Alright, so apologies for disappearing on ya’ll but it’s been a couple of really rough weeks.  Several different areas of my life have been going less than ideally and things just hit a really nasty head.

For starters, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with the interior renovations that remain to be done on my floating home.  I’m frustrated with how little progress I’ve managed to make this summer and the fact I’m still living in the middle of a construction zone.  I’m having a difficult time finding a healthy balance between work, working on the house, and actually managing to have some semblance of a life.

I’m also still mourning the end of my relationship with Charlie.  And, for whatever reason, working on the house alone just serves to underscore those feelings. It takes me a long time to build new friendships and relationships and I don’t have much in the way of a support system yet in Portland, so I’m feeling quite sad and alone.

On top of that, work is not going well for me at present.  I’n spite of working an insane number of hours for a large portion of the summer,  my current manager is less than pleased with my performance.  I just received my midyear review and it’s the first time in my professional career where I’ve received marks in some categories that were less than at least “Meets Expectations”.   Unless I can turn something around soon, odds are I’m going to need to be looking for a new job.  Right now I’m being micromanaged into the ground which I loathe. So I’m enormously stressed on the work front, as well.

So I was sitting up in Portland, miserable and unhappy, when I received a phone call that my friend Larry died suddenly of a heart attack. While not related by blood, Larry has been my de facto uncle since I moved to Arizona immediately after college.  He was always there with a smile, a hug, and a strong back when it came to moving furniture when I reached the end of relationship.  He was the person who always made sure I had somewhere to be on the holidays and got safely home to my own tent at camping events. And the thing was, he was that person for so many different people.  More than 600 people showed up for his service, if you can imagine that.

Losing Larry underscored to me just how adrift my own life is currently feeling.   How I chose to dealt with it was packing a suitcase, grabbing Rumi, and driving down to AZ for the funeral.  I already had plans to be in AZ the last two weeks of the month, over my birthday, so I simply extended my trip.

I’m currently staying in my friend Jay’s guest room in Phoenix.  I’ve been spending as much time in the company of friends as possible, meaning writing has been on the back burner.  Odds are I’m going to stay through the first weekend in September and then head back up to Portland.  I’m making arrangements, though, to probably winter in AZ once the weather turns ugly up north.

More on that when I figure it out myself.  But I wanted to let you all know I hadn’t been taken by brigands.  I’m just spending some time deep in thought about where I want to go from here.

I cannot wait to watch this!  This is a documentary which features people in the ad biz who were laid off and discovered it was an opportunity to take back their lives.

This project is the creation of Erik Proulx, founder of Please Feed the Animals a website which focuses on the recently laid off.

The documentary website can be found  here.

Each Friday Coming Unmoored runs a weekly roundup of tiny homes featured on the web and recent news stories that may be of interest to small home enthusiasts.

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Tiny Houses Featured in the Past Week:

• Treehouses by Romero Studios
• Treetop Office
• Tiny Treehouse in New York
• JB’s Tiny Home
• $500 Home in Hawaii
• Foam Dome Homes
• Jalopy Cabins
• Modern Caravan
• Domespace Homes
• Wind-Powered Tiny House
• Rail Car Home
• Mule-Drawn Tiny Home
• pieceHomes 320 Squae Foot Home
• Low-Cost Earthbag Buildings
• Sportsman Log Cabin
• Tiny House for Sale in California ($4K)
  

Recent News Stories and Essays on  the Small Home Movement and Simple Living:

• Living in a Shed? (The Tiny Life)
• Texas Builder Redfines Downsizing to Extremes (The News Tribune)
  

Small Home / Simple Living Websites and Blogs to Check Out:

• The Tiny Life
  

Some aspects of green homes and tiny homes are easy to overlook.  One innovative company is really focusing in on some of these easy to overlook aspects and has created a really nice summary of how some of this “going green stuff” works.  The eco-friendly builder EcoStructures promotes itself as a “affordable near-zero energy portable modular green home” builder.  Now while that statement might be a mouthful, it also seems to be completely accurate.

EcoStructures founder and president John Garlow has a special inspiration for the designing of his homes and that is his partnerand brother Charley.  Charley once worked for Ralph Nadar and also worked as a lawyer for the EPA.  One of Charley’s favorite hobbies was helping crack down on air polluters.  Together the two brothers have developed a green home concept centered on factory construction, the use of local materials, the use of green materials and the reduction of waste.  They are part of a growing trend to avoid harmful materials and VOCs in their construction.  Also they use a great deal of recycled materials.  The shingles they use, for example, are from 30% recycled materials.

EcoStructures’ website does a fantastic job showcasing how to build a green home.  They put special attention into two categories, one being “airflow and energy” and the other being “waterworks.”  Both of these sections layout the basics of how to properly handle airflow and solar energy in a home.  “Energy harvesting” is given great attention, but so are elements like shading and the innovative use of geothermal tubes.  For example, the section of waterworks is a great one in that it deals with the often overlooked issue of how to handle rainwater harvesting, filtration and water conservation.  Few diagrams tackle the issue of “greywater,” as well as the one on the EcoStructures website.

An additional aspect to love about the EcoStructures concept is that they present a variety of options making the design flexible.  Everything from wind turbines to exterior automatic shutters and geothermally linked heating and cooling are options that are on the table.  A great deal of thought has gone into this project, and it is certainly worth checking out.

Last month, the Guggenheim Museum and Google teamed up for a very innovative online design contest.   That fact in and of itself is interesting as it is a very interesting and unexpected team-up. However, what is even more interesting is the fact that the contest, entitled the “Design It: Shelter Competition” involves designing the best tiny shelter.  Participants are encouraged to design a virtual 3d 100 square foot living/working space using Google’s new Google Sketch Up software, and then place the house on a map with Google Earth.  Both Google Earth and Google Sketch Up are free to download and use.

The  contest asks participants the questions: where would you build your shelter?  And how would you respond to the environment around your shelter? Obviously, Frank Lloyd Wright was inspired by the connection of a house to its environment. The Design It: Shelter Competition seeks to reflect and incorporate Wright’s fascination with the natural elements surrounding a house.

This contest is running in conjunction with the Guggenheim’s new exhibit, running until August 23rd, entitled “Learning By Doing.” The art exhibit features shelters that were designed by students of Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.  Through the design process, the students learn various important issues involved in design.

The Design it: Shelter Competition is open to amateur as well as professional designers. You can read more about the contest and even enter the contest at the Guggenheim’s website. Entries are being taken until August 23rd which coincides with the last day of the Learning by Doing exhibit.  (If you happen to be in New York City between now and the end of August, definitely check out this exhibit as it sounds pretty intriguing.)

The Design It: Shelter Competition rules include the following:

You can build your shelter anywhere on Earth: from city to desert, hill to valley. You cannot remove any existing buildings, but you can add on to existing structures.”

Keep your shelter small—the interior/sheltered space can be no larger than 100 square feet (9.3 square meters), and entire shelter no taller than 12 feet (3.6 meters).

Your shelter must offer protection from the elements and provide a space for one person to study and sleep. Keep it simple—no water, gas or electricity allowed.

The students at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture will choose the finalists and public voting will take place from September to October 2009.

Many of you might be familiar with my Coming Unmoored Blog posts on tiny houses and sustainable housing. This week I thought that I would mix it up a little and cover some topics related to small space living.

Obviously, if you are trying to decide on your appliances for a tiny house, it is key to start paring down the big things.  Things like full sized washer dryers and massive refrigerators are simply going to take up too much space and will need to go by the wayside. (Yes, if you have a grand piano, you very likely might need to say goodbye and take up a smaller instrument!)

In keeping with this theme, a company called The Laundry Alternative, based in Middletown Springs Vermont, has come out with a very tiny and also very green approach to doing laundry in small spaces.   The Laundry Alternative is selling their Wonderwash washing machine for only $42.95. This gadget, which you can basically fit on a countertop, claims to easily cleans a 5 lb load of laundry in just a few minutes.. and with no electricity.  Thus, not only are you reducing space, but the amount of energy necessary to do laundry is also dramatically reduced.

The Wonderwash measures about 12″ x 12″ x “16, and has a patented pressure system. What happens is that detergent is forced into the fabric at a very high speed. You simply add hot water to the Wonder Wash and the air inside the drum expands from the heat. The high level of pressure is created as a result. In the process, the machine also uses 90% less water and detergent. The Laundry Alternative makes the assertion that this device pays for itself through your savings after only 8 weeks.

The Wonderwash is being marketed to a crowd that includes college students, rv owners, environmentalists, singles and frugal people. And their logic definitely makes sense. If you are trying to reduce your power consumption or if you are just one person doing  laundry for yourself, the standard sized washer and dryers are indeed excessive.

The company also makes an energy efficient and compact Spin dryer as well.