Continuing Efforts

It has been a crazy busy week dealing with the non-mobile house marketing prep and getting the trailer ready for the first big trip over Christmas.

On the trailer-side, I installed both of our new lithium batteries without issue. I kind of expected it to be an easy process since they are the same physical size as the lead-acid batteries. It was just making sure I didn’t give myself a nice shock as I removed the old cables and re-attached them to the new batteries. The weight savings is close to 50% with the new batteries, which is a nice bonus. The new converter/charger also went in without too much difficulty, and appears to be working properly. Hey, and no smoke/sparks when I reapplied power! Bonus!

The Battery Monitoring System gave me a little pause as I read over the directions and wiring diagram. I ended up punting (temporarily) on installing it until I understand it better. I also realized that it would not fit in the confined battery compartment so I need to figure out the best location for it and what length battery cables I will need to reach the location. So it’s a task for another day.

CA joined in the fun with demolishing the old king size mattress. There was no way that we would be able to get it out of the trailer door, so it was time to play with tools! The top-side fabric and foam padding came off quickly with some sharp shears, exposing the inner springs and the connecting heavy wires. CA removed about a hundred metal clips that held the inner box springs to the outer metal frame. Then I took apart the metal frame with a cutting wheel on the angle grinder, and then used wire cutters to remove the wires connecting the springs until we got the bed into three parts, which then easily fit out the door. After paying a $10 fee (thanks Maryland), I left all of the remains and the two old batteries at the county landfill.

Now comes the process of deconstructing the king sized bed frame down to a queen sized frame, which is still a work in progress.

We also continue sorting and donating/trashing huge amounts of belongings that have been accruing in the house. I’m still amazed at how much stuff has gone out the door, and there is so much still left. Getting the house ready for the real estate pictures in January is very much a major part of each day. I did enjoy two days last weekend involving our backyard fire pit, as I turned some old furniture and several hundred pages of USN personnel documents and flight evaluation reports going back to 1984 into ashes. It was both bitter-sweet and invigorating to release the old and prepare for the new.

Oh, and tomorrow is my last day of work! Oh wait, does that mean I now have to continue cleaning house and prepping the trailer full time?