Moving House
Clayton Balabanov and his wife, Theresa Davies, had ambitions of hitting the road after their retirement, but couldn’t quite find the mobile home that would give them everything they wanted to achieve their aim. They had plans to spend the rest of their days driving around the scenic highways of Canada and the United States. But first, they needed to find a camper. “I was not happy with the manufacturers’ units,” Balabanov, 75, told the Insider in an interview. “They just didn’t seem like they would stand up to the year-round use, rather than just vacation use.”
It was then that the couple decided to build their own mobile home by buying an old semi-truck and transforming it into a home as comfortable as their actual home on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. “So I bought an older one and then spent the next year rebuilding it,” Balabanov said, “brakes and engine, and all that sort of stuff.” “It was empty, and I just decided to go at it,” he added. “I planned things out on a whiteboard and kept making changes. As I built, things changed as well.” Overall it took hours, every single day, for five years before the mobile home was completed and up to standards. Theresa, meanwhile, was in charge of collecting all the materials needed to complete the mobile trailer. While Clayton initially attempted to save money by buying an old trailer and truck, they still spent about $180,000.
Their moving house has several rooms, including an office, a kitchenette with a microwave oven and a fridge, a loft bed above a seating area, an actual garage, a living room, a bedroom, a library and a bathroom. “It’s a full kitchen, bigger than you’d find in most apartments, because we want to spend the rest of our life in here and we want to be comfortable,” Clayton said. The living space even has its own spiral staircase that leads up to the second floor and a hot tub. “It looks awesome, and it takes up less space than if I put regular stairs in,” Balabanov said, referring to the staircase. “For the tub, it made sense to buy one with massaging jets. The pair also built a mini movie theater, which they can stream using Starlink. The cozy space has a 75-inch 4K TV and a surround sound system. “It’s so we can relax in the evening and have a nice movie for entertainment.”
“That was five years out of my life that I could have just gone out and bought something smaller and less able and then gone out and spent that five years on the road,” he said. “But on the other hand, I really enjoyed doing it.” But since they sold their family home and taxi business, they plan on staying in their semi-truck home for the long haul.
Trucking humor
Why are truck drivers always in accidents?
Because they are semi drivers.
I was in juvenile court, prosecuting a teen suspected of burglary, when the judge asked everyone to stand and state his or her name and role for the court reporter.
“Leah Rauch, deputy prosecutor,” I said.
“Linda Jones, probation officer.”
“Sam Clark, public defender.”
“John,” said the teen who was on trial. “I’m the one who stole the truck.”
The young man from Mississippi came running into the store and said to his buddy, “Bubba, somebody just stole your pickup truck from the parking lot!” Bubba replied, “Did you see who it was?” The young man answered, “I couldn’t tell, but I got his license number.”
Why Did JB Hunt Stop Running Doubles?
The top one kept falling off.
February 6th Birthdays
1990 – Gemma Forsyth, 1986 – Crystal Reed, 1999 – Aviva Mongillo, 1917 – Zsa Zsa Gabor
1911 – Ronald Reagan, 1890 – Babe Ruth, 1986 – Kris Humphries, 1939 – Mike Farrell