Thomas Alan Gray's Blog
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
As our family grew and spread out across the country, Christmas became increasingly complicated. We had to set up an alternating schedule. Even years, we have Christmas at our home. Odd years, the boys go to their wive's families.
Gifting got more complex too. We made a collective decision some years ago not to buy gifts for everybody; all the adults draw names, so each person buys for one other family member. As parents, we reserve the right to get small gifts for each of our sons and their wives, and of course grandchildren are pampered; but for the adults, we set a $50 limit and one gift is enough. It gives one person to think about, to consider in terms of needs and tastes, to enjoy planning and shopping for.
Distance and decreasing contact made that increasingly difficult. We started emailing Christmas wish lists to each other. "Any of the following will be a terrific gift...." For some years, that worked okay. I could get select from the list of whomever's name I had drawn that year, and be certain that whatever I chose would be appropriate and wanted.
The last couple of years, however, the lists have been skimpier, and have begun to resemble each other. "I would like a HMV GC or a Chapters GC." End of list. "HomeDepot or Chapters GC for me."
Frankly, guys, I don't care for that. I miss having you in my life, dropping little hints. I miss knowing what games you've been playing with your friends, what book series you've been reading, what interests you're developing, what challenges you're facing, what tool you lack that makes you misuse a screwdriver, what projects you're planning.
Still, I'll admit that it's a lot cheaper to mail a gift card than a hammer drill.
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Life was in some ways simpler when the kids were small and we could buy them toys.
Best RC Flying Toys at Walmart for Christmas
Walmart Picks Best Toys for Girls
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Most of the emails circulating in Canada are reworks of American humor, and this one is no exception. However, it at least has a great deal of Canadian content thrown in.
THE NEW RULES FOR DRIVING IN
1. You must first learn to pronounce the city name, it is:
'ED-MIN-TIN' (or 'Emutun' if said quickly)
2. The morning rush hour is from 5:00 a.m. to noon. The evening rush hour is from noon to 8:00 p.m. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning. [Okay, this one's from the US]
3. The minimum acceptable speed on most freeways is 130 kph. On the QE2,you are expected to match the speed of the airplanes coming in for a landing at the airport. Anything less is considered 'Wussy' [Canadianized version of US original]
4. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere.
5. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear ended, cussed out, and possibly shot. [Definitely American. Fortunately, road rage shootings are not yet common in Edmonton]
6. Never honk at anyone. Ever. Seriously. It's another offense that can get you shot. [Hm, American again]
7. Exception to Rule #6: If you are the 4th car back from a light that has turned green, you must honk your horn to alert the vehicle first at the intersection that the light has changed. Drivers of vehicles 2 & 3 won't shoot you as they are too busy trying to figure out how to ram the first vehicle through the intersection. [Geez, I've seen this for Chicago, LA, and various other US cities]
8. Road construction is permanent and continuous in
9. Watch carefully for road hazards such as drunks, skunks, dogs, cats, deer, barrels, cones, cows, horses, mattresses, shredded tires, garbage, squirrels, rabbits, and coyotes or crows feeding on any of these items. [More common on rural Alberta highways than in town]
10. Calgary Trail,
11. If someone actually has their turn signal on, wave them to the shoulder immediately to let them know it has been 'accidentally Activated.' [Borrowed]
12. If you are in the left lane and only driving 110 in a 80-90 km zone, you are considered a road hazard and will be 'flipped off' accordingly. If you return the flip, you'll be shot. [Borrowed]
13. For winter driving, it is advisable to wear your parka, toque, fur lined mittens and mukluks. Make sure you have a shovel, food, candle
And blankets in the vehicle, as snow removal from the city streets is virtually non-existent until the spring thaw. You also may run out of gas waiting in Tim's drive thru. [YES! Now THAT's Canadian, eh?]
For real life RV driving concerns, check these out:
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
One of the family heirlooms passed on from my mother was a hand-written recipe for "Christmas Scrabble". The name presumably comes because it's so good everybody is scrabbling in the dish for another handful. It was a family tradition and mom always made it in early November. The tradition has been continued by my wife.
This confection is more widely known as "nuts and bolts". I have seldom seen the "Christmas Scrabble" name anywhere else. Search the Internet, and you'll mostly find references to the word game. I did find one recipe at "Shadows in the Kitchen" (given here - takes a while to load) which is quite similar and has the same name, with slightly different ingredients. It seems to be from the same era, too. Parched corn sounds like an interesting addition, will have to try it one year.
We have tried this with no-name cereals, have made the Chex recipe, and have tasted many other versions at the homes of friends and relatives, but we keep coming back to this one. Guests who try this version usually say, "Mmm, this is so good!" and ask for the recipe.
To us, this is simply the best spicy nuts and bolts snack mix recipe we've found.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Hongkong Friday 13 November 2009
Attn: Thomas Alan Gray / RV Recreation
Re: <http://www.suite101.com/blog/graywriter/final_inspection_a_tribute_to_uniformed_personnel>
I enjoyed reading your 29 Oct 2009 blog about the poem "Final Inspection".
You wrote:-
One blog comment said that "Final Inspection" was published at poetry.com and was registered with the Library of Congress. However, searches of poetry.com and of the Library of Congress web site produced no results for .......... the poem under that title.
Actually, this poem is listed at least five times at <poetry.com> as follows:-
<http://poetry.com/poems/
<http://poetry.com/poems/
<http://poetry.com/poems/
<http://poetry.com/poems/
<http://poetry.com/poems/
Ashok, thank you for finding those. Unfortunately, with five different people claiming authorship and none of those you've listed being the usually cited author, I'm no further ahead to learning exactly who wrote the poem.
You wrote:-
One British version dated 2004, the earliest I found, made some of the other lines (such as not being on the take and the “unmanly tears” – remember the British ‘stiff upper lip’ philosophy) also fall into place.
I request you to share with me the URL of the web page where you found the British version dated 2004 -- thanks!
I regret that I can't locate it just now and haven't time to search. It was a site with a .uk rather than .com.
You wrote:-
A POLICEMAN MEETS HIS GOD (also titled "The Forgotten Cop" or "Last Inspection")
The only poem/text entitled "The Forgotten Cop" that I could find was about Correctional [Prison] Officers.
It can be viewed at various web pages such as <http://www.canadiancorrections.com/TheForgottenCop.html>
<http://sewardcitynews.com/2007/04/12/the-forgotten-cop/> <http://www.copadorer.com/forgottencop.htm> <http://www.pba152.com/article1.html>
Rgds,
Ashok Mahbubani
Thank you for your contribution. Any further help regarding the true author of this excellent and widely-quoted poem will be appreciated.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
My father was an airframe mechanic in England during WWII.
I had the privilege yesterday (Nov. 11) of taking him to the memorial service and then to his Royal Canadian Legion branch for a luncheon honoring veterans and service personnel. He's 87 and a stroke victim, and every year we go, he expects it to be his last. One of these years, he'll be right, which is why I count each succeeding Remembrance Day with him a privilege.
We shared the meal with members of the 103 Combat Engineers. They're all young fellows, about the age Dad was when he joined up. The contrast between the young soldiers and the old vets is striking, but Dad says the camaraderie and esprit de corps seems to be the same.
We also had the local RCMP, fire fighters, and paramedics, all uniformed service members who work to keep us safe.
This is my personal thanks to my father and to all who have served.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
I recently received an email titled “Great Answers” (attached below). They’re good stories with snappy comebacks. But they’re not our stories. They were cribbed from an email that began, “We Americans are hated worldwide. Maybe it is because we have helped and rescued so many nations? And how quickly they forget that we SAVED their countries!”
Whoever originated the “Canadian” version of the email dropped the introduction and substituted “Canadian” for “American” with a couple of other minor changes. Read to the end for one extra story of a snappy answer that couldn’t be Canadianized.
The email ended, “Canadians are Cool.” I agree, but surely we have enough history and culture of our own that we don’t need to pretend to be Americans.
- For example, read the remarkable story of Vimy Ridge at http://wwii.ca/page9.html, where four Canadian divisions succeeded in capturing a position “so well fortified that all previous attempts to capture it had failed”.
- Or consider the liberation of Holland: Dutch people cheered Canadian troops as one town after another was freed. To show their appreciation to the pilots who dropped food from the air, many Dutch people painted, "Thank you, Canadians!" on their rooftops. In honour of their gift of freedom Dutch people have donated 10,000 tulip bulbs to
Let’s be proud of our nation, our history and our armed services without passing on American stories repainted in Canadian colors.
====================
Great Answers
In
Mr Harper answered by saying, 'Over the years,
A Canadian Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the Canadian, US, English, Australian and French Navies.
At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French Admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, North Americans generally learn only English. He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'
Without hesitating, the Canadian Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'
When Robert Whiting, an elderly Canadian gentleman of 83, arrived in
'You have been to
Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to
The official replied, 'Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.'
The Canadian said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it.'
'Impossible, Monseur. Canadians always have to show passports on arrival in
The Canadian senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, 'Well, when I came ashore on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to.'
You could have heard a pin drop.
THEY MISSED THIS ONE:
Then there was a conference in
A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck.. We have eleven such ships; how many does
You could have heard a pin drop.
OBVIOUSLY, THIS HAD TO BE OMITTED BECAUSE
DID ANYBODY ELSE NOTICE THE ANTI-FRENCH BIAS IN THESE STORIES? HOW QUICKLY THE AMERICANS FORGET THEIR FRENCH ALLIES IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR…
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
A year ago today, I published this Palm-Z RFT Biplane Review of a nice little toy I'd bought to fly around the IT office where I worked. The office was a little small, but the plane was a lot of fun in the staff lunchroom, and on the factory floor after production closed (as long as I didn't lose it in the equipment and supply racks)
My second and third articles were:
The biplane review languished to the bottom of my article list where it remains today at #127. The pomegranate articles are evergreen and rise to the top 10 every fall when pom season rolls around.
The very bottom ranked articles right now are
It's not that they're dogs (I hope) but... well, maybe they're dogs. Check them out and leave a comment (tell me if they arf).
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
The following came yesterday, complete with the usual attention-seeking bold and colored fonts:
Finnish minister of health on the flu vaccine
A must read - to get another perspective on this so called pandemic. Again, to educate people - this must be viewed. For you to believe or not, I leave that up to you.
A must watch video on the swine flu. The Finnish minister of health speaks out against the make believe pandemic. It is only 6 minutes but very powerful. For those involved in health activism, I suggest saving this before it gets pulled off the internet. Good chance of that happening.
Click on link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTgyakGAddM
First off, the woman in the video, Dr. Rauni-Leena Luukanen Kilde, is NOT the Finnish Minister of Health. Whoever originated this email DIDN'T EVEN CHECK BASIC FACTS.
The Finnish Minister of Social Affairs and Health is Paula Risikko, according to the official government of
- Swine Flu Vaccine – Two Reasons for Refusing
- Swine Flu Vaccine – Inadequate Testing?
- Swine Flu Vaccine – Rushed to Approval?
- Swine Flu Vaccine – Why People Are Reluctant
Google Rauni Kilde and you'll find a lot of UFO, mind-control, conspiracy stuff. Not my idea of a solid authority, but lots of fun for the people who are into that kind of thing.
Says Wikipedia (for what that’s worth): “Rauni-Leena Luukanen-Kilde (born 1939 in Värtsilä, now in the
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Late last summer, I dropped by the Outback factory (Team Trillium) in Calgary where owner Joe Thoen makes a descendant of the Boler (or Trillium) lightweight fiberglass trailer.
Personal circumstances prevented me from getting that material published right away, but the articles are up now.
- Outback Ultralight Fiberglass Trailers is a summary of Joe's comments on the RV industry.
- Outback Ultralight Trailers Factory Tour looks a bit more at the actual trailers and manufacturing
If you're interested in ultralight travel trailers, which Joe says will give you the best fuel economy for an RV travel vacation, you might also find these articles to be of value:
- Lacombe RV in New Location - a look at one of central Alberta's newest and largest dealerships
- State of the RV Industry in Alberta - Lacombe RV's General Manager Pat Hodgins shares his views
- Canada's Ultralight Travel Trailers - a list of Canadian companies making these little beauties, past and present
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Went out with my aged parents to Tammy Jean's Diner, which promises "Great home cooked food at an excellent price!"
The diner is downstairs in the Devon Hotel in Devon, Alberta. The hotel is a landmark in the town of Devon*, and the little basement cafe has been redone numerous times.
Tammy Jean's, the current incarnation, is nicely done in blue and cream with blond oak wainscoting. It's a long, narrow room that seats about 36; at the far end is a private dining room that looks to seat about 24.
The Good, the Bad, and the Frigid
Let's get the bad out of the way first. There wasn't really anything, unless you count The Frigid. Because the diner is seven steps below street level, cold air rolls down the stairs whenever someone goes in or out, and our table at the foot of the stairs was right in the draft. Result was cold feet and food that cooled faster than it might have.
There may once have been an inner vestibule door, but it had been taken off. Tammy Jean, it's not even winter yet. For heavens sake, put that inner door back on to block some of the cold air!
For the good, we'll include
- The food - it was indeed good. Mom & Dad split the $14.95 roast beef special and still had lots left over to take home. Wife had a hot turkey sandwich (more than she could eat) and said it was good. I had a BLT (tasty and moist, with lots of crisp B!) and fries.
- The service - our waitress was cheery and helpful. She brought an extra plate so the aged parents could share their one order, and brought them each a bowl of soup. The food came surprisingly quickly, too. Tammy Jean in the kitchen was sure on the ball.
- The cost - the large portions came at a reasonable cost, and we weren't even charged for the extra soup.
About Devon, Alberta
On February 13, 1947, Imperial Oil made one of the biggest oil discoveries in the world, bringing in oil at Leduc #1. The town Devon was created to house oilfield workers in the area. The name was chosen for the Devonian Reef formation in which the oil at Leduc #1 was discovered.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
You may have received the poem "The Final Inspection” from someone. It ends,
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell.'
It came to me marked “author unknown". Since it's so easy to search the Internet, I wondered who had written the poem. To my surprise, I wasn't able to find conclusive results.
One source, HMCS Huron Association, credits a Joshua Helterbran and quotes Josh’s wife and mother: “Joshua’s wife states that the poem was originally written for a soldier, as her husband is…with the US Army… Joshua’s mother writes…The Final Inspection was written by my son.” However, HMCSHA is the only source giving Helterbran as the author.
The poem is widely attributed to Peter Alexander Hornbach, with the earliest posting of the poem on a blog being in June 2005. One blog comment said that "Final Inspection" was published at poetry.com and was registered with the Library of Congress. However, searches of poetry.com and of the Library of Congress web site produced no results for either Hornbach or Helterbran nor for the poem under that title.
In many versions, the poem reads “Marine” in place of “soldier”, and there are versions for fire fighters, corrections officers, and police. It seems to be meaningful to any of the uniformed services.
The stanza about overtime argues against a military source (to the best of my knowledge, soldiers don’t draw overtime pay, and several blog comments have expressed surprise at those lines).
This led to further search for that specific stanza, which turned up several versions with a policeman as the subject of the poem. This makes a bit more sense for the overtime. One British version dated 2004, the earliest I found, made some of the other lines (such as not being on the take and the “unmanly tears” – remember the British ‘stiff upper lip’ philosophy) also fall into place. And the internal rhyme of the last line also shows a polish that might or might not argue for this being the original.
Compare the two versions and see what you think.
A POLICEMAN MEETS HIS GOD (also titled "The Forgotten Cop" or "Last Inspection")
The policeman stood and faced his God, which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining just as brightly as his brass.
Step forward now, policeman. How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek? To my church have you been true?
The policeman squared his shoulders and said, No Lord, I guess I ain't,
Because a man who wears a badge can't always be a saint.
I've had to work most Sundays, and at times my talk was rough...
And sometimes I've been violent because the streets are awful tough.
I worked a lot of overtime when the bills got just too steep,
But I never took a penny that wasn't mine to keep.
And I never passed a cry for help, though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God forgive me, I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place among the people here.
They never wanted me around except to calm their fear.
If you've a place for me here, Lord, it needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much. But if you don't...I'll understand.
There was silence all around the throne where the saints had often trod,
As the policeman waited quietly for the judgement [sic] of his God.
"Step forward now, policeman. You've borne your burdens well.
Come walk a beat on heaven's streets. You've done your time in Hell."
(That last line prompted one member of Canada's RCMP to comment, "What? I get to look forward to more of this...after I die? I was hoping for some time off.")
THE FINAL INSPECTION
The Soldier stood and faced/his God,
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.
'Step forward now, Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?'
The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
'No, Lord, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can't always be a saint.
I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny,
That wasn't mine to keep....
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills got just too steep.
And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand.
There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
'Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell.'
~ Author Unknown ~
The poem usually has a codicil added by one or another person who has forwarded the email.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
My wife is a registered nurse (RN) and knows very well the benefits of vaccination. The near eradication of polio and smallpox, the virtual elimination of most childhood diseases, all are wonderful benefits of vaccines.
However, the H1N1 pandemic, hyped by media hysteria, has resulted in the creation of vaccines by new and relatively untested methods that have bypassed the usual checks and authorities. The argument was that this had to be done now, by dammit, before the vile virus has struck.
- When I started looking into the vaccines, I was astonished. A thirty minute search of the Health Canada site produced some particularly disturbing information about the total lack of testing.
- Information from various web sites about how this vaccine bypassed the normal regulatory process is scary too.
- The fact that some drug companies are making a pile of money (out of citizens' pockets, I might add) is no surprise. They're in it for their health, not yours.
- But what is surprising is that many of the same public health officials who are pushing for mass vaccinations are allegedly also getting a cut of the money because they're also on the boards or executive of the drug companies (the usual conflict-of-interest rules have also been bypassed). Okay, that's not so surprising. But it is distressing.
Two hours of review of authoritative web sites (I'm talking Health Canada, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization) has made me even more convinced that this is one flu shot I will miss.
BTW, before you attack me for complaining of media-induced hysteria, consider this:
- Your chance of dying from swine flu is so far about 1 in 1.2 million (5000 reported deaths worldwide, to 6 billion people). This will no doubt rise before the flu season is over.
- Your chance of dying from a car accident in America is about 1 in 7600 (40,000 deaths in 2008, population 304 million) or about 170 times greater than the chance of death by swine flu.
- Your chance of being struck by lightning, says USA Today, is 1 in 700,000. That's about twice as likely as your chance of dying by swine flu.
And which life-threatening event is getting all the media attention, hmm?
Swine Flu Vaccine - Inadequate Testing?
Swine Flu Vaccination - Reasons for Refusing
Swine Flu Vaccine – Why People Refuse the Shot
Flu Prevention – Personal Hygiene Measures
Flu Prevention – Preparatory Measures
Flu Prevention – Social Measures
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
A new version of an old joke hit my inbox today.
- If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
- If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
I don't pretend to be a cook. Still, I can read, and I can follow a recipe.
But even though I followed the original recipe carefully, the dish sure didn't come out like the photo!
I mean, their glaze is a pretty, translucent red.
Mine was a deep, opaque purple!
Tasted good, though.
My wife, who is a terrific cook, suggested that the next time I make this, I should:
- Reduce the amount of glaze (there was far too much)
- Cook the carrots separately and then drizzle the glaze over at serving
- Serve a second vegetable, maybe peas, for color
- Consider "shake 'n' bake' chicken and making the glaze separately, as that was clearly what was done for the Crisco photo.
My wife, the terrific cook, felt that my adaptation of the recipe for two was correctly done, even though it comes out as purple as the Crisco version. She particularly liked that I reduced the salt by 75%. Pomegranate Glazed Chicken for Two
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Although the bottle-cleaning article went up first, that's not normally where we start. One of our sons was visiting and I took advantage of his help to get started on the job.
Usually, we start with the fermentation and do the bottles while the yeast is doing its job.
Wine Making Supplies – Primary Fermentation
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Oct. 22
Pomegranates are "a labor-intensive fruit", but they're tasty.
According to some scholars, what Eve offered Adam was more likely a pomegranate than an apple. This ties to the Greek myth about Persephone in Hades, who nibbled some pomegranate seeds and gave us a few months of winter (we are so grateful that she didn't gobble the whole fruit!)
Check out these pommy articles:
- How to Buy, Store, and Eat a Pomegranate – My #1 article this week.
- Can Pomegranate Membrane Be Eaten? – Read the startling truth!
- Pomegranate Glazed Chicken for Two – A recipe from Criso Canada, cut in half.
This was supposed to be the Oct 22 blog entry but I forgot to click the "publish blog post now" button. :(
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
I put in a six hour day writing and revising code for a report based on a cross-tab query for a client. The usual method of creating a report on a query just didn't work, and constantly generated an error of one sort or another.
After gnashing my teeth on this for a couple of days and trying various fixes from the Internet, I finally found a method that looked like it would work. It was an "aha!" experience. The code example I found was for Access 2002 but adapted readily to Access 2003 my client is using.
Rewriting the code for my purposes, and developing new sections, took a while, but it's such a good feeling when you get it done and it works. I literally danced into the hall, then treated myself to a well-deserved scotch on the rocks (one of the benefits of working from home) and a few chapters of Slam the Big Door by favorite author John D. MacDonald.
Can't for the life of me think how to put this into a suite101 article.
Try this one instead:
Cracked, Michelle Martin Bossley, 2007
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
I'm toying with the idea of writing a novel (isn't almost every writer a closet novelist?)
"Start with the publisher" advised my Winghill tutor, Michael Crawley. As part of my research for that writing class assignment, I was to check out some book publishers and choose samples of their work to read.
Wound up looking most closely at Orca Book Publishers out of British Columbia because
- They're a Canadian outfit
- They accept only Canadian authors (hey, that's me!)
- They focus on publications for youth (I'm thinking of writing a juve or YA)
- They are actively seeking manuscripts
The books I picked up at the library range from okay to excellent. I'd like to think that I can write in that range.
Here are the books I've been reviewing. Check back often as the list expands.
Orca Currents
- Interest level : ages 10-14
- Reading levels from grade 2.0 to grade 4.5
- Age-appropriate themes
- Contemporary, compelling stories
- Short, high-interest novels
Cracked, Michelle Martin Bossley, 2007
Laggan Lard Butts, Eric Walters, 2006
Chat Room, Kristin Butcher, 2006
Dog Walker, Karen Spafford-Fitz, 2006
Orca Soundings
- Interest Level : ages 12+
- Reading levels from grade 2.0 to grade 4.5
- Contemporary, compelling stories
- Short, high-interest novels
Zee's Way, Kristin Butcher, 2004
Trouble with Liberty, Kristin Butcher, 2003
I've also asked the publisher for review copies of some current titles.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Here are my top five articles this week. Check 'em out.
The citation article bobbed to Number One as soon as school started. It won an Editor's Choice, too.
The articles on small travel trailers have been in my top ten ever since they were published. Going small and going green are popular concepts, and the retro teardrop trailers are popular with owners of retro-look vehicles like the PT Cruiser (and with anybody who wants to tow a trailer with an ordinary sedan).
The piece on pomegranates soared from #100 to #3 as soon as the poms hit the stores. Because of its seasonal nature, it will drop to obscurity after the pomegranate season. Oh, while you're thinking of pomegranates, try this one, too:
19. Can Pomegranate Membrane Be Eaten?
Not top ten, but climbing. What? No, I won't tell you the answer here. You'll just have to read the article.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Many RVers renovate or redecorate their rigs to make improvements or to add a more personal touch.
An RVer named Jim has posted some nice photos of his renovation of an Aspenlite 5th wheel, with the final version here.
I had done some work on our RV, replacing a blank panel above the radio/tape unit with a storage space for tissues and long thin items such as waxed paper and stretch wrap. Unfortunately, the photos of that renovation have disappeared except for the (slightly blurry) one below.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Wine making kits are a relatively inexpensive way to lay in a supply of house wines.
Once you have all the wine making supplies, it's an easy enough project that takes only a few weeks. The result is thirty bottles of decent to excellent wine.
Excellent wine from a kit? Indeed. Last year we bought a merlot kit for $80 that produced a wine superior to the winery-produced merlots we bought for comparison, at $15 to $25 a bottle. With all necessary supplies, that wine cost about $5 per bottle, and was well worth the time and effort of making it.
The first step is cleaning our recycled bottles. Here's how to remove the old labels.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
At 15:00 on Wednesday, October 21, the HR manager closed the door to the Information Technology bullpen.
"Gentlemen, I have some bad news for you. The owners have decided to close down the IT department. You will be given severance pay in lieu of notice. Please clear your desks of all personal belongings and leave by the end of the day. You don't need to come in tomorrow. Here are your cheques"
As for the manner of the doing, that was fine. As Lady Macbeth said, "If 'twere done, 'twere best done quickly." What I did find distasteful was that the owners foisted the announcement off onto the HR manager. It can be argued that it's his job, but it is my strong feeling that the people who made this decision should have been the ones who announced it. As my dad said, "The chickenshit bosses hand the hatchet to the foreman and say, 'You do it'."
Whatever. C'est la vie, et c'est un fait accompli.
I had already been discussing early retirement, writing full time or maybe getting a part-time job and writing the rest of the week. There, now, opportunity has not only knocked but has pushed open the door and walked right in.
The severance package gives me several weeks to get up and writing. As an ad for some job web site says, "Your future awaits."
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Some time ago, an email was circulating saying that the ACLU had filed a lawsuit to remove crosses from military headstones. That email proved to be a hoax.
However, I recently read of another ACLU lawsuit that apparently is for real and which may have been the origin of the distorted email hoax.
Sotomayor May Rule On ACLU Lawsuit To Remove “Soldier’s Cross”
I'm inclined to agree with Richard Cochrane on his attitude to the ACLU. It's time the ACLU recognized that Christians have civil rights too.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
My wife and I enjoy dancing and have taken a few ballroom and Latin dance lessons over the years.
That doesn't mean we're quite at the level of Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy (okay, maybe we're more like Chuck Liddell and Cloris Leachman!).
But we believe that our prior training makes us excellent armchair judges for Dancing With The Stars. We do enjoy watching the show and shouting out whenever we recognize one of the steps we know.
"Oh, look, el crechienté!" or "Hey, that was a side basic!"
We also feel that our past lessons have given us excellent judging skills.
"Hmm," I frown, "His timing was definitely off a couple of times."
"Yes," agrees my wife, "and she missed the footwork just after the lift."
We're not entirely blowing smoke; many times the judges will make a similar comment. Ha! We do too know what we're talking about. So there.
While you're waiting for the next episode of Dancing with the Stars, check out these dance-related articles.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
I believe that the most important person in a business is not the CEO or the General Manager but the customer. I also believe that every employee in an organization is a customer service representative.
At any rate, here are a couple of articles on the topic that may be useful.
Types of Complaining Customers – wherein a trio of researchers from the University of Florida identify five types of customers with issues.
Handling Customer Complaints – wherein I give my own take on how to do this, based on a year in a retail business and a couple of years in another job.
This may also be relevant:
What is a Warranty? – which is pretty much self-evident.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Two dog-team writers have showed on my horizon this week.
The first is Terry Lynn Johnson, who is taking a course from Winghill and is on a writers forum I frequent. Terry is a musher and kayaker in Napean, Ontario. I've critiqued her non-fiction dog and kayaking articles (I think she's sold six, so far). This week, she solicited critiques of the first chapter of her juvenile novel about dog-sled racing (working title: Rebecca's Dog Team). The current revision of the first chapter is strong and I expect this book to do well.
Last night at a square dance out in the country (Sandholm, Alberta) I met Linda Fair. Linda is the author of Five Dog Night, the story of her 5000 mile trek across Canada by dog team (a first-ever feat reported in Ripley's Believe it or Not on April 13, 2003). Linda's team of five rescue dogs pulled a heavily-loaded tricycle through what appears to be a series of adventures both heart-breaking and wonderful. So far she has done two volumes (Volume 1: The First Year; Volume 2: The Coasts), with an audio-book coming soon and a coffee-table DVD planned.
Marketing is an issue for both of these authors. In today's literary climate, first-time writers have to learn to be their own publicists. They need to market their work, place their product in bookstores, arrange book signings, set up web sites, advertise, develop a presence on social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook. It's as much work as writing the book – or more!
- Terry is currently looking at acquiring a publisher for her novel and is researching agents. Even so, Terry knows that she'll still have to push the product herself and is working to build a web presence and an article portfolio to add weight to her marketing.
- Linda appears to have gone the self-publishing route through her company Fairberry Press, but I'm darned if I could find out on her web site where to buy her books, how much they cost, or how to order*. It appears that copies need to be ordered individually from the author, but that's nowhere stated on the site. Linda says that she is working to get them into bookstores and campgrounds.
I wish both of these dog-loving ladies success with their books.
*PS on a fourth visit to Linda Fair's site, I found a place to buy the first book for $25 plus $3.95 S/H.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Staging an Olympic Games is a huge endeavor that requires resources in the form of money, equipment, expertise, personnel. Many of those resources come from corporate sponsorship. This series of articles will show you something of how the sponsorship is structured, who the specific sponsors are and what supplies and services they are providing.
They don't do it for charity. In return for their support, these corporations get brand recognition and tremendous advertising exposure at the world's largest sporting event. They also get exclusive rights for supplying products and marketing themselves at the Games.
Overview Articles
- International Partners of 2010 Olympics
- Corporate Sponsors of Vancouver 2010
- Official Suppliers at Vancouver Winter Games
Specific Suppliers and Sponsors
- Samsung Electronics Links World to 2010 Games
- Coke Sponsors 2010 Winter Games
- Acer Laptops at 2010 Olympics
- Canada Post: 2010 Olympic Commemorative Stamps
- Bombardier: Designing and Making the 2010 Olympic Torch
Marketing the Games
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Polar Expressions is a Canadian publisher in British Columbia who runs annual student writing contests for short fiction and poetry.
Entry is free.
Read about the contest here.
There are also free writing contests (fiction and poetry) for adults.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Someone sent me a copy of the wasp spray/pepper spray email. It's down below if you haven't seen it.
For starters, some of the statements about pepper spray are inaccurate in the Canadian context. While it is legal in all 50 states, pepper spray is considered a prohibited weapon in
The pyrethin used in wasp spray is a neurotoxin, and in most jurisdictions using it for anything other than its intended purpose is illegal. The last line of the email, "it's perfectly legal", is misleading. It's perfectly legal to use it on wasps. Keeping it for the deliberate purpose of spraying a person is apt to be viewed in Canada as a premeditated assault with a prohibited weapon.
For a good overall discussion of this particular email, see http://peppereyes.blogspot.com/2009/06/pepper-spray-vs-wasp-spray.html (as pepper spray producers, they have a bias) or http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/waspspray.asp
WASP SPRAY
You no longer need to keep your .45 or AK-47 sitting out on the coffee table... a can of wasp spray will do! Never would have thought it!!!
I have a friend who is a receptionist in a church in a high risk area who was concerned about someone coming into the office on Monday to rob them when they were counting the collection.
She asked the local police department about using pepper spray and they recommended to her that she get a can of wasp spray instead. The wasp spray, they told her, can shoot up to twenty feet away and is a lot more accurate, while with the pepper spray they have to get too close to you and could overpower you. The wasp spray temporarily blinds anattacker until they get to the hospital for an antidote.
You could also keep it in your car and it's perfectly legal.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Holiday is coming to a close. Have had a lot of problems with internet. We stayed with friends on Vancouver Island and with our son in Vancouver; both had wi-fi but neither knew their access code. Installer hooked them up and that was that.
Finally a stop at a nice motel in Barrier with unsecured wi-fi. At least it works. Posted an article about our hike on the Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet on Vancouver Island last week. First of 14 in a contest.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Maybe you've received an email that makes claims about the origin of various expressions. Some versions are titled "Life in the 1500s" The one I received contained a couple of dozen sayings, among them:
- "piss poor"
- June brides, and the reason for bridal bouquets
- "dirt poor"
- "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater"
- "raining cats and dogs"
The email concluded, "And that's the truth...Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! ! So .. . . get out there and educate someone!"
Okay, I will: Most of the contents of that email are nonsense .
It's like the game "Jabberwocky" where players make up a meaning for an obscure word and try to convince other players that it's real.
Check snopes.com for a well-researched and sourced review of this particular bit of garbage.
Educate someone - YOURSELF - by learning to check the nonsense out before you forward it.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Alpine Meadows Lodge is on the west bank of the Columbia, about five kilometers from Golden, British Columbia as the road goes, but only a few hundred meters above the Columbia as the cliff tumbles.
The facility is on a 150 acre site with the promised views across the town of Golden, the Columbia and Kicking Horse rivers and their confluence a few kilometers north, and the mountains across the valleys.
The lodge has 10 large rooms with Jacuzzi bathtubs, plus an eleventh family room on the top floor. Our room was neat, clean, and well-decorated. There is also a four-bedroom chalet down the hill, which during our stay seemed to have several couples and a pack of friendly, playful dogs.
At least four marked, well-cleared trails leave the lodge. The Columbia trail heads down the hill to that river and ends in a meadow where a canoe (available to guests) rests among the flowers. Other trails disappear into the forest. So many trails, so little time....
Host Maria Graham (husband Irv made a brief appearance) welcomed us, and during the tour tried to explain the difference between her native Castillan Spanish and American/Mexican Spanish. The former has "harder consonants". Maria gave the example of the difference between "vero" (but) and "verro" (dog). The former sounds more in the back of the throat than the English "r" sound, while the double "r" is rolled slightly.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
La Pisana opened up a few weeks ago in Leduc Common, at the far end across from the Canadian Western Bank. It's low-key and unpretentious from the outside.
Inside, there are warm colors, soft jazz, and what appears to be some original artwork on the walls. The menu is Italian with the usual pastas. The food was good on both occasions we've been there (although the second time my fish and scalloped potatoes (I won't even try to repeat the Italian names) could have been a little hotter. Certainly it was tasty and artistically served. And we were impressed when the new owner came over on both visits to chat with us (and on our second visit, remembered us from three weeks before).
Owners Terry and Sherry Sept are new to the restaurant business but are working to provide something more of higher-end dining in Leduc (once a bedroom community to nearby Edmonton, but now a growing city with the second-largest recreation complex in the province).
We're looking forward to going on a weekend, when Terry brings in live music.
We wish the Septs all success with their new venture.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Here's an abridged version of an email going around.
PS - I wrote an update on this email
This is awful[.] I think they should [let] the troops and there [sic] families rest in peace[.]
Did you know that the ACLU has filed a suit to have all military cross-shaped headstones removed and another suit to end prayer from the military completely. They're making great progress. The Navy Chaplains can no longer mention Jesus' name in prayer thanks to the retched [sic] ACLU and our new [Obama] administration.
Here’s an analysis from the Urban Legends page at about.com, with sources that readers can actually check, if they care to.
Analysis: This message repeats falsehoods contained or implied in previous forwarded emails, plus adds a new one to the mix. Let's take them one by one:
Has the ACLU filed a lawsuit to remove all crosses from military gravesites?
No. As I noted in my coverage of a 2003-vintage rumor alleging the same thing, the ACLU's official position is actually the opposite: The ACLU has long argued that veterans and their families should be free to choose religious symbols on military headstones — whether Crosses, Stars of David, Pentacles, or other symbols — and that the government should not be permitted to restrict such religious expression in federal cemeteries. Source: ACLU website
Has the ACLU filed a lawsuit to 'end prayer from the military completely'?
No, as affirmed in this quote from Deborah A. Jeon, Legal Director for the ACLU of Maryland: Members of the military have a right to pray or not pray as they personally see fit, and that right is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. It is one of the fundamental rights they put their lives on the line to defend in service to their country. Source: ACLU press release, June 25, 2008
Is it true that Navy chaplains can no longer mention Jesus' name in prayer due to actions of the ACLU and/or the Obama administration?
No. No such prohibition has been proposed or enacted. Confusion on this issue may be linked to a stand the ACLU has taken against compulsory prayer in the military, or to a 2005 incident in which Navy chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt claimed he was being censored by his superiors "because I pray in Jesus' name." Klingenschmitt ran afoul of Navy rules requiring that prayers delivered in settings other than religious ceremonies (namely secular public events) be non-denomenational.
Sources: ACLU press release, June 25, 2008 | Stars and Stripes, Dec. 22, 2005
The email goes on with a prayer request:
Prayer chain for our Military... Don't break it! Please send this on after a short prayer. Prayer for our soldiers Don't break it! Prayer: 'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands Protect them as they protect us Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.'
Prayer Request: When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops around the world.
There is nothing attached. Just send this to people in your address book. Do not let it stop with you. Of all the gifts you could give a Marine, Soldier, Sailor, Airman, & others deployed in harm's way, prayer is the very best one.
GOD BLESS YOU FOR PASSING IT ON!
Now if you do want to pray for soldiers – yours, ours, and theirs – by all means do. But God bless you for not passing the falsehoods on. “And the truth shall set you free!”
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
My story titled "Strange Waters" has been short listed in the top 200 (of approximately 600 entries, according to the contest organizers, who claim to have picked the top third of the submissions).
Polar Expressions is based in Maple Ridge, British Columbia and is run by Rachelle McCallum. The company started in 2006 as a takeoff from a similar venture (there were some legal issues between the two, but that page has since been removed from their web site so I guess it's all settled). The main focus is on student writing, with fiction and poetry contests for primary and secondary students and some $10,000 in prizes given to schools and student writers.
In 2008, they began contests for adults and older students, open to Canadians only. Prizes are offered for poetry and fiction under 500 words. They choose 200 finalists (between 25% and 45% of entries, depending on submissions received) and award three prizes and ten honorable mentions. I was one of the finalists in that first contest (Gray, Thomas Alan. "One Day Winner." Frontier. Ed. Rachelle McCallum. Maple Ridge, BC: Polar Expressions Publishing, 2008.)
Entry is free and this is a legitimate contest. But they make their money selling the books to the writers (Hey, I was thrilled to have my little piece in a book! I bought four copies at $25 each.) so it's basically a form of vanity publishing.
It's my estimation that the quality of writing was good-to-low in the first book. If these are the winners, I'd hate to see the rejects. But after studying last year's top entries, I put in a better effort this year, and I expect to see a stronger field overall.
Looking forward to receiving my copy (only one this year at $29.95) of the book.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Naw, it's too soon to winterize. We should have another few weeks of nice Indian Summer, so it can't be time to winterize the trailer just yet.
However, I'll be
- picking up some RV antifreeze to have on hand.
- making sure the propane tanks are full for fall camping.
For those who prefer to have their local service center do the job, it might be time to make an appointment for sometime in the next few weeks, depending on your climate.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Because of the million dollar homes being threatened and destroyed, and because of their proximity to heavily-populated LA, these fires are even making the news in Canada.
"At least 1700 firefighters were battling fires in Portuguese Bend on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, in Hemet, just north of La Cañada Flintridge and above Azusa. In each case, the fires were fueled by dense, dry vegetation and record high temperatures" says a story By Seema Mehta and Robert J. Lopez in the LA Times, August 28, 2009. Based on news reports, some 10,000 acres have burned.
Further north up the coast, British Columbia has its own share of forest fires, with at least 120,000 acres ravaged during August. According to a UPI report filed August 24, cooler temperatures and lighter winds have slowed the spread of these fires, but many continue out of control.
For all the fire fighters and those whose homes are endangered, we offer our prayers and sympathy. The advent of cooler temperatures and winter weather will be a welcome relief.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
According to urban legends site snopes.com, this has been floating around since mid-August of 2009.
“PRAYERS NEEDED for 12yr old Avi Ben Stella who, after a serious car crash, is now in a critical coma. Pls. change your status for 1 hr so more people can become aware and add to the prayers. We would do it for your son, pls. do this for somebody else's son.”
Where earlier "poor kid" hoaxes have circulated largely by email, the Avi ben Stella apparently made a big splash on social network sites such as Twitter and Facebook. 'Avi Ben Stella" was one of the most-searched terms on google for the first half of August, but by today it has disappeared from the top 100.
Examiner.com reports that threads on the name Avi Ben Stella eventually lead, via a New York Post story on the death of 12 year old Avi Amenov, to "a page which tries to load malware on your computer. This seems like the most likely explanation of the story's origin."
Snopes identifies the Avi ben Stella story as a hoax, along with a clone using the name Hayden Wybron.
Moral of the story: Don't believe most of what you find spamming your in-box, and distrust Twitter. Check with reliable sources. Don't forward the crap.
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I was playing with copyscape last night, and was perversely pleased to find one of my articles about Not-so-Useless Inventions pasted into a forum post in a yahoo answers thread. Other suite101 writers have been reporting widespread plagiarism, so I was starting to feel rejected, as though my material weren't worth stealing.
So I sent off a complaint to yahoo, posted an appropriate comment, and wondered what would happen. The offending post was deleted within 12 hours.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
The Garbage Truck Philosophy
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.
My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches!
The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked,'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you.
Don't take it personally.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.
Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so -
* Love the people who treat you right.
* Pray for the ones who don't.
Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!
Have a blessed, garbage-free day!
* * * * *
More articles on simple living:
Teardrop Travel Trailers Pros & Cons
Natural Tinder for Starting Campfires
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
A perfect storm is a confluence of trends which all peak at the same time. Sounds a lot less exciting than it is.
Here are the trends which are confluencing (is that a word?) in my life right now.
- My wife is retiring this fall.
- According to the plan, it's time to sell the house and downsize
- This means shopping for a new house and talking to banks about a pre-arranged mortgage.
- My car is getting to the point of no return
- So we're debating whether to get a new SUV or a pickup truck to replace it, which means shopping for vehicles
- We've also been thinking of trading our little trailer in for a motorhome, or a fifth-wheel, or a something, so we've been looking at those.
The result, of course, is that we've spent the summer looking and debating and considering and avoiding decisions. We still have the old car, the old house, the old trailer. We don't know what we want.
Of course, in five weeks Wifey won't have the old job. Can't dodge that one.
Since we're past middle age, we can't consider this a mid-life crisis. Call it a three-quarter-life crisis.
* * *
I got busy last week and did up a bunch of articles. Check out
Coke Sponsors Vancouver 2010 Olympics
Mountain View RV Park Near Calgary (you can tell I didn't like it, but I tried to be fair)
Acer Laptops at 2010 Winter Olympics
Rent, Lease or By a Laptop Computer?
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
The original Ruger Blackhawk single-action .44 six-shot revolver was introduced in 1956. (A single-action revolver requires the hammer to be cocked for firing, and half-cocked for loading or unloading). Such a revolver required an empty chamber under the hammer to prevent accidental firing from impact such as the gun being dropped or struck sharply.
In 1973 Ruger introduced the New Model Blackhawk, which did not require the hammer to be half-cocked. A new transfer-bar mechanism prevented the cartridge under the hammer from being fired on impact, though an empty chamber is still recommended for greatest safety.
A later variant, the Super Blackhawk, had a heavier steel frame machined for a scope.
The Ruger 50th Anniversary New Model Super Blackhawk
"The 50th Anniversary New Model Super Blackhawk commemorates this legendary revolver with special ornamentation and finish," said Ruger in a media release dated Jan. 15, 2009. This special 50th commemorative New Model Super Blackhawk will only be produced in limited quantities during 2009, which is coincidentally the 60th anniversary of Sturm, Ruger & Co. itself.
The anniversary gun features
- Ruger single-action alloy steel frame
- Precision click adjustable rear sight
- An unfluted cylinder
- Checkered wood grips.
Specifications for the 50th Anniversary New Model Super Blackhawk are
- Caliber: .44 Magnum
- Capacity: 6 rounds
- Finish: High-gloss Blued
- Grip: Cocobola
- Barrel length: 7.5"
- Groove: 6
- Twist: 13.5"
- Front Sight: Ramp
- Rear Sight: Adjustable
- 7-1/2” barrel
Special decorative features for the commemorative weapon include
- two gold bands incised on the cylinder
- a high gloss blue finish
- gold trim lettering “50th Anniversary Super Blackhawk – 2009”
- special red commemorative case
"The 50th Anniversary New Model Super Blackhawk has benefited from 50 years of continuous refinements, including a unique reverse-indexing pawl for easy loading and unloading and Ruger’s patented transfer bar and loading gate mechanisms that give an unprecedented measure of security and convenience," claims the release. This is nothing new, but is a feature of the original New Model Blackhawk.
About Sturm, Ruger & Co.
Sturm, Ruger was founded in 1949 and is one of the nation's leading manufacturers of high-quality firearms for sporting and law-enforcement markets, with headquarters in Southport, CT, and plants located in Newport, New Hampshire and Prescott, Arizona.
Ruger offers products in all four industry product categories:
- Ruger rifles in single, bolt, and semiauto configurations in various calibers
- Ruger shotguns in both over/under and side/side configurations in various gauges
- Ruger pistols in a wide range of styles and calibers
- Ruger revolvers in single and double action styles for various calibers.
Ruger firearms are sold through a select number of independent wholesale distributors, principally to the commercial sporting market and to law enforcement agencies.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
We stopped by Moroccan Cuisine tonight, just to try something new, in response to a flier offering a 20% discount.
We were the only customers at 6:30, which should be getting into the peak dinner hour. An ominous sign, I thought.
To start, Said (sa-yeed), our host, welcomed us with traditional Moroccan tea, poured at the table into small pretty glasses. The tea was hot and incredibly sweet, with a hint of mint. Refreshing, once you get used to it. "Back home," explained Said, "we don't drink like Coke and cold drinks, only tea. Tea with breakfast, tea with dinner. Even when it is very hot, we drink tea, and it is refreshing."
Said brought a basket of flat bread, like pita or nan bread (I forgot to ask him what it was called) and left us for the meal.
We started the buffet with a colorful salad of black olives, red onions, green sweet peppers, and cherry tomatoes with feta cheese. Very similar to a Greek salad. Then on to harira (soup), a thick potage of lentils, chickpeas, and short noodles. It was a bit spicy, but quite tasty and my favorite part of the meal.
The buffet itself consisted of
- Plain and Saffron Rice
- Casablanca Beef – Stewed beef in a fairly bland gravy
- Essaouira Salmon – Said explained that "essaouira" is the style of cooking, stuffing the fish with fine noodles then baking it with tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and carrots. My wife said it was good; I passed.
- Mnoukhia –A dish of okra and white onions in a sauce.
- Marka – Potatoes and cauliflower cooked in a strong sauce. I happened to get a fruit with a very strong taste. It was not unpleasant or bitter, but powerful, and I ate it in very small bites. More later.
- Zaalouk – Stewed eggplants.
Much of this was a little spicy, and my wife especially enjoyed having the bread to dampen the spice.
We finished off with dessert and another glass of sweet tea.
- Fakkass - Like biscotti but with almonds, and toasted
- Chabakia - Twisted pastry with honey and sesame seeds. Said told us that this is a popular treat after a day's fast during Ramadan. I can see why. Delicious.
- Melons – honeydew and cantaloupe that to our taste was overripe.
During dinner, we listened to Arabic music (which I enjoyed) and admired the decore and fancy rugs. Wish I'd had the camera, or my cell phone, to take a photo. May go back later just for that.After our dinner, Said brought out his shy young wife, Aisha. Aisha was in the restaurant business in Morocco, and is the cook. Said has been in Canada for 15 years, Aisha for only five. She said that she knew little English but that French was a second language in Morocco, so we chatted a bit en francais. At least that explained what I thought was the slight irony of "Moroccan Cuisine"...
"What was that fruit in with the potatoes and cauliflowers?" I asked. Said and Aisha conferred for a moment.
"She says it was a cinnamon. It was for flavor. You were not supposed to eat it."
Oh. Well, it was there, and it was in the spoon when I scooped up some potatoes. Didn't taste like cinnamon, but boy was it strong!
Total tab, after discount and without tip: $25.
Overall impression? Not something I'd want to do on a regular basis. Good food, nice folks, interesting experience.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Sooner or later, everybody winds up doing little modifications to their unit. Little things that add to comfort or convenience.
We have an older (1999) 16' hybrid trailer, and I had noticed some unused space above and behind the radio/cassette player. For three years I've planned to do something useful with that space, like use it to store facial tissues. Llast weekend I decided that the time had come (I don't like to rush into these things, you see).
So, I punched out the little wood panel (which was unfortunately too badly damaged to re-use for this project. The manufacture sure glued and stapled the sucker.) My wife had bought a box of tissues to fit. There was some room on the side for long skinny stuff like boxes of waxed paper and cling wrap.
I had a piece of acrylic from another project. Holes in the corners and some jigsaw work to connect the dots gave me the faceplate to hold the kleenex and boxes in. Some little plastic mirror mounts provided retainers to hold the plate in place. It worked out quite well, I thought.
Some leftover luan (left over from replacing a water-damaged inside panel on a fold-out bed, which I neglected to photograph) provided a little shelf above the radio. I had to remove one side panel in the cupboard to expose the radio and insert the shelf. A couple of brackets on the sides gave necessary support.
It all went together rather well, and what was unused and "wasted" space above the radio is now a handy tissue dispenser and useful storage.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Every summer, square dancers gather at campouts. These generally take place at a country hall where dancers camp in trailers and motor homes to spend a weekend enjoying dancing, games, and socializing. Although I've been to several on my own, last weekend my wife and I attended our first campout together. It was at Wilton Park Hall, west of Calmar AB, hosted by Wirlaways, an Edmonton club.
Modern western square dance has been popular since the forties, so campouts are part of a long-standing tradition. The campout generally follows a standard pattern:
Friday
- Arrival and registration
- A trail-in dance, where people can join in as they arrive and finish setting up. Clothing is usually casual at this dance.
- Campfire - often games and a singalong
Saturday
- Free time
- A game in the morning (this campout featured a version of horseshoes called Washoos)
- A workshop or another game in the afternoon (we played cribbage)
- A pot-luck supper
- The main dance, in square dance garb (fancy western wear). This dance draws many dancers who come just for the dinner and dance but do not camp for the weekend)
- A campfire, often with skits and songs
Sunday
- A communal breakfast provided by the host club
- A casual trail-out dance
- Cleanup and departure
Square dancing is facing the same fate as other social activities such as bowling and curling leagues. Younger adults, heavily into rock and body art and electronic entertainment, no longer join social clubs and activities. Young people are still joining, but not in numbers sufficient to swell the ranks. Aging members and declining numbers mean that the pastime of square dancing is gradually fading into history.
Too bad. It's a lot of fun, and dancers walk several miles during a dance so it's good exercise too. If you have a chance to drop in at a square dance campout, take the opportunity. Meet the folks, watch the fun.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
I'm still having fun poking at this suggestion. The author suggests that the money would come back to the government in various ways, and it would certainly help certain sectors of the economy. Two questions:
- Would this suggestion really be good for the 50+ Canadian?
- Would it really be good for the country? (Remember, it increases the national debt from $475 billion to $12 trillion!)
Is it Good for the Citizen?
Let's look at a 50 year old male who does not own a home receiving $1 million under this program.
- The highest Canadian tax rate is 29%. After 29% gross tax, our guy's got $710 000 left
- Buy a house at the average Canadian price of $274,000 plus GST leaves him $422 000 (he's glad he doesn't live in Vancouver, where the average house is $536,000!).
Note that the suggestion is that each person over 50 has to do this, so he and his wife now each own a house. Can't combine checks, here!
- Buy a new car for oh, let's say $35,000 which leaves 386,000.
- Kids to college - say 2 x $50,000 student loans. Want GST with that? That'll reduce his holdings to $281 000.
- $50/week for alcohol/tobacco/petrol is only $2600/yr, plus GST, or some $44,000 over his expected lifespan (to age 82). He's left with $235,000.
- Now, property tax on that new house is maybe $2500 a year; over 32 years, that's only $80,000 (assuming taxes don't go up, and you know how likely THAT is!) leaving him $151,000 to survive to 82.
- So, $152,000 divided by 32 = Oh,dear. Our senior has a whopping $4750 per year to live on for the rest of his life. Hey, that's less than $400/month. Double that if he's married.
Does the suggestion start to look more than just a little stupid? Is it Good for the Country?
The suggestion claims that the money will come back through taxes. Really? Will the money come back to the government to retire that $12 Trillion debt incurred by the suggestion? We know that tax collectors and bureaucrats need to be paid - probably be cheaper to give out 1/2 mil checks tax free, but what the heck... Let's assume that every cent of any and all taxes goes to retire the debt.
- Income tax would take a chunk of it right off the top. 29% of $1 million times 12 million is $3.48 trillion, and the debt's down to $8.52 trillion. Good, good.
- The GST on 12 million houses comes to $16 billion and the debt's down to $8.356 trillion.
- The GST on all those new cars is $21 billion, bringing the debt down to $8.335 (a few billion is a drop in the bucket against a trillion)
- The GST on 12 million student loans of $100 000 each comes to $60 billion. The debt's down to $8.275 trillion (and you thought a billion dollars was a lot of money, didn't you? It's .001 of a trillion.)
- Assume that 50% of that value for booze and tobacco and gasoline, plus GST, goes to the feds and the debt is down to $7.5 trillion.
- The feds don't get a share of property tax; that's municipal. No reduction on the debt there, though the cities are no doubt happy.
- The debt sits at roughly 7.5 trillion, or about fifteen times what it was before the suggestion was implemented, PLUS 32 YEARS OF ACCRUED INTEREST.
So, who's gained anything? Our 50 year old was forced out of a good job, forced to buy a new home he didn't want and a new car he didn't need, and winds up on a subsistence level for 32 years. Does he still get medicare, Canada Pension, and Old Age Security? Probably not because instead of being a mere half-trillion in debt, the country's in hock for 7.5 trillion plus interest.
Yup, brilliant suggestion!
Obviously, this is a worst-case scenario; you could pay off a $60,000 mortgage and wind up with maybe $6000 a year for food (you work it out). With a good annuity, you could increase that a little more. If a husband and wife team could combine their millions they'd come out okay, but that's not how the suggestion was worded.
People will read that stupid thing, smile and say "Damn good idea!" and not bother to think through the consequences. And they all have computers and email....
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Subject: AN OPEN LETTER TO MR. HARPER
Dear Prime Minister Harper,
Please find below my suggestion for fixing Canada 's economy.
Instead of giving billions of dollars to banks and car companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan:
There are about 20 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:
1) They MUST retire. Twenty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new Canadian CAR. Twenty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed.
4) They must send their kids to school / college /university - Crime rate fixed
5) Buy $50 of alcohol / tobacco / petrol a week... there's your money back in duty / tax etc
It can't get any easier than that!
P.S. If more money is needed, have all members of parliament pay back their falsely claimed expenses and second home allowances.
If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know. If not, please disregard
Now, at first glance this may make sense and seem like a great idea – especially if you're over 50 and would receive the $1mil under this proposal! For now, let's ignore the questions of whether there is any such thing as a "Canadian car" and who in Canada calls gasoline "petrol". Let's look a the math.
First, is that 20 million figure even correct? Probably not. StatsCan's high-growth projection for 2011 gives roughly 12 million people 50 and over. That figure includes the 50 year-olds, instead of excluding them as the suggestion does, but that's okay. So knowing that 12 million is a little high, it's still more accurate than the 20 million in the "suggestion".
Twelve million Canadians at $1 million apiece is $12 TRILLION dollars.
12 000 000 x 1 000 000 = 12 000 000 000 000
According to Debtclock.ca, Canada's current national debt is less than $475 billion (just under half a trillion) at the time I write this. That's already an atrocious figure, but this "suggestion" would make our national debt about 24 times bigger. Yikes!
The Canadian stimulus package in the budget for 2009 is only $12 billion, a thousandth of this proposal.
So: A suggestion to spend 12 trillion dollars and make our debt 24 times bigger. Doesn't look too good.
Forward this if you like but don't believe it for a second. It's based on weak statistics, bad math and worse thinking.
Sources:
Canada's National debt: http://www.debtclock.ca (now THAT's scary!)
People under 50 in Canada: http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/demo08a-eng.htm
Canadian 2009 stimulus budget: http://geospatial.blogs.com/geospatial/2009/03/canadian-stimulus-package-in-budget-2009.html
Canadian house prices: http://www.byebyeblighty.com/1/canadian-average-house-price-reaches-record-high/ and http://www.livingin-canada.com/house-prices-canada.html
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Elise Cerny of Shaw TV in Edmonton is sheduled to come with a camera person next Monday evening. I get to pretend to do a campaign call on a neighbor.
Camera shyness will not be a problem; I had a stint on live TV years back doing "Homework Hotline".
Here's one of my favorite stories - and one of my most embarrassing moments - from that period.
We started every show session by going in for makeup, necessary so that we didn't look washed-out in the studio lights. As a guy, I found that a bit freaky at first, but after a few weeks got used to it.
After one show, I stopped in a supermarket to do some shopping . A pretty young man began following me surreptitiously around the store, smiling and obviously flirting. I'm straight, and ignored him, but wondered why on earth he was interested.
He followed me into the checkout line, and I thought that if he followed me into the parking lot I would have to confront him. The disgusted look on the cashier's face suddenly clued me in: I I had left the studio in a rush and was still wearing the heavy pancake makeup!
I hastily babbled an explanation, borrowed some tissues from the cashier to wipe up with, and apologized to the fellow behind me for accidentally leading him on. We all had a good laugh over the incident.
But under the makeup, my face was red!
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
I've canvassed for the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada (Alberta, NWT, & Nunavut) for the past two years, and this year volunteered as a district captain (supervising a group of volunteer canvassers).
The campaign serves three purposes:
- To collect funds for medical research to improve treatment, survival rates, and recovery
- To increase awareness of the issues, signs, and symptoms of heart and stroke problems
- To promote healthy living as a method of reducing risk
There is a personal reason for my involvement: eight years ago, my father had a heart attack followed by a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. Heart trouble runs in my family. This campaign means a great deal to me because of those things.
One couple on my route had a daughter who died of a stroke in March, 2008. She was 38 and left behind a husband and two children. When I called on the parents last June, it was a difficult time, but they welcomed my visit and urged me to tell everyone I spoke to about the symptoms of stroke and of the benefits of research into better treatment for helping stroke recovery.
So here are the symptoms. If you experience sudden onset of these things, call 911 or your local emergency number immediately, or get help from someone nearby.
- Weakness
- Dizziness
- Headache
- Trouble speaking
- Vision problems
There are lifestyle and familial factors that may increase your risk of having a stroke. Take the H&SF test to see if you are at higher risk. It will be ten minutes well-spent.
The Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, and its equivalent in your country, needs volunteers. It's a good chance to get around your own neighborhood and chat with the neighbors. It normally takes only a few hours (depending on how much you chat!) and I can complete my route in two evenings or one Saturday morning, with another evening for call-backs.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
The 2010 Winter Olympic Games will be a wonderful event. We could afford to go, I guess, but we decided we didn't want to go badly enough to spend the money.
Then the opportunity came up to spend three days in the lap of luxury in Vancouver harbor on a cruise ship. Wining, dining, watching the Olympics on a big TV (a sort of floating sports bar), enjoying all the fun of a cruise, for a three day Olympic Games party. Our cynical son points out that we could buy a huge TV, buy a bunch of liquor, have the party catered, invite all our friends (including cynical son and his wife, no doubt!), and do the same thing at home for a fraction of the cost. Actually, that sounds like fun, too - and we'd still have the big TV.
Meanwhile, I've started writing about the Olympics.
Comments are welcome for those articles - but remember, Suite101 does not accept links in the comments.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
This has nothing to do with RVs, but it's kind of funny.
Yesterday's mail brought us a letter from "The New Television Previews" containing four tickets and an invitation to attend a preview of previously unreleased TV materials.
YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN A SURVEY WHOSE FINDINGS WILL DIRECTLY INFLUENCE WHAT YOU SEE ON TELEVISION IN THE FUTURE.
YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO EVALUATE NOT-YET RELEASE TELEVISION MATERIAL THAT IS BEING CONSIDERED FOR NATIONWIDE BROADCAST.
Oh, my. We've been selected. How exciting! But wait. Say what? Not TV pilots, not new shows, but "not-yet-released television material." Why the vague language?
YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO HELP REPRESENT TELEVISION VIEWING PREFERENCES OF THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.
Now, doesn't that sound exciting and important? This was followed by a bunch of comments from people who absolutely loved the experience and simply just can't wait to do it again. Another notch up on the suspect-a-scam meter.
"I wonder what that's all about?" wondered my wife.
"I expect that they want a captive audience so they can sell something. Timeshares, maybe?"
"Oh, no, not another one! Pitch it!"
But I was curious, and didn't throw out the tickets or letter right away. I couldn't wait to get on Google and find out what they're selling.
The answer: Commercials.
Seems that they've been running this same gig since around 1970, using old withdrawn TV shows or pilots that were pulled because they were so bad the networks wouldn't run them. This outfit sucks in a couple of hundred people each night and uses them as a free focus group to test commercials.
The best explanation is in Zach Dubinsky's Now On article from September 2000 (Vol 20, No. 1)
I pitched the tickets.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Our friends Peter & Juliette shopped for quite a while for just the right fifth-wheel. "I didn't want one with slides," Peter mentioned.
Why not?
- "They're heavy, the extra weight can use a lot of gas."
- "I hear that they leak."
- "It's just something else to break down or go wrong."
So I did some research on the matter, and read some notes by RV technicians.
The result are in the article RV Slides – Pros & Cons.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
A significant proportion of Americans – and people worldwide – suffer from AAADD (or A.A.A.D.D.).
Please review the signs and symptoms below to determine if you have this disorder.
Even though you may have it, you'll feel better knowing that you are not alone in your suffering.
Signs and Symptoms of AAADD
You decide to water the garden. As you turn on the hose in the driveway, you look over at the garage and decide the car needs washing. You put down the hose for a moment and go to move the car onto the driveway.
As you start toward the garage, you notice the mail on the porch table that you brought in from the mail box earlier. You decide to go through the mail before washing the car.
You lay your car keys on the table, but as you go to put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, you notice that the can is full. So, you decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.
But then you think, "I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage, so I may as well pay the bills first." You take the check book off the table, and notice that there is only one check left.
The extra checks are in the desk in the study, so you go inside the house to the desk where you find the cup of coffee you'd been drinking. The coffee is getting cold, and you decide to nuke it in the microwave.
As you head toward the kitchen with the coffee, a vase of flowers on the counter catches your eye--they need water.
You put the coffee on the counter and discover the reading glasses that you've been searching for all morning. You decide you'd better put them back on the desk, right after you water the flowers.
You set the glasses back down on the counter, go to the sink and fill a container with water. As you turn back to the flowers, you spot the TV remote on the kitchen table.
You realize that tonight when you go to watch TV you'll be looking for the remote, but you won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so you decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first you'll water the flowers.
As you walk to the vase, you spill water on the floor. So, you put the water down by the vase, go back to the sink, get some paper towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, you head down the hall trying to remember what you were planning to do. Oh, right, put the paper towels in the garbage under the porch table....
Consequences of AAADD
At the end of the day:
- The garden wasn't watered
- The car wasn't washed, but the driveway and street were
- The bills weren't paid
- There is a cup of cold coffee sitting on the counter
- The flowers are wilted (with a pitcher of water sitting by the vase)
- There is still only one check in the check book
- You can't find the remote
- You can't find your reading glasses
- You can't find the car keys
You're baffled. You were busy all day, and you're really tired, but it seems that absolutely nothing got done, and you can't understand why..
Coping With AAADD
You realize this is a serious problem, and you resolve to get some help for it, right after you check your e-mail and read today's top articles on Suite101, which you'll do as soon as you find your glasses. And turn off the hose.
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, the day is coming when you too may have AAADD:
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Saturday was gorgeous so that afternoon I headed out to the cabin. Goals included digging up a garden spot for my wife and doing some repair work on the trailer.
Neither job was entirely finished when the storm hit on Sunday. As the clouds approached, I threw a tarp over the trailer and tipped the wheelbarrow over the rototiller and scooted into the cabin where I watched the wind and rain for a while before going to work on the plumbing and researching future articles.
What, you think I go to the cabin to relax? :)
Between storm fronts I drove to town for supplies and stopped to check out a few fifth wheels for sale parked along the highway.
- 1997, 24', no slide, good condition, $10,500 obo;
- 2001, 25', no slide, like new inside, some damage outside, $15,000 obo;
- 1999, 24', 8' slide, good condition in and out, $8850 obo.
Hmm....
Woke up Monday morning to about 10 cm of fluffy wet snow. Dog thought it was wonderful.
Only managed to get one of the articles online: RV Appliances Spring Checkup. Hope to do more but this is a busy week.
Happy 88th Birthday, Dad!
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
A hot tub is a good way to relax, but people tell me that shopping for a hot tub can be stressful. In part, that is because the hot tub industry unfortunately still has sales reps who use methods beloved of used car salesmen: hype the product, tell the customers whatever they want to hear, and trash the competition.
I offer some tips to help out in How to Buy a Hot Tub.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
It seems odd to be praising a site that's kind of in competition with Suite101's RV Recreation section, but dang it, Slessor's done a good job!
The site is easy to navigate, has a pleasing appearance, contains useful information, and is interesting to read.
It appears to be fairly new, and as a result is a bit spotty (especially outside the Edmonton area), but no doubt as the Slessor family goes out camping during the coming summer, more camp reviews will be added.
But wait! Before you go check out www.campsitereviews.ca, stay for a while longer and check out some of Suite101's western Canada campground articles:
Favorite Provincial Parks in Alberta
Favorite RV Lake Destinations in Western Canada
Favorite Provincial Parks in British Columbia
Lions Club Campgrounds in Alberta
Which reminds me - if you have a favorite place to park your RV, I'd like to hear about it. Just email campingrving@suite101.com
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
These recipes have not all been specifically tested for RV cooking, but they're all tried and tasty.
Moroccan-Style Beef Brochettes
Lean Beef Recipe – Beef Thai Salad
Asian Beef Bites with Speedy Slaw
Empañadas de Picadillo (requires an oven of some sort)
How to Buy, Store, and Eat a Pomegranate (not a recipe, but helpful information)
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
I've always been fascinated by tents, especially light-weight tents. The fact that a few aluminum or fiberglass poles and some bits of fabric can produce a strong, weatherproof shelter amazes me.
So I've also been amazed at the ingenuity involved in small, lightweight folding trailers for motorcycle towing. These pipsqueak pop-ups can produce pretty comfortable quarters in a remarkably short time.
I'm also a robotics hobbyist and lover of gadgets, so when I had the opportunity to correspond with the inventor of the Scarab RV automated pop-up motorcycle trailer, I just had to do a review of the prototype.
That doesn't mean that other, existing trailers are any less suitable. There are a lot of good units out there - among them LeesureLite in Canada, Roadman, Little Guy, Mini Mate, and Jumping Jack in the States, and many more.
Over the course of the summer, I'll watch for these units on the road, and I'll be doing some comparison reporting in the future.
UPDATE:
Light-weight pop-up trailers for motorcycles and compact cars
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
"It is with extreme emotion and intense relief that we are able to announce that Julie has now been released, held in safety, with protection until her return to Drayton Valley," relatives of Julie Mulligan said in a statement.
Although early reports had some confusion as to just who was looking after her - Nigerian police or Canadian consular staff - it is clear that she is safe and will be on her way home soon.
"Mulligan, 45, is a member of Rotary International who went to the West African country on April 15 with four others on a group study exchange program when she was taken hostage" on April 16, says a story by Canadian Press issued today.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Thinking of buying an RV on eBay or one of the other auction or sales sites?
Here's a story, taken from the RV discussion pages back in 2006:
I was wondering where we could get a replacement canvas for Jayco pop-up camper, 1988 jay series 1006. My husband got it on eBay and we were told that it didn't leak or anything but it leaks horribly and the canvas is not in good shape. This is the first time we ever owned a pop-up and don't know what is a good price. We've got price quotes from $1000.00 to $1600. Is this about right for a canvas? Thank for any help.
If the buyer paid a low price for that folding trailer, and the rest of it was in good shape, it was probably still a fair deal, though the misrepresentation should have sent them scurrying to file a claim under eBay's Vehicle Purchase Protection program.
Here's another story. Some folks I know, Tom and Linda, bought a used motor home on eBay, I think in 2007. Linda had shopped around, found what she thought was a good unit going for auction. Just for fun, she put in what she thought was a really low bid. To her surprise, she won.
She sent off a deposit, then she and Tom were off on a plane to Florida. The unit had some delamination and fading. "It sat out for years in the sun and the rain. I think Florida is not the place to buy a used RV! Maybe someplace dry like Arizona," mused Tom.
Aside from some minor issues, the rig seemed mechanically sound, so they completed the purchase. They stopped at Wal-Mart for some basic necessities and had a happy time driving back to Canada. Tom did some little fixes - replaced some washers, fixed some defective lights.
The plan was to use it for the summer then sell it at a bit of a profit. They've still got it, and last I heard was running okay with no significant issues.
So I guess you could call that a successful transaction.
Anybody else with "I bought an RV on eBay and...." stories?
More advice: eBay Guides
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Because they are on wheels, these home-on-wheels makers claim, such units are considered travel trailers from a local zoning standpoint and therefore do not require a building permit. You can pretty much put one anywhere you can place an RV.
But they're meant to be parked, not moved, so in what way are they different from any other mobile or modular home? And while a building permit may not be required, zoning permission does, and many local authorities ban mobile homes in certain subdivisions.
I'm looking into this, but the research involves contacting some local housing authorities and may take a while. I hope to have some quotes from Tumbleweed builder Jay Shafer.
Anyone who has expertise or experience with such dwellings is welcome to comment.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
"Julie Mulligan was seized by gunmen...in the northern city of Kaduna last Thursday night. According to a report in the Edmonton Sun, Mulligan and a man police identified as Moses Kadeer were returning from a Rotary meeting at the Tafawa Balewa Guest Inn." says a report in the Drayton Valley Western Review.
This scary event is close to home, because we deal with a Mulligan Insurance and Investments in Drayton Valley, and a woman named Mulligan came to our home and did a presentation on supplemental health insurance. We think that it may very well have been Julie.
Mulligan's family have requested privacy, so we haven't phoned our insurance agent to ask. The kidnappers have asked for a ransom, and apparently there are plans being made to bring Julie home safely.
We certainly hope that comes to pass.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
April 22, Earth Day, marks the beginning of what the Earth Day Network calls The Green Generation Campaign leading up to the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. The campaign has, among its major goals,
- "A carbon-free future based on renewable energy that will end our common dependency on fossil fuels, including coal.
- An individual’s commitment to responsible, sustainable consumption."
RV enthusiasts will be able to take part and meet these goals by
- Keeping the RV in good maintenance so it runs as well as possible
- Camping more and travelling less (stay in one spot for a few days longer)
- Using solar panels to recharge the batteries
- Practicing "low impact" camping, and restoring a boondock site to as close to as original condition as possible
- Following the Three R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- Attending Green RV Seminars at RV Rallies.
Please email me your green RV ideas and photos. All ideas and images will be attributed to their authors.
Happy earth day.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
My family and I have stayed in a lot of Lions Club campgrounds around Alberta. They're generally reasonably priced and well maintained. We've helped out a bit with maintenance on a couple, mostly doing grounds cleanup.
Lions Club RV Campgrounds in Alberta, is a list (probably not complete!) of campgrounds sponsored by Lions Clubs throughout the province. Visit them, enjoy them, support them, keep them clean and neat.
The article is also intended as a tribute and thanks to the Lions members who keep the campgrounds running - and support their communities as well as national and international causes.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Specialized RV insurance helps with the management of risks associated with both the RV rig and the RV lifestyle.
This series of articles was prepared from materials provided by the Alberta Motor Association, the Canadian Automobile Association, the American Automobile Association, the Australian Automobile Association, and the Good Sam Club as well as my own RV policy.
RV Property & Contents
RV Roadside Assistance & Emergency Travel
These articles are accurate based on information available at the time of writing. However, they are intended as general information only and are not represented as professional advice. The reader is advised to consult with an RV insurance specialist for a detailed quote and specific policy provisions.
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Just for fun, we visited Western RV Country in Leduc (one of the Favorite RV Dealers in Western Canada), wanting to see what was new for 2009 models. Not that we're seriously in the market, but it's always fun to walk around an RV lot and dream.
Wayne, the salesman who later showed us around, said that their season has started out well (he was literally running between customer appointments, and there were a dozen people looking at RVs). Certainly there were lots of Sold signs around the lot.
We talked about Fleetwood going to Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and all the Canadian manufacturers who have closed over the past couple of years. "I think it's not a bad thing," said Wayne. "There will be a settling out, a kind of purification in the industry, but the strongest brands will stay around."
We looked at a couple of new "Super C" models, which with three slides and 35' (I think it was) blur the line with Class A. But the best deals seemed to be on 2008 Class A rigs they wanted to get off the lot. We kind of liked a 2008 Windsport...
When we woke up this morning, my wife told me that she'd spent the night packing the new RV, and that she'd bought a new portable BBQ for it. Like I said, it's fun to dream.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." The glass is half-empty, the glass is half-full.
Fleetwood in the US has filed for Chapt. 11 Bankruptcy, and Bigfoot RV, one of Canada's oldest names in ultralight RVs, is gone.
Yet Newmar and LazyDays report rising sales of Class A units.
RVIA President Richard Coon wrote in a letter to the editor of the NY Times (April 4, 2009),"RV manufacturers are adapting [to economic conditions] by producing lighter and more fuel-efficient vehicles. New models include the first-ever RV hybrids, ultra-light composite trailers and green technologies such as fuel cells and solar panels."
So consumers with credit can get more RV for their money, with lower operating costs in the future.
I'm an optimist. The glass is half-full!
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Tonight's research took me to the American Journal of Epidemiology, where I found a couple of studies about the importance of breakfast.
- Association between Eating Patterns and Obesity showed that eating frequently during the day and eating a good breakfast were both associated with reduced chances of obesity in Americans.
- Energy Intake at Breakfast and Weight Change found that middle-aged folks in England were less apt to gain weight if they had most of their food intake during the first half of the day.
I wound up using both of those studies in an article, Maintain Your Diet by Controlling Hunger. Which, on reflection, might better have been titled "Healthy Breakfast".
To tie this in with RV Recreation, I'll point out that it is important to maintain good nutrition while you're camping.
While I'm talking about food, here are three easy lean-beef recipes to try. They're simple recipes (I know; I've made them). The Empanadas need an oven, but they're my favorite.
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Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
Went out to the acreage to check things out. Snow is still knee-deep in the yard. It was tiring just walking into the place and getting to the cabin. Had to dig out a drift to get at the trailer. Everything looks okay.
Still far too early to think of spring cleaning though!
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
I dug in my files for RV Cooking - Pancake Recipes, a rewrite of my first published article.
At the time, according to the bio that accompanied the article in The Canadian Leader magazine, I was a patrol counselor for the 21st Calgary Scouts. That patrol was a great bunch of guys. They didn't care for the granola pancakes, but they would have made bullseye pancakes at every camp. They were the ones who insisted they had to be made with Prem or a similar luncheon meat.
Our kids enjoyed them in turn, through their years in Cubs and Scouts and family camping.
I hope that you and yours enjoy them too.
Tom
Posted by Thomas Alan Gray
This is my first blog, so it may take me a while to get up and running.
It may also take a while to get on the road this year because of the late spring. Our poor trailer is still sitting at the acreage, surrounded by snow....
I'm busy getting media accreditation from the various RV sites and shows, establishing contacts with RV manufacturers, and researching RV Clubs. Doing all the things necessary to ensure that you get current, authoritative RV information right from the source.
For now, I invite you to check out my articles in the RV Recreation section.
You may find these articles of particular interest:
RV Insurance 101 - Liability Coverage
Favorite Provincial Parks in British Columbia
Comments and suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks
Tom