Buying forest land, implementing solar

[swbluto]

Left at 3:30 to go get groceries and picked up some blocks from Home Depot. I saw that the deck pier blocks were $6.52 while the traditional "double square hole" blocks were $1.65 or some such. I figured I could use the double square blocks. Didn't think there'd be too much pressure on any one block, and I would assume these guys can take a bit of weight. I could easily stand and jump on it, anyway. I plan on using 4 foot centers.

Oh yes, that's what I mean, cinder blocks.

I don't think the house is going to be shifting that much on the blocks, lol.

If I were paranoid, though, I could make the corners traditional deck blocks.

And, absolutely no one knows about these termite prevention caps. It's weird that there's a home depot paper on the subject, but they don't offer it.

And, apparently the county thinks my property's value went up by 25%. Wow, the value of this property is skyrocketing if I were to believe the county. It was $2000 just 2 years ago, and now it's $5000. Something makes me think they're jacking up appraised values across the county to increase school funds. But, if they're doing it so they can extract more money from the neighborhood so they can justify paving the main road, then by all means - PAVE IT! lol. I have a feeling that's not going to be happening for a while, lol.

I have a feeling that there'd need to be a lot of large houses in the area to get enough tax revenue for paving. At least it seems like paved areas typically have large homes in the neighborhood.

With the expansion of in this general direction from the lake, increasing land values in this general direction doesn't seem really hard to believe.

And, I think I'm learning the secret of clay...

It needs to be sealed/covered off from the rain. So, paved surfaces would work great on a clay base with enough height. Otherwise, the rain will start washing away the clay, creating channels and seeping clay off the sides.

I'm not entirely sure if geotextile fabric will "seal it". I have the impression it's designed to let water pass through. Perhaps it prevents the creation of channels regardless.

And, I got a fortune cookie from Panda Express. It said, "You will find hidden treasure in the least expected places.".

What's funny is that just prior to paying for my Panda Express order, I was missing my local bank card, and I was worried about that because that has my building funds and whatnot in it. After getting out of the vehicle and locking up the van, I noticed a card sitting on the floor near the back seat and sure enough, that was it. Have no idea how it got there since the card is supposed to be in my wallet and it's hard to believe it fell out of my wallet.

So, apparently, this card was "the hidden treasure"(Much $$$ attached to it) and the back seat was, indeed, among the least expected of places.

Yeah, so while I don't believe this fortune was truly prescient, that sure was a coincidence how that played out, lol.

(A part of me wishes that was a red herring and the true treasure is yet to come, lol.)

Anyway, this clearing the back... for some reason, I'm getting a sense of wonder about the venture. Like, a hopes and dreams kind of feeling. It's been... a long time... heck, I don't even remember ever having a "hopes and dreams" kind of feeling, lol. I'm not sure if it's strictly because I'm seeing this coming to a satisfying conclusion fast (Maybe I underestimated how much I'd appreciate a house), or because of something else... maybe it's because it fits as part of a larger goal, this complex. Maybe that's the dream I'm sensing as I peer into the half cut down woods.

It's a very similar feeling(I think?) to being part of a group with a mission, 'the dream', that you believe in as do others.

Anyway, reading that heart attacks throw off PVCs more often...

Yeah, I was like... Uhhh... yeah, uh huh... whaaaaa...

Because I don't normally see PVCs but I was seeing them pretty often that morning. I'd say at the rate of 1 PVC every 30 seconds to a minute or two.

I'm just not sure if there was an ST elevation/depression I wasn't spotting. I was only focusing on the R wave, making sure that left ventricle was pumping, lol.

The next morning, kind of feeling lifeless... Kind of been feeling like that in recent mornings...

In the middle of the day, I feel so energetic that I'm thinking nothings wrong, then morning time... I'm like... why do I feel so unenergetic, even after eating all those carbs? lol. I want to believe nothing really happened and I'm just imagining monsters that aren't there.

Anyway, I can see why trailers are shaped the way they are. Length has more functionality than "area".People tend to put things against the wall, so something lengthy is more usable than something boxy. Anyway, this fits well with the complex's intended design. It's essentially like one big snake, creating one section at a time. Nothing really complex about it, other than possibly the corners. Even then, I'd think the complexity would mostly be in the roof.

 

[Harold in CR]

If you are using blocks under your pallet flooring frame, you should at least get some wide aluminum flashing and put it on top of the blocks. You fold the edges down but not tight, so it leaves space for bugs to get under the folds but they can't maneuver around the ends of the edges and proceed up into the lumber. Picture roughly a coffer filter or cupcake paper cup upside down over the round piers. Same goes for the square shapes.

 

[swbluto]

If you are using blocks under your pallet flooring frame, you should at least get some wide aluminum flashing and put it on top of the blocks. You fold the edges down but not tight, so it leaves space for bugs to get under the folds but they can't maneuver around the ends of the edges and proceed up into the lumber. Picture roughly a coffer filter or cupcake paper cup upside down over the round piers. Same goes for the square shapes.

Cool, it looks like I could do this. I was looking into Houston's termite problem, and it's apparently a huge problem here, and there's large drywood termite populations as well that prefer dry wood. I don't really understand how this work though...

Does the sharp edge on the flashing at a downward angle make it difficult for the termite to "bend around" the edge?

It just seems like the ants I've seen wouldn't be stopped by something simple like that. Maybe termites are too heavy to do it?

Apparently they love the rotting wood in the fallen trees in the forest, and there's no shortage of that here! lol. (So, they are likely already here in abundance.)

And, wow, according to Burpee... a location just 15 miles south of here (A short drive) has a "last frost" 3 months earlier and a "first frost" 2 months later. Apparently that makes the growing season much longer just 15 miles south of here. I would assume a greenhouse could easily address that, especially since I'm right on the edge (So no crazy low temperatures like up north).

Anyway, the leaves started to come out in the middle of March here, I think, so maybe the last frost this year was a bit earlier? Or maybe they weren't big frosts.

I did notice that population started booming right when the "frost season" here went from 7 months to 2 months, just 15 miles south. I'm suspecting maybe population patterns along this part of the gulf follow the frost (or areas lacking in it). Or... maybe they are more attracted to the areas around here where the trees keep their leaves longer? It's just kind of weird how that plays out.

And... I'm rethinking this design. I'm wondering how the garden would look like if the house was elevated 8 inches off the ground? Maybe some appropriate siding would make it look OK but I don't know. I would think a structure like this would usually be built on a clay-sand pad, but I don't work in construction, dunno.

Update: Anyway, went to bed at 11:30, woke up at 3:10 a.m.; waking up "feeling sleepy" but can't fall asleep seems to be a sign that somethings not quite right. I thought I'd fall back asleep within 2-3 hours. After several palpitations that I initially thought were stomach workings (Since one came right after I burped, and I just ate something not that long ago.), I decided to take my ECG. Variable R wave height (Varying from full to half), T wave height looked like a little larger than normal. Ideally, the R wave would be consistently full sized and the T wave would be a smallish bump. Anyway, got a little sleepy at 6 a.m., tried fall asleep, didn't happen, got really sleepy by 6:50, tried falling asleep, still didn't happen, and now it's 7:07 a.m. and I'm feeling awake.

98-99% oxy sat, 78 HR standing. The oxy saturation has been consistently higher at 98-99% than 94-95% as it was back in Spokane. I'm not really sure what's different... if I'm eating enough carbs, enough salt, I'm getting more exercise, more vitamin D intake, if I'm "feeling different". I know my oxy sat when I was young (early 20s) was consistently 98-99%, so I take it that's a "healthy sat".

Did not spot a single PVC in the 30-40 seconds of monitoring.

See, I would think a healthy normal night would be something like 8 hours of full sleep, or 4 hours here and 4 hours there, and the trace looked ideal and no noticeable palpitations or premonitory sensations. Not waking up feeling like you've been ripped out from sleep for some unknown reason, and you're still really sleepy, this feeling like you know exactly how this could end up and feel like because it's just /barely/ there and you can sense it.

Anyway, I'm starting work on the back relatively early today weather permits. At least I plan on it.

Update: Action item number 1 complete. Hornets and their nest have been destroyed with the aid of some flying insect killer and a machete. (This is important, because they're right next to my AC install site and they have a history of territorial aggression.)

Now time for action item number 2: AC install. Update: As of 10:18, the AC has been installed. Now just need to take my time in improving how sealed off it is because insects are predictably finding the opening. During the day, I can't actually run the AC because I need to maintain fresh air flow through the RV, but at night when the airflow is no longer necessary, I can run the AC and cool down the RV for the night. At least that's what I'm hoping.

And, I got to install and use my framing nailer. Pretty sick. I'm a little concerned about the "oil before every use or void warranty." sticker, as it's not very clear where I exactly should be oiling. I oiled around the air input port, inside of it and that's pretty much it. Saw sparks flying on the nail gun barrel when the nails were shooting, not sure if I need to oil something there or if that's normal operation. Anyway, the nail gun is pretty handy for getting nails in at an angle. I don't feel pretty confident I would've been able to do the AC install without an nailgun since I would need 3 hands, lol.

Anyway, I'm using the 30 degree 3.25 inch 1000ct nails from homedepot with my 28 degree HF nailer.

I did that because I feel they are probably higher quality nails, and because it was a cheaper "entry price". (1000ct for $20, vs 2000ct for $30; I'm not really sure I'll need more than a 1000, since I don't plan on wasting nails and expansion, even though planned in the longterm, is not necessarily planned in the shorterm.)

They seem to shoot just fine... I think.

In other news, the "chewing on garlic and apply to the irritated gumline" seems to be working wonders. Did not sense an ounce of irritation when flossing last night, after applying 2 different cloves after eating. This seems to be important, because it seems like the pain/bacteria is going upto my jawbone or some such, telling me it's likely traveling up the arteries, and very possibly upto the carotid(s). This would help explain the right lobe phenomenon over the past year, such as sudden temporary left side muscle loss and the such, and right lobe pain symptoms. I'm not 100% certain this is the "real cause", but it seems to be the most convincing hypothesis I have right now, especially since the right top gumline has been particularly irritated in recent weeks and the right lobe headaches have been picking up.

Update: Looked up this "Waking at 3:00 p.m." thing and found that chinese practioners believe it's liver problems (That's bad, usually indicates bacteria involvement.) and it's apparently associated with MVP. MVP is actually fairly common in the population, some 20% of the population has it. Someone mentioned their grandpap died at 3:30 a.m. and after looking at my EKG this morning, that's not hard to believe! (Not hard to believe that waking up 3
a.m. is a "vulnerable time" and indicates a "vulnerable person".)

I've been suspecting I wake up so early because of low blood sugar, so I'm thinking I need to eat a medium to generous amount of low GI carbs (Like, peas) along with some fat and some salad; preferably strongly antibiotic fats like omega 3 fats and virgin coconut fat, so fatty fish might not be a bad choice; bacteria will induce a greater blood sugar crash, so it's not unwise to control it with antibiotic foods. But, MVP is not too improbable. And, the bacteria disorders (Like, liver disease/heart disease) are not really all that improbable, I'm just hoping that's not the case.

Anyway, if I were to assume it was heart disease or MVP, which might I deduce?

Well... I don't know a lot about MVP ecg waveforms, but heart/bacteria disease waveforms seem to share a lot of common features with my 3:00 a.m. waveforms. So, off the cuff, I'd surmise heart/bacteria moreso than MVP. I don't think MVP is associated with decreased LV functionality as implied by simultaneous lower R waves / Taller T waves (The extreme of that, tiny to no R wave, really large T wave is traditional MI. The opposite of that, large R wave, and small T waves, is a healthy ideal trace.)

I could be wrong... looking it up now...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3992727/

Seeing no mention of Rwaves-Twave height. They talk about "notches in the descending arm of the QRS complex"(that'd be the transition from the R wave to the S wave).

So, my money's on heart disease/liver disease/bacteria.

Haven't ruled out hypoglycemia, though...

Anyway, I remembered the clay supplier telling me to put crushed concrete ontop of the clay to "seal it". I'm thinking that's one solution to this "It needs to be sealed" insight I had with the rain forming channels in the clay and carrying my clay off the sides, lol. I'm just thinking there's a more accessible solution for my situation (Crushed concrete is not an accessible solution because 1) One supplier refuses to deliver to me 2) The other supplier requires the customer to bring a trailer or order a minimum dump truck delivery of 12 tons, which is far beyond what I really need. I really don't want to waste my money on a trailer, either buying one or renting one.

Anyway, going to try to extend the cable by 50 feet so I can distance the generator further from me. I want to minimize second hand exhaust as much as possible.

According to research, it seems like breathing and eating are the two main ways "foreign invaders" enter the body (or, in the case of eating, additionally, helping existing bacteria enter the body), and bacteria and hydrocarbon exhaust are both known to trigger the immune system and arthersclerotic processes.

Anyway, that garlic treatment was some powerful stuff. Still no irritation in the top right molar gumline today, and I haven't consumed any garlic since yesterday at 2:10 p.m. today.

And, this site, https://steptohealth.com/waking-at-3-morning/ , is saying that waking at 3 is because of anxiety. And, it's very plausible that anxiety would cause fluctuating LV functionality, but I don't really think cortisol fluctuates at level of frequency (60 times a second), so more than likely, there's some kind of complicated hemodynamics when waking up at that time with anxiety and palpitations. There might be backfeeding mechnanisms that cause the rapid fluctuations.

So hypoglycemia->anxiety is plausible.

The t wave, however, was pretty consistently tallish. If I had some more insight into the T wave, I might come up with a plausible theory.

It appears that the T wave represents the left ventricle "unpumping" itself. Remember, the R wave represents the LV pumping blood throughout the body, so the T wave is when it is "returning back to shape" to accept more blood.

With that understanding, I really don't have a clue what a tall t wave would represent. If the r wave was small (barely pumping), it doesn't make sense that it'd be "really unpumping" itself(tall T wave) so I'm lacking intuition here.

Thinking maybe I'm getting too much potassium. Lately, I've been eating 14 bananas a day, so assuming 500mg/banana, that's about 7000mg daily. With other foods, I'm probably getting 10000mg potassium. The native tribal people get about 10000mg potassium, so I'm not actually beyond normal limits.

 

[Harold in CR]

Does the sharp edge on the flashing at a downward angle make it difficult for the termite to "bend around" the edge?

Exactly. Won't hurt to treat the ground under the shed, either.

 

[swbluto]

http://termitemd.com/pre-construction-treatment/

After the piers are in place. with a hoe or mattock to trench around each pier. a pier made of hollow blocks will measure approx 2 feet in circumference or 2 Ln. Ft. This requires 8/tenths of a gallon or almost 1 gallon per pier. You can use one gallon per pier and be OK.

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/taurus-sc-termiticide-p-1816.html

irst, you will need to dig a 6 inches deep x 6 inches wide trench around the outside foundation wall of the home. Next, mix 0.8 fl. oz. of Taurus SC per gallon of water and apply at a rate of 4 mixed gallons per every 10 lineal feet of trench. It is best to use a 5 gallon bucket and mark off the 4 gallon line, then mix 4 gallons of Taurus SC at a time and pour it in the trench. Allow the solution to soak into the soil and then replace the back-fill, making sure that the back-fill is soaked with Taurus SC as well. When you are done, you should have one contiguous in-ground barrier of Taurus SC all the way around the home

You have to dig a trench around the block? You can't apply the termicide directly to the conrete block?

Oh man, because the ground here is soft and I'm not so certain the ground would hold if a trench was dug around it.

Wait, I'm reading the instructions more closely... it looks like you put the removed soil back into the trench after treating it.

 

[swbluto]

Sometimes I wonder if the current president is breeding grounds for a 'radical' opponent.

Like, if we had a middle of the road candidate, perhaps it wouldn't swing to the other extreme in the next election cycle... but I guess that's the kind of future we might be looking forward to.

Anyway, I see a lot of corruption in the current administration. I know, big surprise with wall street guys comprising the cabinet, right? lol.

One of the darlings is Sallie Mae/Navient. The story of sallie mae is that it used to be a government arm for student loan servicing, but it was sold off the wall street back in 2003(?) and it's now fully owned by Wall Street.

When you graduate from college, they itemize every possible loan from all the quarters you attended school (16 quarters for the average 4 years), and apply the minimum payment of $50/month for each. So, potentially, you're looking at a request for a bill of $800/month or potentially more, heaven forbid, if you couldn't get into one of the fundamental classes because it was too full, so you have to wait until next year, extending your graduation date by at least a quarter or more. Yeah, they're keen to keep those students sticking around because it earns the university more money, so if hiring less teachers means students sticking around more, what do they have to lose? They pay less in teacher wages and earn more from students sticking around more. Ok, I digress, yeah the university system is pretty darn greedy in its current form.

Anyway, so you're given the option of conslidating for a potentially affordable monthly bill.

Well, what they don't tell you, is that your loan is getting sold to Wall Street!

Not sure if I need to fill in on the backstory here, how they instrumentally capsized the economy in 2008, causing the lack of good paying jobs in subsequent years that would've kept those bills pay for new graduates.

Yeah, so seeing this clear connection here, I was really pissed off; I was sold off to wall street by the beloved federal government, the same guys that ruined the economy for so many, without my consent or even the courtesy of informing me. And, wall street is a bit tricky, trying to make them /seem/ like a government branch... kind of like the Federal Reserve...

Yep, a bit bitter, for sure...

And I vowed they would never see a cent!

Many others felt the same way (Even if they didn't completely understand the connections, they did realize the deck was stacked against them) and left the country. My next door neighbor did just that, went to Thailand.

Yeah, anyway...

So, in the current administration, they want to consolidate the student loan "servicers" down to one. Take a good guess which one?

I'm betting it's Sallie Mae, the private wall street corporation. Who would've guessed!

Yeah, /f/ the government, /f/ wall street. The f'ers can burn in hell.

[These guys also screwed over a few people in my military class, because the application became available during bootcamp, and the military doesn't give you the option of using the internet to fill out forms in bootcamp, lol. So, many of us were overpaying. I called them up and informed them, and they graciously allowed me to resubmit the application (They were embroiled in their own cheating-over-military-members scandal at the time). I let this other girl know about what she could do, and she was pretty thankful. It's funny how some women repay in favors for money.)

Anyway, enough of my diatribe, lol.

 

[swbluto]

In his 1924 paper, he wrote of a town in Puerto Rico where "dwellers who eat much bread suffer from [celiac] sprue while the farmers who live largely on bananas never."

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/05/24/529527564/doctors-once-thought-bananas-cured-celiac-disease-it-saved-kids-lives-at-a-cost

Cool, I thought it was more than feasible to survive off the carbs from bananas.

 

[swbluto]

Well, looks like the banks have really set the screws on poor people via their car insurance. Paying 3x as much, or $2000 more, for having low credit ratings. That is just baloney, I don't believe that for a second, that low credit rating individuals are 3 times more costly than higher credit rating individual to the insurance companies. I believe it's the fact that banks and insurance companies are one and the same, and they abuse their position of power (Insurance is mandatory and cars are pseudo-mandatory.) to exact revenge on their foes. Detractors say that it's essentially a form of redlining, and that's why it's not legal to use credit scores for insurance pricing in California and Hawaii. With all of Texas's anti-bank laws, I'm surprised they don't have laws dealing with one of the banker's tools, the credit score, that they try to use to screw people over. I believe in "risk based pricing", sure, but I don't think the numbers reflect risk - I think it reflects revenge and abuse.

 

[swbluto]

Okay, well, I need a master plan for this complex.

I could add in sections by lengths of 8, 10 and 12. Width is going to be 12, because the standard inner hall/wall width will be 11.

I guess I could add by 12, until I got to 24, then I'd add by 10, 8 and 8 to get 50 feet exactly.

Or, I could go by sections of 12 until I got to 36, than added 8 from there and settled at 54 feet in length.

Or sections of 12 until 48 feet long and then turn it in from there. That would make for a garden size of 24x24 feet. Which honestly seems like enough.

I wonder if hallway widths of 11 feet would look OK. I've noticed single wide trailers are traditionally 15 feet wide, making me think that maybe 11 feet wide isn't wide enough. It just seems like 11 feet wide would be a significant improvement over this 7.5 ft. wide RV, but maybe it'd appear quite thin in an actual complex with 8 foot tall ceilings.

I suppose I could make 16 feet wide widths with the use of 2x6s, which would make for room width of 15 feet.

I'd rather get this design detail nailed before constructing for consistency. Thinking I need a good easy-to-use architectural design program... maybe sketchup would work. Appears I can apply textures in sketchup, kind of awesome.

Just by eyeballing my tape measure and the road, it'd appear that 11 feet width would work for the main hallway width, but 12 feet looks more ideal. I suppose I could create 11 feet wide bedrooms (For the double frame technique to reduce noise), and the rest of the complex could be single frame and 12 feet wide. An 11x16 foot bedroom looks doable. (3 bedroom design if making the west wing bedrooms. More bedrooms could be added at will at the back.

So 12 ft * 40 feet * 4 = 1920 sq. ft. of usable interior with center garden being 24feetx24feet wide and total structure width and length of 48 feet. Based on my eyeballing of the road, it appears 24 feet would probably more than suitable for a visually appealing center garden.

Anyway, thinking of this project as a bunch of 12x12 sections snaked together in a square pattern, each 12x12 would represent roughly $1000, I would think, for the frame/foundation/drywall/plywood (Not including pitched roof and paint), so the whole structure would have twelve of them (4 left, 4 right, 2 middle top, 2 middle bottom), so the entire house could be built for $12,000. Then of course, you need the pitched roof with terra cotta tiling (What kind of tiles do they use in Florida to get that look? Apparently clay tiles are a bad choice for hot/humid climates.), the paint, the gardens themselves, the water fountains and statues, the walkways, driveway, the many many windows, the partitions, internal walls, etc. which adds considerable amount of $, maybe $30,000 for everything. Maybe more.

Anyway, yeah, $12,000. That looks pretty achievable for something that appears awesome in my imagination.

I think for the functional rooms (East wing), the width could be made 16'. a 16' width might be appreciated for a living room (But little else besides. It'd enable a bar in the kitchen, I guess, but I wouldn't think you need /too much/ table space for the kitchen like one needs for business.)

12 feet already seems wide enough for a kitchen.

The other thought is to put the living room in one of the corners, where the corner to corner distance would be 17 feet. Would be enough to put something like a TV there with seats circling it.

Thinking about an eve for the garden. Maybe it'd be best for the doors.

How does the current construction plan fit into this larger overall picture?

It forms one of the bedrooms in the west wing. It's going to be 8' long initially, with expansion upto 15'. So, the next expansion would be to add another 12'x12' foundation, and then extend the bedroom upto 15', to get 11'x15' (The outer double drame would be 12x16 or some such.). Then it's just adding 12'x12' sections as I go along, probably repurposing them as desired.

Thinking there'd be two bathrooms, next to the ends of the bedrooms.

Bedroom access looks like an interesting question.

I suppose you could access the middle bedroom by walking through the top or bottom bedroom, but if there were people living in it, they might not be so cozy with people just walking through, so they might be limited in some cases to accessing the middle bedroom from through the garden. Wouldn't necessarily be an issue normally, but if it's raining, might be an uncozy proposition. Well, hopefully one of the bedroom owners would be courteous enough to understand the situation and permit passage. The outer bedrooms could be easily accessed from the bathrooms, and I vote for the laundry room to be near one of the bathrooms. Probably just outside the rear bathroom, and I'm voting for the machines to line the walls instead of making a dedicated room. I'd have a room to hide them away, but I don't think that's entirely necessary, with the south and east wings being the showpieces.

And, boy, neck all tight and something not feeling right...

Ate 5 bananas (All of which tasted delicious) and some mushrooms...

Feeling back to normal, mostly.

Well, the moving of the 16 cinder blocks by hand some 150 feet through the forest must've really sucked up the glucose during muscle repair at night. I slept a good 7 hours. It almost seems like when I don't get enough sleep, I easily get 7 hours of sleep, but when I "Get enough sleep", I tend to get 4-5 hours and that's about it. I wonder if this 4-5 hours of sleep is actually not really a bad thing? And, this "7 hours of sleep" norm comes from the fact most people are chronically sleep deprived in America. (Though, if that were the case, you think they'd "Catch up" eventually like I do, unless they consistently have nights with 1-4 hours of sleep.). Then again, last night could've been a case of muscle repair.

If I were to surmise "how people were supposed to live", I'd guess that maybe people were designed to pick up and put down some 1000 pounds in the day. Whether it be of rock, soil, trees, the harvest, nets, fish, etc.

I don't really think that's the case. But, I'd guess maybe men were designed to pick things up at least every once in a while. Maybe climb trees or some such. Those chimps don't get massive arm muscles doing nothing.

And, I'm just looking at it and it appears that this design would probably benefit from 10 feet tall ceilings. I guess maybe the bedrooms don't necessarily need such luxury, but the hallways/walkway/the-rest-of-the-wings seem like they sure would. It seems to have that grandeur feeling that 8 feet doesn't have. I'm simply imagining the feel walking under the treebranches over the road. And for something 10 feet high, it seems like 16 foot widths would be more appropriate. 12 would work, but it seems like 12 feels more closed in with 10 foot high ceilings. I guess it's how this RV makes 7.5 feet width seem "OK"; it has 6 foot ceilings, lol.

Man, today... constant solid annoyance in my neck, lol. Feels like C7-C8 is sore and, wow, new one... feels like C4-C5 or some such. That's probably what's causing this new sensation that's been constant all day long today. I think transporting the cinder blocks yesterday strained my neck yesterday or something (Popped a disc?). I also transported a few of the large trees that I took my axe too because they were too big for the loppers.

Anyway, continuing to clear out the back. Woohoo, yes, it's getting done.

 

[JzzzCustom]

Sonny Boy, I think you should consider a shipping container a 40 foot will give you about 300 sq feet in the dry, delivered for less than 2500 dollars a quick search in Houston craigslist shows plenty avail and a lot easier than building a shed house

 

[swbluto]

I would get a shipping container but...

-I don't think it'd fit well in the design of a courtyard house.
-Transporting the container is an issue.
-Putting it in the backyard without clearing the front yard's trees would be impossible. You'd need a crane capable of clearing like 70 feet worth of trees and there's not much room to anchor a crane here, lol. This also another cost in addition to transportation.

Another one is that I really do not like the look and feel of a shipping container. I saw one of these at the local hardware store and, yeah, I just didn't like it. And, 8 feet width would be an issue.

And... I think it would be /awesome/ to get some construction skills for future structures I might build. I've never built anything like that in my life.

Anyway, I've seen multiple people comment that 10 feet ceiling in Texas and Florida help keep the bottom 6 feet cooler. Yeah, so thinking about that in connection to the design of the bedroom. I'm building this structure to keep cool.

 

[The fingers]

Can't bury the sucker?

 

[DAND214]

Can't bury the sucker?

Why not? You say you are always digging or chopping down your FOREST. So why not burry it? With that imagination you can do everything with no extra help.

Dan

 

[Icewrench]

https://youtu.be/chuWQItCOb4

 

[The fingers]

Can't bury the sucker?

Why not? You say you are always digging or chopping down your FOREST. So why not burry it? With that imagination you can do everything with no extra help.

Dan

Only reason for not burying it might be that a rising water table could cause it to float and possibly begin listing. :?

 

[Dauntless]

Why don't you just go pick up a retired submarine, WWII etc., you can bury it and not worry about flooding, use the conning tower to get in/out. If you head up to Fredricksberg you can see one at the Nimitz Museum, buried out back with the conning tower sticking up, great fun. What a way to live, you can play 'Silent Running,' whatever you like.

 

[shineon102]

Icewrench, do you know if that Korean shed comes as a kit? Maybe at home depot or Lowes. He could buy one. Build one then just copy the 'parts' for three more
later to build around the courtyard. W :lol: ill have learned ALL the basic construction methods on the first one. Awesome plan!

 

[swbluto]

Busy clearing out the back and mosquito bit through the mosquito suit and bit me on the cheek bone. I don't know how much blood he got (Likely not much with the mosquito suit shifting around so much), but this proves the mosquito suit isn't that effective around the head. It seems you need one of those "Safari hats" with the the "hat mosquito net" around that for 100% foolproof mosquito suiting. It's been cloudy out, so I'm continuing to work as long as it's overcast.

It turns out the machete speeds up the workflow on the thinner trees/saplings quite a bit, so I'm getting better at maximizing the effectiveness of my tools. The thin saplings tend to happen in clusters/groves often enough in the back.

The bicycle guy has been bicycling past my property more often in recent days. Thinking maybe he's getting more desperate than normal, so I'm thinking about boosting the priority of the fence.

And, I'm getting a 20A stepdown converter soon so I can plug my 24v lipo batteries into the 12V rear circuit. Hopefully I can open up the bay doors so I can empty and remove the 55 gallon drums of the water, vinegar and chicken guts and refill it with clean water. I would really like to get the shower running and I just don't have clean water right now. I was about to say so I can do deliveries more effectively but all 8 foot items have to go over the seat anyway, so the rear cargo space doesn't really matter for the bottom 2-3 feet. It would matter for shorter things, though, like the concrete blocks. I think that's the last of short things for this project.

Anyway, need to come up with a definitive design approach. Would like one that doesn't require consistent cutting to size with each 12x12 expansion. Think maybe I should initially do 11 feet length, and expand 12 feet at a time. Or, if I started at 8 feet, I'd have to add... With the next 12 foot expansion... (23-8) = 15 feet, so I'd need to add another 8 feet then chop another section down to 7 feet.

I'm thinking I'll start with 11x11, then expand to... 11x23->11x35->11x47.

Then the rest would be 16x16 and 10 feet high and the building would be pushed outward, and that'd require 3 sections of the 16x12 in the top middle (garden width of 24 feet), 4 sections of 16x12 down the right side, and 3 sections of 16x12 in the bottom middle).

Such a building would be somewhat asymmetric on the left side, so maybe it'd be better to push the asymmetry to the back. Push the bedrooms to the north wing... That just doesn't feel right with the back garden behind it and pushing the functional areas to the back.

I suppose diagonal beams and siding could offset the unsightly match of the 12x12 look with the 16x12. So the outside right would be squared, and the left side could be diagonal. Or, I suppose it could be "filled in" after the expansion with the 16 footers so there's a 4 foot area on the front left and back left. I'm not really sure what it'd be used for... I guess maybe a 4'x12' closet? Maybe I could attach 4x12 closets to the north and south bedrooms during later expansion.

So, the new internal area estimate...

left (12*48)+top middle (16*24)+right(16*48)+bottom middle(16*24) =

12*48+16*24+16*48+16*24 = 2112 square feet. New houses are built to 2687 square feet as of 2015, so it's about 15% lower than average in square feet. But, what it doesn't lack is total wall length.... so it has a higher 'real' capacity than a traditional 2687 sq. ft. house with presumably large open areas and... it's just simply beautiful no matter where you are. That middle garden is going to look beautiful no matter the season. A functioning water fountain in the middle and evergreens in the corners and corner areas with well chosen flowers and probably a trellis and some vines of some sort.
Maybe fruit vines.

And the water fountain will look beautiful. It won't be the average basic bird water fountain, oh no, it will definitely have distinctive roman scenery of some sort. Maybe a lion, maybe a statue of poseidon, something.

If I were to include the gardens, it'd be 2688 sq. ft.

The front might be eventually cleared to make way for a circular driveway. Not initially being planned, a path through the front forest seems like it should suffice for now. Removing trees after the structure is built would take some careful planning. (The current driveway has no such problems, even if extended another 30 feet or so.)

Cool, searched amazon for these special termicides, turns out there's two amazon vendors that are based out of Houston. Surprise!

Looks like one even has a popular storefront in NW Houston. Might just stop by someday.

https://www.solutionsstores.com/taurus-sc-termiticide

Price at $42 is cheaper than elsewhere on the internet ($45).

 

[swbluto]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/global-warming-pace-cause-many-180107356.html

Global Warming Is On Pace To Cause Many Sleepless Nights By 2099, Study Finds

Oh man, I was wondering if this "It's too warm to sleep!" phenomenon was something real or if it was just me. For the record, it was never too warm to sleep back in Spokane. In fact, the more common problem was "it's too cold to sleep", lol.

I'm getting the sense if the weather channel says it's going to be above 76F by 11 p.m., it's going to be a little too warm to sleep with the windows open. And, it's looking like tonight is going to be a little bit too warm, so it's going to be first experiment with the AC. And, fudge, a lot of new holes/gaps have formed in the last couple months and I don't know where my durable Gorilla Tape is. The silver duct tape just doesn't have staying power in my experience, especially not in outside applications.

Anyway, it's pretty cool, since regularly chewing garlic and applying to my right top molar which seemed prone to gumline infection of sorts, I haven't really felt significant right jaw pain nor right lobe pain. I think I figured out the cause and affect here - bacteria was causing me pain.

And, its interesting; the weather channel is predicting 70F nights but almost invariably turns out to be a 77F night. I think that means this year is a little above historical averages. It definitely was true for winter according to my neighbor (65-70F daytime temps was the winter norm last year).

I don't really like the financial implications of running AC. I don't know how much energy it will take, but it looks like somwhere between 1.5kwh to 2kwh, maybe even more if it needs to run through the night. That'd be equivalent to .33-.5gallons of gas, which is roughly $1/night. I mean, I could afford it at the moment, but I'd rather not be wasting money on heating/cooling.

I think in the new structure, the bed will be low to the ground, to try to get the temperature when sleeping as low as practical. I'm guessing I could also use a small vent towards the top with a fan blowing hot air out.

And, looks like the frog who was crossing the road tonight, got ran over my van's right tire. Just saw the ants feasting on his flattened body.

And the AC is dripping water like crazy. I wonder if its condensing outside air or if its removing water from the inside air?

And... I'm noticing a difference between eating bananas and things like corn tortillas.

It doesn't seem like I can scrape much foodstuff off my teeth with bananas and fruit, but apparently there's a lot I can pick off after eating corn tortillas. I'm thinking maybe this is one of the main reasons for refined foods harmful affects; it sticks to your teeth which the strep mutans feeds off after it gets converted into glucose by the enzyme amylase. I'm only surmising this based on the well known connection between teeth and ill vascular health, and the fact that said bacteria was causing me pain that seemed awfully reminiscent of right ischemic phenomenon, albeit in lighter form. (Most people would just call it a "right sided headache", probably a tension headache, and leave it at that. Or, maybe a migraine. But, nope, not me... I understand the deeper connection with bacteria and soreness/inflammation/irritation.)

I still don't know what that c4/c5 neck pain was about yesterday. It was constant nearly all day, until I started clearing out the back, and then it went away after that.

I think it might've been linked to poor sleep, because when explaining my application to the employee, I got this sensation as if I suddenly became severely depressed, except it wasn't depression... it was some kind of physical sensation reminiscent of it that made me think I was severely lacking sleep. The fact that morning started off with "Something really doesn't feel right" and it took like 5 bananas to restore some kind of semi-normalcy, kind of made me think maybe the neck pain wasn't strictly my neck... maybe it was originating from my heart or something. I just don't know...

Okay, first try with the AC yesterday. First impressions, it brought the temp down a little, but after the AC turned off... maybe there was a difference of 1 or 2 degrees over the next couple hours, maybe not. I still felt like I was sweating. (It was 80F last night and walking outside definitely felt "really warm".)

So, I opened up the moisture absorber and ran a tiny fan from about 10 feet away on low so it provided a little air current, and that seemed to work OK. Felt like I got some sleep, anyway. Didn't really feel like the highest quality, and I won't know how much quality until the lack-of-sleep symptoms manifest later today, but I got some sleep I think.

It'd be more ideal if I could run a large at really low RPMs, so that the fan noise was low pitched and the air current was low, but none of the fans I have seem to have a "really low RPM" setting and all are somewhat higher pitched. It seems maybe if I got a transformer and reduced the input voltage to the large box van, it has a good chance of lowpitch/lowRPM operation. Buying this or that specialty things, however, is something I'm trying to avoid. I need to concentrate my funds on the structure and the fence. The structure is more important because it provides a level of security from the start (I can house sensitive equipment in there and empty out my van) and the fence can wait a little.

Getting sleep as comfortable as possible in warm weather will definitely be a goal of this new structure.

Anyway, depending on sales performance come next Monday, I might be expanding my offerings.

Ways to increase business, in my experience and in my field (But, I'm sure is true almost universally).

-Expand service and product offerings
-Expand advertising / make advertising more effective
-Increase effectiveness of the current sales letter
-Bundle deals ("Buy more for less")

Anyway, I was thinking more about the "put the exterior vertical beams between the top and bottom horizontal beams" vs putting them outside the beam. Pros and cons.

Put exterior vertical beams between top and bottom
-8 ft 4 inch floor-ceiling height
-no need to trim the studs
-There might be a gap with 4x8s covering the walls, requiring the installation of another thin piece of plywood to cover the difference. (The gap is 8 ft, and so is the 4x8, so by shifting the 4x8 down to nail to one of the frame beams, a gap is introduced at the top)



Putting them outside
-8 foot floor ceiling height
-Need to trim the studs 3-4"
-Likely won't need to cover gaps with 7 ft. 9 inch top to bottom beam difference, could probably just attach the 4x8 to it and be done with it.

Anyway, this is important because more plywood means more edges I'll have to seal and more sealant. I haven't priced the sealant, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to unnecessarily increase my sealant costs by 25-33%.

Anyway, for water cooling, without the use of a water chiller, I think I could bury a bunch of metal barrels some feet under ground, daisy chain them, and then move the cooler ground water into the house and radiate the coolness with some kind of radiator and light fan. The question I have is whether the ground around the barrels will stay cool over, say, a month of use. Because if the surrounding ground becomes as warm as the outside temp, it's not likely going to cool down too well. But, I'm sure that effect could be minimized with more barrels. How many more barrels would I need... I'm not sure. Maybe not that much?

Ground temps should be 66F according to sources. This seems like it'd be more effective if it was a little more northern/higher and the ground temps were, say, 55F.

And, I think I'm going to aim for 11x11 in the initial stage. Makes expansion more straightforward.

And, I'm hoping to group up my next HEB visit with the termicide pickup. I'm thinking I'm going to apply the termicide in a trench around the entire 12x12 structure instead of around each block. 16 blocks is a lot of lineal feet I'd need.

Of course, if there's a termite colony already in that 12x12 space, I'm SOL, lol.

I think the group of ants with larva I saw hanging out in the pile of wood, was some kind of termite. Maybe carpenter ants. I dunno, but that was a little unusual seeing what looked like a colony not in the ground, lol, but chilling on my discarded wooden door, lol.

A 16"x8" block is 48" all around(4 feet) so 16 blocks would be 64 lineal feet in total. All around the structure is 48 lineal feet or maybe a little above it.

For leveling, I think I'm going to use wood shims.

And, I noticed eating the tacos at night made me wake up hungry whereas if I go to bed with my banana + peanut butter + peas diet, I don't ordinarily wake up hungry. So, I think the mashed up beans, white rice and whatnot is causing my bloodsugar to crash at night, so I ordered yesterdays tacos without the beans or rice and I did not wake up hungry this morning.

For variable output voltage, it looks like I'm looking for a...

"VARIAC SC-20M VOLTAGE REGULATOR POWER SUPPLY TRANSFORMER"

So, I would be looking for variacs. Off the cuff, these look like expensive parts, lol. ($200 for the one I saw)

And, boy, the mexicans are starting to fill up the mexican grocery store on the weekend nights. I'm thinking these guys work summers or something. Makes sense, I know I don't want to work outside during the middle of the day here but brown skinned people probably have less problems with the sun. Less sun absorbed - less overheating. So, there's probably a strong market for mexican laborers during the summer in Houston.

I think I'm going to /really/ have to take advantage of the cooler days, now. It's getting regularly too warm here to work for more than 15 minute bursts at a time, and to work within a 4-5 hour time window a day, which really limits my productivity in a given day. I need to cut out the underbrush to get access to the larger trees so I can chop them all down in one go before I start building structures.

Anyway, I figure I will have to learn how to cut plywood down to size. As much as I want to think that standard sizes will work, there will likely be gaps in coverage that will require me to make a small piece of plywood. I don't think it'll be necessary for the floor, but I see it'll be necessary for the frame.

So it looks like... *still watching videos*....

At the moment, it looks like I could use 2 sawhorses and an 8' guide for my ryobi portable saw.

And, it looks like even on a hot day, after 5:30 p.m. looks like an ideal time to start work. That gives me until 8 p.m. in the dark forest.

And, as of 5:30 p.m. today, the flattened frog is no longer in the road.

I recently down a dragonfly (I tried getting it because I've never gotten one before, turns out, I can catch these guys!) and the ants rapidly found him. I think the ants around here are carnivores, eating dead frogs, caterpillars and dragonflies alike. Going to turn on the AC at 6:30 p.m. today and start work. I want to see if more cooling gives me a better night time temperature.

Anyway, just need to cut the path on my right border connecting the two corners, so I'll know what trees I can cut down, then clear out the rest of brush and start downing trees. The trees in the last 5 feet or so can be left there, since they won't be casting shadows on my crops.

I think I like rainy days now, it seems to bring down the temperature by 10-20 degrees for two or three days, allowing me to work all day and sleep no problems.

I don't really like this warm weather sleep implications, since the height of summer is not even here yet, and the "hot season" is supposed to be 3 months long. Man, I really need to figure a solution out... I'm thinking I need the generator running all night and powering my AC, and I'd put the generator some 100 feet away so I couldn't hear it. I don't like the idea of running the genny all night, though, thinking about how it'd impact the generator life.

I was thinking I could store the electricity in batteries to power the genny, but that'd be some 5000wh-6000wh for the entire night (Expensive), and then I thought I could store the "Cold energy" in cold water, and use the daytime to cool the water. I'm thinking if I got 500w of solar panels and a 1/4hp water chiller (Or sap the extra energy from the generator), I could possibly get some usable water coolant temperatures at night. Maybe I'd need 1/2 hp water chilling.

So I'd need a 1/2 hp water chiller ($600), some tanks (already own), a radiator and fan(??) and a pump and some tubing. Sounds like a $1000 project.

 

[JzzzCustom]

http://mb-soft.com/solar/saving.html good info on free air and setting it up like you mention

 

[swbluto]

http://mb-soft.com/solar/saving.html good info on free air and setting it up like you mention

Cool. Looks like the charts he has suggests a ground water temperature of 74 degrees? Sounds a little high. I swore the average annual temperature of the area was 66.

I'll try to figure out how he designs his system. Running metal pipe some 1000 feet underground sounds like it'd be costly.

4" inch plastic pipes, a bunch of them. I wonder how he planned on burying all those pipes over a large area? That almost seems like it'd be prohibitive to bury 90 pipes by shoveling by hand. Unless he planting it straight down in the ground and he's using something like a really extended auger to pull the dirt up.

Another thought I had would be to run solar with a 10,000 BTU airconditioner (Some ridiculously powerful air conditioner for the small space), and then cool water in tanks using some kind of heat exchanger during the day, than at night, use a radiator to radiate the coolness of the water into the air.

This seems to have the advantage the hottest night days would tend to have the most sun and thus would have the most cool water.

But, that's another $1000 system. Seems like it'd be closer to $1500 with the $1000 worth of solar panels. But, it'd definitely be cheaper using water than 5000wh of lead acid batteries. It'd last longer, too, lol.

(That hasn't been always true, recently, though; some cloudy days seem to have incredibly warm nights. But, most summer days in Houston are very sunny.)

Looks like storms are coming soon. Can't wait! I never thought I'd be looking forward to storms for their good-work-and-good-sleeping-temperature-producing effects, lol. Certainly didn't predict it, anyhow.

Now I think I know why that guy sleeps in a cave sometimes down in Terlingua, TX(south east texas). It's cool, lol.

I think I'm going to scale back the install to 8x11, for airconditioning effectiveness / energy conservation. I think 11x11 would be good if I could put in water tanks for cooling water but, atm, it looks like airconditioning/petrol is the most immediately accessible solution despite its high ongoing costs. And, it kind of looks like the AC really needs 3 hours to reach the cabin temperature to as low as it's going to go, so starting the AC at 8 p.m. for the night seems ideal.

I noticed within 30 minutes of starting the AC, the cabin temp started dropping and my body was like "TIme to nap!", so I did. I could tell it just wasn't willing to nap with it being too warm, which is why I probably didn't get full sleep last night. I could tell because the burning tired eye sensation in the later part of the day.

It seems like I could be outside and despite it being warm, it doesn't feel like I'm going to sweat. But, inside the RV with the windows open... yeah, definitely like I'm sweating. I wonder why? I'm thinking maybe the humidity is a little higher than the outside...

Maybe the temperature, but I wouldn't think it'd be noticeably higher? The only heat source is like my body.

I thought it was this foam pad, but I removed it one night, and I still sweated and didn't sleep well.

Anyway, I have a blue "keep cool" foam pad I was going to use, but it tore apart. I think I'm going to try to install it tomorrow and try it out before the storm comes.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15665565

. In male, the high intake of banana, pear, apple and watermelon among fruits were negatively associated with the risk of colorectal cancer (adjusted OR: 0.36, 95% CI = 0.16-0.84).

Oh boy, a chance 36% of the chance of a normal American developing colorectal cancer. That sounds really significant. I suspected my focusing on bananas for carb consumption wasn't really a bad thing. It's a shame I can't find organic bananas within a 25 mile 'driving radius' from here. That should change when Krogers opens, I think.

 

[swbluto]

Anyway, I'm thinking about this courtyard house and I'm thinking about the Romans and they enjoyed a dry mediterranean climate. What's that matter, you ask? Because staying in the shade and "feeling the breeze" was enough to feel cool. No such thing exists for humid climates, it's warm no matter where you are, especially "in the shade" inside a building. So, I'm thinking I'd need a dry climate, and preferably a dry temperate climate. Like California's coast, lol.

So such a structure would likely need ample AC in hot humid climates. So, it'd be expensive to cool.

But, apparently these structures were built in India, so someone's worked with them in hot humid climates. And they were built in Southeast Asia, as well (Known as Siheyuan.).

Did the Ancients just accepted sweating during the Summer midday or something?

And, I'm thinking I might go with a 24x36 or 24x48 courtyard design, to take advantage of the length of the yard. And, I think I might be go the route of collecting funds before greenlighting the "final design" instead of incrementally building it. Incrementally building it, though kind of a neat concept, does open me up to taxation and the project doesn't really realize its potential until completed, so "half a courtyard house" is kind of useless while being taxy.

However, expansion of one side of the building upto its maximum length is OK, as that's intrisically more useful than a small shed for house purposes. That would essentially make it like any other mobile home in this area, until the funds are acquired to complete the last 3 wings. I think for my purposes, the "work room" will be small and well insulated to maximize AC cost effectiveness.

Anyway, I thought if my student loans ever get forgiven, I'll need to make sure I post a HUGE LOSS on my business to negate the "earned income" the IRS would claim, lol. Otherwise, it becomes an excuse for the IRS/Feds to start stripping one of assets. There's an irony there, debt grows by 400% over 25 years, gets taxed at 30%, so you end up getting taxed for the original loan amount. It's like gee, if I had the money to pay off the loan, where do you think I'm going to come up with the tax money to pay for an equivalent tax bill?

It's just a mechanism for the government to strip one of your assets. Just like the other 'money printers' play this game so they can steal your assets if you're not paying tribute.

Anyway, these tiny black ants seem to love honey. Surprising, it doesn't seem like the other ants did. So no honey in the RV. It's one of the nice things about the tiny black ants, I guess, they don't seem to be wanderers like the other larger ants. At least I haven't seen them at random around the RV unlike the other larger ants climbing my wheels. I think the tiny black ants are an established colony in the RV and I have no idea what they're living off of.

 

[swbluto]

Turns out there's a Texas specific publication called "The Greensheet" and they even have stands for it. It doesn't look like it's free, though...

There needs to be a craigslist alternative that's free and where the tyranny of the masses don't limit the free market. I think about that "Tyranny of the masses limiting the free market" and I'm reminded of communism. I think that's because the "bad actors" tend to rule, if left unchecked, whether that be the unhappy complaining bunch or the ne'er-do-well murderous ones. And that's essentially what craigslist is, leaving the "bad actors" unchecked. At least google has a way of limiting the bad actors.

Anyhow, yep, there's pugs on the green sheet where as none on craigslist. Surefire sign that CL tyrannists are bad for business.

The issue with developing such a platform is that people need to develop the habit of using it. Which requires advertising and there's a lack of suitable alternatives. Craigslist just happens to be a suitable alternative for 95% of what people are buying, so alternative platforms have a hardtime attracting a large enough clientele, unless they specialize in something that craigslist does poorly in... like dogs and guns, apparently, lol.

Anyway, I petted the rabbit yesterday, he was eating the clovers. Or some greenery. He was soft.

And, I saw the giant rat running from my trash. I think he's the a*hole ripping up my bags, lol, and he can jump quite high, so I have a feeling my fence isn't keeping him out. Evidence suggests it's not.

And, I could hear a bunch of crows squawking in the distance. Interesting, that, because there's no large open space in that direction as far as I know. Maybe something died there, seems there were other birds joining in on all the squawking.

Hearing the owl a bit recently. He got pretty close to my area not too long ago, though I never saw him. I can't spot 90% of the birds making noise here due to the thick forest.

And, I woke up with morning do this palpitation and feeling tired.

Went back to sleep an hour later, and after situating the generator back some 50 feet for the new wire install, I came back inside and started preparing the cocoa and *chest squeeze*. Lasted for about 5 seconds, and happened twice. Been feeling a little light headed here and there, and it doesn't /seem/ to be the anxiety variety. I just ate two bananas, a corn cob and a bunch of coconut before I went to bed, so I figured it might've been food contents coming back up. Seems like physical exertion has a way of making food come back up, I think that's why they advise not swimming some 30-60 minutes after eating.

What I did, was carry the 50 pound generator some 75 feet back, and I carried the 50 pound table(?) some 75 feet back. Then I climbed into the RV; seems that the 2 foot step has a way of inducing some of kind of chest/throat sensations in the morning. The chest sensation followed that about 15 seconds later when I turned the stove on for the hot water for my cocoa. Bending down to plug in the electric cord might have induced an esophegeal spasm, yes.

Esophageal spasms can feel like sudden, severe chest pain that lasts from a few minutes to hours

It seems like everything has to last a couple minutes. I guess it's not 'serious enough' if it lasts for mere seconds for formal recognition.

I did have a burst of energy yesterday night following the neighbors. It was actually making me feel somewhat sick in my chest, and so I burst out running and apparently that's what my body was looking for. It felt like "excitement" as opposed to "fear".

It's interesting, this rabbit lets me get somewhat close to him, whereas the rat is like "RUNNNN!!". I don't blame him, I'd kill the sucker if he made it easy for me.

And, I really should be taking advantage of this cool weather to work instead of relaxing in "This nice comfortable weather", lol.

Yep, so next rest break... it's coming.

Update: Well, almost to the flag, will be there on the next work cycle. It seems like my 'inhibition' has gone up. I'm thinking maybe it's the new neighbors. I could detect it with the feeling of 'reservation' in the ejac (There's been no such feeling for at least the last 2 weeks, fairly free flowing actually), and the feeling of reservation in others as I spoke to that person. Maybe them asking to move my RV for the incoming dump truck has me feeling like I was knocked down a peg? I don't see any reason why I wouldn't comply with their request, it's very reasonable and there's no alternatives, and there was no dipshits standing in my way when I was getting a dumptruck delivery, so I don't expect me to impose the same on the new neighbors.

Maybe that's it. I'm afraid of the new place I would put it.

Update: As of 12:29 got to one flag, now I just need to join it to the front, clear out the other side on the front (some 50 feet), and I have the full perimeter. Once I have the full perimeter, I'll know what trees I should be cutting down (Or at least "allowed" to cut down.).

I want to get them cut down before the neighbor install whatever on their land.

Actually, they just installed a fence on that side. Fudge. There's only so much I can do to counteract the lean of a tree so let's hope none of the trees destroy their fence.

I think I'll go the "Ask for forgiveness instead of permission" route. There's a chance nothing will land on their fence. And, if something does, I'm sure they'll let me repair it. (It's interesting they put the fence up ONLY on that side, lol. Are they really that paranoid of me coming onto their property? lol. I'll have them know I've never set foot on that property, absolutely no reason why I would.)

For sure, I definitely want to get the trees chopped before they put whatever structure on the land. That'll be harder to ask for forgiveness, lol.

So, get the back underbrush cleared out today, and then get the trees chopped tomorrow after clearing. At least get the most rightward trees chopped down (The ones most likely to land on their property). I'll probably focus on that today, getting the back right cleared out, after I get the current task finished.

It's interesting this "So excited, burst out running". Can't seem to find any mention of this behavior on google (Unless "so excited, I could run through a brick wall" means the same thing.), but it's a pretty well observed phenomenon among dogs. My pug used to do it all the time. I guess people are too "civilized" for such senseless behavior. People run to lose weight, not to act out on emotions.

And it appears owls like to feed on chickens. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/great-horned-owl-killed-my-chickens.824256/

 

[Dauntless]

http://recycler.com/search?keyword=pug&location=houston%2C+tx&category=Pets

 

[swbluto]

Cool. Somehow, a few pug listings popped up on CL and they've been on there for 3 days. Magical.

Anyhoo, I just want to make sure I stay ontop of where to find these suckers when I'm ready to get one. Seems greensheet and CL are promising sources. Putting up a wanted AD might be the most effective; it's doubtful I'm going to be the first person to see an ad, so there's a good chance I won't get first dibs. I like my pugs with some kind of self esteem; they take aggression in jest and play unlike the wimps who fold and cry uncle.

Anyhow, yep, tomorrow's the day. For what... still thinking about it, lol. I'm not sure I feel comfortable with what's sitting in the backyard and not having my RV around the premises. Granted, it's not really expensive stuff back there, but things I'd rather not lose, lol (Like my fence material).

And, it looks like my driveway might not be entirely on my property, lol. Anyway, I'm going to cut a new path through the forest so I have a true direct line of sight from one property corner to the other. The current path has a little bend in it.

It looks like my assuming my property line was perpendicular to the road was a wrong one. It looks like I wrongly projected my experience with my old neighborhood onto this one.

And looking at the GIS map, it indeed does not look perpendicular to the road. Oh well, I guess I won't cement my posts there, but I have no problems putting up removable T-posts there for the time being. When the actual neighboring owner squawks about it, I'll go ahead and move it. (I've never seen the owner of the property right next to mine.)

Man, I'm thinking the value of my land must come from how distant it is from the railroad, lol. I'm looking at properties much closer and they're significantly cheaper.

And, wow... to think this land was appraised at $1100 just 3 years ago. This place is on the map, so it appears.

And, I found out where the local grocery store owners live. They live in the neighborhood near the tracks in a mobile home, a nicer looking one that looks like a log cabin. Judging from the amount of vehicles in the driveway, it seems there's a good chance a lot of adults live there, which is not hard to believe... they got like 5 workers on rotation at the grocery store and they're all from the same family.

And, man, I've had the life sucked out of me working on the property all day, lol.