Phones and things

Now that my lovely wife and I are back home, I canceled Verizon service for my iphone. The phone had been given to me so I didn't require a contract. It was really handy while traveling, but we don't need it. That's one less bill to pay. Verizon provided good service, but the price was higher than I liked.

We went back to our 4 year old, $10 Tracfone. It's all the mobile phone we need right now. My 7 year old granddaughter was amazed that we share instead of having personal phones. It really wasn't all that long ago when a phone was something mounted on the wall in one's home. Times have changed.

The cell phone bill is gone. I'm totally off-grid so the electric bill is gone. The veggie van has a good supply of free fuel. I'm feeling rich. I don't have any money, but I'm still feeling rich.

Being totally off-grid now, I'm a bit more aware of my power usage. Topping off the batteries is no longer as simple as tripling a switch and pulling power from the grid. For years now I've been buying green coffee and roasting it myself. A friend gave me an electric roaster and I fell in love with fresh roasted coffee. I buy green beans in bulk so the price is right. My current coffee roaster is fading -doesn't put out the same heat as it once did. It also demands a lot of amperage, so that draws down the batteries. We drink a lot of coffee so the roaster is used a lot.

My lovely wife and I are trying to simplify our lives so the roaster had to go. Of course, we don't want to give up fresh roasted coffee. Good thing we don't have to. Our cast iron Dutch oven does a fair job as a coffee roaster. Once warmed up on the woodstove, the green beans are dumped into it. Occasional stirring with a big spoon helps them roast evenly. There's a bit of art to getting the temperature just right, but it's not rocket science. The coffee is every bit as good as it was in the commercial roaster.

Life is full of little adventures and experiments.

-Sixbears