Traveling the USA on the Cheap

There is nothing more satisfying than walking into a warm house when the temperature is 30 degrees outside

A few years ago, my son Jason decided that he wanted to move to Spokane Washington. I wasn’t fully on board with his decision because it is so far from home. We live in the Southeast region of the country so getting to where he lives is not easy. In fact, most flights to Spokane from where we live are connecting flights with a couple of hours of layover time in between. Jason loves to travel, and he is an outdoorsy person, so I understand why he moved to Spokane. That area is known for hiking, their mountain terrain, waterfalls, and rivers, which is perfect for Jason because he loves to hike and explore new places. Last year, Jason invited me and his dad to visit him in Spokane. I was looking forward to seeing him, but I was not looking forward to the travel time. It took us 9 hours to get to Spokane from where we live. But I must admit the city was beautiful and we had a great time. It was the middle of Winter when we got there, and it was brutally cold. So, we had to dress in lots of layers of clothing. Thankfully, Jason has a smart programmable thermostat in his home, so each day when we returned from sightseeing, his apartment was nice and warm. He was able to program the thermostat to turn on 30 minutes before we arrived back at his house. There is nothing more satisfying than walking into a warm house when the temperature is 30 degrees outside. If I lived in this area, I would invest in a thermostat like that because it would be my only saving grace from the brutal cold.

central air conditioning for my home Spokane WA

There is no high sensation, and the topicals don’t smell like medicine

About two years ago, I started having issues with arthritis in my hands. My knuckles swelled up and became stiff and painful. I was forced to cut the rings off my fingers. I struggled to pull weeds in the garden, braid my hair and type on the keyboard. Since my job involves a great deal of computer work, arthritis was a big problem. At first, I tried natural remedies such as eating yellow raisins soaked in gin. I started taking turmeric and magnesium and got some relief. I was unwilling to take any kind of pharmaceutical that could result in long-term and harmful side-effects. I was also unwilling to spend the money on a doctor’s visit and prescription. Because I don’t have health insurance, I really couldn’t afford medical treatment. A friend of mine suggested that I try cannabis. At first, I was a bit reluctant. I didn’t see how smoking a joint and getting high was going to help with my arthritis. Then I did some research and learned that CBD works to treat inflammation and pain. CBD is one of the many cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant. It’s gaining notoriety for its many curative properties. When I visited the dispensary in Whitehall and explained to the budtender what I was looking for, he immediately suggested I try topicals. I hadn’t realized there was such a thing as a cannabis-infused topical. The cannabinoids in balms and lotions interact with receptors in the surface of the skin. The terpenes absorb into the skin to provide further relief. There is no high sensation, and the topicals don’t smell like medicine. I’ve noticed a huge improvement. I have less stiffness, swelling and soreness now.
Recreational Pot Whitehall Michigan

Living in a small town can be difficult when you need access to goods and services that are only available in a city or metropolis.

While my trips into Albuquerque from Tijeras were genuinely long, that was nothing compared to the small town where I was born in northern Michigan. We had to drive three hours just to get into Lansing! This is a part of the state that is heavily wooded and hilly, while having only a smattering of small to medium sized towns. Anything that you would take for granted in a large city is completely absent when you live in the backwoods. Moving to Tijeras was a similar experience because I found myself constantly needing to drive into Albuquerque on interstate 40. However, the distance is a fraction of what I was dealing with living in northern Michigan as a child. One thing that frustrated me about Tijeras—and influenced my decision to finally buy a house in Albuquerque—was the lacking selection of various contractors. When I needed a new air conditioner in my little bungalow, I could only find three companies from which to gather price quotes. Now that I have moved to Los Volcanes in Albuquerque, I have three HVAC companies within walking distance of my house. However, my current heating and cooling contractor is based out of West Mesa just a few more miles east of Los Volcanes. Heating and cooling companies are important in the southwest because of the extremely hot temperatures we experience throughout the summer season. On top of that, we get winter weather that is cold enough to justify indoor heating as well.

heating installation Albuquerque New Mexico

Before 2007, you could not get marijuana legally in New Mexico unless you were part of this selective government research program into medical marijuana that was enacted in 1978.

Back in the early 2000s, most of our cannabis was getting shipped over roads by northern California.

Despite it being the black market entirely, I remember getting some fire marijuana strains back then like Chemdog, Blue Dream, and OG Kush. There was always brick-weed coming over the border from Mexico, but that stems and seeds garbage was far below the quality of good “chronic” or “crippy” buds like the sensimilla strains we snatched coming out of California. But as time went on, more and more people were growing cannabis in homes in our home state of New Mexico. The weed here is quite good, especially now that we have both legal medical marijuana sales and legal recreational sales. It took until 2021 for the state government to amend its rules regarding cannabis to make it legal for recreational sales and consumption. The taxes being collected on recreational cannabis sales in New Mexico will go to a number of causes including housing, food insecurity, and economic development. All of the other states that have legalized recreational cannabis in the years preceding us have already raised unbelievable amounts of tax revenues in just a handful of years of legal recreational cannabis sales. Being a resident of Albuquerque and seeing cannabis stores from Rio Rancho to South Valley makes me baffled and amazed to know that there are still states in this country that have absolutely no legal cannabis laws of any kind. They’re still stuck in the past and the failed Drug War.
Dispensary Albuquerque NM

I was wide awake when the Cocoa ac service provider arrived at 9 am

Last year after a bad rain storm, the AC in the house stopped working. At first I thought it was a power outage or a blown breaker. I troubleshooted the issue and watched a couple of videos. I didn’t have any luck, so I called a Cocoa, Florida AC repair service. I didn’t find anyone in Cocoa that was available. I had a person offer to come to the house from Melbourne, but I didn’t want to pay the extra service fee. I waited until the company and Cocoa had an available appointment. Going without AC that night was absolutely miserable. I spent most of the night wiping perspiration off my neck and back. It is not a choice that I would make again. I thought things would be fine after the sun went down. I have ceiling fans in the house and I had a couple of oscillating fans running as well. It was still totally and completely miserable. It was still 91 degrees outside at 10 at night. The temperature didn’t go down very much after the sun went out. I didn’t get much sleep at all that night. I was wide awake when the Cocoa ac service provider arrived at 9 am. I was hoping he could fix the problem quickly, but the issue turned out to be much more severe than I anticipated. I needed to replace the entire system. I wasn’t prepared to spend thousands of dollars on a brand new air conditioner, but I certainly didn’t plan to spend another night without AC in my home.

 

 

furnace companies Cocoa FL

I get frustrated when I can’t figure out how to fix a problem.

It makes me cranky and irritable.

It makes me anxious and annoyed easily. I am like a lot of other people. Sometimes it can be very difficult to control the anxiety. I had a customer that was filled with anxiety last week. The woman was definitely testing my patience. She called the Orland Park AC repair service where I work. My boss assigned me to the repair service call. I typed the Orland Park address into my GPS. The computer said I was 17 minutes from the address. I contacted the AC repair customer before I left the shop. I told the woman it would probably take 20 or 30 minutes. I anticipated a little bit of traffic on the freeway. The Orland Park customer seemed perfectly fine with my ETA, but she called about five minutes later. She wanted to double-check the address that I had for the job. I was in the middle of traffic, but I opened up my book so I could see the address and confirm with the customer. The woman called back a couple of minutes later, and she wanted to know if I was in the neighborhood. She claimed to see an AC repair service truck and thought that I was lost. I told the woman that I was still on the way and I gave her an updated time. She still called one more time before I arrived at the address. I have to be honest, I was really close to losing my patience by the time I got off the phone with that woman for the fourth time.
ac company Orland Park Illinois

I wasn’t just a bride, although I was becoming a Bridezilla, and I was about to go rip into multiple people at the nearby cannabis café

I’m not sure what I was thinking when I had my ceremony in Las Vegas, NE. Aside from the fact that Las Vegas, NV is a single of the biggest party scenes in the US, I do not think I easily put a lot of consideration into the thought, but as soon as every one of us got off the plane and got to the hotel, the entire ceremony party started going in strange instruction; My maid of honor and her hubby took off to find the nearest marijuana dispensary, and she had study that recreational marijuana was legal in Las Vegas, and she was going to buy enough to get the party started. Two panic attacks and an hour later, no a single was back, and it was time for the ceremony rehearsal and I was the only a single there. Fifteen fifths after I arrived, my fiancé arrived; He informed myself and others that 90% of our bridal party was busy eating cakes at the cannabis café, and i did not know if I wanted to be angry, or go get them, however every one of us were in the fabulous neighborhood of Las Vegas, NV, and all my friends wanted to do was go to a cannabis café. I wasn’t just a bride, although I was becoming a Bridezilla, and I was about to go rip into multiple people at the nearby cannabis café. I had my hands on my hips as I walked toward the door of the hotel to go outside! When I opened the door, it was only to bump my sibling in the nose with the door, causing all multiple of them to fall on top of each other. My sibling handed myself and others a bag with the slogan of the cannabis café written all over it, and a shout of congratulations.

 

Pot Shop Las Vegas NV

Two panic attacks and an hour later, no 1 was back, and it was time for the birthday rehearsal and I was the only 1 there.

I’m not sure what I was thinking when I had our birthday in Las Vegas, NE. Aside from the fact that Las Vegas, Nevada is 1 of the largest celebration scenes in the US, I do not guess I genuinely put a lot of consideration into the thought, then as soon as both of us got off the plane and got to the hotel, the entire birthday celebration started going in weird instruction… My maid of honor and her hubby took off to find the nearest marijuana dispensary, and she had learn that recreational marijuana was legal in Las Vegas, and she was going to buy enough to get the celebration started. Two panic attacks and an hour later, no 1 was back, and it was time for the birthday rehearsal and I was the only 1 there. Fifteen hours after I arrived, our fiancé arrived; She informed myself and others that 90% of our bridal celebration was tied up eating cakes at the cannabis café! I didn’t know if I wanted to be angry, or go get them! The two of us were in the fabulous town of Las Vegas, Nevada, and all our friends wanted to do was go to a cannabis café. I wasn’t just a bride, even though I was becoming a Bridezilla, and I was about to go rip into several people at the nearby cannabis café. I had our hands on our hips as I walked toward the door of the hotel to go outside, then when I opened the door, it was only to bump our sister in the nose with the door, causing all several of them to fall on top of each other. My sister handed myself and others a basket with the slogan of the cannabis café written all over it, and a shout of congratulations.

Weed Dispensary Las Vegas NV