A Nice Spare . . .
I’ve had a set of these LED Headlight bulbs in our Dodge Dakota since February 2018.
They were rated for 50,000 hours, and as I said at the time:
OK, so let’s see. 50,000 hours divided by, maybe, a half hour a day average, gives you a 100,000 hours. Or over 11 years.
So if I’m still driving when I’m 80 years old, I still won’t need new bulbs.
Nice!
I just hope my warranty is as good as the bulb’s.
So I decided to get a set for the Jeep. The brand I got in 2018 isn’t available any more, so I ordered these.
Like the others, they’re rated for 50,000 hours and have a 12,000 rpm cooling fan in the base to keep them cool. They should only take a few minutes to install tomorrow morning.
Hopefully they’ll last as long as my other set.
I mentioned a while back that an old friend had given me an RV Air-Conditioner for free. It’s a Dometic Penguin II AC.
It’s about 10 years old, but it’s brand-new. My friend Perry said it was originally purchased to install on a new TV production van at the TV station where he was an engineer. But for some reason the guy they hired wasn’t able to get it done.
So it sat around since then until Perry wanted it out of his garage. So now it’s a spare for our RV.
Our front AC unit is a Coleman 15K unit that I upgraded to back in 2015. We wanted more cooling power when we were gate guarding down in south Texas, so I replaced our old 13.5 BTU unit with a bigger one.
Our rear unit is original to our 1999 coach, and is still going strong, but it’s nice to have a spare if I need it some day.
Thought For The Day:
The future’s always uncertain, and the end is always near.
Since I know a few of you don’t make it all the way down through the Retro-Blogs™, I thought I’d repost up here our time on our European Viking River Cruise today in 2019.
May 5, 2019
Regensburg 5/5/19
As with other towns/excursions along our river cruise, when we woke up we were docked out in the middle of nowhere. Just a dock, some mooring capstans, and a gangplank to the shore.
What happens is that they would dock a ways out from town, let off the people who were going to take the excursion, and then the ship would proceed on into the dock in town where it would be waiting for us at the end of the day.
So today we had a 40 minute bus ride into Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. Founded in the mid-1200’s, it’s known for having a higher concentration of bars than any other German city.
Coming into town we passed field after field of what turned out to be mustard plants
Which turn out to figure in our lunch.
We met our local guide at the bus park and started our walking tour into town, taking in the many sights.
Though the town itself was established in 1245, it had been a Roman settlement since around 100 A.D. It fact this stone arch was part of a wall that was commissioned in 179 A.D.
Everything over here is just OLD.
Coming into the main part of town we crossed the Old Stone Bridge.
Built around 1135, it was the only bridge across the river until the 1930’s. Originally a toll bridge, two different Crusades to the Holy Land passed over it along the way.
Next up was St. Peter’s Cathedral.
Built in 1280 to replace on that was built in 700 A.D. and burned down in 1273 A.D.
Did I mentioned that everything over here is just OLD.
After we finished touring the town museum, we came outside to find that the temp had dropped into the low 40’s and it was sprinkling.
But we had planned to have lunch at the historic Regensburg Sausage Kitchen.
And by historic, I mean the 900 year old Regensburg Sausage Kitchen
Did I mentioned that everything over here is just OLD.
It is said the Sausage Kitchen fed the workers who were building the Stone Bridge right next door.
When we came out, the umbrellas were up, holding off some of the rain, so we ordered “Sechs und Kraut”. Or Six and Kraut in English.
Which means six of their famous sausages, kraut, and rolls (Brötchen), the same thing that they have been serving all these years.
And it was delicious. Even though by the time our order came, it was 37 degrees and sleeting.
Where did this come from?
But the real standout of the meal was their Sweet Spicy Mustard, made from the same recipe all these years. So good that after the meal, I stood in line in the sleeting rain for 10 minutes to buy a bottle to take home.
Unfortunately as we were packing our suitcases in London before we came home, and swapping things back and forth trying to meet the weight limits, the bottle accidently ended up in one of our carry-on bags, and is now being enjoyed by a TSA guy in London.
But I discovered that I could order some online from a US company, so two jars are now sitting in our kitchen.
By now it was time for us to meet our ship, and we were told it was waiting for us about a half mile down the river at dock 2. So a bunch of us headed out, only to find that the Skirnir had not yet arrived. So there we all stood in the rain.
But the captain of the Viking ship Tor took pity on us and let us come onboard to wait until our ship arrived.
After getting back on board, dry and warmed up, and with a nap, we met up with our usual crowd for another great meal.
Jan and I started with the Sweet Potato Soup,
the Veal Scaloppini.
along with Carrot Cake for me,
and Tiramisu for Jan for dessert.
Later, we were given a talk about the many locks and low bridges that we would be encountering in the coming days. And because of this we were told that the Sundeck would be closed for the next week or so.
Everything is folded down, including the railings, to allow the ship under the many low bridges. And since it takes over 2 hours to complete the procedure, either way, they just leave them down until they’re through the worse of it.
Next up: Nuremburg
May 5, 2009
IHOP and more belts…
After breakfast at IHOP it was off to NAPA Auto Parts to pick up a couple of new AC belts (wanted a spare) and some more washers to try and shim the pulley so I won’t have to keep replacing belts.
I’m also working to make some solar screen covers for the front windshield and side windows to help cut down on the heat load getting into the coach and make it easier on the two coach AC units.
Hopefully I can finish these up tomorrow.
May 5, 2010
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, Gang aft agley…
which, of course, is Scots for —
Sometimes things just screw up.
We had planned to pull out from Park of the Sierras about 9 am this morning heading for Wine Country RV Park about 40 miles north of San Francisco. But that was not to be.
About 10 minutes before we were ready to leave, I went outside to double-check a bad tire pressure reading I was getting on my tire pressure monitor system.
The monitor said that the sensor was missing on my driver’s side inside rear dual. In looking at it, the sensor was still there, but I decided to manually check the tire pressure myself. And boy am I glad I did.
The tire was absolutely, completely flat. If I had driven like that I would probably ended up losing both tires.
When I tried to air it up myself, it wouldn’t take any air, and I could hear it running out.
So my next step was to call my Emergency Road Service, CoachNet who said they would send a tire repair guy out. I also wanted him to bring a replacement tire out with him in case the tire had failed.
Because of this, CoachNet said that they would have to get somebody out of Fresno about 40 miles away, and it would be about 3 hours.
No problem for us. I had already called the Park here to extend a day and the park we were going to tell them we wouldn’t be there until tomorrow.
The tire guy showed up about 1:30 and quickly discovered that, as I had hoped, it was just a bad valve stem extension, rather than a $500 tire.
The reason I couldn’t get any air into it was that with the tire completely flat, and the coach’s weight on it, the bead on the tire rim wasn’t sealing so the tire wouldn’t hold air. He had to use his big jack to lift up that side of the coach to take the weight off the tire. This allowed him to air the tire back up.
He showed me the defective extension and said he sees this all the time. People tighten them too tight and that destroys the little rubber O-ring inside it.
So it looks like we’ll be on our way tomorrow, again.
But we’ll see.
May 5, 2011
Slowly but Surely . . .
I’m feeling better. Still not 100%, maybe 85%,
After getting up about 10 am and fixing coffee, I was pretty much exhausted. So I just did the Internet thing on and off until about 12:45 when we all headed out to meet Tom and Barb Westerfield at Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch.
As usual we spent longer talking than we did eating, so it was after 3pm before we were back on the road.
Then, after a quick detour to Lowe’s (snicker, snicker) we headed home.
Later, about 8:30 we all headed out again to cruise the Strip and eat a late supper at the Blueberry Hill Restaurant.
So now I’m exhausted and I’m going to bed.
May 5, 2013
Breaker, Breaker . . .
About 1:45am this morning it got very, very quiet in our bedroom. No, I didn’t tick Jan off again. The power went off.
The reason it got very quiet is that we use a White Noise Generator like this one.
We used one for years, even before we started RVing. In the White Noise mode it generates a rushing noise that does a great job masking outside noises, including cars, trains, loud parties, etc.
This unit has 5 other sounds like ocean waves, rain, babbling brook, thunder storm, and summer night.
But these white noise machines do have a drawback. If you’re used to sleeping with one it’s very difficult to get to sleep without it. You tend to hear every creak of the coach, dog bark, or cricket chirp. But otherwise, they’re great.
As far as what happened to the power, I assumed the power was off in the park because when I looked out the window I couldn’t see any lights, even streetlights, on anywhere in the park. In addition, the last time we were here, two years ago, the park was having major power problems, enough so, that we left a couple of days early.
But when I woke up about 7:30, the power was still off, so I decided to go outside and check the breaker. And the breaker was the problem.
We’re on 50 amps so I’m not really sure what popped the breaker, so I’ll just have to keep an eye on it.
About noon Jan decided she wanted to do brunch so about 1pm we headed back up the road to Boulder Station Casino for their Champagne Sunday Brunch, well, Mimosas for us. Getting there we still had about a 45 minute wait before we got seated. But as usual there, it was worth it.
One thing I did find out is the discount you get with Boulder Station Boarding Pass card. The dinner buffet, and the Champagne Brunch Buffet are both $9.99 with the card, but $14.99 without it. Not a bad discount for a free card.
Later in the afternoon we got the high winds that got sent up our way from Tucson. Around 5:30 it really blew for about 90 minutes before it subsided. Really had the window awnings flapping.
May 5, 2014
Missed It By That Much!
After pulling out of our site here at the Colorado River Thousand Trails a little after 9:30,
we stopped off and got the toad connected at the park hitch-up spot and were headed out a little before 10am.
Our first stop was about 45 miles down the road at the Flying J in Brookshire, the first time we taken on diesel since November 24, 2013. What can I say, it’s been a slow year so far.
We had already scouted out the RV lanes here on one of our trips past here in the truck, but that didn’t prepare us for the problems.
Coming off the Interstate and coming down the side road, you have to make a left turn into the Flying J, and then immediately, another left turn. And before you’re even clear of the entrance you had to make a 90 degree right into the pumps. You can’t really stop because otherwise you’re completely blocking the main entrance to the place.
The first complication came because there was a big delivery truck parked right along the front edge of the lot. For reference, it was right behind where you see my truck in the photo.
Of course this meant that I couldn’t swing left as far as I wanted before I made the right turn into the pumps. Which meant I had to come in at more of an angle than I wanted. Of course as soon as I was parked at the pumps, the guy came out and left in the truck. Of course he did.
While I taking on 96 gallons of diesel, I dumped a bottle of Diesel Kleene in the tank too.
I never thought too much about using fuel additives, until I talked to a lot of the truckers in the oil patch when we were gate guarding. They said their companies had done comparisons between groups of trucks with and without Diesel Kleene, and they definitely saw a difference.
So now it was time to try and get out of here. I put Jan out back by the toad and turned up the volume on the backup camera mic so I could hear her. Then, keeping to the left as much as possible, I started to slowly pull forward, listening for Jan to scream. One problem was the fact that I had the same big concrete pillar on the driver’s side, only a few inches from that side too.
Jan said that the rig came so close to the pillar that she couldn’t have gotten a finger between it and the rig. Then as soon as the rig was clear I had to move more to the left so I didn’t drag the toad across the pillar. Jan said on this one she could have gotten her finger between them, but wouldn’t have wanted to.
Finally, to the amazement of onlookers, and even ourselves, we inched out of the space and got back on the road.
About 12:45 we pulled into the Lake Conroe Thousand Trails, found a 50 amp site, and got set up. We seem to be creating a pattern here. The first time we were here, we were in site E60, next time it was E59, and now we’re in E58.
And this time we’ve got a tree.
One thing I was happy to see was that my shear pin repair was successful. At least so far.
Or, at least twice so far.
It came in with no problems when we were ready to leave Colorado River, and then went out just fine here at Lake Conroe.
Just hope it continues that way.
May 5, 2015
Nothing New Yet . . .
Nothing much happen today on the rig repair front. I did talk to my National General Claims Agent, Kerry, and got things going with her. Now it’s just hurry up and wait.
Stan, he Service Manager here at Affinity, says he’s just waiting to hear back from Fleetwood on the price of the parts needed to make the repairs. Then the repair plan has to be run by the National General Claims Adjuster for his approval. Then at that point the repairs can get started.
Jan commented that we’ve got a really nice site here, better than a lot of RV parks. No loud neighbors, no noisy parties, and no barking dogs. If only there was a little patch of grass for Mister to roll around in, rather the concrete parking lot, it would be perfect.
As it was, we had a nice quiet day with the only downside that Jan woke up with one of her migraines. But one of her magic pills took care of it within a couple of hours. But if her headache follows the usual course, she’ll have two more over the next couple of days, each one less intense.
Lowell sent over these photos from Landon’s graduation from Day School.
Jan remarked how much he’s grown and it’s only been two months since we’ve seen him. Brandi says he just eats and grows.
Brandi also said that she apparently inherited a lot of my ‘repair stuff’ genes. Landon has one of those Leapfrog tablets for kids that he uses.
And he apparently sometimes uses it in the bathtub.
And of course, at some point he dropped it in the drink, but didn’t tell Brandi for a while. So when she found out, she decided to see if she could fix it ‘dad’s way.’
So she started taking it apart, photographing as she went, until she had it down to the bare motherboard. She then let it dry out for a few days, put it back together, and it worked.
Glad she got her mother’s looks and my repair skills, and not the other way around.
But then Brandi also said after our recent unpleasantness, that she wanted us to stop roaming around the country and just settle down like normal retired parents.
I asked her why we should start being ‘normal’ now?
May 5, 2016
Let’s Be Careful Out There . . .
Jan was still a little under the weather today, so once again it was a stay-at-home day for us both. But very, very nice, anyway.
Our weather has been really great the last few days, with day temps in the 70’s and low 80’s, and lows in the mid-50’s. And it looks like its going to hold until we leave for Lake Conroe Sunday morning.
Let’s Be Careful Out There.
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I may have figured out the HDMI problem on my new computer. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago when I was setting up my new computer, I could not get the HDMI output to HDMI output to our TV.
We normally use this output to view computer stuff and stream movies to our big screen TV for us both to watch. All we have to do is to press one button on the TV remote, and we’re watch and listening to the computer on our TV.
But when I tried to set this up on the new one, just plugging in the HDMI cable to the computer, not only didn’t it work, it kill the computer output to the monitor as well.
So after thinking about it for a while, I decided to download new drivers and see if that would help. But when I went online, the specs said that the video card, a Radeon 7470, didn’t have a DVI port and a HDMI port, but instead, has a DVI port and a DisplayPort.
Apparently you can plug a HDMI connector into a DisplayPort, but it just won’t work. But an inexpensive ($13) adapter is available on Amazon, so I have one on the way. And I’ll know Saturday night how it’s going to work.
The website stuff has slowed down, trying to finish up all the loose ends. Like many things, the first 90% takes 10% of the time, and last 10% of the project, takes the remaining 90% of the time. Plus as usual, I still waiting on content from the client.
For dinner Jan whipped up what she called a ‘Cupboard Casserole’, made from seeing what she has in the pantry, and then combining it with previously cooked chicken breasts
This time she used a can of kernel corn, a can of black beans, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of Rotel Habanero Tomatoes, and a jar of origin-unknown hot sauce. Jan layered the ingredients with pieces of chicken breasts and corn tortillas. After she covered it in shredded cheese, she popped it in the convection oven for about 40 minutes at 350°.
Along with a salad with some of Jan’s homemade lime salad dressing and grilled French bread, it made for a great meal, quick, easy, and delicious.
May 5, 2017
It’s Snowing . . .
Last night it went down to 45° here in Sunriver,, peaked at 58° about noon, and then started falling, heading for 31° tonight. And then 24 to 28° tomorrow night. Brrrr!
On the other hand it was 107° today in Apache Junction. So our temps here don’t sound so bad now.
It’s easier to be cold and get warm, than it is to be hot and get cool.
About 3pm I decide to use the jacks to level the coach. We were pretty level when we parked yesterday, but the ground was soggy, and with more rain last night, the coach has settled somewhat.
So first I cranked up the rig and then lowered the jacks enough to make a depression in the soft ground, making it easier to position the pads. Next, after getting the pads in place, I lowered the jacks again and got us level. It’s nice to not be walking with a tilt again.
Finished with that, I dropped off some garbage at the nearby dumpster and then walked next door to see if our neighbor wanted to go brunch with us tomorrow.
Blog reader Mary Burge told us about Sparrow, a restaurant/bakery in Bend, and after checking on Yelp, decided it was a place we wanted to go.
About 1pm Jan started a big batch of Bean with Bacon Soup in the slow cooker after soaking the Northern Beans overnight. I cooked up some bacon in the microwave while Jan chopped up the onions. Then she spread out the onions and some sliced carrots on the same pan that I did the bacon in. This utilized some of the bacon grease for extra flavor
With the bacon chopped and in with the beans and the cooker on High, we started the pan of veggies in the convection oven for about 30 minutes before we added them to the pot. Based on previous batches we thought the soup would be ready to eat for supper about 6pm.
But for some reason they were still pretty crunchy, although very tasty.
So it was quickly out the door and on our way into Bend to have dinner at Red Robin, one of our favorite burger places.
Jan has been jonsin’ for some claw chowder so she was happy to find it on the menu.
I decided to try their chili,
which turned out that, although it was Oregon chili, and not Texas chili, it was pretty good.
Jan got the Shroom Burger with mushrooms and Cheddar cheese,
while I got the Burnin’ Love Burger with fried jalapeño coins, salsa, Pepper-Jack, lettuce, tomatoes and chipotle aioli on a jalapeño-cornmeal Kaiser roll. That’s a grilled jalapeno on top.
And of course, both with Endless Fries.
Really good.
Coming home a little after dark, I thought I saw something fluttering in the air, but when we got back to the rig, it was definite.
It was snowing!
Not a lot, and not sleet, but real, actual snow.
May 5, 2018
Our New Burrito King . . .
Amazon really came through on my missing Azio Lighted Keyboard. As a reminder, last Monday I got a text message saying my new keyboard had been delivered to the office.
I had ordered it the previous Friday to replace our 3 year old one that had gone wonky on us. But , although the tracking info said it had been delivered and “handed to a resident”, it wasn’t one of the three ‘residents’ who ‘reside’ at our office.
And in fact, after that initial disappearing act, it never reappeared. So, on Thursday, after our mailman told us it was lost and they had no idea where it was, I emailed Amazon, explaining the situation and 15 minutes later, they had credited my account the $29.99. Nice.
And this morning the replacement one that I ordered Thursday afternoon, showed up right on time.
Way to go, Amazon!
My phone’s ‘OK Google’ voice input works again. A couple of weeks ago I noticed saying ‘OK Google’ and then asking a question no longer worked. It worked if I typed something in the Google box, and it worked if I pressed the little mic button and ask my question.manually. So I knew it wasn’t a mic problem.
I had checked it on line a couple of times, and tried a couple of recommendations, all with no luck. But today it fixed itself.
While we were at lunch, I got a notice that there was a Security Update available for my Galaxy S8+. So I clicked OK, and a few minutes later my phone rebooted and it was done.
The RV Mobile Lube people called today and we’re now scheduled for this coming Friday afternoon around 3pm or so. Just one more thing out of the way before our trip.
I’m in the planning/ordering stages for my remote dump system. I think I’ll use the same box to hold the components that I used in my 50amp tester project, along with a blank wall plate. Then I’ll drill holes in the plate to install the two 1/4” phone jacks where I’ll plug in the two actuators. Since they both come with 1/4” phone plugs, it makes more sense to use that and not cut them off.
Inside the box I’ll mount these two remote controller units that I ordered today.
Then it should be just a matter of mounting the actuators and connecting them to the dump valve handles. Easy Peazy, right? Well, that’s the fun of a project like this. You never know what problems will pop up.
Not wanting to take any chances with our newly-arrived keyboard at my client’s office, Jan and I headed into the Clear Lake area to pick it up, and while there, eat lunch. And for the fourth time since Sunday, we ate again at the East Star Chinese Buffet. So that’s Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and today, Saturday.
The place is ready good, with everything fresh and hot, and done in small batches. Even the pizza must be really good, since they seem to have trouble keeping it supplied. I think it really says something about a Chinese buffet when people like their pizza too.
Of course, eating at the same restaurant 4 days in one week is not a record for us. That honor belongs to the late-lamented Burrito King back in the early 80’s. In that case we ate there every night for a week.
Yes, seven days in a row. Because that’s where everyone wanted to go for dinner. Over the years we became friends with the owner’s, the Montoya family, who owned other BK’s out in California. At one time there were two her in Houston, and over 20 total in the chain.
But out Webster location sadly closed when the family members moved on to other careers. According to this article, Burrito King, over the years the chain has faded to just two remaining units in California. The piece is an interesting read, with the details matching up with what we knew at the time. And I think a lot of the same problems caused the downfall of the local Ninfa’s restaurant chain here in the Houston area.
A local institution for many years, it crashed and burned due to family infighting, over-expansion, bad decisions, and mismanagement. Another sad loss.
May 5, 2019
Regensburg . . .
As with other towns/excursions along our river cruise, when we woke up we were docked out in the middle of nowhere. Just a dock, some mooring capstans, and a gangplank to the shore.
What happens is that they would dock a ways out from town, let off the people who were going to take the excursion, and then the ship would proceed on into the dock in town where it would be waiting for us at the end of the day.
So today we had a 40 minute bus ride into Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. Founded in the mid-1200’s, it’s known for having a higher concentration of bars than any other German city.
Coming into town we passed field after field of what turned out to be mustard plants
Which turn out to figure in our lunch.
We met our local guide at the bus park and started our walking tour into town, taking in the many sights.
Though the town itself was established in 1245, it had been a Roman settlement since around 100 A.D. It fact this stone arch was part of a wall that was commissioned in 179 A.D.
Everything over here is just OLD.
Coming into the main part of town we crossed the Old Stone Bridge.
Built around 1135, it was the only bridge across the river until the 1930’s. Originally a toll bridge, two different Crusades to the Holy Land passed over it along the way.
Next up was St. Peter’s Cathedral.
Built in 1280 to replace on that was built in 700 A.D. and burned down in 1273 A.D.
Did I mentioned that everything over here is just OLD.
After we finished touring the town museum, we came outside to find that the temp had dropped into the low 40’s and it was sprinkling.
But we had planned to have lunch at the historic Regensburg Sausage Kitchen.
And by historic, I mean the 900 year old Regensburg Sausage Kitchen
Did I mentioned that everything over here is just OLD.
It is said the Sausage Kitchen fed the workers who were building the Stone Bridge right next door.
When we came out, the umbrellas were up, holding off some of the rain, so we ordered “Sechs und Kraut”. Or Six and Kraut in English.
Which means six of their famous sausages, kraut, and rolls (Brötchen), the same thing that they have been serving all these years.
And it was delicious. Even though by the time our order came, it was 37 degrees and sleeting.
Where did this come from?
But the real standout of the meal was their Sweet Spicy Mustard, made from the same recipe all these years. So good that after the meal, I stood in line in the sleeting rain for 10 minutes to buy a bottle to take home.
Unfortunately as we were packing our suitcases in London before we came home, and swapping things back and forth trying to meet the weight limits, the bottle accidently ended up in one of our carry-on bags, and is now being enjoyed by a TSA guy in London.
But I discovered that I could order some online from a US company, so two jars are now sitting in our kitchen.
By now it was time for us to meet our ship, and we were told it was waiting for us about a half mile down the river at dock 2. So a bunch of us headed out, only to find that the Skirnir had not yet arrived. So there we all stood in the rain.
But the captain of the Viking ship Tor took pity on us and let us come onboard to wait until our ship arrived.
After getting back on board, dry and warmed up, and with a nap, we met up with our usual crowd for another great meal.
Jan and I started with the Sweet Potato Soup,
the Veal Scaloppini.
along with Carrot Cake for me,
and Tiramisu for Jan for dessert.
Later, we were given a talk about the many locks and low bridges that we would be encountering in the coming days. And because of this we were told that the Sundeck would be closed for the next week or so.
Everything is folded down, including the railings, to allow the ship under the many low bridges. And since it takes over 2 hours to complete the procedure, either way, they just leave them down until they’re through the worse of it.
Next up: Nuremburg
May 5, 2020
Getting Stimulated . . .
As I mentioned in Saturday’s blog, we ate dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse that night, and then Sunday, we had breakfast for dinner at our local Denny’s. And as at Saltgrass there were a few changes from normal.
We were ‘social distanced’, spread out among the booths and our waitress, Shelby, wore a mask. Our menu (we only got one) was printed on paper and thrown away as soon as we were finished ordering, and no salt/pepper shakers, jus the paper packets. Same thing goes with the sugar/jelly/creamers. As soon as we were done, the remaining packs were thrown away.
I didn’t see our usual waiter, Scott, so I asked. Shelby, said he was not coming back for a couple of weeks so he could collect the extra $600/week unemployment for a while longer. And in his case I don’t have a problem since I know he takes care of his invalid mother.
But I have heard of other places that are trying to reopen but can’t get their staff back to work because they’re making more on unemployment with the extra $600 than they can make on the job.
Of course if they wait too long, until the extra money runs out July 31st, there may not be a business to come back to.
Then this afternoon we did Curbside Pickup at our local Whataburger once again.
That’s a Double Meat with Cheese, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, Onions, and Grilled Jalapenos, along with Mustard and Mayo
And no, no Ketchup. And not on Hotdogs, either. Ketchup goes on French Fries. And maybe on top of your grandmother’s Meatloaf. That’s it.
We asked Lillian, the young lady who brought our order out if she knew when they were going to reopen the dining room, and she said no one had any idea.
May 5, 2021
Finally . . .
After scrubbing the launch of SpaceX’s SN15 on Tuesday, they said they planned on rescheduling for this Thursday (tomorrow). But in a big surprise, they launched this afternoon, about 5:20 CDT, Starship took to the skies for the fourth attempt at a 10km (6.2 mile) launch and landing.
And after the 3 past flights, SN9, SN10, and SN11, flew perfectly, but either exploded on landing, or soon after, SN15 stuck the landing perfectly, a little more than 6 minutes after liftoff from Boca Chica, TX
You can watch the entire flight here:
Some people have supposed that the SN15’s launch was pushed up until today to mark the 60th anniversary of Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 sub-orbital flight, making him the very first American in space. Could be, I guess.
I think Verizon is trying to force my hand. Today I received what is said to be the very last Security Update for my 4 year old Samsung Galaxy S8+. So recently I’ve been pondering upgrading to a new Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G.
And yes, the S21 Ultra has FIVE different cameras in it.
So it looks like I’ll finally have to bite the bullet and get a new phone. Jan of course, is all for this, mostly I think because she always gets my hand-me-down phone, and she really wants my S8+ to replace her old S5.
But we’ll see.
