Bumps Along the Road

No matter how you are living, no matter how wonderful your life is, there are always a few bumps along the road.  Tom and I have encountered a few bumps this summer and I thought I would write about them.  They have been very minor and wouldn’t be worth mentioning, but I don’t want to give the impression that we have a perfect life.  It’s pretty good and certainly filled with blessings but there are always those bumps along the road.

Ransomware-MalwareThe computer has been an ongoing bump.  A couple of months ago we were attacked by a ransomware virus:  one of those where the virus eats your files and they want you to pay to get them back.  Fortunately I am married to a computer genius who was able to wipe it out but it took both of us a whole day to get the computer restored.  I’m not sure how the ransomware got into the computer – we have several layers of protection – but I suspect it came in when I decided to sync my ipad.  The virus showed up right after that and my ipad has been glitchy ever since.  Today the computer decided not to connect to our usual hotspot despite having solid 4G LTE service.  Oddly enough, it connected to my hotspot which it usually refuses to find.

Okay - maybe the potholes weren't this big
Okay – maybe the potholes weren’t this big

Another bump this summer has been the roads.  The roads in New York and Massachusetts are bad!  Even though we stuck to the interstates when we were towing, we were jiggled and vibrated all over the place.  Not to mention potholes that would eat a smart car.  Fortunately we are bigger than that, but we hate it when the suspension gets a huge jar on the interstate.  We enjoyed driving through Kentucky and Tennessee because the roads are much smoother, probably due to the constant presence of the orange barrels.

All that bumping added to problems with the computer when the graphics card connectors became stressed.  We thought the graphics card had been damaged but it turned out it was just the connectors.  The computer is in a slot that is just big enough, but all the cords were taking a beating in the tight quarters.  We replaced all our computer connectors with 90 degree connectors and now they are much happier.

While we were in Salisbury Beach we had a little electrical problem (I keep saying we but Tom is always the one who figures out how to solve the problem).  We only had 20 amp service and by law it must be a Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI) outlet, which did not like our on-board GFI.  It turned out we needed a non-GFI outlet that the campground said they only use on Canadian rigs.  Plugging in to a different electrical box solved that problem, although we had to be really careful about what we turned on.  Tom said it was like Apollo 13 – we had to make sure the load didn’t exceed the amperage.  We could turn on the air conditioner or the water heater or the refrigerator or the microwave but none of them in combination.  We put the refrigerator on propane and turned on the solar panels and got through the week without blowing anything.

My bump to the wheel flange
My bump to the wheel flange

Our final bumps along the road have been a couple of bumps into things with the truck.  I managed to bump a concrete bollard going around a corner and crushed the wheel flange.  Fortunately it was an easy fix and I didn’t damage the wheel or the side of the truck.  Shortly after that Tom bumped another concrete bollard with the front hubcap, which sticks out much farther than the rest of the truck.  Because the hubcap is plastic, it destroyed the hubcap but, again, it was an easy fix by ordering a new hubcap from the Dodge dealer.

Life on the road is good, but there are always going to be bumps along the way.  Fortunately Tom is good at fixing things and I am good at letting him.  When you are on the road, you have to learn how to let things roll.