...with his Bubba Gun (TM)

Update: Actually it's a Finnish anti-tank rifle

I feel happy! I feel happy!

That's MOMMY's toy!
(click the link, then click the "play" button on the video.)

For more architecture with shipping containers, click on this link and then click on "CHK Container Home Kit" on the left sidebar. Then click on the various images:

LOT-EK

There's some pretty interesting "modernist" type dwellings there, all built from old intermodal shipping containers. I wish I could tempt you with a linked pic or two, but it's all Macromedia Flash.

I have ordered a book that goes into more detail on building structures with intermodal containers. My big question is what one would need to do to get building code approval for something so unconventional.

Razing a mine to raise homes

SAN MANUEL -- From his back porch, Frank Valenzuela can see the giant smokestacks looming over town. So can most of his neighbors in this town 45 miles northeast of Tucson. The sentinel stacks stand as reminders of the thriving mining town that was. BHP Copper Inc.'s plan to tear down the stacks soon may signal the coming of a new landscape dominated by residential rooftops and lots of new neighbors.

Thousands of new houses are likely to be built after Pinal County supervisors approved BHP's request last year to redesignate the company's approximately 23,000 surrounding acres to be used for more than mining. The new designation means the land could be used for homes, industrial buildings and retail centers. One large parcel surrounding San Manuel is now designated for urban uses, which could mean higher-density housing.

Up to 10,000 new homes could be built over the next 15 years, said Jo Buttery, a local real-estate agent and a member of the county's comprehensive plan advisory committee, which first reviewed the proposal.

But not all land is developable, and Jeff Parker, BHP director of environmental and community affairs, said 'maybe 5,000 homes' could be built in that same time frame.
Even 5,000 homes would almost quadruple the town's population to about 17,000. Roughly 4,300 people lived in San Manuel in 2000.

San Manuel is about thirteen miles north of the area that I've been looking at in the San Pedro valley. Right now it appears as a service station and a couple of store fronts from the highway. The residential areas are behind that, up the hill. And of course the massive copper operation on the other side of the highway. But all that is going away in the next few years. Absent the smokestacks, the view across the San Pedro River valley from San Manuel is very attractive.

This is a mixed blessing. To me, the encroachment of suburbia toward my rural utopia would not be especially welcome. However Daisycat has expressed her disdain for the idea of living "way out in the boonies"--even in retirement she wants to stay "in town".

Daisycat grew up in "Lake Wobegon", Minnesota, and we both lived for a while in Winona, MN, a small college town on the Mississippi River in southeast Minnesota. The population was all of 35,000 when college was in session. She loved Winona, and so did I, although I would have preferred some acreage a few miles outside of town.

With the ongoing transformation of San Manuel, it appears that the town will be a bedroom community of 17,000 to 30,000 people within the next fifteen years or so. With people come services, such as shopping, restaurants and the like--the things that she says she'd miss if we lived way out in the sticks.

Ten years ago, the town of Catalina, AZ was much like San Manuel is now. There were a handful of businesses along the highway, and a small community of mostly manufactured housing on one acre lots behind that, up toward the mountains. We originally were looking at purchasing land in Catalina when we moved to Arizona. Catalina was experiencing a growth surge at that time. As it turned out then, the combination of soaring lumber prices and rising interest rates squeezed us out of that dream. But now, the town of Catalina is more like a suburb of Oro Valley, with a long string of businesses on either side of the highway, including restaurants and stores and the like.

Between Catalina and San Manuel is another up and coming community, at Oracle. This community could someday rival Oro Valley in the number of residents and the scope of services available. Tens of thousands of homes are planned for this area as well. And businesses and services will follow.

So my little plot out in the sticks may not be so remote after all in ten or twenty years.

Which is a mixed blessing, but maybe one that we can both live with.

Labels: San Pedro homestead

Student housing complex constructed from shipping containers:


Keetwonen

Cool.

At 138 comments, this thread broke all records for thread longevity on Little Miss Attila's site.

It is interesting how many of the same points some of us were trying to make in the thread are made in this animation from Zipperfish. Granted, we're still talking past each other, and Zipperfish goes *way* beyond some of those points. But it's worth it for the funny.

(Caution: NSFW due to strong language, offensive portrayals, irreverence, etc.. Don't click if you are Muslim. You will probably be offended. And we know how *THAT* has a way of turning out...)



dead mousie to Curmudgeonly & Skeptical

From this very funny post: Classical Values :: The plasticity of fascism and blowing things up . . .

Update: And while you're at that page, be sure to vote in the "What ancient form of execution would you LEAST prefer?" poll on the right sidebar!

From here:

The square root of negative one walks into a club and spots a beautiful integer sitting at the bar. He takes a stool beside her and says, "Say baby, can I buy you a drink?" She replies, "Get real!"

Update: So how many people totally didn't get that?

Now *here's* a pipe dream!

Listing Detail - Residential New photos added to the listing.

I mean seriously, if there was a way to own it, I'd pay someone to manage the cattle operation just to be able to enjoy the rest of the ranch myself. An hones' ta gawd working cattle ranch right where I would want it, in one of the most beautiful and remote riparian areas of the state, just dangling there for sale...wa-ay out of reach!

Oh, if I was a rich man
Daidle-deedle-daidle-digguh-digguh-deedle-daidle-dum!

This video is supposed to be a PSA for parents, explaining the importance of enforcing dress codes. Instead, it comes across something like the old schtick involving 100 clowns in a VW Beetle.

Hidden Guns

It would frankly be a little difficult to pull this off in real life, but I did find the demonstration pretty hilarious nonetheless, especially the appearance of the long gun.

dead mousie to Acidman

Financial Times--US group implants electronic tags in workers

An Ohio company has embedded silicon chips in two of its employees - the first known case in which US workers have been "tagged" electronically as a way of identifying them.

Via enrevanche, via Mind of Mog.

From the comments at enrevanche:

Just think: If we could link the RFID to an identity card/drivers license/credit card that biometrically linked to the individual we could do away with printed/minted money and stop identity theft forever! This could be huge!

The fig is putting forth it's leaves. Consider the season.

Via What Now Murphy?

trait snapshot:
secretive, reclusive, messy, disorganized, introverted, unassertive, rarely worries, dislikes large parties, does not like to fit in, does not need to control others, solitary, ambivalent about chaos, tough, leisurely, does not respect authority, not aggressive, observer, abstract, impractical, dislikes leadership, daydreamer, bizarre, does not make friends easily, not a perfectionist, suspicious, rarely irritated, strong physical instincts, unsympathetic at times, risk taker, weird, sarcastic, strange

Not a bad snapshot of my current mood and outlook.

Update: Just thinking, because these types of results vary depending upon mood and outlook, I should retake it in a couple of months and see by how much it differs. I expect it will in several categories.

Another Tucson blogger, noted for that someday Tucson/Arizona blogroll:

What Now, Murphy?

The 17.5 acre parcel...



With the 7 acre horse pasture...



The river runs through it...



But it is no more in play.

Someone made an offer and the offer was accepted Monday before the agent was able to decipher my (Sunday afternoon) phone message and get back to me.

Aaugh!

She had the number correct too. For some reason the call (to my cell phone) didn't go through.

Maybe that means "not meant to be". Or maybe it means stupid circumstances kicking me in the butt.

The 5.5 acres with the well is still active (I checked with the agent to be sure), and I'm following up on some "due diligence" research before I make any moves.

Labels: San Pedro homestead

Major **snorfle** over at Cowboy Blob's place!

Much interesting commentary here: Dean's World - Christian Ideology, and a Challenge for Rusty

Mostly linked for future reference, but if you are so inclined to read a discussion about Islam, Christianity, Secular Humanism and the "Holy War" of Islamists against the West, go click, read.

link via LMA

I saw this story in the paper a couple days ago and I forgot to mention it, but this is very interesting to me as an Arizonan and nascent pistolero. The Arizona legislature is in the process of passing a bill that essentially shifts the burden of proof back to where it belongs--on the state.

Currently the way the law works, if you use deadly force against someone in self-defense, you will likely face a murder charge and will essentially be required to prove your innocence--that it was justifiably self defense--or face prison. With this bill it would become the state's burden to prove your guilt--that the use of deadly force was not justified as legitimate self defense.

This only makes sense, given how our legal system is supposed to work, and given that the whole point of concealed carry laws is to make the use of deadly force legal in the face of a threat of grave injury or death.

Once More Into the Breach: Arizona No Retreat Law

I was back out in the valley in the country yesterday, getting my nose full of properties for sale, and my head full of ideas how to acquire and develop them. There is another property that is larger than the previous one I was looking at--it is 17.5 acres and has the riverbed running through about a third of the acreage. It's set further back from the road and has fewer potential obstacles for development. About 7 acres is an old horse pasture, with fewer County restrictions, although I'd still have to stay back from the river's edge 500 feet.

But it doesn't have a well, let alone an artesian well like the other (5.5 acre) site, and it would cost $30k more. Considering the value of the two in-town lots I have for trade, that would leave me with no bucks left for any development activities. Quandries upon quandries.

In other news, it's that time again. I spent most of today updating my accounts in preparation for the dread task. Taxes never get easier year after year, but I'm determined to do them myself nonetheless. Most of the work is gathering up all of the information and organizing it anyway. I'd have to do that whether I paid someone to do my taxes or not. And with Turbo Tax, once I've done the gathering and organizing, it's just a matter of plug and chug to the bottom line.

So it's nose to the grindstone time again. Fortunately I was able to work at my desk with the window to my garden open. It reached the lower 70's here, and the goldfinches were singing gorgeously in the trees above the window. Together with the fountain, the windchimes, and the sunshine, it was tolerable enough.

From The Politburo Diktat

I am tired of the Muslim monopoly on unilateral declarations of blasphemy.

Therefore, I hereby declare George W. Bush to be the Prophet of a new religion, The Third Church of High Wingnuttery, also known as the 'Religion of Two Can Play at This Game.'

Everyone everywhere must take down every last editorial, blog post, cartoon, or banner that is disrespectful or insulting to the Prophet G. W. Bush, PBUH (President Bush Ur Hero).

We are the Bushi'ites. No one will ridicule our sacred rite of Meleagris fictitious.

Read the rest...

One of the things I like about Twenty Major is how he deftly weaves jabs at popular celebrities into his yarns.
Twenty Major - still smoking in Dublin bars.: Decisions Decisions

I was about to edit off the text on the side, then I realized the photo and text both were from Reuters. Priceless!

Her eyes look a bit loose (perhaps spotting two potential victims simultaneously?) and she looks like she is about to spit venom at one of her victims.

Big fat dead mousie to Rodger, who has more at the link.