I'm sure they could.
The new campsite at the national forest is pretty interesting. It definitely looks cleaner than the neighorhood, it's quieter (Generally, it's hunting season so there's rifle fire at 7:00 a.m., apparently.) and there's not so much dog racket. On the negative side, the internet connection is a little spotty and the cell signal is weak, so doing things like watching youtube videos is kind of impractical, lol. Oh well, the kind of data I need for business isn't too data intensive.
It appears the forest service dumped sand everywhere that they intended to be driven on. Interesting, I didn't know sand made for an exceptionally good road surface. I wonder if sand is cheaper than chert?
Looking online, it seems that caliche is commonly used in the drier parts of Texas, whereas the wetter (Eastern) parts seem to commonly use chert and sand.
Oh, interesting, didn't know. (From wikipedia)
In some areas, chert is ubiquitous as stream gravel and fieldstone and is currently used as construction material and road surfacing. Part of chert's popularity in road surfacing or driveway construction is that rain tends to firm and compact chert while other fill often gets muddy when wet.
Sounds like chert is a winner here! lol. (It's raining right now and all since early this morning. A couple days of thunderstorms in the next few days. I remember how the weather used to be so incsequential to my daily life, but it seems to be so central here since "Walking around" requires the outdoors and it affects things like generator/tarp placement, whether I really feel like walking around outside because I've been cooped up too long (Sitting down is the only practical longterm position in the RV, lol.)
And, will confirm, it appears that height/altitude is central to making sure a sandy road stays dry. It seems after this most recent rain, the lowest laying parts of the sand are all goopy, just like the subsoil in my area after a good rain (The water table seems to increase to near the ground level after a normal rain.). Drainage on the sides of the road/driveway seems to be central to that, and I'm guessing it'd be beneficial to have the drainage drain into the ditch. Okay, for height, I think I'm just going to create a mining pit and use my own subsand to create the necessary height. It seems to be a reddish colored sand (as opposed to the white sand I'm seeing here), but it seems to have the exact same characteristics to this sand when compact and when it's dry/wet, so I'm guessing it's 90% sand in the way it reacts to wetness. I'm going to create the mining pit to speed up this driveway construction, and I still need to figure out what this driveway will look like. After this most recent assault by my neighbor, I've reached the point where I'm like "frock what my neighbors might think of my property, I'll do what I want to get this driveway done the fastest!". I thought I had the luxury to wait out until I had enough funds to accomplish the driveway /properly/, but that's obviously not true, so I'm going with the "fastest" option now regardless of the 'neighborhood impacts' (I lol when I say neighborhood impacts, because there's not much that can be done to insult this neighborhood, lol. I'm basically using it as a starting point, a launch pad to better properties worthy of building a house on. The cops laughed in ridicule when they asked, "So you're just going to build a driveway and stop there?", yeah basically, because I'm not wasting too much resources on this piece of land. I need a better neighborhood before I do that, and I'm essentially going to be saving up for a better piece of land and the materials to build a house. And, obviously, a driveway, lol. Just the fact this is the second cop I've seen in this neighborhood and he's asking about stolen property tells me there's probably a few thieves of a latino persuasion in this area, like I've suspected. Was this an issue in my previous neighborhood? Don't make me laugh, lol.)
Anyway, I've noticed that my stool has returned back to normal in this new environment. It's not diarrhea-ish like it was previously (I've never seen a solid stool since living on my street in my RV), so I'm guessing my cortisol levels are running a little lower here. Now it's a question if my cortisol levels are higher in that neighborhood because of the neighborhood, or because I'm not on my own property. The stool will eventually tell all, lol. It's not in my best interest to be living in a place that causes my cortisol levels to run higher, because that can beget sickness and even worse than that in the longterm, so I will eventually know if I should be getting out of that neighborhood sooner rather than later, lol. And, all the digging, mining, clearing and root removal for the driveway will start in a couple of days, after these rainstorms move through and I've cleared out my current orders. (I've got a pretty big backlog at the moment and I started plowing through them today, it's a good thing I was "lazy" and didn't start yesterday. Eegads, that would've been awful getting interrupted by the cops had I started yesterday.)
Anyway, I like that I'm running my business out of my RV. My business is wherever my RV is, so I can run my business pretty much anywhere (As long as I have a cell connection and I can run my generator without issue; the generator requirement is probably the more significant limitation. Even the cell can be accommodated, with periodic travel to places where I get a cell signal, lol.
Anyway, will confirm, cops are the limiting factor to just parking and being anywhere, lol.
Anyway, I've been entertaining a way to reenter the neighborhood and block off cop access, and I thought I would eventually come up with a viable plan (Basic rule of thumb for Texas cops, they don't like to walk further than they have to.), but I think it'd probably be better just to get that mining pit started and intend on parking on the quickly constructed driveway sooner rather than later. I'm thinking I could use a tractor, for fine tuning the position of the trailer. I think I'm starting to understand these drainage ditches and culverts a little better, and where one is absolutely necessary. (Basically, you need a drainage ditch right next to a road/driveway if the elevation isn't already high enough. Basic purpose is for a place for the water to roll off the driveway/road and collect.)
Anyway, for the mining pit, I'm going to need a wheelbarrow, and I'll probably have to create a plywood bridge across the culvert for the wheelbarrow. Or.... hmmm.... I could cut a path through the forest to the driveway... I was thinking about that, eventually, making a circular driveway. Seems like cutting a path for the wheelbarrow should be simple enough. It's easy to create paths for skinnier objects, it's wider objects (Like vehicles/trailers) that ups the tree removal requirements a bit.)
When I get back in two weeks, I think if I can't park on my driveway just yet, I could park on the side of the clearing while I quickly finish it up (And install the bed leveling blocks). And, boy, it seems to be a bit windier here than back I used to be. Must be the fact the national forest service cleared out much of the trees at one time, probably because one of them fell and killed someone, so the wind has room to move/accelerate.
Oh jeez, can't wait for this next payday (About 3 days from now). I think I'm going to seriously need the money to get things done as quickly as I want to. And, it's good fortune I should be getting paid around the same time I should be getting through the current orders. Anyway, I like this location, because I feel a little more secure leaving my RV here (Will probably have to empty the van a little bit to pick up a wheelbarrow.). With its high visibility, I have my doubts too many will be brave enough to pull out the portable angle grinder during the day time, lol.
When I get to my new location, I think I'm going to be pulling off my license plates after I park during the day. I don't need the cops to identify me nor my vehicles when I'm on my private property, and I'm not going to let them. The cops here seem to be a little bit too busy patrolling this area, and it seems they tend to overstep their jurisdiction (Probably unwittingly), so I'm not going to assist them when they come by when it comes to matters of my person when it's perfectly within my rights to do so. Nuh uh. (It seems they're out to 'get someone' in this neighborhood, and they're looking for anything they can pin against you. Granted, I don't really have anything that they can pin against me, but it sure looks like they're trying to find something, and I have a right to non-self-incrimination. And, it's obviously in my best interest to not do so, lol. I learned that lesson in nuke school, lol. Anything you say can and will be used against you, especially in the spanish inquisition known as nuke school. Seems like that was unusually common knowledge in restriction, as if many of these guys had past experience with this, don't say anything, lol. Not everyone, most people weren't in their for civil "crimes", like me.)
Thinking about this mining pit and the impact on resale value, I thought about it some more and I thought, "Hey, I could actually not significantly hurt the value of this land by eventually putting in a pond liner and turning it into a pond.", and so now the thought is what is the layout and location of the mining pit/pond going to be. Hmmm.... tough questions.
On another note, figured out how to get a good signal on my laptop while being protected from the weather. Sit in my van with the cell phone sitting right next to the windshield. The signal is strong with this one, yes. lol
Update: Jan 16, 11:25 a.m. - been experiencing a light recurrent ache in the left side of the palm of the left hand, along the way to the pinky. This could be an ulnar issue, possibly originating in the neck, or it could be of cardiac origin. The struggle has been real over the last two days, so a cardiac origin wouldn't be completely farfetched. On the otherhand, my neck has been paining a little bit at times (A sharp flashing pain) around the 5th/6th vert, so an ulnar issue isn't too unlikely (It seems that the tendon at the C8-T1 junction is loose, making the C8 nerve vulnerable to irritation. C8 maps to the pinky/ring.). Just seems like the ache corresponds with stress at times, and at other times, changes in head/neck position, so hard to decipher. The 'great ache' in the entire upper body region seemed like it was coming out this morning while standing, but it quickly subsided as soon as it appeared, as if a flit of my imagination.
Oh baby, I see myself getting a pug within a month at the current rate of revenue. But, I should focus on getting the property situated first before getting a dog, and see where I stand after all the expenses therein.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/ddc551df-52a7-38ad-9a94-08fc4ca0c4c1/is-that-chest-pain-serious%3F.html
Looks like they're testing for TMAO. What produces TMAO? Bacteria.They're finding high levels of TMAO are highly correlated with adverse cardiovascular affects. They don't really come out and say "Bacteria causes it"(Because apparently no one but me has figured it out yet.), but they state that dairy causes increased TMAO. What about fermented dairy, where the bad bacteria increasing mlik sugars (Namely, lactose) have been converted/fermented by innocuous bacteria, aka, cheese? A quick google search tells me that TMAO is found to be decreased by cheese, so clearly the article is generalizing too much and implying some falsehoods in the process. Interesting. They state that rotting fish is known to increase TMAO, but TMAO is caused by bacteria and commercial fish is usually cooked and salted to protect it from bacteria, so things like canned fish is not really a concern. (Granted, perhaps BPA lined cans are, but that's a separate matter.) They also state that eggs increase TMAO, but I strongly believe that raw eggs don't increase TMAO because of its powerful antibacterial albumin.
Now, on this idea of bacteria causing major health problems? Why would they?
Mmmmm.... it's competition between the species, essentially. Just like the dog attacks the cat and cats attack the bird, bacteria attacks all whom are vulnerable to them, which is just about every living organism in existence, especially mammals. It's why my cut is festering white pus (Dead white blood cells that have died at that particular site), it's why we have pimples (Dead white blood cells leaving the body via the safest route out, the skin. Other routes, renal/hepatic, probably cause organ damage and probably eventually organ failure.). An animal unwittingly exposing them to their attacks via a bacteria fostering diet stand a great chance of prematurely succumbing to them.
Update:
Bruised feeling in left lower lip, 3 seconds of noticeable palpitations with concurrent sore mid-chest (Felt like fish flopping around; I've seen this in an image, btw. I'll post it later.), tip of member felt sore at times. Woke up this morning feeling discombobulated, ate 3 bananas which tasted exceptionally good /this time/, and am feeling normal about 5 minutes later. Aha, possible hypoglycemia last night. I guess I should end my nights with 70g of carbs and enough fat/protein and fiber (I did 150 grams of grain carbs yesterday with no fat/protein/fiber for supper, and 50g grains and a banana supper.). Still feeling tip of member soreness at times.
Btw, I had noticed irregular hearbeats on my ECG about 2 months ago, but not recently. [I checked once about 2 weeks ago.]
Anyway, I think I figured out how I'm going to do the driveway. Build it up using sand on the property from the future pond. Add, add, add, level it, grade it, tamp it down, grade it, tamp it down, add the geotextile fabric, add, add, add, level it, grade it, tamp it down, grade it, tamp it down, grade it so that there's a crown. And then I'll test it out after a good rain. If it gets sloppy when wet, that should be easy to figure out - my foot will sink right through it, lol. I'm just hoping with some proper tamping, the sand should be enough, but it might not, in which case, I'll need a layer of chert ontop; I should probably figure this out by the time the geotextile fabric on, in which case I can probably add chert directly to the geotextile fabric assuming I have the proper height. Have 2 days to figure out the driveway design. Pulling the trailer ontop the driveway with the van will not be possible unless I make the driveway something like 20 feet wide, or I make a part of it 20 feet wide and park the RV in the wider spot. (Perhaps the front of the driveway, which then narrows.) I could get by with a tighter footprint if I had use of a tractor, but I'd still need a 20 feet wide driveway(ideally at the front) regardless. (I'm thinking I will want to use a tractor to back the trailer up into position, anyway, so I can attach to the hitch from the front. Pulling it in with the van would require backing it up onto the street which would be hazardous in tight spaces, lol, and backing it up into the driveway would also be hazardous, again, due to the tight spaces and limited drivable surfaces available.)
So, I guess I'm looking for a 22 foot wide, 20 feet long driveway. I could always lengthen and expand it later it if I feel so inclined, later.
Anyway, so far, the hardware store list is...
-Tamper
-Wheelbarrow
-Some pieces of wood, some chiken coop staples, wood staples or similar, short screws to attach the wood to aluminum, some magnetic strips, a metal plate. (I need to create a frame around this hole in the screen door, and then improvise a closable opening to the door handle. The current system I'm using right now is a plastic bag inserted into the hole in the screen, but this seems to be expanding the hole and there are small gaps in a few places. These small gaps generally don't seem to be a problem with keeping most bugs out, but it is with the one bug I want to keep out, bees, because it seems like these boogers like to land and start crawling around to find openings. They like to "probe the perimeter", I've noticed, which is how one got into my van even though the door was closed. So, I need to make a more effective system that's 100% sealed, at least well enough to keep out bees. I could actually use a sheet of wood, attach to the wooden frame, and then cut a hole in the wood for the opening(to the door handle) in which to put the magnetic strips around and the metal plate. Would decrease the magnetic strips and metal plate cost a bit.)
-Check out the geotextile fabric... if it exists... might need to special order...
So, let's see. There's 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard, and it seems most people are all like "I need 10 cubic yards". How many wheelbarrow loads is that with a 6 cubic foot wheelbarrow (assume 4 a load)? That's 270cubic feet/4cubicfeetper = 67.5 wheelbarrow loads. Oh, that looks eminently achievable with some persistence and a few days.
It seems like angle of the supporting slope for elevated roads and the such is about 30 degrees. I didn't really notice the "ditching at the side of the road" affect so prominently back in Washington as I do here. Then again, I wasn't in the country. Seems like the city uses street gutters where the country uses ditches.
Seems like the best position for the cellie /inside/ the RV, so far, is right behind the bed at the back of the RV. The signal passes through a wooden board and then another thin wooden board sealing up the rear hatch, and I'm guessing cell signals goes through thin wooden boards like a fatboy through cake. So easily and so fast! lol.
It's kind of strange seeing that I'm the only one in this campground with lights on. These people seem to be here longterm (They've been here as long as I have; the weekend campers have left by now, and it's obvious who they were.) and they don't seem to run a generator and I don't think solar would be very effective this part of the month. Makes me wonder if they even have a generator... maybe they're really poor... Granted, if I didn't have to run my business, my energy needs could be exceptionally low as well such that I probably wouldn't need one if I forced myself to do without one. The most energy intensive application is my laptop, sucks a full 50w at rest. I couldn't imagine being out here and "just living in an RV" with nothing really to do. That seems like it'd be a waste of life (Probably especially so at my age), maybe that changes as one approaches retirement age. Where "just living" suffices.
I think I'm finding my dietary preferences titling towards the 'tropical foods'. At first it seemed that was because I admired the native tropical cultures around the equator, but now it seems like the only food that will keep in the heat. Cheese seems to melt and ooze which is just plain gross, whereas avacados and nuts are just dandy in the warmth ( Secret seems to be knowing which one to pick out, a skill I obviously haven't mastered yet, lol.). Same with bananas and coconuts; they stay 'fresh' in the warmth just fine. The only thing I'm missing is fresh spinach... I'm not sure if I trust packaged spinach in the warmth like I do canned spinach...
Wish I could work that fast.
:lol: (I'm thinking it'd be wise to move to the part of the forest where the trees are swaying less.)
