Stealth parking

This truck is BIG. I can't slip into most parallel parking spots, unless at least one side of it borders on a driveway, a white/yellow/red zone, or a corner. I also can't turn around fast enough to nab a new spot that comes up on the opposite side of the street; by the time I get there, it is gone.

But, I can do something most people can't. During the day, anyway, in any kind of commercial/retail district, I can double-park to my heart's content, and nobody bothers me. Just turn on the blinkers. It's a big white truck. It looks like one of a million other big white trucks delivering to any of the businesses around.

I can't use this too often, but for things like popping into a store to buy something quickly, it's a lifesaver (and a fuel saver). A BMW double-parked with his blinkers on is an asshole who needs to get a ticket. A delivery truck double-parked with his blinkers on is just another random working stiff doing his job.

I know, I feel kind of dirty. But I gotta do what I gotta do.

I am ninja, you are ninja, he is ninja too

I am an urban ninja.

I slink in and slink out unnoticed. I am part of the shadows. You do not see me, because I am anyone and everyone. I am not actually there. And then I am gone.

A delivery truck parks and is not noticed. A random guy walks into stores, gas stations, restaurants, bars, and public buildings, and uses the bathroom, just like everyone else. The random guy buys stuff, walks up to the counter, pays, and then disappears off into the street.

I get in my truck and go. I was not there.

Last night, I noticed that I even walk differently now. I step quietly, padding around, and making no footstep sounds. I am silent in the dark-- part of the night--, and part of the crowd in the day.

I love the anonymity of urban vandwelling. It's like being a hermit, but in the middle of a fairly large city filled with interesting things to keep me busy. It is perfect for me. I have always wanted to just disappear. Now I am doing it, every day, every night. It's a dream come true.

The Linksys-Area Network

There are very few open access points nowadays compared to 4-5 years ago when I last used a mobile WiFi setup.

But I've noticed that there are still quite a few "linksys" SSID's out there.

And... for some reason... my Linksys router seems to be able to connect to them not matter how bad the signal quality is! I've been in neighborhoods where there are perfectly good free networks or open access points with great signal strength, but I can't associate with them. But there's a "linksys" way down in the noise floor, and no matter how crappy the signal is, my Linksys WRT54G will connect to it every time, no problem.

From a technical standpoint, based on what I know about radio, WiFi, and networking, I can't imagine any way that this could be happening. Signal is signal. But yet, my experience leads me to suspect that Linksys/Cisco is doing something different enough so that it's easier for their radios to connect to other radios of the same brand, than to any other brand.

Very very odd. I guess I'd have to actually look at the waveforms with a spectrum analyzer or oscope in order to see if any thing weird is going on. But for now, no matter where I am, I'm part of the Linksys Area Network, which seems to have nodes everywhere.

A key benefit of urban vandwelling

How else, on a fixed income, would I be able to afford to live within walking distance of any nightlife in town? There's no other way.

I'm finding that there is a safe, upscale, quiet residential neighborhood with decent parking, within 4-5 blocks of just about any nightlife-oriented strip in the city.

Very nice.

The key is to nab a parking space early, either before too many people get home from work, or after they leave to go out for the evening. Camp out there, have dinner in the van, get online (plenty of WiFi), maybe take a short nap, then go out. Walking is my favorite exercise and I miss it a lot. I'm a city boy so I have no problem walking many blocks, and I prefer it to driving anyway. Walk home, and go to bed. If I get lucky with a spot that isn't on street-cleaning day, I can even sleep in the next morning. Sweet.

Panel hel

Five hours. It took three hours to put in last four luan panels, and that included cutting them to fit and taking everything apaart to get to the walls again. And then two more hours to put everything back together again. There is NFW that I was going to rip out any of these to do anything with them and then put them back in. What I got is what I got.

And then, hours after completing this obnoxious task, what do I discover?

Green Glue. http://www.greengluecompany.com

So what I should have done is waited to put the luan panels on, and first bought some Green Glue, splattered that on, and then put the panels on. Oh well.

At this point the big sound leak appears to be the ceiling. I don't hear a lot of noise coming through the walls but the ceiling is just beer-can-thin aluminum. Once I drop the ceiling I'll bet it gets a lot quieter.

The panels look OK, considering they were polyurethaned by kids who insisted on "helping" (and then made me pay them US$8 for their work too). It definitely looks a lot more warm and homey now.

Next I get to take EVERYTHING back out of the van again, and put the flooring in. I'm definitely going to put some kind of insulation underneath the sound-dampening floor underlayment. Probably #30 roofing felt which was recommended to me.

And then the ceiling vent, which I'm still not confident about and have been delaying. And then the dropped ceiling. And then the interior walls and sliding door.

I'm still at least a few months away from getting this completed. My original plan was for all this to take about a month. That was in November. I found a van to buy in January. It's going to be April in less than a week. I estimate that I'm about 50%-0% done.

Why a city is better than Wally World

I've been alternately dismayed, amused, and exasperated when people on the vandweller's list have suggested Wally World (Wal*Mart, Sam's Club, etc.) as an answer to all "where do I buy this" questions. I guess that's not too surprising though; most vandwellers seem to seek out rural areas where Wally is the only store around for hundreds of miles in any direction. Perhaps more importantly, Planet Walton has been very, very vandweller friendly and has-- very wisely-- earned a great deal of customer loyalty from those vandwellers it lets park in its lots overnight all over the country.

But I'm discovering that the City has much more to offer than a Wally World does. It just takes more work to find. A Wally World is basically a miniature, self-contained city shopping district in itself anyway, or it tries to be (and the Wal*Mart corporation deliberately destroys any existing shopping district in any town in which it opens-- that's part of its business plan). But one can find anything here in a city of any substantial size. City stores are a lot more democratic, open, and not as well-organized as a centrally-planned as a federalized Wally World is. But there are tiny niche shops for everything, and lots of huge shops offering incredible selection of anything imaginable.

I just have to walk around, and ask around in town, not online, and I'll find it, whatever it is I'm looking for.

LCD monitor arm

Possibly the best US$100 I've spent yet.

I bought one of those LCD monitor arms. Mounted it to the new bed I built-- it fits perfectly on the 2x6 frame. It's fantastic. Lots of room to work, and it keeps the monitor in a relatively secure and stable spot while driving. I can leave the laptop stowed while working (I need to build a permanent place to keep it), and use a keyboard and my nice big LCD. The WiFi is via a Linksys box mounted to the wall, so the laptop can now be hidden away.