Thursday, August 09, 2012

Transmission Disconnect Installation

Wesley Chapel, Florida

The parts we needed to be able to tow the new truck behind the motorhome came in last week.  The main thing we were waiting for was the drive-shaft disconnect.     

We had to drop the truck off and leave it overnight, so that meant we had to drive both trucks over.  grrrrr.  We had to take it all the way across the bay to Clearwater.      Of course they wanted it there by 8 am, so we had to deal with rush hour traffic.   Fortunately,  Al found a nice short-cut and we didn’t have any trouble. 

We have decided to go with a new Blue Ox tow bar that is good for up to 10,000 pounds. Our new “little” Nissan Frontier weighs quite a bit more than the old Frontier and the tow bar we had wouldn’t have been sturdy enough.   Anybody want to buy an almost new Roadmaster Falcon II All-terrain tow bar?  It comes with the cables, cover, wiring and a bag.  $450

 

After we dropped the truck off, we ended up close to downtown Tampa and decided to take a drive around and see how it was looking in preparation for the Republican National Convention that is taking place there in a few weeks.  

IMG_4034

There were workers all over the place spiffing things up.

The Tampa  waterfront area downtown has gone through a lot of renovations during the past few years and it’s become a very nice place to visit.  The Florida Aquarium and port started the renovation of our waterfront.   It used to be a dumpy old port area on the wrong side of town.    Many cruise ships dock there, which brings in a lot of tourism.   It reminded me very much of Key West with all the bars and shops for the cruisers and tourists.   It’s really nice now and once the weather gets a little cooler, it might be a nice place to go for a sunset celebration…..just like Key West!

The RNC is bringing a lot of people to the area, somewhere well over 50,000   It’s going to be very good for the Tampa Bay area,  which is  always a good thing in this terrible economy.   Of course the people who work down town are going to be terribly inconvenienced.  They are closing a lot of the parking garages and they have even removed all the blue USPS mailboxes!   I guess they figured that would be a good place to hide a bomb.   The convention is on the waterfront, so they are bringing lots of boats and gun power to protect the waters.     It would be interesting to go down there during the convention, but the traffic is supposed to be terrible.  We’ll have to see if we are brave enough to battle the crowds.   It’s not every day you get to see such an important political event.   I hope we don’t get a hurricane then.  Smile

 

After running a few errands, it was time to pick up my brother to take him to a doctors appointment.   He and I don’t get a long so it was a constant argument, as usual.  He knows everything and won’t listen to any advice.   Of course if he knew half of what he thinks he does, he wouldn’t be in the mess he’s in right now.    grrrrr

 

So for today, our plans are to first go to Sam’s club in Lakeland, Florida.  It’s about 45 miles away. 

They are having an in store demonstration of a Blend Tec Blender.

Total Blender Classic FourSide

It’s a super duty blender that can make ice cream, juice, soup,  or smoothies out of any  type of fruit or vegetable.

Al and I are pretty happy with our new way of eating.  He has lost 9 pounds and I’ve lost 6.5.   We’re still eating all we want,  and are not craving anything.  

We decided we would like to eat more fruits and vegetables for health reasons,  and this would be the easiest way to get in more fruits and veggies.   

We are going with a super duty blender verses a juicer because it’s a lot easier to use, less mess and easier to clean up afterwards.  They basically do about the same thing, but with a juicer all the pulp is expelled, whereas a blender it is pulverized and you drink it.

There are some demo’s on You Tube  where the manufacturer shows the power of  a Blendtec blender.  I’ve seen a baseball, golf club, iPhone and lighters getting pulverized.  Of course the golf club and baseball took a little longer.  Smile

Anyway, that’s our plans for today.  Lakeland first, the all the way the opposite direction to pick up the new truck.

I guess we’d better get moving!

11 comments:

  1. I've had a vitamix blender for years and love it. It will pulverize anything. Although I doubt I'd try a golf club or baseball. Makes fabulous smoothies and milkshakes. Will crush ice with ease. Had it shipped from Amazon. They had the best price, I didn't have to drive anywhere which I LOVED. :-)

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    1. Our decision was between Vitamix and Blendtec. We went with Blendtec mainly because it was a shorter unit and would fit underneath the kitchen cabinet. We actually got it a little cheaper from Sams than from Amazon, but I mainly wanted to look at it in person before buying, so we made the drive.

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  2. I'm not sure iPhones, baseballs and golf clubs qualify as Vegan food!

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  3. I think you should take a look at a Vitamix. They are really incredible. Also, did you list the tow bar on the Escapees forum? We had the 10,000 lb blue ox and it really worked well. Gee - all those politicians in town with all their hot air might create their own hurricane. Be they Republicans or Democrats.

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    1. Thanks for the reminder. Will remember the Escapees Forum. Glad to hear you liked the Blue Ox.

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  4. We replaced our Juiceman juicer with a mixer. Now we get the fiber along with the juice. I love the smoothies. Our weight is also going down with our plant based diet.

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  5. More Yay! I'm so glad you're both interested in maintaining the lifestyle. It's so much easier when both partners are willing.

    I have mixed feelings about the juicer/blender question. I would like to get more of the fiber, but I wouldn't be able to get as many vegetables down. For now, we use a blender for smoothies and the juicer for, you know, juice.

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    1. Yeah, I'm with you on the blender vs the juicer. On the plus side for the blender, we use way less fruit and vegetables and make a lot less mess. There are two schools of thoughts...some say you are wasting all the pulp from the juicer. What are your thoughts on that?

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  6. I've had a vitamix for years also. It has a seven year warranty and I had a problem with my first one and I think it was past the 7 year mark. Called the company, told them the problem, they sent a new one...that simple:o)))
    I make smoothies (including veggies with the fruit and you'd never know it), hummus(without oil), wonderful creamed soups (with no cream), peanut and cashew butter, banana ice cream concoctions and on and on!!! I just won't leave home without my Vitamix;o)))

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  7. I cannot give you advice on any blender, vitamix, etc. I know nothing about any of them but am interested to learn what you find out.

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  8. We are vitamix users too. I really think better to blend than juice. Taking all that good for you fiber out seems like such a waste especially if you are making these changes for health reasons as lots of fiber is one of the healthiest things you can do.

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