airbrakes, insurance and bus porn OH MY!

Bill goes for air brake training this Saturday and I cannot tell a lie - I am INSANELY jealous that he will get to drive our bus to Edmonton.  Nonetheless, it means we are close now.  Although I'm allowed to drive the bus as long as someone Q-endorsed is sitting beside me, considering there are no seats in the bus that's not really an option just yet.  Alberta doesn't have an online Airbrakes guide that I could find Manitoba does as does Saskatchewan, if you want a little light reading. The content is almost identical but the pictures are more fun in the SK version...

I tried an online airbrake test, too.  You must get 25 of 30 questions right to pass the written test at the MVD.  I got 73% which is a fail but before you are impressed by my lack of training and almost-passing mark, I think the test was unfairly rigged in my favour.  Namely, the first 24 questions seemed normal and after that it's like someone completely shit the bed setting the answers up.  For example:

It is my sincere hope that our Alberta provincial exam is better designed than this.  Nevertheless, I should have my own air brake Q-endorsement by mid-May and then we will hopefully both be able to log a few hours of practice driving the bus both in the city and on the highways for a few trips.  We have a completely empty bus shell at this point (though we hope to at least throw some old van seats in her so we can travel as a pack) which means we can't cook or poop in the bus yet.  So if we come to visit you, we might want to eat your food and use your facilities.

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We have the kindness of a friend in the city allowing us to park the bus on his extra-long driveway until we have time to move our fence, which is awesome since I'm not really keen on having it parked so far away we have to schedule a visit.  I'm looking forward to getting in and measuring everything up so we can start looking up parts and doing up floor plans.  First parts I started looking at were kitchen parts, since we can make all the cabinets and furniture custom...  and HOLY HELL are mobile appliances expensive!!!  Not only that, but because we are all subject to what the "market demands" and the current trend in RV decor is wood panelling, a lot of what looks like what you used to see on the side of 70s station wagons.

Amirite?! 

Find a used one, you say?  Let me assure you that even a used fridge (in stainless or panelled wood) is still (by the cubic foot) well above what you pay for a house fridge that's twice (or more) as big!  The one on the top right, according to Kijiji, was pulled from a written-off unit.  They're asking a cool $750.  If I want one with the panel (and door) pre-removed I'm looking at $600.  While I am 100% sure that as I dig deeper I will learn where the magic reclaimed RV parts live, until then I am actively seeing extra employment to pay for a fridge (up to $1600 new) and composting toilet (starting at $1200 new) which will alone cost more than insuring the damned bus for an entire year...

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It's almost time to name the bus.  I suppose you can go either way, naming the bus and decorating her to suit the name, or waiting until she's done and then picking a name.  I thought she looked like a Nellie at first, but now I'm leaning towards making Helen Back or Helena Handbasket.  I'm open to suggestions.  Here are some super-fly buses.

This is Black Betty:

This is Clementine:

I actually love the buses from the late 40s through the mid-60s.  If we suddenly won the lotto I would totally buy one of these sexy biatches...

I've also found some really amazing double decker bus conversions.  Since most double deckers aren't really geared for highway driving, it's not really a practical bus for us, but I sure do love the idea...

And, of course, there's still a lot of unanswered questions about what the interior will ultimately look like.  Sleeping space for company is a big issue so far - I don't want to take up precious space with excess bulk from mattresses and I'm wondering if these modified hammock style bunks might not be an option.

Like you didn't know I'm always looking for bus porn.  I haven't seen this reno before and I really love the richness, openness, and simplicity of the design.  Not gonna lie - I also reallllly love the look of the diamond plate steel flooring.  Some vehicles have a lot of on the outside to make them look "tough" but as flooring it just looks really slick.

Look!!!  A bus orgy!!!

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We've been getting a LOT of flack from concerned family members about how stupid and short-sighted it would be for us to sell our house because it's such a huge asset.  Here's the thing.  As long as the equity is locked up in the house, and as long as we base our future on spending time, money, and energy preserving the house itself, it is in fact an encumbrance.  Rather than remain tied to an investment that prevents us from scaling back in order to create a profit margin in our lives, we are letting it go in order to seek other investment options.  People do this all the time with their investments - flipping houses, trading stocks, buying bonds - and yes, it comes with varying risks, but most people regret the risks they didn't take more than the ones they did.  

Now.  Rest assured.  We are wholly conscious of the fact it would be stupid of us to sell our house and party with the profits.  There are in fact a couple of phases (a 2-3 year plan and a 3-5 year plan) that in fact do not involve us quitting our day jobs, pissing away every penny we've earned on the house on an extravagant road trip, then preying upon the kindness of family, friends and strangers when the cash runs out.  For starters, the second the house sells, we will be buying land to work on Phase 1 of the Big Plan, and once we have enough equity and/or savings built up we can initiate Phase 2 of The Big Plan.  (And no, I'm not defining Part 2 here because it's still being formed and therefore remains above your pay grade unless you're family or an intimate friend.)

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In the process of making this work for us, I've been doing a lot of research on the various "lifestyles" that bus dwellers lead.  They range from hip city slickers to your stereotypical dirty hippy but there is obviously some crossover when it comes to the "on the road" portion of Phase 1.  I'm learning a lot about things like boondocking, courtesy vs. stealth camping, and other such "nomadic" accommodations available for "free" (or cheap.)  This video made some really great points that seem like common sense to me (honestly, the "RV" dream described at 3:00 sounds so ridiculously entitled, immature, and poorly thought out I actually rolled my eyes) but since there are people following our journey to see what pitfalls we make encounter so they can avoid them, I'll share:

Until next time...  cheers~