Month: August 2012

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Working Hard

There hasn’t been much to report in the last few days. I’ve been continuing training to work remotely for a new client.

The most challenging part is not learning the job itself, but learning to work with Windows 7. I do have a bit of experience with Windows XP, but the last time I really worked with Windows day in and day out was on version 98. Windows 7 does have a lot of similarities with OS X, but they are mostly cosmetic. I don’t want to start a Windows vs. OS X debate in the comments, so that’s all I have to say about my experience with Windows.

Today, I set up my new printer. The physical setup was a breeze thanks to videos integrated in the control panel of the printer showing everything from how to install the duplexer to how to size the paper trays.

Getting the printer and scanner to actually work was a little more challenging until some research told me that the OS X drivers that come on the CD, and all accompanying software updates, are for Snow Leopard. So once I found, downloaded, and installed the Lion drivers, everything went smoothly. I even set up ePrint to work with my iPad!

I received a massive transcription project for the weekend (30 hours of work due 11PM Monday), the first serious transcription project in almost a month. I am rather relieved! It’ll be a busy weekend, but it’ll be nice to spend so much time on a non-frustrating computer. Okay, so that wasn’t all I had to say about working with Windows! 🙂

The weekend will be broken up tomorrow afternoon with the celebration of my niece’s second birthday. She has been visiting all week and I have really enjoyed getting to spend so much time with her. My eldest nephew spent a few days here, too, happily playing games on my mother’s spare laptop while she and I worked side by side. I’ll be babysitting him and his brother next week for the first time.

Tonight, I’m doing a serious cleanup of my Mac. It has been running a little sluggishly and inefficiently since I upgraded to Lion. I installed more RAM a couple of days ago (going from 4GB to 8GB) and the difference has been phenomenal! I didn’t expect to notice a difference, but it was $90 (including shipping) very well spent.

Now that the computer is running more smoothly, I decided it was time to start cleaning up folders and managing files more efficiently. I am test running Hazel, an app that creates automated processes for OS X. I am fairly certain I will be buying the app as it will save me tons of work. My next project is to master my inbox. I have been working with Apple Mail for nearly 10 years now and I still don’t use it efficiently.

Needless to say, if I have moved on to virtual organizing, my home must be running smoothly. Indeed!!! Tuesday, I did the first really big and proper grocery since the accident (yes, in four months) and I have been cooking nice dinners and experimenting with new recipes. This week, I mastered sushi rice! Will I start making sushi at home now? Hmm…

The battery bank project will hopefully happen next weekend. I really don’t want to delay it much more than that.

As for my leak, it has been raining something fierce the last few days and it looks like my leak repair is holding at last! Miranda is looking really, really good.

I can’t believe that tomorrow is September 1st. This is the last month that I can count on decent weather for exterior projects. I am hoping to be here through October to get in as much work training as possible and delay crossing the border, so the count down to departure isn’t on yet, but I am thinking about it.

As proof, look what came in the mail the other day:

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I Love Me a Nice Wall

Eagle-eyed reader Vicki noticed some plywood behind the arm chair in the living room.

Colour me crazy, but while I love living in an RV, I don’t love having a steering wheel in my living room. I also don’t love that my Tabitha decided to relieve herself on a seat in the cab. I cleaned that up, but once a cat has marked its territory, only blocking the access can guarantee there won’t be a repeat performance. Add to this that I’d like more insulation between the cab and the living area of the rig and that I like to have privacy from the windshield that is controllable from inside rather than relying on the windshield cover. Finally, even an RVer loves having a dark hole to stash a bin of stuff when impromptu visitors are incoming!

In the last four years, I experimented with curtains and paneling to block the cab from the rig, but still keep it accessible. I concluded that a proper wall would be the only way to achieve the desired division.

So my mother had me buy a sheet of plywood that we had cut by BMR (a québécois chain of home stores) into three panels. The two of the panels on the ends would be fixed and the middle one would be a door, like so:

There's still work to be done, obviously. We will be putting some trim around the door to close the gaps as well as handles on both sides to make it easier to move. And I will, of course, be painting the whole thing yellow, like the rest of the room.

There’s still work to be done, obviously. We will be putting some trim around the door to close the gaps as well as handles on both sides to make it easier to move. And I will, of course, be painting the whole thing yellow, like the rest of the room.

I need to move some of that to the basement. :) The greenish yellow garbage bin is a shoe storage container that will live between the cab seats from now on.

I need to move some of that to the basement. 🙂 The greenish yellow garbage bin is a shoe storage container that will live between the cab seats from now on.

The door was originally going to be on hinges, but having it be a removable panel gives it a slimmer profile.

This project was bigger than it seemed at first glance because of the limited amount of room we had to manoeuvre behind the seats. The driver’s side panel was particularly tricky. We had to remove the ladder and bookcase and then reattach them. My prototype ladder was sawed in half and thrown out. I know the area looks much better now, but I’m a little sad to lose all that hard work. 🙂

It is darker in the rig with the cab blocked off, but I have the option of leaving the door open during the day. The benefits of the wall definitely outweigh the negatives!

I had hoped to close off the back of the ladder and turn it into a vacuum closet, but the space is just a little too narrow. I think that is for the best as the open space looks nice and airy. And besides, the new shelving allowed me to repurpose the over fridge cabinet into storage space for the shop vac!

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A Wine Crate Inspired Dresser

My wonderful new dresser is finished! Using wine crates for inspiration, plywood, cheap paneling, pine 1x2s, some leftover cloth-backed vinyl, stains, wax, and a bit of hardware, my mother was able to build me the exact item envisioned for the area next to my shower in the dressing room:

While I did post a sneak peek of the dresser, I thought I’d show off its details now that it’s done.

The new, made to measure, dresser stands proudly next to the shower, occupying perfectly otherwise empty space. It is raised a few inches off the floor to make it possible for the furnace vent under the unit to be used again.

The new, made to measure, dresser stands proudly next to the shower, occupying perfectly otherwise empty space. It is raised a few inches off the floor to make it possible for the furnace vent under the unit to be used again.

Coming into the dressing room from the kitchen, you can now see a unit that fits perfectly against the existing motorhome trim as though it was built in. The previous, temporary, dresser extended at least three inches into the doorway. The extra space to pass is wonderful!

Coming into the dressing room from the kitchen, you can now see a unit that fits perfectly against the existing motorhome trim as though it was built in. The previous, temporary, dresser extended at least three inches into the doorway. The extra space to pass is wonderful!

The shower side of the dresser is only visible in the shower. I stained it with brou de noix (a natural walnut stain) to make it look more finished. The colour isn't as red as the vinyl, but the effect is satisfactory.

The shower side of the dresser is only visible in the shower. I stained it with brou de noix (a natural walnut stain) to make it look more finished. The colour isn’t as red as the vinyl, but the effect is satisfactory.

We had to make so many adjustments to the dresser to get it to fit in the rig that some of the measurements ended up being a little off, including the width of the door. I just stained and waxed the apparent edge to make this mistake less noticeable. The door stays shut thanks to a hook and matching screw.

We had to make so many adjustments to the dresser to get it to fit in the rig that some of the measurements ended up being a little off, including the width of the door. I just stained and waxed the apparent edge to make this mistake less noticeable. The door stays shut thanks to a hook and matching screw.

I used Martha Stewart chalkboard labels from Staples to identify the contents of my drawers (which are actually repurposed wine crates). The names have rubbed off a little from use, but I don't mind since the labels are erasable/reusable and the look matches the style of the dresser.

I used Martha Stewart chalkboard labels from Staples to identify the contents of my drawers (which are actually repurposed wine crates). The names have rubbed off a little from use, but I don’t mind since the labels are erasable/reusable and the look matches the style of the dresser.

The vinyl was applied to thin cardboard-like paneling. We used the brou de noix to stain the back of the inserts for a more finished look.

The vinyl was applied to thin cardboard-like paneling. We used the brou de noix to stain the back of the inserts for a more finished look.

The dresser is secured with two toggle bolts that go from the back of the unit into the wall between the dressing room and kitchen that holds the pocket door.

The dresser is secured with two toggle bolts that go from the back of the unit into the wall between the dressing room and kitchen that holds the pocket door.

There are no words to express how much I love my new dresser and just how giddy I get when it’s time to put away laundry or get dressed!

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A Feline Homecoming

I just moved Tabitha and Neelix back into the rig. They have been living in the garage since the middle of June!

It’s hard to believe we have only been separated for about 10 weeks. It feels like a lot longer than that.

This was the first time since I adopted Tabitha in late 2000 that I have not had cats in my home. I missed my boos so much, but I did appreciate how much easier it was to keep the rig clean and sweet smelling.

After coming in, my gang wandered around. Bitha mewed until I was back into the rig and then she went to her favourite lounging spot, right by me in the study:

As for Nee, he didn’t seem too sure about where to settle for a wash, so I plopped him on the arm chair in the living room and he happily staked his claim:

(There is something notable in one of these two photos; would anyone care to guess what?)

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Overhang Overhaul

Whew, this weekend was work, and in torrid conditions to boot.

I’ve had a leak in a corner of my passenger side overhang for two and a half years now. The first time, I zapped it with caulking, but it came back with a vengeance that required a major interior overhaul. At that time, I applied Eternabond to the exterior, but the Eternabond didn’t work. I think that the reason for that was that it was just too cold and damp when I applied it and it never had a chance to bond.

This weekend, sick and tired of how terrible my rig looked with the Eternabond, I set to work to settle this damn leak once and for all.

As a reminder:

Now, I’d like to say that the way I handled the repair this weekend is not the way I would recommend going about dealing with a class C motorhome overhang leak. I am only comfortable having taken the steps I took because I demolished and rebuilt a good part of the interior, so I understand how the overhang is constructed and how water travels within it. Ideally, I should have gone ahead with this summer’s plans to have the passenger side pulled and replaced and then had all the seams recaulked. But that was a nearly $3,000 job which I really believe is not structurally necessary.

My class C has an aluminum frame construction. Therefore, water cannot wick through the frame to soak surrounding materials. The leak has always been confined to a very specific area. Moreover, the way the interior floor is constructed, all the weight is on the frame, not the fiberglass. The only evidence of the leak within the rig at this point is that if you tap the passenger side wall from the exterior right at the front lower corner, the sound is echoey, indicating that the fiberglass has pulled away from the insulation and luan. At some point this winter, in a dry location with time on my hands and a helper, I will consider pulling the passenger side window so I can rebuild the wall and caulk the seams from inside.

The first step to dealing with the leak this weekend was to remove the Eternabond. This was way too easy. The tape just pulled off easily, leaving a sticky grey residue not unlike chewing gum. I then applied some acetone (nail polish remover) to remove the stickiness and then used a putty knife the roll the residue into a little ball.

Next, I had to deal with the fiberglass flooring that had pulled away from the subfloor in one corner and was starting to crack from the strain. My mother had the idea to use an existing hole to inject an adhesive and then pry the floor in place until the glue dried.

So off I went to find some Gorilla Glue. While I was out, I also stopped at the very helpful Horizon Lussier RV in Marieville to pick up caulking, putty, and, since I was there, a house door window frame, and a catch for an exterior compartment. I had to take a detour to come home since the 10 Montreal-bound was at a standstill. So I ended up being gone most of the afternoon.

When I finally got in, my mother used a syringe to inject the glue into the hole. I then held a thin 1’x1′ piece of plywood up against the flooring while my mother jammed a 2×4 in tightly. It was then time for a well-earned beer and a seafood dinner!

When I went to check on the result this morning, I found the flooring most satisfactorily stuck to the fiberglass… as was the plywood sheet! Thankfully, the sheet came off without any damage.

Next order of business was to pull back the rubber covering on the mouldings that run across the front and passenger side of the overhang so I could remove part of them and apply new putty. It was very easy to see that the water damage never went beyond what I repaired inside. I removed the rusty screws and old putty, shoved some tooth picks into the screw holes to give the new screws something to bite into, applied new putty, and then rescrewed the mouldings tightly.

(I apologize for the lack of pictures; this was messy work that would have required a separate photographer!)

I then spent the day off and on cleaning the mouldings and fiberglass in preparation for caulking by my mother this evening. The Eternabond had left a dark yellow line where it was applied, so I used a ton of Poli Ox and elbow grease to mitigate the difference as much as possible.

When my mother got home, I went into helper mode while she caulked. We agreed that lots of messy looking caulk was better than a bit of neatly applied caulk. So up close, the job doesn’t look awesome, but it is MUCH better than was the Eternabond!

From a distance, my RV’s bad side is looking a lot less embarrassing!

It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so I will be able to test the repair right away. Soon as we get a dry spell again, I will Poliglow the area and then I think it will look even better.

I’m going to go collapse now!