Off the grid

I have 5 acres in South Park that I'm building an off the grid cabin on. It has enough wind plus excellent views for solar. I hope to get the infrastructure work done this summer and raise the cabin next summer.

My landlord is willing to lend me his tractor/backhoe so I can get the footings in, and maybe even the septic. I've been looking into homebuilt well drilling rigs vs contracting out the well. The county water dude says I'll hit good water at about 120 feet but the only drill service in the area swears you have to go 400 feet. At $15 per foot, his price is 3 times the cost of the kit which is good to 200 feet. I need to do more research on other wells in the area.

The cabin itself will be a pentagon with an "eagles nest" loft in the center. The stove and water heaters (on demand) will be propane. Most of the electrical will be solar/wind with a backup gas generator. The washer and dryer can run off the generator as needed. Internet and Discovery channel via satellite and I get 3 bars of service on the property.

My solar and wind budget will be limited at first. I'll start with two 200W panels and a 2kw turbine. Wind is much cheaper than solar but the wind doesn't always blow and the sun sets every night. Solar is about $4.00 per watt and wind is about $1.00 per watt. The trick is going to be in using only appliances and lighting that doesn't suck power. Lighting will be easy. High power led systems are pretty inexpensive and draw only milliamps of power. I'll use a laptop and smallish LCD TV. I won't need AC up that high and it'll be heated with a pellet stove in the winter.

Kitchen appliances can all be 12V types, but the refrigerator is kicking my ass. To power it with propane would be very expensive and it would drain the batteries in short order.

If I were the President...

1. I'd evict the UN.

2. Abortion would be legal under reasonable circumstances.

Post conception birth control for a sound adult would not be considered a reasonable circumstance. Birth control is cheap, safe, and readily available. Use it.

3. Anyone could marry anyone else (or any number of anyones) as long as all parties are mentally competent adults.

In many cultures it's not uncommon to have more than 1 spouse or to marry a relative. If it's to be fair across the board then all cultures and lifestyles should be equally accommodated.

4. Your guns are safe. In fact, dueling will once again be a legal means of settling disputes.

5. No politician at the federal level would be allowed to serve more than 2 terms.

6. Speaking English would be a requirement for citizenship.

7. The IRS would be abolished and a flat rate federal sales tax would replace all income taxes.

Under this plan the govt would save $75Billion annually without increasing the tax burden on the people and the people would only be taxed on what they spend, not on what they earn. People under the poverty level would receive rebates.

8. Medicare would be modeled after the active Military health care systems.

Urban centers would each have a federally funded Medicare owned hospital and numerous "Readicare" clinics. Rural Medicare recipients would be enrolled in a traditional insurance program and/or rural Medicare clinics.

This may sound expensive, and it is, but it would still be only about half the cost of our current Medicare system.

9. The rules on Wall Street would change.

All stocks would have a mandatory 30 day hold from the time of purchase or trade. Investments should be for longer than a few hours or days. Day traders have ruined the stock market and this practice should be banished. All traders must have enough cash funds to cover the days trades.

10. Ronald Reagan would be on the quarter.

11. Federal elections would change.

The electoral college would be eliminated and votes would be cast and counted using biometric technology. No more dead people or cartoon characters deciding who wins an election.

12. Changes to the death penalty.

Positive DNA or other overwhelming forensic evidence will be required in order to secure a death sentence. If you are sentenced to death, you get 1 automatic appeal to be heard by a new Judge and Jury within 30 days of sentencing. If your appeal fails, sentence will be carried out in a timely manner.

13. The borders would be protected.

Place troops along the borders. Develop an "Ellis Island" portal at all border entries for immigrant workers. They could be documented, issued ID's and visa's and indoctrinated to the basic laws of the land. Employers would only be allowed to hire documented workers. Heavy fines would be imposed on those hire undocumented workers. Wire transfers out of the US would be subject to the federal sales tax system.

14. Ahnold would be my VP and Chuck Norris my Secretary of State.

15. Cloning and Embryonic stem production and/or use would be Illegal.

Don't fuck with Mother nature.

16. Profiling would be used at airport security.

All travelers would be subject to tradition scanning and vetting security checkpoints. Travelers meeting accepted terrorist profiles would be subject to additional scrutiny.

17. Finish the job in the middle east.

A)Return control of Iraq to their own forces in a controlled and timely fashion.
B)Send the troops exiting Iraq to Afghanistan and overwhelm the Taliban and Al Queda
C)Kill Bin Laden
D)Bring exiting troops home to serve on our own borders (see #13)

I'll add more as they come to me.