My Path to (No)Madness!

[Wabbit]

Nice videos and that pod system is a great idea. The only thing that upset me a bit was seeing that full head of hair! Life is just not fair!

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

LOL!  Sorry Wabbit!  If it's any consolation, I've been pulling my hair out over the cruddy weather, keeping for building faster! 

 

[Jaketheone46]

I sure can’t wait for this weather to get better either. It’s driving me crazy, it will snow less than a inch here and they will throw down a ton of salt everywhere. This drives me crazy, I cover up the van and get out my car until the salt has gone.
Glad to see you did get some more done and will catch up again this weekend.

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

Snow and rain are forecast through Saturday and into Sunday for Blue Jay, California ... they need the rain here, so I'm going to try to stay positive about it!  LOL!  

Thanks, Jake! 

 

[highdesertranger]

about the Amazon thing. I have never ran into the problem but many have. they will only ship to the billing address. I heard if you check the box that says, "this is a gift" or something like that it will go through. I regularly send stuff to 2 different addresses one in CA and one in AZ but I have never sent anything worth 800 bucks. highdesertranger

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

Ah!  Yes!  I saw the gift option!  Now all I have to do is get them to unlock my account.  Thanks for the tip, HDR. 

 

[VJG1977]

about the Amazon thing. You should have gotten an email when you tried to log in, telling you how to get it unlocked.
I did a reverse lookup for the phone number 1 (888) 280-4331 and checked several national news articles for Amazon customer service. They all showed this number as good.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-customer-service-scam-targets-your-financial-data/
https://money.usnews.com/money/blog...7-12-26/your-guide-to-returning-holiday-gifts
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/tech/Amazon-Seller-Scheme--456074613.html

Also did an advance search limited to Amazon.com "1 (888) 280-4331 site:amazon.com" saw the number on several secure Amazon.com pages.

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

WOW!  That was a lot of effort, my friend!  Thanks!
I called...gave out nothing critical, just a phone number for a call back which was promised within 24 hours.  I promise, I will be diligent with my info!  What a pain ... I hope this isn't the typical sort of experience I can expect from Amazon.  A published phone number on their own website would have been so very much more helpful!

On the up side ... GOT MY FIRST SS CHECK TODAY!  WOOHOO!  I guess that make me officially retired! 
Now, if the rain would quit, I could get the build moving and my glutes somewhere to enjoy it!  Although, spending time with my dad is pretty cool.  I'll just be happy with where I am.  

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

#0039: "Lost in the Amazon Jungle" - 2018 March 14, Wednesday

6 minutes, 51 seconds

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

#0040: "Doing It On The Floor" - 2018 March 15, Thursday

6 Minutes, 1 Second

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

Showing the moisture barrier / pad under the laminate planks:

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

Short work day today, only about 5 hours.  My knees/legs are hurting from yesterday.

BUT, the laminate flooring is done and looks really good.  tx2Sturgis, you were spot on regarding the tiles.  All four tiles popped up, one cracked.  And that was just 12 hours worth of traffic on them.  Glad I found out now.  I'm going go to rubber mat or carpet ... probably mat ... lighter, more flexible, easy on the feet [than tile].

The Amazon Jungle issue was resolved, finally, thanks to some help from friends!  Thank you, all of you ... you know who you are!  The email from Amazon came in about 3am this morning and woke me up, so I grabbed the laptop and reordered all of the hardware again, upped the quality of the charge controller to a Blue Sky 3000i, and added a third 100 watt Renogy mono panel along with a cut off switch and a fuse block.  All the components will be arriving in multiple shipments beginning 3/20 through 3/26.

Next up is some reinforcement work and the R6 poly-iso insulation.  tx2sturgis ... I think I am going to keep the bolt system, albeit reinforced, but go to a hook and turnbuckle arrangement, attaching from the top of a roof beam to eye-bolts anchored on the 2X6 along the upper edge of the pod ... redundancy so I can sleep at night!  LOL!

No new video today, just gunna relax and go out once in a while before it snows again to look at my new floor ... maybe snag about 3 fingers of some E&J brandy and watch the snowflakes fall. 

L8R!

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

Haven't worked on the trailer for a day or two ... snow, cold, other duties ... hope to get thawed out enough today to start installing insulation.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Dang....well I had my fingers crossed that the tiles would work, but I guess it was not in the cards.

It helps to think of the entire trailer structure as flexible. 

Very early in my career, I have actually ridden many times in the back of a semi van trailer when we were picking up and dropping off pipe and other large components in a local warehouse yard with short on-road travel between stops. (4 men plus a driver can't fit in a day-cab)

Semi trailers are very well-built, but even they flex and move, side to side, in a parallel-o-gram movement if that makes sense, as they bounce and sway on bumps and irregular surfaces on the road. Especially when negotiating entrances and driveways. 

The floor moves, creaks, and twists, (small amounts) and shutters as rough road irregularities are driven over. But, of course, the trailer and the entire structure is designed to do this to some extent. When cargo-locks (horizontal bars) are used for load securement, they can't be angled much or they will loosen as the trailer flexes. 

Anyway, I'm glad you are working on the issue, and I think some flexible floor covering of some type will work well.

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

Dang....well I had my fingers crossed that the tiles would work, but I guess it was not in the cards.

Yah ... oh well.  I may take another swing at it and try something like RTV  to set them in.  I dunno ... I'm focusing on other priorities like the insulation, cabinets and the sleeping pods at the mo.  I need to be in Idaho by 4/20 ... so, gotta get a move on.  I'll play with the aesthetic details when I get on the road!  It's good to have hobbies! 

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

Made some headway yesterday and today.

• Insulated one wall.
• Paneled 3/4 of the insulated wall.
• Completed some reinforcements to the pod framing.
• Settled on a design and began fabrication of the pod's sleeping position supports.
• Trip to Rim Forest Hardware to get misc. fasteners and the turnbuckles for the transit mode, pod-in-the-up-position retainers.
• Trip to US Post Office to pick up my new BlueSky 3000i charge controller and battery temp cable.
• Did a little bit of cleanup ... clutter distracts me.

No video today.  Got a few pics ... may post them if I get to feeling industrious.

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

One wall has been insulated. About 3/4 of that wall has been paneled ... all of which will be behind enclosed shelves.  I'm not focusing a lot on aesthetics ... just trying to make it functional and durable so I can get done and out on the road.

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

Semi trailers are very well-built, but even they flex and move, side to side, in a parallel-o-gram movement...

Hmmm ... I'm wondering if I am making things too rigid by gluing and screwing all of the joints together ... maybe I should leave things more flexible ... ?  Too late to go back now, I guess ... pressing on!

The main take away for me is that I am learning TONS ... and that's always good!

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

'nuther shot showing the insulation and pod frame attachment ... now non-load bearing

 

[NoMadYesHappy]

#0041: "Against the Wall, Legs Up" - 2018 March 20, Tuesday

Just under 13 minutes ... sorry for the length.  In my defense, it's been 5 days!  LOL!