the Youngest Snowbird:

Update on Norman, the Animal

If you read the previous post you know that our pup, Norman, nipped a woman on the leg at our RV resort on Monday morning. We hadn't heard from the lady since the incident, but tonight we found out she got her tetanus shot and a check-up and she's totally fine.

And thankfully, she doesn't hold a grudge.

The whole episode has been really unnerving. I know Normie is healthy and has all his current vaccinations, but for the past 24 hours my mind has been bogged down with the worst possible scenarios:

• why haven't we heard from the lady since yesterday morning? 
• did she have a negative reaction to the tetanus shot?
• is she in the hospital dying?
• did she call animal control and file a complaint against Normie?
• will she sue us for a squillion bucks?  (after all, this is lawsuit crazy California)

Turns out our worry was for nothing; and I hope if I'm ever bitten by a strange pup, that I act as classy as this woman did. 

Her doc visit and tetanus shot only cost $40 USD, which we reimbursed her for (it was sooo cheap compared to the $150 I had estimated). We also bought her a $40 gift card to a local restaurant, since she wasted several hours of her day at a walk-in clinic.

My Fella and I are extremely relieved. And although we're already pretty diligent with Normie's training, I think this little scare will make us much better dog parents.

Live an learn.

p.s.  thanks for the reassuring comments on the previous post - we hoped we were doing the right things, but you never know in these kind of situations

Things We've Learned in 2 Years on the Road

(this started out as a comment on a previous post but it got so long, I figured it deserved its own post)

Some of the things we've learned while RV-ing over the past couple years:

• how cotton grows (on a two foot shrub-like plant)
• and how peanuts grow (underground, like carrots or radishes)

• how it feels to be in the middle of severe tornado warnings
• driving thru the aftermath of a destructive tornado
• watching someone groom a palm tree 
• seeing fresh armadillo road kill
• finding out what 100% humidity does to my body weight
• being thisclose to a 1000 pound alligator
• seeing the beautiful home $80,000 will buy in Arizona (in a similar Okanagan neighbourhood, that house would cost $400,000) 
• when dealing with American retail cashiers it's usually easier to make up a zip code than try explain what a postal code is, or that "I'm not from here..."
• vegetables traditionally grown in California are cheaper to buy in Arizona and Alabama (???)
• a teenager can legally buy a shotgun anywhere in Alabama, but it's illegal for a thirty year old to buy beer in a dry Alabama county (roughly half the state is dry)
• if we're ever lost in the desert, there are parts of some cacti we can eat

• our little family is so much more aware of our hydro/water usage; in an RV we use only one third of the water/hydro than we used when we were homeowners
• we really don't need to be carrying around so much toilet paper   :)
• I am a very average driver;  My Fella is a better driver than 99.9% of folks on the road
• at least half the vehicles in North America are driven by someone completely unaware of their surroundings; from my high perch up in the motorhome I frequently see drivers talking on a cellphone, texting, yelling at kids in the backseat, reading a map, eating lunch, fumbling with an ipod/cd player, etc. ... many of us have forgotten that driving is a priviledge, NOT a right

No doubt there are many more things on the "What I learned While Travelling" list; if you're an RV-er  (or conventional traveller) feel free to add to it.

In the meantime, a little humour from our senior RV neighbours:

Billy was 4 years old and was staying with his grandfather for a few days. He'd been playing outside with the other kids, when he came into the house and asked, "Grandpa, what's it called when two people sleep in the same bedroom and one is on top of the other?"  His Grandpa was a little shocked, but decided to tell him the truth. "ahem - Well, Billy... it's called sexual intercourse."

"Oh. okay."  Then Billy quickly ran back outside to play with the other kids.

A few minutes later he came back in and yelled, "GRANDPA, it ISN'T called sexual intercourse -  it's called BUNK BEDS. And Jimmy's mom wants to talk to you."     :) 

It's Official

We're boring.

Not bored. Just boring. That's why I haven't been posting much. 

Our little RV family is having a hoot here at Rancho California, but we haven't been doing anything particularly exciting. I've settled into a pretty regular routine; walking the dogs, reading the biz news, drinking beer, eating carrots... usually all before 9am.

just kidding - I never eat carrots before 9am

My Fella has been golfing a few times at the resorts 14 hole course, which is $25 a round or $150 for one month, unlimited play. And he's washed JohnnyDisco and cleaned out our little chevy so everything is spic 'n span. 

While My Sweet Baboo does his outdoor stuff; I'm inside on the computer, checking the CAD vs. USD so I can buy more greenbacks. And staying current with the stock news, especially companies we own. And reading Garth Turner and all my other fave blogs.

Over the past week we've taken the mutts in for shots and haircuts. And we've played mucho tennis at the RV resort courts - which are club quality, free and always empty.

I like southern California but it's such a strange place, like a fantasy world.  

The palm trees and sunshine (and robotic plastic surgery) make it all seem so perfect. Awesome weather, beautiful people, gorgeous scenery, blah, blah, blah...

Then you listen to the local news and digest the problems... crime, crazies, crooks, foreclosures, overpaid politicians, unfunded state liabilities, bad water, forest fires, earthquakes, etc.

As far as I'm concerned, RVing is the best thing since sliced bread:

• in a few short years, it has given us the chance to experience so many different areas. And the personal interaction we've had with folks around North America (Alabama, Mississippi, Mexico, California, or wherever we drop the jacks) has prompted a better understanding of why people feel/act the way they do, wherever they happen to be
• being on metered electric has really opened our eyes to our power usage, and how much power is wasted by every one of us, every day
• and dry-camping has renewed our awareness of all those modern conveniences (microwave, hot shower, toilet, computer, reading lamp, furnace, fan, tv, radio) we take for granted every single day living in a regular house

The truth is, RV-ing is continuously opening our eyes to so many important things. I realize it's not for everyone. But it's definitely for us.

Gulp

You probably already knew this, but:

A dry county is a county in the USA whose government forbids the sale of alcoholic beverages. Hundreds of dry counties exist across the United States, almost all of them in the south:

• Of the 67 counties in the state of Alabama, 3 are completely dry and 23 are partially dry or "moist" (these counties contain cities that have voted to allow alcohol sales) 
• In order for an Alabama city or county to hold a wet-dry vote, 25% of the voters in the preceding general election must sign a petition requesting a vote.
• A city must have a population in excess of 1,000 residents in order to have a referendum to go wet. Petitions can be made to go from dry to wet or wet to dry.
• In dry counties, it is illegal to transport more than one case of beer and three quarts of liquor.

Here's a map of all the dry/wet counties in the USA, according to the smartest person I know, wiki.

Red Bay, Alabama (where we are right now) is in Franklin County, named in honor of Benjamin Franklin. As of 2010, the population was 31,704. And it is a dry county. Ack.

After pondering this whole wet/dry county thing for awhile, My Fella found this interesting tidbit from the website Alcohol Problems and Solutions:

"About two of every three counties in Alabama are dry. That is, they prohibit the production, distribution and sale of any alcoholic beverages. However, Alabama permits the sale of fireworks, tobacco and firearms and it does so with virtually no restrictions or regulations.

For example, there is no state permit required to purchase or carry rifles and shotguns, no licensing of owners of rifles or shotguns, and no registration of such deadly weapons. Similarly, there is no state permit needed to purchase a handgun, no licensing of handgun owners, and no registration of handguns. Even young children can carry and use dangerous firearms. Alabamians apparently view a drink as more dangerous than fireworks, tobacco, or rifles, shotguns and pistols."

hmm...

What the Heck?

My last post disappeared. 

strange...

No time for a redo since we got a very happy message yesterday afternoon from Peggy at the Tiffin Mothership.  JohnnyDisco is ready to go.

We'll be on the road by 9am on our way back to Red Bay, Alabama and (hopefully) a fully functional motorhome. Whoo hoo!

it would seem that some of us are more excited than others

You Know That Look Little Kids Get When They Taste Something Gross?

Actually I guess some adults get it too.

We just realized Norman gets the very same look when we brush his teeth.

What a ham.

Totally off-topic, but here's another recent discovery:  When travelling almost anywhere throughout North America, we're usually driving the oldest, cheapest car on the street. But My Fella and I noticed that down here in southern Alabama, our little 2002 chevy fits right in. New vehicles are definitely not a priority around these parts.

Lame Post to Explain Why I Haven't Been Posting

Our little RV family is still laying low here in southern Alabama.

The past two weeks have been busy, but very routine.  Some RV-ers crave constant travelling/doing/seeing, but my personality type demands a regular routine mixed into the chaos of our RV adventures. It keeps me sane.  ish.

When we're not on the road, a typical day includes:

• an hour or so at the community tennis court
• a 5 to 7 km daily power walk, so I can drink beer and eat peanuts
• walking the dogs half a dozen times a day, PLUS a few rounds of squeak fetch
• regular boring chores (cleaning JohnnyDisco, buying groceries, laundry, etc.)
• a few hours every morning and afternoon digesting the business news, monitoring our stocks, and futzing around on the computer 

On top of this I've spent mucho time over the past month communicating with Tiffin Motorhomes. They are based in Red Bay, Alabama and they are the reason our little RV family is here in Alabama; we have to visit the Tiffin mothership.

Won't go into all the gory details right now but we've had quite a few issues with our Tiffin Allegro (JohnnyDisco) since we bought him new in February 2010:

• the furnace controls were wired backwards, and the bedroom furnace didn't work at all
• a bubble started forming on the roof of the coach
• the freezer will not stay defrosted, an inch of ice/snow forms every three months
• the front door sticks 
• the seal on the front door is coming off
• the generator fizzes out when you turn on too many things, it's only firing on one cylinder 
• the electronic drivers side door window opens but won't close - it needs to be pulled shut manually
• several outdoor bins either won't lock or are hard to open

Could this be why we got such a great deal on the rig?   :)  

I should also mention that these issues were all discovered during our first few months of ownership.  Last year we brought the rig back to the dealer in Tucson for warranty work and the only thing fixed properly were the furnaces.

We bought JohnnyDisco in early 2010 while the US economy was still pretty messy, so our new rig was priced the same as the used units that were a few years older. Plus we bought it in Arizona so it was 35% cheaper than the same unit in Canada. And we paid cash which gave us a little more room for negotiation.

We knew there would be some minor 'first year kinks' to work out with a new unit, but we did NOT expect a whole laundry list of problems. 

After a number of frustrating emails were exchanged with several different Tiffin Motorhome employees, I got a call last week from the Big Cheese, Bob Tiffin. He told me all of our issues would be fixed, free of charge.

Mr Tiffin started the company. He is the Father of the Tiffin Family and runs the whole shebang so I appreciate that he's a busy fella. He seems like a very nice man who cares about the reputation of his company. And it's good news that they're fixing everything for free. But to be honest, I'd rather not be in this situation in the first place. My Fella and I would much rather be driving JohnnyDisco around Mexico this winter... not laying low in Alabama waiting to get in to the Tiffin Mothership.

Our appointment is at the end of January. In the meantime, we're making a complete list of everything that should have been repaired properly, under warranty.  And then I'm gonna try forget about this whole hassle until we finally drive JohnnyDisco into the Tiffin service bay next month.

Turns out the free-wheelin RV lifestyle is NOT problem free. It's been a good reality check for us.

And while I'm totally jealous of all the Canucks that did make it to Mexico this year, at least we didn't get stuck trying to maneuver our big rig thru a narrow, crowded street of a tinyteenyweeny Mexican town in the middle of nowhere - like my cyberpal, Mexi-Croft. Good thing you're a good driver, mister... HOLY MOLY.  Oh yeah, and "LISTEN TO YOUR WIFE! That's what she's there for!"  :) 

To end on a high note:  While I've been tearing my hair out over our frustrating coach issues, My Fella has been doing something constructive. Literally.

He made this out of $15 dollars worth of pvc pipe, connectors and rope. 

It's a laundry hanger for the back of the coach and it fits snugly on our roof ladder.

We were looking for some place outside to hang our towels (and other non-controversial laundry) and most RV parks don't allow clotheslines.

These little contraptions are selling for $75 bucks at Camping World, but my own Mr Construction-Pants was able to rig up this copycat model in less than two hours.

Fancy schmancy.

All Hallow's Eve

One of our fellow snowbirds here at Peanut RV Park.

And a few other spooky Halloween monsters:

Now that we're finally parked for a few months I think I have too much free time...

HARTZ UltraGuard Flea & Tick Drops

Yeah, yeah - I know... boring title.  But here's a scary warning we read earlier this afternoon:

Hartz flea and tick products are dangerous and have caused injury and the deaths of thousands of animals. Please do not make your pet a victim by using them.

For more information check out www.hartzvictims.org.  

We applied a tube of Ultraguard Flea & Tick Drops to each of our muttz this afternoon, but quickly washed it all off after reading online reviews about the product.

This whole thing is kind of a gray area. After poring over pages and pages of sad stories, I definitely feel for the grieving/shocked/angry pet owners.  And moreso for their pets. These products are obviously toxic to some animals. Yet the skeptical side of me suspects some folks didn't follow directions or may have applied incorrect dosages. 

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.  But we love our two fuzzy monsters way too much to take a chance on a product like this. So we washed off the flea treatment and threw the other unopened package in the garbage.   

Happily, both Norm and The Bert seem fine.

Although we're still keeping our eyeballs peeled for strange behaviour, lethargy, shakes, etc.

Update:  There are also a lot of complaints about Hartz products on this Consumer Affairs website.

RIP Steve Jobs: 1955 - 2011

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died tonight.

I have never owned an Apple product or stock in the company, but I've always been impressed with this man's entrepreneurial spirit and faith in himself.  Here was a guy not afraid to go against the grain.

My fave Steve Jobs words come from a university speech he gave in 2005:

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”

Cleaning Out the Cupboards

That's at the top of my 'to do' list today.

My plan is to go thru every one of our interior storage areas in the RV and get rid of anything we haven't used in the past year. We also need to use up the remaining food in the cupboards and start fresh again after crossing the USA border next month.

The motivation for this big clean-up hit me at 5am, when I woke up and decided to toss out a bunch of unhealthy snacks.

It's both horrifying and embarrassing to see the amount of crappy pre-packaged food we have in our cupboards.

My fave salty snack is low fat Pringles but they're so expensive here in Canada that I've replaced them with low fat pretzels.  Problem is I'm also guilty of buying regular fat Pringles when they go on sale.

My Fella picks up peanuts/raisons/smarties from the bulk food section and makes his own trail mix, a fairly healthy snack.  But he also has different work treats like pudding and granola bars. Add in the numerous bags of chips we've been getting for free (from our pal, The Chip Guy) and you've got a million empty calories taking over our very limited RV shelf space.  

A healthy, balanced lifestyle is important to us since we both plan on living to 117. At least.  Yeah, we'll be really wrinkly... But healthy. 

We eat salad every day and, as a couple, we consume more veggies than anyone I know.  We only eat whole grain bread and pasta at home and although My Fella isn't eating fish yet, he has cut down on red meat.  I drink 4 litres of wine water every single day and unless the weather is crappy, I get at least an hour of exercise. That's on top of taking the mutts for 4 or 5 daily walks.  

But as someone who is constantly preaching about personal responsibility, I need to give myself a kick in the butt and lose these ten flabby pounds I packed on over the summer thru snacking.  Our salty snack party has come to an end.  Hear that sneaky salty snacks? Yer DONE!

Hence the big cupboard clean out and reorganization.

My Fella is on board with this project and took all of our unopened snacks into work this morning, making his co-workers very happy.  

And now we can start fresh.

Totally off topic, but only 24 more sleeps til we head south.  Watch your back Tillamook pepper jack, I'm coming to get you  :)

Oh, and before I forget - special note to the person who got to this blog yesterday by googling 'how to care for marijuana seedlings that have sprouted':  I have absolutely no idea how you got here by searching for that, since I know less about drugs than your average 9 year old.  Put down the weed and plant a tree or a pumpkin patch instead. 

Microwave Corn on the Cob

Supper tonight is steak, ceasar salad and fresh corn from a local farmer.

Last year a fellow RVer introduced us to a super easy way to microwave corn on the cob.  After shucking and cleaning your corn...

• 1.  wet a paper towel and wring it out
• 2.  wrap the ear of corn in the moist towel and place on microwave safe plate
• 3.  cook in microwave for 4 to 5 minutes
• 4.  let it cool before buttering or you'll burn the hell out of your fingers  :) 

much tastier than Normans corn-on-the-cob chew toy

Benen Gazebo from Walmart

It took about 5 hours (ish) to put together our new gazebo.

My Fella started laying out the pieces (all 7 billion of them) at 9am.  Around 10:30 I joined him outside to lend a hand 'cause putting this monster up really was a two person task.  He did a great job making sense of all the pieces and directing the whole operation (a.k.a  bossing me around  :)

As a sidenote, following the directions was crucial to putting this gazebo together. Some of the written steps seemed completely illogical, but after the gazebo was finally constructed, we understood why it was important to follow the instructions to the letter.  It wasn't rocket science. But darn close.

Our new gazebo looks super spiffy and offers privacy, shade and protection from flying golf balls.

The Benen gazebo was $300 on sale at Walmart.  There were a few other choices available at a cheaper price but this one looked like it offered the best quality. We're hoping we get 10 years out of it, at a cost of $30 per year.

That being said, if it starts falling apart you'll be the first to know.

RV Lot #2 for the Year

Here it is:  the new golf course lot we're using for the rest of the season.

Wasn't kidding yesterday when I mentioned how barren the site is.  Just trees, grass, rocks, weeds and the odd golf ball that bounces on from the fairway.

Our neighbours on both sides have built houses on their lots, and they both get daily golf balls banging off the walls or whacked into the yard.  However they assured us that the lot we're on is a little more protected than either of theirs.  JohnnyDisco is tucked in at the back end of the lot behind some trees and a couple canvas tarps; hopefully he'll be protected from flying balls.  I'll post some shots of the rig as soon as we get our deck in place.

In the meantime, My Fella couldn't wait to get his paws on the new gazebo.  He was outside first thing this morning, dragging the boxed gazebo into the middle of the yard.  Curiosity got the best of me so I went to check on his progress ... and found him hiding under this tree:

Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what he was doing...

Can't remember the last time I saw him read instructions for anything so he must be serious about this.  Hopefully the next pics you see here will be our new gazebo.

Moving Day for JohnnyDisco

Today's the big day so no time for a long post.

Can't wait to get to the new RV lot.

We went to town yesterday and picked up a snazzy gazebo at one of those end of the season sales. We weren't really in the market for one, but the front half of the golf course lot we're moving onto gets quite a few stray balls whacked onto it so the gazebo is more of a safety measure.  My Fella is excited to set it up.

And I found three 8' amur maples on clearance for $22 bucks each.  My love for trees rivals my passion for buying stocks.  It's true;  I am a tree-a-holic.

Pics of the new very bare lot coming soon.

Homemade Frijoles Refritos

A few days ago I was whining about the price of refried beans here in Canada.  

After some of you threw out the challenge to make my own refried beans, I found this super simple recipe online at AllRecipes.com:  

• 1 onion, peeled and halved
• 3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
• 1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 5 teaspoons salt **
• 1 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin, optional
• 9 cups water

** Only change I made was using 2 teaspoons of salt instead of 5.  And we only had 2 cups of pinto beans so I threw a cup of red kidney beans into the mix.  Next time I'll do a black bean/pinto bean combo and maybe add some chili powder.

Just toss everything into your crockpot for 9 hours, then smush up the beans with a potato masher and you've got a huge batch of yummy refried beans.  

Much healthier than the canned variety at a quarter of the price.

Thanks to Brenda in Mexico who told me to get off my lazy butt and make my own damn beans.  Although she said it in a much sweeter way   :) 

Another Reason I Like Dogs Better Than People

Picture this.

You're driving somewhere with your family on a sunny afternoon.  Suddenly an SUV pulls up beside you and five brats, aged 11 to 16, start shooting guns at you thru the windows.

The cops are called and track down the SUV, only to find out:

• the guns are actually pellet guns
• mom is behind the wheel of the SUV
• she gave the little monsters permission to shoot their guns out the window

Hard to believe we need a license to own a dog, but any noodlehead can have kids. 

Full story from CBC.ca can be read here.

Speaking of Crossing the Border...

... here's a strange story from CBC.ca:

"A Minnesota senior was jailed by Canadian border guards at a Manitoba port of entry after a jar of used motor oil in her vehicle was mistaken for heroin."

Holy moly.  You can read the full story here.

Grand Rapids, Michigan YOUTUBE Video

Just swiped this awesome story from Mashable.com:

"After website Main Street dubbed Grand Rapids, Michigan, a “dying city” (with the story also published in Newsweek) the citizens of Grand Rapids fought back with a massive, now-viral lip dub.

Director Rob Bliss managed to raise $40,000 to make the video, gathering together thousands of citizens to perform a one-take rendition of Don McLean’s “American Pie.”  

Roger Ebert even called it the "greatest music video ever made":

Bears Stand On Guard For Thee

Remember this CBC news story about bears guarding a marijuana grow-op by Christina Lake, BC? Well this Russian news anchor is having a tough time reporting the story.

Dirt and Neighbours

My Fella and I played outside yesterday between raindrops.

First we cruised into town for some groceries and perennial vines.  Then he went golfing and built a birdhouse, while I got some more work done on the RV yard; mainly pushing around big rocks and piles of dirt/sand.

The sand pile that was in the middle of the back yard is now gone. This may sound like work to some folks, but I love landscaping.  Dirt is my friend.

Our next door RV neighbours carted some of the sand/soil mix over to their lot and I tossed the rest over the side of our hill.  My plan is to sprinkle wildflower seeds over the hill and try cover it with California poppies.

The space where the dirt pile was will soon be leveled out and tamped down flat. Then we'll lay down a 4' x 4' brick floor which will be the base of a small outdoor firepit.

We're waiting for the deck guy to build a 12' x 14' platform deck beside JohnnyDisco, then I can install the lattices and start planting some vines.

The deck guy didn't make an appearance this weekend, but we did have another backyard visitor.

Sid the Snake seemed curious about all the action on our RV lot.  But his eyes glazed over within minutes and he slithered away right in the middle of my explanation for our exciting landscape plans.

More yard reno pics coming up in the next few weeks.  Hopefully you're more interested than Sid.

Might As Well Flip the Weather Coin

Apparently the Weather People cobbled together their latest forecast after downing a 40 of rum since our predicted sunny long weekend turned into 1.5 days of sun and two days of pouring rain. 

With a chance of a thunderstorm this evening. 

My Fella is working all weekend so I was free to mess around with our annual budget again.  Some people collect stamps, or do puzzles; I play with my calculators.  And yes, I do have two of them, but one is just a back-up.  

For math emergencies.  :) 

As mentioned in my last post, our RV gas budget for the year was pretty much right on target, but will have to be increased for this winter since we're travelling further than Arizona.  Still working on the final numbers but it'll probably go up about $1600 - from $2400 to $4000.  And of course, that depends on the price of gas this fall/winter. 

Our car gas budget is way under at this point.  31 weeks into our fiscal year we've only spent $546.49 for gas, which means we have $1013.51 left from the total of $1560/year.  (Our budget year is from October 16th to October 15 -  NOT Jan 1 to Dec 31.)

Moving on to our biggest monthly expense - food.  We actually lump groceries together with household supplies, toiletries, cleaning stuff, vitamins, booze, gifts, laundry quarters, stamps, pocket money, etc. - so I just label it groceries & stuff.  

Multiple choice test time... Do I budget this way because:

• a)  it's a pain in the butt to figure out an accurate number for each of those categories
• b)  when I lump everything together, it's easier to hide how much I spend on booze, or
• c)  all of the above

Our groceries & stuff budget needs a facelift since we are over by $118/month. Instead of spending the allocated $750, we're shelling out $868 every month.  We spend about $500/month on food and the rest on everything else. Going thru all our receipts there's really nothing to cut out so I'll just increase the annual number from $9000 to $10,500.  My Fella and I are very lucky that we have a strong free cash flow and don't have to worry about cutting out another category to make up the difference.  No doubt there are lots of families that don't have this luxury, and are forced to work with what they have.

The other category I added up today is cash we spend on the mutts.  31 weeks into our budget year we've spent $789.19.  The Shelbert/Norman budget is $1000 per year and includes food, treats, toys, grooming and annual shots.  That cash isn't used for emergency vet care, but it does include one time items like doggy stairs and a plastic baby gate.  "A baby gate ???"  

Yeah, you read that right.  

Shelby would be fine home alone in any part of the RV.  But since Norman is still a pup, he has to stay in the front room. And the quickest (and most fun) way for him to get thru an RV door is just chew it.

Kids can't chew thru a baby gate;  hopefully pups can't either.

Busy Morning

This will be a quick post.

Our largest stock holding, Student Transportation (stb on the TSX), is holding their quarterly conference call in about 5 minutes - but I wanted to post a quick shot of my legal indoor grow-op.

This year I planted black-eyed susans, sunflowers and morning glory vines.  At the end of week #1 they looked like this:

And here they are today, week #3:

My sunflowers (center) started out strong, but the morning glories (far right) have taken the lead. Go sprouts!

Had to share this with you since no one else around here wants to monitor my plant growth.

I may as well be talking about the stock market which prompts the exact same bored response   :)

RV Life: Observation #26

Just one more reason we're sooooo happy we RV full-time, and can take our home with us on vacation:

Air Canada Leaves Luggage Behind INTENTIONALLY.

Snapfish.com

We got a great surprise in the mail yesterday.

Last year my cyberpal Mexico Brenda told me about a company called Snapfish that makes personalized gifts from your digital photos.  You can hop online and create your own calendars, artwork, blankets, coffee, mugs, etc. and have them shipped to your door.

We ordered a mousepad, a travel mug and two 15 ounce coffee mugs (the big ones).  The initial cost was $72 bucks (including taxes and shipping) but I found a coupon online which cut the price down to $60.

You can track your order online via the UPS website, and when we hadn't received our package after about 2 weeks, I called Snapfish customer service.  The rep explained that international orders (i.e. USA to Canada) took up to 25 business days and assured me we'd receive it within another 2 weeks.  I was totally happy with that and just about to hang up when the Snapfish rep said "because you've been waiting so long I'll take another 20% off the cost of your order". This brought our order (including shipping and taxes) down to $48.  

Unexpected bonus!  

Even more amazing, before I placed our order, I googled customer reviews for Snapfish.  Almost every negative comment from previous customers had to do with the customer service reps.  Guess I lucked out 'cause my guy was awesome. He went above and beyond and completely secured my customer loyalty to Snapfish. 

My Fella took his coffee mug to work before I got a picture of everything, but we are totally impressed with the Snapfish product line.

This shot may look blurry but the pictures on the mugs and mousepad are crisp and clear. And all the items are very good quality in relation to the cost.

Thanks Brenda for turning me on to Snapfish.  We'll definitely order from them again.