Meanwhile back at the 'stead

[Eddie]

I bought one camera but I couldn't figure out how to actually make it work.

In general, I figured out that the further your cameras are from grid power and wifi, the more expensive the proposition. It gets very expensive very quickly to have an off-grid surveillance system. Cheaper systems that work great for a house in town fail miserably in the country.

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[RE]

I bought one camera but I couldn't figure out how to actually make it work.

In general, I figured out that the further your cameras are from grid power and wifi, the more expensive the proposition. It gets very expensive very quickly to have an off-grid surveillance system. Cheaper systems that work great for a house in town fail miserably in the country.

I can do it for you cheap.  You don't need wi-fi or grid power.  We'll do it when I visit.

RE

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[Eddie]

Good.

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[Eddie]

As of last night, the pigs are still there. One of the girls was limping a bit, and I was able to palpate the tender foot, but couldn't find anything wrong. I desperately need to move them to new pasture, but it's raining today.

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[RE]

This full license plate recording system goes for $700.



http://www.cctvcamerapros.com/License-Plate-Capture-Cameras-s/283.htm

To power, 12V Batt with an inverter.  You just need to find your location to set up the cameras where anyone coming in or out would pass by.

RE

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[Eddie]

Creates a problem with where to mount the camera (where the camera itself is not subject to be disabled or (worse) stolen). The night capability of those things is only 30 ft max.  I would have to hide the camera close to the road and hope nobody found it. I had three game cameras stolen within the last couple of years, btw.

I was hoping for something I could mount up high on a pole or something. But then you'd have people taking pot shots at the camera, most likely.

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[RE]

Creates a problem with where to mount the camera (where the camera itself is not subject to be disabled or (worse) stolen). The night capability of those things is only 30 ft max.  I would have to hide the camera close to the road and hope nobody found it. I had three game cameras stolen within the last couple of years, btw.

I was hoping for something I could mount up high on a pole or something. But then you'd have people taking pot shots at the camera, most likely.

Fake Rocks.  They come in all sizes.  All you need to do is drill a hole for the lens.

RE

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[Eddie]

Creates a problem with where to mount the camera (where the camera itself is not subject to be disabled or (worse) stolen). The night capability of those things is only 30 ft max.  I would have to hide the camera close to the road and hope nobody found it. I had three game cameras stolen within the last couple of years, btw.

I was hoping for something I could mount up high on a pole or something. But then you'd have people taking pot shots at the camera, most likely.

Fake Rocks.  They come in all sizes.  All you need to do is drill a hole for the lens.

RE

Probably as good a solution as any.  I need to do something.

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[RE]

Probably as good a solution as any.  I need to do something.

I have other solutions to this problem which might work better for you.  I think about this stuff all the time for my HISC Novel. 

Another one is to build a Trash Can receptacle box along the drive path.  Leave space between the 2X4s for the camera to see out of..  Mount the camera inside the box, and keep trash cans in there with smelly trash.  Nobody is gonna look for a camera inside a smelly trash bin.

RE

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[Eddie]

I could just build a reinforced concrete box with a hole for the camera lens. It could have a metal door with a decent lock. 

It's tempting just to mount some fake cameras on poles in plain sight. They have been shown to be effective in reducing crime. It's a cheap thing...just goes against my natural inclinations somehow. I don't like fake anything.

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[RE]

I could just build a reinforced concrete box with a hole for the camera lens. It could have a metal door with a decent lock. 

It's tempting just to mount some fake cameras on poles in plain sight. They have been shown to be effective in reducing crime. It's a cheap thing...just goes against my natural inclinations somehow. I don't like fake anything.

I would put all of them together.

Build the concrete camera enclosure.  Then hide it with a a fake rock.  Then put up fake cameras on poles so the thieves THINK they took out the cameras before driving in.

RE

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[Eddie]

I can't find the thread where I was talking about trying to start a rare book business (its been a year and half or so since I first wrote about it), and I thought I'd make an update on that.

I've continued to toy with it, and over the last year or so I've continued to collect some decent inventory...not a lot, but some quality stuff. Now, I have a new twist.

My son the artist, has talent as a curator, and has curated a few exhibitions, and assisted in a number others, which has allowed him to get to know several big name artists. He's also pretty savvy about the intellectual part of art academia, being a serious student of 20th and 21st century art. In this, he is pretty much an autodidact.

Anyway he made me aware that when museums put on major shows, that there is often a book printed to document the show, and that these art books, which are limited runs of 1000 or less, are sold by the museum gift shops or third party sellers. For hot artists, the books themselves can sell out quickly and become collectors items within as little as a year, Sometimes they appreciate 500% in value in a year or two.

I am now getting him to book scout for me, and I'm starting to buy some of these art books, which aren't terribly expensive when they first come out. I have some hope that the two of us might be able to get this business, which would be a sideline for both of us, off the ground in the next couple of years. Recently the only bookstore here catering to the art crowd folded, mostly because rents are getting outrageous and the cheap east side locations have all been gentrified out of existence.

It isn't a secret among real estate people that buying up areas inhabited by artists is a way to make money. Unfortunately, once the real estate is bought up, the artists are always priced out and move somewhere else. I doubt a brick-and-mortar store is the way to go anyway.

Worst case, I'l have some valuable books to pass on to my kids. Best case, I get into a business that might be fun and profitable. With my son. I'd like to do something to help him kickstart his career. He graduates with his MFA from SAIC in a couple of months.

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[luciddreams]

I can't find the thread where I was talking about trying to start a rare book business (its been a year and half or so since I first wrote about it), and I thought I'd make an update on that.

I've continued to toy with it, and over the last year or so I've continued to collect some decent inventory...not a lot, but some quality stuff. Now, I have a new twist.

My son the artist, has talent as a curator, and has curated a few exhibitions, and assisted in a number others, which has allowed him to get to know several big name artists. He's also pretty savvy about the intellectual part of art academia, being a serious student of 20th and 21st century art. In this, he is pretty much an autodidact.

Anyway he made me aware that when museums put on major shows, that there is often a book printed to document the show, and that these art books, which are limited runs of 1000 or less, are sold by the museum gift shops or third party sellers. For hot artists, the books themselves can sell out quickly and become collectors items within as little as a year, Sometimes they appreciate 500% in value in a year or two.

I am now getting him to book scout for me, and I'm starting to buy some of these art books, which aren't terribly expensive when they first come out. I have some hope that the two of us might be able to get this business, which would be a sideline for both of us, off the ground in the next couple of years. Recently the only bookstore here catering to the art crowd folded, mostly because rents are getting outrageous and the cheap east side locations have all been gentrified out of existence.

It isn't a secret among real estate people that buying up areas inhabited by artists is a way to make money. Unfortunately, once the real estate is bought up, the artists are always priced out and move somewhere else. I doubt a brick-and-mortar store is the way to go anyway.

Worst case, I'l have some valuable books to pass on to my kids. Best case, I get into a business that might be fun and profitable. With my son. I'd like to do something to help him kickstart his career. He graduates with his MFA from SAIC in a couple of months.

Very cool idea!

GM found a first edition of To Kill A Mockingbird at a thrift store in Hilton Head SC a few years back.  She was there shooting a wedding and loves thrift stores.  Bought the book for 3 dollars and sold it for 2k if my memory serves me correctly. 

Since thrift stores have tightened up.  There are apps now so that any dumb ass Good Will employee can scan the book to make sure it's not worth anything before it goes on the shelves.  Just sayin' this business idea might be harder than it first appears. 

Not a bad idea though. 

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[Eddie]

I don't scout the thrift stores. I make lists of books I want and shop the collectors market. I don't buy things for cheap ( I have, but it isn't typical). I just try to pay a lowish reasonable price, knowing that there won't be any more signed firsts after somebody dies. I did recently buy a signed first Tales of the City for a very good price. Very rare, only came in paperback. Many hardback reprints, but they aren't the real first.

In literature, I buy the authors I think are the greats. Everybody knows Hemingways are collectible. Drones who work at Goodwill have no clue who the new Hemingways will be. I have some ideas. That's my edge, if I have one.

The art books are a better deal, because I'm buying them before they get recognized as collectible. I think very few of them will actually depreciate in value. They have pictures!

If the internet goes dark, I'll have something to look at anyway.

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[Eddie]

I also like Texas authors. This is a big state, and there are a fair number of really good writers. The most famous and collectible Texas author of all time is J. Frank Dobie, a folklore writer who once taught at UT, in the early years of the 20th century.

My wife had an uncle who lived  here in the 1930's until he died about 1990. He was a personal friend of Dobie, and his book collection funded his retirement. When I was in college, I worked in the Special Collections Dept. at  Stephen F. Austin State U.. Our signature collection was a complete set of Dobie, donated by some dead lawyer.

Half-Price Books here does end up with the collections of dead UT profs.  I've picked up some good stuff there.

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