future compound

FUTURE COMPOUND


A hearty high ho and thanks for all the fishes to I.H for the generous donation. And to R.B. for a nice score in cash with the same amount in forever stamps. That was nice since I always seem to be running short of those. Plus, it will be interesting to see if the stamps outlast the solvency of the Post Office ( it was a lot of stamps ). As always the natural inclination is to buy more books but I’ll try to hold off and give it some thought. More beans? More rice? Reloading supplies? Hmmm. So much falling apart, so little time.

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Okay, the way I see it is that I throw you a juicy meat clinging bone full of marrow one day, then starve you for a couple/few days after that with mediocre crap no one wants to hear about but my more pleasant/polite minions oooh and aah about just to make me look good. This might be one of those mediocre days. Herewith we discuss the future Bison Compound. I’m actively soliciting opinions rather than telling you my plans. You’ll see what I mean in a bit. Okay, the earth tube experiment is officially over and I declare a big moist raspberry. That thing sucked ( I’ve dismantled it. That lost my couple/three degrees cooler air but with all the vents open I get better air circulation, so it feels cooler ). Remember when I first moved to Elko and I was going to try the “second battery in the car, charging as you drive”? That was a bust. I got all excited about extra juice ( before I bought the proper equipment that sipped the electric plus got more solar panels ) and ended up disappointed. The theory was sound, tried and tested, but it didn’t work for me for whatever reason. On the battery, I’m sure it was because I didn’t travel a long enough distance. On the earth tube, I either needed to go deeper, go longer, have a bigger tube, or a combination thereof ( please, no penis jokes. Okay, but just one. That’s what she said! ). I’m completely over the earth tube idea. Done. No more. I don’t like my expectations continuously aroused and then end up disappointed ( which is why, as I tried to explain to most wives but they never listened, better to live alone and get no sex than to have sex potentially available but always denied- am I the only sane one here? And, yes, you do have to hear about my lack of a sex life. Far better than hearing about one if I had it ).

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So, since the stable temps of the earth can’t come to my trailer, I must go to the earth. Time to build underground. I don’t want an aboveground shelter, even super-insulated, because all our cloudy days are in winter, and it is normal to have a week of clouds with temps in the teens or twenties. The whole idea here is to survive with no propane, and wood heat is not an option. Right now it is too expensive and after the collapse even that which is available thirty miles+ away will be used up immediately. Brush will be used also, although I’m hoping I’ll have enough to cook with ( even with a good solar oven cooking a weeks worth of bread at a time, I’ll need some kind of cooking fuel. So, even though I’d love to double wall insulate the van, or build a cabin, I won’t be able to heat it enough. As far as passive heat and thermal mass, I need you to be realistic with the price. I’m talking about a $500 project, with a ceiling, for something really fancy, of a grand. For comparison, my earth wall lumber roof pit cost $200 ( 8x8, five foot deep- now a storage shed, if need be an emergency shelter ). The temps in the pit are 40 in the winter and seventy in the summer. If I go deeper than five foot and insulate the roof better the earth mass will give me a 50-60 temp year round. With just a short cooking fire I should stay toasty warm in there all winter.

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In this county, anything under 100 square foot doesn’t need a building permit. And if I do 8x8 I don’t need to cut much lumber. So, here are my thoughts. I could burry the van. If I dig my pit twenty feet long I can tow it on down. The living area is 7x10, the rest hood and drivers seat. This is the cheapest way, as I’ll just cover the roof with plastic and an inch of dirt to cover that plastic. Remember, my dirt walls here don’t need shoring up. I imagine with a few sheets of rigid foam insulation this will be as warm/cool as the current pit. Cost, under $100. Next up, digging the hole, 10x10, and building the 8x8 wooden cube inside, set up on concrete blocks. This keeps the moisture off me, as well as the bugs. Then, build a roof over the cube and overlapping the ground outside the pit. Plastic and two inches of dirt. About $500 if I insulate, $350 otherwise. If I double the pit, I have an “outside”underground area to cook, bathe, store some items. This way I keep moisture out of the cube and have twice the space. So, double the needed roof, about $800. Another idea, so I don’t go crazy from living in a dark hole, is the wood cube in the hole as a first floor, I’d sleep there in the stable temp, and an aboveground second floor for sunlight and double the living space ( perhaps made with those steel pieces that bolt pieces of lumber into a geodesic type dome- anyone know the brand name of those? ). At least a grand that way. What I’d like to do to save time and money is just hang wire from the lumber roof and plaster all the earth walls. IF that will keep out moisture/mold. And, if anyone knows how to cheaply make up plaster ( I can’t imagine buying five gallon buckets for it like you see at construction sites ).

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Now, while I hate the prospect of digging a 10x20 pit ten foot deep, that is easy as compared to say, filling used auto tires with dirt. Or making adobe bricks. I don’t mind spending a little money, and doing a little labor, but let’s not get crazy, either. Any critics, suggestions, etc.?

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My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
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