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Newsletters
Nothing in this site is copyrighted -- I'd be honored if you'd reuse anything you find here for your website
In January 2003, I decided to start producing a periodic newsletter Retirement Tips and RV Stuff. Below, you'll find a copy of the newsletters to date. If you'd like to get on the distribution for the next newsletter, send me email at rjhoffman@yahoo.com.
Table of Contents
If you're looking for a specific topic in one of the old newsletters, the Search box on the right will find it for you. It will also point you to other references to the topic throughout the website.
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Retirement Tips and RV Stuff Newsletter
Issue 2005.05 May 2005
Publisher, Bob Hoffman - rjhoffman@yahoo.com
Back Issues at - http://www.retirement-tips.com/newsletters.html
PRIVACY STATEMENT: This newsletter's email addresses are never sold or otherwise made public.
If this is too long to read in the email, go read it at - http://www.retirement-tips.com/newsletters.html.
If you're receiving this by email and don't want it, just email me and I'll take you off my distribution list.
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THE DEMISE OF STAR TREK
Many of those in my generation, as well as generations that preceded and followed, have been watching various Star Trek series for many, many years. Unless something really unexpected occurs, next week on May 13, 2005, the last NEW Star Trek episode will be aired. There will, of course, continue to be reruns of all the old episodes for years to come, but this is the first time since the first episode on September 8, 1966 that there's no new Star Trek on the horizon. I, for one, am going to miss them, as I've followed most all the way from start to finish. I'm not as much of a Trekkie as others that I know, in fact I can't even say anything in Klingon, but I'm still saddened that there'll be no more new adventures to look forward to. So I'll be watching that last two-hour Star Trek:Enterprise with a tear in my eye.
For those who didn't hear about it, there was a guy named Tim Brazeal who was so intent on getting Star Trek to continue that he started the website http://www.trekunited.com/ and supposedly raised $3.1 million to fund a fifth season of Enterprise. Paramount turned down the funding offer and skeptics accused Brazeal of running a scam. I don't know what the real truth is there, but it sounds like there ain't going to be any new Star Trek after next Friday, the 13th -- interesting day to end a series.
So here's to all the years of Trek, with its well-known quotes and SciFi terms. Who doesn't know what a phaser or transporter is? It's almost like they're real, we've seen and heard them so many times. Who hasn't considered trying to buy a Tribble of their own? Who doesn't recall James Kirk's "Ahead, Warp 6" or "Beam me up, Scotty", which is attributed to him but which he supposedly never really said. Then there's Mr. Spock's "Live long and prosper." The other captains .. Captain Picard "Make it so", Jonathan Archer "Engage", and what did Janeway say? I can't remember that one ... if fact, I didn't really remember many of them. I got most of these from Joyce's son, Steve, who didn't even have to look them up. I forgot to ask him about memorable things that Janeway said. Maybe she didn't, after spending all that time in the Delta Quadrant. I also don't remember much about Captain Sisko. I wasn't much of a Deep Space Nine fan, since there were other Trek series going on at the same time and they were mobile (deep space RVers) rather than "station-locked" as the DS9 group. Beyond the captains, there were also some others that come to mind. Any Borg you meet saying "Resistance is futile." And finally, there's Lt. Worf and his "nuqDaq 'oH puchpa''e'." That's Klingon for "Where is the bathroom?" Click on it to hear how it's pronounced. You may have to download it, before it will play -- I did. If you'd rather not download a strange file, that's ok. The sound isn't that exciting anyway. To hear more Klingon, you can go to http://www.kli.org/, the Klingon Language Institute website. That phrase was the one I usually attack first when I'm learning a new language, so I thought it might be worthwhile here -- you may need it on your next visit to Klingon space.
So ends my tribute to the demise of Star Trek.
New Newsletter Sections: I've decided to add two new sections, WiFi News and Faux News. The first is in response to interest I've received from RVers looking for what's happening in on-the-road internet access. The second is because my wife, Joyce, won't write her own newsletter and it seems like there's something to be said each month, so I've decided to do a small section for her. If a month comes along that she and I don't paint anything, I'll quietly skip the section.
April Travel: A short fishing trip to Jupiter, Florida. Only got in one day of fishing, caught enough for a few suppers, then the weather got us. Trip was short, but I took enough photos to merit writing Travel Log chapter 65.
May Travel: Joyce is taking me to Cirque du Soleil at DisneyWorld as a gift for my 64th birthday. We're going to go in the RV and spend a few days over in the Clermont and Orlando area. Looking forward to that, as I've never seen one of their shows. Have considered seeing them a few times in Vegas, but we've always chosen another show instead. A couple of other WiFi "sales" trips being considered. Looks like a busy month ahead.
Read on for notes on my latest site updates, some words about how I'd make some money if you guys would buy something off the website, WiFi News, Faux News, Poker Adventures, and wrapping up with my Ramblings on whatever occurs to me between now and then.
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LATEST SITE UPDATES
- Added another fishing chapter to the travel log: Chapter 65. A Good Day at Fishing : Trip cut short, but still a great way to spend a week. Check it out for some surprising photos of hurricane damage in the Jupiter area.
- Spent a bit of time updating the websites of others, but nothing to mention here except the FauxByJoyce.com changes noted below in Faux News.
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FEATURED WEBSITE
- I've found three interesting sites for RVers. The first is http://www.porta-bote.com/14pb.htm, where you'll find some great info on little boats you can carry on your RV travels. The second is probably only of interest to Canadians, http://galaxybroadband.ca/service-plans.php, where you'll find prices for satellite dishes in Canada. Might also be interesting to those of you in the market for a satellite dish on your RV. I don't know if they're cheaper in U.S. or Canada, but here's your chance to compare. Finally, a wierd little website that I found that supposedly tells you where you are: http://www.ip2location.com/. However, it told me that I was in Atlanta, Georgia using the BellSouth server. I am on BellSouth DSL and maybe their server is in Atlanta -- don't know. Anyway, it's purported to be useful if you connect to a WiFi network and are interested in knowing where/whose it is.
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TRYING TO MAKE A FEW BUCKS
Here's a list of some interesting products, some of which will make me a few bucks if you need them and buy them here:
- Camp at Half of What Everyone Else is Paying! No home park, no monthly maintenance fees, no long-term obligation, just pay the small annual fee and camp for half-price. Check it out here.
- 50+ ways to get to the internet when you're on the road! Read'm at Internet On The Road.
- Amazon Books : Buy from Amazon through this link and I get a couple of bucks -- Click here to check them out.
- Dream Lifestyles to Go! Great electronic books for $12.95 that download to your computer immediately. All about How to Get a Life By .... whatever .. you fill in the blank. Check them out here.
- Dream Jobs to Go! Great electronic books for $12.95 that download to your computer immediately. All you need to know about How To Break Into ... whatever is your dream job. Check them out here.
- Earn Money While You Camp! Join WiFiRV as an affiliate, either a lead generator (tell us about campgrounds that need WiFi) or a sales representative (assist in the selling of WiFi systems). Go to my Internet On The Road (IOTR) / WiFiRV page http://www.wifirv.com/assoc/iotr/ to learn how you can earn hundreds for a few hours work.
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FAUX NEWS
As I mentioned in last month's newsletter, we spent some time working on a really nice home on the Indian River in Melbourne Beach. See photos at http://www.fauxbyjoyce.com/ : Riverview Project, where we did faux painting plus a nice palm tree mural. Also check out the Indian Harbor Project, where Joyce did a neat mural on a wall fountain.
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WIFI NEWS
It sounds like Greenville, South Carolina is really jumping into the WiFi business with both feet. Their Greenville County Library is entirely WiFi'd, so you can use your laptop anywhere in the building, instead of having to walk back to a "computer section" every time you need info from the internet. Great idea! Greenville is also considering putting free WiFi all over their downtown area. The article I read in the Greenville News also referred to a network in Philadelphia, so I guess they've already done it there. I expect that many of these will start out free, just as many internet businesses did, until they find out that a) it gets very costly to provide a service like that with no payback, and b) if they charge each user a small amount, the system will pay for itself, plus give them some profit.
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POKER ADVENTURES
I'm finally making some progress in tournaments! A couple of months ago, I read an article by Howard Lederer with tips on winning Sit-And-Go's. To quote Howard "The Sit N Go (SNG) is online poker's great gift to the aspiring tournament player." I've now played many of those and am actually doing really well, coming in the money about 1 out of 3 and winning 1 out of about 6. That's helped me do better in real tournaments, placing in the money several times, but not yet winning one. I plan to hit the Sun Cruz casino ship next week to see if I can carry my online success on to a live game, just for fun. We'll see ... I plan to write a new chapter on it in my Secrets for Winning Online Hold'Em Poker Ebook+Webbook, as soon as I have learned a little more about them.
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RAMBLINGS
I've got some really diverse topics to ramble about this month. The first will be of interest to anyone who gets leg cramps. The last two should be interesting to anyone who spends time on a computer -- isn't that just about anyone who's reading this?
Leg cramps - I get them now and then, but usually know why. A couple of weeks ago, I started getting real bad cramps in my calves, but I hadn't done anything except start on a NutriSystem diet. Don't know if that caused them, but I decided to try to figure out what to do. I'd always thought that all you could do was try to massage them out and maybe put some Flexall or Icy Hot or whatever on them. I looked them up on the internet and was dismayed at what I read - seems that the only remedy they could suggest was topical creams -- I was doing that and it wasn't doing much good. The page I read also said that cramps in the calves were so common among the elderly (that's us) that they were sometimes considered normal! I certainly hope not! Well, as luck would have it, I was whining about this to my fishing buddy and he, who plays alot of tennis, told me to get some Tums Extra Strength. I did and took one the next time I got a cramp. Wow! It went away almost immediately. Have used them several times since and they always seem to stop the cramp. Nobody seems to know why, but it works!
Phishing Link Virus - If you have email, you're probably familiar with phishing, a new pastime of those wierd hackers who take pride in messing up as many computers as they can. If you receive an email apparently from your bank or Paypal or your credit card company, asking you to verify your username, password, or whatever is used for security, that's one of those hackers "phishing" for your information. But, I learned something new the other day. I was teaching my non-computerized fishing buddy about internet and emails, when I noticed one of the phishing emails in my inbox. I went to show him how realistic the fake bank website looked, so clicked on the link in the email. Immediately, a Norton Anti-Virus alert popped up, telling me that I was trying to download some horrible virus and asking what to do. I cancelled it as fast as I could! I then noticed that the link ended with something.asp, I guess an executable file at the link. The moral is to not even click on those links out of curiousity! Thank goodness for the anti-virus software!
Mozilla Browser - When you go online, in case you're not aware of it, that program you probably use (unless you're an AOLer) is called a browser. Most of us use the Microsoft Internet Explorer, because Bill Gates kindly provides that with his Windows Operating System for free, much to the chagrin of competitors, European courts, etc. A few of us use Netscape. I have a copy, because I've found that some graphic images that won't show up on MS IE will show on Netscape. A month or so ago, I heard or read about a new FREE browser that was available by going for a free download to the http://www.mozilla.org website. I got a copy and tried it out and really like it. It has the tab option that Netscape does and MS IE doesn't, plus some other neat features. Plus, it's alot prettier ... LOL. The only problem I've noted is that some websites, like Yahoo.com, have features that will only work with MS IE. For that reason, I still use MS IE to read my Yahoo email, but open Mozilla for everything else. If you're adventurous, you really ought to try it out! You might like it better than what you're using now!
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Email rjhoffman@yahoo.com to sign up for the next newsletter, coming whenever I'm in the mood again.
Permanent Mailing Address: R. Hoffman, 1033 Jacaranda Circle, Rockledge, Florida 32955.
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Retirement Tips and RV Stuff Newsletter
Issue 2005.06 Jun 2005
Publisher, Bob Hoffman - rjhoffman@yahoo.com
Back Issues at - http://www.retirement-tips.com/newsletters.html
PRIVACY STATEMENT: This newsletter's email addresses are never sold or otherwise made public.
If this is too long to read in the email, go read it at - http://www.retirement-tips.com/newsletters.html.
If you're receiving this by email and don't want it, just email me and I'll take you off my distribution list.
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FLYING TIME
Like they say, time flies when you're having fun. I've been retired (this time) 5 years as of July 2005. On one hand, it doesn't seem that long -- seems like just yesterday that we were driving down to Florida, looking forward to living on the beach and wondering how long our IRA would hold out. On the other hand, we were just talking the other day about how long it's been since we had to worry about getting stuff done on weekends, planning a two-week vacation and dreading the return to work, and dreaming of travelling anywhere, anytime we wanted (as long as we could afford it). Well, things have worked out well -- partially due to good planning, but largely due to dumb luck. Sort of like the Stock Market and Hold'Em Poker. The best part of it is that we're both enjoying what we do, much of our enjoyment being in money-making endeavors. I've got my website work, which brings in a little, and Joyce has her Faux Painting, which brings in a little more. Recently, I've been spending as much time painting as web-working, but I can't complain -- it's not terribly hard work, it allows us to spend "quality time" together, and we get paid for it. It's also kind of neat when we complete a job and the customer is over-joyed at how nice everything turned out. Bottom line is that Joyce is doing some great murals, artwork, and faux painting, and people always rave about the work when it's done. I seldom get raves on my websites work ... LOL.
Every month, when I sit down to do this newsletter, I try to first think of RV stuff, since that's part of the title and that's where the interests of many of my readers lie. Since I'm not doing much exciting RVing these days, I generally end up pointing to interesting RVing articles I've read or to my Travel Log, where I record what RVing adventures I do manage to have. I was writing Chapter 66 yesterday, all about travel without photos and photos without travel, when I realized that I've averaged about one chapter a month since I started RetirementTips.com in August, 1999. That's a bunch of writing! Either I'm doing interesting stuff or at least I think I am. So, if this newsletter ends up leaning more toward retirement than it does RVing, I guess that's okay. The RV stuff is still in the Travel Log.
When I published my 1984 book, Retire and Travel for $1000 a Month, I thought we'd be full-timing from the time we retired in 1992, on through "eternity." When I published my 2004 book, Retire and Travel - 20 Years Later, I explained how the "retirement plan" in the first book sort of worked, but sort of didn't go exactly as planned. Taken together, I think they're bound to provide at least one or two insights into retirement and RVing. If you don't get at least one good idea, I'd be surprised. If you don't laugh a couple of times, I'd really be surprised. I wonder if there'll be a "40 Years Later"? 83 and still RVing? ... possible. In the meantime, I'll keep writing as long as you guys keep reading.
As I note in Chapter 66, we took a few short trips this month, saw a neat show in Orlando, I decided (again) that I don't like live poker as much as online, and Joyce and I did a small paint job in a condo on Satellite Beach. Probably the biggest thing RV-wise was that I met a lady that's got a really great 2004 Cruise Master for sale and she asked that I advertise it on my website. You can check it out at AlmostNewRV.com. I toyed with buying it, but Joyce convinced me to stay with the Damon. The Georgie Boy is a bit newer, classier, bigger, has one more slideout, ice-maker, automatic jacks, fancier interior, ... but I guess I don't really need a new RV.
Guess I'm sort of rambling today, but I'd like to close with an observation about RVs and bikes. I don't know if it's just me or if other RVers feel a little affinity toward motorcycle riders, but I certainly do. I feel like we both are sort of rebels, living a little out of the mainstream. We both enjoy the thrill of the open road and look forward to seeing what's around the next bend. And we both like to have rallies where we show each other our vehicles and talk about the newest innovations in RVs (or bikes) and about our adventures exploring our country. I philosophize a little more about this affinity in my latest Travel Log chapter. Is it just me or do other RVers feel this way?
May Travel: Joyce took me to Cirque du Soleil at DisneyWorld as a gift for my 64th birthday. We went in the RV and spent a few days over in the Clermont and Orlando area. Read all about it in Travel Log chapter 66.
June Travel: Going next week to Tampa for another of those fun surgeries at the VA hospital there. This is one of those occasions where we really appreciate the RV, as it would be a real challenge if we didn't have it. I doubt we'd find a hotel that would take four little doggies and I'd just as soon not pay for their boarding for 5 days. As it is, we go over the day before, stay as long as necessary, and return when we're ready. After that, I've got more WiFi travel plans, depending upon what follow-up visits the doctors decide to plan for me. We're looking forward to travelling over to the Naples/Ft. Myers area sometime this summer, Alabama for a Joyce class reunion in August, the Carolinas in September ... no time to be sick.
Read on for notes on my latest site updates, some words about how I'd make some money if you guys would buy something off the website, WiFi News, Faux News, Poker Adventures, and wrapping up with my Ramblings on whatever occurs to me between now and then.
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LATEST SITE UPDATES
- New travel log entry: Chapter 66. Travels Without Photos : Around the state verbage, with around the neighborhood photos.
- Added the 2004 Cruise Master to my used RV sales pages, then attached AlmostNewRV.com to them.
- Addition to FauxByJoyce.com as noted under Faux News below.
- Created SabalGrove.com, as noted under Featured Website below.
- You may not notice the difference, but all the websites that I manage, except RetirementTips.com, are now under the new Homestead QuickSite Builder. The only difference you might notice is that all those pages are now centered on your screen, instead of being left-justified. As time goes on, however, you may start noticing some improvements, due to the new options now available to me. Took me about 10 hours to update them all, but well worth the effort, I think. Not exciting? Is to me ... :)
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FEATURED WEBSITE
- You wanna see where I live? Go to SabalGrove.com. I've been thinking for quite some time that we need a website, so finally just built one. Not exciting? is to me ... :)
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TRYING TO MAKE A FEW BUCKS
Here's a list of some interesting products, some of which will make me a few bucks if you need them and buy them here:
- Camp at Half of What Everyone Else is Paying! No home park, no monthly maintenance fees, no long-term obligation, just pay the small annual fee and camp for half-price. Check it out here.
- 50+ ways to get to the internet when you're on the road! Read'm at Internet On The Road.
- Amazon Books : Buy from Amazon through this link and I get a couple of bucks -- Click here to check them out.
- Dream Lifestyles to Go! Great electronic books for $12.95 that download to your computer immediately. All about How to Get a Life By .... whatever .. you fill in the blank. Check them out here.
- Dream Jobs to Go! Great electronic books for $12.95 that download to your computer immediately. All you need to know about How To Break Into ... whatever is your dream job. Check them out here.
- Earn Money While You Camp! Join WiFiRV as an affiliate, either a lead generator (tell us about campgrounds that need WiFi) or a sales representative (assist in the selling of WiFi systems). Go to my Internet On The Road (IOTR) / WiFiRV page http://www.wifirv.com/assoc/iotr/ to learn how you can earn hundreds for a few hours work.
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FAUX NEWS
As noted briefly in this month's leadin section, Joyce and I did some painting and mural work at a neat condo on Satellite Beach. Check it out under Satellite Beach Condo Project at FauxByJoyce.com. The great thing about this job was that the peon painter (me) finished rolling the paint on the walls in a short time, so while the artiste (Joyce) was drawing murals, the peon painter got to go lay on the beach for awhile. Actually went in the water for a short time, checking out those rip currents I've been hearing so much about.
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WIFI NEWS
Nothing earth-shaking this month, except that I seem to be bumping into WiFi Hot Spots much more often that I ever have before. As noted in my Travel Log Chapter 66, I enjoyed free WiFi during our entire time camping in Orlando, at a park that didn't even think they had WiFi. If you're travelling and have a WiFi setup, simply turn your laptop on whenever you camp -- you might be pleasantly surprised. It may not always be free, but most companies don't charge much more than a few dollars a day for service, usually well worth the money to enjoy the convenience of surfing from the comfort of your RV. If you don't yet have a WiFi setup, check out my WiFi page on my InternetOnTheRoad.com website. You should find enough info there to get you started.
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POKER ADVENTURES
I still plan to write a new chapter on Sit & Go's in my Secrets for Winning Online Hold'Em Poker Ebook+Webbook, but just haven't had time yet. I'm too busy playing .. haha. I'm keeping a record now and have reached a point where I finish in the money in 50% of the matches that I play. Still can't seem to reach success in tournaments, but still enjoying trying. About that live poker -- read Travel Log Chapter 66.
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RAMBLINGS
Two thoughts this month, excesses and rebates.
Relative to excesses, I'm wondering if I indulge in too many things to excess. I went to reserve the domain name www.AlmostNewRV.com the other day and realized that it's my 17th domain name. Is that excessive? hmmm... maybe so. Those domains are only $8.94, until they raise the price, so I just go get one whenever I see a need for it. Many people think that setting up a domain name and a website are a big deal. Most web designers charge a couple thousand to set one up and a few hundred each month for maintaining it. I charge a couple hundred for setup and (generally) $10 a month for maintenance. Why so cheap? It's easy, I enjoy doing it, and I think websites should be available to anybody who has something they want to say to the world. I'm still fascinated by the power of the internet and am always trying to do what I can to bring more free information to more people. I recently set up the domain name www.RoamingHotSpots.com for a friend who has a neat money-making idea for RVers and a couple of others for friends and relatives without the time or expertise to do it themselves. I love it and I guess I'll keep doing it.
Rebates -- hate them! I have never understood the value of them, other than that they allow the vendor to claim more sales dollars and charge more sales tax than they would if they just simply gave a discount. Other than that, I don't really see any advantage to either the customer or the vendor. For the customer, I guess there is the option to charge something on a business account, then put the rebate into a personal account, but that's not really ethical. The main reason that I suspect they're popular is because they're counting on most of us being to busy or forgetful that we'll not apply for the rebate. In some cases, the rebate is somewhat of a scam, in that they keep coming back and telling you that you didn't include one thing or another until you finally give up. How many times have you applied and sent in the UPC barcode, only to get a letter back saying we didn't include the UPC barcode? So what do you do then? They've already got the code you sent and, unless you were smart enough to save a copy, you're out of luck. I've lost somewhere around $100 in rebates on that scam. Related to this is the scam where you're offered a free month or two to try out some new product or service, then they automatically start charging if you forget to cancel. If you do try to cancel, it's often a hassle. Speaking of hassles when you try to cancel -- This month, when Joyce tried to cancel her membership at Curves, she was first told she'd have to wait until June 2nd, when it expired. On June 2nd, we were told we'd have to give them a written notice. We did. Hope it's really cancelled. A bunch of trouble to do something that should have been simple. That's the Hoffman Whine for this month.
Hope you're having a pleasant summer!
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Email rjhoffman@yahoo.com to sign up for the next newsletter, coming whenever I'm in the mood again.
Permanent Mailing Address: R. Hoffman, 1033 Jacaranda Circle, Rockledge, Florida 32955.
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Retirement Tips and RV Stuff Newsletter
Issue 2005.07 Jul 2005
Publisher, Bob Hoffman - rjhoffman@yahoo.com
Back Issues at - http://www.retirement-tips.com/newsletters.html
PRIVACY STATEMENT: This newsletter's email addresses are never sold or otherwise made public.
If this is too long to read in the email, go read it at - http://www.retirement-tips.com/newsletters.html.
If you're receiving this by email and don't want it, just email me and I'll take you off my distribution list.
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WHAT'S YOUR CLAIM TO FAME?
The one I use the most is that I went to High School with Faye Dunaway. She graduated from Leon High School in 1958 and I graduated in 1959. People ask me what she was like - she was one of those cheerleader types in the May Queen court, as I recall. I think she played mama in the Senior Class Play "I Remember Mama." I can usually get by with all that, but am not sure now, since this newsletter is going to several of my classmates. Guess they'll let me know if my memory is faulty in that regard.
This topic has nothing to do with RVers, or even retirees, for that matter, except that both groups are well-known for sitting around reminiscing about "old times" and telling "war stories." What follows falls into both categories.
Whenever I get in a conversation about claims to fame, the subject seems to turn to what celebrities we've known, seen, touched, or talked to. Mine are few - there's Faye ... then there's the time I bumped into, talked to, and shook hands with Earl Holliman at the apartment house where I lived in Torrance, CA in 1972. Sometime in the mid-seventies, I saw Burt Bacharach in a casino in Las Vegas - not on stage, just walking across the casino. Seeing people on stage doesn't usually count, as most of us have seen famous people in concert - I've seen Tina Turner, Willie Nelson, and (sort of) Elvis. In 1977, for the 20th anniversary of his death, we went to a concert in Memphis that featured many of the singers that had accompanied him, singing along with him on big screens. It was so realistic, I felt like I'd actually been to an Elvis concert. I still kick myself for missing several opportunities to see him in Vegas in the 1970's, because I was too busy playing the slot machines and Blackjack.
But on with the claims - my mother's was that she lived next door to Charles A. Lindbergh during her childhood days in Little Falls, Minnesota. She used to talk about that strange neighbor that had a garage full of bicycles and odd machinery, and how he'd chase them off if they touched anything in that garage.
My wife's is that when she lived in Tennessee, they had a boat in a marina that was parked right next to a boat owned by Dolly Parton. She says she often spoke to Dolly and became friends for a time. Joyce also has an Elvis concert story, but hers was when he was alive. She saw him in concert in Murphreesboro, Tennessee in the 1960's and still remembers how exciting that show was.
Joyce's son, Steve, just came up with a new one last week. Formerly, his related to haircuts. He was a hairdresser for several years and cut the hair of baseball great Mike Piazza. He also tells the story of the guy who phoned his shop once and wanted him to cut his hair in his hotel room. Steve told him it would cost, but the guy said ok. Steve went over and was cutting his hair, with several guys just hanging around. Finally, one of the guys asked him if he knew whose hair he was cutting. Steve said "no", so the guy asked if he'd ever heard of the country singer George Strait. Steve's no country music fan, so he had to admit he hadn't heard of him. Later, he found out that Strait really was famous and so has told the story a few times since. Now, Steve is working with the Transportation Security Agency at the Miami International Airport and, just last week, he patted down (at the security check point) Jesse Martin, who plays Detective Ed Green on Law and Order.
All of this is kind of tongue-in-cheek and I hope Joyce and Steve won't attack me for putting it out here. I think stories like this are entertaining and find it interesting to hear who others have bumped into during their lifetimes. So what's your claim to fame?
June Travel: Took a neat RV trip with Joyce and the doggies down to Ft. Lauderdale to visit Steve, in celebration of Joyce's birthday, then on over to Naples, Ft. Myers, Sarasota, and Orlando. Did a little WiFi selling, wandered into a few good restaurants, and enjoyed camping at several nice campgrounds.
July Travel: Since this newsletter is so late this month, I can talk about July travel in the past tense. I took another of those Atlantic fishing trips, as documented in Travel Log chapter 67. We're still planning for Alabama for a Joyce class reunion in August and maybe the Carolinas in September..
Read on for notes on my latest site updates, some words about how I'd make some money if you guys would buy something off the website, WiFi News, Faux News, Poker Adventures, and wrapping up with my Ramblings on whatever occurs to me between now and then.
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LATEST SITE UPDATES
- New travel log entry: Chapter 67. A Week of Sport Fishing : Shark, Marlin, Sail, Bonita, Barracuda ... fun, sun, and excitement, but no food.
- Addition to FauxByJoyce.com as noted under Faux News below.
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FEATURED WEBSITE
- Check out www.ACohezio.com : A cohezio means cohesion, a term that means something to glass-blowers. This site is selling machines for use by glass-blowers. I set it up for Peter Csige, a friend of my cousin, Bruce. Peter is from Hungary and has been a glass blower for many years. He decided some time ago that the best way to get the kind of machines he needed for his work was to build the machines himself. He's now started a business, selling the machines, and this website shows a few of them.
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TRYING TO MAKE A FEW BUCKS
Here's a list of some interesting products, some of which will make me a few bucks if you need them and buy them here:
- Camp at Half of What Everyone Else is Paying! No home park, no monthly maintenance fees, no long-term obligation, just pay the small annual fee and camp for half-price. Check it out here.
- 50+ ways to get to the internet when you're on the road! Read'm at Internet On The Road.
- Amazon Books : Buy from Amazon through this link and I get a couple of bucks -- Click here to check them out.
- Dream Lifestyles to Go! Great electronic books for $12.95 that download to your computer immediately. All about How to Get a Life By .... whatever .. you fill in the blank. Check them out here.
- Dream Jobs to Go! Great electronic books for $12.95 that download to your computer immediately. All you need to know about How To Break Into ... whatever is your dream job. Check them out here.
- Earn Money While You Camp! Join WiFiRV as an affiliate, either a lead generator (tell us about campgrounds that need WiFi) or a sales representative (assist in the selling of WiFi systems). Go to my Internet On The Road (IOTR) / WiFiRV page http://www.wifirv.com/assoc/iotr/ to learn how you can earn hundreds for a few hours work.
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FAUX NEWS
Joyce and I did some more painting and mural work at the condo on Satellite Beach. Check it out under Satellite Beach Condo Project at FauxByJoyce.com. I also finally got around to adding our porch and front sidewalk photos to her site under Rockledge Project. Take a look if you're interested in seeing some great Trompe L'oeil.
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WIFI NEWS
I didn't mention it above, but of the four campgrounds we stayed at on our June trip, all four had WiFi. The last one in Orlando was charging $10/day, so I didn't use theirs, but I made good use of all the others. My real WiFi news this month comes from a Yahoo Forum that I peek at now and then. One article I found interesting was one that talked about a guy in St. Petersburg that got charged with a felony for using someone else's WiFi! That sparked a discussion that's been going on for several weeks now. The consensus on the Forum seems to be that if you turn off the security on your system, you're inviting others to use it. There's another article that talks in some detail about laws relative to WiFi that was also interesting. Finally, Click Here to read about the free WiFi in Dayton.
I guess the biggest WiFi news from my point of view is the agreement that I reached this month with Outdoor Resorts Melbourne Beach to install a WiFiRV setup in their resort. If you're looking for a really nice, upscale resort that's right on the beach, this one is a great candidate. They're just North of Sebastian Inlet, convenient to Melbourne as well as to Kennedy Space Center and all of the Central Florida attractions. They had all that going for them and now they also have WiFi, topping off an already amazing list of amenities.
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POKER ADVENTURES
Between the travelling and the fishing this month, I'll bet you think I haven't had much time for Poker. Not so! Wherever there's WiFi, there's Poker. Still playing, still winning, still losing, still having fun. Also making money on that 100 shares of HET (Harrah's) stock I bought back in February 2004 for $50/share. It closed today at $76. Wahoo! I figured they'd do good when they bought Binion's Horseshoe Casino and the rights to the World Series of Poker. One of my few correct moves on the market in the last 5 years.
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RAMBLINGS
Believe it or not, I don't have much to ramble about this month. It's beyond mid-month, so time for this newsletter to go out, so I'll just put in a few words here and get it mailed out. Speaking of mailing it out, those of you on AOL probably have noticed that you've missed some of the newsletters. Seems that AOL has some kind of monitor on their server that notices if too many people (in their opinion) are receiving email from the same source. So, if I send the newsletter to too many AOLers, they all bounce. I know a guy that has a way around this, but he hasn't had time to help me out yet. In the meantime, I guess you'll just have to stop by occasionally to see if the new monthly is out here yet.
I understand AOL's concern about SPAM and their efforts to thwart it, but it's sort of like trying to keep guns off the street. You can put up barriers, but the real criminals know how to get around them. If my buddy, who isn't a spammer, knows how to get around AOL, then their gimmick is only bothering those of us who are trying to send valid emails to a large number of their users. Sort of like honest people not being able to get a gun to protect themselves, but criminals having no problem getting one whenever they want one. AOL has made several attempts at this and each one seems to be futile and short-lived. Hope their current one gets dropped soon. If you're like me, you don't really think about a particular newsletter or periodic email until it arrives. You don't go looking for it, unless you've got alot of time on your hands.
For example, Chuck Woodbury recently started sending emails pointing to his weekly newsletter, instead of including the newsletter in the email as he had formerly done. I think that was to get around those "spam-catchers" that kick out email based upon its length - another stupid idea. But, in the new mode, I occasionally skip reading Chuck's newsletter, which I formerly read religiously every week. Just that extra step of opening a new window to read the newsletter is sometimes enough to cause me to skip it. If I didn't even receive the email, I probably would never take the time to check it out, even though it's one of the best I've ever seen.
I don't know how Yahoo! Email identifies Spam, but it seems to work MOST of the time. I still scan through the titles on all of the emails in my Spam folder, because a good message will land there every now and then. In my mind, the solution to Spam is to enforce that law passed a year or so ago that puts a $3M fine on Spammers. Since it got passed, I haven't heard of a single Spammer that has really been stopped. Instead of trying to identify Spam after it arrives, the geniuses should be trying to stop it from being sent in the first place.
And that's my soundoff for this month! Hope you're enjoying the summer!
Neat website for old-timers: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/sheep/reaction_version5.swf to take a reaction test. Kind of cutesy, but seems to accurately measure your reaction time.
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Email rjhoffman@yahoo.com to sign up for the next newsletter, coming whenever I'm in the mood again.
Permanent Mailing Address: R. Hoffman, 1033 Jacaranda Circle, Rockledge, Florida 32955.
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Retirement Tips and RV Stuff Newsletter
Issue 2005.08 Aug 2005
Publisher, Bob Hoffman - rjhoffman@yahoo.com
Back Issues at - http://www.retirement-tips.com/newsletters.html
PRIVACY STATEMENT: This newsletter's email addresses are never sold or otherwise made public.
If this is too long to read in the email, go read it at - http://www.retirement-tips.com/newsletters.html.
If you're receiving this by email and don't want it, just email me and I'll take you off my distribution list.
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MARS COMING SATURDAY! NOT!!!
This newsletter is going to be about trivia. I was in somewhat of a rebellious mood this month and almost didn't do a newsletter, just to see if anything would happen -- like the sky falling or whatever. Then, I decided that I'd really like to make sure that nobody misses Mars, so here 'tis.
Did you know that the most often searched term on Ebay is "RV"? How about that? Heard that on the national news yesterday, amid a piece about gas-guzzlers, the price of fuel, etc.
Did you see the Perseid meteor shows on August 11-13? Supposedly, they lit up the night sky Thursday and Friday nights, with the prospect of seeing a meteor every minute on average, provided the sky was clear and the observer was in a dark area. Skywatchers in temperate northern latitudes were best placed to see the spectacle. Astronomers predicted this year's best meteor viewing to be Aug.12, although excellent displays would be visible in the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 11 and 13. Well, I tried to get out at "pre-dawn" each night, but never saw any meteors. Soo-o-o, I wonder if Mars is really going to be large this Saturday night (August 27, 2005)?
I got an email about this back in July. Didn't check it out on snopes.com, but assume it's true. Read on ... The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month (July) and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. OOPS! I wrote this without first checking snopes.com. After I got an email from a reader, I went over there and did a search on "Mars". Seems this email went out in 2003, when the close passing of Mars actually occurred. In 2005, it comes fairly close in October, but not nearly as dramatic as it was in 2003. Sorry about that! I always check snopes when I receive a questionable email, but this one sounded so true that I neglected to do so -- shame on me! I'm leaving the Mars stuff in below, but it's not true. To continue ... The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again. The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification. By August 27, Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share this with your children and grandchildren. NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN...
My last trivia - probably only of interest to those who build websites or have one of their own. I read in Time Magazine that the Google Search Engine prioritizes their entries on (among other things) the number and quality of links to your website. How about that? I had no idea. So, to get viewed more often, all I need to do is make sure that a bunch of other websites link to mine! And they should be high-quality. Anybody got a high-quality website where they'd like to put a link to RetirementTips.com?
Oh ... and one more. I got an email warning that there's a new virus out that's really smart. This one puts something on your computer that allows the "owner" to access your system through a chat window! Wierd! But, here's the kicker! It then fixes your browser to block you from accessing the anti-virus websites (Norton, McAfee, etc.), so you can't download patches to kill new viruses. Now, is that innovative or what?
July-August Travel: Travelled to Guntersville, Alabama for Joyce's 45th high school reunion. We've been to several of these and always have a great time. If any of you are ignoring your reunions, don't! Unless your class is really different from most, you'll enjoy yourself. At our age, all the cliques are gone, people aren't spending so much time trying to impress one another, and you mostly just have a good time. Only downside was the heat and the gas prices. We got by that though, and enjoyed a weekend of eating, drinking, and a bunch of war stories. But, guess what? I forgot my camera at home! So, no photos and no chapter about the trip.
September Travel: Plan is to go to visit my nephew and his wife (Steven and Sandra) in South Carolina the last week in September. It sounds like it's going to turn out to be somewhat of a family reunion, something our family hasn't really gotten into. At least it'll be a little cooler then (hopefully). I wonder if gas will be over $3 yet.
Read on for notes on my latest site updates, some words about how I'd make some money if you guys would buy something off the website, WiFi News, Faux News, Poker Adventures, and wrapping up with my Ramblings on whatever occurs to me between now and then.
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LATEST SITE UPDATES
- Interesting, I've been so busy that the newsletter barely made it before the end of August, but I don't have any significant site updates to mention. Been tweaking, working on the websites of others, but nothing of any importance added to RetirementTips.com, InternetOnTheRoad.com, or FauxByJoyce.com.
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FEATURED WEBSITE
- Check out www.VirgilAllenWulff.com : I've mentioned this site before, but here 'tis again. In case you don't recall, Wulff is an old friend who is trying to make it in the authoring business. His specialty is metaphysical mysteries, but he's now branching out into Science Fiction. He and I are collaborating (if I ever get off my butt and do my share) on a new novel about aliens, an RV trip, and Las Vegas. I highlighted his site back in April because we'd decided to put his Deadlihood novel out there free for your enjoyment - there are now 4 chapters there and one is added each month. This month, I'm including his site again because he's about to go on the radio! Go on over there, click the Wulff on the Radio icon, and read all about it. If you tune in, feel free to phone in and ask questions. The more questions, the better the show will turn out. You'd be helping out a starving artist, struggling retiree, soon-to-be-famous, author.
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TRYING TO MAKE A FEW BUCKS
Here's a list of some interesting products, some of which will make me a few bucks if you need them and buy them here:
- Camp at Half of What Everyone Else is Paying! No home park, no monthly maintenance fees, no long-term obligation, just pay the small annual fee and camp for half-price. Check it out here.
- 50+ ways to get to the internet when you're on the road! Read'm at Internet On The Road.
- Amazon Books : Buy from Amazon through this link and I get a couple of bucks -- Click here to check them out.
- Dream Lifestyles to Go! Great electronic books for $12.95 that download to your computer immediately. All about How to Get a Life By .... whatever .. you fill in the blank. Check them out here.
- Dream Jobs to Go! Great electronic books for $12.95 that download to your computer immediately. All you need to know about How To Break Into ... whatever is your dream job. Check them out here.
- Earn Money While You Camp! Join WiFiRV as an affiliate, either a lead generator (tell us about campgrounds that need WiFi) or a sales representative (assist in the selling of WiFi systems). Go to my Internet On The Road (IOTR) / WiFiRV page http://www.wifirv.com/assoc/iotr/ to learn how you can earn hundreds for a few hours work.
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FAUX NEWS
Whatever has been keeping me from my website work must also have been occupying Joyce. There's no new faux stuff to report, but feel free to go wander around FauxByJoyce.com anyway. Biggest news from Joyce is that she tells me I exaggerated her "claim to fame" last month. Seems that Dolly Parton's boat was in fact parked next to Joyce's in a marina in Tennessee, but they never met. Now, I thought sure she'd said they were friends. Oh well, if they'd ever met, I'm sure they would've been ... haha. Sorry about that. I retract that part of my article.
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WIFI NEWS
I read an interesting article in the Yahoo WiFi Forum recently. It was long, but here are the first few paragraphs: When Pigs Wi-Fi, By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, Published: August 7, 2005, HERMISTON, Ore. This is cowboy country, where the rodeo is coming to town, the high school's "kiss the pig" contest involves a genuine hog, and life seems about as high-tech as the local calf-dressing competition, when teams race to wrestle protesting calves into T-shirts. But Hermiston is actually a global leader of our Internet future. Today, this chunk of arid farm country appears to be the largest Wi-Fi hot spot in the world, with wireless high-speed Internet access available free for some 600 square miles. Most of that is in eastern Oregon, with some just across the border in southern Washington.
Sounds great! The article goes on to talk about WiFi in other cities, like Portland and Philadelphia, plus goes on about all the great new uses for WiFi.
My major discovery in the WiFi world this month was that Guntersville doesn't have any - or none that I could find. The campground we stayed in was great, with cable TV and nice big campsites, but no internet access. I actually hooked up dial-up a few times in order to check email. What a let-down from broad-band. I'm afraid I'm one of those spoiled users that can no longer operate at 57k.
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POKER ADVENTURES
Read an article in Time Magazine this month about how the internet is producing more gambling addicts. They even had a little 10-question test you could take to tell if you're addicted. Most questions were like "do you borrow money to gamble with?", "is gambling affecting your work or family life?", etc. I did okay, except for the one that asked if I got depressed when I lose - yeah! I don't get down at a few losses, but sometimes you get a streak when you just can't get a decent hand. That's when you need to be able to read the table enough to decide when it's time to bluff - and I'm not real good at reading, otherwise I'd be playing live poker. Anyway, I don't see a little depression now and then as a real addiction indicator, otherwise I'm addicted to several things, like the stock market. On the other hand, how many people do you think took the test and concluded they were addicts? Somewhere near zero? ... haha.
An interesting side note on that article told about a study that was done at Harvard, where gamblers were hooked up to some type of sensors that monitored brain activity. Did you know that winning stimulates the same centers of the brain as alcohol and drugs? Wow! That lead them to conclude that gambling could be considered a bona fide addiction. However, wouldn't that mean that any activity that involved winning would be included? Like playing Chess, Bridge, Spades, Tiddly-Winks ... hmmm.
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RAMBLINGS
My! My! This newsletter sure has gotten long, considering I didn't feel I had anything to say. Let me close with my thoughts on a topic close to most RVer's hearts - how much you pay to camp. Let me start by talking about staying at Walmart. As you know, many have opened their parking lots to overnight campers. I've done it a few times and I think it's very convenient if the store is close to the interstate, but I don't think it's really a good way to save money if you travel where/when I do. Seldom do we camp that we don't have the air conditioner on. If we stay at Walmart, or any boondocking location, we run the generator all night. I checked years ago and concluded that generators burn about a gallon an hour, so if you park for 8 hours, you burn about $20 in gas at today's prices. You can usually camp cheaper than that at a campground, so looks like Walmart loses out on the money-saving.
My favorite way to save on camping is by using Passport America. To read about it and other camping clubs, check out my Best Camping Club page. Chuck Woodbury had a neat article on the topic a few weeks ago, so I'm going to include his thoughts in their entirety: "QUESTION: What are half price camping clubs and how do they work? ANSWER: The best known of these organizations are Passport America and the Happy Camper Club. An annual membership sells for about $45 to $50. Members can then present their cards at about 1,000 campgrounds around the county that will then provide them with a campsite for half the regular price. The memberships may not be good on certain holidays or in peak camping seasons. The campgrounds participate because they figure that selling a campsite for half-price is better than not selling it at all. But during the times when a campground can easily sell-out at full-price, it may "black-out" half-price campers. Still, a membership in either of these organizations will almost always save most avid campers far more than the cost of joining."
Chuck explains them pretty well there. I'd go a little further by saying that anyone who camps more than 3 nights per year is silly if they don't join up. Whenever/wherever we travel, Passport America is the first thing we look for. If there are multiple choices, we then look to see which is closer to our route and which has cable TV. Beyond that, I of course look for WiFi, but that's not a real factor yet, since so few campgrounds have it. I am, however, trying to correct that malady by offering it to every campground that I visit. Maybe someday, it will be as common as the dial-up offerings are today. I recall about five years ago, when even getting to a phone in a campground was nearly unheard of.
And that's my soundoff for this month! Hope you're enjoying the summer!
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Email rjhoffman@yahoo.com to sign up for the next newsletter, coming whenever I'm in the mood again.
Permanent Mailing Address: R. Hoffman, 1033 Jacaranda Circle, Rockledge, Florida 32955.
