December 10-12, 2020 - New Palm Tree and Golf Cart Parade

Kelly ordered a new palm tree because our old one is now only lighting partially. I have no idea how old it is. It was pulled out of the dumpster about four years ago and given to us by a neighbor. Here is a picture of the new one, which is on the right. It is a totally different style than most on the street but is a nice touch with white lights in the greenery. I ordered a set of new green lights to fix the old one on the left just for the hell of it. It's worth spending $10.00 bucks on it.

At 6 pm Thursday night the park had a golf cart parade. Decorated golf carts and bikes wind through the park after dark lit up and Christmas music playing. We could just sit at our site with a cordial and watch it go by. People did a great job decorating their carts. The pictures in the dark as they drove by didn't come out but here are a couple as they lined up to begin.

Due to Covid and many residents not coming down to Florida it was a smaller parade than in years past.

Yesterday was an equipment upgrade day. We used Kelly's phone as a hotspot for the internet for a few days but it became pretty obvious that is is not adequate. Her hotspot is "unlimited" but due to the usage they notified her they were throttling her down. So much for "unlimited". We made a trip a half mile away to the Spectrum store and got a modem and router. I thought about bringing our router from home but didn't. I would have saved $5.00 per month. I'll bring it next year.  Here is a picture of the modem and router set up on the couch end table with the cable running through the seal in the slideout.  It is totally out of the way which is important in our small quarters.

The internet speed is great and there is good coverage outside the RV as well. 

We next turned to the update of our Dish receiver. The one we purchased down here about five years ago, with the addition of an external hard drive, would allow us to record shows but we couldn't record while watching. Kelly didn't like this shortcoming (She's used to the "Hopper" at home). Additionally the old receiver could not access the internet so we couldn't watch Netflix. Kelly found a half-price receiver deal so we ordered a new "Wally" receiver. It allows us to record and watch at the same time as well as get the internet. Here is a picture of it installed above the TV.

While we can now get the internet with the Wally, they didn't tell us that you have to buy a USB antenna for it to work with the router. No one mentioned that ever! Yesterday we ordered the antenna from Dish for $30.00 with shipping. Hopefully this will make everything work when it arrives. What a pain.

Our last technology project of the day was setting the Facebook Portal to the correct time zone and city for weather. When we got here it did not correct for the change in time zone and city. I got online and it said I had to do a factory reset. We did that but by doing so lost all of the contacts in "Messenger" so we have to put them all back in or call people on "WhatsApp". The kids are on "WhatsApp" but none of our friends.

We reset the time and city manually. The Portal is a nice piece of equipment for video calls. It has a camera that follows you around as you talk on a video call. It is much nicer than having to hold the phone for video calls. (Thanks to daughter Annie, who works at Facebook, for buying it for us). If you are on Facebook and do video calls with friends and kids and grandkids I strongly recommend you get one for about $120.00.

Kelly is making cookies today for the ladies "Red Hat" luncheon on Monday. Each lady is supposed to make cookies and put a few in a dozen sandwich bags to exchange with others. Their lunch will be a box lunch so no contact with anybody.  She enjoys the Red Hat Lady activities. Later on they are having a pulled pork dinner fundraiser and Kelly volunteered me to be a gopher picking up cooked pulled pork from various "cookers" around the park and bringing it to the clubhouse where they will make up box dinners for people to pick up outside. Everyone is being really cautious with Covid, which is good and necessary.

Up to 75 degrees and sunny today. Nice! We can't wait for the rest of our friends to arrive over the next few weeks.

 

December 7, 2020 - Doctor Visit, Hose Repair, and Signs Up

The day before we left home my left eye started hurting and was all red. All the way down it bothered me. We got here late Tuesday so on Wednesday morning I went to an Urgent Care to get it looked at.  This was my first urgent care visit ever and I found it a strange system. Walk-ins were welcome so I arrived at opening time of 8:30 a.m. I was told to check in using the kiosk. I did that and was then told my appointment was in four and a half hours. I voiced my incredulity at that so the nurse talked to the nurse practitioner and she said if I came back in 30-45 minutes they would squeeze me in between vaccinations. She gave me some anti-biotic cream to put in four times a day. I put it in and over the weekend it still wasn't any better so I decided to find an ophthalmologist. I found one and they got me in at 9:30 this morning. He said it wasn't infected but the cornea was all irritated. He gave me drops to put in every two hours and a salve at night. He wants to see me back in a month so he can dialate the eye. He was concerned about three bumps on the lower eyelid of that eye that I have had for about a year. He said I needed to see a specialist to see if it needed to be biopsied for skin cancer. I have an appointment in four weeks for that as well.

When I got back to the RV the package had been delivered with a new hose coupler. Here is a picture of the old coupler after I took it off. It was plastic. I'm not crazy about plastic coupler because they tend to crack over time.

I installed the new (brass) coupler and water squirted all the way across the lot to the camper next door. I turned off the water and found that the hose was cracked.  Here is a picture after I cut the bad part off.

It is easy to see the crack which I didn't even look for when installing the new coupler. I cut off this piece and reinstalled the hose. Here is a picture of the completed project with no leaks.

This should be a good repair for several years. This hose connects the RV to the water filter and water pressure regulator. We really need a water pressure regulator here because the water pressure at the spigot is insane.

A project yesterday was to hang all of our signs. We have several that go on the fifth wheel, including a new one I just got for a Jack Horner prize at Thanksgiving. (It is on the bottom.) Here is a picture.

The top sign my dad used when he went camping. When he died in 1984 I inherited it. It didn't seem fair to only have my name out there so I made the second one for Kelly. 

This year we have a separate sign I made to set out that states that masks and distancing are required at our campsite. It has a decal on each side that I put on a painted black board. Here is a picture.

It rained all night and it doesn't appear that the glue on the decal is fairing well with water. We will see how long it lasts. I may have to take it down when it rains - a pain but the sign is important.  Everywhere I have gone down here people wear masks. It is very good to see that. 

We ordered some groceries online at Publix and picked them up and we will continue to do that to stay away from people. They charge $4.00 for the service but it well worth it. Aldi does it as well.

Kelly got a new paint by number today and is already busy working on it while she listens to music.

We have been using Kelly's hotspot for internet and it has worked quite well but today she was notified that, although it is unlimited, at 6 more gig they are going to throttle her back. So much for unlimited. So I'm doing this blog from the campground clubhouse where the internet is fast and free. It's good exercise for me to ride my bike up here anyway.

The sun has come out and it is 63 degrees, light jack weather - nice.

December 4, 2020 - All Setup for Christmas

Yesterday was a sunny, warm and thus busy day. We laid down the mats which decrease the amount of sand we track into Marge. They also make it easier to blow off the leaves as they fall over the next month or so.  We also set up the Dish satellite. I always have a terrible time getting the dish pointed correctly. I absolutely hate this project every year but I am too cheap to buy an automatic dish. Two neighbors from across the street, John and Jack, were a great help. Once the dish is pointed correctly we have to call Dish Network and have them move the service to Florida (for an extra $7.00 per month) and reactivate the receiver. Here is a picture of our site with the mats down and dish installed.

The tan mat I pulled out of the dumpster here two years ago at the end of the season. There is nothing wrong with it, it is just a little stained so someone threw it away. The black mat in back is a mesh mat I bought at Harbor Freight two years ago. It is thin but works fine. The little blue mat is the one we usually have under the steps but since we have a concrete patio we don't need it there so I placed it forward.  You can see the sandy soil with grass sprouts around. 

We didn't bring the little refrigerator this year but we do have the portable icemaker set up on a table under the fifth wheel to keep it out of the rain. I need to clean it out before plugging it in. One of today's projects. 

In the picture you can also see our little palm tree. Most of the Audrey Street residents have a lighted palm tree. It is cool driving down the street at night. This one was pulled out of the dumpster by a neighbor about four years ago and given to us. It worked fine but this year about 1/2 of the lights are out. I will trash it before we leave, it isn't work trying to fix.

The plastic female hose connector on the hose to the water filter cracked yesterday. I went to Home Depot early this morning to get a replacement. I couldn't believe that they were sold out of the size I needed. I didn't feel like driving seven miles to the next closest hardware store to check so I will just use a longer hose until I can find a replacement fitting. 

We did online grocery shopping at Publix yesterday with pick up service. It worked out great. We now have all the groceries we need allowing us to just sit around and eat and drink!!!! I grilled chicken last night which was the first full meal we had since we left home. On the road we ate sandwiches and soup we made so we didn't have to go in anywhere.

The park is about half full. Many Americans are not coming down due to Covid and the Canadians cannot get across the border. Basically all park activities have been canceled due to Covid. They are still having a bonfire every other Friday but we will probably skip that as well. I don't get much out of a bonfire I have to sit ten or more feet away from. We also saw pictures of a lot of people at the last one without masks. We don't need that.

Kelly decorated for Christmas. She hung the Christmas bells, the Santa picture she painted, and we put out the lighted ceramic Christmas camper decoration Renee gave me.  Here are some pictures.

 

December 3, 2020 - First Days Roberts RV Park

Yesterday I found an urgent care in a nearby CVS Pharmacy. They took "walk-ins" so I headed there to get my eye looked at. I arrived ten minutes before the opening time of 8:30 a.m. but could not check in at the kiosk until 8:30 a.m. Why I don't know because you can check-in online. Once I completed the check-in process I was then told my appointment was for four and a half hours later. The only person around was a nurse. When I inquired about his long delay for a walk-in she was helpful and said that people called in online overnight and made appointments, thus the delay. She saw I was a little taken back by such a wait and, after checking with the nurse practitioner, she told me if I could come back in a half hour they would squeeze me in between a couple of vaccinations. Good deal.

I then walked to Target next door and bought a plunger for the kitchen sink which remained plugged.

When I got back to CVS I was seen by a nurse practitioner and given a prescription for some antibiotic cream for my eye. I filled it there and headed back to the RV. I'm putting it in four times per day. I hope it does the trick.

The RV parks in Florida are large to accommodate snowbirds. I got to thinking that no one had seen the layout of Roberts RV Park where we stay.  We are on Lot 469 on Audrey Street, the "party street". I think there are over 500 lots in this park. Here is a picture of the park layout. I placed a yellow arrow pointing at our lot. We are on the back side - the "low rent district".

Most of the park lots have single and double-wide permanent trailers on them. Our area is 90% RVs. There are a lot of vacancies right now because a lot of snowbirds don't come down until after Christmas and many Canadians will not be able to come down at all because of Covid restrictions not allowing them to cross the border. 

After getting back from the urgent care I hooked up the truck and re-leveled Marge. In the dark we couldn't tell that she wasn't level side-to-side when we unhooked. After that I unloaded the truck so I could park it in the parking lot up the street. We have Kelly's car at our lot and there isn't room for both vehicles.

I then tried the plunger on the kitchen sink. Luckily one plunge and everything was clear. Yippee! I had never had this happen before and was envisioning having to pull everything out of the cabinets and tearing into the drain pipes. I am happy that didn't prove necessary.

Kelly has been down with a cold since we arrived so she has not ventured outside. I hope she feels better today and can go out because it is supposed to be 70 degrees before starting to rain for the next two days.

We had planned on going to Spectrum and getting Wi-fi for our stay. They will do that here with no contracts because of the snowbirds. We decided to try the hotspot on Kelly's phone and it proved to work really well. We will save $70.00 per month.  Another "Yippee".

My task for today is to get the Dish TV satellite dialed in and the Wally receiver updated. It is a process I absolutely hate because it usually takes two hours on the phone with Dish to make it happen. Dish is a necessity for Kelly. I would be happy with just hooking up to the free basic cable provided by the RV park.  

November 30th - December 1st, 2020 - Trip to Florida for the Winter

When we left Perryville at 6:00 a.m. on Monday it was 24 degrees. Glad to get out of Dodge. We took a new route through Birmingham, Alabama, which proved to be a bad idea. About fifty miles from our RV Park destination for the night it started sleeting.  Here is a picture while sitting at a stop light but it didn't come out very well.  

We had reservations at Yellow Hammer RV Park in Clanton, Alabama, for a stop over. I picked this park because it was right off the Interstate and it was a Passport America Park, which makes it half price. When I called to make the reservation I was told that it was under new management and they no longer honored Passport America. I made the reservation anyway because there were no other parks in the area. When we arrived at 3:00 p.m. the office was "closed for lunch" until 3:30 p.m. Really? We waited patiently for a half hour when a campground resident drove up and told us if we had reservations we could just pull into our lot. I told him they didn't tell me what lot on the reservation and he said he thought they did and I should recheck the email i got. I did and it and the lot number was there but I never would have found the lot number if he hadn't told me that. Goofy.

We got set up on the lot and it was only 40 degrees out. RVs are as cold inside as outside so it was about 42 degrees inside Marge. It takes a long time to warm the place up. It remained so cold we went to bed early with lots of covers and slept good.

In the morning this was the temperature.  In past years it has never been this cold on our way to Florida.

The vehicles were covered with a  hard frost. I have ice scrapers but apparently they are at home. I let the vehicles warm up and used a credit card to scrape ice off the side windows. Here are two pictures.

We headed out at 7:00 a.m. for an eight hour drive. I didn't like this new route because there were so many stop lights on the US highways going through towns. I won't take it again.  It became pretty clear that we were not going to get to the RV park until dark, which is really a bummer. It is very difficult to back up a large fifth wheel 90 degrees in the dark. Here are two pictures as we approached St. Petersburg.

We hit rush hour traffic going through Tampa so sure enough it was dark when we arrived at the RV park. They had people there helping with parking. They were very helpful. I don't think I could have done it without them. We thought Marge was level and unhooked. She ended up not being level once unhooked from the truck. This happens sometimes, the truck twists it. I will have to hook up today and put boards under one side to get level for four months.

A problem upon hooking up the utilities was that the kitchen sink will not drain a drop. I can't figure out what that is all about. It is as if a valve is closed but there is no valve. All the other drains work fine. The trap or line can't be frozen after all this time. I will have to take the trap apart today and hopefully find the problem there and not somewhere else. These pipes are not easily accessible. Always something.

My first priority today, however, is to find an urgent care facility. I developed an eye infection just before we left town. I need to get some medicine for it.  It is 47 degrees here this morning so that is an improvement but still cold. I think it is supposed to get close to 70 today. I hope so.

November 24, 2020 - Trees Removed at the Lake Lot

Daughter Alexa came down from St. Louis last night to help with a project at the lake lot. We had two cedar trees we wanted to cut down because they weren't providing much shade and were interfering with better trees on the lot. Alexa, Kelly and I went out this morning, cut the two trees down and piled up the branches.  Here is a picture of me working on the second tree which was actually forked.

Here are pictures of each stump, one on each side of the steps.

The trees weren't that big and they fell exactly where I wanted them to. I will come out later and cut the stumps down to ground level to lesson a trip hazard. 

Lots of branches spread all over the area as I cut.

I cut the trunks in blocks for campfires and the branches were piled up for burning. Here is a picture of each pile of branches and a picture of my help as we ate a sandwich for lunch. In the background behind Kelly you can see the row of cedar blocks for campfires.

I am happy to report that my new chain saw worked flawlessly after having been repaired due to debris in the carburetor from the factory. 

We had the time today to burn a lot of the branches but it was just too windy to risk it. Since we are heading south on Monday they will just have to lay there until spring when we get back. They will be good and dry by then and will burn quickly. We will bring Homer out and burn branches while camping for a couple of days. 

November 14, 2020 - Replace Vacuum Door Connector

The new inlet for the vacuum in Marge arrived today. Although it is from the same company and is the exact part number, it is different.  They have changed the way the door mounts and the way it connects electrically.  Here is a picture from the front and from the side.

It is a rainy day so I decided to mess around on it and see what I could get accomplished. When I worked on the inlet the last time I had to unload everything from the front compartment and take down the wall to get access to the hose to reconnect the vacuum.

The old inlet mounted with four screws to a metal plate behind the wall paneling. The new one has two screw holes for mounting it into an electrical box. There has probably been an update in the electrical code that now requires it to be in an electrical box even though it is a low voltage wire to turn it on. 

Because of the new design the new inlet would not attach to the metal backing plate. Upon looking at the situation I decided that if I cut the metal backing plate out I might be able to connect the vacuum hose to the new inlet from the inside.  I got busy with my Dremel tool and cut the metal plate into a couple of pieces and pulled it out. Once it was out, through the double wall, I could see the plastic hose laying about six inches below the inlet opening. I thought if I could get ahold of it I could pull it towards me and connect it to the new inlet from inside. Trying to retrieve an inch and a half PVC fitting six inches away through a double wall with a two and a half inch by two and a half inch hole proved challenging. I was finally able to get under it with a piece of coat hanger wire and lift it up. Once I had it up even with the hole I was able to grab it with needle nose pliers and pull it into the room. Luckily there was enough hose to pull it in about four inches so I could connect it.

The next problem was that the pipe fitting on the back of the new inlet was smaller than the old one and therefore did not fit tight in the inch and a half PVC pipe. I didn't want to just Duct tape it on because this fitting needs to be tight for suction. Plus Duct tape tends to dry out over time and the hose could fall off in the wall. I needed a thin "O" ring to go around the fitting on the new inlet. In looking at the old inlet I noticed it had such a ring around it which sat in a groove. The new inlet did not have any such grooves. I pulled the "O" ring off and put it on the new inlet but it was too tight for the PVC fitting to slip on. I noticed that the pipe fitting on the new inlet is tapered on the end. Here is a picture with arrow pointing to the taper.

I moved the "O" ring to the taper and pushed it on to the PVC fitting. Once I got it on straight it pushed into place and even became very difficult to turn. A good tight fit. I don't think it will ever come off on its own. Making this connection saved me all the hassle of pulling everything out of the front compartment and pulling down the wall to access the vacuum hose for connection. YES!!!!! I then marked holes for mounting of the new inlet and screwed it to the wall. Here is a picture of the finished project.

I think it will work fine but if the two screws, which are just into the 3/16 inch plywood, do not prove strong enough I will have to figure out how to reinforce the inlet mount to the wall.  One thing I like about the new inlet is that it does not have a switch which turns on the vacuum when the door is opened. That is how the old one worked. This one relies on pushing the hose into the socket with the metal band on the hose completing the circuit and turning on the vacuum.

This should be the last project on Marge before we leave for Florida the end of this month. I have some outside projects planned when I get down there and need something to do as we isolate and social distance.

November 12, 2020 - Getting Bored - File Handle Project

It is getting colder outside so I need indoor projects because we are basically on Covid lockdown. I was using some files the other day and realized that some of my file handles are VERY crude. Here is a picture of five homemade handles I pulled out of the drawer. 

The one on the left I made from a broken plastic spatula handle. It works and is comfortable to use. The second from the left I made from a broken ice pick. It works ok as well. The other three I guess I picked up over the years. I didn't make them. The one in the middle is just a piece of  5/8 inch dowel. The next is a just a 3/4 x 1/2 inch block of wood. The one on the far right is almost an inch and half in diameter and is just a large piece of a tree branch with the bark still on it. 

I got some wood scraps out of my burn bin and glued some pieces together to make some new file handles on the lathe.  Here are the four I made. 

The one on the left was made out of a piece of treated 2 x 4. The other three are made out of scraps of white oak. I used pieces of cooper tubing to keep the wood from spreading out when the file is driven in. I made a couple of different shapes. Time will tell which shape is the most comfortable. I think they came out pretty nice for just a little effort.  I'll be replacing a few of the homemade ones above.

November 12, 2020 - Another Little Marge Project

Our fifth wheel has three steps that fold underneath for travel. Here is a picture of them extended. 

They hang off the side of the rig when extended. Stepping on them causes the camper to shake and, since they are hinged in several places to fold up, they have a lot of "give" to them. Sometime back we bought two adjustable legs which are made to be put under the bottom stem for stability. Here is a picture of those supports. They can be adjusted for step height by moving the pin to different holes in the stem and by turning the top to screw it up or down for a firm fit.

While they do stabilize the steps they have been a problem for two reasons. One is that the bottom of the step is not flat so the round support is only resting on an area about a half inch in width.  Here is a picture. The red arrow shows the rounded ridge in the center of the bottom step. The supports rest on this alone.

The second problem is that we have installed rugs on the steps to help cut down on dirt carried into the camper by our shoes. The green arrow points to the wire ties hold the rug on the step. You can see that the rug is in the area where the supports would rest.

Because of these two issues the supports have trouble staying in place. I decided to make something with some scraps of wood to hopefully solve that problem. Here is a picture of the underside of what I came up with.

The supports sit in the round holes on the ends for maximum step stability. The board connecting the two square pieces keeps them from moving about under the step. Here is a picture of the piece ready to be installed.

I say "installed" but there is no installation. The board and supports are just placed under the bottom step and the height of the support adjusted for the terrain.  Here is a picture of the board in place.

If all works well. I will paint it to make it look nicer and to protect it from the elements. It is easy to store, we just throw the parts inside the door for easy access when we park.

 

November 7, 2020 - Fantastic Vent Spruce Up and Vacuum Cleaner Connector Door Fail

Today I decided to take apart the Fantastic Vent in the kitchen of Marge and paint its parts because, being plastic like the AC vents, the parts had all yellowed. As I unscrewed the trim piece two corners broke off at the screw holes. This happens a lot with old plastic. I superglued them back on until I could reinforce them on the underside with JB Weld.  Here is a picture of one corner JB Welded. JB Weld is great for such things. It sets up hard as a rock and sticks well to plastic. I will smooth off the patch with my Dremel tool before reinstalling on the ceiling.

I also painted the fan screen. I had to cut a piece of cardboard round to put on it so only the rim would be painted, not the screen. Here is a picture. It came out great using flat white paint.

Here is a picture of the painted trim piece that transitions from the ceiling to the fan. I'm happy with how it looks as well flat white.

Here is a picture of the fan without the trim and screen on it. The plastic that is still up there has also yellowed. It will be a major project to pull the whole fan unit out and to remove the lift motor and switches in order to paint it. I'm leaving it as it is for now. If it bothers me too much I'll pull it apart sometime and paint it.

I cleaned the plastic and the fan blades so the trim and screen can be reinstalled tomorrow when the paint is dry on those pieces.

I then proceeded to vacuum the rig, mostly to get up the dead beetles on the floor, etc. Marge has a central vacuum so I plugged it in and got to work. When I finished I pulled the hose from the wall connector and here is what happened.

The part that attached the outlet door to the wall outlet literally disintegrated. Pieces just fell off everywhere. A year or two ago the outlet door cracked and I glued a piece of wood on it. Here is a picture of the front of the door with that patch.

There is no way to fix this door now. I got online and ordered a new outlet door. It will be here in about a week. Easy enough to install right?  Wrong!!! When the door broke the last time I learned that to attach the door I have to pull the entire outlet out from the backside of the wall. That means that I have to take everything out of the front storage compartment and remove the back wall inside the compartment to access it. A real pain because the compartment is totally loaded for the trip to Florida. 

When the hose connector door is lifted (or now off) the vacuum runs. I can pull the plug on the vacuum to stop that and deal with it later but I have the time and tools now to repair it before we leave. The new connector door will be here in about a week. I will just need a nice day when I can unload everything on to the driveway. It will take twice as long to unload and load everything as it will to install the new part. I hate plastic parts.

 

November 4, 2020 - They're BACK!!!!

For the last several years we have been fighting beetles that look like lady bugs invading Marge. On our last winter trip to Florida. as we headed South and the RV warmed up inside, the beetles came out by the hundreds. Literally. We were in Florida for several weeks before we finally eliminated all of them. They are attracted to warmth and to the color white. Here is a picture of some of them I took on the ceiling yesterday.

We are not looking forward to residing with them until we can get rid of them. We can't just smash them for two reasons - they stink and they leave a stain on the area where they are smashed. We found the best way to "catch them" for annihilation is with a wad of Duck Tape. We gently press the sticky take against them until they are stuck. I used a loop of take yesterday to eliminate a couple of dozen inside. We can't reach the ceiling without a step stool, which makes catching them a pain. I need to work on a stick to reach them but I haven't figured out how to hold the Duck Tape on the stick until it is full of bugs then discarded. I need to work on that soon.

Here are a couple pictures of the beetles today on the outside on the rear cap. There are hundreds of them everywhere. 

The other day I tackled another outside project. Many of the screws holding a seam strip on under the fifth wheel had broken off over the years. Here is a picture of the area with the red arrow pointing to where the strip is bent and goes under the fifth wheel to seal off the front cap. The screws that broke off were between this corner and the hitch on each side.

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It is always hard to drill up because it is hard to apply pressure. I counted nine screws broken off that needed to be drilled out. I knew it would be a pain to drill new holes for new screws and I wasn't wrong.  I broke three drill bits but eventually got new stainless steel screws in place. Here is a picture of a section of the completed work.

The area needed to be cleaned and caulked. Of course I can't get the proper caulk in town so I had to order a tube online. The caulk arrived from Amazon yesterday so today I cleaned the seam area with alcohol and caulked. Here is a picture of the caulked strips. 

Another project completed thanks to nice weather. Now I need to get busy and invent a beetle killer stick.