Drink More Coffee . . .
I mentioned the other day that according to the IRS website, GET MY PAYMENT, our two $600 Stimulus Checks were mailed out on January 6th, and then yesterday I got an email from DakotaPost saying that our checks, and well as a DMV refund from our Jeep tags, were sent via Priority Mail yesterday, the 14th. So it should be here in the next couple of days.
Is there anything it can’t do?
A new study was just released showing that drinking coffee helps reduce your chances of prostate cancer. And the more you drink, the less your risk.
The highest level of coffee consumption ranged from two to nine or more cups per day, while the lowest level ranged from none to fewer than two cups per day, they said.
Good to hear since I average about 10 cups a day.
And for those of you of the non-prostate persuasion, you’re not left out either. Past research has linked coffee consumption to a reduced risk for liver, bowel and breast cancers.
So Drink Up!
Thought For The Day:
We used to just have village idiots. But now with the Internet, the idiots have gone global.
January 15, 2011
Our Cute Blond Chipmunk . . .
Catching up on some old stuff, someone had asked about Brandi possibly having the flu last week. Turns out it was a false alarm. After having flu-like symptoms on Monday, she felt fine on Tuesday. Dodged a bullet there.
I did get a chance to check out my new Sears Air Compressor yesterday and found it worked as advertised. It was able to inflate a rig tire from 90# to 100# in less than a minute. Probably better than I could do with on-board air compressor. Really worth the money.
On a completely different note, I found this fascinating, and maybe a little scary.
They could actually have a real live Woolly Mammoth born in the next 4-5 years.
Jurassic Park, anyone?
The other day I was going thru some paper work and came across the title for our toad, a 2004 Dodge Dakota Crew Cab pickup. It had about 101,000 miles on it when we bought it in December 2007, just a little over a month before we hit the road.
I noticed the other day when I had the brake work done that the Dakota now had over 163,000 miles on it, which means that in our 3 years of traveling, we’ve put 62,000 miles on it.
What’s amazing about this is that this does not include the 37,000 miles being towed behind Beauty. When the truck is in tow mode, it doesn’t register mileage.
This means that besides that 37,000 miles, we’ve driven the truck almost twice that distance just riding around seeing the sights after we park the rig.
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This morning, after a very late night (early morning??) we left the rig a little before 11am heading to the Texas Tea Room to meet Brandi, Lowell, and Landon for lunch. We’ve really grown to like this place, with their great soups and sandwiches.
Jan was going to Landon-sit this afternoon while Brandi and Lowell take in a movie and run some errands, so she rode home with them while I headed out to do some errands myself.
First stop was Kroger’s to pick up some lottery tickets, then it was on Chis’ to drop off some magazines for Miss Piper.
Piper had two wisdom teeth pulled out Friday morning and the poor thing was still suffering. Her cheeks were still puffed up and swollen.
I told her she looked like a “cute blonde chipmunk” and wanted to take her picture for the blog. She told me in no uncertain terms “NO”.
Awww! And she was so cute!
Then I stopped by Home Depot looking for my undersink icemaker water filter. But they didn’t have it. Turns out a little later research showed that my model had been discontinued. So I’ll have to try and figure out how to fit another type in its place.
Finally I headed over to Brandi’s to get the small share of Landon-sitting that Jan allows me. I only somewhat jokingly said that Landon may not walk until he’s two, because between Jan and Brandi, he never gets put down.
Brandi and Lowell got back home about 5 pm and we decided to have dinner at our favorite King Food. Hmmmm! Chicken in Hot Garlic Sauce, Extra, Extra, Extra, Extra Spicy, and then add jalapenos!
We got home a little after 7, certainly better than last night’s 1:30am.
More tomorrow…
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Thought for the Day:
There’s no such thing as a stupid question, but they’re the easiest to answer.
January 15, 2012
Second Times the Charm . . .
This morning started out a little after 10am with with the breakfast buffet at La Brisa right up TX 146. One nice thing about their buffet, unlike a lot of others, is that all drinks are included in the $10.50 price, including coffee, milk, and OJ.
And on top of that, the food is really good too.
Getting home I finally decided to do something about my leaky tire. It’s the driver’s inside rear dual, and it’s been leaking on and off for a while. It will go for several months with no problems, and then gets where I have to add air every few days. I had pulled off the Tire Pressure Sensor and the valve extension to be sure they weren’t the problem, but it didn’t help.
It was fine when we got here almost two months ago, but in the last week or so it’s been dropping overnight so it’s time to do something about it. So after we got back from breakfast, I put in a call to Coach-Net to send someone out.
But it took two tries to get it done. I told Coach-Net that I needed someone with a air jack that could lift at least 10,000 pounds, and the gear to handle a 22.5 inch tire.
The first guy came out in a pickup truck with a 2000 pound floor jack and no way to remove the large lug nuts on the wheel. So after sending him on his way, I called Coach-Net back and told them the problem. They said the guy had told them he could handle the rig. He lied.
But the next guy had what it takes – a big dually truck with a large gas-driven air compressor, a 20,000 pound air jack, and a big impact wrench to get the lugs off.
And this guy knew what he was doing. He had the inside tire off in about 15 minutes, and found a slight leak with the valve core. But the big leak was caused by a loose nut on the valve stem itself. He replaced the valve core, and then after putting a little Loc-Tite on the valve stem threads, tighten up the nut.
After airing up the tire to 110 pounds (I normally run 100 pounds in the rear), he dabbed bubble soap all around and found no leaks. Then, before remounting the tire, he carefully checked for any nails or leaks on the tire itself.
He quickly had everything back together and ready to roll in a total of only 45 minutes. A real professional.
Coach-Net covered the service call, and all I had to pay was $65 for the labor. Not bad at all.
Later, after doing some other chores around the rig, I headed up to my client’s office to install the new computers and router. Kept finding other things to do, so I didn’t get back to the rig until after 9pm, but I did get a lot done.
Thought For The Day:
You live and learn. Or you don’t live long.
January 15, 2014
TSC and PPL . . .
Another nice day. Another nice walk. And nice hot coffee afterwards.
Jan and I headed our about 1:30 PM for an afternoon of errands and then ending up with dinner with Brandi, Lowell, and Landon.
Our first stop was the Tractor Supply Company in Alvin for a magazine Jan likes and a few other things. Then it was on to PPL Motorhomes at the junction of Beltway 8 and US59. We were stopping there to pick up the Linkage Repair Kit for my Kwikee step.
Now something on my ‘do before we leave’ list.
We also picked up a new step stool since our other one finally wore out.
After a stroll through their RV Parts Store we headed on out to Brandi’s, getting there about 3:45. Lowell was already home and Brandi showed up about 30 minutes later after picking up Landon at his daycare, which is conveniently located right down the street from their house.
After talking for a while we all drove a little down the road to Fulshear to have dinner at Dekker’s Mesquite Grill.
Lowell and I had their great Chicken Fried Steak with smashed potatoes, and really,really good green beans. They were cooked until just crispy and very well seasoned.
Jan had the Shrimp Scampi with Fried Asparagus. Also very good.
Brandi had the Rotisserie Chicken which she said was some of the best chicken she’s ever had.
It was lucky we got there early because by the time we left about 6:15 the place was pretty full. Really good. We’ll go back.
Out of 6 tries in taking Landon’s picture, this is the only one that came out.
Heading home after saying our goodbyes and getting Landon hugs, we luckily missed most of the ‘going home’ traffic. Getting back to the Clear Lake area, we stopped off at the Sam’s Club to see if they had a K-Cup storage drawer like the one that Lowell and Brandi had gotten there. But we didn’t find them.
Since we were so close, we next stopped off at Chris’ to pick up our mail, and then started home again. But remembering the Sam’s Club down in La Marque, only about 5 miles further down I-45 from our normal Dickinson turnoff, we drove on down there.
But that Sam’s said they hadn’t had any since around Christmas, so then it was finally home about 8:30 PM.
Later I found one on Amazon and it will be here Friday.
Orlyn, one of our fellow gate guards who was down the road from us last year, called about my blog concerning changing the batteries in his Tire Pressure Sensor like I did, and wanted know how I did it. Turns out he has a Pressure Pro system, and like the previous Doran system I had, the batteries are not replaceable. You have to send the sensors back to the company and they will sell you new ones. That’s one of the reasons we changed to the TireTraker. Orlyn also said our gate is still going strong, and our replacements, Jim and Linda Mossman, are still there. Glad to hear they’re doing OK.
On another note, one of our readers, Jerry Criswell, alerted me to the universally bad reviews on Amazon for the One Touch Can Opener that I mentioned the other day.
I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe they made them better 10 years ago or so when we bought ours, but ours has worked perfectly every time. As they say, Caveat Emptor.
Thought for the Day:
More of
WHY MEN ARE NEVER DEPRESSED:
You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.
A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
Car mechanics tell you the truth.
January 15, 2015
Scary Cherries . . .
When I got up this morning I saw something I haven’t seen in a while, bright sunshine, finally nice enough for some outside work. But first I had some client web stuff to work on, updating some things and working on a couple of other problems.
A little later I called the client who’s computer I delivered yesterday to see if she was having any problems. She said that she was having a problem with YouTube videos being scrambled. Audio was OK, just a video problem.
After a quick Google, I told her to left-click on the YouTube screen, select Settings, and turn off Hardware Acceleration. She said that fixed the problem. Good!
Then I was on the phone to American Coach to ask about a leaky shower. For a while now I have had water leaking from the shower under the wall into the bedroom and wetting the carpet.
It only happens when the shower is running, and by looking into the access port in the shower base and I can see the water dripping down from the back of the shower enclosure. Which is where the Moen single handle faucet is on our shower as you can see here.
It was obvious that I would have to cut an access hole through from the bedroom to the rear of the faucet since there was no access panel, but first I wanted to double-check with American Coach.
And as it turns out, I’m supposed to have an access panel there. Apparently there is normally a mirror on that wall and the access panel cover is behind it. We don’t have a mirror just a blank wall, with no panel.
So it looks like I will be cutting through the wall. In anticipation of this, when I was at Harbor Freight Tools the other day,, I found a Multipurpose Oscillating Tool on sale so I picked one up with a set of blades.
It should cut right through the thin wall with no trouble, and then I should be able to see what the problem is. If I’m lucky it will be something easy like a loose connection.
As far as outside, I did a few easy chores that were at the top of my list.
First up, I repaired the Charge Wire connection on the truck. I noticed it had come loose a few weeks ago, and wanted to get it fixed before we head out west this year and encounter a lot of hills.
The Charge Wire is part of the electrical hookup between the RV and Truck that syncs the truck taillights with the rig’s. On flat terrain, it’s not really needed, but when we’re going though a lot of hills, the truck’s auxiliary braking system gets a workout. And since the Brake Buddy runs off the truck’s battery, you can sometimes arrive at your destination after a long day of hill climbing and descending and find your battery dead
The Charge Wire takes care of this by connecting the truck battery to the RV battery so that the truck battery is kept charged as we travel.
Next I dumped a batch of Biocide into the fuel tank to take care of any algae growth caused by the high humidity and cold weather we’ve had. I got caught by this in 2009 up in Massachusetts and ended up with a clogged fuel filter. Been using a biocide every since and have not had another problem with it.
Finally, I did my monthly check of the water levels in the house batteries. Not needed for the engine batteries since they’re sealed and maintenance free. I was happy to see that the water levels were fine, especially since I recently install the new power converter.
For dinner Jan fixed up our steak leftovers from last night, really good, and then for dessert, I made Scary Cherry Sundaes.
Scary Cherries were one the ‘hot’ gifts that our son-in-law Lowell gave me for Christmas
Scary Cherries are Maraschino cherries soaked in hot pepper solution, in this case, Carolina Reaper peppers, the hottest in the world. They also have two weaker heat levels, one with Ghost Chiles, and one with Scorpion Chilies. But why mess around with the kiddie stuff?
To make the sundaes, I started with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla, and then dusted them with three chopped-up cherries each. Then I chopped up some Hershey’s Cherry Cordial Kisses and sprinkled these on. Last up was a heaping pile of whipped cream, topped off with a whole cherry for me, and a chopped-up one for Jan.
She was kind of worried about eating a whole cherry by itself, so that’s why hers was chopped up.
As it turned out we both really liked the heat from these cherries. Glad I’ve got more ice cream and more cherries.
Tomorrow’s supposed to be even warmer than today, maybe more conducive to spraying water and vinegar on the roof to remove the drilling mud, but we’ll see.
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Thought for the Day:
Remember, here at Microsoft, we’re not happy till you’re not happy.
January 15, 2018
I Give Up . . .
Back at work this morning, I gave up.
For the last couple of months I’ve been trying to move my client’s website and online store off the in-house Linux server and up onto Godaddy. But so far everything I’ve tried has been a dud
To do that I need to set up a new version of Zen Cart on Godaddy and then copy the Zen Cart MySQL data from the Linux server and then just install it on Godaddy’s version.
Yeah, right!
Well it would be that easy except that access to the MySQL file is password protected. And the password is not any of the ones from my list of the previous guy’s passwords..
But I kind of figured out a workaround only to find that the data file itself is encrypted. Why the hell, I don’t know. There’s no reason for it.
And even worse, it’s encrypted with AES-256 encryption, the same standard used for online banking. So good luck breaking that. So now it’s down to grunt work.
We presently have about 1680 products in the database, so my fall-back is to just start copying the individual products over one at a time. It’s likely to take several months, but as I told Jan if I’d done this to start with, I’d be done by now.
At least it’ll keep me off the streets and out of trouble. Well, one of them, at least.
We had originally planned to have our left-over El Pollo Loco for dinner tonight, and then eat out tomorrow, but the incoming weather intervened. With tomorrow, we’re expecting temps in the low 20’s with freezing rain, sleet, black ice, and snow flurries/snow. Sounds like a good day to stay home.
So as soon as I got home we turned back around and headed back up FM646 to have dinner at our local favorite, Pho20.
We both started out with their delicious House Crunch Salad, with Miso Dressing and Tempura Crunches. Then while Jan again went with the Hibachi Chicken,
I once again got the White Chicken Pho with Vegetables.
Really good and enough to bring home more than I ate to start with.
Before heading home we made a detour by the nearby HEB for a few things.
Tomorrow I’ll double check that our fresh water tank is full and then disconnect us from the Shore Water for the next couple of days, since we’re looking at 23° tomorrow night and 26° on Wednesday.
Since we’re looking at possible icy road conditions Wednesday morning, we may find that Jan’s lithotripsy gets rescheduled. We’ll have to see.
Thought for the Day:
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. Teach a man to create an artificial shortage of fish and he will eat steak. – Jay Leno
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