Christmas 2021

We had an oddly cool Christmas day while the rest of the country baked alive. Everyone here got some great stuff. We had some fun and got toys and gizmos to use and play with. Jana got me a rolly-polly-under-car-scoot-mazolli which transforms into a short stool which is awesome. I've been using it in stool mode all afternoon on the van. I also got some handles for a mattock head, a sledge hammer head, and shovel head that we scrounged from hard rubbish over the years. Now I have great new tools.

Jana got a bullet blender she'd asked for, and a fitnes tracker watch that seems to be working OK on its own without tying into the phone app.

Garrick cleaned up this year with a great computer chair, a mouse pad, computer speakers, a rubiks cube, a dress watch and a digital watch, new batteries for his scooter, some Steam cash, a guitar to learn on, a lock picking set, a box fan for hot days, some flip flops 'cus he hulked out of his old ones, and I'm sure there's more but it was a big one and he made off like a bandit. :)

This is my blog, so other pictures didn't make it this time around. They're kicking around on my phone still. Maybe later. ;)

Old van gone, new van arrives.

So the old van sold...and I bought a replacement project.
Old van: 2004 Ford Transit, Long wheel base, mid-height roof (updated to high), 2.1L turbo diesel with over 560k/km's on the clock, manual, no cruise.
New Van: 2011 Mercedes Sprinter, Long wheel base (1100mm longer), full height roof (100mm taller), 2.1L turbo diesel with 260k/km's on the clock, auto, has cruise.

It's a little rough and needs lots of cosmetic touch ups, but so did the Transit. I paid a premium and most certainly did not snag a bargain. It was a concrete cutting tradey vehicle, and was not loved at all *except* for a complete Mercedes Dealer service history right up to the current date. People like me don't care. People who want to buy a camper however...need these cosmetic assurances.

Garrick and I pulled 300kg of steel trash out of the rear of the van, then I spent several days rough-cleaning it to the point where I can *START* actually cleaning it properly so I can set a zero-start-point for the van and begin planning the camper phases. I've treated all the surface rust with phosphoric acid, then given it a splash of some Rust-Guard paint primer. It'll all be covered later, but now I don't have to deal with rust plague on my shoes every time I step in there. I'll clean up the cab soon.

Garrick is working on a tiny arcade cabinet. He's got some joystick, button, and screen hardware ready to install after he gets a nice gloss finish completed on the case.

Mindy sent some pictures of Oreo being a cat. :)

Campervan sold with kitchenette drawer

So I sold the van for $18k.aud today. I bought the van for $3k, and spent about ~$4k total on mechanical repairs and the camper build as a 100% DIY. Jana thinks we spent more but that's rolling in ownership costs such as registration, insurance, roof extension and camper certifications, roadworthy assessments etc... Either way, the ROI is waaAaAaaay over 100% over 3yrs which is unheard of with any kind of investment, let alone a 2001 Transit Van that's done over 560,000km's.

I built a 1400mm slide out kitchenette for the rear door of the van to kinda finish the build and make the sale more appealing. Seems to have worked.

So that's pretty cool.

Misc unsorted images of the drawer below: