Lockdown or Liberty: How to Deal with Stay-in-Place Orders

Or When Can We Go Backpacking & Camping Again?

Like almost most Americans, we are isolated at home due the our local state, county, and city “stay-in-place” orders. Life isn’t working out according to plan. After a full-time engagement of four years of house remodeling projects, this was going to be a year of extensive backpacking and camping. I should point out that during the previous four years, we did are fair share of camping, probably more than most people. I also did several backpacking trips during each of the past four years of my retirement. Currently, in the State of California, most backpacking and camping opportunities don’t exist. Most places are closed to use. At the same time, we are in a high risk population as regards coronavirus infection. I’m scheduled to reach my 70th year milestone on the planet and Joyce isn’t far behind. Approaching 70, the fact is very real I don’t have a lot of backpacking years ahead, so I would like to maximize each year going forward.

Given all of this, it is wisest for us to stay in place until life equalizes and gets back to some sort of normality. So we are stuck at home, or perhaps better stated, we are willing staying at home for a while.

Staying at home for extended periods of time is a new state of being for many Americans today. Many aren’t handling it well. So the purpose of this post is to share my experiences as a retiree for the past four year, and more importantly, the 18 years I spent working from home – often for months at a time. The following topics will be reviewed with a focus on how to maximize your time, or better yet, how not to waste time. Continue reading Lockdown or Liberty: How to Deal with Stay-in-Place Orders

Adding Satellite Radio to an OEM Vehicle Radio

Back in 2007 I purchased a “lifetime” subscription to Sirius Radio. The subscription was first tied to our 2003 Ford Expedition, and then to our 2012 Ford Expedition, which we sold to purchase our new F-250. The F-250 did not come with a SiriusXM capable radio. But our 2015 Hyundai Genesis is SiriusXM radio ready.

I asked Joyce if she wanted to move the subscription to the Hyundai. She said she would rather have it in the F-250, since we spend more time driving together in our trailer tow vehicles, often traveling in remote places without any radio reception when towing the trailer. Adding satellite radio wouldn’t be simple, but it wasn’t impossible. The question was, could I come up with a suitable solution. Continue reading Adding Satellite Radio to an OEM Vehicle Radio