George Morlan Plumbing in Tigard came through today. I took my water tank in and showed them what I needed. It took some digging but Tim found the exact three fittings I needed. They were the last ones in stock and the total came to a whopping $4.68. The parts include two barbed elbows and one plug. I drilled a small hole in the plug to form a vent. That vent will keep the water tank at an equalized pressure when filling or draining.

I returned my disappointing First Alert CO and Smoke Detector to Amazon because of its cheap build quality. I also returned a slew of unused parts to Home Depot and I got enough store credit to buy this for $119:

This second-generation Nest Protect device not only looks better, it will send alerts to my iPhone even if I’m not in the RETROvan. It monitors for smoke and carbon monoxide solely on ten-year batteries, and it’s easy enough on my eyes to even mount over the dinette table and berth. We feel safer already.

It’s been in the 30s at night lately and my cool little space heater is struggling to keep up. So I found this cheap ($60) oil-filled unit made by NewAir. It only consumes 400W and it too has a built-in thermostat. So that should be efficient enough to get the RETROvan through some cold winter nights. It’s just the right size to place under the table near the back doors, keeping our feet (and Mazy’s paws) warm. Plus it looks pretty retro.