February 28, 2005

February 28, 2005

Huachuca City, Arizona

Day 255

 

Today was very sunny and warm. So warm that I was able to work outside today without a shirt.

OW OW OW OW OW ! Now I know what poor Bo is going through. I had to lay down on the ground today to do some work, and I got poked in the legs, shoulders, and hands by these horrid Goat's Head Cactus needle clusters. They're everywhere, and invisible against the gravel ground. When I went to pick them off myself, I got poked in the fingers. My middle finger tip is still sore.

Today was a day mostly for rest. I puttered away at a bunch of maintenance chores, because our March schedule is fairly busy with travel and rally commitments, so I might not have much time for maintenance chores. I thought it best to finish up whatever was on my "to do" list. I unhitched the truck from the trailer, and worked on some paint touch up on the truck's fifth wheel tail gate. Then I lubricated the bed slide all over with silicone lubricant. The bed slide has been a minor problem ever since we bought Harvey. It binds on its way in while being retracted. I've taken it for service, but the service shop advised that the "cure" was worse than the problem. The problem seems to be that the rubber weather gasket around the bed slide is a bit too large, and a bit too tight. If trimmed, it increases the risk of water leaking in around the bed slide, so they recommended leaving the problem alone, and living with it. It necessitates having Joanne push on the outside of the bed slide when it's being retracted, while I'm inside the trailer operating the switch. Occasionally I lubricate all around the slide, and the gaskets, with silicone lubricant. Next I applied silicone caulking around a couple of small stress fractures in the fibreglass skin around the bed slide. Harvey is a 1998 model, and one of the first years that a bedroom slide was installed on fifth wheel trailers. I think some of the bugs had not yet been worked out of the design.

I spent half the afternoon sitting in a chair in the sun, reading, and the other half of the afternoon napping with Teddy and Bo. Late in the afternoon, as the sun was setting behind the mountains, we took Teddy and Bo for a walk in the sling carriers. We had not yet tried Bo in one of the sling carriers. It went just fine. Teddy has lost some weight since Toby died, since he can no longer wolf down his food then rush over and steal some from Toby’s dish. HA HA HA ... what goes around comes around. Now Bo eats faster than Teddy, and Bo rushes over to try to steal some food from Teddy’s dish. Anyways, Teddy now fits the smaller sling carrier that used to be Toby’s, and Bo fits the larger sling carrier that used to be Teddy’s. We walked them over to a section of the park where we were told there are no Goat’s Head Cactus needles, then took Bo out of the carrier, and did an obedience training session. By the time we were finished obedience training, Teddy was squirming and complaining about being in the sling, so we picked Bo up and returned to the trailer. I’m not quite sure how I’m going to take him out tonight and tomorrow morning for bathroom walks, so that he doesn’t get his poor little tender feet prickled. I guess I’ll have to carry him to the “clean” area.

Just before supper, I re-hitched Dee-Dee to Harvey to save a bit of time in the morning. We’re going to Tucson tomorrow.

DSK