How do you know whether a routine is discipline—or just obligation with better branding?

After 906 episodes and nearly five years of hitting the button, Brian is taking The LOTS Project Morning Show off the schedule until at least the first of the year. The show started as something he wanted to do. Lately, it has felt like something he is supposed to do.

This episode gets into that difference, why a week mostly disconnected from the internet made the decision clearer, and whether this is a temporary reset, a future format change, or the end of the regular Morning Show.

Before the serious part, summer finally backs off long enough for a major push at the cabin. With the in-laws in town, the porch railing and all four interior walls go up—including two 12½-foot walls that would have been miserable to build and lift the conventional way. Building them in place solved the problem and cleared the path toward wiring, plumbing, insulation, the utility shed, solar, water, and eventually moving in.

And because apparently there wasn’t enough going on, Brian also spent $325 on a 30-year collection of somewhere between 4,000 and 6,000 marbles. Now he has to learn what they are, separate the one-cent marbles from the valuable ones, and figure out whether he bought a profitable resale niche or a giant bag full of work.

Stay through the end for the honest explanation of why the show needs to stop—and what will continue while it is gone.

STAY CONNECTED:

Email signup and project updates:

https://thelotsproject.com

LOTS Telegram chat:

https://t.me/LOTSChat

Some links may be affiliate links. Purchases made through them may earn The LOTS Project a commission at no additional cost to you.

Twenty-five years after 9/11, social media apparently decided it was time to drag every theory, unanswered question and old argument back out of storage.

I remember the day a little differently than most people: I was listening to a shock-jock radio show at work and genuinely thought the first reports were part of a bit. That leads into a much bigger conversation about 9/11, conspiracy culture, the questions that never went away and why I'm perfectly comfortable saying I don't know exactly what happened.

Before we get there, the cabin update explains why progress has felt painfully slow.

This summer has been relentless. I finally compared the numbers with recent years, and the sustained heat isn't just in my head. That has meant shorter work sessions, worrying about the dogs in the RV if the AC fails, and even sticking my overheating phone in a portable refrigerator so I could finish recording a solar video.

That new solar video led to another realization.

Most advice tells you to calculate your electrical loads and then design the solar system you need. But what happens when reality gives you the system constraints first?

An RV roof only has so much room. Batteries weigh what they weigh. Budgets aren't unlimited. And at the cabin, I already own the solar panels—so I'm designing outward from what I have.

Sometimes the theoretically “right” way isn't the way the real project works.

We also get into an overpriced sliding porch-gate idea, Starlink after four years on the road and off grid, a Bitcoin deal from Cash App, the continuing mystery around Mitch McConnell, and a supposed local crime problem that turned out to involve a lost puppy.

Basically, a normal Monday.

Links mentioned in this episode:

DIY Solar Hub:

https://thelotsproject.com/solar

Four-Year Starlink Review + Referral:

https://thelotsproject.com/starlink

Cashapp Referral Link:

https://cash.app/refer/CZ4QSJS

Food Forest Farms:

FoodForestFarms.com

Code LOTS10 saves 10%.

Telegram:

https://t.me/LOTSChat

Amazon Shop:

https://amazon.com/shop/thelotsproject

Some links associated with The LOTS Project are affiliate or referral links. If you use them, I may receive a commission, service credit or other benefit at no additional cost to you.

The chainsaw getting pinched was the first clue that this tree had a different plan than I did.

I had roughly 45 feet of Tennessee hardwood that was supposed to fall into my cleared solar field. Instead, it started loading in the opposite direction—with my chainsaw still buried in the back cut.

So now what?

Ratchet straps didn't quite do it. Wedges weren't going to work. Leaving the saw trapped in the tree overnight wasn't exactly appealing.

Enter an 8-ton bottle jack and a 4x4.

Yeah. It got a little sketchy.

After surviving my afternoon of questionable forestry engineering, we get into two different opportunities for free stuff that showed up this week.

Starlink is running a referral promotion that can get eligible new customers a free second month of service. I've been using Starlink for about four years through full-time RV travel, remote work and off-grid living, so I dig into what the service has actually been like—including speeds, reliability, equipment failures, warranty replacements and off-grid power consumption.

Cash App is also running a Bitcoin promotion I received offering $20 in promotional Bitcoin after buying $10 worth. I've taken advantage of one of their previous Bitcoin offers, and we talk about how I use Cash App without leaving my Bitcoin sitting there forever.

The DIY solar series is moving along too. The new solar panel testing video is live, the Solar Hub is taking shape, and I've put together a free six-page Off-Grid Solar Quick Reference for anybody trying to make sense of volts, amps, watts, panel labels and series vs. parallel wiring.

Then we get to Kroger.

Apparently someone decided the checkout area was also a bathroom.

She allegedly dropped her pants, took a shit on the floor, walked through it and left employees to clean up the mess.

That's apparently where we are now.

We also squeeze in the weekly Bitcoin Price Guessing Game and a quick question about where the hell Mitch McConnell has been.

DIY SOLAR + FREE QUICK REFERENCE:

https://TheLOTSProject.com/solar

COMMUNITY:

https://t.me/LOTSChat

COFFEE:

Food Forest Farms — use LOTS10 for 10% off with free shipping.

https://foodforestfarms.com

STARLINK:

My referral link is below. Eligible new customers can receive their second month free, and I may receive a service credit if the referral requirements are completed.

https://starlink.com/?referral=RC-2049727-30228-61&app_source=share

CASH APP:

My referral link is below. Check the current in-app terms for availability and eligibility of the Bitcoin promotion discussed in this episode.

https://cash.app/refer/CZ4QSJS

ECHO RADIOS:

The radios I carry on the property when cell service isn't an option. Use ECHOBRIAN407720 for $40 off.

https://echoradios.com?bg_ref=Sv7Jdlw250

AFFILIATE/REFERRAL DISCLOSURE:

Some links associated with this episode are affiliate or referral links. I may receive a commission, Bitcoin, service credit or other compensation when you use them, at no additional cost to you.