Fun Day in Arkansas

[DuneElliot]

You can actually get your dogs vaccinated against rattlesnake venom. They offer it at my local vet clinic. I haven't done it yet since most of the places they run loose are too high in elevation for most rattlesnakes, but it would be something to consider for the future as I venture south in the cooler months

 

[IanC]

I don't know if you reported the guy at your campground or not,

The sheriff was there talking to him yesterday but I don't know what about. Kind of pisses me off that one guy can chase off everyone that is there trying to find some peace and quiet. You can't just arrest someone for being nuts - you have to wait until they actually DO something. I guess it gets back to a previous discussion. What can society do with those guys - and the answer is not just get them housing. If just putting a roof over someone's head and a bag of groceries in their cupboards was the cure for addiction and mental illness it would be the easiest fix ever. Most people on the streets have been through every program that's available and always end up back where they started. For that guy, living in the woods was the end of a long trail of failed attempts at helping him - I have no doubt.

 

[slynne]

Wow. I did not know that about rattlesnake vaccine. Sweet. I am not going to get it this year but it would make me feel better if I head to the Southwest someday

 

[slynne]

Ianc, yeah. Society pays the costs of mental illness in one form or another regardless of our choices. Sometimes the costs are low like being chased out of a campground and sometimes the costs are higher. It is more than housing that is needed for sure. Good on you for giving him some food and cigs and charging his phone. Did you know that nicotine actually reduces psychotic symptoms? Not as well as other things but there is a lot of self medicating out there. The cigs probably helped him out too.

 

[IanC]

hone. Did you know that nicotine actually reduces psychotic symptoms?

Off the original topic, but I have a theory about that. On one of my hundred attempts to quit, I tried the patch.  The instructions tell you not to leave it on at night - the effect being that it causes vivid dreams. I left it on on several occasions and my dreams had an amazing richness to them. Textures were in high definition. Think about flat red vs red velvet. It got me thinking that nicotine has the same effect throughout the day. I found that on the times when I went without for a period, everything seemed blander than it used to - just didn't seem the way I had become accustomed.  I wonder if that is why a large number of artists, designers and musicians smoke.  I have zero doubt that other drug use has the same effect, which is why musicians, back to the days of jazz and probably before have been drug users. Can you think of a famous musician of any genre who wasn't/isn't a drug user - not many. It enhances creativity and vision. How different the world would be without drug use. Not that I'm recommending it - just making the observation. Even if we aren't nicotine or other drug users we benefit in unexpected ways

 

[bullfrog]

Take a look at the Escapees Club. They have some parks with wood shops as well as carving clubs and crafts shops and "Birds of a Feather" groups. Maybe you could do some work with them.

 

[rvpopeye]

I've been an Escapee (SKP) since I got my first Moho in '95 , they treat everybody like long lost family , hugs and all !

 

[jimindenver]

I don't think I could handle letting Max get bit, my luck it would hit something critical. I read somewhere that there is a rattle snake training where they use a shock collar and walk the dog past a empty cage, then one with a rattler in it. As soon as the dog gets a wiff of the rattler it is shocked.

 

[Gunny]

I recommend having pet insurance as the cost of anti-venom will break the bank. Check the policy to make sure it covers snakebite, some exclude payment for bites.

Rob

 

[Queen]

I think my home owner days are passed.  Buying that house was a bunch of flukes - I was a renter there until the owner died and I bought it from his estate and I had a pretty once-in-a- lifetime job that paid well enough for me to qualify for a mortgage.  Can't forsee that happening again.  I'm no one to offer advice, but if you have a place you like, I wouldn't be too quick to let it go without being real sure you're in the position to replace what you've given up down the road if you decide to.  I know, I'm not.  Not to say, I have total regrets - I'll just have to go back to being a tenant again if I decide to cut this short - but there will be no gardens or woodshops in the garage my future as a tenant.

This hit us like a ton of bricks when we got a half assed offer on our condo.  Even though it was a lowball we wouldn't accept. all of a sudden it was very real, if we sell our place and retire early, we will NEVER have the chance to own a place again.  This wouldn't have been so scary if our retirement amount was higher, but knowing how little we could afford in rent gave us a big pause.  Sure we could rent someplace, but not anyplace we'd want to be.

 

[Ballenxj]

WOW Ian, I have enjoyed reading about your escapades and experiences on this trip. They seem to run the gambit from snakes vs dogs, to crazy dude at your campsite, to the coincidence of that Australian couple showing up due to your online recommendation.
@ DuneElliot, that's useful information about a vaccination for dogs in case they ever get bit by a rattler.
BTW, that looked to be a very nice camp site.  

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I think my home owner days are passed.  Buying that house was a bunch of flukes - I was a renter there until the owner died and I bought it from his estate and I had a pretty once-in-a- lifetime job that paid well enough for me to qualify for a mortgage.  Can't forsee that happening again.  I'm no one to offer advice, but if you have a place you like, I wouldn't be too quick to let it go without being real sure you're in the position to replace what you've given up down the road if you decide to.  I know, I'm not.  Not to say, I have total regrets - I'll just have to go back to being a tenant again if I decide to cut this short - but there will be no gardens or woodshops in the garage my future as a tenant.

Ahh,  I have this debate in my head almost daily, on whether to keep or sell.  It's on a 55mph main road, and thus not somewhere I'd want to stay forever.  Behind me is 200 acres of empty land, streams, and woods though, so that's nice.  I have 3 acres and permission from one of the land owners to use his 60.  He doesn't mind if I hunt on it or take the dead trees for firewood.  Luckily I own it outright, so I could sell it and buy another place for the same or less than I sell it for.  In my head, buying some land, building a garage/shop and living in an RV seems ideal. Or putting a small one or two bedroom apt above the garage.

However, if I don't get off disability I could see me needing to live off some of this money I have in the house.  Hopefully it doesn't come to that.  I don't plan on nor want to be on disability forever.  Even though I have no doubts i'd qualify for life, with the damage Lyme has done to me.  People think i'm crazy when I say I want to get back to work.  Maybe I am?

Lots of decision making coming up.  Just don't want to make the wrong one.  And seems like you don't know if you did or didn't until it's hindsight.


Oh, and just because you're a tenant doesn't mean you can't have a small shop and garden.  My best homeshop ever was when I rented a one bdrm apt and the 3 car garage behind the house for another $200/month.  Keep your eyes open while you're traveling, never know the type of situation you might run across.  My brother's friend found a place in Oregon as a farm hand which includes a free cottage.  He said it's a hobby farm, not commercial so they are really lax about his chores/schedule.  So relaxed, he's been able to hike the Appalachian, pacific crest and continental divide trails.

 

[IanC]

Things turn out for the best -I headed up into Missouri, where I'm in the incredible Mark Twain Forest - sucks if you don't like crystal clear streams, millions of butterflies and lush green peacefulness, though.

 

[IanC]

  Sure we could rent someplace, but not anyplace we'd want to be.

One thing I'm seeing as I travel is how squalid (to be honest) affordable living is.  I used to look at rural properties for sale throughout the country - look nice in the realtor pics, but from satellite views you can see they are surrounded by junked mobile homes and wreckage yards.  I have lived amongst poverty before and there is nothing romantic about it - people who live absolutely trashed lives, child beaters, petty (and no so petty) criminals, drugs, people who can't speak below mega decibel and every word is vulgarity.  Nope, 'affordable' is code word for never having a moment's peace.  When I get back in June, I'll be checking out what's around in Vermont, but with the Toddster, it's going to be a challenge.   Road life may be my only option.

Could be that moment of panic when I listed my house was a Godsmack.

 

[slynne]

Affordable housing doesn't have to be like that. I am kind of proud of the county where I live in that there are several complexes designed to provide affordable housing and all of them are nice places to live. Some are HUD co-ops which are owned by the people who live in them. You have to be low income to qualify for membership and the co-op fees are on a sliding scale based on income but once you are in, you are in. They don't kick you out if your income goes up so they end up being economically diverse. Others are owned by various cities. My small city of around 20,000 has four such complexes but they have strict rules about things like noise and are meticulously maintained by the city so they are attractive, well landscaped, clean, and don't have crime rates higher than the rest of the city.

 

[Queen]

One thing I'm seeing as I travel is how squalid (to be honest) affordable living is.  I used to look at rural properties for sale throughout the country - look nice in the realtor pics, but from satellite views you can see they are surrounded by junked mobile homes and wreckage yards.  I have lived amongst poverty before and there is nothing romantic about it - people who live absolutely trashed lives, child beaters, petty (and no so petty) criminals, drugs, people who can't speak below mega decibel and every word is vulgarity.  Nope, 'affordable' is code word for never having a moment's peace.  When I get back in June, I'll be checking out what's around in Vermont, but with the Toddster, it's going to be a challenge.   Road life may be my only option.

Could be that moment of panic when I listed my house was a Godsmack.

I hear you, where we live in FL was a bit more expensive than what we wanted to spend, but when we toured the less expensive areas they weren't places we'd be comfortable living.  Lots of garbage and junk in the yards, the police blotter was filled with reports of violence and drug issues in those areas... no thanks.

 

[ArtW]

OTOH, the average housing project takes less than 5 years to become a ratty, drug infested, high crime slum
I've lived in plenty of them, and there are always bright spots of cleanliness and civility within them...until the people living in those spots get higher incomes and move out, leaving room for more of the folks who turn them into slums
It takes a huge investment of time and money to keep that element from taking over, unfortunately

 

[IanC]

As I watched my neighborhood change in the 12 years I was there, I always wondered why you couldn't be low income and not trash the joint - it doesn't take money not to pitch your trash on the sidewalk.  Yes, there were bright spots, but those were mostly older, long time homeowners and they were dying off.  Wouldn't it be great if it worked the other way around - us quiet, responsible poor people moved in, took over the neighborhood and made it the way WE wanted? Never seems to work that way, does it?

Leaving Mark Twain Forest this morning - storm coming in and these little roads get flooded.  Heading to Hohenwald, Tenn - home of my long time favorite charity The Elephant Sanctuary.  Unfortunately, they don't allow visitors for any reason.  The residents are done with their days of being interesting to look at and what comes along with that, (when you're an elephant).

 

[ArtW]

I would indeed Ian, it would indeed

 

[slynne]

OTOH, the average housing project takes less than 5 years to become a ratty, drug infested, high crime slum
I've lived in plenty of them, and there are always bright spots of cleanliness and civility within them...until the people living in those spots get higher incomes and move out, leaving room for more of the folks who turn them into slums
It takes a huge investment of time and money to keep that element from taking over, unfortunately

I think that is why the co-op model works so well. 1. people are invested in it since they have to buy a membership. 2. People aren't kicked out as their incomes rise so they don't usually move out unless they are leaving the area because even the top co-op fee is less than the market rent in this area. 3. If the co-op has a mortgage, members can write off their share of the interest on their federal taxes thus allowing them to take advantage of a housing subsidy usually only available to the middle and upper classes 4. That is the ONLY tax money going into the place after the initial HUD investment.