It’s a SMALL WORLD, After all… It’s a small world…

Greetings, Campers!

Just how small IS the world getting?

RR seems to be an International Phenomenon.

Today, I received email from Tel Aviv, Mumbai, Moscow, and Hong Kong.

Today, I sent email to Bangkok, Sydney, and Ecuador.

I received telephone calls from LA (And I ain’t talkin’ Mardi Gras), Seattle, NYC, and Washington DC.

And, it’s only 1335…

According to an article I just read, 73% of humans have cell phones and 15% of all the humans on the earth have access to the internet WITH those phones.

There are an estimated 6.8 billion people on the earth and 5 billion of them have cell phones.

One billion of them have mobile broadband.

Ain’t this Internet thing swell?

There ain’t no place left to hide…

Go on… Git! Don’t make me turn the hose on you!

Stay Tuned.

Get away from me! EIGHT is definitely enough!

Okay…

I’ve shown you how you can build 4 small homes into one 48′ Shipping Container.

(Um… last week, in fact.)

I’ve shown you several times how to assemble them, to form a small home for your family.

But, what if I showed you how to assemble (3) 48′ High Cube ISBUs to form a home big enough for a pair of adults, and 6 children?

Crazy huh? Not even. Keep reading.

This is the story of a young pair of “Corten Crazies” in Chicago…

… who decided that they’d had enough of gangs, lies, and politicians. They wanted to live in a land where their kids could grow up like kids, and not in a land filled with narcotics, and predators, and problems.

And did I mention that they had kids? According to them: “We have more kids than brains…” They had a LOT of kids. 6 of them.

In fact, the family joke is that “if you look at Mom cross-eyed…  she’ll pop out another kid.” So…

… she finally decided that unlike that old American sit-com… “Eight was definitely ENOUGH”…

SOOOO… after she threatened to give her husband a vasectomy “with a screwdriver and a hammer“… he raced off  “to take care of his business…“

It seems Dad left the doctor’s office with a limp and a band-aid, and some new resolve. Alt least he told ME it was resolve.

After meeting his wife, I’m betting it was FEAR that she didn’t still have “that screwdriver and hammer” handy…

And then, for some strange reason, they called me.

It seems that a family friend (somebody I’d served with in some Banana Republic or other) told them;

“He’s the guy to call, because he’s smart, he’s tough, he  knows how to build strong shelters…  and he’s Jewish.”

Now, there’s about a million jokes there that I ain’t gonna touch, and a few stereotypes that have long needed to be shattered, but suffice to say, I met with them anyway.

And almost immediately, I wanted to figure out who the guy was who referred me, and then drive over to his house and beat the daylights out of him.

We talked about EVERYTHING… Gawd, it went on for hours… How much house, how much land you’d need to realistically take care of your family. At the end of the conversation, they had a rough idea “how much dirt” to buy.

They called a Realtor who specialized in land transactions, and they started looking for a place to call home.

By the time the Realtor found them a hunk of land, they’d sold their house, and traded in their luxury cars (a Lexus and an MBZ)  for an SUV and a Pick-Up Truck. And they bought the “big” stuff… A Chevy Suburban and a Dodge Ram 4 door. They were ready.

They bit the bullet and wrote the big check, and in return, they ended up with 150 acres of prime farmland, with two good wells, and a few old barns.

They called me up again, and told me where they were moving to.  I started looking at maps and surveys.

They leased an RV, loaded it up with “trail mix and Skittles” and then pointed it  west, just like the pioneer families of old.

And when they got where they were heading (according to the GPS)… they parked that RV in the barn. Next to that  RV, they pitched two tents. One labeled “Boys”, and one labeled “Girls.”  Why in the barn? Well, two roofs are better than one…

I kept after them to give me a number, so I could figure out a realistic budget. By the time they’d paid for the land, paid up a year’s lease on the cars and RV, and gotten some fences put in, so they could start doing the “Green Acres” thing…

They had $85,000.00 left to build with, in cash.

I traveled out there to talk to them. While the kids were tormenting each other with;

“I’m not touching you… I’m not touching youuuuuu…”

I realized that I could identify with this family, and these parents. I’d grown up in the same kind of  family.

That settled it. It  was decided that no matter what, each child would have their own room.

That way, the parents could secure… um… lock… um… er… send them to their own rooms, thus breaking the tribe down into smaller (conquerable) groups, “should the natives become restless”.

We argued, cursed, talked, begged, pleaded, and then… cursed some more (usually at each other), but we finally hammered out a plan.

Actually, it ended like this;

“ENOUGH ALREADY! You’re driving me CRAZY! THIS is the plan I’M building. Either say YES, or I’m just going to leave, and let your damned children kill you!”

The Mom picked up her hammer and screwdriver, and brandished them like a scythe and a longsword. The Dad? Well, I suppose the emotion was just too much for him… He  just looked at his wife… turned pale, and then cried…

I wanted to join him… remember, we only had a little bit over $85,000 in cash to build it.

And after it was finished… in 68 days, to be exact… we actually had money left over.

Note that I could have built it cheaper, if only someone “possessing something that resembled reason” had let me build the bathroom next to the kitchen, “but Noooooooo….“

She “wanted what she wanted…” and that was that. She did everything but “say it and count to three…”

And that floorplan you’re looking at is the result.

That was “several seasons” ago, and they’re  still living on that acreage, in the middle of Montana, growing vegetables and raising sheep and goats… and kids. Lots of kids. They’ve added one, too. (They adopted her from Russia, and she is the cutest little kid you ever saw… ‘cept, of course, Joshua.)

This is just further proof that these homes are not only possible, they’re durable and sustainable. If they weren’t, these guys would have pulled up roots and headed back to Lakeshore Drive, right?

For a long time, I’ve been saying that I was “just a guy”.  But things change. When this blog started, I got 3 emails a week, and two of them were “hate mail.”

Thanks, Mom…

Now, I get 120 emails a day. A day.

A blog that started” “to chronicle a family’s recovery after a terrible storm”…

… has evolved into a lightning rod for ISBU projects globally.

If you’ve been reading the blog, you know that I’m getting called by Senators and Congressmen on a regular basis.

Why? Because even though I’m on record as not liking the way they do things, when it comes to ISBU’s;

“I’m the guy.”

I’m getting calls and emails from Industry leaders offering to collaborate or “partner up”… almost daily.

Why?  Because when it comes to experience and “hands on time” with these boxes;

“I’m the guy.”

If you’re interested in building an ISBU home, or if you’re really consider a Shipping Container home, and you  just need to talk to someone to help you chart the waters… I’m available.

“I’m the guy.”

I’ve spent the last two years proving to you guys and gals that I know exactly what I’m talking about.

And, I’m not “just a guy” anymore.

What I possess is far more valuable than money.

I have 3 decades of intimate experience with ISBUs, Sustainability and even (gasp!) Survival, “in general and in specific.” I’ve personally built “more than my score of ISBU structures“, and I’ve even established several “settlements,” in places both “domestic and foreign,” you know… hostile climes like (gasp!) Montana!

Remember: You can have all the money in the world, but if you can’t harness it with the right exposure to knowledge, it’s going to be worthless – especially as the economy falters, and the dollar falls.

Am I a “Motivational Speaker?” Nope. “Tony Robbins” I’m not. But I understand how to motivate people.

Am I a “Guru, a Imam, a Priest or perhaps a Rabbi?” Nope. I’m just “a spiritual peep.”

I’m just a guy who “has paid his dues,” a guy “who has been there”,  and wants to keep you from having to “go there alone.”

And now, I’m “YOUR GUY.”

I’ve put together a team of guys who can tackle any project quickly, effectively, and on budget.  And more importantly, you know where my allegiances lie, and you know that I won’t pick your pocket.

If you have an  ISBU project, or even the beginnings of an ISBU  project…

Contact me. You won’t spent most of your time, and more importantly, your building budget “talking”, or educating a contractor on your own dime.

Alex Klein

Container Home Consultants, Inc.

aka: Ronin

Please know that this site has required a great deal of money, time and effort to develop & maintain. If it’s been useful to you at all, and you can afford to…  you can help my family and support this site by making a small donation by hitting that Paypal button up there on the right. Paypal is the BEST “secure” way to donate to any cause… especially one like ours. This will help keep us alive while we try to actually “Captain the Ship”  that will remedy our own situation, and empower us to continue writing, maintaining, and providing the countless hours of hard work that this blog demands.

Haiti and Hamburgers…

Greetings, Campers!

Lately, we’re (the newly formed “Corten Container Cavalry”) building Medical clinics inside of 20′ ISBU Containers. They’re going to be headed to Port Au Prince,  Haiti, to help the people start to recover, staffed by volunteer doctors and nurses who generously agreed to share their time and skills with the needy.

Although work has begun, we’re a long way from finished. And, we could use some help.

If you feel like you’d like to donate a few bucks to help get these boxes fitted out, so that they can be used to help Haitian kids to survive, we’d sure appreciate it.

People, I hate to even ask, but there’s a message here, to be sent to those “cold-hearted bean-counting bastards in Corporate America”:

“… as mere ‘citizens of the world’, as parents of kids, and people with hearts that actually beat, we are determined that we can do more than these “stuffed-shirted demi-gods”, who apparently only value money, and not mankind…”

We need to send a “loud and clear” message  to these schmucks that:

“This isn’t about your ‘bottom line’ or your ‘profit margins.’ It’s about HUMAN LIFE. It’s about children dying, while you debate how much profit you can make off the Aid packages.”

If you already HAVE Metal Fabrication skills, and you’d like to donate a few hours or a weekend of your time, to help out, we could use your hands.

The work required right now is tricky, so we don’t have time to “teach” this time around. There WILL be other ISBU projects in the very near future where you’ll be able to “learn the trade”, so to speak, so fear not.

This time, we’re simply crunching big-time and burning daylight.

The hardest part is getting these outfitted and fabbed as quickly as possible… so that we can finalize the shipping.

Look, we’ve all seen the corruption that is rampant in Haiti right now. I’ve talked about it here before.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of aid is still stockpiled in local shipping ports, secured by Haitian Troops, while the Gov’t tries to figure out where they can sell it, to line their own pockets.

Stuff like HUNDREDS of these:

I personally know the guy who loaded them up for shipment. In that same container were thousands of family sized tents, destined for Haitian families who needed relief from the sun, and the rain……

I’m actually encouraging people who are connected to this HAITIAN AID MISSION to bring UP “the corruption, the graft and the greed” already heavily in play, as loudly as they possibly can.

Look… you’ve read my posts, and you know that I’m really pissed off about it. My yelling about this isn’t much, but it’s at least “intellectual insecticide…“

If we can get enough camera’s on-scene, and put enough pressure on the greedy people in the mix, we can make them go into hiding long enough to make a difference.

So… as you can imagine, the actual transport and deployment of these boxes is proving to be the hardest part.

But this isn’t Ronin’s first Rodeo.

I’ve actually been to Haiti MANY times over the last 17 or so years.

In part, it’s WHY the Clinton-Bush people called me. As a result, we’re having to rely on “old friends in high (American) places” to help use some “force” to get them into play.

We’ve worked out a plan that allows the 20′ Medical Units to get to Haiti (under guard – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… “Gawd Bless the US MARINES!“), and then be handed directly to the volunteer Doctors and Nurses (who will arrive there at the same time), so that these boxes don’t get waylaid by “Haitian people who should be minding their own business… or better yet, tending to the business of healing their country.”

Deployed initially at (secured and protected) refugee centers, these boxes will start seeing Haitian  patients within 24 hours of arriving on Haitian soil.

Sometimes you have to use a HAMMER… or the US MARINES. Enough said.

Look, if you can HELP, please do. This is important.

There’s a Paypal button up there on the right. Just earmark your donation “Haiti Fund.”

Okay, now that I’ve brought you up to date on the Haiti project, here’s something for you to talk about over the dinner table… literally.

I keep telling you guys and gals that these Shipping Container boxes are capable of just about anything that you can imagine as long as you use your head, and common sense.

All you have to do is put your backs into it.

I’ve mesmerized you with stories of “Boxes in the Boonies.”

I’ve dazzled you with tales of “Towers in the Twilight…”

I’ve entertained you with chronicles of “Corten in the Country…”

But… I’ve never told you sonnets of “Spuds in the Steel…”

Until now.

It was only a matter of time until somebody actually tried to build a box like Adam Kalkin‘s “folding wonder.”

For those of you who don’t know who Adam Kalkin is, you can find out more about him, HERE.

You remember, the one every one talked about, even though no one mentioned that it had no plumbing, nor the ability to actually WORK…

I give you “The Quik House.”

(Still it really MADE you think about the box, as a box. It was ART, I tell you!)

These guys I’m gonna tell you about in a minute watched too many “Transformer” movies… I suspect, probably waiting to see if (even for a second) Megan Fox could actually act…

Their result… this “Corten Creation” called “The MuvBox” has come to life in Montreal, of all places.

(I only say that because I wished it’d happen here, in “certain parts of the US”, where idiots at local Planning and Zoning departments would have to deal with it. The aneurysms it’d cause would be worth the price of admission…

Okay, to the point…

What was the point? Oh yeah.. I remember…

At 9:00am, it’s a “Corten Cube”, sitting on the street.

At 9:02am, it’s a fully functional restaurant.

I repeat:

At 9:02am, it’s a fully functional restaurant.

“Bah and Poo Poo!” you say?

Oh yeah?

Stay tuned.

Ronin

The Quad-48 Project – 4 Houses – 1 Container

Greetings, Campers!

I was recently approached (yet again) to tender a view on how Emergency Housing (Medium to Long Term) could be provided to places that already had shipping ports in their immediate vicinity.

Remember that there are many situations beyond the:

“Oh My Gawd, Martha! Ruuuuuun! A Twister is coming!”

Our forefathers moved out into the middle of nowhere, and started new Towns, Cities, and States, simply by establishing a secure starting point, and then scratching at the ground until they started seeing something that looked like progress.

Let’s say you were somewhere like… um… Port Au Prince, Haiti. And, let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that Mother Nature got mad at you, and then knocked the stuffing out of you. And let’s say that you were bringing people in, to help re-establish the infrastructure, and you needed to house them quickly and securely.

They wanted:

[quote] “some kind of cheap, sturdy, housing with a roof system that could ‘catch water.’ And Oh Yeah… each unit has to have it’s own kitchen and bath. You know, like a camper or a FEMA trailer.” [unquote]

That was the extent of the criteria. Seriously. No;

“I want X square feet, hot and cold running caviar, satin sheets, and a butler… “

Here’s my response;

(Please accept my apologies in advance… no Butler.)

The QUAD-48 Project:

Designer: Alexander Klein – Contain Home Consultants, Inc.

Question: How do you provide “all-weather” worker housing in an expeditionary setting?

And, further… how do you provide “emergency housing” in a high speed mode, once safety zones have been cleared, established and secured?

Answer: The same way. But not with FEMA trailers, unless you like formaldehyde.

You use insulated steel shipping containers.

Here’s a really straightforward “Little House on Corten Steroids” design.

Take (1) 48′ High Cube ISBU Container – 8’6″ wide, and section it off into (4) small residences.

Let’s address the roof first, since we’re going to “inhabit” it…

There are 2 main kinds of shapes that a roof can assume; gable or hipped.

The difference between them is pretty easily explained: The difference lies in both the “slope-line” of the sides of the roof, and the “roof-to-wall junction”.

Gable shaped roofs are probably the ones that you’re the most used to seeing. They are defined by the meeting of two straight slopes from the ridge of the roof, falling all the way to its eave. The result is the creation of a peak or triangular shaped structure on either the side or face of the facade. It’s just a “big A”. The side of the gabled house on which this peak is seen is called a “rake”, and the side on which the slope is seen is called an “eave”.

In contrast, hipped-roofs have an even roof-to-wall junction, as the roof plane is broken along the slope line, allowing for an easy wrap around the building’s structure. As a result, hipped shaped roofs also have eaves on all sides. This is good, and you’ll see why later.

On a hip roof, all the sides of its roofing slope down towards the walls of the building. The hip itself is “the angle at which the slopes of the roofing meet,” and the degree of this angle is called the “hip bevel”. The triangular slopes that meet the rectangular ones at the roof’s ridge are known as the “hip ends”, and these are actually by the hips themselves. Hip roofs can be tailored to many differently shaped structures, yet their ridges will always be central to the rectangular building below it, and the four faces of the roof will always have the same pitch.

Look at the difference in the framing. Hipped roofs are highly suitable for extreme weather conditions, because the shape of a hipped roof, along with its complex internal framing, braces it against strong winds, snow loads, and even hurricanes.

And, you can change it up just a little bit, if you want. In our case, the use of a “modified hipped” roof also creates more comfortable usable space in the sleeping loft area of each unit. Essentially, we’re going to slice the top of the roof off, to make it flat. This creates a broad surface on top of the structure that can be utilized.

So, we install the “modified hip roofs” on top of the ISBU, with a 2′ soffit overhang on each side. Then, we use a SIP/SSMR  (Structural Insulated Panel/Standing Seam Metal Roof) system for a high speed and extremely tough roof.  Why a big overhang? Well, that 2′ overhang protects the structure against both AND and rainfall.

The top of the roof structure (we sliced the top off, remember?) is going to be used to create a solar/PV  (photovoltaic) farm.  This placement prohibits theft or damage, and optimizes exposure to the sun.

Note that the sloped surfaces of metal roofing are to be used for water collection/retention.

This design provides independent housing for 4-8+ people with sleeping lofts accessed via a rolling “bookcase” staircase housed in a notch by the sofa. Clothing storage is incorporated into the loft area. A couple with a small child could also be housed – per unit – by simply using a convertible sofa as a bed.

The use of the “Modified Hip” roof creates a volume ceiling in the main area, giving the unit an airy ambiance, and it provides ample room for a ceiling fan.

Sofa back table provides “hidden” storage, and a place to set drinks, plants, et all…

Swing out wall mounted LCD TV’s allow entertainment.

“Dual Striker door” allows bathroom to be used conventionally. A second striker plate is provided at ninety degrees, at the entrance to the kitchen. By doing this, if someone is in the kitchen, you can still close and lock the bathroom door.

However, if you need a place to get dressed or need to use the sink for shaving, etc… you can close the door at the kitchen opening, in effect allowing the entire floor area of kitchen to be closed off and used as an annexed “dressing area.”

A small “shelf-type” pull-out table forms a “laptop desk” workstation by the front door.

A wall mounted drop-down table forms living room table/eating area.

Stateside,  a group of “sweat-equity contributing” families could build these for under $30,000.00 (USD) a piece, easy…

Note;

Desired but not shown – A bay window in each unit would allow the personal growth of herbs for food/medicinal purposes.

Also not shown – a Utility/Laundry Room is to be added to the East end of Container Housing Module under a covered porch structure.  The existing Bathroom provides service access and hose bibs. If you used a 53′ ISBU, you’d get an additional enclosed space at the end of each container that could be used as a common utility/laundry facility, at minimal cost. Hot water heater and mechanicals could easily be located here. The original “cargo double doors” would secure it.

But wait… there’s more…

Stay tuned!

Ronin

Survival Gardening:101

Oy Vey!

Apparently, even in “Containerville”… it’s “Gardening time”.

How do I know that?

Well, the price of tomatoes is thru the roof, the last thing that got “tossed” around here was Joshua’s “cookies… um… er… dinner”…

I haven’t had a green salad since the Bush Administration, and even Walmart is having a special “truckload sale” on bags of soil.

Whatever happened to the good old days… You know… when you just dug a hole in the yard and then threw the seeds in? Huh?

People actually buy bags of DIRT. Oy Vey, what is this world coming to?

And this gave me pause to think. And we all know that is NEVER a good thing… 

Okay, beyond thinking it was time to hide until next winter, to avoid the gardening…

Once again, because of that furry little rascal Punxsutawney Phil, or whatever his name is,  it’s time to break out the rake and other assorted weapons of yard destruction, and commit an act of  aggression against groundhogs… um… er… your lawn.

And while we’re on the subject… “Punxsutawney”? Why not “Pittburg”? Or “Psychotic”? Or even “Premeditating”? At least I can spell those, without having to consult an Internet dictionary. Oy.

And why are we letting a Groundhog tell us what to do, anyway? I mean, what do they weigh?

About 6 pounds? Ten? I could take him… Probably.

It’s not like I don’t already have enough to do…

I’m trying to get some 20′ ISBUs ready for internal modification/fabrication, as we turn these little Corten Steel boxes into Mobile Medical Clinics, for service to the Haitian people ravaged by the earthquake in Port Au Prince.

I’ve got several pairs of family members building ISBU homes, who are trying to figure out where Tab A is, and how to get it into Slot B.

I’ve got email to catch up on…

I mean, I get about 120 emails a day. Okay, so about 80% of them are to tell me what a j@ck@ss I am… and a few are even spam.

But… some of them are really important. I’ll have you know that I’m a lost Prince of Nigeria, and I’ve won eleventy-gillion dollars. All they need to send me my cash inheritance is a copy of my driver’s license, my social security number, my address, and two valid credit card numbers (just to confirm my identity, of course)… So you guys better start showing me some respect… 

But since the recent rain softened up the yard, and I won’t need a jackhammer to carve out some room between the weeds, it’s time to make like Mr. Rogers and proudly yell out, to anyone who will listen… that age old catch phrase that every little kid knows by heart;

“HEY! Get yer butt outta my yard! I’ll turn the hose on YA! I’ll do it! I will TOO!”

Wait, that’s not it…

And then, once the crowd of “Nosy Parker” little kids is dispelled, who just wanted to see which “overly enthusiastic” door-to-door salesman you were burying… this week…

Your outdoor space is all cleared out before you know it, the weeds are cleaned up (by tossing them into the neighbor’s yard…), and your newly cleared acreage is ready to be turned into the biggest, wiltiest, droopiest patch of crabgrass that you ever saw…

Wait, that’s not it either…

But whether you’re gonna create “Green Acres” or just few “pots fulla goodness” that you’ll position over and over again on the patio because your wife can’t make up her freakin’ mind about where they look the best… um… er… never mind…

You need to take stock of your situation. After all, you show me a loser, and I’ll show you a person who didn’t have a good enough plan.

And you show me a guy with a really lousy garden, and I’ll show you a guy whose “significant other” is probably putting at least a  size 8 to his butt!

Remember, “forewarned is forearmed”, or a 5 yard penalty, or something like that… 

Over the next few weeks, in between dazzling you with ISBU project after ISBU project, I’m gonna help your significant other make you pull more weeds, plant more seeds, and grow more stuff, than Johnny Freakin’ Appleseed.

And, I’m gonna start it all out by introducing you to a new “tribe member”, so we can all give them the good old “RR” welcome, and put em’ thru the ringer… After all, it’s what we do, huh?

‘Kay?

Because in order to:

• Save your butt from your significant other’s boot,
• Save your family from getting scurvy,
• Safely house your tribe, and…
• Keep that Utility guy outta your yard…

You have to  eat, too.  After all, you need your vitamins. You ain’t getting any younger… Right?

And just so you know, I’ll be soaking my mail in a bucket of water, just to make sure it don’t go boom. This ain’t my first rodeo…

Enjoy the gardening…

Muuuwwwahahahah!

Stay tuned.

A Different Kind of METAL…

Okay, today we’re gonna take a brief sidestep away from plasma cutters, and welders, and grinders… and talk about another kind of metal.

And, we’re gonna talk about a family using metal to empower their lives, as they help others!

Many of you know that I have a favorite quote that I measure people by. For those of you who don’t, it goes like this:

Doesn’t matter what the press says.

Doesn’t matter what the politicians or the mobs say.

Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right.

This nation was founded on one principle above all else:

America was founded on the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world;

“No, YOU move.”

This is the story of “Trilogy Jewelry.”

And, it’s anything BUT a “fairy tale.”

Once upon a time, in the land of Oranges…

… there was a small family who created really cool jewelry out of pewter and silver, that is REALLY affordable, and quite cool. I’m, talking like $6 bucks for something that you’d pay double for, anywhere else.

But, before you turn the channel, thinking you hit some bizarre Internet infomercial or something…

… this isn’t as much about what Trilogy Jewelry sells as it is about WHO they actually are.

Back in the wee hours of last year, during that “It’s almost Hanukkah, Yule, and Christmas… and you’d better get me a present or else, you [expletive deleted] old Jew, you…”

I spent my entire fortune… $5.97 to be precise… to buy a pewter necklace for Char, that sorta signifies both her “personality” and her fight against Cancer. It wasn’t much, it was a stocking stuffer sorta thing.

I wished it was silver or even gold… but it was what  I could afford.

It was actually a pewter necklace depicting a set of brass knuckles. It’s signifies the strength and the lengths that Char is going to every single day, to fight this horrid cancer. Plus, it just sorta said “CHAR.”  You’d just have to know her to get the link.

Well, I ordered it, and then, like responsible Internet dealers… They shipped it.

And just like everything else in our lives lately… you can guess what happened.

It never arrived.

I just figured that it was such a small order that we got pushed back, so we just waited. A few weeks passed, and we never saw it, so I finally contacted the company.

They replied really promptly, and sent me the shipping information, and sure enough, it turned out that someone had swiped it out of the mailbox. Several emails back and forth ensue.

During this, apparently, this family starts reading our blog. And… they reship another identical necklace at their expense.

Mind you, they don’t have to, because it wasn’t their fault.

And, of course… that one never arrives, either.

Now, at this point, I’m not liking the Mailman… He’s the common denominator here.

After all, he verified that it was placed in the mailbox, but in the string of the days in which he claims he made the delivery, I’d met the mail, and virtually taken it right out of his hand. Something is going on, and I’m not sure what, but Ronin is a rather unhappy camper to say the least.

I complain to the Post Office. They basically just say “Tough Noogies…” Ronin could steam eggs on his forehead right about now… Now I REALLY understand the term; “Going Postal.”

Still we have no necklace.

Char is starting to look at me like I’m crazy or delusional. (Okay, so that’s actually “normal”, but now she has yet ANOTHER reason!)

But… It’s not the company’s fault, so I send them an email, telling them what is going on, to tell them to keep my money, and I asked them to show me how to create a comment on their “feedback” blog, to tell people that even though it wasn’t their fault at all, they’d gone out of pocket twice, to try and get the necklace to Char.

I think people need to know that kind of stuff… that little people running little companies, with little profit margins, operating over the internet and beyond, actually care about their customers, beyond their own wallets.

To make a long story short, last week, they refund my original payment of $5.97, they hand-cast a new necklace for Char, they make a cool Jewish necklace for Joshua too (A “Ninja” Star Of David – because he’s a two year old “Jewish Ninja Terrorist” - says “me”) and they even include a casting identical to Char’s necklace for me to put on a keychain, as a “link” between the two of us, as she fights her illness with everything that she has.

So, they’re already out two necklaces and the shipping costs, they refuse to take my money, and then they give Char and I two more necklaces and a keychain piece, plus the extra shipping costs to demand that a signature from US is the only way it can get delivered.

At this point, they’ve spent more on shipping fees, than I spent for the first necklace.

During this whole thing, I’m apologizing profusely, because it’s NOT THEIR FAULT.

And, while I’m apologizing, THEY are apologizing to ME because we’re having so much trouble getting one of their necklaces. I mean, it’s crazy… The only thing they could have done differently was to “hand deliver” it all the way from Florida.

Right after I got off the phone with Suzanne (the owner of Trilogy Jewelry) today, the postman shows up with a package. And guess what? Since I had to sign for it, nobody could STEAL it.

People like this deserve our thanks, folks!

Not just for helping MY family… but for having this thought process, this feeling in their hearts and minds that makes them go the extra mile, regardless of what it costs them, just to do “the right thing” for their customers.

I have to do something to show my appreciation for their feelings, their generosity, and even their moral convictions.

I can’t do much. You guys know that my family is “getting our butts handed to us” on a regular basis, but this is what I can do:

In the next few days, I’m going to build a widget over there on the right side of my blog, so that from now on… when you’re looking for something really cool and really inexpensive as a gift… or even for yourself,  you can just HIT THAT BUTTON, and go check out their catalog.

(For now, just click on the links in this post. I’ve put in several!)

Ronin won’t make a dime, I promise. I’m doing this just to say “thank you.” It’s one of the few things I can do for them, after they’ve done so much for us.

Char’s having some really dark days, and it’s the first time I’ve actually seen her smile in quite a while.

Trilogy Jewelry has an extensive jewelry catalog (rings, necklaces, you name it), and they have everything you can imagine from regular stuff to specialty stuff, in almost any field of religion and theme that you can think of.

And it’s high quality, hand-made, stuff that they put their “love ” into it. It’s not that cheap Chinese or “Import” – “Swap Meet” crap. Did I mention that their stuff is cheap, cheap , cheap?

And I’m talking “cost,” not quality. We couldn’t be more pleased.

Their stuff really is dirt cheap, I’ve seen the same exact pieces on other sites, for double the cost plus outrageous shipping charges. These guys are a “class act,” all the way through.

They really made Char’s day, and I owe them. We can’t get my son’s necklace away from him. He’s clutching it like it’s a fistful of M&M‘s (his favorite thing on the planet, so far).

And after writing to you (or AT you, depending on how you look at it) I know that my readers are down to earth, “grass roots” kinda people who really like dealing with good families, and not greedy corporations.

This “Trilogy Jewelry” family is one of  US. And, I know that you’ll appreciate their cool stuff. I know that WE do.

These are the kind of folks we WANT to deal with. They’re people who step up, and do what’s right, regardless. I can’t thank them enough… I really admire them, and I think that you will, too.

So, when you’re in the doghouse and you need a quick “get outta jail free” necklace, or a trinket or bauble just to say “I love you, but um… not your mother…. too much… honey”… 

I want you to check them out. You’ll be glad that you did.

Tell ‘em Ronin sent you.

http://www.trilogyjewelry.com

Stay tuned.

About Shipping Containers, Housing, Haitians, and Health

Greetings:

As we toil away, tearing floors out of 20′ ISBU “test boxes”, to start devising the final plan to build small, transportable, extremely mobile, medical clinics to the Haitians in Port Au Prince, I’m literally getting flooded with email from people who are talking about providing housing to Haitians.

First, to clarify what WE are doing:

The reason that we chose 20′ Containers is that they are light enough to be loaded on flatbed trailers and literally pulled all over Haiti by pick-up truck or even UN SUV’s. And, if there aren’t any roads, you can move them around using helicopters quite easily. You can literally drop these anywhere to provide immediate Emergency Medical Care.

It doesn’t make sense to build 40′ ISBU Medical Centers that can’t be moved, or even gotten out of the Port Authorities, until “hell freezes over.”

Since I was contacted by the “Clinton  Cluster mumble grumble snort…” I’ve been contacted several times a day, by people, groups and corporations looking for some “fast-quick band-aid that can be “sold” into the Aid Funding Programs” that are headed for Haiti.

Some of the “solutions” are just laughable.

And some seem to have merit, until you really look at them. One of my favorites right now is the scheme that is being promoted by a hotel Bigwig in Orlando, FL, named Harris Rosen, where he wants to basically partner with other entrepreneurs and companies, to send $5,000 “Little Houses” to Haiti, that would be sold to Haitians, at 1% interest, to provide housing.

A hard look at the housing model will demonstrate that;

• The structure in question won’t last the length of the “mortgage note.”
• The structure isn’t appropriate to the task,
• and worst of all, isn’t an “affordable solution.”

While much can be said about people (who actually mean well) who step up and try to provide solutions, their solutions have to  fit what I call “the scenario of task”.

Even IF you could ship a container ship to Haiti filled with these “housing alternatives”, it wouldn’t work.

$5,000 at 1% over say… 10 years is $45 a month.

$5,000 at 1% at 20 years, is still $23 a month.

The average Haitian worker makes $2 a DAY. And, only one person in eight was actually working, BEFORE the earthquake. And…

They still have to eat. They still need fuel to cook with (and even generate heat), and water.

Let’s not bring into play that these structures won’t LAST 10-20 years… Oh wait, I already did.

And, that’s IF they ever get out of the port storage yards that they’ll be shipped to.

Beyond that, IF you did this, you’d just be creating another “shanty town” waiting for the next disaster.

What we’re seeing now in Haiti is that people are starving to death, while supplies sit locked in Port Complexes under the control of a corrupt government.

Haitians need medical attention NOW.  They need food and water. What they don’t need is a “solution” that is anything but.

I’m a big believer in that old cliche: “Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime…” or something like that.

We have to help the Haitians help themselves. Being self-determined and self-responsible is a huge part of maintaining a state of wellness, after a crisis.

There are over a million Haitians homeless right now. This is Hurricane Katrina on a humongous scale. What Haitians will need is a high density housing solution…  one that is modular, easily producible, and robust enough to be built by HAITIANS IN HAITI, using materials they already have on hand.

They won’t have tons and tons of building supplies to work with. Folks, the reality is that those “highbrow, high-tech supplies” will get shipped in, stacked up in containers, and then stockpiled,  while the people in control figure out how to divert those goods into currency that they can put in their own pockets.

If you don’t believe me, then all you have to do is consult your history books, or even Cable TV.

Haitians need EMPOWERMENT. That means that we have to give them tools… not hand-outs.

Getting them well, getting them strong enough to start rebuilding is the first task.

That’s why “The Container Cavalry” is working to build these “Medical Outreach Clinics”.

We’ve been doing this less than two weeks, and we already have a long list of doctors and nurses who have offered to go to Haiti and staff them. Staffed by teams of doctors and nurses, just like the “Doctors Without Borders”  teams we are all so fond of, these  small Clinics will help the country heal, by actually healing them.

Then, and only then, can we help them to rebuild their city, and their nation.

Here’s something to think about (and for the life of me, I don’t know why nobody is talking about this):

The Haitians in Port Au Prince have tons and tons of rubble and shattered concrete buildings that can be crushed and then used as materials to build stout, strong structures that will help defy Mother Nature.

Crushers could be brought in to be used as rubble was cleared away, sector by sector. And hey, those crushers are large enough that nobody could just “steal them.”

In that regard, all we’d need to do is send them steel rebar to reinforce those concrete buildings with…

The Haitians don’t have time to wait for politicians, bureaucrats, or corrupt government officials. They need our help NOW.

Even though we are just “little guys” we can use “our broad backs and our hands” to make a difference.

If you want to help us build these boxes, or if you just want to aid our struggle by chipping in a few bucks, you know where the Paypal button is, and you know my email address… Both are up there on the right side of your monitor, right now.

Ronin

And, if you pray, I ask you to remember Haiti, especially the Haitian kids, who literally have no one to aid them, right now. At last the adults have a chance at fending for themselves.

(RED HUBER, at the ORLANDO SENTINEL  took that photo, on February 2, 2010)