I copped out today and took the pickup truck to the motor cycle luncheon... I had ordered a hat before we left for the Arizona adventure, and it was in and would be available at the leader's table...
I went for breakfast at about 9:30, as I surmised that everyone would be there way early because the forecast was for 100 degrees by noon... And it didn't let us down, because it was 100 by about 11:30 when I was back here in KC.
The luncheon was at the Missouri town of Lone Jack, which was one of the oldest towns in Missouri.. Most of the history written about the town centers around a civil war battle where the confederates ousted the union. They fought in the town square.... The union soldiers were outnumbered by more than two to one...
But of course today we met at the Lone Jack cafe and had a very nice meal... And I took some mild ribbing about coming with the truck, but with my handicap that remains after the surgery, hot and sweaty isn't much of an option, so they will just have to get over it....
Back in KC I took back the fan switch that didn't have the right number of wires, and the lady at Home Depot credited my account without much question... She wasn't even interested in whether or not I had found the right one.... Big city folks really could care less about their fellow citizens....
And since it was 102 when I pulled into the driveway, I spent the rest of the day working on recovering all those pictures that went down the tubes with the lost hard drive... It required firing up the really old computer from 2006, in which I had replaced the hard drive after it quit. Most of the pictures before 2010 were safely stored on it... But the machine has a power supply problem and I had to hold it just so in order to keep it running.... I loaded the pics off on a thumb drive...
It took several passes with this drive as it was only 4 gig, and I had about 20 gig of files... Then I sorted out all of the stored picture cards and matched them against the restored files, sourcing additional photos... And last, I copied all the files from the desktop that I built in 2010 that runs Linux... It had most of the newer photos on it...
This took hours, since my organization was lacking even before the crash.... Perhaps it would be a good time to go get one of those terra bite back ups..... But will I actually go do it? There was something like 8000 files under my pictures when I got done.....
I do think I will copy all the files back over on the Linux desk top from the lap top as that would be a good backup for now....
I could break down and purchase carbonite or one of the commercial off site places, but I tend to not want to spend ongoing money on stuff like that....
And I am sure that I could put a bunch of it on Picasa, but that means that google would have even more of me and my info........... uh,,,,,,, do I really want to do that?
Retired Rod
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
A water fountain!
Seems as though our sticks and bricks residence was just waiting for me to return back here to Kansas. It wanted to show me that it had missed me taking care of its little quirks and temper tantrums, so it had to show me... once I arrived....
The yard seemed rather burned up for having used a bunch of money's worth of water this last month... But I started an extra irrigation cycle when I returned from parking the motorhome in the storage lot last night....
It was late in the day and I went inside just bushed after washing the rig in the park and driving home... Then the several hour unload and storage parking, which caused me to doze in the big chair...
I was awakened by some door bell ringing, but wanted to continue the nap, so I didn't go answer it... We get solicitors at all times of the day and even on Sunday.... But in a little while the door bell rang again, and this time it was more of a poignant ring, like the ringer was trying to make it ring as fast and furious as they could..... And it didn't stop, so I struggled back awake...
I went to the door and my neighbor lady to our West said Hey you got a problem out here and need to take a look at it... Her husband had our irrigation control box opened up and was shutting off the main valve to the sprinkler system..... But it wasn't off fast enough for me to not see the towering issue of water coming from out of the ground over between their property and ours...
Something is broken on the high pressure side of the line or valve that does that zone... Water was pouring out of the ground and down the street in a massive river... Of course the kids were having a ball riding their bikes in the now half filled street... The stream was a half of a block long and then went down a storm sewer...
Of course with the drought, calls to our irrigation company did not find us with an appointment until Friday morning, and I was sternly apprised as to the cost of this endeavor.... $89 just to come see what might be wrong and then a c note for every hour after that, plus parts........ These are plumbers after all...
After hanging up with the irrigation folks, I reached up to turn on the ceiling fan in the family room as I was hot, (under the collar)..... And evidently I pulled on the chain a bit hard and the whole thing came out in my hand.... Good land! Does that mean I need to go buy a new fan for here as well??
Over at Home Depot, I purchased another switch, while their electrical fellow assured me it would fix the problem, and a portable stand fan to use as well... Or in the mean time.....
Tonight when I took the fan apart, I found that the switch I purchased had three wires and the broken one had four........... So instead of Home Depot, I tried Lowes, and they had three wire, four wire and 5-8 wire switches... I asked the guy at that counter and he reached over and handed me the four wire and explained how to install it... It will fix you right up!!
So tonight my fan is fixed up, but I didn't even have the urge to go dig up the parking along the West side of the driveway.... But if we wait until Friday, at least the water will dry up and we won't be digging in the mud so much....
And look at the bright side, this valve waited patiently for us to return home before cracking and creating a fountain, like it was in the center of a public square....
Retired Rod
The yard seemed rather burned up for having used a bunch of money's worth of water this last month... But I started an extra irrigation cycle when I returned from parking the motorhome in the storage lot last night....
It was late in the day and I went inside just bushed after washing the rig in the park and driving home... Then the several hour unload and storage parking, which caused me to doze in the big chair...
I was awakened by some door bell ringing, but wanted to continue the nap, so I didn't go answer it... We get solicitors at all times of the day and even on Sunday.... But in a little while the door bell rang again, and this time it was more of a poignant ring, like the ringer was trying to make it ring as fast and furious as they could..... And it didn't stop, so I struggled back awake...
I went to the door and my neighbor lady to our West said Hey you got a problem out here and need to take a look at it... Her husband had our irrigation control box opened up and was shutting off the main valve to the sprinkler system..... But it wasn't off fast enough for me to not see the towering issue of water coming from out of the ground over between their property and ours...
Something is broken on the high pressure side of the line or valve that does that zone... Water was pouring out of the ground and down the street in a massive river... Of course the kids were having a ball riding their bikes in the now half filled street... The stream was a half of a block long and then went down a storm sewer...
Of course with the drought, calls to our irrigation company did not find us with an appointment until Friday morning, and I was sternly apprised as to the cost of this endeavor.... $89 just to come see what might be wrong and then a c note for every hour after that, plus parts........ These are plumbers after all...
After hanging up with the irrigation folks, I reached up to turn on the ceiling fan in the family room as I was hot, (under the collar)..... And evidently I pulled on the chain a bit hard and the whole thing came out in my hand.... Good land! Does that mean I need to go buy a new fan for here as well??
Over at Home Depot, I purchased another switch, while their electrical fellow assured me it would fix the problem, and a portable stand fan to use as well... Or in the mean time.....
Tonight when I took the fan apart, I found that the switch I purchased had three wires and the broken one had four........... So instead of Home Depot, I tried Lowes, and they had three wire, four wire and 5-8 wire switches... I asked the guy at that counter and he reached over and handed me the four wire and explained how to install it... It will fix you right up!!
So tonight my fan is fixed up, but I didn't even have the urge to go dig up the parking along the West side of the driveway.... But if we wait until Friday, at least the water will dry up and we won't be digging in the mud so much....
And look at the bright side, this valve waited patiently for us to return home before cracking and creating a fountain, like it was in the center of a public square....
Retired Rod
Monday, August 6, 2012
We are back in KC in the nick of time......
Excessive Heat to Impact the Desert Southwest for the First Half of the Work Week
An Excessive Heat Warning is in effect for portions of the Desert Southwest, including the Phoenix metro area, from Monday through Wednesday. Afternoon high temperatures will range from 110 to 115 degrees, while overnight low temperatures will briefly fall below 90 degrees. The hot temperatures can lead to heat stress.
This was issued by the National Weather Service for Mesa and Apache Junction.. Somehow I am not wanting to go back and experience this for myself..... Its ok, they can do it for me.... Our house watcher folks, said welcome to the surface of the sun, when they came over and it seemed funny at the time........
We worked in the campground all morning, with me outside washing out dirty lockers and sorting thru the stuff that has accumulated over the winter, tossing a bunch of stuff, and boxes for stuff. And Loyce going thru the cupboards inside and cleaning out all the accumulated but now old things...
Any food stuff, was subjected to the inside of the locked up MH so who knows how hot that was...? But it is all gone now, except for the booze,.. I don't think heat will bother the rum, if the cap is still on.... Well maybe if it gets to boiling,.........
I then began washing the coach since they don't really care much in the COE campground.... Security went by and saw me doing it, so if it was a problem he didn't say any thing... All the haboob dust is now part of the Kansas grass in the last camp site.... It did water spot some, but if we ever get any rain that will be gone too....
The drive home was without any problems, just like we like it... And we were welcomed by our neighbors across the street... Our yard is a mess with some grass grown high and other parts browned out from lack of moisture....... We had the sprinklers set, but evidently not enough for the heat they had.
Our temperatures here are supposed to be 98 on Tuesday, but in the low 90s for the rest of the week, and that's certainly much more like it..... Once its under 40 C, its all good..... (That ought to raise a few Canadian opinions......lol)
So with the coach back over in storage, maybe I ought to go see if the motorcycle will start!
Retired Rod
An Excessive Heat Warning is in effect for portions of the Desert Southwest, including the Phoenix metro area, from Monday through Wednesday. Afternoon high temperatures will range from 110 to 115 degrees, while overnight low temperatures will briefly fall below 90 degrees. The hot temperatures can lead to heat stress.
This was issued by the National Weather Service for Mesa and Apache Junction.. Somehow I am not wanting to go back and experience this for myself..... Its ok, they can do it for me.... Our house watcher folks, said welcome to the surface of the sun, when they came over and it seemed funny at the time........
We worked in the campground all morning, with me outside washing out dirty lockers and sorting thru the stuff that has accumulated over the winter, tossing a bunch of stuff, and boxes for stuff. And Loyce going thru the cupboards inside and cleaning out all the accumulated but now old things...
Any food stuff, was subjected to the inside of the locked up MH so who knows how hot that was...? But it is all gone now, except for the booze,.. I don't think heat will bother the rum, if the cap is still on.... Well maybe if it gets to boiling,.........
I then began washing the coach since they don't really care much in the COE campground.... Security went by and saw me doing it, so if it was a problem he didn't say any thing... All the haboob dust is now part of the Kansas grass in the last camp site.... It did water spot some, but if we ever get any rain that will be gone too....
The drive home was without any problems, just like we like it... And we were welcomed by our neighbors across the street... Our yard is a mess with some grass grown high and other parts browned out from lack of moisture....... We had the sprinklers set, but evidently not enough for the heat they had.
Our temperatures here are supposed to be 98 on Tuesday, but in the low 90s for the rest of the week, and that's certainly much more like it..... Once its under 40 C, its all good..... (That ought to raise a few Canadian opinions......lol)
So with the coach back over in storage, maybe I ought to go see if the motorcycle will start!
Retired Rod
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Kansas, all day!! Nice Pics of Camp ground..
Since we were in the Central time zone this morning for the first time in over a month, the clock looked all wrong when I woke up... It said 7 AM but it was barely light outside... We have been in Arizona for weeks and without daylight saving time, it gets light at 5:30 or so..... But then 7 is 5 AM in Arizona......
So we kind of scurried around getting things packed up and breakfast over with.... Still we didn't get on the road until 9:30... How does it work like that? Did we unpack things so much just to stay overnight......? But I guess the answer is yes...
Once on the road, we drove right along, even though the wind from last nights storms was still with us and crossing from the Northwest.. We were going Northeast so it was at a right angle to us.... Gusty and swerving the motorhome all over the road...
We managed to make the towns show up in our rear view mirrors as we had a lot of Kansas to cover. I never see much that is interesting as I travel over this state... No, I don't want to go to Dorothy's house, and I'm not interested in the Dalton gang's hideout in Mead.... The list goes on, but you get the picture...
The picture this year is farm ground that is mostly burned up from lack of rain... I have seen a lot of Milo that must have been planted when the ground was too dry for corn.... Of course the wheat was long ago harvested, but the ground isn't plowed, as it would just become a dust bowl...
We ended up in Hutchinson after taking the usual diagonal K 61 from Pratt... Same ole same old... I was trying to understand why I was using much more diesel fuel than normal and at first blamed it on the wind, but still it didn't seem right....
But then I started to look at last nights fuel receipt and realized that the tank wasn't filled up all the way... The last 8 or so gallons seem to go on top of the full reading on the gauge, so you couldn't see the effect on it... But calculating yesterday's mileage told me that we had accomplished 14 mpg, and this coach can't do that..... ever.. Besides, we had the generator running almost all afternoon, and it uses about .6 of a gallon per hour and that cuts into the 9.5 we usually get....
I stopped at a truck stop in Newton on Highway 50, and we had lunch back in the back with the other trucks...... that idle endlessly... Not much interesting to watch today.... And eventually we came to Emporia, where I made up for not buying enough fuel for yesterday, by buying 10 gallons extra today...
We had decided that we wouldn't try to make it all the way home so one of our favorite family camping spots with the grandkids is Malvern Lake. Its about 20 miles East beyond Emporia.
We like the Core of Engineer's campground that is on the outlet side of the dam. So I had to dig out our senior pass, in order to camp for half price.... The fee is up to $20 this year, so we paid $10... Full hookups...
The sites aren't long enough for our rig and the pickup truck too, but we are at the very end in the back of the camp, so perhaps the ranger won't get us.... And yes it is quite un level. The front jacks are way out holding our tires off of the ground.... But we have screw jacks rather than hydraulic so they won't leak and think nothing of jacking the whole rig up like that....
Looking the other way is the tail water lake from the outlet of the big lake behind the dam... The big lake is 20 miles long, but this little pond is about right for the campground.... No boats allowed...
The camp sites go all the way around to the other side of the lake in the distance.... But most of those sites are reserve able and taken on the internet.... We drove around there once it was dark, and there wasn't a single open spot... Rigs are jammed in tight as a drum and folks are burning large campfires, smoking out the entire area..... We'll be just fine over here on our side.....
A little different take on a dead tree picture.......
I walked down to the lake and sat on that park bench for a while, as the clouds covered the sky and then cleared... But eventually it began to sprinkle and rain so I walked back to the MH... But that just made it stop again... This area desperately needs rain of any sort....
Tomorrow we will clean up the coach and its tanks while hooked up to the utilities and then hi tail it for home, which is only about 80 miles away.....
Retired Rod
So we kind of scurried around getting things packed up and breakfast over with.... Still we didn't get on the road until 9:30... How does it work like that? Did we unpack things so much just to stay overnight......? But I guess the answer is yes...
Once on the road, we drove right along, even though the wind from last nights storms was still with us and crossing from the Northwest.. We were going Northeast so it was at a right angle to us.... Gusty and swerving the motorhome all over the road...
We managed to make the towns show up in our rear view mirrors as we had a lot of Kansas to cover. I never see much that is interesting as I travel over this state... No, I don't want to go to Dorothy's house, and I'm not interested in the Dalton gang's hideout in Mead.... The list goes on, but you get the picture...
The picture this year is farm ground that is mostly burned up from lack of rain... I have seen a lot of Milo that must have been planted when the ground was too dry for corn.... Of course the wheat was long ago harvested, but the ground isn't plowed, as it would just become a dust bowl...
We ended up in Hutchinson after taking the usual diagonal K 61 from Pratt... Same ole same old... I was trying to understand why I was using much more diesel fuel than normal and at first blamed it on the wind, but still it didn't seem right....
But then I started to look at last nights fuel receipt and realized that the tank wasn't filled up all the way... The last 8 or so gallons seem to go on top of the full reading on the gauge, so you couldn't see the effect on it... But calculating yesterday's mileage told me that we had accomplished 14 mpg, and this coach can't do that..... ever.. Besides, we had the generator running almost all afternoon, and it uses about .6 of a gallon per hour and that cuts into the 9.5 we usually get....
I stopped at a truck stop in Newton on Highway 50, and we had lunch back in the back with the other trucks...... that idle endlessly... Not much interesting to watch today.... And eventually we came to Emporia, where I made up for not buying enough fuel for yesterday, by buying 10 gallons extra today...
We had decided that we wouldn't try to make it all the way home so one of our favorite family camping spots with the grandkids is Malvern Lake. Its about 20 miles East beyond Emporia.
We like the Core of Engineer's campground that is on the outlet side of the dam. So I had to dig out our senior pass, in order to camp for half price.... The fee is up to $20 this year, so we paid $10... Full hookups...
The sites aren't long enough for our rig and the pickup truck too, but we are at the very end in the back of the camp, so perhaps the ranger won't get us.... And yes it is quite un level. The front jacks are way out holding our tires off of the ground.... But we have screw jacks rather than hydraulic so they won't leak and think nothing of jacking the whole rig up like that....
Looking the other way is the tail water lake from the outlet of the big lake behind the dam... The big lake is 20 miles long, but this little pond is about right for the campground.... No boats allowed...
The camp sites go all the way around to the other side of the lake in the distance.... But most of those sites are reserve able and taken on the internet.... We drove around there once it was dark, and there wasn't a single open spot... Rigs are jammed in tight as a drum and folks are burning large campfires, smoking out the entire area..... We'll be just fine over here on our side.....
A little different take on a dead tree picture.......
I walked down to the lake and sat on that park bench for a while, as the clouds covered the sky and then cleared... But eventually it began to sprinkle and rain so I walked back to the MH... But that just made it stop again... This area desperately needs rain of any sort....
Tomorrow we will clean up the coach and its tanks while hooked up to the utilities and then hi tail it for home, which is only about 80 miles away.....
Retired Rod
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