Aug 28

Not much to post today.  I did go back and make a correction in yesterday's post.  I had written, "While we were eating one of our friends, Grace, fell".  Last night when I was rereading it, I started laughing.  We were NOT eating one of our friends!  So, today I added a comma. "While we were eating, one of our friends, Grace, fell".
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We had the first ever 'Townhall Meeting" at Cutty's and it went well.  It allowed an orderly way for people to bring their ideas to the board of directors.  Some very good ideas were brought forth.  This is to be a monthly event during the camping season.  The items presented today will be replied to by the board next month.
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I worked more on the caulking of the doghouse.  It does appear that the caulk is turning clearER as it dries.  We'll just have to see how clear it ends up.
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We are planning a family get together on September 9th (while Vincent is here).  We have heard from Nathan that he and the girls as well as Beth will be here.  Adam and his kids will be (we'll know if Leigha is coming later).  Linnea has classes and isn't sure.  As far as I know, no one else has responded yet.
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Well, it's work time again.  I can't say that I'm unhappy about this work camping coming to an end.  Maybe I'll go find some part-time job that pays in money instead of site rent.  Gotta go.  Later!

Aug 27

Aug 27 - Friday
Woke at 5:00. Got up and made a cup of instant coffee. Went out to the patio to welcome the morning and drink my coffee. The fabric was dry on the umbrella. So I reassembled the umbrella and raised it. Everything worked fine.
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I brought the laptop out and wrote another chapter in the story I'm working on.
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After Ella woke, we went to breakfast with friends. We had a nice visit and got caught up on all the latest news
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After that, we stopped at church to drop off pop cans (Youth fund raiser) and extra tools for the Rummage Sale.
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On the way home we stopped and picked up our mail. Ella got the doctor's report she's been waiting for. About a month ago she had a mammogram. The doctor requested a follow up ultra sound. The report says that she needs to contact the doctor for a follow up procedure. Ella has called and left a message for the doctor. Now we wait to find out what is happening.
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"Dog House"

I started my next project; Caulking the "dog house" (the enclosed area under the front of our 5th wheel).  Ran out of caulk and went to Home depot for more. Also purchase some DampRid.  When you live in an RV, it is important to keep as much moisture from the air as possible.
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Insulation on inside

Notice the gaps between the boards

When we got home it was lunch time so we went to Cutty's Cafe for a flat bread pizza. While we were eating, one of our friends, Grace, fell just outside the laundry room. She has a big knot on her forehead and the skin is broken. Several scrapes on her nose and face. The plastic lenses in her glasses has deep gouges. Dave, her husband, is legally blind so I offered to drive them to a clinic. Ella stayed behind to take care of Grace's laundry. So here I sit while Grace and Dave are seeing the doctor.
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Clear Caulking Compound

The doctor Superglued her forehead wound closed and cleaned up the other scrapes. He told them to keep it clean with a Q-tip and not to let it scab over. We stopped at Walgreen's for some Bacitraicin. I called Ella as we were leaving the doctor's. The laundry was done and she would wait for us at Dave and Grace's home.
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Clear?  I'm hoping it drys clear.

I worked some more on caulking and finished the east side. I finished that about 4 PM. I work 5 - 7 today. It sounds silly to schedule someone for just two hours. However, the extra person during that busy time makes a lot of difference on Fridays.
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I'm home from work.  While I was there I received an email from Lynn saying that her mother is gone.

Still thinking of old commercials and their jingles

Aug 26

Aug 26




It is a beautiful morning (7:30) and I’m sitting on the patio with the laptop.

I’m up and have made coffee. I’ve also been putting my new drill to use. I have a wheel stop in the drive. It’s there so that when I’m backing in I don’t have to guess how close I am to hitting the trailer. I had made it earlier this year from three 2x4’s screwed together with decking screws and “nailed” to the ground with some 12” spikes.

A couple of weeks ago one of the boards came loose and exposed the points of the screws to the tire side of the stop. Since my old drill had died I wasn’t able to reassemble it. Now I have it done, finally! This time I drilled about halfway through the boards and then inserted the decking screws.

Last evening I used the drill to do another repair job. The other day while we were gone a stray gust of wind blew our patio umbrella (and table) over. Two of the umbrella ribs broke at the point where a rivet joined them to another piece.

I was not exactly sure ‘how’ I was going to fix it, I went to Home Depot and just looked around at conduit and PVC pipe. I was thinking of fabricating a sleeve to fit over the broken spot. However, it occurred to me that since the ribs were hollow, I could insert a piece of dowel into each end and rejoin them in that manner. Which is what I did.

The ribs are not round but elliptical in shape so I had to do a little whittling on the dowel to make it fit. I inserted about 6” into each end (making sure it was a very snug fit) and then drilled a hole where the original hole for the rivet had been. I also used the drill to grind the end from the rivet so that it could be removed from the other piece of the assembly. I then used some small machine screws to reassemble the parts. It worked!

When I opened the umbrella I discovered that one of the fabric ‘pockets’ that hold the rib ends was torn. I’ll have to get out the needle and thread to repair that. (hey! The drill can only do so much ya know)
Update: I used Gorilla Glue and held it in place with a snap clothes pin.
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On to other news.

Here is an update on the people we’ve been visiting in the hospitals lately. Darleen (ex’s mother. But I don’t consider her an ex-mother-in-law) is doing better and is still in rehab.

Loretta is home and they are using medications to regulate her heart rate. We’ve heard that she is doing well but was tired out with visitors on Sunday.

My sister is home. They’ve changed her medications. She was very glad to get home instead of staying in the hospital or going through rehab.

Lucille, Lynn’s mom, is not doing well. They’ve moved her to hospice care.

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I received a comment from Vincent on a recent posting. It was good to hear from him. He’ll be ‘home’ in Iowa for a couple of days in September. He’s going to California to meet his father and then spend some time with us. He’ll also spend some time in New York City doing some stand-up comedy.  I don't know if he does comedy under his real name or under the name of Freddy Farzadi.

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Skipping ahead in time to 1:30 PM.
I sorted through one of my tool boxes and took out the duplicates.  Our church is having a Rummage Sale the first weekend in September.  So, I'll donate the extra tools to the sale.  I have another tool box in the jobox in the truck.  However, at the moment I don't seem to be able to get it open.  I'm guessing something inside has shifted and is jamming the release mechanizm from the inside.  I may have to manhandle the thing out of the truck and turn it on its side to see if that will let it open.  If that doesn't work, I may just take my frustration out on it and beat it with a crowbar until it opens or breaks.
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My next project is simple to do and difficult to explain.  So, I guess I'll have to take pictures so that you'll understand what I'm talking about.  More on this later.
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Old comercial jingles started popping into my head today.

Aug 23, 24, 25

Aug 23  Monday
Didn't do a thing all day. I'm trying to remember the line from "Sargent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band"  I think it was "and we haven't done a blessed thing all day!"  Hmm . . . just remembering that I had a ponytail when I heard "As I get older, losing my hair, many years from now . . .  will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm sixty-four".  It has been many years alright and I'll be sixty-four in a few months!

Aug 24 Tuesday
We thought we were going to have at least one of the 'greats' for a while this afternoon but other arrangements were made.  
So, we went to the hospital to visit my sister.  We got there just in time to wait for the hospital staff to finish cleaning her and sitting her in a chair.  She was off the oxygen and doing well.  She was hoping that the doctor would send her home in the evening.
While we were at the hospital, we stopped for a short visit in Lynn's mother's room.  She is recovering from a stroke that happened on Sunday (I think).  Two of the boys (they are grown men) were there with Mom.  Lucille responded enough to look at us when we spoke to her but was unable to speak.  BJ (I don't remember his real name . . . something like Walter . . . I think) said that the kids are taking turns staying at night with their mother.  Lynn was to stay this evening.  We didn't stay long because Ella needed to get back for work.

Aug 25 Pieday . . . er . . . Wednesday.
We had anticipated going to Ankeny and watching Lorelai and driving Charlotte to and from school. However, that didn't work out. Nathan made other arrangements.
It was pay day (SS deposits) so we went grocery shopping at the new Wal*Mart near us.  I'm not a real fan of the fresh food choices at Wally World but I also wanted to look for a new drill and toaster.  The convenience of one-stop shopping won me over . . . this time . . . plus we were only getting prepackaged foods which due tend to be cheaper there.  When possible I prefer to shop at HyVee which is locally owned and employee owned.  Most of the produce comes from the Midwest rather than Argentina or Brazil. (Sorry Andres and Eduardo nothing personal, just like to keep a many of my dollars close to home as possible.)
The drill that I got is a Black & Decker 14.4v cordless.  It came with an entire tool chest of screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers etc.  I could buy the drill for about $70 or the set for about $90.  So, I bought the set.  Now I need to go through my tools and get rid of the duplicates. One of the credos of living in this small metal box on wheels is: 1 thing in / 1 thing out.
When we begin to be more mobile in our turtle shell, We'll need to off load a lot of weight (mostly books and paper records in a file cabinet)  Some books will just have to go with us because they have an emotional load that is heavier than their physical weight.
I'll also need to purchase new tires for the 5th wheel because they're old (even though they aren't badly worn) and they've sat in one place for several years and will have developed a flat spot)  Not really looking forward to spending $150 or so apiece for 4 new tires.  Also not looking forward to the break job on the truck that will have to happen before I pull this load.  Well . . . I'll need to get the break job even if I didn't have to pull my home behind me.

Aug 21 & 22

Aug 21
Not much to report for Saturday.  I worked from 8 to 4:30.
Ella did laundry, exercised, picked up our Angel Food order and then rested and read.
After I got off work we went up to Main Street and had food on a stick (Meatballs & rice crispys).
While we were there Ella got a Facebook posting that my sister Maryann was in the hospital with congestive heart disease.  So, we went and visited her at the hospital.  She was on oxygen and doing fine.  My niece, Glee and her daughter Nickie came in while we were visiting.  They only allow 2 at a time in the room (still in the emergency room) so I stayed and visited with Maryann while Ella and the girls went out to the waiting area and visited.
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Aug 22

Church in the morning and then to IHOP to have breakfast/lunch with Annika, Nathan, Beth, Audrie, Charlotte and Lorelai.  Ella worked 2 to nine and I just goofed off all day.  Other than doing a small amount of dishes I did nothing but read, write, draw, watch TV and maybe napped a bit while watching TV.