The Vendetta is now properly registered in Montana, and the “vanity” license plate has arrived!
Since I will be making art as a HOBBY in the garage area when I am motivated to do so, and since the material will either be on the GRATES of the XTOOL MetalFab laser, or the other machines, and since I am rather proud of what I create, the plate has a double meaning:
Great Art … and Grate Art
I acquired a DJI NEO2 drone. It is a very small drone, but it will serve me well. When I am backing into tight places, or I need an eye in the sky, I can launch this drone up over the truck about 80 feet or so, and let it hover there to look down on the rig as I am backing into tight places, etc.
So the Kenworth gave up the ghost, on the original batteries. I knew they were weak, but … I jump started the truck a few times, but soon even my 300 AMP Schumer battery Booster could not start the truck. so I called SPEEDCO (Love’s Truck Stop) up the street. A mobile truck came out to jump the truck and I drove it back tot heir shop to have four new batteries installed.
The traditional lead acid batteries were one price, but there is new technology out there, so I decided to give myself the BEST chance of not having battery issues, by replacing three dead lead acid batteries with FOUR new AGM batteries, which is about three times the power.
Now the truck starts like it is on cocaine! Touch the key, and the engine comes to life! The cost? A tad over $2,000.00, for new cables, and the labor, and the roadside jump start.
The new water filter arrived from Amazon. I will connect it to the toy hauler water supply tomorrow. I also ordered five seets of replacement filters. I usually do this because I hate to buy something like this filter, and discover that six months later they no longer MAKE replacement filters for it. So I plan ahead.
We made plans to attend Burning Man 2026 in the Nevada desert this year. However, those plans are now canceled, and I will sell my tickets and vehicle pass to the highest bidder.
My reasons are many, but suffice it to say, I purchased tickets to an EVENT. I DID NOT surrender my Constitutional Rights.
I read all of the rules and regulations, and I decided I could not be a part of such a horrific cesspool of Communism.
I could write a long explanation here, but the conservatives already know what I would write, and the liberals would just make some smarmy comments and move on.
Six months ago, I would have bet money that I would NEVER own a “Smart Car.” Well, all f that changed yesterday, when I left a deposit on a 2014 2-4-“Passion” in jet black!
This car is amazing! It only has 54,000 miles on it. New tires. Heat and AC. Moon roof. Heated seats. Stereo. Cruise control, and more!
I bought it to use as a ‘shuttle craft’ for the RV. In the summer months, I will probably have the Honda Goldwing with me on the truck, carried in the garage pod. However, in the colder, wetter, WINTER months, a motorcycle is not practical, unless I am camped in Florida, MAYBE.
So I answered a Facebook marketplace ad for this car, and drove down to Burns, Tennessee to look at it. I fell in love with the car as soon as I saw it. Not a scratch, inside or out. It ran like a Swiss watch, and it was actually FUN to drive!
So now I have al alternate transportation option. If I am camped somewhere, and Denise decides that she needs some “grandma time” with the kids, I can let her take off in the Smart Car, and come back when she has had her fill!
As a BONUS! It comes with 18 clowns that pour out through the doors in the event of an accident, to confuse witnesses!
February 02, 2026
As I prepare to move out of my home and into the RV, I am working to purge my life of ALL of the unnecessary items that I cannot take with me.
Unfortunately, on January 27, I slipped on the ice on my rear door brick steps and landed flat on my chest. The pain … If I had a gun, I might have used it to stop the pain. I heard a definite CRUNCH sound, and thought I had broken all of my ribs.
I was taken to the Franklin, KY. hospital where they did a cat scan. They told me that ” nothing is broken.” I guess that means I did not crack or break any ribs. That is a blessing.
However, my entire chest and back feel like I was hit by a truck! Breathing, coughing, sneezing … ALL new experiences in PAIN.
So now I am struggling to move, sleep, and shower, etc. This one is going to take some time to heal. It really sets me back on my plans.
Fortunately, Marty has come down from Illinois for a visit, and she is staying here as a roommate through the winter. He heater in her home is on the fritz, and it is far too COLD to live in a home in Illinois without HEAT!
I am continuing to sift through boxes of papers and photos, etc. I am tossing a lot of stuff that I really do not need, and CANNOT take with me in the RV.
and the beat goes on …
03/29/2026 UPDATE
Most of the pain has dissipated now. I still cannot lay down to sleep. If I inhale deeply, or cough, it feels like a truck is driving over my rib cage. However, I have become adept at sleeping in a sitting position, on a semi-comfortable desk chair, with my legs propped up onto the foot of my bed. Oddly, I sleep BETTER like this than when lying down! I usually wake up a few times during the night, but in this chair, I can fall asleep and wake up in the same position ten hours later! Perhaps this may become a regular thing, but I absolutely MUST find a better chair!
I have designed a garage pod loading system that I will add to the truck. This will let me load and unload a lockable garage pod from the truck frame when I will settle at a camp site or RV site for any length of time.
This is the 8×10 pod I will pick up on 01/22 in Saltillo, Texas.
It will contain my Goldwing and touring trailer
and also a PowerPusher machine which will help me maneuver the HUGE trailer into position in camping spots where the Kenworth is just too large and clumsy to maneuver in a tight space.
The garage pod will have its own wheels and a robotic Trailer Valet that will allow me to move the pod into position by remote control.
I have to construct a steel bed for the truck too. It will be similar to the one in this sample photo…
The commercial horseshoe hitch will be removed. A TRAILER SAVER hitch will be installed onto the rear of the truck frame.
and this hitch will ride on a height adjustable frame of my own design.
This will allow me to raise or lower the hitch pin temporarily, to deal with ground clearance issues, such as crossing uneven railroad tracks, etc. I can lower the pin to raise the rear end, to give me more ground clearance to enter or exit steep driveways.
It occurs to me that this truck and trailer are going to be quite LARGE! Most of the ERV parks and campgrounds around America were built back when a 35 foot Class A motor home was the King of the road.
Today’s RVs are larger and wider. My toy hauler is 47 feet in length, and has four slide outs! So it has a much larger footprint. Where parks have pull through sites, it isn’t much of a problem. however, I can see where I will encounter spaces that are just too tight to maneuver a T680 semi tractor and a 47 foot trailer.
The solution I am currently considering, is a bit pricey, but it involves a machine hat I would carry on the truck, and use to move my trailer into difficult spots where the truck cannot possibly do it efficiently.
Enter the Trailer Caddy! This is admittedly an expensive accessory for an RV. However, it would absolutely come in handy, in those places where the large Kenworth simply cannot maneuver. I am looking at the fifth wheel version seen in this video…
I recently sold my Ingersoll-Rand rotary screw air compressor. It was a fantastic machine, but it was WAY to large and heave to put into the RV.
However, I needed a compressor that would provide enough air to run the XTOOL MetalFab laser, and still be quiet enough to run in a campground or an RV park without causing a disturbance.
I found what I was looking for, in the EASTWOOD ELITE QST 30/60 SCROLL air compressor!
This is a very quiet compressor that can still provide enough air to run the laser without worry.
Things are coming together!
