All this running….hiking….mountain biking….
Maybe it’s all a reason to be outside?
This is a good video about a Finnish ultrarunner name Noora Honkala.
And…it’s a bunch of running in some beautiful natural settings.
It’s good to be out in Nature.
It’s good to be out running.
After the storm….these guys made out OK!
It’s a good thing to grow your own food….
I did the rear brakes on the little Toyota truck that I’m using to run the mail….because the Mail Jeep is down right now.
It’s a pain to keep up with all these vehicles….but I’m thankful to have a spare.
Sometimes, a slower paced lifestyle looks pretty good to me.
Puerto Rico is an interesting place.
Part of the US of A, right?
You almost wouldn’t know it.
This may be something that happens all the time….but…if it is…I never heard about it.
This is nuts.
I’ve never seen Yosemite looking like this.
April 7, 2018….YouTube video by yosemitenationalpark
Hah!
I always crank this out on the mail route….even if it sounds like I better listen more closely to my soon to explode Mail Jeep.
Music!
It really gets me through.
Lake Street Dive!
Good band!
I’m tired of the “tiny house” movement.
Lots of hipsters.
That is….until I see something like this.
I like this couple.
And….check out the tiered garden at the rear of the property!
This is about a family’s journey… and the benefits and hardships of working towards getting out of debt and building a life together.
It’s realistic….and good.
This is why I got interested in tiny houses in the first place….because of people doing it like this….not because of trend following hipsters.
This is one of the nicest ones I’ve seen.
Listen to her awareness of “privilege” and how they were fortunate to be able to do this.
Not many of the people I see on YouTube talking about “tiny houses” are so realistic and forthcoming.
Video from Exploring Alternatives . It’s a good channel….click on the channel name to get there!
Hah!!
Listen to these guys!
They know what they’re talking about!
Living out in the woods…saving a bunch of money…living the good life but not spending a bunch of money.
And….the plan is a good and achievable one….save the money so that you can live on very little….and not have the demands of a high paying job that supports your high consumption lifestyle.
I love this.
And….check out their new book:
(from the YouTube description….)
A software engineer and professional fundraiser in Boston decided four years ago to purge some of their consumerist habits to save more than 70 percent of their salaries. The result was a big move to rural Vermont and the release this month of the book, “Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living.” NewsHour Weekend’s Christopher Booker reports.
(A short PS….later: It turns out that this “average family” makes quite a bit of money….over 200,000….per year….so….they aren’t really all that average. Too bad. I guess that you could save some money if your needs could be met with a “small percentage” of a really big pile of money. )
Oh well…I do like the idea…even if the reality is different from the story.
Read some of the reviews of the book on Amazon…..
I should have done more background checking before celebrating this story….
Darn it.
Here’s a short film from Dylan Magastar about a retired couple who travel all the time.
They live on a boat….and keep a VW on land to travel in when they aren’t sailing.
I fixed the power steering on the Jeep yesterday….and then found out that I probably need….no, correct that, Peter….definitely need a new engine.
280,000 hard mail miles and you end up needing a new engine.
Who could figure that out?
It still runs OK….there’s just an ominous metal sound that is a bad metal sound now…..but….the steering works great.
I can steer anywhere I want to go and listen to the bad sounds coming from the engine.
The thing about 280,000 mail miles is that you spent it all driving in circles….the same circle….everyday.
Let’s see how far it is around the world……
I’m back….it was 24,901 miles.
24,901 miles?
What the F…..udge?!!
I’ve carted mail the equivalent of going around the earth over 10 times and all I saw was a bunch of dogs and crappy porches?
Sometimes, even, crapped on porches.
So….what better motivation than realizing that to make me appreciate a new engine to keep the wheels turning?
10 FREAKING TIMES?!!!
This is motivating to see what these people do in their boat….living cheap down in Mexico.
Thanks, Dylan.
I have to do something similar to this on the Toyota truck.
That is….if I can’t get the guys who repaired this leak a week ago to fix it again.
They should….but their track record for doing the right thing is kind of shaky right now….so I don’t know what’s going to happen.
It’s not an impossible repair…and it’s worth 80.00 for me to figure out how to do it myself.
These videos are tremendously boring…until you need to know how something is done.
Right now….they fascinate me.
I fixed the power steering on the Jeep this morning….another job that the previously mentioned shop didn’t/couldn’t fix (Dale’s Automotive….Hendersonville, NC)….and all is well…but…now it looks like I need another engine.
Knock, knock, knock is not a good thing when it comes to engines.
Delivering mail is a hard thing when part of the job is keeping a rig on the route.
Give me a bicycle and a bottle of chain lube….SIMPLIFY MY LIFE!!
PLEASE….SIMPLIFY!!
Awwwwwwwww.
I don’t know about dealers sifting through the stuff at thrift stores….smart phones at the ready….researching….cherry picking for resale.
That’s what makes thrifting kind of strange now.
When it was hard to research, it was easy to find the things we needed at good prices.
Now….not so much.
Why wouldn’t the thrift stores play the game, too?
Who am I kidding?
It’s still fun to look around.
What a country we live in that people can make a living reselling what other people discard!
It’s crazy the glut of material possessions we accumulate!
Who can have everything, though?
Where would you keep it?
It’s coming out green here….leafing out….bare branches decorated with the common and expected.
How about that? “Common and expected”.
What a thing that every year…..so far…without fail….after the Winter comes the Spring.
I guess that after 58 years it should be something that doesn’t sometimes amaze me.
I should be more jaded than I am by now.
And….this is just the start.
That hit me driving home last night.
I thought, “Man. This is so beautiful! I waited for this….” and then….I remembered….that there was more to come.
More to come….that’s exciting.