Frozen Pants

So . . . my pants are frozen. I have to admit, I kinda saw this one coming, but didn’t have much of a choice. 

I had to wash them and then had to dry them. Drip drying was the best way to get the bulk of the water out. Well most of it got out but the rest was frozen in place.

  

This is not the best shot but they're not frozen enough to stand on their own, but you get the idea.

They have the consistency of a frozen sponge (yes I have seen that freeze too). I have a backup plan, so don’t fret.

I plan to be in my camping spot tonight with my electric heater cranked up for the next ten days, so those pants will be nice and dry (and unfrozen) in no time.

It is just one of the adventures and challenges that crops up when you live in an RV even in winter. 

Heat is an issue at the best of times but when you have things to dry, even more so. 

The key to success in this life is to just take things as they come and solve the problems as they come up one by one. 

So, when you have frozen pants, don’t get mad, just heat them up (without melting them or setting them on fire. 

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

Drawing Out Departure

So, as you all know I am heading out for my Christmas Break on Friday after work. Exactly when I leave is yet to be determined. Why?

Well, because the boss informed us that instead of our usual quitting time of 2pm on Fridays may be extended to 3pm just in case some customers want some last minute items.

Tomorrow is payday and so it usually my running around day, which includes grocery shopping. I figured why pack all that into one day, so I did my grocery shopping last night.

For one, it gave me something to do, for another it let me do my shopping at a more relaxed pace as well as get me that one more step towards being ready to shove off.

Tonight is also packed as I have my banking and gas fill up to do, but I also have to renew my vehicle registration and of course pick up next year’s park pass when I get to Banff. 

I am still looking forward to this break and eagerly await being on the road. These diversions help pass the time until that wondrous hour of departure and freedom.

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

PS: the pants are still not dry.

Pants Problem

So, the inevitable happened last night, clumsy me spilled something on the pants portion of the stylishly fashionable Quad-Thermal Underwear contraption that has been a stable of my wardrobe for the last month (or two).

This means I have to wash them, but since I have sewn the cuffs together that means washing the whole thing, rather than just the affected layer.

Cheap me, decided not to do a special laundry run just for this (since I just did laundry on Friday). So this means scrubbing with a brush, some soap in a bucket before leaving it to soak overnight.

Funny thing about thermal undies, particularly when they are in grouped together is that they are an effective sponge. Sooo I have a very heavy, damp pair of thermal underwear pants.

In order to dry them, these will take a few days in this weather or a nice hot summer day in the sun. The trick is that they are too heavy to just hang over a wire rack, as they will flop down.

So the compromise that I came up with was this . . . 

  

The wire thing is the wire rack laundry rack that I bought from a large discount retailer. It is built just like a scissor-lift and takes a bit of doing to get into my small bathtub in my micro-bathroom.

Up top I have two “pants hangers” or “skirt hangers.” I find them handy in such cases to use as large clothes pegs. This way there is a bit of air getting the inside and the whole thing can drip-dry over the next few days.

Thankfully the weather is not too bad these days, so I can just go back to wearing a couple pairs of sweat pants and sweat shirts. Once again function over fashion. 

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

Countdown to Christmas Break

Okay, so while the nice weather is a nice break, it is not the break that I need. For some reason I find the dragging drudgery of work and the cold weather of late has taken its toll on me.

I need: warmth, space, peace and quiet, lack of rushing traffic two feet from my door and yes free-flowing electricity.

So I find my thoughts drifting and planning for the wondrous and delightful days that are coming, the ten days and eleven nights that is my Christmas Break in Banff.

Sure it is a break where I am by myself at a time when one should be surrounded by family, but this is my life these days. 

I do plan to have a family and all that, I know that time is just not yet; first things first things first: Get debt free, get land, then start family (but I digress).

I will make it through this week that seems to tic by much slower than most, due to the wonderful reward that lies at the end of it: peace and quiet.

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

Hibernation Halted (For Now)

Friday night was spent first running around, then hibernating. Saturday was spent at the library, so as to use someone else’s heat and electricity for the day. 

Saturday night found me retreating ever further into my sleeping bag. I found myself curled up somewhere in the middle of it. 

I still turned my face to face the opening of the bag so as to ensure that I could still get fresh air, yet not stick my face out in the sub -20C temperatures of the trailer. 

This changed Sunday morning when finally the cold snap lifted and manageable temperatures returned. This meant that no longer needed to hibernate.

I was even able to run my furnace and get the temperature above zero, by noon I could push things to a balmy 10C. I was even able to keep this up until I went to bed.

I spent a lot of time wiping things down as the frost that covered most surfaces of the insides of the trailer melted. 

Such is life, but I am just happy that I was able to defrost my trailer and even use my deadbolt lock again. For the past few weeks it has been immobilized by frost in the open position. 

This meant piling things up in front of the door, so as to ensure that if anyone tried to enter, they would make noise and wake me.

That is all changed now, for the foreseeable future at least. I should be able to keep my trailer above zero, for the foreseeable future. 

I am still looking forward to my Christmas Break in Banff that is set to commence this Friday afternoon. 

I will do whatever shopping and running around that I have to do Thursday night (which is payday) so I can just run to the hills, as soon as I get off of work Friday.

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

Random Act of Kudos

Last night I had a visit from a stranger, but it was not an unwelcome visit.  This individual had apparently been driving past my trailer (in my Eastern Home) for months and wanted to stop by, yet never did.

Last evening this guy did stop by and the only thing he wanted to say (apart from hi) was the fact that he respected me for what I was doing. 

He also said that I had more courage for living in my RV and actually tackling my debt rather than just give into it. This is one of those things that I have never really given much thought to (how “courageous” I am).

I, for one, just see this as a path that I must walk, because I want greater and better things for me, most of them revolve around and require freedom. 

For me, that is what total debt freedom is . . . freedom, the freedom to do what I want, and go where I want. 

After all, I will not only own (outright) my little home on wheels, but also know how to live in it in any climate. 

That will mean that as long as I have cash to cover my living expenses, (Say $600.00 a month) I can truly to where I want and do what I want.

It was nice to hear from someone and hear that not everyone thinks I’m nuts or the local hobo. It was also nice to remind myself of why I am out here . . . freedom. 

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

Winter Water Woes

Okay, so with the deep freeze still with us, for a few days yet, I thought I would let people know how I have been keeping my water liquid. 

There are a few options, one is to store water in metal containers each one able to contain a gallon. 

Why? Well you can put the metal container on your stove and melt the solid block of ice, yet it is not too large or heavy to handle.

I have not found those yet, so I will go with my backup plan which is to have a number of smaller water containers, such as 1.5 litre water bottles. 

I keep filling them up at work and taking them home each day. This way I let work keep my water liquid during the day for me.

At home I fill up a hot water bottle and snuggle my bottles of water (and coffee creamer) in a bag wrapped in a towel.

This way the water (and coffee creamer) will stay (mostly) liquid by morning (mmm, coffee cream slushie). 

I still do my trick of filling my coffee percolator and kettle the night before. Logic and experience have taught me that one. 

This way it doesn’t matter if the water in them freezes overnight as I can simply put the kettle or coffee percolator on the stove . . . they’ll defrost quickly enough.

When the weather is warmer I can go back to filling my five gallon jugs of water at the grocery store, as I prefer. 

When I have water in them I shake the jugs up like a martini shaker. This is to break up the ice in them as at least you can pour out shards of ice into the kettle to melt.

With the weather in the deep freeze, though, my large jugs can and will freeze solid in no time flat. This makes them ineffective to use south of -20C

Just try defrosting a large block of ice . . . it may freeze fast, but it won’t melt fast. At least not without the heat of summer (which is a long time coming.)

My trick these days is to only bring home enough water to last me the night and morning. That way I can function yet not have useless blocks of ice. 

The absolute backup plan is to melt snow, but I haven’t done that yet, as I would prefer to do that and then put that melted water through some sort of water filter.

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