This is only a test

I am currently camping back at Lake Elk City.  I have been busy the past month looking for a job after the one I felt sure I had wrapped up fell through.   Not much to blog about during the past month.  I am contemplating my next move, probably to leave Elk City to head to a larger city with a broader spectrum of opportunities.  I am awaiting to hear back from another oilfield company I interviewed before I make any firm decisions.
In the meantime, I have had a chance to test the bus in the harshest cold weather to date.  After a weekend with Oklahoma record highs of 72 degrees a most severe cold front has come through.  Yesterday was a high of 17 and a low of 4 (non wind chill numbers).  Today is a high of 13 (Wind Chill -5) and tonight is forecasted to 1 degree F (Wind Chill -10 degrees).  The coldest I have seen before was around 8 degrees while snuggled in between RV's at the formal campground, thus avoiding the punishing, unrelenting wind.   At least then, the highs during the day reached the upper twenties.  This is pretty extreme and I am enjoying the survival test.  I had to make some adjustments.  The small electric space heater keeps the inside of the bus about the same temperature as a refrigerator.  The water in the pet's water bowl freezes because it sits directly on the floor.  Not only do I constantly wear two pairs of socks but I also wear my old man slippers when I walk on the bus.  My body stays quite comfortable under the 5 layers of sleeping bags, quilts and comforters I have on the bed.  But my hands are subject to the cold, especially when I type.  I have to take breaks to warm them up under the blankets.  I can warm the bus up nicely if I crank up the propane heater.  But since I don't know how much propane I have left, I use it very sparingly.  I would just run out to Walmart and refill my spare tank but I doubt the bus would start in this extreme cold even with the starting fluid I have. I believe my battery is about to give up the ghost.  I am in no danger, so there is no need to worry.  In fact, I am excited about testing myself in this extreme environment.  I am including a quick little video that gives a glimpse into the cold and wind.

My pets are handling the cold weather with some adjustments of their own.
Before Nala use to sleep at the bottom of the bed.  I noticed her curled up body was getting tighter and her expression more pitiful.

Nala has taken to sleeping underneath the covers next to me, with her head on the pillow and body extended straight.  Thankfully I had given her a shower at the last campground.  She loves every opportunity to run outside, she is impervious to the cold and wind when she is doing her happy dog run.  

Priss, likes to sleep in the A-frame tent that my knees make with the covers when I lay in bed and have the laptop in my lap.  Sometimes, when I have the Propane heater going, she just lays on top of me doing her Sphinx imitation.   I am pretty sure she scowls like that intentionally for the camera.

The lake behind me has half frozen over from the cold.  The half that has frozen is northwest side where the wind comes from.

And me, enjoying a chance to test myself living in extreme situations.

I sold my TV after finding that I rarely ever watched it, even while at the campground with free cable.  Maybe in the future I will get another but for now I don't need it.

If I leave Elk City, I am planning on heading west.  Not sure yet where.  Considering Albuquerque, NM or Denver, CO.   This isn't like planning a vacation.  The unique challenges of my current lifestyle must be met until I find a job.  I have enough to live for a month.  I must find a way to continue.  Failure is not an option.  Luckily I am at my best when the pressure is on.