I have AC!

I feel pretty victorious about today.  It started off with the DISH network guy showing up to take care of the connections in the new rig.  My reception suddenly re-appeared last night so all he had to do was make sure that everything was attached correctly…it was.  You know, electronics are second nature to these young folks so I asked him to help me set up the remote controls to just use one instead of three.  It took him about 30 seconds to do that. (It would have taken me much more time if I ever did figure it out.  :()  Then he made sure I could jump from DISH to local channels through the antenna, and also use the DVD player.  He did this for both locations in the rig.  What a relief that was. 

Then I got a call that said the new thermostat part had come in  and I could bring in the rig this afternoon to have it installed.  Well, I asked if the RV tech could come out to me rather than it taking several hours to pack up once again and drive the 13 miles to them.  Eventually, he showed up, installed the new thermostat, and guess what?  It didn’t work!  :(   OMG, now what?  Jason, the tech, couldn’t understand it. He went through the whole rig, inside and out, checking everything electrical.  Still no AC.  Why would everything work at the dealer’s and not here?  We got the generator running, and the AC immediately began working.  He then checked the 30amp electrical outlet that Andy had installed for me on the side of his garage.  That outlet was installed by a well known electrical company in the area.  Well, they messed  up the installation, and that was the cause of the problems.  Jason, rewired the connection, and the AC came on!  I’m so happy that he came out here rather than me going in to the dealer’s!  Everything would have worked just fine there, and I would have had the same failure here once again.  Color me a happy camper.  :-)

So, everything is all set to go!  Halleluiah!!!  I will call my sister, Pam, tonight and let her know that I am good to go this weekend.  I’ll also call my daughter, Robyn, and wish her a happy birthday. 

I would like your input on a very minor issue I’m having in the bathroom.  :)  (hope this isn’t TMI)
This is the toilet paper holder.  Here’s the problem.  If you pull down on the tp roll, it tends to fly off of the holder onto the floor; unraveling all the way.  So what creative thing do you think I can put on the left end to keep the roll from falling off?  I don’t know why they just didn’t install a normal holder with one of those spring loaded thingies.  Ugh!  Ah, if life’s challenges were all this inconsequential.  It keeps you on your toes, though.  :)

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy 

Making another list

I’m making another list.  This one has to do with the issues I’m having with my new, to me, motorhome.  I’ll be driving in to the dealer on Monday morning to resolve them all.  I called Universal this morning to give them a heads up on the non-operation of the leveling jacks.  This afternoon, the temps rose into the high 80’s, so I decided to turn on the AC.  Of course, nothing happened.  :(  This is a 50 amp rig, operating on 30 amps, but according to the specs on the website, the AC is still supposed to work.  Okay, so I tried running the generator to run the AC as the temps rose this afternoon.  That AC worked in the dealer’s lot on the generator on Tuesday, but not today.  It wouldn’t start at all.  :(  Dang!

The whole day was spent moving things from one rig to the other.  We just about got everything moved from the inside of the old rig, but ran out of time to start on the outside compartments.  I was shocked by the amount of stuff I had in that rig.  I’m struggling to find places to put everything.  :( 
Thank goodness Andy did most of the transferring.  What a job this was.  I did a lot of throwing out of things I haven’t used much.   I guess that’s a good thing, but I’ve still got a long way to go to get everything put away.  It will probably take me weeks to figure out where I’ve put everything, and I’m sure everything will be moved around as I live with it.   :)

Tomorrow doesn’t look any less hectic.  I have to move everything from the outside storage areas and clean the old RV.  Then I have to drive it to the dealer’s  when I’m done. 

A couple of other interesting things happened last night that I forgot to mention yesterday.  After I finished my blog entry and finally made my bed last night, I decided I really needed a shower.  Luckily, I chose to brush my teeth first and noticed that there wasn’t any hot water.  On my old rig, as soon as I plugged into power, my electric water heater would kick in.  Not so with the new rig.  You have to flip a switch to have the water heated.  So, I ended up taking a very chilly marine shower before retiring.  :(  I’ve got that figured out for tonight, though.

The second thing I forgot to mention was that during my official walk through, I found that this rig came equipped with something that I’m sure no other rig on the planet comes with.  While looking into one of the outside storage compartments, I found two sets of crutches!  Uff-dah!   (Minnesota phrase, meaning Oh Shi*! or Oh my goodness)  I hope that’s not a premonition of things to come!

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

Backyard Birds

Things are kind of slow around here, so I thought I'd take a few pics of the birds at my feeder. Those of you that know me, know that I really enjoy birdwatching and I haven't posted many bird pictures at this location. :) Some of the pics are not of the best quality, but you'll get the idea...

The most populous birds at my feeders are American goldfinches.

.

Both males and females frequent the feeders.

.

On the ground are plenty of common grackles. Many folks don't like grackles, but I do like their iridescent colors.

.

This is a female brown-headed cowbird, another bird that many people don't like because of their habit of laying eggs in smaller bird's nests.

.

A female cardinal stopped by the feeder this evening. She is obviously going through her summer molt of feathers, otherwise, she'd have a crest on her head. The young of the year look similar to the female, but wouldn't have a red beak at this point in the season.

.

Another frequent visitor is the chipping sparrow. There is no way to tell if this bird is a male or female unless you can examine the bird in your hand to look for a female brood patch or a cloacal protuberance (balls) on the male.

.

Dang, it's hard to get a good picture of a tufted titmouse. They don't just sit on the feeder and eat. They fly in, grab one seed, and then fly to a tree branch where they can peck open the seed with their beak while they hold it with their feet. Goldfinches, on the other hand, just sit at the feeder and eat because they are able to shuck the seeds while holding it in their beaks.

.

Last, but not least, is the ubiquitous house sparrow. These sparrows are not native to the United States, and were brought over from England many, many years ago. Their population over the years has ballooned to such numbers that they have a very detrimental effect on some native species such as bluebirds and tree swallows. They are a common bird at feeders.

.

Well, it's back to work tomorrow. Someone is supposed to come to fix the air conditioning in the museum area so maybe the folks that come for the movie on Sunday won't be uncomfortable. Temps in there have reached the upper eighties during the movie, and that's not conducive to happy visitors!

.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy