Sunday, December 30, 2007

Change of plans

Location, At home, Ca

Change of plans. Yesterday morning we decided that both Clyda and I need to come home after New Years to take care of some things before we go to Quartzsite. So, we called our friends Budd and Brenda and told them we would not be bringing the trailer but would be bringing the car instead. That meant repacking everything from the trailer to the car, loading the refrigerator into the ice chest, and hoping we didn’t forget anything.

It was an easy trip in two cars with Clyda and Cindy driving in Clyda’s car and Gary and I driving his Highlander Hybrid. With a stop in Ventura for a Mexican food lunch, we arrived in Tehachapi about 4:15 PM yesterday.

Last night was home made pizza and the Patriot/Giant football game on TV.

It was cold last night and very foggy this morning. The sun is trying to come out but it is still very overcast.

Budd made omelets this morning for everyone. Outstanding! Just like the the good old days when he owned the Eggception restaurant.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Indecision

Location, At home, Ca

The Christmas decorations are all packed away for until next year except for the outside lights which I will take down today. The reason for the short season is we will be away for New Years.

I have most of the trailer packed except for the refrigerator. I still need to pack the truck which I will do later today unless it rains. There is a 30% chance of that for today.

Our friends Cindy and Gary are spending a few days with us and we will all travel to Tehachapi tomorrow for New Years at our mutual friends Budd and Brenda's house.

Indecision

Location, At home, Ca

The Christmas decorations are all packed away for until next year except for the outside lights which I will take down today. The reason for the short season is we will be away for New Years.

I have most of the trailer packed except for the refrigerator. I still need to pack the truck which I will do later today unless it rains. There is a 30% chance of that for today.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas

Location, At home, Ca

A Merry Christmas to all. May your day be joyous with family and friends.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Asparagus ready for the rain

Location, At home, Ca

Yesterday I finally spent some time in the backyard. I cut back all of the asparagus and fertilized it with a mixture of compost and steer manure. I do this routine every year at this time so the winter rains will soak through the fertilizer and help the new asparagus to grow in early February. Below are before and after photos.





I think all of the Christmas shopping is done. We have parties or visits from friends and visits to friends for the next 3 days. There was a real nice party last night with the old Mothers Club group. We didn’t really belong to the group as our kids were just a little older but we have always been invited to events which we appreciate. It is interesting to see the grandkids generation now. There were so many little kids last night who got to see Santa Claus and eat and sing Christmas Carols. It was a great and fun party.

Today I worked on the trailer bedroom slide to see if I could fix the leak problem. I have tried something and I guess only time will tell if it works. I cut back on a piece of trim and then made the rubber gasket bigger to see if that will cure the problem.

It was sunny but cold again today. Cold by California standards anyway

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

It's Raining!

Location, At home, Ca

It’s raining and has been since early last evening. Overnight we didn’t get much although I did hear it running in the rain gutters whenever I woke up. I rained off and on all day and right now it’s a fairly steady rain. We can sure use it as last year was a rain deficit year here on the South Coast of California. Further North already had as much as 4 inches today.

I tried to do some Christmas shopping today but I finely gave up as all I accomplished was to get wet.

Over the last few days I have been doing more work in the trailer. This summer all of the glass panels in the cabinet doors over our dining/living room slide out started to rattle. They were put in with glue and it had dried out. I did a temporary fix in Houston using glazing points but that was temporary at best as they can still rattle. Yesterday I removed all the doors and the bathroom mirror and hot glued the glass at each corner. Hopefully that will fix them permanently.

Last night we attended the local Universities Women’s basketball game. They were losing slowly until the last few minutes when they caught fire and beat Pepperdine by 2 points with 4 seconds on the clock. It was a good win right before the Christmas break. The men play 2 games on the road before Christmas. The first game is at Ball State and the second at North Carolina. A win at Ball State is a possibility while a win at North Carolina would be a miracle. They are 9-1 so far and rank high in the Mid-Majors right now.

We have lots of parties this week. It usually happens this way just before Christmas. It does allow us to see some people we ordinarily don’t see often during the year.

Friday, December 14, 2007

The Oak Ridge Boys

Location, At home, Ca

Yesterday evening we went to the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynes at the invitation of our friends Don and Bev. They had tickets to see the Oakridge Boys Christmas show. We went in time to have dinner at the buffet before the show. The buffet was quite good for $14.95 each.

The show started at 8 PM with traditional Oak Ridge Boys music which ended with Elvira and a rousing ovation. They then went into the Christmas portion of the show which featured traditional Christmas songs as well as many from their seasonal albums. The stage was decorated with white flocked Christmas trees which changed colors from overhead light cans. The addition of falling snow for a few songs was very realistic. The show lasted 2 full hours and was well received by the audience.

I asked Clyda if she wanted to talk to the Oaks after the show as we worked with them as stage hands at the 1984 Boy Scout Jamboree in Fredericksburg, VA. She didn’t think they would remember us. Oh well, she is probably right.

Today I drained and replace the oil in the Gear Venders Over/Under drive. The oil needs to be replaced every 10,000 miles with special GM synthetic manual transmission oil which costs $24 a quart. The unit uses about 1 ½ quarts per oil change. Draining the used oil is easy as the plug is located on the bottom of the unit. Putting in new oils is another matter. The fill hole is on the side of the unit so the best way is to pump it in or as I do, put the oil in a sprayer, pressurize it and slowly add the oil until it overflows the hole. A messy job at best but now I am good to go for another 10,000 miles.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Truck recall

Location, At home, Ca

Yesterday I did a job I have been putting off for some time. Two and a half years ago when we remodeled our kitchen I removed the ceiling drywall. Of course the insulation started to come down also. That wouldn’t have been so bad except that loose fiber insulation had been added on top of the fiberglass bats. To keep from making a real mess I used a leaf rake and pulled the loose insulation back out of the way in the attic with the intent of putting it back after the remodel was done.

Best intentions and all that, it didn’t get done. So yesterday, donning my respirator mask (bought for the job 2 ½ years ago) I dragged the leaf rake, a basket, and a light up into the attic and spread the insulation back where it belonged. It is a dirty job and I should have called Mike Rowe of TV fame on “Dirty Jobs” to help me. Unfortunately, I didn’t think about it until I was all done.

Today I took the truck into the Ford garage to have the Cam Position Sensor replaced. There has been a recall notice on this so I called for an appointment yesterday. It took them about three hours to do the job. I stayed in town while they did the work as I had an appointment right around the corner later in the morning.

It is cold again tonight. We have had frost most mornings usually on the roof tops. Yesterday even the low ground plants were covered with frost. Not good as some plants won’t survive that.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Truck recall

Location, At home, Ca

It is cold here at night but not as cold as the Midwest with all of the ice storms.

It did warm up nicely during the day today so I washed both Clyda’s car and my truck. I think the last time the truck was washed was in Houston, TX in September.

Speaking of the truck, my neighbor Paul mentioned that there is a recall to replace the camshaft position sensor. I checked the Ford website and yup, mine is on recall. So, I will call the local Ford agency tomorrow and see what they say.

Saturday, my friend Budd came by and we tried to find out how water was getting through the bedroom slide in the RV. A water hose soon found the problem with the seal at the bottom of the slide on the front edge. When driving in the rain, the water is forced in from the forward movement. We think the bottom seal to the slide is poorly designed. I will remove part of the trim along the bottom of the slide so the main rubber seal can fit better.

Another leak I have had for some time is in the garage. Even a small rain storm has water running down a rafter near the back door. It has to be coming from the solar water heat bracket on the roof so I removed the long lag screw which goes through the bracket and into the rafter and filled the hole with Marine 5200 caulk. After running the screw back in and tested the result with lots of water on the roof, no leak!! Maybe it is fixed.

I spent lots of time on the computers again today. I am moving photos to their permanent locations and doing backups also. I carry a 60G hard drive with us while traveling as a backup for the laptop. I also have an 80G drive to which I copy all the backups as a safety device. That way every file should be stored in at least three locations.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Doctors appointments & truck service

Location, At home, Ca

Where or where have the days gone? I knew I hadn’t posted for a few days but didn’t realize how many had gone by.

I finished putting all of the screws back in the trailer panel and caulked every seam that needed caulk.

I picked up the truck Monday afternoon from the shop. It was a hefty bill to pay but considering the things that had been done, I can accept it. They did a lube, oil, and filter service, transmission service, replaced the water pump, and replaced the front brake pads, resurfaced the front rotors, and packed the wheel bearings. There were a few other minor items done also.

I had a blood test on Tuesday in preparation for my annual physical today. Everything is normal and even my cholesterol is in an acceptable range. That should do it for doctor visits for a while. I do need to see the dentist for a checkup and also the eye doctor. All of these are done on a semi or annual basis and it is something I have been doing for years. Consequently, there are few surprises.

A comment here is in order I think. For those of us who travel several months out of the year, scheduling and keeping medical appointments, ordering meds, and keeping it all straight becomes a problem. We usually schedule all of this for late November or December as that is when we are home. Others I have talked with do much the same by heading to their home base or last permanent living base to take care of necessary medical checkups.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

More Trailer repair

Location, At home, Ca

Several days have passed since I put anything in the blog again. It’s beginning to be a habit. Frankly, I don’t know why the time passes so fast.

Yesterday I put the side trim pieces back on the trailer. They hold the edges of the big panel on and provide a water tight seal on the sides. I ran out of stainless steel self taping screws for the front trim so that will wait until I pick up more.

I installed a Maxxair vent cover over the bathroom vent on the trailer. I had left this off as I thought it made the trailer to tall. During our trip this summer I wished several times that the vent had a cover to keep rain out but let air in.

Last night we went to a Manicotti/white elephant Christmas party at a friend’s house. This is an annual thing with basically the same people invited each year. There were few “white elephant” gifts last night and too many good gifts which people wanted to keep rather than trade. It was fun though.