24/7 Chat About Anything

[maki2]

The Goodwill and some other thrift store chains accept worn out clothing. The sell them by the pound as rag material to the public in some types of their chain of stores. They also sell them to profesdional rag recyling companies. So can donate where approptiate. Not all thrift stores will want them but some do. Of course they only accept clean rag materials, not oil or paint or otherwise contaminated fabrics.

 

[maki2]

The sun is up, time to turn on my stove/heater, my fingers are pretty cold and I want coffee and a hot breakfast.managed to get busy with more wiring hooked up for the passenger side of my travel trailer. I had run out of the size of butt splices for the job.  In quartzsite he Hatdware annd tool stores did not have any in stock. The auto parts store was closed. But the company Dis ount Solar has good quality connectors by the piece at a very reasonable price. They also sell wire by the foot,  ready made battery cables etc. A  excellent resource for your electrical build materials in the area.

 

[travelaround]

A lot of used clothing is sent overseas for people to sell in used clothing shops in poverty stricken areas. One thing we manage to have a lot of is used clothing as styles change and people change sizes. In our Slater Fire distribution center there's so much clothing donated they had to request... no more!

 

[travelaround]

Can't wait to hear where you'll go next Maki.. I like reading about your travels and experiences.

I'm grateful for this time of peacefulness in the travel trailer. I wonder if this would be enough for me for the rest of my life. In our county we're told that to live in an RV on your property for a year you must get a permit. This came as a surprise to people in my remote town as there were people all over town living in RVswithout permits because we didn't know about them.

I got propane yesterday in the pouring rain... Napa guy is my son's former roommate and friend. His uncle owned the property and he thinks they might not rebuild.. across the street from me. It will be a much different neighborhood , for certain.

 

[bullfrog]

One of the reasons I have pretty much given up on property ownership is the large number of restrictions, not just the present ones but ones they may create in the future, created by local, county, state and even the federal government not to mention taxes and liabilities. There are so many that are not enforced but could be at anytime. There are many places where you can live in an RV for only a limited time till a structure that meets zoning requirements is built.

 

[maki2]

I dont yet know where my next longer time camp might be. That is because I have not camped  on BLM lands in Arizona before.

As iI need to be a reasonably short drive to a place where there is a way to mail packages via USPS that means I will stay within 10 or so minutes drive to a small  l town that has mail pickup once or more a day and also a hardware store for build supplies.Today in Quartzsite I first dropped off orders at the post office andthen I picked up some ATC fuses at the hardware store. I know I have some of those fuses somewhere in a bin box but yesterday's search for them did not reveal ttheirhhiding spot. I must have relocated them to a new spot during my last sort out electrical supplies after finishinfg wiring up my stove controls. oh well, now I have plenty of spares around. the other ones will eventually get found.
Daylight will be go e early today with this overcast znd I have wires to put terminals onto and vonnect so I have a couple of more 12v outlets by my desk functioning. I have not yet run any wiring to switches or fixture locations for 12v lighting. No hurry on it as I have a lot of rechargeable LED lights.

One of these days I will start making more sawdust.

 

[travelaround]

I had a peaceful relaxing day in my trailer. It has been a long time since I've had a day like this wherein I didn't drive anywhere. My kitchen sink backed up so I had my first lesson in dumping the grey water holding tank. Don't know why that was closed - it was supposed to be an open drain. Anyhow, things are going well here. Also used the stove for the first time since I moved into the trailer. Nice. Since the refrigerator doesn't work I'll use it as a food pantry.

 

[bullfrog]

Be sure to check your bathtub/shower as it is lower than your sink and may need some disinfecting or cleaning up as well. The grey tank should be used to rinse the drain pipe after dumping and closing off the black tank. The black tank should be allowed to fill to prevent solids from drying out and staying stuck to the tank surface and causing problems. The increased flow from the black tank by letting it fill helps keep it clean and prevents having to take a hose inside and clean it through the toilet which can be messy. So every few days look down the toilet and see how full it is with liquid or pour some water in to judge how full it is. If ready go outside and make sure the dump hose is in place and will stay in place when the sewage surges through it. Open the black tank valve and let it drain. When done close the valve. Then open the gray tank valve and wash everything out as it should be mainly just soapy water. Close the valve. Go inside and flush the toilet a couple times. Add a “blue berry” or chemical to help with smell or deposits that you can buy at a RV store or Wal-Mart. Then you are good to go! Lol!!! If the gray tank fills before the black dump some out of it but try to keep enough to flush out the hose when you dump the black tank. Leaving the dump valve open only works in older RVs that only have a black tank as all water drains through the black tank keeping it clean, the newer ones with black and gray tanks need to be filled and dumped.

 

[highdesertranger]

yes listen to bullfrog never leave either drain open. highdesertranger

 

[maki2]

I dont have a black tank but it was mentioned to me t his week when someone was talking about their tanks that you shoul add several gallons of water into the black water tank after it has been drsined and the fitting closed. That is needed to help prevent waste from sticking to the bottom of tne tank and craeting future tank build up issues. It does make sense and the extra liquid will help with breaking down the waste. 

Living in an RVpark with a dump fitting right at your site is very convenient.

 

[travelaround]

Thanks for holding tank advice. This is a brand new 2021 travel trailer and the black tanks (2) have never filled. Also the gray tank for shower has never filled and only the kitchen sink gray tank needed to be emptied. Yes, there are 4 holding tanks, and lights to check to see how full they are. Three of them are nowhere near full so I still have that experience to go through later. Right now I'm sorry I didn't fill my other propane tank as I'm out again. Grrr... I'm planning to get a fifty gallon propane tank from a company in Yreka that delivers out here. It will save me the trouble of having to go get tanks filled so frequently... not much fun. You have to go to the front desk to request the service, then drive to the back of the building to get your tank filled, then drive to the front and go inside a second time to pay. I think it would be better to have someone come here from Yreka and fill the tank and all I'd have to worry about doing is paying the bill. **cold tonight** and my little electric heater isn't much help.

 

[bullfrog]

Just so you know those lights after a while will most likely be inaccurate.

 

[travelaround]

Just so you know those lights after a while will most likely be inaccurate.

Thanks for letting me know. I have this trailer as a loan... it isn't mine. I don't know how long I'll be living in it... but it has occurred to me that it is nearly as good as a house. I don't really need a lot of space to be happy.

 

[shadowmoss]

I have lived in motorhomes full time now for around 4 years in RV parks. First was a 30yo class C, and once I realized I like to live this way I bought a 20yo class A. Better than a house in that I turn the key and move with the weather. I don't need a lot of room to live, either, but I'm still working on shedding stuff that I have in storage.

 

[bullfrog]

Having a bathroom just a few feet away, being able to get things as they are nearby, small simple living in a motor home has some real advantages, now if the just had wider doors and no steps to get into!

 

[travelaround]

now if they just had wider doors and no steps to get into!

Here's something that needs to be invented: an RV elevator porch for old folks living in RVs and trailers.

I just bought a third propane canister at the store as I've already run out of the 5 gallons I got a few days ago. I guess I need to be more careful about when I run the furnace. I love being warm.

I went to my land today and saw someone has been pulling out kitchen appliances, the swamp cooler, and other metal. Glad to see someone started on the cleanup there. It must be very challenging. They also raked away from the circumference of the mobile home (past tense - it is now just a pile of rubbish) . . . . I'm wondering if they're going to hook up to the tongues of the two sections (are they still there? I don't know.) ... to get the frame off the property. They haven't torn down my front fence yet. I wonder if that's coming.

 

[nature lover]

Here I am in Florida, enjoying the weather although we’ve had some very cool nights. If it wasn’t for friends like the people Who’s farm I’m squatting on This life wouldn’t be possible. I’m frustrated and depressed, And I’m going to dump all that right here so if you don’t wanna read on don’t.

I escaped a personal care home because I couldn’t take that life. my health improved slightly and the medication’s were really helping. The year that I was in that home was the worst of my life I think. If my wife Had not left me after 40 years I probably wouldn’t have gone to the retirement home. I was much higher functioning than most of those folks anyhow. In one of my emails to Bob I mentioned that he ought to do a video on someone who wanted to be a van dweller and nomad all their life and didn’t do it and put it off until it was too late. He and JC thought I’d be the one for it but I screwed up on the schedule and it never happened. So I just determined the heck with it I’m going to get out of here I’m going to work to get a van and I’m going to travel in spite of all the health issues.

The stupid brain anomaly or injury has made my eyes bad so I can’t drive at night or in bad weather also lost my balance so I have to walk either with two canes or a sit down walker. I’m a diabetic and overweight, those to go together. My brain problem causes Parkinson like symptoms and minor seizures. The doctor says he could prevent seizures with more medicine but that medicine would make me more tired. I’m tired enough.

So now in Florida I’ve developed a sore on my foot. A diabetic ulcer. I could not see it so I kept treating it unseen with OTC medication and a Band-Aid. One day It dawned on me I could see it with my iPad camera. One look at it and I was in a doctors office the next day. The doctor said that I have the kind of ulcer that will lead to the loss of the foot if it’s not taken care of right. About 20% of the people who have this do end up losing their foot. My sugar is in check but the neuropathy and circulation problems are there from years before. I came to Florida to have fun to walk on level trails and take nature pictures etc. now I’m sitting in my van with my foot propped up scared that I could lose it and end up back in a retirement home or worse. I’ve done so many different things through the years never had the discipline to stick to any one job for too long, never put any money aside so I’m living on a pittance of Social Security. I really had to discipline and determine myself to not allow my handicaps to keep me from being a nomad. Now here I sit in a van on someone else’s property and I’m not content again. I have a visiting nurse that comes out to the van two or three times a week to measure and take care of the wound. The medication they gave me cost $800 for a tube thank God for Medicare. Because I have to get my medicines at a PA pharmacy I had to have it overnighted to me for $51. Still took it almost 3 days to get here then we noticed on the paperwork that because of Covid they don’t hold up their guarantee. If I lose this foot I lose my lifestyle so I’m taking it very serious propping it up listening to the nurses and doctors. But that makes life boring as heck. I have a list of about 20 birds that I’ve never seen I wanted to add to my birding list here in Florida. I’ve got a few of them But have a lot more to go and it’s not worth losing my foot to get those pictures.

Anyone that was of common sense would tell me it was impossible with my income and my health to do what I’m doing. I was so happy to be proving them wrong and now a snag. Darn it I’m not gonna let this setback get me either but life has to wait until this thing is healed properly and I can walk on it without causing more damage. I am determined that I will go on or die doing it. Maybe they can bury me in this van.

I hope I didn’t cause anyone else to be depressed or upset just had to get it off my chest. Travel around I feel for you with all you’ve been through seems you’re determined to get out of it too. And I know there’s a lot of more nomads out there who are experiencing these things to. So God bless the nomads even those of us who aren’t supposed to be doing what we are doing.

 

[maki2]

Nature lover.. even if you lost a foot that does not mean you have to give up travel. Threre are hand control kits if you cant use your feet. There are prostetics too. People in wheelchairs go solo camping in cars and minivans as well as RVs. You would of course need some temprary extra medical care and some physical therapy but it absolutely does not have to mean moving into a nursing home. You are scared and you have a tendency to feel like the worst outcome is going to be your fate. That is a combination of factors that can lead straight into depression, which you can't afford to be doing if you want to live an independent and peaceful life. The one thing you can do about it is force yourself to quit the doomsday thinking cycle. That is within your control to do, when you start down into that cycle mentally tell yourself the wded, enogh., sto, shutup or whatever word makes you quit. It takes pracrtice and at first y ou might have to do it nearly every hour or so but in a few weeks you will get better control and break the doomsday thinking habit. It is a very non productive bad habit but that is exactly what it is, a habit and it can be changed.

 

[bullfrog]

Just keep doing the things that make you healthier. Work on improving the parts of your body you can. Sidney Smith is a fellow that lost both feet due to a childhood deformity and a few years ago had to have both amputated. He lives in Vernal Utah and was determined he still wanted to walk and be outdoors. Stubborn type guy. Finished the Ironman competition, hunts and fishes almost all the time now when he is not helping others get back on their feet so to speak. Check him out on Facebook or just Google search him.

 

[maki2]

An OHV lighted Christmas parade just passed by my campsite. That was amusing. Glad they are out having fun. I must admit I am not much into the Holiday this year. Not feeling blue or anything, just not thinking about it that much. But my Etsy sales for this first 3 weeks of Decembber are up 248% over last December so other people do seem to be having fun with it this year.

Not a very productive weekend for my build or cutting inventory for my business becasuse I over indilged in rezding some fiction. Oh well at least I did get two more 12v outlets wired up today. Just the right length of time span for a project that involves kneeling and bending.