Our RV Adventures

Our Rubbermaid shed was supposed to be delivered between 9am and noon this morning, and when I got up about 8, I could see my delivery truck wandering about Galveston Island about 20 miles south, making other stops before finally heading up my way, They showed up about 10:45 and I had them leave it on the patio where Jan and I will start putting it together, probably this weekend.

I was surprised how big the box was, much larger that the box that contained the Arrow metal shed that we first looked at.

While I was waiting for the delivery truck, I took a look at another problem. Last night when I got home, I moved the satellite dish closer to the rig so I could park the truck there to make room for the shed delivery. I had already planned to realign it anyway, since I was noticing more weather drop-outs than usual.

So after I moved the dish, I unplugged the 12 volts and plugged it back in, expecting to hear the dish motor start whirring.

Nothing.

After giving it sharp WHACK (Hey, it fixed the Mars Rover!) with no luck, I checked the power plug and found the correct 12v going into the dome. So grabbing my power screwdriver, I removed the bolts holding the dome onto the base.

I was thinking that maybe the drive belt had broken or come loose, but it was fine. Looking over it I couldn’t find a fuse for the drive, only for the amplifier. I double-checked that I had 12v going right into the drive assembly, but it was OK.

My next thought was to head down to our storage room to grab my spare dome. I have a spare because a few years ago when we were staying at the Lake Conroe Thousand Trails, I was dropping a bag of garbage at the dumpsters, and found a Winegard dome, complete with power cord, just sitting there.

Figuring it was dead, I thought maybe I could use it for parts someday. But when I got it back to the rig and checked it out, the only problem I found was a broken wire in the 12v plug. So I have a spare.

But since my goal was really just to get the dish working again, I figured that the elevation setting hadn’t changed, just the azimuth, I.e. the direction it’s pointing. So I turned up the volume really loud on the TV in the rig, and slowly moved the dish back and forth until I heard sound. I then went inside to check the signal level, thinking I probably would have to fine-tune it a little, but found 95’s across the screen.

I won’t need to have it working, aiming-wise until we head out to Alabama/Florida in June. In the meantime I’ll continue to look at the motor problem to see what I can figure out.

I got Jan back a couple of days early this afternoon, but I had to ransom her with a 12 pack of Charmin Ultra-Soft Mega Rolls. Jan was afraid that Brandi, et. al., would run out, so I gave her a 12 pack from our private stash we keep hidden in the truck.

I originally was supposed to pick up Jan either tomorrow night or Saturday morning, but Brandi said she was going to start working from home tomorrow, rather than Monday. So I headed up there about 4:30 to meet them in the Cheddar’s parking lot where we met Brandi for lunch last Thursday.

Like selling drugs out of the back of my truck, I surreptitiously slipped the contraband to Brandi, who after looking around carefully, hid the package in her vehicle, hoping not to be hijacked on her way home.

When I was heading out to pick up Jan, I noticed our favorite Los Ramirez Mexican Restaurant was still open, though I knew it would be closed to only take out starting tomorrow. So coming home, Jan and I stopped there for one Last Supper until further notice, I guess.

Takeout just won’t be the same.

So it’s:

Spanish Flu
Japanese Encephalitis
Lyme Disease (Lyme, CT)
German Measles

Ebola (Ebola River, Zaire)
Hanta Virus (Hanta River, So. Korea)
African Sleeping Sickness
Montezuma’s Revenge

And finally . . . Chinese Food!

Thought For The Day:

“God help us if Kevin Bacon gets the CoronaVirus!”

j