Today was garage sale day. John got up early this morning to help set up for the garage sale. What’s funny is that this is the second morning in a row that John has been up and out of bed before me, like two of maybe half a dozen times this has ever happened in nearly 17 years of marriage.
I finally woke up and the kids came over from the house looking for food. I fixed breakfast for them and for me, got dressed and headed out to visit with some friends helping with the garage sale. As soon as I as out, surveying the goods, John tried to interest me in a 9×13 dish (which I actually needed). Trista was also helping with the garage sale and ultimately located the dish. She picked it up, handed it to me and said, “I think… $2.” I chuckled and took the pan. Later, she came at me again with “So… about that $2.” At least she takes her job seriously and I later found out that John was intentionally trying to get me to take something so that he wouldn’t feel bad about taking something(s) himself!
After a bit of visiting and a bit of browsing, I headed back into the RV with Levi. He was playing Minecraft and I pulled out my computer to do some work on the blog. It didn’t take long and I started nodding off. I went back to the bedroom and quickly fell fast asleep. I remember John coming in and saying something about being hungry. I mumbled that I would fix him a sandwich and then fell right back asleep. A long while later, John came and laid on the bed and again said something about being hungry. I realized the garage sale was over and he had not eaten, so I got up and fixed us each a sandwich. We ate, laid back down and fell right back asleep. I slept until they came to get me for dinner!
After dinner, I needed to call my dad to offer some technical support while John went to try out his master plan! We are fortunate to be able to park our rig at my in-laws and stay in our own space a mere feet from their back door. The kids can sleep in our RV or in the house, we can let the dog out to frolic freely and it doesn’t cost us a thing! The only problem is that our tanks can only hold so much. My husband, aka Macgyver, figured out a way that he could hook up our stuff and fun some hoses and dump our tanks straight into the septic system so that we would not have to uproot and drive to a nearby dump station and pay $10 to dump our tanks every few days. John was really excited about this plan of his. I don’t really know the specifics, but it did involve a food disposer and I am not sure this is EVER what InSinkerator envisioned for their products. Anyway, I got a prime seat so that I could talk to my dad and watch this whole situation unfold. I have a lot o confidence in John’s abilities. He can engineer things in ways that I have never imagined and he is almost always successful. However, I knew that if this failed, it was going to fail spectacularly and I sure didn’t want to miss it! I will tell you that John was so giddy with excitement when it worked that he was chuckling out loud and grinning like the cat that got the mouse! I’m just thankful that he didn’t blow our excrement all over the neighborhood and that we get to save a few bucks. John’s quote was, “With the right tools, shit CAN flow uphill!”
Even though it isn’t the 4th, the kids were excited about the fireworks and asked if we could pull them out. Being the coolest mom ever, I agreed that we could do some sparklers. We pulled out the box and lit the first one. Trista FREAKED out. Levi sort of got into it, but after the flame went out (metal sticks) he set it down and laid his hand down on it and burned his palm! Epic. Fail. I carried Levi into the RV and treated the mild burn on his hand. He was scared because after he burned himself so badly last summer he was afraid we would have to go to the hospital. Thankfully, some cold water, triple antibiotic ointment, a Marshall bandaid and some mom kisses were all that were required! Not sure what we are going to do with the rest of these fireworks…
John? did you REALLY retro-fit a sink disposal into a Macerator Waste Pump?
Was that just to prove you could do it?
Soooo…Yes, I did “hack” a sink disposer (disposal is a brand name) into a macerator pump. And yes, at some level, it was to prove that I could do it, but more than that someone I know 😉 described himself as “frugal and of questionable parentage” (my paraphrase) and I believe I fall into the same category. I can’t talk myself into spending $400 to buy a 12vdc macerator pump which is anemically powered and lacking longevity when I can spend $100, get years of longevity, and (according to the guy who I got the parts list and plans that I used from first article I used, UPDATED article with the parts I actually used) can pump 250 ft up a 3-5 ft rise. Also, now I don’t have to pull up after 4 people have been using the facilities while parked at my parents house and pay $10 to dump, just to come back and have to re-level and set back up.