I put the all important sticker on there. Had to order one with a shift pattern that matched the transmission, and it turns out that's a 2 pack. So had I screwed up again I would get another chance. It's more straight this time, not perfect because there is no flat spot on the window where the wiper doesn't touch. It's less obvious than on the Jeep which had a nice flat window I could put the sticker on incorrectly.

Burning off gas going to writing group, getting the woman's mail and then to the range. It's about as bad on the highway as I assumed, would get annoying on a long trip. Bouncy and not enough room to extend my leg and pop my knee. Got 38 MPG though, that's nice. A regular Fiesta would make a fine little city car, if that was still a thing in the US.

I built a new box for the van and had dozens of construction photos but decided not to keep them. It's basically a fancy quail hutch, nothing really special except for how it bolts to the van itself.

Originally I had planned to use the front seat belt bolt to hold the front of the box in. I found longer bolts at Home Depot but turns out they weren't long enough and they don't have anything longer in that thread pitch. I could have gone to Ace or the specialty fastener store to try to get a longer one but I was kinda worried about all that leverage on such a long bolt shaft. I got the fancy idea to make a bracket, Use one of the long bolts to hold the bracket down (and the seat belt) and then another facing up to bolt the box in. That way you could remove the box without having to pull the seat belt out as well.

I made a mock-up with wood but it was too thick. Then I used a bit of strapping, it was an L bracket I pounded flat and drilled to get the alignment correct. From there I had Sean cut me some metal scrap and drill it making a bracket and a big plate to go on top sandwiching the plywood in between two pieces of metal. It's probably not that strong, but it's way better than what was holding the old platform in and that worked for 5+ years.

The cardboard covers I made from boxes out of the recycle bin finally rotted away and I got the bright idea to use a feed bag. Actually fits on there pretty good and is heavy plastic that's hard to rip. Even if they only last a few months we get one a week so there are plenty to replace it with.

The woman is home from PHX after 11 days, the goats don't seem to care. Also, the morning routine I had down to under 30 minutes has taken her over an hour so far this morning. She wastes so much time!

Working on the van electrical, have it pretty well sorted out by reusing almost all the old wiring.

Fire extinguisher mounted up in an otherwise unused spot yet very accessible.

Storage organized and refilled, that's a relief (having my supplies on hand again).

Mattress still fits. Whew.

Also got the car storage refilled. Very happy with the space above the spare below the floor, everything fits with room to spare and is totally out of the way.

I actually tried to get a personalized plate for the car, thought it would be kinda fun for thirty bucks to have something that basically no one would get. Turns out though, it's not available. Not sure if it's because someone actually has it or if it's just locked out because it's 'famous' or mimics another state's format.

Made the first grocery run with the new van format. It's way, way easier this way. Bins fit without drama and don't have to fit inside anything and I can load from the back now which is easier than from the side (based on people parking next to me). It's a win, at the trade off of more hidden storage below the platform.

I've sorta quit the colo, or at least put it on 'pause' for a while. I'm starting to build up quite a few reoccurring payments (guitar, gym, colo, swords) so it's time to cut back. I can write at Panera well enough, it's not ideal but it's cheaper. I'll survive. Imagine if I learned to write at home, or the library or something....

All the car expenses are starting to add up. Not the purchase price which I had already mentally absorbed but the inspection, the potential co-pay on the warranty to fix the stuff found on the inspection... it's not much overall it's just unexpected and I'm getting less resilient to money surprises at any level. Especially with the upcoming Florida trip that wasn't really mentally budgeted for.

Hung out at Panera yesterday with John (from book club). He's pretty sharp and can follow along with and lead discussions. It's very refreshing.

The pressure tank feed was still leaking, so I got the idea to use a socket driver to loosen and then tighten the clamps holding the feed lines onto the elbow brackets. That seems to have actually worked, the catch cup has gone from filling up every two days to basically nothing. It might even just be residual water in there from the last emptying but if not it's going to be measured in drops per day instead of cups.

Now running on the new system as a test.

This dead tree fell, or broke in half and fell and the top half is standing straight up and down balanced just hung up in some branches. Going to winch it down.

The dealer over charged for my registration because I reused my plate instead of getting a new one (which would have cost $100+ from the DMV because the dealers always short change you on OTD deals so they can steal those last few dollars). Anyway, refund. How rare is that?

In Florida, at a Panera, doing the usual. Will update more from the AirBnB later because Panera wifi is notoriously bad about dropping my ssh connections.

Survived the Florida trip, no real problems other than having to spend an extra night on the road because I'm old and get tired easily. Have to plan for shorter days when traveling now.

The AirBnB worked out perfectly, it was as described and 'cozy' and in not too sketchy of an area. Probably safer and with less bugs than the other hotels I stayed in.

I did get some fish tacos. The guy knew what he was doing, he used a strip of tortilla to layer in the crease of the main tortilla so you wouldn't have a taco blow-out. Smart.

Also had some Cuban food, which I think was OK. Hard to say, my sense of taste is still bad or slightly worse than before so many things taste really strange, bad, oily, etc.

Tanner in his suit ready for interviews.

Parked the van on the side of the road leading to one of the bridges across the (as I now know it) inter-coastal water way. They let you just park there and hang out, fish, etc. Clearly not a blue state.

My souvenirs from the trip, parking permit, a nice pen and some shells for the woman.

I did make it to the beach with a guitar, but it was way too windy to play. Getting sandblasted the entire time so I just took the photos and then went back to the van to play Hotel California in the parking lot. Hippy mode unlocked.