Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Well lets see now,Sunday after church we had dinner at Caposey's. The dinner was actually it was breakfast food,but still dinner for us which tasted very good.  Then it was to hurry back home to watch the college basketball tournaments two games to see who the two last teams in for the elite eight would be. That took up most of the day.
Yesterday was a washed out day in that it rained all day long. I mean it really rained,about 4"-6" reportedly by the tv that came down.  So that made for a long day of being inside.
I do not like being inside all day long. 

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Still nothing but the same old stuff to write about I know its boring but its what we've be doing.  Still working a little on the solar set up. I expoxyed the buss bars in the combiner box that will go on the roof of the motorhome for the wires from the solar panels will connect to the wire that will be coming inside to the charge controller. I'm at the stage now were its going slow with the finishing touches of the project.
Of course I've been watching all the college basketball games and enjoying them.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

I did a little more work in the motorhome yesterday. I got the large box fan and ran it off the 750 watt inverter that I have and it sure helped to it things a little cooler in the motorhome. I ran the heavy wire for the solar to the batteries. It is still going to be some time to complete the wiring for the solar system. This is something that I can't rush.
After I came back Nancy was ready so we went to Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs to do a little walking. Nancy couldn't walk very long as her back was hurting. She is not taking any of her pain medicine because of her up coming surgery and she is suffering pretty much. The short wak was nice though with a slight breeze coming in off the gulf.

We stopped and had dinner at the Leaning Tower of Pizza Restaurant where we used the Dine-A-Mate half off coupon.  We each had spaghetti with meat sauce,which tasted very good.  After coming back into the park I drove on over to the motorhome where I ran some heavy wire from the top into the motorhome to hook up the solar panels to the charge contoller. I was going to run the wire the refrigerator vent,but while working earlier yesterday I happened to notice the vent pipe from the gray water discharge running up inside the cabinet where the charge contoller will be so I ran the wire down through it. Then I drilled a hole in the pipe and came out to where I needed it.  It made a quick and neater looking doing it this way.   

Monday, March 21, 2011

Doing the Same

Nothing really interesting is happening for us at the moment,but that is what I put on the blog is what is happening in our life. 
I was watching the NCAA Basketball Tournament this week end most of the day.  I did take some time to go to the store for a few things. The ballgames won't start until thursday of this week so maybe I will find the time to get some things worked on.  Nancy has been doing her reading books thing. 
Yesterday after church we went out to the Inn on the Gulf for dinner with our friends Lee and Hazel. Then we visited a short time with them.  There are some more of our friends that we want to visit with before to long.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Basketball

What else can you do when the NCAA Basketball Tournament is on?  I've been parked in front of the tv watching the games.  I did get to mess with the solar just a little bit.  I know I won't get very much accomplished while the basketball games are on.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Walking in the Woods.

We took time out yesterday to go down to the John Chesnut Park to do some walking.
It sure felt good to get out and walk in the woods again.

 The back waters of the lake looked like pea soup with all the pollen that is on top of it.
 Even this big alligator had a green head.  He is a big one at 8 feet or longer.  I wasn't that close,used the close up option on the camera.
 First time seeing this kind of bird here.
This is the first time in all of our years coming to the park that we have seen rabbits.  We were hoping to see deer again but did not see them. Maybe next time.

Monday, March 14, 2011

As most of the time,the week end was watching the individual college basketball tournaments. then the NCAA selection brackets for the "big dance".
Only thing planned for today is to go over to the motorhome and straighten up a bit where I have doing some work. 

Friday, March 11, 2011

Suppose to Work

Yesterday I thought I would check out the 1500w inverter I bought in December.  I hooked a jumper cable to the inverter and battery,then got the coffee maker to run water through it.  After starting the coffee maker I got the overload signal from the inverter.  This shouldn't happen since the coffee maker is 900w and the inverter is 1500w.  I double checked my battery voltage and yes it had plenty of power so what is wrong. So I took the inverter back to Harbor Freight to exchange in for another one. Hooked it up tried the coffee maker,same thing. So time to think and go internet searching. Ok something else to try which I should have known.  Try using a shorter length of wire to connect the inverter to the battery,bingo it works.  The first couple of times trying it the cable was to long and losing power,amps or whatever.  Now that I see it works the next project is to find a place for the inverter to sit permanently and out of the way as much as possible.  

Thursday, March 10, 2011

More Solar Work

Yesterday was a hot day and it was even hotter on top of the motorhome where I was putting the 80w solar panel.

Here are the two solar panels I have on with the 55w in the front and the 80w in the back.  After screwing the feet into the motorhome I used some Dicor rubber caulk to seal everything up. I put both of the panels close to the frig vent so I could run the wire down and into the motorhome. I have both of the panels hooked on one wire right now just to see how much power I would have. Doing it this way gives less power since the 55w will reduce the 80w to 55w making the total 110w instead of 135w.  Before we venture out with the motorhome I will have two different wires and also two charge controlers to get the full power.  As of now my batteries are on trickle charge as I'm not using any 12 volt power.
After I was finished for the day with all that work,I sat down and enjoyed some college basketball games for the evenint and night.     

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Thrift Store Day

Sunday it was suppose to be a bad weather day.  It did rain in the morning time,but the afternoon thunderstorm that was forcasted never materialized  which was fine with us. With the weather forcast we made no plans and so we didn't change those plans so we stayed in all day.
Yesterday we got out,first we went to the Salvation Army Store on Ridge Road with nothing being bought.  From there it was to the Sheriffs Ranches Enterprises Thrift Store where Nancy bought several books. Then it was off to the large Salvation Army Store of US 19.  We did not buy anything at this store.  By that time it was getting late so we had dinner at the Barnhill Buffet,we were in time for the "early bird".
After enjoying our dinner it was a stop into Walmart before coming home.     

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Solar Work

Yesterday was another good work day.  I got the 55w solar panel mounted on top of the motorhome. I thought I could do it by myself,but after several trips up and down the ladder on the back of the motorhome I found out that I would need a little help. So I came back over to the house to get Nancy.  While I feed the wiring down through the frig vent Nancy was down on the ground to tell me when she could see the end of the wire. Then she was pulling it down while I was feeding it in the top. The solar panel has four mounting brackets with 3 screws each so it shouldn't blow off while I'm driving down the road. I hope I can get the 80w panel up and running in the coming week.

Friday, March 04, 2011

Work Day

Yesterday was a work day for me.  I finally finished putting in the last sections of vinyl in the panes.  Like I said before the hard part of this project was being on my knees doing the installation of the vinyl in the panes.  Even though the floor has carpet on it,this doesn't provide much of a cushion between my knees and the concrete pad. Now I can have full concentration on the solar panel project which will take quite a bit of time.

Thursday, March 03, 2011

Another Good Day

Tuesday morning started out with a nice small shower.  In the afternoon we had to go to Walmart to get refills on our medicine.
Yesterday we first went to Ace Hardware for bird seed and some things for the solar installation on the motorhome. I'm having to make things for the panels that I can't find ready made which is taking more time than I'm wanting to get the project finished.  From there it was Sams Club to fill up the gas tank at a cost of $3.32 9/10  a gallon.  Then into the ware house for a few items.  We started back home and noticed the time had slipped away to being passed our usual dinner time so it was decided to eat out.  We had our Dine-A-Mate coupon book with us so we had dinner at the Budapest Hungarian Restaurant,which turned out to be a very good choice.
We got home and settled down just in time for me to watch a couple of college basketball games.  

Here I am in Sams Club trying out an easy chair which was very relaxing.

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Walking Around

Nancy had to go to the doctor yesterday to get a check up.  That the Ophthalmologist required before he is to do her eye lid surgery. 

 While she was in the doctor office I was outside walking around to see what I could get into.  Behind the doctor office was this old shuffleboard court that hasn't been used in many a year.  The whole parcel of land is for sale. This land looked as though at one time was a small RV or Trailer Park.
 The day was a beautiful day with white puffy white clouds.
A large drop of water on a leave that looks like a glass bead.