Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Poked Full Of Holes

You know how you stick a fork in meat to see if it's tender?  It makes the meat full of holes so all the juices flow out?  That was me yesterday ... and I'm here to tell you I'm tender as can be and short a few tablespoons of juice.

That's what happens when you own a motorhome.  It constantly requires repair of some sort or other. It's like an earthquake on wheels as you drive down the highways and byways, loosening every nut and bolt there is.

A very wise man named Tom Westerfield once told me, as we walked around my rig somewhere in New Mexico when I followed their rig on our way to Maine .... you need to get a good screwdriver and carry it in your pocket. You're gonna need it.  As it happened, I had TWO screws missing, which he promptly replaced.

Ever since then, I've done my best to keep MY eye out for things like that, so important stuff doesn't fall off while motoring down the road ... like your entire awning!!
The first to go are these little slot covers on every window.  As soon as you bring the washing brush down the window, these pop off.  You would think they could figure out a better way.  Thin breakable plastic is NOT the ticket.  

Silly me, when this one fell to the ground, I ran my fingers along the window frame to remove the dirt before replacing it.  BIG mistake.  I sliced my thumb tip wide open.  Do you have any idea how many things you use that thumb tip for?  I now know painfully well! 

I found two of the three missing pieces of cheap plastic and replaced them, adding a little extra silicone to keep them in place.  
Next up, while washing the rig, I noticed the bolt cover was ajar at the top of the slide.  I climbed up the ladder, removed it (more black plastic) and look what I found.  The bolts are coming clear out of the side.  I'm surprised they are still attached at all!!  
I grabbed my handy dandy tighten-things-down gizzy I found at Harbor Freight.  Truthfully, I got this to try and fix a loosened screw on the inside window frame, which can't be reached by normal means.  I still haven't been able to reach it.  At any rate, it worked fabulously to tighten the nuts above.

BUT .... see the metal track the cheap black plastic slides IN TO?  Yup ... another poke on the right hand next to my fingernail .... OUCH!!!  A little more juice leaked out.  
I only checked the roof and the outside.  Just imagine how many bolts and screws are loose underneath where I never check.  That's just scary.  I think this year when I have my oil changed by Mr. Jim Fulkerson in Indio, I will sweetly ask him to give it a once over.

Apparently I was't poked full of enough holes, because at the end of all that work, I spent some time playing the ball game with Jessie and Cooper.  Jessie never bites down hard ... really ... but totally by mistake, she gave the ball a hard chomp when my finger was still attached.  Not exactly a hole, but a nice bruise underneath my fingernail. 

Number four came from Cooper, whose jaws are like a steel trap, all from the exercise of biting down hard to hear the squeaky toy.  Yup .... insert fingers in puppy mouth and you get another BIG hole!!

In spite of bandaids and antibiotic cream, my poor fingers poked full of holes hurt every time I touch something.  I can tell you I'm VERY tender!!  I spent the rest of the day keeping the couch from running away.  The countdown to takeoff has begun!!






6 comments:

  1. You are so right about an Rv being like an house in and earthquake driving down the road. Things will always need to be fixed, tightened or repaired. But then a house needs repairs as well.
    Nice that you can do some of those things yourself, but poking yourself full of holes is not a lot of fun. Hope too much juice did not run out!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Even RV Trailers have the same issue and more.
    If you have a tendency of getting poked they have lite-weight gloves mechanic's gloves that will grip like your fingers without the poke holes happening.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll check into those gloves. The pair I normally use are way to thick for delicate work.

      Delete
  3. OK here's the 2018 loose screw trick
    If you've ever watched somebody do the limbo think of the RV doing the same thing it twists it bends it turns and does funny things
    What it does it loosens a lot of screws so how do you solve that problem here's your answer
    Go down to any hardware store and pick up a very small bottle of gorilla glue
    spread some of that all over your hands and then hold your hands together
    For about 15 minutes





    That was the fun part I couldn't resist


    Instead of tightening the screw down take the screw out completely,
    Take some gorilla glue and put it on the screw it's self
    See video. It'll give you a better idea
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zE5N_A-2wpc

    reinsert the screw and tighten it down normally
    what happens is the gorilla glue Expanse a little bit which will lock it in the screw hole
    A little piece of advice you could take the screw out that's not a problem when you go to put the gorilla glue on the screw I would highly suggest you wear a pair of nitrous ( The same kind you get at the doctors office )rubber gloves
    The reason for the gloves is to keep it off your hands because it's nasty crap and sticky as hell

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If they come out again, I will certainly do that. Kind of like fingernail polish on the screws that hold my glasses together!!

      Delete