Dave and Brad repair wood at Pastor Jacob's house The first few weeks of January came and went in a blur. Our first Nomads project during Covid was a resounding success for the work accomplished safely. We continued to make small changes to better use our new RV and have been tweaking our marketing to help sell our Puma.
Mark and Brad work to repair floor joists in Mission House Getting it Done
Afternoon devotions outside. Couples working independently or teams outside. Singing with masks on. No church dinners. Two couples canceling due to pandemic concerns. It was a different year.
The work went on however. And although it shouldn’t be surprising, we were again in awe of how much was accomplished, despite the constraints of the pandemic. Our priorities were restoring the Mission House to service for the use of Beyond 90, installing gutters and repairing damaged wood on Pastor Jacob’s house, finish sealing the gym roof, repairing the well that is used to water the community gardens managed by several Burmese families, fixing a leaking drain pipe and getting a golf cart running. Not too much to ask. We even squeezed in a few more tasks as well.
You can get a glimpse of what was accomplished in the project video, seen here.
Afternoon devotions outside. Couples working independently or teams outside. Singing with masks on. No church dinners. Two couples canceling due to pandemic concerns. It was a different year.
The work went on however. And although it shouldn’t be surprising, we were again in awe of how much was accomplished, despite the constraints of the pandemic. Our priorities were restoring the Mission House to service for the use of Beyond 90, installing gutters and repairing damaged wood on Pastor Jacob’s house, finish sealing the gym roof, repairing the well that is used to water the community gardens managed by several Burmese families, fixing a leaking drain pipe and getting a golf cart running. Not too much to ask. We even squeezed in a few more tasks as well.
You can get a glimpse of what was accomplished in the project video, seen here.
RV Stuff
The big sign on the window said, “Thin-Shade Ready”. Our entry door had a window that had no shade or other covering. That might work here in Jacksonville, as we faced the woods, but was less appealing as we moved on from here. But those 3 words on the door made it seem like a simple fix. We ordered one of those shades, watched a video after it arrived and quickly went to do the simple install.
Not so fast.
What should have been simply flipping 4 latches open and then closed took all of Cathy’s and then Dave’s strength. And the shade still kept slipping out. Until one of the plastic latches snapped off. Since this was part of the installed window, what next? We contacted Lippert about the problem and, to our surprise, they immediately acknowledged that this should have been easy. Within a few days, a new window was on its way. Hopefully it would install easier than the shade.
The big sign on the window said, “Thin-Shade Ready”. Our entry door had a window that had no shade or other covering. That might work here in Jacksonville, as we faced the woods, but was less appealing as we moved on from here. But those 3 words on the door made it seem like a simple fix. We ordered one of those shades, watched a video after it arrived and quickly went to do the simple install.
Not so fast.
What should have been simply flipping 4 latches open and then closed took all of Cathy’s and then Dave’s strength. And the shade still kept slipping out. Until one of the plastic latches snapped off. Since this was part of the installed window, what next? We contacted Lippert about the problem and, to our surprise, they immediately acknowledged that this should have been easy. Within a few days, a new window was on its way. Hopefully it would install easier than the shade.
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Since the window was a “snap-together” frame, the tricky part was separating the new window to get it installed on the door. Using 16 plastic “wedges” provided with the new window, we carefully popped each snap without breaking anything. Whew!
With this success under our belts, we moved on to the existing window and popped it off the frame. The new window went on quickly as well. So, the final step was to install the shade. And sure enough, we flipped the 4 latches open, popped in the shade and then flipped them closed. It worked. And we did it all over our lunch break. Not bad.
Our compliments to Lippert.
With this success under our belts, we moved on to the existing window and popped it off the frame. The new window went on quickly as well. So, the final step was to install the shade. And sure enough, we flipped the 4 latches open, popped in the shade and then flipped them closed. It worked. And we did it all over our lunch break. Not bad.
Our compliments to Lippert.
Another feature of the RV is an outdoor kitchen area with a small dorm-sized fridge and a built-in grill. When we went to use the grill for the first time, Dave decided he needed to watch some videos to be sure he was setting it up correctly. What he discovered was not exactly what he was looking for. This grill was pretty much universally panned in every review. The BTU’s were too low. It didn’t collect grease well. It was mounted too close to the RV. So, rather than use it, we opted to keep our reliable Weber grill and think a little harder about what to do with the built-in grill.
We adapted the Weber grill to run off the RV's low-pressure quick connect, by removing the pressure regulator from the grill and buying an adaptor kit with a 12-foot hose. Now, we can continue to use the RV propane tanks to run the grill.
We adapted the Weber grill to run off the RV's low-pressure quick connect, by removing the pressure regulator from the grill and buying an adaptor kit with a 12-foot hose. Now, we can continue to use the RV propane tanks to run the grill.
David cleaning roof of Puma While we had scrambled to clean the inside of the Puma before the project began, Dave had been meaning to clean the roof as well. The opportunity presented itself one Friday during the project. After an exhausting hour or so of scrubbing, the roof looks better for the sale and shows that it is solid and well cared for. We also expanded our online presence with a Facebook Marketplace ad.
Parting Shots
The holiday get-togethers continued into January over Zoom – Wendy’s birthday, a Hutchinson family gathering. Cathy eventually finished Dave’s Christmas present ( a bag for one of his Ryobi tools) . And we continue to get good news about Cathy being cancer-free after a meeting with her surgeon. Perhaps the best news was Dave’s vaccine appointment. He had his first shot the day after the project. That’s a milestone.
