I am building a communal house for Aspies, and How...

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I am doing it.

An aspie house in Canada
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It will be a straw bale home. They provide excellent insulaton and are fully insurable when plastered on both sides with natural plasters. The home will be made as much as possible with sustainable and renewable resources. I have experience with this building technique, and will be building my next building(a garage, next spring).

It will be a quadplex style home, with four apartments for people with disabilities(perhaps not just AS). The walls are sound proof, warm, very fire resistant, and wired for modern living. Satellite TV, Net work cables, and high speed internet(either ADSL or Cable internet).

Some food can be raised on site.

I have experience with all the items listed above.


Climate
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I live in Grande Prairie Canada. its not terribly snowy here. It gets a bit cold(20+ below freezing) in january. Snow is typically ankle to knee deep and soft and fluffy, not wet. Blocked roads are incredibly uncommon. Summers reach 25+ centrigrade.


I can earn the money for this
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I estimate the cost of the small acreage to be 20 000 to 50 000. I currently have a growing online income that will purchase this. The home will be constructed largely with material produced on the land. The land will be seeded to Canola and the crop when harvested will pay for the foundation and footing of the house. The walls will be earthen plastered straw bales made from the stalks of the Canola plant(no resale value). The roof will be held up with a post and beam system.

I have access to the machinery to do this with. I have the experience to build like this. I will need to hire professionals to do the foundation, the wiring, and the plumbing, as the building codes require it. I will ease the costs with my contributed labour.

I can build the house for 50 000. Maybe less. Profits will be limited to 10% over costs. Profits will be used to build a second home and a third and so forth. I will eventually build them in the USA and UK, and any other country that will allow a proper land deed.

How I make my money
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I own a virtual island in Secondlife. My island is developed and rented to residents of second life and they pay me a monthly usage fee, as well as a buy in fee that covered my initial investment.

I currently have 11 residents paying 30-50 dollars each per month. My cost is 295.00 a month, and my profit when full is 10% over costs. I think thats modest and doesnt exploit.

Savings from that go to purchase the next island, accellerating the process. When I have ten Islands, I will have about 2000 dollars income per month, which will pay a mortgage on the land that I will build the house(in real life).

I have three years experience in Second life, and one year as an island owner. It cost me 1675.00 dollars. I've made my money back. It took 10 months. The next one will be faster, and it accellerates with each one.

I am currently starting a project with another aspie from here, Nellos121, in which we develop a home for Mermaids in second life.

Come meet me
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http://www.secondlife.com/?u=2a7c8637bc ... 1c9c0ce22f

This link will help you sign up. Its free, its not a limited time trial. Its free like air. Works for Windows, Mac and Linux flavoured people. It will tell me when you arrive in world.

A year ago I started my island. One unemployed aspie can do it. I'll do it with no help at all. Now with Nellos121, we have two aspies. It will be more fun, and be faster. I want a third aspie. 10 of them. 100. I want a horde of damned determined aspies making a new way in life in defiance of those that say we cannot.

I Have the plan. I have the skills. I want to take you with me!

Come join me! http://www.secondlife.com/?u=2a7c8637bc ... 1c9c0ce22f

hey, Fuzzy!
what is your name on SecondLife so I can sign up with your name as my referral??

Merle

Hiya Merle!

My second life name is Ossified Ogre.

I like your new avatar picture. You are very friendly looking.

Hi Fuzzy-

Have you conferred with Ana54? She's done a lot of legwork in Canada on this kind of communal living situation. She may have info/ideas that would be helpful to you.

but interested. i don't fully understand the concept/post. i have pretty limited computer skills, but wish i could figure out how to make some kind of income online (other than porn ) because i SO want a house in FL or somewhere nice and warm, and i have wished before i had the patience to figure out government grants and stuff because i wanted to build a place for "crazy" people to live.

KaliMa, thanks. I will look into her.

i_Am_andaJoy, if you can sign up for a forum like WP, you should be able to handle Second Life. And the learning curve when there is gentle. Everyone is helpful, as its not competitive like say, world of warcraft.

well. maybe i will try to look at it later. so it is a game then? i don't play games- like world of warcraft or whatever at all. just occasionally something like solitare, or with very simple graphics. i clicked the first link, but the page was too "busy" and new and i couldn't look/get at it. so i don't really see the point, because $1,675 is a lot if you live on $500 a month-- so it just sort of sounds like a MLM or pyramid scheme thing right now, but like i said i will try to look later.

but that is awesome you can do that and that you have a plan and are going to build a real house now!

I can vouch for Fuzzy when he says the area around Grande Prairie is a good place to live. I was born in Spirit River (just north and west of Grande Prairie) and have relatives that still farm there.

Fuzzy, I saw a straw bale house in Harrowsmith Country Life and was wondering if the straw deteriorates after a number of years. I am looking at alternative building materials and off -grid energy solutions. I like the underground housing idea, but the straw bale insulation could be incorporated into that. Part of the building would be above ground.

Nono! that was a special purchase. it would be totally free for you or anyone else. I just wanted to develop an island, so i bought a server.

Its not a game.. its an online world. More than a 3d chat, its like.. hmm. well, we make stuff there. Imagine the sims online with no contraints. I can make a chair for example. i dont have to pay for it in real life or in game dollars. And it can look pretty much however I want it, not just the basic shapes determined by the creators. Or i can buy a nice design off someone else. They own the intellectual rights to it, and determine if i can make copies, or just have one.

If you get the front page to load, and see someones hair.. we'll a person that is in Second life created that. they said "i'll put a tuft of hair here, and another there, and color it so.." its all created by the participants. But you dont need skills to participate, and they are easy to learn as you go!

For example, my friend created a portable hole. Just like in the cartoons, you can use it to step through walls!

Its mind boggling. Still. after 3 years.

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blessedmom, thanks for the vouch. Its neat that you were born in Spirit River.

The Straw in the walls doesnt deteriorate unless they saturate with water. As you know, A bale in a loft can keep nearly forever. The critical point for decay is somewhere around 14% moisture. Any more and it will rot. You would want your stem wall to keep the bale level above the snow line, and the roof overhang to prevent splashes. Thats about it.

As there is not a vapour barrier, excess moisture exits the bales through the plaster, either outside or in. The bales are 2 feet thick, and provide up to R-50 insulation value.

That's me, friendly looking and friendly being:wink:
you make friends that way. .

I am Morrigan Meredith

I have always heard that straw bale structures are very durable and long lasting, provided they are done correctly. I have always wanted to live in Canada. I think I will look into this.

We'd be neighbours!! Well, sort of!

we built a straw bale house long ago (about ten years) for a barter fair we did once... plasterd it over with something plastery. . .anyway. . it sat in the oregon rain for years. . not tended, just out there in the field, and my friend Cord bored a hole in the wall. . and the straw was fresh and dry as the summer day we built the thing.

It is warm in winter and cool in summer. .straw bale dwellings are practical and durable . . .and CHEAP!!



Merle
who is having a ball flying around Second Life

I NEED to tel MADDuck and UN88 about this! How do we join? The 3 of us can share an apartment with others if need be.

Not sure what you mean by share an apartment...

As far as joining second life goes, you just go to www.secondlife.com and click the sign up button. A 30 meg download gets you the client and you log in.

The income from my island is the genesis for my real life project.

I'm talking about the real life project! As in, do you sign up for it or what?