Last Friday when I sent in my resignation, I didn't want to go back to work. I had a great weekend, great weather, had a close friend visit that I had not seen in 18 years....and by Sunday night I mentioned that I had no desire to return to work. So would I sacrifice some vacation pay to start my retirement earlier than April 25 and keep my sanity?
By late afternoon Monday I requested and received approval to take 9 days vacation, all the way up to my 1pm exit interview on the 25th. So starting tomorrow morning, the iPhone alarm clock will no longer be going off. That doesn't mean I will not rise early, it just means it may not be until right before sunrise. The hounds will be happy being able to go out multiple times per day everyday, instead of sleeping all day. I will be happy because I am finished with a job that I couldn't stand by the end of the day.
I come close to meeting the retirement date I stated on this blog in October 2011 and that was to retire in May 2014.
So I have been going through the gauntlet of vehicle possibilities. Not trading trucks but what to buy as far as a camper or a trailer. I know with the hounds, it looks like a trailer. As a couple of fellow readers suggested by email, with the hounds I have, nothing less than a 24' trailer.
So it looks like I am trailer bound. No answers back from my questions on the used Nash trailers I have found for sale. One Bigfoot trailer possibility. Of course nothing in my Midwestern location for those two brands of 4 season trailers.
Don't forget the lunar eclipse later tonight/early morning.
April 14, 2014
April 11, 2014
I Sent My Resignation Letter Today
After years of analyzing and the past few months of thinking about it, analyzing all the personal financial information on my spreadsheets and trying to make it until May 30, 2014 .... I decided today "enough is enough". I had been unhappy in my job rut for quite a while but liked the money. I'm not sure if I was burned out but there were just too many new plans that I wanted more than just making more money.
I sent the required resignation letter to my HR department and Department Manager today, stating that April 25 will be my last day of work. I had a quick response from the HR department and they will set up my exit interview and the processing of my separation package.
Major relief was felt on the dog walk this afternoon.
I've been spending time looking at the All-Weather trailers made by Bigfoot and Nash. Thinking of hooking one of those up to a 4x4 pickup truck and going with that combination. I can say that I feel much better that the RV is sold, than I did when I bought it. I was happy I bought it but I am thrilled that I sold it. With the recent weather changes of cold weather at night in the SW and Southern Texas, I thought an All-Weather trailer would be the way to go.
The plans may have changed recently but they look clearer and closer to happening than they have ever been.
I sent the required resignation letter to my HR department and Department Manager today, stating that April 25 will be my last day of work. I had a quick response from the HR department and they will set up my exit interview and the processing of my separation package.
Major relief was felt on the dog walk this afternoon.
I've been spending time looking at the All-Weather trailers made by Bigfoot and Nash. Thinking of hooking one of those up to a 4x4 pickup truck and going with that combination. I can say that I feel much better that the RV is sold, than I did when I bought it. I was happy I bought it but I am thrilled that I sold it. With the recent weather changes of cold weather at night in the SW and Southern Texas, I thought an All-Weather trailer would be the way to go.
The plans may have changed recently but they look clearer and closer to happening than they have ever been.
April 10, 2014
The RV is SOLD!!
The 2004 Coachmen Freedom 258db was sold last night and the buyer picked it up today, cash in hand. Now before you 'sprint' to the comment section, let me explain.
"She" fought hard to stay. The buyer did a very detailed look over, even on the roof. Let the engine idle but turned down my offer of a test drive. ONLY LATER after he left I found out why his refusing the offer was a GREAT idea. See even from the first day of buying this RV, Murphy's Law has always been sitting on my shoulder and last night was a glowing example.
The buyer left, gave me a deposit that was not asked for and said he would be back today to pay in cash and pick it up. I thought I would drive down to the local station and top off the gas tank for him, as I did just a couple of weeks ago when I checked tires. Only this time while the RV had been sitting on leveling blocks on ground that was more than saturated from the winter weather but this past Monday we had 2" of new rain.
You are getting the picture. Here is a hint ... don't laugh too hard. :)
That lead to another hour or so, hosing off the under carriage, in between the dual tires that had solid mud between them and the tire sidewalls inside them and outside. By the time I finished everything looked like new, including my Keen shoes.
The Coachmen never felt like the right vehicle. I had buyer's remorse very soon after the purchase. The more time I spent inside with the hounds, the bigger the hounds looked and the less space the RV looked like it had. The more I looked at my list of things to take, the storage was an issue. I'm not planning on taking a ton of stuff but just the basics. I would have had to tow to travel off the beaten path once camp is set up plus have a vehicle for emergencies without packing everything up and driving only the RV.
I basically bought this RV 11 days after swearing last September I would not buy anything until I got down to just one basset hound and giving any of the hounds away was NOT an option. It was local buy, only 12 miles away which had me thinking of the $1,000's of dollars saved by not buying out of state. It was in great shape, yada yada yada.
All the options of towing or not towing were analyzed beyond the norm. I didn't want to tow the Mini Cooper because that would be a terrible off road vehicle. Towing the H3 Hummer with the 5.7L and camper weight was borderline at best. Storage was the next concern. With what I would need to take with me, just traveling with the RV was out of the question, very little storage in that model of Coachmen.
I plan on selling my all of my vehicles, raise more cash, combine that will my vacation pay that is owed and other separation pay I will receive when I leave my job on May 30... then buy something for cash.
It is great to be shopping again for addicts like myself.
I have a plan in place to still hit the road. I still plan on retiring May 30 and at the minimum take the 3 hounds out west on a 'vacation' in some sort of camping vehicle.
Of course one of my local friends suggested keeping my Mini and towing something like this ... LOL. The trailer does fold out into the tent that is pictured below.
"She" fought hard to stay. The buyer did a very detailed look over, even on the roof. Let the engine idle but turned down my offer of a test drive. ONLY LATER after he left I found out why his refusing the offer was a GREAT idea. See even from the first day of buying this RV, Murphy's Law has always been sitting on my shoulder and last night was a glowing example.
The buyer left, gave me a deposit that was not asked for and said he would be back today to pay in cash and pick it up. I thought I would drive down to the local station and top off the gas tank for him, as I did just a couple of weeks ago when I checked tires. Only this time while the RV had been sitting on leveling blocks on ground that was more than saturated from the winter weather but this past Monday we had 2" of new rain.
You are getting the picture. Here is a hint ... don't laugh too hard. :)
Yes, you're right ... The 'sold' RV was stuck in the mud. So with a calm response (surprising), a shovel and some plywood .... and time ... I was able to drive it out of the muck.
The Coachmen never felt like the right vehicle. I had buyer's remorse very soon after the purchase. The more time I spent inside with the hounds, the bigger the hounds looked and the less space the RV looked like it had. The more I looked at my list of things to take, the storage was an issue. I'm not planning on taking a ton of stuff but just the basics. I would have had to tow to travel off the beaten path once camp is set up plus have a vehicle for emergencies without packing everything up and driving only the RV.
I basically bought this RV 11 days after swearing last September I would not buy anything until I got down to just one basset hound and giving any of the hounds away was NOT an option. It was local buy, only 12 miles away which had me thinking of the $1,000's of dollars saved by not buying out of state. It was in great shape, yada yada yada.
All the options of towing or not towing were analyzed beyond the norm. I didn't want to tow the Mini Cooper because that would be a terrible off road vehicle. Towing the H3 Hummer with the 5.7L and camper weight was borderline at best. Storage was the next concern. With what I would need to take with me, just traveling with the RV was out of the question, very little storage in that model of Coachmen.
I plan on selling my all of my vehicles, raise more cash, combine that will my vacation pay that is owed and other separation pay I will receive when I leave my job on May 30... then buy something for cash.
It is great to be shopping again for addicts like myself.
I have a plan in place to still hit the road. I still plan on retiring May 30 and at the minimum take the 3 hounds out west on a 'vacation' in some sort of camping vehicle.
Of course one of my local friends suggested keeping my Mini and towing something like this ... LOL. The trailer does fold out into the tent that is pictured below.
Stay tuned for future developments! I've got to get to Utah no matter what.
April 01, 2014
The Blog is Back - RV is DE-Winterized
(Editor's Note: Not an April Fools Joke)
As you look at the home page you will notice the most recent posts I did are gone .... not sure why? A week or so ago I decided to delete my blog, get out of blogville so that is where I've been. At times it bothers me with the amount of personal information that is online. Also soon to be retired the question kept bugging me on how much or how many commitments do I really want after I retire. Will more followers/readers require bogging on a more frequent basis. Would I want unexpected visitors while traveling, like I have read recently on other blogs.
So the easy way was to just delete the blog and forget it. Still there are times I do enjoy writing. It's kind of like a journal for my whole process of "bad brain" thinking and at the same time a source of information for others that are looking for trailer info, towing info, motorhome info and traveling with dogs. So maybe all of my gibberish may help someone in the future if it hasn't already.
As of today and for the future the blog is back and I'll try to blog on a regular basis. I just find it hard to post since the weather has FINALLY changed for the best here in the Midwest plus I am not traveling yet.
So there are many days I don't have anything I feel would be interesting to my readers to put on the blog.
Last Saturday it rained most of the morning with a good weather forecast tarting last Sunday. My 10 day forecast looked like the over night freezing temps were over for the year, so I decided to de-winterize the RV.
Since I have been paying for road side service via insurance (too high), I decided to call and have them come out and repair the flat tire I had from sitting in the winter. I am glad I did because the lug wrench would not have worked. He used an impact wrench to get the lug nuts off and had the spare installed with the valve extensions, without a problem. He then aired up the flat tire because I had told him it sounded as if the loss of air was from the extended valve. 24 hours later the tire still the full amount of air in it, so it is a bad extended valve that caused the flat.
Sunday I started early with the de-winterizing process and It took less time than the process of winterizing. Then I pulled the chalks, fired it up, headed down the narrow drive with just enough room to miss the corner of my house and headed to the local air pumps to bring the tires up to the required weight. I took about a 12 mile test drive and the rig rode smooth and quiet. I wanted to keep going without going back to the house, it was that enjoyable.
So the blog is back, the rig is ready to hit the road and the weather has been great for a change.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)