Monthly Archives: January 2026

All This Is Because Of Us . . .

After stopping off at the Lazy Heron Coffee Shop, a French Toast Latte for me, and a Sugar-Free Snickers? Latte for Jan, we got over to Chris’ about 10 am to find Lowell, Landon, and Brandi right ahead of us.

A little later, Miss Piper and her boyfriend, Robert, showed up, so Linda put out Jan’s Sausage Balls and her Sausage Kolaches for a light breakfast.

All delicious.

Then, we all gathered in the living room and started handing out presents to everyone, with a lot of squeals and ‘thanks.’

Then everyone kind of split up, with some inside, some outside on the porch, and some down around the firepit.

Landon and I had a fun time talking over computers and electronics, regaling him with what went on in the beginning days of the computer revolution.

Later, around 5, we gorged on bowls of Chris’ Gumbo, with Shrimp, Crabmeat, and Sausage, and a really great roux.

Then, with the sun going down, we all gathered around the roaring fire pit, enjoying the warmth.

One thing about this fire pit is that Chris made it from scratch. Starting with sheet steel, he used his torch to cut out the silhouettes and then welded it all together, with each of the six sides different.

We stayed outside for a while, making S’Mores, talking and laughing, just having a good time.

Finally, the temps dropping into the 30’s, drove us inside for the night, and we started heading back to the hotel.

C0ming home, Jan said that as she watched everyone laughing, talking, and having a good time, it suddenly struck her that all this was because of us.

We did good!

Two great kids, and two wonderful grandkids!

* * * * * * *

Tomorrow morning, the Houston Bunch will start heading home, with a stop at the fabled BlueBonnet Cafe over in Marble Falls. Hopefully, Chris will be able to join us, too, but unfortunately, Linda has to work, and Piper and Robert are heading back to Corpus Christi in the opposite direction.


Thought For The Day:

Think the recent tornadoes are because of ‘climate change’?

According to the U.S. Weather Service:

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And how about this from a recent New York Times article?

Every article on the effects of climate change should also note that China today emits more carbon than the United States, Europe, and India – combined. China’s carbon emissions are so huge that the country has now produced more carbon in the last few decades than Europe has since the start of the Industrial Revolution. And China last year built more coal plants than in any prior year. All efforts outside China to slow climate change are just virtue signaling.

Of course, those really, really tall walls around China will keep all that nasty pollution over there, right?

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™


January 6, 2011

Happy 3rd Anniversary . . .

Today is our “Beauty’s” 3rd anniversary. Three years ago today, we picked her up at Roman Holiday Motorhomes in New Braunfels, TX.

12b

Then, one month later, on February 6th, 2008, Jan and I began our full-time life on the road. And if we stick to our plan this year, we will hit the road again this coming Feb. 6th.

A little synchronicity at work.

But this morning I left the rig a little before 11 am, heading back to the same client I was at yesterday. But today was already scheduled before yesterday’s emergency laptop repair visit.

Leaving the rig, I noticed we’re finally getting street lights here in the park. They’ve been installing the forms and rebar to pour concrete for the pedestals. And they’ve already finished some of them.

Jan and I both have mixed feelings about the street lights. The darkness is kinda nice, and the lack of light lets us see the stars better. Oh well.

RV Park LightPoles

Finishing up at the client’s about 2:30, I next drove over to Brock’s Car Care to see about getting my front brakes fixed. A few days ago, I started hearing grinding from my front right brake. Since it hasn’t been that long since I had the brakes done, I suspect that I may have a stuck caliper that caused the brakes to not release completely after braking and then grinding the pads and rotor down.

They said they could get me in tomorrow with no problems, so I told them I’d drop it off either this evening or the first thing tomorrow morning.

I got back to the rig about 3:30 just to turn right around and leave about 4 pm.

Jan and I were heading up to League City to the Cracker Barrel. It’s Thursday, so it’s Turkey and Dressing Day there, Jan’s favorite.

And even better, we got to eat for free.

As I mentioned back on December 23rd, we stopped by Cracker Barrel to pick up a take-out order of Turkey and Dressing so Jan could have ‘leftovers’, since we were eating out on Christmas Day.

But then the day after Christmas, when Jan went to have her meal for supper, she found that not only did she not get any cranberry sauce, but that her Turkey and Dressing lacked any dressing.

Sacrilege!

So to avenge Jan’s slight, I emailed the Cracker Barrel home office, and lo and behold, a few days later, I got a call from the manager. And after another few days, we received a coupon in the mail for two free meals. So Jan finally got her dressing, and all’s right with the world.

After we left Cracker Barrel, I called our son-in-law Lowell to see if he was home yet. Luckily, he was, so we drove by the house to borrow his truck so we’d have a vehicle to drive tomorrow while my truck is in the shop. Especially since Jan has a dentist’s appointment tomorrow morning.

This way, we were able to go ahead and drop off my truck at Brock’s tonight so they can get started on it the first thing after they open at 7 am.

And, of course, while we were at Brandi’s, Jan and I also got in a little Landon time since Lowell had already picked him up from daycare.

We got home about 6:30 after a busy day. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back on rig stuff tomorrow afternoon. We’ll see.


January 6, 2012

Wipers and Doors . . .

I spent this morning working on a few things around the rig, starting with installing those expensive Rain-X windshield wipers I just bought. It only took a few minutes, and even on a dry windshield, they were nice and quiet. I only did the truck today. I do the ones on the rig later.

My next chore was a big one. I was going to take my truck driver’s door panel off and see what I need to do to fix my broken power window. The window motor still works, and the window moves freely up and down in the track, so I figure the motor and the window are no longer connected together.

Removing the door panel wasn’t as difficult as some I’ve done. Five screws, and after disconnecting the two electrical plugs, just lift it off. The only real problem was disconnecting the two control rods that connect the inside door handle to the door lock.

Door Removal 1

The next thing I did was lay out the screws on a table in the pattern they came off the door and take a photo. This makes it easy to remember which screw goes where when I put it back together.

Door Removal 5

Getting the trim panel off and setting it aside, I peeled the plastic weather shield back to try and get a look at what’s going on inside the door.

Door Removal 2

I plugged the window/door lock control panel back in so I could run the window motor.

Door Removal 3

I used a suction cup to hold the window in position so it wouldn’t fall down into the door frame.

Door Removal 4

In trying to see how the window mechanism worked, I found a cable hanging down loose inside the door. A little Google research told me that these Dodge Dakota windows use a motor-driven cable to move the window up and down, and they sometimes break loose. Some people have had luck reconnecting the cable, while others say it quickly breaks again, and they end up replacing the window regulator anyway.

I’m going to go ahead and pull the motor/regulator unit out and take a look at it. It’ll got to come out either way. A new unit from the dealer lists for $331.00 with installation extra. I found one on Amazon, a brand-new, OEM part for $59.00.

I love Amazon.

I ran out of time today, so if the weather holds out tomorrow, I’ll pull the unit out then.

I stuck the weather shield back on the door and just left the window control panel hanging. To open the door, I have to pull on one of the control rods, but it works for now.

Jan and I headed out on some errands about 3 pm. First up was dropping her off at a laundromat in Friendswood so she could do some heavy rugs and blankets that won’t fit in our rig washer. While she was doing that, I ran some errands and then stopped by Brandi’s and talked with our son-in-law Lowell for a while.

By the time Jan was finished up, it was time for supper, so since King Food was nearby, we couldn’t resist. And of course, more great leftovers.

After supper, we stopped off at Brandi’s again to pick up some packages that had come in, before heading over to Kroger’s for a few groceries.

Then it was finally home for the night after a busy day.


January 6, 2013

Not Much Today . . .

Jan and I decided on an early breakfast this morning, so we headed up to the IHOP in Kemah. You have to pick your time going there on Sunday, otherwise you can have a long wait, but we lucked out and got seated immediately.

Afterwards, we make another futile attempt to buy deer corn at the Home Depot right next door.

Later in the afternoon, I felt a nap coming on, so I was able to put those two hours to good use.

That was about it for today. We had the usual sun, clouds, rain, & wind types of weather today, so it was nice to just stay home.


January 6, 2014

I Depend On The Kindness Of Strangers . . .

I’m sure you’ve been seeing the PSA’s on TV and ads in the magazines saying that everyone should be getting a flu shot right now, especially due to the H1N1 (Swine) flu that’s also going around.

When Jan was working at the hospital, she was required to get a flu shot every year, whether she wanted to or not. On the other hand, I haven’t gotten a flu shot since 1964, when I was in military school and didn’t have a choice.

During my Junior year, we were lined up and given a flu shot. I made it back to my dorm room just before I started throwing up. And I was sick for several days.

The next year, I tried to tell the doctor at the school clinic that I had been told to never have a flu shot again by my doctor at home because of my severe reaction to the shot. But the doctor didn’t believe me, and the Commandant said I could either take the shot, or start walking PT’s until I did.

PT’s, or Penalty Tours, consisted of walking around the Quadrangle with a pack filled with 60# of sand while carrying an ’03 Springfield rifle, which weighed another 9# or so.

So I took the shot.

Getting out of the hospital 10 days later, I was told I didn’t have to take the shot next year. Well, thanks a lot.

So now, like Blanche DuBois, I depend on the kindness of strangers. I figure if everyone else gets their flu shots like good little girls and boys, then I won’t have to. There will be no one for me to catch it from. Works for me.

I’m sure many of you out there remember The Great Swine Flu Pandemic of 1976? The one that the government said would be so devastating that they rushed an untested vaccine into production and use, resulting in dozens dead and hundreds reporting serious side effects like blindness and paralysis?

No, thank you.

And now we have dozens of people contracting narcolepsy after receiving the most recent flu vaccine.

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2014/01/06/report-girl-falls-asleep-up-to-30-times-a-day-after-getting-flu-shot/

And to answer your next question, yes, I have had the flu a couple of times since then. But that just means that you aren’t doing your part. So everyone get on the stick out there.


Well, after a high today of 38 degrees and 29 last night, we’re looking for 25° tonight. I pulled a second electric heater out of the basement, which, along with the heated mattress pad on our bed, keeps us warm and toasty.

If it gets down in the ‘teens’, I have a small cube heater like this that I put down in our water bay.

Cube Heater

With the heater plugged into this Inline Thermostat, we’ve been good down to 6 degrees (Garrison, MT in 2008).

Inline Thermostat

The thermostat turns anything plugged into it on at 35 degrees and off at 45 degrees. Works like a champ.


January 6, 2015

Just Damn!

With the sunshine today, Mister found himself a nice spot on the dashboard to soak it up after all the cool, wet days during the last week or so.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Never seen him with three legs together like this, but he seemed comfortable.

About 2 pm, I went outside to do some maintenance on the truck. Besides checking the oil, coolant, etc., I wanted todo some rechecking on my AC problem.

Regular blog readers may remember that back this past August, the A/C in our truck died while we were visiting relatives in north Alabama. I first put my gauges on the Freon line and found the pressures were fine. Next, I unhooked the connector that feeds power to the A/C clutch to check it.

The A/C clutch is what you hear making that ‘CLUNK’ when you turn your A/C on. The clutch pulls in and starts the A/C compressor turning and cooling the vehicle. First up, with the engine running and the A/C turned on, I checked for 12 volts at the connector coming from the dashboard. And finding the 12 volts told me that part of the circuit was working.

Then, setting my meter to Ohms, I checked the resistance of the clutch coil, and found the coil open, showing no resistance. Which meant that the problem with the A/C was the clutch. With the coil open, the clutch would not pull in, and the compressor would not turn.

So now I had to decide if I was going to replace the clutch, which I could do myself, or replace the compressor, which I could do, but no longer have the vacuum pump and other equipment necessary to recover the Freon, and then replace it after the new compressor is installed.

A new coil is about $125, while having a new compressor installed would run $600-700. The other thing to consider is the fact that the original compressor (and the truck) are 10 years old. So do I want to spend $125 on a 10-year-old compressor that might completely die next month?

So with all that on my mind, and while I had the hood open, I decided to check the coil once again. And lo and behold, this time the ohmmeter showed 80 ohms, not open as before.

WTH

Then, as I moved the connector a little, the ohmmeter suddenly showed open. And pulling a little bit on the wires coming from the connector showed me the problem.

The insulation was cut, and by moving the wire around, I could tell it was broken inside the insulation as well.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Could it really be this simple?

Twisting the wires around a bit got it in a position where it seemed to be connected. So I started up the engine and turned on the A/C.

And heard a ‘CLUNK’ as the compressor started turning. Getting a thermometer from the rig, I placed it in front of the vent and watched the temp. Within about 5 minutes it had pulled the temperature down from about 65 degrees coming out of the vent to about 44 degrees, a typical 20-degree differential. And this while it was 63 degrees outside.

Well, that will teach me to always investigate a little further on a problem. If I had done so, we could have avoided all those hot trips in the truck during August and September.

Just damn.

After we get to Colorado River, I’ll splice the wire to fix the problem. It’s always nice to save several hundred dollars or more when you can.

About 4:15, we headed out to dinner with our friend Randy. I had helped Randy rewire his electrical system a couple of weeks ago while we were both at the Colorado River Thousand Trails, and since I wouldn’t let him pay me, he insisted on taking us out to dinner. So we were off to the Buffalo Wild Wings right down the Interstate.

Randy had never been to one, but it turns out he likes stuff hot like we do, so he fit right in. And today was 60-cent wing Tuesday, so that was even better.

Leaving the restauran,t we stopped off at Sam’s Club to pick up Jan’s prescription that wasn’t ready yesterday. Then last up was a stop off at the Post Office to mail a letter before heading home.

We plan on leaving for Colorado River TT about 11 am tomorrow. But firs,t we’re going to have breakfast right down the road at the Cracker Barrel before coming back to head for Columbus.


January 6, 2016

Wednesday Roadtrip . . .

I was up at 8 am, way too early for me, and then about 9, Jan and I headed out for our day down in the Clear Lake area, missing out on walking, but since it was completely overcast, cold, and rainy, that was probably a washout anyway. Hopefully, tomorrow will be lucky.

We made a fuel-up/potty stop at the Flying J in Brookshire, where I had planned to get a coffee/cappuccino combo for the road. But it looks like Flying J has screwed up their cappuccino selection.

I first noticed this a few weeks ago when we stopped at the Pilot/Flying J on I-45 north of Houston. They have two cappuccino machines, each with six spigots. In the past, they’ve had a choice of probably 8 to 10 different flavors, like Hazelnut, French Vanilla, English Toffee, Pumpkin Spice, Mocha, Cinnamon Vanilla Nut, etc., i.e., fairly decent coffee/cappuccino flavors.

But now, at both Flying J’s, eight of the flavors are variations of French Vanilla, French Vanilla, Sugar-Free French Vanilla, Mocha French Vanilla, French Vanilla Alert (extra caffeine), etc.

The remaining 4 flavors were Hot Cocoa, Mexican Chocolate, Winter Dark Chocolate, and Raspberry Truffle (?).

Not exactly my favorite flavors of coffee. So until things change, no more coffee at Flying J for me.

Getting into Webster, we met our son Chris and his wife Linda a little after 11 at our favorite local Chinese place, King Food. It’s so good we’ve been eating here since 1978, almost 35 years. In fact, we’re on our fourth owner.

Jan and I had our usual Chicken with Hot Garlic Sauce with jalapenos, Extra, extra spicy.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

With Hot & Sour Soup, Fried Rice, and an Egg Roll, it’s a great meal, just perfect for a cold, rainy day.

Finishing up, Jan and I headed off to get our haircuts, with me first dropping Jan off at the Friendswood SuperCuts, while I drove back down to Lou’s Barbershop, where I’ve been going for almost 20 years, so long that I don’t even have to tell them how I want it cut.. Sheldon would say it’s because they have my haircut records.

Picking up Jan, I made a stop at O’Reilly Auto Parts to get a new gas cap for our Dodge Dakota. The old one gives me a Check Engine code every second or third tank of gas from removing and replacing it when I fill up. This should fix the problem. I hope.

Next stop was a nearby dry cleaners to drop off our summer quilt to have it cleaned. We have a lighter quilt that we use during the summer, and a heavier, winter one for the . . . well, the winter. So when we get back to Houston every fall, we drop it off at the cleaners, and switch over to our winter one that we left at our son Chris’. Then, a week or so before we head out for the year, we swap back again, leaving the now-cleaned winter one again with Chris.

After a client stop for a while, we drove over to the nearby Harris County Public Library so Jan could get a library card, not to check out any paper books, but so she could check out Kindle books online. That way, she won’t have to pay the high prices for mainstream publisher books, but can just check them out online.

By now it was after 3 pm, and rather than hang around to have supper down here, we decided to head back toward home to get ahead of all the going-home traffic on the Katy Freeway.

Along the way, we thought we’d stop off for dinner at the Grimaldi’s Pizzeria in the Katy area. Grimaldi’s has become our favorite pizza place, especially since they’ve spread out across the country.

When we first ate at one in 2009, it was at the original (and only) one, located in Brooklyn, NY under the Brooklyn Bridge (DUMBO) area.

Heading home, we made a pit stop at the Sealy Oasis, a new large convenience store about 15 miles out of Columbus, before getting back to the rig a little after 7 pm.

Another nice day and good times.

Our granddaughter Piper is on a ski trip with some girlfriends in Breckenridge, CO, this week, and sent back this photo.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

That’s Piper on the left. Looks cold.


January 6, 2017

A Three Heater . . .

And One Cat Night.

It finally struggled up to 35° today after a low last night of 33. Big difference.

Our low for tonight has been downgraded to 24° with 25 tomorrow night, so later in the afternoon, I topped off our fresh water tank and then disconnected both ends of the shore hose and let it drain. So we’re all set for the next couple of days.

Glad we’re not on a gate tonight, though with the shacks it wouldn’t be too bad. Back in 2014, we were on a frack gate over in Whitsett. And one night in November, a couple of weeks before we left, it was 26° and sleeting, and I had icicles hanging off the edge of the canopy. Never again.

Of course, from up in Paul’s Valley, OK, about 50 miles south of Oklahoma City, our son-in-law Lowell’s mother Sonja, sent us these photos today.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Sonja said it was 16 degrees today with a wind chill of 5 degrees. Then after 4 inches of snow, it is supposed to be 10 degrees tonight with a wind chill of -5. Just glad it’s not us.

For breakfast this morning, we had a couple of the tacos I picked up on my way home from my gate the other morning.

During our first week here back in Oct., Jan and I stopped off at the Stripes/Valero Truck Stop coming home one morning from our gate. We found they had a 24-hour Taco/Burrito Shop, so we each got a couple of breakfast tacos to bring home. Since they were so good, it was worth doing again.

This afternoon, I took my anemometer outside and found the wind speed here at the park to be about 25 mph, so with the 33°, that gives a wind chill of 20°. No wonder it felt so freaking cold when we left the rig about 4 pm.

We’ve always heard about how good the burgers were at Barth’s, even seeing people ordering them when we’re there for the lunchtime buffets. So if they’re better than the buffet, they must be good. And they certainly were.

Jan got the Cheeseburger and I got the Bacon Cheeseburger.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

These are huge burgers, with 6″ buns and a hand-formed patty sized to match. And they were really good. The thin edges were crispy-charred and just perfect. A really delicious burger. It’s easy to see why they’re so popular.

We’ll use all 3 of our heaters tonight, the Lasko Ceramic Tower,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

and two of these smaller Sunbeam units.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Normally, one of the Sunbeams stays in the truck for use on cold nights at the gate. The rooftop heaters don’t always work too well in some of the shacks, so I always have a backup plan.

Always have a Backup Plan.

For everything.


January 6, 2018

Repositioning Exercises. . .

Jan’s doing great, slowly getting her strength back. It’s just going to take time for her to get back to 100%.

We pretty much just laid around the rig today and never even went outside. I tried to get up the gumption to go outside and do the awnings, but no luck. I’ll try again tomorrow, I guess.

My BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo) that first hit me a few weeks ago seems to be slowly fading. Every reoccurrence has been less in intensity, and due to Jan’s illness I never got a chance to start the Canalith Repositioning Exercises to combat it.

The last time I noticed anything was a small swirl when I got out of bed a couple of days ago and that was it. So as it stands right now I’m not going to worry about it unless it comes back.


January 6, 2020

It’s A Keeper . . .

Whenever we buy something new, I always make a habit of keeping the boxes for a few days. And how long I keep the box is directly related to the cost of the item. The more expensive the item, the longer I keep the box.

So I just got rid of the box that our new Samsung TV came in, which I purchased the middle of December. And I also just got rid of Jan’s 2 Christmas gifts, which were cheaper.

One of the two you’ve already heard about, her Ninja Foodie Digital Air Fryer, which she loves.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

The second one, which I haven’t mentioned yet, was this Sowtech Rechargeable Cordless Vacuum. So yes, I bought my wife appliances for Christmas. But in my defense, it’s what she wanted and what she asked for.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

She had been wanting a new one, and saw this one being used at our local Black Bear Diner. What really impressed both of us was how much the BBD people liked it. Much better than the expensive Dyson that they also had.

They said the Dyson was always breaking and needing new parts. And considering the Sowtech was only about $70, about 25% of what a Dyson costs., Jan’s very happy.

Happy Wife, Happy Life. Even if it’s about appliances.

I have been downloading about 5GB of Garmin map data all evening. A couple of weeks ago, my Garmin GPS lost all the detailed maps, and was just showing a few main roads like 1-45 and Hwy 6.

After I fooled around with it for a while, I discovered that the 16GB MicroSD in the unit had died. Or at least I couldn’t read or write to it when I pulled it out of the GPS and plugged it into my computer. So I ordered a new one from Amazon that came in today.

At least now the GPS recognizes that it has a good SD card, so it’s downloading the new maps. I guess I’ll see when it gets done.

I also got a new oil filter for the rig in today, so later this week I’ll crawl back under the rig and pull the old filter and the adapter, and try again.


January 6, 2021

Our Lucky 13th . . .

Yesterday I signed us up for both Disney+ and Discovery+, and got a 6-month free trial. It turns out that if you have any Unlimited phone plan with Verizon, you can get these 6-month free trials for both Disney and Discovery, as well as a couple of other streaming services.

Just log in to your Verizon account and click on Add-Ons.

It looks like the check’s in the mail, again.

According to the IRS website found here,

https://sa.www4.irs.gov/irfof-wmsp/notice

our $600 stimulus checks went in the mail today. Of course, this IS the IRS, so you never can tell.


January 6, 2022

Sittin’ Pretty . . .

Jim of Jim’s RV Service showed up a little after 10 am, and along with his helper had the chair and the base out in about 30 minutes, leaving this.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Even nicer, Jim hauled off the old chair, as well as our old Attwood water heater that I haven’t had a chance to throw away before my recent unpleasantness.

Then, after a little cleanup, I put down the chair mat we had already ordered and rolled my Respawn Gaming Chair into place.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

I also installed another of the Lumbar Support Cushions that we had previously installed in the Jeep.

All very comfortable!

A little later, Jan and I drove into League City to have lunch at Cracker Barrel, today in particular because it was Thursday. And Thursday at Cracker Barrel means Turkey and Dressing. And Jan loves Turkey and Dressing.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

But not being as big a fan of T&D as Jan, I had breakfast, in this case their Double Meat Breakfast.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

After lunch, we decided to check out the new HEB up at I-45 and El Dorado. It opened on December 29th, but we decided to let things calm down before we visited. It was busy, but not too bad.

It’s basically a bigger version of the one over on SH96, and very nice.


January 6, 2023

An Anniversary . . .

Our 15th, actually.

No, not that one.

15 years ago today, in 2008, we picked up ‘Beauty’, our 1999 American Eagle motor coach, and began our full-time lifestyle. And a month later, on February 6th, we headed to Alaska, by way of Tucson, Yuma, San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, Billings, Coeur d’Alene, & Bellingham.

I mean, why go the direct route when you can just take the long-way-around scenic route?

And it’s been a fun ride ever since.

As I said before, tomorrow Jan and I are heading up to Katy to our daughter Brandi’s, so we can have lunch with them, and I can install some upgrades on Landon’s Ender 3D printer.

Really looking forward to it.


January 6, 2024

Still . . .

Jan was still not feeling 100% today, so I headed out about 1:30 to do our weekly Wal-Mart shopping and also bring back dinner.

And dinner was Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches.

A Spicy Chicken Sandwich for Jan and a Spicy Blackened Bacon & Cheese Chicken Sandwich for me.

Very good.

As I was leaving the rig, I checked out one of the new pads right across from our rig. And I’m still wondering how rigs are going to get up onto the pads.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Right now, the only thing that makes sense is that they’re going to raise the road to match. But where does that leave us?

I guess we’ll see down the road.

Don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. Depends on how Jan feels.


Armadilleaux Cafe . . .

The only thing we’ve got going this week is my 3-month follow-up appointment with Dr. Wang, my neurosurgeon. Hopefully, I’ll be cleared from my remaining restrictions.

Call It Ishmael’s . . .

Well, that stirred up a hornet’s nest. The most emails/comments I’ve gotten in a while.

Ishmael’s, our new coffee shop idea, was a not-so-veiled, (well, maybe too-veiled, in hindsight) swipe at Starbucks. And all of this refers back to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, or The Whale, which is the full title of the book.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

When the founders of a new Seattle coffee company were trying to come up with a name, they harkened back to the city’s whaling past, with the first suggestion being “Pequod’s”, the name of Captain Ahab’s sailing ship. But then someone said it sounded like they were selling ‘pee’.

Then, for a while, it was Starbo, the name of a Washington state mining camp, which then morphed into Starbuck(s), the steadfast First Mate of Captain Ahab, who opposed Arab’s obsession with killing the whale.

But for me, the most famous character in the book, besides the whale, I guess, was Ishmael. I mean, he’s right there in the very first sentence of the book, one of the two most famous opening lines in literature*

“Call me Ishmael”.

Ishmael, being the only survivor, and the narrator of the story.

Hence, our coffee shop named, “Ishmael’s”.

Take that, Starbucks.

*The other most famous opening sentence is from “A Tale Of Two Cities“.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times“.

As you’ll see below in the Retro-Blogs.™, today is our 15th Anniversary living in our RV, which Jan immediately named “Beauty”.

And 15 years later, it’s still our home.

Tomorrow looks to be lunch at Armadilleaux Cafea local Santa Fe place, where we ate a couple of years ago and really liked it, but somehow never went back. But Jan read that they have Clam Chowder on Tuesdays.

 

 

Mama’s Home Cooking . . .

After a nice, leisurely breakfast at our hotel, we left out about 11 am, with our first stop right down the road at the local Wal-Mart, of course.

While Jan was in WM, I doubled back to top off our gas tank, and then was back to pick her up before she was done.

Our next stop was a few miles further along the way, Wildseed Farms, a stop-every-time place for us when we’re through here.

They’ve got pretty much anything you might want of the gardenly-persuasion.

And for the first time, Jan actually bought something gardeney, a selection of poppy seeds in different colors for Linda.

We got to Chris’ about 1 pm, with Linda showing up from work a little before 2. When Miss Piper and her boyfriend, Robert, showed up about 2:30, we all headed out for an early dinner, ending up over in Burnet, at Mama’s Home Cooking.

New to us, it’s a regular stop for Chris and Linda.

And it was really, really good.

Everyone got something different, with Jan getting the Grilled Catfish

while I went with the Blackened version.

After a lot of fun and good food, Chris et al. headed home while Jan and I checked into our Rodeway Inn, nee LBJ Inn, for the next two days.

Brandi and her family should be here around 10 tonight, and then we’ll all meet up at Chris’ for our 2nd Christmas.

Merry Christmas all over again!


Thought For The Day:

Ever notice that it seems like the side effects of some of these drugs they advertise on TV are worse than what’s being treated. My favorite is ‘sudden death’ for a pill that treats depression.

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™


January 17, 2011

Mammoths and Ibises . . .

And the clouds parted…and the sun came out.

Finally!

We were beginning to get waterlogged.

It was supposed to be even warmer and sunnier this afternoon, so after coffee, I headed out for clients and errands. But many of my errands did not go as planned, since I didn’t remember that today was a Federal Holiday.

Heck, most days I’m not sure what day of the week it is, I’m supposed to keep track of holidays, too?

DayClock2

I mean, that’s why we have one of these hanging in the coach.

Of course, I have to remember to look at it, don’t I?

I did stop by Kroger’s on the way to get some PowerBall tickets, then it was on to my client’s office.

Looks like I’ll be going back up there tomorrow night while Jan’s at Bingo. I need to install the new 2011 UPS shipping software when the office is closed, since I’ll have to take their computers offline for about an hour or so.

Leaving the client’s I stopped off at Home Depot again, trying to find an icemaker water filter that will work in place of the one I have now, which has been discontinued. It goes under the sink at the rear of the cabinet, and there’s not a lot of room to mount anything too much different.

Luckily, I was able to find something that I think will work, and even better, it costs less money than the original.

Heading home, I stopped by the H.E.B. Market in the Victory Lakes area to pick up some unsalted butter and decaf coffee for Jan, finally getting back to the rig about 3 pm.

Just as I was entering the park, our daughter Brandi called to see if we were in her area, and if we could pick up Landon at daycare, and meet her at his pediatrician’s.

Last night, he developed an allergic rash on his face that had subsided this morning, but came back during the day, so Brandi wanted to get it checked out.

Unfortunately, it would have taken us about 45 minutes to get back up there, so we weren’t much help.

The doctor gave him some Benadryl and told her to see what happens in the next couple of days.

As soon as I got home, I started working outside on the wheel well flanges. I was able to get all the old rivets drilled out and ready to mount the new ones.

Air Compressor

I also found out I like my new Sears air compressor even more than I thought.

I wanted to top off a couple of tires on the truck, and while I was looking for an extension cord, I noticed that the tank gauge still showed 130#. I found that I was able to add air to three tires and the tank pressure only dropped about 5#. Great!

By the time I was finished, Jan was ready to go out to supper. Tonight it was the Chili’s up in Kemah. Jan had the Margarita Grilled Chicken, and I had the Chicken and Green Chile Soup and Salad.

Coming home, I stopped off at the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts on SH146, looking for some diesel fuel algaecide, but with no luck.

Getting back to the rig, I had enough light to start mounting one of the new flanges, but the wind had picked up, and with the temp in the low 50’s my fingers started to get numb fast.

So I’ll try to finish up tomorrow, since it’s supposed to be even warmer.

And now to other stuff.

First, I found some more info on the story about cloning a mammoth in the next few years. Check it out here. More Mammoth Stuff.

I got these photos the other day of a group of birds around one of the ponds around the park.

I call this one “What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”

“What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?â€

It turns out this is a juvenile white ibis. It’s the first time I’ve seen an ibis in this area. They apparently become pure white when they reach adulthood.

Juvenile White Ibis

And this is our old friend, the Great Blue Heron. He’s always around here somewhere.

Great Blue Heron

That’s it for today. More tomorrow.


January 17, 2013

Mission Accomplished . . .

or Oops!

Well, I got our Splendide washer/dryer reinstalled this afternoon, and so far it’s working fine.

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to put straps on the washer to help me get it out next time. And there will always be a next time.

New Washer Straps

The straps are fastened at the top rear of the washer and run down the back and then underneath and out to the front. I’ll then tuck them behind the retainer strip so it will look like this.

New Washer Straps 2

About 5:30 Jan and I headed to Chris and Linda’s for a meal of homemade gumbo. Chris did the cooking and did a great job, making it with shrimp, crabmeat, and Cajun sausage. Really, really good, served with rice and French bread.

And for dessert, we had homemade bread pudding with rum sauce. Heavy on the rum, very heavy. And very, very good.

And even better, we got to see Piper and her boyfriend, Casey since she wasn’t working tonight.

We finally headed home about 8pm after a long, busy day, and a delicious meal. And it looks like tomorrow will be busy too.

As far as the “Oops!”, it seems like in their hurry to ban magazines that hold more than 7 rounds, the New York State Legislature forgot to exempt police from the ban, and their pistols all hold 13 – 17 rounds. After being told by law enforcement that the law applied immediately to civilians, civilians are now trying to perform citizen’s arrests on police officers.

The Legislature says that they will fix the problem in the next week or so. Several people have said that they plan to file lawsuits to force the police to obey the law.


January 17, 2014

WARNING !!!

There are some really dangerous emails floating around. Here are the From: and Subject: lines.

Amazon Voucher Amazon Survey Rewards

Walmart Voucher Walmart Reward

They can be opened safely. but do not open the link to ‘claim’ your reward. Just delete them and then permanently delete them by emptying or deleting your Trash.

Stay Away!


After a 1 mile walk and our morning coffee, I spent most of the afternoon working on the on-going truck cleansing, as well as starting to go through a couple of the rig bays with the same intention.

Then about 2 pm I drove up to Clear Lake to check in on a client to be sure we were all set for my visit tomorrow night to work on a problem with their Point of Sale system.

Getting back home, we headed out about 5 pm to meet our friends, Maria and Connie, for dinner at the Kelley’s Country Cooking in Alvin.

Kelley's Trash

Above is a follow-up photo illustrating why I wish restaurants still had ashtrays. And, no, this is not all mine, just for 4 people.

Leaving the restaurant about 7 we all headed over to the Alvin Opry for the evening, and finally getting home about 10:30, after a very nice day.

Since we got home so late, this is all the blog you get.


January 17, 2015

Save The Date . . .

and The Time.

Gate Guarding for Fun? & Profit
Day: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 11:30

That’s the schedule for the Gate Guarding Seminar that Jan and I will be giving at the upcoming Escapade in Tucson, AZ, March 8″“ 12th.

* * * * * * *

About 3pm Jan and I headed down to the Clear Lake areafor her annual coworker get-together. Jan’s been getting together with her hospital coworkers ever since we started RV’ing the beginning of 2008, and they always have a great time.

Along the way, our first stop was at Brandi and Lowell’s in Katy to pick up some packages that had come in. They were off at a birthday party so we just made a bathroom stop, let Miss Kitty out to pee, grabbed our stuff, and got back on the road.

We had started early enough that I hoped we wouldn’t have a lot of traffic, especially since it was Saturday. And although our Garmin GPS Live Traffic Alerts system did give us the “Traffic Ahead” warning several times, showing anywhere from 2 minutes to 20 minutes delay, they always evaporated before we got to them.

I dropped Jan off at the Longhorn Steakhousea little after 5pm. The place was already starting to get busy so Jan wanted to her name on the list for a table for six, before everyone else got there at 5:30.

For my part, I went next door to get a new cartridge for my Moen shower faucet at the Home Depot. Although I found the 1222 cartridge I was looking for, HD does not carry actual Moen parts. Instead they only had a Danco version for $35, as in the Danco Universal Faucet Hose replacement that I got a couple of weeks ago while we were in Conroe. You remember the Danco Universal Hose that wouldn’t fit our Moen kitchen faucet, and when I called the company to complain, I was told this:

Next up, I called the Danco Co. up in Irving to find out why my Universal Kitchen Faucet Hose won’t fit my Moen faucet, even though the package says that it Fits All Faucet Brands.

The Danco Tech Support guy acknowledged that the hose would not fit my faucet, and that the Fits All Faucet Brands statement didn’t really mean that it fits ALL Brands, just a lot of them. Ironically the picture of the faucet on the box is my Moen faucet.

Yeah, that Danco. So I don’t have high hopes about this cartridge. But we’ll see.

I also picked up some Plumber’s Silicone Grease for the O-rings on the cartridge at the same time.

Then it was across the Interstate to our son Chris’. Since he has a floor jack I wanted to pull the right front tire on the truck to see what was causing a front-end shimmy that started recently. It felt like an out-of-round tire, but when I ran my hand along the tread as Jan slowly drove forward, I couldn’t feel anything. Chris thought it might be a warped brake rotor, so this afternoon we were going to find out.

If it was a warped rotor, I would have to replace both rotors and both sets of brake pads. Only replacing one rotor can cause uneven braking problems, so it’s better to do both. And of course, while you’re in there you might as well put on new pads to go with the new rotors. All in all, not really hard to do on my Dodge Dakota, and only about $125 for the parts.

But as soon as Chris got the tire off, it was very apparent it was not a warped rotor. There was a bubble on the tire thread, but it was on the inside edge of the tire, which is why I missed it when I checked. It looks like a cord in the tire separated.

We went ahead and put the spare on, and I’ll get a new tire later in the week when we’re back in Conroe. Based on what I paid for my last new tire, the complete front-end brake job would have been cheaper.

When Chris and I finished up, Linda had a delicious meal waiting for us, Pork Roast, Broccoli-Cheese Casserole, hot rolls, and sweet tea. Really, really good, and much appreciated. And she sent me home with leftovers. Nice!

Leaving Chris and Linda’s about 7:15, and heading in the direction of the steakhouse, I made a stop at the Baybrook Mall Starbuck’s to pick us up Chestnut Praline Lattes for the ride home. On my way there, Jan called to say to pick her up about 7:50pm.

Leaving the Starbuck’s about 7:30, I decided to swing by the nearby Lowe’s. Surely they carried Moen faucet parts. But no, just more Danco. And they didn’t even have the part at all. But they did have a Moen Cartridge Repair Kit for $2.49 so I grabbed one of those.

Picking up Jan right on time, we had an easy run home with no traffic, and got home about 9:30 pm

And no more front-end shimmy, either.


January 17, 2016

Goodbye and Pie . . .

As we’ve done in the past, Jan and I drove into Columbus about 7:30 to have breakfast at Schobels Restaurant before we headed for Lake Conroe about 10 am.

When we do this, we get everything ready to roll before we go eat, so when we come back it’s pretty much just bring in the slide, disconnect shore power, crank up, and go.

We had our usual great omelets at Schobels with grits and bacon for me, and hash browns and bacon for Jan. And their coffee’s really good too.

Their breakfast buffet doesn’t start until 8am, so we missed that, but I did check it out before we left, and it really looked good. Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy, Grilled Sausage Chunks, Grilled Ham Slices, Thick Sliced Bacon, Grits, Scrambled Eggs, and a lot more. Maybe we’ll come a little later next time.

Getting back to the park,we wereon the road by 10:30, heading east on I-10. As in past trips, I pretty much just set the speed control on 55, and go. We did make a pit stop just east of Brookshire, but that was our only stop.

We pulled into the Lake Conroe Thousand Trails about 12:45 and got checked in. We’ve been here so many times that Kim, the head ranger, now knows us by name, which makes for a much quicker check-in. Nice.

So 2 hours and 15 minutes for the 120-mile trip, an hour shorter than our ‘shortcut’ through the countryside last time. And a lot less stressful, and a lot less tiring for me.

Kim said our new favorite space over in the G section was taken, but that a couple of sites over in our old favorite E section. Hey, so I guess we’re fickle. Heading over to the E ring we did find a nice spot there with easy back-in parking, and were quickly in and set up.

Coming up the ring, we did see our friends, Garland and Valencia’s Phaeton as we drove in, so it looks like we’ll maybe have some walking partners again.

We goofed off the rest of the afternoon, reading, napping, and computing, one of the great perks of being a full-time RV’er. Later Jan heated up our leftover Mexican from Los Cabos, and some of our homemade queso and chips. A great meal, again.

Earlier, when I was outside hooking up, I began talking to our neighbor and found out that he runs the MyRVTalk website, with over 3300 members. it’s more on the form of something like RV.net with many different forums areas on a number of different RV’ing subjects. It looks like there’s a lot of good information on there, so check it out.

Tomorrow I’ve got several things on my plate, with a call to Colaw RV Salvage to see if they have any screen door hinges for our coach. American Coach said they don’t have any in stock, and the door company is out of business, so Colaw is my last hope.

They were able to supply a lot of the parts for our blow-out repair in Prescott, AZ this summer, so I’m hoping they can come to my rescue again. If not, guess I’ll see if I can repair/reweld them somehow.

I’m also going to remove the screen door for now, because the sagging hinge keeps jamming the screen door against the main door, and makes it hard to open and close the door. I’ll just store it in the truck for now.

I also want to check/replace the check valve on my water system. Yesterday afternoon, to get a head start on this morning’s travel, I went ahead and disconnected the water and sewer hoses and stowed them away. I hate to wrestle with stiff water hoses in 33° weather, and it’s one less thing to do on a travel morning.

I disconnected the shore water and put us on our internal tank, which was full . . . then. But about midnight, when I went to my shower, I found the pump running and the tank now empty. So I got dressed, went outside and hooked us back up to shore water . . . in 35 degree weather. Otherwise, no shower for me, no shower for Jan tomorrow morning, and no water for general use on the trip today.

But it may have just been the really cold weather, since when I checked it out after we got to Lake Conroe, it was fine. So we’ll see.

I also plan on restarting the screen replacement project on my son’s Galaxy S5. The new screen/digitizer I ordered came in on Friday, so now I’m all set . You can check our my previous adventures on this project here.

https://ourrvadventures.com/2016/01/but-the-patient-died/

Hopefully things will go better this time.


January 17, 2017

Frack By Night . . .

Last night was a little quieter than last night, with only about 20 trucks coming in, so not bad at all.

Except for the rain. And rain. And more rain.

It wasn’t long until the entire pad was flooded, especially the potty trailer area.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

What wasn’t under six inches of water, was just six inches of mud. Very heavy, very sticky mud. Your boot would sink in and it was hard to pull it back out.

But even rain doesn’t stop the frack. Nearby lightning, yes, rain, even heavy rain, no.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Otherwise the crane is just one big lightning rod.

And it doesn’t stop at night either. With enough light, they just keep going.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

It’s looking more and more likely we’ll move over to Westhoff. a town without a traffic light, just a two-way stop sign in the center of town. But instead of a 2 hour round trip back to Kenedy, we’ll only have about 10 minutes. Much nicer.

And much cheaper, with both gas and park rent.


January 17, 2018

OOPS!

It went down to 23° here in Santa Fe last night, our lowest so far this year. But we made it through with no problems. Our water bay, where I installed the heat lamp last night, never dropped before 37°. I also wrapped a towel about our site water faucet, a PVC pipe that extends about 2 feet above the ground, And when I checked this afternoon it was still OK.

The only thing I ‘OOPS’ on was that when I was being sure my truck door wouldn’t freeze up by opening it several times during the evening, I completely forgot about Jan’s side of the truck.

So when I went out this morning it took me about 5 minutes to get it open. Of course it wasn’t as bad as in 2008 in Sturgis when it took me over an hour to get in then.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

I did go outside about 8:45, cranked up the truck, and then turned the defrost and heater on High, so the windows were clear and the inside was toasty when we were ready to go.

Originally before the storm came through, we had planned to leave the rig about 9:45 for Jan’s 10:30 appointment this morning. But with this weather, we left home a little after 9 am. Based on all the reports, I was expecting a real mess on the roadways, but zero, zip, nada. The roads were clear and dry.

I wasn’t planning on taking I-45 north due to the many overpasses along the way, and the news reports of all the wrecks this morning. I just had to get over the FM646 overpass and over to Hwy 3. I figured then I’d be home free with no overpasses.

And if I couldn’t get over on 646, I had a backup route to turn around and then take FM517 up to Alvin and then into Clear Lake on FM528 with no overpasses along the way. But this would take a lot longer so that’s why we left so early to allow for this reroute if necessary.

But the 646 overpass was heavily sanded and not a problem, and it was clear sailing the whole way to the hospital.

Jan’s procedure was scheduled for 12:30 and it all went pretty much on schedule. They have a really neat service where they text you as things happen during the procedure.

For instance, I got one when she was taken into the Operation Room, another when the procedure actually started, and another when she was taken to the Recovery Room.

Everything went fine with the lithotripsy, and we were on our way home by 5pm. She said that she was really surprised that she was not having any pain or soreness and probably wouldn’t need any further painkillers.

On the way home we made a Jason’s Deli stop for a couple of large Broccoli-Cheese soups for Jan to have over the next couple of days.

She’s got a follow-up checkup on Feb. 2nd and then hopefully will be done.


January 17, 2019

The Eyes Have It . . .

We were out the door a little after 6:30am, heading for the Bay Area Surgicare Center adjacent to the Clear Lake Regional Hospital, where Jan used to work before we started RV’ing.

By coming in at 7:30, Jan was in the ‘second wave’ of cataract surgeries, so, after all the pre-op stuff. she was finally taken in a little before 9am. And as on her left eye, she was out in post-op, and ready to leave by about 9:45.

However, unlike last time when we went out for breakfast afterward, this time Jan was very nauseous and didn’t want to eat, so we just headed home. Then as we got closer to FM646, Jan decided that she would like a Broccoli Cheese Soup from Jason’s Deli, so I made a slight detour for that.

Back at the rig, and since neither of us slept very well last night, Jan had a little bit of the soup and then we both went back to bed. When Jan got up later she was feeling fine, so a little before 5pm we headed out to have dinner at Chili’s.

We both had our long-time favorite Grilled Chicken Caribbean Salad, something we’ve been eating there for years.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

In fact, when they stopped carrying it about 15 years ago, we stopped going until several years later, when they brought it back. Guess they missed us.

Recently I noticed that the hot water from our Atwood 10 gallon Water Heater didn’t seem to last as long as usual. Normally the amount of hot water is not a problem for us, since I usually take my shower at night and Jan takes hers in the morning.

So I figured it needed to be flushed out. So when Jan got her shower that morning I had her turn off the water heater beforehand, so I wouldn’t have to dump a lot of hot water down the drain before I worked on it.

When she was done, I opened the faucet to drain the rest. Then I went outside and turned the water off. Then I removed the T & P valve and opened the drain plug enough to dump out a couple of gallons of water.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Next, using a funnel, I added about a 1/2 gallon of vinegar to the water heater and then replaced the T & P Valve. Back inside I opened the hot faucet and flushed the air out until the water heater tank was full. Then I turned it back on and let it percolate for a couple of hours.

Back at it, I turned the water heater off and drained the hot water out again. Then outside again, I turned off the water and opened the drain plug to empty it.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Then using my water heater wand hooked to a hose, I used it to flush out the heater by directing it in through the drain plug hole and twisting it around until nothing lumpy came out.

Then all I had left was to reinstall the drain plug, turn the water back on, and checked for leaks. Last up, I flushed the air out from the hot water faucet, turned the heater back on, and I was done.

Be aware that if you do this, be very careful not to turn the heater back on while the tank is empty of water. If you do, you will burn out the heater element in just a few seconds. So be safe out there.

Tomorrow morning, Jan has her checkup for today’s operation, then we’ll head off for breakfast before I head into work.


January 17, 2020

Nary A Drip Nor A Drop . . .

After I got home this afternoon I went to the back of the rig while Jan cranked up the engine. I wanted to be outside when she first started up, so I was on the phone with her in case there was a catastrophic failure so she could shut the engine off immediately.

But when nothing untoward had happened after 5 minutes, I came back inside and bumped it up to high-idle and let it run for about 35 more minutes. Then after shutting down, I went back outside to take a look.

And I was very happy to see nary a drip nor a drop.

Of course, I never found any leaks the four other times I’ve done this while working on the problem. I guess we’ll know for sure when we do our test drive next Sunday.

Crossing my fingers.

This weekend looks to be a quiet one for a change, with maybe a movie on Sunday. Probably Knives Out which is getting really good reviews.


January 17, 2021

Really, We Only Planned To Eat Half . . .

Today being sunny and in the mid-60’s, it seemed like the perfect day for another visit to the Three Acres Food Truck Park.

Along with our usual Clam Chowder and Fried Mushrooms, we tried a couple of new things, a Chicken, Cheese, and Bacon Quesadilla,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

and an order of their Chicken Tenders.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Both really good, as usual.

And of course we had to finish up with a Deep Fried PB&J, mine with Grape Jelly, and Jan’s with Strawberry.

We cut them in half, planning to eat half and take half home, to have with all the rest of our meal that we took home for later. But it didn’t work out that way.

Though we had plenty of Friend Mushrooms, Chicken Tenders, and Chicken Quesadilla left over, none of either of the PB&J’s made it home.

Then it on over to the HEB for a few things before heading home.

A very nice end to the weekend.


January 17, 2022

If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another . . .

Well I had planned to go back and start posting all the fun we had this past weekend. But it was not to be.

I woke up this morning with a really bad reoccurrence of my BPPV (Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo).

So not only am I already having trouble walking as it is, now whenever I stand up, my head spins like I’m on a TiltAWhirl. So much so that I didn’t go into work today.

But by evening it had mostly faded away.

So maybe tomorrow. We’ll see.


January 17, 2023

Boy, Is It Fast!

Lunch today was at our other breakfast favorite, Snooze AM.

And Jan always gets the same thing, their Bravocado Toast.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

However I tend to wander around the menu, but today I was back to the Shrimp & Grits.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And we split an order of their Bacon But Different,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

which is Thick Bacon, with Brown Sugar, Cayenne Pepper, Chili Flakes, and Black Pepper Maple Syrup.

Delicious!

Then it was on over to the nearby Aldi’s so Jan could pick up a few things, before heading back to the Wal-Mart in our area for a few more things.

It seems like we never have enough ‘things.’

My Samsung Galaxy Tab 4, my faithful companion since 2014, finally gave up the ghost this morning. Well, it didn’t actually die, it just would no longer boot up, hanging about halfway.

I tried all the tricks, holding the power and volume down buttons down for a complete reset, holding the power button down for 2 minutes, etc. But nothing helped.

So after 8 years it was finally time to upgrade to something a little newer. As in 2023.

After doing some research, and wanting to stay with a Samsung tablet, I chose a Galaxy Tab A8 like this.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And even better it would be here this afternoon. And it was waiting for me when we got home from our lunch/errands.

And boy, is it fast!

I had forgotten how much faster these newer tablets are compared to 8 years ago.

I’ve gotten most of my favorite apps installed, and the rest I’ll just install as I need them. This helps me weed out apps that I don’t use anymore.


January 17, 2024

The Big One?

Well, we came through the Big Freeze (the Big One, at least until the next one) with no problems, even with it going down to 23° last night. I went out and put us back on shore water about 12:30 and everything’s working fine.

And it looks like we’re good for the next week or so. Of course, this is not the lowest temps we’ve seen in this area. In fact I think we had an 11° temp overnight a while back.

And here’s a recap of our adventures about 2 years ago during our last Big Freeze when the power was off for 3 days.

https://ourrvadventures.com/2021/02/15/

https://ourrvadventures.com/2021/02/16/

https://ourrvadventures.com/2021/02/17/

https://ourrvadventures.com/2021/02/18/

https://ourrvadventures.com/2021/02/19/

https://ourrvadventures.com/2021/02/20/

But none of these temps are the coldest we’ve been in with the rig. That would be 6° in Garrison, MT in 2008.

And then there’s this time in Sturgis, SD, also in 2008.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And of course this one we just missed by a couple of months in Fairbanks during late January 2009.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And during this same time, down the road a bit in Tok, AK it was -80°.

Yikes!

Tomorrow is our monthly RVget-together up in Conroe with Debi and Ed Hurlburt, and hopefully Janice and Dave Evans. This month it’s at the Golden Corral, one of our favorite restaurants in that area.

Yumm!


Another Day . . .

Another Day . . .
Another Scam.

Since we’re looking at temps in the 20’s this coming Monday and Tuesday, I got outside this afternoon to prep our Water Bay for it.

I have two of those aluminum clamp-on reflectors that hold a pair of these Radiant Heat Lamps that give off no light, just heat. They’re normally used for reptile cages, but they work great in this situation too.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

These plug into one of these Thermo-Cubes, a thermostatically-controlled outlet.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

The outletsturn on at 35° and off at 45°

And to monitor the Water Bay temps, I have one of these Switchbot remote Thermometers

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

They have a magnetic back so they just stick to the side of the bay.

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I got this text today saying that I owed the City of Houston an unpaid parking ticket of $4.35.

Knowing I hadn’t had any parking tickets, and sensing ascam, I typed ‘parkinghou’ without the ‘.com’ and nothing came up except valid City of Houston URL’s.

But the real clue is that the 514 area code is Quebec, Canada.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

So it’s those darn French Canadians.

Stay safe out there.

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Since we’re looking at the possibility of some snow next Monday/Tuesday, I thought I’d post these directions on how to drive on snow in the South.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.