A Goofy Idea

Mice hunting was a bit poor before departure given the mid-40's weather, but we eventually found them dancing around on stage below the FunnelVision screen. They didn't seem as cold as we were.

On Saturday, some of them showed up at dinner.  Minnie really liked the grandson.

Grandson collected autographs in his journal. Some of the characters seemed to have poor eyesight!

Goofy showed up but didn't stand still long. Took about 10 pictures of him but this was the only one that turned out.

Of course, with a bunch of goofy characters running around, they felt the need to make us look goofy as well.

I thought the best character shot by far was when Kelli found the Chippendales.

Searching for Mice

Our son invited us and his sister to join his family on a Disney cruise. Of course, he didn't mention to me that they were thinking of this as Dad's Retirement cruise, but I'll enjoy it anyway. We found what looked to be a great mouse hunting environment tied up at the Port of Galveston.

The grandson was kept in the dark until this morning. All he knew was that he was going on vacation with his folks and that they would spend one night in Galveston. This morning he spotted the Disney Magic, but even when we showed up he wasn't sure we were part of the package.

Boarding early meant early access to food! Clearly, someone had way too much time on their hands to carve this watermelon.

Of course, being a Disney ship, everywhere you turn is more Disney, including cartoons and movies on the big screen mounted on the aft funnel, on the TVs in the room, and in the theater on board.

Right now the Arizona contingent is finding it chilly although the Alaska kid is running around in a t-shirt. It's mid 40's and overcast today but we're expecting low 80's by the time we get to Key West.

Hope to locate some mice in the meantime.

Just Hold It

The doors for the overhead cabinets in the Scamp are designed with the hinges at the top. Probably the best option given the space, but a bit of a pain when looking for things in the cabinet or stowing gear. Lots of people have set out to resolve the issue in one manner or another.

• Don used dowels cut to length, shaped to fit, and then fitted with a loop of Velcro hook material so the dowels can be stuck to the headliner when not in use.
• Robert uses a wood strip, hinged at the door end and notched at the other to fit over the frame.
• Pat uses a section of a screen door spring, screwed to the door at one end, and to the door frame at the other.
• Bob used a similar spring but attached it to the door with a link of sash chain so it could rotate.

After consultation with a wise friend about his experience, I went with a slight modification of his version. (See - I'm learning!)

Each spring (one per door) was fabricated from a section of old style screen door spring - in my case, a Stanley #4 spring. The spring was cut to length with loops on each end bent to right angles, more or less.

Instead of using a link of sash chain like my wise friend, the upper end of the spring was attached to the door using a mount style zip tie.

The zip tie was drawn up snug and cut flush, then screwed to the door with a #8 screw. The zip tie forms a hinge point for the spring as the door closes.

The lower point was attached to the door frame using a #8 truss head piercing screw with a metal washer under the head and a plastic washer between the spring and the door frame. This screw is left a bit loose so that the spring can rotate around the screw as the door closes.

The door on the hatch in the loft required gluing a block of wood for the lower mount since this cabinet does not utilize a standard face frame. This technique is one that could be used with the fiberglas cabinets common in most eggs.

No longer will I have to use my noggin to hold the door open while putting my clothes away.

Time to pack for our next trip.