Cyber Space and Nuts and Bolts

We have finally got internet back! As some of you know, we arrived in the oil patch with Virgin mobile phones and Mi Fi. That worked fairly well till we ended up west of I-37 out Tilden way. Sounds like a ballad, doesn’t it? The “cell phone company de jour (or is it de reguir)” is AT&T out here and, when someone says they can’t get their phone to work, it inevitably is some other brand. That meant another investment in phones and an air card. We were trying to get by for a while, and were keeping our Virgin equipment active, by using an AT&T “burn phone”. This was just too impractical for the long term, especially for perusing the internet, hence our current status. One reason I mention this is because the “burn phone” was already in use and it became mine. So my Virgin number faded into cyber heaven. I mention this because it is frustrating to some people that my number seems to change every once in a while. And it drives my poor mother up the wall. Just for the record, our original phone number has remained the same and is the one with the 417 prefix. Anyway, we are back on line, but heavily restricted on our usage. I am doing as much offline as possible using Word, my cellphone and willpower. We’ll see how it goes.

The saga of the motorhome engine replacement project continues. Our purchase of the replacement engine was mostly delayed by funding. (or the lack there of) The first replacement engine was a dud, with profuse oil leakage emanating from the cylinders via the exhaust. When there is a hiccup in a major project like this you are looking at least a ten day delay. Chunks of time just waste away. Let me say that if we had had the funds we probably could have gone to Cummins or Freightliner and had the job completed by now. The tab would have been close to double what we will end up paying though. Therein lies the rub. As the clock ticked and our funds dwindled, it became necessary to get back to work. Once we did that we lost day to day control of the project. Now logistics rears its ugly head because it is a 160 mile round trip to the repair shop. My dear readers that follow this blog should also review my previous missive concerning the “manana” world we live in down here. I have confidence in the mechanic, I just doubt he has the same sense of urgency that I do. Now that we have a replacement engine and everything is a go, I hope we see some progress…soon.