My friend Brenda Speidel calls me Gadget Boy because I am always looking for some neat new toy to tell my readers about. But that’s okay, like the old saying goes, “the only difference between men and boys is the cost of their toys.” With Christmas coming, there has to be a gadget out there for every guy on your shopping list.

One of the most useful upgrades I have come by in years is my HTC Incredible Android phone.  I’m not a true geek, so I can’t tell you all of the technical specifics that make the Droid so much better, but it has the Blackberry beat in every way, in my opinion. It’s more user friendly, it gets better reception, it has more built in features, internet access is much faster with it, and there are more and better apps available.

One free app I recently downloaded is ShopSavvy. This is pretty cool. When I am in a store, I hold the Droid over an item’s barcode, and the software scans it, then tells me the price of the item online and in nearby stores. It even gives me directions to local stores stocking the item, and their addresses and telephone numbers. Now I never have to worry that I paid too much, and I can show a salesman the price just down the street and ask them to meet or beat it. Way cool!

I’m finding that I use the GPS features on the Droid as often as I do our Garmin GPS, and usually it’s more accurate and up to date. I especially like the Google street view, which shows me exactly what the neighborhood looks like where I’m going.

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Speaking of GPS units, blog reader Roger Parrish told me about a new techno toy he got; a Garmin Nuvi 465T Trucker GPS. Roger said this has all of the features of a regular GPS, with the addition of specialized routing options suitable for commercial trucks. If you have ever let your regular GPS lead you onto narrow, winding residential streets hardly suitable for an Oldsmobile, you can see the value of this GPS already! Roy said it  displays warning information of upcoming road conditions to make drivers aware of sharp curves, steep grades, side winds, and other possible hazards along the route. The GPS even has an FM traffic receiver to give drivers free alerts about traffic delays, road construction, and detours around the problem area.

Now, I haven’t actually seen this one, but somebody sent me a link that every RVer who uses WiFi to get online should have; a T-shirt with a built in WiFi signal detector! You could be the first in your RV park to have your very own WiFi Detector T-Shirt!

My buddy Phil May from TechnoRV is the guy who really knows gadgets, and he’s always got something new to drool over. Check out Phil’s You Tube video of The Beast, which has to be the brightest LED flashlight I’ve ever seen! I want one of these for the motorhome, and another for the Explorer!

Of course, I can’t afford every new gadget that comes along, and even if I could, I wouldn’t have any place to carry them in my motorhome. The good news is that since I can’t try them all, you can try some of them yourself, and tell me about them!

Now if somebody would just just invent a gadget that makes mornings go away. I have to take the Explorer to Camping Connection this morning to have the base plate installed, which means getting up way before my usual time.  I tried to get Miss Terry to take it over to them, and let me sleep in. But apparently there’s no app for that! 

Thought For The Day – My mind not only wanders, sometimes it leaves completely.

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We were so tired Saturday night that we were in bed by 9:30 p.m. and I waited until Sunday morning to post the blog. We had a rainy night, and were wide awake before 7 a.m. Sunday, and on the road before 8 a.m., which was a new record for us.

We passed through Montgomery with only a few cars and trucks to keep us company, and pulled into the Flying J truck stop a few miles south of town to take on fuel, and decided to try their breakfast buffet, which was surprisingly good.

Back on the road, we had an easy run to the Escapees Plantation RV Park in Summerdale. We checked in at the office, where we got a warm welcome, and then were assigned to a site. As we were unhooking the van, Jack Mayer came by to say hello. The battery in our van is getting weak and didn’t want to turn over, so we got out our battery charger and Jack helped us put some juice into the battery to get the van started.

By the time I had backed the motorhome into our RV site and finished hooking up our utilities, several people had come by to say hello and welcome us back, and to commiserate over our recent misfortune. We had pretty much a steady stream of visitors until we went to the Activity Center a little after 5 p.m. for their Chocolate Decadence event, in which for $3 each we had our choice of dozens of chocolate goodies, everything from brownies and cookies, to fudge, and even chocolate covered chicken wings. I passed on the wings, but sure tried to sample as much of the rest as I could. 

Following that, they had the Sunday evening Ice Cream Social. And everybody managed to save enough room for ice cream too. RVers love to eat! It was nice to see so many folks we know, and to be made so welcome. And it is wonderful to be warm again! It was 72 degrees when we arrived at Summerdale!

After I reported in yesterday’s blog that we were spending the night parked behind the Moose lodge in Prattville, Alabama, I got three or four e-mails from people asking if we were not afraid of being victimized again.

We have dry camped all over this country without a problem for years, and though we will exercise more caution in the future and not allow ourselves to become complacent again, the reality is that we could spend another 20 years on the road (which we hope to do), and never have a problem again. Of course, we also realize it could happen again tonight. But, we refuse to live in fear, or to give up our freedom because of what “might” happen.

Keep in mind, too, that our crime did not happen while we were dry camping in some out of the way place. It happened at an established RV repair shop’s camping area, which had 24 hour surveillance cameras, which large signs plainly announced. Crime can and does happen at any time, anywhere. The luck of the draw was that we just happened to be the victims this time around.

Now that we are finally out of the deep freeze up north and getting the inside of our Winnebago back to normal, we are still discovering some other things missing, including the handheld Garmin GPS we use for geocaching, a digital photo frame with pictures of our granddaughters, and Leatherman pocket tool. On the flip side, we found a small digital camera we thought was gone, so that’s a good thing. Life goes on.     

Thought For The Day – Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.

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For weeks now I have been debating whether or not to upgrade my old LG cell phone for a Blackberry Storm. The LG worked fine and I had no complaints with it, but people kept telling me how much the new “smart phones” are capable of doing, and what a great tool they are for a businessperson on the go. I was due for a new phone under Verizon’s “New Every Two” program, so I started doing some homework.

The first thing I quickly learned is that the typical kids working behind the counter at a Verizon store or franchise are absolutely clueless about what grownup people need or want in a smart phone. I stopped at three different stores during my research, and the young people working in them were eager to tell me about how great the Blackberry is for texting, taking pictures, watching videos, playing games, and listening to music. That’s all great if you’re fifteen years old, but what I wanted to know was how it could help make my life easier.

A couple of days ago I stopped at the Verizon  company store in Elkhart to apply for my veteran’s discount on my bill (If you’re a veteran, take your discharge or DD-214 to any Verizon company store, and you are entitled to a 15% discount on your cell phone bill). The manager of the store, a fellow named Jason, was using a Blackberry Storm and I asked him about it, and he gave me a very good and thorough demonstration of its abilities from a business standpoint. Now that’s what I wanted!

It didn’t take very long at all to get me hooked. It was one of those “How did I live this long without this thing?” moments. Besides having all the typical cell phone goodies like a camera and texting capabilities (not that I do any texting), the phone comes with an 8 gig memory card installed, which can be upgraded to 16 gig.

It is a Windows based application, so I can download Excel files, such as our mailing list, right to the phone. So if we are away from the bus and visiting with a subscriber, and he wants to know when his subscription expires, I can check it right on my phone. I can also download all of the PowerPoint slide presentations I use in my seminars, and plug the phone into anybody’s computer and show them.

The Blackberry Storm is also fully web capable, so I can surf the internet, check my bank balance, and send and receive e-mails on it. I get a ton of e-mail every day, and if we’re away from the bus for a few hours, they really pile up. Now my phone beeps whenever a new e-mail comes in and I can check it right then, and reply if necessary. I can also tether it to a laptop computer and use it as a modem to get online!

The phone also comes with a GPS built in, and using Verizon’s VZ Navigator service, it is very similar to the Garmin GPS we use in the van or bus. I can even use it to find nearby gas stations, restaurants, or whatever else I’m looking for, with turn by turn directions and voice prompts.

There are a lot of other features that will come in handy, including a voice memo program. I’m always thinking of something I want to tell Terry or include in the blog, but I never write it down, and then I forget. Now I can just record myself a quick note. There is also a calendar that will prompt me for important dates and appointments (so I don’t forget Miss Terry’s birthday a week from today), and even an alarm clock! It’s like having a secretary right in my pocket, but I can call it Darling or Sweetie Pie and push all its buttons and not get sued for sexual harassment!

Thought For The Day – A healthy attitude is contagious but don’t wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier.

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