Gray Days, Winter Looms - Now What?

Sad, Huh?

    To be an RV'er in the Northeast when it's Winter is a real bummer. Some of you reading this get to laugh at my predicament, but others share my pain. Last night, we got a small-ish 6-inch accumulation of snow. My RV, which of course I haven't gotten around to covering yet, was completely covered in snow. Sad, very sad. Thankfully, as I sit and write this, the snow is almost completely melted and gone. More is forecast, of course, but for now, all is good. Been 26 degrees overnight the last few nights without any respite in sight. I can only dream of my first spring trip. Over the last few years, I have written quite a few articles about RV's and winter blues. There was even the one where I lived in my comfortable heated RV for a bit during a fierce storm. Mostly, I plan during the winter.

Even Sadder, Huh?

Whether it's modifications or improvement projects or just researching cool places to go...there is always something I can do to keep me in the "RV mood." My window shows me a great view of my parked RV. I find myself staring at it sometimes, wondering what the next season will bring. It's always a bit depressing to see it covered in snow, through that same window. At least I had it covered that time (unlike last week!). Lots of folks have differing opinions on covering their RVs. I Like to cover it when the weather gets really nasty to keep the snow and ice from getting on the roof. I'll get over it! I've had some of my best ideas staring out that window at the RV.

So now what? Let the weather get you down or get positive and plan for further adventures. I will go with the latter. Heck, I'll do one better. I'll ask you, the reader, to make suggestions for projects, improvements, repairs, new gadgets and gizmos and trip planning. If you want to try it...but want someone else to look at it first or figure out how to make it happen, all you need to do is ask! Yes, that's right...jot down your favorite ideas for projects (all seasons, winter, spring, summer or fall) and send them to me via the comments below. I'll get right on them and we'll see what develops.

Be Seeing You...Down The Road...

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com

Mystery Switches in RV - Just What Do They Do?

    I was in my RV the other day to check that everything was OK. Storing it for the winter doesn't mean nothing can go wrong! I check for water leaks, critter intrusion and mechanical/electrical issues about once every two weeks. It's also a good idea to check your battery water levels and top up if needed with distilled water (especially if you are leaving them charging over the winter!). During my walk around inside I noticed the "odd" switch by the bathroom vanity sink. When I first bought my RV, I had NO idea what it did. Well, after almost a year..I figured it out....luckily!

See The Red Switch On The Left?

Turns out it was wired to turn on the outside light on the outside wall of the RV, opposite from the passenger side and the main door. It sits just above the access door for the water heater and close by the dump valves and connections. Good place for a light, but when I purchased the RV, it didn't work. Well, the switch on the light itself wouldn't turn it on....even replacing the bulb didn't help. You probably can guess where this is going. I had flipped the switch on the light a few times (it must have been in the off position initially) and then at some point flipped the switch by the vanity. The next evening I had stopped for gas and got out of the RV by the driver's side door. Lo and Behold, the light was on! Had likely been on since the day before! You really can't see its illumination from inside the RV because of my thermal covers so I had no idea it was on.

The Light Is Just Under And To The Left Of The Window

Well, I flipped the switch on the light itself and it turned off. At that point I was happy it was working (it's a good place for a light!). When I got back from the trip I looked into it a bit further. If I looked into the dark recesses of the vanity sink cabinet I could see the wires running from the "mystery" switch to the back of the outside light! Aha! One of the wires had come lose from its taped- up junction. Upon closer inspection I realized the switch was lighted and that disconnected wire controlled power to light up the switch! Aha, again! The idea was the switch outside was left on and the switch inside used to turn on the outside light when needed. The switch itself would light up to let you know it was on. Good idea.

But why put it in the vanity cabinet? I suppose it was the easiest place to do the wiring.....hey, at least I figured out what the switch actually did! I'll bet you all have some mystery switches too....Come to think of it...the one above the driver's seat was a mystery too....but that one I figured out!

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com

USB Thumb Drives, Hard Drives and SD Memory Cards - Oh My!

Primary TV..Way Up Front

    Last week I wrote a story about deciding which type of "television" to stick with while I travel. Satellite, broadcast, or internet streaming. While I am still deciding on that question, I remembered that with my existing system, I can still watch video files that I download online. There are lots of legal sources for this kind of thing...pick your favorite. Once downloaded and transferred to some kind of storage device that is compatible with your video player, all you have to do is click "play." I used to limit myself to smaller, low resolution files because the memory devices were expensive, but not any more. Well not really anyway. You can get HUGE storage (yes, I know that today's HUGE is tomorrow's TINY), whether it be an SD memory card a USB "thumb" drive or even a small USB external hard drive. The costs are low enough that you can take MANY video files with you. Heck, if you have a home computer and own a bunch of DVDs you can even turn them into files and take along whole TV shows! Really?

MY USB External 1 Tb Hard Drive

When a Terabyte USB external hard drive that doesn't need a separate power supply is only $49.99 and it will store lots of movies and TV shows...what are you waiting for! Figure around 1 Gigabyte (Gb) per movie, which is pretty large. At HD (1080) resolution you can store hundreds of films and many, many TV episodes. Lots more if they are only 30 minutes long! I have well over 800 hours of material on my external USB drive. If you go the USB "drive" or Flash memory route, you can get versions of each that hold up to 1Tb of data. They are VERY expensive. The name brand 1Tb USB drive will likely cost 10 times (or more) what a regular spinning hard drive would cost for the same capacity. You can go smaller -- I've seen 512Gb go for as little as $90 and 256Gb going for under $50. You could always get smaller ones: 128Ggb, 64Gb, and 32Gb versions cost less and less. You could buy a whole bunch and store different content on each one. I have quite a few in various sizes.

Some Of My Assorted USB Thumb Drives

Why not have a bunch of the smaller sized USB flash drives? Well, they are REALLY easy to lose! I've lost a few over the years and sometimes replacing the data is a really long, involved pain in the you-know-what. Yes, I should have backed everything up and put it in a safe place. That's good advice...IF you follow it. I keep a 1Tb external, self-powered, USB hard drive in the cabinet with my Digital media player on board the RV. I only take it out to add or change what's stored on it. At least I can always find it when I want to watch something! Sometimes I use the smaller ones to take along a particular film(s) or something I want to show friends. They are great for that!

It comes down to personal preference. Flash drives use less power, but are usually smaller in storage size. The power usage of a 2.5" Hard drive (the kind found in laptops) is really negligible if you are only using it when the content is actually playing on your screen. I'm sticking with mine until prices on the really large flash drives drop. And they will!

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com