the 2nd stimulus $600 clown car / fan gearbox

The checking account my 2019 tax refund was sent to was closed because they were dinging me $12/mo. So then we get a 2nd round of stimulus and direct deposit fails. I watched to see if they’d DD it in my savings account since VA funds DD there; nope. So I filed my taxes on

daily cardio: hike to Sugarloaf

Inspired by Paul’s comment on yesterdays’ post, Muffin and I headed out to see what it was like between the campsite and Sugarloaf mountain. We poked around and found the West Side trail, beautifully etched into stones at regular intervals: Muffin does a pretty good job of following marked trails: We followed the trail until

January, according to Google

Up and down Arizona 95. Not sure why Google thinks I was in Tucson.

logistics: kofa to yuma

I plan on staying in the greater Yuma area for 28 days, weather willing. To facilitate this I motored north to Quartzsite to do some errands and reprovisioning. dropped off trash at the landfill transfer station just north of town did a full month’s worth of laundry fit in one jumbo front-loader at Main Street

2020 taxes done / finances

I figured I’d be income tax-free for 2020, but I had forgotten that I got the Dec 2019 paycheck in early January. That pushed my total income for the year to $14,140 (more than the $12,400 personal deduction) so I ended up paying ~$200 in federal income tax on the difference. Since taxes were withheld

backchannel: killing boat batteries

Saillors/cruisers typically have a pretty good handle on power, as their life may depend on it. This thread, though, reminds us that power fails come in boat form, too. we have 4x125w solar panels fed in pairs to 2 x mppt controllers. Not related to the issue, but an explanation may be in order. Van folk would likely run

planning relocation / bucket list check-off

Today I’ve been starting to think about the next relocation. I’ll be headed toward Yuma, both stealthing and boondocking. I have a package coming into an Amazon locker on the 4th, and will do a walmart-style provisioning. There is supposed to be good OTA signal in Yuma so the Pi DVR will slurp some of

fishing for chihuahuas

I heard a light thunk late yesterday afternoon while cooking dinner and thought a crow had landed on the panels. They do that sometimes. Muffin looked up from the heating pad but figured it didn’t warrant getting up. I heard it again a few minutes later; Muffin got up and I looked outside. The pick

renewed adventures in contact heating: zippo handwarmer

I had one of these back in the 80s and it seemed to work pretty good. While I was doing the reading for the posts on contact heating I ran across the naptha handwarmers again. Previously I’d used lighter fluid; the cost wouldn’t break me but since I carry Coleman fuel now I figured I’d

daily cardio: a hike eastward on King Rd

It rained all morning and Muffin was getting antsy. When it finally stopped we headed east on King Road, the graded dirt road that runs through the area. On the way out we saw a small natural arch high up on on a hill to the north: After a couple miles we came up on