Making Concessions

I'm rounding the homestretch on the 16' x 24' cabin plans. The end is in sight. After months of designing and redesigning, I've finalized the structural plan enough to start working on a materials list, finding suppliers and costing things out. And then going back and tweaking my model with necessary changes to stay somewhere close to our budget.

For instance, we'll have to forego the metal roof this time and go with shingles. It's not ideal, and won't make for good rain catchment... but we can afford it and it doesn't rain here enough anyway. The nice enclosed porches that could be turned into arctic entries every winter with a few foam panels? Those had to be post-poned as well. All the other niceties, like big windows in the living room and tongue-n-groove flooring, don't really result in enough cost-savings to eliminate.

So I feel that I've stripped down the design and construction of the cabin to barest of bones, with the absolute least amount of material waste, while still maintaining a safe, livable, and warm abode. Designing the whole thing on a 4x8 grid to match common building materials helped keep costs down ALOT, even if it made building the stairs a total PITA. It's been a challenge, but worth every minute.

What we've ended up with is a box made of 6x12 (everything yellow is 12") sill beams and girders, that rests on our piers on top of adjustable screw jacks. The 6x6 posts go on the sill box frame and support an identical header box frame creating the loft and supporting the gambrel roof. This is the main load bearing structure and more than adequate to handle the loads - including snow, wind and seismic (whew! doing all THAT math sucked!)

The concrete pad and pier foundation is completely on the surface because of the permafrost, and the crawlspace is 36" above grade to keep from thawing it out. Between the concrete piers and the sill beams is an adjustable heavy-duty (15-ton bearing/2-ton lifting) screw jack so that we can level the house in the spring and fall if there is frost heave. That's one of the reasons we had to build such a beefy load bearing frame for the main "cube" -- can't have the house joints bending and flexing too much while we're twiddling with the jacks.

Between the wall posts, we'll be installing a double wall, with a gap between, made of 2x4 studs that are staggered 24" on center (no thermal bridges!) and then the entire 8" cavity filled with blown cellulose (for about R-30). The 12" floor and rafter cavities will also be completely filled with cellulose (for about R-45).

The south end of the first floor is the living room and kitchen area, with the woodstove centrally located. There are 3 big windows on the south face (2 down, 1 up) to let in light and some tiny bit of solar gain in the winter (but mostly they will have thick insulating curtains on them in the winter to keep in the heat).

The north end of the first floor contains an 8x8 pantry for all our non-freeze-safe food storage needs (since we stock up for the entire winter), and the staircase (I don't trust ship ladders because I'm a spaz) with our composting toilet and a sink (yes, a real sink!!!) underneath. There is a small ventilation/light window in the bathroom under the stairs, and a fixed glass picture window upstairs (we couldn't ignore the view of the mountains even if windows on the north face are a bad idea).

The loft will have the bedroom, our water storage tank, the battery bank & inverter and (finally!) a small office/desk area. The super-steep (12/3 & 7/12 pitches), braced gambrel truss roof allows us to have almost full usable floor space in the loft, even if it requires a ladder permanently affixed to the roof so we can get up to sweep the chimney.

Both porches on the east and west side are 4' and we will be screening them in even if we don't fully enclose them yet. The porches will be used to store firewood, the generator, fuel and to set up our little propane burner so I can do my canning without totally heating up the house.

So that's the plan anyway. Next time we're in Fairbanks, we'll place our orders at the lumber yard and builders supply warehouse and should (hopefully) have the rest of the driveway and homesite cleared before they deliver everything to the side of the highway. No one will come down our trail in a big truck, not even for the pricey delivery fees  :(  Oh well, at least I won't have to drive back and forth to Fairbanks a dozen times ferrying it all 3/4 tons at a time!

Now let's see if we can build it level, square and plumb; and get it all dried in and insulated before winter comes again. :)  It'll be nice to have solid walls again.

Whoops - wrong tree!

Just got done cutting another 25 yards of trail only to discover that I veered off 7 degrees because I was using the wrong "big tree" as my sight line. So there went a whole day of wasted work effort and a bunch of senseless tree murder. The GPS we have is great for determining if the trail you're on is going in the right direction, but not so great for determining which way you need to head to make a trail to get where you want to go. We either need to upgrade to the better model, or invest in a good laser transit (I'm opting for the laser transit because it'll help with the building site and construction as well). 

The forest is dense enough that you can't see more than 20 feet in front of you in most places and the trees are tall enough that it's easy to lose your landmarks. Things would be so much easier if we could tie a big shiny helium balloon to our center marker on 100' of line so that we could see it from everywhere (or at least if you backed up a little). For now, we'll just have to deal with a slightly meandering trail and come back later during clean up and straighten out the edges when we widen it for the truck.

Days like these I can totally understand people who decide to simply drive a bulldozer through the forest to cut in driveways. If I wasn't trying to save building logs and topsoil I'd be tempted to do it myself!

Attack of the killer dishboard

We have one of those nifty little wire racks to dry the dishes on. Unfortunately, we don't have any countertops in the tent, so we have to store it on the floor under the shelves that hold the dish tubs and the galvanized bucket we use as a sink. Ok, this dishboard sticks out maybe 1" from the outside edge of the shelving unit. Normally, I miss it entirely when I'm trying to squeeze between my chair and the sink; but it's been really windy lately and the walls have been flapping, which pushed it out a just little bit farther than normal.

So, this afternoon, as I'm getting out of my chair for a cup of freshly-brewed coffee, the curly cup-holder spindle thingy on the rack grabs my sock and won't let go. Of course, everything is packed in so tightly that the dishboard can't really move and follow me, so it's basically a spring trap! After fighting for my balance, and trying not to knock anything over, I started to take a header right toward the woodstove.  Face + piping hot stove top = BAD. I reached out just in time to save my face... but torched the ever-loving jeepers out of my hand instead.

After G unhooked the deadly dishboard from my sock, he ran outside and filled a mixing bowl with snow. I spent most of the afternoon and evening with my hand in that snow. I have first degree burns on the outside edge of my right palm and all my fingertips, with second degree burns from the pad down to the second digit on my middle and ring finger. My thumb, thankfully, was spared.

Thank goodness I'm ambidextrous, since I'm having to do most everything with my left hand. Typing is fun(and slow) since I can't really use my right hand if I have to bend my fingers and can only use the edges anyway. At least I can fully still use my thumb, or else I'd have a really hard time getting my pants up and down! 

Don't think I can figure out how to use a right-handed chainsaw safely with only my left-hand; so much for clearing trail for awhile :(  I'm not going to be much use to G in any of the firewood fun either, since my left shoulder was the one that was wiggy before and it's still a bit weak. I'm not even much use just standing there with the shot gun on look out for the bears that are starting to wake up... I can shoot left-handed no problem, but I can't control the kick-back from those bear slugs one handed.   #$%&%#$%!  If it's not one thing, it's another!!!  grrrr

At least I can say one thing... life as an uncoordinated spaz is never boring!

Taxes -- ooooh the pain!!

Well all I gotta say is that lovely Uncle Sam has one hand in my pocket while the other hand is pilfering my homestead!

That's right boys and girls, the IRS has effectively blocked us from at least one "self-sufficient" goal this year, all because of the sneaky way they handle capital losses. So we have to decide what necessity least critical to get this year: solar panels/wind turbine, water well, soil amendments or winter transportation.  Wonderful options, eh?  Just forget about a tractor :`(

Ain't it just interesting how you must claim all of your Capital Gains as taxable income for a given year, but they only allow you to deduct $3k in Capital Losses a year then force you to carryover the rest? Tricky bastards! They're banking that you won't get as much benefit deducting the losses in the future or get stuck carrying over until you die so they never have to let you deduct them. If that weren't the case, we wouldn't owe anything!  I can understand limiting it so you can't have negative AIG or don't get a refund when you'd otherwise owe (ok, from their perspective, I can understand it), but you should at least be able to use it to reduce the amount you owe to $0 if you end up with an underpayment at the end of the year. Because, seriously, the snafu "income" amount that screwed us and made us go over the taxes withheld would have been completely offset by our "losses" if we'd been able to claim them.  Arrrrgggg

Oh well, just another "little fee" to the powers that be to get us off of the grid and out from under thumbs, I guess.  2010 should be the last year Uncle Sugar's fiddly little fingers will be digging in our pockets... and if we're really luck, we won't even get screwed on the 2010 return, but I'm not holding my breath.  grrrrr

Slip Sliding Away...

So you know it's getting towards Spring in Alaska when you start to slide on the hardpack. Like just now, when I went to relieve myself on a well watered local spruce tree. It was strange to slide for the first time in a long time while not pulling 300 lbs of weight in firewood. You also know it's getting towards Spring, when you have 12+ hours of daylight, and there's still snow on the ground, weird...

Anyway long time no posting for me, PC has been doing the heavy lifting of keeping everyone up to date, and incidentally attracting followers while she dances around forums. Which is interesting, from a synchronicity perspective, as my interest wanes her's grows and seemingly vice versa.

If this seems a little wandery to our readers it most likely is, since I'm writing this in preference right now to getting more firewood, strangely I feel much more able to sit and write this, something I've had to "do" rather than just let it happen, than going and doing the daily chore of getting fuel for cooking and heating.

With that back to forums, some of our readers are likely familiar with my explosive exit from one of PC's and my former mutual forum. It's interesting, I've gone and had a look around, and it's only gotten worse in my opinion than when I blew out of there. Totally crazy, but anyway blowing out of it was enlightening. Changed my perspective on a few things, and I suspect helped me grow. Going back though is surely interesting to see how the circus is doing, and making me think I made the right decision.

Now on top of that I'm constantly amazed at people's blinkered outlook on things, from another forum, where there are people who completely agree with the loss of rights of felons. Now we're not talking about the Ted Bundy's and Jeffrey Dahmers, but everyone who's ever committed a felony regardless of it's severity, whether this is a first offense, or required intent, and totally regardless of other punitive actions taken, such as no further sentencing (i.e. you committed a crime now go and be repentant).

A lot of these people seem to have complete faith that the powers that be are benevolent. Yet maintain that certain rights were written into the US Constitution so that a non-benevolent government couldn't legally affect them. They do not see the dichotomy of that argument I suspect that they have minimal gray matter that is thus engaged in other vital activities like deciding whether to watch Dancing with the Stars, or American Idol, and will themselves never fall foul of any crime. Now I'm not a fan of light sentencing in any way, but if someone's been put in prison, when they come out then I don't see any reason to not give them the same rights as everyone else I mean they can drive, get credit, buy booze and everything else. Which led me to this little book, Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent it's an interesting read for sure, and shows just how easily it can be to fall into something that turns out to be a felony and then if caught you're done, no more work as a lawyer, doctor, teacher, or other licensed profession, no voting and of course no right to keep and bear arms. Now this isn't written by some hokie leftist, but a Boston trial lawyer, civil liberties and criminal law columnist. He's seen the effect in the courtroom, which led him to write this book. Sobering reading.

Now back to motivation to get firewood... Weird though it is, we now have our 4 wheeler running again so it's not quite so labor intensive. So I should have motivation, enough, but I'm still here drinking coffee, and thinking about it, while the dog has fallen asleep in boredom, and the cat is hiding in her hut, because the dog is indoors.

In other news, PC's slight off road trip while returning from Fairbanks has led to a slow puncture (the tire will stay inflated for a couple of days before it goes completely flat, and needs the services of a tire shop). We found it and have a repair kit on the way, in the meantime we're inflating it regularly, just to keep it on the rim (big balloon tires, come off the rim when they lose too much pressure). She's out doing laundry right now, which isn't helping the motivation aspect, since I know I need to go and get that firewood before she gets back.

Ah well, that's the last of the coffee, time for my boots and to kick over the 4 wheeler.

Humans are funny

OK - just a little observation on "The Weird" from my travels through cyberspace...

Have you ever noticed the amount of people who are "anti-" that end up joining and posting on "pro-" forums and then just proceed to bitch and gripe and cast aspersions? What is up with that? You have this tiny little haven for "believers" to discuss things and share ideas; and then all the sudden some bully shows up and poisons the place with animosity. Don't these people have anything better to do than seek out people with differing views and attempt to humiliate them?  You'd think they'd find their own forum that shares their view point.....

This is something I absolutely cannot fathom.  If something thinks that "Green" is total bunk, why go to a "Green Living" forum? If something thinks that living in the city is awesome and people who live in the country are ignorant hicks who live in shacks, why go to a "Small Town Living" forum?  The list goes on, my friends, these are just two examples. Are these people just so intolerant of a differing opinion that they must actively seek out avenues to spread their bile and crush the "opposition"?

There are probably millions of forums catering to ideals that I personally don't believe in, or maybe even find distasteful, but I don't waste my time seeking them out and then take every opportunity to rail against them and make derisive comments. What do I care what they think and do? They can have their beliefs and their own little corner of cyberspace, it's no skin off my back. OK, maybe I'm just a little more tolerant, but seriously, I also just plain have better uses for my time.

People are funny.

Random weather and other woes

Freaky spring weather - one day the Low is 20 below and the next it's 20 above, some days there's only a 10 degree difference between High and Low and other days it's almost 40, some days it snows, other days it melts, and it's almost always windy. It's not officially Breakup since we haven't had any sustained melt yet, but I don't think it's too far off.  It's a little tough on the body to handle 40 degree shifts in temps from day to day, you're either freezing or roasting as you try to adjust.

We're both still battling the crud. Don't know whether this is the same cold that won't go away, several colds back to back, or if I picked up something entirely different in Fairbanks. I think this latest iteration is probably something new from Fairbanks since it's messing up my guts something horrible and making me really really tired all the time. The weather isn't helping either, I'm sure. Needless to say, G's been doing most of the firewood scavenging because everytime I go out to help I wind up in bed again. Frustrating!!! Doubt we'll get the rest of the trail cleared by next Sunday like we were hoping. Ultra-frustrating!!!

Also, it appears that Sonja didn't make it out of that run off the road entirely unscathed... we seem to have a slow leak in rear tire, which is now almost flat. Can't tell if it's a puncture of some sort, or if I just lost the seal when I plowed into the snow bank. Oh well, we'll have to run the compressor to fill it up and pray it doesn't need to be replaced immediately... which would mean another trip into Fairbanks if the tire holds out that long, because the tire and rim weight too much to take it on the mail plane into the city (ooops!). We do have replacement tires, but I don't think anyone in Manley has a way to get it on the rim... and I really don't want to mess with unmounting and mounting tires without the proper equipment since that can be really dangerous. We'll just have to do what we have to do. Luckily we're not in any desperate need for transportation at the moment.

I got 90% finished with the building plans and then realized I forgot something that is going to change the whole model. ARG!!!!  But at least I'm getting lots of practice using SketchUp, so redrafts aren't taking as long as they were before. And can I just say that building stairs is a major PITA!! Not just modeling stairs, but actually figuring out how to get a usable staircase to fit in your tiny house, within the major framing, and still be marginally close to code-compliant. We don't actually need to be code compliant, but I don't want to be falling down my stairs and breaking my a$$ all the time either... that's one of the reasons I'm trying to put stairs in instead of the typical loft ladder. I'm such an uncoordinated spaz that stairs and ladders can be very dangerous creations.  Ahhhh, the joys of doing everything yourself!  But at least I got all my engineering math done, so all I have to do is move the pieces around until every fits and is stable.