My projects for Thursday were to be Emergency Roadside Service since we'd let Good Sam's lapse, and decide on a mail service. We decided to go ahead and get a mail service now, since we'll be needing one when we start full timing anyway. We couldn't figure out a better (cheaper) way to handle our mail while we're gone. The Post office has their version of the mail service for snowbirds, however it was way too expensive. It cost $13.95 a week!
From my post a few days ago I got comment with a good recommendation from Jeff & Barbie regarding a mail service. They use My Rv Mail, out of Crestview, Florida. I checked them out and liked them and the price was right. Thanks Jeff and Barbie. Check out their blog, it's interesting!
I called My Rv Mail to ask a few questions and ended up talking with Kirt. He took care of me right over the phone and I signed up for the 3 month gold service plan. With the Passport America discount, it cost $67.50 for the 3 month (cheaper if you pay annually or semi-annually), plus $30 initial postage deposit, plus $25 set up fee. They have a website where you can see exactly what mail they have for you. You can check what you want sent or trashed and update the address where you want your mail to come to. You can update your information on the web 24/7. For $2.50 they will scan a letter so you can read it immediately. I think they will work out very well. We just have to send in some post office required forms and we'll be all set up. We already have our new Florida address.
When Kirt called me back after I emailed him for help logging onto their site, I noticed the called id said, Passport America. I checked and Passport America is also in Crestview, so I'm assuming it's run by the same person. I've been extremely happy with Passport America, so I feel sure we made a good decision.
Here is their pricing schedule for the Gold Plan with a discount if you're a Passport America member.
You can see I would have saved quite a bit if I'd have gotten the 12 month service. Once we're on the road, we'll do that, but for now I'll go with the 3 month and renew month by month if needed. They have a bronze, silver, and gold plan, but we went with the gold, which is the most expensive.
I never did get around to the ERS. I'm leaning towards Coach Net because they have tech support. Sometimes it's nice to have someone to call for help. As long as we get it done before we leave, we're okay.
We had to take our little old kitty Socks, to the vet today. She has a thyroid problem and it's not under control. She had some bloodwork done and her medication adjusted. $213 poorer, we took her home :) She's our oldest kitty at 19, we think she's 19, but we're not exactly sure.
Al was busy this afternoon. He changed the oil on the motor home. We're hoping to get it washed before we go, but the temperature is only getting into the mid 60's, so we'll see.
We had a really good dinner tonight. We cooked some steaks on the Nuwave oven and boy did it do a good job. I threw some potatoes in the regular oven and some fresh green beans on the Nuwave grill with the steaks and everything turned out great. That's unusual for me!
We cooked hot dogs on it for lunch and they were very good too, so we've decided we're going to leave our grill home. We haven't cooked a burger on the Nuwave yet, but have we figure if it cooks a good steak, it'll cook a good burger. We see no reason to bring the grill. We may even sell it. With the Nuwave you don't have to worry about the steaks flaring up. No smoke, no fire and the outside doesn't get that awfully hot. You can touch it for a second or two without burning your hand. I like that better than the open flame of our gas stove and oven. You set the timer for the desired number of minutes and walk away. It beeps, you turn the food over and walk away until you hear the beep again. You may need to adjust the cooking a few more minutes, but for the most part you don't even have to think about it. Boy were those steaks tender. Of course they were fillets, so they would be tender anyway. So the Nuwave is replacing the toaster, toaster oven and probably the grill.
