moving on up

After nearly a year of living in my little haven I had decided that it was time for a change. My neighbors recently traded in their old rig for a nice shiny new one which inspired me to do the same. The notion of upgrading was in my mind shortly after arriving, but my main focus was on getting established then. I'm there now. So it took a few days after their purchase for me to realize that it was time for me to do the same.

I love my rig and where it's taken me, but I've learned a lot more since I've lived in it for near a year now. My intent for it's use had changed drastically. Technically this trailer was lacking in a lot of areas that I was willing to forgo when I thought I would be drifting from town to town. Now that I'm stationary with steady employment I've learned from experience (as well as from my coworkers who also live full time in RV's) that I need more. Much more.


Old Trailer Cons

• Fresh, Grey, & Black water tanks are too small (10, 18, 9 gallons). The lack of sensors means I kind of have to guess when they fill up and empty (every 4 days'ish).
• Lack of an oven to satisfy my need for baked foods. I love my casseroles.
• Overall layout not ideal for my current lifestyle
• Lack of bathroom sink. I have to wash my dishes all the time if I intend to maintain a decent level of hygiene. Sometimes I'm lazy and don't want to wash the dishes.
• Bathroom door can't be closed without banging into my knees. The beagle stares at me while I make #2. I guess it's fair since I watch her every day.
• Two burner stove is not enough. I love to cook and need at least a third burner. 
• Twin sized bunk beds. I'm tired of rolling over on the beagle only to have her screech out in pain in the middle of the night waking us both up.
• Lack of a couch
• Single propane tank, while it lasts a month, means I can't cook until I refill. 
• Lack of front end stabilizers. The wobbles from walking around or high winds have started to annoy me.
• Shower stall isn't high enough. I have to crouch in order to take showers. 
• Fridge & freezer behind single door. Just barely not enough room for my needs.

New Trailer Pros

• Fresh, Grey, & Black tanks are 52 -42-42 gallons respectively.
• Oven. Baked foods here I come!
• Layout is not the best I've seen, but it's a far cry better than what I have now.
• A bathroom sink as well as a medicine cabinet to boot!
• Kitchen sink has two wells.
• Bathroom door can be closed with plenty of room to spare for my legs. The beagle can no longer watch me, if I wish it to be so.
• Three burners. I can chef my meals up again!
• One, gloriously huge, queen sized bed so me, the beagle, and whatever dog I adopt in the future can all sleep together without any of us injuring each other in the dead of night.
• A couch! And it's in the perfect place for me to setup my TV to watch.
• Dual propane tanks. I'll have the luxury of turning on the 2nd tank and refilling the empty at my leisure.
• Stabilizers on all four corners. No more wobbles regardless of anything.
• I can stand in and shower without crouching ever again.
• Fridge and freezer are separate with more than enough room in both for my needs.

There are a host of other thing that are better with the new trailer that I'm leaving out. I've elected to mention only the things that I've felt have been lacking.

So today, while I was at work, my little girl decided to shit inside our trailer. It's not because I had forgotten to take her out for her morning constitutional break, I did not forget. I took her out and she went. I also didn't get home too late. I arrived on time after work. Nope, the little brat has the innate ability to sense when something is so important that it should not be ruined, but still chooses to do so. And for this I sincerely hate her at those times. I was able to clean it up and also had the obligatory bottle of Nature's Miracle to clean it up. Despite my best efforts I swear that I can still smell that shit smell. This is what really pisses me off. In all due fairness to her, she shat on the removeable area rugs instead of something which I cannot remove from the trailer. Fucking brat!

I digress. This morning I called the dealer and have given the go ahead to process the loan and finalize the sale. I will be picking up my new home on Monday. I wish the sale process could've been much smoother, but it was not. My salesman, while a great and nice guy, is rubbish when it comes to talking numbers and what banks are willing to do. I did modestly suggest that he never speak numbers with his future customers and simply hand the phone over to the finance people instead. Nothing was promised but I have a feeling he'll take the advice to heart.

If nothing sours the deal on Monday, I'll have a much better home to move into.

my takeaway

Life has have seen fit to throw new challenges in life at me. These new ones have been far less physical and far more emotional than past ones. To be frank, the most pressing bits of bad news has taken taken it's worst toll on me. Speaking bluntly, my uncle died very recently. This bit of news was neither shocking nor a surprise. Uncle was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer towards the last few months of 2014. Everyone involved decided to give it the old college try and pursue a proper course of treatment. In the end, it wasn't enough. The cancer was too aggressive and my uncles fate decided well before what the rest of us had hoped for. When his time finally came, it rocked the family. Im honestly not sure where this leaves me. I'm still sorting it out and will follow up with my findings in the next post;

Sorry. I published a touch too soon. My takeaway from recent events is that life is very precious no matter what season we're in. That being stated. I cry much less than I used to, and am ever more thankful than ever before regarding my current lot in life. Who I was and who I am now breaks my heart in a way that most won't ever understand. As many good decisions that I've made, I've equally made some very bad ones. That's life I guess.