For the last couple of weeks, the television mounted above the dashboard in our Winnebago motorhome had been warning us that it was on its last legs. The picture would go black for a few minutes, and then return, and the duration of the video outages was growing longer and longer.

Since this was the original TV that came with the motorhome when it was built in 2002, we knew it would not last much longer. We decided that we’d just wait until it gave up the ghost, and then replace it with a modern LCD television. Well, I guess that time has come.

Friday, we were watching a movie when the screen blacked out, as it had been doing. But instead of coming back on, as it had been doing, I started hearing a popping noise, and then smelled smoke.

One of the first lessons I learned in Mac McCoy’s fire safety classes was to shut off the source of a fire’s fuel, in this case electricity. I quickly ran outside and unplugged our cord, and back inside, made sure that the inverter was turned off. We determined that there was no actual fire, just components inside the TV getting hot. But I’m sure glad we had not gone away and left the TV on. That could have been very bad.

We took the face plate off the TV cabinet, and then unbolted the mounting bracket that held the old TV in place. After we unhooked the electric and video cables, I carried the old TV outside. Man, that thing sure was heavy! We’ll definitely lighten our load having it gone!

As a temporary measure, we sat a 19 inch Vizio LCD TV that we had inside the cabinet, and it sure looked tiny in there, compared to the huge old original equipment TV that was there! I wish the darned TV would have died while we were in Las Vegas, where we had a zillion places to shop for a new one, and I had Greg White there to help us install it. Hey Greg, want to come see me in Arizona?

When we in Williams, Arizona over the weekend, we made a quick trip to Flagstaff and did some shopping at Sam’s Club and Best Buy. After looking at a lot of different models of TVs, and discovering just how little I know about so much of the new technology, I learned about neat things like HDMI cables, screen refreshment, and pixels. Well, I didn’t really learn. The techno-geeks talked and I just stood there blinking, and occasionally nodded my head like I understood what they were saying.

We eventually bought a 26 inch Samsung LED model. Apparently the LED technology is newer, and supposedly better, then LCD. But what do I know?

Now we have to figure out how to hook it up and mount it, in place of the old TV.

Bad Nick doesn’t even try to get involved in all of that technical stuff, so he just stayed out of the way and wrote a new Bad Nick Blog post titled Dumb A$$ Report #3. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – I walk as much as I can, because you need nothing to walk, you spend nothing, you consume nothing, you emit nothing.

With temperatures in the mid to upper 90s yesterday in Elklhart, and humidity over 50%, it wasn’t a day to get out and do much. Our MCI bus conversion is so well insulated that we seldom need our rooftop air conditioner to feel comfortable, but yesterday we turned it on early and stayed inside all day.

It was a good day for paperwork, and while I updated our mailing lists, Miss Terry began proofing a new book I hope to get out before our Ohio Gypsy Gathering rally. There wasn’t much on TV that interested us, so we listened to music most of the day. I like days like that once in a while, and we get a lot accomplished, but after spending the entire weekend inside, I’ve got cabin fever and need a break. Hopefully today we do something different, even if it’s just going to the laundromat.

As a writer, I don’t know how I ever got by without the internet. I used to spend hours in libraries doing research, and I loved prowling the stacks looking for books on any and every topic under the sun. But with the internet, I can find just about anything I want in seconds, with just a few keystrokes and a mouse click or two.

Yesterday I came across an interesting website called Mental Floss, which has an amazing amount of trivia and little-known information, from 7 Civil War Stories You Didn’t Learn in School, to the Bizarre History of White House Pets, to 10 Bizarre Athlete Superstitions.

Of course, the Internet is also a great source of misinformation. It has changed the Urban Legend into worldwide phenomena. I am constantly amazed at all of the crapola that shows up in my e-mail inbox. And you know it has to be true, because it’s on the internet. I delete about 90% of the stuff that gets forwarded to me, because I don’t have the time or interest to read it, and because I’ve seen most of it many times before.

Some of these stories have some basis in fact, but are updated and morphed into fiction to take advantage of whatever is currently catching the public’s interest.

One that I have received a dozen or more times in the last few days is that while the media was falling all over itself covering the death of Michael Jackson, there was no mention of the death the same week of Ed “Too Tall” Freeman, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Landing Zone X-Ray, in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam in 1965. Ed Freeman flew his unarmed helicopter into the overwhelmed landing zone under heavy enemy fire fourteen times on that day to bring out 30 wounded soldiers. When I was in the First Cavalry a few years later, Ed Freeman was a legend.

However, Ed Freeman did not die the same week as Michael Jackson! The war hero actually died August, 20, 2008 in Boise, Idaho. To use his name and accomplishments to foster an internet myth is objectionable to me. Whenever I get some story like this, if I look at it at all, I run it past Snopes to see if there is any validity to it.

Okay, enough with the internet, I need to get outside and experience real life today!

Thought For The Day – The labels we stick on ourselves define how we live. What do your labels say?

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Spending time in an RV park is similar in many ways to living in a small town a generation ago. There is a sense of community, especially among the people who stay for a few weeks or a month at a time.

We find that we interact much more with our campground neighbors than we ever did with our neighbors in our old hometown. When we go for our evening walk, we say hello to our neighbors who are also out for a stroll, or who are relaxing in their lawn chairs. We’ll stop and chat with folks here and there, maybe comment on the weather, or visit with a friendly dog. It is not uncommon to welcome newcomers, ask where they come from, and get acquainted.

Living in the close confines of some RV parks can take some getting used to. We have been in campgrounds with spacious sites and others where when you sneeze while sitting in your recliner, you hear the fellow in the next RV say “Bless you.”

This sometimes requires you to stop and think about how your normal activities may impact your neighbors. For example, Terry and I are night owls, and I do most of my writing after 9 p.m., and seldom get to bed before 1:30 or 2 a.m. When we have RVs parked close by, we make it a point to keep the volume on our television turned down so it does not keep the neighbors awake.  

Of course, not all RV park neighbors are conscientious of those around them. Common trespasses in campground life include smokers who do not want to smoke inside their RVs, so they come outside and let their smoke drift into the neighbors’ windows instead; people who get up early to hit the road and make a lot of noise unhooking, and then fire up their diesel engine and let it idle while they go inside to have a cup of coffee, or whatever they do before they hit the road; taking a shortcut through someone else’s RV site, and not cleaning up after pets; and my personal pet peeve, allowing yappy little dogs to disturb the neighbors.

But these kinds of misdeeds are the exceptions. Most RVers are wonderful neighbors, and a joy to get to know. It’s easy to make friends in an RV park; all it takes is a nod and a hello. If you are sitting outside in your lawn chairs, face them toward the street and just wave as folks pass by. You’ll be surprised how many stop and strike up a conversation.

And anytime a guy wants to get to know the other fellows in a campground, all he has to do is open the hood of his truck and stand there, or start setting up a tripod TV dish. You’ll have them coming out of their rigs to offer to lend a hand, or just stand around and watch.

Many campgrounds have organized activities, and many even have hired activity directors whose sole purpose is to find ways to help campers keep busy and make new friends. If your campground has an afternoon social hour, a Saturday pancake breakfast, or evening card games, show up and get involved. Before you know it, you’ll be a busy and active member of your little campground community.

Thought For The Day – One of the life’s mysteries is how a two pound box of candy can make a person gain five pounds.

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