Thursday: (06/02) Lou made sauerkraut potatoes with uncured beef bacon and eggs for breakfast. Lots more materials for the van arrived today. Salad for lunch. While trying to determine what gray water tank would be best, I determined that the van layout needed to be reversed so that the shower is on the passenger side. Now the refrigerator will be under the counter behind Dawn’s seat and the sink next to the shower in the doorway. That way all the plumbing can be on one side and all the electrical on one side. No crossovers needed under the floor. Leftover chicken soup over rice for dinner. Lots more studying on the van build.
Friday: (06/03) No breakfast. Tinkered in the yard. Removed the bad motor from the cooler and tried to fix it. The starter doesn’t work. I burnished and adjusted the starter contacts. Then I had trouble getting it back together with a free spinning armature. I determined that the 35 year old motor served us well and will be laid to rest. I located reasonable cost replacement motors at Ace Hardware and Home Depot. ACE was more expensive and a few days before delivery. Home Depot claimed to have 4 in stock in East Palo Alto for less. I decided to try Home Depot even though I don’t like shopping there because of their founder's politics. After bunch of leftover chili and soup, we went to get the motor. In the end, I ordered it from ACE. There were none at Home Depot, even the row and shelf that their online presence claimed they were at didn’t exist. Dawn came with me and looked around the garden shop and got a few items. We stopped at the Grocery Outlet on the way home for milk. Leftover sauerkraut potatoes with grilled bangers for dinner. I received more van materials like the sink, a water tank, and the water filter.
Saturday: (06/04) Rice with honey and trail mix for breakfast. Green salad with crab meat for lunch. Strawberry waffles for dinner. More parts received. I got some Kreg tools for the cabinet construction. The BT2 (bluetooth modem) for the inverter monitor. More van planning. Inow plan on a convertible bed that sets up as a couch in either the forward or backward direction. The mattress will lift ,aided by gas struts, to provide the seatback and also access to storage under the bed. All the utilities have been relocated from under the bed. The water heater,pump, accumulator and water filter will be under the sink. The batteries, inverter, charger, and other electrical will be under the refrigerator. In addition, the bed will be removable as will the drawer cabinet under the bed so that the van can be used to haul long tall objects, limited by about 40” wide by 132” long. I’ll be installing L-track in the floor and garage walls to secure loads. I also spent a lot of time studying the gray water tank placement and decided where the inlets should be located.
Sunday: (06/05) Sausage for breakfast. I received the van refrigerator and some caulk today. Couldn’t check it’s operation for 24 hours so the fluids can settle. It seems to fit nicely. Otherwise, I spent the day thinking about the van floor installation, electrical, framing and watching videos about those things. Home grown artichokes for lunch. A burrito for dinner.
Monday: (06/06) Dawn made ham and cheese arepas for breakfast. I made a run to Lowe’s for some wood. I got 7 sheets of plywood. No problem to carry in the van. We tried to get lunch from Lucky Bistro but found they are now closed on Mondays. I was set on Chinese so we stopped by the China Wok and I got some rice and shrimp. Lou doesn’t trust that they are safe for her to eat. She is sensitive to any cottonseed oil, MSG and Star anise that many restaurants use. Dawn made another chicken soup from her chicken soups from around the world cookbook for dinner. It was served with hard boiled eggs and was very good.
Tuesday: (06/07) Up early and collected what I thought I’d need for the repairs in San Jose. I even took a shower though , since I’ll be working on a toilet, that may have been wasted. I stopped for a breakfast burrito at La Victoria before going to the house. Rick was there and said the problem was that the toilet didn’t fill with water and the water didn’t seem to be flowing into the tank. I confirmed the flow was good to the float valve and then headed off to get a new valve. No need to waste time trying to fix a $15 valve. The valve went in nicely, no leaks. All I needed was a crescent wrench and my wet/dry vacuum. All those snakes and wrenches weren’t needed, fortunately. I took El Camino Real home. I prefer not driving on freeways, especially during heavier traffic. I picked up some dim sum on the way back. Back home I found my inverter and cooler motor had arrived. I checked on my two projects, the city sewer replacement and the apartment building down the street. Then, I tried to install the motor but I broke the pulley trying to get it off the old motor. None available locally so I ordered from Amazon and have to wait a couple of days to continue. I also received my electric sheet metal shear, 8020 rail couplers, reflective self adhesive insulation, and aluminum foil tape. Lunch was dim sum and leftover Chinese rice and shrimp. Lou picked up more Chinese food from Lucky Bistro on her way home. We all dropped our ballots off at our polling place as good citizens.
Wednesday: (06/08) I did some checks on the van and ordered the gray water tank. I also made a run to the dump to cash in Dawn’s cans and bottles. Then more research on van materials and parts. I received the second water tank today. Leftover hot and soup soup for breakfast and lunch. Also leftover salad for lunch. Leftover Chinese food for dinner.
Thursday: (06/09) I emptied the plywood and tanks from inside the van. I slowly made the decision and ordered the windows for the van. I also received the batteries today. An, to make Lou happier, I received the pulley for the cooler and installed the new motor and pulley and it works fine now. Granola with a banana for breakfast. Lou made fried sauerkrauted potatoes with ham and eggs for lunch. Green salad for dinner. Lou and Dawn started dog sitting today. Momo from across the street is our guest for a few days.
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