Terry and I are still feeling crappy. I suspect that what we thought was a cold may be the flu. Whatever it is, it sucks.  We had better get well soon, because we’re about out of meds, and we both have cabin fever.

I’d like to say that I’m taking advantage of the downtime to get a lot of work done, but the truth is that my head has just been too foggy to get much accomplished. I tried writing a couple of stories over the last two days, but when I went back to read them, even I could not make any sense of what I was trying to say.

I also spent some time working on the schedule for our upcoming Arizona Gypsy Gathering rally in Yuma in March. Unfortunately, a couple of our regular seminar presenters won’t be there, due to scheduling conflicts. Mac McCoy has to be in Perry, Georgia for the FMCA convention the next week, and that doesn’t allow him any traveling time, so I’m afraid we won’t have his Fire Safety seminar. This will be the first time Mac has missed one of our rallies, but we understand the logistics that will keep him away.

I’m always looking for new seminar topics, so if you have an idea for a seminar you’d like to see, or if you have one you would like to present, send me an e-mail and tell me about it.

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For years I have done a seminar on working the road, based upon my book Work Your Way Across The USA.  But now I’m trying to put together a seminar on small businesses that RVers can operate as they travel. There are a lot of things out there that can be done from an RV, from flea market vending, to internet based businesses, RV repair, and more. If you operate a business from the road, and would care to share an idea or two, please e-mail me at editor@gypsyjournal.net.

While we’re on the subject of RV related businesses, a while back a fellow named Gary Smith, who operates an RV awning repair business in Oregon, contacted me and asked me to review a new fourteen set DVD course that teaches people how to start their own RV awning repair business. I must say that I was very impressed with Gary’s program, and if I were a handy person looking for a small RV related business to start, this is one I’d really consider.

The DVDs explain the basics of the business, including how to get started,  proven advertising techniques that have served Gary for over 20 years, and in depth explanations on how to do everything from replacing window awnings, to RV awning hardware repair, replacing awning fabric, screen rooms, and more. After watching Gary’s careful explanations and demonstrations, I think even I could swap out an awning if I had to!

Gary says that besides the DVD course, buyers can contact him anytime they run into a problem with an awning repair or installation for his expert advice on how to get the job done.

How impressed was I with Gary’s program? Enough that when we get back to Arizona, I’m going to talk to my son-in-law about the possibility of him setting up his own awning repair business!

To learn more about Gary’s RV Awning Repair Course, click the link and check it out. If you decide this might be a good business idea for you, call Gary at (541) 247-0185 and tell him I sent you, and he’ll give you a discount off the regular price of the course. Give it a look, this might be a good match for you!

While I was moaning and groaning yesterday, Bad Nick took the time to post a new Bad Nick Blog titled And Now, Your Honor. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Friends are the sailors who guide your rickety boat safely across the dangerous waters of life.

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It’s Black Friday, let the madness begin! For the next month, I will do everything in my power to avoid any WalMart, Sam’s Club, Best Buy, or any of the other big box stores. I just can’t handle the crowds and all of the “happy” holiday shoppers pushing, shoving, and scrabbling to save a buck on something, or to find that perfect Christmas gift for somebody on their shopping list. Bah humbug!

I’m not against Christmas, but we have gotten so far away from the reason for the holiday that these days, it is all about the almighty dollar. It wears me out very fast.

Miss Terry says she’s feeling somewhat better today, and I think I’m on the upswing too. I spent most of yesterday doing the same thing I did the day before, sleeping a lot and sniveling even more.

Our friends Joe and Marcia Jones came by to say hello, and we visited for a little bit before they went over to the activity center for the big Thanksgiving dinner. We stayed home, because neither of us felt like being in a crowd of people, and because we didn’t want to make everybody else sick too.

We watched some movies on the Hallmark channel, and Terry made us a delicious anchovy aioli pasta dinner, with homemade Italian bread. Who says you have to have turkey on Thanksgiving anyway? Do I look like a pilgrim to you?

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In the evening, my daughter called from Show Low, Arizona, and while I was talking to her, Terry’s mom called from Apache Junction. We miss our families during the holidays, but I have to be honest and admit that I really do like having a quiet day at home too.

We’re only going to be here at the Escapees campground a couple more days, because we are scheduled to go back to the Orlando Thousand Trails on Sunday, so we can get the Blue Ox base plate installed on the Explorer next week at Camper Connection. I’m hoping that we’ll get to feeling well enough to hit some of the local RV parks around here and drop off sample bundles of the Gypsy Journal before we leave.

Somebody wrote to ask me if I wasn’t worried about not having our whole winter booked up here in Florida, and if we were going to be able to find a campground to get into, once all of the snowbirds start flocking in during the next few weeks.

We’re really not concerned, we purposely have not booked any long term stays anywhere, because we want to be able to bounce around and do whatever we feel like doing, wherever we feel like doing it, while we’re here. Between Thousand Trails preserves, Escapee campgrounds, Passport America, Elk and Moose lodges, and VFW posts that welcome traveling members, we figure we can always find somewhere to park.

We’ve had to be someplace at some certain time for so much of the last few years that we are really enjoying the freedom of not having a schedule. The only place we have to be is Yuma in early March, for our Arizona Gypsy Gathering rally.  Hey, if worse comes to worse, there is always Camp WalMart! Wherever we end up, we’ll be together, and that’s all that matters, right?

Thought For The Day – When you’re willing to be seen as someone who makes mistakes and has flaws, you’re essentially telling yourself being human isn’t something to be ashamed of.

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It’s windy again here in Northern Arizona, go figure. Yesterday,  for the fourth time in four weeks, Interstate 40 east of Flagstaff was closed due to high wind and blowing dust. Will it ever stop?

The wind blew hard all day yesterday, with gusts over 60 miles per hour. It never let up all night long,and today we have more of the same. The weather report says we can expect sustained winds at 25 to 40 miles per hour, and gusts over 60 miles per hour. I think I know what the Oakies in the Dust Bowl must have felt like.

The storm system is also bringing more cold weather, with highs in the upper 40s and low 50s the next couple of days, and Friday night it is supposed to get down to 29 degrees! This sucks. I love visiting with my daughter and her family, but I’m already looking forward to getting someplace warmer. Hopefully someplace where I can open the motorhome door without the wind trying to rip it off its hinges.

I spent yesterday loading a new version of QuickBooks Pro into my computer, and then setting it up for our bookkeeping.

Then I loaded Family Tree Maker 2010. I have been using Ancestry.com for my genealogy research, and since this is an Ancestry product, I was looking forward to adding its capabilities to my family tree search. To be honest, so far it hasn’t really impressed me. I don’t see what I can do with it that I couldn’t already do just with my Ancestry.com subscription. Time will tell.

The new 3G Apple iPads are scheduled to hit the stores on Friday, and I really, really wish there was a Best Buy or Apple store nearby. The closest Best Buy is in Flagstaff, and the closet Apple store is in Gilbert, Arizona. Hmmm…. road trip time? I know I could order one online and have it delivered, but I’d prefer to purchase it from a store and have the techno-geeks there set it up for me so it’s done right.

While I was doing my thing yesterday, Miss Terry caught up on a bunch of paperwork, and logged in some new registrations for our Eastern Gypsy Gathering rally. In the evening she made a wonderful supper of fried chicken and wild rice. It sure is nice being married to a woman who is beautiful, smart, and a great cook too! How’d I get so lucky?

Bad Nick doesn’t like the wind either, so he stayed inside and posted a new Bad Nick Blog titled It’s Working Already! Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally! 

Thanks to everyone who posted comments to the blog or sent e-mails with suggestions of replacement laptop computers for Terry. And thanks especially to our pal Jim Guld from Geeks on Tour. I was on the phone several times with Jim yesterday trying to resolve the issues with Terry’s Compaq, and then again as we shopped for a replacement.

Following Jim’s directions, we actually got the Compaq running for a short time. He told us to remove the battery and unplug the AC power, and then to hold the power button down for about 10 seconds, and then plug the computer back in. I did all of that, and the darned thing booted right up! I thought our problems were over. A message popped up on the screen saying the NVIDIA software had been updated and the computer was going to reboot automatically. It shut itself down and no matter what we did after that, it just would not work. It was dead.

I had decided we should buy Terry a Dell laptop to replace her Compaq, but several readers wrote to suggest a Toshiba instead. We drove over to Best Buy in Mishawaka, a few miles west of Elkhart, and looked at the Dells, and also the comparable Toshiba. Terry liked the Toshiba much better, so I was back on the phone again with Jim Guld, asking his opinion. After I read him the specs on both units, Jim gave his blessing on the Toshiba, and that’s what we bought.

These days computers are a very important part of many RVers’ lives, ours included. Not only do we keep in touch with our friends and family by e-mail, as well as cruising the internet, we also use them daily in our business. Just as a good mechanic needs quality tools, we need computers we can rely on.

Yesterday, new friends Dan and Martha Widmeyer, from Short Hills, New Jersey stopped by to say hello. I met them Friday when I stopped into the office here at Elkhart Campground to pick up our mail, and they were there checking in. They had a couple of questions about local RV factory tours, and I suggested they check out the Heartland factory, since they are one of our favorite RV manufacturers.

We had a nice conversation, I gave them a sample copy of the Gypsy Journal, and they said they were looking forward to reading it. Once they did, they said they knew they had to subscribe, and to meet Miss Terry as well. What a nice couple! We look forward to crossing their path again in our travels. You meet the nicest people in an RV!

If you are traveling in eastern Ohio or Western Pennsylvania, I want to give you a lead on a neat place to visit that reader Levi Patton suggested. Noah’s Lost Ark in Berlin Center is a non-profit rescue sanctuary for abused and neglected exotic animals. After I spent some time exploring their website, it’s very high on our travel plans. Check it out, I think you’ll be impressed. We were!

Thought For The Day – Never be afraid to say what you feel. You can only die once.

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I wrote a blog about being techno challenged a while back, and said that I rely on Jim and Chris Guld from Geeks on Tour whenever I get in over my head with computers and my websites, which happens on a regular basis.

Well, the gremlins that live inside all computers launched an attack the other day, and the Geeks came to my rescue once again. While Terry and I both have laptop computers, I rely on my desktop unit as my workhorse. My fat little fingers just get all tangled up on the small keyboard of a laptop, and I like my 19 inch flat screen monitor. I spend anywhere from 8 to 12 hours a day working at my computer, and I want the tools that work best for me.

Tuesday my HP desktop would not communicate with the monitor, and after several trial and error efforts to get it working, I decided that the video card had probably gone bad. The problem was that on my computer, the video card is integrated into the motherboard.

The computer is just over three years old, and that seems to be about their life cycle for me, with all of the traveling we do and the many different conditions we live in, from dusty deserts to the salt air of the seashore.

Jim went to the Dell Computer website and spec’d out a couple of different models for my needs, and I will be placing an order soon. Meanwhile, I have my Dell laptop plugged into my flat screen monitor so I can work. I had just backed up my data over the weekend, so I knew I would not be losing too much work, but there were things I needed on the twin hard drives in the now defunct desktop.

That’s when Jim told me that I could go to Best Buy and purchase cases that the hard drives could fit into, and then I could just plug them into any computer with a USB cable and be back in business. What would I do without the Geeks when I need them? Thanks for all of your help, Jim and Chris!

Terry and I will have a very long day today. We have to drive up to Flagstaff to pick up the new issue of the Gypsy Journal from the printer, then return to Tucson, with a stop along the way to pick up the printed envelopes from our mail service on the way back. It will be about 550 miles all together, and then it will be an envelope stuffing marathon to get everything read to mail out Monday morning.

One of these days I may get myself one of those RV things, retire, and just spend my time traveling at a leisurely pace. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

Thought For The Day - Expect resistance, criticism and doubt, but never quit.