Things We Do Between Trips: Hatch Chiles and Hot Stuff

This will appeal to all you lovers of spicy foods.  I am a true pepperhead but, unfortunately, Sandy is not so much.  Often when I cook spicy stuff, I make separate batches--one for me and one for normal people.  


As the legendary Hatch chile harvest is in full swing, our local Albertson's had received several cases of Hatch chiles and was selling them by the case for $19.99.  I couldn't resist.  Snagging a case, I proclaimed to Sandy that I would roast these suckers and freeze them, and we would have Hatch chiles all winter.  She was a bit muted in her enthusiasm, but she smiled sweetly anyway.


Once home with my prize and an afternoon to waste, I fired up the gas grill and my Traeger smoker and loaded up both with the Hatch chiles.

Traeger Smoker

Hatch Chiles on the Gas Grill

Now I should take this opportunity to tell you that, while I have roasted these peppers before on the gas grill, I had not previously tried to roast them on the Traeger, so this was, in fact, an experiment.  For those of you who are not familiar with Traeger grills, you can only hope that Santa brings you one this Christmas.  If there is a better or easier way to do outdoor BBQ, I can't imagine what it would be.  You just put wood pellets in the hopper and turn on the switch, setting the desired temperature.  The Traeger does everything else, from lighting the fire to feeding itself the wood pellets, keeping the cooking temperature you have selected.  Amazing!  (I told you I love gadgets!)

Traeger "Lil Tex" Smoker

Wood Pellet Hopper and Temperature Control

So why do I still have the gas (well, it's really propane) grill since I'm so ga-ga over the Traeger?  Well, if you're looking for the kind of direct heat that will develop a sear, char or crust on something, the Traeger is not very good at that.  So, what's better than one BBQ cooker gadget?  Well, two of course!


All went well with roasting the peppers on the gas grill, but not so much with the Traeger.  The problem was that the Traeger cooked the peppers without charring the outside (see above).  This is the opposite of what was desired--a char on the outside to loosen the skin, but with the flesh of the pepper left somewhat undercooked underneath.  Because of this, the peppers roasted in the Traeger were more difficult to peel and were skimpier after peeling.

Charring Desired When Roasting Complete on the Gas Grill

Skinning and Seeding the Cooked Peppers

The Final Product After Roasting, Peeling and Seeding

Chopping the Cooked Peppers in Food Processor

After roasting, peeling, seeding and chopping the peppers, it was time to prepare them for freezing in small portions.  First, we chopped them slightly in the food processor, then Sandy suggested that we freeze them in muffin tins and afterward place the frozen chile "muffins" in a freezer bag.  That sounded good to me, so that's what we did.  When we ran out of muffin tins, we froze the last few in foil cupcake papers placed on a cookie sheet.  We discovered this was the best way to go, as the cupcake papers were definitely easier to remove after freezing.

Chiles in Muffin Tins for Freezing

Well, that's about it for this chile adventure.  One note of caution:  We learned the hard way to use latex gloves when doing the peeling and seeding.  We didn't this time, and we regretted it.  Duh!


So, what will we be cooking with all these peppers?  Well, we'll be sharing some recipes with you as we go along.  And, of course, we'll be giving some to friends, as well.  


That's enough for now; I need to find something cold to drink!

More Gadgets

Okay, I admit it.  I love gadgets. My earliest recollection of this addiction is from 1968, when I purchased from an office supply store a new digital electronic calculator.  It was probably the first one sold in Nacogdoches, Texas, the small town where I grew up, but I had to have it.  It cost me $175, which was something like $400 in today's money.  Mind you, it had only the basic four arithmetic functions and no battery or printing capability, but it was so much cooler than the old "adding machines" with all the clunky moving parts and which couldn't multiply or divide.  I remember being mesmerized by watching the little LEDs instantly displaying the result of the most fiendish calculation I could come up with.


Things haven't changed much.  You can tell from reading this rag that I am still a soft touch for techie stuff.  Phannie, for example, has a newer, techier, entertainment system and a newer, techier, mattress than we have in our house!   


Fortunately, I have had the means to support this addiction over the years. I'm not sure what our family may have been deprived of if I hadn't been able to support them and the habit at the same time.  Perhaps another saving grace may be the fact that nowadays, I don't always buy new gadgets when they first come out.  I suppose the calculator ripoff in 1968 was indeed a teachable moment for me.  Such was the case when I switched to Apple computers, HD television and Blu-Ray DVDs.  These had all been on the market for a while when I jumped in.  Such is the case with my latest gadget, a Logitech Harmony 700 universal remote for the entertainment system in our house.  


It's not clear why I put up with using three remotes to control our TV, our A/V receiver and our DVD player for three years, but I did until one of the remotes went on the fritz the other day.  A friend had recommended a Logitech universal remote to bring peace and harmony to our entertainment system, and that's all the encouragement I needed.  I hopped right down to a nearby Target store and apprehended the Harmony 700 model for 120 bucks.  A little pricey, you say?  Well, I thought so, too, but my friend was insistent that this was what I needed.  And why the top of the line 700 model?  Well, it has a little video screen so that the remote can communicate with you...a techie feature that definitely pushes the buttons of us addicts! 


What's neat about this remote is that it is programmable via the web.  You just attach it to your computer using the included USB cable and log into Logitech's site.  You supply the makes and models of the TV/audio equipment you're going to control, and Logitech downloads to your remote all the drivers needed.  Simple, but effective.  After one false start (I had a hard time finding the model number of the DirecTV DVR and entered the wrong one), the new remote worked perfectly.  Now it's one remote for everything and the old ones are in a drawer.  Oh, by the way, the batteries in the remote are rechargeable.


Phannie?  Oh, yes, she will undoubtedly need one of these things for her system.

Logitech Harmony 700 Remote

Into the World of Apple

I resisted as long as I could. Having lived and worked in a Microsoft-based computer environment ever since MS-DOS was invented, I knew Windows like an old friend, having upgraded and upgraded until I reached Windows 7. That one was my Waterloo!  My attempts to step up from Windows Vista carried me into strange new worlds where even tech support could not go. I finally gave up, disgusted, and returned the software upgrade. Then I unceremoniously tossed the offending old HP laptop onto the computer junk heap in my storage shed.  (I'm still not sure what to do with those old relics.)


I had become aware of the Apple iMac computer from our friendship with Gordon and Juanita that began a few years ago.  Gordon is a rabid Apple user, and it was plain to see that his new iMac was a very different animal and super advanced over my PC.  The massive, brilliantly clear screen is a marvel, but no more so than the absence of clunky parts:  The screen IS the computer, and that's all there is to it, except for the small but sleek wireless keyboard.  The gorgeous graphics and the speedy processor, combined with a high-quality, modern minimalist design--the comparison with my PC was...well, there was no comparison.  


The worst part, however, was my perception that Apple aficionados like Gordon secretly sneer at pathetic, unwashed PC users (like me) who they probably think really need to be euthanized after their old steam-powered computers are confiscated and smashed to bits.  Mind you, Gordon, who can be impish at times, has never exhibited such a mindset for a moment, but I'll bet he can't help being a little smug from time to time.  Other Appleheads I know don't even try to hide their disdain for lower life forms with PCs.  They make me feel like I've pulled up to the Waldorf Astoria in a 1951 Crosley.  (How many of you remember those?)  

Now, back to the present:  I knew I needed to replace Sandy's desktop PC and my laptop, both of which had serious issues that could only be solved by Divine intervention.  However, I was very reluctant to abandon my familiar Windows PC and learn a whole new computer and operating system.  (News flash for other seniors:  As you get older, stepping out of your comfort zone becomes less and less appealing.  At this point for me, it's about on a par with constipation.)


For me, the tipping point was my recent purchase of an iPhone, whose capabilities are so mind-boggling that I have the urge to burn incense when I hook it up to its charger.  I knew the other Apple hardware had to reflect the same genius, so off I went to the Apple store.


Upon arriving, the first thing I discovered was that Apple thinks very highly of their stuff.  What I paid for a new iMac and Macbook Pro would probably get a post office named for me if I donated it to a crooked politician.  (Sorry; crooked and politician are redundant.)


Fortunately, the transition has been much less of a hurdle than I imagined, and Apple lets you take all the familiarization classes you want for free.  So, just for you inquiring minds, here are my thoughts   as a new Apple user:  


Ease of use:  Like falling off a log; just plug it in and turn it on.  Many clunky Windows-like tasks are automated with Apple, so it seems much more intuitive.  However, figuring out the file manager ("Finder," they call it) and customizing menus, toolbars and screen icons have proved to be a bit of a challenge.  I'm sure it would be much less of a problem had I not grown up with the PC.


Virus protection:  This doesn't seem to be an issue with Apple.  It is surreal not to have to do constant battle against viruses and hackers, but I still remain vigilant.


Quality and design:  These, along with superior software and uncountable applications, seem way ahead of the PC.  We would certainly never go back.


Since my old AT&T wireless card wouldn't work with the new MacBook, I replaced it with a new AT&T MiFi modem.  This is the coolest little device, smaller than a deck of cards, that creates a wi-fi hotspot from cell phone signals wherever you happen to be.  It has a rechargeable battery, so it is completely portable.  Works like a charm.  What will they think of next?

My New iPhone, MiFi and MacBook

Sandy's iMac

In closing, let me assure you that I will never be condescending toward users of those "other" computers.  Perhaps you'll forgive me if don't make eye contact, though.  (grin) 

Water Droplets Falling From The Sky...What Is It?

Oh wait, now I remember...it's rain!  I can forget a lot in two months, and that's how long it's been since any of it fell here.  And, I might add that it hasn't been particularly helpful to read the blogs of you folks who are writing about your adventures in picturesque places while enjoying near-perfect weather.  


Oh, yes, the majority of you are blissfully unaware that your photos of mountain scenery and your reports of "chilly" mornings cause my brow to wrinkle and my eyes to narrow while I read.  You are forgiven.  But there are a few out there who know me and delight in posting about their idyllic settings entirely too often, seemingly just to needle me.  I know who you are, and I will get even.  (grin)


Then why do I keep reading, you may ask?  Well, it's sort of like watching Sandy parallel park; I know nothing good will come of it, but I feel compelled to watch the carnage anyway.


One thing this summer in Texas has instilled in my mind is that I'm going to try my best to be elsewhere when the next one comes along, so I can taunt with my blog the other poor slobs who can't escape.  


RANT WARNING:  And just for the record, I don't attribute any of this weather to global warming, which I think would be a laughable hoax if it were not for the thievery its proponents are exacting from us in the name of saving the planet.  The crowd promoting this lunacy seems mostly represented by smelly young indolent and vacuous malcontents with too many pierced appendages, influenced by too many Marxists in academia and courted by guileless politicians who need their votes to ensure further perpetuation of the nanny state.  They seem conveniently to forget that it was only a few decades ago that the big worry was that a new ice age was coming!  I don't deny that climate changes occur over the millennia, mostly due to natural effects, and I don't doubt that man's activity may affect localized conditions to a degree, but I would not be so full of hubris as to espouse the notion that we mere mortals could actually thwart with a few smokestacks the power and perfection of what our Creator waved into existence.  Give me a break.

Bathroom Checks Out Okay

It had to happen.  In six years of RV travel, we have been fortunate in avoiding a debilitating illness that would disrupt our plans.  Until now.  On our planned day of departure from OKC, I awoke with terrible stomach cramps and began the series of, uh, rituals that are generally associated with gastric distress.  After thinking back over the previous day's food ingestion, it seems likely that I picked up a bug from a real dive featured in a segment of Food TV's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  There were a couple of items I ate that Sandy didn't, and we suspect one of those was the culprit. 


Anyhow, I was in no condition to drive, so we advised the park that we would be staying an extra day.  Although I felt quite weak the next morning, I decided to drive Phannie home, and the trip was completely uneventful, thankfully.


At one point, Sandy sweetly offered to drive, but she quickly withdrew that suggestion, perhaps upon noticing all the color drain from my already pale face.  Now, my dear Sandy has many gifts and talents, but dealing with machinery, especially vehicles, is not one of them.  She will be the first to admit that she hates driving and has no sense of direction, and I'm pretty sure she has avoided a significant accident this long because of the many prayers that go up when people find out she is driving somewhere.


Garages are particularly challenging for her, and it should be noted that she has managed to collide with a center post, a side post, a freezer (twice), and she has even collided with a vehicle I was driving!  Some time ago, she called my office in a panic because, in attempting to back out of the garage in our Suburban, she had struck the right side of the garage door frame and tore the tail light assembly off the car.  When I arrived at home and raised the garage door, I found the Suburban parked sideways in the garage, a configuration she somehow attained while trying to maneuver farther away from the side of the garage.  After sitting immobile in my car for some time, staring at the image before me, I finally strode over to the Suburban and extricated it from its position.  Sandy appeared at the door about that time, visibly miffed--not because of damaging the car, but because she had missed her hair appointment.  She quickly called her hairdresser and explained what had happened, to which the hairdresser replied, "Oh, this is not good, girl; you need to find a way to make it your husband's fault!  That wasn't difficult at all, as I heard Sandy say back to her, "Well, it WAS his fault; he parked too close to the wall!"  


You may now have discerned that it is not entirely necessary to feel sorry for Sandy as I relate her escapades in this blog.  She gives as good as she gets, and I get away with less than you think.


Perhaps now it is clear why it might not be the best idea to put Sandy behind the wheel of a 40-foot, 32,000-lb. motor home.   The things that could happen in such a circumstance are limited only by one's imagination.


We had only one other hiccup while we were in OKC.  At one point, we lost power to all the AC plugs, and when I attempted to reset the circuit breaker in the coach, I found none of them tripped.  An RV tech happened to be in the park that day and showed me where to reset the inverter circuit breaker in the battery bay.  I guess the PDI was not as decent as I thought when we picked up Phannie.


How did Sandy occupy her time when I was attending training classes?  Well, she has some favorite TV shows, and she's reading Laura Bush's memoir.  She also likes to keep up with friends and family with e-mail and Facebook. 

Sandy checks Facebook

So this closes out the shakedown cruise.  We got to know Phannie a good deal better, and we think we're going to be great friends.    

In OKC

The 220 miles to OKC were smooth, comfortable and uneventful, but the temperature outside proved to be even hotter than in Texas!  Much to my delight, Tiffin installed a high-volume dash a/c on the Phaeton, and we didn't have to augment with roof air until the last hour or so of the trip.  If it hadn't been so miserably hot, we probably wouldn't have needed the extra boost.


We pulled into the Twin Fountains RV Park, recommended by Ed and Marilyn, and got a nice level pull-through spot with good satellite TV reception.  Then we went about getting things organized in Phannie, moving our stuff around as we found the right place for the household items we use.

Twin Fountains Office

Nice clean park with level paved site

While Sandy was taking care of "pink" things inside (where it was cool), I did the "blue" things outside, breathing only as absolutely necessary so as to not parch the inside of my lungs in the oven-like atmosphere.  Yes, I suppose I am a little spoiled due to my almost total existence within air conditioned surroundings, but I don't care.  When autumn weather gets here, I think about breathing again.


One of the recurring themes in changing to a motorhome from a fifth wheel has been to reduce the physical demands of RV travel.  To that end, I added a purely "blue" accessory:  A motorized rollup reel for the electrical shore power cord.  This thing is so handy!  No need now to crouch on bad knees and roll up the heavy cord on the spindle provided by Tiffin inside one of the cargo bays.  Just press the switch on the electric motor and the cord rolls up quickly with no exertion.

We discovered a burned-out halogen light bulb in the bedroom, and I was then able to initialize my plan to replace all of these halogen bulbs with LED lights as the halogens burn out, one by one.  I had a spare LED, and voila!  Brighter light with none of the heat put out by the halogen bulb--another great example of modern technology improving our lives.  These LEDs will far outlast the life of this coach, and they will use much less electricity while providing better lighting.  The only problem is that they are currently about six or seven times more expensive than the halogens.  Thankfully, I won't have to replace them all at once.

Halogen Lights

Burned-out halogen bulb

New LED bulb

We had some good Thai food for dinner and relaxed in Phannie's new recliners while we watched TV before turning in.  By the way, we love the great new I Comfort mattress.  The first day of the shakedown cruise comes to and end as a success!

Shakedown Cruise: Departing for OKC

As much as we hate to do road trips in Texas (or anywhere in the South, for that matter) when the weather is so miserably hot, the three-day FAA training session at the academy in Oklahoma City seemed a good opportunity to launch the dynamic duo of Phannie and Mae and see exactly what our efforts--and cash--had brought us.  


True, we had driven Phannie and Mae home from Nacogdoches when we completed the purchase, but that didn't count, because we really didn't know what we were doing.  Even though we had had a test drive and a pretty decent PDI, driving Phannie solo was much like trying to fly a new airplane without reading the operating manual and making only one flight around the airport traffic pattern.  I felt pretty uncomfortable fumbling for the myriad of switches and controls; at one point, I accidentally hit the air horn and startled the heck out of both of us.


Once home, I pored over the owner's manuals (there are many of them--for the coach, the chassis, the engine, the transmission, the entertainment systems, the appliances, etc., etc.), and slowly I began to be more comfortable with my knowledge of the systems and operating limitations.  Following that, I drove Phannie to the local Allison transmission and Caterpillar engine shops for some tweaking.  (Warning:  Techno-speak ahead; if you're not into that, you might want to skip the rest of this paragraph and a couple that follow it.)  I had the transmission downshift reprogrammed to fifth gear instead of second gear when the engine exhaust brake is engaged.  The automatic downshift to such a low gear seemed entirely too radical for my liking and caused the engine to speed up over 2500 RPM unnecessarily.  The tamer downshift to fifth gear is much more reasonable and, if I need a lower gear, I'll simply select it myself.


At the Cat shop, I had the technicians set the engine computer to soft cruise and latch mode.  Soft cruise allows a gentler automatic throttle control when in cruise, making for smoother speed and power changes when going uphill and downhill.  Latch mode causes the engine exhaust brake, if selected on, to actuate any time the throttle is closed above a certain speed and to disengage whenever the throttle or braking is applied, adding a desirable degree of automation to exhaust brake usage.  After this, I asked the Cat technicians to do a computer download for me, and I learned that that was the first time a download had been done on this engine.  There was a lot of information on the printout, and I was careful to include it in the maintenance record after studying it for a while.  I was happy to learn that the previous owner seems to have taken good care of the engine, as everything looked perfectly normal.  By the way, I learned about these adjustments from reading the Tiffin and Caterpillar forums, and I'm very pleased how useful the information was.  Phannie is now a smooth driving machine with excellent manners and easy power control.


In preparation for the OKC trip, I did my usual check of fluids and filters, washed the windshield and checked the tire pressures.  I made good use of the heavy duty truck tire inflator/guage that I had purchased earlier.  It's the kind that has a forward/backward valve necessary for dual wheel installations.  Fortunately, I already had a 150 psi air compressor, which now couldn't be considered overkill. (End of technospeak.)


Next came the checklists, which I fashioned from note cards and taped to the left driver's console.  If I learned anything from thirty years of flying, it was that checklists are indispensable as a means of self-preservation; those pesky airplane crashes usually don't turn out well.  And, since all sorts of ugly things can happen if a motorhome launches without ensuring all its appendages are tucked in and its systems ready to go, it would be foolish not to use a checklist.  The thought of Phannie's expensive satellite antenna being left up and getting taken out by a tree limb sends chills up my spine and down into my pocketbook.  So, I use a checklist for loading the coach, a pre-driveoff checklist and a checklist for using the leveling system, which is not particularly user friendly.

Homemade Checklist Added

With all the pre-departure stuff done, I backed Phannie with great care out of her snug RV berth and parked at the curb to hook up Mae.  Having previously only observed the dealer's employee hooking up the Blue Ox towbar between Phannie and Mae, I was a little uneasy about performing the process myself, a task that must be done correctly if I indeed want Mae to arrive at the same destination as Phannie.  So, what do you do if you need a quick primer on something?  Bring up YouTube on your computer, of course!  A quick search on "Blue Ox" brought a very informative demonstration video that lasted about five minutes.  Perfect!  Armed with this refresher, I nudged Mae up to the towbars behind Phannie and, in a few minutes, everything was connected and the lights tested, just like on the video.  Is there anything you can't find on the Internet?  What a great time to be alive for information junkies like me!

All Hooked Up!

Next came the final chore before departure:  Making sure Phannie was suitably cool and comfortable when the lady of the manor herself, the lovely and gracious Sandy, made her way out to Phannie and ascended the stairwell to her oh, so comfortable throne--the luxuriously soft leather Flexsteel power recliner that is the copilot's seat.  Knowing that Sandy recoils from summer heat like a vampire from a crucifix, I cranked up Phannie's diesel generator and turned on all three air conditioners to the coldest setting to precool the rig.  It didn't take long for the coach to cool down to a temperature which you would expect in, say, Anchorage.


In due time, when Sandy finished all of her own little rituals in the house, like triple-checking each door lock and closing the shutters, she strode out to what was now about fifty feet of connected rolling stock and climbed aboard.  Feeling the cool air rushing down the stairwell brought a smile, and when she kicked back in the recliner with an iced tea in her hand, I'm pretty sure I heard a contented purr.  Life is good, and we're off to OKC!

Making Phannie our Own–Creature Comforts

We humans are really programmed differently, aren’t we?  The comments on my recent posts—which I love getting—reflect the diversity of thought and opinion that makes us all part of a fascinating mosaic.  For example, it hadn’t occurred to me that some folks would have a disdain for air conditioning and consider it a necessary evil, but I can certainly understand the desirability of enjoying fresh air when you can. 


For us here in Texas, it’s hard to remember what cool, fresh air is like.  The problem is that there isn’t any during the five months that constitute the main travel season.  The reason it’s not fresh is because our wind is first routed through hell and then out over the landscape, parching it like a giant hair dryer.  That’s why Amarillo isn’t a port city on the Gulf of Mexico—the hellish wind has dried it up!  And that explains why we added the third air conditioner to Phannie and why we would probably call a wrecker if it went out.


We actually admire those rugged folks who ignore the harsh elements and do things like drive with their windows down on a July afternoon in Texas.  There is a certain cachet, I suppose, in leathery skin and crow’s feet that imply durability--like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the Old Testament, for example; they certainly could have used some cool air!  I suppose we would have survived had we lived before Willis Carrier invented air conditioning in 1902, but who would want to?


That brings me to some other creature comforts that we added to Phannie.  When the coach was built, Tiffin installed two sleeper sofas that faced each other across the center aisle. This configuration is great for visitors, who could look directly at each other while chatting, but not so great for watching the TV, which is installed in the front end of the coach.  Being prone to getting a stiff neck, I instructed the dealer to remove one of the sofas.  Then we found, at Dillard’s, two euro-style swivel recliners—perfect for TV watching and snoozing (something we seem to do more and more often).  They’re very comfortable and easy to move around as needed.
 
In this photo, the slides are in; when they’re out, it’s much roomier for the recliners.


The next item to be dealt with was the mattress in the bedroom.  It’s hard for me to imagine why Tiffin would put such a sorry mattress in a multi-hundred thousand dollar motorhome!  It’s even harder to imagine how the previous owner endured it during the time he owned it.  In readying each of the RVs we’ve bought, one of the first things to go has been the mattress; it was no different with Phannie.  We found a newish technology Serta I-Comfort king to our liking, and the store delivered to Phannie and took away the thing that it replaced: You really couldn’t call the old one a mattress; it was merely a rectangular object upon which you could place a bedspread to give the appearance that a bed was underneath.  I'm fairly certain that sleeping on it would have been fatal.


Finally, there was an issue with the, uh, toilet.  Shockingly, the factory had installed a model whose bowl could not be filled with water after flushing.  We had never seen that before and, well, let’s just say that’s not acceptable and let it go at that.  We ordered it replaced with a top-of-the-line porcelain unit that works as one accustomed to indoor plumbing would expect.  We’re still scratching our heads over that strange toilet installation, wondering if it had something to do with the fact that the Tiffin motorhome factory is in Alabama.  (Just kidding; we love Alabama and Alabamans!)


We are readying for a shakedown cruise on Monday; I have an all-week training course in Oklahoma City, and we will let Phannie and Mae stretch their legs as we get more familiar with them.  I'll be posting a bit more often for the next few days during this trip.

Making Phannie our Own–A/C Rules!

Mel, our salesman, blinked when we told him a third air conditioner would need to be added to Phannie.  Apparently,  he had not often heard that particular request, but it took only a couple of seconds to respond with, “Sure, we can do that!”  (His ‘customer is always right’ sales training must have been successful.)  And they did; the technicians dropped that puppy right into one of the roof openings formerly occupied by a vent fan and voila!  The need for a refrigerator in Phannie is now questionable!


Why a third air conditioner?  One word:  Texas.  As much as I love my state, I hate her summers.  There is no escape from the Hades-like heat.  We are virtual prisoners from June through September, hopelessly confined to whatever air conditioned space we can find.  We’re so looking forward to retirement, when we can simply escape in June and go north until October or November.


I suppose we could get a break somewhere out in the Davis Mountains in west Texas, but I don’t think even they are high enough to make much difference.  We have survived by air conditioning everything—perhaps even over-air conditioning.  Our SUV has a/c in the front and in the rear; our smallish house has six tons of air conditioning.  But when we crank the thermostat down to a daytime temperature of 73 degrees, where we’re comfortable, we expect 73 degrees and we expect it relatively quickly.  Such was not the case with Phannie (or with Homer, for that matter).  On the hottest days where there was no shade, the two a/c units would struggle, and we found that to be the case with virtually every large coach we’ve seen with only two air conditioners. 


So, dropping in an extra unit was a no-brainer, and the problem is forever solved.  Furthermore, if one of the units happens to fail, we can still be relatively comfortable with the other two.


Now, before you classify us as energy hogs, you should know that we spent quite a bit extra for foam insulation, double-pane windows and energy-efficient appliances when we built the house.  As a result, our energy cost is incredibly low—sometimes less than our water/sewer bill!  With this in mind, we don’t apologize for having a cool Phannie!  (Grin) 

The new a/c is toward the bottom of the photo.

Making Phannie Our Own–New TVs

After five years with Homer, Sandy and I had become intimately familiar with our fifth wheel and all of its furnishings and systems.  While it was by no means a top-of-the-line RV, it was comfortable, and we pretty much knew where everything was and how it all worked.


Then, along came Phannie!  Well, the differences are staggering!  It will take us quite a while to get comfortable in this behemoth.  Before we even took delivery, we decided there were certain things about Phannie that would have to change.  Perhaps the most ambitious of these was scrapping the old (2006) television sets and replacing them with new Samsung high-definition LCDs—one for the main lounge and another for the bedroom.  We also replaced the old DVD players with new Samsung Blu-Rays.  This required some modification to the cabinetry, which was expertly done by Motorhomes of Texas in Nacogdoches.  To get the hi-def signal into the coach, we had the dealer install a new Winegard automatic hi-def satellite antenna.

Why all the fuss and expense?  Well, we have gotten used to our hi-def TVs at home and, frankly, we now find it hard to watch the old non-high definition blurry screens. Since Phannie will be our home away from home, we don’t think our entertainment experience should be diminished.  Fortunately, the factory-installed surround sound system seemed fine, so we kept that in place.

Pop in a DVD and Julie Andrews sings, "The Hills are Alive..." on the main lounge TV

New bedroom TV

With all the fancy new electronics, I decided it would be a good idea to install a Surge Guard electrical power monitor.  If you do much RVing, it’s only a matter of time until you hook up to shore power that has voltage or polarity problems, and the Surge Guard will only allow power it likes into the coach.  It has already shown its worth by rejecting a hookup at the dealership, where a 50-amp receptacle had a loose wire and sporadic electricity flow. 

Surge Guard Electric Power Monitor

I mentioned in the last post that I had decided on a frequency for blogging.  I've come to accept that, until I retire, I  just can't be as prolific a writer as many of the daily bloggers I read.  On the other hand, six months between posts is a little difficult to explain.  (I thought my excuses in the last post were pretty good, though.)  Lord willing, I’m going to try to update this rag about once a week if at all possible.


We’ve a lot more to tell you about getting to know Phannie, and that will continue in the next installment.

Overcome by Events and A Blog Name Change

“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” – Benjamin Franklin

What has happened to Homer and Lucille and their owners?  Where shall I begin—my medical problems?  My daughter’s wedding?  The new RV? 

With all that’s been going on, something had to give; blogging was the loser.   I have also used this time to decide what kind of blogger I’m going to be and how frequently I plan to post; more about that in another post.

I’m going to try to condense into three paragraphs those things that have kept me in a blogging strait jacket.  Here goes: 

The medical problems involve a couple of episodes of atrial fibrillation and an arthritic hip.  Medication seems to have solved the afib, and eventual surgery—when I’m good and ready—will hopefully resolve the hip issue. 

Mindy and Tyler, our daughter and son-in-law, after getting married in a civil ceremony a couple of years ago, decided to hold a commitment ceremony at their large church here in the mid-cities.  Whatever it was, it was still a big church wedding with the substantial price tag that fathers—including this one—underwrite.  Mindy and her mother, as would be expected, jumped headlong into the whirlwind of wedding planning and I was caught up in the vortex much more often than I wished.  On those occasions when I was tossed mercifully, if only temporarily, out of this tornado, I dutifully followed the advice I was given:  Shut up and write the check.  It was a lovely wedding, and Mindy was very respectful of our budget.  She made many of the decorations herself, and we marveled at her creativity!

The new RV?  Well, thank Mr. Arthritis for that.  While we enjoyed our fifth wheel, tending it was somewhat demanding, physically, and I was getting to a point where all the hitching, unhitching, kneeling and bending was becoming a bit much for me and Arthur (Itis).  So, we bade farewell to Homer and Lucille and now own a 2006 Allegro Phaeton QDH motor home.  It is quite new to us, as we have driven it only from the dealer’s lot to our home near Fort Worth.  We will devote many other posts to our getting to know Phannie.  (Yes, the first order of business was to give her a name—“Phannie” Phaeton.  We also acquired a dinghy, a bright red 2009 HHR, that we have named “Mae,” as in Fannie Mae.  Get it?  Okay, maybe it’s a bit lame, but I’m hoping they will not acquire the infamy of their failed namesake that helped create our national financial crisis.)

With the arrival of the new vehicles, the name of the blog must also change once again.  Ergo, the reason you see Phannie and Mae instead of Homer and Lucille.  (See, there’s yet another change; you can’t get away from them!)   As if this were not enough, I’m changing the blog template as well—may as well go for a trifecta.

Strolling Salado

Salado, Texas (pronounced Sah-Lay-Doe) is a quaint little community on I-35, about 50 miles north of Austin.  It is bisected by Salado Creek that, before a recent devastating flood, formed a bucolic setting for dozens of shops selling artsy-crafty things at mostly hefty markups.  The flood didn’t wash away any of the structures, but the creek bottom, once a wide grassy area perfect for picnics, is now uninvitingly strewn with pebbles and rocks.  I don’t know if it will ever recover. 


The blemished creek bottom didn’t seem to bother the folks who, like us, were participating in the Salado Christmas Stroll, an event held on the first two weekends in December of each year.  The Stroll, of course, is sponsored and promoted by the merchants and community leaders to attract shoppers to the stores and restaurants.  It is a very popular event, especially among the ladies.  Luckier husbands may have been allowed to spend their time at the Mill Creek golf course, a golfing venue of some significance, I’m told.  Since I’m not a golfer, I’ll have to rely on others’ judgment about a Robert Trent Jones golf course; I have no clue who he is—or was.  Those who take the stroll encounter extra vendors of all kinds and multiple performances by carolers and other musicians.


Perhaps most well-known in Salado is the Stagecoach Inn, built in 1861 as a stopover for stagecoach passengers.  Expanded many times, the inn and restaurant have had a loyal following, enjoying home cooking served by waitresses who recite the menu by memory at each table.  The place was looking a little tired on this visit, however.  Perhaps the bad economy has caused some maintenance to be deferred.



Stagecoach Inn



















Several of our friends, Marty and Cathy, Jim and Terri and Bubba and LouAnn had decided to accompany us on this little odyssey from the DFW area, and we all had a good time.  Marty and Cathy drove down for the day, and Jim and Terri stayed overnight at a hotel.  Bubba and LouAnn brought their fifth wheel to keep Homer company.  We parked at the Cedar Ridge COE campground at Lake Belton, one of our favorites.  We love this quiet and beautiful park, right on the waterfront at Lake Belton.  It’s fun to watch the many deer that wander around; they’re quite tame, obviously since no hunting is allowed in the park.


 
Bubba strings kitschy lights at the campground.  Very risky behavior.





Homer (left) and Bubba’s coach



Waterfront spot at Cedar Ridge COE Campground


Mercifully, Sandy didn’t buy anything in Salado, and my job evolved into shuttling our friends back an forth from one shopping area to another along the main drag.  Jim and Terri found a beautiful framed print that will look great in their new home.  We all had a good time, however, with lots of laughing and carrying on.

What is it with Black Friday?

This was the first Thanksgiving during which we took an RV trip.  We pulled Homer from Ft. Worth to Houston on Wednesday and set up at the Lake View RV Park on South Main, a very nice park with modern facilities and friendly hosts.  The trip down here was uneventful, except when I turned on the rig’s running lights, I noticed the trailer lights worked only intermittently.  I checked the cannon plug in the bed of the pickup and didn’t notice any play, so I’m not sure what the problem might be.  Fortunately, we don’t find ourselves on the road that often after sunset, so the fix is not urgent.


On Thursday, Sandy and I met her sister, Brenda, and our daughter, Mindy, and son-in-law, Tyler, and our grandson, Mason, at Brenda’s new apartment in River Oaks.  This place is beautiful, with great views from floor-to- ceiling windows—high rise living at its best.  Brenda had gone all out in providing a Thanksgiving feast for us, all of which was acquired from gourmet venues in her local area.  We had smoked turkey with all the trimmings and scads of appetizers, imaginative sides and desserts that clearly showed the pride of the professional chefs who prepared them.  Frankly, this was a first for all of us; never before had we cooked, well, nothing, for Thanksgiving dinner.  However, this could signal an ominous trend, as the womenfolk all agreed this was an idea whose time had come.  The men looked at each other with worried faces, as if to say, “What have we done?” 


As much as we would like for our wives to be freed somewhat from kitchen chores, I think I can speak for the other guys in saying that we missed all the homemade goodies that  have become synonymous with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.   I allowed my good judgment to lapse for a moment and mentioned to Sandy how much I missed her homemade cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole and pecan pie and, without missing a single bite of smoked turkey, she pointed to a three ring binder, yellowed with age and stained from its proximity to hundreds of episodes of meal preparation, and said something like, “The recipes are in there.” 


It wasn’t clear why she had brought her personal recipe book with her on this trip; I suppose she would have cooked something if asked by our hostess.  I took this as an indication that a paradigm had shifted, at least for now.  I'll approach this minefield from another direction in the future.


After an obligatory nap, enabled because cleanup was such a breeze (we ate on paper plates) the ladies began planning a Black Friday frontal assault on certain of their favorite stores that was set for a zero hour of 9 p.m. this very evening!  Yes, Toys ‘R Us was planning to open for Black Friday sales at 9:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving day!  What’s up with that?  This is just not Biblical, at all!  Sure enough, they all piled into Brenda’s BMW SUV around 8:00 p.m. and roared off, waving purses, credit cards and singing some kind of shopper’s battle cry like a bunch of drunks.  These women had obviously done a mind-meld with the bargain flyers sent by the stores to lure them in for a shopping spree.  Never let it be said that advertising doesn’t work!


Around 11:30 p.m., there was a knock on Homer’s door, and there they were, having returned to unload into Homer the spoils of their crusade.  As I type this, I’m looking at a giant box containing a Little Tykes Prep ‘n Serve Kitchen that is occupying most of the area where guests normally sit.  The rest of the haul, hopefully, will fit into the cargo bays.  I still don’t know how they stuffed it all into the Beamer when they left Toys 'R Us.


This was not to be the last of the Black Friday battle plan, however.  Brenda found herself at a Gap store at 5:30 a.m. the next day, hopped up on a pot of coffee and eyes dilated by Red Bull energy drinks.  Sandy and Mindy didn’t join her, however, perhaps having had a moment of clarity.  Even so, that didn’t keep them from supplying Brenda with their credit cards and a list, so that they could engage in Black Friday by proxy!


I will confess that these ladies were able to get a good deal of their Christmas shopping done at big reductions in price, but I just know that guys would never put up with the hassle.  I haven’t seen the newspapers yet today, but I’m sure there is probably mention of some casualties from the melee.  This Black Friday thing has gotten completely out of hand, the womenfolk having left earth orbit and clearer heads (guys) behind.  These gals are headed into uncharted territory, and it’s a place none of us guys wishes to go.

Preparing for Thanksgiving Trip

It has been a balmy weekend here in Fort Worth, but an arctic front is due on Thanksgiving day.  We're going to try to outrun it by dragging Homer down to Houston on Wednesday.  Sandy's sister, Brenda, lives there, and we're planning to have Thanksgiving dinner with her and her family.


Although the weather was kinda inappropriate for it, I decided to make a pot of chicken chili, using a recipe that I had been kicking around in my head.  We have a small farmer's market in our neighborhood that carries Hatch chiles (roasted and frozen), and I had been wanting to use those in chicken chili.  If I say so myself, it was wonderful!  Now, I'm not convinced that the Hatch chiles had anything to do with it, but these chiles, grown in Hatch, New Mexico, have quite a following.  Their cachet may be justified, but I'm always suspicious that such notoriety is more likely an opportunity to inflate prices.  I mean, really!  Could there possibly be that much difference in a chile grown in Hatch and one grown elsewhere?  On the other hand, I'm sort of okay with it, because I like the fact that it puts Hatch on the map, complete with a festival.  I think every town should have a claim to fame.


The recipe?  Okay, here goes:


1 large onion, chopped
6 medium tomatillos, chopped
6 Hatch green chilies, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped  (Note: Use mild variety if you're not a fan of very spicy chili.)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. butter (oil or bacon fat can be substituted)
2 cans chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
6 chicken thighs, deboned and chopped slightly in food processor
1 can white hominy or white beans (great northern or navy), drained  (Note: the flavor of the hominy will be more distinctive than the flavor of the beans.  I sometimes add a drained can of white beans along with the hominy.)
1 T. cumin 
1 T. McCormick Montreal chicken seasoning
1 T. Badia Complete Seasoning (found in many Latino markets)
1 T. Los Chileros Salsa Santa Fe Seasoning (http://www.888eatchile.com; this is a favorite mixture of dried New Mexico chilies that I use in all Mexican dishes.)


Note about dry seasonings:  I like bold and spicy flavors in Mexican food, so I use plenty of seasoning.  Consider using teaspoons of these seasonings if you are not so inclined.  Warning: The Los Chileros seasoning is VERY spicy; one tablespoon gives a hefty burn to this dish.  You may want to moderate this a bit.


In a medium pot, saute' the first four ingredients in butter until softened.  Add one can of chicken broth and bring to a low boil.  Add the processed chicken thighs, cream of chicken soup and the dry seasonings.   Add chicken broth from the second can to the desired consistency, if needed.  Simmer, covered, for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the hominy or beans during last 10 minutes.  Serves 4-6.


Well, let's see...you're probably thinking about President Franklin Pierce, aren't you?  You should, because his birthday is coming up on November 23.  What?  You're not exactly up to speed on President Pierce?  Neither was I, until I did a little research after I happened upon a reference to him.  After reading his bio, I was struck by the similarity between Pierce's presidency and that of our current president.  In an effort to suppress political partisanship in this main blog, I have included a comparison on a separate page that you can find here.  If you don't want to get into politics, don't go there.


194 days to retirement!