Give me HEAT in Amish Country!
Week before last, I drove to Lancaster, PA for an installation. They still have lots of snow everywhere and it is cold! In my hotel room, the thermostat was mounted on the wall and the temperature was limited to 74 degrees. I set it on max and I was so cold in my room that I was wearing my coat at times. The second day there as I was coming back into the hotel, a perky desk clerk addressed me, “Hi. Welcome back! Is there anything I can do for you?” I told him as I walked by that my room was cold. He immediately offered to check the heat pump in my room but I declined (like this kid knew anything about it) so he told me about how it worked. Only thing I heard was, “…. thermostat is wireless…”. I thought…. Hmmmmm… that gives me an idea. When I got to the room, I immediately took the thermostat off the wall to modify it. I tried to figure out how to raise the max temp but could not see a way. Then it struck me.. Put it in the refrigerator!! That worked and it caused the strip heat in the heat pump to kick in. I had HEAT!! The room got very warm and I was happy. I just had to mount it back on the wall before I left in the morning. So every evening I took it off and in the morning put it back on. I discovered it was easier to just set it on the floor next to the heat pump and the cool draft kept the heat on. It was wonderful while the snow came down outside.
After I was done at Lancaster, I had to go to Williamsport, PA, home of the Little League and where the Little League World Series is held every year. It snowed the night before, again, and they already had plenty of snow before. When I came out of the customer’s plant that day, the car next to me had ice had formed an ice pole to the ground from the water melting off the car. Chilly. I had to drive 18 miles away to New Columbia to find a decent hotel since all the nice ones in town were full. Apparently there was a wrestling tournament in town. Thankfully, it did not snow any more to keep me from driving home from Williamsport. 377 miles home. Very uneventful.
On The Road Again….
In the last few months, I have been working within driving distance to my home. I have driven to Montgomeryville, PA, Asheboro, NC, Honea Path, SC, Richmond, Va, Spartanburg, SC and here in Lynchburg, VA! Many of these locations have involved more than one trip so the windshield time has been immense. My BMW is a great road car and with the XM Satellite Radio, the time is enjoyable. It still amazes me that I drive around with a GPS for satellite navigation, XM Satellite Radio and a cell phone using Blue Tooth for hands free use. Just think of 20 years ago when driving. We had to use maps and constantly look for another radio station to listen to or use cassette tapes. I have driven approximately 4000 miles in the last few months for work and only flew once during that time. Strange how the job changes due to the economy.
I do see more travel in the immediate future that requires flying but not as much as the past. Seems that business has changed for a while. Who knows how long this will be? I will just keep driving on!! 
Four on the floor and ready to start!
Four tires on the ground is more like it. I finally got the other two tires replaced and now the Midget is sitting pretty. The stark reality is that she has been sitting covered for almost twenty years… There are lots of rust places to attend to but all that will wait for the engine to be started.
Today I pulled the spark plugs and sprayed Stabil Fogging Spray inside to help lubricate the cylinders. The plugs are black from apparently running very rich when last run. There was no rust present so that was a good sign.
I removed the old battery or rather the lump that used to be a battery. I remember when I put that battery in I was thinking that it would be hard to get it out again. So true! I had to get my son to come help me. We removed the hood and I got on top of the engine and pulled with a battery carrier while Jesse pried the battery away from the drip rail. The battery carrier made it possible to remove as after it was pried away from the drip rail, it came out easily. Yeah, right!! But it came out!! I cleaned out the chewed nuts from the area then hosed it out. It has not rusted through in the battery box so that is a good thing. 
After removing the battery from my Opel Rallye, I hooked it up in the Midget. I got headlights, dash brake light and the yellow light on the right side. No noise from the starter. I tried to short the solenoid and got lots of sparks….. LOTS of sparks. I did hear it move at first. Move in toward the flywheel not actually turn the engine. I tried it some more and heard the clunking of the solenoid. Then I turned off the key and was doing other things. I came back to the Midget and was taking the battery out when I touched the positive lead and it burnt my finger! When I removed the negative lead, it sparked. Something is shorting the battery. Since Lucas, Prince of Darkness, is responsible for the electricals of British Leyland, I expect problems! Why do people in England like warm beer? Because Lucas makes their refrigerators, too! Meanwhile when I went to pick up the battery, the whole battery was very hot. Something, probably the starter, was shorting it out. So the electricals are going to be a pain as expected. I just need to get a wrench on the crankshaft to turn the engine over. Next project…
My list:
1. Passenger door lock is stuck. Door won’t open.
2. Remove starter to have verified that it works.
3. Flush gas line with carb cleaner.
4. Drain gas tank.
5. Turn engine over with wrench from below.
6. Windshield has a bullseye in the driver’s view so that needs to be replaced. MG Parts has it for $122 and gasket for $26. Not bad! Lots of other things but these are major ones.
As the sun was setting, I covered the Midget and planned for the next attack!
New Firefox Software to blog with… Nice!!!
I just installed a new add-on to Firefox that allows me to enter a blog entry within Firefox and not have to actually go to my blog and enter and figure out all the controls. There are many nice features in WordPress but it can be overwhelming if you don’t use it often. Hopefully this will help me enter more…. We will see….
Currently stuck in Asheboro, NC….
WOW!! 2009 Was Lousy!!
From the first part of 2009, my business fell off. I was out after the surgery for 6 weeks and it seemed like it never really picked up. I had a few good trips but most of them were small fairly short. Just before Christmas, I went back to Costa Rica and was down there when they got 22 inches of snow in Lynchburg!! I was sweating and they were shoveling back home.
I have been on three trips so far this year and I am hopeful that it will continue to pick up. First went to Stockton, CA for a few days, then flew to Dayton, OH to go to Washington Court House, OH for a week. Last week I went to Plano, TX for 5 days and it snowed 15 inches at home!
Now I am home and we are getting a very heavy snowstorm on top of the snow that was already there! It is getting deep. More global warming I am sure!! I just wish I had my lifted Suzuki Samurai here in Lynchburg. It would be nice.
Samurai w/SPOA kit installed.
There and Back Again
I just completed working in PA two weeks in a row. I first went to Montgomeryville, PA to do an install then down to York, PA to work on a Feeder that is still in warranty. I went home after York and had to go back to PA the next week and repeat the same route. Drove a total of 1708 miles on both round trips. Not exciting at all but lots of time to listen to the radio. I have XM in the car which is great for long trips since you never have to change stations. Talk radio keeps me in the loop and channel 46 is “Classic Vinyl” where they play some great music.
Not much to talk about with these trips… just routine service. Most of the customers I talk to tell me that their business is slower but they still are preparing for the comeback. They run fewer shifts and minimize overtime to get through the rough spots. Box plants usually will pick up business before the general news reports because when a company makes and ships something, they need a box to put it in. So when box plants’ business picks up, the recovery is on the way. It is not on the way yet.
Hot Conway!
Finally! I went back on the road. This time it was to Conway, Arkansas which has the distinction of being the hottest place I have ever been on the planet! Huh? Conway, Arkansas? Yep, that’s right. When I was there for a week in August 2000, it got over 105 degrees every day and one day it was 112. Inside the customer’s plant it had to be 120. It was completely miserable. I have temporarily been places that were hotter but never where I had to stay. I think they were just having a heat wave at the time but it was really hot. It was just nice this time. Rain on a couple of days but about 73-80 during the day.
I accomplished what I went there for and headed to the airport in Little Rock. I saw a billboard that mentioned Bill Clinton so I went to see if I could find The Bill Clinton Presidential Library and Massage Palor. I rode all around downtown Little Rock and around the capital but could not find it. I did not see any signs leading me to it, either. I guess it is not that great an attraction since they don’t have signs to it.
The flight home was uneventful, just another rainy night for flying with delays across the board. On my flight from Little Rock to Charlotte, the male flight attendant made one of the dumbest announcements I have ever heard. He said, “If you have a close connection, I would advise you to go to your gate and not stop to ask for directions. If you don’t know where the gate is then you need to find someone that does.” What an idiot. If you stop to ask for directions, it would be apparent that you don’t know where you are going. Sometimes people need to stop talking before they insert their whole foot.
Time is up!
After two months of not much activity, I am finally hitting the road again. I am all healed up and ready to pick up my 50 pound suitcase again. On Monday, I will go to Conway, Arkansas to a customer’s plant. I was in Conway for a few weeks in 2000 and it was blazing hot! I think the first week I was there, the temperature was over 105 all week and hit 112 one day. I don’t think that will be the situation this time.
I noticed that plane tickets on US Airways seem to be a lot cheaper now. I fly out of Lynchburg, VA – LYH – and they used to be twice as high as flying out of Richmond, VA – RIC – so I am glad to see they saw the error of their ways. Delta is the only other choice from Lynchburg and they have kept their prices high for now. Their loss.
Musings
I have been off since January 12 when I had abdominal hernia surgery. My surgeon said I needed six weeks to completely heal so I have two weeks to go! I haven’t even been allowed to drive my car because he said that I need to be able to make quick movements which I can’t yet. Kathie is now my driver. Sure is weird to be a passenger all the time. I assume that it will be even longer before I can ride any of my motorcycles. The shaking and bouncing will hurt for sure. Maybe a month or more before we can ride the bikes.
Sitting around not working is not fun. Working is not fun but at least it does keep you busy most of the time. In my case, it keeps me out of town when I am working. Hate to not work but also hate to be away from home and Kathie, too. I guess that in these days, I am fortunate to have a job. BUT, really!! I don’t know of anyone that is really having a hard time. Not in our area, not anyone I know. Since we did not buy a house with a 100% financing loan on a teaser rate that doubled in a year, we are not going to lose our house. TANSTAAFL There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch! Better to be comfortable than to be House-Poor! (SoapBox Mode OFF)
Thoughts.
This is my blog to track my insane travels in my job. I am all over the place on short notice. I will update this as I am able.