Actually I hate it most days. My dh is a union electrician and I am not going to sit here and say anything bad about the union. I have my opinions, some good, some not so good. I do know that dh’s job is very unpredictable. You may think you have a job lined up for the next six months and the next day you could be laid off. It is just how it is but it is a hard way to live. For the most part, the pay makes it all worth while but even that fluctuates high and low, state to state.
His job is what prompted us to move into our RV to begin with. If you are living somewhere without a good amount of work you need to go where the work is. If that work is in another state then so be it.
Right now dh is in Maryland working and I am here in TX. But he is making good money and after six months of unemployment it is great really. He is with a good company that is willing to put him to work in other places (YAY). Well it is almost good news anyway. First he never knows anything till the last second, which totally sucks. He could have a chance to work either in place “A”, place “B” (which have been briefly mentioned) or here locally(which has not be brought up yet, but possible if A nd B don’t go through). Places A and B are the better choices work wise but then he would still be half way across the country. Working here would be wonderful except how he would go about doing it. Yes he “could” just go from Maryland to here and start working with the company he is currently with, without re signing the union book. But, the union doesn’t like that, nor do all the other workers who are on the books waiting for work. If it were to be decided that here is where the company would want dh to work then his decision would be to voluntarily take a lay off, sign the union books here and go on unemployment till the time he caught a job out.
Yes, I do “get” what he wants to do, but I don’t agree with it much. It isn’t fair to basically jump in line in front of others who have been waiting for work. I do totally get that. My feelings are that after six months of unemployment, ya do what ya gotta do, period. I just wonder how many other guys in the same situation would do the same thing? Would they think of their “brothers” and their need? Or would they think of themselves and families and at least try to stay employed at all costs, given that option.
He could go from one job to the job that is here but it is frowned upon by the other workers. Believe me when I say my dh can and has stepped on a lot of toes in his career but those toes are always stepped on cause they broke the rules. If you follow the rules you won’t hear a peep from dh. Don’t get me wrong either cause dh is no angel by any stretch of the imagination. He could give a shit about company rules, it is the union rules he abides by.
I suppose this is no different then anything else concerning my dh. That man and his job will continue to challenge me and drive me crazy for many years to come.
You would think we bought a house, not an RV. Dh is doing some renovating on a new RV, what is up with that? He has put a hole in the ceiling for another A/C vent. There was only one vent in the living/dinning/kitchen area and this will provide more are air to where we sit to watch TV. Really for the most part considering we are in TX this RV is wonderful for keeping us cool.
He is also putting a hole in the ceiling for a ceiling fan. Gotta love circulation especially when your living in a confined space. So we will get a small one and since we have 9 foot ceilings we won’t have to worry about getting our heads chopped off by it. (Bought the fan tonight, pictured above).
Dh has also put a couple holes in the side of the cabinet for new outlets. When they built this RV they really didn’t have a clue as to where people needed to plug things in. But now our coffee pot will be able to have its very own outlet and not have to worry about the cord that is attached to an extension cord dragging halfway over the counter top and always in the way.
These RVs are made (essentially anyway) to vacation in, so a whole set of issues arise when you plan to move your entire life into one. We are not the first to do it, nor will we be the last but everybody’s needs are different. We are learning as we go, what works, and what doesn’t for us.
In only three days my oldest son Alex comes back from his summer away. He hasn’t even see the RV yet. This in itself will bring on a whole new set of challenges. Our confined space will be even more confined. And I am sure the younger boys are going to drive their older brother crazy. I think as a teenager he will have the most adjusting to do.
But wait, I was talking about dh putting holes in the walls, ceilings etc… I got a bit sidetracked. So far so good, he hasn’t screwed anything up or made a hole that doesn’t belong. I am sure he will think of plenty to do here to make things “better”. However everytime he does I get nervous about it.
I will be honest and say that living in TX was something I never wanted to do. I don’t have anything specific against TX or people who live here. There are just other states further up on my list of places I would prefer to live. But, if I must live in certain places there are certain requirements I have, to make it much more pleasurable. So if I am going to live in TX, because of dh’s work, then I was determined to live some place on the coast.
So here I am, living in Baytown, TX (about a half hour from Houston). It is surrounded by water (Galveston Bay) on three sides. The Bay is right out our back door here at the nice RV park we are staying at. Now I just need to convince dh to stay here for our whole time here and not move to a place closer to where he may work.
The best part about being here is, the breeze. TX is hot and humid and pretty much miserable inland. I like heat but this humidity is killing me. By the bay there is a constant breeze. It is still ungodly hot, but the breeze takes a bit of the edge off.
One thing about living in an RV park is ya meet a lot of people. I have met more people here in two weeks then I ever met in my neighborhood in Arizona. It is summer, and people are out in the park and everyone waves as they pass/drive by or stop and talk.
There are different types of people here. There are those who are older who do the RV “thing” and you have the quiet couples our age. Then you have the partiers who get together on the weekends and down a few beers (that’s us lol). In that group you have a few (as I may call them) dirty old men. Nice men who live here. But no matter when you see them your never sure if they are sober. They talk your ear off and tell you their life story. They do odd jobs to get by and just like to have fun most of all.
You have the girl, one in particular who is a single mom like 34yrs old but acts like she is 20. Swears she is a good girl who just likes to party but then follows your dh into the camper and tries to man handle him. It was my dh but I just had to laugh because I trust my dh implicitly. But I do tend to get jealous now and again.
There are those who live here for one reason or another. That I know of, one sold their house and a new one is being built, been here for two months now. Another is trying to sell their house. Easier to stay here and keep their house spic and span for perspective buyers. Some are here “just because”. Some are vacationing or like us just passing through.
My boys have made friends here and love to go to the park and to the pool. One of my son’s little friends says he is from Florida and that his daddy was a Dr who was killed in the war. I don’t know any more then that.
Most of us here have some type of pet. There are always people out walking their dogs while my two dogs like to bark at them. The couple next door to us have two big dogs and a cat that got out yesterday that has yet to return home and they have as of yet to find. The cat is 9 yrs old and I can relate as my cat of the same age escaped last summer while we were in Vegas. Luckily mine came back 24 hours later. I hope they find their cat soon.
In about one week from now we are headed down the road to another RV park for quite an event that is taking place. I will fill everyone in on it as the time to that event get closer.
Here we are in our first week of living in our RV. We are in Tennessee right now just west of Nashville. So far so good, but there are many challenges we have to work through.
First is where on earth to put everything we brought from our house? As I open boxes I think one of two things. Either, “where can I find a spot to possibly put this?” or “what was I thinking when I packed this because there is no way I am gonna need it here.” lol In an RV you have to make the most of every little bit of space you have. This is something I have never been good at so it is a learning curve for me. I am constantly putting things away, then moving them, then realizing I have no room for it and probably don’t need it after all.
The kids have a whole other take on the RV. To them it is a new type of jungle gym. In the front door and out the back, making circles through the house (eh em, RV). Running up the stairs to the loft and back down. They don’t seem to listen when told to settle down and inevitably get hurt or in time-out. Last night I was sitting here at the table and see Matthew fly across the room as he fell, tripped or jumped from the stairs and landed on the kitchen floor flat on his face. It is amazing when kids get hurt doing something they aren’t suppose to do, the first they do is get up and say “I’m okay”.
For occasional camping in an RV things are great, but you find other problems when you decide to live in one full time. Yeah, they really need about another half dozen electrical outlets in this thing. Good thing I married an electrician lol. The ceilings in the living room/kitchen/dinette are about 9 feet high which is awesome. However the top cabinets are too high even for me (at 5’9″) that even I need to get a step stool to reach things. Then the are 3 steps that go up to the bedroom and bathroom which makes those ceiling about 6 feet tall (or around that height). So when I am blow drying my hair in the bathroom the blow dryer hits the ceiling when I am trying to style my hair. Showers can take extra long too since the water pressure is about 40 lbs of pressure or less. The park we are staying at now has real low water pressure and I swear I will never get all the shampoo and rinse out of my hair. Also, where on earth do I put my ironing board? To me ironing my clothes is second to breathing. I haven’t ironed anything since we have been in the RV. I am really “slumming” it now lol. My two standard sized cookie sheets I had to give to my MIL. They won’t fit in my teeny, tiny oven lol. Time to go shopping for some teeny, tiny cookie sheets.
But hey, so far so fun! Oh, did I mention dh “may” decide to take us to Idaho for work instead of Texas? It depends on work in Texas and we should know the first week in July so I will keep everyone updated.
At least that is what your gonna think! Just let me say we have researched this long and hard.
First things first. It seems we have bought one heck of a big fifth wheel toy hauler. It has 3 axles and is just shy of 42 feet long. That means that an F-450 truck just won’t cut it and neither will most other trucks in the same class. What we need is a commercial truck. How insane is that?
We finally found one in our price range and it will do the job like no other.
Hopefully we can run up to Vegas next Wednesday or sooner to get it. The owner *said* he would hold it for us and I hope he does.
Here is one of the cool parts too. It has 5 leather captains chairs in the cab and since there are 5 of us it will work out perfectly. I am not too keen on the green but hey, we all have to make sacrifices lol.
So, when it is all said and done this is what we will look like towing our vehicle down the road. I hope there is enough room for us in those RV parks lol
Now to answer all your burning questions…. No, you do not need a CDL to drive one of these truck. Why you ask? Ok, maybe you could care less but you came here to learn right? This particular truck started out as a 2 axle semi tracker but it has since been cut down to a single axle and converted to something that will tow an RV. Single axle means you do not need a CDL, provided the truck does not weigh more then 26,000 lbs.
Now a tid bit about me. I used to have a CDL (I dropped it when I got my AZ license). Anyway I have driven a semi with a 53 foot trailer across this country over every mountain range in the U.S. However I will probably let dh do all the driving of our fifth wheel but if push come to shove I can drive it. And I should say it was fun as heck driving a semi. I loved being the biggest thing on the road. Of course I hating the parking part of it and ultimately that is why I don’t do it any more.
P.S. I got a molar pulled the other day. My face is swollen and I am still in pain and on meds etc… So if I sound a little out of it, please forgive me. And the really fun part is, in less then 2 weeks I get to go get another molar pulled on the opposite side of my mouth.
P.S.S. Have I mentioned lately we leave AZ in less then a month and I haven’t even started going through anything in the house yet to get ready for this move? *JUST SHOOT ME!!!*
We got our loan paperwork for the fifth wheel yesterday (yay!!) So that is signed and sealed with our down payment (ouch) and in the mail. Oh and get this, out first loan payment is due before we even get the fifth wheel LOL. Gotta love that!
Still waiting to hear about our truck loan. They said it may be Wednesday before we hear anything, but I am going crazy waiting. I really hate waiting *sigh*
We had a banner moment as far as dh is concerned. He has been going back and forth on getting the new truck or getting a used one. He hates to buy anything new. And when he buys new (this applies to almost anything) He always buys the cheapest of whatever it is then wonders why within a year it breaks and we have to go out and buy a new one of whatever it was we bought in the first place.
Well hey, he finally figured out if we get the good things to begin with, albeit more expensive, the longer they will last. I don’t mean expensive just to be expensive, but better quality which usually means more expensive. Wow, it seems like forever for him to get to this point. I honestly never thought it would happen.
We are getting a new truck!! The paperwork is going to the bank tomorrow through the dealership. They use 17 lenders, there has got to be one that will approve us, yes? I am worried about even posting about it yet, but here I am doing just that. Just to be safe though I am not going to post any pics yet.
In fact we haven’t even seen the actual truck we are buying. It is a model that not the usual person buys so they don’t make too many. They didn’t even have one on the lot. The only one is in California so it has to be brought here to AZ and that will take about five days or so. We really need this truck to pull our 5th wheel so please send positive loan vibes our way.
When it is a done deal I will reveal the type of truck and bunches of pictures!! Lets just say it is a monster….
to my life?? We have so much to do to get ready to move into the RV. I don’t even want to think about it let alone do any of it.
Everything we own really (except what will fit in the RV, which is pretty much necessities only) needs to be gone through and either sold, trashed or set on fire lol. This is going to suck because for one I am a pack rat. I still have a few boxes of things that used to hang on my bulletin board when I was in Jr high. I never look at any of it but just the fact that those things are like 25-30 years old keeps me clinging to them.
We have things we haven’t seen in years. When I do go through boxes it is like Christmas all over again. I am like “Wow, how cool, I remember that!!” In which case I again just can’t throw it away *sigh*.
Also I am very bad with clutter in that I get overwhelmed with it and have no idea where to start. I just take one look at it and make up some excuse why I should be on the computer or cleaning the toilet. Anything to not have to deal with all the things I need to do between now and the 23rd of May. My dream would be to grab what we needed and then set the house on fire. Out of sight, out of mind. If I don’t see it I am not going to miss it.
Just imagine taking a 4 bedroom house with a family of 5 living in it and scaling it down to the size of a studio apartment. It reminds me of the George Carling routine he used to do about “stuff”. If you have never heard it before it is really funny and you can find it on Youtube.
If anyone wants to volunteer to help I’ll provide the beer and pizza!!
