My van had given up the ghost

[Chris Caston]

Good news guys my van has finally packed it in!

It happened on Friday the 13th of this month. I was driving home with
my brother from a quiz night and the timing belt suddenly snapped.
Fortunately I had roadside assistance and got it towed back to the
house. Soon I hope to find a wreckers that will tow it away.

Anyway the best thing is that I am not being exploited in those
regards anymore e.g. no one can ask me to volunteer taxi or do
errands for them because I now have no van to do them in. I am also
only going to continue my call out computer repairs business via
public transport or on the basis of the customer bring their computer
to me.

I am keeping much more fit now and I am legging it and carrying heavy
stuff to build up my muscles.

My next move may be to get a bike and I can probably still keep
serving customers in my local area that way.

I also have a job interview on Monday and if I get that I will be
working in the city so won't require a car. I just need to make sure
the food shopping can still get done as the other family members don't
like it when I eat my meals in the city and rarely bring food home.

best regards,

Chris

[Trevor Holland]

keep an eye open for a bicycle trailer for that bike you're gonna get
too, Chris. That's the secret to being able to use pedal power to cart
all sorts of stuff around.

I got a cattledog in the letterbox yesterday from a major department
chain that has "2-kid" trailers (quite wide) for 128 legacy dollars.
But I managed to grab one off a verge collection rubbish pile a few
years back which has served me very well to move quite bulky items.
The towing clamp bolt was seized but I was able to replace that after
towing it home using some string to tie it to my trike. I'll put it
for hire on our exchange! :) I'm Fly In - Fly Out, 8 days on, 6 off
so I won't be able to use it for 8 days per fortnight.

I imagine the person(s) hiring it could pedal to their nearest station
on their folding bicycle, catch a train to Bullcreek station then
pedal to my place to pick it up. Once back at the Station they could
fold up their bike and put it in the trailer which then becomes a sort
of shopping trolley with handles to push it 'round until they reach
their destination when they unfold their bike again and pedal away.

So even long distance bulky deliveries would be possible without using
any "stink-mobiles", assuming the train's electricity is sourced from
renewables!

Hey Ted, how far away is the nearest station from your new place? If
not too far, maybe Community Supported Agriculture with public
transport freight will be possible one day soon to link your food
production to PCEX.

All the best for the interview process and the new job (if you make
it through), Chris.
regds
Trev

--
Trev Holland
+61 403 078 661
www.hypertrike.org
LoGo "Courier" # US-051
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   ^^-^^

[Ted Russ]

Australia seems to skip the CSA step, going instead more to Farmer's Markets.  That's a shame because instead of an income, anyone wanting to do a CSA style operation is faced with yet another overhead, which defeats the whole purpose of cheap local tucker.  I'll definitely keep a link open to PCEX but it's either Bridgetown (35 min by car from the farmhouse) or Bunbury (90 min) and then public transport.  

Pity, as I've been growing useable quantities of snow peas, mignonette lettuces, parsley thyme oregano basil, purslane, tomatoes, celery, kale, capsicum, chilli, and a few more just on the two small garden beds I have, using the rabbit manure compost.  On the farm I'll literally have acres to do that and a better soil, better climate, better water (due to aquaponics I'll also be setting up) - but the distance to market will make it hard to operate a CSA style operation.  

I'll definitely keep working on a way to deliver to LETSs though.  Look up "Kulikup Rd Nth, Kulikup, WA, Australia" on Google Maps to get an idea of the isolation and see if you can come up with a sustainable way to deliver.  In the meanwhile I'll be talking to Bridgetown, Bunbury, and Boyanup markets and seeing how they operate.

--
ted.
0409 249 807 mobile
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Hey Ted, how far away is the nearest station from your new place? If not too far, maybe Community Supported Agriculture with public transport freight will be possible one day soon to link your food production to PCEX.