Down in bourbon country

I drove down to KY last weekend.  The truck was rather full.  

I also noticed when I moved the tractor that it appears to be leaking hydraulic oil again.  Sigh.

I didn't notice when I took the boat off just how rough the tires were on the trailer.  I ended up just filling it partway with air.  The thought was fill it enough to not ride on the edges (the trailer was empty driving down), but not full enough to make the tire go boom.  It seemed to work, I got the trailer down to KY without issue.  

I also finally completed the power center.  It has foam between the batteries to prevent them from sliding around, and an insert on the top to prevent them from tipping over.  

The weight issue reared its ugly head again.  We couldn't push it into the truck with the batteries in it.  We pushed it part way in with the 4 wheeler and a board.  Dad had an idea to get it the rest of the way in.  It worked.  The unwieldiness of the unit is definitely a huge black mark against the idea.  I knew the weight would be high, but I didn't realize that it would be quite this bad.

But the power center is installed.  I also finished packing the truck for the trip.  I didn't grab a picture, but you can easily see in the tires that the truck preferred the weight further up.  On the trip to KY, the batteries were in the cab.

I also didn't get any pictures while we were doing it, but Dad and I (with an assist from my sister) put a new gasket on my cap so hopefully it won't leak anymore.  I did notice that it appears that my hinge for the back window is starting to break down a little.  Hopefully it won't be a problem.  

I am working remotely this week from the camper.  I am still unpacking and organizing.  My work laptop is all that I have set up thus far.  I have a lot of meetings this week though, so I should have plenty of time.  

My plan for this week: 

* Monday - shopping

* Tuesday - truck, planning the trip

* Wednesday - Carter caves visit

* Thursday - Tractor Supply, last minute shopping and planning

* Friday - take off for South Dakota

Trip prep. Probably last post for a while.

Not too much going on the last couple of days.  I have mostly been prepping for the trip.  

The first thing I did yesterday in my 20 minutes of daylight was to move my license plate over to the boat trailer I am bringing down.  It turns out we broke off the passenger side light when we moved my utility trailer.  Oops.  I think I have a spare in the shed still.

I couldn't get the bolts off and didn't have an impact small enough to "convince" them.  So the plate is just zip tied on.  Hopefully I don't lose it again.

I also went and filled up all my tires, including a full size spare for the truck.  It turns out both of my back tires are leaking now.  Fortunately these leaks are still slow.  The tire that had the crack in it was fine, so the crack doesn't go through.  I am not going to worry about it for this trip.  

I also staged a bunch of stuff I am bringing in the carport.  I will be putting it in the truck tonight after I go to the dump.

I went and bought some snacks for the trip down and I also went to fill a gas can (backup for the generator in case I can't get it to start on propane or something) since I can get ethanol-free gas again.  Sunoco has started carrying it.  It turns out this gas can appears to have a leak around the venting cap though, so it might be time to replace it.  Kind of a shame, it has a nice nozzle, and at first glance it doesn't look like I can just put it on a different can.  I don't think the black part comes off.  You can't really see it in the picture, but all the gas that was above the vent appears to have leaked out.  Either that or it is a 1.5gallon can now instead of a 2gal.

No movement on the checklist.  I expect that this will be my last post (unless I decide to post something tomorrow before I leave) until I return from from vacation, which will be a couple of weeks.

New grill

I picked a new grill the other night, and got it assembled yesterday.  It is surprisingly large for a little portable grill, it could easily hold two reasonable sized steaks.

It also has a thermometer in it, which is good since I might be using it as an oven while I am in the camper.  It also latches shut which is a nice feature considering how cheap it was.  This grill was only 80 bucks.

It almost fits nicely on the table I got from Mike for it.  It is perfectly sized for the grill, but there is no support for a propane cylinder.  I might eventually get a 1 lb to 20 lb adapter and use a real tank though, so that shouldn't be a problem going forward.  

I also sold the Cub yesterday.  The extra space in the carport is much appreciated.  Now I need to pull out the Craftsman and get rid of that one.

Since it is fall and I won't likely get to do my normal foliage tour this year, here are some pictures from my walk at lunch yesterday.  

Everything at this point is all about prepping for the trip.  I cleaned out my truck, emptied and cleaned a few totes to bring stuff down, and so on, but none of this stuff is on the checklist, so no movement.  I also ordered an outdoor storage bin thing to store the portable garage in, which should come in around the time I get back.  The only scary part thus far is that I haven't finished the power center.  I might have to just bring all the parts and finish it while I am down there.  All that is left on it is just implementing a guard to keep the batteries from moving around (it would be bad if one of them fell over).  I am planning on staying at my parents for a week before I take the camper anywhere so I have time to unpack my stuff, stock up the camper, get a fresh oil change in my truck, see that I brought too much crap, realize that I forgot stuff, and so on, so I might be able to do it then.  

2021 Projects:

• Before Trip (currently planned for 10/16)
• Camper Power Center (portable AC power source and generator)
• Baffle box
• Before Ground freezes/Gets too cold
• Shed supports
• South wall siding
• Driveway round three
• Level back yard
• Level front yard 
• Before Snow cover
• Remove dead/dying beech trees
• During winter
• Fix shed floor.
• Review options for house (mobile home vs stick built vs modular)

Generator is very quiet.

Saturday I heard some strange noises.  I used to assume they were mice chewing on something, since I had heard them before but only when I was in the other end of the house and kind of muffled.  This time though, I was doing laundry and heard very clearly it was a woodpecker.  So I went outside and chased him away.  I might want to do something with that before winter too, that is a pretty sizable hole.  Sigh.

Saturday was misty and drizzly most of the morning.  So much for 10% chance of rain.  It was like this most of the day.  

I started off by emptying out the back of my truck.  I took a look at the green table I got from Mike.  as much as I like to poke Mike for his lack of construction skills, this one isn't on him.  This is among the most retarded joints I have ever seen.  The problem is that both the welded piece and the metal behind it are threaded, and the two sets of threads don't line up.  So the screw goes into the first piece and you can't move it/wiggle it or anything to make it line up in the second piece.  The table feels reasonably solid though so I don't think I care.  

Saturday afternoon I went on a mushroom hunt with a bunch of my coworkers.  I didn't find anything that wouldn't kill you, but it was nice to be out in the woods.  It wasn't raining where we went.  

There wasn't as much foliage as I expected.  There were spots of color though.  

There is a bunch of color nearby though.  

My machete isn't a very good machete.  It wasn't cheap (it is a Schrader, but was apparently a POS.  I might ask my Uncle Jim if he wants to grind it out, but this is the second time I have chipped the blade; it is either low-quality steel or overhardened to the point of being brittle.  That is a big chunk missing from the blade.

When I got home, I finally got around to testing the generator.  It doesn't start very easily on propane.

It is very quiet though.  I won't need to build a baffle box.  I probably won't build anything for this trip.  If I do anything for future trips, it would just be to hold the units together in the back of the truck.  This video was taken with eco mode off, so it should have been running at 100%.

Sunday I went and tried to clean out the back of my truck so I can get the power center in it for the trip.  I tried to sweep it out to no avail.  So I went to the carwash.  I got it clean enough, but the car wash ate several dollars of quarters and I didn't get everything cleaned out that I wanted to; it sprayed for 3 minutes and then died.  Oh well.  One downside of using the carwash is that I need to wait for the bed to dry.  Here is a before and after.

I also finished going through and emptying the portable garage.  The shed is quite full again.  I can't get to everything, but everything I should need before next spring should be accessible.  

I was going to start taking down the portable garage, since it isn't built well enough (*cough Harbor Freight cough*) to withstand snow, and realized that I have nowhere to put it.  I might pick up one of those outdoor chests to put it in.

I intended to light my burn barrel, but I couldn't find my matches and my lighter apparently died.  These are a good thing to have around, so I will pick some up next time I out.  

I still had a little daylight left so I pulled out the tractor and started working on the driveway.  I started off by grading the ridge out of the middle.  The places where I drive were lower than the center part where the truck doesn't routinely pack it down.  

I got the first 20 feet or so done.  I did the really rough smoothing with the blade, the finer smoothing with the bucket, and did a final combover by hand with a bo rake.  It seemed to work quite well and is really smooth.  I don't have a box blade which is what you would normally use for this kind of work.  Might be something to look into.

I don't think I have enough gravel, this might have to do though, I think the quarry goes to extremely limited hours pretty soon (they stop delivery services when that happens), before I get back.  That is a pretty big hole in the middle.

I also took a quick stab at the back yard as I was winding down.  Not enough that I would mark it as in progress though, I was just making sure I could do this with the tractor and not need an excavator.  The tractor will be fine.

I also started cleaning out my truck.  I apparently never brought Tim's jack back, so I will have to do that at some point this week.  I need a tote to dry out before I can do something with the moving blanket.  I might try to wash it, it looks like pigpen when you shake it.  

The driveway is in progress.  Clearing out the portable garage wasn't on the list, but was the reason the shed floor is red.  I will probably stop by Home Depot or someplace tonight and get a storage bin for it and try to get it taken down soon.  Supposedly the weather is supposed to be nice all week, though we are at the point of the year where I don't have enough daylight when I get home to do much.

2021 Projects:

• Before Trip (currently planned for 10/16)
• Camper Power Center (portable AC power source and generator)
• Baffle box
• Before Ground freezes/Gets too cold
• Shed supports
• South wall siding
• Driveway round three
• Level back yard
• Level front yard 
• Before Snow cover
• Remove dead/dying beech trees
• During winter
• Fix shed floor.
• Review options for house (mobile home vs stick built vs modular)

Not very productive week.

I haven't been too productive of late and apparently forgot to post last weekends lack of shenanigans.  We have a big deadline at work (due today), and the incentive from management was to give us an extra week+ off at the end of the year.  I typically use my floating holidays and vacation for that time, so it might make a significant difference in my trips for the rest of the year; I might be able to take a full week off for the trip with the camper I am planning, instead of my original planned two days for example.

Last weekend I went and helped Mike move a few things, and got to see his daughter, now a weeks old.  I also picked up a few things.  The green table thing I am thinking of putting on my slab for the small portable grill I was thinking of getting.  The towers will be a welcome addition in the shed when I get it fixed.

On a nostalgic note, on the way back I stopped at Stewarts.  I usually stop when I am out in the Albany area, and though it took a while, I finally filled up a card.

Sunday was spent largely battling the weather while moving stuff back into the shed.  After the third interruption for rain that wasn't supposed to start until the evening, I gave up.  I did got my propane cylinders refilled.  I will definitely keep an eye on the rightmost one.  I thought it should have been full, and is very old.  The guy who filled them never looked at the tanks, so I have no idea if it is still in date or not.

Not a lot of stuff happened during the week.  Some douche truck decided to turn around in my yard.  This is the second time this year some asshat trucker turned something around and left ruts in my yard.  Grrrr.  

I also happened to notice something unfortunate.  It looks like my tires are splitting.  It isn't smooth, so I wouldn't think it was cut.  I was hoping not to replace the tires on the truck before I replace it next year, but seeing stuff like this gives me pause before taking a probably 5k mile trip in the truck.  The tire isn't losing air though, so it might be ok.

During the week at lunch I got the generator assembled and ready to test.  The assembly was pretty quick, for the most part it was assembled, it was just adding oil (0.5L which is interesting, not US units) and attached a few panels.  I hope to test it this weekend.

No movement on the checklist.  I rearranged the checklist to put the before winter items near the top.

2021 Projects:

• Before Trip (currently planned for 10/16)
• Camper Power Center (portable AC power source and generator)
• Baffle box
• Before Ground freezes/Gets too cold
• Shed supports
• South wall siding
• Driveway round three
• Level back yard
• Level front yard 
• Before Snow cover
• Remove dead/dying beech trees
• During winter
• Fix shed floor.
• Review options for house (mobile home vs stick built vs modular)