The storage unit debacle is resolved. It turns out we never got my debit card information updated when the old one expired last year. They mailed me invoices, but they went to my old New Hampshire address, so I never got them. I don’t know why they didn’t try to call or email me. They had that contact info, which hadn’t changed, and if someone owes you money, I’d imagine you’d try every means necessary to get in touch with them. Anyway, we worked it out, and they were understanding of my situation. I paid off the balance I owed, and we’re square. While giving them my new contact information, I told them honestly that I was back to clear out the unit and cancel it. Technically, they should charge me for another month as of June 1, but since I’d be moving out in the next couple of days anyway, they’re not going to charge me.
I made a recon trip over there yesterday morning (in the van, since the bike won’t trigger the automatic gate to let me out as I learned the hard way), just to make sure I can get in and to remind myself what was actually in there. The second lock was gone, as promised. Everything I remembered being there was there, plus a few other things I’d forgotten about. I took pictures for reference, returned to my home base, and started to come up with a plan.
That plan involved taking Ally up on her offer to help me move stuff into the trailer. It turned out she wasn’t available this weekend when I’d hoped to do it while the temperatures are supposed to be in the 60s instead of the 90s. (Welcome to New England, where you get all four seasons in one week.) We each had various commitments at various times before the weekend. She suggested, “How about now?” I’d planned to do some writing, but decided I could push it off a few hours if the help was available now. So I quickly hooked up the trailer, made preparations for warp speed, and off we went.
We had it empty and loaded into the trailer in about an hour. I really appreciated Ally’s second brain when it came to the logistics of this. There are some things I needed to leave accessible to get to immediately, while other things could get buried and wait a while. We first moved everything out of the storage unit to behind the trailer, then figured out what the priorities were and loaded up accordingly. We were so efficient loading the front of the trailer that there was lots of extra space in the back by the time we were done. And with that, everything I own is now in the van and trailer with me. (Ironically, when I got back, the news article I’d been about to sit down and write had been canceled, so it turns out I made good use of my morning instead of wasting it.)
Much of what was in storage will not be remaining with me. This was everything we salvaged from the apartment in a mad dash immediately after the fire, with no thought or planning except “We’ll deal with this later.” Later has become now. Time is strange like that. I’ve already gifted Ally a few things I know that I won’t need, like the plastic shelves I’d been using in the storage unit, and an old folding table that I’ve already replaced because I didn’t have it a year ago. I’ll be delivering an antique table to a good home in Maine sometime next week. (It folds down small enough to fit in a Honda Civic wagon, let alone my van, so I won’t need to bring the trailer with me.) I haven’t used any of this stuff in two years, so I’m going to be extremely picky about what I choose to keep. Basically, unless I can put it to good use right now, I’m not keeping it.
Some things definitely fall into that category. One of my plywood scraps from building the previous van just happens to be the exact size I need for the top of the electrical system enclosure I have in mind for Smokey II. The legs from the slat bed I built for my starter van are the length I need for the sides of that enclosure. I have a table from an office clean-out that folds up when not in use, which was extremely useful in my starter van. It didn’t fit into Smokey I’s layout, but it might work well in Smokey II, so I’ll at least test-fit it. Otherwise, Ally wants it, and she can have it. To my surprise, I found a pair of brand-new, never used tent poles that I can use to turn a tarp into an awning, with the other end attached to my van. I’d already planned to steal Matty Van Halen‘s method of doing this, and now I have the poles I need to do it. I just need a couple more bits and pieces of hardware, and it’s done.
I expect to spend the next week or so alternating between work, going through everything I pulled out of my storage unit, and figuring out how to get rid of what I don’t need. I can’t resume my journey until I can fit the motorcycle in the trailer, so that’s my motivation to get through this process sooner rather than later. I have people to visit and stay with before I leave the area, as well as a couple of van-build projects to do, so hopefully I can get this done fairly quickly.
Smokey Da Van 