Tag: Anne Marie

Budgeted

I’ve roughly blocked out what it will cost to turn the bus into a full-time livable dwelling. That, combined with the cost of converting the 300 SD to run on veggie, means I will have very little money in savings by the end of this year. But it also means my cost of living going forward will be pretty damn low. Seems like a good trade.

I’m getting lots done across the board – I’ve been getting better at budgeting my time. It felt last week like I had bitten off more than I can chew, but I think I’ll be ok. I can tell myself that this is just a period of time in which many projects overlap, and it will pass. I know other projects will rise to replace the fallen, but I can ignore that for now.

Full Plate

Stunningly busy as of late. I’m stunned. Long days dealing with waste oil, then nights at my computer designing websites. I don’t feel like a webdesigner, since I still have a fairly light load, but I’m finding myself always having something to do. I’m looking forward to that tapering off. I’m confident it will. The apartment is only getting nicer, and it’s great having cool people in it.

I think I’ve settled on the direction in which I’ll be moving forward. I’m going to convert the bus into a full-time livable rig, making Anne Marie my new home. Once I move in, it should be three to four years until I’m ready to retire, or at least give up full time work for good. I see no reason I wouldn’t be able to move in by next spring. I’m sure I’ll find a reason, but I don’t see one yet. It seems I’m actually on track with my five-year-plan, which is surprising.

The other option was building a tiny trailered house, and I think that wouldn’t be the best option for me. There is more space in a bus, it looks a lot cooler, and I have most of the stuff I need already. Buying a trailer and a truck to tow it, and getting a foot less width were all deal breakers. I love the aesthetic of tiny trailered houses, and I’d love to help build one some day, but I don’t think I’ll build one for myself. I keep looking at these pictures and dreaming about what my bus will look like in twelve months. It’s nice to be daydreaming again.

Life is pretty good right now.

Endo, Storm

Nishi’s laparoscopy confirmed that she has endometriosis, which she has suspected for about a year now. It’s great that we can now move forward in treating it and getting her to feel better, for the first time in years.

While she’s in bed mending, I’ve been firing off job applications left and right. Not sure yet what will pan out, but it’s progressing.

When I talked to my dad today, he mentioned the storm that will be passing through this weekend. He was talking about heading down to Niantic, to stay at my grandfather’s house, which has a generator. I thought about this, and how the bus, in Middletown, is capable of sheltering and sustaining people if the power goes out. It has its own power supply, and can cook food or heat water with propane. I like that it’s already fairly far towards being self sustaining, but it has a lot further it can go.

Pulled Over

Anne Marie, Nishi and I were pulled over for the first time yesterday. There have been plenty of police/bus encounters, but up until yesterday no one had felt the need to pull us over. We were driving through the hills of western Connecticut, when a state trooper pulled along behind us. He followed me for nearly ten minutes before deciding to throw on his lights as I was crawling up a hill. There is probably something wrong with going 25 mph on a road that allows for much faster, and I was imagining a bizarre “Do you know how fast your were going?” exchange.

He walks up to the door looking kind of confused, and asked if I had any papers for this thing. I get up to get the registration, and the e-brake starts to slip. The e-brake in that bus has never been very good at keeping the bus from rolling on hills, though Joe once drove it all the way to Cheney using only the e-brake. When the e-brake slips, it makes an almost ratcheting movement, rolling a few inches backward at a time. I stepped on the brake quick enough to keep from buying him a new cruiser, and we threw chock blocks under the wheels. Playing it safe, he decided it would be best to move his cruiser out from behind thirteen tons of spray painted madness, and parked uphill.

When he came back I produced the registration, which he looked over briefly before asking for insurance as well. Handing him the insurance he explained that he pulled us over because he couldn’t read the license plate (reference picture), and everything seemed to be a-ok. He was nice enough to escort us as we crawled out way up the rest of the hill.

Failure

Maybe I should rename this summer the “Anti-Tour.” If there was an accurate antonym for serendipity, this trip would be it. We’ve scrapped any plans involving the bus as it has become clear that there is no way that we’re going to make any destinations with our unreliable refinery. We’re going to take Nishi’s car which is good on gas, but small and not fun. There isn’t anything remotely adventurous about this summer, it’s just a long vacation.

False Start the Billionth

Anyone who has ridden on the bus, heard about the bus, or even seen the bus, knows that reliability is not its strong point. Though to be fair, in this case it may be designer error. We’re having problems with the veggie system. After installing a new pump, we found that it couldn’t make enough pressure to push veggie through the filters. We installed a backup pump, and had a similar problem. We were looking in the wrong place, and have since narrowed the problem down to the filters. Something about the filters isn’t allowing veggie to flow freely through. We’re going to cannibalize the filters from Mike’s bus, and see if that can get us on the road.

T-minus Seven Days

Ideally looking to leave a week from today. Not sure whether that will happen, but that’s the goal. Lots to do before we leave – both to the house and to the bus. In fact, we’re nearly done painting the house, but there is still much to do to it.

I’ve been having a weird sense of time recently. The days seem long, but they also seem to blow by quickly. I’m not sure how that works, but I’ve been feeling it much more often lately. I wonder if that’s just my new sense of time, or if it’s my current lifestyle. It’s a very similar feeling to what I had on the bus. I can remember lots of things about a day, but when I look back on my previous days, they seem so fleeting. I guess it’s just a weird perspective. I’m hoping to update a little bit from the road, but it likely won’t be more than some short videos or photos. Moreover, I’m hoping to post a bit about the work we’re going to be doing to the bus before, and during the early stages of, this summer’s trip.

Rally to Restore Sanity

We’ll be attending the Rally to Restore Sanity on the 30th, and I’m hoping it will not be a problem. Nishi and I will be traveling down with Anne Marie, on our way to the Carolinas. According to the FAQ on the Rally’s website, a permit to get a bus in the city costs $50, while parking it costs another $40. I think I’ll be leaning on the fact that I’m driving an RV, and park it on the street somewhere several days beforehand. I’m sure we won’t attract any attention. Then again, maybe I should just get someone to shuttle us from a Walmart.

I’m pretty excited for the Rally, and I’m certain it will be fun, though I’m curious how they’re going to play it with the March to Keep Fear Alive occurring alongside it. A few weeks ago, Peter invited us to go out on the streets with him baring signs of acceptance and love. Nishi flew a “Free Hugs!” sign while I carried one that read “Have a nice day!” Peter made a sign that is shockingly similar to this one that appeared on the Daily Show a few days later. When he told me about this idea, I thought it would be funny to hold a counter-protest on an opposite street corner, with people holding signs supporting the abstract concept of hate. It would probably be pretty funny, but it would also undermine any legitimacy the initial event promoting love had.

I’m a little worried the March to Keep Fear Alive will do just that, and the entire event will just become a Daily Show / Colbert fan circlejerk. It will still be fun (I mean hey, circlejerk), but it won’t really register with anyone outside those circles. I’m also hoping I’m wrong, because I think the Rally for Americans in favor of a return to sanity, or something like that, has an extremely legitimate message to get across, and is addressing what is at least partially responsible for the lack of any real governance. I guess we’ll wait and see.

Post-Fox

I got back from Grey Fox late last night, and it was certainly a good time. I ended up staying with my normal camp, which I think may have been a mistake. Most nights we went out to other camps, since that’s where the people are. Next year, that’s where we’ll be. The bus did a spectacular job, and there was only one minor malfunction (there has yet to be a trip of considerable distance where nothing went wrong). On the way home there was a bizarre exchange between another car and myself, where they looked up the bus’ website while driving alongside me. That caught me off guard.

Back to Census work, for as long as they’ll have me. I’m hoping I can stay on for the next operation, since it seems that I will be staying in Middletown until mid-September. I have to challenge a tax assessment on my bus, since they valued it about $22,000 more than it’s worth. But once that’s taken care of, it seems like I’ll be heading for Flagstaff. I think.

Prom, Jr.

I just got back from driving my neighbor and her friends to Junior Prom. In the bus. They thought it would be cool, and I agreed, so tonight they all piled in and we made the short trip to the restaurant that was hosting prom. As usual, the bus attracts a lot of attention, questions, and stares, but I can’t honestly say it had the desired effect of awesomeness. I don’t really know.

I skipped prom, both at X and MHS, and I don’t regret either. It’s not my thing, and I don’t really know how arriving in a bus would change it. Whatever. They seemed happy, and that’s what matters.

Also, note to self: renting out the bus may be a marvelous method for making money on the move.