Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[Latestarter]

So sorry Jan... Hope the year ends well/better for you and a better one comes along in 2019.

 

[Mike CHS]

Jan - that is a lot to handle and I truly hope your load gets lighter soon.

 

[Rammy]

Sorry your having a tough year.

 

[RollingAcres]

Sorry to hear Jan. All that tough times can really you down quickly.

 

[Mini Horses]

@farmerjan. You've had more than a bad month!

Hope your son gets an appeal going on the A$$hole decision.

 

[Carla D]

So, a bit about me:

I retired from the US Navy back while in FL, in June of 2000 after 24 years of service. I moved to Colorado to join my brother and help him with his mortgage business as a trainer and loan officer. I love the outdoors, mountains, hunting and fishing, and where better than here? After he drove his business into non-existence, I went to work for a builder's mortgage company and worked there for a few years. Then I got remarried and became a "stay at home husband" to help her and her son adapt to life here in the US. After that divorce was final, I went back to work in QA in a manufacturing environment. I quit there in Sept 2015 and am now officially retired.

I had been renting homes when I first moved out here to CO for a number of reasons, but finally bought a place right at the peak of the real estate bubble. Several years later, after it had lost 1/3rd of it's value, I lost it to foreclosure and went back to renting. I bought my present place with the idea that I wanted to have more space, and chickens, and goats, and a garden. Well, I got the chickens, and then got bees, and then in preparation for the goats, got an LGD. Then, I quit my job, decided to retire, and quickly realized that the cost of living here was too high, the influx of people was too high, the taxes were too high, the regulations and laws were becoming onerous, and that I didn't have near enough space to do what I want to do. So, back at the end of last year (2015) I started looking at the possibility of moving. Through a lot a research I determined that for amount of land at lowest cost, lowest taxes, lowest cost of living, lowest population, etc. my best bets would be either TX, or KY.

TX has no income tax, KY does, but, they don't tax military retirement or social security.
TX has very high sales tax @ 8.05-8.25% (county/city adds on top), KY is fixed 6% state wide.
TX has very high property tax @ 1.5-2%+ depending on county, KY is <1% anywhere I'd want to buy.
TX has no inheritance/estate tax, KY doesn't either if estate goes to direct 1st tier relatives.
Land prices in rural areas is about the same in both places.

So, I decided when I sell this place, I would move to the best piece of property I could get in either place. Right now, that seems to be KY. Which as an aside is a plus as I don't do well with high heat, though I admit I'm doing less well with cold as I get older.

I have a very social butterfly neighbor who when I told her my plan to move, introduced me to a woman who says she'd like to buy my place, at my asking price, for cash, and agreed with my time line of wanting to close in May/June time frame. She is presently living in another neighbor's garage... The only thing is, this woman needs to get the cash from an aunt, and hasn't done so yet... nothing in writing, everything verbal.

A very good friend and I went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant a week or two ago and my fortune was something along the line that I was about to come into a windfall. Earlier today, there was a dump truck that had gotten stuck in the dirt driveway across the road from me. I went over to offer to help. I met the owner, who rents that place. In chatting with him and several other neighbors, he found out I was moving/selling. He came over to my place and rang the doorbell and offered to buy the place, cash, right now and wanted to go get the cash to show me he had it

I told him the price the other was going to pay for it, and told him I had already agreed to sell to her for that price, but since then values have increased, so if she didn't come through, I'd absolutely sell to him, but the price might have to be a bit higher (there's another place in here on the market right now for 45 thousand higher than what I'd agreed to sell for - similar but different - I couldn't get that much). He told me he just sold 2 properties and has ~ 1 million in cash right now waiting to be spent. I told him the price just went to 450K (then told him I was joking).

He came back later to drop off his contact info & told me he'd be willing to close next week, he'd cover all closing costs including title, pay cash at my asking price (to the other woman), and let me live here rent free for as long as I'd like...

I said It wouldn't be more than 6 months. He agreed to put that in writing - 6 months, free rent. I took him through the place and he said he'd probably like to move in and live here. He asked if I would leave the chickens and he'd pay me for those separately. Man, I know I told the woman she could have it first, but all real estate contracts must be in writing and she's done nothing yet, nothing's in writing, and she doesn't have the money... I don't know how I can pass this offer up...

So, I think I may be closing on the sale of this place by the end of this month, and then have 6 months to figure out what will work best for me. I want a piece of property with at least 10 acres, live water (with fish even better), mix of pasture and woods, room to shoot firearms and hunt on my own land, obviously rural land, a mortgage payment of half what I have now or lower, purchase price 160K or less.

It just so happens that I HAVE found a property in KY with 30 acres and TWO homes on the property (one a rental, the other a newer manufactured home) with several pastures already fenced, two ponds, one natural spring fed, that I could easily afford, and the rent income would cover the mortgage I'd need to take to buy it. If I sell this place I'll be going to visit/inspect that one very soon.

So that's where things stand at the moment. Life has sure gotten exciting very fast as I've gotten older. So though I thought that the "start" of my farming future (though later in life; hence my screen name) started in the fall of 2013 when I bought here, it appears that was a "false start" and the real thing is about to commence And now I have a journal to document it in.

I don’t know if I can read all 570+ pages of your journal or not. But I wanted to be sure to thank you for your years of service in the Navy. My husband is also retired from the military after 21 years. It take a very strong person to stay in the military that long. You certainly do have a very interesting introduction to your journal. You seem to be on a very interesting journey. Good luck with your future and enjoy the journey.

 

[Carla D]

Well, I've played an every-other-day game of phone tag with the jerk potential buyer and haven't spoken to him yet. Since it's the 6th and there's no contract, I have to say closing on the 10th is not gonna happen. I have the gut feeling that the guy is gonna be a wash out, no problem. SO... I'll just continue spiffying up the place and get it listed.

Spent all day Wednesday outside doing yard work (mowing, weed whacking, chain saw work, trash/wood/log hauling) and had intended to finish it up yesterday... Well, it was hot - mid 80s, I only slept for 2 hours the previous night, and I was tired and sore, so ended up spending the day yesterday in the recliner sweating... I really hate being immobile and sweating... So, since it's supposed to be back in the 80s again today, I went ahead and hooked up the swamp cooler and got that working Ahhhhhhhh... Have a couple of house fans going as well to ensure air movement throughout, and the house will be perfectly acceptable! The dogs are enjoying it... they're laying right in the main air flow and snoring Wish I didn't need to run up the electric and water bill, but I'll take that over sweating any day! I'm thinking my choice of KY over TX might have been well thought out

So, I think I'm about to go drag out the lawn tractor and go finish up the mowing before the real heat of the day hits. I have more chain saw work to do, but don't really feel like playing lumber jack today. Maybe later this evening...

Since I don't have a contract, I guess I'll just leave this journal for a while until I have one and can continue the journey it's supposed to be logging/sharing...

What’s a swamp cooler? I’ve never heard that term before.

 

[Latestarter]

A standard air conditioner is used when it's hot and humid. It uses a pressurized fluid that travels back and forth changing state from liquid to gas. That change makes one side of the system very cold and the other side very warm. When the "cold side" is inside the house, the interior home air is pushed across those cold coils to produce the chilled air we all enjoy so much if we live in a warm/hot & humid place. A side benefit is that the humidity trapped in that warm air condenses on those cold coils and becomes water, which drips down into a catchment system and is drained away. The heated fluid is run through other coils outside where a fan draws outside air through to cool the fluid back down, transferring the heat back to the environment causing the gas to return to liquid form.

With a heat pump system, the fluid is run in reverse, which brings the warm side inside, which releases the heat inside and the cool outside. Heat pumps therefore have a "defrost cycle" on the outside coils to keep them from icing up/freezing, and blocking airflow which destroys the heat pump's efficiency.

A swam cooler is pretty much useless in a hot damp environment because it works on the same principal as human sweat. It draws air across a moist barrier, which adds humidity to the air being pumped into the environment. It works very well in hot DRY environments and is substantially less expensive (and much simpler equipment, set up, maintenance, repair, etc.). There's a basin of water at the bottom, and pumps that pump that water up to the top of the unit. The water is then sprayed out over very permeable "sponge like" sheets of material held vertically on the sides of the unit (shaped much like the exterior unit of a central AC unit or heat pump). The water is pulled downward by gravity, back into the basin. A squirrel cage fan inside the unit draws outside air into the center of the unit through the wet material and then forces that moisturized air into the house. That air because of the moisture feels 10-25° cooler than the outside air temp. Since cool air sinks, most folks with a swamp cooler will leave several windows on an upper floor "cracked open" to allow the heat (hot, dry air) to escape as the cooler air is blown into the home.

Consider a fan blowing against your dry skin on a hot day... Now, spray yourself with water and stand in front of the same fan and you'll catch a chill. A swamp cooler doesn't need all the duct work a typical central air unit needs. Many folks put the air delivery portion into the home through a ground floor window, much like a window based AC unit. In places where they work well, you'll often times see what looks like a central air unit, mounted on a platform on the roof (this installation may or may not use typical ducting). Or, you may see a similar sized unit standing on a platform or blocks in front of a window.

 

[Carla D]

A standard air conditioner is used when it's hot and humid. It uses a pressurized fluid that travels back and forth changing state from liquid to gas. That change makes one side of the system very cold and the other side very warm. When the "cold side" is inside the house, the interior home air is pushed across those cold coils to produce the chilled air we all enjoy so much if we live in a warm/hot & humid place. A side benefit is that the humidity trapped in that warm air condenses on those cold coils and becomes water, which drips down into a catchment system and is drained away. The heated fluid is run through other coils outside where a fan draws outside air through to cool the fluid back down, transferring the heat back to the environment causing the gas to return to liquid form.

With a heat pump system, the fluid is run in reverse, which brings the warm side inside, which releases the heat inside and the cool outside. Heat pumps therefore have a "defrost cycle" on the outside coils to keep them from icing up/freezing, and blocking airflow which destroys the heat pump's efficiency.

A swam cooler is pretty much useless in a hot damp environment because it works on the same principal as human sweat. It draws air across a moist barrier, which adds humidity to the air being pumped into the environment. It works very well in hot DRY environments and is substantially less expensive (and much simpler equipment, set up, maintenance, repair, etc.). There's a basin of water at the bottom, and pumps that pump that water up to the top of the unit. The water is then sprayed out over very permeable "sponge like" sheets of material held vertically on the sides of the unit (shaped much like the exterior unit of a central AC unit or heat pump). The water is pulled downward by gravity, back into the basin. A squirrel cage fan inside the unit draws outside air into the center of the unit through the wet material and then forces that moisturized air into the house. That air because of the moisture feels 10-25° cooler than the outside air temp. Since cool air sinks, most folks with a swamp cooler will leave several windows on an upper floor "cracked open" to allow the heat (hot, dry air) to escape as the cooler air is blown into the home.

Consider a fan blowing against your dry skin on a hot day... Now, spray yourself with water and stand in front of the same fan and you'll catch a chill. A swamp cooler doesn't need all the duct work a typical central air unit needs. Many folks put the air delivery portion into the home through a ground floor window, much like a window based AC unit. In places where they work well, you'll often times see what looks like a central air unit, mounted on a platform on the roof (this installation may or may not use typical ducting). Or, you may see a similar sized unit standing on a platform or blocks in front of a window.

You put that in terms I can understand. We have a cabin/trailer house in upper Wisconsin. For some reason the air there is nowhere near as humid as it is here, nearly two hours south of there at our home. We do get some pretty hot days in the summer. Meaning the temp get warmer 85 degrees. Sometimes as hot as 105 degrees. On days that get super hot the morning usually starts off quiet muggy but dries by 10am or so then the humidity is gone for the rest of the day. Do you think a swamp cooler might possible work there? Our cabin is comfortable but probably not what social services would consider a livable state. There is no running water in the cabin, but the well does work. It had been vacant for 9-12 years before we bought it. The electrical in there was Jerry-rigged in very dangerous ways. We have run a couple of temporary wires through half of the place so we have a couple of lights, and can run small appliances, otherwise we use extension cords for the rest of the house. We don’t have a working toilet there as well. The sewer didn’t work and was rerouted in an illegal way so the toilet would drain into a hole in the back yard. So we don’t use that. We are able to run a couple of portable air conditioners with our temporary wiring. But they will only make a very small area cool. I’m wondering it a swamp cooler may work better on the extremely hot days where the humidity is really low. Also, what would happen if it were used on a slightly humid day? Would it freeze up, not work at all, or be inefficient? We don’t have heat in there as well. So right now it’s only used from April through early September.

 

[greybeard]

That air because of the moisture feels 10-25° cooler than the outside air temp.

The air actually IS cooler. When the moisture laden air from the swamp cooler hits the hot dry air of the room, the moisture immediately begins evaporating and as part of the evaporation process, the temperature of the air in the room begins to drop.The latent heat of vaporization. A thermometer will show the actual temp drop and many swamp coolers have a thermostat nowadays. Works just like the thermostat on a central unit..when the temp in the rooms gets down to the set temperature, the swamp cooler fan turns off.

Meaning the temp get warmer 85 degrees. Sometimes as hot as 105 degrees. On days that get super hot the morning usually starts off quiet muggy but dries by 10am or so then the humidity is gone for the rest of the day. Do you think a swamp cooler might possible work there?

Only if the relative humidity is less than 50-60% at the times you want to cool the air.
You will also want to know what the "dew point" is and there are charts available on the internet for the average dew point and average humidity in your area at different times of day, each day all during the year.
Swamp coolers do not work well if dew point is above 55 degrees.