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Baby steps out the garage

April 16th, 2017 at 02:50 pm

First and foremost, Happy Easter everyone!

Last night was the first night I spent outside the garage, sleeping in my camper car. Everything is still a work in progress, but I had enough done that I felt like I could try it outside.

I don't have much report because things are sort of slowing down from trying to iron out all the details. A lot of this is still trial and error, and what I don't blog about are the stuff that I have tried but ended up not working. I don't want to bore you guys with these kinds of details, but this is pretty evident to me as the garage is starting to pile up with scraps and other clutter. Once this is all done, I'll have to clean out the garage.

A design improvement for the window panels just popped into my head. That's going to be my third time completely re-doing those windows. Bah. Hopefully, third time's a charm.

However, I did finish wiring the inverter, although I may re-do the fuse box as well, to make super sure that is done properly. Bah.

I learned that the hard way that cutting your own electrical wiring is best left to the pros or hard core wire-heads. Apparently, flux compound is like super toxic, and a proper job requires a blow torch and soldering, especially on low gauge wires. You also need heavy duty cutters and crimpers the size of two-handed bolt cutters. Wow. Thank goodness people sell pre-made stuff.

So anyways, sleeping outside for the first time was an interesting experience. It was certainly one thing to build the car based on how I think it can work, but it was decidedly another to actually go through the motions and work it.... For example, there is a certain order I have to do things, based on where I have space and where I am currently positioned. Everything feels kind of like a yoga exercise. Ah, if you only you can see how I struggle just to get a little bit of water. Actually, please don't. You don't want to see that sad visual. Let's just... move on.

Another interesting observation is that it is super easy to hear every little thing from the outside. Separately, I use a highly recommended fan for RVs, but these things are surprisingly loud. To compensate for both, I tried sleeping with ear plugs, and that worked out really well, although I dropped one somewhere and will need to find it later.

The engine idling up once in a while is an interesting experience, where for a split second, you think the car is about to roll off.

Before falling asleep, I also felt paranoid about people coming up to the car to see what's going on. I don't know why, but I kept peeking through the cracks in the window.

However, when I finally woke up to the neighbor's lawn mower, I realized that-- all-in-all-- this crazy one man slumber party wasn't too terrible.

Last but not least, I did notice that when I woke up, I didn't know what to do with myself. Haha. Everything was out of place. I hadn't given much thought about how much I was auto-piloting through a certain routine when I woke up every day. I guess I need to get used to a new one.

6 Responses to “Baby steps out the garage”

  1. Dido Says:
    1492352705

    Interesting to read of your experiment and its progress!

  2. MonkeyMama Says:
    1492354035

    Agreed with Dido. Way too busy to comment much lately (and I apparently missed some posts) but just wanted to chime in and say it's interesting.

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1492376921

    You have undertaken more than I ever would have and it is interesting to read about your progress. I'm sure sleeping in the car was really different. Was it comfortable?

  4. Tabs Says:
    1492379324

    Thanks gang! I find it interesting as well haha.

    Rob, I basically sleep every night in my car now, if nothing else to get used to the idea and to learn how to go through the motions. And that was a week or two ago? In my mind, I've already decided on and made the switch permanently. My regular house bed is just "collecting dust" so to speak right now.

    Anyways, I know I am crazy for even attempting all this, but the bed is at least super comfy. It's my priority #1, so I didn't skimp. The mattress and its setup is really no different than any other setup you would find in a minimal bedroom. Only difference is just it's placed inside a car. But yeah, super comfy. Actually, I think my setup is better than what a lot of other people use

  5. rob62521 Says:
    1492391814

    Glad it is comfy. I would hate to think you were cramped and uncomfortable.

  6. livingalmostlarge Says:
    1492403896

    wow I am just so impressed. I can't wait to see how it goes.

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