While my plans are for something more Spartan, here is the type of 4’ x 6’ trailer I’ve been mentioning. Once you lower the leveling jacks, setup time is less than one minute. See the pivot where the tent poles attach? Basically, as long as you have a supply of water, you’ve saved yourself a big hotel bill. You will always have a dry place to sleep. Accommodations are by far the second largest expense (after gasoline) of driving across this country and somehow the prices manage to keep going up.
It isn’t all roses. First of all, that trailer is too low and has no access from the sides. That means crawling into that tiny space to get at anything you didn’t carefully load in the reverse order of potential requirement. My walls [will] go up another foot at least. Although this will make getting in and out of the higher tent bed a bit harder, that is an easy problem to solve. The bad news is that the self-folding tent is custom made and will cost you over $900.00.[Author's note 2017: this post shows that I was considering the cPod camper long before I built my own, or considered towing it with a motorcycle. How's that for consistency?]
Another urban legend just got debunked. The cantenna is here, but it is a far cry from the $8.00 apparatus quoted on the Internet. Some dude with a name like Flickenger is the leading authority. While I have no doubt he built his antenna for said price, it is clear that he intentionally left out a whole series of facts that make the thing work. Expensive facts. What is more likely is things have changed since then, but he's not the only one, as I will explain.
First of all, he fails to mention that no cantenna will ever work unless it can be properly connected to the antenna lead of a wireless transceiver. Today, this means a Linksys, and guess what – that brand of antenna has a “reverse polarity” SMA plug. Nobody makes a pigtail that can directly attach the N adapter to a BNC cable to the SMA plug. Or, I should say, if anyone makes that pigtail, it is a closely guarded secret.Here is an excellent photo of the pigtail assembly required to connect to the ordinary BNC cable with four separate costly adapters. It is only in hindsight that I now see how deliberately they skirted the truth. Using real prices, the cost of the wiring and couplings alone was $67.76. That connection requires a pair of adapters that cost $7.90 each, and finally the pigtail itself costs $29.95. The BNC co-ax cable added $15.00. Plus tax. Further, they only began manufacturing the pigtail six months ago. So when I re-read the Internet articles, it didn’t take long to note the authors never actually stated where the other end of their cable went. Did they lie? Technically, no. But they certainly failed in their unspoken duty.
A store-bought antenna that does the complete job is available for less than $20.00. I knew that, but went ahead anyway to see what an $8.00 cantenna really costs. Afterward, I went back and re-read the Internet publications that extol the $8 or the “Pringle” can antenna and I confirm that those authors exercised considerable effort to avoid mentioning any downsides, such as the shocking total cost.
I may be one of the few techs left in this town that will do a callout over Windows 98. Sure enough, a pair of rich Russian ladies needed a whole mess of little details ironed out. They were suspicious at first, but quickly caught on to my way of getting things done. You know, there was nothing wrong with Windows 98, if Redmond had kept developing it.
I cancelled out on that lady from the music list. Yep, that’s her alright, the “negative vibe” crank, only she’s learned to shut up about it for a little while longer these days. She is a liar, claiming she wants to join a working band. She really wants a group of “fun” people who will gladly spend countless unpaid hours helping her perfect her “original music”. I know what you’re thinking: for a place like Florida with no hills, why that constant echo?
Upon seeing my list she said she “might know a few of them”. Right, I’m going to even start with somebody who pretends she’s never heard of the Pointer Sisters? She would only state she liked certain bands and would not send me a list, finally admitting she did not have a list. Sure, lady. Maybe we could work on one together, you know, if like our horoscopes are okay with that. She just joined the “13 Group”.
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