Falcoln Container Homes

 

http://www.falconcontainers.com/shipping-container-homes/ .  I disagree with a lot about how this is designed (cutting another door? windows? who needs 'em?), but good to see people working on it 15 miles from my backyard.  from $15k.  the shitty promo video is free:

3 Things About Poop

1. It's a big problem, in a bunch of places:

2. It's very easy to build your own no-water toilet, and also quite simple to use (pdf).

3. You only need to keep "waste" above 160 for less than an hour to render it pathogen/bacteria/worm free:

(source: Humanure Handbook, p. 152)

So, why has nobody spent <$10 in parts to make a solar oven that cooks poop and has a little light indicating when it's been hot enough long enough to mature into compost?

Senior Day Fail

I bet this sign at my neighborhood Walgreen's resulted in a multitude of complaints from all those born pre-1955 who were hoping to frugally partake in post-Independence Day celebrations with a cigar in one hand and a Valium-spiked White Russian in the other.

Happy Dependence Day

Let's celebrate by being a little less dependent about it. And, from the same issue, here's one of the better essays I've read in a long time. Are you dead, or alive?

Bike Lock Safety Sculpture

I used a half-dozen abandoned bike locks to create a safety sign. Much more productive use of the locks than sitting on the floor of my shop:) Photos here.

Photos Of Her Arriving

I really need to name my shipping container; this her stuff is just weird. At any rate, here's a slideshow of photos from the container's arrival:

She Arrives

$1,300 and several days later than planned, I now have a 20'x8'x8.5' tall conex standard shipping container in my yard. The project I've talked about the longest without actually starting is now underway. It feels great.

Highlights of the move-in:

• I chop down low-hanging branches on my front tree with a machete half an hour before the container arrives.
• The (asshole) neighbor lady who's been trying to sell her McMansion for over 3 years refuses to move her Jeep more than a coupla inches away from my driveway, making it even more difficult to squeeze the container in. "That's temporary, right?" "Well, it's gonna be hear for awhile." "Do you have a permit for that?" "Actually, it's under 200 square feet and doesn't need one."
• The driver hits (and largely totals) my fence, breaks a coupla boards on my neighbor's, and whacks the container into a rafter of my house hard enough to shake the entire place.
• A large portion of my lawn gets mowed via semi truck tires; a nice peripheral benefit.
• I learn how to use a come-along to partially pull the container off of the truck, using an ~1.5"-diameter tree trunk as the anchor for it.
• The driver asks "Y'all aren't gonna grow pot in this, are you?" Not in this version:)

I fell asleep for a few hours on the roof last night, aided by a fair quantity of wine and beer. An opportunity to dream on top of a dream.

Sushi & Oil

Appetizing, right?

Amazing Insulation, Or Magic Beans?

I've heard enough positive about Super Therm insulation to be interested, but it still sounds a bit too good to be true. This ceramic paint claims R-19 equivalent insulation with one layer because of floating balls of ceramics, nanotechnology and all that hot stuff. Here's a report from one of the distributors about performance of this paint on shipping containers, and here's Bob Vila talking to some guy in Florida about converting shipping containers to Super-Therm-coated houses. The company doesn't seem willing to just give me the ~10-gallon sample I'd need to coat the container, and the paint costs about $65 per gallon. Is it worth buying on the hope that it's all the insulation I need, or would I be spending half the initial cost of the container on the equivalent of magic beans?

Weaponized Recycled Fashion Show

Props to Danielle on a successful fashion show entry:

I was lucky enough to help accessorize (weaponize?) these wonderful ladies.  My 2 favorite pictures from the prep:

Mona, tipping over with machetes.

Briana.  When someone's shirt says "Ladies Is Pimps Too" and they're holding a shotgun, one tends not to argue.

Container Plans, In 3D

I've created initial layout renderings, to scale, for the shipping container conversion.  Sketchup model here.  Thoughts?

Surprise: actual food from garden!

In an unexpected turn of events, I actually harvested food from what I thought was a totally failed attempt at a backyard garden:

That's swiss chard, carrots w/ greens, a coupla peas, and basil (peas and basil from DIY Earthbox).  I'd planted seeds in the yard a couple months ago, watered them for a week or so, then gone out of town and assumed they'd all died.  Good motivation to actually start taking care of gardens!

Initial Shipping Container House Sketches

Rough, but the following are helping me come up with an idea of how to divide the space.  

Interesting details not shown include:

• Projection dividers- I'm going to separate the rooms with fancier versions of shower curtains: a thick, white sheet that I can use as a surface for a projector and roll out of the way when I don't want the rooms divided.
• CNC table- eventually, the main room (10'x8') will have only one main thing in it: an ~4'x4' table with a gantry in the corner.  My dinner table will double as the table for a computer numerically controlled machine with interchangeable tool heads:)
• Packability- this may get scrapped later, but 2 initial design constraints I'm striving for are:
• All systems necessary for energy and waste autonomy collapse to fit into the container for shipping
• I don't modify the container in any that prevents it from being shipped as a standard, ISO-compliant TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit)

Pedicab Boxing: Danielle vs. Julianne

The best part is the last 5 seconds:

New Big Little Project

Fingers crossed, this 20' beauty will be in my backyard next week: 

I've been couch-surfing in my own house (all 3 bedrooms rented to friends) for the last week+, which provides good motivation to finally get my off-grid shipping container house done (as in started).  Much more detail to come.

Cleared Out, Ready To Go

old crap deleted, and blog cleared for action...