By Emily Woodbury
I’m writing this from inside a little cabin perched on a snow-soaked mountain. I escaped for the weekend to Winthrop, WA, a small western town east of the Cascade Mountains. I’m here to ski, and snowshoe, one of which I’ve never done before. Rember what I said last week about trying new things and learning new things? I’m taking my own advice.
Thanks to those who commented on last week’s post, where I asked you to tell me something you’ve recently learned. Barbara Manchin left a comment that I really liked. She reminds us to notice, and learn from, the small things. She wrote: “I was reaffirmed that my grandchildren are amazing! We visited a TX state cemetery at an opportune time for our middle school grandson to recognize names in the history he is learning. We learned so much, and history is now prominent in his mind.”
OK, now on to business! Last Saturday we wanted to know, “How satisfied were you (or are you) with your RV’s factory warranty?” We’re pleased to report that a combined 57 percent of you are pretty darn satisfied and had a great, or superb experience. That being said though, more than a quarter, 27 percent, said your experience was poor or terrible, and 11 percent of you have never needed to use your factory warranty.
On Monday we asked you if you ever get tired of living in a small space. A little more than half, 51 percent, of you said yes, sometimes, but still, 45 percent of you said nope, you never tire of it. A small 4 percent of you said you miss having more space and think the RV is too small.
Along those same lines, on Tuesday we asked if you would ever consider living in a tiny home (one that’s not an RV), and, well, no, 56 percent of you would not. However, 26 percent of you said maybe (though probably not), and a whole 17 percent of you said yes. Interesting! Look at all these amazing tiny homes, jeesh!
According to Wednesday’s question, it turns out most of you (77 percent) do not have a washer or dryer in your RV. Does it make you jealous of the 23 percent who do?
Thursday’s poll results were pretty impressive. We wanted to know if you ended up in a profession you never imagined when you were young. And yup, we understand that we goofed on the question (hadn’t had enough coffee yet when writing that one). We wanted to know if you ended up in the profession you thought you’d end up in, and thankfully, I think most of you decoded that. Ha. Anyways, 39 percent of you said you did end up in that profession, but you went through other jobs first, and 32 percent of you said you’ve only had one profession your whole life (now that’s impressive!). Some of you, 14 percent, said you started off in that profession but then changed to something different, and 15 percent of you did something entirely different.
OK, friends. Time for some breakfast and time to get these Jell-O legs onto some skis. Wish me luck. I’d love (I mean really love) to come home with all my limbs. Enjoy your weekend, keep learning, and see you next week.
Barbara Manchin is fortunate that her grandson is being taught history, I drove a school bus 6 yrs before retiring and from what the kids told me they didn’t know the first thing about any history, that was in AL. Nor did they learn about geography. We are currently wintering in south Texas and from an experience my wife had when she went to the Dr.here TX must not be teaching geography. After she left the Dr.office she had to have some labs done and at the lab the young lady was getting my wife’s insurance info and when my wife emphasized our insurance was with BC/BS of Michigan the young lady asked her “what’s Michigan ?” We left and found another lab because we knew that young lady would screw up and we’d have to pay for the lab work. The next lab had a middle age lady and when my wife mentioned the previous lab she said she wasn’t surprised. The first lab lost money due to the incompetence of uneducated employees.
My geography shock was to be asked if Canada was located between France and Germany. Asked by a really nice young woman from rural N.C.
Hello to all, I started my education in NYC, Astoria Queens in 1958. My father bought a house in Deer Park L.I. and was left back going to 1st grade because the country education level was higher then the city (1959). So here is my point, I have this little game I do by asking the young people who bag at the local supermarkets, My wife says it is mean to ask things like what year did we become a country?, vice president’s name? . I could not hold a straight face if I asked how many states in AMERICA. So being a post Korean War baby- baby boomer- old man- don’t know anything about anything. By the 5th grade I knew all three branches of government, Pilgrims,president, vice president, the house and congress leaders it was called Social Studies, could name all 50 states, had a good idea about the countries that where on this planet and may I bring up the civil defense drills where we would crawled under your desk and kissed your bottocks good bye for the big bomb may come at anytime. And man did I love those paddles, the so called board of education. So what becomes when all us dumb people leave this earth???? GOD only knows!!! Jim
I went to school back in 50’s and 60’s in inner city Chicago. It was a different place back then. We not only learned history and geography. We learned how to read and write, put our thoughts down on paper using correct spelling and grammar (gasp!), and also how to make change from a dollar. I think a lot of this is lost art these days. I don’t want to sound like a doom and gloomer, but I really fear for the future of our country.
Some of the questions we get: do you ‘still’ live in igloos, is all travel by dog sled, do you need a passport to visit, can you really see Russia from your porch, are you part of Canada? And on and on. The answers are: no, no, only if you drive up, yes if you live on little Diamede island, and no. Guess where I’m at?
Alaska