Women RVers

It's that time again

2009-10-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, once again, it's time to turn our clocks back one hour. This year, daylight savings time ends on Halloween night so not only will you be able to go trick-or-treating an hour longer, you won't be deprived of sleep.

Also, this is my semi-annual reminder that you should also change the batteries in your emergency radio (you do have one, don't you?), smoke detector, CO detector, propane detector, flashlights, lanterns, and clocks.

Take your fire extinguishers from their brackets, hold an end in each hand, and rock them gently to distribute the powder. Check the valve on each one to be sure it's in the green.

Exercise your generator under load for at least one hour.

Top off your propane tank.

Top off your fresh water tank.

Dump your black and gray water tanks.

Fill your gas tank if you have a motorized RV or your tow vehicle's tank.

When there is a weather emergency and you're relying on your RV during a storm and power outage, you'll be ready. You can transfer refrigerated and frozen food to your RV's refrigerator.

A little preparation will eliminate a lot of worry.

Sharing the RVing Women adventure

2009-10-03T09:21:00.001-07:00

Since I haven't been on the road much, I'm sharing the adventures of another RVing woman. Enjoy!

Last year I started a dialogue with you explaining my plans for the summer. Actually there were NO plans. My motorhome, affectionally called the “coach,” is stored in Kentucky. As a resident of Hawaii, I visit KY often especially in the spring when I can do my dewinterizing. Pipes will burst just as easy in a motorhome as in a house--well, probably easier due to the minuscule insulation. Nevertheless, it never ceases to amaze me that critters seem to find a pinhole to enter my coach, making themselves leisurely at home. That’s the dreaded part of “dewinterizing.”

Back to the beginning. I mentioned there were no concrete plans for travel, but this year is a little different. My grandson will be graduating from high school in Mulkiteo, Washington, and I am headed for Seattle. With a phone GPS and a commercial GPS, I should not get lost. Famous last words! As my true friends say, I might be overdoing it with two GPS as I am following one main road (I-40) from KY to California. What they don’t realize are the state parks I seek out could be a far distance on a less-than-desirable-gravel road with 80-foot sinkholes.

On the first day traveling south by southwest...that was to avoid Florida, as per last year...I was going to stop at an RV park in Natchez Trace, TN. With a burst of energy, I drove right on past and was able to reach Arkansas by nightfall. As an omen of what might be a discouragement, found out later a tornado made a dead hit at the campground in Natchez Trace, smashing several of the motorhomes with folks trying to take shelter in their coaches. The aftermath found trees had toppled directly on them or the wind had furiously turned them over, and the swath of destruction on the campground was enormous.

Not to belittle the tragedy of Natchez Trace, I came upon a state park sign and excitedly veered off the Interstate. Following the signs as the road became narrower, I thought I had lost my way. My GPS’ were useless. No Service. Well, enough about what I thought of the GPS. At the gatehouse I registered and the kind hostess lady from the Corps of Engineers said they would give plenty of time to evacuate if needed. I had wondered why there was so much water around and she explained it had been generously raining for days, and the Mississippi River had swollen over its banks and into the park. With the thought of Natchez Trace and now the prospect of floating down the river in a Foretravel, I was up every ten minutes during the night to measure the rise of the river. Morning arrived and I decided it would be best for me to move on, but not before I took a picture of the park moniker: TOAD SUCK STATE PARK. I kid you not! With a name like that, there would have to be a global incident before any paper editor ever placed that name in the headlines.

Leaving the park and entering I-40 westbound...not to say I didn’t get lost trying to find the highway...I really believe my diesel consumption has plummeted due to the backroad bumps and grinds. Speaking of roads, if I were to judge the economy with what I’ve endured so far in this trip, I would have to say we are in dire straits. Most of the highway is so bad, it jars the teeth right out of your mouth. Not to say the extreme wear and tear of the tires and shocks are being obliterated. Not only is the road bad, but the billboards are either empty or businesses have joined together to split their ads on one billboard. All along the Interstate, many of the garages, gas stations, and small restaurants have shut down. The state of our economy is disastrous, but I don’t want politics mixed in with the (mis)adventures of traveling the country.

After a couple days of mediocre state parks in Oklahoma and Texas, I have now ventured into New Mexico. The pancake flat of the Interstate has turned into the gentle hills of the desert interspersed with a clump of trees here and there, although the same empty billboards, slightly better roads, but the utter desolation and tornado-torn towns are pitiful sights. Most of the state parks I’ve visited have been park ranger poor, and it’s the honor system to pay your fees, put them in the furnished envelopes, and place them in the padlocked box. With no maps or site plans, one does not have the slightest idea where to go or find a place within the park with electric and water. I have managed to “wing it” and have been decently comfortable every night.

The stories should be increasing in intellectual frequency very soon as I will head into Albuquerque tomorrow, then Flagstaff, Arizona, and on to California. As these future stories unfold, I will share them with you as promised. Until next time...?

SydnyG

Preparing for fall

2009-08-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

It's time for my annual reminder to all RVing women solo or paired to get ready for the fall and winter weather. You may not be traveling in your RV at this time of year but your RV can be a safe haven during a storm or power outage.

Be sure your emergency radio is fully charged including its internal batteries.
Be sure you have all sizes of needed fresh batteries for all emergency devices: lanterns, radios, flashlights, etc.
Be sure you have a full tank or tanks of propane for your back-up portable heater.
Be sure you have a full fresh water tank and bottled water (at least one gallon per person per day for drinking).
Be sure you have a full propane tank in your RV.
Be sure each person has enough food for at least one week (dehydrated is best or canned soups and stews). Check the expiration dates.
Be sure each person has enough medication for at least one week.
Be sure each person has enough clothing including jackets and hats for one week.
Be sure your pets have enough food for one week.
Be sure your bedding is clean and ready for use, including sleeping bags and linens.
Be sure your cell phone can be charged with a 12 volt connection or plugged into an inverter.
Check your roof and seams for any potential leaks, and caulk if necessary.
Check your house batteries and generator.

I know--it's August and I'm nagging you already.
But having been through this for several winters and helping others who were unprepared, I thought I would remind you now.

Community

2009-07-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

The definition of "community" has changed for me over the years, especially since I became a full-time RVer. Originally, I traveled in the Pacific Northwest with my husband and dogs in a Dodge van conversion. We lived in Bellevue, Kirkland and Spokane, Washington, and our community was stable in each of those cities.

We traveled and lived in the van while living and working in Reno and Sparks, Nevada.
Then I became a solo RVer in a 22-foot Winnebago living in an RV park in Reno. Northern Nevada was my community for 13 years and I had friends and business contacts there.

I moved to Berkeley and worked in San Francisco, and they became my communities. I had friends and business contacts in both cities. If I needed my car smogged or a good doctor, I looked to my community.

Then I became a workamper and my community was a campground in West Marin County. I knew where the closest stores, bank, auto repair places, and medical services were. If I didn't know, I could ask someone in my community.

When I travel as a solo female RVer, my community is online. I have to rely on wome RVers all over the US for referrals and recommendations. However, I don't have the face-to-face contact I would by actually living in the same community.

What about you? How has your community changed and how do you define it?

The slime of spam

2009-07-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

I've received several private emails from readers who wondered why I haven't posted in the blog recently. My health is fine, thank you. We were attacked.

Early in the morning of July 8, 2009, there were 551 on the forum, the most we've had online concurrently (see the bottom of the RV Travel Forum screen). What that means is on July 7, there was an ad placed online promising a great deal of money to computer users all over the world if they would register on as many websites as they could. I assume the pay was per website or per post made on a website. Remember that it is called the World Wide Web for a reason.

On July 8, I received over 100 new forum member enrollments that needed to be read and approved or removed. On an average day, we receive 3-4. Nearly all the potential members were spammers and had invalid email addresses. Each spammer had to be investigated and removed individually.

Since the 8th, I have received at least 50-60 registrations a day, 95% of which is spam and must be individually removed. Those who list their location have sent their spam from Croatia, The Gambia, Egypt, the Czech Republic, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Ethiopia, Guam, Bolivia, Ecuador, Russia, Kazakhstan, India, Pakistan, Burma (which we all know is actually Myanmar), Abu Dhabi, Belarus, Bali and many other locations. Of course, most of these are false and I can trace them back to their IP address through the major servers in the US.

I have no idea how much the spammers are paid or how they verify their work, but I remove them from the forums (yes, they try on http://www.freestays.com and http://www.freecampgrounds.com, as well as the blogs) immediately. By the time they report their work to whomever the BBS (Big Boss Spammer) is, they have no proof.

That means I work 8-12 hours a day seven days a week keeping the forums spam-free, and all posts have been read and edited if needed. Unless the spammer is extremely clever--and some are, registering months before their first post with a legitimate email address--you will not be subjected to their spam.

And that's why I haven't blogged.

P.S. If there are any spammers reading this, you will never successfully register and exist on the database for more than a couple of hours. Forum administrators never sleep either, no matter what side of the planet we occupy.

Rules for successful camp hosting

2009-06-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

For those of you considering a camp hosting position, there are good and bad points you should be aware of:

You're a volunteer so unless you break the law, you can't be fired.
You're not on at the location forever so if it's a bad place, you don't suffer too long. If it's a good place, you can return.
Your main activity is to be nice to campers and visitors: you're the nice one who answers questions.
You don't have to enforce the law (that's why there are rangers) but you can create some rules to make your job easier.

Last weekend, I created these rules:

*No dogs in the restrooms
*No bicycles in the restrooms
*No scooters in the restrooms
*No skateboards in the restrooms
*Girls only in the girls restrooms
*Boys only in the boys restrooms
*No washing your little brother's dirty feet in the toilet in either restroom (see previous two rules)
*No pooping in the shower (someone did)
*No swinging from the tree branches
*No riding bicycles, scooters or skateboards without a helmet: if you do not have a helmet, you do not ride your bike, scooter or skateboard
*Hold your hand flat with the palm up and the carrot in it if you want to feed the horse. One horse may eat politely; the other will take your entire hand in his mouth and you'll know what his tongue and teeth feel like from the inside. Ewww!
*If you leave your bicycle, helmet and backpack outside on the ground all day, it will be locked up at the camp host's site until you (accompanied by your parents) pick it up in the morning. Then you can explain the Lord's Prayer approach to theft prevention: "Lead us not into temptation." Your stuff was locked up so no one else would steal it.
*Finally, if you make enough noise after quiet hours and keep the camp host awake, she will be sure you are out of your tent or RV to join her for birdwatching at 5 am.

Believe me, the parents will support you, the staff will support you and the ranger will laugh at you. You'll have fun and isn't that what camp hosting is all about?

Safe, solo and self-protected

2009-06-03T09:51:00.001-07:00

When I began RVing alone, I felt unsafe in a canvas-covered pop-up so I traded for a hard-sided travel trailer. I felt completely safe in the trailer; however, I usually camped in a campground (private or public). I did not stay overnight in retail establishment lots because, to move on, I would have had to leave my trailer to get to my truck. I think some form of motorhome would be ideal because one never has to leave one's rig to move on. If you don't feel comfortable, all you have to do is drive away.

I never felt unsafe traveling alone. I had roadside assistance, a cell phone, a CB radio, a lockable trailer, and I remained vigilant of my surroundings. I also had a tire iron close at hand! Kathy Frazier

Kat is a member of RVing Women and we concur on safety issues while traveling alone. I don't carry a tire iron but since I have years of aikido training, I have other means of protection. No, I don't have a black belt. Aikido practioners work for years to attain the next belt level so I have a brown belt. The first six months, you learn to fall properly so you're not hurt. I fall better than anyone I know. If you want to see an aikido sensei in action, watch any Steven Seagal movie. A little trivia: When Sean Connery was filming "Never Say Never Again," Seagal was hired to train him and broke Connery's wrist.

There is quite a bit of philosophy attached to the moves and the best part of this discipline is that little strength is involved. It is suitable for all ages and levels of expertise. I've taught classes to everyone from an eight year-old boy to a 66 year-old woman with much success. Do a little reading about aikido and see if it might work for you.

Basically, be aware, be alert, be prepared and then--be having a good time on the road.

Beat the mouse (finale)?

2009-05-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

I picked up the humane mousetrap from the post office in lovely downtown Lagunitas today and it's baited with peanut butter on the floor in his usual running path. the mousetrap will only hold one mouse at a time and I plan to deliver each of my captives to the creek far, far away from my RV.

Update: 10:00 PM Wednesday, May 20, the trap closed with Beat inside. I rounded up two women from the girls kayaking club who were camping here. One had a lantern and they lighted the way to Beat's new home away from the campers in the underbrush next to a large redwood. He scampered away within seconds.

I went back inside and reset the trap--just in case.

At 5:00 AM, I heard a commotion in the trap. Yep, Beat invited friends. I stayed in bed until light and then we took a stroll to the creek so he could join his buddy.

I went back inside and reset the trap--just in case.

Beat the mouse continued

2009-05-06T14:19:00.000-07:00

The mouse has decided to stay. For those who suggested fabric softener sheets as a deterrent, they didn't work. My RV smells like laundry and the mouse just ran right over them as he dashed around the floor.

I pulled out the kitchen drawers revealing a large open space under the counter all the way to the exterior wall behind the sink. The most noxious chemical I have in the RV is Lysol, so I sprayed it liberally inside the opening. He was next to it this morning.

As I was working, he boldly ran out onto the carpet from under the shelf on the desk. As I stood up, he ran back under the shelf. I sat down. He came out. I didn't want to keep playing this game so I stood up again and stayed standing. He peeked, crept out again and dashed to the bedroom. Great: now I won't be able to sleep tonight.

The guys in maintenance are going to bring me a humane trap and that should take care of him before he brings additional family and friends to join him.

No traps in maintenance but Beat came running out of the bedroom and went under the desk again to hide. At least I'll be able to sleep.

I told my friend about the lack of mousetraps and he immediately found a company to ship a humane trap to me here. He reminded me to release my mouse companion to an area where he can hide and feel safe. At least I know what to bait the trap with: peanut butter and cheese.

Update: this morning at 5:40, I heard the plastic bag lining the paper garbage sack rattling and realized I had forgotten to hang the sack off the floor on the key hook. I turned on the kitchen light and expected the mouse to run out of the fallen bag. Somehow, he had found a way into the bag without knocking it over and must have been nibbling on the popcorn kernels I had dumped there last night. I picked up the bag by the handles, opened the door and threw the bag outside next to the trees. Plenty of places to hide and feel safe in the bushes. Now I wait to see if he was alone.

Beat the mouse

2009-05-01T20:50:00.001-07:00

I have a mouse in my RV. Again. He's small, brown, very fast and clever.

I have headphones with small earbuds that I use when I watch DVDs or listen to music on my laptop. Occasionally, one of the foam covers will come off and I have to search for it. A couple of days ago, it was missing and I looked everywhere with no luck.

The next night as I was watching a DVD, I noticed a small brown blur running across the floor and making a sharp right behind the desk. Drat. As I peeked behind the desk, he ran next to the wall, across the driver's floor mat and disappeared behind the dashboard. Swell. Now I know what happened to the foam cover.

I have no mousetraps so I tried to think of a way to catch him. I do have super-sticky wide Velcro strips. I cut a six-inch section of each side, turned the sticky sides up, overlapped the fuzzy side slightly across the looped side, and pushed the looped side into the carpet to hold it in place. I took the remaining ear foam, pressed it open side up into the middle of the tape, filled it with peanut butter and pressed a small piece of Monterey jack cheese about two inches away.

The following morning, I found the ear foam empty, the peanut butter and cheese missing, and no mouse. My friend started laughing when I told her about my trap and I was a little miffed at her. She said, "I have a picture of this small mouse full of peanut butter and cheese shaking his leg trying to get the Velcro off." OK, it's funny. I picked up the useless trap.

My friend said if I had the mouse for a roommate, I would have to name him. His name is Beat. Since he does nothing around here, I was going to name him Deadbeat but he's not dead. Yet.

Yesterday, I hadn't seen him so I started the engine. If that didn't get him to leave, nothing would. I haven't seen him since but when I took out the coffee filters from the lower cabinet this morning, I found mouse poop in the filters. Gee thanks.

It's raining and I want him gone before he brings the rest of his family and friends inside. Tomorrow, I'm getting a couple of traps.

F-word R.I.P.

2009-04-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

Today is April 18. On this date in 1775, Paul Revere made his famous ride warning the colonists that the British were coming. A rather large earthquake shook San Francisco, California, on April 18, 1906. 40 years later, my mother married my father for which I am very grateful.

Today, April 18, 2009, I declare a moratorium on the F-word. I don't want to hear it any more. It's used as a noun, a pronoun, a verb, an adverb, an adjective, a preposition, an interjection and a conjunction. It's an interrogative and an expletive. Can you tell I was an English professor in a former life?

Today, I heard it in many forms from adults as well as teenagers of both sexes in several sites in the campground. There were small children riding bicycles and playing in the immediate vicinity, and they heard the word used too. Children should not be subjected to a word with such a vile connotation. I don't think anyone should.

The English language is rich with words to cover any utterance. Why aren't we using them? My friends and I used to play a game where we would make up a curse without using curse words. It was fun and we thought we were pretty clever. What happened to the clever phrase? The bon mot? The witty retort?

The first time I heard the F-word was in college (no really--child of the 60s and all that, we never used that word at home) and I was a bit surprised. I understood its context and it seemed appropriate under the circumstances: the photographer had just accidentally exposed an entire roll of film. But the word itself has been watered down to cover everything. I wonder: what does a person say when they're really hurt, angry and frustrated? Does the person say the word twice as loud? Twice as much?

When we were kids, we dared you, double-dog dared you, and then the ultimate: triple-dog dared, from which you did not retreat unless you looked forward to the remainder of your childhood living as a chicken. Anyone who has ever seen "The Christmas Story" knows about the triple-dog dare and about what happened to our hero when he uttered the F-word. By the way, Lifebuoy tastes awful (that was my triple-dog dare).

Why is the constant use of the F-word acceptable? And if it's not acceptable, why are we creating a generation who would rather ignore our extensive vocabulary and replace it with one ugly word? To me, that's a sign of stupidity and low class.

I'm not perfect by any means and yes, I have used the word before as an expletive. I was alone and I said it under my breath. I would never say it around children and try to restrict its usage to situations of extreme stress. I have substituted "Aarrgh!" and "Gah!" and "Duh!" and "Grrr!" with good results.

Maybe I'm old but hearing a 14 year-old woman using the F-word repeatedly makes me angry and a little sad. She may be the finest young woman I could ever meet; however, the perception of her character changes with the words she says and I want nothing to do with her. She is selling herself short to fit in and that's wrong. We're smarter than that. Aren't we?

Another reason I'm glad to be an RVer

2009-04-16T22:57:00.000-07:00

We had a windstorm in northern California on Tuesday that affected several counties. Outside the state park where I camp host, a tree fell and blocked one lane of the access road. The Marin County Fire Department removed the tree and the two state park rangers directed traffic around it, finishing in 30 minutes. However, there was other damage: the power lines into the park were down as were several others in the neighboring counties. The electricity in the majority of the campground was out. My rig sits just outside the grid and I had power.

I was feeling pretty good about being able to work on the computer and sip a cup from my freshly perked pot of coffee. Then the heater shut off and the screen dimmed. Uh oh. I still had some electricity but it was around half power, 15-20 amps perhaps.

Out came the 400-watt inverter and I plugged in the laptop to finish what I was working on. The batteries were fully charged and I wouldn't need the generator for hours. The electric heater drew too much power so I turned on the electric blanket and it warmed the bed. The refrigerator beeped to let me know there was low AC and since it was set to Auto, it transferred to running on propane. I finished my work and went to bed.

At 7, I turned on the water heater, took a shower, dressed and went to the office to check the reservations. With the computer down, I could only go by the previous day's printout. I had to post signs with the incoming reserved sites listed so drop-in campers would know what sites were available. This was the last spring break week and many decided to visit the park. The sign was set up in Excel, I took it home, looked it over, created a similar sheet and entered the names. I plugged in the 800-watt inverter with its two connections, added the printer to the laptop and printed the copies. I used the copier to dupe the reservation list and went back to the office to post the signs. I left the list on the counter and noticed PG&E was there to work on the power.

Returning home, I heated water on the stove and poured it through the one-cup Melitta drip. I could have made an entire pot but this would do. I watched the campers go in and out of the dark restrooms and take showers. I worked on the computer and at 12:30, the refrigerator beeped. The power had returned--for me. I warmed a sandwich in the microwave and reset the clock. I checked the reefer. It had returned to the AC setting. I unplugged the computer from the inverter and plugged it into the power strip. All was well.

Thursday morning at 7, I was at the office squinting at the Post-It notes on the monitor. I found the campground reservation website and access codes, and brought them home. Success: I printed the new 7-day reservation list and that day's incoming reservation list for the buildings. Now I could post the reserved signs on the sites and address the drop-ins with confidence about which sites were available.

The campground power was restored on Thursday at 2 with the exception of the restroom building next to me. I watched the campers emerge from the cold showers and they didn't look happy at all. The electricity in the building should be restored on Friday morning.

The RV back-up systems worked perfectly. Power outage? Reefer, hot water and stove on propane; computer and printer on inverter; and all else on batteries. Food stayed chilled, coffee was hot and work was completed. With an RV, a power outage is an inconvenience easily handled.

Dining in Point Reyes Station

2009-03-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm a volunteer camp host at Samuel P. Taylor State Park, I am six miles from Olema Ranch RV Resort and Campground where I began my workamping experience. My friend who lives in Inverness and whose husband, my former co-worker and supervisor, is now the manager at the campground, picked me up and took me to Point Reyes Station. The small community is two miles north of Olema and has many fun places to visit: Toby's Feed Barn, the Cowgirl Creamery, the Pine Cone Diner, the Station House Cafe and now, Stellina.

What a lovely and delicious surprise! We were greeted at the door by the owner, a former chef, and our waiter recognized the Good Samantha on my windbreaker. The restaurant is on the edge of upscale without making you feel you should dress up to dine there. We had lunch so I can't vouch for breakfast nor dinner. It was terrific.

We started with a potato soup with pesto and nettles accompanied by bread from the local bakery. Most of the menu consisted of local and organic food. My friend was happy with a bite from my entree: penne pasta with cannellini beans and sun-dried tomatoes with asiago cheese. For dessert, my friend had a Meyer lemon ice cream sandwich while I enjoyed a coffee pot de creme with chopped walnuts and Straus Dairy whipped cream. I can duplicate the soup and entree at home, but I would be hard-pressed to create the desserts.

If you decide to drive the California coast and camp at either Olema RV Resort and Campground or Bodega Dunes (another state park), you'll find Stellina on your way in Point Reyes Station.

No, I received nothing for this review but I love locally-grown organic food used well in creative dishes. Try it and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

From my window March 24

2009-03-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

I arrived yesterday at Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Lagunitas, CA. Since I was feeling adventurous, I drove north on Highway 1. There are three ways to drive on Highway 1, none of them involving an RV: motorcycle, sports car or bicycle. Do yourself and any passengers a huge favor and don't drive your RV on that road unless you feel as adventurous as I did.

These are some views from my window at my new camp host site.

More tech stuff and a warning

2009-03-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

I read this and decided to pass it along as written.

How to tell, what to do if computer is infected
By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer

(03-15) 14:19 PDT (AP) --

Computer-virus infections don't cause your machine to crash anymore
-------------------------------------------
Nowadays, the criminals behind the infections usually want your computer operating in top form so you don't know something's wrong. That way, they can log your keystrokes and steal any passwords or credit-card numbers you enter at Web sites, or they can link your infected computer with others to send out spam.

Here are some signs your computer is infected, tapped to serve as part of "botnet" armies run by criminals:

* You experience new, prolonged slowdowns. This can be a sign that a malicious program is running in the background.

* You continually get pop-up ads that you can't make go away. This is a sure sign you have "adware," and possibly more, on your machine.

* You're being directed to sites you didn't intend to visit, or your search results are coming back funky. This is another sign that hackers have gotten to your machine.

So what do you do?

* Having anti-virus software here is hugely helpful. For one, it can identify known malicious programs and disable them. If the virus that has infected your machine isn't detected, many anti-virus vendors offer a service in which they can remotely take over your computer and delete the malware for a fee.

* Some anti-virus vendors also offer free, online virus-scanning services.

* You may have to reinstall your operating system if your computer is still experiencing problems. It's a good idea even if you believe you've cleaned up the mess because malware can still be hidden on your machine. You will need to back up your files before you do this.

How do I know what information has been taken?

* It's very hard to tell what's been taken. Not every infection steals your data. Some just serve unwanted ads. Others poison your search result or steer you to Web sites you don't want to see. Others log your every keystroke. The anti-virus vendors have extensive databases about what the known infections do and don't do. Comparing the results from your virus scans to those entries will give you a good idea about what criminals may have snatched up.

Believe me, you don't want to find out you've been hacked. Please run a virus and spyware scan now and frequently thereafter.

Menace to public safety?

2009-03-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

So I went to San Francisco and parked the RV at Ocean Beach like I usually do when I visit the city. I took the Muni and my friend and I met at the old Balboa Theater. We saw a terrific double feature: Frost/Nixon and The Wrestler. I recommend them both. After we had coffee, I returned to the RV and worked on the computer. I watched the sun set over the Pacific and looked at Seal Rock graying in the dusk. Then I realized it was getting too dark for me to drive comfortably. I looked through the kitchen window and saw a class C about 50 feet away. The couple seemed to be settled in for the night and I decided to spend the night, planning to leave early in the morning. I didn't pay attention to the signs since I had parked there many times.

At 5 am, the street cleaner went by in both directions. I rolled over and went back to sleep until 7:30. I turned on the computer to check emails and the overnight attempts by spammers to register on the forums, dressed and was making a cup of coffee.

Suddenly, there were three rapid knocks on the back of the RV. Then three more on the left side (the shade was still down), and a couple of knocks on the front (the curtains were closed across the windshield). I opened the door and saw a San Francisco police officer rounding the passenger side. "Oh. You're here."
"Yes. I'm making coffee."
She said, "The people across the street in the condos reported your license plate and said you were parked here overnight."
"Yes, I was. I don't like driving at night and there was another RV parked by me."
She looked through the kitchen window as I did and the class C was gone. There were several cars parked on the other side with surfers donning wetsuits.
She seemed surprised that I would admit spending the night. "You spent the night?"
I nodded. "Ocean Beach is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area so it's federal land. I thought it would be safe to park here."
While she stood there, I looked to my right and saw three black-and-whites with a total of five officers inside, her partner being the solo occupant in one of the cars.
"I'm having a cup of coffee and I'll be leaving within an hour, OK?"
She said that was fine. "If you do spend the night again, move down the beach to the other lot."
I knew about the other lot. There is a class C with a generator on the ground next to it plugged into the RV. The man has lived there for months.
I agreed, she walked back to her vehicle and I closed the door.

I was shaking my head at the commotion caused by complaints about an RV spending the night in the parking lot at Ocean Beach and six officers in three cars investigating before 8 am. Must not be much crime in the city at that hour. There was a knock at the door. I opened it and she said, "You have a ticket. I just wanted to let you know it's there and I didn't issue it. Must have been parking." I thanked her, she left and I finished my coffee.

The ticket was indeed from parking for being in the way of the street cleaner. My penalty for not reading the signs? $50. Expensive trip to San Francisco.

Can you imagine who would have arrived if the neighbors thought my RV and I were a threat to national security? Thank goodness my driver's license, registration and insurance have an actual street address listed and not a post office box. We all know Homeland Security suspects full-time RVers without a sticks-and-bricks address could be potential terrorists.

So for those of you who are planning to visit San Francisco and park as I advised in this blog a few months ago, you'll be fine as long as you don't boondock. If you do, park away from the condos and near the RV with the generator on the ground.

From my window March 3

2009-03-03T14:43:00.000-08:00

While I was reflecting on what would have been my grandmother's 98th birthday (she died much too soon in 1990 at 79), I thought I would show you what I see from my window at Brannan Island State Recreation Area during our latest rainstorm. I have a fresh pot of coffee, a PB&J sandwich and a crisp Granny Smith apple for dessert. Not a bad way to spend a day off.

Changing parks

2009-02-17T14:37:00.001-08:00

The maximum length of stay as a volunteer camp host in a California state park is six months. My last day as a camp host at the lovely Brannan Island State Recreation Area will be March 15. On March 16, I will be headed to Samuel P. Taylor State Park near Olema where I first began workamping in May, 2003, and where I also worked part-time as a postmaster relief in the Olema Post Office. The surrounding area will be familiar and I'm looking forward to seeing some old friends. The rangers at the park are delighted to have me on board and were happy to hear I could stay for the full six months.

Samuel P. Taylor doesn't have fishing and there are only 61 sites, none with hookups. There are trails to hike and bike, and there will be programs in the summer including the Junior Ranger program.

By the way, if you appreciate the flat-bottomed paper grocery bags, you can thank Samuel P. Taylor. He had a lumber mill which produced rag paper for newspapers and other products. The flat-bottomed bag was his invention, a novelty at the time.

To your health

2009-02-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

It's winter in California and the rain has finally arrived. At least we've had two days in a row with more than a few drops. We're still in drought conditions and will probably have to conserve water this summer. For now, I'm just enjoying the rain on the roof.

I was also thinking about my health. I have a daily regimen of vitamins to accompany the one prescription medication I need. If I have the slightest hint of the blahs, I tend to figure out what the problem might be and solve it myself:
Sniffles? What or who have I been exposed to?
Sore throat? Who else has one?
General achy body? Could be the arthritis gene acting up in the damp weather or it could be the onset of a winter cold.
Whatever the symptoms, I handle them myself.

The important thing I learned a long time ago was to listen to my body. Stress will override the calm I need to listen so if I feel stressed, I need to stop it immediately. After studying biofeedback and taking aikido for five plus years, I have conditioned my body to relax. My breathing will slow, my pulse will slow, my blood pressure will drop, and I will be calm.

Whenever I donated pheresis (white blood cells, not whole blood) at the blood center or Red Cross and I rushed in for my appointment from my job, sometimes my blood pressure would be too high for a safe donation. I would ask for a minute or two and then it was fine. Once I had the tech taking my pulse and slowed it five beats while she was looking at her watch. "Stop that!" she laughed.
"What would you like it to be?"
"72 would be nice."
"OK."
A minute later, it was 72. She shook her head.
I can't do that every time but I can come close.
The best part of donating pheresis is the terrific feeling I have after. Usually, I donate a double while watching a video. Two people can be helped. I know I have taken good care of my blood and a patient, perhaps a child, will have highly oxygenated, vitamin-enriched blood to fight their disease and place them in remission. It's happened before. When I worked at the blood center, I had the opportunity to take my donation along with others and deliver it to the local hospital. I tracked its use and it went to a child, a little boy with leukemia. He was in remission shortly after. You can imagine the smile on my face as I checked the computer and thought, "I did that."

When you find yourself rushing around or stressing, take the time to stop, sit and calm yourself. Stress can cause more problems than a temporary rise in blood pressure. If you're feeling a little depressed and if you can donate, find your local Red Cross and do so.

Take time for yourself. Take a nap. Curl up with a good book. Have a cup of green tea with honey and lemon. Treat yourself to a cookie or that piece of chocolate. Your health will improve, your attitude will improve, and you can avoid a visit from the winter cold demon--or worse.

Is good customer service appreciated?

2009-01-25T09:51:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's the economy or maybe it's the threat of losing one's job or maybe people are just cranky. It seems like good customer service is being ignored.

I'm a volunteer camp host at a CA state park. My job is to make the camping or fishing experience here the best it can be. From the time a visitor arrives at the kiosk until they drive out of the park, that experience should entice the visitor to return, perhaps with family and friends.

The state of California is in trouble. Our budget shortfall is in numbers so astronomical, I can't even begin to visualize it. Government offices are closed on Fridays. State income tax refunds will be IOUs. State workers must take two unpaid leave days per month. It's rough going and may continue for months.

One of the problems we've encountered has been a delay in the shipment of the state park annual passes. Visitors who want to purchase the passes cannot and must pay to enter the park. They're angry and frustrated. I understand that and offer the website for a faster receipt. The passes are shipped the same day and folks can have them in their hands within a couple of days. I apologize and explain the problem and solution.

So far this week, I've been called a Nazi, ignorant, stupid, and "not being very helpful" because I wouldn't issue a receipt so the visitor could present it after receiving the pass and get a refund. I'm not talking about a trillion-dollar item: it's $6. For the fishermen, the day use fee with fishing is $11. That allows you to launch your boat, park your vehicle, fish all day and night, and leave by 10 am the following day.

Two women, one following the other in her car, came to the kiosk and asked where she could let her dog run loose. I smiled, apologized and said that dogs were not permitted to be off leash in the state parks. "Well, that's stupid! Where can my dog run?" I told her I didn't know of any place nearby (true). She snapped, "Well, don't you think you'd better find out?" Then she sped through the stop sign, made a U-turn and went out the other side. The second car pulled up and the woman said, "I'm with her." She repeated the other woman's actions and went out the other side at about 25 miles an hour. Um. OK.

A man was in the day use area which is open daily from sunrise to sundown. It was dark so the host said, "I'm sorry but I need to close the gate. This area of the park is closed." He said, "Too bad. I'm staying." She replied, "I can't close the gate with you inside. You don't want the ranger to give you a ticket." His response? "There's no ranger on duty and it's not worth calling the sheriff." That was true, although we have no idea how he knew there was no ranger. She walked away and sat in her RV. After 20 minutes, he went to his car and drove out the gate peeling rubber at the entrance.

Whenever I'm out of the park dealing with folks at the gas station, grocery store or other service places, I find a hit-or-miss reception. My usual greeting is "Hi. How are you?" I wait for a response and listen. I make eye contact if I can and I smile. I want the persons serving me to remember that someone was nice, asked about their health, and actually looked at them. I'm not a transaction or an interruption. Most of the time, it works. Sometimes it doesn't, no matter how charming I try to be.

Have you noticed this lack of appreciation?

Random Spam Thoughts

2009-01-17T20:34:00.000-08:00

As a forum administrator, I receive a great deal of email, much of it accompanied by spam. Some days, I would dump 200-300 emails. None of them would reach my Outlook folders because I have filters through several software programs. It was a pain to delete them: I needed to check them all for an occasional valid email that would be sent to the spam folder. Every time there was an upgrade, the filters would "forget" and select a good message to file with the junk.

I have five email addresses and have been scratching my head about what to do. Then I found a solution: I went to the account that sent the most spam (now an unsupported webmail service). The list had been sold to pretty much everyone and my filter would report the origin of the forwarded email. Before I tracked down the webmaster to close the account, I forwarded the email to the Yahoo account I had set up years ago so I could read postings from the various groups I belong to. I never check my email on that account so there are probably thousands of messages from spammers waiting to hear from me (and my inbox is probably full. Drat).

Yesterday, I awakened to 129 overnight spam emails and deleted another 177 before logging off for the night. Today, I have had 22.

A friend I worked with in IT for a telebusiness corporation had a great method of handling spam. He figured out how to forward spam from one sender to another and remove his IP address to remain undetected. He would take a spam message about making money on the 'net and forward it to the person sending a spam message about holding funds for a Nigerian politician. Ukrainian Viagra? Forward the spam to the sender with the hot chicks just waiting to chat. Working from home? Send that to the spammer with the real estate lots with no money down.

I never learned how he did it. I should have brought pizza and Jolt to hang out with him while he taught me. Ah well. At least I found out how to reduce the spam I see.

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I wonder how many of those poor souls sending out spam actually make a living out of doing so. Every day, I delete a dozen or so from the RV Travel and Free Campgrounds forums. Every day, they try another clever way to bypass the protection and every day, I send them careening into cyberspace. That's why you will very seldom see a spam post on either forum. The spammers on the other side of the planet will do their dirty work while I'm asleep (yes, I do occasionally leave the laptop and close my eyes). When I awaken and have had my first cup of coffee so I can at least focus, the first job is to check for spam. That way, when you're drinking your first cup, you can focus on reading and enjoying the forum.

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If any spammer out there in cyberspace is reading this, please let me know how much you're making (ballpark is fine). I would be interested in finding out how lucrative it is.

Now watch me get spammed!

More tech stuff

2008-12-24T15:13:00.000-08:00

From my friends at the Lockergnome website: Vista includes an on-screen keyboard that is built-in with the operating system. You might find this feature handy if you have impairments or if your normal keyboard is under repair. You can easily access the on-screen keyboard by clicking Start, typing OSK, and pressing Enter. A nifty little keyboard will immediately appear on your screen.

You can access this more easily by creating a shortcut to the program on your desktop. Simply right click your desktop, point to New and select Shortcut. Type in osk and click Next. Click Finish.

The on-screen keyboard runs in three different modes: clicking mode, scanning mode, and hovering mode. In clicking mode you simply click the on-screen keys. In scanning mode, you use a hot key or a switch-input device to type highlighted characters. In hovering mode, you can simply use your mouse to point to a key which is then typed. You can change the mode by selecting the Settings tab, clicking Typing Mode and choosing the mode you want to use.

I also like a clean desktop so I right-click on the desktop screen itself, choose View in the pop-up box, and Hide Desktop Icons. Voila'! A clean screen.

Tech stuff

2008-12-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

Since I'm the forum administrator for RV Travel and Free Campgrounds/Free Stays websites, and a member of the web committee for RVing Women, I've received several emails asking how I stay online as a full-time RVer and what equipment I use. The products I will be showing you are what I use successfully. They are not an endorsement for any of the manufacturers--I don't receive any royalties nor commissions for mentioning them (although I wouldn't turn down the money if offered).

First, I use an HP DV6000 Pavilion Entertainment laptop. It has a wide screen, built-in microphone, 802.11 b/g wi-fi, three USB ports, a PS 2 port, a printer port, two phone jacks (one DSL), a firewire port, an aircard port, a TV tuner port, a CD/DVD player/burner, Altec Lansing speakers, a mike port, stereo headset ports, and infrared. There is a 160 GB hard drive, 1.6 gigahertz Intel processor, a GB of RAM, and the loathsome, disgusting Vista operating system which I have learned to tolerate. I use a Logitech cordless laser mouse.

To protect the laptop itself, I use Registry Manager, PC Tools Spyware Doctor and Norton Antivirus. To protect my email, I use MailWasher Pro which filters the messages after they are sent from the various email addresses I have and after they have been filtered by their email server. Since I started working with computers in 1972 when they were mainframes to the present day, I have had one virus which was immediately identified and the link offered to remove the virus. Total possession time of virus infection to removal: less than two minutes. I also have LoJack to protect my laptop if it's stolen.

Other cool software I use: Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 (some government agencies and others are still using the older version), MS Streets & Trips and Delorme Street Atlas.

After watching the hackers in "Live Free or Die Hard," I thought the flexible vinyl keyboard they used was pretty cool so I purchased one. Now I'm not limited to the laptop keyboard. This one is full-size and washable.

If I'm in a fringe area for wi-fi connectivity, I use a Linksys booster antenna. It plugs directly into a USB port or I can plug in the stand and move the antenna to a window for better reception.

For backing up the data on my computer, I use three Maxtor drives: two 100-gigabyte drives and a Maxtor III with 500 gigabytes. I have over 100 gigs of music and spoken word files alone. There is also a complete system backup including all documents. That means if anything happens to my laptop, I can take the data from the three drives and load it into the new/different computer. For me, it's much easier than carrying multiple backup CDs.

To create and imprint the CDs of my books, I use an HP LightScribe drive that not only copies the data, it will inscribe the title, pictures or whatever I choose on the disk itself.

Printing, scanning and copying are done on an all-in-one HP 1200 printer. It also prints pictures on photo paper for instant image capture.

For pictures or short videos to upload, I have a Nikon Coolpix digital camera. Mine, however, is silver.

All the above doesn't take as much room as you might think. The three Maxtor and one LightScribe drives fit in a small box. The printer is attached to the top of the CD/DVD storage drawers. The camera is usually in the top zippered compartment of my backback. Everything else fits in a laptop case.

So that's what I have. How about you?

Ready for rain

2008-12-10T09:14:00.000-08:00

I'm in northern California and we're finally going to have several days of rain beginning Saturday. We're having a drought year and really need the showers. Since I'm working in a state park campground, there are several potential problems that need to be solved before the weekend.

It's been cold and foggy here (highs in the upper 40s and lows in the low 30s). The fog has been thick enough to warrant a northern state warning until 11 am most days. Rather than use the furnace that sucks up propane rather quickly and only has vents from the kitchen back to the bedroom, I use a small electric heater in the living area where I work. As much as I would like to keep all the heat in, the RV must be vented. It's not much of an issue in the living area where I keep the heater on top of a file box pointed directly at my knees (pretending it's a fireplace), but areas like the bathroom develop condensation on the ceiling and inside the medicine cabinet. The outside walls inside the cabinets in the kitchen and living area also become damp. The solution is to keep all the cabinet doors open. It looks a little strange but it's better than sponging the walls off and dealing with mildew. If anyone has any other suggestions besides the tubs of Damp-Rid, I'm all ears.

A couple of the volunteers who work here have cars and I can hitch a ride to do laundry. If I know a storm is coming, I like to have clean clothes folded and stashed indoors.

Another chore I try to handle before the rain falls is taking out the trash. The big covered can is only 25 feet away from the RV but it's under several trees and sits on dirt. When it rains, I need to be careful not to slip in the mud while lifting the heavy lid (to prevent our raccoon, fox, coyote and feathered friends from playing with the trash).

I'm a big fan of listening to the rain on the roof and have no problem hunkering down inside the RV for a few days. Rainy day activities include making soup or stew in the crockpot, alphabetizing CDs and DVDs (OK, I'm a little obsessive), tweaking the laptop and back-up drives (where the music and spoken word CDs reside), listening to all the Christmas music I've collected (minus "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" and Alvin and the Chipmunks), watching the Christmas DVDs and napping. I always sleep well when it rains. There are flannel sheets on the bed, a quilted bedspread and a sleeping bag rated to zero degrees on top. I don't use a heater at night and I'm toasty warm.

Usually, I start the day with coffee and I keep several types on hand. During the rain, however, I brew tea to have with shortbread cookies or scones. Baking the scones also warms the RV and keeps the moisture down.

What do you do during the rain?

Solo, vegetarian and thankful

2008-11-24T14:29:00.000-08:00

It's Thanksgiving again and here I am, a solo vegetarian working at the state park on Thanksgiving Day. When I was a carnivore in or close to the big city, it was easy to add me to a friend's table. If I were going to be in San Francisco, my friend and the co-author of my convection oven cookbook, a brilliant and talented chef, would invite me to her home, and prepare both turkey and a veggie entree. I would sit with family and friends to give thanks and share the delicious meal. Or I would head to one of the shelters to help serve dinner to those in need.

I'm not in San Francisco and my co-workers all have nearby families or dinner plans. This year, I'll make a special dinner for myself and have leftovers for a couple of meals. Here is the menu:

Black olives, carrots and stuffed celery
Baked butternut squash half stuffed with quinoa
Baked cranberries with diced Granny Smith apples
Baked yams
Chunky mashed red potatoes with mushroom gravy
Sauteed fresh mushrooms and baby peas
Squash tart with whipped cream (the other half of the butternut squash mashed with nutmeg and cinnamon in a tart shell)
Double Dutch chocolate coffee with white chocolate mint creamer

The whipped cream keeps the meal from being vegan.

One year, I tried eating Tofurkey as an alternative and I only had one objection: it tasted fine, but I was still chewing it at Christmas. Then the company offered Tofurkey jerky and I said, "Why?" So this year, it's squash and all the trimmings.

I will be thankful for my many blessings and toast absent family and friends. I hope all who read this will have a wonderful day and enjoy the bounty.