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Lots 2 go off on this Friday……..
Beginning 2day I’m on house sitting cat detail. Dawters mother is visiting her in North Carolina for the next week; 10 days or so sooo I’ve been drafted.
Real showers in a real shower room.👍🏼
(Maybe 2-a-days?)
Real & healthy food that’s not my cooking.👍🏼
A multi screen tv so I can watch several football games at once on Saturday.👍🏼
An outdoor faucet & hose to thoroughly wash the van with. 👍🏼

House sitting; yeah I know there’s a recent thread on this but for me this is a once in a great while weekish long event; not a part of my usual doings that’s been integrated into a van living lifestyle.

Included with the house sitting is cat detail. You know food, water, litter box along with the cat looking at me like “wtf r u doing here in my house?”

Soooo 2day I’m going to take advantage of that outdoor water hose and wash the van and then I’ll apply:
IMG_2152.jpeg
jonny boi gettin temporarily civilized
 
You get it looking to good somebody will steal it!
Steal it!? Dirty Jonny says:
“Go ahead punk. Make my day.”

I hang out at too many ocean & gulf beaches where the vehicle is exposed to endless salt water spray. Gotta have a good coat of sealant polish on that body and I’ve been waiting for a cooler but overcast day with no chance of rain and 2day b the day.

jonny boi taken it to the house
 
Are the frames on your model van prone to salt/rust? If so, you might consider fluid film to protect it while you have the free time.
 
I'm working on my gen-set. Got my generator back from having it PM'ed...new bearings/brushes and checkup. Got the new carb on the engine, and lined the fuel tank with tank sealer.

I've got a new muffler (2 in fact) and am not really happy with the set up that was on it. I'd like to build something much quieter before I bolt the generator body back to the engine. The old muffler as you can see in the photo rest along side the generator housing and I see it as a potential heat issue. But I'd rather take some time and get it right.

MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) does a nice job of cleaning crud out of metal fuel tanks but will expose any pin hole leaks. The sealant takes care of that.

GenSet.jpg
 
It’s Football Saturday!
My Florida State Seminoles have a bye today.
My Michigan Wolverines are at Nebraska playing the Cornhuskers. GO BLUE!
(I have a personal academically defined philosophical issue with Nebraska being a Big Ten Conference member since they were expunged from the AAU…… https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/our-members)

Notre Dame at Durham, NC playing Duke and yes hope the Duukies kik the Domers ass because
1-I dislike Notre Dame (again a personally defined philosophical issue)
2-An ND loss will knock them out of playoff contention
AND
3- My dawter went to med skool at Duke.

nuff 4 now
intjohnny
 
Weather update:
Today is the last day of summer. 2maro is the transition day and Fall finally arrives on Friday with highs in the 50’s and lows in the low 40’s.
Yesterday was record hi temps for the date at 86 and lows in the upper 60’s - July like temps for this area.

When I built my house in this area in 1987 the first frost occurred on Sept 15. I remember it vividly because Sept 15 was the first day of squirrel hunting season and when I went hunting on my land at daybreak that morning there was frost everywhere not covered by foliage.

Last year the first frost here occurred on October 12 just b4 I left the area heading toward the Pacific Coast. That’s a 4 week general progression, I’ve observed, of later & later first frosts over that 35 year time period. Approximately 1 day later per year.
Simplistically speaking, evidence for “global warming”? Hmmm 🤔 well since the glaciers started melting some 20,000 ish years ago I’m thinkin it’s not a new occurrence. Mm K?

But since Humanity likes to blame itself, both individually and collectively for EVERYTHING well I’m “convinced” it’s all because of some morally lacking sinful shortcoming………

yes; I love Sarcasm
jonny boi being jonny boi 😎
 
Today I’m officially released from the house sitting, cat detail I’ve been mildly encumbered with for the last week as dawters mom returns home this afternoon.
IMG_2162.jpeg
Took a cupl days 4 her cat to get accustomed 2 me but then it went all in. Too much all in. Glad I’ve escaped.
jonny boi
 
Today I’m officially released from the house sitting, cat detail I’ve been mildly encumbered with for the last week as dawters mom returns home this afternoon.
View attachment 34401
Took a cupl days 4 her cat to get accustomed 2 me but then it went all in. Too much all in. Glad I’ve escaped.
jonny boi
Such suffering! 😁
 
Last year the first frost here occurred on October 12 just b4 I left the area heading toward the Pacific Coast. That’s a 4 week general progression, I’ve observed, of later & later first frosts over that 35 year time period. Approximately 1 day later per year.
Simplistically speaking, evidence for “global warming”? Hmmm 🤔 well since the glaciers started melting some 20,000 ish years ago I’m thinkin it’s not a new occurrence. Mm K?

But since Humanity likes to blame itself, both individually and collectively for EVERYTHING well I’m “convinced” it’s all because of some morally lacking sinful shortcoming………

yes; I love Sarcasm
jonny boi being jonny boi 😎
human actions are causing GW not our morality...
 
We seem to not be able to help ourselves. Radiation from the next big conflict will clean everything up surely.
 
Am in the 4th day of 15 days forecasted to be overcast with off & on rain drizzle. Will need to fire up the generator, I guess, as there will b no sun to charge the batts. Typical Oct West Michigan weather. I need sun and am in full blown Sunshine Deficit Disorder. Extended overcast days puts me in a funk.

Why am I still here?

Temps are far from cold. Highs mid 50s; lows low 40s. 10 days back temps were 20 deg above normal and now 10 degrees below normal and I’ll not b leaving before 22 Oct. After that launch day is completely dependent on weather and initial destination is also dependent on where any storms/hurricanes are headed.

Am currently in van living weather purgatory.
intjohn
 
You have a key, turn it! Lol!!! Take a trip somewhere new. Try somewhere different! Find something you enjoy doing somewhere sunny! Life is short don’t waste it. Go watch a cycle kart race in Arizona! Lol!!! I got a kayak you can use to watch the eclipse on Lake Powell the 14th of October. Weather forecast is Sunny with mid 70’s daytime and mid 40’s at night here at Bullfrog Utah. Get moving! Lol!!! If you have enough time to bitch you need more to do! Lol!!!
 
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Just a side note. Some people are actually effected by lack of sunlight.

There are a lot of "sunlight therapy" lights available that are inexpensive. If you find the seasons lack of light affecting you, please read up and consider getting a light.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing. The link here is just to a search for those words. Here is a quick summary.

"Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is type of depression. It happens during certain seasons of the year—most often fall or winter. It is thought that shorter days and less daylight may trigger a chemical change in the brain leading to symptoms of depression. Light therapy and antidepressants can help treat SAD."

Didn't mean to take the thread off course. But it's they time of the year and some get more down than others when this happens. Had someone close to me almost get too down from lack of sunlight.

Back to it! Lol
 
I’ve got a similar issue. But I’m plugged in and the converter my son and I put in isn’t doing anything for the batteries. So there’s that to work on. I just shut the fridge down when the batteries get low.
But today I’m organizing my tool area and changing that up some. Leaving a lot of overkill tools at home which is now a family “cabin”. It’s all in my sons name now and he’s taking over taxes and all that. I still pay the power.
Intjohn, sounds like your a little more ready to go then me. But my plans are to be ready in the next week. Then concentrate on winterizing the cabin better and cleaning up stuff…
I plan on hunting one last time. But my whole right arm/hand is not behaving to well. I can hang out and be camp cook for those that do. My sister is moved in across the lake in her final months before she retires. They still have an apartment in the cities for a bit. So I feel a little guilty leaving. But winter will be howling away, so south I will go. So yeah, organize tools, take wheels off the chest part. And secure. Also much cleaning as I go… I hope to pair down my tools a lot. But I do repairs pretty much yet on my own… so I need to bring enough for that. Ever notice you have like one 1/2” wrench and 10 11/16” wrenches? Well, guess what the garage here will be well supplied with. That and crescent wrenches…
It’s getting real… I worked my life to live here. And now that I’ve physically been living here 20yrs my body won’t do winters. And even the dampness in the summers is tough. I’ll be back in the spring long enough to cook maple syrup. But west ward I go for the summer. Hoping for a camphost job near my kids if I live that long. Haha. Time isn’t guaranteed…
 

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