Tuesday, October 28, 2014

AND THEY BROUGHT A BIG RED FIRE TRUCK TO OUR HOUSE TOO

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Kelly phoned the company in Phoenix where we would have had to take our rig to have our inverter problem solved.  We were going to set a date & take the coach there soon.  They informed her their inverter technician is on disability leave & they had no idea when he would be back.  They referred us to a second company in Gilbert which is another part of Phoenix.  Kelly phoned that place & they informed her they charge $125 an hour for starters.  An hour to take the inverter out & an hour to put it back in plus the time on the bench to be checked plus whatever parts it needs if it is indeed fixable.  You can see the $$$$ adding up.  The inverter is 9 years old & we could see dollar signs flying out the window so we had some thinking to do.

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I CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON PHEEBS TO HELP ME WITH THE YARD WORK

Decided to send Slab City’s Solar Mike an email to see what his thoughts were.  We trust Mike & his work so we are now leaning towards heading for Slab City.  Something in the system caused our inverter to fail in the first place & we feel Mike’s the right guy to troubleshoot that & find out what caused it.   He can also load test the batteries plus find out if it needs a ‘fet board’ or ‘control board.’  If not he can remove the inverter & have it shipped to Washington State where Magnum’s headquarters are.  There is always the option of a new inverter which he can have shipped in & install for us as well.  Just seems like a more logical thing to do than head to Phoenix for a number of reasons.  Mike’s hourly rate is substantially less than Phoenix plus Mike can trouble shoot the whole system where Phoenix would concentrate their efforts on the inverter only.  Plus here’s the biggy for me, I would sooner drive to the wide open desert spaces of Slab City California any day than have to muscle my way through manic & chaotic traffic in the huge megapolis of Phoenix Arizona.  Any day!! 

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I’M NOT IN THE HABIT OF PUTTING FOODY PICS IN MY POSTS BUT MAYBE I SHOULD BECAUSE KELLY SURE DISHES UP GREAT TASTY MEALS HERE EVERY NIGHT

However, we won’t be heading for Slab City just yet.  It’s way too hot over there at the moment.  Temps in the low 90’s & there’s no way we want to be sitting in the rig boondocking in that kind of heat.  We’ll monitor the weather & as soon as we see predominantly cooler temperatures in that part of California we’ll saddle up the Big EEE & hit the trail.  

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Would you believe we had to dress warmer for our morning walk.  Yep, had to put on my long sleeve flannel shirt over my regular short sleeve shirt for the first half of our walk.  Felt good & it’s the type of weather I much prefer. 

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Had some brush to burn so I lit up some dry branches in our outside campfire pit this morning.  Wasn’t long & I had 2 Congress firemen standing beside me inquiring if I had a fire permit.  I didn’t……Oh-Oh.  And they even brought their big red fire truck with them & parked it right in front of our house.  The guys were good about it though & said to come on down to the fire hall & pick up a permit later which we did.  Had to pick up my new trailer type wheel barrow tire at the B&B Congress garage plus stop at the post office anyway so we just swung round the fire hall & filled out a permit which is good for a year.  Nice fellas there at the Congress fire station.

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BURNING A LITTLE BRUSH THIS MORNING OBVIOUSLY ATTRACTED SOME ATTENTION

Not much else to say about the day except we didn’t have to have all our fans running full tilt.  Never even turned them on & I think we might have ended up in the mid 70’s.  Perfect.  Nice quarter Moon in the cooler night air when I took Pheebs out too.  Just makes it all that much more enjoyable being here.  Oh Geeeezzzzz, there I go talking about the weather again…….:))

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OUR BACKYARD NEIGHBOR’S JOSHUA TREES AT SUNSET

GROANER’S CORNER:(( "I have good news and bad news," a defense attorney told his client. "First the bad news. The blood test came back, and your DNA is an exact match with that found at the crime scene."  "Oh, no!" cried the client. "What's the good news?"  "Your cholesterol is down to 140."

19 comments:

  1. Your fire dept. is very nice: the same infraction in West Texas would cost you at least $500 in fines. Glad you avoided any penalty.

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  2. Yep, I'd druther avoid downtown/near-out-of town Phoenix too, especially driving a big motorhome through that kind of traffic. As for the weather farther south of Congress, I sure hope it cools down soon. It was record heat for this time of year in Tucson last week.

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  3. Solar Mike sure has come in handy along the way........ Nothing like a good, honest, business man who knows his trade !!!!

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  4. Great plan going to Slab City. Don't really trust those city slickers. Wish I would be in the area when you go. Love to meet you there.

    Probably won't be in your neck of the desert till January.

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  5. Good thinking to call Solar Mike! Hope it all works out!
    Beautiful picture of the cardinal...

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  6. Weather's a good topic of conversation because it's always changing. Solar Mike sounds a good way to go, when it cools off.

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  7. Aw, common now, some of us live right here west of Gilbert and drive around all the time without any ill effects... In fact, I rode the motorcycle over there going to the Groves Bar and Grill for a hamburger last Friday night.. It was even after dark... But you are probably right that just replacing the inverter is the right answer... And with solar Mike it won't cost any $2600 either...

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  8. Mighty nice of you to invite the Fire Department over for a chat.

    I think it would be best to let Solar Mike figure out what in going on in your RV. I never met him, but he sounds like a guy who enjoys fixing things correctly, more than making money.

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  9. Thumbs up for the Slabs rather than Phoenix.

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  10. Solar Mike would be the way top go, good choice.
    Kelly is a great cook, nice to post a foodie picture looks so yummy.

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  11. Yum!!!! I for one LOVE the foody pics on a blog. Kelly sets a pretty table and serves up a delicious meal, I see.
    I knew you guys ate egg salad sandwiches a lot (which I love too). I guess I imagined two plates with egg salad sandwiches on them for dinner. LOL!!!! Thank you for the food pic. PS: I eat out or eat sandwiches 99% of the time, being single.. Maybe that's why I enjoy pictures of great meals!
    Jool in N. Texas (eating peanut butter on toast)

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  12. The Fire Dept is probably EXTRA cautious since the Yarnell fire! They sure don't want a repeat of that disaster!
    Welcome back to AZ! And yes, smart idea going to visit Mike in Slab City! Sorry I haven't responded much to your blog... Computer died and am learning to use a tablet! Prefer my laptop!
    Good luck with the inverter problem!
    Loved the photos of Pheebs running full out a few days ago! Great shots!

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  13. Glad you are taking what I suggested long ago by going to Slab City for your Inverter work. that way you can stay right there and make sure it works before you head home. I have had a few Dr appointments over there in the Gilbert area, I hate that drive from here. Our Garage sale at North Ranch is coming soon, hope to see you guys.......
    Why no picture of the FIRE TRUCK?

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  14. Yep...those firefighter peeps are the best..Of course I'm a little prejudice. Den's Dad was one, Den was one, and our son is one...That looked like fish in that photo food..or chicken breasts..Whatever it was it sure looked yummy! Since Den got diagnosed with early onset Macular Degeneration, we eat LOTS of spinach and broccoli.

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  15. Wonderful pic of the Joshua trees. Glad it was just a little yard burn pile that brought the fire truck, thought maybe the skunk had called 911! Any reason to go to the Borrego Springs area is a good one :-)

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  16. Slab City sounds like a win win situation. Your last shot is stunning.

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  17. I don't burn anything so I wouldn't have thought about a permit. The drought is really scary in so much of the west.

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  18. Uh-oh! That had to be a touch embarrassing but all is well! Wish we were coming sooner and Mike could troubleshoot the rig for you.

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  19. We want to follow your inverter situation as we have some kind of problem and have no idea what it is. Sit in the sun and get a maximum number. Let the sun go down and the reading hits the tank....at least we are under warranty.

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