My Home

MY home

Well, it has been a little over a year now since I sold my house on the beach in Florida at the height of the land boom and retired. People ask me if I miss Florida, Why would I. What would you miss, 90% humidity, traffic jams, tourist season (summer and winter), hurricanes, droughts and fires, unable to buy property insurance, mosquitoes or crime, take your pick. I didn't loose anything there so there is no reason to go back looking for it.

Since retiring and moving to Texas, I have been working on the acre of land I bought. There is a retired vet living in a trailer up front. We get along fine, neither of us like company. In the back corner I converted a 20 x 8 foot steel shipping container into a house. Total cost, about 5K and It is very energy efficient. A single 5k Btu air conditioner takes care of the entire house.

At the moment I am partially solar powered backed up by the grid. My lights are all florescent and led, my stove is gas. For now shower water and dish water is one temperature, about 95 degrees. The water heater is shut off when I don't use it. In the winter I have a small 1500 watt oil filled heater. That and the AC seldom run. The house is too tight for gas water heater or gas heat, besides, I will soon need the extra amperage for the generator I will soon have installed because the generator must have a 50% load on it for a long life of the diesel engine which will allow me to disconnect from the grid.