An online friend at cheaprvliving, reminded me today that I should update my blog. I was a little chagrin to know, he was right. I have not abandoned my blog. I have touched on this subject in previous posts, but I have only lightly glossed over everything I have been through. I've also had just a bit of trouble putting into words all of the turmoil that has been my life. Since 2011, when I lost both my Mother and Uncle, a mere four months apart, there has been no constant. Before that my life was still in turmoil, but it was a good kind of turmoil. Turmoil that I created myself. And I still had close family available. In 2009, I decided to simplify the life I was living and hated. I went through the process of shedding the house and all of the crap in my life. By mid 2010, I was about ready to start my new life. While I was in this process, I was temporarily staying with at my mothers. I had my van and was setting it up to live and travel in. At the time, I knew I had some medical problems that would not let me sustain that life forever. I had planned on a few years of travel and then a piece of rural land and an RV somewhere. Probably with me in one corner and my Uncle in the other. Especially since it looked like we both planned to be single the rest of our lives. Towards the latter part of 2010, my mother had a heart attack on top of other medical problems. At the hospital they told us to call hospice. Believe me, there were "death panels" even before Obamacare. We chose not to give up on her and bought her some more time by changing hospitals. Granted it was not but another 8 months, but without hospital intervention we would not have had that. My brother and I both put everything in our life on hold for that last 8 months. My brother owned a house in Shreveport, LA, just six blocks from LSU Medical center. We changed city and state to see that she was close to the best care she could get. And we proceeded to enjoy what time we had left with her. For 6 months we had quality time with her. For the last two it was quality but tough. My mother passed early in April of 2011.
My mother owned a 2500 sq ft Antebellum home with an equal basement below, all full of stuff. None of us cared for the house or where it was at, but we now had the duty of disposing of all that remained. Out of my Mother's four children, she had two that know their responsibility to family, one that lives in denial of bad ever happening, besides having her own family to deal with, and one that is a waste of life. My oldest, younger brother and I are the two that know that we have a responsibility to our family. We did that responsibility as best we could to take care of our mother. Once she had past, my brother was no longer emotionally capable of helping with all that remained. You see, he was her favorite. If she had decided to rob a bank, right or wrong, he would have driven the get away car for her. They were that close. For his sanity he needed to move back where he was living before and throw himself into work. I was left with all that remained.
In Aug, 2011, on what would have been my mother's 70th birthday, I was trying to make some progress in clearing out her house. The temperature was triple digits hot. Due to the extreme heat, we had a power outage. It was too hot to stay in that old house with it's 15 foot ceilings. After calling the power company to find it would be the middle of the night before power could be restored, I called my Uncle Randy. I thought I would go visit him and stay at his house till power was restored at my Mother's. Instead he suggested we go to the casino. You know the rest of this story from my previous blog post. My Uncle died that night with me just minutes behind him.
I am the oldest of the the next generation of our family. My brother, after me, is another nine years younger. I have always held a unique position in our families dynamics. I am only seven years younger than my youngest uncle. I was only nine years younger than my Uncle Randy. I spent many years with my grandparents growing up. Which in turn made my uncles more like my brothers. I also spent a couple of years with Randy as my guardian, so then you can add father figure to the list. All of that added together with the fact that Randy and I were the most alike and both single. We spent lots of time hanging out together. If I wanted to jump and run on a trip somewhere I would call Randy and see if he wanted to go and visa versa. Beside being related we were genuinely friends. Since Randy was a widower that never had children, the responsibility of his estate fell to me. So I now had two estates full of stuff to deal with. We are talking beyond an ordinary amount of stuff. Between my mother and uncles they had a running joke in the family. He who dies with the most stuff, WINS. Fortunately the winner is still alive and has his own family when that time comes. It has been just over two years and I am finally down to an 8x12 portable garage full of stuff. Everything but this last remaining bit has been dealt with. I bought this place about a year ago but this month I finally get to start living permanent in my RV. I no longer have to see to things elsewhere.
One of the reasons I skipped right on to the RV is that all of this has taken a toll on my already fragile health. I don't usually dwell on the negatives in my life or complain about my medical problems. But I will take a moment to briefly gloss over them. Barring accidents, everyone in my family, on both sides, have genetically bad hearts. They all die fairly early in life. My oldest uncle died at 56 of congestive heart failure. His first bypass was at 38. He is the most extreme case, but none of us make it to 70. My mother got the closest at 69. I personally know I only have about another 15 years, at best! Then we get to the emotional aspect of the last two years. I still have some family left, but my core family is gone. I love my kids but they have lives of their own they need to live. That is how it should be and I don't need to be trying to live vicariously through them. My brother has his life and business in a very urban city which I could never tolerate living in. My last remaining uncle has his own life and family with a wife that we have all just tolerated through the years. She has kind of alienated him from the rest of the family. When my mother and Randy died so close together. My youngest uncle made a statement to me that he felt excluded by them. What he never realized is that his wife did that for him. But if she makes him happy, I'm all for it. I am not a naturally trusting person, so the list of people I truly call my friends are a bare handful. They are scattered all over, like my family. I love where I live, but I don't know anyone. I still talk to friends and family on the phone, on a regular basis. Am I saying the problem is loneliness.... not really, I like solitude. That being said, I am not an introvert either. I know part of the problem is my limited physical abilities. But the main problem is that I'm at a bit of a lost without the family that grounded me. I find it easier to accept my mother's death because it followed through to the natural conclusion of her life. But I think, after two years I am still angry that Randy was taken before his time. Family has always been one of the most important aspect of my life. And now that it's limited and scattered, I am left wondering ...where do I go from here.
Until the events of 2011, I have always tried to keep my posts positive and upbeat. The last two years there just has not been much to say that could be considered positive, so I have said nothing at all. From here on out I will try to do better.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Single Frugality
I like being single but it is hard work. Have you ever noticed most everything in the grocery stores are designed for a family of 2.5 plus pet. And if it is not then it cost you double or more. Today I was grocery shopping and had milk on my list. For me to buy milk is a rarity. I use Nido or evaporated milk for most of my cooking. But cold cereal just doesn't work with either of those. And sometime I'd just like to drink a little cold milk. I usually buy a pint of milk, have my cereal and drink the rest. Right now in my grocers, milk is $1.29 pint. Today I realized that makes that milk $10.32 per gallon. That's a little hard to take when I could buy a gallon for $3.91. Well penny pincher that I am, I had to buy the gallon.
Now it will take me a month or more to use that gallon of milk. So my solution to preservation was to also buy 2 of the 12 oz/8pks of pepsi in bottles (on sale). Pepsi is something I also drink and would have bought it anyway. I usually buy the 16.9 oz bottles, but the 12 oz was a better size for my milk use. I am now pouring those 12oz pepsi's into a 16.9 oz bottle to drink (so I don't drink out of them) and then washing the 12oz bottle for the milk.
As each bottle is filled, it then goes in the freezer. Yes, you can freeze milk. I know this because I had an uncle that worked for Formost. I drank previously frozen milk for years. Formost milk is a little richer than most. So when thawed it tastes just like any other milk. Most frozen store brand milk will be a little richer than 2% but not quite as rich as whole milk that has not been frozen. Either way for $6.41 difference, it will work for me.
Now if you can use whole gallons but still want to freeze it when it is on sale. There are a couple of thing you should know. First you can't freeze it in it's original container. There is no room for it to expand. With the 12oz bottles I leave enough room for the liquid to expand when it freezes. Second, even if that container had room it won't take freezing well. You can freeze it, but if you bump it, it will break most of the time. Different plastic than the soda bottle.
I just spent the last couple of days re-packaging meat and canning some peach jam from a #10 can of peaches. No I did not buy a #10 can of peaches. A friend had it left over from when she sold her food concession business last year and was going to throw it away. I hate waste, but there was no way either of us could eat a whole #10 can of peaches. I took it anyway and looked at it for a couple of weeks before I decided that I would make peach jam and peach butter out of it. I now have 3 pints plus a half pint of peach jam and 4 half pints of peach butter. I will share those with her and we will both have plenty of jelly.
If you are single you can either spent more money than a family would on the same amount of food. Or you can learn to do some creative preservation. Which is work.
NOTE: ... And before I get into ecological trouble about the single serve plastic bottles. I do recycle what I don't re-use. I don't like the taste of cans and the 16.9oz bottles are cheaper than the 1 & 2 liter. Also they don't go flat before I can drink it all. I am not green or a prepper, but I am aware. If you are aware you will be a little of both. When you buy those one or two items, you will tell them to keep the bag. When food is on sale, you will stock up. If everyone would just make a little difference, as a whole it would make a lot of difference. Maybe not utopia, but better.
And Further more I also know soda pop is not good for me but we all have our vices. Pepsi is mine, it could be worse.
Now it will take me a month or more to use that gallon of milk. So my solution to preservation was to also buy 2 of the 12 oz/8pks of pepsi in bottles (on sale). Pepsi is something I also drink and would have bought it anyway. I usually buy the 16.9 oz bottles, but the 12 oz was a better size for my milk use. I am now pouring those 12oz pepsi's into a 16.9 oz bottle to drink (so I don't drink out of them) and then washing the 12oz bottle for the milk.
As each bottle is filled, it then goes in the freezer. Yes, you can freeze milk. I know this because I had an uncle that worked for Formost. I drank previously frozen milk for years. Formost milk is a little richer than most. So when thawed it tastes just like any other milk. Most frozen store brand milk will be a little richer than 2% but not quite as rich as whole milk that has not been frozen. Either way for $6.41 difference, it will work for me.
Now if you can use whole gallons but still want to freeze it when it is on sale. There are a couple of thing you should know. First you can't freeze it in it's original container. There is no room for it to expand. With the 12oz bottles I leave enough room for the liquid to expand when it freezes. Second, even if that container had room it won't take freezing well. You can freeze it, but if you bump it, it will break most of the time. Different plastic than the soda bottle.
I just spent the last couple of days re-packaging meat and canning some peach jam from a #10 can of peaches. No I did not buy a #10 can of peaches. A friend had it left over from when she sold her food concession business last year and was going to throw it away. I hate waste, but there was no way either of us could eat a whole #10 can of peaches. I took it anyway and looked at it for a couple of weeks before I decided that I would make peach jam and peach butter out of it. I now have 3 pints plus a half pint of peach jam and 4 half pints of peach butter. I will share those with her and we will both have plenty of jelly.
If you are single you can either spent more money than a family would on the same amount of food. Or you can learn to do some creative preservation. Which is work.
NOTE: ... And before I get into ecological trouble about the single serve plastic bottles. I do recycle what I don't re-use. I don't like the taste of cans and the 16.9oz bottles are cheaper than the 1 & 2 liter. Also they don't go flat before I can drink it all. I am not green or a prepper, but I am aware. If you are aware you will be a little of both. When you buy those one or two items, you will tell them to keep the bag. When food is on sale, you will stock up. If everyone would just make a little difference, as a whole it would make a lot of difference. Maybe not utopia, but better.
And Further more I also know soda pop is not good for me but we all have our vices. Pepsi is mine, it could be worse.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Life on the Ranch
Now that I have my own little square of dirt and a mobile efficiency apartment, called an RV... it doesn't mean I am settled yet. I still have loose ends to tie up on my uncles estate and still more stuff to deal with from both estates.
Remember I said stuff owns you.... yes, well I still have stuff from both estates that needs to be stored and protected for a bit more. It sure won't fit into my travel trailer, so my solution was a 12x20x8 "garage in a box" by shelterlogic. I read lots of mixed reviews on it but it was the most reasonable temporary solution I could find. I don't know about longevity yet but I am still pretty impressed. It gets a bit windy here on the ranch and the canopy has so far withstood wind gusts up to 30 mile an hour. My ez-up is now nothing but a twisted, mangled frame but the "garage" stands there like a great green blob. I think one of the reasons for the mixed reviews, If you don't put it up correctly, it is not going to work. The advertised construction time is optimistic not factual. And you will need a drill to reline some of the misaligned bolt holes. Otherwise it was not to bad to construct it. We also added tie down straps from the top of the frame to the ground anchors on the four corners. Now we just have to wait and see how long it lasts but for 360.00 and tax, storage is getting cheaper every day.
Life on the Ranch this past 8 months has been a long series of camping trips with luxuries. Even though I still somewhat live in my uncles house. I prefer to be on the Ranch whenever I can. So I have made quite a few 100 mile trips between the two, always hauling a bit more stuff up with me. The first couple of months at the Ranch was without electricity... now that was an adventure. I had an inverter in the truck to keep electronics charged and used kerosene lamps at night. The next couple of months was on a generator and finally I now have electricity. Water for the moment is supplied by a 300 gallon water tank sitting behind the trailer and the trailer's self contained water system. I have yet to decide if I want the city water or a well. Septic was already on location.
Life here still has its day to day complications like any other lifestyle but I think they will slow down once I get everything set up and running. The trailer I bought had been in storage for 4 years prior. During that time squirrels had gotten into the storage bins and eaten into the water lines in a couple of spots, so those had to be fixed. The gas tank lines to the propane tanks work but they have gotten hard and need to be replaced. Also here lately I have had really bad refrigerator juju. The refrigerator at my uncles house has been on the fritz. It works intermittently and runs all of the time so I bought a new 3.5 cu ft as a temporary replacement. It quit 3 days later so I took it back. I did not want to replace the big refrigerator so close to moving and I still had the freezer. I decided I could live with that till I got electricity on the ranch. Once I got the power to the trailer, that fridge ran for 2 days and quit getting cold. I could not find a 10 cu ft locally to replace it so I now have a 4 cu ft left over from food concession days. So far it's working fine and surprisingly doesn't look beat up. And the one that is still in the wall makes for a good additional storage pantry.
This travel trailer is surprisingly roomy, although not a lot of storage. My friend has a 40 ft that has much more storage but it feels cramped to me. I like the more open feel of this trailer. That is too funny coming from someone who was prepared to live in a van. It's funny that I am clostrophic but I really like living in small places. I think that has a lot to do with my grandparent, who did almost the same thing I am doing now. Once the kids were grown. They got rid of the house, moved into a travel trailer with a half acre. They lived between that half acre and south Texas till they both got to old to travel. Once my grandfather died my grandmother continued on in the travel trailer. The only difference was that she would spend a little time with each of us. She spent 7 or 8 month parked at my house. It was a joy to have her there and my son got to spend quality time with his great grandmother. I don't plan on pulling this RV up and down the road, but I hope to have more quality time now that I no longer have to maintain a big hulking house, yard and all of the stuff in it.
Remember I said stuff owns you.... yes, well I still have stuff from both estates that needs to be stored and protected for a bit more. It sure won't fit into my travel trailer, so my solution was a 12x20x8 "garage in a box" by shelterlogic. I read lots of mixed reviews on it but it was the most reasonable temporary solution I could find. I don't know about longevity yet but I am still pretty impressed. It gets a bit windy here on the ranch and the canopy has so far withstood wind gusts up to 30 mile an hour. My ez-up is now nothing but a twisted, mangled frame but the "garage" stands there like a great green blob. I think one of the reasons for the mixed reviews, If you don't put it up correctly, it is not going to work. The advertised construction time is optimistic not factual. And you will need a drill to reline some of the misaligned bolt holes. Otherwise it was not to bad to construct it. We also added tie down straps from the top of the frame to the ground anchors on the four corners. Now we just have to wait and see how long it lasts but for 360.00 and tax, storage is getting cheaper every day.
Life on the Ranch this past 8 months has been a long series of camping trips with luxuries. Even though I still somewhat live in my uncles house. I prefer to be on the Ranch whenever I can. So I have made quite a few 100 mile trips between the two, always hauling a bit more stuff up with me. The first couple of months at the Ranch was without electricity... now that was an adventure. I had an inverter in the truck to keep electronics charged and used kerosene lamps at night. The next couple of months was on a generator and finally I now have electricity. Water for the moment is supplied by a 300 gallon water tank sitting behind the trailer and the trailer's self contained water system. I have yet to decide if I want the city water or a well. Septic was already on location.
Life here still has its day to day complications like any other lifestyle but I think they will slow down once I get everything set up and running. The trailer I bought had been in storage for 4 years prior. During that time squirrels had gotten into the storage bins and eaten into the water lines in a couple of spots, so those had to be fixed. The gas tank lines to the propane tanks work but they have gotten hard and need to be replaced. Also here lately I have had really bad refrigerator juju. The refrigerator at my uncles house has been on the fritz. It works intermittently and runs all of the time so I bought a new 3.5 cu ft as a temporary replacement. It quit 3 days later so I took it back. I did not want to replace the big refrigerator so close to moving and I still had the freezer. I decided I could live with that till I got electricity on the ranch. Once I got the power to the trailer, that fridge ran for 2 days and quit getting cold. I could not find a 10 cu ft locally to replace it so I now have a 4 cu ft left over from food concession days. So far it's working fine and surprisingly doesn't look beat up. And the one that is still in the wall makes for a good additional storage pantry.
This travel trailer is surprisingly roomy, although not a lot of storage. My friend has a 40 ft that has much more storage but it feels cramped to me. I like the more open feel of this trailer. That is too funny coming from someone who was prepared to live in a van. It's funny that I am clostrophic but I really like living in small places. I think that has a lot to do with my grandparent, who did almost the same thing I am doing now. Once the kids were grown. They got rid of the house, moved into a travel trailer with a half acre. They lived between that half acre and south Texas till they both got to old to travel. Once my grandfather died my grandmother continued on in the travel trailer. The only difference was that she would spend a little time with each of us. She spent 7 or 8 month parked at my house. It was a joy to have her there and my son got to spend quality time with his great grandmother. I don't plan on pulling this RV up and down the road, but I hope to have more quality time now that I no longer have to maintain a big hulking house, yard and all of the stuff in it.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
As The World Turns....
Remember that old soap opera? It was retired in 2010 as the second longest running soap opera. Not that I am a fan of soaps, but it seemed an appropriate title for my life this past two or three years. Ever changing and always dramatic. I really dislike drama. I have just a bit more to go I think and then maybe life will settle down for me. Hopefully then, I can post here more regularly.
I started this blog because I wanted to travel and live in my little van. I still do, but with rising gas prices and a steadily declining economy.. I don't think that is going to be an option. So on to plan B. Adaptability is the catch word for my life. I still want to live more simply. I still don't think I need that 1700 sq ft house that I only lived in 200 sq ft of. And I still don't need a bunch of possession that own me. Yes... truly .... you do not own stuff.. it owns you. You have to wash it... house it... protect it. All of that energy just to say you own it. After almost two years of dealing with the estates of my uncle and mother..... I am sick of stuff.
But I digress, back to explaining plan B. After much refection on what to do with myself in my declining years. I knew I just wanted to be where I would not be told what to do and when to do it. And all I needed to live in was a travel trailer. To start I found a 36 foot travel trailer with a slide. This gives me 330 sq foot of living space. Plenty for me! Next I needed somewhere to put this thing. No, I'm really am not social enough to live in an RV hell (resort). So some unrestricted rural property was what I started looking for. Even the large state of Texas, UNRESTRICTED small acreage is not easy to find. I can live anywhere, but If I am going to be stationary, I did not want to leave Texas. I also did not want the humidity of south Texas or the extreme heat of west Texas, so with my boundaries set at the northeastern quarter of Texas I started looking and looking and looking. You get my point. After months of searching, traveling to view and researching property history, I finally found a home for the travel trailer. The horror stories I could tell about some of the properties I viewed could make it's own blog. Let just say I know where there is some swamp land for sale.
The property I found is 1.52 acres.... a bit more than I needed but it fit most of my other criteria. It is only 5 miles from a grocery store. I looked at one property that was 20 miles from the nearest gas station. That one was a bit too rural. This place had been a homestead at one time before so most of the infrastructure was in place or could be brought back into use. It did not require any clearing. The towns population is around 4500, But if I need the convenience of city life there is a large one 22 miles away. The price was reasonable. I spent some time in the town before I bought the property and found the people to be friendly and helpful. After 8 months that has not seemed to change
.
So I guess my blog is now going to be about homesteading in an travel trailer. In honor of my uncle I have decided to call the place "Randy's Ranch" If he were alive now he would have been rubbing his hand together and planing which corner would be his. I think he would have liked this place.
I started this blog because I wanted to travel and live in my little van. I still do, but with rising gas prices and a steadily declining economy.. I don't think that is going to be an option. So on to plan B. Adaptability is the catch word for my life. I still want to live more simply. I still don't think I need that 1700 sq ft house that I only lived in 200 sq ft of. And I still don't need a bunch of possession that own me. Yes... truly .... you do not own stuff.. it owns you. You have to wash it... house it... protect it. All of that energy just to say you own it. After almost two years of dealing with the estates of my uncle and mother..... I am sick of stuff.
But I digress, back to explaining plan B. After much refection on what to do with myself in my declining years. I knew I just wanted to be where I would not be told what to do and when to do it. And all I needed to live in was a travel trailer. To start I found a 36 foot travel trailer with a slide. This gives me 330 sq foot of living space. Plenty for me! Next I needed somewhere to put this thing. No, I'm really am not social enough to live in an RV hell (resort). So some unrestricted rural property was what I started looking for. Even the large state of Texas, UNRESTRICTED small acreage is not easy to find. I can live anywhere, but If I am going to be stationary, I did not want to leave Texas. I also did not want the humidity of south Texas or the extreme heat of west Texas, so with my boundaries set at the northeastern quarter of Texas I started looking and looking and looking. You get my point. After months of searching, traveling to view and researching property history, I finally found a home for the travel trailer. The horror stories I could tell about some of the properties I viewed could make it's own blog. Let just say I know where there is some swamp land for sale.
The property I found is 1.52 acres.... a bit more than I needed but it fit most of my other criteria. It is only 5 miles from a grocery store. I looked at one property that was 20 miles from the nearest gas station. That one was a bit too rural. This place had been a homestead at one time before so most of the infrastructure was in place or could be brought back into use. It did not require any clearing. The towns population is around 4500, But if I need the convenience of city life there is a large one 22 miles away. The price was reasonable. I spent some time in the town before I bought the property and found the people to be friendly and helpful. After 8 months that has not seemed to change
.
So I guess my blog is now going to be about homesteading in an travel trailer. In honor of my uncle I have decided to call the place "Randy's Ranch" If he were alive now he would have been rubbing his hand together and planing which corner would be his. I think he would have liked this place.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Death Travels Beside You
Randy Arthur Bradley
1950 - 2011
I know I have been behind in my posts again, but this has been a
very intense and emotional time for my family and I. From my previous posts you
know that my mother died in April 2011 after an illness in which my brother and
I cared for her. In August 2011, my uncle (her brother) was killed in a
horrendous auto accident involving two 18-wheelers. Until now we were advised
not to talk about the accident. This past week we mediated and settled with one
of the trucking companies. As for the other trucking company?... They don't
feel like they are responsible for dumping hundreds of gallons of Sodium
Hydroxide (lye) on my uncle. We think they are. We are not motivated by money.
There is no amount in which it would restore the relationship we have lost with
our loved one. However; money is the only avenue in which we can hold them
accountable for such a tragedy. We as a family would like inform the public
to the danger of what is traveling on the highway with them, and how it could
impact their life as it did ours.
It is very hard for me to put in words everything my family and
I have endured this past 10 months. But if it saves one life it will be worth
any tears I cry as I write this.
Last August I was at my mother's house trying to clear up some
of my Mother's affairs. We had her house on the market and there were details
to take care of. It was not a good day to began with, as it would have been her
70th birthday. In the afternoon the area had a power outage. After I called the
power company and found that power would not be restored until 2am. I called my Uncle Randy. You
see, Randy was not the holiday type uncle. He never had kids of his own. So
every kid in the family was like his own child to him. He was 10 when I was
born. He has held the capacity of Uncle, Father, Brother and most of all, my
friend. We hung out and worked together, so it was only natural for me to call
him. I think he needed a diversion from grief also because he suggested we go
to the Casinos in Shreveport while we waited for them to restore power on an
extremely hot August day. In not to long Randy arrived at my Mother's and I
rode with him to Shreveport. We spend most of that time hanging out together
playing the same machine and rooting for each other to get the jackpot. At shortly
after midnight we went to the casino restaurant since all we had consumed for several hours was coke and coffee.
I have to pause here and tell you about our dining experience, since it describes the way Randy was his whole life. We sat and placed our
order, then Randy left for the restroom. There was an older lady dining alone
in the booth behind me. She had just gotten her appetizer of onion rings. As
Randy passed, he smiled and told her "Those onion rings look awesome,
young lady" Needless to say, while he was gone the lady came over to me
and asks to share her onion rings with him. This was a common occurrence with
Randy. He never met a stranger. And I have never seen anyone NOT respond to
him, he was just so happy go lucky, you couldn't help but like him.
When we were though eating we left and returned to Mother's
house. We arrived just before 2am. Once there, we found that the power was
still not on. So I called the power company again. As I listened to their
canned recording for the new service restore time, Randy said he was going to
the house and I responded that I would be right behind him. In only about a minute I was told that the estimated time of
repair was now 4am. So I went up stairs, locked the door and then drove out of
the drive that Randy had left less that 5 minutes before. There is no doubt
that we will take the same route. I-20 is a common route for our family because
it connects all of the small towns in the area where a majority of my family
lives. So once on I-20 I set my cruise for 65.
As I neared the truck stop on the east side of Longview, traffic
slowed and came to a dead stop. This effectively pinned me in gridlock because
I was in the inner lane. No one was moving and everyone was leaving their cars.
So I got out and ask a truck driver if he knew what was ahead because I was on
one side of a hill and the accident was on the other. He told me there were two
18-wheelers turned over across the interstate. And this is where the nightmare
began.
I got back in my car and tried to call Uncle Randy but got no
answer. The first call I didn't panic, even though it was strange for him not
to warn me of the accident. I thought maybe he got past it, so I tried calling
the house although I knew he'd not had time to reach it. As I redialed and
prayed, redialed and prayed I kept trying to come up with reasons for him not
to answer. I made a desperate attempt not to panic. This is called denial. In
the mean time I was trapped with a car in front of me and one in back. I knew I
couldn't leave my car and cause another accident, but I knew something was
seriously wrong even though I kept making excuses. I finally left my car again
and asked the same truck driver if there were any passenger cars involved. He informed
me he thought there was a pickup truck involved. I knew then! I returned to my
car as others were shifting their cars behind me. I was finally free of the
gridlock, so I pulled into the inside ditch and drove over the hill and this is
close to what I saw.
I am not entirely sure how I got from the inside ditch to the
access road beside the interstate, but I did. I caught the first uniform I saw
and ask them the make and model of the pickup. I wanted someone.... anyone....
to tell me I was wrong about what I was seeing. Once the Officer informed me my
uncle was dead. I called in the family. We spent several hours standing beside
the interstate with my uncle lying dead in the seat of his truck. They could
not remove his body because of all of the caustic soda. It was up to the wheels
on his truck. In fact he was still in the truck when the above photo was taken
because it was breaking daylight before he was removed. That night was a horror
that I hope no one else EVER has to endure. My cousin only lives a mile or two
from this site. On property that originally belonged to my grandparents. She
must pass by this and be reminded of that night on a daily basis.
Now that you understand how we came to be at this spot in time
that night, I will tell you about the accident itself. Two 18-wheelers were
traveling in the eastbound lane of I-20. One was transporting cars. The second
was hauling six 500 or 1000 gallon plastic vats of liquid Sodium Hydroxide. Or
in laymen terms LYE, caustic soda. At the very least; he was exposed to 3000
gallons of lye. The transport driver hit the chemical truck in the rear end and
by the skid marks they started to go towards the right ditch until they swerved
sharply left indicating that the chemical truck driver jerked his steering
wheel hard left. This caused both trucks to break though the cable barrier in
the median that the State of Texas claims will hold an 18-wheeler. It will NOT,
they took out two sections of it. Both trucks came to rest across both lanes of
westbound I-20 at the bottom of a hill, The chemical truck was on its side
spilling capricious amounts of lye on to the highway toward oncoming traffic.
My uncle had the misfortune to be traveling westbound down that hill. According
to his skid marks he tried to stop but there was not enough dry pavement before
he was hydroplaning on sodium hydroxide, yards from the chemical truck itself.
My uncle's truck slammed into the chemical truck on the driver's side causing
him to be literally drowned in lye.
We realize that the transport truck initially started the tragic
chain of events that night. And they have owned their responsibility. It is our
belief; the chemical truck perpetuated it with blind panic. If he had
maintained control, both 18-wheelers would have most likely remained on the
eastbound side of I-20. Saving the life of someone many people held dear.
As I stated earlier, that night was the beginning of the
nightmare. Little did we know it would continue in the months to come. It began
it at the funeral home; the judge had ordered an autopsy to determine cause of
death. Nowhere could they perform an autopsy. My uncle was too toxic. No one
had the ventilation system to handle it. All they could do was a visual exam
and blood toxicology. His report states "indications of head and chest
trauma" and "excessive exposure to Sodium hydroxide", "alcohol and drugs negative"
We will never know what really killed him or how long and to what extent he
suffered. Research shows sodium hydroxide in the amount he was exposed to; has
the potential to explode the heart.
The next thing we had to endure was his cremation. No one in my
family has ever been cremated. But we were not given much choice; again he was
just too toxic. We were not allow a viewing or even to be near him to say
goodbye.
Then comes the lawyers, unfortunately it is the only way to make
someone accountable for their actions. We agreed to a pre-suit mediation in an
attempt to have some closure. The transport company quickly owned up to their
responsibility and we hammered out an agreement. I know they think they paid
too much and we will always think they paid too little. We would return every
dime and more if they could bring my uncle back. Through the whole mediation
process we had to work around the fact that the chemical company wanted
$300,000 for the loss of their truck. But we worked around it and got it
settled. Then it was time to mediate with the chemical company. Initially, for
whatever the reason, they felt compelled to offer our family $5000. We
respectfully declined their pathetic offering. Later, they increased this
"offering" to $10,000. Nowhere in my world is a truck worth $300,000
and a life $10,000.
Would you like to know the name of the company that values life
at $10,000. It is Cudd Pressure Control. A company rumored to travel mostly at
night. I wonder if it has anything to do with weight scales being closed late
at night?
Open reprint permission: Please feel free to share this where ever you think it will serve the public as a caution to avoid these trucks. Especially where people like or are required to travel at night.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Table for One, Please!
Here is the post I promised on what to do with that dehydrated food I talked about in the previous post. I am also going to include some more visual and "fanny" research that I've done since the last post.
Let's start with the additional dry food I found locally. I found that Drug Emporium carries a pretty wide selection of organic foods. Among these is a wide selection of dried fruits, like mangos, blueberries, strawberries and many other more common fruits. They also had a few dried vegetables that could be put to use in stews and such. The fruit also had the added advantage of not having any added sugar, unlike the store brands. My local health food store also had a few things that I picked up, some honey granules and some dry soup mixes where the ingredients were packaged separately. I live in a relatively small town so my sources are limited. Depending on where you are, your possibilities may be more readily available.
So now you have some dry food, what to do with it? In it's current form it doesn't look very appetizing. The first thing you need to know about cooking dried foods is that it's not instant. It takes some planning ahead. You will have to soak those potatoes in water for a bit before you can pan fry them. If you want onions in it you must throw them in with the potatoes too. If you are making a soup or stew then it's just a matter of a longer cooking time. Dried foods lend themselves to soups the best, but that doesn't mean you can't use them other ways. You can use most dried foods any way you would use fresh, if you understand that their texture maybe slightly different.
If you chose to live in a van, hopefully you planned for how you were going to cook. If you didn't choose it, then maybe this will help. The last few days I have been experimenting with minimal cooking. The one that intrigued me the most was thermos cooking. I own this Thermos (17.00 at walmart). It's not the cadillac of thermoses but neither is it the spiderman lunch box variety (which won't work). According to some of the sites I read, this is not the best one to use because of the wide mouth top and heat loss. I did not find this to be true. Also I did somethings intentionally less than perfect. I started with a simple chicken noodle soup that had dried carrots, noodles, and powdered soup base. Everything I read said to preheat the thermos with boiling water... I used hot tap water. But I did use boiling water when I actually made the soup. In 20 minutes I had chicken noodle soup. Everything was done, but the carrots still had just a hint of crispiness to them. My next try I used Bear Creek potato soup mix, lately I have been craving a good potato soup. These soup mixes make a half gallon of soup... waaay too much for me. The first order was to divide this into four snack size bags (1 cup each). This mixed with two cups of water will make enough for 1 hearty appetite or 2 smaller ones. Since I am in the latter category I chose to divide one of those bags in half again. Once again I used hot tap water to preheat the thermos, then used boiling water and the soup mix for making the actual soup. After adding the soup mix (water first), I sealed the thermos and put it's cap on, then gave it a good shake. My final step was to roll it in a towel and lay it on it's side. Laying it on the side gives you more even cooking. For the next three hours I basically ignored it, except for an occasional shake. When I opened the thermos I had a nice creamy potato soup that was still entirely too hot to eat. This was my first experience with Bear Creek brand soups, but I have to say this one was surprisingly good for prepackaged. My only complaint was that it was a bit shy on the potatoes. To remedy this deficiency, I added a heaping spoonful of dried hash brown potatoes to the next batch I cooked. Much better, but I can also see this with some added bacon bits.
As a family of one, I can see great potential for thermos cooking and dried foods. Some of the things I envision making in the thermos are broccoli and rice casserole, mac and cheese, pot roast for one and of course soups. Almost anything that can be cooked in a crock pot would work this way. Also this could be useful in extreme situations, such as being without cooking facilities. In theory you should be able to fill a thermos with water and heat it in the sun on the dash. Although I should add a few words of caution here. A thermos on the dash has the potential to become extremely hot, don't grab it with bare hands. Also never leave it unattended. In doing this you have created your own miniature pressure cooker. If it gets too hot, the pressure inside will build and it will push the top off with force. This is a polite way of saying that it will explode all over your dash or worse. Anyway it is something I will experiment with in the future.
Ultimately this experiment proved to me that my thermos will now go where I do. It also shows that dehydrated food would be of great benefit to a vandweller. I don't mean just dried beans and rice, but also the more exotic staples such as powder whole eggs, whole milk and sour cream. Am I going to live on dried foods alone, NO, but I will be sure to carry a basic supply of staples and vegetables.
If you are interested on learning more here are some reference links:
http://theboatgalley.com/thermos-cooking/
http://www.ehow.com/how_2275972_cook-thermos-save-energy-money.html
Here is a link that has some "just add water" mug recipes
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/recipex/msg0522281311215.html
And last is a link for a free downloadable shelf stable recipe book
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2011/04/25/surprise-3-shelf-stable-cookbook/
on this last one keep in mind this was a member created book by proponents of survivalist food storage. Some of them still had a bit of problem thinking in terms of not having a fully stocked kitchen with all of the latest gadgets. But it is still an amazingly good representation of what you can do with dried and shelf stable food.
Let's start with the additional dry food I found locally. I found that Drug Emporium carries a pretty wide selection of organic foods. Among these is a wide selection of dried fruits, like mangos, blueberries, strawberries and many other more common fruits. They also had a few dried vegetables that could be put to use in stews and such. The fruit also had the added advantage of not having any added sugar, unlike the store brands. My local health food store also had a few things that I picked up, some honey granules and some dry soup mixes where the ingredients were packaged separately. I live in a relatively small town so my sources are limited. Depending on where you are, your possibilities may be more readily available.
So now you have some dry food, what to do with it? In it's current form it doesn't look very appetizing. The first thing you need to know about cooking dried foods is that it's not instant. It takes some planning ahead. You will have to soak those potatoes in water for a bit before you can pan fry them. If you want onions in it you must throw them in with the potatoes too. If you are making a soup or stew then it's just a matter of a longer cooking time. Dried foods lend themselves to soups the best, but that doesn't mean you can't use them other ways. You can use most dried foods any way you would use fresh, if you understand that their texture maybe slightly different.
If you chose to live in a van, hopefully you planned for how you were going to cook. If you didn't choose it, then maybe this will help. The last few days I have been experimenting with minimal cooking. The one that intrigued me the most was thermos cooking. I own this Thermos (17.00 at walmart). It's not the cadillac of thermoses but neither is it the spiderman lunch box variety (which won't work). According to some of the sites I read, this is not the best one to use because of the wide mouth top and heat loss. I did not find this to be true. Also I did somethings intentionally less than perfect. I started with a simple chicken noodle soup that had dried carrots, noodles, and powdered soup base. Everything I read said to preheat the thermos with boiling water... I used hot tap water. But I did use boiling water when I actually made the soup. In 20 minutes I had chicken noodle soup. Everything was done, but the carrots still had just a hint of crispiness to them. My next try I used Bear Creek potato soup mix, lately I have been craving a good potato soup. These soup mixes make a half gallon of soup... waaay too much for me. The first order was to divide this into four snack size bags (1 cup each). This mixed with two cups of water will make enough for 1 hearty appetite or 2 smaller ones. Since I am in the latter category I chose to divide one of those bags in half again. Once again I used hot tap water to preheat the thermos, then used boiling water and the soup mix for making the actual soup. After adding the soup mix (water first), I sealed the thermos and put it's cap on, then gave it a good shake. My final step was to roll it in a towel and lay it on it's side. Laying it on the side gives you more even cooking. For the next three hours I basically ignored it, except for an occasional shake. When I opened the thermos I had a nice creamy potato soup that was still entirely too hot to eat. This was my first experience with Bear Creek brand soups, but I have to say this one was surprisingly good for prepackaged. My only complaint was that it was a bit shy on the potatoes. To remedy this deficiency, I added a heaping spoonful of dried hash brown potatoes to the next batch I cooked. Much better, but I can also see this with some added bacon bits.
As a family of one, I can see great potential for thermos cooking and dried foods. Some of the things I envision making in the thermos are broccoli and rice casserole, mac and cheese, pot roast for one and of course soups. Almost anything that can be cooked in a crock pot would work this way. Also this could be useful in extreme situations, such as being without cooking facilities. In theory you should be able to fill a thermos with water and heat it in the sun on the dash. Although I should add a few words of caution here. A thermos on the dash has the potential to become extremely hot, don't grab it with bare hands. Also never leave it unattended. In doing this you have created your own miniature pressure cooker. If it gets too hot, the pressure inside will build and it will push the top off with force. This is a polite way of saying that it will explode all over your dash or worse. Anyway it is something I will experiment with in the future.
Ultimately this experiment proved to me that my thermos will now go where I do. It also shows that dehydrated food would be of great benefit to a vandweller. I don't mean just dried beans and rice, but also the more exotic staples such as powder whole eggs, whole milk and sour cream. Am I going to live on dried foods alone, NO, but I will be sure to carry a basic supply of staples and vegetables.
If you are interested on learning more here are some reference links:
http://theboatgalley.com/thermos-cooking/
http://www.ehow.com/how_2275972_cook-thermos-save-energy-money.html
Here is a link that has some "just add water" mug recipes
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/recipex/msg0522281311215.html
And last is a link for a free downloadable shelf stable recipe book
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2011/04/25/surprise-3-shelf-stable-cookbook/
on this last one keep in mind this was a member created book by proponents of survivalist food storage. Some of them still had a bit of problem thinking in terms of not having a fully stocked kitchen with all of the latest gadgets. But it is still an amazingly good representation of what you can do with dried and shelf stable food.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Just Add Water
Years ago, I used to spend a couple of weeks dehydrating food for my son's yearly camping trip into the mountains with his uncle. My uncle would get all of the kids in the family, 5 or 6 at the time, load them in a van with tents and camping gear and off they would go for a couple of weeks. We're not talking high tech camping in a state park, but primitive dispersed camping in the wilderness. For this trip I would dehydrate fruits, vegetables and meats.
I am not a fan of prepackaged food or can soup. I would rather cook my own with the ingredients I want in it. So I got to thinking about applying food dehydration to vandwelling. It seems it would be eminently suitable. It is light weight, compact and most re-hydrated things are almost as good as their fresh counterparts. Well thinking for me always equates to researching... so off to the internet I go.
The first thought is how are you going to get or dehydrate food? There are any number of instructables on solar food dehydrators. But this is not something I'm really interested in. So my choice would be to buy it. Unfortunately most of the suppliers of this type of product are survivalist, who want you to buy a years supply (or more) to feed a family of 4. Although I have found a few where you can get stuff in smaller quantities. Another source for these products are backpacking suppliers. But here the quantities are so small and expensive as to be prohibitive. And then there are the gourmet food suppliers. GOURMET equals at least double your money, so not much help there.
Ok so I have now done my "fanny" research (sitting on my butt behind the computer). I thought it time to check out the local Walmart Supercenter. Most of us eat dehydrated foods on a regular basis. When you buy that bag of noodles for a casserole, you are eating dehydrated food. After a couple of hours wondering the aisles of the store, poking, prodding and inspecting products I had never paid attention to before and keeping in mind that I only wanted to prepare food for one with a small appetite. I found that there is quite a bit you can get locally before you have to move on to more expensive or internet based suppliers. The first thing I can tell you is that the potatoes are covered. You can get dehydrated potatoes in almost any fashion you desire. You just have to think outside of the box (pardon the pun). That box of au gratin potatoes is nothing more than dehydrated potatoes, cheese powder, powder milk, powder spices, thickener and a few chemicals for good measure. Basically the same with just about any other flavor such as sour cream and chives. Once you have that box you can use those potatoes for about anything you want after you have re-hydrated them. Once re-hydrated you can pan fry them if you choose and save the cheese packet for something else. That box is also designed to feed a family of 3-4. So as a solo, use only what you need and put the rest in a zipper bag, removing as much air as possible. Ok, now that we have covered the most abundant dried vegetable, and a different way to look at the packaging. I will endeavor to list some more of the shelf stable items you can find in many local stores.
Whole Milk Powder - Nido - Generally found in the Spanish food section -- Plentiful in the south, not sure about in the north.
Some other useful items found in the Spanish food sections are tomato/chicken, cilantro, garlic and onion bullion. Bullion cubes last for years, but go lightly as they are full of sodium.
There is dried fruit and nuts in the snack section, many of which could be re-hydrated for desserts and smoothies.
Buttermilk powder - in the baking section along with that nasty non-fat powered milk (ok, so some might actually like it).
There are the noodles mentioned earlier and instant rice now comes in white or brown... I know, not as good for you as the other... but the object of this exercise is small portion, light, compact, eatable, shelf stable food.
In the spice section you can get, dried celery, chopped onions, dried chives, among other more commonly used spices. Oh, and there is Molly Butter which won't give you actual butter but will give you butter flavor.
Let us not forget beef jerky and bacon bits. I know many would be tempted by the "real" bacon bits. Don't they won't last as long as the imitation. The imitation are tolerable if used for cooking with and actually impart more of a bacon flavor to your recipe. There are some more shelf stable meats available in the grocery but they usually spoil shortly after you open them. Remember I am looking for long term stability. Things that will last at least a month or more. I don't think I would want to eat shelf stable bacon after it had been open and without refrigeration for a month.
I am intentionally skipping the canned goods since most of them are not small enough proportioned for me. I am concentrating on items that you can use as much or as little as you wish and the remainder stays stable till further use. The only one I will include is can cheese. You know the kind with the spout on top so that you can make fancy designs on your cracker. This is real cheese that can be used for a variety of cooking applications. It generally comes in american, cheddar and sharp cheddar, it also needs no refrigeration.
What I did not find in the grocery was readily dehydrated quantities of carrots, broccoli, green beans, peas, some of the more obscure powders like tomato, butter, whole egg, and sour cream. For those I found a couple of websites that deal in smaller quantities. The first one sells it quart sizes... a quart of diced carrots at the moment is $6.45. You have to remember these are dehydrated so you are talking around 3 quarts once they have been re-hydrated. It would take me a few months to use that many carrots as a single person. If I bought can carrots and discarded what I did not use, I would ultimately spend more that $6.45 for the equivalent amount. Here is the link if you are interested in checking them out: http://www.internet-grocer.net/2-half.htm . The other place I found has even smaller quantities and smaller prices, so that you could try some of the stuff before you bought for longer term. It is located here: http://www.barryfarm.com/our_store.htm. The items this place carries are a little more limited though.
The last dietary staple necessary for some (not all) is meat. This one you will most likely have to bite the bullet and get in the #10 (gallon) can from a survivalist store. The place above only carries canned meat and TVP (textured vegetable protein). You can get actual freeze dried (another form of dehydration) meat and cheese at many survivalist stores.
Ok now that I have shown you where to get the dried food. My next post will deal with what to do with it once you have it ......... buen viaje (safe travels)
I am not a fan of prepackaged food or can soup. I would rather cook my own with the ingredients I want in it. So I got to thinking about applying food dehydration to vandwelling. It seems it would be eminently suitable. It is light weight, compact and most re-hydrated things are almost as good as their fresh counterparts. Well thinking for me always equates to researching... so off to the internet I go.
The first thought is how are you going to get or dehydrate food? There are any number of instructables on solar food dehydrators. But this is not something I'm really interested in. So my choice would be to buy it. Unfortunately most of the suppliers of this type of product are survivalist, who want you to buy a years supply (or more) to feed a family of 4. Although I have found a few where you can get stuff in smaller quantities. Another source for these products are backpacking suppliers. But here the quantities are so small and expensive as to be prohibitive. And then there are the gourmet food suppliers. GOURMET equals at least double your money, so not much help there.
Ok so I have now done my "fanny" research (sitting on my butt behind the computer). I thought it time to check out the local Walmart Supercenter. Most of us eat dehydrated foods on a regular basis. When you buy that bag of noodles for a casserole, you are eating dehydrated food. After a couple of hours wondering the aisles of the store, poking, prodding and inspecting products I had never paid attention to before and keeping in mind that I only wanted to prepare food for one with a small appetite. I found that there is quite a bit you can get locally before you have to move on to more expensive or internet based suppliers. The first thing I can tell you is that the potatoes are covered. You can get dehydrated potatoes in almost any fashion you desire. You just have to think outside of the box (pardon the pun). That box of au gratin potatoes is nothing more than dehydrated potatoes, cheese powder, powder milk, powder spices, thickener and a few chemicals for good measure. Basically the same with just about any other flavor such as sour cream and chives. Once you have that box you can use those potatoes for about anything you want after you have re-hydrated them. Once re-hydrated you can pan fry them if you choose and save the cheese packet for something else. That box is also designed to feed a family of 3-4. So as a solo, use only what you need and put the rest in a zipper bag, removing as much air as possible. Ok, now that we have covered the most abundant dried vegetable, and a different way to look at the packaging. I will endeavor to list some more of the shelf stable items you can find in many local stores.
Whole Milk Powder - Nido - Generally found in the Spanish food section -- Plentiful in the south, not sure about in the north.
Some other useful items found in the Spanish food sections are tomato/chicken, cilantro, garlic and onion bullion. Bullion cubes last for years, but go lightly as they are full of sodium.
There is dried fruit and nuts in the snack section, many of which could be re-hydrated for desserts and smoothies.
Buttermilk powder - in the baking section along with that nasty non-fat powered milk (ok, so some might actually like it).
There are the noodles mentioned earlier and instant rice now comes in white or brown... I know, not as good for you as the other... but the object of this exercise is small portion, light, compact, eatable, shelf stable food.
In the spice section you can get, dried celery, chopped onions, dried chives, among other more commonly used spices. Oh, and there is Molly Butter which won't give you actual butter but will give you butter flavor.
Let us not forget beef jerky and bacon bits. I know many would be tempted by the "real" bacon bits. Don't they won't last as long as the imitation. The imitation are tolerable if used for cooking with and actually impart more of a bacon flavor to your recipe. There are some more shelf stable meats available in the grocery but they usually spoil shortly after you open them. Remember I am looking for long term stability. Things that will last at least a month or more. I don't think I would want to eat shelf stable bacon after it had been open and without refrigeration for a month.
I am intentionally skipping the canned goods since most of them are not small enough proportioned for me. I am concentrating on items that you can use as much or as little as you wish and the remainder stays stable till further use. The only one I will include is can cheese. You know the kind with the spout on top so that you can make fancy designs on your cracker. This is real cheese that can be used for a variety of cooking applications. It generally comes in american, cheddar and sharp cheddar, it also needs no refrigeration.
What I did not find in the grocery was readily dehydrated quantities of carrots, broccoli, green beans, peas, some of the more obscure powders like tomato, butter, whole egg, and sour cream. For those I found a couple of websites that deal in smaller quantities. The first one sells it quart sizes... a quart of diced carrots at the moment is $6.45. You have to remember these are dehydrated so you are talking around 3 quarts once they have been re-hydrated. It would take me a few months to use that many carrots as a single person. If I bought can carrots and discarded what I did not use, I would ultimately spend more that $6.45 for the equivalent amount. Here is the link if you are interested in checking them out: http://www.internet-grocer.net/2-half.htm . The other place I found has even smaller quantities and smaller prices, so that you could try some of the stuff before you bought for longer term. It is located here: http://www.barryfarm.com/our_store.htm. The items this place carries are a little more limited though.
The last dietary staple necessary for some (not all) is meat. This one you will most likely have to bite the bullet and get in the #10 (gallon) can from a survivalist store. The place above only carries canned meat and TVP (textured vegetable protein). You can get actual freeze dried (another form of dehydration) meat and cheese at many survivalist stores.
Ok now that I have shown you where to get the dried food. My next post will deal with what to do with it once you have it ......... buen viaje (safe travels)
Monday, January 9, 2012
Update: 2011 is Gone... YAH!
So I know it has been a few months since my last update. With the loss of 2 loved ones in 2011, I just had absolutely no time. Especially since the settlement of both estates has fallen to me almost solely. Mother's house is almost cleared out (thanks to some good friends). It doesn't look like that white elephant is going to sell and no family wants it. So it looks like the finance company will get it. It is just to much to maintain it all. Especially for someone who was and is trying to simplify their life (me :)).
I have been living in my uncle's house for a bit now. I have been trying to get things organized and cleaned up. He was a bachelor that lived on the road about 50% of the year doing his food concession business. Needless to say the house was a place that he crashed and recouped once the work was over. That being said most of the house was used for storage and just a small bit to live in. I now have the storage contained to one room, the rest of the house back to looking sort of like a house. There is still much to do and lots to liquidate, but I am starting to get a handle on it.
All of this has also included dealing with the lawyers and my three week stint of selling fireworks at the end of this year. So as you can see I have been pretty busy and with intermittent internet, it has been extremely hard to update my blog....but I have not and will not abandon it.
I have been living in my uncle's house for a bit now. I have been trying to get things organized and cleaned up. He was a bachelor that lived on the road about 50% of the year doing his food concession business. Needless to say the house was a place that he crashed and recouped once the work was over. That being said most of the house was used for storage and just a small bit to live in. I now have the storage contained to one room, the rest of the house back to looking sort of like a house. There is still much to do and lots to liquidate, but I am starting to get a handle on it.
All of this has also included dealing with the lawyers and my three week stint of selling fireworks at the end of this year. So as you can see I have been pretty busy and with intermittent internet, it has been extremely hard to update my blog....but I have not and will not abandon it.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Gone in an Instant
First let me apologize for my lack of posts recently. The reason is understandable. You see on Aug. 8th, I lost Uncle Twinkie in a horrible auto accident. This on top of losing my Mother in April. Just a mere 5 months apart and the day after what would have been my Mother's 70th birthday. I can't bring myself to write any details on the accident except that horrible is a mild word to describe it. Instead I would like to use this small space to tell you a bit about a Sister and Brother. My Mother and Uncle were very close. My mother as the oldest helped with the raising of the two younger siblings, which made them more like her children than her brothers. Me being the oldest of the next generation and a mere 10 years younger. Made them more like my big brothers than my uncles. We had time to prepare for my Mothers passing but I know my uncle regretted not saying the words "I love you" to her. But you see my uncle was always upbeat and happy, that was the way he tried to leave people. When he went through a check out line the cashier was left laughing and happy, no matter how bad their day had been before. He never met a stranger and never passed anyone that needed help. And the times that help was taken advantage of, his reply was "It's ok, it will be alright" or "It doesn't matter". He touched so many lives in small and unassuming ways. Even unknowing to many the world dimmed a bit on Aug 8. My one consolation is that I know my Mother and Uncle are together now. And he got the chance to tell her he loved her, although she always knew it.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
May I Have a Little Wine, Please?
Aaahhmm make that whine.... oh gosh, I hurt. All over more than anywhere else. Moving around will be a sad process for me today. Ok whine over, on to what I am thinking about today.
Remember a few posts back when I said I had the power. I still do, actually I have more. I had to ask for that second Trojan 4D. I could not stand the thought that it would probably get shuffled into a corner somewhere and ruin. Uncle L had already told me he had no use for it. So now I have the equivalent of a full time passenger on that side. Those batteries weight 115 lbs each for a combined weight of 230 lbs. That is the negative, the positive is that I have 330 amp hours available. Since I only want to use the top half of those hours. I need to find a way to keep the batteries charged. I want solar but I don't think I have enough roof space for the amount of panels I need to keep those "bad boys" charged. I think it will have to be a combined system of solar and alternator. I was really trying to avoid that. I think the alternator is one of the few things on Gypsy that has not been replaced over the years.
When I was playing with the refrigerators I messed up and ran one of those batteries almost completely dead. Although it was not all my fault. The charger I had purchased to keep the batteries charged was defective. Remember only a dummy buys a charger with dummy lights instead of a gauge. I knew that, I just chose to overlook it at the time. Anyway once all of the return and replacement of the charger was done, I had to charge that battery back to full capacity. Let me tell you, that was a chore. After a day on trickle charge (2amp) my inverter was still giving me a low voltage squeal. It actually took another day at medium (6amp) to get that thing back to full capacity. I really don't want to do that again.
Truthfully, I know enough about batteries, solar, etc. to be dangerous. I know the equations for converting amps to watts, visa versa and ect. I also know all the pieces needed to tie it all together. But I don't think I have the physical capabilities or complete knowledge to do it myself. I think I am going to have to have help on this one.
Remember a few posts back when I said I had the power. I still do, actually I have more. I had to ask for that second Trojan 4D. I could not stand the thought that it would probably get shuffled into a corner somewhere and ruin. Uncle L had already told me he had no use for it. So now I have the equivalent of a full time passenger on that side. Those batteries weight 115 lbs each for a combined weight of 230 lbs. That is the negative, the positive is that I have 330 amp hours available. Since I only want to use the top half of those hours. I need to find a way to keep the batteries charged. I want solar but I don't think I have enough roof space for the amount of panels I need to keep those "bad boys" charged. I think it will have to be a combined system of solar and alternator. I was really trying to avoid that. I think the alternator is one of the few things on Gypsy that has not been replaced over the years.
When I was playing with the refrigerators I messed up and ran one of those batteries almost completely dead. Although it was not all my fault. The charger I had purchased to keep the batteries charged was defective. Remember only a dummy buys a charger with dummy lights instead of a gauge. I knew that, I just chose to overlook it at the time. Anyway once all of the return and replacement of the charger was done, I had to charge that battery back to full capacity. Let me tell you, that was a chore. After a day on trickle charge (2amp) my inverter was still giving me a low voltage squeal. It actually took another day at medium (6amp) to get that thing back to full capacity. I really don't want to do that again.
Truthfully, I know enough about batteries, solar, etc. to be dangerous. I know the equations for converting amps to watts, visa versa and ect. I also know all the pieces needed to tie it all together. But I don't think I have the physical capabilities or complete knowledge to do it myself. I think I am going to have to have help on this one.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Humpty Dumpty Sat On A Wall
Well you know what happened .... he fell off. Humpty and I have something in common today. I try not to complain or even mention my inabilities. Therefore most people think I don't really have them. I actually have a list but I promise not to list them for you. There is nothing worse than someone who sits around all the time complaining about what they can't do and why. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with saying you can't do something because....but make it short. I'd rather concentrate on the few things left I can do. Anyway, about my fall today. I was coming down the back steps of my Mothers house and got almost to the bottom when the world turned upside down. I am not talking a short set of steps. As I mentioned before my Mothers house was built in 1843. The house itself is actually on the upper floor, the ground floor is an equivalent size basement of rooms. Fortunately, I was almost to the bottom or I would be in the hospital or worse right now. As I lay there looking at the sky, I took inventory of the damage. I never move until I do this. I could tell my right knee and left hand took most of the impact. I don't know why but my right knee always seems to be the one that gets it. I have trouble with it because of that. The outer damage is not to terrible, one scraped up right knee. It is the inner damage that is going to give me problems for the next few days. You see, my spine is deteriorating from top to bottom. So for the next few days at least, I will be here on the internet. I have no idea what I will blog about since I won't be able to do anything on Gypsy. I guess I will know when the idea hits me and I post it.
Sustenance and Such
The amount of food you eat depends on your body's requirements. I am what you call a grazer. Instead of the standard three squares a day, I eat five or six small meals. Most of the time these are simple meals, some fruit with crackers and cheese, a salad, or fold over sandwich. I guess I eat more times because I simply don't eat much at a sitting. Also I like a lot of fruit and vegetables which have a faster digestion rate. I don't watch fat counts, calories or pay close attention to what is good/bad for me. I eat what I like, just not much of it per sitting. One thing I naturally don't eat much is deep fried foods. Again not because it's bad for you but because I just don't care for it.
I guess my eating habits would be suited to this lifestyle if I could find a fridge that would work in the van. I have tried a 2.5 cu ft refrigerator and a thermoelectric cooler. Neither worked, my 1000w inverter would not start the refrigerator. It supposedly ran on 1.5amp with a 6.3amp start up. This calculates to a 725 watts start up and 173 watts to run... the inverter just squealed on start up. So next I tried the 12v cooler. These things might work in a milder climate, but not here. Even at night when temperatures ranged in the high 70's, nothing in the cooler was really any cooler than the ambient temperature. So it's back to the drawing board for refrigeration. Somehow there has to be a solution that doesn't cost 6-9 hundred dollars.
I guess my eating habits would be suited to this lifestyle if I could find a fridge that would work in the van. I have tried a 2.5 cu ft refrigerator and a thermoelectric cooler. Neither worked, my 1000w inverter would not start the refrigerator. It supposedly ran on 1.5amp with a 6.3amp start up. This calculates to a 725 watts start up and 173 watts to run... the inverter just squealed on start up. So next I tried the 12v cooler. These things might work in a milder climate, but not here. Even at night when temperatures ranged in the high 70's, nothing in the cooler was really any cooler than the ambient temperature. So it's back to the drawing board for refrigeration. Somehow there has to be a solution that doesn't cost 6-9 hundred dollars.
Camping Out
No I haven't been able to leave yet, although I did stay in Gypsy last night. We have an extreme heat wave going on here. The temperatures have been well over 100 degrees during the day. Even at night it has been way too hot. As I have for the past week, I sat at my computer dripping sweat as the air conditioner labored to do nothing. Understand this was all taking place at around 9pm. I finally gave up, if I was going to sweat anyway, I might as well do something. First in the order though was a cold bath to cool down. After that I put the portable AC in Gypsy so I could have some relief from the heat. The job for tonight was to cut down some of those silver folding sun screens that go in the front windshield. I wanted them for the back and side glasses too. I thought if the front one made such a difference... then all the way around should be wonderful. When they are not needed I can fold them away. After about 30 minutes of working on the one for the rear window I realized.. this is as cool as I have been all day. After a bit I decided it was going to be more comfortable to stay in Gypsy tonight. Unfortunately, finally getting cool caused me to abandon the window screen project with only two of them done.
I guess I need to take a moment to explain why the house is so hard to cool. This house belonged to my Mother. She absolutely loved it. It made her happy and that was all that mattered. But this house was build in 1843. It is the oldest house in the area. It was not designed for AC. It has 15 foot ceilings, hand hewn wood floors and all slave-made brick walls. When the weather is reasonable, AC is almost not needed. You can open the front and back doors to a constant breeze. In this kind of heat though, it is a job to keep it cool. I hope we can find a buyer that will love it as much as my Mother. This house was her dream, mine is to travel slow and light.
Ok, back to the subject at hand. It is now noon the next day. I am still in Gypsy, although she is starting to get a bit warmer. If I had finished the screens she would probably still be cool. The sun is bearing down on the passenger side windows at the moment, and they are without screens. I leave everything on the drivers side in place because I don't use those windows when I drive. But passenger and rear window stuff is designed to be stowed when I drive.
Here is Gypsy with AC installed
Here is another of Gypsy in camping mode
If you notice, I try to do all of Gypsy's modification in a way that will not alter her permanently. If I stripped her back down to a plain minivan conversion, all you would see are some very tiny holes where I installed the small eye hooks to hold the curtains. So far that is the only permanent alteration that has been made.
I guess I need to take a moment to explain why the house is so hard to cool. This house belonged to my Mother. She absolutely loved it. It made her happy and that was all that mattered. But this house was build in 1843. It is the oldest house in the area. It was not designed for AC. It has 15 foot ceilings, hand hewn wood floors and all slave-made brick walls. When the weather is reasonable, AC is almost not needed. You can open the front and back doors to a constant breeze. In this kind of heat though, it is a job to keep it cool. I hope we can find a buyer that will love it as much as my Mother. This house was her dream, mine is to travel slow and light.
Ok, back to the subject at hand. It is now noon the next day. I am still in Gypsy, although she is starting to get a bit warmer. If I had finished the screens she would probably still be cool. The sun is bearing down on the passenger side windows at the moment, and they are without screens. I leave everything on the drivers side in place because I don't use those windows when I drive. But passenger and rear window stuff is designed to be stowed when I drive.
Here is Gypsy with AC installed
Here is another of Gypsy in camping mode
If you notice, I try to do all of Gypsy's modification in a way that will not alter her permanently. If I stripped her back down to a plain minivan conversion, all you would see are some very tiny holes where I installed the small eye hooks to hold the curtains. So far that is the only permanent alteration that has been made.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Now That's Entertainment
When you are living small, You need to consider how to reduce everything to the smallest amount of space required. Fortunately with today's technology you have many options. But some of those options can cost big bucks. My solution is a bit simpler and cheaper. I have a standard laptop. But its a little uncomfortable to curl up with your laptop and read a good book. Yes I know they make e-readers now, I actually have one but never use the thing. I have a better solution that covers all the things I like in one small device. I like to read mostly, watch an occasional movie, and listen to some music. On very very rare occasion I will play a video game. To do this I use a PSP (playstation portable) that has been modified so that I may read on it also. I won't go into how to mod a PSP here, there are plenty of website that can supply that information. But I will forget my phone before I forget my PSP. It is that useful. I have about 125 books, 10 movies, 100 songs and a couple of games on an 8 gig card. I also have a 16 gig card that has about 25 movies and an 8 gig card that is free for more movies, books or music. When I get tired of the data on those cards then I just switch it out on the computer.... no need for an android, mp3 player, ebook reader, etc. Oh, and did I mention it is wifi capable. Now why would I want to spend a few hundred on a android table. Especially when these can be picked up in most any pawn shop for 75-100 dollars
Here is a pic in e-reader mode. As you can tell my PSP is well loved (indicated by scratches). This will read txt. rtf. pdf. html. If you get your books in a propitiatory format such as epub, lit, mobi, etc... they are easily converted with a free software called Calibre. You can get it here. If you don't like the white on black, it can be reversed or actually adjusted to about any color scheme you want. This just happens to be my preference.
One word of caution about modding a PSP. If you do this (or have it done) don't go to Sony and expect an update. It will render your PSP unusable. At least till you find someone who can "unbrick" it. As with most corporations now days, Sony frowns on modifications to it's products. Naturally they would rather sell it to you again. My answer to that is "Would you buy a new car because you didn't like the wheels"? No, you would modify the car by buying new wheels. I paid for this, I now own it .... if I want to "change the wheels" so to speak. I will!
Here is a pic in e-reader mode. As you can tell my PSP is well loved (indicated by scratches). This will read txt. rtf. pdf. html. If you get your books in a propitiatory format such as epub, lit, mobi, etc... they are easily converted with a free software called Calibre. You can get it here. If you don't like the white on black, it can be reversed or actually adjusted to about any color scheme you want. This just happens to be my preference.
One word of caution about modding a PSP. If you do this (or have it done) don't go to Sony and expect an update. It will render your PSP unusable. At least till you find someone who can "unbrick" it. As with most corporations now days, Sony frowns on modifications to it's products. Naturally they would rather sell it to you again. My answer to that is "Would you buy a new car because you didn't like the wheels"? No, you would modify the car by buying new wheels. I paid for this, I now own it .... if I want to "change the wheels" so to speak. I will!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Evolution, and More Evolution
So I went back out after it cooled off and did some more work on Gypsy. She is coming along nicely in my opinion. Still not sure about that table I just got. If I don't like I can always take it out. Here is a shot of how she has evolved so far
Under those black crates is my house battery and 1000w inverter. I said crates (plural) because even though those are the longer crates they were still too small to cover that Trogan 4D. That is a big battery and the only place I have sacrificed weight. I had to cut the end out of each crate and zip tie them together. I topped it with a piece of black coroplast. Instant table, battery house and power central. At the end of the battery house, where you see the power strip is enough room to add the fridge or cooler when I get it.
Here is a shot a bit further back. Notice the little gray box between the bed and the three tier drawers.... that is my camp stove. Also behind the drawers is my battery operated camp shower.
Next items on the wish list are a solar charger, port a potty and shower tent. With the way things have been falling in place I am curious to see which one becomes available first
Here is a shot a bit further back. Notice the little gray box between the bed and the three tier drawers.... that is my camp stove. Also behind the drawers is my battery operated camp shower.
Next items on the wish list are a solar charger, port a potty and shower tent. With the way things have been falling in place I am curious to see which one becomes available first
It's Hot, Hot, Hot.....
Sweltering in fact. So I am staying in and writing in the blog. I went on a scavenger hunt this morning and picked up a table for Gypsy. Although it may be too big. This means another reorganization. Almost no matter what it is you can't buy it to fit her. It has to be fabricated. I am getting close to having all of the big items I need. Still waiting to hear from Miss Linda on my 12v cooler. If not that then it will be a dorm fridge from Wally World.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
I Have The Power
Well the vandwelling guru smiled on me today, in a really big way. I went out this morning scouting for stuff. I had nothing particular in mind, just a list of stuff I knew I was going to need. First stop was Uncle Twinkies, so called for his love of Hostess Twinkies. I knew there was a small suit case camp stove over there. The kind that runs on a can of propane that looks like an aerosol spray can. They take up less room than most any woman's purse. While there we talked about the type of battery I needed. We agreed that the van was too small for lead acid, and there was no way I could afford AGM. So it was going to have to be gel. But even that was going to stretch the budget at the moment. Next stop was where Uncle Louie was working on his new freight truck. I mentioned Uncle L in the previous blog. He is the one that is the "King of Stuff". Anyway he has a hot shot freight business. He recently purchased two remote location trucks from a radio station to convert to freight trucks. This truck he was working on happen to still have a lot of the electrical stuff in it. But I didn't have a clue about this as I arrived at the shop. I was just going to show him what I had done to the van so far. Uncle L gets a kick out of fabrication. As we were talking I ask if he happened to have a deep cycle battery in all of his junk. He grinned and sort of chuckled, then told me he didn't have junk, but he had lots of stuff. He also informed me that he had just taken four off the truck he was working on. Only two were any good, but I was more than welcome to one of them. Although they might be too big for what I wanted. As we strolled over to the batteries, I knew at that moment that I was being smiled on. For there sat four Trojan AGM 4D's. I had to resist the urge to ask for the other one. When you are smiled upon, you don't get greedy. And Uncle L truly is the "King of Stuff", not junk.
A Rose By Any Other Name
The van finally has a name after 3 months. Don't have a clue how I derived the name for the van. It just popped into my head and seemed to fit. So from now on she is the Gypsy Jalopy or just "Gypsy" for short. I spent the day tweeking Gypsy and adding some things.
The bed got moved from the tail of the van up behind the drivers seat. I didn't put it here originally because of the controls for the rear air conditioner. But really it fits better there and I can always move a pillow if I need to use those controls.
I have made the curtains for the windows and tinted the rear window. I can't imagine why the rear window was not tinted like the sides. Tinting the side windows is not much help when you have the huge rear glass amplifying heat through it.
Tinting windows is not very complicated. A bottle of windex, exacto knife, tape measure and a squeegee. Although, I didn't have a squeegee so I used a grocery bonus card. Now I have to get a new card for that store...... I dropped it down in the door as I was smoothing the tint down into the edge of the window. Oh well, at least now I know those cards have a purpose, because I never seem to have it when I get to the store.
The bed got moved from the tail of the van up behind the drivers seat. I didn't put it here originally because of the controls for the rear air conditioner. But really it fits better there and I can always move a pillow if I need to use those controls.
I have made the curtains for the windows and tinted the rear window. I can't imagine why the rear window was not tinted like the sides. Tinting the side windows is not much help when you have the huge rear glass amplifying heat through it.
Tinting windows is not very complicated. A bottle of windex, exacto knife, tape measure and a squeegee. Although, I didn't have a squeegee so I used a grocery bonus card. Now I have to get a new card for that store...... I dropped it down in the door as I was smoothing the tint down into the edge of the window. Oh well, at least now I know those cards have a purpose, because I never seem to have it when I get to the store.
Let The Games Begin
So I have been driving this van around for a couple of months to get a feel for it. Took some short trips and it gets thumbs up. I have also been playing around with ideals how to convert it.
Oh, and lets not forget, collecting stuff. I picked up a 12V battery operated fan and found a 12v cord to fit it in my electronic junk. My Son donated a 1000 watt inverter to the cause. ~grin~ I have such wonderful children -- not only do they NOT frown on my out-of-the-box ideas.. they support them.
Hmmm... got side tracked ... back on subject. So I have been thinking about how to create a light yet sturdy bed. I don't want wood, too much weight overall. I thought about using a white plastic table top and change the legs but I could not find a size I am happy with. They are all too wide, 24 inches is plenty of space for me. Because of a physical disability, I can't roll over in my sleep unless I wake up. So I rarely turn over. Anyway, I finally found the bed solution. Before I tell you about it, I need to clarify this.. I am not crazy (well, maybe a bit) and it does work.
Have you seen the three tier shelves at the home improvement stores? They are two by three molded shelves with pvc tubing that separate each shelf. Not the el cheapo dollar store variety but good sturdy ones. Believe it or not, they claim to hold 750 lbs. The catch here is that the weight needs to be evenly distributed because of the pvc legs. Well with a few alterations they make a perfect bed for my mini RV.
I took the pvc legs and cut them to 11". This happens to be the perfect height for my van and for the single 29 qt single storage drawers. Once this was done I inserted the legs into two of the shelves, set them end to end and zip tied the legs together. The final modification was to cut 11" sections of 1 1/4 wooden dowel rod and insert it into the pvc legs thus making them more sturdy. The pvc legs are the weak link in these shelves but the dowel rods solidify them.
Once all of that was done I added a foam mattress and bedding --- Perfect! Oh, and what made this better than perfect .... I already had the shelves. I only had to buy the doweling. So the total cost of the bed was $8.00.
My $8.00 bed....
Oh, and lets not forget, collecting stuff. I picked up a 12V battery operated fan and found a 12v cord to fit it in my electronic junk. My Son donated a 1000 watt inverter to the cause. ~grin~ I have such wonderful children -- not only do they NOT frown on my out-of-the-box ideas.. they support them.
Hmmm... got side tracked ... back on subject. So I have been thinking about how to create a light yet sturdy bed. I don't want wood, too much weight overall. I thought about using a white plastic table top and change the legs but I could not find a size I am happy with. They are all too wide, 24 inches is plenty of space for me. Because of a physical disability, I can't roll over in my sleep unless I wake up. So I rarely turn over. Anyway, I finally found the bed solution. Before I tell you about it, I need to clarify this.. I am not crazy (well, maybe a bit) and it does work.
Have you seen the three tier shelves at the home improvement stores? They are two by three molded shelves with pvc tubing that separate each shelf. Not the el cheapo dollar store variety but good sturdy ones. Believe it or not, they claim to hold 750 lbs. The catch here is that the weight needs to be evenly distributed because of the pvc legs. Well with a few alterations they make a perfect bed for my mini RV.
I took the pvc legs and cut them to 11". This happens to be the perfect height for my van and for the single 29 qt single storage drawers. Once this was done I inserted the legs into two of the shelves, set them end to end and zip tied the legs together. The final modification was to cut 11" sections of 1 1/4 wooden dowel rod and insert it into the pvc legs thus making them more sturdy. The pvc legs are the weak link in these shelves but the dowel rods solidify them.
Once all of that was done I added a foam mattress and bedding --- Perfect! Oh, and what made this better than perfect .... I already had the shelves. I only had to buy the doweling. So the total cost of the bed was $8.00.
My $8.00 bed....
Life on the Road
(previously posted on the old blog)
Ok, I know we are not on the road yet. We still have to complete the adventure of building the pearl. But I thought I would talk about it a bit while waiting for warmer weather. As I mentioned before, I have lived on the road in the mobile food concession business. Most times you are only gone for a few days, but there are times you can be gone for weeks. I have slept in motels, trucks, cars, buses, box vans, travel trailers, and one time even under the lowered tailgate of a pick up. The tailgate story is a bit of an extreme but proves what you can do with some imagination.
The story really starts at a weekend show. We worked that weekend and then packed up on Sunday. It was midnight before we had everything loaded. Our next show was a ten day fair that started in two days. Since it was only two hours away from our weekend show, it was cheaper to travel to the next show early. When we arrived at the fairground, it was two in the morning and misting wet. This was entirely too early (or late) to go in search of a motel room. Both my uncles opted to catch some sleep in the front of their vehicles. This left my Son and I in our short bus, crammed to the ceiling with equipment and and only the single drivers seat. Really, talk about NO VACANCY I had learned from years of experience to carry a bag of tricks. This trip was no exception. I had with me a queen air mattress, air pump and of course pillows and extra blankets. I inflated the air mattress, dropped the tailgate on my uncles truck. Secured an extra blanket over the tailgate and then slid the air mattress under the tailgate. Instant tent!! That is where my son and I spent the remainder of the night. We were both quite snug, dry and comfy. Adaptability is the key
Ok, I know we are not on the road yet. We still have to complete the adventure of building the pearl. But I thought I would talk about it a bit while waiting for warmer weather. As I mentioned before, I have lived on the road in the mobile food concession business. Most times you are only gone for a few days, but there are times you can be gone for weeks. I have slept in motels, trucks, cars, buses, box vans, travel trailers, and one time even under the lowered tailgate of a pick up. The tailgate story is a bit of an extreme but proves what you can do with some imagination.
The story really starts at a weekend show. We worked that weekend and then packed up on Sunday. It was midnight before we had everything loaded. Our next show was a ten day fair that started in two days. Since it was only two hours away from our weekend show, it was cheaper to travel to the next show early. When we arrived at the fairground, it was two in the morning and misting wet. This was entirely too early (or late) to go in search of a motel room. Both my uncles opted to catch some sleep in the front of their vehicles. This left my Son and I in our short bus, crammed to the ceiling with equipment and and only the single drivers seat. Really, talk about NO VACANCY I had learned from years of experience to carry a bag of tricks. This trip was no exception. I had with me a queen air mattress, air pump and of course pillows and extra blankets. I inflated the air mattress, dropped the tailgate on my uncles truck. Secured an extra blanket over the tailgate and then slid the air mattress under the tailgate. Instant tent!! That is where my son and I spent the remainder of the night. We were both quite snug, dry and comfy. Adaptability is the key
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