TubaOrNotTuba

One tiny sign of how long we’ve been living here: I had to refasten pretty much all the screws on the cupboard door handles today. Not a lot, but enough to make me realize how those laws of thermodynamics play into everything. Next on my list should be the hinges, I suppose.

I’m going out on a limb here, and deciding that not every idea “as seen in a dream sequence” is practical. Imagine a drum kit, where the individual drums are supported at the correct placing by lengths of pipe. When one section of the frame didn’t make it into the load out truck, the band decided to use the younger brother of the drummer to sit on the floor and serve as a makeshift replacement. He went quite deaf from the effort, and I awoke before discovering if this turned into a permanent defect. Perhaps I’ll get the rest of the story later on tonight. This might be a side effect of my medications, as I don’t have a brother.

Another conspiracy theory: the upcoming problem with certain GPS receivers is a scheme to keep me close to home. I happened across an article today, which points out that the there’s a date approaching (April 09. 2019) where the “week rollover” might not happen. For devices with older firmware, the 1024^th week is like a reset. Some of us will come away with our virtual north intact. Others: if you see a friend driving in aimless circles, intervene.

A slippy day, here on the Island. Freezing rain started just before school bus time, so the school closures did not delay. On the other hand, a few levels of government had to think things through before deciding that dangerous is dangerous. Why the reluctance to keep your employees safe? Do you have a more valuable resource to protect? Is the wage thing really so important to your bottom line?  I had to look on with dismay at the photos from other provinces: salt trucks sliding backwards down the hill and into a ditch, in both NB and NS. Up in QC, some major bridges were also closed. Or as my son put it, this is another typical February tropical rain storm.

Another day at home, although I did have a visitor. I need something to set the days apart. In passing, the poor dog is not as finely tuned to arrivals as he once was. We seem to go from “wait while I bark at a phantom, outside” to “where did that car come from?” Had a delivery truck come in, park, send the driver inside with a parcel, have us talk to the driver BEFORE the dog put all the pieces of the sonic puzzle together.

This morning, with urging from behind, I was tasked with figuring out our latest mystery: why was the “shore power” not working. Given the wind chill, I started with online manuals, and learned that the display in the power cabinet of the RV was just a display. The intelligent section was out of sight. I did the obvious, by unscrewing the display unit from its home in the panel and resetting the data cable. Not enough.

After several days of watching, fingers crossed, the battery  charger suddenly made the leap of faith. Fully charged; 100%. And without further ado, the great beast in the driveway came to life. At least, enough for it to be turned around and reparked. This winter is far from over, but should a boost become required, we won’t need to create a special entrance for the boost vehicle (or lug an oversize collection of lead and acid to within range. I’ve been warned that this is only a the first step, but it’s a big one.

Right now, I’m trying to resuscitate a battery. Actually, a series of them. The RV won’t start, and so I’ve brought out the heavy artillery: a proper battery charger. See how things go, this time tomorrow.

I yearn for the time BU. Before Updates; I’ll save you the need to google it. It seems that every time I complacently assume that my various gadgets are ahead of the curve, another software/firmware/fix is announced. And then, I have to go and find the required patch cable and do a quick study on the “how to”. Yes, I could fade into a world where my stuff was technically broken, but my respect for software engineers won’t allow me that release.

While watching some “old” TV, produced in the previous century, I found myself saying “Whoa!” Some of the things that are stated by various people would not pass the PC test any more. And that’s a good thing.