If you've been following the story, you'll have seen pictures at Flickr, and the odd article here, as I fiddle and fart my way through "minor" refurb and refit work on the bus now known as DuckZilla. I say "minor" but it's turned out to be a fairly large lot of jobs.
The bus now has real plumbing rather than garden hoses, can use mains water instead of just running off a pump and internal water tanks all the time, the 12V solar electrics have been reworked to prevent the shorts and intermittents, rollout annex awning instead of the old rope track slide-on, there's a gas hot water system almost finished installing, some roof leaks have been fixed, and I'm planning to replace thermally inefficient all around windows with insulated panels and smaller more efficient widows placed where I need them.
Now when I look around me, I see familiar panels behind which are things I know intimately. I know that if I get stuck any place, I will be able to manage just fine thank you, and I will be able to fix most anything that might fail, and that experience alone has made all the skinned knuckles, bruises, and aching muscles worthwhile.
The remaining work is now mostly downhill, and now that I've kitted the bus out (at a cost of around another $3500 as near as I can figure) with all the extras, I will be able to live off the grid for four weeks at a time if I use my water sparingly. The wild blue yonder is looking better and better by the minute...
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