Adventures in Nomadic Serendipity

Nomadic Once More

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:27:00 GMT

We left serolynne's house in Indian Harbour Beach yesterday, very likely never to return.

Hopefully her house will sell long before we ever make it back to Florida, and we've left it empty enough that she should have no need to return for any closing or final cleaning.

The past few weeks have been a frenzy of selling stuff and Goodwill runs.

We have loaded up our Tab, and we are migrating north.

Last night we handed off Cherie's Prius to its new owner in Inverness, FL. Tonight we are visiting with friends in Atlanta. Tomorrow night we'll reach Hohenwald, TN. Wednesday morning we'll be touring the Oliver factory.

And then late Wednesday night we'll reach my folks place in St. Louis, where we will be storing our excess stuff and staging into the new Oliver.

We pick up the Oliver on July 25th.

Nomadism has begun again...

Construction Update #5: Solar Panels!

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:20:35 GMT

Late on Friday I got this email from my contact at the Oliver factory:

I had to get these to you for the weekend, too “sweet”.

Sweet indeed - we have solar panels!!!

What an exciting thing to see before the weekend. I can't wait to see it all in person next week!

A late friday surprise from the Oliver Factory - our first look at our solar panels!

Two 100W solar panels have been joined together to give us 200W of solar goodness on top of our Oliver. Here you can see the panels tilted towards the right. Normally while in motion they will be secured flat to the roof. In this shot you can also se the cell phone booster antenna mounted on the leading edge of our trailer.

This underside view of the solar panels reveal how the two panels have been joined together, and how the extension arms attach to pivot the panels up at an angle.

The two panels overhang the Oliver's center roof hump by a bit to either side, but the mounts that the Oliver factory came up with are fabulous looking.

Here is another view of our newly attached solar panel. The other metal brackets along the right side are where the trailer awning will be attached. The small extra bump on the back of the roof will keep the air conditioner mounted flat, compensating for the need to push the AC back rearward of the typical Oliver mounting location to make space for the solar.

Can you tell that I am getting excited?? *grin*

Also read: Construction Update #1, Construction Update #2, Construction Update #3, & Construction Update #4.

You can see all of our construction photos in this Flickr set.

Construction Update #4: Window Holes & Inner Shells

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:52:55 GMT

My contact at the Oliver factory gave me a call yesterday to let me know he had seen my Construction Update #3, and he wanted to point out a few areas I had gotten my photo descriptions wrong. I had assumed that the photos showed the top inner shell being attached to the bottom two shells, when in fact the inner top and bottom shells are actually joined together first, and the entire inner egg is lowered into the bottom shell at once.

He apologized for causing my confusion over the order that the shells are assembled because he had missed taking a photo of a key construction step while he was out on vacation. He then sent me some more photos to make sure I was able to understand and document the entire construction process.

Have I mentioned just how awesome the folks at the Oliver factory are?

The two inner shells of an Oliver are chemically bonded to each other for strength, producing a strong and rigid inner egg. This whole assembly will be later lowered into the lower outer shell, which will have already been mated to the frame.

This Oliver pictured is not ours, but the factory wanted to illustrate this step that they missed taking a picture of for us.

In the front view, you can see the area under the bathroom sink, with the shower hose dangling down.

This particular Oliver also has the A/V system which we omitted - one of the speakers and the back of the AM/FM/CD/DVD player are visible in the side view shot.

The factory also sent us a few new pictures of our Oliver. Since the last batch of pictures, the inner upper shell windows have been cut. Looking in our freshly cut back window, you can make out the chrome "stripper pole" on the inside that serves as the back support for the small dinette seat.

The tan color of the inner shell indicates the locations that the ceramic insulation has been bonded directly with the fiberglass. The Oliver has two layers of ceramic insulation, and an air gap between the shells. This should prove to be a VERY well insulated trailer.

This is our top outer shell. The cellular booster antenna is to the far left, and the roof vent lid is visible in the middle of this photo.

This view reveals our cellular booster antenna, and the hole cut for the bathroom roof vent. A bit further back, if you look closely you can see the measurement marks on the roof where they are plotting out the mounting location for our solar panels!

Also read: Construction Update #1, Construction Update #2, & Construction Update #3.

You can see all of our construction photos in this Flickr set.

"Chicks Dig iPhones" - But only if they work! (UPDATED)

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:52:47 GMT

Apple's servers are melting down due to the overwhelming demand for activating the 3G iPhone and installing the OS 2.0 upgrade.

Apparently Apple failed to anticipate this demand, or load test the infrastructure.

New iPhones are failing to activate, and the unfortunate customers who have attempted to upgrade their existing phones are having them left in an unusable limbo state when the final stage of the upgrade fails to complete.

Apple has managed to brick (make completely unusable) thousands of phones, including mine.

My phone completed the upgrade to OS 2.0, but before it will restore my data or even make a non-emergency call, it needs to be re-activated by Apple's iTunes server.

Which is down. And which has been down for hours now.

So for the time being, my phone is dead. I can not even receive incoming calls.

Thanks Apple.

The Apple discussion thread on the issue is here, and the mainstream media is starting to pick up the story too.

Why is there such a frenzy over a phone?

The Mercury News article linked above interviewed one customer, asking why he had spent the night outside an Apple store waiting to buy an iPhone.

His answer: "Chicks dig the iPhone."

Yeah, but only when it works!

*grrrr*

UPDATE: As of 3:30pm, my iPhone is live and full of OS 2.0 goodness. The App Store so totally rocks - this is what the on device application experience is meant to be. I've downloaded the iTunes Remote app, and I am loving having remote control of my music via WiFi. And the weather radar feature in Weather Bug is also impressing me.

Yay!

No iPhone for Cherie!

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:57:14 GMT

We were not ambitious enough to head out before dawn, but serolynne and I did head to the Melbourne, FL AT&T store around 10am this morning to look into getting Cherie an iPhone 3G.

We were hoping to get in and out with maybe an hour's wait.

Hah!

The line looked as if Rolling Stones or U2 tickets were about to go on sale!

The unmoving line stretched around the front of the building, and down the side. The folks in front looked like they had been there already for ages, and some of them even had lawn furniture.

It looked like it might take all day waiting in the hot FL sun to get an iPhone. Assuming that the store did not run out of stock first, which I am guessing is exceedingly likely.

I guess we will have to try again once the mad initial rush has passed. We have way too much to do in our final days in FL to spend too much time waiting in line for a phone.

Meanwhile, my iPhone 2G is in the process of downloading and installing the 2.0 OS update. And that to me is much more exciting than the faster radio and built in GPS that the iPhone 3G hardware adds.

But while I get the new toys, Cherie is stuck with her Razr for at least a bit longer.

Poor girl...

Some thoughts on iPhone Eve...

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 08:47:51 GMT

In just a few hours, the 3G iPhone will be going on sale. serolynne and I will probably be heading to the local AT&T store early to try and get her one - she is dying to get off of her Razr and onto something smarter, and her iPhone envy has gotten so bad lately that I don't think she can last another day without one.

Much more exciting to me than the 3G iPhone is the iPhone OS 2.0 software (and accompanying App Store), which will be released tomorrow as a free upgrade for all current iPhones.

The App Store is the key - and watching Apple deliver this has had me reminiscing around "what might have been" had I only been able to push my visions through at Palm and PalmSource.

What might have been...
From 2000 thru summer 2005 I was the Director of Competitive Analysis for Palm and then PalmSource (the OS spinoff company). And throughout my tenure, I had two consistent recommendations on what to focus on to maximize the success and competitive differentiation of Palm hardware and the Palm platform.

1) Build a great touchscreen phone with a 320x480 screen.
2) More importantly - build a great on-device application purchase experience, and provide the infrastructure to make it as easy as possible for both large and small developers to get rich.

Hardware: I lobbied endlessly for a phone built into the formfactor of Palm's ultimate PDA - the Tungsten X. A Tungsten X phone would have had a 320x480 touch screen, a slim case with minimal buttons, bluetooth, WiFi, great multimedia, and more.

In other words, it would have looked a LOT like an iPhone. Only years sooner.

But... Every Palm licensee was convinced that no one would want a phone without a number pad or a keyboard.

Now, everyone in the universe if falling all over themselves to make touch screen phones that rip off the iPhone's form. No one else besides Apple had the courage to try and do something different first.

*sigh*

The App Store: Even more important to me than the hardware, I knew that the most compelling and sustainable competitive advantage that the Palm OS possessed was the vast wealth of amazing applications that existed for the platform. But the process of getting at these applications was vastly too complicated for most users, particularly as typical usage switched from pairing and syncing with a desktop PC towards cellular network connected devices. For all of these applications to matter, users would need a trivially easy "zen of Palm" way to find, download, install, and ultimately purchase them - all without ever leaving their mobile device.

And developers would need a fair and affordable way to publish their applications to the full potential audience of users, without needing to jump through different hoops for each device maker and cellular network operator.

I launched a project within PalmSource to try and solve these problems, and I managed to get my roadmap approved and the first stages funded. The PalmSource Installer was a great first step, but we only managed to get to stop 1.5 on a roadmap that had at least seven major technology and business iterations planned out.

If PalmSource hadn't changed strategic direction (veering off towards oblivion it seems), by now every PalmOS device would be capable of easy one click download, installation, and purchase of thousands of apps.

The experience would have been very similar to the iPhone App Store, which is launching around the world today. But it would have been live years ago, and it would have actually done a lot more. For example, the roadmap that I was crafting would have not created a single monopoly store like Apple has launched, but rather it would have provided an enabling technology to allow a vast array of stores to operate.

And there would have been support for trial application, paid upgrades, and much more that Apple has not even contemplated for the iPhone. We even had plans to support a "tip jar" option to enable donationware.

All of this infrastructure and technology would have been baked into the OS (Palm OS 6.1 - which never shipped), and provided as a free upgrade supporting almost every Palm OS device that had at least Palm OS 3.5. No desktop computer would be required, but desktop support for Windows, Mac, and even Linux was planned as well.

You would even be able to download an app directly to your device wirelessly, and have the desktop components and conduits automatically install the next time you return to your desk. (This was actually possible with the Installer 1.5 that we did release...)

If this vision had panned out, there would have been a target market for developers of millions of devices, and users would have had access to thousands or even tens of thousands of applications, all just a click or two away from purchase. The market potential was huge!

This is what I was working on five years ago. In a few hours, Apple will finally show the mobile industry a taste of where things should have been years ago.

And now all the analysts and journalists around the world are writing gushing articles about how "the future of phones will be touchscreens and apps"...

I guess I am just a bit ahead of my time. Ah, but what might have been!

I wrote the following in 2004, when I announced internally at PalmSource that I was leaving behind Competitive Analysis and Strategy to focus on the application installer / store roadmap full time:

One bright star on the horizon has always captivated me more than any other – and that has been the potential for the Palm Economy to really blossom into an amazing ecosystem where it is easy for users to find the perfect applications to make their devices truly their own; and for developers to be able to easily profit from the joy they bring into the lives of users.

This is truly the place where Palm OS has the potential to rise above all of our competitors. We still have more developers and better apps than any other mobile platform. But what we need to do now is make it vastly easier to get applications into the hands of users, and potentially even more important – we need to make it easier to get money into the pockets of developers.

If we do this right, I see the potential for a supernova in the Palm Economy that will leave Symbian and Microsoft and all the proprietary “smart” platforms in the dust.

The supernove looks set to explode in just a few hours, but instead of the Palm ecosystem blossoming it will be Apple's iPhone.

It is bittersweet to think about what might have been had Palm(Source) managed to do it right years ago, but at least someone has ended up doing it. The doldrums that have paralyzed the mobile application universe are now about to be over.

At last!

Construction Update #3: Wiring & Three Shells Joined

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:03:46 GMT

My main contact at the Oliver factory was out last week on vacation, and he has been out sick most of this week.

I finally had a chance to catch up with him today, and he gave me these pictures, fresh from the factory floor:

The inner shells are first chemically bonded to each other, and then they are dropped into the outer bottom shell and mated to the frame. In this series of photos, the excess fiberglass along the outer bottom shell rim is being trimmed off.

The tan color of the inner shell indicates the locations that the ceramic insulation has been bonded directly with the fiberglass. The Oliver has two layers of ceramic insulation, and an air gap between the shells. This should prove to be a VERY well insulated trailer.

If you look closely, you can see that the insulation has not been applied to the window areas, which are soon to be cut out.

This view shows the spare tire mount, and the storage area behind the back bumper. The black hose on the left is used for dumping the tanks.

Now that the inner shells have been attached, this technician is trimming away the excess fiberglass. You also get a good view of the wiring for the lights, AC, solar, etc. The wires will be hidden inside the upper cabinets once the top shell is attached.

This is a great view of the upper trailer wiring in progress. Once the top shell is attached, this wiring will be hidden against the very back wall of the upper cabinets. I'm not sure what the clear plastic hose visible here is for - my best guess is that it is a drain for the air conditioning.

UPDATE: Yep, the factory confirms it is the AC condensation drain. Many RV's skip having this, and let all this moisture stay up on the roof...

This is a good view of the technicians trimming away the excess fiberglass on the sides of the bottom shell.

A more distant view of our trailer under construction. You can see the water heater has been installed, and the hatch is hanging open on the bottom left. You can also get a good look at the openings cut into the inner upper shell for all the upper cabinets.

Next Wednesday we will be stopping in to visit the Oliver factory on our way up to St. Louis. It will be exciting to get to look at our trailer in person while it is under construction. I can't wait, and I imagine I will be taking 100's of pictures... *grin*

Also read: Construction Update #1 & Construction Update #2.

You can see all of our construction photos in this Flickr set.

Fourth of Jalloween??

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:54:17 GMT

Fourth of Jalloween??
Originally uploaded by radven

Strolling through the park this morning (4th of July), we encountered this mixed-up pumpkin sitting on a rock.

Uhm?!? Cool!

Movie Review: WALL-E

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:29:46 GMT

We just got back from seeing Pixar's latest - WALL-E.

Wow. Awesome. Incredible.

Go see this movie. See it on a big screen.

You will love it.

Pixar has done it again. *grin*

Rating: 5 stars!

Construction Update #2: Frame & Shell Trimming

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:59:03 GMT

I got some more pictures in the mail from the Oliver factory yesterday, just in time to show off at serolynne's house cooling party!

I've created a Flickr set chronicling all the photos I've gotten of our Oliver under construction. Here are the latest highlights:
(Click each photo for a larger version...)

The Oliver's frame is custom made from aluminum, so it will not rust and it is much lighter weight than the typical steel. It features an extensible tongue that can telescope forward to lower the tongue weight on the to tow vehicle. This will also allow for more space for the tongue-mounted generator basket we are having attached, and it will hopefully allow for enough clearance so that we can continue to mount our bike rack on the back of our Jeep. On the right side, the retractable trailer step is built right into the frame. In the back, the rear bumper is hinged and it opens downward to reveal a storage area.

This custom frame meshes perfectly with the Oliver's fiberglass shell, and it will allow the long and flat fresh and grey water tanks to sit low nestled right in the bottom, giving the trailer a low center of gravity.

Our Oliver has the now-standard 4" axel lift, aluminum wheels, and 15" tires - an upgrade from the 14" tires on the earliest Olivers. This extra ground clearance will come in very handy for heading off road.

These two shots show the left and right sides of the outside bottom shell of our Oliver. You can see where they have cut the openings for the battery compartment, refrigerator vent, and water heater. They have also attached the ground lighting, running lights, and tail lights. In the second photo, you can see the fiberglass marked where the front door is about to be cut.

Soon, this shell will be attached to the frame pictured above.

The inside bottom shell will be lowered into the outside shell. The area in between the two shells will provide space for the fresh, grey, and black water tanks under the floor. The space in between the walls will allow for the wires and plumbing to be well hidden, but hatches in the seats will allow these areas to remain accessible.

The dinette seats and the kitchen and bathroom sinks are all molded directly into the fiberglass of this shell.

The large chamber in the front center of this photo (to the left of the front door) is where the refrigerator will go.

The first photo shows off the metal jigs that serve as guides to allow for precise cuts of the windows and doors into the upper outer shell of an Oliver. The second photo is our outer shell, waiting to be cut.

Also read: Construction Update #1

The Death of "Unlimited"

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:48:04 GMT

Mobile connectivity is essential to our life as technomads.

And over the past year and half, Sprint's EVDO service has worked wonderfully for us. We have gotten broadband speed all over the country, and it has worked so well that we have even been able to cut the cable modem line while living here at Cherie's house in Florida.

To connect we use a Novatel Merlin EX720 card, and to share the connection we use a small Cradlepoint CTR-350 WiFi router. This combination is small, portable, simple, power efficient, and it works amazingly well.

The reason that we chose Sprint last year was that it was the only nationwide carrier offering "unlimited" wireless data. At the time Verizon was also advertising "unlimited data", but was attaching fine print defining unlimited as "5GB a month".

(The New York Attorney General actually had to get involved to get Verizon to stop marketing 5GB as "unlimited"!!!)

Over the past year, Sprint won a lot of customers thanks to this "unlimited" policy, despite having inferior coverage. But the limits of "unlimited" have apparently now been reached.

Taking Verizon's lead - Sprint is dropping the easy to understand and consumer friendly "unlimited" and is now implementing a 5GB cap.

The new deal from Spint:
Here are Sprint's new terms, that we must either agree to or use as an excuse to cancel our two year contract:

Sprint reserves the right to limit throughput speeds or amount of data transferred and to deny, terminate, modify, or suspend service if usage exceeds 5gb per month in total or 300mb/month while off-network roaming.

*grrrrr*

How are we supposed to depend on our wireless connection for getting work done when it can be throttled down or canceled at any time without warning? The 300mb off-network roaming is particularly troubling, because there is not even a way to tell when you ARE roaming, and such roaming has always been free.

Sprint's cap is a "soft cap" - there is no charge if you go over, but there is also no certainty that your connection will not be cut off either. Install a major OS update and you could find yourself cut off. Get a lot of work in to do, and you could find yourself unable to do it. Etc...

There is no longer ANY option for a real unlimited usage connection from Sprint, even if you would gladly pay more for it.

Verizon's WORSE Deal:
Meanwhile, Verizon's "soft cap" is growing painfully and outrageously hard. Rather than having a rarely enforced threat of service cancelation if you exceed 5GB of usage, Verizon is now rolling out "overage charges" of $250 per GB.

Let me repeat: TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS PER GIGABYTE!!!

In other words - the first 5GB you use are around $14 each, but the 6th you consume is suddenly 18x more expensive. This is the sort of gouging that you typically see con-men trying to pull after a natural disaster.

For an example of how easily it is to consume this much data - we have been watching the TV series Torchwood (purchased via iTunes). One episode is around 600MB - which via Verizon's new pricing would cost us $2.00 to Apple, and $150 to Verizon to view.

Based on this math, to download the entire season will cost you nearly $2000!!! ($25 to Apple and $1810 to Verizon). This is one VERY expensive single click of the mouse!

Here are the details of Verizon's new terms:

Effective June 22, 2008, Verizon has now changed how overage charges will affect those who exceed their allotted (5GB) usage per month. The new implementation provides for:
All plans are now subject to standardized $0.25/MB overage charge.

There is now a temporary "usage limit" cap of $250 for monthly overage fees.

All customers will only have three monthly bills subjected to a usage limit of $250. After the third bill to have the usage limit applied, there will no longer be a usage limit on the monthly bill, and the customer will be responsible to pay for all actual usage charges incurred on their monthly bill.

In addition to the changes in overage charges to existing 50MB and 5GB plans, a new plan is being made available to customers who have used up all their 'usage limits'. This new "save plan" provides 10GB of data usage for $199.99/mo and the same $0.25/mb overage charge after the alloted data usage.

Insane.

AT&T's Capped Plans:
In the past year, AT&T's 3G HSDPA network has become a viable mobile data alternative to EVDO on Sprint and Verizon. But AT&T has a 5GB soft cap just like Sprint (and like Verizon used to):

The parties agree that AT&T has the right to impose additional charges if you use more than 5 gigabytes in a month. Prior to the imposition of any additional charges, AT&T shall provide you with notice and you shall have the right to terminate your service.

At the moment, AT&T is not charging for data over 5GB, and they are not enforcing their cap. But how long before they join Verizon in the gouging? I am guessing it is only a matter of time.

Alltel - The Last Bastion of Unlimited Data:
Alltel is the only nationwide wireless network that is still offering unlimited EVDO usage, for only $59/ month. But seeing as Alltel is in the process of being acquired by Verizon, my guess is that this offer will probably not be around for very much longer.

Even though the deal is likely not to last, Alltel is the only carrier with reasonable data plans. Because of this, we will probably soon cancel our contract with Sprint and switch to Alltel. At least we will have a few months before we have to cancel again and look for another alternative...

*sigh*

It looks as if the unlimited usage plans that have allowed wireless data in the US to thrive are soon to be a thing of the past. This is a shame. The wired Internet only took off once ISP's stopped billing per hour and offered unlimited use. With usage caps and outrageous overage charges in place, users will grow very wary of actually making use of all these wonderful fast networks that are being deployed.

Why have fast 3G wireless data if you can't actually make use of it?

Unlimited data. RIP.

How to host a "House Cooling Party"

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:06:13 GMT

When I gave up my place in San Francisco and began my nomadic adventures (over two years ago, wow!) - I hosted a House Cooling Party to celebrate my departure.

Now serolynne will soon be leaving her house behind, empty if not yet sold. Her house cooling party is tonight.

I've had a lot of people over the years express interest in the idea of a house cooling party, so I'd like to share my "rules" for hosting such an event. Even if you are not hitting the road and intending to leave your house empty, this is a great way to get rid of STUFF and find it an appreciative new home.

What is a House Cooling Party?
The idea of a House Cooling is the exact opposite of a House Warming. I expect guests to come empty handed, and leave with gifts, plants, liquor, or food. In particular, I would love to pass on to friends the treasures that I don't want to store and which are too tough to sell, but which are too cool or personally signiﬁcant for Goodwill. There will be all sorts of cool stuff up for grabs.

Party Rules:
Guests MAY NOT leave empty handed.

Take only things you will appreciate, or that you will gift forward.
If you are an eBay mogul and think you can make a killing selling some of the random collectibles (Star Wars?), let me know and we’ll split the proﬁt 50/50...

Take a lot! It feels good to see things pass on to good homes, especially to friends. Make me feel good - come early, and load up!

The only price: tell me what you take, and share with me about what good use it is destined for. Sign the PurgeBook before you leave - this will become a treasured keepsake.

HAVE FUN!

Special Bonus: Those who stay late and help clean up have dibs on taking what remains in the liquor cabinet.

Please use and modify these rules in hosting house coolings and/or purge parties of your own!

Oliver - Mobile Entertainment / Audio & Video (UPDATED)

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:57:20 GMT

The Oliver Elite comes with an "Entertainment Center" package installed by default, consisting of a Jensen JE1508 15" HDTV, a Jensen AWM960 wallmounted stereo with AM/FM/CD and DVD playback, and four interior speakers.

The Oliver's AV system revolves around the Jensen JE1508 15" HDTV and AWM960 wallmount AM/FM/CD/DVD player. Next to the front door on the Oliver is an overhang that protects an exterior 12V power jack, external speaker jacks, and an external AV output from the AWM960. This setup should allow you to relocate the TV outside, or use external speakers while camped.

The Oliver's Entertainment Center package is certainly nice by RV standards, but it actually does leave a lot to be desired.

For one thing, the Jensen monitor is not wide screen, it is physically no bigger than most laptop screens, and it runs at a much lower resolution (1024x768) than we are used to. The ability to run off of 12V power and decode broadcast HDTV signals is nice - but for our needs DVD playback and usage as a secondary computer monitor is what is really important. (The Jensen JE1907DC 19" widescreen is a worthwhile upgrade to ask for, but still lacking for what we want...)

The DVD player however is the biggest disappointment. The AWM960 can only output lowres interlaced composite video to the TV, not high-resolution component or HDMI signals. So even though the JE1508 screen can handle HDTV resolution input, the quality of your DVD signal will be closer to VHS quality than what you would get from a modern upconverting DVD player. Not acceptable at all.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any other "mobile" AV system that can do any better. Even the upcoming Jensen AWM970 (which adds iPod support) will still only output composite video.

What I've come to realize is that with "mobile" AV electronics, you end up paying much more and getting much less.

What we are doing instead...
Instead of the factory-default setup, we've decide that a 22" computer monitor will make for the ideal display screen inside the Oliver.

Our top choice right now is the highly-rated Dell SP2208WFP, a 1680x1050 resolution 22" monitor with integrated webcam, HDMI inputs, and a super bright display - all for only $299. Other promising alternative 22" screens include the low-power ViewSonic VLED221wm or the HDTV-tuner equipped ViewSonic N2230w.

I also find myself craving the 1920x1200 resolution that I would get from a 24" Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP - an absolutely stunning monitor.

To provide the DVD playback, speakers, and audio amplification - I've been researching small "home theater in a box" systems. Expect a post documenting this research soon.

The more urgent challenge is finding the ideal mount to attach the monitor to the Oliver. There are literally hundreds of LCD monitor mounts to choose from. We need a mount that will hold the monitor securely in the corner of the Oliver, but which can ideally swing out over the table for better position while being used as a second monitor.

It would also be very cool if the monitor can swing in front of the window, allowing movie viewing from the patio. The Jensen MAF50 looks particularly promising - it can tilt, swivel, pan, and extend out over 16" from the wall.

The Oliver factory reports that they can install either a hanging mount (like used with the current TV), or a wall attached mount. Using a wall attached mount gives many more options - but it must be installed in the factory BEFORE the inner and outer shells of the Oliver are mated.

I will report back here with details of which mount we choose. In the meantime - monitor, mini home theater, and monitor mount recommendations are appreciated.

UPDATE: I've discovered that wall-mounted monitor swing arms rarely support height adjustment. This is actually rather important for us - we want to be able to position the screen up in the corner, and then down low over the table.

The most promising option I have found is the Chief FWG110B double swing arm with 13.25" of heigh adjustment and 18.43" of extension. You can also add a third arm extension (the FWB110) to increase the max extension to 26.38". This mount typically costs nearly as much as the monitors we are considering buying, but I found it on sale here for only $131, or the triple arm version here for $166.

I also found a height adjustable Ergotron LX Wall Mount LCD Arm that looks promising, but which seems to almost entirely lack the ability to tilt downward - making it great for desk use but not so great for movie watching in bed.

If the Chief monitor arm proves unworkable - the only other option I can think of is using a fixed location corner mount, and a VESA quick-connect bracket on the monitor to be able to easily remove and relocate it to another stand.

Maximum PC: "Don't rub your eyes, the MacBook is the winner (!)"

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:44:16 GMT

I first came to California in 1996 to be a part of the launch of a new type of computer magazine.

'boot Magazine' was focused on the hardcore PC enthusiast who is concerned with maximum performance, having the latest technology, and pushing the limits of what their machine can do via overclocking the hardware and tweaking the OS.

In addition to being the magazine's technical editor and 3D graphics expert, I was the in house "alternative OS" advocate. But while Linux and even BeOS was deemed worthy of respect by the editors - you would never hear much nice said about any Macintosh in the pages of 'boot'.

We often used to even actively poke fun at our sister magazine Mac Addict (now known as Mac Life) and their unworthy hardware and limited operating system.

The boot audience was just about as anti-Mac as you could possibly get.

boot was renamed after I left, and lives on and continues to thrive on newsstands everywhere as Maximum PC. I've kept tabs on it over the years, and the anti-Mac attitude has hardly ever wavered.

But I think hell may be freezing over.

On the cover of this month's Maximum PC is a photo of a MacBook Air and the following feature story: "Can Any PC Notebook Beat the MacBook?"

The featured article pits the MacBook Air, MacBook, and MacBook Pro against representative best-of-class PC laptops in the ultraportable, mainstream, and professional laptop niches.

And in the professional category - according to the editors of Maximum PC, the ultimate laptop in the world right now is the MacBook Pro!

"Don't rub your eyes, the MacBook is the winner (!) ... While that’s likely to piss off many PC diehards, perhaps it’s time those folks finally admit the MacBook Pro to the power-PC family."

I must say - they are a little behind the curve. I ditched the PC world and switched to Mac OS and a MacBook Pro over two years ago!

Black Rock City is Expanding!

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:59:02 GMT

The city map for Black Rock City 2008 has just been published.

Black Rock City is growing substantially for 2008!

Did you feel the squeeze in 2007? Well there are some BIG changes to our city this year! Remove 2007's three inner blocks -- Esplanade through "C" -- and you have our new Esplanade for 2008. After the Esplanade, the streets for 2008 run A-K. Since we've taken the three shortest concentric streets from the inside, we added two longer concentric roads at the back of the city. The distance from the Man to the Esplanade road is increasing from 2200 to 2700 feet, which also means the length of the Esplanade grows over 2500 feet longer than last year.

There will be a LOT more open playa area to explore this year, and nearly a half mile of additional Esplanade to wander.

And appropriate to the theme of "American Dream", the suburbs of Black Rock City will be further spread out than ever before.

The theme this year has inspired some interesting art projects. On the list of funded projects are things ranging from a 38' long oversized Hummer sculpture (titled "Bummer") to a 31' tall ketchup bottle.

Other interesting projects include a recreation of the US Capitol Building turned into a birdcage full of Native American imagery, and a fire breathing robotic horse puling an Old West style covered wagon.

I can't wait to see what sort of creativity will be on display in the desert this year.

Tab (T@B) Trailer Auction (and price drop - now $11,500)

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:16:14 GMT

We've had three potential buyers for my Tab fall through, including one who had been 80% certain that he wanted it. *sigh*

To try and drum up a bit more interest, we are taking advantage of the special eBay has been having on $1 vehicle auction listings.

Check out the Auction here:
Tab (T@B) Clamshell Trailer eBay Auction.

I've also lowered my asking price to $11,500.

More details and pictures are posted here. Spread the word, and help me find a buyer!

If we can't find a buyer in Florida soon, we may relocate the Tab more centrally in the nation - to St. Louis.

I think a lot of Florida buyers are hesitant to buy a trailer without air conditioning. But in more temperate climates, that is much less of an issue. And if you are hooked up to a power source that can run an air conditioner, then you will also have no need for the solar power that makes this little camper unique.

Besides - if you have air conditioning, you are not really camping! ;-)

Movie Review: Across The Universe

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:52:35 GMT

This was a weekend for unusual movie viewing experiences. First, on Saturday night we saw Animal House for free on the big screen at Cinemaworld.

And then Sunday night, we watched Across the Universe while floating in a hot tub.

As often happens - good things come from "embracing the power of and". While debating with our visiting friend Martin whether to watch a movie or hang out in the hot tub, we decided - why not both? Soon we had a laptop screen and speakers set up, and Martin provided the movie.

I had never heard of Across the Universe, but it was an amazing and offbeat treat. The movie uses the music of The Beatles (33 songs!) to tell the stories of a young artist from Liverpool (Jude), his best friend and soon-to-be-draftee Max, his activist love Lucy, and a swirl of other characters surrounding them in the turbulent late 60's setting.

The visuals of the movie get rather trippy at times - particularly during the psychedilic bus trip sequence with Dr. Robert (U2's Bono) singing "I Am The Walrus" as they road-trip across the country. Then the outrageous Eddie Izzard makes an appearance singing "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" with a chorus of dancing Blue Meanies.

When Max gets drafted, things get even weirder as an Uncle Sam poster comes to life to sing "I Want You So Bad" to him while he is marched through his indoctrination physical.

The music is great. The visuals are stunning. The characters are engaging. The entire 1960's NYC world feels brought to life. Ever step of the way the movie feels unpredictable and imaginatively engaging.

I loved it. This is what movie magic is all about!

Rating: 5 stars!

Movie Review: Animal House

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:07:55 GMT

Saturday night we decided to get out of the house for a while, and serolynne and I met up with mladypain for the Free Midnight Movie at Cinemaworld in Melbourne.

This week's feature - the 1978 comedy classic Animal House.

I always worry when I watch older "classic" comedies. So many of them have failed to age well, and many are now downright painful to watch.

But Animal House has held up to the test of time. It is a delight, and often downright laugh-out-loud hilarious. The plot is simplistic, the humor crude and outrageous, and that is exactly the point.

John Belushi in particular demonstrates his mastery of physical comedy and facial expressions. He is a comedic genius indeed.

Animal House gets extra points from me for being such an original movie that has inspired countless imitators.

All in all, a great night out. And you can't beat the price - free!

Rating: 5 stars!

Nomadic Happy Hour @ Camp Nomadia - Burning Man 2008

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:00:31 GMT

Camp Nomadia is starting to come together.

We've been listed in the 2008 Burning Man theme camp directory at BurningMan.com, and just today we submitted the following official camp events to be included in the printed and online "What / Where / When" guide.

Nomadic Happy Hour - Tuesday & Thursday, 4pm - 6pm. Sunday, 3pm - 5pm

The vision of Camp Nomadia is to bring together as many cool nomadic spirits as we can to share stories, resources, passion, and community.

To foster nomadic community, we are hosting a Nomadic Happy Hour on Tuesday and Thursday (4pm to 6pm) and Sunday (3pm to 5pm).

Come and stop by - whether you are a current nomad, future nomad, wanna-be nomad, part time nomad, domestic nomad, international nomad, technomad, lowtechnomad, former nomad, land nomad, rail nomad, backpacking nomad, open water cruising nomad, friend of a nomad, or you just want to be around nomads.

Bring some food or drink to share, and come mix and mingle. Tour a few truly mobile homes. Learn what it is like to live full-time on the road. Ask questions. Swap stories.

Or just come hang out and meet some cool folk.

See you there!

GIANT Settlers of Catan Game - Daily Open Gaming, Monday thru Saturday, 8am - 7pm

Play the strategy game Settlers of Catan on a 25-foot-wide board! Why play with resource cards when you can have resources? Form coalition governments and strategically build the city of your dreams! Get lots of hex in the process! Prove that the playa hasn't reduced your attention span to mere seconds!

A photo showing off the 2007 version of mega-Catan...

You can see more pictures and read more about the giant Catan game here. nasu_dengaku has created a thing of beauty indeed, and I am thrilled that he has decided to join Camp Nomadia (and that he is bringing his toys!)

The planning for Camp Nomadia is being discussed at forum.technomads.net. Anyone interested in camping with us or getting involved somehow is welcome to join in there.

And if you are going to be in Black Rock City at all this year, be sure to stop by and hang out with us at the Nomadic Happy Hour!

Oliver Appliances & Utilities - Keeping Warm, Cool, Fresh, and Ventilated

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:38:12 GMT

Here's what I know about the core appliances that we will be having built into our Oliver, and how they compare with what we have lived with in Tab...

Ceiling Fan / Staying Ventilated:

Tab comes with a variable speed reversible Northern Breeze ceiling vent that has worked wonderfully over the past two years. When cranking on full blast it really does cool down the trailer nicely, particularly when combined with a cross breeze from the Tab's huge windows, or with the spray from our Misty Mate.

Oliver has been shipping with a three-speed FanTastic Vent Fan Model 6000RBTA that includes a thermostat and a rain sensor to automatically shut the vent if it starts to drizzle while you are out.

According to the spec sheet, the FanTastic Fan on high uses 3 amps to blow 920 cubic feet of air per minute, and 1.86 amps to blow 478 cfm on low.

The Oliver factory has been investigating offering the SHURflo Comfort Air Gold roof vent as an alternative. One reason to switch is that the SHURflo fan can circulate air even while the roof vent is closed. And the second reason is supposedly lower power consumption, perhaps because the SHURflo has a variable speed control that can be dialed way back for gentle circulation. Looking at the spec sheet, I see that the SHURflo fan claims to use 3.6 amps to blow 980 cfm of air while on max, but it has the potential to use just 0.3 amps at the lowest power setting. This could be very useful for a little low-power airflow while off grid.

Both options look like great fans, and they both get great reviews online for quality and customer support.

We have asked for the SHURflo Comfort Air Gold model to be built into our Oliver. It gives up the rain sensor and thermostat, but the variable speed control is nice, and we like the idea of being able to use the ceiling fan for air circulation even while the vent is closed. If we wanted to splurge, we could have gotten those features (and also a remote control) in the Comfort Air Platinum model.

We are also contemplating asking for an upgrade to the FanTastic 6600, which is a relatively new model that offers both advanced features and lower power consumption. According to the spec sheet, it uses half the power on full blast as all the other fans - only 1.9 amps, while the lowest setting draws only 0.2 amps. In addition to lower power consumption, it adds variable speeds and a remote control to the FanTastic 6000's rain sensor and thermostat features.

Air Conditioning / Staying Cool:

Though a Cool Cat Air Conditioner is an option with the Tab, having one means giving up a big chunk of the interior storage space since the Tab can not handle a roof unit. We made do without just fine however, and in the worst heat we used a small Misty Mate to do some evaporative chilling by blowing a fine mist into the exhaust from our roof fan. In the dry environment of the desert, it actually worked amazingly well.

We will probably continue to make use of the Misty Mate when camping off-grid in the Oliver.

The Oliver initially shipped with a 13,500 btu Dometic Duo-Therm roof mount air conditioner, but now the factory is transitioning to the smaller 9,200 btu Coleman Polar Cub.

The big advantage of the Polar Cub is that it is able to run off of the relatively small and affordable Honda EU2000i generator, whereas the larger Dometic required a 3000W generator to keep the compressor cooling.

Our Oliver will feature the Polar Cub, which should prove to be more than enough to keep such a small interior space cool. Sadly though, air conditioning uses way too much power to ever run effectively off of solar power...

Furnace / Staying Warm:

The Polar Cub features 5,600 btu electrical heat strips that are effective for "taking the chill off of a cold morning", but only if you are plugged into shore power.

For more powerful heating no matter how off-grid we roam, the Oliver comes with a Suburban NT-12S 12,000 btu propane-fired furnace. The furnace in Tab is also 12,000 btu - an Atwood 7900. But the Tab's furnace is located so that it vents out deep UNDER the bed, in an area often blocked by our excess cargo.

The Oliver's furnace vent is located effectively, right in the middle of the kitchen cabinet and next to the bed rather than under it.

We may also eventually purchase a small electric ceramic heater for use when staying in campgrounds with full hookups where AC power is more cost effective than propane.

Stove / Staying Hot:

The Oliver Legacy Elite features an "upgraded stovetop" over the base model Oliver - an Italian brand called SMEV. Reportedly, the SMEV cooks faster and uses less propane than a typical RV stove.

The lid over the SMEV stove closes flush to the countertop to create extra flat counter space in the Oliver's kitchen.

Interestingly, our Tab also features a two burner SMEV stovetop, and we have been very happy with it. One difference is that the Tab's stove required a flame to light, but the Oliver provides a built in ignitor.

Refrigerator / Staying Fresh & Icy:

Most RV refrigerators use "gas absorption" technology that involves no mechanical compressor (like in your typical home refrigerator), but instead rely on a heat source (ironically) to cause a coolant to flow through a closed loop. Through this mechanically simple process, a hot propane flame is turned into frozen food and cold drinks. It is totally silent while working too.

The most efficient heat source for this sort of refrigerator is propane, though "3 way" RV refrigerators can also generate the necessary heat via AC power, or even 12V from your battery. Running a gas absorption refrigerator off of 12V power however is a sure way to kill your batteries in just a matter of hours though, so be careful! A compressor style refrigerator is MUCH more power efficient for 12V use.

The two major manufacturers of RV gas absorption refrigerators are NorCold and Dometic, and Oliver so far has been using both, shipping the Dometic Americana DM 2454 and the NorCold N412.3.

Both of these refrigerators offer three way (AC, DC, and Propane) operation, and they measure in at 36 9/16" x 23 11/6" x 24" (despite what the Dometic website incorrectly claims). They also both offer automatic mode selection, and electronic propane ignition.

The major practical difference between these two models is that the NorCold offers 4.5 cubic feet of storage and a slightly larger freezer area. The Dometic provides slightly less usable space, with 4.0 cubic feet of refrigeration. Some users online have also complained that the controls on the front of the Dometic protrude too far, and are easy to inadvertently bump and change.

The Norcold N412.3 refrigerator fits in the same sized space as the Dometic, but it offers up .5 cubic feet more storage space.

Though Tab offers a small 1.8 cubic foot refrigerator as an option, my Clamshell did not come with one. Instead we rotated through two coolers, and frequent ice purchases. This worked surprisingly well for us.

Being able to actually make ice cubes in our own freezer while on the road though - now that will be luxury!!!

Note: While parked, gas absorption refrigerators should only be run with the RV flat and level. The internal mechanism can actually be damaged by running too long while tilted. The propane burners in gas absorption refrigerators also sometimes have problems working correctly at high altitudes (over 6000 feet). If these sort of situations are going to be common, a compressor fridge or backup cooling system might prove useful.

Microwave & Convection Oven / Saving Space:

The Oliver currently comes with a Sylvanian SC11000 combination microwave and convection oven. This would at first seem to be a very useful cooking tool on board, but after talking with several Oliver and Casita owners with a built in microwave, most of them rarely use it and they all wished for the extra storage.

We have opted to have this area turned into a large cabinet, with an AC outlet located inside. This should give us space for storing a small toaster oven, a blender, and all of our bar supplies. And when the weather is nice, we can relocate the toaster oven outdoors for some cooking on the patio.

Washer, Dryer, and Dishwasher:

I wish!!!

Oliver - A Plethora of Plumbing

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:49:07 GMT

The Tab has a 5 gallon freshwater tank and an electric pump to provide water to the small sink. Gray water is handled by draining the sink into a bucket we would place under the trailer. Tab lacks a hot water heater, and we used a solar shower bag to heat water from the sun for occasional outdoor showers.

It is essentially the simplest possible plumbing system you could possibly have on an RV.

The Oliver on the other hand has a plethora of plumbing, with hot and cold running water, a shower, two sinks, and an outdoor rinse station.

To start with - the Oliver comes with a 32.5 gallon fresh water tank, a 35.5 gallon grey water tank, and an 18.5 gallon black water tank.

The Oliver Legacy Elite model is now also coming with an upgraded power-flush system for the black water tank. This system uses freshwater and a rotating internal spray system to thoroughly clean the black tank at dump time.

For comparison purposes - the Casita has a 16 or 25 gallon freshwater tank, and a 15 gallon basic black tank. The Casita also lacks the tank monitoring system of the Oliver, so the only way to know for sure your grey water tank is full is when it starts to back up into the shower. *yuck*

The Oliver comes with a SeeLeveL II tank monitoring system to keep an eye on the usage of the black, grey, freshwater, and propane tanks. It also gives you a quick readout of your battery voltage, but it is not really useful as a battery capacity gauge.

To provide for hot showers, the Oliver has a six gallon Suburban Hot Water Heater that can heat 10.2 gallons an hour with a 12,000 btu propane heating element, or 6 gallons per hour with a 1,440 watt electrical heating element.

There are actually three locations within the Oliver that can make use of all this ample hot and cold water. There is a kitchen sink, a bathroom sink / shower, and an outdoor shower.

To first photo is a view of the Suburban 6 gallon hot water heater, located behind an exterior panel on the rear right side of the Oliver. The other two photos show off the Oliver's city water hookup and freshwater fill hookup, and the outside shower which is hidden behind a panel on the back left of the trailer. The hose pulls out far enough for outdoor rinsing, and for washing up outside after emptying the dump tanks.

The kitchen sink in the Oliver is shown in the first photo. The other two pictures show off the bathroom fixtures. The sink faucet in the Oliver's bathroom has a long hose that pulls out, allowing it to mount on the wall and double as a shower. The showerhead features a quick on/off toggle, making water conservation easier.

All this plumbing is a huge step up in complexity from what we are used to in Tab. It is going to feel absolutely luxurious to have hot water for showering and washing dishes!

Construction Update #1: Fiberglass Shells

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:11:30 GMT

I heard from the Oliver factory last week that they had completed the fabrication of our fiberglass shell. Today, they sent me some pictures!

Unlike the Casita, which is made from just two fiberglass molds, the Oliver is constructed from four. This creates a double-hulled shell which provides for much better insulation. It also allows for the cabinets and seats and other fixtures to be molded right into the fiberglass, creating a seamless and more durable interior than you would get from fiberglass fixtures bonded onto the external shell, or attached via rivets. This double hull also allows for all the tanks, wiring, plumbing, and other mechanical guts to be protected and hidden in the space between the shells.

Having all the tanks on the inside will make them much less susceptible to freezing as well.

It is a brilliant design, and it is a treat to get to watch all the pieces coming together.

This is the view looking into the external bottom shell of our Oliver. You can clearly see the wheel wells. The bottom half of the door will be cut into the shell on the bottom right. The fresh and grey water tanks will lay flat along the length of the bottom.

You can really get a sense for Oliver's attention to detail by looking closely at the bottom edge here. Rather than just cutting holes into smooth fiberglass for thing like the heater vents, every future cut into the shell is recessed in the fiberglass mold itself - making for a cleaner and more professional look when finished.

This is the inside bottom shell of our Oliver, resting upside down. The area to the bottom right is where the toilet will sit, over the black water tank. The recessed area in the middle is foot well for the small dinette.

This is a photo of the interior top shell of our Oliver. The top half of the front door is clearly visible. To the left of the door is the space that will become the inside of the kitchen cabinets. The large flat U-shaped area will become the wraparound interior storage cabinets.

The is another angle on the interior top shell. It really gives you a good sense of how much upper cabinet storage space there will be.

This is a view looking into the exterior top shell. The front of the trailer is to the left. You can see the front door on the bottom left, and also the space where the side window will soon be carved out.

These two photos show the smaller fiberglass pieces that will eventually become the walls dividing the bathroom and closet from the main living space.

This week they will be fabricating our frame. I will post here as soon as I get more pictures!

Oliver Exterior Storage

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:31:16 GMT

The Oliver has limited exterior storage space - one of the unavoidable limitations of such a small RV.

The Oliver's tongue box is mostly devoted to the two propane tanks, though there is some extra space for hoses to be coiled up on top.

The hatch on the back left side of the Oliver opens up to reveal the battery box, and an outside shower. The Oliver's battery tray not only slides out for easy access, but it also has room for TWO batteries. Both of these features are rare even in much larger trailers. I've never seen another small trailer that offers so much stock battery capacity. The space alongside the batteries provides just enough room to store some wood to put underneath the stabilizer jacks.

The rear bumper of the Oliver opens up to reveal a sizable storage area. On the left you can also see the city water hookup and freshwater tank fill hookup, as well as the cover over the Cable TV jack. On the left of the bumper storage area is the dump valve where the grey and black tanks are emptied. The dump hose is stored in this bumper area. We will also probably store our 30 amp AC hookup cord here. The standard Oliver design includes an electrical winder to coil up the power cord for storage inside the trailer (under the front dinette seat), but we'd rather save that interior space for storage and keep the often wet and grimy power cord stored externally. On the right of the bumper storage area you can see the optional auxiliary propane jack. You would use this with an outdoor BBQ or heater. We did not request this option on our Oliver.

Future Underbelly Storage:
The factory is investigating a full-width under carriage storage chamber that will take advantage of the extra height from the now-standard 4" raised axel. By building this chamber in front of the axel, it will not reduce the Oliver's ground clearance, and it will provide a great place to store long flattish things like camp furniture.

This outside storage area is still in the design phase, but the factory is hoping that they will be able to retrofit it onto existing trailers once they finalize the design. I hope they work this out - that extra storage would be really useful.

Oliver Interior Storage - Cabinets, Closets, Bins, and Drawers

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:02:08 GMT

The Oliver has a nice amount of interior storage space. There is a front hanging closet, three drawers in the kitchen, storage wells underneath every seat, and the upper walls feature cabinets arranged in a U-shape around the entire interior.

The Front Closet:
The Oliver Legacy Elite now comes with a choice of two closet layouts.

Choice #1: 10" deep chamber beneath a false floor, 36" hanging area with rod, and one top shelf.

Choice #2: 36" hanging area with rod, and two top shelves.

The basic non-Elite Oliver model I believe just comes with a single rod and no shelves. All the Oliver models feature a light inside the closet, a very nice touch.

The first picture shows the dual shelf arrangement. The other two show the single shelf layout with the false floor for extra hidden storage.

I initially told the factory that we wanted the two shelf variant, but now I am torn and on the verge of changing my mind. I think having the area beneath the floorboard could come in very handy for storing bulky items such as shoes. The Oliver has plenty of shelf-like storage in the U-shaped cabinets that ring the trailer, and I think the extra shelf space in the front closet may prove unneeded.

Thoughts?

Kitchen Drawers:
The kitchen in the Oliver has three drawers.

The top drawer is surprisingly deep, and is a great place for all sorts of kitchen gear.
The lower drawer is below the furnace, and the depth is limited by the wheel well.

The big drawer along the side has an unusual L shape to it, and the top area has space for a second hidden drawer taking advantage of the space over the wheel well. You can read how one Oliver owner took advantage of this space by building a slide out knife rack here.

The factory has told me that they are considering building in another drawer to make use of this space. I need to check and see if they have started doing this yet.

Upper (and Microwave) Cabinets:
The Oliver is ringed with cabinets in a U-shape. The ones along the sides are around 6" deep, but they run the entire length of the interior. The cabinets over the kitchen area are deeper (around 10" deep), and should prove ample for food storage. We are also leaving out the built in microwave, and are replacing it with a cabinet area where we will store a small toaster oven, a blender, and our mobile bar.

The cabinet area in the far upper back of the Oliver is truly spacious - nearly two feet deep and extremely wide.

The first photo shows the mirrored closet door (on the right, the bathroom is on the left), and the first of the kitchen area cabinets. The last photo mostly cuts them off, but you can see the bottom of the ring of upper cabinets that form a U-shape around the Oliver interior.

Under-Seat Bins:
There are storage bins under ever seat of the Oliver. The storage here is a bit limited by the odd shapes and shallow depth of most of these bins, but there is still a reasonable amount of storage to be found. To see what one Oliver owner has been able to pack into each of these areas, flip through the photos posted here.

The under seat bins in the Oliver tend to be oddly shaped. They have been molded to provide maximal storage while protecting the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing inner workings of the trailer. The last photo shows one of the dinette seat bins lifted out to allow access to these critical guts for maintenance.

What good is a porcelain throne? (UPDATED x2)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:02:20 GMT

When I said I was going to document every step in the process of getting our new trailer, I did mean everything... *grin*

Over the past month, Oliver has upgraded the Legacy Elite model to now include a porcelain toilet as standard equipment.

To me - this just seems like a lot of extra weight for no good benefit.

Here is a view of the formerly standard plastic toilet, followed by two views of the new porcelain throne.

Other than gratuitous luxury, is there any good reason to choose porcelain over plastic? I can't think of any.

We've asked the factory to use the older plastic toilet in our trailer.

I think minimizing weight is a more valuable goal than a shinier bowl....

UPDATE: We got plenty of feedback here and in the Oliver forums that the china bowl really is worth it for durability and ease of cleaning. So I decided to investigate further to determine the real weight difference.

Based upon the pictures, I was able to figure out that the current plastic toilet in the Oliver is the Thetford Aqua-Magic V, and the new porcelain throne is the Dometic Traveler Lite. The plastic toilet weighs in at 7lbs, and the Dometic model is 33lbs.

That isn't too huge of a difference in the grand scheme of things, and all of the lobbying to go for porcelain has convinced us that it is more than just gratuitous luxury.

One other advantage - the Traveler Lite accepts standard toilet seats and lids, giving us future funky decorating possibilities that could be fun indeed...

I've just asked the factory to upgrade us to porcelain. I guess we do need a better throne after all.

UPDATE #2: This afternoon, the Oliver factory called to give me some bad news...

It seems as if they have been having a hard time getting a good seal with the first porcelain-equipped Oliver they have tried to build, so they are canceling the upgraded throne as a new feature.

Doh!

They think that they may need to do some reengineering of the base before they will be able to try offering this upgrade again. They are also going to investigate some other bowl models and manufacturers as well.

Until then, it looks like porcelain is off the menu. *drat*