Sometimes we’re just lucky!

 

This is the time of year when we would normally be many mile north of Florida. This year we found the need to spend more time in Florida to enhance our chances of spending another winter in Mexico.

Helen awoke one morning to find water on the floor in the hall and seeping in the carpeting in one bedroom. I quickly got out me wet vac and sucked up the water. The problem is that the condensate drain from one of our air conditioning units had clogged and the condensate backed up into the house.

In this picture you can see the condensate pipe as it runs down an around the A/C unit. As it goes by the side, there is a fitting that goes into the “pan” in which the A/C unit sits. Water was running over the top of the pan.

 

The real cause of the problem was the torrential rains we had a few days ago. A river of water was diverted around the side of the house where we have the below ground A/C connections, valves, and condensate drain. The great flow of water flooded the housing with mud that completely clogged the drain. Again, I put my wet vac in service and sucked all the water and dirt from the drain from outside the house. Then I added some pipe and fittins to bring the drain above the mud line, but still low enough to drain from the house.

I made a major change to the system which can be easily seen in this picture. The condensate pipe runs down to the tee fitting. To the left of the fitting is a brand new “condensate high water shut-off switch”. In the unlikely event that water should again back up, the switch will open and the A/C unit will not operate. Of course, this is only a summer problem as there is no condensation when the unit is set for heat in winter.

 

On another note, there has been a thread on RV.NET about refrigerators, comparing residential with RV types. I realize that my large home refrigerator/freezer may run at a higher amperage than my RV refer, but it does so intermittently, while the electric heating unit in the camper runs something like 300 watts constantly. I have a device called the Kill-A-Watt which is used to determine the electric use of an appliance. You plug it into an outlet then plug your appliance into the device and set it. First you set the electric rate, which I got off my most recent electric bill. Then you select cost over a period you select, I chose a month. After a couple of days, the device seemed to level off at $8.25 per month.

Next, I turned on the RV refer and allowed it to get fully cold, then I attached the device. Since our house refer has the door opened from time to time, I did the same in the motorhome. The last time I checked, it was showing a monthly rate of almost $40.00!

Putting this into some perspective, in Mexico where we pay about 3 pesos per KWH, it would cost us about $96.00 per month in US dollars. On our first winter in Mexico we quickly ran up a sizable electric bill until more knowledgeable people advised us to run on LP gas, which is relatively cheap in Mexico.

I’m now in the process of changing out incandescent and fluorescent lights to LEDs. The LEDs are very white, use a SMALL fraction of the electricity, and give off very little heat. I haven’t completed a lot yet, but what I’ve seen is impressive. I may post pictures later.

It was a very good week!

 

The week started on Sunday, Fathers’ Day. We were invited to Sara Anne’s Dad’s house for a cookout. The invitation was for Helen and me, but Helen had a bad hair episode on Saturday and wouldn’t come outside. Thus I attended stag.

Here are the four Tempestas. The two with hair are grandsons Kyle, in red, and Keaton, in blue. I’m the bald one behind Kyle and my son PT (Paul, Jr.) is the one on the right going bald.

The cookout was a grand success and I got to meet a lot of Sara Anne’s family. They turned out to be a very friendly group and really made me fit right in. I look forward to seeing them again at the wedding.

 

On the home front, Helen was visited by Scott and his family and I returned home around three PM.

My son Scott is on the far left, then there are grandchildren Kourtnie, Kolbie, and Brandon.

A little later on we were joined by PT, Sara Anne, Keaton and Kyle, so it was indeed very nice to have the whole clan together for the day. Between cookout #1 and cookout #2, I think I gained 10 pounds.

 

Tuesday I indulged in one of the activities on my bucket list. I have always wanted to get into Radio Controlled air planes. Years ago I built two from kits, but as a dad with a family, I just couldn’t afford the radio and electronics which was VERY expensive then. Last year I saw an ad for a plane complete with radio controls for about $129.00, and bought it impulsively. My efforts to control it were futile and I finally went to a R/C club for instruction.

This is the plane. It’s not dinged or damaged yet.

At the field, my instructor took the plane off and he really had his hands full trying to control the red menace as it was totally out of trim. So, he was trying to keep the plane in the air and adjust the trim at the same time. I was very impressed as I am certain that I would have crashed. In short order, he had the plane flying well and gave me the controls. In just a short time the battery was running low and the instructor took control and brought it safely to earth. For some reason, the battery would not recharge, so that was it for the day.

Another toy is my R/C micro-mini helicopter. This is to fly in the house. For  a while, it was a case of take off, crash, and repair. Take off, crash, order parts, and repair. Now that I have a lot of spare parts, I don’t crash anymore. When I first got it, Coco had to investigate, getting her nose too close to the rotors. She now avoids the contraption.

 

Years ago, like half my lifetime, I used to shoot skeet at the Plymouth Rod and Gun Club back in Massachusetts. Another item on the bucket list was to shoot skeet one more time. I checked a few times over the years, but couldn’t find anyplace close. A few weeks ago when Sam Weibel was down, he mentioned shooting and I found there was no place in Citrus County. The I heard of the Hernando Sportsman’s Club. Friday I went to Homosassa to help a friend and the club was just a few miles away. I drove down to check it out.

 

This is a skeet range, but not the one I attended. There is this house on the left that throws out a clay disk which shatters when hit. On the right side of the range is the second house which throws out the discs at a much lower angle.

Of course I didn’t have a gun, but several members offered me theirs. Some were very expensive guns and I was tempted, but I used to have a Remington 1100 of my own and decided to stay with a known friend. Besides, the 1100 is an auto loading shotgun that doesn’t kick like some others. I only shot 25 rounds, but could feel the effect later on my shoulder. It was fun, but that page of the bucket list has been closed.

Later.

Another successful mission for LRROF

 

Helen and I were called upon to help transport two yellow Lab pups from someplace north of Valdosta, Georgia to a spot east of Brooksville. Our normal mode of transportation is the Jeep with a crate in the back. I’ve been having a problem with a small leak in the radiator, but figured that I could make the run by leaving the radiator cap loose and carrying five gallons of water. I was sorely mistaken. I only got three miles into my trip when the car overheated. Apparently the radiator problem is a byproduct of a stuck thermostat. I tried to call home, but of course there was no signal. I also could not call ahead to let others know I’d be late. I used the water to cool the engine and went back home where we put some stuff in the Lincoln and headed to Gainesville.

Another LRROF (Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida) volunteer, Cindy, brought the two pups from the place in Georgia to Gainesville. We have made this run before on several occasions. In short order we got to within about 7 miles of the meeting place, then hit a massive traffic jam. The last 7 miles took over an hour. A torrential downpour hours before had caused several accidents. There was a tractor-trailer jack knifed on the side of Route 75 and a little further along there was a car with the whole rear seriously bashed in. When we drove by, there was nothing to really gawk at, but it still slowed traffic to a crawl. On the way back we found that the backup had increased to about 10 miles.

Here are the two pups, a male on the right and a female on the left. Cindy told us that when she pulled them from their crate, it was the first time that they were out of it. They have had no shots, but appear to be in good shape.

There is no such animal as a Lab that doesn’t like attention, and this guy is Mr. Personality.

Around March 17th you might see people wearing pins saying “Kiss me, I’m Irish”. There should be one for Labs saying “Scratch my belly, I’m a Labrador Retriever”.

WOW!!!! First time out of the cage and what do we have here? Nice, soft green stuff. My life is getting better by the minute.

This is the male and he seemed enthralled by the sights outside the car window. He and his sister were both very well behaved and quiet. The required no special care and it was a very easy transport.

We met June, another LRROF volunteer at the McDonalds in Hernando County and she was going to take them to her house. It is my understanding that she will adopt the male and foster the female until adopted. They are both real cuties and I doubt that she will be fostering the female for very long.

At a time where charities in Florida are under increasing scrutiny due to the huge amounts of money taken in and the very small percent actually spent on the charity, it’s nice to work with LRROF. Our time and gas money goes to rescue dogs. Money donated to LRROF goes to spaying, neutering, heartworm treatment and more.

Again, it is a privilege to help these pups in need.

 

later.

One step forward and two steps back

 

Since our return from Mexico, that’s about what it feels like I’m doing. It’s almost mid June, and I have done nothing to the motorhome since the early repairs in March. I have also been working on Helen’s Lincoln and my Jeep.

Helen’s Lincoln required new ball joints for the front suspension and it was much more difficult than I thought. I also wanted to repair two electric windows but had to let that go until after our guests left.

My primary job on  the Jeep was to reconstruct the tow plate connection to the Jeep frame. It was not really difficult, but it was time consuming. Impact wrenches and power tools made it easier. One thing led to another and I had to replace a front seal while I was living under the Jeep. The rest would also wait until after our guests left.

It’s too bad that Donna and Sam, Sue and Brian, or Ann and Gerry couldn’t stay longer as that was a very nice respite in from my  long list of projects. Some evenings I got to play with my indoor RC helicopter, but it is a situation where I charge the battery and fly the toy until I hit something, then I replace broken parts and try again in a few days.

I got back in the groove with the Jeep and Lincoln. A quick change of transmission fluid and filter did not go as easy as planned. I thought it did, but when I backed out of the garage there was a large puddle of new fluid under the car. Silicon gasket material solved that problem.

On to the Lincoln windows. A video on You Tube shows how easy it is to replace the power mechanism on the Lincoln. The video even tells what size socket to use and how everything comes apart. It was only a ten minute video, how hard could it be? How about three days? And that’s with getting my arms scratched reaching inside the door panel. OK, the rear, left window was working, but was it working correctly? I operated the right rear window, which has ALWAYS worked, and this time it ground to a halt and had to be manually assisted up. So now I have a total of THREE window mechanisms that had to be fixed.

It was about this time that Helen called me to look at the ceiling in one bedroom. She had discovered water marks from a leak in the roof. We had the roof repaired first thing when we returned in March, but the leak was coming from someplace that hadn’t been touched. I called the people who did the roof and they had a man down in half an hour. With him on the roof and me in the attic, he soon found a loose nail and promptly fixed it. Total charge was ZERO! I gave the guy some money to buy a six pack on the way home.

Next on my agenda was to flush the Jeep cooling system and put in new anti freeze. I put a flush chemical in the system and ran it for about 200 miles. I went to Wal-Mart this morning and was going to drain the system when I got home. Walking from the store to my car I noticed a major leak dripping from the radiator. So, now I have a new radiator and hoses in the garage and yet another project for tomorrow. I keep telling myself that it’s cheaper than a car payment, but now I’m beginning to wonder. Trouble is…..it has been the perfect car to tow behind the motorhome and I’m not ready to let it go.

 

Later.

PAUL, The reluctant and lazy blogger

 

Yes, it is all too true., I am reluctant and lazy when it comes to blogging. This is particularly true when I am very busy doing a dozen other things that crop up. Last night it was a problem with the central air conditioning and I’m working on that while I’m blogging. Did I mention that I am also a GREAT procrastinator? I was going to put that first, but thought I’d wait awhile.

OK, so whet have we really been up to in recent weeks? Nothing!

No, that’s not true, we have been very busy. On May 23, Sam and Donna arrived from Dardenne Prairie, Missouri in their 5th wheel with their wonder dog, Riggs, the perfect specimen of the black Labrador retriever. Sam had everything hooked up in short order and we had an interesting time with them.

Riggs is, above all, a water dog and he was anxious to get in the pool with our three, Jodie, Coco, and Sandy. They were all together last year, so it was just some pooch friend catching up on old times.

You can catch up on all the old news by checking out Sam’s Daily Blog at http://samdonna-5thwheelvagabonds.blogspot.com/ He does a much better job than I do and you will get a lot more information.

Later in the week, We were joined by Sue and Brian, who befriended us in 2012 in Mexico. They arrived in their motorhome with THEIR wonder dog, Tilly. The stayed a couple of nights while Brian and I worked on one small modification to his rig. He also showed me his installation of LED lights throughout his camper. Foolishly, I ordered the same for me and now I have yet ANOTHER project on the list.

Next on the agenda were Ann and Gerry Wright and THEIR wonder dog Bear. He is mis-named as he is really Teddy Bear. Ann and Gerry we met at Xpu-Ha campground and you might find a little more about them if you check my blogs from December 2012 to February 2013.

One of my favorite blog tactics in Xpu-Ha was to refer my readers to Brenda and Gerry’s blog. Since we were doing the same things, diving, eating, etc, I would just refer my readers to Brenda’s blog. Again, Brenda is much sharper than I am and does a wonderful blog. Go back to the winter months and you will see. http://turtleondowntheroad.blogspot.ca/

You can also check out Gerry’s new blog http://gerryscamino.blogspot.ca/ as he treks the 500 miles or so across Spain on the Camino de Santiago.

OK, back to the air conditioning, then the Jeep, then the drivers window motor on the Lincoln, then the rear passenger window on the Lincoln, then AT LEAST START on multiple projects on the Motorhome. All the while calculating area and preparing to retile our kitchen/family room and computer/dog dormitory.

I’ll try to get some pictures up soon, but check out Sam’s blog in the meantime.

Time for my nap.

 

Paul

Moving Puppies for LRROF

 

Helen and I are loosely connected with Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida. Some years ago we adopted Jodie from Pat  and LRROF. Six months later we adopted Coco from Pat. In the following years we became the citrus County liaison for LRROF. As such, we would check the living arrangements for a possible adoption, arrange to pick up a dog given up for adoption, or pick up a dog from an animal shelter. More about that later.

Yesterday, Helen and I were privileged to participate in the relocation of four 5 week old puppies. At 5 weeks, they are not really old enough to leave Mom, so I don’t know what transpired. They hadn’t had any shots and had to avoid contact with other dogs and they were going to be fostered in homes without dogs until they get their necessary shots.

We met Cindy in Ocala and transferred the four cuties to our car for the ride south. They were taken from somewhere to Tallahassee. Then Tallahassee to Lake City. Cindy got them in Lake City and met us at Sam’s club.We drove them to Land o’ Lakes where we met Pat and Lewis.

Four healthy, happy female Labs, very alert and lively.

They gave us no trouble at all. What an excellent adventure for us.

This little cutie was keeping Helen company in the back seat. I was keeping my eye on both of them……….we have yellow and chocolate labs…..but no black ones. How long does it take for Helen to bond with a puppy? If pressed………how could I refuse?

Here is Helen, holding on to more than her share. The other folks are fostering two until they are old enough to be adopted. Pat and Lewis were taking the other two to a home in Odessa.

 

Helen didn’t end up with a puppy, but she did get a pot of beautiful flowers from Pat for Mother’s day. It was a very nice and generous gesture, but the real gift was a couple of hours with the pups.

 

Now, a little background on animal shelters and puppies. Most shelters are under funded, understaffed, and under everything. Especially further north in the state, they do not have funds or staff to give pups the necessary shots or care for them for weeks until they can be adopted. Hence, puppies are generally “put down” as soon as they are turned in. Helen and I were picking up a Lab in a northern county and a man was dropping off a basket full of mixed breed puppies. The shelter manager told him that all she could do was put them down. It was at this point that we had to leave and we don’t know if the man left the pups or not.

Back in 2010, we had to go to the Lake County Animal Shelter to pick up a dog that was going to be “put down” in the afternoon. we got there in the morning and were told that the dog was still there, but there was a complication……..she had a litter of pups the evening before. We took Sandy and all her pups. Our family room became a kennel for the second time and we raised the puppies from one day old to eight weeks old, when they were all adopted. During their stay, LRROF had all their shots done. Later Sandy was spayed and treated for heartworm. Helen was absolutely steadfast in keeping Sandy, the mother. So, Sandy is still with us today.

Sandy and part of her brood, September 16, 2010.

Just some of the high points in our lives.

 

Later.

We’re still alive, just busy.

  

Yes, we’ve been home for quite a while, but we’re still busy as can be. When we got home, Helen was pleased that all her plants had made it through the winter without losing any to frost. Her elation was short lived!

This is what we found March 4th. 25 degrees Fahrenheit! We had a few days that were even colder and many of the plants that looked so green on our return just wilted and died from the frost. Apparently we should have stayed in Mexico an other Month. It wouldn’t have helped the plants, but we would have felt better. It is now May 3rd, and we have yet to use air conditioning as opposed to past years when we would already be on the A/C 5 weeks or more.

I shouldn’t complain, but I REALLY don’t like cold weather at all. However, I was able to get a lot of hard work done while the days were cool. That’s COOL, I can work outside when it’s cool, but I didn’t do anything on the really cold days. I did change the oil on the motorhome and the two cars, as well as the transmission fluid in the Jeep. I repaired the exhaust leak and that was no picnic. Working from under the bed, I was so far down in the engine compartment, head first, that I thought Helen might have to call the Fire Department to get my carcass out. I got out OK, and I’m glad to have that done.

On the way home, our rear slide kept inching out and we had to stop numerous times to move it back in. The underside of the motorhome was covered with the fluid used in the leveling and slide units and I had to add about a gallon to the reservoir. After cleaning the underside with engine degreaser and allowing it to dry, I had Helen operate the slide a number of times with me watching from below. I could not see a thing and reluctantly turned the job over to “Save-a-Buck”, an RV repair a few miles away. There was a cracked hose and a broken fitting. A new hose was fabricated locally, but the broken fitting could only come from HWH and it was $120.00. I’m done with the motorhome for now, thankfully.

Off to Brooksville in Helen’s Lincoln and I noticed that the steering was loose. When we got back I jacked up the front end and found that both ball joints on the driver’s side were badly worn. Another job comes to the head of the work list. Since I have replaced ball joints a number of times over the years, I chose to do the job myself. The job has changed! In the past, the ball joint was held on with three bolts, and you can get them off any way you want as new ones come with the joints. Not with the Lincoln. The ball joints are PRESSED in. I bought the joints at Autozone and they loan out tools to make most jobs easier. The tool from Autozone only made the job possible, and just barely so. I got them in and had the front aligned and now the Lincoln rides straight and true.

During all this time, Helen has been working outside almost non-stop. Unlike trees in the north, ours do not lose their leaves in the Fall, but in the Spring. The trees are never really bare, but old leaves fall as the new ones grow out. Therefore, the leaves fall for weeks…….and weeks.

This is a picture of Helen sitting in her new hammock with a book in one hand and a drink waiting. Oh, if it were only true! She found a place for her hammock and wanted me to see how it would be. I put it up, grabbed some props, and had Helen pose. A moment later she was back working on the landscaping. As I look out the computer room window, Helen is STILL in the midst of planting and raking and trimming.

During this same period of time,our dogs were not forgotten. I worked at getting the pool uncovered and the pump working. We let them in the water from time to time, but they make their own opportunities, too. Busy working on something around the back, I inadvertently left the three doors to the cabana open. Coco has enough oomph to chase down any crack in whatever blocks her from the pool. This time it was the maze of doors, another time I was caught off guard as I opened the door from the family room and another time, our son, Scott, opened the door a crack. Coco throws herself through with such abandon that there is just no way to stop her. They do enjoy the pool though, so it’s worth it.

Jodie above and Sandy below, Coco on the bottom.

During this time we also celebrated Easter with a traditional Easter Dinner at “Peppermint Patty’s Restaurant”. Well, maybe it really wasn’t “traditional”. We found that a new restaurant had opened up on the east side of the county and specialized in seafood, northern and southern. The owner/cook is from Massachusetts and they have real whole clams, fried and steamed. On Easter, they had a special “clam boil” that included steamers with Portuguese sausage, onion, and potatoes. We’re used to steamers alone or with lobster and ears  of corn, so Helen and I  went with clams and scallops. Our friends Lynn and Jim Eckhardt tried the boil and I know they were not pleased. Steamers are something you grow up with and Lynn and Jim had not. It was messy and not to appetizing for them, though Lynn tried a fried clam and said it was good. Our other friend, Barbara, chose something normal as well.

After dinner, we all returned to our house where Helen had prepared a nice Easter table for desserts.

Left to right is Helen, our older son P.T. (Paul Jr.), Then Sara Anne Smith-Merritt, and Barbara Kennedy. Helen had enough pastry for about 40 people, but leave the macaroons for me!

Left to right again, it’s Barbara, Jim, and Lynn.

Now it’s back to the old grind and I’m working to repair the damage to the Jeep that occurred in Mexico. I have a plan and I’m seeing a welder tomorrow, so that will be done in a few days.

There has been a lot more going on, a new roof on the house, new computers, new TV, more miscellaneous stuff too numerous to mention. Now, we hope to chill out for a short spell.

Later!