Firstly, I can’t believe 10 days have passed since I last wrote here. I don’t know where the time went. It almost feels like I’ve been lazy but it’s been quite the opposite. I still have a hard time “slowing down”. Perhaps the universe is trying to make me as of late, hence the challenges.
So lets touch on the money part. My budget got an infusion recently. I had a friend of a friend recommend my work to his boss for some upgrades in their office decor and a 12 print order was negotiated. This helped my budget and initially added 2 more months to my trip and covered my auto insurance that will be due in April. (Yes, I tend to think that far a head on some things). As it stands now that infusion is taking a little bit of a hit, which leads me to the challenges portion of our program.
For a few weeks before I arrived here at Fortuna Pond my truck has had a rattle coming from the right rear. I’ve climbed underneath numerous times and could not visibly see anything out of the ordinary. When it was a new undiagnosed sound I thought it may be something to do with the brakes but upon inspection they found nothing that would cause the rattle either. So with it still rattling over the past few weeks I became somewhat frustrated. Then, last week I crawled underneath one more time. This time, it didn’t take long to see what was wrong. I have broken a leaf spring somewhere along the way.
I’ve since been contacting repair shops in Yuma and assessing my options. Since leaf springs are utilized on both sides of the truck it’s recommended to replace both sides as chances are the truck will sit slanted with two leaf springs of different life will have varied stiffness. So two sets of springs it is. Then I had to decide between new and used. New from Nissan would run me $1000 USD installed while another shop quoted me at $887 USD installed for a used set. I’ve opted for a used set but found a shop that is much more reasonable at a quote of $525 USD installed. So the parts are on order and hopefully Betty will be in the shop for less than a day later this week.
In between figuring all that out I’ve been trying to get my next three videos uploaded. Until today this had become more of a challenge than I would of expected. Granted, the files aren’t small because I render them out for 1080p HD compatibility on YouTube but I was willing to wait out the upload times. The first attempt at a Yuma Starbucks was painfully disappointing. Started the first upload and after 3 hours it was at 68%, the point that it decided it would shit the bed and end, wasting all that time for nothing. I decided to try one more time from a different Starbucks today and have successfully uploaded and queued the next 3 videos, in literally half that time.
I went on to Amazon and ordered a new mic adaptor for the GoPro as well as some small wind mufflers for the mic. I put the order through and all was good. Two days later I check my email to find the order was cancelled because my secured Visa decided to “look out for me” and reverse it. So that’s been reordered and on it’s way.
Now with the minor complaining out of the way I’ll get to the good stuff. Fortuna Pond is amazing and it’s so nice to just “be” there for awhile. Especially while reading all the news about the fun weather and ridiculous temperatures happening in the various places I’ve previously called home. While bundling up a little to be cozy through a low of 6 degrees Celsius at night I just smile while looking at my weather app displaying the shenanigans back in Vancouver, Chilliwack and Calgary.
Before the news about truck, I ordered a new glass screen front for the iMac. Some of you may remember my dumb ass self accidentally hitting the previous one on my fridge and cracking the screen of my iMac. Well it arrived and I was able to do the replacement install on my own. Video evidence coming soon. I makes me feel a little better being able to edit photos without dodging a crack across the screen.
I’ve taken the odd day to do minor fixes in the trailer as well. Replaced a piece of wood trim that had cracked, created a temporary fix for my flimsy freezer door in my fridge, re-mounted the hanger bar in my little closets as the weight of my overstuffed laundry bag pulled it down.
Between all that I’ve been spending some time watching the birds and turtles of the pond, having long chats with other campers and new friends who are also camped around the pond. It’s been great and I’m learning about places and things that I would have otherwise not found on my own. One being the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous meetup that I’ll be checking out in January near Quartzsite during the big “tent show” they have there where everything “RV” comes together in the area.
Been editing a lot of photos and when I have a more easily accessible connection to internet from the iMac will have lots of new work to upload.
Despite me not moving much, not doing much exploring because of the pending truck repairs and the arrival of the holidays I’m taking it a little “easier”. This stationary camping also helps in the aspect of the budget which will help balance out the extra cost of the upcoming repairs.
So with the good comes some challenges which simply have to be dealt with as they arrive. I never expected to have a smooth sailing adventure with no rough spots. That would be incredibly naive. I’m just choosing to focus on my many blessings this holiday season. The warm weather, the good friends, the new resources to which are allowing me to fix my vehicle and get back on the road. My amazing girlfriend back in Canada and the conversations we have almost daily. I’m a lucky guy and despite adding my girl to the mix here, would not change anything at all.
May you all have a great holiday season with you and yours. I’ll keep you posted as my repairs transpire and of course when my location changes. Until them, I’ll be hanging out with the birds, the turtles and my many new friends.
W.
