Party Party

Had a great going-away party yesterday. Started at 4pm so I could give tours of the RV, which everybody pronounced "cute." At one point had seven people inside. Marie brought my favorite onion souffle and crab dip, both yummy. Gillian gave me a string of hanging lights for outside, which will look great hanging on the awning. Got some small notepads, always useful. Several people didn't make the party but I hope to see them before I leave. Today is load the RV day. Tomorrow the apartment gets thoroughly cleaned before inspection on Wed. (I want my deposit back!). Wed is tie up loose ends days. May also be selling my car. Will move the RV to Joe's driveway and live in it for two nights before taking off on Friday morning. Am both excited and nervous.

Echoing Around

My apartment is getting really, uh, spacious. As in, there are two chairs left, and one is the recliner I sleeep in. Nearly everything else is gone to auction or to junk dealer. So, it's really time to start loading the RV. The problem is that everything that's left is what I use on an almost daily basis, so if I load it up I'll be running back and forth to get stuff all the time. I think I'll just keep packing.

Two weeks from today I'll be setting out for SW Pennsylvania. I've allowed five days to go 450 miles so I won't be in any hurry. This will give me time to get to know the RV as a living space and to understand its quirks (if any; hah; there are always quirks).

A week from Sunday is the going-away party so the apartment needs to be mostly clean by then. Then a couple of days fussing and I'm gone.

I'm both excited and nervous, full of what-ifs. Doing my best to keep them controlled so I don't go into a total swivet.

My new laptop (new to me, that is) is up and running and all goodies are transferred over from the old unit. I'm ready to test wifi somewhere out there.

Ghibli Mine

Have spent the last week modifying the inside of the RV to suit me. Have taken out the dinette table and cushions. Took out the cabover mattress. Took out all curtains and venetian blinds. Took out the microwave. I never use microwaves so I can lose that weight and turn that cabinet back into a space for hanging clothes. The valances over the windows came down, too, and showered rotten foam everywhere. Ditched the big clock that went tick tick tick. Cut the frosted film on the kitchen window down so I can see out (left the bottom third for privacy). Unfortunately, the window in the door has real frosted glass -- what a stupid idea -- how am I going to tell who's out there? Aarrgh. I've stored everything I took out so I can put it all back when I decide to sell/trade.

Now I have room to store plastic bins in the cabover section. Will put flat curtains on the side windows (much less visually intrusive). Will put bins in the dinette area, the ones with heavy stuff (like books) -- and they will give me a flat space to put stuff on when stopped (like the laptop).

Now all I have to do (!) is clean up the foam etc and start loading it up. First I think I'll trundle it off to get inspected and then get it weighed so I know its empty weight. Weigh it again when I load it up.

Time's getting real short (panic, pant, scream).

Bite me

Taxes always bite. Today I got hit with the NC sales tax for my RV when I went to change the title and get a tag. $256.00! Now, I didn't buy it in NC so why am I paying NC sales tax? Off to the DMV website to find out it's not exactly a sales tax, it's a highway use tax. Humph.

And the insurance for the RV, including fulltimer's liability, will be about $600 a year.

Also sent in my registration for the RV Women Convention in Charleston SC in late Sept. So I get to shell out over $1000 in one day.

Bites hard.

Nibbling is a whole different game, but that's another story.

Am re-reading my Ross Thomas collection. Outstanding writer of political intrigue and thriller-style mysteries. He gets put into Mystery because lots of people die but he's really a commentator on social mores. He also has great quirky characters. Am also reading a lot of Mark Twain's nonfiction. Scored a couple of DVDs for my collection: White Knights, with Mikhail Barishnikov and Gregory Hines, and Isabella Rossellini; and Kung Fu Hustle by Stephen Chow. Found them both in a truckstop in SC.

Dean's coming over soon to get my new laptop set up for me. Hooray!

Time's getting short so ruthless behavior will set in very soon. Throw it out. Give it away. Whatever. It's gone. And so will I be soon.

Sexy Ghibli

Am just back from Myrtle Beach with my RV. Brought it through high winds, torrential rains, and over Saluda Grade. It performed just fine with no leaks. It'll look even better once I begin to personalize it to my taste. Basic color scheme is blue and white, nicely inoffensive. I've named him (it turns out to be a "he" for some reason) Ghibli, Arabic for sandstorm. I spent two years in Tripoli Libya and we could watch the sandstorms boil up out of the Sahara.

Myrtle Beach is just as tacky as I remember it, growing up in Wilmington NC, about 50 miles away. Of course, mid-March isn't crowded (hooray) and there weren't any hordes of beer-sodden testosterone-flaunting adolescent males (that includes those up to about age 30). And no gaggles of giggling, boob-thrusting, ass-wiggling adolescent females, who need all that movement to break through the bleary gaze of the beer-sodden (see above). Those males I saw who weren't young enough to my grandsons were fat, ugly, and festooned with family. Except for the two Orthodox Jews who don't acknowledge the existence of women anyhow.

So much for a wild fling while out of town. I don't even get wild flings here in town. Maybe my luck will change out on the road. I'm actually sort of tired of being celibate, though not enough to take just anything that's on offer. Generally speaking, those I would take aren't available. Sigh. And I've had enough experience in my past that I certainly don't feel I'm missing anything, so what I'm looking for is more mental with the physical as a nice bonus. We'll just have to see what's out there, won't we (that's the imperial we). And I never forget that wherever I go I take me with me, so don't expect anything too different.

Singing a happy song

I told the Yahoo Toyota RV group two days ago that I needed to buy a new rig. Yesterday I got an email from a member just one state away who has a beautiful 1985 Sunland Express model (all fiberglass). He was about to put it up for sale and notified me first. I called him and we discussed the pictures he'd sent me and how much he's done to it ($15000 in repairs and upgrades, including a rebuilt engine with only 10000 miles on it).

Today I sent him an email saying I want to buy it. Tomorrow I'll call him and discuss arrangements for payment and pickup. Going to Myrtle Beach SC to get it will be no hardship.

I feel much better now (thank you, John Astin). Both Joe and I are relieved to be out from under the gun on the restoration. Ahhh. Life is good.

How Little is Livable

I may have to slow down on selling things. Just today, I sold a bed, a mirror, two large bookcases, six small bookcases, a bureau, a globe, and possibly two small filing cabinets. Already spoken for is the club chair and ottoman, the four mission bookcases, the barrister bookcase, three white bookcases, and the three-section bookcase with half-round ends. It's starting to echo in here. And I haven't even advertised anything -- it's all word of mouth.

Joe and I have decided that we're not going to be able to get the RV renovated in the time we have left. Sooo, we're going to look for something inexpensive that's already together. He'll front me the money and I'll pay him back from my inheritance. This takes a huge load off both of us. Now all we have to do is find the right thing.