Friday 31 October 2014

Freedom Assured

It is comforting to know that I am no longer tied to a certain place, I can now go where I want, when I want. Jenny is now working and situated at her place in the back of Trea so now I can generate my own AC power and charge up Wanda’s batteries whenever I want, no more searching for unattended power outlets. 

After work I walked home, cooked myself a burger (ate it) then walked back to work to finally setup Jenny. I had already read the manual and skimmed through it again yesterday. I followed the instructions and put the wheels, feet and handles on her, then carefully filled the oil. I didn’t use the stuff the sent with Jenny but the better oil that I had purchased (in accordance with the manual specs). 

Then I took her out to the back of the shop, opened the door and carefully filled her fuel tank with gasoline. Alright I spilled a little bit, this is my first generator after all, so I was more than a bit nervous. I then checked everything over again, making sure I didn’t leave some crucial bit of packing material or shipping screw in place. 

I then when through the instructions and pulled . . . nothing . . . again . . . nothing. I pulled about ten times and still nothing. I was frustrated so I thought maybe she didn’t need the full choke as it said in the instructions. I set her to half choke and she sputtered and almost started. I then turned the choke off or to “run” as it is labeled and she fired right up and ran like a dream. 


I measured her voltage out and she was within specs and even took my test load.  I let her run for about twenty minutes as I moved all of my tools and stuff to the back of the shop and put the garbage out. Again she was fine and humming along all this while. I then closed up the shop and went back to Wanda to bring her over so I could load Jenny up. 

It didn’t take long before I realized (even before trying) that I was not going to get Jenny into the back of Trea without disconnecting from Wanda. Why? Simple, I can’t drop Trea’s tailgate more than a quarter of the way when she is connected to Wanda (the ‘dolly wheel” post is in the way).

So I had to pull up in front of the main door, disconnect from Wanda, pull Trea forward a few feet, lower the tailgate fully, then I could lift Jenny up onto the tailgate. From there I could then wheel her around get her into place and finally secure her to my tie-down spots. This afternoon I will run Jenny for a few hours connected up to Wanda to make sure that she will run and charge Wanda’s batteries as intended. Here is Jenny in her place in the back of Trea.


It is comforting to know that if the zombie apocalypse (or any old sort of apocalypse) hits I am ready to take off and survive. Yep, just need to scavenge fuel and food, maybe some weapons and I’m set. Hmm . . . need a pump action 12 gauge and Winchester 30-30 (it’s tradition). Grenades, mortar tube & rounds, a spaz 12 and a belt-fed 30 cal wouldn’t hurt . . . but I digress.

Seriously, it is a comfort knowing that I will always have power in Wanda’s batteries, so no more freezing. Speaking of freezing, I woke up a bit cold this morning, even though I was plugged in and the furnace on. 

Sometime in the night my propane tank ran dry. Now I did have power and so my furnace should be working on AC to heat, right? At least that is what I thought, it turns out that my previous experiment didn’t run long enough to determine that: 1) there is always a bit of gas in the lines, even after turning the tank off and 2) that it takes a bit for the furnace to quit afterwards. 

The fridge will give me a warning light (though a little slow) when the tank runs dry the furnace will just stop and sit there. My best way to determine this if the tank is really dry is to try to light the stove.  If it lights then I have gas, if not, I don’t. The sure-fire way to test this is to use my lighter and turn the gas on. 

What this means is that for me to have heat I need both propane and power in Wanda’s batteries (or AC power). The fridge will work on either AC or Propane and battery power, so this is good to know. This means when I do get somewhere that has power, I should get a small electric heater with a temp gauge to help augment the furnace and therefore use less propane.  

Yet I still need to run the furnace as part of its hot air is directed below to help warm the water tanks. Yet they also have heat tape around them to heat them and help prevent them to freeze up in winter. I just don’t see myself moving out of Wanda, not unless it is just not feasible. I will not be happy on that day, and hope that I can somehow keep living in her, just to prove that I can, and she is home.

I did get most of Brian’s chapter done and it is interesting and moving forward. I will have to do more research on The Wars of The Roses to determine what more Brian will go through and what adventures he has before Towton and then the voyage to the east. 

I have decided that I will write at the library tomorrow as usual but on Sunday do my accounting mess and get it up to date. Work is the best place to do it as I need: internet, power, and tables to sort out the piles of receipts out on.  

Life is a constant state of change and revising what you are doing. I am not one who deals with change that well, I never have been. Yet life and everything in it is always changing. We have to adapt and change with them or you will be left behind. My odd way of living may seem strange but it is working and I am getting ahead, as once I pay my bills off and Wanda is paid for, I will always have a place to live.

Thursday 30 October 2014

Something’s Gotta Give

Okay, I still haven’t setup Jenny, but I plan to do so tonight. Since I was able to plug in, the immediate need was over and I didn’t want to be doing this in the dark after work. I know that tonight is the night though, I have to do it.

Last night I needed to do a bit of grocery shopping, and I wanted to look at the back of Treabilla’s box to see if there was any way to rearrange the stuff so there was room for Jenny back there. 

I plan to put Jenny in the back driver’s side of the box on a rubber mat and secured to the box by chains. When I run her I will roll the tonneau cover back while she is running and until after she has cooled down. There is room for Jenny, but my bike will have to go. I may hide the bike in some obscure corner of work for the time being. 

I know that eventually I will have to get a bike rack, a larger tow vehicle or some more storage somewhere. For now, Jenny is a greater priority than my bike, so it gets shoved out. With my bike stored like it is in the back of Trea, it has not been convenient to use, so I have not ridden much this summer. 

Tonight I will setup, test and secure Jenny in the back of Treabilla. Tomorrow afternoon I will let her run for a few hours to charge up Wanda’s batteries as a test. 

This weekend I will get caught up on my accounting, I haven’t done any of it since June, so there is a lot of entries to do and a lot of receipts to sort out and file away. I am bad, I know, I have been putting it off and shoving my receipts and check stubs into my briefcase. This must stop, I have to buckle down and get caught up. 

I did get a chapter done today, and it turned out well, now on to Brian’s chapter, his last pre-written chapter for a while. I was able to time it right that he is joining the Lancaster army at the same time that Treabilla is joining The Sisterhood. I hope and plan to keep this equal pace going for the rest of the book. 

I had planned to take a nice sunrise shot but the world is fogged over. I did wake up in a better mood and while I need to work on my negativity, I am generally in a better mood, so I wanted to reflect this. 

I tend to get worked up over things happening far away which anger and upset me. This makes no sense because, in reality do not affect me and I have no control over them. I need to just let the troubles of the world go and focus on me and my life and how to make it and me a better person. 

That stubborn ‘I’m not leaving’ streak reared its head this morning. No matter how cold it gets, I do not want to rent a room this winter, I want to stay in Wanda, somewhere, someway, somehow. She is my home, and I do not wish to leave her.   

Wednesday 29 October 2014

I Like The Simple Things

I do like and appreciate the simple things in life, like a hot shower, watching my coffee perk in the morning, lights, an evening of television, having the luxury of sliding my slide out out. These are the little joys which excited electrons moving down a conductor can bring me. 


Funny story, yesterday morning the White Van moved, so I wish to thank:  

The Owner/Driver of the White Van for moving it around front to a parking stall
The person or persons who (if they did) nudged said Owner/Driver to move said van.
The Universe for making this happen. 

So I parked behind work and plugged in, and in that one night I went from nearly dead to fully charged. I was plugged in from say 7:00 pm to 4:00 am.  

This means that technically I can return Jenny, as I haven’t set her up yet . . . she is still in the box. I sat her down and told her that I can’t afford her and that she has to go back. She cried and argued back that she just joined the team and hasn’t been given a chance to prove herself . . . it just wasn’t fair. She also promised to be good and give it her all and start on the first pull, every time  . . . It was sad seeing her eyes wet up and  . . .  FINE!  Alright, it’s a generator and it didn’t say a thing.  (I get carried away with characters sometimes).

I know that I can take her back but I did get a great price on a good generator and I was able to get everything and still be out of overdraft by the time the next paycheque rolls around . . . barely. I also know that I would be a fool not to learn from this experience. I need to keep Jenny, get her running and make sure that she will do what I need her to do. You know, BEFORE I reeeeally need her to charge Wanda’s batteries so I don’t freeze my nards again.

A few people have asked why I was without heat when all of my appliances will work on propane. Yes the appliances will work on propane but their control systems are still electronic. With the furnace the heater unit will work on either AC or propane but I believe that the fan runs on the 12 VDC system and most certainly the digital thermostat does. So without battery (or AC) power, I am dead in the water, so to speak. 

While this is a disadvantage, and one might consider it a design flaw, the conveniences and advantages of the newer technology outweighs this drawback. I can set my furnace to an exact temperature, not just a dial from low to high. It only kicks in when it is needed and doesn’t burn a pilot light all night long. 

The furnace will also detect when I have AC power and use that for heat instead of the propane, it switches automatically. The fridge is governed and controlled by a control system and not just burning all the time. Like the furnace, it will automatically sense when AC power is connected and will switch to it on its own. 

I am fine if I plug in or run Jenny for a few hours twice a week, or once every two weeks in summer. To augment and as a Plan B for the furnace, when I get paid next, I will buy a small propane heater. Wanda is ventilated as I already run my propane stove inside. I may not run it when I am sleeping, not sure if I am comfortable with that, but when I am up and active it would be fine. That way I can have heat in the odd time I am without power again. 

I did my writing in Wanda this morning and it was nice to get back to my routines. The shower felt wonderful, the coffee tasted great and I did enjoy watching a few hours of TV last night.

Writing is slowly going, but it is still creeping along at a steady pace. They key is to keep doing something on the story each and every day, while momentum may slow, it will keep going. At times the momentum will pick up and race along. 

On the subject of finances, this generator setback has put me back but not into the overdraft, that is key. If I don’t spend anything more, I will be fine. Next payday is a tight one so I will have to budget tightly and stick to it, making sure that I spend less than that paycheque, no matter what. (Yeah, yeah a good plan for every paycheque, smarty-pants). If I do that, then I will be going in the right direction. I will go ahead with my plan to save next month’s extra money for the rental place, either to live in Wanda in or to rent the room and live in. 

I will have to trickle save that cushion again, as I will have to move on and start to pay down the second card. Well, life deals you setbacks, but it is how you deal with them that matters. Remember to learn from what happens and focus on the solution and the goal not the problem. 

Tuesday 28 October 2014

How To Deal With The “White Van’s” In Your Life

 

In this case the white van is not the actual vehicle in the picture, it is a metaphor for an obstacle which is in your way. I want to get to that power outlet so I can plug in and charge my batteries. There is a white van parked there (still, never moved) blocking my way, what do I do?

Here are a few ideas on how to deal with the situation, (most of which are not recommended, but fun to consider):

1) Have the White Van towed

I could call Bylaw Enforcement or someone and have the van towed, I would then be able to park. The problem is that it would look suspicious for me to be parked there in its place. Then there is the nasty business of having some guy’s van towed from behind his own business . . . . hmm not good.

2) Blow the White Van in place

I could just rig some type of explosive device and just blow that sucker in place. Then it gets moved and I can park there again. The problem with this is two-fold. For one the cops aren’t stupid and will figure out that it was me and as much I want that van moved, I don’t want to go to jail. Oh yeah, and there is the tricky business of risking blowing up my place of employment . . . again not recommended.

3) Push The White Van out of the way

There are a number of large big rigs around here, there is even a construction site. I could hotwire or otherwise get going one of these things and just push that White van out of the way. Again, with me parking there and the cops not being idiots, I would be the likely suspect. 

4) Leave the White Van there and find another solution

The key element in “survival training” (as far as I understand) comes down to assessing three things: 

1) What do you have?
2) What do you need?
3) What is your goal?

For me, I have Wanda, I need a way to charge her batteries, so I don’t need to move the White Van but find a way to work around it. The White Van is only blocking one solution to my problem, not all of them. 

I know that one should always have a Plan B; this was my mistake. I had hoped that I could keep plugging in behind work whenever I wanted. Then I wouldn’t need a Generator until I quit work. I could save the money and be fine. In summer, when I don’t need heat, I can stretch that one charge and be fine. In winter, the heater sucks juice out of the batteries. I need to charge up twice a week, that is life. 

I bought a generator yesterday, and got a good price. Here, meet “Jenny” the Geny(erator) . . . come on, you saw that one coming. 


She is a little shy right now as I haven’t set her up yet, so she is still in the box. I didn’t want to get the bare minimum one that I needed, nor did I want to get one that could run a small city. This one should more than suffice to charge up Wanda’s batteries and not be straining. 

I will set her up tonight after work at work (I don’t feel like freezing myself as I set this up in the dark thanks). I will then run her for a few hours and charge up the batteries somewhat. That will at least give me enough charge to run the furnace and get some heat. 

We all know, however, that if I had been smart, I would have been looking for sales, having already determined the type of generator I needed. That way I could have saved money, got the generator I needed, had my Plan B in place. 

If I had already had the Generator as a backup, I would have just driven somewhere quiet Sunday night and ran the Generator to charge up Wanda’s batteries. The failure here, and the source of my frustration, is my own failure to imagine this possibility and make preparations for it. I had become too dependent on that one power plug, when you are too dependent on one thing, you are vulnerable. 

If I lose my job for any of a thousand reasons and 99.5% of them are not my fault, I will apply for UI, talk to a few places and try to get something in the industry. Then I will look into the oil patch. I am very mobile so I can get something, somewhere. That is my Plan B there. 

So my Plan B for tonight was my new Pyjamas.


Since I have no power I can’t run the furnace so that meant no heat last night. I was fine in my thermal undies under my comfy clothes in my bed under four quilts. I even pulled the sheet over my head for a bit. It got down to -4 overnight and in the house, when I got up, this is what I found. 


It says zero but it seems to be a bit off so it might have gotten down to -4 in Wanda. I will admit that it takes more motivation to get out of bed when it is that cold. Of course being over 40 and the peeing at least once each night is not fun either when it is that cold. 

Once again I went to work reeeeeal early so I could warm up, write and I even possibly thought of setting up Jenny this morning, then I realized that I had better wait until tonight when I can actually start her up at the back of the shop. 

Not everything is “The Universe” or other people out to get you. For all I know it was some worker who went on vacation and parked his van in the one spot he thought wouldn’t affect anybody. It is entirely possible that this had nothing to do with me parking behind there, or maybe it did.  The real failure is me and my inability to see this possibility and prepare for it. 

When faced with the “White Vans” in your life, don’t focus on the obstacle, focus on the goal. Not every challenge or obstacle has to be overcome, most can (and should) just be worked around. At the end of the day, as long as I have power, why should I care if that White Van is parked there? 

Monday 27 October 2014

This Could Be A Problem

This right here, could be a serious problem for me . . .


But more on this later.  For now on with yesterday and the active day that it was. First of all, I decided that it was time to do my dishes, as (I realized later) was a week’s worth of dishes. Just serves me right for not having a woman to nag me to do stuff. So there I was starting to run the water to wait until it gets warm enough, when this happened . . . 


For those of you with a “stationary house” this means it is either time to get out the plunger, grab a bottle of Draino or call a plumber, what this means for me is that it is time to dump my graywater tank.  I don’t know exactly why as my kitchen sink is the furthest and highest sink drain in the system, but the water doesn’t drain here first. I know then that it is really, (oh so not kidding) time to dump the tanks. Just in case you are curious, this is how I confirm how full my blackwater tank is . . .


So I decided to dump after the library and went inside the library to do my writing. Now, when I did get into the library and to my study area I found this . . . 


Yes, folks that electric screwdriver that I left plugged in at the library was still there waiting for me. Thank goodness for either unobservant library staff or them just assuming some other staff or maintenance personnel left it there. (yay me). I did get my writing done and my two chapters done. 

The one for Brian that I had wanted to extend to my target of ten pages was just too short. If I had extended it, I would have been rehashing the same material over again, or adding some useless puff scene. I then smushed it with the previous chapter and took out a chunk of puff that I had added earlier. That meant that I had to move up one chapter. 

This is a bit of a problem as I am now pretty much into new territory for Brian and in a hole in his story. I have a nice bit at the end for what happens to him, I need to fill his story with more action of the Wars of the Roses in between. So this means all new material for both storylines, (no rehashing of old chapters), so my pace will slow down, but the action will pick up.

After the library I did go and dump, and yes both tanks were full. I also filled a bottle of propane; I now time filling my empty propane tank with when I dump my tanks as it is both at the same place and continent. They have turned their fresh water off, but that is okay, as I can fill my water at work, not a problem.

Speaking of work, I went to work, with the intent of parking behind work to plug in and fill my water tank, I found this . . . 


This is not just any van parked in just any place but one of the vans which work out of the back of where I work. Another company has a bunch of vans which run about doing stuff during the day, they arrive at about 7:30 am (in the front) and are gone by 8:00 am. They park their vans at home, I think, as they are never here, not on the streets, nowhere around work, just in the morning and only for half an hour. Not a problem for me as they have a job to do, I get it. 

The place this van is parked behind is my work and the bay door that it is parked behind is the one bay that their company doesn’t open, it stays closed all the time. What that means is that thing could stay there for weeks on end and not bother anyone . . . but me. 

I could park behind another stall and plug in there and perhaps get a longer hose, but I don’ t like (and won’t) plug in to any place but my work. I have permission, sort of, but not a right to do this. My guess is that van was parked there by someone who doesn’t want me to park there anymore. I can’t really complain to anyone as I don’t have any right to be there, I know this.

As it stands, because I have been using the heater in Wanda in the mornings and evenings, her batteries are down. I plugged in on Thursday and all was well, but I do need to plug in today. Already, last night I have noticed some of the telltale signs that her batteries are dangerously low. So I didn’t turn the furnace on, I couldn’t waste the power.  (sure the furnace heating element runs on propane (or 120 ac) but the fan runs on 12 VDC (or 120 ac). What that means is that without heat, this morning I woke up to this . . . 


I don’t know exactly how cold that is but it is inside Wanda and somewhere near 5C. I decided that it would be best to go to work (as I was parked down the street). I am here warming up and I will be fine. If that van is not moved by tonight I will be in trouble. 

I know the solution, I have to buy a generator and charge my own batteries that way. I was hoping to hold off buying that as late as possible. The other problem this poses is where will I get my fresh water? The place that I dump has turned their water off “because it is winter” meaning they are afraid the pipes will freeze. I can drag 5 gallon jugs back and forth from work to Wanda to fill her fresh water tank that way, but that sucks.

As all this is happening, I am reminded of one of those interesting “Life Lessons” which you can so easily ignore. This one happened yesterday morning. Yesterday morning I got up and lit my tealight lanters. 


I have three of them which hang in Wanda’s main space. They provide enough light to putter about and provide a nice ambiance, but they are not enough to compete with the light from the laptop main screen, so they don’t help for what I had intended. I have another glass fixture thing which I put another tealight in, this sits on the table (nice but useless). 

I light all four at the same time, all four are fresh tealights and all are left to burn. Sometimes I will blow them out in the morning (when I go to work) and then light them again in the evening. This particular morning I lit them all and then just let them burn till they were out, well past the time that sunlight had returned to the world.

A curious thing happened, one by one each tealight went out around about the same time . . . all but one. This last tealight, the fourth tealight kept burning, it burned for what seemed to be at least fifteen minutes past when the other three gave up the ghost and stopped burning. 

As I face problems and troubles in life, I am reminded that we are all made of the same stuff, and we all face the same problems. It is what we are made of, our own determination, resolve, resourcefulness and sheer refusal to quit that keeps us going, so I will leave you with this last, parting thought . . . oh to be the fourth tealight.

Sunday 26 October 2014

Now We’re Cooking With Gas!

Okay, I did achieve my goal of two chapters yesterday, one for Treabilla and one for Brian. I had to create half of each chapter on the spot and not convert it from a script.

To treat myself and try out my gas oven, I bought a frozen pizza. Yes, you heard me right, Wanda has a gas oven, not just a few gas burners on top.



I haven’t used it yet and so I had to clean it out form the dust within it. I also had to look up in the instructions to figure out how to light the pilot light. It went well and I was impressed that the dial was not just a “Hi to low” dial but actual temperatures!


Okay so I lit the pilot light and then put the pizza in (once oven was warmed up). It didn’t go exactly as planned as while it did cook the pizza it did make the bottom a bit “crisp” shall we say. I did enjoy my pizza anyway and just ate what I could, the bit on top; ah well, each oven takes some getting used to.


I wrote for a bit this morning and will continue after this blog is done and then on to the library for noon. When Huey’s batteries run out I will then do my Sunday cleaning, including the dishes . . . . like all of them (it feels like).

I will admit yet another mistake I made which cost me something, well I will see later today if it really cost me. I took my cordless screwdriver into the library to charge it up as I worked and wrote. It did, yet as I was packing up I forgot the cordless screwdriver and left it plugged into the socket. I hope it is still there and has not been noticed by any library staff. I just don’t have the gumption to ask at the front counter if I can get my cordless screwdriver back.

Ah well, such is life, I can buy another one . . . next payday, not until then, no more “off wallet” spending until then. Onward and upward financially and all that.

Saturday 25 October 2014

I Saved Almost $300.00 Yesterday!

How? Did I sell something and bank the money? . . . no. . . but that would be cool. Did I get a super deal on some Platinum-Uber-Fantastic –SSD? . . . no, but also cool. Did I get a smokin’ deal on a brand new, super fast laptop? . . . again, also really cool but no. . . what did I do? How did I save that much money? . . . I didn’t buy the SSD. 

I went down to the store and inspected what they had and realized that I had misread the specs on the website, and the drive I wanted was just a plain old HDD, that means still slow and no point to buy it. I just can’t justify spending almost three hundred on an old laptop, it blows the budget for a selfish reason. I will make do with what I have, a reoccurring theme in my life.

I could just reinstall the operating system now, but 1) it works and 2) If I was going to do this I wanted a noticeable and marked increase in performance. As it is now, things work just a bit slow to get going. I I’ll live. 

I did go for my first grocery shopping and for the most part I am sticking to my wallets. The only thing I picked up was a very cheap “Electric Screwdriver.” It is rechargeable and I can also use it as a slow and crude drill. This is important to putting up a few hooks or towel racks around Wanda. 

I did relax and I am in my usual place parked here for the day, I plan to stay here tonight, I am in a distant part of the shopping mall parking lot, I can walk to and see the library. It doesn’t make sense to move and come back. I have stayed here before and nobody minded. Who knows, I may stay the night or get told to move, as long as they don’t send the SWAT team, I’m okay with it.

I will be going to the library very shortly so I can write all day. I had a relaxing morning and haven’t written, but I at least have an idea on what to do for Trea’s chapter. Brian’s chapter still needs to be extended, and that is something I will think on. That is the fun of it, we get to spend more time in their backstories. My goal for today is to get Trea’s and Brian’s chapter done today.  Well, I gotta go write, take care all.

Friday 24 October 2014

Spent Nothing Yesterday . . . Yay

Okay, technically I spent 28 cents to pay the last of that credit card bill, but that doesn’t count. I meant that I didn’t go to a store and buy anything. I know that I will spend some money today, I plan to wash Trea and Wanda, there are some groceries I should get and then yes I know I will pick up that hard drive.

On one hand I shouldn’t spend the money but on the other hand, the laptop I use daily is driving me nuts. Seriously, I use it with the same patience I developed when I had my 486! ARGH! So yeah, I will be spending that sixty bucks for that SSD (Solid State Drive) and reinstall my operating system and applications this weekend. 

I have found that since I am plugging in twice a week and have ready access to water and power I am less conservative with the water than I could be. It is readily available so I use it. I almost go through a tank in a week, again not so bad, could be worse. Interesting though, but I am not going to shower less just to save water, not a good idea. 

The power I am more conservative with. I use my hanging Tea light lanterns (three of them) to light Wanda in the evening and in the mornings. They set a nice mood but really are ineffective to write by. So I actually write by the glow of a Word Doc reflected onto my keyboard. 

This evening I will start the process by trying to un-licence the software on my laptop now so I can then license it again when I reinstall it on the new drive. I hate reinstalling an OS on a system but this is what I have to do. On windows systems, as time moves on, they get slower and slower; so you need to reinstall all over again. 

Since I am not going to buy a new laptop (not yet) a hard drive now will get me through till then. Either that or I will get so mad that I will throw my laptop on the ground and stomp on it . . . not good.

I got a nice start on the next Treabilla chapter and found that I ended her “current storyline” portion sooner than I had planned. Every so often this will happen, as you write you will discover that this is a nice spot to leave things; don’t fight it, just roll with it.

What I had intended to be a one page scene turned into a nice three page scene and ended on the top of page four. It was a touching and appropriate moment for the character and the story, so I let it develop naturally. Again, don’t fight it, let it flow. 

You will not always get things to turn out exactly as you had intended. You need to let the story develop naturally and just nudge things in the direction you want. It will be glaringly obvious if you force something to happen or go the way you want, just because you want it to go that way. 

You need to keep in mind what would make sense for your characters to do in that situation. If you want them to do something out of character, give them some sort of external stimulus or other believable reason and/or motivation to do so. 

Let’s that your character is a: quiet, mousy, and submissive character and you want her to yell and argue loudly with her boss. You need to get her mad enough about something with enough significance to her in order to get her to do so. As a person, as a character she will not typically yell at anyone, that is not who she is. 

Thursday 23 October 2014

I owe . . . $0.28

Okay, first of all yes I did lock my cards away and setup my four wallets. 

1) For me to carry around with my ID (but no Credit or Debit Cards) but $20.00 cash for spends. 
2) For Groceries
3) For my “Utilities” IE: Dumping fees and propane
4) My contingency fund, (as in my Canadian Tire Money and my debit and credit cards) I might put in an emergency $20.00 next payday.

If I keep this up I will be above my new “Zero” when I get to my next payday and that trend will continue and keep going onwards and upwards. I still plan to trickle save my way up to that $1000.00 mark. For me it is a personal goal so as to never go below zero and have a bit of a cushion. 

Having lived at the bottom of my overdraft for years, I now want to stay out of it completely. Yet getting rid of it would be silly.  Credit is something you get when you don’t need it, so that you have it when you do need it. Because when you need credit, nobody will give it to you . . . because you need it.

I was able to get the next chapter done and extend Brian’s short chapter in a way which ratchets up the tension and moves the story along. I am pleased with how things are progressing, now to ponder just how to word and work Treabilla’s chapter. Again nudging the story along and let us see her backstory a bit more. 

Speaking of writing and my laptop, I have said before that it is slow, but it is now into the “boot it up and fix a coffee” range of slow. I mean it, I boot it up and putter around fixing my coffee percolator and get it started and then sit down and the laptop is just about finished booting. Once it is running it is okay, but still slow. 

I know what it needs, the operating system to be reinstalled. That got me thinking, since it has an old HDD in it, what if I replaced that hard drive with a new solid state drive? That would speed it up considerably and they are now down to like sixty bucks. For me, if it saves me from buying a new laptop in frustration it may be worth blowing a weekend reinstalling my software and operating system. 

Yet there is that little thing of actually spending money that I shouldn’t spend. I know me and for the sake of my sanity I will most likely buy an SSD tomorrow. I use my laptop every day and who knows it may even use less juice, but if it works faster, for me that’s worth it. 

Since I paid my bills yesterday one of the things I did was to check my now paid off credit card. I knew that I would be hit for a bit of insurance or some sort of payment. I expected at least twenty bucks or something like that, as credit cards are not cheap when they charge you anything. I was surprised to find that my whole outstanding balance was a whopping 28 Cents . . . I paid it in full.

Wednesday 22 October 2014

If I Get Boxed In, I’m Okay

Yesterday as I pulled up to park near work, my usual spot was taken, so I parked just back down the street a bit. Well, I tried to but I found it hard to back up and park Wanda properly. I eventually drove one block over and parked there. 

When I pulled up and parked I almost pulled right up to the edge of the entryway to the parking lot but didn’t. I never want to be a wall and be a hazard to people coming and going out of parking lots, they do need to turn and see around me. When I returned after work, I found this.


I laughed and had to take the picture for you. As I determined how far I could back up and if I could get out from my little spot, I wasn’t sure I could do so safely. I admit I wasn’t worried, I didn’t have anywhere to go really and had everything I needed with me. 

Now, just after taking this picture the owner of the vehicle in front of me came and moved her car. She have me the usual, smug, dismissive smile and wave as if the whole situation was my fault (for parking in her spot) and left. I just laughed and drove away, quietly and mildly displeased that I didn’t have the opportunity to try to get out of that spot.

I moved to my usual spot a block from work and relaxed for the evening and went to bed early. This morning I did get up and was slow getting out of bed, a cold trailer and warm blankets will do that to you. 

Mental note to self: turn furnace on to a low setting, just to take the chill out of the air. Getting out of bed when your house is below 10 C is not fun. I got dressed and turned the furnace on and it didn’t take long before Wanda was warm and the coffee was perking. 

I finished my chapter and liked the direction that it is going in. Sure it needs editing but it is still moving along well. Enough information and plot development, yet still some lingering questions in your mind to keep you reading.

I may edit that chapter tonight once I finish my banking and rounds of shopping; like gas and so forth. The next chapter of Brian's is only five pages long, half of what I have set as a target for this book, I will think of something to fill the pages, a nifty little scene to let us see a bit more of his homelife a bit, before I smash his happy world. 

Tonight I will lock away my cards and just keep the cash out for what I need to do. It is a scary development but one I need to do. If I am successful then having $500.00 in my account will be my new Zero. 

I will then be dipping below that into my own personal overdraft before going into the real one. I am cheaper than the bank's overdraft, and why I am doing this.My goal is to get up to $1000.00 in the account as my Zero, but that will take time.

Speaking of developments, it looks like I will have to be in somewhere by December 1. The weather predictions are that the cold snap will dip below -20C (my personal hard limit). So I will use the November’s end of month money to secure that place.  

If anyone does know of any place (indoors) in or near Calgary where I might be able to park Wanda, plug her in and live in her, let me know. 

Tuesday 21 October 2014

Don’t Do What I Did Last Night

I realize that I tell you not to do something, a good portion of you will go ahead and do it anyways. Some of you out of curiosity and others out of spite, but trust me just don’t. All I will say is never google dating advice for over forty . . . just don’t.

What you will get back is a long list of reasons why anyone single and over thirty should just give it up. Then there are the evil messages why women over forty are made to feel past their prime are left on the shelf (men’s fault). To top it off there is the long list of reasons why single men over forty (never married) are just irrevocably and irredeemably broken so all women should just leave them alone (again the man’s fault). 

So yeah, I had a delightful evening and woke up feeling on top of the world. I still strive to be positive and I am on this journey alone and will stay alone  . . . hmm maybe a cat . . . nope cat’s don’t travel well, need a rat dog. 

I am doing this paydown for me and me alone. I want my freedom to do what I want. I need to keep that in mind and just remember my philosophy that if any woman actually wants to join me on this journey, great, otherwise I must be happy with me and being alone. That’s life, I missed my window to get married and have kids, I have to accept that. Perhaps I should and will take a friend’s advice to just choose to stay single.

So on to happier topics, I hung a hook rack last night. This is so I can hang up my comfy clothes neatly. You know the one set of clothes you lounge around in after work. Since you only wear them, around the house you only wash one set per week . . . right? (or is it just me).

The weather was warm and it looks like it will stay so into next month, so that is a positive. Also I am gaining momentum on the new version of the book and I like the way it is shaping up. Brian’s story moves forward in a liner fashion while Treabilla’s story starts a quarter of the way through and has flashbacks for the first bit with snippets of the “now” storyline at the beginning. 

That is until (after a few flashback chapters) we catch up to where she is, then her story picks up speed. By the end of it we see now they might merge as they will be in the same place at the same time. 

I will take a friend’s advice and try the cash system again. I will have one wallet for Groceries and another wallet for “Utilities.” The Utilities wallet will be for propane and dump fees, while the Groceries wallet is self-explanatory. I will then lock my cards away and try to not spend a dime but my small amount of cash that I will keep on me. Hopefully this will help keep my spending under control. 

As always I will look and strive for a better future and leave the negativity behind me. Yet I always promised myself (and thereby you) to be honest about what I was going through. It happened, so I reported it. Have a nice day as I choose to do the same. 

One nifty point of happiness and positivity for me to start my workday is the fact that my little blog has just crossed over 5000 views.

Monday 20 October 2014

Trickle Spending Still a Problem

I am thinking of locking my debit and credit cards up again due to my trickle spending. While I do not use my credit cards, my debit card sees regular use. The little things like this item here, that item there, just this meal at McDonald's, etc. Again, most of the things are little things I either need or could use, but the pattern is disturbing.

I will keep an eye on this as anytime I spend, it is money going in the wrong direction. I know that there are things I must spend on but each time I do spend, I need to give myself a moment of pause and ask “is this spend necessary?” I am too close to real progress to screw this up now.

I just need to keep my attitude positive and not beat myself up. Sure I need to own up to what I have done and the spending that has gone on. What I need to do is look back and evaluate, then give myself constructive criticism and take action. 

For now I will just try to be more mindful of my spending and not lock the cards away. Sooner or later I need to be able to control my spending without locking cards away.

I did plug in last night and tried out a new item for filling my water tank. I have usually just connected my hose up to the tap, laid it out towards the trailer and just turned it on, when the tank was full I would just drop the hose and let the water spill onto the ground as I ran to turn the water off. I always thought this was a waste but never knew what else to do, there was only one of me.

I then figured out that the best way to solve this problem was to put a simple garden hose spray nozzle on the end of my hose. This way when I turn the water on, nothing flows until I squeeze the trigger on the nozzle.

I then aim the nozzle right into the water fill tank hole and squeeze. The jet of water is shot right into the tank and this way I can take little breaks when the tank is near full, to let the water gurgle down and the air burp up.

I have found that this way I can get a bit more water in the tank and waste less water. While now it not a problem, in winter, when there is ice on the ground, that trickle of wasted water will be a problem for others.

The nice thing with plugging in is that I get to watch TV for the evening. So I sat and watched some TV for the evening yet still got an early nights rest. As always, the morning after I plug in, I move the Trea and Wanda at four in the morning, as soon as I get up. (I like to be settled and undisturbed when I get down to writing).

As for the story, I have gotten the first two chapters done. Brian’s first chapter (as most of his) seem to be rough and not good enough for standalone chapters. They need work, so they are not a quick edit and done.

The story is developing nicely and I have a good idea on how to tell this story, how to move it along and that is good. This will be an exciting novel which will still lead into the next which will open with the shipwreck. 

This book will go until Brian is captured and then book three will be when he is in the den. The one thing is clear is that we will see more of The Sisterhood and their plots and machinations along the way.

Payday is in two days and I have decided to just leave everything in the account this month. Next month I will put the money aside for the rental place, if by some miracle that does not come to pass, I will just leave that in there for savings and an oops fund.

Sunday 19 October 2014

Back To Version One

I had started to work on version two of the revamped version of the Tanea book series (confused?). Okay this was the book where Freavilla, a woman from the Kincaid Estate was the main character of one storyline as Brian was the main character of the other storyline. 

I had outlined a number of chapters and even stated writing a chapter, but something hit me as wrong. I paused and let myself reflect on it for the evening. I realized that the whole book was bleak and dark, not the direction of hope and positivity that I had always wanted to be a theme in the books. 

For one thing, Brian’s backstory is far too depressing but it needs to be its own book as if it is too big to be a flashback. As it is the flashback is half the book. If I go back to Treabilla, we see her struggle against a situation that she doesn’t want to be in but is stuck in. We see her struggle and strive to be free but still trapped. 

There is tension, yet still some sparkle of hope for the future, as she is fighting for her family, in a way (to keep them safe). It is kinda blackmailed into service, extorted into service even: serve or we will kill your father. If you serve us, he will live once we take over, if you don’t he will die.

This morning the sunrise was spectacular, truly incredible and I don’t think that the picture does it justice, yet I will share it with you regardless.


So far this morning I have almost finished the first chapter of this revamped book. That means that two chapters are as good as done today and hopefully three. Since most of Brian’s Storyline is already written, it means that just about half of the book is written. 

I will be plugging in tonight, as it is Sunday and that means work tomorrow. It is getting a bit chilly but the weather is still nice and fine. The weather gods seem to predict a patch of real cold (-15 C) come late November but that is short lived. 

I will be ready for this as I will probably plug in each night and just leave the furnace on the lowest setting all day. That way, hopefully my pipes won’t freeze yet I won’t go through too much propane. It will be a test. Colder than this and I will have to drain my tanks.

I am still taking this one day at a time and plugging along. This two month delay in paying down bills is frustrating but needed. I have known that I have needed to top up my bank account for a number of months now but I was so determined to get that first card done. I also know that I need to be prepared to rent a room, so that savings is needed. 

Running off to Arizona is not an option for me, as I need to continue to work and I can’t telecommute what I do. If I can stick it out till mid to late December, I should be okay then renting inside only three months; by April 1 I can plan to be out again. It may be a bit cold, but the worst of the weather would be behind me.

Well, back to writing now.

Saturday 18 October 2014

Had My First Brush With The Fuzz Last Night

Okay, so I went to the RV Dealership to pick up my door keys that I special ordered through them to make sure that I got the right ones. When ordering my keys I even showed them the last proper key to make sure that everything went well.

After picking up my keys I went to the local key-cutting place (to support local business). He was nice, pleasant and reasonable, and cut the keys quickly. I then tested them in the lock and none of them work. I suspected at that point that the blanks were wrong as they looked a bit different.

Since I am not one preoccupied with fashion I didn’t care that he head of the key was not the fancy black plastic. It was shaped right and had the right name on it, as well I bought this from the dealership that sold me the trailer. I had every reason to assume that they would sell me the right keys, right? After all it is their trailer, right? 

Well after the nice key-cutting gentleman toyed with one of the keys for fifteen minutes it was determined that these were the wrong keys. He also determined that he couldn’t modify them to make them work and also didn’t have any blanks close enough. 

So back to the RV dealership I went. I explained the problem and they just pointed me to the website for the locking mechanism for the trailer and said good luck. It took a bit of “ahem, you sold me these keys,” to get a refund on the blanks, (which were special ordered and cut, so of no use to anyone) to get a refund. I didn’t even bother to try to get compensated for the ten bucks I spent getting the keys cut. 

I have ordered the right keys from the proper website and it looks as if they will come pre-cut. So that is a bonus. I am a bit disillusioned with the RV dealership as it increasingly feels like the care and maintenance of Wanda falls to me. 

I bought the extra warranty so I could drop her off and say here is the problem, go fix her. Even after I got it back a few problems were not fixed, small stuff and stuff I can fix, but the point of the warranty is that I shouldn’t have to.

Anyways, I went to one of my usual haunts and did a bit of grocery shopping at a large discount grocery store. I was about to drive down the block (half a block) to the place I usually park and sleep at, when I decided against it. 

I figured one parking spot is as good as another so why move? This parking lot was massive, larger than a football field and nowhere near full, so why not, right? I relaxed for the evening and bedded down for the night.

It was around 11:00 pm that night that I got a knock on the door. I will say this; I am glad and proud that I live in Canada, as the officer was certainly Canadian. 

He was: polite, professional, definite in what he wanted yet accommodating. He stood back a pace or two from the door and waited for me to get out of bed and put my sweatpants on. He didn’t knock again or demand that I come to the door. All he said was that this was private property and that I had to move along, he even suggested where to go (no not straight down to the hot place). I agreed to move along and he left me alone to move, trusting that I would. Again he was a nice officer, and a credit to his Bylaw Enforcement Uniform and Unit.

I moved the exact spot that I usually park at when I am in this area. It took a bit for me to relax enough to fall asleep again and as I did a few things struck me. Nobody from said store came to talk to me and asked me to leave. They just called bylaw and had them deal with me. I could see if someone had come and asked me to leave and told them to go (to the hot place). Fine, call the cops, have me dealt with. 

As I moved I noticed that there was a handful of cars by the entrance and that was it. I had only been there a few hours and it wasn’t as if I had setup camp, I hadn’t started to set up picket fences or even disconnect the trailer. As a result of this insulting attitude, I will be boycotting that particular store and will think twice before shopping at that chain again. 

True it is their property but there was no need to waste the time of Bylaw enforcement. I suppose I should be thankful that the full SWAT team wasn’t called out to deal with me or even officers with their guns drawn (I doubt that would happen as we have nice cops here, north of the 49th).

I am finding that I am getting more relaxed and developing an attitude of just dealing with things as they come and not be so uptight and tense about things. I know that there are a thousand things that I need to work on and improve, my trickle spending is one of them, but overall things are looking up. 

That idea, that impulse of somehow staying in Wanda even through the darkest depths of winter is still there within me. For one I don’t like the idea of being forced out of my home, and two I know that it would make the upcoming book on this experience much better and more exciting. As well, there is that impulse within me to see if I can do it, can I survive in Wanda south of -20C? Can I meet that challenge? Not a smart or sensible impulse, but there you have it.

This morning I am in my favourite spot in the library (making sure not to park in their parking lot or they may blow Wanda and Trea in place). I will continue to plan and work on this new and more exciting storyline and new book series. I want to actually start writing a chapter today; that is my goal, so time to get back at it.

Friday 17 October 2014

Story Evolving and Morphing . . . Cool

Okay, I did plugin last night and I did check and confirm that yes Wanda’s furnace will switch over to run on AC automatically. How? When it was turned off I turned off the propane supply and turned the furnace on. It gave heat for more than a few minutes, thus proving it was getting heat from somewhere. I had earlier taken the cover off and inspected it to see that there was a propane gas line going into it.

This morning I woke up to frost on Treabilla’s windscreen as I moved to my work parking location. When I plugin behind work I always move as soon as I wake up so I can write and putter around Wanda in peace yet still be out of the way for when the trucks arrive and life at work returns. Again, wherever you are, wherever you park, act as a good guest should.

I didn’t write today but still worked on the backstory of The Sisterhood. In so doing a problem arose, one which has worked out into an interesting solution. First of all I had planned to focus the story on Treabilla (well Treabilla and Brian, one storyline each) Since Brian’s story has been all but determined I am left to define the other storyline, the one in Tanea.

I had intended to show how Treabilla was seduced by and joined The Sisterhood and then went to have some adventures in the east, adventures which affected her. Well as I was defining what happened in the east I increasingly wanted to have the main character be from the home where the troubles are centred on. It would hit home more and give more of an impact.

The trouble with this and Treabilla as it would dramatically change her character, she is the eldest daughter of The Director of The Council. She can (or will) be able to go between different world, one of the elite culture of The Council yet still pick up a sword and fight, or work up a sweat. To move her backstory would forever alter who she is.

Then I got the idea, why not just create another character and have her merge and heal Brian. That would be difficult and you would have two Sisters and essentially a redundant character. I then sparked upon the idea that what if as a result of what happens in the east, this character goes bad.

I now like the idea where Brian and “Freavilla” (a villain from Book One) comes from Kincaid and helps The Sisterhood take it over, only to see her whole family slaughtered when a disagreement breaks out and gets out of control. She then clings to The Sisterhood and sees that when the cause is realized, her great sacrifice will be rewarded and she will be exalted as a martyr (of sorts) to The Cause for giving and sacrificing so much.

Both characters experience similar things, both fight a war, both lose their families, both have a brush with Evil. The thing is, one turns away from evil and the other embraces it. It is that decision, that choice, that flip of a coin which determines their path and what happens to them for the rest of their lives. I see Freavilla being a reoccurring mid-level villain thought the series.

We will see Freavilla again and again and their hatred for each other will grow. They will become the other’s nemesis and continue their dance of one-upmanship throughout the series.  

Hmm, must let this percolate and get to work, for now here is your sunrise shot


Thursday 16 October 2014

Had the Talk and Got the Bad Boy Letter

Okay so yesterday was really busy at work. As most of you working-types know, the Tuesday after the long weekend is busy; for me it was Tuesday and Wednesday. All that work that you should have done Monday doesn’t go away, it just gets shifted to Tuesday. I don’t mind the busy days as it helps the workday go faster, but these past two days were exceptionally busy. 

After work, as I was stepping up into Wanda, and putting my stuff away someone approached me. They were polite but I finally had the talk that I have been expecting for the past three months. They worked in the business which I park in front of while I am at work. 

As I have said before, I park in a certain spot because:

It is long enough that I don’t take up all the space.
The road is wider so I don’t affect traffic
It seems to be vacant most of the time

This person wondered why I parked here during the day and drove away. They, and their co-workers had mused, that if I was living in it, why did I move around? Why not just park there and stay there. A valid point and something I had briefly considered. 

I move around every twelve hours as I don’t want to be in one spot too long. If you are in one spot too long you run the risk of offending people and or attracting the wrong attention. The last thing I want is that one person on the (commercial/industrial) block to call the police and I end up with a ticket and or some other hassle that I don’t need. 

As well I don’t want to be known as the guy who actually lives in that RV and is always in that spot. The last thing I need is to be known as the local hermit or something like that. You know attracting tourists and all that. No thanks, I do this for my own economic benefit and not for other people’s entertainment. 

I only told the ‘workplace neighbour’ person that I move around as I do my errands. Which is true, and it is another reason why I move each day. I tend to trickle spend, oh I need milk, oh I need bread, that sort of thing. (I know I need to work on this, life is a work in progress).

Speaking of spending, I went to a store I frequent, as I needed milk and they sell groceries as well as other household items. There were a number of other RV’s in the lot and usually are on most days. As well I have parked there a few times before, so I figured all was well. I bought my milk and settled down for the night to watch some TV. My little inverter and Wanda’s batteries made this relaxing evening possible. 

When I got up in the morning I found a letter taped (open and on display for everyone to read) on Treabilla’s passenger window. It told me how this was a private property for the use of tenants and their customers and that I had 24 hours to move or my vehicle would be towed by the city, blah, blah, blah. 

I will admit that I was tempted to take a picture of the letter and post it on here, but my better judgement won out.  It is true that it is their property and they have a right to determine how that private property can be used. I am mindful that every time I go on one of these places I am a guest and act accordingly. 

The letter was from the management company of the large big box mall not the individual tenant who has a reputation for allowing people to park in their lots. The rule of thumb is if the store owns the lot, generally they won’t care, but if in doubt, ask the store manager first. Shopping malls in general are a no-go unless you hear that this particular one allows it, again if in doubt, check first. 

I am compiling a list of “no-go places,” so far it is a very short list (two places). I will go and stay at other places and just not return to sleep there. I will still frequent the store as they have nice stuff at good prices. 

I avoid confrontation as if someone wants me to move along, I will. There are plenty of places to park and in the end I just want to sleep. If I dig in my heels then I risk some large and unnecessary showdown over something as silly as a parking space. 

I am not doing some protest or what have you to draw attention to myself. (If I was, I and a group of protesters would park Wanda on the ledge grounds or parliament hill just to piss people off, again, not my style.

This morning, in my writing time I did make progress on the new book, yet I didn’t write a chapter. I started to define who this new Treabilla character was, what path she would take in her personal development. I also started to define what the bad gals were doing and why. 

As you can imagine, if you are writing any kind of whodunit, you as the writer, need to define what the villain’s plans are and why. They also need to make sense or you end up with something like “they do bad stuff because they’re bad.”  So . . . pretty much the basis for every slasher-flick ever made. Not much character development, mystery, drama or suspense.  

Remember kids, “Evil” AKA your Villain doesn’t see themselves as doing Evil, they see themselves as doing Good. To them, they are trying to achieve a “Greater Good” that only they can see or understand right now. But, gosh, once they complete their “masterful plan,” all will rejoice and thank them for what they have done. They will be appreciated and hailed as a hero . . . eventually. 

I have more of this to do but I also stared to define just what would be covered in which chapter back and forth. I see this book as a dance between Brian and Treabilla as we see the parallels in their different paths. I really think this book will turn out great, I am excited. 

Well, off to work now.

Wednesday 15 October 2014

New Book Starting to Take Shape

Okay, I have decided to go with this Two-Main-Storylines first book and see where this leads. I know what you may be thinking, why throw away all that hard work that I have done so far to start over? Well the truth be told the system I have developed allows me to go off on these tangents without risking the existing version of any story. 

What I do is I have a directory for each novel/project. In that folder I put “Version 01” and in there I start writing. When I get one of these nifty “What If’ ideas, such as now, I then make “Version 02” folder and in there I copy the files for the story, or whatever it is that I am importing. That way Version 01 is safe and I can now experiment/edit/modify to my heart’s content as long as I am inspired on this idea.

What is the difference between just editing and a new version? Well if you are just honing this story it is editing, if you are changing something major in the story, it is a new version. Such as if your main character is now of the opposite gender, or if you alter their backstory or want to try a different ending, etc. Those are new versions. 

There is nothing wrong with trying out new versions of stories as while that idea may or may not work out, it may spark a different idea. Each time you explore a different avenue you get to see what may or may not happen. It is kinda a “Multiverse for your story.” 

Just because you decide not to go with a particular version doesn’t mean it is a waste of time. Every time you write you get a bit better, (at least I hope so). Even the end product, the stories you have written, the versions you have gone through are not wasted. I have reused many scenes, segments and whole chapters from one version to another. 

As it is I will be plucking out the existing Brian’s backstory and inserting it into this new whole book series. I will alter, edit and expand that storyline but I will reuse it. With this story we get to see behind the scenes of two different perspectives in two different wars. One is a soldier fighting to preserve things the way they are and the other is a soldier fighting to change things. One fights for the government and the other fights for what could be described as not just a rebel force, but an evil one at that. 

This will require a change perhaps to Treabilla’s character, who knows, I will see.  It will certainly let us take a greater look at her and her backstory, that is for sure. As well we get to see The Sisterhood be bad, after all what is drama without the bad guys (or gals) being bad and threatening peace and stability.

Before you mention it, yes the opening will take place in Tanea:  be stellar, dramatic, and be worthy of a Michal Bay movie.

Okay, on to regular news now. I dumped last night and picked up some propane. I tell you I really do like the dual propane tanks with the switch on the front. When one take runs out, I just run a leaver and I am on the other tank. I then just remind myself that sometime soon I need to by propane. As long as I do so before the other tank runs out, I am fine. 

So there I was, bought my propane, paid for a dump and then was in the midst of dumping. The sign said “no water” I then asked why, as part of what I am paying for is fresh water for my fresh water tank. The lady at the counter said “it’s turned off for winter.” I looked at her blankly for a second and reminded her that it was almost plus 20 outside, the pipes shouldn’t freeze anytime soon. She mumbled something about it being unseasonably warm and just policy. 

I dumped and then swung by work for the fourth night in a row to get water. I dumped because I needed fresh water. Ah well, such is life. Needless to say, Wanda’s batteries are doing fine. By the way make sure to check and tighten the connections on the battery wiring, as they can loosen over time and cause inconsistent connections. 

Today is my second favourite day in the payday cycle “Feed The Eagle Day,” I put in my timesheet today and that means that one week from today I will  get my paycheque. This one is my favourite one, the one with disposable income in it. 

I know it is getting colder and it should get down to minus 15 or so by mid next month. If I can tuff through that it should warm up and ease up in December. I don’t want to pay for more than 4 months of winter storage, so I will be back out by April first. That means I will be willing to pay for December in storage and/or room. If I can somehow push it till mid to end December, great, more cash, only: time, weather, necessity and opportunity will determine when I actually go in for winter.

Well, off to work now.

Tuesday 14 October 2014

Thanksgiving and Literary Mitosis

I am thankful for a few things and Thanksgiving always is a good time to pause and reflect. This time last year I was frustrated and stressed out over too many bills and too little income.

As well I had a Roommate who didn’t see that he was renting the part of the whole and just wanted to rent his room, or rather just wanted to pay for his room.  I was getting nowhere and just treading water, living in the bottom of my overdraft and all of my credit cards were maxed out. I also saw no way out.

I was so stressed and was in constant crisis mode that it was a sense of normal and a way of living. I was always trying to figure out how to make sure my bills were paid, getting ahead and paying down the credit cards was a pipe dream.

Now one year later not only am I in a better place financially but I have a plan and have paid off one credit card. Sure, in the span of a year, less really, I have gone from a two bedroom fully furnished Townhouse to living in an RV and parking in random parking lots and streets.

My sense of normal has shifted but I am much better off now. I am less than a year away from getting those credit cards done. Then I can start building for my future, paying me. This is what keeps me going.

So what am I thankful for (other than friends and family) I am thankful for my plan and having the gumption to get out there and work it. So yeah, I am thankful for Wanda and Treabilla, those who make this plan possible.

I did get some writing done and I did complete a difficult chapter and then paused to think of the next chapter. I wondered if I should insert another storyline here. That was when it happened, that was when the story started to split, what I call ‘Literary Mitosis.’

I got to thinking that perhaps each ‘part’ should be its own book in its own right. That would give me more space and pages to explore each part of this long narrative in detail.

As I looked at Part One I realized that on its own it has a giant chunk of it in the middle which is a flashback to Brian’s backstory. I can’t move it to the beginning because then the story is about him and not about him and Tanea. I can’t take it out because it is important to understanding how and why he is so messed up.

Then I wondered maybe I could balance it with an increased storyline of what The Sisterhood (the bad guys) are doing, some large nefarious plot that we see develop. Then another idea hit me, why not take that chunk that is Brian’s backstory out and put it as its own book.

The following is my idea and I think it will work.

I thought then I could balance that against a different character, someone he meets and befriends later on (in what becomes book three).

Storyline 1) Brian in the Wars of the Roses
Vs
Storyline 2) Treabilla with The Sisterhood taking Kincaid (in Tanea)

We could then explore both parallel storylines (a chapter at a time) of two reluctant soldiers fighting for a cause for different interpretations of the same reasons: “King, Country, Family and Honour.” At the end of each storylines we would then see how both of these reluctant soldiers end up in the same place at the same time.

In book two (what remains of part one) we see that sinister storyline develop with one character as the other character struggles for survival. At the end of book two they find each other, in the midst of book three they heal each other and are fused together.

I can already hear a few friends of mine screaming at me that this is a terrible idea and just write the book as it is. I am curious to see what people think of this idea. Is the juxtaposing of storylines too distracting?

In any event I will let that percolate for a bit and determine the best way to do this. I may just write the book as I originally conceived it or go with this idea. Don’t worry with two wars in the mix I can come up with a fantastic, gory and shocking opening (if one more person tells me to start with the shipwreck I will scream).

On a different note I finally framed that article which was written about me in August. A good friend of mine made sure to get me a hard copy of the article.


I have been reluctant to put up pictures or decorations in Wanda and it seems that I am now ready to start. It will be a challenge to do so in a home that constantly moves, but hanging pictures and other things which makes Wanda mine will certainly help make her feel like my home. Odd but true.

In the end I am thankful for my home, my plan and the creativity and the opportunity to write. It is a struggle every day to keep positive and keep going but I will keep going and make this work.

In the colder weather which looks to  be coming next month it will be a challenge but still not insurmountable. It is the dead of January which gives me pause, yet still another problem to solve, a challenge to overcome.

Onward and upward, stiff-upper-lip and all that what.