Dutch_12078

19 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

When our youngest son was in HS(a,most 35 years ago) and was wanting to be a veterinarian, as part of a career day he spent the day with a highly respected veterinarian in the community. Our son mentioned the similarity of training and services with the disparity in incomes. The vet told our son that the #1 reason that doctors get paid more and have better facilities is health insurance. As pet health insurance has become more common, the price of vet care and the availability of more technical services have both increased.  

The decision to let a person or a pet die because of the cost to keep them alive is and always has been both an emotional and a financial one. 

That makes a lot of sense, Kirk...

4 minutes ago, bruce t said:

Kirk do you think/believe that vets play on owners emotional attachment to their pets to, in part, justify their costs?

Some may, but I think most are responsible caring doctors that try to do what's best for their patients and their owners. Try comparing similar treatments in both veterinary and human care. The effort and training required for both is about the same, but vet care is typically much less expensive. When our last dog had heart issues, our vet called around to other vets and found a donated pacemaker that kept our girl alive for several more years. The cost for the surgery was just $2200. Compare that to a human patient in similar circumstances. Oh, and when our girl passed, her pacemaker was donated for another animal that might need it to use.

I agree with Kirk. The only times I've seen an RV at a weigh station was when the station was closed but the scale was left on as some of them do.

3 hours ago, Chalkie said:

OH, my! I am so embarrassed! I had it in my head the steer wheels, i.e., the ones on the road doing the turning. SMH  LOL

It's all good, Chalkie...

3 hours ago, Kirk W said:

I owned one of the old Econoline vans, and yep, you really did sit over the axle. But I sure wouldn't want to tow much of a trailer with one...

1 hour ago, Chalkie said:

Wait, what, Dutch? I think I know what you are going for but how can the steering wheels be behind the front axle?

Look at Kirk's photos. How would you describe the steering wheel location in relation to the front axle?

6 hours ago, Lou Schneider said:

One disadvantage to towing with a van is with the driver's seat so far forward over the front axle you'll have less "feel" for what the rear of the van and the trailer are doing, so it will be harder to notice if the combo is starting to sway.

Lou, compare a side view of a Ford E-250 van and a Ford F-250 pickup. Note how far behind the front axle both steering wheels are. The truck is a little further back than the van, but both are behind the front axle.

In years past, my wife and were pretty good about letting unknown calls go to voicemail. In the past year or so though, with all our recent medical issues, we're regularly receiving calls from doctors offices where the calling number is seldom the same due to multiple outbound lines and cell phone use. The best we can do until things settle down is to keep adding new numbers to our contact lists and quickly hanging up on the scammers/spammers.

3 hours ago, lappir said:

If I purchase something it will be mostly "Wild Land" requiring little upkeep. If there is a building or home on the property it would be rented out with the "Renter" responsible for keeping up the property for a very reasonable rental rate. The "City, County or State" would have to allow me to park my 'Home On Wheels' and live on the property as often and for how ever long I would decide. So far that's what's blocking me in my current area and the properties I have had interest in. 

Not sure if the interest I had over this past winter will come back again when I finish my Summer travels or not.

 

Rod

When we decided to go fulltiming in 2010, we sold our mountaintop home and 400 acre forest property, but we kept our lakeside summer cottage on a 2 acre wooded lot. Over the years we've completely remodeled the cottage into a year round home with a full hookup RV site alongside to be both our base and our "hang up the keys" home. We didn't rent it out, instead letting family members use the property for vacations in exchange for helping with maintaining and improving the place. Now that our health has taken us off the fulltime road, we're going to be enjoying the best of both worlds we hope, by still making limited RV trips and having a home near our family to come back to.

11 minutes ago, Bill Joyce said:

I know people who own property they visit every few years and ignore otherwise.  I know people who constantly worry about their property so they have to check on it often and thus cannot travel far.  Add buildings or rules about maintenance and it gets more complicated. 

But is that good or bad in their minds? Or just the way they chose to live? If they don't want the responsibilities of real estate ownership, why would they keep it?

9 hours ago, LiveWorkDream said:

Interesting feedback from the Xscapers Facebook Group. I put up a poll and here are the results. I wish I wouldn't have given people an option to post write-in answers, since it skewed the results a bit. But you can still see that 56% own some type of real estate or co-op lot, and 44% are property-free. 

It's prompted me to do a few interviews and put together a story for the July issue of Escapees Magazine, so stay tuned!

I don't find it surprising that the numbers are similar on both surveys. I don't understand the subject of this thread though, since I don't see where owning property is either good or bad, but rather depends on each individual's particular circumstances and what works best for them.

On 4/20/2024 at 7:00 PM, bthomforde said:

I wasn't having issue with a doctor taking my medicare or a walgreens to fill the meds, I had a problem with a doctor that doesn't return phone calls or text messages and doesn't understand or care about the full time lifestyle. 

I have since found a doctor that understands full timers and actually cares about patient's health. 

I was commenting more in general regarding the earlier Medicare Advantage comments. I'm glad you got your situation worked out.

In 13 years of fulltiming, we never had a problem finding doctors that took our Medicare Advantage plans except for one that didn't take Medicare in any form. We've seen our NY PCP for the past 20 years, and she's been very helpful in finding specialists wherever we happened to be when the need arose.We get our prescriptions from Walgreens, and haven't found anyplace yet where one wasn't relatively near by.

Like Kirk, I answered the poll as if we were still fulltiming. When we decided to go fulltime in 2020, we sold our mountain top home on 400 acres of woodland. But we also owned a couple of lakeside acres with a small summer use cottage on it that we kept. Over the years, we remodeled the cottage into a year round use home with a full hookup RV site next door. Our costs to maintain the cottage have been minimal, and our twin daughters that live nearby have done a great job of taking care of the lawn,the beach, and the dock, as  well as making sure the cottage was secure and any problems were promptly taken care of.

We planned on the cottage being our exit plan when it was time to hang up the keys, but we didn't expect that to happen quite as soon as it did. Last winter while we were in Florida, my wife's COPD flared up, putting her in the hospital for a week and on oxygen 24/7, and then the day after we parked at the cottage in April, I had a fortunately fairly mild stroke that affected my speech and mobility. We did manage stays at a few NY state parks last summer, but then my wife found out her glaucoma was getting worse and she would soon need eye surgery. On top of that, in November I had second much worse stroke that put me in the hospital for most of a week. After months of speech, occupational, and physical therapy, I'm finally able to get around using a quad-cane, although I still have speech and dexterity issues. My wife is scheduled for her eye surgery in a week for one eye, and two weeks for the other one.

Needles to say, our fulltiming days are behind us now, but our doctors are allowing us to spend some time at our favorite NY state parks, as long as we're no more than 2 hours from home. I expect to be able to manage the motorhome by then, and a couple of days age drove it a few miles to a shop for it's annual NY safety inspection.

The bottom line is that we are extremely fortunate that the cottage was there when we needed it!  

Visible Adds New Features to Premium Visible+ Plan

Premium Mobile Hotspot (using phone as a WiFi connection): Members on the new Visible+ plan can experience an increased mobile hotspot speed of up to 10 Mbps, up to two times faster than before. This also allows members to have an improved experience when connecting more than one device.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/visible-adds-new-features-to-premium-visible-plan-302100457.html#:~:text=Premium Mobile Hotspot (using phone,connecting more than one device.

I've had Progressive insurance on our Class A for about 12 years now including roadside service. A couple of years ago we needed a tow off the NY Thruway due to an engine problem. Since the Thruway Authority requires going through their dispatcher for service, I could not use a Progressive ERS provider, although I did inform the provider of the situation. I was told to go ahead with the Thruway selected tow service and I would be reimbursed in accordance with my service plan. The dispatched tow operator took the rig to the Ford dealer I requested, and the bill was a little over $700. I filled out the required form I downloaded from the Progressive website and mailed it in along with the tow receipt. About 10 days later I received a check for the full amount, and at renewal there was just minimal $20 increase.

Last year we got caught behind a large truck on a gravel road, and despite maintaining what we thought was a safe distance, ended up with a cracked drivers side windshield and a large "star" crack on the passenger side windshield. Progressive requested photos of the damage that were forwarded to to company that handles their glass claims, After several days, I was called by an RV glass specialty company to arrange for the replacement of both sides as soon as the glass could be shipped to a local RV shop in upstate NY for installation. Due to shipping delays, the glass had not arrived when we were getting ready to leave for our winter Florida trip. When I advised the glass company of that, they said it was not a problem since they have a crew in Florida that would come to our campsite and do the installation there. When the agreed day came, the crew arrived on time and 4 hours later we had new glass in both halves of our split windshield valued at $7,800 with no deductible. On renewal, there was no premium increase this time.

I have been quite pleased with the service we have received from Progressive, and so far have had no reason to consider switching.

4 hours ago, SuiteSuccess said:

Yes and Kenworth and Volvo have speced a truck for folks we know specifically to pull a fifth wheel and be registered in their respective states for that purpose. So should they not be covered because Kenworth and  Volvo mainly build commercial vehicles?  Jack Mayer and RVH are ordering trucks and purpose building to not be used commercially.  So I think the point I was making still has validity.  Plus, I still would bet Prevost primary market is still for commercial use. In fact they sold shy of 400 commercial buses to New York State in 2023 with an option for more. https://prevostcar.com/. BTW you do know Prevost is owned by Volvo Truck Group?

Yes I'm aware that Prevost is owned by Volvo. I'm also aware the most major RV companies have a commercial division that makes specialized non-RV vehicles. To answer your question though, yes, I do think the ERS companies should cover vehicles registered as motorhomes with no regard to the origin of the underlying original vehicle. I wonder if they cover schoolies.

On 1/31/2023 at 9:09 PM, SuiteSuccess said:

To wrap up the thread, I received a call apparently from the same lady Larry spoke to with Mr. Lemonis’ complaint resolution center.  After a spirited conversation concerning my less than satisfactory experiences with their lower and mid level customer service department, I was informed my truck was NOT covered by their service contract based on the fact it was designed to be used as a commercial vehicle DESPITE change of registration to a Motorhome and modifications to pull a fifth wheel travel trailer.  I specifically asked about Motorhomes such as Prevost and other frames which were designed as commercial vehicles for transport companies and they are apparently covered.  She failed to recognize the conflict in logic.  Regardless I admonish anyone with an HDT and paying for a Roadside Assistance Service, you best check with them by phone, read the fine print, most of all have them send you written confirmation of coverage of your vehicle.  I plan on talking to CoachNet just out of curiosity.

Using Prevost to make your point hasn't been valid for a number of years now. Prevost currently makes units specifically for the RV conversion market.

https://prevostmotorhomes.com/

Thought I would add this for those looking to TurboTax or H&R Block for advice:

TurboTax Adds AI That Gives Horribly Wrong Answers to Tax Questions

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/turbotax-adds-ai-gives-horribly-171059895.html

6 hours ago, Wrknrvr said:

  How about a reverse rotation Chevy v-8.

 

  If you know the answer, let’s give it a day to see what can be found.

I had a friend years ago that had twin Chevy V-8's in his boat, one of them was reverse rotation.

11 hours ago, spindrift said:

Dutch...do you still have it?

No, the last I saw of it, the fellow that bought it had turned it into garden shed after he laid it on its side in a ditch.

11 hours ago, spindrift said:

Porsche and Volkswagen had been using the same swing-axle, rear suspension design.  Ralph Nader stuck his nose where it didn't belong.  My brother and I stuffed a Corvair engine in to our Dad's VW bus.  What a blast it was to drive.

Cool! I installed a Corvair engine and Powerglide automatic transmission in my '68 Westfalia camper conversion VW bus.

44 minutes ago, rickeieio said:

I know a learned person who swears the US/Russian thing is true.  Educated beyond his intelligence?

As to the original intent,  I started the thread, so I can change the rules.😛

"Satellites and other spacecraft can orbit with the rotation of the Earth, in the opposite direction of Earth's rotation, or in any other direction! Usually satellites orbit in the direction of Earth's rotation, but there are some satellites that travel in the opposite direction"

https://howthingsfly.si.edu/ask-an-explainer/do-satellites-and-spacecraft-orbit-rotation-earth-or-opposite-way#:~:text=Satellites and other spacecraft can,travel in the opposite direction.

2 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Sorry to hear about your latest difficulty! Pam has had a complete right ankle replacement (Inbone), right hip replacement, back surgery, 2 plates for broken right arm,  and last Friday her left knee. Since RVing is difficult at best when using a cane or walker, we sold our RV last summer. I'm not 81 (Pam almost 83) and we still plan to do some travel, just not by RV. Letting the RV go was not an easy thing to do since we had owned some type of RV since 1974 but I suppose all things must end one day. I have been pretty fortunate that I have few issues thus far but do find the part of caregiver to be more challenging this time. We are also at an age where we also need to be very aware of our driving skills, even with a car as there is little doubt that such things do diminish with age. 

I'm sorry to read about Pam's problems, Kirk, and I wish her the best for a speedy recovery. I'll be 81 next month, and if we do manage our summer camping trips, I think that will likely tell us whether it's time to put a For Sale sign in the RV or not. If we can't make those trips, I guess the question will answer itself.

10 hours ago, OKed said:

Dutch

My husband was 80 in 2023.  I am his caretaker in a lot of ways but he is going strong even with diabetes.

We take care of campgrounds in the summers just to keep active

Wishing you and your wife happiness and keeping well 

Thanks, OKed, we're trying our best. I posted my original message on Nov 1st last year, and 8 days later had a second stroke that kept me in the hospital for 5 days. A lot of ups and downs, but we're still hopeful about summer camping. 

My best wishes to you and your husband!