Winterizing Buster or Lessons in Murphy's Law

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Hi Blog!

Did you know that Murphy's Law ("If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong and usually does go wrong.") was born at Edwards Air Force Base in 1949. It was named after Capt. Edward A. Murphy, an engineer working on Air Force Project MX981, designed to see how much sudden deceleration a person can stand in a crash. One day, after finding that a transducer was wired wrong, he cursed the technician responsible and said, "If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll find it." The contractor's project manager kept a list of "laws" and added this one, which he called Murphy's Law.

Now, you might be wondering why we started this blog by mentioning Murphy's Law. Well, for the first time in almost 9 years of RVing, we are winterizing our RV.  What could possible go wrong. After all, thousands of RVers put their rigs to bed every winter.  However, Mr. Murphy's Law kept running through our heads.

Dave studied the Owner's Manual and came up with a game plan.

First, empty the hot water heater. While the anode rod couldn't be saved, the draining of the tank went more or less as planned, well except for the wet shoes.

Next, give the holding tanks a good cleaning. We use this short extension hose to drop down through the compartment floor when we have the sewer hose hooked up for longer stays. In three years, we have never had a problem with this little hose, until today. Yes, it popped off just as the black tank was emptying. Dave to the rescue. Needless to say, his shoes are now beyond just wet.

With the sewer hose firmly in place, it was time to clean up. Unfortunately, the water spigot was frozen open. The campground attached a splitter, however, one side of the splitter wouldn't shut off. High pressure water began spewing from the faucet. Dave was able to muscle the broken splitter down to a mere trickle. With all the water than sprayed, Dave's shoes, while even more wet, were at least a lot cleaner.

Once the holding tanks were empty, it was time to use the air compressor to "blow out" the water lines. As we unpacked the compressor, one of the handles on the clamp was missing. Seriously Murphy, haven't we suffered enough!

After 9 years of RVing, we have amassed an amazing tape collection - scotch tape, double-sided tape, duct tape, metal tape, teflon tape, masking tape, painters tape, 3M industrial double-sided tape and insulated electrical tape. After a quick wrap, the handle of the clamp was good as new. Adding the antifreeze went according to the instructions. Perhaps Mr. Murphy heard our prayers after all.

The RV is now parked in the driveway of our rental house in Tobyhanna, PA. It will get a good cleaning before going into hibernation. In the meantime, we are busy nesting in our new temporary home. Ruby was happy to help line the cupboards with new self paper. She's such a good little helper!

It may take a few weeks to settle in, but we hope to get out and explore our new neighborhood. Stay tuned.