Not talking about my normal state of mind.
After we got back from putting the HitchHiker in storage, we put the heavy tonneau cover back on the pickup - it looks so much better, but can't be used when towing the 5th wheel. Solid fiberglass, and color-matched to the truck. And, a beast to lift and move around.
After getting that re-installed, I washed the truck... seems the birds used it for target practice... and they were pretty accurate.
It was warm and humid. I came into air conditioned comfort, sat down for a minute, looked out beyond the deck and...
Fog - and it rolled in in seconds.
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Earlier in the day, I got a call from the boat buyer for West Marine. Seems he took exception with some of the comments I had for their less-than-stellar customer service AND this dinghy we just received. After asking customer service to PLEASE return my call (3 times), they apparently forwarded my comments to him. He wanted me to know WHY these new valves are better than the old, and WHY the material the boat is made from is better than previous. I wanted to know WHY they couldn't come up with a useful owners manual and WHY they couldn't send an MSO (Manufacturers Statement of Origin) with the boat so a guy can actually get it registered.
It was an interesting conversation, after getting beyond the problems. They have gone with a different manufacturer for their inflatable line of boats (no longer using Zodiac). I can see the improvements. Once they get the details worked out (like: a usable owners manual that actually explains how the valves work), I have no doubt this will be a step up.
Now, if you could get customer service to actually return a phone call instead of sending another e-mail where they don't address the issues.
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Awwwwwww...
This just in: Joan just heard that the Port Isabel Chamber of Commerce is canceling the Lighted Boat Parade scheduled for this Saturday night. This is as late as it has been, always the first Saturday in December. That's not the reason for the cancellation, though... the weather is supposed to turn to crap again on Friday. Saturday is going to be cold, rainy, and windy. We have done a couple boat parades when the weather was ugly, and Joan said, "Never again." I'm OK with that. One year, the inflatable lighthouse that we had on top of the boat was folding over in the middle in the strong wind... it looked like it was taking a bow! ;-) Besides the handling issues because of the wind, add in reduced visibility, taking salt spray all over the boat and the decorations, and small crowds 'cause no one wants to be out when it is ugly... probably just as well that they are canceling.
The boat parade is definitely a Christmas tradition here - when we came back into Port Isabel this afternoon, the city was hanging a banner across the highway into town, promoting the parade. Guess they'll be taking that down.
Since Wild Blue is 2,800 miles away, we weren't going to be in the parade this year, anyway. I did suggest that we could take the dinghy for the parade... put a big ol' tree in the middle of the dinghy... she could hold the generator above her head (it only weighs about 50 pounds - she should be able to hold that for 2 or 3 hours... in the rain and the cold and the wind. Or, not.
If I keep that up, there will be coal in my stocking. ;-)
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