Author: Sam

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General Information

Einzigartige Spielerfahrungen im Pistolo Casino

In der aufregenden Welt der Online-Casinos hat sich das Pistolo Casino einen Namen gemacht, indem es Spielern weltweit unvergleichliche Erlebnisse bietet. Dieses Casino, bekannt für seine umfangreiche Spielauswahl und exzellenten Kundenservice, zieht Spieler aller Altersgruppen und Interessen an.

Eines der herausragenden Merkmale von Pistolo ist die Benutzerfreundlichkeit der Plattform. Die klar strukturierte Benutzeroberfläche gewährleistet, dass sowohl Anfänger als auch erfahrene Spieler problemlos navigieren können. Ein weiterer Pluspunkt ist die beeindruckende Sammlung von Spielen, die von klassischen Spielautomaten über Tischspiele bis hin zu modernen Live-Dealer-Optionen reicht.

Warum Pistolo Casino wählen?

Die Vielzahl an verfügbaren Spielen ist beeindruckend. Von traditionellen Spielautomaten bis hin zu aufregenden neuen Variationen, das Pistolo casino bietet für jeden Geschmack etwas. Besonders hervorzuheben sind die hohen Auszahlungsraten und die Fairness der Spiele, die regelmäßig von unabhängigen Behörden geprüft werden.

Innovative Bonusangebote

Pistolo Casino ist bekannt für seine großzügigen Bonusangebote und regelmäßigen Aktionen. Neue Spieler werden mit einem Willkommensbonus empfangen, während treue Stammspieler durch ein attraktives Treueprogramm belohnt werden. Diese Boni bieten nicht nur zusätzlichen Spielspaß, sondern erhöhen auch die Gewinnchancen signifikant.

Spielekategorie Beliebtheit
Spielautomaten Hoch
Tischspiele Mittel
Live-Dealer Sehr hoch

Verantwortungsvolles Spielen wird bei Pistolo großgeschrieben. Das Casino bietet eine Vielzahl von Ressourcen, um Spielern zu helfen, ihre Spielgewohnheiten im Griff zu behalten. Tools zur Selbstbegrenzung und Beratungsmöglichkeiten stehen jederzeit zur Verfügung.

Insgesamt bietet das Pistolo Casino eine unschlagbare Mischung aus Unterhaltung, Sicherheit und spannendem Spielspaß. Spieler, die nach einem unvergesslichen Erlebnis in der Online-Casino-Welt suchen, werden hier sicher fündig. Tauchen Sie ein in die Welt von Pistolo und erleben Sie die Faszination des Glücksspiels auf eine ganz neue Weise.

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Re-Entry Selling Our Stuff

Storage: What We kept and What We Shouldn’t Have

When we sold our house in Lehi, Utah 6 months into our travels, we got rid of mostly everything. What we kept was stored in a 5ft by 10ft storage unit and we have added a few things from our travels over time. We recently emptied it out on our way to set up a condo as an AirBnB in Driggs, Idaho and have some thoughts about what we kept.  We figured it could be useful for anyone considering what to keep and what to lose as they set out on a full time travel adventure.

Stuff We Kept in Storage

Tools

Sam kept most of his small hand and power tools. They were compact and easy to store, and he wasn’t going to be able to recover enough money from selling them to make replacement easier. The only larger tool he kept was the planer. And a collapsible ladder. Gone were the table saw, band saw, shop smith, and other large tools. Keeping the smaller tools has been handy while setting up the condo, and the pain of storing these was low. Sam’s brother eventually grabbed the planer and took it up to Driggs where he has a garage/workshop and that’s been super handy to have around as we’ve made furniture.

Kid Toys

The kids were very willing to give up some of their toys, and these we gave away or sold at garage sales. There were some toys that they really wanted to keep. Recognizing this, we told the kids they could keep anything they wanted, and we’d store it. They didn’t realize that they’d be years older, and mostly not interested in the same toys (Barbies come to mind).  With the exception of the wooden train tracks (which are my favorite anyway) & possibly the Imaginext Castle & Aircraft carrier the kids have not been very interested in the toys they kept. We are NOT sorry we kept these, as the decrease in child stress as we transitioned to travel was totally worth it.

We did keep a bucket of baby toys as I have quite a few younger nieces and nephews, including a small-ish plastic kitchen set. I figured its always nice to have a few things around to keep babies and toddlers entertained. These are coming in handy as now we can advertise the condo as “baby friendly”.

Family Pictures

We had a decent appreciation of good photography prior to travel. We had a collection of nicely printed family pictures: canvas wraps, nicely framed photos, and mounted prints. As we are setting up the condo as a rental, we are not hanging them up. Part of me is sad, but I’m sure our renters don’t want a 20×30 canvas of my children on the wall. We may make some changes after Hawaii, when we plan to spend more time here but mostly I’m not sure what we will do with them. There are a few I still love but are too personal to put in a rental space, so we may just keep our favorites for some future date and throw away the rest.

Yearbooks and other Mementos

A small number of boxes contain things like high school yearbooks and items from childhood adventures. These will stay in the garage. I’d like to come up with a better way of preserving these memories, but until I do, we’ll keep them.

Folding Chairs and Storage Tubs

We kept some folding chairs and extra storage tubs that we didn’t have contents for. Some of the tubs have worn out in storage and developed cracks. We’ll throw these out and use some of our spares instead. We wouldn’t be hurting if we hadn’t kept the extras. The extra chairs have come in handy as we’ve had visitors to the Condo, but folding chairs are pretty inexpensive and it would have been fine to just buy some.

My Old Office Decorations

Just a few months before we left for the house swap never to return, I had redone my office downstairs in the Lehi house. It was perfect. I painted one wall a deep shade of purple, had white furniture and then brightly accented decorations all over the room. It was a happy place and I loved being in there to edit photos and work on my photography business. I didn’t keep any of the furniture, but I did keep my favorite small rug, a vase with bright pink & yellow gerber daisies, and some bright storage bins. It made me smile when I pulled them out of the storage tub and they’ve actually all found a place here in the condo. Its been perfect.

Pots & Pans

We’ve had our set forever and its still in great shape. Since buying a new set can be slightly prohibitive (even just picking out which one I want!) I’m glad we kept these. Its been great to have cooking gear from the get-go without any effort.

Select Comfort California King Bed

For our wedding, Sam’s parents bought us a California King Select Comfort bed. We love it. They are crazy expensive and easy to fold up and store in the original boxes (which we’ve always kept – makes moving really handy) so it was a no brainer to keep. Its the only bed/mattress we kept though and I’m happy about that. It was also really strange to go from a smaller-than-a-double bed in the Airstream, to a Cal King. I think I got lost the first few nights.

Holiday Decorations

We did garage sale quite a few of our holiday decorations, but there were also a lot I made and loved. Ironically, we are going to Hawaii this year and won’t be here over the holidays, but I’m still glad we kept them. We have some seasonal decorations for spring/summer, some for Halloween and then Christmas. We’ll see how they fit into our lives before we decide what to keep.

Games

We kept quite a few games, and have actually switched them out in the Airstream a few times. We are avid game players and I’m not sorry we kept the ones we did. We’ve added a few group games and they are stored on a shelf in Rachel’s closet. We’ll leave them out for guests to use and continue to swap out which ones we want in the Airstream.

Stuff We Lent To Family & Friends

We loaned out quite a few items to friends before we sold the house and were able to collect them during our mad dash to load up the moving truck. Various family members babysat our TV, entertainment center stand, waffle maker (double Belgian flip – my favorite!), bread maker, some framed photos, an IKEA chair and two dressers, a lamp, and some miscellaneous kitchen dishes. My sister got married a few months before we needed to gather things and no longer needed our stuff; pretty good timing. While these items would not have been too painful to replace, having them is a nice bonus. They weren’t worth the space to store however, so I’m glad we had good people to watch over them.

Items We Are Happy We Didn’t Keep:

Furniture

Our 2400 square foot house is vastly different than the 1300 square foot condo. While I loved our large, oval, pedestal dining table in the house, there’s no way it would have fit in the condo. Same with a lot of the bookshelves, couches, chairs, and other furniture. We are different people and love different things now, plus its honestly a lot of fun to switch things up.

We did manage to pick up a really comfortable $50 couch from my mom’s neighbor which we transported in the moving truck. So much better than any couch we could have stored. See? Things work out. We also did the Costco run of all Costco runs and picked up three mattresses (two twins and a queen), in addition to paper towels, toilet paper, flour, sugar, and other miscellaneous items. Loading them in the moving truck was a fantastic way to transport everything up to Driggs.

Everything Else

As I sit here and type, there’s not a single thing that I think “Oh, I wished we would have kept that.”  Maybe its been too long and I don’t remember, but perhaps that’s also a testament to how much stuff we really don’t need. We’ve been very deliberate about buying items for the condo, making sure we really need it and that it serves a purpose. Okay, we probably didn’t need to buy an Instant Pot, but its sure been fun to have.

Stuff we kept, but shouldn’t have:

The Armoire

When Sam was a kid he finished a large, freestanding armoire. They used them to store clothes in their small home, and for most of our marriage we’ve used it as a game closet. Super handy. Except the stupid thing is ridiculously heavy and huge. We had thought we’d bring it up in the condo, but after moving it up from Utah we have no desire to do so. Our rooms are fairly small and it would take over the space. We’ve since listed and sold it, but not having to lug that thing around would have been much better!

Clothes

Sam and I each kept a bin of clothes that we didn’t want to part with, but didn’t want to bring in the Airstream. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this process, its don’t keep things that don’t bring you joy. Going through my bin it was easy to donate most everything I kept. If I don’t want it in the Airstream, why would I want it elsewhere? I think in hindsight we could have kept quite a bit less.

Photography Business Supplies

I ran a boutique business with cute packaging, welcome packets, and had samples to show at client consultations. Since I wasn’t sure what the fate of my photography business would be, all my supplies went into storage. While I still love photography, I have no desire to take on clients so now I have a large box of paperweights. Sigh.  Its just one more thing I have to deal with and get rid of now.

Books

This one is hard. We’ve had a bit of a “roving library” with all our books stashed at my parent’s house in Sandy, UT.  When we went through to visit (every 6 months or so) we’d swap out books. I also have a love for used bookstores. There are some books we simply couldn’t get through the library Overdrive system to read on the kindle and I searched for used copies in various states. Now we have boxes of books, some which I’m sure the kids won’t ever read again. We need to go through them and decide which ones to sell back to a bookstore, and which are our favorites to keep. It’ll take time and I’m not exactly looking forward to it.

Conclusion

Overall I feel we did pretty good. We don’t have a ton of excess stuff, and most of the items we kept have been useful upon re-entry. We have spent quite a bit of money outfitting the condo. By the time we are done we estimate close to $10,000. We are doing a really nice job as we want to AirBnB the space, so  I’m sure it could be done for less money otherwise. We knew it was coming and our main purpose for hanging out in the southwest last winter was to work a ton, live cheap, and save money.

The more you get rid of, the more you have to buy on the flip side, but if you add up the storage costs over three years I feel like its a pretty good trade off. Plus, the freedom of not owning a lot (or even having it in storage weighing on your mind) is amazing and we would definitely do it all over again!

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Solar & Power

Power Upgrade: So you Want to Install Solar?

Installing solar panels on your RV or Airstream can be a huge benefit for getting off grid, boondocking and camping. Check out our blog series for DIY instructions and part recommendations. Spoiler: Solar may not be the first step!

I’ve written about the hows, whys, and costs of installing solar panels on your RV or other travel trailer. I’ve had people ask my opinion about getting started with solar given my own experience, and I thought I’d share that basic opinion publicly. So, here it is:

If you think you want to install solar, you should buy a generator.

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Now, don’t misunderstand me here. Solar is great, but the use of a generator can help you plan an appropriate solar install and evaluate your true needs. If you already have a generator, you’ve probably already figured this out, but a read through may be useful anyway.

Learning about Boondocking

I’ve heard from folks that think they might like boondocking and are thus considering installing solar. Boondocking is usually dispersed camping without sites or hookups, and is something we really quite enjoy. There’s no power there, so you’ll need to rely on your own batteries and your own power generation while you are there. Solar is nice for boondocking, but a generator is WAY simpler. Buy (or borrow!) a generator and go boondocking with it. You’ll likely need to run the generator for an hour or two, both morning and evening. This is easy to do, and most boondocking locations have no set generator hours.

Please do be courteous when you are camping within earshot of other campers. A small Honda generator is quieter than most other generators (like this Honda 1000 on Amazon), but you still want to avoid early or late generator use. Nobody likes waking up super-early to the sound of a loud generator. Don’t be that neighbor.

If you love boondocking, then having solar can be a real convenience. Keep reading.

Understanding Power Requirements

A generator can help you understand how heavy your power needs are. If you are only using lights, your use will be low and your batteries will last longer between recharges. If you power two laptops during the day, extended use of fans, and recharging other devices, you’ll need to generate far more power. Your first easy look at power consumption is how often you need to be charging your batteries.

Many advanced solar controllers have shunt based monitoring that can give you very accurate power use information, but using a generator will give you a great gut-level understanding.

Recharging vs Inverting

There are two benefits of running a generator. It’s primary job will be to charge the batteries through the running DC Converter. An added benefit is that it will power the AC outlets as well. Watch how often you use the AC power to understand if and what size inverter you might need. Prior to having an inverter, I pulled out the generator for two main AC power purposes. I pulled it out when my wife wanted to use the Blender, and when she wanted to do her hair with a flat iron or a hair dryer.

When it came time to size our inverter, it became an easy choice. The Blender takes 1800 watts, the flat iron 200, and the hair dryer 2100 watts. Reaching somewhat of a compromise, we chose a 2000 watt inverter and Jess bought this 1200 watt, folding hair dryer (Amazon again – you can really buy anything on Amazon!) to replace the power hungry larger one.

Battery Capacity

Generator use will help you understand your battery capacity. Most RV batteries (with the exception of Lithium) charge slower as they get full. This means that batteries charge from 50% to 80% full pretty fast, but take forever to charge from 80% to 100% full. It isn’t worth running your generator till your batteries are absolutely full, as it will take forever and you’ll waste a bunch of gas.

Larger batteries will allow you to run the generator less often. If you find yourself with a low battery every morning despite charging some in the evening, you will likely want a larger battery setup, even with solar.

It is also worth understanding that batteries degrade over time, and have a reduced capacity for power storage. Most batteries need to be replaced every few years, and often sooner if they haven’t been cared for. Replacing most standard batteries is easy, and I’ve done it several times in the parking lot of Costco, where I bought the matching replacements. If your battery is REALLY terrible, start with replacing it with new batteries of the same type.

Taking the Solar Leap

After all this, there is one simple reason to make the Solar Jump: Convenience. Or Laziness. Here is what you get when you spend the money and/or time to install solar:

Freedom From Generator Hours. This one was painful for us in National Parks. We found a few parks with fairly restrictive generator hours, and we had trouble getting sufficient charge.  Solar is nice and quiet, and you never have to remember to turn it off.

Hands Off Operation. Everybody loves to watch their solar monitor right after it is installed, but if you’ve planned sufficiently well you can often go days without caring how much your batteries are charged. You don’t have to turn it off when you are charged, it charges under way, and it takes care of itself.

Instant AC Power. An inverter can give you super quick AC power for when you want it. Press the on button, and you have AC power. No more trips outside to start the generator when your wife wants to run the blender or do her hair.

Worry Free Basecamp. We love to adventure away from the Airstream for overnight camping trips or day hikes. I love the ability to leave the Airstream in a parking lot and come back to full batteries and a cold fridge. This was a pain point for us before we installed solar, and it’s been great for us to have less worry when using the Airstream as a base camp.

Easy Full Charge. As long as you have sufficient solar for your use, you’ll generally reach full charge every day. Often, you’ll be at full charge before noon, and can use all the power you want during the rest of the day. Your batteries will be happier as a result, and you’ll have every available amp-hour for use.

After some considerable generator use, use what you’ve learned about your power use, batteries, and inverter needs to price a solar system. Now compare this price to the benefits mentioned above. You may decide that it isn’t worth the cost, and decide to stick with the generator. You may make the decision to make the leap, and now you’ll have a properly sized system and will enjoy your carefree power.

Generator After Solar

Even after you have your amazing new solar system installed, you might want that generator around. Consider cloudy days, which will rarely yield a full charge every day. Cloudy days usually offset our daily power use, but don’t generate enough power to replace our nighttime use. With bad weather, we can usually make it 2-3 days before we need  to charge.

Solar systems also need plenty of sun, and not all the amazing places you will want to go have perfect views of the sky. Camping in the redwoods along the Avenue of the Giants is amazing, but you will not get an inkling of solar beneath those giant trees.

Generators are comparably cheap, reliable, and often useful things to have with you when you travel. I have not regretted keeping ours on hand after our solar install.

But I do love the convenience of solar!

Check out our other posts on our power upgrade:

My Plan for Self Installing Solar Panels
Drop-in Multi-State Converter Upgrade
Solar Power Install Part I – Panel Mounting
Solar Install Part II – Self-Install Combiner Box
Solar Power Install Part III – Self Install Running Wire
Solar Install Part IV – The Wire Panel
Adding Bigger Batteries
Installing a 2000 Watt Pure-sine Inverter
Automatic Transfer Switches
Cost Breakdown

 

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Daily Life Musings of Sam

Sam vs. Jury Duty – Tips for Full Time Travelers

courthouse2

I spent a few days this last week as a member of a jury in a criminal trial. This is my second time serving in a jury in spite of only being summoned to service twice. I guess I have one of those faces.

Jury duty is one of the more painful civic duties for a full-time traveler. It requires being in a specific place at a specific time, just for the chance you are selected. If you are self-employed (as I am) then you also lose out on work during your service.

Being in a jury is an inconvenience, but it is educational. It also gave me more confidence in our legal system as I observed some of the inner workings of our judicial system.

In my case, the jury ruled not guilty of the serious charges against the defendant. Everyone on the jury thought something happened but there was not enough evidence to remove reasonable doubt. While the accused may have been guilty (of something) and gone free, we avoided the horror of convicting an innocent person.

I’m glad that it’s hard to convict somebody of a crime, and that we are innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Tips for Jury Selection for Full-Time travelers or otherwise busy folk:

Being excused from jury service is rare. Most excuses result in a delay in your service, not being excused all together.

You can shift your assigned jury time. The court knows that people have obligations and are willing to work around them. If you have a family reunion or a work conference, they will be happy to schedule your service after you return. Your jury paperwork will include instructions on how to notify the court of any such issues you have. Expect to receive another notice soon after your conflicting event.

You might be able to ask for a specific dates. Full-time travelers rarely return ‘home’, but you might be planning a trip through your home state sometime soon anyway. I delayed once because of a family reunion. When I received another notice shortly after that, and I called the jury clerk at the number listed on my summons to explain our situation. The jury clerk was both cheerful and happy to work with me, and assigned me to the week we already planned to be in town visiting family.

Even if you receive jury summons, you might not be selected for the jury. The jury selection process takes about a half-day. If you are not selected, you are usually done with your jury service for a few years. Jurors are selected in a random order. The computer system assigns you a juror number and you are selected in order unless excluded. Valid reasons for exclusion include knowing anybody involved or having a family member convicted of a similar crime. High numbers are less likely to be selected.

You will be told the expected length of the trial during the jury selection process. If you have scheduled travel, know the dates in advance. The court will ask about conflicts for the trial period, and you might be excused.

Be ready if you decide to delay. When I was first summoned, my juror number (called a reporting number on the paperwork) was in the 20s. When I delayed, my juror number was quite low. After my request for the specific dates, I was juror number 1.  Juror number 2 had also asked for a delay of one week. With low numbers, we were more likely to be selected for the jury unless we were excused for some reason. Your local court system might well run things differently, but that’s how it rolls here in Utah.

Go, and enjoy your jury service. In spite of the inconvenience I really enjoyed my time. The ‘commute’ on the local mass transit system down to the court was a nice change of pace. I learned more about the criminal court system and enjoyed the time with the other jurors. Being a good citizen is important, and I was pleased to be support our legal system in such an important role.

Categories
Musings of Sam

Teamwork and Bad Marriage Advice

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Perhaps the greatest dynamic in our marriage is teamwork. Without working together as a team, there is no sane way to manage a road trip that spans years. I don’t mean to say that Jess and I do everything together. We often split duties and spend our days doing very different things, but as a whole we try and keep our goals aligned and approach them as a team.

In church this week we had a lesson on preparing for and strengthening marriage. The lesson was in Elders Quorum (mormon speak for a group of 18 to 45ish year old men), so the class discussion involved mostly married, middle-aged men. I really enjoy Elders Quorum lessons, and discussing the Gospel of Christ together with other husbands and fathers is rewarding and motivating.

This lesson on marriage was no different, and I came away with some new thoughts and ideas on both the value of marriage and things I could do to improve my own.

Mixed in with the excellent advice was some downright terrible advice shared by the others in the class. I can’t fault these men directly, as this advice seems quite common in our culture.

Learn to say ‘Yes Dear’

This is terrible advice, and I’ve heard it from many men over the span of decades. A few years ago, I heard a coworker share that advice with another soon-to-be-married young man at the same company.

“Steve!” I said, “That is terrible advice, and you don’t follow it either!”

Steve quickly admitted so with a laugh. Though I did call Steve on his words, I did hold my tongue in my church meeting, as I was unable to find a constructive way to share my thoughts at the time.

The perspectives offered by both parties in a marriage can bring value and insight. As a couple works together to understand the desires and points of view of each other, I believe they grow stronger. Disagreements are a natural result of two persons sharing a life. Seeking to understand our spouse and trying to understand what (and not who) is right will bring us closer together.

Advising someone to capitulate to their spouse in any disagreement is simply terrible advice.

Be a Team

Adventures in life are better when you have a great partner in those adventures. I believe marriage was designed to help us grow and learn together. Being united in our goals, patient with each other, and seeking to learn from each other and the world around us is vital to creating a strong team.

Now, anybody that knows me understands that I am not the perfect husband. These ideals I write of are my goals and, well, ideals. Even with the best goal in mind my execution ranges between imperfect and downright terrible. I hope my thoughts and encouragement are worthwhile anyway.