Livin’ the Dream … The Diaries of a Madman

[KOWBOY]

Workin’ conditions here are just friggin’ brutal.

 

[KOWBOY]

Was rainin’ round me most of the day. And even a few times right on me. Sorta like a heavy drizzle’s ‘bout all. Can’t even begin to describe how sweet the desert smells when it rains. I can only hope y’all know what I’m talkin’ ‘bout. Wonder how high up in the sky them sweet smells go? Maybe sendin’ all them sweet smells up to the clouds is just the deserts way of sayin’ “thank you” for the lil’ drink of water. I’m a simple man … and I’d like to think that’s exactly the case. It’d be good manners.

Next on the work list is to light up my life. “You can’t be a beacon if your light don’t shine”. And my lights shore don’t shine much. And right off the bat I was stymied. Big ol’ bolt to mount the light bracket was bigger than the hole in the light tabs on the bumper. Life is certainly a series of challenges.

 

[KOWBOY]

So I took inventory of the tools at my disposal. Had me a lil’ drill bit for my cordless drill and my SOG multi-tool had a flat file on it. What else could a man need? Done deal.

 

[KOWBOY]

I own this rig. I drive it. And I live in it. But Vince Dooley, master mechanic at Iron Pig Offroad, built it. So we’re forever bound. And he done provided me with an extra relay already wired into a switch on the dash when he did the build. And last week, talked me thru exactly what I had to do to wire in these lights. Includin’ sendin’ me pretty pics of how to hook up the wires. All seemed simple enuf when I was back in the hotel in Baltimore. So I don’t need all the relay s*** that came with the lights. Thought it’d be cool to use the fac’try spade connections tho to hook up to my relay. ‘Coarse they don’t just pull out. They got that damned lil’ lockin’ tab that’s a one-way deal when ya push ‘em in. I know this. So I set the KC relay plug on a big rock and hit it with a big hammer. And they came right out. Life is good.

 

[KOWBOY]

Which allowed me to separate the harness into the two plugs for the lights with two hot wires and a single ground. Thinkin’ at this point I got the world by the balls.

 

[KOWBOY]

Obviously I shoulda known better. So I plugged in the lights and secured the wires to the light bar best I could. Gonna have to re-do the wire ties when I can buy some longer ones. Ran the wires thru the bottom corner of the grill and thru some access holes and behind the driver’s side bat’ry. And that’s as far as them KC wires would reach. That’s just sad. What the hell were they thinkin’? So I salvage some other wires from the harness so I can make some extensions. Gotta luv some good butt connectors. ‘Bout this time I start lookin’ at that fancy-ass relay box Vince built for me. ‘Coarse he used all the relays on the front side that have easy access. The extra one’s on the back. Buried up. Gawd luv ‘im. I have no doubt he was laughin’ when he did it. And I think that’s pretty cool.

 

[KOWBOY]

So I’m standin’ on the top of my step ladder and tryin’ my damndest to get two wires on them two open spade connectors. But fought it just a bit too hard and two of the three wires came off that were already there. Goin’ the wrong direction here. Went back in the camper and fired up the computer to bring up Vince’s schematic of the relay. No problem, I can do this. ‘Tween Vince’s schematic and my slick, new voltmeter, I had wires hooked back up to all the connectors. And when I flipped the switch on the dash, I had 12 volts at the end of my extension wires. I’m thinkin’ this is good. So I eased ‘em on into the butt connectors. Nice tight fit. And extended the ground wire as well and hooked it up where Vince told me. And flipped the switch again. And the only friggin’ thang that happened was the lights came on. No sparks, no explosions. Just light. Lots of light. That’s just good livin’ right there.

 

[KOWBOY]

Then broke into some basic maintenance. Torqued down the lug nuts. Torqued down the rear spring u-bolts. Can’t do the front ones with what I got. Gonna have to buy another socket and even then gonna have to flex ‘er out and do one side at a time. Hope they’re OK for now. Torqued down all the bolts for the beadlocks. Checked the oil and tire pressure. Coupla loose beadlock bolts but ev’rythang else checked out just fine.

And figured I should try to see if’n I can pour water in my camper with my new funnel spout. The first can was certainly a learnin’ experience. I think I got at least half of it into the camper tho. The rest went on me, the ground, and the truck. I might not be real smart but I’m stubborn. Drink yet another beer and think this thru. Ok … got it. Right foot on the top of the step ladder. Left foot on the rock slider. Right hand holdin’ the can layin’ down on my right shoulder. Left hand on the camper mountin’ bracket for balance. Ain’t nothin’ but a thang. ‘Nother problem … ‘nother solution.

 

[KOWBOY]

So what did the driver’s side front tire get into? A quick look-see showed that the bottom of the inner fender was bent out so that the tire lugs could just grab it and make a lot of racket. Dug a single-blade hacksaw outta the tool bag and hacked off the corner. Have to wait and see if that’ll be enuf. Trial and error.

 

[KOWBOY]

Pretty proud of myself. Gotta lot done. In fact, ‘bout the only thang that didn’t get done was to take some measurements for Vince so he can get my new emergency brake cable made up. Maybe tomorrow. Or the next day. Took a lot of breaks today to just enjoy the surroundin’s. Birds flyin’, fish jumpin’, clouds movin’, coyotes runnin’ about … all serious distractions in nature’s garage. And drank a lotta beer. Managed to get ev’rythang packed back up and put away in time for a few pics of the sun sayin’ good-bye for the day.

 

[KOWBOY]

Gonna finish up my latest Zane Grey book now. I enjoy his work. Hard to believe it was written 90 years ago. I’m envious of his talent.

Tomorrow gonna ride the bike.

 

[KOWBOY]

Saturday, 01 February

I luv my bed. It’s comfortable. It’s warm. And it’s mine. It’s where I belong. And this mornin’ I laid there and watched the sun come up over the mountains across the lake. Lazy. Ain’t no way ‘round it.

But I did crawl out and cook breakfast and clean-up. Then got the bike ready to go. Mid 40’s with a stiff North breeze so threw on a coupla layers. Damned good to be back on the bike. Covered all the lil’ roads that go out to all the dead end points of land in the maze at the end of 8.0 Mile Road. When it was too steep or too soft … I hiked. And hiked a lot just tryin’ to get some pics. A great day. Took just shy of 4 hours to see it all. Pretty place.

 

[KOWBOY]

... and some more ...

 

[KOWBOY]

... and more ...

 

[KOWBOY]

They take their boatin’ safety real serious here at Lake Mead … please no wake.

 

[KOWBOY]

Another cool distance shot with my home in the middle.

 

[KOWBOY]

And one of the locals droppin’ by to check out my place.

 

[KOWBOY]

To understand this lifestyle, ya gotta understand that bein’ alone has nothin’ at all to do with bein’ lonely. Nothin’. If ya feel lonely when you’re alone then I’d sure recommend livin’ a dif’rent lifestyle. For me, the two words have completely dif’rent meanin’s. In fact, in my mind, the only thang they got in common are the letters l, o, n, and e … which ironic’ly enuf, spell out the word “lone” … as in lone wolf. When I was runnin’ with the Harley crowd, I was labeled as a lone wolf. It’s a motorscooter thang … and simply refers to somebody that has no club or gang affiliation. It doesn’t necessarily even refer to someone that rides alone … although I did. I like the term lone wolf. And I’d like to think it defines a person who’s perfectly satisfied just bein’ alone. This does not mean the person is anti-social. Not at all. I believe it means the person has the freedom to choose the situations when and where they wanna be social. And conversely, bein’ able to avoid situations where social behavior is expected but not enjoyed … such as the comp’ny Christmas party … or my various marriages. I know I enjoy bein’ social at times. Such as at our truck club events for example. Or on Superbowl Sunday. Think I’ll ease on into town tomorrow. Grab a few beers, catch the game ... and be social.

 

[KOWBOY]

Sunday, 02 February

Good mornin’!!

 

[KOWBOY]

While I was outside anyways, figured mize well see if the truck’ll start. Cab said 37 degrees. Thought it was colder. She fired right off. But I’ve fired ‘er off down to 32 once before. Sure glad she fired tho since my house bat’ries were down to a measly 9.3 volts. Furnace blower motor was barely turnin’. Thinkin’ I overestimated my solar abilities. But had multiple factors workin’ against me as well. Truck has set in one place a few days so no help from the engine’s alternator. One day was cloudy all day. And on the sunny day I left the damned camper stereo on all day. I’m an idiot. Plus the furnace is runnin’ more since it’s colder. Nevertheless, startin’ to have second thoughts ‘bout chunkin’ one of them lil’ Honda gensets in the backseat just in case. Gonna have to do a bit of research on ‘em. Maybe swap out one of my water cans for a gas can afterall. We’ll see.

In all the ol’ western movies, when the cowboys are fixin’ to go to town, they get all cleaned up with a bath and clean clothes. Seemed like a good strategy. Wind was still outta the north and the wind chill was certainly below freezin’. Wind chill only effects exposed skin. When ev’ry bit of skin ya got is both exposed and soakin’ wet … wind chill can truly be experienced. Sure felt good to hop back in the camper and dry off in front of the furnace. Put on a fresh set of clothes and ready to go.

To me, Vegas is nuthin’ more than an airport that gets me close to the desert. Other than that it’s just another big city. I don’t care much for big cities. The idea of spendin’ my day in Vegas had no appeal whatsoever. Need a small town. I like them. Need to gain some elevation so it’ll be below freezin’ so can test the glow plugs. Also need electricity in case they don’t work … and plug in the camper to get an all night charge on the bat’ries. And gotta be able to walk to the bar so don’t risk a DUI. So that’s how I ended up back under the cottonwood tree at the Space Station RV Park in downtown Beatty.