Falling Angel Drama

Angel, our German Spitz.

We had quite a scare Sunday afternoon, after Sharon came home from work around 3:30. I was outside working on cabinets for the trailer, and Sharon was in the laundry room. Angel had been laying on the top of the couch, in his usual spot to see out the front windows. We heard Angel let out several cries, and Sharon came running from the laundry room to the living room, and immediately called for me to come in from outside.

We aren't sure what happened, as neither of us saw it, but we can only assume one of two things. We had an old cross-stitched afghan over the couch to protect it from Angel's claws and it had become quite frayed. There were a couple of spots where it had loops pulled in the fabric, one of which was large enough for Angel to catch his claws in, or even a foot.

The other thing that could have happened is that he might have gotten his foot caught between the couch, and the ottoman part of the love seat, which sits very near the couch at one corner. Either of these instances could have caused him to twist his leg or pull a foot.

When I got in the house, he was holding his right rear leg up close to his body, and couldn't put weight on it. We immediately feared the worst, that he might have knocked his hip out of place, and that's never a good thing for dogs...or anyone else!

We got him to lay down and we checked his back and hip, but could feel nothing wrong...but then...we aren't experts, either. We laid him on his back and felt around his leg, and he could move it and extend it without pain. In fact, we could move all parts of his leg with no signs of pain from him, so we figured he might have just strained a muscle. He just wouldn't put weight on it.

With it being Sunday, no vet around here was open, but we called on Monday, and got an appointment for him on Tuesday morning. Sharon worked all day Monday, but was off Tuesday, and since it could take both of us to carry him, open doors, etc., this worked out better for all of us.

The doctor checked him over, and we noticed that his right foot, from his ankle down, was slightly swollen, but nothing appeared to be broken. It appears that he might have strained a ligament on the top of his ankle. Think of it as the top of a human arch, just in front of the leg. They decided that they wouldn't do X-rays, but gave him some anti-inflammatory medicine to help take the swelling down.

We were greatly relieved that nothing was broken, and even more so, that Angel wasn't in constant pain, although that's hard to tell with a dog. He was obviously lethargic for the first couple of days, and didn't even want to go out to potty. When he did, he tried to lift his good leg, and it took him awhile to figure out that he needed to turn the other direction! I carried him outside and down the steps and back again so he wouldn't have to get out there on his own.

However, going #2 was another story, since he couldn't squat down on his sore leg, and couldn't balance himself. He didn't go #2 at all on Monday morning, or even Tuesday morning, and we felt bad for him, but the doctor said Angel would figure it out on his own when he had to go bad enough.

By Tuesday morning, after the vet visit, Angel seemed to be doing better, and was at least touching the ground with his right foot. After lunch, we went outside with him while I showed Sharon the progress on the trailer, and we noticed Angel finally figured out how to squat. He wasn't his usual graceful self, but he got the job done, and acted like he was feeling much better.

Since yesterday, we have noticed that he is attempting to put a little weight on his foot, so we think he will be fine, although it may take up to a month to get back to normal again.

While we were at the vet, we also got all of Angel's shots and medical needs up to date, and also put him on a heart worm and flea and tick regimen, to be taken internally once a month. With our future travels, he will need all of that. We had never worried about that stuff before, because he is inside most of the time, and when he does go out, we usually go out with him, or at least keep an eye on him.

After all, he is our "baby", and what parent does not keep an eye on their child? Having a dog around is like having a two year old, autistic child around. When you think about it, their intellect is about the same, as is their mannerisms, i.e., they hear but don't always acknowledge it, they like routine and are happy with the same food all the time, among other things. Any parent who does not watch over their child doesn't deserve to have a pet!

We also went up to the city, and spent another $15 for the city tag for him. Being with us all the time, we had never felt a need to have it before, and looked at it as more of a revenue stream for the city, but we figured as long as we were making everything else legal, we might as well do that, too, even though we will be leaving here in another 70 days or so, and probably have to renew them in our new state of residence.

Since we will be roaming all over the country, we also plan to order a custom tag for him with our web information on it, and our phone number. These days, the quickest way to get in touch with a traveler is through a web site, which is why any traveler with a pet should have at least a free blog. If they don't have a blog, then an email address is the next best thing. Some people are too tight to call a number if it isn't toll free, but they can always go to a web site or email and make (nearly) immediate contact.

So between the incessant rain that we have been tolerating, and having to care for Angel, I still managed to get a couple of the overhead cabinet frames done. Below, is the cabinet that will go immediately to the right of the microwave cabinet, This one will hold the computer printer that we currently have, and to the right of it will be the Perma Power line filter that protects all of our computer equipment. We may add another shelf above the equipment later.

The computer printer cabinet for our cargo trailer conversion.

Because this cabinet fits into the rounded front corner of the trailer, it took a little more work than just a square cabinet. No side could be used on the right-hand side of it, so other ways to secure it had to be designed into it.

The back side of the printer cabinet.

In order to find the right radius for the corner, I first cut a slightly longer piece of scrap plywood to the same depth as the shelf, for a template. I then held the edge of that against the back wall (left outside wall of the trailer), and used a simple mechanical drawing compass, set at the widest point of the difference in shape, and scribed around the front corner. After cutting that first cut, I tested the fit again, and made the final adjustment, using the belt sander, to the pattern so that it fit tight on both the side wall as well as front wall.

Notice in the photo that there is a large plywood panel across the top of the left (printer) compartment. That is 3/4-inch plywood and was made extra wide because these cabinets (the microwave cabinet, too) are 15 inches deep, rather than the standard 12 inches of most overhead cabinets. In order to secure the cabinet to the blocking that I installed down both sides of the ceiling at 12 inches out from the side wall, the wider piece was necessary to reach it.

Also, on the back of each divider wall, I attached 3/4-inch-square cleats, and also on the right-hand side, behind the face frame. There will be screws run through these into the outside wall of the trailer. Under the bottom shelf is also a piece to support the shelf, and it will also get screws through it into the outside walls of the trailer. All parts are glued, as well as having the longest staples or nails possible to put in them...and plenty of them. After all, these are going to be holding up to 30 pounds in each cabinet, and have to sustain bouncing down the road. The printer cabinet will also be secured through the side of the face frame to the microwave cabinet...so each helps to support the other.

The angled corners on the tops of the dividers are for the wiring chase that will run along both sides of the trailer. It will eventually be covered with flat pieces of paneling installed inside the cabinets and closet, and above the entry door. In fact, the one above the entry door may also provide a place for the monitor panels and switches. We'll see.

As luck would have it, I happened to have in stock some primed 3/8-inch AC plywood, that I am reserving for the bottom shelves in the cabinets. After we get on the road, I will prime and paint all the cabinets, both inside and out, but at least this will provide a nice clean shelf to start with. I didn't get a photo of the microwave cabinet, but they are both built the same way, except that I didn't need any curves on the microwave cabinet, other than at the top (for the ceiling curvature). It's basically just a rectangular box. When I get them hung, I will take a photo of them both together, in place on the wall. 

Before any of the overhead cabinets can be attached, though, I have another problem to solve. The upper wall of the front of the trailer is open at the top. My intention was to leave an accessible space up there as a wiring chase, which I still plan to use. There are connections up there for the clearance lights on the trailer, also, and as per wiring codes, no connection should ever be buried in a wall and made "non-accessible". If anything should ever fail, you have to be able to get to those connections for troubleshooting and repairs.

As a cover for the upper part of the wall, I figured on installing another piece of paneling or plywood over it...something that could be removed if a problem ever came up. Originally, I had thought of using thin luan plywood for the cover, but the truth is, I ran out of pieces large enough to do the job!

The only answer was to use a piece of the same 3/8-inch plywood that covers the walls of the trailer. But even after making a template and cutting the piece to shape, it is too stiff to push it into the curvature of the front of the trailer! Although the height of such a piece was going to be short, I decided to make it extend down to the bottoms of the cabinets on either side...otherwise it would be a pain to try to trim around it.

I am a big fan of ratchet straps. I probably have at least twenty of them in various sizes, up to 2-inch width, that I have actually used to pull a vehicle with. So, I came up with the idea to use one to create a bow effect...to bend the plywood to the approximate shape that I need for the front wall. To keep the hooks from cupping the ends, I also added a couple of braces, secured with clamps, just to keep the ends relatively straight.

The plywood cover for the top of the front wall, being "pre-bent".

Such a task could be accomplished by steaming the wood, as most curved wooden pieces are made. The problem is that I don't have a steamer, let alone one this big! So all I can do is try to "over-bend" the plywood, and leave it set for a few days to (hopefully) retain some of that curvature.

I will add some extra tension every day for awhile and test it from time to time, to see how far it remains bent, and when it becomes sufficiently bent to be able to anchor it in place, I will do so, and then it will remain that way. If I need to fish wires behind it, I have steel electrical fish tapes to poke through the insulation from either corner, hook the wiring onto it, and then pull the wires through. God forbid I should ever have to remove it completely, but it could still be done. I hope to never have to! I will make sure all the front lights work before I install it! In the meantime, I have plenty of other things to work on.

I still have to make the dividers for the bottom of the wardrobe closet to separate the battery compartment from the porta-potty, etc., and I need to start on the front couch framework, as well as the bed platform at the rear of the trailer. But I figure the cabinets and frames are about half done at this point, so it will get there in plenty of time. I'll do the drawers and cabinet doors last. I also need to free up the other two steel pegboard panels from the garage and those will be hung in the storage compartment...two on the back of the bulkhead wall and one on the right side wall.

I was hoping I had a couple more to hang on either side of the wardrobe closet, but it appears I won't have enough. I want to add pegboard there to hang things like the broom, vacuum attachments, shoe bags, and other things on. I have plenty of various hooks, and those plastic clips that keep the hooks from falling out, so I may have to buy a half sheet of regular pegboard (also cut in half) to use on each side in the closet.

We had rain again this morning until noon, and only three days of clearing before we have yet again another five days of at least 50% chance. The yard is a muddy mess again, and trying to get back and forth from the deck to the trailer just creates more mud. But I will keep at it as much as I can, in between the showers and "life" getting in my way.

As always, thank you for reading, and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Addendum 5/21/15: It has been brought to my attention twice already, that some people with Yahoo email accounts are being blocked from making comments. They get the following message back from the server:

The error that the other server returned was:
550-5.7.1 Unauthenticated email from yahoo.com is not accepted due to domain's
550-5.7.1 DMARC policy. Please contact administrator of yahoo.com domain if
550-5.7.1 this was a legitimate mail. Please visit
550-5.7.1 http://support.google.com/mail/answer/2451690 to learn about DMARC
550 5.7.1 initiative. z92si7133232qgd.1 - gsmtp

Please know that I have been trying to resolve this issue, but as it clearly states in the error message, you must resolve this with Yahoo. I find nothing in the settings on Blogger that will correct it from my end. If you have another email account, try to register with a different account. If I find any other information on this, I will update it here.

More on the Kitchen and Countertop

With other projects going on inside, I missed one day of beautiful weather, where I should have been outside, but Wednesday brought another beautiful day, and a little more progress on the trailer.

The first thing I did was to cut the gussets for around the inside perimeter of the top of the kitchen cabinet. In some places I already had vertical cleats attached so I had to notch three of the gussets to fit around the cleats. Most cabinet shops make them smaller than I made mine, but since I had the room, I made them 6-inches each way from the squared corner. These were all cut on my compound miter saw with a slide extension. (With the slide, I can cut up to 2 x 10 material crosswise, or even double that width if I flip the board over.)

Gussets for the kitchen cabinet.

These were all glued into the top corners of each compartment in the cabinet, and secured with 2-inch finish nails driven with my pneumatic finish nailer, as well as 1-1/4-inch staples from my pneumatic stapler...depending on where I placed them and how far they needed to penetrate.

Plywood gussets installed in cabinet.

After they were installed, I drilled the center of each one. A layer of 3/4-inch plywood will cover most of the cabinet, and screws will be installed from the bottom of the gussets to secure that plywood, as well as to go through far enough to secure the countertop...being very careful not to go through too far and come through the laminate!

I don't want to attach the plywood or the countertop just yet. I have to order three more sets of the drawer slide hardware. It's a lot easier to reach the back screws from the top of the cabinet, rather than have to reach through narrow drawer openings. But in the meantime, I still have many other projects to work on, the first of which is getting the countertop ready.

I mentioned in the last post that I had to remove about a half-inch of the overhang on the rear of the backsplash, to allow the countertop to go back farther and allow a little more swing on the closet door, before it hits the left front corner of the countertop. That was the next task.

Laminate is easy to cut, but has the bad habit of chipping out on the upswing side of a circular or saber saw. And since there is no room available to cut from the bottom, another method had to be used. In  this case, I used my Roto-Zip tool.

My Roto-Zip, with the saber saw handle and base, and rip guide attached.

For those who don't know what a Roto-Zip is, it is similar to a router, with a spinning drill point-like tip on it. Instead of cutting up and down, like a saber saw, the blade rotates like a drill bit. Besides being physically smaller than a router, a Roto-Zip has no fixed base on it like a router. Instead, it uses one or more of a whole slew of attachments which are able to convert it to many different uses. Two of the most popular are the attachment I used here, and a grinder attachment, which uses circular blades for various grinding or cutting projects, from wood to masonry. Another popular tool is the compass guide. With that, you can cut out circles up to a foot in diameter. I own every attachment made for this tool.

In the photo of mine above, I have the basic motor portion attached to the saber saw handle and base, with a rip fence attached. They still call it a saber saw handle, even though there is no saw involved, simply because of the shape of it. Without the rip fence attached, you can hold it like a saber saw and do the same kinds of things that a saber saw will do, although you have to be very careful when free-holding it, as that spinning tip can quickly head off in the wrong (any) direction if you aren't careful!

By setting up the rip fence properly, I was able to take off all but about 1/16-inch of the backsplash overhang, and since the bit cuts sideways, rather than up, it did it without making the slightest chip in the laminate...a perfect cut. I could have cut it perfectly flush, but decided to leave just a little bit of material.

The piece that was cut from the overhang on the backsplash.

Above, you can see the piece that I cut off. Although it looks larger because it was closer to the camera, it was actually only about 5/16-inch thick. The bit takes out 1/8-inch, making the entire removal at 7/16-inch. I left 1/16-inch just in case I needed to belt sand any of the remaining lip to get the countertop to fit tight to the wall. After all, that's why they put that overhang on there!

After I cleaned up the dust and turned the countertop back around where it belonged, the next little project was to cut the end piece for the right-hand side of the cabinet. This is the side that will face the couch, but it will still be exposed and seen, if only by us.

I had already left a little more of the face frame beyond the end of the backing plywood on this side, so that the 1/8-inch paneling would fit flush, so it was just a matter of cutting it to size and stapling it in place. When I attach the laminate end cap on the countertop, it will hide everything but the paneling.

The finish paneling attached to the cabinet end.

Other than installing the drawer guides, I am almost to a standstill on the kitchen cabinet. I'll build the drawers last, after the rest of the cabinets are installed. I can't mount the base cabinet in place until I also drill two holes down through the floor behind the left pantry opening, and install the pipes for the fresh water inlet, and also the drain. If I just stub them up into the cabinet, I can do the rest later, but I definitely have to drill the holes for them, otherwise I won't be able to get to the floor in that spot. So for now, we'll move on to other things.

The last project for the day was to get the bikes down from the garage, where they have been hanging upside down for the past five years, and test fit them in the trailer. They fit perfectly, as planned, with one facing left and the other one facing the opposite direction. There is only a half-inch of space left for the length of them, and even that will be used.

After all the cases I have read about lately, where bikes have been stolen, even while people are sleeping right inside the RV, I have no desire to leave expensive bikes out in the weather and open to vandalism, road damage, rain, or theft! Even if I had them on a bumper rack, I would make sure they were inside of something.

There are bike garages available that mount to a bumper rack. And with that comes the option of adding an alarm to the enclosure. Even if you leave them exposed on a rack, the least that should be done is to rig an alarm of some kind, whether it be a motion detector, a vibration sensor, a hidden trip switch, or whatever. There are too many thieves in the world to leave your bikes open to theft, let alone all the ravages of weather, road debris or whatever else can do them harm! 

Our two matched pair mountain bikes in the storage compartment.

If we ever get a longer van, whether it be a Sprinter, or just a long conversion van, and do away with the trailer, there WILL be a space in the back to fit the bikes crosswise within the van! I won't have it any other way! If people can travel in a standard size van and have everything they need, then why not make that extra two feet into something useful, rather than just more space to collect more stuff? Even if you aren't into biking, having a small "garage" in the back, similar to what we are doing here, is a handy thing for all that crap that you don't want cluttering up your living space! Even if we do away with the bikes, I would still want a storage space!

We wanted to test the fit of the bikes in the storage compartment for several reasons. I had already made the compartment 4-inches deeper to accommodate the handle bar width, but there was more. I wanted to visualize how much space we would have around them.

The inside trailer width is 68-5/16-inches wide. The bikes are about a half inch shorter...thankfully.

Our first concern was that we have a 25-gallon Barker blue tote, that we had considered for gray water storage, but as it turns out, it was way too big, and all the fittings were in the wrong places for what we have planned. Instead of using it, we will be purchasing a different brand of gray water storage tank...probably about an 18-gallon tank. It will fit in the left front corner of the storage compartment, against the bulkhead wall and behind the bikes.

We will install a 3/4-inch PVC pipe through the cabinets and closets to the rear storage compartment, at a half bubble off-level for proper drainage, from the kitchen cabinet to the gray water tank. It will have a diverter valve under the sink, so we can send the gray water straight outside, or send it to the tank in the storage compartment...depending on where we are parked. To empty the tank, we will simply move the bikes, and take the tank out to dump in a proper receptacle (a toilet or dump station).

If we have a sewer hookup where we are parked, we can simply attach a hose to the drain fitting under the left side of the frame of the trailer, and drain directly to the site's sewer opening.

The area for the gray water storage tank.

In the photo above, you can see how much depth we will have. The tank will stand vertically, and be secured to the bulkhead wall, as close as possible to the electric heater box in the lower part of the photo. To the left of that (or even on the left trailer wall, depending on space) will be the rest of the electric distribution of the 120 volt side of things. (The 12-volt side will come off the batteries in the bottom of the wardrobe closet.) Any wiring between here and the batteries will go up the back left corner, and be run through the wiring chase along the upper left wall, over to the battery compartment (and beyond). Any 120-volt wiring along the right hand side of the trailer will also go overhead, across the back above the door springs, and along a wiring chase at the top of the wall on the right-hand side.

The bikes have to set at a slight angle, because of the handlebars, but that also leaves a space between them and the bulkhead wall on the other side of the heater, along with a slightly deeper space in front of the bikes. That part in front of them will be used for things that we have to get to often, such as leveling blocks, hitch accessories, or anything else that we may use more often than the bikes. Any heavy items will be secured, one way or another. We can't have hitch accessories bouncing around when traveling!

The storage space on the right-hand side.

Keep in mind, the back side of the bulkhead wall will also be nearly covered with two panels of the steel pegboard product that I showed in an earlier post. It will be mounted as close to the electric heater box as possible.

That pegboard has lock-on hooks of about 20 different styles, which can be used to organize and secure things on that wall. Any longer tools, such as BBQ forks, a rake, and a shovel can hang horizontally across both boards, if necessary. I may even attach a third board to the right-hand side wall of the trailer, at the end of the bikes.

Although the hooks themselves can't fall off, the things on them could, so we will be using mostly spring clip type attachments or rings to hold the items on the board. Tools would bounce off of the ordinary hooks when traveling down the road, so those aren't an option. By using ring attachments, we can also use bungees or ratchet straps to secure the bicycles or anything else...such as the gray water tote tank.

Today, we had only 20% chance of rain predicted, and between noon and 1:30 the skies opened up and we got yet another deluge! So just when I thought I would have another nice day for working outside, it turned into a muddy mess again! Lovely! That's why I am inside, writing this now.

On the moving end of things, we got rid of a PVC patio set that we have had since 1985, and got a Lane cedar chest to the garage, for sale on Facebook. Last night, we also moved the 1800's era antique sideboard buffet to the garage. As soon as we can photograph that, we'll also put it out for sale. If it doesn't sell on the local Facebook groups, we'll put it on eBay as "local pickup only". For anyone interested, we're at "azgrand001" on eBay.

After that. we'll probably attack the exercise equipment, and then the office furniture. Slowly but surely, we are making progress in disposing of stuff, but it's really overwhelming at times! It brings a lot of mixed emotions. It's hard to get rid of some things that we have spent our whole lives acquiring, but on the other hand, when we see the empty spaces it leaves and know that we will never have to move it or dust it EVER again, it also brings a feeling of freedom with it. All that time that was spent working to provide space for all that stuff, and then to heat it and cool it, maintain it and clean it, was wasted time. That time can now be freed up to spend on other, more enjoyable things, and that is what we will look forward to. The relief we feel far outweighs the feeling of loss.

As always, thanks for reading, and if you have any questions on anything, or just want to leave a comment, please do. All bloggers want comments, otherwise they feel like they are talking to a wall, and no one is listening. I am no different. But yet it seems that it's always the same three or four people who bother to say anything. I already have their email addresses and can contact them personally. I don't need to blog! 

Blogs are meant to be social platforms, to allow two way conversation. If I feel like I am the only one doing the talking, then why should I bother? I know enough other people that act like fence posts when I talk to them in person! I don't need to spend my time writing and showing pictures if no one participates in the conversation!

But please know that it is greatly appreciated when I get feedback...other than trolls, who have nothing better to do than find fault with everything they see and read. I will delete those kinds of comments. But I welcome all others.

Also, while I was writing this, it came to my attention that a couple of the YouTube people got into a swearing match at each other because of a misunderstanding. I didn't even stick around long enough to see what it was about, and deleted the notification, as I will be doing with their channels.

I grew up in the construction trades. I have seen plenty of foreman/superintendent, "in your face" confrontations, as well as had my own share of them. And I have heard just about every swear word in several different languages, than I care to remember. I am not an overly religious person, and I sometimes use that language myself when with certain people that I know will tolerate it.

But to open it up to the public for thousands of people to hear it, including kids that might wander onto it...nope...not going to tolerate it. Professional, educated people would never open themselves up to that on a public forum of any kind.

This is the kind of crap that makes me want to never have a YouTube channel. Not only does the video work take a lot of time, but then there are all the trolls out there who have nothing better to do but find fault with everyone and use language on them that most construction workers don't even use!

And even when they aren't trolls, as in the case of these two, there was no excuse for not settling things amicably and without swearing at each other. I lost a lot of respect for both of them, and will be unfriending them on Facebook and deleting their vulgar behavior from my sight. There is no place in this world for negativity, and I don't want to see it in others. I don't care who was right or wrong, nor did I watch enough of it to even know what it was about. The first five seconds was all I needed to hear.

This is the kind of crap that gives all vandwellers a bad name. It's bad enough that some are forced to live this way through financial considerations. Many middle and upper class people already think that vandwellers and even RVers in anything less than a $100,000 RV, in general are scum and don't want them in their neighborhoods. Some don't keep themselves clean and then let their hair grow so long they look like cave men, and then they wonder why they get a bad rap.

I can tell you that no matter how broke I was, I would never let my hair grow long (I use a Flowbee when traveling), go unshaven or allow my body to stink, nor would I degrade myself to the kind of language and conduct that I have witnessed lately on YouTube and even on some sites and blogs. If you can't respect yourself enough to clean up your act, then how do you expect to gain the respect of anyone else?

I hadn't intended on a rant today, but it needed to be said! Clean up your act, People, or continue to lose followers! Respectable people who have any hopes at all of earning money online, whether it be through YouTube, their own sites or whatever, need to think like a professional business and learn to handle stressful situations a lot differently than what I have seen lately!

'Nuff said.  

The Kitchen Cabinet

I have pictures of the "mostly" completed kitchen cabinet to show you. Originally the post in this spot was going to be called "Around the Country in 80 Days" because that was how much time we had left... as of two days ago. But since I missed that deadline, thanks to feeling a need to write an addendum to my last post on my personal blog, due to unreasonable demands set upon me, I am now going to move on to trailer work again.

As you have seen before, if you have been following the last few posts on this blog, the face frame is always the first thing to be built on any cabinet. The face frame is what lays out everything else behind it. You have seen how I have been using pocket holes, screws and glue to bond it all together, so I won't repeat that. Instead, I am just going to show the face frame and what progresses on the back side of it.

The kitchen cabinet face frame on the saw table.

Above is the face frame, right side up, on the saw table. The openings are (from top left to bottom right):

-  - -top left, the drawer for the camp stove (fits end ways)...
- - - top middle, a dummy drawer front in front of the bar sink...top right, probably for office supplies, since the table/desk is closest to it (this drawer will also have a solid removable cover over it, to use as a counter extension)...
- - - left middle, towel drawer...
- - - right middle, wide drawer for utensils (and possibly other things with use of a divider)...
- - - bottom left, pots, pans and appliances, with a lift-out bottom, where the water pump and more storage will be located behind the toe kick...
- - - bottom row second space and far right space, two pull-out pantries...
- - - bottom third space, an open area with only a door on it, where an 8-gallon Reliance Hydroller for fresh water can be rolled in right under the sink. A ratchet strap will secure the tank and a dip tube for the water pump will be inserted into it.

After the face frame was finished, cleats were glued and stapled to the back of it everywhere that a divider wall needed to attach to it.

The kitchen cabinet face frame with the divider walls attached.

The divider walls were all made from 3/8-inch CD plywood (what I had on hand) and glued and stapled to the previously mounted cleats. The left side panel was held flush to the edge of the face frame, because that side will go against the wardrobe closet and never be seen. The right side panel was held in 1/8-inch from the edge of the face frame because it will have a finish sheet of blonde paneling on it. That side will be seen, even though it faces the front couch. It will eventually have a flip-up counter extension on it at 30-inches high, to serve as a work or eating table for the couch, as well as extra counter space.

In between these divider walls, 1 x 4 backing pieces were installed to serve as spacers between the sections and also to serve as the anchoring points to be drilled through to attach the cabinet to the trailer wall. These were installed at the top and bottom along the back side, as well as across the middle at a level even with the tops of the pantries. Additional vertical stiffeners were also added to the back edges of the divider walls to keep the plywood straight.

The kitchen cabinet and sidewalls standing upright.

Because we will be standing at this cabinet to work at the sink, it was necessary to provide a toe space at the bottom. This is a back-saving feature, to prevent having to lean forward too far while working at the sink.

Spacers were also added in this toe space between the dividers at the front, and then I used a solid piece of oak as the facing board to go across the first two compartments of the toe space, and another piece to cover the right hand side. 

Since we are using 100-pound-rated full-length ball bearing slides on all the drawers, backing pieces had to be installed to mount those to, which in turn, helped to strengthen and straighten each of the divider walls.

Cheap (and thin) plywood often has a tendency to bow. Thin plywood is also made up of fewer layers, usually only three. More expensive "furniture grade" plywood is often made up of seven or even nine layers, and generally remains straight and flat. Unfortunately, I didn't have any of the better plywood, and it is expensive to buy.

A cabinet may start out rather flimsy looking, but each piece that is added (if done properly) helps to strengthen and straighten the entire frame. If all cuts are square and it is assembled properly, it should end up perfectly square on all sides, and should be able to be picked up at any point without deforming the shape.

The kitchen cabinet set in place in the trailer, not anchored yet.

I only had three sets of drawer slides in stock, so to avoid standing on my head to install the ones that will arrive later, I chose to use what I had at the lowest locations. Above, you can see the cabinet frame set in place in the trailer, but not yet anchored. I installed the drawer slides on the two pantries (on opposite corners for stability), and on the wide drawer below the sink. Once the others arrive, I can install them from the top, before I attach the countertop to the cabinet frame.

I will custom build the pantries to the exact dimensions needed to fit these spaces and attach to the slides. The left pantry will be attached to a slide at the lower left and upper right, while the right pantry will attach at the upper left and lower right. The reason for this is because pantries loaded with heavy canned goods only at the bottom, have a tendency to "rock" at the top. In sudden starts or rear collisions the inertia can break the drawer slides if mounted only at the bottom. By mounting on opposite corners (or top and bottom, as many pantries are made) it will hold the pantry more securely. Exact positions depend a lot on the hardware being used.

I couldn't resist the urge to at least set the countertop on the cabinet, just to get an idea of how the finished product will look. Although the paneling in the photo below shows a "greenish" tint in the picture, it really doesn't look that way in person. In fact, it goes very well with the tans and browns in the countertop. Besides, most of that wall will have a black refrigerator setting in front of it anyway. 

Countertop temporarily setting on the kitchen cabinet.  

Probably after we get on the road, the backsplash area behind the refrigerator and below the microwave will get tiled with ceramic tile. We will have to select a color for that later. Any other gaps between the plywood on the outer walls will get drywall taped and finished smooth before the whole interior of the trailer (including cabinet faces) gets painted. If we can do it before we leave, we will, but I'm not concerned about little stuff. We can always do little stuff after we get out of here. As long as it's functional enough to live in, we can get by.

One thing I have to do on the countertop yet is to remove most of the rear overhang on the backsplash. These overhangs are designed onto the countertops to provide an area where the backsplash can be scribed and belt-sanded to fit walls that are seldom straight. In this case, our countertop fits tight all across the length of it.

The problem lies in the front. The left corner hits the closet door when it's opened, and prevents it from swinging back as far as it could. By eliminating that 1/2-inch of overhang on the backsplash, we can push the countertop back farther, which will allow a few more degrees of opening on the closet door. It still won't be as much as we would like, and will still have to install some doorstops at the top and bottom of the closet door, to prevent the countertop from puncturing a hole in the door, but every little bit helps. That is also the door on which we want to mount a tall narrow dressing mirror, so we need to make sure it is protected.

There are several other things to be done (besides the drawer slides) before I can mount the countertop permanently. First, I have to install some triangular corner gussets in each compartment of the cabinet flush with the top. These will be used to screw through, to anchor yet another piece of 3/4-inch plywood to the top of the cabinet (after I install the last three sets of drawer slides), as extra strength and height under the finished countertop. 

The first 21 inches on the left side has to support the weight of a loaded refrigerator bouncing down the road, so I am using 3/4-inch plywood under that part, right up to the sink. (Not that the refrigerator will actually "bounce", as it will be anchored tightly to the countertop, but the inertia is still there.)

The cabinet has already been built so that the top of the finished counter will be at exactly 36-inches, which is the industry standard for kitchen countertop height. Where the refrigerator sets, the countertop will be 1-1/2-inches thick. The rest of the "sub-counter" will be simply 3/4-inch stock around the perimeter of the cabinet, more for a spacer than anything else.

I also have to align and anchor the right side of the wardrobe closet door jamb, and then screw that into the side of the kitchen cabinet face frame. But even before that can be done, I have some preliminary plumbing to do behind the kitchen cabinet. 

Although you can't see it in the pictures, the bottom spacer behind the left pantry was purposely held away from the back wall by 1-1/2-inches. This will be the space where both the fresh water "city supply" will come into the trailer, and also where the drain will exit. Both will be 3/4-inch (probably PVC) and 90 toward the outside just under the trailer frame, where they will be strapped to the bottom of the frame.

The fresh water will terminate in a female hose fitting, while the drain water will terminate in a male hose fitting. The fresh water side can be reduced to 1/2 or 3/8-inch after it enters the trailer. Those two "stubs" have to be drilled through the floor and installed before I permanently anchor the cabinet in front of them. I can always finish the rest of the plumbing later.

I also have to cut and install the finish paneling for the right hand side of the kitchen cabinet yet, but this is where the project remains today. We have already had two days of mostly rain, with maybe a break on Mother's Day, and then more rain predicted on Monday. We don't have a lot of grass in the back yard, so it turns into a muddy mess whenever it gets wet. 

Even if I were to work inside the trailer or on our covered rear deck (where my saw table is set up), I still have to tromp in and out of the trailer to get measurements, cut and test fit everything. That would just drag a lot of mud into the trailer, so I prefer to wait until Tuesday to work on it again, and hope the ground dries up by then.

One more day on this part of the project, and the kitchen cabinet should be complete, except for the sink. I still have to order the high-rise faucet for it yet, and also buy the water pump. When I get the major components, I will be ready to start the plumbing.

In the wardrobe closet I also have to build the divider walls around the porta-potty and batteries, and whatever lids will go over them. 

With the kitchen cabinet in place, I also will have my reference point for the upper cabinets on that side...for the microwave and the computer printer, as well as the regulated power filter for the computers. Then I just have the couch to build and the upper cabinets on the door side of the trailer.

The electrical stuff and plumbing, since it will all be surface mounted, will be done after I get all the cabinets done. By that time, we will likely have started filling up the cabinets and figuring out where all the "miscellaneous" stuff is going to go.

As added incentive to get out of here, my wife just received an invitation to her class reunion yesterday, and it's scheduled for August 15th. So even if we don't get out of here in time to make her family reunion on the 1st of August, we now have a secondary deadline.

We are finally getting some of the big items sold in our household inventory. The PVC tubing style patio set with umbrella that we bought back in 1985 in Mishawaka finally sold this week. Next up is a Lane cedar chest, and then an 1800s-era antique sideboard buffet. After that will likely be the 1982 model Lowery MX-1 console organ that some of you saw her playing in the "Ed and the Aberts" video on YouTube. That's also in a post about three behind this one, if you want to watch it there.

We may not do any garage sales this year, as it's too much hassle for the number of people that we have been getting. Our efforts now are going to be to dispose of the larger items that aren't essential to our living here, while still selling stuff that can be shipped on eBay, and then have one big "moving sale" around the first week of July. Whatever doesn't sell by then will likely go to a second hand dealer, whom we will instruct to literally empty the house out. That way we can get it all cleaned up and ready to hand the keys over to a realtor by the time we have to go.

In the meantime, we anticipate being "mostly" moved into the trailer by the first week of July, so we can get a feel for it before we leave, and make sure we aren't forgetting anything before we hit the road. Anything that doesn't fit, and isn't essential to immediate travel will go to temporary storage until we can come around this way sometime next year. By then, we can only "hope" that we have room to absorb the rest of it!

Sounds like a plan to me. How about you?

Latest Updates to Trailer and Blog...

I have some new plans to show you, but before I lead you to those, I want to mention one quick thing. The troll that showed up a couple weeks ago finally revealed himself (at least I'm pretty sure they are one and the same) by directly emailing his verbal hate messages to me. As a result, I set up filters in my email account to not only block any further such nonsense, but to delete them automatically, so I never have to be aggravated by even seeing them.

What I can't figure out is why people can't just live their lives on their own terms, the same way that I try to live mine. If they have so much hate in their hearts for this lifestyle, for me, or for whatever has tripped their trigger, then why would they want to dwell on it by continually aggravating the situation? Why even read my blogs if it triggers such feelings of hate? Go live your life and I'll live mine, and maybe we'll both be happy.

"Nuff said".

The other thing I wanted to announce is that I have updated the plans, which can still be found HERE (look about a third of the way down the page for the bold blue links) to include the latest revisions, which includes having to move the bulkhead wall 4-inches farther forward than originally planned, adding a toe-kick space under the kitchen cabinet, and extending the overhead cabinets all the way to the front wall to make space for our computer printer and the Perma-Power Automatic Voltage Regulator which protects our computer equipment.

I also did a little adjusting on measurements for the kitchen base cabinet, but keep in mind, my cells on the grid were established to be one-inch. Obviously, lumber is typically 3/4-inch or 1-1/2-inches, Paneling and plywood can be many different thicknesses, so the plans are only approximate. It is up to the builder (in this case, me) to fine-tune the exact dimensions to how the components go together, as it is being built. That's what a builder does. The plans are only a guide to visualize how the whole thing comes together in relationship to the available space.

The other thing I did was to create pdf files for three of the views. I know many people don't know how to use spreadsheets or how to work with them, so if all you want to do is "see" the plans, it is very easy for anyone to be able to view them, and zoom in to see detail. After all, nearly all new computers come with Adobe Reader already installed, so that pdf's can be viewed, so there's less excuses now in why you haven't looked at them.

One of the pdf's is an overhead view, showing as near as possible how it is being built. The second pdf shows a side view from the right side. Dotted lines indicate structure behind the foreground items, so you will be looking "through" the piano that has it's back facing the right side, but you will still be able to see the detail of the kitchen cabinet that sits on the left side of the trailer.

The third pdf shows a possible future change if and when we ever get rid of the piano. In this drawing, the piano would be replaced with a washer/dryer combo unit, and an apartment sized (18-inches wide) dishwasher, plus an extra pantry. A third option that I did not draw out, would be to simply add a two-person dinette along that wall where the piano was.

Any of that could happen or none of it could happen. Only time will tell. If the piano stays in tune after all the bouncing around on the road, we might keep it longer than we think. If we have trouble with it in the first few months, it may go out the door quicker. No one knows until we try it.

One thing is definite...if the piano does go at some point, we have to have something on that side to balance out the weight. Right now. the trailer is purposely designed to be relatively balanced, with the major weight just in front of the axle, and approximately the same amount of weight side to side.

A dinette going in where the piano would come out may not be enough to balance the weight...unless I do some rearranging...like moving the heavy batteries over to underneath a dinette seat. I hate to think of that, because it will require a major rewiring job, or at least heavy cables being run under the trailer, back to the side where all the fuses and cords are. Not fun.

Anyway, we'll worry about it when the time comes...if ever.

Today was one of the first truly beautiful days of the spring, warm ,sunny, and with low humidity. I wanted desperately to get outside and work on the trailer, but as usual "life" got in the way again.

My (new) lawn guy called early this morning to show up for the first (way overdue) cutting of the year. The grass was already 30-inches high in places. In the last half hour, he must have gotten caught up in the temporary internet line that has been stretched across the front porch since the septic system was installed in January of 2014.

All of a sudden my internet went out....red DSL light on the router. We have no home phone, or it would have gone out, too. I tried to call CenturyLink with my cell, and both times when the line started to ring through to a CS rep, the line went dead! I think they purposely hang up if they have too many calls in queue! It's not only rude but very aggravating!

And don't you just love it when the recorded message says you can also go online to their web site and deal with them there? DUH!!!! If I had internet I wouldn't need to even contact them, would I?

So after the lawn guy finished, I had to run five miles down the road to McDonald's and use their internet to get in touch with CenturyLink's repair department on chat. The first place I tried couldn't help me, and couldn't even relay the repair order! The second time I tried, I must have gotten the right department, and they asked if Monday was soon enough! I said that I was hoping for something sooner, as I work online and every hour that I am down, I'm losing money! So they expedited the work order to Saturday morning (tomorrow). I went ahead and had lunch there, and within an hour after I got home, the local repair guy called me and said he would be here in a few minutes!

Hurray! We found the cut in the old temporary line, and rather than repair it, he ran a new one, and then put in another work order for next week, for someone to come out and bury a permanent line. Of course, by clock time, all this had taken a good four hours out of my day again!

The only problem now is that the entire front yard is taken up with (new) buried septic system and new water line. So they are going to have to go completely around the house on the east side, through the back yard, around the cargo trailer, around the propane tank, and come in from the west!

But so be it. At least other people won't be digging back there...or at least none of us will be! We'll be out of here by the end of the summer (or sooner) and then it will be someone else's problem!

And now I still have other tasks to be done, and the four hours that I could have spent on the trailer is long gone again...never to be seen again.

And between the trolls, the abusive emails, and the tasks needed to be done yet, the stress goes up!

July 28th can't come soon enough to get out of here, but in reality, we'll probably need every one of these remaining 87 days to get everything done! I'd better get to it!

    

The Power of Time and Money

Awhile ago, I promised some insights into the costs of creating our traveling vehicles, from purchase price to getting them the way we want them for traveling. Yesterday, I was able to gather the figures together on a spreadsheet. I will also go into some of what it takes to get on the road.

Although the total expense for both vehicles is more than I originally figured on, it's still a lot less than purchasing a decent used Class B motorhome of similar mechanical condition, and if I threw in the cost of a ready made toy-hauler travel trailer that would meet our needs (if I could even find one), then the overall cost of not one, but TWO vehicles, is still a bargain.

Some things have not been purchased yet, but we added estimated costs for those items. Currently, the trailer build cost is at a little over $6600, including the price of the $1600 trailer, the tongue replacement, the electric brakes being added to it, and 8-ply tires. With a cushion added for miscellaneous things that we may not have even thought of yet, let's just round it up to an even $7,000 for the total build, as we want it.

Year 2000 Haulmark motorcycle trailer.

What it doesn't include, are some things that aren't really a part of the trailer, such as the Coleman camp oven, dishes, a portable canopy and tent attachment, and things such as that. Nor does any of the totals include things that we already owned, such as the porta-potty, the Coleman stove, the RV table legs and tripods, or any of the wood and hardware that we already had on hand. Nor does it include my labor time. As happens so many times, especially with real estate, people fail to keep track of their own time in building and maintaining their property...but they should. A person's time is just as valuable as the material. We will need some of the items that aren't attached to the trailer, and some are already purchased, while others are only on a future want list, but the incidental items currently total just under $700.

The van costs have also been totaled up, including the original cost of $3495, after which it immediately needed tires, alignment, and both catalytic converters replaced. Then shortly after that, the fuel pump quit, and we had to have that replaced. The difference that we got back in cash on trade for our Dakota Quad-cab and the North Star TC-650 slide-in truck camper (custom built for the Dakota) was more than enough to cover all the repairs.

1997 Chevy G-1500 high top conversion van.

There is one thing we have been told about (by our mechanic) that still needs repair, and that is a special plastic shroud around the fuel tank that needs replacing by a Chevy dealer. Apparently the charcoal canister is attached to it, and it has left that canister hanging by its hoses. It's not an immediate problem, but one that should be dealt with before or shortly after we leave here.

So far, we have only added the cost of a new receiver hitch, as far as actual items needed for traveling. We still have to have the hitch installed, along with the necessary wiring for the electric brake controller. Beyond that, the only thing that comes to mind is a swivel seat base for the front passenger seat...not a critical item, but nice to have. It can be purchased and installed after we hit the road, and have time to make sure we really have a need for it.

We also have not addressed the issue of window treatments for privacy in the van. Ideally, we would like to replace the existing "day shades" with the 3-way "day/night shades", but we haven't checked cost or availability of those yet. They could be expensive. For the time being, we may just get by with a windshield sun blocker and some Reflectix over the other windows until we find something better. After all, it's only a tow-er and daily use vehicle, so we may not have a need to stay overnight in it for a long time! And we may even trade it for something else if something comes along.

Still, with estimated costs of future anticipated purchases on the van, we are only at $6780. There is no way we would find a good used Class B for that kind of money, and if we did, it would likely need lots more put into it to make it into something we could live with and feel safe in. The systems in older vehicles that make them official RVs are cause for concern, especially where plastics are concerned. Tanks and fittings dry out and crack, causing leaks. Electrical things have often been "messed with" by people who have no idea what they are doing, and there are a LOT more reasons for things to go wrong.

When we first checked Google for comparable prices on conversion vans of the same year and style (1997 high-top Chevy G1500 with 115,000 miles), they were all over $6000 asking price, even when they weren't in pristine condition. That was October of 2013. So even though we had to put some money into this van right off the bat, we did more than OK with the deal. The inside is as clean as a new one, and everything works except the windshield washer pump, which we still need to have repaired, but that's minor stuff.

And this total figure also includes the improvements we still plan to make, which includes $868 for some minor body work, and another $400 for some new wheels to replace the corroded aluminum wheels currently on it. I may even check with J. C. Whitney to see of they have a custom, after market grill for it, just to dress it up a little and make it unique! These items alone will bring the value up to a fair market price if we should decide to sell it later on.

But that can all come later, after we get away from here and have time to save up some money to do it.

So the grand total of everything for both vehicles is going to come out close to $14,000, +/- $1K either way. That's for not one, but TWO completely functional vehicles in good repair and capable of sleeping in overnight. And we won't have any payments! That's not to say that we will "never" have them again. Our house will be sold after we leave, and once that payment and liability is out of the way, we have no problem with replacing it with a slightly smaller RV payment..."IF" we ever find what we want that works better for our needs than what we have. Only time will tell.

Right now, the most important things are what we need to make everything livable and safe, so that we can function normally as soon as we leave. All the extras can be purchased at any point along the way, and installed as we have the time and money to do it.

The main thing is that we are leaving here debt free (except for the real estate)! Since 2010, until July of this year, we will have paid off over $40,000 of debts...not including normal fixed living expenses, and not including the house mortgage or the $9,000 we had to pay for a septic system replacement. The $40K was just credit card and miscellaneous debt over and above our normal living expenses. But we kept our noses to the grindstone and made it happen. If we are lucky, the house will sell soon after we leave, and then that last debt will also be gone...and good riddance!

How did we get to the point of having that debt in the first place? Let's just say we counted our chickens before they hatched, for one thing, and winter slow-downs in the construction trades in the Midwest was the other part. Until 2010, when I officially retired, I was running a "high end" service business, but back problems forced me into early retirement, otherwise, I may have continued with it until a later date. We used the credit card to balance out our budget when things were slow during the winter months.

We anticipated having an inheritance from my family estate that should have come to roughly a quarter million dollars for just my part, so we got careless, figuring that any debt could all be paid off when the time came, and have plenty left over. That was until an unscrupulous, greedy and conniving relative sent an equally unscrupulous attorney into a nursing home and pulled a totally immoral but yet legal move on a subject that was no more competent to understand what they were doing than a blind and deaf two year old, and that kept us from even contesting the estate!

As a result, I have disowned that part of the family and protected myself from them in other ways. If they think they need the money more than I do, then let them choke on it. They'll never get any more of my money! I'm fine without it and without them. The greed of money, real estate or social standing with an elite crowd doesn't buy happiness. Freedom from all that is what buys happiness, and they will never understand that.

As of the day this is published to the web, we have exactly 90 days to our planned departure date. By coincidence, it also happens to be my 67th birthday. We had planned to be out of here and traveling long before now...originally "hoped" for at age 62...but as always happens to best laid plans, "life" gets in the way. I don't think there is a person alive who can say that life turned out exactly as they had planned when they started out as adults. If any can claim that, I'm sure they must be in the very small minority of the population... or own a crystal ball.

But even though our plans have been delayed, we never gave up on them. In fact, the years that we have been delayed still don't equate to the years that we actually jumped ahead and lived a traveling life long before retirement. Not everyone can say that. So I guess it balances out. We just enjoyed some of our traveling years before retirement.

Besides, Sharon had already traveled extensively, including to Israel, Cairo and Rome before we married, not to mention Hawaii and all but two provinces of Canada. After we were married, she also took an Olsen Tour to eight countries in Europe, and later on to Mexico on two occasions. When I was tied up with work, I let her go with her sister.

Most of my early years were spent tent camping with friends. My parents didn't travel much, although we did make a few trips to central and northern Wisconsin, and one trip to Florida when I was 13. I also went to Brown County in southern Indiana several times on my own, after I could drive.

After Sharon and I were married, we took many vacations of three weeks at a time, to California and Florida, and one two week trip to south Texas. We also took a cruise on the largest ship at that time in the Royal Caribbean fleet, the "Song of America"... to Nassau, San Juan and Saint Thomas, in 1985. We also traveled by car/van/air/RV all over the country to major cites for the National Square Dance Conventions, from (her) 1975 to (my) 1982 up until 1991, having only missed one during all that time. We also traveled the eastern half of the country full-time in our motorhome doing site maps for a publishing company, as well as taking a major trip out to California, then north to Portland, and then back through the northern part of the country over a six-week period in 1994.

I'm not saying that to brag, but simply to point out that many people never have the opportunity or make the time for that kind of travel. Too many people always dream of doing it after they retire, and then something happens to crush those dreams. We can never recover time, and if you want to do something, you need to make up your mind to do it as soon as it's possible. The opportunity may never come around again.

Also, it is a fact of life that we always MAKE the time for what is most important to us. That applies to everything from visiting friends and family, to hobbies, to taking vacations. If you don't MAKE it a priority, it will never happen. Often, other things have to be sacrificed to accomplish those goals, and I know I'm going to get off on a personal tangent here, but I'm going to say it anyway.

Besides all the little stuff, like hobbies, that may steal vacation funds, the two biggest thieves I know that will destroy your dreams are cigarettes and alcohol. Every time you light up a cigarette, you are basically setting fire to the money it cost to buy them. So why ruin your health in the process? If you have that much money to burn, then throw it in a fireplace, or on a campfire, or better yet, donate it to people or pet causes who both deserve it and can use it! Either way, you are never going to get it back. It will never have a chance to grow as an investment to make more, and it will simply go away...as if you never had it in the first place. But you know it was there, because you worked for it, and all that wasted time is something you will never get back, either!

You can never be truly free as long as you have some form of drug ruling what you do and how you live your life, as well as sucking money out of your pocket that isn't required for living. That includes nicotine, alcohol or any other drug.

Sharon figured up many years ago, as proof to herself, what it would have cost for cigarettes over the years since high school. That total was more than the cost of her first vacation retirement home here in Arkansas, which was by then already paid for! Anything left over was enough to pay for many of the trips that she took!

So you have a choice...you can either set fire to your hard earned money and destroy your health in the process, or you can make that money work for you to provide a life worth living. There is no redeeming value to tobacco products, other than making other people rich for making them! They will have no value to the end user of them, and will do nothing but cause you further debt in health care costs! No matter how you look at it...you lose!

Alcohol is another stealer of dreams. I don't begrudge anyone a drink with dinner, or at an appropriate social function. I am not opposed to it in that context. In fact some studies have proven that certain wines can be beneficial to our health. But what I am talking about is drinking as a habit or as an addiction. If that beer means more to you than putting that money into savings or into investments so that you can enjoy the much finer things in life, then the loss is your decision to make. I won't argue with your right to make that decision. But you need to ask yourself if it is a wise one.

I read a lot of blogs that involve making the circuits of all the new craft brewery places around the country, and the "bourbon" routes around the eastern states. I don't begrudge anyone what they enjoy, as long as they aren't addicted to it. But I have to stop and consider...is it necessary to my health, either physically or mentally? Would my money be better spent on things that I truly enjoy, that will have a longer lasting effect, rather than (excuse my French) "pissing" it down the drain in the next 30 minutes? And if you do all your drinking at a bar or nightclub, then it doubles the cost of the loss!

The answers may be different for every person out there, but for me, the only value in visiting such places is for the historical value and the atmosphere of the surroundings. I couldn't care less about putting alcohol in my body in a useless attempt to make the experience better. No matter what the experience, truly "feeling" life is only gained with a clear head!

Although I have been known to drink a beer on rare occasion when it was very hot outside and nothing else was available, I have never really cared for beer. Even when I drank more of it in my younger years, it was more because of peer pressure and circumstances...not because I craved it! I can leave it rather than take it if other options are available.

And although I have tasted many hard liquors, there are few that I have found that I can say was really "tasty" in their raw form. Some wines are OK, but many of the drinks I have tasted always seem better if mixed with something else. If I am going to have a drink, I really prefer a weak mixed drink, or a wine cooler, and I can admit some have been "really" tasty! But that doesn't mean I am going to make a habit of it. I can sip a drink for over an hour, allowing the alcohol to dissipate as fast as my body can absorb it. Getting drunk has never been an end goal with me, and has no social value. It's an ugly situation to be in, or to be around. I've been there, and know what it is like, but it just seems totally stupid to me!

But again, that's just me. So just because I read your blog about visiting all these craft breweries and distilleries, don't think I am going to jump on the bandwagon for a night of touring such places with you. I get no particular enjoyment out of wasting my money on such things, nor do I like the sometimes rowdy crowds that congregate at such places. I am much happier sitting around a campfire out in the woods, enjoying an ice tea, having polite conversation with a small group of people of like mind.

After all, at least with a campfire, I can always move instead of inhale the smoke, even if it does smell better than most tobacco products. And if no one is around, I can work on my guitar or piano playing or go watch a movie or play on the web. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes.

The other major destroyer of dreams is drugs, and that includes pot. No reputable employer is ever going to put someone in a position of responsibility if they are a "druggie". And with responsibility also comes more money. You can't think clearly enough about what counts if your mind is always in a fog, so if you do ANY kind of drugs, you will always be at a lower pay grade where you never have the extra funds to get ahead. It's a losing game...for everyone.

I have never tried drugs of any kind, nor do I care to. They are the biggest blight on our society today, and have done nothing but drag lives into the trenches, and even into the gutters. If life is that miserable that you feel a need to cover it up with a foggy brain, then why not change the part of your life that is making you miserable, rather than destroy it even further? To people with clear minds, that is a "no brainer" type of question!

I have seen many cases of people who think they are stuck in their situations, and rather than leave, they only make their situation worse by staying. Everyone has feet and can find a grocery bag to put a few clothes in. If life is that bad, then there is nothing keeping you from packing up and hitch-hiking out of there, if that is what it takes to get gone and make a positive change in your life! The only thing holding you to a bad situation is yourself and your fears! Overcome the fears through knowledge and clear-headed thinking!

But as I said, that gets off the topic of this post...by a LONG way!

The topic was the power of time and money. From the time that the first (affordable) financial calculator was introduced to the market, I had one. And then I actually studied the book on how to use it. What it can reveal is enough to blow the mind of the average person. I strongly feel that owning a financial calculator and actually learning how to use it is something that EVERY person out there owes to themselves, and every high school in the country ought to teach! If everyone truly understood the relationship between time and money, and what it can do for them, many of their problems would already be solved!

I won't go into all kinds of mathematical details here, because it would bore most people to death. Either they already know the principles by this time, or they haven't cared enough to better their lives by learning them. In either case, I can't help you. But I will provide a little experiment.

Find out the cost of whatever vice you choose, whether it be cigarettes, alcohol, or even your favorite hobby, and total up what it has cost you per month over the years since you started. Now take that same amount of money and input it into the financial calculator with regular monthly contributions to it, and an average return percentage based on a safe mutual fund over that same amount of time, and see how it compounds upon itself over those same years. And then you tell me...which would you rather have...all that money and your labor time to earn it that was wasted, or the many more funds that could have made your life better? The choice is yours to make, as always.

One of the main reasons that people fail to travel is the cost factor. They claim that they can't afford to for various reasons... most of them untrue.

Let's start with the RV itself. If you buy new (or new-ER) you are going to likely have payments, with interest and higher depreciation every year. The last two is what can cost you...in a big way. Your maintenance costs may be lower on a newer unit, but you are going to lose any advantage in depreciated value. If you buy a unit that is larger than what you think you need, you will also spend more in fuel, and in maintenance on it... more money down the drain. If you have that kind of money to foolishly throw away then you shouldn't have any problem with the cost of the RV or in using it.

Which brings up the cost of using it... mainly fuel and camping fees. I see many blogs out there where people don't think twice about dropping an amount WAY in excess of $30 a night in camping fees, and yet they seem to think this is normal. Maybe it "is" normal for their way of traveling. Many of them are driving big Class A motorhomes or huge fifth-wheels that could never get back into the places where the camping is free for the taking, even though most of them have generators, propane refrigerators, battery power and other things that make boondocking much easier.

Instead of parking for free for the night, they spend money on expensive campgrounds with full hookups, just because they think that is the way camping is done! That may be "RVing", but it's a long way from "camping".

Again, this is only my opinion, but if you are going to drag an RV with you that's as big as a house, and with all the amenities (including air conditioning) and then set inside it most of the day because it is too hot or too cool to spend time outside, then what is different about that than staying at home?

Granted, some people have one so that family can join them wherever they are, and have extra sleeping capacity for all the guests, plus they drag all the toys along. I can't begrudge family "closeness", but it all comes at a cost, and it's the RV owner who bares the brunt of that cost while everybody else gets free entertainment for the weekend! In many cases, the guests aren't there to "be with" the RV owner. They come for all the free amenities they can enjoy while there, and a chance to get away to do something that many of them aren't willing to spend the money on for themselves!

If I have to resort to "buying" people's company with toys and entertainment, then they obviously aren't there for me, so why should I fund their entertainment? Let them pay for their own just like I've always had to do!

Think about it...if you didn't have that big RV and go to fun places with it, and provide the toys to use while there...would those guests still come to visit? Are they there for YOU or for the RV experience?

The other thing is how often are you really going to use it for that purpose? Let's say one of the guests flies in to stay with you a couple of times a year. Why are you paying for an oversize RV that will accommodate guests when it's only two of you for 90% of the time? For the short amount of time you have guests, you can afford to stay at a place with rental units while they are there and still come out way ahead, especially if everyone splits the cost!

We have done our share of providing things for the entertainment of others, including buying real estate with a huge yard, swimming pool, a family room with a pool table, video games, books, music, other games, and even planned entertaining trips on the side. And yet we felt there was no appreciation for any of it, because the users had no vested interest in any of it.

The most times we ever used the pool for our ourselves was six times in any given summer season... but we still had to maintain it...EVERY DAY! The pool table often collected dust and became a collection point for other things on top of it. The books never got read, the games never got played...and yet we were paying for all that extra space for a bunch of ingrates! If we didn't have any of it, and the "visitors" had to just deal with us in normal conversation and mutual learning, they probably would have stayed home.

Maybe everyone doesn't have that same situation, but maybe they haven't thought about it, either. It takes money to provide all those amenities, but when we work hard enough to provide them, we often don't have the time to enjoy them for our own use. Sometimes they only get used for the "supposed" enjoyment of others, who often don't appreciate what it takes to provide them. Our time and space is worth money, and if all it is is a money pit, then it's time to quit wasting time to earn that money to provide that space!

Time is often something that we have enough of, but yet it is wasted on things and people that provide little value to our lives. One way to balance that out is by allowing time to work for us, and one way to do that is to let time grow our money.

All that is required of us is to not waste our money on foolish things, and put that money into safe investments that will grow. Once it's in there, we can go our own way and do something else. We don't have to constantly "work at it" to get something out of it. It continues to work even when we don't. That is far different than having to work at a job for everything that we get out of it. If we stop that work, the income from it stops, also.

So which is the more intelligent option, to put money where it will work for us and continue that work 24 hours a day, even when we don't, or to spend it on stuff where we have absolutely nothing to show for it after 30 minutes, and all the time that we put in to earn it is gone forever?

Far be it for me to preach to anyone on how it should be done or how they should live their lives. We have made many mistakes and lost many thousands of dollars (plus the inheritance) during our lifetimes. The important thing is that we have had more gains than losses, and that's really all anyone can expect. No one is going to be right "all" the time and have continuous growth in everything. But without clear, rational thinking, it is so easy to make too many wrong choices and end up on a losing spiral that is hard to break. And often that is caused by simply being oblivious to the relationship between time and money.

So the bottom line I wanted to make here is that it doesn't take a "lot" of money to enjoy life and have a life of freedom, with the ability to spend more time on yourself. If you watch the YouTube videos regularly on topics such as RV's, van dwelling, and self-sustainability topics, you will discover that there are thousands of people out there living a traveling lifestyle as well as on permanent homesteads, that are living their dreams every day. Many of them are doing it full-time, rather than part-time.

A traveling vehicle can cost almost as little as you want it to cost. I read many stories of "vagabond" backpackers, who travel the world with only what is on their backs. And the traveling itself doesn't have to cost a fortune. Fuel expense can be controlled by how often you move from place to place. Overnight parking expense can be controlled by purchasing the right kind of RV to start with, and learning how others do it at little or no cost, and making use of the best opportunities for the way you can afford to travel.

We are each different, in our own tastes, our own financial circumstances, and our own needs. Maybe some are afraid to venture out. We all know people who have lived their entire lives without ever leaving their state or even sometimes their counties. But the real question is whether they do it because they really like staying home, or whether they have other reasons for not venturing out. They will never know what they don't know, unless they are willing to take the steps necessary to learn about what they are missing.

If their problem is lack of knowing how to do it, then it can be learned. If the problem is money, then learn how to NOT waste it and make it grow for you. If the problem is fear of the unknown, then again, learn what you have to in order to overcome your fears! Notice that all three directly relate to knowledge. Those who stick their head in the sand and refuse to partake of even free knowledge when it comes along, can expect a life no bigger than their ambition.

You have the power to control your time and money to do with it whatever is important to you. Don't waste it, or wait too long to make the important things happen. Travel IS affordable, at whatever level you can make it affordable. The choice is yours.