Daily Archives: February 2, 2021

Merry Groundhog Day . . .

Pretty much another quiet day today.

Jan and I ran some errands and then had lunch at King Food, the first time since our bug family Christmas Eve dinner.

King Food 2

Got our usual Chicken in Hot Garlic Sauce, XXX Spicy with Jalapenos. Always great.

Then after a WalMart/Sam’s stop for prescriptions and other sundries, we were home by about 4:30.

Like I said, another nice, quiet day.


Thought for the Day:

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West

  

  


February 2, 2013

A Busy, Fun, Family Day . . .

or I got burned.

Jan and I left the rig about 12:30 heading over to a client/friend’s to install the new computer power supply I picked up from EPO this past Thursday.

We’ve known Tom and Lyn for more that 30 years, and in fact we lived on the same street together for many of those years, and our daughters were close friends. So it was nice to get a chance to sit down and talk for a while.

I’ve seen Tom and Lyn quite a few times over the years, but this is the first time Jan has come with me and been able to get together with them.

So while Lyn and Jan were catching up, I went in with Tom to install the new power supply and get his computer up and running again. But after installing it and pressing the power button, all I got was dead silence. Bummer.

This was a brand-new supply, I had just opened and taken it out of the box. So I started pulling it back out the computer case, and that’s when I noticed something. The fan blades inside the power supply case had a lot of dust on them. And on top of that, the company name on the box wasn’t the same one on the power supply.

This was a USED power supply, stuck back in a new box. Which explains why it didn’t work.

So I pack it all back up, and after spending some more time talking, Jan and I headed back up to EPO to trade the bad power supply back in. But I ran into a problem. I didn’t have the receipt since it was back at the rig. I’ve known the owner for years, and all I would have had to do was talk to him, and the lack of a receipt wouldn’t have been a problem. But he wasn’t there, so I just bought a new power supply, and I’ll return the bad next week.

Sometime in the next couple of days, I’ll get back over to Tom’s to try again.

By now it was time to meet Chris and Linda for dinner at Sam’s Boat right on Clear Lake. Sam’s is a Bar/Sports Bar/Restaurant, and seems to always be busy.

Sam's Boat 1

Sam's Boat 2

Sam's Boat 3

But the main reason we were there was so we could be waited on hand and foot by our granddaughter Piper.

She’s worked here for a while, and being a cute young blonde, makes REALLY good tips. And tomorrow being Super Bowl Sunday, it should be even better.

Sam's Boat Piper 1

She did get a few minutes to sit down and chat, but she quickly got busy as the Saturday night rush started.

Sam's Boat Piper 2

Besides the great service (not that we’re biased, or anything) Jan and I were really impressed by the fact that Piper has mastered the trick of taking our entire order for four people without writing anything down. And we had a number of options and special requests. And she got everything perfect. Didn’t miss anything.

After a great time, and great service from Piper, we said our goodbyes and left Piper with a very busy restaurant.

Our last stop on the way home was at Wal-Mart for some groceries and supplies, getting us home a little after 8pm. Like I said, a busy, fun, family day.

One good thing about my trip to EPO was I found a new toy. A Globe Helicopter.

Globe Helicopter

But the problem was they didn’t have any in stock, just their demo. They said they should have some in next week, and that they were $99.99.

So when I got home, I checked Amazon, and lo and behold, they had them, and they were only $28.99.

Mine should be here Tuesday.

Looks like it will be great for flying in the rig since the blades are protected. I’ll keep you updated.

The other thing I ordered from Amazon is some more dried hot peppers, as in Trinidad Scorpion Butch T peppers, at 1,400,000 Scoville units, now rated as the hottest peppers in the world.

Trinidad Scorpion 2

Last time I did this I used the dried Ghost Chilis I got at Jungle Jim’s Market in Cincinnati last year. But now I’m out. So I thought I’d bump things up a couple of notches this time.

Regular readers will remember that up until a few years ago, Ghost Chilis were consider the hottest, at a little over 1,000,000 Scoville units. Then they were replaced by the Trinidad Scorpion at about 1.3 million.

Then last year a new king was crowned, known as the Butch T version of the Trinidad Scorpion. For a comparison, a jalapeno is about 5000 units, and a habanero is about 20,000.

The king is dead. Long live the new king.


Thought for the Day:

“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power, and jealousy will instantly inspire the inclination, to resist the execution of a law which appears to them unjust and oppressive.” – Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution (Philadelphia 1787).

 

 


February 2, 2014

Getting in on the Ground Floor . . .

When I got up this morning about 9 AM it was 63 degrees and sunny. But it went downhill pretty quick. By noon it was in the low 50’s and raining. And by the time I left for Katy, it was 45 degrees, and raining even more.

I had put Mister outside on his leash when it was nice and left the door open. But since I was busy working on the floor under the dash, I didn’t notice the weather deteriorating. But Mister quickly let me know by coming up to the screen door and voicing his displeasure at the misting rain falling on him. Poor Baby.

Brandi sent this pic over of Jan and Landon at the 9 AM showing of Frozen. Everyone seemed to think that the popcorn and candy were the best part of the movie.

Landon and Jan at Frozen2


Several readers asked how I handled the flooring under the slide.

The answer is that I didn’t do anything special.There are two different types of slide mechanisms.

1. One that rides on the floor as they are pulled in and have Teflon strips
to cushion and prevent wear.

2. One that’s held suspended above the floor as they are pulled in.

Ours was supposedly the second type. But that was the purpose of laying down
those first few test rows that I showed last week before we started.

Allure Flooring Install 1

After just laying them down there, I put a couple of pieces of newspaper down and pulled the slide in. The newspaper never moved.

And for the last several months the test strip has been down there with no
problems. Plus the original carpet came up much higher than the tile and was never touched either.

So this was one less thing I had to worry about.

I did come across one problem though. The transition strip that I bought to use is not going to work as is. It looks good when I set it in place but it was quickly obvious that the part resting on the kitchen tile was too high to clear the bottom of the kitchen cabinet above it. So at this point I’m not sure what I’m going to do. A metal strip would probably work, but I’m not sure how it would look.

So my temporary fall-back position is to hold it down with Velcro, and pick it up before we pull the slide in and then put it back down after we park. We’ll see how that works.


I headed up to Brandi’s in Katy about 3 PM and the closer I got, the worse the weather got. And the worse, and slower, the traffic got. But I finally made it about 4:15, packed Jan up, and we headed back home.

Our son Chris had invited us over for his Super Bowl Seafood Gumbo so we stopped by for a delicious meal, finished off with Linda’s Rum Bread Pudding. If I’d had a second serving I would have needed a designated driver.

Jan was delighted finally seeing the floor in person and really liked it. I’ll try to finish under the dashboard tomorrow if possible, and then Chris and I will reinstall the chairs on Tuesday.


Thought for the Day:

Change is not always progress.

 

 


February 2, 2015

Yes, It was that Good . . .

It hardly got into the 50’s today, but at least it didn’t rain. So there is that. But it pretty much killed any thing I wanted to do outside. And tomorrow should about the same, but with rain.

But that did give me a chance to play with a couple of my other new toys. I picked them up at Brandi’s on Saturday, but today was the first chance I had to check them out.

The first one was a new DashCam.

A118 DashCam

A118 Full HD 1080P Car DVR Dash Camera

I’ve been wanting one for a while, and had checked out quite a few of them, but this one came out on top, and getting to play with it showed me why.

It’s very small, less than 3 inches long, and only about an inch and a half wide. But it records in full HD 1080p video, and has a built-in mic that can be turned on or off. And it’s only $80.

It will record about  5 hours on a 32GB micro SD card (not included), and does so in 1 to 5 minute clips (your choice). It does it like this so you don’t end up with one humongous 32GB file that’s too big to do anything with. At the end of the 5 hours, the video loops back and starts recording over the earlier stuff, unless you’ve told it not to in the settings. The files are time/date stamped, and if you buy the optional GPS module (I did), the videos are also geo-tagged with your location.

It also has a lot of neat features, like a G-sensor that will sense a crash and save any video from being overwritten from that point.

The video quality is very sharp and clear, with a 170 degree viewing angle. I’ll try to get it installed tomorrow and show you some video tomorrow night.

The only problem I foresee is in mounting it, or at least mounting it in two different vehicles, since it only comes with one mounting kit. But I’ll work something out.

My next new toy is also a tool. Well, kind of. It’s a Bluetooth Code Scanner for trucks and cars.

Bluetooth Scan Tool

Vgate Bluetooth OBD2 Scan Tool

It plugs into your diagnostic port under the dash, and then connects to your phone or tablet, using one of several apps.

If any of you are familiar with the Silverleaf VMSpc computer interface like I run on our diesel engine, like below,

Silverleaf 2

this is something very similar to that, but much, much cheaper. The VMSpc interface is several hundred dollars, but this one is $11.

The best way to start is to install the Torque app on your Android or iPad. Then you just plug the Scan Tool into the diagnostic port under your dash, start your vehicle, and connect your tablet’s Bluetooth to the Scan Tool’s signal.

At that point you can start to build your own virtual dashboard, just like you can on the VMSpc.

Here’s a sample.

Torque Screen Display3

And you can have 7 pages of different gauges to scroll through. You can also log all your readings and email or share them.

And just like the VMSpc, this app lets you read and reset Check Engine light codes, and other parameters. The basic Torque software is free, and there are a number of other auto apps that will work with the unit. Check it out.

Here’s more info from CNet on the Torque app.

For dinner we went back to the Sealand Seafood restaurant in La Grange. Still Great!

On our way home, we made a stop at the Wal-Mart before getting back to our rig about 7pm. Nice day.

__________________________________________________________________

Thought for the Day:

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little to no influence on society” ~ Mark Twain.

 

 


February 2, 2016

Making Herself Right At Home . . .

We got our walk in this morning, but since we haven’t walked in about a week, we keep the distance to about 1-1/4 miles, but at 24:46 we set a new speed record so there is that. We’ll probably bump it up tomorrow, working toward a full two miles later in the week.

After goofing off for a while with Internet stuff, I took care of a few small chores that were hanging around, just waiting for my attention. Outside, the shore water faucet was leaking at the connection, so I replaced the washer and added some Teflon tape to the threads.

That fixed my part of the leak, but the faucet is still leaking a little around the handle, but that’s the park’s problem. I’ve reported it, but based on past performance, it won’t get repaired until it’s spurting in the air like a geyser.

This afternoon I bit the bullet and started downloading Windows 10. There’s some talk about Microsoft dropping the free upgrade to 10, so since I’d been thinking about it anyway, I decided to go for it.

One thing I’m doing different is that I’m downloading Win10 as an ISO file, and not directly upgrading one of my computers. By doing it as an ISO file, I can burn it to a DVD and then use it over and over, no matter how many computers I want to upgrade with it.

It’s somewhere over 3GB in size, so it will take a while. I’ve got it downloading in the background so I’ll just let it run until it’s done.

For dinner tonight we had our leftover Chicken Fried Chicken from our visit to the Potatoe Patch with Janice and Dave Evans the other day.  Then I got to work on our granddaughter’s laptop.

Like Janice’s laptop the other day, I ran my standard cleanup routine, SuperAntiSpyware, Malwarebytes AntiMalware, CCleaner, and Glary Utilities. Finishing up I updated AVG Virus Protection and ran a full deep scan, which is still going on, and might go for another 12 hours.

Karma, our new kitty, has pretty much settled right in and made herself at home.

Karma-at-Home_thumb1.png

The one thing we were worried about, her learning to the use the litter box, was taken care of during the night. We spent yesterday afternoon putting her in the box about once an hour, and apparently she figured out what it was for. And as far as we can tell, she never went anywhere else before she used the little box.

Her favorite place to lay seems to be on Jan’s moose footstool, whether Jan’s using it or not.

Karma at Home 2

Everyone is always amazed when they see the moose footstool. We bought it when Jan fell in love with it right before we started RV’ing in 2007. We were visiting Fredericksburg right before Christmas, and Jan just had to have it.

Moose Footstool

It’s 3 feet long and over 2 feet high. Built on a wooden frame, it’s very sturdy and has held up to all our traveling, even Landon riding it when he visits.

Karma

As I said yesterday, I wanted to call her Adolf, but Jan said NO. And today Jan said she didn’t like Hitler, either.

So I guess we’re stuck with Karma.


Thought for the Day:

If necessity is the mother of invention, why are so many unnecessary things invented?

 

 


February 2, 2017

Something Strange Is . . .

Going On . . .Ghostbusters!

Well, not quite Ghostbuster strange, but still strange.

About 4am this morning, the three different vehicle alarms all slowly started working. And by the time I left at 5:30 they were all working with no problems. And they continued working all day and into this evening.

I did confirm last night that the sensor part of the Mighty Mules is working.

Mighty Mule 2

If you take the cover off the head, there is a red LED that flashes when a vehicle is sensed going by. And that is happening.

But the signal is not getting to the receiver inside the shack. Which takes me right back to the idea that some sort of interference is happening in this area.

I’m not sure there’s really anything that I can do about it, but it does explain a lot.

Well, the rig didn’t get moved today either, but tomorrow for sure. Yeah, right. The move was called on account of having lunch in Cuero.

We headed into town about 11:45, but before lunch we made a stop at Donut Palace for some more of their great pastries and breakfast croissants. I take one of their Bacon, Egg, and Cheese croissants into work every night and it makes a delicious meal. Then I’ll have half of one of their Cinnamon Twists about midnight with some coffee to keep me going the rest of the night.

Lunch today was Maya Mexican again, with this time having beef, chicken, and shrimp fajitas. But accidently. We actually ordered the same Fajitas Regias that we ordered last time, with beef, chicken, and grilled sausage. But something was lost in translation and we got the shrimp instead. But it was still good and we have leftovers to boot.

After lunch we drove over to the HEB to get gas for the truck. I don’t know exactly why, but the HEB here is consistently 10 cents a gallon cheaper than any station in town, even the Wal-Mart right down the street. Then after topping off the tank, and get the discounted carwash, we headed back to the rig, just in time for me to be able to get in a couple of hours more sleep before I leave for work about 4:45pm.

As far as the rig move, the scheduled rain has been pushed back to Sunday now, and the longer we go without rain the dryer the ground gets, but we’ll probably still give it a try tomorrow.

Maybe.


Thought for the Day:

Movie theater popcorn costs more per ounce than Filet Mignon. But they won’t let you eat Filet Mignon in the theater.