Monday March 7th 2022

This post is getting posted 12hrs late, because of a power outage.

The string of hot, dry and windy days came to an end. Today was hot and cloudy with lots of clouds. It looked like it would rain at anytime from mid morning on. The actual rain was very hit or miss. You could see a storm off in the distance, but it would pass by to the east or west. When it did rain in this area it was usually very quick. We had several periods of light showers and a few brief periods of heavy rain. They weren’t thunderstorms, but still looked impressive. By 9PM it was all over.

Between the showers I finally got the repair to my RV water pump complete. When I started the task a couple of weeks ago, I set the task aside and went in search of a better tool. After several tool shopping stops without success, I took another approach. I removed some of the insulation and the vacuum cleaner hose that were blocking access. This allowed me a little more space. I was able to get my hand and a stubby screwdriver into position to remove the three screws that hold the pressure switch onto the pump. A few scrapes on my hands and wrist and a few pauses to work the cramps out of my hands and I had the part replaced. A quick test verified success, then I had to work on putting everything back together. I’m left with one last problem with this repair. The screwdriver bit I need to reattach an inside access panel is missing. I need to buy a new square drive bit or dig through my backup tool box looking for a replacement bit.

The other noteworthy event of the day was the power outage. While I was watching the evening news most of the power in the campground went out. Some of the street lights are supplied from across the dam. Everything supplied from the south side of the canal was out. Not knowing how long the outage was going to last, I went into a more extreme conservation mode than necessary. My RV batteries and inverter would allow me to continue as if nothing had happened, but not for the long term. To make sure I had enough power to run the refrigerator well into the next day, I turned off the TV, Computer and excess power users. I think the power came back on around 1AM.