RV Poetry

We gave up on an exact fit. I found a sink I could live with after literally looking at thousands online. (Most of that time was spent trying to find a close fit to the opening.)

The original sink was white acrylic, double bowled, so each side was too small. I wanted a single bowl. Guess what?

I found one big enough for my large pasta pan to fit in with room to spare! And the sink is nearly three inches deeper than the RV sink was. (I know, I probably won’t even take the pan with me, but….)

Yes, we are giving up height beneath the sink, but are, also, gaining space by removing the plumbing for the second sink drain.

The existing sink opening is 14.75 x 23, too big for our new sink. Leon dreamed up two possible solutions for solving the obvious, the cut out is too big. Will he be successful? Yes. Will it look good?

Function over beauty is my choice, but you never know, if either of his ideas are successful, I’ll be thrilled with it! I’ll post the brand and store name with pictures when he is finished….

Now to see if I win the faucet battle or not. Leon and the salesperson ganged up against me. They both refused to give an inch that I could/should try to make my favorite faucet work. I need ONE measurement from a manufacturer to be what I am hoping to win. And if I am wrong, it’s going to cost him (us) a lot more to get my second, third, or fourth choices! Because I will not settle for another “style” faucet.

Keep searching for what you need. You will either find it or find something better.

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Home…

I know home is where the heart is.

I know we can make a home from a house.

But, those past 2.5 years in the apartment and condos – just weren’t home. That is so obvious now that we are in our rental house. I have seen a change in both of us. Doesn’t say too much that we let our environment get to us so much, does it?

That said we did have good times in all locations, they just never felt like home – and the last condo, though “cool”, was just too dark.

I can feel a change in my attitude, see a change in his. We have settled in, thinking of it as home rather than our son’s rental home. I’m even becoming more domestic….

Hey, Honey. We’re home!

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This was a good week for Panoply. Our new Flexsteel seats for the driver and passenger were installed yesterday! They are so gorgeous and clean white – and – oh, what were we thinking? White?

We have vowed not to eat or drink anything other than water up there — here’s hoping we honor that. But I am as worried about pens; I must make all notes on my iPhone,

The seats are Flexsteel, covered in Ultraleather. We purchased them through and had them installed by Glastop, Inc. in Fort Lauderdale. They are wonderful to work with – and patient. When we explained our solar tech’s need to keep our RV a month more than planned because of a family emergency – they patiently waited – responding with, “family is important”. You cannot ask for more than that. Did I say they were helpful and pleasant? Yeah, I think I did. ; )

Finally, the old seats are out – and they smelled so horrible- no one would believe me unless they experienced it. They had picked up all the off gassing over the years they had the RV before us and whatever else. Something tells me our son’s shed is going to smell pretty rank with this Florida heat pulling the smells out of the old seats. Maybe it will suck out enough that someone will want them. Other than the horrid smell they are in great condition.

Today, Panoply smells sooooo much better!!! There is hope yet. Now on to another project.

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Daddy, before me:

Daddy, with my cousin, before me. I’m pretty sure that is a grandfather of mine in background, but I didn’t remember my cousin being that much older than me that he was still alive…. (I know, to most of you that is pathetic, but they all died before I was born.) I love this picture ’cause I loved Daddy in that hat and it is looking toward the lot next to our home in NC at the time, all those trees. No, I don’t remember living there – other than one or two things – but it was a beautiful brick house with all those trees scattered around.

Today, my dad, William L. McLees, Sr., would have been ONE HUNDRED years old – but vicious Alzheimers took him in the mid 90s. Sucked for everyone, but mostly for him. No sugar coating that.

However, that doesn’t stop me from being in awe at the words “one hundred”, not sure why, but today I am emotional over it. For years, I have not been. I have remembered my dad with smiles not tears. (Don’t read into this, there were moments…. scattered along the years.)

We did not have the “daddy’ relationship a few people have, nor did we have a horrible relationship. I think it was a good relationship. I never felt like – and still don’t feel like – I missed anything. He was who he was, I was, and am, who I am – and he was always there when I needed him – without fail. And, I love this picture of the three of us holding hands on the ferry from St. Petersburg to Bahia Beach. I love his shades, grin. And obviously, the pelicans managed not to drop anything that day.

He HATED movie theaters, LOVED golf, liked taking us to the beach, tolerated yard work. I always thought of him as shy, yet, I think that may not have been accurate, a bit introverted (true meaning) may be more like it. I saw how he enjoyed talking to people at the hotel he worked for, the few people he played golf with when he got the chance.

Daddy seemed to have two primary focuses in life – other than Mom, I mean.

One was working to provide for us – ’cause he did NOT believe in a mother working. He was very old school, after all, he was born in 1910. He worked for years after he retired at a menial job to continue providing.

The other was to raise my brother and I – in the way he saw fit – to be decent people. He/they succeeded in the decent people mission, though, Daddy never completely won the battle to do it his way, lol. Mom spoiled us rotten all those years he was working hard – by deed, not by showering us in material goods. From the time we were around 8 and 9, they had barely enough money for any more than true needs, not even a car. But trust me, she would have!

My letter to Daddy last year.

I filed this under “Made a Difference? Yes!” because my dad did!

Happy Birthday, Daddy. Wow, 1910 seems so very long ago. Oh, it was. Say hi to Mom, please. Hope y’all’s vision of heaven was what it turned out to be.

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Finally, all five AMSolar panels are installed. 600 AH of battery storage, 500 A in solar panels – and all the stuff that goes with them. Full details to follow.

The custom sofa/bed mattresses were ordered along with the rear camera and monitor. (Vendors, info on great customer service, and links to follow.)

But – the RV stinks. It is considerably worse in late afternoon if closed up, because heat and humidity cause off gassing to increase. Overwhelmed me yesterday. Panolply is still off gassing horribly, in part, because we opened up areas that are normally sealed off, in part because the old seats still retain the formaldehyde, etc. that had escaped previously.

The pantry that had been completely sealed with AFM’s Hardseal and had remained closed for months – it was like a breath of fresh air when I opened it. So, there is hope. And, yes, I am more sensitive to odors than most, but even Leon is bothered by it.

We are taking out the stove so we can seal the off gassing paneling behind it and the area that held the drawers – and we may cut out the drawer area of the wardrobe so we can eliminate more of the paneling that won’t seal – and get at the back side of the other paneling. We already removed the wardrobe doors, and I think Leon is going to go along with my idea to leave them off. I have an idea to keep stuff hidden and also from falling out.

The seats are ready to be installed. Do we dare? I’m afraid they will suck in those chemicals and never let go of them, but the dealer has been more than patient while the RV was stuck on the other coast so long.

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