November 10, 2005

November 10, 2005

Coarsegold, California

YEAR 2 DAY 146

 

Today was cloudy, but warm. I worked outdoors most of the day, wearing short sleeves.

Today didn't go particularly well. I felt quite ill and weak with a cold. And I spent almost the entire day working on a job that a GM dealer service department would charge an hour of labour to do. This morning after regular morning routines, chores, and preventive maintenance, I took Bo for an obedience training session. We haven't been giving him any training sessions lately. He did very well, nonetheless. I had signed up for a guided tour of SKP Park Of The Sierras when I registered. The gentleman who conducts the tours, Joe, came by to schedule a tour for us at 1:00 P.M. this afternoon. My first job of the day was to spray silicone lubricant on the rubber weather stripping under the living room / dinette slide. Next I worked on deodorizing a spot on the bedroom carpet that showed up a day or two ago, and smells really sour. I think Teddy vomited Whiskas Catmilk and bile. Joanne discovered a major problem in the back reaches of the bedroom closet, with condensation and mildew. She spent most of the day cleaning mildew off her leather coat, my leather coat, some long dresses of hers, and my dress shoes that were at the back of the closet. The last few weeks of rain ,cold weather, high humidity, and warm air in the trailer have resulted in condensation in the closet. We're going to have to buy some Damp Rid packages for the closet. And avoid Vancouver Island in October, I guess.

I started work on replacing the cable from the battery to the starter and alternator. The parts of the job that I thought would be difficult went reasonably well, and the parts that should have been easy, proved to be the most difficult. And ... the most troublesome ; when I was finished I had a nut left over. It's been nagging at me all evening. I can't figure out where it belongs, and I'm worried. I started the job by disconnecting both batteries in the truck. Next I removed the old cable end from the alternator. So far, so good. I got out the truck jack, and jacked up the passenger's side front of the truck. I assembled the new axle stands I bought recently, and got them into position under the truck to make the job safe ... as per Joanne's insistence. I removed the wheel and tire, then took a break for lunch. As soon as lunch was finished, Joe came by to give us our guided tour. He drove us around the park in a golf cart, touring the facilities and grounds, explaining the history of the development of the park. It was an interesting tour, but I was feeling ill, and eager to get back to my truck repair. We didn't get back to our trailer until about 3:00 o'clock.

I crawled into the wheel well and removed the old battery cable from the starter. Very, very difficult. No room for my hands, no room for a wrench. I finally got the old cable off, and the new cable connected. At that point I thought the difficult parts of the job were over. I was wrong. I reinstalled the front tire and wheel. One of the lug nuts stripped < sigh >. I removed the new axle stands, and lowered the truck off the jack. I connected the new cable end to the alternator. Now all that was left was to reconnect the batteries, put everything away, and clean up. I had extreme difficulty connecting the new cable to the battery. The side terminal bolt that came with the cable was too long. The spare side terminal bolt that I had was too short. After much fiddling, I finally got the cable installed with the shorter side terminal bolt. I reconnected the rest of the battery connections to both batteries. I stripped a side terminal bolt, and I had used the spare that I carry, on the new cable end connection < another sigh >. The cable replacement was finished, and there was still just enough daylight time left to get all the tools and hardware put back into their proper storage places. I reached into my pocket, and found a nut. The nut that I can't figure out where it belongs ! DAMN !

I ran out of daylight trying to find where the left over nut belongs. I cleaned up all my tools, and put everything away. I realized how dehydrated, and sick I felt < huge sigh >. Joanne was finished with the closet and mildew clean up, and was already working on supper. While waiting for supper, I finished working on the cosmetic caulking job on the inside corner under the slide. We had a great beef roast for supper, with some nice California Napa Valley wine. A wonderful meal !

I felt a little better after eating supper, and drinking 2 cups of tea. We watched Survivor, and The Apprentice. I worked on some planning, and today's journal entry.

DSK