After being up so early two mornings in a row, yesterday we spoiled ourselves and slept in, then spent an hour or so cuddling and talking before we got up. Those special times we give ourselves, before we get distracted by e-mail and phone calls and everything else, are our private little treasures.
I spent all day crunching words, working on the new issue of the Gypsy Journal. In fact, the only time I even went outside all day long was to walk down to the dumpster to throw away some trash just after dark.
While I was doing that, Terry was busy doing a hundred different things, and making it all look easy. I just don’t know how she does it. She fixed a delicious meal of roast chicken and crispy baked red potatoes. And there was enough chicken left over to make a soup of chicken and homemade egg noodles.
I got really tired, so a half hour before dinner was ready I stretched out on the couch for a short nap. Naps are another little reward I give to myself.
During the evening I took a little time off to watch some TV, cruised the internet for a while, then answered a bunch of e-mails that had come in while I was writing. One was from a fellow whose wife wrote me a while back asking my opinion of their motorhome’s tires. They had purchased a ten year old motorhome, with about 40,000 miles on it. The tires were original, and the wife had read several places that seven years was about the maximum for tires, even though the tread was still very good. I told her if it were my rig, I would want them replaced, and in fact we replaced the tires on our Winnebago when we bought it, even though they only had 35,000 miles on them.
The husband disagreed with me, and yesterday’s e-mail was to tell me that they had just rolled into Quartzsite after driving from northern Michigan, averaging 72 miles per hour all the way. He closed his e-mail by saying, “I’ll run them till they fall off, and then I’ll replace them. No reason to waste money buying tires until I need them.” Well friend, all I can say is, I hope when they do “fall off” it’s not literal. And I’m glad I’m not your insurance agent.
Here’s a tip for those of you who have been bugged lately. A while back I wrote that we had been invaded by stink bugs while we were at the Hershey Thousand Trails preserve, and again with Japanese beetles when we got to Florida. Blog reader Ernie Richard recommended we try Hot Shot No-Pest Strips and said they did a god job. We picked some up, and the results were amazing.
We hang one up when we’re out of the RV for a couple of hours or more, and seal it in a zip top bag when we come home. We were killing at least half a dozen bugs every day, and sometimes more. Since we hung one of the strips up, we will occasionally find a bug, but it’s rare. Thanks for telling us about them, Ernie!
Today will be more of the same as I continue working on the new issue. We’ll probably be leaving Florida some time in mid-to-late February, and I want them in the mail before then. Factoring in the time to get the papers printed and sent down to Florida from our printer in Michigan, I have plenty of time, as long as I keep at it.
Thought For The Day – Falling down is how we grow. Staying down is how we die.
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Well now, what that expression? “You can’t fix Stupid”?
One can only hope that when he does have a blow-out, that he doesn’t kill or injure anyone else.
I feel kinda bad for his wife though.
But you know, “Land of the free and home of the….whatever” and all that.
In regard to the fellow who will “run the tires until they fall off”, a fool is born every day. Obviously he doesn’t care for his wife’s life or other people’s lives who he might crash into when they blow. We change our tires every five years to keep them in warranty. In 2008 we had a front tire blow, fortunately when no one was coming from the other direction as it was the driver’s side tire and we ended up on the wrong side of the road. Very scary! It was a tire failure and Goodyear paid for the tire and the damage to our MH because the tire was still in warranty AND we picked up the pieces and took them to a Goodyear dealer. Our insurance company was never involved.
Also the fact they averaged 72 mph from MI to AZ scares the ‘beegebbers’ out of me! What was the speed rating of those tires? I hope we are never on the same road at the same time they are!!
Concerning the man averaging 72 mph on very old tires, STUPID STUPID STUPID.
I can say that as I was driving (58 mph) on an interstate and had a blowout on our right front tire of our class A Diesel motor home. The tire was only a few years old and properly inflated. Fortunately nothing bad happened. This guy is a very bad accident waiting to happen. And he’s foolish. Almost all of us recommend tires no older than 5 years, watch for crazing on the tires and be sure they are properly inflated. I really worry about his wife in an accident. This guy is saving a few dollars now but could be in real trouble in the future. Sad !!!!!
I’m curious, why do you store the no pest strip away after a couple of hours?
Ref the 72 mph rv’er- hmm, never mind, not worth a comment.
The money “he is saving” he can use to repair the fiber glass work when he has a blowout. What an idiot, Hope I don’t share the road with him. Poor wife…
And we are leaving Quartzsite this morning. Hope he is staying at least one more day! He does not realize the power of a large tire blowout. As far as averaging 72, he was driving way over the speed limit in the states he went through. I suppose he would say he “averaged” 10 MPG as well!
Some newbies have to learn the HARD way what mistakes not to repeat. Others do their research instead of watching TV and save $$$ in the long run. You arent the only experienced BTDT FTRVer who recommends replacing old tires.
I have to agree with all the above comments, just adding you cannot fix stupid, all I can say is I hope if he survives a blowout crash and I sure hope his wife reads this and makes him see the facts that he can live with the fact he probably killed not only his wife and probably an Innocent family out to enjoy a vacation or just a drive. 72mhr in the rig is also suicidal and illegal. Knowing this idiot he is probably towing a heavy car also.
Terry M,
I store the strip in sealed plastic (within its original foil packet) when we are home because if you read the small print, it does NOT recommend using it in a space occupied by people for more than 4 hours a day. I occasionally have fruit and/or produce on my counter and I cook and we eat in our motorhome. It also does NOT recommend using in an eating area. Since we are in a limited square footage, I prefer not to be exposed to the chemicals any more than I have to be. I put the strip away and turn on the ventilator fans for a bit when we return. I prefer even more NOT to have these pesky bugs! (~:
Terry R
About the tires, everyone mentioned accidents but even if you are lucky and don’t go off the road, there is also the risk of damage to the underside of your RV. We had this experience as newbies–we were clueless, quite honestly. The tread looked fine, and what did we know? Had a blowout and got safely to the shoulder, but the tire unraveling underneath did some damage to whatever-all underneath the rig. Can’t remember exactly what was broken, but it cost about $1,000 to fix. PLUS, of course, a whole new set of tires which we then bought anyway.
We just bought a 10-year old Class C, and we looked up all the tire codes to check the age on them (they are only a couple years old, as it turns out.) Nothing like experience to teach a good lesson!
Now I understand, this stuff is pretty strong. Darn. We will not be able to use it because of our fur buddies. I hate those stink bugs. Thanks for the answer.