THOW

Monday, December 1, 2014

Full view of living area and bedroom suite
Exterior of The Pod with entry light and, at either end, motion-sensitive lights

 On the road from Penngrove, CA to Rio Vista, CA

 Bedroom with tonsu stairs and storage units

 Tonsu stairs extended and locked with a 12V battery triggered by a small button just to the right of the top stair
 Bedroom lit with LED lights at both ends of the bed
 Head of the bed
 Living area and view of kitchen
Full view of kitchen

Monday, November 24, 2014

Original Exterior, now stained red

Storage unit containing fuse box, propane and water storage

Kitchen with shelves, counter, apron sink and cabinet storage underneath. Backsplash to be added shortly. Propane four burner with oven stove barely visible at lower left.

Sliding shelf storage on left and right side of refrigerator

Corner storage using lazy susan revovling trays

Composting toilet vented outside, with small sink above. Tankless water heater mounted just above and to right of sink

Propane tankless water heater installed and vented through ceiling. Cover to be installed

Bed platform with underneath storage and tonsu stairs with storage. Floor to ceiling storage on right side of photograph. Media cabinet lying on bed platform will hung on left wall across from large window.

Tonsu stairs pulled out to climb onto bed platform. Each tonsu stair pulls out farther to reveal storage

Entry lamp that illuminates above and below next to front door

Steel dark grey front door complementing dark red stained wood



The following manifesto best describes how I approach my life, my engagement with others, and my expectations of my self.

Over the past sixteen months, I launched a new facet in my life which entailed several steps:

  1. Simplifying my life by reducing the number of objects and things in my life,
  2. Changing from an omnivorous to a vegetarian and raw food diet, 
  3. Re-engaging in my literary pursuits and publishing poetry and prose through my other blog, sailawayjon.blogspot.com and other outlets, and,
  4. Re-examining how I engage in my relationships with others and approaches to being more authentic in everything I do or pursue.
Each stage progresses more rapidly than I envisioned, and I exceeded most of my goals. A key element in my life simplification process required me to acquire a living space that met my simplified living requirements. To that end, I acquired and built The Cephalopd, aka The Pod, a tiny home.

I designed The Pod on a 28 foot by 8 foot custom trailer to accommodate a living space comprised of a bedroom with storage, tonsu stairs for bedroom access and additional storage, a living space (with marine heater and media cabinet), a full kitchen (with cabinetry, refrigerator, stove, shelves and apron sink), and a bath (with shower, composting toilet, sink and tankless water heater). External to The Pod are storage facilities for water, propane and electrical supply. 

Internally, I live in 168 square feet. With a shed roof, the ceiling varies in height from 8 feet to 8 1/2 feet; this enables me to add a portable rain catchment system for additional water collection. Each room has multiple windows which provide ample ventilation and light. External hookups exist for electrical connectivity, water storage and disposal of grey and black water. I tow the The Pod using a 2005 Ford F-250 Super Duty pickup truck. 

In the near future, I plan on acquiring a self-contained portable solar panel array that provides the solar panels, storage batteries and inverters needed to make myself energy self-sufficient. As I either acquire or build that solution, I'll update my solution to this blog.

Attached are multiple photos of The Pod; some before and after. Should you have questions, please submit them. I'll do my best to respond.