The Kindness of Strangers . . .
I spent the morning wading through the paperwork and website info, much of it contradictory. trying to figuring out how to get our new Jeep registered and tagged in South Dakota.
I even called two different offices, the state DMV and the Minnehaha County version, getting pointed to two different sets of ‘necessary’ forms to be filled out.
And all of this aggravation was to save $55. Which is what Dakota Post, our South Dakota mailing address company charges to process all the paperwork for you.
So tomorrow I have a 11:30am phone call appointment with them to take it all off my hands. At this point I’ll consider it money well spent.
I guess I got spoiled when I originally registered/tagged the Dakota and our American Eagle back in 2007/2008 when we were using the late, lamented My Dakota Address as our mailing service. They didn’t charge anything since Terri Lund just walked it over the courthouse right next door.
But My Dakota Address went out of business a couple of years ago, so we switched over to Dakota Post in Sioux Falls.
About a month ago I ordered Jan a used copy of this World Geography high school textbook, since she’s always been fascinated by the subject and wanted to do some more reading on the subject.
And then about 2 weeks later we received another copy of the book, also addressed to us. But the invoice inside the box said it was for a address in a small town in Iowa.
After failing to contact either the seller or the buyer, I decided to just send it on to Iowa. I included a letter telling what had happened, and saying that if he was feeling generous he could send me a $5 bill,to cover the $4.92 book rate postage. Otherwise, don’t worry about it.
Well, today I got letter back from the gentleman, thanking me for forward his daughter’s high school textbook to him. He said that her school wasn’t letting them have textbooks at home during the CoVid homeschooling. And he included a $10 bill, telling me to buy myself a Shiner or a Lone Star Beer, or “whatever it is you guys drink in the Lone Star state.”
Does Coke Zero count?
Nice guy.
Another thing that showed up in the mail today was our missing South Dakota Absentee Ballots, only about two weeks late. Way to go, USPS!
November 12, 2009
Throwed Rolls and Burnt Eagle…
Jan and I left about 10:30 for the 90 mile run to Carthage MO and Colaws RV Salvage
On our way we stopped off about 30 miles up the road in Ozark for lunch at Lambert’s about 11:15am.
Lambert’s is famous for their throwed rolls. And, yes, they do throw rolls at you. Although we’ve never eaten at this location before, we’ve eaten at the one in Foley, AL a number of times, and it’s always been great.
Jan and I both had the fried chicken. We ate until we were stuffed and still had take-home.
Leaving there we headed west to Colaws. Colaws is not just an RV surplus place. It’s also a RV junkyard, a place where old RV’s go to die.
And I really lucked out, They have golf carts that we used to drive around the lot until we found a burnt-out 1999 American Eagle, the same model as ours, but the ‘VS’ floorplan, not our ‘NS’. But since I was looking for wheel well fender flairs it didn’t matter. The parts I needed were intact.
I think it shook Jan up a little to see something that looked so much like our home burnt to a toasty crisp.
After making deal on the parts that saved me $300, Jan and I went into Carthage while waiting for the parts to be removed. I needed a 15/16 socket and Jan needed some stuff from Walmart.
About an hour later we picked up our parts and headed home. But the last 1/2 mile took us 30 minutes due to car accident right down the road from the RV park, Finally we go home about 5:30 pm.
Tomorrow we leave for Memphis on our way to visit relatives in Athens AL.
More later…
November 12, 2011
Cousins, Aunts, and Uncles . . .
This morning we had a lunch date with two of my favorite cousins, Anna Jean and Marjorie. They’re sisters and it’s always a real treat to get together with them.
Anna Jean and Marjorie came by our rig and picked us about 11, and we headed to 306 BBQ on US72 toward Huntsville.
A long time ago this place was know as Hickory House BBQ, and was one of the best in the area. But it closed and became an Antique Mall for many years.
But now it’s a BBQ place again, and it’s really good. Pulled Pork, Ribs, Chicken, Turkey, and great sides. We’ll go back next year.
We talked at the restaurant until about 1pm, and then came back to the rig and talked for another couple of hours. It’s really too bad we only get to see them once a year or so.
About 3:45 we talked with my Uncle Theo and Aunt Virginia about getting together for supper tonight. So about 5:00 we drove over to their house, and then over to the local Cracker Barrel.
Getting back to their beautiful home, we talked for another hour or so before heading back to the rig, accompanied by some of my Aunt’s delicious banana nut and sourdough breads.
We plan on leaving about 8 tomorrow morning for a 370 mile trip south to Gulf Shores, LA for six days before heading back toward Houston on the 19th.
We don’t know if we’ll be able to get a site at the Gulf State Park where we hope to stay. We weren’t able to get a reservation because I forgot about Friday being a holiday, and they aren’t open on the weekends, so we’ll just have to take our chances.
Gulf State Park is popular with Northern Snowbirds, especially the Canadian species, so the 500 sites at the park can be filled. But we have a couple of backup parks in mind, if necessary. We’ll see.
Thought for the Day:
“I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the ordeal of meeting me is another matter.” – Winston Churchill
November 12, 2012
A New Great-Niece . . .
Well, weather.com said the rain would start here between 11 and 12 noon. and right on time, it started about 11:30, not really heavy, but just steady.
About 10:30 we got an email from Jan’s sister Debbie to let us know that her daughter-in-law Laura had given birth to our new great-niece, Anisten Morgan Robinson, this morning. The ‘Morgan’ is significant because that’s the maiden name of Jan and Debbie’s mother. In fact Morgantown, WV is named for the Morgan family.
Our daughter Brandi called a little after 11 to talk about our Thanksgiving trip up to the lake near Marble Falls, TX. We’ll go up on Wednesday and come back on Sunday, so we’ll only have a couple of days back in Houston before we leave again, at least for a few days.
Sometime in there our power glitched for about 10 seconds before coming right back on, so I guess it wasn’t weather-related.
A little later I called the Honeybaked Ham store back home to reserve a ham and a turkey breast for Thanksgiving. I plan on picking them up on Monday to avoid the rush later in the week.
Next I called Galveston Bay RV Park to confirm that our site would be ready when we get there next Sunday. Looks like we’ll be in site 80, the same site we were in the first 2 years we were here in 2008 and 2009.
My next call was to American Coach to follow up on my battery disconnect questions. They confirmed that the disconnects should have shut off everything, and that since it only turned off partially, it was possible that some engine electrics may have been intermittent, which might have caused my fuel problem last week. If the fuel pump lost power for a short time, long enough for the injectors to run out of diesel, it would act just like the tank was empty.
They said I should talk with Spartan to follow up. I’ll probably wait until we get back to Houston for that, but I’ll know more this Saturday since I’m going to top off my diesel in Foley before we leave the area. That will give me some idea about how much fuel my diesel tank now holds.
About 2pm Jan and I headed out for some errands and ‘linner’. Our first stop was the Wal-Mart in Gulf Shores for some groceries and supplies. Then heading toward Foley we stopped off at a Winn-Dixie looking for a couple of things that we couldn’t find at Wal-Mart.
Then, after a quick stop at a Family Dollar, (Jan was looking for a small squeegee for the shower, we headed on up to Foley. Then after a stop at Lowe’s for a new screwdriver bit, we drove right next door to our ultimate destination, Lambert’s Throwed Rolls. Jan had her usual Fried Chicken, and I decided to try the Chicken Fried Steak.
Jan said her Fried Chicken was some of the best she’s ever had, and of course the veggies there are great. And my CFS was fork-tender on the inside and had a great crispy-crunchy crust.
We’ve eaten at all three Lambert’s and it’s always delicious.
Leaving Lambert’s, we drove a little further into Foley to check out Dodge’s, a local gas station, to see if we can get in and out in the RV since they have a good price, $3.75, for diesel. Looks like it will be good place to stop on Saturday as we leave.
Coming back to the park we stopped off at the Wal-Mart Market to gas up the truck. There’s some sort of gas war going on there, so I only paid $2.96 for unleaded. Nice!
Thought for the Day:
Never judge a book by its movie. – J. W. Eagan
November 12, 2015
Chore Day . . .
Today was the first nice day in a while, so I decided to get back on my Lighted Door Handle Repair. I recently found that all 5 screws were loose, and could not be tightened. They just spun. Taking it all apart, I found that it looked like the RV repair place in Prescott had over-tighten them when they reinstalled the handle after the wiring repair for the blowout damage. It wasn’t that way before. They probably used a power driver and got carried away.
I had originally thought about using JB Weld to fill in the holes, and then maybe drill and tap them, but several readers suggested gluing toothpicks in the holes to fill them in. So that’s what I decided to try.
Since I wanted to really lock them in, I wanted to use Gorilla Glue, because it expands as it hardens. Some people don’t like it for that reason, but it was perfect for my use. You just don’t use very much of it. Here’s how I started.
The bowl of water is to dip the toothpicks in before I put on the glue and stuck them in place. Gorilla Glue is moisture activated and one surface needs to be damp to start with.
First off I trial-fitted a bunch of toothpicks in one of the holes to see how many I needed. And as it turns out each of the 5 holes needed a different number.
I wanted the fit to be slightly loose to allow for the expansion of the glue, so I had to use some trial and error to find the right amount. Then I dipped the toothpicks in the water and slung off the excess.
Next I put a light coating of Gorilla Glue on the half of the toothpicks that were going in the hole.
Inserting them in place l left them to set while I did the other 4 holes.
Here’s the ones on top where the light is.
Gorilla Glue normally sets in a couple of hours, but since it’s in the mid-60’s today, I wanted to let them go overnight. But when I did check back a few hours later, I found them rock solid with only a small amount of glue squeezed out.
Looks about perfect.
Tomorrow I’ll use nippers to cut the toothpicks down flush with the side. Then I’ll drill a pilot hole and give it a try.
More tomorrow.
A few days ago I squeezed (and I mean ‘squeezed’) under the rig enough to be able to spray our Power Gear hydraulic levelers with silicone spray to keep the seals lubricated. Next I cranked up the rig and raised and lowered the levelers a couple of times to distribute the lubricant around.
I kept the air bags dumped so the rig wouldn’t try to inflate them, and I noticed that we were still pretty level with the levelers raised. So I decided to leave the rig that way since it would keep all the dust off the newly greased surfaces.
Our rig has the optional switch to dump the airbags when the engine is running and, since dumping the bags drops the coach about 8 inches, I actually used it one time when we were surprised by a ‘low’ railroad underpass on a scenic back road.
Based on the signs we would have cleared it with a couple of inches to spare. But you never know how many times that road has been paved over since the signs were put up, and I really like my rooftop AC’s. So I dumped the bags and carefully drove under, listening for any $$$$ sounds.
Anyway, since we now weren’t using the pads we put under the levelers, I pulled them out today and spent some time hosing all the mud and gunk off them, and then stowed them away in the bay.
Another job done.
Wrapping up, we may have to rethink the whole ‘gate guard’ thing as a way of making money. Why make $150 a day when we could be making $200 an hour. And if we split up, we could make $400 an hour.
But it looks like we’d need a dog. Or two.
When we were visiting New York City in July of 2009, Jan always kept ‘bum money’ to give out as we toured the city. She said that the bums and drunks gave the best directions when she asked.
Of course she had more fun with this ‘New York City Panhandler.’
Actually it looks like they both did.
Jan said that checked another item off her bucket list.
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Thought for the Day:
A Harlequin Romance; 2015 Version
He grasped me firmly, but gently, just above my elbow, and guided me into a room, ‘his’ room. Then he quietly shut the door and we were alone. He approached me soundlessly, from behind, and spoke in a low, reassuring voice close to my ear,
“Just relax.”
Without warning, he reached down, and I felt his strong, calloused hands start at my ankles, gently probing, and moving upward along my calves, slowly but steadily.
My breath caught in my throat.
I knew I should be afraid, but somehow I didn’t care. His touch was so experienced, so sure.
When his hands moved up onto my thighs, I gave a slight shudder, and partly closed my eyes. My pulse was pounding. I felt his knowing fingers caress my abdomen, my ribcage. Then, as he cupped my firm, full breasts in his hands, I inhaled sharply.
Probing, searching, knowing what he wanted, he brought his hands to my shoulders, slid them down my tingling spine and into my panties.
Although I knew nothing about this man, I felt oddly trusting and expectant. This is a man, I thought, a man used to taking charge. A man not used to taking ‘No’ for an answer. A man who would tell me what he wanted.
A man who would look into my soul and say .. . .
“Okay, ma’am, you can board your flight now.”
