&$%#*& !
I knew it!
It always seems to happen.
Just as soon as I put the washer compartment doors back on from last month’s washer/dryer repair, the dryer up and dies.
No heat. Zip, Zero, Nada, Nyet.
Luckily the free washer/dryer building is just right across the street, so I’ve got a little leeway to get ours fixed.
The last time I had this problem was in January 2013 when it turned out to be the thermal Over Temp fuse.
The repair stuff is down toward the bottom of the blog.
Hopefully it’ll be that simple again. But it still means I’ve got to pull it back out again.
Our Mr. Coffee coffee maker has been doing a lot of gurgling lately, taking a longer than normal time to make our morning coffee. So yesterday I decided to run the Clean cycle on it.
You start off by pouring 20 oz. of vinegar into the reservoir and then select the Clean function. It then brews around 15 oz. through the system, sits for about 20 minutes letting everything soak and dissolve the calcium. Then it starts up again and brews the remaining vinegar.
After that you run a full 12 cup pot of plain water through the system. Then you do the vinegar thing all over again
When that’s done, you finish up by doing TWO 12 cup pots of plain water.
And this morning it brewed much faster and much quieter. Nice.
Yesterday morning I emailed our invoices into SiteWatch for the last two weeks. Jan had 1 and I had 3, because we have separate invoices for each gate we worked. We submit the invoices on Monday and then get paid by direct deposit the following Monday.
Some readers have been commented on our blog and on Facebook about Roadside Assistance companies like Good Sam’s and Coach-Net. We’ve had both over the last 9 years, usually depending on who was the cheapest when it was time to renew, and it would be difficult to rate one over the other.
Of course your mileage may differ.
We’ve had two long tows with our coach. The first one was in 2008, our first year on the road, when we were traveling from Las Vegas, NV to Flagstaff, AZ. The radiator fan on our Cummins diesel came apart, puncturing the radiator. We were flat-towed about 50 miles into Flagstaff directly to a big truck radiator repair shop.
Thanks to the miracles of cellphones and the Internet, by the time the tow driver showed up, I had us a hotel reserved in Flagstaff, I had called Spartan and they were overnighting a new fan to the hotel, and I had the truck unhitched ready to follow the rig.
Taking about an hour to prep for the tow, the driver disconnected the driveshaft and hooked his truck air system into the rig’s tap in the compartment on the front driver’s side of the rig.
All told, it was about 4 hours from the time we called Good Sam until we were at the repair shop in Flagstaff. Not bad under the circumstances.
The second time was in May of 2015 when we had our infamous blowout, again traveling between Las Vegas and Flagstaff. (I’m starting to detect a pattern here.)
The closest tow truck was 90 miles away in Prescott, AZ.. What showed up was a flatbed. It took the guy about a hour to get us up on the truck and we were on our way.
Our blowout happened about 2pm and we were on the road a little after 6pm. Really good, considering the truck had to come from Prescott 90 miles away, drive 10 miles past us to get to an exit to turn around and come back to us, and then get us loaded up.
We’ve also had a couple of short tows, both only about a mile or so, and both in Canada, again in 2008.
In addition, we twice had to be pulled out of the mud at RV parks. And we had good service every time.
One thing to know is that each Road Service company does not have its own group of tow truck drivers everywhere around the country. In most areas there is a pool with a central dispatch system for all the services like AAA,, Allstate, GEICO, Good Sam, Coach-Net, etc., all draw from this pool. So when GS needs a tow truck in a certain area, they call the dispatch operator who knows what’s available.
So, if GS can’t get you a big tow truck for 5 hours, odds are Coach-Net can’t either.
And yes, you will hear horror stories from people with both GS and CN. Sometimes it’s just luck of the draw.
But now there’s a new player in town. SafeRide RV Motor Club with Roadside Assistance, sold by Chris and Charles Yust of C and C RV Insurance fame.
Because it’s also a ‘Club’ they offer a number of extra services, above and beyond what GS and Coach-Net seem to offer.
Check it out.
Didn’t hear from Todd today, so as it stands right now it looks like I won’t be working a gate tomorrow, unless it’s another last minute night shift gate like last time.
We’ll see.
Thought for the Day:
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Bazinga !
It was really nice to be able to sleep in this morning. No getting up at 5:30am.
After a quiet morning with our coffee and catching up on conversation, we headed out about 12:30 for lunch and shopping.
On our way we stopped off at Lone Star Real Estate to pick up an Amazon package. It was actually delivered by the PO on Saturday, but the office was closed. So it got delivered this morning.
What it contained was two new watches for Jan and I. And this time we both went old school . . . Analog.
Probably the first analog watch I’ve bought in 40 years.
My first digital watch, the Sinclair Black Watch, was a kit I built myself in around 1975.
And I’ve had digital watches ever since.
But digital watches aren’t much good at night when you’re trying to log in trucks and you need to press the little button so your watch lights up so you can read the time.
But this one has glow-in-the-dark numbers and hands so that problem is taken care of. And it was only $16.
Jan went with pretty much the same thing, for pretty much the same reason, again with a big, easy to read face. And hers was only $10.
Our lunch destination was once again Barth’s Restaurant, where we’ve been working our way through their daily buffet menu over the last couple of weeks.
This is number 5, with only two more days to go after today. And today was really, really good.
Chicken Fried Steak, Chicken Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Cheese Soup, and the Salad Bar. And all for a senior citizen-discounted $6.50.
Delicious and Cheap, a real two’fer. And only two more days to go . . . Wednesday and Thursday.
Next stop was Wal-Mart for a few things and a big laugh.
After we’d finished with the grocery shopping, I waited down front on the main aisle in front of the registers while she shopped for some clothes.
You may have noticed that there will often be an associate standing along that aisle offering to help people find things. In fact she even has her own place to stand.
When we walked in, there was a young lady standing there dressed up in Christmas garb. As we passed her, I commented that it was just too early for the Christmas stuff. She smiled and agreed, saying she didn’t really have a choice to wear it.
So, waiting for Jan, I was trying to stay out of the way and ended up standing there. A few minutes later the young lady walked back over, and seeing where I was standing, she hesitated, I think, trying to figure what to do.
At this point I looked up and said, “I’m in your spot.†After a couple of seconds you could see something click and she started to smile.
Then I said, “Bazinga!â€, and she pretty much lost it, and walked off, still giggling.
Finally our last stop was for a few last things at HEB that Wal-Mart didn’t have, and then it was home. Just in time for it to start pouring down rain.
I’m hoping that we get our bank cards in the next couple of days. SiteWatch is putting money in there and I can’t get it out. As least not without actually driving to the bank.
And who does that anymore?
Thought for the Day:
“…even a newspaperman, if you entice him into a cemetery at midnight, will believe in phantoms, for everyone is a believer if you scratch him deep enough. – W.B. Yeats
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