rv tech

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*Turning regular handheld radios into a fun and personalized tool.*

As a pilot car driver one of the most important, if not THE most important piece of equipment is our radios. Both the mobile radios that are mounted in our vehicles and the handheld radios, commonly known as Walkie-Talkies, are used to keep in constant communication with the members of our Superload or Oversize load team. They have to work properly and be loud and clear to help ensure not only the safety of our teams, but the motoring public as well.

This job can be flat out dangerous. That’s all there is to it. The motoring public doesn’t care much for us being in their way and sometimes negotiating the nation’s highways and byways with 200’ plus superloads can be pretty stressful. It can also be very pretty boring and repetitive.

Anytime I get a chance to make one of my team members smile or manage to get a chuckle from them, I take full advantage of it. So when I got my new handhelds I thought; “I’m gonna bedazzle my radio’s!” That’s just what I did!

At the top is a “Jewel Picker”. Most of these come with sticky ends used to pick up and place the rhinestones easily on glue. E6000 glue should be in every household junk drawer as it can literally be used on anything. Flatback Rhinestones in size “ss20” or “4mm” were the perfect size for this project.

My CB handheld has a green accent stripe so I found some iridescent greenish rhinestones to go with it and my VHF handheld had a plain black plastic casing so I opted for a muted pink rhinestone for it. I had a tube of E6000 glue so I just ordered the rhinestones and away I went!

Placement of the rhinestones on your mic/speaker is very important. Look closely at the picture above and you’ll see the stones have been glued onto plastic strips and don’t block the open spaces where you’ll speak into and hear *from*.

My CB handheld is a “President” brand. The mics are pretty small and the size ss20 or 4mm flatback rhinestones worked perfectly. They really sparkle in the bright sunlight. Once at night, A lady stopped to ask me what the little reflectors on my vest were. “Must have been my Rhinestones!” was all I could think of that she had seen.

I had to be really careful of the placement of the rhinestones as they couldn’t interfere with any part of the speaker, microphone or buttons/keys. I wanted them to stand out and look cute, but not too over the top.

I opted to try to stay as minimalist as I could, which with rhinestones is next to impossible. I think I found a happy medium. None of the embellishments interfere with any of the radios’ buttons, microphones or speaker holes and I get the greatest reactions from the rough and tough truck drivers and other pilot car operators.

“Only you Miss Sarah!”, “I wouldn’t expect anything less!”, “No one will wonder who they belong to!”. These comments are always combined with chuckles, shaking heads, smiles and sometimes an out right belly laugh.

A moment of happiness in what can be a very stressful and dangerous job does a heart good.

It’s so easy to take what I’ve done with my radios and a few rhinstones and make something special out of the things you use daily for work.

Make sure you aren’t going to dress up something safety related. For example: gluing rhinestones and other embellishments on to my “Stop/Slow” paddle I use for traffic control isn’t a good idea. *insert facepalm here. A name tag, thermos bottle, purse, lanyard all would be great examples of dressing up to match your personality.

If your going to be gluing embellishments onto something, I really do suggest using the E6000 glue. I’ve used so many types and they’re just don’t work as well. Plastic, glass, wood, diffferent textures of fabrics and even the enameled coat on my thermos bottle have all held what ever I glue to them. As far as longevity; I’ve got a light weight beanie I wear under my hardhat that’s probably 5 years old and a couple of the rhinestones have come off, but that’s about it.

Being the reason a person smiles is pretty cool and you just never know when that smile will be the best part of their day!

*Just the right amount of bling-y wonderfulness that says “I belong to Miss Sarah”!*

*sometimes the glue and jewel pickers can be a little hard to find. I’m including the amazon links below for the glue, flatback rhinestones and jewel pickers.

*cheers! Miss Sarah

https://amzn.to/4vA7AEj

https://amzn.to/4oMUukd

June 22, 2026 Miss Sarah Etc.

*My 2014 Samsung Galaxy Jelly Bean tablet I bought from Costco.*

In my job as a Pilot Car driver or PEVO, I spent 90% of my time in my pick up truck and even sleep in a bunk built in the back where the seats were. I spend about 10 months at a time away from home and my office space is the drivers seat and center console. Space is tight so I choose to work on a tablet with a bluetooth keyboard instead of a laptop.

My old beat-up Galaxy Jellybean tablet from 2014 was gettin’ a bit wonky on me. It was time to replace it and I absolutely couldn’t stand the thought of it. I knew I wanted to stick with the Galaxy devices simply because of how much abuse my Jellybean had taken. I prefer androids and the old one had just been so great, even though I’d dropped it too many times to count, I’d used it way more hours at one time than I’m sure it was designed for and it was just plain abused. All of my computer work while I’m on the road is done on my tablet and I knew it was time to replace the old Jellybean that had been such a great little device.

*The original Rose Gold tablet color had faded over the years from the case being on it for so long.*

Unfortunately it takes me forever to decide on a purchase when I’m buying tech stuff. I have to check reviews, talk to people and research buyers guides. But after all that I decided the Galaxy was the brand I really wanted to stick with. I ended up buying one of the new Galaxy Tab A9+ 256g tablets off Amazon. They had the most reasonable price and returns are way easier than going to an electronics store. It took a while to get all my stuff transferred over from the old JellyBean, but I was so tickled to death with it! I’m a gen-xer and not very tech savvy. Like the Jellybean, the new one is easy to navigate and user friendly. I’ve already dropped it a couple times and about had a heart attack thinking “these newer ones aren’t gonna be as tough as the old Jellybean”. No worries though, it’s just as tough as the old one.

I already had a great little tablet holder that clamps onto my steering wheel and although the new tablet had a bigger 11″ screen it fit fine in the holder with a little room to spare. I put a pillow on my lap for my wireless keyboard to set on and I’m dialed in and ready to blog or get work done on my website.

*This tablet holder was designed to go on the handle of a stroller. It fits perfectly onto the steering wheel in my truck.*

*Here is my tablet set up when working in my truck. The tablet holder is clamped onto the steeri*ng *wheel with* *the new tablet mounted into it with the bluetooth keyboard laying on top of an old throw p*illow.

Of course I had to get a new case for the new tablet and my old bluetooth keyboard had the letters worn off of it. It was a folding model and had been duct taped on the hinge and it just wasn’t holding a charge like it had when it was new. I opted for a case/keyboard combo and found one that had a mouse pad on it. Wow! What an upgrade! I also got one which had backlit keys. I didn’t realize I could change the colors on it when I ordered it. So just like my pink hardhat, I chose the pink backlighting. But boy howdy! It was REALLY bright! I needed the lighted keys to be able to work at night, but not so bright as to go blind! I read through the instruction leaflet (actual instructions??? No way! Easy for my old brain to understand too!) and it was super easy to adjust the brightness.

Another thing I got a kick out of was the keyboard had magnets on bottom for attaching onto the base of the case/stand. I didn’t even realize it when I bought it. I don’t usually use it with the keyboard on the case flap, but when I do it sure doesn’t go anywhere. Those little magnets work surprisingly well! A screen protector is a must for me. My sister often calls me “Grace” due to my tripping over air or constantly dropping things. Between the heavy duty case and the screen protector; I know my new tablet is gonna be safe in my clumsy hands.

I’ve hung onto my old one and re-formatted it. Even as old as it is, I use it for my mahjong and solitaire games. I’ve also been able to stream my favorite channels on it as well. Sometimes people laugh about how ratty it looks, but I’m happy it can still be used and will use it until it finally sputters and quits working.

I’ll add links below to my new tablet and the products I got to go with it. It’s a nice feeling to be able to say this is a great product to my followers and these really are! Hopefully this post will save you some time in trying to choose your new tablet and give you some ideas of things to go with it for working while in your vehicle.

*cheers! Miss Sarah

#CommissionsEarned

https://amzn.to/4w6jEgj

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