Living without electricity

[Zephod]

I just encountered this interesting article.
https://www.facebook.com/tinyhousetalk/posts/1453634614660541:0
Admittedly busses are different, being tin hot houses but you can see roughly why I'm not bothering too much about electricity in my conversion.

I've put solar powered extraction fans at the back. My lighting is powered by D cells. My cooking is powered by butane. My shower is D cell powered.

Phone charging? My flip phone needs charging once a month!

Tablet etc? I could use a battery powered charger or charge it elsewhere or just read a book instead.


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[Geoff]

Zephod

You are about one step above being homeless.  Why do you even need a "tin hot house"-- you could just have a cardboard shack for all your needs.

--Geoff

[Zephod]

Zephod

You are about one step above being homeless.  Why do you even need a "tin hot house"-- you could just have a cardboard shack for all your needs.

--Geoff

I'm a school bus driver so I'm obviously fabulously wealthy. Living in my bus rather than crashing with a friend as I have been for the last 3 years is the goal.

Elimination of bills makes my income more survivable.


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[Geoff]

Okay, I watched that video with the lady dressed in black in her 12x12 cabin and was not impressed like you were.  I too started out crashing on people's couches and lived in a 1962 Ford Econoline as my first conversion for a few years as I went to school and built up my career.  You might be in the wrong group in this bus conversion group as the majority of people here are not trying to get by but are looking for a home on wheels that they can make as comfortable as a house

[pabusnut]

Zephod,

That reminds me of a quote:

"I came into this world with nothing, and I am trying my hardest to keep it!"


Steve

[dtcerrato]

Zephod
Do what makes you feel good...

[Jon]

Okay, I watched that video with the lady dressed in black in her 12x12 cabin and was not impressed like you were.  I too started out crashing on people's couches and lived in a 1962 Ford Econoline as my first conversion for a few years as I went to school and built up my career.  You might be in the wrong group in this bus conversion group as the majority of people here are not trying to get by but are looking for a home on wheels that they can make as comfortable as a house

I get concerned when some of us feel it is OK to ridicule or talk down to others. It does not add anything to our common interest in buses.

[muldoonman]

I'm trying to sort out an issue with a gen set that overheats and I can relate to the term, "A tent with wheels"

[Zephod]

I get concerned when some of us feel it is OK to ridicule or talk down to others. It does not add anything to our common interest in buses.

Absolutely. That's why I left the Skoolie group. A year after I left, they'd put up a thread causing many hits on my blog in which they were mocking my plumbing while demonstrating their complete ignorance.

Truth be told, I part company with most groups because either the group can't cope with reality being introduced to their fantasy or because there are enough assholes to make the group tiresome.

I often wonder about groups, how many members actually walk their talk and how many are just...


Not having electricity makes my life way simpler. It makes construction cheaper and it means I can use my bus faster.


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[Geoff]

I get concerned when some of us feel it is OK to ridicule or talk down to others. It does not add anything to our common interest in buses.

Jon. In your mind we might be talking "down" to Zephod but we are actually talking on his level.  He has posted a LOT on this board about his ideas on living the way he does.  I have always been nice if you look at my past posts.  So when he posts he can live without electricity I answer in kind.  I'm guessing he must have been in the Peace Corp when in Russia.  I recall reading a story about someone who was held in Prison in "old Russia" and he met another American who was also a prisoner but had a sense of humor about it.  The other American told the first one : "Just think about it, when you get out of here you will be able to live anywhere with nothing and it won't bother you because you are now used to it!".

--Geoff

[Jon]

That is the hard part about forums because what might seem like inappropriate comments are actually OK because the two guys know one another and are just breaking each other's balls. But there are also mean spirited comments made and they along with the ones made in jest between two friends scare people from participating because they are afraid to make comments.

I don't know the answer to how to sort out the mean spirited posts from those made in jest.

[Geoff]

That is the hard part about forums because what might seem like inappropriate comments are actually OK because the two guys know one another and are just breaking each other's balls. But there are also mean spirited comments made and they along with the ones made in jest between two friends scare people from participating because they are afraid to make comments.

I don't know the answer to how to sort out the mean spirited posts from those made in jest.

It's only mean if a comment intentionaly hurts someone's feelings.  I think Zephod is taking this thread in stride and I admire his strong personality.  If he has a blog I would like to read it because he has proven himself to me.  However, I don't think his conversion ideas are shared by many people on this board.

--Geoff

[Zephod]

It's only mean if a comment intentionaly hurts someone's feelings.  I think Zephod is taking this thread in stride and I admire his strong personality.  If he has a blog I would like to read it because he has proven himself to me.  However, I don't think his conversion ideas are shared by many people on this board.

--Geoff

Www.schoolbushome.blogspot.com

Don't forget I'm on a very limited budget. For 2 years of construction I lived on a 20hr a week $9 an hr job that went away during school holidays. Now I'm a bit more flush with a schooldays only $12 an hr, 30hr a week job.

The bus is so I can get the Hell out of South Carolina and get real work at real wages.

This online only job application crap is for the birds. I need to go North, join a decent golf club and go from there.

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[Zephod]

Jon. In your mind we might be talking "down" to Zephod but we are actually talking on his level.  He has posted a LOT on this board about his ideas on living the way he does.  I have always been nice if you look at my past posts.  So when he posts he can live without electricity I answer in kind.  I'm guessing he must have been in the Peace Corp when in Russia.  I recall reading a story about someone who was held in Prison in "old Russia" and he met another American who was also a prisoner but had a sense of humor about it.  The other American told the first one : "Just think about it, when you get out of here you will be able to live anywhere with nothing and it won't bother you because you are now used to it!".

--Geoff

Nope. Never been incarcerated. Been an interpreter at the local jail though, when I worked in the former USSR.

Never been in the peace corps but then, when I was in the former USSR, I hadn't become a USA citizen. I was solely a British citizen.


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[Scott & Heather]

FYI

i've read the skoolie forum posts mentioned here. Zephod, I can't attest to whether the skoolie group was mocking you or not but you have to understand that both on the skoolie forum and here (again, I am on the skoolie forum too so I've read in the past every single post you're talking about) and it's pretty immature that they were mocking you on that forum, but do understand that your plumbing and battery bank ideas are sometimes confounding. I've tried to understand them myself and don't always. I don't know if you're genius or unique but try to understand where some of us are coming from. We are a group that discusses mostly reasonable ideas and help each other out on projects related to our coaches and their converted interiors. I think when you try to reinvent the electricity or plumbing wheel you're not going to find a lot of support discussing certain things that aren't necessarily relevant to most of the club members. Was this the plumbing photo that they were discussing? In my opinion, that's a unique way to plumb, but I'm guessing it works for you, so it's not really an issue. But you do discuss using your bathroom sink as a urinal...and again, this kind of discussion isn't going to find a lot of support here at BCM. More power to you, just trying to help.