ICE COLD and It's Not The Beer

 Running a little hot?  Just step outside for 30 seconds and you will cool off in a flash.  It's ICE COLD and I'm not talking about the beer.  It's yet another 34 degree morning in sunny California.  I did nothing but stew about those low point drains in the fifth wheel ALL night long.  If they freeze, they are toast.  Nothing is built to last.  I suppose I should spend a little more time figuring this stuff out.  

I forgot to show the haul I made at the last Bingo night of the year.  I didn't even have to walk around ... people kept coming by and leaving candy.  I guess my reputation for sweets precedes me.  There are three more packs of M&M's hidden in my purse.

Did I mention it's cold?  Chilly enough to freeze my bird bath, that's for sure.  I thought it was just on the top, but it's frozen solid.  No wonder there has not been any critter traffic in my back yard.  Everyone is just trying to stay tucked away and warm.

As much as I love crashing on the couch with my fuzzy boy, I really needed to start the procurement process for the RV rally.  I try to be organized and get everything I possibly can in advance.  I also try to get everything done in one day so as not to use up so much fuel, which is now down to $5.15 a gallon.  That meant a trip to the fabric store too.  Oh darn!!!

On the way, I spotted this guy.  Now THIS is my kind of rig.  We had an excavator with joy sticks, just like your kids video games.  These are a blast to operate.  He has a thumb grab on the end which digs into the roots, then he grabs the tree and just pulls it out of the ground to be stacked on the other side.  I came very close to jumping out and asking if I could operate it.  I know, I'm weird ... but the challenge of doing that ... to see if you COULD do it ... that's what makes it fun!!  Alas, I did not.  He would probably think I was drunk or something!!

I stopped in at the fabric store for about 30 minutes.  I try to make those visits short.  Get in and get out before you spend a fortune.  I got some backing fabric for that black crazy thing on my quilt wall that came to $84.  Just for the BACK.  No one ever said quilting was cheap.

On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store.  Always a fun place to people watch.  There's certain to be one guy looking at a list and the row of cans while talking to his wife on the phone, telling her he can't find it.  In no time he throws his hands in the air and stomps off.  Then there's the single guy with a cart full of beer and chips.  You can always tell.

I have been known to secretly drop a $20 bill into someone's cart who looks like they could use it.  Then hide out and watch when they find it.   It's one of my favorite giving back things to do at Christmas.  Kind of like Candid Camera, but I never tell them it was me!

Anyway, I was starving and had nothing for lunch, so I picked up this Freshetta Pizza for taste testing.  It's Canadian bacon pineapple and I must say quite tasty.  Lots of cheesy goodness, but the crust was a little too biscuit-like.  I ate it anyway!!  In my book there is NO bad pizza.

Okay, I had been home for an hour and that low point drain was killing me.  I finally went out with a couple pair of pliers, crawled underneath and tried to take the plugs out.  I tried to be very careful because it felt like they would just pull right out.  In a moment of huge satisfaction, I got both plugs out and the water drained.  There was not much water in there, meaning it probably wouldn't damage anything if it did freeze.  

SO ..... at the recommendation of an RV guy on the internet, I purchased two of these valves to put back IN.  The top orange thing just turns and voila!!  The water comes out.  Much easier than laying on your back trying to unscrew the little plugs.  If this doesn't look like a good idea to anyone, PLEASE let me know.  I can always return them to Amazon.  They were $14 each instead of the other kind that are $35 each.

Between the thought producing drains, the jet engine roaring and the weird dreams, I didn't get much sleep.  Tonight is initiation night at the Elks Lodge.  That means squeezing into the penguin suit once again for the last time before I take off.  That thought keeps me going!!  I'll be on the couch snuggling with my kid Cooper do keep us both warm and MAYBE catching a Z or two.