Have been working over at the house this evening and the sweat is just pouring off of me. The window units keep the house comfortable enough in this hot weather if you are just sitting around, but I've been hauling trash and packing boxes. The dogs were very happy to see me and they kept knocking each other out of the way to get as close as possible to me - it was an ever shifting kaleidoscope of dogs. Unfortunately the house smells of dog poop because apparently the dog's digestive systems are having to adjust to this new food. I had eight piles of diarrhea to clean up - yuck! I am also filthy having moved a lot of dusty stuff and that sweat is now turning it to mud. But we are running out of time to get stuff out of the house so I'm trying to get as much done as possible in the evenings this week even if it means being sweaty and stinky and running a bit short on sleep. I'll have to just keep reminding myself of that old saying, "I'll sleep when I'm dead." And stock up on coffee.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
I need more sleep
I haven't gone to sleep before midnight for four nights and a row and I'm determined to hit the hay early tonight. Despite being rather sleep deprived, I did manage to get some stuff done today including buying the lumber I need to build the steps for Theo. And I gotta say that was the best shopping experience I have ever had at a Home Depot. I didn't catch the employee's name, but he was friendly, courteous and helpful which is a rare experience in any store these days.
In other news, I finally bought an electric skillet this weekend. I was trying to find an 8" or 10" so it would fit in my tiny sink, but the smallest I could find was an 11". I used it to make squash casserole this weekend and quickly learned that it draws a fair amount of amps when it popped the RV park circuit breaker outside. I only have 30 amps total for the trailer and the A/C consumes a big chunk of that so summer will always be a bit of a juggling act.
Well, my eyes are closing at this point. Even with hitting the bed early, I suspect the alarm is still going to go off way sooner than my liking tomorrow morning.
I haven't gone to sleep before midnight for four nights and a row and I'm determined to hit the hay early tonight. Despite being rather sleep deprived, I did manage to get some stuff done today including buying the lumber I need to build the steps for Theo. And I gotta say that was the best shopping experience I have ever had at a Home Depot. I didn't catch the employee's name, but he was friendly, courteous and helpful which is a rare experience in any store these days.
In other news, I finally bought an electric skillet this weekend. I was trying to find an 8" or 10" so it would fit in my tiny sink, but the smallest I could find was an 11". I used it to make squash casserole this weekend and quickly learned that it draws a fair amount of amps when it popped the RV park circuit breaker outside. I only have 30 amps total for the trailer and the A/C consumes a big chunk of that so summer will always be a bit of a juggling act.
Well, my eyes are closing at this point. Even with hitting the bed early, I suspect the alarm is still going to go off way sooner than my liking tomorrow morning.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Another week flies by
A couple of weeks ago my computer's on board graphics card decided to go on the fritz. Sometimes it would work, but only at a non-native resolution for my monitor. By Monday of last week it was down for the count. I had been wanting to put a better graphics card in this computer since I bought it many years ago, but never could bring myself to spend the money for something that wasn't necessary. And now it was necessary, though definitely not in the budget. I had enough money in the bank to buy one, but that would leave me pretty much broke until payday (Friday of next week.) I struggled with that for a few days, but finally decided to spend the money. My computer is one of those "luxuries" that I do not want to do without!
And so, having purchased and installed a new graphics card, I was looking forward to spending some time this weekend playing one of my favorite games, Eve Online, which has always been difficult to play with my on board graphics card. Alas, it was not to be. Instead of gaming on Friday and Saturday night, I had unexpected company on both nights and ended up socializing until midnight. I was planning on being a hermit computer nerd this weekend and things went in a completely different direction, but that's okay - I had a great time and gaming can wait.
I brought Theo out to the trailer yesterday to see if he could manage the steps. I was pretty sure he wasn't going to be able to get up them and I was right. I ended up lifting him into the trailer so he could at least check it out for a bit. He was already freaked out by the road trip out here and trying to get up the steps freaked him out a bit more. And then lifting him up into the trailer freaked him out too, so his first visit here wasn't exactly pleasant for him.
Here's a picture of him where you can tell he was none too happy with the situation. I hung out with him at the trailer for only a short while because I could tell he really wanted to just get back "home". We'll have to build either stairs or a ramp that he can manage and do that very soon. He's going to need time to adjust and we only have three weeks left of him being able to stay at the house. Hopefully we'll have something built by this next weekend and he can spend Friday or Saturday night out here.
A couple of weeks ago my computer's on board graphics card decided to go on the fritz. Sometimes it would work, but only at a non-native resolution for my monitor. By Monday of last week it was down for the count. I had been wanting to put a better graphics card in this computer since I bought it many years ago, but never could bring myself to spend the money for something that wasn't necessary. And now it was necessary, though definitely not in the budget. I had enough money in the bank to buy one, but that would leave me pretty much broke until payday (Friday of next week.) I struggled with that for a few days, but finally decided to spend the money. My computer is one of those "luxuries" that I do not want to do without!
And so, having purchased and installed a new graphics card, I was looking forward to spending some time this weekend playing one of my favorite games, Eve Online, which has always been difficult to play with my on board graphics card. Alas, it was not to be. Instead of gaming on Friday and Saturday night, I had unexpected company on both nights and ended up socializing until midnight. I was planning on being a hermit computer nerd this weekend and things went in a completely different direction, but that's okay - I had a great time and gaming can wait.
I brought Theo out to the trailer yesterday to see if he could manage the steps. I was pretty sure he wasn't going to be able to get up them and I was right. I ended up lifting him into the trailer so he could at least check it out for a bit. He was already freaked out by the road trip out here and trying to get up the steps freaked him out a bit more. And then lifting him up into the trailer freaked him out too, so his first visit here wasn't exactly pleasant for him.
Here's a picture of him where you can tell he was none too happy with the situation. I hung out with him at the trailer for only a short while because I could tell he really wanted to just get back "home". We'll have to build either stairs or a ramp that he can manage and do that very soon. He's going to need time to adjust and we only have three weeks left of him being able to stay at the house. Hopefully we'll have something built by this next weekend and he can spend Friday or Saturday night out here.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The house is officially sold & the RV is almost paid off
We finally closed on the house today, three weeks later than planned, but at least we still get 30 days from today to get everything out of the place. All the debt has been paid off except for the $7000 we've borrowed from my parents over the years, but at least that's an interest free, "pay when you can" loan. I also still owe about $700 on the RV, but I'll have that paid off in 30 days so I feel like I can now start on my RV redecorating plan.
First thing to go is going to be the couch/sleeper sofa and the table and chairs which I will put into storage in case I decide to trade the RV in later on. I never use the uncomfortable couch, other than to temporary hold my groceries when I come back from the grocery store, and the table is currently being used as a computer desk. With those two items gone, that should give me enough space to put in a comfy chair & ottoman, a small desk and a small table for two that can double as counter space (I currently have no counter space which makes meal preparation a real pain in the ass.) I also have eight window valences, some curtains and a bedspread to replace. That will get rid of most of the mauve and teal. I'll still have the floral wallpaper in the bathroom and on 1/2 of a kitchen wall, but I can live with that. Then there is the mauve carpet, but I can cover the living room carpet with throw rugs to disguise that and I'll just pretend that the carpet in the bedroom is brown (there's not much of it that can be seen anyway.) I haven't decided on a style yet, but I'll be on such a limited budget that it's probably going to be bohemian or hippy-chic and look similar to my friend Chris C.'s garage apartment back in 1978. Hmm... do they still make bean bag chairs?
We finally closed on the house today, three weeks later than planned, but at least we still get 30 days from today to get everything out of the place. All the debt has been paid off except for the $7000 we've borrowed from my parents over the years, but at least that's an interest free, "pay when you can" loan. I also still owe about $700 on the RV, but I'll have that paid off in 30 days so I feel like I can now start on my RV redecorating plan.
First thing to go is going to be the couch/sleeper sofa and the table and chairs which I will put into storage in case I decide to trade the RV in later on. I never use the uncomfortable couch, other than to temporary hold my groceries when I come back from the grocery store, and the table is currently being used as a computer desk. With those two items gone, that should give me enough space to put in a comfy chair & ottoman, a small desk and a small table for two that can double as counter space (I currently have no counter space which makes meal preparation a real pain in the ass.) I also have eight window valences, some curtains and a bedspread to replace. That will get rid of most of the mauve and teal. I'll still have the floral wallpaper in the bathroom and on 1/2 of a kitchen wall, but I can live with that. Then there is the mauve carpet, but I can cover the living room carpet with throw rugs to disguise that and I'll just pretend that the carpet in the bedroom is brown (there's not much of it that can be seen anyway.) I haven't decided on a style yet, but I'll be on such a limited budget that it's probably going to be bohemian or hippy-chic and look similar to my friend Chris C.'s garage apartment back in 1978. Hmm... do they still make bean bag chairs?
Sunday, July 11, 2010
RV-ing
I went out to my RV this afternoon to do a couple of weekly maintenance tasks. It felt so nice out there that I decided to hang out for a while since I always feel like I'm on vacation when I'm out there. And what better reward for all my hard work this weekend than to spend some time feeling relaxed and comfortable! There have been days this week when I wondered if I made the wrong decision in buying the RV rather than trying harder to find a place to rent, but all those doubts vanished once I got back out there.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought my wish to by an RV one day was always in the context of doing it with Rob, but my friend Tracy reminded me how I used to talk long ago about buying a used bread truck (aka step-van) and turning it into an RV. I had completely forgotten about that. Then I also remembered that back when I was very young, I would fantasize about having an Air-stream trailer someday so I could just easily move to a new town every year or so. This was back when I was planning on being a writer and that just seemed like the perfect lifestyle for a novelist since you would be regularly exposed to new locations and new characters. And so while it seemed at the time that buying the RV was something completely unexpected and out of the blue, perhaps it wasn't really that way after all.
I went out to my RV this afternoon to do a couple of weekly maintenance tasks. It felt so nice out there that I decided to hang out for a while since I always feel like I'm on vacation when I'm out there. And what better reward for all my hard work this weekend than to spend some time feeling relaxed and comfortable! There have been days this week when I wondered if I made the wrong decision in buying the RV rather than trying harder to find a place to rent, but all those doubts vanished once I got back out there.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought my wish to by an RV one day was always in the context of doing it with Rob, but my friend Tracy reminded me how I used to talk long ago about buying a used bread truck (aka step-van) and turning it into an RV. I had completely forgotten about that. Then I also remembered that back when I was very young, I would fantasize about having an Air-stream trailer someday so I could just easily move to a new town every year or so. This was back when I was planning on being a writer and that just seemed like the perfect lifestyle for a novelist since you would be regularly exposed to new locations and new characters. And so while it seemed at the time that buying the RV was something completely unexpected and out of the blue, perhaps it wasn't really that way after all.
Bit by Bit
I've been staying at the house this week with the idea of getting some stuff cleaned out and I've made a little bit of progress, but not as much as I'd like. There's just not much time to get anything done during the week after work. But now it's the weekend and I made a big push today on the bedroom and I'm currently blogging at midnight instead of sleeping because I have the bed all apart while I clean out from underneath it. The dogs are not happy since they want to curl up on the bed and go to sleep, but the bed is not there and that's causing much confusion. But it will all be back together soon enough and then I can sleep knowing that at least one room is cleaned out of everything but the bare essentials for daily living - just the bed, dresser, and alarm clock.
I've been staying at the house this week with the idea of getting some stuff cleaned out and I've made a little bit of progress, but not as much as I'd like. There's just not much time to get anything done during the week after work. But now it's the weekend and I made a big push today on the bedroom and I'm currently blogging at midnight instead of sleeping because I have the bed all apart while I clean out from underneath it. The dogs are not happy since they want to curl up on the bed and go to sleep, but the bed is not there and that's causing much confusion. But it will all be back together soon enough and then I can sleep knowing that at least one room is cleaned out of everything but the bare essentials for daily living - just the bed, dresser, and alarm clock.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Being Flexible
Now that I've pretty much settled into my RV, it's time to switch back to staying at the house for a few weeks to give Rob that same opportunity to settle into his new apartment before the house is gone. This will also give me time during the week in the evenings to work on clearing stuff out of the house, something I can't do if I'm staying out at the RV. I spent Saturday running errands and was finally able to get a PO Box out in Buda (there's been a wait list for weeks.) I also had to get another new tire for the Rodeo since the right rear tire started acting up on my way back from Buda. I guess it decided that it didn't want to wait until we closed on the house either. Damn tires. But since I now had good tires all the way around on the vehicle, I was able to drive out past McDade Saturday evening to visit with an old friend and finally see the house that she built several years ago. McDade is not that far away, about an hour's drive, but without a reliable vehicle it might as well have been on the moon and I had never seen her new place. We had a nice visit, but had to make it a short one because I knew I had an hour drive home. And on the way home I was thinking that so many of my friends live north... maybe I'll move my RV up that way if my temp job down south doesn't become permanent. I always swore I'd never live in North Austin or north of Austin, but perhaps it's time to stop limiting myself in so many areas of my life, including where I live. Time to be a bit more flexible...
Now that I've pretty much settled into my RV, it's time to switch back to staying at the house for a few weeks to give Rob that same opportunity to settle into his new apartment before the house is gone. This will also give me time during the week in the evenings to work on clearing stuff out of the house, something I can't do if I'm staying out at the RV. I spent Saturday running errands and was finally able to get a PO Box out in Buda (there's been a wait list for weeks.) I also had to get another new tire for the Rodeo since the right rear tire started acting up on my way back from Buda. I guess it decided that it didn't want to wait until we closed on the house either. Damn tires. But since I now had good tires all the way around on the vehicle, I was able to drive out past McDade Saturday evening to visit with an old friend and finally see the house that she built several years ago. McDade is not that far away, about an hour's drive, but without a reliable vehicle it might as well have been on the moon and I had never seen her new place. We had a nice visit, but had to make it a short one because I knew I had an hour drive home. And on the way home I was thinking that so many of my friends live north... maybe I'll move my RV up that way if my temp job down south doesn't become permanent. I always swore I'd never live in North Austin or north of Austin, but perhaps it's time to stop limiting myself in so many areas of my life, including where I live. Time to be a bit more flexible...
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