On My Soap Box, Not Political

Before I get to the soap box lets have the week in review....

Monday night football found the Seahawks winning a game that they should have lost.  This game prompted the NFL to make a deal with the real refs and settle the dispute that brought us the wrong call.  The Internet was alive with jokes, pictures and upset people over the blown call.  The replacement refs were threatened.  Really?  It is just a game.

Wednesday morning we had a small, short shower of rain come through our area.  We haven't seen measurable rainfall in quite a while so this was an event.  That event brought a double rainbow.  Though I didn't see it, some said there were three rainbows.  I have a picture on my phone that won't upload to Picasa so I can show you.

Thursday brought the upset of Stanford by my favorite college football team, the Washington Huskies.  What an exciting game.  I really enjoyed watching the Huskies.

Friday was easy going but I had to work Saturday and while it was slow we did have a good day.  I came home and wanted to crash, knowing I had but one day off this weekend.  My lovely wife had other ideas.  We had a toilet that was running off and on in the upstairs bathroom and while I was gone, she found the repair kit and installed it.  Unfortunately she did something wrong and it wouldn't shut off.  I spent maybe 20 minutes disassembling and reassembling the parts and when I finished it stopped running and doesn't run unless we flush it.  Then I crashed on the couch.

Sunday started early, way too early.  2:30 am I was awaken and was unable to return to the bliss of sleep.  So I got up, read the paper (on the Internet), watched Meet the Press, took Honey for a short potty walk, fed her and me and went upstairs to get ready for the day.  Mia and I went to the store early and were home in time to see some of the beginning of the Seahawk game.  We watched the game, enjoyed some nachos and then took Honey for another, longer exercise walk.  The Seahawks managed to lose their game with the Rams.

Now to my soap box.

In case you aren't aware, October is not only Halloween but it is National Car Care Month.  Actually we have two Car Care months and the last one was held in April.  Being in the auto business I get an opportunity to see some of the inside scoop.

The results of the vehicle inspections held at community car care events across the country was not what one would call pretty.  84% of the vehicles needed parts or service, the highest percentage seen in the past five years.  Neglect of vehicles combined with the state of the economy seem to be going hand in hand.  Even with gas prices approaching record levels consumers were choosing to ignore repairs and routine maintenance.  Better-running, well maintained vehicles can boost gas mileage and prevent bigger-ticket repairs down the road.

An analysis of the vehicle inspection forms revealed several findings, here are but a few of them:

*Nearly one out of 10 vehicles had the check engine light on
*New air filters were needed in 19% of the vehicles
*At least one belt was reported as unsatisfactory on 20% of vehicles and 15% needed a new hose
*Battery cables, clamps and terminals needed maintenance in 17% of the vehicles inspected
*28% had low or dirty motor oil
*24% had low, leaky or dirty coolant
*23% had inadequate washer fluid levels.

Now I know that most RVer's understand the need for maintenance to keep their expensive equipment up and running with little downtime.  If you haven't looked at your vehicles, all of them, recently, then it is time to either look at them yourself using a check list or find a competent technician to do it for you and follow up the results.  Don't let someone tell you have to fix everything at one time.  Take it in chunks.  Fix safety items first, items that help stop next followed by items that make you go and save you money at the pump.  Lastly, take care of accessory issues that need to be repaired or replaced.

Hope everyone has a safe one.  Thanks for visiting.

Football

I awoke to a firestorm this morning.  The picture above is actually the one I couldn't get loaded the other day of a sunset.  The firestorm of which I speak is that miserably officiated football game played right up the street from my place last night on Monday Night Football.  Seattle will forever be remembered as the place that you can win a game but loose it because the officials can't make the correct calls.  Not just the last call.  All through the game they made the wrong calls.

A Sleep At The Wheel

As I mentioned in my blog posting yesterday, I was expecting to sleep through the Seahawk game.  I turned on the television at 1:00 o'clock expecting to see the game but there was no mention of the Seahawks on any channel.  I looked to a schedule on my smart phone and saw 5:30 p.m.  Okay, must wait a few hours for my nap.  Turned the television back on at 5:30 p.m. and still no Seahawks to be found.  Further investigation found the play date to by 9/24 not 9/23....thus the 5:30 start time.  Another Monday night football game against the Green Bay Packers.  Wow, was I asleep at the wheel or what?

Then I go out to walk Honey this morning and as it would happen I see a very nice sunrise and want to take a picture but I don't carry a camera with me all the time.  Guess I should since I always seem to see stuff I want to take pictures of but can't do it right with a smart phone.  I took the picture anyway, with my smart phone and I have spent the majority of the day trying to get the phone to upload the photos to my Picasa account so I could share them with you, if I thought they were good enough.  Sadly, they have not moved from the phone to the internet.  I have officially given up for the day because it appears we are only an hour away from kick off of the game I have been waiting since yesterday to watch.

Thanks for visiting.

919 or 44 Days Left

As Fall begins I notice I have 919 days to retirement and I was reminded by Meet the Press this morning that there are only 44 more days before the second Obama term begins.

I don't say that as a supporter, more a fact.  I really doubt the Romney is going to get elected.  Nothing personal, I'll might vote for him but he just doesn't strike me as someone who will do any better that the current administration and he makes too many mis-steps as a candidate.

The 919 days until retirement is much more important to me.  I look out over the horizon through may travel webpages as well as the many blogs of those that are actually out there traveling around the country and all I want to do is leave.  Hook up, turn out the lights and leave.

We have a coupon for Cabela's so we took off and drove down this morning.  We didn't buy anything, just looked.  They have so much stuff for the outdoors and clothes to go with it and I like most of the stuff they have but wonder, is it available, cheaper, somewhere else.

Sorry if I don't seem to be full of lots of energy.  I am not.  I woke up at 2:30 am this morning and couldn't sleep.  When I can't sleep, I get up.  I get up too early most days.  I feel like sleeping this afternoon...right through the Seahawk game.

WHL hockey has started again and the Thunderbirds went to Portland and beat the Winterhawks on their home ice on Friday evening.  The Winterhawks returned the favor last night by coming to Seattle and beating the Thunderbirds on our home ice.  This could be an interesting year.

Unfortunately the baseball season is nearly over.  For the Seattle Mariners there is no playoffs however for the first time that I can recall there is real promise for the future.  If management can keep and leave alone the players they currently have on the field they might have a chance to go somewhere next year.

Guess I had better take Honey for a walk before I can't.

Have a great time....

A Lot To Do

There is a lot of work to do over the coming fall and winter months.  I am told it will be another four weeks before I must concern myself with moving the department and trying to get ready for an inventory early next year.

This evening I cleaned out my closet.  I took out stuff I hadn't worn in years.  I have lost a couple of inches around the waist so some of the pants were way too big.  I got two big black plastic bags full of clothes down in the basement for donation to someone.  I can't believe how much room is in the closet now.

I have to design a new gazebo for the lot at Gold Bar over this winter.  Since I already have a storage shed and the rules say you can have one storage shed, the next shed must have walls that are either open or closed and able to be opened.  Perhaps windows will do.  Not sure 100% on the rules as I am still reading them.  I have a couple of other projects to do for my grand daughter that will test my woodworking skills and then it is back to work on the condo.  Zach and I installed wood floors in the condo but I just never got around to the baseboards.  Guess what I will be doing...

I have tickets to a Husky game in October with my son and grandson.  Kind of a guys day out.  Have some dinner and spend the day in Seattle.

The weather has been beautiful.  So much so, that it is hard to believe that winter is but a few days away.

Hope everyone is enjoying themselves.

Sadly

Sadly this weekend was time to winterize and close our wonderful home in the woods for the season.  I had to work Saturday so Mia and Zach did the majority of the lot clean up and the cosmetic work on the trailer.  Zach washed it and got everything nice and clean and then helped Mia clean up the lot while I was at work on Saturday.  We all went up on Friday evening and I went to work from there and drove back up Saturday evening.  Sunday morning we finished the project by emptying all the cabinets of food, putting away all the blankets, packing the clothes, draining the hot water tank, installing antifreeze in the drains and lines and installing an Adco cover we got for the other trailer but had never used.

The cover is a fun project.  We measured to be sure it would fit but didn't take into consideration the little drain spouts that stick out of the ends of the rain gutters.  They were just big enough to give us issues (and holes) as we installed the cover.  Once it was down all the way it looked pretty good.  It did rip in the back when I pulled a little to tightly on the hold down strap.  I am thinking we might want to get one that is a little larger next year.  I'll patch the holes it this one and sell it cheap next year.  Someone in the park will grab it.

The search is on for a golf cart.  Don't want to spend a ton of money so it will be a project vehicle.  I have been looking at batteries for the golf carts and I thought deep cycle batteries for trailers were expensive.  Of course, you do have to buy 6 or 8 batteries depending on the golf cart you get.  I am sure I will find something.

Have a great week.

Happy Grandparents Day

For the last 16 years I have been a very happy grandparent.  I now have three grand children to feed sugar and send them back to their parents as a form of revenge....not really.  I haven't done that, yet.
I did purchase some noisy toys for the kids but they always find a way to leave them here instead of taking them home.  I would not trade a moment of the time I have with my grand kids.  I love each of them to the next universe and back.  Surprisingly I haven't manage to ruin any of them.

We have a bunch of projects around the condo that need to get done so it looks like next weekend might be our last trip to Gold Bar until next spring.  Hopefully the weather will hold and I can get the trailer cleaned, winterized and covered so we don't have to worry about it over the coming winter.  I think I will have Mia pick me up on Friday night with Zach and go up and show him what I need him to do.  I have to work Saturday so he can do the stuff I need done while I am gone.  I'll drive back up after work and we'll finish winterizing and covering the trailer on Sunday morning.  I really hate to close it up so early but other projects have taken a backseat lately and I really need to get on them.  Besides, it won't be long before work is telling me to move the parts department again.  Yipee...

Last night I walked out of our front door and found this:

Change is coming

We have a picnic here at the condo complex today.  Go figure that after nearly 50 days of dry, warm weather, what looks like fall would cover us today.  The temperature is down and while it isn't really cold, it isn't exactly nice weather for standing around outside.  It is supposed to go from 1 - 4.  We'll see how long it really lasts.

And tomorrow we are supposed to go to the Puyallup Fair with friends for the day and the prediction is for rain.

Where's Ken.....?

I sat down at the computer today and opened my Google reader to see what had amassed since the last time I sat down and took time to read the blogs that I have so come to enjoy.  I have a 1000+ that are unread due to the fact that I have not sat down and read anything since August 26th, the day I posted a story about taking our grandson to Mt. St. Helens for his big assent.

I know I said it before but it bears repeating, we had a very good time with him and we are very proud of the accomplishment that he reached during our trip.  During that trip we happened upon the Cabala's store outside Olympia for some supplies we thought we might need.  It was Thursday and there were several ladies there sitting up older style trailers for what looked like a camp out.  Turns out they are a club of ladies who own older vintage trailers that are in various stages of refurbishment.  They travel around from Cabala's to Cabala's putting on shows.  The club is called, "Sisters on the Fly".  Their website is http://www.sistersonthefly.com and they are a lot of fun.
Each trailer is a vintage trailer from  days gone bye and each one has a specific theme and is decorated to create some wonderful memories of the past.  The club was started by a couple of sisters who enjoyed fishing.  With each fishing trip the sisters invited more friends along and somewhere along the line, they decided to outfit some vintage trailers and haul them down the road on their trips.  Funny how things like this get started.  Anyway, they are a great bunch of ladies that allowed everyone the opportunity to crawl in and out of their tiny vintage trailers.  I took lots of pictures, see below, and Mia and I had some very nice conversations with these ladies.  Hope you enjoy some of the pictures.
Ken