Monthly Archives: September 2022
All Gone Now . . .
There was a lot of entertainment at our park yesterday morning, starting with this.
Rob, our park owner, bought the property next door to expand the park. He took possession of the place August 31, but the previous owners left a lot of stuff behind, including this 65’ long mobile home.
I was wondering if Rob was going have it towed off, or torn apart and hauled off in little tiny pieces.
And when I came home Monday afternoon and saw this, I knew what it was going to be.
I didn’t get outside in time to see the first bite, but I was out there on the patio with my coffee for the main event
It was fun to watch the excavator just taking big bites out of the unit and then spit it out to the side, working its way down the length.
Then the excavator just rolled up on top of the pile of now-trash and started pounding into the pile using the bucket like a fist., while it rolled around on top crushing it down.
A bit later, a big truck showed up and the excavator loaded it up, though it wouldn’t hold all of the rubble on the first trip.
While the truck was gone, the excavator chewed up the 40ft container that was also left behind.
The claw would just grab a hold of the container, pick it up in the air, and then shake it like a rat terrier.
Then after pounding it flat, the excavator rolled up onto one end, holding it in place, and used the claw to rip it into small pieces.
And then it was all loaded into the next truck and hauled away,
leaving this. Much nicer.
And it only took a few hours.
Easy Peazy.
I was surprised to learn that the mobile home didn’t have any kind of metal frame underneath like our RV does. It was all wood, except for the axles and the wheels/tires.
So much fun to watch, I should have sold tickets.
And if you’re interested, you can get you your own Volvo EC300EL for around $200,000.
Think of all the things you can break with it.
And I’ll just end with this.
When Californian’s Move To Texas.
Thought for the Day:
Saudi Arabia actually imports sand.
The sand in the Arabian desert look like tiny crystal balls under a microscope. Pretty to look at, but useless for making concrete because it’s so smooth. Concrete requires a rough, jagged sand so it all bonds together tightly and makes a strong block.
So every bit of sand in every skyscraper in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, etc., is imported, in some cases from as far away as the US.
September 14, 2009
Cora, Cora, Cora…
Today we head back to the States.
But first we just had to eat at Cora again for breakfast before we left. And once again it was great.
Supposedly they are hoping to bring these to the US. I think they would be a big hit. Where else can you get a great meal that looks like a work of art.
We headed out about 11 am for the 185 mile trip to Houlton, ME, which is about 3 miles from the US/Canada border.
It took us about 15 minutes or so, to get though Customs, most of it waiting our turn in line. But the questioning by the Border Agent was a little more thorough than we had last year going to and from Alaska.
The other nice thing about the trip was that we gained an hour as we are now back on Eastern Daylight Time.
We pulled into My Brother’s Place RV Park, into the same site we parked in two weeks ago on our way into Canada. Deja Vu.
After getting set up, Jan and I headed out to get our hair cut and grab a bite to eat.
September 14, 2010
We want Fall back . . .
We had really gotten used to the beginnings of Fall while we were in Elkhart.
You remember Fall, you know, highs in the 70’s, low’s in the 40’s.
Well, not down here in Houston. When we got here yesterday it was 97 degrees. Today it was 93 degrees with a humidity “Feels Like” of 100 degrees.
And the low tonight is 75.
You know you’re back in Texas when the water from the cold water faucet is hot!
But there are some redeeming factors.
Here is our site here at Galveston Bay RV Park.
And here is the view out our front window from site 73. This is Dickinson Bayou which leads into Galveston Bay.
This is the slightly different view from site 80, where we’ve parked the previous two years. Jan likes this view better because the small island attracts a lot of birds and wildlife If and when our old site becomes available, we’ll probably move down the street.
Jan always puts out a bird feeder to keep the local avians from starving. We’ve gone thru as much as 50# of bird seed a week.
These are Monk’s Parakeets. There are large flocks of them in this area, although they are not native to here, but originally come from South America. They’re very hardy, and colonies are found as far north as Connecticut, and as far west as Washington state. The colonies are generally thought to have originated from escaped pets over the years.
But here’s the main reason for being here. This was my first chance to hold baby Landon. It’s really hard to imagine how small he is. The last time I held a grandchild this small was 17 years ago, with our granddaughter Piper.
About 11 am our son Chris came over to drop off a dead laptop for me to work on, and after talking for a while we headed out for lunch at Berryhill Baja Grill. They have great sandwiches, tacos, and tortilla soup, and we always enjoy it.
Coming home we stopped off at Kroger’s for some groceries, and then we were in for the day.
We’ll probably spend the next few days just jelling before we jump back in the swing of things.
September 14, 2011
Cherry Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies . . .
When I got up a little after 10 am, Jan was gone. I figured I had finally ticked her off one time too many. But then I remembered she said she was going over to the park laundry to do the rig throw rugs in the big washers when she got up this morning.
Whew! I don’t like my cooking that much.
But, luckily for me, as soon as she got back a little after noon, she fixed lunch.
A little before 2 pm I drove over to the RV/MH Hall of Fame to meet with them to firm up the details of the new computers I’m going to install for them. We’re going to get one of them installed for a new employee before we leave for Celina on Sunday, and then the other 4 after we come back to Elkhart the first part of October.
Jan and I have been going over our schedule for the next couple of months before we arrive back in Houston about the 20th of November.
We wanted to spend some time at the Indian Lakes Thousand Trails east of Cincinnati and some time at the State Park in Gulf Shores, AL, and a number of friends and relatives in between. And since we won’t leave Elkhart until about the first of November, it’s going to be a busy 20 days.
About 5:30 Jan and I , along with Al Hesselbart headed over to Hollywood Diner to check out one of Al’s favorite places. Our sandwiches were good, and the soup and salad bar were delicious.
Getting back to the rig, Jan and I partuke of some of Jan’s fabulous Cherry Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Tomorrow we plan on taking a drive through the Amish countryside and then eat dinner at Das Dutchman Essenhaus, an Amish style restaurant over in Middlebury, IN.
September 14, 2012
Jungles and Rivers . . .
Today was another sightseeing day, so after stopping off at the Batesville Post Office to pick up our mail, we headed south to Aurora, IN. We wanted to check out the area, and also the Little Farm on the River RV Park where we stayed in 2010.
Little Farm on the River is, as the name says, right in the middle of a farm,
and right on the Ohio River. And even better it’s a Passport America park, so it’s very reasonable.
After making a drive through the park, we drove on south to Rising Sun, a nice small town with a lot of interesting homes and buildings.
Then coming back to Aurora on our way north to Cincinnati, we stopped off at McDonald’s for lunch. While we were there we got a check-in call from our son Chris, bringing us up to date on his family, and especially Piper and her college adventures.
After lunch we headed north to the other side of Cincinnati to visit Jungle Jim’s Market, 6 acres of grocery store, including 1 acre of just produce.
Here’s what I blogged last year about the place.
It’s really hard to describe this place. It’s a restaurant, an convention center, a Starbuck’s, a CiCi’s Pizza, a high-end clothing store, a Chipotle Grill, a bank, a pub, a pet store, and a credit union. It even has a monorail.
But most of all, it’s 6 acres of grocery store, with 1 acre for just fresh produce.
This place probably has every grocery item you’ve ever heard, and a lot you’ve never heard of.
Thirty six different types of olives, 140 different types of honey, 1,600 different types of cheeses from all over the world, over 12,000 different wines, and 1,200 different beers.
Their meat department carries fresh ostrich, kangaroo, rattlesnake, elk, venison, game hens, wild boar, pheasant, and bison. WOW!
And, of course, foods that are organic, non-dairy, earth-friendly, vegetarian, vegan, allergy-free, gluten-free, anti-oxidant, low-carb, sugar-free, fat-free, wheat-free . . . etc., though probably not all at the same time.
And while many seafood shops have live Maine lobsters, how many carry live fish? Jungle Jim’s carries over a dozen different species, including Blue Gill, Tilapia, Largemouth Bass,
and Catfish.
Regular readers here know how much I like really, really hot foods. As I say, if my nose is not running and the top of my head isn’t sweating, then it’s not really hot enough.
I’ve even twice eaten HOT! wings made with Ghost Chiles, also known as the Naga Jolokia, until recently the hottest pepper in the world.
You can read about it here at the Cypress Creek Café in Wimberley, TX.
The hottest chili in the world is now acknowledged to be the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T chili.
But Jungle Jim’s is the first place I’ve found that actually sells them to the public. Besides the fresh ones, they have a salsa made with the Nagas which I bought some of, and a small package of dried Nagas, which I also bought.
The package says to wear eye protection and latex gloves before handling or preparing them.
Not sure what I’m going to use them for, maybe eating one so I can get steam coming out of my ears.
We spent almost two hours at Jungle Jim’s and still didn’t see everything, so hopefully we’ll be able to go back again sometime.
Finally leaving Jungle Jim’s, we stopped across the street at a Verizon store. Then it was down the road to have dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse before heading home.
Tomorrow we’re going to do another take-it-easy day, just happy to be doing pretty much nothing.
September 14, 2013
Mommy, Somebody Broke the Moon . . .
That’s what Landon said the other night about this.
And we also have this.
Well, it’s been a busy several days. We’ve approaching 300 vehicles a day, three times what we had last year at our drill sites. And we’re both pretty sure we don’t want to do a fracking site again, though the fact that they ran low on water and had to start trucking it in may be the problem. Of course along with the normal sand trucks. Don’t know yet if this is usual or not.
The weather is trying to cool off, at least. The last couple of days the high was 86-87, but then today it was 95, but at least the trend is there. Last night it was actually kind of chilly at 68. Thought about going into the rig and getting a jacket, but was too tired to get up when I didn’t have to. Ha!
I came out a little early last night and Jan and I took down our old new canopy and put up our new new one.
As usual Amazon really came through on replacing this defective one. They just sent me the replacement and then I have 30 days to get the old one back to them, at their expense. This new one is much more stable since it has all its struts. Nice
Jeff, our company man send over a few front loader scoops of pea gravel to put under our canopy site and our truck parking area. So we went from this
to this.
My truck was actually stuck in the mud the other day and I had to wait until it dried out before I could get it out. This is much better. And the area under our canopy was nothing but a full-on mud hole. We’ll see how it goes at the next rain.
Jeff also has us on a one week schedule for diesel, water, and sewer. So now we don’t even have to call anyone, or worry if we’re going to run out, or overflow.
Under heading – Missing in Action, one of our vehicle sensor apparently wandered off the other night.
At least that’s what I assume, because it’s no good to anyone without the receiver, which I have at the canopy. I noticed during the night that it quit working, but figured it had just fallen over. And the other one is still there and working on the other side of the road. I’ve put out the word with the company people, so hopefully it will find its way home sometime soon.
That’s about it for today. It’s about time to go out and relieve Jan.
September 14, 2014
Delightful . . .
First off, Jan and I want wish a Happy Birthday to our wonderful daughter Brandi. Although this is actually Sunday the 14th’s blog, most of you will read it on the 15th which is her birthday.
Happy Birthday, Sweetie!
Today was delightful, especially compared to yesterday. It finally struggled up to 80°, and partly cloudy with just enough breeze to keep things comfortable. Much, much better than yesterday.
It looks like the rig is finally up to speed on drilling. It’s not making as many of those strange noises, and they’ve now got drill pipe hanging from the side of the derrick, instead of bringing it up one stick at a time.
We had 83 vehicles come in today, which over the 18 hours the gate is really active, (I often have only two or three vehicles between midnight and 6am) means we get one every 15 minutes or so. But what really happens is that we’ll have nobody for 30 minutes, and then 3 in a row.
The landowner and some of his family came by in an ATV today. We met him last week and he seems like a really nice guy. In fact all the landowners we’ve worked with the last 3 years have been nice, although I’ve heard some horror stories.
I did think it was funny how he was asking me questions about what was going on where. Like we would know. We’re usually the LAST to know, even when it concerns us. He didn’t even know the cattle guard had been replaced, though he said the last couple of guards had complained about it. Guess it takes a tanker almost falling through to get some action.
Later on, the owner’s grandson came through in a pickup with his two dogs in the back, taking them for a swim at the big pond in the back. He has a Yellow Lab and a Rottweiler that probably outweighed me. Big dog!
But thankful the only thing he seemed interested in was licking me to death and slobbering all over me.
For dinner we had BBQ sandwiches and sides from the Rudy’s I brought back last Wednesday. Really good, as usual, and Jan said we have one more meal from it. That means we’ll get 4 meals from $38 of Rudy’s BBQ. Not bad.
September 14, 2015
And That Makes Three . . .
Well, now it’s official. All three of us, me, Jan, and now Mister, have some form of diabetes. I pretty much keep mine under control with diet, Jan takes Metformin, but Mister is now insulin dependent.
Mister had been losing weight recently, something he did once before when we had a bad flea infestation, but he gained it back after that. This time however, no fleas, and no weight re-gain.
And in the last few weeks, he’s been always hungry and always thirsty, all signs of diabetes. So this morning I called a local vet and made an appointment for noon. Mister, his usual mellow self, curled up on the seat and went to sleep on the ride over.
The vet tech mentioned that his problem could also be hyperthyroidism, which I ended up hoping for, because it’s usually treatable with medication alone. But as it turned out my first thought was correct, and he does have diabetes.
Cats have pretty much the same normal blood sugar range as humans, I.e. 90 to 150. Mister’s blood sugar was 475.
Yikes!
So Mister and I came home with this.
The big container is a combination needle supply/needle disposal unit. It holds a hundred needles in the base, in 10 packs of 10 needles.
The top is a rotating sharps disposal container that holds the used needles.
Not sure yet if I can just toss it in the garbage when I’m done. I’ll have to check.
The small bottle is his insulin, and it has to be refrigerated. Unfortunately, although Mister kind of thinks he’s a dog, I.e. walks on a leash, comes when I call him, etc., he’s not. Which means he needs the more expensive cat insulin. Dogs, however, can use human insulin, which is much cheaper. Much, much cheaper.
Since Jan can’t stand the sight of needles or blood, it’s why she went into Medical Records instead of Nursing, I’m the designated shot-giver. And I don’t have a problem with it. I spent one summer during high school working as a vet assistant, so I’ve given a lot of shots.
Mister gets two shots a day, at 11 in the morning and 11 at night, and he doesn’t seem to mind. He just lays there and lets me do it. The needle is only about 1/2 long and a really small gauge. I’ll rotate the injections, the skin on both shoulders and both hips, so he won’t get sore.
He’s now had two shots today and I noticed he’s not as hungry as he was. Hope this is a good sign.
September 14, 2016
And Back It Goes . . .
I was on the road and heading for B/CS by 11:30 to pick up our new TV at Wal-Mart. Their website said that they had the one I wanted in stock, so I was expecting a quick trip.
Well, maybe not so much.
The Samsung I was wanted was not mounted on the display, nor did they have a box out there either. When I ask about it, the lady said they didn’t have that one. And when I showed them that their computer said they had them in stock, she said, “Oh, that thing lies all the time.”
But then another lady came over and looked, and then said, “I think I know where it is.” And about 10 minutes later, here she comes out with one.
When I checked out, I did something I normally don’t do. I bought the 3 year extended warranty. I’ve never been a big fan of these, but for $29, I thought I’d give it a try.
My next stop was the Chick-fil-A right out in front of the Wal-Mart parking lot to pick up lunch. When I first came into the lot it was about noon, and the drive-thru line wrapped around Chick-fil-A parking lot, out into Wal-Mart’s lot, up the entrance road, and then out onto the right lane on Briarcrest, the main road. So they were actually blocking the lane that turns into Wal-Mart’s lot.
Since there were about 10 cars out on the street, I was kind of surprised that the police were letting this happen. But then I saw two police cars in the line, so it made more sense.
And this is not the first time I’ve seen lines like this at Chick-fil-A’s. And the only other place I’ve seen it like this is In-And-Out Burgers.
But by the time I got there the line wasn’t quite as long, but then I went inside anyway. Seems like inside is always faster.
Jan got the Chicken Strips while I got the Deluxe Spicy Chicken Sandwich with Bacon. We both got Waffle Fries and the Kale/Broccolini Salad, along with Lemonade to drink.
Getting back to the rig about 1:15 and chowing down, we both quickly decided no more Waffle Fries. I had mentioned before about how Whataburger fries end up cold and chewy after the 30 minute drive back to the rig, so we were hoping the Waffle Fries being thicker would travel better.
Not so much.
But everything else was delicious.
After lunch it took me about an hour to set up the new TV, mostly due to the installation of the feet. I was hoping that it would come with the center pedestal, but that wasn’t the case. So I’ll have to figure out a way to make the feet work.
One thing that quickly struck me was how much lighter and smaller the new TV is, even though they’re the same screen size.
Our old RCA 32” weighs 26.6 pounds, while the new one weighs only 8.5 pounds, a big difference. And side by side, you can see why.
The old one has a 3” bezel around the top and sides, and about 6” on the bottom, while the new one only has about 1/2” on all four sides. The upshot of this is that it gives you the optical illusion that the new screen is actually smaller than the old one. Even though you can actually measure it to see they’re both the same.
Kind of like this.
Since Jan says it bothers her, and it looks like I can get the 40” version to fit, back it goes tomorrow for a bigger one.
It’s supposedly moving day for the rig. They’ve pulled the pipe loader down, but so far it doesn’t look like they’re moving yet. But soon, probably.
September 14, 2017
Boring, Or Not?
Jan and I left the rig about 1:30, heading out for lunch and groceries. But our first stop was at the park Ranger Station to try and extend our stay another 3 days, until the 20th of September rather than the 17th. And to also pay them for our stay here, the $5 a day, and the $3 a day for 50 amp. When I tried to do this last week the computer wouldn’t take the extension. It said the park was full.
But when they tried to ‘test’ extend someone else’s stay, it worked fine. So it was just me. And when they got the main office to try, they couldn’t do it either. And no one knew why it wouldn’t work.
But I suggested a workaround that did. So now we will check out on the 17th, but then right back in again for the next 3 days. Of course the rig will never move, but the paperwork will work out. And that’s what’s important, right?
I think this probably has something to do with the fact that when we finally do leave here on the 20th, we will have been here for 34 days straight. Certainly a new record for us.
Our lunch destination was the Chuy’s Mexican down near the Woodlands, a location we’ve never been to before, although we’ve eaten at several other of their places around town.
We actually go to Chuy’s for their salads, mainly their Mexi-Cobb salad, which is what I got this time.
Really good, especially with their Creamy Jalapeno dressing.
Jan decided to try their Chicken Fajita Salad for a change, which she said was good, but she’s going back with the Mexi-Cobb next time.
We both really like their sauces and Queso. With the chips, they bring out the usual Pico de Gallo, but also a bowl of their Creamy Jalapeno dressing, but as a dip. Then we also ordered a small Guacamole for Jan, and a Queso for me.
Again, really good.
Then, after a great meal, we headed back up to Conroe to the Wal-Mart for groceries and gas at the Sam’s next door, finally getting back to the rig a little before 5pm.
Recently there has been a debate among some of our blog commenters about whether or not my blogs about computer stuff, the ‘never ending math’ about where to stay, or even ‘defragging a coffee pot’, are boring. Some thought so, but others came to my defense.
So maybe I need to talk about the origins of this blog. It started in January 2009 at the beginning of our 2nd year on the road. In 2008, our first year, we traveled all the way up to Fairbanks, AK where we spent five months workcamping, before heading back toward home on September 20th.
By the first part of November, we were in Gatlinburg, TN, before getting back to Houston the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
The blog started as a way to share our travels with family and friends as we traveled, but over time and repeated references to our blog from other bloggers, the blog has a much wider following. In fact we had a little over 400,000 visitors last year, covering every continent except for Antarctica. (BTW if you know anyone on a science expedition to Antarctica, please ask them to visit our blog.)
I do this blog every day, and in 9 years I doubt I have missed more than a couple of dozen days. But as anyone who has tried this can tell you, doing a blog every night is not easy, as the many abandoned blogs around the Internet will tell you.
So I have to write about things that interest ME. It’s really the only way I can do this blog day after day. I’m not really a ‘creative’ writer. My forte has always been in ‘technical’ writing, doing manuals, courses, and how-to’s, for NASA, the DOD, manufacturers, and colleges. So I can write what I know and what I see. That’s about it.
Now when we’re traveling, seeing the sights around the country, blog writing is pretty easy. But when we’re wintering over here in Houston, or even gate guarding, it can get a little dicey. Because many days we don’t leave the rig, just reading, relaxing, computing, and enjoying life.
But of course this doesn’t leave a lot of hot topics to blog about, so you pretty much get my life, boring as it is. What we did, what we saw, where we ate, and what I’m working on, that’s about it.
Some readers refer to this as ‘reading my diary’. kind of a voyeuristic pleasure. Or maybe like peeking in your neighbor’s window.Anyway, maybe you can look at it this way.
You know how sometimes your favorite magazine has a ‘theme’ issue, and it’s a theme that you could care less about, or maybe even hate. But then the next month it’s a theme you’re crazy about.
Pretend it’s like that. Come back tomorrow and maybe you’ll like it better.
September 14, 2018
That Was Quick . . .
I got an email this afternoon from Lowe’s saying that my new batteries had come in. Surprising because they weren’t scheduled to arrive until the end of next week.
To recap: Our house batteries are 4 years old and on the way downhill. I had looked at getting another set of 4 6 volt Interstate’s to replace the ones I have. Wired in series-parallel, this would give me about 450 amp hours for about $625. But then we don’t really boondock any more, and probably won’t in the foreseeable future.
So I ordered these two heavy duty 12 volt tractor batteries from Lowe’s.
Wired in parallel, this will give me 12 volts @ 2280 amp hours, and saving me about 140 # in weight.
And the cost is only about $250.
Bigger, better, and cheaper. Nice!
And again, I know these aren’t deep-cycle batteries, but we won’t be using them that way.
One thing I’ll have to do is make up some new cables to get the new batteries hooked up. And a while back I found the best place to do this is at a West Marine location.
They have the big 00 (2/0) gauge wire, the heavy-duty copper connectors, and the bench-mounted swaging tool
to crimp the connectors on with.
And even better, and cheaper, it’s do-it-yourself.
But just be sure they still do this, I’ll make a stop by there tomorrow to check it out after we pick up the new batteries, though I’ll have to do some measuring before I’m ready to make up the cables.
Under the heading, “How high’s the water, Momma?”, I still haven’t been able to get back to my Onan generator problem. Because it’s rained heavily each day for the last two weeks without letup. But things are looking up for next week, so we’ll see.
I did think it was really funny this morning as Jan and I were watching some North Carolina weather girl (woman/person?) gushing about all the rain they’d had in her area, saying that they’d had over 4 inches in the last 24 hours, and that another 2 or 3 inches were expected in the next day or so.
Laughing, I looked over at our Lacrosse Weather Station display which said that we’d had 5.1 inches just since midnight here at the rig with more expected during the day.
It’s all relative, I guess.
The rain is also delaying our plans to take our rig out on a test drive this weekend. Since we’ve been parked after we returned from our Illinois/Alabama trip in July, I want to take the rig out for a drive, and probably top off the diesel before we leave for Florida on Oct. 3rd. But I’d rather not do it when it’s pouring down rain, so with rain scheduled all weekend, but clearing next week, Tuesday looks like our next best bet.
September 14, 2019
RV.netting . . .
I spent the morning on RV.net trying to get some more input on our rig’s oil filter problem. It’s probably been about 10 years since I’ve been on RV.net, But from the summer of 2006 until around the end of 2009, I pretty much lived on there.
During the summer of 2006 I told Jan that we didn’t really have to wait until we ‘retired’ to start RV’ing, but we could go ahead and start working toward it now. So we did.
But there was a problem. I knew pretty much nothing about RV’ing, beyond knowing we wanted a Class A motor coach. So I spent the next 18 months or so absorbing everything I could about the RV world. And then in December 2007 we bought our 1999 American Eagle and hit the road to Alaska in February 2008.
Of course that was by way of Casa Grande, Yuma, San Diego, LA, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Colorado Springs, Billings, and Bellingham, before we entered Canada the first part of April.
All I say is that so far, so good.
So this is what I posted in the Tech area of RV.net:
Back in May 2018, I had RV Mobile Lube come out and service the Cummins 350 ISC engine in our 1999 American Eagle Class A, just as they’ve done every couple of years or so since we bought our coach in 2007.
About a month later we left Houston on a 2000+ mile trip up to Illinois and back down thru Alabama, and then back to Houston. we very quickly discovered we were leaking oil, about a gallon every 250 miles or so, turning our tow vehicle black. So to keep our schedule we just added oil as needed along the way.
Checking it was obvious that the leakage was coming from around the oil filter itself. But retightening it did not help. Talking with Cummins, they thought it was probably a defective filter.
So when we got back to Houston a few weeks later, I called RV Mobile Lube and they came back out and replaced the filter. After running the engine at high idle for about 45 minutes, we had no sign of any leaks. But to be sure we took the rig out a 50-mile test drive at both Interstate and side street speeds, again with no leaks.
Thinking we had the problem fixed, in October we headed down to Florida on another 2000+ mile round-trip. And we still had leaking oil.
Getting home about 3 weeks later, and talking with Cummins again, they thought it was probably burn-on residue where the oil filter gasket contacts the adapter. So I dropped the filter and cleaned the gasket seat thoroughly. And another test drive showed no leakage.
But on a 500-mile round-trip in April 2019 we still had leakage. It was starting to dawn on us that we only had leakage when we were towing our pickup truck.
Back on the phone, a Cummins tech said it had to be the gasket between the oil cooler and the oil filter adapter.
![[image]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Cummins-OIl-Filter-Gasket.png)
Supposedly all I had to do was to remove the filter, remove the 4 bolts holding the adapter on, clean it and replace the gasket, and then put it all back together.
Well, removing the filter and the 4 bolts went fine, but the adapter won’t come loose. And even tapping with a rubber mallet didn’t help.
Finally, I put the old filter back on and ended up rapping it with the mallet, again with no luck. It was stuck tight.
Back on the phone with Cummins, the tech went away for about 10 minutes, he came back and told that the center post was actually a bolt and needed to be removed too.
But the tech bulletin they sent me doesn’t match up with what I have.
![[image]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Rig-Oil-Filter-Closeup.png)
![[image]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Rig-Oil-Filter-Closeup-2.png)
On my adapter, the center shaft is not a bolt. So now I’m stuck. But before I get back on the phone to Cummins I thought I throw this out to the group.
Anyone run into this before or have any ideas about how to get the adapter off.
So far I’ve gotten a couple of replies, but nothing helpful yet.
Here’s hoping, though.
We had planned to get together with Brandi and her family for her birthday tomorrow, but she’s got a business trip to San Diego coming up on Monday so she wanted to put it off until next weekend.
Ever notice how all the ‘business’ conferences are in places like San Diego, Miami, Hilton Head, or Las Vegas? And not in places like Detroit, Toledo, or Cleveland?
Why is that?
About 4pm we headed out to have dinner at our nearby favorite Los Ramirez . Jan got her usual Pechuga Rellena, a grilled chicken breast over grilled broccoli and shrimp, while I got my Beef Fajita Taco Salad with Queso, staying Keto by not eating the Taco Shell, of course.
September 14, 2021
An Avian Devastation . . .
Well, Hurricane (just barely) Nicky passed over us between around midnight and 3am with a lot of wind, but I don’t think we got the 20” of rain that was forecast. We only lost power for a couple of minutes around midnight, and again around 3:30am. Don’t know if it was connected in any way, but sometime later in the early morning, the rear AC popped its circuit breaker, but resetting it fixed the problem and it’s been working fine since then.
And while the storm was over us, the rig was really rocking and rolling, but not in the fun way. In fact, we both agreed that we’ve never experience that much motion. And it seems that motion was enough to make Miss Karma motion/seasick since she threw up on the bathroom rug during the storm.
By the light of day, we surveyed the damage, such that it was. Two of the solar screens had come off and were laying out in the street in front of the rig, and the two window awnings on the driver’s side had popped loose and rolled up.
Looking up, I saw that the vent cover over the refrigerator vent had also come loose,
so it looks like a up-on-the-roof trip is in the cards.
But the most heart-breaking was the avian devastation to Jan’s Flamingo Flamboyance.
In fact it seems to have been so bad that one of them tried to get out of the storm by hiding under the rig next door.
Hopefully we’ll get our Jeep back tomorrow so we can park Ole Smokey until the next time. But she’s still a reliable workhorse.
About 1pm Jan and I drove over to the Interstate to get some lunch and then do some WalMart’ing afterwards. Finding a couple of places still closed from the storm, we ended up at Denny’s once again, for Ultimate Omelets once again.
Coming home, we made a Cowboy Coffee stop for a couple of Theresa’s (the owner) custom-blended Sugar-Free Pumpkin Spice Cold Lattes. She hadn’t been able to find a source of the sugar-free Pumpkin syrup, so she concocted one of her own. And it was really good.
A Change of Schedule . . .
Jan’s Back Home Early!
Jan called this morning and said she was getting to come early.
But, after a Trader Joe’s stop and another dinner at Torchy’s Tacos, we didn’t get home until almost 9.
More tomorrow.
Thought For The Day:
Politicians pushing gun control are like wolves advising sheep to have their teeth removed in the interest of public safety. And most of the sheep agree.
September 13, 2009
Where else can you walk on the ocean floor…
Today is our last full day in Canada for a while, and is also our day to visit the Bay of Fundy area.
The Bay of Fundy is home to the highest tidal changes in the world. In a 6 hour period the water level can change 30-50 feet depending on the phase of the moon.
But first we decided to try a place we’d heard about here in Canada called Cora. Cora is a type of restaurant that seems very popular here in Canada. It is only open for breakfast and lunch. It closes at 3 pm every day.
And it was fantastic. The food is delicious, and every menu item is a work of art. Hopefully we’ll be able to eat here for breakfast tomorrow before we leave.
After breakfast, we made the 30 mile trip south to the Hopewell Rock area of the Bay of Fundy. On the way, we drove along the Chocolate River, which seems very aptly named.
As it was low tide and this river connects with the Bay of Fundy, it was basically a chocolate-colored mud flat.
And here is what it looked like coming back home.
We arrived at Hopewell Rocks about 1 pm, a little before the full low tide point at 1:41 pm. The trail down to the Rocks is about 3/4 mile though the forest. Getting there, here is what we saw.
Then we walked down the 125 steps to the ocean floor.
By the time high tide occurs, the water level will be to the top of the narrow sections of the rocks above.
There are a number of warning signs in the area.
Apparently people are often caught on the ocean floor when the tide comes in. Someone said that someone drowned here a couple of weeks ago.
Because it would be a little over 6 hours until high tide, we drove further down the coast along the Bay of Fundy. On the way we passed a couple of number of scenic views, including a couple of 100-year-old covered bridges, one of which is still in use.
As we neared the Bay of Fundy National Park, we came across these scenic areas. The first is a view of a cliffside shrouded in the fog that had settled in as the day progressed.
Nearby was a boat dock that shows the problem of mooring boats in an area where the water level varies 30-50 feet twice a day.
Finally we headed back up the coast to Hopewell Rocks to see the results of the tide coming in.
Unfortunately we weren’t able to stay for the full high tide because it would occur after dark, and there is no lighting at the Rocks, or on the 3/4 mile walk through the woods to the parking area.
The only downside to our visit was the fact that as the sun went down, the mosquitos came out…with vengence. You’d think they hadn’t eaten in a year, but they certainly made up for it that night.
We stayed as late as we could. In fact it was downright dark by the time we made it back to the toad.
I’d always heard of the tides at the Bay of Fundy and it was neat to be able to see them for ourselves.
But, maybe the best thing about our Bay of Fundy trip is that Jan finally got to see a Canadian moose!
Tomorrow we head back to the good ole USA.
September 13, 2010
Going back to Houston. . . Houston. . . Houston. . .
As we were getting ready to pull out this morning, Emma and Mister started jockeying for position in Jan’s chair. Note the glare that Emma’s giving Mister, and Mister couldn’t care less.
We left Poche’s RV Park about 10:30 headed for Houston with a quick stop-over at Mulate’s for lunch before we left.
One thing we haven’t seen in a while since we’ve been out west and up north is sugar cane. From a distance it looks kind of like corn, but when you look closer, there’s no ears of corn.
The sugar cane stalk itself looks a stick of bamboo, but the inside is sweet and juicy.
We went back to Mulate’s for lunch for two reasons, the great gumbo and bread pudding, of course, but also to see Tracey.
Mulate’s – plain on the outside.
Very nice on the inside.
As I said yesterday, I’ve been eating at Mulate’s for over 20 years, and it seems like Tracey’s been waiting on me for most of that time. Here’s Tracey on the left, and Sheila on the right, Sheila’s also waited on me many times when Tracey wasn’t there.
Luckily, Mulate’s has a nice big parking lot that makes for an easy in and out.
We left Mulate’s about noon heading for Galveston Bay RV Park in Dickinson, TX.
I thought I’d include these bridge shots along the way.
The first one is the I-10 bridge over the Calcasieu River in Lake Charles, 148 feet above the water.
And this is the Fred Hartman Bridge on State Highway 146 southeast of Houston, and it’s 178 feet above the water.
On top of that it’s a really beautiful bridge in its own right.
We did have a couple of milestones yesterday and today. Yesterday we hit 37,000 miles since we hit the road in February of 2008, and today, right before we got into Houston, we crossed 100,000 miles on the coach itself.
And Beauty is still going strong and running great. And with a partial new paint job to boot..
We saw this sign for our favorite gas station/market store just past Lake Charles. It’s referring to the Buc-ee’s on I-10 in Luling, TX. Luckily we didn’t have to wait that long to visit a Buc-ee’s, since we always stop at the one in League City, TX, which is about 5 miles from the RV park where we’ll spend the winter.
They always have great prices on fuel, in today’s case, $2.70 a gallon for diesel, which is a nice change from the prices up north.
When we’re parked for a long time, in this case several months, I always fill the tank first to cut down on any condensation forming in the fuel tank. Diesel and water don’t mix well.
131.9 gallons later we pulled into site 73 at the park and got plugged in. We didn’t do anything else beside plugging in power, because we only had about 15 minutes to meet the kids at Monterey’s Little Mexico, one of our favorite Mexican places in Dickinson. I love their Chicken Tortilla Soup.
We had a great time seeing everyone, and the best thing is, I finally got to hold little Landon.
Getting back to the rig I got the sat dish set up while Jan let out the slide and got things put out inside.
We’re here until at least the middle of January, although we may move if our old site becomes available.
More from Houston tomorrow…
September 13, 2011
Pizza and Computers . . .
When we got up this morning, Jan said she wanted to eat breakfast out, so about 9:30 we headed across the Interstate to Bob Evans to eat. We both really enjoy their food, especially since they’ve add cappuccinos to the menu, with free refills. The caramel flavor is delicious.
Getting back home, it was a cleaning day for Jan and a To Do List day for me.
A little before 2 pm I headed over to the RV Motor Home Hall of Fame to meet with them about upgrading their computers and computer network. After talking things over with them, I’ll do some research tonight and get back with them tomorrow.
A little before 6 Jan and I headed over to Mancino’s Pizza, our favorite local pizza place. But almost better than the pizza are the garlic butter breadsticks. They’re actually made from the pizza dough, baked, and then drizzled in butter. You get your choice of several dips, including marinara, spicy cheese, and of course, garlic butter.
We’ve all said that if the pizza wasn’t so good, we’d still go and just have the breadsticks. They’re that good.
Getting back to the rig we ran into Charley Dilworth. We last saw Charley and Sherry back in July when we were in Cody, WY. It’s always good to run into friends.
September 13, 2012
Wild Blue Yonder . . .
First thing this morning I went down to the office to let them know I had mail coming in.
Then it was underneath the rig to look at my fuel tank vent problem. As it turned out the hose wasn’t where they said it was, but it was pretty obvious where it was.
It was hanging down from the back of the fuel tank, and by sticking a small wire up into it found it definitely stopped up. So that was the source of the vacuum on my tank system.
In rodding out the vent tube I found the remains of what looked like a dirt dauber nest. And after carefully cleaning out the tube, I was able to blow air into the tank. So that problem was fixed.
But the next problem will be harder to solve. I knew that the vacuum on the fuel system had crumpled in part of my fuel tank. In fact it seems I’ve lost about 25 gallons from the capacity of my 150 gallon tank.
At first I thought the sides of the tank were just dimpled in, and that maybe I could put a little air pressure on the tank and pop it back out. But it turns out that the front end of the tank was crumpled in such that it might be hard to fix without replacing it.
So I’m going to have to give it some further thought and maybe check with Spartan, my chassis manufacturer. We’ll see.
Later, a little after 5pm we drove over to Greensburg to have dinner at Chili’s. And as usual the food was good and the service was great. But the really neat thing was the Ziosk on every table.
It’s a small computer, about the size of the Kindle Fire, that allows you to play games, order desserts, or reorder drinks. But the neat thing is that you can pay your check right at your table.
There is a credit card swipe slot on the right side, and it even prints you a receipt from underneath. You merely select your check by number, swipe your card, and sign your name on the screen.
Really neat! I wonder how long it will be before we can order our meal on it too.
Tomorrow, if Jan’s still feeling OK, we’re going to do some sightseeing, possibly into Cincinnati to visit Jungle Jim’s Market, a really amazing grocery store that covers several acres and has products from all over the world.
September 13, 2014
Miserable . . .
That’s what I was most of last night and early this morning. It drizzled all night, and that, combined with a stiff breeze and 62 degrees, made the wind chill in the 50’s.
And I was not prepared for 50’s. The outside heaters were still packed away, and the only thing long sleeve I could find without waking Jan was a light windbreaker. I really needed something with a hood because my ears were freezing due to the wind. Finally ended up putting a towel over my head.
Yeah, I know. Whine, whine, whine. Such is the life of a gate guard.
Today was a little better. It was cloudy, and only made it up to 67°, but the wind died down so that helped. And after Jan came out at 7am to relieve me, I dug out the heaters and a hooded sweatshirt for her, so she was pretty comfortable during the day.
Last night’s all-night drizzle was preceded by yesterday’s high winds and heavy rains. A lot of heavy rain. I believe the technical term is ‘gullywasher’. But the pea gravel we had them put down when we first got here pretty much kept the flooding under control.
And our Coleman 13 x 13 Canopy took care of protecting us from the high winds and rain.
This is our second year of use on this one and it’s still holding up fine.
The Wenzel 10 x 10 canopy we used our first year of gate guarding in 2012 barely made it through our four month stint. In fact I left it at the Gate Guard Services yard for anyone that wanted it. But based on our experiences with the Wenzel, I had a better idea of what to look for in our next one.
1. Bigger is usually better, so I went with a 13 x 13 rather than a 10 x 10. The legs are still 10 x 10 but the canopy overhangs.
2. I want one with the roof vent at the top. This helps keep the wind from lifting it so much, and also lets out the hot air. (no comments, please)
3. I wanted one that had UV protection in the canopy fabric. With the old one you could feel the heat coming through on sunny days. The Coleman has 50+ SPF protection and it really makes a difference.
4. I wanted one that was heavy duty, and again this one has held up with no problems.
The whole thing comes in a wheeled case about 9” x 9” x 5’ tall and weighs about 40 pounds. I paid about $170 for mine last year with free Prime shipping, which was only about $30 more than our first one. Well worth the cost.
For dinner tonight, Jan and I had the steak dinner that one of the guys dropped off for us yesterday. Really good, and even splitting it, there was plenty for both of us.
Today’s vehicle count was a little higher than yesterday’s 80, with 93 vehicles coming through. Still, not bad.
Tomorrow, just another day on the gate.
September 13, 2015
Brrrrr!
Last night turned out to be kind of chilly. Actually, at 55 degrees with a slight wind, it was downright cold. I kept adding layers until I ended up with a T-shirt, a long-sleeve FRC shirt, and a windbreaker and my orange vest, along with my pull-over knit cap. And still my hands were cold. It supposed to be about the same tomorrow night, so I’ll dig out my gloves. And maybe it’s time to start digging out the two small heaters we have for outside.
Today was another 85 degree day with a lot of sun and a light breeze. Very nice. It is supposed to warm up a little over the next few days, back in the high 80’s and low 90’s, with mid 60’s at night. Again, nice.
We’re always looking for ways to make our life a little easier on the gate so one of the things I do is preprint our log sheets with all the info except for the date and page number.
This saves us a lot of time writing the same things over and over. The log sheets come in pads, so I tear them off, stack the sheets in the printer, and then print them out using a template I made a couple of years ago. So at each new gate I just add the new info to the template and we’re ready to go.
Our vehicle count jumped a bit today, up to 125 over yesterday’s 108. Most of the increase seemed to be sand trucks. But, unlike other years, they come through the gate in smaller numbers, spread out over the day, rather than just one big gob like in previous years. Much nicer.
The new thermostat to fix my water heater should be here Tuesday in my Amazon order.
The repair kit comes with both a new thermostat and a new ECO, so I’ll go ahead and replace both. From the online instructions, it looks like both units are stuck to the side of the tank with some sort of adhesive. So you pull the old ones off, clean off the old adhesive, and stick on the new ones. Easy Peezy.
I hope.
September 13, 2016
LCD’s and LED’s . . .
They’ve started completion on this well, the first of three, so our vehicle count really jumped up. In fact, at 68, it was our 2nd highest day so far.
The temperature made it all the way up to 90 before an unscheduled rainstorm blew through around 3pm. It was only heavy for a few minutes before it settled down to a light drizzle, with two good results.
It was just enough to settle the dust on the road without making things muddy, and it dropped the temperature down to the high 70’s, then stayed in the mid-80’s the rest of the afternoon. Nice.
After thinking about it overnight, I had decided to not wait until Thursday to get the new TV, but to go over this morning and pick one up at Wal-Mart. Between getting the groceries, picking out a TV, and then getting lunch to bring back, I’d have to either go over early, cutting way into my 4 hour sleep window, or I’d get back late, meaning Jan has to work a longer shift.
So I was going to get the TV today (and lunch), and then get groceries on Thursday (and lunch) as usual.
But then that all changed with an early morning comment from blog reader Rob Nixon. He clued me in to a website called ShopJimmy.com that sells boards and parts for hundreds of TV’s, and will even rebuild your boards for you.
So I decided to put off my BCS trip until I could check out ShopJimmy. But as it turns out, they no longer have parts for my 8 year old RCA, and when I called them, I found out that they not longer rebuild boards for it either, due to the fact that parts are no longer available. I did talk with the tech for a few minutes, and he at first thought that I might have a backlight problem.
Most people don’t realize that an LCD TV is actually kind of a slide or movie projector. The TV video is displayed on the LCD screen, but you can’t see it until it is lit from behind, as I said, just like a projector. So if your light source goes out, then you can’t see the video. But you can shine a flashlight on the screen at a 45 degree angle and see that the video is still there.
Up until recently , most backlights were actually small fluorescent tubes just like in your light fixtures, so they do burn out. But now more and more TV’s and computer monitors are using LED’s as a backlight source, giving you longer life and better colors. Over the years I’ve had the backlight go out on both a laptop and a monitor, so it does happen.
But I know a bad backlight is not my problem because my screen lights up, but there’s just no video getting to it.
So as it stands now I’m going into BCS tomorrow, Wednesday, to pick up a new one. And I’m looking at this one.
It’s Full HD at 1080p, a step up from the 720p model we have now, and it has LED backlighting. It also has built in Wi-Fi so we can stream Amazon Prime movies directly to it. And it’s only $228, which is less than half what our RCA cost us 8 years ago. And for a lot more features.
Whatever we get it needs to have a single pedestal base like the photo above, and not the two legs version like this one.
Where we set the TV on the dashboard is only about 20” wide so I doubt the two small feet will work for us.
Wal-Mart’s computer says that they them in stock, so we’ll see. I think as far as Jan’s concerned, I’d better not come home without a new TV.
After calling yesterday, today I heard back from American Coach about my broken screen door latch.
And as I found out earlier this year when I tried buy new hinges for my screen door, no parts are available. That’s apparently considered part of the entire main door, and that company went out of business years ago.
So my next step is try Colaw’s RV Salvage in Missouri. And if they don’t have it, I’ll have to try and make something up from some aluminum strips.
It’s always something.
September 13, 2017
Glad To Have My Wife Back . . .
Today was another Clear Lake travel day, so after gassing up at the Kroger’s in Willis, I was on my way about 9:45.
While I was getting gas I was checking out the SigAlert app on my phone, looking at all red (heavy) traffic lines moving through downtown Houston. I was already planning on taking the Hardy Toll Rd. into I-610E and then back over to I-45, but then it all bogged down into bumper-to-bumper cars, especially around the I-10 interchange.
But looking east of town I saw that I could go east at I-610 instead of west and then hook up with I-69/US59 south, which would bring me back into I-45 below the downtown area, and all the heavy traffic
And it worked. It was just smooth sailing with almost no slowdowns, never dropping below 50mph. And even better it looks like it will work in reverse as well, when I’m coming back to Conroe.
Things went pretty well at the client’s today, except for the USB WiFi adapter Win7 install. I was able to track down a number of things in the system that I had been looking for. It’s amazing all the weird places the ex-guy found to squirrel things away.
But the USB WiFi adapter install on the Win7 is still a dud. I uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers several times, I tried 3 different USB ports on the machine, and I swapped in the working adapter from the Win10 machine.
All with no luck. So now it’s a email off to the the seller, and we’ll see how it goes.
Since I was picking up Jan in Katy this afternoon, I was on the way about 3pm trying to stay ahead of the traffic, especially since leaving Brandi’s, we’d encounter even more traffic heading up to Conroe.
So Jan and I were on our way from Brandi’s a little after 4, taking the 99 Tollway up to I-45 and then on up to Willis for . . . Whataburger!
Tomorrow we’ll rest up and later get groceries, as well as take care of a few other things.
September 13, 2018
Betsy Rossing It . . .
I spent the morning trying to get Jan’s Viking sewing machine cleaned up and checked out.
It’s a Viking #1, a high-end one that Gina Ellis, a late friend of ours, gave Jan in 2009. I guess she gifted it to Jan because she got something bigger and better, though I can’t imagine what it could be, since this one seems to be able to do just about anything, including probably mowing your grass.
It comes with 6 programming cards like this one
that will do pretty much any embroidery stitch or pattern you can imagine, even monograms, words, or sentences in either block or cursive letters.
Or bears.
The reason his head is off a little is that the fabric got hung up while it was being stitched. Normally this is a hands-off function. Just push the button selecting the pattern, and press the foot pedal, and off it goes.
The machine automatically sets every thing – thread tension, stitch length, stitch width, presser foot pressure, etc. It’s all programmed.
Jan used the machine for a year or so and then it was retired to a rig storage bay for the last 7-8 years. So I figured I might have to spend some time getting it going again.
But to my amazement, I took the cover off, wiped it down, plugged in and turned it on. And immediately ran a stitch forward and reverse, and then embroidered a pair of birds. And it all worked perfectly.
For a few minutes.
Then when Jan tried it, it would run a long stitch, and then when you stopped, it wouldn’t start up again. Sometimes if you turned it off and back on, it would do another stitch of any length, but not restart.
I thought maybe I had set something up wrong, but no luck finding anything.
Finally it was time for us to head out so I thought I’d stop by the Viking dealer located in the JoAnn Fabrics at Baybrook Mall and ask some questions.
Our first stop was our local favorite, Pho 20, for lunch. Jan had the Lo Mein with 
while I got the White Meat Chicken Pho, my usual.
Knowing I like it hot, Sherry, the owner, brought me out some really hot little Mexican peppers that one of the cooks got from his mother in Mexico. Jan even put some of them on her Lo Mein. And as usual Sherry send us home with a whole bag of extra goodies.
I also spiced things up by mixing in some of the Carolina Reaper paste I got at Aldi’s last week.
As I said before, it wasn’t as hot as I expected, but it does add a touch of good smoky flavor. Not bad at all.
Then, after Home Depot and WalMart stops, we went by JoAnn. I picked up a new ‘A’ presser foot, but they couldn’t help me with my problem. I did find out that I could bring the machine in for a cleaning and tune-up for $129.50. Might consider it.
Getting home I started fooling with the Viking again, and finally stumbled across the problem. Turns out that the cord that connects the foot pedal to the machine was flakey at the machine end of the connector. If you bent it one way, the machine got flakey, but if you bent it the other way, it worked fine.
So for right now I just left it bent the other way, so Jan could do her sewing project, which she did with no more problems. I’ll fix or replace the connector later.
September 13, 2019
More Jack . . .
Coming home, I made a bypass stop at the El Dorado Wal-Mart to pick up an order that had come in for Jan. She had seen this throw blanket and pillow and just had to have it.
And it’s easy to see why. More memories.
This was another of those orders where you go to the Pickup Tower to retrieve the package.
But this time, rather than it coming down the dumbwaiter in the tower, one of the lockers beside the tower popped open, containing my order.
Finishing up there, I crossed the road to the Sam’s Club for gas, today at $1.97, down another penny from last week. Nice.
Later, after getting home, I crawled under the rig to take another look at my oil filter adapter. Cummins sent me a tech bulletin showing that there is a bolt in the center of the adapter mount that must also be removed after I removed the four bolts.
But after taking a number of closeup photos, I see no sign of a bolt.
It’s just a shaft with some sort of locking pin resting in an indent. I guess it’s possible I’m supposed to knock that pin out, but I don’t know.
At least as far as I can see. So I guess it’s back on the phone to Cummins on Monday.
Talking about our Lola Savannah coffee, Jan regularly says how much she likes ‘our coffee’. And I regularly remind her that what we have every morning is not what most people called ‘coffee’.
By the time we start with our flavored coffee, then add a couple of teaspoons of cocoa powder, and some Sugar-Free French Vanilla Creamer, and then sometimes top it off with Sugar-Free Whipped Cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon, most coffee drinkers would scoff. But it is good.
Several readers have inquired about my blog post the other day entitled, “The Best $4.99 I Ever Spent”, and wondered what the $4.99 was for.
Well, it was for the paid version of the Where’s My Droid app. The free version pretty much just let me locate the phone, and that’s was it.
No photos, no wipe or lock. Sorry I didn’t make that clear.
Brandi sent over this latest photo of New Dog Jack,
and said he’s making himself right at home.
Our son Chris said he’s just making sure he doesn’t get sent back to doggy prison.
Probably that too.
Not sure when or where, but we’re supposed to get together with Brandi, et. al., for her birthday on Sunday. Looking forward to it, when/wherever.
September 13, 2020
Two Lights Down . . .
Well, the turn signals are fixed. Almost anyway. It looks like my front left bulb is out. So that’s next to be replaced.
Turns out to have been the flasher unit. Yeah, I know it should have been the first thing I checked, but this has been a weird problem.
I mean, this started out as a problem with my rear taillights/turn signals/brake lights, which you would think would indicate a ‘common’ problem, since it seems they all quit at the same time.
But my taillights turned out to be two bad bulbs with both filaments blown in each. And now my turn signal turned out to be a bad flasher unit. So now I’m looking at the brake lights.
I know the brake lights themselves work because I can trigger them from the rear relay panel. But so far the problem seems to be in the brake pedal switches.
The two switches are in parallel, probably for redundancy, and I’ve got power feeding to the switches from the 5A fuse, but nothing seems to be coming out the other side. So next I’m going to try to ring out the wire from the switches to the rear panel. But the big problem here is that I can’t really get to the switches themselves, since it’s buried in the floor under the pedal.
But that’s for Tuesday.
September 13, 2021
Called On Account Of The Rain . . .
Joe, our mechanic, called a little after 8am to tell us that, due to the heavy rains and flooding that are forecast for the next few days due to incoming Tropical Storm Nicholas, he’s shutting down his shop until Wednesday. He said he’ll lock our Jeep in a bay and put it up on a lift just in case.
In the meantime, Smokey the Truck is still running fine, so it should be no problem to keep using it until then.
So for right now, Jan and I are just going to hunker down and wait out the storm. But so far it doesn’t seem to be as bad as they had been forecasting.
