Strolling Amok

Pops goes on tour.

18 Dec 2015
13 Comments

A Little Camper Humor

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There are few darker subjects than terrorism, which is acting out rage against innocents because you cannot or will not act it out against what actually inspires it. It’s beating up your neighbor’s kid and proudly running away, when you know you don’t stand the wisp of a chance against your neighbor himself. It’s passive-aggressive behavior – an avoidance of direct confrontation – on steroids. It’s a weird combination of murderous anger, helplessness and hopelessness. It is a psyche inspired by bloodshed and violence, fired by a perception of injustice that seemingly can only be repaid with more injustice. It can be a contribution to the betterment of mankind gone horribly askew, but in most cases, is simply a way to earn a living that feeds one’s love of hate. The psychopathic serial killer, utterly devoid of empathy, is the amateur hobbyist version, while the terrorist is one turned pro. Rallying under banners of religion or politics or activism is mere window dressing, an attempt to Read more…

Posted in Mod Squad, The Intrepid and tagged
16 Dec 2015
13 Comments

What Do You Dream?

The above video was made for the Overland Expo 2014, and nicely offers its alternate perception of what camping is to some people. Just for fun and because it’s well done, enjoy three minutes of sizzle.

Posted in Camper Nirvana, Navel Gazing and tagged
12 Dec 2015
55 Comments

All Stop!

Looks like I'll be starting over on solar!

Looks like I’ll be starting over on solar!

I was preparing to order semi-flexible 100W solar panels from Windy Nation early this morning, the same panels that Renogy offers. Six of ’em weigh about 25 pounds, versus three of the 195W panels from the Defiant that weigh 129 pounds to get the same wattage total. The Intrepid’s roof lift struts help a lot, but not that much!

Then I came across a post about how the cells on semi-flexible panels tend to cup (distort) on exposure to solar heat (pooling dirt), and that this deterioration is evident after just one year. That made me think about the usual warranty on these, which is just 5 or 10 years, and that’s a lot less than the 25 or 30-year warranty on rigid panels. Instead of glass, the protective coating is transparent plastic. When I then stumbled over a Read more…

Posted in Mod Squad, The Intrepid and tagged , ,
10 Dec 2015
24 Comments

Installation Day

A forklift brings the Grandby up toward the truck. While I took this shot, I pretended that I wasn't concerned about the changes in tilt that the driveway presented.

A forklift brings the Grandby up toward the truck. While I took this shot, I pretended that I wasn’t concerned about the changes in tilt that the driveway presented.

Installation day for the Grandby turned out to a unique experience. I got up at 5 AM in order to leave at 6:30 and hopefully arrive at Adventure Trailers by 11 AM. I just assumed that installation would take a couple of hours to drill the truck’s bed for hold-down hardware, and to run wires from the battery back to the camper’s power cord. I actually left at 6:45 and booked it to try to compensate for the time lost on the 4-1/2 hour drive. It’s a technical 4 hours of driving, but between stoplight delays on-route, and fuel and potty stops, it adds up. Thanks largely to my Bank of America credit card throwing a hissy fit due to “unusual activity” caused by my traveling stops here and there, I didn’t arrive at the Prescott dealership until 11:25. When I hadn’t shown up by 11:15, they called just to make sure I wasn’t still asleep in Yuma, but they were not booked such that my delay would cause any issues for them.

For the amount of business they do, their facility is a bit tight, but gets the job done. One look at the lot shows that they also use what they sell.

For the amount of business they do, their facility is a bit tight, but gets the job done. One look at the lot shows that they also use what they sell.

Overland Journal has an office opposite Adventure Trailers’ office. That’s a glossy, high-end photographic rag that covers vehicle travel all over the globe, and the effort that takes limits them to five issues per year. It’s an interesting magazine.

At this point I found that the typical installation takes about 3 hours, which would wound my hopes of visiting a camper in Quartzsite on the way back, but it still appeared somewhat do-able. The Mighty Furd was parked and the hood Read more…

Posted in Mod Squad, The Intrepid and tagged
05 Dec 2015
7 Comments

Going to Bed

Everything must go! ...Somewhere.

Everything must go! …Somewhere.

This week was largely comprised of dealing with the Ford’s 8-foot bed. It had to be cleared, including the 140 gallons-worth of Tankmin water/waste system. The one guy who had expressed an interest in the Tankmin, on impulse, regained his senses the next day and thought better of it. No takers. Well, there were three scam artists from Craigslist, but those don’t count. So, having previously checked out whether the local landfill would take it, I cleared all the stuff out of the truck bed and got to work unbolting the Tankmin’s floor mounts. The potential problem is not the tank – it’s that I’m not a resident and therefore do not pay taxes, but that’s another debate. Part of my annual fee is for garbage removal, which winds up at the very same place.

Lessee, gotta keep this, not gonna need that...

Lessee, gotta keep this, not gonna need that…

I had envisioned a heap of frustration for this, since each bolt perforating the truck bed must be held at both top and bottom, and perhaps you may have some experience with what time and moisture do to tight fasteners. The upper freshwater section is bolted to the lower, and the lower to a couple of fabricated frames bolted to the bed. It was required to start at the top and work downward, the only significance of this being that Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, The Intrepid and tagged ,
30 Nov 2015

One Day Evelo E-Bike Sale

Here's mine.

Here’s mine, prior to the transformation.

Here’s the short and sweet version. If you’ve been seriously contemplating getting yourself an Evelo e-bike, the Aurora model being the basis for the Awesome Strolling Amok E-Bike Pack Mule, you now have a troublesome decision to make. Keep saving in a methodical fashion or, ready or not, save yourself some significant money.

“Cyber Monday”, today, from start to finish, the deals ramp up, depending upon how much money you spend.

  • $2,500 or more nets $375 off (coupon code CM375 at checkout),
  • $3,000 or more returns $450 (coupon code CM450 at checkout),
  • and $4,000 or more discounts $600 – plus a lock, pannier bag, and multi-tool (coupon code CM600 at checkout).

All of these earn a 2-year warranty, which extends the standard 18-month one. The coupon codes are the key to the whole thing and are fully explained on Evelo’s sale day welcome page here. I won’t get credited with referring your purchase via that link, but that’s okay. The important thing is that you save some serious dough if you’re already planning on acquiring one, or if you have some kinky either/or brand comparison where a lower price would swing the choice. Of course, you also have the option of going there through my own affiliate link or the Evelo logo on the right side of every page here, and simply entering in the appropriate discount code to do exactly the same thing. But at midnight tonight, those discounts go comatose, so don’t fiddle around too long.

If you already own an Evelo of some sort, like me, join me in grousing and whining. If I’d had such an opportunity when I got mine, I’d have saved a neat bundle, making the cost of the big motor and NuVinci 360 gearless hub hurt less. If you don’t own one or your significant other is making covetous noises, the sale prices make it possible to include such options that you might not normally be able to swing. If you want to read an evaluation of those options, you can go to my Pack Mule Page and saw your way through it, or breeze through Evelo’s guide to electric bicycles. I wouldn’t normally post this type of promotional stuff, but this is another one of those things where if I didn’t, someone out there might have wished I did. So here ya go.

Posted in E-Bike Pack Mule | Leave a comment
28 Nov 2015
23 Comments

Black Friday is the New Thanksgiving

Placed.com: 'As the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday is the pinnacle event for deal-hungry consumers who brave the crowds in search of steep discounts and door buster deals. For retailers, understanding who these shoppers are and how they behave is critical to driving more shoppers into their stores and capturing a greater share of holiday dollars."

Placed.com: “As the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday is the pinnacle event for deal-hungry consumers who brave the crowds in search of steep discounts and door buster deals. For retailers, understanding who these shoppers are and how they behave is critical to driving more shoppers into their stores and capturing a greater share of holiday dollars.” And isn’t that what “The Holidays” are all about? Well, it is now.

I have cable TV here in my RV park. Sometimes, something interesting or entertaining is on, and sometimes, it’s too painful to watch, and I have to call up a familiar, favorite movie to try to purge it out of my mind. Last night, on the night of Black Friday, I was watching TV and waiting for the weather forecast. The news segment showed a passel of shoppers loading up at Best Buy on the previous day, Thanksgiving Day. They highlighted one guy in the mix, who strode around, smiling confidently and loading his cart with electronics. He claimed that he was buying items for other people, and putting the charges for them onto his credit card, which he waved about. The camera returned to him at the close of the segment, and he added, “I’m thankful for all the things I already have, so I’m throwing them out and replacing them with all new things!” Having been properly amused as intended by the prior footage, this last claim put me into an apoplectic fit, all conscious thought imploding and coasting to a stop. I searched his face desperately for little signs of humor or sarcasm, but in vain. He was trippin’, dude.

The galley slaves, chained to their benches, go down with the ship if the battle is lost.

The galley slaves, chained to their benches, go down with the ship if the battle is lost.

I had been wondering about the employees no longer having a day to gather with family, since this was Read more…

Posted in Navel Gazing
27 Nov 2015
10 Comments

Intrepid Heat

The Mr. Heater Buddy.

The Mr. Heater Buddy, with filter and hose.

When I first started out on this crazy fiasco, the Mr. Heater Buddy I acquired for use in the Defiant quickly became my friend while wintering in Quartzsite, Arizona, and it still does sole duty. That’s mainly because the Defiant’s built-in furnace has a faulty overheat sensor that I’m loathe to have fixed. That’s because vented furnaces are relatively inefficient, using more propane than unvented systems, plus their tendency to burn through batteries if left on overnight. Many a new camper has discovered this in the morning, when they awaken to find that the furnace has killed not only their coach battery, but their tow vehicle’s starter battery as well, thanks to their dealer not mentioning that a battery isolator would be a good thing to install. That little adventure is due to the power draw of the furnace’s fan, which on heartier systems must be big enough to push plenty of air through an abundance of ductwork. On the Defiant, the furnace fan also replicates the aural ambiance of the deck of an aircraft carrier, and its old-school “analog” thermostat is a bit too sloppy for holding a consistent temperature.

The Mr. Heater Buddy is the middle-sized model of quasi-ceramic radiant heater, able to crank out either 4,000 or 8,000 BTUs. It can heat the Defiant’s 200-square-foot interior in a shirtsleeve manner on its high setting, down to a windy 30 degrees outside. Its low setting can generally pump interior temps at least 20-25 degrees over whatever it is outside, depending on wind or rain. Being a radiant heater, it sometimes helps to plug in a fan to get its heat distributed better throughout the long trailer. It thoroughly bakes whatever is directly in front of it, but as a warm-air device, it’s wanting. But hey, the price is right, and it’s efficient.

So naturally, when the decision of how to heat the new Four Wheel Grandby A.K.A. Intrepid came up, my first thought was to Read more…

Posted in Mod Squad, The Intrepid and tagged , , , ,
26 Nov 2015
8 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving

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My granddaughter.

While so many people do their best to make the world a more difficult place to live in, it helps to step back every now and then to remind ourselves what life is really about, and to appreciate that our place in it matters, whether we sense that or not. “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” We are not left helpless as we look around ourselves. Live in your own little piece of the world as it needs to become, not as a contributor to the one that is.

Posted in Navel Gazing, Uncategorized and tagged
22 Nov 2015
2 Comments

Smile of the Day

My friend Matt found this photo online and put it on his Facebook page. I liberated it. No end of amusement here.

My friend Matt found this photo online and put it on his Facebook page. I liberated it. No end of amusement here.

 

Posted in Navel Gazing and tagged

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