Cob: Re: Washing Machines, plus Living Smaller

[Mark Piepkorn]

         I once made a washing machine out of cob; the clothes came out 
dirtier than they went in. (A bald-face, but cob-related, lie. Cob-related 
non-lies follow the last of my off-topic washing-machine gab.)

At 11:06 AM 2/22/2003, Amanda Peck wrote some good and handy stuff. My 
followup notes are kept brief so as to be useful for those who might 
appreciate them, yet still angled to avoid as much trouble as possible with 
our underappreciated listfounder, host, and owner, Shannon. (Do I get 
points for sucking up, Shannon? I think I should.)

         James washer and hand-cranked wringers, which are even more 
expensive now than when I bought them...
- via Lehman's:
http://www.lehmans.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/CategoryDisplay?cgmenbr=12426&cgrfnbr=32845#58001
- via Cumberland General Store:
http://www.cumberlandgeneral.com/AB1257/showprod.cfm?&DID=6&User_ID=234656&st=2807&st2=62845551&st3=-75459732&CATID=16&ObjectGroup_ID=45
- via Real Goods / Gaiam:
http://www.realgoods.com/shop/shop2.cfm?dp=208&ts=1063411

         Good to know the bad news about rotating-ball washer drains 
leaking. I wonder if I could avoid that by using a good brass ball-valve. 
The world may never know.


>220 sf?


         220 square feet with all the amenities. Our home is 8 feet wide 
and 27.5 feet long:
http://www.potkettleblack.com/potkettleblog/archives/03_0202b.jpg

         Prior to this, as a single guy, I lived in a roughly-converted 
1955 Ford B500 half-size school bus:
http://www.potkettleblack.com/potkettleblog/year-1/crypt/000186.html

         There's a lot to be learned about living smaller and conserving 
built space (which are generally among the core tenets of the typical 
natural-building ethos) by studying - in person! - RVs and boats (better to 
actually live in one for a good while if you can), which attempt to pack 
all the comforts of our Western world into practically no room at all. 
Sometimes they almost succeed, too. Better to try to do without some of the 
creature comforts, IMO, but most people aren't going to embrace that willingly.

         Usually I'm fine with the just-plain-living aspect of this limited 
amount of space... but sometimes it's hard not having enough room for, say, 
all of my books. Both of us wish we had even a desk of our own. I wish I 
had some kind of workshop space - something like a carport would do, as 
long as I can put freeze-affected things (like liquids, etc) somewhere 
conditioned.

         We'll have more room when we build (someday), but it will be a 
fair amount *less* room than it would otherwise have been. OTOH, 
zealousness can drive people to design too small for their happiness.

         There was a terrific issue of The Last Straw a couple years ago, 
guest-edited by Shay Salomon of the organization Women Build Houses (nka 
"Women Builders"), dedicated to building small. Lots of good stuff.