Dark and dry

The rain has stopped and i’m still rocking the van. After 2 months of car and van living some changes were needed to be more home like. 

Dry air: I can’t say that loud enough. The damp of the rainy weeks left me in a camping situation where everything you put on is cold and stays cold be to how wet it is. Add that with the fact that I still have no heater for the cabin and you have a soggy bowl of rice krispies, bleh. I mentioned this to my aunt, and she already had the solution, Damp Rid containers. They were cheap, powerful, and did the job, granted the rain has stopped, but plenty of moisture builds up from just being in the van for long periods without opening the windows.

Now that I had dry clothes again on to the next change. I spoke about privacy in a previous post, but let me say that when you don't have any, you feel it. I mean you can feel the eyes wash over you, sometimes with a look of concern but mostly curiosity. I’m all for people being people and that means that they will be nosey, but it’s getting a bit irritating. Not that I need complete privacy, I generally work out of a coffee shop or public space, just a bit of mid day gawking reduction. Shade upgrades acquired. I had read about felt or blankets being a good option to use and I decided to give it a shot. Up until now I had been using my dry-cleaning or hangers with pants on them. This was good for the car as a dry-cleaning bag doesn't look out of place in the back seat of a Camry, but to be in 6 windows of a van its starts too. I cut out the components and hung them with lengths of clothes line. The blankets are dark grey and work with the window tint to black out the van. I also have one cut into a T behind the front seats acting like a wall enclosing the rear area. Looking out to some stranger staring at me changing or working is over. I expect that in a public but not at home. 

The power pack will have to wait a bit longer as the alternator will not be strong enough to charge effectively. The van would have to run for 3-4 hours to fully charge up and “boondocking” is not an option yet, nor is the solar setup with the recent weather conditions. Its not needed quite yet as I can still charge up at cafes anywhere, and the battery on my laptop and phone generally last through the night and more if I start at full charge. I will get a portable heater with carbon monoxide and smoke alarms to be safe and beat this chill that has blown through northern CA.

Lastly the teardown is in the last stage of prep, storage space organization. This will allow me to store the removed van components in there for later resale. In just removing the seats it will allow me to get the mattress and build out the bed/couch frame. 

Next up 1.12.15

• Pics of the tear down
• Updates on the power situation.
• Store or purge