# Life In The Bakken...



## AfleetAlex (Nov 8, 2013)

She just claimed another soul...









Not everyone can live in a camper, in sub-zero weather.

Meanwhile, Yellow Dog and I now have the place to ourselves.

The windows are wrapped, inside and out and I'm skirting her on Friday!

The garden prep is done for the year, so the next project is converting to solar.


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## GaryS (Nov 15, 2011)

You're making me homesick!...born and raised in the area, and worked in Minot for awhile.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

GaryS said:


> You're making me homesick!...born and raised in the area, and worked in Minot for awhile.


:feedtroll:


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

I know I can be a little "thick" some times, but that post left me scratching my head. Did I miss some thing?


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

camo2460 said:


> I know I can be a little "thick" some times, but that post left me scratching my head. Did I miss some thing?


No, you did not.


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## Dixie (Sep 20, 2010)

camo2460 said:


> I know I can be a little "thick" some times, but that post left me scratching my head. Did I miss some thing?


*
I'm guessing that someone works in the oil fields and lives in a camper. But with winter coming on, is weatherproofing their place. Meanwhile they are making sure they have an option on a warm place in the city (Minot) just in case. Or...... Magus had a party and this was the survivor. *


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Does Magus leave survivors? :dunno:


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## AfleetAlex (Nov 8, 2013)

My friend and I work in Williston, ND. We started in Minot but the $$ dried up there, so we went farther west. He gave it his best shot, but decided to go back to the comforts of a real bed and modern indoor plumbing. 

As for being a troll...Converting a camper to off-grid, and thriving in one through a North Dakota winter, is pretty high on the Survivalist rating board.


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## AfleetAlex (Nov 8, 2013)

Gary, you're welcome to visit anytime! 

You'd love the giant hobby barn that my landlord built with his own two hands. He lived in a tent last year until mid November, before the barn was finally livable on the inside.

He's quite the inspiration, and a wealth of knowledge to tap into.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

AfleetAlex said:


> My friend and I work in Williston, ND. We started in Minot but the $$ dried up there, so we went farther west. He gave it his best shot, but decided to go back to the comforts of a real bed and modern indoor plumbing.
> 
> As for being a troll...Converting a camper to off-grid, and thriving in one through a North Dakota winter, is pretty high on the Survivalist rating board.
> 
> Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Grimm; from the comfy comfort of your cushy living room couch.


I live in the mountains in a 40 year old cabin that is falling apart around me. I have my own septic system, gravity fed water from the falls further up the mountain. While heating is inadequate with the fireplace and propane heater I am not worried about freezing with all the layers of clothing and quilts.

The cabin is about 300ft off the road up hill. My neighbor down the road from us is the plow driver here and he has told me point blank he will not plow our driveway because it is too steep for the truck. So that means I shovel it or just hike it in my boots with a 2 year old on my hip to get the mail.

Not to mention one of my neighbors tried to break in to the basement last night. Damn bears! Lets not forget that the local lion has been stalking my dog in the evening when K takes her out for a walk. Thank God it has gotten colder because the coyotes were starting to circle the cabin because my cats were teasing them from the windows.

But with cold weather comes the mice moving back into the cabin to get out of the snow. That means my food storage is at constant risk if I don't keep all my cabinets and doors open for the cats to make the rounds.

Yeah, I am far from being comfortable.

BTW The sofa is a 30+ year old hand me down that is far from comfy. You sink when you sit on it. Why in hell do you think is was given to us!?


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## Sourdough (May 22, 2010)

inkfight:inkfight:inkfight:inkfight:


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Sourdough said:


> inkfight:inkfight:inkfight:inkfight:


Did I mention I worked as a domme to put myself through college...?!?


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

AfleetAlex said:


> My friend and I work in Williston, ND. We started in Minot but the $$ dried up there, so we went farther west. He gave it his best shot, but decided to go back to the comforts of a real bed and modern indoor plumbing.
> 
> As for being a troll...Converting a camper to off-grid, and thriving in one through a North Dakota winter, is pretty high on the Survivalist rating board.
> 
> Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Grimm; from the comfy comfort of your cushy living room couch.


Forgot to mention that I have no vehicle. That means I am stuck here til I can get a ride with a neighbor or K comes home with the jeep.

Don't even get me started on the fact I am potty training my 2 year old and she hates to sit on the ice cold potty and throws punches as her butt hits the seat!


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

Take it to pm's or drop it.
Live your life, Let it be, and Carry on.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Lake Windsong said:


> Take it to pm's or drop it.
> Live your life, Let it be, and Carry on.


Geez. Can't I be a smartass once in a while?!


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

AfleetAlex said:


> My friend and I work in Williston, ND. We started in Minot but the $$ dried up there, so we went farther west. He gave it his best shot, but decided to go back to the comforts of a real bed and modern indoor plumbing.
> 
> As for being a troll...Converting a camper to off-grid, and thriving in one through a North Dakota winter, is pretty high on the Survivalist rating board.
> 
> Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Grimm; from the comfy comfort of your cushy living room couch.


I lived in Williston for 5 years in the early 80s. My daughter was born there at Mercy Hospital. My now deceased ex grew up in NW N.D., but not Williston. His mother still owns a home in those parts while his sister and her family have a farm and other businesses. We go back once in a while.

It was Christmas 1983 that it was -50 actual, -200 wind chill. It was often -20 overnight throughout the winter. If you did not have a heater core in your car and plug it in overnight, it would likely not start in the morning. People in those parts have heated garages. That Christmas, you would see sitting in parking lots, running, locked and no one around. If you had a heated garage and got your car started, and then went to the store, you needed to keep it running to get home.

While I lived there I managed an oilfield warehouse of drilling parts. Then the oil business tanked. Friends who had bought houses for $65,000 and then lost their jobs like many others, now had a home worth $40,000. (Now they would be worth much more than that) Banks told people if they were leaving to stop paying for a house that was just eating their money, and not worth the original selling price. I had many friends who left, like me. I knew people who left with little, in their cars with their life's goods.

I had a pre-packaged year supply of food that I sold to get me gone.

While I lived there, I started a food coop so we could build up our bulk food supplies. Does it still exist? It was largely Mormon members, but not all. They may have taken it over or it may have just quit. It never had a store-front, but Williston could sure use one now.

My MIL told me last year that man camps are everywhere. She told me it is nothing like I remember, but more on steroids of when I lived there.

Now for the troll comments. Grimm, I believe, is still defending the Sybil comments. We sometimes get people who join the forum and forget they are the new kids. Sooner or later, we all offend someone, but like many situations in life, we work on relationships. Many of us have great admiration, love and respect for Sybil and -prepper- as teenagers who have taken on prepping for their families and have joined forces to do so. They really are admirable teenagers.

This forum has many wonderful people as well as the typical combination of personalities: younger, older, male, female, married, single, military, law enforcement, doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, construction, kind, helpful, class clown types, naïve, angry type, intellectual, conservative, liberal, logical, practical, frivolous, experienced, inexperienced, narcissistic, know-it-alls, you name it. People do get banned from being able to comment, and have for being offensive. Sometimes I write a long post about topics and then delete them, because I need to vent, but not to offend. I tend to be verbose about many subjects while others are terse in their comments. Again, I process my thoughts by drafting long messages, and then delete most of them.

I am here to learn and to help others. It is a community of people I have come to know and mostly love. We ask, share, give our ideas and opinions. The better each of us is, the better all of us will be.


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

Grimm said:


> Geez. Can't I be a smartass once in a while?!


Once in a while sure. But I've lived in an off-grid camper in TN and am interested in following how temperatures affect prepping in that situation. Next time I'm off grid may be in Montana with family so I could learn something following this thread.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

Lake Windsong said:


> Once in a while sure. But I've lived in an off-grid camper in TN and am interested in following how temperatures affect prepping in that situation. Next time I'm off grid may be in Montana with family so I could learn something following this thread.


We live in NW Montana. We converted a 14 ft. U-Haul truck to a camper. Being in NW MT we also put four inches of insulation and a wood burning stove in it! I made that out of a couple of 20 lb. propane bottles.

Our main domicile is a log cabin with a really good wood stove!  We also head south in the winter now too.

Anyway, I agree that I'd like to hear more about her experiences.


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## brightstar (Apr 24, 2012)

I'd like to hear more too. I'm in tn but been thinking about a camper bov/Bol and would love some ideas.


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