Help With Vehicles with Dual Wheels

The question was raised on one of the RV forums I participate on that related to making things easier to deal with filling and checking the pressure in the tires of vehicles equipped with duals. I provided one answer to assist them, but I thought I would also make some notes here on the blog.

The nature of duallys is that one has to be able to check the pressure on both the outside and inside tire, and it is a lot of hassle to have to remove a tire just to check pressure. So, one needs different testers and fillers in order to be able to get the job done. Also, with some of the higher pressure tires, air equipment with higher capacities for air pressure is also needed.

When looking at your duals, first make sure that when you look through the hole in the rim of the outside tire that you can see the hole in the rim of the inside tire. If you can’t then it will be nearly impossible to fill or check the inside tire’s air pressure.

With duals, one needs filler equipment that is called a dual foot fitting. There are two different dual foot heads on the accessories. The first is called the Dual Chuck style and looks like the end on this small tire pressure tester.  This one is a Milton S 927 Dual Foot gauge.

The other style is called a straight foot dual head and looks like the end on this fitting for filling dual tires.

With either style of dual foot, they are designed where the end air fitting (the one pointing out) is used to fill the inner tire. The second air fitting is the one pointing backwards and is used for filling the outside tire. That has to be done that way because the valve stem for the outside tire is actually pointing towards the inner tire.

For any tire on a truck, pickup with large dual tires, or motorhomes with duals, one probably wants to have an air tester that has a high capacity. Some of the smaller tire testers are only good up to 120 lbs. psi. While the longer air testers usually have a capacity of 160 lbs. psi. Of course, the longer ones are also easier to use to reach into the inner tire’s valve stem.

The picture of the tester above would have a capacity of 120 psi. The one below is one with a capacity of 160 psi.  It is a Milton 982 Dual Head tester.

Now, with either of the above testers, one has to remove the air hose from filling and then place the tester on the valve stems for testing of the air pressure. On occasion, it seems that I can lose a fair amount of air just trying to fill and test the tires. So, to alleviate the issue of constantly inserting and removing air accessories, there is another solution, although it is a bit pricey.

The picture below is of a Milton Window Inflator Gauge model S 506. You will see that there is a handle that when depressed will allow air to flow into the tire from the compressor. It is also equipped with the dual foot fittings, but it has one more feature. The window is actually a magnified reading of the air pressure in the tire.  Obviously, this image does not show the chuck fitting that allows one to attach it to one’s air hose.

After putting in air and releasing the handle (but keeping the dual foot fitting engaged to the valve stem), the air pressure will be displayed in that magnified window. This type of air fitting is helpful in ending the need to keep changing tools to fill or test the air pressure. However, there is one drawback with this tool. It only has a pressure capacity of 120 lbs. psi. So, on our Mobile Suite’s 17.5” tires, it won’t be enough capacity as the tires get filled to 125 lbs. psi.

The Milton products are made by a company that has provided air equipment for automotive service stations for years. We used this equipment way back in the ‘60’s. For that reason, I searched out Milton products to get my tire tester.

Since we also have our own air compressor capable of filling the 125 lb. psi tires, I might just purchase one of the window inflator gauges for myself.  It won’t be usable on the trailer tires, but the regular tester will function well for that capacity anyway.  Since the trailer tire stems all face outward, they are easy to fill and test.

A Shortened Trip for Lens Testing

While we had originally planned a trip to Muskogee, Oklahoma on Saturday, May 12, to see the USS Batfish and its location at Memorial Park and take pictures, the weather prohibited that trip. We woke up that morning and checked the forecast for various parts of the state. While Oklahoma City would only have a 20 percent chance of rain, Muskogee was having 79 percent chances.

Rather than take a chance of having to change lenses during a rain storm, we elected to first go south to Turner Falls Park near Davis, Oklahoma. As we started that direction, continued checking of the weather on our smart phones fairly quickly let us know it was going to be completely overcast with less than good conditions for photography.

So, we elected to cancel the photography trip and went to get some things that Jo had wanted to do as well. She wanted to check for “boat shoes” in a couple of different places. She had been told that boat shoes would be good footwear for exercising on her small exercise machine. She has a small walker machine marketed by Gold’s Gym called Twist and Step.

Because that walker gets very warm on the footpads, it is important to have some protective footwear. That and the traction of the shoes make it very helpful with using the walker. Walmart has them shown at this link:

Gold’s Gym Twist and Step at Walmart

Since we decided to go to Bass Pro to look for shoes, I thought that I might go ahead and take some pictures at the park near there where the Land Run commemorative statues are located. Going into Bass Pro first to look for shoes, we stumbled upon some folding reclining outdoor chairs. We had been looking for some time and hadn’t liked what we sat, but we tried these out and really liked them.

Normally, we never buy a product with a name brand on it, thus giving that company free advertising. Our clothes never have brand names on them. But, these chairs were so close to what we wanted that we elected to bend that rule a bit. We got them on sale that Saturday for $49.99 instead of the normal $69.99. The chair is at this website:

Bass Pro Reclining Camp Chair

We then goofed around the rest of the afternoon until about 4:00pm so that we could go to Outback restaurant for Jo’s Mother’s Day dinner. Eric, our youngest, bought the meal. After that, our day was pretty complete.

So, all that is left is to show some of my test photos. I kept the camera at the same settings and on automatic focus. With the 18-200 Nikon zoom, I set it at 70mm so that it would be similar to the lowest setting of the 70-200 mm zoom.

First, here is one taken with the 18-200mm.

Now, with nearly the same scene with the 70-200mm, one can note that the image seems to be quite a bit lighter, especially by looking at the tall grass on the small “point of land” in line with the waterfall.

To show something of some close-up photos, I chose some Magnolia blossoms. This first image is with the 18-200mm.

This next image shows somewhat lighter conditions using the 70-200mm.

As one can see, I’ve got some experimenting and learning to do in order to better acquaint myself with how to set the camera and lens. When we returned home, I was looking at the new lens and noticed that I didn’t have the switches on it set correctly. So, I see the likelihood of another excursion to take more pictures.

Thoughts of Mothers

The day at church started with an acknowledgement of the mothers and mothers-to-be and giving notice that they are all appreciated.

Then the preacher went into his sermon, which was based on Proverbs 3, verses 1 through 12. He explained that it is made up of a series of couplets, with every two verses being a different one. There was more to Proverbs 3 that hit me today, as words came to mean something to me, even though the author of Proverbs likely meant otherwise.

Let me start with the couplets so that you, the reader, will have a clue as to where this post is going. I won’t comment much on each couplet and its possible meanings, as they aren’t really the focus of my thoughts. I will separate each couple with an extra line “space.” So now, from Proverbs 3:

My son, forget not my law; But let thy heart keep my commandments:

² For length of days, and years of life, And peace, will they add to thee.

 

³ Let not kindness and truth forsake thee: Bind them about thy neck; Write them upon the tablet of thy heart:

⁴ So shalt thou find favor and good understanding In the sight of God and man.

 

⁵ Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart, And lean not upon thine own understanding:

⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he will direct thy paths.

 

⁷ Be not wise in thine own eyes; Fear Jehovah, and depart from evil:

⁸ It will be health to thy navel, And marrow to thy bones.

 

⁹ Honor Jehovah with thy substance, And with the first-fruits of all thine increase:

¹⁰ So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, And thy vats shall overflow with new wine.

 

¹¹ My son, despise not the chastening of Jehovah; Neither be weary of his reproof:

¹² For whom Jehovah loveth he reproveth; Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

 

Each of the couplets are a message of sorts from or about God, each of which seems to give a message of morality, and they give an example of His love for us, His creation.

However, being the ever inquisitive person and not wanting to stop with verse 12, I read on to find words that had another meaning for me. That is what I want to share on this day. Now, from Proverbs 3: 13 through 18, which I will now likely really take it out of the true context of the author.

¹³ Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, And the man that getteth understanding.

¹⁴ For the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver, And the profit thereof than fine gold.

¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies: And none of the things thou canst desire are to be compared unto her.

¹⁶ Length of days is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace.

¹⁸ She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: And happy is every one that retaineth her.

The first two verses of that part (13 and 14) speak of something of great value, as wisdom and understanding are just that valuable, because who are we if we are not known as wise and understanding?

Then, beginning in verse 15, a personhood is brought into play as the pronouns “she” and “her” are brought into play, which was the sense that struck me as I read the words. Are we as children, and husbands, blessed with the finding of someone wise and understanding who is known as our mothers? Are they not a valuable resource to us, especially with the thought of their attempts and success in offering us lessons of understanding and love?

Our mother’s greatest desires might very well have been those that their children would heed the words of wisdom, understanding, and love. Have they not given us “riches and honor?” Are not their ways those of pleasantness and peace? Of course, they are the “tree” which gives us life, just as God gave life to us all.

As God bestowed the blessing of the couplets in the first 12 verses, our mothers have continued those blessings in the way they taught us and gave us an example.

So, to all of you who are mothers or mothers-to-be, you are blessed in that God is allowing you to further extend his message to your children and husbands.

God bless you all and Happy Mother’s Day. You well deserve the honor that we are so lacking in being able to express to you. May it be that your families will honor you and you receive great pleasure in their expressions of love and honor. Thank you for all the sacrifices you made and the love you bestowed upon us.

A Day with Both Bad and Good

This will be a short post because I was late getting back to the house. More on that in a bit.

The bad news is that I didn’t get the promotion at work. So, no big increase in pay and a longer period to get debts paid off. I have a suspicion that an employee already at the lab is preparing to retire from the state’s law enforcement side of the retirement system, and will be hired then on the non-law enforcement side for the job. It is kind of like “double-dipping” within the same agency. It wouldn’t be the first time that has happened.

A lot of times when it happens, it does so because someone has skills that are really hard to replace. We have one gentleman who used to be an investigative agent. He retired from that, but because his skills in forensic reconstruction from bare skulls are so good, he was hired back in that role.

Another was both an investigative agent and electronics whiz. He retired from the law enforcement side and was rehired as the electronics guru working with specialized equipment and with video recordings. One of his designs was to put a very small camera into a replica of a mud dauber’s nest and attach it on a suspect’s front porch.

However, even though I didn’t get the job, I am one happy camper because my new lens arrived today. I was late getting home because I had to wait at the UPS facility for the truck to come back into the terminal and get my lens to the pick-up facility.

I am now excited because Jo came up with the idea of driving over to Muskogee, Oklahoma this coming Saturday and seeing the memorial at the USS Batfish. The Batfish is an old WWII submarine that was active in the Pacific of that war. While the 70-200 lens will be useless inside the submarine, it will be good on the outside.

So, in honor of Mother’s Day, our youngest son will take us to lunch and we’ll tour the facilities there at the Batfish. I’ve wanted to get over there to see it, so I’m just a wee bit pumped tonight with the arrival of the lens and the anticipation of the weekend trip.

That will be my first opportunity for using the lens, so maybe I can show something off in the future in the form of photographs.

Hoping for a New Job

First, I’d like to furnish a warning to those reading my blog. I’d like to offer thanks to a blog called “The Good Luck Duck.” They posted of a warning and provided a link warning about the use of Google’s AdSense as being a source of malware. I’ll provide the links for both The Good Luck Duck and for the site that they provided.

The Good Luck Duck blog.

Google AdSense Malware Issues

With all that I discovered at that last link, it is doubtful that I will ever put AdSense on “Ignoring the Barking Dogs.”

 

Now, to the topic related to the title of this post. Jo and I work for the state of Oklahoma and for the last 13 years, I’ve been working in a pretty menial job. I’ve been a supervisor and manager in several jobs over the years, but it was a financial benefit for us to work for the same agency and in the same building. We’ve saved a lot of gas money in the last 13 years.

I’ve tried several times to get better, more challenging jobs with our agency, but have never had good luck. The state has a tendency to use what is called a “structured interview” process. Basically, that is a situation where all candidates for a position are asked the exact same questions. There are some real issues with that kind of an interview.

First of all, if a question is asked of a candidate and in their answer they bring up a related topic, the interviewers cannot follow up with a question or ask for additional comments on that related topic. Thus, the structured interview is almost designed to miss getting really good candidates hired for the jobs. I’ve told people at our agency that the structured interviews are almost guaranteed to result in mediocre employees.

In the process, it is usually three individuals asking the pre-selected questions in turn. Then, during the answers given, they are taking notes as to what the candidate says in their answer.  Another problem with this process is that the interviewer’s have their heads down to watch what they are writing and very little eye-contact is had with the applicant being questioned.

After the interview process is done with all candidates, they go through and rate the answer to each question on a basis of 1 to 10 as to the value of the answer. Then, those scores are totaled for each candidate, using all three interviewer’s scores for them.

Such a process leaves the possibility for one interviewer to skew the whole process. For instance, if an interviewer has a preference for one particular candidate because of association or friendship, that interviewer can lower their score for the other candidates and raise the score on their preferred candidate. With only three interviewers, you can see an almost immediate effect on the outcome of the interviews.

So, in addition to hiring mediocre employees, one can also see a situation where one is hired not on the basis of their abilities, but on who is a friend of whom. I have even been skipped over, even though I have more experience in management.

A couple of years ago, the agency was hiring 3 people for APO I (Administrative Program Officer 1) positions. Six of us interviewed for those three positions.  When all was said and done, three others were chosen who had less experience.

Not long after those positions were filled, an APO II position (Administrative Program Officer 2) came available. I applied and the state’s Office of Personnel Management deemed my level of experience to be enough to qualify for that position. The designation of OPM in regards to my experience surprised some of the original interviewers. Well, at least one of them was surprised.

Just about a week ago, we saw a posting of the APO II position again. The individual that was hired for that position has decided to resign from it. This position is at a new facility and that individual had been the project manager for the building of that facility, so it was natural that he should be the one hired for the position.

So, I applied for it again, and my interview was this morning. In most structured interviews, there were not a lot of questions that were not related to the job being interviewed for, nor were they related in any way to finding out good information about the applicant’s abilities for those positions.

Today’s interview was different, based on my observations. All the questions were pertinent and relevant. Also, prior to the actual questioning, I was asked to tell a bit about myself and my experiences. Two of the interviewers have never really met me nor worked with me in any way to have knowledge about me, nor what kind of experience I have.

Overall, I felt that in 13 years and several interview situations, this was the best one I had experienced. Even though it was still a structured interview, it just felt better than all the previous ones I had. Even though there are no guarantees, I feel that I did well in the interview.

Should I get this job, Jo and I will be working in different buildings, so our fuel costs will go up to some extent, but the job will almost double my current salary. That would go a long way towards getting us completely debt free, including the Mobile Suites.

However, there is one drawback. The state’s retirement system calculates the last three years one’s employment in determining what that individual’s retirement benefits will be. So, if I get the job, I will likely work for another three years.

That is a bummer, but an extra advantage to that is that I could then afford to get yet another really nice camera lens. Every cloud has the potential of a silver lining.

Wish me luck.

I hope…I hope.

I Get "a Bone" for My Birthday

From the events of today, one wouldn’t necessarily agree that I was having an awesome month. We had planned a family get-together with three family members coming over from Tulsa; our oldest son’ family consisting of Kevin and Amy and their four kids, Nate, Liam, Moira, and Jenni; and our youngest son, Eric.

Since we have recently been joking about “inside” jobs and “outside” jobs, it was decided that grilling food on an outdoor grill was definitely an “outside” job. Keep in mind that the normal person for the “outside” work is me and I can’t cook!

However, I think word got around that I was actually going to attempt to do some outside cooking. One of the Tulsa family members became ill and then Liam ran a low-grade fever and Kevin began to feel bad as well. So, our only remaining family member arrived, that being Eric, and we had a great lunch.

However, Jo refused to allow me to cook the shish-ka-bobs. For some reason, she claims that she wants to be able to eat the food that was prepared.

I am SO crushed!!

No, wait. How could I be? Let me explain.

Sitting around the other evening, Jo asked a question that has been asked before with absolutely nothing coming of it, so when it came that evening, I thought nothing of it. After all, it had been asked before.

The evening went on with me at the computer, and as we started towards bed for the night, she made a confession.

She had ordered a camera lens that I have been wanting for a long time, but because she was unable to have it shipped to another address, she had to tell me that she had ordered my birthday present, since it would arrive at our residence instead of somewhere else.

Obviously, my first words were, “The lens?” because that had been the question that I had paid little attention to when she asked it.

However, I have since found out that Jo just “threw me a bone.” It turns out that she wanted another computer laptop. After having bought a small one a while back and a Toshiba netbook (or whatever), she evidently found it was time to buy me something so I wouldn’t get jealous.

I found out about the laptop after she got a call from Hewlett Packard to verify the order. For a couple of days, she tracked the shipment of her laptop and sometime during the day last Friday, she found out it was in Oklahoma City. Checking again after we got off (and not finding a package or attempted delivery notice on the door), she found out that it had already been delivered and a “N. Hall” had signed it.

Well, we had no idea who “N. Hall” might be, so she called FedEx. They informed her that the laptop had been delivered to a business, not our residence. Needless to say, she was really upset that her expensive laptop was missing. (Being that Jo is in the Information Technology field, she needs to get up-to-date equipment with some of the latest technology so she can learn it.)

I asked whether she thought that the “business” that it was delivered to might happen to be the Twin Fountains RV Park, which is right across the fence from the mobile home park within which we are parked. She said that first thing in the morning, she would walk over to their office and see.

The next morning, while I was drinking my coffee, she walked over and came back with her hot little hands holding her laptop. Evidently, FedEx has a tendency to change drivers a lot and the driver for Friday may have thought the mobile home park was actually a part of the RV park. After all, we aren’t the only RV’s in the park.

So, Jo is now happy with her laptop, and to be truthful, I am happy with the “bone” that she threw me. The only question I will now have is will I have to wait until my birthday on the 23^rd, or will she let me use it sooner?

Hopefully, sooner will be the case.

Oh, perhaps you should know more about “the bone.” It is a Nikon 70-200mm, f/2.8 zoom lens. The “f/2.8” is important in that it gives very clear photos over the entire range of the 70 to 200 millimeters. It is what is called a “fast” lens in that the aperture is open enough to allow more light, thus clearer photos and faster automatic focusing. That can be important with taking pictures of wildlife.

Anyway, a picture of “the bone.”

Happy birthday to me. May is going to be an awesome month.

Eastern European Missions $1,000,000 Sunday

Today, April 29, 2012, was the day chosen by Eastern European Missions to hold their latest $1,000,000 Sunday. Sundays with those designations from EEM are the days when participating Churches of Christ take up a special collection for their ministry of providing Bibles for public schools in Russia and the Ukraine.

While it will be some time before EEM has an actual total for this year’s $1,000,000 Sunday, I can say that our congregation of approximately 300 people managed to contribute over $18,000 for this ministry.

This program is one that is close to the hearts of the folks at our congregation. It is somewhat bewildering that while this country has such limitations of having churches to be able to have prayer, countries in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics are allowing Bibles to be placed in their public schools as learning tools.

While the Bible does teach of God and Jesus, those schools have said that the Bibles should be a strong influence on countries that used to have only a moral code dictated by the state. Now, the people of those countries are using Bibles to teach morals with the hope of instilling good morals into their children.

If you would like to see more at EEM’s website, it is at this link:

Eastern European Missions

This next link will take you to the page where there is an archive of EEM’s newsletters; however at the time of this writing, I was having difficulty fully opening any of those pdf files.

Eastern European Missions Newsletters

In the January, 2012 issue of the Christian Chronicle, there was a story about the 50^th anniversary of the mission for EEM. I managed to find an online source for that month’s issue at this link:

Christian Chronicle archive issue

What was interesting in that story was the telling of a story of a gentleman from the Soviet Union traveling to Vienna on business. An official on the train found this gentleman’s Bible, and saying something to the effect that “a man of your stature shouldn’t have a book like this”, threw the man’s personal Bible out the train window. Two years later, he received his Bible in the mail from those that found it. In it was a letter of apology that expressed their sorrow that it took two years to send him the Bible. However, they stated that it took that long for them to copy his Bible.

That tells something of the urgent need and desire that former USSR citizens have for Bibles. Now, EEM even has distribution points, and perhaps printing facilities, in those countries.

I wrote about the EEM and its history in a previous post on my blog. If you wish to read that, it can be found at this link:

In Praise of Smugglers; Now Gone Legitimate

Kind of in summary of this whole story of putting Bibles in a former Communist country, the following photo speaks volumes. I found it on one of the newsletters for EEM. What an ironic picture it is.

During the “tenure” of Vladimir Lenin, they constructed “youth camps” throughout the USSR where the young people would be introduced to “camp” activities. However, they main purpose was to serve as indoctrination centers so that they could be taught that the State was the “supreme being” in their lives. Nowhere in their camp activities or studies were there to be any references to God.

Now, in this photo, a line of young people are reading EEM bibles under a bust of Lenin in one of those youth camps. But now, EEM has also begun their own camps for the young people. I wouldn’t be surprised that some of their parents are involved as well. I would imagine that if Lenin’s bust could channel this image to him, he would not be pleased.

God bless the yearning people of the Ukraine and all the rest of the world. May they find their answers, and may caring people use ministries such as EEM to help them in their efforts.