This has lately become one of my favorite phrases to mock the ever so common home for sale posting I see on Zillow and other sites – buy this rural house with a long commute on one acre of land!
You might ask where I came up with such a phrase, but it really go back to my days in my youth as a Boy Scout in Clarksville, that small hamlet in the Town of New Scotland off NY 443. We met at Clarksville Church, and during times in spring and the fall when either Meadow Brook Dairy’s Van Wie or Tommell Cattle where spreading, it could definately be pungent at times from the dairy-air. I just remember the look at that farm kid whose dad picked them up, after quite apparently working with silage and not showering after. Now pungent! As boy scouts, and young people we made a lot of jokes, mostly very mean spirited about farm folks and smell of cattle.
Clarksville is very much a small town, hamlet. It smells like cow shit at times, and it is quite small and walkable, though there are few businesses one can actually walk to as general store is long gone and they’ve struggled to even keep a pizza place open. But truth is there is probably some appeal to living in a small town, like you probably know your neighbors and there aren’t the issues of big cities like homeless and drug addicted people. Not that you see much of them outside of downtown. But also so many of those houses, especially in the hamlet, are so close together. Rural living but not without a lot of land.
Rural hamlets reminds me a lot of campgrounds. I guess it’s camping to sleep in a tent or a camper on a driveway packed right in next to another camper. I mean, I guess camping in a campground in strictest sense is camping, it’s not the same as sitting in a house or an apartment downtown, though many of the tow-behind campers are essential miniature homes on wheels. And in many cases, people who build their own homes, or need inexpensive living in a rural location live in those RVs.
But at least in my mind, that’s not camping. It’s certainly not the kind of camping I enjoy, where in most cases the nearest campsite is a 1/4 mile or farther away, per the requirements of the Adirondack State Land Master Plan, or just the general terrain of the back country. Places where I can shoot guns, listen to music, have a roaring fire and even burn a plastic trash or smoke some grass without anybody caring one way or the other. I have to say all my time camping in remote back country, far away from people kind of informs how I want to live, and even 5 acres, much less 3 or less acres, just seems much too close to live to anybody else. Yet, it’s hard to find places like that – just like it’s hard to find places that I like camp at that are less then hour, and often as much as two hours away from home.
The thing is so many even rural houses, are essentially suburban these days with high-speed internet, large televisions, propane or oil climate control, curbside weekly garbage pick-up and of course essentially unlimited grid-powered electriciiy. If a rural house is not actively homesteading or farming, it is almost completely divorced from landscape, except maybe when they step out their door and take a deep breathe of the dairy air in spring time. And much like camping in a crowded campground, with RVs and tents back to back, what do you get with such living, besides a long commute, quickly tired and junked automobiles and large gas bills for your 4×4 pickup driven to city every day?
I am super disappointed with President Trump saying that people shouldn’t have the right to carry firearms responsibly at a protest. If people are carrying responsibly, they should be allowed to carry firearms in all places. The second amendment isn’t something the government follows when it’s nice, it is an absolute right established in our constitution.
If we are worried about violence, then the solution is not an unarmed population. It’s to make sure violent criminals aren’t on the street until they have been fully rehabilitated or lives ended. If someone can not be rehabilitated then we should use the death penality. Sadly, for some serious crimes like sex offenses against children or murder, things like the death penality should be the default option.
We shouldn’t be a society where we allow our streets to be filled with mentally ill convicts forever disabled for the remainder of our life. Rather then sending the criminally disabled back on the streets to cause only more crime, a mandatory death penality could both clear out the jail cells and streets of those no longer able to serve a life as part of society.
People forget that Donald Trump is at his roots a New York City politician, steeped in the liberal ways of New York City. He might be on the right-side of New York City politics, but he’s far left on many social issues compared to average Americans. He is a gun-banner at heart, he does not believe in the constitution or the second amendment. Maybe he’s right of a liberal Democrat in the city, but that doesn’t mean his views are consistent with most Americans.
Just don’t be like Waylon Jennings telling Buddy Holly, “Well, I hope your ol’ plane crashes”
Such a classic song by Don McLean on this Day the MusicDied, 🛬 a long time ago, actually 67 years ago, back in 1959. The song apparently came out in 1971 but was part of the Bicentennial Celebration in 1976 at Grand Opening at Empire Plaza. 🇺🇸 And now this year is the Semiquincentennial, America’s 250th Birthday that nobody cares about because it’s mostly a masturbatory experience for President Trump. Mr. USA I guess wrapped in 3-mil plastic brightly colored red, white, blue before heading to the landfill or turned into black smoke in the smelly ol’ burning barrel. 🛢️
We were singing, Bye, Bye American Pie, 🎶 though after my old Chevy rotted out, I am getting myself a Ford SuperDuty I tell myself. Or something else, I am not that set on it. I can’t believe in like two weeks already I’ll start test driving trucks, maybe on a weekday so I can avoid the weekend crowds, but I tell myself I’m not going to buy, though I note it will be tough once I get in floor room and they promise me a low, low price and the trucks are nice. But I don’t want a truck until he snow and salt is done. ☃️ Yet, I do also want to have time to get a camper shell and break in the truck before planing out my big road trip.
It was cold but a lot of fun riding in yesterday. Honestly, it didn’t feel as cold as the mercury suggested but there was no wind, which helped a lot. Today though it’s back to busing it, mostly because I have a town planning board meeting to go to tonight with Save Pine Bush, though tomorrow I will be back riding I suspect. It was fine riding in yesterday, still some snow banks and ice around, but I made out fine. I think the nitrile gloves under the glove liners and wool gloves made all the difference. Hopefully soon the snow will melt and I’ll be able to ride both ways to work.
Seems like the bus always gets stuck in traffic the past few weeks heading downtown on Tuesday, but with a real scramble I was able to make it the shuttle actually with a few minutes time. Maybe I wasn’t as late as I had thought, though as when I got there it was a few minutes until Mike arrived with the shuttle bus. Ton of Future Farmers of America in their jackets at the Capitol today for lobby day. Tomorrow and Thursday I’ll avoid the craziness of the bus and transfer and just ride my bike in. But what I really want is nice weather so I can do the bike trail both ways to work. Spring will be here before you know it. It was funny, I looked over and former acting DEC Commissioner Peter Iwanozwitz was riding the bus, I probably should have given him shit about how rough some random truck trail I drove in Western NY was.
I’ve been thinking a bit taking a trip across the country next summer. Or at least somewhere farther then West Virginia or Pennsylvania. But where and how? Do I want to drive? Take a bus? A train? An aeroplane?
One thing I was noticing is that I could make it from Chautaqua County, NY through Ohio into Michigan and up to Huron National Forest in roughly 7 hours if Google Maps is to be believed. That means no rest or fuel stops, and a long day driving, but it could be done easily by automobile.
I don’t know exactly what is in Huron National Forest but there is a good chance I could find dispersed camping there, and if not, there is always the option of a Forest Service Campground, as much as I hate campground camping.
Then I could drive up across the Mighty Mac Bridge to Northern Michigan and maybe explore Northern Wisconsin. Both of those states are on my short list for considering eventually owning my own land and building and Off-Grid homestead upon retirement. Michigan, an urban and blue state seems a bit dicey in my mind, but there is a lot good I’ve heard about Northern Michigan.
Wisconsin is maybe a bit more conservative, but Northern Wisconsin has a lot good in it – and even the southern, more agricultural parts of the state have some good wild places. But I think the north with it’s vast national forests are much more of an interest to me. If I’m exploring Northern Michigan, it certainly makes sense to spend a few days in Northern Wisconsin.
I’m also interested in the Ozarks and Missouri and Arkansas, but they seem like they might be a bit too far for this trip, especially if I only take off a week, which is probably the only realistic option with work next year. South Dakota is also of interest, especially the Bad Lands part of the state. An airplane would be faster, but I probably still couldn’t see all of that in a week. Plus an airplane is such a hassle, you are much more limited on the amount of gear you can bring. Trains are a bit more flexible, but your stuck in the city, unless you turn around and rent a car.
The thing I don’t want from travel is to visit National Parks or tourist destinations. I’m not saying if I’m right next to a famous National Park and it’s $20 to visit for a day, I would necessarily skip it, but my view of National Parks and touristy places is they are mostly a way to suck away your money, and leave you feeling empty and not really knowing the area you came to visit. I like dirt roads, small towns, dispersed camping in the wilderness, away from the crowds. I want to see gritty ol’ farms cut into the side of mountains, real rural people, places where real backwoods boys hang out, not places for those who were Berkenstocks and eat organic food at fancy restaurants driven there in their Volvo, only to return to their fancy hotels at night. Seeing a lot of run down shacks with a goat tied up front and a burn barrel out back in small towns that smell like silage and cow shit would put a big smile on my face.
In principal this summer I could do the trip out west but I need more time to plan – and I’m not comfortable with taking Big Red such a distance it’s advanced age and creaking nature. Kind of want to have a smaller, fuel efficent truck for that kind of adventure. Something easy to get on and off little mountain roads. Something comfortable to drive, with modern safety features like adaptive cruise control and more comfortable seats and a suspension that doesn’t feel like it’s always about to fall apart. Having a lifted truck has been fun but it’s not easy to maneuver in traffic.
Even if I’m not going to Michigan this year, I’m not saying I’ll stay home this summer – the Finger Lakes are always a nice escape for nine days – and I’m thinking this autumn of doing a trip out to Allegheny National Forest for a week riding the great mountain bike park they’ve built at Jakes Rock. And maybe see some of the Southern Tier Western NY. But not Michigan, Wisconsin or the Ozarks this year. But I should plan a bigger adventure for the next year.
If you don’t want to live a life of abject poverty, drive a 20-year old Honda Civic the collective wisdom of the finance community seems to say. Cars are a depreciating asset, you should avoid buying them as much as possible, and if necessary to get a replacement due to old one being no longer cost effective to repair, then get the cheapest, reliable clunker you can find.
Let’s be honest, there is no such thing as a cheap, reliable clunker. Clunker and reliable are opposites, and usually reliable is not cheap. When cars get older, they need more maintance and costly repair. You can keep an old car on the road for quite a long time, if you don’t mind regular visits to the mechanic and dealing with a lot of broken and worn out parts, and poor performance. People put a lot of value in looks, and often look down on people who drive old cars, including police officers who target old vehicles for violations, assuming that the drivers are poor and will not have lawyers or put any challenge to police extraction of wealth out of the poor.
I agree you should buy a car, and hold on to it for a long time. I’ve had Big Red for nearly 14 years now – it will be 14 years come early October. Big Red still runs but it is showing it’s age, including being through 14 years of winter de-icing salts, despite my best efforts to regularly was the salt off it. Rough roads and the lift kit have been rough on the suspension. But it’s a been a lot fun, taking me on many good and memorable trips, and some more mediocre trips like that time burning up the wheel bearing on my truck driving back from West Virginia. Truth is any vehicle as it gets old becomes less reliable. And reliability counts, especially on road trips and vacation when time is limited, or for that matter if you depend on the vehicle to get you to and from work. Can’t be missing work all of the time because your car is junk.
People use the appreciating asset value as an excuse to buy a lavish, unnecessary frills full house that is expensive to heat, cool and maintain. It’s true that car becomes garbage after a decade or so of driving, but does many parts of even the nicest house. Houses aren’t free to live in, they have taxes, energy bills, repair, maintance and upgrade as substantial costs beyond the purchase and finance price. But people buy houses, not just as the most basic shelter, but as a place to give them joy and to feel like a comfortable place to be away from it all. Truth is cars preform more then just basic transportation. They give people pleasure when they drive them, and take them to pleasurable places, at ease. If cars were just basic transportation, why not just take the old city bus every where? That’s an even cheaper option then owning an old Honda Civic. Or better yet, walk to work and the market. But we like the freedom an automobile brings.
15 years ago as we were climbing out of the Great Recession, I was hard pushed to ever consider buying a Japanese car. It seemed anti-American, even though plenty of my friends including those who drive pickup trucks, swore by the reliability and simplicity of the foreign brands. I wanted a big jacked up truck, like so many of the farm kids I went to school with had. They used from farm things, they needed the power to tow and haul cattle, hay and tractors and who know what else. A big truck also seemed attractive to me, as I’ve long been a truck-cap camper, since I got my Ford Ranger more then two decades ago, and I wanted more room then a Ford Ranger. So I got Big Red.
Big Red has been great. But he’s big, which means he’s not great for off-roading, small parking lots, urban streets, or even tight campsites. He cruises nice on the highway, but the heavy weight means he’s a bit of dog on the hills, especially with the lift kit and the way those big tires are slow to accelerate and even more tricky to slow with the brakes. You really got to be careful and down shift and be easy on the brakes as you go down the big hills. Truth is I want something smaller if I’m thinking about driving out west, next year to the Midwest but in future years, who knows how far west. I want so mething easy to drive and more fuel efficent.
Mom suggested why don’t I consider an small all-wheel drive SUV. That way the cab can be heated in the winter for camping – and I don’t have to go out and buy a truck cap. Have you looked at the price of truck caps these days? The days of a very nice truck cap coming in under $2,000 are long gone. But I still want a truck. Maybe a Toyota Tacoma 4×4 extended cab? Or a similar American model of the mid-size? Nissan’s trucks are said to be an old reliable design, and have g reat prices but who knows if Nissan will be around in 10 years, they’ve had such trouble with their car fleet being crap, and nobody buys Nissan car anymore, unless they don’t know how bad Nissan CVTs and engines are on their SUVs and cars. I would love a manual transmission, some of the Toyota Tundra 4×4 still have that as option, as it’s so much better for off-roading, and honestly, driving in the snow too.
I could wait and see how much longer I can keep Big Red on the road, but I want to look late next winter into early spring at getting a new truck, hopefully before Big Red is no longer able to be driven without substantial repairs. It’s much easier to get around to car dealerships and lots to look at cars when you have your own vehicle. It also would be easier to get gear out of the old truck, when you’re not rushing to clean things out at a mechanic shop or roadside, before the vehicle is junked. Trade in values for running vehicle, are far better then a junked vehicle too.
How many more years can I get out of Big Red? That’s a valid question. Maybe I could get Big Red through another year, into late 2026 or even 2027. But let’s be honest, he’s 14 years old and getting up their on the miles. And I want to make that Great Midwestern trip next year to Northern Michigan and Wisconsin and I don’t want to be driving an old clunker that could leave me on the side of the roads between the cornfields or worse yet on a dirt road in Michigan wilderness. I want to be comfortable, cruising in a modern, safe vehicle with things like adaptive cruise control.
So maybe a Toyota Tacoma Extended cab 4×4 is my best choice, but I should also see what Detroit is producing that is similar these days. I know GM’s latest batch of engines are pretty bad but I’m not sure if that applies to the smaller trucks or not. I don’t think I want something as small as the Ford Maverick but also not full-size. I do also want to get a cap that I camp in and a rack up top for the kayak and solar, and a trailer hitch for a bike rack. Probably mount all that camp power batteries, controller and inverter in the bed, though I would run a voltage controlled relay to feed power both to starting battery when camping with solar and also feed power to accessory batteries while driving.
At one level, I have some time to consider my options as I want to keep Big Red on the road at least through the winter if possible, though I still have to get it past inspection in December and any other mechanical breakdowns that occur in the meantime. And you don’t know with a 14-year old truck what could break down, but I’d much rather be beyond salt season before I get my next truck, which will hopefully last me through retirement around age 55. As I make good money, and I like traveling dirt roads in my truck, so I should get one next year, so I’m ready for my epic trip next year.
Honestly, it didn’t feel as cold as the mercury suggested but there was no wind, which helped a lot. 
Today though it’s back to busing it, 
mostly because I have a town planning board meeting to go to tonight with Save Pine Bush, though tomorrow I will be back riding I suspect. 
It was fine riding in yesterday, still some snow banks and ice around, but I made out fine. I think the nitrile gloves under the glove liners and wool gloves made all the difference. Hopefully soon the snow will melt and I’ll be able to ride both ways to work.
the past few weeks heading downtown on Tuesday, but with a real scramble I was able to make it the shuttle actually with a few minutes time. 
Maybe I wasn’t as late as I had thought, though as when I got there it was a few minutes until Mike arrived with the shuttle bus. 
Ton of Future Farmers of America in their jackets at the Capitol today for lobby day. 
Tomorrow and Thursday I’ll avoid the craziness of the bus and transfer and just ride my bike in. But what I really want is nice weather so I can do the bike trail both ways to work. 
Spring will be here before you know it. It was funny, I looked over and former acting DEC Commissioner Peter Iwanozwitz was riding the bus, I probably should have given him shit about how rough some random truck trail I drove in Western NY was. 
