October is nearly here, and temperatures are beginning to cool just a bit. That means one thing: time to break out the winter clothes. I set aside half of my Sunday to do just that. It was a bit of a task that turned into other tasks that turned into yet more tasks. I had to go into my basement storage (and for those of you who are not RVers, the basement is the storage underneath the RV with doors that can only be opened from the outside).
As fulltimers, we’ve got quite a bit of stuff in there: tools, camping gear, keepsakes we couldn’t part with but don’t need to access on a daily basis, holiday decorations, ice chests. By far, the largest items in the basement are our two massive Samonsite suitcases. We each have one full of off-season clothes. Since the suitcases only need to be accessed twice a year, they are in the dead center of the storage space so that things that are needed more often can sit closer to one of the doors (there’s access from either side of the RV; thus it’s called “pass through” storage).
After digging EVERYTHING out of the storage, I managed to free my suitcase and then had Lex help me wrestle it up the steps and inside. I also had a couple of duffel bags full of clothing that had to come in, too. That done, I went into the bedroom and started rifling through the closet, making room for the cool-weather clothing. Unpacking took a while because I had to do some creative problem solving to make room for bulky sweaters, sweats, and pajamas. I eventually made it all fit and packed up the summer clothes. It was back outside to get that damned suitcase back into the basement. It was just as heavy going out as coming in even without the bulky winterwear.
I decided that since I had everything pulled out of the basement and sitting on the ground, I might as well try to find room in the RV for a couple of boxes that have been nesting in my trunk since July. I had to physically climb into the basement to do some tricky rearranging (I have to be careful and not just shove things in and out; otherwise, I risk crushing heating ducts or pulling water hoses loose). I’m sure the neighbors, sitting on the porch while all this was going on, got a big kick out of seeing the fat girl wiggle into the rabbit hole under her house. At some point, my feet were dangling outside while the rest of me was inside. Good thing Lex and her cameraphone were inside playing WoW. If she hadn’t been, I bet there’d be rather embarassing pictures up on Facebook right now.
I managed to make the space for what turned out to be just one box of of wires, cables, and other electronic bits and pieces. The other box came into the house, and Lex promised to go through the files in that box this week and dispose of what she could and file the rest in the little two-drawer file cabinet that’s here in the living room. My trunk was empty at long last, so I promptly shoved two baskets full of laundry in there. I’ve been driving around with dirty laundry in my backseat, but I’m paranoid that I’ll park at school and leave dirty undies on top of the basket for all my students and colleagues to see. Oi!
Since I was out and about, I decided to go ahead and put away my lawn chair and pull up the yard flamingos (yes, I have a small pair of flamingos, but I also have a sense of irony). I think our maintenance guy was tired of trying to mow around them. That done, I took one of the patio rugs and scooted it under the house. I’ve been wanting to crawl under there and take a look for a while. The valve on our blank tank has been hard to close, and I’ve wanted to see if I could figure out why. Well, I got down on my back and wriggled underneath. Nothing. No dice. The underbelly is totally sealed up, so I couldn’t see where the valves terminated. Oh, well.
I grabbed ahold of the bottom of the RV so I could push myself out, and something sloshed that wasn’t supposed to slosh. Crap. Something’s leaking. The thing is that it isn’t draining out; the liquid (and something tells me it’s not fresh water) is being held in by the tarping that is secured around the bottom of the chassis. That can’t be good. On pay day, I’m calling the service folks to come out and take a look, and I’m coughing up the $100 deductible to get to the bottom of that slosh. When we finally get freezing weather, I don’t need anything sloshing down around there.
I really do need to take a continuing education class on plumbing.
