Monday, January 28, 2019

diversifying

It's time for me to get a second job.

 My time as docent/Charge D'affaires aboard HAWSEPIPER's Afloat Global HQ/Foundation for Enforced Celibacy has been unsatisfying. Plans are in process to make a jump elsewhere when I am interested in doing so.  In the meanwhile, though, I don't actually want to leave yet. I have a good thing going, and am not ready to go.

       When I go home next week, Inappropriately Hot Foreign Wife and I are going house hunting. It's time to get out of our small but beautiful little house. I am looking to get a little more rural, maybe, or at the least into something with a little more space. Inappropriately Hot Foreign Wife is ambivalent about leaving a gated community where we have a million-dollar-view and privacy but not quite enough space. I may end up at another community, which does have benefits like not having to do yardwork and keeping the riffraff at arms' length... but I prefer the country, and I can move to an unorganized township just 30 minutes away, and have a few acres and be able to pee off my porch if the mood strikes. Plus, Inappropriately Hot Foreign Wife would look good driving a small tractor cutting the lawn while I drink beer and watch. 
*checks Amazon for daisy dukes, flannel shirt and cowboy hat set*

        I've been looking at properties with barns and large sheds. I've been building my model boats, and while I can't freehand draw, I do know how to draw boat plans, and I have been learning how to convert them to a CAD form. I have a few designs from 9' to 26'  that are actually good enough to try building, I think. I'm thinking semi-seriously about opening up a boat shop. The more I ruminate on it, the more I like the idea.

4 comments:

pjk said...

I wish you well in your decision making process. Now is probably the time to look into making this kind of change in your life -- if you stay where you are for too long, it gets to the point that you really can't make a rational decision to change.

Chas S. Clifton said...

Either that or keep IHFW happy where she is and buy/rent a space for boat-building. But I live where you can pee off the porch too, so I understand the impulse.

Jonathan H said...

I like having privacy and space around me.
There are plenty of places around the country that offer it; you just have to decide if you like mountains or flat, heat or cold, and what your budget is.
Take time to research and wait for a good place in the areas you like - don't jump at the first thing that comes up. I turned down a couple not-quite-right places and am glad I did because the perfect place (big, convenient, and affordable) came up.

Will said...

Gated communities offer the illusion of safety, for the most part. Yeah, you don't get much of the "stealing your garden hose, etc" type of crime, but personal attacks still happen, partly due to the lackadaisical attitude people acquire due to that illusion. A more secluded, or off the beaten path location, may actually be more safe.

Have you considered building small scale tugboats? I've seen photos/videos of a couple, and they are so darn cute I'd like to have one, if I needed a boat. That would seem to be a size that would fit your specs, and fit your interests. Not sure if there is an actual market for them, but having two possible uses would help marketability: actual tugboat use, and weekend/livaboard use. My dad had a sideline of buying/selling/rebuilding boats in the ski-boat to 40ft yacht size, and really could have used a dedicated boat mover. Before he stopped, he ended up using a Correctcraft 16ft ski-boat with a 318 Chrysler. Geared to tow a dozen skiers, it could move near anything.