Log 2013072501

Today, I took The Cramper down so I could drive to Walmart and get some supplies in Mentor and drop off a few unnecessary items.  After that, I still forgot to drop off some items, such as a towel from my former apartment back into storage. But I might still use it (come to think of it) because I'm using a small, 15" square, super absorbant towel that I use tent during times when multi-day hiking when The Cramper isn't available. I'm still set up to hikes like I use to.  There may come a day when it is more efficent in time, money and fuel to do a hike like this.
The typical strategy for The Cramper is to dissemble it, drive to route's Point B and park the bicycle.  Then drive back to Point A, hike to Point B and ride the bicycle back.  Because the bike's drive train distributes force better than just my muscular system, it is more efficent.  On flat land, physical exertion (in miles) of my muscles to hiking to riding the bike is about 1:4.  County roads are more improved than township roads. And state roads are usually more improved than county roads. Even though the direct course may be shorter, sometimes it's worth a extra few miles to parallel the trail back on a state highway.
But on an extended trip, the bike would be parked about 60 miles from the car for a 3 day hike.  The 4th day after would be comitted to riding back to the car all day.  But because off road trail is more "undomesticated," it usually turns more.  So, if I were to bike from pt. B, it might only be a 35, or 40mi ride back on easier terrain.
Today, I picked up a 96" sheet of 3/8" plywood out of storage for the redesign of the heating and air conditioning unit.  I also picked up some dry sacks there to help me organize my storage bins.   At the store, I picked up more roof straps, dry sacks and a compass to help me draw angles on wood.  
I was looking for a method to quickly connect and disconnect the deep cycle battery that I'm mounting to my trailer for boon docking to and from the car's battery, located in the rear.  The problem is that the deep cycle can produce up to 850 amps if the car was started on it.  But typical AC connections at Lowe's only handle 50 amps. 
The associate told me that I could get electrical bullets that could do the trick, but they didn't have them for 6 guage wire, which is just about like a battery cable.  The idea is to charge both batteries from the alternator when the car is hitched.  Another thing is that the deep cycle batter might come in handy if the temeratures get real fridgid this winter.
Today, I started working on a luxury item.  I had a 3 port USB hub that was not power assisted.  So, when I plugged my bluetooth headset and my smartphone, the phone would loose and regain power every 15 seconds.  So, I got my AC conversion to DC powered unit with 6 USB ports and it's working great.
In The Cramper, my ceiling is only as high as the interior my tailgate. And still, I can't sit all the way up in it.  Anyways, the door frame is lower, the car's ceiling isn't much higher. So, crawling around to change my Star Trek epidsode can be a bit of a hassel.  So, months ago, I purchased a small keyboard and attached trackball. It's like my remote control.  And I had to get the hub to power it because my laptop's USB ports are all occupied and I needed something more reliable.
Well, the computer recognized the new hardware quickly.  But the keyboard fails to respond.  I switched it's stock alkaline batteries with some NiMH rechargable batteries that I charged about 60 days ago.  The batteries in my bicycle rear illumination units still work and they were charged then.  I do have spare AAA alkaline batteries on board, I might check to see if they work.
Otherwise, I found some of the USB transceivers on the floorboad as they pulled must have away from the old hub. It may be possible that one is floating around down there? Otherwise, I did cram this little keyboard in a bag with my laptop and tablet. Maybe it took too much abuse in there?  Before the roof bag was weatherproofed, every bag took on some water.  Maybe that did it.  I remember the manufacturer having some troubleshooing tip, if I get the booster up, I might try them.
The back canvas and awning went up better than before today.  It was the sequence in which I did the side folds.  The back cooking area was really stubborn and it needs to be plained out.  It rocked the bottom beam out of position and had to get jacked up again.  There's been problems with the securing foot pins.  Apparently, the foot and the main floor aren't matching up like they use to and need to be bored out.  Right now, one will insert and the other will go half way with some coaxing.  I prefer to do this back home in port if I can.  In Star Trek, they like to go back to starbase for structural things... so do I.
For the first time, I put the sheets on the mattress. They're light blue.  I sure wish that it came with two pillow cases.  Oh well, it's a twin mattress. I have one pillow with a sheet, and one without.  If I have time, I might introduce The Cramper over video to the Buckeye Trail's Facebook group.