Barbaraok

This time of year, it will be hot on I-10 all the way across Arizona.   After that it will be moderate.   Assume Livingston is the destination,  I'll second the recommendation of Ft. Davis (nice national monument there to the Buffalo Soldiers,  and the McDonald Observatory is fantastic.   Also spend a day around Fredricksburg (stop in at 'Russlin' Rob's' for salsa and hot sauces) lots of things to see in that area.   You didn't say how many miles you do each day, so it is kind of hard to give you any side jaunts you might want to do.  

Why a DP?  You said you are alone, usually DPs are purchased by couples because they can carry more 'stuff', and because of the air-bag ride.   If you are single, why not consider a gas Class A.   You will still have more space than a Class C, but not as costly to purchase or maintain as a DP.   Are you planning on crossing a lot of mountains during the summer.   Don't get me wrong, I love our DP, but we spend more than a few dollars each year keeping her maintained as we don't do much in the way of DYI work. And for a lot of things on a DP, you don't want to do it.   6 gallons of oil to do an oil change on ours - an amount of used oil I want to have to wrestle with to dispose it correctly.   The list goes on and on.  

7 hours ago, Jinx & Wayne said:

My eldest and her husband going full time. They are considering a TAB 400. They asked me for advice. I have no experience with this unit. Anyone out there know anything?

Wayne & Jinx
2017 F-350 diesel, dually
2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

How old are they.

Looked at the floor plan, where are they going to put their clothes for ALL seasons?  Yes, you can layer, but you still need place for underwear, clean clothes, dirty clothes until you can wash, etc.   This would be great for weekends, even 2 weeks of vacation, but full-time?   

We were in Livingston one November parked across from a couple with an A-Frame popup trailer.   The had a cover for cooking on a Coleman stove, the back seat of the car was their closet, they used the park rest room for bathroom and shower needs and when it got very cold for a few days, they went to a motel for 3-4 nights because their little heater couldn't keep up.   Not what I would call fun way to full-time.   And I know they were doing the best that they could, but if just looking, then think about being stuck 24/7 in the rain at 40° (ie PNW after September) for weeks on end.  Not fun.   

Thank you buckeyefan4 - think that covers thousands of us that might be affected.  Sooner we know, the sooner we can take action.

It isn't a matter of being allowed to register, it is VOTING BY MAIL either as someone over 65 or someone who is traveling.    Also, is Escapees going to notify us that an inquiry about voting has landed in our mailboxes so we can get and reply before the 30 days is up?  And when are they going to send out those inquiries?    Since so many of us do everything online anymore, the length between getting mail sent has lengthened considerably.  Often once a month or longer. 

Kirk, before we have had to send in our request for annual mail in ballots because of being over 65 in January.  That isn't that many months away for the 2022 election year which will have primaries as well as general election.  I looked at the bill record and didn't see any objections from Escapees made while it was being considered.  I had been under the impression that someone from the company reviewed pending legislation for any problems that the proposed law could raise for full time RVers who used Escapees as their home base.  Was I was mistaken about this?

Kirk, since the specific law cite was passed and signed into law June 1st and took effect Sept 1st, it would seem that it is long past time when Escapees would be letting all of its mail users their status as far as voting goes so that people can make any adjustments, such as "moving" to a different state as we are also considering.    

39 minutes ago, 2gypsies said:

A mouse can have 5-10 litters per year.  Don't know why you'd release them!  

https://www.batzner.com/resources/blog-posts/the-rapid-reproduction-rate-of-mice/

In the wild they are part of the food chain.  Maybe a nice breakfast for a bobcat.  I try not to kill living things if I can help it.  

14 minutes ago, hemsteadc said:

Spring traps are effective, but not infallible.  I've found where the critters have eaten the PB but not sprung the trap!

Which is why we use a humane trap, to get to the peanut butter, they have to go completely inside.   It does work, but of course, the poor mouse is still alive so you do have to walk it to a potentially habitat for it.   We had one, thought it had gone, then it reappeared when we moved to another county.   So we trapped it and turned it loose in long grasses, trees away from the RV park - whether it established a new home or become someone else's dinner is an unknown.   Put the trap back in that night to see if there was anyone with him/her, but no more 'droppings' underneath the cabinet nor anything in the trap the next morning.   Then we moved again.   Seldom happens, so just have to know what to look for.  

I'm still waiting to hear what medical facility wouldn't take Medicare near Corpus Christi, what it was for (emergency or otherwise) and why another facility wasn't tried.

10 hours ago, sandsys said:

Some doctors don't think Medicare pays enough to make it worth their while to do the paperwork required. If they have enough other patients to keep them busy, why should they?

They wouldn't.   BUT, if you look around at all the specialities that now exist, how many have a preponderance of patients on Medicare.  Retinologists, cardiologists, orthopedics do knee, hip, shoulder replacements,  ophthalmologists doing cataract surgery on assembly line type setup, 4+ per hour,  oncologists, coronary surgeons doing bypasses, valve replacements, stents, nephrologists (kidney), pulmonologists (lung), gastroenterologist (colonoscopies on assembly lines), etc.     

My grandfathers died in 1960 and 1962 (80 and 82 yrs old) of pneumonia, which is now so treatable in most cases it is a short stay in the hospital, maybe with some rehab time afterwards, and then a warning to stay away from grandkids with colds.   Before Medicare, they wouldn't be aggressively treated, but "kept as comfortable as possible" as their lungs collapsed and other body organs shut down.  "It was their time!".  My mother and her sisters lived past 90, and one of those sisters is 98 (I'm named after her, go Auntie Barbara) and head towards 100 and still lives independently with my cousin nearby.   Medicare and the Space Race helped to provide the impetus for huge developments in medicine that now help people of ALL ages.

11 hours ago, Zulu said:

Well, I have, so can we leave it at that?

Not one physician in the area, not one emergency room?  Any hospital that accepts any federal funding has to accept Medicare.    Where was this ?

Not all hospitals nor physicians, etc., take Medicare, but the overwhelming number do.  If you had typed Corpus Christi Hospitals that take Medicare into a search you would received several leads as well as dozens of physicians of all types who accept Medicare.   I have no idea how far away from Corpus Christi you actually were, but large metro areas will have both physicians, hospitals, and urgent care centers that will take Medicare.   We've been all over the country and have never been in a place where they didn't accept Medicare patients at urgent care or emergency rooms, which is what we would be going to since we have our normal physicians in the Mesa, AZ area who all take Medicare.

15 minutes ago, Jaydrvr said:

The link and its contents specifically refer to the Commercial Driver's License. There is a section referring to exemptions for non- commercial use. My point was that this is an RV forum, therefore I can't see how commercial regulations are relevant here. Jay

Because Jay that is the ONLY PLACE where you find out what is required for the Exemption for RVs.  That's why you get an Enhanced Driver's License  (Class A or Class B ) NOT a  CDL, which is required for rigs (in whatever combination) over 26K lbs.  And part of the test is taken from the CDL handbook, so you should read through that in order to pass the test.    For instance, one of the questions on my computer generated test (which I skipped as you go bypass a question and come back) asked when electric turn signals were allowed in Texas (IIRC it was 1962).  Luckily with computer testing, you just skip what you don't want to answer and get 14 questions (70%) and the test stops (at least when we took it, which was in 2006).   Again, the ONLY place where the exemption is listed, and how to get it, etc., is in the CDL regulations!

5 minutes ago, Jaydrvr said:

If you say so, that's fine by me, but in another viewing of this thread, I don't see anything about obtaining a CDL, only the upgraded class of TX driver's license required to drive a larger RV. As I understand it and has been discussed here multiple times, that's not a commercial license. I do personally hold a CDL, so that does give me some perspective. Of course, I could be wrong and it wouldn't exactly new the first time. Jay

Jay, if you read through the entire link, you will see that there is NO REQUIREMENT during the time you have your CLIP  for you to practice driving with someone who has an Enhanced license.  It just says that between the written test and the driving test there will be at least 14 days during which you should practice.   What I did notice is that the Livingston drive testing site is not listed, I wonder if that was a closed because of COVID?    Sometimes it is better to ask for forgiveness (sorry, but I looked completely through and couldn't find that requirement) than to ask for permission.    I know that when we got ours, the people were so happy that we were doing it they never asked how the rig got to the site.  

5 hours ago, Kirk W said:

I found this answer on the Medicare website, after much searching.

However, I also found the following information on a provider's website.

 

You are mixing Advantage with Regular Medicare plus Supplemental.  Advantage plans are not accepted everywhere, usually geographical region and there is no Supplemental with an Advantage plan.

45 minutes ago, beemergary said:

This one has a messenger Messenger rna never used before and studied.

Are you trying to say mRNA, which is a segment of messengerRNA  that causes the immune system to recognize the Covid virus as a threat and go into action.  There is the J&J vaccine which uses the adenovirus protocols.   And the mRNA have been studied for decades, the fact that you don't know about it is ok, since you aren't a biochemistry or have any literacy in any science area.  BUT, that doesn't make if something weird, or new, or wrong.   EVERYTHING IS NEW at some point, that's why we have protocols on how to see if the 'new' is at least as good as the old, and hopefully a lot better.   For instance, invermectin is a great drug for treating PARASITIC illnesses, like head lice, malaria, lots of difference tropical parasitic diseases, and heart worms in dogs, and other worms in all shorts of live stock.  The drug has been thoroughly tested, the mechanism of action is known, and it works wonderfully on parasites!  ON PARASITES.  Not on viruses.  

I'm sure you remember you basic middle school/ high school biology that taught that viruses are not alive or dead:

• Viruses are microscopic organisms that are known to be the connecting link between living and non-living.
• These were not placed under the five-kingdom classification since they are neither living nor dead. Hence, they form their own group.
• Viruses are devoid of cells and cell organelles. Therefore, they depend upon the machinery of the host cell to replicate and synthesize proteins.
• Viruses are usually smaller than bacteria in size. The first virus to be discovered was the Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) that infects the tobacco plant.
• Viruses basically consist of genetic material i.e. nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein capsule. 

We have people who earn Nobel Prizes for their work on DNA and RNA (Watson & Crick come to mind?).  So nothing "new" here.

1 hour ago, GlennWest said:

I may be forced to get mine. 

Still working and some requiring it. As I understand it two treatments. So will have to wait till get back in Texas. DW won't get vaccinated. She was put in hospital by first flu shot she got. That was years ago but she don't trust them now.

 

 

The J&J is one and done, though it looks like they will also have the booster at 6 months.   Flu shots are completely different and your wife is being fool-hardy for believing that all vaccinations will do the same to her.  I just feel sorry because without being vaccinated, it is starting to look like it is almost even chances of getting one of the new variants that can end your life.  With vaccination, the change of getting seriously ill (ie hospitalized) is very, very low.  

28 minutes ago, beemergary said:

Just because you got the experimental drug (kids do as I say not as I do) does not mean you can give it to others. Your the scary ones. Did you get check before to see if you had it and now have the God given immune antibodies now? CDC has no real numbers. Look what happened on the all vacinated Norwiegen cruise ship. Won't see that on fake news. You people are segregating your rv club. Take a history lesson on socializm/communism. Its alive and well pushed for no middle class. If you don't really care- then how about your kids and grandkids and all the vetrans. You still have the freedom choice.   Enjoy your day

Obviously you know next to nothing about basic biology and virology.  First, it is not an experimental drug - the experiments were done long before it was authorized for emergency use as the final paperwork was being completed.  Second, depending upon HOW one is infected, the immunity might not last very long, but the vaccine gives better immunity and it last longer.   Yes, the CDC has real numbers.  Yes, Pfizer has been approved, yes Moderna and J&J will follow.  The basis for these vaccines have been in the works for YEARS.  I hope you don't end saying "can't it get it" when they intubate you because you refused to listen.  But more importantly, because you refuse to be part of the social contract that says one trys to help others.  Because getting the vaccine is for yourself AND FOR OTHERS.  

Ours is almost 20 years old.  So far we've had to send a couple of pictures, but usually we only spend 3 nights or so, in parks like that.   We do a lot of membership parks and they just want neat, well maintained RVs.    And I always book overnight stays at least 2 days ahead of time because of all of the problems with the virus and how most parks the take transient have set up to do online booking/paying, then leave envelop with receipt and site number on their board outside the office.   Works well for us.   For any long term stays, usually they know you.  So now I'd be calling all the parks in the area I wanted to go to see what they had available - it is still early enough you should be able to find something.  

Dan and Freda, so glad you got the vaccine and hope you will realize that in indoor crowded places, like stores, etc., provides the extra protection against the new variants.  Think of the vaccinations as insurance against horrible outcome if an aggressive variant comes your way.  Plus, you are helping everyone around you but reducing transmission.   It is all good.

2 hours ago, Ranger Smith said:

I will not do any spike protein injection either. 

Boy, do you not understand anything about the vaccinations.  If you don’t want the mRNA get the J&J.   Or catch the disease and risk dying, just don’t be around anyone else.  Have you considered a enrollment in a basic science class ar a community college?  

Good for Escapees.

Humane traps with peanut butter.   Take them way away from RV and release.  

Our son-in-law who has an autoimmune problem and takes meds that lower his immune response has already gotten his  in Texas.