Busy Day

We have gotten used to going to bed early - falling asleep while watching TV - and getting up early - before daylight. Yesterday was one of those days where we got an early start doing our chores. The first thing on the schedule was to take down one of our day/night shades in the kitchen area. As always happens after a few years of use, the cords wear out and the shades need to be restrung. I have never done that before and investigated all options before deciding whether to attempt that myself. You see, there is a special cord, or twine, that is used and I tried to locate it locally. I was not successful in finding the right string at Lowe's or any of the local stores. I called the manufacturer and they indicated that they would send some cord - $10 per 50 foot roll - or, I could send the shades back to them in Indiana and they would restring the shades for free. Hmm. That sounded like a good offer, but the expense of packaging the shades and sending them $15 for each one to cover handling and return shipping became too expensive even with the free work. Even if I used a whole roll on each shade it would be cheaper, and faster, to restring the shades myself. I guess I'll give it a shot.

The next project was to cut a hole in our water connection cover so that the hose connection would be totally covered when the cold weather arrives. Below is a picture of the finished setup:

Previously, the cover sat on top of the hose, exposing the entire connection at the valve (about 18" below the surface) to the weather. The owners of the campground indicated that there would be no problem in modifying these covers to prevent frost from getting into the connection if we wanted to cut the holes. I needed to get a larger drill bit to make the hole and I used a hacksaw to cut down to the hole to complete the groove for the hose. It will work perfectly, especially when I wrap the hose in the foam insulation for winter.

While we were out shopping for string and drill bits - plus some groceries - we both got our flu shots at Walmart who was offering them for free to me - Medicare - and $25 for Josie who doesn't have insurance. We both had signed up for these shots at Amazon but they wouldn't be administered until October 18. This way, we got them done early and don't have to worry about them. It cost us $1 more than Amazon would have charged Josie, but it was worth it to save the hassle of going to Amazon on our day off, and waiting until October which is close to the flu season.

That's about it for our first day off this week. The only thing I didn't get done yesterday that will be done today is to get out the compressor and fill the Jeep tires with air. There's lots of scanning left to do, so I'll fit that in during the day. Josie will catch up on cleaning chores and maybe even get the laundry done early this week. We're glad we have the 3 full days off this week...