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Snubbing the Coronavirus

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Jim

RVF Supporter
Joined
Dec 18, 2019
Messages
3,864
Location
North Carolina
RV Year
2016
RV Make
Newmar
RV Model
London Aire 4551
RV Length
45
Chassis
Freightliner
Engine
Cummins / I6 Diesel Pusher 600HP / 1,950 ft-lbs
TOW/TOAD
2016 Jeep Rubicon
Fulltimer
No
These are trying times, and I know you've all been doing what you can to make the best of it. Many have canceled trips, vacations, loved ones visits, etc. But when I look at the many who have contracted this virus, spent time in the hospital or the many who have not won the encounter, I realize I'm one of the lucky ones. So no whining from me, that's for sure.

As such, I thought it might be interesting to see what others are doing with their time as we "shelter in place" and wait for our leaders to figure out what to do next. I've been making the best of this time to get caught up on the numerous maintenance issues that come along with living on a 50 acre homestead.
  • I've been dragging trees down off the mountain and cutting them up for the firewood that we'll need next winter
  • Pruning some of the misbehaved fruit trees
  • Cleaning up the side-roads that took damage over the winter
  • Cleaning up the barn, wow, that's going to some time!
  • And then they're the garage up here at the house. Yeah, that's going to take some time as well
  • Removed the gate openers at the main gate and replaced them with a new "Goat" gate system. We had a Mighty Mule gate opener for the last 10 years and it was always one click from not working. Hopefully this "Goat" system will work better and be more dependable
  • Still have solar panels to put up on the motor home but I have to paint the roof first and I haven't had enough good weather to allow that yet.

I think I'll order a "Tailgater" for the motor home, so I can go down during the evening and watch TV. Kind of a "pretend" trip, if you will.

Anyone else care to share?
 
Good thread @Jim

For me running a software business it's a good time to really get to the grind of getting some projects worked on. Been on a long RV trip, still on it waiting in holding to move into Gaffney, SC for my FL service on April 15th then home where I'll continue the same. For me running a software business and working the same whether remote or in the office as office, home office, rv office are all setup identical I'm fortunate (I think) that things really haven't changed for me. Yes, business is slow and will remain slow as it should, people should go into self preservation mode financially "in my opinion" unless you're the more fortunate to take advantage of situations like this. So without digressing further, I'm working, focusing, and I'm also watching a lot of training videos to keep up with the tech I use. My passion is learning so I don't do a lot of Netflix but instead rather watch videos to hone my software development skills. I haven't done this for a while so it's good to also get back into some training. Now I will go brainless in the evening watching very important educational TV such as "Moonshiners" or "Gold Rush" because that's important too, or YouTube to watch Pickleball strategy, 3D printing topics, etc. I suspended my YouTube premium when I started cleaning up unnecessary subscriptions for my own self-preservation, those youtube ads are killing me! :)

When I return home the day after Gaffney I'll have the house to take care of, landscaping, but more importantly getting the nuclear energy burned off of this nuclear powered dog at 6 months of age. Fenced in back yard will be nice to have again. I love my house and I'm looking forward to my recliner and 75" TV, home theater, sound system, and big kitchen. Lots of grills from natural gas off the house (just got a new Weber I love last year), larger Blackstone, larger Green Mountain Grills Pellet Grill, and even a charcoal grill so I'll get back to my grilling passion too.

Finally, I'll learn to braid my hair! Goodness! I'm going to be scary come the end of this lock down!
 
Catching up on "projects" will probably consume a lot of people's time in the coming weeks. We just moved to our new leased RV site April 1st. My original list was planned for a 9 day stay. Looks like I'll have to expand it for an extended stay in Florida anywhere from 30 days to 120 days, who knows at this point.
- wax half the coach (first half completed last month)
- install shelves in my new shed
- change oil in Harley
- detail Harley
- re-organize tool drawer on coach
- router my corn hole boards and install LED rope lighting
I have "slowed my roll" and only accomplished a couple things off my list so far. What I am finding is for some of my projects I need to visit a retailer for a purchase. I avoid going out of the resort on weekends and try to limit my trips to any type of store to once a week. You can only order certain things on-line.

Neal, I guess I am lucky when it comes to haircuts. I used to buzz my own hair on a regular basis and got pretty good at it. I dug out the old electric trimmer a couple weeks ago and got to it.

That is about the biggest issue for the DW. If you asked her what the biggest inconvenience was as a result of this virus I guarantee she would say that she can't go get her hair done!
 
We had two trips planned. One to FMCA Rally/Tucson AZ for 40 days and one to Newmar Repair/Washington DC for 40 days. We canceled the FMCA/Tucson trip and canceled the Washington DC leg of the Newmar/Washington DC trip. Those two trips we allocated 4,500 dollars so instead, we purchased 4 Battle Born batteries and a Magnum ME-ARC50 control head. Batteries will be here next week so we are going to take our time installing them and cleaning up the battery tray.
 
Gizmo brings up a good point. 99% of us have cancelled RV travel for now. Normally by this time of year we would have already spent time in AL, TN, and heading to IL., instead we are stationary on our site in Florida spending $287 a month (including utilities). Saving at least $1,000 to $1,500 per month for awhile.
On top of that our Uncle will be sending us a check soon!
 
Never leave money unspent, right? :ROFLMAO: I like your style, @Gizmo! (y)

TJ

We had in our budget to install AGS this year and Lithium batteries next year. The canceled trips just allowed us to do all this year and remain within our budget for traveling. We have a fixed amount that goes into our travel/RVing account every month so we are paying for the trips as we take them. Then there the emergency account we keep that has enough money in it to replace the engine that we can access within 10 days. I guess being in small business I'm use to planing/budgets that are realistic.
 
Picture 1.
Last year I cut a small Cedar tree down as it was becoming a problem getting the motor home around it without scraping up the sides. So today I took it down to the sawmill and cut it into 1/2" thick boards. Here are a few of them. Wow, do they ever smell good! I'll probably use them to line the closet in the motor home.

Picture 2.
The grass is starting to get green. And to our surprise (and great excitement) a couple of Mallards have decided to move in at the pond.

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Recycling at its finest! Well done, @Jim.

TJ
Thanks TJ.

This is an old Red Oak tree that came down in the middle of a storm. Picture 1 is what it looked like when I cut it with the mill. Picture 2 is what it looked like when I poured some water on it. (pouring water on the cut will give you an idea of what it will look like when it is finished. i.e. a table or piece of furniture.) The cuts off this tree have been drying in my barn for about 3 years now and are just about ready to become something.

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