May 29 - June 16, 2025 - Blackstone Issue - Grandsons Visit - ER Visit - McKerrow Family Reunion and Birthday Parties - Airport - Tailgate Fix - Doctor Follow Up

 My Blog Reflection

If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else.

Marvin Gaye

Thursday, May 29th through June 2, 2025

The last two times cooking on the Blackstone griddle I have not been able to get the heat up to 300 degrees. I read online how to "reset" the regulator. I did that twice. No change. I then read on the Blackstone website that to "reset" the regulator you need to disconnect it from the tank and from the griddle. I did that. The flame may have been a little higher but it was hard to tell in the daylight. Once it was dark I took the griddle off the stand and checked the height of the flames. They didn't look very high to me. I decided to order a new, adjustable regulator from Amazon. It arrived but it did not fit the Blackstone, even though it was advertised to fit. I sent it back. 

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

I got the grass cut because it is supposed to rain for the next three days.

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

This evening we pick the grandsons up at the St. Louis airport. They are flying in for two weeks. Erin couldn't come along because of a new job assignment. Next week we will all be at the McKerrow Family Reunion in Washington State Park. It should be fun.

Saturday, June 7, 2025

I got up at my usual time and felt really odd as I was walking around. I knew something wasn't right. I took my blood pressure and it was 190 over 92. It had never been that high in my life. I took it again and got the same reading. I woke Kelly up and told her I needed to go to the ER.

Kellen was in St. Louis visiting with friends. As luck would have it, Alexa was here so she could watch Free while we were gone. I ended up being at the hospital for six hours as they worked to get my blood pressure down and took a number of tests. When it got down into the 150s they let me go home with new medication and an instruction to follow up with my GP. No one figured out what made my blood pressure spike. For several weeks my legs have been swollen and my knees hurt. I was clearly retaining water. This may have been part of it. 

June 9 - 13, 2025 - McKerrow Family Reunion

On the 9th, after loading the truck with chairs, suitcases, food, and toys, we headed to Washington State Park for the McKerrow Family Reunion. All of Kelly's siblings live away and most were scheduled to come. We stayed in rented cabins in the park. Adam, Annie, and the two girls flew in from California and met us there. Free kept asking me where the tent was. He wanted to know if we had a triangle tent or a square tent. I finally convinced him we weren't staying in a tent but rather in a cabin. 

One of the highlights of each day for the kids was the evening campfire. Annie bought the fixings for Smores and the kids were all into that. While we were sitting around the campfire and the kids roasting marshmallows, Free exclaimed "We're camping!" 

Here he is showing me his very first Smore.

He didn't like the Smore but he loved the marshmallows, which he called "washmallows".

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

In the morning sister-in-law, Joan, and several others, went walking on one of the trails in the the park. Joan slipped and fell, hurting her leg. Kelly and Alexa drove her to an Urgent Care where an x-ray determined that her leg was broken. They wrapped it and gave her a boot telling her to see an orthopedic surgeon as soon as possible. Kelly and Alexa then drove her home. Her family reunion was over.

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Free's fourth birthday is June 15th but we celebrated it on June 11th because he will be home in California on the 15th. The ladies decorated one cabin while Kellen kept him away. We all then gathered in the cabin until Kellen brought him down. When he arrived and we yelled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" he was quite surprised. He didn't know what to say or do.

He got a number of nice gifts and cupcakes with candles and dinosaurs on them, which his cousins helped him pick off.

Thursday, June 12, 2025

Today was my 76th birthday. I received several nice gifts from my girls. My legs continued to be quite swollen and it was difficult for me to get out of a chair and to walk. I had brought along a "zero gravity" chair to keep my legs up. It wasn't much fun trying to lay in it around a campfire. I was kinda "Debbie Downer" as far as the grandkids were concerned.

Friday, June 13, 2025

My Friday the 13th luck started off early in the morning. We were packing up to leave. It rained during the night and into the morning, the first bad weather we had all week. We packed everything in the cabin to load into the truck. I pulled the tailgate latch. It pulled all the way out but did not unlock the tailgate. I tried it multiple times in the pouring rain. No luck. I had just installed this new tailgate latch about a year ago and it probably hadn't been pulled twenty times since. I have a bed cover to keep water out when hauling stuff so there was no easy way to access the truck bed to load it.

We needed to pry up the bed cover frame enough to get fingers in and fish for the cable that releases the bedcover on each side. With two people prying, and me digging in with my fingers, I was finally able to find the cable, pull it, and release the bedcover lock. We rolled it back and loaded the truck having to lift everything over the side. Once everything was loaded we rolled the bedcover back on to keep suitcases, etc. as dry as possible. What a way to start the day.

The Bullerdieck clan left the park and met at Chris's Pancake House in St. Louis for lunch. After lunch I had to go to BJC Hospital for a special scan to see if I would be eligible for a new radiation injection treatment. The plan was for Alexa to take the truck and boys to my sister Renee's house and we would take her car and head downtown. We had made arrangements to stay at Renee's to save us two hours of driving in the early morning to get the boys to the airport from Perryville. The boys' plane took off at 6:10 a.m. 

After the scan we drove to Renee's house. While there we had a nice supper and got to visit with Renee's kids and grandkids who stopped by to see us.

Saturday, June 14, 2025

We were up at 3:00 a.m. and left for the airport at 3:45 a.m. It was a half hour drive, we parked, got the boys' luggage checked, and walked them to security.  The boys' flight began boarding at 5:30 a.m. and took off at 6:10 a.m. We hung around the airport until they were through security, at their gate, and boarding. It was fun having them here for two weeks and we really hated to see them go. 

We then drove home, unloaded the truck, took a nap, and just relaxed the rest of the day.

Sunday, June 15, 2025 

After cutting the grass I decided to take the tailgate access panel off to see if I needed to order another new latch. Once I got the access panel off I was able to release the lock and open the tailgate. I found that the handle was not broken but rather the handle unlocking arm, which is located on one end, had somehow gotten behind the locking mechanism. It was not engaging the lock when pulled. I don't know how this could have happened because it was not easy for me to get the handle arm back in position. While I had the panel off I greased every moving part I could reach in case that was part of the issue. Good as new. (I hope.)

In the afternoon Alexa came down to bring me a vibration plate she bought me for Father' Day. I used it a couple of times and think it will help with the edema in my legs. I plan on using twice a day.

Monday, June 16, 2025

I had my follow-up visit with my GP after the ER visit. Addressing the blood pressure issue and my swollen legs, he ordered blood work, an Echo of my heart, and a sonogram of my kidneys. He also prescribed two new medications, one to lower my Uric Acid, and a stronger water pill to take for three days. I am to get the blood work in the next few days and call in on Friday to report on the swelling. Tests were scheduled for next week.

My new medical issues have killed our plans to drive to Indiana and Michigan to visit friends this week and for the foreseeable future. A visit back to the GP in a month and radiation treatment will also interfere with our plan to spend a few weeks in Florida in July. The only thing I can plan on anymore it seems are doctors appointments.

In the afternoon I was notified that the scan indicated that I am eligible for the newest radiation shots that my oncologist outlined to me. This will be a series of six shots, one per week. This will all be under the direction of a radiology oncologist whom I haven't met yet. My appointment with him is on July 3rd. In the meantime I will cool my heels and hopefully get the swelling down in my legs.

 

  

May 18 - 27, 2025 - Mother's Day - Celebrations - Graduation Trip - Waymo Ride - Home

My Blog Reflection

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.

George Saunders

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Daughter, Alexa, brought down for Kelly some Mother's Day gifts from her and her sisters. One was a peach dessert from Japan that was something like Jell-O. Very tasty. Another was a tablet with "Queen of Everything" on it, and another was a "Queen of Everything" mug. Alexa also stopped and bought a hanging basket of flowers, which is beautiful.  

In the evening, as a "Thank You" for looking after the house last winter while we were in Florida, we took John and Carlene to "Celebrations Restaurant" in Cape Girardeau. The meal was wonderful, as was the company. We are headed to California on Thursday for a graduation and family party and Friday they are headed to Minnesota for their annual family fishing trip. Us old folks don't sit around all the time.   

Thursday, May 22, 2025

We flew to California for grandson, Kellen's, high school graduation. We had a non-stop flight to the San Francisco Airport taking off at 5:00 a.m. This meant we had to leave Perryville at 2:00 p.m. to pick up daughter, Alexa, and get to the airport for check in. The flight was fine. We got an Uber to daughter, Annie's, house in Mountain View, California. We spent the night there. 

Friday, May 23, 2025

We rented a house in Mantika so the entire family could spend time together before and after the graduation and the party that followed. The house was huge with a very nice pool. The grandkids loved it. I got in for a short time but it was too cold for me. It also had a hot tub, which I would have enjoyed but the heater was broken.

Saturday, May 24, 2025

The graduation ceremony was at 8:30 a.m. in Tracey, California. I thought that was an odd time but it made sense. The ceremony is held outside and Tracey is in the desert so it gets hot in a hurry. Here is a picture of the crowd waiting to get in at 7:45 a.m. The line was over a block long when we got there.

Here is a picture of the attendees standing and cheering as the graduates filed in.

Before the ceremony began the seniors got to play with the band for one last time. Here is a picture of Kellen. He stands out with his mop of red hair. This day he played the trombone.

Here is Kellen with a big smile on his face after getting his diploma.

 A picture with his aunts, Alexa and Annie.

A picture with Adam and Annie.

A picture with grandpa and grandma.

A picture with mom, Erin.

And a picture with little brother, Freedom.

After the graduation we headed back to the house. Kellen said after the ceremony he was going to get his hair cut off. Here he is with a "post graduation" haircut. What a difference. $90.00 for this haircut! I would have shaved it for $5.00. He sure looks different. He hasn't had short hair since middle school.

Erin put together fabulous decorations and food for the party. In the morning we all helped get it ready. She is very creative.

Early afternoon Kellen opened his presents. He is crazy about Praying Mantis so he got a stuffed one. (He quickly informed us it is a Mantis but not a "Praying" Mantis.) LOL

He got several other nice gifts and a large wad of cash from the immediate family. In this next picture, that's what he is looking at. 

He is going to go to a coding school starting in August. It is eight hours per day, five days per week, for ten months. I hope he likes it. Sitting next to him is his best friend, Kenny. Kenny is going into the electrician apprentice program.

After the gift giving, Kellen and Kenny left to attend a party. We didn't see them the rest of the day. 

Sunday, May 25, 2025

The party started about 1:00 p.m. Erin ordered pans of chicken fingers and pans of fries from "Canes Chicken" to go with the huge veggie and fruit plates the ladies made. I neglected to take pictures of the food. Throughout the day the food was eaten with not a whole lot left over.  

Here is a picture of Sabrina, Kellen's girlfriend, talking to Wren about how cold the water is before she decided to get in.

Kellen's friends were all nice kids and enjoyed the pool and food and drinks provided. Most stayed until almost midnight, several slept over sleeping on the couches and chairs.

Monday, May 26, 2025

We cleaned up the house and loaded all the stuff into the cars. Kellen, Erin and Free headed to Tracey. Annie, Alexa, and Kelly headed to Mountain View in Annie's car. Adam, the girls, and I headed to Mountain View in Adam's car. Once at the house we unloaded everything and hung out for the rest of the day. 

Waymo driverless cars are now available for Google employees in Mountain View and Adam wanted us to experience riding in one. So after a great Taco lunch Adam made he ordered a car. You can watch on your phone where it is. It arrived in about ten minutes. 

I got to sit in the front seat with "no driver". It is weird. All the Waymo cars right now are Jaguars. When you call a car you tell it where you want to go. There is a large screen in the middle of the dash. This is what it looks like when you get in.

As soon as you start the screen changes. It shows all intersections, cars, pedestrians, stop lights, as well as your arrival time. 

It keeps you advised of your arrival time.

Here is a video of the car driving itself. It was a trip.

Our plane didn't take off until 11:00 p.m. so Adam made a nice pasta dish and salad for supper. Around 8:00 p.m. Adam called an Uber for us. 

We arrived at the airport an hour and a half early. United Airlines is strange at this airport. You check in through security at Terminal 3 then you have to walk all the way to Terminal 2. They are connected but it is a long walk. 

Hardly anyone besides us was crazy enough to catch the "red eye" to St. Louis. The plane wasn't even a quarter filled. Once up in the air I moved to three empty seats so I could spread out and maybe get some sleep. In the three and a half hour flight I maybe slept a half hour. I just couldn't get comfortable, even spreading out over three seats. It wasn't just the seat, the compression socks were squeezing my legs.

We picked up our luggage and Aaron picked us up. He drove to Alexa's apartment were we dropped her off and Kelly and I headed to Perryville. At least is was light out now for the trip home. We got home at 7:20 a.m. and hit the bed immediately to try and catch up on some sleep. I slept until noon, Kelly slept until 2:00 p.m. We will probably go to bed early this evening to catch up more on our sleep.

 

Tuesday, May 27, 2025 

It looks like rain is coming so I cut the grass while I had a chance.

May 3 - 16, 2025 Another Squirrel Caught - Church Project - Brake Work on Homer - Step Maintenance - Club Campout

My Blog Reflection

We take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.

CYNTHIA OZICK

Saturday May 3, 2025

Yesterday morning there was another squirrel in the trap trying to go into the house. The exterminator got him while doing some other work on the house to close up possible points of entry.

I unloaded everything from the wash tub in the garage that a squirrel jumped into last week. No dead squirrel. There was a leaf blower tube stuck in the tub and I assume he climbed out through it when I wasn't looking. I didn't have to deal with him. Kelly thought he might be the one caught in the trap yesterday.

One of the seams on our sunshade started to unravel. I climbed a ladder and put Superglue and E6000 on it and clamped it. I hope to sew it the best I can so we can get another year out of this shade.

Sunday May 4, 2025

No rain on Sunday and actually a little sunshine so I sewed the sunshade with nylon fishing line. It came out pretty well. With a little luck it may last more than one more season.

I ran Homer's generator for an hour with a heater going. With the heater on the voltage was 113, without the heater it was 120. It should ramp up to 120 with the load but didn't. I don't know why. In the evening we dropped Homer off at the shop for an oil change and to check out the front brake calipers. He should then be ready to be loaded for our campout next week.

Thursday May 8, 2025

Today I helped John lay an underground electric line for the light on the "Hill of Peace Church" sign. The light had been solar for several years but John said the batteries did not hold well and he was tired of fooling with it. 

On the way down to the church we stopped by the repair shop to see what was going on with Homer since I hadn't heard back. The service manager said that Homer now needed a caliper on the driver's side. Their theory was that the driver side caliper was not operating properly thus causing the passenger side to heat up. They didn't want to do the work without my approval because it was rather costly. I approved it and they said the work would be done Friday. They aren't open on Saturday so we need to get Homer back so we can load him up for the campout next week.

When we got to the church we found the ground around the trench quite muddy from all the rain over the last two weeks. In fact the clods of dirt dug out of the trench had pretty well "melted" into the grass. This made the trenching job more difficult but we got it done before the rain hit (again). 

Friday May 9, 2025

The repair shop closed at 5:00 p.m. Kelly dropped me off at 4:00 p.m. and I waited for Homer's brakes to be fixed. The mechanic wasn't finished until 6:00 p.m. I was thankful that he stayed that late on a Friday night.

While I was waiting and watching the mechanic I noticed that he did not re-install the hubcaps correctly. I will fix that when I get home. I jumped in Homer and stopped and picked up some burgers for supper. When I arrived at the house Kelly came out and immediately noticed that the passenger side front tire was going flat fast. Great! Did the mechanic run over something on the test drive?

After eating our burgers I took the hubcap off thinking I would need to pull the wheel off in the morning to get the tire fixed. It is always a challenge to get a flat fixed on a Saturday in Perryville. Only two places are open and they are always booked up. If I can't get it fixed I will put on the spare. It has never been on the ground but is ten years old.

After supper it crossed my mind that maybe the mechanic knocked the valve stem extension loose on that wheel when he was re-installing the hubcap. I went out and sure enough it was quite loose. I tightened it up and filled the tire with air. I will check it in the morning.

Saturday May 10, 2025

I went out early to check on the tire. It had lost ten pounds of air overnight. Better, but not good. I was convinced that valve stem extender was leaking even though I tightened it with pliers. I had a new replacement so I installed it and pumped the tire back up. It held air all day.

Here is a picture of the wheel after I installed the hubcap retainer correctly. The retainer is the stainless steel ring attached to the lug nuts. The mechanic had it turned around with the lip facing out. Installed this way you can install the hubcap but it will not tighten down and then rattles. In the bottom of the picture you can see the new valve stem extender. It has a nut head so you can really put it on tightly.

While I had the air hose out I checked the four back tires and they were all good.

While loading Homer for our campout I noticed that the wire ties that hold the carpet onto the lower step had broken. I installed all new wire ties. Plastic just doesn't last that long. Originally the step covers came with springs to hold them in place. They didn't last long either.

While on this project I noticed that the steps were not fully extending. Here is a picture of the steps from the side. You can see that the vertical brackets are not perpendicular to the steps. They should be perpendicular when the steps are fully extended.

I got online and found that this was an easy fix. This issue is caused by all of the pivot points on the steps not being lubricated enough so that they move freely. It is important to lubricate everything with an oil that will stay on the parts throughout the season, no WD40 here. Below is a picture after I lubricated everything and ran the steps in and out several times. You can see that the brackets are now almost totally perpendicular. When Homer is just sitting I put a brace under each side of the step to take some of the strain off when we go in and out multiple times a day.

Clothes and most food were then loaded and the fresh water tank filled. After the chili is cooked and the scones baked tomorrow the rest of the food will be loaded for a Monday morning departure.

Monday, May 12, 2025

Monday morning I drove Homer while Kelly followed in her car to Giant City State Park in Makanda, Illinois, for the Carri-Yals RV Club four day campout. The weather was nice driving over but rain was predicted. Upon arriving at our campsite it rained off and on for several hours. Since some people traveled three to four hours to this campground the only activity of the day was a potluck supper at 5:00 p.m. 

I had bought twine to re-string a day/night shade in Jim's RV. Jim and I took the shade down and got to work on it. We soon found that the string was not broken yet the shade would not work properly. We reinstalled it but couldn't get it to draw up properly. We decided to re-string it with the new twine. Once we did that it worked perfectly. 

For the potluck Kelly and I provided the ham and others brought side dishes and desserts. Due to the threat of rain we held the potluck at the campground pavilion, a short distance from our campsites. After supper we all visited and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, May 13, 2025 

Something always breaks on RV trips. This time the kitchen sprayer started squirting water from a crack at the bottom.

This aggravated me because I just replaced this sprayer nozzle a couple of months ago because it was leaking. I thought it was leaking because it wasn't winterized properly. I'm beginning to think this part from the local outlet is just junk. I taped it with Duck Tape to keep it from squirting water at you when the faucet was turned on.

It kept the water from squirting but still leaked badly. It needs to be replaced with a better one.

At 10:00 a.m. the women had a Bunco tournament. At 2:00 p.m. the guys had a Giant Jenga Tournament. $2.00 to enter. Mike won!

For supper we once again hiked to the pavilion for "Mike's Homemade Chili" and Kelly's salad. Several desserts were brought out by the other ladies. Everyone enjoyed the meal.

It was Bev's mom's 100th birthday so she called her and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her. This is a picture of her mom, Bernice. She lives on her own, is sharp as a tack, and looks amazing.

At 7:00 p.m. we had planned to have a "Show n Tell" presentation of pictures that the attendees sent to us. The idea was to present pictures of places folks had traveled to and have them tell the group why they picked those pictures to share. Due to the threat of bad weather, we postponed it until Wednesday night.

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

In the morning we all drove to Makanda, Illinois, to checked out the artsy community that has developed there in what is left of this small Illinois town. Here is a video that Don took of everyone sitting outside after visiting the various shops. Everyone enjoyed the visit and a few of us bought some items.

While walking around Makanda a fellow told us there is a sculpture garden up the stairs and behind the buildings. We went up for a look. There is a bridge over the creek and sculptures are placed all around that blend in with the natural setting. Here is one.

The bridge over the creek.

Walking back to the entrance I spotted this guy laying nearby. At first I thought he was fake but he moved. He was a Copperhead about thirty inches long. Fortunately he was just relaxing and watching us walk by.

Leaving Makanda we drove to Carbondale, Illinois, for lunch at "Rip's Pizza". The food was great. A very different kind of pizza. This long picnic table worked out great for sitting our group.

Back at the campground at 2:00 p.m. the men held a "Washers" tournament. It was $2.00 to play. The women played "Farkle". The team of Jon and Dennis won the washers tournament and the $12.00 prize money.

Us oldtimers always complain about the kids being on their phones all the time. Well, we better not talk. Here are a couple of pictures of the guys sitting around.

At 5:00 p.m. we had a "Pie Iron Supper". Some in the group had never had a sandwich cooked in a pie iron before. For those unfamiliar with it, here is what a pie iron looks like.

You make a sandwich, with whatever you want on it, put it in a pie iron, and you place it in the fire to toast it. You turn it over a couple of times to make sure it isn't burning. Everyone enjoyed this "make your own meal". We then enjoyed a campfire until it was dark enough for the "Show n Tell" and "Blast from the Past" digital shows using our projector and screen. 

We viewed the "Blast from the Past" pictures first. These were pictures I had taken of various Carri-Yals Club campouts over the ten years we have been in the club. It was followed by "Show n Tell". This consisted of those who submitted pictures describing why they chose these pictures to share. It was all quite fun but combining the two shows into one due to the weather made it too long. 

Thursday, May 15, 2025

For breakfast we provided my homemade Biscotti and Kelly's homemade scones. Everyone brought their own coffee or tea. After breakfast we had a short business meeting during which the next two campouts in July and August were outlined. Both should be great fun.

At 10:00 a.m. we all headed back to the pavilion for several games of "Nickels". We broke into two groups to make the games more manageable. With the wind we had to hold our cards down or they would not blow away, along with our nickels.

After lunch we once again met at the pavilion for several games of "Bingo". I was the caller. It was a $1.00 per card and the winner took all. The final game was a coverall and it was $2.00 per card. After these "monetary" games were over the group wanted to play a couple of more games for fun before breaking up.

Back at the campsite the wind picked up and the canopy I borrowed in case of rain raised up more than I liked. The weather was predicted to get quite windy and stormy so I decided to take the canopy down. It then rained but after a little delay we could sit outside once again and visit.

At 5:00 p.m. we all met at the Giant City State Park Lodge for a family-style "Fried Chicken Dinner" consisting of: fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, dumplings, green beans, corn, cole slaw, and biscuits. The food was fabulous. Only one or two of the group had left enough room for dessert.

During dinner there was a light rain. We headed back to the campground thinking we would all have to sit in our rigs the rest of the evening. Luckily the rain quit and we all sat out and visited until dark. We then said our goodbyes because people depart at different times in the morning. 

Despite a little rain and threat of bad weather at times during the week, it was an enjoyable campout with great friends. Looking forward to the next one.

Friday, May 16, 2025

We only had a one and a half hour drive home so we were in the driveway by 9:30 a.m. It took us about a half hour to unload Homer. Bad weather was predicted with high winds, large hail, etc., so we took Homer to the storage facility to get him out of the weather.

To the campground and back home Kelly followed Homer in her car. She told me that the new LED tail light bulb I installed before we left wasn't as bright as the other bulbs and one bulb on the other side was half flickering. (LED bulbs are bad for that - going out slowly.) I got online and purchased four new LED bulbs from Amazon so they would all be the same and work properly. I also purchased a new sprayer nozzle which I hope is better quality than the last two I purchased.

In the early afternoon daughter, Alexa, and her friend, Aaron, came down from St. Louis to visit. We ordered Chinese for supper. While picking up our food the tornado sirens went off. We hustled home where it poured rain with pea-sized hail and a lot of wind. It could have been a lot worse. St. Louis had five people killed and many structures damaged or destroyed. The weather has been crazy since we got back from Florida.

 

  

April 23 - 30, 2025 - Traps Worked - TV in Homer - A/C Shroud Cracks - Bird Net - Door Light in Homer - Awning Arm Lock

My Blog Reflection

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.

Booker T. Washington

Wednesday April 23, 2025

Traps were put up Tuesday morning and this morning I spotted a squirrel in the trap for any animal coming out of the house. 

I called the exterminator and by the time he arrived at noon there was another squirrel caught in the trap set up to catch any squirrels trying to go in. The exterminator said this was great news. We caught one that had been in there and caught another planning on going in. Probably a mating pair. The traps will be up for another eight days to make sure no more are inside. Making progress.

Work on Homer:

In the morning John agreed to come over and help me with a couple of minor electrical issues in Homer. The first was getting the TV to work. A couple of years ago we watched the TV, no problem. Then when we went to use it the next time in Michigan it wouldn't work. In Michigan I pulled out the booster. It looked a little corroded so Dave and I found an RV store and I bought a new one. The new one made no difference. I then suspected a bad cable connection or cable wire somewhere. You need two people to check out stuff like this since the antenna is on the roof, which makes it hard to be up there and see what the TV is doing. That's part of the reason I sought John's help, in addition to his expertise.

Before John arrived I put new batteries in the TV remote and turned it on. All I got was some squiggly lines on part of the screen. After waiting for it to warm up I used the 1950s TV fix - I smacked it hard several times. More picture came on but it was not a full screen. Repeatedly pushing the "Menu" or "Source" buttons on the remote did nothing. I turned it off. When I turned it back on the areas that had appeared earlier on the screen did not come back up. I guess my "smacking" only had a temporary effect. I called John and asked him to bring his small TV so we could connect it to the antenna to see what we got. Before he arrived I did some checking online and learned that really cold weather is bad for TVs. The last two winters with zero or below temperatures for extended periods of time apparently made toast of this TV, even though it was in an uninsulated shed. Sadly, it probably only had about fifteen or twenty hours on it.

John arrived with his TV. We hooked it up and immediately got an excellent picture from the Cape Girardeau stations, which are just thirty-five miles away. We turned the antenna to face toward St. Louis and got nothing. We thought it should have at least "flickered" on one or more St. Louis stations (90 miles away). I got up on the roof and checked the cable connection to the antenna. It was fine - tight and no corrosion. We decided maybe a new batwing antenna was needed as well. I ordered a refurbished TV and a refurbished batwing antenna from Amazon. If either one does not solve the problem, I can send one or both items back. They will arrive on Friday.  

We then moved to issue #2 - checking out the dead dash switch on Homer. This switch was installed by the previous owner. The lady I bought Homer from had no idea what it did. They were divorced so no getting in touch with him to find out. 

When working the switch would light up red when "ON". Last year, by accident, I noticed that when it was "ON" the alternator was charging the house batteries. This is a nice feature for long trips. I decided to use it on a trip last summer. 

I pushed it while on the road and after a few minutes Kelly and I smelled something burning. We got out, looked all around, and found nothing inside or out that smelled burnt. We continued on. After thinking about it, I decided the smell had to be from that switch. I pushed it and no red light. 

John is excellent with electrical issues. We pulled out the switch and put the voltmeter to it. The readings we got on the voltmeter that made no sense. The meter showed 77 volts DC. Impossible in a 12 volt system! We were perplexed. I marked the switch so I knew in which position power is off since the light no longer lights to show when it is "ON". We quit for the day. 

John went home and later called to tell me that we need to test the switch with an analog voltmeter. Sometimes digital voltmeters give strange readings on switches. I looked all over for my analog voltmeter and couldn't find it. I believe it is Florida. John will bring his out when he has some time and we have better weather. 

Friday April 25, 2025

I took the lawnmower to the shop to have the hydraulic fluid changed. The manual said to change it at 50 hours. It has 111 hours on it. I will never have to change it again. They will get to it today or Monday.

Back to Homer:

The antenna and TV arrived by UPS. I installed the TV and got six digital channels, all from the Cape Girardeau area. I then installed the new antenna. It did not do any better so I boxed it up and sent it back to Amazon. The new TV is a smart TV so we can connect to the internet whenever it is available. I programed our house but the router was too far away for the TV to connect.

When I was on the roof dealing with the antenna I noticed that the rubber boot that covers the antenna wire as it enters the cabin had pulled loose. This allows water to get inside. I scraped the old caulk back, pushed the back boot into place, and then caulked it. 

The antenna is right next to the A/C unit on the roof. While up there I noticed that there were several new cracks in the plastic A/C shroud. I believe that the A/C unit in Homer is original, i.e. over thirty years old. While it works great, there is no such thing as getting a replacement shroud for this old unit. A couple of years ago I had secured a couple of cracks on the top of the shroud with Eternabond tape. It has held up well. I still had part of a roll of tape so I fetched it from the shop and cut it to span the new cracks on the side of the shroud. Hopefully this fix will last for a while as well. Here is a picture with the yellow arrow pointing to the Eternabond tape fix. The tape is white while the shroud is off-white. No one will notice unless I tell them. LOL

I was back in the garage when a squirrel ran in. I chased him, with the intent of chasing him out. Instead he jumped into a wash tub that I keep in the corner with yard tools in it like axes, picks, sledge hammers, etc. I grabbed a few items that were nearby and threw them on top to keep him in there. I went out back and got a couple of broken bricks and piled those on as well. Assuming he didn't get out while I was retrieving the bricks, I should have a dead squirrel in a few days. I'm not going to check until I know he has to be dead. I don't want him jumping out at me all pisssed off.

Saturday April 26, 2025

For the last several years we have had barn swallows build mud nests in the raised, protected area of our front porch. They like the rough surface of brick to stick their nests to. In the past we have tried to stay ahead of them by using fake owls, fake snakes, a fan with streamers, etc. Nothing worked. I then tried to use the water hose to destroy the nest as they are building. Sometimes it worked but they are persistent and keep rebuilding. I have been amazed at how hard the nests are to remove. Whatever substance these birds secrete to make nests attached to walls should be patented by Gorilla Glue. We hate a nest being here because of all the bird poop on the front porch and on the front door. (Unsightly and not very inviting to guests.) 

This morning I went to the Grand Opening of the new Ace Hardware Store in town to get some bird netting and hooks to keep the birds off the front porch. Since it was the Grand Opening I got a free five-gallon bucket and a free T-shirt! I purchased the netting and some hooks plus a couple of things they had on sale for the day. 

I don't want to drill into the bricks to install metal hooks for the netting. The netting is very fine, plastic, and weighs next to nothing. I bought a four-pack of Command hooks for the project. They might work since the netting is so light weight.

The area above the front door where I need to attach the netting is quite high. With the entry step jutting out from the door, even with my eight-foot ladder I could barely reach where the hooks needed to be placed. I had my doubts that Command hooks would stick to the brick and I was right. They did not. I then glued each hook to the brick using E6000 and let it cure overnight.

Sunday April 27, 2025 

This morning I got on the ladder to put up the netting. The netting is made to keep birds off of fruit bushes, etc. The openings are only about 3/8 of an inch and the entire netting is a very fine plastic not much thicker than fishing line. Stretching from the top of my eight foot ladder, several times I hooked one corner of the net then upon moving to the other side, the first side would come off the hook. I used packing tape to hold the net on each hook as I moved around to attach all four corners. Once the corners were hooked the stretch and the weight held the netting on the hooks. It isn't the fanciest job, and I question if it will withstand a windstorm, but it should work. Here is a picture. The netting blends in with the brick but in the picture you can barely see the net when looking at the white ceiling. It was hard to get a picture. 

Here is a picture of the black Command hook in the corner where the birds were starting to build their nest this year. When I take the netting down in the fall I will work to get all that junk off the brick. As I said earlier, it does not come off easily.

Monday April 28, 2025

The exterminator was back today to reset the squirrel traps. We haven't heard any more noises from the attic but we will wait to see if any more try to come in or try to come out.

It was a beautiful morning. I decided to investigate why Homer's cabin door light is not working (again). When you open the cabin screen door, a light comes on over the steps, which is quite nice in the dark. Several years back this light quit working. I took the fixture out thinking I just needed to replace the bulb. I found that the light bulb was integrated onto a tiny circuit board. Why I will never know. Why not just a bulb in a socket? The little circuit board was burnt to a crisp. I cut the circuit board out and installed a 12 volt DC LED plug I had from an earlier project on Marge. I then purchased a little square LED bulb about 1/4 inch by 3/4 inch that would fit in this small light fixture. It worked until recently.

When I looked at the bulb today I found that only a tiny, pinhead sized spot of the bulb was lighting. I pulled the plastic fixture out, threw away the bulb, and took it down to the shop looking for options for a repair. 

When we purchased Marge the ceiling lights all had 12 volt halogen bulbs in them, which burn very, very hot. I was concerned that long-term use of these bulbs could discolor or make the vinyl ceiling fabric around the lights brittle. I replaced the halogen bulbs with cooler burning LED bulbs. These replacement bulbs were flat and the size of a quarter so they could fit in the fixture. In the picture below you can see one of the ceiling lights out of Marge with the yellow LED bulb installed.

We were not happy with the amount of light the LEDs put out so I replaced all of the fixtures with LED fixtures made to mount under kitchen cabinets in homes to light up countertops. These fixtures are 12 volt DC and were converted to 120 AC for residential use. Since the lights in Marge were 12 volts DC, without the converter, they worked perfectly. They put out much more light. I installed these fixtures in all the under cabinet lights in Homer as well a few years ago. Here is a picture of one of these fixtures. They are really bright and well worth the money.

I found two of these light fixtures in the RV "junk drawer" in my shop. They are about three inches in diameter. I would love for one of these to work over the door in Homer. I held one up over the door to see if I could make it work. The existing fixture is only about 3/4 inch by 2 inches. This fixture is about three inches in diameter - far too large to use without a lot of fabrication to make it look right.   

Also in my RV junk drawer I have about a dozen of the of quarter-size LED lights that I took out of Marge many years ago. (I save all this stuff. LOL) These round LED bulbs are about the size of a quarter and thus about a 1/4 of an inch wider than the door light fixture. Here is a picture of the LED disc light.

While LED bulbs burn much cooler than incandescent bulbs, they still get quite hot when on for a while. I didn't want to take a chance on the bulb melting the plastic fixture so I used my Dremel tool to cut away a little plastic on each side of the light fixture. I did not want this flat disk bulb resting against the plastic fixture. Luckily the bulb socket held the LED suspended in air by about an 1/8 of an inch. The arrow in the picture below points to the light re-installed above the door in the "OFF" position.

Here is a picture of the light when on in the daylight. 

Here is a picture of the light at night. It is not bright, which is fine. Its purpose is simply to provide some light on the inside steps as you enter. The yellow light in the bottom of the picture is the light for the outside steps.

Tuesday April 29, 2025

This morning I decided to pull the awning out on Homer to make sure it is operational before we go camping. Upon opening I found that one of the plastic arm locks was broken. 

On each end of the awning roller there is an arm made of two pieces of aluminum. Each arm attaches to the awning roller on one end and the camper bottom on the other. The larger piece slides up with the awning is it is rolled out. The smaller piece rides inside the larger piece and stays attached to the camper. 

Each arm has a plastic "lock" that swivels down when storing the awning to keep the two sliding sections of the arms in place when traveling. Here is a picture of the arm with the lock engaged. The lock is made of two pieces of plastic. One piece pivots won to hold the inner section of the arm in place while traveling.

Here is a picture from the side showing how one piece swivels up so the arms can be pulled out to unfurl the awning. These plastic locks were both worn and would no longer stay in the "unlocked position" because of gravity. So a couple of years ago I put some Velcro (the white stuff in the picture below) on each lock to provide some friction to hold it up when the arms are being deployed. 

The swiveling part of the plastic lock pivots on a plastic rod. The rod had broken loose on one side. I drilled out the rivets that attached the entire lock to the outer arm and took it inside to look for a replacement online.

Here is a picture of a replacement part in white. I did find a black replacement available on another site but it was more expensive. I was shocked at the cost of this plastic part. This one was the cheapest!

I guess I should be happy that parts are still available for a 30 year old awning but I think they should be more reasonable. It is just molded plastic after all.

I wasn't paying that if I didn't have to so to the shop I went to see about a "fix". 

With a little prying I was able to separate the swiveling part from the arm mounted part. Here is a picture of it. The thin rod on the right edge had broken loose on one end. I Superglued it, clamped it, and let it sit for several hours but it did not hold. It is hard to Superglue many types of plastic. Apparently this is one. Did I mention I hate plastic?

I then marked where the rod attached on each side of the piece, put the piece on my drill press, and carefully drilled the rod out. I was then able to insert a bolt through each side and secure it with a nut. Here is a picture of the bolt and nut with the mounting piece re-inserted to check the fit and operation.

I painted the metal parts black to match and to slow down rusting. Here is a picture of the lock ready for installation. It should outlast me. When it quits raining I will rivet the piece back on to the awning arm.

This was a rainy afternoon project that cost me nothing, since I had the bolt and nut, as opposed to $27.00+ for a replacement.

Wednesday April 30, 2025

The sun came out this morning so I riveted the repaired awning arm lock on the arm. Here are pictures. As luck would have it I put the nut on the side facing the wall. The bolt head and nut don't interfere with anything and blend in well I think. 

Nothing much is planned for the rest of the week to blog about so I'll end here.