Our RV Adventures

Last week I mentioned having a problem with the rig’s rear right turn signal. Of course I figured it was probably the bulb, especially since in the 8 years we’ve owned our rig, we’ve never had any outside bulb burn out. So it was about time.

But when I removed the lens and pulled the bulb, it looked fine. But just in case, I tested it with my ohmmeter. Yep, still good.

So today I pulled out the big gun,  the wonder fluid, Strike-Hold, fixer of all things electrical. And a lot of other stuff too.

I’ve used Strike-Hold to resurrect a Kindle PaperWhite that would no longer charge, and a number of other devices, so I had big hopes this time too. And once again it came through. I turned on the emergency flashers and went outside. After a quick spray of S-H in the socket, I plugged the bulb in and it was now working.  Done.

Since I was on a electrical bent, next up I replaced the truck battery with the new one I got at Sam’s Club yesterday. Since I had already sprayed all the terminals and hold-down screws with PB Blaster yesterday, every thing came loose pretty quickly.

So I had the old one out and the new one in in only about 15 minutes. And after spraying the terminals with Battery Terminal Protectant, I was done.

The only hitch was one of those little things that just strike me as stupid. There are three nuts on the battery and the mount. One on the negative terminal, one on the positive terminal, and one on the hold-done bolt.

And all three are a different size. A 8mm, a 9mm, and a 10mm. So what, they can’t standardize? It takes 3 different sockets to take the battery out?

Tomorrow I’ll take the old battery back to Sam’s and get my $18 core charge back.

I mentioned yesterday that a prospective new website client, Asian BBQ & Grill, was interested in my setting up an online ordering system for take out orders.

Since I had never done this before, and didn’t really know anything about it, I told him of course I could do it with no problem. LOL.

It wouldn’t be the first time over the years I’ve done this, and so far I’ve always come through. Once I took a consulting job to reprogram the CNC computer system in a machine shop. CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control, and is the programming language that runs routers, lathes, milling machines and others.

This was on a Thursday, and since it was a 3 day weekend coming up, I told him I’d be back on Tuesday. Then on my way home I stopped off at Barnes and Noble and picked up 4 books on CNC programming, from beginner to advanced. By Tuesday I was an expert, at least in book learning. But I was able to able to complete the job ahead of schedule and the client was happy.

Jan says I like to ride that ragged edge. So true.

But with a little research last night on ordering systems, I came up with this one. And you can give it a try for yourself.

www.pronto-ny.com

It’s a dummy version that let’s you order from an Italian restaurant. When you’re done, and check out, you will get an email confirmation. It also saves your name, email, and phone number, so the next time you order it knows who you are. Looks like it will do the job.

Check it out.

For dinner tonight Jan fixed salads and homemade pizzas. The pizzas were done on flour tortillas, with pepperoni, sliced mushrooms, and pizza cheese. And then it’s all melted together in the microwave.

But the salads are a little new for us. Last week we came across these ‘salad kits’ at the store and decided to give them a try.

Turns out they’re really good.  The Sweet Kale Chopped Salad Kit has broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale and chicory, topped with all natural, dried cranberries, roasted pumpkin seeds, and a really delicious poppyseed dressing.

Then Jan adds cukes, cherry tomatoes, and croutons, and it looks like this.

Really good. They also have several other Kits that look very tasty too.

For dessert, earlier in the day, Jan cooked up one of her delicious Sopapilla Cheesecakes. Really quick and easy, and a great dessert.

Things may be looking up in the search for a new gate position. Earlier today I had emailed an application in to SiteWatch, and about 7:30 this evening I got a email back from Cole saying he’d contact me tomorrow.

Hopefully  we’ll here something before we have to move to Colorado River on Thursday.

Thought for the Day:

Shouldn’t the Discovery Channel should be on a different channel every day?

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This morning I started checking out other gate guard companies to see about getting another gate, hopefully before we have to move over to the Colorado River Thousand Trails this Thursday

I also filled out and printed out our absentee ballot forms so we can send them off tomorrow.

About 2pm Jan and I headed out for lunch and some shopping, with our first stop at Asian BBQ and Grill in Conroe. As seems to happen when we go to our favorite places, we generally get our favorite dishes. And this afternoon was no different.

We started out with a couple of their Shrimp Spring Rolls, with the Spicy Hot Peanut Sauce

They put a big dab of Chili Sauce into the Peanut Sauce and then top it with freshly crushed peanuts. Really Good!

Jan got her Lemon Grass Chicken Bowl with rice noodles, bean sprouts, carrots, and cucumbers,

while I got the Grilled Pork Bowl with a Shrimp Skewer,

which has the same veggies as Jan’s dish.

And of course you can’t eat at Asian BBQ without getting a big bowl of their Dragon Sauce.

While we were there I talked to the owner about doing a website for him. We had talked before we went on the gate, so I wanted to follow up with him again. And this time I mocked up a sample page for him, using some of the photos I’ve take for the blog over past visits.

I think it looks pretty good for about 30 minutes work. I’m going to check back in with him on Wednesday.

He’s interested in me setting up an online takeout ordering system for him. It’s not something I’ve done before, but of course I told him it wouldn’t be a problem. And a little

Next up was a quick stop by Sam’s Club to get a new battery for the truck. The old one is about 5 years old, and it’s starting to fade. I’ll put it in tomorrow and then take the old one back to get my $18 core charge back.

Last, was a groceries stop at the Super Kroger’s over in Willis, as well as a Cinnamon Dolce Latte from their Starbucks for on the way home.

Tomorrow I’ll start actually making calls to gate guard companies, specifically Guard 1 and SiteWatch, both of whom offered us gates after Jamie of Gate Guard Services called us.with our Blue Moon Gate.

Wrapping up, both of my recent repairs seems to be holding. The water pump repair on our Splendide Washer/Dryer combo is still working with no problems, and hopefully will continue that way.

And although we’ve only used it a few times since I remounted the control panel, our microwave is also still working. But I’m not sure we’ve given it a long enough test yet. We did make two bags of popcorn last night, which was required two 3.5 minute cooking periods. In the past we might have seen a problem with the second one. So we’ll just have to wait and see.

I think I am, therefore, I am. I think. — George Carlin

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