Not a vandwelling post, but I need to get this out of my head, and writing is the best way to do it.
I have this ex, she's perfect in many ways, but she's promiscuous, and an attention seeker as well. I have discovered that this could very well be attributed to her Borderline Personality Disorder. We were off and on throughout our entire relationship, and she drove me crazy but I love her, and that makes it all the more difficult. We chose to remain friends, but she's all over the map, and sometimes, it's difficult to handle her.
Being the type of person I am, I am always there for those I care about, and this holds true for her as well. In fact, I have been learning recently, that I have basically been the only constant in her life outside of her family. The guys that she meets, are for lack of a better words, pigs. They are not interested in hanging out with her unless she puts out, and thus she's getting ditched a lot by these guys. Now, this is partially her fault, because she gives them the impression that she is an easy conquest, but when it comes time to hang out, that's all she wants. Go for a coffee, and stay in public.
Is it wrong for me to be a little happy about her getting ditched? For all her craziness, and the craziness that she got in me which made me do some things I am not proud of. Ashamed of actually. I still want her. I still want to be there for her, and still want to have a real relationship with her. I still want to be there for her whenever she needs me. We haven't done anything more than text this past month, and I have been going out on dates as well (Only stood up once, but that was resolved with a new date set). I'm not really looking for a relationship, but some good friends, and they're all aware of that. If something comes from it, then so be it. I don't talk about her to anyone, and as far as everyone is concerned, she's a distant memory.
I'd love to just be over her, and move on with my life, but damn. I just can't. I fell for this girl. Hard. Now I can only try to be supportive of her, and hope that eventually, she'll figure out that I've been the only one to want her for her, not just her body. I was there for some really bad times of depression from her, I would even take time off work to be with her (which is easy to do since I can work from home) when she needed me.
I don't know, maybe I'm a fool...
Monday, May 30, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
A Hydrogen Generator
Surfing this forum that I am on, someone asked about HHO Conversions for a vehicle. There's not a lot of information out there on these, and everone seems to be selling kits, or really expensive How-To's. I decided once when I came across it to buy one with some money I had sitting in my PayPal account from a couple years back, and it was a $10 buy for a really really basic Hydrogen generator. It's composed of a couple mason jars, and assortment of other stuff to get it running. I don't know if it'll work or not, and I have to build and test it out yet.
The idea (of this one at least) is that the generator produces Hydrogen, which is pumped into the engine through vacumn lines as you need to hook this up to existing vacumn lines going into your engine. This would be pretty useless in a place where winter is often below freezing, but you could save money in the spring, summer, and fall (if it actually works).
I'm curious, has anyone ever built a Hydrogen Generator? How did it work for you? Did it actually help save gas? Living in a van, you can consume a lot of fuel, and with the cost of gas going up to near unaffordable prices these days, every bit counts.
The idea (of this one at least) is that the generator produces Hydrogen, which is pumped into the engine through vacumn lines as you need to hook this up to existing vacumn lines going into your engine. This would be pretty useless in a place where winter is often below freezing, but you could save money in the spring, summer, and fall (if it actually works).
I'm curious, has anyone ever built a Hydrogen Generator? How did it work for you? Did it actually help save gas? Living in a van, you can consume a lot of fuel, and with the cost of gas going up to near unaffordable prices these days, every bit counts.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Blogger Stats - Actually rather interesting
So I was mucking about on the blog since all I can do is post. Have been unable to log in. Well, I can log into the dashboard, but if I go to view a blog (including my own) I'm not logged in. The forums are showing many people are having the same issue. Anyways, I clicked on the "Stats" button for this blog, and was surprised to find that I have readers in Russia and Ukraine (I'm second generation Canadian, but my family comes from Ukraine), and even China! I also have had hits from iPhone, and Playstation 3. Very cool. People are checking me out from unconventional devices :)
It's so facinating to see what brings people to your blog. Several hit from google searches, so I checked out one of the searches "Canadian Van Dwellers", and I'm #7 on the list currently. That's a very cool thing to me. In order to bring up my stats, I want to start blogging more about the van, and upgrades that are moving along.
As an FYI, stay tuned. Next month I'll be picking up a couple things, and starting to update the van :)
Thought I would share since I found it so interesting.
Pageviews by Countries
United States 697
Canada 315
United Kingdom 176
Australia 43
China 20
Germany 16
Ukraine 15
Russia 14
Sweden 10
Ireland 8
Pageviews by Operating Systems
Windows 1,163 (84%)
Macintosh 154 (11%)
iPhone 27 (1%)
Other Unix 15 (1%)
Linux 10 (<1%)
PLAYSTATION 3 1 (<1%)
It's so facinating to see what brings people to your blog. Several hit from google searches, so I checked out one of the searches "Canadian Van Dwellers", and I'm #7 on the list currently. That's a very cool thing to me. In order to bring up my stats, I want to start blogging more about the van, and upgrades that are moving along.
As an FYI, stay tuned. Next month I'll be picking up a couple things, and starting to update the van :)
Thought I would share since I found it so interesting.
Pageviews by Countries
United States 697
Canada 315
United Kingdom 176
Australia 43
China 20
Germany 16
Ukraine 15
Russia 14
Sweden 10
Ireland 8
Pageviews by Operating Systems
Windows 1,163 (84%)
Macintosh 154 (11%)
iPhone 27 (1%)
Other Unix 15 (1%)
Linux 10 (<1%)
PLAYSTATION 3 1 (<1%)
Rain Rain Go Away!
It has been raining the entire weekend, and with the province wide fire ban, made for a lousy May Long weekend. The rain is supposed to continue straight through this week and into next weekend as well. Thankfully, the van is nice and sealed, with no leaks.
I can't imagine what camping would have been like this past weekend for those without a van, tent trailer, or motorhome. I have heat, and electricity. I can sit back, watch a movie, and entertain a few people while cooking a nice meal. Cooking isn't something that tent campers really could do aside from a propane stove.
On another note, I met with a financial advisor recently, and should be able to get the finances under control, and a plan in place to get out of this debt I have. Apparently, $16,000 in debt isn't that much. It's huge to me.
I can't imagine what camping would have been like this past weekend for those without a van, tent trailer, or motorhome. I have heat, and electricity. I can sit back, watch a movie, and entertain a few people while cooking a nice meal. Cooking isn't something that tent campers really could do aside from a propane stove.
On another note, I met with a financial advisor recently, and should be able to get the finances under control, and a plan in place to get out of this debt I have. Apparently, $16,000 in debt isn't that much. It's huge to me.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Turning your friends onto the idea of Vandwelling
What the? Three posts in ONE day??? haha, I have plenty to say today I suppose.
So I was chatting with a friend of mine about this May Long weekend, how it's supposed to rain all weekend, AND the area he's going camping at has a fireban. Well, that's where a van comes in great use. If the weather is crappy, and you can't have a fire, you're going to be cold, miserable, and hungry in a tent. In a van, you can cook your meal, turn on the furnace to stay warm, and sit back watching a movie under the covers with your partner. Why do that when you can do it at home you ask? Because it's NOT at home, you get up, look out your window and see wilderness. That's why.
This friend has partied with me before in my van with some other friends when we went out to the bar for karaoke. We all partied, and pre-drank in the van listening to music and socializing and saving money on booze. Afterwards, I went to bed parked outside the bar, got up in the morning, and headed off. My friends, while making the customary "down by the river" joke, love the van. Some may never actually want to live in one, but they are also stuck on the stick-built mentality.
This friend has expressed a passing interest in what I had been doing (living in the van) last summer, and while he says he'd love to do something like that, he can't because he is living with someone right now. That's totally fine. I tell him that doesn't stop him from getting a campervan, outfitting it, and using it for camping. It also becomes that emergency shelter for things such as doing something that puts him in the doghouse, or if there's a fire and now has no where to live, or worst case scenario; the dreaded break up.
Even if you don't plan on living in a van, it can be a wonderful backup plan for the "just in case" scenarios. The "I want to camp all weekend away from people and campgrounds, but still have power" scenarios, and even the, "I want to actually go to a bar, drink my face off, and not drive or cab home 9because the cab driver always takes the long way home)" scenarios.
Just because this blog is written about living in a van, doesn't mean that anyone stumbling across it can't simply do a similar setup just to have weekends away. The freedom is still there, you just plan a bit differently. I never have to pack, or think about buying food for the trip. I have it all there, but a weekend warrior will have to think of what to bring for the weather, and what to buy for food.
The van can also serve (for the more paranoid) as a "bug out" van. You know, the war is coming, and you "bug out" of town, away from people, and hopefully hostility along the way. There are a myriad of reasons to just have one of these babies parked out back. You may not use it daily, or even weekly, but it's there. It's your safety net.
So what are you waiting for fellow readers?
So I was chatting with a friend of mine about this May Long weekend, how it's supposed to rain all weekend, AND the area he's going camping at has a fireban. Well, that's where a van comes in great use. If the weather is crappy, and you can't have a fire, you're going to be cold, miserable, and hungry in a tent. In a van, you can cook your meal, turn on the furnace to stay warm, and sit back watching a movie under the covers with your partner. Why do that when you can do it at home you ask? Because it's NOT at home, you get up, look out your window and see wilderness. That's why.
This friend has partied with me before in my van with some other friends when we went out to the bar for karaoke. We all partied, and pre-drank in the van listening to music and socializing and saving money on booze. Afterwards, I went to bed parked outside the bar, got up in the morning, and headed off. My friends, while making the customary "down by the river" joke, love the van. Some may never actually want to live in one, but they are also stuck on the stick-built mentality.
This friend has expressed a passing interest in what I had been doing (living in the van) last summer, and while he says he'd love to do something like that, he can't because he is living with someone right now. That's totally fine. I tell him that doesn't stop him from getting a campervan, outfitting it, and using it for camping. It also becomes that emergency shelter for things such as doing something that puts him in the doghouse, or if there's a fire and now has no where to live, or worst case scenario; the dreaded break up.
Even if you don't plan on living in a van, it can be a wonderful backup plan for the "just in case" scenarios. The "I want to camp all weekend away from people and campgrounds, but still have power" scenarios, and even the, "I want to actually go to a bar, drink my face off, and not drive or cab home 9because the cab driver always takes the long way home)" scenarios.
Just because this blog is written about living in a van, doesn't mean that anyone stumbling across it can't simply do a similar setup just to have weekends away. The freedom is still there, you just plan a bit differently. I never have to pack, or think about buying food for the trip. I have it all there, but a weekend warrior will have to think of what to bring for the weather, and what to buy for food.
The van can also serve (for the more paranoid) as a "bug out" van. You know, the war is coming, and you "bug out" of town, away from people, and hopefully hostility along the way. There are a myriad of reasons to just have one of these babies parked out back. You may not use it daily, or even weekly, but it's there. It's your safety net.
So what are you waiting for fellow readers?
Consolidated Links (aka The Wish List)
I realized that I am posting about many things that I want to do to upgrade the van, and make life more liveable in it. As I do this, the previous posts with links will eventually slide down out of sight, and what happens when I have been blogging for years? This is the solution. I may blog about a certain product, and how it's working, but I will also update the link in this post, with a link to the post about it. To the right is the Page for it. Same title as this post. :)
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Swampy Cooler
Well, here I am posting again yet another great little product that I think I will be buying. I'm keeping my eyes open on kijiji.ca, craigslist, ebay, and bargain finder for this.
The MightyKool 3-Speed Personal Cooler sounds like it'll be perfect for my van. Last year, it would get so hot in the van, that I couldn't wear pretty much anything, and would have to find places that I could have the side door open to get a breeze through. I didn't much care for that, especially when trying to sleep at night, or have a nap during the day.
Brand new, this thing is pricey. $337 USD to ship to Canada. I'm sure I could get it delivered to somewhere on the other side of the border, and then pick it up but that'll only knock off about $45. Still, $45 is $45.
Best best is to hopefully find one for cheap on the classified ad sites.
I think with all these products that I list here, I might get a widget that will give me that referral bonus for those that click through and buy. Maybe I can make just enough money to start buying these things myself as well!
The MightyKool 3-Speed Personal Cooler sounds like it'll be perfect for my van. Last year, it would get so hot in the van, that I couldn't wear pretty much anything, and would have to find places that I could have the side door open to get a breeze through. I didn't much care for that, especially when trying to sleep at night, or have a nap during the day.
Brand new, this thing is pricey. $337 USD to ship to Canada. I'm sure I could get it delivered to somewhere on the other side of the border, and then pick it up but that'll only knock off about $45. Still, $45 is $45.
Best best is to hopefully find one for cheap on the classified ad sites.
I think with all these products that I list here, I might get a widget that will give me that referral bonus for those that click through and buy. Maybe I can make just enough money to start buying these things myself as well!
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