Awake: 5:57am Temp 39 sleep 5+25 overcast & cool winds
overnight @ the HWH factory near Moscow, Iowa.
Kathy & I walk into the HWH service bldg @ 9:30am. We talk with Lynn, the
service scheduler & let her know we have arrived. She checks her book &
tells us: early afternoon. About 11:30am, I drive our coach into 1 of the
9 service bays. Tim the technician is assigned to our #4 slide repair.
This company specializes in making the hydraulic components, the computer
brains & mechanical mechanisms for any RV that utilizes hydraulic leveling
devices & slide out rooms. Our #4 slideout has misbehaved ever since
arriving in Nicktown August 28th. I thought the Newell techs would be able
to clear up the problem when we were @ the Boothbay, Maine rally but the
job was too technical and involved for either Mark or James.
HWH, for over 30 yrs now, has invited their customers who are having
repairs done to their RV’s to go for lunch @ “The Cove” restaurant.
Leroy, the director of engineering, drives us to the restaurant (3 min)
along with 7 others. Kathy has pork tenderloin with French fries, onions &
cold slaw. She doesn’t care much for it. I have a beef sandwich smothered
with gravy & mashed potatoes. It’s good but I can’t eat all of it so I box
the unfinished food for later. K & I then get persuaded into sharing a
raspberry pie a la mode.
When we return to our bus, we find Tim scratching his head on why the
slide only extends 6”, then has a problem: the side by the entry door
stops moving while the opposite side continues to move if the switch is
held down…..making the slide extend sideways. Not Good! Jim joins the
scene; they take pressure readings on all 4 hydraulic cylinders for the
slide top & bottom. Now Stacy the service manager joins the group. @ this
point, K & I decide to move into the customer lounge & let the guys do
their thing.
2 hrs later, I check on their progress; they are taking some of the slide
room apart so as to get to the 2 lower hydraulic cylinders & have them
analyzed. Some of our room parts are neatly assembled on heavy paper on
the service bay floor. @ 6:00pm, Stacy lets us know that the cylinders
have been removed & will be tested tomorrow, but for now, they are
finished for the night.
Our living room is virtually unusable tonight. The computer desk is
outside, drawers emptied & stacked nicely. Many other books & things have
been moved to other corners.
Lunch @ The Cove was our main meal today so this evening, we snack on
sourdough pretzels & popcorn while watching a video from the library of
Grace & Gary titled:
“The Insider” with Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer, Diane
Venora, etc. A fact-based story about a gutsy segment producer for TV’s 60
Minutes (Pacino), who sniffs out a story in disaffected scientist Crowe,
who’s just been fired by a major tobacco company. 1999. It’ll keep you
awake, no question about it!
Lights out: 11:11pm
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