Talking through yesterday’s Wordle #395

Just to alleviate your fears, this post is about yesterday’s wordle (Tuesday, 7/19) so it won’t spoil today’s game. Below I’ll explain what I was thinking as I made my guesses. Maybe this will be fun, maybe not! But heerrrre we go….

Choice #1. Everyone knows the first guess is 100% a shot in the dark. So I started with a word that was heavy on consonants and light on vowels. And now as I’m typing this, I realize this was a Wordle word a few weeks back. Doh!

Choice #2. I wanted to keep the “RA” together but wasn’t sure if I should move them to the first two blocks or not. I couldn’t really think of many words that started with “RA” so I moved them to the right instead.

Choice #3. OK, back to my original idea, using them in the first two blocks. Rabid is a common word, right? Speaking of which, I saw a sick raccoon once, I think it had rabies. Video is here.

Choice #4. I might as well buy property on the 4th row because I rarely solve the riddle before this. Keeping the “RA” together doesn’t seem to be the solution, so I gotta split them up. Do you ever type in letters, assume it’s not a real word and then hit ‘enter’? Of course, I did! *Eye roll* What the heck kind of word is “ACKER”??

Choice #5. Now I’m just angry. Oh wait. Of course.

And that’s how my Wordle experience went yesterday. Like I said, I live on the 4th row but I’ve been lucky a few times to get it in two, or a handful of times in 3. Check back each day at 1pm central for new posts! I think this Wordle explanation thing will become a recurring post, so check back each day for a new post.

Thanks for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness

Amazon’s Back to School Ad – Celebrity, Crayons, and Comparisons

Amazon has chimed in on how to beat the high gas prices, even citing the rising fuel costs in a new ad encouraging viewers to use their service for “back to school” supplies. There’s a series of ads, but here’s the 30-sec version…

This ad is quite a bit more simple in its delivery and production than a few of their others (see Cleopatra and Medusa commercials). The star (Kathryn Hahn, on Instagram here) playfully interacts with students while trying to convince us to use Amazon for crayons, clothes, and computers.

Not to burst Amazon’s bubble, but I’ve found that Dollar Tree, for example, has an amazing assortment of products, all for around $1.25. They even have a section online devoted to “back to school.” Dollar Tree might not have celebrities endorsing them in cute ads, but what Kathryn Hahn’s says at the end of the commercial about gas prices is most certainly true. And because it’s true, finding a box of crayons for $1.25 is better for your wallet than what you’ll probably find on Amazon (Crayola crayons for $6.40).

This is not a paid endorsement for Dollar Tree, but hey, DT if you’re reading this… I’ve got a Venmo!! 😉

Thanks for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness

Will I have to cancel my next camping trip??

What happens when you have to schedule some repair work for your RV or travel trailer? You might have to cancel or reschedule trips! That also means feeling bummed… which is past sad but not quite as far as devastated.

Sad Family Time GIF by Lifetime - Find & Share on GIPHY

That’s exactly what happened to me recently when I brought in my trailer for a slide-out repair. The idea of cancelling an upcoming trip was becoming more and more of a reality with every passing day. I mean, with the supply chain issues and yada, yada, yada, I was almost sure the trip was a bust. The story goes like this… I dropped off my trailer at a repair shop one day, a shop that shall go unnamed, and even though I had an appointment, it basically sat in their lot for two weeks! TWO WEEKS!!!

You Dont Say Nicholas Cage GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

They hadn’t even looked at it for 10 business days. So yeah, I was 62% upset and 79% disappointed. But then I found another repair shop, that shall be named (Southern RV Repair in Quincy, FL), that just felt right so I took a chance. Could my upcoming trip still happen??

Anticipation Popcorn GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

On the same day I picked up the trailer from shop #1, I dropped it off at shop #2, fingers crossed the work could be done in time for me to still go on the planned adventure. To spoil the story, I’ll just say it this way… Southern RV Repair is now shop #1 and that other shop isn’t even on my list anymore. Advice to anyone in this situation is very simple.

1. Pray

2. Find a reliable tech

Because of the miracle workers at Southern RV, I won’t have to cancel my trip after all!

Standing Ovation Applause GIF by The Maury Show - Find & Share on GIPHY

This is huge news because the next multi-day availability at this park was waaaayyyy into 2023. Sad day, right? But it’s NOT a sad day because I kept my reservation and now I’m pumped… which is past happy and teetering on the outskirts of cloud 9. 

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

10 Great Elvis Presley Songs You May Not Have Heard Before

I’m sure there are a million lists out there ranking the best Elvis Presley songs. We all know the truth, beauty is in the eye of the beholder… so my favorite (“An American Trilogy”) might not be yours (because you’re just crazy?). But for today’s post, I’ve put together a list of Elvis songs you may not have heard before. Well, maybe you HAVE heard them. If so, lucky you! I don’t remember them before I became a big Elvis fan over a decade ago. I guess I’d call them “lesser known songs” but they were probably just lesser known to me. Anyway, I became a fan and have since come to appreciate so much of his music. A lot of the exposure came by way of the Elvis Channel on SiriusXM, so obviously that’s my first preset station in my truck. Poor button is getting worn out! 😉

Take a listen, and enjoy these great songs… 

Love Letters…

Wooden Heart…

Crying in the Chapel…

Just Pretend…

Heart of Rome…

Trying to Get to You…

Are You Lonesome Tonight (Laughing version)…

Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain…

Blueberry Hill…

Long Black Limousine…

Thank ya, thank ya very much… for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness

The Unforgettable Movie Trailer – Smile

The previews have all played and the lights come down for the feature presentation. You probably know the excitement of that moment, right? For the next hour or two, we’ll be immersed in a story that makes us feel happy, sad, excited, scared, angry, or confused (Inception, anyone?). I remember one of these occasions and because I love getting to the theater early to watch the trailers, I saw every one of them. Then the auditorium got even a little darker and the movie started. The first scene was a bank robbery and I remember vividly thinking, “This is an interesting way to start the movie.” I think I was there to see a rom-com, to be honest. I was a little confused why they would start with a bank robbery but I was “all in” anyway. A few minutes into it, my mind was blown when Joker appeared on screen! What was happening??? Was I in the wrong theater!? Nope. Nope, I wasn’t. What I was watching was a very clever advertisement for the upcoming Batman film. Instead of a trailer, they just showed a scene from the movie. I’ll never forget that because of it’s simple originality. And you bet your Dusty buns I went to watch Batman when it came out a few months later!

Well, something similar happened again when I went to watch Top Gun: Maverick. Two movies in two days (the first was Elvis), so I saw a lot of movie previews. This time, I wasn’t tricked into thinking the featured movie was starting but the trailer was so odd, random, and mind-boggling that I rank it right up there with the Batman experience from a few years earlier. Soon after I got home I watched the full trailer because I just had to know what the movie was all about. The movie is called Smile and the trailer’s below. Who knew a smile could be so dang creepy? You can bet your hot dog buns I’ll be watching this movie.

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness