Just an update on projects

I'm still working on a number of projects in and around the house and motorhome. The motorhome is finished as far as the air conditioning and damage due to the backing incident are concerned. A few dabs of touch-up paint is all that's left there. Next week it's going to Caterpillar in Brooksville to have some minor work done that is beyond my capability.

A couple of days a go Helen was mowing the lawn when it suddenly would not stay running. The following is probably too technical for many of you, but my sons and some friends may find it interesting. When I looked at the mower, the bracket holding the carburetor was very loose and as I took it apart, I found that the intake tube going from the carburetor to the engine was broken. Easy Wheels in Hernando had the part and I took it home to put the mower back together. Nothing is as easy as it seems. The carb bracket is held on by two bolts and I thought that one had loosened up and was lost. Trying to put the bracket back, I found that the bolt hadn't backed out, it had sheared off. The repair would require drilling a hole on the bolt and using a special tool to remove the broken piece. I have the tool but I have NEVER had any luck drilling and removing a bolt stub.

The first thing is to drill the hole. No drills that I had were up to the job, so I drove up to Lowe's to see what I could find. At the same time I had some welding that needed to be done to the front mower axles, but that is another job. At any rate, at Lowe's there was a chart advising which drills to use for specific applications. The chart listed the cobalt drills as being the preferred drill for cast iron, which is pretty hard stuff. I bought two drills, knowing that I would quickly break one. When I got home and tried to drill the bolt stub, I was amazed that the cobalt drill bored into the stub quickly and easily. How nice! Then I used the extractor and the stub came right out. I put the mower back together and started it up to make sure it worked.

It ran, but the vibration was very extreme. Thinking the blade was out of balance, I removed it and found that it balanced perfectly. This is a new blade the is the kind that fits a number of different applications and has a different insert for each application. The insert for our mower didn't fit well and it allowed the blade to slide off-center a little. I added another washer and put the blade back on and the mower ran very smoothly. I now feel confident that the extreme vibration caused the bolt to break, allowing the bracket to move, breaking the plastic intake tube.

While I was into the mower repair, I replaced the front wheel which were badly worn. As ai mentioned earlier, welding was required because nothing I do is easy. The wheels were worn, but so were the axles, so I had to replace them, too. Because of the way the axles were put on, my only recourse was to weld new studs in place. All worked and now I'm done, at least with the push mower.

The next project on my list is to evict the tenant we have living in the gable eaves over the garage. Last year a gray squirrel made his home in the left side of the eave. I tried moth balls, but he didn't like them and threw them out. I found them on the driveway a few days later. Eventually I cut a piece of sheet metal and closed up the area. When we came back from vacation, we found that he had made a new home on the right side. I have more sheet metal, but I've been too lazy to get up there. I have some concern because we have gables also on the north and west sides of the house, so he will have four more chances to invade. I may have to resort to my Have-a-heart trap and relocate him well out in the forest.

Better Days are Here!!!!

What a turn around of fortune the last few days. On Friday I ordered the new PC board for the motorhome and I was very surprise when it arrive early Saturday afternoon via Fedex. I installed the board Saturday, but decided to wait until I was fresh and alert to continue yesterday (Sunday). Taking as much time as necessary I checked my wiring connections against the wiring chart to make absolutely sure that it was wired properly. Then I turned on the A/C and it WORKED. I'm happy to report that the A/C is working perfectly!

Saturday night I was awake, thinking about how I could check out the equipment that id connected to my computer. A couple of days earlier, my friend Dave told me that he finally got disgusted with his desktop computer and bought a new laptop. Sunday morning I called to find out what he was going to do with the old one. He said that it was worthless to him and he was going to bring it up the land fill. I asked if I might have it and he said yes. So, I went to Dave's and retrieved the computer and brought it home. I installed an old 40 gig hard drive, put a Windows XP CD in the tray and started it up. It ran very well and I soon had XP installed on the computer. I chose not to connect any of my normal stuff as I wanted to make sure that everything was right. The computer worked flawlessly and I shut it down. Next, I connected it to the cable modem and turned it back on. Again, there was no problem and I was soon able to access the Internet and read my email. So far, so good and again I shut the computer down. The last thing to attach was part of my wireless keyboard and mouse. I did so and booted up the computer once more. Flawless operation.

So.....this morning I stopped at the Computer Doctor and told him what I did. He apologized for the problem with the board and told me that he would immediately order a replacement and that there would be no charge to me. Dave's computer is working so well that I told the Computer guy that there was no hurry.

The sun is shining and it's great day!

Down in the Dumps

I seem to be in a funky situation where I can't make any progress on the rest of the damage done by a lightning strike. Yesterday I finally got the start capacitors for the motorhome air conditioner. When I closed the breaker I immediately knew I still had a problem because the fan started even though the A/C was shut off at the thermostat. I ran outside and looked at the wiring and I could see smoke coming from the PC board. That part of the board was not visible before because of a wire in the way. The new wire was routed differently. When I checked the old wire, it was burnt in the same place. OK, so now I need a new PC board. I found them listed on the Internet for $318.00. Ouch. I went on the RV.Net forum and posted a question asking if anyone knew of a less expensive source. I got a reply this morning with a source for $212.00. That's still not cheap, but it's a lot better.

Then I got a call from the Computer Doctor this afternoon saying that my desktop was all fixed. In a jiffy I was up there and saw the computer working flawlessly, and fast. They replaced the motherboard and did a quick tune-up and the performance was awesome. They ran a few programs for me and showed my how it accessed the Internet. It was a bit expensive, but at least I had the desktop back. At my computer desk, I hooked up the computer. Then I removed power from the cable modem and the router for a few moments. I re powered the modem first, then the router, then tried to turn on the computer..........nothing......NOTHING. ARGH!!!!

Back at the Computer Doctor they connected it and tried to boot up. NOTHING! The owner was not there and I talked with his wife. She claims that I must have something in my system that is shorting out the motherboard. No problem, I can buy another one and they'll put it in for free. Again I say ARGH! The wife said that her husband MAY choose to return the board as defective.

In the meantime, I'm supposed to find out if something I have, (mouse, monitor, printer, etc), would cause the board to short out.

This is bugging me because I want to get the problems fixed and behind me and these situations that will not go away are causing me grief.

OK, enough ranting for now. Thanks for letting me vent. I feel a little better now.

We've had a visitor!

A couple of days ago Helen was outside with the dogs and noticed a very large bird in the woods on the south side of the house. She identified it as a barred owl and came in to get a camera. As is usual in these cases, when she got back outside, the owl was nowhere to be seen. This morning I was outside and noticed the owl in the same location as it flew from near the ground to a branch high up in a tree.

From Blog 8-20

I ran in and got my camera and returned to the woods and found the owl still inthe tree looking down at me.

From Blog 8-20

We have seen a lot of other animals in our yard over the years including a small owl a few years ago, but this is the first large owl we've seen. He stayed in the tree a long time and did not seem to be bothered by my stalking him from below.

Jodie and Coco are trying our patience!

Today was a banner day for the two Labs. After a bad night of sleep, I got up at around 9:30 and when I went out to the kitchen I found both dogs wet. I thought Helen had them in the pool already, but Helen set me straight. Apparently Coco had gotten into something really rotten and Helen had to give her a bath before allowing her back in the house. As long as she was in "bath" mode, she grabbed Jodie, too, although Jodie didn't smell like Coco. As I said, this was all before 9:30. I was glad that I missed all the excitement, but my euphoria was short lived.

Late this afternoon, the dogs went for their "after supper run". A short time later Coco came back and wanted to come in. I opened the door and IMMEDIATELY caught the smell of something really bad, REALLY, REALLY GROSS!!! I ran her right in the garage and back out to the yard for another bath. I started on Coco and Helen came out and took over. Jodie came when called and I gave her a sniff. Whew, another winner! I got the air compressor ready as Helen completed the job and I blow-dried the two mutts. After that, a quick toweling and ear drops and they were ready to rejoin the civilized people and animals inside.

Twice in one day is too much. So, for awhile, the dogs will be walked on a leash. It may be a pain, but it's a lot easier than giving baths.

Just one thing after another!

Just prior to the backing incident mentioned in the last blog, I was preparing to move the motorhome. I had to take in the rear slide before moving and was back in the bedroom doing so. It's not difficult, just push the lower part of the rocker switch and the slide moves in. What could possibly go wrong? Well, someone could be barefoot and standing too close to the slide so that the slide comes in and runs over his foot. Yup, stupid is as stupid does and that's what I did. My big toenail was ripped mostly off and it was pretty painful. I went in the house and put on shoes so the blood wouldn't get on the motorhome carpet and then resumed moving the camper. That's when I backed into Helen. Yesterday I finally got to see a podiatrist and had the nail fully removed. It was done painlessly and I'm very comfortable today.

Two days ago a lightning bolt struck the telephone pole in front of our house, instantly cutting power to us and our neighbors. The power company responded quickly and replaced the fuse at the pole that protects the transformers and power was restored. All was well for a few minutes until Helen advised me that we had no water. I switched the pump breaker off and on and could hear the pump trying to run and suspected that the capacitor had blown. Opening up the pump control box I saw that the capacitor had blown apart. That's actually a good thing because replacing the control capacitor is a LOT cheaper and a LOT easier than replacing the pump. I bought a new control at Lowe's and we were back in business.

Then I went to check out something on-line, and found that I had no internet connection. I did the normal fix routine of unplugging the modems and powering them back up, one at a time. I had limited success. The phone works and the wireless part of the router works, but the desktop connection is kaput. I think the router got a bit zapped, but I'm not positive. I still have the laptop and the wireless connection, so I'm OK for now.

Helen and I have different tastes in television shows, and I often gravitate to the bedroom where I read as I watch MSNBC. Another surprise, the bedroom TV is kaput. I'll have to run it down to TV repair Monday.

The sun is shining and the dogs are in the pool. So all is well with the world...........for now.

I have nothing more to say.

Helen is fine....No really, she's fine.

Helen is doing great. You can't keep a good woman down and Helen has been up doing laundry and cooking supper. I took care of the rest of the grass today.

For those who don't know, there was a slight altercation yesterday between Helen on the riding lawnmower and me in the motorhome. Helen was mowing the grass on the north side of the house (the far right as you look from the street), and was way back by the pool. I wanted to move the motorhome under the awning in the other driveway. I started the engine and let it run for a few moments, then checked the mirrors and backup monitor to be sure all was clear. Then I started backing. At this point I was no longer looking at the mirrors as my attention was on the possible traffic coming down the street. I couldn't hear the mower over the noise of the diesel engine and Helen couldn't here the diesel over the noise of the mower. It's at this moment that Helen chose to cut around the rear of the motorhome to start on the south side of the house.

Apparently I caught her and the mower with the rear right corner of the motorhome, dragging her some distance, according to the skid marks. Helen's right leg was caught between the mower and the motorhome until she was able to muster enough strength to pull her leg out. I knew none of this. Finally, I saw Helen waving frantically from the side and I stopped. What a shock!!! The collision took her right shoe off and her leg was already red and beginning to swell. At first she just wanted to put ice on it and forgo a trip to the ER, but eventually I prevailed with the idea that we would have to have X-rays to determine if anything was broken.

We went to the ER at Citrus Memorial and only 5 hours later we had the answer. Contusions only, no broken bones. What a relief! When I think of what could have happened I shudder. All is well with Helen. I have work to do on the mower as the deck is askew. There is also some damage to the right rear corner of the motorhome and a couple of panels on the right side. She's one tough cookie!