Things They Don't Tell Ya


We left our house on June 8.  We'd gotten many notices, letters, etc. telling us that the house would be sold at auction on June 8.  We were exhausted when we left.  We left several things behind that we would have rather taken, but didn't have the time, energy or truck space to really take them into consideration.  I went back to the house once, to see if my work portfolio was there.  It was.  I drove by once or twice more, to check the mail - make sure nothing was in the mailbox that missed being forwarded.  


There is a scrub oak out front.  I grew it from an acorn.  Its parent plant was at our house before.  It had its first acorns the summer we sold it.  I germinated 5 acorns, kept one and gave the other 4 away.  Only mine survived.  This spring the oak tree flowered.  I was very excited that there would be acorns on my last year there.  During one of my stops by the house, I saw that someone had mowed the yard and swept the driveway.  Then I saw the oak. Gambel's Oaks grow like a gangly teenager.  First they send up a long stalk, about 3 feet long.  Then the next year that stalk branches out.  My oak had sent up a stalk the summer before.  This summer would have been the spreading out year.  But whoever tended to the grass didn't realize this.  They pruned last year's growth off, thereby pruning off all but one of the acorns.  I was crushed.  But, I decided to check on that last acorn in August.  


Saturday I was coming home from my brother's after a couple of days there and a long motorcycle ride.  (The BMW Club's 100,000 foot ride - over passes that total over 100,000 feet in elevation.)  I checked on the acorn.  It was gone - probably lunch for a squirrel. While there I noticed that there were many, many pieces of paper tacked to the house and there was a UPS overnight letter behind the storm door.  The letter was to us, from the lawyers representing the mortgage company. The notices said that the house was going to be rekeyed and we could contact the realtor to either drop off a key or collect anything that was ours in the house.  The letter said that the house had been sold on June 22 and that we had until August 11 to voluntarily vacate the house.  And, if we left it "broom clean" we could get $500.  I certainly wish that I had known we could have stayed in the house for another 2 months!  No one I spoke with, nor in any letters told us what the procedure was.  We assumed that the sale would happen on June 8th and that we might even be visited by the sheriff to be sure we were out.  If they had let us know, we might have left the house broom clean.  Instead, they get a house with things we didn't want to take, or couldn't take, with us.  They get a house with food in the fridge, to which I had the power turned off.  They get a house that needs to be cleared and cleaned.  


So, if anyone out there is looking at foreclosure, check with a lawyer to see what the timeline really looks like.  You may have a lot more time than you think.


I wouldn't have wanted to wait until the very last day. (Which is what we thought we were doing, but that was because we hemmed and hawed on our course of action.)  My family gave up weekends and drove lots of miles to pitch in.  We stressed and left a lot more than we'd wanted to, all because the lawyers didn't think it was worthwhile to let us know what would happen.  But, I'm done now.  I will not go by the house again.  That part of my life is closed.

We've Got Gas


Like probably every other RV out there, our motorhome has a propane system.  The water heater, forced air heater, stove and fridge either run exclusively on propane or on an either/or electric/propane system.  The RV also is equipped with a small bank of monitors that tell us how full our holding tanks are, how much charge our battery has, etc.  One day I flipped said switch and noticed that the propane was getting low.  I then thought, "Where IS the propane tank?"  On our camper, the propane tanks are outside in the front, easily accessible.  On the motorhome, the tank is mounted under the RV.  There's an access door on the side to fill it.  It DOES NOT separate from the RV, though. Now, I didn't want to have to disconnect everything from the RV to drive it over to the filling station, so I asked if there was anyone who did mobile fills.  I was told no, but that there was a valve, called an extend-a-stay valve that could be added to the propane line.  This valve would allow me to add an external tank.  Yay!!!!  So, I purchased said valve (rather pricey, I might add) as well as a tank and a hose and hooked them all up.

The shiny bit in the middle is the new valve.  It took me a few tries to get it tight and leak free.  I found that our old regulator was leaking at its connection too!!!  I imagine that it had been for the whole time we've had the RV.  Yikes!  But, now it's all tight and leak free.  And, we've got gas, which is easy to refill.  

Shifting Sands


I know, it's been awhile.  I can't really say why, except that life has been a bit busy and by the end of the day, I don't really have a lot to say.  


Today I was up in Cheyenne, helping Dave with a project that has to be done by end-of-day Thursday for the opening of Cheyenne Frontier Days.  I rode the motorcycle, which was lovely, though the drive home was rainy.  Not horrible, for the most part, but there was a section of the drive where the rain was so heavy I couldn't see more than about 100 yds. in front of me.  When I got off of the interstate, it was obvious that the campground had been hit by heavy rain as well.  As I pulled up along the RV I was confused.  My astroturf rug was all mussed and waterproof tub where I keep my charcoal was about 2' east of where I keep it.  After I parked the bike I turned around an faced the front of the RV and saw this...

Not only was the wood about 7" to the west of where it had been when I'd left, one 4" x 4" was off the stack and about 2' to the east of the stack.  Wild! 

I fixed the stack, tightened all of the jack stands and then went up to the office to ask about the storm.  Apparently, it rained sideways for about 20 minutes.  I'm guessing that the wind blew the box to the east and the torrent of rain loosened the area under the jack stand pile.  Dave said that the wood has probably shrunk and the stand was a bit loose, so it allowed it to slide with the rain.  Note to self, periodically check the jack stands for snug!

Scented


I know lots of people spend their Fourth of July holiday camping - apparently many of them spend it camping in a KOA campground.  It's pretty full here, which is great for the campground owners.  It's fine for us too, except for the number of dogs that are now taken out to do their business.  Henry is too easily distracted.  


I just came back from taking him for a loop.  The sun was at a great angle, everything was golden.  Then temperature had come down to something lovely and then smells were wonderful.  Grills were fired up throughout the campground - different fuels burning, foods cooking... It was a feast for the nostrils.  

Worker Bee


So, I may have mentioned something about interviewing a while back.  Here's how the whole thing went.


I have a recurring contract position, however, each time the cycle completes (which it did yesterday, in fact) there's always the possibility that it won't go again.  I project manage a large traveling museum exhibit and there are agreements to be made with a foreign government after each tour.  So, near the end of the tour I start looking for work, whether it be "permanent" or more contract work.  


During my search, about 4 or 5 months ago, I sent a resume to a place I used to work, which had a posting for a project manager.  The specs for that job weren't quite what I do, but when you're looking, you tend to go for an 80% fit and keep your fingers crossed.  On the day we were moving out of the house, as I was literally driving the moving van to our storage locker, I got a phone call from the museum.  The position had shifted a bit and they were now looking for a project manager who was also trained as an exhibit's preparator.  (Which, just happens to be my training.)  I explained my current situation and said that I would like to talk with them.  We set up an interview for the next week.
Late that afternoon I got an email from my contractee (is that right?  If I'm the contractor, they'd be the contractees??...)  Anyway, I got an email saying that they'd like to talk about the next tour.  Then, two days later I got a phone call from a museum in Fort Collins asking for a phone interview.  So, I was about to have three work conversations in 2 days.  We'd spent months fretting about work and then, as it became too late to stay in the house Dave got a job and I get three conversations.  The universe is curious sometimes.


First I had my phone interview.   I knew that I wasn't the right fit for that job, but again, the 80% rule.  My applying for the job had really been a "what the hell" moment.  15 minutes after that interview I had my conversation with my contract holder.  The next day I drove to Denver to talk about the project manager's position.  Then came the pondering. I'd thought that once we'd decided to give up the house, we'd gotten past the "what path do I choose????" part of our right now.  But, no, here it was again.  Back to running various scenarios through our heads.  Was it better to have a full-time job with health insurance for both of us, but be in a large metropolitan area that we couldn't afford on one salary?  Would Dave be able to find work?  Where would we live?  And, would I enjoy it?
I knew that I would love the subject matter I'd be working on there, and they graciously thought they could accommodate my existing commitments (house/dog sitting for my folks and then moving the Tut exhibit in the fall) but I've come to realize that I don't like having Dave and I apart from each other all day, then coming home, making dinner, taking care of things that have to be taken care of, having an hour or two together and then off to bed.


I know that it sounds childish and perhaps a bit spoiled, but I think it's just the opposite.  I've reached a point in my life where I want to spend as much time as possible with my husband.  I don't want to look back in twenty years and regret that we spent our lives going to two separate jobs and spending only a few hours a week together.  So, I decided not to go back into a museum - at least for now.  I'm going to keep my contract work and we are going to try to develop some sort of business that we can do from wherever we land.  It may be a couple of years before we leave northern Colorado/southern Wyoming, but I want to figure out how we can live in the desert, on our beautiful property.  There has to be something we can do from there that we sell over the internet.  That, or win Powerball.

What the F*%@ was that??!!


Tuesday night at about 10:50 p.m. there was reverberation that went through the floor of the RV.  I had just finished brushing my teeth when it happened.  It wasn't incredibly strong, nor did the RV shift, but we both felt it.  In response to my exclamation, Dave said, "That is the question."  So, we grabbed a flashlight and headed outside.  Dave thought it felt like a shock wave, coming from some distant explosion.  I tend to be a scaredy-pants and was sure the RV was about to topple over.  We saw no evidence of either.  Wednesday I was moving a bit slowly and took my shower around 11:30.  During my shower it happened again.  I quickly finished up, fearing that the whole vehicle would topple over with a naked me inside.  I got dressed and went outside to look once again.  And still, there was nothing obvious.  I decided to take this as a sign that I should re-level Beans, so I jacked up the back end and pulled the jack stand out.  There was no sign of it beginning to fail.  So, I added a bit of height to my stack of wood and set 'er up again.  I checked the other stands as well and they all looked fine.
On my way out of the campground, I stopped by the office to see if anyone else had felt anything.  Nope.  Ray, who was working the desk that day, was at a loss for what it could be.  He didn't think there was anything in the RV that would cause it.  Dave completely agrees.  I, however, the worry-wort that I am, am not as sure.  

The Best Thing


The best thing, so far, about living in an RV is the free flexibility workout.  I was a gymnastics coach in another life, but somewhere along the line I quit moving like that.  In fact, one of the reasons cited to me, by my first real employer, for hiring me was my flexibility. They were starting diorama renovations and the access was tight. And, once in the dioramas, a certain amount of gymnastics was needed to work.  But, after 10 years of being in project management, 3 of those years working from home, and about 9 months recovering from a severely sprained ankle, I've just tightened up.  

(My sprain in June, '10.)

In the RV, I have to bend - alot.  Maybe it's this way in all RVs, but in ours it is.  The bed in the back is a double bed that is not only wedged between two walls, but also has about 1/3 of it blocked at the end by a cabinet.  Plus, I have to crawl into bed and around two little white dogs that seem to take up much more space than they possibly could.  How do dogs grow this way???

Clothes and towels are stored above the bed, so I kneel on the bed to get to them.  To get under or out of the covers, I lie on my back, pull my feet up over my head, and scoot the covers out from under me (or vise-versa.)


We have a narrow walkway from our "living room" through the kitchen/dining to the bathroom.  Whenever Dave is walking through, I sit at the table and pull my legs up onto the seat.  We've both said that we can't gain any weight or we won't fit into the bathroom.


I actually think this is a good thing!  I'd gotten much too sedentary in a big house.  Because of my ankle I'd started pushing up from a seated position with my hands, now my legs aren't as strong as they should be.  I really think that living in Beans will help get me back into some sort of reasonable shape.  Between the flexibility workout and walking the dogs 4 times a day, it's got to help!