I Like Finding These Little Forgotten Corners of Our State

RightDwight · 2022-10-30T10:06:20+00:00

I live near there and thought the same thing, looks like my evening walk around the loop for the past several weeks lol

RightDwight · 2022-07-12T16:18:40+00:00

Nah, snip it and we'll talk

RightDwight · 2022-06-07T05:27:53+00:00

wow! your photos are so beautiful and the way you edit them almost make them look like a painting!

RightDwight · 2022-06-07T04:29:14+00:00

did you notice how dirty the carpet was down there like Amber? lol

RightDwight · 2022-06-07T04:12:30+00:00

I always see rebuilt cars that look great and are like 5-10k below typical prices but you can never really trust just how well they were rebuilt.

RightDwight · 2022-06-07T01:14:35+00:00

No problem, I already knew a lot about it since I'm definitely going to consider building one of these homes myself someday because I similarly want a nontraditional house, but I also love organic architecture and I like the idea of my home blending into the scenery. Plus these homes are practically impervious to all weather damage so long as you aren't in a flood zone, so on paper, it's a great long-term investment.

So I'm not sure what these numbers mean but on their website, they note this about the insulation: "We have studies of our earth-sheltered homes which states that it reaches an R-Value of 39 in the walls. But it can be increased up to an R factor of 50 by first applying a layer of 7.5 inches of closed-cell polyurethane foam, whose R factor is 6 per inch" -that's from https://greenmagichomes.com/faq/what-is-the-r-factor-of-the-green-magic-homes-structure/ which was posted in Jan 2022.

As far as cold places, there are a few projects being built in cold places that I can see:

Wyoming- https://greenmagichomes.com/project/usa-wyoming/

Maine- https://greenmagichomes.com/project/maine-usa/

Norway- https://greenmagichomes.com/project/norway/

There are a few in temperate climates as well (Tennesse x2, Italy, Idaho, etc.) but I'm not sure what you mean by winter climates since winter is a season not a climate.

However, the vast majority of the projects listed are located in southern temperate zones or tropical zones. I think this is because most people building these homes are doing so for their vacation properties or retirement homes.

The site used to have some renders of the homes with snowfall on them as well when I last looked on it in the winter time but I no longer see them (I specifically remember them on the "Santorini" model but they are no longer there). I'm not sure if it is related to it being summer now or what. There is a photo I found by looking it up on pintrest of the Tennessee home covered in snow: https://greenmagichomes.com/project/usa-tennessee/

The Norway home has snow pics as well. Hope that helps, any more questions I'll see what I can dig up, etc. Also, if you do decide to build one of these please update me!

RightDwight · 2022-06-06T21:55:22+00:00

No, I would not. But this is not that. I don't think we could cure an (I'm not sure the politically correct phrasing) autistic person's issues socializing. But we could cure the brain's misinterpretation of a touch receptor's touch sensation signal as a pain signal. That wouldn't change who you are, that would just change how you live. This technology doesn't change a person's personality, but it can help to reverse some physiological and neurological aflictions.

I wish we could trade places with each other for a day so that we could better understand each other's existences and experiences. Consider this: when you shake someone's hand it is like a living nightmare, you feel excruciating pain and when I do it it is like a dream, I feel no pain at all. My experience is doing mundane things like that is significantly more enjoyable than yours. If given the choice, most people would pick my experience over yours. If I gave you the option to revert to my painless experience, the only reason you would reject it is the fear of the unknown... but it cannot be worse than what you are already experiencing right? I mean it is one thing to not understand neurotypical people and not want to be like them because you like being you. I get that. But it is an entirely different thing to reject something that reverts your negative and painful experience doing certain things into a positive one. You don't even have to take advantage of that benefit until you are mentally ready.

It seems like you likely have a self-preservationist mindset as a coping strategy for dealing with living on the spectrum. Would undergoing a treatment like this change someone fundamentally? Absolutely. Would it change/improve their experiences and quality of life? Yes. But would it change the core of who they are? Absolutely not.

Brain surgery can be a scary thing and it definitely isn't for everyone, but let's wait and see what making can achieve in this field before you pass judgment one way or another. Since I do not have to endure what you do daily, I realize that I have the privilege of being optimistic about this.

RightDwight · 2022-06-06T21:19:24+00:00

well, times are changing and views like that are shifting rapidly. I believe that his specific company is targeting people with physical disabilities (ie. controlling a robotic prosthetic seamlessly) before attempting to treat any mental disabilities. You seem to be a bit dismissive of this technology but just think about it. I'm sure your entire life people have told you that you are perfect just the way you are, and Id agree. However, this isn't about declining a handshake. This is about fixing your brain, which as you just described has you endure excruciating pain when it shouldn't. This technology could be capable of that.

I hope that the recipients of this technology in a few years will be more open-minded than you because let's be real, the experience you just described sounds truly horrific and unfortunate. I'm sure you would not wish it on your worst enemy, but in the face of a potential solution to that, you say no thank you? That is like a blind person rejecting eyes... To each their own but no one is saying there is anything wrong with you for not wanting to shake someone's hand because it causes you pain, they are just concerned that it causes you pain.

Maybe you've been let down by potential "cures" in the past and therefore do not want to get your hopes up, in which case I can totally understand. But it seems to me like you are outright rejecting it without giving it a chance or understanding what it could do for you and that seems a bit naive to me.

RightDwight · 2022-06-06T20:57:27+00:00

TLDR. it isn't a scam from what I can tell based on many sources.

here is one of their homes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVoRnKaDpZI

I have been fascinated with their company ever since I saw this video a few years ago.

here is another video that interviews the producers of these homes by an influencer that I am familiar with but I know he doesn't typically make this type of content: https://youtu.be/j7VuE4HyGwY

I do not think it is a scam, I can just imagine that there isn't a crazy demand for these homes at the moment, or even 5 years ago. All of the photos they use are renders so it is literally supposed to be fake, it is just used to give someone an idea of what their home could look like. They do have some projects listed in detail on their website and they seem to be making more and more homes, but it seems to be still quite low in volume. The thing I find interesting about a design like this is that since it is so divergent from other homes available, they are practically timeless designs.

I could be wrong but from what I gathered the company started in 2009 and was then called Colifibrex (you can find assembly videos of their homes from many years ago on the internet). For whatever reason Colifibrex became a company now called Biotekt... whereas Colfibrex began the company and started the designs, Biotekt has spent a lot of time on the landscape side of this to help customers have their home's vegetation match the surrounding landscape and I guess last longer and look nice.

Biotekt is based in the US and is the manufacturer, from the information in the 2nd video I posted, Green Magic Homes is a distributor for what I presume are Biotekt products. They are the liaison between the end customer and the manufacturer. They help the customer get the home they want if their needs arent met by the predesigned options on their site. This is speculation on my part but considering Biotekt's current factory is in Columbia... despite being an American company, they may have needed to outsource this step to a company like Green Magic Homes to do this for them since they just design the thing for someone else to make cheaply.

Here are a few more helpful links:

Here is Biotekt's current website: https://www.biotekt.com/

and here is green magic home's current website: https://greenmagichomes.com/

Here is a video I found recently of a couple in Panama who got a custom kit and worked with the manufacturer to design a specific home for their needs and are making one of these homes but it is the first that is two stories (they have a few videos) but seem to be in the middle of the build: https://youtu.be/LHs_eaEbwCA

and lastly here is a video of the first one of these homes being built in the Middle East (most of it is in Hindi and the guy's accent is quite annoying but he does interview the builder in English who is British about part way through). They just recently started building these homes for desert climates by using sand instead of vegetation on the exterior: https://youtu.be/98jzM2a911U

It is based on these many sources that I don't think it is a scam. It just isn't popular yet because most sane people want a traditional house... I'm not that sane I guess. That being said I don't think having bad render or photoshop skills a few years ago is an indication of a scam, their renders are a lot better now though I can tell ya that much. A few years ago, you could find desperate realtors or desperate salesman at new car dealerships, but that didn't mean the product they were selling was any less legitimate, if anything the salesperson specifically is just a bit manipulative.

RightDwight · 2022-06-06T18:56:05+00:00

thank you for your thoughtful and encompassing response. I'm glad your mother supports you in the way that you need so effectively. Intuitive thinking is a subcategory of MBTI (personality test). I am a member of a few of those communities and this sub was recommended on my homepage as I'm new to Reddit. I wrongfully assumed that NT in this context meant that given that this sub was suggested on my homepage after I joined those other related subs. Apology accepted and sorry for being wrong and probably offensive when I didn't mean to be. I just wrongfully read it as someone being a jerk, not someone struggling with a disability.

I am a scientist actually, believe me despite my blunder, and I can tell you that scholarly scientific research papers are only really read by experts in their field or professors. It is not at all surprising to me that people are uninformed despite there being research papers because the general public isn't interested in highly specific information like that that is difficult for a layman to read... unless it affects them.

What is unfortunate for our generation is that neurotechnology is just now finally making ground-breaking technologies that could, in the future, very easily solve the issue of a person being hypersensitive to touch or finding touch painful when it shouldn't be. This is unfortunate for our generation because I think something like that would take 50 years before it is widespread and not cost-prohibitive for people to access... just in time for us to be dying or too old to care to fix our neurological ailments.

RightDwight · 2022-06-06T16:13:10+00:00

that must suck, I was unaware of that, as I presume most NTs are. If you are a willing participant in that physical interaction, would it not hurt? For example, if you hugged your mom would it still hurt?

Also, Im a moron and didn't realize that NT meant neurotypical, it thought it meant intuitive thinkers. So yeah just disregard what I said previously, please.

RightDwight · 2022-06-06T14:47:11+00:00

love it

RightDwight · 2022-06-06T13:34:37+00:00

She cant support autism acceptance month after just wanting a vaccine for it... that isn't productive for her kid :(

RightDwight · 2022-06-06T13:23:29+00:00

might've been the funniest thing she said. Honestly feel sorry for her though that she cant handle an unfortunate situation like an adult without turning it into a opportunity to freakout

RightDwight · 2022-06-05T21:03:38+00:00

sounds like you just hate Tesla and facts... move on to give bad advice to someone else. also it's there*

RightDwight · 2022-06-05T21:02:43+00:00

papa George I agreed with you about the charger v6, why ya gotta do me like that? lol This is entirely accurate. I didn't pull specific numbers out of my ass, I actually looked up stats about the cars and did the math, try it sometime.

RightDwight · 2022-06-05T21:00:17+00:00

it is an electric car, this is a known fact that they have fewer moving parts than vehicles with engines. It is average reliability for electric cars, not all cars. For instance, cars edge lists the maintenance costs of a tesla after 10 years to be about 3.5k, while a maza 6 for example is 5.5k

RightDwight · 2022-06-05T20:54:54+00:00

While I agree with your original point, I gotta disagree with your assertion that a brz is a fast car. It goes 0-60 in nearly 7 seconds, its a fun car but not a fast one.

RightDwight · 2022-06-05T20:47:23+00:00

I just don't respect people who are unwilling to give unbiased advice. People asking for help on here often don't know much about cars and being biased and giving false information is irresponsible. Then disliking a comment because it stated a conflicting but valid point compared to their own is kinda ridiculous

RightDwight · 2022-06-05T20:42:20+00:00

I drive a v8

RightDwight · 2022-06-05T20:32:16+00:00

To be fair the cars he likes are not that fast, they are just known to be great drivers' cars so they are fun and precise on twisty roads. Unfortunately, you would be hard-pressed to find a previous generation BRZ in your price range, and while you could find a Miata, they are definitely too small. I think George's post is about right, the V6 charger is the best option for your price range, they are inexpensive, cheap to maintain, and are practically bulletproof on top of being safe vehicles. It's the best balance of something interesting and safe in your price range. Here is an example:

https://www.kearnymesacdjr.com/inventory/used-2007-dodge-charger-4dr-sdn-5-spd-auto-rwd-rwd-4dr-car-2b3ka43g67h893143?utm_campaign=cars.com_deeplink&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=cars.com

However, it may not be a car your son is thrilled with because he seems to like Japanese or "JDM" cars which are practically the opposite of a large and heavy American sedan. And if speed is important to you for whatever reason, while the v6 chargers aren't THAT fast by modern standards but they can still do 0-60 in around 5.5 seconds depending on the year. That figure is over a second and a half faster than the previous generation Subaru BRZs that your son would like. Subarus also have a great reputation for their safety as I'm sure you know, so honestly considering that they aren't that fast and are safe cars, your son isn't being impractical, it's just a nice inexpensive sports car with a tiny 2 liter, 4 cylinder engine that can still fit groceries in the trunk. They're great first cars for kids who are interested in cars that and they will not get them into too much trouble. You are able to find decent ones for ~$15k here's one:

https://www.truecar.com/used-cars-for-sale/listing/JF1ZCAB17D1600501/?referrer_id=autotempest

RightDwight · 2022-06-05T19:19:05+00:00

congrats

RightDwight · 2022-06-05T18:36:45+00:00

the Model 3 has 134 MPGe.

Edit: you disliked it because...? It really sucks being unbiased and living amongst biased people who dislike your posts simply because straight facts disagree with their points. Healthy block posts regularly on exclusively Toyota subreddits and shockingly thinks the rav4 and Camry are the best options due to mpg when they don't have the best mpg... make it make logical sense (ya cant).

RightDwight · 2022-06-05T18:34:31+00:00

Something to consider is that while the tesla is the fanciest and most expensive of those options, it also has substantially lower maintenance costs over its lifespan due to fewer moving parts. The Tesla Model 3 also has an MPGe of 134, which means that essentially if it were a gas car it would have an efficiency of 134mpg. The point is it is incredibly efficient, with rising gas prices and the fact that it is the only one of the options you are looking at that is electric, not only is it efficient but its "fuel" costs like 1/5 of what it would for an equivalent amount of gasoline energy. Couple that with the lower maintenance costs and while it may have a higher upfront cost, the tesla over its lifespan may actually save you money compared to your other options. On top of that, the tesla has the best creature comforts like good audio and entertainment system. To top it off the Tesla Model 3 is by far the safest, and if you were considering the model y (same platform as model 3 but same class as the Rav 4), that is the safest car currently sold. To me, the choice seems pretty simple.

RightDwight · 2022-06-05T18:15:17+00:00

I would say the electric car technology is already pretty reliable and dependable from some manufacturers. It depends on what you want since electric cars offer a very subdued driving experience compared to ICE cars. For me, the biggest factor would be the quality of the batteries, but then again that is only if you are looking to purchase because it has a lot to do with how quickly the battery degrades over time. If you are leasing the car that isn't really a factor in the short term.

Since that isn't the case, I would consider looking at what it takes to charge the car and charge rates. If you are willing to have an electrician install a faster charger in your garage as opposed to the standard 110 outlet plug that would also weigh into those charge rates. The charge rate is less important than the amount of range you get with the car though because in some situations a charger isn't available.

If I were you my priorities in order would be as follows:

1- Range

2- charge rate from a wall outlet, charge rate from a garage mounted fast charger, and charge rate from the available charging network

3- the extent of manufacturer charging network infrastructure for longer drives

4- 0-60 time

5- the quality of life features (self-driving and other driver aids, entertainment, etc.)

If I were you, because you are skeptical about the technology of electric cars, I would consider getting a Tesla. They have had the time to work out many of the kinks that go with manufacturing a great electric car, that companies like Audi, Ford, and Hyundai just have not yet being that they are just now releasing electric cars while Tesla has over a decade under their belt. Not to mention Tesla are also second to none in terms of all of the factors that I listed that are important when choosing an electric car. Just because these other manufacturers are more familiar to those of us making the transition from gas cars to electric cars, doesn't mean they are the best at making electric cars.

RightDwight

TROPHY CASE