Daily Archives: January 19, 2016

January 19, 2016   Uncategorized

One Out Of Two . . .

With the beautiful weather this morning, it was perfect to walk, and also perfect to try out my new toy, an armband holder for my Galaxy S5 phone, that I got right before we left Colorado River on Sunday,
Phone Armband_thumb[3]

Armband for OtterBox Galaxy S6, Galaxy S5, Note 3 and others

Since I use the Runkeeper app to track our walks, I normally hold it in my hand, but that gets old after a while. So I got one of these.

One thing to be aware of, besides getting one that fits your phone, is to get one that will fit your phone if you use a case, like the Otterbox that I have. Otherwise, you’ll have to remove it from the case every time you want to use the armband.

I did have to map us a new route here at Conroe, since we’re walking further now, but using Google Maps Satellite View, it was no problem. Like in Colorado River, I found a split route that would allow us to take a break and have our coffee and breakfast bread partway through.

Our first part was the complete outside loop of the park, which covered 1.01 miles, leaving us back at the rig for a 20 minute or so break for breakfast, before heading back out again. This time we walked a new route for us here, a loop down to the marina area and back. Then once there, we sat at the waterside for a few minutes, enjoying the view out over the lake.

Lake Conroe Marina 3_thumb[1]

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This photo looks back over the new Reserve area, where they’re selling modular homes, starting from $70,000.

Lake Conroe Marina 2_thumb[1]

Finishing our walk, we did 1.65 miles, up from our previous 1.52 miles. And even better we dropped our minutes per mile down to 25:45, a new best.

Getting back to the rig, we sat outside for a while, just enjoying the sun. But once inside it was back to work, with my first task to remove the cracked hinge from the rig screen door that I removed yesterday. Turned out to be a pretty quick job, just loosening six bolts with my socket set, and it was done.

Once I got it off and turned it over, it was easy to see the whole problem. The hinge is cracked in two places.

Rig Screen Door Hinge 1_thumb[1]

But on the plus side, both cracks are on welded edges, which hopefully means that it can be re-welded if necessary.

So my next thing was to call Colaw RV Salvage in Missouri to see if they have any replacement hinges. And after I finally got through to the right person, I was told that they didn’t sell the hinges separately, but only attached to the door.

Well, if it wasn’t too expensive, I guess I could use a new screen door too. But I quickly found out that he wasn’t talking about just the screen door, but the entire RV door assembly, i.e. the outside main door, the screen door, and the complete door jam and frame.

Rut Roh!

Knowing this wasn’t gonna happen, out of curiosity I asked what the cost of an entire door assembly was.

$350 and up!  Yikes!

As I said, not gonna happen.

So now it was on to Plan B, getting the hinge bent back into shape and re-welded. Now to find a welder here in the Conroe area.

And finding one out on west side of Conroe, I decided to combine a visit with dinner at Vernon’s Kuntry Katfish, a favorite local place of ours. We had planned on stopping by the welding place on the way, but it turned out that this welding place was a commercial dealer, specializing in welding pipelines and oilfield equipment. Well, one out of two . . .

So it was on down the road a little bit to Vernon’s. We both ordered the 3 piece Katfish Dinner (FWIW we got 4 pieces each) and sides. Jan got hers with a side salad, and a loaded baked potato, and I got mine with the standard fries, pinto beans and cole slaw.

While you’re waiting on your meal, they bring out a plate of hushpuppies and really good pickled tomatoes as an appetizer.

Vernon's Katfish 1_thumb[1]

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And when your meal comes out, it’s just as good. The catfish is tender and flakey, with crunchy, flavorful crust.

Vernon's Katfish 2_thumb[1]

Really good, and we’ll go back. Soon, I hope.

One other thing that came in with my phone armband was my new Square reader. You’ve probably seen the Square credit card reader used in many small business, connected to a smartphone or tablet.

I use mine when I’m working with computer clients who wish to pay by credit card. So I always have on in my truck just in case. But this new one is an upgrade.

Square Reader_thumb[2]

It allows me to accept the new, soon-to-be-mandatory ‘Chip’ cards, as well the even newer wireless pay methods, like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and several others.

So now I guess I’m ready until they come out with something new.

Thought for the Day:

ACTUAL COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY “THOMAS COOK VACATIONS” FROM DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS:

“My fiancée and I requested twin-beds when we booked, but instead we were placed in a room with a king bed. We now hold you responsible and want to be re-reimbursed for the fact that I became pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked.”

“When we were in Spain, there were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners.”

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