Darren Doin’s

I finally got my motorhome winterized. I’ve been trying not to procrastinate it, even though I’ve been dreading it because it is kind of a big job. It is really important to get it done right.

In theory, it’s pretty simple. In practice, it’s a lot of back and forth, inside and outside the unit. You have to run pink anti-freeze through all of the pipes, after you drain the hot water heater. The trouble with the hot water heater is that it has a several gallon capacity and I haven’t found an easy way to bypass it. So I spend a fortune for antifreeze, filling it up, before I can get the antifreeze to run through the hot water pipes. The stuff isn’t cheap, either. Michelle spent $70-something buying all of the antifreeze this year. Of course, I had a couple of gallons that I didn’t use, but the stuff is like liquid gold.

I am going to try to capture as much of it as I can when I drain the pipes in the early summer to reuse it. My problem is that I’m so paranoid about a freeze up, I tend to use a lot of extra that I probably wouldn’t have to use. I have to make sure the antifreeze is “pink enough” coming out of the hot water faucet. So I spend quite some time comparing the color of the antifreeze from the cold water pipes with that of the hot water pipes to make sure it is as pink as it should be. If there is water mixed in with it, it dilutes the antifreeze down and you run the risk of having a freeze up when the weather really turns frigid. The cold water pops are pretty easy. The hot is the challenge. Even after you drain the tank of all of the water, there still could be a little water left on the bottom. Aside from that, you always have to make sure there isn’t anything you’re forgetting. You have to pour antifreeze down all of the drain pipes to make sure there is a little in each of the traps, to prevent freeze ups there. Shower hoses, both inside and out have to have a little run through them as well.

It’s a pretty simple process, in theory, but there is a little pressure too, because the last thing you want is your pipes to freeze and bust! Aside from the cost of materials, getting to the pipes in one of those things to change them out, is a nightmare! I had a freeze up the first year we had our 1983 Southwind, and it was a disaster. Once you’ve been through that before, you never want to go through it again. Now that the process is complete, I feel a tremendous sense of relief. You never know when the weather is going to turn and we’ve had some pretty cold nights already. My anxiety level rises when I look at the thermostat and see that it is around 32 degrees and the job isn’t done yet. There is a couple more minor things I forgot to do, but for the most part, the pressure is off now.

Michelle was feeling a little better today than she was yesterday. The doctor had prescribed Topamax for her migraines, but it didn’t help with the migraines. Instead, she started becoming very forgetful, which is one of the effects of the medication. She also missed one pill on Sunday, which caused her to feel horrible all day Monday. I thought medicine was supposed to make you feel better. This is stuff that you have to gradually introduce into your system, and be weaned off of, gradually. She is going into the hospital in November to be monitored for her condition. We’re hoping that they can find out what’s wrong with her, at that point.

In other news, a listener to the radio program sent me a very insightful commentary about the cultural Marxists attack on the institution of the American family. I’m not a fan of the Heritage Foundation, because I view the organization to be a part of the controlled opposition. I don’t trust Heritage, as an organization. However, like anything, you have to use discernment and pick the good from the bad.

In that vein, this guy, Dr. Paul Kengor, wrote a book called Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left as Sabotaged Family and Marriage. He does a fantastic presentation, going back to what Marx and Engels said about families and the devastating impact of redefining marriage in today’s society. It’s definitely worth watching.