today has been somewhat slow and confusing. i woke up and got out of bed around 4pm which is late even for me; however, i partook of some thirst-quenching wine and wine coolers last night. considering that was combined with my medication, 4pm doesn't seem that bad.

i did come up with an awesome name for my minivan. his name is dude. i thought and thought and thought and it was the only name that fit. so now i can go "dude? dude." lol. i'm pretty happy and i think dude is pretty groovy himself.

i also stopped by my mechanic's shop and asked him to take the middle row seats out. he said ok for $20. he wanted to come by today but it didn't happen. i was at the gym later than i thought i would be - oh, i found a gym i liked and signed up today - so i called and rescheduled for tomorrow.

then i started researching how i'm going to have power in dude. it left me so freaking clueless. my main needs are power my laptop, my printer (rarely), my camera, lights, a fan in the summer time, and maybe a heater in the winter. right now, i think the simplest way may be to buy a battery starter and get some solar panels to recharge that.

i found a battery starter on walmart.com. it's the wagan power dome ex compact generator. below is the description walmart has for it. the only thing i understand is that it has 600 amps and they claim i can run and charge appliances:

Wagan's Power Dome EX EL-2454 is a portable power source so you can run and charge your appliances. It's powerful enough to jumpstart your car and inflate your tires in an emergency. Plus it includes 2 AC and 2 DC power outlets, 5 built-in LED utility lights, an AM/FM radio, USB port plus iPod / audio input socket.

600 cranking amp jumpstarter
260 PSI air compressor
two 18 amp hour DC power sources
two 400 watt AC power sources
5 built-in LED utility lights
AM/FM radio with antenna
USB power port to charge your MP3 player, cell phone, digital camera, etc.
iPod / audio input socket allows you to listen to your tunes <18 AH sealed lead acid battery>
Heavy duty rust resistant booster clamps
Industrial quality #6 gauge cables
Safe storage for booster cables
Quick flow inflates 16'' tires in 5-10 minutes
Sports ball needles included
AC and DC charging adapters included
Quick and easy recharging time - AC: 34 hours, DC: 12 hours
Built-in safety features: overload and equipment protection
18 amp hour sealed lead acid battery
Perfect for cars, vans, SUVs, trucks, bikes and rafts
Able to run TVs, laptops, CD players, DVD players, thermo-electric cooler/warmers, etc.
Recharge digital cameras, camcorders, cell phones, PDAs, tools, etc.

then i ran across a website where this guy said he put solar panels in his windshield and used them to charge his deep cycle battery. ok. my thing is, if a $100 generator can do what i need it to do, do i need a battery too? or do i just need one or the other? and where does the inverter come into play? do i need that for a battery starter as well as a battery? and how do i connect the solar panel up to the generator?

i found some solar panels i think might work but one of the reviewers said that the panels have surges that would fry your appliances so you needed to make sure and get a volt regulator. does that apply for panel to generator connections also?

i have 1001 questions and i hate having questions. which is just my $hit. i'm going to have to mosey on over to the vandwellers group and ask them for help cause there's no use in my recreating the wheel.

below is a picture of the solar panels i was looking at:

sunforce products folding solar panel -25 watt, model #22020.

they're over $300 on amazon. before i spend that kind of money, i really need to know my electrical problems are forever a thing of the past.

in addition to all that frustration, i went ahead and purchased some more stuff for my virgin voyage. i bought a heater and a chair. i'm on the fence about the chair. i don't need it now but i will need it for the rendezvous in january. i would hate for them to be out of that specific chair if i wait until december. anyway, below are pictures of that and some of the other stuff i purchased today and yesterday.