mptjelgin

It is pretty common to see chalking in older fiberglass RVs and boats, and I respectfully disagree that it means the gelcoat has worn away. The gelcoat is simply oxidizing over time, and that is the source of the chalking. As long as you don't have fiberglass strands exposed on the surface, you still have gelcoat. Remedies for chalking range from really intensive processes like wet-sanding the finish, to the more common (but still time consuming) process of using some type of polishing compound and a buffer. A popular product is Meguiars Oxidation Remover To be clear this is still plenty of work, but many folks have gotten great results with a product like this. Most manufacturers of paste wax will offer something similar. The trick is to work in small sections, and if you are using a buffer not to run it too fast or run it dry.

I had a just-out-of-college High School History teacher that asked us this question one day in class: "What is the primary purpose of a newspaper?". We gave him predictable answers like "To keep the people informed of situations in their community and around the world", or "To hold elected officials accountable to their constituents". He responded, "No, the primary purpose of a newspaper is to make a profit for its owners and shareholders.". I remember his words to this day (some 45 years later).

That most certainly was not the only question put forth. The specific question that you yourself put forth just four hours ago was this: "Does Jessie A contribute something worthwhile or would you rather that he were blocked from further postings?". Also included in the statement was "Lets hear from everyone what the opinion is." You, as a "Weekend Moderator", asked the specific question and solicited opinions from others. That lends some weight to the discussion as it appears that the topic is under consideration by the "staff" that oversees the forum. So my question stands. Are we going to start voting on who does or does not contribute something worthwhile to the forum?

Why would we single Jesse A out and apply this criteria? There are many people on these forums that would have trouble meeting this incredibly subjective criteria. Are we going to begin voting on others who bother us?? It is simple. If you don't like their content, don't click on it.

Here is a Valtera City Water inlet that is listed as having a 4 3/4" outside diameter.

Yes

I had a recent incident with the mail center that was elevated to the Mail Supervisor but never resolved. I ordered an map update from Ford Motor Company that they sent on a USB drive. It turns out that the first files sent were incorrect, so they followed up with a second mailing just a day later. I received SKP notification of two packages being received from Ford. When my mail was forwarded, I received only one of the packages. I called the mail center to inquire, and the call was returned by the mail supervisor. They said that they checked with the "clerk" who assured them that both Ford envelopes were included in my package. Yet, when I received the unopened, undamaged package from SKP's it contained only a single parcel from Ford. After some back-and-forth that was essentially "We are sure that both parcels went into your envelope" with me replying "I only received one" I was happy to discover that the one I had been sent contained the later USB drive with the correct files. The issue remains unresolved to this day, and I can't help but wonder what the resolution would have been if I had not received the correct USB drive. As far as Ford is concerned, their packages were delivered and signed for so they have no further obligation. SKP's seems certain that both were sent to me, yet I am 100% certain that I never received one of them. So while SKP's mail service has been very good over the ten years that I've used them, this incident, along with another more minor incident a couple of years ago gives me some concern.

Internet forums in general are a dying thing, simply because there are different forms of social media that have overtaken them. I am a member of a Texas Birder internet forum that has been around for a long time, but has been in a steady decline for years. One of the reasons is a "parallel" Facebook group that is affiliated with the same interest group. In a relatively short period of time membership and participation in the Facebook group has overtaken the internet forum and is now a far more popular way to access similar information. Why? Instant content that is pushed out to members, allowing quick response, likes, shares, etc. There are still some oldtimers lamenting the fact that the internet forum isn't more active and wanting to revitalize it, but that ship has sailed. I've seen the same thing with every other interest group that I am associated with. And for younger people, even Facebook is a "old persons" format. They are far more likely to utilize Snatchat, Instagram, and TikTok than Facebook or an internet forum.

Picked ours up today. Our mail went out Thursday (8th), and was at the Post Office in Medina, TX (General Delivery) on Saturday. Because of the holiday we weren't able to pick it up until this morning. Ballots heading back tomorrow.

Well that is good news!!

Yes.

We used to go to the Eagle Nest Campground near Ruidoso, on the way up to Ski Apache. The land was beautiful, but the campground itself wasn't very well maintained, and used regular galvanized trash cans without locking lids. The Black Bears got so comfortable in there that we finally stopped using the campground. It wasn't unusual to see 3 or 4 of them wandering around in the late afternoon, turning over trash cans and enjoying the bounty.

This is a bit like believing that drugs are scarce and hard to obtain simply because there are laws and enforcement. And perhaps you personally have never seen anyone selling them. The amount of fraud that exists regarding drivers licenses, registrations, inspections, insurance, etc. is much higher than many would like to believe.

Back in my younger years when I drove crappy cars with bald tires, we all knew where to go to get inspection stickers without the inspection. It really wasn't much of a secret. I haven't had the need for that in several decades, but have no doubt that those places continue to exist. The entire state inspection program is kind of a joke, and I was hopeful that they would eliminate it in my lifetime. The legislature came very close a couple of sessions back, but never made it happen.

If you are parked long-term and not out on the road, you don't "have" to have current tags or inspection by state law. But once you are ready to hit the road, you have that issue. Hypothetically, you "could" get the registration by stating that you are out of state, and then get the inspection as soon as you hit the road. Not completely ethical, but no different really than someone just over the border in Oklahoma, Louisiana, or New Mexico getting registered and then arriving back into the state.

Some places are just very dusty, and since we like to keep windows open and the fantastic fans running, we tend to pull in quite a bit of dust. We volunteered a couple of summers in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, and on some windy days we would accumulate what seemed like an impossible amount of dust in just an hours. If we saw dust in the air we would close the RV up, but it was often too little, too late. To really keep it down you need to keep all of the windows closed, and as Linda mentions try to remove as much as you can from your shoes, clothing, and self. But honestly, windy plus dry plus desert equals dust, plain and simple.

What Texas currently issues is a License to Carry (LTC).

The Ford V-10 is a SOHC engine, and uses roller followers that "connect" the camshaft(s) directly to the valves. As such there are no lifters, pushrods, rocker arms, etc. as are found in an OHV engine. However, if you completely lose oil pressure things will get noisy, eventually!

In Texas many RV dealers essentially sold out this summer. The dealer in Kerrville actually had zero inventory at one point, and in an article said that the demand had been unprecedented, and supply curtailed due to COVID. With camping being one of the "endorsed" recreational family activities in this COVID era, many first time folks bought RV's and headed out to the parks. I know of at least two families that bought RV's solely because of this. Things have calmed somewhat with school starting back up, and it will be interesting to see how many of these folks stick with RVing as a long-term hobby. Many Texas State Parks were maxed out for both overnight camping and day use most weekend days and even some weekdays this summer. I saw a lot of notifications as early as Tuesday or Wednesday stating that all day-use passes had been sold for Saturday and Sunday, and sometimes Friday as well. And other "day of" notifications on weekdays stating that the park had reached capacity for the day. Our experience over the past few years has been that both public and private campgrounds are busier than in the previous years, and I imagine that will continue. For us it has made our long trips from volunteer spot to volunteer spot less enjoyable as we've had to plan a bit farther in advance, and generally avoid public campgrounds completely on weekends. Some favorite spots are not longer viable on a "drop in" basis.

An "inverter" takes the 12 volt DC power from your batteries and turns it into 110 volt AC power. That allows you to plug in typical appliances like your CPAP, computers, televisions, etc. without modifying them. But you have to be aware of the amount of power that your appliance(s) draw, and how long your batteries can run them without totally discharging the batteries. Some RV's have an inverter from the factory that is set up to supply power to the wall outlets. This type of RV will often have four or more batteries to support the inverter but even then you have to be aware of your energy "budget" to avoid running the entire system down. The other solution described above is to either get a CPAP that is designed to run directly off of 12 volt DC power, or get an adapter (if available) for the CPAP you have that allows it to use 12 volt DC power. Then you won't need an inverter. But the same consideration applies. You need to determine how much power your CPAP uses, and if you have the battery capacity to run it all night, for however many nights you are out. Without knowing the energy usage of the CPAP it is difficult to give good advice.

We have a "Mobile" account with Direct TV and have had Hallmark for years. We've also had the movie pack now and then, and had a month or so for free earlier in the summer.

I agree 100%. We've had zero desire to "experience" Quartzsite and question the idea of any one thing needing to be on every RV'ers "bucket list".

Same for me. Picked up the Walmarts and HEB's but not the Walgreens (where we got our shot) and the CVS.

There are very few RV's on the market with more than one bath, and I don't know of any with two showers. The plan you've drawn has essentially no "living area" and the single couch is directly across from a bathroom. You are looking for something so unique that it likely doesn't exist. RV manufacturers (with the exception of the very high-end, custom manufacturers) design RV's that are likely to appeal to a range of potential buyers, and the layout you have drawn would not. The idea of looking at a toy hauler and renovating the garage area has some merit, but few are in the 30' range, and fewer with two bathrooms.

As Rod notes, streaming services pretty much assume that you will sit down to watch the show when you want to watch it. For that reason few folks think in terms of recording from a streaming service to watch later. The point of streaming is that the content is there, when you want it, whenever you want it. The only reason that I could think to record it is if you are going to record a bunch of shows while you have a good internet connection, and then take them and watch them in a place where you do not. Is this your situation?