Walt's Corner

Early last month (July) I wrote about May’s Energy usage and how much longer our air conditioner had to run to maintain 73-74º inside the house during our days of 100-110º weather.

Since our air conditioner was over 17 years old now and the fact that Freon for this old system is much harder (if at all possible) to find, we decided it was time to replace it. Replace it while it was still operating and not replace it because it broke down. That would probably force us to take whatever is available in stock to minimize the downtime of cool air.

We decided on a Trane Premium system. 2-stage variable system. It did take over a week to come in and then another week to where the authorized Trane dealer’s and our schedule lined up to make it happen.

In our area, there is only one authorized installer – Dynamic Heating, Cooling, and Refrigeration. They did an excellent job. Nothing but praise from me. They had the new system installed and running by the end of the day, with cosmetic finishing touches completed by lunch the following day. They even put in an extra return vent at my request.

When they realized the three of them were not going to be able to lift the massive new condenser over our wall for placement in the back yard, they called in a crane to handle the task.

Now our house can get down into the 60s should I choose to do so. Typically I enjoy 72 at night and 73 during the day. With the 2 stages and variable condenser, it can be barely running at 30% if that’s what it takes to maintain our temperature, or it can be like a blasting fan when more oomph is needed. Love it!

Before heading up to the Lincoln National Forest for Memorial Day weekend, I noticed the fresh water tank hanging low on the back drivers’ side. Further inspection revealed a busted bracket. Fuck! I was able to secure it with a cargo strap for the trip, but a more permanent solution would be required.

I was not motivated enough to spend an entire weekend dedicated to this repair, but I was motivated enough to NOT pay a repair shop for the work. While this post documents each day of work, know that it was one to four hours per day, and one day per weekend that I dedicated to this.

This ends up being much more labor intensive than the initial building of the RV because this bracket is fabricated on the spot as it is being built, AND while the coach has not been assembled onto the trailer yet. So they can just stand over the trailer frame and mount it all from above. I don’t have that luxury. I used the tongue jack to crank up the front end as high as possible and I crawled up underneath to make this repair.

Day One – 1 hour

I crawled under and removed that bracket so I can see how I’m going to fix it. Was not an easy task, to be sure. At least the cargo strap is holding the water tank and protective cover in place while the bracket is removed.

Hauling the trailer down normal roads probably would not have broken this bracket. It is those forest and back desert roads (and off roading) that are so hard on a fully filled 45-gallon water tank. Onto the frame of the bracket, Lance welds an end cap which contains a couple wing tabs that extend out for securing the bracket to the frame of the trailer – 2 bolts on each side. Same setup for the front of the fresh water tank. Down the middle is the strap that connects the front bracket to the rear bracket and literally holds up the tank.

Day Two – 2 hours

I cut off those wing tab end caps and fabricated two L-brackets of similar width to the bracket bar. I had to apply a torch to 1/8 inch steel bars in order to bend the steel without breaking or weakening the steel’s integrity. A final heating and cooling cycle for additional hardening. Instead of using a wing bracket to secure to the frame, I now have a L bracket that points straight down from the bracket. This was where my first mistake was made. The bend of my first bracket did not happen where I intended. I’ve never bent steal like this. This made it an inch longer than I intended. I’ll deal with that later if necessary. The 2nd bracket I took that Kentucky windage into consideration and was able to get it to bend exactly where I wanted. Put a fresh coat of paint on the entire bracket.

Day Three – 1 hour

Next step was attaching the brackets to the bar. I went with some self tapping screws, drilling down from the top of the bracket to keep the stubby ends from poking into the floor of the trailer.

Day Four – 2 hours.

Now that I had the bracket fabricated, I had to maneuver it back into place up under the trailer. Because of my extended L brackets, that proved impossible unless I removed the tunnel cover that runs between the axles housing HVAC ventilating hose and miscellaneous wires. After removing that tunnel cover I was able to position the bracket into place with ease.

Remember that mistake of the inch longer than intended bracket? This is where it bit me in the ass. The bracket would not rest clean against the trailer frame. IT was resting on another bolt. I would have to come back with a cutter. Would I remove the bracket and take it back home or come another day with a cutter? I chose the latter. Another day it is.

Day 5 – 1 hour

Today would be spend cutting off an inch of bracket. With an angle grinder. While installed in place. Right next to a propane line. “Careful” was the word of the day! Success! Now the bracket fit perfectly in place. But still not flush against the frame. To properly mount the bracket to the trailer frame I needed the brackets clamped flush to the trailer. This was not going to happen without some type of C-clamp that had a throat much larger than any I already owned. Sounds like I’ve finished for the day.

Day Six – 4 hours

With the bracket in place and my newly purchased 18-inch C-clamp locking pliers, I was able to secure the passenger side bracket with 1 self tapping screw, but the 2nd one proved to be some trouble. Eventually I stripped that side out. Moved to the driver’s side and almost had the same result. Found my problem before I stripped this one. More steal to go through than the 1st screw. Needed a slightly longer one. A trip to Lowes and back fixed it. But it was too late for that other side. Already stripped out. It needs the next size up, or a simple bolt/locking nut combo.

Day Seven – 3 hours

Ended up using a 5/16 bolt with lock washer after drilling out the hole I stripped. Only took about 15 minutes to drill up the hole a couple sizes and install the nut/bolt combo. Made sure everything was put back properly and tightened, as well as shoring up some of the power and propane lines with pipe insulation for protection against vibration against the new metal parts.

I felt victorious as I removed that makeshift cargo strap “bracket” I installed back on Memorial Day weekend.

14 hours of labor and less than $150 in parts (including a new torch and C-Clamp locking pliers) I was able to get it back in operation. Question is, when will our next Field Training Exercise be?

I hear it every morning on the my local ABC News affiliate, KVIA. Today is national belly button lint day! Or, National Sour Candy Day! National Toe Jam Day! The early morning anchors are shared little packages of sour candies. And what determines if they’re sharing candies or ripping off their shoes and digging out a healthy (?) portion of jam from in between their toes and sharing?

If you’re the celebrating type, or just need an official reason to enjoy those libations at night, there’s a website to monitor – National Day Calendar. There appears to be an abundance of apps to download on both the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Whether you are planning to celebrate National Ice Cream Day, National Play Day, National Daiquiri Day, or National Friends With Words Day, you’ll be sure to find something to celebrate every day. Today I’ll be celebrating Ice Cream and Daiquiri days. I sometimes use tequila instead of rum.

My order of 99-X from Marion-Kay arrived. It is the same thing as the smaller version of their Chicken Seasoning Plus without all the salt. You’ll especially love this if you’re that guy who doesn’t buy regular seasoning due to high salt content. You get a condensed version of the seasoning.

 

For example, the instructions call for mixing the entire 25 ounces of seasoning with three pounds of salt, which you then combine with 25 pounds of flour. That is a lot of breading! Meant for the customer base of a restaurant, obviously. I definitely won’t be making 25 pounds of breading flour. Here is my breakdown for smaller portions. I’ve taken the liberty of rounding down when converting to grams. For a pound of flour use the Divide by 25. For a cup of flour use the Divide by 80. This is the one I usually use. I’m breading 2-4 boneless/skinless chicken tenders and deep frying. I prefer may a wee bit more seasoning than listed. For example, I may use the Divide by 50 amount of seasoning with the Divide by 80 salt/flour.

 

Divide by 5

• 5 oz (141g) seasoning
• 9.6 oz (272g) salt
• 80 oz (2,268g) flour

 

Divide by 25

• 1oz (28g) seasoning
• 1.92 oz (54g) salt
• 16 oz (453g) flour

 

Divide by 50

• 14g seasoning
• 27g salt
• 226g flour

 

Divide by 80

• 9g seasoning
• 17g salt
• 141g flour

 

It’s hard to write an original review these days as someone who doesn’t (nor would want to) have early access for the sole purpose of writing a review. I enjoy reading. I enjoy writing. What I don’t enjoy is feeling obligated to read or write. If I write a review, it is because I want to. And I definitely want to write about FUN TIMES AT THE BLOODBATH.

Ginger Nuts Horror review probably puts it most eloquently as Strand’s “sharpest, funniest, and most unsettling novel in years.”  Can I even reference another review from my own? Sure I can. I just did. In the words of Ziggy, “Let’s do this, bitches!” Don’t know who Ziggy is? You will – if you read FUN TIMES AT THE BLOODBATH. 

Our protagonist is Margot. Her brother receives a personal invite to beta-test a new video game about to enter the market. A game that, despite the low-end graphics, promises to be the hottest and bloodiest new game. What none of the beta-testers are suspecting is how this game has been engineered to be so addictive that they cease all efforts of survival – think eating, drinking, sleeping, relieving themselves of bodily waste. Anyone who interferes with their gameplay meets with tragic results. But Margot is on the case until the end. Little does she realize she is part of the sinister plot to release the game to the masses!

As usual, Strand’s wordsmithing kept me engaged beyond my usual pre-bedtime casual reading. It was almost as though I was… addicted? Damn you Jeff!

There are so many moving parts to this story a concordance would almost be justified. When Strand moves you on to the next set of characters, you reluctantly read ahead, still wanting to know what’s going to happen to the last group of individuals you were reading about but soon their fate falls to the wayside as you are fully engulfed in the next set’s plight. Then we spin on a dime and continue on with the previous sets of characters and I found myself saying, “oh yeah… back to these guys!”

Moneyquote: “And she wasn’t thrilled to know her daughter had a clit ring.”

And now that I have finished FUN TIMES IN THE BLOODBATH – no wait, AT THE BLOODBATH, is there anything more I can do? Have I peaked? All I can do is say goodnight!

Pick up your digital or paperback here, but do so at your own risk.