Back on line

     Thanksgiving has come and gone.  I have been off line for four days.  I did not dare to go over to Best Buy on Black Friday.  On Tuesday my wireless card stopped working.  It is astounding how much internet access has become so integral to our lives.  Today I decided to take a chance and found the service desk idle.  The fellow that helped me had a physical appearance that was the antithesis of the prototypical geek.  Six-two, black, cornrows, and looked as if he had been a middle linebacker in a previous life.  He spent an hour with me decluttering my laptop, resolving by deletion some competing anti-virus programs, and uninstalling and re-installing drivers.  When he was done, I was back in business.  He declined an offer to pay AND declined a cash tip, saying, "A handshake will be just fine."So, I am back on line.  
     I mentioned that I was going to be grilling the Thanksgiving turkey.  Below is a picture.

     You can see the temperature probe that goes to a transmitter that sends the temperature to a remote receiver.  It was cooked over pecan pellets.  My new Treager grill operates like a auger-driven/thermostatic pellet stove and is the best grill I have ever had.  
     We only had Cindy with us for the meal, but it was a classic New England Thanksgiving dinner.  There were no yams or turnip greens or collard greens...mostly because I haven't yet learned how to cook 'em.
     I'm glad to be back on line and hope you had a great holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving

     There's nothing new to report on the burglary, or on my big toe for that matter.  But, as you have probably heard me say, "I haven't been in a hurry in fourteen years".  I am including a picture I took in the back yard this morning.

     As you know Ben Franklin made disparaging remarks about the moral character of the eagle and thought that the industrious, practical turkey would be a better national symbol.  I like it better this way.  Can  you picture huge eagle farms butchering 70 million eagles for Thanksgiving?
     I hope your bird of choice is done to a turn tomorrow and that you have a wonderful meal with family.  This year I am not going to fry the turkey.  I'll be roasting it on my new Treager grill using pecan pellets for fuel...Thanks, Tim and Wendy.

Burglary

     The motorhome lifestyle can be exciting even when you are not on the road.  We got a call this morning from ProTech, Inc.  They are the local RV maintenance folks whom we have depended on for several years.  It seems that last night a professional crew came through their lot and burglarized seven Class A motorhomes including ours.  Entry was gained by taking a tire iron or equivalent to the driver's side window.  They ripped out the main TV and satellite receiver and generally ransacked the place looking for anything else they could fence.  A bunch of trim molding was destroyed in the process.

     The next picture shows my spare parts container dumped out on the couch.

     The last picture shows the broken glass outside the driver's window.  Please note that the rig is nice and shiny from ProTech's recent wash and wax!

     Ironically, they had finished the repair of the slideout and cleaned the rig and called last week to tell us it was done.  I was going to pick it up and put it in storage at Charleston AFB.  We were then going to make our annual pilgrimage to Red Bay, AL after the holidays.  This time we were going to upgrade from the the combination washer/drier to a stacked pair of units.  Since that was now the only reason to go to Red Bay, I asked Wayne McCoy, the owner of Protech, if they could handle the job.  They could, so we left it for them to do some research and come up with an estimate.  Oh, Well!
     Now the matter is in the hands of USAA, the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office and ProTech's insurance.  We had no immediate travel plans so I guess the inconvenience will not be a major one.  I'm sure there will be some out of pocket expenses, however.

11/11/11

     It has been two weeks since I have posted, so I thought it was time to let you know that I am alive and well.  The foot surgery is now a couple of weeks past, and the PT has started.  Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a therapist?  You can negotiate with a terrorist.  Seriously the fine folks I am dealing with are doing a great job.
     Cindy asked me yesterday if I would join her at the the local (Hanahan) Veteran's Day memorial activities.  I, of course, accepted.  There is a nice courtyard and memorial site in front of city hall.  It was your typical small town festivity...small, unpretentious, and intimate.  There were probably less than a hundred people there, but it was done professionally.  I am glad I went.  The three flagpoles shown below carry the flags of the country, the state, and the city.

     As you can see, the weather was ideal.  The colors were presented by the high school JROTC color guard.  They stood at attention behind the podium for an hour.  It must have seemed like an eternity for them.  I have seen many color guards, but these four high school guys were excellent.  The program was well organized and limited to an hour.  It contained the usual elements including a few words from the mayor, a legally blind, retired schoolteacher named Minnie Blackwell.

     There were a couple of other speakers who were brief but effective.  The main speaker was an 88 year old, long time resident of Hanahan who told us about the at sea capture of a German submarine on 4 Jun 1944 off the west coast of Africa.  It was the first such capture of a man of war on the open seas since 1815 and resulted in a crucial capture of German submarine codes.  His five kids and several grandkids and greatgrands were there.  We should all be so active and positive as he is at 88.

     The conclusion of the ceremonies involved a Charleston Police Officer with a bagpipe.  I can assure you that no one made any disparaging remarks about his "skirt".  The guy is at least 6'2" and looks as tender as a roll of barbed wire.

     After the ceremonies, Cindy said, "Can I take a veteran to lunch?"  I, of course, accepted again.  We went to a local Greek place and had a nice lunch.  
     As a non-combat type, I have some difficulty sharing in the good will being extended to veterans these days.  Still, I know I have done my part and that I have made a difference.
     Happy Veterans Day

Confederate rose

     Since I am barely ambulatory these days, Durelle has also become the photographer.  Our "Confederate rose" has started to blossom.  As a plant it is a rather ungainly and inelegant critter, but the pink blossoms are really quite pretty.  I'll have to find out the proper name.  It's almost a weed and propagates easily from cuttings. I suppose it would benefit from some well-timed, judicious pruning.
     On another note, recovery from the foot surgery is proceeding.  We did have an unscheduled return to the surgeon because an infection raised my temperature to over 101.  This morning it was 98.5 and I felt up to cooking the bacon and eggs.  Next, I'll slip on a waterproof sleeve/sock and take my first bath in five days.  There are some advantages to not having a sense of smell.

Bunionectomy

     In a world full of friends with serious ailments, bunions are a relatively minor inconvenience.  Nonetheless, when the big toe grows toward the second toe far enough to deflect the second toe upward, complications arise.  The range of motion on my big toes is about 20 degrees versus the normal 60.  This makes balance more difficult, and renders my gait something less than graceful.  In the hope that the resulting domino effect is partly to blame for stiffness in my back and hips, I elected to get those bunions removed and toes straightened...one foot at a time.
     While I occasionally succumb to the temptation to turn a travel blog into a food blog, I d*** sure am not going turn this into a clinical discourse.  This turn of events will, of course, restrict my participating in "bloggable" events and photo ops.  It will be a few weeks before I regain normal mobility  and then it will be time to do the left foot.
     As the picture shows, we can adapt.

     The next picture shows that Baxter can adapt, too.  I suspect that Durelle will have little trouble reclaiming her recliner when she wants it back.

     Durelle will be taking on the unaccustomed role of nurse, and I shall make every effort to be a good patient. 

Treager Grills

     This blog will be about the saga of our new Treager Grill, but first, let me start with a picture I took over our fence this morning.

     Now that we have that out of the way, you may enjoy my story about our new smoker/grill.  As I set out to figure out what I wanted, the most obvious source of information for me were our friends, Tim and Wendy Boucher who are presently at Lynchburg competing at the nationals sponsored by Jack Daniels.  Based on their recommendation I checked out the website for Treager Grills, an Oregon firm.  I liked what I saw and was pleasantly surprised to find a dealer right here in North Charleston.  I went over to Ferguson Enterprises on Rivers Ave and bought one of the smaller units, a cover, a digital controller, a dome thermometer and three bags of pellets: an apple, a mesquite, and a pecan.  Yes, I said pellets.  It works like one of the increasingly popular pellet stoves for heat.  There is an auger that feeds the pellets into a firebox under the control of a thermostat.  Although half the size of my natural gas grill, it weighs at least twice as much.
     Saturday I assembled the unit and replaced the existing analog controller with a digital one.  I had to work on my back lying down under the unit.  I followed the instructions and even marked the connectors with a Sharpie for safety sake.  I rolled the unit around the house and into our screened porch...not easy.  I filled up the hopper with apple pellets and turned it on as recommended to burn off any manufacturing odors.  Having done that, I next attempted to check it out regulating at a lower temperature.  Here's where the difficulties started.  It regulated at 450 degrees no matter where I set the thermostat, and the fire was smoky and smelled bad.  I shut it down and Sunday I emailed their service department and got a reply in five minutes!  They (Frank Carson) said to call 1-800-TREAGER.  I figured it was an automated response (it wasn't) so I waited until Monday to call.  Frank explained that I had swapped the wires to the auger and the fan.  Well, I fixed that and then had to clean up a very sooty grill.  The auger is supposed to run at a minimum of 15 seconds on and 65 seconds off.  The fan is supposed to run continuously.  The opposite was happening.  Once I got it wired correctly, everything worked fine.  On the "smoke" setting it will now cook at temperatures as low as 130!
     As a graduate electrical engineer and long time radar maintenance guy, I was more than sufficiently embarrassed at mis-wiring the controller.  Now that it is ready to go, I am looking forward to trying some new things.  I'll send some pictures of my successes.  The failures we will eat, but not advertise.