Sunday, May 31, 2009

Windows Vista, What a Drag

I am back on the west side of the Big Mighty Muddy. What a weekend. Great folks and great food.
Vista has stopped me from uploading pictures to my site. Had to get a program to resize the photos and install on the old Dell. I have no idea why Vista came along. I have had several little headaches with it on the new laptop.
The tracker quit working when I started the engine this morning at 7 am. I finally saw it was not working. Stopped and reprogrammed one of the others just north of Louisville. Seemed to track pretty good until I got 10 miles from home. Then, it hung me out to dry on hiway 60. A few pictures from the trip. Here I am climbing up onto the old bridge across the Ohio River at Cairo. Was a perfect day for a drive across Ky.
Oh yea, was right in front of the raceway. It is between Louisville and Cincinnati.

Just had to stop and look the place over.


There is a race here in 2 weeks. When I watch it I can say that I have been there. Nationwide only. Sprint Cup does practice here but no sanctioned race.



No traffic all day. Then, I roll into Cincinnati at 4 pm. Dead stop after I crossed the river.








Oh yea, I had to find the first exit into Cincinnati, downtown ghetto. This was not a good feeling. Oh well, I stopped for a splash n go and got myself back on the road quick.






The couple on the left hosted us for the weekend. Nancy and Jim Miller, in Hamilton, Oh. What a great couple. They treated me like I was family. I just can not say enough good things about them. On the right is my friend Bob. He was my hotel for the weekend. He lives nearby and brought his GMC over so that Ken Burton and myself would not have to sleep in our vehicles. What a friend. Thanks again Bob.







The best junkyard I have ever seen. 13 acres on concrete.








Look at all of these treasures.









2 nice buckets for the bug. 50 bux for the pair. What a bargain.










The donor car.












This was my delivery van. The owner gave it to me to go pick up the seats, after Ken and I had pulled them. 3 flats. Owner smiled and said "speed contol". It beat carrying them an 1/8 mile to the office on my back.










I am telling you that if you get to Cincinnati and need a junk yard, this is the place. Thanks Ken, for taking me over there. These seats are very nice and will look great in the bug.


I am tired. Did the back roads out of Hamilton this morning. Very scenic but no speed til I got off 50 onto I-65, north of Louisville. Interstate the rest of the way home. Was 50 miles farther but I wanted to see southern Indiana, and I did.
Hope everyone has a great week. I plan to rest up a little tomorrow then get with my projects around here. I enjoyed your company on the ride.
Dan













Saturday, May 30, 2009

GMC Motorhome People

Wish I could post pictures but they will not go up.
I must say that there are no other folks like GMC folks when it comes to helping each other work on their motorhomes. We have had such a nice group of people here in Hamilton, Ohio.
First off, the Millers are just top notch people who love having other like minded folks show up and visit with them. I can not describe the hospitality that they have extended to us. I will make sure that Teri and I make this gathering every year. I can not wait for her to experience what I have here this year.
2nd, there is just something about owning a GMC motorhome that attracts nice and caring people. I don't know what it is. Teri and I just lucked out when we decided to buy a GMC coach. We had no idea that there was such a following of folks. I know of people that have traveled many miles to help a fellow GMCer who has broken down on the road. The Black list is a list of GMC owners across the USA that we depend on when we travel. If you are a GMC owner, make sure that your name is on the list.
I was told recently that the GMC group is once again the largest owner's group in FMCA. That says something for a coach that has not been built since 1978.
So, thanks for checking on me. I will head back to the west side of the mighty muddy in the morning. Ride with me if you have time by tracking WD0AFQ-1.
See you in Missouri tomorrow.
Dan
PS
Thanks again Jim, Nancy, and James. You made all of the travel worthwhile.

Friday, May 29, 2009

GMC Motorhomes in Hamilton, Ohio

I got lots of good pictures but the website will not take them. Do not know what the problem is.
Ken Burton and I went to a junkyard today down in Cincinnati. I got a pair of nice buckets for the bug. They are going to look great in there.
Lots of work is going on here at the rally. The Millers are just the greatest people. They are hosting the gathering right here on their property. I am guessing 10 coaches are here right now. Some more are supposed to show up.
So, without pictures I won't bore you. Have a great Saturday. My camera batteries are dead but it will work a little. I should have thought and grabbed a new set today while we were in town.
Dropping a set of gas tanks in the morning, over the pit. I hope they go back up ok.
If I cant get the pictures up tomorrow evening I will do it when I get home.
Dan

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Volkswagen Baja

The old beater is gradually getting neater. Got the passenger door swapped out today. Finished up rehabbing it yesterday. Still need to put the new door rubber around it and paint the inside of it. Will put the new door panel on when I get that done. Still have to rebuild the driver's door. Have not got the door hinge pin out of the passenger door yet. Will keep oiling it and one of these days it will pop out. I am sure it has been in there since 1966.
Old door off and new one ready to set. Teri came out and helped me hold it while I got the bolts in it.



Here you have it. Now I have matching primered doors with good glass that does not rattle. It will seal up tight for the winter temps now. I work on it when I have time. It will one day make Dave Ramsey proud to know I have a good looking beater. Right now it is a bit homley, but it runs good and gets lots of looks. Every time I stop for gas someone comes over to talk about the bug they had one time. I had one before too and I hated that thing. It was a true dog to drive. Now I can work on them so I can keep this one up and running. I do not get left at the stop lights. Sounds real good too.
That was about it as far as physical labor around here today. I did wash the Vibe right before supper. Teri turned the central air on tonight. It has really been muggy around here.
Watch me travel to Cincinnati if you get time. I will be tracking as WD0AFQ-1. I will leave out of here about 9 am and hope to arrive there 7 hours later. Will be in Hamilton. That is on the north side of the city. I think it is 425 miles from here.
I did put up a new "repeater" here at the house today. Trying to get a tracking station set up here at home as we are in a remote area for tracking. Nothing between here and Springfield, Mo. going west. To the east nothing this side of Paducah. I hope to fill part of that void for folks. I can now tell which store Teri is parked at, but don't tell her. Am taking all of the trackers with me to Ohio where we will put them on a spectrum analyzer to set them up like they should be, no guess work. Ken Burton, my friend, will be there and plans to help me.
So, hope to have pictures and get them posted from Ohio.
Everyone have a great week.
Dan


Monday, May 25, 2009

Memorial Day 2009

Teri's yard sale Saturday. The 83 year old fella on the right is my dad's cousin and was one of his best friends. He mows our yard when we are gone. Morris brought over his chainsaw tonight and dropped the tree. He would not let me do anything except cut up the tops. What a guy. Teri and I love him dearly.




Tree is on the ground. My brother and Morris are coming back Tues and we will finish cleaning things up. A new oak will go into the old elm's place.














Well, I can not get any pictures to upload. We only have National Access here in Dexter, from Verizon. Tonight it is pretty sorry. Might be about time to look into another provider when my contract expires with Verizon. Seems I have more and more trouble with the Verizon network.



Anyway, hope everyone had a good Memorial Day. There were lots of ceremonies around here for the Veterans. I am glad that I had the opportunity to serve in the Air Force. My dad was a Korean Veteran. Both my younger brother and my son served in the USAF also. Even Nascar had a break in the race today to honor the veterans.



We accomplished a lot around here today. Got that tree down on the ground thanks to my 83 year old cousin. He came over with his chainsaw and dropped it to the ground.



Teri got the house all cleaned up and I almost got one of our new vdub doors rehabbed. Will finish it up tomorrow and start on the other one.



Guess thats about it. Just wanted you to know that I tried to get pictures up.



Dan




Well, look here. Waited til after midnight and got the photos up. It seems I have much faster internet on the road than I have here at home. It sure is aggrivating. Guess after midnight folks got off their cell phones and I got my pics uploaded.
Have a trip planned this weekend to Ohio. Watch me on the tracker. Will be WD0AFQ.
Dan, again.

Friday, May 22, 2009

100 Mile Yard Sale

Look at this bad boy. He fights possums, and wins. One of his ears really had a bad spot on it where one of his sparring partners got hold of him the other night. My kind of cat, one that can keep all of the dogs run off. This guy belongs to my cousin's son. He picked him up over near Branson. Was just a homeless fella. Apparently he is a cross between some kind of European wild cat and an domestic cat. He has some broad shoulders on him and just walks around like he is the boss. That nose says he is a scrapper, fat and flat. He has some jaws on him too. Wish I had gotten a better picture. I am no fan of cats but this one could hang out at my place anytime.
I hope you can read this sign. The hiway department has them all up and down Hiway 25, a major route through here. Memorial Day weekend is what they call the 100 Mile Yard Sale.


Look at this mess of traffic. Motorhomes, trailers, and tents are everywhere. Folks rent out their hiway frontage to the yard salers.



More of the same. It is rediculous. There are normally several wrecks this weekend.





Just a few vendors. Folks are cooking bbq for sandwiches everywhere. Smelled good.





It is like you are meeting a funeral procession.





Oh yea, my picture of the day.

I did finish the garage door. Got the windows scraped this afternoon. Hope that paint lasts til we decide to purchase a new vinal door. Got close to 90 degrees here again today.
Don't know much else. Still working on the door hinge pin. That thing is about to beat me. No one in town will mess with it either. We will see. I heated it today and still nothing.
So, just another Friday in a retired guy's life. Pretty exciting, eh?
Dan







Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Day After

Now look at my grandson here. Dosen't he look like he knows how to pick out a winner? He is choosing the pigs for the 4H show in the Fall. They will feed them out and have winners again this year. That is Caleb and he knows his hogs. Well, I got the primer on and one coat of paint. Will hit it again in the morning and then see if I can talk Teri into scraping the paint from the glass for me. Wish me luck. Pretty much all of the progress I made today. Some days are great and some just go a little slower than others.
This has me stumped right now. I need this door hinge pin out so I can install the new one which will allow me to have a passenger side mirror on the Vdub. It sure is being contrary. As you can see it has bent my bolt and is twisting my 8 dollar clamp. I have it soaking in Kroil now so will see if it loosens up any over night. I bought the hardest bolt I could find. Maybe I will saw it out tomorrow and see if I can find one harder. I hate to give up on it. Maybe some heat tomorrow directed to it will cause it to pop. I spent at least two hours today messing with it. Had to come inside a few times just to get my mind off of it and try to teach myself a new song on the guitar.

Here is our 15 ft. stump in the back yard. I did not even try to crank the saw. With my luck today it would have blown the head right off the little engine. Maybe tomorrow.



If you look down at the base you can see where it is busted, vertically. Just to the right is about a 3 inch piece holding it up. The tree is cut all the way around except for this 3 inch stretch. That's where we were when the saw would not run any longer after getting pinched in the tree. Almost did not get it out. The tree is hollow except for about 3 inches all the way around it. All of the squirrels are mad.

I am done for today. Hope everyone else had a more productive day than I did. I figured since I won't be going to work Thursday I could knock off early today and rest up.
See ya later,
Dan




Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Productive Tuesday

Look here, the oldest and the youngest Gregg boys. This is my youngest grandson, Nick. We had quite a day yesterday. Sure is good to have grandkids. I never dreamed it would feel so good. Today was a "do all" kind of day. As you can see here I replaced one of the bug doors. Sure will be nice not to hear rattling windows and have air rushing around in there. When I get done with this thing I think Teri will no longer be embarrassed to ride with me. That is my goal anyway.
Got the driver's door on. Will start working on the passenger door in a day or two. We have all new stuff for the doors so they should be as tight as new when we are done. Teri came out and helped me hang this one. Total swap took about 15 minutes.


If you need something to shine your aluminum wheels, this is it. I have used everything advertized and nothing worked like they said. This stuff works. I used it on the mags on the bug then did the GMC wheels. Used paper towels to wipe it off as we were at a GMC rally in Ky. I have no financial interest here. My friend, Chuck Boyd, got this for me. Well worth the 20 bux for the bottle.


Oh, don't tell Teri I put this one in here. I just wanted you to see how a retired guy must "slave" sometimes. I scraped this door today because my chainsaw would not start. Those things are sure tempermental. They run when they want to. I hope it will crank tomorrow or I will have to paint the garage door. We had intended to replace this thing but just never got around to it so I have got to get it painted. Only wood on the house. Everything else we covered so no painting.
Teri bought the primer and paint tonight so it is going to happen this week.

Are you wondering why the three antifreeze bottles are in the picture? Well, I also drained the coolant from the motorhome and refilled with new. Got to keep that high dollar Griffin aluminum radiator clean.
So, there you have it. Stayed busy all day but I did take long breaks. I can do that now since I pay myself. I hope I can clean up some of the tree limbs tomorrow but I need the chainsaw to fire up. We still have a 15 ft. stump that I need to get on the ground also. Lots of work to get done around here before we take off again. Teri is working on stuff for a yard sale this weekend.
Thanks for checking in on us.
Dan




Monday, May 18, 2009

Going, Going, Not Gone

Oh yea, we have three happy Indian fans. Our three grandsons, in Logansport, In, got a chance to attend a farm club game Sunday. Just wanted to show you what kind of smile a ballgame can put on these boys. I remember going to sleep at night with my radio on and listening to Harry Cary call the Cardinals. Oh yea, he was with St. Louis before he became a Chicago traitor. I built a timer for my radio so it would go off after I dozed off. Took my mind off of picking cotton, ha. Well, we had an old Maple tree in the back yard that needed to go. The squirrels were not happy as it was hollow and they loved it. It still put out decent shade but I thought it was about time we cut it down before the ice or wind got it. Our son in law, Chris, came over yesterday and went to work on it.
Woops, repeat.


Limbs are off now we are to the serious stuff.




Look, you can see how hollow the thing is. Had about a 3 inch outter ring that was holding it.
Well, it seems just before it fell it pinched Chris' saw and we were stuck. Tried to push it over but could not do it. So, now we have a 15 foot stump.
Today I pulled my saw out and went through the carburator. It had not been started in 7 years. The fuel in it looked like syrip. After about an hour I had it running. Took it out back and cut up the limbs so we can dispose of them. Tomorrow Teri and I will take the tall stump down to the ground.
That should do it for today. Just wanted you to see that there is no rest for the "retired" around here. Yall have a great evening. Come on back and we will show you the rest of the tree, when it is on the ground.
Dan




Sunday, May 17, 2009

It Is Springtime

How do I know it is Spring? Well, the car shows are happening. (And I mowed the yard twice this week).
Yea, the cars are out in force. There were two or three shows going on around here yesterday. I did make this one as I was a member before we started traveling. The folks kept wanting to know where the GMC was. Look at those clouds. I had just washed it and I did not want to get it dirty so fast. I will take it again soon. Car shows are great places to display our vintage coaches. Everyone loves them. Well, you can see I drove the bug. I can wash it in 5 minutes. And, it had its own share of lookers.


Here is a nice one. My friend owns this 57 T-bird. Id like to have one of these with a modern engine stuck under the hood.




A Nova with a Yenko stripe stuck on it.





Lots of young folks are doing the car shows now. This young man enjoys showing his high dollar truck. I wonder how many more payments til he is free again?




A small block Ford. One of my favorites. This one is stuck in a Mustang.





Now, you can see why the GMC stayed home. The convertables had to raise their tops a time or two.








New cars. I often wonder why they are in the shows. This one is paid for so the owner can do with it as he wishes. It is nice and I guess it shows what is available on the new car market today. Was a brand new Corvette there also. A friend of mine traded his street rod to a dealer even for it. I guess older guys are tired of turning wrenches.








Where is the engine in the Challenger? Not a clue that one is under that plastic.







And, here is our little long jumper. Not yet 4 years old yet and heavily involved in track meets. I have never heard of little kids doing this but he sure loves all of his trophies. I hope he can continue winning as he grows older.



Monday is coming up. One of my favorite days. I just mowed the grass this afternoon so I guess I can work on vehicles this week. Hope everyone has a good week. I am sitting here planning our next road trip. It will not be long so hang around. We will hit the road again soon.
Dan