July 16, 2005

July 16, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 60 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 29

 

Another sunny, very warm day.

This morning I walked Bo, showered, and did my regular preventive maintenance and inspections. I did some small chores, like taking my container of leeches ( used for fishing ) down to the lake to change the water. They need fresh water in their container occasionally. I would hate for them to die in the fridge. My wife objects to dead blood suckers in her fridge. Well, actually, she objects to live blood suckers in her fridge, as well.

I spent most of the morning working on the speaker wiring problem. I managed to figure out how to remove the speaker selector switch faceplate, which then enabled me to remove the speaker selector switch from the wall. That allowed me to avoid having to remove the toilet, then the laundry hamper in the cupboard, to get at the wiring behind the speaker selector switch. I was able to pull the speaker selector switch, and all the wiring, out through the wall. I wasn't very pleased with what I found. Firstly, the speaker selector switch was installed into the wall panel with 4 screws. Two were screwed into the wood wall panel. Two were screwed into nothing. The hole in the wall panel had been cut crooked, and too large. Sloppy, careless workmanship. Secondly, the wiring for both the front speakers was connected to the left front connection on the selector switch. The lead wires for the right front connection on the switch were just hanging. Looks like somebody at the Forest River factory had 10 minutes of wiring work left, 5 minutes before their shift ended, so it was expedient to connect right and left speaker wiring to just one side of the selector switch. I guess they figured there was a 99.99 % chance it would never be discovered, and that the lack of stereo separation on the front speakers would likewise be unnoticed. When I discover that kind of shoddiness, it makes me think the worst of people. It makes me cynical, critical, and judgemental. Those are character traits of mine that hardly need fuelling.

I rewired the speakers, although my work is temporary, because I need to buy some small wiring connectors to do the job properly. Then I found some small pieces of wood to use as back bracing behind the switch. I measured, cut, and drilled them. When I am completely finished the speaker rewiring, I will install them behind the selector switch, and wall panel, as back bracing for the two screws currently screwed into thin air < sigh >.

While I was working on that job, Joanne went to Falcon Lake to buy some groceries. When she returned, and I was finished, we had lunch. Joanne had bought today‘s newspaper, so I read the newspaper for awhile, then napped. When I woke, Bo and I left to go see what was happening with Meteor Fest over at Crescent Beach, while Joanne did some baking. There were lots of people on the beach, music playing, wakeboarding demonstrations, lots of boats and personal watercrafts ( I think that's what those little Sea Doo type thingys are called )... and lots of litter. It will be quite a clean up job after the weekend. Bo splashed around in the lake, visiting people. We walked over to the tennis courts, where a "street hockey" tournament had been earlier in the day. < sigh > I cleaned up a lot of litter from around the spectator benches outside the tennis courts. I'm beginning to agree with Joanne that the most desirable lifestyle might be to be hermit survivalists living in isolation up in the remote Ozark Mountains. She’s made a decision that she definitely does not want us to return here next year as campground hosts, largely because of the noise from the bar on Thursday nights. Friday nights and Saturday nights aren’t much better, but those Thursday “wing nights” on the bar patio are outrageous !

I spent the evening reading the newspaper outside, barbecuing a nice steak for supper, and selling firewood. It was a beautiful, warm evening, with no flies or mosquitoes. We've had a bit of a fly problem on sunny, hot days, and a bit of a mosquito problem most nights at dusk, but neither was a problem today.

DSK