1.8 million......

 8:13 am - Thursday - February 24th - Newell House, AZ - 34° F, 76% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the east by northeast.....crystal clear, blue, SUNNY skies have returned after a day of rain.  Forecast high for today is 56° F.  On this date in 2018 I was walking to work at the Desert View General Store at the Grand Canyon.....it was close to 0° F at this time......↴

The forecast rains finally arrived around 5 am Wednesday morning, and unlike previous prophecies of rain, it really rained, sometimes torrentially for the next 8 hours.  For the first time since our arrival back on January 15th there was standing water between us and the home of our hosts.......

......to think I was just remarking to Tom and Darlene the night before about how great the weather had been the past 5 weeks.  Oh well, change is nice, and I have to confess it was kind of pleasant to sit in the salon of the Newell listening to rain drops pelting our riveted, aircraft aluminum roof for the first time in a couple of months.  

The temperature never surpassed 50° F, and with wind hovering in the high single digits it felt even colder.....frankly, it felt like a winter day.  February is part of wintertime, so I guess it is only appropriate we experience a little winter weather since it has felt like Spring for the past 5 weeks....lol!

Naturally, with the rainfall there was no fast walking Wednesday, but we both were able to get in a little strength training.  Otherwise, Wednesday was just a lazy, laid back kind of day.  Sometimes you just need a day with no goals, or projects.   On a high note USPS tracking shows my thermostats will be delivered Thursday.  Unfortunately, I discovered a few days after they were shipped that the gaskets being provided were the incorrect ones for my application, so I called the seller, and he sent out the correct ones on Wednesday, which means they will not be here until Monday.  I don't want to start any work on the thermostats until everything I need is here, so that project will extend our stay into the middle, or end of next week.  No worries, though, the campground host says that's just fine.

For our group dinner Wednesday night TLE made a delightful Quiche which included maple sausage, eggs, spinach, and some other delicious ingredients.  It was a hit with everyone.

By the way, I just noticed that as of a few days ago the total number of views of my blog since I began publishing it 12 years ago just passed 1.8 million, and it appears that sometime in the next 12 months we'll surpass 2 million.  A big 'THANK YOU!' to all those who take the time to read my daily musings, and ramblings!!!

As always, thank you for stopping by!  

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Getting trim.....

 8:29 am - Wednesday - February 23rd - Newell House, AZ - 46° F, 79% humidity, wind 10 mph out of the southwest.....100% cloud cover with rain through early afternoon.  Began raining around 5 am.....forecast high for today is 50° F!!  Coldest day in a long time!  On this date in 2021 I picked up my rebuilt Leece-Neville shaft driven alternator, and was getting ready to reinstall it......↴

The winds from Monday finally abated overnight, and before we took our first 1.25 mile walk of the say we redeployed the patio awning once again, and then took our walk.  The day was mostly overcast with a few sun showers, and  a little chilly.  A perfect day to finish the 'microwave' cabinet project I began a few weeks ago.  The new heat resistant adhesive I used to affix the Formica panels to the interior walls of the cabinet worked, so it was time to install the wood trim we bought at Home Depot about a week ago.  The first step was to apply the wood stain we bought to the ceiling of the cabinet, and then begin to cut to length the wood trim.  Some of the pieces needed to be 'shaped' to fit around wires, etc. so I utilized a 'Coping Saw' I've been carrying around for years now to do the shaping, and to cut the wood trim to length....at last a project to justify its place in the trailer cabinet.....lol.....

.....it took a number of trips to the 'garage' (trailer) to make a few adjustments, and I had to change the vision I had in my mind of what it would look like in the end, and it is not perfect, but I think it turned out pretty well considering my quite limited wood working skills....I have to remember not allow 'perfect' to be the enemy of 'good'......TLE likes it a lot, and that is 'good' enough for me......

.....and now that project can be crossed of the 'To Do' list for good.

We took our second 1.25 mile walk of the day around 3 pm, and then I settled in to catch up on a few of the YouTube channels to which I subscribe.  We 'ate in' Tuesday, and to honor that occasion TLE made Chicken Alfredo.....one of my favorite TLE dishes.

Our time at Newell House is waning, and within a week we will haul anchor and return to the Anza Borrego Desert for a few weeks before heading into the Pomona Valley for our granddaughter's wedding on April 2nd.  We've been able to get pretty much everything done we wanted to accomplish.....all that remains is to install the two new thermostats on the big Detroit Diesel 6v92.  They are supposed to arrive Wednesday courtesy the USPS, and if they do I will begin to remove the old ones Thursday, and, hopefully, install the new ones the same day.

Thanks for stopping by!

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That's the 'brakes'......

8:23 am - Tuesday - February 22nd - Newell House, AZ -  52° F, 52% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the south by southeast......76% cloud cover today with a forecast high of 62° F.....chance of rain overnight.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I drove down to Vero Beach, FL to the former 'Dodger Town' where the L.A. Dodgers had their Spring Training facilities for decades.  Here I am standing at home plate in Holman Stadium where Dodger greats Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale pitched from that pitchers mound in front of me.......↴

Waiting for the pitch from Sandy Koufax

Monday I was determined to finish the VW brake job by tackling the rear rotors, and pads.  It was a pleasant, partially overcast day, and there was a slight breeze making conditions just about perfect for sitting on cold concrete for a few hours.  My first task was to remove the left rear wheel to see if Amazon had sent me the correct rotors, and pads.  Within minutes I was able to confirm they had, indeed, sent me the correct parts.  That was the good news.  Over the course of an hour I tried to remove the two bolts which affix the caliper to the mounting bracket, but was unable to get them to budge.  Not wanting to damage the bolts I decided to accept defeat, and hand this job over to my mechanic (Joel's Automotive - Upland, CA) back in SoCal when we get back there for my granddaughter's wedding.  I need to have the drive train inspected, and lubed, and an oil change, so that will work out fine.  I already have paid for the brake parts, so all I'll be out is the labor.

TLE and I continued our twice daily 1.25 mile fast walks, and added about 15 minutes of physical exercises such as sit ups, push ups, knee bends, stretching, etc.  Before we took our first walk of the day the winds freshened so we had to stow the patio awning before doing so became much more difficult.  The winds continued directly out of the south through the day, and into the night, but have abated as I write this morning.  With the winds came the front bearing the rain forecast for tonight.

During the afternoon I finished watching the Joe Montana documentary on the Peacock streaming network.  It was quite a nostalgic trip down memory lane for me, and it was nice to get a lot of the 'back story' on what happened behind the scenes in Joe's storied career during which he won all four Super Bowls in which he played.  At the time he was considered by many, if not most to be the greatest quarterback of all time.  As we all know, there is a new GOAT, Tom Brady, who has won 7 Super Bowls, and I think has been in 10 all together.  Ironically, Tom Brady grew up in the Bay Area, and attended many of Joe Montana's games.  Tom was interviewed extensively for this documentary.  If you are a sports fan you will enjoy this documentary.

My last major project (thermostat removal and replacement) awaits the U.S. Mail.  According to the tracking information provided by the USPS they should arrive Wednesday, so it appears Thursday will be the day I tear into that project.  Once that is done it will be time to haul anchor, and reposition back to the Anza Borrego Desert for a few weeks until it is time for the wedding (April 2nd), at which time we will reposition to the Elks Lodge in Fontana until after the wedding.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Sunday......

 8:03 am - Monday - February 21st - Newell House, AZ - 47° F, 34% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the south.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 65° F.....chance of rain Tuesday night....we'll see.  On this date in 2015 we were boondocking near Sedona, AZ watching hot air balloons take off nearby....they were flying right over our coach......↴

TLE and I have upped our one mile walks each day to 1.25 miles to extend our walking time to 20 minutes each time we walk.  We started this a few days ago, and 20 minutes seems to be just about the right amount of time.  We're both kind of stuck at our current weight, which happens, but the inches are melting away.  My clothes are feeling looser on me, and I can see the difference in my waistline....so can TLE.

After our morning 1.25 mile walk we drove over to the home of our 'egg guy' to buy 2 more dozen eggs, and another large bag of oranges, and tangelos ($11 total).....his citrus trees are almost bare now, and he says they are getting ready to bloom again.  On the way home we stopped at the local Wittmann Flea Market, and I found a couple of metric sockets I needed to work on the VW brakes.  I had to borrow a couple from Tom to do the front brakes, and I want to be sure I have the right ones should I have to work on them again in the future.

After getting back home with our spoils I spent about an hour cleaning, and polishing the new irons I bought at Goodwill......they look even better than I thought when I bought them.  Looking forward to hitting a few balls with them very soon.  That was the extent of my labors Sunday....I spent the afternoon watching the final round of the Genesis Invitational, and then watched a documentary about Joe Montana (San Francisco 49ers quarterback in the 80's). 

TLE made Jambalaya for Sunday dinner in our hosts' home.  We ate, laughed, and talked, and then talked some more before we headed back to the Newell around 6:15 pm. I caught these pictures of the sunset afterglow....

Thanks for stopping by!

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Almost done.....

8:22 am - Sunday - February 20th - Newell House, AZ - 48° F, 28% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the east......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 76° F.  On this date in 2013 we had just overnighted in a Lowe's parking lot in Boca Raton, FL.....↴ 

A while back, you may recall, while we were still ensconced within Newell House I repositioned two of our solar panels at the rear of the coach roof.  The final step of that repositioning was to take some of the slack out of the cables which connect to those panels to the junction box, so there would be more cable available at the rear solar panels enabling them to be tilted without putting strain on those two cables.  Since our near term goal is to return to the Anza Borrego Desert in a couple of weeks I want to be able to tilt them.

After completing our first 1 mile walk of the day I set about getting our telescoping ladder out, and the necessary tools to complete the task.  When these cables were installed at A.M. Solar back in 2015 they were laid down on the roof in kind of a serpentine fashion to allow for future changes, and fastened to the roof using lap sealant.  My task was to remove that sealant affixing those two cables in their current position, straighten them out, and then reattach them to the roof using the Dicor lap sealant I keep on hand for just such things.  I'm happy to report that the operation was a success, and it only took about 90 minutes.  With that accomplished I only have two more projects to complete before we haul anchor.....the rear brakes on the VW, and the installation of two new thermostats on the big Detroit Diesel 6v92.

With that task behind me I dedicated the balance of the day to watching the Genesis Invitational PGA tournament being played at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, CA.  My son and I walked 18 holes at Riviera following Jack Nicklaus around the course back in the late 80's.....it was called the L.A. Open back then.  For good measure I also through in another Jacuzzi session late afternoon.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Golf, anyone?

 8:25 am - Saturday - February 19th - Newell House, AZ - 51° F, 25% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the east by northeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies again today with a forecast high of 76° F. On this date in Abilene, TX where we had overnighted at a Cracker Barrel after driving 585 miles from Benson, AZ the day before......↴

Friday is always 'bacon day' in our household.  Normally, in most circumstances, that would mean 4-5 strips of peppered bacon with breakfast, but since are doing the 'intermittent fasting' thing that means lunch time.  TLE gives me breakfast for lunch whenever I ask, but I haven't had one of her amazing BLAT's in a long time.  In order to fulfill my desires TLE told me if I wanted a BLAT we would have to go to the store to get bread.  "No problem!" I said..."we'll go after we do our 1 mile walk, and I do a test drive to check the front brakes."  

After our walk I got in the VW and headed 1 mile out to pavement where I could get her up to speed (50 mph in this case) so I could hit the brakes, and see if the wobble was gone.  I ran up to speed twice, and hit the brakes hard each time, and what do you know?  The wobble is gone!  I was so intent on replacing those front rotors, and pads that I ignored the obvious, more simple solution.....just have the rotors 'turned'.....in this case a simple $20 solution, as opposed to the $160 for new rotors and pads.

When I was in town Thursday waiting for my rotors to be turned I mentioned I spent about 30 minutes at the local Goodwill 'browsing' before picking up the rotors.  While browsing I found a set of matched golf irons (3-9, plus pitching wedge and sand wedge) for $1.49 each.....that's less than $15 for 9 irons!  I didn't pull the trigger then, but decided, since we were going to Trader Joe's anyway (right next door to Goodwill) that I would go over and buy them whilst TLE shopped....

.....that makes two complete sets of golf irons I own.  I really like the feel of these clubs, the grips, and the weighting.  I'll get a chance this summer to find out which set I like better, and it only cost me $13.42 for this set.  Combined I think I've spent less than $40 for both sets of irons.  This new set are Prima's, which are sold at chain golf stores like Nevada Bob's in Nevada.  They are patterned after Ping golf clubs, which are quite expensive, so how far wrong can I go for under $14?  We parked in the TJ's parking lot, and while TLE headed into the store I walked over to Goodwill to buy those clubs.  I was back from Goodwill before TLE had finished shopping, so I helped her finish, and then we headed back home.  The brakes are so much nicer now that the wobble is gone!

I also made another astute purchase Friday......a TORO leaf blower (brand new, in the box) for $20.  I was about to pull the trigger on a $100 blower when I came across this one in Tom's garage, which he happened to be trying to sell on Facebook Market Place.  We need a blower occasionally to blow leaves, pine needles, or whatever has gotten stuck in our artificial turf out of the turf.  Usually, when we are working, I have access to company owned gas blowers, but that is not always the case, so having our own blower now means we can clean the turf more often......

Once again, TLE and I did two one mile walks around Newell House, and I managed to squeeze in another Jacuzzi session for good measure.  Friday was a good day.....I finally finished the front brakes on the VW, got a new to me set of golf clubs, bought a blower for a killer deal, and took a Jacuzzi.....what else does a man need (other than a wonderful wife, which I already have)?

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Success.....I think....

 8:07 am - Friday - February 18th - Newell House, AZ - 43° F, 27% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the east by northeast......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 70° F.  On this date in 2010 TLE and I were standing atop Sandia Crest at 10, 678' near Albuquerque, NM.....↴

After posting my latest missive, and fast walking 1 mile with TLE I headed into Wickenburg to visit the local Napa Auto Parts store, and also O'Reilly's to pick up some automotive parts for Tom.  As it turned out the rotors, and brake pads Tom had ordered were identical to the ones Amazon had sent, and I knew they would not work.  It appears my particular model of 2001 VW Beetle (2.0 sport turbo) either came from the factory, or was upgraded at a later date to heavier duty rotors and pads.  All the markings on my calipers show VW/Audi on them, so they appear to be OEM, I guess, but they are definitely different than stock, which is what everyone keeps trying to sell me.  

My stop at O'Reilly's was more fruitful.....the parts Tom ordered were ready, and I was able to 'borrow' a brake caliper tool set for the rear brakes on the VW.  I watched a couple of videos on replacing the rear brakes, and the guy suggested you could borrow this special compression tool needed to compress the caliper cylinder from O'Reilly's.  Sure enough they did have it, and I borrowed it.  Of course borrowing in this sense means you leave a $65 deposit (the value of the tool set), which is refunded when you return the tool.

As I wrote previously, the reason I was replacing the front pads and rotors was because I'm getting a little brake 'chatter', or wobble when I apply the brakes at speed, and that usually means a warped rotor.  It's also been 8 years since I had a complete (front and rear) brake job in at Higher Ground Autoworx in South Lake Tahoe, and I figured why not just replace everything.  The kicker is the front pads are not that worn at all (amazingly), and the rotors really look just fine, except for that wobble thing.  I decided to call a local brake place (Brake Masters in Surprise) to see what it would cost to 'turn' them, or as they say "resurface them".  The cost quoted was $15/rotor.  These rotors have never been 'turned' and there is still plenty of material, so it's worth the $30 to 'turn' them and see if that gets rid of the 'chatter'.

I removed both rotors, and headed into Surprise around 1 pm.  I also needed to drop off the Amazon rotors and brake pads at the local UPS Store, so after dropping off the rotors I headed over to the UPS store, which is about 3 miles away from Brake Masters.  The guys at Brake Masters assured me it would take about an hour to "resurface" the rotors.

As one might imagine, the UPS Store at mid afternoon was quite busy.  There were about 10 people in line in front of me.  Those rotors and brake pads are pretty heavy, so I had to keep finding places to set them down as the line shrank in front of me.  Finally, about 20 minutes later I was at the desk letting the nice lady scan the 3 QR codes for the two rotors (separate packages), and pads.  It took a couple of minutes, and I was on my way.  By this time 40 minutes had elapsed, and one of my least favorite things to do is sit in auto repair lounges, so I stopped off at the local Goodwill, and browsed for about 30 minutes before heading back to Brake Masters.  True to their word, they were pulling the 2nd rotor off their machine, and handing both the "resurfaced' rotors to me.  I asked what the total cost would be and the guy says "If we generate a billing in the system it will be $32, including tax, but if you have $20 cash we'll call it even"....wait, what?  I couldn't get that $20 out of my wallet fast enough.  By the way, Yelp gives this store 4 stars, and they deserve it!

It was closing in on 3 pm by this point, so I put the rotors in the back of the car (I borrowed Tom's Honda CRV), and headed for home arriving there about 20 minutes later.  I hadn't done my afternoon fast walk yet, so I took care of that, then began to reinstall the freshly "resurfaced' rotors.  The acid test will be to take a test drive, and see if the wobble is gone.  

I didn't have time to do the test drive as it was 4:45 pm by the time I finished putting away my tools, and were were going into Wickenburg with Tom, Darlene, and Wade to celebrate Wade's birthday at a local Mexican eatery named Anita's Cocina.  I hadn't had anything to eat all day save a bowl of Cheerios around 12 pm, and I was starved.  I ordered their two taco plate, and a glass of ice tea.....no beer for me while I'm dieting....lol.  We had a very pleasant time eating, talking and laughing.  A nice ending to a successful day.  Now to test drive the VW!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!