Category: Uncategorized

Most RVs come with a two- or three-burner cooktop that uses propane for fuel. I don’t need two or three burners since I rarely cook with more than one pot or pan at a time anyway. I make a lot of things in the microwave so mostly use the cooktop for boiling eggs or making one dish meals in a skillet.

And, while I like cooking with gas, I am not fond of the process of buying propane while on the road nor the idea that I need a special detector to protect my life in case my propane system should develop a leak. So I am trying to design my new RV to not need any propane.

Research has shown me that an induction cooktop is the most efficient way of cooking with electricity. If you want to learn more about induction cooking this website is a good place to start: http://theinductionsite.com/proandcon.shtml.

As I often do, I also went to Technomadia’s website, http://www.technomadia.com/kitchen-gadgets-ideal-for-rvs/, to see what they decided to use. Their choice of induction cooktop looked like it would work for me so I bought one.

 

I knew I would not be able to use my existing cookware on this cooktop because it requires the cookware to be magnetic. Besides, if  I took our cookware with me, what would Dave use while I’m gone? So I went shopping for new cookware.

Picture me walking through the store with my magnet in hand trying to stick it to the bottoms of various pieces of cookware.

I went to the store thinking I knew what cookware I would buy after having done so much research on Google. I was wrong. The set I wanted turned out to have pans that were tall but narrow. I couldn’t boil as many eggs as I like to cook at once in their pans. But, the pans I liked couldn’t be purchased individually; only in a set.

A set with way more pieces than I wanted.

So, Dave and I talked about it. He thought some of the pieces I didn’t want would work well for him. I thought I might use the stock pot while in the apartment even though I didn’t want to take it with me in the RV. We thought a bonus pan might make a good gift. And, there’s always Goodwill where someone might be thrilled to find such a good pan if we decide not to keep all of them.

So, I bought them, getting the bonus pan and a gift certificate as extra inducements to buy this set, and we brought them home.

And tried them out. On my new cooktop. Everything works amazingly well. And fast. The combination of this cooktop and these pans heat really, really fast then cook very evenly. It took only four minutes for the water to heat to boil eggs! And I made a mushroom/egg scramble that was big enough to provide three servings so I don’t have to cook every morning. I am very happy with my choices.

Now I just have to decide how many pieces of the cookware I am actually taking with me.

TTYL,

Linda

ps. As my WW meeting leader would say, “40.6 pounds outta here!” I feel like the turtle–slow but steady wins the race.

10,000 steps. That’s how many steps the pros say you should walk each day for maximum health benefits. Now, I may have some OCD characteristics but counting my steps all day is not one of them. What to do; what to do.

For most people the answer is a pedometer. The challenge there is first you measure your stride–how long is your step? My answer–it depends. What is the terrain–smooth or rough, level or hilly? What type of day am I having in relationship to how my body feels? Am I indoors or out? If outdoors, what is the weather like? Can you imagine trying to measure your stride for each of these conditions then remembering to adjust your pedometer for each change? Not happening!

So when I saw this,

http://www.fitbit.com/product, I was tempted. But, it is expensive. So I just stayed tempted.

Then my sleep got worse. Have you ever tried to explain to a doctor how you sleep? How long it takes you to go to sleep? How often you wake up? How many hours you have to spend in bed to get enough actual sleep?

Well, the FitBit can monitor that as well. And make charts and graphs you can print out to take with you to your next doctor’s appointment.

So, we finally decided I should buy one. It’s a pretty cool little gadget and we all know how I like gadgets, right? So, during the day it sits in my pocket and measures my steps without me having to do anything more than put it in my pocket. And at night it slips into a soft wristband and measures my sleep. And whenever I pass near my computer it wirelessly updates the data there. And every few days I put it on the base station when I’ll be sitting at my computer for awhile so it can recharge the battery.

I’ve been wearing it for a week now. My weekly report says I wake up from 10 to 18 times per night.

No wonder I always feel tired!

And those steps? I have a LONG way to go to get to 10,000 per day. That’s about five miles for a person with an average stride, you know. And our apartment, while being much larger than the RV, isn’t really all THAT big. Guess I need to join those who put on their headphones and walk the halls. 🙂

TTYL,

Linda

ps. Down another 1.8 pounds this week but that number is somewhat skewed by the fact that I slept too late to eat breakfast before my WW meeting today. What can I say? When I went to bed in the wee hours this morning they were predicting thunderstorms with hail all morning so I didn’t set my alarm. Imagine my surprise to wake up to sunny and clear. So, I rushed off to my meeting to get some badly needed reinforcement. A meeting where the leader quoted from an article saying those who skip breakfast are 450% more likely to be obese! Some days I can’t win for losing.

I was at an event one evening when, during some down time, I decided to check my email. In my in box was an invitation to meet some friends for dinner on the way to the event I was already attending. So, I wrote back with my “too late” reply and watched as the recipients laughed together over my delayed response to their invitation.

See, I’m retired. I don’t feel a need to be instantly available 24/7.

As I taught our daughter many years ago at our dinner table, “Just because the phone is ringing, that doesn’t mean we have to answer it. If it’s important, they will call back”

Do you have alerts turned on? Do you feel compelled to answer every email the instant it arrives in your in box? Why? Who do you think should get to decide how you use the minutes in your day?

TTYL,

Linda

ps. Weight still mostly going down with an occasional uptick.

Yes, I finally started exercising fairly regularly. Most mornings I do a few minutes of calisthenics. Following the Primal Body guidelines, I’m trying to do mostly exercises where my own body weight creates the resistance. Things like push-ups which I have to do against the wall since I can’t kneel on my metal knees to get to/from a standard pushup position.

I want to add pull-ups. But I have no place to do them. OK, let’s clarify that. I have lots of space but no bar. You can buy a bar that fits over a door frame but our door frames go right to the ceiling so there is no “over” available.

I knew from our before moving in tour of this apartment complex that there is a workout room with equipment in it so when Dave decided he’d go check out the equipment I sent my camera with him and this is what he came back with.

     

See any place to do pull-ups there?

Nope, me neither.

Soon it will be warm enough to go looking for a park playground that has pull-up bars, though, right? And since we all know I can’t actually DO a pull-up, I can start then with the preparing your body to do pull ups exercises shown here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz1rltuLn6c. Wish me luck.

TTYL,

Linda

ps. I’m on the weight roller coaster at the moment–lots of ups and downs. Fortunately, I’m losing more than I’m gaining so the trend is still the right direction but I’d sure like to see another long downward trend.

 

The money from selling the previous RV has arrived so it’s time to order my next one. I have never had any doubt about what brand this one would be: a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter cargo van (http://www.mbsprinterusa.com/shopping-tools/build-and-equip) converted by Sportsmobile (http://sportsmobile.com/) to my design.

That didn’t make ordering the van as easy as I expected it to be. I knew I wanted the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 11,030 pounds but I thought I could get by with the regular 170″ wheelbase one. Nope. When I started playing with roof layouts I discovered I couldn’t get everything I wanted on the roof without having equipment shading my solar panels. That’s not a good thing. So I’m going with the tallest and longest one on the chart above. It’s also the one on the very right of the chart below.

My special order items list for the van is not a long list but it does include some very important items. Like an upgraded suspension package for vehicles that carry weight up high. A trailer hitch package. Cruise control. Upgraded seats for long driving day comfort that swivel so the driver/passenger seats (Mercedez-Benz calls the passenger seat a co-driver seat since these are cargo vans) can become part of my living space. And a few more details like that.

Most of these vans are Arctic White. I ordered Grey White, instead.

Because it looks like Arizona dirt so maybe I won’t feel compelled to wash it so often during my snowbirding seasons. And so I can pick mine out of the crowd at gatherings.

So that’s done. Now to work some more on the interior design. I only have three to five months to finalize it before the van arrives.

TTYL,

Linda

 

ps. Down another pound this week. I like this trend.