Issue 33, WE’RE BACK – FOR ANOTHER MONTH

Diary published weekly since 2001

Hi All: Our time in Michigan ended on the same level as it began. Spending the weekend at the Valley Plaza Inn/Health Center in Midland, Michigan was a wise choice to wind down from our enjoyable family reunion on John’s side. On Sunday we enjoyed a leisurely drive to see the sites. Surprisingly all the stores in the area appeared closed – we were not planning to go shopping but it is something that we are not used to seeing at places south of the Cdn Border. Cool

What was interesting about Midland was each street portrayed rows of colourful flowers planted between the sidewalks and the roadways. It’s a common site to see baskets of flowers hanging from lampposts as we drive through towns, however this is the first time we’ve ever driven alongside a pathway of flowers. Cool

Border crossing at Port Huron/Sarnia on our return was almost a non-experience. NO line-up, minimal border questions, no scanning of passports plus rates going north was only $4.50 US$ (I think I told you – we paid $8.50 US$ on our way south and that line-up was lengthy as we apprehensively waited on top of that high bridge). All in all we had a great trip back and that is what’s important. Cool
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OUR WEEK IN REVIEW

Monday night we stayed at the London Flying J in ready for an appointment early Tuesday at TEAM TRUCK FREIGHTLINER DEALER in London (1-519-681-6868) for some minor maintenance. This is a fantastic RV Friendly repair centre. Service is exceptional, fast and at a fair price, lounge is comfortable and if your unit is not in the shop overnight you can stay on their lot. Cool

We then returned to our park in London and settled into our previous site – the one we had at the beginning of the season. Since this was our contracted site for this season, you can imagine how surprised we were to find it occupied while we were away – another fifth was booked in our site for an additional week after we returned the end of July. Go figure, he was on our site for 39 days even though we had already paid for it. Although we were not happy campers about this situation, we settled into the overnight section for our mid-summer break. Since that area was a very busy place over the August long weekend we decided to leave a day early and overnight at the quieter Flying J to allow a quick start to Michigan on the Monday. Cool

As most of you know, we are happy to say our TV LNB ADAPTER on our INTERNET DISH is working perfectly. Most of you know I love being on line 24/7, but the Internet Dish has become even more valuable this summer since we also get TV from the same Dish. Vista from our front window is a bank of aesthetic trees but although they make for a pretty view, they block signal from our roof mount TV Dish. By adding the TV LNB Adapter to our Hughes .net INTERNET DISH from TECH MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS AND WIRELESS (formerly 3i Communications) we now have good TV reception as well. A version of this system works well on boats, plus the tri-pod system is a valued low cost accessory for RVers that move from place to place as well as for cottages in remote areas. Feel free to give Armand, Todd or Garrett a call for more info at 705 878-1025 or Toll-Free: 866 494-4801 or log onto www.techmcw.com Read my full story at www.rvliving.net/EarlyObserationsDirecWay.htm Cool
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FINAL THOUGHTS

Doctor’s appointments, restocking with groceries and picking up mail took up the balance of the week. Kind of a downer week after last week’s excitement, but guess we each have to experience these laid-back periods occasionally. We still managed to keep very busy at any rate. A few luncheon dates had to be cancelled due to time constraints but we will touch base with these friends/family next week. Guess what, one more time it’s Saturday again. Travel safe all and hopefully you’ll each continue to enjoy your summer. P&J Cool Cool Cool

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TIPS THIS WEEK – From RV Living in the 21st Century

TAKING DRUGS ACROSS THE BORDER

If you're carrying prescription drugs, consider leaving the meds in the original bottle and/or carry photocopies of all prescriptions. This info may also be advantageous if you are ever questioned. It is important to have verification if you use syringes as well. Because of the Canadian and American zero drug tolerance policies, this info could prevent hassles and avoid many questions from agents on both sides of the border. Follow the same practice for pet meds as well.
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CHRISTMAS DÉCOR

It is time for snowbirds to be thinking of heading south. However new RVers, who will be away over the holidays, especially at Christmas, may not realize they should bring their favourite decorations with them. Every year I hear new RVers lamenting over the fact that they were unaware they should have packed their holiday favourites. They had no idea that RVers decorate big time while away from home.

To join in for the festive spirit, pack a good supply of lightweight holiday trimmings, especially lights, to decorate both the inside and outside of your RV. Large suction cups keep things in place on the outside and the ‘S’-shaped drapery hooks make it easy to hang décor from the valences and/or curtains. ‘Peel-and-Stick’ window decals also add a nice touch.
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COSTLY INVOICES FROM IN-PARK SERVICE TECHS

Our RV’s do occasionally require replacement parts and maintenance while we are away from home – we must remember that these homes on wheels are really machines and machines break down. Contacting in-park repair is more convenient than going to a repair facility but ALWAYS ask before service is begun if credit cards are accepted – even for expensive items such as a refrigerator replacement. Some credit card companies charge small businesses an extra 5% service fee – if your tech does accept payment using a credit card, he may have no choice but to pass the extra charges on to you. If he doesn’t do that, it may have to come out of his profit.

Be sure to save your maintenance receipts to present to customs – if asked - at the border.

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PROMOS THIS WEEK

THIS TIP/PROMO BEARS REPEATING

A vicious new VIRUS WARNING is arriving in the form of a greeting card from a ‘friend’, ‘relative’, ‘co-worker’ etc. It is showing up frequently in my inbox and in many others as well. I am also receiving a several warnings from the ‘experts’ such as from the Newbie Club – a valuable site for new computer users. They stress big time that members should NOT click on the link to open the card. If you do click on it, you release a virus into your computer. It will sit dormant till the person who originated it wants to do some 'nasties' with it – such as sending stuff to unsuspecting friends or colleagues using YOUR address book. This virulent worm is being distributed at record speed – it is the most widespread and vicious worm in over a year. Some say over 150 million of this particular worm are already infecting computers around the world.

The Newbie Club suggested we all should download a FREE virus program – I did and it seems to be running compatible with my McAfee and it has picked up a ‘Backdoor worm’ that McAfee missed. I have successfully moved the infected file to the programs ‘Virus Vault’ so it can no longer damage to my computer or anyone elses. To download and USE this highly recommended FREE anti-virus software – go to AVG from http://free.grisoft.com It is FREE but apparently it is as good as the paid one – just no tech support.

Bottom line if there is ‘no name’ that you recognized on the email – do NOT click on ANY link. If you do not know who sent an attachement, simply delete the message WITHOUT opening the link or the attachment.
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INTERESTED IN PURCHASING AN INEXPENSIVE MEMBERSHIP PARK?

Membership Parks are available for many thousands of dollars or you can do like we did and buy a resale park for slightly over $500.00. We bought a membership for Coast to Coast and Resorts Parks International (RPI) – it includes 'RPI Plus' membership - the ‘plus’ includes another 50% discount with Resorts America. RPI Parks are great but they only piggy-back onto other systems, so it is necessary to belong to a primary club to access their list of parks. If you want more info, send me an email info@rvliving.net and I will be happy to forward pertinent details.