1 month today

Today was the first "lookers" in a month. There is a coldness between the realtor and myself. I'm on his case about getting anyone in, to look.
The lookers were here maybe 15 minutes. The realtor was like pushing the lookers through, "OK it is time to go". I felt like he was doing this just to appease me.
I wish I had a copy the the crappy picture he has posted on 30 websites of our house. Out of focus, too far back to see any details, and dark. "OH, IT's OK" he said, ya right.
Oh well, we will be gone soon...
I screwed up. Never go with the first realtor that walks through the door.

Still Waiting

Neither house is still not moving. But we are. Packed up much from the house which is in the RV now and taking to Tori's. We're going to fill 1/2 her garage.
Serviced the RV and ready to roll.
Gave the Ivanhoe Realtor hell for only 2 lookers in 5 weeks. I was doing better than that.
Can't get the Realtors in Sherman to call the Chase Short Sale negotiator's boss to push our sale through.
And you know I'm a patient person...
Serviced all the bikes trying to use up some of the several cases of oil I bought.
Finally decided we are taking the Venture on our trip and leaving the dirt bike at Tori's.
Linda's getting her mother situated so we can leave.
Hitting almost a 100d outside.
No cover on the pool so the water is evaporating fast. I have a hose dripping several gallons an hour.
BORED!
Can't wait to hit the road Jack but we have to come back...

Well isn't this going nowhere

No action on the Calf Creek Sherman property, no action here on the El Paso house sale, no projects, most have quit riding Sat's, it's getting hot out, the roads are boring, went to Sierra Blanca for the 150th time last week, got the realtor's requests done by getting rid of the Nicky Nacks and some stuff on the walls. Packed up much stuff and put it in the shed.
Waiting and my lack of patience aren't agreeing.
It's been weeks since we went camping. So we went to Elephant Butte NM on Friday. Got a good site with a view of the lake. The lake is about 1/2 full, better than 2 years ago when it was down to 7%. Was cool enough in the morning to turn on the heat and by afternoon had the A/C on. Sat. I went for a ride on a road parallel to I-25 to Socorro NM. Actually I had not been on that road because we always take the Interstate going to ALBQ. Went by Basque del Apache national park. It's a wild life sanctuary used by ducks and geese in the fall and spring, but of course I was not there at the right time and the roads were dirt. These are not much fun on the Venture at 800#'s.
Sunday morning I drove out to Winston NM along side the Gila Mtns. The roads are curvy and fun. Great scenery. Temps and winds were just perfect.
Drove home Sunday afternoon. Linda said gas was cheap on Montana so we gassed up there. They were cheap alright... the only give ya about 85% of a gallon. The mileage computer said we burned 26 gallons and got charged 30! Will never go there again.
RV runs great. Still and probably will always be working on rattles and squeaks. We have an annoying noise that comes and goes at right at 55 mph that I like to travel at. OF COURSE....
I'm more relaxed, have more to do out RV'g, wine tastes a lot better, can't wait to move on.
Now how do they know what the Milky Way looks like when we are inside it and it is 100,000 light years across? Oh Ya, the Moon Sat. night was a waxing crescent and Venus was the brightest I've ever seen it and they were right next each other, Way Cool

Interesting developments

Well the Sherman Calf Creek Ln house/property is back on. They called us asking to extend the contract. We did until late Aug. That's 4 months!
In El Paso, we were getting 3 phone calls a day and 1 looker. They were are all "Looky Loos".
Most phone calls are "How Much"? I say $175k. Good Bye....
How would you do the owner financing? When did "For Sale By Owner" become Owner Financing? I said, can you afford $175? Most just hung up. Can you afford $1500 a month payments? More hangups. What would our terms be? 25% min down ($45K), 8-10% interest depending on your credit rating (it would be bad), and payoff in 12-15 years. Would I live 30 more years, Hell no! That did it for everyone else.
Now were getting the speculators, scam emails, our unanswered questions, & realtors calling. Just ask the email scammers to call and I never hear back. HUMMM
Ya I could sell it for 2/3rds our asking price today.
Ya the closing costs will be $10-15k.
Ya the market is dropping.
Ya we want to move
Ya it will take months....
The good news we can wait but....

Very frustrated

Our 2nd bid on a house has fallen though. This time the owner's lender will not commit to when or how much the short sale will be. It most likely will go beyond the June 30th cutoff to get the $6500 tax credit. This house was neglected and needs a garage so it would be another $25+ grand to get it in shape. The septic needed a $1000 pump.... And on and on....
We have spent 3 days going thru hundreds of homes on the internet.
Our criteria: Not in a town, separation from neighbors (spell that reduced dog noise), taxes under $2k, 1500 min. s.f. house (that is 600+ less than this house), within 20 miles of shopping, medical, jobs (for sister in law, NOT ME!), 1+ acres, within 60 miles of our daughter, in semi-decent shape (there are a lot of bad ones out there), DW or modular homes are OK, a garage, shed or barn for the bikes/car, not 2 stories (getting too old and been there done that), 3 or more bedrooms, a least a few trees (there are a lot of barren lots), and a place to park the RV. (That is more than I thought, hummm?)
Now this house and the "For Sale By Owner" is getting good response. 1-4 calls a day, 1 visit a day and a couple of families that can afford this home. Keeping it maintained, clean and available is going to eventually sell it. Many want a low price, owner financing but don't have a decent down payment, want a cheap interest rate, and 30 years (we'll never live that long) pay off. Ya right.... We not the idiots like the feds did to the housing market!
Were hoping we don't have a place to live, if this house sells.... I good situation, it is much easier to buy than sell.....

Just waiting

Waiting on the lender on the Sherman property to approve the short sale so we can pay it off. Short sales are when the borrower asks for less than the property is worth, the lender has to make up the difference. The borrower has gotten into trouble not making the loan payments.
May know something by the end of next week.
Got someone to look at house in El Paso. We are meeting Sunday to see about financing. Lots to negoitate.
Sold the 98 1100 Yamaha Virago. It was a great around town bike, but not a road bike, it vibrated too much over 60 mph. I'm down to 4 bikes, poor me. Left the brown 1100 Suzuki at Tori's. When we take more bikes we will take a lot of small stuff to the new, to us, house in Sherman. Will have to make 2 trips for the 3 bikes.
Concerned over all the junk the previous owner's leaving on Sherman property. A 1950's trailer, a huge pile of pure junk that should have been taken to the dump, and much more around the shed and old trailer. House inside needs some painting, wall hole filling, a septic motor, and the skirting has many holes, all needs replacing.
The idiot did several projects and did not finish them. Like the wall between 2 bedrooms was removed and the carpeting was not replaced and the ceiling was not finished off. He is a typical contractor.
What is a Gazebo? What function does it do? Won't it be hot/cold without HVAC? Is the door big enough to fit a motorcycle or car though? Maybe if it had a bed in it.....? To me it's another money pit! This one is above ground, the one in El Paso is in ground.

1st Weekend

Listed the El Paso house starting last Thursday. Posted on Craigslist. Not 1 phone call. Over 800 homes for sale listed in Zillow just on the East Side of El Paso. Listed on Zillow also.
Zillow says housing prices are dropping even in El Paso. We were at $175k they say 167k now. Boo.
I've done many more fix-ups. The latest was staining the cabinets in the kitchen and both bathrooms. They look considerably better.
I've got the worst to do yet, I've put off for 2 years. Painting the garage. Painting the laundry room and installing new flooring.
The house in Sherman. We put a bid in for $50k, they countered with $65k. I think the septic will need work. I may recounter with $60k and they have to inspect the septic system. I don't want to go higher. The double-wide home does not have any book value. And it may need a lot of work.

We are going to do it!

We put a bid in on a double-wide prefab home with 1848 s.f. on 1.6 acres. There's room for another prefab on the 2nd lot for Mom and Helen. I've wanted a house with a view for many years. We can see out 15-25 miles. Dogs are more than 200 feet, rather than 10 feet away.
It has a large barn-garage 20 x 40 ft, 2 single doors. A started but much unfinished loft is above.
The neighborhood, could be better but the price is less than 1/3 of this house in El Paso. Garage has electric and water. Taxes should be 1/3 or less than El Paso.
The house is huge for a trailer/prefab. 2 living rooms (one will be a large dining area). One larger master bedroom, next to living area, with a 2 sinks, a shower, and a tub. 3 more bedrooms and 1 bathroom. The patio looks out onto the "view". Probably would get enclosed if there's a lot of bugs. That's where my rocking chair will be, for the 5 min. a day I'll sit in it.
Several trees and a fenced in yard for the dog we will NEVER have.
The RV can sit on the old garage cement pad next to the garage.
It is 12-15 miles into Sherman. It is a old farming community, with a nice square downtown. The best shopping is kiddie corner to us in the city with Wal-mart, Lowe's, Home Depot, Albertson's, on Rt 75 about 20-25 miles from the house.
Tori is 58 to 65 miles to the south on Rt. 75, depending on the route.
We visited the local " what's there to do?" visitors center. The gave us many booklets and described the happenings...
There is a lake 25 miles north at Denison on the OK-TX border. I would like a john boat. There are 4-6 TX state parks within 50 miles to go camping. Linda had a concern I would not use the RV as much because every day will be like camping out now there...
Since we are not cable or sat. people and TV reception is limited, this may be a problem.
We can get Verizon cell and wireless internet there. Probably won't get a phone land line, DSL surely in out of the question.
The heating-cooling is all electric, so our utility bill will get up. I'll try to insulate to save energy.
We will be 500 miles closer to Dort, Wes and Jim, sorry Carolyn/Bill.
We wanted to stay in Texas for better weather, I did not say good weather, than you snow freaks. Taxes and Dallas things to do were a consideration.
Many more pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com/linda.french/ShermanHome#

Ram Cold Air Intake on my RV

4 PICTURES TOTAL
This was one of the easiest, cheapest ($10) and most effective mod I've made to my 33" Fleetwood Fiesta 32S yet. MPGs probably up .5-1 .0
Take off the original restrictive intake that reduces noise and limits air intake in a low pressure area. You probably won't hear any increased noise except at full throttle. I cut out part of the bottom of my air cleaner to increase hole size and to facilitate easier mounting.
Depending on your vehicle you may have to buy/bend elbows or flex dryer vent tubing. You want the scoop to be larger than the intake tube.
Scoop should be mounted into a direct frontal air stream. On rear engines put it along the outside edge, not in the rear/back
Make sure rain can drain down and out. I live in the desert so it rains little here. I do have a deflector I can install behind the grill X's you see in the pics in seconds.
Why it works?
1. It is in a high pressure area, was behind a shield in a low pressure area.
2. It was near the radiator, it now gets cooler air.
3. The engine has to suck less hard to get air. (pumping losses)
4. It helps even more in headwinds when more air in being pushed in
5. I always use guaze air filters (K&N-Accel-Fram). Mine was <$30 on Ebay, Cool Blue Accel.

It Just Keeps Getting Better

Went to Ft. Davis in the Davis Mtns last weekend. Left Thursday afternoon got there just at dusk. 200 miles, about 4.5 hours at 55 mph. The paved road in, is rough, narrow, hilly and twisty for about 25 miles. But so little traffic maybe 1-3 cars, I drive a lot down the middle some.
We put in some carpeting a friend gave us. It helped with road & drive train noise. But it really helped keep the RV warmer and our feet never got cold. It was warmer also than our last trip to Leasburg Dam. This time: Mid 30's at night, 60's during late afternoon.
Friday we went to McDonald Observatory to see a Lunar observation. It was very interesting, informative, and views through a 16" computer run telescope were spectacular. It was semi-cloudy and we could still see much detail.
Linda lost and found her keys to the bike, we have more spares now. The rough road caused the coffee pot to 1/2 fall down and we found many more rattles, now fixed.
We saw many javelinas and deer. Luckily not at night back from the Observatory.
There is a 75 mile loop around the west side of the Davis Mtns we've take many times. It is very scenic and remote. Just to the south is Alpine and Marfa I drove to on Saturday by myself. Also less than 100 miles, but very scenic. We checked out the local reality company photos, homes are moderately expensive. But there is no shopping or medical help, except for 30 miles down in Alpine. Reselling a home probably would take years.
The return trip home was very windy, 15-30 mph headwinds. We took it better than the last trip thru there, more experience, and used the mtns to shield some of the winds.
Got 9.2 mpg going both ways. Last time it was windy only got 6-7 mpg. I slowed down (25-35-45 at times), rather than fight it. We were the slowest thing on the Interstate. Most RV's were still going 70 into the wind (That would be upwards of 100 mph headwind). There is NO conservation in this country. We still got home by 1:00 pm, Why rush? We're retired!

Our first

We went just a short distance to Leasburg Dam State Park on Friday in the RV. It is just 20 miles north of Las Cruses in Radium Springs.
Thursday was cold rainy and snowy day here, so it was not warm on Friday either. We arrived between 4 & 5 pm so we did not get a spot with electric. My first concern was no water, I only carry enough to flush the toilet a few times while we are traveling. We found water and hooked up twice for more.
As soon as the sun went down it turned cold in the high 30's. Got down to 23 overnight.
We put 3 blankets on the bed and went to bed about 8-8:30. I had the 12v propane heater on but turned it down to 50 inside. Getting out of bed to use the bathroom was a quick process. The heater both nights came on every 10 minutes.
Sat. I invited the motorcycle group to have lunch with us. 2 that said they were coming didn't, but Mark, Susy, Chris, Cristina, Mom and Helen did. It warmed up into the mid 50's, Linda cooked a great feast, and I did hamburgers on the grill. Great time. Before dark they all left. It did not get as cold Sat. night so we only had 2 blankets and I kept it warmer in the RV.
We only used about 30% of the propane tank with lots of cooking on the propane stove/oven. I had the run the generator 3 times in 2 days to charge up the 2 6v batteries that runs the lights and appliances.
So did we really miss not having 120v house power? Not really. The TV, stereo, computer (recharging) and electric heaters would not work but we all could survive without them. It was roughing it for us, still had lights (12v) and heat. There were 2 tenters in the park I would not do nor have done in 30+ years.
We only used about 1.5 gallons gasoline using the generator for 2 hours to recharge the batteries. Even with that we still got 8 MPG.
My new ScanGauge monitoring 30 engine functions works great too. Still debugging extra readings. It helped me find a sweat spot for holding the throttle in a fixed position for maximum MPG and got 11 mpg on the way home, after the 8 mpg fill up. The $131 spent will have a payback.
I was able to go for a 2 hour bike ride on Sunday morning. I drove up to Caballo dam and found many empty spots, so we could have had power. But it was 45 miles more north and our company may not have showed up Sat.
Good experience. We can stay anywhere now. But came home with a list of things needed if we dry camp again, also known as boondocking.
The Venture in the pic starts up in cold weather and after sitting for weeks. Love it too. It gets dirty fast behind the RV on dusty roads and in the rain.

I'm doing it again???

I'm thoroughly convinced that to be happy I need a hobby(s) like I've been doing lately. I've got to stay busy, be active physically and mentally, not just sit around and die like too many retirees do. Or some go back to work, or never quit because they don't have other interests/hobbies. My father was one of them. He worked until he was 70. His final year he got a new boss and kicked him out. This new boss was a real jerk, my father generated millions in business for his company.
But when he retired he didn't have any hobbies. He did go thru 3 RV's like who?
I'm on my 4th if I include the ones my mother in law had, and I maintained.
I really like this one, our best. Oh by the way I've been looking at what other ones cost versus ours. Most are $10-50k more. Just saw a 1993 38' Diesel on Craigslist he wanted $38,500 for! We paid $28,500 for our '05!
Ok back on subject: In order to be happy, to have a hobby it involves money. So far $3500 in everything to get it like we want. And again I'll say I wasn't going to do as much to this one as the last 16 footer Class "B", BUT we're up to 200 mods and fixes. Most don't show, like adding another closet rod, shelves, anti-rattle fixes, handles, lubrication, painting, touching up, converting backup lights to stop lights ( we never drive at night) and many more. I found a website for making mods to RVs, so I got many more ideas. Like covering up any holes with screening to keep critters out. The last RV had 5 pounds of wasp mud underneath.
And yes I have not added any aerodynamic aids to this one YET. How can I make a giant box less boxy? Bet my RV has more drag than the SR-71 Black Bird in the pic. But I get better gas mileage... at 50 mph...
So why did I write this? You'll find out...

What a difference 1 day can make

I slept better so today....
A loose wire on the wind direction indicator fixed it.
Went to Pepboys and found valve stems for the brown Suzuki that went right in and remounted the tire easily. Got a spare stem now. No leak, I hope, now.
Found a screwdriver in Lowell's black Suzuki's carb holding the throttle open. 45 minutes later I had it out in the driveway, put it in gear, let out the clutch and it didn't move. The clutch is gone now. Luckily it's here and not at his house. Ordered parts today. That's Rudy's Suzuki but is exactly like Lowell's.
Figured out a different way to hook up the "lights on buzzer" on the RV. The second fuse box is under the dash but in a bad place so I moved it. It was mounted with 3" long screws, idiots, 3/4" would have been long enough.
We got in 4 boxes of things ordered, shipped via FedEx and USPS today. No MLK day.
My ScanGauge I ordered arrived. Got it for $131 vs. $160 retail at most places but did not come in a box, I would have thrown away anyways. It has about 40 functions to read the RV and car's computer and gives mpg/mph/rpm/$per mile and much more. It is my birthday present from Linda.
My Credit Card bill was $25 less than I thought.
I got a $10 rebate check today.
It was 62 outside, no jacket needed.
No one tailgated me today, life's WONDERFUL....

Very Frustrating Day

My wind direction indicator I made quit working, Again. I just worked on it yesterday.
I started on some shelves for a RV bedroom closet and didn't finish them
Lowell came over with his Suzuki. It was running rough and stalling at low RPMs. We had many irritating moments trying to get it back together. I could not get my carb synchonizing tool to work. We could not get it to run smoothly until we took most everything apart.
He had 2 new ties put on it. He got his 2nd bolt in the rear tire in 3-4000 miles. Both about $150, each tire. They installed the front turning backwards. My back up synch tool would not work either.
We finally got it to run smoother by just guessing at the idle settings.
He got down to I-10 and then it decided to start racing at full throttle.
I was just starting a shower when he called.
We had to hook up the trailer to the RV and go get him.
The brown Suzuki kept leaking air in the front tire. Found the valve stem was ready to pop. If it had I would have been stranded. I ordered a new valve stem. When I tried to put it on today it was too big.
I was MLK day and I'm expecting a package. But there's no mail today.........

Maybe tomorrow will be better?

No pic, guess why......

Read the previous post first...

So why will I work on the 33', 15k lb, big everything RV?
1. It's a challenge, never worked on anything this big before.
2. Familiarity: It's not a whole lot different than working on a car, so the principles are the same.
3. It's new to me.
4. I saves me a bundle doing it myself.
5. Chassis (engine-suspension-frame) parts are accessible, I can even sit up under it, it does not need to be lifted up so I can get underneath.
6. It has 40 major systems, 140 total components, that need to be checked periodically, I can fix/replace.
7. I have the tools, knowledge and the time.
8. I look for potential problems before they get out of hand or get expensive.
9. It get's me out of El Paso. I can take a bike so I can ride on less familiar roads.
10. It's a potential: get rid of the expensive house, costing $10k per year to maintain. And yes the RV is even more expensive to maintain/operate.
11. It keeps me busy. I have 20-30 male friends but do you think I can get anyone to ride during the week?
12. I now have every service manual for all of the 40 major systems on either paper or .pdf files.
There is a copy in the RV.
13. Linda likes RV'g too. We will be going to Garland, IL, WI, MN and Nat. Parks this summer. Our daughter in law is due her first child in June.
14. It's a moving house, large enough to live in, get's decent gas mileage, won't have to listen to neighbor's dogs, or look at the same view once the non-moving house is gone.
15. We can bring it back to El Paso for family and medical for in network reduced rates.

IS THAT ENOUGH REASONS I would rather work on the RV over a CAR?

DIY

Yesterday Linda's mother car, a GM product, a 2000 Lumina, had the check engine light on. I think you all know what I think of GM "junk" products....
We brought it back to our house. I put a OBD II code reader on it. 2 codes came up. One was the EGR valve was not functioning. The 2nd was more important, it was the temperature gauge was none functioning also. I'm more knowledgeable than most on cars. If the temperature is not high enough the EGR won't function too. These 2 will turn on the Check Engine Light.
I hate working on cars anymore. The engines are in so tight and so many of the parts to be replaced you have to remove several other parts to get to them. Then these other parts get destroyed leading to more problems. And this was the case on the coolant temperature sensor that was bad after just 73k miles/10 years.
The OBD II code reader was $100. I've used it on 4? cars now. Shops charge about$50 to read the codes. So I'm now about $50 ahead.
It's a license to steal if you don't have one. Take it to a shop and say " The Check Engine Light is On, fix what's wrong" and they will soak you. Take it to a shop and say " replace the coolant temperature sensor only" and that's all they will can do.
It was $150 including a oil change. I figured at our local Firestone service center it would be $2-300!
I've been doing this type of thing for 45 years. I try to do all my own work. I don't do transmissions, roofs, floors, engine overhauls, etc. anymore. I'm sure it have saved me $100k by now.
I bought a Honda Accord Jan 07. To date it has been in the shop "0" (ZERO!) times. It has needed oil changes and tire rotations only. Why would I work on someone else's car when I don't want to work on my own car? Also there's not enough Thank You's or money (I don't need) for the time spent, cussing, busted knuckles, hurt shoulders and back leaning over. Wrong parts at the auto parts counter is another bitch I have. And there's always the potential for a accident or doing it wrong and having to start over...
Advice I will give... I will show you how to do it. I'm a good teacher/supervisor.
But working on the big A** RV is another thing, go figure....

Oliver Lee

Friday we left with Boloraa's parents Ganbold and Damaa in the RV. As soon as I got in NM I let Ganbold drive. I think he loved it. He is very helpful and intelligent. Catches on to everything immediately. I just had to point and he did it. I think he learned a lot about large RV's.
We went hiking up the Sacramento Mtns on Friday afternoon. Late Sat. He and Damaa went even further up, maybe 1000'. It is very rough, rocky and steep in places.
Sat. he and I rode the Venture to a farm and ranch store, Pistachio nut store, up to Cloudcroft and looked at the missiles at the Space museum. Gone 4 hours.
Helen and Mildred came up at noon but Milly has not felt good for a few days so they didn't stay long.
It got down into the high 20's at night. Had to run 2 heaters all night. RV's with all the windows have almost no insulation.
I brought out the telescope so they could see Jupiter, and Mars. Sat. evening we looked at the moon too.
Sunday we played badminton, talked more with our neighbors from Missouri. We left at 1:15 Sunday and came home about 3:45. No rush to get home, drove just 50 mph. Averaging 9.2 mpg. Oliver Lee State Park is just 85 miles one way.
Damaa and Ganbold are fun to be with. Too bad we can't converse more. One word sentences are hard to get a longer point/idea across. Finger pointing and gestures make up most of the conversation. Damaa wanted both Linda and Chuck to go back to their house so that we could take their car to our house, so Linda could pick up Boloraa at the airport, so Boloraa could drop off Linda at our house, so Boloraa could just go on home. It wasn't 15 seconds of English/Mongolian before we all had her idea.