Catching up paperwork

I sat here today reading the nice comments we received about Wal Mart and their oil changing service.  Seems that many of you have had some of the same experience that I had yesterday.  So why do I go back there?

I thought about that for a while today and became convinced that it is because I can shop in the store while they are working on the vehicle.  Seems that we always need stuff and are going to the grocery store or to the pharmacy, and then I relent and say aw so what, they can't mess it up every time!  But it seems that lately I have been a high percentage looser.

Yesterday it was late in the afternoon when I decided to get the work done, and I found an empty line after doing the Wendy's drive thru.  I surmised, what's not to like about this?  And from there the experience turned more sour.

Today our skies turned overcast for much of the morning, and then broke into sunshine and 64 degrees.  It was quite nice during the afternoon, but I sat here reading my book and the internet sites.  Biscuit and I drifted off for a nap in the afternoon for a while, and we never left the house.

I have been working on following up loose ends on bills that need to be paid since we have been gone, and spent some of the day on the phone tracking down stuff that I know needs taken care of.  Not exciting, but still time consuming.

Tonight I was back on the internet watching the Sunday Run from Invicta (on a Thursday) to see if they offered anything I couldn't live without.  I did order a cheapie  watch that has a nice rubberized bracelet on it.  I might just toss the watch and use the bracelet once it arrives.  Am I nuts?  I couldn't order the bracelet for the $53 the entire watch will cost delivered.

A slow day, but at least my truck has its insurance renewal done now.  And in that light, we can't get our license tags at our insurance companies like they do up in Canada.  We do have to get a proof of insurance card when we renew, and then take that to the DMV office in order to get the tags.

Oh and I see that one of my Iowa friends that signed on as anonymous, had to remind me that going to the Iowa court house in almost any county is almost instantaneous.  And I'm sure it is that way in all the other counties here in Kansas too, except Johnson county where we have about 10 times the population.

The price we pay to live in the big city!!

Retired Rod

Enjoying Wal Mart oil changes!

Lets see, where did today go?  I caught up on all the blogs that I didn't get read while we were traveling, and that was good for several hours.  Then I read some of the political book that I have been reading on for several months.

If I read a chapter a month, I will get it finished up sometime next year!  Its a rehash of the history that we all lived thru, and since we all know the story already, it doesn't seem exciting and new.

Mid afternoon, I decided to check on the battery charger on my wife's Ford Escape.  I purchased several of the battery minder chargers from Wal Mart, but did not have one on the Ford.  And of course the battery was way down when we got home.  I had one on the pickup truck and it started right up, so I moved it to the Escape.  Now at an amp and a half, it takes a couple of days to charge it back up, so we had just ignored it for the last two days.

Sure enough, the light had gone out indicating the battery was now fully charged.  And it started right up first try.  But that is when I noticed the change oil light was on.  Checking the little sticker in the windshield confirmed that we did need that oil change.

I wonder how I missed that last fall.  Usually I like to leave things with clean oil in them, but I had let that ball slip.  So after grabbing that sandwich that I get on most days, it was over to Wal Mart for their quick service.

There was no one in front of me in line, and they were just finishing up the cars in the bay.  The ticket writer was preoccupied at the desk for some reason, and I sat there eating my sack lunch.  I finished the lunch and still sat there.  A fellow pulled up in a car behind me, and got out and walked to the desk.  The ticket writer went immediately and walked right past my car and wrote up the guy behind me.

He then went back to his desk and ignored me again.  I got out and asked if he intended to help me.  He said ya in a minute.  Then a fellow came in with a flat tire, and he began to assist him.  I said I was going to go get the store manager and would be right back.  The fellow actually asked me why?

I don't have much luck with Wal Mart oil change service locations, but for some reason I keep going back.  I guess they are always taking cars, and the price is usually fairly cheap.  I think that my problem was with the last place, and this one will be different.

On the way home from the store, I noticed that they had put half of the last quart in a bag on the passenger floor.  But this car takes all 5 quarts.  Sure enough when I got home and checked the dip stick, the engine was half a quart low.  I had to go find a funnel and pour in the last of the quart in order for it to read full.

I might be saving $10 using Wal Mart, maybe, so why do I go thru this every time?

Retired Rod

Mundane and catchup!

Into the mundane!  The daily part of our existence here in KC.  But even though it is mundane, you can't say we aren't busy. Way too much so.  The first order of business today was to get a place to store the motorhome.

When we headed out last October, we canceled our contract with the storage place.  At over $100 bucks a month, one wouldn't pay rent for months your not there.  But this comes with draw backs.  I quickly lost my spot up front in the lot.  And there wasn't any guarantee that we even would be allowed back in the lot.

So with this back drop, I traveled the lot in a golf cart with the manager.  This is when he dropped the bomb that the rent is now $125.  Oh great!  But even had I stayed, the rent would have risen to that amount.  In addition the site available is in the very back of the lot, and more difficult to get parked in due to other equipment around me.

I did save the $375, and that was invested in the $600 a month that storing the rig in Arizona costs.  Well though, we got to actually live in the rig in Arizona, where today I had to sign that I would not stay in the unit overnight.

With that task behind me, it was back over to my least favorite place in Kansas.  The DMV.  The little utility trailer has a Kansas Tag, and it is not due with the other tags on our stuff.  The trailer tags are all due on Feb 28.  We arrived home on the last legal day for the trailer to be on the road.  I have tried to purchase this tag in December before we leave, but no can do.

And since today was March 1st, it is now delinquent, so you can't mail it in anymore either.  So I had to go sit in line at the DMV.  I have cussed this process on previous blogs, so I will not turn this into a rant here.  I used my cell phone number when I signed into the office for a in line ticket.  Then I left for some lunch at a local Wendy's.  I ran another errand and returned.

I began getting update phone text messages about how I was progressing in line.  Seems as though every time I got a message my progress worsened.  The estimated time for me to be called became longer as time passed.  Though now I was back in the office, I could see that they were not making much progress.  Eventually I began to climb the ladder of those to be served.

After 2 hours and 15 minutes, I was allowed to step to the window and pay my $25 for a trailer tag.  But I was well informed about my progress with 5 text messages during the process.  While I was there, folks were leaving without being served, mostly stating that they had to get back to work.  Kansas needs a better system!

So as it became dusk, we hurried to unload another round of stuff from the coach, and quickly delivered it to its new parking spot.  A mundane day to catch back up in the process of keeping things licensed and  bills paid!

Retired Rod

At home again

I am sitting in my big recliner at home by the fireplace.  Rather than typing on the little laptop that I have used all winter, I am on my desktop with the big flat screen monitor.  That is the biggest change.  Of course the house is warm, without any drafts coming thru the slide seals and window joints.

But it is cold here in KC tonight.  At 11 PM it is down to 30 and we are to be 22 before morning.  I am not used to that kind of temperature, and it will take a while for me to acclimate.  I must explain that we did not come home early voluntarily, but rather because it was time to hand me off back to the Doctor here in KC.  I have scheduled tests that are set up here in town in the next upcoming weeks. So without turning this blog into general hospital, I will say, I was told to go home.

Last night was a rather cool night, as the cold North wind flapped the awnings and rocked the rig around.  When the wind is below 30 degrees, it zaps the heat right out of an RV.  We had the electric heaters on high, and the LP heaters set on 66.  The electric heaters can't keep up so the LP ran quite a bit as well.  But we managed to stay warm even with the wind.  By morning it was 27 outside.

In the morning, I did lay out 75 feet of hose and connect to one of the farm hydrants along the front of the lots.  We washed dishes and took showers and then washed out the holding tanks and the water closet.  Once cleaned it was off limits for the rest of the day.

I opened all the drains and removed the lines from the ice maker valve, hoping that the drive will shake the rest of the water out of it and not let it freeze up again.  I think it froze up on our first night out last fall, as I should have not allowed water back into it on that first cold night.

We were off by 10 AM and on the road for home.  I 35 is the turnpike thru Kansas, and is well maintained road.  It cost me $9 for the motorhome and the one axle trailer.  They don't ask how much you weigh, just how many axles you have, and we only have two, so without the trailer the coach would have been the same as a car.  $6.

After lunch, Loyce left me and headed on out at 70 mph for home.  She wanted to get her car unloaded before I got there.  That wasn't too hard since I stopped in Ottawa for fuel, and had to wait in line to get to the pump.  I put in 42 gallons for $150.  That didn't fill it all the way, but the gage still said almost full.

Once home, the real work began as we needed to unload 3 months worth of provisions.  I worked on the utility trailer, including the motor scooter.  Unhook from the motorhome, hook up the truck.  Back it into the driveway and unload everything into the garage.  Pull it back out into the street and take out the scooter.  Park it in the garage.  By about 5 PM, I had the trailer over to its storage lot.

Back at home, I needed to install that dreaded pink stuff before it froze tonight.  Everything was drained, so pump in two gallons, and draw it out of every tap in its turn.  Done.

The rig is still up in our driveway tonight, as we will have to go get another storage contract started in the morning.  Isn't it convenient, tomorrow is the first of the month!

Retired Rod