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Ok, I’ve bought our first bit of real machinery already: a 3,000psi pressure cleaner, powered by an infernal combustion engine. Yes, it’ll need fuel, but it can run on ethanol. I can do ethanol; pretty well as a matter of fact. Being 4 stroke it’s also capable of running on producer gas , which I think I can do at a pinch. It should be adequate for cleaning equipment and buildings once we’ve finished using it on our expansive deck.

Storing it is a problem, so we’ll lock it inside for now and sort out a more permanent solution later. This will probably involve a secure shed, as I don’t fancy keeping the fuel inside much. So, a very sturdy fuel can seems the next step. And some bloody engine oil ‘cos it’s empty. Hmm, natural engine oils…

Things are looking up: We may have a buyer for farm produce before we even get the farm! While we want to be capable of self-sufficiency in the event of collapse, we do actually need to be able to survive normal times 🙂 Having a customer interested in ethical and organic produce is a darn fine start, and it is also giving us an idea of what type of farm we’re looking for as well as allowing us to plan what machinery and processing infrastructure we’re going to need.

The Diamond Age side of things is starting to demonstrate year-on-year doubling of sales, which should please the bank manager. We’ve also got some new secret, killer products in the pipeline for 3D printers to ensure we retain the top position as a supplier of a huge range of filament and other consumables.

All in all, it’s a good position to be in.

So, new situation. In order to get as good a farm as possible, we need to convince the bank that we’re a good bet – this isn’t a big commercial farm we’re planning so the banks won’t lend money for it as a going concern. So basically we need to pay off a boring mortgage, and to do this we need to demonstrate some from of revenue. Our company, Diamond Age Solutions Ltd., has been doing fairly well and I’m now joining Suz in working on it full-time. There are a few cross-overs between the geeky things we do for Diamond Age and the farm, and some of these are actually profitable 🙂

So, if things go awesomely there might be a farm at the end of 2012. Slightly past the original concept date, but things may well go better because of the additional planning and integration.

Well, here we are, sitting in a lush, floating breadbasket in the Pacific Ocean. We reckon that this is one of the better places to watch civilization collapse from, and we”ll do it in comfort if not style. We’ve met the “store your bullets and beans” types, and the hippy commune types. The high-tech biosystems designers, and the grow-your-own-denim vegans. Now it’s our turn. Being geeks, step one is the website.  Next, some coherent content…

Vik :v)