Thursday, December 26, 2013

RV Cords. Skid Rollers. RV Furniture. Phone Photos. TV Swap. RV Tips. Stephen F. Austin. Why Sukkot Is Yeshua's Real Birthday. Avoiding Christmas.

 

For "tRaVersing Thursday", or RV day:

Simple cleaning of RV electrical cord plug can prevent future problems

"Gary Bunzer, the RV Doctor, shows you an easy way to keep the electrical power cord plug on your RV clean, so it works properly. It only takes a minute to do this, but, as Gary notes, it can eliminate the vast majority of cord problems later on."

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Keep those electrical adapters in easy reach

"No doubt most of us carry more "stuff" than we need. When we need one item from our storage areas it can turn into a varied search and the occasional suspicion that your spouse has moved it.

One item that is in constant demand is an electrical adapter to hook into shore power. Depending on where you are, a different adapter may be needed from night to night. To easily locate the adapter needed, I found that mounting readily available broom handle holders to the inside surface of a basement door works great.

If you’re concerned about putting too many holes in the door, you can mount the holders to a separate piece of wood or a piece of thick plastic like a large cutting board and attach it to the door at the four corners. Either way, make sure the screws you use are not longer than the thickness of the door — you don’t want them coming out the other side. As well, a screw with a coarse thread should hold better. When mounting the holders (see photo) they should be just far enough apart to accommodate the shortest adapter." by George Bliss

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RV skid rollers bring up the rear

"Sometimes RVing can be a drag, especially when you have a long trailer. Skid wheels were designed to prevent trailer drag when traversing steep driveways. When I purchased my second 5th wheel I struggled over whether or not to install skid rollers. I decided to drive around for a few months and see if I really needed them. It turns out I didn't need them. If you need them, you'll find there are three skid wheel applications: frame mounted, hitch mounted and receiver hitch protectors.

Skid wheels are made using heavy duty metal casters. Paktron Industries makes extra heavy duty casters with a urethane outer coating. The idea of a skid wheel is to prevent the RV from dragging when pulling into or out of a driveway with a steep incline. Instead of scraping the asphalt and ripping off your bumper, skid wheels take the impact and lift up the rear of the trailer, rolling it forward instead of dragging. I discovered that my 5th wheel would clear most steep inclines with about two inches to spare. Had I installed skid wheels (which extend about six inches below the bumper) I would have unnecessarily lifted my RV on many occasions when pulling over driveway inclines.

Here is an example of a frame-mounted skid wheel that has been bent. This skid wheel is mounted incorrectly because it is not welded directly under the frame. It is mounted to the side of the frame and crumpled under the pressure. If skid wheels are installed correctly they can be useful in preventing damage caused by dragging.

Another type of skid wheel is mounted to the receiver hitch (another notorious low spot). These can be especially useful with travel trailers when tongue weight causes the hitch to "dive" when traversing a driveway with a steep incline.

One of the best ways to avoid damage to both the tow vehicle and the travel trailer is to avoid driveways with steep inclines altogether. If you must traverse a steep driveway, do it at an angle and go very slowly so as not to cause the RV to bounce down on the pavement." by Jim Twamley

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Thinking about replacing your RV furniture

"When looking to replace RV furniture, the first step is to go to the manufacturer to find out what other options they have for the RV. Discover why some furniture can't be replaced without replacing major structures of an RV with help from an experienced RV specialist in this two-minute video hosted by RV technician Vince Preston."

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Before you share photos online, watch this video

"After you watch this, you may never again
post a personal cell phone photo to Facebook!
When you post a photo taken with your cell phone or smart phone to Facebook or other websites you are telling the world exactly where you are. That includes bad guys who can then find you, your home, your cute baby girl, or in the case noted in this video, the new gold coins you just purchased — even providing a map that will lead them right to them. This is frightening! Watch this."

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RV Television Swap

"My husband and I are total "newbies" and my question will probably sound stupid to veteran RVers. The two TVs in our fifth wheel (probably original equipment) are dual voltage, (12/120). I know that means they can work when hooked up at a campground or on battery power from the "house" batteries if not connected to "shore" power. We'd like to replace them. Can we just use an ordinary TV or is there something different about the electric outlets/wiring/breakers in the RV that could ruin a new TV? Or does it just mean that the new TVs won't work unless we're connected to a campground power source?"  Sue L. (Ludlow, VT)

"Never a stupid question Sue! But you nailed it; a 120-volt AC (only) television will only operate whenever the shore cord is plugged in. Unless, of course, you have a generator or an inverter on your 5th wheel. Both of which can be installed at any reputable RV service facility, by the way. All the receptacles and circuit breakers in the coach are 120-volt AC, similar to what you are accustomed to in a residential home. By swapping out the TVs, you lose the ability to watch while dry camping without hookups. But you can always add an inverter if that's too much of a burden." Posted by RV Doctor

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RV Tips:

Help for emptying tanks on a slope
"Pull into a dump station with a slope away from the dump? Getting the tanks empty can be difficult — until you crank up your leveling jacks on the far side of the rig to give your sewage a little lift."

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Are you forgetful?
"Fearful of things forgotten?  Tie a string from one end of the driver's sun visor to the other end. Now use clothes pins on the string to attach notes like, "Turn off propane," "Raise jacks," etc. When ready to move simply remove the notes as the task is performed, and slip the pins to the dash mat or elsewhere, keeping the notes for "next time." Thanks, JJ!

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RV Road Laws. Learn the laws relating to RVs in every state of the USA.

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Don’t use non-skid pads on refrigerator shelves
Non-skid pads have their place — but not on refrigerator shelves. These can block air circulation and make it hard to cool food. Reserve their use in the fridge for door shelves only.

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RV living space
"Like most RVers, reader Ben Pace has his struggles with living space. Here's his tip you may find useful. "We recently bought a small RV and have been struggling with extreme lack of space to put things. We have had no success with finding a suitable paper towel holder that I could mount under the cabinet over the sink. I was in Harbor Freight looking for something else when I stumbled upon the perfect solution. It is made for magnetically sticking to the side of a metal tool box, therefore adjustable to any size roll. The magnets attach directly to the side of the metal hood over the stove. Look for the U.S. General brand magnetic paper towel holder." Kudos to Ben!" 

From me:  Make sure that you squeeze the roll a bit flat before installing it, you don't want paper towels unraveling near your stove.

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An inverter can provide shore power to boondockers without a generator
"Veteran boondocker Russ De Maris explains all the hows, wheres and whys of sizing and selecting the right inverter, how and where to install it, and a bunch of other tips you need to know to do it right."

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Don't let your fifth wheel's landing gear strand you when it won't retract:

"If you're parked anywhere and it's time to "pull up stakes," if you can't get your landing gear to retract you aren't going anywhere. Here's a tip that can save you a lot of grief and get you back on the road."

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If you enjoy cleaning up baked-on oven spills, don't read this!
"If you are the official RV oven cleaner, here is a way to make cleaning up hard-baked spills from casseroles and fruit pies if not fun, at least requiring a lot less elbow grease. See how."

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Carry extra sewer hose
“Carry an extra 10- or 20-foot length of sewer hose, with appropriate fittings installed, just in case the sewer is located too far from your waste outlet for your regular drain hose to reach.” Bill's Hints

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Lock your RV
"Always lock the RV when you’re not physically at the campsite. Do not store valuable equipment in outside storage compartments. Believe it or not, a vast majority of RVs use the same exact key as yours for outside storage compartments. If you store valuables like golf clubs, fishing gear or tools in the outside compartments, you may want to have the storage compartment locks changed." Tech Tips from Mark Polk

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On This Day:

Moses Austin asks Spanish for Texas colony, Dec 26, 1820:

"Hoping to recover from bankruptcy with a bold scheme of colonization, Moses Austin meets with Spanish authorities in San Antonio to ask permission for 300 Anglo-American families to settle in Texas.

A native of Durham, Connecticut, Austin had been a successful merchant in Philadelphia and Virginia. After hearing reports of rich lead mines in the Spanish-controlled regions to the west, Austin obtained permission in 1798 from the Spanish to mine land in an area that lies in what is now the state of Missouri. Austin quickly built a lead mine, smelter, and town on his property, and his mine turned a steady profit for more than a decade. Unfortunately, the economic collapse following the War of 1812 destroyed the lead market and left him bankrupt.

Determined to rebuild his fortune, Austin decided to draw on his experience with the Spanish and try to establish an American colony in Texas. In 1820, he traveled to San Antonio to request a land grant from the Spanish governor, who initially turned him down. Austin persisted and was finally granted permission to settle 300 Anglo families on 200,000 acres of Texas land.

Overjoyed, Austin immediately set out for the United States to begin recruiting colonists, but he became ill and died on the long journey back. The task of completing the arrangements for Austin's Texas colony fell to his son, Stephen Fuller Austin. The younger Austin selected the lower reaches of Colorado River and Brazos River as the site for the colony, and the first colonists began arriving in December 1821. Over the next decade, Stephen Austin and other colonizers brought nearly 25,000 people into Texas, most of them Anglo-Americans. Always more loyal to the United States than to Mexico, the settlers eventually broke from Mexico to form the independent Republic of Texas in 1836. Nine years later, they led the successful movement to make Texas an American state."

From me: The state capitol was named after Stephen F. Austin, "The Father of Texas": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_F._Austin

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Yesterday:

All day I managed to avoid anyone who would wish me "Merry Christmas".  People who know me, know that I don't celebrate Christmas and that I don't want anything to do with it, but some still emailed those holiday wishes to me.  Another accomplishment was to avoid all the Christmas movies on TV, except for the documentaries about Christmas or the Bible, on History Channel, that is. 

It was explained to me thus: "If you were handed a glass of clear water, knowing that there was a drop of sewage in it, would you want it? Our Lord God does not want a drop of paganism in our worship to him."

Anything pagan makes me feel sick, so I have never seen The Exorcist, Omen, Rosemary's Baby or any of the other shows with demonism in them.

During Bible History pagans were viewed with utter contempt, not because of who they were but because of what they did: "living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry" (1 Peter 4:3 NIV)

King James Bible Jeremiah 10:2-5 "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them."

"A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”

image From me:  There was no "J" in the Greek, Latin, or Hebrew language. In fact, there was no letter 'J' in any language prior to the 14th century in England.

Maybe this video will help you understand why I don't celebrate Christmas:

Why Sukkot Is Yeshua's Real Birthday

"Sandie Zimmerman, shares fascinating revelations about the true time period of Yeshua's (Jesus') birth. You will be surprised to learn it wasn't December 25!  

By looking at the biblical account and the timing of the Jewish festivals, you will be astounded at the fulfillment of both prophecy and the historical elements that clearly point to Yeshua being born on Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths), not in December on Christmas."

More from Sandie Zimmerman about the customs  and culture in those days.

Christmas Story Myths and Facts

"Many Christians have heard the heartwarming Christmas story about the Messiah's birth retold year after year - It was a cold wintery night, and pregnant Mary traveled to Bethlehem to birth Jesus (Yeshua) in a stable because there was no room in the inn. Sandie Zimmerman, wife of Jewish Voice's staff evangelist and rabbi Jack Zimmerman, looks directly to Jewish customs and culture to find out the truth of what really happened at Christ's birth. She reveals important details about a mistranslated Greek word, the true understanding of the census in Jesus' day, the sukkah and the stable, the prophetic nature of the swaddling clothes and the Shema, and much more:

   http://youtu.be/HjCKJo02t0c

I am so glad that the folks who live across the street from me didn't put out their usual mass of Christmas lights and garish air-filled santas and reindeer, this year. This is a first in all the years that I have lived here.  Unlike other Christmas seasons, I could actually look out of my front windows without feeling nauseous for the last few days.

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