Hopefully April 30th the Dungeon will no longer be here and Dungeon II will make its appearance. Not likely I'll ever live in it, but it could happen I guess. It will basically just take the place of the Dungeon for storage.
This is not a picture of the actual tank, just similar. The one I'm supposed to get is 10' diameter and about 8 or 9 feet tall. I'd ask the guy that owns it a couple of months back about selling it to me and he said he would. Then I mentioned I wanted to cut a door in it and use it for storage so I could get rid of the dungeon. Well at the time that was a mistake because he took my idea and decided to do the same. This really turned out to be a good thing though because yesterday he stopped by to see if I still wanted to buy it. I told him not much chance of that now because I didn't have the spare $. He said that he and his wife had decided all of her stuff wouldn't fit in it so they plan to keep the container they are renting from the same guy I'm renting the dungeon from. However, he had already cut out for the door and welded in the frame for a steel door and I'll be getting a steel door with it. There are some real small holes in it, but he has already patched some of them and I'll patch what he didn't patch. He will also let me pay it out so when its paid off it will be mine rather than keeping on paying rent on the dungeon.
Some might consider it an eye sore sitting up here so I may camouflage it with several shades of paint to make it look like 9 Points. ;) Then again I've been wanting to build a pyramid so that would make it pretty easy to make one to cover it.That should make a hell of a catchment system!
More work done on the Fridge hut and now I'm thinking I may just keep the blueboard on it, get some lath and plaster over it like I did the Battery Hut. Not sure what I'll do as far as an outside door goes because with the wind conditions around here the wind when out of the right (or is that the wrong) direction could make opening it a real challenge. I'm thinking I may make it where it opens from the top and rig up some sort of prop rod system or where it will just lay back over the top. In either case I'll probably get conked on the head if the prop rod fails or the wind catches it on the top and blows it over. Either that or I'll raise up and conk myself on the head without thinking about it. Oh well.
On another note I talked to John Wells at the Grub Shack yesterday and he said the Grub Shack is going to be getting free WiFi for their customers. You can see his blog by looking to the right of this page and going to The Field Lab.
And still on another note, my neighbor Robert just stopped by and told me they just came back from Alpine and had to get the radar used on the way up there. He said they made them get out of the pickup and drove the van around it. He said it took about 5 or 6 minutes before they could go on. I bet this will be real interesting during the Chili Cook off! Now... before when Frann and I were coming back from Alpine there was no place big enough for that van to circle vehicles so I'd bet they were xraying as people drove through? If so perhaps raising hell on several blogs got someone's attention and they are now doing it right?
BTW I ran across the below video while looking for Charcoal as fertilizer. I'm sure the guys will enjoy it a lot better than the gals (Would probably take a guy to understand why I say that), but there is good info on there for all. Especially some of their other videos about solar cooking and so on.
I'd seen a program on TV years ago where some ancient Indians along the Amazon had used charcoal and pottery shards to make some of the most fertile soil in the world. They say it is still that way after centuries. I could see the charcoal helping, but couldn't figure out what part the pottery shards played. A while back Just Me told me to get a piece of ceramic to put in a tobacco bag to keep it just at the right moisture. It dawned on me then that the Indians evidently used the pottery shards to capture water and keep it from sinking out of reach of the plants they were growing. See link to video below.
TERRA PRETA
And this Just in:
More Texas BS
Oh Yeah.... And I waited around here all day for Paul the deputy to show up about the ID Theft case and he never made it.
Second time that's happened! At least I got a lot done.
Backscatter radar and now this.
Brought to my attention By Dave Secor
Something else that should be fun at the Chili Cook Off! Maybe they can sell rides in it?
Great news on the dungeon going away and getting the tank, maybe something being permanent will help with the free septic. Maybe build or attach the shower to it somehow, just a thought. The fridge hut looks good and should help on the ice buying. Rhonda wondered if taking the fridge out of the trailer and turning it on it's top for a couple of days might do anything for it??? Another thought anyway... Glad to see things coming around and getting done, take care, we're always watching.
ReplyDeleteDale, I don't smell any ammonia around the fridge in here or outside so possibly that would do the trick. Problems are I'm not man enough to do it myself because I hear they are pretty heavy. The little one was a hand full just for me to get it in the hut and it would be considerably smaller and lighter. Second problem is that the one in here has to have 12 volts to it for it to work because it has an electronic ignition and that and the controls for it evidently pull a fair amount of current. The 4 panels I have hooked up to keep the trailer battery were never enough to maintain the battery from the get go. Every so often I'd have to run the generator with battery charger hooked up to it to top off the battery. Once the battery got so low the fridge would stop working until I charged the battery. Of course now that I'm only using LED lighting in here that might not be the case anymore, but I don't know. The little fridge doesn't have to have any voltage at all because it doesn't have an ignition system so that's one less worry there.
ReplyDeleteAdded to the thread Dale, You might enjoy it. ;)
ReplyDeleteI know that fridge in the trailer worked well when it was hooked up to park power, we never had it running otherwise. Maybe next time out we'll try to turn it over and see. But I guess if it runs off of more power it probably would do.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the tank. It will be interesting to see how you will use it.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking that as far as the door fer yer fridge goes, what if you cover the whole thing with plywood like if yer closing it off then cut a door out that is only the size of the fridge door and use those hinges that spring back to the closed position that way if it tries to fly open it wont or it wont be easy. This way you know that it will always stay shut. Just an idea. A guy used those springing hinges on a chicken coop he built and it really does spring the door shut.
You have caught my attention on the Terra Preta. I have some crappy soil that sometime in the future I'd like to try this on. I looked at a coupla YouTube videos that were interesting on the subject. I'm gonna read some more on the subject. Thank you fer sharing that. I had never heard of it before. Take care. ~Jen
Is the tank delivered? Happy you will get outa the dungeon pmt.
ReplyDeleteJen, that's an idea I might consider. I was going to use a suitcase latch to keep the fridge door closed tight, but couldn't find one. Now I'm thinking about using some rare earth magnets I have which are very strong and they should do the trick. I may also use some of them to hold the outer door closed. The problem is with the high wind down here and some monster whirlwinds if someone happened to open the door when the wind was really blowing and if it got away from them then it would probably rip the door off the hinges.
ReplyDeleteI think the Terra Preta is the way to go and I plan to take some of the adobe dust down here and treat it that way just to see how much difference it would make. That and some other fertilizer that seems to be piling up around here. (After its burned)
Frann, the tanks should be here probably on Saturday. I'm going to have to get out and grub up more grass and creosote tomorrow to clear a place for it.
ReplyDeleteTffnguy
ReplyDeleteglad your doing ok. I wonder if tourist on there way the chili cook off will get thier "Chili Cooked" by the Border Patrols Micorwave Cooker Van?
(We need "Cheech and Chong" to do a comeback tour and some more movies like "Up In Smoke")
CC Just added to this thread about something new they have for us down here. OH Joy! They'll get you coming going and while at the cook off!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a pyramid - said to be a very energizing space.
ReplyDeleteYeah - we also had a problem with current surge at start up of the freezer - hopefully we've sorted that out. Can't wait to see the tank...
Maybe create a (smaller) pyramid around the fridge to create a wind break?
Cool! a Terrahawk. I got one I use for deer hunting. I really wish I had a Terrahawk when my ship was in Spain. I would have used it on the "topless beaches" in Mallica, De Palma.
ReplyDeleteWhat happens when the battery goes dead and the BP agent gets stuck up there? do they call in a helo rescue or does the Terrahawk come with a parachute or rope?
What happens when the wonderful winds come up in Big Bend region?
About the soil and charcoal; the idea is to add carbon to the soil. If you want to create some soil I would recommend getting vegetable waste from the grub shackand mix it with woodchips and turn it every day or so and in 3-4 months you have good compost. For better soil add worms to it for 4 months as it adds worm casings to the mix this makes primo growing medium.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a Border Patrol deal. This is Brewster county who is buying this. They cannot spend the time(money) to investigate David's identity theft case, but they can buy a vehicle to conduct surveillance on us all. We are truly moving to a fascist police state.
ReplyDeleteCC & Dave, the TerraHawk will be used by both the sheriff's department and the border patrol. A video interview can be seen at http://www.kwes.com/Global/story.asp?S=14345416&Call=Email&Format=Text
ReplyDeleteDani, the fridge hut is too close to the trailer to build a pyramid around it. :(
Scavenger, I have a burn barrel full of ash and also have a bunch of ash and charcoal from burning wood. I need something to do with all of it so just want to try it with adobe dirt to see how it does. If it will work with that stuff it will work with about anything.
Got an email from Bigfoot and he said the border patrol made them get out of the vehicle and drove the van around it. He also said they wanted them to open the trunk because something looked suspicious? It was a half a loaf or bread. He said he told them they could keep it for evidence. ;) He also said Littlefoot was taking pictures with her cell phone and they told her to stop on the grounds that it might mess up the Backscatter???? Yeah Right! Anyway I think he will update Littlefoot's blog with some illegal pictures she took anyway. :)
ReplyDeleteYay! No more dungeon payment! I got nothing good to say about all the monitoring developments. Phones will mess up the Backscatter? I'll be sure to put my phone on silent and pocket-call someone.
ReplyDeleteTERRA PRETA Bull crap..They could have bought a manlift for about 5 thousand and hauled it on a trailer. What a waste of my tax dollars...not as bad as the 3/4 of a million they Border Patrol spent to x-ray me going to get groceries.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a Plan to me Frann. Then the sheriff's department could have one and the border patrol could to and they wouldn't have to fight over who's going to use it when and for what.
ReplyDeleteNot even a small pyramid? :-)
ReplyDelete