Minimalist Multifunctionism in the Quest of Dog

[Turtle]

___I never said this minimalising was easy. I still have the kite (an heir forbid me to throw it out). I don't have the camera aparatus for the kite anymore, but I still have a drawing of it I did for an instructional exposition. I have a rough copy in the Science Gallery/Members Categories/Turtle.

___Despite the CPUTs & VPP^3s, it is very difficult to quantify this idea of comfort. Even though I threw out all those photos, here I am still owning them in a discussion. Like a booger on my finger.

___I think maybe I can justify my throwing away as 'performance art'? Like the gates in New York; here one minute, gone the next.

[Turtle]

___Even though much of my effort is directed at dematerializing, I do acquire things. I do have a video camera now, which serves as my still camera (poor stills though), telescope, & surveilence. I do have a small TV with a VCR that works on AC or DC. This is the multifunctionality aspect I look for in regard to what I do keep.

___Several years ago when I started this obsession, I set the goal to not own more than I could fit in my car (more on the car later). I'm well past that now, & striving to not own more than I can pull in my wagon.

____Now to the car. It's very old & in the last 6 years I have driven it less than 1000 miles. Yes, it's high in VPP^3, but I do try to remain practical in my quest. Primarily, I keep it so I can go to medical appointments & so I don't have to impose on others.

___ :confused:

[Turtle]

___Today something called a router that Frosty my housemate knows about broke on this computer system & it was internet dead all day. :) What to do? Why dematerialize some stuff of course! I said earlier I was down to 20 books, but it was really 18 I found today & now it is 16. Bye bye to statistics & trigonometry; reduced to recycling for reuse to the tune of 6 pounds.

___Also out, 150 or so pages of math notes, calculations, lists, etc. Having introduced much of it here in my math threads, I no longer need it. Now don't chastise me too harshly; it's all in my head.

___I was thinking what if I didn't have all my Katabatk papers & while it would be inconvenient right now, I could reproduce any of it with a stick in the dirt. I think it would be cool to do a Katabatak graph as a days long sand painting & then dance it away.

___Definately on the path to dog!

[Queso]

So what's the opposite of dog? packrat? rat? dogs and rats aren't too opposite though, I would have assumed cat, but found no old saying with a cat that had the slightest bit to do with accumulation.

[Buffy]

Chipmunks, or better yet (for geeks) Mac 'n Tosh, the Goofy Gophers....

 

No, no, no, no, after *you*!

Buffy

[Queso]

Buffy, are you from sunnydale, or sunnyvale? I've never heard of sunnydale.

[Buffy]

What? Home of the Hellmouth and UC Sunnydale? Get thee to the video store and start rentiing the back episodes! Favorite episodes: "Hush" and "Buffy, The Musical"...

 

"Clark Kent has a job. I just wanna go on a date."

Buffy

[Buffy]

Back on topic: dating/relationships are very high CPUT. How's that measure up on your benefit rating Turtle? I personally wouldn't do without it....

 

Cheers,

Buffy

[Turtle]

___I love that cartoon link; it's something I never would have found on my own.

___I think packrat comes to mind first. It may vary by culture though.

___I am completely aware of the irony in the fact that I am aquiring new relationships by making these posts while trying to minimize relationships. Further to your point Buff I haven't dated in more than a decade & largely due to CPTU. A score of times bitten, forever shy. My house fire put me in mind of minimizing material things in the same way I was minimizing relationships.

___I was for much of my life, the packrat of all packrats. I saved everything;bolts, screws, wood, broken down machines, tools, magazines, books, plants, furniture, art, jewelry, & no end of stuff. Now I could if pressed, load everything I need to live into my wagon & walk away. Now if I can just get that time down to 1 minute!

___I'll take up the art of minimalizing tools for multifunctionality in a later post. :)

[Queso]

After reading all these posts in this thread over the time it's been here on hypography, just now it hit me.

to have everything you needed, within a minutes time you could take it and get out, is pretty amazing and is something i wish i could do, but i know it's something i couldn't. especially with my music equipment, that stuff would take an hour at least. i thoroughly see your reasoning behind what you do, well the basic idea-i'm sure there's things you havn't told us, and i respect your minimalist multifunctionism in the quest of dog.

[Turtle]

___By jove, I think he's got it! :) I too have musical equipment, although I by no means consider myself a musician of worth, if any a musician; still, I have tried to minimally multifunctionize said equipment. To whit, 2 harpoons (harmonicas), 1 in G with a wooden comb (wets up quick & squeeks & leaks) & another Honer in C but with a plastic comb.

___I have an $30 mike (paid 20) & a multiband radio from Radio Shack that doubles as an amp/PA (OK, so it's not an ear-burster). Because the radio is multiband, I receive shortwave, marine, air, AM & FM & this fits with preparedness ergo minimalized multifunctionality.

___Now I don't by any means expect others to go to my extremes, however by illustrating the general concept I hope to show if we all consider these things & minimalize just a little that the sum of those efforts may grow very large. Nowhere is anything in any great amount gathered, except by the smallest amounts. :)

[Turtle]

___Sooner or later here I have to introduce my survival/camp wagon. Introducing, Turtle's wagon. Because I have applied the multifunctionality tool extensively to the wagon idea, it is quite complex & so I will strat small.

___I came on the idea after watching yet another fim of people fleeing some disaster or another, & I notice a couple people with wagons. I further reflected that in most such fims, the wagon is ubiquitus & that few had them. So, it seems logical those with wagons can carry more in the way of necessary survival gear. More food, more blankets, more tents, ...more.

___So I intended to build my own wagon, but months of such planning came to naught. I settled on a industrial garden wagon for $80, with fold up sides, interchangeable handle, wide pneumatic tires, & a load limit of 1,500 pounds.

___More particulars to come while you think over the possibilities. :cup:

[Biochemist]

___By jove, I think he's got it! B) I too have musical equipment...

 

I scanned this thread for the first time today. I have to admit that my VERY first thought (as I was admiring the asceticism of the participants) is that this notion all fall apart for me when I acquired high VPP^3 for something LARGE.

 

In my case, 13 years ago I acquired a 1972 7'5" Grotrian Steinweg grand piano. I am really a mediocre pianist, but I LOVE this piece of machinery. I regard it as my fourth child. The other three arern't quite as old (4,18,21). But it weighs 1250 pounds.

 

The complexity is that large items with high VPP^3 incur extrordinary overhead. Sort of like children (even though most of those aren't large).

 

Moving costs alone are daunting (I have moved it at least 6 times). And it is fair to say it would not come close to fitting in my car.

 

But there is nothing like sitting in a dimly lit quiet room and sharing life with my 1250 pound olldest child.

[Turtle]

___Very nice points Biochemist. Things break down all the time with the value system in trying to evaluate certain 'things' like your piano (sounds wonderful by the way;a virtual bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir to one of your evens!).

___Large size & personal attachment constitute formidable barriers to the minimalism. Nonetheless, we have the backup tool of multifuntionalism by which to ameliorate those 'things' we choose to keep. For example, your piano brings you personal comfort, enjoyment for others, employment for a tuner, etc. The more benefit & functions you can ascribe to a difficult 'thing', the better you balance the detriments.

___This is my attempt to find a reasonable balance; to approach dog, without being dog. As every person is an island, I apprciate comments from across the gulf. B)

 

PS More wagon stuff later. Think teams of folks racing with hand pulled survival wagons across a hundred miles or more of rugged terrain. What would you bring?

[Biochemist]

Think teams of folks racing with hand pulled survival wagons across a hundred miles or more of rugged terrain. What would you bring?

Interesting question. My (ex) wife's grandmother came to Oregon from Oklahoma in a covered wagon (honestly) in about 1900 when she was two years old. She died in about 1990. As I understand it, the family came to Oregon with absolutely nothging except for the items to survive the trip.

 

They arrived here and set up farming. Odd to think that she lived 20 years past the first moon landing after arriving here by covered wagon.

 

At any rate, it's odd for me (spoiled consumer that I am) to think about bringing nothing for creature comfort at the final destination. And I would certainly have to bring cigars along to improve the quality of the trip. They are required by a camp fire. B)

[Turtle]

___Oh, I don't go without comfort; this is where the multifunctionalism comes in. Before I get to more on that, the covered wagon trip is germain. For several years in the mid-1800's, the Mormons used 2-wheeled hand carts to make the trip from Omaha to Salt Lake City. Of the 3,000 plus that made it succesfully, just 150 were lost, when beset by Winter.

___Now to the comfort & cigars. Speaking of which, a few months back a mover friend came by & gave me a Cuban cigar, which in spite of what I expected was simply the smoothest most delightful with developing aftertastes tobacco that I have ever put my lips to; simply marvvvelous.

___On board my wagon is all the necessary equipment for electrical service. Solar panel, 100 amp hour deep cell battery, 120V/800Watt inverter. Aprrox weight, 70 pounds. B)

___Here is the beauty of the race idea: since there is a real limit to what a person or 2 can pull, each has to determine on their own what is essential. My complete kit & kaboodle is somewhere around 500 pounds by my estimate. B)

[Turtle]

Off topic a bit, but in posts 17 & 18 I talked about aerial kite photography I designed & used back in the early 80's. I just found this story at USGS:

 

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/kap/carrizo/

 

B)