The Amalgimated Brain Trust

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I would not have been able to afford a median priced home, but I was able to buy a house in a tax auction and completely repair it. I'm self employed and have no credit history at all, so a mortgage was not going to happen. I've spent about $95,000 at this point, which includes a new septic system, all new plumbing and wiring, complete spray foam insulation, all new windows, doors, woodwork, flooring, some roofs, a woodshed, a new 16x32 workshop, two wood stoves and a mini split, new porches, new cabinets in the kitchen, etc. I spent all the money I had saved up beforehand and a bit more over time, but now at age 37 I have a ~900 sf house that is largely new inside and all paid for, and I only have to pay taxes, insurance, electricity and internet. This would not have been financially feasible if I had dependents, unless I had a more lucrative career, or if I didn't have the skills to do most of the work myself (other than the septic system and spray foam).

Zach is a good poster child for the "I Don't Believe" thread. If a person loves their craft they will make it work.

[Doug Garson]

wow, I just read the OP no where near on topic...

Well, this is the "Off Topic" section.

[Bill George]

When I suggested moving some place or state less expensive like Iowa I got laughed out of another Thread. House prices for housing costs are taken from the major cities. I can guarantee you that you can find lower cost houses by moving... houses are not going for $300k in Wyoming or Alaska rural areas or smaller towns.

Get a skill. I have been working at skilled jobs all my life and most were Union. Both my sons also, we all have nice houses my youngest built most of his $350k new one, before that he remodeled two others for a healthy profit,,, yes we all have skills. I make more in retirement than most of the people I know working full time jobs. I was Union Refrigeration Pipefitter running mostly service and control work and also a licensed Master Electrician. Oh and I taught HVAC the last 12 years before retiring. In the JPG posted below those wages are higher today... but you get the idea, work with your hands and brain.

[Tom M King]

Back a little bit on topic, when I was involved with a Boy Scout Troop, we had a wide range of backgrounds that the kids came from. Some from educated families to some from families who could not read. From my experience, I can say that well educated families are educating their children better than educated families did when I grew up. Uneducated are about the same.

I grew up in a very rural county in Virginia where we had one High School and a few Elementary schools, so kids from all backgrounds went to the same school. All my friends who ended up with PhDs came from families that had gone to college. These kids from educated families came to the first grade not reading better than anyone else, but they always got what they could get out of school and always had good grades. The kids from uneducated families always struggled. I always expected the better educated kids got help and motivation from home. The gap grows wider.

These days, the very well educated people my age have children that they read to a lot and their kids could read very well when they were four years old. These children had a running start in school, ended up getting scholarships and higher education with very good jobs to start with. The ones from families who couldn't read ended up getting through school somehow but are still struggling decades later and hoping for someone to "give" them a high paying job.

I had one parent who finished high school, but somehow managed to get through school pretty easily and was lucky. We also read to our children a lot when they were young, probably at least 20 minutes a night when they were old enough to look at the book and listen, to longer as they grew. Both are pretty successful now and can do what they want to.

One problem we saw with the young guys starting in Boy Scouts was that they weren't comfortable talking to people who weren't their age. We went on a lot of camping trips and when we stopped at a fast food place on the way on long trips, they were required to order their own food. Most had not ever done this by age 11 or 12 and it took some effort to get them to the point that they could do it.

As leaders we saw and discussed that every year the boys that came in were less and less capable than last years boys, and most leaders gradually just dropped away from the job. Even the newer, younger leaders that came in were less and less capable of doing simple tasks like pitching a tent.

I could talk for hours about personal experiences, including working with guys who no one else would hire when I was building new houses. Out of the 30 or so that went through my "program", several are in jail, a couple shot and killed, and really only a couple of success stories over 33 years. One that took pride in never working on Mondays, changed his ways and is now married to a Nurse with three well behaved little girls. He owns 3 dump trucks, has every building license there is, and thanks me with high praises whenever we run into each other every few years.

It's a hard path to get out from a poor start. People who can't read think that being able to make out words on a page is knowing how to read. They will never understand.

As far as personal experience in owning a house, I/we lived in a tent during Summers for several years, and in the house I was building for sale through cold weather. The phenomenal, gorgeous woman that I've been with for 46 years and married to for 43 years stuck with me for a few of those years in a tent in Summer. We built a small house out of scraps, leftovers, and recycled materials around the time that we were married. We thought we'd stay here for a while and build a "real" house when we could. We're still here and raised two successful, capable children who have been grown and gone for a couple of decades now out of it. I have added onto the house a few times since then. We now have accumulated what is our dream place, and a lot of other people tell us theirs too, and I'm working on getting it to support itself to leave it to our kids.

[Alan Rutherford]

... all paid for....

Whether you're talking about houses, cars, cell phones or something else, that's a great feature.

[Pat Germain]

Back a little bit on topic, when I was involved with a Boy Scout Troop, we had a wide range of backgrounds that the kids came from. Some from educated families to some from families who could not read. From my experience, I can say that well educated families are educating their children better than educated families did when I grew up. Uneducated are about the same.

I grew up in a very rural county in Virginia where we had one High School and a few Elementary schools, so kids from all backgrounds went to the same school. All my friends who ended up with PhDs came from families that had gone to college. These kids from educated families came to the first grade not reading better than anyone else, but they always got what they could get out of school and always had good grades. The kids from uneducated families always struggled. I always expected the better educated kids got help and motivation from home. The gap grows wider.

These days, the very well educated people my age have children that they read to a lot and their kids could read very well when they were four years old. These children had a running start in school, ended up getting scholarships and higher education with very good jobs to start with. The ones from families who couldn't read ended up getting through school somehow but are still struggling decades later and hoping for someone to "give" them a high paying job.

I had one parent who finished high school, but somehow managed to get through school pretty easily and was lucky. We also read to our children a lot when they were young, probably at least 20 minutes a night when they were old enough to look at the book and listen, to longer as they grew. Both are pretty successful now and can do what they want to.

One problem we saw with the young guys starting in Boy Scouts was that they weren't comfortable talking to people who weren't their age. We went on a lot of camping trips and when we stopped at a fast food place on the way on long trips, they were required to order their own food. Most had not ever done this by age 11 or 12 and it took some effort to get them to the point that they could do it.

As leaders we saw and discussed that every year the boys that came in were less and less capable than last years boys, and most leaders gradually just dropped away from the job. Even the newer, younger leaders that came in were less and less capable of doing simple tasks like pitching a tent.

I could talk for hours about personal experiences, including working with guys who no one else would hire when I was building new houses. Out of the 30 or so that went through my "program", several are in jail, a couple shot and killed, and really only a couple of success stories over 33 years. One that took pride in never working on Mondays, changed his ways and is now married to a Nurse with three well behaved little girls. He owns 3 dump trucks, has every building license there is, and thanks me with high praises whenever we run into each other every few years.

It's a hard path to get out from a poor start. People who can't read think that being able to make out words on a page is knowing how to read. They will never understand.

As far as personal experience in owning a house, I/we lived in a tent during Summers for several years, and in the house I was building for sale through cold weather. The phenomenal, gorgeous woman that I've been with for 46 years and married to for 43 years stuck with me for a few of those years in a tent in Summer. We built a small house out of scraps, leftovers, and recycled materials around the time that we were married. We thought we'd stay here for a while and build a "real" house when we could. We're still here and raised two successful, capable children who have been grown and gone for a couple of decades now out of it. I have added onto the house a few times since then. We now have accumulated what is our dream place, and a lot of other people tell us theirs too, and I'm working on getting it to support itself to leave it to our kids.

I observed many of the same things when I was in the Navy. It seemed half the guys in my Boot Camp company were functionally illiterate. I can only assume someone fudged their ASVAB scores so they could get into the Navy. You could ask these guys to name the three parts of the fire triangle and they could correctly answer. Then they would take a written test and get it wrong. I couldn't figure out why this was happening. Then it became apparent they simply couldn't read and understand the test which was in front of them. When I got aboard ships, it was these same guys who were always struggling to get promoted because they couldn't pass the Seaman's test. These were the same guys who were always in trouble and ending up at Captain's Mast. Some got kicked out. Some just left the Navy after their enlistment was up and went back to their home towns. No doubt some ended up homeless.

[Lee DeRaud]

Many good things can come from sweet potatoes, but I'm not sure I even know enough people to burn through 160lbs of them before they go bad.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Many good things can come from sweet potatoes, but I'm not sure I even know enough people to burn through 160lbs of them before they go bad.

160 lbs, sweet or regular potato, smacks of BS to me too. . The missing dollar riddle was taught to my boyhood friend in college as a mathematical anomaly.

Missing dollar riddle - Wikipedia

[Tom M King]

They'll keep all Winter in a root cellar, but I don't think I've eaten 140 pounds in my entire life.

[Doug Garson]

I think I may have the solution. It takes 10 to 15 pounds of sweet potatoes to make one bottle (750 ml) of vodka. So, allowing for a few sweet potato pies, Bruce may have a case of Vodka in his shop. Of course he says it's only for making shellac but maybe......?
https://www.outsideonline.com/food/y...weet-potatoes/

[Lawrence Duckworth]

I couldn’t convert this in my head but gooogle says 160 lbeez of sweet potatoes is equal to 3.2 bushel

[Maurice Mcmurry]

A root cellar is on my to do list.

[Lee DeRaud]

I think I may have the solution. It takes 10 to 15 pounds of sweet potatoes to make one bottle (750 ml) of vodka. So, allowing for a few sweet potato pies, Bruce may have a case of Vodka in his shop.

Works for me: compact storage, never goes bad...

[Lawrence Duckworth]

so... can anyone here in their head, figure out how much 3.2 bushels of sweet potatoes would cost?

[Doug Garson]

Well if 3.2 bushels is 160 pounds per your earlier post, and at $0.25/pound per the OP, I'd say $40.