Thrift-Store Finds
On our way to work on the van, we stopped at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. It’s basically a Goodwill for furniture. Austin wasn’t really into it, but we still dropped by and walked around. I spotted an inflatable kayak that was priced at only $39!
It is a two-person kayak, and a good size to keep in the garage space of the van. I looked it up and that model retails for $300-$400! We are going to inflate it, and either patch it if it has holes or the ReStore will accept it for a return if it is too damaged to fix. It also reminded me that I have a kayak in the backyard that I have never used (I got it for free). So we are going to do a kayak day where we take that one out and see if it floats. If it does, I’m going to sell it on craigslist.
We also found a great wooden folding chair for $5 that is pretty comfortable and folds completely flat. I’ll be using it as my desk chair while at the in-law’s house and then we will have it for a third seat in our living room in the van.
I also picked up a $3 camera bag that was actually made for a camcorder (lol remember those enormous things?). I am planning to buy a nice DSLR or mirrorless camera for the trip, so I can work on my photography! Even if the camera bag doesn’t work out, it’s brand new and I can probably re-sell it for more than I paid (or just donate it, since we paid $3).
When we checked out, we were informed that they get 2 trucks a day every day, and there is always new stuff. We will be stopping by the Re-Store whenever we pass it from now on. We just have to be careful to not pick up unnecessary stuff (like the big suitcase I liked or the teeny tiny crockpot Austin wanted today).
Shiny New Headlights
The headlights on our 2010 van were foggy and yellowed. Instead of leaving them that way, or buying new ones to replace them, Austin put in some elbow grease and buffed them up himself. The result was stunning – they look brand new.
The process took quite a while – he had to buff each headlight with 3 different discs at least 5 times each. Then he sealed them with a clear coat. They are shiny and gorgeous now. One of the headlights was missing a backing plate that prevents dust and dirt from getting in the reflector housing. So Austin made one out of polycarbonate by tracing the other headlight’s backing plate and using the jigsaw to cut it out. It turned out great! He even re-installed them in the van today.
Selling More Stuff
Austin found a box full of car parts for his old Honda Civic (which he no longer has), so he listed them for sale on Craigslist. I’ve been getting lots of messages about the teardrop trailer, so I anticipate selling it this weekend.
I got my first harassment DM on LetGo, of all places, from a dude who clearly can’t tell the difference between a selling app and Tinder. Ew. Blocked.
I tried to list the textbooks on Amazon, but my Amazon seller account was deactivated because I hadn’t used it since 2015 when I sold my textbooks from college. When I try to re-register, it won’t let me. I’m going to have to list them on a different account besides my main one, unfortunately. I’m hesitating to sign up for Alibris to list the books until I make some income from the Amazon books because Alibris is a $20 fee upfront to create a seller account. When you list on Amazon, you pay the fee when you sell an item, which is way better in my opinion.
Mercedes Keys are expensive
We called a Mercedes dealer about getting a copy of our key since the van only came with one (super busted) key. This is the process: we have to bring our registration and proof of ownership and VIN and the Mercedes dealer will order the key from Texas. Then they’ll have it shipped back to the dealership in our state and then we can come in. I forgot to ask how much it would cost, but from my online research, it seems to be $200-$500 per key. WOW.
Austin also called a locksmith about the rate for making a non-chipped door key. For a “Mercedes” key they quoted us $50. We think it would be cheaper if we showed up and asked them for a Freighliner key, so we’re going to wait a week for them to forget about our call and then I’ll call and get a different quote.
Taking more before pics/videos
Can you believe this task is still not done? Now that I have my SD cards (which I forgot last time) I was able to take some before pictures and videos with my GoPro, which has a fisheye lens perfect for small spaces like the inside of a van. I also shot some video using my drone by literally holding it in my hands, because it has a gimbal which stabilizes the image. Unfortunately, I think I will need to spend MORE time a different day taking photos/videos because we lost light quickly due to a thunderstorm this afternoon, and my images/videos may be too dark. The drone videos are probably too dark, but I wanted the comparison between the GoPro moving shots and the drone moving shots to see how the gimbal helped.
I also spent some time recording Austin’s work, posting to Instagram, and promoting our website and Instagram on Facebook.
Summary:
8/28/2020
Build Day #4
Hours Worked: 7
- Austin – 5
- Becky – 2
- Total Project Hours: 53
Money Spent: $50
- Inflatable Kayak (Habitat ReStore) – $39
- Camera Bag (Habitat ReStore) – $3
- Wooden Folding Chair (Habitat ReStore) – $5
- Tax – $3
- Total Project Spending: $16,674
Tasks Complete: 2
- De-fog and replace headlights
- Get quotes for additional keys
Questions Googled: 1
- Cheap Mercedes key copies
WANT TO REMEMBER THIS? SAVE THESE TIPS TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
