"I love to go to Washington, if only to be near my money." - Bob Hope

This one's metric. But what effect would it have if you wore one in inches?

Yesterday I thought the Falcon's battery was dying, and my meter showed 12.4v. I took it to the auto store where they have a better tester and it showed fully charged and up to snuff. Hmmm. Today I had trouble starting the car while out and about this morning with symptoms that indicate a bad battery. Knowing, however, that it's good leaves me with only one answer: the starter is dying. As they near their point of death they require more juice to work, and drawing more juice makes it seem like the battery is bad.

It's not a particularly difficult job, but it requires extended work laying on your back on the driveway. The really hot driveway, with temps in the triple digit range shortly after 8:00 a.m. this time of year. I am not looking forward to this. I could take it someplace and have it done but paying labor costs equal to or exceeding the cost of the starter is just more than this Scotsman can accept.
Drat!

This morning I finally pulled the trigger on something I've been contemplating for some time. I use blades to shave which Pam buys at the store, and she usually has a coupon. But even at that they're expensive, and way fancier than makes sense. I don't need aerodynamic handles, 36 blades, titanium hoodgits, and sound deadening insulation. So I signed up at Dollar Shave Club. I got the 4-blade system - four blades shipped each month for $6 including S&H. No tax, no nuthin' extra. They send me a free handle and I clip on the blades. I can cancel anytime and upgrade or downgrade if I want. Plus, they sell butt wipes if I decide I want those, too.

I saw one of the new Corvettes while I was out this morning. I like it!!! I'm not fond of the taillights, but the rest of it looks fast and quite European super car-ish. Looks better in person than in pics. I think this one's going to be a big hit on both sides of the pond. And the ignition switch recall won't come for at least two months.

Jennifer is the owner of Big Woody Teardrop Campers where I got the plans for our trailer. Excellent plans with thorough, easy-to-follow instructions. We're friends on Facebook, my small part in promoting her business, and a couple of days ago she posted this link to a houseboat for sale that caught her attention. I thought it was cool, especially since it's located about five miles from where I grew up.

As often happens, that led to other pages where I read and learned more about a trend called the Tiny House movement. They've even made Wikipedia! It was born out of a desire to reduce one's footprint, reduce unnecessary consumption, and (my favorite) save money. Tiny Houses are under 1,000 sq. feet, but most are under 500 sq. feet, and many even smaller. They almost all have one bedroom, one bath, are heated with a small wood stove, and have what could be called a galley for a kitchen (apartment-size fridge, 2-burner stove, small sink...). Many are on wheels, which in most places means they're not taxed as a house.

Pam and I have an ongoing discussion about where and how we'll live when we retire. We want to travel, seeing the U.S. from national and state parks from the luxury of our teardrop. But we need a place to come home to, and it should be a place that makes sense economically.

Our current house is 1,340 square feet, not including the double garage. The guest room gets used once or twice a year, a completely uneconomical use of space. We very rarely sit in the living room, more wasted space. The laundry room/sewing room/office is too hot to use this time of year (only has a wall AC unit that can't keep up). We eat meals in our chairs, so the table and that space is mostly for holding yesterday's mail and things in transition from one area of the house to the next.
Which is to say, a Tiny House may make a lot of sense.
Here's one example of what can be done. These are relatively high end. If you click on the "Plans" tab you can see wheeled units at the top and permanent structures at the bottom.
I would contract out to drywall and do all the finish work myself.
The house, a small out building for storing garden supplies and a freezer, a chicken coop for the ladies, and we're good to go!
This has real possibilities.

Search Tiny Houses for Sale if you want to see how cheaply you can buy in move-in ready unit. Wheels, yurts, permanent, water....