by "Kat Callahan" (kyosuke)
Published 01/02/2017 at 00:06
by "Kat Callahan" (kyosuke)
Published 01/02/2017 at 00:06
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STARS: 41
Hey, Oppo. Sorry I have been a stranger from these parts and from Jalopnik over the past few months. I’ve been very busy as a JHS homeroom teacher, but there are plans afoot, big plans.
First, let me assure you, while my name has once again disappeared from the Jalopnik masthead (as it does periodically, being an inconsistent contributor, it can always be readded), I still work here... if I produce content. Teaching is my first love, and being a seventh grade homeroom teacher and a civics subject teacher is a lot of work for not a lot of pay, just a lot of joy... when my administration isn’t nuts.
A recent mini camper conversion of the GA3 and Christmas/New Years roadtrip around Japan post is currently in the works. As is a post on the utter insanity of luxury and attention to detail at Japanese highway rest stops.
Since moving into my $950/mo studio well inside of Tokyo, I’ve realised how much I hate not being able to work on, or sometimes even wash my car. Neighbors being nosy and hostile. I’ve also realised I hate living in the city, and I’ve finally decided to bite the bullet and buy some land in Saitama and build a tiny house on a trailer... and a tiny garage area for my tiny car next to my tiny house. I’m planning to make this Jalopnik content because 1) it’s a trailer, it’s on wheels, it’s mobile 2) did I mention building my own garage/parking area so I can work on the car? My budget is between $20K and $30K for the entire project.
Also, I will probably see about covering Tokyo Auto Salon 2017 again. It all depends really on how much time my primary career affords me, which recently hasn’t been much. But I’ll do my best!
"Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch" (bman76)
01/02/2017 at 00:12, STARS: 0
Yay! All of this sounds awesome, and any building fab work is right up my alley. (Just graduated, I’m an Architectural Intern)
"smobgirl" (smobgirl)
01/02/2017 at 00:16, STARS: 0
I’ve been wondering what you’ve been up to! I totally understand about the time teaching takes though. Sounds like some exciting plans and I look forward to hearing more!
"Kat Callahan" (kyosuke)
01/02/2017 at 00:18, STARS: 1
My work day is usually from 7:45am to 5:00ish or later M-F. I often have to grade on weekends. I have to deal with weekend events. Talent show, sports day, culture festival, parent teacher conferences, History Bowl competitions, and on and on. It pays well, it has great benefits, it pads the pension. But it doesn’t leave much time for much else.
"PS9" (PS9)
01/02/2017 at 00:22, STARS: 1
You were hiding from the total shitshow that was 2016. You don’t have to lie about that. We all would have done it if we could have.
"G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3" (gbodyman)
01/02/2017 at 00:24, STARS: 1
Yay! Also, if you wanted to be really meta about the trailer, you could build it using directions linked to in Benjamin Preston’s Parking Lot Mechanic Article From 2012 (remember those?) . Sort of using the past of Jalopnik in the present of Jalopnik to build part of the future of Jalopnik.
"Kat Callahan" (kyosuke)
01/02/2017 at 00:25, STARS: 0
2016 was indeed a shit show, 2017 has the potential to be either worse or substantially better. It kind of depends on Congress, I guess. The dollar is still super strong versus the yen though, which is good for me, because it means that since most of my money is in dollars, it’ll go further in material costs for the tiny house in Japan.
"Kat Callahan" (kyosuke)
01/02/2017 at 00:28, STARS: 0
I like that idea, except, this is a house. A tiny house, so well below Japan’s required building code permitting, and registrable with the Japanese DMV as an RV, but it’s still going to be like 8'x20'x13' or something like that. The garage is just going to be like a shell with flooring.
"EL_ULY" (uly)
01/02/2017 at 00:31, STARS: 1
Awesome Kat, can’t wait to read those posts. Stay healthy and rad!
Side note, have you heard of the Traveling Torchbug project?
"Kat Callahan" (kyosuke)
01/02/2017 at 00:34, STARS: 1
I had not, no, but man those Sydney pictures are bringing back the memories. I miss Straya, especially The Rocks. So many awesome micro breweries...
"EL_ULY" (uly)
01/02/2017 at 00:37, STARS: 0
That was one rad leg of its tour for sure. If you are interested on taking the little Beetle for a spin around Tokyo, shoot me an emailio, Ulysses at liveandletdiecast :]
"Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire" (arch-duke-maxyenko)
01/02/2017 at 00:51, STARS: 0
Best of luck to you on your adventures, Kat. Good to see you back.
"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
01/02/2017 at 00:55, STARS: 0
can’t wait!
"XJDano" (xjdano)
01/02/2017 at 01:06, STARS: 1
Good to hear.
My wife got all about the Tiny House movement thing, but with my fleet & our 2 kids it’s not really a reality. I’ll leave it at that. I look forward to reading the updates and how it goes. I think I’d almost rather buy a camper than build a trailer home.
"V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches" (jbv12)
01/02/2017 at 01:08, STARS: 0
Do you think it’d be possible to get seat time in a V12 century?
"KiddoFB6" (kiddofb6)
01/02/2017 at 01:11, STARS: 1
Neato! I was wondering why I hadn’t seen a Kat article in a while, can’t wait to see more from you again!
"Spoon II" (Spoon_II)
01/02/2017 at 01:14, STARS: 0
That sounds like an amazing project! Can’t wait to read about it!
"Kat Callahan" (kyosuke)
01/02/2017 at 01:37, STARS: 2
I’m a single person. My studio is fine, if the layout had a couple of divisions which it doesn’t. But my God, $950/mo? That’s a mortgage!
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
01/02/2017 at 01:41, STARS: 0
Hey, glad you’re still around here! I was wondering about you the other day, someone’s Japan-related post made me curious where you went.
I’ll bet that camper conversion is neat, looking forward to that post, and on your trailer/garage project! The idea of living small really appeals to me. Sounds like Tokyo may as well be California with rents like that.
You sound like every teacher I know, fulfilling work but not enough pay and crazy administrators are a universal language! Very cool you’re doing that there though, how do students take to having an American teacher?
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
01/02/2017 at 01:50, STARS: 0
“With my fleet and our 2 kids it’s not really a reality”
I see we have the same limitations to living small ;)
The idea does appeal to me though, I’d/we’d live in a tiny place/RV after the kids move out, assuming I had a barn for my cars...
"Justin T. Westbrook" (justintylerwestbrook)
01/02/2017 at 02:01, STARS: 0
Glad to hear you’re still around, and I look forward to your return. On the list of Important Things, educating children is more important than blogging (and probably more rewarding).
Excited to hear more about this camper conversion! And a house?!
"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform)
01/02/2017 at 02:42, STARS: 0
I’ve missed the Japanese coverage on Jalopnik. I get that you’re very busy and have other duties, but I would love to read about the Toyota/Lexus factories in Japan. I’ve heard that the people working in those factories are trained very hard for their job. My father purchased a 4Runner a few months back. Feels very high-quality both inside and outside.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
01/02/2017 at 07:36, STARS: 0
Cool! I’m a fan of the Tiny House movement! :) Not because I am one of those eco ‘save materials, save the environment’, ‘leave a low carbon footprint’ people - mostly because, as a single person like you (so far) who has shitty luck finding women (and also no time with 4 jobs), and a tiny house is all the space I would need.....you’re basically doing what I would want to do except that Tiny Homes aren’t legally four-seasons livable here in Nova Scotia (yet) as they are classed as RVs...looking forward to hearing how things go! :)
There’s actually a company just down the road from me that produces them, but they are very costly on their designs (like $40-80K CAD! 0_o). Were you intending to build it yourself?
"Kat Callahan" (kyosuke)
01/02/2017 at 07:52, STARS: 0
I’m doing it for all of the above reasons and more. And yes, I intend to build it myself with the help of friends. The amount of information on the internet is astounding. I’m a single person, but... I have been seeing someone fairly regularly for just about the entire time I’ve worked for Gawker Media, actually, and that person tends to stay over quite often.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
01/02/2017 at 07:58, STARS: 0
Yeah, there is a lot of info online! A lot of free plans as well, though some are a bit costly. My only big worry with tiny homes is I also want a few ‘division walls’ in mine for the sake of privacy. For example, most have a loft bedroom, which I would be fine with, but I would love a way to put a ‘door’ on it for a bit of privacy if I ever built one. A company called
TumbleWeed Tiny Homes
in the US has a few trailer Tiny Homes with different rooms on the lower level, including a small office/single bed room at the back and the bathroom.
The company near me
tends to make the large open-concept type ones.
Should be ample space for the both of you though!
"Kat Callahan" (kyosuke)
01/02/2017 at 08:23, STARS: 1
I’ve already designed it, and I’ve done something most people don’t do: I’m putting the Japanese style ofuro bath tub, toilet, vanity sink, and laundry machine in the center of the design, underneath the loft. This creates a three room division in my 8x20, plus a sleeping loft. The kitchen/dining/living room area is on the east side and a small office is on the west side. Large windows will be located to the south, for obvious reasons. The small office is important, because I plan to continue doing journalism, video editing, and probably some private tutoring.
I may be a millennial by most definitions, but I’ve already decided this is going to be key to my retirement, because I just don’t think there will be any kind of typical “normal” retirement for us. I think it’ll be many years of rotational work and leisure or just a light work load until we physically can’t work anymore.
Something like this, but set up differently:
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
01/02/2017 at 08:34, STARS: 0
Ah, very nice! Never heard of that particular layout before, but should be nice! I’ve thought about designing one myself in Sketchup but have never got around to it....what did you go with for your design? AutoCAD? Sketchup?
Sketchup is the only one I know from 3D Printing...
"Kat Callahan" (kyosuke)
01/02/2017 at 08:43, STARS: 1
Right now it’s just on paper. I was going to try my hand at using Sketchup, just haven’t done it yet. I don’t want to get too wedded to a design in case I end up with a differently sized trailer than I am expecting or something like that.
My goal is to use as many reclaimed materials and repurposed objects, including furniture I already own, as possible. Ultimately, I’ll let my materials and my whimsy dictate the final design. The goal here is to create a rent-saving option on my own land. It’s a matter of financial necessity, not just of desire. While I won’t cut any corners, especially considering codes, I also won’t allow myself to get so tied down to a particular design element that I end up spending more than I absolutely have to spend.
No rent. No mortgage. Pay as I go, end up debt free. That’s the only way to do this. Some people actually get mortgages for their tiny homes. Others find this so difficult, given the way banks think, they put material costs on their credit cards. Talk about missing the whole damn point.
"LongbowMkII" (longbowmkii)
01/02/2017 at 09:12, STARS: 0
I thought tiny houses in Japan were just called houses? :P
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
01/02/2017 at 09:24, STARS: 0
“when my administration isn’t nuts.”
Tell me about it! I have a Japanese education question. I’ve always been told Japanese grade level Math textbooks are roughly 1/4" thick. And the reason the Japanese are so good at Math, is they really drill down on a skill before moving on. I know you don’t teach Math, but do you know if there is any truth to that?
I’m glad you checked in, I’ve been wondering what you were up to. I look forward to reading about all those upcoming things.
"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
01/02/2017 at 12:01, STARS: 0
Welcome back Kat! I missed you!!! :)
Miss Tesla has been really itching to jump on the tiny home craze too, either that or living in a campervan across the country or in Canada.
The biggest problem with that of course, is that my career doesn’t really allow wandering. But I’m so for the tiny house idea!!! So long as I have covered parking for the two smarts, I don’t care!
"Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy" (zipppyart)
01/02/2017 at 17:33, STARS: 0
I was wondering where you wandered off to... I knew I was missing my kei car fix!
but hey, I’m now the proud owner of a Mazda 323 and a craptacular Honda Civic with a non-functional swap.
"Kat Callahan" (kyosuke)
01/02/2017 at 18:45, STARS: 0
I have no idea, honestly.
"Kat Callahan" (kyosuke)
01/02/2017 at 19:00, STARS: 0
323!!!!!! My first car! The car I learned to drive on! Rally that shit OUT. :3