Sunday, June 30, 2013
RIP
Jim Kelly, martial artist, who played a prominent role in "Enter the Dragon" with Bruce Lee. He also starred in a number of blaxploitation films.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
More maintenance
The a/c isn't putting out very cold air so it's not very useful, especially in this very humid weather. So more repair is needed. Must get it working before the roadtrip in late August.
As it turns out, I had to call the RV Tech for another reason -- the cabover window is leaking. I began to smell mold so I started pressing on the walls around the window and it felt spongy. Took off the covering I had over it and saw that the guy who'd done the reseal two years ago failed to listen to me and used silicone caulk. Double aaarrgh.
Of course, I had told him to use butyl putty and even handed him a roll of it. But he knew best, he thought, so now I'm going to pay to have it taken it out and resealed.
I'd be happy to get rid of the window altogether but that would be a bigger job than just resealing it, so I'll live with it, and I'll cover it up on the inside. I found a thermal curtain panel that stretches across the width of the cabover. That should keep both light and heat from getting in.
The tech and I are both hoping the spongy walls will dry out and be okay. If not, I'll get some of that glue-like substance that you squirt on wood to stabilize it.
The fun never ends, eh?
As it turns out, I had to call the RV Tech for another reason -- the cabover window is leaking. I began to smell mold so I started pressing on the walls around the window and it felt spongy. Took off the covering I had over it and saw that the guy who'd done the reseal two years ago failed to listen to me and used silicone caulk. Double aaarrgh.
Of course, I had told him to use butyl putty and even handed him a roll of it. But he knew best, he thought, so now I'm going to pay to have it taken it out and resealed.
I'd be happy to get rid of the window altogether but that would be a bigger job than just resealing it, so I'll live with it, and I'll cover it up on the inside. I found a thermal curtain panel that stretches across the width of the cabover. That should keep both light and heat from getting in.
The tech and I are both hoping the spongy walls will dry out and be okay. If not, I'll get some of that glue-like substance that you squirt on wood to stabilize it.
The fun never ends, eh?
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Maintenance & Roadtrip
It got up to 88 deg a few days ago so I turned on the a/c. Warm air. Damn. Did some research and found a certified RV mobile tech. It took him a few days to finish up some jobs and get here, but it turned out to be a relay that needed resetting (something I wouldn't have known to do myself) and the a/c is fine. Yay.
Amy and I are going to do a roadtrip in late Aug early Sep to NY (near New Paltz) for a wedding of her friends. We'll come back across Penn. to the Pittsburgh area where I'll get to visit Phyllis, who worked with me at the Madison KOA back in 08, and we'll both visit Jason in the city, who worked with us at a bookstore here in Asheville in 07.
I'm in the process of finding out about weird things to visit (Amy likes things like world's biggest ball of twine or a bowling ball fence [actually in Kansas]). If anybody has suggestions, let me know. Also looking for good RV parks heading across PA from Scranton to Pittsburgh. We'd also like one between the city and Greensburg (southeast side).
It'll be fun to be back on the road again, even if for a short time.
Amy and I are going to do a roadtrip in late Aug early Sep to NY (near New Paltz) for a wedding of her friends. We'll come back across Penn. to the Pittsburgh area where I'll get to visit Phyllis, who worked with me at the Madison KOA back in 08, and we'll both visit Jason in the city, who worked with us at a bookstore here in Asheville in 07.
I'm in the process of finding out about weird things to visit (Amy likes things like world's biggest ball of twine or a bowling ball fence [actually in Kansas]). If anybody has suggestions, let me know. Also looking for good RV parks heading across PA from Scranton to Pittsburgh. We'd also like one between the city and Greensburg (southeast side).
It'll be fun to be back on the road again, even if for a short time.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
RIPs etc.
Iain Banks
Jean Stapleton
Esther Williams
Saw the new Star Trek yesterday. Here's the problem with prequels -- you know who lives. No suspense there, so epic battles between people (say, Kirk and Kahn) are just time wasters. The sets were so busy with air things zipping around and people bustling that it was hard to focus. Everything was really really big and metallic and protruding bits were everywhere (nothing phallic about that, nosiree) . And I kept identifying plot points from various books and thinking that the writers just kept dragging stuff in (like the Admiral with his dreadnaught from one of the Lieutenant Piper books).
I think more should have been made of the developing relationships that we will come to know and love. OTOH I ain't buying Spock and Uhura as lovers. They were friends who cared a great deal about each other but that's all. All I get out of Chekov is that he's some kind of comic relief, and not good at it either. Scotty (Simon Pegg) really does provide some comic relief and is very good at it, and he doesn't lose his character in the process.
As to the Mary Sue Tribble -- puhleez.
As to Cumberbatch -- meh.
As to the female characters: annoying all around. Both speaking parts (Uhura and Carol Marcus) are quite small (Uhura) or very female (Marcus). Neither gets to fight (okay, Marcus gets to slap her father, whoopee); they get to lie on the deck and look stunned/panicked. Boring.
And who played the lead Klingon on Kronus who faces Uhura? Looked really familiar. Of course, he was only there for about two minutes before Khan blew him away. I'll see if I can find out.
Jean Stapleton
Esther Williams
Saw the new Star Trek yesterday. Here's the problem with prequels -- you know who lives. No suspense there, so epic battles between people (say, Kirk and Kahn) are just time wasters. The sets were so busy with air things zipping around and people bustling that it was hard to focus. Everything was really really big and metallic and protruding bits were everywhere (nothing phallic about that, nosiree) . And I kept identifying plot points from various books and thinking that the writers just kept dragging stuff in (like the Admiral with his dreadnaught from one of the Lieutenant Piper books).
I think more should have been made of the developing relationships that we will come to know and love. OTOH I ain't buying Spock and Uhura as lovers. They were friends who cared a great deal about each other but that's all. All I get out of Chekov is that he's some kind of comic relief, and not good at it either. Scotty (Simon Pegg) really does provide some comic relief and is very good at it, and he doesn't lose his character in the process.
As to the Mary Sue Tribble -- puhleez.
As to Cumberbatch -- meh.
As to the female characters: annoying all around. Both speaking parts (Uhura and Carol Marcus) are quite small (Uhura) or very female (Marcus). Neither gets to fight (okay, Marcus gets to slap her father, whoopee); they get to lie on the deck and look stunned/panicked. Boring.
And who played the lead Klingon on Kronus who faces Uhura? Looked really familiar. Of course, he was only there for about two minutes before Khan blew him away. I'll see if I can find out.
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