Summer of the Reality Check

I finally fixed an earlier post about a door handle I couldn't manage from my phone. I had the Internet shut off to the house while I was gone, and it won't be back on till next week. It means I have watched a lot less t.v., but also haven't been able to update the blog.

Things that broke in Alice this summer:

• Front window seal (not really a new thing... I fixed it the first summer, then replaced the counter-top the leak had ruined the second summer... by the end of the summer, the leak was back... now it's even worse)
• Bathroom window seal (this one was perfect for two summers!)
• Seal around stove vent (this one puzzles me, because there is no seal that can have failed... it's just leaking. And it leaks a LOT. I leave a towel on the counter when it rains, and it is completely soaked after a light shower. Everything under the stove has been completely soaked from the water dripping down behind the stove... it's been going a while)
• Furnace (What? This was only a year old when I bought it. I only used it one other time, and it worked fine.)
• Water Heater (Has a leak that needs welding. My mechanic is a modern guy and kind of wrinkled his nose. "It's old. You should just replace it." Or, I can weld the leak and keep using it the one time a year I want hot water. Then again, this looks perfect for a small trailer!)
• Front window crank (I wrote about this in an earlier post about a truck stop)
• Water pump (Again, new when I bought it. It was acting funny in May, worked OK over the summer, then gave up on our last camping trip to Shades. I will have to siphon the water out of the tank to winterize, and I assume that will make all my pipes burst later.)

I had the tongue jack replaced at the beginning of the summer, which has made hitching and unhitching much easier. But it is clear that next summer will not be a camping summer, but a repair summer. :(