Feb 18th - Missouri House Hunting

Today we looked at at least 5 houses. We are looking another one in the morning before heading back to Indy. We didn't like any of them well enough to make an offer.

After getting back to Andy & Kelsey's we decided that if we were going to make an offer on one of them it would be an older ranch, with a full basement. It would need a lot of cosmetic work, a kitchen remodel and more. It has been empty for 4 years. The lady who lived in it for the 7 years prior to it being empty is the one who still owns it. The price was $119k. We would not have offered more than $100k. One interesting feature was that the garage floor was a structural slab with a workshop area below the garage. All four walls of the workshop were poured walls, as were the remainder of the walkout basement walls. It would have made quite a substantial storm shelter.

It was a passive solar home. Behind the windows on this wall is a 2' air space area and then an interior 8" thick brick wall. The wall has multiple arched doorways in it. The sun shines through these windows and heats up the brick wall during the summer. I assume the sun is high enough during the summer so that it doesn't hit these windows.

This is the back yard.

This was the high efficiency heat pump at one of the other places we looked at. It was running and the house was warm. Temps were in the high 40's. Someone had written "Hi" in the ice crystals and the word was still there.

This afternoon Andy gave me a ride in the quickest car I have ever ridden in. He bought an older Civic that has a turbo. He says that he has no doubt that it will currently run in the eleven's. Current boost is limited to only 8 psi. His plans are to install a different fuel pump and increase the boost. He estimates that it currently is about 300 hp, in a 2500# vehicle. He said the bottom end of the engine is supposed to be good for 500 hp. He currently limits rpm's to only 9,500. I admit that it feels funny when he makes the first/second shift and the front tires break loose and the car slips sideways. It has limited slip and has Mickey Thompon radial street radials. The street radial are for use on the street and strip. They are a very soft compound. He only ran it up to 85 a couple of times during the ride. The vibration is rather pronounced since the motor mounts are solid but even with a minimal exhaust system the noise wasn't bad.

Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.