Stella and Murphy know something is up: Mom and Dad are up early and carrying stuff out the door. The Stowaway2 cargo carrier is loaded on the back of the van - and stuff is in that pod...
We are close.
Ummm... soda or goes the weasel?
That was a sound I heard way too many times today. As we get the RoadTrek loaded, we needed some air conditioning going. I plugged in to the 20 amp breaker in the garage. Yes, 30 amp would be nice, but all I was intending to run was the a/c.
The air conditioner was doing an adequate job in the triple digit heat today. "Adequate" is the best you can hope for in this kind of heat. After a couple hours of that, I pulled up the home screen on the FireFly system - the lithium batteries were down to 13.2 amps. That is the wrong direction. I checked the plug-in... the breaker was popped. I reset the breaker and went back to the van to check - the voltage was increasing.
I went on about my business. Then Joan came to get me and said, "There is some kind of alarm going off in the van."
Well, that isn't what I wanted to hear. The voltage was down - the alarm was from the inverter. Yep, the breaker was popped again. I repeated this scenario a bunch of times. This is more than just the heat. When I checked the 30 amp to 15 amp adapter, it was warmer than it should have been. I unplugged it and saw that the prongs were looking a bit corroded. Hopefully, replacing that will put an end to the "popping." I ran to Walmart and picked up an adapter with an indicator light - if the circuit pops, I will be able to see that right away.
I reset the inverter and plugged in again. While waiting to see if the voltage would increase, I emptied the fresh water tank once more and refilled it...
Yes, the fresh water fill is in the door frame. Water is good to go. The a/c worked hard in the heat, but it didn't pop the breaker. That's a positive sign.
While I was doing that, Joan was busy getting food and clothes loaded in.
Tomorrow, we'll get the Stowaway2 mounted up and loaded. Toiletries, prescriptions, and vitamins. Devices (laptop, iPad, cameras). Two cats and their stuff. If all goes as planned, we'll hit the road.
If you said, "The Marcels, 1961," you are kinda right and get 15 bonus points. If you said, ""Blue Moon" was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934. The first vocal performance in a film was by Shirley Ross in the movie Manhattan Melodrama (1934), while the earliest commercial recordings as a single were by Connee Boswell and Al Bowlly in 1935," you get 5 bonus points for knowing how to use the Google. ;-)
Blue Moon... no, it isn't blue... come on, you didn't really think that, didja? Anytime there is a second full moon in a given month, it is called a "blue moon." And, since the moon cycle is approximately 29.5 days, the blue moon only happens every 2 or 3 years generally. So, if you didn't get out there and howl at it last night, you'll have another chance tonight. The peak was 12:46 am this morning, so it will still look full tonight.
A couple interesting facts: It's a Micromoon; because the moon is currently near its apogee (the farthest point in its orbit from Earth), it will appear about 14% smaller and slightly dimmer than a typical full moon. Depending on your sky, you may also be able to spot the planet Saturn or the red supergiant star Antares glowing brightly right near the moon.
Oh, yeah, and the photo...
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A bit of a milestone...
Yesterday, the views on this blog hit a big number...
Nothing to be gained from the numbers; this blog is not monetized. Just an almost daily posting of what's going on with us. As Joan calls it: my public diary.
Last night, we brought some kitty carriers into the living room...
Murphy responded with, "You are so naive. These things mean we are going to be in the little house that moves. For hours and hours; days and days."
Stella said, "That sounds like fun."
Murphy said, "We won't have all our toys. Mom and Dad have two separate beds, so you have to make a choice. Mom will want to hold you on her lap while Dad drives the little house."
"Do we still get food?" Stella asked.
"Yeah, sometimes they stop the little house so they can feed us."
"That doesn't sound so bad."
Murphy said, "You are so naive."
Stella said, "I don't even know what that means. I think I like this little bedroom"...
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This morning, we started doing some work around the RoadTrek: Joan emptied out inside, while I did the same on the compartments in the back that hold all our utility hook-up stuff. Into the garage with that so we can go through it and decide what to put in the storage pod and what stays home.
Joan asked me to go through the whole van and check all the screws keeping the interior solid...
Joan asked for another project: remove the compartment door on one of those compartments I emptied and it will be the new "private bathroom for the feline family members. I can work with that...
Next chore: start the water system sanitizing. Getting warm out, I turned on the air conditioner in the RoadTrek - easy to do with the lithium system and the inverter. Yep, that's hot...
Next order of business: introduce Stella to the RoadTrek... a little bit at a time.
Does that make me a "prepper"... as in: "I'm a prepper, he's a prepper, she's a prepper, wouldn't you like to be a prepper, too?" Hmmm - isn't that from the Dr Pepper commercial? Close, but no cigar.
Today, we are "prepping" to get out of here. We brought the RoadTrek in from storage; put the Stowaway2 cargo carrier on it before bringing it in. We are looking to do a "short-ish" outing to see how Stella does as a travel cat. We know Murphy settles in after a couple hours from initial departure. The RT is now in the driveway, so I plan to introduce Stella to it in stages...
That may be easier said than done; Stella has no interest in being outside. She isn't a fan of being on a leash. But, she has been adaptable for other things; so, that's the hope.
Out at the storage slip, we grabbed a few things out of the cargo trailer and put them into the Stowaway2; after attaching it to the hitch on the van. And once we got home, the first thing we did was take the Stowaway2 off the van and roll it into the garage... we need to see what will go in there and how we will load it. That cargo carrier looks huge on the back of the van. Putting a few things into it at storage made it feel like it was filling right up. The plan: put stuff in there that we will use when staying in an RV park; 30 amp electric cord, fresh water hose, water pressure reducer, water filter, cable (when a park has cable TV), leveling ramps, patio chairs, patio mat - these are all things that we store inside the van. Moving that stuff to the cargo carrier will give us that extra space inside for clothes and stuff. And, with 2 cats, we are going to need space for more "cat stuff" inside.
Before we left this morning, we moved bikes and stuff around inside the garage to make room for the cargo pod...
Yes, back to what keeps the internet going: cat content.
I can't even take credit for this shot...
Joan took this with her new iPhone; the camera is much better than her old phone. And, the subjects are especially fine looking. I am biased... but, that doesn't make me wrong. Murphy is that handsome and suave big boy. And, cute little Stella will look you right in the eyes. And then flirt with you.
They look sweet in that photo. And, they are. Generally. This morning, around 5:00am, they acted out the chase scene from Bullit; with cats instead of cars. On our bed. While the humans were still trying to sleep. The San Francisco hilly streets were the humans. So, fun. For them.
I guess I'm up now.
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I got out for a bicycle ride this morning. My intent: ride. I would say: "No tech," but... I like to listen to something when I ride: music, podcasts, YouTube videos. I said to myself, "Self, no shooting videos so you don't have to work anything up when you get home." I didn't say anything to myself about not taking any photos. So...
I just thought it was a rather pastoral scene; in the park, some water on the walkway (from sprinklers, not rain), and looking towards the sun with all the trees backlit. Yeah, I used the camera in my glasses. Because... it was there.
I played some music for an audience of 3 (Joan, Murphy, Stella) when I got home. No music scheduled with any of my music buddies this week. I like that schedule.
This is shaping up to be a chill day. Well, it is "National Hamburger Day," so I'm guessing a visit to Smashburger will be in order.
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I did take this hot chick out for lunch. To Smashburger; they had a special for National Hamburger Day: any single burger for $5.28 (get it - today's date). We do go there once a week or so... there is one young man who works there that is friendly and remembers us when we come in. ("Welcome back - good to see you again" sorta thing). Today, as we got up to the register, it was already showing 2 BBQ Bacon Burgers - he said, "That's what you usually order, right?" (big smile)
"I guess we are predictable. Yes, that's what we're going to have - plus an order of Smash Fries, a soda, and a Cookies 'n Cream shake." I was impressed that he remembered our order.
That is a really good burger - onion crisps, several thick strips of bacon, BBQ sauce, the burger, and a grilled bun. What's not to like?
Oh, and the burger is really good. :-)
Well, not that old. I'm talking about the HoverAir X1 Pro drone. Knowing that the batteries drain themselves to around 50% when the X1 Pro isn't being used, I charged everything up this morning... while taking Murphy out for his morning walkabout in the courtyard. It has been a while since I've used it.
My plan: get out on a bike ride and shoot some video with the HoverAir X1 Pro and the Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses... and then see how things go with editing those together.
I didn't get a chance to work on that editing until this afternoon; Joan and I went out for lunch, with a few other stops afterwards. Back home, I started sorting through the video clips. The audio from the beacon on the HoverAir isn't as good as that from the Oakley glasses. But, it was an interesting experience. I had the beacon mounted on the handlebars of the bike... and one abrupt bump sent it flying... fortunately, into the gravel and not into the pond in the park that I was riding around.
I tried some "dolly track," where the drone flies backwards, capturing me from the front. Some "follow" shots (those are easy). And a "zoom out" where the drone flies up and away while shooting video of the subject. And, I supplimented that video with some clips from the new Oakley sunglasses. The camera in those glasses shoots only in a vertical format, so it gave me a chance to see what I could do with cropping that horizontally; better than the same thing from the Ray-Ban Wayfarer glasses, due to the wider field of view on the Oakleys.
And, the finished product...
It keeps me out of the bars and pool halls. For now.
