Blanket statement

Today offered the perfect combination of sunshine, no wind and some helping hands. That made it a good time to set up a clothesline and hang my comforter to air out.

Lou held the pole while I drove stakes. Scott provided an extra piece of rope, and the three of us got the comforter hung while keeping it out of the dirt.

Why, you might ask, am I using a king size comforter when I have only a twin bed? Because I already had it from my house dwelling days. (I've had it for almost 30 years.) And because I love having extra bedding bunched around me—especially around my feet.

A solar solution

A lot of RV owners, particularly those with smaller rigs, complain there isn't enough room for solar panels on their roof. Air conditioners, vents, antennas and such take up too much room. And even where there is space for a panel, the other things on the roof cast shadows, decreasing panel output.

 Hal, from Salem Oregon

My friend Hal knew some kind of rack could be built over the stuff on the roof of his travel trailer, so he turned to his friend, Don, an expert metal fabricator. Don came up with this swooping arch design.

Arches are stronger than rectangles and require fewer cuts and less welding. Strength and less work are important.

Inexpensive steel pipe was run through a bending machine, then tabs and end brackets were welded on. Very simple and effective. And cool looking. Cool is important.

Ruthless

I put a lot of my stuff in storage when I went to Mexico. The idea was to simplify things in case the Rolling Steel Tent were to be searched by either Mexican or US authorities. The stuff stayed in storage after I returned. "Obviously," I thought, "there's nothing in that locker I particularly need or miss."

So I emptied the locker, brought the stuff out to the desert, and sorted through the duffle bag, backpack and three bins. I was ruthless about it. The essentials now fit into the backpack and one bin. The rest will be disposed of. Humanely. Some will go into a charity drop box, some will go to the Free Pile at the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous.

I went through my tool box, too. But all I could part with were some redundant screwdrivers and six small flashlights. I'm a sucker for flashlights. So are a lot of guys. That's why they're often sold near checkout stands in hardware and auto parts stores. Ooooo, machined aluminum! LEDs! Rubber push buttons! I want one! No, two, just in case.

Knock knock, it's the wind with your wake-up call

At five-something this morning the wind started howling and the solar panel, which was tilted up, started to rattle. Good morning. I pulled on my pants and shoes, grumbled, and went out into the pre-pre-dawn to deal with it.

Across the way, Scott was cinching down his awning. I gave him a hand.

Then I got back in the Rolling Steel Tent, fired up the laptop, and checked the forecast. Okay, twenty mile an hour wind tapering off during the day and returning to the rather calm air we've been enjoying the past couple of days. But not very warm. Looks like a good day to spend in bed.

Not the most riveting blog post

This chair not only keeps me off the ground, it also serves as a step stool when I tilt and untilt my solar panel.

I noticed today one of the bolts holding the seat to the frame was loose. As I tightened it and the other bolts I thought, "At least it's a bolt, which can be tightened. If they'd attached the seat with rivets, it might not have loosened, but the rivet might have broken. Then I'd need to replace it with a bolt anyway."

This is the type of stuff I think about now that I don't have the pressures of ordinary life clogging my mind.

Can't we get some agreement, gentlemen?

Science... data... standards... You'd think those applied to something like the state of charge of a 12 Volt deep cycle battery. Because it's not subjective, like politics, fashion or the world's best recipe for chicken fried steak.

A 100% charge is ________.

A 50% charge (which one should avoid going below) is ________.

Right?

But here's what you get when you search the interwebs. About the only thing they agree upon is that green is good and red is bad.

Maybe the exacting science is out there, somewhere, and the problem is with those making and disseminating the charts.

The last chart seems most credible to me, because it accounts for temperature. It at least offers up, "It depends," to the question of full and half charge. Serious, accurate science is big on qualifiers. Other qualifiers might be the type of battery and the length of time without a load being applied. However, that might give us charts beyond the comprehension of mere mortals.

The second chart uses the term leisure batteries. I first encountered that yesterday, on a nomad forum. What? Batteries for relaxing? Batteries for non-work purposes? Batteries for which accurate data is unimportant?

"Hey, don't sweat it, pal. They're just leisure batteries. Come here, take a load off your feet, loosen your tie, have some of the world's best chicken fried steak."

Oh, they mean batteries that power the systems in your leisure vehicle, as opposed to the battery that starts and runs the engine.

I could be wrong, but leisure battery has sort of an old midwestern feel about it, like calling a casserole a hot dish, or a water fountain a bubbler.

In the name of caution and long battery life, I'll avoid anything lower than 12.4 Volts. Even if it means I can't reheat hot dish leftovers.

Yeah, so, the ad thing

I had debated myself last year about running ads on my blog. The argument for purity won out. But then I got notices from Google that I qualified for AdSense. Uhhhhhhhh............., what the hell. Give it a try, see what happens, and cancel it if I don't like it or if the money isn't worth it. So here we are. Happy New Year.

Can you identify this?

This is an end piece of a batch of soap made by part time nomads Laura and Scott. They sell the soap and give pieces like this to friends.

Even though I had a truck stop shower yesterday, are they trying to tell me I need to bathe more often? Some would say we bathe too much.

Ancient writings discovered

I got out my steno pad the other day to jot something down. While flipping to a blank page I came upon notes I made when planning my van dwelling life. That seems so long ago. Back in a previous life.

I was still debating a cooler versus a fridge. And I was researching water carrying options. The fridge won out, and none of the water containers on that page made the cut. The one that did was eventually given away in favor of simpler 1-gallon jugs.

And, yes, my handwriting sucks. It has gone downhill ever since I started doing nearly all my writing with a keyboard.

Am I becoming more of a cold weather wimp?

At 10:18 AM it's 54°F outside. And the Mr. Heater Portable Buddy is on inside the Rolling Steel Tent. And somewhere there are people running around naked in sub-zero weather. (Most likely Siberia. Russians are crazy.)

I've used the heater more this winter than the previous three that I've been van dwelling. A couple of those winters were absolutely balmy, but there was a crappy one in there. There must have been. So, is this winter worse, or am I starting to get that "these old bones" thing?

Okay, there's a Polar Vortex going on. The Jet Stream has been dipping low for a while. There's crappy weather over most of the country. But I thought I had acclimated to cooler temperatures. I guess not. It wouldn't be the first wrong thing I've thought about myself.

Back in nature

We got our stuff done in Yuma, said adios to the RV "camping" area at the Cocopah Casino, and headed out to the desert. Clear sky and low wind. For now. Here's to a happy start of the new year.

New year, no new advice

I posted this last year. It still applies.

And I wrote this the year before. It also still applies.

My original thought was to do a rather longwinded post about how we typically approach New Year resolutions. Blah blah blah pop philosophy yammer yammer yammer tedious faux wisdom et cetera blah blah blah… 

Blah. 

Let me make it short instead. Consider dialing back on the self-flagellating resolutions and add more resolutions on the self-indulgent side of the list. Have more fun, more adventures, more love. Worry less about the calories consumed and the shit that's still not together. Live as if your goal is to write a fabulous memoir rather than a strident self-help book. You'll feel less like a failure.

So, take yourself and life less seriously. Find more joy—particularly in yourself. Because the world isn't going to do it for you. Happy New You. And if not happy, then maybe a little harmlessly crazy.

Where's my pot of gold?

A present for my butt

I started off in the Rolling Steel Tent with just the factory-standard seat, with a small tear made by the previous owner. After a few months, my butt said (because it talks), "I could use something more comfortable." So I got a sheepskin seat cover. That was fine for a while, but it eventually got all matted down, and it itched my legs when I wore shorts. (See earlier post about itchy wool socks.)

Then I got the bath mat pictured below. Loops of microfiber kept my butt from sweating and it was sufficiently cushy and non-itchy. As a bonus, I could throw it in the wash. I was satisfied.

But today I went with Lou to Bed, Bath & Beyond while he looked for a duvet cover. We were on our way out when we spotted these on display:

WonderGel seat cushions. We tried them out. You know that moaning, gurgling sound Homer Simpson makes when he thinks of donuts? That was us—my butt and I. To quote another Matt Groening cartooon, "Take my money!"

Here it is in its cover. I thought the dots would grip the seat to keep it from sliding around. Maybe on fabric, but not on the vinyl of my seat.

Now I'll have to drive around for a few minutes/hours/days to see if it continues to make us (my butt and I) as happy as it did in the store. Lou, I think I'll drive to San Diego and back tomorrow. Or maybe I'll leave right now. See ya.

(Oooh! What if I put the bath mat on top of the WonderGel?)

Laptop charging alternative

It was overcast, my laptop battery was almost dead, and my house batteries were kind of low. But I was about to make a 90-minute drive. "Hey, I could use that other charger thing I have."

A 12-Volt plug and some circuitry on one end and a MacBook magnetic connector on the other. Why go DC to AC to DC via my inverter when I could go straight from DC to DC via the van "power port" (cigaret lighter) as I drove?

I found the charger on eBay. There are a variety of them for different laptops. You need to read the tiny type on your charger to make sure you order the correct voltage and amperage, as well as the right plug for your computer.

When I reached my destination my computer battery was charged and happy. And so was I.