Linda had to go to the bakery today so she was up at 5:45 AM and out the door by 6:15.  I was vaguely aware of the activity but fell back asleep and finally woke up a little before 8 AM.  I skipped breakfast save for a glass of juice to wash down my vitamin and allergy pill.  I spent time finishing yesterday’s blog post and thinking about what I absolutely had to get done in next four days.

I was working at the dining room table instead of in the living room so I got to watch a Red squirrel dart back and forth across the deck all morning.  It was gathering walnuts from the tree northeast of our house and taking them somewhere west of our upper deck.  It would run (hop) across the deck with a giant walnut in its mouth and then return by way of the deck railing.  While it was gathering another walnut I moved to our library where I had a good view of our lower deck.  It came down the stairs from the upper deck and disappeared behind the grill.  It may be storing them under the deck or under the cover on the grill, in which case we will have to move them.

Once I was in the bus I continued pondering how to get the desk installed so that everything would line up.  Built-in furniture is just that, and I had not spent a lot of time in advance figuring out how I was going to fasten pieces together and secure them to the coach.  I retrieved the piece of 1/4″ Baltic birch plywood from the garage to use as a spacer at the right end and just slid it in place temporarily.  I decided I would use mending plates attached to the back and underside of the left and right bases and pedestals to align the center cover.  I also decided to use a length of angle against the wall to support and align the pedestals and cover.  Along the same lines I decided to use smaller angle brackets to attach the vertical front panel of the built-in sofa to the two plenum/support boxes and the air return shelf, and to attach the plenum boxes and shelf to the HVAC/wiring chase.

Feeling like I should get something tangible accomplished I decided to re-install the AC light fixture and the three DC reading lights under the overhead cabinets above the desk.  Linda and I agreed last night that we needed to replace the three 120V AC light fixtures in the front of the coach so I turned my attention to that issue.  I removed the fixture on the driver’s side by the kitchen end of the sofa alcove and removed the mounting ring.  I also measured the size of the base and the overall size of the fixture and wrote them down.  Ideally I will find a fixture that has a similar size base but with most of the light fixture above the center point.  One of the problems with the current fixtures is that they hang down far enough that a person sitting on the sofa would bump them with their head and probably break them as they are made of glass rods.

I headed towards The Home Depot in Howell and stopped at McDonald’s first for French fries and a soda beverage.  I looked at all of their wall sconce light fixtures.  They had two different ones that I thought might work but deferred a purchase until I had checked at Lowe’s.  THD had 72″ piano (continuous) hinges, however, so I bought one.  I also looked at PEX plumbing parts as Butch mentioned last night that I could use them to plumb the fan-coil heat exchangers.

Lowe’s had a wall sconce that was a little more to my liking.  I needed three but they only had one in stock, which I bought.  The Associate checked inventory at other stores and indicated that there were two more in stock in New Hudson.  He wrote down the Model number and the phone number for the store and said I could call and they would hold the items for me.  I picked up a couple of 75W GE Reveal light bulbs, the mending plates, angle brackets, and two different pieces of aluminum angle while I was there.  I looked for pieces of felt but all they had were very thick furniture pads which was not what I needed.

I was going to stop at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts to check on heater hose, fittings, and band clamps but decided to skip that stop in favor of getting home and installing the new wall sconce light fixture.  It installed without too much difficulty and I liked the look.  The fixture, however, was rated for a maximum 60W bulb.

I closed up the house and bus and drove to the Lowe’s in New Hudson.  They did indeed have two more of the wall sconce light fixtures that I needed so I bought them.  I also picked up three 60W (equivalent, 8.5W actual) 800 lumens dimmable LED warm white light bulbs.  Linda texted me while I was at the store to let me know she was leaving the bakery and heading home.

I stopped at Michael’s Arts and Crafts in Brighton and bought a 36″ x 36″ piece of walnut brown felt.  I plan to use the felt underneath all of the pieces of the desk and sofa that contact the floor, and possibly in some other areas as well, to keep the wood from marring the tile.

When I got home I called Elkhart Campground to make a reservation for the GLCC rally next week.  I also called A-1 Upholstery in Elkhart, Indiana to check on our sofa cushions.  Terry said they were almost done and we could pick them up on Monday.  I then sent several text messages to Jarel with photos attached of the desk and sofa in place on the bus and indicated I had some questions and would call him later.

I was getting ready to install the other two light fixtures when Linda got home.  The timing was good as she got to see the first one and approve it before I installed the other two.  We discussed the covering up of the mirror strips in the corner and decided we would leave them for now.  We can cover them up later if desired.  Linda went in the house to fix dinner.  I got the second sconce installed and went inside.

I had a few minutes until dinner was ready and used it to send an e-mail to Jarel.  Dinner was couscous on power greens and small slices of bread from a baguette Linda bought the other day.  I also had the leftover corn on the cob.

After dinner I called Jarel.  We had a long chat and it was 8 PM by the time we finished.  Linda headed to bed and I went back to the bus to install the third/final light fixture.  I also installed four small frosted bulbs in the light fixture under the overhead cabinets above the desk, replacing the clear bulbs that were there.  This light fixture is part of the same collection as the ones I removed from the living room walls but its design and location do interfere with anything.  We might replace it someday, if we find something we like better for use over the desk that is the right size and shape, but for now it will remain in place.  I locked up the bus, closed up the garage, and headed to my office.

I dealt with some BCM-related e-mail and then off-loaded today’s photos from the Sony a-100 DSLR.  I went through all of the photos from September, selected about a dozen, and processed them into 300×200 pixel size images so I could share them with friends and family via e-mail.  I have written extensive blog posts everyday but last posted to the website in mid-July.  I don’t like being that far behind but getting the posts uploaded is just not as important as other things I have to do at this time.

I was heading to bed when I decided to replace the two light bulbs in our home kitchen that were burned out.  I had the two 75W GE Reveal bulbs that I could not use in the bus, so I installed them in the kitchen downlights, and that really brightened things up.

I got to bed just before midnight.  It had been a beautiful day, weather wise, and a cool night was in store portending good sleep.  But first I had to capture the details of today’s work for this post.