A Small Materialistic List

If my masters degree happens and goes well, I will be qualified to be a properly paid librarian. Not an unpaid volunteer. I have learned all the library skills but the computer ones, since the paid librarians won't let me touch that except for official discards. When I am degreed I won't be volunteering anymore. Time to get paid. I know that the archives for the state library, which mostly exists to serve the legislature in my state, pays double what the librarians get here. Double is serious money. Double is enough for a new car, and a mortgage too. Double is enough to justify the commute, or renting an apartment and visiting Dad weekly. I don't like sharing a wall with anyone.

I would like to buy a bungalow. One story, 800 square feet. Some glass walls for light. An alarm system to keep away the burglars.

A locking garage, not a car port or "space" or "on street" BS. There are too many car thieves and burglars in California. Nevada is just as bad. A nice damp garden with flowers I can smell. Possibly two or three car, with doors that close. One garage space will be extra long because I would like a sailboat on a trailer. Not necessarily a big sailboat, because I am not interested in sailing in shark infested waters. Or being flipped over by the monster Pacific swells because the Pacific Ocean was clearly named by a drugged up moron. Its incredibly violent. It ought to be called the Violent Ocean.

I am still trying to decide between something like a Laser or Sunfish because those have clubs and they're fun because they try to flip over in gusty mountain winds, though this means getting wet a lot, sometimes a good thing, sometimes bad. It would mean disconnecting from my insulin pump while sailing, which limits me to about 3 hours on the water. Which might be enough. Or it might not.

Alternatively, I could build a glue and stitch kit boat, with high gunwales (sides) with traditional wood and worth considerably more than a fiberglass boat. Or a lower sided and lighter homebuilt like a Classic Moth. Those are pretty and sail well in variable winds, which we have here.

Alternatively I could visit local garage sales this Fall and just buy a plastic kayak for a couple hundred bucks (or less) and use that on every lake I can think of. Much easier to carry, however not as much fun as a sailboat. Steering with a sail is the fun, you see. Kmart sells a new plastic 10 foot kayak for $250.

I still want a motor scooter. Those are too fun to ignore. I would find it easier to justify if I could get $25/hr working up here as a librarian, but they only seem to hire women for those jobs, and always mutter about funding. I want a positive career, not fighting over money with mean old women.

If I move to Reno or the Eastern Sierra communities I definitely need all wheel drive and spiked tires for winters. This means, if I take that job, I will be buying a Subaru or possibly a Ford F-150 pickup with 4WD and tow package and heavy transmission setup. While it is true that the boat I like best is only about 300 pounds, and the trailer is another 200, so I won't need a LOT of capacity, I might find myself loading more on there and getting an Airstream trailer so I am going to need around 6000 pounds capacity eventually. I like the V6 ecoboost engine for this. It is sensible, and I could tow my sailboat up to Tahoe, which would reward a larger boat and taller sides since they get actual swells of several feet there. I saw some Pocket Sailboats with a tiny cabin in front, on Donner Lake. I also say a Laser Pico hull in the water, the mast missing. In the winter, there would be lots of interest in books to read and indoor projects on that side of the mountains. Definitely a place to own a good wood stove and lots of insulation.

The scooter I would use for my daily commute during the long summer months, which are just stunning. I like the Piaggio Fly 150 the most. Its a classic looking scooter, without the markup of a Vespa, and a big enough engine to climb the road.

The eastern Sierras and Carson City and Reno each get thunderstorms there all summer (almost daily). Carson City is like a smaller Reno, at higher elevation, and is the state capitol of Nevada. They will have a State library too, much like Sacramento, but possibly more pleasant to work for and similar pay. I will check into that.

The desert is due east of Carson City, just out of town on Highway 50, which goes through there. That's the start of the Loneliest Highway In America, btw. 50 across Nevada is really dull. Top Gear went there with some muscle cars a few years ago. If I lived and worked in Minden, that is pretty ideal country. Beautiful views, nice people, sensible people who still work for a living. Lots of RV construction and repair companies, and most of the welding shops from the Bay Area relocated there after the ban on CO2 in welding by "green" lunatics in Gov. Moonbeam's govt. Having access to sensible and qualified welders opens up a lot of good options for projects.

Obviously, the food is imported and it is too cold for nice gardens. That's the trade-off for the gorgeous meadows and steaks. I am reasonably sure that declaring I like steaks in Nevada will save my life. Too many weirdo Californians move to Western states only to demand vegetarianism. Which is totally insane. The best veggies are here. You don't leave here if you want good veggies. In other states, you get 1-2 kinds of lettuce, not 8-10 like here, and "salad" in other states includes shredded carrot and iceberg lettuce, and you can fit it into the palm of your hand. I have traveled. I know this to be true. In other states people eat more chilies to make up the difference for Vitamin C. Probably a good idea. OJ at breakfast isn't enough. Did you know the primary reason for serving salsa at Mexican restaurants is that salsa is full of vitamin C? It prevents scurvy. I have had scurvy. It is annoying. It is easily fixed with OJ or other sources, but it is annoying.

Having just driven through Minden and Gardnerville last week I'm not sure I'd like it there. They seemed too focused on their casino gambling, and the civic stuff is missing. Maybe it exists, but I didn't see it. I'll pay attention in future, in case it turns out to be there too. In the meantime, other options and my education itself demand my time.