Hi All: Friday when I paid our Feb rent ? I realized it is our last month in our park for this winter. I can?t believe that we have already been here 3-months ? where has the time gone? The weeks come and weeks go ? somehow it seems it is always Saturday. At 4 PM, the park hosted a Spaghetti Dinner (we want to go so I brought a container to take part of my meal home) – proceeds help raise money for the Christmas for the Needy Campaign. At 7 PM, the Scholarship Fund is sponsored a Benefit Dance as part of furthering education for a dozen local students. Both these beneficial charities need to raise several thousands for each cause. Fun events like this make it a bit easy to reach their goals. Up Beat Music was featured by Alamo Palms resident Howard Bedient. This accomplished keyboard operator and talented vocalist put on a super show. 
In a word, life has been very busy this winter. John took advantage of last week?s perfect climate to refinish some the balance of our kitchen cupboard doors. He is becoming a very accomplished woodworker – each set of doors turn out better than the previous set. His learning curve has been on-going but his end result is close to professional. To say I am proud of him is an understatement because he has definitely stepped out of his box. Temps dropped on Friday but we do expect sunny cool days next week. He may have to wait a day or two to tackle the drawers. Guess Snowbirds everywhere can?t win this winter.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PAST SEVEN DAYS
I try to keep SUNDAY as my relaxation/catch-up day. Last week that meant completing a few more crafts for my Tuesday class. It?s always fun to have an alternative to spending a day at the computer. Of course taking time to enjoy a scoop of sugar-free ice cream plus a bit of cake at the Park Ice Cream Social/Meeting provides a perfect end to an enjoyable day.
On Thursday we hosted a large ?January Explorer RV Club Luncheon? and since we are busy much of the week, I spent the majority of MONDAY composing/printing my handout for the Jan gathering plus I had to print February flyers. Listing and confirming attendees from their emails also takes mega time. Our Jan #?s reached 130 so next month I plan to speed things up with 2-3 check-in spots. I promise registration will be faster.
TUESDAY I had to prepare for my ?Sun Catcher Craft Class? by 11AM ? although class did not start till 1PM ? it takes so long for everyone to gather the beads needed for their design. Many arrived at noon to get a head start. These things are fun and easy ? but they do take about 4-5 hours to make. Fourteen crafters joined me so end result was a big and busy class.
John played pool Tuesday afternoon as a spare for the Alamo Team in a social tournament. That day he won 6 games with 2 losses plus the park also won. Guess you can?t keep a good man down. However on FRIDAY he played in his regular slot with the more competitive ?Mid Valley Pool League? against Casa Del Valle. The Alamo Team lost that day, but John was happy with his two difficult wins and two losses.
WEDNESDAY good friend Bonnie wanted to visit my Dentist Office in Mexico. It was her first experience receiving Dental work across the border so the four of us trekked over to ?Dr Pablo Verastequi?s? office a few stores down from the Duty Free Shop in Progresso. She is extremely happy with the results of her two removable bridges (metal based partials) and especially at the cost of $350 each. However the long waiting times between each step and getting her insurance papers filled out became a bit frustrating. By the way if anyone is receiving dental treatment across the border and plans to claim it on their insurance – be aware that Mexico dentists use a different tooth numbering system than USA or Cda. Your claim will need USA/CDA #?s. If you require assistance finding this tooth numbering on line, send me an email. I found it for my claim form. To round out the day we lunched at La Gloria?s Mexican food eatery in Weslaco. 8)
THURSDAY was our big day this week. 130 Explorer RV Club members and their guests joined together for a buffet lunch at the large Sun Palace Chinese/Mongolian Restaurant in McAllen. Attendees this time called Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and England their main home. 130 Snowbirds from 28 Valley Parks joined together for a fun lunch.
PARK LOCATIONS… Mission, Pharr, Edinburg, McAllen, Alamo, Donna, Weslaco, Mercedes, La Feria and Harlingen. PARK NAMES & # ATTENDEES… Lemon Tree -4, Seven Oaks-6, Americana-2, Canyon Lake-2, Sleepy Valley-4, Valley View-2, Benson Grove-2…. Texas Trails-2, Holiday Village-2… Citrus Mobile-12… Tip of Texas-2, Citrus Valley-2,.. Alamo Palms-4, Trophy Gardens-2, Winter Ranch-4, Casa Del Valle-4… Victoria Palms-10, Palm Shadows-2… Ranchero Village-2, Magic Valley-4, Snow to Sun-4, Leisure World-4… Llano Grande-20, Paradise South-2… Kenwood-10… Sunshine-8, Tropic Winds-2, Lakewood-2. Thanks so much to everyone for coming from across the Valley. This was a super gathering… Pics are posted http://picasaweb.google.com/rv.lifetstyle.consultants
Lin?s in Weslaco is booked for 25 Feb ? I?ll send notices out next week ? let us know if you can join us. I have also come up with a solution to avoid lengthy check-ins. Good news it also looks like there will be a luncheon in March. John and I may not be there, but two others have stepped forward to host that gathering. Details to follow.
Thursday culminated with a trip to Lowe?s in McAllen for new brackets for the refinished cupboard doors and to find wide moulding to fabricate a frame for our TV. We do not want to completely remove the fibreglass box surrounding our TV ? just cut the excess off, John is doing so well with his wood-working that I decided to find another job for him.
FRIDAY morning Bonnie and Doug stopped in to finish hooking up our DVDVCR player before they headed to Mexico. When we still could not get video on the VCR part of our combo player we called ?Magnavox Tech Support? and after much discussion they told us to exchange our unit. Soooo Wal*Mart was my next stop. New unit is waiting for install soon.
We had another return yesterday ? this one to ?Pet Zoom Potty Park? (similar to a Potty Patch), I really wanted it to work but our old girl was afraid of it because the plastic base moved on our tile floor. After using all tricks I could muster I reluctantly decided to return it. Good news ? instead of returning the entire unit, all PetZoom wanted was a piece of the grass area ? I do expect a full refund. Not sure what I will use the base for in the future, but one day I am sure I will find a purpose for it. At least it is flat and stows easy. The spot I had to set aside for use in the MH was limited, plus John & I kept tripping over it. This item was not going to work for our household. Returning it was easy – all in all, this was a very good day.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Life is good when things are busy. February promises to be equally active. Now if only we could look forward to more perfect warm sunny days this winter, life would be perfect. Cool 60 today with bright sunshine ? my computer says Monday and Tuesday will be very wet. Too bad most of us are never satisfied.
We sympathize with the Victims of Haiti, as well as those suffering from major weather such as the extreme cold in much of the north &/or ice storm throughout the US. These guys are constantly on our minds ? guess it is winter whether we like it or not. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they slowly recover. We wish each of you all the best and hope most can avoid upsets like this. Travel safe all ? keep away from those Orange Barrels and Road Gaiters (shredded tires). P&J
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TIPS THIS WEEK
I mentioned the following two products that I love at our luncheon #1-MIST AND GO from the Dollar Tree leaves the shower shimmering. We effortlessly wipe the shower down after spraying even though directions say that step is not necessary. I will take about a dozen of these home with me in April. #2 is DOWNY WRINKLE RELEASER ? lightly spray clothes, pull fabric to straighten and allow item to air dry. Both are on my ?can?t live without? list ? #2 is a bit harder to find but W*M usually has it.
At the luncheon Bev and Marie H shared a neat addition to my ?IN CASE OF EMERGENCY FORM? that I recommend everyone should carry in your wallet. (Don?t have a copy? Send me an email). This two-some added an ?emergency contact form? to the back of their calling card. Great idea ? anything that helps rescuers find our units, our pets and/or to alert those dear to us will work.
__________________________________________________________________________
SAMPLES of My Emergeny notices…
Compliments of ? rvliving.net
RV Lifestyle Consultants ?
Peggi and John McDonald
““““““““““““““““““`
In Case of Emergency
We are ________________
Our RV is parked at ?
Resort/Phone ?????????.
Dates???.?????????..
Pets on board
(type/name)_____________________
During Any Emergency
Please call__________________
Reproduce as required ? fill in a new one each time you change locations. Keep with your driver?s licence.
_____________________________
OR USE THIS ONE….
In case of Emergency
***************
We?re Peggi and John McDonald
Our motorhome is parked at
Resort Name?????????
Phone #???????????.
Dates????????????.
We have two Dachshunds on board ?Maddie? and ?Katie?
During Any Emergency, please call
Peggi?s sister Diane -519 xxx xxxx
___________________
Sample only ? This is the one we use.
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Bev. H also shared he uses a PRESIDENTS CHOICE LD PHONE CARD – It only costs $.04 cents a minute to anywhere in Canada and US. There are no additional charges from any pay phone. People use this card to also call from their home phone as it is cheaper than their regular long distance rates. He has been using this card for a few years and loves it. It works with any phone including cell phones http://www.pctelecom.ca/DefaultTelecom.aspx
George and Donna offered two TIPS FOR DRIVING IN THE RAIN ? #1 Never use Cruise control – your car will hydro-plane on the roadway and you will lose control. #2 Another suggestion is to wear sunglasses during heavy rain. They are supposed to provide a much clearer vision of the road in front of you. I?ve previously received this tip several times and we have tried it with limited success. However test for yourself, every person?s vision differs.
At the luncheon, numerous members told me the MODIFIED ZIP CODE ? numbers in your Postal Code plus 2-00?s ? was working in most places. However if your PC numbers are low – in the 1?s and 0?s category, that may not work. My friend Carol plans to drive to Naples this winter and she has low #?s in her PCode ? so she found other options listed by Dave Hunter author of ?Along I-75?. These suggestions were on his site http://www.i75online.com. Dave states ?the following figures worked at some stations but not all. For credit cards requiring a US zip code before you could pump gas: try different combos using 00000, 11111, 12345, 99999, or the numbers in your zip code followed by 2 zeros?. Maybe even any 5# will work.
Our old dog may have a medical problem that we?ll take care of in the spring. At times through the night she has a potty accident. Yes our bedding is washable, but to protect the mattress we found a very SOFT WATERPROOF MATTRESS COVER. It works perfect and feels so good. Soooo we bought a twin pad of same fabric for the top of the bed. We cover it with their normal sleeping towels and now dealing with or cleaning up accidents is in the past.
Bill receives regular newsletters from Web MD. He shared an interesting one from PetMD. To peruse this site go to http://pets.webmd.com/ There is something for everyone on this site plus a place to sign up for their variety of newsletters. Enjoy
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PROMOS THIS WEEK
*** VIRUS WARNING? Bill passed on there is a new ?Rogue Anti-Spyware? and ?Ransomeware? program circulating. Both these Viruses are in the same family. Once running they will scan your computer and display numerous infections. They will also state it will not remove them until you purchase their program. In reality, the scan results it detects are all FAKE and they don?t actually exist on your computer. If you get either one of these virus, you cannot open any of your programs including Mail washer, Outlook, AVG and most all of the others. However you CAN open Internet Explorer a Free program to get rid of the malware virus. Go to http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ removal virus-removal/remove-antivirus-live
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GOOGLE DAILY RV ALERTS reported?
*** RV Sites are still available for the Olympics, http://rvnewsservice.com/?p=328
*** Redesigned http://www.rvcanada.com presents an inventory and resource web site for RV dealers, RV manufacturers and RV owners in Canada.
*** Venture county Hearts of Fire Charity gather used motorhomes to give to the homeless,.. http://www.vcreporter.com/cms/story/det … less/7603/
*** Always travel street smart. In Alerts this week, one man was stabbed by an acquaintance in a Wal*Mart parking lot ? apparently the attacker had been invited into the RV. In another story a 30-year old woman was raped in a park shower room by a 60 year old man. Always keep your guard up and avoid inviting strangers into your RV.
*** *** rvliving.net is an affiliate with Wal*Mart. http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/cli … =2&subid=0 See Valentine pieces.
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VALUABLE WEBSITES and/or NEWSLETTERS worth perusing this week…
*** RVTRAVEL.COM… http://rvtravel.com/issue413.shtml
*** RVEDUCATION101… http://www.rvuniversity.com/article.php … 9063527648 (NOTE. RVLiving.net is an affiliate ? if you buy, we receive a token?(To EXPLORE RVEd101, please go to this link http://rveducation101.com/cart/shopaff.asp?affid=12.)
*** ADDITIONAL BENEFICIAL INFO covering a barrage of topics can be found at these comprehensive sites http://rvtipoftheday.com; http://www.rverscorner.com; http://www.rvtimes.ca;
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PEGGI’S BOOKS
WOW We are into our 25th year of life on the move and it is still a joyful way to live. To relay that we have ?been there, done that? in most situations is an understatement. My Print Book/E-Books offer mega tips and hints to simplify your getaways. Details on http://www.rvliving.net
**** RV LIVING IN THE 21ST CENTURY the Essential Reference Guide For ALL RVers ? it is a ?must? for everyone. This is not a book on Fulltiming instead it features mega tips on ?How to RV?? 21st Century is loaded with info from buying your first RV to going away for short or extended getaways or even info for Fulltimers.
**** NOTE Several Dealers in SW ONTARIO have autographed copies of my books in their part stores as well as the RV SERVICE CENTER in Alamo, Texas. Ask your dealer to contact me if they are out or don?t stock this helpful publication. No shipping or waiting if buying direct.
**** My E-Books ? RV TRAVEL TO CANADA 2009 will become your best friend during your visit; and/or RV PACKING TIPS; RV LIFE LESSONS PLUS EASY LIVING HINTS – 3 E-BOOKS IN ONE another comprehensive publication loaded with timeless ?must-have? info.
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WQW!!! Into our 25th Year of F/T Life on the Move & Still Counting!!!
Peggi and John McDonald
RV Lifestyle Consultants
Author of ‘RV Living in the 21st Century’
& ‘Spirit of the Open Road’ (out of print)
PLUS E-BOOKS –
#1 RV Travel to Canada UPDATED 2009)
& #2 RV Packing Tips, RV Life Lessons, Easy Living Hints
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