Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

Started by glenn kangiser, January 30, 2005, 10:24:03 PM

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glenn kangiser

The reliable grid....



Off grid is too unreliable..... right... ask Dave Sparks or us about that.... :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

#2276
Our guests arrived from UCLA last night.  A highlight of their arrival was getting to see Hikaru again.  She was our last years guest from Japan.  You will find her in my postings from a year ago.  She is staying with another host family this year and they will take good care of her.

Our guests this year are from the exotic country of San Diego, California....and...

Kazakhstan.   :)

I will have pictures later ..first is to see if we can get them into the park.  The road has been closed by a rockslide but hopefully other entrances will be open.... [waiting]


Storm and power problems continue....

Quote
PG&E Offers Compensation for Extended Outages
Storms Message: If you are a residential customer and have gone without power for at least 48 hours due to severe storm conditions, you may qualify for a payment under PG&E's Safety Net Program.
This program provides for the automatic payment of $25-$100, which is paid about 60 days following the storm outage. While our crews and emergency response teams at PG&E do everything they can to keep the lights on, there are rare occasions when Mother Nature impacts our ability to keep power flowing to every one of our customers...
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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uncle

Glenn,
Can I ask a couple design questions?
I have land with a wonderful North slope that is in the middle of my 11 acres, a slight south slope in the same location. I also have a west slope and an east slope. I live in Humid Arkansas.
The West slope would keep me from removing any trees and preserving the more valuable property. I really don't need any solar heat in the summer, but the winters get quite cool.
Would there be any real downside to building on this west slope?
I am looking at building at the top of the west slope, where the east would be level then slope east.. Basically it's a small plateau that is the old chicken yard and then the old garden as you go east, and from the level, slopes west about 3/12 to 4/12.
How do you manage the runoff if I was to get backed up to the level area.
I know I've rambled but value your input.
Brian

glenn kangiser

Hi Brian,

Sounds as if it could be a bit tricky on that one, but not impossible. Mike even mentioned designing a mound where the cabin was above ground and you made your own appropriately sloped drainage away from there, but you may be able to go part mounded and part excavated.  One thing I would still like to see is french drains draining to daylight down hill. 

A low slope may make it harder to get the water to run away.  Regrading a small area to take the water away better is also an option and I reworked a lot of the grading around our cabin to keep water away.  Still wish I would have put the French drains in at the start.

Some pictures could help me to provide a bit better suggestions.  I would also recommend getting Mike's book as a minimum but for the best understanding his DVDs (Tapes when I got them) could help a lot too.  Once you understand his concepts then designing is easier.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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#2279
Our guests from UCLA left yesterday.  We miss them already, but had a great trip into the park.  The DOT site was reporting the road closed but the local DOT sign and CHP were reporting it open with danger of falling rocks...we just had to look out.  Some of the road had mud, trees, rocks and downed power lines right to the edge of it, yet they had it cleaned up well enough that we made it through with no problem.

When we went to meet the students Friday evening I went looking for Hikaru, our student guest at the Underground Cabin last year.  She was outside with a few of the others exploring the grounds which were the old mining tailing area in the 1860's.  When she saw me she came running across the yard to meet me.

Of course we had to pose for a photo op... :)




We got our student guests for this year, Steve from San Diego, and Sayat from Kazakhstan.  I gave Steve a bit of trouble for only coming from San Diego to see us, but that was great , none the less.  Sayat, coming all the way from Kazakhstan to stay at the Underground Cabin...now, Steve, you have to admit, that took a lot more effort... [ouch]

Sorry about the pose for the photo ... I set the camera timer - released it and that was the best I could do to get into the shot before it went off.... at least we were having fun... [noidea'





We took lots of photos... Later we got one of Steve and Hikaru with Sassy and I.






Jumping ahead a little, I heard someone making beautiful sounds on the Piano and had to check it out.  Wei, a Biomedical engineer apparently was also Mozart's brother....as well as mine......:)  

I requested a concert and he obliged with Steve eventually jumping in there too.  This was totally on the spot with no preparation so it may not be quite perfect...but..... how long he has been playing may come as a real surprise to you.  He tells us near the end of the concert as well as giving a bit of instruction on how to learn to play like he does.  They did it totally from memory... no sheet music.

Hope you like it... click the pix to see it on Youtube....




"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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uncle

Glenn,
What degree of slope would be OK for this kind of house?
I thought that 3/12 or 4/12 would be good.
With a 2/12, using the design specs, I could have 10' ceiling dropping to 8' every 10'6" and then have a elevation change with a couple steps and start again. Or am I looking at it wrong?
I have Mike's book and have read it 5 or 6 times, find something new every time.
Brian

glenn kangiser

#2281
All of the above would work, Brian.  When Mike was here he mentioned that a lesser slope does not move the water off of the roof as fast but with a good membrane it is not a problem.  

Ours runs from 2.5/12 a bit steeper and a bit flatter over the great room area.  The main thing is getting it away from the house as standing water wants to go down and spread out at about a 45 degree angle from where it is sitting.  Gophers can change that to take the water anywhere they want to though - that is why I suggest or say it is almost imperative to have the French drain as a backup.

Continuing  the top membrane at least 10 feet past the side of the house will prove quite beneficial also and will give some of the benefits of John Haits PAHS design also.

Bruce in Minn. I think it is, uses all organic material for his roof covering over the membrane and they stay warm even near the Great White North.

So slope is not that critical if the membrane and drainage is good.  Mike seems to favor steeper slopes to remove the water faster though.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

Finally got the Catfish ordered for my pond down the mountain per Professor Ahmed's recommendations..  8)

Remember him from last year?  He was our guest from Egypt.  Morad also comments on the video... He was our guest from Jordan.  We were invited to come visit them at their homes also.  Wish we could get to visit all of our friends all around the world.  Click the pix to review his recommendation.






Based on his recommendations and those of Proaqua that pretty well agreed with his, we have about 100, 4 to 6 inchers ordered. :)



"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

The weather in the park was a bit rough with snow continuing all day, but still decent for the UCLA visit.

Tree tops and mountains were a bit hazy.  The mountains - El Capitan and even Half Dome were about impossible to see.



The carnivorous Oaks would occasionally nab a student and try to swallow them so we had to constantly be alert for a rescue if necessary... [waiting]





For a few minutes the clouds cleared enough for a glimpse of Bridalveil falls over the trees.




What would a trip to the snow be without a good little snowball fight.... Isn't it nice how we treat our guests... [noidea'

Click the pix for a short video....

[url]

Wet feet, wet clothes and tired but still having fun....



Hope we see lots more of them next year.  Next week I believe we get to Host UCLB... Long Beach, for the first time, I understand.  Yea!... :)


"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

Silly me... [ouch]

I posted links to my PDFs of some of my better (and a few not so good) USC and UCLA photos on Google Docs on Facebook, but not here as I recall.

For anyone interested in more pix than I posted here, the files are at these links, for viewing or download.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5SW-g69h3L0YTFjZjZlYjktMzEzYy00MTA3LWE5OWQtZTUyZjdlZjUyMTQ5&hl=en  UCLA

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5SW-g69h3L0ZGZiZGMzYTUtNjBmYy00ZTI2LThkNDUtMWZiMTNiYWYwMTNk&hl=en  USC

Hope you enjoy them.   :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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uncle

Thanks for the reply Glenn,
I really need to get out there and measure the fall.
Question: If my west slope is to flat, I can build into the North slope, I guess a 6/12. Being in tornado ally the north sounds good. Will I be handicapped not having a southern exposure?
Brian

glenn kangiser

Not really a problem, Brian.  Just bring the top of the cabin high enough to put windows at the top and you will have sunlight streaming right down to the inside of the North wall of the cabin.

Light would come in from your uphill patio.

Also, you will be be able to pick up morning and afternoon light from the East and West sides.  Mike likes to see light from all four sides of the house using one or another of his methods.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Went to check on the cows yesterday... as I was down picking up their salt block and putting it back up on a big rock, Dolly , the neighbor dog mistook the cows water for a health spa..... [waiting]







"OH, this is drinking water? ...... Sorry....Pardon Moi.... "





"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Remember last December, we hosted members of the Humphrey Fellowship group from UC Davis?

Well they invited us to come to a potluck dinner hosted by them at UC Davis with the Humphrey Fellows cooking native dishes for us, so, Sassy and I plan to go there tomorrow a visit all of our friends.  The entire group that came to Mariposa, came to visit us at the Underground Command Center......

I requested that Myo cook me one of those nice toasted rats,



but that may not be possible unless he can manage to sneak into the biology lab.... [waiting]

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.msg126982#msg126982


"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

Sent Myo a message that we will be visiting their Potluck Dinner event at UC Davis and told him of feeding the Chickens the EM Salad, since now I know we can make it.  Got this reply:

Hi Glenn,

I am very glad to hear that you all will be coming here tomorrow our potluck dinner. Great!

It is really surprised for me. I will inform to other fellows about your participation in that event.

Regarding EM salad feeds to chicken, it is very good to feed chicken to be healthy and they lay their eggs longer than usual duration. In addition, you can check egg yolk which is more firm and can't be easily separated from albumin portion.

OK, let's talk tomorrow. See you tomorrow!

Kind regards,

Myo


I think this is going to be fun... of course I will take pictures and report back.... :)

Myo, Abduol and us at the Underground Complex taken by Ekram, last December....



"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Update on the EM technology. 

Sassy washed my poison oak covered clothes with hers and and after she wore hers she was pretty much completely covered with red itching poison oak rash on the upper half of her body... front and back and into her hair line.

We knew that EM stopped most of the itching from past episodes.  Last night it just happened that I had fresh AEM that I started about 10 days ago.  I applied it to the rash areas liberally, full strength.

Not only did the fresh EM stop the itching.... the Poison Oak was gone this morning.  On her it normally lasts up to a month.  Cutting it down to one day is quite an accomplishment if you ask me.

Poison oak is spread from the oil in it.  Washing with soap spreads it more.  I read that EM worked on oil so I assumed it would at least have an effect on the poison oak.  The result was far greater than I expected to see.  :)

Sassy is happy, so now it is possible for the whole world to be happy.... [waiting]
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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The Humphrey's Potluck Dinner at UC Davis was a voluntary bring a desert or side dish if you wanted.  I started baking about 7:30 this morning.
 
We still had a good big Zucchini I picked last November and it has been in cold storage on the porch since then.



I checked it out and found it was a little more yellow than a newly picked one but it was definitely in good shape.  Here I have the fake apples cooking getting ready to pour into the crust.



....and I made some Saffron rice to go with it... a Persian dish as you likely recall from my past postings.



Seeng could hardly believe the apples were Zucchini when I made it at the dinner in December.  She was interested as she is in produce marketing for the Government of Botswana.

It will be really great to see our International extended family again.  :)

"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Sassy

Quote from: glenn kangiser on March 31, 2011, 12:14:37 PM
Update on the EM technology. 

Sassy washed my poison oak covered clothes with hers and and after she wore hers she was pretty much completely covered with red itching poison oak rash on the upper half of her body... front and back and into her hair line.

We knew that EM stopped most of the itching from past episodes.  Last night it just happened that I had fresh AEM that I started about 10 days ago.  I applied it to the rash areas liberally, full strength.

Not only did the fresh EM stop the itching.... the Poison Oak was gone this morning.  On her it normally lasts up to a month.  Cutting it down to one day is quite an accomplishment if you ask me.

Poison oak is spread from the oil in it.  Washing with soap spreads it more.  I read that EM worked on oil so I assumed it would at least have an effect on the poison oak.  The result was far greater than I expected to see.  :)

Sassy is happy, so now it is possible for the whole world to be happy.... [waiting]
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;D ;D c*
http://glennkathystroglodytecabin.blogspot.com/

You will know the truth & the truth will set you free

glenn kangiser

Currently we have two members from the UC Long Beach group at the underground Complex.  We had a great hike in the park yesterday.

The visit to UC Davis was Great.  Nearly none of them knew we were going to be there and all were totally excited to see us again.  A highlight of the trip was getting to meet Samson from Malawi.  He was unable to come to the trip to Yosemite last December due to problems with his leg.

Here is a pix with many of our Humphrey group friends in it.



and Here is one with our original Underground Complex guests...  :)



The story about Samson's leg.  Expanded a bit by David Vidmar... the bus driver thought Samson was on and took off running over his lower leg.... The doctor was a bit overloaded with alcohol and they had to wait for him to sober up and rather than try to fix the damage he just chopped it off at the knee joint making it hard to make a prosthesis.  Samson's old prosthesis was strapped on with a leather strap.  It wore on his knee area until the bone was exposed is my understanding.  Now the rest of the story.



Story from the UC Davis International House News Letter - April 2011

At a Loss for Words but Forever Grateful


By Samson T. Ngutwa

"When will the pain stop?" I asked the doctor at the Cowell Student Health Center.
"I will have to refer you to an orthopedic doctor to assess this persistent problem thoroughly. I think there is something wrong with way the amputation was done. I will put you on Monday October 18, 2010 at 2.45 pm. Is that O.K?"

I vividly remember the words of this doctor on duty at Cowell Student Health Center during one of my frequent visits to the clinic late last year. He saw my frustration. A clinic is one such place which should not be visited regularly if one can help it. But when I heard him also say that another surgery might be required

I knew he was equally frustrated.
The appointment thus came as a directive and I could not blame him for that. This was indeed my sixth appointment within a month and there seemed to be no end in sight. Little did I know that there was light at the end of the tun-nel and I would not have to go g through the most dreaded remedial surgery.

David Vidmar, an Inter-national House member, volun-teer and friend, saw my plight and set a recovery process in motion. But I was having prob-lems with both the result of my leg amputation (from a car acci-dent in Malawi) and the pros-thetic itself. It had never been comfortable and I realized that it would continue to hinder my participation in and the demands of the Humphrey Program. Any meaningful participation was followed by a visit to a clinic.

This is how I got in touch with Michael Bright a specialist who
runs the North Bay Prosthetics and Orthotics in Fairfield. He heard about my daily plight through a friend of a friend and genuinely wanted to help. He was fully aware that mine was a pre-existing condition which meant that I was not insured. He saw my wounds and felt moved.

"I will see what we can do to help you. I will take a cast to make a soft lining first, which should be comfortable and no longer give you any problems," he said when he first saw me in his office. That was two days before Christmas.
"But it will take a few days as this will have to be made in Florida," he added. "So I will see you again possibly second week of January 2011. Mean-while make sure you manage
this so that when you next come it should be thoroughly healed because we will do more then. It will be something better." I could see that he was a busy man and for him even to spare his time to talk to me was some-thing I never took for granted.

Artificial legs do not come cheaply whether insured or not. Prices vary of course depending on the type but I frowned when the figures were mentioned for the cheapest. It takes a lot of ef-fort and time to make one. But Michael Bright meant it when he said he would help me.

I am therefore at a loss for words. I am now a proud owner of a new leg that uses a vacuum suction instead of old-fashioned belts. With the latter you sometimes have pain both on the stump and the hips. It can be a horrible and a debilitating obstacle. The last thing one would want is to use such a thing. The new leg is more stable and maneuverable. And most importantly it is no longer painful which alone makes the whole difference.

I later came to learn that the knee actually came from Ger-many and was donated by Minneapolis-based Otto Bock Healthcare who, just like Bright, want to ensure a quality life for others.

I can‟t just find the right words to thank my friends -- Michael, John Crane of Otto Bock Healthcare, David Vidmar and Kelvin Sorter -- for the new prosthetic. Through this gesture, I have learnt that with a helping hand we can reach others and make a difference in their lives. This is what I will be taking home – the desire to tirelessly work toward serving others.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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The wildflowers are starting to pop up around here now.  The rains have tapered off for a bit and we are actually able to go outside and see the sun....Coming up the driveway this afternoon I got a couple of nice wildflower pix.... not to mention, quite a few bad ones....



And another one of my favorites.  Spring wildflowers are always nice.



Our guests from UCLB got to sleep in while I was up slaving away over a hot stove.... [waiting]

No worries though..... We had stayed up until 1:30 in the morning talking and they needed their beauty sleep..... :)

I cooked them a decent breakfast because Sassy was going to have to take off to the valley for work.  She still got up and cooked a cake for us though for today's desert after lunch.

I just get started cooking then see what comes out.... not a real plan though.  Sassy had clued me in a bit the night before.  I first got a big ol' red onion and a half lb. of bacon and cooked them until the onions were near caramelized with the bacon.  

In one pan I added a dozen eggs, scrambled, some salt, pepper and tarragon and let them cook slowly as I tried to work on the rest and keep from burning things.....  I made a kind of a country scramble.



In the other I sliced up a few russet potatoes, some Swiss Chard and green cauliflower, salt , pepper, Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese on top.  

I learned last week that our new gas cooktop in the kitchen will burn things a lot faster than the old one so I exercised a bit of caution and prevented any close calls this time.  This was something like the German Potatoes I have had at the Otis Cafe in Otis, Oregon.... yum.... [hungry]



That made a good start for the trip to Yosemite... plenty of energy in there... :)



"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

#2295
Water levels are coming up in the park as the snow melts.  It makes for pretty wild waterfalls but way dangerous if you slip and fall in.... [ouch]



Russ was interested in shooting the Shotgun... typical city kid - hadn't shot one before, so what's a hillbilly to do.... [noidea'

I feel like this place is fantasy Island... of course we had to go up and do a little shooting and get a little gun safety in there too.  

Click the pix for a short video....



"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Got a PDF put together for anyone interested in seeing more pix than what I post here.

You can Download it or view it online on Google Docs.  Click the pix for a link to the file.....



"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Texas Tornado


glenn kangiser

Thanks TT.  Glad you enjoy them.  I like to put them up here to show others what they are missing if they don't come to visit Yosemite...and the Underground Complex... :)

Some of the others rushed on ahead to make the long detour to the top of the falls.  I generally hang out toward the tail end of the hikers to make sure we don't lose anyone.  If I kept after it I would be upper middle class as far as the hiking goes.  I do fairly well.

This trip I decided I had plenty of generic trail pictures so I concentrated a bit more on getting the pictures of our guests and some better ones also.  We have been limited on blue skies lately and generally it is not the best lighting for good pix but I still find a few.... along with plenty that are still pretty generic... [ouch]

Here are a few more pix, several of which are on the above PDF link.

I saw this cool little waterfall along the Mist Trail and thought I would try to see if I could get some interesting pictures of it.



It came from way up on the mountain so there were lots of different ways to get an interesting picture of it...all the while trying to not get too wet....





I also did a short video to show a little better what I was talking about... click the pix to see it..





Even fallen trees are interesting as we walk along the trail...




While the long trip hikers were on their way up the mountain, the rest of us stopped for lunch and gave the kids a break before heading over to the Yosemite Museum to see my Native American buddy, Ben.  

As we headed down the trail  Mary thought it would be fun to watch the leaves fly over the edge...




Of course the kids had to try out the Umacha.. A Native American dwelling in the Yosemite area made of long strips of Cedar Bark.  There is a complete Indian Village in back of the museum where they return to in August of each year for Big Time Celebration...to carry on their culture for the public to see as well as for themselves.





As usual Ben was always entertaining the tourists, educating and willing to play us another tune or two on his flute collection. Click pix for a short tune..



After a short visit with Ben and a trip through the village for the kids we were about ready to head off for the drive home.  It is about 1 hour and 20 minutes back down the Merced River Canyon along the route of the old Yosemite Valley Railway.

"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Everybody remember......

We have entered the year of the $5.00 tomato......

Now is a good time to get going on garden preparations and increased efforts over previous years.  I am working on my garden today getting a potato bed going.   They can be grown right now even if there may be more frosts to come.  We have bad gophers so I am hoping to find a bit of a remedy for that....

"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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