Smell you all later I'm soo happy to be homlesss

Joined
Sep 16, 2020
Messages
971
I think HOAs are a disease of real estate. More of a parasite than what they claim as being a symbiote. Sure, I get they theoretically keep communities clean, orderly, and maintained. Sometimes they even fix issues with the actual house/condo. But they exist to be profitable like an insurance company; and that means denying requests to fix problems; or finding the lowest bidder, bottom of the barrel contractor to do the work. Many times it's not completely the contractor's fault; it's the threat of being dropped by the HOA if the contractor recommends the right (but expensive) repair.

I've ditched the HOA many years ago, but could residents vote to dissolve an HOA if they are dissatisfied? Perhaps it should be an option to keep the HOA accountable.
 

Bob2650

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 1, 2021
Messages
66
Notice! This is a bit too much information and nothing to do with flashlights.
I live in a small house from the mid 80s. 70 miles North East from down town Dallas.
No HOA anywhere in my tiny town. The government classifies the entire town as Rural. I actually got a no down payment USDA loan for the house. Low enough mortgage that I can make it on Social Security. I too had outrageous medical bills concurrent with retirement. Took all my savings, sold all the best of my prized possessions and ran up all my cards then said to hell with it and declared bankruptcy. Now I am debt free except for the mortgage. Forget about going on ocean cruses or European vacations but my body is not up to any of that right now anyway.
I lived in a motor home for several years long ago and I agree that the older better built Airstream trailer is really worth it. Just make sure the roof has never leaked. Avon is second best and some others are also very good. If and only if it has an aluminum frame. Do not waste money on anything made with wood framed walls and roof. A roof leak destroys them faster than the leak will be noticed. The best kind is one that spent it's entire life parked in someone's driveway and only has a few trips on it with no long rough roads. One trip up something like the ALCAN highway will wear out the structural components of any travel trailer, even the Airstream. Lots of back woods logging trails or gravel roads will wear them out quick. With a wood framed roof it only takes one really bad bump to make the air-conditioner bust the roof trusses. That creates a low spot that collects water that eventually leaks inside the roof to create rot and mold. Take a close look at the roof of any brand of trailer and check if the roof has any sort of low spot that can hold even the smallest amount of water. This kind of roof rot problem is almost impossable to repairable and usually not worth messing with. If it needs a tarp over the roof beware! You just can't buy one like that cheap enough to be worth the trouble. Sorry, I seem to be repeating myself again but this problem is a real heart breaker.
Oil field travel trailers can be found very cheap when the oil patch hits a bust cycle but most of those have been drug through hell and back, worn out and trashed on the inside. The interior of most motor homes and travel trailers are not up to the wear and tear of constantly living in them. However, even a worn out trailer with a tarp over it beats a tent so it all depends on what you can afford.
Many places have a "hippy ordnance" left over from the 1960s when a lot of unusual people and a few no-goods were living in converted busses. This ordnance forbids living in a motor home inside those same city limits, even a half million dollar coach in your own back yard or driveway. Living in travel trailers, even worn out junk, is usually allowed in those same cities if you can find a proper place to park like a friend's back yard, driveway or a trailer park.
Living in a tent? Well, that is something you can get used to but not something to look forward too.
 

fuyume

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 25, 2021
Messages
275
The last two times I was homeless were also in the Summer, when it's bearable. For me, at least, I had a pickup truck with a bed cap, and I was still skinny enough to crawl through the rear window to and from the cab, so when it was raining, I didn't even have to get wet. I kept thinking about how much money I wasn't paying on rent!

The 6.5 foot bed of my truck I inherited from my dad (I never would have bought a short bed, myself) was *just* long enough for me to lay flat. I put down a sheet of 1/4" Lauan plywood to cover the ridged plastic bed liner, and on top of that stacked up two backpacking sleeping mats, and made my bed on top of those. It was actually quite comfortable. I ran a 150 W inverter with a power strip from the cab to the bed to charge my phone and laptop. I would park out in front of the library to use their free WiFi and download tv shows and movies to watch later.

If you have a car, you should know that dispersed camping is free without reservation in all National Forests and Grasslands, though there may be limitations on how long you can stay in any given campsite before you have to move X miles away, and they are first-come, first-served, with no way to "save" your campsite, if you decide to go for a drive. On especially hot days, I would drive up the forest roads to as high an elevation as I could get, where it would be so much cooler than down in town.

There are tons of drive-in dispersed camping sites with established fire pits in the National Forests, and you don't even need to ask permission. Just find an empty one, and use it. Make sure to check any notifications of site closures with the local Ranger station.

I got my water from an artesian spring by the roadside just outside of town, and kept a 5-gallon bucket for a toilet with a second 5-gallon bucket of sawdust for cover material. I would find a secluded area, prop a 7-gallon water jug on top of my truck, and use the spout to shower while standing on a dish drainboard to keep my feet clean.

I cooked on a small butane backpacking stove, and kept my big Coleman cooler mainly to keep things from getting too hot, rather than trying to keep it filled with ice. When you are homeless, you very quickly discover what foods keep without refrigeration. Most people don't realize eggs don't actually need to be refrigerated, if you make sure to turn them over once a day. I also had a portable propane tabletop grill for grilling.

The worst part, really, is finding a place to park for the night where it's dark, safe, and you won't be disturbed by police or paranoid people. You don't realize how much light pollution there is at night until you are homeless and trying to find a decent place to sleep.
 

fuyume

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 25, 2021
Messages
275
I really wish I had a plain white cargo van, especially a 4x4 diesel one. Those are the best vehicles for living out of. They just look like a regular common workvan, and get decent gas mileage for their size, and the 4x4 makes it easy to go wherever. Put some blackout privacy curtains so people can't see past the cab, and put a couple of solar panels and a ventilation port on the roof, and that's all you really need. If you can install insulation, so much the better.
 

KITROBASKIN

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 28, 2013
Messages
5,450
Location
New Mexico, USA
Interesting info from fuyume.

After 8 days, just returned from sister's semi-investment, husband project (where their extended family can relax and son can hunt) remote house south of Cloudcroft, New Mexico, about 6000 feet elevation. The land in the forest above 8000 feet is glorious right now. Just ask the elk.

We hauled water but helped install over 6000 gallons of rain catchment, It has grid power. Occasionally the community has piped water from the few, shallow wells. Deeper wells yield failure.

Point is, it can be done but after years of me living without running water, certain standards need to be met.

Using hot water to wash hands and feet with soap can be done with an electric battery water bottle water heater, powered by solar panels. No fire danger, no need to refuel, no stink from smoke, fumes or carbon monoxide.

Short hair can be washed with about a gallon of water. Washcloth cleaning morning and night (I do not use soap in that way, keeping a healthy skin biome is useful). Soap and water for the feet every morning is what I do. This also cleans the hands but hand washing needs to be done throughout the day depending on activity.

Use deodorant. Use a laundromat or someone's washing machine, keeping sheets, underwear, socks, etc. regularly clean. Oral health is super important.

Toilet wet wipes, plastic pitcher to catch liquid, with peat moss (sawdust is ok) and a simple stand, over a 5 gallon bucket with lid has worked for years (PM me for photographic detail). If you leave it outside, you risk it being disturbed.

I keep it in a "compost shed" built about 4 foot by 8 foot with shed roof using plywood and 4 by 4's on a pair of railroad ties. It has a decent quality (cosmetic defect) door to absolutely keep out creatures.

With a lock on it, our battery powered chainsaw, sledge hammers, high lift jack and other stuff (empty flashlight boxes in a sort-of sealed can) are somewhat secure, though I just leave the key in the lock for convenience.

We have land to compost it in a <3 foot deep hole where after considerable years, the nearby trees and mycelium, etc. utilize what is valuable, leaving a light, earth smelling soil.

Use some kind of half sheet of 3/4 inch treated plywood to cover compost pit until it goes to earth to keep dogs, bears out of it, with heavy rocks or cinderblocks to hold it down.

Liquid waste is broadcast over a convenient wide area where it will dissipate.

Hopefully there is some kind of love in one's life along with a desire to be there for the next rising sun.
 

raggie33

*the raggedier*
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Messages
13,573
Sucks no company adds starting watts specs till there aplinces I want a 5000 btu window ac and a mini fridge. I'm trying to figure out how many watts of solar panels I'd need. This one property. I'm looking at is in Arizona so I have good sun all day.for lighting I'm just using solar garden lights
 

KITROBASKIN

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 28, 2013
Messages
5,450
Location
New Mexico, USA
Solar panels might output 80% of stated watts for the most part in full sun; Much less with any clouds covering the sun.

Where in Arizona is this land?

Quality inverters will actually provide stated surge watts. Modern heat pump type air conditioners are built with a soft start.

Mini fridge might need 60 watts when it is running; easier to handle but an air conditioner will be 10 times as much maybe. Look up the specification sheet or information label for power needs.
 

KITROBASKIN

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 28, 2013
Messages
5,450
Location
New Mexico, USA
This unit has a hose within a hose system and needs maybe as much as 1500 Watts on maximum (looks like), but I understand it can run at lower levels. It also can provide heat but the price of a solar system to power this will be substantial, and if you need it at night, the price for additional batteries, panels and equipment becomes serious.

 

Bob2650

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 1, 2021
Messages
66
I have one of those Toshiba Inverter AC/heat pump units. Works great on my EU2200i. I Think that running an AC off solar and batteries is not going to be ideal. You will need extra solar pannels to make up for the AC during the heat of the day which is when you need to be charging the batteries. Due to the way inefficiencies stack up, probably 2,500 extra watts in solar or more to run that 1,500 watt load all day.
Just a semi knowlegable guess, I will be looking forward to the opinion of the been there and already doing that kind of experts with real life data.
 

raggie33

*the raggedier*
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Messages
13,573
Yeah right up my alley I love star gazing there is no city light out there at all from what I'm told I'm looking at 3 different lots from 10 acres to 35.most have small RVs on cabins on the land but no power or water well one has 2 2500 gallon tanks . And solar
 

raggie33

*the raggedier*
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Messages
13,573
Ps guess what's legal in Arizona. After all it's america there we can grow any plant we choose and as adults we can enjoy that plant
 

Bob2650

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Joined
Aug 1, 2021
Messages
66
Dual inverter air conditioners do cost more but you might end up saving money by being able to use a smaller power inverter. I say might save money because the AC is probably your biggest load and it runs a long time. That is going to make the power inverter very hot and perhaps kill it if the power inverter is not oversized enough.
We are talking about two kinds of inverters here. The power inverter takes your battery DC voltage and turns it into 60 cycles per second 115 volts or some approximation of that depending on how close to a "pure sine wave" it is. The air conditioner inverters are Variable Frequency Drives that control the motor speed of the fan and compressor. Pure sine wave is not an issue for them because the motors don't care.
Here is an example of one of the smaller dual inverter window air conditioners:
It claims a CEER of 13.8! That is a very good number.
Amperage spec is 11.8 amps. (perhaps 1350 watts if you trust their numbers) Of course that is running full blast, it will ramp way down during normal operation if you only require 5,000 BTU.
There is no surge like with a regular compressor that is simply switched on with a loud kick.


If anyone finds a 5,000 BTU window dual inverter AC please let us know.

Strangely, some of the air conditioner sales literature descriptions seem to confuse/co-inflate twin rotary compressors with dual inverters. The word inverter can refer to many different things. The inverter in question here is a high power electronic device that takes the 60 cycles per second of house electricity and turns it into a variable frequency which will be, for example, 30 cycles per second when half speed is desired instead of cycling on and off every few minutes with the big power surge and noise every time. With the inverters in the AC, the fan and compressor gradually change speed as more or less cooling is needed. You can hear it winding up or down but it does not make that kicking in noise.
A twin rotary compressor is a mechanical part, a more complicated compressor. Perhaps better, time will tell.
 

KITROBASKIN

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 28, 2013
Messages
5,450
Location
New Mexico, USA
Yeah Seligman is over 5000' elevation so cooler nights in the summer. Open the windows.

Getting a decent quality DC to AC pure sine wave inverter that has sufficient headroom to power your needs is a good idea when it is a vital component to living. Ideally a charge controller is purchased that can handle more solar panels in the future. The ability to expand battery capacity is sound practice, I think.

Hopefully raggie will not make such important decisions too quickly. Well water there may be iffy. Buying a dry lot in an area with such low rainfall will require water hauling; not something a motorcycle is good at.
 

Monocrom

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Messages
20,186
Location
NYC
Raggie, are you out there somewhere? How's it going on the road?
+1 on that. Hope he gives us an update.

If you're reading this, Raggie; do yourself a favor and don't come up to my neck of the woods. Not that I wouldn't welcome you. But NYC Summers are surprisingly brutal! Winters tend to be the same. Though the last two were what I'd call quite mild. This past Winter, it really only snowed a bit heavy, once. But Summer? Forget it! NYC is a sanctuary city, but only for illegal immigrants. They get treated relatively well. Homeless citizens get treated like garbage here by comparison.

If I were in your shoes, and no offense Brother I'm glad I'm not, I'd look for a room to rent in a private house. A small, basic one, depending on the City and State could run as little as $700 a month. Very small, very basic. But a safe place to sleep out of the elements, and far less danger from predators (the 2-legged variety).
 

aznsx

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Messages
1,699
Location
Phoenix, AZ USA
AZ's a great state in general. Do keep in mind however that Seligman is ~5200' elevation, so the Winter nights are cold. You'll be more in need of heat in the Winter than A/C in the Summer.
 
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