Homemaking

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This Is Going to Take Some Getting Used To

Tabitha didn’t let me sleep a wink last night, so around 6:30 I gave up and got up. First order of business was coffee. Oh, waitaminute. I brought up all the coffee supplies except the kettle and French press. *shakes head* So I threw a skirt and sweater on over my jammies and schlepped out to the rig. It was cold out!

Next, I had to put water in the kettle. Ooh, I can drink what comes out of the tap. What a novel idea! Now, to put the kettle on the stove. There’s a knob, but where’s the starter… oh, right, no starter. It’s now time to boil water, which takes forever on an electric stove. Water is boiling at last, put some in the French press and some in the mug, put kettle back on stove. Why is it whistling again? Oh, right, electric stoves give off heat even after being turned off.

Another thing I need to get used to is the sound of the fridge cycling off and on. I haven’t had to sleep in the same room as my fridge since ’98-’00.

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Moving Day

Today’s agenda was to finish destriping and Poliglowing the driver’s side, pack up, and move to the apartment. I was quite a bit behind schedule, but with Gary and Jody’s help I made it!

I was ready to move the rig around 4, so they helped me out and off I went to gas up, dump, and park the rig outside my building. The first thing I brought in was the cat supplies, then the cats. I locked them in the storage room with everything they needed to be comfortable except a window. It must have felt like a prison cell to them. 🙁

After, I did several loads, bringing up the contents of the fridge and freezer, the bedding, and some kitchen supplies. Gary and Jody met me at 6:30 to help me move in my bed and some furniture they are lending me (wait till you see my headboard!). We then debated how to best park Miranda, reached a consensus, and I was able to square her away. I then drove back to their house to pick up my car (and some curtains since my loft curtains aren’t quite enough and some fresh baked bread).

Back at the apartment building I went to Miranda to grab toiletries, a few more kitchen things, some clothes and my computer.

Before I left, I let the cats out. When I got in around 8, Neelix was roaming around, but Tabitha had literally vanished. I was really puzzled but not worried since she’s done this to me many times. I couldn’t wait to find her secret safe spot, but I thought I’d examined all the possibilities. Then I just knew. The pallets! Sure enough, Tabitha was under the bed! She let me pet her, but then retreated further under the bed, just out of reach.

By this point, I was famished but in absolutely no mood to cook and I can’t use my new microwave until I get an extension cord. So I decided to walk over to the McDonald’s a couple of blocks away. I was so hungry and exhausted by this point that my vision was blurry, but the food and fresh air did me a world of good.

On the walk home I realised that I’d forgotten to grab some pajamas and a skirt to wear tomorrow so I went back to the rig to grab them as well as my little green machine so that I could wash the recliner and ottoman Gary had pulled out of storage. What was one more chore by this point when it meant that I could enjoy the chair tomorrow evening. 🙂

Then, it was time for a most satisfactory shower. I was pleased with the shower head, water temperature, and the water pressure. It’s not much fun having to step over the edge of the bath and wrestle with a shower curtain, but I won’t miss my shower as much as I thought I would.

Now, I’m lying in bed with the kitties. I don’t usually use the computer in bed, but it’s either that or the floor! 😀

I am completely at peace with where I am tonight. The only place in Canada where I can winter with my RV is the second most expensive place in Canada to live. There is no way that I could do the $1,000 plus a month it would cost me to live in BC in addition to the taxes there. I badly need to see a doctor and this is where I’ve found one. The price to pay is living in this apartment. I will make do. I mean, I have a cozy temporary abode, no commute to a job I like, and good friends living close by. This is the perfect set up for me to get my health issues sorted out and I feel very grateful to be here.

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Apartment Preview

I’m still hoping to move into the apartment tomorrow, but there are a ton of things still left to do here at Jody and Gary’s to get Miranda ready for travel! But I have pulled off bigger miracles, so I’m not saying it won’t happen. 🙂

Today being the first I needed to put in an appearance at work to collect rent and be present to do move-out reports with tenants. I put in about three hours in the morning, then put up a sign saying I’d be back for an hour or so in the afternoon. At about 11:30 I went upstairs to scrub the hell out of my apartment!

It only took about an hour and a half to wash every inch of that place. It had been sanitized, but there was still plenty of grit on door trim and light fixtures. I now feel that it is truly clean and ready for me to move in.

Here are some shots of the apartment empty. I will post shots of it furnished when I get it to that stage!

I should be getting some furniture from work on Monday. The bed will be going in tomorrow if I manage to get out of here and I have accepted Gary’s offer of a nice cloth recliner and ottoman instead of having work buy me something. I also need to go pick up some plastic drawers for my clothes; work will reimburse me for those.

The goal is to be comfortable while spending the least amount of money possible since this is very much a temporary abode! I spent $60 today on a shower curtain and floor coverings. There is no way I am stepping foot on that disgusting carpet (yes, it has been cleaned) so I bought a huge thick plastic drop cloth that does the whole apartment ($9) and clear plastic runners for creating foot paths ($40). Not the prettiest solution, but it’ll work and, best of all, it was cheap!

The loft curtains are going to be perfect to cover the patio door and the window, so I don’t have to worry about window coverings.

I won’t pretend that I’m particularly enthusiastic or excited about moving, but I have accepted that this is what needs to happen. I also keep telling myself that this is temporary and I will be back in my cozy motorhome soon enough.

Well, back to work I go. Thankfully, I have awesome friends who think about me, so Gary is making me supper. :::awwwwwww:::

front hallway

front hallway

huge entrance closet

huge entrance closet

apartment from the hallway

apartment from the hallway

looking from the livingroom into the kitchen

looking from the livingroom into the kitchen

huge linen closet/pantry

huge linen closet/pantry

the tiny dysfunctional kitchen :(

the tiny dysfunctional kitchen 🙁

more of the tiny, dysfunctional kitchen :(

more of the tiny, dysfunctional kitchen 🙁

bathroom (I'm going to miss my shower, but hello bathtub!)

bathroom (I’m going to miss my shower, but hello bathtub!)

HUGE storage room off the bathroom

HUGE storage room off the bathroom

one side of the huge storage room

one side of the huge storage room

other side of the huge storage room

other side of the huge storage room

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Done With Fliers

Tonight, I turned another page of the ‘Financing the Lifestyle’ chapter of my nomadic life. After nearly a full six month of it, I delivered my last flier. This job was work. I enjoyed the middle section of it, the brief window when my body had adjusted to the routine and I had four full days to do them. Now that I had to squeeze them into my evenings after a full day job and working full-time at my own business they were getting to be too much.

My favourite part of finishing was reclaiming the trunk of my car! I’ve had the car in hatchback mode for six months with the back seats flipped down. It was nice to bring the seats back up and apply the trunk cover, making the car look so much neater and tidier.

Now that I finished my fliers a whole even sooner than I needed to, I have gained a whole evening to finish destriping and hopefully do the last of the Poliglow. It’ll be a bit of a race tomorrow since night is coming very early now. 🙁

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Destriping Marathon

Gah, how did this get to be the last weekend in September???!!!

By yesterday morning, I’d barely made a dent in my destriping project, but it was time to button it down. There was no way I’d drive the rig the way it was! At this point, the goal was to make the rig look less embarrassing; restriping would have to wait for the spring.

Yesterday’s project, then, was do the back of the RV. I lost the morning because of fliers, so the back, which still had a huge sticker on it, was a feasible project. So, destripe (AUGH!), clean (easy), and Poli Glow (peasy).

Today’s project was to completely clean the already destriped passenger side and Poli Glow it, then spend a few hours working at the %*()#%* driver’s side stripes.

So, passenger side side looked like this at about 9AM today, not counting the stripes:

And by 1PM it looked like this:

You can see the discolouration in the picture if you really squint. The RV is a dull yellow while the area under the stripes is stark white. Here is a tip: DO NOT WAX YOUR WHITE RV. Wax turns fiberglass yellow!

The result is nothing short of a miracle. Yes, a stripeless RV looks a little odd, but even with the ghosting the rig looks better than it did with the chipped and cracked decals.

Poli Glow is an absolutely amazing product.

I still have two to three hours of destriping on the driver’s side, then about two hours of clean up and Poli Glowing. The weather will be good this week so I’m going to try to put in an hour per evening.

Not to toot my own horn, but I did all this progress with a stress fracture in the left foot, a broken toe on the right foot, and a large second degree burn on my left wrist. This past week has told me that I am either more of a klutz than I thought I was or that the universe is telling me to take it easy!

Once this exterior project is done, I will be able to focus on getting the apartment cleaned and the rig ready for pulling out. I am hoping to pull-out Sunday, so the one-week countdown is on. But there is no real rush to get out, so if it happens one evening next week, that’d be fine. The following weekend would be pushing it, though. I want Jody and Gary to get their yard back before the weather turns so that they can get their trailer in it. As I said to them, I’m a pretty good guest in that they haven’t needed to ask me to leave! 😀