Let's visit on the Porch II (Plains, Shepherd: Australian, discovery, vs)

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by Reziac

Where I've lived, anyone could use the dump, but everyone paid by the pound.

California was good at that.

My brother and I tore down his old wooden fence. I owned a 3/4 ton Ford with a flatbed. He owned a 1 ton with a normal bed. We tore down the fence in sections to just lay down on my flatbed. Took it to the dump. They had me pull on the scales and I asked what for? They said that my truck with a flatbed was considered a commercial vehicle and that it would cost $45 plus $15 per 1000 pounds to dump. I said, Commercial, just because it has a flatbed?". Yup. So we turned around and went back and moved the fence to my brothers truck. Went back to the dump and pulled in. Because it was a "standard truck", we simply paid $15..

[Threerun]

Originally Posted by Reziac

How'd you get four family phones for $100/mo.?? when my mom asked AT&T about adding one phone to hers, totaling two phones, they told her something like $85/mo. !!!

We went in to AT&T and looked at our data usage and our plan. We didn't use that much data so we dropped it to a combined 2 (or 3) G's for the month and that was that.

We own our phones (they are all hand-me down I-Phones from my techie bro-in-law from CO). I wanted to get it down to $75 a month combined but this was the best way to keep our phones.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

California was good at that.

Bozeman (Logan) dump, the several times I was there, didn't ask for our credentials -- charged us $22/ton and I guess we coulda been from Mars.

I guess the per-ton rate is about the same for the Billings dump, but I can get a 2-yard dumpster for $31 (winter) / $42 (summer) per month which is about what it would cost me to run to the dump and pay by the pound, so I see no reason why I should do the grunt work, which amounts to somewhere around 1200 pounds per month. (And it has to go regular, bein' doggie doo don't keep.) Diff for the summer rate is it gets picked up twice a month instead of once.

Found me a decent mechanic in Laurel, and there was this big Chevy dually 4x4 in getting its 3rd rear end in as many years. Mechanic finally figured out that this guy blows it out getting stuck at the dump, and it winds up being front-wheel-drive.

Getting stuck at the dump also sounds like less fun than it should be...

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

They said that my truck with a flatbed was considered a commercial vehicle and that it would cost $45 plus $15 per 1000 pounds to dump. I said, Commercial, just because it has a flatbed?".

Gak!!

In California, all pickups, even mini trucks are 'commercial vehicles'. (But vans, even oversized ones, are 'cars'.) The easily-led voted that into law back around 1986, thinking they were only screwing over the 18-wheelers. My old F-100's tags went from $35 to $135 overnight. (And kept going up.)

Originally Posted by Threerun

We went in to AT&T and looked at our data usage and our plan. We didn't use that much data so we dropped it to a combined 2 (or 3) G's for the month and that was that.

What they quoted my mom was with zero data, just minutes.

I'm not fond of the phone for internet stuff, that's what the computer with a real screen is for!

[ElkHunter]

Had the best supper I've had in a long time. Can't beat it, the best meat you'll ever have. Had fresh Mountain Lion. Damn it was tasty.

[Reziac]

Huh. I have no idea what mountain lion tastes like. Tho I understand there's nothing a mountain lion likes better'n wolf. (Wonder what wolf tastes like??) There's a hide I'd like to have on my wall... cat or bear. Or wolf.

But I'm gonna get to experience porcupine, if I catch up with the one (or more) that's been destroying mature trees on the neighbor's place. Better not touch mine! (Fish & Game says "not a managed species, legal to shoot".)

Now how does one cook porcupine? It's a rodent, so maybe like rabbit? Anything special you gotta do with 'em??

We sure have a lot of skunks around here. Been one spraying somewhere close every night... I'd love to have a skunk-skin hat. Prettiest, softest fur you ever saw... if you can get it without 'contamination' !!

[Muck Boots Lady]

Idaho dumps are free in Bonner County. All you need to do is paste the sticker up on the corner of your windshield. They send you a new sticker every year around November. Ours always seems to come in the mail right on the heels of my sending in the property tax payment. So you just pull in and stop, the guy looks at your windshield from his armchair in the shack, then waves you in. They also have a free table where you can get old boots, coffeemakers, kids toys, whatever. And it's always open 7:00AM to 5:00PM, except for a couple holidays.

Our dump in California is free for now (knock on wood) when it's open. Friday through Monday, 9:00AM to 5:00PM. The sign on the gate I saw was new since we'd left last spring. And the dump guy asking for ID was new this week. Dufus wasn't sure exactly what the guy wanted to see and after talking; the dump guy wasn't sure either! He told Dufus they were cracking down on people coming in from out of the area. Which is weird. By the time somebody drove up from the central valley to this dump and back the price of gas would have paid for their local dump in the valley. We're not sure what's going on. Just hassling people doing what they gotta do IMHO.

Last year after that freak storm that knocked out the power for seven days we got a "landline phone" at Walmart. It doesn't plug into an electrical outlet like all the new cordless phones so you can still get a call out if you need to. We have no cell phone service on our property, but Dufus can ride the quad around to the other side of the rise and get a signal from the tower on Schweitzer. We were also lucky in finding a guy who could get us internet service. He's an old Navy communications guy too. Way over my head. Gets us a microwave signal from a tower on the other side of the lake. So if push came to shove we could do VOIP by internet. If there was power. Or we could run a generator to run a computer...? This phone stuff is all too much for me to understand, hope y'all are getting a good laugh at least!

[Reziac]

Ways to use up excess milk:
10 Ways to Use Up a Gallon of Milk

More complicated homemade yoghurt:
National Center for Home Food Preservation | NCHFP Publications

Free online classes on food preservation:
National Center for Home Food Preservation

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Muck Boots Lady

We were also lucky in finding a guy who could get us internet service. He's an old Navy communications guy too. Way over my head. Gets us a microwave signal from a tower on the other side of the lake. So if push came to shove we could do VOIP by internet. If there was power. Or we could run a generator to run a computer...? This phone stuff is all too much for me to understand, hope y'all are getting a good laugh at least!

That sounds like fixed wireless, which was all I could get in SoCal that was better'n dialup. If you have a very good connection (last I heard the Motorola wireless modems were the only ones that are any good, and max out at 5.4Mbit) you can do VOIP, but don't rely on it entirely, since fixed wireless tends to go out in bad weather. If you have the slower (usually around 1.5Mbit) connection, VOIP will be iffy, possibly because fixed wireless seems to have more packet loss (in crude terms, holes in the data stream).

You can use a generator to run a computer if it has a special outlet for it, or if you buy a power conditioning gadget. Otherwise the computer won't work very well, if at all, or you may cook it. Cooked computers taste very bad.

[ElkHunter]

Rez, the question is not how you cook porcupine, meat is meat, but how the hell do you skin it without looking like a pin cushion? hahaha. actually, I have had porcupine cooked over a campfire. I got there late and they already had bits of meat on sticks, so I'm not sure how they skinned it. The taste was different. Very dry but not sure if it was because of the way it was cooked or if that's just the way it is. Wasn't bad, I'll certainly eat it again.

Food for thought. A landline phone is powered by the phone company. Remember when the trimline phone was the thing to have.? single cord coming out that plugged into the phone jack. A little research shows that the phone operated on 28 volts and when it rings, it does so by increasing to 128-150 volts, all furnished by ma bell. We need to make a jack / converter that plugs into on the wall so we can steal that power. Maybe power the television with it? Ceiling fan? Something should be able to be run using ma bell power. hahahaha

[Reziac]

Oh, so what you really want is a phone that rings all the time!!

But does the signal to increase voltage come from the point of origin? If so, you need someone else to call you and just leave it ring forever... meanwhile you disconnect your ringer and 'borrow' the surplus.

Found a video where a guy hung the porcupine up by the hind legs and skinned it butt-first like a deer, cut the tail off with the hide, then gutted it like a rabbit. He got poked a bunch. Another guy used pliers and welding gloves, and demo'd quills vs oak board. The board lost!

What I can find for recipes says the carcass is fatty but the meat is dry, so cook accordingly.

Here's a crazy person who got quilled on purpose, to demo how to remove 'em!

Wonder what the fur is like once all the quills are out?? Maybe you could roll it around on an old blanket, burlap or feed bags, and peel 'em out that way.