Our RV Adventures

Since we had a lot to do today, we started early, well, 10am is early for us, first heading over to Denny’s for breakfast.

It’s been a good while since we’ve eaten at a Denny’s, probably late last year up in Conroe. It’s always pretty good, but for some reason it seems we usually end up at IHOP.

Jan got an Veggie Omelet with fruit, and a English muffin,

while I got two eggs over easy, bacon, grits, and an English muffin.

One thing about today’s visit was how good the coffee was. Bold, smooth, but not burnt or bitter. Almost as good as mine.

Guess that’s why I had three cups.

Next we headed down to Dickinson and the Extra Space Storage location to sign up for our storeroom.  And that’s when things started to fall apart.

When I called the office the other day, I got routed to corporate headquarters in Salt Lake. And I was assured by ‘Jean’ that they did not require insurance on the contents if we rented a unit.

But when the clerk started to process the paperwork, I was informed that they required me to have $3000 of insurance on my contents at a cost of $16.50 per month. This with unit rent on $23 per month. A 70% increase.

When I told her that I had been told by corporate that I didn’t have to purchase insurance, I was told that she had worked for Extra Space for 7 years, and corporate was wrong, and that every unit had to have insurance, no exceptions ever.

So I said I needed to check this out again and we left.  And when I called corporate again, this time ‘Amber’ told me that yes they did require insurance, but that the manager could waive it.

At this point, Jan suggested that I call Challenger Storage up in Webster, where we previously had a storage unit, and see what they had. And as it turned out, they did have a 5 x 5 unit available for only $20 per month, no insurance, and no setup fee. The only possible downside was that it was not climate controlled. But we didn’t really see that as a problem.

So we were heading up to Webster and Challenger, when Jan, noting that ESS was a lot closer,  suggested that I give them another call.  So I did and told them that I just wanted to let them know that I had found another unit that didn’t require insurance, and that I wouldn’t be needing theirs.

With that, things suddenly changed. Apparently now, exceptions could be made. Turns out that she was ‘just getting ready to call me’ to tell me that they suddenly could rent me a space without insurance.

So a few minutes later we were at ESS doing the paperwork. And the first thing I noticed was that a place that always requires insurance, no exceptions, actually had a form in the computer for the customer refusing insurance.

I wonder how they got that typed in so fast.

Sometimes it pays to be willing to walk away.

Our storeroom is about what you’d think, four walls and a concrete floor. While we were there we dropped off a few things like our winter heaters and some other stuff.

Our next stop was WalMart to buy some storage bins and a padlock for the door. So coming home we stopped back off at ESS to put  the lock on the door and found it wouldn’t fit. I got a really heavy Master lock with a long shackle. But between t he length and the thickness of the shackle it wouldn’t fit into the slide lock. So it’s back to WalMart tomorrow.

Hope someone doesn’t steal our three heaters overnight.

The Headline of the Day:  New law: Kansas cops can’t have sex during traffic stops.

So, do you still get the  ticket?

Thought for the Day:  

Some call it multi-tasking. I call it doing something else while I try to remember what I was doing in the first place. 

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My main job at work today was to get a Wyze camera set up to monitor the parking lot and send an alert if anyone comes onto the property.

About a week ago we had some vandalism on several cars that were parked in the lot overnight.

So we ordered one of the new Wyze Version 2 cameras to install on the front of the office.

Here’s what the picture looks like on SD (Standard Definition).

It looks even better in HD but of course the frame rate slows down.

And here’s what it looks like at night with the only light the ones you see in the distance.

The software lets us draw a box around the area where we want to detect motion. That way we won’t pick up cars going by on the street. And since we’re not worried about vandals in the daytime, I can also set the motion detection to only turn on between certain hours, like in our case, between 8pm and 8am. Pretty neat.

I also got one for the rig when we’re gone. And besides keeping an eye on Karma, it can also be set to pick up smoke alarm sounds and CO alarm sounds. Again, neat.

My new project box came in today and it looks like it’s going to be perfect for my remote dump valves setup

I already mounted the two phone jacks on the cover and then I’ll stick the controllers inside using double-stick tape. I’m also going to install a couple of DPDI switches and a couple of push buttons. That will let me control the system manually from the bay.

Looks like I’ll be able to get power for the system from the water pump circuit right in the water bay. Of course that means that I’ll have to turn the pump on to dump, but that’s not a problem.

This morning I posted a question concerning the Deluxe Screw Assortment asking if they sold empty trays.

“Greg, We do not sell empty trays yet, but we are always open to suggestions from customers. I will discuss this request with our development team.

Steve – VP of Customer Happiness Jackson Palmer”

You’ve got to love a company that has a VP of Customer Happiness.

Thought for the Day: 

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