We Bought a New Mountain Car

Pam and I had three cars. My 2008 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner pickup, my 1956 Thunderbird, and Pam's 2003 Dodge Stratus. When we decided to cruise down the coast, we put the Toyota and Thunderbird in storage and gave Pam's car to her son Sean, who had joined the Air Force and needed wheels.

We decided to give my Thunderbird to my daughter Becky and son-in-law Rick. We're going to be busy building a shack in the woods for the next couple of years and won't have much time to use it. I had planned on willing it to Becky anyway, and so why wait until I croak?

I loved my Toyota truck, but it was two wheel drive. Where we're moving, we need four wheel drive. Since 4WD vehicles sell for a premium up north and aren't worth much here in Georgia, we decided to shop for a car here.

Now, let me set the stage. I used to sell cars, and I was very good at it. I know cars, and how to wrangle a deal.

I bought my Toyota in Stamford, Connecticut. No one drives trucks there except people who do lawn maintenance. It was a 2008, and I bought it in 2010. Book on it was $22k. I paid $16k, and they were glad to get it. I drove it for three years, and here in Georgia pickup trucks are considered country Cadillacs. To make a long story short, I negotiated a wholesale trade of $15,500 for the Toyota. That means it only cost me $500 to drive it three years.

I don't shop around for much of anything, especially cars. I did all my homework on the internet and narrowed my choices down to Kia and Toyota. I contacted two Toyota dealers and one Kia. The Toyota salespeople's responses were slow and pathetic. The Kia dealership responded immediately and wanted to sell me a car.

We bought a new 2013 Kia Sorento, six cylinder and all-wheel drive. The dealer's first offer was $20k and my trade. I beat them up and got them down to $10k. The key here is knowing what the dealer's markup is on the new vehicle, being aware of any rebates or incentives, and knowing the value of your trade-in. The dealer's job is to get you to pay as much as they can, and your job is to be educated enough not to let them.

Anyway, I know this isn't cruising or living aboard related, but it's my excuse for not updating the blog. Tomorrow I'll be reading the owner's manual, trying to figure out how all this fancy new fangled blue tooth Sirius USB stuff works. Oh, and the dogs love the car. It has three rows of seats, and the back two fold down flat so the dogs have lots of room.

So I think we're all set to drive up and down Bleecker Mountain next winter, if we spend the winter there.

And yes, the brand new car already has doggie nose art all over the windows.

Guns On The Farm and the NRA

My Mom's side of the family, the farm family, always owned guns. I got my first gun, a bolt action .22 (which I still have) when I was 16 and used it for hunting small game and target shooting.  That gun taught me a lot.  Since I was only 16, I had to take a hunter/gun safety course before I could get my first hunting license.  I learned about safety and responsibility when handling firearms.

We will have a few animals on our little place, and so we will attract wild animals.  Common in the Adirondacks are bears, foxes, coyotes, skunks, porcupines, and to a lesser extent, lynx, bobcats, and wolves.  Yes, wolves.  They're supposed to be extinct in the Adirondacks, but one was mistakenly shot as a wild dog a few years ago in nearby Edinburgh.  I'll need to supplement my .22 rifle and 12 gauge shotgun with something with a bit more punch, like a .223 Ruger Mini-14 or a 30-30.

I really never gave the ownership of guns much thought until recently, with mass murders seemingly in vogue, gun violence at record highs in inner cities, cries for gun control from some, and similar cries about gun confiscation, the 2nd amendment, and government tyranny from others.  Guns are headline news.

Being an inquisitive sort, and the kind of person who tries to understand all sides of an issue, I've done a bit of research over the past few years. One conclusion that I've come to is that, in my opinion, the NRA is a sham. It is no longer the worthy gun education group it once was. Nor does it lobby lawmakers on behalf of gun owners, but rather gun manufacturers. The NRA is all about corporate greed.

In advance of our move back to upstate New York to build our little farmstead, I recently looked into joining a rifle club. One requirement of membership is joining the NRA. I will not be joining the rife club.

This is a good video. Please get by the remarks about things like hollow point bullets (these folks obviously aren't hunters), and focus on the organization of the NRA and it's funding, and how it operates by instilling fear, uncertainty, and doubt in both its members and the general public.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7cWv0qmIhjk

Company Is Like Fish

Company is like fish.  After three days, it stinks.  Old saying.

We need to figure out where we're going to live until our little house is built in Bleecker.  We could stay with Pam's folks, but see old saying above.

We could rent an apartment, but with three large dogs, that would be difficult, even for Fulton County NY.

We could buy a travel trailer and live in that.  We'd have it to use for vacations once the house is done.

We could buy a used mobile home, deliver it up to the land, and live in that until the house was done, and then sell it.  But the cost to deliver and set up a mobile home can run in the thousands.  Still, it would be more comfortable than a travel trailer.

The way I used to plan the programming of large computer systems was to itemize every program, every menu, and every minute step needed for completion.   Carefully estimate the time to complete each.  Then double it.  What if it takes me two years or longer to build the house and get the certificate of occupancy?

Any other ideas?  Get the basement done quick and become "cellar dwellers"?

Dreaming of Bleecker

Thorp, one of our followers, asked if I'd get off the dime and write something about our plans for our Bleecker homestead.  Being here in Georgia, many hundreds of miles away from upstate New York, there's not much we can actually do but read about things we need to learn, like how to build a house, and dream.

Pam and I enjoy sitting on the aft deck of our boat (which is for sale!) to enjoy the sunset and a glass or two from a fine box of wine.  We often talk about our plans for our little homestead and what we envision for it.

First, we have to build the house.   We want it to look rustic, with natural rough cut wood siding, plank floors, pine paneling, and so on.  Our main source of heat will be wood.

Next to be built will be a barn.  Pam would like to have a couple of horses.  She's also been reading about raising bees and chickens.  There may be a few other critters as well, perhaps a goat or two, maybe a few sheep.  I think having a few llamas would be fun.

My daughter, Becky, goes to Gore Mountain with friends every year, and one of the stops she makes is someplace that has llamas.  I wonder how they see?

Winter in Bleecker NY

As I write this from my boat in Georgia, it's 62 degrees outside.

Here is the forecast for Albany, NY.

And here's the forecast for Brunswick, Georgia.

My friends up by Bleecker are all telling me it got well below zero last night, and right now at 4:37 PM it's only 4 degrees according to Gloversville NY's newspaper.

Here is tonight's forecast.

What are we getting ourselves into?  :)

How To Books

Ever since I discovered the public library in Waterford, New York where I grew up, I've been a fan of books.  Although I enjoy novels, I'm particularly fond of "How To" books.  When I was a kid, I read books about everything from bicycling to fly fishing.  The librarian, Mrs. Lavender, was a very nice lady and always had a big smile for me.   I loved that small library, and Mrs. Lavender.

I intend to do most of the building of our little place in Bleecker.  No, I've never built a house before, but not knowing how to do something has never stopped me in the past.  I didn't know how to build computers when I opened my own business 20 years ago, but I went on to become one of the largest computer dealers in the Albany area.   Maybe sometimes not knowing how to do something is good since you haven't learned any bad habits yet, and you're extra careful.  Besides, Bleecker's building inspector will make sure that I don't do anything too stupid.

These are some of the books we've ordered to learn what we need to know.

Back to Basics was a Christmas present from my daughter and son-in-law.  It's a great book, subtitled A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills.  It covers things like working land, generating energy, raising livestock, harvesting crops, and crafts.

MiniFARMING- Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre is for Pam.  She'd like to have a large garden, enough for ourselves and perhaps some to sell at the local farmers' market.  I told her that I'll do the building if she does the growing.

The Complete Guide to Food Preservation is also for her, with "step by step instructions on how to freeze, dry, can, and preserve food".

The Homesteading Handbook is a belt and suspenders book.  It covers topics in the others, but also includes keeping chickens and herbal medicine.

Finally, there's Habitat for Humanity's How To Build A House.  I looked at the Dummy's book, but I think this one has better illustrations.  Besides, I once belonged to Habitat for Humanity and I think it's a great organization.   It says it's "the perfect book for anyone who wants to build a simple, energy-efficient home without spending a lot of money."   That would be me!

Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time to start reading.

The Answer is Grid-Tie

I spoke to Curt Snyder from Crest Solar in Keesville this morning.  My head was starting to swim, evaluating off-grid, grid-tie, or just grid.  I needed to bounce ideas off of someone with hands on experience.

My discussions with National Grid weren't good, as I wrote earlier.  They won't run service until construction starts, they said, and then it could take as long as five months to get it.  That irked me, to say the least, and I got it in my head to go off-grid just to spite them.

Curt at Crest Solar was a huge help here.  Without going into all the details, at this latitude, going off-grid doesn't make financial sense unless you're running power lines for a mile or more.  A 7 KW solar array, installed and connected to the grid (no batteries), is about $26,000.  There is a $10,500 rebate from NYSERDA that comes off the top, making it $15,500, but it has to be grid-tie.  There's no rebates if it's off-grid.

So to be tied to the grid, I have to run a power line 500 feet from the pole in my driveway to the house.  While National Grid wants $15,000 to do that, I figured I could do it myself for a fraction of that.  I called Nick at wesbellwireandcable.com to get an idea of what I need for 150 amp service.  First, he said I'd need to talk to a licensed electrician to get a recommendation, but then said I'd most likely need TC-ER 1/3 underground tray cable which would cost about $6,000.   Yikes!  But still better than $15,000.

Of course, since we're not going to have an electric stove, hot water heater, or clothes dryer, we don't need 150 amp service. If we go as low as 60 amp service, the power line would cost a lot less.

National Grid has to buy the power my array would generate at full retail prices.  Curt said that the PV system should generate enough excess power during spring, summer, and fall to earn enough credits to pay for the usage through the winter.  Our only electric bill would be the delivery charge, which, by the way, seems to be all over the map.

So at this point, if we're connecting to the grid, we can wait until the house is finished and see how high our electric bills are before deciding to go solar.  We'll have a better idea of the payback period.