A Spool Of Wire MIA, Bigger Challenge Than Before, Sticker Shock, Breaking Things and Getting Doused.

Our Location today is Deming, New Mexico, U.S.A. 

With the outside temperature dipping down to 28 F (-2 C) through the early morning hours Kathy slept soundly only waking momentarily when she accidentally tossed the covers off. For myself it seemed to be a different story waking before 2:00 and barely falling back to sleep by 4:00. The only reason I had stayed in bed was because it was warmer under the blankets. Even though we had the Electric Fireplace on it’s not warm enough to heat the trailer like the furnace would. When I woke up the next time and saw that it was nearly 6:30 MST I simply started my day. I had the blinds open, breakfast nearly ready, most of my morning reading completed and had even gotten a few shots of the sun as it crested the horizon. 

Kathy was up shortly before 7:30 MST and we discussed what we each had to do. I’d completed my inside chores and gotten myself ready to go outside by the time the temperature had reached the freezing mark. After repeating the steps of emptying the basement I started getting set up to run the wires through the now completed Conduit. 

Before leaving Ontario, I’d made certain I’d brought all the rolls of wire that would be needed for this job because it’s nearly impossible to find it in lengths longer than twenty-five feet. The one roll of wire just wouldn’t fit in any of my containers so each time the basement was emptied there it was in plain view. Now that all the other wire spools were gathered to be installed that particular roll was nowhere to be found. I calmly looked in all the containers and bags but no Black wire. I even looked in all the cabinets in the truck knowing beforehand that it wasn’t there. After repeating the process twice more my calm was disappearing and I asked Kathy to look just in case I wasn’t seeing it. When she had checked and double checked it was determined to be MIA. The only solution was to replace it. 

I went to all the Auto Parts Stores in town with no luck. Finally going to the True Value Hardware Store I was happy to see they had a spool of wire the same size I was missing. My joy soon disappeared while standing in line to pay for it I noticed through the clear wrap eight wire ends. This spool was not one piece but multiple ends packaged as a roll. The only thing was to get Stranded House Wiring. Anyone who has worked with it knows it is much more ridged than Automotive Wiring. 

Back Home trying to pull all those wires at once and unrolling the House Wiring by myself proved to be impossible. I set up a chair so Kathy would be comfortable while I move from the inside of the basement, to under the trailer, then to the rear to pull the wire through the Conduit and Repeat. At first Kathy was only uncoiling instead of unrolling the wire as instructed not knowing it would cause it to kink. If more than two feet of wire was pulled at a time it would cause tangling and kinking. The process was repeated at least a dozen times before the wires reached the Junction Box at the rear of the trailer. Kathy said that was actually a three-person job but actually four would have been better but we did it. 

I normally carry quite selection of electrical connectors but for some reason the larger size I needed was empty which meant another trip to town. Before leaving I noticed that I didn’t have enough relays on hand so I added those to the list as well. I got the Connectors at One Auto Supply Store and had to get the Relays at another. I was in shock at the cost of the relays because they normally cost me less that twenty-five percent of what they cost today. 

At Home I finished connecting the wires at the rear of the trailer and closing up the Conduit Elbow. All the exposed wires were shielded and mounted with clamps to the ceiling. I mounted the relays and fuse block where it was easily accessible but when it came to finding the lead-in wires from the Pinbox I couldn’t do it. 

Kathy had been busy making our January Itinerary and it looks like we’ll be busy doing things other than working which makes me happy. She served Soup for supper with Yogurt for dessert. 

I went back outside to remove the Pinbox Cover that I’d made to stop the birds from making a nest in there and in the process snapped one of the screws. With the cover off it took about fifteen minutes to remove the broken screw but at least now the same hole can be used to put a larger screw in. 

It was too dark to continue so I started putting things back in the basement. One of the baskets that Kathy had looked in for the wire had a bottle of Fire Starter from back in our Pop-up Camper burning damp wood days and she hadn’t put it back the way she found it. When I put another container on top the Fire Starter Bottle split giving me a good dousing. It’s no longer in the basement and I was the first in the shower tonight. 

Here is wishing all our American readers, friends and their families a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving tomorrow. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy! 

It’s about time.

Krackers 

Classic bumper sticker #615 

I took an IQ test and the results are negative.