April 1, 2023 - April 5, 2023 - We Are Home Dealing With Issues

There is always lots to do when you get home after a winter away. Sunday, after getting the grass, cut I was able to get all the tax information together to take to the accountant. It is always a challenge to assemble all the 1099s when you have a temporary Florida address during the winter. I took the paperwork to the accountant Monday morning. We will be gone to the Outer Banks all next week and won’t be home in time to sign and file so he is getting an extension for us. This is the first time I ever sought an extension in my life.

Vehicles:

The license on the Chevrolet HHR (Bart) comes due in February. This is a terrible time for us since we are in Florida then. Due to his mileage he has to be inspected every odd numbered year. Because of this I can’t renew the license online. Knowing this, before leaving Florida, I made an appointment to get him inspected and for a much-needed oil change on Monday morning. I also made an appointment for an oil change on Kelly’s car for Monday afternoon. The license on Kelly’s car is always up in March, again not a good time but we can usually get her quickly licensed once home in April.

We dropped the HHR off and headed to the Post Office to pick up our mail, which they had been holding since we left Avon Park on March 1st. We had a lot of mail to go through. I was most concerned about getting the titles to the Florida mobile home. Thankfully they were in the mail, along with two Florida bills for going through tolls. Twice, as we drove through on toll roads, they did not give us an option to pau. They sent us a bill for each and each had a $2.50 handling fee. When we get back to Florida in the fall we are going to look into getting a Sunpass for tolls.

In the afternoon we switched out the cars at the shop and headed to the DMV to renew the plates on both cars. When I sat down I told the clerk that we are always in Florida until April first. I asked her if there was any way I could get the February plates changed to April. She said “no problem”. She then asked if I wanted to change Kelly’s plates, which were due in March, to April as well. That would be great. We got new plates for both vehicles and that problem is solved forever. I really appreciated her help.

When delivering Marge to the new owners I had to put the truck in 4-low and back up pushing the trailer uphill in sand. The hard turning of the wheels at times screwed up the front-end alignment. It wasn’t too bad when I left Florida but by the time I got home I had to hold the steering wheel a quarter turn to the left to stay straight. Monday morning I called for an appointment to get an alignment. They had an opening on Tuesday. Yippee!

Chair Repairs:

The porch chairs in Florida had plastic rollers on them. Several rollers were falling apart and several wheels fell off if you lifted the chair. (I hate plastic.) These are what I am talking about.

I didn’t have the tools in Florida to get the old roller stems off to install replacements, so I brought them all home to work on. I ordered one set of steel replacement rollers to see how they worked out. I installed them yesterday and they worked out perfectly.

I ordered three more sets. I will take all rollers and fittings back in the fall and reinstall them.

Another trip:

Next Monday we leave for a week on the beach on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Kelly’s sister, Alexa, rented a place for all of us to gather to celebrate her retirement. More driving, about nine hundred miles each way, but we will have a great time. I've never been to the Outer Banks so I'm looking forward to it.

When I get back I will have a lot of yard work to do. Also, I will need to get busy cleaning up the truck and putting it up for sale, as well as the fifth wheel hitch. After over thirty years of owning fifth wheels, it will be weird to never tow one again, nor have a need for a big truck.

Really bad weather around here during the night and today. Last night a tornado virtually wiped out the town of Glen Allen, about 30 miles from here. Several were killed, not much on the news yet. Too close for comfort. We are under a tornado watch until 4:00 p.m. Hopefully it will pass without damage or injuries.