CrAnIuM

Our plans for our forever home are still plodding along, and we've discussed a few of my most pressing security concerns and have found solutions (expensive ones) for compromise, but at this point there seems to be no amount of compromise that can be had with my wish to have a subterranean home.

Or is there ...

I've taken up research into EARTH SHELTERING.

This is where a home is closed in on almost all sides by a berm of dirt, even the roof can be done in this manner. Using the Earth as a thermal mass will significantly reduce, and in some cases eliminate, cooling of the home with Air conditioning. Heating can be done for a lot less cost as well.

This type of construction compliments a wind/solar power solution very well. I'm planning an a sustainable power solution of no more than 4kw. If I decide on a diesel generator as part of the system I can get by with a diesel/solar/wind package where the solar/wind is producing 1.2kw.

This is within the realm of possible in terms of $$. The ISSUE is is that the home may not be eligible for reasonable construction loan rates as it is not a popular option and most often can't be resold easily.

My research continues. We're 12 months out from starting to shop for land/house or just land. 18 months out I hope to be fully occupied at out forever site and fully engaged in the personalization of my various requirements.

Continuing on from here ---> BLOG.

With the recent reported tally of OVER one million homes foreclosed on in 2010, ( Read the article HERE ) and MORE to come for 2011, I am further astounded by the fact that there is NEW construction going on within a 5 mile drive of my house. This is in a subdivision where the homes are listed at having 4 plus BR and 3000 + Sq Ft of living space

What the hell?

Still adding inventory to the already shocked housing market? Are the developers in the NC Triangle area betting on recovery to the point and to the DETRIMENT of the current home owners? Do they not understand that adding to a stressed market will only keep my house and my neighbor's house and anyone else wanting to sell in the next two years in a state of financial limbo?

Will people bypass the two and three bedroom homes with 1 to 3 acres of land being resold at a LOSS and move into a 4 plus berdoom place at the $250K and up price range? Where the hell is the logic? How low will people like me have to set our prices in order to get any interest .. will we end up having to PAY a ransom to leave our property?

Jobs. Yeah sure, new construction helps the economy and puts people back to work but that is simply a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.


We are still going to list our house ~ June 2012. I wonder if 15 months will even make a difference to the market out here.

Our next place ... our last place, yep yep.

Absinthe and I have been wanting to find the perfect place to move to for awhile now. For the last 12 months we've just kicked the idea around in a less than serious manner, while at the same time taking all available cash and making dept go away and credit scores improve.

We are both over 700, how far above that you may ask ..well, we will keep that to ourselves thanks!!

Suffice to say our credit scores coupled with my VA eligibility puts us in a very, very good place.

However, the house we are in now is like a 16 pound bowling ball that we are being asked to swim with, sure we can do it no problem but we can't do anything else UNTIL we get rid of it. We are out in the country, there are loads of foreclosed or short sell or dilapidated shit holes all around and this means BAD NEWS for people that want to sell.

And then there is ME. I have a mountain of requirements for the new place and nearly all of them are from a force protection point of view. Hell, I'm even willing to buy a place with NO house on it an take a year or three to build exactly what it is I want.

In fact, to even come close to my requirements we almost HAVE to buy a vacant plot of land and build. My woman is not so keen on the idea of doing it my way, sure my ideas sound great to a point ... and then I bring up the "underground" portion and the eyes start to roll.

My point is WHY even move unless I am going to be moving to our forever house. No sense doing a lateral move, I wanna move up and out.

I'll take about some of my ideas and my requirements soon ...

Continued HERE

According to a great many "self help" programs the single most significant step is recognizing that a problem actually exists.

Makes sense in a way because why would a person fix a thing when a thing needs or appears to need no fixing ... never, I say.




Hello, my name is Gary and I have a problem ...


I have an anger issue. I don't mean being pissed at traffic of being pissed at stubbing my toe in the dark of night, oh no, not at all that mundane.

I was angry at everything, EVERYTHING, and I had progressed to making connections between each anger event and summing it all up into "they are out to get me". Sure you as an outsider can rationalize to yourself that there are no "they" and that that same "they" are not part of a global conspiracy with Gary as their target.

But Gary could see the lines of connection between a spilled cup of coffee on his crotch and the wind suddenly blowing a piece of paper away as he stoops to retrieve it...yep, a clear red line of conspiracy.

And the anger I would sometimes have at things would have an actually smell and taste to it, it was palpable and alive and heart pounding REAL.

My anger at things and events could oft times, after the event, leave a bewilderment at WTF just happened, where did it originate and what triggered it. These things I never gave a thought to because, after all, it is a conspiracy and that is obviously what triggered it.

While I was a Soldier and a leader of Soldiers I rarely showed signs of anger unless it was justifiable. I was calm and cool under stress even and in direct spite of things that went wrong. I think being in a position of responsibility and having so many and so much riding on MY choices as a leader was a major part in why and how I handled stress.

Unless you are a shut-in and spend ALL of your time at home you should plan for more than one survival kit.

Carrying all the tools of the survival trade is a problem as weight becomes an issue and impacts mobility, and as such one will have to decide on what type of gear is best suited for the mission at hand.... Immediate vs Short term vs long term.

When I was a young troop and was a straight leg Infantryman my field gear/combat gear weighed up to 100 pounds at times. This was water, food, ammo, shelter, clothing and assorted items all in one pack.( mortar base plate ...extra machine gun ammo ...that shit adds up) It typically had to be packed to sustain my needs for up to 21 days in the field (with food drops being made every three to six days) In that 100 pounds I had a 35 pound assault pack, this had a smaller collection of gear, ammo and food that typically was packed to sustain myself for three days. My personal gear that stayed on my body or attached to my uniform was sufficient for a few hours of combat or maybe a 24-36 hour movement without any other gear.

Even on a strong grunt a 75 to 100 pound pack is extreme, especially when 90% of the grunt's mobility is via his feet. It takes a toll on your ability to fight and survive and that is why an Infantryman carries an assault pack so that he drop his heavy ruck in a base camp and then could do patrols and counter insurgency ops with an acceptable weight in his assault pack and still carry enough important gear to survive a moderately extended mission if need be.

So yeah, that's well and good to a dude in the military but how does that equate to you? Easy, imagine your long term bug out kit as being that troop's 100 pound ruck then imagine your short term kit to be that soldier's assault pack and lastly your personal gear or "go" bag will be equal to a soldier's butt bag, load bearing vest or immediate gear.

Just as easily you can decide

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