7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Where are you and where are you going?
7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

"The Woman in the Dunes" is a great novel by Kobo Abe. A visiting man is trapped in a sand pit with a strange woman, forced to endlessly shovel to hold back the dunes which threaten to overtake a village. This novel came to mind because approximately 2 months gone by, and I am still emptying crap out of the Money Dimple. How can this be possible? I asked myself and felt compelled to do the math in search of hope and comfort. If the house, shed and garage were completely filled with sand (as opposed to wide variety of assumed to be semi-toxic filth), the total volume would have to be slightly less than 400 cubic yards, and at my average rate of disposal, I would have to be done with this demolition phase by some time next year. So, I persevere...

The raccoon ceiling, now to be known as the squirrel ceiling, has been removed, almost. It was filled with mix of rotting black walnuts, old insulation, and straw bedding which the squirrel must have squirreled away. The squirrel did sort of jump down and towards my DS32, but luckily I was near the door, so my terror felt was minimal. Unfortunately, taking down the first ceiling layer revealed the fact that the conservatory is actually an addition in front of an original addition, so there is another layer to be removed after I investigate whether the joists in between have any structural use whatsoever. There is no access to this tiny "attic" from the main attic, so maybe I will find some treasure hidden there. According to "A Pattern Language"- Pattern 204: Secret Place
Make a place in the house, perhaps only a few feet square, which is kept locked and secret; a place which is virtually impossible to discover- until you have been shown where it is; a place where the archives of the house, or other more potent secrets, might be kept.
Unfortunately, it seems that there is now an active firebug targeting vacant buildings in the city. So, I added a couple more warning signs and a corner full of flowering plants on the front porch to my defensive perimeter. Basically, there are 3 forces at work which together constitute the timer I have running against me on this project; the criminal element, the code enforcement element, and the natural elements. Obviously, I could choose to make use of more money to power and speed up my own forces. Instead, I seem more inclined towards at least two potentially infinite regresses; self-reliance and quality. I reference the following from "ERE" :
When buying products, you're paying for time, materials, and knowledge. You probably have plenty of time (you read this far), materials (especially when bought in bulk) are shockingly inexpensive, and often the knowledge required to do a job is overestimated.
Of course, even with materials there can be an almost infinite regress, because, for instance, is lumber purchased in familiar forms a "product" or a "material." I observe on other journal that some individuals have the knowledge/skill/muscle/vigor necessary to hew lumber to familiar form making use of only simple tools. In "Retrosuburbia", trees that are removed from property are rendered into boards towards building house through use of a portable sawmill. I strongly believe that my estimate of my knowledge/skills as inadequate to any of these endeavors is accurate. However, that leaves open the general question of which of the tasks that run the gamut from being my own general contractor, renovation architect, electrician... down to seriously poor excuse for a general laborer, I will choose to take on. There is a level on which I would enjoy going as Primitive Technology as possible on this project, but my current skills just are not up for it given reality of the three elements in force against me at the boundaries of space and time.

Then, there is also the question of quality or even philosophy made manifest applied to process. For instance, Pattern 104: Site Repair, which states:
Buildings must always be built on those parts of the land which are in the worst condition, not the best.
I think this must also apply to doing renovations in rundown neighborhoods and decaying cities rather than the opposite, so I give myself a Gold Star for fulfillment of this pattern! Since there are around 100 patterns in this book combining human psychology with building standards that are somewhat relevant to my project, and I also purchased access to archives of Fine Homebuilding, this could be another potential for infinite regress. For instance, I absolutely agree with the patterns that suggest that a window seat in front of windows that open wide at a level that a person can easily reach down and touch something growing in the garden would be quite wonderful. Why should I not have such in my home?

white belt
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by white belt »

It has been really interesting following along. You’ve definitely given me a lot to think about when considering my own ERE urban homestead retrofit solution.

One concern I have is expending all my energy/motivation in the “clean up” stage before getting to the fun “improvement/development/optimization” stage. I think in my situation I’m either going to buy a slightly less dilapidated structure (has separation between indoors/outdoors, somewhat up to code), or I’m just going to outsource the junk hauling. I also have the flexibility of large financial resources, although in true ERE fashion I’m trying to save it for only when it’s really needed.

Once the cleaning out phase is complete, then it seems like it would be much easier to attract others to help you. I’m sure you could set up some kind of work exchange this summer with a local younger hippie or forum member who is interested in developing the site from an ecological perspective. Of course, that’s a harder sell if the house isn’t even remotely livable yet. Then again, maybe I’m wrong since it doesn’t sound like your neighborhood is the most desirable, so people might not want to live there even for a short period of time.

The city I’m eyeing for my potential project has enough cultural and entertainment pull that I suspect I’d be able to attract people from other parts of the country to work on the project if I provide room and board in exchange for some labor.

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

@white belt:

Yeah, I almost think buying this house was a way of tricking myself into earning/saving some more money, either through sweat equity or by seeking other form of employment for myself so I can afford to hire sub-contractors. I’m not inclined towards cashing out other investments towards this project and I am about tapped out on social capital towards free help at this juncture :lol:

Anyways, it is less boring for me than simply working x more years in order to save y more $$ in order to pay cash for house and garden already in good condition.

OTOH, another problem is that all of the other pieces of my lifestyle ,which I can easily envision fitting into the house and its locale once it is done, are now cast about in holding mode like contents from a closet being cleaned. Now that I am thoroughly vaccinated I am going to start to try to get some of these other pieces in place, at least In my new locale, if not the house itself yet. I keep searching for inexpensive temporary lodging, but I really don’t want to have to share a bathroom while I am doing demolition and anything that would give me my own bathroom is too expensive. So, I continue to mooch bed space/ shower/ convenient laundry facilities off of grouchy old man friend even though over an hour drive from the Money Dimple.

white belt
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by white belt »

I know you’re not at this stage yet, but what are you planning on doing for insulation? I’ve been watching some videos of LEED requirements which nowadays seem to recommend using spray-in because I guess it has the most coverage.

I think you mentioned maybe using a heat pump or wood/pellet stove for heat. Have you made any decisions on that yet? I like the idea of a stove that can be dual use for heating and winter cooking, especially with the number of cold months in your region.

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

@white belt:

Yeah, I’m still going to be in “Can this house be saved?” mode until end of this month. That said, fiberglass batting would be easiest option. I actually really like the cottage look of the exposed studs and old plank siding, so another possibility would be adding a layer of sheet insulation to the exterior followed by another layer of siding and running all my new wiring through conduit.

Anyways, I’m not a huge fan of sealed envelope living. It’s 36 right now and I am sitting next to a half open door wall. And the house is old, very small, with large proportion of windows, so unlikely to be perfectly sealed. So, pellet stove and attic fan and small ac unit would probably work for me if it meets code. I might not even need the AC if my lifestyle leaves me free to drive an hour further North to camp near the lake during heat waves.

My nice neighbor mowed my lawn with his riding mower yesterday. I had already mowed it with my new push rotary mower on Saturday. Since he is nice ( and cute), if my current status wasn’t old and fat, I would interpret his behavior as sexual interest, but given current status, more likely that he found my push mower efforts ( which he observed while fixing car on his driveway) pathetic and/or he just wanted more acreage to try out his new mower on. Anyways, this is a perfect example of the sort of thing that always happens to me in regard to boundaries and also IMO highly indicative of what will always happen when low power solution meets high power solution at a boundary.

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Alphaville
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by Alphaville »

7Wannabe5 wrote:
Thu May 06, 2021 6:07 am
at a boundary.
how is the boundary situation progressing? now just with lawnmower man. i mean with the world. any progress with barriers etc?

to me this is the make or break aspect of your property. i.e.. if boundaries are not secured, then all else is futile.

is there a pattern for "crocodile moat, electrified fence, razor wire"? :lol:

i was looking semi-recently at a mixed use property for purchase. it was in an interesting location, but not a nice one. and i have no problem with the idea of a paradise garden inside a fortress. the thing is, the fortress must come first, or the garden gets trampled.

i don't know that the house itself is the real challenge--we know you could live inside a tent or a van etc. and you could have a garden first, a house later.

but the challenge, seems to me, is safe boundaries. either from loot-seeking hobos or well-meaning neighbors or bossy boyfriends.

i know we're different people, who relate differently to the world, but to distort a leftist slogan: no safety = no peace. if you can't sleep soundly at home, then it's not a home to me.

any recent progress/small successes/etc towards the essential prerequisite of keeping out the 2-legged raccons?

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

I agree that boundaries are important. In terms of what I have actually done, the new locks on the shed and the new signs and solar lighting by the doors of the house seem to be working well enough for the moment. I “feel” safer working in the house on days that are very sunny, so getting to the point that I can take the boarding down will help with my claustrophobia. I think I generally prefer not feeling trapped over feeling like I am in a fortress.

Anyways, the most relevant patterns could be 106: Positive Outdoor Space and 173: Garden Wall.
Make all the outdoor spaces which surround and lie between your buildings positive. Give each one some degree of enclosure; surround each space with wings of buildings, trees, hedges, fences, arcades, and trellised walks, until it becomes an entity with a positive quality and does not spill out indefinitely around corners.
Form some kind of enclosure to protect the interior of a quiet garden from the sights and sounds of passing traffic. If it is a large garden or a park, the enclosure can be soft, can include bushes, trees, slopes, and so on. The smaller the garden, however, the harder and more definite the enclosure must become. In a very small garden, form the enclosure with buildings or walls; even hedges and fences will not be enough to keep out sound.
These patterns are integrated with other patterns such as 105: South Facing Outdoors, 112: Entrance Transition, 163: Outdoor Room, and 168: Connection to the Earth. I have already sketched a variety of enclosure or garden rooms open towards the Southwest from obvious corners and doors. Unfortunately, my property line goes right up to my nice neighbor’s driveway, so there is no great way to enclose that space. The space between his garage and my shed can be easily enclosed, and there is a large tree I intend to keep on driveway side of shed, so easiest most aesthetically pleasing and reasonably friendly solution would be to simply create, extend, delineate under planting and mulch to drip line of tree combined with very hard courtyard type enclosure of garden room off of northeast exterior door/entrance to attic stairway combined with hedge along northern boundary up to drip line of tree. This enclosure would also offer private garden in the future for anybody who might want to live in my attic space yet be accessible by path through ornamental edible garden wrapping house from the east.

Frita
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by Frita »

Lots of progress, keep it up and feel free to add pictures! Your body is strong and serving your project well. How is the Noom thing?

Regarding the neighbor, I think he could like you. If he thought you were too thick, he would have let you push away. Or perhaps he wanted to reward your hard work in fixing up the place and/or appreciates you as a neighbor?

Sidenote: We have fat neighbors to either side in a place where thin and in excellent shape is the norm. They have gas lawn mowers and snowblowers but seem to lack the physicality and motivation to use them. We have a reel mower, hand tools, snow shovels. Out of laziness we just get out there and take care of business so the work doesn’t pile up. My spouse often shovels for both as he feels sorry for them and likes the extra exercise.

Last year we had our reel mower sharpened. It was a good spend of $10.

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Alphaville
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by Alphaville »

7Wannabe5 wrote:
Thu May 06, 2021 7:52 am
Anyways, the most relevant patterns could be 106: Positive Outdoor Space and 173: Garden Wall.
nice. i appreciate your thorough acquaintance with that book--must be well thumbed. makes me even more curious to read it.

very happy to hear of success warding off marauders! congrats & keep up the good work--i think you're getting where you want to be even if it might not always be evident.

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

@Frita:

I tried to take some photos of specific problems I have recently encountered, but they weren’t very revelatory absent perspective. In addition to “A Pattern Language “ and “Renovation: 5th Edition”, I am using “The Book on Flipping Houses” by Scott as primary reference since it has some very good recommended order of operation information and charts. So far, I estimate that my renovation is proceeding at approximately 1/20 to 1/30 the pace of a Scott flip :lol:

Thanks for the attempted upgrade to “thick”, but I’m somebody who is thick even when thin according to the scale, so I must in all honesty describe my current status as “fat.” Due to a variety of factors, after going through variety of other stages of outlook, I have become somebody who is pretty much oblivious to validation of my physical appearance. Around 10 years ago I was still in a phase where my overt practice was to literally make men pay for any rude remarks about my appearance. For instance, when one guy I was dating made comment about my gardening rough nails, I smiled and said “If you give me $100, I will visit salon tomorrow.” So, when my “ex” made a comment about my chin line drooping, I made him fork up $4000 for a mini-lift. Therefore, due to that procedure which was quite successful and the truism that “fat don’t crack”, it is somewhat likely that I currently look more like a fat teenager than most women my age :lol: I do seem to be slowly losing some weight, but with high daily variance on my scale read. If my sexy-cute neighbor wasn’t also likely a Ted Nugent Republican as well as too close for comfort, the possibility of hitting that might serve as some level of motivation.

My new reel mower is of recently patented design inclusive of flywheel and no need to ever sharpen. It works great; I was only struggling because yard is in quite rough shape, and I was going out of my way to avoid raspberry brambles I may want to transplant to future hedge.

Toska2
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by Toska2 »

Y'all reading too much into this. Perhaps he is an intj that knows the lifespan of the mower will exceed his own or he knows running an engine for short periods is bad for it.

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

@Toska2:

Highly likely it was something like you suggest combined with good neighbor gesture. Good neighbor network is of more value to me than strict boundary maintenance, so will note event as positive in my permaculture observation notebook. However, the main point I was attempting to make is that I don’t think it would have happened if you were his new neighbor. Also highly unlikely that somebody would grab hold of your suitcase and stow it for you without asking or attempt to help you take your jacket off without asking or offer to send a big boy over to help you maintain order in rough high school classroom. I’m not complaining. I’m just once again observing how my manner or behavior or appearance ( which is to large extent artifact of my behavior/choices) usually vibes in social setting towards improving balance of stocks and flows and reducing wasted effort. How much money would you bet on possibility of me living alone for more than a year?

white belt
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by white belt »

@7WB5

I wonder how much of it is also gender based? Men are just wired to help women with physical activities because they believe it is the polite thing to do. Many men are even raised to think that not helping a woman is unacceptable behavior (e.g. go help your Mom unload the groceries).

I recently was exposed to this when I found out my GF had never helped someone move. I was talking about how whenever I’ve moved into a house with male roommates, they’ve always come out and helped me unload stuff even if I don’t ask. Whereas she talked about how that is not a common occurrence with female roommates and that I shouldn’t expect my new future female roommates to do that. I don’t have enough data to know if this is just a one off opinion or reflective of more than that.

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Alphaville
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by Alphaville »

That sounds unknown to me. I've always participated in coed moving--I like a good party I guess :lol:

But no... I've heard stories of my wife helping friends move also. And we've helped friends move... She grew up in a ranch accustomed to manual labor... but no, even with city people. Idk I guess. Maybe it's just my social circles aren't very tradish.

Re: the neigbor: I was trained since infancy to help women open doors carry bags offer the seat etc--but also to be respectful and not impose on a lady. "Please, allow me.." etc. must precede hands. I wouldn't just drive my tractor over someone's boundary unrequested. That's rude even if well-intentioned. Not saying this to feed into paranoias or anything--maybe he's just a rustic lmao. Or maybe... he thinks the land is his? :?

white belt
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by white belt »

I should clarify that she said she has never helped a new roommate move in that she wasn’t previously friends with. So if it was someone already within her social circle she would help, but I guess in her mind “new roommate” is basically a stranger and hasn’t entered social circle yet?

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Alphaville
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by Alphaville »

ah right right... that makes sense now. yeah... keeping a little social distance with a stranger.

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

@white belt:

A great deal of it is gender based, but my personal demeanor and use of slower, less powerful tools are also factors. I was actually trying to picture the behavior of a lone female attempting physical task or project that would provoke different response and it occurred to me that my sister and I were never offered help with hauling heavy boxes full of books from our male direct competitors at book sales.

OTOH, I definitely have helped with moving, because often a “many hands make light work” task unlike mowing the lawn or taking off your own coat. I would guess that your new female roommates would more likely than not ask if you need any help, but probably wouldn’t simply jump in to assist.

@Alphaville:

He has been harvesting the black walnuts while property was vacant. It’s okay. I thought about it and I am making the call that it’s a good network connection towards security. As I put more energy into improving and developing the property and creating more significant social network, my possession will naturally become more established.

Dream of Freedom
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by Dream of Freedom »

We can keep trying to read his mind. That doesn't always work ;) . Why not strike up a conversation with the guy?He will probably mention doing the deed on his own.

white belt
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by white belt »

7Wannabe5 wrote:
Fri May 07, 2021 11:57 am
A great deal of it is gender based, but my personal demeanor and use of slower, less powerful tools are also factors. I was actually trying to picture the behavior of a lone female attempting physical task or project that would provoke different response and it occurred to me that my sister and I were never offered help with hauling heavy boxes full of books from our male direct competitors at book sales.
Competitors is the key word here. Sounds like the males viewing you and your sister as competitors overrode the more socially conditioned/biological urge to assist you. In more recent years, I’ve also seen it is the case that some men are hesitant to help a woman in a professional context with something physical because they don’t want to appear sexist or that they are making sexual advances.

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

@Dream of Freedom:

I have had quite a few friendly conversations with him inclusive of topic of where property line for mowing should be. I thought we agreed that he would do around four feet off his driveway beyond fence line. That’s part of the reason why his behavior is confusing to me. I was there at the house while he was doing it.

@white belt:

Exactly. I am like a shark at a book sale.

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