tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32469919551462172552023-12-12T11:40:25.868-05:00The Arleth AdventuresRetirement with a van, a dog, two cats, and me.Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.comBlogger126125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-46319008577692707412018-04-25T15:41:00.000-04:002018-04-25T15:43:02.917-04:00JRs RV Repair in Gettysburg, PAI had my appointment with JRs RV Repair in Gettysburg, PA yesterday. I am very pleased with him. A very nice, professional, and competent RV tech. He nicely answered all my questions and I learned from him and he showed no disdain when one problem was revealed as self-inflicted. Because I was not in an emergency situation, I got a 10am appointment at his shop just west of Gettysburg, PA, about anTesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-54778751754569926602018-03-31T00:01:00.001-04:002018-03-31T16:43:35.604-04:00That Dang Sprinter Sliding Door and UpdatesIt has been years since I posted here because I've been busy remodeling my house.
Sliding Door
I just got a bunch of maintenance done on my Sprinter Van. In addition to getting all the fluids changed and filters replaced, I asked them to fix my aggravating sliding door. Way back in this post, I did some surgery on my door handle. It worked for awhile, then not. Lots of spraying lube into the Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-35519195913592646632014-05-18T17:59:00.001-04:002014-05-18T17:59:38.950-04:00Computers and Comms in 2014I thought I would do an update on my choices and experiences for computers and connectivity on the road. Over the last year, I've made a lot of changes in this area.
Last year I did this:
Bought a tablet in January '13
Bought an ultralight laptop computer (Sony SVP132A1CL) in June
Bought a new phone (Nexus 5), unlocked in November
Dumped Sprint and got StraightTalk prepaid cell Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-34682475368431243172014-05-18T16:08:00.003-04:002014-05-18T16:08:53.052-04:00LiFePO4 Batteries - First Camping Use at SprinterFest
SprinterFest
Boondocking
I spent the first weekend in May boondocking at the SprinterFest on my new LiFePO4s. My batteries
easily lasted the 3 days running my marine fridge and the usual few
minutes of furnace in the morning, water pump, etc. The fridge ran
almost constantly but I'm not sure why - it may still have issues of
its own. I love having double the amp hours (AH) I had with the Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-10208982334759978032014-05-18T14:23:00.000-04:002014-05-18T14:23:50.352-04:00The Bed – Redux
Former Use:
My van has the old
style benches that form a really big bed in the back like a set of
legos. There are 8 cushions that fit over the benches and on top of
two 3’ long particle board slabs that sit on the ledges affixed to
the sides of benches. There is only me and 2 cats that sleep on the
bed. The dog gets the floor on rugs. I refuse to struggle for space
with a 60# dog.
I Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-7876659831815149972014-04-22T12:26:00.000-04:002018-03-31T16:59:28.459-04:00Reinstall Refrigerator
The outside air for refrigerator ventilation I rigged up really didn't work well due to the very hot summers we have. The fridge is made to use air under 110F. I sealed up the lower vent and insulated the upper vent cavity and put a piece of vinyl flashing around it. I used the good aluminum duct tape to secure the insulation better and decided the refrigerator doesn't Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-64065768293136493892014-04-22T11:46:00.000-04:002014-05-18T16:20:28.621-04:00Open Cavity - I Get Busy
With the refrigerator out of the van and the cavity open, I had easy access to the electric cavity from above by taking out the cavity floor.
Cabinets
In the meantime, I
decided I was tired of clocking my head on the cabinet handles that
stick out and got new ones to replace them. I found some very pretty
ones that are a bail type (like on furniture) that also only drop
down 1”. The hardTesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-52207018725931756602014-04-21T11:30:00.002-04:002014-05-18T16:20:46.430-04:00LiFePO4 Batteries - First Experience
3/21/14
The
batteries were left with the van sitting and not doing anything after
the batteries were installed. I pulled the fuse on the CO and LP
monitors because they are not working and beeping. After about 2.5
weeks, the battery monitor said they were at 12.5V and the next
morning, they had shut down entirely. The Battery Management System
(BMS) is supposed to do that with a bit of Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-28088331440121258602014-03-13T19:29:00.000-04:002014-04-21T11:31:40.957-04:00LiFePO4 Batteries
I decided to go ahead
with replacing my very dead Group 31 AGM batteries with LiFePO4 batteries
of the same size. I contacted Smartbattery.com and they were very
responsive to all my questions. They weren't the very cheapest I
found on the Internet but they seemed to be one of the few who have a
clear business and support their product. After a couple of days, I
got handed Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-49557692727793114902014-02-10T17:18:00.000-05:002014-04-21T11:32:35.136-04:00House Batteries - Going to LithiumIt is time. My two 3+ year old 100AH AGM house batteries are toast (I found a date on the sides after I pulled them out). Using the shore power and the converter/charger, they haven't got up above 11.1 volts. On the off chance that there is something wrong with the charger, I attached a regular charger and got same thing. They won't charge so they are dead. Time to replace them. This Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-50623847092304781572014-02-10T17:16:00.002-05:002014-02-10T17:16:28.112-05:00LTE RunawayLast month, I got an AT&T hotspot and was quite happy with it. I have the 5GB/$50/month thing. My house is among the many places where there is very limited Internet options. The AT&T signal is good there and most of them time I get good speed with it. In all of January, I used about 2.5GB of data. Quite good since it even included streaming a single TV program.
A few days ago, I Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-51520628714808191542014-01-14T19:52:00.001-05:002014-01-14T19:52:10.646-05:00Purging onMy dump run was 660 pounds of old door and trim, the vinyl and underlayment pieces for my hall and powder room and a lot of accumulated household trash. Nice to have it gone but there's a lot more.
I've been in this house for 20 years. 20 years of accumulated stuff. We really do expand our stuff to the space we have. And then some. I've been clearing out the family room, my main room that I'veTesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-49685482503510154412013-12-26T22:29:00.001-05:002013-12-26T22:29:56.861-05:00Whoa!!
This month, I got a new cell phone: the new Nexus 5 unlocked, and tried out StraightTalk $45 for a month of unlimited talk, text, data. It is on the AT&T network and can do the LTE data speeds. The down side is that once you use up 2.5GB of data, they throttle you to 2g speeds and you can't tether the phone or roam. But I can get 5-6mbs upload and 2-3 mps download speedsTesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-26846725132124411842013-11-29T14:44:00.000-05:002013-11-29T18:05:08.786-05:00Musing on Thanksgiving as a Single RetireeAnother Thanksgiving has come and gone, this time with the stores deciding their employees had so little pull that they could force them to have no holiday and come to work for the mad acquisition fanatics to indulge their whims on a national holiday. I'm one who gets irritated at the onslaught of the Christmas buying spree starting before Halloween. I like the Fall. The right wing Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-69180580463222654382013-11-10T17:14:00.000-05:002014-01-14T19:52:45.604-05:00To the Dump, To the Dump, Dump, Dump
Today, I lined the van with tarps and filled it to the gills with trash. I think it's been almost a year since the last time I went so there are quite a few bags of household trash. The big stuff is the old front door and trim along with the vinyl floor and underlayment from my hall and powder room. I don't pay for trash pickup. I figured out years ago that I just don't produce enough trash to Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-79704314886829976382013-10-31T17:49:00.000-04:002013-10-31T17:50:29.316-04:00Happy All Hallow's Een
Happy Halloween. All Hallows Eve, the half way point of Fall when traditions celebrated the onset of winter and ever shorter days. According to the Celts, it was the end of the old year and the veils between the worlds of the living and the dead were thinned so the hallows (ghosts, spirits) could walk among us.
I don't believe in anything supernatural so I have no fear of it but I do like Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-81117703901819435992013-08-29T23:16:00.000-04:002013-08-30T11:34:39.039-04:00It's Always Something ...
Ow
We got cleared for dog swimming and walks this week along with instructions to do core exercises on an air mattress and I am directed to pull my dog's tail. The tail pull is like chiropractic for dogs and helps to align her spine and release pressure. She thinks that is a bit weird but does seems to feel better with it. So it was off to the lake yesterday to have a good swim which sheTesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-10217955401130803212013-08-25T19:45:00.001-04:002013-08-25T19:45:13.501-04:00Life with Furry Invalids
It's been the better part of a week with my 2 furry invalids. The feisty cat with the nasty bite and the dog with newly diagnosed but early spondyloses. The cat has been wearing a lampshade on his head to keep him from licking and irritating the wound except when I feed him. The wound is looking like it is slowly healing - darker in color but no weeping fluid. He acts drunk with cone on. Odd Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-73492852572167321062013-08-20T19:14:00.000-04:002013-08-20T19:14:37.805-04:00Chugging Along and Vet Merry Go RoundSince I got back from my trip in July, I've been working along on my main objective: fix up this house so I can sell it. I just finished the ceiling and walls of the powder room with wainscot beadboard. I went ahead and installed the toilet paper holder and towel holder and new mirror. Now the front part of the house is finally ready to lay the flooring after I clean it all out to clear outTesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-67762568208646754162013-08-04T22:08:00.000-04:002013-08-04T22:08:02.705-04:00FailuresSome things I set up in my van have not worked out so well. So I change them and learn from the failure.
Cat litter box
My first attempt was to put the litter box under the bench but I quickly learned the hard way (a quick diversion to a laundromat) that there just wasn't enuf head room in there. My raised bench/bed made plenty of room and it seemed to work fine for one cat but the other one, Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-62372102437606924712013-07-31T22:39:00.000-04:002013-07-31T22:39:10.936-04:00A Yearly trip 2/3's across the countryI just got back from a quick trip to Colorado and back inside of 2 weeks for our family reunion. I wanted to make it quick because the yard gets so out of control in the summer and I really want to focus my efforts of getting this house ready for sale next year instead of indulging in wandering.
The trip out took 3 1/2 days of pretty solid driving. It was hot and humid until I got to the high Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-37921027532603310092013-06-29T14:15:00.000-04:002013-06-29T14:15:08.166-04:00Thinking ...There's only a couple weeks left before I have to take off on my Colorado trip this summer for a family reunion. An idea about sleeping arrangements has been rolling around my head a bit lately. I raised my bed with 2'x4' x 7.5" high boxes over the benches and sleep cross-wise in the back of the van. At 67" tall, I just barely fit and usually sleep a bit crosswise. It works ok. That height Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-33026147570760764792013-06-28T20:32:00.000-04:002013-06-29T08:38:05.741-04:00What I've Been Doing ...Not in the least RV, travel, or van related ...
I have a house with a little acreage that I want to sell. I've lived here for 20 years and always had planned on doing some remodeling. Strip wallpaper and paint. Fix some stupid things the builder did like delete a small coat closet straight in front of the front door and put a spacious one in the hallway at the sacrifice of a bit of space in the Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-10800041938904985642013-04-26T15:17:00.001-04:002013-06-29T14:32:14.160-04:00Getting Ready for Sprinterfest
I had a lot of fun and learned some interesting things last year, so we are going again this year. The location is very easy for me - only about 90 miles away. Unlike last year, the weather will be really nice in the upper 60s or low 70s. Last year was chilly. I'm going to keep the dog on a tether so she can't go crazy getting people to throw toys for her. This is Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246991955146217255.post-80322928377182856452013-04-11T11:21:00.002-04:002013-06-29T14:32:30.827-04:00Mission Creep
In installing my new back splash in my galley, I removed the stove cover to have access to caulk the counter seam. My stove is the old fashioned type that sits on top of the counter with a 2" lid. I'd like one of those that sits flush with the counter but this one works great so I have no plans to replace it.
In removing it, I discovered the hinges are rusty. Very rusty.&Tesajehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15965295812302989459noreply@blogger.com2