My New Cell Phone…

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails Long Beach RV Resort in Seaview, Washington. My scheduled departure date is June 17th.

Mary is at home tending to personal matters…home maintenance, family, friends, rentals, etc.. She is now scheduled to meet me July 29th in Bellingham, Washington.

I have a new cell phone. So what? I change mine every month!…you say. Big deal! In my humble opinion, an event that has not happened in eight years deserves a Blog posting.

Well, I’m an old guy and tend to take care of my possessions and they last a long time. The below photo shows my old LG VX8300 (left) now in its eighth year of service. My new LG VN360 also known as Exalt is shown on the right. I’ve put them side-by-side so the physical size difference can be seen. The Exalt has a 3″ screen…the largest available in a flip phone…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

The below photo shows them side-by-side in their protective cases…

My new LG was waiting for me when I arrived at my current location three days ago. I’ve spent the last couple of days becoming familiar with it, using the 119 page online manual.

They old phone was working just fine except my second battery was showing signs of getting tired…getting old…just like me. So I decided to upgrade and while I was doing it, might as well as opt for a larger keypad and screen.

Being an old guy all I want my phone to do is make phone calls. Mine does not need to sing and dance! Some of thing newer technology is interesting. I’m particularly enjoying the voice commands. Instead of having to scroll through dozens of contacts to find the desired recipient of my call…I NOW SIMPLY FLIP OPEN THE PHONE AND SAY…”CALL WILLIE NELSON”…AND IT AUTOMATICALLY MAKES THE CALL. (Actually, that’s just an example…I don’t really have Willie’s phone number.  🙂 ) The larger keys and screen makes it easier to text with my grand-kids, so that makes life more enjoyable.

In addition, I got it for free from Verizon…such a deal! Like my good friend Ted Price says…”Free is good!”

You can read all about the LG Exalt by clicking this link…http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-VN360-exalt

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

Yesterday was a cloudy/sunny day at 62 degrees. Forecast for today is cloudy/sunny and 63 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2014

Home Theater Experience On The Road…

A short while back we decided to upgrade our TV in the motorhome even though we are not big TV watchers. We replaced the original 20 inch, 58 pound monster that was installed at the time the coach was manufactured in February, 2006 and showing signs of impending failure. We replaced it with an LG 26 inch LCD-LED flat screen that weighs a mere 11.2 pounds.

In the last two evenings I watched the TV in earnest for the first time since leaving Mary’s home ten days ago. I decided to watch a two PBS VHS tape of Lewis & Clark…a total of four hours viewing…

These VHS tapes were fabricated in 1997. Despite being 14 years old, I was truly impressed with the clarity and the vivid colors when seen on the new TV…

As they say…the photos I took just don’t do it justice. Nonetheless…when coupled with our six-channel surround sound system…the Home Theater experience is very realistic right here in the comfort of our home on wheels. Bring on the DVD’s!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

The Motor-Home Theater Is Now Operational…

Three days ago I discussed the fact that Mary and I had agreed to up date the TV in the motorhome and that her youngest son Doug, a master carpenter, was fabricating a new frame on which to mount this TV. If you missed the Blog entry…here’s the link…

vhttp://wp.me/pDCku-2EG

He returned yesterday with a beautiful new oak frame and together he and I spent a couple of hours carefully mounting the TV to the back of the frame. Here’s a photo of how it attached to the frame…

Here’s the final installation with the unit in place. I popped in a Tom Cruise movie for a short test run…

The new TV combined with the previously installed six-channel surround-sound system now allows us a home theater experience while out on the open road. If you are curious about the details of our new TV…here’s the informational link from LG…

http://www.lg.com/us/tv-audio-video/televisions/LG-led-tv-26LV2500.jsp

The LG brand uses the initials LG to indicate…Life’s Good. Looking at out new installation…I’d say Looks Good!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

How Do I Mount This Thing???

A few days back I indicated we have decided to upgrade the TV in the motorhome. After thorough research on the Internet…we decided on a 26″LG Lcd Led TV.

We are replacing this seven year-old behemoth monster that is 20 inches deep and weighs a whopping 58.4 pounds…

That came out of this gaping hole…

With this TV that is 1.6 inches deep…weighs only 11 pounds and was designed to either sit on a table or mount on a wall…

I usually like to do my own work. But I know when I’m over my head (do not possess the skills) and do not have the proper tools to do a job.

That’s when I turn to the experts. In this case it’s Mary’s youngest son Doug who is a master carpenter. When he first looked at the project last Friday…he came up with the idea of mounting it on the back of the existing frame…which I must admit was a good idea. However when he arrived yesterday he informed us he had re-considered the problem and decided to build a new frame instead of using the old frame. Here he is doing just that…

He left for home…taking the new frame with him…indicating he needed to blunt/round sharp edges, sand and stain it. He said he’d be back in a couple of days.

In the meantime I’ve gone ahead and re-run all of the wiring connections and tested them to make sure I’ve routed them properly. Once Doug returns we’ll install everything…hopefully with no problems. Combined with our six-channel surround system we will soon be enjoying a home theater experience in the motorhome.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Mary Abhors Waste…

My sweet Mary is many things. One of the things she is…is a true environmentalist and she really hates to waste anything. Essentially not wanting to discard an item until it is totally used up.

I on the other hand…being an ex-engineer which means I’m logical…believe when something is nearing the end of its life…you replace it when it’s practical and convenient. For instance…I would much rather replace a coming-to-its-end-of-life item in the convenience of Mary’s yard instead of waiting for it to die when out on the open road with the RV.

So it was the case with the matter of replacing the TV in our motorhome. Even though our motorhome is a 2006…the TV was manufactured in 2004 which makes it seven years old. It’s showing signs of giving up the ghost with about a six-inch round spot of incorrect colors. My sweet Mary was resistant to the change indicating…”But it still works.”

Since our current plans have it structured that once I leave with the motorhome shortly after Thanksgiving…it…the motorhome is not expected to return to Mary’s yard once again until October, 2013. In other words…it will be out in the world for the next two years. Confident that if not changed now…the TV would quit within the next two years…out on the open road. Because changing TV’s will require some degree of modification to the TV’s holding cabinet…and since Mary’s youngest son just happens to be a carpenter…I indicated that it makes sense to change it now rather than out on the open road.

I finally won her over with the comment…”Do you drive on your cars tires until they blow-out before replacing them?” With that behind us…she finally agreed to the change while the motorhome is here. In addition…we’ve got a delightful six-channel surround-sound audio system and the current TV has that crummy picture. True we do not watch a lot of TV…but when we do…why not have a good picture and sound?

So…in my true ex-engineer way…I got on the Internet and spent several days researching new TV’s. I finally found the right one. An LG Led-Lcd 26″ flat panel set. We bought it at Best Buy in Stockton, California….about 60 miles from Mary’s home. Since her youngest son…the carpenter…lives only a couple of miles from Best Buy…he picked it up for us and delivered it to Mary’s home yesterday. Here’s a photo of the box…

Mary’s son…the carpenter…has obligations for the next few days and will return next Monday to help us with the install.

In other news…

I continue working on the motorhome. Up on the roof for the last time yesterday…I applied a covering of Protect-All to all the plastic items on the roof. It protects these items for the sun’s UV rays which in time causes them to disintegrate. Protect-all slows the process.

Also I received this strange-looking device in the mail…

“What’s that?”…you ask. Why it’s an RV Refrigerator Cooling Fan.

RV Refrigerators are not the normal refrigerators with which you might be familiar. They sometime struggle to maintain the recommended 33-40 degree temperature. Usually two things cause this struggle. First is when the outside temperature gets over 80 degrees and secondly when too full. Unfortunately…my Sweet Mary has a tendency to put ten pounds of stuff into a five-pound package. Remember thou shall not waste? Wouldn’t want to waste any of that storage space!  🙂

When an RV refrigerator is too full…the air cannot circulate and here comes the struggle. This silent fan rests directly upon the cooling fins in our refrigerator which is supposed to help circulate the air in the RV refrigerator and hence help maintain the recommended temperatures. At least that’s the theory. For a measly $15…it’s worth the effort to install it to see if it will work. Here’s a photo of it in the refrigerator…

Hooked to the hot wire of the refrigerator light…it draws very little power and runs even when the door is closed. Will it help? Only time will tell.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust