Prudent RVer & Boater
someone who is far-sighted, thrifty, wise, frugal, vigilant, & wary

4/9/08: Website up and running.

3/18/08: It is my 71st birthday. For the rest of the story, read on. Start at the bottom and read it backwards if you are confused.

3/1/08: We returned to Jojoba Hills from doing our round of shows and rallies, and started our Doctor de-briefing. Everything turned out okay, and my cardiologist said I was good for at least one bungee jump -- the heart looks okay, but he won't take responsibility for the rope. We will see. Our plans are to hit the road again the middle of April, heading east to see family in Kansas and Oklahoma, doing the Escapade in Gillette , WY, and then coming down the Washington, Oregon, and California coast. In the meantime I am working on the website and getting the new products set up.

Speaking of new products, we have two major additions: zipLED connectivity and fLEDescent replacements for fluorescent lights. These are based upon the nexLED technology of our bulb-replacement products.

I have already used the new products to help several people in the park. Arnold and Betty, neighbors down the street with a Phaeton motohome, came to me with a "horror" story. The light fixture over the vanity had been left on, and the ON/OFF switch had melted and sparked -- it had almost burned up their coach. I checked the fixture and found there were eight 921 bulbs serviced by one circuit, pulling almost 12 Amps. I replaced the incandescent bulbs with four W9.RV3-H nexLED lamps and four W9.ZL3 zipLED Sticks to provide his wife with the level of light she wanted. The total current draw was 1 Amp.

Dick and Annie, also Phaeton owners, stopped by and inquired what was happening. When they realized they had the identical vanity fixture, they asked for a replacement as well. They were happy with using eight W9.ZL3 zipLED Sticks, cutting their current draw to less than half an Amp.

Bud and Marge, across the street from us, asked what I could do about the chandelier lights (three 921s each) in their Alpha See-Ya. I glued a W9.3ZL3 zipLED to a circular aluminum disk that fit within the glass bowl, pointing the LEDs downward. Bud measured the light output with his light meter and said I had doubled the amount of light on the table.

And I am busy changing out the thirteen fluorescent fixtures in our base camp Automate trailer with fLEDescents. It was overbuilt ten years ago with too many tubes, so I am using fewer ZL3 zipLED sticks per fixture than normal.

2/26/08: Our booth at the FMCA National Rally in Pomona, CA, was a busy place, and there was a great deal of interest in our new products as well as our old standards, the incandescent bulb replacements. Nancy Lesser-Adamo, one of the new dealers, was a great help. I sold out most of my bulb replacement stock.

2/20/08: We stopped over at the Palm Springs TTN Resort for a bit of rest, and once again did the swap meet, with good success on the G4.RV3H replacement for the halogen bulbs in the puck lights. I also tried out my first idea of a bulb replacement for the "chandelier" in an Alpha. The results back at base camp would turn out much better.

2/15/08: Four days in Mesa working with Kelly were very productive, and I received my first sizeable shipment of zipLED product for use at the FMCA show.

2/12/08: We did the Gypsy Journal Rally  in Casa Grande, AZ, at the Pinal County Fairgrounds. Even though there were only 245 rigs (an increase of 100 over last year), it was still a most productive show in sales per rig. It was also a great time, and we hope to do it next year.

1/17/07: On Thursday we headed to Quartzsite for a planned three days with the Escapees Boomers  at Boomerville, and a chance to check in with Kelly at his booth in the big tent. As it turned out, we spent a week, and much of the time I spent helping Kelly in one way or another. It was a good opportunity to see just how the zipLED product was coming along. It was also a good chance to see long we could remain off the grid using our LEDs and solar system. We finally left to a brief rest at home base with power to spare.

1/7/08: After doing the New Years things at Jojoba Hills, we traveled 54 miles to the Palm Springs TTN Resort to spend some time with my sister. While there, we participated in the Saturday morning swapmeet, and did some good business replacing halogens with G4.RV3Hs in the puck lights.

11/26/07: After spending Thanksgiving with my sister in Palm Desert, we returned to rest up at our Jojoba Hills base camp. I handled Internet orders and such, waiting for the next time to travel.

11/4/07: Having turned over the budget to the Treasurer, Alice and I headed off to Phoenix for the NASCAR races. I also had an invitation to be a vendor at the Discovery Owners Association Rally in El Mirage, so the first part of that trip was a busy time. We did well and found many Discovery owners who appreciated having the LED lights in their coaches. At the races, things went well until Alice fell and hurt her back. Unable to sit on the metal seats, we moved over to Mesa to rest and see Kelly, and then to Palm Springs TTN to spend Thanksgiving with family.

9/5/07: With the doctor's approval, we headed out for a trip to northern California to visit friends and family. While there I traded for a 2001 Dodge 2500 RAM that was almost identical to our old truck, but with 120,000 fewer miles. We returned to Jojoba the beginning of October, and I immediately became involved with the Budget Committee. That took up the month of October.

6/7/07: We arrived in Page, UT, for the Escapees HOP, a seven day rafting trip down the Colorado River. Alice was not willing to do the trip, so I set out from Lees Ferry with 30 other hardy souls and our guides in two rubber J-boats. It was beautiful on the river, and the rapids were lots of fun. Unfortunately, I started having chest pains, and after three days told Cash, the chief guide, I needed to get out. He called the National Park Service, they sent a helicopter. The following Monday Dr. Winkler at the Flagstaff Medical Facility put in a stent.

Once I could drive, we headed back to Jojoba Hills for consultation with Dr. Wood, my regular cardiologist. It took a couple of months get my blood pressure under control.

4/19/07: We headed out from Jojoba Hills to do the Escapade Rally in Stockton, CA. I did an LED seminar and sales were good. A week later, we went to the Automate Rally in Hanford, CA. It was a small show, but we did well. We also traded Ken and Paula Lougee some LEDs for a reverse osmosis water system. Then it was down to the Soledad TTN Resort and over to St. George and Kanab.

2/2/07: I had been a dealer for LightBlasters and the nexLED products for nearly a year. Many things were happening, and Alice and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary with friends and family at Jojoba Hills. We began a couple of months of doing shows and seeing NASCAR races in the southwest. It was a time of planning and getting things in order.