Truck Mirror Repair & Clermont Florida Weekly Update

Our extended winter stay is soon coming to an end and we will be back on the road again. I’m quite excited to get back to our travels, albeit it will be a stunted travel year. So far, we only have a plan to slowly travel back to our old home area of Virginia. After our three months there, I do not know yet. We are kicking around a long trip to the far west in 2021, but it just depends on many unknowns at this time. Here’s a recap of this last week from our southern headquarters…

Truck Mirror Repair

Just like in the award shows I need to thank someone. YouTube. I can’t count the number of times that I have looked up something on YouTube to figure out how to do something. I’m amazed each time that there is a video for just about any task at hand. From cleaning my 1911 to a more complicated repair.

A couple of years ago, I had some damage done to my driver’s side mirror. The clear plastic section that houses the turn indicator was smashed in Maine. The mirror itself was fine, just the plastic section was broken. Like any outside damage, I took the truck to a body shop for a quote. It seems they could only replace the entire mirror housing for the low price of $1,500 including labor. Ridiculous! It was still a new truck and no aftermarket parts were available.

My next stop was a junk yard or two to pick up a used mirror. No luck there either. Just my luck that no 2017 Super Duty trucks were in the junk yard in the fall of 2018. So, I just kind of got used to looking at the broken plastic and the constant irritation fell into the background noise.

That is until the forced Covid downtime happened. I made list upon list of things to do during this unique “opportunity.” Man, I love having my to-do lists. I get the most satisfaction just writing down the items. Actually accomplishing them comes in second at best.

On my list was to figure out how to repair that darn mirror. Doing some quick google searches revealed that aftermarket parts were now available. Woohoo!! For a little over a Benjamin Franklin note I finally had my part and could make the big red F-350 whole again.

Then it was on to YouTube to figure out the process. There were two good videos. The one most detailed was a guy who had his 10 year old son hold the video camera and recorded the whole process. I somehow avoided getting motion sickness from the many point of view changes and documented each of the steps.

In my prior experience, things do not usually go exactly to the plan when taking things apart to fix something. Either something breaks or the famous leftover parts that you always wonder what it was for. While the repair was not easy, it went rather well. Taking about an hour the repair was completed and the assembly was back together.

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Life in Clermont, Fl.

We have been attending our home church back in Virginia via YouTube live streaming ever since the local church closed during the Covid. It has been very nice to hear Pastors Bob and Roland again. Under normal conditions, we would find a good church in our current area and attend it. It has been great to meet others and develop friendships along the way.

On most afternoons we meet our neighbors, Calvin and Suzanne, next door at their site for a 4:30 happy hour while social distancing. It has been great to have friends to chat with about all of the crazy events happening today. They are also about ready to leave on an abbreviated travel schedule. We will be saying our goodbyes soon until our paths cross again.

During the last few weeks, I have been making ham radio contacts on CW (Morse code). Most every late evening the radio conditions will improve and I’ve made contacts with stations from Texas to Michigan and Maine to Georgia. It has been a lot of fun and I have been improving my code speed after getting a little rusty the last few years. But, due to almost constant thunderstorms and the necessity to pack up, I’ve dissembled the antenna and packed it away for now.

Florida is leading the states in opening up. Most everything is now open with some restrictions of course. Restaurants are open with 50% inside seating. Universal is open and Disney is planning on a July opening. We continue to take a safe approach by eating at home, but have been going to the grocery stores instead of using delivery. Wearing masks while in the store, but now I hear that really will not protect you.

I’ve had a few doctor appointments with a local chiropractor to help with a lower back issue. It is almost 100% now, but had a couple of rough days last week. Nothing is much worse than back pain. I attribute the back issue as another Covid related issue. Due to sitting around too much and I have not been to a gym since February. I was keeping in decent shape until the sheltering happened.

The network and cable news programs have gone over the top with their constant negativity. I’m sure they all have their agendas, but if you spend much time watching the news programs, it just cannot be good. So, about a month ago, I cut way back on the watching and now have practically eliminated it from my day. While I try to stay away from any political discussions in this blog, I would also recommend everyone to do the same. Try it for a few days.

I’m sure that our country still has a great future and many fantastic sites and things to do. We are continuing to pack up and be ready to travel next week. And to plan for our travel schedule next year (2021). Maybe it will be our last year to travel. Not sure. We will do some house hunting when back in Virginia. Try to find that perfect retirement home.

So turn off the depressing news, pick up some hobbies, work in a happy hour with friends, and keep your faith. I know that I sure am looking forward to some travel updates very soon! Take care and God Bless.