Month: February 2013

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Getting the Mail

After putting in a few hours of work on my book this morning, I headed out to the post office where a new battery for my cell phone was awaiting me.

The cell phone has pretty much been dead for weeks, but it took me a while to concede this fact even though the phone will randomly turn off even when it is plugged into a power source. I found a genuine Verizon battery on Amazon for just under $7 with free shipping from a well rated seller. The new battery’s arrival could not have been timed better because the phone shut off late this morning and refused to turn back on!

To my surprise, my O’Reilly’s gift card had also arrived! Walmart didn’t have any refrigerant for vehicle ACs, so I headed to O’Reilly’s to see if they carried such a thing, which they did. Since I’m not sure that adding refrigerant will actually start my compressor, I bought the cheapest kit they had, which was about $20 and included a hose but no gauge.

Next, I moseyed over to the tools to look for a socket wrench kit. Everything on display was way more expensive than I was willing to pay ($50 to several hundred dollars). I crouched down to see what was on the bottom shelf, knowing from my days in retail that you can find very good deals near the floor, and I emerged with this:

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It’s a 57 piece set with both metric and imperial sockets. Not the best quality, but should serve me well for the little amount I will use it, and was just $20.

I wasn’t even tempted to have lunch in Port Lavaca since I had my lunch all planned out even before I headed out:

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(Lightly seasoned black refried beans, tomato, avocado, a squirt of lime juice over a grilled tortilla.)

It is scary windy out there right now, so I’m staying in, putting as much weight as I can on the passenger side (JOKING), and will wait patiently to see if the can of refrigerant helps my truck at all. As for the socket wrench set, I will be using it to disconnect my truck battery to reset the check engine light. I know why the light went on and the issue was resolved, so there’s no point having it on the dash mocking me. 🙂

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A Perfect Route Materializes

Reader Debbie emailed me regarding my two possible routes north and inadvertently helped me come up with the perfect compromise!

Check out this beauty:

route 3

It’s route 1, but instead of continuing diagonally through the Dakotas to Montana I veer straight west in South Dakota through the Black Hills and hit Wyoming exactly where I need to visit the Devil’s Tower.

I get to see L in Wichita, P.J. in near Omaha, cross the Black Hills and Devil’s Tower off my bucket list, and avoid the mess around Denver while not having to spend more than a night at a rest area in Wyoming. This route is perfect!

Wow, I’m almost excited about the fact that I have to go north very soon. Ain’t that something? 🙂

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Xantrex LinkPro Charging Amps Discrepancy

Caroline and her hubby are exercising their generator tonight by letting me plug in. I thought, woohoo! I’ll have a fully charged house battery bank tonight AND a fully charged computer!

Reality according to my LinkPro has been somewhat… disappointing.

Since yesterday, when I actually hit full charging amps from my solar panel for a bit, I’ve noticed that my LinkPro is only showing half the amps going in that my solar charger claims is going. And, yes, this reading is taken with everything off.

I’m getting the same deal from my dedicated battery charger! I’m on the 15A setting and only getting a measly 7.5A in. If I plug in the computer, I only get 2A. 7.5A is barely worth running the genny for and 2A is a waste of gas.

Who do I trust? The solar array monitor and battery charger or the LinkPro, which has been 100% accurate in recording the amp hours going out?

Xantrex hasn’t been any help regarding this and I’m not finding any anecdotal evidence about it. I’m convinced (ie. hopeful) that I’m wired correctly since I’m getting an accurate record of amps going out.

The only thing I can fathom with the current situation, being on the genny, is that the charger realises that I’m above 80% and is only doing the tapering charge. That would make sense when I’m on solar, too, I guess, but if that’s the case, then there’s no sense getting another panel because I wouldn’t squeeze any more juice out of it than I already am.

Do any of my experts want to give their theories on yet another mystery?

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Stuffed

I just got in from dinner at La antigua. I got the enchilades verdes again even though I had avocado for lunch AND I got L’s guacamole. I think I should cut myself off from avocado for a few days, but I have two left at home. 🙂

To my delight, my enchilades were better than the first time I had them! There was less green sauce and what was there was less cilantroey. Usually a dish isn’t as good the second time around, so this was a nice surprise.

L had fajitas and we both had a beer, meaning that with the damn chips we’re served at the beginning, we were stuffed coming out of there. Next time I go there, I will tell them, “No chips!!!”.

We toyed with the idea of going to the Saltwater Saloon for another beer and a game of shuffleboard, but neither of us was in the mood to consume anything else tonight.

I’ve decided to take the plains route back to Canada, so he and I will be seeing each other again when I drive through Wichita. I was promised the house to myself for a few hours so I can use the tub. That almost makes me want to go back to Canada. Almost. 😀

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Writing Day

This grey cold day wound up being perfect inspiration. I haven’t sat down to write for several hours in a row since the days I was finishing up Full-Time RVing in Canada.

There are no words to describe what it felt like to have the right words flow effortlessly out of me like that. It’s still a little too soon to make an official announcement about this ebook, but I’m hoping to do so during the next week. I’ve talked about it so much that it will be nice to have something concrete to show for all that talk! Right now, I have three quarters of a solid first draft and a quarter of a very rough beta draft. 🙂

I’m going to finish my current chapter, then call it a day. L invited me out to dinner at a location of my choice (“It’s Saturday night, we have to go out”) so we’re heading to La antigua at 6:00. I had avocado for lunch, so I don’t know yet if I’ll be having green enchiladas or something new. 🙂