Our RV Adventures

Well, we’re all set to go on our Royal Caribbean cruise. starting December 7th. Our first port will be Progresso in the Yucatan, then Cozumel, Roatan, Honduras, and Belize City, Belize, finishing up in Costa Maya, Yucatan.

That’s 9 nights, 7 days in port, and 3 days cruising.

Built in 2004, the Jewel was totally remodeled in 2016, and being an older ship, it’s also smaller, holding only a little over 2000 passengers.

Fine with us.

Jewel’s big sister, Icon Of The Seas, holds almost 8,000 passengers.

As Jan says, “Oh No. No, No, No!”

I agree wholeheartedly.

Though both passenger totals made us long for our Viking Cruise in 2019, where we had only 179 passengers out of a possible 190.

Since tomorrow is our stay-at-home day, I’m going to replace the passenger-side window regulator in the Jeep. I’ve done it before in our Dakota truck, and it looks to be pretty much the same.

Shouldn’t take too long.

Don’t know if we’ve seen Winter’s Last Gasp yet, but maybe.

We are talking about Houston weather, right?

We had temps in the low 50’s last week, but we’re back in the low 70’s at night again.

So we’ll see.

Thought for the Day:

Some people claim to be willing to listen to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.

Your Retro-Preview Highlights –

2010 – Driving The Pacific Coast Highway

2014 – The Wayback Machine

2019 – The A380 SuperJumbo

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™

April 24, 2010

Pacific Coast Highway…

Today was our Pacific Coast Highway road trip.

Two years ago this past March we drove the first part of the PCH where it starts at San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point, up through Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, and ending up in Long Beach. I sense a trend here.

We stayed at an RV Park in Long Beach right on the Pacific Ocean. That’s us on the far left.

And here was our view out the other way. The Queen Mary.

Anyway, today we drove into LA and got on the PCH near Playa del Rey, and headed north.

Coming through Venice Beach we encountered this strange sight.  I’m not exactly sure why a CVS pharmacy has a transgendered clown on its marquee, but it is Venice Beach, after all. But this, Venice Beach Clown, explains it further.

Coming into Malibu we decided to stop for brunch at Marmalade Café right off the PCH. The place was really good, really yuppie, and really expensive. Jan had a short stack of blueberry pancakes with bacon and I had a tortilla scramble. And it was $33!

Leaving the café, we headed north again. About 3 miles down the road we came across the Malibu RV Park high on a cliff overlooking the PCH and the Pacific Ocean.

What a view!  We may have to think about staying here a few nights when we come back this way next year.

Moving on along the PCH we started encountering some of the really scenic areas.

This shot I think I’ve seen in a lot of movies and TV shows. It’s Point Mugu.

Reaching Santa Barbara, we turned around and headed back, this time taking a different, more scenic route. Rather than go all the way back down to LA and back up, we cut across through the Los Padres National Forest, to Ojai.

This is Lake Casitas, a 420 sq. mile lake that’s over 1000 ft. up in the mountains, and it’s really a great view.

Along the route we passed through Ojai (pronounced ‘O HIGH”),  I had heard of the Ojai Valley before, and it’s easy to see why. It’s just one big garden. Tree farms, nurseries, fruit orchards with lemons, limes, and strawberries, sod farms, you name it.

Leaving Ojai, we passed through Santa Paula, Fillmore, and on to Santa Clarita on I-5 Then it was a straight shot back to Lancaster and home, a total trip of about 300 miles.

Tomorrow will be a ‘rest up” and “get ready to travel” day, since we plan on leaving here Monday morning, and moving north about 230 miles closer to San Francisco.

April 24, 2011

Happy Easter ! . . .

Happy Easter!

I was sleeping so good this morning I didn’t get up until about 10:30 and made coffee while Jan heated up muffins.

I worked on web stuff for a while and then went out and mounted a new rack on the side of my electrical bay to hang my dogbone power adapters so they don’t just have to lay on the bottom of the bay.

About 1 pm our son Chris called to say Hi and see how things were going.

About 1:30 I made a run to Home Depot for some 4-40 screws and then on to Wal-Mart for cake flour, strawberries, and whipped cream.

She wanted to bake her world-famous pound cake for dessert tonight.

And boy, was it good.

After that great dinner, we sat around for a while trying to make room for pound cake with strawberries and whipped cream, and trying to nail down our plans for the next few weeks.

We know we’re leaving here on the 27th, and heading over to Williams, AZ to take the Grand Canyon Railway day-long trip to the southern rim of the Canyon. While we’re there we also want to check out Bearizona, a drive-thru wildlife park in the area.

After that, the plans start to get kind of hazy. We’re trying to get tickets to The Talk day-time talk show. If so, we’ll probably try to stay at the Soledad Canyon Thousand Trails near Acton, and then head up to Park of the Sierras Escapees park in Coarsegold, CA near Yosemite where we stayed last year.

If our tickets don’t come through, we’ll probably head straight up to Coarsegold. But who knows?

It could all change tomorrow.

After all, that’s part of the fun, isn’t it?

April 24, 2013

I’ll have the Da Vinci, Over Easy . . .

Brandi sent over some more pics of the progress on the new house. She said they’ve put another coat of paint on the walls, and started painting the trim.

Looking good. I think they hope to be in the house in about 6 weeks.

I know they’re really excited.

I took it kind of easy today, didn’t do much, because I’ve had a sore back the last few days, one of those things where everything’s fine, and then you move just the wrong way and it feels like someone put a knife in your ribs.

Hopefully, it’ll be better tomorrow.

I did head out about 1:30 to make a Home Depot run, along with Radio Shack, and an Office Max for Jan. Then about 6:45 we took off on our walk to finish up our mile-and a-quarter walk, getting back just as it got dark.

Tomorrow morning Jan and I are going to visit the Arizona Science Center to see the Da Vinci – The Genius Exhibition. This is a traveling exhibition that’s here in Phoenix from February to June, so we’re lucky our timing is good.

The last time we visited the Arizona Science Center was in March 2007 when we had rented a CruiseAmerica Class C to check out RV’ing, and after attending the Life on Wheels training in Tucson, drove the RV up here to Phoenix for the afternoon to see the Body Worlds exhibit, the one with the real plasticized bodies in various poses.

On our way to the exhibit, we plan on stopping for breakfast again at Over Easy, the breakfast/lunch place we ate at a couple of weeks ago.

April 24, 2014

The WayBack Machine . . .

I came across this website that has almost 200 photos taken between 1887 and 1892, mostly in the Black Hills of South Dakota that I thought you might like to see.

Ever wonder what Sturgis looked like before motorcycles clogged the streets? Well, back then it was teams of oxen, the 1880’s equivalent of today’s semi’s, moving freight across the plains.

This is not a wagon train of settlers, but a line of ‘freighters’ moving between Sturgis and Deadwood. It turns out that there were long lines of these teams moving goods back and forth across the country.

And here’s the Devil’s Tower taken in 1888. Note the bulge on the left side of the base.

And here’s our photo taken 120 years later in 2008. I took this from the RV park where we spent the night before visiting the Tower the next day. Looks like we were kind of close to the same position.

You can view all these photos here. South Dakota 1888

On another note, some of you might be interested in checking out this book.

The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch

It’s a survivor’s guidebook, not covering actual survival skills, but it’s a discussion on ‘how to orchestrate the rebuilding of a technologically advanced civilization’ after a worldwide catastrophe, I.e., asteroid impact, global plague, nuclear war, etc. I just started it today, but I like it so far. Very interesting.

I don’t know where our niece Christina keeps digging up these old photos, but they bring back a lot of memories.

These are our kids, Chris and Brandi, in the back, and Jan’s sister Debbie’s kids, Tana and Christina sitting on their laps, and Jason in the foreground. Jan thinks this was taken here in Houston when they visited us in July 1983. We think.

I came across this article talking about a 2 year technical school education being worth a lot more money than a 4 year liberal arts college degree, especially in the oil fields.

A company working in the Ohio Marcellus Shale area has 60 pipeline welders making over $150,000 a year, and 2 making over $200,000. And they don’t have enough welders to cover all the work they have. And that’s just one company.

I’ve always thought it was a mistake for high schools to drop the many technical classes they used to give. Most people have no idea how much money a good mechanic, plumber, electrician, or an HVAC guy can make. And in many cases, if you show an aptitude, the company will train you.

Tomorrow Jan and I are going to do a day trip up through the Brenham-Hempstead area to check out the Bluebonnets, and of course, the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory.

April 24, 2015

Braking It Down . . .

Mister got himself a new box yesterday, and from one of his favorite places, Amazon. He apparently likes the way their boxes taste.

Of course, he’s got his big one right next to this one, but new is always better, right?

As to what came in Mister’s new box, it was a bottle of PacBrake lubricant. Well, not their brand, but it’s the same stuff, and cheaper.

Super Lube Synthetic Oil with PTFE

Coming up from Verde Valley to Vegas, I noticed that my PacBrake didn’t seem to be working. It’s always kind of difficult to be sure that the PacBrake has actually engaged when it’s combined with the normal downshift to 4th. But my PRXB PacBrake (the upgraded model) should be felt working whenever your foot is off the gas and your PacBrake is turned on, even before the downshift to 4th

Our trip up here to Vegas is the first time I’ve really used it this year due to a lack of hills, and I didn’t use it much last year either. I also realized that I didn’t do the lubrication maintenance on it this winter, mostly due to my bottle of PacBrake lubricant having leaked out. So that’s probably why it’s not working.

Needing another bottle, I called the Camping World down in Henderson to see if they had some in stock, since CW is where I bought my last bottle. And when I asked the Parts Department guy if he had any PacBrake lube, he said,” What’s a PacBrake?”

HUH?

Camping World doesn’t know what a PacBrake is? That certainly explains a lot. And after I told him what it was, I got, “We don’t have anything like that here.”

Right.

But Amazon had the same stuff in a generic form, but it looks like it’s made by the same company.

So tomorrow I’ll lift the bed up and do a lube job on the valve.

We’ve really been enjoying our really mild weather here. The last several days it’s never gotten above the mid-70’s, and it’s been down in the high 50’s at night. Very nice.

Tomorrow, besides the PacBrake lube job, I’ve got some other stuff I want to work on around the rig. But on Sunday we’ve got some fun stuff planned.

More about that later.

April 24, 2016

Toddlin’ Along . . .

Our morning started out way too early this morning, since we have a 290 mile trip today, instead of our usual 120.

But we couldn’t start our trip without our usual Cracker Barrel breakfast. We just had to get there earlier. We both got our usual, mine being the Sunrise Sampler, with two eggs, a sampling of bacon, patty sausage, and ham, grits, fried apples, and hash browns.

And this leads to my question of the day.

What happened to hash browns, and when did they change?

When I was growing up in Alabama in the 50’s and 60’s, we would often stop at a Toddle House when we traveled. If you’ve seen a Waffle House, you know what a Toddle House looked like. In fact Waffle House was indirectly spun off Toddle House, when a TH regional manager left to start his own chain of restaurants.

And like Waffle House today, you could watch the cook prepare your food behind the counter. And they made Hash Browns by squirting a little oil in a hot skillet, dumping in a serving of diced potatoes and frying them up. The cook would sprinkle a little paprika on them, and as they cooked on one side, he would flip the whole loose mass up in the air, catching them back in the pan just as it ended up back on the stove burner. And although the cook never seemed to lose any potatoes, some of the oil would splash out into the burner flame and flare up with a big sizzle.

By ‘diced’ potatoes, I mean potatoes cut up into roughly 1/2” cubes, and not the shredded ‘riced’ potatoes we get now. In fact if you Google ‘Riced potato hash browns’, they will show you recipes for making the hash browns you get at most restaurants today.

And just to clarify, I’m also not talking about Cottage Fries. Those are usually much larger, and not really cubes, but have rounded edges.

But this is what the hash browns of my youth looked like.

Maybe it’s a regional thing. Friends said that to them, hash browns have always been the shredded ones.

So, you out in the audience, what’s your kind of hash browns?

Since I got on a hash brown rant and it’s late and I’m tired, I’ll flesh out the rest of today’s journey in tomorrow’s blog and skip right to the good stuff.

As in a really, really good spaghetti dinner, serviced up by long-time friends Lynn and Dave Cross. They’re parked two spaces over from us, and Lynn told us a couple of days ago she’d have dinner ready for us when we got here.

And boy, did she. Lynn really knows her way around a spaghetti recipe.

Thanks, Lynn and Dave for the great welcome.

Fun Facts about Toddle House.

• It was started in the early 30’s by James Smith, father of Fred Smith. Fred went on to start his own company in 1971. It’s called FedEx.
• During the segregation era, the company had a parallel chain for African-Americans called Harlem House.

• ---

  April 24, 2017

  Lady Marmalade . . .

  I was getting ready to order a micro SD card for my new phone, but then I realized I already had one.

  Readers will remember when I got the new dashcam for the truck when we were gate guarding down in south Texas, and had trouble with it. That trouble turned out to be caused by my use of a particular brand of SD card. So I retired the first one and ordered another one of a different brand and it’s worked fine ever since.

  So yesterday I ‘unretired’ that card and plugged it into the slot on the S8+ and it works fine. And I saved some money.

  One reader asked what that sauce was that came with my Outback pork chops.

  

  It’s called Creole Marmalade and it really goes well with pork, or anything actually. In fact Jan always orders a side of it for her Alice Springs Chicken.

  As far as what it is, it’s just Orange Marmalade with some horseradish mixed in to give it some kick.  Not really hot, just spicy good. Try it next time.

  ---

  We left the rig a little before 4:30 heading up to Palmdale to meet Maurice and Judy Kunkel at the Antelope Valley Mall’s Chili’s.  We had met at a couple of past rallies, but this was our first time to get to spend any time together.

  

  Jan went with her favorite, the Margarita Chicken, which Judy also got.

  

  Maurice got the new Chili’s Fiery Pepper Chicken Crispers,

  

  while I got my favorite, the Grilled Chicken Caribbean Salad.

  

  Maurice spent time in Thailand as an Air Force weatherman (like our good friend Al Cox), and likes spicy food. But he was kind of disappointed with the heat of these ‘Fiery Pepper Crispers’. He gave me a bite, and I agreed. ‘Fiery’ is in no way an apt description. More ‘Medium-Hot’, or maybe ‘Lukewarm’.

  Everyone seemed to really hit it off, with Maurice and I both at the same Air Force Base at the same time, him in the AF and me with the DOD. We had a great time and a lot of laughs trading stories of our adventures.

  And as is usual when RV’ers get together, we spent the obligatory 3 hours over dinner,  actually about 3-1/2 hours. Really I think the only reason we called it a night is that our butts were getting numb.

  Hopefully, we’ll cross paths again soon.

  Tomorrow we’re heading down to LA, and in particular, Yorba Linda, to have lunch at Esther’s Taco House. We were told about this place years ago by a late good friend and we checked it when we were first in the area in 2008. And we’ve gone back a number of times, and always enjoyed it.

  Loving the cool weather. It went down to 44° last night and only up to 71 today, but still sunny and nice.

  ---

  April 24, 2019

  We Got The SuperJumbo Size . . .

  Now that we’re getting down to nitty-gritty time I thought I’d check out the planes that we’ll be flying on.

  Turns out that our flight over, from Houston to Frankfurt, will be on an Airbus A380-800 SuperJumbo, the largest passenger plane now flying.

  

  So now I’ll have the complete set since I’ve also flown on the previous ‘largest’, the Boeing 747, starting back in the ‘spiral staircase piano bar- lounge’ days.

  

  Then from Frankfurt to Budapest, we’ll be on an Airbus A321 for the short 90-minute flight.

  

  Finishing up coming home, we’ll be on a United 787 Dreamliner flying from London back to Houston.

  Flying back and forth from South America in the early 60’s, I flew on both the Douglas DC-7, a turboprop, and the DC-8, the first jet I ever flew on.

  And flying between Colombia, S.A. cities, I flew on Ford Tri-Motors like this.

  

  Mostly though, they were Ford Bi-Motors, I guess, because the centerline engine had been removed for more cargo space, and the wing-mounted engines were replaced with DC-3 engines to make up the power loss, and also allow them to fly over the high mountain passes in the Andes.

  It gets a little scary when you’re flying ‘through’ Andean mountain passes with rock faces off both wings, and not ‘over’, because they just can’t fly that high.

  Checking SeatGuru.com, I located the seating chart for our plane and flight, and found where our seats are located.

  

  Note that by reserving seats on opposite sides of the aisle, we both get an aisle seat, yet we can still talk. And we did this on all our flights on this trip.

  And also note that we’re seated in Standard Economy, I.e. the Cheap Seats. I thought it was kind of funny that the next level up is called Premium Economy.

  Isn’t that kind of like Jumbo Shrimp or Non-Dairy Creamer,

  Tomorrow we’ve got a few wrap-up things to do and then we’ll be ready to head out on Friday morning when our car service arrives.

  ---

  April 24, 2020

  When The Mask Comes Off . . .

  As I’ve been doing these Retro-Blogs™, I’ve pretty much been leaving out/editing out all of the Wu-Flu stuff. But I wrote this blog to make people think about what’s really going on with all the rules and decrees, so I decided to leave it in.

  ---

  Now you can get your WuFlu straight from the source, with none of those weak second or third-hand infections passed on from some random person in WalMart.

  Get your order in before they run out.

  Or you could always go with the ‘fruit-based’ version like they want you to wear here in Houston.

  

  You won’t believe some of the memes that are showing up online.

  Or if you’re Vegan, you can do it like this.

  

  Lettuce come together. Romaine calm. This may just be the tip of the iceberg.

  Jan and I did a WalMart run yesterday afternoon to pick up my prescription as well as a few groceries. And the mask situation was pretty much the same as the other day, with maybe a few more people wearing them, but many more people not wearing them correctly.

  A lot of people, including WM employees, had them pulled down off their noses so they could either breathe, or so their glasses wouldn’t fog up.

  And at the Pharmacy, the pharmacist and the techs were having to pull their masks up to talk to each other, or on the phone. And the tech at the checkout kept having to pull his mask aside so people could understand him behind his mask and the Plexiglass.

  And of course, the tech just put my prescription package, which had probably been touched by 3 or 4 people, in a WM plastic bag, and handed it to me, with his bare hands.

  Oh, the horror!

  And apparently this guy had mask problems too.
  New Jersey driver crashes car after passing out from wearing N95 mask

  I have received some push-back over my mask views so a little explanation may be in order.

  If you want to wear a mask, then go for it.

  But don’t rag on me when you’ve got it down below your nose so you can breathe, or pulling it up or out of the way so you can talk to your companions, or on your phone.

  Don’t pull it to the side so you can slurp your coffee or even that double-decaf soy latte with non-fat foam and mocha sprinkles.

  Don’t wear that paper mask for a week until it looks like you could read through it. But, hey, it does make easier to breathe, right?

  And if not, you are disposing of the paper one after every use, aren’t you? And you’re not just throwing it in the trash, are you? But treating it as hazardous waste, since it might be infected with the WuFlu, right?

  Or maybe it’s that cute Hello Kitty mask your Auntie made for you. You are washing it and sterilizing it after every use like the authorities recommend, right? Not every day. Every use! At least according to the CDC guidelines.

  And of course, there are all those people sorting through the bananas and tomatoes or squeezing the heads of lettuce in the produce department. Or opening each carton of eggs to be sure none are broken, and picking up that can of veggies off the shelf to check out the ingredients and then putting it back and checking another brand.

  Think all those are being sanitized/disinfected after you, or the previous dozen people, have finished pawing through them?

  Or the person in front of you at the checkout who used the credit card machine. They handled their credit card, stuck it in the slot, then you put your credit card in the same slot, and then back in your billfold or purse.

  Or maybe you paid cash, which we already know was pretty disease-ridden, pre-WuFlu. Did you disinfect all those bills/coins before you put them away?

  So I just think there are so many vectors of possible infection that, at some point, you just have to throw up your hands and hope for the best. And I think this is the same reason there are more and more anti-shutdown protests every day. People just don’t want to fool with it anymore.

  And as I mentioned yesterday, a Houston, Harris County Texas judge has ordered everyone over the age of 10 must wear a mask when out of their home, unless they’re eating, drinking, or exercising. That whole breathing thing again, right?

  Now Harris County Deputy’s’ Association and the Houston Police Officer’s Union have both said they will not enforce this questionable decree, and a number of lawsuits have already been filed, but the timing of it is kind of suspect.

  Judge Hidalgo issued her order this past Wednesday, the 22nd, but it doesn’t go into effect until next Monday, the 27th, Now if this is such an emergency, and so necessary, why wait 5 days to start it?

  ---

  April 24, 2021

  It’s Penciled In . . .

  With yesterday’s and last night’s rain gone, it was nice enough for us to sit outside with our morning coffee, trying to decide what we wanted to do this weekend.

  We finally decided to stay home today, and have the rest of hotdogs/sausages left over from last weekend,

  

  and then have lunch at Gator’s Bar & Grill once again tomorrow.

  

  Jan combined the hotdogs and sausages in a casserole dish and covered them with Wolf Brand Chili and Shiner Beer Cheese, and along with Bush’s Grilling Beans, and chips and dip, it was a really good simple meal.

  In a blog from a couple of days ago, I mentioned a new burger place up in the Friendswood area, Pop Top Burgers. Well, some friends of ours ate their last night, and it turns out that the owners had previously been part of Tookie’s and Stomp’s, two of our long-time favorite burger joints in this area.

  So we have a visit there penciled in for next weekend.

  ---

  April 24, 2022

  Hartz . . .

  We just hung around the rig all afternoon, finally leaving for lunch (linner?) about 3:30. And we decided to have lunch (linner?) at a place we haven’t been for probably about 40 years, Hartz Chicken Buffet. We used to go to the one in League City when our kids were still at home, but that was long ago.

  Then back in December, a new one opened over in Dickinson, so we thought we’d give it a try again. And it was really good.

  For $12 (senior) we got about a dozen veggies, fried chicken, chicken tenders, fried fish, hot yeast rolls, desserts, and a drink.

  A good deal, and good food too.

  ---

  April 24, 2023

  They’re Smart . . .

  A couple of weeks ago Jan and I got new watches – Smart Watches, and we’re really happy with them.

  Jan’s looks like this, but with a different face.

  

  You can select from 100’s of different faces, and even use your own photos.

  This is the one Jan likes.

  

  Jan’s Smart Watch

  Besides the time, it shows the battery level, the temperature, your heart rate, and the number of steps and miles you’ve done since midnight.

  Nice.

  Mine looks like this.

  The gears behind the skull actually turn, but after a while it’s kind of distracting and not easy to read.

  

  Greg’s Smart Watch

  So I switched to this one.

  

  Two things have impressed me so far. One is how long the battery lasts. So far I’ve only had to recharge it every two weeks.

  The other is how accurate the Blood Pressure reading app is. I checked it last week while the nurse was taking my blood pressure and was surprised that it was within a few points of the official reading.

  Nice!

  Tomorrow we’re going to check out a new place that just opened up in Webster. Called Walk-On’s, it calls itself a ‘Sports Bistreaux’, with the menu showing a Cajun flair. Looks really good, but we’ll see.

  But first, we’ve got our last two Doctor’s appointments. Another blood draw for me, and a consult for Jan. Then we’ll be done for this year.

   

   

   

Lunch today was at long-time favorite King Food for our usual Chicken with Hot Garlic Sauce XXXX Spicy with Jalapenos. And of course Hot & Sour Soup.

Then it was on over to the Medical Center area for Jan’s yearly mammogram. And an hour or so later she was good to go for another year.

In other words, the girls are doing fine.

Coming home, we made a Cowboy Coffee stop for coffee. Jan got a Mocha Latte and I got a Peanut Butter/Maple Syrup Latte. Really good.

We’ve got our Cruise rooms narrowed down to 2, 8120, and this one, 8604.

Both are fairly close to mid-ship and have unobstructed balcony views.

We’re going for the early (5:30) dining time, rather than the later 8pm one. And of course, we can also do the Windjammer Buffet, or even room service.

The new, purported, opening day for Big Horn BBQ is next Thursday, May 2nd. Of course, they’ve lied to us before, so I guess we’ll see.

Rob, one of our eagle-eyed readers, saw these gas prices on the photo I posted the other day, and wondered about them.

Since the gas station isn’t even open yet, I assume that it’s just in Test Mode.

At least I hope so.

My coughing problem seems to be on the mend, so hopefully, it’s wrapping up for this year.

My Cost Plus Drugs shipment showed up today in our mailbox, with Jan’s not far behind.

Thought For The Day:

Sarcasm. Because murder charges are expensive.

Your Retro-Preview Highlights –

2010 – Vasquez Rocks And The Gorn

2018 – The Great Transmission Repair – Recap

2021 – Earth Day Redux

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™

April 23, 2010

Esther’s Tacos and Mulholland Dr…

Today was a road trip day.

We left the rig about 9 am heading south to Esther’s Taco House in Placentia, CA about 100 miles away.

On the way, I pulled over to take some shots of the Vasquez Rocks. Although they don’t look really impressive here, when you see them in person they really stand out. You’re driving along through the high desert mountains, with the hills covered in scraggly scrub brush and small bushes.

Then you take a curve on the freeway and suddenly you encounter these massive rocks thrusting up from the surrounding land.

It turns out that this is the route of the San Andreas fault line, and these rocks have been pushed up from deep underneath the earth.

Named after an outlaw, Tiburcio Vásquez, who hid out here in the 1870’s and 80’s, the rocks have been featured in countless commercials, movies, and TV shows, including a famous Star Trek episode called “Arena’, where Capt. Kirk is fighting the reptilian Gorn. The rocks in the background here are here at Vasquez.

This upthrust formation also figures prominently in this show, and numerous others.

We got to Esther’s about 11 and sat down to another great meal. We wanted to eat here one last time before we leave on Monday. And as before, it was really good. They make the best Chile Relleno I have ever eaten. And their enchiladas are delicious too.

Before we left Esther’s I called Park of the Sierras RV Park to be sure they would have a space for us on Monday. They said yes, so we’re good to go.

Our next destination was Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles. It’s the oldest remaining part of the city, and some of the buildings date from the 1870’s.

Across the street from Olvera Street, we found Los Angeles’ famous Union Station train station. Built in 1939, it is known as the last of the great train stations built in the US.  And, built in the Santa Fe style, it doesn’t really look like a train station. Many movies, commercials, and TV shows have been filmed here.

Coincidently, Union Station figured prominently in last night’s (4/22/2010) episode of ABC’s “Flashforward”.

Next, we headed up I-405 and exited at Mulholland Dr. We wanted to make the famed drive through the Santa Monica Mountains to get a bird’s eye view of Los Angeles. And we certainly did.

It’s amazing how many homes are built along here, and, considering how many of them seem to be just hanging off the side of the hill, you can see how landsides can damage so many homes.

Seeing how this is California, I was hoping for some nude sunbathing, but no such luck.

Many stars have homes along here, such as Jack Nicholson, Pamela Anderson, Reece Witherspoon, and Paris Hilton.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any stars, but we really enjoyed the drive.

We got home about 4 pm and settled in for the night.

And tomorrow we’re going to do it all over again. We’re going to drive back into LA to Playa del Rey on the coast, and then head north along the PCH  (Pacific Coast Highway) up to Santa Barbara, before returning home.

Then Sunday, we’ll get ready to travel, before heading out on Monday to the Park of the Sierras RV park north of Fresno..

April 23, 2011

Short, but Sweet . . .

Got up.

Had coffee and banana nut muffins for breakfast.

Watched Dr. Who marathon on BBCA.

Later, had leftover pizza for lunch.

Watched more Dr. Who marathon on BBCA.

Went to Radio Shack, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart.

Tried to watch more Dr. Who marathon on BBCA.

Talked to DirecTV again about my dying receiver/DVR.

Jan fixed a delicious lasagna supper, topped off by her great lemon bars.

Came home.

Watched Dr. Who season premiere on BBCA

Wrote blog.

Watched more Dr. Who marathon on BBCA.

Went to bed.

Fell asleep.

Nice Day!

April 23, 2013

Unintended Consequences . . .

I’m sure you’ve heard about how some cities, especially ones in California, have outlawed paper and plastic grocery bags, requiring people to bring their own reusable cloth bags.

The only problem with this is that according to the CDC, these reusable bags are breeding grounds for E. coli, salmonella, and other dangerous bacteria. In fact, a study by the University of Pennsylvania and George Mason University showed that just in the first 6 months after San Francisco enacted their total ban, emergency room admissions and deaths relating to E. coli jumped almost 50%.

So, where does all this E. coli and salmonella come from?

Well, you know how they tell you to always wash your fresh fruits and vegetables before you eat them, well, now you know why.

Or did that stockboy wash his hands after using the bathroom before he put your can of beans on the shelves?

Now the CDC recommends you wash all your bags after every use. Of course, that would mean millions of bags being washed every week, using precious water and putting more detergents and other chemicals into the environment.

So what’s an environmentally-aware person to do? Of course, it’s apparently hard to be an environmentalist anyway.

Are you an environmentalist who supports solar power,  or are you an environmentalist who protests a solar power project being built in the Mojave Desert because it might harm the Desert Tortoise? What, tortoises don’t like shade?

Are you an environmentalist who supports wind power, or are you an environmentalist who campaigns against wind power because they kill thousands of birds every year?

Decisions, decisions.

Jan and I headed over to Wal-Mart around 2pm to get some stuff, and also let Jan get her hair done. Then on the way home, I stopped off at an Auto Zone to pick up some battery terminal cleaner and protector spray, since I wanted to clean our rig batteries.

Later we drove over to Sourdough Pizza for dinner. Jan was happy to see that they had her favorite meat ravioli, and we shared our usual pizza with pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms, along with very nice small dinner salads.

The one thing that was unusual here was that the pizza sauce was kind of sweet. According to Google, a sweeter sauce is kind of a regional thing. But the first bite was a bit of a surprise.

Tomorrow I’ve got some more rig projects to work on.

April 23, 2014

Well, that didn’t last long . . .

See What Happens When You Tease A Frog!

A week or so ago I installed a new lift motor and lift mechanism in our bathroom Fantastic Vent fan. The original one lasted for ten years, the replacement I installed in 2009 lasted for five years, and the latest one lasted for 11 days. Based on that timeline, I expect the next one to last for about a minute, 45 seconds.

But we’ll see.

The problem is that the motor doesn’t seem to be connected to the driveshaft anymore. When you try to open or close the lid, the motor runs but it doesn’t move the lid. The manual knob turns while this is happening but it’s obviously not turning the lift mechanism shaft. At this point, I can turn the knob manually while the motor is still running, and lift the lid that way. But once the lid is all the way open or closed, the motor never stops. It just keeps running. I think this tells me the clutch inside the lift motor is broken. The manual knob is connected directly to the shaft on the lift mechanism. But the motor has to be connected through some sort of clutch so that when the lid is all the way open or closed, the motor stalls down and then shuts off under the load.

I talked to Fantastic Vent (Attwood) this morning and they’re sending me a new one. Hopefully, it’ll get here before we leave Friday week. Otherwise, Brandi will have to track us down and send it on.

They didn’t say anything about having to send the old one back, so maybe I’ll be able to take it apart and see how it works, maybe even repair it for later use.

About 3:30 Jan and I made the 30 mile trip up to La Grange to have dinner at Sealand Seafood again. This is our 4th or 5th visit during our 6 weeks on and off here at Colorado River Thousand Trails, and hopefully, we’ll get in at least one more visit.

One thing Jan and I noticed on our drive north was that the farther we went the more bluebonnets we started seeing again. I wouldn’t have thought that that small a distance would have made that much difference. So maybe that bodes well for our trip up to the Brenham area on Friday.

Jan and I ordered our usual 2, 6, and 6. That’s 2 pieces of catfish, 6 shrimp, and 6 oysters, and of course battered French Fries.

On the face of it, $19.99 for this platter plus a salad, might seem a little expensive. But we both find that we can only eat about 1/2 of it. Plus we always get more seafood than indicated on the menu. In my case, I got 3 pieces of fish, 8 shrimp, and 9 oysters. That’s what I like, under promise and over deliver.

So we both have plenty for another meal at home. As I told Jan, since we had eaten until we were full, and had plenty left over, we got All You Can Eat Seafood for $10. Not bad at all.

Coming home we stopped off at Wal-Mart for supplies and HEB for gas before getting back to the rig a little after 6pm.

Tomorrow I’ll make another attempt to install the new shear pin in the slide mechanism.

Or maybe not.

April 23, 2016

Gone, But Not Forgotten . . .

Today was more of the same, downloading software, getting it activated, and also tracking down the software I have on DVD’s. The only one I haven’t found yet is my Delorme Street Atlas 2015. I haven’t seen it since I  installed the 2015 version last February.

On a side note, I’m kind of worried about Delorme and their Street Atlas program. I’ve used that program since the early 2000’s and every year, the new version is announced in the Jan-Feb timeframe.

But this year, not a word. And if you go to their website, they still show the 2015 version.

I suspect the reason is that early this year, the GPS maker, Garmin, bought Delorme, and I hope this doesn’t spell doom for Street Atlas.

They have also drastically cut back their support forums to almost nothing. And the one topic about the 2016 version is a real bummer. Apparently, they do not plan a 2016 version, and said they will ‘think’ about doing future versions.

And since Microsoft discontinued Streets and Trips a couple of years ago, that leaves nothing to replace them that doesn’t require Internet access on the road.

Just BUMMER!

On a better note, going through my bins I did find my 3rd GPS module. Karma chewed up the USB connector on my first one, I gave my 2nd one to my son Chris, so now finding my 3rd one, so I won’t have to try to repair the 1st one right now.

But I’ll keep it just in case.

later in the afternoon, I made a quick run over to the Kroger’s in Willis to pick up a few things we forgot last night. And I was surprised to see this in the frozen foods section. Although we have bought cans of the chili, it’s the first time I’ve seen it in frozen foods.

We’ll have to try it sometime.

Getting home, I did my outside chores, disconnecting sewer and water hoses, speeding up leaving tomorrow morning. Next, I checked the rig’s tire pressures and found that no air was needed.

I’ve been very impressed with these Hercules Ironman tires we put on after our blowout last May. The only time I’ve had to put air in is to adjust for winter and summer temps. Really nice.

For dinner tonight, Jan fixed BCT sandwiches, that’s Bacon, Cheese, and Tomato. And rather than frying up bacon and smelling up the rig, or using the microwave stuff that comes out limp and soggy, we came across this brand a few weeks ago, and it’s really good.

It’s microwaved, but every four slices are in a sealed pouch, and are cooked that way. This makes it come out crispy and crunchy, and really good. Try it.

Tomorrow we’ll have our usual Cracker Barrel breakfast before we make the 290 mile journey over to the Medina Lake Thousand Trails for a couple of weeks.

Jan’s really looking forward to feeding the deer again.

April 23, 2017

Chicken and Chops . . .

We both slept in this morning after a somewhat long and exhausting trip and setup yesterday.

We’re really looking forward to moving into cooler weather. Although it was in the mid-80’s here in Acton yesterday, we’re looking at much cooler temps in the next week, with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the high 40’s/low 50’s. And up in Bend, OR where we’ll be this time next week, it’s 50’s/30’s. Nice.

In Rapid City, SD where we’ll be in about a month, it’s snowing right now!

Sometime this morning, between around 8:30am and 12:30pm PT this blog was down with a 503 error. When I got up about 11, I called Godaddy who said it was a server problem and should be back up it an hour or so. And it was.

I’m still very happy with my new Samsung Galaxy S8+. The most obvious thing is how much faster it is than my old Galaxy S5. Of course, the 3 years that have elapsed since I got my S5 is a lifetime in cellphone years.

I’ve got it mostly set up now with the apps I want arranged the way I want, but I’m still slowly working my way through the 214 page manual that I downloaded yesterday. There’s a lot of new stuff to figure out.

I did get a System Update for the S8+ last night, as well as one for my Galaxy Tab 4 tablet, but nothing for the S5. I guess it’s officially orphaned now.

About 2pm I went outside to get the coach leveled. Yesterday I had just dumped the airbags to see if we were level enough that way. But although we were level front to rear, side to side was a different story.

So I got the pads out of the bay, slid them under the rig, then came inside, cranked up the engine and leveled us. Now we don’t walk down the rig leaning sideways.

We had a couple of long mountain climbs on the way over here from Vegas so I was curious about what effect it had on our mpg. Turns out, not a lot.

We did 254 miles and used 31.2 gallons for an mpg of 8.14. Only a little down from our usual 8.5 or so. I guess that 17 mile downhill run really helped. Looking at the instantaneous MPG on our Silverleaf Computer Display showed 272.5 MPG, the maximum it will display. This was just basically coasting downhill.

At the same time, the Cumulative MPG was showing almost 25 MPG. But of course it all levels out and we were seeing 8.1 when we got here.

In a blog a few days ago I mentioned California’s new 12¢ per gallon tax increase on gasoline. I thought it had gone into effect immediately, but blog reader Maurice Kunkel, who lives in the area, said it doesn’t go into effect until July.

That makes the gas prices I see here in the Palmdale area even worse, with prices already going as high as $3.19. So now another 12¢?

WOW!

So far neither of the other parties in our recent fender-benders in the Phoenix area have tried to file a claim against my insurance and I doubt that at this point they will.

When I spit-rubbed the paint off the first guy’s wheel well, he had nothing to claim, and although there was no blame assigned and no ticket issued when the lady cut me off in the rig, I think the officer made it pretty clear to her that it was her fault. Or at least he talked to her a lot longer than he talked to me after I showed him the photos I had taken.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I could no longer reply to comments from within the blog control panel, but only from the blog page itself. This is a pain because I usually try to reply to people both in the comment section and also back to them via email.

One thing funny was that the problem only occurred using Google Chrome, but worked fine under Internet Explorer. And on my laptop, both browsers worked fine. But I got a notice from Godaddy last evening that they had installed the latest WordPress update software on my blog. And reading over the list of fixes, I noticed mention of Chrome. And when I went and checked, the problem was fixed. Nice.

About 4:30 Jan and I headed out to have dinner up in Palmdale. Our first thought was Red Robin for burgers, but it turned out to be inside the Antelope Valley Mall which seemed like too much trouble. So our second choice was a nearby Outback Steakhouse.

Outback has always been one of our favorites, and we used to eat at the one in Webster, TX near our house all the time. In fact back in the 90’s our daughter Brandi worked there as both a server and a bartender while she was in school. It was always funny to go there for dinner and be able to order her around.

But strange as it may seem, we almost never get steaks there, but have other long-time favorites.

We both started with their really good salads.

Then Jan got her usual Alice Springs Chicken.

The reason the top looks a little messy is that it comes with bacon as well as the cheese and mushrooms, but it’s not done enough for Jan so she pulls it off and gives it to me.

Outback is one of the few places you can get really juicy grilled pork chops, and I’ve been getting them for years.

Still great.

Not sure what’s on the schedule yet for tomorrow. Time will tell.

April 23, 2018

The Great Transmission Repair . . .

Several people (apparently new readers) asked about the reference to my ‘Great Transmission Repair’ last May in Weed, CA, so I thought I’d post a recap of it since nothing much else happened today.

May 2, 2017

We were dieseled up, hooked up, and pulling out of the Flying J by 9:45, a little ahead of schedule for a change. But that didn’t last long.

As we started to turn on the I-5 entrance feeder, I noticed the rig was kind of lugging, not accelerating like it should. It was quickly evident that the problem was that the transmission was stuck in 1st gear and wouldn’t upshift to 2nd. Then I happened to move my head a bit and saw a Check Trans light on the panel. I didn’t see it at first because it was blocked by the steering wheel.

No other alarms, no Check Engine light, no nothing. Just the Check Trans light. It was obvious that I was stuck in the ‘infamous’ Limp Mode.

So I tried the simplest thing first. I shut the engine off, let it set for a few minutes, and then started back up.

OK, no warming light. That’s good.

But as soon as I was moving a few miles per hour, the light came back on.

Bummer!

Jan however, said some other words.

So next I checked the transmission fluid. It was at the lower part of the OK range, but I added a little TransSyn to be sure.

And again, no luck. Still stuck.

I did use my Silverleaf Computer Display to check for any fault codes, but nothing showed up.

So now I was on the phone with Spartan, my chassis manufacturer, to see what they might have to contribute. But not a lot, but they send me on to Allison Tech Support.

Now I have known for a while that my rig’s Allison transmission is kind of an oddball. I think it kind of straddles a model revision, or something. For example, according to my transmission’s serial number, I should be able to check the transmission’s fluid level from the console, but I can’t.

I’ve had several techs tell me I must not be doing it right, and proceed to show me how. But apparently, they weren’t doing it right either.

The Allison tech told me to check for transmission fault codes by turning the key on, and then pressing the upshift/downshift buttons together, twice.

And I got nothing. So I turned the key off and back on, and then did it again.

Again nothing. But I did notice that something flashed in between the first and second presses. So I turned the key off and on, and pressed just once. And now I had the code display.

But no error codes were showing.

As we were talking and checking some other stuff, he had me crank the engine up, and for some reason I decided to try the code thing again.

And this time I had an error code, a 2-5-1-1.

So between the number of presses needed and the fact that the engine has to be running to read codes, there are just two more weird things about my transmission.

The tech told me that the code meant that the rig was getting no output speed info from the Output Speed Sensor. And I was VERY glad to hear this, because a bad sensor was something I could possibly replace or fix myself.

The tech was kind of surprised I wanted to crawl under the rig and work on this myself.  He doesn’t know me very well, does he?

He suggested I check the sensor physically to see if it was still connected and didn’t look damaged from road debris, etc. So under the rig I went with my work pads.

And this is what I found.

It looked OK, but I wanted to pull it apart and clean it, in case it was just a bad connection. So I sprayed the area with Awesome and wiped it down, and then unsnapped the connector.

The wires looked good, so I sprayed both the socket and the plug with Strike Hold, let it sit for a few minutes, and then put it back together.

Now I was really confident I had fixed the problem. I mean Strike Hold will fix anything and everything, right? So I rolled out from under the rig, eager to give it a try.

Since I was working on the roadside of the coach I set my step ladder along the side of the road to deter any close shaves. They might not have a problem running over me, but they probably don’t want to scratch their paint on the ladder.

And yeah, I’ve got some cones somewhere, but they just run over those too. I mean, look at all the dead cones you see, the life crushed out of them, their faded orange carcasses littering the highway.

But back inside and moving out, I still had the problem. So Plan B. We’ll limp along the shoulder until we get to the next exit, for downtown Weed, and then park in a large lot that I had seen, and then I’d regroup. And that’s what we did.

And along the way, I noticed something new. I had no speed information on either my dashboard speedometer or my Silverleaf. And I had no odometer readings either.

So getting parked I was back on the phone with Spartan. I called them because they know both systems. Allison knows the transmissions, Cummins knows the engines, but Spartan knows both, or at least how they interface. And I wanted to know if the dashboard speedometer got its data from the transmission sensor.

And yes it did.

Now I was on the phone to the nearest Allison shop, which was down in Redding 65 miles south. And yes, they did have the part in stock for $85 plus tax. So after unhitching, and parking the rig in the far corner, we were off for Redding.

I figured that replacing this sensor was my last shot at avoiding a 65 mile tow and a very large repair bill. If it’s like most of these sensors, you just unplug the wire, remove the bolt, pull out the sensor, stick the new one in, then bolt, then wire. Easy Peasy.

The trip down to Redding only took a little over an hour because it’s just that . . .down. Just about the entire way. And a lot of fun curves that make Jan hiss.

Getting to the Allison parts counter, I had the same oddball problem again. The sensor that the computer said I needed, did not look like mine. That one had the plug sticking straight out, but mine is at a 90° angle.

But they finally found the right one, and $91 later we were on the way back to Weed. Getting there about 4pm I called the Bend TT to let them know we wouldn’t be coming in today and I’d let them know about tomorrow.

The above-mentioned Hi-Lo Diner, which was only about a block away, also has a motel and RV park attached, I figured I’d putt-putt down the hill and we’d spend the night there and I’d replace the sensor there. So after getting a site, off I went with Jan following in the truck.

And before I got out of the large lot, I noticed something. I had speed info on both the dash and the Silverleaf. Could it be?

And yes, out on the street, the rig upshifted smoothly to second, with no lights or other problems. I made the 1/2 mile journey to the park with no problems, even hitting a large pothole that I held my breath, thinking the problem might return. But it was all good.

So did Strike Hold just take its time to fix the problem? Did gremlins figure that they’d had their fun at my expense? Did fate just want me to waste $91?

So what to do?

So I decided to risk it.

May 3, 2017

We were up at 7am, later than usual, since we didn’t have much to do to get on the road. In fact we didn’t even put out the satellite dish last night, but just listened to music on our Amazon Echo.

We had a nice site that I just treated as pull-in, easy due to how the power pedestals were configured.

Of course we had to have another breakfast at the Hi-Lo Café once again, especially since it was right up the hill and we had the free tokens for coffee that we got when we checked in the RV park.

Since we both had leftovers from yesterday’s breakfast, we decided to go smaller this time.

So rather than the full waffle, we got their 1/2 waffle combos.

Still delicious, just less of it. And no leftovers to try and fit in the fridge.

Back at the rig we were pulling out of the park by 9:15, Jan following me in the truck so we could hook up on a side street.

Driving through the park, everything was fine and I had speedometer readings on both the dashboard and the Silverleaf.

That is, until I hit a bump. Then the problem was back.

Bummer!

Jan, as before, said other things.

So I just circled back around through town and right back into our space at the park. Looks like I was going to have to change out the sensor after all.

After I got shore power hooked up and the slide out, I walked up the hill to the office and told her that we were either back for an hour or so, or a day or so until we could get towed to Redding. She said no problem.

I did see this really nice 1949 Oldsmobile coupe parked by the office.

The emblem on the rear deck indicates that the original buyer paid the almost $200 extra cost for the optional HydraMatic automatic transmission, more than 10% of the vehicle’s cost.

To make it a little easier to work under the rig I raised it up on the rear levelers as high as I could, giving me plenty of room. Next up I put a call into Jay, the Allison Tech Support guy, to ask him a question.

“When I pull this sensor out, am I going to have 150° Transynd pouring out on my  head?”

He said, “Good question. I don’t know. Let me check.”  And when he came back, he said, “No problem. It’s dry in there.”

Glad to know that I don’t have to worry about that.

Gathering all my needed tools, I was under the rig at 10:10 and done at 10:45.

The only slowdown was that I had to come out from under the rig to get my 18” cheater pipe from the truck to break the bolt loose.

Pulling the old one out, I smeared a little oil from the O-ring on the old one to the new one, stuck it in, and then tightened the bolt back in place.

So now for the big test. Either on to Bend, OR, or towed to Redding, CA in disgrace.

After I got cleaned up, we were pulling out of the park by 11:30 with Jan again following me in the truck. I told her that if it was working, I was going to make several loops (about 1/2 mile each) around the town. If the problem returned I would just pull back into the RV park.

Otherwise, I would go round and round a few times until I was satisfied, and then pull back into the large parking lot where we were parked yesterday when we drove the truck to Redding for the part. Then we would hitch up there and get on US97 for Bend.

And even though I was deliberately hitting bumps, the problem never returned. And it never returned during our 4 hour trip up to Bend, 195 miles north. Smooth as silk.

April 23, 2019

Wyze and Wills . . .

Jan and I headed out about 11:30 for a busy afternoon trying to wrap up as many last-minute items that we could.

Earlier in the morning I set up all 3 of my Wyze Cams in the rig. Since they not only detect motion and sound, but also are particularly attuned to the sound of Fire and CO alarms, I wanted a way to call the Santa Fe Police and Fire departments without using the 911 system, which I doubt would work very well from Budapest or Amsterdam.

So on our way out I stopped off at the Santa Fe PD and got the non-911 emergency numbers. Then it was on up to King Food for a bowl of Hot & Sour Soup to hold us until dinner.

Next up was our continuing quest to get our wills signed and notarized. One problem I kept running into was that we not only needed a notary, but also two witnesses. And the notary couldn’t be one of them. And the first two places I called only had a notary available there.

I guess I could have tried dragging people in off the street. You know, “Go in there and sign a piece of paper and I’ll give you $5.” Not sure how that would work though.

But when I decided to check back with my client’s neighbor to see if she was back in town, she was, and she had witnesses, the people working in her office.

With all the signing, witnessing, and notarizing of 3 copies of the will, plus 3 Self-Providing Affidavits, it took about 45 minutes. But at least it was done, and I can get them into the mail to Chris and Brandi tomorrow.

And even better, I may have picked up some computer work at her office when we get back from our trip.

Then it was on to WalMart for a last few items, one of which was a new, smaller carry-on bag for my laptop, tablet, and Kindle Fire. And I found a nice one for only $20.

Our next stop was over on Bay Area Blvd for Jan’s Bon Voyage Mani-Pedi, special because she usually only gets the Pedi part.

Finally back home for a while, we headed about 6:15 to drop Karma off at her new temporary home with my client’s office manager. She’s got her own room, with her food bowls, litter box, and perch. And she’s got a window to look out of just like the rig windshield at home.

Once she settles down and gets a little whipped cream in her, she should be fine.

Finishing up the day, we had dinner at our favorite local Tex-Mex place, Los Ramirez. Very busy, especially for a Tuesday, and as delicious as usual.

Tomorrow’s my wrap-up day at work, so hopefully I can finish it what I need to finish up.

April 23, 2021

Earth Day Redux . . .

From A Coming Ice Age To Famine To Killer Bees, Acid Rain, and Global Warming, 50 Failed Climate Forecasts.

1. 1967: Dire Famine Forecast By 1975

2. 1969: Everyone Will Disappear In a Cloud Of Blue Steam By 1989

3. 1970: Ice Age By 2000

4. 1970: America Subject to Water Rationing By 1974 and Food Rationing By   1980

5. 1971: New Ice Age Coming By 2020 or 2030

6. 1972: New Ice Age By 2070

7. 1974: Space Satellites Show New Ice Age Coming Fast

8. 1974: Another Ice Age?

9. 1974: Ozone Depletion a ‘Great Peril to Life

10. 1976: Scientific Consensus Planet Cooling, Famines imminent

11. 1980: Acid Rain Kills Life In Lakes

12. 1978: No End in Sight to 30-Year Cooling Trend

13. 1988: Regional Droughts (that never happened) in 1990s

14. 1988: Temperatures in DC Will Hit Record Highs

15. 1988: Maldives Islands will Be Underwater by 2018 (they’re not)

16. 1989: Rising Sea Levels Will Obliterate Nations if Nothing Done by 2000

17. 1989: New York City’s West Side Highway Underwater by 2019 (it’s not)

18. 2000: Children Won’t Know What Snow Is

19. 2002: Famine In 10 Years If We Don’t Give Up Eating Fish, Meat, and Dairy

20. 2004: Britain will Be Siberia by 2024

21. 2008: Arctic will Be Ice Free by 2018

22. 2008: Climate Genius Al Gore Predicts Ice-Free Arctic by 2013

23. 2009: Climate Genius Prince Charles Says We Have 96 Months to Save World

24. 2009: UK Prime Minister Says 50 Days to ‘Save The Planet From Catastrophe’

25. 2009: Climate Genius Al Gore Moves 2013 Prediction of Ice-Free Arctic to 2014

26. 2013: Arctic Ice-Free by 2015

27. 2014: Only 500 Days Before ‘Climate Chaos’

28. 1968: Overpopulation Will Spread Worldwide

29. 1970: World Will Use Up All its Natural Resources

30. 1966: Oil Gone in Ten Years

31. 1972: Oil Depleted in 20 Years

32. 1977: Department of Energy Says Oil will Peak in 1990s

33. 1980: Peak Oil In 2000

34. 1996: Peak Oil in 2020

35. 2002: Peak Oil in 2010

36. 2006: Super Hurricanes!

37. 2005 : Manhattan Underwater by 2015

38. 1970: Urban Citizens Will Require Gas Masks by 1985

39. 1970: Nitrogen buildup Will Make All Land Unusable

40. 1970: Decaying Pollution Will Kill All the Fish

41. 1970s: Killer Bees!

42. 1975: The Cooling World and a Drastic Decline in Food Production

43. 1969: Worldwide Plague, Overwhelming Pollution, Ecological Catastrophe, Virtual Collapse of UK by End of 20th Century

44. 1972: Pending Depletion and Shortages of Gold, Tin, Oil, Natural Gas, Copper, Aluminum

45. 1970: Oceans Dead in a Decade, US Water Rationing by 1974, Food Rationing by 1980

46. 1988: World’s Leading Climate Expert Predicts Lower Manhattan Underwater by 2018

47. 2005: Fifty Million Climate Refugees by the Year 2020

48. 2000: Snowfalls Are Now a Thing of the Past

49.1989: UN Warns That Entire Nations Wiped Off the Face of the Earth by 2000 From Global Warming

50. 2011: Washington Post Predicted Cherry Blossoms Blooming in Winter

April 23, 2022

Rocks and Tacos . . .

Jan was getting her hair cut today at 2:30, so we headed out for lunch about 1pm, for our favorite Ultimate Omelets at Denny’s once again, and Angie, our favorite waitress.

Then after her haircut, we headed up to Webster for a quick stop at the office, and then a few things at the new HEB up there, before heading home for the night.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Rob, our park owner, was expanding to the property next door,

He had started clearing it of all the trash and debris.

And he’s still at work, taking out some of the trees, and trimming others back.

We talked to Rob a few days ago and he said he’s going to put 4 or 5 sites in now, and eventually he’ll want to add sites all the way out to the road, almost doubling the size of the park.

It’s looking good.

April 23, 2023

Back To The Drawing Board . . .

Lunch today was at Gator’s once again.

After salads, Jan got the Strawberry Walnut Salad with Grilled Chicken,

while I got a big bowl of the Chipotle Beef Soup.

And of course, it’s not a meal at Gator’s if we don’t split one of their Keto Blueberry Muffins, warmed with cold butter pats.

Then it was on up to HEB and then home.

The end to a very nice weekend.

I missed the actual Earth Day 2023 yesterday, but with all the bad climate predictions listed below, a single day shouldn’t make any difference from when I first posted this in 2020.

From A Coming Ice Age To Famine To Killer Bees, Acid Rain, and Global Warming, 50 Failed Climate Forecasts.

1. 1967: Dire Famine Forecast By 1975

2. 1969: Everyone Will Disappear In a Cloud Of Blue Steam By 1989

3. 1970: Ice Age By 2000

4. 1970: America Subject to Water Rationing By 1974 and Food Rationing By 1980

5. 1971: New Ice Age Coming By 2020 or 2030

6. 1972: New Ice Age By 2070

7. 1974: Space Satellites Show New Ice Age Coming Fast

8. 1974: Another Ice Age?

9. 1974: Ozone Depletion a ‘Great Peril to Life

10. 1976: Scientific Consensus Planet Cooling, Famines imminent

11. 1980: Acid Rain Kills Life In Lakes

12. 1978: No End in Sight to 30-Year Cooling Trend

13. 1988: Regional Droughts (that never happened) in 1990s

14. 1988: Temperatures in DC Will Hit Record Highs

15. 1988: Maldives Islands will Be Underwater by 2018 (they’re not)

16. 1989: Rising Sea Levels will Obliterate Nations if Nothing Done by 2000

17. 1989: New York City’s West Side Highway Underwater by 2019 (it’s not)

18. 2000: Children Won’t Know What Snow Is

19. 2002: Famine In 10 Years If We Don’t Give Up Eating Fish, Meat, and Dairy

20. 2004: Britain will Be Siberia by 2024

21. 2008: Arctic will Be Ice Free by 2018

22. 2008: Climate Genius Al Gore Predicts Ice-Free Arctic by 2013

23. 2009: Climate Genius Prince Charles Says We Have 96 Months to Save World

24. 2009: UK Prime Minister Says 50 Days to ‘Save The Planet From Catastrophe’

25. 2009: Climate Genius Al Gore Moves 2013 Prediction of Ice-Free Arctic to 2014

26. 2013: Arctic Ice-Free by 2015

27. 2014: Only 500 Days Before ‘Climate Chaos’

28. 1968: Overpopulation Will Spread Worldwide

29. 1970: World Will Use Up All Its Natural Resources

30. 1966: Oil Gone in Ten Years

31. 1972: Oil Depleted in 20 Years

32. 1977: Department of Energy Says Oil will Peak in 1990s

33. 1980: Peak Oil In 2000

34. 1996: Peak Oil in 2020

35. 2002: Peak Oil in 2010

36. 2006: Super Hurricanes!

37. 2005: Manhattan Underwater by 2015

38. 1970: Urban Citizens Will Require Gas Masks by 1985

39. 1970: Nitrogen buildup Will Make All Land Unusable

40. 1970: Decaying Pollution Will Kill All the Fish

41. 1970s: Killer Bees!

42. 1975: The Cooling World and a Drastic Decline in Food Production

43. 1969: Worldwide Plague, Overwhelming Pollution, Ecological Catastrophe, Virtual Collapse of UK by End of 20th Century

44. 1972: Pending Depletion and Shortages of Gold, Tin, Oil, Natural Gas, Copper, Aluminum

45. 1970: Oceans Dead in a Decade, US Water Rationing by 1974, Food Rationing by 1980

46. 1988: World’s Leading Climate Expert Predicts Lower Manhattan Underwater by 2018

47. 2005: Fifty Million Climate Refugees by the Year 2020

48. 2000: Snowfalls Are Now a Thing of the Past

49.1989: UN Warns That Entire Nations Wiped Off the Face of the Earth by 2000 From Global Warming

50. 2011: Washington Post Predicted Cherry Blossoms Blooming in Winter

Looks like SpaceX is going to have to go back to the drawing board with the design of their Starship launch pad down in Boca Chica, TX

This is what the pad area under the engines looked like after the launch.

Musk said it will be a couple of months before they’re ready to launch again.