other things simply cause the engine to operate at lower efficiency or at lower emissions quality.

That reminds me ... I'm catching up on some Wired reading and the June 2015 issue has a four page spread from VW extolling the virtues of its diesel engines ... ha !

What brought the maintenance things to mind was the issue with the generator battery.  The generator obviously owns me.  I added the generator to give us more peace of mind when we're here but it obviously needs maintenance.  There's something else that can go wrong.  Perhaps the Leak Defender that I added will do the same -- if the transformer that runs the relay, for example, goes bad then we won't have running water.  I could modify the wiring to put a bypass in place for emergencies, but that kind of defeats the purpose and someone (me ?) will forget and leave that bypass on and the Leak Defender will do nothing.

Even more obvious than the generator maintenance is what owning two houses has done to our lives.  Enriched, yes, given us lots to do and think about, yes, driving our annual schedule -- yup.  It's good news and bad news.  If we didn't own a place in Florida, for example, our winter travels would be different.  Could I still maintain the same level of cycling -- not likely -- it all ties together.

Speaking of which, I think that we know what we're doing as far as travel back to Florida.  Weather permitting, we'll leave here on the 5th and arrive in Florida on the 7th.  That's all very tentative.  Back to that comment about things owning us -- Sandy doesn't want to leave until the house is clean -- clearly demonstrating that the house owns us !

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