Heat exhaustion strikes!

Working inside the bus in 30 minute sprints was all I could manage today. The amount of work completed was truly pitiful. The temperature inside was 117F in the dinette/kitchenette and 120.5F in the bedroom.

I would have shown a photo of the bedroom thermometer but for some obscure and unknown reason, my flash photos are coming out underexposed. Heaven knows what's going on there. I suspect the latest camera update isn't that great.

Anyway, I plugged on and installed the far partition under the kitchenette. It needs an OSB filler but that can wait til later. The only problem was one of the self drilling screws refused to go through the floor as did my carbide drill bit. That was annoying but not insurmountable. As there's a second bolt screwing that bracket down I wasn't that bothered.

At various times, sweat drilled noisily on the ground and on my work as well as running into and stinging my eyes. By the end of the day I truly stank like a hog's armpit! Despite working only for 30 minutes at a time and drinking copious quantities of fluids, I ended the day exhausted with a raging headache.

The sum total achieved was fitting three pieces of wood in exactly the right places and cutting two more and positioning them roughly, ready for tomorrow.

After fitting the wood tomorrow, the way is clear for sweeping the dinette and kitchenette thoroughly. I'll have to put some foam sealant in behind the kitchenette and trim it but that's nothing much. After that, I have to paint the whole of the kitchenette/dinette with primer. Then topcoat under the units since it won't be easy to get in there again.

Little by little, everything is coming together. The heat makes work terribly slow.

Frustrations at every turn

Today was more notable for what couldn't be achieved than for what could. Let's take a look at things that didn't happen first and why it didn't happen.

First, building new interior doors didn't happen because of the lack of 2x2.
Second, drilling the hole for the side door lock didn't happen because the hole saw is worn out.
Third, more internal carpentry didn't happen because it was 90F inside and 55% humidity.
Fourth I couldn't find a drill to insert the latch for the back door of the bedroom.

Now we've got that lot out of the way, what was achieved? And in fact, I achieved quite a few things.
First I filled a lot of holes with Great Stuff foam sealant. In fact I used up a complete tin of the stuff. After finishing that and finding I had two more empty cans, I took them into the back yard (don't panic - its the countryside) and used them for target practice and had a load of fun.
Second, I repositioned the door lock and started to drill the lock hole before finding the drill was blunt but hey, the lock plate is positioned in a far better place now.
Third, I hung the back bedroom door.
Fourth, with the aid of my girlfriend's sister's boyfriend, I managed to remove the ball from the tow hook some idiot welded to the front bumper.

My big problem is the heat. Working on the bedroom door, sweat was literally dripping off me. I'm very close to having to install ventilation. The other day I had to stop work because the heat was making me feel disorientated.

The big circle is what the hole saw failed to cut through. Looking at the saw, I see exactly why - it's totally blunt. It's designed for wood and so far has cut through 4 layers of 15 gauge steel and an inch of aluminum. Time for a new hole saw! In theory I should be using a hole saw made for cutting metal but since they're ten times the cost of one designed for cutting wood, I can afford to treat those designed for wood as disposable since I really don't have many holes to cut.

And there you can see how the teeth are all flat and have the edges turned over.

You're probably wondering why I don't just rush off to the store to buy the stuff I need. Well, the truth is that my day job has stopped for the moment so I don't have any income other than advertising clicks. After my job as a retail manager ended (the store closed), the only job I could find was after school child minding. That is part time and was the impetus that made me start building my motorhome. I realized there was no way that I was going to get a real job in South Carolina. I realized that I had to be able to job hunt outside South Carolina. The bus means I'm not tied to a rented hovel and means I could work as far away as Virginia and still get back to South Carolina at weekends to be with my girlfriend.

In view of the lack of income until school restarts in August, I'm eliminating all nonessential mileage. As I have a few things to do tomorrow, I shall combine everything in a single trip. So, now you know!