Something small but major

So the blog has been a bit sparsely updated recently as I don't want to bore y'all with writing about the same thing (oooooh the move is getting closer etc etc etc) every day. This doesn't mean that stuff hasn't been happening so today I'm going to run through the recent updates and progress.

European Travel Kit

First of all, the progress referenced in the title. I've mentioned before that to drive in Europe you need to have various items in various countries, by their law. For example, in France you need a breathaliser and also a reflective jacket for each person which has to be stored in the main body of the car. To prevent being stopped by the cops to see if you have said jacket the advice is to hang it over the back of each seat.

This item I have been holding off from buying because of concerns that the countries would change their laws and the kit would go out of date. This week I got close enough to the leaving date to go out and find a couple of kits and buy them. This is a small, but major, step on the way.

Things with the architect are apparently moving on; I've been having email conversations via my contact and apparently should be able to expect some permission to build around mid February; if this can happen I'll be very happy. There are still confusions between one person asking a question and another; I was under the impression that I would be able to arrange the electrical survey and then EVN would be connecting the temporary connection. According to Lubo this isn't quite the case though he will get the electricity connected by mid February. We shall see; it could be "jobs for the boys" but all these fees are included in the price so I won't be getting any unexpected surprises.

Thinking of getting this one

Julian has gone back into the garage as I just couldn't be bothered dealing with the useless camper van dude again. The electrician there has identified a problem with the component which splits the charge from the inverter to send it back to the leisure battery. The part has been ordered and will be fitted soon. This is very good. I also got them to double check that the reason the aircon wasn't working was voltage issues and it is. I am now waiting to confirm the wattage of the unit so I can purchase the correct step down transformer from 240v to 110v.

This is a good place to once again link to one of my favourite websites that I have found during this whole process. The reason I can link to it is I have decided I will be making my humanure toilet in England and taking it with me; this is so I can be sure I have somewhere to go as soon as I arrive, and also because I wasn't totally confident on finding the correct size buckets etc. I'm actually quite looking forward to giving it a go and I am using the design on pages 166 and 167 of the Humanure Handbook. Of course I'll be blogging when I make it :) I won't blog the first use of it, though. Probably :D

I have had the tarpaulin and other fixings delivered to the studio, and also bought a tyre pressure gauge and a really powerful torch for the journey; the only thing left to buy is the snow chains for Julian and I'm not totally sure of the size of the tyres so I'm holding back on that until I am with him again next.

Not getting through that, huh

Lastly but by no means least concerningly it has been reported to me that the new road I was hoping to use to get to the school has now been closed because the EU may have withdrawn funding to complete it. This is rather a concern because the other route (which may not even be open anyway) is much narrower and windy. I was concerned initially that it may not be passable but with more thought (I've driven it once) I think it would be OK. It would be nicer to drive straight in, especially as late as it probably will be when we arrive at our destination but we can't have everything.

So there you are; stuff HAS been happening.