“Today’s” Project, completed and tested and Apple Pie

I was able to remove the panels so that I could more easily access the connection points. I finished in about an hour. The extra time over my estimate was spent finding the crimping tool I needed to put a terminal end on the 6 awg wire.

Testing is also complete. The Victron 12/12-50 battery charger works perfectly. The only change I made to the default setting for the Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries was the “maximum charge current”. I changed this 25 amps.

The other two systems work properly as well.

So, I just doubled the electrical capacity of the camper battery system and reduced the camper weight by 60 pounds / 27kg (most formally 265N).

This apple pie was this morning’s “project”. The filling and crust were all “home made”. We had only enough eggs for breakfast, so I skipped using an egg for an egg wash and without the egg wash, the crust doesn’t get the “golden brown” color.

Today’s Project

I am converting the truck camper battery system from lead-acid deep cycle batteries to lithium iron phosphate batteries.

These batteries have twice the electrical capacity at one quarter the weight and for a truck camper light weight reduces the load on the truck.

My project is to fit a new charging system into the camper so the truck can fully charge the camper batteries.

To gain the full capability of the new batteries requires a different charging regimen compared to the old lead acid deep cycle batteries.

There are three systems to charge the batteries; from the truck electrical system while driving, from a small solar electric system atop the camper roof and from a “plug into utility power” charger.

The solar and “plug-in” systems can be switched to accommodate the new battery charging regimen so this is merely changing a switch setting. The truck system needs some work.

So, I’m replacing the normal manual battery disconnect with a unit that automatically disconnects the camper from the truck electrical system AND sets things so the new batteries are properly charged.

Unfortunately the old disconnect and the new unit use different means to connect the wiring. This is easy to fix..if I can remove a wooden panel. If I can’t remove the panel, the 30 minute job will probably take 2-3 hours of me being in a rather awkward position….an image of a contortionist doing a handstand would not be too far from “the awkward position”. 🙂

June 6, 1944. 82 Years Ago

D-Day, the successful invasion of Europe to wrest control of the continent from the Nazis.

In one day, there were around 10,000 causalities on the allied (USA, Canada, Great Britain)

Please take at least a moment to honor their sacrifice.

Fly Trap

Despite our efforts at reducing housefly attractants and our living 1/2 mile/800 meters from the nearest neighbor, the flies have been particularly bothersome this year. So on the way home from my mother-in-law’s place we stopped at the hardware store to get some fly traps. These are “RESCUE” brand traps and are advertised to trap 20,000 flies.

For what it’s worth, I am NOT a paid sponsor.

When I took the dogs out for a walk, I checked the fly trap and found it about half full. Either to hide the smell of the traps or to add to the ambiance, or perhaps something else, both dogs pooped adjacent to the fly trap. I’m easily amused, so I did find this amusing.

What caused me to laugh was when I returned about 30 minutes later to clean up the dog “pile” and found dozens of flies buzzing around the trap but ZERO flies checking out the fresh dog poop. Wow…. 🙂

Busy-Busy

So, I got back from Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday and on Thursday some friends came to visit for the weekend. They left on the following Wednesday.

On Thursday my wife’s very elderly mother spent the night at our house. Friday morning my wife drove her to the big city and then back…8 hours round trip. I would have gone but we weren’t sure if one extra person would fit into the car with a wheelchair and boxes being picked up, so my wife drove the entire trip. Saturday we figured out how to get an extra person in the car with all the boxes and wheelchair, so we both went to take my mother-in-law back to the assisted living place and haul the boxes to her place.

We have the house to ourselves again for awhile.

When we got home on Saturday, I installed a small ham radio in the car. The radio fits under the seat and the remote control unit fits nicely into the “sunglasses” spot in the dash. I had to remove several dash panels in order to complete the installation (safely–don’t want to drill through important stuff) and also route the thin cable between the radio under the seat and the remote control unit. The final result does look great. I also had to verify that the installation would not prevent the airbags from properly deploying.

I had not run much this month and was feeling “deprived”, so I made it a point to go run. It wasn’t easy…and it always amazes me how fast I become slow. 🙂

Next on the list is the camper. The old lead acid batteries, after six years, were no longer holding a charge, so I replaced the 100 pounds of lead acid batteries with a 26 pound Lithium Iron Phosphate battery that has the same electrical capability. The solar charge controller and the “shore power converter” can be set to properly charge the new batteries, and I did this. However, the automatic battery disconnect to disconnect the camper battery from the truck battery will not work with the new batteries, so I need to update that “box”. I have the necessary replacement, but I need to find “the box” as it is not in a very obvious location, so I will need to trace some wires to find it.

Clouds and Memories

May 26 was cloudy and there was no visible sunset. Still, I stopped at around what I thought would be sunset and went outside for a moment of time alone.

We had friends as house guests for the weekend, so I didn’t spend too much time “alone”.

My wife and I cooked and our friends were at the kitchen table, which is adjacent to the kitchen, so we all could talk while we were cooking. This “talk while preparing food” is nothing new for me.

When I first started at university, I was cooking for just myself, and not very well. Cooking for one and doing so while a cat watched me, or with just a radio or television babbling in the background, provided little incentive to improve. This changed part way through my second semester of classes when I met the lady that would become my fiancee. She had three roommates and they were “let’s have a party” more than “need to study”, so she would come over to my place to study for her classes. After a few weeks of this, we started cooking together and talking the entire time while we were cooking. It was wonderful.

When I “went back on the hunt” (how crass, but….) I guess I was looking for someone similar to my fiancee and I found this in my wife. She and my fiancee are very similar in personality and hopes. Sometimes this is good and sometimes it’s a bit uncomfortable, but the good FAR outweighs the uncomfortable.

Switching topics.

My wife in on the way to pick up her mother from the assisted living place. Her mom ordered a sewing machine from a store about 3 hours (each way) driving time from our house and about 4 hours from where her mom is now living. So, to save two hours in the car, my mother-in-law will be spend tonight at our house, then ride the six hours, spend the night again and then ride home.

And for the clouds title. It *is* cloudy. Again, there is no visible sun. Also, it is VERY windy, very warm and oddly, very low humidity. Temperatures are nearly 90F/30C, with winds at 45mph/70kph and (despite the clouds) the relative humidity is well under 10%. This is “scary” fire weather for the nearby forested areas and this is reflected in the fire bans that have been implemented throughout the area.

One of many criteria in our “where shall we live” decision was minimal fire danger, so we are extremely unlikely to have a wildfire here. Additionally we have further reduced the wildfire danger to our house, so we aren’t worried (too much) about wildfires at our home.

May 26, 2026

As I’ve mentioned in a few other posts about this, a couple of days a year I write about my fiancee. May 26, 1984 was when I was going to get married. Beach. Rocky Point, Mexico. Sunset. It didn’t happen because we got the “until death do us part” and “I do” backwards.

So on May 26, I stop at sunset and commemorate what didn’t happen.

Today the clouds completely obscured the sun at sunset and it is likely to be as cloudy tomorrow, so I may not be able to see the sun as it sets. That’s okay. The memory is more important than the actual sunset.

I’m Back

I was unable to post because I was in the USA-Canada Great Lakes area for 10 days.

While I was gone, the garden’s automatic watering system took care of the plants’ needs so all that needed to be done was to pull the weeds that were sprouting.

The tomatoes show a tiny bit of frost damage but are recovering.

All but two pepper plants are doing well. Two plants were most likely wind damaged by the 60-80kph winds

The apple trees and the “regular potatoes” and the sweet potatoes seem to be doing well. While won’t expect any apples for a few years, I am expecting around 40kg of potatoes.

The beets and carrots have sprouted and when the plants get larger, I’ll thin them to the recommended spacing.

Pre-trip Chores.

Today I changed the car’s engine oil and filter, and the air filter. From start to finish, including cleaning the tools and putting everything away, this requires about 30 minutes. Doing it myself saves about US$50, which, to me, is worthwhile. While waiting for the oil to drain, I’m also checking the condition of the various hoses,belts and wiring harnesses in the engine compartment so that I can replace worn items before they cause a breakdown.

After changing the car’s engine oil, I fueled the generator, checked it, and got it ready to use if the power goes out while I’m gone. I’m going on a road trip and while my wife is fully capable of handling everything with the generator, she finds it difficult to handle the 20L fuel containers. This used to be easy for her, but 14 years ago, the surgeons had to remove a lot of muscle tissue because of (advanced) breast cancer and the remaining muscle tissue was damaged by the radiation treatments, so the loss of strength is permanent.

Then it was off to the garden where we ensured the automatic watering system was working properly…and then I extended it to also take care of the water needs for the newly planted apple trees. So far, all looks good; no “transplant shock”. The only worry left is that one of the two weather apps indicates it will be 1C tomorrow morning. The other weather app indicates tomorrow morning’s low temperature will be 6C. One tactic for protecting plants in “near freezing” temperatures is cover them with cloth, but this is not practical for a large garden. The other tactic is to have water surrounding the plants, so tomorrow morning the automatic water valve will turn on the water flow between 3am and 6am. After that, both weather apps indicate there will be no freezing temperatures for the rest of the gardening season. I’m hopeful, and hopeful is is how it goes for all gardening endeavors. 🙂

After the garden work, I ran 6 miles. The weather has been windy and I had not run in more than 2 weeks, so I made it a slow/easy run today. I miss running when I can’t do it and I’m hoping that tomorrow I can do a long run.

Add to this, the dogs’ walks. Each of the two walks, one in the morning and one in the evening, is about 30-45 minutes long and we go about 1-1/2 to 2km. We have decided “it’s the dogs’ walks and not ours”, so we let them stop and investigate (sniff) whenever they want to stop. It’s not fast, but it is both good for them and fun for us. What is amusing to me is that the older dog (almost age 16) is the one that reminds us, “IT IS TIME FOR THE WALK”.