One thing that never changes is that everything changes.

I have two weeks left to my stint at my company and this past Friday they asked if I would like to stay on.
Of course I said yes. But with this decision goes my ability to take a long trip anywhere. So I will be shifting to plan 'B'.
Plan B involves stripping the RV down to the frame and rebuilding her, lighter, stronger and bigger. Plus I will rebuild the transmission and do some modifications to the engine.
I will be spending a lot of time in the beginning planning my attack with spreadsheets and drawings. I need to layout the cabin in a different way and extend the back a few feet. My intention is to have a livable space along with a small machine shop and small kitchen.
I may omit the sleeping area above the cab and turn it into a storage area (or computer command center which sounds way cool)
So in the following weeks I will be posting my ideas and thoughts and building an ordered list of things to do.
Any comments are welcome. Once the build starts I will be taking lots of pictures and some video so check it out from time to time.

T minus three weeks. . .

I have three weeks left at the job and then I will be unemployed once again. Although I am looking forward to it this time. At least I know that I will not have work, it will not be a surprise.
I have come to terms with the fact that I am just not a good worker. Maybe it's because I'm unencumbered by the normal things in life like kids, a mortgage, etc.. I just have the attitude that I don't have to put up with the bullshit of the work environment so why deal with managers who apparently get off on bullying their subordinates. I know I am a very creative person and I have a lot of talent and knowledge. I don't need someone treating me like a first year intern just because they think that I need to have a job.
Yes, I do know that this is a poor attitude. But I spent a lifetime trying to please my employers only to be extremely disappointed when all the work I put in didn't do me a bit of good.
Ok enough, now I have to figure a way to make money on my own terms.
Hmm.

Whew, been a few weeks.

Well, I haven't been posting lately because I've been crazy busy. That and not getting enough sleep has me pretty worn out. I just felt I had to post now just to avoid any rumors of my death or possible "Did your hear what happened?" followed by "I heard his last words were 'Hold my beer'".
Well, as far as I know nothing of the sort has occurred.
The mechanic had a hard time with the dually wheels but my girl now has all six new sneakers and I will be picking her up this weekend. I have some flooring for the back room, notice I didn't say bathroom? I am making it into my machine shop, and I will have a porta potty on-board for any emergencies. I will also have a water supply to wash with so I will not be completely without facilities.

Ok then, I'm still breathing and my RV is coming home. Till next post.

She may be ready this weekend

I talked to my mechanic and he said that he will get to the tires today and give the rest of the rig an inspection to let me know if all is well. Hopefully I will drive away with a sticker, I can only think of a few things that may be a problem and I gave him permission to fix whatever needed to be fixed, within reason, so I can have the coveted inspection sticker. Thankfully it does not have to pass the emission test.
I'm already chomp'in at the bit to get the new parts I received installed on it. I have two new roof vents and a stove vent. With a few stainless steel screws and that rubber spray I'll be in business. I will also replace the front marker lights with the LED units I bought many months ago.

So, Do I rebuild the Bathroom or make it into a Lounge?

I have been wrestling with this whole bathroom thing for a couple of weeks now. It's a big room, for a small RV. I do like the idea of the convenience of a having the ability to go anytime anywhere. But then I think of my past time on the road driving tractor trailers. They didn't have bathrooms on board.
And then there is the argument that it's a lot of extra hassle if I use it. There is the added weight of the water in the fresh water tank and the ever increasing amount of liquid and yesterday's food in the black water tank that I now have to find a legit place to dump. (pardon the pun)
Gas is expensive and the less weight I carry the better. And I wouldn't have to go out of my way to find a waste deposit area, thereby saving more gas.
But, I do like to be clean. And daily showers are very important to me. The water tank holds forty gallons and if I use the shower, it will use approximately one point five gallons a minute, and that's . . .
roughly a half hour of shower time. That's enough for one good shower and and possibly one maintenance shower. And then I have to find more water to refill the tank, and a place to dump the waste. . .
Ok, while I was on the road I leaned the ways of the asphalt cowboys. Who either didn't bathe until there was a strong storm, or used one of the thousands of showers available at most big truck stops.
It's not expensive, and the showers are the size of a small apartment easily able to fit myself and maybe a half dozen really close friends.
So now I'm thinking I'm not going to rebuild the bathroom. It would make a nifty machine shop just big enough to house my CNC mill. I would like to make things along the way and possibly make some extra scratch. I like this Idea. And I can remove the big tanks that I'm sure weigh a couple hundred pounds along with the pipes.
Besides, I'm a guy. I can always pull over to the side of the road and admire the beauty that is nature.
Get out and check the tires.
Go stretch my legs.
Chase down big foot.
Do some bird watching.
Check my lights.

Looking Forward to the Weekend

The stuff I deal with during the week really makes me glad there are a couple of days at the end of the week that I can call my own. I like to think that I'm not a very materialistic person, I don't have much, but what I do have means a lot to me. During the week I deal with people who look down on others, like me, who have not achieved the status that they, themselves have achieved. Levels that are defined in their own universe.
As I grow older and see more of what everything is about I realized that status is just a way of making a goal for yourself. Something to strive for. That's good. But when I'm looked down on because I don't have . . ., compared to whomever's own personal goals, then I just have to take a deep breath and subdue the urge to beat the living crap out of them.
I don't really mean that. I'm a pacifist and I let things like this bounce off me. Most of the time.
But back to the weekend, Hopefully I will be able to pick up the RV with new tires and proudly drive it back  home. I have not heard from the mechanic yet but I will call tomorrow and see what's up.
I have big plans in the following weeks for the old girl. First I need to fix the gas filler then repair the generator. I'm going to lay a new carpet in the cab and get working on the bathroom. One thing I need to address are the rear wheel skirts, they are in bad shape. I looked online and they want a totally unreasonable amount for them. So my solution is to make them myself. The skirt is symmetrical so between the two I can make one good one for a mold. A little fiberglass and resin and I'm in business.
I watch the 4x4 truck shows and in one particular episode they used polar fleece rather than fiberglass. It looked good so I will try it myself. It's a good cheap alternative.

Second Official Trip Complete

(Continued from the last post.)
I left my friends house and drove to the highway with the intention of stopping to get gas. I pulled off the road to the Irving station and drove up to a pump. At this point I realized that I left my wallet in my car so I walked over to my friends truck where he was filling up and I informed him of the sitch. Then while I was talking I had my hands in my pocket and it dawned on me that I had cash.

I walked back over to the RV and fired up the pump. A split second later I noticed that I was watering the ground. I found the gas leak.

So now I had to drive up to the garage with what I had in the tank, no big deal I had a quarter of a tank.
So now the RV sits at my mechanics garage waiting patiently for new tires.
Hopefully I will be able to pick her up this weekend so I can fix the fill neck and any other little things that need attention. There are not many more thing I need to do.