bob the builder 8 of 8

BOB THE BUILDER 8

Our bill has reached around seven grand or a bit more, quite enough already for minimum wage part time folk.  Still, with junk land you’ve probably only spent another three thousand so really you are only out six to nine months wages and almost everything you’ve build has a long lifespan.  Not a bad investment.  Anymore, what you have spent on land and a home is less than one year renting an apartment in most places that still have jobs.  You didn’t need to drill a well, or string out power or even buy a generator, so your costs are cheaper than even hooking up a travel trailer.  A few extra things to make life easier.  Don’t clear your land by hand.  Electrify your bicycle.  Spend some extra for proper furniture to save room.  Buy real windows rather than scavenging them.  A solar cooker is going to be mandatory.  And, don’t fall in love with cast iron thinking one pan meals are the only way to cook. 

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I’m still clearing the first lot, seven years on.  Each sage brush is cut by hand ( the small ones I use bypass cutters ) and drug into a pile.  As I age, the task becomes more hideous ( I’m in great shape but work drains all my calories.  Yesterday the bastards dog-piled me and I got over double our normal busy day donations, hauling in over three thousand pounds.  And keep in mind, each pound is picked up and moved several times.  As this is Christmas season, soon pallets of canned cases will soon be added to that ).  The next half acre I clear will be with a $200 power tool.  I have no idea what it is called, but think of a weed-wacker with a circular saw blade.  As a bonus, you can switch out the saw for wire to trim the weeds.  I’ve been adamant against using any power tools, but if I’m going to pay for a backhoe I’ll spring for this also.

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My farther lot is an additional three miles ( so, a commute of nine miles, up from six ).  Two miles of that is uphill.  A gradual slope, but a slop none-the-less.  I have two other hills besides that one, albeit much shorter.  For those hills, I’d put an electric front wheel on my bicycle for an assist.  The wheel is $200 at Amazon, and three motorcycle batteries which will fit in my front basket wired in parallel ( the motor is a 36v, so you need three 12v’s wired up to conform to that ) are about $100.  Far cheaper than a moped or other scooter.  Granted, less power and shorter range, as you get what you pay for, but I only need assistance up the hills, not a vehicle to substitute for pedaling. 

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If you don’t have a bed, you will save a LOT of room.  You can double up the bedroom and living room.  I like hide-a-beds, and will get one if I can afford it.  Otherwise I’d have to improvise a bed in the wall.  Not perfect.  I prefer Laz-e-boy recliners for comfortable reading times and watching TV.  As my old bed was a slab of squishy foam I’d salvaged on top of buckets, the piece of plywood was my only cost.  And it takes up most of the room.  Wasted space you can reclaim by buying the proper tool.

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My windows in the B-POD were free trash picked pieces ( I believe they were glass top end tables ).  Next time I need to buy real windows.  Fresh air without propping open the door would be nice, as would a proper fit not disguised by caulking.  Not actually a priority, but something a wife would appreciate, for the aesthetics also.  I plan on surrounding the windows with 45 degree sides covered in shiny metal sheets ( mimicking a solar cooker, although at less of a tilt up so not as hot.  Which I’d think you’d want as it might get TOO hot ).  In the summer, a piece of lattice will shade the metal sheets. 

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A separate solar cooker in the yard will be used with the excuse of heating water in the winter, and it will be ready if needed post-propane.  And last, a propane oven.  Not a cheap camping unit but one they sell you down at the propane company.  This, plus making a quarter of the floor space the kitchen, will woo the Old Lady more than anything else.  She loves her cooking, for its creativity, as I love it for its utilitarianism.  As a parting note ( this sucker is too long as it is ), try this new way of cooking potatoes in the oven.  It might be old hat to you but it was new to me.  Cut potatoes down the middle long ways.  Then bake.  They taste totally different than a potato baked whole.  I don’t know why.  Try it.

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