Worked last night. Made exactly half what I'm used to making in the club. This was on a Friday night, which makes it particularly depressing.
It seemed to be a bad night for everyone all around. The bouncers had to herd some guy out the back door because he kept breaking our rigorous local laws. And speaking of local laws, I managed to break one of those myself. I thought I was following the rules through the normal course of my stage set, but I found out very quickly that I wasn't. The bouncer told me right away that I shouldn't do that again, and then as soon as I got offstage, the manager was waiting for me in the back. "I know you probably didn't know better, but if you ever do that again I'm throwing you out of here."
Message recieved. Will not do that thing again.
It kind of startled me. After four years of dancing, it's been awhile since I've blown it. Of course, when I went to the manager to apologize once again and see if everything was cool, he told me that if there'd been a cop in the club, they would've shut us all down for a solid week. Have I ever mentioned that the local government would use an excuse to get rid of us for good?
The good news is, everyone knows me there. Everyone knows I don't cause trouble, break rules or even bend rules. Which might be why I'm not out of a job as we speak. It was kind of a startle for me, though.
So the night proceeded with its noticeable lack of money. At one point the manager called us all to the changing room to remind us that the bathroom is for numbers one and two and not for shooting up or snorting coke.
And then, when my shift was up, I started to get dressed in the back room and happened to be there right at the time the managers came back there to scour a girl's bags for... drugs? A stolen wallet? I didn't hang around to find out.
REASONS TO QUIT STRIPPING: I'm tired of the crime. I'm tired of girls I know getting drugged. I'm tired of always keeping my eyes open to avoid getting drugged myself. I'm tired of thieves, cheats, druggies, liars, prostitutes, etc. I'm tired of chatting up people who assume I'm all of these things and stupid on top of it. I'm tired of the shadow of the law hanging over every little thing I do at work. I'm tired of being literal, physical inches from criminal charges. And of course, the system is pretty unforgiving, because most of the people who operate in it will take any bit of slack they're given and stretch as far as they can and then some.
So that's today's rant. There's plenty that's bad about my job and maybe if I write it all out and have it down on a piece of paper, when that day comes that I feel any slight nostalgia for my job, I can pull out that piece of paper and remember all the bad that came with the good.
However-- so as not to forget the good:
WHY I LIKE STRIPPING: The pole dancing.
Because I haven't been working as much, I'm terribly out of shape, but it still felt wonderful to be back onstage. I miss the club in New Orleans with its thirteen foot brass poles, but the poles at the club are still slightly better than the battered practice pole I've got at home.
There's a pole competition coming up and our best dancer asked me if I'd be participating this year. Last year I was first runner up, and I dare say she might consider me to be competition. We both use some of the same moves, although her form's much better than mine. I told her I wouldn't be competing since I believe the competition will be after April 1st.
And at the same time... it might be fun to try.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Steampunk
So we're thinking of going with steampunk style for the gypsy wagon's decor. I've been looking up all things steampunk over the last couple weeks in an effort to create an internal vision of what our gypsy wagon will eventually look like.
The problem for me thus far is that steampunk can sometimes lean toward the aggressively ornamental. Many steampunk decorations are loud, large and ornate, but only a few are genuinely functional. Since the trailer is looking tinier and tinier, every item that goes into it will need to be functional or even multifunctional.
Which means that the majority of our steampunk decor will need to actually work.
Which is a challenge. But it might also be a very intellectually stimulating challenge. I can't wait to see what we come up with. I've already got a few ideas, but I'll need a lot more.
Certain aspects of the trailer will lend themselves to this kind of decor. For example, we're planning on heating the trailer with an old-fashioned wood-burning stove. Our oil-burning lamps will also create a certain ambience.
I'd like to make faux stained-glass doors for the cabinets, and making stained-glass gears into these might prove to be very beautiful. I know I need a curtain to disguise the murphy bed, and a Victorian-esque pin-striped red or green might do the trick.
Anyway, that's my thoughts for now. Still researching ideas. Finishing the gypsy wagon is a long way off, but it will give me something to look forward to. At the moment, she's just bones and a shell. Pretty despressing-looking, really.
Of course, this weekend, we'll be able to start building her up again, which will be exciting. And now I'd better get ready to go to work and earn more money. (Still job-searching...)
The problem for me thus far is that steampunk can sometimes lean toward the aggressively ornamental. Many steampunk decorations are loud, large and ornate, but only a few are genuinely functional. Since the trailer is looking tinier and tinier, every item that goes into it will need to be functional or even multifunctional.
Which means that the majority of our steampunk decor will need to actually work.
Which is a challenge. But it might also be a very intellectually stimulating challenge. I can't wait to see what we come up with. I've already got a few ideas, but I'll need a lot more.
Certain aspects of the trailer will lend themselves to this kind of decor. For example, we're planning on heating the trailer with an old-fashioned wood-burning stove. Our oil-burning lamps will also create a certain ambience.
I'd like to make faux stained-glass doors for the cabinets, and making stained-glass gears into these might prove to be very beautiful. I know I need a curtain to disguise the murphy bed, and a Victorian-esque pin-striped red or green might do the trick.
Anyway, that's my thoughts for now. Still researching ideas. Finishing the gypsy wagon is a long way off, but it will give me something to look forward to. At the moment, she's just bones and a shell. Pretty despressing-looking, really.
Of course, this weekend, we'll be able to start building her up again, which will be exciting. And now I'd better get ready to go to work and earn more money. (Still job-searching...)
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
More Clothes Washing
My fiance and I have been working more on our laundry system. We purchased a set of buckets to wash and wring the clothes in, and when those proved to be less than desirably efficient, we bought a janitor's mop bucket virtually identical to the one I used at my first job.
(I wasn't a janitor. I was... well, these days they're refered to as "direct support professionals" although at the time I worked there, they had a different politically correct title, which didn't matter much since the nearly toxic levels of political correctness in that company dictated a new change in title to something more politically correct every other week. As for what I did: picture a glorified candy striper.)
So we got the mop bucket, and things have been going smoothly. Since we're not allowed to dry clothes outside, I've rigged a wire in the living room, going from the closet doorframe to the practice pole to the window frame. Add a little duct tape, and we now have our second load of laundry drying in the middle of the living room. Certainly not glamorous, but it seems to work.
We also bought an oil lamp. I've been leaning more an more off-grid in my design ideas for the gypsy wagon, and last week, my fiance suggested that we light it at night with oil lanterns. (It's got a lot of windows, so there won't be much light shortage in the daytime.) The oil lamp produces a surprising amount of light.
It leaves a rather distinct paraffin smell, but that doesn't bother me. I've even temporarily suspended my health-nuttiness to consider dabbing scented oils on the inside of the hurricane glass. I might not eat sugar anymore (health issues: sometimes being sick will make you healthy) but there's a scented oil I bought once called "sugar cookies" which does its name justice.
So, we've got the laundry situation figured out (I expect we'll need to work out future kinks, but I'm not afraid of it anymore) and the lighting situation seems to be working well.
Our friend R. says Tractor Supply has an tiny cast iron stove that would fit well into the corner, which would take care of the heat and even give me a place to keep my tea warm in the winter. In the summer, I'm thinking we might grill or build an outdoor brick oven...?
If this happens, then we might not need to buy a new stove to go into the trailer. We'll still need a new fridge, but we can use the old kitchen sink. Of course, cooking in bad weather will be an issue...
Plus, I have no idea what kind of bathtub we want to buy. And I need to make us a toilet. And for that I'll need to get my lazy butt to work and make some money.
(I wasn't a janitor. I was... well, these days they're refered to as "direct support professionals" although at the time I worked there, they had a different politically correct title, which didn't matter much since the nearly toxic levels of political correctness in that company dictated a new change in title to something more politically correct every other week. As for what I did: picture a glorified candy striper.)
So we got the mop bucket, and things have been going smoothly. Since we're not allowed to dry clothes outside, I've rigged a wire in the living room, going from the closet doorframe to the practice pole to the window frame. Add a little duct tape, and we now have our second load of laundry drying in the middle of the living room. Certainly not glamorous, but it seems to work.
We also bought an oil lamp. I've been leaning more an more off-grid in my design ideas for the gypsy wagon, and last week, my fiance suggested that we light it at night with oil lanterns. (It's got a lot of windows, so there won't be much light shortage in the daytime.) The oil lamp produces a surprising amount of light.
It leaves a rather distinct paraffin smell, but that doesn't bother me. I've even temporarily suspended my health-nuttiness to consider dabbing scented oils on the inside of the hurricane glass. I might not eat sugar anymore (health issues: sometimes being sick will make you healthy) but there's a scented oil I bought once called "sugar cookies" which does its name justice.
So, we've got the laundry situation figured out (I expect we'll need to work out future kinks, but I'm not afraid of it anymore) and the lighting situation seems to be working well.
Our friend R. says Tractor Supply has an tiny cast iron stove that would fit well into the corner, which would take care of the heat and even give me a place to keep my tea warm in the winter. In the summer, I'm thinking we might grill or build an outdoor brick oven...?
If this happens, then we might not need to buy a new stove to go into the trailer. We'll still need a new fridge, but we can use the old kitchen sink. Of course, cooking in bad weather will be an issue...
Plus, I have no idea what kind of bathtub we want to buy. And I need to make us a toilet. And for that I'll need to get my lazy butt to work and make some money.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Off-Grid Prep: Washing Clothes
It's possible my fascination with off-grid living began with a washing machine. The washing machine at my apartment complex to be exact. The one that keeps eating my quarters. It's a small thing-- a dollar here, seventy-five cents there-- but it was enough to lead me to this website: http://www.off-grid.net/2010/04/22/diy-washing-machine-and-homemade-laundry-soap/
Inspired, I vowed to one-day wash my own clothes by hand and avoid ever losing any more quarters to an unnecessary washing machine. This week, I finally washed some clothes by hand.
A bit of background. Apparently, what the lady on the first website made a modern-day equivalent to what was refered to as a dolly tub and dolly stick. *Shrug.* Seemed like a good idea to me.
Unfortunately, I did a lot of this on a budget. I still haven't been working. At this rate, I could get a job doing anything at all and earn more money than I'm earning at present. I've been looking into job options. This sitting at home doing very little, with no money to do it with is getting on my nerves. I feel like a sponge. I feel like I'm not pulling my own weight. I've been assured otherwise, but...
So, I bought a plunger, and filled the bathtub with dirty clothes (mine, so if this went wrong my fiance's work clothes wouldn't be ruined) and warm water. I didn't have anything to poke holes in the plunger with, but that didn't cause any problems. In fact, everything went very well.
I used store-bought washing detergent because I still haven't gotten together the ingredients to make my own. I didn't use much of it-- partially because I think they try to get people to use way more detergent than they really need, partially because I didn't want super-sudsy clothes if this went wrong.
I had that "learning" sensation I get when attempting something completely foreign as I began. I kept worrying that maybe I wasn't doing this right, even though I logically I knew I couldn't screw it up to badly. It was clothes. Secondhand jeans, some underthings and a few hoodie sweatshirts. Nothing I can't live without. It was still a very weird experience.
And fun. At least the plunging part was. I tried to sprinkle the soap evenly across the entire bathtub, then I started plunging everything. I was trying to get soapy water into everything so I did a rather excessive amount of stirring and plunging. In the future I don't think I'll have to plunger my clothes quite that much. And at the same time, that was the fun part. The water turned brown, which surprised me because I didn't think anything I did with them was that dirty.
Anyway, after draining out that water to the best of my ability and pouring in fresh water to rinse it with, I started wringing out my clothes. This was the part I now realize I should have done more research on. I'm reasonably strong, more or less. I can climb a metal pole and suspend my body in midair for several seconds at a time with nothing but my hands ot hold me in place. Let me tell you, though, wringing out wet clothes by hand is a chore. It's kind of like picking up an unweildy medicine ball and trying to squeeze its insides out.
Drying the clothes after that inexpert wringing was rather difficult as well. We aren't allowed to hang our clothes to dry at this apartment complex, so I had to run them through the dryer twice.
This means I've revised my wish list to include brand new mop bucket with its own wringer. (The woman whose article originally inspired me on this venture wanted the same thing.) So, that's my goal. Which I can't afford yet because I have no money.
So, that's my first adventure washing clothes the way my great grandparents did. It wasn't an absolute success, but I think next time I try it'll go a lot smoother.
Inspired, I vowed to one-day wash my own clothes by hand and avoid ever losing any more quarters to an unnecessary washing machine. This week, I finally washed some clothes by hand.
A bit of background. Apparently, what the lady on the first website made a modern-day equivalent to what was refered to as a dolly tub and dolly stick. *Shrug.* Seemed like a good idea to me.
Unfortunately, I did a lot of this on a budget. I still haven't been working. At this rate, I could get a job doing anything at all and earn more money than I'm earning at present. I've been looking into job options. This sitting at home doing very little, with no money to do it with is getting on my nerves. I feel like a sponge. I feel like I'm not pulling my own weight. I've been assured otherwise, but...
So, I bought a plunger, and filled the bathtub with dirty clothes (mine, so if this went wrong my fiance's work clothes wouldn't be ruined) and warm water. I didn't have anything to poke holes in the plunger with, but that didn't cause any problems. In fact, everything went very well.
I used store-bought washing detergent because I still haven't gotten together the ingredients to make my own. I didn't use much of it-- partially because I think they try to get people to use way more detergent than they really need, partially because I didn't want super-sudsy clothes if this went wrong.
I had that "learning" sensation I get when attempting something completely foreign as I began. I kept worrying that maybe I wasn't doing this right, even though I logically I knew I couldn't screw it up to badly. It was clothes. Secondhand jeans, some underthings and a few hoodie sweatshirts. Nothing I can't live without. It was still a very weird experience.
And fun. At least the plunging part was. I tried to sprinkle the soap evenly across the entire bathtub, then I started plunging everything. I was trying to get soapy water into everything so I did a rather excessive amount of stirring and plunging. In the future I don't think I'll have to plunger my clothes quite that much. And at the same time, that was the fun part. The water turned brown, which surprised me because I didn't think anything I did with them was that dirty.
Anyway, after draining out that water to the best of my ability and pouring in fresh water to rinse it with, I started wringing out my clothes. This was the part I now realize I should have done more research on. I'm reasonably strong, more or less. I can climb a metal pole and suspend my body in midair for several seconds at a time with nothing but my hands ot hold me in place. Let me tell you, though, wringing out wet clothes by hand is a chore. It's kind of like picking up an unweildy medicine ball and trying to squeeze its insides out.
Drying the clothes after that inexpert wringing was rather difficult as well. We aren't allowed to hang our clothes to dry at this apartment complex, so I had to run them through the dryer twice.
This means I've revised my wish list to include brand new mop bucket with its own wringer. (The woman whose article originally inspired me on this venture wanted the same thing.) So, that's my goal. Which I can't afford yet because I have no money.
So, that's my first adventure washing clothes the way my great grandparents did. It wasn't an absolute success, but I think next time I try it'll go a lot smoother.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Coping with Stress
I was going to work today. I got all ready, assembled my stripper gear, hyper-groomed everywhere, double-checked everything, kissed my fiance, walked to the door--
And then I stopped and put my gear away, slipped into a pair of pajamas and sat back down on the couch where we hang out. I know if I'd gone, I would have made money. My heart just wasn't in it today. My fiance was sitting on the couch, and he looked like the embodiment of all coziness. I wanted nothing more than to sit on the couch with him and savor his company. So I did.
I've been stressed out all week. It seems to have taken forever for me to catch on to the fact. Stress seems to work differently on every individual, and on me it's virtually invisible. I can be stressed to hell and back, and I might be completely oblivious to it. And nearly everyone else around me will be oblivious to it, too. It's not like stress manifests outwardly me, either.
That doesn't sound so bad, except that just because a problem's invisible doesn't mean it isn't there. A perfect example is my novel. I've got it all finished-- rough draft, first tuning draft-- all except for one chapter. One chapter. And for some reason, I can't seem to finish that chapter. The stress is so overwhelming I just shut down completely the moment I open the program to begin working on it. It's one crumby chapter in the center of the novel. I could probably delete those four silly pages, and no one would notice them missing from the story!
How do I know it's stress that's stopping me from finishing the novel? Well, I've had it done for half a year now. I've been sitting on the damn thing for half a year, and meditating, and soul-searching, and trying to figure out what the big deal is that's stopping me from completing it. So far, the best I've figured out with all that introspection is that the cause of my problem is stress-related. (Way to go Sherlock.)
So, earlier today I figured out that I'm under stress. That's great. Now I just have to figure out what's causing the stress. And if the stress was invisible, the stressor is doubly so.
So what am I stressed about? My lack of money? My search for a new job? My fear that I'll hate the job I take? My nagging perfectionistic tendencies toward self-criticism centering on my questionable work ethic and lack of life achievements?
Perfectionism: no matter how much awesome shit you do, you always wish you were more awesome.
Or maybe it's social anxiety-- you know, the social anxiety I pretend doesn't exist because my perfectionistic side insists that I can get through this busy, crowded world like any normal person even if I have a heart attack in the process.
LOL. In fact, I've got to say that for all my dysfunctions, I've stitched together a relatively functional psyche for myself. It's one of the things I'm proud of. Life's worn me down a fair bit. I'm a creature haunted by irrational fears and nagging phobias. And yet, I work every day to conquer them. Every day, I force myself to learn and experience new things-- despite my timidity-- because I refuse to let my fears limit me.
It's a challenge, and I challenge any human I meet to do the same. Life's to short to lose to irrational anxieties. (Rational anxieties, however, are another matter entirely, which is how I justify my never-ending fear of spiders. Sometimes, they're poisonous.)
And at the same time, whatever's stressing me out this week is showing up from the inside out, so going out and facing the world probably isn't going to fix all that much. Taking a quiet evening to spend with my beloved, cuddling the kitty-cat who's decided to use my shoulder as a pillow right now, meditating, writing out my thoughts-- now that I think will help me.
Perhaps the reason I'm stressed out right now, I that I feel a lack of control over my situation. I've set a due date to quit stripping. That's a thing many other girls can't make themselves do. The problem is, that I don't know what I'll do after that. I've been exploring my options. I'd love to grow food to sell at a farmer's market, but I don't know how lucrative that would be. It would have the double impact of eliminating our food bills as well as providing a little extra cash. But... would it work? Would I need another job on top of that to be satisfied.
Ultimately, it seems that I'm still my harshest critic. In my never-ending race to measure up and pull my own weight, I always seem to overwhelm myself with three times the amount of weight I need to haul.
So, tonight, despite the fact that I absolutely Must earn money this week, I'm taking today off. My heart's not in it, and it's not quite worth it to go. I'll enjoy a quiet coffee (a non-diet food, but oh how I crave the gentle bitterness of it) and I'll enjoy the companionship of my best friend in the whole world. And I'll find internal balance again, because it's selfish, but I think sometimes it's worth it.
And then I stopped and put my gear away, slipped into a pair of pajamas and sat back down on the couch where we hang out. I know if I'd gone, I would have made money. My heart just wasn't in it today. My fiance was sitting on the couch, and he looked like the embodiment of all coziness. I wanted nothing more than to sit on the couch with him and savor his company. So I did.
I've been stressed out all week. It seems to have taken forever for me to catch on to the fact. Stress seems to work differently on every individual, and on me it's virtually invisible. I can be stressed to hell and back, and I might be completely oblivious to it. And nearly everyone else around me will be oblivious to it, too. It's not like stress manifests outwardly me, either.
That doesn't sound so bad, except that just because a problem's invisible doesn't mean it isn't there. A perfect example is my novel. I've got it all finished-- rough draft, first tuning draft-- all except for one chapter. One chapter. And for some reason, I can't seem to finish that chapter. The stress is so overwhelming I just shut down completely the moment I open the program to begin working on it. It's one crumby chapter in the center of the novel. I could probably delete those four silly pages, and no one would notice them missing from the story!
How do I know it's stress that's stopping me from finishing the novel? Well, I've had it done for half a year now. I've been sitting on the damn thing for half a year, and meditating, and soul-searching, and trying to figure out what the big deal is that's stopping me from completing it. So far, the best I've figured out with all that introspection is that the cause of my problem is stress-related. (Way to go Sherlock.)
So, earlier today I figured out that I'm under stress. That's great. Now I just have to figure out what's causing the stress. And if the stress was invisible, the stressor is doubly so.
So what am I stressed about? My lack of money? My search for a new job? My fear that I'll hate the job I take? My nagging perfectionistic tendencies toward self-criticism centering on my questionable work ethic and lack of life achievements?
Perfectionism: no matter how much awesome shit you do, you always wish you were more awesome.
Or maybe it's social anxiety-- you know, the social anxiety I pretend doesn't exist because my perfectionistic side insists that I can get through this busy, crowded world like any normal person even if I have a heart attack in the process.
LOL. In fact, I've got to say that for all my dysfunctions, I've stitched together a relatively functional psyche for myself. It's one of the things I'm proud of. Life's worn me down a fair bit. I'm a creature haunted by irrational fears and nagging phobias. And yet, I work every day to conquer them. Every day, I force myself to learn and experience new things-- despite my timidity-- because I refuse to let my fears limit me.
It's a challenge, and I challenge any human I meet to do the same. Life's to short to lose to irrational anxieties. (Rational anxieties, however, are another matter entirely, which is how I justify my never-ending fear of spiders. Sometimes, they're poisonous.)
And at the same time, whatever's stressing me out this week is showing up from the inside out, so going out and facing the world probably isn't going to fix all that much. Taking a quiet evening to spend with my beloved, cuddling the kitty-cat who's decided to use my shoulder as a pillow right now, meditating, writing out my thoughts-- now that I think will help me.
Perhaps the reason I'm stressed out right now, I that I feel a lack of control over my situation. I've set a due date to quit stripping. That's a thing many other girls can't make themselves do. The problem is, that I don't know what I'll do after that. I've been exploring my options. I'd love to grow food to sell at a farmer's market, but I don't know how lucrative that would be. It would have the double impact of eliminating our food bills as well as providing a little extra cash. But... would it work? Would I need another job on top of that to be satisfied.
Ultimately, it seems that I'm still my harshest critic. In my never-ending race to measure up and pull my own weight, I always seem to overwhelm myself with three times the amount of weight I need to haul.
So, tonight, despite the fact that I absolutely Must earn money this week, I'm taking today off. My heart's not in it, and it's not quite worth it to go. I'll enjoy a quiet coffee (a non-diet food, but oh how I crave the gentle bitterness of it) and I'll enjoy the companionship of my best friend in the whole world. And I'll find internal balance again, because it's selfish, but I think sometimes it's worth it.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Trailer work, day three
After the ant fiasco of day two, we went home and my in-laws fumigated the trailer to kill off the ants we hadn't flattened with a shovel. The next morning, they woke up to find a pair of birds had decided to move into the trailer.
Sunday, we came back after church to continue working on the trailer. We tore down the cabinets with a sledgehammer and began taking out the walls and the insulation (which was pitifully thin). We found more ants. We also found a very impressive leak that began raining down on us when we pulled down one of the panels on the ceiling.
One good point: most of the wooden beams that structured the walls and the roof seem to be in very good shape.
At this point, we seem to have finished most of our demolition, and we'll very soon be coming to the point where we need to start buying things with which to make it habitable again. I haven't worked since we bought the trailer, and I missed work again tonight.
Tuesday, I can't go into work (church again), but this Friday and Saturday, I'll really need to earn some money so we can start buying insulation and panelling for the interior. Until then, talk to y'all later. :)
Sunday, we came back after church to continue working on the trailer. We tore down the cabinets with a sledgehammer and began taking out the walls and the insulation (which was pitifully thin). We found more ants. We also found a very impressive leak that began raining down on us when we pulled down one of the panels on the ceiling.
One good point: most of the wooden beams that structured the walls and the roof seem to be in very good shape.
At this point, we seem to have finished most of our demolition, and we'll very soon be coming to the point where we need to start buying things with which to make it habitable again. I haven't worked since we bought the trailer, and I missed work again tonight.
Tuesday, I can't go into work (church again), but this Friday and Saturday, I'll really need to earn some money so we can start buying insulation and panelling for the interior. Until then, talk to y'all later. :)
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Day two with the trailer
Went back to work on the trailer today. Things were looking good until I pulled out the sink and found that the flooring underneath was full of brown woody pulp. Then we pulled out the tub and found the same thing only with a whole lot of spiders and about a thousand ants. (I hate spiders.)
We went on to pull out the closet and found black mold and wood pulp where the floor had been. Apparently at some point someone got the bright idea to take sheet board, lay it over the original floor, nail it into place, then cover it in linoleum and call it good enough. The whole underside of the trailer looks like it's been turned to mulch. We literally carried most of it out with a shovel.
Despite this, I think we all had a good time. We tore out the bathtub, toilet, bathroom sink, closet, refrigerator (broken), oven (still hoping that works), kitchen sink, and the doors of all the cabinets.
Tomorrow we'll start tearing out even more until we've got it down to the bare essentials. Then I'll need to start pricing insulation. I'm broke, too, so I need to go back to the work and get $100 for caulking up the roof. I couldn't afford to get a converter to test the electricity with, but that might have been a good thing since it looks like a five year old did the wiring. That needs to go to.
Bad though all this sounds, I'm really not suprised at it, and for $800 with free delivery, I think I got a pretty decent deal. The wheels at least are still in good shape. Furthermore, our friend R. is a plumber and my future father-in-law C. can be our electrician. I also think this trailer was built in a far more complex manner than I wanted it to be.
I'd like a compost toilet, a simple water system that goes directly down into a detached gray water tank, and a small wood-burning stove to act as our heater. I neither want nor need the fancy heating unit under the rusted out refrigerator, or the long tangle of tubes going from the bathroom sink to the bathtub to the kitchen sink.
I was a little disappointed by the extent of messiness in the trailer, but at the same time, I relieved that we can take it down to the bare bones and make it what we want it-- completely.
Anyway, it's very late right now. My fiance's gone to bed, and I have a cat pressed up against me as I write this. I have to wake up early tomorrow morning to have breakfast with a friend, possibly get some work done on the trailer, and then go to work to get money to buy some materials to make our future home liveable.
One last note: I've been trying to load photos of our progress onto the blog. So far they refuse to load directly from my computer, but I have got them all up on a Flickr slideshow at the top of the blog. It's kind of neat. I'd still like to stick the photos directly onto the blog, but for now it's a start.
Until next time. I'm off to bed.
We went on to pull out the closet and found black mold and wood pulp where the floor had been. Apparently at some point someone got the bright idea to take sheet board, lay it over the original floor, nail it into place, then cover it in linoleum and call it good enough. The whole underside of the trailer looks like it's been turned to mulch. We literally carried most of it out with a shovel.
Despite this, I think we all had a good time. We tore out the bathtub, toilet, bathroom sink, closet, refrigerator (broken), oven (still hoping that works), kitchen sink, and the doors of all the cabinets.
Tomorrow we'll start tearing out even more until we've got it down to the bare essentials. Then I'll need to start pricing insulation. I'm broke, too, so I need to go back to the work and get $100 for caulking up the roof. I couldn't afford to get a converter to test the electricity with, but that might have been a good thing since it looks like a five year old did the wiring. That needs to go to.
Bad though all this sounds, I'm really not suprised at it, and for $800 with free delivery, I think I got a pretty decent deal. The wheels at least are still in good shape. Furthermore, our friend R. is a plumber and my future father-in-law C. can be our electrician. I also think this trailer was built in a far more complex manner than I wanted it to be.
I'd like a compost toilet, a simple water system that goes directly down into a detached gray water tank, and a small wood-burning stove to act as our heater. I neither want nor need the fancy heating unit under the rusted out refrigerator, or the long tangle of tubes going from the bathroom sink to the bathtub to the kitchen sink.
I was a little disappointed by the extent of messiness in the trailer, but at the same time, I relieved that we can take it down to the bare bones and make it what we want it-- completely.
Anyway, it's very late right now. My fiance's gone to bed, and I have a cat pressed up against me as I write this. I have to wake up early tomorrow morning to have breakfast with a friend, possibly get some work done on the trailer, and then go to work to get money to buy some materials to make our future home liveable.
One last note: I've been trying to load photos of our progress onto the blog. So far they refuse to load directly from my computer, but I have got them all up on a Flickr slideshow at the top of the blog. It's kind of neat. I'd still like to stick the photos directly onto the blog, but for now it's a start.
Until next time. I'm off to bed.
We got a new home!
So much happened this week. And I'm really excited about a lot of it. (Currently resisting the urge to put an exclamation mark (!) at the end of each sentence. I'm happy.)
Bad news first. I went to work, because we still have rent to pay, and I found out that one of our girls got roofied on New Years. She was okay, apart from being so sick they almost hospitalized her. She got ahold of one of the managers the moment she started feeling the effects of the drug, and the guys who did it sidled out before anyone could think to question them.
I really need to quit my job. Our lease is up in two months. I still have to pay my taxes for last year. And then we can move into our new home and I can start looking for a new job. That's going to be a strange experience. I've been a stripper for four years now. I kind of want to find a job that's on par with stripping for the level of creativity, freedom and inventiveness I'm allowed to use. I don't know if a job like that exists out there. Most likely I'll have to start my own business. There is no "I" in "team" and I definitely prefer an "I" kind of working situation.
I know it's probably hard to believe, but some of us actually like coming into work. It's not that I like being a wild girl. I don't like drugs or drinking or casual sex, either. But I do like to dance. I like not having a manager hovering over me telling me what I need to do and what I don't need to do. I like coming into work when I please and leaving when I please. What kind of standard nine-to-five is going to replace being virtually self-employed?
Moving on: the most exciting thing happened yesterday. Drumroll please? We have a new home!
She's a '76 Concord travel trailer. (I've wanted a tiny home for us for months now.) She cost us $800 and she's definitely seen better days. I have pictures so you can see what I'm talking about. (Expect those tomorrow or the next day.)
My future mother-in-law, a family friend, and I all started to tear it down in the inside the moment I had my receipt and the guy who delivered it had driven off. We pulled out the window screens, the window blinds, the couch, the fold-out bed, a row of cabinets, a storage shelf, one of the walls, the carpet...
By evening she looked so much better. There's a place where we can build in a little love seat next to the windows, and face it toward a little stove. There's a place where we can put in a murphy bed on one side. There's even a teeny tiny bathtub. There's also water damage... which means more demolition is require before we can start building onto it.
Anyway, I'm about to head back out to begin peeling linoleum today. I can't wait to get the pictures loaded and up so you can see them.
It'll take us a couple months to get her in good shape, but by the time we do, our lease will be up and we'll have a place to move into rent-free. And I can quit dancing and start up my own business doing... something?
Bad news first. I went to work, because we still have rent to pay, and I found out that one of our girls got roofied on New Years. She was okay, apart from being so sick they almost hospitalized her. She got ahold of one of the managers the moment she started feeling the effects of the drug, and the guys who did it sidled out before anyone could think to question them.
I really need to quit my job. Our lease is up in two months. I still have to pay my taxes for last year. And then we can move into our new home and I can start looking for a new job. That's going to be a strange experience. I've been a stripper for four years now. I kind of want to find a job that's on par with stripping for the level of creativity, freedom and inventiveness I'm allowed to use. I don't know if a job like that exists out there. Most likely I'll have to start my own business. There is no "I" in "team" and I definitely prefer an "I" kind of working situation.
I know it's probably hard to believe, but some of us actually like coming into work. It's not that I like being a wild girl. I don't like drugs or drinking or casual sex, either. But I do like to dance. I like not having a manager hovering over me telling me what I need to do and what I don't need to do. I like coming into work when I please and leaving when I please. What kind of standard nine-to-five is going to replace being virtually self-employed?
Moving on: the most exciting thing happened yesterday. Drumroll please? We have a new home!
She's a '76 Concord travel trailer. (I've wanted a tiny home for us for months now.) She cost us $800 and she's definitely seen better days. I have pictures so you can see what I'm talking about. (Expect those tomorrow or the next day.)
My future mother-in-law, a family friend, and I all started to tear it down in the inside the moment I had my receipt and the guy who delivered it had driven off. We pulled out the window screens, the window blinds, the couch, the fold-out bed, a row of cabinets, a storage shelf, one of the walls, the carpet...
By evening she looked so much better. There's a place where we can build in a little love seat next to the windows, and face it toward a little stove. There's a place where we can put in a murphy bed on one side. There's even a teeny tiny bathtub. There's also water damage... which means more demolition is require before we can start building onto it.
Anyway, I'm about to head back out to begin peeling linoleum today. I can't wait to get the pictures loaded and up so you can see them.
It'll take us a couple months to get her in good shape, but by the time we do, our lease will be up and we'll have a place to move into rent-free. And I can quit dancing and start up my own business doing... something?
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