Buying forest land, implementing solar

[swbluto]

Anyway, it's pretty interesting seeing what's happening in the different cities. Back in Charleston, SC, smack dab in the middle of Fried Chicken country, all the billboards were all about "Have pains here?" (Picture of guy squeezing chest), whereas in Houston, all the billboard advertisements are all about cancer. Like, gosh, if there was anymore obvious of a sign what kind of problems this city has! And it's obvious what causes it: Cheap land, low prices and high profit industries and the resulting swelling of the population that both leads to significant sprawl and a large population, which leads to significant amounts of concentrated emissions, and in combination with the thick forests everywhere, ozone.

Anyway, where I happen to live, the population isn't nearly as much and the emissions aren't so concentrated so it's not really a problem in my particular zip code. But, it's obviously much of a problem in the Houston metropolitan complex. You could say I'm a minor manifestation of that 'sprawl' dynamic (I was attracted to this land because I could afford it), but not really because I'm not intending on becoming a commuter anytime soon. I just like being in proximity to the city for its shopping opportunities. I can find pretty much ANYTHING, yay! [Plus, a large wealthy population like this is good for local advertising opportunities]

 

[Dauntless]

What you need to worry about down there is 'Katrina Trailers.'

It all starts in 2005, as Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans. FEMA brought in 140,000 house trailers, basically an RV you had to tow. People were given so much time to live there then had to either buy the trailer or go find a proper home. So if you think the government then went to work getting rid of these pricey trailers cheap, you're right. But oh boy was there a catch.

It seems that in the rush to build enough of these trailers to fill the orders, somebody started using plywood from China. (Wouldn't you know the problem would start THERE.) One word: formaldehyde. When it was discovered 2-3 years into this the levels were 75 times the OSHA workplace safety standard. After three years there was a court order they were not to be resold, but that ran out in two years. Next thing the government was auctioning off the $14,000 trailers for an average of $1,000 each. Supposedly for scrap, but the not fit to occupy stickers were then removed, as the trailers themselves fanned out across the country.

When workers showed up for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, they moved into Katrina Trailers. When parts of tornado alley were flattened, the survivors moved into Katrina trailers. And a solution was found for the housing shortage for oil workers in North Dakota; Katrina trailers.

Of course nobody knew these things were deadly. Not all, but how do you really identify which ones? One of my relatives bought one to stay on the coast for stretches of the summer. What a hypochondriac, you two would have great fun comparing symptoms from death's door. But there was no stopping her from using her trailer, hell, she was enjoying getting to complain more. But eventually nobody would go to the coast with her.

So if you'd spent $200,000 to buy 200 of these trailers, you could have resold them for $6k each and netted $1 million. How many of the buyers of your particular trailers would have gotten sick it's hard to say, nobody knows just WHICH are the dangerous ones. But they can identify the 140,000 that are at risk of being dangerous. Testing of individual trailers when they were six years old often showed over 100 parts per million of formaldehyde, in the tenth year they could be under 25ppm. The government says they'd have to be under 16ppm to be "Reasonably safe." Improving the air circulation can lower the formaldehyde levels, but obviously that has an affect on air temperatures in extreme weather.

So at this point, there's still going to be plenty of these trailers out there, so there's a chance you can have one for your very own. Not only is the outgassing reaching the point where they're starting to drop below the government standards, but there's even plants you can get that take some amount of formaldehyde out of the air. http://www.mnn.com/health/healthy-spaces/photos/15-houseplants-for-improving-indoor-air-quality/a-breath-of-fresh-air

Or maybe you'd rather just buy a new one. Might cost less than an RV.

 

[swbluto]

Since corroborating the theory that bacteria causes both arthersclerosis, pimples and elevated LDL cholesterol levels... and I happen to be in cancer central now, lol... let's discover if bacteria might play a role in cancer, another one of the common "old age diseases".

If this theory was true, we'd expect a positive correlation between cancer and...

-dark meat consumption
-sugar consumption
-wheat consumption
-LDL levels

And a mitigating effect with raw egg consumption and other antibacterial foods.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21328345

Increased risk of esophegeal and small intestine cancer with sugar consumption. Also pleural. The affect appears local. I assume most sugar gets absorbed by the time it gets to the end of the small intestine.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21285406

Low LDL levels are associated with an increased risk of cancer.

Research suggests whole grain intake, compared to refined, is associated with a lower rate of cancer. Little research suggesting that wheat increases incidence, but that could also be because it hasn't been investigated before (It's never been suspected by researchers).

So far, the evidence doesn't point to a bacterial causal role in cancer, at least not globally. It might play a role at the local level. Does a high concentration of bacterial colonies (Particularly the more aggressive/harmful ones like staphylococcus) induce genetic damage to the nearby cells?

 

[swbluto]

What you need to worry about down there is 'Katrina Trailers.'

It all starts in 2005, as Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans. FEMA brought in 140,000 house trailers, basically an RV you had to tow. People were given so much time to live there then had to either buy the trailer or go find a proper home. So if you think the government then went to work getting rid of these pricey trailers cheap, you're right. But oh boy was there a catch.

It seems that in the rush to build enough of these trailers to fill the orders, somebody started using plywood from China. (Wouldn't you know the problem would start THERE.) One word: formaldehyde. When it was discovered 2-3 years into this the levels were 75 times the OSHA workplace safety standard. After three years there was a court order they were not to be resold, but that ran out in two years. Next thing the government was auctioning off the $14,000 trailers for an average of $1,000 each. Supposedly for scrap, but the not fit to occupy stickers were then removed, as the trailers themselves fanned out across the country.

When workers showed up for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, they moved into Katrina Trailers. When parts of tornado alley were flattened, the survivors moved into Katrina trailers. And a solution was found for the housing shortage for oil workers in North Dakota; Katrina trailers.

Of course nobody knew these things were deadly. Not all, but how do you really identify which ones? One of my relatives bought one to stay on the coast for stretches of the summer. What a hypochondriac, you two would have great fun comparing symptoms from death's door. But there was no stopping her from using her trailer, hell, she was enjoying getting to complain more. But eventually nobody would go to the coast with her.

So if you'd spent $200,000 to buy 200 of these trailers, you could have resold them for $6k each and netted $1 million. How many of the buyers of your particular trailers would have gotten sick it's hard to say, nobody knows just WHICH are the dangerous ones. But they can identify the 140,000 that are at risk of being dangerous. Testing of individual trailers when they were six years old often showed over 100 parts per million of formaldehyde, in the tenth year they could be under 25ppm. The government says they'd have to be under 16ppm to be "Reasonably safe." Improving the air circulation can lower the formaldehyde levels, but obviously that has an affect on air temperatures in extreme weather.

So at this point, there's still going to be plenty of these trailers out there, so there's a chance you can have one for your very own. Not only is the outgassing reaching the point where they're starting to drop below the government standards, but there's even plants you can get that take some amount of formaldehyde out of the air. http://www.mnn.com/health/healthy-spaces/photos/15-houseplants-for-improving-indoor-air-quality/a-breath-of-fresh-air

Or maybe you'd rather just buy a new one. Might cost less than an RV.

Cool. Not seeing too many katrina trailers in my price range.

 

[swbluto]

I was so tempted to pick up some Brioche from wallie world yesterday (Made in france), but I checked the ingredients and it had the all too common mass consumer ingredients and not the authentic french food ingredients in it. I.e., using cheap oils (rapeseed oil) vs butter. I said NON! and called up the local patisserie in The Woodlands and they confirmed they used real butter in their Brioche. Anyway, Brioche is special because it was 'the cake' of the French Revolution and I've never tasted it before, and I'm certainly not going to let fake Brioche give me a false impression of it.

Anyway, will confirm: HEB is the goto place for cheap groceries. Back where I lived, the grocery stores commonly marked up food 70% or more, here, it's like 10% markup. Jug wine, $10 vs $11. Wild caught alaskan salmon, $3 vs $6.54. Mexican Coconuts, $2 vs $3. Organic bananas, 59 cents a pound vs 89 cents a pound, gas $1.74 vs $2.54. And they actually carry good corn based foods here, typical of Mexican fare. I.e., using corn tortillas instead of the ubiquitous flour tortillas up north. My parents seem all excited about the prospect of cheaper real estate, groceries, gas, etc. [They're looking to retire and they're finding my reports somewhat intriguing. They want acreage with no restrictions, which is plentiful here, not so much up north.] (Even though Houston has high real estate taxes, a common retirement deterrent, a few of the nearby counties don't.)

Anyway, my impression of the local area, on the northern side. Tomball - More of a redneck area, but they're wealthy rednecks (Typical of Houston), so hard to distinguish from the American Middle Class at a distance. Mainly cultural and not financial differences in this area. Woodlands tends to be more of refined tastes with corporate sophistication, where elements like Patisseries are found. Conroe is a middle-class to upper-middle class kind of area with the kind of Big Box stores and brands typical of that strata being abundant [in general, big box stores and retail commerce is abundant all along I-45, the primary N-to-S highway through the center of houston]. More towards the center, tends to become more tropical in both vegetation and weather. Palm trees are pretty much everywhere. Haven't checked out south and west Houston, which is where the 'really nice areas' are, I've heard, because I really don't want to put 150 miles on my minivan for no good reason. I really don't want to put superfluous mileage on any vehicle until I have a backup (And, preferably, a higher MPG vehicle)

I feel like once I get setup, I just want to start cleaning up the neighborhood (In particular, my street). But, I need to figure out where to put the trash, I guess I could transport it to a dump somewhere and pay whatever the fee is.

I think I might begin to consider alternatives to an RV at this point.

 

[swbluto]

FEMA TRAILER. lol

http://houston.craigslist.org/rvs/5904836637.html

There's literally like 3 (small) RVs in the area. x_x

(All north of $1000 asking, most are pieces of crap. One guy was missing a main window and the axle looked like it was missing, so that was an obvious no-go.)

If I had a car trailer, I could probably just haul in a broken down cargo van. But, I would like an area I could stand in; I guess that's what the greenhouse is for, lol.

Now that's an idea. I can rent an auto transport from Uhaul for $70. That thing would definitely have to be strapped down to survive the ditch.

http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/5895816103.html

Oh, isn't that cool. It'll even drive short distances, like, getting it into position, lol.

Cool. Someone is selling there 10x10 steel shed with floor kit for a fairly reasonable price. This is better than the already assembled sheds you see in abundance on CL, because it's somewhat trivial to transport into place. My only reservation against is not necessarily the practicality of it (Looks fairly practical), but the purported tendency for building inspectors to fine residents into oblivion when discovering someone is sleeping/living in a storage shed. And, I have a feeling my county isn't much different. Though, some of those structures I've seen in the area... hmmm...

I guess I could start carving my trail into the woods and hope for the best, lol.

That's one of the advantages of having lived in 1) a college dorm room 2)Aboard a navy ship and 3) A studio apartment in Seatte; They're all pretty much the same size as a shed in terms of personal space! lol I'll keep pressing for the RV today, but if nothing is looking viable by the end of today (I'm giving people plenty time/opportunity to respond), I'm going to seriously consider that shed as a more viable temporary option vs the minivan. Seems like it offers adequate security for storage, at least the away-for-an-hour kind.

As far as 911 addressing, I don't really think it's necessary just yet. I can receive mail via general delivery, and I don't need an address to send off mail, and it seems getting a 911 address invites the county inspectors over. If I need an ambulance, a lack of 911 address isn't going to stop them from finding me.

And the reason for the urgency is not necessarily because of the cost of hotels, though that's one factor, it's because my customers! They expect their orders within a week or so, and it's been at least a week for some of them. When I start refunding orders because it's taking so long, that's when I start /really/ losing money.

(And a 15x7 RV vs. a 10x10 shed; 105 sq. ft. vs 100 sq. ft; Pretty much functionally identical, especially since much of the RV's space is already taken up by shelving, cabinets, closets and this and that.)

Anyway, I'm aware I'll probably need to add insulation to make it more livable. An RV wouldn't be much different. And, I'll obviously need to add sealing. And maybe a couple of windows and/or skylights. An RV is pretty much more ready-to-go, but in this area, it seems to be unobtainium at its best. Storage sheds seem easier to acquire, though time will tell. It could be that buying anything off of craigslist here is an exercise in futility. Push comes to shove, it appears Sears has the cheaper/larger storage sheds.

Update: I'm seriously looking at this guy, found at home depot. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Arrow-Newport-10-ft-x-8-ft-Steel-Shed-NP10867/100211354

Didn't find anything at the local sears. The guys on craigslist... I'm not sure what's with them...but, it generally seems like it's very slow paced around here. They don't respond to you within an hour (If they respond at all), if they do respond, they want to meet tomorrow or two days from now, etc.; Generally seems like people are under no pressure to get rid of their things (Symptom of a wealthy low cost city I guess) and they are pretty lackadaisical about the whole thing. I get the sense, people don't /really/ want to get rid of their things or they're not really motivated. This is in stark contrast to the northern (poorer or higher cost) environments where craigslist is generally speedy and pretty reliable (Probably because they need the moolah). I also notice not too many people are on their cell phones here, interesting, that. I wonder if few people actually have cell phones here?

Pending some answered questions and a possible offer/response from someone, it's looking like I might be setting up the trail and start clearing out the backproperty. For the trail, I won't be focusing on removing roots /right now/, but I will be removing roots in the area I intend to put the shed. If I come to an agreement to buy someones RV tomorrow (Very /very/ tentative), then I will probably be spending my time putting it into place and using my come along to extract my van out of the ditch, lol. Either way, I will be actively working towards a timely solution tomorrow. This is Day 2 of the Craigslist search and it needs to come to an end FAST. I think I will be getting a hotel for tomorrow night and that should be the last night. (I might end up sleeping in a tent inside the shed; Probably won't be sealed from the bugs, lol.)

And tonight, I should be sharpening my tools. The dirt has dulled a few of them.

 

[swbluto]

Now this looks like a nice affordable 'tiny home' to save up for. (I should have the savings to buy it outright by the end of this month. Now, would I buy this over an RV? Probably not.)

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Best-Barns-Brookfield-16-ft-x-12-ft-Wood-Storage-Shed-Kit-brookfield-1612/203022331?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-202545153-_-203022331-_-N

 

[swbluto]

$1000 of sales in 4 days. This month is looking good, lol. Warning: TONS OF WORK AHEAD! Lol.

Anyway, saw that my particular area had a fire going on about 5 years back. And, when I mean "my area", I mean literally less than a mile away, lol.

They obviously contained it well, otherwise, these 100 foot monster trees on my property wouldn't exist.

I can see why people have cleared their entire property of the forest, yes. I'm just hoping my property is mobile enough to escape flames if need be (Either that, or cheap enough where it going up in smoke doesn't really matter.)

Btw, someone in Walmart in the Tomball area was crying about that. Her house going up in flames and "losing everything", her friends tried to console her that the land still had value. I kind of thought to myself.... "That's why they have home insurance, right?".

Anyway, the culture of tax avoidance here and general "stick it to the man(Financial classes; the financial leeches known as government/banks/etc.)" in Texas is reassuring, it looks like I've found good company. Not that I avoid taxes or anything; that's a bit hard for me to pull off (Payment processors report me directly to the IRS). But I fully support those with that attitude. Not that I don't believe some taxes are necessary; but most of it is beyond excessive, fueling corruption.

I guess when I go to home depot tomorrow (Assuming this bastard continues not answering my calls/text), I should look at their sheds and pick one of the more suitable ones, not just simply the cheapest one. If I'm going to be in this thing for more than a couple of days, I need to make sure it's comfortable and is capable of being made more comfortable.

BOOYAH! Finally someone responded. And it sounds like the guy did some serious updating to it to "Bring it upto standard".... nice. (The other guys on CL were legitimate pieces of crap)

He even insulated it. Yes, baby, I can tell that's going to be handy in this area, lol.

Well, tomorrow morning, I guess I'll be getting the property ready for receiving the RV. So many tree branches I'll have to trim back. I would just cut the trees down, but I'm not sure how the neighborhood would appreciate that. Not that they generally seem like the caring type... One guy seems like the caring type but it's obvious his caring only goes as far as his gaming fence surrounding his property.

It's kind of interesting how I want an RV more than anything else. Even a cute "tiny home"(Or larger "medium home") seems more dissatisfying to me than an RV. Oh, that's probably because I would get taxed accordingly, yes. I swear it's more than that, though.

After I buy this RV, I guess I'll be saving up my money for buying vacation properties. :lol: (Honestly, this property IS a vacation property. Winter vacation property, that is.)

Where do I want to vacay for summer?

 

[swbluto]

Lol, I knew this would happen. The properties I could afford were also the properties the "poor" of houston could also afford. I was fearing that living in a poor neighborhood would lead to lots of theft (It happens everywhere like that; thieves steal where it's easiest to find you/get to you which happens to be people closest to them.), but I know that it is a DEFINITE RISK now. Why? MEXICANS EVERYWHERE! lol

Too bad it's not like Spokane, where poor neighbors often meant "poor white neighbors". Here, poor neighbors translates to mexican neighbors. (Those online stats were so wrong, 20% of the neighborhood were mexicans. It looks like 100% to me!)

[Btw, I'm sure there's a few caucasian americans in the area [I suspect /that/ house and /that/ house; typical caucasian kind of set up, equipment, etc.], it's just that I've only seen latinos outside so far. And, the neigbhors on my left and right are definitely latino. The one on my left is 'respectable/retired', the ones on my right look OK, but it's the younger guys I spotted that night that pose the highest risks.]

That just means I need to up the security plan. Never leave equipment unattended, take valuable equipment with me whenever I go anywhere, etc. Might erect a security fence, though that just feels like a waste of money if the take-it-with-me 'security plan' is viable. Still, there's a little peace of mind that comes with a fence, in terms of what kind of nightly visitors I might be avoiding while I'm trying to sleep.

I parked the RV in front of my property, but I didn't 'install it' on the property yet because it was going to be dark soon (In 10 minutes), the risk of getting stuck seemed fairly high with the constant raining/drizzling and the soft ground, and I just didn't feel like it was going to be a good idea trying to extract my minivan out of the mud in the dark with my come-a-long. Only problem this lead to was that my RV was now in the middle of the one-lane dirt road. Only one way out - FORWARD!

Took a turn to my right, removed several trees from the road only to find a long broken down passenger van blocking the intersection at the end. I /could have/ used my come-a-long to remove it but... again... only 10 minutes til dark. And, furthermore, it looked like it was put there on purpose... I'm not sure if it was a good idea discovering that purpose was, lol, considering whoever did it definitely put money into it and why they did is wide speculation. I have a feeling, they were protecting moneyed interests if they were willing to spend money to block off the intersection, and I'm not sure if they wanted someone like me finding out. I have my doubts. Suspicion of a mexican stronghold - Just went up by a factor of 100X.

Okay, so turning back, I thought about those "Two giant holes" in the ground that blocked direct entry through the street according to the surveyor. I thought to myself, these guys are probably 1) Pussies and 2) Exaggerating a great deal. I adroitly avoided the first hole which was conveniently on the left side, now the second hole was blocked off by a huge log. Well, isn't that convenient? Again, quite suspicion that a huge tree just /happened/ to block this entry/exit AS WELL... but, dude, I needed to get the f.u.c.k out of here before nightfall and I wasn't about to be blocked i by a huge stupid fallen tree log. So... I did what I do best... I grabbed my hatchet and chopped it the f.u.c.k apart in a fury of desperation, and then removed it from the road and adroitly avoided the second hole. Then I was blocked in by these two guys who parked on the road, and LAS MIGRAS everywhere I see! I counted a good 10 of them (Well, actually, more like 6 or 7. I didn't really spend my time counting, I tried spending more of my time getting the f.u.c.k out of there. But, it was obvious it was a large family of some sort. I thanked them, "Muchos gracias! Muchos gracias!")

Okay, so my idyllic place in this tranquil forest just happens to be surrounded by las migras and mexican strongholds down /this/ road and /that/ road. Oh, lucky me. At least the latino neighbor down the other end of the road looks reputable.

It might be a while before I get my things out of storage. I obviously need secure storage in this area. Tomorrow, I'll be setting up the RV and making it habitable (Blankets, heater, etc.). It's anyones guess if I'll be able to get to my RV tomorrow morning, I hope so. It comes without title and the wiring on it doesn't work presently... not a good idea to take it on the road. I ran into someone on the way out because it had more inertia than I was prepared for, and my brakes skidded for a good 50 feet and then slowly bumped them. He was getting prepared to start exchanging insurance cards and... lol.... yeah, didn't want to do that, lol... I reassured him there was no damage, thank goodness for bumpers, and he said "OK, let's roll!" and off we were. Holy crap, that was a close one. I was then super careful after that, allowed no less than 100 feet of distance between me and the person ahead of me, except when slowing down to a stop. If someone got in front of me to shorten that "100 foot buffer", I started slowing down more to increase the buffer size. Yeah, not going to risk that again. Anyway, got it past several cops who thankfully didn't notice the trailer lights not working and it's now safe from the cops in front of my property. I locked the hitch to help ensure it's still there in the morning time. I know the lock is easily cut off with an angle grinder but I'm just hoping my neigbhors aren't that opportunistically evil. I think I might get it up on blocks and remove the tires for extra security.

Anyway, I like how the marina is actually only 10 miles / 10 minutes from me. It's pretty serene seeing the lake. Definitely helped calm my nerves after escaping from that labyrinth.

 

[Dauntless]

Oh, but if you're thinking of putting in a garage, you might want to consider the last one in this 1:58 video.

I'd say it's unfair to the announcer seen in the freeze to call her "Dumbest Ever" for her slip. That driver on the other hand doesn't belong on the rode.

[youtube]RoNH0ITMYHQ[/youtube]

 

[Dauntless]

Dude, where's my meeting?

As I wait, it find you THIS:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/06/architecture/contemporary-prefab-homes/index.html

 

[swbluto]

Okay, I planned to put the RV into place this morning on my property and I did it this morning so that if my van got stuck in the mud (Or something), I could use my come-along to pull it out. Well, guess what? It got stuck immediately! Just about as soon as I got off the road, lol (The RV was still fully planted on the road; the first person I called got a chuckle out of it.). So, I detached the trailer and pulled out my come-along and chain and everything was going fine UNTIL the come-along just broke. The welding on the steel wire on the Come-Along just broke off when I tried to use it a second time, so the wire was flailing making the come-along useless. frock!

Another call to a tow guy. Boy, these guys seem to be becoming my best friends here, lol. (He didn't have GPS, so it was a little challenging trying to direct him to the property. He found the road though. He questioned it, "This looks like a deadend road that goes off into the woods. Are you sure this is it?", LOL, positive! (It's not really a deadend road, it actually loops around and connects back into the main road.)

Anyway, got pulled out for $125. Cash is getting low. [Funds in my account aren't, but cash is.]

Anyway, I noticed that it seemed like my gas tank was heading to empty pretty fast. I knew I was driving like 70 miles a day, but geez, I would've swore that a 26 gallon tank in a 20mpg vehicle should last a bit longer than 210 miles. So, I started analyzing my driving and found out...

Stoplights on a 55mph road is just plain stupid. You waste all of that energy getting to 55mph every 1/2 mile, it seems. So, that 20mpg quickly nosebombs to 10-12mpg. So, I think that's not going to be my preferred route in the future. [The lights aren't synchronized; they seem to cycle whenever someone approaches the intersection.]

Anyhoo, I left the RV in the middle of the road and vowed to return tomorrow. I'm going to clean up the RV tomorrow, tr'y to get it situated, and try to setup the bed. Time permitting, I'm going to try to install an outside lock on it. Outside lock is important, because I'll feel more comfortable leaving minor items in there for short trips making it functionally useful [bed, blankets, dishes, food, etc.]. I ended today by shopping for the RV (Blankets, woodworking tools(circular saw), heater, etc.)

While pacing about, I noticed a clearing at one of the nearby T-intersections. It was about 60 foot long and highly suggested someone parked there long RV on here at one time. Looking at the dating on the pop cans that were littered in the area, it seems like this was probably back in 2011/2012. The thickness of some of the vegetation in this clearing definitely suggests they've been growing there for at least 2 years. This clearing looks interesting to me, because it looks like a candidate place to park my RV temporarily while I get my driveway setup. I noticed an area where it looked like their vehicle spun out at one time, suggesting they had the same issue with muddiness as I. (Granted, there's grass in this area, now, so the soil should definitely be stronger than in the past.)

Anyway, the reason why I think it's okay to park here is because it's COUNTY ROAD property. It's not private property. Granted, I don't know if the person who set this area up owns the land in front of it (Across the gulley), or if they did in the past, but I get a strong feeling they're not returning anytime soon. It definitely has the appearance of having been inhabited long ago.

Anyway, got a fortune cookie from Panda Express that read "You will change your line of work soon."; indications suggest that's more likely than not, LOL.

Anyhow, I haven't fully discovered my land, yet BUT... I'm hoping this isn't just some area that swamps during the rainy days, not good for growing things. I'm hoping that just happens to be JUST the area near the gulley which seems probable... I think...

I just personally think it's rich that I bought this land thinking it had 'road access' and all that, but it turns out it definitely doesn't have vehicle access at the moment, lol. So, in effect, I can't really access my property like I thought I should. But, presumably, that should solve in due time.

Anyway, it's interesting looking at the road because you swear it's just some kind of iron ore... but on /my/ road, which I can tell hasn't been used that often (Of course it hasn't having been completely blocked off in all two 'exits'; I cleared one of them yesterday.), there's actually vestiges of pavement down the k onccenter. Wow, I totally didn't know this area was completely paved at one time! That makes me so curious about this places history now, with signs of planned development like that. It's clear that the area in front of the ditch (right next to the road) was completely cleared at one time because of the fact there's many saplings and no large trees.

I think once I get my RV into place in the clearing, I'm going to park my van on the blocked road. It seems like the road is the only safe place for it to drive. (If it gets stuck in the clearing, it should be easy enough for a tow guy to pull out. There's like no slope.)

And, thank goodness I decided to go nose forward instead of backing up the trailer... who knows how that would've turned out...

And... I just thought of a better plan than the plan of simply driving straight onto the grass with my van and hope for the best. Never take it onto the grass in the first place! lol. Basically, back up that trailer and never let the rear wheels leave the road. Go as slow as I need to and check often. I don't care if the RV is catty wampus, just as long as it's /straight enough/ and off the road.

 

[marty]

Re: "It's anyones guess if I'll be able to get to my RV tomorrow morning, I hope so. It comes without title and the wiring on it doesn't work presently... not a good idea to take it on the road.

Is RV stolen? In New York State, the first step to get a title is to call the police come make a report, and ask them NOT to tow the vehicle away. If I was you I would write the vehicle number on a piece of paper and go to the closest police station and ask if this RV is on any stolen lists?

The Marty method of getting a title. First step, remove wheels and put vehicle on concrete blocks. Hide the wheels. Police realize that they have enough problems, and getting a tow truck to drag a car with no wheels would just add to their problems.

 

[fechter]

Back when I had land in the woods, the co-owner built a place out of a pair of shipping containers. Shipping containers are not super expensive and have nice locking doors. We had a sliding glass door just behind the metal doors for when we were there. When the metal doors were locked, it was pretty secure.
The container place even delivered them to the middle of nowhere and dropped them off. A little work with a dozer got them in position.

This NOT our place, but just an example of a place made out of containers. If you google "shipping container homes" you can see lots of examples.

 

[LockH]

[youtube]nUilMIKTWmY[/youtube]

 

[Dauntless]

Well now, I'm sure he feels some affinity with invasive pests.

The container homes are a fascinating subject, but it sounds like he has an access problem. I think of that for the suburbs where there's an available lot and the truck can place it easy enough.

http://www.containerhomeplans.org/2015/04/what-i-wish-id-known-before-building-my-shipping-container-home/

[youtube]rQkAQ8JMRmA[/youtube]

 

[DAND214]

now that's a cool way to go. Would it be code?
I like that it only took 3 and half minute to do it :lol:


Dan

 

[fechter]

The container homes are a fascinating subject, but it sounds like he has an access problem. I think of that for the suburbs where there's an available lot and the truck can place it easy enough.

Our place was pretty inaccessible. Truck dropped the container at the main road and a bulldozer dragged it up the road about 1/2 mi. The bulldozer time was expensive, but not too bad as the guy was doing work on the neighboring land at the time. A backhoe might be able to drag a 20' container.

 

[swbluto]

Those shipping container homes look pretty cool. Only problem would be getting it on the property. I have a feeling I'd need to rent a crane to drop it in place. (You need one of those anyway, I think, so maybe that's not a big deal.)

Called the road and bridges department and found out... even though it's a 'county road' (i.e., not my private property), it's not /really/ under their jurisdiction since this was a separate subdivision once upon a time. It's obvious whatever subdivision was here quickly rotted away, probably back in 1999 (When 3/4ths of the land owners would have to agree to continue the subdivision agreement - I get the feeling that didn't happen.); the pavement is decaying and only visible on the least visited roads (i.e., my road), it's mostly devolved into sand and pebbles.

So, essentially, they're completely hands off to how I handle this small muddy gully between my property and the road. In one way that's pretty cool, in another way, I don't a free dirt fill from the county. Anyway, I'm going to have to figure out how to handle this gully. I think I would want a culvert anyway to displace as much dirt as possible (Reduce the amount of dirt I would have to buy). And...

I still need to figure out what kind of "dirt" i'm looking for. I'm obviously not looking for the dirt that makes up these parts, that turns into a muddy mess fast, becoming vehicle quicksand. Looking at residents, it appears they have some kind of reddish layer with stones ontop. One person used stone blocks from homedepot, instead of getting gravel and 'general purpose' stones and whatnot.

Anyway, I emptied the RV of all its detritus and just put it in heavy duty plastic bags on my property; I don't care if it gets stolen, it's of no use to me. While the LED christmas lights looked pretty cool, I don't think I'm going to be wasting my battery's energy on powering christmas lights. I also hooked up the RV /without/ getting stuck in the mud, and then backed up into place into the clearing just 100 feet from my property and it's partially in the road. I'm going to cut that tall grass, yes I will, I just don't feel like I have the proper hand tools and I don't know where to find them. I know I'm looking for a sickle...

I also got the bed installed, and it just needs one leg to be cut to size and installed. But, I need to figure out how to correctly install the blade on my ryobi circular saw; I figured I would figure it out later (read the directions, etc.)

I also installed a hasp and lock on the door, so the RV is now lockable. Now, I just need to fully figure out what should be kept in there. [essentially all sub-$50 business critical kind of items. Special exceptions being my tools. That's arguably business critical anyhow.]

Anyway, I'm looking at the RV... and at the present moment... I realized I'm severely lacking something resembling a desk, lol. Like, even a table would work, and I thought those were standard in RVs. So, I might have to make one. I obviously need to figure it out...

Anyway, it's clear the RV needs to be open to the outside air, so I need to install the screens and open it up. I started coughing after a little while in there and it felt stuffy.

Anyhow, I think I'm going to get a lockable shed of some sort. I want something secure enough to put business critical items in for at least a short duration (So I can use my van to pick up loads like rocks and the such). Maybe not a shed, per se, but something.

Basically, it needs to be impervious to a screw driver, hammer and angle grinder cutoff wheel. Even my hasp can be easily broken with an angle grinder cutoff wheel. (See, I would get a car, relatively impervious to an angle grinder, but the windows are definitely not impervious to a hammer, lol.)

EDIT: Oh, lol. Just thought of it. Don't put the driveway where there's the largest difference in height between the land and the road, which is precisely where I started carving out space. HAHA! Oh gosh, so much wasted effort, lol. Oh well, now I know better. I guess I can consider all that land-clearing I did "training" and my muscles have definitely been feeling it. Land more level with the road will have less flooding and be easier/less-costly to construct a driveway over, all of which is of interest to me.

 

[Dauntless]

It's obvious whatever subdivision was here quickly rotted away, probably back in 1999 (When 3/4ths of the land owners would have to agree to continue the subdivision agreement - I get the feeling that didn't happen.);

They always make it sound so simple, eh?

I still need to figure out what kind of "dirt" i'm looking for. I'm obviously not looking for the dirt that makes up these parts, that turns into a muddy mess fast, becoming vehicle quicksand. Looking at residents, it appears they have some kind of reddish layer with stones ontop. One person used stone blocks from homedepot, instead of getting gravel and 'general purpose' stones and whatnot.

Muddy is a matter of drainage. I'm in quite the clay environment here, which I think holds up well in the wet. It's happy to drain, too. But you might to do a little terracing or something.

You put a camera on the junk with it in plain sight so you can research who does the stealing.

And sickles fell out of favor with the fall of the U.S.S.R. Maybe there's someone holding a garage sale after their grandparents died and want their reminders of Bernie gone as quickly as possible.

 

[swbluto]

And sickles fell out of favor with the fall of the U.S.S.R. Maybe there's someone holding a garage sale after their grandparents died and want their reminders of Bernie gone as quickly as possible.

Lol, I know I'm going to get that "That's so ancient" kind of comments but they knew something we modern people don't. A workout is good for ya, especially when you're one with nature in doing it. Granted, they weren't looking for a workout, but it's a benefit they enjoyed anyway, regardless if they realized it or not...

Maybe I'll put the plastic baggies in the same area with the rest of the junk in the vacant lot... maybe no one will think of stealing it...

Getting a camera on the RV is a good idea.

 

[DAND214]

You need some pics, we need some pics. All text and no pics

This is a dumb question. Are you sure you are in the right plot? Did they show you it? Just wondering, if there is no markings to what is what. sure would be a bummer if you are in the wrong lot.

PICS!

Dan

 

[swbluto]

You need some pics, we need some pics. All text and no pics

This is a dumb question. Are you sure you are in the right plot? Did they show you it? Just wondering, if there is no markings to what is what. sure would be a bummer if you are in the wrong lot.

PICS!

Dan

Yeah, there's a survey stake as well as a line cut through the forest that marks the left side of my property. There was also a survey stake on the right side, but someone went out of their way to rip it out and throw it on the side of the road, so I only have an inkling where the right side is. Luckily, I have a 150' tape measure I picked up from the pawn shop for $9, so I can just measure it out to get a good idea of where it lands.

Anyway, I don't have my camera accessible to me at the moment. Eventually!

 

[swbluto]

Okay, so I'm looking for clay to put down and then rocks ontop of that. Lucky me, it seems if I dig down far enough, I start getting clay. Of course, I think I'll probably hit water first, at least at the moment. So that's probably what the red stuff I saw on that one guy's driveway was.

 

[Adverse Effects]

$1000 of sales in 4 days. This month is looking good, lol. Warning: TONS OF WORK AHEAD! Lol.

Luckily, I have a 150' tape measure I picked up from the pawn shop for $9, so I can just measure it out to get a good idea of where it lands.

hmm not only at deaths door (even tho there is probably nothing wrong with him)

but he is a well off cheap skate scrooge Mc Duck with grand ideas he wants to do for a nickel

and then hasent even supplied even 1 pic of anything including

Oh, did anyone wonder what I do for work?

One side of the business, is girls paying me to draw their pictures. Seriously. Here's a sample of my work.

i am starting to think of calling bullsh!t on everything he (if it is a he) has said