It seems like we had more rain and cold weather this past summer than we did sunshine. October hasn’t changed that. While we were in Celina we had several rainy days, and though we got a break while we drove back to Elkhart Thursday, it started raining just about the time we finished getting set up in our site at Elkhart Campground. It poured all night long, and most of yesterday it continued to rain.

Somebody posted a thread on the Escapees forum yesterday saying it was raining where he was, and asking what fulltimers do with their time on days like that. I replied that we sleep in, make love, have a leisurely breakfast, sip hot chocolate, watch TV, surf the internet, read books, talk, take naps, and call friends and family. Then I added that I hope it rained again today!

Maybe it’s because of all those years I spent living on the Washington coast, where we averaged well over 120 inches of rain a year, but I like rainy days, as long as we don’t have to travel on them. Eventually I do get cabin fever, but a drizzly day now and then is very relaxing. 

I told Miss Terry once that I’d like to spend an entire winter on the Northwest coast sometime, when the pace is slower, and we could enjoy watching the storms rolling in over the Pacific Ocean. I wonder if we can put a fireplace in our motorhome?

Yesterday we did venture out in the afternoon to drop off some orders at the post office, then we met Bill Joyce and Diane Melde for dinner at Mancino’s, our favorite pizza place here in Elkhart. By the time we got back to the campground it had finally stopped raining, and the weatherman says we can expect clear skies for most of the next week, though it’s going to be chilly, with daytime temperatures in the 50s and nights in the mid-30s.

Once things dry out around here a little bit, we want to spend some time getting the bays in our Winnebago better organized. My buddy Ron Speidel taught a seminar at our Gypsy Gathering rally about how to organize your storage bays, and though I didn’t have time to sit in, I’ve taken a few tips from observing how Ron has things in his Winnebago Journey.

We were pretty ruthless in purging things as we moved from our bus conversion into the motorhome, and got rid of a lot of stuff. So our bays are not crammed full, but we still have a few things to discard, and then we want to rearrange things to make accessing them easier.

Yesterday we also stopped to check out our bus conversion. Now, I know it’s an inanimate object and incapable of emotions, but I swear, it looked real sad sitting there, when it was made to be out rolling down the highway. We are very pleased with our new RV, but we love that old girl. We put in every screw and strung every inch of wiring, and she carried us a lot of miles over the years.

A few days ago I wrote a blog post about solar power, and that we had decided not to transfer our solar panels from the bus to the Winnebago. But the solar setup we installed on the bus sure does a great job. The bus has been sitting for about three weeks and is not plugged in, but with just the solar panels supplying power, our house battery bank was fully charged. Someone asked if we ever had problems running our house style refrigerator off the inverter and battery bank when dry camping, but with this solar array, we never had to worry. It does the job.

Thought For The Day – They say wine improves with age. As I enter my golden years, I say age improves with wine!

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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