24/7 Chat About Anything

[Boutdun]

I tell my 14 yr old granddaughter that all the time, I hope it “takes”

 

[travelaround]

Persevere - great word, and I will use it for my word of the month for January. Thank you! Giving up is not an option.

I'm not getting stuff done today and I need to change that.

 

[Cammalu]

Maki did you make tamales??!! I tried and failed once.

 

[Cammalu]

Nature lover that’s awful that you are stuck. Hope that foot gets better really soon. I know how awful it is to be stuck and not be able to do a thing about it.

Can you at least sit outside? Should be beautiful weather down in Florida right now anyway.

 

[maki2]

Hi Travelaround...and everyone....I love your new property !!!  (watched the vid) 
I'm still obsessed with looking at vans ...but mostly Rv's now.....and land.....I'm still exhausted...and don't know what's wrong with me....sleep doesn't help....i have an appointment at the Mayo Clinc end of July......

I went to this place today to see how much i could get for my beautiful gold 22k jewelry....they offered only $3500...i need more than that t buy this Class C i just found this morning.....

Anyways....just wanted to let you guys know i am still trying to figure this out.....
Right now i have a 2001 Toyota Sequoia with 362,00+ miles.....runs very good....lots of rust though.....i can picture myself just throwing a futon in the back and getting a tent....then i think about how good i really have it living in a nice house with a toilet & shower & air conditioning.......going crazy with this decision.....

I believe you had autobody people look at your vehicle and tell you the rust  in the frame has made it unsafe to drive. Focus on relacing it. Direct your energies to that. If you are in a comfortable situation you have some time to get things sorted out.

 

[nature lover]

Persevere, reminds me of Churchill’s famous graduation speech. “Never give up, never give up, never give up.”

Camalou - you are so right if I was stuck in Pennsylvania I’d be frozen. So I’m stuck in Florida with a high near 80 today and a low around 62. Christmas day was the coldest in 25 years here but that seems to be gone now. I’m just bored and wanted to get out and take my nature pictures that’s what I came here for. I will try to be content. I’ve watched every Florida nature of it video I could find on YouTube. The Scripture says godliness with contentment is great gain. Problem is I’m not very godly nor am I very content.

 

[nature lover]

I’ve just been making a mental list of those who had been regulars and we don’t hear from right now. If you’re out there and lurking come on let us know what’s going on.

 

[maki2]

Maki did you make tamales??!!  I tried and failed once.

I bought a half dozen fresh ones ar the Roadrunner market. But I did cook a pot of chili mostly from scratch. Mostly was stated because I added some canned b3lck beans to it as well as some canned  Rotel tomatoes with jalepeno peppers.  

Tonights dinner was the last tamale and the last serving of chili. Lots of wind chill this evening so I turned on my stove heater to warm the food and the trailer. Next up is to make some Mexican hot chocolate and either watch a film on my  tablet or finish the book I started last night.

Had to work earlier today, kits to cut and shjp. 5 orders to go out that had come in over the last couple of days. January is often a busy month in my Etsy store as people work on a lot of craft projects up until it is time for yard work projects.

 

[GypsyJan]

I got groceries Christmas Eve and then stayed home until returning to work this morning. Christmas day was a marathon of Carol Burnett shows...bless that channel for showing those. It was as if Santa had brought me the whole CD package! Then there was the Call the Midwife Christmas special. Once I retire and am a full-time nomad, I will only be watching whatever I manage to download beforehand, so TV this holiday was a treat.

It was a very cold 3 days, but I mostly rested, read, and threw another cat on the afghan...one of them insisted on staying under the afghan.

I am glad to hear everyone is staying warm and safe.

Nature lover, at least you don't have the constant gray skies of the NE. Do you have binoculars for bird and critter watching? Even in fields in FL, there are parades of wild turkeys, quails, etc. to entertain you.

 

[nature lover]

Gypsyjan. Yes I have binoculars and my best camera has a 500 mm lens so I can watch wildlife around here too. The little lizards are neat.

 

[Gypsy108]

I believe you had autobody people look at your vehicle and tell you the rust  in the frame has made it unsafe to drive. Focus on relacing it. Direct your energies to that. If you are in a comfortable situation you have some time to get things sorted out.

Yes...the Toyota dealership looked at it a few weeks ago and suggested not to pour any more money into it.....i wanted them to at least reinforce the frame if possible.....but they didn't want to even do that ....hard to believe a dealership didn't want to take my money...haha
My desire to become a nomad is diminishing....i do not want to be struggling all the time with vehicle repairs, where to park, where to sleep, etc., etc., the only thing that will get me going again is if i get really pissed off (at "him")....BUT the medication i take for anxiety makes me relaxed and apathetic.....so i wallow in my comfort....zone.........

I'm also on waiting lists for sec 8 housing.   Might take years.......in the meantime....i still don't know if i'm coming or going
I'm on a limited income....would take me years to save up for a decent van....but i can't save money....i tried....but i always find a reason why i have to dip into it and spend it....

I know i'm just surviving....and it's killing me....knowing that i CRAVE to see the stars at night....smell pine trees in the woods....or hear the oceans roar......but i'm getting so i only step outside the door to get mail.....i'm becoming more reclusive.....

one good thing though.....i quit smoking a few weeks ago....have a little more energy and sleep better now....
next i want to cut sugar from my diet.....

maybe after my health gets better i will be ready ?

sorry to have been a disappointment to the nomads here that were rooting for me.....i'm still rooting for you !!!!

:heart:

 

[maki2]

Gypsy108, the only person you are dissapointing is yourself, unless the person you live with wants you gone and then ithat makes two.  Just keep on doing what works best for you. When the time comes you truly desire or need to make a change then you will. When that time arrives if it is a another person who precipitates it reach inside and have some gratitude they did that even if they were unpleasant while pushing you out the door. Motivation comes from many sources and not all the time is the source positive or pleasant or even lovingly supportive. But despite that you can turn it into a positive kick in the rear to get you out of the state of stasis.

Stasis: a period or state of inactivity or equilibrium.

As to saving up money it is looking like we might all be getting a bit of a financial windfall in the near future. Take advantage of it to make your dream of being able to travel come true. 2K won't be enough to get you a dream vehicle but it will be enough to get you something safer to travel in. O f course right now that 2k is not yet a certainty. But at least it is a good dream for the moment. Use it wisely to make your dream a reality.

 

[Allan1958]

GYPSY108, Congrats on quitting smoking. That is a wonderful thing to do for your health!!!

 

[jacqueg]

Yes...the Toyota dealership looked at it a few weeks ago and suggested not to pour any more money into it.....i wanted them to at least reinforce the frame if possible.....but they didn't want to even do that ....hard to believe a dealership didn't want to take my money...haha
My desire to become a nomad is diminishing....i do not want to be struggling all the time with vehicle repairs, where to park, where to sleep, etc., etc., the only thing that will get me going again is if i get really pissed off (at "him")....BUT the medication i take for anxiety makes me relaxed and apathetic.....so i wallow in my comfort....zone.........

that should tell you how bad the situation is. they don't want to "fix" it, because they don't want the liability. 

why would we be disappointed in you? plenty of folks here have been through hard times, we know how tough life can get. you can only start from where you are.

smoking is one of the hardest habits to break. get that safely under your belt, then look for the next mountain to conquer.

 

[desert_sailing]

Yo.. nature lover..

I think you have a great opportunity to create some fantastic and interesting art. Maybe show more of the not so glossy moments of nomad living.

Maybe a pic out the window from your chair. Your foot may be an issue at the moment but I figure your artists eye is just fine.

I love works that allow you to feel the artist.
Am i the only one who's taken a picture of the last 87 cents on the coffee table... a near empty bottle of vodka and an ashtray full of butts?

One thing I wish nomad van mediaites would do is show the tough times along with the bliss.

That is my attraction to this site..there is a lot of honest and practical input.... the good bad AND ugly.

Give us some gritty photos!

An anthropological photo study of nomadic living...

 

[Random Painted Highway]

Tonight, there is a beautiful full moon rising up in the clear skies-take joy!  We are still hunkered down at home, fighting a recurrence of cancer and keeping covid as far away from us as possible.  It was emotional to receive the vaccine the other day, I am so grateful for being able to get it.  We are playing Anonymous 4 and Trio Mediaeval and others on the stereo and counting our blessings each day.

 

[nature lover]

Desert-sailing. I have taken some odd photos over the years. A view from the front seat of an Amish buggy with the horses tail up, road kill, pollution in streams, dumps, etc. when I worked for a mission in eastern KY I got interested in the creative ways people put their trash out to keep the bears out of it. They ranged from nice looking homemade boxes to elevated platforms, a rusty old ice machine, even a burnt out pinto with the trash in the trunk held shut By a chain. And lots more. I must have taken dozens of these pics till someone wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper threatening to shoot the guy tacking pics - I think they thought I was taking pics of run down houses and shacks to “make fun” of them or something. I also took pics of bear scat as I was interested in their changing diet. I never sold any of those at art shows. Oh one unusual series was an eagle in a tree pooping several shoots of the white “rope” falling to the ground.

 

[Sofisintown]

Here is a picture I took in Fl a few years ago.
Tonight it expresses exactly how I feel.

 

[travelaround]

Such creative people!

Gypsy - you're still welcome here even if not in a van (yet) ... you will do it (or not) when the time is right. I like Maki's idea of using the 2K to buy something more viable but maybe you have a better idea of what to do with it? I too am a bit reclusive. Even when traveling in my van I'm not gregarious. It is a different kind of solitude.

Today went well. Propane holding out - hopefully until tomorrow. Encounters with family/grandchildren. Blogging. Feeling artistic. Yeah, feeling it more than doing it however.

I'm trying to figure out a way to get a small manufactured one bedroom home onto my 1/2 acre which is still not cleared off... but definitely I'm thinking ahead to what I can afford and what I can manage to do. I regret that I'm not a builder because I could save a lot of money by doing it myself... but let's be realistic. If I can't do my van interior in a year and a half, I'm not building a house!

I looked for local building codes... they say I can build out buildings on the property AFTER building the primary residence. There goes my idea of building just a wash-house and bathrooms first.

 

[shadowmoss]

Travelaround, what is the minimum allowance for what is considered a primary residence? Would a wooden pre-built storage shed with concrete pier foundation (concrete block pillars) and a wall to separate the bathroom, which could be a bucket, meet their code? Solar and rain catchment. Chinese diesel heater for heat?

Sometimes a bit of creativity can go a long way to meet zoning.