Monthly Archives: March 2026

A Two-Pronged Approach . . .

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For the first prong, I was outside this afternoon for a little more testing.

Yesterday I had checked the two 12VDC fuses shown by the upper red arrows.

The two lower red arrows are where the heating elements plug into the Control Board. So after pulling the connectors off, I confirmed that I had 120VAC at the terminal on the board.

With the connectors still removed, I checked the continuity across the heating element, and read 34 ohms. Which means that the element is not open, but I don’t yet know whether that resistance reading is correct or not, so I’m still researching that.

I did double-check the location of the heating elements, off to the left of the unit. According to the manual, I just need to remove the screw holding the little plate in place, and just pull out the elements.

So I’m looking at the possibility of replacing the elements as the first prong.

At the same time, as the second prong,  I’m also looking at replacing the fridge with a Samsung RF18 as I mentioned yesterday. This is going to happen whether or not I can temporarily fix the old one.

But fixing the old one would take some pressure off, allowing me to do a little more planning and shopping for the changeout.

* * * * * * *

One thing interesting I came across in my fridge shopping was the term ‘Sabbath Mode’. Never having heard this term, I did some Googling.

Sabbath mode is a feature on modern kitchen appliances (ovens, refrigerators, dishwashers) designed for Jewish users to comply with Halakha (religious law) during Shabbat and holidays. It overrides automatic shut-offs, disables lights/sounds, and maintains constant temperatures, allowing appliance use without violating prohibitions against creating, altering, or extinguishing electrical currents.

So now we know.

* * * * * * *

We left the rig about 12:30, with our first stop at the Galaxy Nails so Jan could get her toeies done. After that, we drove over to Clear Lake Shores to have lunch at Schafer’s Coastal Grille.

And with most places we go, we both have our favorites.

For Jan, it’s their Keto Shrimp Tacos.

And for me, it’s their Wedge Salad and the Filet Bites.

The place wasn’t nearly as busy as usual, probably because everyone’s down in Galveston for the start of Spring Break. So we took our time and just enjoyed the food and the view.

* * * * * * *

Tomorrow’s HEB with lunch TBD, maybe Cheddar’s.

Don’t forget that Daylight Saving Time starts at 2 am tomorrow morning.

So Spring Forward.


Thought For The Day:

There’s no surer way to make something more expensive than the government trying to make it more affordable.

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™


March 5, 2009

You can’t go home again…

Today, Jan and I had lunch at one of our favorite seafood places here in Gulf Shores called Tacky Jacks. It’s on the bayou at Alabama Point that connects the bayou to the Gulf of America and has some great views.

View of Alabama Point from Tacky Jacks

View of Alabama Point from Tacky Jacks

It’s also right across the bayou from SanRoc Cay, a resort area that’s built on property that my parents once owned.

$ure wi$h we $till owned it.

SanRoc Cay

SanRoc Cay

It’s kind of hard to drive around and see all the new condos and buildings that have gone up. Gulf Shores used to be a sleepy little town with mostly mom-and-pop businesses. Now it’s Fort Walton Beach/Panama City redux.


March 5, 2010

More of the Same…

Jan and I headed back out this morning to try to garner more door prizes.

I’m having pretty good luck as long as I can get to talk to the manager. Otherwise, it’s “Come back tomorrow.”

We stopped and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant called Mi Rancho. It was good, and hopefully, they’ll have some gift certificates for us tomorrow. We’ll see.

About 5 pm, we headed back to the Fairgrounds to meet up with Tom and Barbara for supper at Outback. And hopefully they will have some gift certificates for us on Sunday. Again, we’ll see.

That’s about it for today. More tomorrow…


March 5, 2011

‘Hot’ BBQ and Hot Wings . . .

This morning started off with a big surprise. Our first Skype video call from our daughter Brandi and our grandson Landon. We didn’t have our webcam hooked up yet, so they couldn’t see us yet, but we could see them.

Landon Skype 2

We talked for about 5 minutes before we lost the connection. It’s only been about a month since we’ve seen them. It just seems longer.

Jan came up with a great description for living on 20 amps. She called it the “electrical dance”. Something must be turned off before something else can be turned on. A very apt description.

About 11 Jan and I headed back out to the Fortuna area for a last pass on door prizes. While we were in the area, we had a quick lunch at McDonald’s and then headed out to the Foothill’s area for the real reason Jan came with me today, our visit to the Chocolate Crafter’s store.

Chocolate Crafters

Lorena, one of the owners, was there and handing out samples. When I visited yesterday, her father Bob had said he would have Lorena bring in some gift certificates for us to give out as door prizes at the Rally that starts on Monday.

And they really came through for us. Thanks, Bob and Lorena.

It’s hard to believe that they make all this great-tasting chocolate right here in this small shop.

Chocolate Crafters 1

Chocolate Crafters 2

Mmmm, Mmmm, Good!

On our way home, we stopped off at Fry’s Supermarket to pick up some things so Jan could make her twice-baked potato casserole for our parking crew get-together this evening.

About 3 pm, much of the parking crew had arrived and was set up in the field across the street from us, so we had a strategy session on the early bird parking tomorrow.

We can’t start until about 1 pm since we have to wait for the Good Sam Rally people to leave. But it looks like we’ll have much better weather this year. Last year it was cold, and it rained all day Sunday. But it changed on Monday.

Well, it did rain Monday morning, but then it cleared up around noon. Then in the afternoon, we had rain, lightning, sleet, and hail.

I mean, that’s a change, isn’t it?

Parking Crew

About 5 pm, we all gathered around and had some of Dennis Hill‘s delicious slowed-smoked pulled pork BBQ. Dennis is the owner of the RV Driving School, and a great cook too.

Parking Crew 1

Everyone brought a side dish, with Dennis supplying the BBQ and the buns.

Dennis said he had two types of BBQ . . . a dry-rubbed pulled pork, and a ‘much hotter’ version with BBQ sauce on it. He even warned everyone that it was ‘really, really hot’.

It was all delicious, but personally, I think Dennis should be ashamed to say he’s from Texas if he thinks that BBQ was ‘really, really, hot”.

Like I said, it was delicious, but I mean, we didn’t even have to sign a waiver, like I did for the Devil’s Breath Buffalo Wings at the Cypress Creek Cafe in Wimberley, TX last month. Made with Naga Jolokia peppers, one of the hottest peppers in the world, they will show you what ‘hot’ is.

Parking Crew 2

After dinner, we all sat around and swapped stories and wild tales of the open road, maybe a few of them even true.

After we broke for the evening, Jan and I made a DQ run to round out a really nice day.

More tomorrow from the Parking Wars . . .


March 5, 2012

Five Guys and Nose Skids . . .

Since parking and registration started at 8 am this morning, Jan and I were up at 7.

Ugh!

After wake-up coffee and muffins, Jan and I headed over to the main hall to get things started. She was selling pizza party tickets, and I would be parking RV’s again.

As it turns out, I really wasn’t that busy. We had maybe twenty more rigs all day, and never more than two at a time, so I spent most of my time trying to find a shady spot to stay cool while I was waiting for a walkie-talkie call to come park someone.

About noon, Jan and I met up and had some really good hot dogs / Polish sausage dogs for lunch from the food truck that is here at the rally. They have a 9-year-old daughter named Jessie who’s a great order taker and keeps the line moving.

We wrapped up the parking about 3 pm, and then about 3:30, the festivities started with the Welcome Get-together in the main hall, which then segued into the Ask the Experts panel that finished up a little after 5 pm.

For dinner, Jan and I, along with Al and Adrienne, and Tom and Barb, all drove over to Five Guys Burger and Fries. They had a really good Bacon Double Cheeseburger that’s hard to beat, and some of the best fries around.

Then at 7 we had our first door prize giveaway, consisting mostly of restaurant coupons, so the winners will have time to use them before they leave on Friday.

We finished up about 7:30 and headed back to the rig for the night, just to start again tomorrow.

But at least no more parking.

On another note, Landon had a slight disagreement with his backyard plastic slide and did a header, complete with skid marks on his nose.

Landon Slide 2

His shirt says ‘Stunt Master,’ so it probably won’t be the last time he does something like this.


March 5, 2013

Bandera and Pipe Creek . . .

Today was a combo drive through the country/shopping afternoon.

About 2 pm, we headed out to drive over toward Bandera, TX, the self-proclaimed “Cowboy Capital of the World”. We took a couple of back roads on our way just to enjoy the countryside.

The centerpiece of the town, like many small towns, is the courthouse. In this case, it’s the Bandera County courthouse. Built in 1890 from locally-quarried white limestone, it was crafted by the many Polish stoneworkers in the area.

Bandera Courthouse

One that I found interesting was the fact that, besides the many Poles settling in the area, a group of 250 Mormons arrived in 1854. After first settling in Austin, and then Fredericksburg, set up ‘Mormon Camp’ on the Medina River, where they grew vegetables and made furniture for sale in the area.

Heading out of town on SR 16, we stopped off at the feed store so Jan could get some more deer food. You’d think that with all the money I’m spending on food for them, I’d get a little venison out of the whole thing.

Passing through Pipe Creek on our way to Boerne, we stopped off and got gas at the local Shell station. Paying $3.46 a gallon, I used Gas Buddy to help me find the cheapest place. Other stations nearby were charging as much as $3.65.

Getting into Boerne, our first stop was Home Depot for some more project things, before driving next door to have dinner at the local Chili’s. As usual, Jan had her Margarita Chicken, and I had a Soup and Salad combo with their Spicy Chicken and Sausage Soup. Hey, if it’s got ‘Spicy’ in the name, I’m all for it. But I’m usually disappointed.

Wrapping things up with a quick stop at Wal-Mart, we headed back to the rig with a loop through the HEB gas station to be sure we can get in and out to diesel up when we leave here next Monday.

Tomorrow it’s a two-fer. First, we’ll head up to Fredericksburg to have lunch at our favorite German restaurant, Der Lindenbaum, before heading back over to the Canyon Lake area to check in with our friend Gina. We’ll take Gina a plate of her favorite JagarSchnitzel on our way.


March 5, 2014

Heavenly Hash . . .

Although we never really saw the sun, we awoke to much better weather this morning. In fact, the temp made it all the way up to 56 degrees. And tomorrow they say we’ll see the sun and 60 degrees. We’ll see.

About 11 am, I went out and connected us back to shore water. I disconnected it Monday night before the big freeze, and didn’t even bother to hook it back up yesterday at all. We just stayed on our internal freshwater tank and waited out the weather.

Today, with the weather better, I was able to work both inside and out, going through and organizing bins. I want to get two bins filled and ready to take with us when we head down to Webster on Saturday to visit our son Chris and his family. That way, we can drop stuff off at the storeroom at the same time. Slowly, but surely.

About 5:15, Jan and I drove over to the park office for the Wednesday Night Potluck Supper. Jan fixed her wonderful Heavenly Hash Fruit Salad yesterday so it could mellow overnight, since it’s always better that way.

Potluck Heavenly Hash

And it’s so popular that I didn’t even get a chance to get a picture before it was partially gone. In fact, I’ve learned not to wait and come back to get some for dessert, so I always get a scoop when I first go through the line.

And when I went back afterward, it looked like the bowl had been licked clean. But at least I got my spoonful.

We got together at the potluck with Ed and Debi Hurlburt on the right side, then Janice and Dave Evans, and new friends Janice and Rick, and then my Janice.

Potluck Group

So we had three Jan’s and a Debi.


March 5, 2015

What’s in the Devil’s Spit, anyway?

Today was kind of a goof-off day for us, so after talking it over, we decided about noon to head down to the northern outskirts of El Paso for dinner and a show, well, lunch and a museum.

It’s been a good while since we’ve eaten at a Famous Dave’s BBQ, and even though there’s one in Tucson, we couldn’t resist going now. We first ate at one in Billings, MT, in 2008 on our way to Alaska, and have been hooked ever since. I grew up on pork ribs basted in sauce as they cooked, not on the dry rub version you get in Texas, so eating at Famous Dave’s is like going home.

Jan and I decided to try the 2 for $20 menu, since, for once, a 2 for $20 menu had something we both wanted on it.

We started off with a really good salad, with fresh-cooked bacon crumbles, homemade croutons, and homemade dressings. A great salad.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Then I had the 3 Rib Plate with Wilbur Beans and Firecracker Green Beans,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

while Jan went with the Brisket Sandwich and Fries.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Of course, the BBQ slathered in their Devil’s Spit BBQ sauce, with a mixture of their Sweet & Zesty sauce too. And just because we ate at this one, doesn’t mean we won’t eat at the one in Tucson.

Our next stop was a visit to the War Eagle Air Museum. We had seen the signs for several years, and even tried to find it once before with no luck, so we thought we’d give it another try.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

I’ll tell you more about it in the next couple of days when I have more time, but it’s a great little museum.

Coming home a little after 4 pm, we made a Wal-Mart stop for a few things. By the time we were finished, it was 5 pm, so we decided to go ahead and have dinner before we headed back to the rig.

Our choice was ChaChi’s Mexican Restaurant over by New Mexico State University.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

When we were having some repairs done here in 2012, the shop manager recommended it, and he wasn’t wrong. It’s really good.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And really big.

We had forgotten how big their combo plates were, so we had a lot to take home. It’ll make a good lunch (or two) during the Escapade next week.

We’re going to head out early tomorrow, between 6:30 and 7 am, to get to the Pima County Fairgrounds and get parked as early as possible on the first day of Early Bird parking. (that’s a lot of ‘early’s)


March 5, 2017

A Comedy of Errors . . .

Since it was already sprinkling when I got up, and was supposed to continue all day, it seemed like a good time to pressure wash the rig to finally get all the caliche mud off that we accumulated on our trip down to Kenedy last October for our gate guarding stint.

Caliche mud forms a hard crust and will not wash off with rain, but must be scrubbed off with a brush or car wash, or, in the case of the rig, pressure washed with Awesome as a detergent.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

It took me a little over two hours to go over the coach, first soaking it with water and letting it set for a few minutes. Then I soaked it again, this time with an Awesome solution, and also let it set too. Finally, I went back over the coach with the high-pressure spray, rinsing off the Awesome and getting all the debris from the nooks and crannies.

If I have time in the next couple of days, I’ll go back over the coach with a spray wax to give it some shine.

After a hot shower to warm up, Jan and I headed out about 4:45 to meet Ed and Debi Hurlburt at El Bosque for some of their great Mexican food.

And as usual, the food was great, but the service left something (much?) to be desired. We figured we were going to have a problem when our waiter took our orders without writing anything down, and then kept coming back to the table to double-check things.

He got Ed’s order completely wrong, and it took us forever to get plates for our fajitas, flour tortillas, and Jan’s refried beans. Turns out it was the guy’s very first day.

But at least the food was good, as well as the company.

Tomorrow morning, I’m dropping the truck off to have the headliner replaced. The glue has dried out, so it’s falling down in places, and when you touch the edges, it just disintegrates, so they’ll do a full replacement and have it back in a few hours.

Then tomorrow evening it’s back down to the Clear Lake area for dinner with some old friends, Bob and Maria, who we’ve known since the mid-80’s. Really looking forward to it.


March 5, 2018

Ginger Peach Sriracha . . .

After letting Miss Kitty and Baxter out one last time, Jan and I headed out about 6 pm, with a quick stop at the nearby HEB for gas. It’s still at $2.05, while gas down in our area jumped 6 cents last week, up to $2.19.

Out on the Westpark Tollway and then the Sam Houston Tollway on the way home, it was my first chance to see how my new LED headlights were working.

The answer is “Great”!

The pure white light really lights up the roadway, much brighter, with a wide beam that gives me a better view of the roadsides. And although they lit up the roadway further out in front of me, they didn’t seem to be too bright for the oncoming vehicles since no one flashed their lights at me.

We got to Plucker’s down in Webster about 7:15 and found ourselves with a 25-minute wait to get a table.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Really didn’t expect them to be this busy this late on a Sunday night.

I started out with a side salad, but went a different direction with the dressing.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

I asked for some of their Ginger Peach Sriracha, the same sauce that I get on my drums. Really good, and a perfect match for the salad. And I really like their quart Mason jar tea glasses.

Jan bumped up her salad a bit and got the Blue Cheese Chicken Cobb version, with the homemade Ranch.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

In fact, all their dressings, sauces, and dry rubs are made in-house, and are really great.

For our wings, we got 5 each, both with the Ginger Peach Sriracha sauce. As usual, I got all drums with the Ranch dip and some extra sauce.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

I don’t know what it is about the weird flavors of things, but I think it may have started with the Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans from the Harry Potter books/movies. And when they say every flavor, they mean it. You know, flavors like earwax, liver, sardine, booger, and vomit.

But now the strange flavor concept has been extended to more common household items. Like these at Brandi’s –

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Sage & Pepper Shampoo

or maybe this –

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

a ‘Naked, Butt’ candle.

Makes sense that Brandi’s never lit it.

I certainly wouldn’t.


March 5, 2019

Taking It For Granite . . .

It was 37° at 5 am this morning and down to 32° at 7 am. And it didn’t start actually warming up till about 11 am, all the way up to 40. And that was about it.

Jan and I spent the morning looking at luggage for our trip. Someone recommended this set,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

European Trip Luggage

and the reviews look pretty good. Though it is always kind of funny to see 50 people say how tough the luggage is, and how they schlepped it all over Europe or Africa with no problem, and then there’s usually one review that says that it’s a piece of crap and it broke the first time they used it.

The set comes in 4 other colors: black, dark blue, orange, and purple. I guess the black and red set is the most popular, since they are $10 – $14 higher in cost. But even they are only about $50 for the set.

Turns out that even the larger piece is sized for carry-on, as of course is the smaller one. Turns out that Lufthansa allows us 1 piece of checked luggage and 1 piece of carry-on luggage, plus of course a shoulder bag, purse, or laptop bag. And that’s for each of us.

So what we’re thinking about is two sets of these, and then borrowing a larger piece from Brandi to check in.

We’ll probably wait until the first of April to order since we’ve got to store it somewhere, probably in the storeroom, after we do some trial packing.

And speaking about the first part of April, looks like April 5th – April 8th is the date for everyone’s visit up to Chris and Linda’s in Kingsland, along with Brandi, Lowell, Landon, and Miss Piper. And we’re taking the rig up there, leak fixed or not. I don’t want to let it sit for longer than about 5 months without taking it on the road.

Hopefully, the weather will cooperate, and I’ll be able to get the filter replaced and a local test drive done before then, but I’ve already got reservations at the Granite Rock RV Park in Kingsland, so the rig is going up there one way or the other.

As I had figured, a couple of hours after UPS picked up my defective Brother FAX machine return to Amazon this afternoon, I got a notice that they had already refunded the $140 to my card. Nice.


March 5, 2020

R.I.P. Miss Kitty . . .

Brandi called us today with some sad news. They had to put Miss Kitty, Landon’s long-time companion and protector, to sleep.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

She was 13 years old, a good run, since the average for a Black Lab is a little over 12 years. She’d been going downhill for a good while, but finally got where she couldn’t even walk.

Landon and Kitty were more brothers than anything else. They would fight over toys, play together, and roughhouse around.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Kitty was also very protective of Landon. So much so that when Jan and I first visited Landon when he was just a few days old, Kitty got between us and Landon and blocked us with her body, easy for a 120# dog, not letting us get close until Lowell told her we were OK. Then we were her best friends.

She will be missed by all.

I did get some good news today, though. I got the renewal docs for my National General RV/Auto policy this morning, and was happily surprised that not only did my rate not go up, but actually went down about $25 per month. WOW!

But they’ve always been pretty good with my rate. We’ve been with NG for about 10 years since our friend Chris Yust signed us up at an RV rally and saved us about $100 per month over our Progressive policy. And even more amazing, when we had our $20,000+ rig blowout in May 2015, I think our rate went up about $4 per month the next year.

Thanks, Chris.

32# is apparently a lot heavier than it used to be. Personally, I blame a recent increase in the Earth’s gravity. Or something.

Jan recently wanted some dumbbell weights to exercise with. She already had a couple of 2# ones, but wanted some heavier ones. So I ordered her these.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Amazon Dumbbell Weights

So the shipment came in at the office this afternoon, so while we were out and about, we went by to pick it up.

But maybe ‘pick it up’ isn’t really the right phrase. Maybe ‘tried to pick it up’ would be better.

There was a day when I would have been able to pick up a 32# box under both arms and head off. But today it took both hands and a lot of straining to get the box out to the truck.

This whole ‘growing old’ thing is not quite working out like I wanted, but I guess it beats the alternative, as they say. Of course, it still could just be gravity’s fault.

Yeah, let’s go with that.


March 5, 2021

We’re DOOMED! DOOMED, I say.

Apparently, the CoVid virus is not going to kill us. No, according to this article, the Earth is rapidly running out of oxygen. Any day now, it seems. At least from the headline.

Earth’s Oxygen is Rapidly Running Out, Dropping Levels Will Eventually Suffocate Most Life on Planet

They also further elaborate that it may be inevitable – “Future deoxygenation is an inevitable consequence of increasing solar fluxes, whereas its precise timing is modulated by the exchange flux of reducing power between the mantle and the ocean-atmosphere”“crust system.”

But then there’s this.

Our oxygen-rich atmosphere may only last another billion years, finds a new study.

It seems that some people’s definition of ‘rapidly’ is different than mine.

Or maybe this will help.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

On November 1st, I paid $1.45/gallon for gas at our local Costco

On March 1st, I paid $2.19/gallon at the same store.

That’s a $0.74/gallon increase in just 4 months.

What’s up with that?


March 5, 2022

An Uber Day . . .

Well, the day started out really good, with lunch at Yummy Yummy, our favorite Chinese Buffet. And then after our usual great meal, we were on up the Interstate to make a Wal-Mart stop for a few things. However, though that was the idea, it didn’t quite work out that way.

And it was all the fault of a dead battery.

No, not the 12-volt version in the Jeep, but the little 2032 one in the Jeep’s key fob.

It died last week, and, after checking my battery stash with no luck, I was planning to get one at the Wal-Mart today. But it seems this wasn’t soon enough.

Though normally we don’t lock the Jeep, I did today at Yummy’s because I had two HP OfficeJet Printers in the back seat.

One was going up to Landon tomorrow, and one was coming home with me.

But when I locked the Jeep, it slipped my mind that sometimes it’s very difficult/impossible to get the Jeep door unlocked with the key

Most of the time, it’s no problem, but other times, like today, it’s impossible. It’s not the key, because I tried two different ones. The key turns and starts to raise the lock button, but it just won’t pop up all the way and unlock the door.

So after banging, pulling, and pushing on the door for about 15 minutes, I called for an Uber to take me up the Interstate a few miles to the nearest CVS. But there weren’t a lot of Ubers working in our area, so it took about 20 minutes before ‘Fidelis’ showed up. When we got to the CVS, I tried to get him to wait the 5 minutes for me to run inside and get a battery, so I could just rebook a ride back down to Yummy’s, and he would already be there and ready to go. But he said No, and lost out on a bigger tip.

And, as it turned out, he was just turning out of the parking lot when I came back out with my new battery.

Tiffany, the Uber driver who showed up about 30 minutes later, said she would have waited. And she got a really GOOD tip.

And when I got back to Yummy’s, it was ‘Click-Clunk’, and we were ready to go. But by this time, it was after 3:30, so we decided to call it a day.

Wal-Mart will still be there next time.

Tomorrow we’re heading to Katy to meet up with Brandi, Lowell, and Landon at the Pho Barr in their area.

Really looking forward to seeing everyone.


March 5, 2023

Plans Change . . .

Jan and I went outside this morning to do some yard work around the patio and the Flamingo Flamboyance, and I got a real chance to try out my $20 Weed Eater.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Bionic Weed Trimmer

And I was very pleasantly surprised. I had worried about how long the battery would last, and also how long the tie-wraps would last. But I was able to edge both the patio and the Flamboyance with no problems.

I noticed no slowdown with the battery, and the tie-wraps showed no wear whatsoever, even against the concrete patio. The only problem I found was that I had to go slow because it was easy to bog it down in heavy stuff.

But hey, it was only $20.

Good buy.

We left the rig about 1 pm, planning to eat at Dickinson Seafood once again. But plans change.

Especially our plans.

When we got there, the place was busier than we’ve ever seen it. Almost every table/booth was full, and there were two groups waiting to be seated in front of us. Plus, there only seemed to be one waitress taking care of things.

So we quickly decided to adjourn to Gator’s Grille right down the road. And as usual, it was really good.

Jan had the Strawberry Walnut Salad with Blackened Chicken,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

while I went similar, but with a Side Salad, also with Blackened Chicken.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Both really good as always.

And of course, we had to finish our meal by sharing one of their warmed, Keto Blueberry Muffins.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Then it was on the feeder for our weekly HEB stuff and then home.

One of the yards that we pass close by the RV park has a bunch of Blue Bonnets in the front yard, so I guess Spring is getting close. After all, Spring Forward is next Sunday.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Of course, they may have just planted them so they don’t have to mow it.

This evening, I finally gave in and ordered a Roku 4K streaming stick from Amazon to go with our Amazon Firestick.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Roku 4K Streaming Stick

Turns out that there are some shows that I can get free on Roku that I would have to pay for on my Firestick. A prime example is the latest season of Murdoch Mysteries, which is on Ovation, which is only available on the Roku or through your local cable provider. So Roku it is.

Next week we have a couple of things going on, with a Saltgrass Steakhouse get-together with our Alvin Opry group and then Friday night we have the Alvin Opry itself, featuring Jan’s crush, John Mark Davis.

And Monterey’s Mexican beforehand, of course.


March 5, 2024

A Did-Nothing Tuesday . . .

Besides a really heavy thunderstorm that came out of nowhere about 4 this afternoon and dropped almost .2 inch in just a few minutes, nothing much else happened today. Especially since this was another of our stay-at-home Tuesdays.

Though I would imagine that Rob, our park owner, was happy to see his new grass sod get a good soaking.

So here’s a mish-mash of some things

After 10 years and billions in development costs, Apple just canceled their ‘iCar.’

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

First off, who actually knew that Apple was developing a car?

But the word on the inside is that it was canceled when they figured that no matter what, they were going to have to install Windows!

(rim shot!)

Today, the Battleship Texas was moved out of the floating drydock where it has been for the last 18 months, undergoing a $70 million restoration.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Tugboats will pull the ship into the channel and position it for a short trip to a nearby pier. There, and eventually at another dock, the ship’s $75 million restoration efforts will continue, focusing on the deck, interior rooms, and superstructures, including the radar and bridge towers.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

The battleship, which was donated to the state in 1948, is the only dreadnought-era battleship still floating. Prior to restoration, it drew thousands of tourists and school field trips.

As it stands now, it looks like its final berth will still be in the Galveston area, though I don’t think that’s been nailed down yet.

Finishing up, here’s a map showing the highest-paid public employee in every state.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

I’m thinking I might have gone into the wrong profession.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We Had A Good Run . . .

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or

It’s Dead, Jim!

Sometime yesterday, our Dometic NDR 1292 just up and died.

I mean, it was only 27 years old. What’s up with that?

* * * * * * *

About 1 pm, we headed out to have lunch at Los Rameriz Mexican once again. And for a change, we both got the same thing.

The Pechuga Rellena is a grilled chicken breast covered in cheese, and sitting on a bed of grilled shrimp and broccoli.

It also normally comes on a bed of rice, which we leave off. And of course, Jan gets my Avocado slices that comes with it.

Really, really good.

Then it was on over to the CostCutters for our haircuts, taking longer for Jan than me, of course.

Coming home, we stopped off at the Shell station to get 3 bags of ice to stock up our coolers for the interim.

* * * * * * *

Getting back on the problem, the fridge was getting 120 VAC, so I did go outside to check out the control board in the outside panel.

But first, I had to fight off the rampaging wasps and eliminate a couple of nests behind the panel. Unfortunately, the nests weren’t the problem

Besides the 120VAC, the unit also needs 12VDC, so after getting the cover off the power module, I was able to check the two 12VDC fuses, and found them fine.

Bummer!

The only possibility left is the heating elements. RV refrigerators that run on Propane as well as 120VAC actually use a heating element for the 120V part, so tomorrow I’m going to track down the connections for the elements to check them out. Luckily, I’ve got the service manual for the fridge.

Of course, I’m also looking a replacement fridge. Years ago, I had spec’cd out a Samsung RF 197 which would fit in the space, but when I checked today, I found it no longer made.

However, it has been replaced by the Samsung RF18.

Looks pretty nice.

33 Inch Counter Depth French Door Smart Refrigerator with 17.5 Cu. Ft. Capacity, Power Cool & Freeze, Twin Cooling Plus, Wi-Fi, Ice Maker, ENERGY STAR Certified, Star-K Certified, and ADA Compliant: Fingerprint Resistant Stainless Steel

More tomorrow on this.

* * * * * * *

Also tomorrow, Jan’s getting her toesies done, then we’re having lunch at Schafer’s Coastal Grille over in Seabrook once again.


Thought For The Day:

Do you know what makes old men like me cynical?
Experience.
Experience makes me cynical.

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™


March 6, 2009

For old time’s sake…

As I mentioned earlier, my parents and I moved down here to Gulf Shores in January 1951 to build a motel on the beach.

My father was a police detective with the Birmingham Police Department, and my mother was a Public Health nurse with Jefferson County. They had discovered Gulf Shores after flying their plane down here for a weekend.

They sold their house in Birmingham and borrowed some money from my father’s mother. They had 6 cottages ready to go in time for the 1951 summer season, which then lasted only 3 months, June, July, and August.

Me and My Dad - January 1951

Me and My Dad – January 1951

This is my father and me right after we moved here.

White's-by-the-Sea

They called the motel “White’s-by-the-Sea”. Original, huh? Note the cowboy suit. It was my favorite.

David Duddy and me

This is a shot of my best friend, David Duddy, and me with some of the cottages in the background. Probably the summer of 1954. The cottages were very nice for the time, with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, a kitchen, dining area, and living room. There was also a porch on the side facing the Gulf. A couple of years later, they put window air conditioners in the units, the first place on the beach to have them. Note, I’m still wearing the cowboy suit. I probably slept and bathed in it, too.

Me and my firetruck

Based on the car tag, this picture was taken in the summer of 1952. Don’t you just love my shorts? Since my hair was all slicked down and I was dressed nicely, I would think this was before or after we had been to church.

If you look carefully, you can see chicken wire around the pilings on the left side of the picture. This was my ‘playpen’. I considered it my prison. I was very bad about wandering off when my parents were busy with the motel, and it was hard to keep an eye on me. One time, I ended up almost a mile away, so my father enclosed a large area under our house to keep me corralled. I don’t think it ever worked as well as he had hoped.

I, however, viewed it as a challenge to my escape artist skills.

I very quickly learned to undo the door latch he had installed. So my father put a padlock on the door.

I promptly climbed up the chicken wire and squeezed over the top edge (I was a lot smaller then).

My father extended the chicken wire all the way to the top, so I proceeded to tunnel out through the sand underneath the wire.

Another time, my father found me with a saw trying to cut my way through one of the pilings. I think I got a spanking for that one.

As far as my wandering off, one time my mother asked Annie Mae, our maid, who helped my mother clean the cottages, if she knew where I was. Annie Mae said, “No mam, but wherever he be’s, he be’s busy!”

Truer words were never spoken.


March 6, 2010

More of More of the Same…

Today was another day of soliciting door prizes for the Rally.

Jan was still under the weather, so she stayed home while I trod the bricks, begging and pleading.

I’ve had pretty good luck so far. I’ve got about 48 prizes so far, with a few more to pick up on Sunday and Monday.

About 4 pm, we all met to discuss how we’re going to start parking the rigs as they start coming in tomorrow.

Then, about 5:45, Jan and I, and 3 other couples headed over to Golden Corral for supper. We had a great time talking over the RV lifestyle.

It’s going to be an early morning tomorrow, so this is it for today.


March 6, 2011

Early Birds and War Birds . . .

I’m stiff and sore in places I didn’t remember I had places.

Starting at 1 pm, we spent the afternoon parking RV’s. Lots and lots of RV’s. And all I did was ride around in a golf cart all day. And of course, jump out, then back in, then out, then . . . you get the picture.

Today was Early Bird Day for the Rally here in Yuma. Early Bird Day is normally for a few rigs to come in a day or so early to get settled in.

But this is just ridiculous. We had 145 rigs show up today, out of the 175 to 200 that are supposed to attend the rally.

Apparently, some people just haven’t figured out that if everyone shows up on Early Bird Day, it’s no longer Early Bird Day, it’s just the first day of the rally. If everyone’s an Early Bird, there is just not going to be enough worms to go around.

Somewhere during the day, lunchtime came and went, and I never even noticed it was gone. Suddenly, a little before 6 pm, there were no rigs in the front lot, and we were done. I parked the golf cart, stepped out . . . and almost fell on my face, I was so stiff.

Finally, about 6:30 pm, Jan and I, and some others, headed out for supper. We had originally been going to Famous Dave’s BBQ, but they had a line out front, so we went next door to Logan’s Roadhouse and got seated in about 5 minutes.

Jan and I were so thirsty we just told our waiter to bring water and iced tea, and keep it coming. Unlike Houston’s 95%, the humidity here in Yuma is around 30%, and it really sucks the moisture right out of you without you realizing it, and suddenly your throat is so dry you can’t talk, and you’re feeling lightheaded from dehydration.

I think I had a steak, and I think it was really good, but I’m so tired, I’m not sure.

I think this blog is coherent, but I’m not really sure, but hopefully this is enough, so I’m going to bed.

So more tomorrow . . . if I survive.

But first, here’s a new Landon pic for your viewing pleasure.

Landon finds out he has toes. Now if he can only figure out what to do with them.

Landon has Toes

But he’s working on it.


March 6, 2013

Mushrooms and Wild Seeds . . .

Today was a busy travel day, just not in the rig, but in our truck. We left the park about 9:30 am, heading for Fredericksburg, 60 miles away.

The reason was to eat lunch at Der Lindenbaum, probably the best German restaurant we’ve ever eaten at.

Der Lindenbaum

It’s pretty much a given that if we’re in the area, we’ll eat here at least once. Or more.

Jan had her favorite Jager Schnitzel, which is a pork cutlet, breaded and pan-fried, and then covered in a fresh mushroom gravy, along with hot German potato salad and red cabbage.

I had the Burgermeister Platter, which consists of bratwurst, knockwurst, and wienerwurst sausages, along with warm sauerkraut, spicy German mustard, and, of course, red cabbage. It’s not really German food if you don’t have red cabbage.

Before we left, we got an order of the Jager Schnitzel to take with us to Gina’s since it’s her favorite too.

After lunch, we headed out for our friend Gina’s, about 50 miles away. But about 8 miles out of town, we made a quick stop at Wildseed Farms

Wildseed Farms 1

Wildseed Farms is another place Jan always wants to stop when we’re passing through this area.

Wildseed Farms 2

It’s a combo gift shop, plant nursery, seed farm, landscape supply, and cat store.

Not a cat house, a cat store.

Wildseed Farms 3

There are always 3 or 4 cats sleeping on the long checkout counter, just waiting for a passing customer to lavish some attention on them.

Wildseed Farms 4

Wildseed Farms 6

Wildseed Farms 5

Then it was off again to Gina’s, getting to the ranch a little before 2 pm, and I was glad to see my Amazon packages waiting for me. Would hate to have them sent after us if they didn’t come in on time.

After getting Jan settled in and getting my hugs in with Gina, I headed off to a nearby Subway to stock them up on sandwiches.

Jan will be staying with Gina until Saturday, while I come back to the rig and take care of things on this end.

So after checking out a problem with Gina’s color laser printer, I headed back to the rig about 4 pm. Right outside of Boerne, I stopped at a Valero to get a coffee, and then another stop at Home Depot to pick up a couple of things.

Getting back to the park about 5:30, I tried to track down a UPS package I was expecting, but all the offices were closed, so I’ll try again tomorrow.


March 6, 2014

Idiots and Frostbite . . .

With the nice weather and the sun, I got a lot of bin work done outside. Even got a start going through some of the basement bins, not sorting stuff yet, but making a first pass at throwing stuff away.

Looks like I’ll have a couple or three bins ready to go to the storeroom on Saturday. Don’t know how much, if any, I’ll get done on Sunday because there’s a 60% chance of rain. And then on Monday, we’re moving to the Lake Conroe Thousand Trails for two weeks, so I’ll start back up when we get there.

I got a couple of requests, so I’ve posted Jan’s Heavenly Hash recipe over in her Jan’s Favorite Recipes area, so you can check it out there.

This is about all I’ve got for today, with not much else going on.

But I did add a story to my What Were They Thinking? file. Check out what happens when a 14-year-old girl is made to stand outside in 5 below weather in a wet bathing suit.

Idiots!


March 6, 2016

Slobbering . . .

We had our coffee and breakfast inside this morning, so we wouldn’t have to worry about being blown away. The wind picked up during the night, prefacing the front coming through tomorrow, bringing 3 or 4 days of forecasted rain. But, as usual, we’ll see.

I spent the morning working on some internet stuff before heading outside to look for my slobber tube. But first, I crawled back under the passenger side of the engine again to check for any more leakage around the oil pan drain plug.

I had wiped it off the other day to see if it was leaking around the plug, but found no new wetness. So I was out and back under on the other side to check out there. And after a quick look, it was obvious where it was.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Based on what I’d heard about the location, I was expecting to find it hanging down a little further, but it’s actually above the oil pan gasket area.

And it was obvious from the surrounding wetness that it had been leaking.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

So now, again, based on what I’ve read about it, my next step is to come up with a way to hang a bottle or can under the slobber tube to catch the outflow. One, to contain the oil so it doesn’t end up on the toad, and two, to check that that is actually where the oil is coming from.

So hopefully, I’ll be able to come up with something before we leave here next Sunday.

While I was under there, I also noticed another oil leak, coming from the hydraulic line that feeds the engine cooling fan. So I’ll keep an eye on that too.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And also, I was able to see the oil filter that had been changed out last February by RV Mobile Lube.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

It’s nice to see that they sign and date them to keep track of them.

Finishing up and coming back in to find Jan napping on the sofa, I decided that was a good idea too, so I headed back to the bedroom for my share of nap time.

When I got up, I got back on my pantry organization project using Alexa on the Amazon Echo to record and print out the list as I sorted through the items and consolidated them on the various shelves.

By the time I got finished later tonight, it looked like this.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And here’s what my list ended up looking like.

sixth shelf left side splenda raw sugar
sixth shelf right side medicine and cough drops
sixth shelf right side calcium chews

fifth shelf left side hazelnut coffee
fifth shelf left side jim & nicks cheese biscuit mix
fifth shelf left side mini moo half and half creamers
fifth shelf right side captain’s wafers
fifth shelf right side drinking straws
fifth shelf right side hot tea packets

fourth shelf left side bacon horseradish dip mix
fourth shelf left side corn starch
fourth shelf left side onion soup dip mix
fourth shelf left side splenda brown sugar
fourth shelf left side stevia sweetener
fourth shelf right side campbell’s slow kettle tomato & sweet basil bisque
fourth shelf right side cheesy bacon potato soup mix
fourth shelf right side chicken enchilada soup mix
fourth shelf right side creamy broccoli soup mix
fourth shelf right side jif peanut butter
fourth shelf right side mango habanero sauce
fourth shelf right side minestrone soup mix
fourth shelf right side pam olive oil cooking spray
fourth shelf right side pasta fagioli soup mix
fourth shelf right side penne pasta
fourth shelf right side pure vanilla extract
fourth shelf right side roasted raspberry chipotle sauce
fourth shelf right side spicy brown mustard
fourth shelf right side starkist chunk light tuna 5 packets
fourth shelf right side strozzapreti pasta
fourth shelf right side tortilla soup mix
third shelf left side chicken rice a roni
third shelf left side lemon bar mix
third shelf left side slow cooker seasoning hearty beef
third shelf left side slow cooker seasoning homestyle chicken herb
third shelf left side spanish rice a roni
third shelf left side uncle ben’s brown wild rice medley
third shelf right side fideo noodles
third shelf right side large elbow macaroni
third shelf right side multi color twirl pasta
third shelf right side spaghetti
third shelf right side whole wheat elbow macaroni

second shelf left side baking soda
second shelf left side bisquick buttermilk biscuit mix 2 packages
second shelf left side bisquick cheese garlic biscuit mix 1 pkg
second shelf left side carnation dry milk powder
second shelf left side jiffy blueberry muffin mix 2 boxes
second shelf left side jiffy corn muffin mix
second shelf left side lemon poppyseed scone mix
second shelf left side martha white blueberry muffin mix
second shelf left side sweet potato biscuit mix
second shelf left side sweet potato muffin mix
second shelf left side table salt
second shelf right side bacardi rum
second shelf right side balsamic vinegar
second shelf right side bisquick mix
second shelf right side confederate marmalade
second shelf right side extra virgin olive oil
second shelf right side huckleberry jam
second shelf right side jalapeno orange jelly
second shelf right side marion blackberry preserves
second shelf right side new orleans scorpion hot sauce
second shelf right side nutcracker spaghetti sauce
second shelf right side prego italian meat sauce
second shelf right side protein bars 5 each
second shelf right side rachel ray extra virgin olive oil
second shelf right side soy sauce
second shelf right side tabasco sauce
second shelf right side wild maine blueberry syrup
second shelf right side worcestershire sauce

bottom shelf left side cheese wiz
bottom shelf left side cream of mushroom soup
bottom shelf left side hunt’s tomato paste
bottom shelf left side ro-tel hot tomatoes
bottom shelf left side skyline chili 9 cans
bottom shelf right side black beans
bottom shelf right side bush’s country style baked beans
bottom shelf right side bush’s grilling beans bourbon & brown sugar 2 ea
bottom shelf right side canned beef cooked
bottom shelf right side cut green beans
bottom shelf right side extra hot alaskan umami sauce
bottom shelf right side ginger wasabi sauce
bottom shelf right side reeses magic shell chocolate peanut butter
bottom shelf right side sliced peaches
bottom shelf right side smuckers magic shell chocolate fudge
bottom shelf right side steel cut oatmeal

For dinner tonight we had the Chicken Tortilla Soup that I put together yesterday, and let it simmer all day. Really good, if I do say so.

And Jan does too.

I’ve now done the magic six loads in my repaired washer, so hopefully, it’ll keep on working.


March 6, 2017

Old Friends . . .

This morning was my 8:30 appointment with Junior’s Upholstery in Conroe to have the headliner of our Dodge Dakota replaced. It had started coming loose and fraying around the edges, and even disintegrating in some places.

So about 8:15, my friend and next-door neighbor, Ed Hurlburt, followed me down to the shop so he could bring me home. They said they’d try to have it done by 2-3 pm so we could head down to Clear Lake on time for our dinner with old friends.

Getting back home, I got on the phone to try to solve another credit/debit card problem. Whenever I tried to use the card for our Karnes City / SiteWatch account as a credit card where it asked me for my Zip Code, i.e., gas pumps, it would reject the card for an incorrect Zip Code. But when I called the bank, they couldn’t find any problem. The Zip Code on my bank account was correct.

Then yesterday, I was trying to set up the Uber app on my phone and had the same problem. When I entered the card number, exp. date, CVV, and Zip Code as requested, it said there was a problem. And since I double and triple-checked the card stuff, it had to be the Zip Code.

So I again put in a call to the Karnes County National Bank once again, and after going through three people, finally found a nice young lady who figured out the problem.

The bank account there uses our Friendswood, TX Zip Code of 77546, which is the one I had been entering. But, because I had requested that the cards be sent to the bank for us to pick up there, instead of sending them to our Friendswood bank account address, the bank’s Zip Code is what got entered into the computer with the card info.

She said she would correct the problem, and then a little later, I tried setting up the Uber app again, and this time with no problems. So this problem is solved.

Still working on the iDrive credit card problem.

BTW, the Uber app is pretty neat. It shows you where you are on the map, and also shows several free vehicles in your vicinity. Look forward to giving it a try.

Later in the afternoon, our friend Debi Hurlburt took Jan and me down to the upholstery shop to pick up the truck so that we could leave from there on our way to Clear Lake. They were running a little late finishing up due to the rain, so we didn’t get on our way until about 4 pm.

Turns out that because of the glue fumes, they try to do as much work as possible outside, and the intermittent rain caused a problem.

But the job was worth the wait. It was perfect, even down to the color match of the original to the side trim strips on the truck.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Great Job! And Junior’s Upholstery is very well recommended.

Though we got a later start than I had hoped, wanting to avoid the Houston going-home traffic, today turned out to be one of those rare Houston traffic days with no accidents or major construction slowdowns, so we were able to make the 70-mile trip down to Dickinson in only 90 minutes, a new record, I think.

Having known them since the mid-80’s, Bob and Maria are our oldest Houston friends, so we try to get together whenever we can.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Maria even got a good picture of Jan and me. Well, Jan, anyway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And as is usual for these things, we once again spent about 3 hours catching up with each other’s lives. And we look forward to doing it again as soon as we can.

After a potty stop at the Flying J, we got back to the rig a little before 10. Finally remembering to do it, I brought our Garmin GPS in from the truck to check it for map updates.

Turns out there were several small ones, an FM traffic info provider update, a Time Zone data update, and one big one, a 2.66 GB map update. The small ones only took a couple of minutes, and even the big one only took about 45 minutes. Pretty good for 2.66 GB on 3G.

So that’s done for another year.

Tomorrow?

More last-minute chores before we hit the road for Colorado River on Wednesday, and Tucson on Friday.


March 6, 2018

No Goofing Off . . .

Being an off day from work today, you’d think I could have goofed off some, but noooo.

As soon as I got into work yesterday, the office manager told me she was getting calls from customers saying that the website’s credit card checkout was no longer safe to use. Turns out our SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate had expired this past Saturday. News to me.

But it was news I should have gotten about a month ago, but my boss didn’t forward the renewal notice from GoDaddy to me. But I was able to catch up by tracking down the replacement certificate and downloading it from GoDaddy.

But then things came to a screeching halt as I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out where the previous (dead) IT guy had installed it. As I’ve mentioned before, our website is hosted on an in-house Linux server, in this case running CentOS. But the certificate is not installed where it normally would be. And not any of the other places that it could possibly be, either.

So I spent today here doing a lot more research and making a couple of phone calls, trying to figure out what he had done. But no luck so far, but I’m back on it tomorrow.

Right now, there is a notice on the website inviting customers to call in their orders. Hope this will hold things for a short while until I can get this fixed.

I did take a few minutes this afternoon to go outside to fix a broken spade connector on the driver-side turn signal on the rear of the truck. Recently, I noticed that often the left turn signal would fast-flash and then work the next time. Checking it out while we were up at Brandi’s, I found that there was a cracked connector on one wire, but I didn’t have a replacement with me.

So it was just a couple of minutes today to crimp on a new one.

For you Camp Verde/Cottonwood/Verde Valley devotees, there’s a new, large RV park coming to the area later this year. The 425 site, high-end park, will be located just a mile or so north of the I-17/SR260 interchange at Camp Verde, between there and the Verde Valley Thousand Trails Park.


March 6, 2019

It Was Venerable . . .

My venerable HP 2520 color inkjet printer died on Monday. It is no more, it has ceased to be, it is bereft of life, it rests in peace. It is an ex-printer.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

But I originally bought it in 2013 while we were on a gate down in south Texas, so I’ve certainly gotten my money’s worth, I guess. I replaced it last year with a new HP 4650 because it was bigger, better, and faster, and since it was still working OK, I took it into work for my desk, just so I’d have a printer.

But then I started printing out a lot of color labels, and mail-out postcards, heavier stock stuff. And Monday, when I was printing out some cards, the printer went ‘snap, crackle, pop’ and stopped pulling in paper. Any type of paper.

So this morning I stopped off at our Wal-Mart to pick up a new one, an HP 5252 this time, which is the newer model of my 4650.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

I also picked up an XL B&W and XL Color cartridge since the starter cartridges in these new machines are always small, even smaller than the standard ones, much less the XL ones.

Getting to the office, I set the printer up and started to print out a dozen page-sized postcards, and I was amazed to see how much faster than my old 2520. The 12 cards that would have taken me 15 minutes on my old one, took only about 4 minutes on the 5252.

Nice.

Once I got the printer set up, the size difference between the old and new printers meant it didn’t really fit in the old spot, so I ordered this printer stand.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

https://amzn.to/2SN74zh

And then, since I was on an Amazon ordering roll, I ordered the office manager a new chair.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

https://amzn.to/2SN74zh

Her old one broke a wheel off this morning, so she’ll have a new one on Friday, along with my new printer stand.

It’s supposed to be almost 70 tomorrow, but with a 50% chance of rain, I’ll have to see how conducive it is to crawling under the rig and doing a trial loosening of the oil filter.

I’ll let you know.


March 6, 2020

Do Only Old People Buy Sausage?

I’m sure you’ve all heard the Jimmy Dean Sausage commercials recently on TV, using his voice. So my question is, does anybody but people our age know who Jimmy Dean is?

Though he sold the company to Sara Lee in 1984 for $80 million and didn’t die until 2010, he was essentially fired from his spokesman job in 2002.

Why? They told him he was too old! But now he’s back from the grave.

So it’s been at least 18 years since anyone has heard his voice, and now they’ve brought him back (or his voice, anyway), and they’re advertising to who?

Who, under the age of 30, even knows who he is?

Our long-time friend and fellow RV’er, Debi Hurlburt, of Debi and Ed Hurlburt fame, has long had a Facebook area called Debi’s RV Kitchen. But now she’s venturing into the video field. And here’s her first video.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Dirty Rice  Cooking in the RV

Looks like our upcoming storage shed project will be a true do-it-yourself project. Turns out Home Depot, where we’re going to get the shed, doesn’t offer any assembly assistance, and it looks like using one of the online services like TAKL would cost me about twice what the $269 shed is going to cost me.

And that’s just for one guy helping me, not me getting to watch two guys doing it all. So it’s just going to be me, with Jan helping out as needed.

We do want to get it all done without too much delay, so I’m going to take off work on a Friday and a Monday, so we’ll have Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, if necessary.


March 6, 2021

Prince of Darkness . . .

Jan drove into work with me yesterday morning so she could spend the day getting her nails done, and then some shopping at Baybrook Mall for a while.

In fact, she’s decided to do it again once a month or so.

This afternoon, we left the rig about 12:30, heading up to the new Eggcellence for brunch.

Jan tried something new this time, the Avocado BLT.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

But I stuck with my favorite, the Texas Sampler.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

We both get Fruit instead of the Hashbrowns, and I get an English muffin rather than the buttermilk pancakes that are supposed to come with mine. Every calorie helps.

Then it was on up the feeder a bit to one of Jan’s favorite places, Harbor Freight. Yeah, I know. She’s weird, but then she does love me. So I guess it works.

Our next stop was back down at FM646, where Jan got her hair cut while I picked up a few things at the HEB next door. Then it was home for the night.

Tomorrow it’s up on the roof for me. I’m going to replace the motor/fan unit for our rear Fantastic Vent Fan on the rig. Then I planned to take a look at the overhead AC unit to try to find where the problem with it is.

While I was in HEB this afternoon, it sure seemed like a lot of people aren’t waiting until next Wednesday to go maskless, but have jumped the gun.

And it’s easy to see why. I mean, what difference can it make if everyone ditched them today, or four days from now? When the governor of Mississippi announced the end of lockdowns and masks for his state, he did it the very next day.

It seems I’ve been coming across a number of neat cars in parking lots lately, and today it was this really nice 1955 Chevy.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

For some reason, it doesn’t look as nice in the photo as it is in real life. But it’s spotless. The owner, who walked up while I was taking the photo, and told me it was a 150 model, without all the chrome trim of the Bel Air.

And then he showed me the engine,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

He said it’s an LS series Corvette engine that he put in after he burned out the original one. And when he cranked it up, you could hear the 3/4 grind cam’s ‘lump, lump’ idle. And the dual glass pack mufflers.

Another really neat ride.

And on the subject of cars, anyone who ever owned a British sports car, or any British car, really, will appreciate this.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

In 1967, I bought a 1965 Triumph Spitfire like this one, except mine was race-prepared for SCCA racing and had a rollbar and a white racing stripe down the middle.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

I bought it from the brother of an ex-girlfriend (it did not end well). And in hindsight, this should have been a warning. But the brother did warn me about some of the cars, let’s call them ‘electrical idiosyncrasies’.

‘Idiosyncrasies’ like the left turn signal also turned the radio on and off. And turning on the radio would sometimes honk the horn. And there were a number of other intermittent ones. I’d fix one, and another one would pop up.

Finally, out of patience, I spent a couple of weeks pulling an entire new harness through the frame and fixed it once and for all.


March 6, 2022

Pho Barr and Family . . .

We were on our way up to Katy a little before 11, to introduce Brandi, et al to their Pho Barr location. which is only a couple of miles down the Westpark Tollway from their home.

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Like our Webster location, this Katy location is located in a strip mall, and strangely, right next door to a Thai restaurant, the same as ours down here.

First up, they brought us a couple of orders of their Grilled Pork Spring Rolls with their Spicy Peanut Sauce.

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Really crunchy and delicious as always.

Jan got her usual Grilled Chicken Vermicelli Bowl, but in this case, it was done with white meat chicken, rather than the dark meat they use down in Webster. Jan likes both, but white meat a little better.

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Brandi had the same thing, but with the Grilled Ribeye instead.

Lowell went in a different direction, with the Grilled Chicken Rice Plate, complete with a Sunnyside Up Egg like this.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

For my part, I stayed the course with my usual Pho Ga, which means white meat chicken.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Everyone agreed it was all really good, and that we’ll probably eat here again when we’re back in the area.

All the dishes here were the same as our local Pho Barr, but a little different, I guess, due to different chefs.

Then it was back over to Brandi’s so I could install the HP 4650 printer/scanner that I was giving Landon. I’m upgrading to an HP 6978, which should be here this Wednesday.

Later, heading home, we made a detour by the Katy Trader Joe’s so Jan could pick up some of her favorite stuff. Hopefully, they’ll get one down in our area someday soon.

After that, and almost home, we made a HEB stop at our local one for a few things for dinner next week, finally getting back to the rig about 4:30.

A really nice day.

We’ve gotten a lot of comments and questions about streaming, so I thought I would give you some more information about it.

Starting at the Home screen, you can choose which app you want to use to stream.

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Then, in the case of YouTubeTV, you can choose to watch Live TV, selecting from a list of channels.

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This list is customizable, showing only the channels you want to see, and in the order you want to see them.

And when you do select a show to watch, you get this choice.

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If the show is already on, you can select ‘Start from beginning’ and do just that.

Or you can join it live and in progress.

If you go to the Library, you can see all the shows you have selected to DVR. And you can set an unlimited number to record, even at one time.

In our case, we’re recording 176 shows right now.

And as I mentioned, when you set a program to record, you get every season it was on the air.

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As you can see, when you set Law & Order to record, you get all 20 seasons of reruns, plus the new 21st season of first runs.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

A few days ago, I posted this photo of Jan’s Flamingo Flamboyance, showing the two new additions.

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But as I mentioned, you can’t really see all the flock hiding in the back, so I took this one from the side.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Some of them flutter, some spin, and some light up at night. However, the effect of that is somewhat lost because of the streetlight right out in front of us.

But if Jan’s happy, I’m happy.


March 6, 2023

If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be . . .

Kelley’s over in Alvin for lunch, and then the several-times-delayed POpShelf.

Maybe. But we’ll see.


March 6, 2024

The End Of An Era . . .

I’ve blogged before about the project to ‘De-Extinct’ the Woolly Mammoth.

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It seems that recently they made a big step.

Researchers have made a major breakthrough that could see woolly mammoths returning to life before 2028.

Scientists from Colossal Biosciences have successfully created elephant ‘pluripotent’ stem cells, which can grow into any cell in the body.

While this has already been done successfully in humans, rabbits, big cats, and even the northern white rhino, until now, it had never been done before with an elephant.

While the de-extinction of the woolly mammoth might be the ultimate goal, Dr. Church says that the first step is to create an elephant-mammoth hybrid.

Next up: The Dodo – Extinct since the late 1600’s.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Linda, one of our long-time readers, questioned the map I posted yesterday showing the highest-paid public employee in each state.

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She didn’t think that College Presidents and Coaches would make more than Politicians.

Here was my answer.

Au Contraire!

For example, here are two states I’m familiar with, Texas and Alabama.

The Governor of Texas makes $153,000/year.
The President of the University of Houston makes $1.7 million/year.
The Football Coach of U of H makes $4.5 million/year

The Governor of Alabama makes $125,000/year
The President of the University of Alabama makes $700,000/year.
The Football Coach of U of A, Nick Saban, makes a base salary of $1,105,000/year.
But with perks and incentives, he made $11,400,00 last year. He is the highest-paid coach in the country.

Colleges and College Sports are Big Business!

It’s the End of an Era!

This afternoon, I texted Sylvia, our favorite Twin Peaks server, to see if she was working tomorrow afternoon, since we wanted to have lunch there.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

But we were very surprised to learn that she’s no longer working at TW, but has moved right next door to the new BoomerJack’s, where she’s working evenings at the bar.

So we’re waiting to hear back from her about what her days/hours there are.

Sylvia has been our regular server since early 2021, and she won’t be the first favorite server we’ve followed from place to place.


March 6, 2025

It’s Back!

I spent the morning trying to get a valid SSH/SFTP connection so I could do a restore of my Blog’s March 4th post. But every time I thought I’d made some progress, I’d end up back at square one.

So about 12:30, Jan and I headed out for lunch with Juana at BoomerJack’s once again.

Jan went with her usual Grilled Catfish with Grilled Veggies,

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while I got the 10 Wings with Mango Habanero Sauce, Grilled Veggies, and Chipotle Ranch Dipping Sauce.

The only thing I don’t like about the wings here, is that, unlike most places, Boomer’s doesn’t allow you to order all drums.

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I always get 10 wings, so I eat 5 and then have 5 to bring home.

Delicious, and we had a great time catching up with Juana for a while. Hopefully, we can catch up with Sylvia, our other favorite server, who also works there, but wasn’t there today.

Leaving BoomerJack’s, we had planned to do our weekly Wal-Mart visit, but since our list wasn’t very long, we decided to skip it for today, so I could get back to working on the blog problem.

And getting back home, I put in another call to GoDaddy, and finally was able to get bumped up to someone who could actually help me.

I explained to Henry the problem I had with making an SSH/SFTP connection, and his ‘chuckle’ told me I wasn’t the only one. I then asked him if he couldn’t just do the Restore from his end.

And he said, “Sure, no problem.” And after double-checking the date I wanted to restore, it was done in about 5 minutes. And that was it.

I then re-uploaded March 4th’s Blog Post, Woolly Mice. I will go back in the next couple of days and upload the Retro-Blogs.™ for March 5th. So that should catch us back up.

* * * * * * *

Tomorrow we’re heading back to the Alvin Opry once again, our first time since last August, due to our surgeries, the holidays, and other things. Dinner will, of course, be at the Alvin Monterey’s, as usual.