It hasn't gotten me yet

Made it thru yesterday. Somewhere around mid day I started to feel normal, but the bug is still trying to get me. I refuse to be sick. Although, we have some bad weather coming in for my weekend, and I may just chill and rest. I’m still using preventive measures, airborne, benadryl, etc. There has been a lot of dust in the air, so that could be part of my problem.

Not much to write about. This morning I was looking at key crafts online. I have quite a collection of miscut keys from work, and need to find something to do with them. Not a ton of stuff out there, but some good ideas. I will have to take a look at my keys and see what I can do with them.

We are supposed to get some rain and wind starting tomorrow evening. Monday is supposed to be cold and miserable and the days are back in the 50’s, nights in the mid 30’s for a week or so.

Jan has been gone for a couple of days so the schedule for February isn’t done yet. I really don’t want to go in on my day off, but may have to just to pick up the schedule if she doesn’t get it printed today.

I made it thru a whole day with no sugar. Shooting for two. I have no will power when it comes to sweets. I think it has something to do with the diabetes. I crave it, and when I start, I can’t stop. I don’t even want to think what my A1C is these days. They would probably put me back on meds. I will have to get it under control myself. I also have to start walking again. Even if it is just my days off.

Fighting the bug

I am starting off this day already tired. I was tired when I got up and I have barely started. Hoping a shower will give me a little energy. Everyone at work is sick, in varying stages of whatever bug is going around this year. It is trying to get me. I’m achy, sniffly, have a cough and am just generally exhausted. I would much rather go back to bed than get ready for a 9 hour day of standing and being nice to customers. But we are already two people short this week due to the bug, so I need to go and do my thing.

Yesterday was OK. Kind of busy, but not totally crazy. My internet has improved and my phone isn’t draining the battery as fast. Things are getting back to normal around here. Hopefully today I will not feel too bad and that the day doesn’t drag on forever, I still have tomorrow to get thru too. 

Trailer progress

I updated the trailer blog, so a lot of this post is a repeat. 

I got the floor down in the trailer. Of course, nothing is ever as straightforward or easy as it is supposed to be. I had to clean out all the stuff I had been stashing in there, and then I had to remove the brackets for the table. Of course, the second one I had to crawl under the trailer to do. Couldn’t reach it otherwise. Technically it should have been a two person job, but with the help of a pry bar and my socket wrench, I got it done on my own. There should have been someone up above holding the screws to keep them from turning as they were installed with lock nuts.

 

Once that was done I had to cover the holes and lay down the insulation. It was supposed to be peel and stick, but there was only one thin line of sticky tape along one edge. I ended up using some duck tape on the edges I needed to hold down, the plywood covering will hold the rest in place. It is foil side down. Should help a lot to keep the temp in the trailer regulated. I will be putting it on the ceiling too, but that is one of the last things I will do. I will have to buy some heat resistant adhesive for that.

The rug I had planned on using was smaller than I remembered. Since I didn’t want to wait another week and spend any more money on the floor, I decided to use the RV mat that I picked up a week or so ago. Once the shelving is in, the edges won’t show.

I got the bed put back together and the mattress unrolled. I also cut the 1 inch topper to fit. I want to sew the mattress cover so that it is more like a large pillow case, but for now it is just protecting the foam mattress. Sewing will be one of the last things I do. 

Since I wrapped up the floor around 1, I decided not to continue with the shelving. I am expecting to have some fitting issues on the back wall, and just didn’t feel like dealing with it. I want to wait until I am fresh and not so sore. I will do the shelving next weekend. After that, it will be a bunch of little things.

I ordered the new box for the front that the batteries go in. The one I had chosen had a price drop of about $40, so I got it for less than I had planned. I like it when that happens. I still need to sit down and figure out how much I have spent on the thing and see where I am budget wise.

This is how I left it yesterday. I did have to load a bunch of stuff back in, but it is a lot more organized than it was before I started.

I would like to find some small black wire baskets to hang over the bed and window. That space isn’t very large and isn’t much good for anything else. Haven’t found anything I can afford yet, but I haven’t given up. 

I spent the rest of the day reading. Made my lunches for today and tomorrow, and just generally relaxed before I have to go back to work today. I am sore this morning. Mostly from crawling under the trailer and then working with my hands over my head. Standing all day isn’t going to help that.

My internet seems to be improving now that a lot of people have left. Yay. Not having to wait so long for things to load. Might actually be able to stream with this internet once everyone leaves. We’ll see.

Groceries!

Was a busy morning, and a reading afternoon. I went to Blythe to Dollar Tree and Smart and Final, got a few valentines things and groceries. Nice to have food in the house again. I still didn’t get everything I wanted or needed, but the rest I can get at DG when they restock. I need TP and paper towels, and they didn’t have the summer sausage I have been putting in my lunch. The shelves were pretty much bare. I may pop over later today to see if they restocked. If not, it can wait until next week.

I thought I might stop at Sal’s, but the parking lot was full when I drove by, so I  just kept going.

My insulation arrived late in the day, so that is today’s project. I need to empty everything out of the trailer, disassemble the bed and get the floor insulation and sub floor put down. Depending upon how long that takes, I might even get some of the shelving up. We’ll see how the floor goes.

The traffic was surprisingly light yesterday. I had no trouble getting on or off the highway. Blythe was pretty quiet too. I guess this means a LOT of people have left for the season. Still lots and lots of RV’s out in the desert, but the town has quieted down some. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

I used my grill again last night, but it scares me. It makes a funny noise when it is going and I don’t think it is supposed to. Not sure what is going on with it, maybe a bad regulator, but I ended up just moving the steak in and putting it under the broiler in the toaster oven. The onion and veggies cooked just fine tho. Tried a london broil this time. It wasn’t as tender as it could have been, but it could also have been the whole grilling/oven process. Tasty tho.

Well, I guess that is about it. I want to try to get another hour or so of sleep if I can before I get started on the trailer. I have been up since about 2:30. Way too early to start my day. 

Quiet Sunday

One of my three days off is gone already. :(  I did fun things like laundry and taking the cardboard to the dumpster. I also got the two shelves hung in the closet for my shoes. I did have to have my neighbor get the plywood out of the car. There was one angle where it came out and he found it. He is considerably taller and stronger than I am, so it was easier for him. Now I am just waiting for the insulation. Supposedly it is scheduled to arrive today via UPS, which means late in the day. So tomorrow hopefully, I will get the floor put down and then I can start on the shelving. I doubt I will get it all done tomorrow as I still have to haul everything out of the trailer where I have been storing all it’s bits and take the bed apart to get the floor put down. But we will see what I manage to get done tomorrow.

Today I guess I am going to Blythe to do some grocery shopping. My fridge is literally empty. I have some condiments and some grapefruit, but that is about it. Need fruit and veggies and a bunch of other stuff. Most of my work lunch stuff comes from Dollar General, so I guess I will have to stop there too. Hopefully they will have what I need. Before that, Monday morning coffee.

The town should empty out quite a bit today. Both big shows ended yesterday. There will still be a lot of people here, but not like the last two weeks. Things should quiet down at work a little too. Which is both good and bad. The days will be longer but hopefully a little less stressful.

Having trouble with my phone. It won’t stay charged up. Some of that has to do with the cell usage the last couple of weeks. Way too many people using it. I have turned off a bunch of stuff and we’ll see if that helps. Facebook seems to be the biggest offender on battery usage. I may have to uninstall it and messenger.

I haven’t been to Sal’s for a couple of weeks, I may try to go there too. We’ll see how busy it is.

Georgia invited me to go to a singles brunch today, but I declined. It will be 98% women anyway, so why bother. 

Almost warm enough to start wearing shorts again. I was down to a single layer long sleeve shirt for a few hours yesterday. But the minute the sun went around, it was cool again. Nights are still cool too. Although I have started using my ceiling fan at night to keep the bedroom cooler. Time to start spraying for buggies outside again. See if we can avoid the ants this year and hopefully anything worse. I have been lucky, only saw scorpions that one time.

The lilac cuttings haven’t done anything. The avocado is dead, and my desert willow seedlings are still alive. Two of them. I have them under a soda bottle which seems to be working for them. One of them has started to put out it’s first set of true leaves. Maybe I will actually get a tree from this batch. That would be nice. Turnip greens are producing enough now that I can get one or two cuttings a week. Had some yesterday on my pizza for lunch and in my frittata for dinner. I have a few lettuce greens coming too. 

I did pot up the tulip bulbs from the plant I bought last year. They haven’t done anything yet. I don’t know if they will grow or not. My sage died. I guess I will have to buy one if I want one. Gardening is hard here.

TV is still working well and the internet seems to be a little faster this morning. 

Plywood

I brought home the plywood for the trailer floor, but I can’t get it out of the car. It is wedged in there pretty good. I will have to try again this morning, and if that fails I will have to ask the guy next door if he can get it out. It scratched up the interior of the car and will scratch it again on the way out. I didn’t know when Larry put it in there. Too late to be upset about it. I could have had someone bring it home for me. Good thing the car already has a bunch of dents, dings and scratches.

The potato bake was over by the time I got out of work, but I did get there while they were cleaning up and I brought home this huge potato with a few toppings. I didn’t have to cook last night and I had enough for lunch today. Tomorrow I will have to crock pot something. Still planning on going grocery shopping in Blythe tomorrow. I think I will just hang around here today. I have a laundry in already and need to take a shower and wash my hair. Then I will have to figure out how to get the plywood out of the car. I have several smaller things that I can do today. The shelves I took down over the washer so I could put the dryer up will make great shoe shelves in the closet, but of course I have to do a little rearranging to make that work. I need to polish my work shoes as they are looking pretty bad, have to take care of a couple of bills, piddly stuff.

After I get the shelving done in the trailer I will finally be able to pull some stuff out of the shed. Yay. I will sort thru my gear and move some of it to the trailer, some of it to the yard sale pile, and give the shed a thorough sorting. 

It is time I get moving. I have the first load of laundry in the dryer and on the line. Need some breakfast then a shower. Then to figure out how to get the plywood out of the car. 

TV finally fixed

At some point during the day yesterday I got an idea for a possible fix on the TV. I came home and put a new cable between the antenna box and the TV and put it on TV2 instead of TV1, and it fixed the problem. I have about four extra channels too, and they all work. Yay! I’m good for the new season of TV shows that start in a week or so. Finally. Got my regular channels back too.

Work was fairly busy. It had its quiet moments. It wasn’t as warm yesterday. I just can’t seem to get my layering right.

Today is the last day of my work week. I will bring home the plywood I need for the floor, but won’t be able to put it down until I get the insulation. I can get the trailer emptied out and ready tho. I will just have to keep tracking the package so I will know what day. I will have to have the plywood cut in half so I can move it since I can’t manage a full 4 x 8 sheet by myself, and I don’t think I could fit it into the car either. The trailer isn’t registered, so I can’t use that to pick it up and I really don’t want to haul it until I get the box on the front replaced.

I realized this morning that my hands hadn’t broken out in a long time. They are itching this morning. I’m thinking it is stress. The job stresses me out. Either that or I have gotten into something I haven’t been near in a long time, but stress makes more sense. 

Hoping to have enough time this morning to get the cardboard to the dumpster before work. That way when it is time to get rid of the garbage I can just use the scooter.

A rant I can't post

I had a work rant, but not something I can post...lets just say that job isn't a good fit for me, but it pays some of the bills. I can live with it for now.

There isn’t much to write about. I work, I eat, I sleep. I did pick up the wire milk crates at the post office. Thankfully it wasn’t super busy and the line wasn’t too long. There was one person dealing with package pickups, so I got to jump the line some and the whole thing only took about 20 minutes out of my lunch hour. Huge boxes, had to fold the seats down to get them all in. They could have gotten all eight in two boxes, but it came in three boxes so I have a lot more cardboard to take to the dumpster. I will get that done at some point. For now it is stacked on the patio. 

The insulation for the trailer floor isn’t supposed to be here until Monday, so if that doesn’t show before then, I won’t be working on the trailer on Sunday. I will do something else instead, maybe the QIA craft thing. It is the last day. One more week of the big tent and the population should drop by about half, which means 500k people instead of a million or so. Seriously. Then they will start heading out as soon as it warms up in other parts of the country. The park here is full. Very few empty lots this year. 

I still don’t miss the snow. Or the ice and the freezing cold temps…I do miss the lakes and the water and all the green tho. Will have to get a fix this summer.

Not much to write about on work days

One of four work days done. I did ask for March 4th off. That is the park wide yard sale and I have stuff I need to get rid of plus some jewelry to sell.

Wasn’t as busy as I thought it was going to be yesterday. Hoping the post office isn’t crazy today. I have to go get my wire milk crates. Thankfully, those are the only packages coming via USPS. I forgot Target ships USPS…I should have waited a couple of weeks to order them, then the lines at the post office would be shorter.
I can’t do any work on the trailer until I get the floor done. Waiting for the underlayment to arrive. I will have to disassemble the bed put the floor down. Hopefully I won’t have to take it completely apart. Once I get the floor done and the bed back together, I can unroll the foam mattress and let that settle and expand, then get that cover made. Shelving can go in and then I can do some of the work on the outside. I still need to order the box for the outside, but want to get as much done inside as I can first. I’m hoping it is going to turn out neat and organized instead of a bunch of shelving stuck in a trailer. We’ll see. I need to sit down and figure out how much I have spent so far and see what I have left in my budget. Plus, I’m sure after I have it “done” I will find other things that need to be taken care of. I can’t forget that I need to register the thing too.

I am planning on going to Blythe on Monday and do some grocery shopping. I hear that the local markets are pretty much empty. They can’t keep the shelves stocked. I need produce. Something that will last more than a day or two when I bring it home.

I was actually warm at work yesterday so I will have to change the way I am dressing. Removable layers. Or at least layers I can either unbutton or unzip. I’m back to wearing shoes instead of boots, and if it stays warm, I may be back to sandals pretty soon. I think we hit 73 degrees yesterday. Soon I will be wearing shorts again. Yay. Less laundry.

A day in the desert

Or more like the middle of the night…I fell asleep very early as I was outside all day. I heard from Georgia and she invited me to hang out with her at here campsite in the desert, so we did just that. She was waiting for a couple of friends to come in and wanted some company while she waited. Both friends showed up late, so I was there a lot longer than I had planned. I hadn't been out in the desert since I moved out of Ody.

I loaded the lumber back up and returned it. While unloading the lumber the day before, I discovered that the front seat folds all the way down along with the back seat so that I can put 8 foot long pieces of lumber in there without obstructing my view out he passenger side. Wish I had known that when I loaded it up the first time. Made taking it back a whole lot easier than bringing it home.

Target shipped all my wire milk crates for the trailer USPS. It is going to be a real pain in the ass getting those from the post office. I had forgotten they default to USPS. I should have seen if they had options, but I went for the free shipping. I do hope I actually get them. I have had several issues getting packages from them in the past. My shelving and insulation have all shipped UPS, so I should be able to get quite a bit done this next weekend. I will have to do the floor first tho. Insulate and another layer of plywood. Then I can assemble the shelving and get it all put together. I will have to take the trailer out and test it out in the desert. That should be fun. I suppose I should get it registered before I take it on the road tho.

I have no big plans for the day. I have to meet a couple of people at different times because the RV water filter sold and the 30A extension cord sold. I need to go to the post office at some point and get the mattress for the trailer. And I may just putter around in the yard. It could use a good raking and I need to fertilize the grapefruit and sweep the patio. A quiet day before going back to work is just what I need.

Changing direction again

I have changed my mind once again. I will be taking the lumber back to Herb’s. My carpentry skills are in the hack category and I did not start anything yesterday. This morning I looked at wire shelving online again and have decided to go that route. It was one I was considering originally, but hadn’t taken any measurements at that time. I have ordered my shelving and some wire baskets, and will fill in where needed with canvas baskets. I will use metal strips to “enclose” the shelves to keep stuff from falling off. I can get those at Herb’s. I will do my shelf configuration when they get here and I assemble them. Doing it this way will also allow me to do the floor first. I also ordered the insulation that will be going under the plywood floor and on the ceiling. The shelving I ordered is black. I had more options with the chrome, but I wanted it to be black, so I will adjust. The wire shelving will also keep the weight down as they aren't as heavy as wood built ins. I may even curtain the shelves off. I found some red gauzy sarongs on eBay I might order. I will have to see where I am in my spending. I am still planning on coming in under budget and still have a couple of big things to buy like the outside box.

Yesterday I started my day by doing some housework. I vacuumed, dusted, and even washed the floors. I organized the cupboard over the fridge where I keep my holiday and seasonal linens and put the lazy susan I got at Sal’s in the spice cupboard. It was kind of a make do job because in order to do it right, I would have had to empty the whole cupboard in order to get the round out, attach it to the turntable, and put it back in. I didn’t feel like doing all that, so I just removed the old spinner and placed the new one under the round. It works. There is some wasted space, but nothing I can’t live with until I get ambitious and fix it - if ever. Got two loads of laundry done and hung out, showered and dressed and headed out. Leslie had set aside some dragonflies for me, so I had to go get those.

It was crazy out there. Finding a place to park was a challenge, getting in and out was a challenge. Traffic was at a crawl. The big tent started on Saturday, so everyone was out and about. But I got my dragonflies, and since I had gone thru all the trouble to get there, walked around a bit. I did buy a black and white outdoor mat for the trailer, but that was about it. It was warm in the sun and I wasn’t dressed properly, and I hadn’t brought any water with me, so I didn’t stay more than an hour or so. Here are my new dragonflies…

When I got home, Chad had put the old antenna back up. I got a few more channels, but it is still pretty bad. Not sure why. Could be all the people in town. More antennas. I will wait until the big tent is over and try to tune in again.

Not sure what today is going to bring. Supposed to get together with Georgia at some point, but she has kept pretty busy and so have I. No plans to go to any of the restaurants any time soon, I have been reading there is at least and hour wait if not longer at most of them. Again, I will wait until the big tent is over and after a lot of the people have left. Hoping my internet service will improve too. Can’t use it during the day, it is just way too overloaded. Even my phone is having issues. I’m having to use my pay per gig internet because my Karma is absolutely horrible right now, and even the pay per gig is very, very slow. Patience. The key word for the next two weeks.

Planning on going to Monday morning coffee, and then probably taking the lumber back if it isn’t too crazy there. I might do a couple little things on the trailer since I brought home a bunch of stuff for the smaller projects. And since I have decided to lay a floor, I will have to remove the two bed legs and trim them to compensate for the additional flooring. I haven’t decided how I am going to finish the floor yet, and may have to compensate for that too. I have a rug that matches the big one in the living room and the runner in the bedroom that isn’t being used, and I may just use that. 

My pea soup turned out good. Had that for dinner with a tortilla. 

I just found some black wire milk crates online. Looks like this whole black wire thing is coming together. Now I won’t have to do much construction, if any. Yay. :)

Starting construction today?

Made it thru another work day. Thankfully I don’t have to get up and go anywhere this morning.

I have already put the fixings for a pea soup in the crock pot. Not sure what today is going to bring, but I will have dinner either way. Hoping to get started on the trailer built in’s today. I brought home the lumber I will need for the front wall, and I hope it comes out OK. Once I get that done, I will work on the side wall.

My mattress is at the post office, but the post office is closed tomorrow so I will have to wait until Tuesday to pick it up. 

I have to get my TV antenna fixed. I had Chad put the first antenna back up, but it isn’t bringing in much for channels, the old one was actually better. He doesn’t want to do it tho, and I hate to ask, but I wouldn’t know if we hadn’t tried it. I may end up doing it myself. He isn’t happy about it. I have basically no TV and the series I bought on DVD isn’t very good. I haven’t tried the other one yet. I also haven’t tried my region 4 DVD’s in the computer yet. I’m pretty sure they will play in one of my computers. I have the adapter for USB to HDMI and haven’t tested that yet either. 

I guess the town is almost at capacity. The big tent event started yesterday and runs for two weeks. The internet is horrible right now because so many people are using it. I’m having to use my pay per gig backup because the Sprint network is piggy backed and is very slow.

My yard is starting to bug me. It needs some attention. I need to rake up the leaves and do something about the scrap lumber pile. I should make a firewood box. We’ll see what I have left for scraps when I get the trailer project done. Should have enough to build some sort of box for the scrap wood. I can’t burn anything right now because there is a neighbor that is only a few feet away from the chiminea. I will have to wait until they leave. The grapefruit tree needs a little attention too. Time to fertilize and rake up under it. Going to try some epsom salts on it. Supposed to be good for citrus trees. It should be getting ready to bloom soon.

The patio needs a good clean up too. Dirt and a little bit of clutter, not too bad tho. I would like to take the scooter out. I haven’t used it in about two months since it has been so cold and I have been working more. Would also like to drive it to work instead of the car, but I think I will wait until the big tent is over and a lot of people leave. Not safe on the roads.

I do have to say that I am not happy with the way things are going. I work too much and don't do anything or see anyone. It kind of defeats the purpose of the move. I left VT because I didn't go anywhere or do anything and I didn't have a life, and now I find myself right back in the same situation in a town where there is plenty to do, but I can't do it because I have to work. Plus, no one to do anything with....again. I put a lot of time effort and money into changing my life, gave up all my stuff, and here I am in the same position I was in before I did all of that. What a waste.

Another work day

Not much here. Work day and all that. Came home, had dinner, fell asleep. The usual.

Still gathering bits and pieces for the trailer. Bring home a few things each day. Tomorrow I will bring home the first batch of lumber. 

Supposed to warm up some next week. Last night was in the 40’s, so that is a definite improvement. My feet are starting to be too warm in the afternoon in my boots, so that is also an improvement. I may try shoes today, but will have to wear socks, which I hate, or my leg warmers which leave my feet cold. I think I own only one pair of socks…bright red of course.

I picked my my package at the post office. It was my two lined sweatshirts I had ordered. They were on clearance so I got two for what I paid for the first one about five years ago. It has held up well, but it looking pretty ratty these days. My old one will be a work/yard sweatshirt now. 

That is about all I have this morning. Two more days of work and I will have something to write about again. Hopefully.

Materials list

I spent the morning yesterday measuring and working up some rough sketches and a materials list. I’m using Jake’s field book for my measurements, records and sketches. It will be my record book for the trailer now.  It is all very rough, but enough to work up the materials list. The lumber, insulation and screws and adhesive is going to run about $300. Not too bad. More than I had expected but within budget. I will bring home the first pieces of lumber this week and will hopefully start construction this weekend. There are still a lot of details that I need to figure out, but will do that as I go. The back wall needs to be done first. I’m hoping to keep a complete record of what I spend on this project. The inverter, charge controller and levels should arrive today or tomorrow. The mattress next week. Once I have the mattress, it will actually be useable if I choose to use it unfinished.

I am also trying to keep a running blog about the trailer project. It is here…  http://crnbrryctg.blogspot.com/2016/01/stealth-camper-conversion.html

In the afternoon I read. At some point I got ambitious and went to the shed, now that the work benches are useable again, and soldered my rings that have been needing repair for quite a while. I can now wear them. I may have to take a soldering class because I’m not very good at it. I will have to see if I can find something online. I still want to play with some metal clay too.

Chad was gone all day so my antenna isn’t done. Hoping the omni will be an improvement of the directional antenna.

Today it is back to work. Four days of nothing but working, eating and sleeping. I hate that. Georgia is supposed to arrive in town some time today. Not sure when I will get to see her. Hoping we can go to the Grubstake at some point as I have been wanting one of their burgers.

Thought about taking the scooter out yesterday, but it is still too cold. We might see the low 70’s by next week. I hope so. So tired of being cold all the time. I may have to break down and get some sort of propane heater at some point. But it won’t be this year. I was kind of hoping to avoid that.

Mike put some movies in the cloud folder for me and I have been trying to download them since last night. So far I haven’t been able to download even one. My internet really sucks. Even this early in the morning I am having trouble. It reaches a certain point and then just stops. I really, really miss my DSL that I had in VT.

Tomorrow is the annual park meeting and of course I am working. Diane dropped off a ballot for me to fill out since I won’t be there. I need to get that done and dropped off either tonight or tomorrow morning. I have a package at the post office, my sweatshirts from Walmart. I don’t like smartpost. If you are going to ship it Fedex or UPS, just ship it that way. Don’t send it to the post office. Especially here where the post office is so very busy and messed up.

Productive day

I got quite a bit done yesterday. Spent some time in the shed after I got back from my shopping, and got the benches cleared, cleared out some RV things that I had for Ody and can’t use and posted them for sale, cleaned my ice maker finally, and took down the plastic I had over the garden bench. I got the christmas tree and the wreath bagged up and put up and away on the ceiling of the shed. Pulled out the water tank I had bought for Ody since it was taking up a lot of floor space and that was one of the things I posted.

Went to the post office after coffee, picked up my stuff, The wait wasn't too bad, then went to the market and DG. Got fresh veggies for lunches and picked up another steak, a different cut this time. I found a few things at Sal’s including this king size bed skirt. It is going to be curtains and a bed skirt in the trailer. The gold thread is metallic and it is really pretty.

There should be enough material to do the curtains AND the bed skirt, plus maybe some left over for a couple of pillow covers. It was $2.

I also got a kool pillow cover for $3. I just now saw the bird. Must be the first time I had it right side up. I have that in the living room.

I picked up a couple of things for Valentines at Sal’s and a heart wreath at DG. Ordered a couple of hand made things from Ellen the other day too. I have to figure out how to hang the wreath on the door, but have plenty of time for that.

I also did three loads of laundry, two of which got hung on the line, and then I finished drying them in the dryer. I LOVE my dryer. Not sure why I waited so long to get it.

I cooked the steak for dinner. It was a much better cut. But I also filled the neighborhood with smoke. Oh well. :) And in amongst all of that, I even read a book.

Chad is going to swap out my TV antenna for me. I still have the omni that I bought first last year, and I’m hoping it will negate the need to keep adjusting the non omni that is up there now. There should also be less wind resistance and hopefully less noise when it is windy. We’ll see.

I don’t have much of anything on the agenda for today. It is my quiet day as I go back to work tomorrow. The next couple of weeks are going to be crazy as it is time for the Main Event. Lots and lots of people. January is when the Quartzsite population is at it’s largest. Then it should start quieting down in February. Hope it warms up some tho. I would really like to get out and visit the tents before they all disappear. My hours will start dropping off too and I will have more time to myself. I hope I have enough to get my checking account back up to it’s target. 

I think today I will take some pictures of the trailer and start sketching out my design. I want to put a back wall and a door inside the exterior door. The wall part will be by the potty, and I need the door to have a window. That way I can leave the big trailer door open and still be locked in. Will have to start looking for a door that I can use. It all has to be custom and smaller than normal. I have spent hours online looking at ideas and photos. Saved a few things to my pinterest board. But am mostly designing it myself. Too bad I can’t draw, my sketches are going to be really, really rough and not to scale.  https://www.pinterest.com/crnbrryctg/stealth-camper/

Chore day

It wasn’t the best of days to be outside, but it wasn’t the worst either. It didn’t rain, sprinkled a couple of times tho. I spent a good part of the day actually working on the trailer. I removed the double bed platform and recycled/reconfigured it to be single bunk. It took most of the day, but I reused the materials that I pulled out. I figured if I got the bed done first, I can build the rest around it. I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out, not what I had originally considered, but better. Lots of storage under the bunk for larger items. Now I need to build in the storage along the left wall and the front wall. I’m pleased with my progress and the fact that I finally got started.

I had a fair amount of leftover materials that I hope to be able to reuse. It doesn’t look like much, but the frame itself is metal as he had used an old bed frame to put his platform in. I reduced the number of legs he had for ease of storage under the bed. With the metal frame, I didn’t need much for legs on the outside.

I fired up the new grill and cooked my steak. I didn’t have any fresh veggies to put on it, but it cooked much faster on the gas grill than it did on my little electric grill. The steak was good, but it was tough. I guess I will have to buy a better cut in the future. I have such a hard time cooking steak. It is always tough. I had a salad too.

Today is Monday morning coffee, the post office, and of course the markets. I will also have to do laundry. And I really need to spend a little time in the shed. I need my work benches cleared and the xmas stuff put away. Georgia will be back in town this week for a while and we will probably finally try out my kiln. Need to make some room to work.

I just placed an order from Amazon for a memory foam mattress, an inverter, the charge controller and a set of levels. $250 for all of that. Could be worse. The next big expense will be the new box for the front. I haven’t decided which one I want yet. So far I have about $1200 in the camper including the purchase price of the trailer. I don’t want to go over 2k if I can help it. Which is actually about 1k less than I had originally planned. I still need to buy lumber, floor covering, ceiling insulation, screws and adhesive plus the metal box for the front. I should be able to come in under budget. I was lucky to find a trailer that already had solar and a generator. That in itself saves me about $500.

I am planning on using the mattress cover I took off the bed to make a cover for the bunk mattress. It will be custom of course. I don’t think I will have to do any trimming on the foam either. Yay. Those green curtains will have to go, and the back window needs a curtain too, so I will make something eventually.

Well, it is almost 7. Time flies. I need to get in the shower and get dressed if I am going to make it to coffee this morning. Hoping for a nap this afternoon. I have been up since 3.

Stealth Camper Conversion

This is what I started with. 

Today I pulled out the big double bed platform and rebuilt the bed. It is 23.5 inches wide, and I am currently formulating a plan for storage on the other side. 

Here is today's progress. 

01/10/15

So far I have only used recycled materials. Reused stuff that I pulled out earlier.

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Spent part of the day measuring and working up a materials list.  It's going to run about $300.

I also removed the TV antenna and marked where I want to cut the aluminum tubing to bring it down to roof level. I have decided to leave that whole setup there in case I can use it for something later, but don't want it obvious and above the roof line.

I have an idea of what I want, just not completely sure how I am going to do it yet. I am not a carpenter.

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I have changed directions once again. I brought home some lumber on Saturday, and will be returning it today or tomorrow. My carpentry skills are pretty much at hack level, so I was very hesitant to get started yesterday. This morning I ordered black wire shelving and storage containers and will be going in that direction instead. Which is actually the very first option that I considered. It will also be lighter and much easier to configure. I have also ordered the insulation for the floor and ceiling and will get that done before I put in the shelving. All this at pretty much the same amount of money my lumber would have cost.

My mattress is at the post office, and today is a holiday so it will have to wait until tomorrow. I did haul the memory foam mattress topper, the mattress cover and a big pillow out of the closet yesterday and they are in the trailer awaiting the finishing of the bed.

I do need to sit down and figure out how much money I have spent so I can see what I have left and still keep it under budget. It all adds up pretty fast.

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Collecting the bits and pieces I will need to assemble the interior. I have received the shelving and some of the wire baskets plus the vent cover. Still waiting on the insulation for the floor and ceiling. I can't do anything until I get the floor insulated and a new layer of plywood down. I will have to undo some of the work I did on the bed to accomplish that, but that shouldn't be too difficult. Once that is done, I can unroll the mattress and let that expand, then assemble and configure the shelving. Hoping to be able to do some of that this weekend. Good thing I am not in a hurry. 

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Another week has passed and I gathered a few more parts and pieces. Got the wire crates and baskets and have been stashing everything in the trailer. I will have to clean all of that out before I can do the floor. 

The insulation for the floor finally arrived late yesterday, so today I tackled that. It took a bit longer than I had expected. After clearing the trailer out, I had to remove the floor brackets for the table. Naturally, Glen had used washers and lock nuts, so I actually had to crawl under the trailer to remove the nuts on the bracket that was closer to the middle. That took some time and some creativity because I couldn't be in the trailer holding the screws while I was removing the nuts from underneath. But I got it!

Patch the holes then lay down the insulation and the plywood. I had to cut pieces for the edges and reused some of the plywood from the original bed. Again, took longer than I had hoped, but I got it done. Put the bed back together, unrolled the mattress and then cut the foam topper to fit. 

Wasn't quite sure what to do about the rug. The one I had wanted to use wasn't as large as I had remembered, and since I am trying to keep cost down and don't want to waste any more time on the floor, I decided to use the mat that I bought last week. Could have been a bit larger, but will do nicely. Once the shelves are in, the edges won't be visible. 

Then I got to clean up my mess. I decided to save the shelving for next weekend when I can start fresh. I did measure the batteries and ordered the tongue box for them. The price went down about $40 since I put it on my wish list. Yay. I topped off that order with a 12 volt hot pot. A girl needs her coffee...

I shouldn't have to unload everything again when I do the shelving, and I feel like I have made significant progress this weekend. Looks a lot better than it did this morning. I did loose some head room tho. Good thing I am not tall.

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Shelving is in. It still needs to be secured somehow, but it is starting to come together. 

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Had company last week so I didn't get anything done on the trailer. I did get the permanent spare tire cover and need to get that installed. Today I got the shelving secured to the walls. It took longer than I had thought it would, so by the time I got that done, I was done for the day. 

I took a strip of 1x2, spray painted it and attached it to the wall into the ribs of the trailer with self tapping screws. Had problems getting the screws in where it was a new spot. Finally smartened up and predrilled. Then I used metal pipe clips to secure the posts to the 1x2. L brackets on the floor. I will probably have to drill and screw the shelves to the posts, but I want to make sure the shelves are where I want them before I do that. Used hose clamps on the corners in the back to secure the side and back shelves to each other. That makes the back shelves quite sturdy even without the right front post. Should be more than strong enough for clothing and small items. I still have the cheap china hammocks that I used as cargo nets in Ody, and will see if those will work in the trailer.

I also got the hanging bar over the bed secured. I can hang towels, baskets, whatever.

The battery box for the front is finally on the way and I will be able to get the solar power setup and figure out where to put the inverter. Maybe next week I will get that accomplished. I still have a lot I want to do, but other than the power, the big stuff is done. Today I am planning on moving my camping gear from the shed to the trailer. The finish work can be done any time, and I want to test it out and see where things need to go, and fine tune the finishing touches. I still have some sewing to do too. 

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Camping gear moved from the shed, sorted and in the trailer with plenty of room to spare! I still need to get a few things, but the majority of stuff is in. Not as much stuff as I thought there was, but pretty much everything I should need. I will organize as I use the stuff.

Battery box should arrive today, so it looks like the power will be the next big project.

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I have been sick, very sick. I didn't work on the trailer last weekend like I had planned, but the yard sale is still scheduled for this Friday and I wanted the tool box changed before then so I could put the old one in the sale. I really wasn't up for it, but I got the old box removed, and of course, nothing is every easy. It wasn't a simple remove and install the new one, I had to recycle some stuff and make a brace for the new one since it didn't quite fit on the tongue.

 

Since it is so much smaller than the other box I was worried the batteries wouldn't fit, but they do. I need to put together some sort of container for the batteries and get the solar wired back up. Maybe next weekend.

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The trailer is finally registered and legal! Even if I don't get any other work done on it this weekend, I will still have made progress.

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I got my early start yesterday morning and got the solar hooked back up and working. I had to run the wire from the solar panel inside so I could hook it up to the digital controller. That required drilling and feeding the wire thru the outside. I’m glad I bought wire, I used all that I had bought plus some of the original wire with very little left over.

After running the wire from the solar panel inside, I then had to run wire back out thru another hole, drill holes in the box and get the panel hooked up to the battery and the wiring for the lights and 12v outlets that feed directly from the batteries hooked back up. Putting together a wood base in the bottom and figuring out how to secure the batteries took up most of the time. I didn’t end up being what I had wanted or expected, but it serves the purpose of reinforcing the bottom of the box and keeping the batteries off the metal bottom. Not that it probably matters all that much. It also keeps the batteries from moving around inside the box. Got all the wires hooked back up, the holes sealed and everything tested out.

Looks like a lot of wires. Now that I have actually hooked things up myself, I understand what goes where and what purpose they serve. Useful information.

This is the new digital controller that keeps the batteries from overcharging and allows me to monitor what is going on. 

And this shows where I drilled and ran the wires out to the batteries. You can see them between the side of the trailer and the box.

I guess I didn’t get a picture of the inverter and it’s location. It is over the window on the shelving side of the trailer. That is the section where I have the cutting board and will be my kitchen and work area inside the trailer. Not sure if it will stay there, but was a good spot for it for now.  I tried to use the shop vac on the inverter, but it uses too much power. I do have a 1500 W inverter, but it is only as good as the power that feeds it. I had to get out an extension cord so I could get the trailer vacuumed. There were metal bits, sawdust and tiny wire pieces that needed to be cleaned up. I guess I need to get a rechargeable vac for the trailer. The inverter should be able to handle that.

I still have work to do on the trailer, but it is all small, detail stuff. I need to get the vent cover installed on the roof, insulate the ceiling, get the D-rings up on the outside corners for the shade cloth, and figure out what I am going to do about the door. I really would like to have a smaller door or a wall inside so I can leave the big door open for air flow, etc. I might have to cough up a few bucks and have someone install a door within the door. That is beyond my experience and skill level. The least expensive route would be to build the wall and put a door on that. That will probably be the option that I will do. Still need to do some research since I am not a carpenter. I also need to keep the cost down as much as possible. Then I get to pretty it up. Make curtains, bed skirt, etc.

Winter blah's

Yesterday was sunny and beautiful and I was stuck indoors all day. Today, I am off, and the sky is black and cloudy. It isn’t supposed to rain, but it sure looks like it is going to. I was up very early since I crashed early last night, and then I went back to bed. Have been up for a while, had breakfast, and am trying to figure out what I am going to do today - if anything. Thinking I would like to go walk the tents, but that will depend on the weather. I am so sick of doing nothing and being stuck inside. It is about 50 degrees out. Not the best weather to be out in. There is plenty I can do here, I just need the motivation. I guess I will just have to wait and see what I end up doing. I could use the exercise.

I guess I am cranky today. All this cold and rain and work isn’t what I moved out here for. Plus, I am just as lonely here as I was in Maine and VT. I do have a few more options here and it isn’t snowing, so I guess I shouldn’t complain. At least last year I wasn’t working and could do what I wanted when I wanted. This year I have to cram everything in to three days or it doesn’t get done.

I am hoping to try out my new grill later today. I took a little steak out of the freezer. If I go out, I should get a zucchini or something to throw on the grill with it.

Right now I have chandelier crystals hanging on the horseshoe tree. I guess that will be my between season ornaments. At least for now. I have some glass hearts to hang on it next month, after that, who knows. I will probably put my felted eggs on it for Easter. Figure the rest out as I go.