C40's Journal

[jacob]

Taxes, eh? No?

[C40]

Taxes, yes. I don't expect to work all that long after I change my residency, but even half a year is significant. The license and registration process is pretty simple there (No vehicle inspections. I can do the registration by mail). Vehicle insurance is cheap there. Nevada miiiight be better from a location standpoint, but SD is not that bad, I have family in Colorado so I'll be fairly close to SD with some regularity.

[5to9]

I absolutely love reading your journal. I find reading about the endgame so exciting and motivational. Thanks for taking us along for the journey, and teaching us some lessons in chart formatting

[thrifty++]

Vasectomy?

[C40]

Vasectomy! No kids for me.

[jennypenny]

So I guess this epic thread was an epic fail.

[thrifty++]

OK i get it. But ouch. They should really invent a male version of "the pill" or something of that nature.

[C40]

So I guess this epic thread was an epic fail.

The point of the thread, for me, was to make sure I was considering all the angles that I should before making this decision. It definitely helped with that, so I think it was successful.


and @thrifty, yeah.... I wouldn't be too excited about taking medication that had a comparable hormonal impact though.

[C40]

------------------------------------
JANUARY 2016
------------------------------------

SPENDING

• Normal spending: $1,043
• Van build spending: $1,400

CHARTS






VAN PROGRESS
I finally finished my electrical research and design and got back to making some physical progress. I built curtains to cover the bike box and to separate the back of the van from the front. I’ll also be making window curtains soon (I’m waiting for fabric store to get some more of what I wanted in stock)

Cover for the bike box:


Front divider


Front divider, folded up:


I got started with mounting equipment for the solar array. This includes 4 roof rack bars and some frames that I made out of angle aluminum. I have the frames built and bolted in place up on the roof. I’ll start installing the electrical components soon. I think it will take me at least a month to get it in and commissioned. My motivation is very high to finish the van. Part of this is just that I want to get my house ready to sell and get rid of it. Adventure beckons, but most days I'm just focusing on what I need to get done next...





GIRLFRIEND
Things are still going ok, but not always smoothly. I think most of this is because of both of us being in a little bit of a winter funk and my looming departure from St. Louis. Probably more of the latter than the former. We don’t argue about it or talk about it much but during little moments that we don’t get along well it feels like it’s in the air. She’s not going to come along with me during the summer, so we don’t have that to look forward to. We’d both like to just enjoy the rest of our time together and not sabotage things or let it weigh on us. I’m going to try to talk about it regularly so we both have a reminder to do so. It seems like it may be difficult, or at some moments impossible.

[C40]

Oh and I saw a pretty big hit on my net worth this month. Most of it was actually from decreasing the price of my house in my file. For a while I was using whatever zillow said minus 6%. I went back to just using a flat number that I can be more confident of actually getting out of it.

I bought some PSX in January and I'm chomping at the bit to buy more stocks. I've been thinking about buying MMM, ADM, more JNJ, EV. My money isn't piling up as quickly though since some is going into the van.

[fips]

Sorry, just a quick comment on your investment style, even though the back-and-forth about your ideas dates from a few days ago.

I am into designing strategies and as your portfolio doesn’t seem to do too bad, I gave it a quick check:

I created a ranking system based on (about 80%-90% of) the factors you had mentioned. Then I used the S&P500 to backtest your strategy.
The model ranks all S&P500 stocks every three months and chooses the top 20 based on your factors.
To be fair, this really is just a quick-and-dirty version. The ranking system and buy-and-sell process in this case are rather static.
The results aren’t too shabby (scary downturn though). With a little more time and a few adjustments, the curve might even be a lot smoother.

Even though the chart will be off compared to your own results, it’s still nice to have a general idea of how one’s ideas turn out.

[C40]

Wow, that is really really cool. Thank you.

How the heck do you do that? Do you mind just pointing me in the right direction? (where to look/what to read). That kind of analysis is going on my list of "things to learn some day"

[C40]

Hey folks. Here are some more van progress pictures:

ELECTRICAL - WIRING

STATUS:
- Array is wired and framed up, but sitting in my house. I need to get it up on top of the van and run the cables inside.
- Most of the components are mounted inside the van. Still need to mount the panel stuff (Switches, outlets, inverter)
- Most of the wiring is done for the components that are in place.
- Need to decide on battery type and buy battery/batteries. I’m pretty sure that I will get AGMs - either one 4D or two GC2 sizes.

Here’s a look at most of what is inside.


On the right wall is (From left to right)
- Switch on array cable
- Charge Controller
- Fuse on positive charge controller output
- Positive bus bar
- Switch between positive bus and battery
- Switch between battery and inverter

On the “ceiling” is:
- Negative bus bar
- Shunt for battery meter

And on the back wall is a load/fuse junction.



The battery/batteries are going to be right under all these components. Those blue lines on the wall are an outline of the space the battery will take up.

I got started on the front panel. This panel will hold the following:
- Switches for lights. (on/off and dimmer)
- Two USB outlets, with on/off switches
- Two cigarette lighter outlets
- Battery monitor
- Inverter (converts to AC and has normal wall-type outlets)

(The metal part is for mounting the light dimmer switch on)


Here is the panel with most of the components in place (Just imagine it rotated 90 degrees clockwise)


I will be putting a front cover on the whole thing, probably with a cabinet door for quick access.



CURTAINS

I messed up and sewed one of the fabric pieces on backwards (on the driver's side rear door window). I used all the fabric so I didn't redo it.

From the outside, nearly all light is blocked. There are a couple places where some light gets through if you look at it from the right angle. These are the top of the front curtain (which is shown in one of the pictures) and the first window cover I installed. I’ll probably redo the snaps on the window cover and add more snaps or more fabric to the front curtain.

I used a LOT of snaps. Way more than what is actually needed. I kept thinking I should use fewer and then I still went ahead and used a lot.

View from the back


View from the front


This one also shows how the desk setup works. I move the set of drawers out of the way and position the bucket with the airplane neck pillow as a seat rest. It is quite comfortable.


View from the outside, with the lights still on inside the van:


View through the passenger window, where you can see some light leaking through above the front curtain


Also, I set up these bungee cords to hold the drawers in place and closed while driving. I was hoping for a more visually appealing solution - the airplane quarter turn retainers - but they were way too expensive and I just wanted to get this part done. The cords work great and are easy use. I put in screw eyes on the floor and desk to hook the bungee cords into.

[spoonman]

Beautiful, beautiful!

Your van photos triggered fond memories of the show The A-team. They would get locked up in a wearhouse and rig up a vehicle with all kinds of guns and missiles...

[cmonkey]

Looks like things are coming together nicely. That's a pretty fantastic level of van stealth you have going on!

How much electrical generation are you going to have (kW) ?

[C40]

@ Spoonman - Thank you!

@Cmonkey:

• The solar panels can deliver 400 watts max. (Daily energy delivered will depend on what latitude I'm at, the season, whether I park in shade, and how cloudy it is on a certain day). The lowest peak sun hours the farthest north I expect to possibly be in the winter is around 4. That means (4)*(0.4kw) = 1.6kwh. The max is more like 7-8 if I remember correctly or about 3.2kwh.
• I may also supply power to the batteries using the van's engine alternator. This can result in the alternator carrying a much larger load than it is designed for, so I'm not sure how often I would do this. It would be useful in cases of very cloudy weather. The alternator can send around 100 amps to the battery which means it could charge the battery from 50% charge up to 80-90% much much quicker than the solar panels.
• The batteries will hold about 200 amp-hours at 12v. They will be deep cycle lead acid batteries which means a normal discharge cycles of 50% or less, so 100amp-hours of energy per day, plus whatever excess may occur and be used during sunlight hours.

[George the original one]

Have you considered magnets instead of snaps for the windows? Like a surface-mounted strip of magnetic vinyl glued to the outside of the curtain?

[enigmaT120]

Will the solar panels always be attached, even when you're driving?

[C40]

@George - Yeah, staples may not have been the best choice for the windows. I used them for the front divider curtain, which probably did make sense since I already had screws in place to hold up the ceiling panels. Then I just kept on using them for all the others. Another option would be velcro strips. That would require attaching strips to the window frames but they could be removed and cleaned up and not leave holes like the snaps.

@Enigma - yeah. So I better get them secure! As long as there is not some kind of uncommon air flow/pressure issue, they are just fine up there.

[enigmaT120]

I was thinking they would kill your gas mileage, but I guess vans aren't really made for mpg anyway. It looks like you'll have a nice little RV.