Our RV Adventures

Many of you are sharing our blog with others using the “Share this:” buttons at the bottom of each blog. Again, Thanks.

Jan and I headed out about 1pm with our first stop at the Monterey’s up in Alvin for lunch, Jan getting her usual Chicken Ixtapa,

and my big bowl of their great Chicken Tortilla Soup,

the Chicken Tortilla Soup that all others are compared to.

Then we headed back down Hwy 6 and then FM517 to check out storage units. For a long time, before and after we started RV’ing, we had a large storage unit, at 10’ x 25’. It started out as a temporary storage area for our furniture while we were remodeling our house in the mid-90’s. And then it just hung on like a bad cold.

But this time we’re downscaling, probably to a 5’ x 5’ unit, the smallest size they seem to have, at least around here. What we’re looking for is a place to off-load seasonal stuff like our electric heaters, winter quilts and clothes, and then stuff we don’t need unless we’re traveling, like our Brake Buddy braking system.

At first I was thinking about getting 3 of those large plastic shelving units, which would run about $90 and then we’d stack plastic storage bins on them. But then I realized that if we’re just stacking the bins, what do we need shelves for?

The first place we tried, and the one we’re most likely to use, the clerk was at lunch, so we’ll have to check back. But according to their website, a 5’ x 5’ would be $23 per month. Not a bad price, I guess.

Heading up I-45, Jan remembered that there was one of those multi-story Public Storage places at the Victory Lakes exit so we decided to take a look.

Turned out to be about what I expected. Well, except for the price or prices. First off, the price was $42 per month. But then there’s the $25 lock purchase fee, one time only though. And of course you’re required to have insurance on your contents. Which runs a minimum of $11 per month. And then there’s first and last month’s rent.

I’ve rented apartments with less trouble. So we’ll check out the $23 place later this week. Hopefully it’s priced a little more reasonably.

Then it was on to WalMart to pick up new prescription for Jan that got updated after her blood work the other day, and a few other things.

Next up I stopped off at my clients to pick up an Amazon package that had come in this morning. It seems like I’m always looking for a screw, or nut, or bolt, digging through drawers and bins. So when I saw this assortment on Amazon I thought I’d give it a shot. And it’s really nicer than I expected.

It’s a 1300 piece set of SAE bolts, nuts, and washers, metric bolts, nuts, and washers, and an assortment of metal and wood screws, packed in three nice trays that combine into one case.

Deluxe Hardware Assortment

Check it out.

Finishing up, we made a last stop at Harbor Freight for a set of set drill bits for my remote dump valve project. Then it was home about 6pm.

A very nice day.

Thought for the Day: 

Raising kids is like a walk in the park. Jurassic Park.

hgdghdg

I talked to my client today about clearing out some of the stuff stored in my office area so I can set up a workbench.

Right now I have a large desk,  but with two computers, two monitors, and two keyboards, one of which is the Webserver, and the other is my office computer,  that doesn’t leave a lot of work surface tor my new machine repair duties.

So I’ll get a couple of those folding-leg tables to set up as benches. Hopefully I’ll get that done in the next week or so.

My recent dryer repair, replacing the over-temp fuse, seems to be holding up, so tomorrow I’ll replace the retainer bar and put the doors back on. Hopefully this repair will last the same three years that the last one did.

I’m still at it with Duolingo, now at day 123 without missing a lesson. To keep my streak going, I have to do 2 or 3 lessons each day, totaling 30 points, but normally I do several more. I have noticed that I can now read signs in Spanish and the Spanish descriptions on the DirecTV guide much more readily, so I guess it’s working.

I saved myself $33/month today by calling Verizon and cancelling a couple of things. Last April 21st when we were in Las Vegas I upgraded from my Galaxy S5 to the brand-new S8+, getting it on the very first day it came out.. At the same time I also added a MiFi to my account to replace the 3G Aircard I had been using since 2007.

But since my Aircard was so reliable, and I know that a lot of people have had trouble with their MiFi’s, I kept the 3G card active. But I’ve never had any MiFi problems, so the Aircard has not been used since. So it’s now gone, saving me $20 per month.

In addition, when I bought the phone, the Otterbox case was not yet available, so I got the $13 per month insurance on it, though I’ve never killed a phone. My thinking was that once I had a good case I would cancel the insurance.

Of course all those good intentions fell through the cracks until today, but since my account starts over tomorrow, I’m good to go.

The Headline of the Day:  Woman’s Runny Nose Was Actually Leaking Brain Fluid.

Thought for the Day:

  dfgsdfg