Tag Archives: cinnamon raisin toast (vegan)

2015/09/22 (T) Bench Work

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Linda scraps the old wallpaper off below the passenger side living room window.

Linda scraps the old wallpaper off below the passenger side living room window.

We were up at 7:30 AM and had fresh grapefruit and cinnamon raisin toast for breakfast.  We turned the fireplace on and drank our coffee in the living room.  After taking care of a few chores we got to work on the bus.  Linda started stripping the old wallpaper while I finished soldering two 45 degree copper street elbows.  I then got my tools out and gathered up supplies I needed to disconnect the fan-coil heat exchangers and heater hoses.

I started by trying to connect a 1/2″ i.d. clear vinyl tube to the drain stub on the Aqua-Hot.  The stub points straight down, is approximately 3/4″ long, and the open end is about 3/4″ above the base.  There is a hole in the base of the unit at that point, provided by Aqua-Hot for a drain line, but Royale Coach installed one of the CruiseAir condenser units directly beneath the Aqua-Hot and did bother to provide a hole in the shelf or make alternate arrangements for draining the unit.  I could not get the vinyl tube over the stub and with a limited amount of time to spend on this minor annoyance moved to Plan B.

We have had a large stainless steel photo processing tray, approximately 2′ X 3′, for years.  Today we used it to catch antifreeze and protect the new floor.  Linda got some scrap towels and we put them under all of the edges of the tray.  I then set the heat exchangers on pieces of 2×4 in the tray to keep them up out of the antifreeze.  Linda held the heater hoses as I undid each of the band clamps in turn and worked them loose from the exchangers.  We emptied the coolant from the exchangers and hoses into the tray, wiped off the heat exchangers, took them outside, and set them in the driveway.

The two fan-coil heat exchangers in the photo tray ready to have the coolant hoses disconnected.

The two fan-coil heat exchangers in the photo tray ready to have the coolant hoses disconnected.

We made sure the hose that connected the two units was drained, wiped it off, and took it outside.  This hose has bleeder valves at each end that I will have to remove as I need to reuse one of them.  We drained the two remaining hoses as best we could and put the open ends in the metal photo tray.  I bought a bucket yesterday with a gasketed lid that has a built in spout.  I picked the band clamps and pieces of 2x4out of the antifreeze and put them in the bucket.  We then carefully poured the antifreeze from the tray into the bucket and put the lid on.  We carried the tray outside and set it in the driveway and then took the bucket outside.

Linda took a break from stripping wallpaper and went to the bank to deposit proceeds from the recent rally.  There wasn’t anything else I could do in the coach and I turned my attention to cleaning up the work surface in the garage.  I took the two desk bases to the garage and started working on the installation of the grates and heat exchangers.  I had not worked through the details of this in advance so I had to figure them out now.  I started with the left base, which has an angled front.

The coolant hoses with the heat exchangers removed. We were able to contain the coolant in the tray and not get any on the new floor tiles.

The coolant hoses with the heat exchangers removed. We were able to contain the coolant in the tray and not get any on the new floor tiles.

The heat exchangers needed to be spaced up 1/2″ off the floor to better align with the openings in the sides so I cut pieces of 1/2″ plywood to put under them.  The exchangers have two holes on the bottom front edge that were probably created by Royale to mount them.  Actually, it appears that Royale mounted them upside down, presumably to position the coolant connections where they needed them.  I say they were upside down because I discovered labels on the “bottom” indicating they were made by “Vantage Products, Exclusive U. S. Distributor of Primus Hydronic Heating Products.”  I designed the desk bases so that the exchangers would mount the same way Royale had them.  As such they will remain “upside down” but it will not affect their operation.

My plan was to put 3/8″ wide by 1/4″ thick dense foam self-stick weather stripping around the edge of the discharge side of the exchangers to seal them to the base and reduce vibration noise due to the fans.  I cut the 1/2″ plywood large enough to provide room for mounting brackets to attach the plywood inserts to the base in locations that I could reach with the heat exchangers in place.  The exchangers had to be screwed to the plywood before it was set in place inside the base since the grates blocked access to the two mounting holes.

The two fan-coil heat exchangers that will go in the bases under the two desk pedestals.

The two fan-coil heat exchangers that will go in the bases under the two desk pedestals.

By now it was mid-afternoon Keith showed up and mowed the grass so I took a little time out from my work to chat with him.  When I returned to the makeshift workshop in our garage I cut the brass-colored decorative aluminum grates to size and secured them on the inside of the base using small screws.  I also wanted to add a layer of the plastic gutter mesh I bought yesterday.  After cutting the first piece to size I decided to use double stick tape.  The only tape I had was 3M Extreme Duty Mounting Tape so I drove to Lowe’s to get something more appropriate.  I found a 1″ wide clear tape and decided to try it.

Half inch wide tape would have been better so I tried cutting the 1″ tape in half lengthwise.  I removed the discharge grate, applied the tape to the edges on the back side, and pressed the plastic mesh into it being careful to keep it as straight as possible.  I then screwed the whole assembly on the inside of the base.  The screws did not like going through the tape or the mesh so I was quickly disabused of this assembly process and decided to use the tape as it came off the roll.

For the air intake grate I first screwed the metal sheet to the inside of the base.  I then applied shorter pieces of tape around the edges in-between the screw heads.  I carefully positioned the pre-cut plastic mesh, peeled the protective layer off of the tape, and stretched/pressed the mesh in place.

I needed to clean the 3/4″ copper inlet and outlet pipes on the heat exchanger so I got Linda to help me at this point.  She held the heat exchanger as I used a strip of plumber’s sandpaper to remove heater hose rubber that had stuck to the pipe.

Because of the grates on the air openings in the base I positioned the plywood spacer and then marked/drilled the holes for the mounting brackets.  I set the exchanger in place, made several alignment marks, removed the exchanger, and took out the plywood.  I attached the brackets to the inside of the base and then attached the weather stripping to the front of the exchanger case.  I positioned the case and Linda held it while I secured it with two screws.  I slipped the plywood/exchanger assembly back into the bottom of the base and Linda pulled it tight to the front while I secured the brackets to it.  One base done, one base to go.

Keith was done mowing about this time and stopped to see what we were up to and pick up his check.  He normally mows our property on Monday morning but had some service issues with his truck that put him back a day.  He had some string trimming to finish and our dinner was ready so he went back to work and we went inside to eat.  Dinner was salad and Whole Wheat ABC Pasta Veggie Soup.  The soup was a North Bay Trading Company mix that Linda got at Whole Foods.  She added kale and tomatoes to make a very tasty and nutritious dish.

After dinner I was closing up the bus for the evening and noticed that the two large MCD shades in the living room had come loose from their front mounting brackets.  This undoubtedly happened Sunday on Hacker Road as we returned from the rally in Elkhart, Indiana.  Linda helped me move one of the desk pedestals on the sofa so I could get to the shade on the driver’s side of the coach.  Once I could get to it the mounting rail snapped into the clip fairly easily but I will have to figure out why it popped out in the first place and make adjustments if needed/possible.

I checked e-mail and replied at length to one from Gary at BCM.  We then settled in to watch the season opener of NCIS and NCIS New Orleans (NCISNOLA) followed by several shows on CreateTV (PBS).  I multi-tasked, working on blog posts at the same time.

My work yesterday and today was not as physical as what we have been doing for most of the summer so it did not feel like I had done much but the evidence suggested otherwise.  These seemingly small tasks often have a lot of steps that have to be done carefully in the right order and take time to do.  There was also a certain amount real-time problem-solving and a trip to the store in the middle of the work.  I hope to finish the other base tomorrow, get both of them back in the coach, and get them plumbed with the new heater hose.  That may have to wait a day or so, however, as Linda needs to finish stripping the wallpaper in the area behind the desk and we need to hang the new paper before re-installing the desk.  There is a definite order to this work that cannot be circumvented.

 

2015/08/10 (M) Keep on Buss’in

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We have a doe and her spotted faun that have been coming in the early morning to the deer block we set in our back yard the other day.  They were there again this morning and the block is close enough to the house that we got a good look at them through the bedroom doorwall.  They must be comfortable with the setting as the faun wandered off towards the western part of our property and the doe let it go while she continued to lick the block.  Eventually, however, the faun was out of sight and the doe headed off in that direction to find it.

We had cinnamon raisin toast and soy yogurt for breakfast, with orange-grapefruit juice to wash down the vitamins.  I used up the last of the Sweet Seattle Dreams half-caff coffee beans for our pot of morning coffee.  Keith usually mows our grass on Mondays and he came to the front door around 9:30 AM to ask if we wanted it cut this week.  That’s the first time he has done that this summer but it was an appropriate and timely question.  We have had very little rain the last couple of weeks so the grass had not gown much since last Monday and was a little brown in places.  We agreed to skip this week, which I think was what Keith was hoping I would say.  There was a high probability of rain starting around noon and I suspect he had another yard he wanted to cut before it started.

We have been very busy the last few days and I have not had time to do more than outline my blog posts.  Linda needed to work on an analysis for the bakery so I spent much of the day filling in the details of my recent posts.  Our days are very full and if I wait too long I cannot capture them accurately.

Linda looked up the information on the DTE Energy “Energy Efficiency” appliance recycling program.  I called the 866 number and was assisted by Reginald.  The earliest available pickup date was Friday, August 28 so I took that.  It took quite a while to arrange the pickup but Reginald appeared to get all the pertinent information and give me a confirmation code and a phone number to reach the truck on pickup day.

Once the refrigerator pickup was arranged I texted Chuck to let him know the details.  That prompted a return phone call and a conversation about refrigerators.  Having seen how our swap went on Saturday he and Barb are also thinking very seriously about replacing the refrigerator in their bus.  The rationale is the same as ours; the fridge is old, so it is noisier and less efficient than newer ones, and having it break on the road would be more than inconvenient.

Replacing a refrigerator in an RV, especially a residential unit in a bus conversion, is not like replacing one in a home.  Access is a major problem and there is not a lot of space to maneuver it or get more than two pairs of hands on it.  If they replace theirs here (in Michigan) their bus will be inside their garage/shop, the forklift will be available to do the heavy lifting, and trusted friends and family will be available to help.  And, most importantly, they won’t be living in it and dependent on the fridge for preserving their food.

Before the day got away from me I pulled up the PDF of the manual for the wireless keypad for the large garage door.  When I installed the new opener for the small garage door and reprogrammed the wireless remotes for our cars I inadvertently rendered the keypad inoperable.  Reprogramming it was simple enough once I had the procedure.  It’s the small, simple tasks like this one that become big burdens if not taken care of in a timely manner.

The predicted rain started around noon and was steady until 3 PM.  It was just the kind of rain we needed; gentle enough to give it a chance to soak in but hard enough to provide a useful quantity of moisture to the ground.  Six to 10 hours of this would have been even better but we were glad for what we got.

I had thought that we might mask off the inside of the coach today with painter’s plastic but with the rain and humidity, and plenty of other things to do, I decided to defer that until tomorrow.  During the afternoon Jarel texted me a couple of pictures and a brief status update on our custom woodworking projects.  Not surprisingly he is already well along on the construction of the pull-out pantry and has spray lacquered the pieces for the built-in sofa.

One of the photos showed one of the 1/8″ thick aluminum plates that will form the side rails for each shelf in the pantry.  He applied a brushed finish to the plate and countersunk the screw holes so the heads would not protrude beyond the surface.  Jarel did metal work at one time before he became a cabinet maker so he knows how to do this kind of stuff.  He is also meticulous and takes great pride in his work.  Given a choice I would always prefer to hire a craftsman who cares as much, or more, about the quality of their work as I do.

When I know I am going to have a long full day, such as this coming Wednesday, I will try to “write ahead” on my blog, basically outlining the plan for the day but obviously not filling in the details of things that have not yet happened.  Along the same lines, I often use future blog posts as a planning tool.  As things occur to me that I need to do I will note them in the draft of a future post.  If the thing actually gets done on that date I flesh out the details, and if not, I move it to a new date.

I think I did several loads of laundry today and spent some time editing and uploading blog posts during the evening, but as I am finishing this post later in the week I have lost the details and will just end here.

 

2015/07/02 (R) 100,000 Radios

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We were tired and did not get up until almost 8 AM.  Linda prepared a tofu scramble for breakfast, as we were almost out of her homemade granola, and served it with some cinnamon raisin toast and fresh grapefruit.  It’s the closest thing we eat to scrambled eggs and she serves it as an occasional change of pace from our standard granola breakfast.

I had my annual appointment with my dermatologist this morning at 11 AM.  I needed to pick up a cable from Scott (AC8IL) at Adams Electronics, which was on my way to the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) clinic, so I left the house a little after 9:30 AM.  The drive was fine initially and I had a nice QSO (chat) with Steve (N8AR) on the South Lyon 2m repeater.  As I was approaching Wixom Road, however, all lanes of eastbound I-96 were stopped.  I was able to exit at Wixom Road and headed north a short distance to West Road which I took east over to Beck Road where Scotty’s business is located a little north of West Road.  I had a brief chat with Scott about the antennas on my tower before I left.

Two miles north of Scott’s shop I turned east on Maple Road (15 Mile Road).  The HFHS has many clinics around the greater Metro Detroit area and my dermatologist is located at the intersection of Maple and Farmington Roads in West Bloomfield.  That should have been an easy trip but there was construction on Maple Road that had the road down to one lane with flaggers.  There were signs advising motorists to seek other routes but I did not heed the warning.  I patiently worked my way through and arrived for my appointment about seven minutes ahead of time.  Good thing I left as early as I did.

My exam was fairly routine and Dr. Nydorf wrote out a prescription for Doxycycline.  I will try taking it (again) three times a week and see if it helps.  I headed straight for home after my appointment but took a different route.  Once I was back at the house Linda went for a walk.  While she was walking I removed the license plate from her car, took the protective (anti-theft) cover off, and cleaned everything.  When it was dry I put the new registration sticker in the corner, reassembled the cover, and installed the plate back onto the car.  I then started working with the various pieces of the new Yaesu FTM-400DR/DE mobile radio.  When she got back from her walk she heated up a couple of tofu hotdogs for lunch.  These are such simple fare but so tasty (with mustard, onions, and relish) and so appropriate for a summertime lunch.  They are also a really easy lunch to get on the table.

After lunch Linda took her car to the Howell library to get some books and children’s DVDs and then stop at the Meijer’s supermarket to pick up a few grocery items for Madeline’s visit this weekend.  While she was running errands I assembled our new Diamond X-300NA antenna.  Once it was assembled it was over 10 feet long so I stored it by mounting it to the side of the tower.  I put it up as high as I could reach from the ground to get the three counterpoise (elevated ground plane) rods above eye level.  Moving it to the top of the tower as a replacement for the Diamond X-50NA will have to wait until next week or later.  The exact timing will depend on the weather, Mike’s (W8XH) availability, and whether I have acquired appropriate standoffs by then for the X-300 antenna and/or the cellular booster omnidirectional antenna.

With the antenna taken care of (for now) I disconnected the coaxial cable for the X-50 from the radio side of the lightning arrestor and positioned it so I could pull it back into the sump pump room.  From there I fed it into the ham shack, disconnected it from the radio, and coiled it up.  I uncoiled the new 20′ LMR-400 cable with the N-male connector end positioned so I could feed it through the corner of the ceiling in the ham shack (by the ground wire) and into the sump pump room.  From there I fed it through one of the 2″ conduits into the cable entry box.  Back outside I shaped the cable (LMR-400 cable is double shielded and stiff) and connected it to the radio side of the Morgan VHF/UHF lightning arrestor and closed the lid on the box.

Back in the ham shack I attached the PL-259 connector to the SO-239 socket on the back of the Icom IC-7000 GoBox.  I could have gotten away with a 16′ cable but the 20′ length gives me more flexibility with respect to equipment placement.  I turned on the IC-7000 but did not hear anyone on either the South Lyon 2m or the Novi 70cm repeaters so I turned it off.

I disconnected Mike’s Icom IC-2820H and set it aside to make space for the new Yaesu FTM-400DR/DE dual band mobile transceiver.  I moved the new coax to the new radio, powered it up, spent a few minutes configuring some basic things, and then listened to the South Lyon and Novi repeaters.  I tried calling them but was not triggering them so I knew the PL Tone was not set correctly.  I called Mike for assistance and left him a voice message.

Linda was back by this time so she came down to see the new radio.  We then went out to the bus to make our final decisions about upholstery fabric and window shade materials.  In the end we chose the Lambright Notion Linen fabric for all four chairs and the MCD B50 material for the dark out shades.  We brought all the samples back in the house and I e-mailed our choices to Josh at Coach Supply Direct.

I had an e-mail from Scott Neader (KA9FOX) at QTH.com requesting an admin login for the SLAARC WordPress website so I set that up and e-mailed him back.  I had the new radio on and was listening to a conversation on the Novi repeater.  It had just concluded when Mike returned my call.  He walked me through how to set up the PL Tone and Squelch Tone for both of the repeaters on the FTM-400.  We were then able to verify that the radio was working on both bands.

For dinner Linda made a salad and pan-grilled tofu with caramelized onions and barbecue sauce which she served open-faced on hamburger buns.  We had watermelon for dessert, which we have been doing a lot this summer.  I did not care for watermelon as a child but it has become a favorite summertime treat.  I had dropped a small lock washer while mounting the new antenna to the tower earlier so I went to Lowe’s to get a replacement and some spares.  On the drive there I got a call from XPO Delivery Service letting me know that the new refrigerator for the bus would be delivered to Chuck’s shop in Novi tomorrow between 6 and 8 PM.

At Lowe’s I picked up some 6mm x 1.0 Nylok nuts in addition to the lock washers.  I also got some grass seed patching mix, a few more bags of decorative broken brick pieces, and a hummingbird feeder with a red reservoir so Linda can use sugar water without red food coloring.  When I got home the odometer on my car read 100000 so I took a picture of it with my phone.  I then spread the patching mix over the bare dirt I had used to fill a hole and troughs left by the installation of the natural gas line to our house last September.  The rest of the evening Linda read and I worked on completing drafts of blog posts.