Bill Joyce

I recommend people not use Visible as their main phone number, but those trying to pay the least money will do what they do.  

21 hours ago, RV_ said:

Bill what's your 4k main computer a desktop or laptop?

We only have laptops.  The 4K one is a 15" laptop, a Lenovo Flex 5.  I have good eyes, especially after cataract surgery with multi-focal lenses .  Diane doesn't like it the times she ends up using the laptop, though she can see the screen.  Her 15" laptop is 1080p.   My older 15" laptop, a Dell, is also 4K, but doesn't meet Windows 11 specs.  

My main computer updated to 22H2 a couple days ago, which has a 4K display.  We are holding off checking our other 2 Windows 11 laptops until we get to our winter home base in a week, where we have better internet than here in Cottonwood Arizona.  

This one, 22H2, seems to be rolling out.  My wife installed it a couple days ago on her main laptop but on my main laptop it does not show up when I check for updates.  Both of our main laptops are Lenovo Flex 5 models, though we have different SSD drives and video.  We have not checked our smaller laptops that are running Windows 11.

I guess Canada has decided it is over since on October 1st they are removing all the travel restrictions.

We got both the flu shot and the new Pfizer Covid vaccine yesterday at Costco.  

 The video is just under 7 minutes long.  For those who want to really go old school.

12:57 Youtube video by Stetson Doggett comparing old Visible and both new Visible plans - NEW Visible+ Speed Test vs Old Visible Plan!

2 hours ago, jenandjon said:

At least the pot smokers don't leave cigarette butts everywhere. 

But they do. Ask a veterinarian in legal areas how many cases of cannibals poisoning they have dealt with when dogs eat the butts.  Sad, but true.    

1 hour ago, Twotoes said:

Do you still say roll up the window, when was the last time you saw a window crank

A U-Haul rental truck in June.  

Trader Joe's has a Ranch Seasoning Blend in the spices area that has no MSG.  But Trader Joe's is not everywhere.

Reminds me of an experience from a National RV Owners rally when we owned a Dolphin around 2002.  One National RV tech was asking anyone if they had the dashboard lights dim occasionally.  He cleaned the contacts on the trailer (tow car) connector for those who had the problem.  He said it took him days to find the problem the first time, 

11 hours ago, bigjim said:

Interesting. I googled the number of Sam's clubs in the US and it came up with 600. Texas has the most locations with 82.

In early 2018 they closed around 60 Sam's Clubs including all of them in Alaska and Washington.  Some SKP friends were very unhappy they closed the Casa Grande AZ Sam's, since they were leaseholders at the co-op in Casa Grande.  I have not heard if they have opened any new ones.  I know Costco is still growing and has also been replacing older stores with larger new ones.  

We plan to do what we were going to do anyway, go north into the Pacific Northwest for the summer and then back to Arizona for the winter.  Last year that was about 4700 miles.  If we have to pay $7/gallon for diesel, that would be just over $4000 in fuel costs.  In 2006 we traveled 19000 miles going to Alaska from Florida and paid $7800 for diesel, in 2008 we traveled just under 12000 miles and spent $6400 on diesel, in 2012 we traveled about 11000 miles and spent $5600 on diesel, so we have paid more in past years than we plan to this year.  So far the highest we paid for diesel this year is $6.159/gallon in California.  

2 hours ago, lappir said:

Chad, 

Is there a color code for your map? Each color has three states, will there soon be a new color?

 

Rod

https://www.epgsoft.com/visited-states-map/ is the website used and they pick the colors.

A few days ago I got sent an email that I could get a second Pfizer booster so I scheduled it the next day.  We will be visiting family with health challenges in the next few weeks, so we are doing what we can to make them safe.

We will be heading into California on Monday and will see how the M2000 does.   Last year the 4G plan worked in most places.  Been told that boosters don't do anything on the 5G bands, but we do have a weBoost Drive Reach booster.

8 hours ago, ashton23l said:

Very fair point. I’m now in the market for a crv 

You need an older one, since around 2014 the CRV is no longer towable.

I do what Will B Does using a Pepwave Surf SOHO router, but there are much cheaper travel routers from companies like GL.iNet (I have two models) and TP-Link that are under $50 that work fine.  They are mostly sold for motel travelers to share the wifi or ethernet.  GL,iNet and TP-Link travel routers are on Amazon.  You can do an internet search for "best travel routers 2022" to get reviews.

18 hours ago, Patrick Cunningham said:

Bill, I checked out the video and it talks about getting multiple networks because one might have more signal strength than another in a certain area.   How is that done?   Is there some kind of combination plan allowing me to buy or subscribe to all of them, or do I have to set up an account with each of them separately?

We have multiple separate plans and use a router that supports USB tethering and "WiFi as WAN" (using wifi as a source for internet) so our printers and devices do not need to know how to hook to the various devices. 

17 hours ago, hemsteadc said:

Starlink may be the answer to all our communication problems.  They're working on roaming as we speak.  Years ago I was hopeful that we could get internet with our portable satellite dishes but I guess that's not ever going to happen.

For many years we had Hughesnet satellite internet and I laugh at anyone who thinks Starlink will "work anywhere", since "anywhere" needs a clear view of the sky and many times that is not possible.  That cause us to get our first mobile hotspot in 2008, otherwise we needed to take our laptop computers somewhere to get online when trees or buildings blocked our satellite dish. Starlink just raised its prices and can do so anytime, since there are no contracts. The equipment price went up to $599 from $499 and the monthly cost went up to $110 from $99.

For internet, Mobile Internet Resource Center by Technomadia is the place to do your research https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/ *.  they have guides on plans and gear.  Get started here - https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/getting-started/ .

It is fun to be close to Tempe Arizona, since many self-driving car companies are running tests there.  The cars also end up in the West part of Mesa.  The Waymo cars are the most obvious and there is no human inside those.  

7 minutes ago, rickeieio said:

While I don't profess to be up on all the latest vehicles, I've never heard of a "plug-in hybrid".  Don't hybrids have an engine to charge the batteries?

Ohio has two additional fees, one for true plug-ins, and a lesser fee for hybrids.

Normal hybrids charge the battery when braking or slowing down.  They do not have that large of a battery bank and the electric motorhome only has limited horsepower,  so any trip of road speed uses both electricity and gas.  Plug-in hybrids have larger electric batteries and often a larger electric motor so they can run 20 to 40 miles electric only.  

We carry some cash because of my mother.  Whenever we visited her she would hand me $500 to $1000 in cash and I would pay for any meals out, etc., and she expected me to keep the rest.  When she died  a few years ago there was cash hidden everywhere.  Between that cash and getting our annual Costco Visa rebate in cash, I still have a few hundred in cash left.  I am more comfortable holding $200 to $500 n cash and am glad to not be carrying thousands any more.  

We rarely use cash for anything, preferring to use a credit card or an occasional check.  The debit card gets used to get cash in foreign countries, so I have to look up the pin number.  My father learned while being a banker that rich people used credit and kept their credit cards paid off.

I also figure that if things go downhill fast, I am not going to be one of the survivors.