Quick TV Show Review – Star Trek: Discovery

I didn’t even know there was going to be a new Star Trek series.  It was a surprise. Even more surprising is that it’s not on TV.  You have to subscribe to CBS online streaming service.  Yeah. No.

I already pay DirecTV $130 a month.  I’m not adding to that by subscribing to another service.  That being said, there are other ways…

Anyway, I checked out the first episode which is free.  Just like a drug dealer, the first hit is free.  I’m not sure I like it.  It’s dark, violent and stressful.  It is obviously written to appeal to the psychotic young people of today.  It is overly complex and after seeing the first episode, I don’t know what is going on.  Maybe it could grow on me but I feel betrayed.

I don’t know what more to say.  I think I’ll stick with The Orville for my Star Trek fix.

 

 

Land strikeout

Looks like I’ve struck out again. My real estate agent obtained the restrictions on the two acres of land I was looking at.  It’s the usual stupid requirements that I don’t want to have to follow so I’m going to pass again.

I really liked the land.  Even though I didn’t like it at first sight, after spending some time on it, it grew on me and I decided it was perfect.  It is a brand new subdivision of a larger property and, not having any development on it yet, I thought it might be a place to have free will.  Not so much.

I don’t understand why people can’t subdivide land without putting on a bunch of Nazi rules and requirements.   I don’t want to have to get approvals on the type of house I want and how many chickens I can have.  I don’t need someone to tell me that my house has to be brick on the front and what color the door is and whether the driveway is properly maintained.  All I want is some land and leave me alone.

I suppose it is to “protect people’s investments.”  Well, a home is NOT an investment.  It’s a place to live.  If you need someone’s approval to do something then you are NOT living.  I don’t care about my house’s resale value or what the neighbors house looks like as long as I can’t see them or hear them from my own.  Live and let live dammit!

So I’m disappointed but it is not expected.  I’m kind of getting used to disappointment and it doesn’t hurt as much anymore.  The search is still on.  I’m getting rather anxious to have this purchase done so I can have a foundation to base my life on.  It really sucks to be floating in limbo.

I am going to have to step it up a notch and maybe post wanted ads in newspapers and convenience stores.  I might see if I can find out who owns larger properties and send them letters asking if I can buy some.  Surely someone out there wants to make a little money.

Who knew it would be this difficult.

 

Land shopping success!???

Today I went back for a closer look at the 2 acres I briefly checked out last weekend.  I had some time to think about it and I thought it warranted another look.

I drove 10mph down the dirt road to see if I could avoid blanketing my car in dust and it wasn’t so bad.  The road was longer going slowly but not too bad.  Besides, who’s in a rush in the country.  That’s the point!

I parked on the road in front of the property and changed into my jeans so I would not scratch the hell out of my legs.  This property is completely overgrown which is exactly what I want for privacy.  I was worried about snakes and don’t have any boots so I wrapped some cardboard around my lower legs a few times as a bit of protection under my jeans.  Perhaps stupid, perhaps genius.

I plunged into the jungle to see what I could see.  It was very dense and I was glad I had long pants on.  The majority of the land is relatively flat but there are a few shallow dry creek beds that could be a problem.  After getting a good idea of where they went, I looked to see where I might be able to locate the house and a garage workshop.   The creek beds had me worried but I think the house can fit relatively well right about in the center and the back patio deck can overlook the creek.  I might build a little bridge.  I think the non-flatness will give it nice character once it is cleaned up.

I paced out as best as I could estimate the size of the house.  I might have to build a smaller garage/workshop but that might not be so bad.  Across the creek bed the other half of the property is mostly flat.  Plenty of room for a garden and a solar array if I don’t put it on the roof.

The house would face Northeast meaning the roof would slant Southwest which would put it in pretty prime orientation for solar.

The trees are mostly Oak and a few Mesquite.  There are a few larger Oaks but the rest are small.  Maybe 20 feet tall.   I was trying to visualize what it would look like after I removed the brushy undergrowth and unwanted trees.  I would of course leave the perimeter 10-20 feet untouched for privacy.  The front of the property has a nice growth of taller trees and brush to screen it from the road.  Other than a curvy driveway, I would leave it mostly natural.

I like it and I think it likes me.

After an hour of traipsing around I was hot and my underwear was drenched with sweat.  I imagined myself running around naked and it wasn’t so bad.

I headed back to the small town maybe 10 miles away.  I stopped and had a burger then drove up and down the main street to see what was there.  I visited the grocery store and scouted out two lumber yards.  I google mapped to see what kind of computer businesses there were.  There is one that looks good.  It would be great if I might find a job there one day.  Full or part time.  That sounds like fun.  Being a computer guru it should not be hard to find something for a little extra income once things are built.

It looks like this town might meet my basic needs.  It doesn’t have a Home Depot but there is one about 18 miles away.  That’s acceptable.

I like the small townness.  No heavy traffic.  No infinite masses of crazy people driving around pointlessly to burn gas.  I liked the feel.

I got home and emailed my realtor and told him I would like as much info as he could dig up and I would probably make an offer.  They are asking $60,000 which is more than I think is a fair price.  I’m going to see about offering $50,000.  I would feel comfortable around there.  If I HAVE to go to $60,000 then I guess it would still be worth it.

I’m trying not to get myself too excited because I’ve been let down too many times in the past.  If this doesn’t work out then I’ll just keep looking and waiting.  More time means more money to spend.  Look on the bright side.

Supposing I end up buying it, I would at least feel like the prophesy is coming true.  I’ll at least have a solid base to build my future and I can finally plan to get myself out of limbo and into motion.

Wish me luck!

 

Quick TV Show Review – The Orville

It has been 12 years since the last Star Trek TV show was made.  That’s a long time to deprive Trek fans of something that has been in our lives since 1966.

When I first saw the teasers for the new Space Series, “The Orville” I dismissed it because it was going to be “Funny.”  Even though I totally enjoy Family Guy from the same producer, Seth McFarlane, I was not interested in seeing something like Star Trek ruined with bad comedy.

Finally the show came to TV this week.  I went ahead and watched the first episode in order to check it out.  I’m glad to say I was surprised to see that it is something I can actually enjoy.  It is serious enough to have good Trek-like story lines with just a hint of light comedy that gives you a chuckle without being horrible like most of today’s unbearable comedies.

The actors seem to be good choices for the parts and the CGI and sets are awesome!  I approve.

I can tell you that if you are a Star Trek fan, you will like, “The Orville.”

 

Land shopping strike-out.

This morning I decided to take a fresh look at what land was available.  I opened up Zillow in a different browser so it would not see any of my preferences and started a fresh search.

There were still not many options but it turned up a 2 acre tract that looked interesting.

It was Sunday morning so I decided I would go check it out.  I drove approximately 100 miles to get there.  As I left the city and saw my first glimpse of farmland it was like I had driving through the stress bubble boundary and suddenly felt like I could breathe again.  I drove down some nice rural roads then the GPS told me to turn onto a dirt road.   Hmmmm.

I drove my nicely cleaned car that I washed yesterday down a dirty road until I came to the land for sale.  I liked almost everything about it.  It was properly rural, peacefulness oozed out of every crevice.  The size is good.  The zoning and restrictions are good.  It has water and electricity at the road.  It is almost in the right location.  The main drawback was the dirt road.

The place has been on the market for 50+ days which made me think something was wrong and I think the dirt road is the turnoff for most people.  It was dusty and like driving on a washboard that nearly shook my teeth out.  The vegetation was all covered in dust meaning my house would also be all covered in dust.  I like everything else about it but the dirt road is the road-block for me. Major bummer. The price is $60K which is just too much for a dirt road. I guess it was not meant to be.  If this place had been on a paved road I would make the offer right now.

I really feel that if I at least owned the land, whether I built immediately or a few years from now, a great weight would be lifted from my shoulders and I could start to make definite plans.  Until then, it’s all up in the air.  I don’t like that feeling.  It’s like being in limbo.

Finding good land is very difficult these days.  It’s mostly all taken or not for sale.  I’m sure I’m being too picky but were talking about the place I’m going to die so it needs to be as close to perfect as possible.  I don’t want to have to not be happy with my choice for the rest of my life.  I’m just going to have to put on my patience hat and wait it out.

I had the money sitting in my bank account ready to write a check but since it is taking longer than expected, I transferred it to my Wealthfront account to let it accumulate some investment profit.   My plan was to spend $40,000 on 2 acres but it looks like property-inflation is strong.  I will be lucky to only spend 60K.  I should probably expect to spend up to $100K.  All the extra for the land takes away from my house building fund though.

It makes me sad because my family used to own 40 acres that we sold back in the 80s for $2,000 and acre.  Now you can’t find an acre for lest than $10,000.  Really pisses me off.  Stupid young me didn’t think I would ever want the land.

It might be a good thing that it is taking longer since every month I wait my investments add $4-6K to my net worth so maybe having to spend the extra money won’t be so difficult.  Let’s hope the stock market holds up for a few more years.

Yeah. First world problems.  Still, it seems like the most important thing in the world to me.

 

 

 

Why do women ignore me like I don’t exist?

I am always amazed as I wander the planet that women completely ignore me like I don’t exist.

I smile at them but they are just not there.  I thought women wanted a good man.

Don’t women want a good man who will treat them like a queen?
Don’t women want a man who has money and no debt?
Don’t women want a man who will belong only to them?
Don’t women want a man who can fix things?
Don’t women want a man who is the most awesome person on the planet?
Don’t women want a man who can do anything he puts his mind to?

I’m confounded.
I’m perplexed.
I’m confused.

I believe it is proof that the women I see are not real.  The only explanation is that they are all holographic projections of a computer simulation that has not yet achieved that ability to express human emotion.  I have been placed in this simulator from birth and am being studied by aliens to try to understand the Human race in order to conquer Earth.

That is the ONLY possible explanation.
GET ME OUT OF HERE!!  I’M ON TO YOU!!