Monday, July 11, 2011

A DOG'S BREAKFAST OF TOPICS TONIGHT

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Turned out be one of those days you could work up a sweat just standing still.  Not as bad as RETIRED ROD'S neighborhood down there in that Kansas City town but bad enough here for me alright.
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SOMEBODY GOT A NEW TOY TODAY

Some readers may remember our Star Choice Satellite Dish tri-pod breaking this past winter.  Broke right near the head of the tripod & is unfixable.  Today Kelly got on the phone to rustle us up a new tripod from a local dealer.  The tripod that broke was from our Internet Anywhere satellite system that we had used prior to switching over to the Verizon air card way of doing things.  I was hoping to maybe adapt our newer Star Choice LMB to the older 39 inch satellite dish because the older dish has an easier way of fine tuning it than the newer Star Choice dish.  But, it was not to be.  We are currently waiting for the tripod guy to call us back now so we can see what kind of tripods he has.  Gotta be strong pods to do battle with those big Southwest winds we are always subjected to out in the desert!!
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NEW DISH ON LEFT & OLD DISH ON RIGHT 
Looks like Google may be up to some more Blog Shigooligans again.  Noticed our 'Blog Follower's list has been mysteriously disappearing & then reappearing.  At least it's not visible from any of our computers here at home at the moment.  Hope it's a problem at their end & not my end.  They have a far more extensive brain bank at their disposal than I do.
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KEEPS ME BUSY JUST TRYING TO KEEP ALL THE DUCKWEED OUT OF THE FROG POND...NO, IT'S NOT SLIMY 
Reader Alex sent in the photo below of a sign in the 4 Corners area of Utah, New Mexico, Colorado & Arizona somewhere.  Looks like it might have something to do with the Navajo Indian Nation.  Am wondering if anyone knows more about this & just exactly where it is. 
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WHAT!!!!  $300 A PERSON????  
And to clear up a little confusion on Sunday night's post about the soft top on the Jeep.  When we bought the Jeep it had it's hard top on.  We later took the hard top off & had Pete the Jeep Guy help us put the soft top on.  After a few days of wrestling with tight snaps, hard to close zippers, wind noise, etc. etc. I decided to take the soft top off & put the hard top back on.  Much quieter ride inside & better security so the hard top has remained on the Jeep ever since.  And, while on the subject of our Jeep TJ, we received the following comment from a concerned reader......."I saw on your pix that you have a TJ jeep. Just wanted to point out a serious problem with the TJ series. Happened to a friend of mine and I have found many stories of that model. It has to do with the brake line rubbing and eventually losing all brake fluid and losing your brakes or worse - brake fluid catching on fire." ....... Well, it didn't take us long to climb aboard the internet in search of more info on that.  Came across an excellent site showing exactly where the problem is.  YOU TUBE JEEP BRAKE PROBLEMA big thanks to commenter Kari for the 'heads up' on that:))
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As soon as I was remotely presentable this morning I headed out to the driveway to have a look for that possible brake line problem....& I found it.  Just like the You Tube video had shown, there was the thin rubber flap resting against the brake line.  The potential problem was on both sides of the Jeep & covered more of the brake line than the video showed.  I knew this job was going to be a challenge & knew it was going to require not only a mechanical person but a special mechanical tool as well.  Was I up to the task??  Not likely but I walked over to my tool box anyway & had myself a look.   Aw yes there it was, a very special tool indeed & how fortunate it was that I even had one.  With some upside down crawling around in the Jeep's front wheel wells I was able to twist my arms around in pretzel like fashion & slowly but surely use the tool to remove the thin rubber flap sections along the brake line.  Surprised myself that I was able to even do this job but 15 minutes later it was done & nothing was rubbing on the gas line anymore.  Carefully returned the special tool to my toolery & congratulated myself on a job well done.  Oh, & what kind of special tool was it that I used..........a Scissors:))
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THESE ARE THE RUBBER PIECES I CUT AWAY FROM THE BRAKE LINE PLUS YOU CAN ALSO SEE THE RAVAGES OF RUST CAUSED BY OUR SALT INFESTED WINTER ROADS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     
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BECAUSE OF OUR ONGOING  CAT PROBLEM IN THE FRONT YARD THERE ARE FEW BIRDS LEFT FOR ME TO PHOTOGRAPH ANYMORE
Debra at FIND AN FIND AN OUTLET has some photos of the aftermath on that Monument fire near Sierra Vista in Arizona.  As expected, they now have a problem with mud & ash washing down the mountain sides once again forcing people from their homes.
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OUR SUMMER 2009 FRONT YARD FROG POND SET UP 
I am often disjointedly blathering on about the RV lifestyle from one angle or another.  A few opinions in this post, a few opinions in that post.   Sandie sent me a link today by someone who writes much better than I who has summed it all up in one fell swoop.  Nick Russell from the Gypsy Journal hits the nail on the head in his 'Bad Nick' MAGIC CARPET RIDE post for today.  If the RV lifestyle is in your blood & your friends & family think yer nuts, then ya had better read what Nick has to say:))
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A TREASURED MEMORY FROM LAST JULY
GROANER'S CORNER:((  We are born naked, wet and hungry.  Then things get worse.
EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
OUR
PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right
now...... AL.

11 comments:

  1. Great pick of the Three Muskateers.

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  2. Thanks for the info about the jeep brake line problem (not gas line). My son has an 06. I will forward the info to him.
    Christopher the jeep guy

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  3. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Craig is making some lets buy an RV soon noises!

    Besides the Rose Parade trip, I want to go to the four corners area and th canyon lands next spring.

    I may have lots of questions soon! You do seem to know the West pretty well!

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  4. That's the four corner's monument. It's on Navajo land. There is a marker there where you can stand in four states at once. It's kind of touristy. I think it costs 3 dollars a person to get in. There are Navajo crafts and foods for sale, as well.

    Monument Valley is my favorite spot in the four corners area. It is a photographer's dream. Lots of movies have been filmed there. My husband and I always seem to end up there when we travel to the Southwest.

    Are you familiar with the blog "Oasis of my soul?" The guy who writes that blog, Ara, is a great photographer and travels way off the beaten path. He has spent a lot of time in the four corners area. You should check out his blog for travel tips in that area.

    I can't wait to read your blog from your 4 corners travels. It is my favorite spot in the U.S.

    Pam

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  5. We just went by that sign on the way up here AL, yep, its $3.00 per person. I flew right on by,,,I don't need to pay to see a monument..I could see the country, thats good enough for me....
    Also do a search on my Blog for my special boondocking spot, the Gooseneck State Park in southeastern Utah. Its right next to the Monument Valley.... You drive right through Monument Vally with plenty of pull off's to stop and take pictures. No $3.00 fee either!!

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  6. Wonderful header photo. Looks pleasantly cool. Such a joyous shot of the pups together!

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  7. Love the pictures of the water garden. Stay safe.

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  8. Al, we took a look at those pictures on Find and Outlet. Ouch! Quite some discussion in the comments on the start of the fire. Thanks for the hookup.

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  9. Al, here's a link to info on the Four Corners Monument Park.
    http://www.navajonationparks.org/htm/fourcornershours.htm

    Love that photo of Cora and her new toy and also the one of the three dogs at the end of your blog. I sure do enjoy dogs. I found a website that translates dog years into human years (accounting for breed and size) and found out my Rusty is 85! He's in pretty good shape though for an old man.

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  10. I'm admiring the mat UNDER Motormouse.... where'd ya get it and was it woven by an artist?

    Karen the Weaver lol

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  11. In first vew hard to see $300 or $3.00 Link to sign http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=36.9967,-109.042375&spn=0,0.013036&z=17&layer=c&cbll=36.996094,-109.043047&panoid=8tn-zKMLqZh-euERLWNxDw&cbp=12,19.45,,0,13.04
    Fanks folks for detail info

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