Category: weather

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Christmas Snow, No Pudding For You (Post #309) 12/27/2012

Merry Christmas everyone.

I had thoughts of posting another series of posts on the 12 days of OkieRover Christmas and the Festivus holiday tradition of the Airing of Grievances but was just not motivated to do so this year. School was hard on me this semester and my writing energy was hammered by the class.

Also, one of our four-legged children has been down all week and her injuries have me mostly depressed. We are treating her with drugs and hope she can heal. I hate it when we have an injured pet.

After a lovely Christmas dinner at the children’s aunt and uncles house. We took my Father-in-law home (that’s him in the A-Driver position). The roads were no where near as bad as previous years. The most trouble we had was getting the doors on the Range Rover to open with the handles. UGGGH! That is not going to be a fun job to fix. I also heard some suspension noise from the left front. I’m guessing springs will be coming sooner rather than later. And that shock mount I found that was busted will need some welding.

My wife’s sister Aunt SuSu (Susan) and brother-in-law John cook a mean turkey and SuSu’s dressing rivals only that of my wife. SuSu’s banana pudding was pretty good too. My oldest daughter Fireball still has the market cornered on banana pudding. But with the weather such as it was and her with a bun in the oven with only 5 minutes left on the timer, J-man with a wonky back and single digit wind chills they wisely stayed home with my favorite holiday banana pudding. Insert unhappy face here.

The Ford Exploder they drive is 4×4 but has the wrong tires on it for any prayer of staying un-stuck. If you remember the infamous Snowpocalypse of 2009 I had to extracted them from a snow drift in our neighborhood with the then front-wheel drive Range Rover. If you recall, I had a then unknown broken rear axle shaft. The Best 4x4xfar even when limping on a single axle.

It has been a long time since the four of us were in the Range Rover together. I asked RovErica to take some action pictures. The three of them then began mocking me with every turn, exaggerating the effect of the minimal G-forces being exerted on us at 15-20 mph. Good times, good times.

RovErica then got everyone in the back to ham it up for some snaps. It seems like we see the kids only when they need something these days. I guess I was the same way when I was their age. Now I understand the looks on my father’s face and the tone of his voice when I called home “just to say hi” and to let them know “I was still alive”. His tone to me when I hadn’t called home in three weeks pushed all the Catholic guilt buttons on the console. I’d be a basket case if we didn’t have cell phones.

Thanks for reading, Merry Christmas, and Happy Rovering to you all.

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Winter is Coming (Post #307) 12/8/2012

I love that line, “Winter is Coming”. If you are a fan of HBO’s Game of Thrones you know the phrase Winter is Coming has a special meaning. It is appropriate in this post because ONE, winter is indeed here although you wouldn’t know it in Oklahoma; and TWO, it implies that there is a impending doom upon you. Oklahoma weather is like that. One day you are wearing shorts wondering if you should reopen the pool, the next day you are wondering if you have enough firewood and if it would be cheaper just to open the freezer doors because its colder outside than inside the meat freezer in the garage.

Such is life on the plains. Be Prepared, is not just the Boy Scout’s Motto it is a warning, be ready for what ever comes your way. I’d like to say I am always ready. Fact is I am ready more than I am not. And compared to other people, sometimes I’m just down right psychic in my level of readiness. A regular Okienostradamus.

So with that, whether you drive a Range Rover, Discovery, Defender, Series II or III, Air Mobile, or Forward Control you should have a nice kit of preparedness in the boot. You all know this is a Land Rover blog, but this advice extends to you even if you drive a Jeep or a Honda Civic, get some basic items together and be prepared.

While I was suffering from insomnia last night brought on by a runty little skunk spraying our rookie watch dog, Bocephus (RovErica named him) at 0230, I was thinking of the kit in the rear of the Range Rover and this post.

I have written about this before, “What’s in Your Console” is found on my website OkieRover.com. I talk about all the items I carry in my quest to be prepared. So I thought I’d list a few items to deal with what will surely (I know, don’t call me Shirley) make you one of the most prepared flatlanders on the plains. You never know when you might be in the middle of a Snowpocalyse.

Shovel

Handy for digging yourself out of a snow bank when you are in a Target or mall parking lot or dispatching zombies. If you exercise your option to UPGRADE you could get one of these, Cold Steel Spetznaz Special Forces Shovel. Prices vary, so shop around. I have one in the Range Rover. Very handy in many situations.

You could also opt for the traditional G.I. Joe Entrenching Shovel.

These are available almost anywhere. The ability to have the spade set at 90 degrees to the handle is excellent for digging and pulling snow out from under the body of your motor. It also folds up and can be tucked out of the way easily in your boot (trunk). It can be used as a weapon if necessary too. I’ve heard many a story of troops using them as a last resort.

Jumper Cables

Winter is jumper cable season. You may be surprised to learn heat kills more batteries than the cold, but it is true. I can safely say I have used my jumper cables in winter four times more often than summer. Get a pair of the higher quality ones. They last longer and will be easier to use when the north wind is attempting to cut you in half. Jumper cables are not very useful as a weapon unless you are a ninja or have Mel Gibson strung up by a chain to be tortured ala Lethal Weapon (1987).

Blanket

Every vehicle I own has a blanket in the trunk. They are useful in summer when you need a ground cover while you enjoy a picnic or fireworks show. In winter they might just save your life if you happen to slide off the road and can’t get yourself unstuck. You can get a blanket from any number of places. I like the woven blankets of Mexican origin. They are cheap, so cheap that if you were to get them covered with goat heads, stickers, or whatever you call them, you just leave in the nearest waste bin.

Ice Scrapers

I buy these when they are on clearance for a dollar at the end of winter. I toss them in the trunk and hand them to the EXCEPTIONALLY UNPREPARED MORON scraping their windshield with a credit card or their keys or their sandals. Seriously, really, I’ve seen it. Not only did the moron not have a scraper but they were wearing SANDALS IN WINTER TIME during an ice storm on the plains. I should just let natural selection take her icy course on these idiots but the condescending judgmental looks I get to give them when I hand them a free scraper are too good to pass up.

Tow Strap


 Having a tow strap might be a nice addition. Don’t scrimp on this one. Get a REAL tow strap. Rope, cord, etc… will not cut it. Chains are impractical due to the weight to distance ratio. Twenty foot of grade 70 tow chain can move up to 4,700 pounds but it also weighs 20 pounds. A tow strap capable of pulling 6,000 pounds weighs only two pounds and can be purchased for around a saw buck (ten dollars).

Know Where Your Recovery Points Are
Crawl under your car now while you are dry and warm and look for the recovery points. I’ve run into many cars that don’t even have recovery points. As a matter of fact I ran into a Mercedes sedan in my neighborhood that didn’t have a recovery point in the front. What ever you drive, find out if there is a place to hook a tow strap and how to get to it. It isn’t any fun to dig under your car when it’s in 8-12 inches of snow to find the effing recovery point only to learn TOO LATE you don’t have one there.

I could probably go on for nineteen pages with suggestions. I’ve heard people say they put bags kitty litter their trunk. I can probably see that for traction on the ice sheets we often have here in the southern plains. Never used it myself. There are a hundred more items but I will not dwell on them here.

Winter is Coming. Be Prepared. Take the bull by the horns. Endeavor NOT to be “that guy/gal”.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention today is the 71st Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. 
Never forget.

God Bless America, Thanks for reading, and Happy Rovering.

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What? Code 44 again? (Post #304) 11/21/2012

It seems like every time I drive the Range Rover I get a Code 44. This is a GROSS over exaggeration of course. It only happens every other time. 😉
(did I just use an emoticon in my blog? Wow. I need help.)

I saw the Check Engine Light come on during the drive home on Tuesday evening. When I got home I looked at the display but it had not yet decided to tell me what was going on.

So when I got in the her this morning I again noticed the light and stopped to see if I got a code. I snapped this very dark picture at 0625(CST) with my cell phone in the cul-de-sac in front of the house. It was the code I expected to see. The gas mileage is pretty disappointing right now (13mpg). I’ve chalked that up to a wonky transmission but suspected the oxygen sensors as well.

On the drive in and as I was writing this I was thinking “what the hell”? I changed out the oxygen sensors fairly recently. It must be something else.

What else you might ask? That’s a very good question. Let’s go to J.E. Robison’s website for a quote. He has a great website and if I lived anywhere near him (Massachusetts) I’d be dragging my Landie in for his advice and service.

Code 44 – Lambda sensor A – left bank

Code 45 – Lambda sensor B – right bank

If one of these fault codes (#44 or #45) is displayed check the wiring to that particular lambda sensor. In addition this fault will be displayed if the vehicle has a condition which causes it to run very lean or very rich on one side (example – a vacuum leak or a bad injector). This code often appears in conjunction with the misfire codes in cases of bad ignition misfire (cross-firing plug wires) If both codes are displayed, the voltage supply to the heater coils of the sensors must be checked. Check for 12V appearing on the O2 signal lead, and check the heater circuit for shorts.

So as you can see there is a lot to get under the bonnet and take a look at. The vacuum hoses are a serious concern. Considering in the last two years we have had some weather extremes. Two summers with 120(F) temperatures followed by two winters with temperatures down to 5(F). This kind of weather is hell on rubber bits. I swap our wiper blades more often than I buy trousers for work.

So what if I don’t find anything out of place I replaced these just a year or two ago. Is that right?

I go back and look through the blog and find the last time I wrote about oxygen sensors for the Range Rover was November 2003. And my last evidence of me actually replacing them December 2003. Seriously? That can’t be right. Is it?

I see that I swapped the oxygen sensors for the Discovery in 2008 just before we reenacted National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) and took the Mother Road out to California. Did I replace the O2 sensors back then on the Range Rover as well? I have a feeling I may have.

That is actually good news, because that was 4.5 years ago. I can live with that replacement rate. However I’m not real happy with the miles on these if they were replaced in 2008. But if I replaced them in 2003, I can seriously live with that.

So while the weather is still nice over the Thanksgiving holiday I will take a look around and see if anything is out of sorts. If no, I will order some O2 sensors.

Lookin’ good in Uptown.
Parked in front of Tucker’s Onion Burgers
on N.E. 23rd in OKC.

Thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving to all you out there. We have so much to be thankful for here in Oklahoma.

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Tornado Wedding in Kansas (Post #293) 5/24/2012

We always kid around about going out on the porch to watch the tornado. My daughter and wife watched the 2012 Norman tornado blow by the house (2500 feet) just last month from the “safety” of our back porch.

However nothing really compares to this…

Here’s a longer clip from Youtube.

This was recorded in central Kansas.
They didn’t let a little thing like a tornado stop true love!
Or the father-in-law said, “THIS WEDDING IS HAPPENING, I can’t get my deposits back.”
Plains-folk are perhaps hard headed and maybe not too bright at times, but you’ve got to admire our sand. (idiom: to admire one’s sand)

God Bless Oklahoma and the hardy people who call themselves Okies.

Thanks for reading and Happy Tornado Chasing Rovering.
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Tornado, Danger Close, Family Now Even Closer (Post #289) 4/17/2012

Many of you may have seen the news about a recent Tornado outbreak in Oklahoma. We had some tornadoes that’s for sure. We even had one in Norman. Yes, the town that NEVER has tornadoes had a small one on Friday evening. I was driving home when it went through town. I arrived home only minutes after it went through the First Courthouse neighborhood south of my house. 2500 feet is about what we figured the distance at. RovErica and Mrs. OkieRover watched it track past the back of the house. Stupid as it sounds, its what most Okies do.

I think it will be considered and EF1, if even that. We did not get the houses flattened and widespread damage you are accustomed to seeing when our state is portrayed on the news after a twister. Woodward, Oklahoma on the other hand got it bad, again. My adopted mother lost five (5) cousins (it might have been seven I can’t remember) in the 1947 Woodward tornado that killed one hundred and seven (107) people. As of this morning six (6) people have died in this recent storm. Many more are in critical condition in local hospitals.

It was an exciting evening with lots of wall clouds forming, rotation of clouds on the bottom and that eery feeling something was about to happen. Once the power came back on we watched on and off coverage of the weather until late. A second line of very menacing looking storms was scheduled to blow through at 4:00 am. They turned out to be lots of lightning and a little rain. Generally nothing to write home about.

On Sunday it cleared up and we took my mother’s ashes to the Glenwood Cemetery in Perkins, Oklahoma. We made contact with the family that I never knew. They were all so excited to meet us. It was a bit overwhelming. I got to meet a high school friend of her’s and so many 2nd and 3rd cousins that I lost track of who was who.

After the ceremony, if you could call it that, we went back to a cousin of my mother’s to have fellowship and a meal. It was fun to watch the grand kids knock about on the farm. We chatted until it started getting on into evening. My sister-in-law came along and we all had a good time.

There is a Courtwright family reunion coming in June and I was enthusiastically invited several times. The Gates family reunion isn’t until next year. I don’t think it will be that long before I hear from that family again.

Thanks for reading, say a prayer for those affected, keep your head down and your eyes on the sky, and Happy Rovering.

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Guam, USA (Post #288) 4/17/2012

Guam circa 1967

After reading this article about how a man used Google Earth to find his long-lost mother, it reminded me of my own search to find my first neighborhood. I was born in Oklahoma City. My father worked for the Federal Aeronautics Administration (FAA) and he bid on a job on Guam and won. And so at the tender age of two, we moved to Guam. My first memories of life are of living on Guam.

I got my first bicycle on Guam. This was my first taste of freedom. It was likely yours too. Riding my bicycle was amazing. When you look back at your life as a kid riding your bike, is there any wonder why so many people like riding motorcycles? The wind in your hair, flying down the road, the sense of freedom, the bugs in your mouth, bliss.

So I had endeavored to find those first magical roads I blazed upon in my youth. Thankfully Guam is a small place. When I was a kid, my dad drove around the entire island in one day, several times. I remember the basic layout of two streets that were connected at the ends. One was on the ocean side the other not. I also remember the long drive out of our neighborhood and the turns to get to the “main road”.

I then brought up maps.google.com and started looking. And to my surprise there it was.

I was fortunate or perhaps unfortunate that the place is completely abandoned. There is a photo on the site that shows and describes the place as an abandoned military road. It is not military, it was civilian housing. Several things can explain the current condition but the most like is this one. Typhoon Karen hit in 1962. I have always remembered the name Typhoon Karen. People talked about it for years. We rode out several typhoons. I was told by my parents that after we moved back to the States, a large typhoon struck the island and our houses were gone. That would make sense now considering the houses are all gone.

Unfortunately Street View doesn’t go down these roads. I’d love to ride down them one more time, if even only electronically.

On a side note the location shows Golden Shower Ln, Dededo, Guam. That is not the name of the streets on the loop. The water side road was Oceanside Drive and the other was Karen Drive. Golden Shower Lane is south of there in a new neighborhood. Yes, I know, so stop snickering.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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