RE: Any LEO retired or currently sworn here!
Remember that the academy is not a school. It is your job and the instructors expect you to do your part. Study, be prepared for each class, and listen to what they are saying.
RE: Home Gym
We have a stationary bike, an elliptical, and a set of free weights. We are pretty good at using them regularly. As noted above, a tv helps take the boredom away. We both have found ourselves using either the bike or the elliptical and going beyond our target time because we were immersed in some show.
We had tried a local gym before but our available times were the popular times so sometimes had to wait for the machine we wanted.
Additionally, the type of music and it's volume turned us both off. Not to mention that my DW got annoyed when she saw me appreciating how well a young woman's workout program was working for her. :)
RE: Reality TV shows are degrading
Whereas I agree with the general opinion of 'reality' shows, I must confess to getting a kick out of Duck Dynasty. Obviously it is not all true but Si does make me laugh at some of the stories he tells.
RE: I still read books, the kind without batteries!
Well, I've been an avid reader all of my life. I would read anything printed. Thanks to the anonymity of the internet, I'll even confess to once, when nothing else was available, having read a gothic romance! When e-readers first came out I couldn't imagine ever wanting one. Then my son gave me a basic Kindle and within three months I was upgrading to a tablet. So far, since June of last year, I've downloaded and read over 250 books and the good thing is that every one of them was free! I find my tablet so useful that I still have 22 p-books sitting on my desk since before I got the Kindle. Maybe I'll get to them someday?
RE: ice cream
I grew up in Tillamook, OR where the big big cheese factory is located just south of town. They also make ice cream and, unfortunately, I've never found a flavor I didn't like and it shows. Another good local ice cream source is Umpqua.
RE: Thousand Trails Membership
As others have said, how much you use it will determine it's worth to you. The new yearly pass is about $600.00 so if your local parks charge an average of $20.00 a day you will need to camp at least 30 days to break even.
Another factor is where you like wilderness camping or resort camping. TT parks normally have a small grocery/rv supply/gift store, pool(s), recreation lodges, putt-putt golf, and many other things.
The membership seems, to me, to be more senior citizen level than not, but plenty of grand kids are around, specially in the summer.
Here in Washington, it is difficult to get reservations for the state parks but TT guarantees a parking spot, even without a reservation. It may be in overflow parking and may not have hook-ups but you'll have a place to park. In ten years I have yet to not get a spot with hook-ups even though, one year, we decided on Labor Day morning to head out to our favorite park in Seaside. We didn't call ahead, just showed up, registered, and found a spot.
We have something like 18 parks here in the Oregon/Washington/British Columbia area so that provides enough variety for us. But, if we get bored we can head south to California for some new places.
For us, TT has been nothing but a good experience but you do need, as already mentioned, to use it sufficiently to warrant paying the yearly price.
RE: Okla. troopers graded on number of tickets
The only problem that I see with the system is that all roads and conditions are not created equal and an officer that is assisting a motorist isn't writing tickets, and an officer writing tickets isn't assisting motorists. Who is doing a better job, an officer who is visable and promotes safe driving or an officer that hides in the bushes and writes a lot of tickets?
As proof of the fact that such a situation is rather unlikely to happen, I point out the many offenders who, despite receiving citations, continue to violate the traffic laws.
RE: Free Ebooks
I like to go to ereaderiq. It has a fairly decent ability to search in myriad ways although the author or title search is, to me, rather weak.
RE: I didn't properly introduce myself, so here it goes!
We are enjoying the camper!! And as far as the boys..............they love it too! It's just sad that our oldest will be leaving April 1st for the Navy.
Happy, Proud, and sad at the same time!! My sincere respects to him for joining the military. It can be a real adventure and a chance to grow. My oldest boy joined the Navy a year out of high school. He took advantage of the opportunities provided and got his BS and MS while serving. He now has a well-paying job as a senior cytologist at our local medical center.
Good luck to your son. Try to round up enough people (young ladies are especially appreciated) to write him that he gets a letter every day at mail call. From experience I can tell you that it is quite a blow to the spirit to watch others get mail while you get nothing.
RE: I didn't properly introduce myself, so here it goes!
Welcome Heidi and your family. I hope you have many great trips in your RV. That being said, I would like to say that if you have teenage boys who still enjoy going with Mom and Dad, well, then, you and your husband must have done a right good job of raising kids. Congratulations.
RE: I've just GOT to shout this out!!!
I'm impressed!! (But, considering her good looks and assuming her twin resembles her, I feel a great pity for her father in a couple years. Does he own a shotgun or will he have to get physical with the boys who will be coming around?)
Did you have a good Thanksgiving?
Did everyone have a great Thanksgiving? We sure did. My GS Aidyn is a member of the Young Marine program and they hosted a dinner for down and out vets at a local VFW lodge here. So the DW and I, Aidyn, his sister Kelsi, and his parents all went and volunteered (well, to be honest, I guess Aidyn was drafted and we others volunteered). I got to do glamorous things like peel potatoes, peel apples, chop up various things for the stuffing. :) We served a little over 250 vets & their families in just about two hours.
The day after, Friday, wasn't quite so much fun. I received a call at 6 PM from a nurse at Providence Medical Center Emergency. It seems my 82 year old aunt (driver) and my 90 year old mother (passenger) were just entering the parking structure at PMC when, according to my aunt, "she couldn't steer and the car lunged forward". I suspect she hit the gas by accident but, anyway, they hit a solid cement wall and totaled the car. Both went into ER but fortunately, with the airbag deployment, they only suffered massive bruising and a few minor lacerations from flying glass. Hopefully they will get discharged tomorrow.
RE: Camping Tips...What I've Learned
Well as the camping season comes to an end, I would like to summarize some of the tips and things I've learned from my learned and experienced friends here at RV.NET:
* When using a public campground, hanging your bagpipes in clear view on your awning will keep the campsites on either side vacant.
I'll be glad to park next to the pipes! (Notice the flag in my sig.) :)
RE: Dinghies for Dummies
The brake thingy would be a supplemental brake system. Number of brands out there and if you check out the FAQ in the forum you'll find a section devoted to describing most of the different brands. It is a might out of date but it still contains good info.
If your system is wired appropriately you won't need any lighting mods.
As far as which is best, that is one of things like asking which is the best tasting beer. Everyone will defend their favorite. I use Roadmaster with their Invisibrake braking system and I like it but most people will say the same about whichever they own. If you're out camping, walk around and talk to the people with toads. You'll not only get some first-hand opinions but you'll get to actually see how the system works and looks. I haven't met an RVer yet who wasn't willing to help out a newbie.
RE: No more Twinkies???
Bad management and particularly marketing moves by the latest grads of the new Wall Street drove the company down. Bord will sell the assets and take pension funds etc and make many millions. I never liked the idea of borrowing or running on credit or giving banks say so in management.
I'm not so sure about that. They just had a news story on which stated that one of the union contract provisions prohibited trucks that deliver bread from also delivering snack cakes.......even if both trucks came from the same warehouse, were both going to the same destination, and were each only half full. Just that one provision forces the company to buy TWICE as many trucks, hire TWICE as many drivers, and invest in TWICE as much fuel, maintenance, and insurance. THIS is the kind of thing that makes it impossible for U.S. companies to be profitable. It's also what makes U.S. companies look outside the U.S. to locate their facilities in.
So who approved the contracts that made this all possible?
I believe I'll back on out of here before this thread goes totally into the toilet. :)
Yawl have fun now, y'hear.Now this is just typical union logic: The union demanded certain conditions be met or they would strike and the company would then lose money. The company, in order to stay in business, was forced to accept the conditions. The conditions caused the company to waste huge amounts of money. Now union points their finger at the company and says, "It's your fault! You accepted those conditions!"
