Camping At Work: 8/24/2009 Day 2

Monday, August 24, 2009

8/24/2009 Day 2

Earlier last week, I had taken the van in to get the tailpipe replaced. I also wired up the generator so I could start it from inside the van. I used a 4-wire trailer hookup kit. The one side is spliced in with the generator's key start switch. The other side is inside the van. There is a connector close to the generator that I can use to unplug (for when I drop the generator).

I bought a toggle switch and a pushbutton switch, but I have yet to solder everything together. I can work it by connecting the battery to the starter for a few seconds. To shut it off, I have the connect the ignition to ground until the generator stops running. This is a bit backwards from most starter switches I know, but it's workable. I tested this quite a few times over the weekend, so I was pretty psyched about being able to start my generator from inside the van.

Today I didn't wake up till 10am and it wasn't as hot as last week. But it was getting warm. I grabbed my wires and tried starting the generator. I could hear it trying, but no dice. After several attempts, I finally went out to the generator and started it by hand using the choke. This worked and back into the van I went.

Getting back to sleep wasn't easy. I slept, but I ended up tossing and turning. While the generator is fairly muted inside the van, I wonder if that or the vibrations keep me awake, or if it's just the amount of daylight coming in that is keeping me awake. The air conditioner was making it downright chilly inside. I even found myself wearing the blanket throughout the day!

Anyways, I "slept" till about 1pm before starting my day. I'm actually not sure what to do between 1pm and 6pm.

3PM: I've cleaned out the van. Apparently I didn't pack my screwdriver, so I am unable to hang the curtain rods. However, now that I have cleaned out the van and played a game of Spider Solitaire, I am exceedingly bored. I don't want to show up for work before 5:20pm (at which point, I will head to the one bathroom for teeth brushing purposes). The boredom will definitely motivate me to hit the gym, I just wanted to try a full day in the van today.

4:30PM: I am going to head out and get breakfast before work.

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About

I keep track of my equipment costs here.

Photos are here.

I work about 117 miles from where I live. My work schedule is fairly interesting. I work night's – 12 hour shifts. It alternates between 3 and 4 shifts each week. Factoring in a 1 hour lunch break, I work 33 and 44 hours. I then end up with really long weekends. The drive takes 2 hours and 15 minutes each way, so on a 12 hour shift, a round-trip is 16.5 hours. That leaves 7.5 hours to sleep, hygiene, and eat. For the last two years, I have been either renting an apartment or staying on a coworker's couch for the 2-3 days (and it is daytime that I sleep) that I'm at work. Rent in the DC area for a single bedroom apartment is very comparable to my mortgage payment on a 5 bedroom house at home.

For a permanent solution, I have decided to use a conversion van as my apartment during the work week and hope to sleep in the work parking lot during the day. I checked with the both the county sheriff's office and the county attorney's office. While there are rules against sleeping on a public sidewalk or park during the night (which might apply to someone inside a van) there are no issues with me sleeping at those same places during the day. Private parking lots require permission of the owner, otherwise I could wake up with a $100 fine on the van. The sheriff's office advised me that I should be prepared to be woken up a few times if someone called in a suspicious vehicle. Otherwise, there are no legal issues with me camping out in the area on a semi-regular basis.

My quest for cheap living begins.