Tiny homes are fun until a pandemic hits

[kgbsquirrel]

She adores the videos of all the women living large in their tiny conveyances free of all encumbrances like a spouse, bills, responsibility, etc.  I am afraid the cancer treatments impacted her mind as well as her body.

The constant consuming of that media amounts to brainwashing.

[charby]

She has one I bought, but that has never gotten finished.  That's her M/O.  Dream, want, acquire, never follow through.  I am expected to make her dreams come true
I'm really good at telling my wife no, or you can pay for it if you really want it that bad.

[Grandpa Shooter]

Charby said, "I'm really good at telling my wife no, or you can pay for it if you really want it that bad."

I am the sole support of my household and that's from my retirement and Social Security.  I try to motivate her to do something, anything, but I am afraid it's a losing battle.

[ConstitutionCowboy]

Right?

A tiny home would be okay if I also had an 80x120 pole barn workshop as well.  Then I'd just build an apartment in the workshop, and live there.  So I guess I wouldn't need a tiny home.   

Yup. Me too.

Woody

[zxcvbob]

Charby said, "I'm really good at telling my wife no, or you can pay for it if you really want it that bad."

I am the sole support of my household and that's from my retirement and Social Security.  I try to motivate her to do something, anything, but I am afraid it's a losing battle.

I'm sorry.  (what about her social security?)  Can you rent an RV and go on a road trip?  Three or 4 weeks of living like that ought to get it out of her system, and you can see some mighty pretty national parks (like Zion and Yellowstone) along the way.

[tokugawa]

I kicked around the idea of a semi trailer with a fix it shop-mill, welder, lathe etc inside. And some sort of housing unit.
Problem I see is every place you could pull in and set up., there would be a local guy losing work.

My wife and I are tool junkies. Different sorts of tools,she is oriented to soft goods, spinning, weaving, sewing, knitting, I am the wood and metal guy. We just love to make stuff.

[kgbsquirrel]

I kicked around the idea of a semi trailer with a fix it shop-mill, welder, lathe etc inside. And some sort of housing unit.
Problem I see is every place you could pull in and set up., there would be a local guy losing work.

My wife and I are tool junkies. Different sorts of tools,she is oriented to soft goods, spinning, weaving, sewing, knitting, I am the wood and metal guy. We just love to make stuff.

Mom and Dad made most of my stuff until age eight when it started to taper off.  Dad with the carpentry and Mom with the sewing.  Good memories and a good example.

[230RN]

My wife was diagnosed with cancer in Nov. 2019.  We have spent most of the Covid dealing with her cancer.  In December 2020 she was declared free of cancer, for now.  Her type has a 20% recurrence rate.  In that time she has become obsessed with the nomad life and do it yourself live-in conveyances.  She bought an old ambulance last fall and has partially converted it with my help and a friend who fixed multiple wiring issues.  She is determined to take off and travel and see the country she never cared to see when I retired back in 2009.  We gave up 20 acres and a single wide in Az to move to Ky and help out with the granddaughters. (Help out means housing and raising them for nearly 6 years, which was not the plan.)  Now we have 4 1/2 acres, 2 horses, 3 dogs, and a cat and a 100 year old farmhouse to boot.  I don't seem to be able to get her to understand that at 71 I don't care to sell everything and hit the road for a fairy tale life living in campgrounds, Walmart parking lots and dirt roads that go nowhere.  I get that cancer scared the bejebus out of her and she now wants to live, rather than exist like she was doing, but really?

The first thing I asked about as I was being seduced into the "freedom of the road" was how do I handle mail?  Are you gonna carry cash around for everything?  If so where do you get the cash? Where's the nearest mailbox?

I had a rather comfortable cab-over camper (fridge, stove, sink, etc) for a number of years and it was great for a weeklong jaunt, but by then it started to feel like a prison on wheels, despite the "freedom of the road" "Easy rider" feeling. (The same feeling as when I was a teenager and first got my driver's license.  That feeling seems to override and block out thinking about day-to-day practical problems.)

Disabuse her of the notion that it's going to be fun, fun, fun forever.  And here's a "toughie."  What if there's a recurrence while you're out in Lame Hawk MT?

(And I am aware that a lot of things can be done today with smart phones than back in 1989.)

Terry
----------------
28 Mar 1989: "Where's the nearest mailbox?"

[ConstitutionCowboy]

The first thing I asked about as I was being seduced into the "freedom of the road" was how do I handle mail?  Are you gonna carry cash around for everything?  If so where do you get the cash? Where's the nearest mailbox?

I had a rather comfortable cab-over camper (fridge, stove, sink, etc) for a number of years and it was great for a weeklong jaunt, but by then it started to feel like a prison on wheels, despite the "freedom of the road" "Easy rider" feeling. (The same feeling as when I was a teenager and first got my driver's license.  That feeling seems to override and block out thinking about day-to-day practical problems.)

Disabuse her of the notion that it's going to be fun, fun, fun forever.  And here's a "toughie."  What if there's a recurrence while you're out in Lame Hawk MT?

(And I am aware that a lot of things can be done today with smart phones than back in 1989.)

Terry
----------------
28 Mar 1989: "Where's the nearest mailbox?"

Eh ... When I see something like that Camper on the Grasslands, I think Lightning Rod!

Woody

[230RN]

Eh ... When I see something like that Camper on the Grasslands, I think Lightning Rod!

Woody

You ain't just whistling Dixie, brother. Only got scared / concerned once, but the storm passed over.  I will say "there are no atheists in campers with flagpoles on the Grasslands."  There was a grounding strap hanging off the rear bumper, but I didn't think it would carry ten thousand amps.  A thousand, eh, maybe, but...

Actually, the Grasslands are the Grasslands since farming was really difficult in days of yore because of lack of rainfall.  There are wind-pumped wells scattered around up there, and cows can browse, but I think the "animal grazing unit" is something ridiculous, like twenty-five acres or some such.

Terry

[kgbsquirrel]

You ain't just whistling Dixie, brother. Only got scared / concerned once, but the storm passed by.  I will say "there are no atheists in campers with flagpoles on the Grasslands."  There was a grounding strap hanging off the rear bumper, but I didn't think it would carry ten thousand amps.  A thousand, eh, maybe, but...

Actually, the Grasslands are the Grasslands since farming was really difficult in days of yore because of lack of rainfall.  There are wind-pumped wells scattered around up there, and cows can browse, but I think the "animal grazing unit" up there is something ridiculous, like twenty-five acres or some such.

Terry

Hmm.  It could probably do it, once. 

[Nick1911]

Hmm.  It could probably do it, once. 

If nothing else, the ball of rapidly expanding super-heated plasma that use to be the grounding strap would serve as an effective conduction path for the duration of the event.   

[kgbsquirrel]

If nothing else, the ball of rapidly expanding super-heated plasma that use to be the grounding strap would serve as an effective conduction path for the duration of the event.   

Exactly! 

[RoadKingLarry]

She has one I bought, but that has never gotten finished.  That's her M/O.  Dream, want, acquire, never follow through.  I am expected to make her dreams come true.

De ja vue.
I get the same action  from my wife.

[Grandpa Shooter]

De ja vue.
I get the same action  from my wife.

Don't get me wrong.  I love her dearly but she does drive me crazy at times.  We are the polar opposites for personality, prudence, punctuality, persistence, p,p,p, you get the picture.  It takes two to tango, or tangle.

[Nick1911]

De ja vue.
I get the same action  from my wife.

I blame marketing and advertising.  We're bombarded every day with advertisements that build a narrative of some idealistic event or experience and couple it to something that we need to spend money on to obtain that lifestyle/experience/dream.  With that in our heads, we purchase the product or service, feeling elated because we feel like we bought the emotion - the things that the advertisement made us feel.

It's all baloney though, the advertisement is presenting a fantasy that doesn't really exist.  Buying the products or service in question won't make that fantasy materialize and won't (by itself) cause the us to experience the emotions being prayed upon in the advert.  The cold reality sets in, we find ourselves unfulfilled until the next advertisement stirs an emotional response.

Even if you know this is happening, these psychological manipulations still have an effect.  That in mind, Nick says: Accept that advertisements are psychological manipulations without your best interests in mind.  They are solely designed to extract money from you, and therefore it is in your best interest to avoid them whenever possible.  The industry has spent a terrific amount of time and money working out how to manipulate you.  Why would you subject yourself to that?

[RoadKingLarry]

Don't get me wrong.  I love her dearly but she does drive me crazy at times.  We are the polar opposites for personality, prudence, punctuality, persistence, p,p,p, you get the picture.  It takes two to tango, or tangle.

Sounds like we're playing the same part in the same play.

[Jim147]

You ain't just whistling Dixie, brother. Only got scared / concerned once, but the storm passed over.  I will say "there are no atheists in campers with flagpoles on the Grasslands."  There was a grounding strap hanging off the rear bumper, but I didn't think it would carry ten thousand amps.  A thousand, eh, maybe, but...

Actually, the Grasslands are the Grasslands since farming was really difficult in days of yore because of lack of rainfall.  There are wind-pumped wells scattered around up there, and cows can browse, but I think the "animal grazing unit" is something ridiculous, like twenty-five acres or some such.

Terry

On the bright side it would have recharged your flux capacitor.

[charby]

Charby said, "I'm really good at telling my wife no, or you can pay for it if you really want it that bad."

I am the sole support of my household and that's from my retirement and Social Security.  I try to motivate her to do something, anything, but I am afraid it's a losing battle.

Could try the whole, let's finish the she shed, then the RV-bulance and then talk about this nomadic life style.

[tokugawa]

I blame marketing and advertising.  We're bombarded every day with advertisements that build a narrative of some idealistic event or experience and couple it to something that we need to spend money on to obtain that lifestyle/experience/dream.  With that in our heads, we purchase the product or service, feeling elated because we feel like we bought the emotion - the things that the advertisement made us feel.

It's all baloney though, the advertisement is presenting a fantasy that doesn't really exist.  Buying the products or service in question won't make that fantasy materialize and won't (by itself) cause the us to experience the emotions being prayed upon in the advert.  The cold reality sets in, we find ourselves unfulfilled until the next advertisement stirs an emotional response.

Even if you know this is happening, these psychological manipulations still have an effect.  That in mind, Nick says: Accept that advertisements are psychological manipulations without your best interests in mind.  They are solely designed to extract money from you, and therefore it is in your best interest to avoid them whenever possible.  The industry has spent a terrific amount of time and money working out how to manipulate you.  Why would you subject yourself to that?

 This ought to be engraved on a stainless steel card and issued at birth.
 

[MillCreek]

^^^And on the flip side, we can engrave 'It if flies, floats or fu*ks, it is cheaper to rent'.

[230RN]

"Buy things that increase in value, rent things that decrease in value."


One of those aphorisms that are not 100% true, but useful to keep in mind.

[fifth_column]

I blame marketing and advertising.  We're bombarded every day with advertisements that build a narrative of some idealistic event or experience and couple it to something that we need to spend money on to obtain that lifestyle/experience/dream.  With that in our heads, we purchase the product or service, feeling elated because we feel like we bought the emotion - the things that the advertisement made us feel.

It's all baloney though, the advertisement is presenting a fantasy that doesn't really exist.  Buying the products or service in question won't make that fantasy materialize and won't (by itself) cause the us to experience the emotions being prayed upon in the advert.  The cold reality sets in, we find ourselves unfulfilled until the next advertisement stirs an emotional response.

Even if you know this is happening, these psychological manipulations still have an effect.  That in mind, Nick says: Accept that advertisements are psychological manipulations without your best interests in mind.  They are solely designed to extract money from you, and therefore it is in your best interest to avoid them whenever possible.  The industry has spent a terrific amount of time and money working out how to manipulate you.  Why would you subject yourself to that?

I agree with this entirely. However, I don't think the fault is with advertising. I think this is a description of how our minds work in general, and advertising just takes advantage of it. This "cycle of dissatisfaction" as it were, is human nature and as such has been present in every homo sapien that has ever existed. Siddharth Gautama described it 2500 years ago, and the Hindus even before that. According to Buddhism, full enlightenment is the only way to step off that wheel of desire/dissatisfaction. Personally, I think contentment is its own reward.

[Ron]

I agree with this entirely. However, I don't think the fault is with advertising. I think this is a description of how our minds work in general, and advertising just takes advantage of it. This "cycle of dissatisfaction" as it were, is human nature and as such has been present in every homo sapien that has ever existed. Siddharth Gautama described it 2500 years ago, and the Hindus even before that. According to Buddhism, full enlightenment is the only way to step off that wheel of desire/dissatisfaction. Personally, I think contentment is its own reward.

Consumption of modern media ramps the process up to 11.

"Thou Shalt Not Covet" is contrary to everything modern America stands for kneels before today.

[ConstitutionCowboy]

"Buy things that increase in value, rent things that decrease in value."


One of those aphorisms that are not 100% true, but useful to keep in mind.

I like that. It's a good rule to stay solvent. Basically, the only thing I buy that decreases in value - is food. I eat it, then when I'm done with it, it is worthless. It even cost money to dispose of it! 

Woody