Regular readers of my blog, may have the impression that I’ve already decided on the truck I will buy come the spring, that I’ve all but picked out the color of Ford F-350 I’ll be driving home in a few months. Then getting a camper shell, moving the kayak rack, camping gear, solar panel and batteries over, adding a cellphone booster, and other equipment. It’s not that I’ve been thinking a lot about what my next rig will be like if I get another truck.
Maybe that’s true or maybe it’s not. Really I’m undecided.
For other audiences like my liberal friends and those on Facebook, I’ve been playing up my new urbanist ideas, with a healthy dose of skepticism about owning a vehicle. Trucks are so damn expensive! Truth is I’ve always enjoyed taking the bus or riding my bike to work, I would be loathe to have to drive to work every day. The commute is a big reason I refuse to buy a house, beyond all of other costs associated with owning a house such a maintenance and utilities.
Truth is a car, even a little Honda Civic, isn’t a great way to get around a city with all the parking restrictions, speed traps and cops every where. A bike is really a liberating way to get around the city. It’s rare even when you break a law in front of a cop on a bike that you get stopped. Run a stop sign in front of a car, you’ll get stopped in a car but probably not on a bike. You’re the one in danger on a bike if you a crash into another car after violating a traffic law, after all.
Or I could put Big Red back on the road in the spring.
People keep asking questions – how do you plan to travel without a car?
How do you plan to get back to wilderness? Out to country? How about the Albany Pine Bush? Pine Bush meetings in Colonie or Guilderland? Doing your wash at laundromat? Taking your trash to transfer station? Going grocery shopping? Getting to work? Honestly, so far I’ve survived, I’ve found work-around that are fine at least during winter. Never did drive more then a few miles in the winter, and truth be told I think I would be fine without camping and traveling. I am sure there are other ways to travel like buses, trains and rental cars. Certainly, I don’t just want a Honda Civic for driving around town, like some kind of mindless drone hauling plastics from the Shopping Maul to the landfill.
Honestly, right now I’m kind of having fun this winter not having a vehicle. It’s nice not having to clean the snow off my truck or warm it up. It’s nice not having to go to the car wash and get all dirty washing off the salt in vein. And nothing gets me as pumped up as riding my mountain bike when it’s cold out, though it’s lame that it’s still too dark in the evening to ride all the way home and Albany County Rail Trail is still snow covered.
“Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true There’ll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty Before the last revolving year is through And the seasons they go round and round And the painted ponies go up and down We’re captive on the carousel of time We can’t return, we can only look behind From where we came“
Honestly, I like the Ian and Sylvia version of the Circle Game better than that of Joni Mitchell version. And I can’t help but be a bit sad to think of how fast those days have gone by. It’s also exciting to think of the days to come today, my 43rd birthday. The math doesn’t seem quite right in my brain to think in twelve years I’ll be fifty-five. Officially an old person, though when I talk to my colleagues in their early sixties, it’s not that much of a milestone, and I’ll need a year beyond age 55 to get 30 years in Tier 4 Retirement, and who knows what’s beyond that but I do want to retire young so I have time to build that off-grid homestead.
I was on the fence about riding my bike to work but ultimately caught the bus in as it’s like negative one outside. Traffic is all jammed up heading downtown, I had to run like crazy through the State Capitol to the Bus Turn Around in about 5 minutes. Yesterday it was so bad that I missed the shuttle over to the suburban office building and had to catch the later shuttle. It’s fine, I didn’t have rush projects though I did have a busy day. I stayed and caught the later shuttle which was late because of a crash on the South Maul Arterial. Living up to its name. Today I caught the normal shuttle over but it was 4 minute run from the Capitol over to the bus turn around.
They fixed the big stink in the men’s room yesterday in the office by mid-day. It was so gag worthy in the bathroom, pretty sure it was sewer gas or maybe it just was a plugged drain or urine and poop somewhere it shouldn’t be but it was also wafting into my office on the other side of the building. I’m kind of used to the stink of the landfill and sewage treatment plant next to my suburban office but this was far worse. Good they fixed that though as I drink a lot of coffee, and with all that fiber from the carrots and veggies I eat, I find myself pooping a lot.
The Guilderland Planning Board Meeting was as long as usual, though fortunately the one project we weren’t interested in was pushed to the end of agenda. Like usual I was pretty intimidated by the developer stroding around in his cowboy boots and western bull-riders style shirt, though I did like his big SuperDuty truck. Maybe I have too much respect for people who smell like cow crap, own land and burn their own trash. Or at least play that roll in my mind. I don’t know if it was one of the Hershberg & Hershberg engineers or somebody from Sandell Manfuacturing. AIt’s a funny world opposing development in the Pine Bush. On the way back, we got stopped by a Guilderland cop, as we got talking and Lynne didn’t dim her headlights for a passing car, but the officer was polite and sent us on the way after reminding us to dim the lights. Maybe we were targeted, Lynne said it’s the first time she’s been stopped by a cop in 40 years. It was dark and there were a lot of deer out there.
Didn’t sleep well last night. 🛻 Maybe I’m having second thoughts about the big truck, and maybe it’s I get amped up after all these meetings or I abuse caffeine to much, though lately I’ve been cutting back. Except may for today, as I was so tired I popped two caffeine pills after I drank through all the coffee in my peculator. I was up at 3 AM, flipping through Facebook, put on a podcast regarding Inside the Trump administration’s effort to reverse climate change policies. And thinking more about do I really want a Ford F-350 or not? It will use so much gas, and cost so much money forever gone, and soon enough to be run through the smasher and landfilled. I mean, it would be nice though to have a big, reliable truck based on solid, old fashioned technology, but even base SuperDuties have a lot of high tech crap in them. But on the other hand, I don’t drive to work. Maybe I should talk to AI about that.
This is something I think about a lot. Not because I don't make good money and my investments have done well, but I know a truck is going to be used and used up, and after 15 years be garbage. But what is time and life if you don't do something with it? Travel and have adventures? It's nice to say, a 20-year old Honda Civic gets you to the Maul most of the time, but what if you care about things besides driving to SuperDuper Wally World, your office and the Maul? I guess an old clunker works, and I hate the message spending all that money on a SuperDuty sends, though I also know the cost of a SuperDuty really is only a few months of Capital Gains the way the market grew last year. But what if I invested that extra $20k or $40k and got an old clunker? Questions on my mind. Truth is it probably doesn't matter that much, as while it will dip my cash account for now, it won't impact my retirement or investing stragety nor the income I have coming in. Still I'm conflicted.
I was thinking all of the things I’ve learned about the auto dealerships, the automobile industry and Ford SuperDuty trucks over the past three weeks. While I’ve been trolling several dealership websites, I only just recently realized Ford has their own inventory website that has window stickers and info for each vehicle within 100 or 200 miles, at which I can take a deeper inspection of dealers own website, before calling to ask to have a salesman put hands on vehicle and confirm it’s on the lot, and get me their best out-the-door price with all taxes and fees to see if it’s worth taking the next step.
If I had been much more of a rush to get a vehicle to replace Big Red, I would have gone into this whole process much more blindly. Yet, I’ve learned and continued to learn what is fair and what is not with dealerships, how to speak to them. What are likely sales tactics that will be used, specific industry lingo, how fair deals go down. I can be direct and not wasting anyone’s time, using proper language and procedure, only looking at vehicles I’m truly interested and ready to buy. And I still have four weeks before the first test drive and two months or longer before I set down and buy. Time really is on my side, as most people are hurried when they go to buy, uncertain on different models, and just need something with 4 wheels quickly.
There are those who think by me not choosing to own a car this winter that I have permanently given up driving in favor of bicycling and busing it everywhere. Like those who believed when I took off a semester from college that I would not be back. But I play the long game frequently in life and just because I don’t rush towards action today, doesn’t mean I’m not planning in the future. Just like when it comes to buying a house, that off-grid cabin, just because I don’t buy it tomorrow or even this year, doesn’t mean it’s an impossible goal. I keep researching options and technologies, and watching as money compounds and grows. I am still amazed how much growth these was last year, or even the years before, and the magic of compounding. Time, persistence, and thoughtfulness really has it’s virtues.
That said, time is hardly unlimited and it’s not always apparent when time is going to run out. As happened with Big Red, while I knew the end was coming and needed to plan for his replacement, I did not know it would come in December. Age shows up, and you can predict many things but the end isn’t always apparent. A lot of warning flags can show up before it’s done. Truth is it’s not the best summer to do my Northern Michigan trip with all that happening at work, but I just don’t know how many years I’ll be able to get away after this year with my parents getting older and knowing I’ll either have to be around to care for them or take over their homestead. You can and should wait, but I know if I don’t do this trip to Northern Michigan and Wisconsin, it might be my last great opportunity to do it.
Some retirees travel a lot in their later years. I enjoy my traveling years while I’m young, but I still want to own my own land, and I also know that dream is incompatible with travel and seeing new places. It’s not to say you can’t learn a lot from own land and your own neighborhood, but also there is an opportunity cost. Is it worth it? I don’t know.
I follow a lot of farm and homestead pages on my various social media accounts. Probably flip through thousands of pictures and posts about cows and hogs each week. I am really into agriculture, I read not just Mother Earth News and Hobby Farms magazines but also Successful Farmer when they come out each month on the Libby Library app. I’ve read many books about homesteading and farming, and I own a few other books in my collection.
Even though I don’t own a farm and didn’t really grow up on a farm beyond my parents five acres, I am quite passionate about agriculture as it’s man’s closest connection to the natural world outside of hunting, trapping and foraging. It’s the use of technology to sustainably produce food off land using science both for today and generations to come. While many outside of agricultural industry are skeptical about industry practices, when it comes down to it, farmers do what is best for their land and livelihoods, which can sustain themselves both today and tomorrow. It’s not to say some agricultural practices aren’t problematic or cause impacts on the environment or nearby neighbors, but it’s hard to criticize people when you’re not the one shoveling shit.
So do I want to be a farmer? Not really, because I’m not much of an entrepreneur. I read a lot about ag marketing, and selling products, but it’s not really thing. I don’t see myself having that kind of mindset. It’s not to say though when I have my own land, I won’t have farm animals and raise crops for my own consumption – as a source of food without being wrapped plastic – or to be better utilize my acreage. Turn waste and things growing on my land into more food. Butcher my own animals, produce fertilizer for my garden. Things that don’t burn well, can usually be fed or composted. Be self reliant, both so I don’t have to worry so much about income and other systems.
Does commercial agriculture have all the answers? No, but it’s good at growing food reliably at a cost effective fashion that limits environmental harm while producing copious amount of food on relatively little land. And much of what applies to big farms can be applied to little homesteads. And people who farm have a deeper connection to the land the most of us. A simpler kind of existence.
And I can’t help but be a bit sad 
to think of how fast those days have gone by. It’s also exciting to think of the days to come today, my 43rd birthday. 
The math doesn’t seem quite right in my brain to think in twelve years I’ll be fifty-five. Officially an old person, though when I talk to my colleagues in their early sixties, it’s not that much of a milestone, and I’ll need a year beyond age 55 to get 30 years in Tier 4 Retirement, and who knows what’s beyond that but I do want to retire young so I have time to build that off-grid homestead.
but ultimately caught the bus in as it’s like negative one outside. Traffic is all jammed up heading downtown, I had to run like crazy through the State Capitol to the Bus Turn Around in about 5 minutes. Yesterday it was so bad that I missed the shuttle 
over to the suburban office building and had to catch the later shuttle. 
It’s fine, I didn’t have rush projects though I did have a busy day. I stayed and caught the later shuttle which was late because of a crash on the South Maul Arterial. Living up to its name. Today I caught the normal shuttle over but it was 4 minute run from the Capitol over to the bus turn around.
yesterday in the office by mid-day. It was so gag worthy in the bathroom, pretty sure it was sewer gas or maybe it just was a plugged drain or urine and poop somewhere it shouldn’t be but it was also wafting into my office on the other side of the building. 
I’m kind of used to the stink 
of the landfill and sewage treatment plant next to my suburban office 
but this was far worse. Good they fixed that though as I drink a lot of coffee, 
and with all that fiber from the carrots and veggies I eat, 
I find myself pooping a lot. 
though fortunately the one project we weren’t interested in was pushed to the end of agenda. Like usual I was pretty intimidated by the developer stroding around in his cowboy boots and western bull-riders style shirt, though I did like his big SuperDuty truck. Maybe I have too much respect for people who smell like cow crap, own land and burn their own trash. Or at least play that roll in my mind. I don’t know if it was one of the Hershberg & Hershberg engineers or somebody from Sandell Manfuacturing. AIt’s a funny world opposing development in the Pine Bush. On the way back, we got stopped by a Guilderland cop, as we got talking and Lynne didn’t dim her headlights for a passing car, but the officer was polite 
and sent us on the way after reminding us to dim the lights. Maybe we were targeted, Lynne said it’s the first time she’s been stopped by a cop in 40 years. It was dark and there were a lot of deer out there. 
after I drank through all the coffee in my peculator. 
I was up at 3 AM, flipping through Facebook, put on a podcast regarding 
And thinking more about do I really want a Ford F-350 or not? It will use so much gas, 
and cost so much money forever gone, and soon enough to be run through the smasher and landfilled. 
I mean, it would be nice though to have a big, reliable truck based on solid, old fashioned technology, but even base SuperDuties have a lot of high tech crap in them. But on the other hand, I don’t drive to work. Maybe I should talk to AI about that.
