Month: October 2012

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Solar Array Monitor Wonkiness

Croft’s troubles with his RV fridge has reminded me that I forgot to share a rather amusing anecdote about my solar array monitor.

I tend to check all my monitors and sensors two or three days a day, more when I’m boondocking, less when I’m on shore power. Last week, I paused to make lunch, checked my monitors, and everything looked good except that my solar array monitor was flashing 6 volts and change.

My first reaction was confusion. Then, I realised that 6 volts and change is half of 13 volts and change. So my monitor was only registering one of my batteries.

Everything in the battery bank looked fine, but I was able to give the new bolt a couple more turns with a wrench. It’s so hard to get in there that I must have told myself, “Good enough” when I made the modification when I needed to put in just a bit more effort.

Hopefully, this will be the last tweak, but it’s gratifying to know that, so far, I haven’t had any major corrections to make to my new system. I look forward to testing the inverter, which I will do on the journey from here back to Hampton Roads. If I have any concerns, I’ll have several weeks there to effect corrections.

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I Am Now REALLY French

I have a decidedly more adventurous palate now than I did when I was younger. I credit sushi for a lot of that since the stuff that comes out of the sea can be very strange indeed.

There is one dish that I have always avoided as it truly repulses me. Every time I see a picture of it, my gag reflex starts. And every time, I think that I gobble down eel. My logic is definitely lacking!

Tonight, my mother made this dish as an entrée (which is an appetizer for my American readers). I decided that it was time. I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to look at the item in question, took a piece, and chewed slowly.

The picture of this dish sucks as I only had my phone, but, truly, it didn’t look appetizing at all:

What are you looking at? An escargot in garlic and chive butter sauce. Yes, a snail.

I had two more. They were very tender and the flavour was very delicate and mostly over powered by the sauce. In other words, with my eyes closed, they were completely forgettable. At least, I now know that I can be served escargots and they will go down my gullet smoothly, but I would not seek them out. I know my dad used to love them, surprisingly enough for a meat and potatoes man, but now I understand that it was probably the garlic butter he loved.

Next up on my ‘I can’t believe I haven’t tried this yet’ is black caviar. No concern on that end, I know I will love it. I’ve got to make a point to find out what a good affordable brand is and where to buy some.

Now, I am off to try my squid ink pasta!

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Truck Mystery Noise Diagnosis!

I took the truck out after a big rainfall this afternoon and, just like after taking the truck out during rainfalls twice, The Noise came back.

I immediately drove to the garage, left the truck running, and went in to ask if a mechanic would be available. Sure, in a few minutes. Less than three minutes later, the same guy who worked on the truck previously came out. I told him the sound is very loud inside but you can barely hear it outside.

He got in the truck and then asked me to come in to confirm that we were hearing the same thing. I said yes. He burst out laughing.

He asked, “What’s the first thing you do when it’s raining and you get in the truck?”

I replied, “I turn on my blower to defog the windows.”

He nodded, turned off the blower, and the noise stopped. “You have leaves in your blower. Your manual will tell you how to get to it to clean it out. You don’t want to pay me $100 to do that.”

LEAVES. I have been stressed out because of LEAVES.

He added, “The guy in Gatineau with the worst case scenario is a jerk. You have a gorgeous truck with low mileage that has obviously been babied and which is going to give you years of trouble free use. One alarmist, and you don’t trust a truck that got you across the continent without any trouble. Relax and enjoy it!”

And so I shall endeavour to do!

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Why I’m Still in Quebec

It’s been quiet around here this past month because I’ve been too stressed to do anything beyond working, sleeping, and eating as my truck needs work to be able to tow it behind the rig so that I can get out of here before the weather turns. Needless to say, the window of opportunity is closing very fast.

The problem is that I’m about $4,500 short in my budget this summer because of the accident since I had to return to Alberta to get the truck. Maxing out credit cards and emptying the emergency fund wouldn’t close this gap or eliminate the stress.

I was patient with the third party adjuster, waiting until September to ask how the claim was going. I agreed to settle for $3,400 with payment to be made by October 1st. That deadline came and went without any further news, beyond my representative being in touch to let me know he was pushing for me.

October 18th came around and by this point I’ll admit I had cracked. I was terribly sick the Monday and Tuesday of that week. It was probably just a little stomach bug that compounded because of the sleepless nights brought on by stress.

At 3:07PM on the 18th, I sent my representative an email with the subject, “Final request for settlement.” I then reiterated my position, where things stand, what additional costs will be added up if I don’t get a cheque immediately, that I regret not having a lawyer speak for me from the start, and that the insurance company is mistaken in their belief that I won’t sue.

At 13:17, my representative let me know that he sent my email on to the third party insurer.

At 3:20, the third party insurers let my representative know that they were cutting me a cheque for $3,400 immediately. So that’s what it takes to get things moving with a U.S. insurance company.

It’s now the 30th and the cheque has arrived in Montreal!!!!!!! I will be picking it up tomorrow morning and it will take a full week to clear, although I will have access to part of the funds.

Last week, when I took my truck out for a test drive, I stopped at a nearby RV dealership to ask if they could install the base plate on my truck. Yes. And they felt that even if there was a delay with getting the part, they could get me on the road by November 14th at the latest. So I called back today to get the ball rolling. I’ll know tomorrow when the base plate will be incoming so we can set an appointment.

Now, the big hiccup is my tow bar. After doing a lot of research, I have decided on a Ready Brute Elite tow bar as it has a braking system integrated into it, which will save me nearly $1,000. It’s a well rated and proven system that is perfect for a manual Ford Ranger. The only hiccup is that I need to get it here from the States and I can’t order it till my cheque clears. Moreover, there is a part of it that needs to be installed by professionals. The dealership said they would be willing to install that part if the bar arrives in time.

So I am going to schedule my appointment at the last possible second and will be ready to pull out the day after. They dealership says that I would have to bring my truck in first thing, then pick it up in the afternoon with the motorhome. So I would leave the dealership with my vehicles properly hooked up together, park overnight on the street, and head south the next morning.

My deadline for the appointment is the 14th because as of the night of the 15th, I can’t park on the street anymore. My mother’s driveway isn’t big enough for my rig, my truck, and her SUV, so I have to be gone. Can all of this be done in just two weeks? I’ve seen bigger miracles…

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Being Independent For Power Rocks

I have some clients on the west coast who are concerned that I may not be able to deliver jobs on time because of Hurricane Sandy. Now, Montreal is supposed to be spared most of the rain, but big winds are incoming. That already means power and communications outages that will get worse the closer Sandy gets to us.

It is very comforting that I can keep working through power outages because I am independent for power and that I will be able to deliver the jobs as long as the cellular network is up and running. I learned in Dawson that cellular internet is more reliable than the hard wired kind, one of the reasons being that it doesn’t require power.

Going back to ‘normal’ life would be very difficult now that I’ve experience what it is like to live mostly off the grid. If I were to go that route, then I would have to find housing that allows me a measure of grid independence.