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I got the hanger bolts screwed down in place, and was able to temporarily set the pedestal over them, so I know that part all fits.
But I ran into a new problem when I started working on the flush ball and the shaft that turns the ball when you step on the flush pedal.
The plastic shaft was cracked, which explains why the ball had been binding, sticking, and leaking recently. So I ordered a new one from Amazon, this time a brass one.
Since the new shaft won’t be here until between 7 am and 11 am tomorrow (hopefully), I decided to get rid of some of the ‘Ick’ factor by putting all the parts in the shower, spraying everything with Bathroom Cleaner, letting it soak, and then rinsing it all off with scalding hot water.
As usual, when I’m doing something this, I watched a few YouTube videos on the subject to be sure I’ve missed anything, and one of the guys referred to putting your hands down the in/around the toilet as the ‘Ick’ factor.
If I ever had a problem with the ‘Ick’ factor, I lost it during the summer before my Junior and Senior years in High School. I worked for an Electrical, Plumbing, Heating, and A/C company and spent a lot of time crawling around under people’s homes, finding and repairing leaky sewer pipes and working on septic tanks.
* * * * * * *
Tomorrow I’m hoping I’ll be able to wrap this all up and finally be done with it.
Hopefully.
Thought For The Day:
Sarcasm. Because murder charges are expensive.
Your Retro-Preview Highlights –
2010- Vasquez Rocks And The Gorn
2018- The Great Transmission Repair – Recap
2021- Earth Day Redux
And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™
April 23, 2010
Esther’s Tacos and Mulholland Dr…
Today was a road trip day.
We left the rig about 9 am, heading south to Esther’s Taco House in Placentia, CA, about 100 miles away.
On the way, I pulled over to take some shots of the Vasquez Rocks. Although they don’t look really impressive here, when you see them in person, they really stand out. You’re driving along through the high desert mountains, with the hills covered in scraggly scrub brush and small bushes.
Then you take a curve on the freeway, and suddenly you encounter these massive rocks thrusting up from the surrounding land.
It turns out that this is the route of the San Andreas fault line, and these rocks have been pushed up from deep underneath the earth.
Named after an outlaw, Tiburcio Vasquez, who hid out here in the 1870’s and 80’s, the rocks have been featured in countless commercials, movies, and TV shows, including a famous Star Trek episode called “Arena’, where Capt. Kirk is fighting the reptilian Gorn. The rocks in the background here are at Vasquez.
This upthrust formation also figures prominently in this show, and numerous others.
We got to Esther’s about 11 and sat down to another great meal. We wanted to eat here one last time before we leave on Monday. And as before, it was really good. They make the best Chile Relleno I have ever eaten. And their enchiladas are delicious too.
Before we left Esther’s, I called Park of the Sierras RV Park to be sure they would have a space for us on Monday. They said yes, so we’re good to go.
Our next destination was Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles. It’s the oldest remaining part of the city, and some of the buildings date from the 1870’s.
Across the street from Olvera Street, we found Los Angeles’ famous Union Station train station. Built in 1939, it is known as the last of the great train stations built in the US. And, built in the Santa Fe style, it doesn’t really look like a train station. Many movies, commercials, and TV shows have been filmed here.
Coincidentally, Union Station figured prominently in last night’s (4/22/2010) episode of ABC’s “Flashforward”.
Next, we headed up I-405 and exited at Mulholland Dr. We wanted to make the famed drive through the Santa Monica Mountains to get a bird’s eye view of Los Angeles. And we certainly did.
It’s amazing how many homes are built along here, and, considering how many of them seem to be just hanging off the side of the hill, you can see how landslides can damage so many homes.
Seeing how this is California, I was hoping for some nude sunbathing, but no such luck.
Many stars have homes along here, such as Jack Nicholson, Pamela Anderson, Reese Witherspoon, and Paris Hilton. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any stars, but we really enjoyed the drive.
We got home about 4 pm and settled in for the night.
And tomorrow we’re going to do it all over again. We’re going to drive back into LA to Playa del Rey on the coast, and then head north along the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) up to Santa Barbara, before returning home.
Then Sunday, we’ll get ready to travel, before heading out on Monday to the Park of the Sierras RV park north of Fresno..
April 23, 2011
Short, but Sweet . . .
Got up.
Had coffee and banana nut muffins for breakfast.
Watched Dr. Who marathon on BBCA.
Later, had leftover pizza for lunch.
Watched more Dr. Who marathon on BBCA.
Went to Radio Shack, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart.
Tried to watch more Dr. Who marathon on BBCA.
Talked to DirecTV again about my dying receiver/DVR.
Jan fixed a delicious lasagna supper, topped off by her great lemon bars.
Came home.
Watched Dr. Who season premiere on BBCA
Wrote blog.
Watched more Dr. Who marathon on BBCA.
Went to bed.
Fell asleep.
Nice Day!
April 23, 2013
Unintended Consequences . . .
I’m sure you’ve heard about how some cities, especially ones in California, have outlawed paper and plastic grocery bags, requiring people to bring their own reusable cloth bags.
The only problem with this is that, according to the CDC, these reusable bags are breeding grounds for E. coli, Salmonella, and other dangerous bacteria. In fact, a study by the University of Pennsylvania and George Mason University showed that just in the first 6 months after San Francisco enacted their total ban, emergency room admissions and deaths relating to E. coli jumped almost 50%.
So, where does all this E. coli and Salmonella come from?
Well, you know how they tell you to always wash your fresh fruits and vegetables before you eat them; well, now you know why.
Or did that stockboy wash his hands after using the bathroom before he put your can of beans on the shelves?
Now the CDC recommends you wash all your bags after every use. Of course, that would mean millions of bags being washed every week, using precious water and putting more detergents and other chemicals into the environment.
So what’s an environmentally-aware person to do? Of course, it’s apparently hard to be an environmentalist anyway.
Are you an environmentalist who supports solar power, or are you an environmentalist who protests a solar power project being built in the Mojave Desert because it might harm the Desert Tortoise? What, tortoises don’t like shade?
Are you an environmentalist who supports wind power, or are you an environmentalist who campaigns against wind power because they kill thousands of birds every year?
Decisions, decisions.
Jan and I headed over to Wal-Mart around 2 pm to get some stuff, and also let Jan get her hair done. Then on the way home, I stopped off at an Auto Zone to pick up some battery terminal cleaner and protector spray, since I wanted to clean our rig batteries.
Later, we drove over to Sourdough Pizza for dinner. Jan was happy to see that they had her favorite meat ravioli, and we shared our usual pizza with pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms, along with very nice small dinner salads.
The one thing that was unusual here was that the pizza sauce was kind of sweet. According to Google, a sweeter sauce is kind of a regional thing. But the first bite was a bit of a surprise.
Tomorrow I’ve got some more rig projects to work on.
April 23, 2014
Well, that didn’t last long . . .
See What Happens When You Tease A Frog!
A week or so ago, I installed a new lift motor and lift mechanism in our bathroom Fantastic Vent fan. The original one lasted for ten years, the replacement I installed in 2009 lasted for five years, and the latest one lasted for 11 days. Based on that timeline, I expect the next one to last for about a minute, 45 seconds.
But we’ll see.
The problem is that the motor doesn’t seem to be connected to the driveshaft anymore. When you try to open or close the lid, the motor runs, but it doesn’t move the lid. The manual knob turns while this is happening, but it’s obviously not turning the lift mechanism shaft. At this point, I can turn the knob manually while the motor is still running, and lift the lid that way. But once the lid is all the way open or closed, the motor never stops. It just keeps running. I think this tells me the clutch inside the lift motor is broken. The manual knob is connected directly to the shaft on the lift mechanism. But the motor has to be connected through some sort of clutch so that when the lid is all the way open or closed, the motor stalls down and then shuts off under the load.
I talked to Fantastic Vent (Attwood) this morning, and they’re sending me a new one. Hopefully, it’ll get here before we leave Friday week. Otherwise, Brandi will have to track us down and send it on.
They didn’t say anything about having to send the old one back, so maybe I’ll be able to take it apart and see how it works, maybe even repair it for later use.
About 3:30 Jan and I made the 30-mile trip up to La Grange to have dinner at Sealand Seafood again. This is our 4th or 5th visit during our 6 weeks on and off here at Colorado River Thousand Trails, and hopefully, we’ll get in at least one more visit.
One thing Jan and I noticed on our drive north was that the farther we went, the more bluebonnets we started seeing again. I wouldn’t have thought that such a small distance would have made that much difference. So maybe that bodes well for our trip up to the Brenham area on Friday.
Jan and I ordered our usual 2, 6, and 6. That’s 2 pieces of catfish, 6 shrimp, and 6 oysters, and of course, battered French Fries.
On the face of it, $19.99 for this platter plus a salad, might seem a little expensive. But we both find that we can only eat about 1/2 of it. Plus, we always get more seafood than indicated on the menu. In my case, I got 3 pieces of fish, 8 shrimp, and 9 oysters. That’s what I like, under promise and over deliver.
So we both have plenty for another meal at home. As I told Jan, since we had eaten until we were full, and had plenty left over, we got All You Can Eat Seafood for $10. Not bad at all.
Coming home, we stopped off at Wal-Mart for supplies and HEB for gas before getting back to the rig a little after 6 pm.
Tomorrow I’ll make another attempt to install the new shear pin in the slide mechanism.
Or maybe not.
April 23, 2016
Gone, But Not Forgotten . . .
Today was more of the same, downloading software, getting it activated, and also tracking down the software I have on DVD’s. The only one I haven’t found yet is my Delorme Street Atlas 2015. I haven’t seen it since I installed the 2015 version last February.
On a side note, I’m kind of worried about Delorme and their Street Atlas program. I’ve used that program since the early 2000’s, and every year, the new version is announced in the Jan-Feb timeframe.
But this year, not a word. And if you go to their website, they still show the 2015 version.
I suspect the reason is that early this year, the GPS maker, Garmin, bought Delorme, and I hope this doesn’t spell doom for Street Atlas.
They have also drastically cut back their support forums to almost nothing. And the one topic about the 2016 version is a real bummer. Apparently, they do not plan a 2016 version, and said they will ‘think’ about doing future versions.
And since Microsoft discontinued Streets and Trips a couple of years ago, that leaves nothing to replace them that doesn’t require Internet access on the road.
Just BUMMER!
On a better note, going through my bins, I did find my 3rd GPS module. Karma chewed up the USB connector on my first one, I gave my 2nd one to my son Chris, so now finding my 3rd one, so I won’t have to try to repair the 1st one right now.
But I’ll keep it just in case.
Later in the afternoon, I made a quick run over to the Kroger’s in Willis to pick up a few things we forgot last night. And I was surprised to see this in the frozen foods section. Although we have bought cans of their chili, it’s the first time I’ve seen it in frozen foods.
We’ll have to try it sometime.
Getting home, I did my outside chores, disconnecting sewer and water hoses, speeding up leaving tomorrow morning. Next, I checked the rig’s tire pressures and found that no air was needed.
I’ve been very impressed with these Hercules Ironman tires we put on after our blowout last May. The only time I’ve had to put air in is to adjust for winter and summer temps. Really nice.
For dinner tonight, Jan fixed BCT sandwiches, that’s Bacon, Cheese, and Tomato. And rather than frying up bacon and smelling up the rig, or using the microwave stuff that comes out limp and soggy, we came across this brand a few weeks ago, and it’s really good.
It’s microwaved, but every four slices are in a sealed pouch, and are cooked that way. This makes it come out crispy and crunchy, and really good. Try it.
Tomorrow we’ll have our usual Cracker Barrel breakfast before we make the 290-mile journey over to the Medina Lake Thousand Trails for a couple of weeks.
Jan’s really looking forward to feeding the deer again.
April 23, 2017
Chicken and Chops . . .
We both slept in this morning after a somewhat long and exhausting trip and setup yesterday.
We’re really looking forward to moving into cooler weather. Although it was in the mid-80’s here in Acton yesterday, we’re looking at much cooler temps in the next week, with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the high 40’s/low 50’s. And up in Bend, OR, where we’ll be this time next week, it’s 50’s/30’s. Nice.
In Rapid City, SD, where we’ll be in about a month, it’s snowing right now!
Sometime this morning, between around 8:30 am and 12:30 pm PT, this blog was down with a 503 error. When I got up about 11, I called GoDaddy, who said it was a server problem and should be back up in an hour or so. And it was.
I’m still very happy with my new Samsung Galaxy S8+. The most obvious thing is how much faster it is than my old Galaxy S5. Of course, the 3 years that have elapsed since I got my S5 is a lifetime in cellphone years.
I’ve got it mostly set up now with the apps I want arranged the way I want, but I’m still slowly working my way through the 214-page manual that I downloaded yesterday. There’s a lot of new stuff to figure out.
I did get a System Update for the S8+ last night, as well as one for my Galaxy Tab 4 tablet, but nothing for the S5. I guess it’s officially orphaned now.
About 2 pm, I went outside to get the coach leveled. Yesterday I had just dumped the airbags to see if we were level enough that way. But although we were level front to rear, side to side was a different story.
So I got the pads out of the bay, slid them under the rig, then came inside, cranked up the engine, and leveled us. Now we don’t walk down the rig leaning sideways.
We had a couple of long mountain climbs on the way over here from Vegas, so I was curious about what effect it had on our mpg. Turns out, not a lot.
We did 254 miles and used 31.2 gallons for an mpg of 8.14. Only a little down from our usual 8.5 or so. I guess that 17-mile downhill run really helped. Looking at the instantaneous MPG on our Silverleaf Computer Display showed 272.5 MPG, the maximum it will display. This was just basically coasting downhill.
At the same time, the Cumulative MPG was showing almost 25 MPG. But of course, it all levels out, and we were seeing 8.1 when we got here.
In a blog a few days ago, I mentioned California’s new 12¢ per gallon tax increase on gasoline. I thought it had gone into effect immediately, but blog reader Maurice Kunkel, who lives in the area, said it doesn’t go into effect until July.
That makes the gas prices I see here in the Palmdale area even worse, with prices already going as high as $3.19. So now another 12¢?
WOW!
So far, neither of the other parties in our recent fender-benders in the Phoenix area have tried to file a claim against my insurance, and I doubt that at this point they will.
When I spit-rubbed the paint off the first guy’s wheel well, he had nothing to claim, and although there was no blame assigned and no ticket issued when the lady cut me off in the rig, I think the officer made it pretty clear to her that it was her fault. Or at least he talked to her a lot longer than he talked to me after I showed him the photos I had taken.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I could no longer reply to comments from within the blog control panel, but only from the blog page itself. This is a pain because I usually try to reply to people both in the comment section and also back to them via email.
One funny thing was that the problem only occurred using Google Chrome, but worked fine under Internet Explorer. And on my laptop, both browsers worked fine. But I got a notice from GoDaddy last evening that they had installed the latest WordPress update software on my blog. And reading over the list of fixes, I noticed a mention of Chrome. And when I went and checked, the problem was fixed. Nice.
About 4:30 Jan and I headed out to have dinner up in Palmdale. Our first thought was Red Robin for burgers, but it turned out to be inside the Antelope Valley Mall, which seemed like too much trouble. So our second choice was a nearby Outback Steakhouse.
Outback has always been one of our favorites, and we used to eat at the one in Webster, TX, near our house, all the time. In fact, back in the 90’s, our daughter Brandi worked there as both a server and a bartender while she was in school. It was always funny to go there for dinner and be able to order her around.
But strange as it may seem, we almost never get steaks there, but have other long-time favorites.
We both started with their really good salads.
Then Jan got her usual Alice Springs Chicken.
The reason the top looks a little messy is that it comes with bacon as well as the cheese and mushrooms, but it’s not done enough for Jan, so she pulls it off and gives it to me.
Outback is one of the few places you can get really juicy grilled pork chops, and I’ve been getting them for years.
Still great.
Not sure what’s on the schedule yet for tomorrow. Time will tell.
April 23, 2018
The Great Transmission Repair . . .
Several people (apparently new readers) asked about the reference to my ‘Great Transmission Repair’ last May in Weed, CA, so I thought I’d post a recap of it since nothing much else happened today.
May 2, 2017
We were dieseled up, hooked up, and pulling out of the Flying J by 9:45, a little ahead of schedule for a change. But that didn’t last long.
As we started to turn on the I-5 entrance feeder, I noticed the rig was kind of lugging, not accelerating as it should. It was quickly evident that the problem was that the transmission was stuck in 1st gear and wouldn’t upshift to 2nd. Then I happened to move my head a bit and saw a Check Trans light on the panel. I didn’t see it at first because it was blocked by the steering wheel.
No other alarms, no Check Engine light, no nothing. Just the Check Trans light. It was obvious that I was stuck in the ‘infamous’ Limp Mode.
So I tried the simplest thing first. I shut the engine off, let it sit for a few minutes, and then started it back up.
OK, no warming light. That’s good.
But as soon as I was moving a few miles per hour, the light came back on.
Bummer!
Jan, however, said some other words.
So next I checked the transmission fluid. It was at the lower part of the OK range, but I added a little TransSyn to be sure.
And again, no luck. Still stuck.
I did use my Silverleaf Computer Display to check for any fault codes, but nothing showed up.
So now I was on the phone with Spartan, my chassis manufacturer, to see what they might have to contribute. But not a lot, but they sent me on to Allison Tech Support.
Now I have known for a while that my rig’s Allison transmission is kind of an oddball. I think it kind of straddles a model revision, or something. For example, according to my transmission’s serial number, I should be able to check the transmission’s fluid level from the console, but I can’t.
I’ve had several techs tell me I must not be doing it right, and they proceed to show me how. But apparently, they weren’t doing it right either.
The Allison tech told me to check for transmission fault codes by turning the key on, and then pressing the upshift/downshift buttons together, twice.
And I got nothing. So I turned the key off and back on, and then did it again.
Again nothing. But I did notice that something flashed in between the first and second presses. So I turned the key off and on, and pressed just once. And now I had the code display.
But no error codes were showing.
As we were talking and checking some other stuff, he had me crank the engine up, and for some reason, I decided to try the code thing again.
And this time I had an error code, a 2-5-1-1.
So, between the number of presses needed and the fact that the engine has to be running to read codes, there are just two more weird things about my transmission.
The tech told me that the code meant that the rig was getting no output speed info from the Output Speed Sensor. And I was VERY glad to hear this, because a bad sensor was something I could possibly replace or fix myself.
The tech was kind of surprised I wanted to crawl under the rig and work on this myself.
He doesn’t know me very well, does he?
He suggested I check the sensor physically to see if it was still connected and didn’t look damaged from road debris, etc. So under the rig, I went with my work pads.
And this is what I found.
It looked OK, but I wanted to pull it apart and clean it, in case it was just a bad connection. So I sprayed the area with Awesome and wiped it down, and then unsnapped the connector.
The wires looked good, so I sprayed both the socket and the plug with Strike Hold, let it sit for a few minutes, and then put it back together.
Now I was really confident I had fixed the problem. I mean, Strike Hold will fix anything and everything, right? So I rolled out from under the rig, eager to give it a try.
Since I was working on the roadside of the coach, I set my step ladder along the side of the road to deter any close shaves. They might not have a problem running over me, but they probably don’t want to scratch their paint on the ladder.
And yeah, I’ve got some cones somewhere, but they just run over those too. I mean, look at all the dead cones you see, the life crushed out of them, their faded orange carcasses littering the highway.
But back inside and moving out, I still had the problem. So Plan B. We’ll limp along the shoulder until we get to the next exit, for downtown Weed, and then park in a large lot that I had seen, and then I’d regroup. And that’s what we did.
And along the way, I noticed something new. I had no speed information on either my dashboard speedometer or my Silverleaf. And I had no odometer readings either.
So, getting parked, I was back on the phone with Spartan. I called them because they know both systems. Allison knows the transmissions, Cummins knows the engines, but Spartan knows both, or at least how they interface. And I wanted to know if the dashboard speedometer got its data from the transmission sensor.
And yes, it did.
Now I was on the phone with the nearest Allison shop, which was down in Redding, 65 miles south. And yes, they did have the part in stock for $85 plus tax. So after unhitching and parking the rig in the far corner, we were off for Redding.
I figured that replacing this sensor was my last shot at avoiding a 65-mile tow and a very large repair bill. If it’s like most of these sensors, you just unplug the wire, remove the bolt, pull out the sensor, stick the new one in, then bolt, then wire. Easy Peasy.
The trip down to Redding only took a little over an hour because it’s just that… down. Just about the entire way. And a lot of fun curves that make Jan hiss.
Getting to the Allison parts counter, I had the same oddball problem again. The sensor that the computer said I needed, did not look like mine. That one had the plug sticking straight out, but mine is at a 90° angle.
But they finally found the right one, and $91 later, we were on the way back to Weed. Getting there about 4 pm I called the Bend TT to let them know we wouldn’t be coming in today, and I’d let them know about tomorrow.
The above-mentioned Hi-Lo Diner, which was only about a block away, also has a motel and RV park attached, so I figured I’d putt-putt down the hill and we’d spend the night there, and I’d replace the sensor there. So after getting a site, off I went with Jan following in the truck.
And before I got out of the large lot, I noticed something. I had speed info on both the dash and the Silverleaf. Could it be?
And yes, out on the street, the rig upshifted smoothly to second, with no lights or other problems. I made the 1/2 mile journey to the park with no problems, even hitting a large pothole, and I held my breath, thinking the problem might return. But it was all good.
So did Strike Hold just take its time to fix the problem? Did gremlins figure that they’d had their fun at my expense? Did fate just want me to waste $91?
So what to do?
So I decided to risk it.
May 3, 2017
We were up at 7 am, later than usual, since we didn’t have much to do to get on the road. In fact, we didn’t even put out the satellite dish last night, but just listened to music on our Amazon Echo.
We had a nice site that I just treated as a pull-in, easy due to how the power pedestals were configured.
Of course, we had to have another breakfast at the Hi-Lo Cafe once again, especially since it was right up the hill and we had the free tokens for coffee that we got when we checked into the RV park.
Since we both had leftovers from yesterday’s breakfast, we decided to go smaller this time.
So rather than the full waffle, we got their 1/2 waffle combos.
Still delicious, just less of it. And no leftovers to try and fit in the fridge.
Back at the rig, we were pulling out of the park by 9:15, Jan following me in the truck so we could hook up on a side street.
Driving through the park, everything was fine, and I had speedometer readings on both the dashboard and the Silverleaf.
That is, until I hit a bump. Then the problem was back.
Bummer!
Jan, as before, said other things.
So I just circled back around through town and right back into our space at the park. Looks like I was going to have to change out the sensor after all.
After I got shore power hooked up and the slide out, I walked up the hill to the office and told her that we were either back for an hour or so, or a day or so, until we could get towed to Redding. She said no problem.
I did see this really nice 1949 Oldsmobile coupe parked by the office.
The emblem on the rear deck indicates that the original buyer paid the almost $200 extra cost for the optional HydraMatic automatic transmission, more than 10% of the vehicle’s cost.
To make it a little easier to work under the rig, I raised it up on the rear levelers as high as I could, giving me plenty of room. Next up, I put a call into Jay, the Allison Tech Support guy, to ask him a question.
“When I pull this sensor out, am I going to have 150° Transynd pouring out on my head?”
He said, “Good question. I don’t know. Let me check.” And when he came back, he said, “No problem. It’s dry in there.”
Glad to know that I don’t have to worry about that.
Gathering all my needed tools, I was under the rig at 10:10 and done at 10:45.
The only slowdown was that I had to come out from under the rig to get my 18″ cheater pipe from the truck to break the bolt loose.
Pulling the old one out, I smeared a little oil from the O-ring on the old one to the new one, stuck it in, and then tightened the bolt back in place.
So now for the big test. Either onto Bend, OR, or towed to Redding, CA in disgrace.
After I got cleaned up, we were pulling out of the park by 11:30 with Jan again following me in the truck. I told her that if it was working, I was going to make several loops (about 1/2 mile each) around the town. If the problem returned, I would just pull back into the RV park.
Otherwise, I would go round and round a few times until I was satisfied, and then pull back into the large parking lot where we were parked yesterday when we drove the truck to Redding for the part. Then we would hitch up there and get on US97 for Bend.
And even though I was deliberately hitting bumps, the problem never returned. And it never returned during our 4-hour trip up to Bend, 195 miles north. Smooth as silk.
April 23, 2019
Wyze and Wills . . .
Jan and I headed out about 11:30 for a busy afternoon, trying to wrap up as many last-minute items as we could.
Earlier in the morning, I set up all 3 of my Wyze Cams in the rig. Since they not only detect motion and sound, but also are particularly attuned to the sound of Fire and CO alarms, I wanted a way to call the Santa Fe Police and Fire departments without using the 911 system, which I doubt would work very well from Budapest or Amsterdam.
So on our way out, I stopped off at the Santa Fe PD and got the non-911 emergency numbers. Then it was on up to King Food for a bowl of Hot & Sour Soup to hold us until dinner.
Next up was our continuing quest to get our wills signed and notarized. One problem I kept running into was that we not only needed a notary, but also two witnesses. And the notary couldn’t be one of them. And the first two places I called only had a notary available there.
I guess I could have tried dragging people in off the street. You know, “Go in there and sign a piece of paper and I’ll give you $5.” Not sure how that would work, though.
But when I decided to check back with my client’s neighbor to see if she was back in town, she was, and she had witnesses, the people working in her office.
With all the signing, witnessing, and notarizing of 3 copies of the will, plus 3 Self-Providing Affidavits, it took about 45 minutes. But at least it was done, and I can get them into the mail to Chris and Brandi tomorrow.
And even better, I may have picked up some computer work at her office when we get back from our trip.
Then it was on to Wal-Mart for a last few items, one of which was a new, smaller carry-on bag for my laptop, tablet, and Kindle Fire. And I found a nice one for only $20.
Our next stop was over on Bay Area Blvd for Jan’s Bon Voyage Mani-Pedi, special because she usually only gets the Pedi part.
Finally back home for a while, we headed about 6:15 to drop Karma off at her new temporary home with my client’s office manager. She’s got her own room, with her food bowls, litter box, and perch. And she’s got a window to look out of, just like the rig windshield at home.
Once she settles down and gets a little whipped cream in her, she should be fine.
Finishing up the day, we had dinner at our favorite local Tex-Mex place, Los Ramirez. Very busy, especially for a Tuesday, and as delicious as usual.
Tomorrow’s my wrap-up day at work, so hopefully I can finish it what I need to finish up.
April 23, 2021
Earth Day Redux . . .
From A Coming Ice Age To Famine To Killer Bees, Acid Rain, and Global Warming, 50 Failed Climate Forecasts.
1. 1967: Dire Famine Forecast By 1975
2. 1969: Everyone Will Disappear In a Cloud Of Blue Steam By 1989
3. 1970: Ice Age By 2000
4. 1970: America Subject to Water Rationing By 1974 and Food Rationing By 1980
5. 1971: New Ice Age Coming By 2020 or 2030
6. 1972: New Ice Age By 2070
7. 1974: Space Satellites Show New Ice Age Coming Fast
8. 1974: Another Ice Age?
9. 1974: Ozone Depletion a ‘Great Peril to Life
10. 1976: Scientific Consensus Planet Cooling, Famines imminent
11. 1980: Acid Rain Kills Life In Lakes
12. 1978: No End in Sight to 30-Year Cooling Trend
13. 1988: Regional Droughts (that never happened) in 1990s
14. 1988: Temperatures in DC Will Hit Record Highs
15. 1988: Maldives Islands will Be Underwater by 2018 (they’re not)
16. 1989: Rising Sea Levels Will Obliterate Nations if Nothing Done by 2000
17. 1989: New York City’s West Side Highway Underwater by 2019 (it’s not)
18. 2000: Children Won’t Know What Snow Is
19. 2002: Famine In 10 Years If We Don’t Give Up Eating Fish, Meat, and Dairy
20. 2004: Britain will Be Siberia by 2024
21. 2008: Arctic will Be Ice Free by 2018
22. 2008: Climate Genius Al Gore Predicts Ice-Free Arctic by 2013
23. 2009: Climate Genius Prince Charles Says We Have 96 Months to Save World
24. 2009: UK Prime Minister Says 50 Days to ‘Save The Planet From Catastrophe’
25. 2009: Climate Genius Al Gore Moves 2013 Prediction of Ice-Free Arctic to 2014
26. 2013: Arctic Ice-Free by 2015
27. 2014: Only 500 Days Before ‘Climate Chaos’
28. 1968: Overpopulation Will Spread Worldwide
29. 1970: World Will Use Up All Its Natural Resources
30. 1966: Oil Gone in Ten Years
31. 1972: Oil Depleted in 20 Years
32. 1977: Department of Energy Says Oil will Peak in 1990s
33. 1980: Peak Oil In 2000
34. 1996: Peak Oil in 2020
35. 2002: Peak Oil in 2010
36. 2006: Super Hurricanes!
37. 2005 : Manhattan Underwater by 2015
38. 1970: Urban Citizens Will Require Gas Masks by 1985
39. 1970: Nitrogen buildup Will Make All Land Unusable
40. 1970: Decaying Pollution Will Kill All the Fish
41. 1970s: Killer Bees!
42. 1975: The Cooling World and a Drastic Decline in Food Production
43. 1969: Worldwide Plague, Overwhelming Pollution, Ecological Catastrophe, Virtual Collapse of UK by End of 20th Century
44. 1972: Pending Depletion and Shortages of Gold, Tin, Oil, Natural Gas, Copper, Aluminum
45. 1970: Oceans Dead in a Decade, US Water Rationing by 1974, Food Rationing by 1980
46. 1988: World’s Leading Climate Expert Predicts Lower Manhattan Underwater by 2018
47. 2005: Fifty Million Climate Refugees by the Year 2020
48. 2000: Snowfalls Are Now a Thing of the Past
49.1989: UN Warns That Entire Nations Wiped Off the Face of the Earth by 2000 From Global Warming
50. 2011: Washington Post Predicted Cherry Blossoms Blooming in Winter
April 23, 2022
Rocks and Tacos . . .
Jan was getting her hair cut today at 2:30, so we headed out for lunch about 1 pm, for our favorite Ultimate Omelets at Denny’s once again, and Angie, our favorite waitress.
Then, after her haircut, we headed up to Webster for a quick stop at the office, and then a few things at the new HEB up there, before heading home for the night.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Rob, our park owner, was expanding to the property next door,
He had started clearing it of all the trash and debris.
And he’s still at work, taking out some of the trees and trimming others back.
We talked to Rob a few days ago, and he said he’s going to put 4 or 5 sites in now, and eventually he’ll want to add sites all the way out to the road, almost doubling the size of the park.
It’s looking good.
April 23, 2023
Back To The Drawing Board . . .
Lunch today was at Gator’s once again.
After salads, Jan got the Strawberry Walnut Salad with Grilled Chicken,
while I got a big bowl of the Chipotle Beef Soup.
And of course, it’s not a meal at Gator’s if we don’t split one of their Keto Blueberry Muffins, warmed with cold butter pats.
Then it was on up to HEB and then home.
The end to a very nice weekend.
I missed the actual Earth Day 2023 yesterday, but with all the bad climate predictions listed below, a single day shouldn’t make any difference from when I first posted this in 2020.
From A Coming Ice Age To Famine To Killer Bees, Acid Rain, and Global Warming, 50 Failed Climate Forecasts.
1. 1967: Dire Famine Forecast By 1975
2. 1969: Everyone Will Disappear In a Cloud Of Blue Steam By 1989
3. 1970: Ice Age By 2000
4. 1970: America Subject to Water Rationing By 1974 and Food Rationing By 1980
5. 1971: New Ice Age Coming By 2020 or 2030
6. 1972: New Ice Age By 2070
7. 1974: Space Satellites Show New Ice Age Coming Fast
8. 1974: Another Ice Age?
9. 1974: Ozone Depletion a ‘Great Peril to Life
10. 1976: Scientific Consensus Planet Cooling, Famines imminent
11. 1980: Acid Rain Kills Life In Lakes
12. 1978: No End in Sight to 30-Year Cooling Trend
13. 1988: Regional Droughts (that never happened) in 1990s
14. 1988: Temperatures in DC Will Hit Record Highs
15. 1988: Maldives Islands will Be Underwater by 2018 (they’re not)
16. 1989: Rising Sea Levels will Obliterate Nations if Nothing Done by 2000
17. 1989: New York City’s West Side Highway Underwater by 2019 (it’s not)
18. 2000: Children Won’t Know What Snow Is
19. 2002: Famine In 10 Years If We Don’t Give Up Eating Fish, Meat, and Dairy
20. 2004: Britain will Be Siberia by 2024
21. 2008: Arctic will Be Ice Free by 2018
22. 2008: Climate Genius Al Gore Predicts Ice-Free Arctic by 2013
23. 2009: Climate Genius Prince Charles Says We Have 96 Months to Save World
24. 2009: UK Prime Minister Says 50 Days to ‘Save The Planet From Catastrophe’
25. 2009: Climate Genius Al Gore Moves 2013 Prediction of Ice-Free Arctic to 2014
26. 2013: Arctic Ice-Free by 2015
27. 2014: Only 500 Days Before ‘Climate Chaos’
28. 1968: Overpopulation Will Spread Worldwide
29. 1970: World Will Use Up All Its Natural Resources
30. 1966: Oil Gone in Ten Years
31. 1972: Oil Depleted in 20 Years
32. 1977: Department of Energy Says Oil will Peak in 1990s
33. 1980: Peak Oil In 2000
34. 1996: Peak Oil in 2020
35. 2002: Peak Oil in 2010
36. 2006: Super Hurricanes!
37. 2005: Manhattan Underwater by 2015
38. 1970: Urban Citizens Will Require Gas Masks by 1985
39. 1970: Nitrogen buildup Will Make All Land Unusable
40. 1970: Decaying Pollution Will Kill All the Fish
41. 1970s: Killer Bees!
42. 1975: The Cooling World and a Drastic Decline in Food Production
43. 1969: Worldwide Plague, Overwhelming Pollution, Ecological Catastrophe, Virtual Collapse of UK by End of 20th Century
44. 1972: Pending Depletion and Shortages of Gold, Tin, Oil, Natural Gas, Copper, Aluminum
45. 1970: Oceans Dead in a Decade, US Water Rationing by 1974, Food Rationing by 1980
46. 1988: World’s Leading Climate Expert Predicts Lower Manhattan Underwater by 2018
47. 2005: Fifty Million Climate Refugees by the Year 2020
48. 2000: Snowfalls Are Now a Thing of the Past
49.1989: UN Warns That Entire Nations Wiped Off the Face of the Earth by 2000 From Global Warming
50. 2011: Washington Post Predicted Cherry Blossoms Blooming in Winter
Looks like SpaceX is going to have to go back to the drawing board with the design of their Starship launch pad down in Boca Chica, TX
This is what the pad area under the engines looked like after the launch.
Musk said it will be a couple of months before they’re ready to launch again.
April 23, 2024
The Girls Are Good To Go . . .
Lunch today was at long-time favorite King Food for our usual Chicken with Hot Garlic Sauce XXXX Spicy with Jalapenos. And of course Hot & Sour Soup.
Then it was on over to the Medical Center area for Jan’s yearly mammogram. And an hour or so later, she was good to go for another year.
In other words, the girls are doing fine.
Coming home, we made a Cowboy Coffee stop for coffee. Jan got a Mocha Latte, and I got a Peanut Butter/Maple Syrup Latte. Really good.
We’ve got our Cruise rooms narrowed down to 2, 8120, and this one, 8604.
Both are fairly close to mid-ship and have unobstructed balcony views.
We’re going for the early (5:30) dining time, rather than the later 8 pm one. And of course, we can also do the Windjammer Buffet, or even room service.
The new, purported opening day for Big Horn BBQ is next Thursday, May 2nd. Of course, they’ve lied to us before, so I guess we’ll see.
Rob, one of our eagle-eyed readers, saw these gas prices in the photo I posted the other day, and wondered about them.
Since the gas station isn’t even open yet, I assume that it’s just in Test Mode.
At least I hope so.
My coughing problem seems to be on the mend, so hopefully, it’s wrapping up for this year.
My Cost Plus Drugs shipment showed up today in our mailbox, with Jan’s not far behind.
April 23, 2025
Saying Goodbye . . .
Getting home from work in the middle of a pouring rainstorm, Jan and I turned right back around and drove over to the Enterprise office to pick up our rent car. Took longer than normal because they were having computer problems. But finally, we were on our way back home in our 2024 Nissan Altima. Nice car so far.
Then, as soon as Jennifer got home and called, we picked up Debi and Ed, and took Karma over to Jennifer’s. Then it was on up to League City to have dinner at Kelley’s Country Cookin’, their first time to eat at one.
And they thought it was as good as we do.
Debi and I had the Chicken Fried Chicken Breast,
while Ed and Jan both had the Turkey & Dressing
And long-time friend/server Staci was there to take great care of us.
As usual for RV’ers, we spent over 2 hours talking afterward before making our way home.
Saying our goodbyes, Jan and I started loading up the Nissan for our trip to Fredericksburg tomorrow morning. We’re leaving about 8, and should be there by about 2, with lunch at Der Lindenbaum first up.
Can’t wait.
