Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Trying to contain nuts.

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I've never met a halfbaker I didn't like.

prove me wrong
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I like meeting other halfbakers, so sue me.
I would literally like to meet you all but that is just not possible.

I can however maximize my chances of meeting the largest number of halfbakers possible if I could obtain a place which could accommodate enough people.

Due to an extremely unlikely Lemony Snicket-like series of events, that potentiality seems to have dropped itself in my wife's and my lap in a town located just north of the Seattle border called Christina lake.
Almost three years ago somebody from a foreign country bought a small village with motels rv park and strip mall looking to obtain citizenship.
[link] to what it was before abandoned.
That failed and it was abandoned with all equipment intact.
In the last six months before we bought it the place had become a permanent frat party.

I can fix that.

We bought it.
I've been living in my camper for a few months now bringing it back to life without blueprints trying to piece together this property, do triage, clamp off the bleeders and CLEAR!

So far so good.
Somebody tried to burn the place down but the fire department put it out quickly enough that I can fix the damage.

Murphy likes my ass and this Caronavirus thing might really throw a wrench in the works but rolling with the punches is a way of life right?

Anyway, I would like it very much if the place were to be used as a place to gather.
Annual or semi-annual halfcons of up to a few hundred people would be possible, (depending on sleeping arrangements), but any halfbakers passing through my neck of the woods will be welcome to stay and sign the guestbook.

This coming season will be a total crap-shoot. I honestly don't know for sure if we'll be able to pull this off with the whole planet seemingly going nuts just as we dive head first into the tourist industry...

...but here we go.

If I re-build it... will you come?


We have the technology. We can rebuild it... https://www.google....QBA&biw=903&bih=413
better... stronger... faster... [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Mar 17 2020]

Before/After https://www.faceboo..._id=626931621487389
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Mar 18 2020]

Won't be long! it's not that far is it? https://ak0.picdn.n...sunset-a-goofy.webm
[Skewed, Apr 27 2020]

Time laps video of deconstruction. https://imgur.com/gallery/tEoI5je
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 11 2020]

Our pad. https://christinalakemotelandrvpark.com/
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 16 2021]

Odeillo Solar Furnace https://en.wikipedi...eillo_solar_furnace
Forecast: Sunny & hot... 3,500 degrees hot. [neutrinos_shadow, Jan 18 2021]

https://en.m.wikipe...iki/Acoustic_mirror [hippo, Jan 19 2021]

More useful mirror stuff https://www.google....Aw&biw=1920&bih=979
How to put the light behind the main dish (tidier than the Newtonian focus, but it would work too). [neutrinos_shadow, Jan 19 2021]

Solar dish generators https://www.google....Aw&biw=1920&bih=979
As long as it doesn't burn itself down... [neutrinos_shadow, Jan 19 2021]

[link]






       If I were on the right land mass, I would come. Trouble is, I think trans-pacific hullaballoon services have been badly hit by the coronavirus, and the Kiritimaticentrifugomobile is not quite operational yet.
pertinax, Mar 17 2020
  

       Oh dear there's a time zone problem with these replies! All the Asia, Africa and Europe based bakers can come on and say "boo hiss! Wrong side of the Ocean" before the New World based bakers can chime in and say "wow! I'll be there this afternoon, get the kettle on!"
pocmloc, Mar 17 2020
  

       We should all move there and declare independence and Lo! The Halfbakery Nation-State is born!
hippo, Mar 17 2020
  

       Our motto: "All halfbakers are equal!" - oh wait
xenzag, Mar 17 2020
  

       Can I build my COVID-19 pods there? [+]
xenzag, Mar 17 2020
  

       // If I re-build it... will you come?//   

       Shirley.   

       The sanitarium has granted me a three-day pass, in fact I think they'd be glad to be rid of me. If we survive the pandemic shall I bring tools?
whatrock, Mar 17 2020
  

       I'm so there. Would I need a passport? I'm serious. I just love to travel. If not this season, next. Virus' be damned. Thank you for the kind offer of a place to get away from the freaking cornfields. I'm so there. We could build a little memorial to bakers past. Recent and not so recent.   

       Love this idea, and I love you all as well.
blissmiss, Mar 17 2020
  

       //"wow! I'll be there this afternoon, get the kettle on!"//   

       Have time on my hands... check the route... I'll be driving for the whole day and I'll still be in Pennsylvania. Silly country's far too big. I do have family in Kamloops though...
bs0u0155, Mar 17 2020
  

       //I'm so there. Would I need a passport? ... We could build a little memorial to bakers past.//   

       Yes you'll need a passport to cross into Canada now. I miss the good old days when just ID was enough.
Until this viral thing passes only Canadian citizens are allowed across.
I'm thinking that a hullaballoon landing pad might make for a fitting memorial.
  

       There's room to build your pods here [xen]   

       //So you got the whole complex of 3-4 buildings ?//   

       Yes, and then some. Just over 9 acres in total. Completely bizarre how it ended up as ours.   

       //shall I bring tools?//   

       I'm going to need an excavator soon...   

       //We should all move there and declare independence and Lo! The Halfbakery Nation-State is born!//   

       Halflandians Unite!   

       Wrong continent, sorry.   

       Also I had to look up what a "strip mall" is.
For the edification of anyone else who wasn't sure : as you may know, a "mall" is a shopping centre, and a strip mall is essentially a row of shops, a.k.a. a high-street. Except less easy to get to, and with a fuck-ton of parking.
Loris, Mar 17 2020
  

       Congratulations on the good luck, 2 fries! It's about time we had some good news around the place.

It's rather a long (& expensive) way away for me though!
DrBob, Mar 17 2020
  

       What an amazing project - that is so cool!!!!! I'd love to come but job/virus/family/Ireland/etc. However... there's always a chance, so I'll watch this thread. In the meantime, are you documenting the work anywhere?
wagster, Mar 17 2020
  

       But DrBob, you only gotta travel once, then you become a resident of Halflandia like the rest of us. I can't wait.   

       Given the choice of the Ashram in Amherst, Mass, or The Baker's Motel, not to be confused with Bates Motel, yet, I chose 2fries most beautiful property.
blissmiss, Mar 17 2020
  

       No job (my choice) = no income = no money for travel. Not until I hit retirement age,at least. And then I can while away my fading years wrapped in a warm blanket, and with a warm glass of brandy or two, in a rocking chair on a snow-covered, Halflandia porch. It's a dream I have.
DrBob, Mar 18 2020
  

       2 1/2 hour drive from me, man. Half the distance to Seattle... Oh yes, this can happen sir!
21 Quest, Mar 18 2020
  

       Be forewarned: when you do meet other halfbakers, they're not quite as weird as you'd hoped.   

       I don't know why, but I keep visualizing a little corner or hallway somewhere on the property with a mini halfbakery style museum of crazy ideas, just for the sheer quirkiness of it all. Maybe a series of idea displays randomly placed around the property with attendant scavenger hunt activities.
half, Mar 18 2020
  

       "Strip Mall" does sound sleazy come to think of it doesn't it? Ah the nuances of cultural blinders.   

       It would be so cool to showcase things like [bristolz] and [hob]s illustrations wouldn't it?
Or better yet, build them. Determine by commitee which posting every deceased halfbaker would have chosen to see made real... and then build them.
  

       Sure the hullaballoon wouldn't work well without a good tailwind, but as a towed parade float?... well that would be an eye catcher now wouldn't it?   

       //No job (my choice) = no income = no money for travel. Not until I hit retirement age,at least. And then I can while away my fading years wrapped in a warm blanket, and with a warm glass of brandy or two, in a rocking chair on a snow-covered, Halflandia porch. It's a dream I have.//   

       //It's rather a long (& expensive) way away for me though!//   

       Well see now, that's another aspect I hadn't mentioned but eventually hoped would happen on its own... but since you brought it up.
If, and it's a big if, we started congregating here on any sort of a scheduled basis then maybe accounts get set aside for crowd-sourcing and more for more affluent halfbakers who would thoroughly enjoy meeting halfbakers unable to make the trip to contribute and make such a thing a reality. Stranger things have happened.
  

       Beautiful country out this way.
You'd like it... all of you.
Warmest lake in Canada.
Our country's only rain forest just four hours from our country's only desert.
Sasquatch just a few hours drive away.
You can let the bears lick honey off your fingers...
...okay don't do that part.
  

       It's true mind you, but the dang critters got habituated to licking honey off of human children's fingers back when they built the passes and now we can't keep them out of our trash so no more letting the bears lick your children dip their arms elbow deep and letting the bears lick their hands clean of honey.
I mean it! Strict rule. Hard learned. Sorry but you missed your window there.
If you search hard enough you can see black and white photos of folks in Victorian garb letting their kids stick their arms into jars of honey and letting the bear lick them clean. The bears didn't hurt a single one of their kids according to record.
  

       The bear, moose, deer and other critters are friendly, just don't try to pet them... or do... I'm not your boss.   

       Sorry. I digress. It's been a long day.   

       'night all.   

       If the memes on social media are anything to go by, I understand that air fare has never been cheaper.
21 Quest, Mar 18 2020
  

       // I've never met a halfbaker I didn't like.   

       That may actually be true for everyone! :)   

       // If I were on the right land mass, I would come.   

       So, what if we have multiple synchronized meetings, on different land masses, and a "Video-Screen Cafes", that synchronize spaces.
Mindey, Mar 18 2020
  

       I would certainly dial into skype calls (or similar) from time to time.
pertinax, Mar 18 2020
  

       //I've never met a halfbaker I didn't like.//

Just noting that you've never met me...

It's interesting, meeting other Halfbakers. I remember a meet-up in Covent Garden some years ago. Quite by chance, we all had slightly odd things with us. I can't remember what they all were but, for example, one person had a 1kg block of tungsten, and I had a litre of Soy Sauce.
hippo, Mar 18 2020
  

       What's odd about those?
pocmloc, Mar 18 2020
  

       meeting other halfbakers would most likely be a bit like meeting someone after seeing their online dating site profile. Meet in a neutral place and have a friend place a call 5 minutes in to generate an emergency exit if needed.
theircompetitor, Mar 18 2020
  

       //one person had a 1kg block of tungsten, and I had a litre of Soy Sauce.//   

       Having looked up the density of tungsten, that's the size of a large keychain. I now really need a 1 kg block of tungsten.
bs0u0155, Mar 18 2020
  

       It certainly was very beautiful. I think blocks of tungsten are used for something in welding, but I'm not sure what
hippo, Mar 18 2020
  

       Except for most of the long term dating websites, you only meet each other virtually for a short period.   

       Its been almost 20 years of getting to know one another for some of us.   

       (God I just got a wave of missing Max).
blissmiss, Mar 18 2020
  

       They just announced they're closing the border with Canada.
21 Quest, Mar 18 2020
  

       //In the meantime, are you documenting the work anywhere?//   

       Not really. No time to spare. Like when it was minus 26 here I spent two days straight in thigh deep snow finding the external water shutoffs with a metal detector and a shovel,and another two days after that spelunking cobweb filled crawl spaces.
Not much fun to do and probably less fun to watch.
My son came for a few days and set his phone for time-lapse video of us gutting the burned unit, but my brother later mistook my laptop for a weigh scale and I can't make out anything on the left half of the screen.
Turns out he weighs about $800.00.
...and I can link to a couple of before/after room pics I posted to farcebook though. [link]
  

       You can all stay at my apartment 1 or 5 at a time, I am already a couchsurfing.com host in North Bend, Oregon, Treon Verdery. I have had more than 14 guests so far and they have all been good experiences, I recommend being a couchsurfing host, you offer free overnight or multinight stays..   

       And it is on the Oregon coast on the way to Seattle!
beanangel, Mar 18 2020
  

       Great stuff, [2 fries shy of a happy meal]! Progress, finally. I would love to visit, but I'm (according to Google) 12,285km away...
In similar news, I'm off to my lawyer this afternoon to sign on the dotted line for an empty section; on which I will design, build, manage, etc a house. Hopefully it won't bankrupt me...
(I haven't forgotten about the coanda tornado; I just haven't got to it either. Now you have space, perhaps a large-scale version is in order?)
neutrinos_shadow, Mar 18 2020
  

       beanie, I used to couch surf, back in the day...7 years ago. I lived in SF for about a year doing that and staying at the hostels. A wonderful way to see the city.   

       I may take you up on your offer as well sometime. Maybe on my way up to 2fries. I will be traveling again soon, I hope. I pray, I beg to the Gods.
blissmiss, Mar 18 2020
  

       [2 fries shy] you're not like an axe murderer, are you?
tatterdemalion, Mar 19 2020
  

       Torturering out halfbakery logins to write big tanties.
wjt, Mar 19 2020
  

       //an axe murderer//   

       Well, *that* wouldn't be very half-baked, would it? We'd be looking out more for a distal-trivet murderer, or a secret- room- with-hamsters murderer, or an instantaneously- removing- all-sodium-chloride- from-the-body murderer. An axe could be involved only if operated by some truly ridiculous machinery.   

       And no, I don't think [2 fries] is Jack Nicholson in The Shining; he's clearly far too busy to go nuts repeating "All work and no play [...]" on a typewriter.
pertinax, Mar 19 2020
  

       + i would try to make it
xandram, Mar 19 2020
  

       Funny you should mention Coanda Tornado. A nearby town called Greenwood has a very old 36 meter high smokestack from when the town still did smelting. The waste slag covers several acres around the stack and would be ideal to cover with shade cloth to create a solar updraft tower.
If that rising air were made to tornado and if my little invention could trap it in a vortex ring then it could mean free power for the entire town.
  

       No I am not an axe murderer...   

       ...but if I was I don't think I could resist calling this place The Last Resort.   

       Xan, if you drove you could stop by and pick me up...yayayay, road trip. Since there won't be flights forever. Or so it seems.   

       As for asking if 2F is an "ax murderer..." well someone had to have the balls to ask since it's what all of us have suspected at one time or another. hahaha
blissmiss, Mar 19 2020
  

       Maybe everyone should get a little tick-box survey to fill in.   

       Are you an axe-murderer?
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
[ ] Prefer not to say
pocmloc, Mar 19 2020
  

       [ ] It's actually a hatchet, not an axe
[ ] I find the term "axe-murderer" *so* limiting! It's like a 'label'; you know what I mean? I'm bigger than that! I could murder people with all sorts of things
hippo, Mar 19 2020
  

       The axe is alive, well and sending regular postcards from Valparaiso. Look, I've been keeping them in this drawer.
pertinax, Mar 19 2020
  

       I find the term "murderer" offensive.   

       Being an "L.A." (lifespan adjuster) shouldn't be a stigma if that's what you identify as.
doctorremulac3, Mar 19 2020
  

       No, it's not [2fries] I would have suspected of being an ax murderer, I would have to say I would have thought that of [beanangel]. But, seeing that he's in North Bend, I'll have to revise my estimate to something even worse - I think he might be one of my relatives.
lurch, Mar 20 2020
  

       Ha.
blissmiss, Mar 20 2020
  

       They once made flintlock musket axes, so if I were to snipe with one would I still technically be an axe murderer?   

       Also, sorry, I get Seattle and Spokane confused.
Christina lake is a few minutes north of the "Spokane" border not the Seattle border...
  

       ...[Bean]'s couch might still be en route for some.
Pics or it didn't happen though.
  

       Oh, considerably closer to Calgary! Probably still too far for me to go with no car, driver's license, or halfbaked solar electric bike, but I bet I could talk my friend (the one I always mention) into going, though in several months at the earliest and not just because of the pandemic. That might be what gets him to start reading & posting ideas here, too. (His reason not to seems to be that he fears that he'd fit in too well, and never be able to leave.)   

       Slightly later: Actually, in several months, I may have built* my recumbent pedal/electric monowheel, which should be far better for touring than my current bike that I use for commuting.   

       *Read: may have gotten around to starting on building. (I'm vaguely intending to build it in time for Maker Faire, if that's going ahead this year here, but projects always tend to fall behind…)
notexactly, Mar 20 2020
  

       No no. Cool side projects demand wee hour attention and sacrifice... so that your innovative tweaks can be stolen, fair and square... just like the rest of us.
Didn't you get the memo?
  

       Christina Lake is along the trans Canada trail which used to be our country's rail system. Once you're on it there's only a two degree slope anywhere along its length.
Easy pedaling.
Spectacular views.
Friendly critters.
  

       Warmest lake in Canada.   

       Free gum.   

       Just sayin...   

       When lotto delivers, or I stop procrastinating and develop something worthwhile, I'll drop in on my travels.
wjt, Mar 22 2020
  

       Hi Randy! I have been away from the halfbakery for far too long. Sorry we couldn't coordinate a meeting in Kelowna the last time I passed through (around?) town.   

       Looks like you have started a brand new chapter in your life. I might be persuaded to head to Christina lake for some biking and geocaching. I see there's lots of both to do in your area.   

       Of course, the prospect free gum sounds enticing. As long as it isn't ABC gum!
Canuck, Apr 26 2020
  

       Cool!   

       We should have a good part of the accommodation portion of this property up and running by the May long weekend if we are allowed to have guests by then.   

       //We should all move there and declare independence//   

       Governments normally takes a dim view of that sort of thing, sounds like a recipe for the next Waco.   

       Count me in !   

       [Pauses to think about that]   

       Um, that's on that other continent off over there in a westerly direction isn't it?   

       [Snaps speedo's waistband]   

       [Adjusts Goggles]   

       [Smears on goose fat]   

       OK then I'll give it a go, but if I haven't got there by next month would someone alert the coastguard?   

       <link>
Skewed, Apr 26 2020
  

       //if I haven't got there by next month//   

       Bear in mind it's on the western side of the land mass, so you'd better allow a second month for the cross-country pogo-sticking leg of the journey.
pertinax, Apr 27 2020
  

       Ha. Pogo-sticking with a Speedo on, now that's a visual I hope to never see...ever. Hahaha
blissmiss, Apr 27 2020
  

       // wishful thinking   

       I might be tapped for a small A-frame, circumstances permitting. Regardless, it's a lovely notion and the best offer I've heard today!   

       // posts a repast   

       bun
reensure, Apr 29 2020
  

       I was kind of angling towards a shoulder-season gathering where, unless I'm having to pay people to clean rooms and wash bedding, then accommodation for a half-con would be free, and if you do need a room then your cost would be my cost with no mark-ups because I can't see any sort of annual or semiannual event putting a dent in our overflow space in anything other than three peak months of the year which comprise our tourist season here.   

       You'd just need to figure out a way to get here... and if I don't miss my bet, as a group we could contribute to paving the way for halfbakers we'd all like to meet who wouldn't otherwise be able to attend to get their butts here too.   

       <shrugs>   

       It's a bit out there... but... we have an entire empty strip-mall here with a malls amount of power, water, gas, and equipment in 14,000 sq/ft of space just looking for a purpose, which I had to look at as a potential write off and so paid nothing for since I might have had to pay to tear it down. We had no way of knowing and it was a gamble.
After inspection it turns out that I can repair it. It will take some doing... but I can fix it.
  

       I would very much like to set aside a halfbaker maker-space.
Remote group projects could be a thing if you guys want.
  

       Just sayin...   

       Think about it.   

       If you build it, they will come, perhaps. I'm game.
blissmiss, Apr 30 2020
  

       I was just thinking that I too have never met a halfbaker I didn't like. The list is short but select: salachair, Jinbish (*pours one out*), hippo, moomintroll, zen_tom and, stretching the definition of meet somewhat, Guy Fox, who I saw at the top of Bank Street in Glasgow in the early 2000s but didn't have the gumption to say hello to. Each one an entirely pleasant experience, with the exception of salachair, who, purely in the spirit of scientific enquiry, I hit on the head with a frying pan in 1982.   

       What I am saying is, 2 fries, I would love to hear of half- cons at casa 2 fries. Good luck!
calum, Apr 30 2020
  

       //Each one an entirely pleasant experience, with the exception of salachair, who, purely in the spirit of scientific enquiry, I hit on the head with a frying pan in 1982.//   

       So, while not necessarily pleasant, 'twas not actually an unpleasant experience, then.
FlyingToaster, Apr 30 2020
  

       Well, I enjoyed it.
calum, Apr 30 2020
  

       So how goes the project?
whatrock, Jan 15 2021
  

       It goes well. We just passed our one year mark and so far so good. I've had to put a few new holes in my belt though.   

       We got power and water buttoned up throughout the two motels,public bathrooms, and campground.
Replaced 28 doors and casings. I didn't count how many smashed windows.
Pulled 10,000 ft. of tech and coax cable and have wifi to the back of the campground.
Fifteen of the thirty rooms have been completely renovated but five are waiting finishing touches and cabinets before going into circulation.
Managers suite is complete and after so long camp-living my wife and I are "Extremely" happy to have a fully functioning kitchen again.
I think I've had to learn more in the last year than in the decade prior to it.
  

       It's a very small community and everyone here is tickled to see somebody actually fix this nightmare so they are like eager to help. So different from the city.   

       I needed machinery, somebody knows somebody with a back hoe/front end loader looking for a good home.
I need bolt on forks to be able to use it as a forklift, somebody knows somebody with a pair that haven't seen use in years.
  

       Today's little serendipity, (you're not going to believe this) I pulled into a Shaw Cable lot full of satellite dishes and ask the guy, "What do you think the odds are of one of those finding a new home?" His eyes get all squinty and after a very pregnant pause goes, "Really good, they're all defunct and have to go. if you're going to do the work of taking it apart you can have one for two cases of Lucky Lager."   

       Ha! A 12 foot diameter dish! Muhahahahahaha!
I'm going to cut the centre out of the dish and line the inside of the parabola with broken pieces of mirror.
Then I'm going to invert a flat mirror facing the dish on a slider which will lose some heat but redirect the converging rays earthwards.
Then I'm going to either reflect or refract those rays back to straight so that another flat mirror can reflect those thousands of degrees anywhere I wish them to go.
Then I'm going to have this brilliant dude I know help me program the X,Y,Z axis drive motors of the tiltable mirror to make a solar CNC machine.
  

       So, yeah.
Good.
  

       : ]   

       Here's a [link] to our website. We update pictures as things change if any of you care to see where you'll be staying should any of you you grace us with your presence.   

       Be warned the exterior hasn't been worked on yet.
Priorities.
  

       Maker space? 3-D printers? Computer networks and Raspberry Pis? Woodworking? Experimental stills? Classrooms and textbooks?   

       Not that I can afford to go, but I'm playing the long game. If the place takes off there's no end to the new coffee injectors, disappearing car doors, and self-opening jars that will be on the market.
Voice, Jan 16 2021
  

       If I re-build it, they will come...   

       Wow, I forgot I was moving to Canada. And apparently just in time. I promise I will not come with all the shameful drama hanging on.   

       I am for real going to Lake Tahoe this summer to visit daughter and grands, and to face time with my then 1- month-old first-ever great-granddaughter. Yay. I'm getting closer 2 fry, only a hop skip and a jump from there to you. Hell, I could even walk.   

       Happy insurgents and uprisings to you, each and every one.   

       Signed: LWP #1022 *Left wing prisoner, #1022*
blissmiss, Jan 16 2021
  

       You're moving to Canada?! Legally?, or are we smuggling you down the Kettle River in a hollowed out log like the last few?   

       Nah, I wish. Canada or just about any country that will have me. But Canada and Mexico are my first picks.
blissmiss, Jan 16 2021
  

       Well that's probably for the best.   

       Nobody has ever survived a trip down this stretch of the Kettle River.   

       Regarding the solar collector; do what they do at Odeillo (linky): keep the complicated curved bit stationary, and move a flat mirror (heliostat) to track the sun. That way, your focus point stays fixed too, and you can re-purpose a 3D printer deck for the x-y-z (moving the workpiece) at the focus.
Your place is looking really good (at least, according to the flashy website).
neutrinos_shadow, Jan 18 2021
  

       Nice! Thank you. That's a darn fine idea. I think I can lose the whole bouncing rays back Earthwards thing too by collimating the light using a gradually tapering chromed needle emerging from within the converging rays. I've decided on mylar rather than mirror shards because it will be faster and just as effective... and I will build a very small prototype first to work out bugs without accidentally burning a leg off or some-such.   

       As for the rooms here. My wife and I decided when we took this on that it was going to be a place we would want to stay if we were guests.
The website shows the rooms we've transformed. What it doesn't show is the construction site this place really is when you're not in your room. I estimate at least five years of flat-out two-man labour for my brother and I before the grounds reflect the work we've done on the rooms.
<shrugs>
It is what it is. An entire village abandoned for two years before I came on the scene. Boarded up mall, piles of dirt and gravel, broken pavement, and not so long ago the towns free land-fill.
  

       Give me four more years and this place is going to be something to see. : ]   

       I haven't even told you guys about my scheme for braiding a living bridge across my creek because of new raparian rules regarding building any permanent structure within 30 metres of the creek using cuttings from the same weeping willow planted on both banks.   

       Sshhhhhhhhhhhh...   

       Don't even think about it. They'll hear our thoughts and shut us down.   

       Everyone's mylar beanies in place?   

       Alrighty then.   

       Looking good! I passed on your website to some RV friends of mine who sometimes visit Christina Lake. I'll get myself there someday once you people in "The Plague Lands" (ie the Rest of the World) get things under control.
AusCan531, Jan 18 2021
  

       I have a dream...That someday I shall make it to Christina lake and I"ll be able to hang out all day drinking margaritas and smoking whatever. Then rushing into the cool, clean, sparkling water of Christina. Yesssss. Along with many, many, retired halfbakers.
blissmiss, Jan 18 2021
  

       //new raparian rules regarding building any permanent structure within 30 metres of the creek using cuttings from the same weeping willow planted on both banks//   

       That's a very unusually precise restriction. Presumably you could get round it by using cuttings from two different willows.
pocmloc, Jan 18 2021
  

       [2 fries] is that dish powerful enough for a solar- powered barbecue?
hippo, Jan 18 2021
  

       //That's a very unusually precise restriction. Presumably you could get round it by using cuttings from two different willows.//   

       It's the new rules across B.C. now. No permanent structures within 30 meters of either side of waterways.
Any structure already built can be maintained under a grandfather clause.
It will have to be clippings of the same willow so that when I braid their young trunks together and they fuse into a single piece of wood it will not reject itself as one of them might if they aren't still technically the same tree.
That's what my gut says anyway. No idea if its right or not but I am going to find out.
There's room and water enough back there for Treethedral to be started.
  

       //powerful enough for a solar- powered barbecue?//   

       Only if you like Cajun. From what I've read the concentration ratio typically is in the range between 1000 and 5000K. A dish this size should be able to turn rock into glass.   

       If I get it to work a buddy of mine has a solid rock cliff face on his property and says he'll let me play around with it there.
Who knows... we could turn his cliff face into a Mount Rushmore type CNC sculpture.
  

       Interesting. Thinking about energy, sunlight delivers about 1kW/m²*. 12 feet is about 3.5m, so it's a 1.75m radius dish, capturing sunlight over approx 9.6m². Let's say it's 50% efficient in delivering the energy of this sunlight to wherever you're focussing it, that's about 5kW - which is a good amount, enough to cook food, about the same as a domestic oven, but possibly not enough to melt rock unless it's very well focussed.

*[or less at extreme latitudes, or on a cloudy day, or at night]
hippo, Jan 19 2021
  

       We'll see. There's a video of a guy boiling water in under two minutes with a much smaller dish, and another of people melting granite to glass with just a Fresnel lens.   

       I can believe that - UK electric kettles are 2-3kW which you ought to be able to get from a small dish, and with that Fresnel lens, so long as you're focusing the energy from the lens onto a very small area the energy/m² should be enough to melt rock. I think from a large dish made up of flat mirrors you might not get the energy focused on a small enough area.
hippo, Jan 19 2021
  

       I've decided to glue mylar to the dish instead as it will be more reflective than mirror shards and far less meticulously installed.
The chromed needle tip inserted into the focussed rays from within them should turn the focal point into a focal ray so that it will not only be able to melt the surface of a rock but bore all the way through it.
  

       //focal ray// - (sp. "death ray") - have you got a cat to stroke as you use this?
hippo, Jan 19 2021
  

       It's strictly for art, honest... and maybe to run a sterling engine.   

       There are five more dishes that size for the taking. I'd thought maybe I would mirror two of them and then sandwich them face-to-face horizontally with the top middle cut out.
This would make the biggest mirror hologram you ever saw, and if I put a bit of water and a few fish in there you'd swear they were swimming around in mid air and could pass your hand through them.
  

       That would be cool. Could you also turn one into an acoustic mirror (see link), as were once used in England to listen for enemy aircraft?
hippo, Jan 19 2021
  

       Yep, I can either place two opposing dishes pointing towards one another way far apart on the property that will let people at either focal point whisper and be heard by the other, or I can strap a battery operated microphone at the focal point of one and listen in on people talking in Seatle if I have line of sight.   

       Or I can place a receiver at the focal point and use free wifi from the next town.   

       Or...
Well there's just so much room for activities.
  

       //maybe to run a sterling engine//
Yes, definitely do that. If you have direct sun & the whole thing is tracking (or a flat heliostat for the tracking, as I mentioned) it is a very efficient way to generate power (better than PV, IIRC). If it's cloudy, PV is better since they work with light from wherever. (See linky.)
neutrinos_shadow, Jan 19 2021
  

       ...although a Stirling engine might be a cheaper alternative to a sterling engine
hippo, Jan 20 2021
  

       A stir ling engine would just agitate the fish.
pocmloc, Jan 20 2021
  

       wow thanks for posting the link for your place! Unfortunately you put the phone number on there and so if you receive prank calls at a terrible hour of the night just know that I live on the East Coast! But seriously this is so awesome and congratulations! +++
xandram, Jan 20 2021
  

       If it was heavy breathing, it was po. No for real, the place looks like paradise. I wanna visit tomorrow.
blissmiss, Jan 20 2021
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

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