Monthly Archives: December 2016

Donna Discovers a Theft

I spent a couple of hours on the pickleball courts Thursday morning at the Pacific Beach Recreation Center. My real task for the day was changing the oil and filters on our Can-Am Spyder. Here at Mission Bay RV Resort, working on vehicles is prohibited. So, I parked the Spyder in the overflow lot next to our trailer and went to work. I was arguably still on the property, but I thought I could get it done without raising an issue. Doing the work in our site would have been a problem for sure.

Oil changes on the Spyder take a lot of time. To access the crankcase drain plug and oil filter housings, you have to remove the plastic body work from the left side and also the tray under the engine. There are two drain plugs – one for the crankcase and one for the oil reservoir. There are also two oil filters on our model – one for the engine and another for the hydraulically operated shift mechanism that utilizes engine oil.

The job took me about an hour and half. While I was working on the Spyder, maintenance personnel from the park cruised by on golf carts several times. Most didn’t take any notice of me, but a couple of them just waved at me as they passed by. I was careful not to spill any oil or leave a mess.

Thursday night Donna came home from her trip to Atlanta around 7pm. Her TV appearance went well, but the trip overall was a disaster. When she entered the security check at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, she opened her carry-on bag to remove her laptop computer. The laptop case and computer weren’t in her bag! She remembered putting it under her sweater in the bag. However, her bag wasn’t in sight or under her control at all times that morning and it’s a mystery when and where the laptop went missing.

The problem was made worse when she figured out that her back-up to an external hard drive wasn’t properly completed. The eight chapters of the book she’s been writing for the last two months didn’t back up and are gone with her laptop. It’s an unbelievable situation. There’s no way she can meet the December 20 deadline now.

Depite feeling really low on Friday, Donna soldiered on and put up Christmas decorations inside and out. She put up lights on the coach and our little tree in our site.

Christmas decorations

I don’t have any exciting events or pictures to add at this time – things have been fairly routine here. As this is our fourth winter here at Mission Bay RV Resort, it’s easy for us to fall into a routine.

One thing that seems different this year is the weather. It’s colder than usual and we’ve had more cloudy days than I remember in the past. Usually the rainy season comes around Christmas time and runs through February. But rainy and cold in San Diego are relative terms – February is the wettest month with about two inches of rain for the month. The average temperature reaches a high in the mid – 60s from December through February.

Friday was cool with a high in the upper 60s. Clouds moved in overnight and this morning we have a low marine layer and I wonder if it will burn off today. There’s a chance of showers tonight – the area could use some rain and I don’t mind when it happens overnight.

Dinner Without Donna

Donna had a busy day Tuesday. She hammered away at her book deadline and also had to prepare for her trip to Atlanta. She had an early flight scheduled out of San Diego to appear on television programs aired via satellite in a number of markets across the country from a setting in Atlanta. She was speaking as an organizing and decluttering expert.

She took time out in the afternoon to go with Sini for a manicure. When they left, I headed over to the Offshore Tavern and Grill for a couple of cold ones with the guys. Around 5pm Donna texted me saying they would be done in five minutes.

I found a table for us and they joined me at the tavern for dinner. Having dinner out would allow more time for Donna to finish packing for her trip. Sini ordered the taco Tuesday special and said it was good.

Taco Tuesday special

Donna and I went for our usual – the poke (poh-key) plate. This is sushi grade tuna served over chopped cabbage and scallions with Asian dressing and fried won-ton wrappers with sliced avocado on top. It was delicious.

Poke plate

On the way out of the tavern I saw a cool Volkswagen Beetle from the early 70s. These used to be a common sight around here.

Cars like this were once a common sight

Wednesday morning Donna was up and out of here early. The forecast called for warmer weather, but it didn’t happen. We had a low overcast ceiling and cool temperatures most of the day. The high finally reached the lower 60s once the clouds departed around 3pm.

The Ocean Beach Recreation Center was closed while they refinish the flooring, so I didn’t get out for pickleball. In fact, I didn’t get out at all. I spent most of the day reading a book

Before I met Donna, I was single guy for five years and mostly cooked for myself. I had a few favorites I would make, but nothing like the dishes Donna prepares. Over the last 10+ years we’ve been together, I’ve been completely spoiled. I handle the grill, but other than that I don’t cook much.

Wednesday night I was on my own for dinner. Donna anticipated this and bought a frozen chicken pot pie at Trader Joe’s. I like pot pie and I can handle cooking one. I even know how to run the microwave/convection oven now! I preheated the convection oven to 400 degrees. Then I wrapped foil around the rim of the pot pie so it wouldn’t burn the thin crust there and popped it in the oven. An hour later, dinner was ready.

Chicken pot pie hot out of the oven

Dinner is served

Of course a meal like this deserves a good brew. I paired it with Duet IPA from Alpine Beer Company located in east San Diego county.

Duet IPA

Today I plan to play pickleball in the morning at the Pacific Beach Recreation Center. This afternoon I should do some maintenance work on the Spyder that I put off yesterday. We have clear skies and it should be a warmer day, so I can’t use the cold weather excuse.

This evening’s dinner plan is pizza delivery from our favorite place, Mountain Mike’s. Donna should be home by 7pm.

 

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter

I mentioned in my last post an electrical issue Sini was having with her coach. On Sunday morning before we left for the Chargers game, she told me most of her outlets weren’t working. I took a quick look and checked for tripped circuit breakers on the 120-volt panel, but didn’t find any. I checked the breaker at the pedestal and it was fine. Then I noticed her microwave/convection oven had power. She told me at least one outlet had power as well. This led me to suspect the ground fault circuit interrupter, but I didn’t have time to deal with it.

Ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) are required anytime a 120-volt electrical outlet is placed near a water source such as a wall in the bathroom or kitchen near a faucet and sink. The GFCI senses the amount of current running through the two legs of the outlet. Modern outlets have two different size openings that match the blades of the plug on the end of a power cord. One blade is larger – that’s the neutral side. The other is the hot side. There’s a third opening that’s round and it’s the ground lug.

The alternating current running through the neutral and hot leads should match. If there’s a discrepancy in the amount of current between the two sides, it means current is finding another path to ground. This could be a very dangerous situation. If you are using an electrical appliance and it gets wet, it’s possible for the water to conduct electricity from an un-insulated connection to your body and then ground through your feet. This could electrocute you and result in death. The GFCI senses the discrepancy in current and acts as a breaker to shut off the power supply.

Many GFCI’s are wired to receive the incoming power and pass it along down the circuit to other outlets and appliances. Since all of the power running through that circuit runs through the GFCI first, it provides protection for all of the outlets and appliances connected downstream of it.

When your RV has 120-volt power to some outlets or appliances but not others, the GFCI is suspect. I tried to reset Sini’s GFCI with the reset button on the face of the outlet. It wouldn’t reset. This could mean there’s a short to ground somewhere along the line or it could be a bad GCFI. A new GCFI costs under $20, so I made a run to Ace Hardware in Pacific Beach and picked up a new one.

I shut off the power supply at the pedestal and removed the old GFCI – it only takes four screws to remove the cover plate and GFCI. Then I loosened the wire receptacle screws on the sides of the GFCI and pulled the wires out. The wires are very stiff solid copper. Sini’s GFCI provides power to the bathroom outlet and two additional circuits. So, it had three neutral wires with white insulation and three hot wires with black insulation. Additionally there was a bare copper ground wire screwed to a lug on the bottom of the GFCI.

I wired up the new GFCI and closed the breaker at the pedestal to restore power. It didn’t work. This had me scratching my head. I spent the better part of an hour trying to trace the circuit – without a schematic – to find the problem. Nothing made sense to me. It should’ve worked.

Finally, I decided to start over. I shut off the power again and removed the new GFCI. I carefully separated the wires and had Sini restore the power. With my Fluke multimeter, I measured voltage on the neutral and hot wires. Then I realized what the problem was. Sini shut off the power again. When I removed the original GFCI, the wires were very stiff and I thought they remained in the same position. I wired them to the new GFCI and didn’t give it much thought. But here’s the thing. The GFCI has two silver screws with stab-in receptacles on one side for the neutral wires and two brass screws with stab-in receptacles on the other side for the hot wires. One set of neutral and hot receptacles is marked “Line” the other set is marked “Load.” One neutral wire and one hot wire has the incoming 120-volts from the power pedestal. These wires must be connected to the line receptacles. The other two neutral and hot wires going to the rest of the circuit must be connected to the load receptacles.

I must have inadvertently switched the line and load neutral wires when I wired the GFCI. This won’t work. The strange thing is the new GFCI has an indicator lamp. When it’s green, it means there’s voltage available and all is good. If it’s mis-wired, it should show up red. I had a green light all the time. Anyway, I rewired the GFCI and turned on the power at the pedestal.

GFCI wiring

GFCI wiring

I hit the reset button on the GFCI and it clicked like it should and we had power down the circuit to all receptacles. Yay! It should have been a 15-20 minute job, but I spent over an hour because of a careless wiring mistake.

Later, when I turned on the Monday Night Football game Sini brought over a six-pack of brew from Mother Earth Brewing called Cali Creamin’ ale. It tastes like cream soda. I sipped one at the start of the game, but I’m not a big soda drinker and I think one is my limit for this style of ale.

Cali Creamin' Ale

Cali Creamin’ Ale

We had cool weather yesterday with the temperature in the low 60s. There was a chance of rain, but it never appeared here at Mission Bay. Today the forecast calls for more of the same before it warms up again. I plan to play pickleball this morning and do some Spyder maintenance in the afternoon.

Donna has a busy day working and preparing for a trip to Atlanta tomorrow. She’ll be up early tomorrow for her flight and she’ll return Thursday night.

 

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to make a purchase, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Tailgate Birthday Party

When I made my usual happy hour stop at the Offshore Tavern and Grill Friday, I shot a quick photo of one of the regulars. Lawrence is originally from England and he likes to stop at the pub for a couple of pints almost every day. What’s remarkable about him is that he’s 95 years old, sharp as a tack and gets around fine. Maybe the folks at Sierra Nevada Brewery are on to something when they say beer is good for your health.

Lawrence

Lawrence

Donna went out for a longer run on Saturday. She’s on a training schedule to run a 15k race in January. She ran seven miles and then rode a city bike 5 miles back to the park. Later, Donna, Sini and I went down to Seaport Village. Donna bought a Chargers shirt there and we went to the Top of the Hyatt bar on the 40th floor of the hotel to take in the views and have a drink. I shot a few pictures, but taking photos through glass windows really doesn’t do it justice.

View to the northwest

View to the northwest

View to the south

View to the south

Looking directly west across the bay, Coronado Island and Pacific Ocean

Looking southwest across the bay, Coronado Island and Pacific Ocean

Donna and Sini relaxing

Donna and Sini relaxing

Saturday night Donna made chicken tikka masala for dinner. It was a new recipe and it came out tasting very much like an authentic Indian restaurant version.

Donna working her majic at the kitchen counter

Donna working her magic at the kitchen counter

Chicken tiki masala

Chicken tikka masala

Sunday was Sini’s birthday. To celebrate, I bought four tickets to the Chargers versus Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. On Sunday morning, while Donna was out for another run, I borrowed Sini’s car and bought a snack tray at the grocery store. We left just before 10am and drove downtown to pick up her son, Beau.

We arrived at Qualcomm Stadium around 10:30am and met up with some friends from my high school days. We tailgated with Gary Stemple and Rosemary Neff (nee Burns) and a few others. Beau brought an assortment of craft beer and Rosemary had Sculpin Pineapple IPA from Ballast Point Brewing where her son works. Gary grilled chicken kabobs that he picked up from Siesel’s Market and Rosemary made an arugula salad with beets and goat cheese. Everything was delicious!

Rosemary, Gary, me, Donna and Sini

Rosemary, Gary, me, Donna and Sini

Mitch Pelegrin is San Diego’s most well known Chargers fan. He’s at every game in the northwest end zone with his face painted. The TV cameras always seem to find him. He had his tailgate party set up a few parking spaces away from us.

Mitch Pelegrin and me

Mitch Pelegrin and me

We had a good time but the Buccaneers prevailed over the home team.

Donna was the designated driver and dropped Sini and Beau off downtown where they were going to watch the Seahawks game and have dinner. We came home and zoned out after a long day of fun times.

The weather was fabulous yesterday – the temperature reached the 70s with calm winds and clear skies. Today will be cooler with a 20% chance of rain showers this evening. At some point, I’ll have to take a look at Sini’s coach. I think she has a bad ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). This is cutting out power to several outlets, including her TV. I’ll probably have to make a run to the hardware store to pick up a new GFCI and install it.

 

Epic Fail in the Closet

I decided it was time to get busy on Wednesday. We’ve been here at Mission Bay RV Resort for about six weeks and I had a number of projects on my list that I hadn’t tackled yet.

First up was a repair to the closet hanger rod. The hanger rod is a 1-1/4 inch wooden dowel six and half feet long. It has a support in the center made from wood that the rod passes through. The support is suspended from the ceiling where it’s attached with wood screws.

The weight of the clothing on hangers puts a heavy load on the rod. When we’re driving down the road, bumps can put a lot of strain on it. The hanger support broke once before and I repaired it. It broke again, but this time the hanger rod support pulled free of the ceiling. The wood screws securing it had stripped from the wood.

Hangar rod support pulled from ceiling

Hangar rod support pulled from ceiling

I thought I could use inserts in the ceiling and re-attach the support with screws. I envisioned a plastic insert with large, coarse threads that would bite into the wood in the ceiling and provide a sturdy material for the screws to attach to.

I went to the Ace Hardware store in Pacific Beach where the friendly hardware man helped me out. When I told him what I had in mind, he said he didn’t think the type of insert I was talking about would work. He said they’re designed for drywall and he didn’t think they were strong enough to thread into wood. He suggested a steel insert and machine screws to make the repair.

Threaded steel insert and machine screws - original wood screw on bottom

Threaded steel insert and machine screws – original wood screw on bottom

I removed the support and installed the inserts. This took longer than I thought it would – getting the inserts to thread into the wood was a real pain. I could see that the drywall type wouldn’t have worked. When I screwed the support back in place with the machine screws I gave it a tug. The inserts pulled out of the wood. Failure!

By then it was 2:30pm and I had to get cracking on the Traeger. The night before I had purchased babyback ribs from Siesel’s Market and prepped them. We planned on having company for dinner and I needed to cook the ribs on the Traeger wood pellet fired smoker/grill. We invited Sini and her son Beau, John and Sharon Hinton (On the Road of Retirement) and their daughter, Katie, who is visiting.

I had the ribs ready a little after 5pm – I’m fine tuning my rib preparation and think they’re coming out pretty darn good. Donna made cornbread and Asian coleslaw, Sini brought a tossed salad and John and Sharon brought green beans with sesame seeds. Sini’s son Beau had to take a rain check due to a meeting that came up.

It gets dark early so we had electric candles and a lantern on the table. We enjoyed the food and conversation – and beer. Not only does it get dark early, it really cools off after the sun sets. It was probably about 60 degrees, but it felt cooler. Around 7:30pm everyone was ready to move inside and retreated to their respective coaches. I neglected to take any photos.

On Thursday, I came up with plan “B” for the closet. I made a drawing and a list of goods. I rode the Spyder to Home Depot where I found lengths of 3/4″ x 1-1/2″ oak boards. I had them cut to the lengths I needed. I also bought some 2″ #6 wood screws.

Instead of suspending the center support for the hanger rod from the ceiling, I was building a post that would support it from the closet floor like a crutch. I drilled pilot holes where needed in the wood, then fastened it together with the wood screws. I like to scrape the screw threads across a bar of soap before I screw them into the pilot holes. This provides dry lubrication and makes the screw thread into the wood easier.

The crutch type support was made with two 47″ lengths of oak board attached together with six-inch lengths of oak board. The original support is 3/4″ wide, so putting the six-inch pieces of 3/4″ oak between the two 47″-long boards spaced them apart perfectly to fit the support. It’s not the most elegant solution, but it’s sturdy as a rock now.

Not the most elegant

Not the most elegant

Rock steady

Rock steady

12_1clst5

With that job done, I showered and headed over to Dan Diego’s for a cold one with the guys. Dan Diego’s features local brews on tap but they also have a large selection of imported bottled beer. They have a lot of Belgian beer made in monasteries – these beers tend to be strong, flavorful and expensive. Some of them run $10 for an 11.2 ounce bottle. They aren’t big sellers for them – probably due to the price. The management decided it was time to move some of the inventory, so they put together special pricing on about a dozen bottled beers.

One of the specials was Duvel Tripel Hop. This is a tasty, strong ale and they had it priced at $3/bottle. I couldn’t pass it up.

Duvel tripel hop

Duvel tripel hop

After a couple of cold ones, I came home to watch Dallas versus Minnesota on Thursday Night Football. After the game Donna relaxed with a couple of mindless TV programs. She’s been pushing hard to meet her book deadline and had a few other assignments as well. She laid back and Ozark the cat joined her.

Donna and Ozark kicking back

Donna and Ozark kicking back

Ozark gets closer

Ozark gets closer

Today we have sunny, blue skies and the temperature should reach the low 70s. I have a couple of chores to attend to, but nothing too heavy. Life is good.