J. Syme

For Best fuel savings is drive less. (group errands, carpool, and do the farthest spot first then work way back home).  Leave early for errands so you're not rushed and tempted to drive more aggressively.
Remove extra weight from your car (clean out your trunk).  Inflate tires to proper rating to reduce rolling resistance.  Maintain vehicle tune ups, wheel alignment, bearings, brakes ect.   Avoid using the heater use until the engine has reached operating temperature.  Minimize air conditioning use, below 40mph use windows, park in shade use sun shield when parked. dress for the weather.  When driving on a multi-lane roadway, try to maintain a "space cushion" around you, so you can avoid speed variations.  Conserve momentum avoid coming to a complete stop whenever possible.  Be aware of your surroundings, try not to drive in a manner that will annoy those around you, give the impatient drivers an easy opportunity to pass you.  Some will see your atypical driving style and give you a thumbs up, most will be annoyed that you held them up from a very important stop light they rushed up to, only to wait until it changes green, right about the time you gently roll up to the light.

true well water yield/flow testing is usually done over a 2 hours period. 5gal/minute time 120 minutes is 600 gallons so if you can fill a dozen 55gallon drums in 2 hours you have plenty of sustained flow.  make sure to watch the flow carefully because if the well runs dry for a bit and the pump runs dry it will damage the pump. FHA & VA loans require minimum standards for well quality & flow rates. HUD reg are found here https://www.hud.gov/hud-partners/single-family-handbook-4000-1.  if you don't want to read 900+ pages here's the basics:  flow rate of 3-5 gal per minute sustained for a couple hours is the flow capacity they look for. there is also testing for contaminates in the water Bacteria, nitrates, lead, pesticides. the well should be more then 50 ft from septic and more than 10 feet from property line and 100 + feet from a drain field.   the practical test is if you have multiple fixtures running in the house at the same time will the pressure drop significantly that the pump will run dry for a bit damaging the system.  hope this helps.

I will put it on my calendar. Most likely I can fly into glacier MT area and borrow a ride from a buddy of mine. Paul, please let me know what RMH supplies you may need for this learning adventure.

Soon, I'm planning on getting a stash of purple playing cards and handing them out to friends & relatives. As my kids get older the want for less, and now enjoy hand made cards with coupons for going to park with mom, meet dad for lunch. other Popular gift cards are: this card is good for an afternoon of window washing, or oil change, tire rotation or brake job.... they seem to value projects we do together more that the stuff they receive.

Evie McDonald wrote:

J. Syme wrote:If you enjoy drawing, take a sketch pad or maybe a book to read to the local dog park and sit on a bench, a dog will find you and brighten your day, as a bonus they usually drag along their owner for a brief chat. 4-H has a great volunteer program in your county. Helping kids learn life skills is very rewarding. When I get the winter blues, doing physical activities helps, splitting wood, moving heavy objects, hiking, building fences.  Hang in there you just need to mix up your routine a bit to find something better for your soul. john

Hey John,
Thanks for the reply it actually got me thinking and kinda perked me up a bit. 😊
That dog park suggestion is spot on, and honestly, I laughed picturing it. I’ve got an old sketchbook gathering dust somewhere, so maybe I’ll dig it out, throw it in the truck with a thermos of coffee, and head down to the one in town this weekend. Dogs don’t judge, right? And yeah, the owners usually end up chatting for a minute or two nothing forced, just “Hey, he likes you!” or whatever. It’s been ages since I’ve done something that simple and low-stakes. Might be exactly what I need to shake off the quiet.
On 4-H, I checked the county site after you mentioned it last time turns out they’ve got a decent program going, especially with the livestock and gardening stuff. I used to help out with the fair back when my niece was little, so it feels familiar. Helping the kids with their projects could be good for me too; there’s something satisfying about seeing them figure things out and get excited. I’ll probably email the extension office this week and see what they need.
And the winter thing… ugh, you nailed it. I’ve been splitting wood like crazy lately just to stay busy nothing beats that thwack and the way your shoulders burn after a good stack. Hiking’s tougher when the trails ice over, but even a short walk up the ridge clears my head a little. Fences need fixing too; I’ve got a couple leaning bad after the last storm. It’s all stuff that keeps me moving, and yeah, it helps more than sitting inside staring at the walls.
You sound like you’ve got this mountain life figured out in a real, no-BS way. It’s nice hearing from someone who actually lives it instead of just the usual “move to the city!” advice. If you don’t mind, I’d love to hear more about your setup up there what you do to beat the long dark evenings, or if you’ve got any favorite trails/chores that keep you sane. PMs would be easier for that kinda back-and-forth without clogging the thread. Up to you, no pressure.
Appreciate the nudge, seriously. Feels good to chat with someone who gets it.
Take care,

In the early 1980's I went to Loch Lomond with my brother to drop off our Nana with her childhood friend. brother and I toured via Britt rail and bicycle Glasgow   Edinburgh, then up east coast and around to the Isle of Sky & beyond. I have many fond memories of camping thru Scotland. so yes i understand the pull to greener fields. yet as i sit My best view is where I'm at now. i look at each day as a rare blessing. we live in interesting times with wonderful opportunities for bettering ourselves thru taking advantage of easy access to historical wisdom of the ages. I struggle with balancing time reading, teaching, nurturing myself and those around me to become slightly beter that their yesterday.  It takes effort and discipline to stay on the path, luckily i have wife and kids to remind me when i stray too far off the path. i pray you find peace/purpose  in your path soon. keep looking for the signs and follow them to a new adventure hopefully with a life partner that shares your yearning for something better than the day before. as for my setup I'm a short bicycle ride to Amish country, were surrounded by useful folks, live on 25+ acres with daughters on 25 & 65+ acres near by.. day job is one traffic light away and doesn't wear me out. if i ever win the lotto i might take up farming full time until the money runs out but that's another story.

Rinse for using containers over and over again procedure.  so many years in military and highly regulated industries has me thinking that a triple rinse is what you need to be sure contaminates are no longer a concern.  well that may be the case for sending a hazardous waste containers out for recycle but well I'm interested in making sure the glass milk jug is ready for other use without wasting further sterilization efforts.  so as to not waste well water, nor highly co-vetted heated well water nor needlessly introducing chemicals to the process, i would like to know what standard practices you do?  

My normal is to add 10% volume of container fresh water to jug, shake violently, dump add 5% volume and shake again, dump. then 10% and shake crazy random motions to get any left over spots and dump then figure it's clean enough for putting anything of value into the container for use...

what I would like to know am I lacking soap, bleach, vinegar, or some other step necessary to get a reasonable clean without introducing "bad stuff" to my septic system. granted I can travel to rural Mexico and drink the water without any ill effects, so my tolerance for stray pathogens may not be a realistic matrix for the rest of my family to be safe...   what are all of you doing to reasonably clean containers to prepare them for food storage?

Do you regularly do projects with other folks? As for me, father in law, son in law & my neighbor luckily have the same style, so it was easy to pick colors for maximum interchangeability.  Around here the most popular is green. It's not the best but good for doing light fixes at neighbors houses.  Next most likely to find is yellow where folks use tools in a slightly harsher environment.  Red is for folks that don't care what neighbors have. I have both green & red.

https://www.bitaddress.org/
make a few paper wallets,
transfer like $50 worth of bitcoin to each style
make at least 2 copies (write a name on them so you know which is which)
fold paper so private key is not showing
store in fireproof spot

Primary source is a well, other sources are gutters to rain barrels, and a spring fed 2 acre lake. Well needs 240v AC to operate, has un filtered/ no softener piped to outdoor hydrants & water softener & filters for general indoor use. The lake & rain barrels are for gardening, wildlife & such.

If you enjoy drawing, take a sketch pad or maybe a book to read to the local dog park and sit on a bench, a dog will find you and brighten your day, as a bonus they usually drag along their owner for a brief chat. 4-H has a great volunteer program in your county. Helping kids learn life skills is very rewarding. When I get the winter blues, doing physical activities helps, splitting wood, moving heavy objects, hiking, building fences.  Hang in there you just need to mix up your routine a bit to find something better for your soul. john