Thoughts for the Open Road

 Don’t take this seriously, but it does illustrate a point in a funny way.

 Oil Change instructions  for Women:

1) Pull up to Jiffy Lube when the mileage reaches 3000 miles since the last oil change.
2) Drink a cup of coffee.
3) 15 minutes later, write a check and leave with a properly maintained vehicle.

Money spent:

Oil Change: $20.00

Coffee: $1..00

 Total: $21.00
==========

Oil Change instructions for Men :

1) Wait until Saturday, drive to auto parts store and buy a case of oil, filter, kitty litter, hand cleaner and a scented tree, write a check for $50.00.
2) Stop by 7/11 and buy a case of beer, write a check for $20, drive home.
3) Open a beer and drink it.
4) Jack car up. Spend 30 minutes looking tool shed keys for jack stands and tools.
5) Find jack stands under kid’s pedal car. wife let the kid’s use Dad’s tool’s from shed.
6) In frustration, open another beer and drink it.
7) Place drain pan under engine after removing dirt used to plant who knows what the kids thought they could grow in it..
Look for 9/16 box end wrench find out kids lost the box end wrench’s at the park.
9) Give up and use crescent wrench.
10) Unscrew drain plug.  Cuss.
11) Drop drain plug in pan of hot oil: splash hot oil on you in process. Cuss.
12) Crawl out from under car to wipe hot oil off of face and arms Throw kitty litter on spilled oil. Cuss.
13) Have another beer while watching oil drain.
14) Spend 30 minutes looking for oil filter wrench kids broke it somehow. Cuss.
15) Give up; crawl under car and hammer a screwdriver through oil filter and twist off. Cuss.
16) Crawl out from under car with dripping oil filter splashing oil everywhere from holes. Cuss. Cleverly hide old oil filter among trash in trash can to avoid environmental penalties. Drink a beer.
17) Install new oil filter making sure to apply a thin coat of oil to gasket surface.
18) Dump first quart of fresh oil into engine. Cuss.
19) Remember drain plug from step 11. Cuss.
20) Hurry to find drain plug in drain pan. Cuss.
21) Drink beer.
22) Discover that first quart of fresh oil is now on the floor. Throw kitty litter on oil spill.  Cuss.
23) Get drain plug back in with only a minor spill. Drink beer.
24) Crawl under car getting kitty litter into eyes. Wipe eyes with oily rag used to clean drain plug. Slip with stupid crescent wrench tightening drain plug and bang knuckles on frame removing any excess skin between knuckles and frame. Cuss.
25) Begin cussing fit.
26) Throw stupid crescent wrench.
27) Cuss for additional 5 minutes because wrench hit bowling trophy. Get a pipe wrench to finish the job. 
28) Beer.
29) Clean up hands and bandage as required to stop blood flow. Cuss.
30) Beer.
31) Dump in five fresh quarts of oil.
32) Beer.
33) Lower car from jack stands.
34) Move car back to apply more kitty litter to fresh oil spilled during any missed steps. and find out Oil Pan has a hole in it from the kids using it for a planter. Cuss. Cuss. Cuss.
35) Beer.
36) Test drive car.
37) Get pulled over: arrested for driving under the influence.
38) Car gets impounded.
39) Call loving wife, make bail..
40) 12 hours later, get car from impound yard.

Money spent:

Parts: $50.00 

DUI: $2500.00 

Impound fee: $75.00

 Bail: $1500.00 

Beer: $20.00

 Total: $4,145.00 

But you know the job was done right!

Posted on July 10th, 2009 by RV Supply Center
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“The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” –Samuel Johnson

Posted on December 2nd, 2008 by RV Supply Center
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RESTON, Va. — RV owners love the RV lifestyle, but just like everyone else, they’re concerned about today’s sagging economy and looking for ways to save money and cut costs.

According to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association’s fall/winter survey, RV’ers are adjusting to the economy by traveling closer to home and staying longer in one place. By having their “homes on wheels” with them, RV owners say they can stretch their dollars by saving on costly airfares, hotels and restaurant meals.

The latest Campfire Canvass fall/winter survey of RV owners by the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, reveals that 29 percent plan to travel more this fall and winter than last year; 56 percent plan to travel the same amount as last year; and 15 percent plan to travel less than last year.

Sixty-two percent of survey respondents say they’ll travel to destinations closer to home, while 38 percent say they’ll stay longer at the same destination.

One of the biggest reasons why RV travel appeals to families is because of the value that RV vacations offer. Eighty percent of the RV owners surveyed say RV vacations cost less than other types of vacations.

“I’m the bargain queen,” says Donna Grant, 50, of Woodbridge, Va. “It’s economical to go RVing. I love my portable house on wheels. I don’t like hotels and I don’t like sleeping in strange beds.”

The survey shows that 60 percent of RVers plan to take more mini-vacations (1-4 days) this fall/winter compared to last year. Because RVs have full kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms, RV owners can get away at a moment’s notice. And they don’t have to worry about hotel reservations or the hassles of flying such as long security lines and costly baggage fees. With an RV, everything is onboard and ready to go.

According to a new study comparing vacation costs by PKF, an international consulting firm with expertise in travel and tourism, family RV trips are, on average, 27 to 61 percent less expensive than other types of vacations, even with today’s higher gas prices and factoring in RV ownership costs.

“This study indicates that RV ownership offers great value,” says Richard Coon, president of the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association. “In these economic times, RV owner appreciate the significant savings they enjoy on air, hotel and restaurant costs.”

Forty-three percent of the survey respondents said they’ll use their RVs to attend festivals and fairs this fall/winter; 33 percent will use their homes-on-wheels for foliage tours; and 30 percent for antiquing and flea market trips.

The survey reveals that holiday travel remains popular with RV owners. Among the respondents, 37 percent said they plan to travel in their RVs over the Thanksgiving weekend and 20 percent over the Christmas/Hanukkah season.

Fifteen percent of the respondents described themselves as “snowbirds” who’ll take extended RV trips to warmer regions this fall/winter.

SOURCE: RV Industry Association press release

Posted on November 13th, 2008 by RV Supply Center
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For full-time RVers Curt and Mary Heldreth, home is as close as the nearest parking space.

The couple don’t feel that they are exactly “roughing it” in their recreational vehicle, but since they packed up and moved out of their West Virginia home more than a year ago, they have discovered a different and exciting way to live.

Curt, 60, a retired teacher and Army major, decided that he wanted to spend his retirement on the go, but he wasn’t quite sure how his wife, Mary, 62, would feel about spending all their time in a 35-foot home on wheels. The Heldreths’ class A Fleetwood Bounder motor home is small and efficient for life on the move.

Curt, Mary and their dog, Roscoe, began traveling across the country to states such as Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Maryland, where they spent days at a time at their destinations. When Curt learned that the Onslow Beach RV Campground was looking for a camp host last October, he was excited to take on the position. He and Mary decided to park the RV for a while and connect with the coast and the military environment.

Since last October, Curt and Mary have looked back at their great adventure, and they don’t miss much about their old lifestyle. They enjoy fishing, talking with other RVers and spending time with each other.

“I thought I was going to be incredibly bored when I stopped working, but amazingly I haven’t gotten bored in a year,” Curt said.

The Heldreths plan to finish their journey across the country, but they are in no hurry to park the RV for good.

“Our plans are to get back on the road and travel until we no longer want to,” Curt said. “We may eventually settle down, but we’ll never give up our RV.”

SOURCE: Winston-Salem Journal

Posted on November 11th, 2008 by RV Supply Center
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Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers, he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).

The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

‘I only got a dollar out of the $20′, declared the sixth man.

He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’

‘Yeah, that’s right’, exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’

‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’

‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being

wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.

Professor of Economics, University of Georgia

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.

For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Posted on October 25th, 2008 by RV Supply Center
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Murray Rothbard makes various economic theories understandable:

Communalism: You have two cows. You keep one and give one to your neighbor.

Communism: You have two cows. The government takes them both and–from time to time–provides you with sour milk.

Fascism: You have two cows. The government takes them and sells you the milk.

Liberalism: You have two cows. The government takes them both, shoots one, milks the other, pays you for the milk, and then pours it down the drain.

Socialism: You have two cows. The government taxes you to the point that you must sell them both in order to support a man in a foreign country who has only one cow which was a gift from your government.

Free-Market Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

Centralized, Multi-National-Corporation-Based, Government-Subsidized, Democratic Socialism: You have two cows. You sell one, force the other to produce the milk of four cows and when it dies you write off the depreciation, hire a lobbyist, and garner a government bail-out and tax-breaks in order to purchase two new cows.

Posted on October 24th, 2008 by RV Supply Center
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If mere preference can be used to deny basic human rights to babies in the womb, why shouldn’t you fear an expansion of that preference by some majority of enlightened thinkers taking away your human rights because you are to old, to sick or not a benefit to society in some form or fashion. Once you are willing to sacrifice any human being on the basis of mere preference, you cannot be assured that mere preference will not come a knocking at your door in the future.

Posted on October 11th, 2008 by RV Supply Center
Filed under: Uncommon Wisdom | 1 Comment »

For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way
computers have enhanced our lives, read on.
At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
computer industry with the auto industry and stated,

‘If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would
all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.’

In response to Bill’s comments, General Motors issued a press release stating:

If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars
with the following characteristics (and I just love this part):

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash… Twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would
have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable,
five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single ‘This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation’ warning light.

7. The airbag system would ask ‘Are you sure?’ before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

10. You’d have to press the ‘Start’ button to turn the engine off.
Please share this with your friends who love - but sometimes hate – their computer!

Posted on October 9th, 2008 by RV Supply Center
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As this post is being written the Senate has just passed the bailout bill that will solve all the the financial problems facing the nation, protecting and guaranteeing all of your investments, all of your bank accounts, taking away all the risk. And just for good measure they spent not only 700 billion for the rescue, but threw in another 105 billion for pet projects that include tax breaks for a company that produces toy wooden arrows. Below is a simple solution by Dave Ramsey, it is to simple for a politician to understand, and the main reason for that is that it takes the power out of their hands, and puts it into the hands of the American people. While it looks like the rescue is on there is a sliver of hope for some sanity, the House can still reject the rescue. Take a look at his plan, and visit his website at www.daveramsey.com.

The Common Sense Fix
Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country,
but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support
any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following threestep
Common Sense Plan.
I. INSURANCE
a. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance.
Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the
world, creating immediate and needed liquidity.
b. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two
things:
1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a
6% fixed-rate mortgage.
a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the
balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a
chance to keep their homes.
b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or
the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of
foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable
for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that
encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while
working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and
ruined lives.
2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and
executive team members as long as the company holds these
government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming
executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs.
c. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal.
II. MARK TO MARKET
a. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III
bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down
bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate.
b. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on
failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing.
III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX
a. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock
market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in
the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing.
b. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping
the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the
economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement
investments that go up instead of down.
This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to
stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.

Posted on October 2nd, 2008 by RV Supply Center
Filed under: Uncommon Wisdom | No Comments »

This is a service special that is only for those that read this blog. RV Supply Center, Inc. will diagnose any of your appliances for free (refrigerators, water heaters, air conditioners, furnaces, ranges & ovens) . There are some limitations that apply. This offer is good through 10-31-08. Make an appointment at 760-949-1222, print this post and bring it into your appointment to receive your discount.

Posted on October 1st, 2008 by RV Supply Center
Filed under: Open Road Specials | No Comments »