Kirk W

Also, have you checked the other end of the drain tube to make sure that it is located properly and is not pinched or plugged?

Why not just find one or two others who plan to go and travel together to and from but separate for the time there? That way you can have the security of fellow travelers on the trip and the independence to explore while there?

Randy is right. If your fund manager doesn't do what you want you need to move to a different company. Since I am now retired, I moved all of the funds of my 401k into an IRA as soon as I was retired, just so that I could control things. EDIT: I can and do research companies at time and if you have internet access you could do that also. It does take a little work and you do have to do some study/learning but you can learn how with a little effort.

Tell me more about this. Who does it and what evidence do you have? How do they know which patients are investors? I have never heard of this but I do have some money healthcare equity funds. Is that why we get good healthcare or should we expect more? EDIT: I did some digging on the internet and didn't find any evidence of preferential treatment, but I did find some negative information. What Happens When Private Equity Takes Over a Hospital from Harvard Medical School, December 26, 2023

Interesting business analysis. Who are the investors, maybe owners of 401k's and IRA's? People like you and I? "As of December 31, 2022, a total of $37.8 trillion was held in U.S. retirement plans and accounts, of which $26.3 trillion was in employer-sponsored plans and $11.5 trillion was in IRAs."

I think that is mostly the result of efforts to bring prices down for healthcare of all kinds. There are economies of scale and that isn't just a theory but it is what is ending retail business in small towns and rural America. Big companies are not causing small town stores to close, but the people who buy from them are. Improved highways and automobiles have made it easier and less time consuming to drive a distance to save money and that also plays a part in the change. When I was growing up there were 2 grocery stores, a pharmacy, and several other retail stores in Dwight, KS where I went to school. About once a quarter we would all load into the car and travel the 18 miles to the county seat (Council Grove) where the big stores were to do major shopping. Once or twice a year we would travel the 32 miles to Manhattan for the bargains there! If residents would pay the higher prices to shop close to home those stores would still be there, including the pharmacies. You might be willing to pay extra, but would you pay that difference for prescriptions if Medicare only paid what the chains charge and you had to pay all of the difference? Very few people would do so and some could not afford to. I agree that it is sad to see the small retail stores going away, but I also admit to being part of the problem because I try to save money too.

The first leads to a very interesting article. It makes me wonder about pharmacies in the larger communities. We tried Walmart pharmacy but the service was so poor that we went back to CVS which is where we were getting them before. The second link didn't lead to any email but rather to the site of Aetna insurance and they are the parent of the prescription coverage that we have for part D medicare. Aetna Insurance Co. is owned by the CVS Health Group.

The entry area is much farther from the actual camping site at Sweetwater than in any other venue that I was involved in but it did work out pretty well with the separate entry gate for arrivals. At Tucson the distance between arrival and parking the RVs is much less but we had difficulty preventing any backup on the public roads when arrivals were coming really fast and with early arrivals in anticipation of the beginning of parking for the day. In Tennessee and Sedalia, MO the entry is right into the campground and that presents an entirely different set of issues. Vermont was one especially unique and it was also my first time as Security Team Leader so thank heavens I had some experienced assistants and experienced Parking Team Leaders to help me out. Each time you go to a new venue the team leaders have new issues to work out and new plans to make. Both of your team leaders were part of the parking team for several years before taking over and they have done a great job. The two teams work very closely together and I really enjoyed working with them. When you have so many RVs arriving in a short period of time and with several different types of parking, it takes a big team to handle it. There will be times that you will have several full hookups,a couple wanting dry camping, someone for the solar area, perhaps a family parker, an X-scaper, and someone handicapped all arriving in rapid succession. As a result there must be people to direct each of them and others to park them in each area. The parking is the biggest job that is done completely by volunteers, in my opinion. Security is probably the longest one as they work from the start of parking until the closing of the Escapade but the team is much smaller. I am proud to have played a part in both areas. Some of the closest friends that we have today are people we got to know working with them at Escapades and the staff comradery is what we now miss most since my wife's health prevents our attending. There are friends that we only saw at Escapades.

My backup laptop is a Mac that is configured to run Windows.

While I'm no longer on staff, I was part of security for 10 years and since they and parking work closely together, I think that I can answer your questions. Various staff members begin arriving on site as much as a month before it opens with the key staff positions all there by about Monday preceding the event. Assuming that the timing this year is the same, the parking team leaders will be there about a week before you and the remainder of the team arrives on Wednesday. That afternoon the team meets with the team leaders to get organized. Thursday is the day most other staff and some vendors arrive and it is used to get parking and security teams into the positions that they will be working and give that a test run. Parking is the largest team of volunteers and always has quite a few with previous experience to help. On Friday the pace increases with the remaining vendors, staff and early arrivals coming in to be parked. Saturday is the biggest day and Sunday being a partial day is also very busy. Parking team goes on duty at 7 am and closes at 2 pm each day. If past history is an indication you can expect 900+ RVs total. Once the Escapade opening takes place the members of the parking team are finished, except for the team leaders. The security team is also involved as they do traffic management and deal with late arrivals. One nice feature of the WY facility is that the gate used for arrivals is away from the main entrance so that it can be opened when parking begins and closed when parking ends for the day. It also has a much larger staging area to allow RVs to be clear of the road ae they line up for processing. I think that you will find that the parking team leaders do a very good job and that their key assistants are good at what they do. The team works hard but also has plenty of time for socializing and most members return for more than one Escapade.

We are happy that you are back!

The IRS really doesn't care where you "felt that you lived," only what you actually paid in sales taxes and the total of all deductions still needs to exceed the standard deduction for it to matter. With no mortgage interest or much else, it has been a long time since we came very close to exceeding our standard deduction. I'm always amazed in reading income tax related threads how many people pay someone to do individual income taxes when it is so easy by using one of the many tax calculation programs available. This link is from the IRS website. Use the Sales Tax Deduction Calculator

If you calculate your estimated sales tax at a 4.2% tax rate, you would need to have paid that sales tax on $23,810 to deduct $1000 or if you expect a deduction of $5,000 the purchase total would be roughly $120,000 in sales taxed purchases.

Are you sure that you would not be better off to take the standard deduction and forget about trying to track sales tax? I have found Turbo Tax very easy to use. Unless you have an unusually complicated situation for someone retired, it really is unusual for it to save money by filing long form. This year we had two 1099's from SS, another from my 401k, another from my pension plan, yet another from my non tax sheltered investments, and a W2 from a part-time job. While it took just a little more time, it was not difficult at all, mostly the uploading of the documents in pdf format. The 2023 standard deduction is $13,850 for single filers and those married filing separately, $27,700 for those married filing jointly, and $20,800 for heads of household. You will need to have enough deductions to total more than you standard deduction in order to save anything from the long form.

Cortes Campers looks to be competing with Casita Travel Trailers.

The NPS says that it is from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN? That's the part we traveled.

Angie M, how about an update on where you are on this and what you plan to do?

That will be a trip of about 2,700 miles if you travel by the most direct route. Since you seem to be about to leave, I'd agree that you need to stay to the south and take I10 as much as possible which makes the trip 4,000 miles. If you route to make very many stops along the way it will quickly make the trip 4,000 miles and in between you basically have most of the USA. The answer to this will depend on what route you do choose and the weather as you travel. To the south are places like the Grand Canyon, and there are 12 national parks and monuments in Arizona alone. Because there is so much that you may want to see, it would help a lot to have some idea of what sort of things you are interested in. If you choose I40 you will pass through some Memphis & Nashville, both of which have great attractions if you enjoy music of most types. Going more to the north, Colorado has another 17 national parks and monuments along with many other attractions. I could start listing the possible things to see and places to visit but that lise would be far too long to be of much help. I would suggest Passport America as a good way to save money on campsites. That is an entire thread all by it's self. We did a lot of RV volunteer work-camping which supplied us with a full hookup site and usually some other amenities in return for a few days per week of help, often doing things that we loved to do anyway, but little or no pay. There are also dozens of places that hire RV folks such as RV parks with a site and pay and there are many seasonal jobs that pay a lot for long hours, allowing one to make a lot of money in a short period of time such as harvests or Christmas season.

Passport America discount camping. Do you plan to make the RV your home or is that a trip from which you will return to your present residence? What sort of RV are you looking for?

Under regulations issued by the Department of the Treasury, mutilated United States currency may be exchanged at face value if more than 50% of a note identifiable as United States currency is present. If you have over 50% of the original torn bill and it's easy to identify, most banks will exchange it for a fresh bill in the full amount. For burned currency it is a bit more difficult but not impossible. Reference: Federal Reserve, Mutilated Currency and Bent or Partial Coin

That's no longer an option as they all come with lifetime map updates and have for several years now.

To me, assuming that you have not yet bought the land, you would be buying a major headache or worse. I would keep looking.

Depends on what the puddle is. A steering box typically has grease in it. Unless I'm mistaken, all of the Cheetahs were pushers so I wouldn't think that the puddle is coolant. If it is from the steering box it should be OK to drive it for a short distance. As far as the cost to repair, no way of knowing without some idea of what the problem is. Pictures of the problem area might be helpful.

If it was hidden by something you could even bond a 2X4 or something to the surface of the floor. If you look in Lowe's you will find quite a range in sizes and load capability of metal in both steel and aluminum. With something that is supporting from above you will need to be concerned about any screws or bolts pulling out of the OSB. If you were to use wood of some sort then it could be attached to the flooring with something like Liquid Nail that would not have the issue of pulling through. With that you could bond the entire surface of the frame to the flooring permanently. Doing it that way you could make a nicely finished cabinet that will look as though it was always there and sill supply the support to prevent any sagging of the floor. If I were doing that I would make the frame of 2X4's on edge and extending from the very front of the slide all of the way to the outside wall. Such a cabinet could then be designed to have the proper height and width to serve as an end table between the two chairs as well as added storage. It could be covered with 1/4" finish plywood and varnished. I'd put a hinged door in the front, to the inside of the RV. Only the parts of the frame that touch the floor would be of 2X4 with the remainder of 2X2 or even 1X2 to reduce the weight of the cabinet. Just be careful that it doesn't interfere with slide operation by setting it into position and then run the slide in and out a couple of times before making it permanent. You could also take the approach that Vern is suggesting, as he does have a lot of experience in RV repairs. I have known Vern for about 10 years and respect his opinions.

That is exactly the reason that I was looking for a way to use some angle iron or aluminum to support the floor. Did I understand correctly that the slide floor is 12' long and 3' wide?