When will the sickness end, part 2

I am still sick. I slept 14 hours last night and I could go right back to bed now, after only having been up for four hours. I'm not deathly ill, just very tired and worn out with a sore throat. I'm starting to think I could have mononucleosis or something. I have never been sick for this long, at least not that I can remember. I'm calling my doctor back Monday.

Since I'm sick, I can't go to my friend Jen's Halloweenie Roast. I am seriously bummed. I bought a piggie "hat" to wear, and I was going to wrap myself up in a blanket. I was going to be a Pig in a Blanket. Get it?

This picture I took earlier this week, when I was starting to feel better:

Time Warner Jerks

So I get our Time Warner Cable bill in the mail, for our internet. We use them only for internet and have DirecTV for television. We have always paid $49.95 per month, which I think is high. So the bill this month is for $54.95. Under the total due amount, it says the following:

"Thank you for the prompt payment to your account. Please let us know how we can serve you better. Effective with your current bill, the monthly price for your Internet service will increase $5.00 per month."

What the hell?? Can they do this, meaning just up and decide that with no notice our bill is 10% higher? Yes, it's only $5 but's it's 10% our bill! They should at least have to give a 30 day notice for something like this. I love my internet but I HATE paying for it. It seems like something everyone should have access to, with just a minimal monthly charge. Or maybe tax us for it or something.

Does everyone pay this much for internet? Are there other options that you know of? The service I pay for must be pretty reliable and must be faster than dial up. We don't even have a home phone so dial up would be out of the question anyway. Ideas? Options?

Camper curtains

My original plan was to discard the old green curtains, because they were really stained, full of dust and smelled really bad. It dawned on me that I could at least try to wash them first, and if they fell apart I would just throw them out. I used my ordinary detergent and added some Borax. It took two washes with a 15 minute soak in between, but they actually came clean. I was pretty shocked. So I re-installed the window curtains and just made new curtains for the sleeping areas with some old drapes I found at Goodwill. I lopped off the tops, cut them in half length wise, hemmed the sides and the tops and hand sewed the hardware on. They look great and really make the sleeping areas more inviting. Plus they're lined with blackout fabric, so when we camp in the Summer the sun won't wake us up at 6:30am. The dogs will wake us up, but not the sun.

On the mend

Okay, as long as I take a 12-hour Mucinex every 12 hours, I feel great. When it wears off I sound like an 80 year old woman who has chain smoked Camels for 50 years. Now somebody go get me some because I'm out of it.

Happy Friday!!!!

Oh, and in case you aren't one of the 5 million people who have already seen this. Mancold:

Le Camper is Clean

During the cleaning:And look what was in the drawer: the original owner's manual. Awesome!
The drawers are plastic with wood fronts, so I scrubbed them out really good.

On the inside, it's as clean as it's probably been in 20 years. I swept, scrubbed, vaccuumed and deodorized it this morning. Took about 4 hours. I then had a nap, studied and now I'm getting ready to go take my Stats test. A productive day, I would say. And much better than being at work.

Prepare yourself to be wowed. Are you ready?

The living area side:

The bedroom area side:

And this is what the inside looks like when the kitchen is swung outside. It frees up valuable floor real estate.

Pretty nifty, I think. I even put non-skid material in the bottoms of the drawers and stocked it with the stuff I've been buying at thrift stores and IKEA.

Now it just needs a few more things before we can take it out:

tires need air

wheel bearings need to be inspected and repacked if necessary

the hitch connection thingy needs to be oiled

we need to find or make bed supports

the gas line needs to be checked

we need to figure out how to get the water tank out and flush it

needs a tag and the title changed to my name

This doesn't need to be done for the first trip, but I would love to replace two of the clear vinyl windows that are extremely damaged. I'm sure I can sew something once I find the "fabric". Jason said a marine shop might have it, but it's expensive, at about $20 a yard, and I need about four yards. So it might have to wait.

Off to class!

TGIW

TGIW= Thank goodness it's Wednesday (Wednesday is my Friday)

My voice is better. Ninety percent, which is ahead of schedule. We opened the camper tonight and it has an issue: the piece that connects the canvas to the roof has come undone. It's obviously been repaired once before, evidenced by the two holes per each screw, in the header. I offered to Liquidnail it and Jason said we need to make it more permanent. What's more permanent than Liquidnail, I ask? Seriously, it's permanent.

I'm getting some rest tonight. Tomorrow I will clean the camper in the morning, maybe take a nap, study in the afternoon for a Statistics test, take said test at 6pm, then come home to rest some more. I'm still fighting off "the creeping crud", as my dad would call it.

I'm itching to camp. Especially since reading today that many campgrounds in NC close at the end of November, due to the cold. Pah-lease. Cold schmold. I'm from Kansas, and an NC December is like a Kansas October. Open up, campground babies!

I can't sing but I can talk

Thankfully. I was getting a little worried. It's just not like me to be sick for six days, especially "sick" sick, as in: in the bed, under the covers, calling in sick, sleeping and eating soup. Today I worked a half day and it seemed very long but I made it. Then I had class and cut out early because the instructor was reviewing stuff I already understand. Now I'm home, eating pizza that Jason made for us, getting ready to take some more Mucinex and Cherratussin and Aleve. Tomorrow I should be 75% and Thursday (time to work on the camper!) I should be 90%.

Expect some pics soon of the camper interior, once I get in there to clean it. Man, I can't wait to get in there to clean it. It is, no joke, the single thing that has helped me drift off to sleep at night over the last week. I just think, camper...outside...nature...relaxing...puts me right to sleep. Well, that and a shot of Nyquil.

Sweet dreams.

I still have no voice

This is the fourth day and it's starting to piss me off. Not much sound comes out when I try to talk, but when it does, it sounds like a donkey with laryngitis.

I need to get better for my friends Jen and Jon's Halloweenie Roast this Saturday. And to work on the camper.

Hello, Starcraft Galaxy Swinger, it's nice to meet you

I am Jen and we're going to be spending a lot of time together. I know we just met, but I already think I love you. Is that weird? For a girl to love a camper she just met? I don't think so either. *sigh* We're meant for each other.


Today we learned that you are 32 years old but have spent much of your life just sitting around. I usually don't like to hang out with the younger set, but you seem wise beyond your years, even though you have probably only been to a few different places, like Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina. You have a swing-out table that I didn't know about until we got you home. It's so groovy. I can't wait to serve a meal on it. Do you have any favorite foods? Maybe avocado?

We got to really check you out once you were home safe, in the garage. We swung out your kitchen for inspection, cleaned it up a bit, and tried to figure out how to get your water collection tank out. Then we decided to get really bold and test your power supply. Because we brought you home for such a deal, we weren't sure anything, including your gas or power was still operational. We brought you home "as is" and that's how we will always love you...just as you are.

We decided that we hit the lottery, because all of the electric things on you that are supposed to work, do indeed work. Your interior outlets, interior lights, kitchen light (wait until other people see how cute this is) and exterior outlets all work! We're not sure if your gas works, but I bet it does. Mine works too, regularly-another thing we will have in common.

Wednesday night of this week, we're going to take a stab at perturbing our neighbors by taking you out into the driveway and raising your roof. We're only allowed to leave you out for two days at a time, according to our HOA bylaws, so we will need to put you back in the gargage this weekend. But I promise you will be back outside next week. And hopefully, if all goes well, me, you, Jase and the dogs will all be on the road to our first date within a month. I will be counting the days.

xoxoxo

The camper has arrived

It is safely in our garage, ready for me to feel better so I can work on it.

Already we found an unexpected surprise: a swing-out table, to go along with the swing-out kitchen. It's dirty, but appears barely used. We also noticed the name is a Starcraft Galaxy Swinger, rather than a Stardust Swinger. Both names are pretty groovy, baby. Does this mean that we are Galaxy Swingers? Hilarious to me right now, but maybe it's the cold medicine.

When will the sickness end?

Today I feel pretty good. My throat is much better and the scratchiness is mostly gone. The problem? I have no voice. Literally. When I try to speak, no sound comes out, except for a whisper-like noise. Not sure what to do about this, considering I'm supposed to be a receptionist tomorrow at 830am. Hopefully I will wake up 100% better tomorrow. *fingers crossed*

On a totally different note, guess what? We pick up the camper today!

Still sick but getting better

I think. My skin no longer hurts and my throat isn't quite as sore but I'm developing a nasty chest-originated cough. And I've traded some sore throat relief for a scratchy, tickly feeling throat. Although 90% of the time when I get sick I fall hard, sleep for two days straight then I'm back to normal, this feels like one of those viruses that tends to stick around for a while.

Jason's mom leaves tomorrow morning and I feel so bad that I've been nearly 100% antisocial during her visit. But the last thing I wanted to do was give it to her. I'm even sleeping as far as possible from Jason in the bed. And he's helping me by staying on his side, for a change. (He hogs the bed.)

I'm having some oatmeal and getting back in bed for now. I'm hoping later today I will feel well enough to at least be up and around.

Sick

I went to bed last night with a sore throat and woke in the middle of the night with a horribly sore throat, achy skin and with a headache. Convinced I had H1N1, I hightailed it to the doctor this morning to find out I have a virus. He doesn't think it's H1N1, but it could be the flu. Basically all I can do is take Aleve, remain hydrated and sleep. I'm following doctor's orders so that I'm well on Sunday when it's time to get the camper. I feel really bad being 100% antisocial while Jason's mom is here but I also don't want to get her (or him) sick.

I slept about six hours today and after I work on Stats homework online I'm going back to sleep. I'm going to wish really hard that I wake tomorrow feeling better. Any improvement will be welcome. Damn germs.

Follow up on the school front

Since dropping Chemistry, school is going well. I have a 95.5 average in Statistics and a B average in Geography. Geography is really Meteorology and boring as hell but it's another four credits towards my degree. I'm hoping to eek out an A in GEO by spending more time on the chapter tests; a couple of C's have really brought my grade down.

I'm still not sure what direction to take my career in, but I'm not really worried about it either. I'm focusing on enjoying life right now, really for the first time in my life. And I feel pretty balanced, with a part time work schedule and 8 hours of classes. I'm doing more of what I like than I ever have. The balanced schedule means more time for fun things like volunteering, gardening, cooking, reading and hiking. Working out still needs to be fit into the equation but it's not something I really like. However, I don't really like being fat either so I better get on that.

Jason's mother is here, downstairs, as we speak, so I need to get down there and host. I really want to stay on the internet and read but I don't want to start her trip off by being antisocial. So here goes.

T minus 4 days until we pick up the camper

Until then, I'm spending a lot of time exploring thrift stores to furnish the thing. Today I spent my lunch hour at one. This is what I bought yesterday: two vintage towels and five melamine coffee cups.

Today I hit the jackpot. A full set of Corelle dinner plates, salad plates and dessert plates, in the Crazy Daisies pattern. And one bowl. For $8. Now I just need three more bowls. And I love the pattern. The name...the color...the everything.

Accessories for the camper

After running errands this morning (dentist!), I had about an hour to kill before going to work. Naturally, I went to a couple of thrift stores to find vintage stuff for the new camper. The cool thing about finding items from the 1970s to use is that they are cheap! I bought a goldenrod colored pitcher, the kind you make your Kool-aid in, for 95 cents; four very dark brown coffee cups for 25 cents each; blackout fabric to make the new interior curtains out of for $25; an older but perfectly good set of steak knives and cooking knives for $5.

I really wanted to use Corelle dishes in the Butterfly Gold pattern or Woodland Brown pattern, but they're a little more than I wanted to spend. I like the Corelle because it's lightweight, easy to clean and nearly indestructible. I also love that it reminds me of eating meals at my grandma's house. We may have to make do with whatever I find and work on collecting a set.

I also bought a couple of "definitely from the 70s" towels, very soft from lots of washings, in orange, yellow and brown. They were a quarter each. How can you not love shopping at thrift stores? I mean, candy out of the kids vending machines at the grocery store is more than a quarter. We're going to use linens we already own for the bed, and ditto for bath towels. It doesn't have a shower but we will only be staying at campgrounds with hot showers, thankyouverymuch.

We pick the camper up this Sunday, and I'm sure I will spend every moment the remainder of the day cleaning and fawning over it. And taking pictures, of course.

I'm hoping once it's road ready that we can invite some friends to meet us at some park somewhere for a "camper warming". Seems like a fun way to get some people together.

I'm getting a camper!

I'm getting a camper! I'm getting a camper! I'm getting a camper!

I'm so excited that if I was able to do cartwheels without injuring myself I would.

I've decided to run with the 1970s theme and furnish it accordingly:

Meant to be!

I think we have found a camper. It's a 1977 Starcraft Stardust Swinger. I love it. It's big, when it's folded out, it's a price we can afford, and it's in good condition. The exterior looks good and the interior is avocado green. Jason is not thrilled with the avocado but I love the retro nature of it.

It probably needs new tires because it's been sitting for a while, and needs a good cleaning, but there's no water damage or mildew and the guy selling it is a good, honest fellow. He reminded me of my grandpa. It also could use some new curtains inside. They would be easy to sew and the hardware is all intact. The existing ones are a little stained and sad looking. I would find some neat fabric and make new ones, as soon as the budget allowed.

The unit appears to be hardly used, even though it's over 30 years old. The foam cushions are in great shape and don't need any work, along with the foam mattresses. We may upgrade the foam on the beds when our budget allows--foam is really expensive. The linoleum floor also looks original and is intact and in great condition. I would love to keep it as original as possible. The two-burner gas stove and sink are inside but swing out, so that cooking can be done outside. Hence the name. The trailer is wired and has 110 volt outlets, has a propane tank for cooking and a tank for water. There's no toilet or shower but neither was on my wish list. Basically it's the camper I have been looking for.

In the picture below, we flipped both mattresses over to make sure there wasn't any water damage on the fold out parts. The mattresses are covered in the same fabric as the benches. The dining table pops right out of the floor and stores away.

I know I'm going to be dreaming of this thing until it's sitting in our garage.

Not meant to be

The camper we looked at this morning was in much worse condition that it was described. I was so in love with the idea of getting a camper to restore that I actually was considering it, but Jason just kept shaking his head. Good thing for him, because I probably would have paid the guy. Honestly even though it was only $150 it should probably go to the dump.

Metal house, metal camper...same thing

I found a camper tonight online that we're going to look at tomorrow at 8am in Gastonia, about 30 minutes from here. It's $150 and it's just a shell, which to me is better than a complete camper that has to have the insides ripped out before moving forward. The guy says it's structurally sound, other than the leaky roof, and I'm ready to buy it, as long as the wood on the inside isn't damaged.

The owner is a brusk man who likes to speak in incomplete sentences via email. He "does not want any BS". He doesn't know the make, model, approximate year or anything else about the camper. He just wants to sell it. I think it's a Shasta 1950s or 1960s model camper. Jason's not too happy about it, but we're getting up very early tomorrow.

Call me crazy, but I'm hoping to turn our camper into something like this:

More pictures are available here.

Metal house

So I was finally able to get some good info on how to build a metal house to live in, similar to the gallery we visited up in the mountains a few weeks ago.

What we both liked about the gallery was the beautiful dark red metal exterior walls, interior heated concrete floors, and sparsely fixtured interior. It also had lots of huge windows and double sliding doors. So I set out to find out how someone could build something similar, to live in.

I found out the construction process goes in this order:

find land

if land has been developed (water, electric, etc has been run to the site), get permit

if land has not been developed, the utilities must be run to the site, then a permit is applied for

pour slab

drains, plumbing, electric are brought through the slab

erect the building along with the roof

install windows and doors

work on interior

Just knowing the order of construction helps me feel more comfortable with the whole process. I still have lots of questions, such as what is involved in getting a construction loan. But the whole idea of building our own house, especially getting to work on it myself, really intrigues me. I can totally imagine moving in, to spend my days installing cabinetry and lighting, and tiling the bathroom. I loved remodeling our old kitchen and I know this is a much bigger project, but it sounds like so much fun.

Old kitchen before and after: before, typical mid 1970s nastiness.

Jason is giving "the finger" to the floor in the next pic, because the tile had been laid with about an inch of mortar under it. I would hit a tile as hard as I could with a sledgehammer, and it still wouldn't budge. It took him about four hours of extremely hard work to get it all up. Luckily we didn't have to replace the subfloor.

And the after:

I loved this project. We tore up the old ceramic floor (I needed help with this) then laid large vinyl tiles that look like slate. I wanted real slate but it wasn't in our budget. The vinyl was actually really nice, because it hid dirt well and could be completely sanitized after the dogs would track in crud from outside.

After the flooring, I was on my own. I sanded the cabinet frames and doors down to the wood, stained and sealed them, added new pull and hinge hardware, under counter lighting (hard wired!) and tracks to the drawers. The drawers weren't on tracks previously, just wood rubbing against wood, making them very hard to open.

I installed a new range hood, new slate backsplash and painted the walls.

I ordered a Corian countertop, my one big splurge, with a huge sink. Found a fabulous european faucet online for 1/3 the cost at Home Depot, installed it, caulked around the counter, then almost cried because I was so proud of myself.

I had really wanted an appliance garage louvered door to cover the area where the microwave and toaster oven site, but the kits were hundreds of dollars. For a kit!

So anyway, I love to make stuff. And I really want to make a house.

Thrift store find

I found an awesome new thrift store today. They had a whole section of vintage Tupperware and I almost went crazy trying to pick out which pieces to bring home. I've seen Tupperware sections at antique stores but it's usually over priced. These pieces were between 75 cents and a dollar. I got so excited when I found them the people around me will probably go home to tell their neighbors about the "crazy white woman and her Tupperware".

These are by far my favorite find: parfait cups. With lids. For 75 cents each. In fabulous condition. When Jason saw them, even he went a little nuts over them. They're the coolest things ever and I'm going to the store tomorrow just to buy pudding. And milk. Swoon.

I also purchased one of the old school bright red hard plastic bowl with starburst style lid. It was a splurge at $2.99 but worth it. This store is now on my to-frequent list.

Is the font too small or am I just getting old?

I'm going with "too small". Now it's bigger. Don't you wish everything was as easy to fix as font size?

The treehouse from hell

This is the rental page that describes the cabin where we stayed over Labor Day weekend for Jase's birthday this year. Looks great, right?

We thought so too. Until we got there.

What hit us as soon as we entered was the heavy smell of mildew. A dehumidifier was on full blast and maybe it had helped but anyone with asthma or a breathing issue of any kind could not have stayed there. We both had sore throats and runny noses after being there just a few hours. But we stuck it out. We were there to have fun and by golly we were going to have fun!

So we laughed off the disgusting, dirty and dank dark green carpet.

And we laughed off the lack of a shower curtain. And the rotten apples, placed for us by our gracious host, for our enjoyment. Seriously, the apples were 100% rotten.

We stayed outside as much as we could, on the deck, which was surrounded by poison oak and sumac.

We wished we could have seen the beautiful rock outcroppings at night, but the "extensive exterior lighting system" was not working. It was just dark. Real dark. So be sure you get home before dark, unless you want to fall down the unlit 25 steps to the house. And watch out for the poison plants, in that dark.

The kitchen was the nicest part of the place. It indeed had stainless appliances. But it also had dirty dishes and silverware in the drawers and cabinets. The coffee maker had been used to make coffee some days past, but still had coffee and an old filter still moist. I'm guessing the humidity of the place preserved it. But don't look under the sink, I'm sure there's more than one "something" living in there:

The smell of humidity was so bad that it actually woke me up at night. In the middle of the night I would awake and feel a little nauseous. It was the smell. We even brought our own linens, but the smell permeated the sheet I held so tightly to my face.

We laughed off all of the nastiness of this place, until the morning of our departure, when we decided it was finally OK to talk about how bad it was. Finally we both felt like we had had our good time, and now it was time to crucify this place. As we packed, we remarked at the atrocities of the cabin. And we took photos. Then, Jase found this:

It's a note left by a previous guest, for the owner. Along with some incense and air freshener. Why the owner kept it in the closet for someone to later find baffles me, but Jase found it as we packed and we immediately had a laugh fest.

This is what it says:

"4 1/2 out of 10 stars. We had to buy: bar soap, hangers, incense to cover up the really bad mildew smell. Carpet could use a good cleaning. Left incense and deodorizer for next guest to use. I would not rent this unit out as it is. We spent two days trying to cover it up to make it tolerable. PS: thanks for allowing us to watch TV.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention there was a TV but no basic cable, no nothing but snow TV. There was one DVD movie, I think it was Saw 3. Nice. I would think for $150 a night the place would have basic cable, but that's just me I guess.

So we're looking for a camper. Labor Day weekend was the last time I spend over $100 a night to sleep in a crappy place. Sleeping in my own crappy place on wheels will be much better. :)

Then I left a note for the owner, along with the "old note" and "accessories". My note was nicer and just reiterated that the mildew issue really should be taken care of before it's rented again. But it doesn't look like he has heeded my advice, because the place is still for rent, now for $150/night!

Popup camper shopping

I've been scouring the internet over the last three or four months, looking for a popup camper that's in bad enough shape that we can actually afford it. Last night I added an ad to Craigslist and Freecycle and today received a reply with a promise to send pics later this week.

This is all I know about it so far, and it must be in really bad shape to be on the market for under $200:

sleeps six

working stove

working ice box (I'm wondering if it really needs ice or if that's just what the guy calls it)

mid 1970's Starcraft model

working dining room table

If it's in good condition structurally, this will be my new fix-up project. In addition to the kitchens, of course. I'm rediscovering how much I love to hang out in the garage and make stuff. The camper will provide a way for us to travel out to the mountains with the dogs and not spend an arm and a leg on lodging. Last time we went we spent $100/night on a really crappy place. Come to think of it, I never wrote a post about that weekend. I need to do that. The place where we stayed was bad. Real bad.

Going to a party!

This is the first time I've gotten gussied up in a while. I'm excited to get out and meet some new people, and to do something that's not associated with work, school or The Raptor Center. I even bought a new BCBG dress, on sale for $32 at Dillard's, and I'm wearing leggings under it since it should be cool out and since the sales ladies told me "that's the style". I really think the outfit needs flat boots but since I don't have any I'm wearing black wedge heels, which look OK, just not as comfortable as flats. I tried ballerina flats but the look was too "ballerina dance-y" with the wrap dress.

Take a good look because although I've lost 16 pounds over the course of the last 9 months, I'm getting my tail back into the gym this week. I've been on hiatus on account of school and I want to lose ten more pounds, before the holidays, and I'm going to do it!

Reception=leading indicator

Work is really crazy right now. I can only hope the incoming call and visitor volume is a leading indicator of good things to come, like beating earnings expectations. Seriously, the volume is about five times that of just a couple of months ago. Some days I count the incoming calls and visitors, and it was about 55 and 26 respectively back in July. Monday of this week we had 355 deposits. A lot of them were good sized, in the $300,000 and up range. And today we had 127 calls and 52 visitors. That's more than April 15th, which is notoriously the busiest day of the year.

The good news is, I think things are starting to turn around. The bad news is, the stock market is one of the first things to turn around. Everything else, including employment figures, takes longer. The question is: how long?

Everyone in a support role at our office is overwhelmed. That happens when 25% of the staff is laid off and the rest are left to hold it together. I'm hoping hiring will start towards the end of this year, and when I say hiring I mean support personnel, not more rookie brokers, like the company has already started hiring. Yeah, they're hiring more brokers to saunter in around nine, sit in cubicles to study for the Series 7 exam while the other people who actually "earn" their paycheck are struggling to be able to get away from their cubicle for a pee break. It's the way it is and I'm afraid it's the way it will always be. And it's one of the reasons I'm in school.

Update from a fairly balanced life

I just realized I haven't posted about the Raptor Center in a while. The kitchens kind of took over, but I am still volunteering at the center every other Sunday. I have gotten very proficient at grabbing the birds for their treatments, and I'm starting to learn how to give sub Q (subcutaneous) fluids, force feed and give meds PO (orally). Last time I was there I got to show a newer staff member who had never grabbed a vulture how to do it. It was cool to know that I have progressed enough to show other people how to do tasks.

I'm getting a little bored though, and I'm looking for another place to volunteer, more specifically at a farm. I really like animals like goats, cows, chickens and sheep. I'm not sure why because I've never been around them other than at a petting zoo, but they really interest me. A friend referred me to an equine vet and I'm going to call her today to see if she knows of anything available. I'm not really into horses but I would take some time to learn more about them if given the chance. Truth is they scare me a little. Not as much as ostriches do though. Shudder, ostriches.

The Play Kitchens now have their own site

Check it out when you get a chance.