Cold Cold Go Away.

So, we seem to be stuck in a sick and twisted cycle of being nice (a relative term) for the work week yet cold for the weekend.

This sucks for a few reasons, but for me because I am a homebody and so I spend a great deal of time at the trailer, particularly on the weekend.

I am just getting used to not just hunkering down in my sleeping bag or hibernating in my bed.

Yet when it looks to be -17C as a high for Saturday, that seems to be a bit too cold to try to warm the trailer up (without a wood burning stove).

I know that this cycle will pass and the warm weather shall return. Once again I will retire my sleeping bag for another summer season.

I do enjoy the days of warmth where there is a nice light breeze blowing through the trailer. I do not like the cold days of me hunkering down in my sleeping bag.

This is life though, this is my life and I do this now so I can have a nicer future.

So, I will endure the cold and whatever else comes my way, simply so I can get my house, my land and my homestead, and mayhaps, mayhaps  . . . a Mrs.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

The Homestead Fund Update

Okay, so it is that time again, when I update how my progress is going on my “Grand Savings Plan!” (to build my "Homestead Fund") 

Okay, so let’s see how I did . . . 

   

For review, here is how things looked from last payday . . .

   

That is 18.8% (of my Savings Target).

And this is how things look like, after the dust settled on this payday’s budget . . . 

   

That’s right things jumped up to 19.4% of my savings target. 

That means I put away 0.6% of my total Savings Target this payday.

I am still on track of getting to that magical number of 20% by next payday. 

To me 20% means that I will be finally at a minimum level of cash in the bank for me to feel okay. As in I can relax a bit. 

Of course this means that usually around the time that the sensation of “Hey, I’m not completely screwed!” hits me that the other shoe drops . . . on my head . . . as in I’m the bug on the floor and the size twelve hits me from above . . . out of the blue.

Anyways, I will continue to build my savings and move forward, but at least a sense of urgency will go away, after getting to 20%.

All I can do is the best that I can do with what I have each day, and each payday to move myself forward.

On a side note, I was able to dump my tanks on Friday afternoon before the big freeze this weekend. 

I was able to get the water out, but a pile of slush/ice remains in the middle of the black water tank. 

I can at least flush the tanks now, but I won’t bother to do that until next month. As that would require a visit to a full hook-up campground to do that.

I won’t start using my toilet again until I have flushed that tank out. Progress is progress and I am happy to see . . . a pile of slush rather than a ceiling of ice.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Winter for The Weekend

Soooo, it is Friday, and so the joys of the freedom of the weekend is here. The problem is that in time for the weekend, Winter is returning . . . for just the weekend.

Things will warm up next week, but probably get cold again for next weekend. So, my getting used to the warmer temps is premature . . . hopeful but delusional.

I will be okay as even at its worst it is only getting down to -16C or so, but during the days it will be only -9C then -7C.

So . . . cold all around. Not bitterly cold, but cold nonetheless.

Again, this too will pass and Anti-Fall and Spring will come . . . not soon enough, but it will come.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

The Cusp of Something Bad

Fear is what triggers recessions. Fear causes people to stop spending, and it is the stopping of spending that hurts companies. 

Companies that are hurting cut back. Cutting back strikes more fear in the hearts of employees. 

Companies that are hurting also take in less revenue. Lower revenue from a number of companies sparks fear in investors.

Fear in investors causes them to sell their stock in those companies. The selling of those stocks, on mass is what causes the stock market to dive.

A diving stock market is a funny thing as it can either go back up again, as investors see bargains and buy, buy, buy. 

Or a diving stock market can continue to fall as investors rush for the exits. Investors rushing to the exits is what causes a stock market crash.

Fear is the underlying motivating factor in all of this . . . fear.

And fear is what this new virus COVID-19 has sparked in many people in almost every country on the globe.

If you haven’t started to get your fiscal house in order, now would be the time . . . before you have to . . . and when you have to it is almost always an ugly scene. 

So, use this . . . fear . . . as motivation to get your debt under control and . . . heaven forbid . . . gone! 

For it is far much easier to manage a downturn in the economy when you have little to no debt, than if you are buried in it . . . and suddenly unemployed.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Ground Was Clear, Then It Wasn’t

When I got up this morning I looked out the window to see if it snowed last night (as had been predicted) . . . the ground was clear(ish).

I made my morning coffee, got settled in to write and after a bit, there was a great rush of wind outside which kept up for some time (I don’t know how long).

When I got up to make a new cup of coffee, about an hour later, I looked outside again only to find that a fresh dump of snow, just a blanket of a few millimetres had been dropped.

Just like that I went from being happy I didn’t have to break out my ladder and brush off my solar panels to . . . having to break out my ladder and brush off my solar panels.

Things can and will change quickly, we all know that, especially those of us who have been involved in traffic accidents.

Even worse is when those accidents turn fatal, but that is another blog entry. My point is that we think that we have plenty of time and that everything will always be okay.

We don’t and it won’t. So, while it is never good to go around being paranoid, it is good to try to be prepared for whatever may come. 

Again, you can only do so much, but thinking about what you would do if this or that happens, and taking necessary precautions is always a good thing to do.

You never know when that skiff of snow will be suddenly dropped all over your best laid plans.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

The Hope of The Slush

Okay, so as I reported yesterday my black water tank has a large block of ice in it. You know, ice made of “water.”

I check on how it is doing, how the block of ice is melting, by looking down my toilet. Once again, yet another aspect of this lifestyle that is not glamorous. 

Anyways, so what I saw was not a solid block of ice looking at me, but rather a slush. This means that things are working, and that that ice block is melting.

I also have not seen any puddles or other signs of damage from a draining and dripping cracked black water tank.

In fact the rush of water coming out is a good sign that such a crack does not exist. Again, we shall see, and only time will tell how right this assumption is.

Again, my real problem stemmed from not dumping my tanks quick enough when the weather froze.

Sure I had long since winterized my fresh water lines (early October). But I continued to use my toilet and sinks until the weather gets cold enough that I can’t dump anymore. 

Once that happens I have a problem getting the “water” out of the black water tank. I have solved this little dilemma by buying a hand activated water pump.

Again, this is for use when the drain pipe at the bottom of the trailer, the part that sticks out under the trailer, gets frozen up.

This way, with this pump I can pump the water out of the toilet. So, next year, next time I will be okay in getting the water out, this time I was not so lucky.

I was lucky in the fact that the tank was about half full at the time that it froze. Again, it could be damaged, but who knows.

I will have to wait until enough of the ice block melts (due to warm weather) so that I can erode it through water. 

When I do de-winterize, I will do so at a full hook-up campsite. I can then simply flush the daylights out of the back water tank until it is all clear of ice.

Again, that is the theory, for now all I can do is wait for that block do melt and drain it a few gallons at a time. 

You know, until I can get a steady rush of “water” coming out to drain the whole darn thing.

So, remember kids, when the weather starts to turn cold, air on the side of caution and dump your blessed tanks sooner rather than later.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Still Carrying Around a Block of Ice

So, on Friday afternoon I tried to dump my grey and black water tanks. Again I paid my 50 cents to try and after running around gave it a go.

Unfortunately all that came out was a few gallons, I mean like 6 gallons tops (and that’s pushing it).

My best guess is that the main part of the black water tank is taken up by a large block of ice. 

So that when there is enough water in there, it floats. Drain the water and the ice will drop down and cover the exit (as in the drain thing).

The good thing is that I haven’t seen any signs of leakage or water draining out where it shouldn’t . . . I haven’t even smelled anything to suggest that. That’s a good thing.

There really isn’t much that I can do other than wait for it to melt on its own. I could go to a full-hook up campground, plug in and run my heat tapes. 

Heat tape are a special kind of electrical cable that heats up, so you wrap it around pipes or water tanks to keep warm them up.

I am hoping that the weather will get warm and the thing will met on its own. Yeah this is all my own doing by not dumping that one last time back in late December. 

The one thing I did do was buy a hand operated water pump, so I can pump the “water” out of the black water tank by sticking a hose down the toilet.

It works but I can’t do that, as all I see is the top of a block of ice . . . and I can’t pump ice out.

Again, we shall see how things progress, but for now, I am stuck in Winter Mode. Joy.

As always: Keep your head up,  your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!