I awoke to the sound of the wind as it howled around the RV. It really was making an awful racket but when I looked out of the window, it did not appear to be that strong. Must be the direction it is blowing that is making so much noise against the RV and as it whistled through the trees.
We went out for that first walk of the day just wandering around both inside the park and out on the road. On our way back, we ran into both Daniel and Jeff who had just finished helping a camper move to a different site. Daniel gave me a hard time saying I was late in helping them and I told him that he had forgotten to tell me about it. All in good fun, of course.
I went back to the RV and fixed us all breakfast and settled down in front of the computer and Daniel appeared with his weed eater cutting the grass. I went out and showed him the finished storage area. He was suitably impressed, and we discussed hooking the RV up permanently to the sewer with plastic pipe, something else to add to my list of jobs.
I unloaded the car and temporarily put everything inside the RV making it a bit crowded with the added stuff. I will straighten it out later. It took a while and I was thinking about that final load from Quatro, which does not have to happen today. The couple that will rent it for a month will not need it until April, sometime. Wait, April is only a couple of days away.
After that, I will get Dolores to give it a good cleaning before putting it on the market.
I dug holes for the 5 plants I had bought a couple days ago and then watered everything. I also did some repair work on the bird feeders as somehow, the wind had caused one of the nuts that held a part of it in place, to come unscrewed. Not only that, but it must also have blown the nut away in the wind as I could not find it anywhere. Daniel happened to stop by at that moment, and I asked him if he had one and jumping in the four-wheeler, we headed for the shop where he keeps his supplies, and quickly found what I needed.
Thanking him, I headed back to the RV and worked on the bird feeder some more and replaced the missing part taking the opportunity to fill the feeders while I was at it.
I received a text from Impact RV Repair to say that he would be here in less than 30 minutes to work on the RV. I already had the dogs harnessed as they had been tied up outside as I worked on unloading the Jeep, so we went out for a quick walk. The mechanic arrived just as we returned and made friends with Mikey. Sandy has already included him as one of her friends.
I dropped what I was doing so that I was available to help or answer questions and such as needed but spent most of my time watching the RV mechanic work. First, He changed out the toilet for the model that I wanted and had ordered through him. It was a straightforward job and he had it completed in no time at all.
Then, he turned his attention to changing out the motor to the bedroom slide that was a part of the original deal and did not cost me anything. It was not an easy job as he was lying on his back under the RV. Luckily, the motor was only a small one and not that heavy. Good job as I am not sure if I could have helped him lying in an upside down position. Nowadays, I have enough trouble when I am upright and even getting horizontal, except to go to bed, would be a challenge and getting back up, an even bigger one.
I still had one more thing I needed him to do in The Caboose and that was to replace the broken handle to the black tank which we had discussed. He had brought one with him and went ahead to remove the old one and screw on the new one. He suggested that I use Dove dishwashing liquid or something similar and add it to the black tank which in turn helps to lubricate the slides to the valves, the part that was binding. Something, I can easily do.
Finally, we went down to Quatro so he could look at the broken handle on one of the reclining chairs. He managed to get a picture of it and will see if he can find one to fit. I paid him my share of the afternoons work and thanked him for his time, and he went on his way. I continued walking the dogs for a bit as I had taken the opportunity of going from one RV to the other with them in tow. That is probably not quite true as most of the time, I am the one being towed as Sandy gallops along.
We walked back to The Caboose and making sure that everything was put away and went inside for the evening which, incidentally, turned wet as it came on to rain.
Written 03/28/2023 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
The Adventures of an Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, Henly, TX. Wednesday 03/29/2023
I slept very soundly even with a couple of calls of Nature mixed in there and it was 9:00 am when I awoke. I contemplated going back to sleep, but common sense prevailed, and I crawled out. Not that we have anything special planned except for the final load (hopefully) from Quatro and it does not have to happen today. Putting it off does not make much sense though. Incidentally, the new toilet is working just fine and the pointed front to it is just made for the male anatomy.
We went out walking as we normally do and just wandered around. Usually, that first walk has no purpose other than for the dogs to relieve their bodily functions after a long night although, we try to get in a half mile if possible. That part is for me to wake up and get my body working.
Back in The Caboose, I fixed breakfast and coffee and settled down to read the world news and then emails, which as usual, were mostly all junked. If it wasn’t for a couple of close friends and the odd email from my son’s in England, I could almost do without having an email account. Nearly all I get is rubbish or advertising and even though I try to control them, there are always new ones sneaking in to take the place of the ones I have removed as junk.
Life was much simpler just 35 years ago when computers, phones and emails were unheard of…
When I was a kid growing up in England 80 or so years ago, having a telephone was a luxury afforded only to the odd few here and there who thought they needed one. Neighbors knew who had one nearby and would “borrow” their phones in case of an Emergency. Even the bright red callboxes found around the countryside, were a mystery to us kids and were treated like a death ray or something similar. Of course, as we grew older, the mystery was gone but even then, for the most part, not many households had a phone nor really had a use for one.
It was just not considered a necessity as it is today. Life sure is different when even small kids have their own cell phones that they carry around and have their noses glued to 24 hours a day. Why bother to learn when the answers to most questions are on your phone? I wonder if anyone holds a conversation face to face anymore? One thing is certain, general knowledge of everyday things is not something the younger generation is familiar with without their phones.
As I sit here and watch the bird feeder, the one that was repaired yesterday, it is doing a rip-roaring trade in seed eating birds of all makes, models and sizes as they chase each other around. The Hummingbird feeders are getting their share of hungry Hummers who are so adept at hovering and drinking at the same time as very rarely do they settle to drink. I wonder how many beats a second their wings are going. Absolutely amazing to watch.
I even discovered the local squirrel sitting on the feeders yesterday and he was quickly shooed away and informed that he was not a welcome guest and to go find some nuts to chew on.
I finally decided that I had delayed as long as I could and stopped writing and closed the computer to concentrate on other things, foremost of which was to straighten out the cupboards and closets of the stuff that had been hastily jammed in there over the past couple of weeks as we moved it out of Quatro.
I worked on this for a bit and found a home for the new arrivals in the boxes I loaded out yesterday from the other RV. While I was at it, I straightened out the storage cabinets. My friend BJ would be proud as I organized the cans of sardines which was not hard as there were only 3 of them. She thinks I have a sardine fetish which is not true as I cannot remember the last time, I ate a can of them. Maybe tomorrow for breakfast on toast now that she has reminded me…
With the inside of The Caboose re-organized at least for now, I looked around for other things to do. After the excursions into Quatro a couple of days ago in the late afternoon, I think I will wait until tomorrow morning to empty the last of the stuff out of there as the sweat poured off me with no A/C running nor the power to use it. I did have the RV’s motor running while we were working but that was to keep it lubricated and charge the batteries and it did not supply enough A/C to matter.
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea to go and do some of the work. The very least I could do was finish emptying the outside compartments, so I harnessed up the dogs and I had them jump into the Jeep for the short trip down the hill. Once there, I hooked them up to the carryall so they could watch both me and whatever else was going on around them while I went around the outside of Quatro checking ALL of the compartments and emptying those that still had stuff in.
I had previously opened Quatro’s door to let in the breeze and when I went inside, it was reasonably cool, enough that I could do some work. I went ahead and loaded out some of the remaining stuff which left just a small amount to do another day.
I drove us back to The Caboose and on the way, thought I had lost something off the carrier so when we reached The Caboose, I took the dogs and walked the way I had driven. Turns out that apparently, I had not but they needed the exercise. Me, I was hurting as my hip was giving me problems for whatever reason.
I finished putting things away either in the new storage unit or in the RV for later distribution to various places and then, grabbing a small bottle of wine, sat outside the RV for a bit listening to an Audiobook. With that one finished, I went inside and put on my jacket as it had cooled off, grabbed another wine and went back outside to sit a bit longer.
When eventually, I had drunk that second bottle and because it had cooled off, we went back inside for the usual evenings repast. Then, a couple of hours later, Sandy started being a bug and even though I made a fuss of her, that was not the problem. She had to “go” and being a bug was her way of telling me. So, once more, it was on with the harness and out of the door. This time we barely made it to the grass before she did her business. I patted her on the head and told her that she was “Such a good girl” for letting me know. Mikey, being Mikey, just sort of followed along as did I.
The rest of the evening was uneventful.
Written 03/29/2023 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com