Tell Me What You Think

I've been thinking..........

 I know, I know, yes it does hurt, A LOT.





No really, I have been thinking on my next project. The solar laundry room is in full go and I will be done with it as money allows. I still need to put a shade over it, build a folding station and restructure my clothes lines in a more user friendly configuration.
Being I am half way though with that project I need to start thinking on my next build so I can have it figured out by the time I need to start it. The problem is I can't come up with nothing.
Of course my project list is still several pages long, I just don't know what I want to start on, if any.

My work shop has been at the top of the list for a long time now. It is always shuffled down because it is such a massive cost and time consumer. Even with collecting scrap and crap, I will still need to purchase a lot more materials to accomplish such a huge undertaking.
I am thinking on just saving up and buying a completed building. I have waved the cost and I can get a bigger bang for my buck if I did. The one problem with that will be time. It will take over a year to save up for it meaning there will not be any extra money for other projects.
I don't know, I'm conflicted.       


On another thought, tell me what you think about this. 

I have been bouncing around in my head about writing up some illustrated, step by step how-to books on the projects I have built here at the Mini Farm.
I just don't know if it will be a big waste of time or if there was enough interest to make it worth it.

If you don't mind, tell me what you think on this and any pointers would help.

Woman Crafting Stuff And Well You Know......

The wife has finally gone through all the books she got last week and picked out the ones she is keeping. The save pile was about half. That means thirty boxes of books were kept on the notion she is going to read them, one day.


Every wall in the sitting room is lined with book shelves. I told her we could not go buy any more shelves so she decided to rummage through my scrap wood pile and found an old ladder looking thing I have no idea why I kept in the first place.
And there you have it, a instant book shelf. I guess I kinda like it too. 

  

She is also being frugal and inventive at the same time by making her own lip balm. We all go through tons of Chapstick a year so this might just be the solution to it, and it's Strawberry flavored.




On another note, storms are suppose to be coming in Late Thursday afternoon and stay for a day or two. There might not be much work being done here because of it all. I'm just saying.
Y'all have a good night and I wanted to give the wife a big "You Go Girl"  

Another Finished Book

I thought I would share the latest book I just got through. Sorry for the bad pic. It was taken from my phone in the truck.

This book was a little different read for me.
With only about 100 pages, it still gets you to thinking about the politicians and how they lie to you.  The end result is control without and an uprising.

My dad and I were just talking about this very thing this weekend. How do you kill 6 million Jews? This book explains it.

It even goes as far as comparing some of the speeches made to us today by our own elected officials to the same thing past dictators said to their people.
Scary stuff. 

For All You Book Lovers Out There

"Ring, Ring, "Ring, Ring" my cell phone was going off. I picked it up and saw the wife was calling. Nothing out of the norm because she calls me several times a day.

I hit the answer button and said "Hey babe, what's up?"

A frantic voice was on the other end and it said, "I need forty dollars right now!"

Without blinking an eye I said, "Okay"

"Really!" Now her voice sounded like a kid who was just given a piece of candy.

"Sure, I will work it in the budget somehow." I said back being the supportive husband that I am.

"Do you even want to know what it is for?" She asked.

"Nope, I trust you and if you need it that bad you didn't even need to ask." I wanted to keep the best husband thing going for as long as I could and if forty bucks bought me a your the best attitude then I will gladly pay.

She ended the conversation with, "Well okay, I will see you when you get home."

This is what $40.00 bought.

 60 boxes of books. Each box has around 25 books in it. That is around 1500 books.
Some are classic first additions from 1907 and some are those kind of books you would not know who in the world would ever buy.
 

The wife is going to go through and catalog each book.
My thought is to take them to the half price book store and make a deal at fifty cents a book takes the whole thing.
Until then, my living room is filled with boxes and boxes of books.

Book List

This list was emailed to me from my good friend Shar. I was asked to share it so others could add to their lists and collections. These are her ratings and so far she has been dead on.

I have only began to scratch the surface on these kind of books and this list will keep me busy for at least two years.

Shar is a active member of MDR so if you have any questions for her leave a comment and I am sure she will respond.                                                      

Book List  

                Rating – One Star (not so good) to Five Stars (Awesome)

FICTION

Patriots   By James Wesley, Rawles  ****

Survivor   By James Wesley, Rawles  ***

Lucifers Hammer   By Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle  *****

One Second After   By William Forstchen  *****

Anthem    By Ayn Rand  *****

1984   By George Orwell  *****

Atlas Shrugged   By Ayn Rand  ****

Alas, Babylon   By Pat Frank  ****

Wolf & Iron   By Gordon R Dickson  *****

Earth Abides   By George R Stewart  ****

No Blade of Grass   By John Christopher  *****

World Made By Hand   By James Howard Kunstler  ****

On The Beach   By Nevil Shute  ***

Day of the Triffids   By John Wyndham  **

The Stand   By Stephen King  ****

Stacey’s Quest   By AK Steele  ****

Survivors   By Terry Nation  ****

Lights Out   By David Crawford  *****

The Walk   By Lee Goldberg  ****

Into The Forest   By Jean Heglund  ***

Life as We Knew It   By Susan Beth Pfeffer ****

         The Dead and Gone   By Susan Beth Pfeffer  ****

         This World We Live In   By  Susan Beth Pfeffer  ****

Hunger Game Series   By Suzanne Collins  ****

          Catching Fire    By Suzanne Collins  ****

          Mocking Jay    By Suzanne Collins  ****

The Maze Runner Series   By James Dashner  ***

           The Scorch Trials   By James Dashner  ***

           The Death Cure   By James Dashner  ***

Left Behind Series   By Jerry B Jenkins & Tim LaHaye  ****

Left Behind Kids Series   By Jerry B Jenkins & Tim LaHaye  ***

The Overton Window   By Glen Beck  ****

Grapes of Wrath   By John Steinbeck  ***

NON-FICTION  -  These are the best of my non-fiction/self help books

How to Survive TEOTWAWKI   By James Wesley, Rawles

Encyclopedia of Country Living   By Carla Emery

Where There is No Doctor   By David Wemer

The Complete Medicinal Herbal   By Penelope Ody

10 Essential Herbs   By Lalitha Thomas

Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook   By Peggy Layton

The American Red Cross First Aid & Safety Handbook

The Simplicity Primer    By Patrice Lewis

Hey Dummy

We had one heck of a storm blow through last night.

The thunder and lightning were awful. All I can remember is the bed shaking so bad it  woke me up and with one of those thunderous dooms and I thought I was under attack. I jumped from the bed, grabbed my shirt and was reaching for my firearm when the wife snapped me out of it by saying "hey, Hey, HEY DUMB A**! It was just thunder". I looked at her in one of those sleepy dazes until it finally sunk in. I just walked back to bed and grumbled something about not being a dumb butt and was just trying to protect the family and then quickly fell back to sleep.
At least that is how I remember it, she might tell you something completely different though.

In my business when it rains it means there is no work. So I drove the little over an hour drive into work today just to be turned right back around and headed home.
For the first hour or so at home I stared out the back door at the rain and the increasing amount of the water running through the back yard trying to think of something to do. Coming up with absolutely nothing I settled for the couch and to read the rest of Lights Out . It seems that every time I read one of these kind of books they get better and better. I know a bunch of y'all have read it or is in the process of reading it so I will not give out any spoilers. I will say even though it kept me at the edge of my seat, the end was a little predictable and it left some questions unanswered, but still well worth the read. I rank it right up there beside One Second After.

Shar, one of the members of MDR and a friend of mine, sent me her reading list. There will not be any shortage of books to read with that list, it will take me years to read them all. I will let you know which one is next.

I have already gotten word to not come to work tomorrow as well. I will tell you right now it already hard to pay bills and not working doesn't make it any easier. This year is not starting off all that great.  

Light Reading

A buddy of mine sent me this book in the form of an E-Book the other day. I have never read a full book from the computer and to print off six hundred and something pages would be a waste of paper and ink.
Unlike the wife, I think a book is better read holding it, dog earring the corners, spilling coffee on it and sometimes leaving it in the bathroom so I decided I would just skim through the E-Book picking up on some of the main points and tell him thank you, it was a great book. I figured I would need to read the first, second and last chapters to get the feel for the plot and make my story believable. Then I would be in the clear and could use my computer time for more productive things like playing games on Facebook.
Holy crap, I shouldn't have started reading it at all.
I really liked the book One Second After another friend of mine sent me and this one goes hand in hand with it just from another point of view.
I am now on chapter 16 and it is getting even better. My work is suffering because I cannot stop reading it. I held up a concrete truck from pouring yesterday because I needed to see what was going to happen next. Maybe I can finish it over the three day weekend.
     
On another note, maybe it will be dry enough to get something done this weekend. Yesterday's high was 63 and I am proud to say the inside of the batch water heater box was 175 degrees. I cannot wait for that first shower.

You Just Think Your Ready...

If you think you are ready for the coming future, then I encourage you to read One Second After. 

Inside the pages of this little book you will find out real quick, you are dead wrong.