Home Improvement, Part 2

Well, May 16th is the big date! That is to be the day that the siding is to start being put on our house. However, before that day I have a lot of work to do. I have already torn the porch railing off of the front porch and I also have to tear the old deck off of the rear of the house. You will also notice that we dug up the old bushes which were located on the side of the house nearest the drive. Once the work is all done you won't even recognize the house.

Home Improvement

It's been awhile since I've posted....

Our house is currently in need of some "new clothes." We either need to paint (I hate to paint!) or wrap it in siding. Having weighed the two, we have pretty much decided to wrap the house in siding. (We've pretty much decided that we are going to stay in this house for a long time!)

We received 3 estimates for siding - $33,000; $16,000; and $9,600! The estimate for $9,600 came from a gentlemen that was personally recommended to us. He's been in the siding business for 44 years. His company consists of himself, his son, and two other workers.

What color should we side it?

At the same time, we are going to tear down the existing deck in the back and replace it. We have a gentleman in our church that builds decks for a living and he has volunteered to help build a new (and bigger) one.

Right now we are just waiting on the home equity loan to be able to get started.

P.S. - As soon as Stephenie gets back, I've got to do some work on the van! Will the repairs to the van and home never end?!

All In the Family

Last Monday night (01/15/07), we went to Victory Hills Baptist Church in Dallas, NC. They were having their "Winter Warm Up" Revival. Dr. Reno Likins, a youth evangelist from Champion Baptist College in Arkansas, was the speaker.

Stephenie's brother, Randy, who is a youth pastor at Liberty Baptist Church in Durham, NC brought his youth choir and ensembles to Victory Hills on that night to provide the special music.

Stephenie's nieces (Amber, Ashley, & Courtney) and nephew (Jonathan) were a part of those groups. We got some pictures of them.

We also took a short video of the girls singing. You can see that at our website at www.familyofcampbells.com/VideoFiles.htm

It was good to see them (even if it was for just a short time)!

Here We Go Again!

This past Wednesday night, the alternator light in my '87 Ford Ranger came on. Thursday morning, I went by an Auto Zone store to have them test the alternator while it was still on the truck. The "technician" said that it was bad but that to be on the safe side of being sure, I needed to take the alternator off the engine and bring it back in to be tested off the engine.

Well, Thursday evening I took the alternator off the engine. It is one of the simplest truck repairs I've ever done. Remove two bolts, unplug two wires, and it's off the engine. I took it back to the same Auto Zone store that I went to in the morning.

A different "technician" helped me this time. The first test that he ran came back saying that it was bad. However, he ran the test again and this time the alternator came back okay. The "technician" said that it could be something else, like the wires running from the alternator to the battery, but he wasn't sure. I could either buy a replacement alternator or try to figure out what the problem was.

I didn't want to spend the money if I didn't have to so I decided to take my chances and put the old alternator back while I tried to figure out what the problem was. However, on my way home, there was something that told me that the alternator was in fact the problem.

Instead of heading home, I went to an Advanced Auto store that I normally go to. I wanted a "second" opinion on my alternator. Sure enough, they ran two tests on the alternator and both came back as faulty. I purchased a new alternator from them, went home put it on the engine, crancked the engine and to my pleasant suprise, the alternator light was no longer on.

7 Star Teens at Children's Hospital

For the past three years we have taken a group of teens to one of the local Children's Hospitals around Christmas time to visit with the kids and give them gifts. One of our teenagers, Hannah Abbott (She's seated on the far left right in front of the standing teen boy.), is the one who originally suggested that we visit the children in the hospital at Christmas. Well, last night, we went to Hemby's Children's Hospital in Charlotte. There were about 30 children in the hospital. Many of them were infants. The teens enjoy giving the children gifts and the parents/families really seem to appreciate the fact that someone is thinking of them. We then stop by Burger King on our way home. That is where the picture was taken.

Learning by Osmosis

As a kid did you ever wish that you could simply slip your school books under your pillow and just "soak up" all the information? I did. Well apparently my kids think it really works. These pictures were not "set up." That's how they both fell asleep.

Time is Money?

People seem to be so busy these days that it is many times easier to spend a little money to have someone else do something (car repairs, home repairs, lawn maintenace, etc.) so that we can use our time for other pursuits. However, what happens when you don't have the time or the money!?
Well, in my case that generally means that I take the time, whether I have it or not, and do the work myself. That's exactly what happened this week. Our 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan has been running a little "rough." As I pulled out my handy Haynes repair manual, it suggested that the two most likely causes were fouled spark plugs and/or a clogged fuel filter. Well, since neither of those items had been replaced in the three years that we have owned the vehicle, I figured that it was worth it to go ahead and replace the spark plugs and the fuel filter.
On New Year's Day, I spent most of the afternoon and evening replacing 4 of the spark plugs and the associated spark plug wires. Does anyone know how to replace plugs 3 & 5 on a '97 Dodge Grand Caravan with a V6 3.3 liter engine? If you do, let me know. (If not, I'll probably end up parting with some money that I don't have to let our mechanic replace them.)
Today, Saturday, was the day for replacing the fuel filter. It was much easier even though you have to lower the fuel tank to access the filter. Also, I found out that the guy at the part's store gave me the wrong filter. He gave me the one for the Caravan, not the GRAND Caravan. That one word makes about 6 inches worth of a difference in the part. Anyway, I finished that and Stephenie says that the van seems to be running better.