Another strange day for me. At times I feel like I live in Wonderland or Upside Down World. Although the November election will determine if I remain where I am, I have tried to get bids on building a house - just in case. You could say fortress because the weather in South Georgia/southern South Carolina is known to be violent, along with some of the residents. To be fair, coastal Georgia and South Carolina are much like Atlanta in that they are moderate liberal and progressive, unlike middle, west, and north Georgia - typically the historic manufacturing areas where white supremacy, bigotry, and misogyny are "christian family values." The problem is they are moving south for the economic opportunities and excellent quality of life/services they do not have in manufacturing towns. The Low Country and Coastal Empire are a slice of heaven - stunningly beautiful and most people are kind. Of course they attract many people I prefer to remain in place so I would want to build a safe home to protect me from them, and tornadoes and hurricanes.
My first choice was a home every contractor said they could not build because their workers do not know how. Tile roofing and masonry walls were outside their abilities because their workers with those skills either left the state or were deported. Okay, masonry is out, especially homes with tiles roofs. I do not want asphalt shingles again. Log homes have survived for over 100 years in the area, and great for tornadoes and hurricanes, so I thought what the heck? Not my choice but they won't blow away like a frame house. So I called in a supposed local log builder to give an estimate. I knew the meeting would be a disaster when I saw the tags and stickers on the truck. They were originally from west Georgia and are what we call Travellers. Basically they are gypsy KKK who settled in a manufacturing town in west Georgia - Douglasville. If you ever watched My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding you have seen this family. You do not want Travellers building anything but I played along to see how much they would steal from me before leaving town.
"We can't do that. We can stick build it and side it with log siding."
"It is a rectangle. You can't build a rectangle out of logs?"
"We could be we can't get the logs. We can get log siding. It is pine."
"Termites would eat it in a year if a tornado doesn't blow it away
first"
"You can build it on stilts"
"To make it easier for the tornado to take it?"
"But the termites won't get it. I tell ya what, my sister will sell ya a double wide that looks just like a log cabin but the log siding is vinyl. It is real nice. It can be set up in two days."
I give up. The only way I can get a quality building is illegally import craftsmen from other countries and act as my own contractor since I can't get talented or honest workers here. At least they would know better than suggest a trailer or frame building on stilts in tornado alley and hurricane highway.
