The Second weekend in August

We've been on the farm for a week and we have been busy. At least it seems that way, although I can't really remember how much we have accomplished. For starters, we finally got the forms submitted to get the title and registration for our new Honda CR-V. The dealership claimed that they knew how to do it and didn't. But their only communication to us was to say that this is a refund on the SD taxes. We finally put two and two together and realized that they didn't know what they were doing. We ended up paying a $12 penalty for late registration plus putting on some extra miles. I guess that is part of the pain for being a full timer.

For starters this week, we checked the second air conditioner compressor and decided it was not running again. Later we realized that it was a tripped breaker That lead us to check out our 50 amp pole connection and we realized that it had a very bad contact. Perhaps there is a reason for the popped breaker. So we're now back on a 30 amp circuit until I can get a new 50 amp socket at Menards.

We then dug into the automatic transfer switch in the RV that let us down last week. Removing it was straight forward, just some very stiff wires. With the switch on the work bench (picnic table), we proceeded to carefully look at it. At first glance, one would expect that it ought to do the job. However, after careful examination, we concluded that one contact of the 50 amp relay just barely made the connection. There was no extra pressure or wiping action on the flipper So we applied a little country boy solution with our trusty screw driver. Not much bending, but hopefully enough to eliminate future problems.

Re-installing the ATS was the real challenge. Working with number 6 and #4 wires is not fun and even less fun when it is in a restricted area. Eventually, we got it all together and it works.

Wednesday found us making a quick trip to Amana to see my mother. She is only 99 and slowly failing. The biggest problem visiting with her is that she can't hear very well (or at all). She refuses to use a hearing aid, so we tolerate it.

In between the other stuff, we did a lot of grass mowing here on the farm. With the excessive amount of rain this summer, the grass is taking advantage of it. We're probably mowing more than we need to, but it does improve the looks. Of course there is no prize for that other than one's own personal satisfaction.

We've checked this text more than once so hopefully our chief critic (and proof reader) won't find too many errors. (She only gets to read it after it is published!) Even when I proof read something, I obviously am skimming it, either seeing words that aren't there or using my dad's German English and reversing parts of the sentence. I think you get the idea most of the time. Thanks to spell checker, most of the spelling errors are out, but a few glaring word errors do slip in.

Have a great day.

Gene