Still having electrical problems
When I finished yesterday's blog post, I was feeling pretty hopeless. My taillights weren't working properly on the camper, so I tried to figure out what was wrong by raising the camper out of the truck bed. However, I couldn't get the electric camper jacks to work. And my situation was dire enough that I had to reschedule my VA audiology appointment till late in September. I think if I had a heart attack, it would be after Christmas before I could get a doctor's appointment. Fortunately, for a situation like that, I can go to any civilian emergency room, and the VA will pick up the tab.
My electrical skills are sketchy at best. It is obvious even to me that when I get something electrical to work properly, it’s more due to blind luck than any expertise on my part. So, I was wiggling some wires to get the electric camper jacks to work, and I finally wiggled the right one. Instead of blowing something up, as is usually the case, the electric Jacks miraculously started working.
I discovered a broken wire and some squished wires that had been pinched between the truck bed and the camper. This likely occurred due to the horrendous road conditions at 11 Mile Reservoir, which caused the camper to shift slightly in the truck bed. I still haven't fixed the problem because the temperatures here are 100° in the afternoon, and I've just come out of the mountains, where the high temperatures were in the 70s. However, I now know what the problems are, and maybe I can fix them once the weather cools off a bit.
Theboondork
Fishing on 11-mile reservoir.
Sailboat at 11-Mile State Park, moored offshore to a mooring buoy.
My sister and her husband used to live on a sailboat in the Florida Keys. And since dock space is very expensive in the Keys, for less costs, you could tie up to a mooring buoy, like this sailboat is doing, out in the bay about 100 yards from the docks.
It's a money saver, but it's exceedingly inconvenient. You can’t plug in, so you have to run a generator all the time, or the interior of the boat will mold. Whenever you need to go to shore, you have to put your dinghy in the water, put the motor on it, and putt, or paddle, your way to shore, where you have a car parked and can get some groceries at the outrageously expensive Florida Keys prices for everything.
It sounds like a glamorous lifestyle, and it is if you're rich. But if you're in the lower middle class living on the water, especially in an expensive place like the Florida Keys, it’s kind of tough to deal with the heat and 99% humidity for most of the year, and hurricanes that target the Keys for the rest of the year.
Sunset from the Bass Pro Shop parking lot in Colorado Springs, Colorado.