07/08/2026
Bowzers is full of plans, and have set time lines for the way we want things to happen. Unfortunately our plans and God's plans are either totally different or are on different time lines, take your pick.
August 30th we went and bought a cherry picker (crane, etc) to make it easier to remove and put onto the front of the food truck our Generator until we got our new u-bolts and got them welded on to the generator, since someone was able to cut all 4 of the current U-bolts, but must of got scared and didn't finish the job, so we removed the generator and put it on the back of our pickup truck until our first event which I had someone to help me. So I don't have to bust my behind and possibly throw my back out after having surgery, we got the the cherry picker, which makes my life a whole heck of a lot easier. This was $450.00 later.
July 2nd we went and picked up all of our dry goods, made our Home Made Coney Sauce and prepped all of our onions. This here was another $600.00 later.
The morning of July 3rd, got up and picked up our buns at about 7:30 in the morning and got back to the house about 8 A.M. or so. Layed back down to take a small nap til about 10 A.M. Woke my son up and after he got awake, he loaded all the dry goods onto the back of the pick up truck. At about Noon, my Wife drove me to the food truck so that way I could jump it and get it running so I could bring it to the house and mount the generator on it, and then we would be off to GFS to pick up all of our cold supplies and ice, and then we would be at the Civic Park in Reynoldsburg by about 2ish. Load in time was 3P.M. to 5P.M. Well got the the food truck, pulled out my $80+ pair of jumper cables, the real thick ones, and put red to red and black to black on the food truck and then the same thing on the car. Well my headlights we not lit, and I was almost possitive that I turned on the headlights of the food truck to make sure I had proper connection. So I walked to the drivers side and reached in and sure enough the switch was pulled out, so I pushed it in to turn them off and then pulled it out again. I proceeded to walk to the front of the truck and yep sure enough they were not on. Just then I started to see smoke and then just that quick flames and fire coming out of the alternator. I quickly disconnected the jumper cables and blew on the fire til it went out.
At first I was distrought and wanted to cry then I thought to my self well this doesn't mean nothing. So I took my Wife's cheap jumper cables and hooked them up and everything was fine. I waited about 5 minutes and hopped into the truck and turned the key and the motor turned over a few time and then finally started. Left it go for about 5 minutes and disconnected the jumper cables and the truck stayed running. I was like wow, we'll beable to make the event after all. Well just that quick, the motor shut off, I said no big deal, I will just hit the key and restart it. I did just that and got nothing, not even a click click click, the alternator did not charge the battery any at all, and because of the draw of the alarm system and also the draw of the HEI Distributor (The only thing electrical in the van with the exception of the lights, which were off) the truck could not stay running because the battery was dead and the alternator was not puttin anything out. So we were not able to make it to Civic Park for the July 3rd Fireworks.
I went to the Advanced Auto where I bought the $249+ 100 Amp Single Wire Alternator, to see how long of a warranty was on it becuase it wasn't even 3 years old and come to find out it was only a 90 day warranty. They wanted to sell me another one and I told them heck no because I could go to Jeggs and get the same one for $100 less. So I then went to Jeggs Saturday the 4th to get a new alternator, however I did not get the same one, I got a different one, still 100 Amp, but this time with a 1 year warranty and also I can add more to it if I want to.
Sunday July 5th went down to the food truck with a friend who helped me out, which was greatly appreciated, not needed but having the second hand was nice. Replaced the alternator, but in the process took notice the that alternator / fan belt had a lot of cracks in it and also had wear from slippage. So I started at Advanced Auto which was closer and they didn't have what I needed but sold me one that was close, and come to find out it was way too big. So they left me return it, then I proceeded to go to O'Reillys on Brice Rd and they didn't have any, they said the one on Morse rd had 2 of them. So then I tried Auto Zone and they didn't have any, went to napa and they were closed earlier than thier posted hours. So I ended up calling up O'reillys where I have my business account at and talked to Byron (Extensive Automobile Knowledge), told him what I needed and he said he had it in stock. Went and picked it up and then I said to myself, while I am here I know I have a little oil leak from the valve cover, I might as well order the valve cover gasket at the same time, which I did, which won't be here until tomorrow being Wednesday the 8th. And while I have the valve cover off I can get my truck to top dead center by making sure the 2 rockers are in the up position and then I can re-time my truck as well, since it is off a bit. I don't know how much the timing is off, but I will find out tomorrow when I go to replace the valve cover gasket. Now while I am at Advanced Auto in Pataskala to find out how long of a warranty is on it, my Wife comes in and says our Dodge Charger is smoking, so I go out to the car pop the hood and there is Anti-Freeze all over the place. all the hoses are dry, the radiator is dry, everything is dry with the exception of where the car blew all the anti-freeze everywhere under the hood. So noticing also our reservoir is just about empty, I went back in and bought a bottle of Anti-Freeze and dumped it into the reservoir and as I was, you could here a gurgle gurgle from it pushing the air out and then because the engine was hot you could hear it start to boil up, and then all of a sudden you could see it pushing out the anti-freeze in like waves out of the like 2 inch long by 1/4 in tall hole that is on the base of what they call the Coolant / Air Bleeder Valve. So we had to let it sit til it cooled, filled it as full as we could with water and drove it home. During that time frame we ordered one from Oreilly in Pataskala and they told me it was going to be in Friday morning, but no one thought about it being the 4th so guess what the part never arrived, so they had to order another one yesterday and it came today. Now all I have to do is head to storage, get the right tools, and get that replaced. And then tomorrow, get the valve cover gasket and reset the timing on the truck and fix the oil leak by replacing the valve cover gasket.
So July 8th. - Fix timing issue on food truck and oil leak by replacing the valve cover gasket.
July 9th - Dr.s Appointment to find out what is damaged that I loss part of my vision from the car accident. And they are going to dialate the eyes, so my Wife has to drive me there.
July 10th - I have to go to my Mom in Hillsboro, Ohio and come home on the 11th early so that way we can pick my Brother In Law from the Airport for his return home trip from visitin friends in Texas.
July 12th - Nothing Planned, would like to be somewhere with the food truck, but can't really because I have my firs Post Back Surgery Physical Therapy on the 13th, and can't really schedule nothing until I know what my physical therapy appointments will be so I can work around them.
So right now as of this moment this is the plans as of now:
July 25th will be at the Grand Opening Of Rural King in Lancaster, Ohio off of 33 right behind the Best Buy.
I will post again before that event to let everyone know about how my Neuro-Vision testing went and what was found, as well as when we fore see us being out with the truck for the first time sometime between the 13th and 25th of July. And then post the rest of the known schedule at that time as well.
Thank You Everyone For Your Business, Support, Understanding and patience,
Shawn Mulligan
Owner Of Bowzers
Where Our Dogs Are
"NOT JUST A DOG"
