Buying forest land, implementing solar

[marty]

Update: 5:38 p.m. - the other large pine tree is halfway down; it landed in the branches of another tree in the backyard so it didn't quite touch the ground, and I'm not going to take that tree down until this tree is off of it (Don't want it fall on me, lol), so I'm having a little problem right now that might take some time to figure out. I tried pushing the tree off its stump, which it cleanly broke off, but it would not budge with the sledgehammer, my pulaski axe nor me pushing it with all my strength, so I'm thinking I'm cut it somehow. The problem with the chainsaw is that somewhere past halfway thru, the tree will start to pinch the chainsaw making it inoperable and with a large tree like this, the chainsaw could also become unremovable.

Now I'm starting to wonder if that's what those tree wedges are for; keep the tree from pinching the chainsaw.

So, I'm thinking I might have some time ahead trying to axe this tree apart. Luckily, it was a few inches shorter than my chainsaw, so it'll be a little easier to use my axe than on the 20" tree.

If cutting from the top down causes.... "tree will start to pinch the chainsaw making it inoperable" Try cutting from the bottom and go up.

Note - Easy to be killed if something goes wrong.
youtube.com/results?search_query=chainsaw+accidents

 

[swbluto]

Good advice. I tried it out and it worked. The tree was still stuck in the branches of the other pines, but I bounced up and down on the pine tree which finally brought it down to the ground. Now I just have 6 more trees to get down, so it's getting done.

Anyway, put away my rifle and /bam/ rifle fire in the distance continued. What the heck man... It's rather creepy to think they're watching me, so I'm thinking he just heard me make a noise with opening the door and he started firing.

Anyway, I'm noticing with cutting down all these trees, there's a little bend in my bar. Hmmm... don't know if that's going to be a permanent issue and if it's a problem.

 

[swbluto]

Seems like this gunman has become more active since the repo guy came by at 6:12 a.m. yesterday. He fired multiple shots pretty closeby at 8 p.m. yesterday night as I got in my van about 50 yards away I'd guess, then here he is firing his pistol nearby in the same area at 9:03 a.m waking me up. He definitely wasn't this active prior to the Repo man, so I'm thinking maybe he got his ride stolen. In a place like this, that's not really inconsequential. If you don't have support of one type or another, no car can easily mean no job (And, for me, no fruits and vegetables or even affordable drinking water, lol.).

Yesterday when he was 50 yards away and he fired a series of shots as I was getting in my van, I told him "F_ck yourself, a$$hole", and he didn't do anything or say anything, so I have really no idea what he's thinking. He might not even speak English; I definitely know the 20-something guys there the first night I drove by didn't speak english, and they looked all confused when I made my request to come on through on the road (They parked their cars on the road), and their sister had to translate for them.
j
I'm finding with the nights being as warm as they are, I'm not sleeping until 3 a.m.; the thermal inertia of the day from the sun pounding my RV and the 1000w-1500w of heat generated internally might also be aggravating the situation the little. I try to maximize airflow at night to get the internal temperature down as far as possible, but it still seems to be just a little too warm at midnight.

I know if I were to have my choice, I wouldn't want to live among unemployed 20-something males. They can be known for violence (especially the gun-wielding Houston types in the middle of summer); in sufficient numbers, revolutions.

Update: 10:30 a.m., Got the equipment in place at the new location for the next trees to come down. With the trees stacked ontop of each, became an obstacle course getting around the yard, lol. Reached the sweating threshold by the time everything got in place (chainsaw,tarp,loppers,50 pound generator). I actually like it for now because it makes for some much-missed exercise, lol. Not a lot of "elevation opportunities" here. It is interesting how all the trees, so far, have fallen into my yard and not out of it. I don't think it was purposely designed that way; maybe it indicates I'm in a local geopgrahic depression? Well... I wouldn't think that, I think the falling direction is set by the growth direction of the tree, which depends on where the available sunlight is.

Anyway, I'm finding the standard exit/entry from my RV is evolving into "Loaded, sights on"; I turn the sights off after re-entering the RV. It feels a little ludicrous keeping myself armed, but what can I say - I'm having a little fun with it, lol.

Maybe I should get together with my neighbor and do some paintballing or airsofting, lol. But, I think he might be liable to "accidentally" use the wrong gun... so I'm thinking no?

Update: 11:46 a.m. - wow no end to chainsaw headaches. The chain jumped off the bar twice and so I straightened it out a little bit and then halfway into the first pine I was going to take down, the chain got pinched and became unremovable from the tree, and then long after that happened, it jumped off the bar, lol. So my chain is stuck in the tree, lol.

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=64538.0

It appears I might benefit from some wedges.

And, it looks like walmart has some wedges.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Trilink-Plastic-Felling-Wedge/47194529

This wedge is designed to helps prevent pinching of the chainsaw guide bar and chain, it also aids in directional felling of trees and buckling.

Sounds like what I'm looking for, lol. Well, that's going to be another trip today.

Anyway, this tree is important to get down because it looks like it will definitely fall in the direction of my bedroom, lol.

I'm not sure where to find a replacement bar... black & decker 16 inch bar. Can't seem to find them. Plenty of oregons, poulans, worx,
husqvarna, greenworks, etc... Anyway, this would be important to find because a replacement chainsaw is $80. Might as well pluck down $40 for a harbor freight one if the bars ruin this fast, lol.

Anyway, these trees I have left /could/ be taken down by axe. So, it's a possibility should I need to. I only have like 6 smaller large trees left.

Wait... nevermind... looked at it again... there's two trees I /really/ would not want to fall with an axe, lol. A weeklong project kind of thing, lol.

I wonder if A little notch with a long backcut would work... and I wonder if my handsaw would work to make a backcut, lol.

And midback/uppermidback was hurting a little bit on the curving this morning. And, I'm really not feeling like carbs. Just a little unusual with the seeming lack of sleep of last night. The ending yesterday was somewhat aggravating beyond normal (Getting pistolfire pisses me off a little)... so yes... Well, feeling fine otherwise.

Update: 4:31 p.m.; got the tree wedge along with some carb and fat replenishment. I noticed how the coconut flakes really filled me up that one night, whereas nothing else I had could (including peanuts), so I'm a firm believer in having coconuts around, lol. They don't have the phytates that peanuts do, so they don't have the same nutrient absorption issues either.

And, tried out the wedge - chain is still firmly stuck. OK, well, I'm just going to have to cut a little notch with my axe and get my saw and see if I can saw through it, lol. It's a smaller tree, so shouldn't be /too/ challenging, I hope, lol.

I saw on the back of the package the notch didn't really have to be too large, lol. I was taking my notch to 75%-80% of the diameter of the tree, the tree wedge package shows it going like 20% in, lol. That might explain why I'm having chainsaw issues, lol. Just going in too deep. Okay, well, that's good to know now; I have 2 rather large trees left, so it's good to have this knowledge now.

Saw a large tree felling axe at walmart, but didn't get it because I only need to get down so many more trees at this point.

 

[swbluto]

The mexican grocery store was telling me that today was a slow day. I wish I could give her insight on that (Usually the first two paycycles of the month are slower for me), but she made it sound like it's rarely like this on Monday. Hmm... well... I can't really say I know the 'why'. I'm not exactly sure what drives her sales, if it's like a percentage of people driving by her place that stop by, or people in the nearby area stop by when they're feeling flush with money.

With the repo guy coming by yesterday, I might surmise that could be symptomatic of a larger trend. But, even so, I don't think it could explain a "one day" slow down in sales. I do know that various hardware stores have been really hammering the discounts to drive sales recently, so they're might be a recent slowdown in sales overall and she could be feeling it today for whatever reason (I guess the weekend tends to be busy, so they wouldn't likely start to feel the impacts over the weekend.).

So, the beginning of widespread slow down in sales suggests maybe a wider trend, like the beginning of a recession. I track my sales on a week-by-week basis as my sales tend to cluster for whatever reason, so I wouldn't notice a recession until the week's sales slowed down. And, I can't say I've noticed a slowdown in sales recently. I did notice a slowdown in "retail sales" about 2 weeks ago, and I was thinking about expansion, but I'm a little bit busy with projects and my finances are doing pretty fine to really worry about that. Maybe once I get started on construction and I get the slew of orders I have out, I'll get a groove going and I'll fit in expansion... right now, I'm viewing the "taking down trees" thing as an ASAP kind of priority.

Update: began the notch and the backcut. It /seems/ like it's almost there, but it's obviously not acting like it's /there/ yet. Oh well, maybe it'll get there on the next work cycle some 25 minutes from now. It was my goal to get this tree down by the end of today, making it the one and only tree taken down today, lol.

The saw really slows down past 30% in. Think the tree rings release sap which really increases cutting resistance. I noticed the brown sap bulging out from the chainsaw cut.

The pros say they have a "backup" chainsaw, but I literally have like 6 trees left to take down, only 2 of them "large". I should be able to get away without a backup! lol.

Anyway, so far, it doesn't seem like the gunman has been as pesky today as he was yesterday. But, I really won't know until 9 p.m. or so, when dusk is finished. I'm hoping he gets the clue I'm able to defend myself because the "peaceful" alternative (Literally, do nothing) didn't really seem to be deterring him. I know I'm "supposed to" match his gunfire with my gunfire (Meet his "bark" with my "bark"), but my rifle has a silencer on it, so that doesn't really help, lol.

Update: Got hungry, had the last half of the pineapple, filled me up and I suddenly had ALL THE ENERGY to plow right through that notch and the tree came falling down. You know it makes a sound your neighbors can hear when the dogs start barking, lol. And, with the help of the saw, I was able to get the chain out... woohoo! Get to get back to chainsawing tomorrow, and hopefully I'll get the rest done easy peasy with my new equipment and updated techniques, lol.

Anyway, women driving by... why do people drive by here... my neighbor noticed the pickup in traffic too.. she had that look of terror as she drove by my encampment, lol. I was going to say disgust... but no... I'm pretty sure that was a look of terror. I think this 60s RV scares people. It doesn't impact me personally, I sleep well enough when the temperature's cool enough and it houses my business equipment just peachy being relatively stripped down. And, I can't really explain I couldn't be picky with the CL RVs at the time because they were far and few between. This RV took about 5 days to see, and nobody else was responding, so I didn't have much choice in this matter.

I think I've learned that just about every women in this area is packing children. I guess the high discretionary income of Houston has had no problems with making daddies and mothers. That 20-something female in Albuquerque riding in the back of her parent's car whom I espied at the rest stop, I'm pretty sure she wasn't packing children. The same girl here? There's a good bet. (You wouldn't find the same girl riding in the back of her parent's car, no. Everybody has their own car, here.)

Anyway, I see the rabbit found my pineapple leftovers. He looked particularly energetic and it looked bone dry, telling me he probably had some, lol. So rabbits will eat pineapples, interesting.

 

[Dauntless]

They have the Black & Decker on Amazon.com. I'm told the Oregon bar will fit anything, with a new chain included. Haven't tried it out myself. https://www.amazon.com/Oregon-Combination-Craftsman-Homelite-27857/dp/B00004RA71/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1497333296&sr=8-3&keywords=oregon+chainsaw+bar

 

[swbluto]

They have the Black & Decker on Amazon.com. I'm told the Oregon bar will fit anything, with a new chain included. Haven't tried it out myself. https://www.amazon.com/Oregon-Combination-Craftsman-Homelite-27857/dp/B00004RA71/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1497333296&sr=8-3&keywords=oregon+chainsaw+bar

Thanks for the lead. I posted the question on that Amazon page, but about 15 minutes later, it's nowhere to be seen so who knows... lol.

I'm getting tempted to take my bar upto walmart and comparing it with their bar. Would take the chain too; might be relevant part information on the chains that could confirm comparability. They have the oregons at Walmart, a bit cheaper than Amazon, too. $24 vs Amazon's $33. I get my midweek banana replenishment at walmart (Though it's a little iffy sometimes...green bananas...haven't really found other affordable organic fruit carbs... I've been using the pineapples for now, lol.), so it's easy enough to group up other walmart purchases.

Anyway, I'm really liking this obstacle course the fallen trees are making in my backyard, lol (It's my only practical "elevation training" so far, lol.). I'm thinking I might keep these around a while, and I'll chop up the trees as I need to as I expand my garden plots.

I was using it just recently because after eating the bananas and sitting around a little bit too long in the morning, I seem to get this light fluttery feeling in my chest that makes me think I need to get moving. Moving seems to help quell it, or so I believe.

I think I'm going to continue the tree falling later today, I really need to focus on work.

Update; I see I'm getting sleepy pretty often this morning. I think I"m not sleeping well in this hot weather, bodes poorly for productivity.

I'm wondering if I could get an extended runtime generator and power the AC with that. I might sleep better. Running the genny at the night wouldn't be so kosher, I think, but my morning time office productivity really seems like it's getting flushed town the toilet, lol.

And, it sounded like there were mice in my RV yesterday night. How the heck did mice get in here? :?

I only heard them for 5 seconds, so methinks they aren't actually in the RV, and they were "passing by" somehow... not exactly sure how I could hear them so clearly if they were underneath the RV, but that's what I'm suspecting.

 

[swbluto]

I'm mulling over setting up a large tent in the backyard for summer sleeping until I get the new structure built. I would go buy a new tent since the tent I have doesn't fit my full size bed and the airbed makes for absolutely sucky sleep quality, lol.

I would be hiding in my backyard, but I don't really know if that's a good idea because I get the feeling I'm in the midst serial killers who will kill those whom they think are hiding, lol. I feel a little safer in my RV with known terrorizing gunman around. The fact this guy is walking around midnight singing his tune tells me I don't really know if I can trust this guy as far as being a "midnight murderer", and it's pure speculation, but I'd rather not find out in a puddle of blood, lol. So, I'm thinking I need the electric fence set up before I can think about sleeping in a tent in the back, lol.

Anyway, while talking to the mexican grocery lady, she was telling me has fear of going to mexico with her child because someone will take (him/her?) and the police will do nothing about it, so she doesn't go down to visit her family with her children, apparently. Anyway, I asked what they did with these children... she didn't know... but I offered "Human trafficking? Sex trade?".

Anyway, she made it sound like it's a problem /everywhere/... but I didn't get the impression it's a real palpable fear in the USA. You can go visit your parents with your children without a very real fear of getting them stolen, lol. So, I'm thinking she doesn't really understand the culture of the USA, but that's interesting since she's been here for 18 years? I guess she's been insulated in her mexican culture with her family here for the last 18 years, so they don't really know much about anything but Mexico, lol.

Anyway... I thought about why this issue would be more prominent in Mexico... let's see... no jobs... very poor country... very weak police... lucrative international child sex trade... I have an idea! To make money. I assume it's not very prominent in the USA for exactly those reasons - there's plenty of good paying jobs here (in comparison) and the police are relatively strong, so the incentive is much less.

It's interesting that the most lucrative jobs in mexico are related to human trafficking. Either to move them into the sex trade or move them across the board.

Woo, I've been ignoring my bank accounts for a little while now being wrapped up in this shed and all preparations for it, and wow, I got the money, lol.

I like how I can say this online without someone saying "well, then give me some. Remember that something or another...", lol.

Anyway, I was noticing the uneven terrain my blocks were sitting on and I just realized I might need to use the dig a hole + fill with gravel method. Fudge, I was hoping I wouldn't have to go buy gravel. Maybe I can just go dig up some clay and use clay... lol.

I was thinking I should go

 

[swbluto]

Do those game cameras make a "ding" sound when they activate? Wondering because I was walking down this normal road and not too far down, I heard a "ding" to the left of me in the forest somewhere nearby. This has never happened before the millions of times I've walked this road, so I'm thinking the gunman planted something there and I'm not sure what. And, this sound was definitely not mistakable with the sounds a tree makes (SQUEEEEKKKK).

It's a little bothersome to think this guy is getting more involved with me since a few days ago. What have I been doing? Absolutely nothing out of the norm. I walk up and down my street millions of times throughout the day, and I'm nowhere near their property at all. As far as I can tell, they're setting up trackers so they conduct their drug operations in this area directly in front of me with confidence. But why the hell would they choose to use something that makes a noise... it's like a dead giveaway.

Granted I was carrying my rifle around my RV and property, but I was definitely not going anywhere else with it. It's a little bit too heavy to just go for a walk with, lol, and I don't really feel comfortable walking with a rifle in hand down the street. I feel like that's helping to induce a gang warfare environment, which I have no intention of having gun battles in my neighborhood.

That is, I'm not battling for 'turf'... jeez, lol.

Udpate: Found a big whopping rabbit munching on my pineapple leftovers, he went into the woods onto my property and I was thinking... "Hey, I wonder if I could get this guy with my rifle?"(I've never shot anything but paper targets with my rifle before)... so went to grab it, and there he was sitting nice and pretty, took aim of the center...

FIRE!

He instantly hopped and flopped upside down on the ground. He was laying there for about 3 seconds, and then he got back up and started making a squeeling sound, and he ran further into the woods and then I heard him at some point then I could hear him no more... so I ventured into the area where I thought he was, and he was laying there dead, about 5t0 feet from the location he got hit. Got myself a rabbit! Now time to make rabbit stew.

He's probably doing to decompose in time and likely some other predator will find him and eat him. I just don't know what might eventually find him...

Maybe ants. Ants seem to be the vultures of the insect world. Maybe they do rabbits, too.

I'm not exactly sure what he died from. I'd have to look at diagrams to make a guess.

Looks like maybe a kidney or the intestines. Maybe internal bleeding, I dunno. Didn't see a lot of external bleeding, though there was some.

 

[Harold in CR]

Game cams are silent. That's why I suggested you get one, before you got so paranoid.

 

[swbluto]

I looked up "Motion detector ding" and, yes, they have motion detectors that make a ding. So these fags set up a motion detector in the woods along the road, lol. The ones I saw had a "ding or 120 db wailing alarm" option, and I'm guessing they didn't want to alert the entire neighborhood, lol.

I'm thinking about getting a security vest and an AR-15 and go do some 'hunting', lol.

Update: Yep, I decided to mount my blanket to avoid front view of the RV's innards. Now there's only one way to peer into the RV and that's via the air intake right next to the main road. (All the other windows have black fabric over them which work great in a low light environment. i.e., don't turn on the lights, lol.)

Assuming this motion detector is just a way to suggest I shouldn't be walking down that road, then I have absolutely no problems doing that. I hope at this point it leads to peace... and quiet... lol.

And, wow, with the warm humid summer months, the rashes are becoming common. I can tell I need to be taking daily showers.

Anyway, picked up the oregon 16" bar and chain for $27 from walmart. The bar looked identical where it was important, the biggest different I could find is that the teeth looked a tiny bit different in shape and it had 56 teeth instead of black&deckers 57 teeth. I think that just means the bar would be running a tiny bit shorter. So it looks promising, but I will have to see tomorrow.

Anyway, I've been seeing a bit of large bunnies in the area. I'm thinking if I had bait out, it'd be really no problem getting these guys. But, I don't see why I would keep killing these guys, I don't think they're getting in my trash unlike raccoons?

And, it seems the furry woodland creatures here really like pineapple. Other than the 2 bunnies I've found nibbling on it, a squirrel was carrying off the base (The sweetest part of the pineaple.); he was sitting all nice and pretty on the log, so I charged him and he dropped it, and found he was carrying the base off, lol. It doesn't seem like the pineapple attracts ants, oddly enough.

Anyway, someone was commenting that grandpa was doing lousy on complex carbs but he was all lit up on the simple carbs. I was thinking, you're talking about fruit, right?

Vegetable starches (potatos, sweet potatos, cassava, etc.) = complex carbs
Fruit = simple carbs

Pretty much.

They were talking about sugary things like soda and cookies. Oye viejo, eat your fruit!

Update: Anyway, scratching my balls because they were itchy. Was reading it was fungal, though I suspect bacterial. Applied some apple cider vinegar to it, oh, that stuff BURNED... lol... but my balls are no longer itchy! Woohoo, so this becoming part of my daily cleaning routine. Wash hands and arms, wash balls, wash upper chest, wash lower legs, lol. (All the places that are getting rashes)

 

[swbluto]

Anyway, seeing how warm the nighttime temperatures here, I'm thinking somewhere a little more northern along the coast would be good, lol. And it looks like LA is 68 degrees at night pretty much all weeklong, sounds like a great place to sleep at night in an RV! lol. Too bad california as a whole is /highly/ regulated, and the cops are meanies. The cops here might look at my current living situation as a joke, lol, but they aren't fining me into oblivion and taking my property away. They seem to recognize I have property rights, something that doesn't really exist in CA.

 

[swbluto]

Looks like overnight, something picked up the large rabbit and took it.

With the creatures I've seen in this area, I really have no idea what. Maybe a large dog but I haven't seen/heard those in the past couple months, so I'm thinking it was another large woodland creature I haven't seen yet.

Maybe a black bear?

It's all guessing at this point.

----------

Update: Went to go implement the rear electric wiring so I can attach my battery to it, then I stripped the rear cig lighter's wires, and they sparked when they touched each other. Hmmm.... Odd.... I thought there was no electricity back here? They didn't spark any longer. Maybe I just blew a fuse.

Checked the fuse block. Tried all the "RR" ones, none of those. Then I looked at "AUX PWR" and sure enough, there was a burnt fuse there. Replaced it with another 25A fuse, and suddenly, the rear door worked again! WAHOOO!

Now I can do missions...

-Like getting the water tank cleaned out of its chicken guts and replace the water with suitable showering water.
-Carry the trash over to the trash collection site (After I get sturdy bags; need to replace all the bags that have been torn open by the animals).

 

[mark5]

rifle has a silencer on it

illegal on a firearm unless one applied and paid the fee for it.

 

[swbluto]

rifle has a silencer on it

illegal on a firearm unless one applied and paid the fee for it.

Good thing I don't own firearms.

My neighbor's silencer on the other hand... I'm pretty it's about as legal as he is.

 

[swbluto]

I'm thinking more seriously about that security vest and AR-15. With the assassination of the republican congressman and several aides, me suspects this might be the beginning of some kind of civil war of sorts.

Except, I don't really under the geographic boundaries, other than california = democrats, lol. So, it doesn't seem it'd be like a traditional "turf war" like most wars are. It seems to be more of a Internal political war, like the national socialists (right) vs the communists (left) of German pre-ww2. And we know how that turned out... right seized dictatorial powers... But trump would make for a rather old dictator, and there's no guarantee he'd be around for another decade to see that come to fruition...

And, I think this small town that appears to be highly overpoliced...

I think there's a racket going on over there.

I was towed by this one guy and he let me know that this tow company is well known in town.

Coincidentally, I see this tow guy just chilling in the grocery store parking lot where 95% of cop stops, some of which lead to the car getting towed, happen within 1 mile of him.

So, I think the police are in cahoots with this tow truck driving company.

When I got stopped by the cops, they let me know... "You might not be going home with this vehicle tonight..."...

Yeah, so I think there's some palm-greasing happening in this small town.

And, that's why I think I'm going to be limiting my travels through there soon enough.

It's just that that's where the closest grocery store that has organic produce is, god dang it, lol.

And, I can't seem to reliably depend on bananas lasting an entire week, lol.

Update: I read this guy in the tropics saying that he works during the night because it's too hot to work during the day.

Yeah, tell me about it bro, lol.

I would also work at night, if a lack of total awareness due to the night didn't mean getting crushed by a tree or tripping over a vine and landing face forward into one my many punji sticks (Sapling trunks).

 

[swbluto]

Someone posted "A bernie sanders supporter up at 7 a.m.?"

I repied "He got up a little too early, so he was a bit crabby and picked up the gun and went to town, lol."

But now that I'm thinking about it...

That's probably the truth.

Because this guy is living in a van; and if Washington's DC temperature last night was the same as mine last night, it was sultry. And, he likely did not get good sleep assuming he's not running air conditioning. So, at his age, there's a pretty good chance he woke up early and crabby from the poor sleep.

That's not how I'd want to end my life. Waking up from poor sleep, feeling crabby, getting in a gunfight and dying on the spot. I'd prefer to be in a perfectly pleasant and well-rested state of mind when I die. However, I completely realize that can be pretty unrealistic, lol.

Anyway, I'm thinking of a more longterm solution for living.

I don't know if I should just put in the dough for air-conditioning here, or if I should hightail it upto the high moutains of New Mexico during the summer. With all my equipment and infrastructure here, especially as I expand, I guess I should probably just invest in some air conditioning. I really do wonder if I can get this structure to a pretty reasonable nightime temperature with enough vents and screens.

Thinking maybe I should get a vent right above the ceiling fan...

Anyway, got 3 more trees down tonight by axing. I have about 3-4 large trees to chainsaw down now, and I need the large genny for that (It's being held hostage by my business).

 

[Dauntless]

Are you talking about the guy who shot the congressman? Where do you get this 'Living in his van?' I suppose he spent the night in it after his drive from Illinois, but he made the drive with an obvious purpose, I doubt being in the van caused this. Being a Bernie supporter didn't make him violent, being violent made him a Bernie supporter.

 

[swbluto]

Are you talking about the guy who shot the congressman? Where do you get this 'Living in his van?' I suppose he spent the night in it after his drive from Illinois, but he made the drive with an obvious purpose, I doubt being in the van caused this. Being a Bernie supporter didn't make him violent, being violent made him a Bernie supporter.

Must've been a rumor I was too lazy to fact-check, lol. As to Bernie Supporters being violent, well, that's understandable. The suppressed plebians not having the laws nor courts in their pockets are left with one recourse, violence. And of course, the violent suppressed are attracted to the suppressed platforms as you suggest.

Though, it's not hard to speculate he may have adopted the violent culture of Chicago while living there.

Not exactly sure why he targeted the Majority Whip. Said to be the third most important position according to Wiki, but the position doesn't seem that important to me.

 

[swbluto]

I'm not exactly sure how much energy it takes to cut down a tree, but I did notice how I went from satifisfied to "Tired, hungry for more carbs" in literally 20 minutes from chopping down a 10-inch diameter hardwood oak tree. It took about 2 bananas (60 grams carbs) to recover.

So, each 10-inch oak costs about 2 bananas, lol.

I have a 12 inch oak I'm going to chainsaw next. I'm going to be getting that in tomorrow evening if I can get back in time. And then the remaining huge pines, those are going to definitely make a sound when they come down, lol.

So I posted...

"The age old solution to the "House is divided" problem is a dictatorship. Things get done in a dictatorship"

And I got downvoted to hell, lol. What? I'm pretty sure what I'm saying is the truth, things do definitely get done in a dictatorship. Unlike what the downvoters might be thinking, I'm not suggesting it's the best solution for America, lol. (I'm thinking a direct democracy might be the best solution, which is entirely possible in this day and age. But any chance of that happening soon? Yep, nope, lol. Those in power will never willingly relinquish their power to the masses. It would never happen unless there was a successful civil war, and even then, history suggests a dictatorship arises from civil war, not a direct democracy, lol. For example, Napolean, Stalin, Mao Tse-Tung, etc.)

Anyway, I found the love of my life, lol. Just kidding. She asked "What made you choose Magnolia?" as in complete disbelief that I didn't choose a better option, lol, because that option was at the bottom of the totem pole or something. (Had she had more knowledge of how things are around the nation, she wouldn't readily conclude Magnolia was all that crappy. But, Houston is all she knows, so there's that. A sort of myopic understanding. Like, if she visited Chicago or Baltimore or Detroit or Milwaukee or... the list goes on... she wouldn't so readily conclude that, lol.)

What's with these chipper girls with boy haircuts that I find so irresistible? lol.

If you were ask me point blank if I liked these kind of girls, I wouldn't see any reason why I would answer affirmatively, but the actual situation produces a different answer, lol.

I'm not sure if it's one of those "Every guy likes tomboys" kind of things, or I'm like a girl at heart, lol. I know I had girly preferences at age 8 on at least one day a particular photo was taken, lol, but I wouldn't assume too much past that, lol.

Anyway, definitely found a "crazy backcountry hick". It's odd, they tend to be the exception here despite one might reasonably expect otherwise, but they are definitely here.

And, I'm thinking I'll expand along the front quarter of the complex. So, that would be the 16 foot wide, 10 foot high part of the structure. It'll appear somewhat odd meshing it with the planned 11x11 bedroom.

It'd would eventually be expanded upto 48 feet in the front, so it'd roughly be a 16 foot x 48 foot structure. Then the second major phase, completing the last 3 wings, wouldn't be done until funds were acquired to complete it all at once. I think for the courtyard, I'm going to put in a swimming pool in the center and the gardens will be around it, lol. With a 24x36 courtyard, I figured a 30 foot long x 6 foot swimming lane could be put in the center and then whatever gardeny stuff around it, lol. That seems like it'd work. Not quite the picturesque gardens I was imagining, but a swimming pool in the center would definitely be appealing in its own way, especially if accentuated with gardening thingamabobs. Like, integrating tropical plants here and there, haven't really figured it out. Don't really see the need for it right away with just having a pool, lol.

I''m thinking the pool can be implemented whenever I want, lol. Would be a kind of cool longterm project. Have a last two hours of the evening to do something? Well, let's dig up some soil, lol. (God, the soil past the first 4 feet is a fudging pain to break through... can I just put a 6 foot deep container in that rises 2 feet above the ground? lol. I'm guessing I can with the correct concrete forms...)

Would probably need to cover the pool to prevent evaporation... seems to be an issue here in the summer... lol.

Update: Was going to chainsaw but I couldn't find the oregon bar&chain I swore I purchased, lol.

Let's see here... what did I buy that night...

I should find the receipt...

The coconut flakes made it inside the RV...

If It were in the same bag (And I don't see why it wouldn't)... then it's somewhere in the RV... which would be a good guess because it's not in the van and not at the worksite. Time to scour the RV, lol.

Can't find it! Oh god.

And, I'm pretty sure the checkout person was an asian girl who could barely speak english.

Let's find the receipt.

Found it.

It was purchased the day before yesterday. Yesterday I used the axe.

And it looks like I purchased watermelon spears additionally.

There's a chance they were bagged separately.

There's a chance I did not pick up the bar&chain bag.

No further memory of the bar&chain after purchase can be found. I can recall, however, studying the package prior to purchase.

According to the receipt, I purchased it at 8:54 p.m., it would've been 9:30 p.m. by the time I came home. Dark. Unlikely I took it out of the van that night and took it to the worksite.

Didn't mess with it the day after as I was using my axe, at least I see no reason why I would have.

So, if it's either still in the van or back at walmart.

I'll scour the van soon enough and if that proves fruitless, I'll go back to walmart tonight and ask (Need to get water anyway.).

Scoured the van again, no sign.

Do I have an alternative to chainsawing?

For the smaller trees, it's simple enough. Pushing the top of the tree away from the direction the cut is coming in and use the handsaw.

But for a big tree? Lol, I don't think there's a "push the top of the tree" option, lol.

I guess if I climbed up the tree some 10-15 feet and wrapped the chain around it and then cinched it down with the come-along, that woudl provide the "push the top tree" force I'd need. Still would have to get up the tree with a ladder I don't have, lol.

 

[DAND214]

Swbluto wrote:
Would probably need to cover the pool to prevent evaporation... seems to be an issue here in the summer... lol.

So will it be plastic bags or a real enclosure like glass?

Dan

 

[swbluto]

Swbluto wrote:
Would probably need to cover the pool to prevent evaporation... seems to be an issue here in the summer... lol.

So will it be plastic bags or a real enclosure like glass?

Dan

When the funds are acquired to complete the gardens and whatnot, it'll be whatever allows for the most beauty. So, assuming clear glass is the ticket, than clear glass. Or maybe some kind of clear carbonate. But, until then... it'll be whatever option is the cheapest. I need to be cheap to save up money to fund the rest of the project. Stage one (First wing) will be cheap enough but Stage two (The other 3 wings) will require saving up A LOT of money.

Went to walmart, turns out they have no record of it being left behind. No guarantee, though, that a record would've been made... lol. So, I'd have to push for review of the tapes but I'm going to give myself a few more days to search for it.

What's funny is that I was going to pick up my axe and I noticed the tarp thrown off to the side. While I would have trown off the side the last time I would've used it, I have a habit making sure everything's covered, so I was thinking "Who dunnit?".

Now I'm wondering if someone stole it? Maybe they didn't steal the other tools because they were used, but they stole this one because it was NIB and had resale value?

It's hard to believe that someone stole it... they would've been tripping over logs and whatnot... but it's not entirely impossible.

Anyway, clean sweep of the front of the van is happening tomorrow. Entire removal and replacement. And for this, a large plastic bin would be nice to have. I don't have that.

And with a suspected thief in the midst, I really should upgrade my security policy. Both generators locked away at night. Tools locked away at end of day and all trip greater than 15 minutes.

As to whom the thief might be... no doubt the neighbors down the road. They seem aware of when I'm outside, so they likely have an awareness of when the vehicle is gone. They also are no stranger of crawling through the forest. If they were in financial dire straights, like a vehicle getting repo'd would suggest, then they might.

But if they stole it, it would have been on the 14th yesterday, which would've been one day of opportunity to steal that particular product. That does seem exceedingly unlikely...

 

[Dauntless]

Not exactly sure why he targeted the Majority Whip. Said to be the third most important position according to Wiki, but the position doesn't seem that important to me.

He didn't target an individual, he targeted the Republican Party. He asked a pair of them who were leaving as he arrived if they were the Republicans. He called (Past tense at this point) his organization "Kill All Republicans." Like about all socialists, he believed that socialism entitled him to kill whomever he chose to in order to force socialism on everyone. I can only wonder why he wasn't stalking me on this board like so many other socialist crazies.

So if you're going to leave your stuff out in the open where they can get it, why not make it muddy around things so they leave a trail when they leave? Maybe not all the way home, but at least in that direction.

Of course, there's other reasons you might have lost the bar. I've seen people drop their stuff putting it in the car and not even notice.

 

[swbluto]

And yesterday night, I saw an opposum in my trash. He was about 3 feet away from me, and he first started climbing up the tree and then just mosied his way around me into the brush. It's somewhat surprising seeing how close I was to him; he didn't look clueless like I might expect a baby-sized opossum would be.

And at 4:15 a.m., I heard the sound a cat fight in my trash area, and so I checked it out and I saw a raccoon vacating from the trash. A ha! I knew it. It's a raccoon ripping up my bags. (Although, maybe an oppossum can do it...)

Cleaned out the front well enough to make it imminently searchable. Still no sign. The back is sparse enough that it would pop out if it were back there. Will do a few "will check" before signing off the front (I'll sign it off by the end of today, I hope, lol.).

I think I've pretty much signed off the worksite.

Searched the RV under the bed, still no sign there. Haven't signed off on it yet, will continue. Will sign off by the end of today.

So, tomorrow, theoretically, I should know with confidence if I have this in my possession. And, I can go in with confidence and demand a review of the tapes. Then, after they show I took the package (If they do), I can conclude it never made it inside (Lost before it even got inside the van) or it was stolen somewhere/somehow. And, if there's a reasonable suspicion to suspect theft, then I need to ramp up security on the worksite.

Security is already high enough for everything else. But, if this is indication my neighbors are getting desperate, perhaps it isn't high enough. I know my locks could be easily defeated with the proper equipment, so perhaps I should consider upgrading my locks. A break into the RV would be potentially devastating.

Update: 10 a.m. - signed off on the van.

Need to sign off on the RV. Feels like it's pretty darn close to getting signed off, lol, but the thinness of this product does mean it has the potential to easily hide, so I need to search a bit more thoroughly. On that note, thinking maybe I should focus more on the sides around the drivers side of the van or similar "flat thing" hiding spots.

cocoa+honey+Peanut butter = good stuff. I haven't figured out how to effectively combine it in a single product yet.

Does taste a bit like a reeses, lol.

And, that gal, she had the perma-smile. The kind you might see on a doll. Or a clown.

Thinking about its similarities to a clown, I guess maybe it does look a little creepy. I was detecting hints of that in her. I could see the "creepiness" in hers, with its lack of dynamics and relatively static nature, even though I wasn't personally creeped by it.

I was commented on having the perma-smile back in the navy, but I don't actually have a perma-smile, lol. I only have a perma-smile in certain kinds of (social) environments. I'm not certain what kind exactly... (I'm betting its ones I'm feeling happy and/or excited and/or hopeful in, lol.)

I had a hard time getting back to sleep last night; feeling so tired like I really need to sleep, but yet the feeling in my eyes just refuse to succumb. Images online are telling me its because someone is thinking of me, lol. I'm thinking, "medical issues, gosh, I hope I don't wake up dead.", lol. (This was happening on the cuff of yesterday, which was day after the unrelenting axing, which was producing lightheaded episodes throughout the following day. Or it might have been related to sleep. Anyway, I still go to sleep even with those anxieties because I recognize not going to sleep is waaay worse than getting some sleep. I have experience with that, yes I do.)

I figured out a good arrangement for sleep. I sleep with my shirt off and I have the small 9 inch fan producing on the other side of the RV a tiny bit of airflow. I don't really feel comfortable with that with the zillions of brown recluses I'm killing every night, lol, but I'm hoping I get this structure built soon enough and get it spider proofed well enough. I think I might become more proactive with killing spiders on the outside of my RV. Methinks outside RV spiders -> chance becoming inside RV spiders, lol.

Anyway, I do think there's a chance it never left walmart, because of the bag carrousel. If they separated it, there's a good chance I would've picked up the first bag and been on my way. That's happened before, except usually the cashier usually catches me. For whatever reason, this girl with the bad english, might've not felt vocal enough to voice up. Or maybe she didn't even notice it. So that's what I'm suspecting.

Gosh darn, can't beat the salami today. I feel sick, but not virus/bacteria/cardiac sick, lol. I just can't dedicate my noodly appendage to random online girls now, lol.

Well, /f/ the chainsaw. I will axe ALL THE TREES down, I don't care /how/ huge they are. I will attack the tree on all four sides if I have to, and whatever sliver I have in the middle, I will saw through. It will take time, but so will confirming this bar (My next Walmart visit is scheduled for Sunday).

I do have to be realistic though. A chainsaw will eventually be needed for cutting the downed trees into logs for transport into a log pile. As much as I'd be gungho about "Let's saw ALL the logs!", lol, that would be a LOT of sawing I'd have to do, lol.

 

[swbluto]

I thought it was funny when I was talking about carrying all those heavy trees and how difficult they were, and this female bagger just 'ooed' in a sympathetic way as in "Let me just rub those sore muscles of yours", lol. Anyway, I thought that was funny, not the kind of reaction I'd get from women historically. Well... I can't say that entirely... I guess some girls feel sorry for me for this and that, lol.

I can see it right now, after a day of hardwork, I wipe the sweat off my brow and the women of my dreams wraps her arms around my frame, glistening with sweat, and embraces me dearly. lol

I feel like I'm getting close to becoming a romance novel writer, lol

 

[swbluto]

Another fine dose of sun-drenched mushrooms. Yummm.... It takes on a taste reminiscent of sweat. I wonder if that's because there's vitamin D in the sweat when the skin is exposed to sunlight?

I'm thinking more about the modern diet and "the natural diet". Going around wherever the water sources are and collecting berries in the area. I've found that no matter how dedicate you are in collecting the good berries, there's going to be a sour berry somewhere. That sour berry is good - antibiotic properties. And, bunches of herbs and flowers are naturally antibiotic. So, if the prehistoric person was eating 100s of ingredients throughout the day, there's a /very/ good chance they would've been eating strongly antiobiotic foods throughout the day as well, keeping the mouth and internals clean throughout the day. I'm thinking that's important for good health and it's one of the weaknesses in my current diet. It doesn't seem like bananas are strongly antibiotic, but I wouldn't know until I start taking postmeal blood pressure measurements, but based on the symptoms I have that seem readily remedied by garlic, I'd surmise that bananas are not antibiotic. They might actually grow existing colonies of various types, including the evil ones, like strep mutans in the mouth. Was having a toothache and cardiac/physical output seemed limited (Climbing the trees caused various recognizable pains) and coughing, took garlic, that pretty much resolved. I still won't /really/ know until I start doing postmeal BP testing.