"You can't do that!" and other nonsense

When I was much younger than I am now, with no construction experience to speak of, I set out to move into a self built yurt to escape the trap of paying rent. Needless to say, I was told I couldn't do that. Questions like "where will you put it?" and "what about the winter?" were offered as if to be the end rather than the beginning of a conversation. To be honest they were right about the first question, at least at first. By that I mean I tried to set up on railroad land and experienced vandalism. Still I eventually succeeded years later after meeting a friend with an empty wooded lot and gaining some construction experience.

The most memorable doubts came from a sales representative I was trying to buy bamboo from. I wanted the yurt to be extra lightweight so I could carry it into that tucked away spot, and even though this person was supposed to be selling me something,  he said to me, "Don't you think if that we're possible, there would be no homeless people?" Which is a pretty great question to think about, really.

I was told all my youth that you can not grow apples from seeds, then I find many apple from 1800 & 1900 are seedling & everyone know about Jonny Appleseed.
So I now know a high % of seeds will make apples, one only has to plant many seed to get a good apple, with out grafting, not that grafting is not good.
Grafting is a skill of value, but you can do with out it & still have fruit from seed.

Trace Oswald wrote:

Eric Thomas wrote:You can't put your elbow in your ear.  Really, you can't do that.

It would be pretty hard to your elbow in someone else's ear...

I study Martial Arts which includes many different ways of putting your elbow in various places on someone else, not just their ear. Hitting a Bad Guy in the ear with your elbow is a Good Thing and makes them take a short nap if done right.

James Alun wrote: "I haven't cut my hair for over 10 years", "but, but..."

Eric Thomas wrote:My brother hasn't cut his in more than 30 years.  His is just past shoulder length also.

I've found that most people's hair tends to grow to a certain length and stay there if they let it. You *can* grow it further if you really work at it, but why bother?
I'm growing my hair out after having lost it to medical treatments. I'm pleased that it's little more than a cap right now, perfect for hot weather. I look forward to seeing how long I can get it now.

You can't grow trees on Skye...



Hmm, you can if you have time and don't let the sheep in.

This is not so much a "you can't do that" as some "you'll never get a fire started" & "you're going to die" tales. It happened on the Boris Adventure. Daughter & I named it that in honor of the bear we had to chase out of camp at dawn one morning. That's a story for another time but let's just say I could have touched it several different times & it was within an inch of stepping on her head at one point. Never seen her wake up & get motivated so fast before!!!

We had been backpacking for 5 or 6 days in the Smoky Mountains. Staying at backwoods campsites. On our last night we stayed at a horse camp on the river that had other people. It had been raining for days, especially that day. Everything we had was wet or at least damp. After we got into camp I collected firewood for about an hour. I wanted a good fire or it would have been a miserable cold night. Some lady saw me & said "you'll never get a fire started".

Little did she know. I had a little dry tinder in a waterproof container, a tea candle, & some soggy paper trash. I started a small fire with the tinder & candle then proceeded to dry out small sticks. Gradually increasing the size of the fire & drying larger & larger sticks. Then some small logs. About an hour later we had a roaring fire while everyone else was huddled in their tents without any heat. Never underestimate a cold pyro who knows what he's doing.

Another time I took an out of town friend on a raft trip. Down the same river that flooded so bad & killed all the bible school girls a couple years ago. It was flooded that particular day but I knew that part of the river extremely well & had a really good raft. Not the crappy tourist raft that most people around there used. We set off & headed for the opposite bank just to make sure we had everything under control. The homeowner there came running down yelling "you're going to die". Hold my beer & watch this. We shoved off & enjoyed a very fast but safe & uneventful trip down the river.

One pic shows us attempting to dry some gear during a lunch break on the Boris Adventure. Good times.

I wish you lived closer to me. We could be friends. I live the same way, am at the library to get online.

Jan White wrote:When someone at work found out I didn't have a TV, she stared at me and asked, " What do you DO all day?" I thought, for the sake of her health, I'd better not tell her at that point I also didn't have a fridge or running water.

Mike Barkley wrote:We had been backpacking for 5 or 6 days in the Smoky Mountains. Staying at backwoods campsites. On our last night we stayed at a horse camp on the river that had other people. It had been raining for days, especially that day. Everything we had was wet or at least damp. After we got into camp I collected firewood for about an hour. I wanted a good fire or it would have been a miserable cold night. Some lady saw me & said "you'll never get a fire started".

Little did she know. I had a little dry tinder in a waterproof container, a tea candle, & some soggy paper trash. I started a small fire with the tinder & candle then proceeded to dry out small sticks. Gradually increasing the size of the fire & drying larger & larger sticks. Then some small logs. About an hour later we had a roaring fire while everyone else was huddled in their tents without any heat. Never underestimate a cold pyro who knows what he's doing.

LOL, great story! (Bold mine.)

Dietrick Klooster wrote:The most memorable doubts came from a sales representative I was trying to buy bamboo from. I wanted the yurt to be extra lightweight so I could carry it into that tucked away spot, and even though this person was supposed to be selling me something,  he said to me, "Don't you think if that we're possible, there would be no homeless people?" Which is a pretty great question to think about, really.

I think there's a lack of nuance to assume that all people are homeless for the same reason and that the reason is they are unable to find shelter.
In my experiences in interacting with homeless people (while few compared to some who work with them frequently), there are as many reasons that people are homeless as there are homeless people. Everyone of them has a different reason, or multiple reasons.

If it were as simple as providing shelter, there have been numerous small house/work equity to ownership/tent and temporary shelter handout programs/other government funded and charitable foundation sponsored programs that have tried tackling the problem from a strictly "give them a place to live" perspective. It doesn't work for many of the people most effected. It's a complicated problem made worse by people misunderstanding how to work to solve it.

No shame to those who are trying. I wish you nothing but success.