Well, that happened...

 

The media hadn't called it by the time I turned over to go to sleep, but it was clear where the results of the election was going.  Regardless of what side you were on, I expect our everyday life won't change much.  With the rhetoric in the rearview mirror, we need to look forward.  Keep doing what you do.

Here's a look at last night's evening sky (to add some calm to your day)...

The view from our courtyard is pretty expansive: sunrise over South Mountain to the south and east of us, and sunset over the Estrella Mountains to the west.  Nature does what she does.  We need to do what we do.

This afternoon, I'm going to make some music with friends.

Here we go again...

 

No, that isn't a Dolly Parton song - that is "Here You Come Again," so... no bonus points for you.  "Are you talking about the election, Jim?"  Oh, yeah, I heard something about that.  I am hoping this means the end of the political ads, texts, e-mails, and phone calls.

"Oh, are you talking about more construction workers at your house?"  Yes; only two expected today: painters (inside and out) and the concrete subcontractor.  But, we still have to be around until they are done; or in the case of the concrete guys: until they decide what they're going to do and get something scheduled.

So, in the spirit of happiness that things are coming to a close (election and one-year stuff with the house), here's a photo of Murphy the cat...

 And, a shot I took last night with my phone: the evening sky...

If you haven't already, get out there and vote.  It's been a long shit-show of a Presidential race.  The pollsters and media are calling it 49% to 49% (or something very close to that).  Odds are pretty good we won't know the outcome right away.  One candidate is already trying to question the validity of the election.  Pretty sure the shit-show will continue.  So, enjoy the photos of Murphy and the evening sky above.

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It is a brisk start to the day.  Joan put on a jacket to take Murphy outside.  And, of course, that meant Murph had to have on a jacket, too.  Well, a vest, to be more accurate...

That is the first time wearing a jacket; he is not bothered by having that put on him.  I think he looks rather sporty!

That was a purchase Joan made for Rufus; it looked like a cape on that big boy.  Murphy has grown a bunch since we got him, but he will never be as big as Ruf was.  I think Murphy is taller, though.  Joan likes to measure our cats, but that is not an exact science... since they move a bunch.  As close as she can figure, Murphy is 37" from nose to tail.  He is an inch longer and a half inch bigger around.  Not sure what we'll do with that information.

Preparing for the onslaught...

 

The aftermath of the elections?  No, that will be a shit-show regardless.  Today is the day that most of the workers will be here to do the work from our one-year home inspection.  As I showed on Saturday, there is a lot of blue tape - mostly minor things to do with the stucco.  Some interior things, as well.  There will be workers from the stucco and paint contractors, the people who seal the windows, drywall contractor, tile and grout contractors, cement workers, and probably some more that I am forgetting.

All the patio furniture moved away from the house...

 We are up and ready early, in case the workers are on time (8:00 to 11:00 arrival times).  Realistically, I don't expect that it will be a lot of work, just a lot of detail things.  More is scheduled for tomorrow, depending on what gets done today.

Murphy got his outdoor time early.  We are ready.

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Like an Indy pit crew - the workers have been showing up on time, have been professional and thorough.  8 of the 9 who were supposed to be here this morning have been here and completed their work.  One crew is still working on a drywall crack in each garage.  The 9th has been delayed and will be here this afternoon.  A couple more will be coming tomorrow.  All in all, this has been a good experience.  Each of these sub-contractors have been complimentary regarding our builder.

Like Camping In The Backyard...

 

Did you ever "camp" in the backyard when you were a kid?  I did it frequently, out there with my 2-man pup tent.  When you're 8 or 9 years old, taking a "road trip" on your own isn't an option.  I guess I liked the change of the status quo.  The backyard was different, but somewhat safe.  And the bathroom was just inside.  ;-)

It may have been what led to my on-going desire for a change of the status quo - I get itchy feet after being in any one place for a while.  That's why motorcycle touring, traveling with our own plane, and RVing have been an integral part of our lives.

I'm excited about the possibilities with the Roadtrek.  Whether it is day-tripping or out and about for a few days.  It has some interesting capabilites for a different style of traveling: the words "off grid" get tossed about, but most RVs are not fully functional if they aren't connected to shore power (electricity).  When we went to the Grand Canyon, we plugged in each night at the RV park, but we were fully functional on our day-trips with the electrical system onboard (lithium batteries, solar and under the hood generator/high output aux alternator, and the 3,000 watt inverter.  We can run any appliance in the van without being plugged in.

What this means is we are not dependent on being in an RV park every night.  We should be able to stay comfortably in places without hookups.  I say "should" because we haven't tested those capabilities other than during our day-trips.

Last night, I "camped" in our driveway.  That isn't the ideal sleeping situation because the driveway runs uphill.  Joan said, "Sleep the other direction."  Our beds are set up to have our heads towards the back of the van... no reason we can't reverse that.  Joan was keep on this "test" for herself, but she encouraged me to do it.  I just wanted to see how the lithium batteries (600 amp hours) would handle it.

I took a few things with me and went out to spend the night.  Unplugged.  It was a cool evening, after some rain came through.  I wouldn't need air conditioning, but I did set the heat to run as needed.  I ran some lights, watched some TV.  Used the bathroom as needed.  It was a good test to see what the batteries would do with this use... the batteries were 13.5v when I started the night... 13.4v when I got up this morning, and the heat did turn on several times during the night.  For those not familiar with a large lithium bank, 13.5v is not completely full; that would be well over what a traditional lead acid battery bank would read at full.  Lithiums are different and there is a learning curve.

It wasn't a great night's sleep due to the slope of the driveway.

 The Firefly display runs all the stuff in the van: lights, a/c, heat, water heater, and keeps track of the charge on the lithium batteries.  It displays in voltage, but here is a chart to determine percentage of charge...

The electric capability of the van is a big deal (to us).  Proving to ourselves that we can handle being off the power grid, the limiting factor becomes water: both having fresh water to drink, cook, and wash with, and dealing with the gray and black.  Based on our typical water usage, I figure we are good for about 3 days without having a city water connection or a sewer dump.

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Didja "fall back" with your clocks today?  We didn't.  Arizona doesn't mess around with Daylight Saving Time.  A lot of people think we moved here to be close to Steph and Dan and for all the "big city" amenities.  Yeah, sure... but it was mostly for not having to mess with all the clocks in the house and the vehicles twice a year.  ;-)  Yeah, I'm kidding.  But, when I reset the clock on Joan's Xmax, I have to get the owners manual out to figure out what process of pressing buttons and for what amount of time to get to the clock adjustment.  Look at all the time we save twice a year!  Unless, of course, we travel to a different time zone... like this summer when we were in 4 different time zones during our time out in the motorhome.  :-)

Inspection...

 

Are you and Joan playing "new recruit and the naughty drill sargent" again?  No... I haven't been the same since the court martial... but, thanks for asking.

We are scheduled to have a dozen or so contractors come to the house on Monday and Tuesday - it is the one-year inspection and repairs.  The guy we hired to do the inspection came up with a long list of things, but most of them are exterior cosmetic stuff.  Today, the 4 of us went all around the house, armed with blue tape, a notebook, and a phone camera.

 It is some void and small cracks in the stucco, mostly.  Not surprising, considering the blistering heat and large temperature swings from day to night.  This will be our last opportunity to get anything fixed or touched up and then the home builder is done.  We are armed with photos and notes

It is a nice house; seems to be very well built.  Although it does have a pretty good amount of blue painters tape stuck on it to point out where something in the stucco needs to be addressed...

IF all these subcontractors show up, we will have a bunch of activity to monitor on Monday and Tuesday.  But, we are ready for them.

I can't wait...

 

Excited for Halloween, are ya, Jim?  Not particularly, but thanks for asking.  Steph and Dan are going to put a car backwards in the driveway this evening and do a "trunk or treat," staying outside to hand out candy.

This will be a change for us: in the past 20 years, we haven't had a single trick or treater at our house in Texas.  This time of year, that area in Texas is kind of between populations: the summer people have gone home and the winter people haven't arrived.  Not many families with kids on that island, so no one to come to your door.  The first few years, we bought some candy, just in case.  I got to eat a lot of candy.

I think there are plenty of kids in our new neighborhood.  We'll see how this plays out.  But, if Steph and Dan stay out in the driveway, there won't be a lot of commotion and doorbell ringing to disturb the furry family members.

What I can't wait for: this election to be over.  Oh, I don't expect it to be settled right away, but I will be glad to be done with the onslaught of political advertising.  Seems I am getting several texts per hour... having been registered to vote in South Dakota, Texas, and now Arizona, we are getting the spam texts and e-mails from all three states.  The mailbox has been nearly full with (we only check it once a week or so) political cards.  Someone is spending a lot of money on printing and postage, which surprises me... since there isn't much cost involved in sending a text or e-mail.

Our ballots have been turned in, and Joan received notice that they have been officially received and recorded.  It was a 4-page ballot.  We had to refer to the supplied booklet to understand the wording on some of the initiatives.

We need to get beyond this "my side vs your side" crap and get back to being Americans and having politicians who are working for the people (as opposed to: for their party).  But, realistically, I don't expect that to happen anytime soon, either.

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Joan had a bunch of Vine reviews to get through this afternoon.  I've had a song in mind that I wanted to give a shot at recording; it has been months since I did anything with the Spire Studio.

I laid down a scratch track for the timing, playing guitar and singing.  Then, 3 guitar tracks; 3 vocal tracks, and a drum track.  The guitar tracks were interesting (well, for me, anyway): I did the first with an octave pedal and some distortion.  Then, a clean track.  And finally, a bass track, done with the same guitar (my Emerald Virtuo) and the octave pedal isolating everything but the bass octave.  Next, a main vocal track, followed by two harmony vocal tracks.  And then finally, a drum track with the small electronic "desk" drums.

https://soundcloud.com/captainjimb/we-gotta-get-outta-this-place

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Halloween...

Time to hand out candy to the trick or treaters.  First time in 20 years we've been in a neighborhood where there are kids.  Steph was in charge of getting candy - she bought enough to handle 300 or so "visitors."  Turns out we had about 50 to 75 (depending on who was counting).  Yes, there will be candy left over for Steph and Dan to take to school... not for the kids, since they are both out of the classroom, but for the IT techs in the department where Steph works.

Here's a look around: Steph and Joan getting set up in the driveway...

Yes, Steph is a dalmatian; Rubina is a big black cat...

Joan and Steph set up a table with the treats in baskets (full of candy) on it; let the kids take what they wanted... encouraged them to take "a handful."  Most were shy about that.  It was a lot of families, Mom and Dad walking with the kids.  Our street only has 3 houses on it, so it was pretty quiet; certainly different from other parts of the neighborhood where there are blocks with houses on both sides.

One little girl was being driven around by her Mom in a Slingshot...

Several UTVs with flashing lights and blasting music.  And, yes, some kids who were actually... walking.  One little girl who was non-verbal, being pulled in a wagon by her Mom; the little girl had a tablet - she could push a square on it that said, "trick or treat"... and then, "thank you."  Sweet.

Another family came by with the parents on horses, keeping an eye on the kids...

I wouldn't call our development "rural," but we are right next to rural.  ;-)  There are people nearby who have horses... and goats... and donkeys... and roosters.  So, yeah, pretty close to rural.

I did spend some time visiting with some of our neighbors - it gave me a chance to meet the people around the curve (and across the street) from us.  It's a nice neighborhood.

We wrapped it up shortly after 8:00, when it got real quiet.  I think we all had fun tonight.

Happy Halloween!

 

Ohhh - I Remember This...

 

I hadn't ridden the Honda CTX (motorcycle) since before we left to go to North Carolina this summer.  I took care of that this morning.  And, yes, the first ride since struggling to get the oil filter off the bike (Joan got it off - it's in an earlier post).  I have put plenty of miles on the Burgman scooter, but the CTX has had to patiently wait its turn.

It is just as good as I remembered!  Certainly not a "performance" bike, but it felt like a rocketship after all that time on the scoot.  This bike has great torque - in Sport Mode, you twist the throttle and it gets right with the program.  Assuming you have a program.  I don't.  Have a program, that is.  Damn, digressing again.

I am a big fan of the DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission) on this bike - but there are differences between this bike, other motorcycles, and scooters.  One of the first things you notice is what's missing...

 No clutch lever on that left grip.  Or, in the case of a scooter: no rear brake lever on the left grip.  It isn't like your left hand has nothing to do - you can manually up or downshift with the paddle shifters on that left grip.  It is (in my opinion) a brilliant bit of motorcycle technology.  I wrote "in my opinion." because some riders can't imagine the riding experience is good without pulling in a clutch lever and using your left toes to up or downshift on a shift lever.  It IS good... you can let the intelligent transmission decide when to shift, based on what you are doing with the throttle, OR you can put the bike in Manual Mode and absolutely control each shift with the paddle shifters.  It shifts faster than most humans can shift and can do it without backing off on the throttle.  Like a Formula 1 racecar.

I took a break at the parking up on the mountain; here's a look back at a small part of the road along the way...

And, a look at the bike...

Not typical motorcycle styling, but I like it.  The front fairing and windshield give decent wind protection.  It was cool this morning (yes, that is a big change), and I could feel that through my mesh armored gear.

I have this bike set up perfectly comfortable for me.  I added the floorboards, which brought that "feet forward" riding position (Honda couldn't decide if this bike should be a cruiser or a sport touring bike) back a bit.  The Corbin seat is formed to my form... like a cowboy and his saddle.  I'm just guessing at that as I am not a horse-riding kinda guy.  The riding position feels very similar to the last Harley Ultra dresser I had, with significantly less weight.

It was a great ride.

Back home, there was a plan for the afternoon: lunch out, get the car washed, go to storage and get another load of stuff out of the cargo trailer (keep - give to Goodwill - toss), things that we carried around for years with the Aspect.

Yes, I did take an admiring look at the van while we were there...

I can't wait to get it out again and take it somewhere.  Nothing planned at this point.  I'll see what I can do about that.

For the first time, we bought a "package" at the car wash.  My new friend Albert was pushing it when you pulled up to pay.  I enjoyed his patter; I asked, "I assume you are getting a commission on this?" and he assured me he was.  If you only go to the car wash a couple times a month, it isn't worth getting; but by the time you pay for 3 washes, you have paid for the package.  This place is reasonably close to our house and they have other outlets around the Valley.

Joan asked, "Is there an expiration time on this?"

Albert told us, "It will renew every month unless you go to the website on this card (handing her a card) and cancel it.  But, you can use it up to 60 times."

"So, up to 60 times... in a month?" I asked, laughing.

"Yeah, if it rains right after you go through the wash, come back and get it washed again right away."

"60 times a month?  I have a life - I won't be spending my days at the car wash."

So, we'll see how often we use it, and re-evaluate.  We like this place, though - they have slightly damp, clean towels that you can use to wipe down inside or outside on your car.  And strong vacuums on either side of your vehicle, for keeping the floors and cargo area nice and clean.  Pull into a parking space at the vacuums, each of you get out and grab a hose and have at it.

Damn, I sound like I'm promoting it.  ;-)  The Equinox sure looks good, though.