Sam at Party City

Brent II and I wnt to Party City to buy some balloons for Avery's birthday party this afternoon and I met Sam, one of the sales staff, and saw this as an opportunity to have her my first interview of the trip.

With long dark brown hair, bright dark eyes, and slender face Sam is an attractive young woman in her late teens who has been working at Party City for about a year.  Working in the balloon department today she waited on us for our order of one Disney Aeriel, 3 pink and 3 aqua balloons.

She upsold us for $.15 for each of the six latex balloons to put a solution in them so they will last 12 to 24 hours vs. the expected 4 hours without the solution.  It sounded like the right decision as Avery's birthday party was about 4 hours away.

While processing our order it was easy to strike up a conversation with her.  I opened the conversation by asking her what the most popular balloons were.  She eagerly pointed out the favorates that included ones with fur-like fringe and then the large 50th birthday by saying that the series was popular including 40. I turned to Brent II and commented that he was getting close to that number.  He then reminded me if my 40th birthday party, not mentioning the belly dancer that Denise had gotten for me that I know we were both thinking of.

Sam likes her job as it is mostly layer back for being a minimum waged job.  I mentioned that there must be seasons to the business, getting a reply from her that Halloween was the busiest time with all registers open including the extra one in the balloon area.  

In addition to providing great service, and accepting Brent II's offer to jump for a balloon for another customer that had gotten away, she was articulate and engaging giving hope for my future interview attempts.  

The reason that Brent II had to jump for the balloon was that they tie all balloons off to the ribbon and let it go to the ceiling and cut the ribbon.  In this case the other sales attendant let the balloon rise to the ceiling only to run out of ribbon and then being out of reach to both young woman.

Day 1

My pre-trip reservations about driving a 20 year old camper van across country subsided slowly over the first days 430 mile trip to MD.  The weather was great and the vehicle ran so well that I soon didn't think about it.  I couldn't ask for more.  Our evening arrival brought us dinner with son Brent & family followed by going out for frozen yogurt.  

Then it was time for my first night in the camper.  I plugged in and ran the heater in the HVAC on the roof.  It started off at 67 deg and by morning it was 60 inside and mid 20's outside.  Completely acceptable for the trip.  The propane heater wasn't an option as I was parked on an incline and I haven't looked at using it yet.  I will save addressing this and other items for FL where it's warm.

Hitting The Road

Hi all,

Well we got off this AM on time.  The last few days have been very busy addressing home things including getting the tax information & software for the road, moving appointments, and fixing things.  For the camper lots to bring for a 3+ month trip.  I am sure I have extra stuff & have missed some things.

More later

A Travel Writer Keyboard

Going to Oakmont Regional High School had some advantaged over other high schools.  At Oakmont I got to choose what classes I wanted to take vs. either taking a business or college course structure like other high schools.  This meant that I got to take classes from both groupings.  

Oh yea, things like Advanced Science in the college line and yes Typing from Business.  Who would have thought that one of the most useful class for life long learning was Typing.  

As a communicator typing has helped me in so many ways and will help me in the future as a writer on my trip.

I had purchased a small Bluetooth keyboard a few months ago for traveling, but this week I ran into a problem with it. As a full finger typist I was not able to type without hitting unwanted keys.  I was typing the minutes for the Mid-State General Meeting and it took me at least twice as long as normal.  A trip to Staples  last night bought me a full-size keyboard.  

Today I was happy with the new size allowing plenty of finger room.  There was one minor drawback and that was the space bar.  It wasn't as reactive as I would like.  This from a guy that hits the space bar when I type so hard that I had worn a mark in the space bar on my desktop computer keyboard at my office at the Fire Station.

Problems With My Blog

HI all,

Sorry for the following problems:

1. It is hard to sign up for blog notices - I sent a support request a few days ago but have not heard back yet.  I think it is browser related as there are differences between the mobile and full version.

2. Unable to post comments - I reviewed this issue today and I also think it is browser related.

If you have other problems please send me an email @ macaloney@hotmail.com

You can also send comments to me direct if you wish

Thanks,

Brent

Camper Specifications

You have seen the camper from the outside photo and Television photo in the rear dining/sleeping area but you may be wondering about what the camper has for features / specification.

VEHICLE:
1994 Chevrolet G30 (1 Ton chassis)
Engine Gas 350 V8
Odometer 42,234 miles at purchase (Nov 2013)
Cruise Control
Power Windows & Locks
Replacement AM /FM Radio with cassette
Heater & A/C
Tilt Steering Wheel
Power Windows
Trailer Hitch
Tire Size 16"

Length 19’0”

Width 6’6”

COACHMAN CAMPER:

Height 9’6”

Interior Height 7’0”

Gross Weight 8,600 lbs

Fresh Water Capacity 36 gals

Grey Water Capacity 20 gals

Black Water Capacity 16 gals

Propane Furnace BTU 24

Sleeps 5

Generator None
TV (Installed 12 Volt)

TV Antenna w/Booster (replacement - old one was analog)

Outside Shower 

120 Volt AC 13,500 BTU Non Central/Ducted 
120 Volt Heating Furnace 21-28K BTU 

Kitchen Sink

Microwave 

Water Heater 6 Gal. Gas/Elec DSI 
Propane Tank

Propane Range Top Stove

Refrigerator (3-way, 120 Volt, 12Volt, Propane)
12 Volt power Roof Vent

Toilet

12Volt Water Pump 

Coach Auxiliary 12 Volt Battery (one - not connected to vehicle battery)

LPG Gas/Smoke Detector 

Auxiliary Battery Charger (Shoreline 120Volt to 12Volt)

Television for the Trip

I enjoy watching the news and weather and some selected programs.  I also like the company that the TV provides even if I am not watching it.  On my Christmas wish list was this 12Volt TV, articulating wall bracket and amplified digital antenna.  Thanks to my lovely wife Denise, son Brent 2, his wife Manina, & their daughter Avery it came off the wish list to a Christmas present. 

With a little planning I picked this location at the back of the camper where I can see it from the front area too.  As noted it runs on 12Volts but also has the 110 Volt power supply too.  The amplified antenna is paper thin and can be hung in the rear or ether side window (digital signals are so directional)  and runs on a USB connection.  The TV uses 20 watts or the same as a 12 Volt vehicle dome light.  This becomes important on how I power everything to be discussed in a future post.

I have an application for my IOS devices that shows me the location of all TV transmitters and what network the are.  This way I can figure what direction (window) to put the antenna.  I just need to scan for channels every time I move around. 

It is also a DVD player and PC monitor.  With the WIFI hotspot on my phone the family subscription to Netflix & since we have HBO at home I can get HBO on the go on the road.  So, I should be good now for entertainment.  If/when I stay at a campground that has cable I need to fit the camper with a connection to get this feed.