Off-Gridder

Possible, without going crazy? We'd like to keep it fairly chill. I was thinking we could use Lucca or Florence as a home base while chilling in Tuscany, and then hop the overnight train through Paris to London for the second week. London is really the bigger part of the trip for us. Frankly, I'd love to stop in Paris for the day, but we'll have luggage with us.

Anyhow. I'm completely new to European travel. But that's my idea. Help! Personal opinions?

We're going to stay a week in Italy before heading to the UK. Time is short, we adore the idea of Tuscany, but we'd love to get by without a car. Any advice or public transport towns/itinerary thoughts before we start planning? Maybe two days in Rome, then a train to ... Where?

A fellow church organist and I are considering doing a "Halloween Concert" on the pipe organ and piano to raise money to restore the Steinway Piano at our church. We're looking for some fun suggestions for Halloween appropriate pieces. Doesn't absolutely have to be classical. (Nothing too too crazy difficult though - we'll have to learn all these in addition to the mountains of music we learn for church each week! LOL) We're both fairly proficient players. (For instance, we can handle the Toccata and Fugue in Dm. The list I've started is ...

Toccata and Fugue in Dm (Bach)

Phantom of the Opera Overture (Lloyd Webber)

Prelude in Cm, Op. 28 (Chopin)

Every so often, our 1989 Jeep Cherokee would not start. Still cranked, didn't drain down to nothing upon cranking, just wouldn't turn over.

We took it in to our mechanic ... and he couldn't get it to crap it. Started fine every time, over a three day period. Of course, he explained that he could start replacing things, but that would be silly since it would just be a guess, and we might end up replacing something that was fine. So, we brought it back home.

Fine for a few days, and then after sitting in the parking lot at work, it cranked, but didn't start. We had bought a battery pack charger thing. Hooked it up for the jump, fine ever since. However, we did notice that the last few times it wouldn't start, there was a huge temperature swing. We live in the North - below zero in the morning and up to 60F or so in the late afternoon.

Coincidence? Could there be something to the temp thing?

We just bought one of those rechargeable jump started battery packs to keep in our rather iffy car.

Reading the instructions, I noticed that it says to connect the red cable to the red (pos) battery terminal, and it says to connect the black cable to ... a metal part of the car body, rather than the black battery terminal.

I've never jumped my car this way. I always just connected the cables to the two appropriate battery terminals.

Wisdom? DIfference for some reason? Have I been jumping my car the wrong way?

We've been babying our old 1989 Cherokee along while we save to get a new car. Pretty good luck so far, but yesterday ...

The Jeep wouldn't start at the end of the work day. Cranked fine, sounded normal, battery wasn't run down, nothing left on to drain the battery. It just wouldn't turn over. (Although we didn't give it any throttle - didn't want to flood it.) We brought a friend's car over and connected the jumper cables just for the heck of it ... and it started right away. Instantly. Brought it home. It's been starting every time. No issues.

Battery is 6 months old (although drained a few times), starter and coil are new last year. Plugs are new, revs on start-up, up to 2k or so, and then settles down (but I understand that's normal).

Any ideas about the random starting problem?

I'm considering joining a community orchestra, and the current project is Handel's Messiah. I'd be playing clarinet.

I'm a little bit nervous about the skill level that might be required. If they're using the original instrumentation (not sure), I'd be playing the transposed oboe part. If the Mozart arrangement, there's a clarinet part. Of course, in a community orchestra, I wouldn't be expected to be brilliant. I just want to make sure I'm not getting into something I have no chance of being able to play.

I'm a high school intermediate clarinet player at best, but I play the piano professionally (and therefore, read well).

We're coming close to buying a used Class A Motorhome we like. It's in Vermont, we live in New York. We'd be paying cash. What's the process once it's paid for? Drive the thing off the lot same day with the title in our hand and a temp tag from the RV dealer?

We'd be crossing from Vermont to New York State, where we'd park it until we had permanent tags. 150 miles or so from the deaerl to where we'd park.

I'm sure the dealer would tell us all about it if I called again to ask - but I'm trying to appear aloof. LOL

We're looking at a few used motor homes and doing a little bit of space planning concerning where to store it. Anyone know how wide a Class A RV is?

In case it helps - We're looking at a 1991 Fleetwood Bounder 28 and similar models/years. Can't find any info on sales sites anywhere.

I am sure there is an appropriate loan for this, but I'm not quite sure which type we're looking for.

We own our land outright, free and clear. Assessment is $20k. We would like to purchase a new manufactured (mobile) home, permanently sited. We would need to have grading work done on the land, and we would need to have a foundation put in. That would cost about $15k. We'd like a loan for the price of the trailer ($32k), and the prep work (about $15k). We would ideally like an option that didn't involve a mortgage and down payment. We could come up with the few thousand dollars down payment on the $32k mobile home if that were the only option. It's just that we're after the least cash-heavy situation.

Credit is just under the 700 mark. We recently paid off a different $18k loan, perfect on the track record, never late on a payment. Income is about $60k per year. Happy to use the $20k worth of land as an asset.

A few folks suggested a personal loan for the $47k might be appropriate. Seems like a big # for a personal loan though. But I don't really know. Construction loan? We actually will be visiting the bank to talk to a loan officer in a few weeks. Just wanted to get an idea so we know what we're talking about.

Educated thoughts?

I am sure there is an appropriate loan for this, but I'm not quite sure which type we're looking for.

We own our land outright, free and clear. Assessment is $20k. We would like to purchase a new manufactured (mobile) home, permanently sited. We would need to have grading work done on the land, and we would need to have a foundation put in. That would cost about $15k. We'd like a loan for the price of the trailer ($32k), and the prep work (about $15k). We would ideally like an option that didn't involve a mortgage and down payment. We don't have a lot of cash free right now.

Credit is just under the 700 mark. We recently paid off a different $18k loan, perfect on the track record, never late on a payment. Income is about $60k per year.

A few folks suggested a personal loan for the $47k might be appropriate. Seems like a big # for a personal loan though. But I don't really know. Educated thoughts?

Not a diet so much as a "whole life change."

I recently started a nutrition/weight loss/exercise program. For the first week, I'm on a balanced 1000 calorie a day limit.

Each afternoon I "power walk" (keeping my heart rate up) two and a half miles, part of which is 200 steps up a tall hill. I am absolutely exhausted when I get back and for the rest of the evening ... not just tired, but "don't even want to stand up" exhausted. I find I am tired in the mornings too. (Not severely though.)

I am a male, 270, and would like to lose 70 pounds. The whole thing is working beautifully and the weight is coming off. I'm just wondering about the tired thing.

We're going to be paying a few thousand dollars at once to get our balance back down to almost nothing. I was curious how quickly that is reported to credit agencies.

We don't have a problem or anything, and our payments are always above the minimum and early. Just wanted to sort of do an experiment by looking at the credit rating before and after the big payment.

I actually love all the "free" foods I get to eat as much as I want of (within reason, LOL) on my diet, like carrot sticks and raw zucchini. I really would like to find a dip/dressing though. I was thinking of low-fat ranch dressing or something like that, but I suspect that low-fat dressings are not going to be as low-fat as I would prefer.

I like creamy stuff like ranch and creamy italian - the thought of dipping a carrot in salsa is not very appealing to me. Maybe something along the lines of something or other whipped up with cottage cheese in the blender or something? Or is there a NO-fat bottled dressing?

Any ideas or experiences?

Can anyone recommend an online diet and weight loss forum? (The sort of chat board thing where you join and chat back and forth by posting on a message board.)

I've recently started a nutrition and exercise program, and I'm doing well, but I thought it would be nice to talk with others who are doing the same. I guess I should mention I'm a guy, so I guess "women only" forums are out, and I'd prefer a place that is more about losing big numbers. I'm going for 70 lbs.

Anyhow. I see plenty of forums out there, but there are SO many, I thought it would be a good idea to get a recommendation.

(Please don't suggest I join Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig or something I'm on a program and I like it. I'm just looking for an online community.)

Assuming the the battery, wiring, and mechanics are in good condition, how long could I expect a charge to last on an RV battery?

For instance, if the RV had been run during the day, how long would a charge last using an average amount of electricity? (Maybe a TV and a few lights.) A day? Just looking for a ballpark idea. We're considering a "sit down" vacation in our Class A RV, and would probably just run the engine a little bit each day to keep the battery charged. Wondering how long it would last.

We're considering buying a park model RV to use as an extra little guest house on our property. (To be clear - Park Models are not the kind of RVs that have wheels.They are more like little portable houses plunked down and not meant to be moved.)

Many that we're looking at have metal siding. We would want to re-side it in wood. I'm assuming that the way to do it would be to attach furring strips to the outside and then side on top of those? Just wanted to get a general idea of how we could spruce them up as we're looking.

Any experiences or wisdom?

I read a lot of about eras past, especially the 1800s. Frequently, there are reprints of menu cards in books, especially menus from large, elaborate meals at house parties.

Where were the cards used? Placed in room so guests could see what they would be eating? Given to guests ahead of time? In film and reenactments, I have never seen these used, yet there are facsimiles of them in books.

Any idea where they were used?

We have a very large air mattress - queen size, double height - that sprung a leak. It was very slow at first, but now it's far worse ... you're down in a big sink hole by morning!

I think it's really too big to try to figure out where the leak is and patch it with a vinyl patch. (Already tried to find the leak - couldn't.) Anyone have experience with other products? Something like Fix-a-Flat that I could spray into the air nozzle?

Anyone know what the Universal Building Code has to say about how steep the pitch of a roof has to be? I'm considering a prefab, and I want to make sure the roof is okay.

(FYI - Our local municipality has no additional codes - just UBC.)