A "Make and Mend" Day In Camp

Back in the old days of sail, the sailors would sometimes have a "make and mend" day when they would repair equipment, clothing and work on items to keep things "ship shape".  That was what today was for us.  Since it is Sunday of Labor Day weekend, we chose to stay in camp and work on some items.

For Pamela this was figuring out the WiFi to send photos from camera to phone, editing photos, reading and taking a nap. Neil finally figured out the WiFi for each of our cameras. The only problem with new camera is taking more photos in several modes, so now they have to be edited.

For Neil, that was installing the last two tire pressure monitoring sensors on the outside rear dual tires.  He had to remove the wheel covers to access the valve stems, but finally got them installed--only one month and 3400 miles later!  It feels good to have it done and to know that the TPMS will alert us to loss of pressure or increase in temperature for the six RV tires and the four Subaru tires.

This Is What Our Tire Tracker System Looks Like

Neil also took care of a door rattle in the entry screen door that has been bugging him, so now it is oh so quiet.  He attempted to fix the switch on the bath fan to give it more speeds, but that fix did not work.  Either it is a bad switch, or it needs to be re-wired.  Now, it has two speeds; gale force and hurricane--we were hoping for gentle breeze on the low end.  Maybe later I can consult my on-call electrician (Seth?).

Neil talked to his brother Bruce today, who informed him that his Lobster-a-Day Diet did not allow for "carry over points", like when you have a lobster salad and a lobster dinner in the same day.  He says that you cannot carry points over from a "two-fer" day to the next day.  I guess that means that I will have lobster mac and cheese with the hamburger steaks that I will BBQ tonight.  Such sacrifices must be made!

RV Sewer Hose Hold Down Weights

A couple of readers asked what the device I posted about some time ago was, and I guess it is time for an answer.  It is a RV sewer hose hold-down to keep the sewer hose inserted into the sewer drain at RV parks.  Several parks across Canada and Maine did not have the threaded sewer hose pipes that allows you to screw in the hose to make a secure and mostly air-tight seal.  It is never a good thing when a sewer hose comes loose, when it if full of black water effluent!

Speaking of nasty stuff, we also discovered on this trip that we needed another "just in case" piece of equipment for the RV.  It turns out that our black water gate valve is not shutting all of the way, and that allows the really nasty stuff to seep out of the pipe and down to the hose.  It made for a really bad situation at end of days we drove the RV, as Neil had to drain the seepage once we hooked up hoses at a new RV park.  If we were home, it would be an easy (if messy) job to replace or clean out the gate valve, but when on the road, not so much.  Neil found a twist on gate valve that has solved the problem, for now.  It essentially adds a final gate valve before the sewer hose.  We are happy to have it in place now and will keep it handy after we get the valve repaired.  Of course it HAD to be the black water valve--not the grey water valve.  Murphy's Law at work.

People with RV's Will Understand Why THIS is A Lifesaver

We will close with a couple of photos Neil took at Southwest Harbor Coast Guard Base, where his Dad was commanding officer for several years.  There is a good reason why the USCG are called the Life Savers.

We hope that you can have your own "make and mend" day soon, and appreciate your tuning in.

Neil and Pamela