Our RV Adventures

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I did plan to get some outside chores done today, but the overcast skies and occasionally spitting rain dissuaded me of that. Though I will say that I didn’t take too much convincing.

The whole ‘Spring Forward’ thing went off OK this morning, with everything resetting like it was supposed to. That’s the computer, two phones, my Galaxy Tab, our bedroom projection clock, our DirecTV DVR, the La Crosse Weather Display, and our big living room clock.

Everything is connected to the Internet except this clock. It actually receives the WWV time signal via radio and is always correct to the second. The only two clocks I have to manually set is the battery-powered clock in the bathroom, and my old school analog watch.

Like yesterday, I spent a good while researching moving the websites at work, but I’m still not sure which way I’ll go.

For you Alexa/Echo Dot owners, Amazon has added something a little new. Previously if you want to ask Alexa multiple questions, you had to start over each time by saying ‘Alexa’.

But if you go into your Amazon Alexa app, go to Settings, pick your device, and scroll down, you’ll find a control called Follow Up. Turn it on and you’re good to go.

And if you have more than one Alexa device, you have to do each separately.

Now if you make your 2nd, 3rd, etc., request within 5 seconds after the previous request is done, Alexa will continue answering you. Neat.

SpaceX is at it again, planning 5 Falcon 9 launches next month. In addition they hope to do the first test launch of their BFR Mars rocket later this year. If all goes well, they plan on the first unmanned launch to Mars in early 2019.

The BFR, much larger than the recently launched Falcon Heavy, can boost 150 tons of cargo into orbit, vs. the 50 ton capacity of the Falcon Heavy, and the 25 tons of the Falcon 9. And unlike early rockets, the BFR will be fully reusable, with all lower stages landing back on earth,  and can be refueled in space. Really revolutionary.

Here’s a really neat look back at the recent Falcon Heavy launch and landing, including the only released footage of the center stage crashing back into the ocean due to running out of ignition fluid.

And this is a fun look at the many failures along the way.

Only Elon Musk would compile all his failures into a video and set it to music.

Thought for the Day: 

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I spent most of the morning getting a handle on my next big project at work – bundling up the two website/shopping carts on our in-house Linux server and moving it all up to Godaddy in the cloud.

There seems to be two schools of thought on how to do it. The first is to do a complete Zen Cart installation on the new server and then copy all the MySQL files from the old server, and move them over.

The second is to zip up the entire website and move it over lock, stock, barrel, and database to the new server. Both have different pros and cons, so I’ve got a lot of research to do.

I’ve mentioned that I’m reading a book entitled Nomadland, about itinerant RV’ers traveling from job to job around the country. One of them, a guy named Don who travels in the his1990 Airstream with his Jack Russell terrier, Rizzo, was once a highly paid software executive making millions a  year.

Retiring in 2002, he indulged his lifetime passion with fast cars and racing, ranking third overall in the U.S. Touring Car Championship pro series. But by 2008 he had lost it all. Between a divorce and the 2008 market crash taking his savings, he was broke. So he hit the road in 2010, joining the workamper force.

I found his description of workampers to be fascinating.

“Workampers are modern mobile travelers who take temporary jobs around the U.S. in exchange for a free campsite—usually including power, water and sewer connections—and perhaps a stipend. You may think that workamping is a modern phenomenon, but we come from a long, long tradition. We followed the Roman legions, sharpening swords and repairing armor. We roamed the new cities of America, fixing clocks and machines, repairing cookware, building stone walls for a penny a foot and all the hard cider we could drink. We followed the emigration west in our wagons with our tools and skills, sharpening knives, fixing anything that was broken, helping clear the land, roof the cabin, plow the fields and bring in the harvest for a meal and pocket money, then moving on to the next job. Our forebears are the tinkers. We have upgraded the tinker’s wagon to a comfortable motor coach or fifth-wheel trailer. Mostly retired now, we have added to our repertoire the skills of a lifetime in business. We can help run your shop, handle the front or back of the house, drive your trucks and forklifts, pick and pack your goods for shipment, fix your machines, coddle your computers and networks, work your beet harvest, landscape your grounds or clean your bathrooms. We are the techno-tinkers.”

Really insightful.

About 2pm Jan and I headed into Webster to have lunch at our favorite King Food. Jan got the fan-favorite Chicken with Hot Garlic Sauce and Jalapenos lunch plate,

while I again went with the big bowl of Hot & Soup Soup.

One thing I really like at King Food are these roasted red pepper flakes. Most places, including Italian restaurants, have them in this form.

But King Food roasts them in a skillet with a little oil with gives them a smoky taste and a crunchy texture.

Really good, so I always add a few spoonful’s to my Hot & Sour.

After a great lunch we drove over to Baywood Plaza on FM518 so I could get my hair cut at Lou’s Barber Shop. I’ve been going to Lou for more than 30 years, since he first opened there.

So I was very surprised to not find Lou there behind his chair, the first time that’s ever happened. When I ask the guy who was behind the chair if Lou was taking the day off, I was very surprised when he said that Lou had retired, and that he and his wife, Esthela, had bought the shop from him. And that the shop would soon be called Esthela’s Barber Shop.

Well I guess I can live with going to a barber shop called Esthela’s. My only problem is that Lou apparently forgot to give my haircut records to the new guy.

Thought for the Day: 

I’m never wrong. I just have different levels of right.

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