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Go RVing: The key to helping Mother Earth and finding happiness.

“You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of the 21st century — when food prices spiked, energy prices soared, world population surged, tornados plowed through cities, floods and droughts set records, populations were displaced and governments were threatened by the confluence of it all,” writes Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, “and ask ourselves: What were we thinking? How did we not panic when the evidence was so obvious that we’d crossed some growth/climate/natural resource/population redlines all at once?”

Paul Gilding, an Australian environmentalist/entrepreneur, tries to answer that question in his book, “The Great Disruption: Why the Climate Crisis Will Bring On the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World.” He points out this dilemma: “We’re currently caught in two loops: One is that more population growth and more global warming together are pushing up food prices; rising food prices cause political instability in the Middle East, which leads to higher oil prices, which leads to higher food prices, which leads to more instability. At the same time, improved productivity means fewer people are needed in every factory to produce more stuff. So if we want to have more jobs, we need more factories. More factories making more stuff make more global warming, and that is where the two loops meet.”

But do not despair, for there is a solution, according to China’s environment minister, Zhou Shengxian, who said recently, that we will realize that the consumer-driven growth model is broken and we have to move to a more happiness-driven growth model, based on people working less and owning less (my emphasis).

“How many people,” Gilding asks, “lie on their death bed and say, ‘I wish I had worked harder or built more shareholder value,’ and how many say, ‘I wish I had gone to more ballgames, read more books to my kids, taken more walks?’ To do that, you need a growth model based on giving people more time to enjoy life, but with less stuff.”

And that’s where I come in with my solution. It is as simple as it sounds, GO RVing. Adopting the RV lifestyle, we are doing our job in saving the earth simply by taking “more time to enjoy life.” Our RVs use fewer and lower quantities of natural resources to live in. But, even though we use a low mileage vehicle to live this lifestyle, we tend to drive shorter distances and stay in one place longer to explore rather than drive great distances everyday (except when you first purchase your wonderful new home-on-wheels and want to see it all NOW).

And we RVers also tend to pick fewer energy consuming activities, like hiking, bicycling, sight seeing, kayaking, and bird and wildlife watching than those who use airlines, hotels, theme parks, and cruises. The RV Lifestyle also forces us to use “less stuff” and that reduces waste, reduces energy used to make things that we would otherwise buy, and reduces our use of the resources needed to make that stuff.

So the bottom line is . . . by RVing you are actually helping out Mother Earth, and contributing to your “happiness” quotient. And that is a winning combination.  Happy travels. June 9, 2011 by Bob Difley · 13 Comments
From: http://blog.rv.net/2011/06/go-rving-the-key-to-helping-mother-earth-and-finding-happiness/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RvnetBlog+%28RV.net+Blog+Daily+Updates+Feed%29
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BUYER BEWARE: “Look-Alike RV Rooftop Air Conditioners” have hit the market. This Press Release from Dometic in Elkhart, Ind. issues a consumer warning that its Brisk Air RV A/C and heat pump models have been counterfeited by a Chinese company. They’re now being sold to RVers under the brand name Advent. http://www.bjta.com/pr3.cfm?client_name ... ssedID=499
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Coping with RV circuit breaker problems

Posted by Russ and Tiña DeMaris Published in do-it-yourself
"Like home appliances, we sometimes think that RV components talk to each other. They conspire to create problems all at the same time.
We ran into two separate incidents of RVers with circuit breaker issues within two weeks of each other. Since they seldom act up, when a breaker does “go gunnybag” it can be a bit of a mystery for RVers. Let’s take a short look into the world of these voltage interrupters."
Rest of the article at: http://www.rvtechtips.com/?p=298

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Insurance company: RV claims lower when headroom known
The UK company, Caravan Guard, was shocked when finding the number of claims for damages from smacking into something high up jump six-fold between 2005 and 2008. Since the average claim represented damages pushing $4000 (US), the company was rightly concerned and marched out a campaign to make RV drivers more conscious of their rig's height. Company insured's were provided a sticker showing the rig's dimensions and asked to post it on their windshield visor.
Moe at: http://www.newrver.com/low_bridge_claims_reduced.shtml
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RVing Tips:
"Make sure you have a pretty bud vase in your RV. You never know when someone will give you a single long-stemmed rose or pick you a beautiful wild flower."

"When backing a trailer, place your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel. Move your hand in the direction you want the rear of the trailer to go."

"To keep things from sliding around in your RV cabinets, put dividers in them. You can buy shelving dividers or make them from cardboard or paneling.   Or just use different size cardboard boxes, with the tops cut off."

"Put a tension closet rod in the shower to use as an extra towel bar."

"When you go sightseeing, carry a temporary emergency card with you that has the name, address, and telephone number of the campground where you are staying, as well as the contact information of a friend or family member on it.  
If you have left a pet in your rig, mark that on your card, it could save their life, if you were to be hospitalized.     Update the card whenever you change campgrounds."

"Add Garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of Garlic and at the end of the recipe for a stronger taste of Garlic."
 
"Leftover Snickers Bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Chop them in a food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place in a baking dish & sprinkle chopped bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!"

"Reheat leftover Pizza in a non-stick skillet on stove top, set heat to med-low – heat till warm.
This keeps the crust crispy. No more soggy micro pizza. (Report from Cooking Channel - it works)."

"Local coupon books can save you a bundle. They usually have numerous two-for-one or buy-one-get-one coupons in them. We've saved a lot on restaurants, tours, museums, tourist attractions, campgrounds, copy shops, photo development, and groceries with them. Even if you are only going to be in an area for a few days, it can pay to get one. We've found they range in price from $13 up to $55. Using just one or two of them can save you money. To find them, Google "coupon book" plus the name of the city. Or, ask at the Chamber or visitor's center. We've also found them at drug stores and convenience stores."

"Keep a windshield repair kit in your vehicle. You never know when a rock may hit your windshield and chip it. (Yes, we were traveling the Alcan and wish we'd had one with us.)"
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Yesterday:


When Ray arrived, the dogs started barking, they can hear someone opening the lattice gate, before they ring the bell.  The bell quit working last week. Who needs it with two dogs, but I put a new battery in it anyway.

Ray cleaned the AC filters for me, as it was time to go get Jay.  Little lights come on when they need cleaning.  They have been getting a work-out lately with these record temperatures.  No rain in the forecast till Tuesday.
 

We each carry a drink outside with us, refilling them, but when we quit at noon, I still have to chug-a-lug a couple of glasses of ice water. 
Paco, the foster Chihuahua, is the only one enjoying the heat, as he loves it.




Jay and I put up some of the chase that hides the running light wires, and made the one-piece trim to go around the radius cornered front door.

 Ray painted the shelves that go on the walls, and he will probably paint the door trim today.