Hahahaha! Check the poor kid in the front pew who’s silently hating his parents for being born. But wait, it gets better!

Check it out in full screen on YouTube.

Another class link from Kenny!

Thanks Kenny!

(Thanks Tintu!)

Thanks Karen!

While Nathan got out to look under the hood, I was sitting inside peering at the gauges on the dashboard trying to see if there was a water level indicator or anything else showing up but everything was in normal ranges. Suddenly Nathan started yelling frantically at me to get out. I jumped out panicking — movies taught me when someone yells, “Get out of the car!” it’s about to explode. Luckily some workmen across the road spotted the fire because Nathan couldn’t see it from above.

From a safe distance I could see fluid that had caught on fire pouring out of the engine and licking the belly, right under where my feet were. Nathan immediately ran to get the fire extinguisher but the side door to the RV was locked so he had to run back to get the keys and then the lock was fussy to open. I was hopping up and down with a whole hand of fingernails stuffed in my mouth scared stiff I was about to see the RV explode in Nathan’s face any second. He managed to get the extinguisher on time and dived under the engine to get the fire out. The tiny extinguisher ran out literally on the last flame. A few seconds too late the fire would have gotten larger and we would have watched our entire home go up in flames. Everything was inside, our wallets, bikes, photos, laptops… it was harrowing. My nerves are pretty shot knowing we could have quite easily died yesterday, or survived with severe burns. That would have sucked.

Geico were amazingly responsive and offer great full-timers insurance so we will be okay.

Though we still have to get the official word on what caused the fire, we found out online there is a Ford 05S28 recall on a faulty cruise control switch in our engine. It affects nearly 4 million SUV’s and trucks and Ford denied the problem for ages. They were dealing with two other recalls on the same switch with other vehicles at the time. My personal hero Ralph Nader and other consumer advocates demanded the NHTSA alert vehicle owners to the potential fire hazard in numerous models of Ford and Lincoln SUVs and trucks, which had already been linked to numerous deaths and destroyed hundreds of vehicles. A small, cheap replacement part and about 15 minutes of time at a Ford dealership fixes the problem, if you hear about it in time. Unfortunately if you’re not the first owner of a vehicle its hard to find out about these things.

The scariest part is the fires are spontaneous, often occurring when the ignition switch is off and the key removed! This is because Ford designed the cruise control switch to remain on or “hot” at all times. When a crack develops in the film separating the brake fluid from the electrical circuit, the leak will cause a fire. This could have happened while we were sleeping and Tristan would have been in the cab right above the engine! I feel so lucky it happened on the very first day and that Nathan got the fire out in time before we lost everything. And that we have RV insurance… wow we’d be screwed without it. We were lucky on so many levels, most of all that we didn’t die in an explosion. RVing as it turns out is rife with danger and sex appeal.

Who knows how many days we’ll be staying in hotels waiting for the repair work to be done. In the mean time all our stuff inside the RV is at risk while it stays in the repair shop. For obvious reasons we had to hand over the keys. Back when we were looking at RV options I wanted to have a truck and 5th wheel for this exact reason, (and because it makes shopping in cities a whole lot easier, especially for full-time RVers) but we simply couldn’t afford this option. So hopefully once the engine is fixed we won’t have any more problems… hopefully.

Change Your Driving Habits (and Save Gas!)
That surge of power off the line wastes more gas than you’d think. Consider these driving tips that will save you money and provide hidden benefits you’re sure to like.

Gas Buying Strategies
Not ready to buy a new car or change the way you drive? Never fear; these fuel-saving tips take the sting out of today’s gas prices.

Another tip I heard on TV the other day is pay in cash at the pump. Many filling stations are offering a 6¢-a-gallon discount for cash customers, to incentivise the use of cash, cutting back on hefty credit-card fees.

Oil and Oil Prices

Review: Who Killed the Electric Car?
Conspiracy theories abound in the automotive world. But this anatomy of the murder of GM’s EV1 raises issues much larger than just the demise of an electric car.

Understanding Oil Prices
Join us for a look at how world crude oil prices are set and the different factors affecting the price you pay at the gas pump.

How Much Oil Is Left?
Are spiking gas prices ever going to drop? The oil companies know a lot, but they aren’t saying much.

The precaution comes on the heels of a not-yet-published international study pointing to cell phones as a potential health risk, said Dr. Ronald Herberman.

UPMC employee Amy Joe McDade said she doesn’t even have a landline phone at home and that she and her husband use their cell phones for everything.

“My cell phone’s important,” said McDade. “It’s my alarm clock, communicate with my husband, my kids, day care. It’s making me second guess my cell phone use and definitely the cell phone use for my children.”

Herberman said he’s become increasingly concerned about the data pointing to the hazards of cell phones and the electromagnetic waves reaching parts of the brain.

“This potentially could contribute to increased risk for developing brain tumors, particularly the area of brain close to the ear,” said Herberman.

“There’s no debate the cell signal gets into the brains, and it gets more deeply into the brain of children then it does in adults,” said Dr. Devra Davis.

Among the suggestions to limiting exposure is don’t allow children to use a cell phone except in an emergency.

Whenever possible use a speaker phone or BlueTooth, which has one-one hundredth of the electromagnetic emission of a cell phone. Even texting is safer, experts said, because the phone is in your hand.

And experts suggest avoiding carrying your cell phone on your body.

Wouldn’t it be great if our kids saw this video and grew up with totally different habits… and started a chain-reaction based on ideas like these?

Thanks Pieter!

Amazing…

A fascinating insight into the life of the honeybee. I’d love to see more.

Watch it in full screen on YouTube

Find out how you can help at helpthehoneybees.com

Watch it on Kontraband.

It was very laid back too. I hope we get to spend some more time around there in the coming years.

We also bumped into this group of four really interesting women again who we kept bumping into along the trip. They all had 16 year old kids in common, but we couldn’t help noticing they were in way better shape than us, huffing and puffing our way to the end while they zipped around. They were amazing! And so interesting to talk to. I hope I see them again and have a feeling I will.

Oh and by the way for anyone interested in doing a part of the Laurel Highlands Trail - the first 6 miles (in our case the last 6 miles) were by far the most breathtakingly beautiful. The views were jaw dropping!

There have been amazing views, interesting people along the way, greenery, cute animals and long luscious nights of dead tired sleep. Its raining and freezing cold tonight though - a fire would have been amazing if we had some dry wood…

I cant stop thinking about home comforts… snuggling my boys, enjoying a glass of milk, hot running water, a hard beating shower, washing my face! Using a flushing toilet, feeling a mattress give way to my hips instead of being bruised by the hard floor.

6 more miles tomorrow and I’m home free! Well sort of - there’s another camping trip planned this weekend near Ohiopyle. But that will be pretty luxurious in comparison.

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[Sent from my phone]