Being Water Wise

I was able to make it one full week with only one tank of water. I even had showers each day and yes a couple on the weekend to cool off. This was due to a few factors, I will share them with you now in case you want to be a bit more water wise, or if you ever find that you have to be, as in going through a drought.

The first thing was that I turned down the water pressure for my showers. That means that while I did have hot water and did adjust the water to the right temperature, the amount of water coming out of the shower head was much less. 

First you turn the hot water on a bit more than a trickle and wait for it to warm up, then you turn the cold water on just enough to cool the water down enough to shower. 

This is best done with a movable shower head so you can literally move it over your body and let it trickle down over you. This is not as fun or invigorating as a hot shower at full blast, but you get clean and use much less water.

The next thing to do is to use your drinking/washing water out of a five gallon jug, preferably with a pump on it. This will force you to see how much water you are going through. No more running the water for a minute to let it cool down, just pump and go.

If you have plants, and have to water them, it is possible (check with a garden expert) to use the grey water (the water which goes down the sinks) to water them and save the fresh water for your use.

As well if needed that grey water can be used to flush toilets. Again, I don’t go this far, but if pressed, these are a few ideas. Just using the five gallon jug for my cooking/dish washing/drinking water and the less water for showers has helped reduce my water usage.

This may seem silly, since I have found a free place to get water from and dump my tanks. Yet while this particular gas station is open and busy 24/7 I don’t see a need to abuse the privilege. As well, there most certainly come a day when I must buy my water again, and I want to remain to be water wise. Lest us not forget that winter is coming and with it, comes my forced further water restrictions. Besides, shouldn’t we all be a little more water wise?

A Hot Time in the Old Town, Last Weekend

Okay, while I didn’t see any butterflies burst into flames when passing from the shade into the sunlight, it was certainly hot this weekend. Inside Wanda it hovered just over 30 C . . . in my house might I remind you. 

I did have my: vents, windows and door wide open during daylight hours. I even deployed my awning during the day, at least the afternoon. Yes, I was wearing as little and light clothing as possible and went for a few walks (with a shirt on) a number of times. 

When I had Jenny running, in the evenings I was able to have the “fan” setting on the air conditioning running. I found that this was no help at all as it just blew hot air on me. With a natural breeze there is a bit of cool that comes with it. With the fan forcing air down from the thing on the roof, it was hot air. I let it blow for a few minutes before I decided that this sucks and turned it off.

I tried to putter around on the computer and eventually got my editing done, but little more. It was just too hot during the day to do much of anything. I thought of going for a bike ride, but the heat of the first walk killed that idea. 

I am not complaining though, after all while it was this hot in my trailer this weekend.

  

(That measures around 34C.)

It has also been this cold in my trailer this winter 

   

(That measures around -18C.)

That is what I have measured inside my trailer. It has been colder outside I will survive and adapt and keep pressing onwards. I will achieve my new goal of my credit cards paid off any my truck and trailer refinanced into one before my two year anniversary (the 5th of December).

I will continue to acclimatize to the weather. They key, I think, is not hide in air conditioning all the time. Your body adapt to the heat or the cold. I will need to if I plan to go for that bike ride before long.I still have the blessed bike in my back seat, so I might as well use it.

Weathering the Warm Weather

With the temperature seeming to be hovering around plus 30C this week and for the foreseeable future you may be wondering how I am faring.

It is true that Wanda has air conditioning, but that is of little use to me. The amount of power it takes requires me to be plugged in to pretty much 120 V / 30 Amp power. Jenny only puts out 20 Amps max.

So, that means that the only time I can use my air conditioner or my microwave is when I am at a campsite. Since I am not an idiot I choose a campsite with a bit of shade. So even when camping, I don’t use my air conditioner. 

How do I manage in the heat? For one, when possible or needed I deploy my awning, to keep the sun off of the windows and door. For another I open both of my top vents all the way. I then prop open the bathroom door, to let a bit of airflow through between the vents. Then, of course I prop open the door and open all of the windows. On the parries, the wind is always blowing, so a nice breeze comes in and cools the place down.

I survive and I am okay, I have never lived in a house with air conditioning anyways, so I have always just managed with the heat of summer. Just like in winter, I just take what comes and deal with it.

Dinner Delights

Okay, so I tried out my idea to make my frozen food a bit more appetizing; here’s how it turned out.

 

How did I do it?

First of all, toast two slices of bread, then spread mayo on it and put on a slice of cheese (or approximation thereof) on each.

 

Then take out said defrosted, frozen dinner from fridge.
 

Scoop some into the pan.
 

Add the tomato sauce (in the easy pour container).
 

Cook it up. Or rather, since this mixture is already cooked, all you are doing is heating it up. For fun you can add some shredded cheese or whatever takes your fancy.

 

Finally when it is cooked up enough, spread over toast.
 

I may not put it on toast each night and I need to play with the amount of sauce to put in the pan. In the end, this is working as well as helping to bring out the flavours more. That and yes, this is not a cooked patty of food (that should never be a patty).

With this, I will have food for a couple of months and be able to save cash. I will try another recipe next time to mix it up. If I could trust myself to make smaller batches, I might cook something else in a month, yet I fear I will then have too much to freeze.

I Slept Through Another Crime

It is not a nice thing to say that you didn’t hear anything and slept through it all, even though it happened not far from where you were sleeping.

Yet again the business that I park nearby (across the road from) got broken into. As I look back now I remember kinda, sorta dozingly waking up and wondering what that alarm was all about before rolling over and going back to sleep.

When I woke up there was what looked like a van parked in front of the door and working on it. I thought this was odd at four in the morning, I almost called the cops. I watched them for a bit and realized that they were repairing the front door . . . criminals don’t fix stuff.

When I was leaving for work, a lady flagged me down and asked me if I saw or heard anything. I said I saw the repair truck at four this morning but nothing else. She told me that their business was broken into along with 12 others in the area. Nothing much was taken but the front door was smashed in. 

Part of the problem with industrial areas is that they are dead at night. I mean nobody but me and maybe a few truckers are there at night. This attracts criminals to do their nasty, nefarious business. Do you think I should install cameras outside of Wanda to film the goings on outside?

It still bogles me why anyone would bother to break in and steal stuff. I don’t get it, why? Very few businesses handle cash and those that do take precautions, so you wouldn’t get much. What then? Steal stuff? Seriously, who buys this crap and how much can you get? A fraction of what it is worth? Why bother? I say put that energy into doing something productive like get a job or start a business. 

I just feel bad that I slept through the whole thing, and was no help identify the criminals. Then again I am used to sleeping as cars do 60 kph right by my bedroom window. Yeah, the wind shakes the trailer . . . that’s fun. 

Apparently they have cameras so here’s hoping that they catch the thieves.

Back on Track . . . and Poor Again

Okay, first things first, I did get my bills paid and I did do everything that I set out to do with my paycheque. In the end there will be enough left in the bank to keep me above zero until my next payday. 

This is an all too common cycle for me, but I am getting ahead and making progress. I choose to see the positives. For one Card #1 is paid off and remains so. For two I am staying out of the overdraft. I have put the money that I borrowed from my contingency fund back. Finally, I did make a large payment on Card #2.

I expect to have it fully paid off, hopefully by the end of next month. We shall see how the next paycheque turns out, if I have a bit extra to put on it. Hopefully I will be able to put a larger payment on the late July paycheque to get it done and paid off . . . again.

I do have enough cash set aside to do what I need to do and yes I do have a bit of Madmoney. All in all, I am doing good and getting ahead. It just so happens that every cent is spoken for or allocated for something. Such is life, and something that we all must live with, am not alone in this.

I have an idea how to solve the problem with my latest batch of food. It is a bit too solid, as in when cooked it is a bit of a paste consistency. I realized that what I need to do is add some liquid to liquefy it somewhat. I decided to try some tomato sauce. 

I bought a few cans of tomato sauce and will open one at a time and pour the contents into a container that I will keep in the fridge. What I will do is put my food mixture in the pan and then pour a bit of tomato sauce over it and hopefully this will break up the paste and make it more palatable. 

Don’t get me wrong, it tastes fine, but eating what looks like a hamburger patty of lasagna just feels wrong. I will let you know how it goes tomorrow. I hope this works as this is a lot of food to go through, and if I can keep this up, will keep my food budget under control.

The Madmoney Madness

I had a nice and relaxing time at McLean Creek, I slept in, rested and had a good time. As I did, I got a chance to reflect on a suggestion that has come up time and again: Madmoney.

The term “Madmoney” is coined by a friend of mine that refers to essentially personal spends. It is money that you set aside for you to “Go Mad” with and spend on yourself and do whatever you want with. 

For me, the trouble with this is that this amount that I budget ($20.00 per payday) is always the first budget item that I cut. Even when I do have it, I may go for one meal at a fast food place and then end up spending it on some necessary item that I didn’t budget for. It never lasts that long and rarely is spent on me. 

This gets to the real trouble, the fact that I just don’t feel like my money is actually mine. I feel like the scrawny kid who always has his lunch money taken by the big bullies day after day. How long will it be before the kid no longer feels that his lunch money is his?

I have been servicing never ending debt and living on such tight budgets for years. It has been going on for so long that my paycheque doesn’t feel like mine anymore, it belongs to all of the credit card companies and my other debtors. The cash just flows through me, it isn’t mine. Raises and bonuses don’t excite me, after all I don’t get to keep it; it doesn’t go to benefit me.

That is what this odyssey is for, to take back my paycheque. Once my credit cards are paid off and the two loans are refinanced, then, finally I will feel like my paycheque is mine. Maybe then I will be able to actually spend some Madmoney on me. Until then I just need these cards done and will live on little to see that happen as soon as possible. I will still try to budget a bit of Madmoney, emphasis on “try.”