This and that.

Location, at Home, CA

Our trip to the Bay area was great. Always nice to spend time with friends. In total we traveled 860 miles round trip.

I did get the bottom back on the RV and sealed up all the places where mice might get in. Time will tell if that is successful. The next big job is to clean the rubber roof. I started that today by washing the edges from a ladder. It really is too hot to do the roof right now. I should wait for a foggy morning.

We of course have been watching the Olympics every day and night until 11:30 or so. It becomes addictive.

Last night I also watched the Mars landing on my Netbook while watching the Olympics. What a great achievement! There should be some spectacular pictures coming.

I am still picking zucchini and pole beans although I think they are coming to an end.

I dug up one row of boysenberries this week. So now I am down to one row of berries. It should still be enough for us.

Clyda’s sister Candi is coming to visit on Wednesday. She will stay for 2 weeks. We have a nephew getting married while she is here so will attend that wedding in a few weeks.

Way too HOT!

Location, at Home, CA

A short note to bring things up to date.

It is HOT! At 8:30 PM it is still 85 degrees. While walking this morning a few gusts of wind came up and right behind it the temperature rose several degrees. By mid morning the humidity also rose making for a very unusual sticky day.

I am working under the fifth wheel trying to get the bottom covers back in place after removing most of them last week to check the hydraulic ram which moves the living room slide out. The final solution was to lube the slide rubber with silicone spray and to wax the walls of the slide outs to reduce friction.

I discovered this remedy by doing an on-line search for slide out problems which wonder of wonders gave me a manual of my exact hydraulic system. After all the lubing the slide works fine. Before the lubing it took both Craig and I pushing on the slide from inside while holding down the pump switch to get the slide to move.

Needless to say, the work is going slowly in this heat. I also have the problem of aligning all the holes so the self taping screws go in. The screws go through the bottom cover and into steel beams. Everything has to be just so to make it work.

I am in no hurry to get it done as we have no trips planned in the immediate future.

We are going to the Bay area on Sunday after church to visit friends both in Walnut Creek and El Dorado hills. We also are stopping in Folsom to pck up a couple of cases of Bor-Do-Lay sauce for marinating. It is the best for meats going on the grill.

The passing of my father.

Location, at Home, CA

So many things have happened since I last posted.

We went camping for 4 days, my father passed away on June 28^th, we made a quick trip to Wisconsin for the funeral, and the solar water heat is still not complete.

The passing of my father was not unexpected as he was 99 1/2 years old. I had calling my sister every day while we camped but it was still a shock when he passed. I spent the next few days trying to get airline seats so Clyda and I could fly back for the funeral.

I had previously booked a flight for September to visit my parents and family members. Now I needed to change that flight and find new flights for last Tuesday. I called American Airlines reservations and was offered a “compassion fare” for less than a normal last minute fare would have cost. They also changed my Sept flight into the July flight without any rebooking fee. I did have to pay $25 to talk to reservations.

The real problem was finding available seats as all the flights were almost fully booked. In fact, we had to return on Friday July 6^th as all seats on Saturday were full.

Tim had somewhat the same problem from Houston to Chicago. It cost him a lot of money for his flights.

We really appreciated Tim coming to the funeral. He did the driving for most of the trip.

We also got to meet a lot of cousins, nieces, and nephews. It is too bad that it takes a funeral to bring families together.

The weather was terrible with terrific heat the whole time. Fortunately, we stayed inside most of the time. The day of the funeral was not too bad except for the short time at the cemetery.

On our drive back to Chicago on Friday the temperature was 103 with a heat index of 110 degrees. I told Clyda that it felt just like our days at China Lake, CA when we were first married.

All in all, everything worked out. The family met after the funeral at my mother’s Assisted Living facility and did all the thank you cards. That was a big help.

Our flight back didn’t get in until 11 PM and by then we just collapsed.

Here are some recent photos from our camping trip and garden.

A turkey at our front door looking for a handout.

Our apricot tree was just loaded with fruit this year.

A huge zucinni plant in our small garden.

The pole beans are over 8 feet tall.

Solar water heat saga.

Location, at Home, CA

The saga of the solar water system goes on.

We ran into a problem with very little hot water coming out of the faucets even if we let the water run for a long time. This of course has caused some consternation among the household members.

After reviewing it for a few days it was decided by the plumber to temporarily add a thermometer to a few of the lines to monitor temperatures over a 24 hour period.

Did I mention that we have a recirculating line to the back of the house (i.e., the bathroom core)? This was installed so that we would have instant hot water for the bathrooms.

The plumber decided to close off the recirculating line while the temperature test was running.

Well, guess what? The water is now hot in all faucets; it just takes time to get hot.

The explanation lies in how the recirculating line is now working when turned on. It seems that the water for the recirculating line is being drawn from the bottom of the water heater tank instead of from the top hot water line.

A fix would be to add a one way valve in the recirculating line to prevent this from happening.

I have called the Solar Company but so far they have not returned my calls. Then again, I haven’t paid them the final payment either.

Solar water heat, new cell phones, and berries.

Location, at Home, CA

We have had solar water heat since 1984. Actually it was a water pre-heater which feed by convection into our hot water heater. The solar units consisted of two 20 gallon stainless steel tanks each sitting in large “tubs” with a Mylar reflector under each tank and a cover over each unit.

They worked very well with little maintenance. I once replaced a copper flex line which was leaking and lately we had another leak which I did not fix as the covers were cracked and breaking up. I could not find spare parts anywhere so a few weeks ago I removed the units.

I researched several new units which are now much more efficient, and selected one for instillation. It is a single unit on the garage roof and again piped to the water heater as a pre-heater. This system uses propylene glycol as a heating medium to heat the water in a 48 gallon tank on the roof.  

It has taken several days for the instillation which is mostly complete except for cleanup and adding some insulation around the pipes.

This unit also has a rebate from the local gas company and a federal tax write off as well.

Our cell phone contracts were up for renewal and Clyda wanted a phone she could text with. My Droid phone has an unlimited data plan which I want to keep so I needed to renew my contract. We got a package deal for a new Droid Razr Maxx for me and a Samsung phone with keyboard for Clyda. It will take me some time to figure out all the bells and whistles on the Maxx that’s for sure.

I am still picking berries. The freezer is full so I don’t know what we will do with the remaining berries. Today I picked 11 baskets.

Dirty job done.

Location, at Home, CA

Another “Dirty Job” out of the way.

It was time for my annual replacement of the sacrificial anode in the water heater. Not only was the anode replacement due but I had other issues with the water heater. For some time while dry camping, the water pump would cycle intermittently. Aggravating at best but no apparent solution until recently.

While camping at Cachuma Lake earlier this month I noticed water dripping from the area of the water heater.  Inspection showed the water coming from the TPV valve which keeps the heater from over pressuring. Sometimes the valve will leak if the “bubble” at the top of the heater has been lost causing excessive pressure. The remedy is to briefly open the TPV valve and let some water out. However, in my case the valve was so corroded that I didn’t think it would reseat itself.

I purchased a new TPV valve and already had a few sacrificial anodes in stock so today I tackled the repair.

For once, I didn’t get deluged with water when I removed the anode as I was smart enough to release the pressure in the lines by opening a faucet at the kitchen sink first.

As the water gushed out it also brought a lot of lime with it. After the water slowed I used a wire with a 90 degree bend in the end to loosen more of the lime and with repeated flushing got most of it out. Some of the chunks were really large.

I installed a new anode and turned the water to the RV back on. When the water started to come out of the TPV valve hole which is at the top of the tank, I turned the source water off and installed the TPV valve. This should give me an air bubble or gap at the top of the tank.

Turning the water back on and purging the air from the lines by opening a kitchen faucet completes the installation. I tested the heater by first turning it on electricity and within a few seconds I could hear the heater element come on. Next I started the water heater on propane and left it heat completely to check that the TPV valve was not leaking. After an hour all looks good.

I picked berries again today and got 11.5 baskets. My largest picking so far this year.

I haven't disapeared.

Location, at Home, CA

No, I haven’t disappeared or blown away but it is very windy today and has been for several days.

Our nice warn weather has disappeared also. It is sunny but only in the 60’s. It will make for a cool Memorial Day weekend.

A quick synopsis of the past month.

The 10 days at Ranchero Visitadores went well. The weather was nice with temps in the 80’s most days with a nice afternoon breeze to keep us cool. After I was through at the gate, I moved the trailer to Lake Cachuma for 3 days. Clyda came up on Friday afternoon and we kicked back for the weekend with a little wine tasting thrown in for good measure.

I must say that there certainly was a lack of campers at the lake. I think the high prices for camping ($45 with FHU) and high gas prices are keeping people away. They may also have been saving for this weekend.

The boysenberries are producing. I have picked between 6 and 9 baskets the last few days. The berries are nice and plump from the late rains we had. Clyda made syrup from one of the pickings and I froze those picked today.

Craig has a few things planted in the garden such as pole beans, zucchini, crookneck squash and peppers. Zucchini and crookneck will be ready to pick in a few days.

Clyda’s planting of radishes in a cardboard box didn’t turn out well as they didn’t grow fast enough and were tough as rocks. I threw all of them in the compost bucket.

On Tuesday I removed the two solar water heating panels from the back of the garage roof. We had a large trash pickup on Wednesday so I managed to get rid of the bulk objects. The units were still serviceable but I could no longer get spare parts so they had to go. I have someone coming after Memorial Day to give me a quote for replacement units. I left all the plumbing in place as it may be useable with the new units.  

I received a call from a friend yesterday offering Clyda and I a job for the summer running a check in station for the Core of Engineers in Oregon. It seems the people who had the job quit. I think they only worked for a few weeks. The pay was quite good and we only had to work 40 hours a week between us. It does rain however. The job ran through September 15^th. We have several commitments this summer so it is not practical for us to do it. We might think about doing something like that but I am not sure I could take dealing with the public. I’m not diplomatic enough I guess or just ornery.