Taking a break -- Horsing around

I'm taking a break from RV stuff for today. 

I hope I can accomplish that. 

Bought some rubbing compound for the hood & side scrape marks from Feltons ladder, but it's 50 degrees outside. 

Plus I could barely walk yesterday, so I really need to give my body a break. Which is frustrating because in the past, I could wash & wax my entire RV in 2 days time! Yea, it hurt, but nothing like I am now.

Now I'm in pain & can barely move after just washing it! 

That sucks, but I'll get better. 

So I need to give myself at least another day before trying to remove the scuffs, caulk & sap. 

I called the local RV place to see if they could work me in for the generator repair. That's not gonna happen, the first reservation they have is April 1st! I don't want to wait that long & well, why would I want it repaired on April Fools day!! No thanks! I got hurt on Friday the 13th, lesson learned! Ha!

It's lunch time now at PPL, I'll give them a call to see when they can work me in. I can wait there & browse through RV's while they work. Hopefully, it won't be a very big job. Hopefully. Cross those fingers! But don't type while they are crossed -- that creates typos. 
                
                                        ******

OK, time to horse around!

Ever seen a brindle horse? Me neither. I found these images on the internet. 

Which above image isn't actually a brindle horse? ;-)  

The possum I did myself when a friend told me he had a dream about brindle possums. 

                           Yes, this one you can stare at for hours. Amazing isn't it!

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

Washing the motorhome

Today, I washed the motorhome. 

She seriously needed a bath! 

I also had to get up on the roof, lay down on the roof, so I could reach over on the overhead cab area & clean off duct tape reminants. What a job that was! I probably should have gone to the store & got some kind of adhesive remover, but I hadn't showered & just wanted to get this job done!

So I grabbed my tube of Goop, a plastic scraper, a towel & a flat razor blade. It was a job, but I did get it all off! Too bad the RV place didn't do that. They did some, but not all. 

Then I had to wash the RV. I had black streaks, but that black streak remover stuff really didn't work well. 
So I just did the best I could & will work on those again later as the entire RV needs waxing anyhow. 

I'm just not up to that kind of work right now though. I over did it today & could barely walk once done. Foot swelled up on me, making walking painful. I took a shower & took some pain pills & took it easy afterwards. Love my TENS unit, it really helps. (it's an electrotherapy unit that uses electrodes on a stick on patch - feels good for injuries & sore muscles)

Need to get some compound tomorrow so I can get caulk, sap & scrapes from my hood. I guess, their scaffold scraped the truck part of the RV! I swear, I complained to them the last time about scratching the truck, but fortunately, the compound they used took care of it. Why are they so rough? Is it because my RV is older, so they don't care???? Well I do! I know it's not new, but I still want it in the best shape possible! The sap didn't come from there though, but I could not give the RV a good washing until that leak got fixed first. 

Supposed to rain tomorrow. I hope it won't be bad because it would be nice to get some compound & get the hood taken care of. I do push myself too hard, but these things are important to me. I've got to take care of my little house!

Speaking of houses. While on the roof, I looked over the roof on my friends house. I remembered all the maintenance that a house requires. Every so many years, you need new shingles, they need painting, etc. Nah, I'd rather just maintain Ellie instead! Even if I had some land to park her on, I'd still be happy just with RV living! I'd be happy with a nice little deck for outdoor furniture, plants & a little landscaping as a docking station. A little building for a washer & dryer would be nice too.

My puppy dogs would be happy to be let out into a lovely fenced yard each day like that too. Maybe one day....then I could always go on trips & no worries! Just come back when I'd feel like it. Hmmmm, I act like I have a retirement thing going & I don't! Ha! Once I am able to return to work, I'd like to find a job that I'd work here in Texas over the winter season & take off during the grueling summer season. That would be nice. 

I should have treated my tires today, but that's just a simple spray on treatment, so I can do that tomorrow. I debated on if this is ok for the tires or not, then read that for an RV that sits a lot, it's actually a good idea to use the treatment for protection. I also keep them covered when sitting. 

I hope maybe by Wednesday to take her in town to get the generator done. That will be one less thing to worry about then.

The Oscars are on now. I found part of it to be extremely distasteful! That boob song. How awful for those actresses! They were NOT happy with it, nor was I! Very, very distasteful in my book.

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

Ellie Is Back!

 Welcome Nan & John! I'm pretty sure ya'll have a blog, right? Your url doesn't show up so if you do, please let me know & I'll be happy to post it!

*******

Yay!

My motor home is back in her proper place in the driveway!

<insert collective cheers & whistles here>

After picking her up, I got an oil change at Kwik Kar.

All looks good there.

Leaks are gone - hopefully.
They sealed around my vents & such too, which was unexpected. 

And they rebuilt my entry step! Totally cool!! 

The only thing I'm not happy about is, they did not put the glazing bead back on the overhead cab window. 

Instead, they put a bunch more caulk around there. I'll fix it myself later. I'm thrilled that they fixed that naughty step in well area that keeps breaking! At no charge to me. 

AND they replaced my air conditioner cover too! Now that's a big Yipeee too! 

The old one was cracked on the drivers side of the rig. 

Then one fine day, I decided to crack the other side with my tv antenna! 

Duh. Forgot to line the arrows back up before I rolled it down, so SMACK, SMACK, SMACK!! 

I was hitting the daylights out of the passengers side of the a/c's cover! And well, I broked it more. 

So now I have a nice new (used) air conditioner cover at no cost to me! And this one is not cracked! 

Ellie needs a nice lovely bath & waxing. (we girls need that y'know), but that's for another time. 

I am beat! My back will be really happy to be sleeping on my own bed tonight. It's not made for big soft sofas. So I'm still a little groggy from the pain meds I took last night. I had to double dose (kinda, within a few hours of the first dose).

Next week, I'll take her into another RV place, in town, so not too far to get the generator fixed on it's final repairs. 

Then I'll take it over to a mechanic for an estimate on fixing an exhaust leak.

******

It's time to take a nap in my cocoon now ;-)

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

Kissable

Seriously???
?Kissable?

Homeless

Homeless till Friday. 

I hope. 

I hope no later than Friday! 

It's not fun being displaced out of your home!

Ellie went back to Feltons for re-repairs. 

I took her yesterday, Tuesday, Feb 19, 2013.

Sunday & Monday were spent taking essential items out & placing them in my friends house. 

Paperwork, meds, toiliteries I'd need, clothes I'd need. 

Took me two days because I can't do a whole lot at a time.  

I also emptied my fridge, which also went into the house. The contents that is. Not my fridge. My friends fortunately have TWO fridges, plus a deep freeze, so all grocery items are safe. Ah well, my freezer needed defrosted anyhow! 

And I paid dearly yesterday with lots of pain when trying to walk. But fortunately, that's temporary. Feel better today, but will feel even better after surgery. (that's for another post)

So I pull up to Felton's yesterday morning. One of the employees came directly over to me & started inspecting the overhead cab before I even said anything. But I suppose the taped down panel & the plastic covered windows & taped over coach lights were pretty much a clue huh? 
He saw a lot of things that needed fixed & did not hesitate to point them out. 

I was impressed! He made my job easier since I had very little left to explain. 

Then the manager/owner showed up & he was not pleased either once he saw how awful it looked. All the employees that did my rig before are now gone. He had to let them all go due to shoddy workmanship. 

I won the unlucky workmanship lotto!

My kinda luck! 

:-/

OK, so here are the photos of  "some" of the issues. I did not get on the roof to take the pics up there too, but they saw the issues & promise to fix it all. 

Ellie with her raincap on. She started to leak a few weeks ago. Thank goodness for showers with shower curtains! I grabbed my shower curtain & layed it on the inside where it was dripping from the overhead cab window. Needed to save my bedding & the interior! Then when it was possible, I got on the roof with a hair dryer & found a couple of cracks in the caulk. I dried the areas & taped it over with the shiny silver duct tape. Then I dug out this big piece of plastic - used previously on her before the "great rebuild" a year ago. Was glad I saved it! So I tried to tape it down to the roof, but the roof was too wet to do so. So then I bungied it down & hoped for the best. That actually worked perfectly & no tape could then ruin the surface of the rubber roof! This even served wonderfully against the torrential downpour the other day. Whew! 
So the tarp was bungied to my side mirrors. On the drivers side, an old gas can filled with water served as a weight for a nice long bungie cord. The other side of the rig, I was able to fasten it to the awning arm. 

The only drawback was trying to sleep with this noisy tarp at night when the winds kicked up!

More Photos:

Front overhead cab window. Notice the glazing bead was pulling away. I ended up having to pull it off before it popped off on it's own. It was a nasty mess. I thought I could get on a ladder & snap it back on after cleaning it up, but nope. There was just way too much caulk applied to it all, which is why it all popped off in the first place! The window didn't leak, but to prevent such, it too had a layer of plastic taped over it after I took off the glazing bead. The strip (glazing bead) was saved to take in to Felton's as well. But they'll probably have to replace it all. 

Next Photo:

 Note the crooked seam. The fiberglass is NOT buckled & warped like it appears in the photo. That's the illusion of the plastic sheeting reflecting off the waxed fiberglass.

Another view of the crooked seam. 

Next Photo:

The seam is actually popping loose. 

Next Photo:

The structure of all the crooked seams caused the fiberglass to crack. :-(   Not happy about that! He said he can pull that away & seal it under, but can't take care of the cosmetic issue of the crack. Sooo, I will go to a marine shop & get a fiberglass repair kit & fix that myself. 

Next Photo:

Drivers side fiberglass panel. Loose!! you can even see it sticking out around the bottom curve under the tape! Why did it pop out? 2 reasons. They did not use strong enough glues under it & the metal strip was not properly lined up over it. That side is also crooked, which I didn't even notice till I got the rig to them. His employee noticed right off! So I'm glad that he has this guy working for him now. 

They asked for a couple of days for repairs. I HOPE they get it right this time! I don't want to go through this anymore. I want it done & done RIGHT! 

The owner was actually disappointed with this work previously done. So he said he'd take everything apart, inspect & redo it all. Of course, the framing under is hopefully fine as I stopped the leak before it could soak the wood. If not, they'll fix that too. 

BTW, if you are trying to buy white duct tape, sorry, I think I've bought it all! You should have invested in stock instead. 

I also panicked & taped duct tape over all my coach lights too! Better safe than sorry. 

So now I'm sleeping in the house on a sofa. I hope for not long! I miss my cocoon!! I miss sleeping in my cubby hole! I don't sleep well anywhere else :-(   But I also want them to take the necessary time to get it right this time!

Wish me luck!!!

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

Spilt Milk & a Drawer Repair

Welcome to the New Age Nomad! He is a van dweller, lives in a Turtle (heh heh - the name for his van) which he shares with his really cool dog named Candy. Go visit his blog - his latest post is about the Slabs!
Funny, he provoked an old memory as he said one of his childhood heros he used to watch was Grizzly Adams. I really remember that show well! Was hooked on it too when I was a kid ;-) 



Sooooo....

Spilt milk. 

I found I do not cry over spilt milk. 

Aren't you proud of me??

Well....

Maybe you wouldn't really be...

I got colorful instead & said a whole slew of um...

bad words. 

My bad. 

But I cleaned it all up. And why is it when you spill milk, the dish cloth magically dissapears???
Actually, I think this is the first time I've ever spilled milk in Ellie in all the 6+ years I've had her!

Now diet coke...well, that's another story. It's probably a good thing I have carpet runners that protect the real carpet underneath! 

Then as I'm typing this, I knocked over a container of grape tomatoes I was eating. So they are now decorating the floor. I swear, some days are just like this I guess? I'll pick them up when I'm done with this post. Better tiny tomatoes than a bowl of melty ice cream, right? Fortunately, I don't have any ice cream in here. Finished that yesterday :-9

And I'll replace the battery in "Chirpy" when I'm done with this post too. 

 It's about time I put in a new battery. Pulled the old one out, what, 2 weeks ago? 3 weeks ago? Dunno.

And I'll fix this drawer that broke 2 weeks ago too! 

Had to pull it out when I took it in to get the turn signal fixed. When I tried to push it back in, the screws fell out of the track. So I've been stepping over it instead of fixing it! Geez. The drawer is full of pots & pans, which is why I've not gotten around to fix it yet because I have to empty the drawer first. Too bad, it's nearly hermetically sealed with the way I have those pots & pans arranged in there!

Ha ha, remember the old days with Johnny Carson & his hermetically sealed envelopes? What a show that was. Even as a little kid, I loved Johnny Carson!

OK & now for my moment of weakness. 

I bought one of these.

I don't know why I bought it. I just could not resist! So one of these days, I'll actually make a tortilla bowl. 
Want to come join me? I'll make you a lovely tortilla bowl if you'll bring the frozen Margaritas! I even have a blender (which has never been used). We can break the blender AND the tortilla pans in on the same day! 

Oh, that's supposed to be Break IN, not break! 

I wonder if they will fit in my pan drawer? (The pans that is, not the tortillas & margaritas. We've not had those ritas yet.)  Hmmm, maybe they'll fit? Maybe not? Maybe I should get busy. 

Later everyone - have a great day!

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

Powertrain Control Module & Oil Change

My Van. 

Not my RV. 

Much to everyone's relief ;-) 

Last Thursday, I took my van in for repairs. Well, a tow truck took her in for repairs & I rode along. 
Inside of the tow truck, not inside of the van. 

They have to flatbed my van to get it towed, which is fine with me. Less chance of anything getting broken!
The last time it was towed not by a flatbed tow truck, they broke one of my running boards. And of course, the tow truck driver blamed the mechanics shop & the shop blamed the tow truck driver. 

But all that is moot now. This time they did it right. 

So, it was overcast, gray  & chilly (cold to me).

We took it to my mechanic, Tony, at TexSalv in Rosenberg, TX. (saying my mechanic makes me feel like I own him or something).

We thought my fuel filter needed changed, so the fuel tank had to be taken off & unfortunately, the way mine is built, the fuel filter is inside of the fuel pump, so the entire thing has to be replaced. So off comes the gas tank. They test the fuel pump & check the filter. Uh oh, all is fine there. 
So they put it all back together again, but the van won't start. It just will not crank over, but not like a dead battery kind of thing. Plus it got a new battery last August. 
So they go on to check the electrical system.

 I am there soooo long, that the vultures start to circle. 

     Crappy Cell Phone Shot

I was at this shop almost all day long. 

Sigh.

I took my chair along & sat there while they worked. I watched the trains & read a book. Read email. Etc. 

Another crappy cell phone shot - this train went on forever!  

Then they hooked up the computer reader thingy & discovered it was the van's PCM. Powertrain Control Module. Which is a giant P.I.A.! You can't just pop over to your local auto parts store & get one. 
You have to order one, after you find a place that sells them! You have to give them your mileage, the numbers off your old PCM, your vin number & they can reprogram another used one for you. If they can find one for your model of vehicle. 

The shop owner, Tony brings me back home as my ride back went to work. I thought I'd be driving my van back home anyhow. This is last Thursday. 

Friday, we call around to find the very valued PCM.  There was a lot of research done to seek out this product. I did find some online, BUT if you buy one online, BE SURE to google troubleshooting for the company! I found a few that were less than honorable. Way less. So I was grateful that I didn't go that route. Yea, their prices online looked too good to be true...Check BBB ratings against companies too. You might be surprised. 

First place I checked wanted too much. 
After several calls around between myself & a friend, we finally found a place in Houston that sells them! 

                                  See that fancy gold box? It's my PCM. The brains to my engine. Your engine will   NOT run without it's brains!

 

The old box was silver, this place paints them gold. I guess that way, it's easy for them to identify as theirs. Although all the tags & numbers are on it anyhow.

So info was given to the place on Monday. It was too late in the day to drive to Houston & pick it up though, so we drive over on Tuesday morning instead.   We then ran few errands while in Houston, then got it to the mechanic. But he was too busy & could not get to it till Wednesday. 
No problem. I picked the van up on Wednesday, it started right up! Yipeeee!! 

B-U-T   

My brakes weren't working right & both brake lights were on! Parking brake light & ABS brake light. ARGH!!! I immeditely turn around & go back to the shop.    We pop the hood.    Oh, no wonder. The brake fluid resivour is empty! Totally empty! Lesson learned, check that when I check other fluids. No excuses, it's actually one of the easiest IF NOT the easiest fluid tank to check! So he fills it up, I pump the brakes. Then he tells me it should go off as I drive & use the brakes.      Well, it didn't!     So this morning, I got the dogs done. Took a shower & headed to Brake Check. Brakes were squealing. DANG! I pulled over in a parking lot & gave them about 8 hard pumps on the pedal. YAY! Brake lights go off! I've gotten the proper fluids back to the brakes! 

AND WHEW! 

So then I took it to Kwik Kar for an oil change. Which was in town. So I decided to go down one route, then cut over. 

Well. 

I got lucky  because as soon as I turned the corner on the route, there was a Kwik Kar that was much closer!

So Yay! 

                        Yet, another cell phone image.

Downside though, Kwik Kar told me that I have an oil leak, which yes, I already knew. It's a slow leak.  But they also suspect that I have a transmission leak. Which really, I'm not sure about as it's never lost transmission fluid. He said there's a pan under the van, which he can't really see very well under.
So I guess I'll eventually have to get those checked out too. Although someday, I might just sell this van & get something that I can tow if I choose to go that route.

She's driveable now & that's what counts! 

Other good news is, Kwik Kar told me they can change the oil in the motorhome too! I'm thrilled over that as it's hard to find places here that can do MH's & I am not about to pay the high prices that RV places charge just for an oil change!

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after your travels & respect your neighbor~

Happy Valentines Day

 ~HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO ALL~

 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!