February 24, 2009
Peoria, AZ
I know, I know – it’s been quite a while since the last post. Sorry, but there just hasn’t been a lot to write about! Things will definitely pick up over the next few weeks, as we’ll be winding up our winter “rest” and getting ready to head out for “summer vacation”. Hmmm, what about spring and autumn? I’ll have to think that through…
Life has been generally simple for the last month or so. After a health scare last year, Merlin (the Yorkie) is doing well. On the advice of one of the vets, we’ve weaned him off of the anti-seizure medication that he’s been on since he was a puppy. We’re reasonably convinced that he was misdiagnosed in the beginning: he likely has a neurological condition that causes him to periodically shake, as opposed to petite mal seizures. Since the medication isn’t particularly good for his liver, we’re happy to get him off it. We’ll continue to monitor him closely, but he’s doing pretty well for an “old man” (he’s almost 11).
On the home front, Geri finally convinced me not to install the “pond-less waterfall” kit that I’d bought last winter. She’s been concerned about the implications of putting that much stress (between the size of the hole required for the pump well and the amount of water involved) too close to the cement block wall we share with the neighbors. In addition, she reminded me that what I bought wasn’t what she wanted in the first place. Accordingly, we picked up a modest little pre-molded waterfall fountain at Lowe’s and the “dig a big hole for the big pump and pile up the rocks under the rubber liner” kit is now on sale on eBay. One day, I’ll learn – maybe…
I’ve started getting the coach ready for travel, mainly doing some storage reorganization and a couple of small projects I’d identified last year. I relocated the propane line used to fuel the outside stove/grill, routing it through a protective PVC pipe as opposed to the way it was zip-tied to the frame (the propane connection is on the driver’s side and the stove/grill goes on the curb side, so the line needed to be routed through the bay. The new location will be much better, and will allow me to store the venturi pipe I made for the generator exhaust in that compartment. More space – woohoo!
One more complex project will be removing the mirrored backsplash behind the kitchen sink and stove, and replacing it with tile. We’ve wanted to do this for just about as long as we’ve owned the coach, and now’s the time. The mirrors are only held on with thick black “goo” tape, and last fall one piece started to come loose. When it rubs against the countertop, it makes quite a squeak while we’re going down the road. I removed that piece, and figured this winter would be a good time to bite the bullet and replace the rest. We did some shopping at a local tile place, and found a nice set of tiles that should work well in that space. One complicating factor is that there’s a rope light built into the countertop that looks nice with the frosted edge of the mirror, so we’ll use colored glass tiles for the bottom row, with travertine above. We’ll put 2” x 2” rosettes on 45 degree angles at various points in the travertine, so there will be quite a few cuts involved, but they’re all the same cut so it won’t be too complicated. Since we’re going to remove the linoleum and tile the kitchen and bathrooms in the “stick house” at some point, I picked up a wet tile saw that’ll do the cuts relatively easily. I’ll do the “demo” this week, and look to install the tile next week. Because of the way they’ll have to be laid, I’ll probably do the bottom row of glass tile first and let them set before I install the stones. “Demo” will be a little complicated because they installed the mirrors over wallpaper that’ll have to be taken off. It’s always something…
Over the last couple of weeks, both Geri and I have been feeling a bit under the weather, which has been unusual for us over the last few years. When I was working and traveling a lot, I’d get a sinus infection once or twice a year, and would be miserable for a week or so. Once retired, I avoided this syndrome – until now. Fortunately, I know what to do (plenty of fluids, keep nasal passages open as best as possible, scrounge for leftover antibiotics in the medicine cabinet, even try that ZiCam stuff), and things are getting back to “normal”. Of course, “normal” for me usually involves a mild amount of sinus congestion, but at least the worst is over.
Geri’s just getting over a “coughing – sneezing – stuffy” spell herself; I suppose it’s for the best that we were both “under the weather” at the same time. We’re in the process of getting her various medical appointments completed, and everything’s going well. She was overdue for the “clear liquids” procedure (if you don’t know what that is, consider yourself lucky), so she’s having that done today; I’m composing now from the waiting room. As a precursor, the gastroenterologist ordered a CT scan, which was clear from his perspective, but picked up a small abnormality on one kidney. So, we got a referral to an urologist and will have that checked out on Friday. It’s a busy week, but worth it to make sure everything’s OK. One check with the “female doctor” early next month and with the primary to renew prescriptions before we head out, and we should be all set!
March will be a busy month with trip planning and “annual maintenance” activities (oil changes, etc.). I might have to change the brakes on the Range Rover before we go; I’ll check them when I rotate the tires. I have most of the maintenance items I need “in stock”. Actually, I’ve picked up several years’ worth of filters, since it saves on shipping charges (most stuff is cheaper online). I need to make a stop at the local Cummins-Onan shop for filters (oil and air) for the generator, and I’ll have everything I need. Then it’s just a matter of scheduling things out on the calendar, since I like to break the work up into 3-4 hour chunks.
On the home front, we’ve been eating well and continuing to find lost treasures in the “wine box”. For Geri’s birthday, we made a nice “surf and turf” with king crab legs and filet mignon, which was fabulous with a 2001 Alta Vista Malbec. Last week, I found a bottle of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2000 while looking for something else, and was worried that it might have been past its peak. We paired it with a roasted chicken dish, and it was very nice (but I’m glad I didn’t let it sit longer). That reminds me of another project I haven’t gotten to: culling the “wine box” of bottles that need to be consumed soon. It’s a tough job, but I’ll find a way…
--------------------------------------------
PM Update: We got home from the endoscopy center and everything went well with Geri’s test. Yeah!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
She's got teeth!
January 26, 2009
Peoria, AZ
Well, Geri's 18-month long saga of dental work is finally over! Early this morning, we were at the prostodontist's office for the "delivery" appointment, and everything went smoothly (as it has all through this process). A few adjustments for a comfortable bite, a spot of glue, and in they went. Perfect!
Peoria, AZ
Well, Geri's 18-month long saga of dental work is finally over! Early this morning, we were at the prostodontist's office for the "delivery" appointment, and everything went smoothly (as it has all through this process). A few adjustments for a comfortable bite, a spot of glue, and in they went. Perfect!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Did we fall off the face of the earth?
January 23, 2009
Peoria, AZ
No, not really. We're just not doing much in the way of interesting things. Projects around the coach and house are generally going well, although we're starting to see the effects of the economic slowdown, and (as usual) projects beget projects so the list can get longer.
One example of new projects appearing when you least expect it came up last week. One of my coach projects was to add an exhaust tip to keep the diesel exhaust away from the side of the motorhome. The existing pipe was OK until I added a "performance" muffler a couple of years ago. The new muffler is a little smaller than the original, so the end of the pipe was too close to the side of the coach. Pretty simple process: cut off the end of the existing pipe straight (it has an angled tip) and bolt on the $55 part. Unfortunately, when I went under there, I found that the muffler is cracked. No problem, lifetime warranty, right? Yeah, but "Oh, we won't have that model back in stock until the end of February". Maybe they'll still be in business then?
I had a similar experience trying to get a new macerator pump. It's supposed to have been shipped three times since late-December; still no pump. Hopefully, this isn't a sign of things to come, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of suppliers to vehicle manufacturers (in our case both RV and auto) have problems hanging on. I've already started thinking through which parts I should probably start putting "in inventory". Ouch!
Over the next few days, I'll finish up one of the more interesting projects: upgrading the coach's air filter. Basically, diesel engines are just big air pumps, so anything you can do to improve the efficiency of the intake is a good thing. I found that I can move to the next size larger air filter, with about 15% better flow. To do this, I've started fabricating new brackets for the filter, which hangs right over the engine. It's a cylinder about 27 inches long and 13.5 inches in diameter, weighing about 25 pounds, so it's not a simple change out (the old one is about 11 inches in diameter). I'm hand-making two curved metal straps that will bolt in where the existing bracket connects. I feel like I'm back in Metal Shop in High School, but I'm having fun doing metalworking with hand tools. :-) Fortunately, all of the maintenance tasks like changing the air filter can be spread over the next 10+ weeks since we're not going anywhere in the coach until we leave for the summer, since we can't go far with the broken muffler.
Otherwise, we're in pretty good shape, eating well and continuing to enjoy our wines. Geri's been feeling a bit under the weather lately, but we took her to the doctor today and they'll have her all fixed up in no time.
I'll update the blog once in a while just to let people know we're alive, sooner if anything interesting develops or I get bored...
Peoria, AZ
No, not really. We're just not doing much in the way of interesting things. Projects around the coach and house are generally going well, although we're starting to see the effects of the economic slowdown, and (as usual) projects beget projects so the list can get longer.
One example of new projects appearing when you least expect it came up last week. One of my coach projects was to add an exhaust tip to keep the diesel exhaust away from the side of the motorhome. The existing pipe was OK until I added a "performance" muffler a couple of years ago. The new muffler is a little smaller than the original, so the end of the pipe was too close to the side of the coach. Pretty simple process: cut off the end of the existing pipe straight (it has an angled tip) and bolt on the $55 part. Unfortunately, when I went under there, I found that the muffler is cracked. No problem, lifetime warranty, right? Yeah, but "Oh, we won't have that model back in stock until the end of February". Maybe they'll still be in business then?
I had a similar experience trying to get a new macerator pump. It's supposed to have been shipped three times since late-December; still no pump. Hopefully, this isn't a sign of things to come, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of suppliers to vehicle manufacturers (in our case both RV and auto) have problems hanging on. I've already started thinking through which parts I should probably start putting "in inventory". Ouch!
Over the next few days, I'll finish up one of the more interesting projects: upgrading the coach's air filter. Basically, diesel engines are just big air pumps, so anything you can do to improve the efficiency of the intake is a good thing. I found that I can move to the next size larger air filter, with about 15% better flow. To do this, I've started fabricating new brackets for the filter, which hangs right over the engine. It's a cylinder about 27 inches long and 13.5 inches in diameter, weighing about 25 pounds, so it's not a simple change out (the old one is about 11 inches in diameter). I'm hand-making two curved metal straps that will bolt in where the existing bracket connects. I feel like I'm back in Metal Shop in High School, but I'm having fun doing metalworking with hand tools. :-) Fortunately, all of the maintenance tasks like changing the air filter can be spread over the next 10+ weeks since we're not going anywhere in the coach until we leave for the summer, since we can't go far with the broken muffler.
Otherwise, we're in pretty good shape, eating well and continuing to enjoy our wines. Geri's been feeling a bit under the weather lately, but we took her to the doctor today and they'll have her all fixed up in no time.
I'll update the blog once in a while just to let people know we're alive, sooner if anything interesting develops or I get bored...
Friday, January 9, 2009
Moving through January
January 9, 2009
Peoria, AZ
Welcome to 2009! We're moving crisply through January; I can't believe it's the 9th already! We had a great New Year's Eve with Ana and Larry, managing to "watch the ball come down" two or three times on TV (well, most of us did anyway; one of us went to bed at 10:00). For some reason, there was no local coverage of local events, just replays of the New York festivities, so that had to do.
Once beyond New Years, we've been puttering about as usual. All of the holiday decorations are down and packed. Our new decoration rules (1. No ladders. 2. If it can't be hung with a zip-tie, it doesn't go up. 3. If we haven't used it for 2+ years, it gets donated.) have helped simplify things greatly, and we still felt like we were in the holiday spirit. Geri finally got her belated gift (that extra special bathrobe she'd asked for in November), which comes in hand on the chilly desert mornings we've been having.
We're back onto the project list after taking time off over the holidays. I've cleaned out the shed, which frees up space so I can rearrange stuff in the garage, which had gotten a bit unmanageable. I spent an afternoon at the coach, hitting a few of the simple changes I wanted to make there, and (hopefully) fixing the small leak in the kitchen sink drain line that we discovered in November. I used a fast-setting flexible urethane "goo" (not sure how else to describe it) that should stay in place. If it doesn't, I'll have to replace the drain pipe. At least I have options. Even though I'm now closer to being mentally "ready" to full-time in the coach (neither of us was when I retired in 2005), it's nice to be able to fix things like this without the pressure of a leaking pipe.
I have a couple of other coach modifications planned for the next few weeks, mostly changes to the storage cabinets to make things better suited to our "stuff". Cleaning up the garage, which doubles as the workshop, was a necessary precursor.
Of course, I'm quite easily distracted these days, having a tendency to start one project only to go off on another. Yesterday's activities ended up along this line: I found four boxes in the garage that held photo albums and loose snapshots. Since these really shouldn't be in the garage (it probably gets well over 125 degrees in there in the summer), I moved them to a spot in the spare room closet. I lost a couple of hours on this project (moving 4 boxes 50 feet?) because I had to look through everything. The pictures fall into two general categories (family and family events, and trips). I found lots of pictures of the grandkids and various configurations of the kids with dates/spouses/significant others - plenty of embarrassing moments there. I also found shots from our various trips to Europe over the years, "Live Aid" and "Woodstock '94", as well as our early years in the RV world, when we'd rent one for a couple of weeks somewhere in the southwest. There were pictures of our "first time" at the Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce, Sedona, and even Lake Powell (when we were there last summer, I knew we'd visited before).
This trip down "memory lane" resulted in a few conclusions. First, we're lousy at organizing photos. Most albums are a hodge-podge of different items, and some series are spread out over several albums. Second, we generally don't label or annotate. Who was that again? Don't remember. When was it that we made our last trip to Paris? If it wasn't for the lighted "An 2000" on the side of the Eiffel Tower, we'd only be guessing. Third, we've got a lot of pictures that never made it to albums. And finally, the digital age may be working against us. There are very few pictures from roughly 2003 on, when we converted mostly to digital. I realized how little film I actually shoot these days (maybe it's time to sell the film cameras?) and how we rarely make prints. Our digital photos are all nicely archived, of course, and some make their way to this blog or get emailed around, but flipping through an album is fun, too. Sounds like a new project emerging: organize, update and annotate. I'll put it on the list!
Well, on to today's projects: walk the pups, a couple of packages to UPS, more work in the "workshop", and a Home Depot run...
Peoria, AZ
Welcome to 2009! We're moving crisply through January; I can't believe it's the 9th already! We had a great New Year's Eve with Ana and Larry, managing to "watch the ball come down" two or three times on TV (well, most of us did anyway; one of us went to bed at 10:00). For some reason, there was no local coverage of local events, just replays of the New York festivities, so that had to do.
Once beyond New Years, we've been puttering about as usual. All of the holiday decorations are down and packed. Our new decoration rules (1. No ladders. 2. If it can't be hung with a zip-tie, it doesn't go up. 3. If we haven't used it for 2+ years, it gets donated.) have helped simplify things greatly, and we still felt like we were in the holiday spirit. Geri finally got her belated gift (that extra special bathrobe she'd asked for in November), which comes in hand on the chilly desert mornings we've been having.
We're back onto the project list after taking time off over the holidays. I've cleaned out the shed, which frees up space so I can rearrange stuff in the garage, which had gotten a bit unmanageable. I spent an afternoon at the coach, hitting a few of the simple changes I wanted to make there, and (hopefully) fixing the small leak in the kitchen sink drain line that we discovered in November. I used a fast-setting flexible urethane "goo" (not sure how else to describe it) that should stay in place. If it doesn't, I'll have to replace the drain pipe. At least I have options. Even though I'm now closer to being mentally "ready" to full-time in the coach (neither of us was when I retired in 2005), it's nice to be able to fix things like this without the pressure of a leaking pipe.
I have a couple of other coach modifications planned for the next few weeks, mostly changes to the storage cabinets to make things better suited to our "stuff". Cleaning up the garage, which doubles as the workshop, was a necessary precursor.
Of course, I'm quite easily distracted these days, having a tendency to start one project only to go off on another. Yesterday's activities ended up along this line: I found four boxes in the garage that held photo albums and loose snapshots. Since these really shouldn't be in the garage (it probably gets well over 125 degrees in there in the summer), I moved them to a spot in the spare room closet. I lost a couple of hours on this project (moving 4 boxes 50 feet?) because I had to look through everything. The pictures fall into two general categories (family and family events, and trips). I found lots of pictures of the grandkids and various configurations of the kids with dates/spouses/significant others - plenty of embarrassing moments there. I also found shots from our various trips to Europe over the years, "Live Aid" and "Woodstock '94", as well as our early years in the RV world, when we'd rent one for a couple of weeks somewhere in the southwest. There were pictures of our "first time" at the Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce, Sedona, and even Lake Powell (when we were there last summer, I knew we'd visited before).
This trip down "memory lane" resulted in a few conclusions. First, we're lousy at organizing photos. Most albums are a hodge-podge of different items, and some series are spread out over several albums. Second, we generally don't label or annotate. Who was that again? Don't remember. When was it that we made our last trip to Paris? If it wasn't for the lighted "An 2000" on the side of the Eiffel Tower, we'd only be guessing. Third, we've got a lot of pictures that never made it to albums. And finally, the digital age may be working against us. There are very few pictures from roughly 2003 on, when we converted mostly to digital. I realized how little film I actually shoot these days (maybe it's time to sell the film cameras?) and how we rarely make prints. Our digital photos are all nicely archived, of course, and some make their way to this blog or get emailed around, but flipping through an album is fun, too. Sounds like a new project emerging: organize, update and annotate. I'll put it on the list!
Well, on to today's projects: walk the pups, a couple of packages to UPS, more work in the "workshop", and a Home Depot run...
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Getting ready for New Year's Eve
December 31, 2008
Peoria, AZ
Our best wishes to everyone for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2009!
We've spent the last few days enjoying the new-found nice weather. It almost feels like we've been able to break out of winter hibernation. Temperatures have rebounded to the low-70s, and we're loving it. After the Holiday break, we've started back on the project list. I was able to finish up the outstanding plumbing jobs, and spent an afternoon reorganizing the garage to make it easier to get at some of the power tools. I've got a couple of projects lined up for the next week or so that'll require the table saw, so it was good to dig in out. We'd been using the garage as a "staging area" for things we were donating to charity and, now that those things are gone, we can get back to normal.
Since the weather was nice, we were able to open up the house and air things out. We also gave the inside a "spring cleaning" yesterday. Today, it's all about preparing for tonight's dinner. Our friends Ana and Larry are coming over, we'll do the horseradish-garlic crusted prime rib with "creamy and crispy potato pie" (a new recipe we'll be trying for the first time). Then, we'll watch the ball drop and have some Champagne, and maybe even stay up until midnight (for us, the ball drops at 10:00!). Of course, here in Arizona, there's a New Year's Eve tradition of people shooting guns off into the air at midnight and every year there are one or more incidents of things (people, houses, cars) getting hit by the stray bullets. We'll just stay inside.
We have some new "neighbors" that we'll keep an eye
on: a group of hawks (white-tailed, I think) has moved in nearby. We've seen them perched in a tree in the distance a couple of times and one of the (human) neighbors says that they've seen a hatchling being cared for. When we walked the dogs last night, a couple of them were having dinner on one of the street light poles, and they were definitely eyeing the pups as a possible meal. I grabbed the camera and shot a few pictures, but the sun was just setting and the light wasn't too good. It did give me a chance to test out the new 2x lens extender that I'd just gotten, and it makes quite a difference on my 70-200mm lens. Click here for a couple of shots of the hawks and a couple of test pictures with the lens extender.
My primary reason for adding to the camera equipment is our planned summer trip to Alaska next year. Since there should be more than a couple of opportunities to see wildlife, and the wildlife is actually "wild", getting good shots while staying safe is important. I've priced out a few telephoto lens options but they're several thousand dollars that I can't justify (once again, I've forgotten to buy those lottery tickets), and the extender is a cheap and practical alternative. It's the new me: cheap and practical!
That's it for now; gotta walk the pups and do the sous chef work...
Peoria, AZ
Our best wishes to everyone for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2009!
We've spent the last few days enjoying the new-found nice weather. It almost feels like we've been able to break out of winter hibernation. Temperatures have rebounded to the low-70s, and we're loving it. After the Holiday break, we've started back on the project list. I was able to finish up the outstanding plumbing jobs, and spent an afternoon reorganizing the garage to make it easier to get at some of the power tools. I've got a couple of projects lined up for the next week or so that'll require the table saw, so it was good to dig in out. We'd been using the garage as a "staging area" for things we were donating to charity and, now that those things are gone, we can get back to normal.
Since the weather was nice, we were able to open up the house and air things out. We also gave the inside a "spring cleaning" yesterday. Today, it's all about preparing for tonight's dinner. Our friends Ana and Larry are coming over, we'll do the horseradish-garlic crusted prime rib with "creamy and crispy potato pie" (a new recipe we'll be trying for the first time). Then, we'll watch the ball drop and have some Champagne, and maybe even stay up until midnight (for us, the ball drops at 10:00!). Of course, here in Arizona, there's a New Year's Eve tradition of people shooting guns off into the air at midnight and every year there are one or more incidents of things (people, houses, cars) getting hit by the stray bullets. We'll just stay inside.
We have some new "neighbors" that we'll keep an eye
on: a group of hawks (white-tailed, I think) has moved in nearby. We've seen them perched in a tree in the distance a couple of times and one of the (human) neighbors says that they've seen a hatchling being cared for. When we walked the dogs last night, a couple of them were having dinner on one of the street light poles, and they were definitely eyeing the pups as a possible meal. I grabbed the camera and shot a few pictures, but the sun was just setting and the light wasn't too good. It did give me a chance to test out the new 2x lens extender that I'd just gotten, and it makes quite a difference on my 70-200mm lens. Click here for a couple of shots of the hawks and a couple of test pictures with the lens extender.My primary reason for adding to the camera equipment is our planned summer trip to Alaska next year. Since there should be more than a couple of opportunities to see wildlife, and the wildlife is actually "wild", getting good shots while staying safe is important. I've priced out a few telephoto lens options but they're several thousand dollars that I can't justify (once again, I've forgotten to buy those lottery tickets), and the extender is a cheap and practical alternative. It's the new me: cheap and practical!
That's it for now; gotta walk the pups and do the sous chef work...
Friday, December 26, 2008
Christmas Follow-up
December 26, 2008
Peoria, AZ
Just to follow up, we had a great Christmas dinner with our friends Ana and Larry and their family. We ate well, we had great wines, gifts were exchanged, and we all had a wonderful time. Our thanks for the invitation! I'll download the photos from Geri's new camera and post those later.
Peoria, AZ
Just to follow up, we had a great Christmas dinner with our friends Ana and Larry and their family. We ate well, we had great wines, gifts were exchanged, and we all had a wonderful time. Our thanks for the invitation! I'll download the photos from Geri's new camera and post those later.
"All I Want For Christmas"...
December 26, 2008
Peoria, AZ
No, not two front teeth, as the song goes. How about a new kitchen faucet? Meet "George the Plumber" (no relation to that "Joe" guy in Ohio).
Just as we were getting ready to leave the house yesterday, the handle on the kitchen faucet broke off in Geri's hand. As it turns out, the part that broke was where the set-screw holds the handle to the valve mechanism. I could probably get replacement parts from Moen, but not at the local Home Depot. Rather than try to order parts online and wait for delivery, I decided to just pick up a cheap (OK, I've learned that there's no such thing as a "cheap" kitchen faucet) replacement. So, my "Boxing Day" is all planned out for me: take care of the plumbing job. Since I've got a toilet kit to install and a slow-draining sink in the bathroom, I'll make a day of it and knock off all these things from the to-do list.
More later; Geri's serving up home-made burritos!
Peoria, AZ
No, not two front teeth, as the song goes. How about a new kitchen faucet? Meet "George the Plumber" (no relation to that "Joe" guy in Ohio).
Just as we were getting ready to leave the house yesterday, the handle on the kitchen faucet broke off in Geri's hand. As it turns out, the part that broke was where the set-screw holds the handle to the valve mechanism. I could probably get replacement parts from Moen, but not at the local Home Depot. Rather than try to order parts online and wait for delivery, I decided to just pick up a cheap (OK, I've learned that there's no such thing as a "cheap" kitchen faucet) replacement. So, my "Boxing Day" is all planned out for me: take care of the plumbing job. Since I've got a toilet kit to install and a slow-draining sink in the bathroom, I'll make a day of it and knock off all these things from the to-do list.
More later; Geri's serving up home-made burritos!
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