I had the luxury of having relatives that live on either side of the property we bought. I knew about anything going on there almost live, even when I was in Florida. That's really how we got the place. They told us when the tax auction was and Sherri was there.
I was, and still am bugged by the Comcast cable people trying to sell me a security system. I keep telling them that I have one. When one of them asked,"what kind?" I replied, " the best kind, nosy neighbors with guns, look you are being watched now." He left.
We have cable internet. It works good when it works. The cable system hasn't been upgraded in years, nor will they trim the fallen trees off their cable. When a tree fell on the cable, it stayed there for months causing the pole to lean. Eventually gravity won, and the pole came down. So then the cable is holding up a tree and a pole. Every time the wind blows the tree moves and out TV blinks off once or twice. I don't care much about the TV, but the momentary signal loss causes the modem to loose sync so the internet and phone go out for about 3 minutes. If the blinks happen more often than that, the phone and internet stay out. They cut up the tree, took out the pole, and left the mess behind.....several months ago.
Now, obviously it's working. We are paying for a 100 Mbps "typical" connection. I just ran a Speedtest, and get 301 Mbps. It will not be near that fast at about 6PM, and is often faster early in the morning.
The closest one to me is 75 miles away in Pittsburgh. It's small and I have never been there.....yet.
I remember another. Find out about a septic tank, and the permits and inspections required for it. Here the permit comes from the county health department. There would be a bunch more crap involved if we were in the city, but most of the city has a sewer system.
The permit hinged on the results of a perk test to see how large the drain field needed to be.
Paved road in, Power, Cable and water at the road. I may still sink a well eventually for the garden. Chickens count as a "Farm". It looks like zoned A-1 but I need to verify that. Perc test is a must. Although with neighbors on both sides I suspect that won't be a problem.
I'm reading the county regulations now.
"Green Acres is the place to be...........
I'm reading the county regulations now.
"Green Acres is the place to be...........
Ya, I kinda lost contact with my favorite people. Most others, well, no loss. It's great not having to deal with certain people.
What % of DIYA are old farts like me? When I see "headphone amps", I have to wonder if they are kids or just dim. I see people here and even on facebook that seem interesting, but they are spread all over. I probably have to put some effort into finding interesting people closer to home.
BTW, If I wasn't in town, I would be all over solar etc. And rural internet can be a "smart hub" which is just a dedicated "internet hot spot", ie cell phone data to lan/wifi converter.
I don't think that is viable at 0C and below. Great for tropic zones, I'm sure. Once temps dip below 0C at night most plants in our area are dormant.
I'm considering splitting my system between Gray water and Black water. Gray water goes straight to the leach bed, black water goes to a septic tank first then to the leach bed.
I'm considering splitting my system between Gray water and Black water. Gray water goes straight to the leach bed, black water goes to a septic tank first then to the leach bed.
I suggest that a much more careful review of State and local laws are needed to ensure you are not surprised. In Maryland, I was advised that I had to have an active nitrogen removal system, which would have cost another $5,000 to operate (plus an A/C power hookup to operate the pump and associated control instrumentation). Luckily, the Governor decided not to implement the law in my county.
Another item that I was aware of, was the need to install a residential fire sprinkler system. I am still researching this, and have obtained conflicting advice from the State (yes, a system is needed), versus the County (no). It all depends, however, on whether the house I erect will be classified as prefabricated versus modular. If prefab, no system; if modular, system required.
It goes on and on - well permitting, septic field (I need an "at grade" system - which I am grateful for as if the State did not allow it, then I would have a useless piece of property from a residential standpoint.
Another item that I was aware of, was the need to install a residential fire sprinkler system. I am still researching this, and have obtained conflicting advice from the State (yes, a system is needed), versus the County (no). It all depends, however, on whether the house I erect will be classified as prefabricated versus modular. If prefab, no system; if modular, system required.
It goes on and on - well permitting, septic field (I need an "at grade" system - which I am grateful for as if the State did not allow it, then I would have a useless piece of property from a residential standpoint.
We had an alumni reception for my NYC college here in Cleveland. I was just blown away by the number of guys and gals who had left the east coast to move to this besmirched now-little city in the Midwest. The cost of housing is a quarter of the East Coast, the medical care is absolutely first rate, you've got first rate museums, orchestras, parks, bike paths, restaurants etc. Same is true for many of these burbs with less than 500k inhabitants.
Oh, the winter absolutely sucks...but get a set of Blizzak snow tires and bob's yer uncle.
Oh, the winter absolutely sucks...but get a set of Blizzak snow tires and bob's yer uncle.
I'm 55 and semi retired 3 yeas ago. I work part time 2 days a week.
We sold our house in Sydney and moved 1100km to a little rural town. We have 2 acres on the outskirts with a small house 98sqm and a BIG shed.
I have an electronics lab I am about to relocate from the 3rd bed room to a 20ft shipping container and a workshop in the shed to play with my car.
With the fruit trees, Olive grove and other nut trees and Bees I am so busy I have no time now to work full time.
We sold our house in Sydney and moved 1100km to a little rural town. We have 2 acres on the outskirts with a small house 98sqm and a BIG shed.
I have an electronics lab I am about to relocate from the 3rd bed room to a 20ft shipping container and a workshop in the shed to play with my car.
With the fruit trees, Olive grove and other nut trees and Bees I am so busy I have no time now to work full time.
I left my business, which took a lot of time, at the age of 50. I bought a house of 180 m2 and an apartment on the island. A son with his wife and grandson moved to me. He began to spend little money, but live well. After 3 years I could not work. Now I’m doing internet projects with my son. It takes a lot of time, but it's very exciting, including participating in such a forum. In life, it is very important to have free time that belongs only to you and does not depend on anyone.
In the early 1980's I did a financing for a company which rents space for folks who need temporary storage for furniture etc. Over drinks the head guy told me that they "unofficially" rent space to a lot of guys who have been kicked out by their wives.
I don't think this is possible any more!
Trust me. Cold can be an issue for infrastructure that relies on water being liquid, including drainage fields.
We had several water main breaks in Calgary this winter when a cold snap hit. Turns out that daytime highs of -25 to -20 C for five weeks straight freezes the ground quite far down. Our water lines are some 2.5-3 m below street level to prevent freezing.
Many would argue that Calgary doesn't get that cold. Further inland (or even three hours north in Edmonton) temperatures of -40 C are common. Go further north and you have issues with propane turning to gel and that sort of stuff.
Gimp: Best of luck with your retirement. It seems to be one of those life changes that can throw you for a loop. Don't forget to un-hermit yourself every now and then ... at least if you'd like to live for a while in retirement. The size of one's social network is a strong correlate of life expectancy.
Tom
How to live a good life. From the obit of Elwyn Berlekamp who passed away in early April. (Was the inventor of error correction software, noise reduction software, fixed the Hubble Telescope):
On one trip, en route to a conference in Australia, Dr. Berlekamp was asked by a border-control agent whether he was traveling for work or pleasure. He replied that he had arranged his life “such that there shall be no distinction between the two.”
Math Wizard Elwyn Berlekamp Helped Bring Sharp Images From Outer Space - WSJ
On one trip, en route to a conference in Australia, Dr. Berlekamp was asked by a border-control agent whether he was traveling for work or pleasure. He replied that he had arranged his life “such that there shall be no distinction between the two.”
Math Wizard Elwyn Berlekamp Helped Bring Sharp Images From Outer Space - WSJ
At 65 I retired, took some pension as cash (to help my daughter buy a house) then went back to work an hour later with a new contract (on the same terms).
I enjoy work, though I'm only doing 3-4 days per week now. Regard myself lucky that for most of my working life I've enjoyed my job.
Will I ever quit completely? Probably not, there are more and more interesting challenges.
I enjoy work, though I'm only doing 3-4 days per week now. Regard myself lucky that for most of my working life I've enjoyed my job.
Will I ever quit completely? Probably not, there are more and more interesting challenges.
Where in W. MA? , my wife is from Adams and her sister lived in Savoy (great for amateur astronomy) but we sold her our place on Cheshire Pond when her husband passed away unexpectedly. We certainly could have retired there for peanuts.
Retirement is really simple. Just lose a job when you are past 55 and the world takes care of it for you. Luckily I had enough in retirement account to buy 5 acres of desert land and a livable trailer. I had to accept early SoSec though at 62 just to feed myself.
I was not only an engineer, I was a good engineer. But nobody wanted to hire me when they could get a recent graduate for cheap. And that is the bottom line in todays job market.
Doc
I was not only an engineer, I was a good engineer. But nobody wanted to hire me when they could get a recent graduate for cheap. And that is the bottom line in todays job market.
Doc
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