Shampoo With Emphasis On "Poo" - (Chester, CA)

It's not easy coming up with Journal titles each day, so forgive me for this one.  :)

So what have we been up to?  Well, Linda has been working the late shift for this very slow weekend with nothing much to do except take reservations for Labor Day weekend.  We have 60-something check-ins this coming Friday.  Yikes!  :)

I have been shampooing carpets in the cabins.  Yes, there's another new skill to add to the ol' resume.  :)

I picked up a carpet shampooing machine on Saturday morning.  I followed the instructions carefully and figured it out.  It's not particularly difficult, but takes a while.  The hardest part is keeping all the cords and hoses out of the way.

In between the carpet cleaning, I've been doing my normal bathroom cleaning and trash pick-up chores.  But on Saturday, I was asked to re-pump a rig that Randy and I did on Friday.

Friday's pump-outs had a glitch.  Somewhere in the first few rigs, our hose became clogged.  The pump was working, but it just didn't sound right.

We dumped our half-full tank and Randy took apart some of the pump area where clogs have happened in the past.  We didn't see anything, so he put it all back together and we just tried to get through the rest of rigs.

Well, on the first rig, we were hooked up and Randy looked down at the skinniest part of the hose connection.  He no sooner got "I should have checked that ...." out of his mouth when the hose came apart at that junction.  We both acted fast and closed the three valves on that trailer.

Fortunately, the black tank had already emptied, but Randy still got a little gray water spritz.  Yuck.

Sure enough the hose was clogged.  We had sucked a plastic hook of some kind out of someone's tank and it was bound up in undissolved toilet paper.  Sheesh.

Fast forward to Saturday.  I was sure we had properly drained the tanks of the guy who wanted a re-pump, but there was no point arguing.  I hooked up the Honey Wagon and went to his place.

He said he could still see black water in the toilet.  With him watching, I pulled the black tank valve and got ... nothing.  He had a clog.  And he believed me.

I fetched a hand snake and turned it over to him.  I'm not supposed to run snakes through rigs for liability reasons.  But, I provided instructions - Can you believe it?  Me providing instructions :) - and moral support until he eventually got the pipe unclogged.

I had them fill their black tank a couple of times and then we put water in the gray tank so we could rinse out all the pipes.  By the time I was finished, everything was coming out clear and they were very happy.  :)

The wife told me she wasn't using the RV toilet paper.  I told her that was okay as long as she did the RVer swish test.  Put a few sheets in a container of water and stir gently.  If it dissolves without too much agitation, it's okay.  If it doesn't, switch brands for the RV.  There are threads on this topic in the Forum, so I won't get into all the brands that work.

After our shifts, we watched a movie Saturday night.  Another loaner from Randy & Michelle.

Movie watching usually goes like this.  We start around 8:20.  If it's a movie I like, I manage to stay awake and we have to pause it at 10:00 so I can do the security/quiet hours check.  If I'm not into the movie, I usually fall asleep around 9:30 and Linda wakes me up to do the quiet hours run - no pausing of the movie necessary.  :)

So how's that for an exciting weekend?  Tough to write about that kind of stuff every day.  So please forgive me if I skip a day here and there until we are finished here.  Thanks for your understanding.  :)

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Comments

[Jason Baze]

Still entertaining Howard. Just for curiosities sake, would you consider taking a work-camping position like this again, meaning consisting of the same tasks, or would you be more apt to persue one that is a little less evasive (I guess thats the woed) than this? Still putting myself in your shoes, I keep thinking only a few more days! Take care, Jason.

[Dee]

It will be over soon. It's amazing how far you've come since 2006 when we started following you. I can't wait till you get to Michigan, we'll meet up. Hang in there, the end is near.

[Ron Stacy]

I just want to share with you folks how encouraging it is to read your getting started blog and diary. My wife and I are looking forward with the hope of joining in the full-time RV life style. The notes and comments here almost always bring a tear of anticipation to my eyes. Thankyou for sharing your life with those of us that are in the throes of wanderlust vicariously.