Bear Ridge Update

I have been living full time at Bear Ridge for almost three months. The experience has been close to what I expected. The budget is relatively intact, the house is holding up and summer project are moving forward. I was taking a long break from the internet while I settled in; I needed that separation from my old life to move forward with the new.

I do not consider myself a hardcore survivalist. I am a sustainist; I seek a sustainable existence removed from the trappings of consumer society. I do not want to wall myself off in a bunker, I enjoy my neighbors and actually get pleasure working with them and exchanging ideas. Frankly is it the only way to move forward as a person and as a society.

Here are some of the issues and items I have come across in the past few months.

Injuries are dangerous – Be very careful you are on your own. I had been here for about a month and was working in the sun room. Standing on a ladder drilling holes above my head I fell off the step and dropped the drill. The bit spun into my stomach taking a 3 inch long by ¼ inch wide strip out of my belly. It didn’t cut it but dug out a channel. Anyway this was simply the first of many cuts and punctures I have experienced since living here. Understand you body and be able to deal with these issues.

Plan for trash – There are many homestead sites where you can either burn or bury trash but that is not possible here. The plan was to take the trash away one truckload at a time to the local dump but as the pile grew this became less workable. I finally broke down and rented a 30 cubic yard dumpster. I very nearly filled it with construction refuse, brush and plain trash. No way could I have hauled off all the refuse. Plan your trash removal strategy before hand.

Boredom kills - This has been a big problem. You will be bored. Videos, books and online chats all help deal with the boor monster. I actually took a part time job because of boredom. I now work a couple of days each week for twenty hours. This money is stuck in the well fund. Greatly helps break up the week.

Wood and Propane - I am using about ¾ of a cord or wood each month and the house is staying very very warm. I am using about 80 pounds of propane each month, it is way too much. I only heat with gas when waiting for wood stove to warm up. The water heater is not really efficient; it is an on demand, but still uses a lot of gas. I am now changing that up heating water with sun and on wood stove then using a bucket sprinkler for showering.

Mice are fun – I hate the mice but the boys love them. They spend hours every evening chasing and cornering the mice who have taken up house here in the cabin. The boys love it plus I don’t have to use poisons or mouse traps to catch the beasts.

Shit Freezes – Composting buckets freeze if they are not quickly added to the compost pile. This is really a pain if you only have a few buckets to rotate through the bathroom.

Pee Stinks – I usually will pee off the front porch. If you pee in the same spot that spot quickly becomes stinky. Beware!!!

I will try to post a couple of times every week but you should check me out on twitter where I kick out quick simple thoughts and observations daily.

http://www.twitter.com/BigBearCO

Always remember that the government still possesses a massive surveillance mechanism whose sights are being set on the counter culture survivalist movement.

Storing Your Buckets

After cleaning out both my storage units I realized that one critical item was missing from my house here in the valley. I have no closets! Not only do I not have any closets I have no storage space other than the kitchen cabinets. Right now the 30 plus buckets of food and miscellaneous storage totes are divided between the bathroom and sunroom. Here is what I am doing to permanently stow these items.

Your average 5 gallon bucket is about 15 inches tall and 12 inches across.

I built a 16 inch platform for my bed. With my mattress I sleep roughly 28 inches off the floor. I am fine with this but had to build some steps for the dogs. This created a 5 by 6 foot space capable of holding 30 buckets. The under bed storage contains mostly totes right now.

The dogs love lying on footstools pushed against the windows. They sit there all day guarding the house. I am planning a 3 by 5 foot window seat covered with an old piece of foam rubber I picked up by a dumpster. I used to have a couple of old futon mattresses in front of the windows but they were huge and afforded no storage. The new window seat should be able to store 15 buckets and offers additional seating when necessary.

I keep 4 buckets under the coffee table. This could have been sized to hold many more but the rugs are shaken outside for cleaning so you don’t really want to move 15 buckets each week. Four buckets are also used as end tables.

Eventually most of the buckets will be placed in a root cellar but I won’t be building that until this summer.

If you are planning a very small house do not overlook the storage. If you are stockpiling several years worth of food the storage space is essential.

Shared Resources

While planning my spring garden several problems with logistics and layout were brought to light. Remember my house sits on the north side of a ridge and only about one of the five acres are available for planting. A large area would need clearing and raised beds built. Additionally there is no well and deer in the area tend to decimate gardens.

I spoke with my neighbor about these issues and she enthusiastically suggested I plant the garden in the area surrounding her small wind break trees. This “L” shaped area is enclosed with an eight foot deer fence and covers roughly 4000 square foot. It has adequate water, unobstructed sun and is easily accessed. Raised beds will be built and placed around the perimeter. Plus I can see the garden area from my recliner for easy monitoring.

My neighbor works so tending a large garden is difficult. On the other hand my job is basically tending a large garden. She provides the land, water and security. I provide the seeds, labor and canning. We share the produce.

As we move forward in the Great Decline people need to seek out these types of resource sharing arrangements. City dwellers living in apartments might have relatives or friends who have space for gardens but lack the time to maintain the plants. Many people have large backyards but no time for gardening, try running a CraigsList ad offering your land. Everyone benefits.

Tractor

I picked up an older model 20 house power garden tractor on ebay a couple of weeks back. It’s a four speed that has the throttle on the dash, I prefer this over automatics. The tractor pulls great and the first gear is a “granny” gear which allows me to pull some decent loads up the ridge. Here are some of the uses I have planned.

Living on the north slope of the ridge creates a problem with snow pack. Even though we have been getting relatively warm temperatures the snow remains somewhat shaded and refuses to melt. With a small blade attached to the front of the tractor and some chains on the rear tires the driveway should be kept clear with little trouble.

The hot dry summers leaves the house surrounded with dry, oily sage brush that burns like paper. Part of my fire mitigation plan is to remove as much of the dead brush as possible. Clearing brush by hand is a hard and unpleasant job. With the tractor and blade it should take a fraction of the time to remove the dead brush and deposit it in the runoff ditch for erosion control.

The new garden will need some rich top soil mixed in with it. A truck delivers the soil to the roadside and I carry it in a wheel barrow up to the garden beds. With a small trailer attached to the tractor I save time and the sore back muscles.

That same trailer can be used to haul firewood from the wood pile to the house. One trip on the tractor equals ten trips for me up the icy path. I hate falling down when my arms are full of wood.

Plus you never know when you might need to pull a float in a parade.

Globalization Is The Enemy

Globalization is the enemy. Make no mistake it does not matter if Obama or McCain is the president. It does not matter which party is in control. The economic demise America is experiencing is an engineered transfer of wealth whose end is the destruction of the middle classes in every country on the planet and the installation of one all powerful world government.

The lie the globalists used was that by increasing the number of middle class workers in developing nations America would find new markets for their products. Honestly this might have worked unfortunately the corporations maintained their third world laborers in slave labor conditions and pocketed the profits. So rather than equalizing wages around the globe money flowed from the American citizens to the globalists bank accounts.

When corporations, with our governments blessing, started sending our manufacturing jobs to countries that utilize slave labor it was over for America. Logically we were never meant to compete, it was not possible. Our manufacturing jobs were sent to China. A technology bubble was created to placate the upset masses. These replacement jobs were then shipped to India after we developed the systems.

To dampen the American workers loss we were given cheap credit and a booming housing market. All middle class jobs were being shipped overseas at the same time home prices were skyrocketing…did this really make any sense to anyone. All those displaced workers took up employment in the housing industries. Everyone made huge money and no one noticed the strip-mining of our most valuable resource…our jobs.

The wonderful housing bubble also allowed for the entrapment of the remaining American middle class workers in “debt slavery”. Through declining wages, cleaver legislation and the “American Dream” the globalists thought that Americans would simply work themselves to death in an ever decreasing jobs market trapped in their overpriced homes.

This did not happen. As the American workers started sensibly abandoning their upside down mortgages en mass the global elite demanded payout from our government. The banks were given literally trillions in tax payer dollars under the guise of stimulating lending and restarting the massive consumption engine that is America. Instead the loan industry hoarded the money investing in things like toll roads, private prisons and security agencies. All of this legislatively hidden from the American public!

While all this was going on the worlds governments were instituting policies and procedures to combat “terrorism”. The big, bad war on terror is nothing more than a smoke screen that allows the corporate/government complex to install public control mechanisms in an unmolested and patriotic manner. So when it does fall apart in the “developed” nations and the people figure out they have been screwed over it will be easy to maintain control. This is where we are at today.

Tomorrow or Monday Congress will pass a trillion dollar stimulus bill to create jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. It will not work…the stimulus bill will not restart our consumption economy…but that not its real purpose. Our globalist masters will need good roads to fully strip our land and enslave the indebted American public. We still have the largest most productive farmlands in the world and they will need good workers to till and plant.

Don’t worry about the trillion dollars added to our national debt…the republic is dead.

Now I am gonna have a beer and watch another episode of buffy. Tomorrow I will tell you about my tractor.

Today

The sun is going down. Usually by this time of day I am packing up to leave for home. Most weekends were spent rushing around trying to get done the absolute necessary projects before I head back to the springs. It’s an odd feeling to know this is no longer necessary. I still get up and make my list of daily chores but there is no sense of urgency in the activities. I like it.

God knows there are still tons to do here but the place is livable and frankly quite comfortable. I have spent the past couple of days putting away and organizing my new life. Not nearly enough storage…I will work on that. Today it was in the 60’s and I enjoyed it cleaning the backyard and soaking up the sun. Several old piles of sheetrock had melted and needed disposal. Brought in the wood and watered the plants.

The house is staying between 70 and 90 degrees, almost to hot but it feels good. The fire is dead by nine in the morning when the sun takes over the heating duties. Today I had to open a window. Between five and six in the evening I start up the woodstove and it runs through the night. Right now I have a pot of chicken noodle soup with some spam cooking on the woodstove. Had some unburnt pancakes for breakfast…that was a treat and beef ramen for lunch. All Good.

Bill O’Reily just said I have to worry about getting machine gunned by the Mexican drug lords. It’s not just scare mongering, he knows, we should have elected him president he has pretty hair. Tricky Dick Cheney said we are now at risk of a terrorist attack because of the Obama Presidency. We should listen seeing that he planned the last one. It might make me a pinhead (ala o’reily) but I don’t really care about that stuff now.

All that worry just shut down when I moved here.

I am gonna eat my soup, take a walk, watch some Buffy then go to bed.

Just kidding about O’Reily he’s a dirty tool. I am starting to enjoy having a President who can actually speak and think.

Moved

I am now living at the cabin. This is a quick post just to update everyone. Wireless running really slow so this is it...will fix tomorrow.

Miss you honey

Seeds Ordered

After some research I have ordered the seeds for this years crops from a reputable seed trust out of Idaho that specializes in mountain growing. Since the "farm" is at roughly 8700 feet I needed high altitude seed varieties that do well in cooler climates with shorter growing seasons. They also had to be non-hybrid (heritage) seeds from organic distributors. I chose High Altitude Gardens, they have seeds from around the world for the coldest climates and shortest seasons.

Here is the garden

BEANS, POLE - Northeaster
BEANS, BUSH - Montana Green
PEAS - Montana Marvel
PEAS, SNAP - Sugarsnap
CORN, SWEET - Extra Early Bantam
PEPPERS, BELL - Early Mountain Wonder
RADISH, French Breakfast
CARROTS - Kuroda Chanteney
CARROTS - Kinko 6

TOMATO, EARLY - Sub-arctic Plenty
TOMATO, RUSSIAN - Odessa
TOMATO, SIBERIAN - Moscow
TOMATO, SIBERIAN - Red Siberian
TOMATO, PASTE - Mt. Roma
TOMATO, CHERRY - Whippersnapper Cherry

MELON - Minnesota Midget Cantelope
MELON - Sugar Baby Watermelon

LETTUCE, GREEN LEAF - Black Seeded Simpson
LETTUCE, BUTTERHEAD - Buttercrunch Bibb

SUNFLOWER, WILD - Helianthus annus

I am still researching the onions, potatoes and cucumbers but should have varieties and vendors selected soon.

Congress Considers Bear Ridge Proposal

On December 2nd 2008 the Bear Ridge Project proposed a "Common Sense Automaker Bailout" that revolved around giving vouchers to American citizens to purchase new fuel efficient vehicles in an effort to jump start the economy. Now it appears that Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif is pushing my proposal.

Congress considers ‘cash for clunkers’ proposal
Owners of old gas hogs would get $4,500 to have them taken off the road

Congress is mulling a proposal to pay people to get rid of those old gas guzzlers sitting in their driveways.

Under legislation introduced Wednesday in both the House and Senate and called the "Cash for Clunkers" program, drivers could get vouchers of up to $4,500 when they turn in their old fuel-inefficient vehicles for scrapping and buy vehicles that get good gas mileage.

People could also turn in their old cars for vouchers that could be used to ride public buses and trains.

The bill, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., "would be an important part of helping getting America's struggling automobile industry back on its feet, and help consumers who are concerned about covering the cost of buying a more fuel-efficient vehicle."

Taking gas guzzlers off the road, added Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a co-sponsor, "would reduce our dependence on foreign oil, decrease greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate the economy."

The proposal will only work if it creates American manufacturing jobs. If I get called before Congress to testify will I have to buy new pants?

GM had a great electric car in the 90's. It was killed off by oil and car lobbies. This is a documentary that explains what happened...Who Killed The Electric Car?

2009 Garden Start

I have started working on the 2009 garden. Here is what I am planning taking into consideration the short growing season and less then fertile soil. I have most of the seeds but still need to pick up a few high altitude varieties. Everything will be planted directly in the ground or in raised beds depending on soil conditions. The growing season is from roughly June 1st through mid September, hopefully I can extend it with small hothouses.

Pole Bean
Peas

Carrots
Onions

Cantaloupe (maybe)
Watermelon (maybe)

Tomatoes (containers)
Peppers
Potatoes
Radishes

Lettuce (late season)

Sunflowers (grow wild)
Mushrooms (maybe)

Night Vision Update

If you are looking to keep track of the crazy neighbor down the road the EyeClops Night Vision Infrared Stealth Goggles might not be your best investment. On the other hand if you are out to keep the Chupacabras from eating the chickens and molesting the dogs they will work fine.

Took a hike late Saturday night with the goggles just to see how well they preformed on the move. Long story short it was bad. The full moon really sharpened the surroundings on low power but the narrow field vision made walking difficult. The limitations actually heightened my paranoia, you just don't know what is in your peripheral.

Now, the EyeClops Night Vision Infrared Stealth Goggles did preform really well watching a stationary target. For monitoring a hen house, shed or trail from a single point they work great. You are able to focus on a small area and your peripheral does not really play into it although you should always be mindful of what is around you.

So take it for what it is worth. The EyeClops Night Vision Infrared Stealth Goggles are a cheap alternative to high dollar night vision rigs.

Night Vision

Being a city boy by heart one of the strangest experiences for me is the absolute darkness you find when the sun goes down in the valley. Even in rural America you have the pole light attached to the side of the barn or the ambient glow from a nearby town, there is always some light. Not at the cabin, occasionally four distant lights make dots by the lake roughly six miles away, otherwise complete blackness. Great star viewing but there is the uneasiness of the unknown in the shadows.

I have grown accustom to the singing coyotes and foraging deer that come out after sunset and the occasional thud against the cabin wall no longer gets me out of bed at night. Still you always wounder what is out there...you want to see.

A few years ago I bought this night vision monocular from Harbor Freight for about a hundred bucks. It was fun but horrible quality and had focal problems. Difficult to steady, more of a toy than a true survival tool. Anyway it was stolen during the breaking last year.

I was doing some research on night vision technologies the other day cause I really want to replace the monocular before I move down. I wanted goggles...very expensive. The more I looked the more a certain model kept popping up. These were not high end military night vision goggles as a matter of fact they are a toy...but everyone loved them.

EyeClops Night Vision Infrared Stealth Goggles are a kids toy but they actually work really well...and you can see clearly in the dark. They have two setting low, which uses passive infrared technology to give a decent night image and high that uses a set of infrared lights to illuminate out fifty plus feet. Honestly just like daylight great quality picture.

$58 On Clearance!

Only one eye has a monitor so they are not true binocular vision but they strap to your head leaving the hands free. The field of vision is somewhat limited but the picture is crystal clear, in focus and static free. Very bright, very sharp image. If you are looking for a cheap night vision rig this works. Saturday night I will try it out on a hike and let you know.

Ammo Can Heat Sink

I have decided to use 30 MM ammo cans filled with water for a heat sink wall in the sunroom. The cans measure 18 1/2" long by 9 1/2" deep by 14 1/2" tall and hold about 10.5 gallons of water apiece. They are stacked 3 high against the rear wall. During the day they sit in the sun absorbing heat. In the evenings they radiate that energy back into the room keeping the plants warm and saving on heating costs.

The ammo cans are painted black and the metal conducts heat through to the water much more efficiently than plastic walled drums. The cans filled with water are heavy but easily moved. A steel drum would have been adequate but difficult to shift with the seasons and would sit awkwardly against the wall. The square shape of the ammo can is optimal for lining the walls. Minimal space with maximum heat gain.

I tested this last winter and it works. I will get some pictures up as soon as I can.

Pick up your own surplus ammo box and cut your heating costs.

13 Companies Hiring

2008 saw a loss of over 1.2 million jobs in the United States and forecasters are predicting a conservative 2 million job will disappear in 2009. Career Builders had an interesting article today about 13 companies that will be hiring next year. What I find interesting are the types of companies that are experiencing growth and the possible ramifications to our society at large.

General Corporation Growth (2)

7-Eleven

Chain of convenience stores with locations throughout the United States and Canada.

When people are broke and living day to day they tend to shop at places like 7-Eleven rather than buying groceries every week. If 7-Eleven is expanding then you can expect the downturn to continue.

Banfield (corporate veterinary services)

The world's largest private veterinary practice. We have a longstanding reputation for attracting highly-skilled, compassionate veterinarians who possess extensive knowledge regarding the most current advancements in Pet health care.

Veterinary care is one of the few areas left that has not been raped by corporate advances. That is changing expect fewer vets and diminished care for your pets.

Insurance/Health Care (5)

Farmers Insurance (insurance)
HealthMarkets (insurance)
State Farm (insurance)

Universal Health Care promised by the government is really Mandatory Health Insurance. So higher heath care cost for the American citizen and more profits for Insurance companies.

Gentiva Health Services (inhome heath care)

Gentiva is the nation's largest home health care services firm. The company provides home nursing care through a network of more than 300 locations in 38 states. Gentiva's home care nurses provide services ranging from acute care treatment to housekeeping for the elderly or disabled.

Hospital closures and people being turned away from nursing homes.

Sutter Health (health care)

Sutter Health serves as your partner in facilitating employee lifestyle behavior change towards better health. At Sutter Health Partners, our primary focus is on keeping your employees and your business healthy. Sutter Health Partners provides advice on overall health promotion design and management but our greatest asset is our high-touch Wellness Coaching team. In a time when health care costs are spiraling out of control, prevention is a sound investment.

Wellness coaching will probably be part of any Mandatory Health Insurance Scheme.

Defense Contractors (2)

ITT Corporation (defense contractors)

ITT Corporation provides critical support in the following areas Electronic Warfare, Sensing and Surveillance, Intelligence and Information Warfare, Command and Control Systems, Undersea Warfare, Space Warfare and Surveillance

URS Corporation (defense contractors)

URS provides critical support to the Departments of Defense (DoD), Homeland Security (DHS) and Energy (DOE), as well as to National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal agencies.

Expect continued and escalating wars as well as increased domestic surveillance of American citizens.

Auto Reconditioning (1)

M.A.R.S. International (auto reconditioning - franchise based)

MARS International specializes in TOTAL automotive appearance reconditioning. Our technicians make pre-owned vehicles look and feel new by repairing bumpers, removing scratches, and providing a number of services that go beyond typical detailing capabilities such as stain and odor removal.

Recondition used cars. The Big Three are gone and used cars will be the predominate market.

Lawn/Garden Care (2)

ServiceMaster/TruGreen (cleaning and lawn care)

TruGreen® is the world's largest lawn and landscape company. It started as a small private company in 1974 and now serves more than 3.5 million residential and commercial customers across the U.S. with lawn care, tree and shrub care, and landscaping services.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (lawn care)

ScottsMiracle-Gro is dedicated to a beautiful world with industry-leading lawn, garden and outdoor living products and services. Through our innovation focus, strong retailer relationships and drive to improve the consumer experience, we have been instrumental in growing the $8 billion global consumer lawn and garden market and enhancing our leadership position.

Fertilizers and support for the massive upswing in home vegetable gardens.

Accounting/Auditing (1)

PricewaterhouseCoopers (Accounting/Auditing)

PricewaterhouseCoopers provides industry-focused services for public and private clients. Our experienced staff, combined with our global network, allow us to provide the support you

need—wherever you need it, at home and abroad, whatever the size of your organization.

Giant accounting firm set to clean up untangling the accounting voodoo of the past eight years. Many mergers and bankruptcies in 2009. New regulations to be implemented.

The Brass Horde

Historically the Golden Horde represents the armies and territories of the Mongol Empire as they spread across Eastern Europe and Russia pillaging the wealth and enslaving people to further their conquests. The Survivalist movement recognizes the Golden Horde as the loosely organized mass of urban refugees streaming out of the cities in search of food and shelter after a calamitous event or societal collapse. This mindless throng would overwhelm local defenses violently stripping the rural countryside of resources destroying everything in its path.

I am not worried about this great Golden Horde moving across the land raping and looting as they consume all my beans and wreck my lawn. They will never reach me and I am not in a resource rich environment. I am worried about the bugged out survivalists encamped in the trailers down the road who's idea of preparedness is 40,000 rounds of ammo and a can of barbecue Vienna sausages. I call these unbalanced groups the Brass Horde.

The Brass Hordes have the resources to reach me entrenching themselves a few miles from my house. These groups neglected survival consumables but are obnoxiously well armed. When their minimal supplies run out they will turn to the guns and ammo. These are the groups I worry about. Below is an example.

The Brass Horde at least tried to prepare. They had a plan to leave the city, some supplies and a large stockpile of weapons. Their intent was to relocate to a remote site as a group and hunt for food. The small group is made up of family and close friends occupying the trailers used to escape the city. Unfortunately their resources are limited and unwisely thought out.

At first they have good luck taking a deer and several rabbits for a stew, all looks good. But after a week or so their water rations are getting low and their expensive filter systems are useless on the frozen lake. They are able to melt some water over the fire pit and on propane stoves but this consumes critical resources. Most of their daily man hours are spent collecting and transporting ice blocks to melt for water. The meat is running low, they are exhausted.

The Horde elders decide that a couple of the women should visit a nearby cabin and ask to fill their water jugs. The established local, not wanting to seem rude, invites the ladies into the warm cabin...the aroma of fresh baked bread fills the air. Warm cinnamon rolls and hot coffee are served over light conversation next to the wood stove. The ladies fill their water jugs from the solar powered well, thanked the local and reluctantly venture back out into the cold, it was the first time they had truly been warm since leaving the city.

That evening the women huddled around the fire telling the others of their days experience. A strong north wind brought frigid temperatures and a heavy snow started around sundown...the Horde retired to their campers to weather the night.

Then the propane runs out!

The temperatures quickly plunge after the heater went out in the far north trailer of the circled compound. The father whose survival skills were honed by many hours watching the discovery channel, decided to start a small wood fire in the oven to keep his family of four warm. The ensuing inferno consumed two of their trailers and damaged the other six as over 10,000 rounds of ammo cooked off in the conflagration.

In the blinding snow the elders huddled for warmth around the smoldering ruins of their grand scheme...they knew what had to be done. After arming themselves and securing the women folk and children in the remaining heated camper, the horde took off for the neighbors cabin. The howling winds of the blizzard masked their plunder as they made off with six twenty pound bottles of propane, a chainsaw and five gallons of gas. The blowing snow filled their tracks as they retreated back to the compound confident in their escape.

Unbeknown to the Brass Horde the local had witnessed the entire thing from the warmth of the bedroom after being alerted by his growling dogs. Shouldering his gun he realized that confrontation was dangerous against eight heavily armed men and there was a good change he would die if shooting started. The local also realized that this was the first of many visits by the armed bandits who, made confident by their guns, would steal what they failed to store through proper preparation...so he started baking cookies.

"Good morning, I have fresh cookies and hot coffee" shouted the local from his truck as he pulled into the Horde's compound. "You all look like you could use a treat on this cold morning" he continued. The men leerily looked at each other assuming that the local man had not yet discovered the robbery and was just being a good neighbor. The local waved and yelled "God Bless You" as he drove away. Over their snacks and wicked strong coffee the Horde laughed at how easy a target this cookie baking fairy would be...

Looking through the rifle scope from his vantage point in on the hill he saw no movement...the last one fell several hours ago.

Later that evening the local man returned to the compound, collected the bodies and placed them neatly in the largest trailer. Gathering the stolen items plus the Hordes guns and abundant ammunition for barter he proceeded to pour gas in each of the remaining campers then burned everything to the ground. Cyanide in the coffee and cookies.

A heavy snow that night covered over the remains and the evident "mass suicide" was not discovered until later that springs. It was chalked up to collapse related hysteria...no further investigation.

This past elk season there was an encampment like the one mentioned above down the road from me, they stayed for ten days. Of course I had to run the what if scenarios through my mind. And just cause you will ask no I did not poison them.

How would you have handled the group? What would you have done differently?

Window Swap

A fews years back I installed four huge picture windows across the north side of the house. The windows are six foot tall by five wide and really open the house up to the mountain and lake views. At the time I was not spending a lot to time there during the deep winter so I opted for insulated double paned windows with no "low-e" coatings.

Low-e coatings, which are microscopically thin layers of metallic oxide that's bonded to the surface of a window's glass, are so thin you can see right through them yet they prevent heat and ultra-violet (UV) rays from passing through glass. The result? A window with low-e glass does a better job keeping heat in during the winter and out during the summer.

Unfortunately these large windows are horrible at keeping the cold out and the heat in. I could stand outside within a foot of the window and feel heat radiating through. It feels nice on a cold day but I really want that heat trapped inside. To mitigate this large fleece blanks are hung over them at night but there is still significant heat lose during the day.

I picked up 4 six foot tall by five wide windows on clearance at Lowes for the south side sunroom. They were originally priced at $489 apiece but were returned and marked down to $21 each. Really cool with top and bottom sliders...you can leave the top open and close the bottom protecting the dogs and keeping unwanted critters out.

To my dismay after installing the heavy monsters I realized that they were low-e windows so efficient that no heat actually made it into the sunroom. This completely defeated the purpose. They were so effective that the sunroom was colder than standing outside in the direct sunlight.

Over the weekend we switched out the two sets of windows. Moving the clear picture windows with little insulating properties from the front to the sunroom on the south side of the cabin and replacing them with the highly efficient rear windows. A necessary pain.

I tell you I am stunned by the outcome. The low-e windows placed on the north side of the house not only hold heat but are aesthetically pleasing adding a lodge like warmth to the great and only room. It was cold outside and the new windows held the heat really well through the night. I got the temperature up to around 80 degrees at midnight and let the wood stove burn down. At six the next morning it was still 65 degrees without any heat overnight. I was very happy, this will save a great deal of money.

I am equally pleased with the clear windows now on the sunroom. The suns rays pass through and heat everything on the inside. This is gonna make the plants very happy and give an additional heat source once the large barrels of water are installed as heat sinks.

The only issue we found was that the newer windows were about 3/4 of an inch shorter than the old ones. This was easily remedied with some shimming and prying.

All windows are not created equally...use the correct tool for the job.

A great backup heating source is the Mr Heater Big Buddythis portable heater's output adjusts from 4000 to 18,000 BTU with the capacity to heat up to 400 square feet for up to 108 hours on one twenty pound bottle of propane. The Mr Heater Big Buddy also has an efficient built in fan to start warming the house when the wood stove is heating up. Great Survival Heater I highly recommend it!!!

Wood Delivery

Next to passive solar burning wood is the most efficient heat source available. If you have timber nearby a great deal of money can be saved each season by cutting and splitting your own wood. I plan on culling my own firewood over the next year hopefully reducing my heating cost to virtually nothing. Unfortunately I am not ahead of the curve and am purchasing some wood for this winter.

I found a relatively local source and bought two cords of wood from them on Friday. After meeting in town, the guys followed me out to the cabin...directions can be difficult when you don't have an address. They delivered two full cords of Ponderosa Pine split and no more than 18 inches in length. A cord of wood is 4x4x8 foot in volume this batch cost $150 per cord.

Most are good sized pieces that will burn for a long time, especially at night with the stove dampered down. Up to this point I have burned cedar, white pine and building scraps. This is by far the best wood I have ever used.

Ain't that a sexy orange car!

Cut your own firewood and save tons in heating costs with a Chain Saw. Don't let the power companies screw you over any longer.

Happy New Year

The big move is still on for January but not the first. My contract was extended for a few more weeks and seeing how I won't be working in corporate America for a paycheck any longer it seemed prudent to suck up as much cash as possible. So I am pushing the date out to the second or third week of January. This is unfortunate seeing that I am crawling the walls but really it is the right thing to do.

December was a relatively productive month. Got the insulated floor installed and wood stove reconfigured to produce more heat with a longer burn. Basically I built a damper and changed out the first couple of chimney pipe sections with black pipe. Huge difference especially with the insulated floor. My new (old) wood stove has some cracks around the door so I will need figure out how to fix or relegate the beast to trash burning duties. The partner finished up the compost bin.

We are heading down this weekend to switch out the super insulated sunroom windows with the uninsulated picture windows on the front of the cabin. They are all the same size. The window I picked up on clearance for the sunroom are great with a good low-e coating sadly they are so good at insulating no heat gets in from the sun. So we swap them, big job but necessary.

I was also flirting with the idea of purchasing another piece of land out on the valley floor. They are flat and covered with sagebrush, pretty much just junk land...views are great but no trees. The old boy I bought my land from was selling the 5 acre lots for $2800. Prefect for building EarthShips which I am interested in but frankly don't have the time yet. Maybe next year I will do some more research on it and let you know.

Take care everyone and Happy New Year

Don't Waste Wood

Monday afternoon I was taking a walk and passed an old roundhouse that has been used as a pottery factory for past seventy years. The pottery factory is in the process of closing and the historic roundhouse is being converted into a strip mall.

Apparently they emptied the warehouse portion of the building because there were between 20 and 30 wooden shelves lined up by the big commercial dumpster. Being the happy dumpster driver that I am, I wandered over to look at the shelves.

I was shocked. The shelving units were 8 foot long by 2 foot wide and about 7 foot tall. They were constructed entirely out of TRUE 1 x 12's. Each of the shelves had 12 1x12's 8 foot long and 4 1x12's 7 foot long...and there were over 20 shelving units. I planned on going by Tuesday and asking them if I could break the shelves down and take the lumber.

Giddy I was when I got home. I was already planning what to do with all that free incredible lumber.

Anyway I drove by Tuesday at lunch and was deeply saddened to see an giant industrial wood chipper and a massive pile of chips. No shelves seen...they shredded all that lumber. They don't even make lumber like that anymore. I was very sad.

There is still some light in this story. There is a large deck running along the back of the building it consists of roughly 60 2x6x8 and 20 2x6x12 foot long pressure treated boards with probably 20 2x12x10 foot beams...in other words a barn. I will swing by first thing in the morning and see if they will let me salvage it.

Don't Waste Wood

Off-Grid carpentry and construction is much easier with a rechargeable tool kit. I have been using the same Ryobi Rechargeable Tool Kit for the past 7 seasons. I have gone through many saw blades and added several batteries over the years but the tools themselves are just as strong and stable as when I bought them. If you are building off-grid a rechargeable tool kit is a must have item.

Common Sense Automaker Bailout

This automaker retooling proposal is based on the currently allocated $25 billion bailout already promised to the American automotive industry.

Give the big three automakers $3 billion each for retooling American plants to produce efficient electric cars priced under $15,000. With an additional $1 billion awarded to the first automaker producing the new vehicle. No outsourcing all work and parts done at American plants creating new jobs.

The remaining $15 billion will be used to give a $15,000 coupon to anyone wanting to buy a new electric car or small truck. This will afford the people economical small vehicles. If you want a nicer electric car go to the bank and borrow for the rest of the money. The car coupon is your down payment.

$15 billion is enough for 1,000,000 car coupons. The coupons can only be used on American made electric cars or trucks. Weighted treatment goes to lower income individuals in urban and rural areas. Small cars will alleviate the problems caused by shrinking mass transportation systems and heavy pollution caused by auto exhaust. The coupons will be awarded over the course of 4 years from the beginning of production. Coupons must be redeemed within 2 month or are forfeit.

This method will guarantee that our tax dollars are not sent to upgrade plants in Brazil and Mexico. Everyone wins, we greatly reduce our dependence on foreign oil, replace old gas guzzling monsters with clean electric cars, create possibly millions of new clean industry jobs and jump to the technological front of the alternative energy industry wave.

Compared to the massive banking bailout this modest proposal will actually work towards an economic rebound by creating good middle class jobs and off industry opportunities.

GM had a great electric car in the 90's. It was killed off by oil and car lobbies. This is a documentary that explains what happened...Who Killed The Electric Car?