Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil world) 2

DomusAlbion · Last edited by DomusAlbion on Fri May 23, 2008 7:10 pm; edited 1 time in total

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"Modern Agriculture is the use of land to convert petroleum into food."
-- Albert Bartlett

"It will be a dark time. But for those who survive, I suspect it will be rather exciting."
-- James Lovelock

DomusAlbion

The two eldest sons are here for a few days and today has been very productive.

We got most of the wood from the downed walnut trees over to the pasture we call Isadore; painted their ends and other open spots with paint Once this is complete we'll build a shelter over the pile to keep off the sun and rain and give the wood a chance to cure slowly over the next year. One trunk is too big for us to be able to move (about 16 feet by 6 feet in diameter). We may have to hire our neighbor with the track hoe to come and pick it up and move it for us. Either that or we'll have to cut it into shorter lengths. This trunk will be cut into 6"x6" posts for the new staircase. The rest of the wood will be used for newels and rails for the staircase and planks for flooring. The carpet must go!

Right now they are out at the last pile of lumber left from the old barn; sorting out the good from the bad. We'll burn the junk tomorrow.

I can't tell you how great it is to have a couple of young men here helping with the work. My energy tends to flag after half a day but these men can keep working for 12 hours straight and they energize me. We should accomplish a lot over the next few days.
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"Modern Agriculture is the use of land to convert petroleum into food."
-- Albert Bartlett

"It will be a dark time. But for those who survive, I suspect it will be rather exciting."
-- James Lovelock

Blacksmith

Today I repaired the forge and put in a new smoke catcher made from a 45 gallon drum I cut in half, lenghtwise.

Planted some tomatoes and raddishes.

Put in a little more of the baseboards in the homestead.
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Appuis ait fabrum esse suae quemque fortunae.
Alias Redneck

SILENTTODD

Ordered off 3 extra sets of bicycle tires for my Electra Townie, a bicycle I enjoy riding. I currently have 4 bicycles each with a different wheel/tire size-Don't do this! My recommendation is to have all your bikes use the 26-inch size tires. They are the most common and probably will be in the future. Unfortunately my townie is a 700mm size wheel.

I have a complete set of tools to do just about any repair job on my bikes short of welding a frame-something I am looking into.

Though not the total answer by any means to all the problems that we are starting to see unwind and will in the future, I believe the bicycle will be an important asset in what ever future there is short of nuclear annihilation or complete societal break down.

I'm old enough to remember Nixon going to China in the early 1970's and seeing on TV the streets of Beijing covered in bicycles with only a car or truck here and there! China even then was a nation of almost a billion people. But they used a minute amount of oil compared to the U.S. or China today. Granted the standard of living could not compare to the U.S., but there was not mass starvation either.
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Skeptical scrutiny in both Science and Religion is the means by which deep thoughts are winnowed from deep nonsense-Carl Sagan

RedStateGreen

Got an order of canned iodized salt in, and started a new pair of socks, ankle sox this time. I like comfy feet. Smile

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Conservation is conservative

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change. -- Charles Darwin

patience · Expert Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Posts: 1683

Thanks everyone for the sources for rolled oats. I'll hit a couple of those next week. Shop biz is heavy today, but I'm going to work on the canning area come what may this weekend. Got my wife going over the "First 100 things to Disappear in a Disaster" list, and deciding what we need with that as an idea starter. I love other peoples' lists to get me going. I heard somewhere that we must learn from other people's mistakes, because we won't live long enough to make 'em all ourself. Applies to planning, too.
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Local fix-it guy..

CarlinsDarlin · Moderator Joined: Jul 02, 2004 Posts: 1420

RedStateGreen

CarlinsDarlin · Moderator Joined: Jul 02, 2004 Posts: 1420

thanks Red! Smile

skywriter34 · Coal Joined: May 24, 2008 Posts: 2

One of the unfortunate side effects of this craziness, is that rents in our area have finally started to go on the up and up; forcing my wife and I to start looking for cheaper alternatives.

Given my lack of a stable income (presently on disability/SS), I've only recently started to draw up plans to construct a yurt; using some ready-made materials and some ingenuity on my part.

Being the writer that I am, my visualization techniques have not only made it possible for me to construct complex and in-depth worlds/characters in my books, but I've discovered that I can also visualize what needs to be done with the yurt planning with only a few scraps of paper, and my overexuberant imagination. :0)

I wouldn't be doing this if we weren't in danger of losing the place of residence we called home these last 8 years.

But I've taken enough hits in the pocketbook these past several years to know that I cannot keep up this level of financial abuse much longer.

To be honest, we wouldn't be in this mess, had the damned Bush administration decided that their precious oil war was more important than the people's needs; thus ignoring the homefront all this time!

A a result, the government has been steadily sucking every nickel, dime, and dollar out of services which people like myself depend on just to survive.

Not to say that disabled people like myself cannot survive to some extent without help, but the fact is, housing is one thing which as been a problem for me always.

I haven't been able to afford decent housing since arriving on the West Coast (Puget Sound area of Washington State). No matter the job, paying rent without some form of assistance has been something of a dream for myself.

Realistically, without housing assistance, my wife and I would still be homeless to this day. The asking prices for rent is beyond even my level--and I don't see it dropping anytime soon.

I think--in 5 years (at the time when oil production is due to start sliding; according to some reports)--rents are going to be beyond even the most ardent minimum-wage earner.

Sadly, there is little I can do about my present situation. We either pass our next inspection and stay at our apartment, or we get another rent increase--which will now eat up more than half of my available income--and force us out unconditionally.

Neither my wife or I can move. And despite what we've told people (and my mother), everything we own won't bring even a tenth of the money needed to even get us across the Cascade Mountains and into Eastern Washington--let alone Montana. (Which is where we would like to live.)

My mother wants me to move back to Vermont and I keep telling her, "No." I'm a grown man. I don't need to keep running back to my family everytime there's a snag (or in this case?), an unknown obstacle.

Besides, they (my family) is so unreliable that I can't even depend on them to buy me a pack of gum, let alone anything else.

So everything falls onto me.

And despite the fact that I have cerebral palsy, ADD/ADHD, bi-polar disorder, and a recently diagnosed optic-nerve degeneration problem, plus a genetic blood disorder (Factor Five Leiden), I still have to deal with life as best I can.

No matter what the universe throws at me.

Anyways, I made plans to build this yurt to help alleviate any potential housing problems in the future. Under normal circumstances, being homeless would equal me getting some camping equipment and tents--you know: The usual standbyes which have served me so faithfully in the past.

But a recent article in our local paper did a ditty on a yurt community that the next town over is planning on installing. The only drawback to this is that they are charging people $70-$100 a day to use them; with some amenities included.

Being on $537 a month wasn't going to give me nor my wife any kind of security, and the asking prices for those yurts simply had me hammered.

But it did give me an idea!

One which never crossed my mind before: Why not build a yurt?

It sure as hell beats a tent any day. And while tents have been a good housing resource...? They needed some personal reinforcements--especially when NW weather is just as brutal as anything imaginable.

But a yurt didn't.

Or at least....not until I got done with it.

In my life, you always prepare for the unexpected. While I never followed my own advice from time to time, there are instances where I was glad that I did.

In this homeless situation both my wife and I are facing, I started drawing up plans to build ourselves the biggestyurt anyone has ever seen: 3000 square feet in diameter.

Why so large? You try living in a rinky-dink apartment that has less square-footage than your atypical breadbox for 8 years running--and pretty soon, even youwill start wanting more breathing room!

But the process of construction is going to take me a long time to complete. I've drawn up a scaled-down model which is around 1800-square feet, but it's going to take me anywhere between 8-16 months to complete.

Primarily because I am on such limited income, it's going to take me some time to save up money for the materials needed.

I have no problem with the work in general. But this is something that I want to do. I've been environmentally conscious for the last decade, but yurts are environmentally friendly and low-impact on their surroundings.

We have 5 months before we are kicked off our housing and out of our apartment, so in a week's time, I'm walking to a neighboring town of ours (as I live in Everett), and I'm going to scout for an area that's far removed from civilization and the urban sprawl--and I'm going to suvey for a site to built my yurt.

Everett has made it illegal for anyone to camp within city limits, and their idea of dealing with the homeless problem is to strip the city of its help services and low-income housing projects--and go condo; thus driving out a lot of people (including myself whom are on limited income) out.

I told April: "If I have to walk 3 miles more just to find us a place, then that's what I'm going to do."

I'm just sick of this crap being pulled by both city planners, and the ignorance of people in general. Very few actually understand the plight of people like me.

The majority just tells me that everything will be better if I move, or I get a job, or we sell everything and/or give up the pets we have because they think it's the best solution always.

Not this time.

The pet and animal shelters are maxed out past capacity (as I keep telling people), the jobs around here can't even keep up with the high-asking prices for tenant units (even studio apartments are now in the $650 range)--let alone anything else--and neither my wife nor I have ever owned a car in our lives.

We don't even have driver licenses.

That's how low we are on the food chain around here. We either bike or take public transit, but we don't have the money or resources to buy even a used egg-beater to get us around town.

Everything we can get is either 3 year behind the times (5 years in some cases), or it's all second-hand stuff/hand-me-downs.

If I want something, I would have to save for it.

Anyways...(excuse my rambling)

The yurt idea is the simplest thing I could come up with. I can easily build a platform/foundation for the floor and then take either pre-made bendable poles, or large branches--and hone them together through bamboo-rope or twine.

These things are typically circular in design, but the ones I've drawn up arent't.

Think of it as a square peg being fit into a round hole. The idea is to drill holes into the holding edges of platform and wall myself around in one smooth sequence.

Center poles will be added for added structural integrity, and I found the mother-lode of canvasing materials--used for covering decks, cars, and flooring--which will be more than ideal for what I need. But it's not going to be cheap.

Hence the long time-frame.

I plan on building "additions" for the bathroom, the greenhouse area, a large storage place, and a doggie/cat playpen.

My other ambitious projects include: Indoor plumbing, some solar stills for water, and hopefully (crossing fingers here), I can find and locate a used wind turbine.

I'm not talking about those giant-assed ones that we all know and see. I'm talking something on the scale of maybe 30-feet in height--possibly smaller--but I'm not sure where I can find one.

This would be used for our power needs.

Gas-powered generators are going to be a pain in the butt though.

I was raised in Vermont and New Hampshire though--an Alaskan native here (heh)--and I gained a lot of experience on "roughing it" and all sorts of good stuff. I also have three-years of gardening and landscaping experience I can draw on.

I have basic construction skills as well--and to be honest? I don't need anything more advanced than that.

It's not like I'm trying to build a condo here. But I'm assuming I'm going to have lots of time to do this thing, and what better way to spend it by blowing the dust of my latent skills and try something I haven't attempted in almost 20 years?

Schuyler Thorpe
Everett, Washington

patience · Expert Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Posts: 1683

CarlinsDarlin,
Here. Roccman has a thread on it. But Red's list is more detailed.

100 things Discussion
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Local fix-it guy..

WyoDutch

Maybe not today... but this week anyway.

1. Built a field shelter for our Narragansett (turkey) toms. The hens are now brooding and it's time to keep them separated until the hatch. Oh yeah... grabbed a couple of the fresh eggs and had them for breakfast. Yolk the consistency of pudding... bright orange color and mighty tasty. (Nothing like those pale yellow, runny excuses for eggs that you buy at the grocery store nowadays.)

2. Put up a fence around what we hope will be our mini orchard. My wife intends to plant (dwarf) apple, plum and cherry trees. Will also be planting tomato, squash and pumpkin (non hybrid) inside the fence.

3. Pondering how/if we will be able to maintain our livestock when feed isn't just a simple 30-mile drive away.

4. Wondered how long it will be before we're at war with Iran.
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Be yourself... Everyone else is already taken.

CarlinsDarlin · Moderator Joined: Jul 02, 2004 Posts: 1420

Thanks Patience. I'll check out the thread.

Dutch,

wisconsin_cur

Finished the roof on the new barn, so I feel like I can slow down a little bit and not run myself into the ground working on it. Still alot to do, however.
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“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”

J.R.R. Tolkien