What was I thinking?

That I might actually achieve something today? The first thing I did was to head to the bus to find the tool needed to change the disk on my angle grinder. That was easy enough. I think after hunting through six big, fully loaded cardboard boxes I'd had enough but fortunately it was right in the bottom of the sixth box. Tidying up the other day had the unfortunate effect of concealing the things I need to find!

Having changed the disk - a task of mere seconds as opposed to the hour or so trying to find the tool - I decided to cut some steel for the back door. Just the other end of the property lies a abandoned trailer with an abandoned fridge lying in the yard. That fridge looked to be a very suitable donor!

For some reason, there was an electric cable lying along the length of the yard. Thus, angle grinder in hand I went to the fridge, expectantly. Well, that's where it all went to pot! There was no power to the cable. Undaunted and beginning to swelter from the oppressive spring heat, I traced the cable back and found it wasn't attached to the main cable. I attached it then tried again. Still no power. I unattached the cable and tried the grinder on the main cable. Nothing. I traced the main cable back to its origin which happened to be a pile of leaves. That was odd and there was no visible socket anywhere nearby. I have seen that cable in use though.

Undaunted and no longer in the mood to mess about, I went to the shed and pulled out m'lady's Harbor Freight 800w generator. It was a struggle but I carried it down to the fridge. Reading the instructions it was a case of putting the power switch into the on position, setting the choke and pulling the cord. I pulled and pulled and pulled and pulled some more. Now I know why the electrical cable has been in use. The generator just would not start!

Frustrated and exhausted, I put the generator back in the shed. Sure - it had fuel and I'd followed the instructions. There definitely was compression. It just wouldn't bloody well start. At that point I decided enough had gone wrong to merit not attempting any further work. It was the kind of day when nothing would work out and in my experience, it's better to miss a day than to make mistakes that cost yet more time and or money to fix.

My mind flitted to conversion discussions I'd read when I was a member of those silly bus conversion forums. One fool wanted to change the dual wheels at the back to single wheels just in order to cut down on tyres. The fact that the vehicle had been designed to use dual wheels did not enter into the silly person's head. Another individual wanted to change over to a different type of tyre. Instead of using the standard 10R22.5 he wanted to use something weird. The point is this is a bus. It will always be a bus no matter how it is retitled. The parts will cost exactly what bus parts cost. Yes the tyres are expensive. This is what you get when you buy a bus and people don't understand that. Honestly though, I suspect the vast majority of forum users that claim to have a bus actually do not. I recall one person swearing blind they lived in an old school bus but looking at their photos, they lived in a bus body that had been dismounted off the chassis. It was immobile and thus not a bus any more.

Having thought about things overnight, I have decided to go with the original plan for the drums in having them mounted crosswise. Instead of having a pair of drums under the shower, I decided to go with a single drum on each side. The steel chain I bought will hold 450lbs and since there will be 3 chains holding each barrel, that's 1,350lbs of holding power. I don't think a 125lb tank is going to go aywhere or that any one chain will break. I will still take precautions though!

By 3pm the sky was still very overcast and grey. The humidity was off the charts and work outside was just unpleasant. It was time to come inside and abandon the day in the hope that tomorrow will be a better day.

I would have put the microwave on the ground since it doesn't now look safe to use and put a few bullets though it, taken a picture and joked about the microwave being "shot" but what with the weather, I just didn't feel like it. My humble appologies - I'll do better next time!

Decisions, decisions... And the story of the idea shot down in flames!

Attaching the 15 gallon drums underneath the bus was intended to be accomplished tomorrow. That won't be happening tomorrow though. Today I took m'lady to meet some friends of mine and during an exchange of information, I found why one of my previous positions ended. It transpired that I had not done the rotten job that I had been told I had done. It turned out that the manager in charge of the department quietly disliked me. That explains why some of the training I'd been give was rather obtuse. Afterwards, she'd admitted she'd got rid of me because she didn't like me. Now that I find is rather unusual because most people (not all) do seem to like me (or if they don't, they hide it pretty well).

So, the upshot of today is that I was in Lowes (hiss, spit) on the way back. My idea had been to use a chain with a turnbuckle to tighten it to perfection. That, it seems, is not possible. Looking at Lowes (hiss, spit) turnbuckles, they were all adorned with labels along the lines of "will not support a human" and "do not use to support weight" and seemed to be made of zinc. How useless is that? I have seen people using chains to secure tanks under their vehicles and I'm pretty sure they use turnbuckles to tighten their chains. Now it could be that Lowes (hiss, spit) specialises in supplying an inferior and inherently dangerous product and that many people just don't read the labels, ripping them off and relying upon them.

I had been criticised for considering using nylon cargo straps to secure my drums. It seems that cargo straps are probably the best idea. They can be tightened easily and while not being allegedly very durable, are probably as durable as a plastic tank! So, the answer is to put nylon cargo straps. While I don't possess cargo straps right now, they're easily obtainable. They're better doubled up for strength. I know 15 gallons of water weighs just over 125lbs. Thus if the cargo straps individually hold 120lbs then I can put 3 or 4 straps giving either one or two redundancies for safety. 

While I Lowes (hiss, spit) I obtained some small wire nuts. I came to the conclusion that I'm better off replacing the top flashers with plain metal sheeting. The idea of turning them into extra turn and brake lights at the back is very worthy but in terms of practicality, means adding more complications. Thinking about the existing wiring, it seems to me that since it goes straight to the control panel, it could be linked to my small solar panel to use to keep the bus battery topped up. Indeed, it might even be possible to use the wires to connect a solar panel to charge the house battery. The house battery, by the way, only needs to hold enough power to charge my tablet and my phone. That's next to nothing! Certainly keeping the bus battery charged is a good idea. With a little care, the power could be redirected to power a small electric extraction fan at the back of the bus. That would give the option of using the power for the fan.

Another interesting idea would be to couple a small 12v battery into the charging circuit for the bus so the battery charges when the bus is driving or when solar power is going in but doesn't deplete the main batteries when it's being used to power the house circuits. Realistically, the simplest way of achieving this is with a simple switch on the driving console. Power goes into the house battery when the switch is on. When it's off, the circuits are separate though remembering to activate the switch might be an issue!

Tomorrow, I'm not sure which tasks I will undertake. I'll probably replace the worthless paper blinds though. I might then look at the front flashers or even take the bull by the horns and install the main breaker box.

Almost 50%?

Despite the oppressive heat. Inside the bus - it was 110 for a long time - I managed to complete both countertops. This means that aside from painting and screwing the countertops down, one side is almost completed.

The countertop needs a surface. That's going to be easy - vinyl floor tiles. The cabinet doors need hinges, handles and catches. The drawer needs a handle and a catch. Then there's painting.

A separate project for both sides of the bus at the end of the counter where a window has been replaced is to put up some cabinets but that's a project for later. I figure the dinette side can have a bookcase and the other side, the microwave and other kitchen gizmos.

This is the kitchenette side. As yet its all empty underneath. This will change. Because the end walls are not square, the end units will be cupboards. The far cupboard will house a mini fridge. I have a vague idea mini fridges are 17.5 x 20 x 15 but I'll allow 24 inches just in case. I can always put something beside the fridge like a bulk pack of toilet rolls. There will be two drawer units. I might make those separately then just screw them into place later. I'll have to plan the content of the drawers.

Ages ago I saw somebody had a nifty idea for storing crockery - they stored it in foam padded drawers. The plates were edge down. I'll try to emulate that and will have to leave enough room for willow pattern crockery. I like willow pattern and Royal Albert Country Roses. At the moment I just have a cheap Walmart set of crockery. It's as ugly as sin but does the job.

Because the walkway is now jammed with OSB and 2x4, I'll take a break from the kitchen and complete the bedroom sub partition. I also decided that my closet rail will be a chain suspended from the ceiling. Not only is it lighter than a rail but it also puts no stress on the partitions which are nowhere near as strong as my later partitions. Chain is easier to carry and install. Bonuses all way around!

After that, I'll do the front closet then the bathroom counter. The doors for the cabinets might as well all be the same. I used a 1x2 frame with hardboard screwed and glued to it.

I was hoping to have it all done by July but the schedule might slip if I can't get more done. Got to pray for lower temperatures!