What a smashing time!

I finished adjusting the side mirrors today with the aid of my socket set, hammer, adjustable spanner and can of WD40. It went a lot better than yesterday though there was a setback. Having raised the mirrors, one was now out of alignment. This necessitated some wiggling during which the blessed thing cracked. Sadly, it wasn't a mirror that I wanted to replace.

I still have an adjustment to make to my near side long mirror. It's now at the right height but was crooked in its mount in the first place. Sadly two of the bolts are so close together that it's going to be very hard to do anything about it. I'll need to get a 3/4 inch open spanner. If that fails, I'll have to angle grind one of the bolts off.

So, I checked and the mirror I need to replace which measures 7 inches wide by 16 inches high is fairly common. Rosco seems to make them but usefully puts no prices on their website. In the end I found two on eBay. One was heated and the other was not. As the original was not heated and since I never have had a problem with frozen mirrors, I went for the unheated one st $15 with $10 postage. I just hope the postman doesn't try to fold it!

After that I looked at the sun shade I'd taken down. I had no idea what it was when I took it down but kept it in the shed in case I might need it. That is now mounted again and adjusted correctly. It needs a darned good cleaning but I couldn't find my Windex.

Meanwhile, I'd left my 5A solar panel connected to 8AA NiMh cells in an 8AA battery holder all day. It had been sitting on the hood while I worked around things. Testing one with my little battery tester showed a pretty good charge level. Maybe another day in the sun and the batteries will be full.

A few days ago, I contacted eBay. The seller in China who had sold me the charge controller that arrived with a broken mount had sent a message via eBay that they were sending a replacement. I waited a month and no replacement ever arrived. eBay was notified and I was swiftly issued a refund.  Thus I've ordered a new charge controller but this time it's coming from Canada. While the one from China with the broken mount looks as though it might work, I can't really secure it properly it's more of a curio plaything. The new charge controller will go with the lead acid battery I got from Radio Shack and the solar panels and fans at the back of the bus. I have a feeling that might improve the functioning of the system.

Right now, funds are somewhat limited. My job as summer camp counsellor ended on July 21st then I had 3 days work in an after school program before joining the school district transportation department. As they pay two weeks in hand and two weeks in arrears or in other words I had to wait a month for my first check, I'm a little short. Things should be better by November though. By November the fire ants will be asleep and it'll be possible to work underneath the bus without any issues.