The apartment kitchen with cabinets, countertop, sink and floor installed, seen from the dining room. The work on the church’s apartment continued at a fast pace as we helped Pastor Rigo’s family ready it for their planned move-in date. By the first weekend in May, they were in and enjoying their own place. Cathy reached a milestone as she completed her 9th chemo session on May 13th, achieving a 3/4 milestone of the weekly treatments.
Fermin, Rigo and Dave study a difficult cut in the floor panels. Finishing Touches
We could start to see the path to finishing the apartment as the final pieces started to come together. Pastor Rigo and his brother-in-law Fermin and the rest of the family were taking an active role, making the work go quickly. Rigo and Fermin installed the kitchen cabinets showing they had a lot of experience doing this. Meanwhile, Cathy discovered a great deal on the countertops, made even better when we discovered the store’s inventory was wrong and they had more of the specific angled pieces we needed. To make a good fit, one angled cut was still required to be made to fit the countertop into one of the corners of the U-shape. However, with care, Rigo and Fermin made the pieces seam together smoothly.
We could start to see the path to finishing the apartment as the final pieces started to come together. Pastor Rigo and his brother-in-law Fermin and the rest of the family were taking an active role, making the work go quickly. Rigo and Fermin installed the kitchen cabinets showing they had a lot of experience doing this. Meanwhile, Cathy discovered a great deal on the countertops, made even better when we discovered the store’s inventory was wrong and they had more of the specific angled pieces we needed. To make a good fit, one angled cut was still required to be made to fit the countertop into one of the corners of the U-shape. However, with care, Rigo and Fermin made the pieces seam together smoothly.
Cutting the miter cut in the kitchen countertop Dave found some laminate flooring for the kitchen, hall and dining room, which Dave, Rigo and Fermin installed, The kitchen sink was purchased, set in the countertop and plumbed in. Numerous doors were hung. AC’s put in place, and lots more painting and cleaning. Dave discovered the need for a heavier duty (100amp) breaker feeding the apartment and he helped guide Rigo to install it. Cathy made another small contribution – painting the address number sign for the building.
Finally, the rooms were all ready and the move-in was underway. The apartment is a home at last.
Finally, the rooms were all ready and the move-in was underway. The apartment is a home at last.
Dave with new Champion generator Powering Up
While RV’ing, the need to charge the batteries is usually taken care of by plugging the RV into an outlet. Unless we are traveling extensively and “boondocking” (i.e. staying somewhere without services), the need for a self-contained charging system for the batteries isn’t usually a priority.
To simply charge the batteries, since the power draw is minimal, our small Honda 1000 generator has been more than sufficient, is lightweight, small and easy to store. However, if we need to run the A/C, the small Honda, or even its bigger cousin, the Honda 2000 will not carry the load at startup. We briefly owned a 2500 Watt generator from Harbor Freight that wasn’t strong enough for our 13,500 BTU AC either. This one just fit in the bed of our old truck under the tonneau cover.
So, why are we talking about generators now? We are in one place and will likely be here for a few months to come. So, boondocking isn’t on the immediate horizon. A couple of things. We will be in Florida during summer which means daily thunderstorms, some of which can be severe. That means the potential for an extended power outage – in the summer – in Florida. Do I need to spell it out? Also, with the new long-bed truck, the space to store the generator is not so tight.
While RV’ing, the need to charge the batteries is usually taken care of by plugging the RV into an outlet. Unless we are traveling extensively and “boondocking” (i.e. staying somewhere without services), the need for a self-contained charging system for the batteries isn’t usually a priority.
To simply charge the batteries, since the power draw is minimal, our small Honda 1000 generator has been more than sufficient, is lightweight, small and easy to store. However, if we need to run the A/C, the small Honda, or even its bigger cousin, the Honda 2000 will not carry the load at startup. We briefly owned a 2500 Watt generator from Harbor Freight that wasn’t strong enough for our 13,500 BTU AC either. This one just fit in the bed of our old truck under the tonneau cover.
So, why are we talking about generators now? We are in one place and will likely be here for a few months to come. So, boondocking isn’t on the immediate horizon. A couple of things. We will be in Florida during summer which means daily thunderstorms, some of which can be severe. That means the potential for an extended power outage – in the summer – in Florida. Do I need to spell it out? Also, with the new long-bed truck, the space to store the generator is not so tight.
Generator remote-start device Dave started looking for a generator that he knew would start and run the AC. We considered several, but narrowed the list to the Predator 3500 at Harbor Freight and a Champion 3100 Inverter / Generator. Both were rated to run the AC, had electric start capability, and a reasonable weight. The Predator also had an hour meter. We could purchase a “no questions asked” warranty for the Predator and take it to any Harbor Freight within the next 2 years to have it replaced. However, the Champion’s price included its 3-year warranty and a remote start option. An hour meter could be purchased as an add-on. The Champion with the warranty and eBay discount was a better deal and the remote start was an attractive feature, so we opted to go that way.
The shipping was incredibly fast, arriving the day after we ordered it. After buying some oil and ethanol-free gas, Dave started it up. Reviewing some videos online, Dave decided to change the oil after ½ hour run time and again after another 1 hour. The break-in period was 5 hours of variable load that didn’t exceed half of the total capacity. With different combinations of a space heater and a hair dryer on different settings, we varied the load every 15 minutes for the 5 hours and changed the oil one last time. The oil was considerably cleaner than the first 2 times. And now it should be ready to run in an emergency, which we hope doesn’t actually arrive. Oh, and, of course, Cathy needs to make another generator cover (#4?).
The shipping was incredibly fast, arriving the day after we ordered it. After buying some oil and ethanol-free gas, Dave started it up. Reviewing some videos online, Dave decided to change the oil after ½ hour run time and again after another 1 hour. The break-in period was 5 hours of variable load that didn’t exceed half of the total capacity. With different combinations of a space heater and a hair dryer on different settings, we varied the load every 15 minutes for the 5 hours and changed the oil one last time. The oil was considerably cleaner than the first 2 times. And now it should be ready to run in an emergency, which we hope doesn’t actually arrive. Oh, and, of course, Cathy needs to make another generator cover (#4?).
Cathy on beach at Hanna Park Cold Comfort
Just 3 more. Cathy’s weekly chemo treatments were going well, and her energy was staying up, side effects staying down. The only noticeable symptom that others could see was her hair that continues to thin, but hasn’t yet disappeared. Since it hasn’t been coming out in clumps, she has put off wearing the wig or shaving what remains off. However, the baseball cap doesn’t come off too often.
Just 3 more. Cathy’s weekly chemo treatments were going well, and her energy was staying up, side effects staying down. The only noticeable symptom that others could see was her hair that continues to thin, but hasn’t yet disappeared. Since it hasn’t been coming out in clumps, she has put off wearing the wig or shaving what remains off. However, the baseball cap doesn’t come off too often.
We still walk an hour every day, and, usually take a 1 hour bike ride once a week. As the temperatures and humidity rise, we find a little reward afterward in the form of some amazing frozen custard at a place we discovered called Whit’s. We’ve managed to visit all but 1 of the locations in the Jacksonville area multiple times in the 3 weeks since we discovered them. They have chocolate, vanilla and a flavor of the day. By far, the most amazing specialty flavor is Samoa – with the bits of the cookie in it. Yummm . . . Luckily, the locations are far enough away that we can’t go there every day. It would be bad for the waistline.
While waiting for the labwork to be completed before the infusion and sometimes during the infusion, we can look out over the St. John’s River and watch the river traffic. Several times there are cruising sailboats heading up and down river. We got a shot of one of them on a particularly pretty day.
