MC`s Forest Adventure

[markscastle]

What's up Mark, glad to see your still keeping on. My family's factory had over 100 of those 400 mh with the ballast attached they took them all down and put in floros I'm east coast so don't know how much it would be to ship 15 but if there still there u can have em we ship 1000 big packages a day so shipping is cheaper let me see if I have em and I'll send 15 20 your way if you want.

I could use maybe 30 of them if you have them and I can pay the shipping. Have to set up a delivery point as ground shipping isn`t done out in the forest on 4x4 roads. I`ll PM you when you let me know how many you can get.

 

[markscastle]

Just found out my dad is in the hospital. He had hart attack #9 two weeks ago and now has hart and kidney problems. My sis is with him and my step mom. My other sis is an RN and was staying with them in AZ. but she isn`t their right now I guess. starting a prayer chain.

Got my 6000w charge/inverter set up and my satellite dish put together,. the receiver should come maybe tonight ground shipped to a friend`s house out on the Hwy. I will soon have HDTV in the out house and with luck running water (when it rains). It`s going to make this place almost as up town as LA!

 

[markscastle]

Oh limited power until I get my Honda backup generator fixed or set up more solar panels(which I have). Be a few days until the rain stops and I can work on the panels. Until then I`m on batteries and charging off the alternator in the motorhome. The motorhome`s generator is on and off again working. I need to pull it and rebuild the engine.

 

[markscastle]

This sucks ! I just spent the last three days helping my kids out and got nothing done. Now my blood sugar is high, my back hurts and it is raining so can`t get anything done. To boot my generator is acting up and the spare Honda Generator just went in the shop so running off batteries and the alternator on my motor home. I have 4 new solar panels that need put up, a shelf built, the door repaired on the trailer my son was using , the new satellite dish and receiver installed and I need power to use my custom made trimmer! I`m just sitting around and medicating today. Well I could use the energy in my batteries to watch a couple Netflix movies tonight , get a good night`s sleep and maybe tomorrow will be better. My Daughter and her BF are coming day after tomorrow to cut some fire wood. I was hoping to have a big chunk of stuff done and the place cleaned up a little. Although my vehicles all run , they all have minor stuff that needs done with them as well. I need a newer body , maybe a late teen. Think I could find one on Craig's list or EBay? This one`s getting to dam old ! ! !

 

[markscastle]

The war on drugs needs to be turned into the war on poverty,

 

[markscastle]

Here is a group who although are political in nature are going to fight Measure A in Butte Co. , as well as other negative county code law in other counties/ cities in Cali most likely in the future. I`m thinking we also need to keep our eyes on groups that will work to amend State law probably in 2016 elections .http://libertyrisingbutte.com/ , http://www.cchi2016.org/

Today went a little better although I should have got up and got started earlier. I got the shelf put to gather , all it needs is wiring ports , sanded and stained. I`ll do all of that tomorrow and have the Satellite set up and ready to program. I hope to also have the solar panels put up and hooked up to the battery bank. If there is time I`d like to fix the door to the trailer as well but I don`t know if I can get that motivated. Day after tomorrow my daughter and her BF are coming to cut some fire wood. I`m hoping to get a little work out of them moving some stuff and loading the truck for a trip to the dump while they are here. Slow progress is still progress. If it was summer it would be warm and the day light longer . And my bones wouldn`t ache as much! I`m thinking the Honda Generator will be in the shop awhile so can`t use the trim machine until it gets back. This is my chance to get other stuff caught up I guess. Soon as I can get some units done I`ll be heading down to Socal and it would be nice if this stuff is all caught up when I get back so I can start the land survey and work on getting my greenhouses ready for a summer grow. It`s winter and I`m still playing catch up !!!

 

[markscastle]

Well my daughter and her boy friend came and went. We didn't get much done but had a good visit. Both of my twin daughters will be coming for the weekend however. I plan on putting them to work then around the camp moving and cleaning stuff up and de- boning the rest of my bud so when I get the generator back I`ll be able to get it all trimmed fast.
I stayed up late and stained the cabinet and after they left got everything hooked up inside. I just need to set the dish up, connect it and go through startup and get programing to watch TV. I also need to get the solar panels , connection hub and charge controller hooked up to the battery bank. After that I won`t need to use the generator except for AC in the motorhome. I`ll still need to generate power for the office trailer for now and at some point the hid lights in the green houses. Still working on being energy independent. Hard to do when your 100% off grid to start with!

 

[markscastle]

The girls came and went. They got most of the bud de-boned and I`m still waiting on the generator to get done. I got the TV up and running but haven`t hooked up the solar panels yet. Instead I got a nasty cold from my daughters and have been working on de-boning the rest of the buds. Almost done . I also was able to get the motorhome`s generator to run, but not well. I started to use the trimmer and the baring's started to seize up again( no grease fitting). It will have to be taken apart again and hand greased. The designer of the machine said he will fix the problem but I just want to get stuff done first so I`m not waiting around for it. I can get it apart but need a little help when it comes to putting it back together. My nephew was here last time and helped.

 

[markscastle]

I got a call and my Honda EB6500 is going to take a grand to fix and won`t be done until maybe Friday because the parts are on back order. It runs fine but doesn`t produce electricity. Before it went out it wasn`t producing steady current. Yes the motor is rebuilt and it is cosmetically like new but... I priced this model in very good shape with low hours to be around $1800 , I have $400 into it already. A new one ( they don`t make the exact model anymore) starts at nearly $4000. Nobody seems to be selling a used generator that is in fact in good shape and the few I`ve found are pricy with no guarantees. I hate spending this kind of cash but the alternatives are out of reach right now. New or a much larger solar set up. I `m thinking I want solar but a larger system would cost way to much and until I`m set up on my property permanently I don`t think it would be cost effective. I have so much else that needs my attention. I`ll make do with the 500 watt solar unit I have (yet to be all set up) for the motorhome. I hate having to buy used stuff and then fix it all the time! waist of time as well as money. I`m also thinking I`ll get a much larger diesel generator that would power everything both RV`s, the office tailor ( that will be made into a small cabin in time) and the greenhouses. Looking at maybe an 85kw military unit on a trailer. The Honda would still be used as it`s more portable and for a backup that could even charge the batteries in the larger solar power system when needed. The diesel would have the advantage of redundancy and the fuel keeps for years and can be bought when the price is at it`s lowest. Also the fuel can be got on a farm- agraculture tax exemption , the power could run water pumps and farm equipment.

 

[markscastle]

I`m also going to look into converting the Honda to propane as it runs cleaner and won`t ware out as fast. I could also hook it to a 120 gal tank that doesn`t require a set back and the propane could be delivered at a discount rate or use smaller tanks when it needs to be mobil.

 

[markscastle]

Funny how life is. When you don`t have much you get by, but when you have more money it seems it always takes more than you have by just a little. You never seem to catch up.

 

[markscastle]

Son an his GF came and went. We got 5 units done and I had to break down and clean the trimmer twice already. Partly because it needed greased and partly because the blades keep getting so sticky. The motorhome generator can only handle so much work and part of the time was used to keep batteries charged instead of running the trimmer that takes a lot of the amps it produces. I plan on having it re-worked with barring's and a grease fitting ,but don`t want to do that until I have everything trimmed and out of the way for now. I`m half way wanting to finish all the bud and half way thinking of doing just enough to get my next order out before starting some seeds for the next crop. I need to have the room to set up for a grow room to accommodate seedlings, mothers and clones to have ready in time for next planting so it would be nice to have the room. Haven`t had much time to watch satellite TV but it`s nice the little I`ve been able to. Looking like rain coming so I need to fetch water and get stuff put away for the storm again. I`m also wondering how I`m going to be able to bring home The Honda generator in the back of an open truck if it`s raining. It should be completely rebuilt and done by Friday? Also the generator in the motorhome is smoking a lot and missing badly so hope it will hold out until I get the Honda generator back from the shop. We are half way through the rainy season now and still in need of rain . I don`t think we will have enough to get out of the drought this year and are even more short of a good snow pack in the upper elevations so we need the coming storms badly. Soon as the rainy season is over I need to quickly clean up camp from the pine needles and such and get things in order for planting the Spring crop.

 

[suomynona]

Hey mark, the lawsuit against the county is being filed today, just wanted to give you an update as well as some hope.

 

[markscastle]

I saw that. Don`t know if it will have enough legal merit in State court but seems it would in the Federal system. I`d have also added that the law violates the right from warrantless searches. That using third party snitches amounts to violation of hearsay evidence laws and should not be used to establish reasonable searches. No mater how this goes it still doesn't` address the fact the supervisors can intact more laws. We really need a recall !!!!!

 

[markscastle]

Hey my son came up and we trimmed for a 1 1/2 days. Got 11 units done now and a ton of stuff run through the trimmer. Both of my daughters are coming for the weekend so should have a bunch more done by Monday! It`s going to be very stormy though.

 

[SmokesalotofVT]

hey hey MC..
Glad to see your still Plugging along.. and to Quote the Rolling stones "What a Drag it is Getting Old"
lol send me a PM sometime.. be well and keep in touch ~ (-:

 

[motherlode]

waddup MC - hope you battened down the hatches yo its gonna be crazy this weekend

 

[markscastle]

Yep been crazy so far! Winds exceeding 70 mph. Some good old rain coming in like it hasn`t in years! Shaking the motorhome around and makes it hard to sleep. Friend bought a 1 ton 4x4 truck yesterday and it got crushed tonight by a falling pine tree. Went to my Grandson`s 7th birthday party and on the way back almost got blown off the road. Branches all over the road and a smaller pine down across one lane of the road. The door keeps flying open on the old travel tailor, but it`s not in use right now. I put away most of the food but still have gas cans and stuff in the Blazer to put away. Need to pick up my daughters to trim tomorrow and get propane. I just woke up on the couch in front of the Mr. Heater. LOL!, it ran out of gas and it started getting cool inside the motorhome. I had most of the food put away before snoozing off anyway. Going to have a mess to clean up when the storm is over...and a lot of work that has had to be put off because of the storm and trimming! I got the laundry ,shopping and bills caught up though! Soon as I can get done on the trimming I`ve got to start seeds and run 5 years of popcorn and fine trim into hash , running out of room for it all !

Sink or swim time!

 

[markscastle]

Oh forgot I bought one of those Fantasy five tickets this morning after seeing the prize was $262,000. On the way home stopped at an AM-PM for some quick coffee and saw the prize went down to $60,000. I checked my ticket on the scanner and it said " Must validate winning ticket with clerk , see clerk . When I handed it to be read on the clerk`s scanner it said "winning ticket cannot be redeemed. Winning ticket must be validated tomorrow" WTF does that mean? Is it a $2 winner again? or maybe prize is shared and info must be compared in order to know the shared prize amount?( Most likely a shared $2 winner , LOL!)

 

[suomynona]

So did ya win a nickle or a mill, mark?