“I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets inAnd stops my mind from wanderingWhere it will go.”
~Lennon/McCartney
This has been a week of repairs and upgrades to my van. I’ve worked a little every day (and some days, I’ve worked way too hard) repairing a broken shelf above my clothes closet, throwing out my runner in the aisle and replacing it with those rubber puzzle flooring pieces, and installing a new swivel table in the back seating area.
The table took some doing, as it needed to be attached to the wall under my seating area and it needed a supporting plate deep inside my “garage” area in the back of my van. But once done, it allows me to swivel the table into many positions, get it out of the way when I’m not using it, and most importantly, allows me to adjust the height. Since I use it mostly for my laptop, it is much better ergonomically when lowered and much better for my ailing shoulder.
The new flooring was as simple as measuring the area, putting the tiles together, and cutting to fit. The cutting was harder than expected, but the final result looks good (and is MUCH cleaner than the carpet runner that collected way too much dust and dirt in the desert) and is much easier to keep clean by just sweeping.
The project I was most dreading—repairing the sagging shelf in my clothes closet turned out to go a lot more smoothly than expected. Lark took me to Home Depot and I got a scrap piece of 1×2 lumber and some screws and hooks. I thought I could brace it from underneath but that proved to be problematic in several ways. Ultimately, I decided to place it on top of the shelf, screw the brace from the bottom, thus lifting the severe sag up to be level to the board. It not only worked like a charm but adds a nice lip so all my cleaning supplies don’t fly off the shelf when I’m driving.
Each day I’ve chosen an area like a cupboard or cabinet, emptied it out, threw away anything that I hadn’t used in 6 months, cleaned everything else and put it back in after organizing better. It’s a pretty big project, but doing it a section at a time, made it not as daunting, and having a clean place to work (as opposed to trying to do it in the desert or in the forest) was a blessing.
I’ve also gotten to eat some of my favorite foods at my favorite restaurants. I never go to restaurants when I’m in the wild. I do sometimes stop for take-out when I have to venture into the empire for supplies, but it is a real treat to sit down with friends in a restaurant.
I’ve also gotten bloodwork done, seen my doctor, and repaired my windshield crack. I washed all my seat cushion covers, cleaned my cupboard doors, and ran some pots and pans through Barbara and Lark’s dishwasher. I will start out clean when I leave to go to the forest outside of Flagstaff. How long will the deep clean last? Not very long in the black dirt of the Coconino National Forest, but it is still nice to start out clean.
Wednesday morning I awoke with a severe sort throat. By the end of the day it had turned into a full-blown cold. I was pretty miserable for a few days, but with all my major projects complete, I took a break from cleaning and just laid low and took lots of naps. By Saturday I was feeling a bit better.
Lessons From The Road: The weather is still messing with my plans. My next stop after Prescott Valley is Camp Verde, AZ. I planned to leave on Sunday, but upon checking the forecast, it will be 104⁰ from Sunday through Tuesday. So Lark and Barbara have graciously agreed to let me stay in their driveway for an extra few days until the heat wave breaks and I can drive north. After Camp Verde I’ll continue North to Coconino National Forest where it will be in the 70’s during the day and dipping into the upper 40’s at night. I’m still seasonally challenged, often being too hot in the winter and too cold in the summer. It’s quite strange for me to worry about freezing in May.