Replacement of Ceiling Fan with a Hunter Fan

Considering that the ceiling fan that came with our Mobile Suites was beginning to make noise, we decided to replace it with a Hunter ceiling fan. We had been thinking of this idea for some time, but we just hadn’t done anything yet because the original fan wasn’t bothering us.

As you will see, this one is a 42’, five-blade fan that is a low profile “ceiling hugger” style. However, this one comes with a light kit. In case anyone is interested in what kind or model it is, here is a picture of the box it came in, complete with name and model number.

One thing to mention is that this fan did NOT come with a plate to cover the bottom should one decide to NOT put the light kit on. So, if one wants to buy a clean looking fan without having the light kit, one might need to see if they can find a similar style and size without a kit.

When we decide to travel, we will have to do two things with the fan before pulling in the slides. One will be to remove the globes from the light kit and the other will be to turn the fan so that an inverted “V” made by two blades faces the “point” of the cabinet over our desk, which are both visible in the picture below. (Our Mobile Suites is a 38TKSB3 with the desk, and the desk has an overhead cabinet that sticks out from the rest of the cabinet.)

The next two photos give an idea of how the fan blade is in relation with the point of the cabinet. It really isn’t much different from the old 4 bladed fan that was in there. We will just want to take extra precautions so things don’t hit each other.

Lights off.

Lights on.

Being a Hunter fan, it is very quiet and smooth running and there is darn little wobble in the two pull chains hanging down. That is an indication of how well balanced the Hunter ceiling fans are. We’ve had experience with about 10 or 12 Hunter ceiling fans and have never had to balance them. I doubt that there is much more than ¼” of “swing” in those chains.

This last photo gives a better idea of the color of the metal.  As with all ceiling fans that we have dealt with, the blades come with a dark side and a lighter side.  We chose the lighter color.

More on Refrigerator Changes of Others

Richard Miller called this evening to give me some idea of what they had done with regards to putting in their Samsung RF197AC refrigerator. Richard doesn’t like to try to write descriptions in e-mails, so we talked via phone instead.

While I can’t recall everything that he told me right now, I’m hoping that as we do our change-over that I will remember more as I see parts in the refrigerator compartment as we move along. I did try to write up a few notes from what he told me, so I’ll try to incorporate them into this posting. Those notes are as follows:

“Richard mentioned that there were some wooden supports somewhere in relation with the top and bottom of the drawer and that one or both of those may need to move.

He built a “box” around the rollers so that a long 2 by board was across the back of the area below the fridge floor. That board was parallel with the length of the coach. Then two other boards were put in somewhere on each side of the slide rollers to straddle the rollers. These all support the floor for the fridge.

He allowed in some way for the distance of the slide movement related with the rollers and the box.

If I remember right, the drawer and/or floor for the fridge (maybe both) was lowered about 1 ¾“.

He also cut crossways on the head of one roller adjusting bolt with a hack saw so that the drawer (I think) didn’t drag on the bottom.

While I don’t remember exactly, some part of the bottom part of cabinet above the fridge was moved up to complete the area above the fridge and make it look good.”

That is the best that I can remember at the moment as to what he did. Now, to complete the posting, I’ll include the pictures he sent me. Perhaps they will serve to give others (as well as ourselves) as to ideas of how to do the modification to keep the drawer.

I’ve asked to see if he can take some pictures of the inside of the “drawer cavity” so we can have a better idea of how he configured the support boards to allow for slide travel. If he can get those to me, I’ll post them as well.

The last two are pretty blurred, but they give an idea of the relationship of the drawer slides with the opening.

I hope this post is helpful to those interested in changing out their RV refrigerator for a residential one.

How About a Prequel?

We have ordered our new residential refrigerator from Best Buy. A number of places can get them, but Best Buy had the cheapest price. Unfortunately, it will be roughly July 12 before the refrigerator gets here for to pick up and install.

Our choice was pretty easy, but took a lot of researching. That is because there aren’t very many residential refrigerators that are small enough to work in some of the RV’s, especially if one is modifying the space of a regular RV refrigerator for a residential one. That one is the one I wrote about in RV Refrigerator Issues and Possible Solution earlier in the month.

Since a number of folks over on Suites Owners International Travel Club (SOITC) have been discussing the issue of replacing the RV fridge with a residential one, I’ve decided to post a prequel to the change over here. There have been at least three couples that have done the same modification to their Mobile Suites, so I’ll post some pictures of their refrigerator and include their comments as to how they did their modification.

This posting will be only about the experience of one couple, as I’ve not gotten permission yet from the other couple that have communicated with us and provided pictures. Once I get permission from the second couple, I’ll do a separate posting in regards to theirs. In one sense, the second couple’s information is intriguing me because they have managed to keep the drawer under their Samsung.

Ron and Libby Gordon’s comments and pictures are what I will put first. When I initially went looking for more information from the third couple that had done the modification, Ron and Libby were only considering theirs. But, the forum thread where they had stated that had been a year earlier, so I contacted them via private message at SOITC’s website and asked for information as to whether they had gone ahead and made the change.

Let me start with the initial comments from Ron, which were in his reply to my private message:

“Hey Terry & Jo, I did remove my Dometic 2 door side by side and replace with a counter size Samsung RF197ACRS, with French Doors and bottom freezer compt. It was fairly simple to change out; remove old fridge, had to remove bottom drawer & framing; side to side measurements were OK; installed 1/2" plywood for bottom allowing about 2 inches to stick out past framing to allow a 1" angle iron to go across to act as a stop so it would not roll out. The doors are the only thing sticking outside the frame and fits good and tight. I did have to make some brackets to secure doors while travelling. Best thing we have done and love it. I do have a built-in generator and I run it while enroute, so fridge stays cold & run the a/c unit also just so unit is cool when we arrive. We don't do lots of travelling since we snowbird in Florida winter. Also with the old fridge out you have lots of room to work from the outside vent covers & filled them foam board since I did not want cold air to enter. The Samsung fridge has a bottom vent below door that pulls air in on one side and vents on the other so no need for rear air intake. I do have about 1/4" on each side of the doors so the sides of the fridge can get cooling, since the condenser cools are built-in to the sides of the fridge. No rear coils!”

I found it especially interesting to hear that the Samsung’s ventilation is all done through the vents in the front of the refrigerator. That should be helpful in avoiding a “warm-up” in the present cavity for the refrigerators.

I replied with questions, which are these:

“Ron, thank you very much for the reply. Now, I just have to try to picture the way you did things, especially there in the front. So, if you don't mind, I'll ask some more questions now, and perhaps more as we get into this project. Jo is getting antsy since we've been having problems with the Dometic for about 3 weeks.

Did you anchor the refrigerator in any way other than the angle iron across the front?

Did you have to lower the floor that the fridge sits on? (Our 2010 38TKSB3 gives us a couple of challenges in that we may have to lower the floor that is the base for the fridge, and we'll have to work around the peninsula counter.)

Regarding this, "installed 1/2" plywood for bottom allowing about 2 inches to stick out past framing to allow a 1" angle iron to go across to act as a stop so it would not roll out." I guess I can't picture where that 1/2" plywood sticking out is actually done. Were you able to not have to cut into the area of the bottom drawer? (The way I see ours (without actually having the Dometic taken out), I may have to cut down about two inches into the area of the bottom drawer plus cut some out at the top and re-trim everything.)

Do you happen to have any pictures that were taken before, during, and after the installation? If so, I would appreciate it if you could send some to me via e-mail. Our e-mail address is millerjnt@aol.com.

With our unit, when I take out the drawer below the refrigerator, I find two slide rollers in that cavity below the refrigerator compartment. I really hope I don't have to go so low that the rollers can't be worked on if necessary.

Would you have any objection with me asking you more questions as we go along? If not, could you provide me with your e-mail address so we can communicate directly instead of via private message. If you could continue to be a source of information for us, I would really appreciate it.

Jo has been researching as well into installing a residential and she commented today that nobody seemed to take pictures of a remodel process quite like I do. So, I guess if we get this done, I'll have to take pictures as we go along.

Thanks again.”

Then came Ron’s answer to my questions and some pictures:

“Terry,

I did have to go all the way to the bottom and then add additional support bracing so it would be solid. The finish trim between the fridge and drawer is just screwed in at each side so that is easy to remove. The plywood was cut to cover the entire bottom area and was allowed to protrude 2 inches out past the outside trim. Just drill large hole for the roller bolt head. This is covered by the plastic bottom vent cover of the fridge so the angle is not visible. I just drilled three holes in the angle and plywood so that I could bolt it in once the fridge is pushed in place. I did install some strapping at the top of fridge and ran it to the outside vent framing just to add some insurance on tipping, but was not needed. It is all hid on the inside. The water line had to be recessed back into the wall so the fridge would not be pushing against it. Connect water line and you already have two 110 volt receptacles to plug into before you make the final push. It just takes some measurements and patience, and is really an easy task. You will not regret it once you get finished.

Hi Terry,

Took some more pictures but sorry I did not take pictures while installing fridge, it would have slowed me down too much. I was on a mission to get finished and never looked up! LOL!

Pic 215 Shows angle blocking roller on fridge also see strap on each front side that attaches at back through lower outside vent cover.

Pic 216 Shows 1/2" plywood protruding out 2 inches also the angle that blocks fridge roller.

Pic 217 Shows vent cover from floor view & is not visible from above

Pic 218 Shows homemade bracket that holds upper doors while travelling using metal bracket & Velcro and can be removed if not travelling.

Pic 219 Shows bracket that holds freezer door, drilled hole for small screw or pin. Bracket stays on after screw is removed, not in way.

Pic 220 Shows how door handles miss the center counter (freezer door handle is under countertop.

As you can see the black shows everything and needs cleaning when we take it out of storage.

Note: The edge of the plywood could be trimmed out with molding if you want to really look professional. Just have not got that energetic yet! This was just my engineering and possibly could have been done differently. Once the Dometic is removed you just look at the opening and take lots of measurements, then it will come together. I will be glad to help in any way possible. The way I look at it, if I can do it anybody can. The Dometic has about 3 screws on each side on the inside and few on the outside from inside the vent covers. I just installed plug in the propane connector which is out of the way. One other thing; the slide rollers are under the fridge and drilling out large hole to allow roller adjustments, but would require rolling out fridge to get to it. Hopefully we will never have to do that. Hope this helps! Ron”

Now, with regards to the pictures and their “number,” the following are in the same order as he wrote above.

215

216

217

218

219

220

Lastly, two images of the finished remodel.

Hey, It’s Just Life

Nothing seems to happen as it is planned.

This month with blogging is just not happening. I had even posted something of a blog challenge idea, which I had fully intended to do this month, but it looks like I’m not even going to get that done. Oh, well. No one else seems up to that challenge either.

We have been having issues with our refrigerator, so that takes some of my time. We had to make some trips to different stores to check the sizes of 2 different Samsung refrigerators. One was an 18 cubic foot model and the other was 20 cubic feet. But, we’ve since decided to just fix the RV refrigerator we have now and try to save that money. After all, our extended warranty is supposed to cover repair or replacement of the RV one.

This last Thursday, our youngest son and I went to a class put on by Baker Photo and Video out of Yukon, Oklahoma. We had gone in there a couple of weeks back and Eric had bought a Tamron 70-300mm zoom telephoto. While checking out the lens, Patricia the sales lady attached it to a used Nikon D300, which is the same model as my camera. Jo ended up buying the used D300 for Eric, so we decided to take this class on cameras together.

When we saw the workbook for the class, I thought to myself that it was going to be a class on the basics of knowing about aperture, shutter speed, and ISO (which is the “film” speed, so to speak.) To my delight, we went into a lot of how to use the digital SLR cameras to best use those three elements of photography. I was also surprised to see that I already had been using those camera settings in the past.

Considering that I’ve never taken a photography class or course before this, it was a very valuable class. Basically, I use my high end D300 like a point-and-shoot camera. I have always set it on “Program” and auto focus and just gone to town taking pictures. What really sold me on the D300 were its metal body, weather-resistance, and the ability to take multiple pictures without having to deal with “shutter lag.”

Shutter lag is that abominable long time between the time one presses the shutter button and the shutter actually operating. A long shutter lag prevents one from getting really good pictures of grandkids. Those little ones can really move fast. Right out of the range of the camera in a flash.

I also learned that the built in flash on Nikon’s and Canon’s DSLR cameras have a tendency to be too “hot,” leading to some images looking like they are washed out. We were shown how to adjust our cameras’ flash compensation to adjust for that “hot” flash.

Today was a different kind of day for me. We got up this morning and Jo decided that it was time for her to put a finish on her sewing cabinet. In the past, we had just built it and then had Alicia and Slade at Rolling Retreats to get us the Suite Oak stain that is supposed to be what we have in the wood of our Mobile Suites.

After helping her get the cabinet outside, she went to work applying the stain on all the surfaces. I did some online research and drank my morning coffee.

We went to get some things at Lowes to help finish off the “look” of the cabinet. We bought some polyurethane finish and some wood trim to put along the top of the back of the cabinet, along the front of the top board of the cabinet, and along the front of the “legs” of the cabinet. We also bought some small nails to attach that wood trim.

After getting that stuff, we went back and Jo stained the wood trim while I did “something” that I don’t even remember. Then I went to attach the stained trim to the edges of the boards and the very first nail caused the end of the trim to split. So, a trip was in order to go back to Lowes and get just a wee bit smaller nails.

After helping to cut and then hold the trim while Jo nailed them in place, I went back inside the coach. Somehow, I managed to get a nap while Jo was out “slaving in the heat” to finish the wood on the sewing cabinet.

Man! What a SLUG I am.

Actually, the above picture was actually taken some time back to show an online inquisitor how far back the love seat recliner went when reclined.  However , you will notice that both dogs thought it was time for some serious nap time with “Dad.”

While the finished look appears to be a bit darker than the original finish of the interior wood, it still has a pretty good look. It is certainly a lot better than the unfinished look in the photo below.

This next photo shows the finished product. Now, we just have to adjust to the smell of the newly finished cabinet until it gets better.

If you’ve noticed pictures of our interior before, you may notice that the chair has changed. We had originally gotten rid of the original furniture for the coach and replaced the two recliners in the door slide with a love seat recliner and the couch in the back with a Euro-chair with ottoman and the sewing cabinet.

Jo has given the Euro-chair and ottoman to her sister in Tulsa and has now put the recliner she had in her office at work in its place. The recliner was originally purchase for her office because she used to have to “pull some all-nighters” while doing updates to the computer systems at work. Those updates cannot be done while other employees are there working, so the all-nighters were necessary.

Sorry for the nonsense that I’ve been posting. I guess I need to get back to posting about vacations and showing more pictures of the places we’ve been.

So, since I’ve had a nap and I took a late shower, it is likely that I will be up for a while.  So, perhaps we need an image of a nocturnal creature?

RV Refrigerator Issues and Possible Solution

A couple of weeks ago, we were in Elk City, Oklahoma at Rolling Retreats to have Slade put in our new dinette set and perform the recall work on the wheels. Well, we’ve since encountered the “familiar-to-others” issues with our RV refrigerator.

While we were at Rolling Retreats, we did check to verify that the inverter we had installed did actually perform. In that test, we found that the refrigerator, being an RV style unit, was not on the inverter. That is because when electrical power is missing from the refrigerator, it automatically switches over to operation on LPG gas.

Since then, we have been dealing with a refrigerator that “works” but not very well. It does do some cooling but not enough to get things down to the proper temperatures. There is a digital readout at the top of the refrigerator that displays the temperature sensed inside the refrigerator part. While it used to be consistently down around 34 to 36, it is up to 51 as I write this posting.

It was that high for a while and eventually got down to about 44 on the display, but it has since gone back up some. However, any movement in the temperatures is very slow in being achieved. For instance, it may take two or three days for the temperature to come back down 2 or 3 degrees.

To a degree, we do have a dilemma. When we purchased our Mobile Suites, we purchased an extended warranty that cost us about $1500. That warranty will pay for the repair of the present refrigerator, or replace it with a like (or one better) model. With one fell swoop, should we decide to use that warranty, it would pay for itself with that repair or replacement.

However, do we really want to replace with another RV refrigerator that might only go another two or three years before it begins to have problems again. Let’s face it; a lot of the RV refrigerators, especially the side by side type are having problems. We’ve heard of these from various sources.

Even though we would have to pay for one out of our own pocket, we are considering a residential refrigerator as a replacement instead. Everyone knows that residential refrigerators have a tendency to last for years without issues. Even though we are leaning towards this option, certain things must come into play.

For one, the residential refrigerator has to fit in the space of the present refrigerator with no issue of the face or handles of the refrigerator hitting the counter when the kitchen slide is drawn back in for travel. Being a residential and no option of running on gas, the power outlet for the refrigerator would have to be wired to a circuit supplied by the inverter when it was operating.

Additionally, since we already have a Honda EU3000IS generator, it would not be much of a problem to fire that up during power outages to keep the refrigerator operating or to recharge the batteries for the inverter. So, in one sense, we are fortunate that we already have an inverter and generator. Those wouldn’t be things we would have to purchase right away. At some point, we will have to replace batteries, but that is always the case with an RV. It would just be 4 to replace because of the extra batteries for the operation of the inverter.

I do have some additional questions though. While our RV does have a form of surge protection, I don’t think it protects against low voltage. So, my guess is that we will need to upgrade to a power protection system that protects against both high and low voltages in campgrounds, RV parks, or mobile home parks. If I understand just a wee bit of these systems, they would help provide “cleaner” power and thus protect the refrigerator and other devices in the RV.

There may be other issues involved with converting from a RV style refrigerator to one that is designed for residential use. I’ll need to check with others, including some very knowledgeable folks on some of the RV forums to see if there is anything I haven’t considered.

We are looking at a Samsung RF197ACPN, which is a French-style door refrigerator with a bottom drawer freezer and two side by side doors on the top. That model is described as being in a Stainless Titanium finish instead of stainless steel. This one is technically just a bit less than 18 cubic feet in size, bur for the two of us, that is a very sufficient size.

We like it that the shelves have a way of “locking” into place, thus not being likely to move around when traveling. There is also a small drawer under one of the shelves that has the capability of sliding side to side under that shelf.

Here are some pictures, the first of which is of course with closed doors.

Next is another photo from the internet that shows the top doors opened.

We went to Sears and found a similar style Samsung. This one was a 20 cubic foot model, and I took a few photos of it with my cell phone. Since I couldn’t get back far enough because of other refrigerators behind us, I couldn’t get better pictures. Sorry about that.

The next two are of the freezer drawer.  That drawer is composed of the main (full) drawer with a smaller drawer on top that also includes the ice bin for the ice maker.  This picture is of that top drawer.

Lastly, this is an image of the bottom of that large freezer drawer.  We like the idea of the drawer style freezer as it mimics a chest type freezer, and those seem to do better with frozen foods.  Less heat is introduced to an open chest freezer than to a freezer that is an upright.

Now, if anyone reading has other questions that I should look into or other suggestions of what I should do, I will gladly welcome all input from others. I certainly want to make sure we make good choices with making such a conversion.

Does This Picture Send a Message?

Sadly, I cannot lay claim to the photo, nor do I know the photographer who took it, but it definitely shows that the end of the tunnel has been reached and glory shines brightly.

Yep, we got the enclosure for the hard drive known as “Life” and it works like a charm. Life even has a shinier look in his new enclosure. Oh, and yes, the critical files on that hard drive have now been copied onto another. I still have a few to copy over, and then I will begin the process of backing up those files even further.

So, please take the advice of one who should REALLY know better (being married to an IT professional and executive), back up your critical and even not-so-critical data so you don’t suffer as I have for the last week.

While I’ve been known as the “King of Overkill,” I suspect I will now overkill the back-ups.

Since I’ve been blessed with retrieving my photos and other important stuff, please allow me to share one with you. This one has made it into my book (which is now also retrieved), and serves as a reminder to me that even young trees “have a heart.”

This tree is a Mimosa, and while many don’t like them and consider them a junk tree, Jo and I love to see them with all their blossoms showing in the Spring season. I had always assumed that the Mimosas only blossomed after a number of years, but this one had begun to blossom after only about 2 or 3 years. This photo was taken in its third year.

It is as if this young creation of God is reaching up to Him and saying, “Look, God. I’m showing Your glory.”

And yes, if you’ve been reading my blog, I’ve used this one before, but this image also sends a message for me.

I offer my thanks to God as well for all he has blessed me with and all the glory of his creation is mine to capture with a camera.

Weekend Waiting and Other Happenings

Did you ever have a problem with coming up with a blog post title? Some just fall into place and others leave one searching, sometimes vainly, for some thought that instantly informs and intrigues as well. Maybe it is the fact that the big “66” milestone has been passed. (And no, I don’t mean Route 66 which travels through Oklahoma City.)

Saturday morning got us up and about to meet up with our youngest son, Eric, and go shooting at H & H gun range here in Oklahoma City. (H & H Gun Range sells all kinds of firearms and archery equipment. They also have ranges for archery, air rifles and pistols, and ranges for handguns and rifles.) After shooting, we were going to go to Mustang and pick up one of Jo’s medical prescriptions and then go out for a belated birthday meal for me. It was belated because at the time of my actual birthday, other things were planned to prevent that small family get-together.

Prior to leaving for the day’s activities, Jo was commenting on how she was irritated that we had not even gotten a notice of shipment for the enclosure for my “Life” on the hard drive for our computer. So, she go online to see if there was any word yet and she found out that the enclosure is in Oklahoma City but delivery won’t be until Monday. They are fulfilling the promise of a 3 day delivery, but we got it without the notice of the shipping of the product.

So, it appears that we will soon see if the “light at the end of the tunnel” gets any better with regards to “Life.” I am still a bit antsy about this whole affair because Eric had some device that was supposed to help one turn a stand-alone drive into an external capable of being seen as a drive and thus copied. However, his device wouldn’t work, apparently because it was somehow related to Windows 98. (Sorry, I don’t understand all that.)

So, off to the range we went. We got there early enough that it was no problem for us to get two lanes next to each other so that we could get our shooting done faster and allow others to shoot as well. Suffice it to say, we had fun putting rounds downrange, but I was reminded of a couple of things, neither of which did I either think to photograph or want to photograph.

First reminder is that one doesn’t want to “mess around” with Jo. At one point she showed me her silhouette target and every one of about 20 rounds was between the heart and stomach areas and inside the outline of the silhouette. One thing I should say in regards to this is that Jo can do that regularly without using the sights on her firearms. It’s kind of like a computer mouse in that you just “point and click,” or in her case it is “point and BANG.”

The second thing I was reminded of was what NOT to do with one’s thumb in a two-hand hold while firing a semiautomatic handgun. (You experienced shooters know where this is going.) Instead of having my left thumb in the right place, it ended up behind the slide of the semiautomatic and the slide’s rearward and forward motion managed to clip the very tip of the thumb. (The reason for no photos of the thumb was because it wasn’t really pretty, even though it wasn’t really bad.) I grabbed my handkerchief and held my thumb in it to apply pressure and continued with shooting, but with one hand instead of two.

As you can imagine, the process of holding a handkerchief to one’s thumb while trying to shoot two-handed leads to being unable to see the sights. Huh. Maybe I ought to follow Jo’s lead and just “point and BANG.” I wasn’t doing as well with my shots as I was trying to sight in carefully and was “anticipating” the recoil, thus shooting off my intended target. Some shots were even out of the silhouette.

We went to Mustang and got Jo’s medicine and then headed north to Yukon to look for a place to eat. While driving up there, we got to talking about camera lenses and Eric had been trying to find a 70-300mm zoom lens that was made by Tamron. So, I suggested that we check at Baker Photo and Video in Yukon to see what they had.

While checking out the lens, the lady helping us attached it to a used Nikon D300 camera body for Eric to see its capabilities. Eric asked if they would “throw in the camera” with the lens. He was joking of course, but the lady said that she couldn’t but told us the price of the used D300. Jo turned to me and told me to go get her purse from the pickup. Eric’s birthday is June 13 and Jo just found, purchased and presented Eric with his birthday present. I know he is pleased, even with a used one, since his camera is a D40 and he has liked my D300’s capabilities.

Baker Photo and Video is conducting a training class with DSLR’s on the 14^th of this month, so Eric and I are both thinking of attending. They told us the class would consist of us using our cameras and lenses and getting one-on-one training with them, all for only $45 per person. Who knows, Jo may decide to take it as well.

The birthday gift for Eric and the birthday meal for me was followed by some shopping for embroidery thread and our normal weekly grocery shopping before going home.

Sunday saw us all getting together again at our other son’s home with his wife and the 4 grandkids. We took our Coleman grill up and grilled hot dogs, had some fun playing with the kids, offered to watch the four kids sometime so Kevin and Amy could have a “date night.” We also found out that Kevin was just hired for a new job with a private company and he will be leaving the Oklahoma Tax Commission in the middle of the month for a better paying job.

Then later today, I received an e-mail from a blogger that I have been following. It is Ted and Cheryl who take about 4 months a year and roam around the different national and state parks. They take some great photos and are avid hikers and kayakers, so they get some great shots. You might check them out at two different online locations. The one with their earlier postings is at:

http://www.outindewoods.blogspot.com/

In our e-mail communications, he commented that he has moved over to WordPress with a new blog as he wants to get away from Google’s tendencies to share user data with others willing to “pay the price” for that personal data. His new blog, which is really a continuation of his old one, is at:

http://outindewoods.wordpress.com/

Following the communicating we did, I checked out both WordPress and Windows Live Writer. I’ve been using Blogger and Windows Live Writer and like the way Live Writer works as a tool for blogging and inserting photos and videos. To my surprise, Live Writer is also capable of working with WordPress, so I am thinking of changing myself. It also appears that one can import Blogger posts over into WordPress, so I am definitely interested. If you are a follower of my blog, stay tuned as I might just be changing the internet address where my blog is located.

Perhaps the “light at the end of the tunnel is getting better since “Life’s” enclosure is supposed to be here tomorrow.  Stay tuned for the exciting news of either a disastrous crash (if it doesn’t work) or happy times for all in my family (if it does work.)