The soldiers Continentals and fiat money

Since June I have been coasting on savings and building a 28 foot old fashioned powerboat from plans in an old book,

That sounds like a real adventure.  I have always dreamed of building my own home-built plane.  The idea of quitting work and taking a chance like you are doing is exciting but against my nature.  I am more about safety and security than taking chances.  Good luck.

I listened to a podcats on the Dirtbag Diaries about a guy who did something similar to what you are doing.  He ended up in a dangerous and very real adventure, maybe more than he wanted, but it was exciting.

Usually, the differences between the male and the female of H. sapiens are obvious and visible, at least in adult specimens, even when they are fully clothed.

Back in pizza-shop days, when I greeted customers with "ma'am" or "sir", an obvious man clutching a purse and wearing a ghastly morning dress and ghastly large plastic earrings, five-o'clock shadow together with lipstick and eyeshadow, appeared at my register.  I was quite thrown out of my patter:  do I say "sir" which he so obviously was, or "ma'am" which he was attempting to appear? 

Then a few weeks later a young adult came up to my register, shaggily-styled hair, a nondescript white shirt, rather a "baby" face and I thought, Please please please order beer so I can card you and see if you are a Jane or a John . . . but I suppose your driver license will say "Jan" or something else as epicene as you.  I never did figure it out.

And this young person made me think of the earlier guy who, if he were really trying to pass for female, would have sold his soul to look like.

Thanks Glenn, adventure is one word for it, damned fool stunt is another. I have painted myself into a lovely corner. This is not the venue for this discussion but I am open for one.

I gambled would the weather hold, would my friends help as promised, would the money hold out, could it be done at all. Done yes, just about, paint and bottom paint and the steering gear mostly, leaky windows to be screwed with and canvas on the wheelhouse roof. Done but everything, every damned thing the hard way since they dropped off the initial ton of wood in the wrong spot.

It was a rainy summer and construction is outside, no shed; I gambled. My friends, the one I counted on most of all went on a 3 month bender, most others some but not all that much. Money had it's own troubles but I doubt I have more than 3 grand into the project. All lumberyard, thrift store, salvaged or Habitat for Humanity stuff. I need an engine yet a 15 to 25 horse outboard would be plenty, my 6 horse will do if need be.

I have kind of a feel for the frontier life in the strip. I do believe, I'd make it there.

No other hand has touched the boat, just me, some standard hand and power tools and one Quality Control Beagle generally underfoot.

The best days have been very very good indeed.

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?94622-Building-a-Beach-Pea


Ever read Wooden Boat Magazine?

Back issues are great, lots of tips and shortcuts.

A forum of the likeminded might help you find that engine.

I had a cousin who was an insurance adjustor for a while, after a hurricane he had a lot of hulls and engines fished out and declaired total losses , the insurance company usually sells these to hobbyists at auction , or for scrap if that doesn't work.

The Navy and Coast guard sell a lot of obsolete boats , mostly bigger than you want , and mostly worn out badly. How much time can you spend on engine work?

Ever read Wooden Boat Magazine?

My wife bought me an issue.  I think she might be trying to tempt me away from the airplane I want.  Anyway it is a great little magazine, filled with nice ideas about cool boats you can build.  Some of them seem really simple, some not so much.

The first time I recall hearing "astroturf" in a political context was with reference to the Tea Party - it was alleged that it wasn't a "real" grassroots movement, but astroturf.

This would have been in 2009 or 2010. I can't place it more precisely than that.

The practice of astroturfing, however, is much older. When plans for the Federal Reserve were hatched in 1910, the banks and financial institutions behind it created what would today be called "astroturf" organizations to give the appearance of a bottom-up grassroots movement. You can find details in "The Creature From Jekyll Island" and other sources.

The wikipedia article for astroturfing attributes the term to Lloyd Bentson in 1985. I can't dispute that; I knew immediately what the term meant the first time I heard it, but I do not recall hearing it that far back, for what it's worth.

As to the antiquity of the practice, it goes at least as far back as Benjamin Franklin; in his autobiography, he spoke of forming a discussion group, each member of which formed a similar group, and deliberately seeding ideas through these groups before approaching politicians with a proposal. This way, the politician would already be thinking "You know, I heard that just the other day from my butcher. Maybe there's something to it."

The first time I recall hearing "astroturf" in a political context was with reference to the Tea Party - it was alleged that it wasn't a "real" grassroots movement, but astroturf.

This would have been in 2009 or 2010. I can't place it more precisely than that.

I heard it in the early 1980's in connection with fake ecology groups. The claim was that big  businesses would create organizations with names that sounded sort of ecological, and would advertise them heavily. They would even invite people to join and charge them dues, and ask for donations. Then they would announce to Congress that they supported legislation for forest destruction and pollution etc, pretending to actually represent somebody. But their actual membership was very small, it was only the funding which was big.

The wording fit the prejudices among people who actually preferred grass to astroturf.

The practice of astroturfing, however, is much older. When plans for the Federal Reserve were hatched in 1910, the banks and financial institutions behind it created what would today be called "astroturf" organizations to give the appearance of a bottom-up grassroots movement. You can find details in "The Creature From Jekyll Island" and other sources.

Of course the practice is ancient. Some greek military commander had his soldiers march around in a circle across a hilltop so the enemy would think they were getting lots and lots of reinforcements....

I'm surprised the word is not more common. It's been around a long time. I guess maybe the country is divided into opposing groups that just don't read each other's stuff? Democrats have been using the term for decades, and I noticed them do it.

I suppose what we know today as the Federalst Papers might be called astroturf as in a bunch of letters to the editors all in the same theme.

What J Thomas said about eco groups puts me to mind of the antigun groups. I can't be specific right now off the top of my head but, you know, those people who claim to want to encourage firearms safety, very nice goal, by the means listed in the small print of tossing them all in a blast furnace. A bit harsh, that method but it would work as promised.

Thanks for the boat input guys. Don't know if this is the place for it but I appreciate the interest. Fact is, I am a bit burned out.

The big options I had were buying an old one to rebuild or build from scratch. I choose the later because every design is a compromise and finding the one I wanted would be tough.

For example, pleasure boats have way too many bunks at the cost of other stuff like counter space. Working boats draw too much water and have huge engines to feed and maintain. Low power loadcarrying displacement boats are rare. A planing boat like most today needs to plane, run it slow and fuel ecconomy is awful.

I am a lousy welder at best so wood or fiberglass for me. Old boats were made from fantastic wood but they are old and if an old house has issues, an old boat, OMG. I know of a very nice old classic free one kept afloat by 2 basement sump pumps running full time, but it's free. Yeah, free.

This is really not the venue but if anyone is curious about building cheaply from scratch it is possible. Choose a working design intended to carry weight so you can over build, easier and often cheaper. I chose natural wood, pine and fir, for the hull because it is abrasion resistant. Scratch even good plywood and it's sponge city, so you need glass and epoxy to protect it and costs go straight up. not so much real wood. The old ways stll work, heavy galvanized fasteners and many many gallons of roof tar still work fine. Oil based everything.

Most of all know the difference between a boat and a yacht, it is huge. 

My Harold, named for my dad, is a Chesapeake Bay power skipjack, think of a 1900 tugboat. A 24 foot design from a library book stretched to 28, a bit over 7 feet wide since I built outside the lines, shallow vee bottom made out of 2 x 6s, A straight backwards leaning bow, 15 inches of fir stem protected by a 3 inch concrete filled steel pipe, logs will fear us and a barrel like fantail stern. A wheelhouse way forward, a cabin and open working deck behind it with an engine lifting cargo mast made from a tree.

I don't feel right about going on about it here, not an EFT subject, but feel free to send a private message if curious. Hell, I got pictures, even a facebook page.

Until another time on this in another place, thanks.

I don't feel right about going on about it here, not an EFT subject, but feel free to send a private message if curious. Hell, I got pictures, even a facebook page.

Until another time on this in another place, thanks.

I've noticed that messages about various topics that were completely unreliated to EFT have been moved to "Talk Among Y'selves". Maybe a gracious host would let us discuss it there.

Groovy, or not.
I know it don't belong here so somewhere else if at all.

спасибо...

Добро пожаловать на форум. Пожалуйста, используйте английский язык.

Impressive language skills Mister S.

I'd love to hear the Russian view of all this but my own are most unimpressive.

I recognized "Thank you" immediately. I could make out a little of the longer reply... "...in forum. Please... English language". But, of course, there are resources available, and so between Google Translate and a Russian-English dictionary, it was possible to easily determine that the reply was "A pleasant welcome to the forum. Please employ the English language." if I edge towards a literal rather than an idiomatic translation.

Impressive language skills Mister S.

Thanks, but not really. Quad caught me out; I used Google Translate. It was done to encourage our new friend to use his English and to see how the rest of you would react. Thanks for playing.