Drainage Plumming

I did not know how to drill a hole in the heavy steel wall. I have a 12v battery powered drill that I bought last winter at the pawn shop for $15. I went to a tool sale and asked if my drill had enough power to drill thru heavy steel. They said I needed at least an 18v drill, preferably 24v. The cost of an 18v drill was over $100 plus I would have to buy the hole bit adding about $25 more. I did not want to spend that much money to drill one hole. Next I checked at a tool rental shop. Their only battery drill for rent was a 14.4v at $15 per day and I still had to buy the hole bit. I was getting discouraged at this point.
I then called Phil (the man who put in the door for me last spring). He suggested that I get a regular 3/8" or 1/2" bit for my drill, trace the outline of the pipe where I wanted the hole, and drill small holes along the traced circle. Then I could snip out the hole. It took 17 small holes, five battery charges, and five days to complete the circle. I got the drill recharged each time by a friend in town. What a great feeling to finally knock the hole out. However the hole was very ragged and the pipe would not fit thru. Aghhh!
I called (bothered) Phil again. He suggested that I get a round file and file the metal. The file worked great. The pipe went thru the hole. Now I went to work laying out the piping inside and outside. Its been a long day and week. Tomorrow I will do a test and pour water thru the piping and if everything is ok (no leakage), glue and calk. Wish me luck.

Bedstand Built

I completed the building of the bedstand. It looks like a bunkbed with the legs cut off the bottom bunk. I'm using the bottom part for lots of storage. Now I can store the 18 gallon Tote containers like drawers instead of stacking them. Much more convenient.

Still need to get the hole drilled in the container wall for the drain pipe. The man that installed the door used a hand drill to drill screw holes through the metal wall. I'm still thinking of buying a hole bit to drill the 2 inch hole myself. Hesitating because I'm not sure it will work.

I bought material for the custom curtain dividing the bath area from rest of container. Will start sewing soon.

Traffic - Window vs Skylight

I thought that I was "out in the country". However there seems to be more traffic on this road than I thought there would be. As I was returning home one evening, I saw a curiosity seeker on an ATV stopped in front of my property looking at it from the road. He speed off when he saw my car turn onto the road. I am reconsidering whether to put a window on the south wall of the container for light and free solar heat. A window would attract even more curiosity. What do you think of a skylight instead?

Bed Stand

I finally bought a mattress to sleep on. I had up to this point been sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor. The mattress is laying on the floor now. I had such a good time building the shower platform and the curtain pole for the container, that I decided to build a bed stand. I've got the measurements for the wood needed. I will have the lumber yard cut the wood to my specifications, so all I have to do is screw it together. I plan to pick up the material and get started this week.

Container Plumbing and Pole

I have been working on the drainage system for the container. I have been to the plumber store at least a half dozen times buying and returning parts needed. This is a learning process for me. Hopefully I'm closer to getting it right. I've got the PVC pipes cut and laid out (but not glued). I still have to get someone to cut a pipehole in the steel container wall. You can only buy PVC pipe in 10' lengths. The shower stall required 2" pipes, but the sink required 1+1/2 pipes. Since I'm joining the sink pipe indoors, I only needed 2 feet of sink pipe. I had to buy 10 feet.

What to do with the other 8 feet? Viola! Since I needed 8 feet of pole for the curtain between the shower/toilet area, why not use the extra 8 feet as a curtain pole? Perfect solution. It makes a very fat pole for which you can not buy curtain holders. So I had to make a pair of pole holders from wood left over from the shower platform that I built.

Police Visit

Last week I got some visitors. I was working inside the container at the time when I heard a car drive up and honk. They were two State police officers. They wanted to know if I lived there. They said that they had been by many times before but no one was there. I told them "I am camping here,-is that ok?" and showed them my ID. They said "sure" and left. I am not too sure of what to make of this, but at least I am reassured that someone has been "watching" the place, and especially that I am "not afowl" of the law.

Lots of Rain in the Desert

We've been having lots of rain here in the desert since I have returned. One evening we even had a halestorm. I've been told that this summer had been a lot wetter than normal. No wonder everything is so green. The rain has been good for the vegetation, but not so good for the dirt roads. Lots of ruts and washboard areas.

Shoestring Thief

Last week I made a bit of progess with making the container homelike. I painted the floor, set up the storage system (including the steel shelves, totes, and garment rack). I added an inch and a half to the platform for the shower stall. Also set up the homemade pot-in-pot fridge and homemade toilet. Finally unpacked the car of its contents and arranged them in the storage space. I was opposed to carpeting initially, but after walking on the cold floor in my stocking feet, I compromised and bought two small indoor/outdoor rugs (4'x6' which I cut to make a 2'x12' runner in the center of the container, and a 2'x3' in the shower/toilet area).

I'm having problems with the table I bought last spring. One to the legs has caked paint in the screw thread holes. I could sent the leg back to the manufacturer and WAIT 4-6 weeks for a new part. First I will take it to a mechanic and see if they can clear the threads as suggested by an auto parts store.

I still have not gotten an bed. I have been sleeping on the floor in my sleeping bag. It is not as uncomfortable as it may sound. Under the sleeping bag and thick comforter, I was quite confortable even though the thermometer read 40 degrees F in the container at 6:30 am this morning. It warms up quickly once the sun comes up. By 8:30 am, it was 60 degrees in the container. As you may guess, the container is still uninsulated.

The tasks scheduled for this week is to begin work on setting up the sink, shower stall and drainage pipes.

There has been a bit of mystery happening this week. After I painted the floor, I take my shoes off and leave them outdoors before entering the container. The first night I left my shoes outdoors and discovered a shoestring completely gone on one shoes and part to the string on the other shoes chewed off. I wondered what happened. I put an old replacement shoesting in the shoe. The next night I decided to leave my shoes outdoors again to see what would happen. This time the replacement shoestring is almost completely gone, and the other shoestring chewed on more such that it could not be tied. I had to replace the shoestring in both shoes this time. The mystery continues. I have not figured this one out yet. I don't know if I will leave my shoes outdoors overnight again. I am running out of shoestrings.