Our RV Adventures

This morning started out waiting.  Waiting for the FedEx truck to show up with my new Directv DVR. But it was about 1:30pm when the FedEx guy showed up in front of the rig with my package. It’s nice when they deliver right to your front door, instead of me having to traipse down to the office.

When I first opened the box I was happy to see what I thought was the upgraded model R22 that I was hoping to get. But instead I got the R16 which is a one step upgrade from the R15 that I was replacing.

The reason I wanted the R22 is that out of the box it holds more than 3 times as many hours of video as our present one. And it also lets you connect an external HD for much more space. In addition, it lets you record more than the 50 series that my old does.

So I was kind of bummed out. But I may have gotten a reprieve. After getting the new unit installed and activated, I started to enter the programs we wanted to record on a regular basis.

And that’s when I found the unit was not working correctly. Normally when you go to the program guide and want to record a program, the first press of the record button records that particular program. Pressing the record button again sets it to record every show of that name on that particular channel. This lets you record Big Bang Theory every Thursday night until you tell it to stop. Pressing the record button a third time cancels all recordings.

But the new machine doesn’t let me record a series. The first press records that show, and then the second press cancels it.

I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with Directv Tech Support, but ran out of time. So maybe I’ll have an excuse to sent it back and get the one I want. We’ll see how it goes.

Around 5pm Nick and Terry showed up and we all headed over to SanTan Village so we could introduce them to our favorite pizza place, Grimaldi’s Pizzeria.

Although we got seated immediately, the place filled up fast and there was a wait with people standing outside.

Once again the pizza was delicious, and Nick and Terry seemed to enjoy it as much as we did. Hopefully we’ll be able to go back again before we leave the area.

After first eating at the original one in 2009 in Brooklyn NY, located under the Brooklyn Bridge, we’ve now eaten at one in San Antonio, one in Tucson, and now one in Gilbert. That means we only have 33 more to go to be able to say we’ve eaten at all of them.

Everybody needs a goal in life.

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Thought for the Day:

Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples’ liberty’s teeth. – George Washington

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or Snap, Crackle, Pop, Bzzzz !

This morning started out nice and easy, at least until about 11. That was when the front AC came on for the first time today.

And that was when I heard the Snap, Crackle, Pop, Bzzzz from overhead. Oh, yeah, and the burning smell, too. Definitely a burning smell.

The first thing I did was to turn the front AC off, and then the rear AC on with the thermostat turned down so it would keep running. Since the front and rear AC ducts are cross-connected, this puts some cold air up front too.

I was pretty sure I knew what the problem was, but since it was warming up quickly I decided to wait until this evening when it was cooler to go up on the roof and take a look.

My next task was to get on the phone with Direct TV to try and get them to send me a new DVR. Mine has started randomly rebooting three or four times a week. I had already talked to them last Friday and thought it was all set up. I was just waiting until we got to Apache Junction for two weeks since I didn’t know if they would ship it to me, or send a tech out.

But this time they started out telling me that it wasn’t rebooting often enough to be replaced. Basically they said I had to wait until it started rebooting 3 or 4 times a DAY.

WTH?

As soon as I was told that, I asked to speak to a Level 2 supervisor. Any time you’re talking to tech support and aren’t satisfied, always ask for a Level 2 person. And if Level 2 can’t help, ask for Level 3.

Level 1 guys have no power. They are usually reading from scripts that cover standard problems and have no technical knowledge. Last week they were probably asking, “Do you want fries with that order?”

Anyway, within about 5 minutes with the Level 2 guy, he was taking my name and address and said my replacement DVR would be shipped out Overnight Express, and should be here tomorrow. We’ll see.

About 1:30pm Jan and I headed out for sightseeing and shopping. We drove over to the Gilbert area, just driving around, and finally ended up at SanTan Village.

SanTan Village is an inside-out shopping mall consisting of over 1,200,000 square feet of shops, stores and restaurants. Configured like a small town, it seems to be the new version of the old style mall.

After driving up and down several streets, we were happy to see a couple of our favorite restaurants. You’ve got to like a place that has a Famous Dave’s BBQ and a Grimaldi’s Pizzeria on the same block.

We first made a stop at Barnes & Noble to pick up a couple of magazines, then headed across the street to the Wal-Mart for a few things before heading back to the rig for the night.

After a dinner of left-over Chinese from Tucson, it was time to tackle my AC problem. My thought (and hope, because it would be easy and cheap to fix) was that it was the Start Capacitor on the AC compressor.

Back in May 2009 when we were in Titusville FL, the Start Cap in the rear AC went out. Finding a local RV parts store that had a replacement, I bought two, figuring that the front one would go soon.

And it only took 4 years.

I got my extension ladder out to get up on the roof because I really don’t trust the 14 year old screws that hold the rig ladder on.

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Nothing but RV’s and RV parks as far as the eye can see.

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The first task was to get the four screws out and get the shroud off the AC,

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so I could get to the AC chassis.

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Getting the access door off, the first thing I noticed was a big mud dauber nest. But since it was only attached to one of the wires, it didn’t look like it had anything to do with my problem. Probably a remnant of our oil rig gate guarding gig last year.

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I loosened the wire strap holding the unit’s capacitors and pulled them all out. There are three caps in this unit: the start and run caps for the AC compressor, and the run cap for the AC fan.

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This is the new one that I’ve been saving for four years, just for this moment.

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There are only two wires so it was an easy replacement.

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And here’s everything tucked back in and fastened down, ready to go.

Buttoning everything up and replacing the shroud, I got down and went inside, and crossing my fingers, turned the AC on. And in just a couple of minutes, I had cold air.

Nice!

Then it was time to join Jan back outside and enjoy the beautiful sunset.

Life is good.

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Thought for the Day:

“Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry.” – -Thomas Jefferson

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