Living Free – An Attitude? Part VII

This has been sitting in my folder since May 26th, so it’s old news. It’s been very busy since I got back to the east coast. But, here it is anyway.

Well, I’m now sitting in seat 26C on American Airlines Flight 76 from Los Angeles to Washington, DC – Dulles. The plane is nearly packed, but this is a 757 – it’s a bit larger plane, but for some reason there are a group of men who are all dressed in similar sweat suits congregating around my seat. I guess I just draw people to me. Of course, they are all speaking a foreign language, so I’m not conversing with them.

This has been a terrific trip. I explored what’s left of Hollywood’s recording industry last week, then stopped in Sherman Oaks and met an author I published a book for 10 years ago, then Santa Clarita, on the way to Fresno, and visited and re-acquainted with an old record mastering friend. Thursday evening I arrived in Fresno for 5 ½ days that included a really great family reunion – what fun. On Monday I went to King’s Canyon National Park with my son and others. Tuesday and Wednesday I spent time with my former mother-in-law. We went up into the lower part of the Sierra Nevadas on Tuesday. Wednesday we went in another direction into the foothills – found a little place to stop and have some breakfast. The origins of that little restaurant/bar/store went back to 1872 – there were actually pictures of the original building on the wall. It was probably THE general store for that area. The main part of the current structure was built around 1920. Of course, spending some time with my son was also a high point – and meeting my new nephew, Garrett – about nine months – was a treat, too.

Before I left Fresno yesterday afternoon, I stopped at a local Fresno recording/media production studio and enjoyed a pleasant visit with some of my “peeps” – recording industry folks. And finally, on my way back to LA last evening to catch my flight this morning, I stopped in Encino to make an interesting visit. I had programmed the address into my handy GPS, “Fiona,” and she took me right to the door of a woman I had never met before. But, as I pulled up, my old Air Force buddy that I stay with part of the time in Falls Church, VA, was standing there. He had flown in earlier in the day for a long weekend to rekindle a relationship with Karen, who he had not seen or communicated with for 27 years until she found him on the Internet about two or three weeks ago. It was the capper of a fantastic week of travel. Karen is terrific and she and Dave seemed to be very happy at reuniting, of course, they’re looking at an “across a continent” relationship – but, Hey, if it is meant to be - it will be.

So, now I prepare to return to “my (more or less) regular world.” I left my car with my mechanic when I left, so it should be back in good shape after my two recent “close calls” with what could have been catastrophic consequences. I was going to run into the office in Fairfax tomorrow, but I think I’ll just wait until Monday and take care of some things in Winchester instead. I’ll also write and post another blog posting for my friend and client who is letting me use an office in his complex. I’m looking forward to a reunion with an old high school friend I haven’t seen in 46 years on Saturday evening as he passes through Winchester specifically to get together. That will be fun. I also have a couple people interested in looking at my conversion van that I have for sale (in preparation for getting a large motor home). I’ll also catch up on some paperwork, get some stuff listed up on Craig’s list and on Ebay. I also want to contact my nomadic motor home friend, Dick, who just arrived back in Winchester for a few weeks after his last five month adventure.

So, this living free lifestyle is really great. My Twitter followers are growing slowly, but surely. I even found that Mark Victor Hanson, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books is following me. And my Facebook friends are growing as are my LinkedIn and Plaxo Pulse networks. I’m hoping my blog followers will continue to grow as well. I’m getting ready to kick off the Digital Media Consortium – the core group of 11 media professionals including myself are all signed into the group, I have the domain names registered and will start a Web site soon. And, the Articles of Incorporation are just about ready to submit to the State Corporation Commission for the Veteran Speakers Foundation which is an outgrowth of the 22 year old Veteran Speakers Retreat and will become the organizational structure to perpetuate the retreat and the Legend of the Speaking Profession designation that we created nearly 10 years ago and have over 50 inductees into.

Oh, and one other thing, I figured out how much it cost me to make this trip for 8 days across the continent – and this included the plane ticket that I used rewards points to purchase, the rental car for 8 days, six days in a Hilton hotel (or equivalent) meals, gas – the works and it came in at, well . . . less then $100 a day – all by purchasing on the Internet and finding great deals. That even makes this trip sweeter since I wanted for nothing (well, maybe a little nicer rental car would have been nice – I normally get upgraded because they are out of the car I ordered – not so this time).

Until next time,

Enthusiastically,
Ed