A few odds and ends to discuss this week. —Chuck Woodbury, editor
NASTY POLITICAL COMMENTS
First, many readers posted nasty political comments this past week to things we wrote that we didn’t consider political, and certainly didn’t think would cause a stir. While we appreciate your constructive comments, please avoid ranting, and save your political stabs for other websites, forums or your social media accounts. We don’t care if you are politically left or right or in between, to us you are people who share our love of the RV lifestyle. We hope you can think of your fellow readers the same and respect your differences.Â
QUARTZSITE CANCELLED
We ended up with too many scheduling conflicts with our speakers, and have had to cancel our previously announced seminars in Quartzsite, Arizona, this coming January. I apologize for making the announcement before we had all our ducks in a row. We’ll try again next year.
NEW FACEBOOK GROUP
We realize not all of our readers participate on Facebook, but many do, and for them and other RVers who have not yet found RVtravel.com, we have set up a new group on there called RV Advice. It’s a place where prospective RVers can discuss RVs they are planning to buy with other RVers who can share their thoughts about the particular model they’re considering. Join the group here. For RVers who bought RVs riddled with problems, we  continue to add to our long list of resources where they can find help.
STRAY VOLTAGE PATROL
Mike Sokol’s Stray Voltage Patrol has now grown to more than 350 members, nearly all RVtravel.com readers. Mike asked in last week’s newsletter for six members to volunteer to field test a brand new electrical device, which they’ll be given once the product is made public. He has now selected those field testers, and the equipment is headed their way. Meanwhile, Mike (who some readers think of as a mad scientist) is now looking for sponsors to help him fund a study about how a nearby lightning strike can affect their RV electronic system and devices. To do this, he will need to replicate a lightning strike. Mike promises to not blow up any homes in his neighborhood! If you are not yet signed up for Mike’s monthly RV Electricity newsletter, please consider doing so by signing up here.
OUR NEW IMPROVED WEBSITE
We plan to debut our new, improved RVtravel.com website in less than two weeks, on Nov. 20. The new design will be vastly superior to this current one with access to our nearly 5,000 articles much easier to locate. As soon as we launch this new website we will polish up Mike Sokol’s RV Electricity website.
AMAZON PAGE LISTS OUR FAVORITE PRODUCTS
We have set up a page at Amazon.com that lists some of our favorite products. We’ll continue to add new products every week. If you are looking for a gift for your favorite RVer, this would be an excellent place to head for ideas. We get a tiny commission on each sale, which, added up, help us fund this website and our newsletters. Click here to visit.
I really love the new look. It’s easier to read and I love the content so thank you very much.
Does the cancellation of the seminars in Quartzsite include Mike Sokol’s seminar also?
Some friends and I were planing a trip down there just to hear him talk. Please advise ASAP.
Thanks
Bob – Sorry to say that it does require me to cancel my seminars there. Since the Quartzsite show itself says they have no room for me to present a seminar in 2019, Chuck was planning on renting a room in the senior center off site. But when that fell through my seminar spot fell through as well. I’ve already applied for the Quartzsite 2020 show, and have several other shows tentatively scheduled in 2019 including the Hershey RV Show, the FMCA Rally in Perry GA, the Rvillage Rally 2.0 in Live Oaks FL, and the Heartland National Rally in Goshen. But it’s been slow going to convince many of these RV shows and Rallies that my RV Electricity seminars are important and deserve the space.
So here’s what you can do to help. If any of you are located near a large RV show or dealership that might want to host my RV Electricity seminar, then you need to convince them and have them contact me directly to discuss the cost to fly me out there for a day. Remember, Chuck and I have nearly zero outside sponsors to help defray even the travel costs for me, and it’s not fair to ask RVtravel readers to fund something they might not even attend. So if a large RV dealership is savvy enough, they’ll turn my seminar into a day-long event with hot dogs and cotton candy, and offer discounts for RV service booked that day, etc…
The rallies really have little or no money to pay for a guest speaker, and I’ve scraped along in 2018 on a few contributions from Southwire and others, but unless I can find some other funding stream (a grant, perhaps), I’ll be limited to doing seminars in the Mid-Atlantic states. I’m in Maryland, so Indiana is just a day-drive for me, but any farther will probably require a plane flight, rental car, hotel room, etc… If anyone knows of a consumer safety grant I can apply for, then let me know.
But I really want to do these seminars, and I have some great desktop demonstrations on important electrical topics for all RVers. So if you readers can help identify host sites that might have a travel budget, then that would be great.
Again, sorry I can’t make it to Quartzsite 2019, but I’m working on Quartzsite 2020.
Tom, we do have the ability to delete a person’s account if they get out of line. We have done this in the past. RVtravel.com is a place for constructive, respectful discussion, not a place for hotheads who normally don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.
Great newsletter, Chuck and I’m glad to see your position on the political stuff. Just a question…do you have the ability to delete people’s accounts if they are unwilling to get with the program? I hope so – I come to forums like this to get AWAY from the nonsense.