Terri Rides Again (thanks Dad)

It was just last Sunday that 'That Dang Scooter' quit working, Now don't get me wrong, it works most of the time, but last Sunday it just quit. I wanted to put her mobility scooter on the porch, so the lever was flipped from in gear to the freewheel position. When we wanted to use it again I flipped the lever back, nada, zilch, nothing - kaput!

Back to freewheel, and I push Terri to the car. She says she must have it working, it has to be fixed right away. The next day I start looking for a repair facility, can't find a local place. There is one down in the Folsom area, but that's two hours away, they say they will have someone in Chico on Monday, 3/7, and give me a name of someone here if we can't wait. I give a call and leave a message.

On the manufacturer's site there is a local med center, and a repair site about 50 minutes away. The med center won't work on a scooter that they didn't sell, even if you are from out of town, but I am given a number of another place. I call, but still haven't received a call back. The out of town guy can't get us in before Monday.

By now it is late Thursday, something has to be done, although she would prefer a pro shop to fix it, I decide I must attempt the repair. I think it is a micro switch that the gear/freewheel lever engages. The scooter is disassembled to get at it and remove the switch, it is done outside, no room in the motor home. This takes the better part of the morning Friday, then the hunt is on for parts. We luck out and Radio Shack has the exact micro switch but with a lever, later I will forcibly remove it. Now we need 1/8" spade terminals to reattach the wires that were originally soldered, if it has to be fixed again I'm not doing the whole soldering thing each time, but they are not so easy to find.


Back at the shop (the picnic table beside the motor home) Saturday it is reassembly time, not so easy, but it gets done. Soon I'm riding around the RV park on a 'test' drive. Woo hoo it is fixed, and a day and a half before we could have gotten a pro to look at it. On top of everything, it cost less than $4.00 and 6 hours of my time.

=======================

I must take a moment to acknowledge my Dad. Most of his acquaintances think of him as a preacher and pastor, but I know the engineer side of him. Dad, with your gene pool I might have figured how to do this kind of thing, but from my first bicycle you taught me how to figure things out and to take a methodical approach. It has stood the test of time, and has allowed me to know what to punt to a pro, and what is within my capabilities to fix. Usually these are the time consuming tasks what we all hate to spend big $$$ per hour to have done.

Well It Has Finally Happened

Today we left our home that is locked to a piece of land and moved into our moving home. It has been a long process, we've gone from paying on a mortgage to closing the sale. We have soared and crashed, only to take off again. We have had to decide what goes and what goes with us, what goes into storage, the rest just went, almost 3 roll-offs full. Some days we just thought it would never end, one problem after another.

Well folks, now we have a new venue for our problems, but it will also be the venue of our joys, and every experience in between.

Camarillo Christmas Parade

The Christmas parade was today. At the festival there were fresh local strawberries. Where else can you have strawberries all year?

BTW, did you know the Santa in the parade is Dan Thaxton, husband of cousin Brenda Donovan Thaxton (daughter of Aunt Dorothy Donovan)

GOULOSTER

This is one of our Christmas traditions. My Great grandmother and grandmother used to make this. There was no recipe, grandma would mix the ingredients and take a piece and cook it in a skillet and then taste it, adjusting as she went. So one Thanksgiving my aunt grabbed ingredients from grandma, I measured, and my sister wrote down the amounts

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GOULOSTER

4-5 lbs ground pork
1/2 cup uncooked rice
2 teaspoons garlic salt
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 large head cabbage
1 16 oz pkg sauerkraut

Combine pork, rice, seasonings, & onion. Form into large balls (~3/4 cup). Wilt cabbage and wrap each ball in a cabbage leaf (optional). Alternate layers of cabbage, sauerkraut, and pork balls. Add sauerkraut juice and 2 cups water. Cover, simmer until cabbage is tender and pork is cooked through, about 2 - 2 1/2 hours.

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About wrapping the pork balls, I only do this for very special occasions, almost never, I just cut the cabbage about 1/4 inch thick.

We made a double batch, but there was only room for just over half of it in our stock pot .... Bet you can guess! The rest just fit in my Fagor 6qt. pressure cooker - 45 minutes at 15psi, natural release, both batches were great, if you like this sort of thing - some do or some DON'T.

Carnitas

I fixed this a couple of weeks ago simmering on the stove top. Tonight with the other half of the 5 pound family pack in the PC.     Changes to the recipe (both times) - no orange juice, reduced salt to 1 teaspoon, added 1 tablespoon of sugar-free orange marmalade, 1 teaspoon chili power, and 1 teaspoon cumin.    Served with warm corn tortillas.  The kids also like it in fancy hot dog rolls with cheese and mild green taco sauce. Carnitas 3 pounds of pork butt 1 cup of orange juice 3 cups of water 2 teaspoons of salt 1. Cut pork into strips (three inches by one inch), in the pressure cooker, bring to 15 lbs pressure, cook for 40 minutes. 2. Quick release, remove lid, and turn heat up to medium high, and continue to cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the pork fat has rendered (about 45-60 minutes). Stir a few times, to keep pork from sticking to bottom of pan. 3. When pork has browned on both sides, it’s ready (there will be liquid fat in the pan). Serve either cubed or shredded (pork will be tender enough that just touching it will cause it to fall apart). PC info is with my Fagor 6qt on a gas stove top-YMMV. Originally from the HOMESICK TEXAN blog: Carnitas (adapted from Diana Kennedy) Ingredients: 3 pounds of pork butt 1 cup of orange juice 3 cups of water 2 teaspoons of salt Method: 1. Cut pork into strips (three inches by one inch), bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered on low for 2 hours. Do not touch the meat. 2. After two hours, turn heat up to medium high, and continue to cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the pork fat has rendered (about 45 minutes). Stir a few times, to keep pork from sticking to bottom of pan. 3. When pork has browned on both sides, it’s ready (there will be liquid fat in the pan). Serve either cubed or shredded (pork will be tender enough that just touching it will cause it to fall apart).Goes very well with a green salsas such as Ninfa's green sauce or this tomatillo salsa or this salsa verde with avocados and tomatillos. Serves 4-6 Notes: Whether to shred the meat like pulled pork or leave it in cubes I think is determined by what you're used to eating. Texas isn't a pulled-pork state so the texture isn’t as familiar as nicely done chunks. Likewise, I think the brilliance of this recipe lies in its simplicity. You can add as many different spices, herbs and aromatics as you like—but if you have good-tasting, happy pork why not let its flavor shine with just a bit of salt? Ultimately, however, making carnitas is a highly personal affair and so make them as they best suit you!

55 stops global warming

From <http://brighterplanet.com/conservation_recommendations/32>
".... slowing down can really save money and carbon. Each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph saves about 7 minutes on a 100-mile trip, but costs the equivalent of paying an extra 25 cents per gallon for gas. You’ll also emit an extra 1.5 lbs of CO₂ every 20 miles. For the average American, the difference between driving at 75 mph and 65 mph — or 70 mph and 60 mph — adds up to almost $300 and 1,400 lbs of CO₂ each year."

"Different vehicles achieve maximum fuel economy at different speeds, but on average mileage increases until 25-30 mph, stays about constant until 55-60 mph, and then declines rapidly. Why? At that speed air resistance starts to overcome even the most streamlined design, because the power required to overcome the force of air resistance is proportional to the cube of velocity."

Each of us can reduce our carbon footprint by just slowing down, even if we are driving a high efficiency vehicle. Air resistance hurts the most aerodynamic vehicles. And anyone can do this with no additional investment!

I'm not sure I believe in global warming, but I drive 55 mph (the speed limit for big rigs and towed vehicles in CA), because if it is true, to do otherwise would be irresponsible.

a family treasure, forever

A number of years ago my mother got the cookbook bug and planned on giving each of her 6 children, and 7 sisters/sister-in-laws a cookbook. She collected favorite recipes from all of us, along with her favorites, and created a wonderful book of memories.

Page 2 -- She bought cute cookbooks with blank recipe pages, and started handwriting the recipes. After completing most of the first book, she decided she had bitten off more than she could chew. With my dad's help they typed all of the recipes into the computer, a TRS-80, and printed 13 sets so they would be ready for Christmas. She then completed that first handwritten cookbook.

Page 3 -- We all treasure Mom's Family Cookbook. Being her oldest child I received the only handwritten Family Cookbook that my mother produced. Now that she is gone, especially around Thanksgiving, that cookbook brings me such joy. You see, my Mother's birthday was November 26.

And now, you know the rest of the story.


Make a cookbook, it will be a family treasure forever. And create the pages in a text file, you never know what computer you may need to do reprints on in the future. Ours have been printed on a TRS-80, a 286 PC, and Windows 95 and XP.

it is too late

What more could have been done? When the media has subscribed so completely is there anything that can be done. It is distressing to watch this play out, the rah, rah, rah. I morn over a media that has forgotten journalism.

Christ the Lord was born

9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. Luke 2:9-16 KJV


Hallelujah!

went youtubing today

We live in Camarillo, for the past 45 years there has been a Christmas Parade. Today was the 46th. Our daughter works for the Academy of Music here, and they were in the parade. What do parents do? You are right of course, we take pictures or video. And I did.

So when I tried to email a copy to Bonnie Ulshafer the director of the academy, I found it was too big. Remembering that I had applied for a YouTube account, well over a year ago, I uploaded it and sent the link to Bonnie.

Now I could have just made a CD, but out there was that YouTube account that had never been used. ;-)



I'll make Bonnie the CD anyway, but now you may just see a few more videos.

d

did it get you?

from FOXNews.com - Surprise! Daylight Saving Pushed Back One Week by 2005 Energy Conservation Act

Surprise! Daylight Saving Pushed Back One Week by 2005 Energy Conservation Act Monday, October 29, 2007

If you turned your clocks back one hour Sunday morning thinking it was the annual move back to Standard Time, all you succeeded in doing was moving into a new time zone. The move from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time doesn't happen this year until the first Sunday in November, instead of the usual last Sunday in October. That means computer software, cellphones and other electronic equipment that is programmed to automatically change will have to be manually reset Monday morning back to Daylight Saving Time, then changed back one hour next Sunday.

President Bush in 2005 signed the Energy Conservation Act, which pushed back the time change in an effort to squeeze just a little more daylight — and a bit of energy savings — into the daily lives of Americans. The legislation also changed the "spring forward" to Daylight Saving Time, which next year will be on March 9. Government estimates place the overall energy savings at just over 1 percent.

she hasn't done that in 2 years

Tonight the DW walked the salad bar. Twice! She hasn't done this since her stroke, I've been taking her through in her wheelchair.

This is enormous, she walks with a quad cane, you know the ones with 4 feet at the bottom. Quad canes are used when someone doesn't have the balance and control to use a standard stick cane.

For her to have the confidence to stand, balance, while filling a plate is an outstanding accomplishment.

can we get tires for the motor home?

You may remember that the wife suggested we may want to sell the motor home. Now she wants to go "camping". It isn't that far off the mark. She started climbing the 4 steps to the porch. The MH has 5 steps, they are taller steps, but she can, with effort, make it into the MH. We have revisited 3 state parks and 2 county campgrounds. We even spent one Sunday going to Jalama Beach a Santa Barbara County Park, it was a 4 hour round trip.


She can hear the ocean calling her, the sound of the waves caressing the shore, the lyrics of the gulls and other sea birds. The sight of the gently rounded horizon punctuated by the silhouette of the Channel Islands (Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara).

She is in love. In love with the beach, the shore if you are from "back east", she always has been. I suspect she always will be. It is alright, she loves me more, it is just that she loves me more at the beach. In fact she likes most everything better at the beach.

RV Consumer Group

It has been my experience only the owners of highly rated units think RV Consumer Group is objective (other than the most expensive units, of course). This comes through reading various forums, including many posts in RV.net. You can find owners of lesser rated RVs defending the virtue their rigs every time the ratings come up.

It is my opinion that ownership/projected ownership of a RV is so subjective, that an objective rating is nearly useless and/or impossible. After all, you can find people living full time in small cars, mid & full size vans, truck campers, TT, 5th wheels, MH, and new or converted over the road buses. And yet they each think they made the right decision at the time they made it. But many of them are just waiting for the chance to make a new and improved choice after the experience with their current rig.

I used to be a professional photographer, there was not a single rating of cameras in Consumer Reports that I can remember agreeing with. Yet I was more than willing to trust CR for a washer or air conditioner rating.

Just 1 guy's opinion

"maybe we should sell the motor home"

That is what my wife said the other day. Out of the blue, from nowhere. Now I have to figure out what she was really saying.

You may remember we were going to full time after the last two kids were on there way, there isn't a rush our youngest is a freshman. Nevertheless, it came as a shock.

Pop-up ads can land you in jail

Pop-up ads can land you in jail
By Ryan Russell

If you find yourself the victim of pop-up ads on a computer, with children in the vicinity, you could face decades in prison.

I wish that I was exaggerating or being sensationalistic, but for Julie Amero this is far too real.

read the full story here

he'ssss baaaack

Hi, I've been lax in my duties here.

There was a tag line on a forum post that caught my eye, "I suspect the best way to deal with procrastination is to put off the procrastination itself until later. I've been meaning to try this, but haven't gotten around to it yet."

I'm been caught in a procrastination eddy and am having a hard time getting back into the main current. I'm hoping this post will help me paddle back to the main current so the journey can continue.

david h <><

photo courtesy of Helene Scalliet (scalliet.smugmug.com)

boosting your signal for internet by cell phone, cell phone, or WiFi

regarding internet by cell phone

Peter Johansson wrote:*

As others have mentioned, it's really a mixed bag depending on where you want to be. Here's a little tip that will help you regardless of what you wind up getting, and it works for voice too:

Find one of the small 18" satellite TV dishes. It's generally not too difficult, and I'd be surprised if you couldn't find one through freecycle or craigslist. Remove the antenna element at the focal point of the dish and find some way to mount your phone there. I've got an old cellphone case glued on, but a rubber band should do just fine. Then comes the fun part: finding the tower. Pan the dish around the horizon until you get the strongest signal and find some way to keep it pointed there. Unlike aiming for a satellite, positioning is *far* less critical. I've got a little rig that I can ratchet to a tree, and have mounted it as high as 40 feet off the ground. I'd climb further, but that's about the limit of my bluetooth connectivity! If you have a bluetooth headset, you can use this for voice calls as well. -p.

I wrote:
> Peter,
> Great tip, may I share this on my blog and other forums?
> Thank you,

Sure! Be sure to mention that you can mount USB WiFi "dongles" at the focal point as well. This will extend the range out to about a mile, and maybe even more if you've got a flat open space. -p.

*on MakeMoneyRVing [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MakeMoneyRVing/]

Solar - Chicken pot pie

OK we had a good sun day and I had the time, a magic combination.

Made the Easy Chicken Pot Pie from BETTY CROCKER'S BISQUICK COOKBOOK. Says to cook at 400*, but you know how that goes. Underline, bold, and capitalize: EASY, you can get as creative or lazy as you want to be. I had a 10 oz. can of chunk chicken, the veggies are what was in the freezer, and what is easier than condensed cream of chicken soup & Bisquick?

Solar - Chicken pot pie
Originally uploaded by random obsvervations by reseRVatory.

Cooking progression:
Started 185*
after 15 min. 285*
after 35 min. 315*
after 60 min. 325*
after 75 min. 335*
after 85 min. 325* done


Original recipe posted at SolarCooking: http://tinyurl.com/yetvps

Solar version of recipe:
SOLAR Recipe Project
Main Dish (CASSEROLE)
EASY SOLAR CHICKEN POT PIE - SOLAR Serves: 6
==========================================================
Ingredients:
SOURCE BETTY CROCKER'S BISQUICK COOKBOOK
10 Ounce Chicken Chunk White & Dark In Water
8 Ounce Peas Frozen
6 Ounce Corn, Frozen
4 Ounce Broccoli Frozen
1 Can Soup Chicken Condensed Cream of
1 Cup Bisquick, Pastry
1/2 Cup Milk
1 Each Egg
====================================================================
Directions:
1. Stir drained chicken, thawed vegetables, and soup in ungreased 2 quart casserole.
2. Stir Remaining ingredients until blended. Pour over chicken mixture.
3. Solar oven uncovered about 1½-1¾ hours or until crust is golden brown.

Cooking progression:
Started 185*
after 15 min. 285*
after 35 min. 315*
after 60 min. 325*
after 75 min. 335*
after 85 min. 325* done

This is soooo easy, next time I will try some frozen diced potatoes with whatever
veggies we have on hand.

This is a modification of the original Betty Crocker recipe.

one more thing

We all could do so much, but most are willing to let others make the "sacrifice".

I have found that with a simpler life style I have become richer. In fact, when you "Thoreau" your life away you are rich enough to give to help others.

And when you help others your life becomes fully richer.


[sorry, another of my riches is a "good' pun once in awhile]