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The Survival Pod Cast
Off Grid Net

In case you can’t find or figure out the category menu above (not to be insulting) for convenience I’ll list my blog articles below.

Java Accounting Ledger Ver 2.0

This is 2nd version of a small free accounting app I wrote

The fine art of Logistics and Orientation

About lifting and moving stuff

Zai Square Foot Gardening

About digging 1′x1′ holes and using them like planters along with square foot box gardening.

Range Finding, Mil Dot, Duplex Reticle, Parallax, MOA

I talk about two common scope reticles and how to use them in range finding. And about scope windage and elevation adjustments.

12 Guidelines for realistic prepping from TSP

About practical prepping for most likely scenarios first.

Fasting for Dieting

My arguments for fasting for dieting.

Java Ledger a Simple Free Accounting Program I wrote

The first version of a simple free Java accounting app I wrote. Shows the data file formats.

5 Areas of Concern in Wilderness Survival

Priorities when caught in wilderness alone and off guard.

6 Main Areas of Life when Prepping for Survival

From Jack on the TSP 6 Areas for Prepping

Rock House on Ozark Highlands Trail

A rock shelter we are planning on camping in.

A natural Bridges on Hurricane Creek OHT

We are planning a trip to this site for camping. Its a Natural bridge off of Hurricane Creek off of Big Piney on the Ozark Highlands Trail

Rock Creek December 19th

Cold, Wet, Rainy, Windy, but we did it anyway.

Long Pool on Big Piney Nov 12th

Great Trip

Richland Creek Nov 3rd

Richland Creek off of Buffalo National River

Critter Gitter Bag

A bag of basic hunting/fishing craft for survival.

Investing Stocks Money Metals Land

My view on Investing and Money

Home Accounting

How I do the bills and basics of Accounting

List of Small Projects I’d like to do sometime

Small Projects List

Self Sufficiency

My take on Self Sufficiency in our Modern World

Project Task Managment

Metaphor for Managing Projects

Types of gardening

A long list of types of gardening listed and defined.

PC Game Free Civilization

A free computer game that I love based on Sid Myer’s Civilization II.

.177 Air Rifle AKA BB/Pellet Gun

About a Chinese pellet gun I just bought and own for the 2nd time. And other similar guns.

Food Harvest Preservation

Storing and Keeping food longer. Including pickling, canning, freeze drying, dehydration.

Square Foot Gardening

A start on an addition of 200 square feet to this garden. We will use square foot garden method. I will add to this article throughout the year.

Survival Camping Arkansas and Area

A list of items to pack for emergency or light weight camping and survival living off the land. I talk about wildlife in Arkansas.

The Java Programming Language

I introduce you to modern programming and show progression to what is the Java Programming Language. A good description for anyone.

Java In Ten Minutes(ITM)

I explain very briefly how to install Java, build a basic simple java Application for the console, and execute that application. With a text editor such as notepad, and a basic knowledge of a few console commands, anyone should be able to do this. At the least it will help you to understand what programming is.

Wood burning stoves, ovens, fireplaces, cook ranges

I talk about energy efficiency in the design of wood burning ovens, fireplaces, stoves, and cook ranges for heat and cooking.

Metal work shop tool wish list

I talk about early metal working in America and an idea I have for a quick and dirty metal work shop. I list tools that anyone would like to have in such a shop.

Log cabins, Logging and Milling

I talk briefly about Log cabins, more about Logging and a little about milling. I list tools.

Small DIY Metal Buildings

I talk about small metal buildings that can be easily made from scrap, including A-Frame, Lean-to, Half Round or Quonset Hut and Geodesic Dome. I list some tools for metal roofing and metal work. I have a drawing of a home made from two sea containers or ocean containers.

Ham Radio

An introduction to modern Ham Radio for truckers and everyone else. I talk about mobile radio and how to work around mod constraints.

Home Energy

Electricity production at home common and other. I talk about all options and point you to the right info. I talk about solar, wind, hydro and more.

Home Fuel

Fuel production at home common and other. I talk about all options and point you to the right info. I discuss bio diesel, bio gas, ethanol and more.

Home Water Production

Water production at home common and other. I talk about all options and point you to the right info. I talk about collection of rain water, pumping and more. I have pump diagrams.

Water Filtration Purification Flocculation Sedimentation Distillation Condensation

I talk about methods in the cleaning and sanitizing of water that you obtain. I talk about hauling water.

Home Sewer

Sewage treatment at home common and other. I talk about all options and point you to the right info. I talk about city sewer, septic, composting and more.

Home Security

Home security for everyone, tips and info.

Earthen Construction

Old and new types of earthen construction. I talk about Earthship, Earthbag, Adobe and more. I have an  illistration of a basic design 1500ft2 Earthship.

Timber frame, wood construction

About timber frame and engineering with timber frame and info. I list tools, members of frame, joinery and more.

Green? Houses

My no hype take on the green building/living scene. I talk about passive solar design principles.

Mongolian Yurt

A version of a yurt that I intend to build, parts and materials list, other yurt ideas.

Larry Gray’s Common Sense Guide to Dieting and Nutrition

My thoughts on dieting and nutrition.

How restaurants should make and care for tea

My gripes about and solutions for the poor tea service problem across America.

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The Survival Pod Cast
Off Grid Net

Be sure to hover the menu categories above and click them!

This blog has articles written for larrydgray.net and arksoft.org.

Arksoft.org I hope one day might grow up to be a parts store for programmers. I have been studying computer programming since 1984 in my spare time. So I intend to have a Programming category and Java Programing subcategory for programming articles.

larrydgray.net was meant to be a kind of home page with articles and information about things that I am interested in or that I have studied about. A few years ago I begin picking up books about various types of green building. I was looking for a cheaper way to live actually. One thing lead to another. Green building lead to some conventional building topics. That lead to owner building books. Which lead to off-grid living. And then to sustainable living and homesteading.  After reading and reading and reading some more I decided to write web articles about some of these topics to share what I had learned with the world. I also have some other things to write about that happen to be on my mind. For example food and nutrition. And finance or economics.

I intend to provide explanations, information, descriptions, valuable links, list, book recommendations and reviews, and online video links. I will provide a general overview and then point you to the correct sources for further study. I am also giving you my point of view on these topics.

Welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy it. Please leave comments, you must click the article title to access comments. Please stop spamming me with complements though. If its not spam go ahead but otherwise stay away.

How do I write these articles? I base them on head knowledge and brainpower. I research from books, internet, friends, family, forums, chat and every other way I can then compile everything into one article. I only write about things that I’m personally interested in which makes a better article. In other words I don’t decide I want to write a certain article then go research for it. I first research, learn and study, then decide I want to write an article about something I know about.

My images thus far come from several sources. I have an inexpensive and simple to use CAD program called CAD STD. It has a free version. The larger images with black backgrounds are ones that I drew up from that software. Other images I screen capture then annotate in PC Paint. Many images I hot link to from google images. The book cover images I hot link to from Amazon or BN.com.

Within each article I use HTML for list, sub list, definition list and tables mainly. I use image links and links throughout. I have studied HTML and CSS in fairly good detail so I am not afraid to use it.

As for information. Book writers rely on the fact that ideas are not copyrightable, neither are well known facts. What is copyrightable? A given authors presentation. This means you can’t copy paste. You can’t make electronic or photocopies and distribute something. Much info is public domain however. If the idea is my Idea, I usually give myself credit for it by saying so. If I don’t then its probably an idea that I got from somewhere else. I don’t have any guilty conciseness about getting list of well know items from books. I do like to give credit to the great books I’ve read with the recommended books section and even link them to sales sites.

Some books I read cover to cover. If I’ve already read several on one topic I may only skim and speed read a new one on that same topic. If I can find an electronic text for the material I will use a program called TextAloud to read it to me as an MP3 file. I will copy this file to my MP3 player so that I may listen to it several times while driving. I also do this with material that I find as PDF’s and Web pages. I do this with wikipedia as well. Basically if I think I’m going to be stuck anywhere waiting for anything I have book with me that I’m trying to finish off. I get a lot reading done before and after I sit down to meals in restaurants once a day. I have also read books aloud into voice recorder then played that back on mp3 player. I have made voice notes using voice recorder and or software called Audacity and played them back on mp3 player.

I buy many of my books used from online sources or from a book store in Dallas Texas called “Half Priced Books”. This is the largest used book store in America with 50,000ft2 of books, dvds, tapes, records, etc. They keep everything well sorted and categorized. I do buy some new books.

Part of my study is also in the writing of these articles. When you write you learn the subject matter much more thoroughly. Especially when you write for an audience.