Month: October 2010

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Easing the Pressure

I’ve been scraping by since I got to Osoyoos nearly a month ago and I’m spending an incredible amount of time looking for contracts and new clients. It’s not leaving me time for other commitments that won’t garner income until early next year. So, I finally decided to loan myself enough cash to ease the pressure well into December, but not so much as to make me complacent. The markets have been good in the past few months, so not taking a loss made this decision quite a bit easier.  I’m not happy with this situation, but I have to keep reminding myself that what I’m working on these days will pay off, just not immediately. It’s actually rather an exciting time in my life!

The bit of the puzzle of wealth building that I only just acquired is one I wish I’d understood a decade ago: passive income. That, not earning big gobs of money, is the key to early financial independence. For example, Sorting It Out wasn’t a huge financial success, but it has brought me a steady trickle of mad money since I released it and I sold enough copies of it in September to cover both my insurance payments! So, while working on another book might not be making me money right now, it will at some point, just as will my Suite101 articles. The trick is to remain solvent while the passive income accumulates. 🙂

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Skirting a Class C Motorhome

Today, I learned that skirting a class C motorhome is doable, but requires a measure of creativity.

I used foil-backed bubble wrap, which has an insulation factor of R4. The bubble wrap is 4′ high and I have fewer than 2′ clearance at most points around the rig, so I was able to buy half as much wrap as the motorhome is long. I calculated that I needed about 80′ worth of material ( (31’x2)+(9’x2) ) and bought a 40′ length. That wound up being more than enough. I was able to also do the windshield and I have a couple of feet left. The wrap was marked as being $1.54 a foot, but came up at the cash at a whopping $2.80 a foot. Thankfully, the store honoured the shelf price for me!

As for the adhesive, I heard different things about the best choice and the general consensus was silver tape (basically sticky aluminum foil). I’m worried that it’ll take off the finish, but since it’s the most popular option I decided to have a little faith.

The bubble wrap and tape came to about $90 total. I could have finished both the kitchen and the loft for that price, but the structure comes first! I’m hoping that when I remove the bubble wrap I can either cut away the tape or fold it down to get it out of the way, then carefully store away the panels so that I can reuse them.

skirting class c motorhome

spaceship Miranda is ready for lift off!

skirting class c motorhome

the front looks so silly

skirting class c motorhome

another good job going around the sewer pipe

skirting class c motorhome

I did a pretty nice job going around the hitch

Donna helped me out at points and her assistance was most appreciated when it came to securing my sewer hose for the season. She convinced me to cut down my 10′ length of pipe that has been the bane of my existence since Oliver, and even loaned me a hack saw.

The only thing left is the water hose. I’ll go price heat tape next pay day. For now, it’s nowhere near a necessity and I still might decide to just live off my holding tank this winter.

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Quiet Weekend

Now that the blog makeover is done, I can focus on my two other major projects that need to be done by February. I reserve the weekends for such work since few people are posting want ads on Saturday and Sunday. It gives me a break in my week.

Yesterday was a lovely day. I headed next door to Donna‘s and invited her for a walk. We headed up into the desert behind the RV park with Midnight, who soon grew tired. Donna wanted to take him back home, but he’s such a little thing that I decided to just hold him. A dog like him would be perfect for me…

While the days have been nice, the nights have been cold and loud. Imagine this: when the temps go down to near freezing, the vineyards operate huge wind machines to keep the air circulating. These machines sound like helicopters. For the last two nights, I felt like I was living right on a chopper pad from about 8:30PM to mid-morning.

As if that noise wasn’t bad enough, the RV park has been doing lawn maintenance during the day. So, the minute the chopper noises stop, the mower noises start. Try to concentrate on anything in such circumstances! I decided to formally extend my stay in Osoyoos to the end of January, worried that the RV park would rent my site out from under me (which they did), but I’m starting to regret that decision! Perhaps when the colder weather arrives things will quiet down.

Speaking of colder weather, I’m going to have to start thinking about hunkering down since I am now committed to wintering here. Many rigs in the park use foil-covered bubble wrap as skirting material (R4 rating). That seems to be the most cost-effective and easy to store skirting method for me, so I will go load up on that stuff shortly. The hookups here are badly done and I need about ten feet of water hose to reach the tap. I have five feet of hose wrapped up in heat tape and no intention of investing in more heat tape. So, I think I will live off my water tank when we start getting extended periods of nights below freezing.I’ve heard rumours that They (whomever They are) are predicting that Osoyoos is heading into its worse winter ever! I am not even willing to entertain the thought that anything could be worse than the winter of ’08 to ’09. I’ll keep an eye on weather reports and will start to consider blowing out my water lines at the end of November. I’m close enough to the park facilities to make using theirs a viable option.

Leaving Osoyoos just doesn’t make sense. Yes, the Vancouver area would have milder weather, but I’d be looking at twice the cost of living. I’m going to make a proper stand against cold weather this time around and see what happens. Last night, the bad weather didn’t hit until the middle of December, so I’m hopeful that I’ll be comfortable until at least then.

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Looking For My Hammer

Today, I finally conceded that I needed to regain control of my tool storage. I didn’t find the hammer, but at least I can find everything else now!

it always looks worse when it's spread out

it always looks worse when it’s spread out

Loose bits like caulking guns and drills are at the bottom of this bin, then a bag with miscellaneous tools I don't use much, then the basket of odd bobs.

Loose bits like caulking guns and drills are at the bottom of this bin, then a bag with miscellaneous tools I don’t use much, then the basket of odd bobs.

I was a bit shocked to discover all these painting supplies! It was like Christmas!

I was a bit shocked to discover all these painting supplies! It was like Christmas!

a bag for all the clamps

a bag for all the clamps

all the basic tools are now handy; I might even leave this one in the house

all the basic tools are now handy; I might even leave this one in the house

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Enjoying the Sun

The sun came out brightly and very hot this afternoon. I couldn’t stay cooped up! So, I grabbed some cleaning stuff and headed outside to hand wash Miranda. Like most RV parks I’ve been to, this one only allows rig cleaning at the site with a bucket and rag.

What. A. Job. It takes two hours to hand wash a 31′ rig! She could have really used a high pressure hose in some crevices, but my last experience with one took off about a third of my decals, so I’m a bit hose shy now.

Miranda’s exterior has really aged in the last couple of years and I am growing very eager to find the funds to repaint her, but a good scrub with a product that contains wax has done wonders in making her look a tad less embarrassing.