WinterStorm

Thursday

Well looks like we got about another 8 inches of snow since last night.  Yesterdays snow has settled some and all the snow has been dry and lighter than the snow we had earlier in the week.  The snowblowers have all worked well and I have moved a lot of snow.  Bonnie came out and helped today by shoveling off the porch and pavers.  Here are a few shots of the snow.  They do not really capture how much we had.  I think this might be about the most we have gotten in that short amount of time that I can remember.

Lots of snow under and on the porch

Snow piling up on the garage roof

Over 500 feet of driveway to clear

The mailbox is cleaned out and the trash is set out

On more pass to make on the driveway

Almost done after 2 hours

I sure am glad I cleaned the driveway last night.  It still took 2 hours with Bonnie helping to clean the driveway and walkways.  I think we got about 16 inches of snow all together.  Looks like another inch or so since I came back in, but it has stopped for now.

Friday

Not much to report on today.  We took it easy all day.  I did shovel about an inch of snow off the back deck and clear off the garage apron and made a pass out and back with the big blower on the driveway.   No new snow today but there was a fog like mist in the air today.  We took Alexus home, she is pretty much over her cold.  The trees are covered with white ice from the mist and are beautiful.  Elizabeth made two kinds of turkey pot pie for dinner and they were really good and each had its own unique taste.  We did play a couple games with them the first I am not sure of the name the second was Apples to Apples, both were fun.

Each day now when I go down to the garage it is so nice to see that the snow has melted off the cars or the tractor and the water is gone down the drains.  No more of the daily squeegee and sweeping routine that I had to do for the last 11 years.  Bill and the rest of the Beck Builder's guys did a great job replacing the concrete floor and it works as designed, Thanks guys.

Saturday

Its snowing pretty good here early this morning they are calling for 5-6 inches time will tell.  We lost our water pressure again last night when the water system recycled.  This has happened several times now, I think maybe the air bladder in the pressure tank has failed again.  Well I checked it and no water came out the valve so it should be ok.  Wonder what else it could be.

I headed up to court with it still snowing, and the roads were very slippery.  The traction control kicked in several times going up the road.  It snowed the whole time I was up there but it seemed to be winding down some by the time I headed home.

Took this on the way to court

Snow has just about quit and I am heading out to clean the driveway before it is dark.  Took me about 2 hours and it was dark when I finished but the driveway and pavers are cleared.  Tired me out and I dozed in the recliner most of the evening after Bonnie made supper.  Time to move on into the bed now.

Sunday

Woke up to some sun this morning.  This is good because we do not see the sun much in the winter around here. It had snowed an inch or so during the night so after church I ended up going out for almost 2 hours to clean the driveway and pavers again.  Then in for some lunch and a pretty good nap in the recliner.  Bonnie read the paper and watch the Hallmark Channel most of the day.

After my nap I changed clothes and went out and cleared off the back deck.  Seems moving snow is about all I have to write about these days.  Then we had some of the leftover Turkey pot pie for supper before we watched a little TV.

Well tomorrow is the last day of the year so this should be my last post of 2012.  I just checked and my blogs have been viewed 16984 times this year, wow.

Thats it for this year, Thanks For Checking In.

Merry Christmas

Monday

No snow overnight thats good.  Bonnie slept in and then got up and loaded up the car to head for Elizabeths to get ready for the family gathering tonight.

Table and Chairs loaded

Lots of homemade goodies

Just getting ready to head into the Gathering and the NWS has issued a Winter Storm Watch for a foot of snow on Wednesday starting in the afternoon.  Says they are pretty sure it is going to happen.

Well the family get together went well.  Elizabeths house looked very nice and we had a good turn out.

 

I think Young and old had a good time and it was nice to visit with everyone.  We all have had a great year and received many blessings.  It started to snow during the evening and by the time we left there was an inch or so on the ground and the plows were out on the roads.  Off to bed now as we have an early morning planned.

Tuesday

The alarm went off this morning at 5am.  We were out the door shortly after 6am.  We picked up the girls and headed downtown to Buffalo City Mission.

Name of the event

Greeters at the door

Alexus spotted a lady with the same nail polish

We handed out maps and routes and directed folks to orientation

We were part of the team that helped to get more than 2865 meals delivered to those in need.  Our team greeted and checked in all the volunteers.  We had kitchen workers, greeters, singers, and the meal delivery teams.  There were 135 teams that signed up to deliver all those meals.  A few called in sick but just the right number of extra people showed up at the right time and asked if we needed any extra help to deliver meals.  It all worked out perfect and we were home by noon.

Once home Elizabeth cooked brunch and then we opened our presents closely followed by a nap for me.  Then a couple Christmas movies and now its time for dinner.  Turkey and at Alexus's request meatloaf.  The NWS has upgraded the Watch to a Warning with up to 16 inches of snow, starting around 2PM tomorrow.

The cat enjoyed a nice nap kind of on my lap

We took it easy all day and got home before 8.  Alexus is sick with a bad cold so is here with us so she is not home alone tomorrow.

I got a new wool hat

Thats about it for today we are all beat.

Wednesday

Up after a good nights sleep.  We had a really nice day yesterday and starting it off by helping at Buffalo City Mission was a perfect start.  If your willing to give a few hours to help others give the volunteer office a call and see what you can do to help.

Off to visit the bank and post office.  Back home in just over 2 hours.  Then ran down and picked up 6 gals of diesel for the tractor.  Then home to call the health insurance company over a claim we had back in November while on vacation.  They want the Dr's tax id number he did not want to give it.  They have his license number and agreed to take his National Provider number, so I re faxed the entire claim again and hopefully that will work.

Just after 3 now, the wind has been blowing out of the North East and now it has started to snow at a good rate.

Around 9 I went out and blew about 8 inches of snow off the back deck.  Then decided to open up the driveway.  I was out there about an hour and a half.  Lots of snow out there glad I at least got that moved.  The highway is barely open one truck got to spinning and stopped at the end of my driveway.  It must have snowed another 2 inches while I was out there, I finally quit as I was soaked and cold.  Time to get some rest and warm up.

I will report on the rest of the storm tomorrow its Wednesday night and time to post this.

Thanks for checking in.

Winter Storm Warning

Thursday

No rain again overnight but a Winter Storm Watch was issued last night and this morning was upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning.  As the day went on it got darker and windy.  Bonnie and Elizabeth decided to do their shopping today instead of tomorrow as planned.  The bad weather is really supposed to start tomorrow.

Bonnie went out and took down a light tree that had broken.  I went out and finished up packing the tree into a box.  Then I tried to sweep up the driveway and walked out and brought in the mail.  The piece of siding on the garage was loose again so I nailed it again.

The wind has continued to intensify and it has warmed up to 38 with more rain.  This they say will change to snow tomorrow.  Bonnie and the girls made it home from shopping and now they will not have to go out tomorrow.

Time to read a little and get some sleep.



Friday

One again the world did not end, no surprise for most of us, see Matthew 24:36 or Mark 13:32.

Woke up this morning to white grass and a gentle snow falling as well as the temperature, down from 34 to 30 in the last hour.  Well the snow melted off the grass but it has been snowing lightly all day.  I went up to work at court for a couple hours and it snowed the whole time I was up there but very little stayed on the car.  Home for a couple hours and the NWS just issued a wind advisory starting at 10pm.

Well its 11:30pm and we have a little over 3 inches of snow so far.  The wind is starting to howl again and the weatherman says we could end up with 6 or more inches of wind driven snow my morning.  Looks like I will get to see how the snow blower works on the new driveway in the morning.

We enjoyed the party this afternoon but I had to leave early as I got a call and had to go to court.  That did not take long.  The roads were snow covered and slippery when we came home and it was good to get pulled into the garage and be home safely.  Thats about it for tonight.



Saturday

Looks like it snowed all night and boy was it windy.  There is about 6 inches on the back deck and only a little on the garage roof.  We had a leisurely breakfast and then I decided to head out and clean up the driveway.

Before

 It was still snowing a little and you can see the snow is still blowing off the roof.  It is not real cold and the snow was a bit wet and plugged up the chute a few times.  At one point I had to walk back up to
the garage and and get something to dig the snow out of the chute.

Almost done

So it took a little longer than I had hoped but it does clean up nice.  A little bit of sunshine and it will be nice and dry.  Finishing that I headed up to court to finish up some paperwork.  The 20A is in good shape just wet.  Route 77 runs North and South and is a mess lots of snow and some drifts.  But I made it there and back home in good shape.  Still need to clear off the back deck but it can wait a little while until I get a short nap.

Just before dark I did make it outside to clean off the back deck.  The small blower ran good and had plenty of power but then took off and really revved up to a high speed and did not stop when I turned the key off, I finally choked it out.  I let it cool some and then restarted it and all worked well.  I believe it acted just like a diesel engine and ran without the spark plug.  Probably some carbon built up in the engine.

We were sitting here watching TV and I was chatting on the computer with my sister when the smoke detector went off.  Turned out to be a smokey candle in the one bathroom.  That was our excitement for the day.  Time to read a little before bed.

Sunday

About 2 inches of snow overnight, just enough to have to go out and clean the driveway before church.  It only took about 45 minutes this morning, I even had time to do a little shoveling.  Came in and changed now off to church.

Today in church was a review of the Storm Norm House Project and Norm was able to be here and personally thank all that had a hand in the project.  It was a very nice service.  After church we went in to town to shop at Tops for a few things the girls needed.  Then over to Mighty Taco for lunch.

By the time we got home the sun had done a nice job on the driveway.

I think I am going to like the new blacktop.

Time to tune in and see how the Bills are doing in Miami.  Well the outcome was not what we wanted, maybe they can beat the Jets at home next week.

No more snow today so I went out and shoveled off the rear deck.  It was only a couple inches from last night and it is good exercise if done in moderation.  Bonnie made left overs and hot dogs for supper so my belly is full and I think I may nap in the chair a little so I will go ahead and post this.

Thanks for Checking In and Merry Christmas!!

Still No Snow!

Monday

Not that I am Complaining, its been nice not to deal with the snow.  It did rain overnight but then was nice most of the day.

We did have some stress over the weekend.  Bonnie's tickets to Africa were booked and reserved but then the airline would not process her credit card.  I called and they said it had to do with one of the countries they were flying into.  Now the airline flies there put would not process the payment.  At one point they asked if we could go to Los Angeles to pick up the tickets.  Well to make a long 2 days short.  The folks that are heading up the trip let the reservation expire and then used Expedia to book the exact same flights and our credit card went right through.  So all four are now booked and ready to fly on February 8th.  They will return on March 20th.  We still need to work out the details of how they are getting to JFK airport but it saved $1000 a piece to fly out of there.  They may just rent a van and drive down and turn it in.  They each will have 2 big bags to check plus carry on.

We had an easy day and Bonnie made fudge and packed a box of presents to send.  I made the trip to the post office and sent them  Then I got a short nap for about 45 minutes.  Then up to court for a relatively short night.  Watching the Grinch that stole Christmas now.  The rains have returned and it was rain pretty hard and steady when I came home.

Tuesday

Rained most of the night it seems and all morning.  I did my post office and bank run and was back home by 12:30pm.  Also dropped the trash off out by the road.  Bonnie spotted at least 4 pair of Cardinals in her Quince tree near the back deck all at once.  I tried to get a picture but they took off.  Hoping to get a short nap before we take off for WW.

Got my nap and we headed for East Aurora, not a good night at WW, but we attended several parties last week always with lots to munch on.  Made a brief stop at my daughters and then picked up a pizza and headed home after filling up with gas for $2.69 a gallon.  Lowest it has been here for a long time.

It was a mixture of rain and snow on the way home and the State trucks were out spreading salt.  I think it was a waste as it was still 39 degrees out and the rain will wash the salt off the highway.  Hopefully if the temperature falls below freezing tonight it will do some good.  Well enough for today I am headed off to bed to read a little before sleep overtakes me.

Wednesday

This is the first day in over a week that we have nothing outside the house on our agenda, a day to rest up.  No rain since midnight but it looks like starting tomorrow the weather will be rain or snow for a few days.  No sun yet today just our winter overcast sky.

Well it stayed dry all day but Bonnie made plans to go in and have supper with Alexus.  Elizabeth is working late at the Mission on the gifts they will be giving to about 200 men for Christmas.  Bonnie did a pork roast and veggies and be headed in there about 4:30.  We had a good evening and helped her with her home work.  Elizabeth got home just after 8 and we headed home a short while after that.

The NWS has issued a Winter Storm Watch already for Friday morning.  Looks like we are on the edge so if it does not move North we should we ok.  But they are calling for lots of wind so it could be bad Friday night.

Well thats about it for the first part of the week.  Thanks for Checking In.

Dinner with Rick

Thursday

I had to do a little court paperwork this morning and then take it to Warsaw.  Bonnie went to Warsaw with me and we were able to pick up a few things.  I stopped at Tractor Supply to see if I could find the right kind of bolts to use as shear bolts in my tractor snow blower.  I believe they are grade 5 bolts.

I need the one on the right, is it a Grade 5

Now we are headed to a customer appreciation dinner at Salvatore's in near the airport.  Lots of running around today but did seem to get much done.

We made it in to dinner a little early and got to visit some before the meal.  The food was really good and the presentations were good also.  We had hoped to stop and see some of the meteor show tonight, but the clouds have moved in and so we did not see any.  Well the news is over and I am heading to bed.

Friday

Was up this morning and got a phone call that the middle brake light for the new Coach was in and that if I could pull the deadbolt lock and send it over to Colton they would get a key made for it.  So I headed out to Gainsville and found that the lock came out easily.

just two screws to remove

Just need a couple keys now

On the way home I checked out the new building at the Fire Training Center.  It is new from when I worked up there with the county.  It lets them store a lot of the Emergency Services equipment in the dry year round.

Very nice job on getting this built

The burn building is still looking great

All the antennas and dishes look like they are in good shape

This is the tower we put lots of equipment on when we rebuilt the counties radio systems.

As I headed home I started to get news reports of the shooting at the school in Connecticut.  By the time you read this it will have been a couple days.  Please continue to keep the family and friends of all involved in your prayers.

Elizabeth and Bonnie plan to help clean and paint some at the house make over our church is doing so I will stay with Alexus tonight.

On their way to paint and clean

Hopefully tomorrow will be move in day for Norm.

So there I was sitting in the recliner enjoying the evening with Alexus when the phone rang.  Two of my favorite dispatchers asking me if I wanted to go to work.  But I had to turn them down.

Finally home we brought Alexus with us so she can decorate cookies tomorrow and go to the camping club party with us.  Time for bed now.

Saturday

Wow another sunny morning in December.  Its so great to see the sun, we usually are pretty overcast this time of the year.  Bonnie and Alexus plan to decorate cookies today and Bonnie is making some dessert to take to the party tonight.  I will head up to court to stay out of the way and to do some paperwork.

The girls finished up the cookies and after a couple hours to relax we all got ready and headed to the Holiday Ramblers Christmas Party.  It takes us about an hour to get there and it is always great to get together with our camping friends and share what we have all been up to.  The food and fellowship were great and we had a gift exchange which is always fun.

Time to Eat

Yea! A BBQ cover

A Pair of Big Brass Bells

Future Trip Planning

Got home and relaxed a little and now its almost midnight.  Heading to bed before I turn into a pumpkin.

Sunday

We headed to church this morning and it was another great service.  After the service I met with some of the technical people and it looks like I will be joining them after the first of the year to help with the audio and visual team.  We headed home and the afternoon flew by we watched a couple Christmas movies.

Then we headed to Attica to attend the Children's Christmas program.  I believe almost every child in the church was involved.  It was very well done and the kids all did a great job.  It was good to visit with everyone.

The Wise men at the Manger.

Finally home and time to get this posted.

Another Busy Week

Monday

Ahhh Monday Monday so good to me.  Well it was raining this morning but in the 40's outside.  While I was able to take it easy, Bonnie was off to West Falls to get several shots that she needs to have for her trip to Africa.  She was scheduled to go just after the first of the year but it looks like it may be the middle of February now.

Once she got home it was almost time for me to leave.  We had a little time together and then I headed up to court for the evening.  It turned into a long night as we ended up waiting for one man to come from near Albany and another Lady to come from over near Niagara Falls.  They were late and we were done but they were making an effort to come and clear up their issues so we waited and everyone was happy.  Tomorrow I have another session so will be up there all afternoon.  It was snowing quite hard when I left to come home about 1/2 inch on the car.  So our new drains in the garage will get their first test.

Going to call it a night read a little then hit the hay.

Tuesday

Black Ice warning this morning.  Last nights snow has melted but there is a light snow falling that has begun to cover the grass.  The snow lingered most of the day but did not add up to much.

I spent the afternoon at court and got home to late to go to WW.  Bonnie had made one of my favorites, meatloaf for supper.  The girls were here and brought some Christmas cookies they had made last weekend.  I tried to help Alexus with her home work but could not figure it out.  Geometry was not one of my better subjects and she did not have a textbook just a homework sheet.  We watched a little TV and now its time to read a little and get a good nights sleep.

Wednesday

Woke up to it snowing again this morning.  Interesting the blacktop driveway is all white but the grass is still green.  Usually its the other way around.  Forty five minutes later and the sun is out and it quit snowing.  I have to run around this morning so thats good.  The tire pressure light came on in the CR-V last night have to check the air in the tires this morning.  I think it is just the change in temperature.

Checked all the tires on both cars and the Odyssey needed about 3 pounds in all the tires also.  The yellow light went out when I drove the CR-V so all is good.  I headed to the bank and Post Office with a stop at court to finish up some paperwork.  Back home in time for lunch and a very brief nap.

Now we are headed for a Honda Owners Clinic at Ray Laks Honda then hopefully home before too late.  We had a good time at the clinic and I won two prizes and they gave us all a travel cup and pen.

Won a nice travel blanket and a gift card.

We had to stop at the town building for me to sign some papers and then home to watch a little TV.  The boiler lit one time with a big boom so I went down and cleaned the pilot tube and noticed that the ignition cable was cracked.  It seems to be working right now but I did order a new cable.  Sears had it for $62 and an eBay plumbing and heating store had it for $28, it should be here Monday.  So hope it works well until then.  Going to watch Survivor that we recorded earlier and then off to bed.

Thanks for Checking In.

Back to Winter!

Thursday

Woke up to 24 degrees this morning.  Not much on the agenda again for today.  We took it easy this morning and then I went out and put the rest of the driveway marker stakes in for the winter.
Bonnies sister came over and they loaded up a bunch of Christmas stuff to go to her consignment store.
We watched a little recorded TV and called it a day.  Sorry but some days don't really have much to write about.

Friday

Today is Pearl Harbor Day I hope you were able to take some time to remember what happened that day and all those that gave their lives that day for us.

Had a pretty easy morning and left for Warsaw just as it started to rain.  First stop was to have been at the VA services but I called them and my paperwork was not ready yet.  Then I stopped in at Emergency Services and got to visit with my former co-workers for a few minutes and to say hello to the folks that were in the 911 center.  Then off to lunch with a friend and we were able to chat for an hour or so.

Then I headed back home and got a little cat nap.  Then we headed to pick up the girls and on to the Wesleyan Church of Hamburg.  Ron a friend had invited us to come to their Christmas program called "One Night" A modern Day Christmas Story.

It was quite the production.  Multi Media and very well done.  The church building is a very modern building and was a beautiful setting for the story.  After some hot chocolate and cookies we headed home.  Tomorrow is coming pretty quickly.

Saturday

Its almost midnight and I just got home and sat down.  Another not exciting day.  I worked up at court several hours and then we went to the Family Life Dinner Theater at Michael's in Hamburg, which we really enjoyed.  The meal was excellent and ththe e play was even better. So another long day and time to head to bed.

The girls had a good time

Sunday

Woke up this morning and the deer were grazing in the front yard again.  It's very overcast not good at all for getting a good picture.

We headed for church stopping to pick up the girls.  Today was the children's Christmas program.  The church was packed and the kids did a really great job.  We had a few audio issues in the beginning but they did not let it bother them.

Packed Church today

After church we came home and after lunch took it easy.  Bonnie did get busy in the kitchen and made a big batch of carmel corn for Christmas Eve.  She did give me a good sized sample.  We watched a couple Christmas movies on the Family Channel and now I am watching the finale of the Amazing Race while Bonnie reads.  Its been a busy week but not a lot to write about.  It is raining and quite hard at times.  At least it is not snow.

Well thats it for this week, Thanks for Checking In.

Is it Spring Already

Monday

What a beautiful day again.  Nice and dry and sunny this afternoon.  Today's project was to get the new Coach into storage.  When you own a motorhome there is always something to do to it.  Today I put the battery filling system on the coach batteries.

All the Yellow caps are connected together so you only have to pump water in at one spot.

They I put the slides out to make sure the slide toppers were dry for storage.  Thats when I noticed that the carpet was wet.  I did not know until we put the slide out at Copeland's Storage how wet it was.  Doug came to my rescue and he sucked two buckets of water out of the carpet and put fans on it to dry it out.  Thanks Doug.  I had headed home via Warsaw and then up to court.

You can see the wet plywood and carpet near the wall.

Hopefully it was just the way it was parked but it seems a lot of water made its way into the coach.  We will get it checked out.  I also noticed when I was showing Doug the engine that a couple fittings were leaking on top of the engine coolant tank.

Slow leaks

Well I can take care of these in the spring also.

Slow night at court.  Now I am home and hope to relax a little.  Tomorrow I can prepare for the snow.

Tuesday

Today is to be a nice day most of the day with temps in the low 60's.  It will be a good day to put the blower on the tractor.  But first I have court work to do.  So I headed to the post office, stamps are going up a penny in January.  Then over to the bank and then up to court do catch up on paper work.

I headed home around 1pm, boy it is looking dark out but the radar is not showing any rain close by.  I had a quick bite to eat and then headed out to the garage.  I got the John Deere 4200 tractor out and took the loader off at the far end of the RV parking pad.  I like to store it there in case I ever need it in the winter time I can get at it.  As I did this it started to rain.  I am sure thankful that I have a garage to work in and that it was warm today.  With the loader off it is easy to get at the engine and battery.

Side panel removed to get at the oil filter

 I changed the oil and filter.  While that was draining I removed the brush guard up front and checked and cleaned the battery.

Brush guard had to come off to mount the snow blower.

Once the oil was refilled and checked I put the blower on and lubed it up so it should be ready to go when the snow comes.

All hooked up and ready to go

It poured all afternoon and by the time I got the tractor turned around and the Ranger back in the garage I was soaked and had 10 minutes until we needed to leave for East Aurora.  I grabbed a quick shower and we made it to WW in time and I lost a little this week.  Then supper with the girls and finally home.

Doug called and the coach carpet is all dried out and it is now parked in the building out of the weather for the winter.  I spent the working on a chart of all the filters the new coach uses and finding good cross reference numbers.  Later in the winter I will order a set of fuel and oil filters.  I like to carry a set of filters in case we get a load of bad fuel on the road.  An oil change on this engine is about 7 gallons of oil.  Well time to read a little and then get some shut-eye.

Wednesday

Must have really needed some rest, I did not get up until 9:00am this morning.  Yesterday it was 62 and today 32.  It was still pretty dark out as it is very overcast.  Nothing on my calendar for today so I am hoping not to have anything come up.  Well now it is snowing not hard but enough to coat the garage roof.  Well I had to leave the house to go out and get the mail, we got the title for the Odyssey, I had forgotten about it.  Bonnie is working in the basement sorting out unused Christmas decorations to sell.

Well I did take it easy all day.  My foot has been really sore since Saturday when I was on my feet a good part of the day.  It felt much better yesterday until I worked on the tractor all day standing on the concrete floor in the garage.  So I am trying to take it easy and let it heal.

We had a nice long visit with Mark tonight a friend from here in town.  He sold his generator to a family member from New Jersey who was without power after the last storm and he bought the one I had and never used since we put in a whole house generator.  So he dropped off the check and we had a nice visit.  Then we watched a couple shows and now are hoping to get some reading done and off to bed early.  Then snow did not stay long but we may get more later in the week.

Thanks for Checking In.

It is the week, Yes Finally!

Thursday

The alarm went off at 6 this morning.  I was fed, showered and dressed by 7:30.  Then out to start the Coach, it started right up and after letting it warm up for a few minutes I headed up the hill and toward North Tonawanda,  destination Colton RV  There we said good by to our HR Ambassador that has served us well.  I have studied this machine for many hours and know it well.

Good bye old friend

 The new coach was waiting in the showroom for us and was looking good.  This coach has a full paint job, the last was fiberglass gel coat and decals.

All open and ready for the walk-through

Then we walked through the new to us "Previously Loved" Beaver Monterey Coach.  We did find a few things that needed to be taking care of but for the most part our long list of items to be serviced was all taken care of.

Contract signed

Walk through done and Ron moved the coach to the service bay.

The big thing for today was moving the Air Force One brake system to the new coach.  We had planned for this and sent pictures but it ended up taking until about 5:00pm to get the correct fittings that were needed and test the system.  But its all done now.  We were comfortable in the customer lounge but it sure would have been nice if the WiFi worked in there.  Since our daughter used to work here it was nice to see and talk to a lot of the folks she used to work with.

So once the coach was done they parked it along side our old one and the unloading and loading began.  Bonnie had already packed a lot of our stuff in plastic totes and we brought 4 more with us.  Still not enough.  We had to move unload and reload quite a few of the totes.  Bonnie did the inside and I did all the basement compartments.  It took us quite a while but we got it all done.  I could not believe how much stuff we have in the coach and for a while wondered if it would all fit.  But it did with room to spare.  Bonnie was a real trooper today.  Sitting around waiting is not one of the things she likes to do.  But it all worked out.

All smiles and ready to head home

We did have to drive home in the dark and I backed into the driveway by the light of Bonnie's brake and backup lights.  But we made it safe and sound.  Bonnie said she felt like we were held hostage all day.

We still have a lot to unpack and put away

So it was a full day, it is after midnight and I think I am ready to sleep now.

Friday

Up this morning we both had lots to do.  Bonnie left for her sisters and I worked on paperwork from yesterday.  Then I uploaded some sermons for FBC Attica to iTunes.  Just as I finished up and got dressed to go up to court Bonnie got home.  I ran up to the Town building and took care of the work that was there for me.  Once home Bonnie fixed a little lunch for us and then we headed out to the new Coach to put stuff away.  I turned on the HydroHot heating system.  It ran and came up to temperature. Bonnie worked in the bedroom where the heat was working fine.  But nothing but cold air was blowing up in the Salon.  I checked out a few things but did not find a problem.  So I took a picture of the control panel and sent it off to Ryan my sales associate along with a few other things that needed addressed.

I think the lights on the control panel are normal, My guess is its a stuck valve.

This middle brake light is partially burned out

All in all our delivery experience was good, it was long though.  A few things were overlooked that should have been caught but there is a lot of stuff to check and I am sure it will get taken care of.

Then I went in and started to look through all the manuals, there are lots of them.

Yes I do read the manuals.  This is a complex machine.

I got all the books sorted out then jumped in the shower for a quick shower.  Then we picked up Elizabeth and Alexus, then to the Yellow Goose to pick up Bonnie's sister Donna.  I gassed up the Odyssey and we headed to church for a special Friday night service.  We had a good service and got home around 9:30.  Now time to relax and then get to bed early as we have another full day tomorrow.

Saturday

Set the alarm for 6am second time this week.  Bonnie took me to Elizabeths to drop me off and pick up Alexus.  Elizabeth and I went over to help at the Storm Norm Makeover project that our church along with the Christian Youth Corps is doing.

We were not the first to arrive but there were not many there yet when we arrived.  So we headed over to see Ben in the kitchen trailer and he made us a breakfast sandwich.

Ben's kitchen on wheels

 Then we headed over to the house to see Bill and find out what needed done.
The project is in its third week and still has a way to go.

Norms house

 Norm is a good guy.  He was always helping other people and now he has just received a new kidney and pancreas.  He is a member of our church and now he is getting a nice remodeled house to recover in.  Our first assignment was to remove the siding from the back of the garage so the windows could be replaced.

This is the siding we removed

The back of the garage is done now the window crew can do the windows now

 Then we moved to the front where another window and some wall sheathing needs replaced.

Elizabeth did a good job removing the siding today.

 We had a good time working together and we made quite the team and removed a lot of siding.  Once we finished this side we headed home.  But first a little lunch.  As you can see a lot more people have arrived.

This is about half of the cars on site as we headed home at noon.

We stopped at Elizabeths house so she could change clothes and then she took me up to court so I could handle some new paper work that had come in.  Then finally we headed home to see how Bonnie and Alexus were doing with decorating for Christmas.

I never made it into the house.  We had replaced the headlights last week and something did not sen right with one of them.  So we took it out and checked it and sure enough the left one was not seated correctly.  So I fixed that while she checked the air in her tires.

Then I headed down to the Coach to look at the heating issue.  I had turned the boiler on while we worked on the headlights so it was good and hot.  I had stayed up last night reading manuals and researching on the internet and wanted to try a simple fix.  What I needed to do was take off the cover and tap on a check valve that sometimes sticks after the unit has not been used all summer.

The sticking check valve is in the center of the photo the one to the right was working.

 A couple taps and the pipes got hot and there was warm air blowing inside the coach salon.  This was a simple problem and one that should have been caught and fixed during the dealers redelivery inspection.  I did call them and let them know I got it working and they did not need to send someone out to look at it.  There are a couple more things to check out but they are not major like no heat was.

When I got into the house the tree was all set up and looked really nice.  We finally got to sit down and relax a little and we watched a couple movies.  Elizabeth made a Thanksgiving leftover casserole that everyone thought was really good.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The girls have headed home and we are relaxing a little before bed.

Sunday

We were up and had plenty of time to get ready for church.  It was raining when we left and ended up raining off an on all day.  We picked up the kids and rode together to church.  Another real good sermon today and we got to fellowship.  Each week we seem to know more of the people.

Once home Bonnie fixed lunch and then I grabbed my camera, some of the coach manuals and headed out to the coach.  I wanted to try to figure out the TV and entertainment equipment.  I tried for a couple hours but never did get the TV to work except to show what was playing on the DVD.  I was hoping to at least see a setup menu off the Satellite receiver or a menu off the digital tuner but no luck.   I did take a lot of pictures.

The roof showing the solar panel and the awning air speed sensor

Plugs near the table/computer workstation

Dash gauges

Drivers switches

Leveling system and Parking brake

Aladin system readouts of the coach systems

These units control all the lights in the coach

I ran the heat again while I was out there and the coach warmed up nicely.  So I guess I will wait until Spring to figure the rest out.  If we had not run out of time Thursday I would have insisted that I be shown how to set up the TV to make it do what I wanted it to do.  Tomorrow is to be dry so once the roads dry off we will take the Coach out to put it in storage for winter.

Someone backed into another of the T-Posts and snapped it off, its got to hurt

Well thats it for this week.  Thanks for Checking In.