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By Dave, December 24, 2007 9:23 pm

Tis finally all bought and mostly done. Cat is wrapping the last bits now.

I’ve got the sweet potatoes with pineapple and raisins cooling from the last bit of cooking now. Potato salad is done and in the fridge. Eggs are boiled and cooling in the fridge for the deviled eggs.

Got several kinds of cheese, crackers, pickles, and fresh pineapple spears for nibbles.

Cooked a 4.5 lb Boston Butt last night in the 12 inch dutch oven for something different. Seasoned it by sticking a large knife through it in several places and smearing minced garlic in them good. Then poured barbque sauce in them. Sprinkled salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning on the outside. Heated the dutch oven from the bottom with all the coals and seared the outside of the roast about 5 minutes a side. Put the lid on and moved all but about 12 coals to the top and let it cook for about 20 minutes then added liquid to the bottom of the pan. Cooked it about an hour and a half and went to add more liquid and when turning it it fell apart. Guessed by that it was done. And it sure is good though not near as heavy as it was…

Hope everyone has a good holiday season and eats way too much at least a time or two. 😉

Till I type again,
Dave

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By Dave, December 16, 2007 4:46 pm

Have had a long several days. Not been feeling at all good and had far too much to do to get ready for the game this past weekend. Then the uncertainty of the weather and the guy that was gonna run the game backing out at the last minute due to the massive rain that we didn’t get. And trying to figure out how much food to cook and who was or was not bringing this and that.

But over all everything worked out. Mongo and others ran games all day other than the hour it did rain and that was during lunch anyway. We cooked enough food to feed twice as many people as stayed to eat and it was all good.

And for me an early night last night (Saturday) at just after 8 pm. And all was well…

At least until just after midnight when the leading edge of the front came through and the dead pine I have been wondering how to take down decided that enough was enough and came down
on it’s own. Right across our power line.

So up gets I and into clothing scramble. Flashlights and candles to uncover and discover. Then with headlamp firmly affixed I went out and took a look to discover that the line had come apart at the splices they put in just at the transformer. No wires on the road so no need to worry about someone getting hurt driving by.

I came back in and Cat was on the phone to the power co. I went to the field and got the toyota farm truck with fuel and chain saw on board and returned to start sawing the tree up only to find the neighbors cows exploring the new opening in their fence. Got Cat to hold them off (she poked at them with a tree limb 🙂 ) till I could get the chain saw cranked at which time they left having remembered it was night and they should be asleep anyway.

Cut the tree up into pieces small enough for us to roll out of the way and pulled the fence back up and tied it to the posts till I find time to fix it right. Got the power line out from under and out of the way. Finished cutting the tree up and then rolled the pieces out of the drive.

Cat said the power co rep told her it would be about 2 and a half hours till someone could get to us. Moved the truck and came in, put out the candles and went to bed with flashlight at hand.

Awoke this am and got up about 7 to find no power and no evidence that anyone had been here last night to do anything on the line.

Called them and they had no record of any call from this address. None. Told the rep what the situation was and within 15 minutes a repair truck was here to assess the damage. Was more then he could do by himself so went to take another call but called another crew to come fix the line.

I came in and after getting the coleman stove out of the camper fixed coffee and then breakfast and we ate.

By the time we got through the crew was here and had started repairs. 30 minutes later they finish and we have power again. Glad to have folks like them but would not like to have to do their jobs.

Wish I knew the name of the person that Cat had talked to last night. Would like to have a talk with him about not reporting downed lines.

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By Dave, December 3, 2007 10:27 am

Last few days I was away from the computer for the most part. Getting ready for and then the airsoft game took up most of Friday and Saturday. The greater part of Sunday was taken up cleaning up after the game. Don’t know if the days of pain and work both pre and post is worth the minuscule gain. Beginning to think not.

Did get some of the screws changed in the camper skin. One side and half the back is done. Now to get the other side, front and top…

Redid the fire ring at the mess tent into a fire keyhole to allow cooking over the coals. Haven’t tried it yet as I didn’t manage to get it done till yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. Will try to get pix soon.

Hands, arms, and body are all worn out and screaming today, so guess I will have to take it easy both on and off the computer. Will post more as am able.

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By Dave, November 24, 2007 5:06 pm

And that’s about the size of the load from Collinsville today.
Got a roll of foil backed bubblepack insulation that is 4 feet wide and around a hundred feet long. Talked him into letting me have it for $45. He was asking $60 for the one I got. Suspect it was a good deal even at $60 but I liked it much more at $45. 😉
Then went to get some rock screws but found some flat headed tech screws for $3 a pound and got 2 pounds of 1 inch and a pound of 3/4 inch instead. Gonna change out all of the exterior screws in the camper and put these in. Will make it easier to seal and it will look better too.
Then went to look at veggies and got a 50 pound bag of white potatoes for $10. Sucker was a whole lot heaver than the insulation was though the insulation was about 4 to 5 times bigger.

Next stop was a Antique store/flea market where Cat found a few books at a quarter each. I almost got a 10 inch dutch oven but decided against it and am glad of it now.

Lunch was at a boat launch in the middle of no where eaten on the tailgate of the truck. Then a few more stops and back home. Am glad we went and even gladder that we’re home.

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By Dave, November 13, 2007 10:50 pm

Just been either busy or camping. Or both.

Last weekend was an airsoft weekend and we had food too so was quite a busy time for yours truly. Also added into the mix was that it was the first time in the camper. Pulled it to the site late Friday afternoon and set it up. Stayed in it that night but with just the futon was not quite up to my old bones or I was not up to it or something. Saturday night was spent at the house. Sunday was back to the camper and the addition of our camping foam pads. Tis good enough but would like another inch of foam or something.

Cat picked up a 12″ Lodge dutch oven Friday. I seasoned it somewhat and cooked some chicken and veggies that night for lunch on Saturday and they were pronounced good as most of them were eaten just after taking off the coals. Saturday she went back and got a 14″ too. With the two of them I think we can cook just about anything. I also have a smaller piece that I think is a bean pot for cooking over coals. Will get a pix of it soon. And of the other stuff. Made a lid lifter but after seeing pix of another one today will be making some major changes to it or just building another all together. Also made a couple of different lid holders.

Got to get the forge back in operation so I can make some other stuff too. Moved all the blacksmithing stuff inside the side shed of the barn. Will try to get a shed built over the area this week so I can get it up and working again. Am gonna build a propane fired forge for small stuff. Got most of what I need and the rest can be bought or built.

Took some old fiberglass tent rods and modified them to help support the canvas at the back of the camper. Will get pix of that too. Too much to try to explain. Rained tonight for the first time in ages. No puddling on the canvas at all. Now need to make side walls with mosquito netting covered windows with zip shut shutters and a zip closed door. Got another old tent or two I may be able to get parts for them from.

Got a lot of organizing left to do to be ready to go camping for real. Figure we’ll make a few more dry runs over here prior to the real thing. Got changes to make to shelves and storage now. Bungies hold the drawers shut fine. Another thing I need to get a picture of.

Spent the last couple of days at the campsite. Have gotten (somewhat) the hang of cooking with the dutch ovens. Biscuits are quite good cooked in one. Did basic drop biscuits with added egg and cheese this morning. Changed the taste and texture. Did cornbread in the 14″ the other day. Burned the bottom (I know why now too) but the rest was quite good. This morning used the lid of the 14″, upside down on the lid holder, with coals underneath as a griddle and cooked the sausage and scrambled eggs. Easy way to do it. 12″ had the biscuits cooking at the same time. Took about 15 to 17 minutes to cook both and be ready to eat. Just got to get the fire going to get the coals first. Will get some charcoal brickets and try cooking with them soon.

Moved the camper back up here to the house to finish the trim and wiring and all the other little details. Took about 15 minutes to put the tarp up. Gonna make some changes in the way I do it but need a couple of rubber straps first. Just got it up when the rain started so sat and watched it run off for a while. Started blowing a bit and came in. May stay out there again tonight. Just testing things out.

And over and out…

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By Dave, October 30, 2007 3:41 pm

Finally got around to it. After a daybreak wakeup call from the fan in the external hard drive case dying that is. The previous link I posted to the site with info on doing the replacement is NOT for the same computer. There are quite a few differences between the one he has and the one I have. LOT of the screws are in different places or just not there. As well as a bunch that are in mine that aren’t in his. Such is life in the world of Apple. Stupid asshats!!! There is NO excuse other than greed to make the hard drive in a laptop that hard to replace. And just one more reason that I will NEVER buy another Apple product.

Got it done and only had 2 screws left over at the end. One 3 mm and one 4 mm. It works, so I figure that the 40+ that I put back in are plenty so didn’t take it all the way back apart to find where these 2 go. If and when I get another drive to go in it I’ll look for their location then. One other gripe is the # of different tools that it takes to remove and replace the screws. Got to have a super small philips head screwdriver, a small phillips head screwdriver, a # 2 allen head driver, and something under a #10 torx driver. The torx screws are in the sides of the drive and a pair of pliers work just fine thank you very much Mr. Jobs/chief asshat/greedy bastard!

But it’s got the new drive installed and is now getting files copied over to it. Tis somewhere over 100k files now of 581,672 files and about 22 minutes into the copy. So sometime after 5 pm it should be ready for a reboot to the new drive to make sure it all works. Then I can start clearing more of the unused stuff off.

For now am going to go out and work on the camper a bit more. Had hoped to have the electrical done by now but this has taken me all day so far. About an hour and a half to get the drive in and the rest of the day to get the files on the backup drive paired down to the point that I would have SOME space left on the 80 gb that I put in the iBook. I think it’ll have about 12 gb of free space left when it gets through copying stuff over. Would like to have at least 40 gb free but will most likely settle for less.

One more piece of paneling to install and then can get back to the electrical. Have to put the paneling in so I can run the conduit on top of it for plug, light switch, light plug, and ac plug in this one run. Then 4 more plugs to run and can get back to finishing the kitchen cabinet. Getting closer than I was though. I think. At least I think, I think. Some days I don’t know… 😉

* Update – Was closer to 6:30 pm by the time it finished copying stuff over and I got to reboot it. Working fine. Quieter than it’s ever been. Guess the drive had problems from the factory. Don’t have the energy to get on the cleanup yet. Got a head cold or something and no energy to do squat. More later…

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By Dave, October 28, 2007 1:06 pm

Had a airsoft game here yesterday so got nothing done on the camper. Took a fall early in the day when stepping over a log. Had a snag catch my pants leg and put me on the ground. Landed on hands and knees and bounced back up with only a few new back pains. Over the day the worst of the lower back pain (which had been with me for a week or so already) went away. Then last night my right elbow started hurting. Rather badly. Kept waking me up all night. Still quite painful today. Feels just like the tendinitis I had years ago after breaking rock with a 10 pound sledge all day. That time I eventually went to a bone cruncher and he bent my elbow backwards rather forcefully and got the tendon to snap back into place. Since then I have had a flare up several times then a few days or weeks later go away, but never had it in my right arm. Hope this goes away quickly without intervention. Can’t even pick up a coffee cup without wanting to drop it.

Guess I will try to get out and see what I can get done on the camper. Wasted the morning staring at the computer screens.

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By Dave, October 26, 2007 11:12 pm

Shore power is in. Got the base level kitchen cabinet framing about done. Still got some paneling to get done. Getting closer and closer.
Continue reading 'Camper progress Oct 26, 2007'»

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By Dave, October 25, 2007 10:07 pm

Got bits and pieces done. Spent quite a bit of time finding enough tile to do the kitchen counter and then figuring out the pattern.

Decided to start at the top in doing the kitchen so put the top kitchen shelf in first. Then put in the water jug enclosure and added bracing from the ceiling. Supports it fine.
Continue reading 'Camper progress Oct 23 – 25, 2007'»

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By Dave, October 24, 2007 10:36 am

Got to the part that I have been dreading, the kitchen wall. Sat and thunk most of the day yesterday. With the rain it was hard to do much wood cutting so did what I could and spent the rest of the time trying out different bits in my head. The following rough drawing is what Cat and I came up with:
Continue reading 'Kitchen Plans for Patches'»

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By Dave, October 22, 2007 10:08 pm

Been one of those days. Will fill in on that part later. For now here are pix of the bits I have gotten donein the past couple of days.
Continue reading 'Camper progress Oct 21 – 22, 2007'»

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By Dave, October 20, 2007 11:23 pm

Still going. Starting to build the inside cabinets, toilet and storage areas. Have now stared at it long enough and finally decided how to built most of it so things should start moving a bit faster.
Continue reading 'Camper progress Oct 20, 2007'»

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By Dave, October 19, 2007 9:12 pm

Been working and not posting. Got all the top pieces in. Finally! Never again will I do one quite this way. But I have learned a LOT doing it. And a lot not to do again. Getting to the point of building the interior now. Should go faster than the ceiling went. Still got lots of molding to do but that can be done most any time. Slowly, slowly getting this elephant eaten… 😉
Continue reading 'Last couple of days work on the camper'»

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By Dave, October 15, 2007 8:10 pm

Getting closer. Got almost all the ceiling panels bent and in place. One more on top and the front wall to go. Hope to get that done tomorrow weather permitting.

Continue reading 'Camper Inside Going In Slowly…'»

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By Dave, October 10, 2007 7:56 pm

Got the windows in (and yes, Steve, they ARE the only type of Windows that I do) as well as the door. Still got a lot of the inside to finish but getting a LOT closer every day.

Continue reading 'Camper as of October 10, 2007'»

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By Dave, October 8, 2007 10:44 pm

Outside of the camper is almost done. Still got a lot to do inside, as well as all the wiring both 12 and 120 volt, but getting a lot closer.

Continue reading 'Camper Outside Almost Done'»

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By Dave, October 5, 2007 9:56 pm

Last 13 posts were supposed to be one post. Tried to use iPhoto to auto post to wordpress but it didn’t work like I thought it would. Was gonna redo the posts but think I will leave them as is. Going to work up a album of all the pix of the camper rebuild and post it at some point so all the pix will be there anyway.

Looking like it will take a couple of tubes of caulk to finish the roof and exposed seams. Those will get covered with aluminum edging, salvaged from the popup and the camper the windows came from.

Closer than we were this morning. Hope to get the outside sealed up tomorrow. Then will move on to the inside and see if I can decide what to do in there…

More as I get it done.

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By Dave, October 4, 2007 9:24 pm

Didn’t get much done on the camper yesterday. Just too tired from the day before. Probably should have taken the day off today too but worked as much as I could between short showers.

Got the front left side conduit rib bent and installed and the left side finished up, wood wise. Also got the front two ribs bent and installed along with several of the front panels. Still got 5 (I think) outside pieces of plywood to cut and install on the front and then the curved part is ALL DONE! Still have some on the back/door wall to do as well as the door to build, which will get done but not till after the skin gets put on the top and sides.

Went to the storage area yesterday afternoon late and got enough of the plastic sheeting to cover the entire camper. Hope to get most of it put on tomorrow. Depends on the weather. Would rather have the rain than finish this up, as dry as it’s been this summer, but suspect from the weather report I just read that we won’t get much.

Will try to get some more pix tomorrow. Didn’t get any today. More as I get it done…

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By Dave, September 29, 2007 10:11 pm

Been working on the new/old camper. Started up with the walls from the front and decided on doing it a different way from the way I did the paper design. Not unusual for me at all.

Got the front/hitch and side walls up to 4 feet and decided on yet another method of building the top. So redid the back/entry wall and bent several pieces of 1/2 inch emt into 6 foot diameter half circles. These mounted on the top 6 inches of the walls about 2 feet apart.

Started at the entry wall and bent plywood around the outside of the conduit and screwed it to the conduit creating a half round top. Only got the first course or arch done so far. Will try to get the rest of it done tomorrow. Then will cut window openings into the plywood shell and then start covering the entire thing with plastic.

So far cost is under $5.00 and that was for screws. Will have to come out of pocket for caulk, glue and maybe some other screws, but so far all the materials are scraps laying around out here. Gonna use the tires off a boat trailer that we are looking at making into a teardrop trailer so that will make the only other cost of getting it on the road the tag.

Found the waterproof hinge for the teardrop projects back hatch on an old camper shell that I am taking apart for windows for the current camper project. I really like junk…

Slowly, slowly eats the elephant…

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By Dave, September 14, 2007 9:32 am

Been working from the iBook (with the external hard drive) for the past while (months it seems), trying to get my head together enough to figure out how and what to do to fix the linux machine. Yesterday seemingly was the time. Got it up and running with a PCLOS 2007 bootable cd and copied the files from the going bad 30gb hd to the storage drive. Then took the 30 gb drive out and put a 10gb in and installed PCLOS. Rebooted, reconfigured and am back up and going.

Main reason was to scan as there are only 2 USB ports on the iBook and with the mouse in one and keyboard in the other there’s no place left for the scanner. Anyway now I can scan more book covers and get back to working on the Nero Wolfe site.

Feel worse today than I did yesterday. Suspect that I am a couple of days behind Cat with this bug, and she was in bed all day yesterday. Got the 2 steps away from normal feeling, which started late last night. Hoping it will go away soon.

More as I feel up to it… 🙁