The ultimate Interstate off-topic thread

[rmkrum]

In California the only issue is not mounting stuff on the windshield itself (honored more in the breach than compliance). Or seriously obstructing view our the windshield from the driving position.

Reminds me that i need to move the front dash camera to the alternate mount behind the rear-view mirror someday soon.

[Hittenstiehl]

In Arizona they have just now passed a no texting law. There has been a period of education before there will be enforcement. The legislators may have to make some modifications as it goes forward as case law proceeds

The goal is to keep peoples attention on the road and to stop them from actively using devices while engaged in driving.

Along those lines it is geared towards texting, holding the device, watching or recording a video. They would like you to use a hands-free device to include an interactive vehicle system.

From looking at IB's console those are just readouts or images. Many of those could be available on a very new, interactive or decked out vehicle anyway.

I can imagine that on GPS devices re-centering the screen, zooming in on your view or zooming out could be considered using your device and we will see where that goes in the future. It is likely already possible that you can re-centering, resume, refocus by voice commands in addition to with hands.

[Hittenstiehl]

Here is the small public service announcement that they are trying to get people to conform to.

[rmkrum]

Sounds like a fairly rational law...

Don’t worry, they’ll fix that eventually.

[InterBlog]

Posts 59 and 60 speak directly to each other. As long as I have my stuff at my fingertips, then I'm not going to be distracted - that's the whole point.

Distracted in my case = anxiously looking for indications of information that isn't where and how I need it to be presented.

I lost compression two times in the last ten months for two unrelated reasons, and to lose compression in a diesel can be catastrophic depending on prevailing conditions. I need boost pressure staring me in the face at every moment of every day - bigger than Dallas. And if that happens, then I'm not distracted by the post-traumatic stress disorder of having had one uncontrolled breakdown after another after another.

My husband made me soooooo happy this morning by making that iPad mount and configuring it to show what I need. Other women like pizza or bouquets of flowers or other unmentionable things. I'm in 7th heaven with an iPad mount - it literally gets no better than this.



WHY?? Because as a solo driver, I only have one brain. My dog is a nice emotional comfort but she flat-out sucks as a copilot. I can't execute THIS (below) unless every other thing has been streamlined for me and served up on a silver platter.

This looks very similar to last year except I blew my alternator on Day 1 last year and the route got all fouled up as I long-hauled to try to recharge my ailing battery and then diverted to Philadelphia (Million Mile Sprinter's home base). I did learn last year that I can make Tuscaloosa on Day 1 without too much stress, rather than Meridian, as long as traffic cooperates through the Gulf Coast corridor-from-hell.

Edit: Yeah, I gotta fix a couple of references in there... it's not totally accurate yet.

[InterBlog]

And I do mean bigger than freakin' Dallas on the pressure. Here's my starting configuration. Omitting long story, the OBD is a bit sketchy on reading voltage, so husband put two different measures in there.

[Pahaska]

I see that you are crossing the Hudson at Newburgh, NY. When I first started crossing there, it was still a ferry. I watched the bridge being built from the ferry.

I lived near Wappenger's Falls, NY and was flying Reserve C-119s out of Sewart AFB in Newburgh. A couple of years of that made for a lot of Hudson crossings.

I would rent Piper Cubs out of Stormville for $6/hour. There would be great thermals over the raw dirt interstate construction where I would chase hawks and buzzards.

That's pretty country (or was}.

[Tincampers]

On the end of DAY 2 that should be Bristol Tn/Va not Pa!

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Here's how my six-screen experience is shaping up (iPad mount described. "Seven if you count the dash," my husband said.

INTERBLOG - Lots of screens to monitor everything except where's the TPMS screen?. I would think you had one. Or is it the little screen on the center of windshield but that looks like a dashcam. Is it legal to attach items to center of windshield directly in driver'driver's FOV? I thought that was universally not legal?

Originally Posted by rmkrum

In California the only issue is not mounting stuff on the windshield itself (honored more in the breach than compliance). Or seriously obstructing view our the windshield from the driving position.

Reminds me that i need to move the front dash camera to the alternate mount behind the rear-view mirror someday soon.

RMKRUM - Maybe TX is not as strict but in NV windshield mounted 'stuff' is a big no-no; unless as you said, the rear-view mirror shields it from driver's view (i.e mounted hidden between windshield and rear-view mirror). That were mine mounts, hidden away. And TPMS even higher up near roof to avoid getting distracted by display which happened a lot when I had it mounted near console. But I just set audible threshold alerts.

[InterBlog]

TPMS? Good question. I look in the mirror when I want to see it. I check the tires before every trip, and daily on long hauls.

Five years in, we haven't seen fit to install a system. The one time I lost tires, it was by catastrophic stem failure and TPMS would not have helped. If I were 100% sure that we could retrofit a system that would statistically not cause more problems than it could potentially solve, I might do it. There may have been a specific reason why we held off... I can't remember.

I did install two new tires ahead of this trip, even though they weren't technically needed from a wear perspective. No tire or stem on the van is older than 11 months now (the other two were replaced ahead of last year's trip).

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Tincampers

On the end of DAY 2 that should be Bristol Tn/Va not Pa!

That is a fact. And it's a good stopping place, too. There's a Cabela's which is elevated far above the freeway, for less noise. And they have a specific boondocking set-aside, which IIRC even has a dump station.

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

If I were 100% sure that we could retrofit a system that would statistically not cause more problems than it could potentially solve, I might do it. There may have been a specific reason why we held off... I can't remember.

INTERBLOG - Aftermarket TPMS with dually is a PITA if you cant find "real experts" do it right. And even those "real experts" manage to screw it up (i.e. Converting inner dually wheels to long metal valve stems); yeah, nightmare 3 trips for me and 1 shortened camping trip before the "real experts" fixed it right. But for your 4 wheel setup, should be no issue for your trusted local tire shop. It is worth it (the ones that measure 1 psi & 1°F granularity & discriminates between slow or fast pressure loss).

My wife's minivan had factory OEM 1st gen which only flashed a warning when a tire goes below a set psi. It showed a warning one day during fall to winter temperature change, so I thought it was just the seasonal "time to pump up tires to 35 psi ". Little did I know it was a fast leak. Blowout 20 miles later, 1 mile from reaching home. If my TST TPMS Sensors were on that, it would've alerted me on a fast pressure loss and rapid temp rise before the blowout.

But you are right in that it won't help prevent your catastrophic stem failure. But it would sound the alarm well before you get to 0 psi and 180° and before the tire sidewall disentegrated completely. The few seconds lead time would've been enough to afford me additional emergency manuevers had it been necessary. Luckily I was already on right lane and headed into my exit ramp anyway. Needless to say, the van received a new afternarket TST system the next day.

[InterBlog]

I'm no stranger to truck stop boondocking, but *THIS* is something I've never seen before: multiple clusters of cars, binoculars trained on the facility, occupants of the cars being older, agitated people. Which might not be any of my personal business except that they were clearly unhappy that I was there, for reasons that were not apparent (I was a truck of sorts, in a 24-hour truck stop... er...). Plus they were taking up the prime parking spots that I wanted to claim for my over-nighter (it's extremely important to pick the right parking spot in truck stops).

I nicknamed this one "church lady". Anyone care to bet on what they were fixated on?

My husband speculated that they were trying to bust prostitutes who were servicing the truckers. My father speculated that they were trying to identify drug transactions.

Anyway, chalk up another bizarreness to life on the road.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

I'm no stranger to truck stop boondocking, but *THIS* is something I've never seen before: multiple clusters of cars, binoculars trained on the facility, occupants of the cars being older, agitated people. . . .

. . . I nicknamed this one "church lady". Anyone care to bet on what they were fixated on?

My husband speculated that they were trying to bust prostitutes who were servicing the truckers. My father speculated that they were trying to identify drug transactions. . . .

Interesting and strange but . . . Bust prostitutes? Identify drug transactions? Those are law enforcement actions. That women doesn't look like a cop - but she could just call the cops if she saw something wrong.

What part of the country did you see this?

[rmkrum]

Undercover cops try to look like ordinary people as much as possible. But who knows what’s really going on there...

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

Bust prostitutes? Identify drug transactions? Those are law enforcement actions.
What part of the country did you see this?

Originally Posted by rmkrum

But who knows what’s really going on there

Geeweez, wherever that is, whatever is really going on there - it's still daylight, no way I am hanging around for nightfall waiting for the crossfire. Unless I have a few hundred rounds of 5.56 ammo myself and itching for some night vision target practice or worse, I end up being the target. Big vans with dark tinted windows, solar panels, generator with multiple antennas would never be mistaken for undercover vehicle or drug dealer vehicle - would it?

[rmkrum]

Yeah, and an aluminum shiny trailer with solar panels and several antennas on the roof attracts a lot of attention as it is...

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

Yeah, and an aluminum shiny trailer with solar panels and several antennas on the roof attracts a lot of attention as it is...

RMKRUM - your TT would be very suspicious - to crooks who know what to steal, to crooks who think you are under cover surveillance, and to law enforcement who think you are the Blingpin. You should only stay in 5☆☆☆☆☆ rv resorts - but come to think of it, that not too bad of a sacrifice I know the wifey wont mind

[rmkrum]

Wife hates the cost of 5 star resorts. Our deterrent is four very territorial dogs that think the Airstream is their property.

The NRA ‘life member’ decal and all it implies is also a decent deterrent...

[InterBlog]

Well, here's the thing I neglected to mention: there's less potential for cross-fire in that scenario because it was in New Brunswick (the Canadian province, not the city in New Jersey). Meaning, all the handguns are with the criminals, and very few with the law-abiding citizens who officially or unofficially serve as the first line of defense against crime.

I don't get the feeling that any of them were law enforcement representatives - they were too unprofessional. Maybe a citizen corps of some kind.

Here's another possibility - that they were on the look-out for signs of trucker inebriation that they could report to the RCMP. Maybe some guy gets out of his cab staggering or something and they spot it with their handy binoculars? On a quick Google, that's the only possible link I could find to this unusual behavior.

Edit: I never care to mention individual truck stops by name, lest that stir up trouble on the internet, but it was a very peaceful overnight. There are not many 24-hour truck stops in eastern Canada. Some are better than others, but I've never had problems in any of them. Just weirdness.