One year ago today: March 3, 2015, Florida road art.
Five years ago today: March 3, 2011, congested by single women.
Nine years ago today: March 3, 2007, a generic day.
Random years ago today: March 3, 2012, more consumer junk!
MORNING
JZ thinks I should get a cabin in Tennessee. The guy has never spent a winter west of the mountains and I think he’s got some of those rocks in his head. You don’t even want to live on the east side of a mountain pass. This morning, we missed this place in Lake Wales by about four hours. It is stripped to the rafters, but that is what we were originally looking for. Somebody scooped it at 7:30 AM today.
Then, I’ve decided to have a second “trailer hitch” welded or bolted beside the first one, so that I can mount one of those trailer hitch bicycle racks, you know the ones I mean. I may even invest in small Honda 50 or an electric so I don’t have to wheel the sidecar around these small towns. Either way, I’ve decided to address the issue of not being able to view these properties in a timely fashion.
The trailer electrics are acting up, I think it has to do with an incompatibility between the Honda tail lights and brake lights being on different circuits. On the trailer, they are the same circuit, This has taken most of the morning without results. If it doesn’t cooperate, I’m always willing to simply connect everything direct, that is, just bypass the harness entirely. That’s my solution for handling both fussy electronics and fussy women.
The difficulty is the wiring diagrams show one less wire than there is on the harness. I think it works on a Zener diode system, where the lights vary in brightness above a certain voltage. The snag is that the lights are meant to stay on in running light mode when they are not blinking or braking. There is no comparable wire on an old Honda Goldwing. So I did what any respectable robot builder would do. I tapped a wire on the sidecar where nobody will suspect a thing.
Apollo 13.
NOON
By the looks of it, I won’t get away tomorrow, either. Electronics, even when you know what you ar doing, still takes time. Six hours today. I also measured out a new tarp cover and installed the tie-down anchors. I used the cheapest materials since I don’t know how that’s going to work out. Oldie radio kept repeating Chapman’s “Gimme One Reason”, but I particularly like that song. It was 92F in the shade and by an hour after nightfall, I had the major wiring completed.
My buckles don’t jingle. It’s an old robotics trick called molybdenum magnets.
Add a trip to Harbor Freight and throw in an hour siesta. I try to go out carousing at least one day a week, but why I bother is a mystery. Hold on, JZ and I stopped for one on the way back from Oakland Park. That count’s, so now I can curl up with my book on celestial navigation for the evening. Did I tell you I can now regularly calculate down to a tenth of a second, which is nearly shouting distance out on the briny. That’s the rub, I’ve never navigated on a boat. I will if you’ll let me borrow the yacht.
Did you see the papers? This morning the headlines were much what you’ve been reading in this blog for weeks. The losers are ganging up to prevent Trump from “destroying” the Republican party. Oh, like it was doing such a great job that we can’t let anyone go in there and change things. Why, all American has to do to see how wonderful the government has been doing is give it a chance. Say, another 40 years and another $400 trillion. Then, by cracky, you’ll see how right they were. Yup-yup.
NIGHT
You’ll find me right here until bedtime. I’ve got a plate of cucumber sandwiches and a jar of ginger snaps. And funny thing about the new coffee maker. People prefer the coffee from the old gadget. So I’m back to using it since I’ve seen this phenomenon often enough not to argue. Myself, I cannot tell the difference and I’m a lifelong coffee fan. Who knows? Tonight I’m disconnected from the world.
I read an essay on alphabet systems. I did not know that many people consider the Chinese writing system to be based on a poor premise. It is difficult, yes, but let me explain something. Their “alphabet” is based on symbols that mean things, our alphabet consists of letter that represent sounds. Both have their advantages, and I knew you’d ask if I could say a word or two of just where Chinese is better.
Okay, we know that people in the north of China speak a different language than in the south. Yet they can all read the same newspapers. Let’s hop over to Europe, where most of the nations use the same alphabet. They can’t talk to each other, either. Finnis and Swedish have almost no common linguistics. The English and French have to learn an entire language before they can understand each other. But, their languages do contain symbols as well, not just letters. Think how many different ways the Europeans say the number “seven”. Yet, if you change it to the symbol “7”, they all know exactly what you mean.
Hence, to be understood over the barrier of different languages, the good old Chinese symbol system does have some ultra-modern advantages. And Chinese does have western-style phonetic “words” they can write with their symbols. But most of them are “pairs”. Otherwise, all Chinese words are one syllable.
And that’s a lot of what I was thinking about while working on the camper. Strange, how I am able to find the best deals in all of Florida, but unable to take advantage of them fast enough. I’ve calculated a car would not be a viable option, it simply costs too much and I would have to leave it parked for long stretches. I always hated how much a car costs even when you are not using it.
ADDENDUM
A lengthy read, totally concerned with the cPod camper that betrays this blogs origins as a documentary journal that always tried to balance how and why. Here’s how I did it, and this is why. And what better topic than building something? If I can’t find what I’m looking for, at least I’ll have fun looking. This picture shows the grease going on to the canopy piano hinge. I’ve discovered that there is no reasonably priced hinge that will not rust. So on goes the axle grease.
I have a coupon for a tarp, 20% off. With a few chrome tie-downs, the unit will look like an ordinary utility wagon. I’ll drape a second tarp over the “slide-out” section which is designed so that when it is opened, water would have to drain uphill to get inside. Besides, from experience I know that if any bedding or clothes get damp on the trip, just pull into the nearest laundromat for an hour. Alas, my sewing machine is too light-duty to tack the canvas, but possibly I can glue it.
As for the stabilizing legs, I opted against the fancy outrigger design and replace it with a simple cotter pin slide that retracts into the sarcophagus in transit. I jumped on the deck bed. It can be moved a little, but remains solid at a fraction of the cost. The electrical has two components, the exterior vehicle lights, which are now child’s-play for me. And the interior or overnight system.
Again, experience takes over. There is no need for any heat, for the interior easily stays comfy down to freezing. The space is four and a half times the room in a pup tent and because it is wood, stays warm enough to the very corners. The new interior lighting system uses only a half-milliwatt and I know that a good battery can keep a small fan circulating all night, so I don’t really need the solar panels. Plus, the new unit has storage bins for propane light and heat if needed. It usually isn’t.
I haven’t weighed it, but my guess is the new unit should be around 200 pounds fully loaded. In other words, I won’t even know it is there, plus, it will be immensely easier to park. As for the batbike, I’ve decided to finally replace the starter. After two years, I know it overheats and I never could be certain it isn’t the cause of my battery problems. That’s the starter battery, not the main battery for the camper.
And this year, I will have complete spare tires and rims, a laundry hamper, book shelves, a bike rack, and handy tray under the unit for my shoes at night. Experience is important in this, and the most important part of that has been the knowledge of where to cut corners. The last unit was drastically overbuilt. This unit is the minimum everything.
Before continuing, here is a trick photo of the movie camera that won’t let you down. You can see the tiny unit on top of the very sturdy tripod, but the operative item is the battery pack. You can see the spring clamps onto the battery, which is a lead acid rechargeable. It is designed to work from a 12 Volt battery, a cigarette lighter, or household AC. This is the only camera that has ever worked right for my needs. Alas, I can’t show you the results in this blog. Yet.
You remember that return trip. The Grand Canyon, the Alamo, I sang on Beale Street in Memphis. That’s the trip where I had to break the ice off the gear levers in the morning outside of John Day, Oregon. What an adventure that was. Gotta go again, and soon. This time, I’m not shy about seeking out the Wal*Marts, or truck stops, and I already have favorite back roads to get from here to Texas, via Demopolis. The new camper opens up to form a sitting area or view the stars, and of course, it can be sealed fast from the inside. The only weather I need despise is rain. I slept through howling windstorms in the Sonora.
If you read those accounts, you’ll know I kept track of the true costs of the journey. That’s why I have no cooking gear. No shelling out for accommodation frees up enough money to seek out the non-franchises in small towns. In the pre-sidecar days, I had done so much travel on the Interstates that I had lost track of the mom & pop operations. I can’t say if they are re-emerging in America or if I’m finding the survivors because I’m usually driving through town along the old highways. While I still scorn being overcharged, like in Winnemucca, the savings on motels lets me eat like a king on the road. No need to cook anything.
The sidecar is empty on these trips. I’ve often given people (girl people) a spin in the chair, so it has to be ready on notice. My bass fits in the wagon, but I’m still planning on getting a sissy bar for looks. So people can see I’m a musician and draw conclusions. I’m totally ready for the maiden voyage on the mini-camper. It’s been nearly a year since my last major run, a result of the intense travel in JZ’s truck to the house auctions, what was it, around six or seven trips? I need to get the camper on the road if only to be prepared. There have been several times it took JZ up to ten days to get ready.
Of course it is always a hoot when JZ and I travel, we always wind up where the action is. We have separate budgets for chasing women, but we are a team when it comes to attracting them. Mind you, less work gets done. When I travel alone, the camper is always ready, there is like zero turnaround time. Anything you need, you buy on the road. Sadly, that beautiful blue color of the interior will be missing. The paint can rusted through the lid last winter and dried out. And that quality of paint is too expensive to buy retail, remember it was from the used paint store.
Last Laugh
Return Home
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