Chainsaw.

"Giving my love to you is like giving my love to a chainsaw. You keep cutting me open wide, is that the only thing that you're good for?"

Well, thankfully in my case...I'm glad that's what the chainsaw is good for, because that's just what I intend to do with it!

I spent a few weeks trying to find a good Chainsaw dealer in town. The instructor of this course recommends a Stihl MS260, which is a great saw...but of course the most expensive. Stihls are damn good saws, but I knew there were alternatives. I really wanted to find a Husqvarna...or at least a DEALER where I could order one. i went to the Husq website, and it gave me a list of places....one of which doesn't carry them, the other of which is out of business...and then big box stores which I will NOT buy a chainsaw from.

I watched a lot of videos online and read a lot of comments from people...and a name kept coming up I'd never heard of before. Dolmar. I decided to look it up. It was the LEAST expensive of the group of three I'd been looking at (including itself) and had a pretty darn good track record. There was a dealer in town, to boot! After giving up on the search for a Husqvarna and not being as interested in paying a huge premium for the Stihl...I decided to check out the Dolmar.

I drove up to the dealer (10 minutes away at most) and walked in to find a very clean well kept showroom floor (albeit a bit small, but who cares). Hanging there far on the wall were at least 10 Dolmars of all different models....including both the 510 and the 5105. The 5105 is the "factory hot rod" version of the 510. it is lighter weight, with more horsepower and 1000 more rpms. It's a DAMN nice saw, and for less than any of the others I'd looked at.

This dealer is very knowledgeable, very helpful good bunch of guys and the place has been in business for 73 years...so they're not going anywhere. They can do orders for all parts, as well as warranty service.

I ordered it yesterday...should be here Monday or Tuesday. CAN'T WAIT!

How Does it Feel?

How does it feel to be following one of my biggest dreams ever? It feels ferociously amazing.

Almost 4 years ago now I moved to Topeka to get away from the same daily drag of life. Living with my parents and mooching off of them and my friends... I just wasn't going anywhere with my life and decided that I needed to get away.

You see, I met a girl on MySpace and she was kinda cute, so we spent hours chatting and hours on the phone and after she came to visit me I decided she was the ticket. Not only was I getting the hell out of there, but there was a cute girl that wanted to date me in Topeka. So I sold off possessions, packed up my Corvair and moved to Topeka.

I only moved here with a few of my things and under 1000 dollars to live on. I had been hired for a job at a Jiffy Lube in Topeka... After my first day, I quit. The manager prided himself on what a "prick" he was (his words, not mine.) and after a hot hot 107 degree day (which is like being in hell for a Northern Minnesotan boy) I knew I couldn't hack it.

A few months later, I still had no job...and I was running out of money. I was eating crackers with jelly and peanut butter as MEALS. But I started reading. About Log building. I'm not even sure how I stumbled upon it as a possible career choice. I was going to the library a lot to use the computers and I must have been looking cabin building up because I missed my home... Minnesota..

I started to get deep. I was reading THICK books about how to do it. I went online and found the "Great Lakes School of Log Building" and I was into it. That is, until I found out it was going to cost me nearly three thousand dollars (it has more impact written out like that, doesn't it?)

So eventually I forgot about it and got a job at Wal-Mart. I still looked at my floor plan drawings from time to time...but essentially I had given up.

a Couple of years went by, and I had all but moved on with my life. I decided I should try to make cars, my hobby, a legitimate career. So I enrolled in school at Washburn Institute of Technology and went through the Collision repair program... iCar certifications, thousands of dollars in Snap-On tools...

But when I graduated (just last month) I just... didn't feel like going into shops. kissing ass to people I don't know to try and get a job I'm really not that crazy about. I just couldn't do it.

I started thinking about my life and had a complete mental breakdown. Complete with utterly stupefied bawling my eyes out like an idiot and everything. I had to think about what I wanted to do with my life yet again...and log building came back into my head. I pulled out my graph paper and looked at my old drawings...then looked up the school again.

I'm buying my chainsaw next week...I should have all the tools and the tuition by the end of summer, and this fall, I will be attending.

Sometimes you just have to follow your dreams no matter how strange they may sound to you or anyone else. Building log homes is HARD WORK. It's a lot of heavy lifting and a lot of intricate techniques that require precise measuring and cutting. You might not think it sounds like a dream job, and for many people it isn't...but I feel strangely drawn to it. It brings me closer to nature and closer to the survivalist human I know I can be. Creation by my hands...not button pushing for the money for some Chinese guy to put some cheap shit together that I don't need anyway and won't help the american people anyway...

So how does it feel? It feels damn good. I feel like just saving money is making progress. I can't wait to meet the other people attending the course. I can't wait to make it a reality. Draw-knifing that first log, Cutting the edge on that first notch...the smell of nature (and bar oil!)

-LP

Attending?

I've decided to try my damnedest to get the tools and money to go the Great lakes School of Log Building this year. Pretty awesome place that will help me accomplish my goal of not only wanting to build one for myself, but possibly do it for a living.

I've got a decent amount of money to raise. The largest portions being for the tools, and then the lump of cash for the "tuition" (I put it in parentheses because it also includes a nice cabin to live in during the time you're at the course.) tools should end up at just over 1000 dollars. 500 or so for a new chainsaw and then a hundred here and there for some important tools like scribers, axe, chisels, etc...and a lot of small assorted items.

I'm trying to sell my 65 Corvair right now so I can get a van or Jeep or something that is a little more practical for hauling tools and people. my Corvair is fun but I've sort of run my course with working on a 44 year old car every other week and I just want something normal for a while. Don't hesitate to contact me if you are interested. I've got this great little 92 Pontiac Sunbird I just did a bunch of major engine work to, and now it's got a wiring issue of sort that won't allow the car to run right unless you jiggle it...then it just ends up going back to weirdness again anyway.

Everyone thinks you know, I'm a car guy so I should just fix it and blah blah...but that's just the thing, I'm freaking sick and tired of working on cars right now. sometimes I just wanna be like 80 percent of the people on the road that never do ANYTHING mechanical to their cars.

Anyway, I really hope to get to this school!

-LP

Another Home Plan

Floor Plans!

Here are a few photos of the second floor plan I ever toyed with. I understand I'm not the best at drawing perfect lines to scale, but it should be close.

I don't have a fancy name for this one (like I did with Birkenstock) I just call it "Home Two." The design is pretty simple and straightforward with a loft above the two bedrooms. I'm all about lofts.


Here's the Floorplan. Essentially a big room, divided in half with the two bedrooms and one bathroom on one side. It leaves the bedrooms private but still allows the "openness" that I love in houses.

The long "log" going across just to the left of the wood stove going "down" or towards the front is supposed to signify one of the floor rafter/joists for the loft area, I think. I've got another picture for the loft floor pattern but it looks really stupid. (In fact, I will post it next, just for fun.)







Here's the Horrible loft picture. I'm just not sure what I was thinking with the little crossbars. maybe for extra fat people, I don't know. I was thinking a nice little spiral staircase leading up to it... I'm all about those too. they take up a small amount of space and are still functional.












Side view from the bedroom side. notice the purlins extend out in the front so the roof can cover the porch area. The forward pitch of the front and back of the roof is supposed to keep moisture from hitting the ends of the logs all the time...they don't like to be soaking wet all the time...that's how mold grows on log homes, among other bad things. The extended roof area is for the "middle" of the upper loft area. the window below is the bathroom.

I left out the picture of the rear of the house, which shows the right justified rear entry which you can see in the floor plan, and also the window for the rear bedroom, which you can also see on that floorplan.

-LP

Tomato Plants

In my first post, I talked about growing your own food a little bit. We're apartment dwellers, and this is really the first season we've attempted any growing. The Tomato Plants were planted early this spring, and the Chive plant I bought last year at the Farmer's Market in Topeka and have kept it alive since. It is doing well outside in fresh dirt.

This first photo is of our biggest baddest Tomato plant. It is easily twice the size of the other plant which you'll see in the second photo.





The second photo here is of our other Tomato plant. By the way, these are "Beefsteak" Tomato plants. I'm not sure if they will produce all year long, but they are known widely to be the best Tomatoes you can grow. Generally they get so big that a slice covers an entire piece of bread for a sandwich. I intend to make my own marinades, as well as can them for later use in other recipe projects.

Down at the bottom of the photo you can see my little chive plant. It looks a little short because I used it in my eggs this morning. Cut em long right ontop of the eggs...very flavorful. When growing chives, even if you aren't using them in a recipe, they need to get a "haircut" every once in a while to stop them from getting too long.


Sometime probably at the market this coming weekend, I plan on buying a Parsley plant and possibly a Basil plant as well. I don't know if it is too late in the season, but I'd love to grow some green peppers too.

-LP

Pieces to a Peaceful Existence

This is an ongoing list of things I'm creating that in my opinion are essential parts of a healthy peaceful life. By Peaceful I don't mean quiet...I mean without major intrusion into earth's habitat.
Pieces to a successful existence. This is really no particular order. You’ll notice I started with compost...it just happened that way.

1. Compost.

- Your trash doesn’t have to be full of plastic and non-biodigradable materials. Choose wisely and conciously when buying products for use in the home. Many products today are available that will not harm the environment as much as conventional plastis materials.
- Good composting creates a material that is great for growing plants. It is rich in nutrients and it’s creatin rids the landfills of another pile of garbage that doesn’t need to be there.

2. Silence.

- Shut up every once in a while. You’d be surprised, I think, at the number of things you think about when you’re not caught up in your regular routine. You wake up in the morning and immediately start trying to plan the day. Instead of planning...take a few minutes to enjoy a hot cup of coffee (black) and be one with the flow of nature.

3. Creation
- Ultimately I believe we all know how we want to live...what kind of dwelling we want and what we want our home to “do” for us...it’s function. At the very basic levels it keeps us warm and dry and provides us a sense of security from the intrusions of the outisde world, which can sometimes come in with cruel intentions. The important thing to remember is that a dwelling doesn’t have to completely ruin the environment around it to exist. I’m a fan of log homes because they are cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter, they last a long time, are less susceptible to the damage of storms, and require a shorter list of meterials to finish. They also tend to use just a little bit LESS wood than traditional stick-frame houses (look it up.) Log homes can be built by hand by the owner to either self-created blue-prints, or blue prints that may already exist (there are thousands.)
- Another part of that dream for me, is having a simple open home. Bedrooms like any other house...but the livingroom, dining area and kitchen I want them all open somewhat to each other to create the feeling that no matter where you are in the home, you are a part of everything that is going on without having to be in that particular area. It brings a sense of community into the home. Somewhere here I have a floor plan or two I created that I will scan and post which are both very different variations of this sort of “community” idea.


4. Food.

- I am by far no expert on the growing and preservation of foods. I have never canned a thing, but I can attest to it’s effectiveness in keeping foods that would otherwise expire, ready for a later date when you would wish to use them.

- Growing food can be done, and it requires very little from you except a little bit of research. Staggering your planting to provide food for a longer period; Watering smartly on a rtegular basis; using good compost and fertilizer; keeping hungry deer out, etc.

- Growing up I was a big fan of the taste of pickled cucumbers (Pickles.). SO many wonderful things can be grown...carrots, celery, tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, radishes...the list goes on!



5. Food.

-Wait Ryan, didn’t you just talk about food? well, yes...but I have some other thoughts related to food.

- Meat. When our ancestors were living healthy lives, their food wasn’t processed by some big cooperation that altered the DNA to create larger breasts and grow animals in nasty habitats. They went out into the forest, probably with black powder rifles which were a bitch to shoot with any amount of accuracy, and shot their meat themselves. They field dressed their anmials, dragged them back home, and shared them either with just their family, or with the community as a whole. Most of them ate a very vegetarian based diet, and seldom had food; and they weren’t dying of diabetes and heart disease; they weren’t dying of obesity.

What I’m trying to say is...don’t be so worried with how you;re going to get your meat. A lot of meat is BAD for the human diet. It is hard for our bodies to digest flesh and the proteins in the meat- while very complete- are NOT good proteins for our bodies. they aid in the creating of weird cells in the human body that can actually cause and help breed cancer. You don’t have to believe me but hard factual evidence is all around us, and published in very important books. There is a reason vegans aren’t fat, and it isn’t because they can’t find anything to eat...it’s because those people have leanred not to be gluttons.

- Did you know that Vegetables and Fruits have ALL necessary nutrients in them? They are full of antioxidants. They are full of vitamins and minerals that just don’t taste as good in pill form. The proteins link together and help your body create the kind of substances it can use to become healthy and balanced. and they TASTE good! Don’t like carrots in their regular form? how about steaming them til they’re soft and adding a little bit of sea salt and real natural butter? I don’t necessarily advocate eating a lot of dairy products, but a SMALL amount will be fine. You’re consuming carotene (a powerful antioxidant! Antioxidants essentially help your cells from becoming oxidized-which KILLS cells.), vitamin A and potassium; they contain vitamin C, vitamin B6, thiamine, folic acid, and magnesium. Potassium helps your muscles move, and help your heart beat! Vitamin C helps your immune system become strong and ward of evil cells! All that from a carrot? yep.

Cucumbers! another wonderful fruit. Vitamin A, Niacin Trace, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron Phosphorus, Potassium, ComplexCarbohydrates...Cucumber contains erepsin, an enzyme that helps to digest protein!

- Cherries. A growing body of science reveals tart cherries, enjoyed as either dried, frozen cherries or cherry juice, have among the highest levels of disease-fighting antioxidants, when compared to other fruits. They also contain other important nutrients such as beta carotene (19 times more than blueberries or strawberries) vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, iron, fiber and folate. (source: http://www.choosecherries.com/health/main.aspx )

The list goes on. Those are just TWO examples of a plethroa of amazing fruits and vegetables.