24/7 Chat About Anything

[travelaround]

I think Colorado probably got more snow than North Idaho. I lived there 6 winters but was fairly unimpressed except for that one winter, 2016-2017, when we got about 2 feet of snow that never went away for months. I know what you mean about the snow turning to ice. Anything that was driven on would become icy. I lived in a third floor apartment and recall seeing people spin out as they left the apartment driveway next door, and once people were being stuck to the road, unable to move their cars.

However... my son during that time was a long-haul trucker and his worst snow storm experience was just outside Denver with whiteout conditions, and people were following him as if he knew where he was going.

 

[Qxxx]

I don't think I'll be flying into Amsterdam anytime soon, 6 or 8 sideways landings here, and these are "big" planes.


On a different note, there is apparently some overlook n Death Valley where you can watch the fighter jets practicing low level canyon runs.

 

[Jeffroe]

I used to live on the Lake of The Ozarks, the Warthog fighter bombers would fly low level over the lake and make practice runs using the dam as a pretend target. You could actually see the picket and wave, occasionally they would tip there wings to acknowledge they saw you! Kids loved it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[highdesertranger]

"On a different note, there is apparently some overlook n Death Valley where you can watch the fighter jets practicing low level canyon runs."

Star Wars Canyon is the nick name, Rainbow Canyon is the real name. sometimes the jets can be below the vantage point so you are looking down on them. crazy stuff right there.

highdesertranger

 

[crofter]

Being in the path of military jet fly overs gives me vertigo, so I avoid it, something about the low loud roar rattling my ossicles. Earplugs do help.

Not too hot here in southern AZ, at 103 degrees high for the day. Monsoon is on the way, and flooding reported in Tucson, flood watch in areas around Phoenix. Remember not to drive through water please, and avoid camping in a wash during the monsoon. Link to the current advisory, Maricopa county, Yuma county, La Paz county, and areas around Tucson as well as other areas farther east.
~crofter

Description: link to national weather service site, advisory article.
https://www.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=twc&wwa=all

 

[maki2]

I like airplanes both large and small and I like flying. Although super long trips such as going from Seattle to Paris are rather wearing. One time I got to sit in the cockpit in the observers seat for a 3 hour test flight on a Boeing 757. It was owned by British Airways and had come back to Boeing for a cargo door retrofit. My boyfriend was the Customer inspector for BA which is how I got to take such a fun ride. Aborted landings, stalls, maximum climb rates, etc are all part of a test flight.

 

[travelaround]

You have a strange idea of fun, Maki...

I am hoping never again to be in an airplane.

One of my boyfriends was taking flying lessons - this was about 30 years ago... I went with him and his instructor on one of the flights, feeling that at least she was safe to fly with. However a few years later she was flying with another student and the plane dropped out of the sky over the local air field just before they were supposed to land.

I guess it is because of things like that, that I've got an aversion to flying.

 

[B and C]

Isn't flying actually safer than driving?

When I was a teen, my friends dad had a taildragger Cessna 120. We used to go tree hopping. Fly about 5-6 feet off the ground in a pasture and then popup over the tree line and drop into the next pasture akin to what crop dusters do. The grass airstrip we flew out of occasionally required slipping the plane in to land as a 120 has no flaps. For those that don't know what slipping is, it is turning the plane a little sideways and tipping the forward wing down to lose altitude quickly. Quite exhilarating when you are on the forward side

I still like flying except the TSA stuff has ruined commercial flying for me.

 

[bullfrog]

You don’t want to fly with me! Air Force got me a car to drive after 5 emergency landings and two “lame duck awards” (auto gyration landings) and I was just a passenger. I can’t even ride a roller coaster any more without problems!

 

[B and C]

There was a point in time after the nam that budget cuts made maintenance for the military dodgy IIRC. Like anything, deferred maintenance can bite you in the rear.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Isn't flying actually safer than driving? 

Commercial flying, probably (not counting viruses) but GA, private planes, no. 

It always depends on the way air travel is 'figured'....you remember what Mark Twain said:

There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.

 

[desert_sailing]

Welcome back to a functioning forum everyone!

I hope everyone got lots of to do list items done while everything was in limbo.

 

[B and C]

The thank you button must not be the problem.

 

[wayne49]

"On a different note, there is apparently some overlook n Death Valley where you can watch the fighter jets practicing low level canyon runs."

Star Wars Canyon is the nick name,  Rainbow Canyon is the real name.  sometimes the jets can be below the vantage point so you are looking down on them.  crazy stuff right there.

highdesertranger

Couple of years back some French tourists were killed there when a Navy jet crashed. It is like being on the side of a high speed race track without any catch fencing.

Back in the 1990's, some auto racing corner workers at pro races would have special passes that had "NFW" on them. Meant "No Fence Worker", but were commonly called "No Fear Worker". "No Fear" brand was new around that time, one corner worker would always say "Yes, Fear!" They phased out the "NFW" designation after some crashes had negatively impacted corner workers.

Tip for air travel. Buy and wear disposable anti-viral masks. They do work. I always had a slight sickness whenever I flew to Europe. In 2018 I bought the masks on the way to the Las Vegas airport and wore them on the planes and in the passport control lines in Rome, as well. No sickness that trip. These are not the plain paper masks or pieces of cloth people are wearing lately. Probably impossible to find.

 

[Yohan]

Chat about anything - so long as the moderators/admin haven't already ruled it off topic, like politics. [Check with the forum rules when in doubt about what can be posted here.]

The intention here is to stay in touch with other vandwellers in a friendly manner. I'm not asking for debate issues.

Hello! Was wondering if somebody could help me. I have a question about relay for auxiliary battery. Can my relay hook up to the top terminal of the car battery even if the alternator hook up is going to the side terminal of the car battery? Or do they both need to be hooked up to the same terminal on the car battery?

 

[maki2]

Hello! Was wondering if somebody could help me. I have a question about relay for auxiliary battery. Can my relay hook up to the top terminal of the car battery even if the alternator hook up is going to the side terminal of the car battery? Or do they both need to be hooked up to the same terminal on the car battery?

There is a section of the forum just for electrical issues. There are some experts who read and answer in that area of the forum. Just click on the link to go to it.
https://vanlivingforum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=18

 

[Yohan]

There is a section of the forum just for electrical issues. There are some experts who read and answer in that area of the forum. Just click on the link to go to it.
https://vanlivingforum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=18

Awesome, thanks!

 

[maki2]

Going to be in the 80s next week. Not looking forward to that. There is even a possibility of a 90 degree day in the forecast. I enjoyed the cooler cloudy day we had yesterday.

I did get my trailer hooked up and moved to a different parking place where I could pull through. Now I am working on sorting out stuff and moving it into the trailer. Now as quickly as I or my workshop mate's son would like but it is going.

I will be working harder than a dog for the Today, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Weds I have an 8:00 am appointment to get the brake controller installed in my vehicle. I did get the trailer lights functional and the wiring for the break away switch, battery for the break away and the brake wires to the axle hooked up. I am for the time being just using the 4 pin tail light plug without the brakes. That is fine for this week while just towing around town, my trailer is not all that heavy. They said to plan on 4 hours. No doubt I will be working on trailer projects while they work on the car.

I did make use of the fluorescent orange, magnetic trailer alignment poles I purchased last year. They allowed me to do a perfect positioning for getting the ball on the hitch exactly under the receiver on the trailer! So easy to do it solo! Much easier than when someone is standing behind signalling which way to move and when to stop. One pole sits on the receiver, the other on the ball on the hitch. When you have them in line and the pole of the ball gets moved off then you are ready to lower the trailer tongue right onto the ball.

Of course I have been working like crazy for several weeks now with no days off and very short dinner and lunch times. Everything always takes longer than I want it to. I guess that happens at 70 with a bad back. But the wrist I broke last fall is holding up just fine to the work.

 

[travelaround]

@Maki - so glad your wrist is doing so well.

So, we're back! Good to be back.

Today I had my first Zoom meeting - it was a family reunion with my 3 siblings, 2 cousins, and everyone's spouses. That was fun. I hadn't seen one of my cousins in about thirty years.

 

[VanFan]

I did make use of the fluorescent orange, magnetic trailer alignment poles I purchased last year. They allowed me to do a perfect positioning for getting the ball on the hitch exactly under the receiver on the trailer! So easy to do it solo!

This are brilliant!  Good to hear your wrist isn't giving you too much grief, too.