Burned Wires and California’s Extras Fees

Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.

 

With a new inverter in place we feel pretty comfortable that we can move on and even spend the night at Wal-Mart or a casino if we need to and actually be able to have some juice from our batteries.  I mentioned the other day that Terry had discovered there were two issues because once the new inverter was installed  we were still having a problem with charging the batteries.  He had to disconnect the remote switch to get the batteries to charge off of AC.  Well, now he discovered the bigger issue and the reason the batteries weren't charging.  It seems when the tire blew in Oregon it took more than the tire with it.  It took the cables that had been run and secured from the converter to the batteries with it.  We felt we were lucky that just the wires were cut.  It could have been more.  Once he spliced the wires back together, the issue was resolved.  Thank goodness!

While Terry worked on the wiring Duchess and I took a long walk along the beach.  This is a beach where cars are allowed.  Of course, there is a fee.  I’m thinking not much is free in California.  Well, they didn’t charge us to walk on the sand so I guess that’s free.  It was a beautiful day.  Duchess loves the sand and barking at the waves.  However, she’s not as young as she used to be.  It was a long walk back for her.  Walking on the sand is fun but the walk back just about did her in. 

The Elks we are at is a very busy Lodge.  The parking lot is packed every night with members participating in one activity or another.  Friday night is steak night and for $10 we think that’s quite a deal.  Thursday night we visited a great Mexican / Seafood place.  It was right down the road.  Food was great and service fantastic.  Speaking of the Elks and speaking of food … the RV park is becoming more and more like sardines. (Sardines are food for some … not me … but for some).    The host has even moved into the emergency exit to allow more space.  It is packed and there’s only one way in and one way out. We don’t like it like this.  If we had a place to go, we would but with the Santa Ana winds still howling south of us, we are staying put for a couple more days.

 

We’ve had to make several trips to Ace Hardware for wires, cables, lights and a few other things.  It seems when one thing goes out you start looking for other things.  We noticed a sign on the counter indicating if a bag is needed, there would be an additional 10cent charge per bag.  We’ve not seen this before.   With a handful of little items a bag would certainly be nice but there is absolutely no way we’re going to pay a dime for it.   Many counties in California have new laws on the books banning plastic bags and requiring a fee for paper bags.  Other counties require a 10 cent fee for any bag.  It’s a BYOB (bring your own bag) state.  Most of us have recyclable bags we carry but also know other bags are available just in case we buy more than we can fit in it.  I guess it’s just training yourselves to always have bags with you.  We’re used to it at Costco and Sam’s.  They use boxes.  I wonder if the boxes are banned too.  

Last year we were surprised when we purchased a couple small 8” TV sets in California and were required to pay in advance an extra $8 for disposal of the product when we were finished with it.  California is also one of the states that require a deposit on all bottles or cans.  In other words when you get to a checkout counter in California you never know what’s going to be tacked onto the price.   I wonder if they sell doggie doo bags with an extra dime added for each bag.   Glad we bought ours in Washington.

Access to the beach is monitored by California’s park system.  They have  rangers at the  entrances.   The rangers are there to make sure everyone pays a fee prior to driving on the beach.  If you don’t pay the fee, they aren’t going to let you through.  California has not missed many things that they could receive a few extra cents on.  Of course, they certainly need it.

‘Tis life on the road.