Stuff

I got the internet up last night, it had been down for a couple of days, after phoning Bell we found out that the tower that our signal comes from was having problems. I am on the Wimax system which is basically a modem antenae that gets its signal from a local tower. Something like a cell tower but it is supposed to be better and faster.

What I like about the system is that it is portable. I can move it from here at the shop to another location, plug it in and it finds the signal and I am surfing. It is supposed to work in alot of Canadian cities and I am hoping that it will work up at our seasonal site in Acton.

I position the modem in my bedroom, directed at the window for maximum signal. The modem gets plugged into a router that provides a wireless signal throughout the rv. This means no wires and the kid can surf via his ipod.

The modem and router are plugged into a receptacle that runs off inverter power. Last night the power went out here in the trailer, which did not affect the modem, router or laptop, pretty slick.
I just kept on surfing.

Here is the pic of the coffee table we got from Derek, it looks good and seems to be about the right size for the living room. Not too heavy to move when the sofabed needs to be pulled out. Seems dumb to post about a coffee table, but living in a rv for so long, having a coffee table just makes it seem more like home.

It sure got cold yesterday and snow too. Starting to warm up today and supposed to be warmer for the rest of the week. I left the awning out and got a load of snow on it. It is a electric awning and there was so much snow that the electric motor would not roll it in. This is a good way to wreck your awning, I removed the snow and then it worked. I have wrecked every awning that I have had.

The economy does not seem to be picking up, more and more job losses every month. I think this will be the norm for the rest of the year. Talking to some fleets today and it is getting tougher to find loads. So it is getting worse and not better. Scary.

Here is that beavertail job we are doing in the shop. Cut the beavertail off and build a rear bumper and light panels. It is cutoff already, but I am waiting on steel materials to finish up , post some pics later this week.

I am experimenting with my heating ducts in the rv this afternoon. I have two ducts in the kitchen area, and only one in the living room. The living room is at the back of the trailer and the furnace is at the front of the trailer. So, I don't get a ton of heat out of that duct. I plugged off the two ducts in the kitchen area and this forces more hot air to the living room and also the bedroom area. The thermostat is located close to the entrance door and like most rv's, the entrance door is a heat loss area, usually a slight draft. The other problem I have, is the furnace cycling too often. Caused by the draft from the entrance door, as the thermostat is too close.

When the furnace cycles too much, there is too much heat upstairs.

Although there is a electric fireplace in the living room, I am currently on a 15 amp service and the fireplace consumes pretty much 15 amps. I did put a little ceramic heater in the living room that is rated at 1100 watts and we do use it for extra heating. But we still have to be careful as to what else we are running at the same time. Right now the dryer is going, so the ceramic heater is off. The living room is comfortable cause I have the kitchen ducts off. The furnace comes on, and stays on for a long time cause the kitchen area where the thermostat is, has the ducts blocked. Upstairs in the bedroom is now a sauna, I can't block off those ducts as the heat has to go somewhere and I don't want to overheat the furnace and have it shut down, ie sail switch going off.

In every rv I have had, a mixture of electric and propane furnace heat has provided the best results. The problem this winter, was that we were off grid for two months and could only rely on the furnace for our heat needs. Next year, I will install a 30 or 50 amp service here at the shop, and run two ceramic heaters, one in the living room and one by the entrance door. I need to find heaters that are around 800 watts. Another area that needs attention is the toilet room, no heat in there at all. I got looking under in the basement storage area, it would not be all that difficult to tap into the heating duct tubes. Maybe a project for the summer. In our last trailer, during the winter I put a ceramic heater in the basement. This kept the bathroom floor toasty warm and would help heat the upstairs.

Ideally I would prefer having two furnaces. One to run the upstairs with its own thermostat and one for the rest of the trailer. My buddy George has a furnace out of his trailer and is supposed to drop it off for me. Maybe I will temporarily hook it up and see how that works out???

Spring Cleaning

So we got the carpets steam cleaned today, they did a nice job. So for the rest of the spring the dogs are not allowed in the trailer at night. They can stay in the shop and I will park the truck inside and they can sleep in the sleeper where they usually sleep anyhow. They get spoiled, thats the problem. It has rained since midnight here, the shop is flooded out and so is the yard. You can imagine what the dogs look like, completely wet and full of dirt.

Threatened the mere existence and future of my 14 year old, tracking mud and dirt off his jeans, into the trailer, you know how they have to have the bottom of thier jeans dragging on the ground. Thats the problem with rving full time, there is never a spot to put your boots and shoes without them being in the way. I seen one fiver that did have a large closet at the entrance door and thought that was a great idea, put all the coats and shoes and boots etc. I have a small closet at the entrance door, enough room for a couple of spring jackets and maybe two pair of running shoes.

Washed down the walls and ceiling in the trailer, cleaned all the wooden blinds and windexed all the windows.

We had a mouse in the trailer last night, sitting in the oven, don't know how he got there, the wife opened the oven door and there he was just sitting there, he was'nt even scared. We lost our cat a month ago, likely to the coyote's and we might get a kitten. Was checking the free cats out on Kijiji and there was alot of adult cats for free and I would prefer to get a adult one cause I know if they don't get adopted they will get put down. Problem is, we have a little trailer dog, Shelby, he is smaller than a cat. He would have a better chance of getting along with a kitten than a adult cat.

We have gone through so many cats, we let them roam free. If they want to go outside we let them. Sometimes they don't come back, I feel bad but I believe in letting pets be as free as possible. Can't keep the cat indoors as they see the dogs running around outside and do whatever they can to get out of the house.

Got a couple of hundred pound tanks of propane dropped off today, just in time too as I was starting to run out. Perfect timing for a change and believe me that does not happen too often

My buddy Derek is bringing me his coffee table, his wife redid thier living room and bought new and the one that he had originally I really liked. It is like new anyhow, and will match pretty good in my living room in the trailer, will post some pics later. Tried getting his new big flat screen tv too, but no luck.

We have been in this trailer since last July, and we really have not put up any pictures or plants flowers that kind of stuff. Once we get up to our seasonal site, I think we will make it homey.

Around the Shop

Typical day around the shop, a little bit of everything going on. Wash truck for some welding repairs the rv truck and a service and light repairs on the Kw, still have a drop deck beavertail outside to have the beavertail cut off and make a rear bumper nice with all the lights etc.

Still getting the dump trucks ready, one went out yesterday and the Mto nailed the guy for improper tarp, 800.00 in fines. His tarp had so many holes it should have been replaced last year.

A little Hauler

Here's a truck we built a number of years ago. Little Chev 3 ton with a cat motor, alison auto transmission and air ride with juice brakes. The sleeper is custom built and has a sink and shower, bed and sound system inside. There is also a fifth wheel hitch built into the rear deck for pulling a trailer, when not pulling a trailer, there is a enclosure made out of tent material that mounts on the rear deck. The sidewalls at the rear are removable so a trailer can be hauled.

I repaired the vacuflush toilet system, the 12 motors needed to come out and be taken apart and cleaned up as the brushes inside were stuck with corrosion and dirt. We had to cut a access hole. Beside the access hole is a electric hot water tank and a waste holding tank. We installed these items last year.
Were doing a water test too, I loaded him up with water to his onboard 40 gallon fresh water tank, I transferred the water from my truck tank with the Honda pump, worked very well.

The truck has been a ongoing project for years, customer changes his mind with what he wants to do with the truck. He has a mobile hearing test company and we built some specialized trailers for him a few years back. He hauls this around to companies and checks the hearing of the employees. Kind of a neat little business, he is feeling the economy pinch right now as companies are cutting back.

More Pics

So here is the downstairs, the living room is separated by the french doors, inside the living room there is alot of room and right this minute we 5 adults and two german shepherds sitting in here watching tv and having coffee. That round kitchen table has been replaced by a square one, the round one just did not work out plus we rarely ever sit at the table for dinner.

I like the layout of the trailer as the kitchen area is wide open, and the living area is separate and one can close the doors and keep the noise separate.

One of the dogs just farted, so the living room has cleared out now.

Electric fireplace in the living room and surround sound system factory installed along with the dvd player and large tv that swings out and tilts.

The two chairs at the rear of the trailer are made by Lazyboy and are real comfortable, leather too, behind those chairs is a big bay window. Lots of windows and indirect lighting, ceiling fans and ducted air conditioning throughout the trailer.

The Homestead

I figured I would post a couple of pics of the interior of the fiver. Here is the bedroom, king size bed and i got my tv and dvd player there. Lots of storage in the front behind the mirror closet doors, even got a safe in the floor, they think of everything.

Here is the bathroom area, shower stall and sink, also the shitter room and the washer, I have a dryer mounted on top of the washer now.

More Water Pump Stuff

I was not happy with the flow coming out of the gas powered water pump. Also the supplied pickup tube was difficult to use, I would drop it into the tank to pickup the water but it would float.

So I plumbed the pickup hose right into the fitting at the bottom of the tank on the truck and also installed a valve. The water now flows from the bottom of the tank to the pump and then out through a rv hose to the onboard tank on the trailer. She pumps fast now, if I want more flow I will have to change the output hose to 5/8 or 3/4 id.

I am really impressed with this Honda gas powered pump, especially for 240.00. A real deal. The motor fires up easily and runs smooth, 4 stroke overhead valve design. It being a Honda should last a long time.

I am still using a sump pump that I submerse into the big tank and run the little inverter generator for power.

Even once I get to the seasonal campsite in probably two weeks, I will still use my on board tank to supply water to the trailer. The park water on the weekends loses pressure due to the campground being full, sometimes to the point where there is no water at all.

Steady in the shop this week, getting gravel trucks ready for the season. So rv work tomorrow on my buddie's truck I built for him a few years ago, will post some pics tomorrow. Looking forward to that.

Been reading alot of the blogs on survival and preparedness, seems like there is more and more info every month. I think this coming month we will start with putting some supplies away, I've gotten alot of info off the net the last six months.

I don't think there will be a total collapse, but for me could be a very slow period/bad economy and in my mind that would be the same as a collapse. Implement a more frugal cost effective lifestyle now so that when it does slow down we are better prepared.