Will you live your Dream looking out the backyard window?

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... Read more

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... Read more

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  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... Read more

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... Read more

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  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  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... Read more

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  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... Read more

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