Work Work Work .......

 HOOWEEEE it was another HOT HOT day.  I just keep thinking about my electric bill as my air conditioners hum along.  I'm pretty sure there's going to be a true-up in my future ... and it will be this month.  You can tell I'm looking forward to THAT!

I deposited myself on the patio for a time in the early morning, the better to check out my sprinklers.  Sure enough I found two not working at all.  No wonder there are such big brown spots.  It went on my Honey-Do list.

But first, while it was only 90 degrees, I did some work on the RV.  I think I figured out the AC.  I turned it on and messed with the controls until I understood what the little red and blue circles meant.  This is not your normal thermostat.    My plan was to leave it running for a couple of hours and see how it goes.

In the meantime, Renate gave me this curtain to use as a privacy screen.  Really, since I'm using the front windshield screen, I don't need it.  On the other hand, I had read where it actually provides just a little more separation from the hot front area.  I decided to put it up.  By golly, it helped ... but that leaves Jonathan in the passenger seat in the heat.  Down it came.

Next I went to work on the Reflectix.  This stuff is awesome.  I've been using it my entire RV life.  If you buy the REAL stuff and not the "looks like" kind, it works really well at keeping the heat and cold OUT.  I reused several pieces from the other RV and recut them to fit.  

I did discover one other small problem.  See that black thing on the counter?  That's the induction cooktop.  If you even barely brush your arm, or anything else across the top, it turns on.  I know nothing about these, but I assume (and you know what happens if you do that) they don't get hot unless you have a special pan on top?  I freak out every time it turns on.  It also seems to work on temperature, not low, medium, high.  Something else to learn.

I also discovered that the pull down shades have magnets that keep them from flopping back and forth.  Nice touch!!  Every window is now covered, so I headed inside the house, leaving the AC running.

My plan was to head out for a new computer, since I'm now getting several messages every day that my programs are too outdated.  That means I won't be able to use them much longer at all.  That's not good when it's your banking and internet apps.  

Instead, I decided to get this quilted so I had time to hand stitch the binding before Tuesday.  The pattern I just paid for would not work.  It just would not size correctly, so I went with my favorite bubbles.  Everything was going along just great until I walked to the end of the machine to grab my phone.  

My tip of the day is ALWAYS walk around.  I accidentally hit the machine with my arm ... hardly a bump ... and it made the most awful squiggle right in the middle.  Big sigh!!!  Ok Nancy ... think ... how can you fix this.  I let it finish out the row, then went back and removed the stitching before giving it a new start spot.  You could have heard me across the street when it stitched it perfectly ... well almost perfectly.  I don't think anyone can tell but me.  I had to completely reset everything for the last row, but it's done.

I no more sat down than this arrived at my door.  It's supposed to be a "smaller" collapsible crate for Cooper in case it's too hot where I'm going ... so he can be inside a cool house instead of a hot RV.  It took a bit for me to get it set up.  Cooper was not impressed.  

When he was a puppy, he had to live in a cage while I was at work.  He hated it, and he hates it still.  In two seconds he was madly scratching and crying to get out.  It made me feel awful, but it's for the best.  Now let's fold it back up.

Good grief ... I was almost in tears after 30 minutes and I STILL could not get it right.  I blame it on the heat.  This is the only picture I had to go by.  At long last I GOT IT.  Oh the relief!!  So I took this picture which will remain in my camera for the next time I have to fold it up.  

What about the AC in the rig you ask?  Well here's what I found out.  It only screams like a Diesel truck pulling a trailer load of horses uphill when you first turn it on.  I went out an hour later when it was 100 degrees outside and it was a lovely 85 inside.  Yes the AC still make a LOT of noise.   There won't be any sleeping with it on three feet over my head ... but it's much more doable for inside during the hot part of the day.  Maybe it was the AC, maybe it was the reflectix ... but it's better.  My plan is to never go anywhere except the ocean when it's hot.

By now I was pretty tired of work work work ... fixing this, fixing that ... when I heard a commotion next door.  Well looky here who came to visit.  There must be a gazillion of these guys roaming around.  I see them everywhere now, but was very surprised to find one here.  I watched a video yesterday of one trying to cross a river.  It couldn't get out the other side (too steep) and it couldn't back up the side it just came from.  I guess they weren't made for off-roading.  

And so ended another hot as Hades day in central California.  This did used to be a desert after all, and now that they have removed so much agriculture land for housing and asphalt, it's expected.

What about the sprinklers you ask?  Ummmm yeah ... I'll try to get those fixed this morning.