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Nov 14

Connecting the Dots

For the past few years, Kelly and I have been assembling a roster of blog sites we find interesting. We each have some unique to our personal interests (for me – triathlon, cycling, Chicago Bears football, travel, and camping & hiking – just to name a few).

However, we also share some common blogs – mainly those published by individuals we find interesting due to their approach to life. Generally, these are people pursuing a path atypical to the “average” 30 or 40 year old. Its seems to us that when asked what they want to do or be when they “grow-up”, the answer is focused squarely on being happy. Seemingly, these are people that define themselves by who they are, not what they do.

I like that.

For us, these bloggers are more than interesting, they are an inspiration, validation that there is nothing wrong with eschewing the assembly-line approach to life that many of us are commonly led to believe as being the the mature and responsible path. For some, buying a house in the suburbs and settling into a nice community while amassing loads of stuff fits them and offers great fulfillment.

I’ve been there, I once held similar beliefs … but no longer. For Kelly and me that approach feels more like the uncomfortable beginnings of a pending blister caused by ill-fitting shoes.

Over the past year or so, Kelly and I have begun communicating with many of the blog authors we appreciate. I like to think of this activity as virtual community-making. In fact, we’ve been fortunate enough to meet some of these bloggers, which has been great. There are awesome people out there, individuals such as Brian & Leigh, Kevin & Laura, & Glenn (and soon we’ll be meeting Tiffany & Deke). All of these bloggers have been hugely helpful to Kelly and me. The common denominator to our introduction to all has been the internet.

Last night, Kelly and I had the opportunity meet another blogging couple – Tim and Amanda Watson who full-time in their Airstream. They were passing through Half Moon Bay this week and graciously invited us to their campsite. Over the period of a couple hours, we enjoyed drinks and appetizers and of course, great conversation.

Once again, virtual became real.

Like others we’ve met, Tim and Amanda are more than bloggers – they are real people with real lives and have chosen a real lifestyle Kelly and I admire. It was great to spend time with them.

Slowly, Kelly and I hope to continue converting virtual relationships into something that increasingly becomes tangible; more encounters wherein the virtual becomes the real. Our hope is that over time, these brief meet-ups morph into real friendships, all courtesy of the Internet.

I really think that would be something nice.

Nov 11

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Sleeping Beauty(rest)

When Kelly and I bought our first RV, there was no dedicated bedroom area. Consequently, what Winnebago referred to as a bed, I (and I suspect others) referred to as a couch. A fold-down couch no-less. It was awful.

Buying the Airstream, I was hopeful that the mattress would be something decent. I was wrong. In moving full-time into the Airstream, downsizing from a king size bed was only made worse by the flimsy and wimpy mattress provided us. After nearly 100 nights, the OEM mattress contained a nice-sized (and rather uncomfortable) crater, offering little to no lumbar support. Given this situation, there was no doubt that a new mattress was in order. Unlike a vacation RV, this bed is our primary bed and comfort is paramount – this is one of the items we are not willing to compromise.

One worthless piece of crap

Generally, RV mattresses are not standard size – they are ‘short’ a few inches from those typically found in traditional residential use. Given this reality, our first decision revolved around whether or not to maintain the ‘short’ dimensions of our queen bed (80″ x-75″) or move to the normal dimensions (80″ x 60″). While the difference does not sounds material, those five inches matter.

Our bedding is cut to 80″ x 60″, hence is a bit loose and not securely affixed to the ‘short’ mattress. Secondly, our bedroom is not large – adding an additional five inches of clearance consumes otherwise needed space.

The other primary consideration was whether to have a mattress custom made. As most RV mattress are junk, anyone wishing to maintain the ‘short’ sizing and a decent mattress must often procure a custom mattress. This option can be quite expensive, however, in doing so, the buyer gets exactly what s/he wants – not so when buying at a typical mattress store.

Ultimately, we chose to buy a traditionally sized mattress. We ventured over to Sleeptrain, a local mattress retailer and began the customary action of resting atop a number of purchase candidates. Ultimately, we chose a very firm Beautyrest affectionally dubbed the “brick” by the staff. No matter – Kelly and I both prefer a very firm mattress and while the staff had a bit of fun, the ‘brick’ had Kelly and me at hello. Like most mattress stores, Sleeptrain had obligatory big sale underway and we scored what we felt was a nice deal (btw – is it just me, or does anyone else notice that only mens clothing store JoS. A. Bank seems to offer more ‘blowout’ sales than the mattress stores?).

With the purchase decision complete, our next order of business was to rebuild our bed platform in order to accommodate the larger mattress. It turns out that it is very difficult to find plywood in excess of 48″ wide and when you do, the price is exorbitant. This presented a problem as we wanted our platform to be 56″ wide. After a bit of rude sketch work, I landed on a design that would allow for a nice solution … and provide extra scrap wood to be recycled into a small deck outside our door step. Score.

In the spirit of plan the work, work the plan, that’s exactly how Kelly and I spent our day yesterday.

First order of business – disassemble the existing platform.

The previous platform with slats to allow under mattress airflow

Ample under bed storage

Second, we assembled the new (and, at 3/4″ thicker & heavier) platform.

New platform in place

Once the new platform was on, the final bit of prep was was to complement the slats with small holes to aid in air flow (an idea I completely stole from Tiffany & Deke of Weaselmouth fame).

Kelly working the drill

Final assembly complete, I was curious to visualize the impact of losing those five inches, so I placed the OEM mattress onto the newly constructed longer platform.

A few extra inches

Once this comparison was complete, I unceremoniously finalized the upgrade, surrendering this mattress to the Sleeptrain delivery guys for a proper burial.

Then, it was time to look forward to improved sleep comfort. But not before first better understanding the loss of those lost five inches.

One tight squeeze.

Finally, project Mattress Upgrade was complete and all was well again.

Lilly and I test driving the new mattress

Nov 3

Good Morning

Kelly and I really like living in Half Moon Bay. The reasons are many – one being the proximity to the ocean. On any given day, this is the view accompanying my ‘regular’ dog walking loop:

(iPhone photos)