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Borrego Springs, CA

Monday, April 8, 2013

Emma’s boyfriend arrived ;)

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Yep, George has arrived along with his people, Pam and Stan.  Emma and George get to see each other once or twice a year, and their meeting this time was a little calmer than usual.  George generally just doesn’t know what to do with Emma’s exuberance, but this time Emma wasn’t as berserk as usual.  After five years, can she actually be mellowing out a bit?  I just can’t believe that yet.  She just must have had an off day.

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My sister Pam, and brother-in-law Stan, arrived late yesterday afternoon to spend a few days with me here at Okefenokee.  When they arrived, Pam was a little bit under the weather from a shrimp and grits lunch they had in St. Mary’s before arriving.  I can certainly understand the grits part of that meal being unsettling…YUCK! 

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She was feeling a bit better by evening, so we took a short drive down to the refuge boathouse to watch last night’s sunset.  It was pleasant, but not spectacular.

Early this morning, I was off to Waycross to have my three month checkup about my hip replacement at the Mayo Clinic.  The x-rays were good, so some of the restrictions I’ve been on have been lifted.  Good news for sure.  The doctor told me to come back at the one year point for another appointment, and I had to tell him that was not likely to happen.  In love  I’ll be leaving Georgia in another week.  I’m ready to blow this popsicle stand!

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After I got back to the rig this afternoon, I took Pam and Stan on a tour of the refuge.  Along with the alligators and the Chesser Homestead, I was able to show them the nest of a pair of red-shouldered hawks.  Not sure if the eggs have hatched yet, but it was fun to watch the male bring in a catch to hand off to the female on the nest.  The male is on the right, and the female is on the left hovering over the nest.  In the raptor world, females are often larger than the males.

I had a little problem last night.  After doing the dishes in the evening, I got ready to take a shower.  As I turned on the hot water, I heard a familiar bang, and lo and behold I had no hot water.  This has happened two previous times in this rig, so I knew what that sound meant… the check valve on the water heater had blown.  That means the water is hot, but there is no way to get it through the pipes and out the faucet.  Dang!  So, I heated a kettle of water for a marine bath, and washed my hair under the kitchen faucet with cold water.  I sure hope the guys at Thibodeaux’s can finally make a permanent fix to this problem when I get there in about ten days.  In the meantime, I’ll be roughing it (sort of). Disappointed smile

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                                                                              THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

18 comments:

  1. Have fun with Pam, Stan, and George. Hope you are having good weather there for your visit.

    Glad your check-up went well.

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  2. Glad to hear your check-up went well. I beg to differ on the sunset ... that's a gorgeous shot you got with the colors reflecting off the water.

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  3. There is hardly anything to match the disappointment of not getting a hot shower. Have fun with your sister.

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  4. That's a spectacular picture! Oh, bummer, no hot water. Third time, that's even more disappointing.

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  5. There are two things you can do with the check valve besides replace it with another plastic check valve that will break again. You can get a brass check valve installed, parts can be found at Home Depot/Lowes, or the check valve can have the insides removed so there will no longer be a check valve ball inside.

    The downside to that is if you ever have to winterize the rig, you'll need to blow out the water lines instead of use the pink RV antifreeze. The check valve in the winter position keeps the hot water heater tank from being filled with 6 gallons of the antifreeze (plus another gallon or two for the rest of the plumbing).

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  6. That is very frustrating, not having hot water is no fun. Hope they find the problem and fix it once and for all!

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  7. Good news about your doctor's appointment. Bad news about the hot water valve. Boo Hiss!!! Have fun with your company.

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  8. Great news from the Dr. bad news about the hot water. But we are survivors.
    I think the sunset is absolutly beautiful.

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  9. It's all been said but I agree. I'd be very happy to see that sunset looking so beautiful over the water but not so happy with 10 days of no hot water. Wherever you are at annual checkup time, you could call your doctor and have him recommend someone close to you to look it over. That's what David is trying to do with his need for much more frequent. follow up.

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  10. Sounds like you are making a complete recovery. That is great news.

    Hope they can get that hot water value repaired once and for all!

    Enjoy your visit with your sister.

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  11. Glad your doctor visit went well and your progress continues.

    I had never heard of a check valve (it must not have broken yet). 10 days with no hot water.....yikes.

    I hope Emma is finally mellowing out and it sounds like she is.

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  12. Glad to hear you're doing so well... hard to believe it's been 3 months already. I think that photo of the sunset over the lake is outstanding!

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  13. Great news about your follow up appointment. Emma's boyfriend is really cute!

    Hope you can get hot water soon. Paul's comment sounds like a good fix. You probably don't have to winterize.

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  14. I'm ready...let's "make like a baby and head out!"

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  15. Congrats on the good check-up.

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  16. Frustrating about the hot water. Ours never "blew" in our other coach but it would stick and we would have to turn the hot water on about 20 times to finally get it flowing again.

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  17. Nice to see the lovebirds have been reunited, even if they're only lovebirds in Emma's mind. :-)

    Congrats on your three-month checkup!

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