Quiet week

This week hasn't seen much progress on much of anything.  Since I forgot to post them in the last post, here is the plan for the entryway armoire-like thing.  The plan is to have this and possibly rebuild the deacon's chair.  I think the deacon's chair might wait for after this is in place though so I know what I need more storage for: boots, hats, gloves, etc.  That will allow me to customize it further.

And here is the quick sketch of the entertainment center for the gym.  This is a smaller version of what I will be building for the living room eventually. 

My cube storage thingies arrived last night (two days late, so Amazon's streak continues), so I got those put in.  I have the two leftover that will end up in the armoire.  I plan on putting books and larger stuff in the top two cubbies that don't need to be in a container.

Current To-do:

• ASAP
• Shorten PTO shaft for snowblower
• Final mowing of leaves?
• Winterize equipment
• Winter projects: 
• All the cabinet upgrades (bathroom, pantry, and kitchen)
• Design deck
• Build armoire.
• Install whole house filter.
• Shelving upgrades in master closet.
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Install cube organizer in living room.
• 2024 Projects:
• Back yard drainage.  Complete Mortgage.
• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum
• Close up tiny home.  Seal up plumbing.
• Deck
• Entertainment center
• Storm doors

Long but soggy weekend

I had a long weekend (I took Monday off) though it was a wet and soggy weekend.  Saturday started off dry though, so I got started on some of my outdoor backlog of tasks.  I started off changing out the air filter in  my truck.  I got a new K&N for it.  It sounds better (less whooshing when the turbo engages), time will tell if it helps with the gas mileage, though I would expect not.  Modern engines control air flow fairly well to begin with.  This filter looks pretty dirty considering it only has 30k on it.

I also got the stands for my hood adjusted.  The hood of my truck was wobbling when I drove down the highway.  It was tightly latched, but this should prevent the wobble.  

I then started on the mowers and getting them ready for winter.  It took a lot of pulls, but I finally got the push mower running and got it run out of gas.  Everything was still soggy though, so I didn't bother trying to mulch any of the leaves.  At this point, I am not going to bother.

Shortly after I got that started, I ran the long extension cord to hook up power in the carport again.  

The lawn tractor was another story however.  My battery charger wouldn't even charge its battery, it immediately went to recondition.  I tried using the jump start on it, and it wouldn't even turn over.  

So while it was reconditioning, I went out and picked up all the drainage pipe pieces that had been scattered all over the yard.  

I also decided to rearrange the carport around the lawn tractor.  It looks much better.  

As I was rearranging, I did see this, which was a little concerning.  This fall has been very wet (and was fixing to get moreso), and there was a sheet of ice underneath the tractor.  

I then went and gave Mahes a hand picking up a bunk bed.  

Fortunately I went out Saturday night to check on the battery reconditioning (which still hadn't completed) so I unplugged it.  If it hadn't finished by then, it was never going to finish.  Apparently they delivered my TV while I was out though.  So Amazon has successfully been wrong about the delivery date (most later, but the TV was early) on every single purchase I have made this shopping season.  If I hadn't seen it, it would have been in a puddle when it rained on Sunday.

Sunday the rain came.  I did go out and try to jump the lawn tractor with my truck before it started though.  Even with my truck behind it though it only barely turned over once.  That is a problem.  I knew the battery was toast, but I didn't expect it to completely suck the life out of the whole electrical system.  I can close the fuel shut off and then remove the fuel line to drain the gas out of the engine (I think).  Hopefully that will be sufficient since the gas in the engine is not stabilized.  

Most of Sunday was spent setting up the new TV.  It turns out the feet are angled too far out for my current stand, but fortunately the TV has a set of inner feet hookups.  

It isn't as stable on those though.  It doesn't help that the feet on these are the cheapest I have ever seen.

But it worked with the switch, which was a relief.  Ever since I had to swap to the backup Westinghouse, the Switch had apparently stopped working.  I guess the two were just not compatible or something though.  No idea why; HDMI is pretty standardized and everything else (laptop, receiver, etc) worked fine with it.

But the new TV is all set up and running.  It is nice to have my sound system back.

And then it rained.  And rained.  And rained some more.  Monday started off wet too.  It had changed to snow, but it was melting as fast as it was falling.

As expected my creek is high.  Very high.

The back yard is really really bad.  I almost wonder if I would have been better off leaving the trench there.  I was worried about the slab shifting with part of its support bank dug up, but this is worse.  Oh well, too late to do anything about it now.  

I didn't have too much to do on Monday.  I intended to get a hair cut, but apparently they are closed Mondays too now.  It might be time to find a new place.  It feels like SuperCuts gets less friendly and one step closer to shutting its doors every time I go there.  I also went and got a quote for the cap.  The ARE cap is 2400 installed (plus the rails on top).  The place in Keene had never even heard of the ez-lift kit though, which is concerning considering they are an ARE approved accessory.  They had Leer caps too, though they were 2800 and didn't include installation.  I think I might try to find another dealer though.  

I also went and poked around these guys: https://truckcamperwarehouse.com/ just for completeness sake.  They only had one unit that I would even consider putting in a half ton (from a weight perspective) though, and it was for a short bed.  Most of their campers were around 3000lbs.  While I have had that much weight in the back of my truck before, I certainly wouldn't travel across the country with that much weight in the back.  I know they do make lightweight ones that would fit (like this: https://fourwheelcampers.com/model/grandby-model-pop-up-truck-camper-leader-full-size-trucks/) but they didn't have anything close to that on their lot.

The last stop was at the eyeglass shop.  It is unfortunately time to call time of death on my sunglasses.  They said that style hinge was not repairable.  Fortunately they weren't obnoxiously expensive.

I did start doing some design work on the armoire, but forgot to take a picture of it, so it will be in the next post.

Current To-do:

• ASAP
• Shorten PTO shaft for snowblower
• Final mowing of leaves?
• Winterize equipment
• Winter projects: 
• All the cabinet upgrades (bathroom, pantry, and kitchen)
• Design deck
• Build armoire.
• Install whole house filter.
• Shelving upgrades in master closet.
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Install cube organizer in living room.
• 2024 Projects:
• Back yard drainage.  Complete Mortgage.
• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum
• Close up tiny home.  Seal up plumbing.
• Deck
• Entertainment center
• Storm doors

Travel thoughts on my truck vs a van (no pictures, just a blob of text)

I have really done much during the week, mostly just cleaning and organizing, since I have been going in and coming home in the dark, and I haven't been motivated to do much.  I have the new cubes on order (my Walmart sadly didn't have any).  My Christmas shopping is done though.  My new TV should be in next week too.

After the troubles with the cap on my last trip, I have been doing some thinking about the method of traveling.  I saw a lot of converted vans on this trip, and it is pretty clear that a converted van is a superior option.  I believe they are smaller exterior dimension-wise (my truck doesn't fit in parking spaces in a lot of places), would have more living space, are more convenient (aka don't need a step ladder to get into), you can stand up in them, and everything is one space, which means freezing and stuff is less of an issue. They are also insulated, and typically have privacy glass which makes stealth camping and stuff a lot easier and safer.

Having said that, while it is pretty clear that the cap that I built was a failure, I am not ready to write off the whole idea of building a camper in the back of my truck; I like the idea, it's just the one I built wasn't up to snuff.

Thinking outside of traveling (since that isn't the most common use case for my vehicle), a van can do all the things (with a caveat) that I need a truck for: it can haul lumber and supplies, it can tow my tractor, and things like that.  The Ford Transit uses the exact same driveline components (at least engine and transmission) that my truck has.  The only place vans fall short, and this is a pretty big failing, is that the only 4x4 van on the market is the Mercedes Sprinter.  The Ford Transit is only AWD, which should be adequate in NH winters.  Also worth noting that most vans aren't compatible with aftermarket differential locks, so odds are I can't even get an aftermarket limited slip for it.  The Ram ProMaster is a FWD so it at least has a fighting chance in the snow,  though I remember many times my Nissan (FWD) not making it up my driveway.

Each of the vans have major drawbacks.  Here is my findings on them

• The Mercedes Sprinter, 
• The most common choice for conversions.
• Available 4x4
• Uses a small 4 cylinder diesel.  Diesel's have longer driveline lifetimes, and more amenable maintenance schedules.
• Diesel's however require DEF and regeneration.
• I have found a ton of conflicting information, but the majority say it gets absolutely terrible mileage (think 14/18).  
• Mercedes' vehicles are in general more expensive to repair as well.  Parts are not normally stocked.
• Can only be worked on by Mercedes dealers, and only ones with certified Sprinter mechanics.
• Not every dealer (the estimates I have seen range from 33% to 67% of Mercedes dealers) can work on it.
• Has a lot of stupid annoying stuff, like it still uses a prop rod in a really inconvenient spot, you have to remove the floor pan to get to the battery, doesn't come with dipsticks for checking the oil, etc.  
• They have a worse UI than Ford (which is an accomplishment in a bad way)
• There are tons of conversion parts for them due to being the "elder" van choice, but in general are shaped very poorly for converting due to heavy curvature on walls
• The Ford Transit 
• Ford has the best feature set of all vans
• Available AWD
• Only model with an available extended range gas tank.
• Ford is routinely near the bottom of all reliability and quality metrics.
• I know from my truck that Ford's software is stinky doodoo.
• It is also the most expensive van.  By a lot.  
• I priced out 4 vans: a Ford Transit, a Ram Promaster, a Mercedes Sprinter, and a Chevy Express.  The Ram was the cheapest when customized at around 52k.  The Chevy was only 53k, but was missing a lot of the features and their configuration options were retarded (I was forced into a 6.6L V8 for example). The Mercedes came in at 56k.  Then you had the Ford at 67k.  Ouch.  
• The Ford did have the best feature set, but still...  Plus in addition to all this, I would be looking at probably around 10-20k to convert it.  
• The height options stink for me; the mid-height is 5'11" before adding ceiling and floor.  I won't be able to stand in that after adding a ceiling and floor.  Their next height option is an obnoxious 6'8".
• Requires extra attention when converting if you want a cross-ways bed.  It isn't natively wide enough if you just panel the walls.  But a cross-ways bed is possible.
• Funny ceiling curvature may make building cabinets more time consuming, and you will lose some space in the front because it angles down quicker than the others
• The RAM ProMaster
• Still uses a Chrysler Pentastar engine.  This is a very old engine design that isn't known for longevity.
• Front wheel drive.  No hope of upgrading that.
• I saw several Youtube videos where people got stuck...  On wet grass.
• Very very little ground clearance.  But also lowest/easiest to get in and out of.
• Best for converting; it is the widest on the inside by several inches (it is natively wide enough for a cross ways bed.  Height is perfect for me at 6'3".  
• Is relatively square, making construction easy.
• Reports are that it has the best fuel mileage.
• The Chevy Express
• Didn't have any typical conversion features, like swiveling seats.
• Really obnoxious package configurations.  I was basically forced to upgrade to the 6.6L V8 in order to have any interior packages (think cruise control).
• Comes with virtually no conversion options.
• Chevy has in recent history made a habit of designing things poorly, and then not covering the repairs due to poor design (like their 5.3L V8s that burn oil from the factory brand new).  As you might expect, they rank pretty low on quality and reliability.

So with that in mind (basically axing the Sprinter and Chevy), I see three options:

• Bite the bullet, pony up the big bucks, and go with a Ford Transit.
• Go with a Promaster, and pick up a cheap AWD used car for winter driving and commuting.
• With how crazy the used car market is at the moment, I would want to verify that cheap AWD cars are actually available.  I did briefly look at Craigslist and found a few, but they weren't plentiful.  That adds 5k to the cost of  the option though, plus recurring insurance, registration, and maintenance costs.  
• Keep in mind that I didn't replace the Nissan for a reason.
• Stick with the pickup.  Get a real cap and lift kit, and try again.  Basically kick the can down the road.

I think I am going to stick with the pickup, and get a real cap.  Even if it isn't convenient for traveling, for me this is for travelling only; I am not living in it.  That way I can push off the van decision until the end of my current truck's life (which will be about 5-6 years at my current rate of miles).  It is possible my needs will have changed by then, and the cap required for short term adds value to the truck. Building the conversion furnishings shouldn't be a waste of effort; they should be reusable or at least valuable learnings.  In addition, they do make campervans that you can rent.  I saw several from Travellers, Karma, and Escape on this trip.  Perhaps I should rent one and see just how much nicer they really are?  See if it is worth spending 20k for a handful of trips a year, even if one of those trips is a full month long.  In another year I get my fourth week of vacation, so I will likely start doing two trips a year instead of one really long one.  

It is supposed to be fairly nice on Saturday, so I am hoping to get a bunch of the items done this weekend.

Current To-do:

• ASAP
• Shorten PTO shaft for snowblower
• Final mowing of leaves?
• Winterize equipment
• Winter projects: 
• All the cabinet upgrades (bathroom, pantry, and kitchen)
• Design deck
• Build armoire.
• Install whole house filter.
• Shelving upgrades in master closet.
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Install cube organizer in living room.
• 2024 Projects:
• Back yard drainage.  Complete Mortgage.
• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum
• Close up tiny home.  Seal up plumbing.
• Deck
• Entertainment center
• Storm doors

Looks like time for a new TV.

So Saturday started off with a bang.  Literally.  My old TV had its power supply fail.  I had been wanting to upgrade since I moved in (bigger house needs a bigger TV obviously).  The original plan was to buy a new TV, and then move the old one out to the deck when I built it next year.  Oh well.

I had picked up a freebie TV off of Craigslist last year for the home gym.  It was a cheap crappy Westinghouse, but it functions.  It isn't a great TV (the brightness blows out lighter things, but turning it down makes the picture look awful), but will do until my new one comes in.  It also doesn't have an audio out, but rather than re-wire everything, I am just using my bluetooth speaker for now.  I did some research and ordered a new one (65 inch).

I kept waiting on Saturday for it to become less miserable, but it never happened.  This was taken at 330PM.

I still got around to finishing up removing everything out of the back of the truck.  I put the fridge in the tiny home, which seems to be holding up just fine.  The tiny home still smells a little, which I assume is the plumbing traps not having water in them anymore.  If I get motived, I might try to plug/tape over all the drains and see if that helps.  Otherwise, since it isn't heated anymore, I might just leave the windows cracked open all winter.  I have debated bringing down my little propane heater and seeing if that was adequate for using it to paint during the winter.

While Sunday was supposed to be wet it wasn't supposed to be snow.  Fortunately snow is still in the pretty stage of winter, and since I didn't have to clear anything yet, it isn't in the annoying stage yet.  I really do need to get the PTO shaft work done though.  I need to do a little more research to figure out how I am supposed to measure the shaft length (from where to where, should the rear be lifted, etc).

I finished getting everything unpacked and clearing up the front entryway, and I also assembled the cube storage thing I had picked up.  I didn't realize that it doesn't actually include the cubes.  Ugh.  It looks pretty nice though, and matches the wall quite well. Too bad it was missing hardware.  Thankfully I have a large stock of fasteners.

The plan is to empty out the totes that were sitting in the corner into it.

I also thought about my winter projects.  The list I had before my trip was pretty loaded for the winter, so I don't think I am going to add anything to it.  There are still some things I have to figure out though, since some of my equipment isn't winterized yet.  Since the ground is already frozen, I am not sure if there is value in mulching the leaves, but regardless I still need to winterize everything, run them out of gas, and more importantly store them in the corner of the carport, which is very poorly loaded at the moment.  I hadn't expected it to get so cold while I was away.  The last several winters I had days I could paint in December.  It looks like I won't get that this year.

Current To-do:

• ASAP
• Shorten PTO shaft for snowblower
• Final mowing of leaves?
• Winterize equipment
• Winter projects: 
• All the cabinet upgrades (bathroom, pantry, and kitchen)
• Design deck
• Build armoire.
• Install whole house filter.
• Shelving upgrades in master closet.
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Install cube organizer in living room.
• 2024 Projects:
• Back yard drainage.  Complete Mortgage.
• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum
• Close up tiny home.  Seal up plumbing.
• Deck
• Entertainment center
• Storm doors

Trip Pictures Finally.

I got back from my trip last weekend, and have finally finished sorting the pictures and everything.  

Here are the links to the pictures:

The drive to SC: https://photos.app.goo.gl/X38AoTXfbUW1PJdQ9

Marianne's Wedding: https://photos.app.goo.gl/GVCFfdWdLLzsocSJ6

Drive to Hot Springs National Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/6iGTmzAoJLU9UTzm6

Hot Springs National Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/C6nTYLffjKXcG7HJ7

Drive to Big Bend National Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Sid8GPrcNcs93LzD8

Big Bend National Park - Chisos Mountains: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9wNc9k2yLtsF1aj99

Big Bend National Park - Rio Grande Village: https://photos.app.goo.gl/LTV3nxstcV8sEd3B7

Milky Way Pictures from Texas: https://photos.app.goo.gl/xiiEB26qdhj8Fqh19

Drive to Guadalupe Mountains National Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wCETqC2qqJ8dPNfG7

Guadalupe Mountains National Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SGmwUydQF3yAVqmp9

White Sands National Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bj7LiFgWKsP7cSTV9

Drive to Moab: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cZj5hg9iXduzVbGp7

Arches National Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Cxqeznu92ouZL6XD8

Arches National Park Devil's Garden Hike: https://photos.app.goo.gl/a4K61wHbfCLP4Vho9

Canyonlands National Park Visitor Center: https://photos.app.goo.gl/o5hmkbgf1XV7Tofa9

Dead Horse Point State Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2XR8iZSwk2iCGfwZ7

Little Giants Dinosaur Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wGP9L69iHhQYWvvu5

Canyonlands National Park Island in the Sky: https://photos.app.goo.gl/TPsP57fXPMzRFdYt8

Canyonlands National Park Overlooks and Needles District: https://photos.app.goo.gl/3yaDyivXFoWjkbSh6

Local Moab Hikes: https://photos.app.goo.gl/vrnXEseDMq2z5vM9A

Drive to Zion and Zion National Park Visitor Center: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hbJV1wCPmkH5DGDm9

Zion National Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/K9wko6oLzwJbjzoNA

Zion National Park Tunnel and Western Side: https://photos.app.goo.gl/zzQ49ihEDHs8fpR88

I tried to go to Kanarra Falls and do that hike, but it was closed: https://photos.app.goo.gl/UhtzsjzvR2aPDxsV6

Bryce Canyon (First day): https://photos.app.goo.gl/NqAp18vBxTfpqGZa9

Bryce Canyon (second day): https://photos.app.goo.gl/3w3sQYthYcyfySqU6

Cedar Break National Monument: https://photos.app.goo.gl/sB6VbhHRfGuMWm1r8

Escalante Petrified Forest State Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/n9y8FqLfMyxF38hA7

Capitol Reef National Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/o6pf6cMJPWJMY34z6

Return drive to KY: https://photos.app.goo.gl/XiZFdXiz7WQpnCPs9

I spent Thanksgiving in KY.  With an assist from Jess who premade the risotto and stuffing, I cooked up a Thanksgiving dinner.

A couple of things about the pictures on this trip: 

I have done a first pass on them, but some, like the White Sands pictures, I didn't go through and only pick only one or two of the sunset pictures and get rid of the rest.  I might do that at some point.

If I am going to continue to use the big camera for panorama shots, I really need to start carrying the tripod.  Because of stuff like this and all the long exposure shots I tried that were almost all deleted because they were motion blurred into oblivion.

I really don't understand why stitching panorama photos is so painful in this day and age.  Microsoft ICE (which I used for years) is dead, Hugin (another free one widely regarded as one of the better free ones) doesn't know how to stitch (or requires more knowledge of the program than I have) and it frequently blurs the lines where it stitches and looks bad.  Photoshop, the premier photo editing software, kept doing stupid crap like this and was obnoxiously slow, but at least produced really nice output once you fixed it being stupid.  I am seriously considering just using my phone for all panorama shots in the future.

Google photos doesn't allow large panoramas to be uploaded, so if you see a panorama shot that is significantly smaller than the pictures around it, it is because I had to shrink it to upload it.  I am guessing that only people with 4k or larger monitors will notice this, since I shrunk them to 1080p sizes.

The trip came to right around 10k miles.  I averaged around 19mpg for the whole trip (probably a little less, the computer tends to be a bit optimistic by roughly 0.5mpg).  I am estimating the trip cost between $8k and $9k.  It is worth noting though that I didn't normally choose the cheapest hotel, I chose a well rated one, and typically close to the attraction.  This is mostly as a reaction to staying in Williams on the Grand Canyon trip, which was 70 miles from the Grand Canyon.  

Even with all this stuff in the back (the fridge itself is still there).  I didn't realize that I had brought so much crap.  And this is after the trip, so a lot of the food and drinks are gone...

If I take any more trips like this, my magnets might need to move from the side to the front.

Another couple comments on traveling: I definitely understand the appeal of converted camper van.  It is basically the way I traveled but better.  The only way this is feasible though is if the van can replace my truck, I don't have 60k for a van lying around, plus another 10k to actually do the conversion.  It might be worth investigating though.  If I can find a 4x4 van, there is no reason it can't replace my truck, it can haul almost as well, and they can tow as well, and would be much better for traveling.

The reason that came about is because while the idea of the cap and camper in the back seemed to work, my current implementation was a failure.  None of my latches held up while on the road despite being 350lb strength.  The drip edge came apart, which allowed water to blow into the back, so it wasn't water tight.  Aerodynamically it was at best a brick, which made a lot of noise on the road.  I also had problems with the fridge running out of control, but I assume that is because it is a black fridge in the sun in a black bed.  Likewise, the Jackery refused to charge until the drive home (which was fairly cold out).  I assume that is also thermally related.  It does cast doubts on the feasibility of the cap though.  I still think the idea is acceptable, but I think I will have to buy a real cap or seriously upgrade my construction techniques.

There didn't appear to be any issues with the house when I got home.  I was nervous when I saw this, but I am pretty sure it just stands for Clean Filter. 

All the toilets had evaporated most of the water and left some residue/minerals behind, but after a month, that isn't entirely abnormal.

The back yard was soup (and has since turned into an ice sheet).  I don't like it, but there isn't anything I can do about it at this point.  

This weekend will be mostly getting everything straightened up and organized again, and then some prep work for what I want to work on over the winter.  

Just to finish off, here are a few of my favorites from the trip.  These are the candidates for getting printed and putting on my wall.