Door, Floor, Water Tank, etc

After a week, I have accomplished a few things even though it seems like a snails pace to me.

The door that I finally got installed last spring still needed to be weatherproofed. I got a can of spray foam to fill in the gaps. My inexperience with this material was evident. As I sprayed the foam, it had a mind of its own. It would not stay in the gap like it was supposed to. Curles of foam was flying in the wind every which way. I tried to catch some of it. The result in the end was a gap that looked like a dog fight had taken place in it.

The floor of the container is not finished hardwood. It is nailed plywood with exposed recessed scews. The scew holes were collecting dust like crazy. I filled the screw holes with wood filler. I needed to decide what to do with the floor. Should I cover with carpet - no it would collect even more dust. What about topping with hardwood flooring - too expensive. Or kitchen tile - no still expensive and too much work. Considering the mess I made of the spray foam, I am not willing to take on any task involving skill. A $5 spray can is a lot different from hundreds of dollars invested in do-it-yourself flooring. I finally decided to just get a can of combination floor primer/sealer/paint. That will be a task I take on this week. The paint required 3 days to completely dry. I will need to do the job in two sections since I have stuff in the container to be moved around. Stay tuned.

I finally removed the shipping wrap from the water tank and modified a tarp to cover the tank. It looks like it was made for the tank! I felt good about that. The water tank still has not been used. It needs a spigot to fit the bulk head fitting. I searched for the item at Walmart, Kmart, and all the plumbing stores in town with no success. The last place I visited today was an RV store thay may have it but the lady manning the store was not familiar with the item. I will return there after she "talks to her husband" who was not there today. In the meantime I have been going to the State Park for showers.

I will also need to spread some gravel from the road to the container. I don't want to take a chance on sinking into the soft ground with a full water tank. I will pick up PVC piping once I have completed the flooring. So much to still do.

Back From Colorado

I left Colorado around 9:30 am Sunday morning with my utility trailer and empty water tank in tow. The tow was harding noticeable. I stoped every 100 miles or so to make sure everything was ok. Good thing, I might have had big problem if I had not stopped to just to check. I made it to Santa Fe about 8 pm Sunday night. I stayed at the Santa Fe International Hostel. The $15 rate provided a dormatory room, a community kitchen and free food in the refrigerator if I wanted it. No eating was allowed in the rooms. They required that I pick from a list of chores to do before I left. I initially planned to get a real early start, but found out the Hostel office did not open until 7 am...after which I had to do my chore, eat something, shower after cleaning, and turn in my room key. I finally left Santa Fe about 9:30 am.

I arrived in Deming about 4:00 pm Monday afternoon. I was surprised to see how green everything was. Last year at this time everything was brown. I was anxious to find out if my containerhouse was ok. As I turned the corner of my road I could see the white top of the container (RELIEF). The ground which was bear when I left is now full to plants. I unpacked the car, took some pictures, rested a bit and headed to town to give you my report. Unfortunately all the computers were occupied when I arrived and the library was soon to close.

I spent the night in the container and was awakened by a truck driving west down my road. I was preparing to leave when the vehicle came back heading east. The man in the waved. When I returned the wave, he stopped and got out the truck. He was friendly and started a conversation. I found out that he was a retired neighboring property owner, but was staying in one of RV parks at present.

I went to Walmart to pick up supplies, then came to the library to give you this report and some pictures I took yesterday.