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Friday, March 29, 2013

Rebuild alternator

I done some more work on the motor home this morning. I put the new battery in yesterday but the alternator wasn't charging. So I took the alternator off and took it into an alternator shop in Green Bay where they rebuild starters and alternators. That was at noon today. About 3 o'clock they called and told me the alternator was ready. Green Bay from where I was working on the boat this afternoon is about 25 miles so I told them I'd pick it up on Monday since they are closed on weekends. The technician told me he lives only about 5 miles from where I was so he'd just bring it home with him and I could pick it up there. I told him I'd meet his at his house in about a half hour. Darn I thought I was going to get the weekend off. lol Last time I had alternator problems with the motor home was in May 2005. We were down in Florida. For a rebuilt alternator plus labor to pull it and put it back on the bill come a little over $700. Today's bill was $116. But then I'm doing the labor myself of pulling it off and putting it back on.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

New mattress bag

A few years ago we had a custom mattress made for our motor home while in Oklahoma. It was something that Barb just had to have after laying on one down in Florida. It had to be custom made because it's a non-standard size. It's made with a layer memory foam over a thick layer of latex rubber. We paid $1300 for that mattress. A couple of years ago, I noticed the bottom of the mattress bag had rotted after getting wet and not being able to dry out completely. I couldn't remember when or where we bought it but we were in Norman, Oklahoma at the time. I was able to go back through my travel blog and found the month we were there, then was able to go back through my computerized finance records and found the day and name of the company who made the mattress. A search on the Internet and I found their phone number. I was able to order a new $260 bag for the mattress. I'll make sure next time it will be able to dry out by placing an anti-moisture layer under the mattress called DryMesh.

New starting battery

Started working on the motor home to get it ready to go to Oklahoma with it the end of April or 1st week of May. It's been off the road since Barb & I moved into this house in October 2011. $195 to replace the starting battery. Also got with the service manager of a local RV dealer about doing some needed work on it. At 1st they didn't want to because it's a big Class A Diesel Pusher and the only RVs they handle are small Jayco travel trailers. But what I need fixed would be items that would also be on their trailers. So whenever the snow melts enough so I can get it out, they're going to take care of me.

It's emotional just thinking about going on a trip without Barb. Barb and I lived and traveled through most the United States for 8 years in this motor home before we had to stop because of her health. Last summer she told me she really missed living in it. I did too, but my health was getting bad because of the stress I was going through because of her health.