Tag Archives: 12 volt power pack

Saturday 10th December 2011 – SINCE WHEN …

… has one day’s blog started with a full account of what happened the next morning?

It’s not a very usual occurrence, I know, but it does happen to me now and again – usually because I don’t keep “normal” hours like everyone else. Years of working nights driving taxis and coaches means that I’m more “nocturnal” than “diurnal”.

My days usually finish when I go to bed, no matter what time that might be. And when there have been days when I haven’t gone to bed at all – which also happens very occasionally, I find a convenient break-point.

And so I hit the road tomorrow at 00:30 with still a long way to go before the day is ended.

Today though, I had a very desultory, leisurely day. Taking it easy due to the long night which I knew that I was going to have.

And my heart wasn’t really in the packing and I didn’t really do as much as I should. As a result, I set off on probably the most ill-prepared voyage that I have ever made. And I have made a few of those in my life as well, as you can probably imagine.

The road to Le Havre took me on a merry, mazy way via Bourges, Orleans and Chartres.

Parts of the road were really quick and I was able to make quite good time, whereas others were … err … not so quick, especially when it came to navigating my way through the cities with the endless strings of traffic lights.

caliburn overnight parking chartres franceFinally I found a service area about 20 or so miles beyond Chartres and that’s where I went to sleep.

And it was freezing as well – frost and ice everywhere – but I’m not that easily defeated.

A few years ago I stripped an old Volvo saloon and that had heated seat pads in it. And so I wired one of them up to one of these 12-volt powerpacks, and you’ve no idea how warm my feet were in bed.

That is – until the powerpack’s battery went flat.

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Monday 5th September 2011 – I AM NOT ALONE

usa security camera radio transmitter mars hill road upper knoxford new brunswick canadaThere’s a security camera and radio transmitter now sprung up on the USA side of the border and it’s part-pointing onto the crossing just here and part-pointing onto my property.

It looks as if I’m going to have to have an accident while cleaning my crossbow or dismantling a spring-loaded container. But I’m sure that I can think of some other ways of distracting the attention of the people who stare at these security screens all day

But it’s nice to think that I’m so popular, isn’t it?

dodge grand caravan fitted out as camper mars hill road upper knoxford new brunswick canadaThis is a good opportunity to show you exactly how I have arranged the Dodge so that I can live in it.

Firstly, why I chose a Dodge Grand Caravan was because the seats fold flat into the floor and there’s enough room to dance in here when you do that, without any obstructions at all to get in the way.

There’s the bed, and the double mattress that stops me rolling down the side and keeps me warm and out of contact with the cold window. The suitcase cooking stove is under the bed and the little table for cooking is right there to hand.

And if you don’t know what the flower pot is for, then you’ve clearly not been keeping up with things.

dodge grand caravan fitted out as camper mars hill road upper knoxford new brunswick canadaFrom the side, you’ll see the tarpaulin that has been cut in two halves and string run through the holes to make curtains.

The suitcase fits under the bed if I were to remove the Ryobi plus one drill that’s in the way. And there’s a brolly in the cup holder in the door.

We have two big storage boxes (there’s a third too between the head of the bed and the back of the passenger seat) and that’s where the food, the cooking items and the tools are stored. We have a Ryobi charger, a small mains inverter and also a power pack with jump leads, an internal battery and a small built-in inverter for powering the laptop and charging up the mobile phone.

I’m all set up for everything with this little set-up.

As for my neighbours, they aren’t very sociable so far. I was expecting them to come over for a chat – after all, I introduced myself to them yesterday, but so far, no such luck. So, in view of the miserable weather, I’ve had a quiet day “at home”.

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