Miss Terry set a new record getting all of the envelopes stuffed with the new issue of the paper, and by yesterday afternoon the majority of them were in the mail. We’ll drop the remainder off at the post office and UPS this morning.

The Gypsy Journal goes out to our subscribers several different ways, depending on their preference. The greatest majority are sent as Standard Rate mail, which used to be called Bulk Mail.

We use different commercial mail houses around the country, depending where we happen to be when we publish a new issue. We send the mail service our address list and they print the names onto envelopes. Then we pick the envelopes up, stuff them with papers, and return them to the mail service, which uses its mail permit to send them out. Because a mailing permit is specific to one post office, and we travel all over the country, we don’t have our own permit, which would require us to return to the same post office for mailing every time. Standard Rate is the least expensive way to subscribe, but it is also the slowest delivery method. If subscribers are traveling, the post office will not forward Standard Rate mail.

The second option is First Class mail, which costs more, but moves faster through the postal system. First Class is also supposed to be forwarded, but it has been our experience that no matter what the rules say, the good folks at the post office do (or don’t do) whatever they feel like. We use Stamps.com to print our own First Class postage, and we can mail items anywhere.

We also have a lot of subscribers who use mail forwarding services such as Escapees, FMCA, and Alternative Resources. We have so many subscribers who use these three mailing services that they all allow us to put the envelopes with the papers for their clients into boxes, and ship them to them by UPS. This saves us a few dollars in postage, and gets the papers into subscribers’ mail boxes a little quicker than Standard Rate.     

Last year we also made digital subscriptions available, and we have had a lot of subscribers switch to that option. When a new issue is uploaded, we send them a link to its location on the internet, where they can either read it online, or download it to their computers. The digital subscription is the quickest way to get each new issue of the paper, because subscribers can be reading it minutes after I upload it.

Now that the new issue is making its way to subscribers in every corner of the country, we can relax a little bit, and we can even try to squeeze in a little bit of fun. Today we plan to drive down to Tucson and visit my cousin Beverly, who is one of my favorite people in the whole world. For the last three or four  years, we have spent a couple of weeks in Tucson visiting Beverly, but this year our schedule is so crowded that we’re not sure if we can get down for a stay or not. But we at least want to make a day trip to the Old Pueblo and spend some time with her before we head to Yuma for our Gypsy Gathering rally.

While Terry and I were busy dealing with mailing chores, Bad Nick was busy posting a new Bad Nick Blog titled 10 Things That Piss Me Off. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – New survey shows that 3 out of 4 people make up 75% of the world’s population.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally

We spent much of yesterday running around Celina getting things set up for our Ohio Gypsy Gathering rally. There are always a few dozen last minute things to be handled that we can’t do until we get to town.

I checked in at the fairgrounds office and touched base with the manager to see if there were any changes from last year that we didn’t know about. Except for adding over 30 new electric hookups with 30 and 50 amp service, and finishing the inside of the Junior Fair Building, where our vendors will be housed, there were no surprises.

It is so much nicer to work with these folks in Ohio, compared to the jerks at the fairgrounds in Casa Grande, Arizona, where we held our Western Gypsy Gathering rallies the last three years. There we had to fight for everything, even if it was in our contract and set up months ahead of time, and everybody had a bad attitude. Here, they bend over backwards to accommodate us, and could not be friendlier. 

With that chore done, we stopped at the post office to tell them we were back in town, and to expect an influx of General Delivery mail in the next week or so. Most fulltime RVers use a mail forwarding service to handle their mail, and when they land someplace, they usually have it sent to the local post office General Delivery address.

Then we called on the local Domino’s Pizza to give them a heads up that we’ll be ordering about 75 pizzas next week for our pizza party. Small franchises need time to get the dough and other supplies ordered well ahead of time so they don’t run short when a special event creates a huge order like ours. It always amazes me that Domino’s, both here and in Casa Grande, are able to get everything delivered on time and piping hot.

Our next stop was the Wal-Mart bakery, where we pre-ordered dozens of boxes of donuts for morning coffee and donuts at the rally. Folks always line up for their morning dose of caffeine and sugar!

Back at the fairgrounds, Ron Speidel and I gave the parking situation a look, and with the addition of the new electric sites, we can handle everybody coming in for the rally easily.  

Last year after folks heard so many good reports on the Geeks on Tour Computer Boot Camp, they had so many people asking for a repeat that Jim and Chris Guld stayed around after the rally and held a second one. They are not able to do that this year, so if you want to learn more about your computer and how to get the most out of it, sign up now. They still have room left to accommodate you.

There is one final thing I have to cover about the rally. While Terry and I are animal lovers, we also have to place some restrictions on animals at our rallies. While you are welcome to bring your pets, they must be on a leash at all times, and must be accompanied by an owner when outside of your RV. Except for service dogs, no animals can be in the vendor area, or in any fairgrounds building.

Yesterday I made a lady mad because she insisted that her dog was a beloved family member, and she took it with her everywhere. She said if her dog was not welcome at the seminars and evening entertainment, she was not coming. I told her that I was sorry, but it’s non-negotiable.

I wish we did not have to take this hard line, but our insurance company is adamant on the dog policy, and I can understand why, based on some of the things we have seen at rallies in the past.

Thought For The Day – If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

Register Now For Our Ohio Gypsy Gathering Rally

We took a break from moving yesterday to get caught up on other chores.  We had several orders to fill and get mailed out, so that was the first order of business.

Last year we signed up with Stamps.com to be able to print our own postage online, and we have found that the small monthly fee is well worth it to be able to avoid standing in the long lines at the post office. We just weigh the envelopes and packages, enter the customer’s name and address, print out a label, stick it on, and drop the orders in the nearest mailbox.

Then I had to track down a missing book order that was returned to us by the post office. As it turns out, the address that came with the customer’s original order was incorrect. If you are ordering anything online with a credit or debit card, please be sure you specify the correct shipping address if it is different from the billing address on the card. Otherwise it creates delays in getting your items to you, and costs us extra to mail it out a second time if it gets returned to us.

All of that was too much like work, so we decided we needed some fun. Fluid Fun, to be exact. As I mentioned a while back, I wanted to replace my Ocean Kayak Angler model with a different boat that fits me better. Last winter when we were on the Texas Gulf Coast, I paddled a Wilderness Systems Tarpon kayak in Corpus Christi Bay, and really liked the way it handled and the room I had in it.

When we first started kayak shopping, we stopped at Fluid Fun Canoe and Kayak Sales in Bristol, Indiana. Even though we didn’t buy our boats from them, we were very impressed with their selection, prices, and most of all, their customer service. They are located right on the St. Joseph River and let us paddle several boats to get a feel for them, even though we told them we were not in a position to purchase anything at that time. These folks live and breathe canoes and kayaks, and they gave us a lot of valuable information to help us in our shopping and eventual purchase. I told Terry then that if I ever bought another boat, I would be sure to see what they had to offer.

Last week I sold the Ocean Kayak, and after leaving the post office yesterday, we drove out to Fluid Fun, where they had just finished unloading a shipment of over 90 new boats. Owner Matt Streib gave me a great deal on a Tarpon 120 Angler model, which I can’t wait to get into the water.

We have had yet another cold snap in northern Indiana, but hopefully it will warm back up in time to get some paddling in before we have to leave here for our Ohio Gypsy Gathering rally in a couple of weeks. If you are interested in a canoe or kayak, and are anywhere near the Elkhart area, it will be well worth your time to visit Fluid Fun and see what they have to offer. 

Speaking of the Gypsy Gathering, I have updated the seminar schedule, and I think it’s about finished, with maybe two or three last minute additions to come. Check it out at the rally link by scrolling to the bottom of the page. The rally starts in less than a month, so be sure to get your registration in and put us on your travel schedule. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

Back at Elkhart Campground, we needed to make a trip to the dump station. It took a few minutes to remember where all of the switches and controls are in the Winnebago to get the slide rooms in and the HWH leveling jacks up, but soon enough we were able to go take care of that chore.

When we pulled back into our site, it was so nice to push a button and let the automatic leveling jacks do their thing, push two more buttons and deploy the slides, and push a couple more and have the rooftop Wineguard TV dish find the satellite and be watching Dish Network in just a couple of minutes. I can see that I’m going to get spoiled real quick in this motorhome!

Thought For The Day – Be who you are and say what you feel. Because those that matter don’t mind, and those that mind don’t matter.

Register Now For Our Ohio Gypsy Gathering Rally

When we got back to Elkhart Campground on Thursday, we had a huge box of mail awaiting us, so we spent most of Friday getting orders ready to mail out, and we managed to make it to the post office a few minutes before closing time.

Yesterday we spent the day logging in all of the orders we had received, as well as some leftover paperwork from the FMCA rally in Ohio a couple of weeks ago. I also spent much of the day working on the seminar schedule for our upcoming Ohio Gypsy Gathering rally. It’s a balancing act to try to get everybody who wants to do a seminar scheduled in, and also in trying to avoid having two seminars at the same time that clash, as for example our For Women Only Roundtable, and the excellent What Every RVing Woman Should Know seminar.

We also don’t want to go the route of so many RV rallies and just have the same seminars over and over again, by the same people, at every rally. When that happens, people get bored pretty quick and stop returning. We do have some repeat seminars from last year’s Ohio rally, but we also have a lot of new offerings, including two different seminars on genealogy, a new seminar on making digital slideshows, and one on cooking on the road. And don’t forget that premier RV speakers and authors Joe and Vicki Kieva will be presenting their excellent RVing Alaska seminar, as well as a seminar on RV and Camping Tips. 

To check out our tentative seminar schedule, click the Rally Seminars link and scroll to the bottom of the page. As you can see, we still have a few holes to fill, but we’ve got a great lineup scheduled.   

I also spent some time exchanging e-mails with a fellow who has been reading my Publishing4Profit website, and wrote to ask my advice on a self-publishing project he wants to undertake. He told me he had read every word of the website, and just wanted to go over a few things with me.

I’m always happy to help someone out, if only as a sounding board to bounce ideas off. But this gentleman really didn’t want advice, he just wanted me to tell him that his manuscript which is by his description “an eclectic mixture of fiction, autobiography, poetry, and political musings,” was going to be a bestseller and make him bushel baskets full of money.

I try to explain to would be authors in my What Do I Write About page on the website that fiction and poetry does not sell, and unless you are a figure in the public eye, nobody wants to read your life story. Okay, your wife and kids will read it, but that’s just because they don’t want to hurt your feelings. Still, this fellow was convinced that he was sitting on a gold mine. After all, everybody is always telling him “You should write a book.” What could I do, except try to tell him the facts of life, and then wish him well when it became apparent he wasn’t listening. I’ve made my living crunching words for much of my adult life, and I’ve managed to learn a thing or two along the way about what works and what doesn’t.

Several blog readers have written to me asking if we are going to see a Bad Nick Blog. My pal Chris Guld from Geeks on Tour is busy working on the format, and we should be launching the new blog in the next two or three weeks. But beware, like Berni Frees said in a comment in a blog post somewhere, she’s seen Bad Nick up close and personal, and it’s not gonna be pretty!

Thought For The Day – I may be schizophrenic, but at least I have each other.

Register Now For Our Ohio Gypsy Gathering Rally

I’ve received a couple of requests from blog readers to share some information about banking while traveling around the country in an RV. Hopefully I can offer some useful insight into the topic.

In my seminars for new RVers, I always suggest that while they may have a good relationship with their hometown bank, if it does not have nationwide branches, it may not be able to serve their needs as fulltime RVers. I have always suggested getting an account with one of the big nationwide banks such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America, which have branches in many different states.

For Terry and myself, operating a business on the road, getting access to our money is never a problem – there are ATM machines in every grocery and discount store in America, and we can get cash back at Wal-Mart, most grocery stores, and even at the post office. Our problem is sometimes getting money into the bank! If we are not in a location where our bank has a branch office, sometimes we have to mail in a deposit, which can be problematic.

Things have gotten easier over the years as technology has improved, but I remember once years ago when we had a successful vending experience at an RV rally and mailed a batch of checks to our bank in Arizona for deposit. The bank officer we worked with was on vacation, so the Priority Mail envelope with our deposit sat unopened on her desk for two weeks until she returned. We actually mailed the deposit from Biloxi, Mississippi and traveled all the way to Phoenix before the deposit was entered into our account! These days our bank has a central mail deposit address we can use, which has simplified things greatly.

A great option for RVers is to join a credit union which belongs to the nationwide Shared Network. This is a network of independent credit unions that work together to serve customers who belong to any member credit union. So if your home credit union is in San Diego, California, for example, you can still transact business at a Shared Network member credit union in Elkhart, Indiana, just as if you were at your own branch back home. With over 3,000 locations nationwide in the Shared Network program, it’s pretty easy to find a member branch anywhere you are traveling.

Membership requirements for credit unions have eased over the years, and it’s not hard to qualify. In fact, if you are a member of the Escapees RV Club, you qualify to join the Community Resource Credit Union in Texas, and can join online. Another benefit of credit union membership is that they are often easier to work with than traditional banks, and because they are there to serve their members, not make a profit, their auto and RV loan rates are usually lower.

These days, with direct deposit, online bill paying, and online banking options to check your balances and transfer money around, and other new technology, many people find that they seldom actually have to go into a bank to transact their financial business. For RVers, that makes like much easier.  

Thought For The Day – We could learn a lot from crayons: Some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and they’re all different colors…. But they all have to learn to live in the same box.

Register Now For Our Ohio Gypsy Gathering Rally