Today was my designated day to do a\nrepair on the outside of our Barbarian Invader. At some time in the\npast, there was a leak somewhere in the top front of our trailer. A\nmonth ago, Peggy got up on the ladder and sealed the leaky spot. The\ntreacherous leaked water had run down through some inaccessible crawl\nspace to the cheesy wood and plastic sheet that covers the underside\nof the gooseneck. Once there, it was trapped so it puddled on the\nformerly planar surface and slowly reconfigured a section so it\nlooked like a big white hematoma about the size of a racketball.\nEventually, the flimsy plastic burst like a big zit, emptying out the\nwater but leaving a hideous open wound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tToday we used our oscillating tool,\ncheaply made in China and purchased at the Mount Vernon Harbor\nFreight store, to excise the subject ugliness. It actually worked\nquite well, cutting right through the fragile plastic and crummy\nveneer behind it and revealing the interesting, normally never-seen\ncomponents inside. Many other tools eventually came into play but all\nwere wielded amateurishly. After breaking and dulling many razor\nblades and repeated applications of Goo-Gone, I finished cleaning off\nmany applications of caulk, crud and road grime all around the\nsurgery. A thin piece of aluminum diamond plate acquired in\nBellingham was stuck over the hole with butyl rubber sealant, screwed\ndown tight with sheet metal fasteners and then caulked at the edges\nwith a fancy Sika caulk\/sealant we purchased on the internet. It even\nlooks like I knew what I was doing although we all know better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The whole time I was being puzzled and getting sticky stuff on me outside, Peggy performed a whirlwind of tidiness inside, cleaning up our well-used toilet room (including all the walls), doing the same to our shower, making the carpets look like I have always stayed outside and vacuuming out the heater duct work concealed below our floor. The place looks great inside. We had cocktails later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today was my designated day to do a repair on the outside of our Barbarian Invader. At some time in the past, there was a leak somewhere in the top front of our trailer. A month ago, Peggy got up … Continue reading