Freezerator Update

Have everything now for the system with the exception of the inverter and battery. The freezer went on sale just after I made the last post and I got it for just over $100.00 off the original price of $499.99. Got the solar panel from ebay along with the updated thermostat. The charge controller is a cheaper unit from Harbor Freight but does the job.

The freezer worked great as a freezer and after putting in the new thermostat, it appears to work great as a refrigerator as well. According to my kill-a-watt meter it draws just under 8 amps for a few seconds at startup and then drops to 1.2 amps. It only runs about 5-6 minutes each hour and after running it for

A New Freezerator In Our Future?

One of the main things we will have to deal with in Oklahoma from the day we get there is we will have no electric service. Now I myself don't see that as a negative and at this point neither does the wife. Of course we can't go without power at all which leaves us with solar, wind, and propane. The main topic of this post however is food and refrigeration.

Old Abandoned Root Cellar

Our main source of food storage will be in the form of a root cellar. I figure if storing food underground worked before electricity was around it should still work just fine.

What we plan on doing is digging what can be considered a combination root cellar / storm shelter as our first major project when we get there. It's tornado country so a storm shelter is an absolute must, especially since we'll be living in a tornado magnet travel trailer until the house is built. Of course now that it's also earthquake country it'll need a little more reinforcement than I originally planned, but that's okay.

The layout of our property being on the hill means it'll be easier to dig into the side of the hill for the cellar/shelter so it'll be a bit bigger than the standard root cellar. My goal would be for us to be able to have hammocks up that we could sleep in in the event of a bad stormy night.

Inefficiency On Display

Of course you're probably still wondering what the heck is a freezerator? Before I answer that, let's cover why the need for a freezerator exists.

Basic thermodynamics is that hot air rises and cold air falls. By design then the standard front door refrigerator is inefficient. When you open the door, all the cold air you've spent money on creating has now been instantly turned into a foot chiller. It may be really convenient, but in a time where we all need to conserve a little more and save some of those hard earned slave wages, we could do better.  Have you ever wondered why they can keep food in the store in refrigeration units with no lids? It's because the cold air stays inside and they're actually cheaper to run than those with the glass doors. The real question though is how inefficient are standard upright units?

Mines bigger than yours.

It's a pretty sad day when you realize the Jeep you just bought is that much smaller than your daughters...

On another note, I just realized you can edit the pictures directly in blogger now including giving it that 70's photo look..

There's a new book coming out that was written by one of the Hammock Forum members "dejoha" that I'm looking forward to reading.

The Ultimate Hang: An Illustrated Guide to Hammock Camping

The link will take to the Facebook page for the book and if you'd like you can follow the author here on twitter.

Those of you that like to go camping, try it once in a hammock and you'll never sleep on the ground again. What's not to like about a view like this..

I'll update the blog when the book is available. In the mean time run over to the Hammock Forums and see what you're missing. If nothing else you'll get to see guys like shug..

The things we do for love.

For the past two weeks I've been stuck out in one of the parking lots at work instead of in the park. I have to admit it does make the day go much slower and I miss the guest interaction but either way I get paid and we get one step closer to our dream.

It's Time For "That" Talk

Having a few things put away for a rainy day is never a bad ting. It's Time For "That" Talk

The Michael Bunker Radio show

I just added a sidebar widget for a radio show that I really like to listen to. This guy has written a few books and has opened my mind to quite a few issues I have with organized religion and taking things back to the roots. If you'd like to participate in the show feel free to go listen live and call into the show.

The Michael Bunker Radio Show

Downloading YouTube Videos To Your Android

Yes, we have another post about the android phone. I figure since there are multiple android phones in the household including the one my wife uses with wifi access only I might as well include info about them here, especially if it's something that can benefit others.

How many times have you been watching a video on YouTube only to go back to it later and find it removed either by the user or YouTube itself? There are a number of utilities you can put on your desktop or laptop machine to download and save these movies, but what if you find the movie while you're browsing around on your phone? Or better yet, you want them on your phone to watch later?

I tried a lot of different apps and found that they either didn't work completely or not at all. I finally found one that worked and you guessed it, it was removed from the app store. I really do understand the benefits of having people come back to YouTube for advertising and brand recognition, but does Google really need to be that worried about videos being downloaded? I should have the option when I post my videos to allow online only or available for download. This would eliminate their need to "protect" my copyrights. But that's a whole other subject for a different blog. If you're reading this I'm sure you just want to know how to save the videos to your phone.

TubeMate is the answer to your needs. Since it is not in the app store you will need to change the settings in your phone to allow installation of apps from unknown sources. Don't worry about the security of your phone, it will not open it up to random downloads. You still maintain control of what you install. Once the app is installed, use it instead of your regular YouTube app and when you tap the video to play it will give you the option to play it or download it.

That's it, nice an simple and easy to use until Google changes the YouTube code around again, but the guys at TubeMate have been pretty good about keeping it updated.

-mike