Folks,

	Got here (LA.)last Saturday.  My father in law owns 
a small private  trailer park and set us up with a free "pad" 
for however long we want to stay here.  We arrived and it took 
three days to get the Power Company to come out and hook us up.  
The "pad" is actually a beautiful country setting . . .
surrounded by mud due to the 3 inches of rain a day that  
fell the first week we were here.  The roof seals held, no 
leaks.  But I discovered the joys of Ja-lousy (sp. intended) 
windows in winter.  So we will be staying here for a little 
longer than expected as I do a major polarizing and remodeling 
to the trailer.  George (father-in-law), has a fully equipped 
40X80 shop here at his "property", 50 feet from my front door.  
He has completely remodeled all of his trailers (Three), and 
used to be in building and remodeling.  Now he just does it for 
himself, and the odd son-in-law that brings his RV in.  He'll 
be doing all the Formica work and letting me use his shop for 
the rest.  I used to help him when assigned here for 15 years, 
so I'm no slouch either.  

	First, I'm removing all the Ja-lousy windows and 
putting in double paned sliders.  Then the remaining fixed 
windows get double pane inside storm windows.  All condensation 
and fogging will be eliminated.

	Next, the entire underbelly gets removed, lined with 1" 
Styrofoam insulation, and Urethane foam for fitted areas.  
Then I'm extending the underbelly all the way to the edges 
of the trailer with the same insulation (except, of course 
right under the Propane, there it will have screening and 
be isolated from the rest)
	
        Interior:  The booth and table in the kitchen goes and 
is replaced with an 18" breakfast counter (same height as 
current table) and two chairs that effectively doubles the 
walking and counter space in the kitchen.  Where the booth 
extended into the living room the counter will widen to about  
36" (current booth is 40"), providing a place for my notebook 
and Brother MFC 7000.  Office work will be done from living 
room side, with enough cabinet space (using matching doors 
from booth ends) to store a couple of reams of paper, power 
controller, and necessary CD-ROMs, manuals, etc.  Black
leather executive chair will replace the two chairs in the 
living room, serving as both a living room chair and office 
chair (height adjustment). 

Remember the two chairs at breakfast counter are now more a 
part of the living room and will be comfortable as well as 
providing similar spacing between guests and us as in a full 
size living room.  The booth back is no longer blocking the 
space.   
	
        The hardest decision was to replace the sofa.  But, 
since we are full timing, and the people who visit will 
live in the towns we go to, and we are not vacationing with 
kids or friends, it will go into storage along with the two 
chairs, shrink-wrapped in plastic, in case we change our  
minds about extra beds.  The sofa will be replaced by two 
leather incliners, with a small sofa cabinet between them.

	In spite of all of the planned changes we have 
already taken into account weights and balance and will 
actually increase weight by only 100 pounds or so.

	I have already replaced all of the plastic exterior 
vents, doors, and screws, that were weather damaged, or rusty.  
I have also ordered new vinyl trim for all exterior moldings.  
The last project is removing the sun damaged stripe and 
replacing with one that matches the burgundy in my two
tone truck.  Which incidentally is complementary to the 
remaining stripes.

	So, whaddya think?  I'm having a blast.  Remember 
I haven't had time to remodel a house (done two), or have
access to my own workshop, (well, borrowing this one) 
since 1989.  

	The whole thing works out perfectly.  We are here 
for the birth of our second granddaughter anyway.  We will 
just stay an extra month or three, until we are ready for 
the northern climes.  And I get to keep busy working
on "our home".  Remember, we have been forced to live in 
overseas Gov't quarters from 1990-97, and leased all last 
year.  Owned our own homes everywhere else from 1973-1990.  
We are not the rental types at all.

	Boy, this turned out to be a novella.  Anyway, 
the fun (really) continues.

dg