Henry Byrd Bridge on the Parkway
View from pedestrian walkway of the Henry Byrd Bridge over the James River on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Looking out at morning rain ☔
Fuck, fuck, fuck was the words I said several years back when I ran over the pallet nail with my 35 inch tires, I recalled on the Custom Offsets post. Shitty times, hopefully today will be better as I drive to work on this rainy morning.
I want to go shopping 🛒 after work today, so I’ll drive in because not going to be a good day to ride in and it just sucks waiting for the local bus in the evening. 🚍 Even if it is cold and dark in the evening. Need more fresh and frozen fruit and also flour for baking. I have all this spaghetti squash and acorn squash to cook but I want to bake bread 🍞 at the same time in the oven. Fresh bread is so good in the morning, and I keep it simple, flour, water, yeast and maybe some salt and Stevia.
Tomorrow is Veterans Day and a State Holiday, 🪖 so I have it off. Looks kind of cold so I might just stay home and read under the covers of my electric blanket. Or maybe use the heating pad or the space heater. ♨️ It would be a good day for a big pot of soup and fresh bread. Maybe I should bring my laptop home but I rarely use it these days, and my computer monitor is in my office 🏢 though I never actually hooked it up. Mostly brought it in because the landlord was working on the windows, and I got tired of tripping over it. Might redo my work office so I can actually use it in the office.
It was a fun weekend, 🏕️ though the next two weekends as regular hunting season starts, I’m staying out of woods 🌲 with the plan for the next adventure to be in the Northern Zone in Adirondacks after Thanksgiving. I grin as I look at the empty trash cans in my apartment, all that plastic shit from the past three weeks burnt hot but don’t tell a liberal. 🔥 Regular season is still underway up north but by then things have slowed down. This weekend I might do the Pine Bush on Saturday, check out the John Wolcott sign, 🦋 visit the Salvation Army and Goodwill for more dressy work shirts, and then maybe go to Altamont Orchards 🎃 for some pie pumpkins for cooking. I spotted the big display on the way out of Shauls and I should have gone back and got one but I was already paying when the clerk yelled over to another customer about the pie pumpkins being on the other size. It would be good to cook up though right now I have a ton of spaghetti squash and acorn squash to cook up. But I’m now craving pumpkin so badly.
Spiegelton Lake at Hand Hollow State Forest
Scenic pond nested in the hills of rural Columbia County, not far from Lebanon Valley.
After Big Red 🛻
Every time I look back at Big Red I find it hard to believe that those days are rapidly coming to a close. So many memories and trips taken with Red, so many hours of paranoia and fear not at all rational and many days and nights spent in the wilderness. It’s hard to believe in my mind that it might be coming to an end next year when I retire Big Red and get a new truck.
It’s possible – and maybe quite likely – I could get another year out of Red especially with some maintenance and parts. Change the transmission and transfer case fluids, replace the belts and spark plugs. Get new shocks and struts, replace upper ball joint – already done the lower ones, the bushings and some of the other equipment. It probably would be fine for a while there after and that’s the frugal thing to do. But I make good money, I’ve had Red for 14 years now, and I want something smaller and easier to drive I think – that’s better on gas. But I also like the big truck for hauling all my gear. Want something new and modern so I can drive out west – Michigan, Wisconsin and Missouri – explore and I’m not sure I trust Big Red even if I get caught up on the maintaince. It’s kind of a rust bucket now and it will be even worse after a harsh winter.
At one level I’m set on getting a Toyota Tacoma 4×4. Something small but with a six foot bed for camping. But easy to take down the trail and get it tight campsites. But with so much gear these days could I fit everything in the cap? Things would be so much tighter than in my big jacked up truck. I might get the off-road package as I don’t want to mess with a lift kit but also want good stable performance for rough forest roads but maybe not rock climbing. Truth is that I rarely bottom out my truck though it’s certainly possible to high center even a lifted truck on a snow bank in the remote Adirondacks. Trust me I know from first hand experience.
That said, I’ve been reading about the latest generations of Toyota Tacoma 4x4s and while they are pretty solid, reliable builds, they have had more issues lately with the latest generations of engines and 8-speed automatic transmissions. The Tacomas you can still get with a six-speed manual transmission and I think I’d would almost prefer that for both winter driving and going through the mountains for engine breaking. I really want to spend more time in West Virginia, the Appalachians and the Adirondacks in the coming years. The Tacomas are also assembled in Mexico with cheap Mexican labor though the quality is supposedly high but I do prefer supporting union labor. And there is the question of tarrifs.
Other issues I’ve heard is that they aren’t real fuel efficent despite their small size. You might as well get a full size truck some argue. The seventeen gallon tank means more stopping for gas, especially when climbing mountains and rough dirt road in remote country which sucks as you have to plan more ahead so you don’t run out of gas.
Another option I’m considering is getting a 3/4 ton long bed 4×4 work truck either a Chevy or a Ford. I kind of prefer no frills and even those trucks have nowadays have cruise control and air conditioning. Just a regular cab, they heat and cool faster and have less room for clutter plus so much room for camp gear and it would be useful some day when I settle down to my homestead. But fuel economy and size are issues. Want something small enough and economic enough if I eventually am forced to commute by automobile again. Big Red just ain’t easy to drive except on the open road. Also maybe this kind of truck is best bought used from state agency or power company surplus or other fleet vehicle. Save a lot on depreciation and there are certainly a lot of fleet vehicles like this available used.
Maybe I should look at the domestic manufacturers again. For the most part except my extreme anxiety, Big Red has been good and reliable bar the wheel bearing but that’s ordinary wear. But you hear such bad things about the domestics these days with their modern fuel savings for government compliance designs. They say cars have only gotten worse recently, especially the domestics. The 3/4 ton trucks have fewer compliance restrictions and are built heavier, so I feel like they’re a better option if I choose ultimately to go domestic. But bad on gas if I decide to go that way. And big and hard to drive down narrow trails and in the city.
I don’t know. I have time to study and think.
Hokey Homesteaders 🐐
One of the things that annoys me the most about the whole topic of homesteading and farming more generally is the hokeness that is promoted around it. That somehow “back-to-the-land” is old fashioned, that it’s cute and beautiful, some kind of romantic vision rather then a reality of mud and manure, pests and chemicals, scientific knowledge about how ecological systems work.
Certain products and technologies make sense in rural areas for rural uses. Like tractors and plows, manure spreaders, all kinds of farm implements and tools. But that doesn’t make it hokey or old fashioned. Some very old technologies have a role on a modern farm, sometimes old equipment is paid for and works well. Sometimes old practices are worth taking a second look at because they worked well in the past and are still relevant. And others should be left in the past. Certain clothing just makes sense while working in the barn, especially during cold weather. Certain products are durable and can withstand the harsh farm conditions.
But that doesn’t explain the whole story of the hokeness. Some of it is branding, indeed many farmers see a lot of benefit as selling their products as natural and bucoloic. People want to envision land as green with happy farm animals and nature, it cna sell a lot of products. Still, I think it can get a bit silly, and make it seem like homesteaders and farmers are backwards, anti-modern, and not up on the latest of technology, even if in many cases they have long adopted many technologies that make sense on a modern homestead or farm. And this kind of market discounts homesteading and farming as being boutique. I really don’t necessary embrace it.