Some excitement? Day 1891 (Year 6, Day 65)

Zephyrhills, FL

Hopefully there will be NO excitement, but we need to be prepared, as the first major hurricane - Dorian - is being forecasted to hit our area.  Today is Thursday and it should arrive on Sunday into Monday.  We decided it really isn't feasible to leave here with the rig.  But the contingency plans to ride out the storm are (1) go to a shelter if that's an option; (2) stay at the shul or possibly someone from the congregation's home; (3) find a hotel (not a great option as we don't have the $$$). 

Assuming the rig is ok when we return (if we need to leave at all), we have filled the water and propane tanks so we can survive for at least a week if the power goes out.  We have plenty of food and bottled water.

This is a bit scarier than the tornado warning we had a few months back.  We lived thru Sandy in 2013 and had no power for 3 weeks and although we were blessed with no damage beyond a tree limb pulling part of the gutter down, there was so much destruction all around us.  On the bright side, there are quite a few permanent residents here in the park who have lived thru many FL hurricanes and all said that the worst was Irma in 2017, and then there were only lots of branches down.

I have every confidence that we'll get thru this just fine.  But still, it's scary.  Just need to have faith.... and a plan!

Still nothing - Day 1876 (Year 6, Day 50)

Zephyrhills, FL

I know it's been 25 days since I've written.  Unfortunately, there's really nothing exciting or different going on in our lives.  We haven't been out and about to explore due to (1) no discretionary income as Mitch is still out of work; (2) my severe arthritis (bone on bone in my left knee and same in the left hip, and a bit of degeneration in my right knee and right shoulder); and (3) oppressive heat and non-stop thunderstorms (typical Florida summer weather).

Of course, when Mitch does finally get a job offer, I'm sure we'll have just days to pack up and move.  He currently has quite a few irons in the fire, most of them being in Tampa, Jacksonville and Raleigh.

There were a few repairs made this month.  The valve to the black tank was stuck in the open position, which is not a good thing!  (the black tank holds the sewage; gray tank holds the water from the sinks and shower).  The reason is that a lot of water is required to break down the paper and other solids, so the stuff sits in the tank, breaking down with all the water that you flush with, until it gets full and then you open the valve and it goes down into the sewer (when you're attached to a sewer line).  If the valve is open, then the sewage goes straight into the sewer and the solids don't have a chance to break down, which means they will stick to the inside of the tank and eventually build up into a very  hard "poop pyramid," which blocks up the tank so nothing can get past it.

Anyway, that was a fairly easy fix (by an RV tech) which was just to replace the valve.  Warranty covered that expense.

The other repair was fairly major which involved our front awning which was on it's last legs and finally just gave way when Mitch was in Reno.  It took a while to get it repaired because of the non-stop rain, but we finally had a few hours this morning that they were able to get it done (it started pouring just as they put in the last screw).  Normally, I'd say since an awning isn't as important as, say, the frig or a/c not working since we really only use it to block the sun or sit outside in the shade, it was critical here because the torn fabric prevented the awning from resting flush against the trailer, which would be extremely dangerous to drive with, especially on the interstate at 70mph.  So we really couldn't move anywhere until it was fixed.

So, that's life in a nutshell.  At least my work is keeping me very busy most days.