neglected TT,our home for awhile (w/blackwater problem)

[aggie79]

I'm worn out just following your saga!

For different reasons, I have never completed my now two-year rehab HVAC rehab project on my teardrop, but the goal is to be campable by Beavers Bend.

[working on it]

I'm spending my last night in this old house, since power and septic will be cut tomorrow. We'll de-flea the dogs with Capstars, Advantix, and set 3-4 flea traps around the trailer's interior, just to keep it as clean as we can (darn near impossible on a sandhill with no winter hard freezes for the last few years). Our usual procedures won't suffice, in such cramped quarters. My wife has been enjoying her trailer for a few days now, hot soaking baths (packing is not her thing), while I've been toting boxes, tearing out wire fencing and T-posts, until sundown for the last 3 days (no shower, same clothes, sleeping in the old house with the dogs...after the power is cut, and I remove the window A/C units, I will insist on moving into the TT, too). I should get the privilege of residence there, just as her birds and dogs have. I turn 67 at midnight...this isn't the life I wanted for my golden years...maybe it'll get better soon. I wish I was camping!

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[Padilen]

Happy birthday

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[working on it]

Today I am preparing for another month in the travel trailer. We finally got the delivery date for the new one, October 26, twenty days later than the first date promised, and seventeen days after the revised date. I'm putting up a temporary fence to keep our dogs from escaping while my wife transfers them to the small enclosure from the trailer. She just can't manage them. I can, but only by manhandling the three large dogs. I also am rebuilding a ramp I hurriedly built to aid the dog transfers, but was too steeply angled for my wife, so whatever she wants gets done. I routed the greater disposal hose (30 feet) thru the original fence, bypassing the temporary dog yard, so it won't flood them out. It rained for two days straight, and that made everything worse, with recalcitrant dogs to deal with (they have to be forced out into the wet, even under better circumstances). The house was demolished on Tuesday, and the hole they left is huge.... We'll need 10 to 20 loads of road base to construct a new pad (more and more money). We had three huge trees and some overhanging limbs removed Thursday, in the rain, but the site inspector continues to evade us, and will not cooperate at all. I may have to get my lawyer involved, because my wife discourages me from horsewhipping him. I spent two days trying to get my cellphone to work right, since I must rely on it alone to play phone tag with all the contractors (We are in the trailer, with no landline, and poor WiFi -it is inside .my metal garage now, and the door must be open for decent operation, but not in a pouring rain, since there is furniture exposed-). I gave up on my old Samsung Rugby Pro (released in 2012), and persuaded the phone rep to let me have a cheap replacement. After he tried using it awhile, he agreed that it was bad, so I got a new Samsung Galaxy S7, for next to nothing. It's so much better! And I went from Android 4.1.2 to Android 7, in one easy step. Now I know why my wife and her friends get upgrades yearly. I'm just resting now, before I attempt the uphill purging of the Blackwater tank. My wife is bringing another hose I need to flush the tank with, and then we'll see if the macerator/pump works. Fun, fun, fun!

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[jim_manley]

Based on your wife's insistence on hoarding what is clearly worthless junk, her "doesn't do moving" and "it's my trailer, I'll handle it" attitude, I'd have recommended, before all of this started, that you view a certain 1965 movie which you may have seen before, starring Jack Lemmon and the Gloppita-Gloppita Machine! It sounds like you're setting yourself up for a stroke, if not a heart attack - seriously, you may want to get a checkup ... at least from the neck-up!

Based on personal experience, you might also consider that, at some point, probably sooner, rather than later, you're both going to be too old to deal with all of that junk. It also sounds like there won't be many, if any, family and/or friends willing to do so. It will eventually likely become further unnecessary landfill in a time of extremis not of your choosing. You're very lucky to have that engineer neighbor to help you out, although being one myself, I fully understand his strong innate tendency to want to beat on such challenges, along with being helpful.

The best thing to ever happen to me, after happy family events, was being blessed with a military career where I had to move at least every couple of years, often from one side of the planet to another. It has given me a sincere appreciation for what's really important in life, and to not drag around a bunch of junk I would never lay eyes on again, let alone my fingers. It also led me to rabidly embracing the TnTTT concept, and it's pretty obvious others here share in that revelry.

Hope you're over the hump and in your new abode sooner, rather than later.

All the Best,
Jim

[working on it]

Based on your wife's insistence on hoarding what is clearly worthless junk, her "doesn't do moving" and "it's my trailer, I'll handle it" attitude, I'd have recommended, before all of this started, that you view a certain 1965 movie which you may have seen before, starring Jack Lemmon and the Gloppita-Gloppita Machine! It sounds like you're setting yourself up for a stroke, if not a heart attack - seriously, you may want to get a checkup ... at least from the neck-up!

Based on personal experience, you might also consider that, at some point, probably sooner, rather than later, you're both going to be too old to deal with all of that junk. It also sounds like there won't be many, if any, family and/or friends willing to do so. It will eventually likely become further unnecessary landfill in a time of extremis not of your choosing. You're very lucky to have that engineer neighbor to help you out, although being one myself, I fully understand his strong innate tendency to want to beat on such challenges, along with being helpful.

The best thing to ever happen to me, after happy family events, was being blessed with a military career where I had to move at least every couple of years, often from one side of the planet to another. It has given me a sincere appreciation for what's really important in life, and to not drag around a bunch of junk I would never lay eyes on again, let alone my fingers. It also led me to rabidly embracing the TnTTT concept, and it's pretty obvious others here share in that revelry.

Hope you're over the hump and in your new abode sooner, rather than later.

All the Best,
Jim

I love that movie "How to Murder Your Wife", and have watched dozens of Times since it came out. But, I've never contemplated acting it out in reality with this wife, despite her faults (my conception of her faults...in her reality, she has none, much like myself). I seriously imagined a similar fate for my ex, though my mother talked me into divorcing her, instead.
So far, in the week I've been living in the travel trailer with her and the dogs, we've cooperate pretty well, with only my temper flaring up (after more problems with the now-replaced Samsung Rugby Pro phone, then with reticent contractors, and the PROPANE tank service -which will not remove the 40% full tank we haven't used in 3.5 years, after a dozen phone calls this week alone-), just got me bent out of shape. We've been managing mixed weather, dog escapes (I now have three levels of containment, but one miniature long-haired Dachshund, and my devoted Dorkie, can get thru tiny cracks in my makeshift wire fences). We've also had one minor victory...the Blackwater tank was successfully emptied into our septic, after we repeatedly filled it with clog removing chemicals (my wife never emptied it after her last business trip, 5 years ago...she just put septic antifreeze into the tank, and left it partly full; go figure that one!). Just another case of something I should've asked direct questions about, but trusted her "common sense" instead (she's got the college degree, not me, you know). Stay tuned...it's sorta like "I Love Lucy" around here.

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[Padilen]

The propane tank cant be transported with more than 10% in it. They should be able to pump it out. But if it's not your tank and the propane companies I think they are required to remove it, within a certain time frame. I had an empty one, it sat for a well over a year, repeatedly called them. Finally we put by edge of road easement.

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[working on it]

The propane tank cant be transported with more than 10% in it. They should be able to pump it out. But if it's not your tank and the propane companies I think they are required to remove it, within a certain time frame. I had an empty one, it sat for a well over a year, repeatedly called them. Finally we put by edge of road easement.

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We've tried to get Amerigas to remove it for over three years. They just can't get their sh*# together. Lots of phone calls to them, took down my fence three times for them, and the still haven't ever sent a truck to pump it out. It took two years to get them from sending us bills for tank rental, so they are losing money on it every day. The local service manager is never in, and the pump truck is never available, and yada, yada....This last week alone, I've spent 5 hours on the phone will two different people, both promising the non-existent pump truck driver will call. I don't want him to call, just show up with the truck, before the new pad/house block access to it, again. What a bunch of incompetents! I'm about to try to call their national office, to complain about these people. You would think that since this local office services the DFW Metroplex, there would be people/equipment enough to do this one job, over the 3+ years timespan.

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[Padilen]

I had a friend that worked in the propane !industry. He provided me with names and numbers to report them. I started that process but didn't end up doing it. It needed to go as my house was being built. So out by the road it went. Delivery driver must have seen it because it got picked up either that week of the next. They did threaten that if it was damaged I'd be liable. I said well when you get that figure ad 100$ to it and that's you storage rental owed to me. . This was also the company that laughed when I said I had a leak at tank after I got it. I finally had my friend check it. After a smoker stood by it and tried to get flame from it. That jerk is a long sorry too.
My friend found the leak, but worked for a different company so he couldn't fix it. Took awhile, for them to get it taken care of. They pretty much knew then I wasn't going to do business with them.



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[working on it]

I had a friend that worked in the propane !industry. He provided me with names and numbers to report them. I started that process but didn't end up doing it. It needed to go as my house was being built. So out by the road it went. Delivery driver must have seen it because it got picked up either that week of the next. They did threaten that if it was damaged I'd be liable. I said well when you get that figure ad 100$ to it and that's you storage rental owed to me. . This was also the company that laughed when I said I had a leak at tank after I got it. I finally had my friend check it. After a smoker stood by it and tried to get flame from it. That jerk is a long sorry too.
My friend found the leak, but worked for a different company so he couldn't fix it. Took awhile, for them to get it taken care of. They pretty much knew then I wasn't going to do business with them.



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I finally got connected to a rep that agreed to come look at the situation, yesterday, after being put on hold for 15 minutes (the women in their office don't want to hear me rant anymore, I guess). This young guy came out, looked around the sandpit where my house was, and tried to say that it was not possible, with their pumper truck. I cut him off, saying that they could always find a way to deliver the propane, so they better damn well get the proper equipment to remove it. If they could stretch a hose 75ft to fill the tank, then surely they could suck it back in thru a 25-50ft hose (25 is my measured distance, 50ft was his). Either way, it better get done before the weekend. At this point, he kept saying they'd try, but I kept shouting (I was getting steamed by now) "DO it, not TRY it" (a la Yoda), and my wife stepped in and sent me back to the trailer, to cool down (I need to watch my temper, it sends my blood pressure skyward). I yelled back at her to get the district manager's #, and she resumed my tirade for me. If nothing is done today, then we call that #, followed by a complaint to the Railroad Commission, which oversees propane use in Texas. Then, maybe call a local TV station, just as a final threat to America's! Stay tuned....

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[working on it]

I had a friend that worked in the propane !industry. He provided me with names and numbers to report them. I started that process but didn't end up doing it. It needed to go as my house was being built. So out by the road it went. Delivery driver must have seen it because it got picked up either that week of the next. They did threaten that if it was damaged I'd be liable. I said well when you get that figure ad 100$ to it and that's you storage rental owed to me. . This was also the company that laughed when I said I had a leak at tank after I got it. I finally had my friend check it. After a smoker stood by it and tried to get flame from it. That jerk is a long sorry too.
My friend found the leak, but worked for a different company so he couldn't fix it. Took awhile, for them to get it taken care of. They pretty much knew then I wasn't going to do business with them.



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I finally got connected to a rep that agreed to come look at the situation, yesterday, after being put on hold for 15 minutes (the women in their office don't want to hear me rant anymore, I guess). This young guy came out, looked around the sandpit where my house was, and tried to say that it was not possible, with their pumper truck. I cut him off, saying that they could always find a way to deliver the propane, so they better damn well get the proper equipment to remove it. If they could stretch a hose 75ft to fill the tank, then surely they could suck it back in thru a 25-50ft hose (25 is my measured distance, 50ft was his). Either way, it better get done before the weekend. At this point, he kept saying they'd try, but I kept shouting (I was getting steamed by now) "DO it, not TRY it" (a la Yoda), and my wife stepped in and sent me back to the trailer, to cool down (I need to watch my temper, it sends my blood pressure skyward). I yelled back at her to get the district manager's #, and she resumed my tirade for me. If nothing is done today, then we call that #, followed by a complaint to the Railroad Commission, which oversees propane use in Texas. Then, maybe call a local TV station, just as a final threat to America's! Stay tuned....

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The last line wasn't correct: I typed in AMERIGAS, not America. Autocorrect made me sound like a foreigner...I love the USA, but not Amerigas Propane (I'm not very good typing in on a cellphone, either, using Tapatalk.)

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[Padilen]

It too was Amerigas

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[working on it]

It too was Amerigas

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Well, it surprised me when a young guy (different one) showed up this afternoon with a crane truck and a can-do attitude (my maternal grandfather was a Seabee during WW2, and taught me to recognize people who can-do, and those that won't try). Within 20 minutes he had the 40% full tank on his truck (after moving a 100% full tank over, to make room), and apologized for his company's failures in the past, and went on his way.
So, I learned from him that he had made an independent decision to go help me out, after all the crap and lies that had been flung my way. Otherwise, left to management, nothing was scheduled to be done. A real can-do guy...I wish I had had several like him working with and for me at my former workplace. Problem solved!
Just as I had emphatically proclaimed to everyone I had talked to at Amerigas, the sand was firm enough for a heavy truck to back within 10 feet of the tank and retrieve it. This guy was sure I was right, and it proved to be so. No fancy pumper truck, nor special equipment, nor a command decision from upper management was needed...just a worker willing to come out and try. I hope that someone from Amerigas makes a follow-up call to me; I'll praise this guy's initiative, and deride the management that failed for 3.5 years to do what he did in 20 minutes.

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[working on it]

• I finally decided to set my laptop and separate viewscreen up on the TT dinette. Works much better than having to use Tapatalk on my Samsung S7 (still haven't found my Lenovo tablet). This way, I can type, edit, and insert pictures (if needed) much faster, though I still only go from one-finger typing to two. And that pesky auto-correct on my phone doesn't over-correct me.
• New developments (and added expenses) keep cropping up; I finally got my pad builder to meet with my delivery/set-up guy and myself on Saturday. My wife wasn't present, but should have been...she was at a Bigfoot convention (remember, I had to forego a camping trip I wanted to go on, in mid-September, but not her). She has the architecture/design degree, and the training and experience with home construction and/or problems thru her years of being an insurance adjuster (she did adjustments at catastrophe sites). As usual, she expected me to do the dealings with the contractors, though I have had no experience with home pads, retaining walls, or HUD requirements, that she has.
• The two contractors decided that I need to reconstruct a partial retaining wall that my demolition contractor screwed-up, and extend it beyond its' original 16 foot length. Now, including the 28 ft patio slab (also damaged by the demolition contractor), the new wall will be 90 ft, in an L-shape. The old wall was a mix of concrete, cinder blocks, and bricks, built by a former neighbor for the previous owner; the new wall will be of concrete only, to be built by a professional. It will be costly, and won't be completed until 3 days before the house is to be delivered, so we have to delay that delivery until the pad is completed. So, we might be in this travel trailer until early November.
• Also, more trees need to be cut down, and more over-hanging limbs need removal, so the tree guys get more of my money. I also found a different source of "select fill" dirt for the re-building of my house pad, from another contractor that couldn't build my wall (he is booked-up until late November). He'll dump 40 or so cubic yards near my "hole" (where my old house was), so I can start moving it after the pad guy levels the existing sand. Money, money, money....

[working on it]

• ...The two contractors decided that I need to reconstruct a partial retaining wall that my demolition contractor screwed-up, and extend it beyond its' original 16 foot length. Now, including the 28 ft patio slab (also damaged by the demolition contractor), the new wall will be 90 ft, in an L-shape. The old wall was a mix of concrete, cinder blocks, and bricks, built by a former neighbor for the previous owner; the new wall will be of concrete only, to be built by a professional. It will be costly, and won't be completed until 3 days before the house is to be delivered, so we have to delay that delivery until the pad is completed. So, we might be in this travel trailer until early November.
• Also, more trees need to be cut down, and more over-hanging limbs need removal, so the tree guys get more of my money. I also found a different source of "select fill" dirt for the re-building of my house pad, from another contractor that couldn't build my wall (he is booked-up until late November). He'll dump 40 or so cubic yards near my "hole" (where my old house was), so I can start moving it after the pad guy levels the existing sand. Money, money, money....

• Another week has passed, while living in the 20 -footer. we got our plumbing/electrical/septic contractor to also do the concrete retaining wall, as part of a package deal, for somewhat less than the other bids. Plus, he was able to get started on it 4 days before the previous , earliest bidder. The forms are set, rebar goes in today, and the concrete will be poured tomorrow (Thursday). Then the pad guy should be able to start on Monday (we gained 3-4 days of prep time).
• We had the tree guys back in, and they cut another large tree down, trimmed back some other lower branches, and then I had them do the same on our neighbor's trees, as well. With his permission, of course. After they left, our handyman cleaned up the debris (from the latest tree surgeries) with my help, as well as two trees that my neighbor had previously cut down by the tree guys on their earlier visit. I paid a small fee for the handyman to clean both properties, and he got to keep the firewood from mine (he sells firewood as a sideline), though not from the neighbor's trees (he wanted to give it to some of his buddies). Doing that cleanup was a lot of work, but I saved a few dollars by doing so.
• In the meantime, we also began finishing the shelving for the large shed that my wife had gotten built, ten years ago, but never organized it. Moving our stuff into it, we crammed it full, all the way to the door. So, we unpacked it this weekend, built one wall of shelving, and packed it back up, but gained room to walk halfway in (I also took more books to donate/recycle, and there is a lot more coming...did I mention that these books were mine, not hers for a change?).
• I used the Flo-Jet macerator/pump again, to clean out the blackwater tank, for a second time. It worked much faster this time, since the semi-solidified waste (she had left the tank sitting, not drained, for several years, after her last trip) was now dislodged, and took only a few minutes. It is worth the $210 I paid for it (+ $75 spent on new garden hoses to complete the set-up). I recommend it to those that currently use totes for their waste; you could just wait 'til you get home from camping, then drain your blackwater into your septic access point, or plumbed clean-out (on city sewer lines).
• We finally got cooler weather here, 50's at night, so I'll have to get a space heater for the TT (I covered the floor vent outputs for the trailer's propane heater with rubber mats, to prevent doggy "accidents" from entry). If I can't retrieve one from the over-packed garage, then I should be able to get one (or two) out of my 4x8 TTT. With seven dogs, two birds, and two humans inside the 20-foot TT, my Lasko My Heat ceramic heaters should do nicely.
• EDIT, days later....P.S. the temperature was in the lower 30's for two nights, and I used both my little Laskos in our travel trailer (the on-board heater can't be used because I have rubber mats (dogs in the trailer!) covering the floor vents. A bit chilly in the morning, but acceptable. I bought a 1500 watt space heater for the trailer, but we ended up using it to warm my wife's 12x24 workshop/shed (not 20x40 as I thought). We had to use it to house our 19-year old (toothless) female Chow/Labrador mix, who suddenly started fighting with our 6-year old female Boxer (who has teeth). It keeps the shed warmer than the trailer.

• 

  Lasko 200 watt heater.JPG (75.43 KiB) Viewed 1602 times

  I've used these for years, to heat small spaces, using little power