November 28th - December 3, 2024 Thanksgiving Meal - GC Solenoids - GC Shocks - Christmas Tree Up - Wall Repair - Dryer - Cornhole

My Blog Reflection

Nothing is as powerful as gentleness.

Anita Roddick

November 28, 2024:

Once gain Kelly made a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. We were at a garage sale a few days ago and I saw a roaster pan and asked her if she needed one. She said she had one. Yesterday, while getting the turkey prepped, she realized she didn’t have a roaster pan. Luckily we bought a small turkey and she was able to cook it in our electric roaster rather than in the oven. She had to cook the turkey upside down in the roaster to make it fit. A side benefit of that was that the juices running down kept the white meat really juicy. Kelly's stuffing and gravy was to die for! Celina joined us to share the feast. 

November 29, 2024

I am always up early so I started the laundry. I soon found out that the heating element in the dryer is out. The dryer is a really old dog so it is not worth fixing. I walked to Celina's and used her dryer to dry the clothes. We will need to find a new dryer before the next load of laundry.

After dealing with the laundry I started on the solenoid replacement project on the golf cart. Since I put in the new batteries it has been hard to feather the speed on take off no matter how hard you try. The cart doesn't go and then when you push a little harder it jumps too fast. Last winter a guy who works on golf carts here in the park drove it and said I needed to replace solenoids numbered two and four. With those not working he said it was like jumping from first gear to third gear, etc. He told me buy a set of five from Amazon because doing that is cheaper than buying them individually. Here is a picture of the solenoids in the cart before I started. 

I was a little apprehensive about tackling this project because it didn't look like the solenoids had been touched in many years and everything was extremely rusted. Getting all the bolts broken loose without causing another issue could be a challenge. 

Last year when left for the summer, I sprayed all the nuts on the solenoids with BP Blaster, so it could attack the rust. Since arriving this year I sprayed everything three times to hopefully break down more rust. As I put a wrench on the first solenoid the bolt immediately broke off. Here is a picture of the two of them I took out. You can see the broken bolt on number two. A clear indication that it was not working.

I was surprised how easily the nuts came loose. I only had to use my Dremel tool to cut off one bolt. Here is a picture of the two solenoids installed with yellow arrows pointing to the new solenoids and the green arrow pointing to the new bolt I had to install.

A test drive was in order. It was immediately apparent that the problem was fixed. For a 1984 model it now drives like a dream. It cost $58.00 for the five solenoids. It took me about two hours and countless tools to swap two solenoids out. It would have gone a little quicker if I had all the tools I have back home.

I next moved to the shock extenders. When we bought the cart it bounced something awful. When I looked below I saw the shocks were shot and one rear shock wasn't even attached on the bottom anymore. I purchased new shocks and installed them. It didn't help. In looking over the setup the shocks were extended too far to do any good. I don't know why this was because I purchased the correct shocks for the cart. I investigated the issue online and found that there were shock extenders available. These are used when bigger wheels are put on, etc. I ordered a pair. Naturally, the first pair was the wrong thread so I had to send them back. The second pair with the correct thread arrived and I installed them. Here is a picture. The silver parts at the bottom of each shock  are the extenders. They work like a charm, now we just have ordinary golf cart bounce.

Now that all of the "repairs" have been made to the cart it was time to order new cup holders. The old cupholders, which were on the cart but broken, are no longer available. I ordered a newer version and hope they work.

We watched the Kansas City Chiefs narrowly win their game on Black Friday and then decided to get the Christmas Tree out and decorate it. Here is a picture. We are ready for Christmas.

November 30, 2024

We went clothes dryer shopping. We found a nice used Kenmore at "Badd Boy Appliances". It will be delivered Tuesday. Monday I will pull the old one out and clean out the vent hose. I'm sure it needs it.

We had two neighbor couples over for drinks and supper to thank them for taking care of our weeds issue when we were gone and for keeping us advised about any hurricane. They are all wonderful people. Next door are Mark and Susan who are from Pennsylvania. One or both of them come down about once per month. They can only stay for about a week at a time because they are taking care of Susan's 93 year old aunt.  Across the street are Doug and Judy. They are in their 80s and live here full-time. I meant to take a picture of the group but forgot. Kelly prepared a nice supper of salad, spaghetti with meat sauce, fresh Italian bread, and chocolate cake. Kelly's spaghetti once again was outstanding. Afterwards we all sat at the table and talked for almost two hours. A lovely evening.

December 1, 2024

December is shaping up to be a busy month here at the park as the snowbirds arrive. Here is a rundown of some planned activities. They failed to include the Golf Cart Christmas Parade on the 15th. In addition Kelly has another eye surgery on Monday, I have sinus surgery on the 10th, and Kelly has an all-day event with the Red Hat Ladies group. I have a Men’s Club meeting Tuesday, and a Theater Club meeting Wednesday. Every Tuesday and Friday is Corn Hole, etc.

I was up early as was Kelly, which is unusual. We were both sitting in our recliners drinking a cup of coffee. As we looked up we could see that the living room ceiling fan blades were quite dirty. I thought I had cleaned them last season but obviously hadn't. I got on a step stool to clean the fan blades. While cleaning one blade I noticed that the plastic laminate was coming loose in one place. As I tried to glue the loose section the brittle plastic broke off in several places. Have it told you I hate plastic? Luckily this area was on the top of the blade. I glued everything the best I could and clamped it until the glue dried. 

A little later while outsie I noticed that the golf cart had handprints all over the sides from where I had put my dirty mitts while installing the solenoids. A little soap and water made Buster look like new. He was charged overnight so he is raring to go for another week or two.

My last project of the morning was to reglue the padded back on one of the dining room chairs. It fell off last night as our guests were leaving. It had fallen off before and I had forgotten to fix it. The padded back is held in place in the wooden back by hot glue. I had brought down a small hot glue gun, which I had bought at home for $2.00, but now I had to remember where I put it. After a little searching I found it still in a small toolbox I brought down. I put the hot glue gun to good use repairing the chair. A good $2.00 investment.

In the afternoon was the park's Ice Cream Social in the clubhouse. Kelly always helps with this event, which is held one Sunday per month during the winter season.  It is a nice was to meet new people and the price is right.

December 1, 2024

I decided to repair another small area near the door where the veneer had come loose as well. Here is a picture with the clamping boards screwed on until the glue sets. This area isn’t nearly as large as the wall on the other side of the window.

 

December 2, 2024

Tomorrow the dryer we purchased gets delivered. So today I pulled out the old dryer to clean behind it. Here is a picture. It is tan and has to be from the 1980s. I would say it has served its purpose. The heating element went out. I could have fixed it but due to its age and rough condition I did not feel it was worth it.

I pulled off the flexible vent hose. It had a lot of lint stuck in it so I bought a replacement. I also took off the outside vent cover and cleaned all the lint out of it so that it now closes properly.

December 3, 2024

While I waited for the replacement dryer to be delivered and installed I sanded on the wall repairs and added a coat of dry wall mud.  I never used this mud before. It is pink and dries white.

The guys arrived with the dryer and installed it in short order. I immediately threw in a load of wash to see how it works. The dryer temperature is definitely hotter than the old machine.

I then headed up to the clubhouse area to pay Cornhole. It was breezy and cool so the sun helped. They set up three sets of boards. After choosing teams by drawing a number everyone plays three games. Evelyn and I lost all three games but we had fund. They play every Tuesday and every Friday.

Next door neighbor, Mark, showed me the paint that Sherwin-Williams recommended for his awnings. I measured mine and I should be able paint all three with a quart. They need to be wire brushed and washed before painting. Once they are painted I can raise them up for the season.

Lastly, I picked up the five medications in anticipation of my sinus surgery on the 10th. I think that is going to knock me out of service for a couple of days so I need to jump on a couple other projects before then. LOL