#also i haven't even managed to go outside to take the compost out. how am i gonna go rotate an oven every 30 min

[hippo-pot]

think i'm gonna make lasagna today

[tinyreverie]

Har har har!

Random sawmill guy

I absolutely LOVE tiny living and wouldn't trade it for the world, but you know what part I don't actually like? The composting toilet. I mean, I love composting. It's like magic seeing things break back down into soil.

But ugh.

The composting toilet annoys me. It was easier being ignorant. If I'm being honest, I miss those days intensely. Sometimes I even save my 💩💩s for the gym (where I shower each morning) because of how much I resent the compost toilet. For the things it puts me through.

Not that it smells or attracts pests or whatever... we did a TON of research beforehand so no problems there. It's a pretty simple system once you get used to it.

Okay, I'm a lazy person. I don't LIKE hauling buckets of poo (+sawdust, if you're interested in the substrate we use) outside. I don't LIKE having to open the black outside trashcan (makeshift bulk-compost bin) up, and having sawdust blow in my face. Does it have 💩 on it? Probably not, but still. It is disgusting. And, I don't have running water, so the only option is rubbing alcohol. So. Yeah. That sucks.

Most of what I hate about that damn toilet, though, is having to figure out how to get your substrate (I'm going to keep using this word, even though I haven't looked it up to double check the meaning 💩💩😂).

Is sawdust free? YES!

Is sawdust plentiful? YES!

Is sawdust easy to obtain? YES!

But you know what it's not?

*Convenient. I have to spend so much time going back and forth to get the stuff. *Consistent. I never know how much I'll get, just that I'll have enough for the next time I wanna take a crap, and that I can try again for more sawdust the next day.

Also, sooo much awkwardness. So many questions. So much attention. What am I supposed to tell them? I can't lie. It's frustrating.

Like today.

One of the Home Depot people keeps trying to tell me there's cancer in the sawdust (pre-treated wood). I'm pretty sure that would compost out, but either way, I'd prefer the product in bulk. So, I looked up a local sawmill and called. This is where the story turns crazy.

It was Wednesday. The guy takes pity on me and tells me I can come anytime after 2:00 on Friday. Coo'. I thank him and hang up.

Friday comes. I'm driving out to the Middle of Nowhere, where this sawmill happens to be located, & my gas light comes on. I'm pretty sure that just means you've got a gallon left, so I'm not too panicked about trying to pull over. I encounter a huge gas-station desert and that's scary, so I pull over at the first gas station after, like 7-10 miles later on the interstate.

I park at one of the pumps and check my bank account. $2.00 in the main account, and $1.39 in my personal account (we have an allowance system). I couldn't even rob the main account if I wanted to. That's depressing. But no worries, today is Friday, which means PAYDAY. I call up Damion to transfer money over from his (trucking) business account. He's sleeping, has no internet and only a vague idea of his info. I will have to figure it out myself.

Okay. So. I end up getting into the business account and successfully transferring monies over to the main account, and then successfully transferring THAT money into my own allowance account. Done. Complete. I head inside to grab a drink and put money on the pump.

As I'm standing in line, I hear the attendant say something that sounds like "we're out of gas." I'm like, "they sell propane here?" :/ When it's finally my turn, I ask for clarification, and it turns out they had a gas delivery truck that didn't show up and so they are indeed out. (What is that about?! There are no hurricanes! 😆)

My car has the gas light on though. I'm sorta stuck.

The guy explains how gas stations work to me, says sorry and gives me my drink for free. They have no ETA on when gas will be returning to their gas-station, though. The manager tells me that I'll "for sure" see the giant delivery truck when it pulls in. He's trying to comfort me.

I get back in my car, and head to the NEXT gas station nearest to me, which is almost a mile down the road, practically in neutral the entire time, to try to preserve precious gas droplets. I pull into the station just in time, and fill up.

Why am I telling you all these details? To illustrate how much I went through today for this sawdust. For this damn toilet.

After filling up, I drive to the place.. ish. It's 4:00 by this time (I drove for ~1hr to get there). I get my phone out and call this guy up, because I'm a little lost. It's not clear where the actual sawmill is. He answers. He's not even at the place. He clearly feels bad, but then tells me, "you should have been on time! Har har har... I was there 2 hours ago! Har har, I hope you enjoyed the drive! Har har har!"

To be clear, no grudges at this guy cause he was going to (hopefully) hook me up with free sawdust, which he doesn't have to do. Also poor communication on both parts, blah blah etc. Just, it was frustrating to hear that after all this effort I've invested in this toilet mission today. All for some nice, local, cancer-free (and free) sawdust for the compost bin to eat.

Now, I am peeing with nothing, ladies and gentlemen, no substrate! No smell control! My house basically has a porta potty until tomorrow, and there's a HUGE difference between that terrible system, and the system we have in place. Ughhhh! I HATE PORTA POTTIES.

Do you see, how upsetting?!

I'm not going back to using a normal water toilet for reasons, but being so different really is a pain sometimes. I haven't even figured out what to do with the finished humanure 💩💩 yet, because everybody's all "ewwww" about it. I definitely get it. But it does not make my life easy.

Well, here's hoping the 💩 situation improves tomorrow. If not, it's back to cancer sawdust and snitty employees :/