This and That

The construction company doing the cement work is owned by the nephew, Jerry Dean Dennhardt, of one of the awesome 4-some who I run around with in my youth, Jean B. There was me, Mickey (Sanders) Starr, Jean (Bartley) Wetzel, Valeta (McKinley) True and we had many adventures together. The Bartley clan was a large and boisterous family and attracted much attention for a variety of reasons. Fun is one of them.

I lost my brother to a fire on Christmas night of 1957. His name was Richard Francis Brock and we called him Ricky. He was 10 years old and Jerry Dean and Ricky were best buds. One of the pleasures of living in your hometown is the connections you have and the warm feelings you receive when running into your past.

Another note of the day came about because of our lot next door being "disturbed"  and revealing a surprise. My father lived with his parents on the lot until he was 12 years old. Jason happened to run across a marble and we choose to believe it was one of my fathers.  And it could have been!

We are in the middle of a heatwave and a drought. For a few years now we have noticed that rain seems to go around us. Carroll, a town 30 miles west of us, and Boone, a town 30 miles east of us both seem to get rain while we remain high and dry. We do not know why this trend is happening and I for one am reluctant to complain, for fear the rain gods will try and rectify the situation by too great a degree. Thank God I did not go overboard with too many flowers. It has kept my watering chores to a minimum.

Health update. We are both happy and healthy. I recovered from my 2nd Shingle shot, although that arm still seems to itch more. Butch is doing okay too despite overdoing it by a long shot yesterday. He skipped out on his last therapy session but is scheduled for a make-up session on Monday. He will supposedly be through with therapy then but his overdoing it may have altered that plan. He still has a hitch in his get-a-long that was not there previously but time will take care of it.

Project update 7/18

Things are moving along much faster than we ever dreamed. It seems the people we are dealing with are having a slow period work-wise so we are getting more attention than we have ever been used to when it comes to getting a project off the ground so to speak. 

Last week Butch told Russ that we were ready to get things going so Russ started lining up the appropriate people to start the process. Then Butch and Russ staked things out. The next step was getting ready to have the cement poured, figuring we had plenty of time. On the 16th the Dennhardt Construction Company came to look over the expectations and said they would most likely be ready to get it started on Monday, the 21st. Lo and behold they turned up yesterday and it became a frenzy of activity. This sent Butch into a tailspin because he needed to get plumbing and other things laid out. So he skipped PT and managed to get things done. But wow what a workout for him. Jason happened to call and ask him to play golf and then got sidetracked to help which was a blessing.

Here are the pictures to date: Looking over the job...

Butch and Jason working on the plumbing.

 

From my selected photo spot.

Taken on the southeast corner.

The plumbing located at the southwest corner.

Looking North- 24' x 30'.

Useful Tool Info

This would make an excellent wedding gift, graduation gift, first apartment gift, first RV gift, and many others. This article was gleaned from www.rvtravel.com but I knew the usefulness of it could go far beyond that. Enjoy!

Barb B.

This article is not for the accomplished do-it-yourselfer, who likely can give us all advice on tool kits. This tip is for the people who can’t remember the last time they picked up a screwdriver. The list which follows is meant to give you a small working tool kit, with only a small investment, which will allow you to fix a lot of simple problems that crop up on an RV. These tools’ usage is pretty much self-explanatory, and none require any advanced skill for their use.

All of these tools are sold in any hardware store — but be sure to buy “decent” tools. Stay away from the $2-special table, because the metal in cheap tools is soft and poorly formed. And don’t be tempted by one of those “all-in-one” tool kits because they have stuff you don’t need and poor-quality versions of what you do need. Shop carefully, buy quality, and get familiar with the tools before you tuck them away for later use.

• Screwdriver, multi-blade — Get one of those six-way screwdrivers. You will have large and small Phillips, large and small slot, and 1/4-inch and 5/16-inch nut drivers, all in one tool.

• Pliers, locking slip-joint — A really great plier with a grip range around 0-3 inches. Good for pipes, squeezing stuff together and tearing stuff apart.

• Pliers, needle-nose — Good for twisting wire or fetching tiny things from remote cracks and crannies.

• Hammer, ball-peen — Just a small hammer for tapping, not a big pounder.

• Wrench, adjustable, small and large — Get two of these, sometimes called “Crescent” wrenches — but that’s a brand name like Kleenex. They will fit any nut or bolt, but they often won’t fit into spaces where the bolts are. You would need a set of wrenches and sockets for such versatility, and that’s beyond this “super-basic” toolset.

• Duct tape — Another universal tool. The only tape I use any more is the Gorilla brand, far superior to anything else I’ve tried.

• Utility knife with a retractable blade, and spare blades — Universal tool with many uses.

• Voltmeter — A principal electrical diagnostic tool. This is the only tool that needs a tiny bit of education to use, but it is invaluable (maybe even just to let a helper use it). It will tell you everything from your battery’s state of charge to whether you have a bad switch or connector.

• Inspection mirror — There are a lot of places that this comes in handy to peek into.

Yes, there are thousands of tools that you could buy and carry (and I carry hundreds) — but if I think back on what I grab first and use the most, this list covers 95% of them.

So there you go. Put everything in a sturdy case or soft-sided bag for safekeeping. For less than $100 or so, you can stuff this in a drawer or the back of a storage compartment and drag it out when something breaks. You’ll be a hero to yourself and your traveling companions!

Paring Down Space

This is from www.rvtravel.com. We have been longtime subscribers. There is a wealth of info for everyone even if you do not have an RV.

Clearing out clutter has been a lifelong pursuit for me. I do live in a small space.

https://www.rvtravel.com/trim-rv-weight-increven ase-storage-space/

New Project Begins

Surprise, surprise! I had given up on it ever happening but it has begun! We are building a new free-standing garage on our north lot. To back up a bit, the former owners of our house built on a closet on the north side, and in so doing they built one foot of it on the property to the north. Now since they owned it too I am sure they did not give it much thought but it has caused a wrinkle or two for us. For one thing, we could never sell that lot, not that we ever intended for that to happen. And it really hadn't been an issue up to this point but now we are marrying the two lots together forever and ever. Done!

Butch is standing in the middle of the space that will hold the building and Russ is standing on the far north edge. If you enlarge the picture you can see a stake on the south edge of the proposed building.

I plan to take a picture from the same spot as things progress. It will measure 24 x 30 feet and its main purpose will be to house a pool table. You might also notice how brown our grass is. We have not had any rain for a long time. It happens to be "raining" as I write this but Butch checked the rain gauge and the bottom of it isn't wet yet.

We are excited about our new project and hope to see it progress in a timely manner. Butch asked me to call my sister Myrla because it is her pool table that will be finding a new home in our building and she assured me it is still ours for the taking. Now we need to find a couple of strong guys to help us move it when the time comes....Hmmm, Do you think we will have the same trouble as someone who tries to have a "Painting Party"?

RV Parks and WiFi

https://www.rvtravel.com/rv-park-wifi-bad-may-not-parks-fault/

Good News...and bad

One of our boys that were waiting for word on a contact that had been exposed received word that the person tested negative.

But then we received word that a couple who live in Trophy Gardens full time have both been infected with Covid-19 as well as someone in our neighbor park, Winter Ranch. 

Website of the day

Website of the day

Every Kid In A Park
Did you know that all fourth graders get themselves (and everyone in their vehicle) into thousands of state and national parks for free? Bring the kids or grandkids along and save some money! Get your passes at this site.