Glenn Greenwood

Tyler Ludens wrote:

Eric Thomas wrote:I think it was Stephen Gaskin that said something to the effect that 'you'll know when things are really bad.  There will be a guy at the end of your driveway wanting to trade a BMW with an empty tank for something to eat.'  

This seems to assume the observer has either divorced himself from the economy somehow, in other words has no bills to pay, or is wealthier than the guy with the BMW.  It seems to me more realistic to not expect the guy with the BMW, because he would have traded it long ago for a beater or some food.  Something I've noticed in the doomer world is that hard times always come to the other guy (in this case the guy with the BMW) before they come to the doomer, but I have not seen doomers discuss how they have divorced themselves from the economy or otherwise prepared for their own loss of income.  I've even seen doomers advocate running up massive debt buying land and preps because when the economy collapses you won't have to pay your bills!  I hate to think of the lives ruined by this strategy.

My own household is dealing with "economic collapse" because due to changes in the industry, my business has mostly ceased to make money.  I think it earned about $600 last month.  So we have suddenly plummeted below the poverty line.  But we own our house and land and have relatively few bills.  We're mostly eating from the garden and land these days, though we still buy some groceries.  But this is the sort of thing doomers didn't want to talk about; doom would always befall someone else, or it would befall everyone instantly all at once.  Most of them seemed to have regular jobs, not even self-employed.  Yet somehow these jobs would magically last until the last second before TSHTF....

.  

This is an old post and hopefully your finances have improved.  I liked this post because my finances have been a rollercoaster. There are too many variables that can come my way and I have to keep pushing and have faith that things will work out.  I have a little under two years until I will be eligible for some steady retirement income ( that is if nothing with the retirement plan changes in the next two years). I am self employed and have gone years with no guarantee of income level and have had some very close moments of "economic collapse".  I can really relate to your point of view in the post.

BTW I have been totally off grid for years and have solar power and wood heat only.  I have pails full of rice, beans dried goods etc..   that is replenished as used up. Located in a very rural area that has some powerful snowstorms and having no interruption in electricity is great. I am so used to this style of living that I do not even think about it. I go into town about once a month for the few supplies I need.

The clone kits are good with some OEM parts. I have Stihl chainsaws bought new and have logged with them.  I opt you have someone with a band saw mill come in. It will be way easier for you to get yourself organized and get the job done with the pressure from having a rental mill.  I have built a house right from forested land (ie had to put in driveway to get on land).  I put my logs in piles and a rental Sawyer came in and got the lumber sawn....very much worth the money and I worked on a million other projects while the two guy team of sawyers cut my logs. The guys working on the logs also helped me greatly psychologically and was a big boost at the start of a big major project.  The house and lot turned out better than I imagined.  You have enough to deal with without trying to be your own lumber yard!!!   Too many newbies try to have a farm, a barn, feed, cows...just to get milk!!! I later on had my own band saw mill and cut a lot of boards and that was a separate major project on its own.  Do not spread yourself too thin like too many permies do and that is why so many get discouraged and quit (it is not from lack of intelligence or hard work).  Spend the money on a rental mill and it will lighten your load and you will probably end up making a good friend/s that will know a lott more than you about where to go and who to see and how to build your house.   I grew up on a farm in Maine and know how to weld, log, tree farm, work on all types of machinery, build houses, build solar systems, put together chain saw kits from scratch etc. so I am a real DYI and know exactly what you are talking about when you say you want the freedom to do things on your own schedule because I was not to keen on having someone come in and cut my lumber but it was worth it.   Later on you can always get a band saw mill.  If you do not know how to put a saw kit together do not buy a saw kit!  You are trying to build a house...build the house and do not try to build a saw, build a mill and lumber yard etc etc and spread yourself too thin.  Later on after your house is up you can take your time and do these other projects. Do not get your wagon in front of your horse.  If you get the chainsaw kit and you do not put it together right (ez to do) you will end up having to cut lumber with a kitchen knife which is just about as fast and as much work as a chainsaw mill.  Good luck to you and do not spread yourself too thin.

I know this is an old post but I liked your honesty.  Mathew had a lot of good advice. Meeting people on and off the internet is tricky for both males and females.  I stopped and gave an up vote right at the part you stated they better have their *****together. Best of luck to you.  

Emma, you made me laugh. Haha. I am the hermit you describe living off grid for years now on seven acres woods and fields.  It is great and I could not go back to living and working and Boston.  I had all the skills ( house building, welding, running equipment, logging etc.) and grew up on a tree farm which really helped me out. Go for it and see how you like it and at your age especially go for it with others. For the most part I like my hermit life and call my lifestyle my cocoon. I build and sell handy man (and women) type things so meet with people now and then. I also go into town to get supplies and groceries every two or three weeks and bump into people. With the internet, I can keep in contact with a bunch of people.  With all the chores and work plus a schedule I keep and periodic socialization, I have not gone totally feral yet...although my beard seems to be growing bushier and faster!  I think that is very smart for you to realize about the loneliness factor because it is a major factor most people do not consider.  No need to be a hermit. Get some friends and go for it and stay out of debt. Staying out of debt is a biggy for me. Good luck.

I had a Santi best electric toilet commercial unit in a rental unit that pumped all the gray water and sewer  for bathroom and kitchen sink in a rental unit that was located in the basement.  They sell gray water tanks etc also.  You might want to look at what they offer That would give you a lot of options. I bought two units for about $4000 so if one failed I could switch it out. They can pump water through a garden hose really far. When I sold that building, I sold the two units to a couple that wanted to pump grey water from their house to a greenhouse project they had a ways from their house. Good luck and get the biggest ruggedest unit you can afford (better yet do what I did and get two).

Old post but your line...as an introvert I like doing things in my house or yard ...made me smile. My married sister with five kids and always a bunch of yard projects and I call this introvert behavior , similar to your phrase, our cocoons.  I have to bust out of my cocoon and go into town and buy groceries and supplies tomorrow and then be good for a few weeks.  As I have grown older, I like my cocoon. Lots of things to do in my house and seven acre woods and field...like cut and stock up a bunch of firewood.  I do not see how people can live in skyscrapers with no yards.  I do not sit in the house all day long on TV and Internet but do enjoy periods of that to balance working outside doing things like welding, building things, running my chainsaws etc..   I say..enjoy your cocoon. I just asked my sister how things were in her cocoon...she has planted 33 trees.

The  method is to take off all valves and fill with soapy water drain and refill a couple of times. Use a portable sawzall with fine blade after drilling a hole to put blade in (this is while tank is full of soap water mixture).  You can use an angle grinder with cut off wheel but is less safe due to sparks.   Propane is orderless and a chemical is added to give it a smell. The odor can stay in tank even when no propane. Propane settles to bottom of tank. Propane also will form various residue that will fire up.  Propane will permeate into steel in of tank.   The tools you use for cutting should be air tools or portable so you do not electrocute yourself instead of blowing yourself up. Best thing is not to cut propane tanks...weird things happen sometimes...just saying.

Yes yes yes..very possible.  I have scrapped lots of things and have welders and cutting torches.  If I think there is the possibility of a fuel explosion I do not bother with it.  I have a dozen or more tanks headed to the scrapyard now (out of code) and I just take the fill valve off and junk them or exchange them at Walmart and pay a fee to get an in code tank that is full. I then take the Walmart tank to a local place that charges propane by the gallon and actually fills the tank.  Buying propane by the tankful vs by the gallon is an unbelievable rip off most people are not aware of.  I knew one guy that thought a gas tank off a car was empty and he threw a burning rag in it to make sure...it looked like a bomb went off with a big mushroom.of fire and smoke. The fire dept rushed over cause people saw the fire. No one was hurt luckily.  I am not going to weld or torch fuel tanks.

Agree with you.  In fall and late spring I take the firebrick out of my stove and save a bunch of firewood not heating up the bricks and get quicker heat.  Firebricks are meant to cause a hotter fire to have less emissions and not necessarily for getting a room heated quickly which is all that is needed during chilly times as opposed to days on end at near or below zero like it can get here in Maine. It has not hurt my stove with no firebricks and ashes protect the bottom of the stove. A woodboiler used like a battery charger with a large water storage tank as the battery is the best set up I have had. The fire can burn at a good efficient high rate with little or no smoke and your house gets steady heat like a normal boiler. The fire is almost separate from the heat load...no more getting roasted out and opening windows and doors or smoldering a fire in an "all nighter air tight stove".

I believe in KISS.  Keep it simple stupid I tell myself.  Wood stoves do not make efficient heaters because of the fire cycle.  I had an outside woodboiler that worked efficiently because I used the woodstove fire like a battery charger and had a big water tank as the battery. Then I got good even heat in the house controlled by a normal thermostat and got all the btus out of firewood by burning at full bore and little to no smoke. The draft, water temp, circulator pump etc was all controlled ...all I had to do was throw in big chunks of wood. I run a woodstove now because of a change in living circumstances....the woodboiler was way better. I have to open windows from overheating or I am smoldering the fire. Luckily I have triple wall metalbestos straight ss chimney pipe going straight from top of stove to over 2' above roof and it has a cap on it so I get no downdrafts, great draft no matter the weather (like when it is raining and in most stoves next to impossible to have a fire) and I do not have to deal with creasote.  I like things that are as reliable and simple as possible even if not as efficient as a complicated unit. Your woodstove set up as original should be able to roast your house I would think...maybe add mass to store heat? Hook up a hot water exchanger and a water storage tank and make it into a wood stove boiler combo?