We were up a little after 8 AM. I showered while Linda prepared our breakfast fruit–blueberries, raspberries, and peaches–to go with our granola. I made a pot of coffee, using up the Costa Rican half-caff, and then sat down to eat. After breakfast we sat in the living room enjoying our coffee to the warmth and glow of the fireplace while Linda downloaded and installed iOS 9 on her iPad. The download was 740 MB so I waited until the installation was done on her machine to start it on mine.
When we finally got to work our first task was to unload all of the wood from the car and store it in the garage. My next task was to call Ferman Miller at Countertops Plus in Shipshewana, Indiana to make sure he got my message on Friday with the dimensions for the Corian top table. I got his voice mail again and left another message. I then called Josh at Coach Supply Direct to bring him up to date, got his voice mail, and left a message.
Linda planned to get a few things at Whole Foods Market as she needed to drive to Ann Arbor anyway to pick up our wallpaper from Delux Draperies and Wallcoverings. While she took care of that I started figuring out what parts I needed to reconfigure the heating system. Before making a run to the store I found all of my plumbing tools and supplies. I got 20 feet of heater hose and 10 band clamps from O’Reilly’s and various copper fittings from Lowe’s. I also got a drain hose and a clean bucket to catch/hold antifreeze.
Back home I removed the seat and back cushions from the sofa and stacked them on the chairs. I removed the temporary plywood top from the desk and stored it in the garage. I then uninstalled the desk pedestals from the wall and from their bases. There wasn’t much else I could do without Linda’s help, so her return soon thereafter was timely. We had a light lunch and then moved the pedestals to the sofa. That left the bases free for me to work with. I still did not have all of the parts I needed to install the fan-coil heat exchangers in the bases. I also needed to remove the heater hoses in order to mount the heat exchangers and replace the hoses with different lengths and angled fittings.
As I was contemplating all of that I got a call from Chuck Spera. He was in the process of setting up an appointment to have the lower windshields replaced on both of our rigs and wanted to make sure I was still interested and check my availability. He called back a little while later to let me know we were set for next week Tuesday in the morning.
I then got a call from Joe Cannarozzi. Joe has done a lot of work on our bus over the last five years, especially the chassis. He called to confirm that I still wanted him to stop at our place on his way back to Chicago around Halloween and discuss what I needed done. Yes, I did, and what I needed was routine maintenance; lube, oil, filter(s), brakes, and possibly axle hub seals.
When we first started working with Joe he had an active, full-time mobile bus repair business, specializing in Prevost chassis service. The last couple of years he has worked a regular gig in upstate New York from April through October. He still services a few buses, like ours, starting in the north in the late fall and working his way to Florida for the winter where he tries to get to the Keys and take 4 to 6 weeks off before working his way back up to New York in the spring. When we wrapped up the call I texted Chuck to let him know that Joe would be coming this way.
I called Ferman again and this time he answered the phone. He had gotten my two previous messages and I was correct that there was not enough material in the large sheet of Corian to make the table. He had not had a chance to check his stock to see if he had any more of the Sandstone. I mentioned that Josh had another vendor with a 30″ by 40″ piece. Ferman indicated that if he doesn’t have another piece he would be willing to work with that piece if Josh got it. I called Josh and he answered this time so I walked him through the current status. He called the other vendor and called me back. The piece is 30″ by 48″ and he was willing to sell it for $175. Josh and I agreed to give Ferman a couple of days to check his stock before pursuing it.
Linda was working at her desk on a proposal for the bakery and preparing a bank deposit for our GLCC chapter. I went to the garage and began soldering 3/4″ copper plumbing fittings. I need to route the 3/4″ rubber heater hose around corners that were too sharp to just bend the hose so the copper fittings will take care of that.
Linda called me to dinner at 6 PM. We had a nice salad, vegan Italian sausage with onions, and Brussels sprouts as a side. A small glass of Moscato made a nice accompaniment. After dinner I checked my e-mail and took care of the cats’ liter tray. I then drove to Lowe’s for two more 45 degree street elbows. On the drive home I talked to Mike (W8HX) on the South Lyon 2m repeater. We discussed getting me back up our tower sometime in the next 9 days if my work on the bus progressed to the point where I could afford the time. We went to bed early enough to watch a few TV programs and then fell asleep.