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Messages - RE

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SUN Newz & Current Events / Greetings Heliopaths!
« on: March 20, 2017, 02:28:02 PM »
I'm dropping in to say hi to all newbies to SUN☼.  I'm glad to see this Forum awakening from slumber.  :D

I was asked to see if it is possible with the current set of add-ons to the SMF software that runs the forum if it's possible to embed Videos, and it IS! Just there is no button to do it on the menu bar so you have to do it manually using the ]html[  and ]/html[  tags surrounding the embed code (reverse the square brackets I used here to explain)

We will see about adding some more widgets to help with doing this sort of thing in the future.

Meanwhile, here's Eddie's new Bacon on the Hoof just born on his SUN☼stead!


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Everything Under the Sun / Re: The future of SUN, an update.
« on: January 26, 2016, 09:19:46 PM »
Nice 2 C SUN☼ getting active again.  :)

We will need to have a meeting to discuss how to proceed from here.

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Shelter / Re: Dome Promotion
« on: May 18, 2014, 03:23:19 AM »
Quote from: H on May 11, 2014, 10:19:16 AM
What I'm finding completely odd is the negativity the dome idea is getting everywhere I see it spreading.

It's not just the Trolls on the Diner determined to try and discourage any sort of sustainable response, even the NBLers, who claim they want to live out life in a minimal-impact hospice, are vehemently opposed to any sort of living arrangement that would reduce energy use.  If a building does not use 21st century level of energy consumption, it's a"coffin" in their eyes.

I have a feeling we won't find many people within the "doom" community to adopt this living arrangement, they are more concerned with bankster bonuses than the survival of their grandchildren. 

I'll work on some promotional ideas that emphasize the defensive nature of the domes and see if we can get traction with the survivalist, anti-government types who are paranoid about another Waco or Ruby Ridge, and hopefully let the idea grow outwards from there.

As I said to Ray Jason in email (who just published his most recent piece on NBL, and who wrote to me saddenned by the response he got there), you can't let the NEGATIVITY that you find out of the NBL commentariat get to you.  Ray is a sensitive kind of guy, and the reaction of the Dead & Dying on NBL bugs him.  You also Harry are pretty sensitive when it comes to being criticized.  This is a tough road to hoe we have here, and the ideas are not well received by EITHER Cornucopians or Uber Doomers.

I know we are right in concept and in what we are trying to do.  I will stick to my guns.  I will not let the Negative Waves bring me down.  I will do it alone if I have to, but I sure prefer having a tribe to take my back.

Sorry for being scarce lately over here, but it is time consuming to write and record the rants and do all the Plugging necessary to keep moving the Diner upward in readership.  You guys may think I am nuts, but in the end, it is all about the numbers.  You gotta spread a wide net to catch a few good fish.

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Everything Under the Sun / Re: Staying Positive
« on: May 08, 2014, 03:12:59 AM »
Quote from: luciddreams on May 07, 2014, 11:48:11 PM
Somehow we're going to drive to Cali in the next few weeks.  Gonna make it work with the Saturn Vue and State parks.  West bound with no return date, but return we shall. 

Roof Box



and rear Bike Carrier



You don't have to mount Bikes on the rack, it can carry tons of lightweight bulky items like sleeping bags,tent, clothes etc bungied on in Duffel Bags.

Wish I had a Pic of my old Toyota Tercel 4WD mini-wagon fully loaded.  The roof had 300lbs of shit on it when I made some of my interstate moves.

Should only cut gas mileage by 3-4 mpg.

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Everything Under the Sun / Re: Staying Positive
« on: May 07, 2014, 07:12:00 PM »
Quote from: Gypsymamba on May 07, 2014, 11:42:55 AM
I wrote about it on The Butterchurn if you guys want more details about it...

That was a powerful story GM.

I will cross post it on the Diner.

Miss you too, and everybody else.  Not just physically, everybody is so quiet these days.  :(

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Shelter / Re: Dome-RV Hybrid: Flying Under the Radar
« on: May 04, 2014, 06:03:16 AM »
If one of these was available up here, I would park my BM there IMMEDIATELY!

The biggest thing stopping me from moving in to my BM is the lack of a good place to park it and being constrained by its size limit inside.  This resolves both problems.

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Shelter / Re: Dome Storage Units
« on: May 03, 2014, 10:21:12 PM »
Quote from: jdwheeler42 on May 03, 2014, 09:39:16 PM
I like the concept, but the numbers aren't thrilling me.  You've got some mighty optimistic assumptions in there: full occupancy, no delinquencies, 0% financing, no maintenance costs (the domes might not have any, but how about the driveways?), no taxes, no insurance, no legal fees.... Under those assumptions a 5 year payoff is not very exciting.  Still, with the kind of lifespan a dome should have, could be very worthwhile.

Well, Storage Units are clearly a good Bizness Model, because they have popped up all over the country like Buboes in a Plague.  One suspects as more people get foreclosed on, they drop their stuff into storage units.

The only difference here is the Cost Difference between the standard model of Metal Buildings vs the cost of the Domes.  I don't know how big that cost difference is overall, or whether people will/can pay the Premium for the more Secure form of storage.  In terms of Lifespan though, the domes have it all over the metal buildings, they will be still up in 50 years, where the metal buildings will have rusted through.

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Shelter / Dome-RV Hybrid: Flying Under the Radar
« on: May 03, 2014, 08:36:24 PM »
I have come up with a new concept incorporating my 2 favorite Shelter methods, Bugout Machines and Domes.  8)

In this concept, the Dome serves as a Shelter for the BM, and the BM has the kitchen and bathroom facilities.


In this design, I utilized the 28' Tri-Dome to create 3 "Docking Stations" for your RV or Trailer.  A small "Pop-Up" type trailer can be used for this, long as it has the Kitchen stuff and Bathroom Stuff.

On either side of the Docked BM, you get 2 Bedrooms, or a bedroom and office, however you want to lay it out.  The Loft area is set up a s a Living Room in this Layout, with a Couch, Chairs and Big Screen LCD TV from China.  ;D  Seriously, setting it up more as a Dining/Work Space would probably be the choice.

You could extend the length of the Augments with the concrete Wall Building techniques to provide security for your entire vehicle assembly.

The rules you work under here is as an RV Park, and you provide full Hook-Ups for the RVs for Water, Sewage and Electric.  The only difference from the typical RV Park is that the parking spaces are covered with a Dome.  So they fit under the category of Garages, not Domiciles.  This should allow you to skate around the building codes for Domiciles.  The "housing" is actually mobile housing, so you are fitting in with the Tiny House people by making it rolling and mobile.

The Renter of the Unit can either provide their own BM, or can rent one in addition to renting the parking spot under the Dome.  The Dome itself could either be Ecoshell in the cheaper alternative, or Monolithic insulated in the more expensive version.

I would estimate a Rental Cost of $100/week or $350/mo for each space.  Rental of an RV with Kitcken/Bathroom another $50/wk if you don't have your own.

For the Rentier who is running this system, very low Maintenance costs, and if one of the RV units you rent gets trashed or malfunctions, you can just replace it easily.  Just pull it out, back in a new one!  Much easier than fixing bathrooms that are set in place!

This combines all the ideas of RV Park, Dome and Bugout Machine into one affordable living arrangement.  It doesn't have to be the only type available on your Sunstead, you can have more Upscale ones also, and downscale units also for people who no longer can afford a car and just need shelter.

Thoughts welcome.

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Everything Under the Sun / Re: Staying Positive
« on: May 03, 2014, 01:01:30 AM »
Quote from: luciddreams on May 02, 2014, 08:55:32 PM
I now consider everybody at the convocation to be part of my tribe...part of my family.  Even RE.   :P

I'm the Crazy Uncle the Tribe tolerates because he is Funny and has an upwardly mobile Alexa Ranking.  ;D

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Shelter / Re: Dome Storage Units
« on: May 02, 2014, 06:33:08 PM »
Nobody likes this idea?  :'(

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Shelter / Dome Storage Units
« on: May 02, 2014, 01:18:33 AM »
Brainstorm!

A way to gain experience building Ecoshells creating a Turn-key Bizness.

Storage Units are Ubiquitous, I love them.  I still maintain my unit in MO where I store my car and flotsam from my life down in the Lower 48.  It is 10x20' and costs me $75/mo.

Like all storage units though, it is a Metal Building which turns into Razor Blades in a Tornado.  So no very secure protection for my stuff if one drops down in Springfield like the one that dropped down the road a ways  in Joplin.

Here below is a design using the 36' Ecoshell I used for the Garages and Greenhouse combo unit for the Dome Community.  Each Dome has 8 Units, 4 big ones and 4 smaller ones.  Dimensions are estimated.


Now, besides being Tornado resistant and more secure from break in, these units are also possible to Climate Control much cheaper than the Metal Buildings.

Because it is Ecoshell , you can do the 4 additional cut-aways for the 4 additional access points necessary.  Each of the Units has an additional Loft area for more storage besides the Ground Floor.  Access to the Loft area by Ladder.

Based on current prices in Springfield, MO, a climate controlled SU the size of the large units would get around $150/mo rent.  Add the Tornado-resistance and security aspects, you could charge a $30 premium easy I think.  So call rent on these units $180/mo.  Rent on the smaller units, half that at $90/mo.  So, fully occupied as SUs, each Dome brings in around $1080/mo or around $12K/year.  The building is paid off in under 5 years EZ.

Since it is not designed for Residential Occupancy, you don't have all the building codes you have to meet for that.  Beauty is, AFTER TSHTF, the units could easily be transformed into Housing!  To prepare for that, when you build you add in the conduits for electric & water, but don't actually hook them up.

Go to the Oklahoma Town recently Flattened by a Tornado and put up 4 of these Storage Units, and you will instantly rent out all of them.

This is even easier and cheaper to get into than the Motel paradigm.  These days, what person in Tornado Alley who currently uses a Storage Unit would not want to shift over their stuff to our Tornado-Proof SUs, for just a slight additional charge?  We will take over the Storage Unit bizness in no time!

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Everything Under the Sun / Re: Staying Positive
« on: May 01, 2014, 07:14:28 PM »
Quote from: Eddie on May 01, 2014, 11:34:30 AM
Looking forward to a visit. I will come before August! I'll touch base when I figure out when.

Let me know when you are heading for CA.  Now that I am not going to AoL, I have time for a different trip.

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Everything Under the Sun / Re: Staying Positive
« on: May 01, 2014, 05:59:32 PM »
I think there are many factors in play here.

The nonsense which went on with the Trolls on the Diner brought everybody down.  It remains quite difficult to get this site going without the Magic Letter.  While Harry appears to be working hard on getting a Dome Company off the ground, there's nothing real tangible there yet either.  LD came home to find a couple of clients backed out and the plans to move to Asheville were put on hold.  WHD is bizzy with side jobs and spring gardening tasks.

Main thing I think though is we still don't have a "Home Base".  The Toothstead was great to visit, but it's just Eddie's place.  SUN remains Homeless.   Maintaining Positive Spirits without a Home is hard.

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Shelter / Re: Community Infrastructure
« on: April 26, 2014, 05:28:49 PM »
With the Rental Communities, at least until the Gas disappears completely, I figure about half the people would have carz.  You could eliminate a lot of roadway by putting  a Carport/Parking Lot near the public road and all walking/biking inside the community.  However, for the former middle class folks retiring to one of these places, that would be a big step down.  If you can still provide these creature comforts just in downsized dwellings, that would appeal to more people.

The sewage and electrics you really can't do without and still meet code in most places.  Providing enough Off grid power would be very expensive.  Running electric power cords to buildings very spread out, also expensive.  So here it really demands you keep the structures close together to cut down on cost.

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Shelter / Community Infrastructure
« on: April 26, 2014, 05:00:20 AM »
The topic of Standard Dome Models brought up the issue of Community Infrastructure, which has not yet been well examined in terms of cost per unit, or how you Scale Up at any point in the development of a Sunstead or Rental Community.

It is pretty easy to figure your cost on one building with a few units parked on a street maintained currently by local Property Taxes, along with bringing in sewer and water lines and central electricity.

Once you start to think a bit bigger than just one unit or even a couple, you soon need to provide not just the buildings, but some kind of road system that you probably have to build.  Also, unless every unit has its own off grid power supply, you will need to bring Grid Power into the community.  Then there are the Water supply and Sewage disposal issues as well to deal with.

Obviously, all these factors vary depending where you choose to build, depending on the local Regulations and so forth.  For the Rental Communities, you definitely will need to Meet Code on all of these things, and this equally obviously drives up the prices.

So, some sort of Scaling table needs to be constructed here, on a spreadsheet likely, where you can plug in Local Regulations and costs to get an idea of how much it is going to cost if you put up 4 units or 8 or 80, and how far apart they all are.  When do you reach the point you need to provide a Privately built access road?  Does that road need to be paved, can you do with just gravel or even just a dirt road?  What are the ongoing maintenance costs for this?

Can we construct a spreadsheet which will factor in these costs and make a decent estimate?  It will impact seriously on the cost for Renting a Unit, since the bigger the community, the higher the ongoing maintenance costs will be for this besides the initial investment.

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