December 10, 2023 - December 15, 2023 - Christmas Show, Plumbing Fix; New Golf Cart Tires; Christmas Golf Cart Parade

Sunday Evening:

In my last post I neglected to mention that we were attending the Christmas program here at the park on Sunday evening. The program was put on by the Theater Club here in the park. The event had been suspended for a couple of years due to Covid. There was a great crowd to enjoy all the park talent.

Here are some pictures of various groups singing various Christmas songs. In the first picture the lady on the right sang "The 12 Days of Christmas" while the other two acted it out. It was hilarious watching them trying to keep up with the song.

These three folks sang "The Christmas Letter".

This lady sang "Santa Baby". She has a really good voice.

The Golden Gate Dancers, complete with their grass skirts, danced and sang "Mele Kalikimaka", a Hawaiian Merry Christmas song. It was well-choreographed.

Our neighbor, Donna, recited a Christmas poem she had written. It was quite good and thoughtful.

These two folks led the audience in several verses of "Silent Night". The audience was "all in". It put the crowd in the Christmas spirit.

Due to Covid, the Golden Gate Choir had not performed in several years. The lady conductor obviously had a musical background as she deftly led them through "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem", "Mary Did You Know", and "Little Drummer Boy".  They sounded great.

These fellows did their rendition of "Feliz Navidad". They weren't Jose Feliciano, but they did a good job.

Of course, Santa made an appearance at the end and led everyone in "Jingle Bells". (The picture quality is poor due to the camera zoom with the low lighting in the audience area.)

We enjoyed the evening. I was impressed with the whole production complete with sound, lights, and clockwork timing of all acts.  Cookies and punch were available afterwards, but we passed. The Theater Club is doing a 1940s radio show in March. Kelly thinks I should participate. I don't know. You know how shy I am.

Monday:

The shower in the master bath has been dripping. I'm sure from the looks of them that the faucets are the originals form the 1980s.  Here is a picture.

Once I figured out how to get the chrome covers off the valves came out easily. Once the valves were out it was easy to see that the washers were worn badly and could no longer seal.  The black washer should be flat. It should not have a deep indented ring around the bolt holding it in.

I purchased new washers at Home Depot and installed them. The handles still have to be turned pretty tight to stop a drip. I may need to investigate to see is it should have a tapered washer or if there is some other issue that needs to be addressed. I'll give it a couple of days.

Tuesday:

Ralph, who was our neighbor last year at Adelaide Shores RV Resort in Avon Park, Florida, drove over for a visit. It is about a two-hour drive from Avon Park to Pinellas Park. Ralph is a widower from Ontario, Canada, and has been coming down to Adelaide Shores for a number of years, both before and after his wife died. He has a fifth wheel that he puts in storage at the park for the summer. After visiting for a while we had a great lunch at "The Crab Shack" and then ice cream at the house. I wish our two places were closer so we could visit more often.

Wednesday:

After Kelly's eye doctor visit I decided to install the new rear tires and wheels on the golf cart. Here is a picture of one of the old tires and wheel and one of the new tires and wheels. One of the tires had been leaking off in just a couple of days.

One old tire had a manufacture date of 2012 and the other one was 2008. Definitely time for some new tires.

After installing them we went for a ride and immediately noted a loud grinding noise. Upon examination I found that the new rims were rubbing on the bracket that held the cable for the brakes. I need to grind it off about an 1/8 of an inch to solve this problem. Not today. I needed tools. 

Another project to finish up was new wheels for the outdoor grill. The original wheels were gone when I bought it off Facebook last year. I need wheels on it to be able to roll it into the shed when we leave for the season. Last year we had a roll out trash can that needed to be thrown away. I took the plastic wheels off of it for the grill.  I bought a 5/16 threaded for for an axle and mounted it to a 2 x 4 on the bottom of the grill. These wheels didn't work. The grill was too heavy and the plastic wheels just buckled. I had good lawnmower wheels at home which I took off an old mower a couple of years ago before discarding it. I brought two of them down for this project. (I save a lot of stuff.) The lawnmower wheels are for a half inch acle shaft. My plan was to buy bushings to go from the 5/16 threaded rod to the 1/2 inch shaft opening in the lawnmower wheels. 

The landscapers cut the grass and there, laying in the grass next to the house, was a six foot tall metal plant hanger. I measured it and it was 1/2 inch in diameter.  I cut off a piece for a new axle. Here is the piece that is left of the hanger. I will save it for a possible future project. (I save a lot of stuff.)

The wheels still needed a small bushing. I bought the last two Home Depot had that were close. I had to sand themn down to fit properly over the rod. Here is a picture of the lawnmower wheels on the grill. They work perfectly. Looks like I need to spray a little of the Rustoleum Rust Locker on a few spots on the old grill.

Thursday:

The day was spent at St. Luke's Eye Center for the operation on Kelly's second eye. The procedure only takes ten to twenty minutes but it is an all day wait. We got there at 11:00 a.m. and left at 4:15 p.m. While waiting I ran to Lowes and bought a couple of tools needed for the golf cart repair. I purchased a grinding disk and grinding wheel I could put in my drill.

Friday:

I had to make the gold cart repair on Friday because major storms were moving in on Saturday. I pulled off the wheel and began grinding the bracket. Neither tool would do the job. This meant a trip to Harbor Freight to buy a cheap angle grinder and metal grinding wheel. Now, if you are willing to buy corded power tools, you can get them pretty cheaply. I didn't need a great tool and got his one for $14.99. I I think I paid over a $100.00 for the one I have at home well over ten years ago. I once again used the Gift Certicate Annie gave me for Father's Day. Here is a picture of the grinder ready to go to work.

This tool made quick work of grinding enough of the bracket away for it to not touch the wheel or tire. While completing this project I saw that one rear shock absorber was not attached, the nut holding it on was gone. I pushed on it and it is shot. A future project will be new shock absorbers, probably maybe front and back.

I'll report on the coming storm. Last storm we lucked out and only got some really heavy rain.

December 1, 2023 - December 9, 2023 - A WEEK'S WORTH OF PROJECTS COMPLETED

Friday:

I added a pieced of chain to each of the light switches on all the ceiling fans. Hopefully I will now pull the correct chain when I want the light or the fan. This picture shows why I needed to do this. It was always a guess as to which one to pull.

With a piece of chain added to each fan light chain there no mistaking they are different. The chains for all lights are now all longer.

Saturday:

It was a nice day so we went to a number of garage sales. We ended up buying a number of small items. I am always on the lookout for tools. I bought a circular saw and extra blade for $2.00 and a rubber mallet for $1.00. I have projects that need a circular saw to complete. 

 

The rubber mallet will come in handy. I could have used it to pound down the paint lid the other day and I'm sure that type of use will come up again.

I saw this ceramic fish for $3.00 and had to have it for the front window. He is a big old boy and so cool and colorful.

Daughter Erin said we had to have a Christmas Tree when they come down for Christmas. Our thought was to just decorate the fake Ficus tree which is in the living room. We don't have a lot of room to store a Christmas tree and ornaments so we weren't real keen on getting a tree. The last seven years we have been in the fifth wheel on Christmas and did not have a tree, just a few little Christmas decorations. 

At one of the garage sales Kelly found a very nice flocked, four-foot tree for $10.00. At another sale we found a small tub of ornaments for $3.00. When we got home we spent the afternoon decorating the tree. The tree came with some white lights and we had some color lights.  Kelly bought a tree skirt with Flamingos. How cool is that!  We are now all set for the grandsons to come for Christmas. Ho Ho Ho!

Saturday evening while watching TV we noticed a little issue. The end of Kelly's BIG TV sits close to the thermostat. The TV puts out heat that then triggers the AC when we really don't need it. I pulled the TV out away from the wall and thermostat and put a piece of tape on the left edge of the thermostat to see if that solves the problem. If not, I will have to look into moving the thermostat. The TV is too big, I can't move it. LOL  This is a picture of how close it is.

At another garage sale for 10 cents Kelly bought an unpainted wooden reindeer cut-out which is about fifteen inches in diameter. I bought a can of red spray paint for $5.00 and painted it for the holidays. We now have $5.10 in a 10 cent item. What a deal! We hung it for the season on the wall in the kitchen entry way.

Sunday:

Our kitchen is small, with limited cabinets, and Kelly is short. Kelly uses lots of spices when she cooks and they were difficult for her to reach in the back of the cabinet. I bought a pair of sliding spice trays online and installed them.  Kelly loves them. "Happy Wife, Happy Life".

Monday:

Early in the morning, while it was still dark outside, I went for a walk. I walked up to the clubhouse and back a couple of times. The clubhouse area is nicely decorated for Christmas with a huge Nativity scene out front. We hadn't been out at night so we hadn't seen it all lit up.  Beautiful. 

Last year Kelly wasn't happy with the humming sound that the fan made in the guest bedroom. She said it had to be replaced.  I bought a ceiling fan on Facebook in Perryville a few months ago for $10.00 and brought it down. Here is the humming fan.

The "new to us" fan is bigger, has five blades, and three lights. The wood color is close to the wood in the desk. Both help break up all the white in this room.

I may hang the old fan in the shed. It gets really hot in there, especially when the clothes are drying. Another project. LOL

I worked on the dishwasher again today. We are not happy with how it is not cleaning all of the dishes. If this fix doesn't help it may just be time for a new one. Another project!

Tuesday:

Several projects today. The first two projects I was able to complete due to my $2.00 circular saw purchase the other day at a garage sale. The springs on the couch and loveseat are weak. When people sat they sunk way down making it hard to get up.  I brought plywood from home to fit under the cushions to provide support. What I brought needed to be fine-tuned with another saw cut. The plywood gives the cushions much needed support.

The other "wood cutting" project was for pieces of plywood under the cushions on the patio chairs. The seat cushions are supported by plastic strips attached from one side to the other. The strips have stretched over the years thus not providing much support. Here are pictures. The chair cushions are much more comfortable now. I may get ambitious and paint the plywood brown to match the frames.

Another project of the day was painting a step stool that my friend, David, gave me when they were selling their RV last year. Since they were in an RV with limited space the step stool sat outside. As a result, it rusted pretty badly. Here are a couple of pictures.

I addressed the rust issue by scraping what I could and then spraying the chair with Rustoleum Rust Reformer. It is a product advertised to seal off the rust for painting. It is black and covered nicely. I was going to paint the stepstool white again, but I think it looks cool black so I sprayed on a coat of  gloss black. 

My last project of the day was painting the small bench vise I bought last year. It was originally red but had become pretty nasty looking. I had red paint left over from the reindeer cutout so why not make it look better?

In the evening I attended my first Men's Club meeting here at the park. The club has a meeting the second Tuesday of every month. Only five attended, including me, quite disappointing. The President had no idea why the attendance was so low but announced that due to a lack of help the Pancake Breakfast scheduled for this coming Saturday would be cancelled. Too bad. I was all pumped up to help. LOL.  It doesn't appear that this club is going to be an avenue for me to meet guys to hang out with.  

Wednesday:

The shower in the hall bathroom did not provide hot enough water to shower unless the water heater was turned up to an extremely high temperature - too high for other uses in the house. I turned the water heater down when we got here but the water is still hotter than it needs to be for anything other than this shower. 

I made an educated guess that the shower valve had an anti-scald setting which was out of adjustment. Upon checking on YouTube, I learned that the anti-scald adjustment is part of the valve core, which is behind the handle. I tore into the project. The first problem was getting the handle off. It was really stuck on. I watched a YouTube video of a guy trying to get his handle off. In the process he broke the valve. I REALLY didn't want to do that because I didn't know if a replacement would be readily available. Additionally, there is no way to turn off the water to just to the shower until I could find a replacement part, which could be days, if ever. I proceeded very cautiously. 

The handle is held on to the valve with a set screw. Here is a picture. The arrow points to the hole where you access the set screw to loosen the handle to be able to take it off.

The set screw is an Allen screw. Try as I might, I couldn't get any Allen wrench to work. I even went out and bought a set of Metric Allen wrenches, which were already on my list of tools to buy with the Harbor Freight gift certificate I got from daughter, Annie for Father's Day. None of the Allen wrenches worked. I kept shining the light in that small hole and it looked round rather than multisided like an Allen screw. Strange.

I decided to try my luck at prying the handle off. Before doing that, I sprayed vinegar into the hole in the handle to hopefully loosen any calcium deposits. I let it set for several hours before I started prying on one side of the handle, then the other - back and forth, back and forth, gently, gently. While I was doing this the Allen screw fell out onto the floor. No wonder I couldn't get an Allen wrench to work, the screw wasn't screwed in at all. It apparently had just been lying in the handle for who knows how long. Finally, the handle popped off. I immediately soaked it in vinegar to get all the calcium deposits off for a reinstall. 

Once the handle was off I watched two YouTube videos on how to set the anti-scald feature on a Delta faucet. Unfortunately, while the videos were of all of Delta faucets, none looked like my valve. Mine had a piece on the shaft that the others didn't.  Here is a picture. The arrow points to the metal piece peculiar to mine. The green plastic piece is the anti-scald dial. It pulls out and is turned to adjust the setting.

The metal piece on the shaft prevented the plastic piece from pulling out to adjust. It had to come off before I could change the setting. The metal piece was really stuck on as well. When I pried with a screwdriver, I could see that the gray metal piece was on a brash shaft. So clearly this piece comes off. Very cautiously I pried but the part wouldn't budge. After studying the situation, I decided to put an adjustable wrench behind the nut head and tap the wrench with a hammer. I did this moving from one side to the other, back and forth, back and forth. After about ten good taps on each side - BINGO - the piece popped off and on to the floor. Now I could adjust the anti-scald setting. Behind the green plastic piece there is a black piece of plastic that is geared to it. In the picture you can see that when I started the black piece wrapped around the top of the valve. This setting did not provide enough hot water. 

I reset the anti-scald dial to the hottest setting. I'm not worried about getting scalded. In the picture below you can see that the black piece is now entirely on the left side. i.e. the hot water side.

As I put the parts back together, I covered everything with Vaseline hopefully to make it easier to take apart in the future. I also repositioned the handle so that it now is set correctly for "OFF" and turns to the left for "HOT".

This was a nerve-wracking project because of the chance of breaking something on the valve, which may or may not be available or replaceable. I am really pleased with this fix. I again lowered the temperature of the water heater and it is still plenty hot for a shower. YIPPIE!

The final project of the day was an issue with the back steps. They are painted with shiny gray enamel. Looking down as we came out the door it was hard to tell where each step ended. Complicating the issue, is the fact that the top step is much deeper than the other two steps. This proved a little hazardous for us old people. LOL.  Here is a picture.

On Amazon I purchased two-inch wide "Black Anti-Slip Tape". I installed it on each step. Now there is no problem seeing where each step ends.

Later in the day we made a Costco run for some items we needed. While there I purchased new batteries for the golf cart. I had planned on buying Lithium batteries but Costco had a good price on Interstate flooded cell batteries, so I bought them. Using these will save about $500.00 and they are easier to install since it is just a matter of swapping them out, not rearranging cables. Also, while there we bought a Yamaha Sound Bar and installed it that evening.

Thursday:

The entire day was spent at the St. Lukes Eye Center in Tarpon Springs where Kelly had the first of four eye surgeries she needs. We got there at 10:30 p.m. and left at 4:30 p.m. The surgery went well. She goes back for a checkup next Wednesday and if all is well she will have surgery on the other eye on Thursday. She will then have to wait eight weeks for cataract surgeries.

Friday:

I installed the new golf cart batteries. Here is a picture of the of the new batteries installed and the old batteries in the truck headed back to Costco to get the core charge refunded. He runs like a rabbit now. I still need to install a DC-DC Converter for accessories. The way it is wired now is improper because all 12-volt accessories come off two batteries, instead of all six.

We weren't at all happy with the Yamaha Sound Bar so we took it back to Costco and bought a better (and more expensive) Sony system with a big woofer. 

Saturday:

Although the men's Pancake Breakfast was cancelled, the Ladies Bake Sale fundraiser was held. for a donation I took up bakery cookies we bought at Der Dutchman bakery the other day in Sarasota.

 

We installed the Sony Soundbar. It sounds great and Kelly got it set up that she can listen to music from her phone on it as well as the TV.

Unfortunately, since the soundbar sits in front of the TV it blocks the TV Infared signal. We can't turn the TV off and on with the remote. Here is a picture. The arrow points to the bottom of the TV which is blocked by the sound bar. I solved this by making a box to raise the TV up above the sound bar.

Here in Florida I have very limited tools, and only a few scraps of wood to work with for such a project. Luckily the other day my neighbor gave me two pieces of wood to make a shelf in the shed. The smaller piece was a piece of plywood that was large enough for this project. With a little scrounging I came up with enough wood to make sides of the box. It is a little tricky ripping two-inch strips with a circular saw but I got it done. I painted the box black, like the TV base, with paint I had left over from the stepstool project. Here is a picture of the box as the paint is drying.

Another project today was fixing the bed frame in the guest bedroom. When we moved the bed we did not realize that there was a center support underneath which did not have a roller on it like the four corners. Moving the bed dislodged this support. Of course, the bed was way too heavy for me to lift to reinstall this support. Fortunately, I brought from home a scissors jack (which came off the front of Homer) for working on the golf cart. Here is a picture of the jack in place for this project. The drill couldn't budge it, so I had to use a half inch ratchet.

 

Here is a picture of the center support which fell totally off when I jacked up the bed. I didn't expect that.

The reason it fell off is that it was just sitting in place with a bolt with no nut on it on both sides. When I got the mattress lifted up I got the bolt out and this is what I found on each side. These were too small and not the correct type of bolt.

The frame is made to have a carriage bolt come down through the side rail and through the center support. The carriage bolt allows you to put a nut on the bottom without the bolt turning on top of the bedframe.  I trip to Home Depot was in order to get two carriage bolts, lock washers, and nuts.  Here is the final result. You can see the support leg in the middle with no roller on it. This set up makes it a little tricky to move the bed around since the bed rolls but the center support doesn't. I don't understand why it is made that way.

Final Note:

It is interesting getting into the swing of things at the park. This is what our calendar looks like this month with many activities and several doctors' appointments. Crazy.

While we haven't participated in several of the activities marked on the calendar yet, we have had plenty to keep us busy so far. There is a dance next Wednesday but with Kelly's follow-up doctor visit we will skip it. 

Sunday after church will be a day of "rest" since it is supposed to rain all day. There is a water shortage here, so they are welcoming the rain.