Sunday ; Yes, yes ... still sunny and very warm, temperature about 80 degrees.
We slept very late this morning. This afternoon we went to the truck camper in the storage area of our RV park to leak test all the propane connections. I expected the job to take just a few minutes. WRONG ! I discovered two persistent leaks, both right at the propane tank valves. Tightening the connections wouldn't stop the leaks. I had to use Teflon tape for gas fittings, which isn't really intended for use on propane compression fittings, but ... it was the only way I could stop the leaks. I don't intend to refill either of the two propane tanks. When each becomes empty, I will replace them with new tanks. I did a bit of research tonight and found that horizontal mount propane tanks with gauges, for use in truck campers, cost over $200 each ! YIKES !
I also started working on converting the two fluorescent light fixtures in Elsie to LED.
I was almost finished the first when it was time to quit because of the ice cream social. We had to go early to the ice cream social, because as the winners of last week’s
50 / 50 draw, we were obliged to sell 50 / 50 tickets this week.
We had a late dinner while watching Doc Martin and Downton Abbey on PBS, our regular Sunday evening ritual.
Monday ; Sunny and hot ! Joanne cooked a really superb pot roast in the Sun Oven today. Steaks and roasts down here in the Desert Southwest seem particularly nice. Better beef ?
This morning and again late in the afternoon I worked on ... and finished ... converting the two fluorescent light fixtures in Elsie to LED. Two fluorescent and eleven incandescent fixtures have now been converted to LED. Well done, Daniel. Although
I did spend almost two hundred bucks on LED bulbs ! The fluorescent LED conversion bulbs are about thirty bucks apiece !
This afternoon I attended the first of four cooking classes I signed up for at a satellite facility of the Yuma Regional Medical Center a.k.a. Yuma Hospital. The cooking class program is called "Food For Life" and is specifically targeted at cancer survivors. It's cooking and foods to help prevent the occurrence ... and recurrence ... of cancer. The class was ... okay. < shrug> It promotes elimination / minimization of meats and dairy products, and significant increase in consumption of fiber and vegetables.
Did I mention how superb tonight’s pot roast was ? ! ? HA HA HA ! Now you tell me ... do I look like the kind of guy who wants to really significantly increase my consumption of garbanzo beans ? ! ?
Tuesday ; Sunny and very warm.
Last night, in bed, I perused the Food For Life cancer prevention / cancer survivor's cookbook I received at yesterday's cooking class. What an awful lot of unappealing recipes !
A few nights ago, after doing some online research, I booked an appointment online at Meineke to have the truck's tailpipe reattached to the muffler. I did not want to go to a muffler shop. They would simply want to replace the muffler and tailpipe. I didn't feel replacement of either was necessary. A skilled welder should be able to reattach the tailpipe to the muffler.
When I arrived at Meineke and explained what I wanted, they recommended that I take the truck to a different shop they recommended because the other shop had a welder skilled in exhaust system welding repairs. This is the second time that I have dealt with a Meineke repair shop, and both times I was very impressed with their integrity.
I drove to the other shop. They could do the work, but not until later in the afternoon.
I made an appointment for tomorrow morning. On the way home I stopped at Watch Hospital and picked up my Bulova Accutron watch, my father's Post Office retirement "gold watch", now repaired. Just before I arrived back home at Kofa Ko-op ...
WOO-HOO ... Yuma road kill ! HA HA HA ... I picked up about half a dozen lemons that had spilled out of a truck. There were more, but ... one can use only so many lemons at a time, n'est-ce pas ?
After lunch we headed to the Humane Society for our regular Tuesday afternoon shift of dog walking and cat cuddling. WHEW ... tiring work ! Walking a "puller" is fatiguing !
I walked five dogs, one of them twice, two of them "pullers". I was photographed by a newspaper reporter while I was walking Penguin, a lovely Husky. I wonder if my picture will be in tomorrow's newspaper ?
When we returned home we worked on cleaning the trailer kitchen's Fantastic Fan, including removing, cleaning, and reinstalling the roof vent MaxxAir cover. I went bicycling at dusk, as I often do. What a magnificent sunset !
Wednesday ; Sunny and hot !
This morning I headed across town to Arizona Auto Clinic. Very impressive shop. Owned by a 62 year old Mexican American. All employees Mexican American. A small, old, independent auto repair shop that believes in fixing things, not just replacing them. Rare in this day and age, in this country. I had the detached tailpipe reattached to the muffler by a skilled welder specializing in exhaust system custom repairs. Repair done promptly at appointed time, done well, at fair price.
This afternoon, after a nap with the cat ( haven't done that in awhile ) I crawled underneath the truck and figured out how to lower the spare tire when the truck camper is on the truck. Difficult, but can be done !
Went to the late afternoon Social Hour / Happy Hour / potluck. Worked on bill paying in the evening. Stock market doing well again this month !
Thursday ; Sunny and very warm.
Poor Bo ! He was up five times during the night, needing to be let out. Diarrhea attacks ! I woke up and took him out four times, Joanne once. By morning, he seemed to be improving. We fed him a home cooked meal designed to stop diarrhea. By evening he was completely fine. I threw out the bag of Charlie Bear dog treats that I had picked up off the bargain table and fed to him yesterday during an obedience training session.
Yesterday Joanne responded to an ad selling Birkenstock sandals. It was a lady who was previously a vendor at the Arizona MarketPlace, now out of business and selling her remaining small amount of leftover inventory. Today she came over ... to our home ... with a good selection in Joanne's size and sold Joanne a pair of Birkenstock sandals for less than half of what the local shoe store that carries Birkenstocks is charging for them. Unfortunately, she did not have any men's models in my size.
This afternoon we put Elsie the truck camper back onto Lanoire the truck. I have a service appointment tomorrow morning to have the Dometic fridge recall retrofit done. After we were finished putting the camper onto the truck I was reading the turnbuckle documentation I downloaded from the Internet and realized that I made some mounting mistakes. HMPH ! I'll have to remove the front and rear mounting turnbuckles and correct my errors, either tomorrow or the next day. Of course ... I could have read the instructions FIRST, but ... ! ! !
Tonight Joanne wanted to go to Famous Dave's Barbecue for supper. She received a Happy Birthday discount coupon by e-mail. On the way to Famous Dave's we stopped at CVS Pharmacy where I bought another WaterPik Water Flosser, this one to take home to Canada. I used a $10 off WaterPik coupon that I got online, and a 25% off any one item CVS coupon that I received by e-mail to buy a $50 item for $27.50 ! Supper at Famous Dave's was very good, as it always is.
Friday ; Cloudy and warm. Cloudy days are rare here.
Once again Bo was sick overnight. Frequently ! We were convinced last night that he was feeling better, and we fed him dog food. We were "conned" by his "I'm SOOOOO hungry" routine ! His digestive system was not yet ready for regular food. He's back on the home cooked ground beef and rice recipe today, and will be for the next three days.
I was up WAY too early this morning to head for an early morning appointment at Al's RV Service & Supply in The Foothills. I had the Dometic fridge recall retrofit kit installed. It should have been done years ago by a previous owner. Then I had one of their licensed propane fitters inspect my propane system additions and modifications to ensure all were safe and legal. They were. From there I headed to Cactus Propane where I once again had a licensed propane fitter examine my additions and modifications to ensure everything was safe and legal. It was ! It never hurts to have a second opinion. I bought two new propane regulator to tank "pigtail" hoses, and ... got the truck camper's two old propane tanks inspected and recertified, another item that should have been taken care of years ago. The propane tanks' certification "expired" in 2008 !
At home this afternoon I installed the two new pigtail hoses, and remounted the propane regulator mounting bracket. Until replacing the two pigtail hoses I was unable to reinstall the regulator mounting bracket because of space restrictions caused by the additional hose and fittings I installed for the Wave 6 heater installation. At last, all is well ... and safe and legal ... with the truck camper's propane system.
I spent the late part of the afternoon up on the roof of the truck camper working on cleaning the kitchen's Fantastic Fan roof vent, the bathroom fan roof vent, and the bedroom escape hatch roof vent, then installing a new MaxxAir style cover on the Fantastic Fan kitchen roof vent. WHEW ... sixteen or seventeen years of accumulated grime on the roof vents !
Elsie is just about ready for our upcoming week long camping trip !
Saturday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we headed to the Humane Society to attend a training session for volunteers. When it was finished we ran some errands in The Foothills.
This afternoon we worked on the truck camper, doing some minor maintenance and preparing it for our upcoming camping trip. I did some routine preventive maintenance on the truck camper's battery for the first time and discovered that the battery was quite new, seemed to be of good quality and ... < sigh > ... was not the correct type of battery for an RV application. Guess I'll be replacing it sooner rather than later !
Too bad we spent so much time and energy angering one another and sniping today !
DSK
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