Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Memories and Dreams

Thought For The Day – Die with memories, not dreams.

I saw that somewhere today, so I am sharing it here. I don't really like the "die" part. Memories are fantastic but so are dreams. I dream up stuff and then set about making it happen. That is the hard part. Making it happen. So by the end of the day, I decided I didn't like the thought for the day after all. Dreams are good in my book, because once you push, shoves, slave and slather sweat, dreams end up becoming exquisite memories. 

On a more practical note, I am always dreaming up something to make life easier in a little old motorhome. I must be a frustrated inventor. Sometimes I have a wild hair to do something, but can't quite do it as neatly as I would like. I am lucky that sometimes a certain friend steps in to make sense of my mayhem. They are often amazed at the bizarre things I dream up that actually work out. Sort of...

Four years in this little old motorhome without towing or owning a car. 

That means if I need to go somewhere, I have to drive the RV to get there. I've discovered I travel backwards from most RV-ers who tow a car with them everywhere. They tend to get to the campground, unhook their car, hookup their camping unit, then hop in the car to go provision or sight see. 

I like to pick short driving routes, so that I have time to stop and shop or sight see along the way. When I get to the next campground, I arrive with my provisioning already acquired, then do my exploring on foot and paw, or bicycle. The bicycle has not worked out as well as I had hoped. A year later, I am still struggling to make it a mile or two on flat land. My summers are often spent around hilly areas. I may at some point, get an electric front wheel to pedal assist me or get an electric bicycle already built with a rear electric motor. Dream on... 

One thing I dreamed up in a practical way,  to make life easier, was converting my bedside end table with oak galley railing. Now it's seaworthy. When I go sailing the highways and byways my stuff on the end table doesn't go flying into the floor or scattered across the bed. (Nothing like hitting the brakes while a hair brush sails past your head in a motorhome).

My floating abode, in the past, the sailboat Sea Rose had this decorative but functional railing in teak

Oh and  I can't seem to find my "before" picture, so hopefully you can just imagine the flat table without railings as the before pic. (Me so bad.)



At first I was just going to saw up and glue down two galley rails, but then I began to realize I always have books on the table, so I designed a book shelf to hold books upright against the wall. This freed up more room for the end table to hold a drink, tissues, medical mess, dog toys, telephone, remote control, bed warmer controls, the tiny 200 watt heater and whatever else I am up to at that moment like nail polish and doggy grooming.  Usually the table is pretty cluttered, but I cleaned it up some for the picture. I left the tissue box because it is hiding a luscious pink blob from a nail polish bottle that fell over and spilled while I slept. *SIGH* 

I suppose *ahem* that "somebody" didn't tighten the lid down. (Daggum puppy dog!) Today I cleaned away the detritus, saw the spilled polish then hid it with tissues until I get it removed. Does that count as housework?  Hiding a mess rather than cleaning it up?

The book retainer needed some support in the back, so another rail was incorporated in the rear of the table. That left a little corner nook that holds a couple of paperback books and a flashlight for investigating things that go bump in the night like ghoulies, ghosties and long leggedy beasties.

For the curious, I did coat the galley rail with clear polyurethane. The gap was left for several reasons, being foremost, the curve presented a slight problem. Wiping up spilled cherry juice is easier with the gap (yepper I spilled my juice last week flailing about while sleeping). On cold nights, the controls to the bed warmer can sit there with the cords draping down to the mattress. My friend came along at some point when I had more or less assembled the parts and coughed up the dream but hadn't implemented it yet, so he did a much neater job than I might have. You would be amazed how one little project like this can trash an entire motorhome for a day or two. 

There is a hidden electrical outlet underneath the upper cabinet. In the picture you can barely see a white square. That is a nightlight with a switch, so I can light up the table at night, when I am sitting up in bed dreaming or puppy wrestling or photographing the critter in the rain.


Harley Dawg perched on his pillow on the bed, waiting for the rain to pass.
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And, it costs you nothing extra.
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2 comments:


Life is goof!