Joni Gets The Power, And I'm In The Dark

For Gary, it's been a busy week here in the Green Acres Garage. For me...not so much. As usual, I just sit here and take it easy, and watch my beloved owner run around like a chicken with his head cut off. On Monday, Gary finally got all of Joni's rear lights working. This was quite a monumental task. All of her 12-volt wiring had been cut, and Gary had to figure it all out. He has more patience than me, that's for sure. Joni looks good with her REAL lights working, and not just those hokey taped-on trailer lights that somebody attached to her bumper. Tuesday, Gary had a doctor's appointment mid-day, so that pretty much ruined any momentum he had going. He spent the afternoon doing the necessary things like washing clothes and housecleaning. Wednesday, he was up and running very early. He had to go to a lab for blood work, and he was there by 7AM. He followed that up by doing some shopping, including a trip to Tractor Supply for a couple of bolts he needed for Joni. As it turned out, that simple trip for two bolts ended up being MUCH more. Gary came home with twelve 5-drawer hardware cabinets. Tractor Supply had remodeled their hardware aisle, and was selling their old cabinets. He HAD to have them! Since Gary has an abundance of hardware that he keeps in storage totes and cardboard boxes, these cabinets will be the greatest thing ever for organizing everything in the way that he's always wanted it. Tractor Supply had left the cabinets out in the rain for a day or two, so part of Thursday was spent getting them dried out and cleaned up. Then he wondered where the heck he was going to put them. As you can see, they take up a serious amount of space. He then began to empty off one of the big garage shelves and the floor beneath it. The shelf will get removed, a base for the hardware cabinets to sit on will be built, and they will occupy the now empty space. Where did all the stuff go that got removed from the shelf and floor you ask? A good amount of it is piled up in front of me. I'm not too thrilled with this, but what can I do? I'm stuck back here in the back of the garage, and whatever happens, happens. On Friday, Gary began the process of moving the electrical outlet that would soon be blocked by the new location of the storage cabinets. He HATES electrical work almost as much as he hates plumbing, so I knew this day I would hear a variety of swear words and have to deal with a VERY grumpy owner. The main breakers were turned off to the garage, so I had no power for a few hours. I couldn't watch "Judge Judy" or "Peoples Court" like I usually do, but I was NOT going to complain. Gary was not in a mood to get a bunch of grief from me. I sat quietly and watched, and things went rather smoothly. It took a long time, and Gary had to go to Useless Depot for some parts, but he got the electrical outlet relocated about twelve feet to the right of where it was. I finally got my power back on, and all was well. And now it's Saturday, and I'm writing this while I await the arrival of Gary for another day's work. The plan is for him to build the base for the storage cabinets, and hopefully get them moved. The yard needs mowing too, but the cabinets are blocking Helen the Husqvarna from leaving the garage. First things first. We'll see how today goes, and I'll check in with you fine folks as soon as I can. Stay cool.

Joni's Re-Hab, Part One

No work has been done on me lately, but the wood saws and metal shears have been hard at work on our guest, Joni. I promised I would post update pictures when things progressed, so here's a few of her latest improvements. I forgot to post a picture of the rather ugly A/C mounting when I did my "Meet Joni" post. So the first pic shows what that looked like, and you can probably tell why there was water leaking in. A view of Joni's back wall from inside her, shows her hacked up paneling and insulation removed. Some of the insulation was wet and had black mold on it. Not pretty. You can also see me through her window, watching over the project and waiting somewhat impatiently for Gary to work on me. But that's another story. Back to Joni. The next pic shows where Gary cut out the jagged and epoxy filled sheet metal, to make a flat foundation to attach the repair panel to. You can also see how he repaired the 1x4 window frame with mending plates to give the replacement window frame something to be screwed into. With that done, Gary spent some time "beefing up" Joni's rear wall. There was no structural support of any kind between the window frame and the bed, but there is now. Two more 1x4 studs were added. These not only give the wall support, but also provide a solid backing to screw the repair plate, Serro Scotty emblem, and tag bracket into through Joni's skin. She's good and strong now. The final pic shows the repair plate attached, and the window being test fitted. The work continues, and I will try to keep Gary focused on the job at hand. When Joni gets done, then I will be getting all the attention, and you KNOW how much I'm going to enjoy that! More updates soon. Have a GREAT day!

Company Is ALWAYS Nice!

I sure do love having company stop by to see me. Everybody is always so friendly and complimentary. I often sit here alone for weeks or months at a time without anybody other than Gary to pay any attention to me. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my owner, but it's always fun meeting new people. I was blessed twice this past week with new friends stopping by for visits. First, Marguerite and her nephew Jacob from Orlando came by with their Airstream Bambi. Marguerite is friends with Nancy Martin in Charlotte, NC. Nancy had come by to meet Gary and I a couple of years ago, and keeps in touch with Gary regularly via e-mail. A couple of months ago, Gary had cut the rear bumper off of my brother Scotty to give to Nancy. Marguerite and Jacob were heading to North Carolina to camp with Nancy, so they stopped by to pick up the bumper along the way. They were carrying a LOT of stuff, in addition to five dogs, a cat, and a bird. But somehow, Marguerite made room for the bumper and a temporary spare tire that Gary was also sending to Nancy. Unfortunately, they couldn't stay long, but our visit was fun while it lasted. Yesterday, Gary's Facebook friend Amy and her husband Jim came by for awhile. They have a variety of vintage trailers, but on this trip, they brought along a rented r-pod. They had spent their 25th wedding anniversary week at Anastasia State Park, and came by here on their way back to Panama City. There was lots of trailer talk going on between Amy and Gary especially, and they chatted in me with the nice cool air conditioning on for about an hour. Just like with Marguerite and Jacob, the visit with Amy and Jim was much too short. I'm hoping that everyone who came by to see us this week will come back again soon. Even better, maybe we can all go camping together one of these days, but not until the summer heat is gone. If you're going to be in St. Augustine, stop by and say hello. I know that we are not going to be going anywhere for awhile, and it's always nice to meet new friends and see some smiling faces. I'll leave a light on for ya!

Meet "Joni"

The Green Acres Garage was a total man cave until Helen the Husqvarna arrived in May. You know how it is. When one girl or guy gets into an exclusive club intended for just one sex, others are soon to follow. Such is the case here. Early this month, "Joni" arrived, joining Helen the Husqvarna as the second girl in the Green Acres Garage. Who is "Joni" you ask? She is a 1971 Serro Scotty, that belongs to our friend Caryn from up in Jacksonville. Joni didn't have a name when she got here, but Gary decided to name her after Joni Mitchell, the famous singer. Since Caryn is a folk music fan, and Joni Mitchell's early works were folk themed, the name just seemed to fit. Who am I to argue? Joni was born in Ashburn Georgia, just like me. Gary says she's my older sister. We do look very similar, at least from what I can remember of how I looked when I first arrived here. She has many coats of brushed on and rolled on paint, just like I did before Gary stripped me down to bare metal. She's had a hard life, just like I had before Gary found me. And that is why Joni is spending some time with us. She is basically in "re-hab", and Gary is trying to make her a little healthier and stronger before sending her on her way. Somebody savagely cut up her sheet metal, her window support, and her wiring. The main goals are to remove her air conditioner from her hacked up rear window, beef up her back wall, install a new rear window, create a removable mounting for the air conditioner in her side window, cut a hole and install a new cargo door on her right side, replace the doorless cargo frame on the left side, and get all of her non-functioning 12-volt wiring working. All of that is more difficult than it sounds, and I wouldn't know the first thing about doing any of it. But Gary did most of that stuff and more to me, and I'm sure he can do the same for Joni. What is making matters worse is the intense summer heat, and that's something that Gary has a hard time dealing with. I often remind him to take a break and hydrate, two things that he sometimes forgets to do when he's busy with a project. When he ignores my caring advice, he usually pays for it by feeling poorly the following day. He's doing better, but I have to nag him quite a bit. Honestly, what did he ever do without me? Progress is being made with Joni, and luckily, Caryn is in no hurry to get her back. Joni seems to be enjoying her time here in the garage, since she has to sit outside in the weather when she's at her own house. Helen and Joni have bonded, and I'm listening carefully to their conversations. I'm nervous that they will form a girl alliance, and will try to take over this former man cave. Luckily, Gary has the keys, and I'm positive he will thwart any attempts of a possible takeover. I'll post some more pics of Joni as the work continues.

He's Back And He's Running!

I am BEYOND happy today. A little while ago, I heard the sound of a familiar engine running. Then, Gary opened the garage door, and there was my best buddy and trusty tow vehicle "Dodge". YAY!!! As I posted earlier, "Dodge" quit running and Gary had him towed to a repair shop. They had him for almost two weeks, and couldn't figure out what was wrong. Gary was tired of waiting for them to come up with an answer, so "Dodge" got towed back home. Within minutes, Gary found that a piece had broken inside "Dodge's" distributor. That small metal ring leaning up against the distributor in the first picture is supposed to be riveted onto the distributor shaft. As you can see, the rivets broke and the piece was floating around loose. As I was told (I'm not mechanically inclined), without that piece being attached, the engine won't run. Gary ordered a replacement distributor from NAPA, installed it, and "Dodge" fired right up. Knowing how much I've missed my buddy, Gary brought him into the garage so we could hang out and talk for awhile. I am SO glad he's not sick anymore. He looks good, he sounds good, and we could go camping right now if we wanted to. I'm SO surprised that a professional mechanic couldn't figure out what was wrong with "Dodge", and Gary found the problem and fixed it. He's my HERO!!! Welcome home, "Dodge".