Gremlins and Wind, Wind, Wind!

 

I think we have gremlins in our Motor home.

If you’ll remember, when we first tried to leave for the Keys, we had a main slide that wouldn’t retract.  That resolved itself (mysteriously) but now other things keep popping up.

On our way down here Sunday, I turned on the generator as we were driving.  It has a little light on the switch that lets you know it’s running.  The light wasn’t on and I couldn’t hear the generator running so I assumed the generator was malfunctioning.  After we stopped, Al tried it again, the light came on and the generator started right up.  Later when we started it up again, the indicator light wasn’t working but the generator was running normally.   Evidently the problem is with the light on the switch and not the generator.  Not a big deal, but an annoyance. 

We have 4 interior and one exterior switches to turn the water pump on and off.  One is in the kitchen.  The indicator light on that switch quit the other day.  The water pump works fine, but you don’t know if it’s on or off from the kitchen switch.  Another annoyance.

When we got here, Al hooked up the water.   We had almost no water pressure on the cold water side, but plenty of pressure for the hot water?   We even tried using the water pump and it’s no better.   We have  water cut offs under the coach that allow you to cut off water to each area.  In the event of a leak, you don’t have to shut off the water to the entire coach.  We figured maybe a switch got bumped accidently, so we didn’t worry too much. Yesterday morning, Al checked the switches and all appear to be where they should be, so his next thought was a dirty water filter.  That sounds logical, so all we  need to do is crawl inside the basement compartment (after removing two tons of stuff) and change the filter.  The filters are not in the easiest place to change, so they don’t get changed as often as they probably should.

Can you see why he doesn’t change the filters as often as he should?  The filters could have been located more conveniently.

As soon as Al pulled the old filters, we knew that they were the source of the problem.  What do you think?

Maybe we’ll have to change them a little more often, but we’re thinking it had only been about 3 months.  We put a sticky on the filter with the change date, so we’ll be able to tell next time.

Another thing we noticed while driving here on Sunday, was that sometimes when we would accelerate after quickly slowing down, the ATC light would flick on for a second and then we’d get kind of a jerking or slipping feel.  It was almost like the transmission was slipping, but we think it was something to do with the ATC (automatic traction control)   We have an ATC switch, but per the manual the ATC is always on and you can only briefly toggle the switch if necessary. It can’t be turned off and on permanently.  That will warrant further investigation.  Any ideas or suggestions will be welcome.  The jerking, skipping motion was only for a second and it was fine after that.  It was not normal, so it concerns us.

After changing the water filters, we came in and had lunch.  I tried a new recipe I found for a black bean burger.  I only like really easy recipes, with very few ingredients. This one qualified and they were pretty tasty.  The 2 main ingredients are black beans and oats. 

 

If anyone wants to try them, click  here for the recipe.  I didn’t have onion or garlic powder, so I substituted with finely chopped onions and garlic.  I didn’t bake them, I fried them in a little olive oil.  They were tasty, but Al would have preferred it if I had skipped the mustard.  I’m sure you could add or subtract lots of ingredients.  I guess the oats are what held them together.

 

The storms and squall line that came through central Florida (and we smugly thought we had outrun)  came to the Keys yesterday.  I had been keeping an eye on the radar (from the Weather Bug App on my phone) during the night.  It looked a little ominous, but there were no tornado watches or warnings, so I wasn't too nervous.

Most of the rain went around us, but boy was it windy.  Here in the Keys we are at sea level, there are few trees and nothing to block the wind, so when you get 30mph gusts, you feel it.   There will be no kayaking any time soon.  It rained off and on all day yesterday, but I think the rains are finished.  If we could just get rid of the wind.

We haven’t decided what we’re going to do today, but it looks like it will be something indoors, because it’s not only very windy, but it’s chilly as well, with high temperatures only expected to be 70 degrees.  With the wind, 70 will feel petty chilly.  

I know, I know…I’m not getting any sympathy for those of you who are up north battling the snow and ice.