Three More Days

There are only three more days until I no longer have a job. I'm still pretty excited about it.

The motorhome project continues on, at a snail's pace. There's only a handful of things left to do before I fill it back up with fluids and give it a go. Pretty important things that I don't want to mess up. Later this week I will have plenty of time to work on it.

Today, I only have my normal one day off. Around noon I'm headed over to my sister's house to put new brakes on her vehicle. I don't think that should take me too long.

The closer I get to leaving my current job, the more my thinking starts to be focused on self-employment and where I'm going from here. I finally feel like it's all lining up again and this will all happen, and more importantly that I'm really excited about it. For the longest time I wasn't excited about it anymore, which is why I just got 'normal' jobs and didn't try to force anything. I've got good ideas for the new projects I'll be working on and just out of the blue, my old projects that are between 7 and 10 years old have started taking off again within the last week. Right after I put in my notice. Almost as if the universe is trying to tell me something, no?

You have five dollars, Quit Your Job!

 

 

This five dollar bill came through work today. A customer paid with it. I wonder what the person that did it meant. I like to think that they meant that hey, you've got five dollars. That's enough for an adventure. So quit your job and go experience life.

 



Ironically, I did quit my job this week. At least, I put in my two and a half week notice. As previously mentioned I have no concrete plans. I'm still a little nervous about it, but not really. The way things have gone since I put in my notice have really shown me that I made the right decision.

Number one priority after my last day at work is to finish cleaning up my life. Clean out the rest of my storage unit, get rid of junk vehicles, my old travel trailer. Everything must go, pretty much. After that the motorhome should be ready to roll and I will have a clear calendar and clear mind to pursue not only adventures, but I'm definitely ready to make self-employment a reality again. Just like it used to be. The clear mind and space issue is huge for me on that front. I will be able to focus on becoming financially independent again, with no distractions.

Unrelated note, the new engine is in the motorhome. The transmission is back in place also. I have a lot of things left to do before I can start it up, but things are looking very good. Maybe with a tad bit of luck, I'll be able to start it up on Monday? Still in no hurry, as I want to make sure I did everything right.

A delay and possible changes

The new engine was supposed to go in between Sunday and Monday, but it did not. It should be closer to being ready to go in, but it's not. I ended up having to buy a few more parts, one of which (vibration damper) I had to get from the internet and won't be here until tomorrow. Without that part installed I can't put the new engine in anyway. I could, but it'd be way harder to put on with the engine installed.

I only have this next Monday off but with any luck I'll be able to get the new engine put together (oil pump, pan, timing cover, vibration damper, etc) and into the motorhome. I don't plan on getting everything hooked back up but as long as I get the main engine block installed I'd be really happy. Bonus points for getting the transmission back in place too. Everything else after that can be done with a little time here and there.

I want to take my time and make sure I'm doing it all properly too. I'm really anxious about trying to start it up for the first time and the break in period to follow.


Possible changes on the work front. After two and a half years, and from starting as delivery driver to now being assistant manager. I fully intended to stick it out through the end of September. That was my great new plan as of a few months ago. However, things continue to go down hill, and the speed in which it's happening is increasing. The way it's looking right now, I might just be putting in my two week notice next week. I have nothing planned. No back up. All I have is my vacation pay that would be paid to me, and my 401k that I would cash out.

From there, who knows. Hopefully the motorhome would be in tip top shape. Might shift all of my focus for a while on making YouTube videos, and blogging here, and a few other travelish related business ideas. I know of one place, one job, where I'd probably always be welcomed back if I really had to.

Engine and Turtle

I'm pretty sure this is only the second turtle I've ever seen here at this house where I grew up. I went outside after the rain cleared up and saw something down at the end of the driveway but brushed it off for about 10 minutes until I noticed it was on the edge of the road. I went to investigate. By the time I got there he was in the middle of a lane and a car was coming. Impulsively, and perhaps foolishly, I quickly went out to grab him out of the way. (The car was really close at this point) Very pretty Eastern Box Turtle. I took a few pictures and then brought him to the other side of the road.

As mentioned, it rained. I didn't expect to get any work done on the motorhome once the rain came but it cleared up and I went to work.

 

 

The above picture is actually from yesterday, after I got the transmission disconnected and out of the way, but before I stripped down the engine. In my mind, the transmission was going to be the hardest part of this project because it was the only thing that hadn't been disconnected within the last year.

 

 

 

 

This was today's project. This is after I had to resupport the engine from inside to remove the jack from the underside so that I could take the front tire off and jack up the passenger side in order to get the legs of the cherry picker where they needed to be. Also after I removed the door.

 

 

Typically these engines would come out the front, and that is their intended way. However, that requires dismantling the entire front of the motorhome and that sounds like a ton of work. I had done enough research online to know that it was possible to take it out the passenger side door.

 

 

This involved a lot of going an inch here and an inch there. Overall it would have been easier had I removed the fan before I started, but I didn't. My dad was right again. My boss stopped by right about at the same time that the above picture was taken. I texted him 15-20 minutes after he left with the below picture of the engine outside of the vehicle. He told me he had to admit that he was skeptical it was going to work. Hahaha.

 

 

 

 

There she hangs! Completely outside of the cab and ready to be lowered. I still need to strip the essentials off to put on the new engine. I need to figure out what all I'm going to replace while I've got the extra space and easy access to things. Back to work tomorrow so it won't be until late next weekend when engine stuff resumes.