A Very Good Day... NASCAR Day one of actual Racing... and the Postponed Post

The first day of actual Racing Started out in the cool of the morning... which turned into a fairly warm day... that wore my Ol' butt out. I'm a tired pup tonight! That Gate Supervisor Stuff is a job... fun time... but work just the same! :)

Wasn't like we were diggin' ditches... but standing out in the sun, on your feet on the pavement for 10 hours... is a piece of work for a grumpy Ol' Army cripp. :o) good thing we had plenty of NASCAR Fans to tease and pass the time with.

Don't know why it's such a tiring thing... Not really a hard thing to do, "Supervising" and backin' up a bunch of folks that know what they're doin'! 'Course... it does leave a lot of time for Teasin' and havin' a good time... Could be that's what wore me out!

Managed to get up into the stands a time or two and get a few pictures... and then we were released from the gate at the 1/2 way mark of todays race... so I was able to get some pics of not just the morning practice and during qualifying... but in the afternoon race...

Now, this race was sort of the 'minor league' level of drivers... which means... race three laps... run five laps on caution... race three laps... run four laps on caution... race a half lap... go back on caution... :o) ... yeah... these guys seemed to have a great difficulty keepin' their paint off some other cars fenders. :)

Had the camera up and focused on a corner at just the right moment...

*Getting sideways at PIR*

The guy goin' sideways actually managed to get a handle on it... but the poor boy lookin' at his door ended up thumpin' the wall a bit on the infield, just around the corner... bummer for him... and this is a view we got several times... first lap on the green just after the restart...

*First Corner after the restart*

We'd got a pretty good perch... way up on the roof... pretty good view from up there...

*Watching the Race from up on the Roof*

Kinda fun bein' able to have a good view of the scambling pit action too... since it seems pretty often that those boys are the one's that end up winning the races for their drivers...

*NASCAR Pit Action*

...and was especially glad... we only saw the last 30 laps or so of the race... 'cause this ol' tired dog wanted to go home and go to bed! :O)

Though of 'course I had to get this post done up for ya'll first! ... but then? I'm for Bed!

***and now... Wednessdays postponed post***
Finally Pushed Replacing the RV Bedroom Duct Tape Window up the Priority Ladder... Making The RV Window replacement, finally, number one priority.... 'cause that Duct tape was startin' to bug me... well, that and just finally Having the new window on hand helped...

So... first thing this morning, ran down to Wally World and collected the screws I needed, that weren't in the dang hardware bins I added at Christmas time... figures don't it?...

... got my "stuff" arranged on the bed of the truck for the RV Surgery... and went to tearing out the Old Broken RV Window frame...

Like most things, the reality wasn't a shadow of the Monster that you cook up as you fret over it... I was dreading it... thinking of all the things that Could go wrong... like the new window falling back out before I could run back inside to get the first screws of the retaining ring set in place!

Yeah, well, that didn't happen... whew! 

The hardest part was carrying the new window up the ladder to set it in place.

*Our New RV Window set in Place*

That dang thing was quite a bit heavier than the original... maybe 'cause it's twice the glass? :) yeah, the cheapest replacement from Jayco is an insulated glass version with double panes... works for me.

I laid the new frame on our folding table and put the glazing putty in place around the frame... so that when I tightened down the screws of the retaining ring... that gunk would squeeze into every crack and crevice and seal that sucker up tight...

*Plenty of Putty to Seal an RV Window Tight!*

 Almost went to cleaning off the excess... and then thought better of it... That would have been a real bad idea...

I'll wait either until evening, or first thing in the morning before the sun gets on it, when that putty is cold and hard...

By the time I got done securing the window the sun was strong on that wall... and trying to get that putty off, would have been a gooey mess. :) and me bein' the prissy lil' biker cowboy that I am... I don't like gooey messes! :)

Since I was having such great success with repairs I thought I might as well take a good look at the failed tightners on the Awning support arms...

They twisted off the first time I went to open the Awning up in Quartzsite... My guess is they got enough salt air on 'em out on the coast that the bolts corroded enough that when I cranked the plastic handles... they just twisted right off the frozen bolts...

*original Awning Bolts minus their plastic Knobs*

My temporary solution was to take a couple of 1/4" bolts from my hardware bins and double nut 'em... so that the remaining threaded length was the same as the original...

When I removed the original bolt the internal locking nut fell to the bottom so I could run my Temporarys in and out a few times with a good application of some silicone lubricant... to loosen those internal locking nuts up a bit... and polish the crusty threads...

and then... using a pencil and some duct tape stuck up inside to hold the retainer nuts in line, up inside where I can't see... and I sure can't get my lil' fingers... I screwed the improvised bit in place...

*Temporary Awning Arm Locking Bolt*

Aw quit it! I have good ideas all the time!... and some of 'em actually even work!... and this one works just fine! :)

Though it's not as quick or tooless like the original... When I get some more time and ambition... now that I've got the idea :) I'll replace one of the "Double Nuts" with a wing nut... and lock it all in place on the bolt with some High strength thread lock... and I shouldn't have any more issues with plastic Knobs!