Show Reminder

Just a reminder, a week from tonight, Monday Dec 14, from 7-9 pm CST, I will be a guest on Big John's radio program. The second hour you will be able to call in and ask me questions.

I realize that some of you will not be able to listen live, so if you have any questions that you would like to ask, write it here in the comment section, I'll do my best to answer your questions.

I just received an email from Tammy B, she asked quite a few good questions. Here is what she asked,

Since you have been off the grid for a while now, I wondered if you would mind answering, discussing maybe what you would have done differently if you were starting out now, what 3 to 5 things you need most right now, what you would buy if money were no object, how the Berkey water system is working, how many solar panels you have now, what do you miss the most?, etc.,

thanks - inquiring minds want to know.

 First I want to thank Tammy B for those great questions. I'll answer those now.

What would you have done differently if you were starting out now?
Perhaps planned out the layout of our buildings and such on the property, we have just placed things as we went along, I would prefer some of the buildings (outbuildings, sheds and such) had been put in a different location,


What 3-5 things do you need most right now?
There are always lists of things that are needed and wanted. Right now we need to get pipe to plumb our water system, tanks and such. Always could use more building materials (wood panels, dimensional lumber, cement powder...). We need to get Bob's big army truck from Dallas to here, we could use that for hauling water and such, the truck is not drivable and would need to be trailered here. Bob wants to get 2 or 3 G M alternators, to make a system to charge up the batteries. Of course, I would like to have more deep cycle batteries and solar panels.

What would you buy if money were no object?
Pretty much all the things I listed on the previous question. Honestly, if I were to hit the lottery, not much would change, I might buy up more property lots, I would finish our skycastle, complete with good insulation. I would have enough batteries and solar panels so that we would have to have weeks of cloudy skies before we ran out of power. I would make sure the bug was street legal, and would buy a second bug, just like the one I have now for a backup.

How is the Berkey water system working?
It is still working just fine, we have it plumbed into the water system, to fill it with water all I have to do is pull a lever for a few seconds. This was one of the best things we have purchased.

How many solar panels do you have now?
We have four 55 watt Siemens solar panels, and we have four sets of 45 watt Harbor Freight solar panel kits.

What do you miss the most?
This is really bad, I miss eating fast food. We have a McDonald's in the next town, it's not something we get to eat very often, I do miss eating fast food on a weekly, or semi-weekly basis. I know we are healthier for it, and I'm not complaining, but sometimes I just really miss calling Domino's Pizza or getting a burger from McDonald's or Jack in the Box. I also miss the spur of the moment meals I used to cook, the deal is before, when there was a grocery store just minutes from my house, if I decided I wanted to make a meal using ingredients I didn't have, I could just hop in my car and within a half hour, I could be back home with said ingredients in hand, cooking the impromptu meal.

The other thing I miss the most is my family, we both left our families behind, some 500 miles away, so hopping in the car and going for a visit is not a practical thing for us to do.

That's just about it, don't forget to tune in next Monday to Big John's site to listen to the show. Call in during the second hour to ask me questions, or post questions here.

Click to listen here,
or,
click to listen here.

You can also download the show at no charge for 24 hours after the show airs on Big John's site.

All written text and audio podcasts from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute (text or audio) without written permission.


Wretha,
properly pronounced wreetha, (included for the text reader).


Thanks for visiting!