Holy Crap, Something Worked as Advertised!

Mark the day on your calendar, a product actually lived up to its promises. I was snug and warm last night and even after less than a minute of getting into my new sleeping bag, I was warm. 

Sure, Wanda was hovering around 5C, but me, in that sleeping bag, I was toasty warm. I sat there and listened to the radio and enjoyed the evening. It was nice.

I even went so far as to turn the furnace off as I settled down into the sleeping bag and went to sleep. I left the electric heater going and it was able to keep Wanda at -5C all night not bad, considering it was somewhere south of -20C outside. Again, I was toasty warm all night, all because of this.

It is one of those ‘mummy’ sleeping bags rated to -40C. It wasn’t as strange as you might think to be bundled up in this thing with only a hole for your face to poke out of. While I haven’t put it to the test yet as hovering around zero is hardly -40, but as with insulation, pick the thickest and warmest. I wasn’t silly as I still slept in my 3 thermal undies, as in the middle of the night to pee I don’t want to freeze.

I do see a problem that is when I am awake and in Wanda, and it is near or below -20C, the furnace just doesn’t cut it. As with the rest of Wanda, she was designed for a chilly fall night near (but above) zero not the dead of a Canadian prairie winter (despite what that sticker says).

(To you silly American designers, the Arctic is way further north of Calgary, and much colder. Well, that and penguins are at the south pole . . . the "anti-arctic?")

I will admit that the insulation in Wanda is fine and good, but the windows are single pane (are you kidding me). Then there is the complete failure of the system that is supposed to protect the plumbing system. Let’s not forget that the furnace is not up to the task of heating this trailer in winter. 

The insulation, for the most part, is good, I will give them that. (I really need to design and build these RV’s myself). When the weather is warm, Wanda works well and is well designed, that I will also say with certainty.

To help make Wanda more liveable, I will get a portable Propane Heater and only use it: 1) when I am home 2) when I am awake 3) with vents cracked open. That way I can augment the heat within Wanda and not always run for a coffee shop when I wake up (as I do now). Either that or I have to run Wanda’s furnace almost constantly just to get the temperature up to 5. 

I know that running any sort of combustible appliance indoors is risky and dangerous, especially so with propane, that is why ventilation is key. I am confident that that is the last piece of the puzzle (who am I kidding), to make it work and live in Wanda in or below -20C. 

The other thing that has been interesting is that everything freezes, as in everything, my blue jug of water is now a blue jug of ice. My milk is now ice in the fridge and the two litre of cola is now a cola slushie, (that is kinda cool). 

It is for this reason that I will still fill my two 2 litre bottles of water each day, but only use them over the evening and morning. That way they have less chance to freeze. I still don’t know what to do about the frozen bucket of graywater.  

Another thing is that when it is below or near zero the phone doesn’t want to charge. I get a little message on the phone that says that the battery is too cold to charge. So I end up precariously balancing it a few feet above the electric heater to keep the phone warm enough to charge while we are all plugged in. 

I did get a chapter and a half done yesterday, and the story is shaping up quite well. I know that this story still has some time to go and that I can’t rush it, not the crafting of the story. Already I am and have been mildly dissecting the story and rearranging and putting in a new scene here and there. 

The pace and timing of this end of the story is important but mostly I am having fun not only writing the important pieces of the story but also putting in the interesting titbits of information of Tanea, just because I can. 

I never did like the authors who clearly don’t know the world they are showing you around. You know, the ones who never show you anything but the plot, because they haven’t a clue how their worlds actually work. I on the other hand can easily get lost in this world and stray too far off of the path that is the plot. 

It may get very cold, but these very cold patches shouldn’t last too long in a stretch, so I am not too concerned.  Yet at the same time, I need to be prepared to live in them, just in case -25C stays for a few months. I will be okay, of that I know, I have already been through a few nights near -30C in Wanda, I can handle more (not that I want to). 

What I Learned Yesterday

As most of you probably know it got a bit cold yesterday here in Calgary, but rest assured I am fine. I made it through the night alive and with all of my appendages, fingers, toes, etc still attached. As I went through my day yesterday and evening, I learned a few things that I thought would be good for me to pass along. 

1) Did you know that you can’t fill propane tanks below -20C? 

Okay, I don’t know the exact temperature but if you are below -20C don’t bother asking for propane. If it is that cold then the propane stays in a liquid state as it is being transferred from their big tank to your little one. That is a problem and unsafe, I am to entirely sure of the reason, but they won’t do it, so don’t ask. 

What this means is that in winter either top up both tanks when you get them filled (somewhere north of -10C). The other thing to do would be to fill up that tank you just emptied as soon as possible, (somewhere north of -10C). Trust me, you don’t want to run out of propane in winter. This has not happened to me, but I can imagine what an unsafe condition it would be.

2) Did you know generators tend to not want to run below -20C? 

Okay, again I am talking about Jenny and for whatever reason she wouldn’t start. I had wanted to run her for an hour to charge Wanda’s batteries enough to run the furnace in the early evening. I can guess that the reason why she didn’t start was because the oil in her is 10W30 and not 5W30. What that means is that her oil is a bit thicker and thicker oil will not flow as freely in the cold and therefore slow the engine. 

So, all I know is that I couldn’t pull that cord hard enough to get her spinning fast enough to start. (not because I am a weakling, thank you very much). Not starting Jenny was a bit of a problem as that meant that I had no power in Wanda’s batteries. No power means no furnace and that means Wanda stays cold. 

In a pinch I might have put Jenny in the cab of the truck and ran Treabilla’s engine and heater to warm up the generator enough so that it would start (not in the cab of the truck thank you). Once it was running, it would have been fine (probably), it was just too cold to start. 

3) Did you know that Grocery Stores are a nice warm place to stay for a bit?

Okay, so while you can’t camp out in one or stay too long, but they are warm. I decided to do a bit of grocery shopping, as I waited to plug in last night. It was better than sitting in the icebox that was Wanda. 

4) Did you know that for the price of a cup of coffee, you can sit in a famous fast food restaurant for a few hours and not be bothered? 

Okay, again, instead of sitting in a cold Wanda, (I actually did this for half an hour), you can go sit in a place and kill a few hours for a cup of coffee. I did and used that trick last night as I stayed there until I decided to risk it and plug in early at 7pm. 

5) Did you know that these RV’s are really not able to handle a Canadian, Prairie Winter? 

Okay, so I have stayed in Wanda in -20C before but it was nowhere near as bad as last night. For whatever reason with both the furnace and Electric heater going, I couldn’t get it past 10C. I then turned it down to 5C and bundled up and went to bed. Somewhere in the middle of the night I migrated to being in my crappy sleeping bag on the floor next to the electric heater. 

I was fine but today I will be buying a -40C rated sleeping bag, just in case, so that I know I will be fine no matter what. My guess as to the difference is that the last time it got this cold I was able to run Wanda’s furnace for a few hours in warmer weather, so as to build up some heat, last night by the time I plugged in, it was about -13C, here, take a look.

6) Did you know that Shopping Centres are warm places to hang out and stay warm?

I will spend time in various places, such as libraries, shopping centres or coffee shops, and not run Wanda’s furnace until I plug in again tonight. I am not ready to throw in the towel (not by a long shot).  I see this cold as just another challenge to overcome. Besides, the ‘warmer’ weather is returning next week and we will be back to somewhere around -10, so Wanda and I will be fine. 

7) Did you know that your credit card company periodically evaluates your credit rating in order to determine what credit limit you should have?

Okay, so I checked my mail yesterday as well and got a letter from my second Credit Card company. That is the one that I am now beginning to pay down. I cringed, as usually these things are not good, or at the very least some useless piece of information. You know the “we are changing our privacy agreement” meaning “we are going to sell your information to whoever will pay us . . . suck it. (Okay that’s just what goes through my head anyways).

This time it was a note to say they wanted to up my credit limit from $5000.00 to $8000.00. I actually stood there and blinked, unsure of what to do, as this had not happened to me before. I read it over twice, as in the whole thing twice to see if they were messing with me. Nope, not an invitation to apply for more credit, this was just a note to say here you go take it, just say yes. 

Again, they want me to run into trouble again and rack that thing up to its limit. That is how they make their money, off of people who were in the situation that I was in for the past four years.

Now, I know what you are thinking, why would someone who is paying down my credit cards accept more credit. Credit Cards can get you into trouble and put you on a 4 year treadmill of never ending debt. There is the fact that they are handy ways to pay for things and yes can also pull your fat out of the fire. 

Credit is something you get when you don’t need it, so you have it when you do. As such I plan to get this extra credit and just not use it. It may prove handy in the future, but for now it will be a nice and useless thing. I know from experience how life can toss you curve balls and you have no other choice but to use your credit cards to live. 

I plan to pay down the cards I have, keep them at zero and build up my savings, so I can use that for emergencies. Just because Credit Cards are dangerous, doesn’t mean they aren’t handy, when used responsibly. That is the key, use them responsibly. (Think of them as a firearm).

I should start to write, I am in a warm place with a hot cup of coffee. Don’t worry about me, I will be fine, I will persevere. Don’t forget what Clint Eastwood repeatedly said in “Heartbeak Ridge” (I think) . . . . “Improvise, Overcome.”

Don’t You Hate it When Other’s Don’t Stick to Your Plan?

So, I was all set to plug-in last night. I stayed in my work parking spot, had dinner, relaxed as I surfed the internet, and then went for a walk a few minutes before 8pm. 

I do this little walk just to make sure that all is clear in my work spot. It has been so routine that the place is abandoned by 8pm that I have come to think of this walk as a formality. 

Well, as I came down the sidewalk and peered into the space behind work, my plan to plug-in hit a snag . . . 

Those cars are not parked behind my work but the bay to one side of it. That bay has been vacant for the last month or so but just yesterday it became a noisy hub of activity. They are obviously renovating it to make it ready to suit their needs. It is yet another sign of a healthy economy here in Calgary, yay. So they are parking behind their bay and obviously working late, nothing wrong with that. Again, I say Kudos to their dedication and determination. 

How is this a problem for me? After all, my work bay is still unblocked. Well, they are on the street side from my work so I would have to drive past them and back into my work spot and I didn’t really want to do that particularly with them still parked there. I didn’t want to wait and keep checking on them to see if they have moved. So I did what I have not done before, I slept in my work parking spot; I went to bed. 

This morning I was all set to start writing but I realized that I had used the laptop batteries up last evening surfing the web (is that still a saying?). I had decided that I was plugging in last night so I could recharge the batteries all night for the morning. Well, those cars put a snag in that. 

So, why didn’t I use Ace to run the laptop? Well, if the laptop is charged up, Ace will last at least two to four hours. If the laptop is not charged then I am lucky to get 45 minutes out of it. The charging laptop sucks the juice out of Ace bigtime but just sips when it is charged up. 

So as a result I did not write this morning, but I will do something this afternoon, when I run Jenny. I turned the furnace down to 10C and bundled up to sleep, again I was fine, but this morning the batteries ran dry. When I open the fridge door to get something and the light in it flashes, I know that the batteries are dangerously low. So you turn the furnace and all other appliances off until you can charge up. If I run Jenny for an hour this afternoon I will be fine, particularly since I do plan on plugging-in tonight.

So I troddled on to work in my ‘warm clothes’ and carried a bag of ‘normal clothes’ to wear while at work. I will then change into my ‘warm clothes’ after work before I leave. You see, usually I dress in my ‘normal clothes’ before I go to work and then after I get back to Wanda change into my ‘warm clothes.’ 

If the weather is not that cold it isn’t that bad but when it is cold, it sucks. As that means I have to strip down to nothing to change in Wanda who is by this time at 0 C. Add to this that my ‘warm clothes’ are now cold, it is a special fun feeling.

Again this whole lifestyle is a constant process of revision and improvement. I never get too set in my ways to not be willing to change how I am doing something. There is always a better way to do whatever it is that you are doing. The trick is to be willing to see it, and have the courage to change something which is probably working okay now, but could be better. 

Back in the Writing Grove (Sorta)

Okay, so for the past two days I have been writing new and fresh chapters. I will soon get into the writing groove and pick up speed, but for now, in the beginning, the pace is always slow. 

That pace picks up and I am soon writing chapters quickly. I tend to average a chapter a day or two during the week, and two chapters on each of the weekend days. I am not concerned about the slow pace for now, as I know it will get better. 

Once Part Two is done then I can slowly hone each paragraph of each chapter, and get it better . . . so that people can tell me it is still regurgitated rat poop. I write for myself and my own enjoyment.

I am starting to stay close to work and plug in nightly and use just the electric heater. The pattern of plugging in at 8pm and moving by 4am seems to be a nice and considerate pattern as I don’t run into anyone. (Well, other than the garbage truck or the snow removal guys, both oddly enough at 4am).

I don’t think I will get away with my ‘electric heater only’ trick this weekend when it is down to close to -30C. I have been through this cold weather before, so I know what to do and what to expect; I will be okay. I just keep thinking of the warmer weather and the paid off credit cards, and I’m fine.   

I will be going to my favourite library but I will be coming back to work each night to plug in, as it is going to get cold. It seems that Saturday will be the worst of it, after Saturday it seems to warm up somewhat, so that is good news. 

I know that this is still late November and that the cold will stay around until at least April.  Hey, I have been through prairie winters before and I can and will get through this one. If those pioneers can stick it out in a dirt (sod) house and be okay, I can do this in an RV . . . I have a furnace, insulation and everything . . . (everything but the girl). 

I will say that motivation and a positive attitude is key to sticking it out. I actually bundled up and went for a walk around the block to enjoy (yes enjoy) the snowfall. That and I decided I should get a bit of exercise; I really should do this daily. 

I suppose that to get through this, the key thing to remember is that stuff happens. It is how you react to it, how you feel about it which makes it good or bad. You need to choose to see the positive in what is going on and what has happened. When bad stuff happens I force myself to laugh, actually laugh out loud, that puts me in a better mood and interrupts me from getting angry and negative about whatever it is that has happened. 

If you let yourself get angry and negative you will just carry that with you and it will drag you down. Don’t forget that you still have whatever it is that has happened to deal with. If you are in a better and more positive mood you can deal with the situation with a clearer head. Most times I can do this, but sometimes I just can’t, such is life and after all I am human. 

So my plan to lay low financially and coast through till payday on the 7th is going well. I am using my propane sparingly and not driving too far so as to conserve on gasoline. It is working, I have food to eat and just a few essential groceries to buy which will then last me till I get paid. 

The one negative thing is that my anniversary is on Friday the 5th, and I had wanted to do something for it, a dinner or something. I can’t afford to do anything so extravagant as that. I will drive up to the old area and walk around and take in the sights. I may even stay in the parking lot of the grocery store I frequented when I lived there, who knows. 

This anniversary is not the anniversary of when I moved out, that is on January 29th, or when I moved into Wanda that is July 12th. This is the anniversary of when I decided to start this quest, on the 5th of December, it will be a full year that I have rented my post office box. 

That was the day when I took the first concrete steps to actually start this lifestyle change so I could achieve debt freedom. I also started this blog on that day so I could further commit myself to this change and not allow myself room to back out. Remember that, if you publicly declare your intentions it helps cement in your mind that you are actually going to do, whatever it is that you said you were going to do.

All of December and January last year was a scary time for me. Those two months were full of lots of doubts and second guessing, but I stuck it out. I would like to do something to mark it, but going into debt to commemorate it doesn’t seem appropriate. As I said before, I will mark it in my own, frugal way. 

After all, I have a new goal to hit, credit card debt free by the end of July, 2015!

Comfort Costs Cash

It is a simple formula; that cozy sweater, that thick coat, those warm boots; all of those things to make your life more comfortable, costs you money. So too will it cost you more when you turn up that thermostat. Each time that furnace kicks in, it is burning fuel of some kind and therefore, you are spending money, the same is true for me.

I just switched my propane tank over last night and had a mild heart attack, as I had just bought propane on Friday. I wondered how and why I could have gone through so much propane in so short a time. Then I remembered, yes I bought propane on Friday but I switched over my tanks mid-week. I know that the really cold weather is settling in and so I am using more fuel. Still, heating Wanda in winter is not as bad as that townhouse . . . yowza (I still shudder when I remember those winter utility bills).

I tried an experiment last night as it was a mild night, just a bit below zero, if that. I plugged in my electric heater and turned the furnace off. Okay so I had my furnace had been going from 5 pm till 8pm when I turned it off. At that time the temp inside Wanda was between 15 – 20C, by the time I woke up it was at 10C. 

All in all, that electric heater did not bad. Keep in mind that it was on the lower 750 Watt setting, if I was to turn it onto the 1250 watt setting it would be fine, but I never wanted to risk tripping the breaker in the middle of the night. That would mean, putting on clothes, trudging around to the front of work and search for the breaker box and the tripped breaker, and hope it didn’t trip again.

It is nice to know that the electric heater does help out. I know that I need to dress warmer and turn that thermostat down to 15 C again. I had turned it up to 20C for my comfort, but I need to conserve propane and thereby cash. 

I will be plugging in each night during this cold snap and again, I am not scared of it, as I have lived through it and made it. I know what to do and what to expect. The weekends will be the most expensive as I am in Wanda more with the furnace running.  

I am in Wanda more so Sunday when I have to wait till noon to get into the library and use someone else’s heat. I will have to see about hanging out in shopping malls to use someone else’s heat, hmm that might work. 

To encourage me I checked online for the balance of that second card and was delighted to see that the payment went through, it was now at $4224.39. I was tempted to put a bit on the card to knock it down to below that $4000.00 mark. Which of course would be silly, as that would put me in my overdraft; doing so is just trading one debt for another. 

I will put that money on the card when I get paid on the 7th, and then on the 22nd I will knock it down to below $3000.00. That is the really exciting thing, to finally see big chunks of that card go down.  

If I can manage to maintain that pace then I will be on target to get that card done BEFORE April 1. If I can then keep up the pace of $1500.00 per month on that final card I will be able to get it done BEFORE August 1. (A full month early).

After that, after August 1 and that final credit card is finally dead, I will be in unknown and virgin territory . . . ‘savings’.  As I understand it ‘savings’ is when you put money into an account and not touch it, it is what you do with ‘extra money.’ Again, the concept of ‘extra money’ is a bit of a new thing for me and I am looking forward to having some.

Looking at what I have done and what I am planning to do keeps me motivated to keep doing this. If I were to pack it in and give up now I would be in a worse state than before, I would have extra debt and still maxed out cards. I just have to stick it out a few more cold months and then I am back into the warmth and the home stretch. 

If anyone was to do something like this, I encourage you to look back and look forward now and again. Look back and the positive things that you have done and then where you are going to go. That will keep you going through the tough times, that I can assure you. I am excited to see winter approach as each day I stay in Wanda, is one day, one step closer to debt freedom! 

More Cold Weather on the Way

As a matter of course I keep an eye on the mid to long term weather outlook. I just like to see what is coming, or rather as is on the parries, what may be coming. Predicting weather out here on the Great Plains is tricky at best, but it seems that cold weather is about to return in time for the weekend. 

While I am not enthused, I am not scared, I have already been through the -20C’s in Wanda already this winter and I was okay. I don’t have to worry about my pipes freezing and I know how to keep warm. 

I am almost thankful for that cold snap a couple of weeks ago, as it allowed me to teach myself not only how to survive in this cold weather but that I can not only survive but thrive. . . I can do this, I can live in Wanda all winter and be okay.

Don’t get me wrong, I hate the cold and winter, but there is little I can do about it, winter comes every year and my job is here in Calgary. Such is life, and I will certainly enjoy the warm weather when it comes and relish the first time I get to shower in Wanda after she is de-winterized. 

For now I will hunker down, stay warm, spend as little as I can and focus on paying that second card off by April 1. Then I can focus on that final card and delight in its imminent demise. 

I will keep myself busy by writing the Tanea novel and getting it ready for publication. That is something I can do, that costs me nothing but time and electricity, I have enough of both. 

Good Day Editing

Okay so I finished editing Part One and this morning started on Editing Part Two. I also did what minor grocery shopping I needed before heading back towards work. 

I also deposited what twenty bucks I could scrounge from spare change in my wallets into the bank. This way, when the end of month bank fees hit the account, I will know that I will stay above zero. 

This is important to me as I need to relearn that that overdraft doesn’t exist. Just like that first paid off credit card is only for convenience payment (or emergencies), not as a vehicle to buy a new toy. If I don’t stand firm on this then I will undo the good work and ground that I have gained so far in this endeavor.  

I also know that I do want to have some amount of savings for emergencies but for now all of my spare money has to go towards debt elimination. Once my credit cards are done, then I will start to save. One the financial bloodletting that is credit cards and their interest has been stopped, then I will save. 

I have now locked away my credit and debit cards for the next two weeks. I have what I need to survive, I have enough cash set aside to buy the propane I need and a bit more to buy what little groceries I need. I already have enough food to eat, warm clothes to wear and propane in my tanks. I will last until payday.

I also know that even once I get paid, that paycheque is going to be tight, but I will be on an upward swing. I will still have my first card paid off and stayed out of my overdraft as I start to chip away at that second card. 

I am looking forward to a week Friday, Friday, December the 5th. That is my anniversary, it will be one year ago on that day that I decided to do this. I look forward to pausing and reflecting on the past year on that date, it shall be good. Until then, I shall carry on and spend as little as possible, and write . . . always write.