30 September 2009

Woke up to a typical Vermont fall day… 46 degrees and drizzle. My how things have changed in the 10 days I was in the south land. Trees are starting to turn; lots of leaves in the driveway. Took Delores into Middlebury for window repairs and fuel. The garbage bag and cardboard patch over the broken window lasted until I hit 40 mph, about a mile down the road. So we enjoyed some natural air conditioning… the RV needed airing out anyway. Ace repairman Todd Deasabrais at Deasabrais & Sons Glass took a long look at the broken window and recommended I call Ehlers. Seems that if you’re going to break a window, ALWAYS choose one that moves. Fixed glass, though maybe smaller, is MUCH more difficult to replace. Apparently the RV learning curve still has quite a slope to it... the price tag to take the door apart to get a piece of tempered glass back into the hole was likely to be north of $1,000. So then Todd says, “How ‘bout we at least put a temporary piece of Plexiglas over the hole while you decide what to do.” So he does that and I ask him what I owe. “No charge, glad to help”, was the response. Then Todd says, looking at the state of the RV, “Now, I don’t mean to be condescending, but your RV looks like it’s been around the block a few times and if I do such and such, that Plexiglas could be a permanent repair and nobody will ever know the difference.” So $20 changed hands and the deed was done. The amazing thing was that duct tape was NOT involved… though I think Delores’ feelings may have been hurt just a bit! Next stop was Agway for 15 gallons of propane. Then on to the Leicester General Store, who always has the cheapest gas in the area on Wednesdays and Sundays. “Only” took $135 to fill Delores’s tank this time. But considering that that tank-full should last about a year, that’s not that unreasonable, he says, thinking wishfully. After lunch drove down to Brandon Auto South in Pittsford to test drive a 1999 Ford Ranger. For a change, the four wheel drive seemed to work just fine, and other than typical Ford truck rust issues found in Vermont, the pickup seemed to be in okay shape and had all desired features (e.g., cruise control and air conditioning… critical to hauling logs out of the woods). Took the Ranger up to Junction Auto, where Zack Wright confirmed that the A/C wasn’t working, the illuminated check engine light means that the oxygen sensor needs to be replaced, and no matter what we did, we could not get the 4WD to engage. Returned the truck to Pittsford, where the mechanic there thought the solenoid that engages the 4WD may have gone bad. No 4WD, no deal! Back at Fern Lake, while making spaghetti sauce for dinner, found more shards of broken wine glass behind the stove. Also had to clean a bunch of glass out of the hydraulic controls for the RV leveling system…