A little pain along the way.

Location, Home, CA

I had a few bad days a week ago. I woke up at 4 AM with extreme abdominal pain. By 5 AM I woke Clyda up and asked her to take me to the ER. I was quickly diagnosed with a kidney stone. A shot of pain killer really helped and a quick CT scan showed only one stone and it was near my bladder so it should move out shortly.

Well, no such luck. I made another quick trip to the ER for pain meds last Saturday and have had no pain since. My doctor thinks I have passed the stone. I have been drinking lots of fluids and adding a squeezed lemon wedge to the water. Hopefully that will dissolve any future stones.

Gate guard duty is coming up next week so I have been getting things ready to go. I will go mow the grass on Monday and take the RV up Tuesday afternoon. As usual, trying to anticipate what groceries they will give me and what I need to take from here occupies much of my time.

We have had so little rain this year that I am afraid we may not be able to have a night fire. Without a fire the night shift is really long and cold.

Tree removal.

Location, Home, CA

The 10 days since my last post sure disappeared quickly.

Not a whole lot to report this week. We have a very large Chinese Elm tree in our back yard that is about 46 years old. Every year or so we spend lots of money to have it trimmed. We have thought about having it removed years ago but realize that it will completely change the looks of the back yard as well as remove the shade on hot days.

However, the tree completely covers our naval orange tree and the roots are now under the house slab and into the garden area. Also, in the winter all the leaves fill the rain gutters and cover our metal patio roof. When the wind blows it sounds like rain on the patio roof.

Last week we got an estimate from one tree service and will get another one tomorrow from another service on the removal and stump grinding. It is not cheap! But it is necessary. I am sure we will replace the tree with another but less invasive tree at some point. Many of Clyda’s shade plants will suffer when the tree is gone. 

This is a very large tree. Consider that the shed behind it is 10 feet wide.

The trunk is about 3.5 feet in diameter.

The plan is to have the tree removed while I am on gate guard duty at Rancher Visitadores. With the RV gone they can back the chipper on the slab next to the house and have easier access to the back yard. Some of those branches are huge.

Today we attended a memorial service for a neighbor and friend who passed away on April 4^th. Arnie was the one who asked me to work with him as a gate guard for Ranchero Visitadores when I retired in 1995. Arnie had over 20 years on gate guard duty.

Moving ahead.

Location, Home, CA

What did I do this past week? Humm…….. I did go to lunch with my friend Don. We drove over the mountain to the Santa Ynez Valley where I checked on things at Blue Gate. Less than a month until I start work at the gate. Someone has mowed all the grass. It looks like a park rather than a cow pasture. Of course, we have had a little rain since then which will make the grass grow again. I will mow it before I move in as the foxtails really bother us if not mowed.

The car went in for long overdue maintenance. The key has been hard to remove from the lock sometimes but of course it didn’t do it while in the shop. They did lube some linkage so maybe that will help.

We took our tax info in a few days ago. It looks like we should be ok and not need to pay. The last form came yesterday by email so I dropped it off this morning.

I did work on the RV again yesterday. I wiped down all the cabinets in the living room/kitchen area and washed the ceiling. I thought about removing the carpet but had some doubts about the area around the slide out. I’m not sure if there is linoleum in that area. So…. I best leave it as is until I can determine a better solution.

I made airline reservations for August to attend an All-School Reunion for my high school. I do need to see my family as it has been since 2011 when we were last there. Time does fly!

Some recent photos from my morning walk.

Ceanothus in bloom on.

 

Closeup 

Pride of Madeira in neighbors yard.

Not for the faint of heart!

Location, Home, CA

I’m still working on the RV to-do-list.

Warning: The following subject may not be for the squeamish!

As anyone with an RV knows, there are certain jobs which are not very pleasant to do but are part of maintenance which must be done. Earlier in the week I removed the toilet in order to fix a potential problem we have had all during our winter trip. Every time you would step on the flush pedal, there would be a snapping sound from the mechanism internal to the toilet. This sounded like a disaster waiting to happen at the most unfortunate time.

While in Quartzsite I purchased a new mechanism and installed it last week. Unfortunately that was not the problem. The real problem was a piece of metal linkage not on the replacement plan. A little Vaseline on the offending part cured the problem. Did I need to replace the flushing mechanism? Probably not at this time but soon.  As part of the kit, all the seals got replaced which may prevent a future problem as over time some of the seals can leak.

Could I have lubed the offending part without removing the toilet? No, as the mechanism is in the back and not easily accessible without removing the fixture.

Before I tested the toilet for leaks I needed to replace the cable which opens the black water valve. This cable is 72 inches long and opens the valve remotely. I tried to repair the old cable but it pulled apart where the cable had been swedged to a solid piece of metal near the handle. Thank goodness for the internet. I ordered it one day and it arrived here the next day. Great service from RV Parts Country!

Cable showing broken part in the center.

 New cable.

 Cable with valve.

Cable and valve installed.

Today was the day to replace the cable and valve. I had drained and flushed the tank last week but there is always a residual amount in the tank. To prevent spillage I jacked up the side of the RV so anything in the tank would flow away from the valve. It worked, almost. I did have a pan available to catch whatever dripped when I removed the valve.

Needless to say I spent most of the day crawling under or laying on my back removing and replacing both the black water cable and valve as well as the valve for the kitchen holding tank. I also removed the cable for the kitchen valve and lubed it. I added some clamps for both cables to keep them in line when the handles are pulled to dump the tanks.The valves now work with a simple pull of the handle. Sweet!

I think my normal maintenance in the future should be to lube the cables when they become hard to pull. That should not be as big a job as this was.

 

By the end of the day I was beat. I’m not used to crawling around on the ground all day.

Tomorrow I will turn the water on to the toilet, check for leaks and then put more water in the holding tank and check all the valves for leaks. This should be all the heavy maintenance needed at this time. My list gets shorter!   

At home with lots of work to do.

Location, Home, CA

We have been home for a few days and of course there is a lot of work to do.

The RV needs a real good cleaning from top to bottom both inside and out. I have started on the inside both cleaning and removing clutter that has accumulated over the years. Mostly it is things that we have rarely used or not used at all.

So far I have the bedroom done and the majority of the bathroom done. I need to caulk some seams in the bathroom next. I am not rushing on this but going over every inch of the rig, cleaning, fixing, and tightening things as I go.

Meanwhile, Clyda has been weeding in the yard. With a little rain the oxalis grows everywhere and that is a big problem. The asparagus bed looks good and we are getting asparagus. I think Craig did some weeding in that bed. The boysenberry bed looks good for now. I chopped all the weeds under the orange and lime trees today. 

 Oxalis, the bain of spring.

Cymbidiums in bloom.

Yesterday I replaced the kitchen faucet with a new one. The old faucet was a carry over from before the kitchen remodel. It had a handle that was too heavy for the cartridge which meant the handle would shut the water off if it was only turned on a little. It also sprang a leak along a seem at the top when hot water was turned on.

The new faucet is a high rise with a sprayer in the head which is retractable and a single control handle on the side. It came from the local big box store and includes a lifetime warranty. The sprayer pulls out far enough to fill a large pot sitting next to the sink. Very handy I think.