I am still on the hunt for my travel coach. I have a line on one in Ohio. Ick. Ohio. But it is a good lead and a nice rig, so we will see where that goes. The weather is in the 50s in the morning now, so I know winter is fast coming to the Mitten. I am still hoping to stay until 11/1, but who knows. That white shit just might chase me out sooner.
My truck is almost to the point where I will call it done. I have an appointment with the tint guy tomorrow, and I am going to talk to the wrap guy about some color changes I want to make. There has definitely been a learning curve with the first diesel I have ever really owned. I flipped one years ago, but I don’t think I drove it more than twice before it was sold. I will admit that when they say “heavy duty,” what they apparently mean is that everything is fucking huge and was installed by a gorilla on steroids with anger issues. Every bolt is bigger, every part weighs more, everything requires a larger tool, and apparently the accepted factory torque specification is somewhere between “very tight” and “fuck you, you’re never taking this off again.”
But after more than a month with it, I have to admit that I am really loving the truck. I am just not loving the amount of fuel it takes. At the current rate, I may have to start panhandling for diesel. Coming soon to a Meijer near you.
I did have a really enjoyable weekend with friends and family over the holiday. I assisted, to the best of my dumb ass abilities, in replacing my niece’s roof. And by “assisted,” I mean I was basically the bitch who ran around getting things and handing stuff up to the people actually on the roof. But I played a part, and it was magnificent to spend that much time with people I genuinely enjoy being around. I have missed that part for sure. I was tired from just what I did, so I can only imagine how the people who were actually crawling around on the roof felt afterward.
I also finally got my healthcare figured out. I went through Healthcare.gov and now have full coverage, including dental. For all the bitching I have heard about that website, I have to say it was easy to use and it gave me what I needed at a decent price. My deductible is a little higher than it was when I was working, but it isn’t unbearable.
More importantly, I now know I won’t go bankrupt if I decide to get on a roof and inevitably roll my fat ass off it. So there is that.
For now, life is pretty normal. I will say that I feel better without the stress of a job hanging over me every day. I don’t think I fully appreciated how much of my mental energy was being consumed by work until it stopped consuming it.
That said, I have been toying with an idea. There is an RV technician program in Texas that, in about 11 weeks, could give me the credentials to run my own mobile RV repair service. That idea has been bouncing around in my head more and more.
It would be something I could do when I want, where I want, and as much or as little as I want. If it ever turned into something bigger than I wanted to handle myself, I am more than capable of hiring someone and paying them to do some of the work. But really, I think I could turn it into a pretty good little gig and add some cash to the kitty without going back to the corporate world.
Remember, this semi-retirement thing really only works if I can bridge roughly two of the next six years with some kind of income. So I have to do something, and I like the idea of this. I like fixing things. I like figuring out why something isn’t working. I like helping people. I am going to be living in an RV myself, which means I would basically be driving around inside my own marketing department. And there is certainly no shortage of RVs needing things fixed.
A great buddy of mine in Wisconsin runs his own appliance repair service and does QUITE well. Years ago, he tried to convince me to do something similar and I blew him off. At that point in my life, I apparently had not had my dick kicked in by corporate jobs enough times to properly appreciate the wisdom of self-employment.
I have now achieved sufficient dick kicking. Not saying I won’t do contract or consulting work if approached. That I would welcome.
So maybe he was right all along. There are no decisions yet, but it is a very succinct thought at the moment.
More thought is required, and we all know all I do is overthink shit. To be continued…
Q is a semi domesticated carpetbagger, homeless meat popsicle, and professional overthinker with hopes of retiring before all his friends. Skilled in the witchcraft of not giving a damn about the Joneses and fueled by a did it or damn it mentality, he wanders around with Mazie Mae, his ever salty cat with strong opinions and a powerful addiction to chicken treats. Together, they have embarked on a quest they never knew started, to find something they did not know they were looking for, in a place they have not reached yet.
His thoughts are his own.
He is no role model.
Read at your own risk.
