Painted the trim on the house.

        A couple of weeks ago I bought a quart of white paint to touch up my little camper. Well I gave the wood 2 coats and still had plenty left. In front of my house I have a ledge on each side with the old style concrete planters. Like Grandma had at her house.

    Mine had been painted in the past but were looking ruff. So I took them down and emptied the dirt and gave them 2 coats of paint. When I put them back on the ledge I saw how chipped and faded the trim was on the front of the house had become. So I got a gallon of bright white to do the trim.

   I took the water hose and put on one of the old brass nozzles so I could blast off all the flaking paint last weekend. This weekend  I jumped back  to it and painted the trim. When I finished I am pleased. If it last 20+ years like it did before I will be happy(and also long dead). The house was painted in 83 by the former Owner in oil on the cedar   but white latex trimmed. The oil based red still looks good and now the trim is fresh.   It looked like this all over when I started.

  finished 

   Me and the wife got froggy and cleaned up the Porch I filled my truck bed with crap that had accumulated. Still got a ways to go before its as we want but a good start. We still want to paint the steps and floor a grey but that's for later.

Time to sell

          My front yard looks like Red Neck heaven . I have  both my yellow vending trailer's ready to paint sitting by the road. Next to it is my white truck (For Sale) then my daughters Honda(for sale) . My wife has 4 tables set up for a yard sale . I sold my sons camper yesterday and got it out of the yard . I pulled my Big grill next door because people ask if its for sale , its the only thing out there that's NOT for sale . If I get a good offer on the half finished grill its gone if I get a decent offer on the old Yellowstone camper it can go to.

       Now I did get one thing done that I am proud of today.  I repaired the air conditioner on our camper , kind of .  Last August when we were on the gulf our air conditioner motor was making a loud knocking and roaring like the motor bearings were going out . we couldn't run it 5 minute's at a time. I had found on amazon 2 replacements but needed the motor # to know which one. Now that I weigh only 180 I can get on the roof . I took the cowling off the A/C got the # off the motor. Once I had the # I removed the huge Dirt daubber Nest that was on one blade of the A/C fan got the wife to turn it on . It was quiet as a mouse  run great after I got all the wasp nests dirt dauber nests  pine needles and gunk cleaned out of the unit.

      While I was on top I did a good inspection of the vents and seams . I  need to do some caulking soon.  This summer it will be okay but will need to be sealed up before winter.

    If I had carried the camper to a shop the bill on the A/C would have been 500$ they would never have told me it was a nest and gunk. They would have billed me 350$ for a roof caulk and seal up.   It could use a seal job but I can do it for 40$ materials and an hours time max.


Update Saturday 4/7 its 48 and misty out NO Yard sale today . No traffic at all on the road.

OK some PIc,s of what i have been working on.

      Went and finished the roof at my daughter place today. This picture was taken this morning when we got there.

   As you see I had only 6 sheets to get in place but they were hard to screw in once I run out of room for me to stand.

 I was having to stand on top of an 8 foot ladder and still will need a few more screws put in by a skinner person.
    as you can see this place is rough. The crackheads did  number on the walls chasing a couple of dollars in scrap copper wire. The inner walls have 10 places they ripped around plugs and 2 ceiling panels .

  Here is what the outside looks like all the exterior metal striped except for that little on the top far end. We got that loose this afternoon.

   The open stud area is what we spent a week on . The A hole's had looped a chain around a fireplace and the central air and heat unit and yanked it out through the walls. The roof was collapsed to 4 foot floor to ceiling on the left hand corner. We used a floor jack and sledge hammered the studs in from the right to left . One ooops and the place would have been a total loss. We put the studs on 24 inch centers and all were cut using a 1500 watt inverter powering the skill saw.

   This pic shows about a fourth of the front yard and the 20+ feet we cut off the left end of the mobile home. The place is still trashy even after 4 pickup loads of hauled garbage plus the tore down end of the trailer. I didn't show it but I have a burn pile that's 15 foot round and piled 6 foot high to burn one day.

   These are all I took today. You see the back porch, there is front deck on the ground under the trash that I will put back for the front door later. Tomorrow the place will be wrapped with felt ,tyvek is way to much . I have to have the electrical run before the outer walls go on so I am just drying the place in for now.

Click on pics for a good view.

Sweat equity and reuse saves money.

     We have all heard recycling saves money and is good for the environment . That isn't why I built this trailer the way I did . I AM CHEAP not in a bad way but if I can make something work at a lower cost I will.  This build evolved from material from other projects that I have done and saved .
   
     The frame is from a camper I got 8 years ago for storage.

  It wasn't this nice but for 250$ it served for cheap storage.
Then I re roofed my shed/garage and saved the old tin.

   Last year I disassembled the storage camper and sold the aluminum for around 160$ . This freed up the new camper its parking place and left me with a flat frame for a new vending trailer.

    The weather got hot at this point so it was last week before I got back to work and framed it.

    

 

 

 

 

 

At this point I have spent 270$ Monday I will order the roof metal it should be about 90$.

It will be dried in for 360$ cost less the 160$ in scrap money.200$

 

Its yardsale season Time to hunt.

     A quick post with the nice weather yard sales are popping up everywhere  . If your like me you have plenty of junk but some thing are to good to pass up. Today I stopped at one before I went to sell BBQ and picked up 2 nice kitchen aid mixing bowls a large and a small for a buck each. When I got to my BBQ spot there was a yard sale to the side of my spot (the man had asked last week if id mind) and so I tried to buy 2 ammo boxes but not for sale .He had his tools in them . I did find a military  not duffel but personal effects bag for 3 bucks . I have one that I store camping cloths and odds and ends. Be selective and yard sales can be bargains , remember Shop Quality or its just their junk is now your junk .

cordless tools are great till the batteries die !

      Every one has those cordless tools in the house or truck that are lifesavers . For years I have used Ryobi 18+1 tools drills circular saw , reciprocating saw and work light  oh yea sander .I have 6 batteries that are shot 1 works for less than half what it did when new. A new battery will cost 35$ the tools are old battery technology  I will replace with the new lithium ion ones some day. Right now I have tools that for all purposes are use less .

     As I have been helping my son at his place being without power for plug in tools and my cordless ones being useless it has been a problem .Today it was a high of 30 outside so I was bored ! Went on instructables and found several things on how to make a 18 volt cordless tool work off a 12 volt car battery. Now I know it has a cord but when nothing is available in the middle of the woods even a corded tool is great . I disassembled a dead battery gutted it to the leads and taped in 2 10 foot leads + and - crimped on alligator clamps to the other end . To test it I used a jump pack , popped the gutted wired 18 volt base in my circular saw snapped the clips on the jump pack worked great a little less powerful but very useable .Tested it in all the tools and was well pleased.
    Now this may not seem important but I had a 150$ worth of useless tools that now I can use anywhere I have my truck. It cost me 0$ and took less than 30 minutes to do. Using a jumppack makes it very portable on a job. I have a 800 watt inverter that I use/keep in my truck but that wont run a saw or drill .I would love to have a 2000/4000 watt inverter but hard to justify at this time that kind of money. Cost of 0$ vs 200$  is a no brainer .
 
    If you have cordless tools and no or dead batteries check out the   How to ,or Instructables sites !!!   http://www.instructables.com/answers/Is-it-possible-to-operate-18Volt-power-tools-from-/           or     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCcbnNtyfyU

His wants exceed his means.

      For the last 3 months my son has been living back here at my house .He got into some trouble with the friends he was staying with and had to run home to keep from getting his butt stomped. He told a female friend her husband was cheating and the girlfriend was pregnant. It was not my sons place to interfere he got a split lip and the windows knocked out of his camper for it. They threatened to do more so I stepped in, brought him home and let it be known it needed to be ended at that .
     My temperament is well known in the area so it cooled down to just dirty looks on the road if we passed .All this took place just before thanksgiving so I let him stay through the holidays. Over the last 3 months we moved the camper cleared a 1/4 acre fixed the windows, dug a septic hole ,fixed the stove, built a porch and metal roofed over his camper. Now most of this was low cost less than a 100$ the porch and roof was sheet metal I had given to me, the wood was from a friends shop of old packing crates.
    Now I didn't mind giving my time and parted with the scrap with only a little reluctance BUT then he asked for my 12 volt pump and 3. 15 watt solar panels my 12volt DVD player ,radio, lanterns and Mr. buddy heater.
      Ok I understand it would make life in the woods more comfortable . I DONT CARE !!!!! I worked saved and bought this stuff yes I have it stored and multiple's of most of it. He has always thought daddy survival stuff was a joke something he made fun of when I wasn't around .
      Now he is my only idiot son so I did help him. 1 15 watt panel my small DVD player a 9 volt transistor radio ,3 solar yard lights and 2 dollar tree lanterns .His water is gravity fed and for heat he can use the stove oven with bricks in it. He moved back up there yesterday will go check on him Thursday . Wednesday the low is going to be 24 will be a gut check for him .
      If he acted better I would do more. Till he matures this is more than he deserves , his wants exceed his means. I feel he has his needs met his wants are his own affair !!!

Are you a collector?

     Around here a lot of folks collect stuff muscle cars,old tractors are in barns and yards.Some i know have toy trains,guns, crystal,china depression wear glass.I have nothing against it but if it means little to your family at some point you have to get rid of it.
     Yesterday i listed part of what i plan on getting rid of.I have a friend that has over 60 rifles and shotguns.Now like any man I love Old guns but we were talking I asked him if you die will your wife know what to ask when selling your guns?Long story short he called me a lot of names told me even thinking about him dying and his guns being sold was wrong.I asked him if he was going to live forever or did i scare the hell out of him thinking about how little she would take?The later one.About a month latter he said he had asked his wife what she would do.Her reply was he needed to decide what he would will to the kids,what  5 or 6 he had to have was worth and what she needed to get on them and start selling the rest for top dollar!Now he was guilty on guns but she has a room full of depression glass in all colors that she has to sell.Both of them are about 65 and are SLOWLY selling off their collections for top dollar.We are talking a lot of crying here folks but they both know what their items are worth and will admit its better than the kids selling it for pennies.
       We all have hobbies and jobs and have good items we have hung on to isn't better that we get top dollar for the stuff.Think of all the time saved from cleaning and dusting it.Yes the cash is nice but not having to take care of it and store it is worth more. 


P.S. I had no idea depression glass in red was worth almost what a browning pump in good shape was.

He was down to rice but alive.

     Left to go find my son early this morning.Now i admit i don't use GPS i had directions from my son in law.Not to bad he just had one right that should have been a left i figuired it out.When i pulled into the clearing where the old travel trailer was my son stepped out with a pot in his hands shocked to see me.He ate a few bites of rice and said it was all he had left to cook for the last 3 days.We walked around HIS place down to the creek and around the overgrown property.He was kinda proud that it was his but it needs a lot of clearing and leveling.As we talked he told me of an incident last week a man came and told him he was on the wrong lot.My son didn't know where the property lines really where.A BIG mistake in my book.I gave him some in put on a few things to help him out (his cat hole was to close to his trailer) and make life easier with so little.We loaded up for a run to town for groceries and a few other items i knew he needed.
      One thing my son wanted was more buckets.He said those things come in handy.We also picked up screw lid large canisters for sugar flour and other food he says never underestimate piss ants they get into everything.I took him to pizza huts lunch buffet so he could eat his fill and we could talk.Solitude seems to have mellowed him a bit,he acts like he may straighten up time will tell. Regardless its time for me to help and give him the tools to make a go of it.
     Before we went back to his place we went to the county courthouse and got a Plat map that showed his lot the property lines and road and creek.Once back i paced off and found he was right and well on his own property.We selected where his camper will go and what we will need to do to make this place livable.I think 2 days with a chain saw and my tractor will do 80% of t and he can do the rest.He has the time i have the tools.If he stays on track I will dad up and help get him set.

My son is in homestead prison.

     Sorry for the gaps in posting been putting out fires with our kids.I have to go find my youngest in the morning no one has heard from him in 10 days.He is living in the woods in a junk trailer on property he got for taxes.No power water or gas and cell phones don't work unless he walks a mile down the road.I have never been there since he got it 3 months ago.
    Now don't go thinking my son is homesteader he isn't.He can break a steel ball with a rubber hammer.The property is a flood plan for a creek and is labeled no build,no utilities permitted.He got this 3/4 acre for 180$ in back taxes and former owner said he will not reclaim.I will probable wind up with it.But i need to go up add money to his phone make sure he is alive take him to the store for supplies.Will set him up with solar charger for a light and radio.His ass will stay in the woods.Stranded there he hasn't been in any trouble its where he needs to be.If he would try it could be the best thing that has ever happened to him.To him its like jail but if he leave and comes back to town he will wind up in a real jail.

They are gone !!!!!!

       Our granddaughter and her husband went and bought a station wagon .As soon as they had wheels they were off and running.Me and the wife are tickled they are gone.We had her 2 weeks and all they wanted was to burn the road and when the borrowed car broke she drove us crazy.Now they are living in the wagon maybe not as bad as a car but not a van by any means.To make it worst the station wagon is a SAAB it looks good and seems to be running OK but the first repair will be as much as they gave for the car 1000$.It makes no since to have such an expensive car to repair when your broke.
      My youngest daughter is getting ready to move out by the end of the month.I am building a fence for her to take the dogs with her.Today i got the posts so Sunday i will put it up and her last excuse will be history.I wish her and her fiance the best of luck,happiness (poor guy).MAYBE me and the wife will have an empty nest for a while.I know it sounds petty but i want to be able to fix coffee in my underwear walk from the shower to the bedroom naked,play slap and tickle with the wife and not have to do a location check to see how long we have.The wife says don't get my hopes up some one will take her place we are not meant to ever have the house to ourselves.I hope she is wrong but with 7 kids and 5 grand kids odds are against us.

Freaky weather and under the weather.

    The last 2 weeks mother nature has had some fun here.We have had lows down to 8 and highs the next day of 60.We had a snow storm of talcum powder that packed into ice in an hour.On top of this i got a cold (damn kids )and am on round 2 with it now.
      The second cold nite killed my jeep and truck battery less than 2 month ago i had my little trucks battery died.I had been using my daughters battery from her spare car my luck held she decided to take her spare to work and finds out i had stole her battery.Yep it was 24 outside and she wants me to"PUT IT BACK".I knew i should charge her rent.I have 3 vehicle with dead batteries a cold and the high was going to 39.
      I make it for a few days by putting my camping battery in the floor of my jeep running jumper cables out the window under the hood to the bad battery.I looked like a real redneck but it worked.I had a good weekend selling BBQ after the snow but 300 dollars for car batteries just wasn't going to be possible.A buddy of mine said try PULL A PART so Monday it was in the 50s i felt better so i went down found 3 for 20$ each they we less than a year old got a set of spark plug wires for the truck and a rotor also.Got home put the batteries in changed the plug wires out and spent less than 75$.The brake rotor will be put on when i have a tire fixed next week the old one has been warped for 3 years no rush.
      Now this week we have had a lite icing and up to 3 inches of snow possible tomorrow.If something breaks I wont be surprised it the weather,the season ,and my luck!!

Propane tanks do have a expiration date.

    Last summer i was out making a round of yard sales in my area.They are a good place to pick up great deals on some items.On one trip came across 3 20 lb. propane tanks for 20 dollars.Of the 3 two were old and didn't even have the new safety valves on them but one was newer and almost full so i jumped on them.I have been using the one that was full on my vending trailer but it ran out just before Christmas.
    I took all 3 down to the local ACE Hardware to be refilled this week.I have dealt with this store for years they are good people.They put 17 to 20 lbs in a tank for 12.00$.The last time t carried my other tanks they showed me how 20 lb tanks are stamped on the collier with different weights of fill.I always assumed a 20lb tank held 20 lbs .

   This trip they refused to fill the tanks.The 2 old ones were made in 1997 and one i had used was made in 2000.The man showed me the date stamp and informed me they wouldn't refill any over 8 years old and by law any over 12 had to be re-certified as safe.I do go in there a good bit so he told me to take them to Wal-Mart and swap them out.If i could he said grab the newest of the 17lb plus ones. I swapped the 2 oldest ones for 2 made in 2011 that held 15 lbs but are stamped as 17.8lbs safe for 36$.The other tank i will take later with one i found i already had that was dated 8/07 its being used first.
       I now have 6 tanks my goal is for them to be all refillable with 17+ lbs and under 4 years old so i can refill them before swapping them out.Around here a refill is 12.00$ for what a tank is rated a swap is 16.00$ for 15 lbs.
     P.S. Propane never goes bad but the tanks do have a refill date for some its not an issue but for me it is because some months i can run through 3 or more tanks.


   

a new tank has a date and fill weight stamped on collar

survivalism trash talk

     Last post was to make you think about what risks trash could put you and your prep's in.The disposal of packaging is as important as disposal of human waste. Everyone situation is different but you do need to have a plan so that no one knows where it came from.
   Cans need to be crushed or cut and flattened.
   Cartons and bags need to be broke down
    Bottles need to be reused or shattered and bagged
   A spot needs to be set aside for burying what cant be reused

  At present i burn most of our trash.After SHTF i will sort and bury it.Last week i came in from burning the trash my wife asked me what i was cooking? She said it smelled good,I asked what did she think it smelled like she said fry ed chicken.I then informed her it was 2 bags of garbage.It was grease she had put in one bag from chicken wings.The smell of burning trash can carry a long way just like a wood fire.
   This is just one of those things we take for granted trash is bagged and then disappears.You better have a plan,for sanitation and secrecy.

Survivalism Trash Talk Part 1

     Yesterday i was in the back burning the trash.We use a 55 gallon burn drum to dispose of the garbage here at home.Rural pickup runs almost 20$ a month around here i go 2 the dump every 6 to 8 weeks and empty the burn barrels for 8$.Every time i go to burn i fish out the cans that was in the trash from before.In regular times we have a lot of cans.To cut down on the bulk i crush them and throw them in a bag till its time for the dump.Burnt tin cans are easier to crush than just emptied.As i was doing this chore i looked around and wondered if the SHTF how many more cans there would be!

     Now most peppers have a large number of can goods in there food storage.I have read a lot of blogs on food storage but i have never seen any one write about the trash.Have you thought about it?Look at your food storage how many cans will you have to open per day to feed your family?Do you have any idea what your going to do with the cans,have you ever tried to crush a # 10 can ?I have its not easy.Would it be safe where you live to burn your garbage in a SHTF situation?Do you have room to store your waste boxes cans,bottles and other packaging.Will putting bags on the street and risk someone knowing you have food or store them in the corner of your property and risk your families lives?

   

Will i brave my first black friday in 15 years?

      This time of year the sale papers begin to fill the mail box.Normally i trash them before the wife gets to them so i don't have to hear,honey look at this every 5 minutes(you guys have been their too).During the holidays i do bring the ad papers in(out of fear) and suffer Thu having to see what caught her interest.This year i am taking her back to Disney world for a week of camping and 4 days in the parks(last trip was cut short because i had a septic spider bite and had to go to the hospital).
     Today we got the Bass Pro Shop ad ! Now i really don't ever sit down and look at ads but today I did.Black Friday they have 500 round bricks of 22 ammo for 25$ and ammo boxes(50 cal.) for 10$. I have been wanting both these items for a while and haven't found many and the price has been WAY to high.The ad is from 5 am till 11 am on black Friday. I think i may brave it.The last time i went to a store on black Friday i saw what the ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE will look like.It was the only time i have wondered if it was survivable.
      A lot of preppers write/talk about how they can survive in a collapse. The closest thing i have seen to an economic panic collapse is the Black Friday sales.As a man i cringe at the thought of  being out on Black Friday.So if i do i choose to think of it as a study of TEOTWAWKI.

30 years of clutter.

     Wednesday i started trying to clean out the garage.There was 4 truck loads of scrap metal that went to the dump.The scrap paid over 240$ total and was welcome. Dragged a bunch of stuff out side so i could start the clean-up made a big mess

    I did found  set of Michelin tires for my Chevy truck 15,s are hard to find used  pull offs for it.Have a man coming for that riding lawnmower am trading for 2 push mowers and will buy the rider back if he can fix it for less than 250$.Did manage to clear the small side for my brew room.

finished the roof

    Got the roof finished on the lean to and garage Wednesday. Got it done just in time for a lite rain on Thursday.Had no leaks that i could find.All that's left is to cool seal it.I will post a picture of it this weekend. I have to run will update on here later.


PS  still at 2 cigarette's a day not bad  in  my book.

Been a great weekend.

     This week has been kinda full.I have almost finished getting the garage roof on.Did my BBQ and had good sales i am going to have to increase what i cook am back to running out before 3. I love football season everyone around here watch Alabama or Auburn and i get a lot of orders on game day.Friday seems to be Ladies day they grab whole butts  or 5 to 10 sandwiches so they don't have to cook.Hope it stays like this till Christmas.
    Maybe next week blogger will let me upload a few pics.Got a few of the garage and the BBQ smoker and stand. I would be farther along but going up and down a ladder did my knees in had to take a couple of days off the roof .Did get a few other odd and end piddly stuff done.
     Today was the grandsons birthday he is 2 and we got him a 6 volt rideing car to ride around the yard.Picked the toy car up at a yard sale for 30 bucks and it looked like new.Kids don't know if its new or not.It beat a new one at 129$ .

Here is a pic of a scrap built BBQ stand i built.

   This is built on an old pop up trailer frame.It was my son,s BBQ stand till he developed HEAD UP RECTUM  sickness.

    After i put the new metal on the garage and get it cleaned out I should be able to sheath and roof a 12x12 storage shed with what i pull off.It beats scraping it.

  

Here is those 21 footer,s i have to cut down for the garage and lean to.