Puttering on both "houses"

November 9, 2007
Peoria, AZ

The last few days have involved puttering with various projects. It's a little more complicated when there are two "homes" involved, with the Peoria house and the coach both needing a few things done.

On the "stick house" front, I've continued to work on the conversion off Cox cable. I have the new DirecTV HD dish mounted in a new, stronger, location out back, but ran into a technical snag that's brought that project to a halt. I did my research and purchased a new signal meter for aiming the dish. The old one I had in the coach when we used a manual dish isn't sophisticated enough to handle the new dish, which has to "see" 5 different satellites at the same time. Anyway, I found the right tool and ordered it, but the unit was DOA on arrival. So, I had to invest in several phone calls with the manufacturer to get a warranty return authorization. I started that process on Monday, and it was finally picked up by UPS this afternoon. Of course, the manufacturer won't send the new one out until they get the old one back. That means that the replacement won't arrive before we leave for Alabama on the 18th, so we'll have to impose on someone local to watch for the package.

In the meantime, I'll continue to work on the non-satellite portion of the program. Yesterday, I hooked up a network router that will allow us to have Internet access via a broadband data card. We'll be able to use that in the house and in the coach, where it'll be a back-up to the MotoSat dish. I bought the card when we were in Oregon and set it up to work in our notebook computers. The router will allow us both to access the Internet at the same time and to connect the printer as well.

The other portion of the program is to deploy an “over the air” antenna to get local HD channels. There are community rules against having any kind of non-dish antenna outside the house, so I’ll have to position it carefully. We need this add-on because we can get the locals for free without paying extra to DirecTV. This is important for the TVs in the kitchen and bedroom, where we usually watch network channels (local news, etc.). I’ve got to place the antenna in an appropriate spot and position a splitter to minimize the wire runs needed.

Wednesday was a “coach day”. I used the Bissell on the bedroom and dinette carpet again. It still doesn’t look completely clean but the thing picks up a lot of dirt, so I’ll hit it again when we get back in December. Geri cleaned most of the inside windows, and I did a few routine maintenance items. I’ve separated the list of things we need to do into those required before we head out next week, and those that will wait until we’re back in early-December.

We’ve had a few good meals this week, continuing our program of fresh ingredients and planning for leftovers (don’t you prefer pre-made, planned-ahead meals?). We found some nice sea bass at AJ’s, which I baked with a dusting of a chipotle-lime seasoning and served with a mushroom risotto. We also made a peppered flank steak from a Food Network recipe that looked interesting because of the sauce. Well, the sauce (a cabernet-balsamic reduction) was too acidic (made according to the recipe) and the flank was really tri-tip (an acceptable substitute), so it was OK but not a “keeper”. Wines have been off the “everyday rack”, so nothing special to report in that department.

Today, Geri gave the pups each a bath and I worked on our travel plan. We’re leaving on Sunday, the 18th, and should be in Albertville by Wednesday afternoon. I’ve purposely scheduled more stops and a slower speed to make the trip out manageable. We could make it sooner, but the strain isn’t worth it. We’ll have Thanksgiving with Mom (she’s back in the hospital this week, but hopefully she’ll be out by the holiday) and Alyson (she’ll be back from college and isn’t making the trip to NYC to see Erik in the parade). Rick’s planning the traditional meal for Saturday (they get back on Friday afternoon), and we hope to catch up with our friends Linda and Wendell in Birmingham before we leave on the 26th. We’ll visit with Dave and Sandy Thompson at their Florida place for a few days the following week and then head back to AZ. Geri has a doctor’s appointment on December 6th, so we have to be back by the 5th.

Tonight, it’s a pre-planned meal plus: we’re having pasta with sauce started from some that Geri made and froze a while ago, and (of course), we’ll have enough for two meals. I’m really getting the hang of this…