Will you live your Dream looking out the backyard window?

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From the desk of the Firedude

A reprint from 2005

I recently have gotten many private messages from those who are wanting to or considering full-timing. Some say it’s their dream. I thought I’d offer my take on it for those interested. Keep in mind it’s just my humble opinion and I honor everyone’s needs and opinion on the matter. This is just mine………………………….

The ‘ol Firedude is a simpleton I reckon. I worked my whole 33 year career as a firefighter, paying the mortgage, taxes, fighting with my mower and weed-eater and looking out my backyard window. I always had this dream over the years of selling out and full-timing in my RV. Of course these were just dreams of a man who ran 100 mph every day chasing sirens and red lights and beat himself up over his career narrowly escaping death on a few occasions and in the end winding up with a disabling injury. One that’s not obvious to an onlooker but nevertheless there and painful at times to say the least.

Towards the end of my career I began to have those “dreams” more often of full-timing. For several reasons I couldn’t keep the house AND live my dream. That wasn’t what really bothered me though. What really bothered me is I realized I would probably never live my dream at all. It was just a “picture” out my backyard window. I retired at 50 with all my health benefits paid for for life and had my health. Not rich money wise by anyone’s standards. I was looking out my backyard window one day and it hit me. I just worked most of my life and now it was time to retire from a career I loved more than anything in the world. Now it’s time to sit here and keep looking out my window and maintain this house because I might need it someday. I’ll just keep sitting here looking out my window and having my dream.

Nope I sold the house, bought my RV and began living my dream. I wasn’t about to sit there the rest of my life worrying about what might happen down the road or even when for that matter. I have met so many people who sat and looked out that window at their dreams and never did anything about it because what ifs. Those folks passed on and never lived their dream. Not for me.

When I get too old or due to health reasons I can’t travel anymore I’ll simply put the RV I have at that time in a park somewhere or sell it and rent or if the opportunity and means arise buy a small place. Pretty simply. I don’t want a house to maintain or even worry about having to sell to pay for medical expenses or a retirement facility. I don’t want the maintenance of such either.. If I can’t live in my RV any longer due to age or health I figure I’ll have to go into a care home anyway! Surely if I couldn’t live in my RV what would make me think I could handle a large home and everything to go with it??

My dad always told me, son when your dead you are gone a long time so do what you want and live your dreams the best you can. He’s right. I am living my dream and enjoying every minute of it and refuse to sit around worrying about tomorrow. It may never come. I hope the guy who bought my house looks out that rear window and sees his dream. I’m glad I’m not still there looking out that window dreaming. I’m living it now.

I know my outlook is not for everyone, it’s just the view of a old retired fire captain who had a dream and decided to live it. Everyone has their own needs and opinions on such. I just couldn’t sit there and look out that window at my dreams anymore and do nothing but leave a butt imprint in a recliner because I couldn’t afford to go anywhere or do anything. That’s not me..

If you have the means to keep your home or bank the money to buy one later and it works for you then great! My RV is my home. I love my home and enjoy my home. In my eyes it hasn’t depreciated. It’s MY home. In the meantime home is where I park it. Pretty simple stuff.

Money and material things used to come into play. Not anymore. A simple life and happiness are my priorities. Not worrying about tomorrow. If I spent all my time worrying about depreciation and appreciation I wouldn’t have time to live my dream!

I’m not sitting there looking out my backyard window dreaming. I’m on the outside looking back in and glad I decided to do what I did.

Whatever you do just don’t fail to live your dreams!! There isn’t a next time. There’s a million reasons and excuses not too. I almost got hung up in that scenario. If I did I’d still be sitting there looking out that window as time passed me by. I’ve never regretted it and haven’t looked back.

Living my dream I found a pot of gold.and an Adventure to boot. Incidentally my RV is not a toy as some may say, It’s my home and a comfortable one at that.

© 2008 Tony Cornett originally written 2-11-05

Healthy Eating: A Few Simple Tips

By Lynn Difley

Are you tired of counting calories, carbohydrates, or sugar in each food item? Do you feel overwhelmed by all the contradictory information about what you should eat and what you should shun? We in America tend to follow the latest food fad, from low fat to low carb in a head-spinning short time.
Despite our obsession with eating healthy, we are growing steadily more obese and the unhealthy risk factors for chronic and life-threatening diseases are increasing. What’s a poor bloke to do?
Eat food. No joke, many of the items on our plates or our Styrofoam boxes are not food items at all, but a mixture of processed non-food items. Consider the ridiculous notion of Atkins bread–bread that has the least amount of what makes a bread a bread.

To make your own choices, follow this practice:

• Don’t eat anything with a list of ingredients you can’t pronounce, or do not recognize.
• Trans fats and high fructose corn syrup are two warning phrases that indicate that the food is far from the way Mother Nature created it.
• Eat food that you have cooked, or could cook.
• Eat food that your grandmother would recognize.

And Another thing

Downsize rather than super size. Our tendency is to listen to the advertisements that tout “less fat” “fewer calories” “low carbohydrates” and then give ourselves open season on the quantity. We are eating 300 more calories than we did in l985. That’s enough to gain a pound about every 11 days. Multiply that by a year, and you will find out why the trousers you bought two years ago have become tight.
A few other tips about overeating:

• Don’t eat in front of the TV, or computer.
• Avoid seconds.
• Shop and eat better quality, not greater quantity.
• A Super anything is not necessarily tasty, as a matter of fact, you may consume three times more calories in your desire to have it taste better.
• The better the quality of food you eat, the less you will need to feel satisfied.
• How about one tiny square of the finest chocolate? It will make you feel like royalty, as you consume it with full awareness and appreciation.

Plants vs Meat

Eat lots of plants. Meat is not the enemy, but the quantity of meat as well as its overemphasis is what causes problems. Small amounts of meat can be used, as in Mediterranean, Asian, Indian, or Mexican cuisine to flavor, rather than be the whole meal. You are not doing your arteries or your waistline any favor when you gobble down a 10 oz steak.
Appreciate your food. No matter what you eat, sit down and savor it. Life is too short not to include the simple joy of eating delicious real food, prepared with love and care, served with joy, and shared with loved ones.

One Hot Tire–What Does it Mean?

Tire problems manifest themselves in many different ways, but what happens when the problem you’re having is out of the ordinary? Then it’s time to do some detective work. For example, a gentleman came up to me this past weekend at the Winnebago Rally in Rickreall, OR and told me how his 2007 coach had already blown the right inside dual three different times, and it only had 20,000 miles on it. The chassis builder replaced the first tire, but after that, they wouldn’t do replace it again. They had apparently checked it out several times, but couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Read more

RV Emergency Repair Kit

How likely is it that your RV will have a breakdown on the road? Most people assume a vehicle breakdown will never to happen to them. When it does happen, they have no plan and no equipment.

Regularly scheduled maintenance and a thorough pre-trip inspection improves the chance that your RV will perform up to par, but even with rigorous maintenance and care, the possibility remains that your RV might stall or that the unexpected will happen. Don’t be caught unprepared.

RV Emergency Preparedness Checklist
• Good Sam RV Emergency Roadside Service
• Spare tire – properly inflated
• High-quality, heavy-duty, long jumper cables
• Emergency contact information (medical, vehicle insurance, etc…)
• First-Aid Kit
• RV owners’ manual / a shop manual
• Flashlight with spare batteries
• Pocket knife
• Roll of duct tape

Basic toolkit:
• Hammer
• Combination wrenches
• Screwdriver set (various sizes Phillips and flat-head)
• Ratchet and Socket sets
• Torx bits
• Pliers

Additional supplies that you should carrry with you:
• Spark-plug socket
• Electrical test light (multimeter)
• Spare electrical wire, wire crimper and splicers, butt connector
• Roll of insulated 12-guage wire
• Spare engine drive belts
• Spare fuel filter
• Radiator hoses and hose clamps
• Spare fuses
• Extra motor oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid

Stay with Your Vehicle
If your RV experiences a roadside breakdown, have someone stay with the vehicle if possible and wait for a law enforcement officer or towing company to arrive. If you are unable to stay with the vehicle, leave a note on the dash with your name, date, time you left and direction you’re walking.

This article was brought to you by Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service

Carbon Monoxide, Silent and Deadly.

Today I want to talk to you about something many of us fear, Carbon Monoxide. This is the time of year when many of us start having to think about our furnaces, both in the camper and in the home. When that furnace comes on, if it isn’t working properly, you maybe exposed to Carbon Monoxide. I am sure you have all heard of the sad stories of people that have died from carbon monoxide, and it is no accident that these deaths occur this time of year.

But what is Carbon Monoxide, and why is it dangerous? Well, to be honest, it is nothing more than one carbon atom bonded to one oxygen atom. Very similar to what we exhale when we breath, which is Carbon Dioxide ( one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms). Carbon, oxygen and Hydrogen are often known as the building blocks of life. They are in almost everything you eat, breath or see. Heck, Water is H2O; air contains all three as does sugar! What makes Carbon Monoxide so deadly is its property of seeking bonds with other chemicals. Most importantly, it loves to bond with the Hemoglobin in the blood. In fact, it bonds many, many times more readily than oxygen. That is the root of the problem; once it bonds to the hemoglobin it doesn’t want to let go, and it replaces oxygen in the blood stream. No oxygen in the blood stream means there is no oxygen in your cells to keep them alive. Once carbon monoxide bonds to the hemoglobin, it can stay there till the blood cell dies in about 6 weeks, making that blood cell useless for carrying oxygen to things like your brain!

But where does carbon monoxide come from? Well, mostly it comes from incomplete combustion. Or to put it in easier terms — when something isn’t burning cleanly and completely, it produces carbon monoxide. One of the most famous things that doesn’t burn cleanly of course is your car; remember you mother telling you not to run the car in the garage or it would kill you? Well, your mother was right, (didn’t she always tell you she was always right?); the car burns the gas (carbon, hydrogen and oxygen mainly), and one of the by products is carbon monoxide. When you have your propane stove in your camper burning, you notice it burns with a pretty blue flame? That is complete combustion, the propane burns with the oxygen and produces heat and very, very minor amounts of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and water vapor. Now that same flame on your stove, if it isn’t burning properly, will turn yellow and/or orange. Now it is putting off much, much more carbon monoxide, and in a tightly sealed area will sooner or later raise the level of carbon monoxide. But that is a pretty small flame and a camper is not sealed that effectively. On the other hand, the flame used in your furnace and water heater are much larger, and if not burning properly produce many times the amount of carbon monoxide. This is when you run into problems.

So, what can you do to protect yourself? First off, check to see is your carbon monoxide detector is working properly. Read the owners manual and learn how to test and clean it properly. If it is over 5 to 7 years old, I would recommend getting a new one; older carbon monoxide detectors will give false alarms or no alarms. So replacing them is cheap life insurance. Second, make sure that your furnace, water heater and Oven are working properly; make sure the flue is open and there are no debris or wasp nests or anything else blocking them. You can blow air through the flue (if they have one) and make sure they are clean and open, then make sure your burners are adjusted properly; I have to say you should have them checked by a professional just to be safe, but remember clean, all blue flames are good, the more yellow and orange the worse it is. Usually the biggest problem is air movement, either taking the burnt gases away or getting oxygen to the burner. And opening the cover plate lets more oxygen in and can hide problems sometimes, but looking will give you some idea if things aren’t burning well. Just don’t think that “OH it worked last year so it will be fine THIS year”. Also remember to check your generator and its placement. The exhaust from a generator being run for hours on end produces carbon monoxide. Earlier this year there was a report of a tent camper dying from generator exhaust while camping at a NASCAR event, surrounded by other large campers and the like, which contained the deadly gas. So watch where the exhaust goes and your running hours too.

Now what to look out for. Even if you have checked your camper out and have put a new detector in, you still could have problems because carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless and tasteless. Most of the time carbon monoxide takes a while to build up and so often you don’t realize what is happening. But most of the time you will be worse over night or when inside for long periods of time. You will start to have headaches, feel lethargic, nausea and very weak. You might notice your fingernail beds and lips turning bluish and in late stages cherry red, also in the late stages there will be vomiting and unresponsiveness. If you think you or others have been exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide…. GET OUT of where you are at, into the fresh air, call for fire and EMS. Most fire companies will have portable CO detectors and, if you leave things the same, will be able to give you a exposure level from inside the camper. EMS will treat you with high flow oxygen and, if your carbon monoxide levels are high enough, advanced treatment will be needed. Once again the very young and the very old are more likely to have problems as well as those with cardiac and lung problems.

Remember to check your unit and watch for signs and symptoms, so you can protect your loved ones from this silent killer.

Your Obedient Servant,

Gary Smith, Jr.

How to Choose the Right RV for You

Many of the comments you made after the first blog entry relate to how to choose an RV, especially for women starting out. There is no simple answer. It depends on how often you plan to use your rig, where you want to park, how much experience you’ve had in the past, how much money you have to spend, and more.

Generally speaking, women traveling solo tend to buy motorhomes. They are easier to park, easier to hook and unhook the toad (if they even use one) rather than a tow truck, and easier to depart rapidly if a situation proves threatening. But even that is not a strict rule. Some women prefer driving a truck and hauling a fifth wheel or travel trailer. My guess is that they’ve had some prior experience. One of my favorite comments made by a solo woman (a trailer devotee) was, “I don’t worry about being in an unsafe situation and feel I have to hook up immediately. I don’t put myself into those environments.” Read more

Smart Wheel. Innovations In Steering Wheels

The Smart Wheel is a popular choice on many vehicles today, including many motor homes.  The term “Smart Wheel” is more a type rather than a brand.  It is more the term used for any steering wheel that contains multiple built-in switches and control devices.  But, today we will look at the Smart Wheel as it is on diesel pushers and mid engines that we have or see on many these motor coaches.

Read more

A last Minute Descision Before The Grand Adventure, Now Adding Solar!

We tend to do this to ourselves, make last minute decisions and then work frantically to make it happen. The ”add solar” decision was one that has been on the table for over a year, but only now acted on.  We dug out the records of last years cross country trip and looked at propane usage. We tend to boon-dock a lot and have found that our propane generator set is not the most efficient thing on the face of the earth. We figured that we run the generator between 2 and 4 hours a day when we only drive 250 miles a day. If we drive further then the generator usage goes down as there is more engine/alternator time to recharge the bank of house batteries. 2 hours use is 1 1/2 gallons of propane, at close to 4 bucks a gallon it comes out to 6 bucks a day times 180 days on the road boon-docking or a grand total of  $720. While $6 a day does not sound like much $720 is a respectable amount, and that is a minimum.  If we run the gen set closer to the 4 hours a day the cost could be $2800 for 180 days on the road.

So, with the numbers in hand we went shopping for a solar system to install on the roof of Rover. In the system we included a converter/inverter with a built in 100 amp battery charger, voltage regulators, wiring, and intallation material.  The cost was around $2500 delivered to the house.

The second step is batteries. Now here is where we lucked out. We have a battery powered golf cart with almost new batteries, six of them rated at 250 ampere hours each, and as we are not taking the golf cart with us on this trip, it is making a donation to the cause. That means that we will have 3 banks of a pair of 6 volt batteries putting out 12 volts at 750 ampere hours of power, plus the 8D heavy duty truck battery that currently supplies the coach power rated at 250 amere hours, or a total of 1000 ampere hours of 12 volt current available.

Even though the kit has not arrived yet work has begun. The batteries were removed from the golf cart and connected to a charger to top them off. The batteries are going in one of the compartments that used to hold tools. The tools have been transferred to the tool box that we installed on the car trailer last week. We have fabricated vents for the compartment as batteries give off hydrogen gas when being charged or discharged and that needs venting to prevent fires and explosions. The vents are so constructed that they will not allow water, splash from the road, when raining, to enter the compartment. The cables to connect the batteries to the existing circuits have been fabricated and are in the process of being installed. The battery hold down devices have been made and are waiting for the batteries to be installed tomorrow.

The hold downs for the batteries are important. One of the major causes of battery failure is when batteries are not tied down and bounce around. The shock of bouncing damages the plates in the battery and causes failure or internal shorts. So care was taken with the hold downs to be sure that they would secure the batteries properly.  The next concern is the weight of the batteries and where they are going. The compartment picked for the job is the one right behind the right rear wheel. This means that the right rear corner of the coach has just become 456 pounds heavier than it was before. This will certainly effect the rear wheel tire pressures but most of all could effect in a negative way the ride height of the coach.

To check this we will measure the ride height and record it. That will for these purposes be from the ground with the coach on a level surgface to the bottom of the rear bumper on each side. We will place the batteries in the compartment and then jump up and down on the rear bumper to settle the coach. Then measure again. Who knows we might have to find a better place for them or split them up.  Any difference more than an inch will make me rethink the position of the batteries.

Well next week we should have the system up and running and be able to tell you what probems we ran into along the way.

Till then, keep camping.

Brad & Lucy, and yes of course Kitty Kat Earl

Theatre Photography

Since this was part of what I did for a living prior to retiring, I thought it might be useful to make some suggestions for photographing performances.  Although most of you will probably not photograph plays, the techniques are useful for sports, concerts, dance shows, and many other types of presentations.

Read more

Offshore Drilling: Congress Caves In To Win Votes

By Bob Difley
The Democrats caved in again, this time allowing the ban on offshore drilling to expire, a ban that has stood for 15 years. I can hear some of you cheering already, thinking that this will finally bring some relief at the gas pump.
Funny thing, this idea. Neither the Democrats nor Republicans (unless issuing sound bytes to the press, pandering to the public, or running for president) feel that “Drill! Drill! Drill!” is anything but political mantra designed to stir up public emotions. The government itself has said that the amount of offshore oil we could bring to market will not get there for at least ten years* and when it does it will mean only a few cents at the pump. (* Why so long? One reason is the shortage of enough petroleum engineers and equipment, as stated in an article in the NY Times May 15, 2008, “Relentless increases in the price of steel are halting or slowing major construction projects world-wide and investments in ship-building and oil-and-gas exploration . . . ) Yet, because it is an election year, the Democrats yielded to anti-environmentalist sentiment and a gas-price-enraged public to win votes.
I’ve also had comments that if we would have started drilling off shore ten years ago, we would have that oil now. The same holds true for fuel efficient cars, which would have been a far more effective program.  Following the oil embargo of 1973-74, Congress passed the CAFE standards that required new cars to achieve a doubling of fuel economy from abut 13.5 mpg to 27.5 mpg in ten years. And it happened. Europeans and Japanese raised gasoline taxes at the same time to fund alternative sources of energy, so they wouldn’t have to go through a fuel shortage again.
So what did we do after the price of gas settled down and the fuel economy standards were met by the car manufacturers? Nothing. Not a move was taken either by the President or Congress to continue forcing the auto manufacturers to improve economy standards to keep oil prices low and to reduce our imports of foreign oil. In fact, President Reagan rolled back the standard from 27.5 mpg to 26 mpg. Not only that, he slashed the budgets of the alternative energy programs, and along with Congress allowed the incentives for solar and wind start-ups to lapse.
So what did the other governments do in that same time frame? The Japanese, with the extra fuel taxes, invested in fuel efficiency so that now Japanese autos dominate in fuel efficiency. (And the high price of gas encouraged Japanese drivers to favor fuel efficient cars, unlike in America where car manufacturers, Michigan legislators, and the United Auto Workers union continued successfully to lobby Congress to NOT raise gasoline taxes, NOT to create fuel efficient cars, and to have SUVs labeled as light trucks that were not bound by the CAFE  fuel economy standards, therefore creating the demand for inefficient, gas-guzzling, polluting behemoths—which also, Surprise!, earned the auto makers their largest profits.) France invested in nuclear energy from which it now gets 78% of its energy. Denmark went for wind, along with solar, and now produces 16% of its total energy requirement from these clean, renewable sources, as well as creating an export industry that helped grow their economy by 70% by providing clean energy jobs. Brazil adopted ethanol as a fossil fuel alternative and now produces enough ethanol that it not only does not have to import foreign oil but sells ethanol on the export market—to the US!
Had we not allowed those with a strong oil agenda to control congress and the senate, and had we increased mileage only to what other, less developed countries—including China—have accomplished in fuel economy standards, we would already (1) Be paying a lot less at the pump, (2) Have eliminated—yes, eliminated—the need for any OPEC oil, (3) Reduced our greenhouse gasses well below the target 1990 levels, and (4) Have no need to endanger our natural lands and feed additional subsidies to oil companies to proceed with unnecessary oil drilling. We should be embarrassed that every other country has made wiser decisions than the supposed world leader, and that we still continue to defend our use of 25% of the world’s energy, while moving like a slug toward clean, sustainable, energy independence.
Here is what the Union of Concerned Scientists says about increased domestic drilling. “The oil savings from fuel economy dwarf potential domestic oil resources. Oil resources will take decades to develop, and will save at the most pennies per gallon, according to the Energy Information Administration. Because savings from reduced gasoline use go directly to consumers, rather than to oil companies, fuel economy should be our first choice.”
That’s not all. Congress passed a bill in 2007 to increase the fuel economy standard to 35 mpg by 2020. Yet analysis from Bush’s own administration shows that we could reach that milestone five years sooner. Figure out how much that would save in oil imports and savings at the pump over that un-needed five year period.

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