INSURANCE:
We heard back from the Miller Agency, who does not write for NYS. One down.
POOP AND PEE:
We've had a couple of requests (I poo you not) for more info about our toilet, so let me see what I can do:
The urine receptacle is full after 2-3 days. Don't wait until it's full. When we first started using it, we sort of lost track of things, and the next half hour was not pretty. The jug has a lid that screws on for safe and jaunty carriage to whatever disposal place you use. Joseph Jenkins, the Humanure guy, would suggest strongly that you dump it on your compost, but that's up to you. Even if you flush it down a toilet it's better than flushing 10X a day. So sez I.
The vault where we store our treasures gets full and hard to crank after two weeks, and so we completely change it out at that point if we're using peat moss. Recently, I got an email from Elaine who suggested we try coconut coir (or fiber) instead of peat. Great idea! Compact, easier to stow than peat, and easier to use. It's compact and ready; peat moss comes in a huge bale that then has to be separated out into gallon plastic bags or it becomes immediately unwieldy. I like my poop matrix to be wieldy. Also, as she pointed out, it's more sustainable than peat moss. It can be had at most pet stores, since it's mainly used for reptile cages.
Since we've been trying coconut, "we" don't dump it completely after two weeks. Instead, "we" scoop it like a litter box about once a week. Poo breaks up quickly in the coir, and the whole thing seems to stay dryer and less-smelly longer. The sack o'poo goes into the garbage with the cat litter, and smells better. When the level of coir gets too low, I imagine we'll just add a portion of a brick. A brick of coir.
Last weekend Annie and my son, Phil, worked on the new camera. When he got to the place on the roof where the Head vents, he yelled "SMELLS LIKE POOPY RIGHT HERE!" That's what we like to hear, because when the dookie smell is on the roof, it's not in the coach. That reminds me that I wanted to rejoice with you when I tell you that our solar vent is back online! [rejoicing placeholder] Apparently it's equinoctally-related: OFF in autumn, ON in spring. We have to leave this place.
[Edit: Annie just said "It's so funny that you talked about the camera while you were talking about the toilet. It IS a REAR-VIEW camera ... "]
PARTY:
Some photos.