THIS close.....

UPDATE 06/28/12: Delayed again!!!! I am afraid to put a departure date here for the risk of jinxing it. Suffice to say, plans still on....implementation is the goal. Stay tuned.

UPDATE 06/22/12: All is back in the van! NOT organized, but back in and my friend in Hanover has his garage and sidewalk back. Having a real problem getting motivated and staying positive, but doing my best to forge ahead anyway. Problem facing yours truly today are the incoming, heavy storms and my ability to get the interior hospitable to my sleeping in the bed. If I can't pull all the stuff out to really organize, I wind up in the front seat overnight and get maybe an hour or two of sleep.

Please welcome today's celebrity, noted tree hugger Leonardo DiCaprio. Not to be confused with the town of Leonardo, New Jersey, illustrated in this next photo:

Location for the feature film "Clerks" by @ThatKevinSmith. This is yours truly recreating a moment from that film.
(I know...I know...I'm a dork!)

Right now I am closer to actually heading out and on my way to my new life! I have 4 things that MUST be accomplished with The Sovereign Conversion Van Of Wonders in order to let the rubber hit the road. The current HIGH TEMPS we are experiencing here is a bit of a problem because the tasks are outdoor, labor related.

Don't forget, I am all old and stuff. And I have been visited by The Summer Gastro-Olympics, due to a couple of factors....one of which gave me a bit of an epiphany.

A. A pre-existing condition that evolved into Diverticulitis a couple years back.

B. By not eating for days at a time, my digestive system is all confused. It doesn't know if it's on vacation or it's business as usual. Suffice to say, every day brings me a surprise!

C. External aggravating issues that seem to impact that area of my person, inspiring occasional to frequent episodes of losing....... 
                     !!!FOCUS!!!

I have to plan out the next couple of days, which include a variable at this time. Said variable is not essential to leaving, but is significant for other reasons.

It really comes down to "fish or go drown myself".

We'll see.

On a couple of more positive notes...

I was in a convenience store getting cheap smokes when a woman approaches me and asks....

"Is that your van out there?"

With a bit of trepidation I said..."yes"...not knowing if I was about to be verbally assaulted or not. Just then she says either...

"YOU'RE BRILLIANT!"

or

"YOU'RE A GENIUS!"

I don't recall exactly which because I was taken aback... not what I was expecting.

Turns out she is a big fan of my writing and ways of looking at things. This led to a very nice conversation and she offered me some help getting to Mississippi. Couldn't have come at a better moment as I was REALLY spent...had slept perhaps 5 hours over 3 days...not eaten in 4....and was dancing around morose.

It certainly altered my direction in quite a nice way!

Also...this.....

Saw this guy while walking around Keansburg Amusement Park on Sunday. I asked if I could take a picture, and he was more than happy to pose. After getting the shot, as I walked away, I noticed a couple of patches to his vest out the corner of my eye.

One was a POW-MIA black patch and the other a military one I don't recall which branch. I asked him if he was retired military, to which he replied he was.

I reached out with my hand to shake his and thanked him for his service. His face really lit up, eyes a wee watery, and replied "God bless you!" to me.

Made me really glad I stopped to get the picture. And I said/say back to him, "God bless you, as well".

Will post again, soon.

Until next time....