Any enterprise in life comes with challenges, but ordinarily, they aren't more than you can handle. And when they are, there's generally something to be gained by letting go of the goals that are so supremely challenging to achieve...
That's what I'm telling myself, anyway :D
Most of my life's challenges are simple, pretty straightforward. I planned it that way. If I had plenty of money, I could easily fix them...and then I'd have to face even bigger challenges!
If you read my last post, you know I'm dealing with mechanical challenges. Those are the small ones, right now. For example, I've been working on the water pump in my Chevy Tahoe. I had my mechanic replace the booster in my brake system when I realized my tools were not up to bleeding the brakes; I needed a torch, perhaps, and a lift would have been helpful. Best case, I needed to replace those frozen nuts, because they were breaking when I tried to remove them. But the water pump should have been easier. I started repairing cars right out of high school; many of my tools are older than the kids I work with on my day job.
I got the old one out easily enough. A new pump was only $30, so that wasn't even a strain to my budget. But the new one wanted parts from the old pump, and the new pump had a plug which needed a tool I didn't have. Okay, I hopped in my Honda and took the pump back to the store, where they kindly removed the offending plug. While there, I got new spark plugs for the Honda, and back home, decided it would be a quick job to pop out the old spark plugs and put the new ones in.
Ugh, perhaps the plugs were the originals...one of them snapped off, deep inside the engine. (A later chat with the Honda's previous owner revealed that they were indeed ancient, as the owners were getting on in years, and unable to attend to minor maintenance. Perhaps the main reason they had sold the car so cheaply.) Anyway, not having an extractor handy, I called my mechanic, and he assured me he could get it out for me. I hopped in the Honda and putt-putted like an old jalopy to the mechanic, with an old plug in the wire laying in the intake manifold, to keep from stressing the electronic spark system too much.
He didn't use an extractor. His...technique damaged the head. It took three hours, between visits from other customers, so it was dark by the time we discovered he didn't have what he needed to repair the damage he'd done. I'm wondering what the bill is going to be...
So I went home to put the water pump in the Tahoe, while I hoped my Honda would be ready in the morning. (It wasn't.) All bolted in, serpentine belt routed, adding water...wait, there's a leak! Sigh, it's dark, cold, I'll finish this later.
Later, I discovered that one of the gaskets had torn like the soggy piece of cardboard that it was. I applied red gasket-maker compound, and shoved it back in, letting it sit overnight for the compound to cure properly. Tightening all the bolts the next day, putting all the parts back in, starting the engine...looks good, sounds good, let's go to my day job! Grab my stuff, hop in the driver's seat...whoa, the water temperature is over 300°? CUT!
Good thing I have a bicycle, even though the cold front has temps down to 22°F, and with a brisk breeze to keep me cool. :D
Today's job is to see if the intake water hose has collapsed internally. It's pretty old, and I was planning to replace it anyway, along with its hose clamp and the serpentine belt. That will probably have to wait, depending on what the Honda's adventure is going to cost me.
My more serious challenges are about love and the lives of others. When I moved out of my apartment in October to save money so I could build an RV, I had a place lined up that was to have cost me about half of what I'd been spending on my two-bedroom apartment. It would be easy to move into one room: I lived in one room, using only a portion of that space, with visits to the kitchen and bathroom. I never really grew into that two-bedroom space. But the place I was supposed to move to, backed out at the last minute. Failure to communicate, is my best guess. So I wrangled another place, which, frankly, is a disaster. Instead of saving money on rent and utilities, my savings are gone. My roommate, it turns out, has no income other than me, and what he can beg from his other (remaining) friends. He's not bright, may be entering dementia--but I believe it's more a case of spoiled rich kid that never learned to make a living. We don't communicate well, either, but I hate to leave him high and dry, even if that is what he richly deserves. (If I got all that I deserved, I'd probably be in an asylum lol)
Another challenge is that I have animals. When I moved here, I had two cats and a dog. The cats had NEVER been outside since I got them as kittens. I rescued one from under a trash compactor where she had been abandoned before she was weaned; the other was given to me as soon as he was weaned. He has been missing for several weeks now, and the other kind of said he wouldn't be coming back. My roommate--no surprise, really--decided to let them outside, and they loved the adventure. Maybe the coyotes loved them, too? Well, I still have Cleo, and I'm hoping she won't follow Tobi.
Thing is, my next planned step is to move into my car. I can't afford my roommate lol! The dog, Biscuit, won't be much trouble in the car, at least during Winter. (I'll NEED an RV before Summer, though.) But Cleo, now craving the outdoors, and knowing nothing of wild animals or snakes or traffic or other such hazards, is sure to be more challenging.
My favorite space so far, has been the 31' Airstream that I first moved into in 1998. It was a great choice, and I had the money at the time. It should have been, could have been, marvelous. It had a nice living room and kitchen on one end, with those awesome windows with panoramic views, a bigger-than-I-needed bedroom at the other end with matching windows, and a huge closet and full bath--yes, with a tub!--walling the corridor between. I promptly converted most of the closet to a computer room/office, where I could log in to my work office and remotely control the four PCs there, monitoring the activities at the Dell Factory Outlet's repair and distribution center.
But shortly after moving in to the Airstream, a series of events led to marriage, and as part of the inevitable compromises that one thinks one should make for a marriage, I traded my lovely Airstream for an S.O.B.: Some Other Brand. I promptly ripped out most of the furniture, built custom cabinetry, and added substantial insulation. I needed to accommodate eight cats and a couple of large dogs, one of them over 100 pounds.
Maybe I should continue this story in another post...but before I go, if you have an Airstream, KEEP IT! :)
Monday, December 19, 2016
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Back to the life I love!
I hope to be back in an RV soon. A few years ago, circumstances led to me moving out of my wonderful shady spot in the woods, and into a cabin on a river. That was okay, I thought, especially as I was helping to support the friend who owned the campground there. But as time went by, various factors twisted around the situation until I felt it was no longer tenable, so I moved to the nearby town of Fredericksburg, Texas.
I had lived NEAR Fredericskburg--near enough that it was my mailing address--for years, since 1999, mostly. When I moved to the area initially, I was living in a 31' Airstream travel trailer. Combined with a Chevy Suburban tow vehicle, and with my trusty Honda CRX for a commuter car, it was a nice situation. At the time, my total monthly expenses were well under $500; after deducting approximately 60% of my pay, my take-home was almost $800 every two weeks. The way that situation ended deserves a few chapters to explain, but I won't do it here; other people are involved, and I'd rather respect their privacy.
Life is about change, and things changed. I got married, got a different trailer, a different car, a different career...and after going through about a quarter-million in two years, well...I found myself on my own again. I have changed substantially since that time, and so has the career that paid so well. My plans for moving into a "real house" have met with the fact that I'm not happy in a "real house." I like RVs. I like tiny. I like being able to move without packing. I like being out in the natural world, yet carrying enough technology that I don't have to face bears and bugs tooth and claw. Intelligence is what sets humans apart from those toothsome bloodsuckers, right? :)
I took the first step in October: I moved out of my apartment. The place I'd planned to move to, backed out as I was packing, so I wrangled another. But rather than saving me money, the place I landed turned out to be a disaster; the homeowner has no income other than me, and is addicted to television and materialism. Quite the opposite of what I am. I won't go into further detail on that, either, except to admit there are many other things that make me uncomfortable about this situation. For example, he smokes, and I'm allergic to tobacco.
My hope was that I would be able to save a few hundred a month, buy a flatbed trailer, and start building an RV of my design on that platform. I've been kicking thoughts around for years, and I'm pretty sure of what I want the base design to be. Having lived in RVs, and seen much of what typical RVs are like, and what RVers have to put up with, it seems obvious that I'm not going to be able to BUY what I want, no matter where I look, nor how much money I spend. Since I don't HAVE any money lol I don't think that's going to be an issue for me.
But to save money, I need either a responsible homeowner to rent from--so that I don't have to support his crises--or I need to get out of houses completely. I'm on the edge of jumping off the cliff, and moving into a vehicle.
I have two to choose from: A 1995 Chevy Tahoe, and a 1989 Honda station wagon, or Wagovan. I'm fairly small, and can easily live in either, but I really like the Honda. Both vehicles are old, with over 200K miles, and many small problems. Currently, I'm in the midst of replacing the water pump on the Tahoe; I just had the brake booster replaced last month, and should replace the power steering pump and hoses sometime in the next year. I'd like to replace the parking lights with brighter LED lamps on both vehicles, and I should clean and lubricate the door locks and window tracks on both vehicles. They'll both need new tires this year.
Both vehicles have fully-reclining front seats, so I could sleep in those seats if I wanted (and I have, many many times!), but they also have fold-down rear seats, and there is room in the back to put my pallet--which is what I sleep on in a house, so it would be just like home. :) I can sit up in the cargo compartments, so on rainy days, I could fix meals, read, play on my computer, whatever, in the back. I have a Bluetooth keyboard that has a switch to select different devices, and it works with my iPhone, so I could use my iPhone as easily as a computer, at a fraction of the energy cost.
My dream has been to make a living as a writer, since I was a teenager. This is a path I could follow to do it...working full-time to pay for a place to live has been severely crippling, since it takes me a while to unwind from society and get into writer's mode. (That's one reason my blog is so sparse!) As chatty as I am, I won't go into detail about why society is so challenging for me; let it be enough that I think society is insane to a huge degree, and obsessions with television, hypocritical religion, and corrupt politics is part of it. Parents who lie to their children, rather than educate and control them, help promulgate that insanity.
In January, there is a gathering of people who live in vans, RVs, and yes, cars. http://www.cheaprvliving.com/gatherings/ It's about a thousand miles away; in my Honda, that's about $250 in fuel, round trip, worst case. (At current local prices and the mileage I expect to get, it'd be less than $100 lol) If the little car survives the trip, it'll cost me less to make the trip, than to pay rent. My current job is unskilled retail, with no advancement path that interests me; I can easily find matching work anywhere, so even if the car breaks down, I won't be any worse off than I am here. The only challenge is my littles: I have a dog--no problem on the road--and a cat...well, the cat is a bit wild, and I don't think I could contain her. The coyotes would be sure to get her, if not traffic or snakes or well-meaning rescuers.
If I can find a solution for the cat, I believe I will make the attempt. A first step to committing to my dream! :) After that, I will know for sure if I would be willing to stay living in the car long enough to save the money I need to begin my RV project. I estimate I could have a livable RV for less than $3,000, but I plan to do things like:
I had lived NEAR Fredericskburg--near enough that it was my mailing address--for years, since 1999, mostly. When I moved to the area initially, I was living in a 31' Airstream travel trailer. Combined with a Chevy Suburban tow vehicle, and with my trusty Honda CRX for a commuter car, it was a nice situation. At the time, my total monthly expenses were well under $500; after deducting approximately 60% of my pay, my take-home was almost $800 every two weeks. The way that situation ended deserves a few chapters to explain, but I won't do it here; other people are involved, and I'd rather respect their privacy.
Life is about change, and things changed. I got married, got a different trailer, a different car, a different career...and after going through about a quarter-million in two years, well...I found myself on my own again. I have changed substantially since that time, and so has the career that paid so well. My plans for moving into a "real house" have met with the fact that I'm not happy in a "real house." I like RVs. I like tiny. I like being able to move without packing. I like being out in the natural world, yet carrying enough technology that I don't have to face bears and bugs tooth and claw. Intelligence is what sets humans apart from those toothsome bloodsuckers, right? :)
I took the first step in October: I moved out of my apartment. The place I'd planned to move to, backed out as I was packing, so I wrangled another. But rather than saving me money, the place I landed turned out to be a disaster; the homeowner has no income other than me, and is addicted to television and materialism. Quite the opposite of what I am. I won't go into further detail on that, either, except to admit there are many other things that make me uncomfortable about this situation. For example, he smokes, and I'm allergic to tobacco.
My hope was that I would be able to save a few hundred a month, buy a flatbed trailer, and start building an RV of my design on that platform. I've been kicking thoughts around for years, and I'm pretty sure of what I want the base design to be. Having lived in RVs, and seen much of what typical RVs are like, and what RVers have to put up with, it seems obvious that I'm not going to be able to BUY what I want, no matter where I look, nor how much money I spend. Since I don't HAVE any money lol I don't think that's going to be an issue for me.
But to save money, I need either a responsible homeowner to rent from--so that I don't have to support his crises--or I need to get out of houses completely. I'm on the edge of jumping off the cliff, and moving into a vehicle.
I have two to choose from: A 1995 Chevy Tahoe, and a 1989 Honda station wagon, or Wagovan. I'm fairly small, and can easily live in either, but I really like the Honda. Both vehicles are old, with over 200K miles, and many small problems. Currently, I'm in the midst of replacing the water pump on the Tahoe; I just had the brake booster replaced last month, and should replace the power steering pump and hoses sometime in the next year. I'd like to replace the parking lights with brighter LED lamps on both vehicles, and I should clean and lubricate the door locks and window tracks on both vehicles. They'll both need new tires this year.
Both vehicles have fully-reclining front seats, so I could sleep in those seats if I wanted (and I have, many many times!), but they also have fold-down rear seats, and there is room in the back to put my pallet--which is what I sleep on in a house, so it would be just like home. :) I can sit up in the cargo compartments, so on rainy days, I could fix meals, read, play on my computer, whatever, in the back. I have a Bluetooth keyboard that has a switch to select different devices, and it works with my iPhone, so I could use my iPhone as easily as a computer, at a fraction of the energy cost.
My dream has been to make a living as a writer, since I was a teenager. This is a path I could follow to do it...working full-time to pay for a place to live has been severely crippling, since it takes me a while to unwind from society and get into writer's mode. (That's one reason my blog is so sparse!) As chatty as I am, I won't go into detail about why society is so challenging for me; let it be enough that I think society is insane to a huge degree, and obsessions with television, hypocritical religion, and corrupt politics is part of it. Parents who lie to their children, rather than educate and control them, help promulgate that insanity.
In January, there is a gathering of people who live in vans, RVs, and yes, cars. http://www.cheaprvliving.com/gatherings/ It's about a thousand miles away; in my Honda, that's about $250 in fuel, round trip, worst case. (At current local prices and the mileage I expect to get, it'd be less than $100 lol) If the little car survives the trip, it'll cost me less to make the trip, than to pay rent. My current job is unskilled retail, with no advancement path that interests me; I can easily find matching work anywhere, so even if the car breaks down, I won't be any worse off than I am here. The only challenge is my littles: I have a dog--no problem on the road--and a cat...well, the cat is a bit wild, and I don't think I could contain her. The coyotes would be sure to get her, if not traffic or snakes or well-meaning rescuers.
If I can find a solution for the cat, I believe I will make the attempt. A first step to committing to my dream! :) After that, I will know for sure if I would be willing to stay living in the car long enough to save the money I need to begin my RV project. I estimate I could have a livable RV for less than $3,000, but I plan to do things like:
- build in enough insulation to be warmer than a house in cold climates, with a fraction of the energy
- put in a rainwater-collection system with a solar-powered distiller (I might even collect my own interior condensation and distill my gray water)
- put in a composting toilet
- have PVC pipes for wiring and plumbing--that is, run my plumbing PVC through 4" PVC--for ease of maintenance and upgrades
- I'm considering cooling systems that won't use compressors, such as evaporative cooling; designing one for an RV will be challenging, with all the other stuff I plan to have on the roof!
- make the entire cabin removable in minutes, so the flatbed trailer can be driven away and used for cargo
- make it light enough that my Tahoe can pull it, at least if I stay out of the Rockies!
- and of course, add solar power, with lithium iron phosphate batteries.
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