justRich

Looking forward, the collapse of the Gulf Stream ocean current is expected to cause freezing in the Northeast and western Europe.
The climate will probably whipsaw.

"Desert-if-ication" is what I think is happening.
According to one of my long departed university professors (pre-global warming) the earth has been heating up for ages.  The desert areas have been moving north and south from the equator for decades.

Deserts temps are typically marked by higher-high temps and lower-low temps.  The average may remain the same.
Currently, it seems that both the highs and lows are becoming consistently higher.

And droughts are becoming more common world wide.
"Desertification" is too much of a mouth-full for the news media. 
And so it will not become a media star.
The consequences are serious beyond belief.

Thanks for the reminder about head walking into the slideout.
We've been grounded mostly because of health issues but I loaded the camper onto the truck yesterday and took it for a short test drive spin.

I had remembered everything except to put air in the air bags and adjust the shocks to a higher setting. 
The ride was really cush till then.

5 hours ago, GR "Scott" Cundiff said:

Right now I'm reading the Lamb Among the Stars series by Chris Walley.

http://www.chriswalley.net/books/lamb-among-the-stars/

It sound a little like "Time Enough for Love" by Robert Heinlein

The book covers several periods from the life of Lazarus Long (born Woodrow Wilson Smith), an early beneficiary of a breeding experiment designed to increase mankind's natural lifespan, known as the Howard Families, after the program's initiator. The result of more a mutation than the breeding experiment, he is the oldest living human, at more than two thousand years old.

"Educated" by Tara Westover - a worthy read quite unlike anything that I've read to date.  It's a remarkable true story of a very different life lived.

Currently reading:

The Spider Network:
The Wild Story of a Math Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History

1 hour ago, noteven said:

Good info thanks.

A question on the Paperwhite - can manuals and such technical data available in off be downloaded to it?

Yes.  I have several PDF manuals that I've transferred to my Paperwhite. 
It's pretty nifty to have important manuals at hand without resorting to the internet. 

Also, I often use Cutepdf writer to print anything to a pdf file.

Another vote for the Kindle Paperwhite.  

Wall Street Journal published a report today that may be of interest:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-much-are-prices-up-heres-one-familys-day-to-day-expenses-11625841223?st=31eei4xokm46u1l&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

We haven't been impacted in any meaningful way with inflation just yet.
BUT, I was looking at prices of new Jeep Wranglers last month and a top, or near top of the line Wrangler was listing at around $50,000.
($40,000 would also get a pretty nice unit too)
Yesterday, while again looking at online prices, they were listing at around $60,000.
Is that just because it's a "Jeep" or are others also finding astonishing price increases in other areas?

Inflation may soon make the original post a moot question - or answered with a simple "No".
 

Wealthy out-of-staters will own those parks.
First come, first serve systems often eliminates many long term planners.

Wanna' drive a 40' rig with toad on the off chance you might get a spot?
Probably not so much.

(Of course with enough money, one would reserve a backup site and not care.)

17 hours ago, Kirk W said:

As in, you weren't really overweight?  Maybe the scale operator put his thumb on the scale just to cheat you?   😷

Underweight, possibly.  I scaled at the state scale at Farewell Bend and came up 50 lbs below GVWR.   The camper is new and it the first time I've weighed this rig - previous campers have always been a few hundred pounds over GVWR.

9 hours ago, lenp said:

Most Oregon DOT scales are active (ON) even when the scales are "closed".  If you happen to find one (mostly on the secondary highways (US97 for example).  If you find one that says CLOSED go ahead and use it.  Easy to get each axle weight and then back up and weigh only one side and calculate the other.

Lenp

Oregon truck scales - mostly closed on weekends - are still active and open to all.
I've used the one at the Farewell Bend State Park many times.

Best book of 2021 for me so far is "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles
It is one of those books that one wants it to keep going, to not end.

91 gallons of fresh water would last us about 2 weeks.
We never wash dishes the traditional way in a sink - instead use paper plates mostly and use them for kindling.

2016 - Spain

We're making our annual northbound trip in a few days and leaving our small home in Phoenix.
In years past, we've emptied the fridge, saran-wrapped the toilets, sealed the drain traps  and turned off the air before departure.
About the only damage were some melted candles one year.
But is this an okay process?
Does anyone else leave a home behind in the desert heat and what do you do about cooling it while gone?

I always warn people away from truck campers (I've owned four and two trucks).  You're better off getting something like a Class C and possibly towing a small vehicle.  Or a truck and trailer combination.  Unless you really need a truck for hauling or towing, I can't recommend it for you.

11 hours ago, agesilaus said:

OK we just left the South Rim we boondocked 7 days outside the park in the forest. we were about 8 minutes from the south gate, we had no problems getting in the gate, longest delay maybe 6 or 7 minutes.

There are several RV parking lots around the visitor center, which is closed. You can walk to Mather point from the parking lot in about 5 minutes. People have dogs on the walk way.

It is over and hour drive from Williams to the south gate. Do not buy gas in Williams it is cheaper in Tusayan outside the gate.

This.  We stayed there about five years ago - very close and convenient - good to know that the spot is still available.   The forest boondock location is on the left side of the road as one approaches the park entrance. 

The only thing was that the road is dirt and was extremely dusty.
Best of experiences on your journey.

The Grand Canyon is stunning the moment one walks up to the edge and the dawning of understanding on just how huge it is, is unforgettable.  You'll want to return.

One last thought regarding "fission" is "what happens on the international front if countries such as Iran continue to work on uranium enrichment when "fusion" power is achieved?"

(The question is purely rhetorical.)

20 hours ago, agesilaus said:

Various people have been predicting commercial fusion in a short time frame for decades.

While understandable, this is a typical standard response.
The data shows otherwise.

Fission will probably be obsolete before it becomes a backyard power plant.
Billionaires Jeff Bezos and Tobia Lutke recently committed large sums to General Fusion with plans to bring fusion online within four years:  General Fusion

And American MIT spin-off  Commonwealth Fusion Systems plans a ". . . full-scale magnet demonstration is set to take place in June 2021."  : Commonwealth Fusion Systems (also with billionaire backing Bill Gates)

TAE Technologies see commercial power production by end of this decade: TAE Technologies

Dozens of companies are in pursuit of fusion: https://www.fusionindustryassociation.org/members

Darwin's Law rules.  The tribe will go forward while the outliers eventually suffer the consequences of their inadequacies. 

On 4/9/2021 at 7:15 AM, Barbaraok said:

Actually Bruce, the research work was going on a lot longer than you realize, started with the SARS virus years ago, and since that is also a corona virus, it was easy to build upon it once they had the genome.   Plus 'Crisper' has made a huge difference in how they can identify and work with viruses, and the mRNA based vaccines are going to make a huge difference in virology in the years to come.   

This is an astute observation. 
Virology is at a point where the internet was 20 years ago.  Scientists are able to dismantle a virus's construction and using AI technology they can rapidly deploy countermeasures.   
We ain't seen nothin' yet.