Preparing for my trip.

My alternator is now installed (which perversely now has my check engine idiot light lit.) I just bought a new fanbelt tension pulley because that's the next bearing due to fail. Replaced my idler pulley (and belt) on my last failed trip. Pep Boys wanted $300 for ten minutes of labor. They didn't get it from me.

My oil change is a bit overdue, but I have a new filter.

Two new front tires on payday and my Jimmy should be ready for the trip. Then I wait a month for enough money to go (this next paycheck is already spent.) I expect to borrow some more to give me a bit more security in case of trouble.

I hope to tour SpaceX in Hawthorne and Bigelow in NV. I hope gas prices remain low (under $2 in Phoenix.) Also hope to get  to Sacramento and Los Angeles (haven't been to the pit in decades but Hawthorne is right there.)

Still need to needle my local attorney for the trust attorney referral. Taking my money doesn't require him to take me seriously, but he fakes it pretty well.

Also working on my 13 ton (does not require a heavy) charter yacht in space strategy (LEO and lunar excursions.) A good potential ROI (less than a year) might get some investor group bites? Don't need to mention mars as the real goal for this (sidestepping the giggle factor.) A real ship in orbit allows others to see some possibilities as real. The trust could pay for the total cost of putting it in orbit (about the same cost as a single colonist travel ticket.)

So I wrote an email to ILC Dover about the cost of a prelim design for a ship to a spec I gave them. So far just got a robo-response. Will draw it myself if I must (using existing systems as models.) Pen plotters have gone the way of the dinosaurs ( I am so old) but CAD software is easy to get.

Tangibles for moving forward...

• Ship CAD drawing, cost estimate and leasing potential.
• Trust document (and trustees?)
• Webpage to finance trust (need many ducks lined up first.)

Now if only my truck doesn't break down this time?