I was having a dream last night about the parcel of land I did a drive out in Berne last summer on that dirt road. I was thinking about that hill, and how icy that road was in winter and how unrealistic it would be to live out there and have to commute to city every day. It sure is nice to live in the city.
Still I could have seen that land as my own, my cabin up on that hill, overlooking the valley and my land and livestock. Have that nice woodstove, in a reasonably sized cabin, with simple, minimal lighting powered by solar energy. But still there would be all those state and local codes to comply with, all the laws and regulations of New York.
I have been following this Facebook account of this person who has this neat barndium cabin in Northern Maine. Beautiful dark steel exterior and wood shiplap and a woodstove and heat pump inside. He’s big into healthy eating from his videos, he has a burn barrel for his trash on his acreage and haa a tractor and a Toyota Tacoma truck. Doesn’t have any livestock. Interested in following him further.
Then there is this Facebook account of an off grid homestead in Arkansas I follow, this homesteader who has lots of livestock, goats pigs, cattle. Old house, but it’s obvious it’s all about the land and the animals. I actually like it disorderly but real. Farm equipment, feed sacks and equipment. Pans blackened from the wood smoke and gas stove.
Some day it will happen. I can retire before I know it, time goes by so quickly. If that’s the life I want to live in a small town, I’ll have the money to do it as I’m saving and investing every week.
More thoughts from that rather surreal bus ride home through the city after the Pine Bush Dinner with that hooker, transvesite or whatever that rather large lady who came running out of the homosexual bar without shoes was last night as the bus slowly but surely got me home.
Today is much to wet to ride my bike to work, 🚲 and I don’t feel like taking the local bus and shuttle to work, so I’ll drive my big jacked up truck into the office. I plan to head in around 7:40 and try to be in by 8 AM through 5 PM so I can build up a bit of extra time. Maybe on the way home I’ll pick up some Frank’s Hot Sauce in the big plastic bottle and some more sugar-free peanut butter protein powder. I’m just kind of tired of the whole city thing, I just wish I was up in wilderness 🌲 next to a fire 🔥 smoking grass.
Yesterday was everything what one would expect it to be. 🏢 Office life, work, riding to work and then up Clinton Avenue to Ontario and out Washington Ave to the Pine Bush dinner. The Schenectady County Historian gave an interesting lecture, and the lasagna was good. I had one of the left over brownies 🧁 to start my morning off with some coffee. With the rain and three days until the time change, the skies are very dark this morning. ☔ I noticed I have a license plate bulb 💡 out on my truck, I’ll have to pick up a bulb at the Auto Parts store or maybe Walmart and install it this weekend.
Been debating what my next reads should be, 📚 as the library really has a wealth of books if I know what I find interesting and will spend the hours reading and studying. Right now I have a book about wild foraging I’m reading, been thinking about reading more about elderly parents 👴🏻 and what it means to loose Mom and Dad as I fear those days aren’t that far away. Maybe also some more books about property ownership, building a house, a cabin, a homestead. 🐐 I was surprised how much little new things I learned from reading the book on Managing Manure 💩, I certainly didn’t think I was an expert on poop, but I guess I’ve learned a thing or two on nutrient management over the years. Poop and pee makes the world go round. 🌎 It’s not a just a tangy smell on one’s nose. 👃
This kind of sucks, the local is so slow and such a pain. They were running a bumpy ol’ articulated bus, and it running late and was absolutely packed. I was like, why do I put up with this crap?
Waiting for the bus after riding my bike downtown, there was some kind of drag queen or hooker who stumbled out of Albany’s Homosexual Bar waiting there with me for the bus. She was like I’m tired, I’m not wearing my shoes anymore tonight. And the bus was late. Cities have just gotten so dingy, the people have gotten so crazy, especially in the era of Trump 2.0.
The local bus was like all of the local buses. It was slow, and I had to keep a careful eye on the bike riding home to make sure no one touched it. And I was like, why the hell am I riding this bus? I can’t even keep an eye on the phone and be entertained as I got to keep an eye on the bike.
Next week with the time change, the options for getting home are either drive to work or bus to work and take the local bus home. It just sucks. And I wonder which option is worth it? Biking and busing is the cheapest option, but what is the cheapness for?
So some day I can live out in country, have a burn barrel, not wash out my plastic trash? Have livestock and hogs to feed? Be chopping wood and messing around with a malfunctioning solar and generators when there isn’t enough power in my battery bank? Aren’t I professional? Shouldn’t just drive myself to work? And buy that suburbanite home rather then renting that cheap drafty and dark dump in the suburbs?
Next year I need a new truck. Big Red has been good but he’s getting long in the tooth – with everything falling apart and rusting away after what will be 15 winters – and I want something smaller and easier to drive for a great adventure out west. Full-size trucks can be a bitch on narrow trails and campsite. I’d hate to have to back Big Red a half mile because no turn around exists on a dirt road blocked by a down tree or wash out. The truth is with my suburban office it’s only a matter of time before I have to start driving to work especially if I move rural or even to a slightly less dumpy apartment.
I am thinking about getting a Toyota Tacoma 4×4 with a six foot bed. I’m not set on an extended cab versus quad cab, it depends on what is available and what price. While I could consider a domestic make, I’m not sold on the reliability of the latest models of the Chevy Colorado and Ford Ranger. Nissan Frontier is a solid truck with a tested design but I worry that Nissan won’t be around in another ten years and that could make parts and repairs difficult.
There are other alternatives to buying a compact pickup. Some have suggested I would be happy with a freight van or an SUV. Then I could use the vehicle climate controls to heat or cool it. But I’ve never had issues with camping in the truck bed even in the winter with it unheated. Most vans and SUVs aren’t true 4×4 and aren’t good in snow or mud off the suburban street or even on rough dirt roads. Plus a truck and cap would be good if I end up owning land in the next 15 years – I’d much rather have a goat or feeder pig in the bed of my pickup then in the cab with scours spraying manure all over. Or hauling cans and unburnable garbage to the transfer station. And to be honest, I like camping a bit rough.
A quad cab would have more room for gear. I would consider paying extra for one of off-road packages, as I don’t think I would put a lift kit on the truck – as much as I like the higher ride – the lifted truck sucks to drive at night and a lift kit puts a lot of strain on the rest of the suspension especially if you plan to take it on a lot of dirt roads. I don’t climb over many boulders – occasionally campsites have a bit rough driveways but a stock 4×4 should be good for that. But I probably could use upgraded shocks for the roads I like to drive to get in the back country.
I would get a cap for the truck. I kind of like having the extra height cap but nowadays I’m more concerned about fuel economy as my new vehicle will inevitably have to be used for commuting so a flat roofed cap would be the most sensible option and best for long trips especially if I’m thinking of driving out west the next few years. Then if I eventually settle down in the homestead, small livestock and even bottle calves or feeder pigs could be hauled in the bed of the pickup under the cap. Or lumber and equipment. I would want Yakima tracks on the cap so I can mount the solar panel and my kayak rack to the roof.
I would mount the batteries – each in front of the wheel wells of the pickup and mount my solar panel on the roof of the truck. This set up I would have the inverter and solar controller not in the cab but in the cap. This would mean less wire to run. I plan to reuse all that equipment from Red. I would also run a wire to the hood with a relay controlled by voltage to connect to the alternator and starting battery for charging from the alternator or solar. Build a shelf like I have in my current truck for camping.
It’s not going to be my final vehicle but it will be likely my final vehicle before early retirement. 15 years from now I will be 57 and if I stay with the state I will be in good shape to consider retirement from government work to focus on building that off grid homestead. I may need a bigger truck like a 3/4 ton if I’m regularly hauling tractors, water or large livestock to the homestead. But that’s not the life I’m living in my mid-40s. But I think a truck like I’m describing makes sense for the next stages in life – still traveling and camping but also good for the inevitable commuting and still useful if I settle down in my years before early retirement for the future homestead.
I used to think it was not enough exercise that made you fat. But it's really the food that is fucking killing you. Not the chemicals, but the convenient, fully-prepared processed foods that are loaded with fat, sugar and salt. If it comes in a plastic bag or a cardboard box and you don't cook it, it's probably going to kill you.
My local library offers e-books both through Libby and Hoopla. With Libby you can borrow up to 10 books at a time, while Hoopla offers 10 books per month. I always try to get my 10 books from Hoopla before the end of the month, as they tend to have a wider selection – especially non-fiction and self-published works – and the download function that works more reliably in remote country without cell service.
I’ve had increasing problems with Hoopla having self-published books at that are AI generated crap. This is particularly true with self-published works. Sometimes self-published works are more technical in nature or are written by legitimate farmers and homesteaders, but there is a deluge of AI content that looks legitimate until you start reading, at least a few pages – and realize it’s just babble scraped off the internet and other sources.
I think I found a solution. I take the book title, and not only inspect the publisher, but also copy and paste the book title and author into Amazon and read the reviews. Then I know before I click borrow, I am getting a legitimate read, having the library reimburse an author for legitimate content rather then AI generated crap that it not readable or useful.
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