Fasten Your Seatbelts...

Ok, here we go. I got an e-mail from the AG's office this morning. They are starting foreclosure proceedings against us and the other heirs. I don't really know what all that entails, or how long it's going to take.

What I'm curious about is, where are all these people that are getting kicked out of their houses going to go? Are there going to be huge tent cities living outside of thousands of empty houses? Maybe those survivalist guys are right about the FEMA camps. The houses won't be distroyed, but no one will be able to afford to live in them. There are lots of people being layed off. So, they can't pay their morgages. Then, they lose the house. Let's pretend there were jobs to be had. Ever try getting a job without an address? This is a very slippery slope. In our case, it's not an unpaid morgage. ( This place was paid off a long time ago.) In our situation it's the state wanting money back for Randy's mom's care. I've gone into this before. Anyway, we have this travel trailer (a.k.a. the escape pod). So, I guess we'll be the ones with the fancy tent? Where we're going to put this thing is a whole different matter. Sure, we've got the land in Texas. I have to ask though, just how in the hell we are supposed to get it there? Oh, I know what it will take, money. We could stay here while Randy still has a job. But then we'd have to pay for a spot in an RV park with utilities, water, and sewage. We might as well move into an apartment if we were to go that route. Either way, there would be no way to get ahead enough to get to our land in Texas. Yet another slippery slope. And to think, this all could have been avoided. I've gone into the reason behind that before. I'd rather not do it again. There's a special place in hell for some folks. Hmmm, looks like I can still get mad. Maybe it's the sunshine. Too bad I won't be able to get that garden started. Apparently, now I have other things to worry about.

The Adventure Continues...

We’ve had computer troubles for the last few days. Windows crapped out. The system recovery seems to have fixed it, this time. Fortunately, I had paid the on-line bills and even filed our taxes. We will be getting a little back. Most, if not all, will likely go to the vehicles. I really think we'll be moving this year. The woman from the AG's office called Randy's half sister before the computer went down. That poor old woman doesn't have any money to give them either. So, as it gets warmer we will be able to get a little more prepared for what's coming. The sun came out for about a day and a half, but I'm still in kind of a funk. It may just be the stress. I'm having trouble even getting mad anymore. That's worrisome to me. Well, that's it for now.

Birthday, another year gone by

I had a birthday a few days ago. Not a big one, 38. It got me thinking though. In the last year so much has happened. And yet, it seems like it’s stayed pretty much the same. This time last year we didn’t have a clue how long we were going to be able to stay here. That hasn’t changed. We came close, but no dice. I suppose we are more prepared for whatever may come now than we were a year ago. There’s always something else to do or worry about though.

I’ve decided to go ahead and plant a garden this year. I didn’t last year because I was just sure we were going to get booted out of here. Who knows what’s going to happen this year? If I plant and we have to leave, oh well. If I don’t plant, we may end up going hungry or get sick from whatever the next pathogen/toxin that hit’s the produce market. So, I think it will be worth the effort to plant.

Our last payment on our West Texas land is February. I’m looking forward to getting that little peace of mind. We’ve been working on this project for more than 2 years. Now it’s just a matter of dragging our butts down there and getting started on a little homestead. I see a lot more work in our future.

Here's a question

For any and all-
Anybody know what kind of lawyer you would go to about squatters rights ? Randy's been here long enough, but I'm not sure what kind of lawyer to go to.

Frugal living

Living frugal has become sort of a game for us. This week I made up a batch of lentil and veggie soup. It was a small batch, because that can get old quick. But, I did stretch it out an extra couple of days by changing it up a bit with canned tomatoes and a few spices. I've been reading that one needs to rotate their food storage. I've gotta tell you, we live off that stuff. We try to make it fun and a learning opportunity. I like cooking anyway, so it is especially fun for me. Randy remembers a little bit about how his mom cooked, so he is a great helper. We have a freezer right now, so I buy a lot of frozen veggies. I haven't jumped into canning yet. I still want to make bread. The only thing slowing me down is our tumultuous situation with this property. To seed or not to seed, that is the question...

Back on Topic

I seem to have let myself get distracted from my original goal for this blog. The latest toxins in food, as well as Randy’s conversation with the woman at the state yesterday, have brought me back to reality. It’s looking like the only way you can get safe food is if you grow it yourself. I could run on about that, but I won’t. The woman at the state was, as usual, soo helpful. She told Randy that they now want twice the money they did before. And, she is still about to file the papers. I could go on about this bitch too, but, to maintain what is left of my sanity, I won’t. All that being said, it’s time to start looking/moving forward and focusing on the plan.

I have compiled a rather large binder of ideas, as well as things that people have done and are writing about on their blogs. Many thanks to all of those that have and continue to share what has worked for them and what has not. I also take a look at the links and blog lists that are posted on those blogs. Every little tid-bit of info that I can get and apply to our situation helps. This information has become invaluable to me in our efforts to move forward!

I’m still working on getting all of our ducks in a row. The most urgent issue we have, right now, is getting the tow vehicle back in running order. That’s going to take as much or more time and effort as it did in taking it apart. I’ll keep updating as things progress.

I get so tired of people bitching and moaning about the nanny state. “ I don’t want to pay taxes.” “ Why is the government always telling me what to do and what not to do, and telling me it’s for my own good.” “ I know what‘s good for me.” “I want to do whatever I want.” “ I wish they would just leave me alone.” Good God! It sometimes sounds like an insolent child. There are lots of reasons they are seemingly always telling you what to do. The main one is that people obviously Do Not know what’s best for them. Why do you think there are laws telling you to wear a seatbelt in the car, a helmet on a motorcycle, etc.? It’s not just because they are trying to keep your dumbass alive so you can keep paying their salaries. It’s because when someone doesn’t wear the seatbelt, helmet, or whatever, and manages to only end up with a traumatic brain injury, we all end up paying for their care for the rest of their lives. There are lots of other laws that may seem ridiculous. But people are stupid, and Darwin doesn‘t always take care of it. I know Uncle Sam doesn’t always know best.

Just a note on the new lead law. Sure, I’m sorry that some people will be financially affected. Personally, I think this country has enough problems without people buying products that will make our future generation stupider, by poisoning them with heavy metals. Maybe, we should start taking some real responsibility. It’s embarrassing how ignorant the people in this country can be.

Oh, and for those that don’t know, there hasn’t been lead in pencils since the 1500’s. Now, the one’s coming from different countries may have lead based paint on the outside. Who knows?

Weird

Ok, that's just weird. My blog list is working now. What the hell?

Posting just 'cause

I'm posting just because I feel like it. I don't really have too much to say.
I find the map thingy I installed pretty interesting. My blog list isn't working right. I don't know why. Everyone else's seems to be working. I'll work on it later, I suppose.
Oh yeah, it snowed last night, yippee! I think I may be getting cabin fever again. This place is driving me crazy! I wish my mom would have helped us buy it, so we could sell it and move to Texas with a little grubstake to get started. Anyway, didn't happen. I'm just ready to get somewhere warm!

Randy worked today and I wasn’t feeling so great. Not because of partying the night before. It was a girl thing. Maybe that explains my previous post. Don’t get me wrong. I meant it. It’s a worrisome group.
Anyway, one of my resolutions for the past 10 plus years has been to learn and be fluent in Spanish. I’m from Texas and have always felt like I needed to learn it. So, I took 2 years in high school and then a semester in college. At that point it was like taking an English class. Thus, I can read Spanish better than speak it. I speak Spanish almost as good as Peggy Hill (King of The Hill). In my efforts in this endeavor, I’ve been watching Spanish television shows. It’s sad but true. It’s always been an aggravation that when I worked for the state (Texas) that I couldn’t get one of those bilingual jobs. Here it’s worse. Apparently you need only to speak Spanish and not so much the English. Oh, and by the way, our new minimum wage has gone up to somewhere qround $8.55. Yeah, those immigrants are doing the work we Americans don’t want to do. At least in Texas you had to be fluent in both. It seems my mood has not changed much. Maybe in the next couple of days it will improve. We'll see...don't take any bets yet. With things going the way they are it's hard to imagine anyone's moods getting better.

Food for thought

I’ve done a little research folks. I’ve been looking at survival sites for a couple of years now. What I have found interesting is the propensity for the favor of the Mormon sites. Oh sure, they are great for food storage advice. People need to understand that there is a reason behind that. It is not because they are just smart, good natured, and think it’s a good idea. It’s manly because they are just sure they are going to be the majority of people left after the apocalypse, or whatever you want to call it. Geeks, think Borg…
This is not a good thing. Look it up. Unless you want to assimilate, you may be right in keeping and stock piling your guns. And you thought the Government was after you...

Sunshine and some rain!
The sun has finally come out and is trying to melt the snow. Yea!
Christmas is over. It’s time to get back to thinking about what’s ahead. I find myself in a bit of a conundrum. I want to get serious about collecting and stock piling food, but I also have this constant nagging thought in my head. We are going to have to move sometime in the near future. Everyday I check the mail expecting there to be a letter giving us some number of days to get out of here. I’ve described our situation before and I’m not going to get into it again. Anyway, we’re going to be moving. I don’t know if it will be the big move to Texas, or if we’ll just move to a local RV park. Either way, we are not going to want to haul a bunch of extra stuff. I guess I just answered my own question. Bummer.
Now, I’m thinking we should focus efforts (and $) on the pod and the tow vehicle. Here’s what I think we’re looking at in that area.
First and foremost , put the suburban back together.
Tires for both
2 new batteries for the pod
Check and fill propane tanks
I need to sell some stuff to lighten the load as well as create another influx of cash for the move and the afore mentioned expenses. I really don’t care for trying to sell stuff on E-Bay, just haven‘t had much luck. Craig’s list isn’t much fun around here either. People in our area don’t want to pay anything for your crap, but want a butt load for theirs. I guess I’ll just have to change my attitude, and be as hard nosed as they are. Maybe, just maybe people are getting in the mood to buy used stuff. We’ll see. I’ve considered selling stuff on a new blog. I’m still working on that idea. Any suggestions on that idea would be great. Put them in the comments or send me an e-mail.

Merry Chiristmas

Merry Christmas! We made it!
I cooked a turkey last night. I don't normally eat meat, but Randy got a free turkey last week at the company Christmas party. It was my second time cooking a turkey. I'm telling you the only was to do it is in one of those cooking bags. I even made giblet gravy. It was my first time on that one. There are only two of us, so we've got left overs to last us a couple of weeks. Anyway, that was about all of our excitement yesterday, other than a little more snow.

Oh yeah, Randy's friend down in Hood River, WA gave Randy some brilliant advice. He suggested that maybe we should start stock piling food. Hmm... No, that just sounds crazy! I'm kidding. Randy let him know we had already started doing that. We need to keep stocking up though. I've been whittling away on the beans, rice, and a few other things. On that note, we really need to get appropriate storage containers. I've looked around a little locally with not much luck. Dog and cat food containers don't really excite me. I guess I'll have to get some on line.

Well, have a good Christmas!

Oh great, more snow...

Ok, we don’t have it as bad as Busted. However, we were without water today. Randy went back to work this morning. So, I had to wait for him to get home and help me figure out where the frozen spot was. He took off from work a little early and we found it. He had a pretty good idea of where it might be. Long, wet, dirty story short, we can flush the toilet, and I can wash dishes and clothes! We’ve got a pretty good supply of drinking water, Three 5 gallon jugs. Anyway, time to take my wet shoes off and change my socks. My feet are wet and cold!

Cabin Fever!
It has been just too damn cold to do anything outside. So much for getting the heads back in the truck. I've been writing stuff for this blog, but I didn't put it out there and now it's out dated. Maybe I should just write here, and post like everybody else seems to. Anyway, I wish I could say that we've been working on the truck. Although, I can say that we found a good use for the snow...

Holy crap! We got snow! yippee…?
And it’s friggin’ cold! Down in the teens during the day, single digits at night! It’s about the same as Busted knuckles. Romeo, our native Texan cat, is pissed! He likes to be outside and this weather is just not working for him. So, he’s in and out, and that’s not working for Randy and me. The other cats are smart enough to stay inside and only go out if necessary. We’ve got Thomas, the neighborhood cat, set up pretty sweet. He’s got an old couch cushion, w/ a heating pad, and an outside chair cushion on top of that. We also rigged up a little shelter for him with an old foldable lawn chair. It must be the best digs in the neighborhood, because he was in it all day. (He won’t come in the house and we don’t have a garage.) Warm, dry, shelter from the snow, and free food, now that’s surviving in style! Spoiled bastard (relatively).


This is Thomas yesterday afternoon. He bailed when it got dark. He must have another spot more secure with a wind block.

The Befores

This is the living area before.

The dinette before.

As you can see, by taking all of it out we gained quite a bit of space. We, however, lost most of our storage space. You might think that's bad. But, with more storage space comes more stuff, and more weight. I've mentioned weight before. It's a big deal. We also did not need the extra sleeping space. The little doors that open up from the outside can now be used as cat doors. We will most likely get a cage or something that they can open up to. That way the cats can go outside somewhat safely if we have to stop somewhere for a while(ie: an rv park). That plan is still in the idea stage. The openings are too small for the dog much less humans. So, no worry there. It will also be pretty easy to seal them up if we want to later.

The suburban heads are in the shop. We should get them back next week, and get started putting Humpty Dumpty back together again. Just one more exciting part of the adventure!

I know I promised pictures of the pod renovation some time ago (Oct.?). I kept waiting because I wanted to make everything perfect. I decided that was a dumb idea. I'm always changing stuff around, so I decided to just take some pics and post them.

This is the new pseudo couch with most of what is left of our christmas stuff.

Dining/sitting area with foldable table. That's a little heater on the floor.

Here with the half fold.

If you look real close you might see the pvc pipe curtain rods. We haven't fixed that yet. You get the idea though, that we were going for light weight. This is also stuff we can take out later when a cabin or something gets built. The table folds up all the way, but I figured that was enough of the dining area. The chairs were on sale(closeout), plus another 50% off for a little damage. They came out cheaper, lighter, more comfy,and nicer than foldable chairs we had looked at. The cushions were an Overstock.com puchase. Set of four for less than the cost two. So we've extra in case of spills. We didn't do so great on the couch thingy(double papazan sp?). But, we couldn't find anything light weight enough in a reasonble price range. Color was also a challenge for us, and limited our choices. I'll bring in some pillows or something to pull it all together, eventually. But, for now, that's what we've got. If it didn't take forever to upload pictures from our crappy dial up, I'd post before and afters. The befores are somewhere on a previous post. Check 'em out.

Productive day?

Wanna know what I did today? Sure you do. We’re all voyeurs in our own little ways. That’s why we blog, and that’s why we read blogs. That being said…(not necessary, I know.)
My day started off productive. I once again started with the second bedroom full of crap. It is mainly full of stuff to be sold and packing materials. Ahh, the best laid plans and such. It’s much easier to buy on the internet than sell. So anyway, I found myself gleaning through the cluster of crap, throwing out what wasn’t even worth giving away. I don’t really know how it manage to stay in there the first few times I went through it. Then I find yet another batch of video tapes I have to go through. Oh joy of joys. I get to watch Randy’s brother in law’s attempts at catching nature spirits on video tape. Hey now, I have no problem with nature spirits, fairies and the like. What I have a problem with is watching his videos of a whole bunch of nothing. Ok, I could go on and on about that, but I’m not. I also got the joy of watching more than one video my mother left with us of her husband singing country songs, via karaoke. Everybody wants to be superstar in one way or the other. Ya’ll know as well as I do, most of the real superstars are the ones we don’t hear about. So, there's still stuff I’ve got to go through. Most of it really is junk. I’ll figure out what to do with the rest.

Don’t judge me too harshly.

We joined the sheeple Friday, for some adventures in shopping. Randy had never done it before, and I thought he should experience it at least once (heh, heh, heh). We got up at 4:30 am and made it to our first store around 5:20. It opened at 5:00. We left the house with a plan. There were about 3 things we were looking for. Shopko was our first stop. This store is usually dead. Not Friday! It was packed! The check out lines snaked around to almost the back of the store. The stuff we were looking for was gone and the other things we might get (socks, t-shirts…) weren’t worth waiting in the lines. We had an hour to kill before the next store opened, so we stopped to get some breakfast. The next store was Office Max. No door busters there. Everything they had was also available on-line at the same price. So, it was much calmer. Remember, we were really just doing this for fun. (Seriously sick people, we are.) Since we were done, we checked out Target. Again looking for t-shirts and socks. It was slim pickins by the time we got there, and again not worth standing in the lines. The main thing that I noticed was that the prices really weren’t that great. Even the clearance stuff was only 50% off. Target has better sales throughout the year. I remember times when these sales were much better, with huge discounts. It was pretty disappointing. I kept threatening Randy with heading over to the mall, but that was just asking to much. Anyway, a fun time was had by all. And because we got up so early, we got a few things done around the house when we got home.

We got the other head off Saturday. Randy is going to take them in tomorrow. We're not in that big a hurry. We just need to get it done before it gets too icy. Only one busted knuckle. And that was on the first day. It should be good and calloused by the time we put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
Meanwhile...
We cleaned up in the shop. I got sick of reading doom and gloom, and political crap, and added some gardening, cooking, and lighter blogs to my list of reading. I still read some of the ones I removed. I just make it harder on myself to get them. We''ll see what happens next...

Yippee!

One side off! It was a bitch. Next is the other side. I'm sure it will be just as much fun. Then, Randy goes back to work! He'll take the heads to be reconditioned next week. And then, we get to put it all back together! Oh wait, after that, we get to put the sway control and weight distribution crap on the trailer. If we're lucky it will be freezing f*cking cold with sleet and wind by then.
Sorry for my foul mood. I pretty tired.

As I had mentioned, Randy has been off the last few days. We actually started on getting the heads off the Suburban. This is not a job for the faint of heart. I had no idea what a serious pain in the ass this was going to be. I’ve taken my usual position as tool runner (I’m even getting better at it), medic, etc. This time however, I decided to bag and tag bolts and removed parts. I’ve also been writing down each step on a legal pad. I’m hoping this will make it faster and easier to put this jigsaw back together again. I’ve been taking a few pictures as well. And, of course, I’m going to share…

I don't know if you can see it in this picture, but there is this black carbon sludge in the oil galley. (I know it's there twice. I couldn't figure out how to get the small one off without starting over.)

And now for the money shot...

I'm also resident photographer, so no pics of me.

One Hell of a day!

It just keeps getting better and better. I didn’t mention why exactly I didn’t care for the nosey neighbors. I will now. This morning the meter reader was down the street on her way to our house. I put Ruby on a leash, opened the gate, and walked her out side the fence on the edge of the road. She likes to smell all the smells outside of her yard. Plus, we’d be out of the meter reader’s way. Seemed like a good idea at time. Before I could do anything, the neighbor’s two dogs (lab mix & ridgeback mix) were on top of us. Although I had seen them out earlier, I also heard the neighbor whistle to call them back. I didn‘t see them when we went out to wait for the meter reader. So, I thought it would be fine. Apparently, they had been following her while she made her rounds. Anyway, there I am in the damn street spinning around with Ruby on a leash and these two big fucking dogs growling and biting at her. During this fiasco, I’m forced to stick my hand in the middle and let Ruby off the leash so she could at least run away. I did, and she did exactly what I thought she would and ran back into her yard. These two pathetic dogs didn’t care about Ruby anymore. All they wanted was her out of the way so they could have the human’s attention all to themselves. So, as calmly as I could, I walked the two dogs back to their home and close the gate, which had been left wide open. One might ask why I didn’t knock on the door and speak to the neighbor about the dogs being out once again. There are two reasons for that. Number one, I didn’t want to go to jail for beating the shit out of the stupid, pill popping, pathological liar, bitch. The other? That’s how we ended up with Ruby in the first place. Ruby’s story is an interesting one. I should tell it sometime. This whole little street has many interesting stories. I fondly refer to this area as the “Hell mouth.” Yes, I got that from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but it seems fitting.
Note: Although, the ridgeback did get purchase on her back end, Ruby is fine. Maybe a little bruised on the behind and ego, but no broken skin.

If that wasn’t enough, it was really windy today. The tarp came loose on the house side. So, I say to hell with it. I’m not going to waste another one of Randy’s days off to jack with a stupid tarp. Randy is going to be off next week. We’ll just hope for decent weather. I guess plan C is to just get the damn thing (heads off)done, so we can be ready to get the hell out of the hell mouth!

Plan B

It's a crappy picture because the truck was in the way. We haven't moved it under the tarp yet. We've had a pretty good rain, and it went pretty well. No real wind yet. It's actually not a tarp. It's some leftover construction stuff that goes on the walls when they build houses. (from Randy's former life) He knows what it's really called, but he's at work right now. (I wish I had remembered we had it before we bought the big tarp.) It's got a bear leaning on a house. So, it's cute and obnoxious. I've gotten to where I enjoy annoying the neighbors. It's really not as obnoxious as the big blue one. And, you can't see the bears from the road, but the nosey next door neighbors can! Plus, it blocks their view. Now we can work without as much of an audience and with some protection from rain and snow. The hard part is going to be getting Randy out there to get the heads off. He just loves working on cars. I don't blame him. He'll be glad though, when it starts getting icy on the roads.

On to plan B… The day after we put the big tarp up we had a light rain test that barely passed. The wind test did not go well. The tarp was just too big to pull and secure tight enough. So, we took it back down. We’ll use it for something else. That was a lot of work just to get some pictures of our cats. We’ve had nothing but rain or wind since. Winter around here is pretty yucky. Never fear! We’ve got another plan! We better get something done quick, because the really bad weather is coming. I’m hoping to get to it the next couple of days. Randy will be off. I’ll get the pics up as soon as we get plan B done.

One last inspection by the "big dog" Ruby.

Good enough. Bring in the truck.

That's it? I liked it better on the ground.

Now, I know it's not much, but it works for now. That is, as long as it doesn't rain too hard. We had a little rain last night. It's definitely not going to hold snow. We may work on it a little more. The thing to remember is that it's just temporary. If we don't damage it too much, I'd like to be able to use it for shade over the escape pod when it gets warm again. Anyway, Randy's going to have to take some more time off so we can get the heads off and take them in to be worked on. I don't quite get it yet. I'm sure I will when he starts on it. I'm just the tool runner, light holder, and resident medic on these jobs.

If you remember, one of our goals was to do the heads on the Suburban. So, Randy took off a couple of days, giving him a four day weekend. Sure, that would have given us enough time to get that done. However, there was some prep work to be done beforehand. In our part of Washington winter time mainly gives us rain, wind, and a little snow. So, we needed some sheltered area to do some work. Not an easy task on a small budget. The inspectors showed up while we were trying to figure out our plan of action with this huge tarp.

They did a very thorough inspection. So much so, they had to send one in and look for the lost crew member.

Don't worry! I got her!

Geeze! These guys worry way too much! Looks good to me. Carry on.

We did it!

We voted! Ok, it's not that exciting. Wanna know who we voted for??? Too bad. I'm not telling. I'll sure be glad when this whole thing is over and done with. I've always been told that you don't discuss politics or religion in polite society. It makes sense to me. You're not going to convince someone to change their mind on either one, in most cases. I can see how it's fun for some folks. It can be an entertaining brain exercise. Anyway, it's over for us. We did our part and voted.
Now it's time to move on. What's next for us? I don't know. I'll figure something out. There's plenty to do around here. I suppose I should pick something of the list and get to it!

Well, I'll be!!!

Isn't that somethin'! It's working as good as new now. Thanks for the mojo Busted!