If I hadn’t see all of three people in the last sixteen hours or so (none of whom seemed the least bit curious about me) and if there wasn’t one guy who drives his big diesel truck too fast, I would swear that I live in a ghost village. The sounds last night were not unlike the sounds at my old homestead, birds and coyotes mostly. Very peaceful.
I am disappointed that I did not sleep well though. Too many numbers dancing in my head. Thankfully, I am still working steadily and do have money coming in, but it’s not enough. I need a really big juicy contract to land in my lap. I’m at the point where enough comes in to pay the bills, but with nothing leftover for when calamity strikes repeatedly. I have had A LOT of help in the last few weeks, without which I would never have made it here (thank you again to everyone!) and which I thought was going to give me measure of peace of mind while I got settled here. This last blowout completely f***** me over. 🙁
Anyway, it’s a beautiful cold morning here on the prairie, but it’s warm in the sun in my truck. It sucks to have to drive 3.5KM to get online, but there is a big difference between driving to a public wifi location and driving to a quite turnout where you can use your own connection (which is FAST, wow!). I feel relaxed and that I can do what I need to do. This is going to be a double-edged sword for me. On the one hand, I am more productive when getting online is difficult. On the other, I need the internet to get and sometimes do work.
None of the Bell devices can take an antenna, even if I could get one high enough to get a signal (unlikely). I am going to call them and see what they have to say for themselves considering the village is most definitely dark blue on their coverage map. Of course, being Bell, they are difficult to reach. I miss Verizon.
As promised, some pictures:
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- I’m parked right at the entrance to the property where there is a little cement for the front wheels to sit on. Getting the truck in and out is a pain.
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- Here’s the other side. I want to park much further back and right smack in the middle of the lot where there is more clear sky. I’m okay for now, but will have no solar once the trees get leaves!
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- Can you see how deep the rear wheel is? The other side isn’t as bad and the front is on cement, so I’m confident a stomp on the gas pedal will get me out. I’m waiting till I can get some plywood to put under the wheels before I try to move again.
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- This is the rear of my lot. I will be much happier back here. Right now, my side passenger view is right into my neighbour’s kitchen!
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- View from my truck office. 🙂
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- To the right of me.
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- Behind me.
The lot next to mine looks really wild, junky, and deserted, which makes me feel better about my lot being neglected last summer. I would like to rake up the leaves and trim some trees, but am loathe to invest in any tools until I can afford to put a small shed on the lot. Even better, I’d like to meet a neighbour who would be willing to rent tools, including a lawn mower, but considering how little of an impact my arrival made yesterday, I’m starting to doubt I’ll get to know anyone that well. For a mower, I’d like a little non-powered push type like I had at my house. But that kind of a purchase won’t happen until I can put a lockable storage building on the lot. I checked Canadian Tire and there are some small sheds available for under $500. I am going to keep my eye on the classifieds. I’d also like some pavers to use as a foundation.
I still have no idea what I’d have to do to get water on the lot, but with power lines running right over it, I think that getting electrical will be fairly straightforward. I checked out the Saskatchewan power site and they say it’s a two-step process. The first is to get a pole to your property and the next is to install a metre. I imagine I’d still need a pole, but that it would be way cheaper to install one where there are lines than it would be to bring lines in. Later this summer, I will ask for quote as there is no obligation for doing so.
But, really, power is my last concern. What I really need water. There is a hydrant on the corner which gives me the impression we are on ‘city’ not well water, but I need to confirm that as that would actually surprise me considering just how far out in the middle of nowhere we are. Sewer is not a concern since I can go for ages as long as I can leave my grey valve open.
I also need to call the municipality on Monday to see if I am eligible for Tuesday morning trash collection. My property taxes were only $19 last year, so I won’t be put upon if they say no. If that’s the case, then I’ll need to find the dump. Because of the cat litter, I do generate quite a bit of trash and can’t let it pile up. If am eligible for trash collection, then I need a garbage can, which, again, I can’t get till I have a place to store it. 🙂
I am confused on the situation with the grey water tank. It was damaged by the exhaust problem and did not appear to be repairable. Does the grey water just bypass the tank now and go directly onto the ground? I am not suggesting there is anything wrong with that because it is after all just dish and sink water and poses no threat. I am just curious and wondering if I missed something.
The only damage to the grey tank was the pipe leading to it, which L repaired. So the grey tank is working fine.
The problem is my black tank. I am still using it for wet waste (no paper, loads of water to cut down any risk of smell) since the tank is not leaking and urine is sterile anyway. I’ve been dumping when I can. I am managing solid waste the way I do cat litter, so it’s going in the trash when I don’t have access to public facilities.
I know, not ideal, but I’m not in a position to get this resolved yet. I am going to look into getting a little porta potty like Jody and Gary have that could be dumped into a Blue Boy and then hauled to a dump station. That will be a good interim solution until I can afford to have the black tank replaced.
Our porta potty has a holding tank. I think most camping portable toilets have a water tank for flushing and the detachable holding tank, We just separate the sealed holding tank from the seat/bowl section & take that unit to the dump station. It has an attached spout for easy dumping. The spout turns & is stored under the bowl. Check WalMart or Canadian Tire stores or sites to get a better idea. I should have mentioned this earlier 🙂
I found it on the CDN Tire. It sounds perfect for me. Thanks!
Having lived in SW Kansas where we use trees as landmarks such as …”head south out of town and turn right at the tree” I dislike flat, treeless, open land. I’m not a mountain fan either, guess that is what makes us all unique.
This land is not flat, open, or treeless. 🙂 Right where I am, it’s all rolling hills and there are plenty of trees!
Glad to see you made it safely to your lot. Research and checking all the options might provide what you need to make it more livable. Hope the summer brings you some good luck.
Thanks. I think I used up all my luck on the beach. 🙁
Hills and trees? It looked flat to me. Hills and trees are GOOD!
You’re just seeing one view. I’ll have to bring the camera out again and do some videotaping to show the variety of landscape. 🙂
The hill down to my property is steep enough that I have to go up and down it in low gear in both vehicles.
Rae;
On the subject of water for your property, I once installed what’s called a driven well on a piece of land I owned. It does depend on the type of soil and how deep the water table is in the area though. It cost me under $200. to do the complete well. I did all the work myself.
Here’s a real good video on how it’s done. This guy did it exactly the same way I did. The video mentions that it’s only good for 25 feet down, but that’s to the water table. You can bang the well pipe down well over that distance. I had mine at about 40 feet down and it worked fine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yIX-YCNKh0
Thanks for this, Alan! Glad to have another option.