Get on the trolley grandpa. Use the drawstring tall kitchen trash bag. Slip it over the head, tie tightly above the larynx with a nice granny knot. More efficient and reliable. Geeze.
This is an age old problem for people that decide to fight the force of nature and do as the wish with no respect for mother nature.
Look at California and the idiots that build on the sides of hills that are venerable to mud slides----we watch every few years as these million dollar homes slide down the hills----darn who could have seen that coming?
One moves to an area where their are Tornado's a few times a year, brings in a double wide set on blocks, has it tied down and expects to by the Grace of God be spaired from any problem in the next 30 years.
In the State of Maine that Sparky feels is strange, as you head north you will find cellars that people live in while waiting to gather the money to put a house on top of them. This is a tax move as when the home is built the taxes go sky high, a tax on a celler hole home is very low.
I have been in some of them and they put my home to shame. One has to figure the cellar has the same sq footage as a one story home, every thing built above the cellar will be identical to the area of the cellar.
One has spent $20 grand for a water tight cellar, furnace, plumbing, electricity. Perhaps the top to the cellar has windows all around. Each year the cost of building a home over the cellar becomes more and more expensive, Lets put the home on hold for 5-6 years and improve the living quarters we have now.
Sheet rock the walls, follow the plans for the eventual home to be built up top. A couple extra bathrooms, perhaps sky lights in the top. Only thing missing are windows big ones, lots of small ones at the top of the Cellar.
What do these idiots in Maine get out of all this, rock bottom taxes for a cellar hole, problem with storms, NO, Problem with Hurricanes NO, Forest fires just board up the windows with metal fire plates and leave, the place may stink when one gets back but nothing is lost. Worried about unexpected floods, build on a slant so water can drain away from the home. People need to build according to the conditions of their area, adapt to the region and climate.
The most impressive one was Down Maine with a floor to ceiling field stone fireplace. The heat came from under the floor, the kitchen was top notch and had 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 Full bathrooms.
The roof had sky lights and the owner had made a garden topside, Look up and see tomato plants growing near the window.
Cost for all this, $3000 for 4 acres, $15 thousand for the cellar hole to be put in place, another $1500 for the well to be dug and perhaps the same for the septic tank. what are we up to now for a home on 2 acres with lake frontage.
We are now at $21,000 about the cost of a new car. [Today ]
So far the cellar has been water proofed, the top has steal beam's little wood was used or trees harmed in the construction so far.
It took another 18 months to finish off the inside, the owners lived in a travel trailer as the home progressed. They did the work themselves and went very slowly.
The town and the tax man were ready to pounce so they made sure the town only taxed them on having a cellar hole they were forced to live in until they could afford to put a proper house or camp on top.
One thing leads to another, they found if they bought a shed at Walmart 8x10 and placed it atop of the roof, they could claim that the property was used as a hunting camp. Remember only above ground structures could be taxed.
Oh the ingenuity of the French residents in Maine.
Before you yell Bad Vesta, think about all the tax deductions you make, the tax exempt 401 K's and buying a car out of your state for the tax exemptions.
These people never broke any law, just lived within the law and made out like bandits.
