Technology: Curse or Blessing?
It has been a busy 48 hours since the last post. Our house/camper is in total disarray, cabinets emptied out onto the counter tops and floor, step ladders everywhere, false bottoms under the sink and in the pantry are opened up and wires and plumbing hanging out.
But I feel redeemed, the repair side of the factory has a team of folks and they all looked at me like I had two heads when I told them that the water heater was plumbed backwards, but after two days of tracing water lines, I'll be a son-of-a-gun, they found a set of crossed connections! The service manager said that he never thought anybody would be stupid enough to get it mixed up like that, but there it was. For the first time in a year, we had a proper hot shower this morning.
Yesterday also started with us hitting the floor running at 5:30am so that we could put the rig in its travel mode and get it ready to move inside for the satellite dish install by 7:00am. It took time but all went well.
By 4:00pm I was initializing the dish and it started its automated routine of locating the three satellites it uses simultaneously. Perfect, worked exactly as advertised, couldn't have been simpler.
Then it was time to call the DirecTV people and activate the receivers. I won't go into the details, but I got all the programming done and receiving everything we are supposed to get around midnight. The technology to be able to watch 685 channels of TV beemed from space is pretty impressive. But it is also a royal pain in the neck.
A very welcomed distraction was offered last evening as Phil Broekeneky, owner of New Horizons, invited Cyndee and I and another couple here also getting work done on their "classic" rig to his home for dinner. Phil and his wife, Karen had just occupied this house after having spent the last 8 months building it. His back yard was uphill of a fairway on the development's golf course in Manhattan, KS, home of Kansas State Univ. The heat abated and the wind laid down as the sun approached the horizon. It was a beautiful evening for eating on their deck. Phil and Karen are the real deal, very genuine. Someone you are glad to know.
Today we have made another run to Manhattan and back. Our crooked recliner had been overhauled during the night and we went to pick it up. Cyndee thinks the furniture repair guy made the recliner better than it came from the factory. It is back in the camper now and the list of things to do is growing short.
Our clothes washing machine quit on us (the door would not lock and start the wash cycle) when we were in Amarillo a couple of weeks ago. We think it was the bad power in Palo Duro that got it. We had the manufacturer, Splendide, send a new control board to New Horizons so they could do the install. It required that they take the whole cabinet apart to get access to the back of the washing machine and Dan got the board in and everything back together. The bad news is that now the washing machine won't come on at all! Back to the drawing board. Dan will have to try again tomorrow after we get back from the alignment shop 50 miles away in Salina. We may not make our planned departure day for Colorado on Saturday.
But I feel redeemed, the repair side of the factory has a team of folks and they all looked at me like I had two heads when I told them that the water heater was plumbed backwards, but after two days of tracing water lines, I'll be a son-of-a-gun, they found a set of crossed connections! The service manager said that he never thought anybody would be stupid enough to get it mixed up like that, but there it was. For the first time in a year, we had a proper hot shower this morning.
Yesterday also started with us hitting the floor running at 5:30am so that we could put the rig in its travel mode and get it ready to move inside for the satellite dish install by 7:00am. It took time but all went well.
By 4:00pm I was initializing the dish and it started its automated routine of locating the three satellites it uses simultaneously. Perfect, worked exactly as advertised, couldn't have been simpler.
 |
| First attempt, the satellite dish found its location and homed in on three satellites simultaneously. |
Then it was time to call the DirecTV people and activate the receivers. I won't go into the details, but I got all the programming done and receiving everything we are supposed to get around midnight. The technology to be able to watch 685 channels of TV beemed from space is pretty impressive. But it is also a royal pain in the neck.
 |
| The satellite receiver is small and simple looking but does some pretty sophisticated things. |
A very welcomed distraction was offered last evening as Phil Broekeneky, owner of New Horizons, invited Cyndee and I and another couple here also getting work done on their "classic" rig to his home for dinner. Phil and his wife, Karen had just occupied this house after having spent the last 8 months building it. His back yard was uphill of a fairway on the development's golf course in Manhattan, KS, home of Kansas State Univ. The heat abated and the wind laid down as the sun approached the horizon. It was a beautiful evening for eating on their deck. Phil and Karen are the real deal, very genuine. Someone you are glad to know.
Today we have made another run to Manhattan and back. Our crooked recliner had been overhauled during the night and we went to pick it up. Cyndee thinks the furniture repair guy made the recliner better than it came from the factory. It is back in the camper now and the list of things to do is growing short.
Our clothes washing machine quit on us (the door would not lock and start the wash cycle) when we were in Amarillo a couple of weeks ago. We think it was the bad power in Palo Duro that got it. We had the manufacturer, Splendide, send a new control board to New Horizons so they could do the install. It required that they take the whole cabinet apart to get access to the back of the washing machine and Dan got the board in and everything back together. The bad news is that now the washing machine won't come on at all! Back to the drawing board. Dan will have to try again tomorrow after we get back from the alignment shop 50 miles away in Salina. We may not make our planned departure day for Colorado on Saturday.
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