We Can Rebuild Her, We Have The Technology …and Amazon Prime

Now that we’ve landed in Las Cruces and will be stationary for six months, we’ve (by “we’ve” I usually mean “I’ve”) started the task of making repairs and replacing bits ‘n pieces that we didn’t have time to address while we were in Chandler.
We buy locally if it’s convenient (Lowe’s and Home Depot are frequent stops), but sometimes on-line is the only way.
If you don’t already know, steel wool (Grade #3, specifically) is a great critter invasion deterrent — stuff the steel wool in any and all openings the potential invaders might find inviting; the fibers are rough on the little pests’ dental work and keeps them out.
I stopped by Home Depot, as they had said #3 steel wool in stock. Unfortunately, it came only in “variety packs” containing one or two pads each of different grades. This makes sense for somebody doing woodwork or some such that would call for different grades of steel wool to obtain a smooth finish, but not for a Pest Purge.
Amazon to the rescue! I was able to buy a few packs of #3 and only #3, for about the same price as one of the Home Depot variety packs.
Since I was already depleting our repair fund, I bought a new “Assist Handle” for the trailer, as it was looking pretty sad after all that has happened to it since we first got The Wagon:

• We bent it because we left it extended while closing the slide out (an unmistakable crunching sound that makes you yell “STOP! STOP!” even if you’re the one closing the slide).
• After our off-roading adventure it was just plain useless so we decided it was time to finally fix it.

When the handle arrived, one of the bottom hinge covers was missing.

I initiated a return/reship with Amazon (a painless process — printed the return bar code, stuck it in the box and the next day, UPS showed up to pick up the package) and the replacement arrived a few days later, with all the pieces.
Finally got it installed yesterday, but not before having to drill a couple of new mounting holes.

The old and new, side by side (see, I told you it was fubar!).

The shiny new one, closed (which will be its natural state when closing the slides. Yes, we know… the door is icky):

And when open:

We’ve discovered a few other collateral damage items while we’ve been here, too, that I need to address.
Among them is the “City Water” hose connection. It is a bit, erm, finicky now. If the hose isn’t connected “just right” or I look at it funny, it dribbles, requiring the hose be repositioned and re-attached.
That’s aggravating and annoying, mostly, but will certainly need to be looked at in the future.

But that, as they say, (just who is this “they“, anyhow?) is another repair for another day!