I posted some photos to abpw.

I spent all day in a hotel conference room today... The hotel was completely
gutted and redone over the past year or so and only recently reopened under
a different brand. I got to looking at the alignment of the various outlets,
jacks and switches on one section of wall. I don't think any two of them
were installed at the same distance from the floor or ceiling or a level
line. What was also amusing is the location of the peep hole on the door...
note that the push bar is at the usual 36" from the floor. To see through
the peep hole youd have to be at least 7 feet tall! How could anybody sign
off on such lousy work???

On 1/22/2016 10:30 PM, John Grossbohlin wrote:
I posted some photos to abpw.

I spent all day in a hotel conference room today... The hotel was
completely gutted and redone over the past year or so and only recently
reopened under a different brand. I got to looking at the alignment of
the various outlets, jacks and switches on one section of wall. I don't
think any two of them were installed at the same distance from the floor
or ceiling or a level line. What was also amusing is the location of the
peep hole on the door... note that the push bar is at the usual 36" from
the floor. To see through the peep hole youd have to be at least 7 feet
tall! How could anybody sign off on such lousy work???

Where was this, what location?
Everything is location , location, location.

--
Jeff

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:30:45 -0500
"John Grossbohlin" wrote:

hole youd have to be at least 7 feet tall! How could anybody sign
off on such lousy work???

the signer obviously thought the price was right

a master tile setter i know gave up
every job he used to get was underbid by non-english speakers

he went back to visit the jobs once completed and was not surprised to
see no craftsmanship and ridiculous tile layouts

this also was in hotel environments so it was easy to visit the finished
jobs


state of the union indeed

"John Grossbohlin" wrote in
:

I got to looking at the
alignment of the various outlets, jacks and switches on one section of
wall. I don't think any two of them were installed at the same
distance from the floor or ceiling or a level line.

I've seen that...close inspection showed each one to be offset
from the one before by half the width of the box. Apparently
the guy who installed them couldn't be bothered to put any
S-bends in the conduit, so he just offset the boxes to line
up with straight runs of conduit.

John

"woodchucker" wrote in message
...

On 1/22/2016 10:30 PM, John Grossbohlin wrote:
I posted some photos to abpw.

I spent all day in a hotel conference room today... The hotel was
completely gutted and redone over the past year or so and only recently
reopened under a different brand. I got to looking at the alignment of
the various outlets, jacks and switches on one section of wall. I don't
think any two of them were installed at the same distance from the floor
or ceiling or a level line. What was also amusing is the location of the
peep hole on the door... note that the push bar is at the usual 36" from
the floor. To see through the peep hole youd have to be at least 7 feet
tall! How could anybody sign off on such lousy work???

Where was this, what location?
Everything is location , location, location.

The Capital District in upstate NY...

On 1/23/2016 11:37 AM, John McCoy wrote:

I've seen that...close inspection showed each one to be offset
from the one before by half the width of the box. Apparently
the guy who installed them couldn't be bothered to put any
S-bends in the conduit, so he just offset the boxes to line
up with straight runs of conduit.

Bingo ...

What you get when you take the lowest bid.


--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://www.google.com/+eWoodShop
https://plus.google.com/+KarlCaillouet/posts
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:30:45 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

I posted some photos to abpw.

I spent all day in a hotel conference room today... The hotel was completely
gutted and redone over the past year or so and only recently reopened under
a different brand. I got to looking at the alignment of the various outlets,
jacks and switches on one section of wall. I don't think any two of them
were installed at the same distance from the floor or ceiling or a level
line. What was also amusing is the location of the peep hole on the door...
note that the push bar is at the usual 36" from the floor. To see through
the peep hole you’d have to be at least 7 feet tall! How could anybody sign
off on such lousy work???

If the push bar was 36" then the peep hole looks like about 6 ft from
the photo I saw.

The room may have been two rooms, turned into one small conference
room, judging by the outlets and blank covers.

Not sure what part of the country you are in but I can tell you from
personal experience that most of it was just modified, with limited
remod. Typically they use their maintenance staff, and perhaps some
additional ones, looking for new hires. 90% of the redo's are just foo
foo stuff, wall paper, paint, beds, furniture and TV's. Re decorating
in large conference rooms, and only what mechanical stuff is actually
broken down and determined to be needed. Nowadays a lot of maintenance
staffing in the west are illegal's, and just a few tradesmen.

I laugh when I see signs of a million or 6 million dollar remods,
knowing the kitchen was no better than was before, the HVAC is in
miserable shape because the Hotel lessee's won't pay for it, since
they only manage the facilities, and the money owners put it off for
as long as they can. Yet requiring a co-op arrangement for repairs or
replacement depending on how large the facilities.

Except for brand new facilities or the better Hotels in Vegas where
they have to have A/C, I think of them like cheap painted whores. The
only good thing about a remod is that some wings actually have new
mattresses and are relatively "bug" free.

John McCoy wrote:
"John Grossbohlin" wrote in
:

I got to looking at the
alignment of the various outlets, jacks and switches on one section of
wall. I don't think any two of them were installed at the same
distance from the floor or ceiling or a level line.

I've seen that...close inspection showed each one to be offset
from the one before by half the width of the box. Apparently
the guy who installed them couldn't be bothered to put any
S-bends in the conduit, so he just offset the boxes to line
up with straight runs of conduit.

John


Should only require a simple off-set bend to accommodate the distance
from the wall to the knock-out. Should not involve any difference in
height at all.

--
-Mike-

OFWW wrote:
On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:30:45 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

I posted some photos to abpw.

I spent all day in a hotel conference room today... The hotel was completely
gutted and redone over the past year or so and only recently reopened under
a different brand. I got to looking at the alignment of the various outlets,
jacks and switches on one section of wall. I don't think any two of them
were installed at the same distance from the floor or ceiling or a level
line. What was also amusing is the location of the peep hole on the door...
note that the push bar is at the usual 36" from the floor. To see through
the peep hole you’d have to be at least 7 feet tall! How could anybody sign
off on such lousy work???

If the push bar was 36" then the peep hole looks like about 6 ft from
the photo I saw.

The room may have been two rooms, turned into one small conference
room, judging by the outlets and blank covers.

Not sure what part of the country you are in but I can tell you from
personal experience that most of it was just modified, with limited
remod. Typically they use their maintenance staff, and perhaps some
additional ones, looking for new hires. 90% of the redo's are just foo
foo stuff, wall paper, paint, beds, furniture and TV's. Re decorating
in large conference rooms, and only what mechanical stuff is actually
broken down and determined to be needed. Nowadays a lot of maintenance
staffing in the west are illegal's, and just a few tradesmen.

I laugh when I see signs of a million or 6 million dollar remods,
knowing the kitchen was no better than was before, the HVAC is in
miserable shape because the Hotel lessee's won't pay for it, since
they only manage the facilities, and the money owners put it off for
as long as they can. Yet requiring a co-op arrangement for repairs or
replacement depending on how large the facilities.

Except for brand new facilities or the better Hotels in Vegas where
they have to have A/C, I think of them like cheap painted whores. The
only good thing about a remod is that some wings actually have new
mattresses and are relatively "bug" free.


I'm not sure where a lot of you guys are from, or what your local codes
are, but i've seen a lot of remodel stuff in the North East and it is
not at all what I hear in this group. Maybe more people are just
talking out their butt than really having seen things, or maybe things
are just done differently in Texas...


--
-Mike-

"OFWW" wrote in message ...


If the push bar was 36" then the peep hole looks like about 6 ft from
the photo I saw.

That is about right... perhaps a bit higher.


The room may have been two rooms, turned into one small conference
room, judging by the outlets and blank covers.

It is a very large room with 3 dividers... we had 1/2 of the room.


Not sure what part of the country you are in but I can tell you from
personal experience that most of it was just modified, with limited
remod. Typically they use their maintenance staff, and perhaps some
additional ones, looking for new hires. 90% of the redo's are just foo
foo stuff, wall paper, paint, beds, furniture and TV's. Re decorating
in large conference rooms, and only what mechanical stuff is actually
broken down and determined to be needed. Nowadays a lot of maintenance
staffing in the west are illegal's, and just a few tradesmen.

The Capital District in upstate NY.

This was a gut job... they completely shut it down and tore everything out
except the structure itself... new windows, doors, bathrooms, exterior,
interior, mechanicals. I can see the place from my office, including the
roof as I'm 3 stories higher up than the roof of the place, and could see
the demo and reconstruction progress. I am familiar with other facilities
that were cosmetic as you describe... and am very familiar with one close to
my home that was rebranded just last year that wasn't quite a gut job. This
as they had renovated the place maybe 10 years ago and had replaced windows,
doors, etc. then.

On Sat, 23 Jan 2016 23:02:19 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

"OFWW" wrote in message ...


If the push bar was 36" then the peep hole looks like about 6 ft from
the photo I saw.

That is about right... perhaps a bit higher.


The room may have been two rooms, turned into one small conference
room, judging by the outlets and blank covers.

It is a very large room with 3 dividers... we had 1/2 of the room.


Not sure what part of the country you are in but I can tell you from
personal experience that most of it was just modified, with limited
remod. Typically they use their maintenance staff, and perhaps some
additional ones, looking for new hires. 90% of the redo's are just foo
foo stuff, wall paper, paint, beds, furniture and TV's. Re decorating
in large conference rooms, and only what mechanical stuff is actually
broken down and determined to be needed. Nowadays a lot of maintenance
staffing in the west are illegal's, and just a few tradesmen.

The Capital District in upstate NY.

This was a gut job... they completely shut it down and tore everything out
except the structure itself... new windows, doors, bathrooms, exterior,
interior, mechanicals. I can see the place from my office, including the
roof as I'm 3 stories higher up than the roof of the place, and could see
the demo and reconstruction progress. I am familiar with other facilities
that were cosmetic as you describe... and am very familiar with one close to
my home that was rebranded just last year that wasn't quite a gut job. This
as they had renovated the place maybe 10 years ago and had replaced windows,
doors, etc. then.

Then like you I wonder who signed off on the job. Everything in your
pic's spoke of a renovation to me. Liked like typical retro work.

On Sat, 23 Jan 2016 21:45:48 -0500, Mike Marlow
wrote:

OFWW wrote:
On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:30:45 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

I posted some photos to abpw.

I spent all day in a hotel conference room today... The hotel was completely
gutted and redone over the past year or so and only recently reopened under
a different brand. I got to looking at the alignment of the various outlets,
jacks and switches on one section of wall. I don't think any two of them
were installed at the same distance from the floor or ceiling or a level
line. What was also amusing is the location of the peep hole on the door...
note that the push bar is at the usual 36" from the floor. To see through
the peep hole you’d have to be at least 7 feet tall! How could anybody sign
off on such lousy work???

If the push bar was 36" then the peep hole looks like about 6 ft from
the photo I saw.

The room may have been two rooms, turned into one small conference
room, judging by the outlets and blank covers.

Not sure what part of the country you are in but I can tell you from
personal experience that most of it was just modified, with limited
remod. Typically they use their maintenance staff, and perhaps some
additional ones, looking for new hires. 90% of the redo's are just foo
foo stuff, wall paper, paint, beds, furniture and TV's. Re decorating
in large conference rooms, and only what mechanical stuff is actually
broken down and determined to be needed. Nowadays a lot of maintenance
staffing in the west are illegal's, and just a few tradesmen.

I laugh when I see signs of a million or 6 million dollar remods,
knowing the kitchen was no better than was before, the HVAC is in
miserable shape because the Hotel lessee's won't pay for it, since
they only manage the facilities, and the money owners put it off for
as long as they can. Yet requiring a co-op arrangement for repairs or
replacement depending on how large the facilities.

Except for brand new facilities or the better Hotels in Vegas where
they have to have A/C, I think of them like cheap painted whores. The
only good thing about a remod is that some wings actually have new
mattresses and are relatively "bug" free.


I'm not sure where a lot of you guys are from, or what your local codes
are, but i've seen a lot of remodel stuff in the North East and it is
not at all what I hear in this group. Maybe more people are just
talking out their butt than really having seen things, or maybe things
are just done differently in Texas...

I'm in Calif. I did commercial industrial HVAC, we had a lot of Hotels
and a few motels under contract for years From SB to SD and to all the
inland area's.

I was writing about the bulk of the jobs on renovations I have
personally seen. Anything new that was computer controlled was done by
outside contractors, but I have seen in house employee's even doing
copper re piping up to 4" dia. Thus circumventing the need for
inspectors.

I really doubt it is much different in Texas, as the major hotels and
motel chains are all controlled by their corporate offices, all who
would squeeze a buffalo nickel until it took a dump.

OFWW wrote:


I'm in Calif. I did commercial industrial HVAC, we had a lot of Hotels
and a few motels under contract for years From SB to SD and to all the
inland area's.

I was writing about the bulk of the jobs on renovations I have
personally seen. Anything new that was computer controlled was done by
outside contractors, but I have seen in house employee's even doing
copper re piping up to 4" dia. Thus circumventing the need for
inspectors.

I really doubt it is much different in Texas, as the major hotels and
motel chains are all controlled by their corporate offices, all who
would squeeze a buffalo nickel until it took a dump.


Failed. I was trying to be humorous with the Texas statement. Guess it
did not come through.

I do agree to some extent with your thoughts on house employees and the
quality of workmanship, but I don't generally see them doing renovations
- repairs, but not renovations. Those are usually contracted out.



--
-Mike-

Mike Marlow wrote in
:

John McCoy wrote:
"John Grossbohlin" wrote in
:

I got to looking at the
alignment of the various outlets, jacks and switches on one section
of wall. I don't think any two of them were installed at the same
distance from the floor or ceiling or a level line.

I've seen that...close inspection showed each one to be offset
from the one before by half the width of the box. Apparently
the guy who installed them couldn't be bothered to put any
S-bends in the conduit, so he just offset the boxes to line
up with straight runs of conduit.

John


Should only require a simple off-set bend to accommodate the distance
from the wall to the knock-out. Should not involve any difference in
height at all.

Different scenario - imagine you have 3 parallel runs of
conduit. Normally you'd put 3 boxes at equal heights, and
s-bend each conduit to align with it's box. This guy,
instead, spaced the conduits by 1/2 the box width and
staggered the heights of the boxes to match.

John

John McCoy wrote:


Different scenario - imagine you have 3 parallel runs of
conduit. Normally you'd put 3 boxes at equal heights, and
s-bend each conduit to align with it's box. This guy,
instead, spaced the conduits by 1/2 the box width and
staggered the heights of the boxes to match.

John


Boy - that does not make any sense at all. That's "different" thinking...

I'm guessing he did that so that he could hit the side of the box
instead of the top or bottom?

--
-Mike-

On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 06:43:15 -0500, Mike Marlow
wrote:

OFWW wrote:


I'm in Calif. I did commercial industrial HVAC, we had a lot of Hotels
and a few motels under contract for years From SB to SD and to all the
inland area's.

I was writing about the bulk of the jobs on renovations I have
personally seen. Anything new that was computer controlled was done by
outside contractors, but I have seen in house employee's even doing
copper re piping up to 4" dia. Thus circumventing the need for
inspectors.

I really doubt it is much different in Texas, as the major hotels and
motel chains are all controlled by their corporate offices, all who
would squeeze a buffalo nickel until it took a dump.


Failed. I was trying to be humorous with the Texas statement. Guess it
did not come through.


From what little time I've spent in Texas, I've taken them as serious
folk for the most part. So I wasn't sure.

I do agree to some extent with your thoughts on house employees and the
quality of workmanship, but I don't generally see them doing renovations
- repairs, but not renovations. Those are usually contracted out.

Around here, not at the motels, but at the hotels where they have a
crew of 5-6 guys days, and 3-4 evenings I've seen way too many working
way over their heads. Non-union, usually limited skill sets, but
that's not to say they aren't serious or trying to degrading them.
They all want to eat and feed their families so they will do as asked.

I've seen way too much, and have way too many stories, even from the
most unlikeliest places like the finest in Beverly Hills, and Palm
springs.

Anyhow, now I've finally got the time to do some wood working and
hoping to make some fine furniture pieces as I learn. Something I have
wanted to do from High School days. So I should just probably stick to
that. (and SketchPro)

"OFWW" wrote in message ...

On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 06:43:15 -0500, Mike Marlow
wrote:


I do agree to some extent with your thoughts on house employees and the
quality of workmanship, but I don't generally see them doing renovations
- repairs, but not renovations. Those are usually contracted out.

Around here, not at the motels, but at the hotels where they have a
crew of 5-6 guys days, and 3-4 evenings I've seen way too many working
way over their heads. Non-union, usually limited skill sets, but
that's not to say they aren't serious or trying to degrading them.
They all want to eat and feed their families so they will do as asked.

I've seen way too much, and have way too many stories, even from the
most unlikeliest places like the finest in Beverly Hills, and Palm
springs.

It doesn't seem to matter where I travel but I find a lot of poor conditions
in motels, hotels, hostels and campgrounds. When I'm on months long bicycle
trips I'm in a new place pretty much every night. The last trip, from FL to
NY, I repaired things in rooms just to satisfy my needs... or asked for a
different room/site. I stopped using one chain motel as I encountered
terrible conditions in too many of them, e.g., sticky carpets, filthy
carpets, water controlled by the wrong faucet, loud/broken A/C, burn holes
in sheets/pillow cases/comforters in non-smoking rooms, useless or no Wi-Fi,
out of control guests, disengaged staff. Independents are a crap shoot. Some
were well maintained places with great staff. Others were absolute dumps in
locations where there were no options (for someone traveling by bicycle!).
The biggest name in campgrounds doesn't guarantee anything either... though
a few were exceptional. Hostels are all over the map when it comes to
condition and cleanliness. I've had great experiences camping in the back
yards of Warm Showers hosts and have hit the jackpot a few times. An
encounter on the road in Savannah, GA resulted in the free use of a new
guest house and vehicle to visit a fort! Business travel accommodations
have tended to be a bit better on average but by no means perfect in every
case.

One pet peeve is faucets in sinks and showers where the hot and cold water
are reversed. Some are labeled as such but most are not. It's perhaps worse
than not having sufficient (or any) hot water as it can be dangerous.
Another pet peeve is clogged drains and they hand you a plunger or tell you
not to throw paper in the toilet!

On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 10:23:05 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

"OFWW" wrote in message ...

On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 06:43:15 -0500, Mike Marlow
wrote:


I do agree to some extent with your thoughts on house employees and the
quality of workmanship, but I don't generally see them doing renovations
- repairs, but not renovations. Those are usually contracted out.

Around here, not at the motels, but at the hotels where they have a
crew of 5-6 guys days, and 3-4 evenings I've seen way too many working
way over their heads. Non-union, usually limited skill sets, but
that's not to say they aren't serious or trying to degrading them.
They all want to eat and feed their families so they will do as asked.

I've seen way too much, and have way too many stories, even from the
most unlikeliest places like the finest in Beverly Hills, and Palm
springs.

It doesn't seem to matter where I travel but I find a lot of poor conditions
in motels, hotels, hostels and campgrounds. When I'm on months long bicycle
trips I'm in a new place pretty much every night. The last trip, from FL to
NY, I repaired things in rooms just to satisfy my needs... or asked for a
different room/site. I stopped using one chain motel as I encountered
terrible conditions in too many of them, e.g., sticky carpets, filthy
carpets, water controlled by the wrong faucet, loud/broken A/C, burn holes
in sheets/pillow cases/comforters in non-smoking rooms, useless or no Wi-Fi,
out of control guests, disengaged staff. Independents are a crap shoot. Some
were well maintained places with great staff. Others were absolute dumps in
locations where there were no options (for someone traveling by bicycle!).
The biggest name in campgrounds doesn't guarantee anything either... though
a few were exceptional. Hostels are all over the map when it comes to
condition and cleanliness. I've had great experiences camping in the back
yards of Warm Showers hosts and have hit the jackpot a few times. An
encounter on the road in Savannah, GA resulted in the free use of a new
guest house and vehicle to visit a fort! Business travel accommodations
have tended to be a bit better on average but by no means perfect in every
case.

One pet peeve is faucets in sinks and showers where the hot and cold water
are reversed. Some are labeled as such but most are not. It's perhaps worse
than not having sufficient (or any) hot water as it can be dangerous.
Another pet peeve is clogged drains and they hand you a plunger or tell you
not to throw paper in the toilet!

I am a bit jealous of you. It was a dream of mine to ride across the
US, but it never happened.

"An encounter", meaning someone didn't see you on the road? I used to
ride a lot with a lot of near misses. I still ride if it isn't too
cold, now that I am retired. I'd bet you have a lot of tales to tell
and photo's as well.

"OFWW" wrote in message ...

On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 10:23:05 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

"OFWW" wrote in message
. ..


It doesn't seem to matter where I travel but I find a lot of poor
conditions
in motels, hotels, hostels and campgrounds. When I'm on months long
bicycle
trips I'm in a new place pretty much every night. The last trip, from FL
to
NY, I repaired things in rooms just to satisfy my needs... or asked for a
different room/site. I stopped using one chain motel as I encountered
terrible conditions in too many of them, e.g., sticky carpets, filthy
carpets, water controlled by the wrong faucet, loud/broken A/C, burn holes
in sheets/pillow cases/comforters in non-smoking rooms, useless or no
Wi-Fi,
out of control guests, disengaged staff. Independents are a crap shoot.
Some
were well maintained places with great staff. Others were absolute dumps
in
locations where there were no options (for someone traveling by
bicycle!).
The biggest name in campgrounds doesn't guarantee anything either...
though
a few were exceptional. Hostels are all over the map when it comes to
condition and cleanliness. I've had great experiences camping in the back
yards of Warm Showers hosts and have hit the jackpot a few times. An
encounter on the road in Savannah, GA resulted in the free use of a new
guest house and vehicle to visit a fort! Business travel accommodations
have tended to be a bit better on average but by no means perfect in every
case.

One pet peeve is faucets in sinks and showers where the hot and cold water
are reversed. Some are labeled as such but most are not. It's perhaps
worse
than not having sufficient (or any) hot water as it can be dangerous.
Another pet peeve is clogged drains and they hand you a plunger or tell
you
not to throw paper in the toilet!

I am a bit jealous of you. It was a dream of mine to ride across the
US, but it never happened.

"An encounter", meaning someone didn't see you on the road? I used to
ride a lot with a lot of near misses. I still ride if it isn't too
cold, now that I am retired. I'd bet you have a lot of tales to tell
and photo's as well.

This encounter was a good one... a chance meeting of someone interested in
what my son and I were doing. I've had the other kind of encounters... the
biggest offenders have been large motorhomes. Seems those folks don't know
where their fenders are and don't understand the "vacuum" they create at
55-75 MPH. In and around Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and the Tamiami Trail
(Rte 41) in FL were the worst places for those encounters but they've
happened elsewhere.

In regards to your dream... make it happen! The first trip is the hardest
but assuming you learn while on the road it gets easier and future trips are
less stressful in the planning.

On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 16:45:30 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

"OFWW" wrote in message ...

On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 10:23:05 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

"OFWW" wrote in message
...


It doesn't seem to matter where I travel but I find a lot of poor
conditions
in motels, hotels, hostels and campgrounds. When I'm on months long
bicycle
trips I'm in a new place pretty much every night. The last trip, from FL
to
NY, I repaired things in rooms just to satisfy my needs... or asked for a
different room/site. I stopped using one chain motel as I encountered
terrible conditions in too many of them, e.g., sticky carpets, filthy
carpets, water controlled by the wrong faucet, loud/broken A/C, burn holes
in sheets/pillow cases/comforters in non-smoking rooms, useless or no
Wi-Fi,
out of control guests, disengaged staff. Independents are a crap shoot.
Some
were well maintained places with great staff. Others were absolute dumps
in
locations where there were no options (for someone traveling by
bicycle!).
The biggest name in campgrounds doesn't guarantee anything either...
though
a few were exceptional. Hostels are all over the map when it comes to
condition and cleanliness. I've had great experiences camping in the back
yards of Warm Showers hosts and have hit the jackpot a few times. An
encounter on the road in Savannah, GA resulted in the free use of a new
guest house and vehicle to visit a fort! Business travel accommodations
have tended to be a bit better on average but by no means perfect in every
case.

One pet peeve is faucets in sinks and showers where the hot and cold water
are reversed. Some are labeled as such but most are not. It's perhaps
worse
than not having sufficient (or any) hot water as it can be dangerous.
Another pet peeve is clogged drains and they hand you a plunger or tell
you
not to throw paper in the toilet!

I am a bit jealous of you. It was a dream of mine to ride across the
US, but it never happened.

"An encounter", meaning someone didn't see you on the road? I used to
ride a lot with a lot of near misses. I still ride if it isn't too
cold, now that I am retired. I'd bet you have a lot of tales to tell
and photo's as well.

This encounter was a good one... a chance meeting of someone interested in
what my son and I were doing. I've had the other kind of encounters... the
biggest offenders have been large motorhomes. Seems those folks don't know
where their fenders are and don't understand the "vacuum" they create at
55-75 MPH. In and around Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and the Tamiami Trail
(Rte 41) in FL were the worst places for those encounters but they've
happened elsewhere.

In regards to your dream... make it happen! The first trip is the hardest
but assuming you learn while on the road it gets easier and future trips are
less stressful in the planning.

With the wear and tear on my body I doubt I'd make it across in less
than 10 years. So I'll be sticking with my MH, especially for the
wife. While we camp off road for the most part we are done with
tenting and such. (although I'd still like to load up the Jeep and go
on my own for a few days)

"OFWW" wrote in message ...

On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 16:45:30 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

In regards to your dream... make it happen! The first trip is the hardest
but assuming you learn while on the road it gets easier and future trips
are
less stressful in the planning.

With the wear and tear on my body I doubt I'd make it across in less
than 10 years. So I'll be sticking with my MH, especially for the
wife. While we camp off road for the most part we are done with
tenting and such. (although I'd still like to load up the Jeep and go
on my own for a few days)

Many of the people out there touring are 50+... I've met many in their 60s
and 70s. See the journals here for inspiration!
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/...octype=journal

On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 22:48:47 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

"OFWW" wrote in message ...

On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 16:45:30 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

In regards to your dream... make it happen! The first trip is the hardest
but assuming you learn while on the road it gets easier and future trips
are
less stressful in the planning.

With the wear and tear on my body I doubt I'd make it across in less
than 10 years. So I'll be sticking with my MH, especially for the
wife. While we camp off road for the most part we are done with
tenting and such. (although I'd still like to load up the Jeep and go
on my own for a few days)

Many of the people out there touring are 50+... I've met many in their 60s
and 70s. See the journals here for inspiration!
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/...octype=journal

Well there went a couple hours, reading and viewing bike trips.

If I did any at my age they'd be day trips, like bike trails, you
know, leisurely stuff for my wife and I. I really like wood working
and playing with scraps for joints and things. That, plus getting my
garage work area cleared up.

Thanks for the link, I saved it, and evidently it has stuff from
around the world. Should be real interesting.

"OFWW" wrote in message ...


Many of the people out there touring are 50+... I've met many in their 60s
and 70s. See the journals here for inspiration!
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/...octype=journal

Well there went a couple hours, reading and viewing bike trips.

If I did any at my age they'd be day trips, like bike trails, you
know, leisurely stuff for my wife and I. I really like wood working
and playing with scraps for joints and things. That, plus getting my
garage work area cleared up.

I don't know where you are, but the Erie Canalway Trail and Katy Trail are
both fairly long and relatively flat. The Canalway trail follows the Erie
Canal tow path much of the way and the other is a rail trail... From
experience I know the Canalway trail can be ridden end to end as a credit
card trip, i.e., stay in B&Bs, motels, etc. and taken at a leisurely pace.
Parks and Trails NY also runs an annual fully supported tour of the trail as
well as offering a guide book. http://www.ptny.org/cycle-the-erie-canal
The Katy Trail seems to offer the same opportunities
http://www.bikekatytrail.com/ In the future I anticipate the trail network
in NY to be pretty well built out such that you'll be able to get from NYC
to the Ulster County/Delaware County line on rail trails and other multi-use
trails. The East Coast Greenway is filling in with a lot of off-road
sections and we can anticipate this to continue into the future.
http://www.greenway.org/

Any of the long trails can be ridden in segments over time so you may have
viable options from which to choose.

Thanks for the link, I saved it, and evidently it has stuff from
around the world. Should be real interesting.

Some of the trips and people are so interesting that you'll find yourself
going back every day for updates... and burning lots of time! ;~)

On Tue, 26 Jan 2016 08:39:52 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

"OFWW" wrote in message ...


Many of the people out there touring are 50+... I've met many in their 60s
and 70s. See the journals here for inspiration!
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/...octype=journal

Well there went a couple hours, reading and viewing bike trips.

If I did any at my age they'd be day trips, like bike trails, you
know, leisurely stuff for my wife and I. I really like wood working
and playing with scraps for joints and things. That, plus getting my
garage work area cleared up.

I don't know where you are, but the Erie Canalway Trail and Katy Trail are
both fairly long and relatively flat. The Canalway trail follows the Erie
Canal tow path much of the way and the other is a rail trail... From
experience I know the Canalway trail can be ridden end to end as a credit
card trip, i.e., stay in B&Bs, motels, etc. and taken at a leisurely pace.
Parks and Trails NY also runs an annual fully supported tour of the trail as
well as offering a guide book. http://www.ptny.org/cycle-the-erie-canal
The Katy Trail seems to offer the same opportunities
http://www.bikekatytrail.com/ In the future I anticipate the trail network
in NY to be pretty well built out such that you'll be able to get from NYC
to the Ulster County/Delaware County line on rail trails and other multi-use
trails. The East Coast Greenway is filling in with a lot of off-road
sections and we can anticipate this to continue into the future.
http://www.greenway.org/

Any of the long trails can be ridden in segments over time so you may have
viable options from which to choose.

Thanks for the link, I saved it, and evidently it has stuff from
around the world. Should be real interesting.

Some of the trips and people are so interesting that you'll find yourself
going back every day for updates... and burning lots of time! ;~)

No doubt I will be. I'll also check out the links you posted.

I live in Ventura County about a mile and a half from the ocean from
two directions, close to three, and while we have off road trails, we
only have a few of the nicer sort. Sometimes I go hunting for bike
rides on the net, especially of the helmet camera variety. You can see
a lot this way. I need to lose weight, after retiring I put on far
more than I should, then maybe some of the rides might be a
possibility. (I love to cook)

"OFWW" wrote in message ...

doubt I will be. I'll also check out the links you posted.

I live in Ventura County about a mile and a half from the ocean from
two directions, close to three, and while we have off road trails, we
only have a few of the nicer sort. Sometimes I go hunting for bike
rides on the net, especially of the helmet camera variety. You can see
a lot this way. I need to lose weight, after retiring I put on far
more than I should, then maybe some of the rides might be a
possibility. (I love to cook)

You wouldnt be the first to loose weight while on a bicycle trip!

Me... for my first major trip I went from 18 months of long hours behind a
desk, with no cycling in that period, to the road. I lost 30 lbs the first
month... and I was eating like crazy!

This guy is an inspiration... 563 lbs when he started!
https://www.facebook.com/fatguyacrossamerica