Bill Joyce

One of the reasons we still have a DVD player is my wife has Yoga DVDs that she uses in the RV.

I had a similar problem many years ago with a power strip, but it was more obvious than yours since the power strip just had to be plugged in to cause a GFCI fault.

Windows 11 also doubles down on using the "cloud" to use lots of bandwidth doing stuff Microsoft deems important, like news feeds and syncing Office, but not all of us want. Anyway I tried the upgrade checker on both of my main laptops and this one, a fairly old 15", is not compatible with Windows 11, while my 4-year old 13" one I take to coffee shops and hotel trips is compatible.

I have some really old laptops running Windows 10, two of which are 32-bit computers that started life as Windows XP and Vista machines. I have definitely had machines die on me, and my wife just replaced her 5 or 6 year old Windows laptop due to a hard drive issue. The hard drive is replaceable but she figured a new laptop with a solid state drive was worth it to her. The massively faster boot times are worth it to her and we can afford to replace her old laptop completely, instead of just the hard drive. Remember Windows 10 was a free upgrade from Windows 7, 8.0 and 8.1 and Windows 7 was a free upgrade from Vista. I can't remember if Windows 7 or Vista was a free upgrade from Windows XP, but I think there was a time that was true. I do not remember buying a Windows upgrade after XP. I know people who have had Macs that died early, I have know people who have Macs for a very long time. The same with Windows machines. I have also installed Linux on many an older Windows laptop, including my very old Dell Studio 15 I bought in 2010 that I still use. My 2c. Getting into arguments over how long computers and operating systems last doesn't gain anything. I just visited a friend who still has multiple working Commodore Amiga machines.

"Front-wheel-drive (1.5L gas FWD/ 1.6L diesel) and AWD (1.6L diesel only) vehicles can be towed. Shift transmission to Neutral. Ignition to ACC. Turn off accessories. Run vehicle at the beginning of each day and at each fuel stop for about 5 minutes. See owner’s manual."

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/ (Technomadia) for all answers. It is where we go to find this kind of information. https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/guides/mifijetpack-usb-modem-or-smartphone-hotspotting/ talks about mifi's versus hotspotting a phone. Here is their guide to the best data plans available now - https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/guides/top-cellular-data-plans-for-rvers-cruisers-verizon-att-t-mobile-and-sprint/ (this guide changes as the plans change, but most plans can be grandfathered if no longer available by just paying the bill) Visible is owned by Verizon and uses a phone hotspot. There are topics here on using Visible with a cheap travel router to get around the one device limit on the hotspot. If we did not already have a grandfathered unlimited Verizon plan we would have a Visible phone or two. AT&T (and Cricket) have $55 for 100GB mobile internet plans, while T-Mobile has a $60 5G for 100GB mobile internet plan. FMCA has a $50 for unlimited Sprint plan and the non-profit Calyx Institute has their various unlimited plans on Sprint/T-Mobile from $500 to $750, which is what we use.

Don't expect the UPS store to be good about sending your mail to different addresses as you travel. At least that was out experience.

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/guides/tv-movie-entertainment-on-the-road/ is their guide on streaming.

I find it so amusing that people are worrying about privacy with Amazon and posting links to Facebook.

Rice and a slow cooking soup on the two back burners, vegetables and a main dish on the two front burners.

For an under sink RO system, it does make sense to pipe the brine water back to the fresh water tank. Most of your fresh water tank is used for cleaning, not drinking, so if it is a bit brinier, that is OK.

Had this problem and it was a loose wire connection to the GFCI. I turned off the breaker, loosened the GFCI plate and pulled it out of the wall and fixed the wiring.

Texting would not have worked in our situation due to the main communication was a land line phone. But that is a great solution for many and would work for my wife's family if it came to that.

For a while I had to be available by phone due to family issues. I had a Verizon phone, but there were places it did not work. I ended up carrying a T-Mobile phone as backup and that solved my problem in most places even though there were places T-Mobile did not have service or the service was flaky. One place Verizon did not work reliably was the Escapees Co-op in Chimacum WA, a couple more are the Thousand Trails in La Conner WA and South Beach OR. Since then we have both an AT&T and Sprint mobile hotspot and our Verizon phones will do WiFi calling, so we just put the phones on WiFi using the mobile hotspot that works were we are camped. We have done this multiple times.

Check your plans for hotspot limits since it sounds like you will be using a computer in addition to the phones. Video conferencing uses lots of data. An iPad with its own unlimited data plan might be something to look at.

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/t-mobile-prepaid-and-metro-by-t-mobile-discontinue-100gb-mobile-internet-data-plans/ - The postpaid plan is still available.

For new laptops I find that about $400 to $450 is the magic range for a decent unit. Every once in a while I find something for under $400, but there are plenty in the $400 to $450 range. It is common for family to ask me to find them a deal or something to recommend. For touchscreens or 2-in-1s you might have to go to $600 or so, which is the preferred type for the younger set.

USPS Shutting Down Informed Delivery App This Summer - the text: In a bit of sad, yet unsurprising news, USPS announced this week that it’s shutting down its Informed Delivery apps for Android and iOS. I’m not sure if I should be blaming Postmaster General DeJoy for this, but he seems to be the main reason USPS sucks right now, so yeah, I’m just gonna blame him for it. Be better, DeJoy. If you aren’t signed up for Informed Delivery, you’re doing mail wrong. Each morning, USPS sends you an email or notification about what pieces of mail will be in your box that day. The post office literally scans your incoming mail and sends you a photo. It’s so clutch — it’s how I knew I had a speeding ticket in the mail and I was able to rage about it on Twitter. Seriously, Informed Delivery is awesome. Sign up for it because the email service will continue to operate. It’s free. USPS says the shutdown is happening this summer, but rest assured, they confirm that users will still be able to receive Informed Delivery via the USPS Mobile app. RIP, dedicated Informed Delivery app.

Many companies are now designing small nukes that use a mix of waste and new Uranium, thus cutting down the waste. Plus anyone who was involved with the US nuclear waste search for a repository in the 1980s, knows that politics was the main issue, not finding a site and making it safe.

Got our second Pfizer shot on Friday. Both of us had less side effects than the first shot, which is a strong indicator that we had Covid some time in the past. We know when that was, December 2019 to January 2020, when we were both sick after being in Los Angeles area going to museums, aquariums and the Queen Mary.

I know many people whose ears are trained enough to tell the difference between a grand piano, baby grand piano and upright piano just from listening to a recording. Some can even guess the brand name. An electronic keyboard might not cut it for some of them, but others will accept the compromises, just like they accept that they do not have room at home for a grand piano.

My cousin said that road kill raccoon was some of the best bait to put in a crab pot. He didn't do it himself, but saw the results when others used it.

My wife worked for an Exxon subsidiary for many years, which Exxon sold to someone else and then it started making money. At the time Exxon had one business model and when they bought into other businesses they tried to run them like an oil company, and often failed. They tried office equipment, computers, nuclear fuel (where my wife worked), and many others. Admittedly her experience was many decades ago, but I am not surprised Exxon would have the view that a different business would not make enough money since the company has lots of experience not making money on anything but oil.

https://www.turbokool.net/product-p/2b-0001-turbokool-swamp-cooler.htm is all I could find that mounts on the roof. It sounds like one an RV blogger used many years ago. Best RV Swamp Coolers - these are all boxes for inside the RV.

Fort Stockton has a nice museum, the Annie Riggs Memorial Museum, that is worth visiting.