Monthly Archives: October 2013
Nice Days, Cold Nights
or They’re Working On It.
The weather here has been really nice for the last several days, sunny with daytime times in the high 70’s/low 80’s, and nightime temps in the low 60’s, although last night it got down to a nippy 47 degrees. And weather.com says those ranges should hold for the next week or so. Nice.
As of yesterday (Saturday) we have five weeks left here on the gate, and Jan’s just giddy. But not only because of that, but because this coming Tuesday is our 2nd (and last) day off the gate. Last time it was for our anniversary, but this time it’s a combined birthday celebration. Mine’s on the 5th and hers is the 25th, and right now we’re in that 20 day period when we’re the same age every year.
Last time we had steak at Magic Time Machine, but now we’re jonesin’ for some good Mexican, and our ‘go to’ place here in San Antonio is La Fonda on Main. Opened by two sisters in 1930, it has grown (moved across the street in 1934) to one of the best Mexican restaurants in San Antonio.
Here’s what their website says about their history.
It is fascinating to hear how popular La Fonda has been as a dining spot of history’s most celebrated people. Every famous officer in World War II seems to have eaten here, including Generals Eisenhower, MacArthur and Hill. Even American presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson enjoyed La Fonda’s fare. Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Yul Brenner, Veronica Lake, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, along with many other stars, visited this historic restaurant.
Between the history and the delicious food, it reminds us a lot of La Posta in Las Cruces, NM, and we’re really looking forward to it.
The other thing we’re looking forward to is seeing ‘Gravity’ in IMAX 3D. Like our last day off, we’ll see the movie first in the afternoon, then dinner, and then Wal-Mart, Sam’s, whatever, finishing off with coffee/cappuccino/scones on the way home (at a Pilot/Flying J, of course).
On the Halloween front, Brandi and Landon are in the thick of it. Landon had his Halloween party at his daycare, and this year he’s a Power Ranger.
Look at those muscles. Guess he’s been working out.
In past years he’s been a dragon and a giraffe.
fgsdfg
Brandi’s been doing pumpkin carvin’ thing and it came out really good, I think. She said it’s the first time she’s done one like this. 
fgsdfg
The other day I mentioned a problem solved (using vinegar to get the caliche crust off our glasses) and a problem found. But I forgot to say what the ‘problem found’ was.
Our PowerGear door step has stopped working. Well, it’s kind of working, I can hear the motor running, but the step doesn’t move. In fact you can push the step in and out by hand, so I guess the linkage has come loose. The strange thing is that it did it since we’ve been parked here on the gate. Seems like I remember a cotter pin on the linkage that may have broken off.
I know some people disable their step so it just stays out when they’re parked for a while, and I did this early on. But I found that after not being used for 2 or 3 months it didn’t want to work right anyway. You just can’t win.
I don’t think I’ll be able to look at it until we at least get back to the yard, and maybe not until we’re back in Houston. Because I had to use the levelers to compensate for the uneven ground here, the door side of the coach is really close to ground and there’s not much room to get under it.
Under the heading of "They’re working on it", this is what Nick Russell and I always say about problems with Verizon’s cell/data service. Because that’s what we’re always told when we complain to them. But this time it’s a good thing.
When we got here at the gate, we had two bars of 3G service, with about 500 Kbps data rate. Not great, but not bad, considering. Then about two weeks ago, the data signal would just be off all night. Nothing, and then it would come back on about 5am.
Made it real hard to get a blog posted. But then last week I noticed on my phone that I was getting a consistent 3 bars of signal and Speedtest.net says I now getting between 1.1 and 1.2 Mbps, more than double. YAY!
This is the same tower I was hitting last year on one our gates using our Wilson Cell Phone booster, from 19 miles away! When I first set it up, I was disappointed to only be getting 1X speed, but figured it was due to the distance. But a few days later I was driving right by the tower on the Interstate and discovered it really was only 1X.
Then about two weeks into our stay at that gate, suddenly it went to 3G. So I guess they really are ‘working on it" sometimes. Come on 4G!
On a final note, we apparently have a new neighbor in the area, a bobcat. One of truck drivers saw it loping along the shoulder of the highway (US281), passing in front of the gate. At first he thought it was a coyote, but with a better look he said it was a small bobcat. By small, he said it was smaller than Mister.
When Mister outside with us, he’s on a leash and we never leave him alone, but as Nick says, the bobcat kills for a living, so we’ll have to be a little more cautious.
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Thought for the Day:
A fool and his money are … standing in front of the Apple store. (Sorry, Nick.)
sfgfdg
Groundhog Gate . . .
or The Ceremonial Changing of the Hoodie
Although our days have been very nice, in the high 70’s and low 80’s, our nights are getting a bit nippy, sometimes with a vengeance. Last week we were still having nights in the mid/high 70’s until the recent cold front came through.
A few nights ago the Weather Channel said the overnight low was supposed to be 62 degrees, but at 4am, it was still 77. So I’m thinking, Boy, did they screw up this forecast. But a few minutes after 4 a little north wind started up. Then the temp started falling like the bottom dropped out of the thermometer.
And by 4:30 it was 63 degrees! 14 degrees in 30 minutes. Maybe I shouldn’t have insulted their forecasting skills after all. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a drop like that.
Anyway, when Jan comes out to relieve me a little before 7am, it’s still pretty chilly, about 60 degrees, and for some reason, we only have one hooded jacket, so every morning before I go in to go to bed, we exchange the hoodie jacket outside.
In retrospect, this story was a long way to go to get nowhere.
As far as Groundhog Gate, as usual Jan has been counting the days until we head back to Houston, probably since before we even got here. So a couple of weeks ago she gleefully told me we only six weeks until we leave the gate. But after thinking for a moment I told here I didn’t think that was right, that it was more like 7 or 8 weeks. She said, No, she was sure that it was only six weeks, but she would go inside and check. Then a few minutes later, I hear some VERY unladylike language emanating from the rig. She had discovered I was right.
Then the other day she was watching a TV ad that mentioned it was only three weeks ’til Halloween, and I hear another "NNOOOOOOOOOO!". Turned out she forgot she was watching a DVR’d show. Oops.
I told her later that this was a Groundhog Gate, where the day never changes. Trucks come in, trucks come out. It’s hot, it’s cold, it’s rainy, it’s windy. It’s just the same day, over and over and over again.
Or at least it seems like it some times.
Yesterday I finally completed a mammoth 22 hour, 1.7 GB download. And it only took me two tries. The first time it got to about 20% before it froze, but made it all the way though the second time. What I was doing was downloading the latest 2014 map update for the Garmin 1490 GPS that we use in our truck. And at 1.7 GB it’s probably the largest file I’ve ever downloaded.
They have a program called Garmin Express that, after you plug in your GPS to the computer, tells you what updates you need and sets you up to download them. The only real problem is that the Garmin Express software does not let you pause or resume the download, or pick up where you left off if you get knocked off line. So you just have to start it up and hope for the best. But it’s done for this year at least.
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Thought for the Day:
There’s a saying that you can make something foolproof, but you can’t make it damn-foolproof.
sdfgfdg
