Day to Day Business

9/19/2106

Yesterday, we began our day riding our bikes in the rain down to the AA meeting at the Pilgrim Church. Our new rain shells kept us high and dry without getting too steamed up in the humid air. PJ got picked to lead and the meeting was a good kick start to our day. Pete was worried about us and drove over to the church bringing extra rain gear since it was pouring. We were o.k. though. Riding in the warm rain is fun. If it was cold it would be a different story.

We borrowed Pete’s car and PJ drove us around town doing errands. Our first mission was changing Pamela’s phone back to Verizon from T-Mobile. We switched it because T-Mobile has the North America plan where you are able to use your phone in Mexico and Canada the same as if you were in the U.S.  In Mexico, they team up with TelCel which has the best coverage in Mexico. Our problem is that we didn’t go straight to Mexico and we quickly learned on our voyage across the Unites States that T-Mobile really sucks when it comes to coverage outside of the big cities. Countless times, we have sat out at some out of the way campsite with zero bars on our phones watching our neighbor chat away on their Verizon phone. Sure, a lot of remote areas we’ve visited have no connectivity for anyone, but many times we could have connected if we’d had Verizon. It took about an hour and a half at the Verizon Store, but we got it taken care of.

We also made a stop at the RV store to pick up a replacement vent cover for the bathroom fan. The plastic on the old one has become brittle and is beginning to crack. Then it was off to T-Mobile to redo my plan since we are no longer a ‘family plan’. Rain was falling the whole time. When we got home, we took it easy reading, walking dogs and watching part of Monday Night Football. But the game comes on so late here, it’s hard to stay up til the end.

9/20/2016

Pj had a hair appointment this morning to get it cut and colored. She found some hair stylist to the stars on the internet and was off to get her Hollywood look on.

Today was project day for me at the homestead. The first thing I tackled was replacing the vent cover. It was a little more involved than I originally thought requiring removing most of the parts on the inside in order to change the plastic cover outside.

Once again, my hat is off to the smart geeks that gave us YouTube. A quick search and there it was – a video with step by step instruction. Got that taken care of then moved on to placing hook and eye latches on the two drawers that tend to slide out if we travel over a bumpy stretch of road. I also threw one on the gate to the backyard for good measure.

I bought a little fan to help keep the refrigerator running cold. When I opened the fridge, it was apparent that it needed a good cleaning so I dismantled all of the shelves and the little veggie drawer and took them inside to scrub them up. After I got the entire fridge sparkling clean, I realized my fan uses D batteries of which I have none. I’ll play with that more tomorrow.

Next on the list was shoring up the shelving in PJ’s closet. There was so much weight in there that the flimsy floor was starting to collapse. I took some 1 x 1s and braced it up underneath groveling in the small space where a drawer was pulled out. After that I started drilling out the metal framework on the skid plate for the sewer outlet where the hand screws had broken off. I got the holes drilled, then realized that the screws I bought at HD were just a little too short so ran to the hardware store for longer screws.

Upon my return, I got that bolted up using nylock nuts and red thread locker then moved on to my final project which was putting large washers under the fiberglass steps for the front doors. The driver’s side screw had broken through the large one piece step unit and although the metal hangers keep it in place o.k., it flexes down when stepped on. I installed the large washers behind the nut and cushioned it with a big dab of silicone. I called it a day after that and headed to the showers.

Pete went down to Dave’s and picked up a big filet of salmon and cooked it up with baked potatoes, asparagus and peas. We set the table with cloth napkins and antique glasses for a fine dining experience here in the Warwick burbs. Excellently cooked and mighty tasty.