ROUGH NIGHT FOR KELLY & SOLAR MIKE REMOVED OUR INVERTER TODAY

OUR SPOT AT THE SLABS WITH ONE OF CALIFORNIA’S POWER PLANTS IN THE BACKGROUND, THE SALTON SEA & THE DISTANT VALLECITO MOUNTAIN RANGE

Well I had me a Senior moment Monday night & did myself a boo-boo.  Ever since we have have had this inverter problem we have had a whining sound somewhere in the rig’s dash.  Not loud but it’s there & it bugs me.  Before going to bed last night I decided flip our battery disconnect switch off knowing the whining would stop.  My mind did not register the fact it would also cut off power to our water pump, refrigerator, furnace, & anything else requiring power.  That meant no heat in the coach, no water for flushing the toilet in the night & no refrigeration.  When Kelly was up in the night & found the whole coach dark, cold, & stone dead she didn’t know I had pressed the battery disconnect switch.    She figured something majorly serious had happened with the coach’s electronics & had visions of the slides not coming in, drained batteries, maybe the engine wouldn’t start, having to call CAA to have us towed over to Solar Mikes, no water for washing etc.  It was a big stressful worry & she barely got any sleep therefore having a bad night.  I did not end up being a very popular guy this morning when I told her I had disconnected the batteries before I went to bed……It’s not easy being me:((  If I ever thought I was remotely capable & had the confidence to write a book some day that is what I would write about & entitle it, ‘It’s Not Easy Being Me’.

LOOKING ACROSS SLAB CITY & THE SALTON SEA TO THE FAR DISTANT MOUNTAINS…RIVERSIDE CALIFORNIA LIES JUST ON THE OTHER SIDE

 

COLORFUL HIPPY BUS & A BURNT OUT 5TH WHEEL NEAR US…SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND

 

WE THINK THIS GAGGLE OF RIGS JUST SOUTH OF US MAY BE FELLOW CANADIANS…IT’S AN AREA WE KNOW CANADIANS FREQUENT HERE AT THE SLABS

We were at Solar Mikes right at 8 & explained our problem.  He had a full solar installation to do on a Class C but with a couple helpers working he did manage to remove our troublesome inverter & install a temporary used one for the next little while while ours is sent off to be diagnosed.  All indications are pointing to one of the two software boards inside the inverter itself.  If we were full timers on the road every day we would likely have just simply opted for a new inverter which technology has advanced way beyond the older inverters like we have.  But for only boondocking maybe 4 to 8 weeks out the entire year now we decided for our situation it was best to get our older inverter simply repaired.  A new inverter could run around the $2000.00+ mark while a board repair could come in around 3 or 4 hundred dollars.  We’ll just have to wait & see what the Magnum diagnosis turns out to be. 

SOLAR MIKE’S OFFICE

 

ONE OF MIKE’S WORKERS REPLACES OUR MAGNUM INVERTER WITH A TEMPORARY USED INVERTER

Sure is nice having all our electrical plugs working properly again.  Just makes everything so much easier.  Neither one of the 75 or 300 watt inverters we have would charge my Toshiba laptop while it was on yet they charged Kelly’s smaller Acer.  By the time I was ready to publish my Monday night post my laptop did not have enough power to do the job.  Had to turn the Motorhome on to get the 75 watt inverter to work & power my laptop while the post published.  This RVing stuff sure can up the stress levels sometimes.  With a poor night’s sleep behind her Kelly ended today very stressed & frazzled.  We’re fortunate to have a quiet boondocking site with no noisy neighbors crowding in on us………………

THAT’S OUR JEEP & RIG AT THE EXTREME LEFT

 

FRANK, THE FELLOW IN THE BLUE SHIRT IS A NEW RV’ER & WAS IN HAVING MIKE INSTALL SOLAR ON HIS 29’ TIOGA CLASS C…AND THAT’S THE USED INVERTER THEY FINALLY SETTLED ON FOR US TO USE WHILE OURS IS AWAY

AND BY GOLLY THAT’S SOLAR MIKE HIS VERY SELF

Ever wondered what a heavy song had to do with coal.  Well I wondered too so I read DIZZY DICK'S latest post.  Coal of course always brings back memories of our big old coal fired furnace when I was a kid & I see it brought back memories for Dizzy Dick as well.  The song??  Well when you read what song he has linked to coal you will likely remember it right away & probably spend the rest of your day singing it over & over.  But be careful though….it might get you one day older & deeper in debt:)) (you can find Dizzy on our sidebar as well)

THIS WHOLE AREA WAS ONCE AN OCEAN BOTTOM WITH MANY SEA SHELLS STILL REMAINING IN THE GROUND

Just finished my latest Kindle read, ‘Whispering Pines: The Northern Roots of American Music from Hank Snow to the Band’.  Enjoyed this book for the musical history it provided.  Filled in a lot of blanks for me as it tracks the lives of fellow Canadians like Wilf Carter, Hank Snow, Leonard Cohen, Ronnie Hawkins, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Ann Murray plus all the members of the Band just to name a few of the artists who have contributed so much to the overall music scene so many of us have enjoyed over the years.  I prefer books & movies that deal with real people, real places, & real events.  Always so much to learn & I’m so happy my Kindle has enabled & re-kindled my love of reading after so many years away…………… 

TONIGHT’S SUNSET TAKEN THROUGH OUR RIG’S TINTED WINDSHIELD

GROANER’S CORNER:(( My pastor friend put sanitary hot air hand dryers in the rest rooms at his church and after two weeks took them out.  I asked him why and he confessed that they worked fine but when he went in there he saw a sign that read:  "For a sample of this week's sermon, push the button."

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My wife and I were traveling on the Kansas Turnpike, bucking 30 to 45 mph crosswinds. At the tollbooth, I asked the attendant, "What do you people do in Kansas when the wind quits?" The tollbooth attendant didn't miss a beat when she answered, "We take the rocks out of our pockets."