Cleaning and car camper upgrades.

This post is a bit overdue, but I have been kinda lazy since I got back.  We lost power a couple weekends ago, so I finally put in a extension cord so I can move the plug to the Jackery if needbe.  

 

I have been doing a lot of cleaning since I got home.  I left the house in a pretty rough state, with tools and stuff just everywhere.  

 

The main project two weekends ago was to clean it all up.  

 

I also gathered up all the parts of the carport.  Winter had deposited some of them in new homes.  

 

Speaking of homes, when I got home, I had to evict some birds.  Kind of makes me wonder - if I put bird houses on the outside or even the inside, would they use those and leave the rafters and my tools alone?  This nest was built on top of my sledge hammer while I was gone.

 

I also had to empty out the truck, it went in for the deer repairs last Wednesday.  I haven't heard anything yet, but I expect it will take a few weeks.   

 

I took my e-bike to ride home that evening.  It didn't go well.  It got about a third of the way home and quit.  Hub overheated again, despite the fact it was only 50s outside. There is a big steep hill to get there, but that hill isn't even half the hill of the one in Sullivan, so I just got a ride (thanks Anx).  

That does beg the question of what good is it?  I don't trust it enough to take it traveling.  I couldn't imagine what I would do if I were riding the rim road of the Grand Canyon and it just died.  It is good for riding the rail trails (flat) and around town (also mostly flat), but I can do that (albeit a bit slower) with my regular bike.  Where I wanted the help most was the hills, which it can't do.  The only thing it is good for is when I drop off a vehicle at Bob's and want to ride into work, riding the rail trail back I can average 20mph on it, as opposed to 8-10mph for my regular bike.  So I decided to sell it, see if I can get anything for it.

In the time since I got home, everything is in full bloom.  The biggest surprise is my yard; it needed mowing when I got home.  Last year I didn't have to mow until June.  And presently the only mower that I expect to start and work is the push mower.  Stay tuned for how bad my yard gets before the first mowing...

 

Last weekend was focused on the car camper, since I need it this coming weekend.  So Saturday I cleaned out the car and made a plan. I didn't realize how much crap I had shoved in the car; when I cleaned out the truck for the trip, I just put a lot of the stuff in the car apparently.

 

Sunday I went up and picked up some more elk.  It is only a dollar or two a pound more than lean beef at this point.  When I got home, I put the plan into action. Some parts took a while, like tightening up the slides for the drawer.  I couldn't find the ratcheting wrench I put these in with, so I had to improvise.

 

But the improvements are done, and it is back in the car.

 

I made the bed side a bit better as well, so it doesn't rub and damage the car as much.

 

I have done a lot of cooking since I got home.  Turns out I can get 16 meals using these containers.  I wanted to evaluate the bulk containers versus the sandwich meat containers.  I think I can stack those better since they are more square.

 

The weather this year has been obnoxious.  Sunday it was well up into the 80s, and two days prior I turned my heat on because the house had fallen into the 50s.  And tomorrow might push 90.  I really wish mother nature would make up her mind.  The only good thing is that the bugs are as confused as I am.

This week is mostly getting the stuff back in the car camper.  I am headed to the spring LAN this coming weekend for Memorial Day.