11-25-17 Hope your Thanksgiving weekend turned out well. Sharon and I went to her brother Bob's this year. What a treat it was. Met some of their family and friends and had a wonderful visit. Bob showed us around his new home. What a "beautiful" home and property. It is exactly what Bob and Dee have been patiently waiting for. A place to finally call "their own" with lots of room for them, their horses and dogs. It was wonderful to see the sparkle in their eyes and heart. ( smile )
Today, I converted Sharon's webpage from a transcription website to a website to display and show off her Quilling hobby. She's made some wonderfully detailed Quill Girls. I wanted to get her Quilling Girls documented before she gave them all away. Sharon has done an absolutely beautiful job on them. Her website is at http://cannonmts.com . Check it out. I'll put a link to it on my main page.
11-19-17 First, let me take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very safe and happy holiday season. As you can see, I've been somewhat delinquent in keeping up these pages this last year. My apology. It has simply been one of those years when every hour seems to be filled with the necessities of life that demand all my attention. Working at the RV dealership has been a true mental challange that leaves very little energy left after an hour drive "to" work then and hour drive "back" home. Truly, I enjoy the drive. It gives me time to wind down or gear up depending on the direction of travel. As well as enjoying the drive, I really enjoy working on RVs. There always seems to be something new to learn every day. I've been mulling over an idea of compiling some of my work experiences in "presentation" form and including on this website. If you see "RV" on the main page, I've decided to give it a whirl.
Probably the most demanding tasks this year has been attempting to keep 18 year old vehicles operational. I have a 1999 Ford Windstar and Sharon has a 1999 BMW 328i both of which have kept me "underneath" them on numerous occasions. The BMW blew a radiator for a second time. Luckily the engine has not been harmed. Aluminum and plastic radiators should be "outlawed". ( sigh ) This time I purchased a "very" expensive custom built heavy duty "all" aluminum radiator. Hopefully this will cure the on going radiator saga on her BMW.
Then there's the Windstar. What a chore. The rake&pinion and power steering finally decided to display symptoms of age and gave up one day when I entered the driveway returning from work. I guess one could consider this "luck" seeings it gave up in the driveway. ( smile ) I got online and ordered a rebuilt rack&pinion and power steering pump from AutoZone. Using Sharon's BMW to get to and from work, the next weekend, I set out installing the componants. Invision an old fat man rolling around underneath a vehicle on a gravel driveway! Not a pretty picture! ( chuckling ) The repair was successful and after a frontend alignment, the Windstar was fully functional once again... almost! The AutoZone rebuilt componants failed not only once, but "twice" over a period of two months!! AutoZone warranty covered the componants the first time but not my time or subsequent alignment. The second time Les Schwab paid for the componants "and" alignment "and" my time due to improper alignment procedure that caused the rack&pinion to fail this last time. Gordon KK3O, a ham friend came over and helped with the last installation which sped up the process greatly! Thank you Gordon! To date, thankfully the steering system in the Windstar is holding together.
Recently, I went out to start the Windstar to warm it up before leaving for work. It turned over twice trying to fire then failed to start wheeling over like it lost compression. Great! More troubles! This time I had a 1990 Chev K2500 pickup that I purchased from the RV dealership and had been working on getting it road worthy again. This Windstar failure pressed the Chev pickup into service much sooner than I anticipated. The pickup ran well back and forth to work for a week without issue. The next weekend was spent diagnosing the Windstar. Luckily it turned out to be just a clogged fuel filter. The fuel filter was replaced and the Windstar was back on the road again. Hopefully these three rigs will get us through the Winter. Next Spring, I have a 1991 Ford Aerostar I'll be getting road worthy. Hopefully the four rigs and AAA will get us by until such time when I can no longer drive! ( smile )
Now the sad news. It is with a heavy heart that I report that my sister Janice passed away this Oct 25th. She will be greatly missed and I will miss our communications. Here is the link to her obituary.
1-1-17 Yee gads, here it is 2017. Have you ever recalled thinking back 40 years ago that you'd one day discover 40 years had somehow slipped your attention? Passing time is an interesting phenomenon. I vividly recall when the computer software industery was having a conniption fit that the world was going to come to an end when the calender rolled over from 1999 to 2000. No doubt the computer software and hardware industry made a butt load of money off Government and high end websites. ( chuckling )
Anyway, I'm just rambling to put something in this current events for the new year. ( smile ) Hope you all had a safe and wonderful holidays.