McDave wrote:You could probably get a pretty penny for those exides still. Nice upgrades this weekend, and that pad sure is nice to park and work on. Say Don, is your old buddy Benz still around? Haven't seen any pics lately with the tailwagger in there. I hope so, but I know they get old. Might be a good thing to have a friend like that when you travel, and one to keep an eye on mama too.
McDave
Hi McDave. Benz is still around (thanks for asking). He's not doing great with his hip dysplasia that is common in German Shepherd Dogs. He can barely get up and walk outside now and you can tell that is just killing him emotionally more than the pain. GSD's just want to work and please their owners. Really sad. It will be a very bad day when I have to make that decision to limit his suffering. We are doing everything we can to keep him comfortable and spending a lot on adequan shots once a week and for gabapentin and carprofen which he gets daily.
Benz has been such a good loyal companion and never misses the opportunity to screen the folks that show up at my front door occasionally when I am not home and just my wife is. He will back them up if he doesn't like something about them or if she doesn't immediately react to tell him it is okay. He is almost 11 years old which is getting up there for a purebred GSD. He is still 115 lbs. and has a look that reminds me of that song that has a line that says "I aint as good as I once was, but I am as good once as I ever was." I think it is "Good As I Once Was" by Toby Keith"
When he goes, I will get another German Shepherd companion and get him or her use to the truck and CTC right off. Hopefully that will still be a while. But I could never get another with Benz still here. It would break his heart.
On the Exides, I have a good Hydrometer with built in thermometer on the way so I can hopefully confirm whether or not they are taking a full charge. They just don't seem to be holding up like they were when they were newer. I will try to Equalize them individually with another charger I have to see if I can bring them back some. In any case, there is still some life in them. I wanted to upgrade to the Golf Car batteries and I felt this was a good time since this is the time I tend to camp the most.
I may keep one or two on my workbench even if they are not 100% anymore. They are nice to have around for testing or troubleshooting 12V radios, inverters, LED light strings, or etc... I had to pay core charges at Sam's and will get refunded $18.00 a battery with core returns.. so I either want to find a use for them, find somebody who can really use them, or just get my $18.00 a battery back at SAM's. .
Take care and try to stay warm up there. I saw another thread a week or so ago and it sounded like you were having some challenges keeping it all working with the onset of winter. Have a Merry Christmas if I do not chat with you before.
Here is old grey beard. He likes to stay near the front door so he can see who is coming.
That's the look that says "I aint as good as I once was, but I am as good once as I ever was" if you ask him "who's there?" Ears go back and he thinks it is all business.