I've been looking over the qualifying rules for the new Cash for Clunkers program, but it looks like it won't make sense for us. We're not looking to take on any more debt, and though we might qualify for the highest redeemable value on my vehicle (since it meets the qualifications of 18 or fewer mpg), it appears it's just applicable for trade in on new cars...not newer used vehicles...despite the increased gas efficiency. To get a new car, despite the great trade-in value with the program, we'd be out a chunk of money, and that's not in the plan right now.
I'll have to doublecheck tthrough a dealer, just to make sure the program only allows all that towards new cars.
It's said when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. I'm not sure my Lemon qualifies...so till we find out differently, we're back to craigslist ads for a bit longer. I'm not sure how popular 8 cylinder engines are at this point, hmmm... :)
Showing posts with label Debt is a 4 letter word. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Debt is a 4 letter word. Show all posts
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Bucketville Update
Quickie update on the status of the backyard bucket garden since The Three Freezes.
1. All citrus --- seem A-O.K. There was some blossom loss, so the harvest this year may be scant.
2. Tamarinds --- appear to be a complete loss. I think we had about a dozen of them. We will be leaving their brown remains undisturbed, however, in hopes there will be some sign of life coming from the roots up (we don't know), but we will plant 2 bush beans per bucket beside them in order to not waste so many pots (well, buckets)
3. Lychee --- Again we think they're all dead. Like the tamarinds, we will plant 2 bush beans per bucket right beside their remains, in hopes a few may revive. I have less hope of this with them, however, since they were much smaller and more tender.
4. Gynura --- These died back to a brown paste, but amazingly, there are signs with some of them of new leaves coming from the root, yay!! We'll let them get some more oomph and then trim back the brown stuff and let it mulch itself.
5. Papayas ---Weeping, mourning, gnashing of teeth...The 8', two 6', two 4', and rest of the 30 plus papaya plants all appear to be casualties of the freeze. These plants simply hate cool weather but can't withstand those lower 30 temps. We plan a trip to visit the reknowned "papaya man" in Sarasota to see how he manages to have so many fruitful plants in such a small space in his backyard...he and his wife eat only food that they grow, and most of it is fruit, namely papayas. We just really need to know how to keep ours alive without ultimate pampering, since they're SO hardy all the other times of year here and seem to thrive on punishment that would kill most other plants.
6. Malanga --- remember those plants that look like elephant ear plants, with the starchy taro-ish root? They're our pleasant surprise! We did cover them loosely during the freezes, but not with much fuss. They got good and frozen. And the green leaves did die back...BUT...they've all reappeared! This makes them a GREAT keeper for us, and means we can concentrate on propagating a lot more of them. They send out side shoots that Jack carefully separates and starts more from, with seeming success at this point, yay! This is a much-underutilized crop for this region, and just really doesnt make it to the markets locally in large quantities. We've noticed a lot of market malanga comes from central or south america, but we're not sure why since it's very hardy here. Note to selves: Grow it!
7. Sunflower starts --- another surprise. I'd started some mammoth sunflowers from seed in the salad bins, and they were already about 4" tall when the first freeze hit. They survived all three freezes with no problems...uncovered! That really surprised me. I guess our day temps get warm enough to keep them from going under, but for whatever reason, their night-temp cold-hardiness is duly noted! :)
8. Mustard, komatsuna, and radishes did not die back, and were not covered. Yay!
9. Carambola/Starfruit tree sapling --- may be a complete loss :( It was so hardy during those hot, hot days. We'll still keep it watered and such till we know if anything choose to sprout from it in the weeks to come.
10. Jujube sapling --- did not like the freezes, but is greening up again since. Let's see...here's hoping!
11. My cocoplum bushes --- wahhhhh :( All 6 are either dead or having a dickens of a time deciding to hang in there. They are brown and crunchy, but were green and loaded with fruit before the 3 freezes. Double wahhhhh :( We'll see...
12. Bush Cherry --- It may make it, but it's so stressed. Part of it died back to completely brown, but a couple places at the bottom stayed somewhat green. Let's just see... (sigh!)
13. Western soapberry saplings --- these went dormant in early winter and are deciduous. I suspect they'll survive the freezes and will leaf out when they decide spring has sprung. Again, let's see...I still have hopes for them :)
14. Mangos --- it hurts too much to admit we may have lost them all, especially the beautiful 6' Carrie mango we brought onto the porch for more protection. The ones grown from seed by Jack, in pots, all seem to be lost. The Carrie is brown and crunchy...let's see if it decides to put out growth at all.
15. Pineapples --- these are all starts from crowns, and all have turned yellow and mostly limp, but are still with us. Let's see if hot weather revives them at all. We're hoping they will, but are not giving them any special treatment since we want to know what will remain hardy to our locale, and which things aren't our best choices. They've been troopers so far, so they may hang in there and if so, we'll keep propagating more.
16. Yerba Buena mint --- This one takes a licking and keeps on ticking. In fact, it seems to have GROWN during the freezes! It's not a particular plant, not finicky. So we need to find all the ways to best use it...it's a keeper for sure.
17. Feverfew ---another of the herbs that has just grown great guns during hot and cold. I need to find out how to utilized it...it's great!
18. Rosemary ---it revived during the cold, and hangs in there in the heat. I'm lovin' you, rosemary!
19. Thymes --- I have a couple that have done great during hot or freeze, and they're keepers. If we're able to move to our homestead, they'll have a spot of their very own, possibly in an area with birdhouses near the house. They continue to be one of my most favorite :)
20. Basils ---nah, they hated the freeze, but withstood the cold up till that time. I'm not worried, though...we let them all go to seed in the fall and there will be enough volunteers coming up all throughout the other plants' pots they'll be back :)
21. Cassava/Yucca --- These did ok till the freeze, then they died back. I don't know if the root is enough to restart more in the spring when it gets warmer. We're leaving it there just in case. We had barely started our experimentation with these, but they should be hardy to this area...let's see.
22. Coffee tree saplings --- They hated the freeze. I'm not sure how they'll do...they're struggling right now. They're up on our back porch protected from extremes, but Jack's more invested in their survival than I am. If they don't thrive, frankly I want to stay away from things needing babying. But he's right in that we have no mature tree cover right now, and if we did, they might be totally in their element. So, we'll see. If they don't thrive, I'll try my hand at growing chickory or romaine in order to have a coffee substitute (from the dried or roasted, ground roots)
We have a lot next door that is complete concrete-tough hardpan. Our great neighbor with horses down the street has been giving us (free!) liberal truckloads of stable cleanings, which usually is a mix of manure/wood waste/straw. Jack has spread 1/4 of the lot with it to a depth of about 6 inches, and two more loads were just delivered. He's also been leveling our existing lot (the one our house is on) with this mix, too, which will decompose over the very hot summer, and has been mulching the front bed and under the trees, etc.
Collecting boxes of the quantity and frequency needed to layer on the lot next door over such a big area is more than our work schedules can accommodate just now, so it's going to have to remain manure&shavings on top of hardpan, and we're trying to figure out how to grow something in that.
I really want us to grow a large quantity of a few plants there, ones that will make great green manure even if they don't succeed well the first year for a harvest. (but that will stand a good chance at both). I want to plant pink-eye purple hull peas, okra, a couple different bush beans, and bush green beans there. It takes an awful lot of purple hull plants to bear enough of a crop for a good harvest, so I hope we start with those and that they do well. The problem is all that manure and wood chips/straw, and the fact there is very little available soil to sow directly into (the hardpan is sand, sand, sand). That said, I think we may start with a section, mark it off into rows that can be planted at least 3 deep (wide rows), make narrow furrows with a broomhandle and tap out some lines of topsoil mix right in those furrows to get the seeds off to a good start. I have no idea if this will work, but tilling it all in will require renting a tiller and will jumpstart all the weeds that lurk over there, plus we'll be battling that stinking concrete-hard soil. I'm thinking layers of biomass at this point will more quickly transform the soil than any tilling will. And though we just don't have the time to layer carboard over it, etc, maybe just adding green manures to the layer of manure&wood/straw may encourage microbes and worms...let's see!
I still feel us holding back. There is still a semi-detachment in our efforts till we know for sure how long we'll be here, or whether our homestead will come together elsewhere. That's our unknown, so THE first priority is what it has been the last two years...getting out of debt.
Here's my mindset on what we should grow:
1. Keep what's done well for us now...all things we thought would do well in our zone. Those that THRIVE are at the top of the list to keep, propagate, and utilize. We want to only add in other plants we think have this potential.
2. We need to grow what we can use for our diet, ultimately to eliminate the need for the store for essentials. I see our needs being
A. Fresh greens
B. Shell Beans
C. Green beans
D. Potatoes, malanga
E. Medicinal herbs
F. Other---tomatoes, okra, summer and storage squash (in other years, these will be farther up the MUST HAVE list)
G. Fruits
This year, I think we can work on trying A, B, C & D on a small scale, hitting that learning curve. This is "on the side" when not working at our jobs.
So far, all our attempts have been full of surprises, setbacks, and pleasant successes. It's on a very small scale. But later larger scales will be based on our best successes during these days and their limitations. Some things such as fruit trees are a matter of time...they take time to mature and fruit on a bigger scale. But we're having fun trying :)
And those are our simple goals at the outset at this point in 2009.
1. All citrus --- seem A-O.K. There was some blossom loss, so the harvest this year may be scant.
2. Tamarinds --- appear to be a complete loss. I think we had about a dozen of them. We will be leaving their brown remains undisturbed, however, in hopes there will be some sign of life coming from the roots up (we don't know), but we will plant 2 bush beans per bucket beside them in order to not waste so many pots (well, buckets)
3. Lychee --- Again we think they're all dead. Like the tamarinds, we will plant 2 bush beans per bucket right beside their remains, in hopes a few may revive. I have less hope of this with them, however, since they were much smaller and more tender.
4. Gynura --- These died back to a brown paste, but amazingly, there are signs with some of them of new leaves coming from the root, yay!! We'll let them get some more oomph and then trim back the brown stuff and let it mulch itself.
5. Papayas ---Weeping, mourning, gnashing of teeth...The 8', two 6', two 4', and rest of the 30 plus papaya plants all appear to be casualties of the freeze. These plants simply hate cool weather but can't withstand those lower 30 temps. We plan a trip to visit the reknowned "papaya man" in Sarasota to see how he manages to have so many fruitful plants in such a small space in his backyard...he and his wife eat only food that they grow, and most of it is fruit, namely papayas. We just really need to know how to keep ours alive without ultimate pampering, since they're SO hardy all the other times of year here and seem to thrive on punishment that would kill most other plants.
6. Malanga --- remember those plants that look like elephant ear plants, with the starchy taro-ish root? They're our pleasant surprise! We did cover them loosely during the freezes, but not with much fuss. They got good and frozen. And the green leaves did die back...BUT...they've all reappeared! This makes them a GREAT keeper for us, and means we can concentrate on propagating a lot more of them. They send out side shoots that Jack carefully separates and starts more from, with seeming success at this point, yay! This is a much-underutilized crop for this region, and just really doesnt make it to the markets locally in large quantities. We've noticed a lot of market malanga comes from central or south america, but we're not sure why since it's very hardy here. Note to selves: Grow it!
7. Sunflower starts --- another surprise. I'd started some mammoth sunflowers from seed in the salad bins, and they were already about 4" tall when the first freeze hit. They survived all three freezes with no problems...uncovered! That really surprised me. I guess our day temps get warm enough to keep them from going under, but for whatever reason, their night-temp cold-hardiness is duly noted! :)
8. Mustard, komatsuna, and radishes did not die back, and were not covered. Yay!
9. Carambola/Starfruit tree sapling --- may be a complete loss :( It was so hardy during those hot, hot days. We'll still keep it watered and such till we know if anything choose to sprout from it in the weeks to come.
10. Jujube sapling --- did not like the freezes, but is greening up again since. Let's see...here's hoping!
11. My cocoplum bushes --- wahhhhh :( All 6 are either dead or having a dickens of a time deciding to hang in there. They are brown and crunchy, but were green and loaded with fruit before the 3 freezes. Double wahhhhh :( We'll see...
12. Bush Cherry --- It may make it, but it's so stressed. Part of it died back to completely brown, but a couple places at the bottom stayed somewhat green. Let's just see... (sigh!)
13. Western soapberry saplings --- these went dormant in early winter and are deciduous. I suspect they'll survive the freezes and will leaf out when they decide spring has sprung. Again, let's see...I still have hopes for them :)
14. Mangos --- it hurts too much to admit we may have lost them all, especially the beautiful 6' Carrie mango we brought onto the porch for more protection. The ones grown from seed by Jack, in pots, all seem to be lost. The Carrie is brown and crunchy...let's see if it decides to put out growth at all.
15. Pineapples --- these are all starts from crowns, and all have turned yellow and mostly limp, but are still with us. Let's see if hot weather revives them at all. We're hoping they will, but are not giving them any special treatment since we want to know what will remain hardy to our locale, and which things aren't our best choices. They've been troopers so far, so they may hang in there and if so, we'll keep propagating more.
16. Yerba Buena mint --- This one takes a licking and keeps on ticking. In fact, it seems to have GROWN during the freezes! It's not a particular plant, not finicky. So we need to find all the ways to best use it...it's a keeper for sure.
17. Feverfew ---another of the herbs that has just grown great guns during hot and cold. I need to find out how to utilized it...it's great!
18. Rosemary ---it revived during the cold, and hangs in there in the heat. I'm lovin' you, rosemary!
19. Thymes --- I have a couple that have done great during hot or freeze, and they're keepers. If we're able to move to our homestead, they'll have a spot of their very own, possibly in an area with birdhouses near the house. They continue to be one of my most favorite :)
20. Basils ---nah, they hated the freeze, but withstood the cold up till that time. I'm not worried, though...we let them all go to seed in the fall and there will be enough volunteers coming up all throughout the other plants' pots they'll be back :)
21. Cassava/Yucca --- These did ok till the freeze, then they died back. I don't know if the root is enough to restart more in the spring when it gets warmer. We're leaving it there just in case. We had barely started our experimentation with these, but they should be hardy to this area...let's see.
22. Coffee tree saplings --- They hated the freeze. I'm not sure how they'll do...they're struggling right now. They're up on our back porch protected from extremes, but Jack's more invested in their survival than I am. If they don't thrive, frankly I want to stay away from things needing babying. But he's right in that we have no mature tree cover right now, and if we did, they might be totally in their element. So, we'll see. If they don't thrive, I'll try my hand at growing chickory or romaine in order to have a coffee substitute (from the dried or roasted, ground roots)
We have a lot next door that is complete concrete-tough hardpan. Our great neighbor with horses down the street has been giving us (free!) liberal truckloads of stable cleanings, which usually is a mix of manure/wood waste/straw. Jack has spread 1/4 of the lot with it to a depth of about 6 inches, and two more loads were just delivered. He's also been leveling our existing lot (the one our house is on) with this mix, too, which will decompose over the very hot summer, and has been mulching the front bed and under the trees, etc.
Collecting boxes of the quantity and frequency needed to layer on the lot next door over such a big area is more than our work schedules can accommodate just now, so it's going to have to remain manure&shavings on top of hardpan, and we're trying to figure out how to grow something in that.
I really want us to grow a large quantity of a few plants there, ones that will make great green manure even if they don't succeed well the first year for a harvest. (but that will stand a good chance at both). I want to plant pink-eye purple hull peas, okra, a couple different bush beans, and bush green beans there. It takes an awful lot of purple hull plants to bear enough of a crop for a good harvest, so I hope we start with those and that they do well. The problem is all that manure and wood chips/straw, and the fact there is very little available soil to sow directly into (the hardpan is sand, sand, sand). That said, I think we may start with a section, mark it off into rows that can be planted at least 3 deep (wide rows), make narrow furrows with a broomhandle and tap out some lines of topsoil mix right in those furrows to get the seeds off to a good start. I have no idea if this will work, but tilling it all in will require renting a tiller and will jumpstart all the weeds that lurk over there, plus we'll be battling that stinking concrete-hard soil. I'm thinking layers of biomass at this point will more quickly transform the soil than any tilling will. And though we just don't have the time to layer carboard over it, etc, maybe just adding green manures to the layer of manure&wood/straw may encourage microbes and worms...let's see!
I still feel us holding back. There is still a semi-detachment in our efforts till we know for sure how long we'll be here, or whether our homestead will come together elsewhere. That's our unknown, so THE first priority is what it has been the last two years...getting out of debt.
Here's my mindset on what we should grow:
1. Keep what's done well for us now...all things we thought would do well in our zone. Those that THRIVE are at the top of the list to keep, propagate, and utilize. We want to only add in other plants we think have this potential.
2. We need to grow what we can use for our diet, ultimately to eliminate the need for the store for essentials. I see our needs being
A. Fresh greens
B. Shell Beans
C. Green beans
D. Potatoes, malanga
E. Medicinal herbs
F. Other---tomatoes, okra, summer and storage squash (in other years, these will be farther up the MUST HAVE list)
G. Fruits
This year, I think we can work on trying A, B, C & D on a small scale, hitting that learning curve. This is "on the side" when not working at our jobs.
So far, all our attempts have been full of surprises, setbacks, and pleasant successes. It's on a very small scale. But later larger scales will be based on our best successes during these days and their limitations. Some things such as fruit trees are a matter of time...they take time to mature and fruit on a bigger scale. But we're having fun trying :)
And those are our simple goals at the outset at this point in 2009.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
The Debt Is Shrinking!
Today is a HUGE DAY!!!
We Paid Off The Car!!!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are thanking God for unexpected blessings that allowed us to reach this goal MUCH sooner than we'd anticipated...thank You thank You thank You, GOD!!!!
Whoosh, what a great feeling :)
We are grateful for so many things, and this is the icing on the cake. It's not been easy, but it IS happening. Little steps seem so slow and tedious and seem like they take forever sometimes, but they add up to bigger steps, and then Bang goes the debt! Next to pay...the student loan. The list grows shorter...
Did I mention Yaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy??? :) :) :)
For all our likeminded friends out here in the blog-o-sphere who're working hard to retire that debt, it IS SO worth it. Thank you for keeping us encouraged, and we hope you're encouraged each step of the way, too.
On that happy note, I sign off to finish up things before our shabbat rest. I hope everyone's weekend is lovely and restful and rejuvenating! I love and appreciate my friend here so much...thank YOU :)
Blog is closed until tomorrow sundown...
Shabbat shalom!
We Paid Off The Car!!!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are thanking God for unexpected blessings that allowed us to reach this goal MUCH sooner than we'd anticipated...thank You thank You thank You, GOD!!!!
Whoosh, what a great feeling :)
We are grateful for so many things, and this is the icing on the cake. It's not been easy, but it IS happening. Little steps seem so slow and tedious and seem like they take forever sometimes, but they add up to bigger steps, and then Bang goes the debt! Next to pay...the student loan. The list grows shorter...
Did I mention Yaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy??? :) :) :)
For all our likeminded friends out here in the blog-o-sphere who're working hard to retire that debt, it IS SO worth it. Thank you for keeping us encouraged, and we hope you're encouraged each step of the way, too.
On that happy note, I sign off to finish up things before our shabbat rest. I hope everyone's weekend is lovely and restful and rejuvenating! I love and appreciate my friend here so much...thank YOU :)
Blog is closed until tomorrow sundown...
Shabbat shalom!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Working Together
It's been really fun, the few times our days off have intersected with each other, to spend time as a couple. I've been contemplating how different my life would be were I still single and trying to do any of this on my own. That's what I was having to do not that many years ago, and sometimes it's still an adjustment merging the particulars...a welcome adjustment, I'd have to say.
You Gotta Love a Man Who Can Fix Things
I daily am more appreciative that J has the skills he does. He loves to tinker, and can build or fix pretty much anything. He's also had a lot of years of trial and error, and has some well-defined ideas of what mistakes he doesn't want to repeat...and of successes he'd love to duplicate. He's also a good financial manager overall. He's determined that the risk factors, especially at where we are in our lives now, should be given a long, hard look.
I'm learning that much of what we're calling Homesteading is really living in a way that is best for us and being good stewards. We have a developing mental picture of some ultimate goals, as we're now in the thick of the preparations. Many of our "wants" have had to bow to the reality of their practicality.
Preference and Practicality
I love older houses and the craftsmanship of their construction. My sister lives in a turn-of-the-century house in Illinois, the lovely old white sort with wraparound porches. Beautiful! Those houses speak to me, and I love the sound of feet on a wood floor, the older craftsmanship, the surprises you find in a house with a history.
I love wood. I love a wide variety of animals and used to dream of raising horses. I love being at home, being a homemaker. I love large acreages where a person doesnt feel crowded and you don't see houses next door.
We've begun merging our preferences with practicalities, and so for us, renovating on a large scale is at the low end of our wish list, though we'd absolutely love it. We simply don't forsee the finances. For my husband, that is also the case with wood floors. Florida meltdowns and humidity make wood a Welcome Home sign for insects, especially termites. That's why he prefers tile for interior floors, and concrete block or stemwall designs for the structure itself, finished out with "knockdown" textured stucco. That's what he incorporated in our present home...concrete block with a knockdown finish stucco and clay-toned cement barrel tile roofing -- 18" ceramic matte finish tile for the flooring throughout. I have no complaints, with the only precaution being that unseen spills can make for a hydroplane tailbone-cracking experience. :)
We're finding that the house plans we've sketched during all this process have morphed. At times it was plans for a large house, and then started becoming smaller. Charmed by what I found in the Tiny House movement to smaller, customized dwellings, we drew plans for the more diminuitive of liveable structures -- hardly more than a garden shed in size. It's interesting seeing how we're shifting over time. Recently, we discussed the use of steel shipping boxes as a possiblity for incorporating as part of the underlying structure of an expandable design, since they come in widths of 8 1/2 feet. Then J began thinking about modules that could be constructed over time, in sequence, for expansion. We've run the gamut.
Here's what we're thinking at the moment:
An Evolving Plan
If we can trade for acreage, we want a structure that we're not wasting our money on, that's easy to build, that can be built quickly, and economically. It needs to be expandable.
As we're thinking presently, this is the proposed sequence after acquiring the land:
A. fence the property with a perimeter fence
B. build the first structure, the size of a guest cottage, which will serve as our "camp" as we improve the property, build animal shelters, put in our first garden, etc.
C. start very small with animals and build from there, in stages, seeing what works for us best and which animals we find we really want to continue expanding the numbers of and which ones we don't want to
D. living for a time, during the transition, "half in and half out," meaning that we'll keep our residence we're in now, pay only cash for the above, and do the actual building of the small guest house (with kitchenette and loft) by hand or partially sub some of it out -- taking it in stages. See HOUSE, below. It's surprising just how useable a small square footage can be if designed that way.
E. Once we're "set" on the land, with the structure built, we'll find a way to transition and sell our present home.
F. Start with animals and plants we can use to begin substituting for our present grocery bills. Make things ourselves. Starting simple, with the goal being to try raising things that are going to help us be self-sufficient. This means we may not focus on a specialized breed at the beginning, if it's not obtainable locally or requires risky investment. And we want to focus on the right number and types of animals for the specific property. We can fine tune that over time to include our ideal breeds of animals and bloodlines, etc. First, we probably need our learning curve, and to do it in stages slowly. For instance, we may decided we want dairy and meat, but we don't know right now whether that would be a goat, a cow, or something else better suited for bartering with another local farm. We'd try our hand at two or three sheep rather than setting up for a larger herd. We want to discover which we love to work with ourselves, and which we'd rather admire at a distance.
The House
As stated above, one idea begins with constructing a very small guest house (1 bedroom with loft for more sleeping room if needed)and kitchenette, which would be used later as a guest house (duh :)) or mother-in-law wing, or for a farm-sitter to live in if we traveled for any length of time.
That could be expanded from by way of a short enclosed dogtrot (sun porch) connected to a common room-- a really big room that's essentially a simple square or rectangle and big enough to have a lot of people in, or to use as a dual purpose living room/kitchen. The main gathering room, a place several people can work on a canning project together, or other big projects, for gatherings, Bible studies, sleeping a bunch of kids in sleeping bags for sleepovers, etc. Tables could be set up or taken down in it, or it can just be arranged into a great family room.
A third expansion step would be to expand from that room with another enclosed dogtrot (connecting porch) connecting to a third structure, which houses a master bedroom/bath, large closets, loft office, and sitting room/library (a quiet nook to knit or read or talk together privately); essentially a little bigger structure than the guest house, but with no kitchette. Still very easy to build.
The buildings could be arranged according to their best site advantage on the property.
If we don't go that route, and opt for an all-in-one house, we have a second design better suited to doing passive solar, though anything we build, J will try to incorporate sustainable and economizing materials and means.
The Properties in Discussion
There are two properties now on the board. One is five acres of mostly pasture with a crescent of trees toward the rear of the property, and it's already fenced for cattle. There are neighbors on every side, some with a lot of collected clutter (I dont mean tools and tractors and such...just...clutter). Across the street are two very unique houses...one still under construction, approximating an unfinished, castle with a metal roof, complete with moat and mounds of fill dirt from where the moat was dug, and the other a recreation of a beach retreat (there's no beach nearby) with holes dug around the property and boardwalks suspended over them.
Since the neighbors are probably lovely and fascinating, my only concern at present is if we'd ever be able to resell the property for what it's worth if we found ourselves having to at any future point. Not that we're buying anything at this point for its resale value. I think the Tennessee girl in me wants pristine vistas of views, and I'm very spoiled to rolling hills and mountains. It would just be a minor adjustment, I think. The road is a dirt road, which I love. The front edge of the property has a wet-weather (sort of) creek thick with some mature hardwoods, brush, and thigh-high ferns...I really liked that.
There was a separate 10 acre parcel that I was more interested in, which is mostly pasture, but has two ponds. I did actually tell J he ought to offer to swap everything for that one. There is another man from out of the country who owns five and ten acres in the next county, and his land is all wooded. That would be a whole new set of considerations. So we're praying for wisdom and one of these opportunities to become a reality. In the meantime, I'm so busy at my job that I don't have much time to fret and worry over any of it. But it will be a red letter day the day I can type right here "the land is ours!" (which calls to mind the native american realization that no land belongs to us, but it's under our stewardship)...ah well, you know what I mean, though. I can't wait to make this step!
The Town Nearby the Potential Properties
I love the little town it's in. Though the views overall are unspectacular (in comparison), the area is smalltown, which I LOVE. The drive in was of a lot of big agriculture such as orange groves, berry, tomato, and potato farms, but there were also smaller farms with signs reading "Eat Local!" and such. There are some really big holdings of hundreds of acres, mostly vacant in places except for Beefmaster cattle. There are also many smaller farms tucked here and there. It has all the small town features I grew up with in Mississippi...the single grocery store, hardware store, a junk store (perk!), and a few others...few and far between...and a real one-room (ok, it's really five rooms) school house still in operation. There was a five acre vineyard not far from it, a sand hill crane sanctuary, phosphate mine at the perimeter, butterfly farm (how cool is that?), and local folks raising cattle, horses, and minature goats.
And at this point, I'm resisting the urge to beg J to just give all his remaining handful of vacant residential lots, waterfronts included, to this man so we can GET THERE and have our land. Only that's really impulsive, he's much smarter in real estate over the long term than I am, and I have confidence that our prayers won't be in vain. We'll BOTH have a good feeling about the acreage when it comes.
Debt-Busting Progress
He thinks we can retire it within a year. R's nursing school expenses, my used car purchase and repairs, and the commute gasoline costs offset the increase in our profits since I've had this sheriff's department job. However, there is a momentum that has built from the efforts we're all making. It does feel like we're making some forward progress. I'm making "thermometer" charts so we can visibly see the debts going down each paycheck as we eat away at paying them off entirely. It's good that this all will be a process, because R still needs to live at home until she's well into her second leg of becoming an RN. She's finishing the LPN first. I never had parents available to help me over the financial bumps between high school and college and beyond. I vowed I'd not leave my child stranded and without some direction if she wants to make the most of that, so even her schooling has been a group effort. We pay for her transportation an hour away to the daily clinicals and labs, and each of us puts in 12 to 14 hour days before we arrive safetly back home. I have no complaints...I just hope I have staying power...lol!
The Blog
(Sigh...) I just havent been here very much. But I try to update as I can. I STILL have to do that promised blogroll, give honor to others and thank Phelan and Wilma for their inclusion of this site for two blog-buddy awards. I'd like to know how to make the blog graphically more attractive, especially with a customized header...you know, the sort with photos and a decent font. And I'd love to get a camera and take pictures to add to the journal entries to add visual chronicling, too.
Ah, what would life be like without all the To-Do lists??
I'm going to knock out some household chores and grocery shopping, and maybe I'll be back later today to give more attention here and catch up with emails. Life's exciting and busy, but not much fun without clean clothes and some occasional homecooking...ha!
Sayonara till Soon, hopefully :)
You Gotta Love a Man Who Can Fix Things
I daily am more appreciative that J has the skills he does. He loves to tinker, and can build or fix pretty much anything. He's also had a lot of years of trial and error, and has some well-defined ideas of what mistakes he doesn't want to repeat...and of successes he'd love to duplicate. He's also a good financial manager overall. He's determined that the risk factors, especially at where we are in our lives now, should be given a long, hard look.
I'm learning that much of what we're calling Homesteading is really living in a way that is best for us and being good stewards. We have a developing mental picture of some ultimate goals, as we're now in the thick of the preparations. Many of our "wants" have had to bow to the reality of their practicality.
Preference and Practicality
I love older houses and the craftsmanship of their construction. My sister lives in a turn-of-the-century house in Illinois, the lovely old white sort with wraparound porches. Beautiful! Those houses speak to me, and I love the sound of feet on a wood floor, the older craftsmanship, the surprises you find in a house with a history.
I love wood. I love a wide variety of animals and used to dream of raising horses. I love being at home, being a homemaker. I love large acreages where a person doesnt feel crowded and you don't see houses next door.
We've begun merging our preferences with practicalities, and so for us, renovating on a large scale is at the low end of our wish list, though we'd absolutely love it. We simply don't forsee the finances. For my husband, that is also the case with wood floors. Florida meltdowns and humidity make wood a Welcome Home sign for insects, especially termites. That's why he prefers tile for interior floors, and concrete block or stemwall designs for the structure itself, finished out with "knockdown" textured stucco. That's what he incorporated in our present home...concrete block with a knockdown finish stucco and clay-toned cement barrel tile roofing -- 18" ceramic matte finish tile for the flooring throughout. I have no complaints, with the only precaution being that unseen spills can make for a hydroplane tailbone-cracking experience. :)
We're finding that the house plans we've sketched during all this process have morphed. At times it was plans for a large house, and then started becoming smaller. Charmed by what I found in the Tiny House movement to smaller, customized dwellings, we drew plans for the more diminuitive of liveable structures -- hardly more than a garden shed in size. It's interesting seeing how we're shifting over time. Recently, we discussed the use of steel shipping boxes as a possiblity for incorporating as part of the underlying structure of an expandable design, since they come in widths of 8 1/2 feet. Then J began thinking about modules that could be constructed over time, in sequence, for expansion. We've run the gamut.
Here's what we're thinking at the moment:
An Evolving Plan
If we can trade for acreage, we want a structure that we're not wasting our money on, that's easy to build, that can be built quickly, and economically. It needs to be expandable.
As we're thinking presently, this is the proposed sequence after acquiring the land:
A. fence the property with a perimeter fence
B. build the first structure, the size of a guest cottage, which will serve as our "camp" as we improve the property, build animal shelters, put in our first garden, etc.
C. start very small with animals and build from there, in stages, seeing what works for us best and which animals we find we really want to continue expanding the numbers of and which ones we don't want to
D. living for a time, during the transition, "half in and half out," meaning that we'll keep our residence we're in now, pay only cash for the above, and do the actual building of the small guest house (with kitchenette and loft) by hand or partially sub some of it out -- taking it in stages. See HOUSE, below. It's surprising just how useable a small square footage can be if designed that way.
E. Once we're "set" on the land, with the structure built, we'll find a way to transition and sell our present home.
F. Start with animals and plants we can use to begin substituting for our present grocery bills. Make things ourselves. Starting simple, with the goal being to try raising things that are going to help us be self-sufficient. This means we may not focus on a specialized breed at the beginning, if it's not obtainable locally or requires risky investment. And we want to focus on the right number and types of animals for the specific property. We can fine tune that over time to include our ideal breeds of animals and bloodlines, etc. First, we probably need our learning curve, and to do it in stages slowly. For instance, we may decided we want dairy and meat, but we don't know right now whether that would be a goat, a cow, or something else better suited for bartering with another local farm. We'd try our hand at two or three sheep rather than setting up for a larger herd. We want to discover which we love to work with ourselves, and which we'd rather admire at a distance.
The House
As stated above, one idea begins with constructing a very small guest house (1 bedroom with loft for more sleeping room if needed)and kitchenette, which would be used later as a guest house (duh :)) or mother-in-law wing, or for a farm-sitter to live in if we traveled for any length of time.
That could be expanded from by way of a short enclosed dogtrot (sun porch) connected to a common room-- a really big room that's essentially a simple square or rectangle and big enough to have a lot of people in, or to use as a dual purpose living room/kitchen. The main gathering room, a place several people can work on a canning project together, or other big projects, for gatherings, Bible studies, sleeping a bunch of kids in sleeping bags for sleepovers, etc. Tables could be set up or taken down in it, or it can just be arranged into a great family room.
A third expansion step would be to expand from that room with another enclosed dogtrot (connecting porch) connecting to a third structure, which houses a master bedroom/bath, large closets, loft office, and sitting room/library (a quiet nook to knit or read or talk together privately); essentially a little bigger structure than the guest house, but with no kitchette. Still very easy to build.
The buildings could be arranged according to their best site advantage on the property.
If we don't go that route, and opt for an all-in-one house, we have a second design better suited to doing passive solar, though anything we build, J will try to incorporate sustainable and economizing materials and means.
The Properties in Discussion
There are two properties now on the board. One is five acres of mostly pasture with a crescent of trees toward the rear of the property, and it's already fenced for cattle. There are neighbors on every side, some with a lot of collected clutter (I dont mean tools and tractors and such...just...clutter). Across the street are two very unique houses...one still under construction, approximating an unfinished, castle with a metal roof, complete with moat and mounds of fill dirt from where the moat was dug, and the other a recreation of a beach retreat (there's no beach nearby) with holes dug around the property and boardwalks suspended over them.
Since the neighbors are probably lovely and fascinating, my only concern at present is if we'd ever be able to resell the property for what it's worth if we found ourselves having to at any future point. Not that we're buying anything at this point for its resale value. I think the Tennessee girl in me wants pristine vistas of views, and I'm very spoiled to rolling hills and mountains. It would just be a minor adjustment, I think. The road is a dirt road, which I love. The front edge of the property has a wet-weather (sort of) creek thick with some mature hardwoods, brush, and thigh-high ferns...I really liked that.
There was a separate 10 acre parcel that I was more interested in, which is mostly pasture, but has two ponds. I did actually tell J he ought to offer to swap everything for that one. There is another man from out of the country who owns five and ten acres in the next county, and his land is all wooded. That would be a whole new set of considerations. So we're praying for wisdom and one of these opportunities to become a reality. In the meantime, I'm so busy at my job that I don't have much time to fret and worry over any of it. But it will be a red letter day the day I can type right here "the land is ours!" (which calls to mind the native american realization that no land belongs to us, but it's under our stewardship)...ah well, you know what I mean, though. I can't wait to make this step!
The Town Nearby the Potential Properties
I love the little town it's in. Though the views overall are unspectacular (in comparison), the area is smalltown, which I LOVE. The drive in was of a lot of big agriculture such as orange groves, berry, tomato, and potato farms, but there were also smaller farms with signs reading "Eat Local!" and such. There are some really big holdings of hundreds of acres, mostly vacant in places except for Beefmaster cattle. There are also many smaller farms tucked here and there. It has all the small town features I grew up with in Mississippi...the single grocery store, hardware store, a junk store (perk!), and a few others...few and far between...and a real one-room (ok, it's really five rooms) school house still in operation. There was a five acre vineyard not far from it, a sand hill crane sanctuary, phosphate mine at the perimeter, butterfly farm (how cool is that?), and local folks raising cattle, horses, and minature goats.
And at this point, I'm resisting the urge to beg J to just give all his remaining handful of vacant residential lots, waterfronts included, to this man so we can GET THERE and have our land. Only that's really impulsive, he's much smarter in real estate over the long term than I am, and I have confidence that our prayers won't be in vain. We'll BOTH have a good feeling about the acreage when it comes.
Debt-Busting Progress
He thinks we can retire it within a year. R's nursing school expenses, my used car purchase and repairs, and the commute gasoline costs offset the increase in our profits since I've had this sheriff's department job. However, there is a momentum that has built from the efforts we're all making. It does feel like we're making some forward progress. I'm making "thermometer" charts so we can visibly see the debts going down each paycheck as we eat away at paying them off entirely. It's good that this all will be a process, because R still needs to live at home until she's well into her second leg of becoming an RN. She's finishing the LPN first. I never had parents available to help me over the financial bumps between high school and college and beyond. I vowed I'd not leave my child stranded and without some direction if she wants to make the most of that, so even her schooling has been a group effort. We pay for her transportation an hour away to the daily clinicals and labs, and each of us puts in 12 to 14 hour days before we arrive safetly back home. I have no complaints...I just hope I have staying power...lol!
The Blog
(Sigh...) I just havent been here very much. But I try to update as I can. I STILL have to do that promised blogroll, give honor to others and thank Phelan and Wilma for their inclusion of this site for two blog-buddy awards. I'd like to know how to make the blog graphically more attractive, especially with a customized header...you know, the sort with photos and a decent font. And I'd love to get a camera and take pictures to add to the journal entries to add visual chronicling, too.
Ah, what would life be like without all the To-Do lists??
I'm going to knock out some household chores and grocery shopping, and maybe I'll be back later today to give more attention here and catch up with emails. Life's exciting and busy, but not much fun without clean clothes and some occasional homecooking...ha!
Sayonara till Soon, hopefully :)
Monday, March 26, 2007
WalMartians...Little "Green" Men?
I have a weird sense of humor, so please don't take half of what I write seriously, or personally. I find irony and incongruence to be chuckle fodder. Even when things irk me or strike me as inane.
In my rooting around for a job within a decent driving distance, to help further our goals to GTHOOD (get the heck out of Dodge), I was summoned to Wallyworld's employment wonderland. A few months ago, I sent legions of online applications zipping into the ethersphere -- a smorgasborg of every conceivable local business possible having openings either full or parttime. After all, most places around here won't even take paper applications. This area has FEW if ANY real mom-and-pop businesses, and those that are here employ, well, Mom and Pop. I had to approach some of the Takeover Conglomerates if I hope to have any sort of gainful employment.
The wait has been nerve-wracking, and of course in the meantime has been the unfolding progression of interviews for The Job I Really Want. I'm down to two more left for that one before I know for sure. Drumrollll.....
But since there's NO guarantee of ANYthing, and since we reallllyyyyyy need the benefit of some shekels in the coffers, I'm interviewing at any and all available places.
Some of the folks I applied with months ago are now beginning to call me for interviews. Some are overlapping. I felt I needed to say this before mentioning that today I ventured into the vast monstrosity of mega-retail commonly referred to as WalM*rt. Yup. I feel like a traitor every time I go in there.
It's not that I don't like to buy on the cheap, or that I'm a purist to the degree that I'll decry any store with a paved parking lot. Yes, I've bought there. But I either have a twinge or an outright kick in the stomach to some degree doing so.
I've never cozied up to the salesman's soul. It all smacks of snake oil, slick willies, screaming advertisements, corporate sprawl, and meganopoly. There is nothing lovely, to me, about this sort of "progress." Especially when it equates into the buying up of rural America and the forcing out of regional tradesmen and distinctives.
Yes, we've all heard this rant before.
Cutting to the chase. I arrived early, in interview clothes. (Defined by me as Clothing Requiring Pantyhose)
A woman I'd never have pegged as a managerial sort came loping through, nabbed me, hustled me through The Secret Bowels of WalMartdom, and plopped me at a plastic table. She plucked a Ms. Doe from her floor station long enough to have her interview me from questions on a sheet of paper she'd never looked at before, and the said Ms. Doe circled her responses to my answers as I gave them. Just the general What Would You Do If sorts of interview queries.
As this process unfolded, there were stages of waiting. There were other people cycling through the room, and just overhead, from a TV suspended from the ceiling at an angle, was the constant drone of motivational speaking. A man, likely someone I should have recognized as An Important WalMartian (lol!), was trying to whip up enthusiasm with the typical hype. He was nearly at Old Tent Revival pitch, and I recognized the predictable Whip-It-Up charisma watch-the-birdie stay-with-me-folks manipulative business-speak. RAH, WalM*rt!! (I expected bunting and banners any minute) I did an instant tune-out, at least as much as possible with it being piped in from overhead.
During the first interview, I heard in another room what must have been a very large group of people, listening to a real speaker. There were no discernable words, and I'd not have known they were in an adjacent room but for the intermittent whoops and applause, all in concert...a little too much in concert? On cue? (Skeptic I am) Unless someone were running for office, this was a bit overly enthusiastic applause for the pre-caffiene hours of the day. Was someone internally on the campaign trail?
Then, from the overhead TV's nonstop preaching came the word that drew my attention back to the TV screen. "Sustainability!!!"
The Walpreacher was saying something along the lines of "Sometimes, from complaints and seemingly bad feedback we can learn something. You might have a whole lot of bad feedback, (blah blah blah) from people who seem to have nothing good to say about anything, but there are times we can hear that one that has some truth to it (blahblahblah)...such as SUSTAINABILITY!!"
He had my attention now.
And then he began the WalM*rtSaviorOfTheWorld has embraced Sustainability (and so on and so on) with a whole slick sell on the virtues of WalM*rt's leading the Saving of the World through its SUSTAINABILITY efforts blah blah blah.
It went on and on but I was filling out forms. I blanked after a couple of paragraphs from TV Man, but it had been enough to convince me that for some reason WMart is now using sustainability as it new cover slogan.
Does anyone remember the late 80s and early 90s when there was such an emphasis in the press about Made In the USA? WalM*rt was one of the biggest mouthpieces. I always look. I've never seen more Made in Chinas, Taiwans, Koreas, The Phillippines, etc in any one place. In fact you have to LOOK HARD for a Made in the US.
The word Sustainability rolled off me like an oiled slicker. It had the simple ring of Opportunistic Sales Approach written all over it.
I was sent back to a seating area in the store to await the availability of a manager for the second interview. I was joined by 4 other people. The Meeting should be over soon...all the managers were in it.
An hour went by. Sat, we did. And sat. And sat. Every once in a while, someone would appear to apologize for our having to wait so long. Inside, the managers, their meeting now exceeding two hours and going into the third, were still rapt and occasionally erupting on cue into little blurs of noise.
The young man seated beside me, also waiting for his interview, wondered aloud when the Sealed Room Meeting Participants would be done. ("After all, THEY were the one who had scheduled OUR interviews for precisely this time..." he said under his breath. How much longer would it be?)
After they've passed the Koolaid? I wondered... ;-)
(chuckling again...)
Non-managerial employees trailed faithfully in and out of the back rooms like soldier ants. Finally, we were summoned.
The rest went fine, but there was a tone to it all of having signed up with an evangelistic group. I get this feeling about some companies when seeing their intial line-up of cheerleaders. You have to kind of spray yourself down to not get caught up in the foreign language of it all. It's a mighty special Club, after all. I wondered if I would hear B movie zombie music at some point?
Heehee
I dutifully drove to the lab to offer my recycled beverage for drug screening.
I exited the Fort Knox of bathrooms and was dismissed by the lab tech.
It's good for them to be thorough. You do not want to assist part-time in KitchenWares under the influence.
Hahahahaha!
In my rooting around for a job within a decent driving distance, to help further our goals to GTHOOD (get the heck out of Dodge), I was summoned to Wallyworld's employment wonderland. A few months ago, I sent legions of online applications zipping into the ethersphere -- a smorgasborg of every conceivable local business possible having openings either full or parttime. After all, most places around here won't even take paper applications. This area has FEW if ANY real mom-and-pop businesses, and those that are here employ, well, Mom and Pop. I had to approach some of the Takeover Conglomerates if I hope to have any sort of gainful employment.
The wait has been nerve-wracking, and of course in the meantime has been the unfolding progression of interviews for The Job I Really Want. I'm down to two more left for that one before I know for sure. Drumrollll.....
But since there's NO guarantee of ANYthing, and since we reallllyyyyyy need the benefit of some shekels in the coffers, I'm interviewing at any and all available places.
Some of the folks I applied with months ago are now beginning to call me for interviews. Some are overlapping. I felt I needed to say this before mentioning that today I ventured into the vast monstrosity of mega-retail commonly referred to as WalM*rt. Yup. I feel like a traitor every time I go in there.
It's not that I don't like to buy on the cheap, or that I'm a purist to the degree that I'll decry any store with a paved parking lot. Yes, I've bought there. But I either have a twinge or an outright kick in the stomach to some degree doing so.
I've never cozied up to the salesman's soul. It all smacks of snake oil, slick willies, screaming advertisements, corporate sprawl, and meganopoly. There is nothing lovely, to me, about this sort of "progress." Especially when it equates into the buying up of rural America and the forcing out of regional tradesmen and distinctives.
Yes, we've all heard this rant before.
Cutting to the chase. I arrived early, in interview clothes. (Defined by me as Clothing Requiring Pantyhose)
A woman I'd never have pegged as a managerial sort came loping through, nabbed me, hustled me through The Secret Bowels of WalMartdom, and plopped me at a plastic table. She plucked a Ms. Doe from her floor station long enough to have her interview me from questions on a sheet of paper she'd never looked at before, and the said Ms. Doe circled her responses to my answers as I gave them. Just the general What Would You Do If sorts of interview queries.
As this process unfolded, there were stages of waiting. There were other people cycling through the room, and just overhead, from a TV suspended from the ceiling at an angle, was the constant drone of motivational speaking. A man, likely someone I should have recognized as An Important WalMartian (lol!), was trying to whip up enthusiasm with the typical hype. He was nearly at Old Tent Revival pitch, and I recognized the predictable Whip-It-Up charisma watch-the-birdie stay-with-me-folks manipulative business-speak. RAH, WalM*rt!! (I expected bunting and banners any minute) I did an instant tune-out, at least as much as possible with it being piped in from overhead.
During the first interview, I heard in another room what must have been a very large group of people, listening to a real speaker. There were no discernable words, and I'd not have known they were in an adjacent room but for the intermittent whoops and applause, all in concert...a little too much in concert? On cue? (Skeptic I am) Unless someone were running for office, this was a bit overly enthusiastic applause for the pre-caffiene hours of the day. Was someone internally on the campaign trail?
Then, from the overhead TV's nonstop preaching came the word that drew my attention back to the TV screen. "Sustainability!!!"
The Walpreacher was saying something along the lines of "Sometimes, from complaints and seemingly bad feedback we can learn something. You might have a whole lot of bad feedback, (blah blah blah) from people who seem to have nothing good to say about anything, but there are times we can hear that one that has some truth to it (blahblahblah)...such as SUSTAINABILITY!!"
He had my attention now.
And then he began the WalM*rtSaviorOfTheWorld has embraced Sustainability (and so on and so on) with a whole slick sell on the virtues of WalM*rt's leading the Saving of the World through its SUSTAINABILITY efforts blah blah blah.
It went on and on but I was filling out forms. I blanked after a couple of paragraphs from TV Man, but it had been enough to convince me that for some reason WMart is now using sustainability as it new cover slogan.
Does anyone remember the late 80s and early 90s when there was such an emphasis in the press about Made In the USA? WalM*rt was one of the biggest mouthpieces. I always look. I've never seen more Made in Chinas, Taiwans, Koreas, The Phillippines, etc in any one place. In fact you have to LOOK HARD for a Made in the US.
The word Sustainability rolled off me like an oiled slicker. It had the simple ring of Opportunistic Sales Approach written all over it.
I was sent back to a seating area in the store to await the availability of a manager for the second interview. I was joined by 4 other people. The Meeting should be over soon...all the managers were in it.
An hour went by. Sat, we did. And sat. And sat. Every once in a while, someone would appear to apologize for our having to wait so long. Inside, the managers, their meeting now exceeding two hours and going into the third, were still rapt and occasionally erupting on cue into little blurs of noise.
The young man seated beside me, also waiting for his interview, wondered aloud when the Sealed Room Meeting Participants would be done. ("After all, THEY were the one who had scheduled OUR interviews for precisely this time..." he said under his breath. How much longer would it be?)
After they've passed the Koolaid? I wondered... ;-)
(chuckling again...)
Non-managerial employees trailed faithfully in and out of the back rooms like soldier ants. Finally, we were summoned.
The rest went fine, but there was a tone to it all of having signed up with an evangelistic group. I get this feeling about some companies when seeing their intial line-up of cheerleaders. You have to kind of spray yourself down to not get caught up in the foreign language of it all. It's a mighty special Club, after all. I wondered if I would hear B movie zombie music at some point?
Heehee
I dutifully drove to the lab to offer my recycled beverage for drug screening.
I exited the Fort Knox of bathrooms and was dismissed by the lab tech.
It's good for them to be thorough. You do not want to assist part-time in KitchenWares under the influence.
Hahahahaha!
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Calling All Skeletons
...you are now summoned from your respective closets!
This is in reference to The Job I Really Want Right Now, the job that I'd like to think would speed us toward our homestead goals more quickly. The Get Out of Debt Pronto job. The job where you actually help people and have a lot of responsibility and get to use your brain.
I did go to the background check interview today, and it lasted 3 hours.
I didn't know I had much of a background to check, but when you have a stranger perusing documentation of your past 40 years, it makes even the most lily white citizen feel scrutinized to the point of feeling there must be some " 'splaining to do."
Yes, there is a Big Brain out there, in the form of endless computer data, that has collected all details of every traffic ticket you've had (or not). Where you went to school. If you had chicken pox or a broken toe. If your old best friend ever smoked a controlled substance. If you had an Ex of any description. Your parents', friends', children's, spouse's, and neighbors' stats. Every place you ever lived. If you were ever late paying the IRS or had less-than-stellar credit. Any blips on the family tree. Any glitches in job history. If you had a rotten childhood or a certifiably crazy boyfriend.
Or if you watched an R-rated movie on cable one night when you were 10 and the babysitter was distracted. (Just kidding, they'll never get that out of me)
Big Brother is now reality. My life in data. It's all there. I've always tried to be a straight shooter and fly well above the radar, keeping my nose clean. Being scrutinized made me quake with fear at imagined transgressions past. I wanted to shout out, "YES, I confess! I did 50 in a 40 zone 14 years ago while driving an 88 Ford with lapsed registration!" (That one actually might be true...)
LOL ;-)
My past would make boring Novel material. Even with any minor thrills of infraction, I'm not a best-seller. This was some comfort today. No matter. They can still find enough of the smaller stuff to temporarily scare the woo-woo out of you.
Next comes the polygraph test (seriously!)
I'm willing to do a lot for this job. Like having my psyche and entire past subjected to questioning.
I wonder if the polygraph will feel as strange as today's interview did.
I wonder if I'll be nervous and break down under the bright lights and swear aloud for all to hear that yes, it's true...
I DID tear off the mattress tags!!!!!!!!!
This is in reference to The Job I Really Want Right Now, the job that I'd like to think would speed us toward our homestead goals more quickly. The Get Out of Debt Pronto job. The job where you actually help people and have a lot of responsibility and get to use your brain.
I did go to the background check interview today, and it lasted 3 hours.
I didn't know I had much of a background to check, but when you have a stranger perusing documentation of your past 40 years, it makes even the most lily white citizen feel scrutinized to the point of feeling there must be some " 'splaining to do."
Yes, there is a Big Brain out there, in the form of endless computer data, that has collected all details of every traffic ticket you've had (or not). Where you went to school. If you had chicken pox or a broken toe. If your old best friend ever smoked a controlled substance. If you had an Ex of any description. Your parents', friends', children's, spouse's, and neighbors' stats. Every place you ever lived. If you were ever late paying the IRS or had less-than-stellar credit. Any blips on the family tree. Any glitches in job history. If you had a rotten childhood or a certifiably crazy boyfriend.
Or if you watched an R-rated movie on cable one night when you were 10 and the babysitter was distracted. (Just kidding, they'll never get that out of me)
Big Brother is now reality. My life in data. It's all there. I've always tried to be a straight shooter and fly well above the radar, keeping my nose clean. Being scrutinized made me quake with fear at imagined transgressions past. I wanted to shout out, "YES, I confess! I did 50 in a 40 zone 14 years ago while driving an 88 Ford with lapsed registration!" (That one actually might be true...)
LOL ;-)
My past would make boring Novel material. Even with any minor thrills of infraction, I'm not a best-seller. This was some comfort today. No matter. They can still find enough of the smaller stuff to temporarily scare the woo-woo out of you.
Next comes the polygraph test (seriously!)
I'm willing to do a lot for this job. Like having my psyche and entire past subjected to questioning.
I wonder if the polygraph will feel as strange as today's interview did.
I wonder if I'll be nervous and break down under the bright lights and swear aloud for all to hear that yes, it's true...
I DID tear off the mattress tags!!!!!!!!!
Monday, March 5, 2007
When Life Gives You Rocks...
...build a rock garden?
No, not literal rocks.
Our stepping-stones leading to our ultimate goals of simplification and sustainable living (all loosely collected under my broader term "homesteading" which embraces that and so much more) for our family begin with one thing:
Freeing ourselves from debt.
To us, this means good jobs. We've had too many reversals in the past two years, and have to make up for some serious lost ground.
This is not just a glib wish, but is a light at the end of the tunnel. It's also not just a matter of being in the black, but of constructing a way for us to pull out of the way of life that's not serving us best and pursuing a different sort of work that will. How it will ultimately be expressed is anyone's guess, but there is a mound of obstacles that must be met and dealt with first.
So we've tackled it.
We've never in our lives had problems having jobs...good jobs. It seems our current setback in the jobs department NOW has coincided with our determination to step up our efforts to settle all accounts and be "freer."
I don't waste time asking myself Why. I do believe God's in control here, and that we're supposed to do the initiative and effort part.
The sweatshop job I took a few days ago IS no longer. That's right...I stink at custom-cleaning and pressing custom and industrial drapes. Actually, I did quite well at it, by my definition...I'm a perfectionist...but I'm not a machine, and the 30 some sets I was finishing in 5 hours (without any breaks), I was told is about 1/3 what I should be managing to really get done in that time.
Then there were the cockroaches. That ran across my feet. Big fat healthy ones (the roaches, that is). There was the broken equipment. And there was the heat, the convection oven and steam press sort that reduced me to a wringing wet employee within the first 30 minutes. (My skin's really soft as a result, but I was not a picture of arid loveliness). Does failing at a job that requires no prior skills, offers no benefits, and requires haste and danger mean that I've swum to the lowest end of the job chain?
(Double-darn again for not having a degree!!)
If I'm going to be that sweaty and achey at the end of a short workday, it makes me long to just be accomplishing that in my own garden. I'll hold that thought.
I do have an interview tomorrow...another interview related to the other job I really want and have been pursuing now for several months. The one where I'd be using my brain and actually helping people. Many prayers are going up. I'm really hoping for it. We could really knock out some serious finances and would JUMP forward. So, until the interviewing and screening process is complete, I'll keep holding my breath.
This temporary sweatshop job was supposed to help me bridge that gap and bring in some $$ in the meantime. They are selling the business, so I knew it was not for the long-term anyway.
These job situations might be tests. They feel like digging in really rocky soil. By the time you've dug out enough rocks to make a garden, there are so many piled there that you could build a pretty nice wall. Losing this job I didnt even like in the first place is like hitting some more rock with the spade.
The spade probably got a bad ding, but something pretty neat can be built later with all those stones. I'm still trying to see them as stepping-stones. And trying to appreciate the journey, not just the destination.
Let's see in a year... there's probably some good that will come out of it in the end.
:)
No, not literal rocks.
Our stepping-stones leading to our ultimate goals of simplification and sustainable living (all loosely collected under my broader term "homesteading" which embraces that and so much more) for our family begin with one thing:
Freeing ourselves from debt.
To us, this means good jobs. We've had too many reversals in the past two years, and have to make up for some serious lost ground.
This is not just a glib wish, but is a light at the end of the tunnel. It's also not just a matter of being in the black, but of constructing a way for us to pull out of the way of life that's not serving us best and pursuing a different sort of work that will. How it will ultimately be expressed is anyone's guess, but there is a mound of obstacles that must be met and dealt with first.
So we've tackled it.
We've never in our lives had problems having jobs...good jobs. It seems our current setback in the jobs department NOW has coincided with our determination to step up our efforts to settle all accounts and be "freer."
I don't waste time asking myself Why. I do believe God's in control here, and that we're supposed to do the initiative and effort part.
The sweatshop job I took a few days ago IS no longer. That's right...I stink at custom-cleaning and pressing custom and industrial drapes. Actually, I did quite well at it, by my definition...I'm a perfectionist...but I'm not a machine, and the 30 some sets I was finishing in 5 hours (without any breaks), I was told is about 1/3 what I should be managing to really get done in that time.
Then there were the cockroaches. That ran across my feet. Big fat healthy ones (the roaches, that is). There was the broken equipment. And there was the heat, the convection oven and steam press sort that reduced me to a wringing wet employee within the first 30 minutes. (My skin's really soft as a result, but I was not a picture of arid loveliness). Does failing at a job that requires no prior skills, offers no benefits, and requires haste and danger mean that I've swum to the lowest end of the job chain?
(Double-darn again for not having a degree!!)
If I'm going to be that sweaty and achey at the end of a short workday, it makes me long to just be accomplishing that in my own garden. I'll hold that thought.
I do have an interview tomorrow...another interview related to the other job I really want and have been pursuing now for several months. The one where I'd be using my brain and actually helping people. Many prayers are going up. I'm really hoping for it. We could really knock out some serious finances and would JUMP forward. So, until the interviewing and screening process is complete, I'll keep holding my breath.
This temporary sweatshop job was supposed to help me bridge that gap and bring in some $$ in the meantime. They are selling the business, so I knew it was not for the long-term anyway.
These job situations might be tests. They feel like digging in really rocky soil. By the time you've dug out enough rocks to make a garden, there are so many piled there that you could build a pretty nice wall. Losing this job I didnt even like in the first place is like hitting some more rock with the spade.
The spade probably got a bad ding, but something pretty neat can be built later with all those stones. I'm still trying to see them as stepping-stones. And trying to appreciate the journey, not just the destination.
Let's see in a year... there's probably some good that will come out of it in the end.
:)
Monday, February 26, 2007
The work part of getting out of debt
I now have a parttime job, 30 or so hours a week. I'm really grateful to God, because I did pray for this, and it allows some late afternoon flexibility.
After my first three days pressing drapes in a very hot back room in clouds of steam, and doing a lot of lifting, I'm "plumb tuckered out!" I came home today so exhausted, mainly from the heat of the workplace and of the drive (my car doesnt have AC and it's an hour commute each direction). I immediately showered and went to bed! LOL so much for that "late afternoon flexibility!" ;-) My muscles are getting a workout, though, which is terrific.
SO, I am trying to see this as one step closer to the goal of homesteading, which means these things:
1. More $$ to pay bills
2. Still have a little time for further interviews for better jobs
3. Still have some time once I get some garden projects kicked off (money permitting) for planting and weeding
4. I'm getting into better shape! Maybe all that sweatroom work is melting off some pounds?
5. I don't have to dress up to go to work. I LOVE dressing up for an occasion, but I HATE dressing up to go to work. I LOVE being able to throw in jeans and sneakers and hop in the car each day...it's SO much better than wearing heels and hose!
6. I'm eating less. I have a big breakfast and then a late afternoon meal. So far I've been too tired to have anything to eat later than that except maybe a bite of yogurt or such.
OK...that's the report...and now back to bed for me! I can't wait to see the progress we make paying OFF the debt! J is working overtime for the same goal, and we do get a tax return this year. We're going to knock those bad boy bills OUT :)
After my first three days pressing drapes in a very hot back room in clouds of steam, and doing a lot of lifting, I'm "plumb tuckered out!" I came home today so exhausted, mainly from the heat of the workplace and of the drive (my car doesnt have AC and it's an hour commute each direction). I immediately showered and went to bed! LOL so much for that "late afternoon flexibility!" ;-) My muscles are getting a workout, though, which is terrific.
SO, I am trying to see this as one step closer to the goal of homesteading, which means these things:
1. More $$ to pay bills
2. Still have a little time for further interviews for better jobs
3. Still have some time once I get some garden projects kicked off (money permitting) for planting and weeding
4. I'm getting into better shape! Maybe all that sweatroom work is melting off some pounds?
5. I don't have to dress up to go to work. I LOVE dressing up for an occasion, but I HATE dressing up to go to work. I LOVE being able to throw in jeans and sneakers and hop in the car each day...it's SO much better than wearing heels and hose!
6. I'm eating less. I have a big breakfast and then a late afternoon meal. So far I've been too tired to have anything to eat later than that except maybe a bite of yogurt or such.
OK...that's the report...and now back to bed for me! I can't wait to see the progress we make paying OFF the debt! J is working overtime for the same goal, and we do get a tax return this year. We're going to knock those bad boy bills OUT :)
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