Asberry.org

Author: aron

  • Road Trip from Heck

    So yesterday (Veterans day) I had a few things to attend to at noon and then we got the great idea to go camping. The state park site has a great feature called ‘camping this weekend’ that shows you what parks have availability for the weekend, it’s not perfect because sometimes it doesn’t actually Friday/Saturday nights together but close enough. So we were off to Cooper Lake State Park South Sulfur Unit (I know, sounds like a prison). The trip really made me reconsider this whole camping thing. It was raining when we were packing in the gear, the GPS had us going 30 all the way through the mix-master in Dallas and we encountered a wreck in Royce City that had us stuck in traffic for 45 minutes because the inbreeds in the fire/police department there are pretty much complete incompetents. While they can shut a lane down it was a free for all getting to the closure. That backed us up enough that I had to stop and use the facilities, usually no biggie but when I pulled over by the side of the road, I managed to pick the worst possible place and got my shoes caked with mud and had to put the truck in 4wd to get it moving which covered the RV in mud. Worse yet Sandy gets out needing her charger and got her boots all dirty. I was seriously fit to be tied. The rest of the way to the camp my head was filled with ways do my best to take out as many stupid humans I could before someone stopped me, meaning I completely missed enjoying the ride, company or scenery. My mood first broke when we got to the park and the lady rangers attitude was just so nice, as cold as it was she came out with a smile, took my pass and said let me go make sure everything is in order and get you your permit, she bounded back to the building, did the paperwork and came right back still with a smile and the permit. She asked if we’d ever been there, we said no and still smiling jumped back into the building and was right back with the maps and directions to where we had to go. That interaction got me from monster to grumpy human.

    We got to the camp and got backed in without too much of an issue. I sent Sandy in to get inside ready while I did my best to wash off our foot ware and the RV with no brush or hose sprayer (grrr) but we got it done and by that point it was too late to do any hiking (5:30 and already dark) and I was exhausted. Cold, tired and hungry just isn’t a good combo. Literally not a single TV station to be had and slim cell service, but it was enough to find a sort of close restaurant called the Red Barn cafe and off we went. It was classic small town country restaurant with a prominent sign on the door as you came in saying “no credit or debit cards accepted” which made me thankful I grabbed cash before we left. Dinner was catfish for Sandy and I had the chicken fried steak, the baked potato was served dry with a dressing kit that had bunches of butter packets, cheese and packets of sour cream and the salad was simple, lettuce, cheese and some carrot slivers which I ate even though I’m not a salad person. The food was good and the waitress was nice and the place just felt homey. We shot off to Walmart and then back to camp where we started a jig saw puzzle before I crashed out in the bed with our new flannel sheets and slept wonderfully. I even dreamed which doesn’t ever happen. So an old friend of mine Evy was being looked at for a murder and I was being asked questions by a detective and then James Gandolfini shows up and starts being a lawyer for me and we’re laughing and cracking jokes at the detectives expense and then I had to go get my headphones from the fountain where I had been playing before the detective started questioning me and this tall guy took them and I could jump high enough to get them and I said god you’re tall and he laughed and gave them back to be and I think I was trying to find my bike so I could go back and tell Evy and the group that Tony Soprano had helped me avoid answering questions from the detective. I don’t dream often but when I do they’re usually kind of odd.

    This morning I woke up and fed Cali and checked on the indoor cats. Saw that Cali had a big breakfast and my kitties were all present and accounted for. Got dialed in at home and the important update stuff was moving right along so I was able to pass along that good news. So everything seems right with the world now and I feel pretty good. Here’s hoping the day keeps turning our way. I’ll have pictures for the next post.

  • I have a new truck

    So I have the truck back which makes me happy. It turns out that the error condition was corrected by an update to the firmware that controls the electronic throttle control. That is one thing that struck me about the new truck is how many electronics are on it. I went to return a library book this morning at 3 am and I realized that the headlights will actually ‘turn’ when the wheel is turned. So I start turning left and where I’m turning becomes illuminated. Further inspection of the truck finds that it actually has two batteries and the only thing I feel qualified to do is check the oil and fill the windshield washer fluid… The only reason that the issue was resolved as it was, is because the truck is still under factory warranty which I’m happy to say I’ll have for another 14 months or 19k miles, whichever comes first.

  • Vehicle Issues

    So as alluded to in a previous post, the Chevy died on me and of course, I needed another truck. So this time I decided to go as top of the line as I could, yes it’s a bad time to buy a truck but it’s needed and I’m tired of having a truck that keeps breaking down, it was always something, the AC, window motor, etc…

    So I got as close to new as I could, for 70k I got a 2021 Ram 2500 Laramie with almost everything you could get on it. Only had 17k miles on it. Bought it from Enterprise truck sales division and it was a bit odd because this just isn’t a truck that would be part of a rental fleet. It was the only one with the Laramie package as opposed to the big horn trim level and it had super low miles compared to everything else out there and it wasn’t white which is the primary color of the rental trucks. Supposedly these were checked out mechanically and certified to be free from defects… Supposedly being the keyword.

    So I picked it up on 10/31 and I noticed it had a service light on the dashboard but it went by so quickly that I didn’t really know what to make of it. That night we went to my sister’s house for Halloween and since I don’t really dig that whole thing, I put the car in the driveway so I could check it out. I was able to familiarize myself with the dashboard menu and then was able to see the error:

    Now I don’t even know what an electronic throttle control is but (sigh) it’s still under factory warranty so kind of a pain but if it’s got tits or wheels it’s going to give you problems eventually so just deal with it.

    Called around to dealerships and the earliest I can get it in to have someone take a look at it is Friday. That’s fine, get it in, and then crickets until yesterday (Tuesday) when I get an ominous VM from the service consultant saying he wanted to talk to me about the vehicle. Missed the call as the phone was in the car from coming back from the rec center so I still don’t know what’s up until later this morning. So I’ve had the truck a little over a week and for half of that it’s been in the shop (big sigh), I’m just hoping I’ll have it back before I have to make the first payment in December.

  • Running Shoes

    So for whatever reason, I’ve taken up running. Well, it’s kind of a run/walk kind of thing. At the rec center, the track is about 1/12th of a mile which makes a nice walk-one-lap, run-one-lap kind of thing. But my old shoes were getting to be worn out so wanting to get a nice pair of running shoes, I looked up on runners world what the best running shoes are. I had to settle for number 10 on their list as that’s all the Academy close to me had. A pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 22.

    It also (at $150) represents the most I have ever paid for a pair of shoes in my life. I’d like to report that the shoes are life-changing, making my daily run the highlight of my day and allowing me to run faster and further with less pain and energy. But the truth of the matter is they just feel like a good pair of running shoes and I’d be hard-pressed to say they’re worth $150. Oh well, they work well enough and I’m on my way to being healthier than I’ve been in years. Happy trails y’all.

  • Back At It

    So I went back to work last Monday, it was supposed to be a soft week where I caught up with a month and a half of emails and get things ready to jump in both feet this upcoming week. Well that didn’t work. Started with an issue that was damn close to impossible to solve because it was an integration done by Modulus and they custom code solutions so… Well you have to reverse engineer it to fix it, what a pain in the a&&, finally figured it out, you think they would be bright enough to replace/escape comma’s in the fields but noooo… There’s something as being too smart without having common sense.

    In any case I’m still a month and a half behind on email and wondering if I can still handle the job, I’m just not feeling it anymore. I’ve been having rage/anger issues and it may be related. Part of me feels that I need to find something else but another part of me feels like I owe the gang to tough it out and deal with it. I think I have to do what’s best for me but I won’t actively look elsewhere, but I will update the resume and post it and if someone sees it and makes me an offer I can’t refuse… Well I won’t refuse it.

  • Train Wreck

    So to make a long story short, the vacation was cut short by the degradation of the engine on the Chevy. I can’t begin to explain my disappointment in the situation. I replaced the starter & fixed the oil leak that was being created by the dipstick being in wrong. I should have had another 10k miles before anything went wrong and instead a jackhammer broke out in the engine. Oh well, it makes for a good story I suppose and in the spirit of ‘we won’t let that happen again’, we’ll be upgrading the towing vehicle to a real truck. Right now it’s looking to be a 2020 Ram 2500 with a 6.7L Cummins inline 6 diesel. It’s a truck that does truck things. It works nicely for the property scenario, and when it comes time to move, I’ll get a big trailer and it won’t have an issue pulling it. Need to plow snow? Not an issue, haul a backhoe? Yup, it can do that too. And that huge propane tank you want for the property, yes it can haul that too. With a bed cap and winch, it’s the work horse for the business. The bed may not be big but it’ll haul anything.

  • PA Day 1

    So it rained all day yesterday and most of the morning. Couldn’t sleep but it was all good, went with Sandy to meet up with her dad, I went to Ohio to fill up, saved 21 cents per gallon and taking on 60 gallons means $12.60 saved, probably didn’t make up for the drive actually but oh well, we’re full. They had a lot of running around to do and I wasn’t feeling it, so I hung out long enough pick up and add some oil and had them drop me off.

    I started watching videos on how to replace the started and I’m a bit nervous, this doesn’t look fun and if I were at home and could have time with it no problem, but I’m on the road and not sure that I have all the right tools. I’m pretty sure that I have to do this as it was just about dead last time we had to pull over and stop to get gas when it was hot. It will be so nice to be able to get this silly truck up on the ramps and get everything fixed that I’m looking to get fixed. I talked to Mike and we’re going to do it at his place, problem solved and we’ll see how it goes.

  • Travel Day to PA

    We actually got up and out earlier than expected. I woke up around 4ish and finally got Sandy up around 5ish, got showered and ready, and we hooked up and dumped the tanks and hit the road. I almost had a most unfortunate incident emptying the tank, the hose and hookups were hooked to gray 2 so we could be dump that first, hook to black and gray 1 to dump and go. After dumping gray 2, I moved the hose but the right angle has an a twist to lock and it had come undone… Some slight liquid leaked out on black but was washed away with the gray water. I found the issue and will have to check that also for future dumps.

    Left out at 5:30am and got into Shelly’s at 3pm. Not bad time. Went and saw Brit’s new place, they weren’t there yet and I asked Sandy if she wanted to wait for them but she didn’t so we left. Went to see Ron as he had said that there may be room to park the RV at the cleaners, there wasn’t and we’ll just leave it at that. We did get to see the old apartment, it was strange to be back there remembering living there and all the things done. Made me a bit homesick for the days when I didn’t have anything to lose and didn’t care a bit about the future. Good times. I think that the most stunning thing was Cathy lost Norb’s bar and it sold at foreclosure for 16k. Almost as bad as Tony’s old house selling for 50k at a tax sale. Strange folks here in Erie.

    So we’re not sure how long we’re here, it’s been raining since we got here but that’s how I remember it. Sandy has stuff to do with her dad tomorrow and I need to replace the starter. We’ll see how it goes. I’m getting a bit tired of the road, I want to go home and be able to do nothing there for a change. LOL, I miss the cats.

  • Last Day in MA

    I’d like to say we did more but we’re here for a singular reason and to that end I believe we did well. It’s always sad when it’s time to say goodbye and you’re not sure when the next time we’ll see each other. We’ll try to get Sandy up here sooner rather than later, it will help with Brit moving to Erie I think, time will tell.

    So tomorrow is a travel day that will find us in Erie, PA. We’ll probably beat Brit and Z there. We’re planning on crashing at Shelly’s driveway but I’ll head to the cleaners to see if there’s a possibility to dock there. I should also have the starter and a place to change it so hopefully we’ll get that taken care of, it’ll be good to take that off my mind. And Sandy will be reunited with the kids and we’ll get to see the new house. So there’s some exciting things afoot when we get there.

    I did have some work to do today, it was a Linux TCC installation. Just 30 minutes and it went well enough. I’m hoping that there will be some work to do when it’s time to head back.

  • Sunday – Black Tank Maintenance

    I did tank maintenance today on the black tank of the RV. This isn’t a fun, pretty or pleasant smelling chore and not for the faint of heart but if you own an RV you don’t have much of a choice. It didn’t feel that the black tank was emptying completely and it seemed to fill quickly. So just the design of an RV system means you are not dislodging anything from underneath, that would lead to a special type of hell I just can’t imagine, or maybe I just don’t want to.

    So after draining it and running the ‘sprayer’ it still didn’t look like it was completely empty. So I filled it with water by wedging open the pedal on the toilet and spraying the shower hose in it. Loaded it up to full and then pulled the plug and you could tell it cleared. with the extra water it drained really well and all the way to empty on the readout. So far so good.

    Did that again and then did a visual inspection with the camera. So it seems that it drained properly but there was still solid matter on the side away from the drain. I think that may just be the nature of the game. Refilled and drained with the sprayer on but didn’t reinspect. I did add a bit of water and two biopacks to try to see if that will get rid of it with the rest of our stay here. Other tanks are fine and everything is holding up properly.

    Got a chance to walk up to the cemetery down the road. It’s super old, there was a veteran who actually fought in the revolutionary war. Amazing to think that those graves have been here since the beginning of the country. I also walked by and through the Mansfield East Common’s. Nothing much but it did have the WW2 memorial of those lost from the area, I was struck by the same last names, it looks like several families lost multiple sons. Kind of makes you think.