2011 ends tonight and I will soon begin a new year of adventure seeking.  Yesterday, I took my new HD video camera out into the city to begin producing a video of my Denver.  I am getting another introduction into the 'seems easier in the conception phase than the implementation phase'.
Fortunately, the weather has been kind the last few days.  Highs in the mid 50's and lows not sinking into freezing temperatures.  That changes back tonight, but I am prepared with a new propane filter that should allow my heater to run longer.
The bulk of this past year has been spent in Denver.  I am enjoying my time here.  I look forward to what the new year will bring.

Christmas in Denver

I have been enjoying the Christmas season here in Denver.  I went to Casa Bonita, a mexican restaurant with an indoor cliff diving show.  I was a guest of my friend Leanne's family.  17 of us went to this cultural eatery.  I won't lie to you.  It wasn't exactly culinary genius in the meals but the atmosphere and company made it a meal to remember.

Leanne (her brother Mike and sister in law, Tamzin, in the background)

Leanne's daughter, Amy Caroline and her friend Kaila.

 Leanne's Mom getting serenaded by the house band

Me

One of the performances during the meal.









For Christmas I received my coveted boots and waterproof video camera among other things.  I haven't gotten any worthy video yet but I look forward to posting some from it soon.  I wear my boots all the time.  I do switch them out when I will be doing something really dirty (like working under the bus).

I have a little video of 3 clips I took during this last snow.  (All taken on my old camera)  Normally I wouldn't post because I didn't have enough to make a quality video but this will show the kind of snow we had before Christmas.  It all fell within 12 hrs.  Denver has had more snow this year already than all of last winter, according to the weather service.  Freezing temperatures following the snow made for interesting driving situations.

The video shows me on the bus after the snow has been coming down for a couple of hours, then Nala running in the snow and finally me driving the work truck with John down snowy Colorado roads.

It feels like Christmas season

The cold in Denver seems to enhance the holiday spirit.  There is still snow on the ground from the storm over a week ago.  Every store I walk into is playing the requisite Christmas music.  It just feels like Christmas this season.
My friend in town, who is also acting as my local mailing address, has told me that I have received several gifts already.  Thank you in advance to those who have sent me presents.  Now I have something else to look forward to this Christmas.
My latest cold weather challenge is condensation. The bus has it's own climate system. Moisture from my breath, my pet's breath, wet snow tracked onto the bus and cooking cover the ceiling and windows with condensation.  Then it will freeze as the temperature drops at night.  Then I turn on the heat, it melts the condensation which drips down.

The condensation gathers at the ribs because the I-beam supports conduct the cold from the outside.  No way to insulate that part without losing valuable head space.

It has stepped beyond being pesky to actually creating an issue.  It dripped onto the keyboard of my full-sized laptop and caused several keys to stop working.  Fortunately, I have my backup netbook, that I am currently using.   I thought about getting a dehumidifier to see if it helps.  First problem, nobody sells them here.  Walmart carries humidifiers only.   I guess the dry air of Colorado doesn't warrant carrying something like this.  So I searched online and was surprised at how expensive they are.  I am regretting not getting the $10 one I saw at Goodwill a few years ago.  I am not going to invest over $100 for something that may not work or requires too much electricity to be effective.   So I just bring out my towel and wipe up as much as I can.  The trick is that the water evaporates out of the towel and gets back on the ceiling.  All I do is delay the process of getting dripped on by a couple of hours.   I just have to be cautious watching movies on my laptop late at night.
Good news, I am becoming acclimated to the cold.  Once I suffer through temperature on the negative side of zero, temperature in the teens and twenties isn't nearly so bad.   My bus starts regularly, with a few shots of starting fluid.  The air brakes haven't had any more issues since I last de-iced them.  (Although I plan on getting some anti-freeze stuff to put in the air lines, just for insurance)
I am enjoying myself and feel like I am tapping into an inner strength that has long been dormant.  I have to suppress the urge to mock the cars that pass me on the road with their fancy heat and fog-free windshields.

The return of the Smartest Man in the world

In my last post a few hours ago I wrote about my air brake issue.  To sum it up, they didn't work because of the extreme cold.  I had guessed that my air compressor had given up the ghost or I had a clog.  Through my brilliant (some might call it Mensa-like) deduction I identified and corrected the problem.  Once again I feel like the smartest man in the world!
I started by taking a online crash course in Air Brakes.  I knew that moisture can accumulate in the hoses and with sub zero temperatures the day before, I suspected frozen hoses.  Problem was finding and removing the clot.  I don't like to brag...(much), but the operation I preformed was akin to a skilled brain surgeon removing a clot.  I got the bus cranked (no small feat in itself) and let it run the entire 2 hours I worked on the capillary like hoses.  I crawled under the grime covered belly of the beast bus.  I opened the petcock that I normally use to drain water trapped in the air tank.  It usually greets me with a whoosh of air spewing out.  This time is was a pitifully small hiss.  I used the unlikely mechanic's tool, the hammer.  I find that getting all Neanderthal on pesky mechanical parts is a good place to start.  Actually, I just gently tapped the tanks and copper lines going into the tanks.  My intention was to loosen any loose ice pieces (clots).  Isn't that the way all the top surgeons start?
Long story short...I tap, crawl out from underneath the bus, run into the bus, rev the engine for a few minutes, stare at the non moving needle on the air gauge dial that is stuck on 0, grab some rubbing alcohol and cut tips, crawl under bus, shove alcohol drenched Q-tip into air valve, crawl out from under bus, rev engine, suppress panic when needle still doesn't move, and repeat the whole process 20 more times.  About the 20th time the needle starts to move.  It was working.  But when I pushed the brake pedal, it dropped to zero again.  I resumed what I was doing and I got positive feedback when the tank started to spit tiny ice balls out before clogging again.  After two hours of this madness, I finally got the needle to go to 120 PSI and stay even when the brake was depressed.  I kept working though because I didn't want a clot to get loose and clog another tiny copper hose while I was driving down a traffic light infested road.
I finally felt safe to drive it 15 miles and I am happy to report that it works like a champ.  It is particularly satisfying because I have only the most essential, basic knowledge of air brakes yet I fixed a major problem with the system.  My confidence level went through the roof.  It has been awhile since I have had that feeling.  I solved it all by myself....renewing my claim to being the smartest man in the world.  Even the mechanics in the area that I spoke to knew nothing of air brakes.  
I am not even concerned about the cold weather tonight because I am still aglow from my accomplishment.

Super Cold in Denver

The weather was -9 degrees last night.  Fortunately for the past three days I have been staying at a friend's house.  I decided that I was not properly prepared to survive in any comfort for this long on the bus.  Today I am getting properly prepared.
I have tried to paint a word picture of how cold the bus gets but I have only been successful in giving the reader only a clue.  I think that a persons imagination can only be stretched so far.  I have taken more pictures and working on a video.  It is amazing and I am determined to weather the storm/s.
Right now I am focusing on taking care of my engine.  I started the bus the other night to make sure it would actually start.  The biggest problem is the air brakes.  It was pumping up.  This is critical because I won't be able to disengage the emergency brake until it pumps up to 90 PSI.  Also another trivial point is that I won't have any brakes.  My first guess is that there was water in the air lines that froze and is blocking the flow.  Today will only get up to 31 degrees.  I am about to go attempt to start the engine again and see if the problem fixed itself.  The other problem was that there is an alarm that goes off until the air tanks are full.  It emits an annoying sound like an alarm clock going off.  This is electrical and I am really concerned why that wasn't going off.
Once I get the bus going, I plan to go buy some accessories for my propane heater and fuel for my generator.  Then I will break out my hair dryer and install the shrink wrap over the windows to keep them from getting frosting over and killing visibility.  Also helping with insulation.
This is the most exciting thing I have encountered in months and it is a little scary.  I need to a good challenge like this to keep me sharp.  I do admit though, that I enjoyed the last three days at my friend's toasty warm house.  I find that I am really thankful for the little things I use to take for granted.  Nothing like winter bus living to make you realize that.  This is exactly the lessons I want to learn, really learn, about being appreciative.  I don't like that I had taken so much for granted.  I am shedding all entitlement issues, even entitlement to heat so that I can fully appreciate the little things.  I know it isn't for everybody or maybe anybody but I embrace it and feel that it works for me.
Here are some pics

A few of us got together Saturday to move Jason and Andrea into their new house.
Ian taking stuff from apartment to U-Haul

Jerry and Ian shuttling stuff into the new home

Moving in

Post move group shot (Jason and Andrea are a step down and to my right)

Denver has no shortage of snow plows.  Schools rarely have a snow day here.

Effects of the cold on stuff inside the bus:  Dish detergent frozen solid

Water bowl for pets turns water into a giant hockey puck

I am looking for new experience and boy have I found them.  I have helped friends move a dozen times but never in the snow.  I have been cold but not like this.  But don't feel bad for me.  I look at it as racking up points on my man card.  I ask myself " What would Bear Grylls do?"  I am one step away from building an igloo and using a bottle of my own urine to keep warm.

First really cold morning

The temperature got down to 10 degrees last night.  For the first time I slept on the bus with no heat at new low temperatures.  I had heat for a few hours, through the propane heater, but it finally stopped working right as I was about to go to sleep.  I slept relatively comfortably under layers of sleeping bags, quilts and comforter.  Plus both my pets snuggled around me to share body heat.  Nala slept on my right under the comforter and Miss P slept under all the blankets with her paws resting on my long underwear clad arm.  I woke this morning at 4am and couldn't go back to sleep.  The cold around my face was as jolting as dunking my head into ice water.
The really uncomfortable times were getting up to pee.  This morning the pets' water bowl was frozen and had to be thawed out on my propane stove.  As suspected, fluid items like the olive oil, were rendered solid.  Here is a morning picture.

Here is Nala still under the covers, until she thought is was time for a walk.  Then she looked like she was wearing a robe, instead of a comforter.

Overall, it wasn't any worse than I expected.   It is a wake up call that it is time for me to shed my 'Punisher' underoos and put on my big boy pants.