If anyone at a GTG wonders why I tend to walk away when the discussion leans toward politics or religion, now you know.

Danny, I know that there are very few things that we agree on politically or spiritually but - I have yet to find a discussion about aluminum rivets or roof sealers on a political or religious site, so I'll forgo discussing religion or politics on the Barth site.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:
Why Mexico only? Why not Anyplace, USA?

Our group is involved with many missions in the USA, Jane and I participate with those also.
This is one that we haven't done in the past with them.

I certainly agree that here are a lot of places right here in our back yard that need this kind of help. We don't follow whatever is decided by others but pitch in when we have the time and resources to lend a hand

I don't carry weapons in the RV, fact is, I don't even own a weapon, never found need. Interestingly, every time I go into Canada, we get "inspected" for weapons, probably because of the Australian bush hat I wear. I have yet to have a good experience going in and out of Canada

quote:

I have yet to have a good experience going in and out of Canada

As long as the "in" is followed by an "out", it is all good Ed.

I agree, Canada is sometimes a bear to get into. With Mexico, I've found they have no issue letting me in without much more than a glance. Coming back into the US is where I've been worked over.

In any case, you and Jane be very careful, I don't know what Barthmobile would do without your expert advice.

There is always Habitat For Humanity.

We are safe and sound in Tecate MX, no trouble with border crossing and the compound is guarded and should be safe. We start the construction tomorrow.

Will be leaving Dec 31 and head to Yuma AZ. as plans are now.

More later

Big sigh of relief!

How far are you into MX?

When do you guys come home?

Spending the winter season in Ft. Lauderdale and Edisto Beach, SC. No borders to cross-no guards required.

We are back safe and sound, no issues what so ever! The family's there were very grateful for all the effort and progress we made.

We left Mexico yesterday morning and drove up to Santa Barbara to visit a friend and then this morning we drove up Highway 1 along the coast to home.

I decided if it was going to be this cold in AZ, (20s-30s) I might as well be cold at home, at least I have a nice warm shop with many things to do there. I might even start on the LCD TV up front in the Barth.

Very happy to hear all went well, never really doubted it

Perhaps you should have headed south to Central America, should be warm at the equator!!

Can't complain in Florida, in a stretch of mid 70s for as far as we can see on Weather.com anyway.

Thanks for being great ambassadors and grateful that you didn't run into any of the reported troubles down there.

quote:

I might even start on the LCD TV up front in the Barth.

Ed,

If you didn't already purchase the TV, let me promote the new LED TVs over the LCD technology. They are lighter, thinner, use less energy, make less heat and will probably last much longer. They are now only a little more money than the LCDs. I bought the LG brand and find them exceptional in picture quality, features and programming speed.

YUP, the LED LCD TV is what I will put in. I have been waiting for the "after Christmas sales". I am trying to fit a 32" in and because we have high speed internet, it will have all the necessary inputs. I will buy the latest technology I can find. Number 1 contender is Samsung 32UC6500.

I will not go 3D, waste of $$$, don't like the effects, Wifey gets sick watching.

I am in the process of building a completely new surround for the TV, it will move the TV back flush with the rest of the over head enclosure and I will have all the room behind the TV for computer(s) and related stuff.

I guess I thought LED and LCD are different terms, but as long as it's LED you're in business.

The toughest thing in my search was to find a TV with audio output. I could find none with RCA jacks, so I found the LG had a headphone jack which I hooked into a connector that allows the headphone connector to plug into RCA. It works!

All flat panel TVs use either LCD or plasma technology.

They are back lit by either florescent or LED lamps. the florescent lamps have a definite lifetime and the light output quality degrades over time. If it is cold, the florescent lamps will have to warm abit before they are up to full brilliance. LED lamps have a much broader spectrum which will allow brighter whites and blacker blacks. They have a much longer lifetime and they are unaffected by temperature.

I had the model wrong, here is what I am looking at:

Samsung LED LCD TV

quote:

All flat panel TVs use either LCD or plasma technology.

Ed,

I think you're a little off on this one, at least in how the marketplace is defining the use of the technologies. There is Plasma and LCD, but recently LED has entered the market. The LEDs are much thinner and lighter. Here is what EHow writes about the difference, but you can Google it and many sites discuss the technologies.

LCD in Brief
1. LCD is Liquid Crystal Display, consisting of a thin liquid-crystal gel between two glass panels. Separated into pixels by a grid of wires, each pixel shifts 90 degrees to face one panel or the other. Which panel the pixel faces determines if light goes through and thus manipulates how the image appears.
LED in Brief
2. LEDs--Light Emitting Diodes--also use liquid crystal gel for the screen, but the main difference lies in how the display is lit. LCDs use a fluorescent lamp while LED screens use hundreds or thousands of the light diodes of its namesake, one per each pixel.
LCD Advantages
3. LCD's biggest advantage over LED is that as a more established piece of technology, LCD screens are on the whole cheaper. "PC World" reports that LEDs on average cost 20 percent more than an LCD TV of identical size and specs.
LED Advantages
4. LED TVs are a newer development than LCDs and as such are generally superior in performance. "PC World" compared LCD, LED and plasma screens in power efficiency, fast motion, color palette, length of viewing angle and contrast ratio. LED TVs were uniformly the winner.
Bottom Line
5. LCD and LED TVs are fine types of displays and the decision rests mostly on what the buyer is more interested in: LCDs are easier on the pocketbook, while LEDs offer premium performance.