Looking at the Positives

Somehow this post didn't get uploaded in December, will certainly give my website manager a sound thrashing for their lack of professionalism! (yes, it is me . . . )

​There are two ways to look at things in life when they go wrong: the first is to curse, exhausting as much poison out of your lungs through pure joyous expletives at the animate or inanimate object of your ire desires; and the second is view it as an opportunity, a chance to reflect and maybe improve on the design. Or you do both, which is where I am at.

In the last month a few things have gone right and a few things have gone wrong. Hopefully more has gone right than wrong, but not everything works out that way. Since I last wrote, I had a new heavy-duty clutch fitted and the passenger seat had been welded into place. The drivers seat hasn’t been quite so lucky, and has been bouncing around in the back of my Troopy for nigh on two months with me struggling to get a chance to see my friend the welder, Luis. 

Things that went rubbish

Things that have gone wrong in the last month:

1. The water pump broke and was fixed, and then broke again
2. The water hose from the engine through the hot water shower also broke, and in fact had perished under the heat.
3. The fridge sucked too much power and exhausted the second battery. Twice.
4. The solar panels stopped providing any power whatsoever and, after much curses, turned out are pretty broken
5. The ground (that'll be the floor, then!) that the cupboard rests on is unfortunately uneven, meaning I have to re-do the cupboard once again
6. Today the cupboard hinges fell-off. If they do that now, I can only imagine what severe corrugations will do to it
7. Not quite identified where the rain is seeping in from outside
8. I found that the hinges holding the camper on are rusted to sh*t and need fixing immediately
9. The couple that wanted to share a shipping container over to South America backed out (as expected)

Went Well

...ish​The latter is certainly a way that I’m thanking my lucky stars that it happened now rather than later, and will make me reconsider the design a little to make it more sturdy. Happy place, think of positives etc.
Things that have gone right:

1. I managed to fix the water pump twice and insert an in-line water filter to keep the crap out of it in future
2. I fitted an entirely new 5m heat-resistant hose that won’t perish
3. Shored up the wires underneath the vehicle and covered them in a protective sheath
4. I re-wired the reversing camera to draw power from the battery without plugging into the cigarette lighter (it just looked untidy)
5. Fitted new switches into the dash
6. Changed one of the leaking fuel lines (and covered myself in diesel in the process)
7. I learnt how to remove the smell of diesel from clothes...ish. Youtube tells you about the wonders of Coke which not only kills your teeth but cleans your clothes too. Didn't work THAT well I have to admit. Probably better than drinking it. 
8. I learnt how to remove the smell of diesel from my washing machine . . .yeah . . .
9. I brought a new flexible 200W solar panel

Summary

Everyone likes a good summary. ​So, 9 each. I still think I’ve lost more than I won. Some days you feel you make vast strides, and other days you feel like nothing will ever move forward. However, I am running out of time and it’s coming to crunch time with the Volvo Seats. Either I can get the older to fit them, or I buy fresh versions of the original Land Cruiser Seat. Not my preferred options but since I now have only weeks instead of months, it’s coming down to crunch time.