The Day Wal-Mart Stood Still!

August 27, 2010, The Day Wal-Mart Stood Still!

It was shortly after 8:30 Pm and I had just picked up the last item on my shopping list and was looking to see which of the checkout lanes were the shortest. This was the day that I got to see what could, would or will happen to Wal-Mart and the rest of us the day we have a major malfunction of our computer systems.

As I walked from one end of the checkout area to the other I quickly noticed all the lights being turned off at each register. One after another each cashier was turning off their light to signal they were having a problem. Within two minutes the whole checkout area came to stand still.

People of all walks of life were standing there wondering why none of us were moving. Kids asking their parents how much longer until they'll be able to watch that new DVD they were so excited to buy.

Well, those children had to wait close to 40 extra minutes before all the computers would come back online. Most people in the lines were laughing it off, but I got to thinking of just how reliant we have all become on computers and technology. A store like Wal-mart doesn't even have the old style credit card swiping machining to check customers out if this was to turn into a major problem.

For me, nothing was lost that night, but I did gain the reminder that people like me who have switched to using a Debit Card for 95% of our purchases would be stuck if computers systems crash!

Is It Hot In Here Or What?

OK, so it's been close to three weeks now since I arrived in VA. I don't know if this summer has been a normal summer so far, but either way the heat and humidity has been out of this world. To add to it, the price of just about everything around this area is way over priced. I know I drink too much Coke (tm), but charging me close to $8 for a 24 pack is not the reason I wanted to have to cut down drink it. Food in general is priced out of this world, mostly meats, so I guess I am going to lose weight and cut back on my Coke (tm) consumption!

Over-all, I know that this is not the type of place that I will be settling down in. I haven't achieved much progress in the three weeks I have been here besides knowing that I am not staying and that I am even thinking about heading back down to Florida to re-group my thoughts.

When I set out to come up to VA I was still planning on going out to Colorado, but over these last couple of weeks I have come across some other people's opinions and information that has me second guessing that move, or at least for now.

I know it is not even the end of the July yet, but I am still trying to make the spring semester at college, in whatever state I end up in. So I think the wise move right now is to pick one of the areas in Florida that was still on my "short list" and head back down south. At least the areas will be some place new, but still close to areas that I know and can fall back on for help.

That's all for now!

"That Darn Cat"

Well, I arrived in Manassas, VA late Saturday night, (1:30 am) almost 15 hours to the minute from door-to-door. The drive went well, and considering it was a holiday weekend I am very happy with how well traffic was flowing. I can't even say that I saw an accident or anything. There were a lot of Police on the roads, so that was nice to know.

My move out of Florida did take a little longer then I hoped. I was trying to leave on Friday, July 2nd, but when Thursday night came around I realized I had more stuff in my ex-wife's place then I thought. So it still took me most of Friday to clear out all my stuff and to pack / load my truck, but all in all that too went smooth enough, or as smooth as something like that could.

The trip to VA is part business, part social, and a lot of life changing. This is the next step in my Off The Grid Journey, but this is a bitter sweet move. Like any journey, one must close a door and leave some things behind before finding what is around the next corner. Leaving Florida was more then just moving away from the Sunshine State, it was the end of the final chapter in my marriage. It was leaving one of the few homes I have lived in for more then 2 years straight since 1979 and it was saying Good-Bye to some friends who may not be on this earth that much longer.

I do have to admit, times like these interest me, they make me sit up and look at what I have or who I care about. I have spent most of my childhood and all of my adult life moving from place to place, year after year, but since it's been seven years since I last moved, I have forgotten what one learns from leaving one place and moving to a new location. A lot of the people and belongings I left in Florida were not as hard to say Good-Bye to as I thought they would be, but there was one thing, "that darn cat" that some how found her way into my heart has given me the biggest heartache since I started packing. It is very interesting how one free cat, and for the record, I did not want, some how became my best friend through all the ups and downs that life has dished out lately.

So as exciting as the future might be right now, I am having a hard time feeling that excitement on this holiday weekend. A word to the wise, "There's no such thing as a FREE cat!"

Happy 4th of July!

Another Step In My Journey!

It's June 24th, and that means the 4th of July holiday is quickly approaching, but it also means that I am about one week away from taking another step in My Off The Grid Journey! By Friday, July 2nd, I will be on the road to stay with some great friends in Manassas, VA. I have all my belongings locked away in storage down here in FL and will set out for yet another season of doing hail repair.

This time around I am going about the season a little differently. Since I have so much going on in the way of life changing decisions, I am going to start out staying with friends, while doing a little left-over hail work in area. I will get to use this time to visit with people I have hardly seen in the last twenty years, before they too set out on another step in their journey to serve this great country of ours.

In my free time I hope to get to explore the eastern side of VA and maybe squeeze in a hike or two on part of the AP Trail, but the biggest use of my free time will be going toward finishing my re-defining of my goals and wish list for going off the grid. I have received a lot of good ideas and information from the people on the forum at Homesteading Today.com so now I want to apply that information toward my goals and wishes and try to come up with a defined short list of towns to explore when I do leave Manassas, VA.

Some things I am working on at this point in time are; researching more information on employment or business opportunities working with Aeroponics, researching different colleges to try to lessen the learning curve for Homesteading or Alternative energy and to help future employment. I am also trying to define the locations I am interested in, while trying to find a new career that would be better suited for this lifestyle. It's a lot going on, and more then I would wish to take on at any one time, but I feel that a career change and relocating are both times of new opportunities and are best planned together.

What Are You Going To Do There?

What are you going to do there? This seems to be a general question I get from people. Some I think mean to ask about income or a job, other's might look at my choice as being out in "no man's land" or "B.F.E." So this Post is more or less to clarify what it is or why it is I choose the place(s) I do or more of what I see my daily life being like in these places.

First thing I know for sure at this point in time, I do not see myself "working the land" so to say. I do see myself working in a Greenhouse environment around table-top / waist high work stations with my Aeroponic systems or even some Earthbox containers for growing the items that do better in soil.

Before I see myself even getting to into the Greenhouse, I see me building a small shed-like building to store all my tools and belongings as soon as I take ownership of the land. This will free up the money I spend each month on storage units and will allow me to have my tools where they do me more good, that's close to me!

The next item of priority, since I will still be renting a room / apartment, will be to start the main part of my shelter. This building will consist of the kitchen area, a pantry, at least a 3/4 bath and the main dinning / living area, with plans for an expansion of a master-bedroom off the side at a later time. In the early part of the developing of the land, this will be more of a hurter's cabin. As long as I will still be renting an apartment, I will only be at the property to work over the weekends, evenings, either way I will be able to "rough it" with a solar showers, and other camping style amenities.

Other buildings and Items of priority for the property are:

-Enlarge Solar / power system.

-Greenhouse

-Workshop

-Office (might become part of the workshop)

How You Going To Pay For All This?

How you going to pay for all this? This has to be about the most common question I get asked right after I get done explaining my plan to go off the grid. I get this feeling from most people that when they hear the plan, they think of it as all one big piece. Like $10,k for this, $37,k for that, another $8,700 for this thingamabob, they add it up in their heads and then ask where are you going to get two trillion dollars to pay for all this?

Like anything that is worth doing, you have to take it one step at a time, start small and pay as you go. If you sit and wait for the day that you will have all the money, items, and skills that you need before starting, you might be sitting there for the rest of your life. As time goes by, and you get new information, you may change the plans. Do you start all over and wait to have all those items that are needed for the new plan?

Plans change, different opportunities come along, so you may find that what you started out to do is better used for something else. Or, you may not enjoy it as much as you did before. I am keeping this in mind when looking for my first piece of land. I may get it all wrong, or I may end up with a property that is better used for one of my other plans or for someone else and sell it off, taking that profit (hopefully) and applying it to a piece of land that is better suited for what I need. It maybe an extra step or two, but at least it was a starting point for me instead sitting and waiting for the right time.

Employment, Since I do not have any land yet and I am looking to change careers, currently I am looking for a new basic job to use as a transition to my new location. From that basic job I will be able to see if I want to stay in the area or find a new place. I will also be able to start networking with local people and companies to see if there is a market for my Furniture /woodworkings or selling my Mother's Canned recipes.

To answer that main question, How am I going to pay for all this? The Comedian inside me wants to answer by saying "With money, of course!" But Since I ask myself the same thing, I can say that I plan on working and saving until I have enough to start with a piece of land that will get me out of renting. Then as soon as I can afford enough to build even a small space to set up my woodworking tools, then I will be able to bring in extra money and plan to add each part of the plan as the money comes in.

Like the early Pioneers and Settlers, things are going to be rough for some time. They always are in the beginning of any new adventure, but as more work comes in things will grow and get easier. This is why I knew I was setting out on a "Journey" and not just building a Cabin in the woods. To me, going "Off The Grid" means more then just not having utilities, it is a change in the way I am living my life.

Property Details

The property size and general information of the land is something that I am still researching on how much the entry-level acreage is for different parts of the country. I think most people would want "as big as I can get" but being realistic, and trying to do this on a shoe-string budget, all I can say at this point in time is one acre is a minimal size, but shooting for something in the five acre size. I know some of the areas I am researching have minimum lot sizes, and some counties put restrictions on wells or septic systems for lots under "X" amount of acres.

The guidelines on price that I am starting with are made up of a self-assessment of "land prices" across the US. I see plenty of tracks of land for sale in all different parts of the county for around the $1000 per acre price. Some tracks of land go up into the $5,000 per acre. Right now I am trying to weigh the Pro's and Con's for pricing, so I can't add much more at this time. I will add a post down the road once I do figure out how to compare each lot.

Other defining needs are as followed:

- I am looking for land that is not too heavily zoned

- Zoned for multiple uses or Agricultural with a home business

- Has to be Zoned for Agricultural, allowing crops and animals

- Lower taxes.

- Works well with Solar, south-facing if hillside.

- Soil is not a big deal if I am going to use Aeroponics to grow my crops.

- Needs to have enough "Build-able" areas since I am not looking at building one large building / home.

Location, Location, Location!

Since the three most important things in real estate are Location, Location, Location! I guess I should start with this. For me, location has two main defining parts. Physical location and Climate. I will start with Climate since it is the easiest for me to define.

Climate, after living here in Central Florida since 2003 and in the Midwest most of my life, I am really wishing to be some place a lot less humid. Since I do not have an office job, it is getting old dealing with the humidity. So I am looking for a place with enough annual precipitation so there are trees that are green most of the year and that there is water falling on my roof enough times of year to collect rain-water if I choose or if the law's allow me to rain-harvest.

I know I am not looking for some place that gets cloudy and stays cloudy for days on end. I like a good rain storm as much, if not more then the next person. I have made my living for the last 14 years off of repairing hail damage on vehicles, so a good storm to me is like handing a new iPad to a Geek. However, I do not want the weather to get all gloomy and not rain. Plus, I need the sunshine for solar production!

With the less humid air means average daily temperatures do not matter as much to me. 75 to 90 degrees through the summer months is ideal, with the abnormal 100 degree days a couple of times in July and August is not going to be a problem. The winter months can be cold, but I would prefer the daily highs to not be below 10 to 15 degrees on a daily bases.

Snow fall will be welcomed since my theory on snow is, if it's going to snow, it better be enough to play in it! I enjoy a fresh white blanket of snow covering the ground and trees. Even better if it happens in time for a white Christmas. I can't believe I am talking about snow and Christmas in June while it's 85 degrees outside right now.

I am also looking for a change in the general scenery or topography. Again,living in Florida you do not get to see much change in the land or elevation. There's an area on I-75 towards the northen part of the state that reaches an elevation of around 500 feet if I remember correct. It's my favorite part of my drive north through the state. So I am looking at giving the bigger mountains a try. Since I enjoy Snowboarding, Skiing, Rock Climbing and I'm looking at exploring climbing some of the Colorado 14'ers in the near future, I think living in that type of environment will be a welcome change from the flat beaches of Florida.

A little about the local population and general proximity to the nearest town and stores. Since I will be building everything from the ground up, I will need to have some stores like a good lumberyard, hardware, or a Farm & Feed store within driving distance that doesn't take the whole day to go shopping. Also, having something like a Sam's Club or a Walmart handy will save on gas cost for buying the basic daily items. Since items from Sam's or Walmart would be purchased in bulk, their location does not need to be in the closes town, just close enough so it doesn't require an over-night stay to go shopping.

The size of the closest town for gas, and basic items I hope is not much bigger then around 25,000 +/- a few hundred people. Again, after living here in FL through the winter-time when all the tourist come down, I am not looking forward to any place with a lot of traffic. I'm looking for a place that has more Squirrels or Cattle then people!

Dreams Is Spelled With Three R's!

When it comes to "dreams", there are three important R's in the word, Rethink, Redefine, and Relocate! Even though I have already started this journey I am finding myself needing to rethink or redefine my dreams or goals.

My opening statement was enough to launch my journey to search for more information, but now, as I make progress I need to sit down to Rethink and Redefine so I can Relocate! I am going to dedicate the next few posts to breaking down my plans, and then define as many steps or goals as I can within each step.

Two of the three R's are pretty much standard for anything you want to change in your life, but you might be saying to yourself "But I'm not relocating or moving anywhere?" Relocating doesn't have to mean you are packing up your belongings and physically moving from your home. To some, you can look at it as a metaphor for just getting up and doing somethings.

I believe it was Newton's First Law of Motion that said " An object at rest will stay at rest unless an unbalanced force acts upon it." So in other words, if you don't get up and do something, you will still be in the same place doing nothing tomorrow! So go relocate yourself in front of all the things you need to get done, but don't forget to check back on my blog! :)

The Overview of what I am trying to achieve is;

1. Location

-Climate, Hot / Cold, Humid / Dry?

- Snow, Rain, four seasons?

2. Property

- Big, Small, City, Rural?

- Use, Personal, Farm, other?

3. Employment

- Current, Business or Job?

- Future, Business or Job?

I will add to this list as I work through the planning process, but this will be a good start. So let's get started with Rethinking, Redefining, and Relocating!

Forum, Solar, and Property

I have found a new Forum (new to me) for Homesteading and it's been a major help for all the things I want to try and need learn to help get me Off The Grid. Homesteadingtoday.com is a forum with pretty much any kind of information you could need or want, from growing your own food to using alternative energy. It's clearly laid out so you can focus your time in one area. Some topics get broken down into even more direct topics, like "Raising Animals" gets broken down into Goats, Poultry, etc, so you don't have to read a 1oo post about Chickens if you are only interested in raising Goats.

Right now I have been spending my time looking for some ideas on where the best, over-all place would be for me to get started. With all the great information I have found on Homesteading Today I have learned that I need to learn a lot more and that a person's first place is more then likely not their last, but we all need to start some where.

In the last couple of weeks I have narrowed my search for my first place. I have learned a lot about what's important to me in my journey to get off the grid. Some things have changed a little, but I haven't lost total sight of my main goal. Since this is going to require taking smaller steps, I feel I will have to give a little on some of the luxuries for now and focus on the things I can not change or do without.

My shortened list of areas has been reduced to the Southern Region of Colorado or it's High Rockies region. The Southern region has to be one of the better zoned regions for solar use, and it has some cheaper location for land prices. Like I say, I can have two out of three, and in this case it's the lack of water / precipitation.

Southern Colorado is a "Zone 2" according to the Solar Insolation Map which means, unless I want to live in the Death Valley area, "Zone 1" it doesn't get much better. Florida is a Zone 4, so I would have to use / buy more PV panels, to make up for the less production according to U.S. Solar Radiation Resource Maps if I stayed living here.

The High Rockies loses a little solar gain, so it's a Zone 3, but has better employment options. Although better employment means higher cost of living. So it all comes back down to the best "two out of three" of my needs. Since I will need to rent some place to sleep while looking for work, etc, I think the High Rockies will win out for now and it will give me time to look around the general area for land.

WWOOF, WWOOF!

Came across a website for World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, or WWOOF, it seems to be a great resource for information on work exchange programs for people looking to learn more about Organic Farming.

For a small membership fee (WWOOFUSA.org) you get access to list of farms "Hosting" internships or work-exchange programs. Either way most programs offer "Hands-on" Education and Room & Board in exchange for your time and labor.

I have just started previewing their list of farms, but already have found a wide range of farms looking for help. Some "farms" are people just starting out and others are large, multi-generation, family owned businesses.

The website claims to have over 1200 farms listed in their directory and from what I have seen so far, there doesn't seem to be a shortage of farms in most states. Like most of the people on WWOOFUSA.org, and WWOOF.org, I too believe in hands-on learning and in this case you really do get to roll up your selves and get your hands dirty!

The Host Farms ask for help for lengths of time from a couple of days to many months. Most seem to ask for at least one week to a couple of months. It seems pretty common for the host farms to ask for a trial period of one week and then extend the stay after a review.

The amount of hours you are asked to work seems to very as much as the type of farms that are available. The "average" I see is around 30 - 40 hours per week in exchange for food and a room. Some farms offer hours as little as 20 hours per week, while others ask for as much as 100 hours per week during harvest time, then reward you with only 20 hours per week afterwards.

All "Room & Boards" are not created equal!!! So far I have seen a range from "bring your own tent and use our outhouse & solar shower" to a private room and bath in a house. The same seems to go for food / diet needs. Some "Host" farms offer full meals, 3 times a day, with meat included, while others offer "what's out in the garden", or the type of diet the "Host" is use to. Some offer Veggi or Vegan diets, so WWOOF'ers beware!

Some of the main questions I would ask, are;

How many hours per week am I expected to work?

What kind of accommodations are available?

What kind of diet can I expect?

If the Host family are Veggi's or Vegans, will they provide or have a problem with meat being cooked/eaten in the house?

What religion does the Host family practice and what is expected of me?

These are just some of the questions that came to mind while previewing some of the Bio's of the Host Farms. Each person is different and so is the Host Farm, but either way it would be wise to ask as many questions before you go, instead of going and being let down or letting down the host farm.

Remember, on average, each Farm only "host" one or two people at a time, so by not asking questions you might be setting yourself up to have a bad experience, while taking a chance away from someone else to have a good experience.

Happy WWOOF'ing!

Update from September 2009 to January 2010

UPDATE-

I haven't written too much lately due to there's a lot going on, but not in the direction I was hoping to head, so here's what's "new" since Sept. '09

I'm still recovering from my hernia, I was doing well, but I think things may have gotten a little messed up and set me back. I am moving a lot slower then I expected to be moving five months after my surgery. My slow recovery and the almost 13% unemployment rate here in my part of Florida has put a huge dent into my goal, not to mention my bank account.

Since September '09 I have lost both of my businesses due to the slow economy, my bad health and lack of employment. There is a "silver-lining" to part of this, as bad as times are, I see an opportunity to maybe return to college to get my Architectural-Engineering degree, which would greatly help in the understanding and designing of the HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical systems I would be installing in the house.

I am also taking this time to learn more about the way different countries deal with their over-crowding populations and how some families have been living for hundreds of years without that much change. If ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

I have also taken this down time to start studying Chinese / Mandarin, and it's been great to hear from some people over-seas and to see how some of the rural families live. Depending on if or when I would go back to college, I may try to get over to China to study / travel for a summer to learn more first hand how people adapt to smaller apartment / condo living.

If anyone would like to try learning Mandarin, for free, I found a great web site Chinese-tools.com that offers free audio, along with reading and writing lessons. There's no sense in paying for CD's or videos if you're not sure if you want to learn it or want to just learn some basic words for fun.

To date, the little that I have learned about living off the grid has made me re-think some of my off the grid goals or thoughts. Like a lot of people, I too would love to "get away from it all" and live way out in the middle of Erehwon, "That's nowhere spelled backwards"(TM) I sure I needed to give the out-fitter store some kind of credit for using their slogan, even if they might be out of business too???

So is it better to live way out in the country and have a bunch of land and no neighbors for miles or maybe live in a medium size town / city and take advantage of things like a flat "green roof" to maybe grown some veggies?

The second option doesn't lend it's self to raising goats for meat or milk, or chickens or other live stock, but if you are someone who still needs to work five days a week to earn a living, why have the long commute?

I never made it out to Jackson Hole or the Northwest this year for a number of reasons, but I did make it out to one of the areas that was on my list in Kansas. The nearest medium sized town is called Newton, KS. It's a nice, clean, typical Mid-West farming town. One of my original thoughts about an area like this was to buy a small piece of land outside of town that is great for growning a crop and raising some goats and chickens, for both myself and to trade / sell.

While visiting the area I saw some old flat-roofed commercial buildings and got to thinking. Many people have re-zoned buildings like these to make useful living quarters and with a flat roof they would make for a great water collection and Solar PV system set-up. It doesn't fit into my "Timber-frame" theme, but it fits very well in the LEED building concept, reuse, repurpose or recycle, etc. Plus, some of the old factory style building were built with something close to a post and beam style. And if you hit the jack-pot, you can find an old building with old hard-wood pine floors!

Some big "pro's" to an area like this are:

-Farmer's markets just about every weekend through-out the growing season. Which means I don't have to grow all my own foods, but could buy it fresh, I would know where it came from and it would help support the local economy.
-The Building is already built, just need remodeling.
-If I choose to grid-tie the PV system I could earn money back from the electric company to help pay for the system and help give to the community.
-Close to town and within an hour's drive to a big enough airport if I need to fly. FYI -I did have to fly out of Wichita one year to Chicago, the flight cost more then flying to Germany from Chicago. It might have something to do with most of the people flying into or out of Wichita during the week are doing so for business, all the airline manufactures are located there. It's one of those trade-off's, is it worth it???
-Centrally located in the US, so I could drive to places like the Colorado Rockies or Chicago within a long day's drive.
-Located close enough to a medium population that I could find employment, but not be within the "rat race."

So even though I am not actually building my dream home, I am making productive use of this time.

Happy New Year!

Daryl