Wednesday, April 19, 2017

In Which Bob Fixes Our Awning and I Knit a Ball

We are enjoying our time at Saguaro SKP park in Benson, AZ very much. Well, most of the time. On Sunday evening, Bob went to retract our electric awning before we went to bed and it didnt respond. Uh oh. Not good. The winds here can pick up suddenly, and even though our Carefree awning has a sensor that pulls the awning in if the winds get too strong, a sudden big gust can break something. Neither of us slept well that night!

Next morning, Bob scoured the operating manual and the Tiffin online forums for information on how to retract it manually. A call to Tiffin was placed, and they told Bob where to find the special fuse inside the module. It turns out you can't manually retract a Carefree awning such as we have but you can "jump" it like you would jump a dead car battery. Unfortunately for us, however, we had a "short" in the wires coming from the motor, so the awning would start to move and would short itself out.
It's a really good thing Bob is handy! He was able to get his hands on a tall stepladder from one of the storage sheds here at the park (tools may be borrowed without charge here) and get up high enough to see what was going on. A wire near the motor had a crack in the insulation and needed to be replaced. After a quick trip to the hardware store for a new wire, Bob was able to replace the bad one and we were in business. The awning retracted.

“So it does!” said Pooh. “It goes in!”
"So it does!” said Piglet. “And it comes out!”
“Doesn't it?” said Eeyore. “It goes in and out like anything.”
Apologies to A. A. Milne.

While Bob was using his superman powers to fix what was broken, I attended an informational meeting on becoming a leaseholder at this park. We have been on the waiting list, or "Hot List," as it is called here, to become a leaseholder for over a year. It may take another year or two but our plan is to get a permanent lot here where we can stay for the winter as desired. We can go somewhere else if we choose, but our lot will be waiting for us and earning credit towards the annual fees if we aren't here. Nice!

I've been taking a break from crafting and weaving lately to recharge my weaving mojo. Ideas are starting to flow again now, so it may be time to pick up the shuttle again. I did finish a couple of small knitting projects... another dishcloth and a knitted ball.
The ball is made by casting on 20 stitches and knitting 68 rows of stockinette stitch before binding off. After six strips, you weave the bands together. No stuffing needed. Very clever! Here is a video I found on assembling:
We are here until Saturday, when we head towards Canyon de Chelly. I expect to be able to take a lot of photos there--it's supposed to be a beautiful area.

2 comments:

  1. You should really enjoy Canyon de Chelly. Have you ever been to Hubbell Trading Post? I think you would enjoy the weaving displayed there. And the sheep.

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    1. We have not been to Hubbell Trading Post, but I've just put it on my list--thank you!!

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