I'm still kicking!

A lot has happened since last we spoke. I won the lottery, got married, missed a place on the US Decathalon team by .007 of a second, and bought a Prevost.

Okay, just kidding. I've been leading a quiet life. The Escapade was nice, met some new Solos. After the rally a bunch of us went back to the Moose lodge in Gillete for a week. Then I went onto the Moose in Belle Fourche, SD and to the Elks in Rapid City, doing the sightseeing thing. But not much to tell you. I drove through Custer State Park, and saw not one, not ONE buffalo. How bad does that suck?

I'm here in Cheyenne, Wyo for the Cheyenne Frontier Days. This is a really great town. Everybody really makes the tourists feel welcome. With the free pancake breakfasts, the parades, the Thunderbirds air Show, the open house at the Air Force Base, the melodrama and the daily shootouts downtown, as well as the rodeo, there is so much to do here.

There were nine of us WINs here, though three have left and others will be pulling out this weekend. The VFW was welcoming as always, with a steady stream of popcorn during happy hour.

Just before I arrived here, it rained pretty hard, and the leak near the front door returned. Last summer Ron got up on the roof and sucessfully stopped the leak, but it has returned. So I got John C. to re-patch the area. Thanks John. We have to wait for another hard rain to see if it worked.

I'll try to post more often, since on know you're just waiting to see what exiting things I'm up to.

Happy Birthday, Big Brother

Today is my big brother's birthday.

He's actually a little older than this now, Dave is 60 today.

I want to wish him a very Happy Birthday and many more.

And yes, I did send him a card, so this isn't just a cheap way to send my best.

Happy Birthday, Dave. Have a great day.

I'm Saved! (electrical problem update)

Well, everything is fine now, all my electrical is working again, and I'm relieved, giddy and completely exhausted.

Yesterday morning we determined that the problem was not the inverter. Good, saved me a $471 repair bill, but bad, now we have to look further.

So I called Pete Bonine, who even long distance is a lifesaver. We told me how to isolate the circuit that was causing the problem, and with the help of my friends Mike Hoary and Bill Mikiewicz we did indeed find the circuit. Actually they did all the work. I took them out for pizza last night.

Early this morning I called Winnebago and spoke to Rod in their service department. Told him the problem, and he hunted for a few minutes, and finally said, well, the only thing on that circuit that would cause that large draw is the engine heater. I told him I never use the engine heater, but I dutifully went to look, and WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE?????? The engine heater was on. I turned it off and my problem went away.

So all of you that right away suggested I had something left on after I'd been hooked up, pat yourselves on the back, you were absolutely right. I looked at everything except the engine heater because I never use it. So now it's unplugged and I put tape over the switch so I won't be tempted to accidentally turn it on again.
It is next to the electric water heater, which I do remember turning on.

I'm so glad it was only that, and I'm kicking myself for turning it on. I don't remember to do it, but of course I did. I'm glad that you all have never done anything that dumb, right?

I'm never plugging in again!

Well, the rally's over, and we're back here at the Moose Lodge in Gillette Wyoming. I'll post some pictures as soon as I can steal some from John. You know I forgot to take my camera most of the time.

I was plugged in to 50amp electrical service all week at the Cam-Plex, only the second time I've done so since September 2007. I'm boondocking here at the Moose, and when I turned on the inverter, I got quite the surprise.

Normally when I turn on the inverter, I see a reading of 50-85 watts, depending on what is plugged into 110 volt outlets and their phantom loads. But now when I plug in, I see a reading of 1000 watts. Yes, one thousand watts! AC watts, and it drains the batteries in a matter of minutes. I quickly shut it off.

I called Coachnet, my emergency roadside service, and they are just great. Can't say enough good things about them. It was a Saturday of a holiday weekend, no place is open, but their technician talked me through a lot of diagnostics before he ran out of suggestions. So Monday morning they called back and had gotten me an appointment on Tuesday afternoon. The great part of that is the repair place is less than a block from the Moose lodge; I'm looking right at it.

I called the manufacturer who gave me some more diagnostics to tell the repair facility. We will quickly be able to tell if it's the inverter or not. So I'm confident that soon I will be up and running again. Thank goodness all the truly important things in my motorhome are 12volt - water pump, water heater, fridge, lights, 12volt outlets, etc.

I'm convinced that the inverter is angry at me for bypassing it this week. So, I promise, no more plugging in, ever again!!! Well, maybe...

I'm coveting this rig

Yep, this is the one I want. I'd be able to off-road in this, don't you think?
Kinda big, though, huh?


Okay, I'm just kidding. This enormous thing is sitting by the Cam-Plex with a display of equipment used in the mining industry here in Wyoming. Man, this thing is big. I don't know what it is, but I'd hate to buy tires for it.

The most beautiful children in the world!!!!!!

Everybody else shows pictures of their lovely relatives, and now you get to see mine. My niece and nephew's two darling daughters. Are they grand-nieces or great-nieces? Great-nieces, I think, because they are just great!!!

Hi, Piper and Finley!

(cropped without permission)

Happy Anniversary to ME

Today, July 1st, 2008 is a BIG day. It's the 10th anniversary of my freedom, I mean corporate downsizing, no I really mean retirement.

Wow, I cannot believe it's been ten years. And the best ten years of my life, I'm sure. I bought my motorhome in September of 1998, and how that has changed my life.

I think fondly today of all the people who've come into and gone out of my life in those ten years. The really good friends that I have, the really strange people I've met, those I've lost, those I'd like to lose. No, just kidding about that last.

I would also like to thank Bernie Ebbers, former head of Worldcom and MCI, for making my retirement possible. Bernie was cooking the books at MCI, and claimed to have very low expenses. My corporate giant, AT&T, couldn't compete with it's higher expenses, so it started laying people off in order to reduce expenses. So now I'm living the good life, Bernie's doing 25 years in the pokey, and AT&T got bought out. Who's the winner here? I chuckle a lot, thanking ole Bernie.

Here's to ten more good years. And here's hoping you are enjoying your life as much as I am mine.