I'm trying to write,...really I am!

I think of what I want to say and exactly how I want to say it, then I login to Blogger and ...nothing comes out.... it's all jumbled, as if somebody erased all the writing on the chalkboard in my head and just left a few white chalky swirls and streaks. Does this ever happen to any of you?

This terrible loss of Margie and Bruce that we've all suffered seems to have just left me stunned.

I am going to write about it here though, for my readers, friends and family who know nothing about it yet. I've already started it, but, went blank, so just saved it to draft. I'll just keep adding until it's finished, and then publish it for those who don't know yet. Patience please.
- Mary Ann :*(

Fellow blogger senselessly killed while walking...

Margie Mallin
~ R.I.P. ~

Bruce Mallin
~ R.I.P. ~

The following news article (and video) is sadly about Margie and Bruce Mallin.

I considered Margie my friend, even though we had never met in person (we had hoped to meet someday). We were fellow bloggers and fellow RV'ers and members of a blogging community that had inadvertently become a circle of friends...people with both similar and much varied interests who look forward to reading each others blogs, comments and sometimes emails, enjoying each other's photos of our travels, families and friends....getting to know and genuinely care about one another in this cyberworld...and sometimes, luckily get the chance to meet in person. This "circle" has grown considerably since I started blogging here a little over a year ago...and the circle continues to grow.

Margie
Reading others' blogs here is something that I look forward to doing as often as I can and Margie's blog was always one of the first that I aimed for when logging in. There are so many wonderful, interesting people from all walks of life and all different kinds of backgrounds...and I feel honored and happy that all of you share your lives with us and that you allow me to share our lives with you.

Many of you have already learned of the following tragedy, but I am posting this anyway for the benefit of my family, my friends and readers who may not know about it yet.

Margie and Bruce deserve to be remembered for a long time to come.


From: CalCoastNews.com
Two people struck and killed by jilted driver
October 16, 2010 6:36 pm

An Oceano man killed two people in Pismo Beach in an attempt to harm himself in front of a restaurant his former girlfriend was working in, at about 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, sources said.

Jerardo Iriarte, 19, of Oceano drove his car off Highway 101 in Pismo Beach and struck two pedestrians killing them. Iriarte survived and was transported to Arroyo Grande Hospital with moderate injuries.

Shortly before the accident, Iriarte had been in Marie Callender’s restaurant at 2131 Price Street arguing with a former girlfriend who refused to see him anymore. Sources report that Iriarte was clearly angry as he left the restaurant and took off in his car.

Moments later, Iriarte drove southbound on Highway 101 at a high rate of speed, steered the black Toyota Corolla towards the restaurant and drove through the chain link fence that separated the highway from Price Street. His car continued traveling south on Price Street where it struck 63-year-old Bruce Mallin and his 59-year-old wife Marjorie Mallin.

The Mallins left Tumwater Washington to become full time travelers in 2008. They posted regularly on their blog, Bruce and Margie’s Full Time Journey.

“This morning they were taking a typical walk in Pismo and someone driving a car struck them both down,” the couples daughter Stephanie said on their blog earlier today. “Unfortunately, neither of them survived this tragic accident.

“The individual was attempting to commit suicide and struck them where they walked. The police are treating this as a homicide at this time.”

Police arrested Iriarte on two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. He was booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail with bail set at $50,000.

Celebrated my wonderful son's 26th birthday Wednesday evening.

We celebrated my son's 26th birthday Wednesday evening. Everyone is always so busy living their own lives now, that it's not always easy to get together for these occasions....many of you know what that's like. We decided to get together at the kid's Dad's gig because it was fairly close for us all and it was fun! (I still think the kid's Dad is a terrific guy and we're the best of friends!...and William agrees wholeheartedly!....I'm a very lucky gal.)

Time really does fly...I remember so clearly holding my baby boy in my arms and taking him to the historical museum...he loved the huge working model train display there...and the main (huge) Detroit Public Library...he loved the map room. I spent a few years there doing research on Southeast Asia (learning about the Hmong people)...and always took him with me. His Dad was a few blocks away studying music composition and theory at the University. Those were very tough times, but very good memories.

My son Tanis and daughter Maire

Tanis and Maire

Tanis and Maire with their Dad
(at his gig...hence, the crazy glasses)

Tanis and Maire with their Dad and Tanis' girlfriend Ashley

Results of the Sam's Club / Costco poll

A big thank you to all who voted in my Sam's Club / Costco poll.
The votes are kind of interesting, but the poll was kind of pointless, I guess.
I didn't realize that some states have just one or the other, and some have neither, so....oh well.

We have both in Michigan and I had been hearing a lot more people mentioning Costco lately, so I wondered if it might be worth switching? We only go a few times a year to stock up on toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex, laundry detergent, dish soap and stuff like that. Occasionally, we do a little grocery shopping there too, and it used to be a good place to buy some of the vitamins we use (not anymore)...now we buy those through
http://SwansonsVitamins.com, great selection, great prices, excellent quality, excellent service.

Anyway, 17 people voted and here are the results:

Sam's Club - 3
Costco - 8 (47%)
Other - 0
Neither - 5
Both - 1

Thanks again everyone! :-)

UPDATE: Photos of the man who died on our porch...(WARNING: Don't look if you think this will bother you)

Personally, I find this interesting, but, I know that some of you won't.
Also, I'm sure that Larry would not mind the photos (as I wouldn't either if it were me, as long as there are no naked body parts showing, and no pictures of me drooling or anything else terribly unflattering.)

The coroner said that Larry's autopsy would be late Sunday and the family should have that information on Monday. I'll update again when I know more.

Larry's son and daughter-in-law are with Larry's wife, and I believe another daughter is on her way to stay with her mother. The young police officer who delivered the sad news to Larry's wife (with an ambulance at hand, just in case) told us that she took the news very, very hard. William and I have been praying for the family.

We're actually glad that Larry chose our porch. William's Grandfather died in this house, peacefully in his sleep. This house has a very good "feeling" about it (good vibes)... and anyone who visits says that, too. A lot of love and laughter has filled this house since 1969 when William and his parents moved here from West Virginia. (It was built in 1922 by a family that we know nothing about.) William's Mother, step-father and Grandfather (an Italian immigrant, coal miner) lived very happily here for many years until their deaths (terminal illnesses).

Link to album,
if you want to view the photos differently:

Larry died on our porch Saturday, Oct 2, 2010

A man died on our front porch today...

Just when I thought things were quieting down a bit,
...a man died on our front porch today.
So sad. You just never know, do you?

He was a local neighborhood guy that lived a few blocks a way. He was 73. He walked over this way quite often to say hello to us and some of the other neighbors on our block. We figure that he came by because he wanted to see the inside of our new RV (like he did last year)...but, he never rang the doorbell or knocked. He just sat down on our glider on the front porch and sort of "fell asleep", sitting straight up (he didn't fall over sideways like you would think).

I was still sleeping just on the other side of the wall from him in the bedroom (if there was no wall, our heads would have been about ten inches apart) and William was watching football in the living room. I was tossing and turning in my sleep (maybe I sensed it?)...until I heard a neighbor pounding on our door.

The mail lady noticed he was dead (well, not right away) when she came to deliver our mail...she told us that she thought he was a Halloween decoration at first, I'm not kidding! She looked again when she was across the street from us and thought it looked strange, so she told our neighbor and then I heard him (the neighbor) pounding on our door. I jumped out of bed (literally). We thought he was joking at first. Then I called the police.

The police were here right away and they just sort of hung around all that time ...they knew him and liked him. The police evidence tech figured he had been dead for over half an hour before the mail lady noticed him. He (Larry...that was his name) sat on our porch for about four hours before the county coroner finally showed up.

Sad thing is, Larry's wife of forty years just came home from the hospital two days ago after heart surgery.

Gosh, I thought I would be writing to fill you all in on our "adventures" (said with tongue in cheek) over the past two weeks. ...as I said on my Facebook page the day before yesterday; Whew! What a crazy "Murphy's Law" kind of past two weeks it's been!!! Just chillin' now...will play "catch up" as soon as we take care of a few more glitches.

Well, now we need a little more time to "catch our breath"...so I'll try to catch up soon folks.

And....yes...you might think I'm morbidly curious, but, I did take photos (I know that Larry would not mind a bit and he had quite a sense of humor)...but, I can't post any yet, until I make some room on this old Dell laptop for more photos.

I'm a bit "out of sorts" at the moment, so ...later folks....
- Mary Ann :-(