Environmentally Sound

Your Inner Blood Type is Type B

You follow your own rules in life, even if you change the rules every day. Sure, you tend to be off the wall and unpredictable, but that's what makes you lovable. And even though you're a wild child, you have the tools to be a great success. You are able to concentrate intently - and make the impossible possible. You are most compatible with: B and AB Famous Type B's: Leonardo Di Caprio and

I don't agree with the answer this test gave me but here it is anyway!

You Are 70% "Average American"

You are average because you don't make New Year's resolutions. You are not average since you don't think affirmative action is necessary.

You Were Actually Born Under:

Your most comfortable inside your head - and often daydream the day away. You have an artistic temperament that makes you seem creative to some, eccentric to others. You avoid conflict at all costs, and you have a difficult time with relationships. Attractive and with good manners, you tend to shine in social situations. You are most compatible with a Pig or Rabbit.

You Should Have Been Born Under:

You've got a ton of energy - and need plenty of room to roam. You tend to follow your whims, and it's hard for you to stick to one thing. Specific jobs, loves, and friends are always changing and never a part of your life for long. Very intuitive, you tend to know what people are thinking before they say a word. You are most compatible with a Dog or Tiger.

Scott Armstrong
518 857 7392 mobile
jgbndaudio@earthlink.net


BROADWAY / NATIONAL TOURS (Selected Credits)

Audio Supervisor Flower Drum Song Broadway National Tour
Audio Supervisor Elaine Stritch at Liberty Broadway National Tour
Audio Supervisor STOMP National Tour
Audio Supervisor GumBoots National Tour
Audio Supervisor (sub) The Civil War Broadway National Tour
Monitor Engineer Spirit World Premiere Tour
Monitor Engineer Cirque Ingenieux World Premiere Tour
Audio Supervisor 42nd Street National Tour

DESIGN

Sound Effects Beauty and the Beast Detroit, MI
Designer / Engineer Forever Plaid New York, NY
Sound Designer 3 From Grace (Paley) New York, NY
Sound Designer Seatbelts and Big Fat Buddhas New York, NY
Sound Designer Victor Victoria National Tour
Sound Designer State Fair First National Tour
Sound Designer Kiss of The Spider Woman National Tour

DESIGNER ASSISTANCE

Acme Sound Partners Elaine Stritch: At Liberty National Tour
Tony Meola Romeo & Juliet the Musical Ordway Music Theatre

REGIONAL (Selected Credits)

Production Soundman Romeo & Juliet the Musical Goodspeed Opera
Production Soundman Just So Goodspeed Opera
Audio Engineer Mystere (Cirque du Soleil) Las Vegas, NV

SHOP

Audio Engineer Omni-Tech Saratoga, NY
Audio Engineer PROmix Mt. Vernon, NY
Audio Engineer Specialized Audio Visual Inc. (SAVI) Clifton Park, NY

OTHER

Audio Engineer Actors’ Fund Benefit New York, NY
Head Electrician Splash II – Riviera Hotel Las Vegas, NV

I'm shocked, I always believed her!
:)

You are a Social Liberal (70% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (21% permissive) You are best described as a: Strong Democrat Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Because this is so cool!

http://optics.org/articles/news/11/9/22/1

Solar rays power handbag lining
28 September 2005
A solar-powered handbag with an electroluminescent interior makes spotting keys and other elusive items easy.
Anyone who has wasted time rummaging around the bottom of a bag for house keys on a dark night would appreciate Rosanna Kilfedder's electroluminescent handbag. Powered by a thin film solar panel, the bag's electroluminescent lining lights up to reveal its contents when unzipped.
Sun Trap bag

The lining is deactivated as the zip is closed, or after 15 seconds to conserve power if the bag is accidentally left open. Sewn into one side, the handbag's 6% efficient solar panel charges an internal battery. As well as powering the lining, the battery can be used to run mobile phones or music players.
Solar powered

"I thought this would be a good way of solving the problem of being stuck late at night with a dead mobile battery," said Rosanna Kilfedder, a design student at Brunel University, UK. "I was thinking about safety and had the idea of including a portable charger."
Kilfedder's Sun Trap design fought off strong competition to win commercial backing from Brunel Enterprise Centre, UK, which is now providing patenting and marketing expertise.
"I plan to work with manufacturers to produce and sell a range of Sun Trap bags," added Kilfedder. "The bag [currently] exists at prototype stage and I aim to have it on the market within the year."
Author James Tyrrell is reporter on Optics.org and Opto & Laser Europe magazine.

I haven't talked about this yet, but recently Peg and I bought a 1987 Mercedes 300td, with just over 200,000 miles on it. (pictures to follow, soon) The reason we bought it, is so that we can run it on wvo. We ordered a kit from http://www.greasel.com/. That's going to be installed by Steve Spence during a class on Oct. 2nd. We're very excited about the money we'll be saving, by using free wvo as opposed to gas at nearly $3.00 a gallon.

The keys to using waste vegetable oil (wvo) are filtering it well and keeping it
warm. As far as filtering goes, the warmer the oil, the quicker/easier it is to filter.

Filter bags that go down to a 1-10 microns, which is recomended are availabe on
ebay and other real online stores. Most people use a T-shirt or a piece of fleece
as a primary filter (about 100 microns) to make the filters they buy last longer.

I just ordered some 5/1 micron filter bags from Http://www.greasecar.com, they were $10 each and came in a box of five. They're a little smaller than I thought they'd be but I'll see how I like them.

That's all for now.

This post is not to point out that things could be better.
This post is simply to let everyone know that I love my dog!


Max, outside enjoying the sun!

I think it's funny that the cars this team is building are way more interesting than the shit coming out of Detroit! Maybe that's because Detroit is such a totally depressing city and the big execs of the American car companies don't have any creativity left. Oh well, GM wont be around all that much longer anyway and maybe when they go under or get bought by Toyota that will wake up ford to ‘get on the ball’!

Today in our local paper (Times Herald Record) there’s a story about high electric bills. http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/09/08/rachbil0.htm

It talks about three different customers and how much they’re bills were for the last billing cycle. Keep in mind that Central & Hudson bills on two-month cycles. Using numbers from the story, I’ve estimated how their usage breaks down.

In third place are the Petersons, who used a measly 3,131 Kwh’s and paid $420.38.

In second place is Kelly McDermott who used roughly 4,027 Kwh’s and paid $540.78.

And the winner is, Roy Arteta who used roughly 4,057 Kwh’s and paid $544.73.

Yes, I did the math right.

Each of those three families use on average 62 Kwh’s a day. 62 kwh’s a day???
How exactly do you use that much electricity?

I mean that’s a really impressive use of electricity, because in the 539 days (18 months) that Peg and I have resided at 47 Hillcrest Trail we’ve used a total of 2,558 Kwh’s, or an average of 4.75 per day. We’ve used the same amount of electricity in 18 months that they used in 42 days.

Now, I understand that two energy conscious people in a small house will use less electricity then a big family in a bigger house, that’s a given. But to use that much power means they don’t have a clue about conservation.

Actually, it answers a question that I’ve had for quite some time. On our Orange and Rockland bill they have a little bar chart that compares your usage to that of the ‘average’ customer. Our usage bar is always at ¼ to 1/3rd of the ‘average' user. This has always made me wonder who was using ‘our extra 66-75%’ to bring the average up for us. Now I know.

Do your part and learn to conserve electricity now before you're forced to, by reasons beyond your control.

Ok, so this first question is: Who didn't see this coming?

Without being too insulting, the answer is, most Americans.

Honestly, I've thought this was coming for many months now, ever since that fateful day in March when I first heard a lecture about peak oil. No, I can’t claim I knew a hurricane would cause this because I honestly thought a terrorist attack on some part of our energy infrastructure would be the catalyst. However it’s now apparent that hurricane Katrina did far more damage then the ‘terrorists’ probably could have. Unless, of course they hit the Indian Point Power plant! That would be very, very bad!

Anyway, today when I bought gas after combining trips to seven (7) different places, I was not even upset to see that I was going to pay $3.29 a gallon. Honestly, I hope the price stays that high! I can hear some of you saying “he must be nuts, how can he afford that?” I can’t!

But, I don’t see the wisdom of making a trip with a single purpose in mind. Yes, there are exceptions, but whenever it’s avoidable; it only requires a little planning ahead and some patience. Maybe, that’s too much to ask of Americans, because after all we do live in a ‘here and now’ society.

The order of my trip was, the Post Office, Recycling drop off, Sears, Bed Bath and Beyond, Lowe’s, Hess (gas), Hannaford, (grocery store). A few of these places I've been waiting to go to for more than a week (Lowe's, Sears, Recycling).

I have to say that I was little surprised at the number of people still out driving around alone in their giant SUV’s (Socially Unconscious Vehicles).

Two things came to mind.

First I always find myself wondering, where do these people work and how much money do they make? Through out my working life I’ve always considered my income to be ‘above normal’ yet, I don’t think I’d want to be dropping a hundred bucks to fill my gas tank. In fact, the very thought makes me twitch, and that keeps me from being even remotely jealous. In reality I’m angry with with them for wasting our worlds resources but admittedly I'm also sad for them because, I see them as being so foolish for getting so tightly wrapped up in ‘the American dream’. Whatever that is! My dream is to work as little as possible and still have all the comforts of life that I deem important. Oh yeah, I also dream about being energy independent but that’s a topic we’ll discuss later.

Secondly, it made me recall that a few months ago, there was a survey that asked Americans what it would take for them to start changing their driving habits. The predominant answer was ‘when gas costs over three (3) dollars a gallon.

Well folks, here we are and I couldn’t really be any happier about it!

Finally the “free market” will start convincing people that we’ve got some serious energy problems to address. I‘d hate to think that in ten years we’d be looking back saying, that the days before hurricane Katrina were the good old days.
“Oh, remember when we could waste energy at will…., those were the best of times.”

Please go do your part, starting today, because every little bit helps!
Feel free to email me at jgbndaudio@earthlink.net to help you get started.


Compliments of:

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-09-03T142124Z_01_MOL351670_RTRUKOC_0_UK-ENERGY-IEA-CRISIS.xml

IEA chief warns of worldwide energy crisis
Sat Sep 3, 2005 3:21 PM BST

BERLIN (Reuters) - The head of the West's energy watchdog said in an interview on Saturday that Hurricane Katrina could spark a worldwide energy crisis if damage to U.S. refineries led to a big increase in U.S. purchases of European petrol.

"If the crisis affects oil products then it's a worldwide crisis. No one should think this will be limited to the United States," Claude Mandil, head of the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) told German daily Die Welt.

"They are already buying gasoline in Europe. If the refineries are damaged, that will only increase. Then this will become a worldwide crisis very quickly."

Mandil told the paper that high oil prices represented a risk for global economic growth and urged consumers to alter their behaviour to save more energy and limit the fallout.

Poor countries were bound to suffer most from a recent surge in energy prices, which has been aggravated by Katrina and the shortages it has caused, he said.

On Friday, the IEA launched a rescue plan to ease those shortages, saying its 26 members would release two million barrels per day of oil over a 30-day period.

U.S. gasoline prices have spiked by nearly a fifth over the past week, pushing up fuel prices around the world.

In a post from July 25th I talk about getting free wood shavings. Below are some emails I exchanged with Jim Galligan. He was extremely informative, as you will see when you read below.

I first emailed Jim through the Wa$tematch service and received this reply.

Thanks for your interest in our wood shavings – We generate wood shavings from various solid woods as part of the production process for our product www.girardemilia.com. Typically these shavings are collected by a vacuum system typically consisting of maple (60%), bass (10%) Mahogany (10%), Oak (10%), Misc woods (10%). Please let me know how I might be of assistance. Jim Galligan

I then wrote Jim;

Thanks for the speedy reply. I would be interested in getting a few bags worth to see what uses I can find for it. I know I'm going to compost some of it so it'd be good to know if that misc 10%, would include any wood or glues that I shouldn't be composting. Thanks again for your time.

Jim replied;

I use it myself as mulch – you need to mix in with soil though as this stuff is lighter than say cedar chips. My brother composts it; we were told by the Brooklyn Botanical Garden that the best way to compost our material is to mix it with vegetable matter. He has had success composting this byproduct – I do not have the room at my small beach house in queens for compost so I can’t first hand. The way the manufacturing process works is that hardwood is planed at the beginning of the production cycle and pulled through a vacuum into a 40 yard cyclone, gravity then takes it into the bagging area. We do not plane plywood nor mdf (fiberboard) nor do we plane glued items as the glue would ruin our blades. Accordingly, this is a very clean product. Current uses I am told are as follows: Small Animal Bedding (e.g. rabbits), chemical (e.g. mechanic shops) / animal cleanup (i.e. poultry market / meat market), biomass (i.e. burning for fuel – you need a special burner though as this stuff needs to be burned at a higher temperature than wood or it will smoke due to its density. Composting has not been a large use for us probably because of the housing density here in the city – people do not have much land. Having said that, you are welcome to as much as you want, it is free, however, by your phone number – it looks like you are in upstate NY – I think we might have a problem with shipping –the cost to ship this stuff is usually the prohibitive factor for small loads.

I then wrote Jim again asking him if I needed to bring containers. His reply;

We already have about forty 55 gallon contractor bags packed for people to take as they need – we learned that for small quantities people need them packed.. We are open consistently M-F 7am thru 4 PM – Saturdays - call ahead as we only work as needed.

The factory is LOCATED AT 867 EAST 52ND Street, Brooklyn, NY 11203 (718).629.4202. If you call ahead our folks will open the storage for you and help you load it. Make sure you tell the guys you are composting this and they will pull the oldest bags for you (i.e. rather than the driest newest stuff).

As you can see Jim provided me with all the information I needed. When I went to pickup the wood shavings they were very friendly and helpful even though Jim was not there. I will likely return in the future to take them up on their most generous offer. Here's a picture of what the shavings look like.

Take our coming permanent energy crisis lightly if you want but consider this a turning point.
This man is on the leading edge.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/08/29/bc.autos.uaw.gasoline.reut/index.html

DETROIT, (Reuters) - Unlike most owners of fuel-sipping gas-electric hybrid vehicles, United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger acknowledged Friday that he is concerned about high U.S. gasoline prices.
That's because the UAW, which has failed to sign up workers at foreign-owned auto assembly plants cropping up across the southern United States, is heavily dependent on Detroit's traditional Big Three automakers for its livelihood.

The Big Three, meanwhile, depend on big trucks and sport utility vehicles for much of their profits.
Demand for the fuel-thirsty vehicles dropped sharply earlier this year, on a shift in consumer sentiment as gasoline prices began their upward spiral. Sales have picked up again since June, after General Motors Corp. Ford Motor Co. and the Chrysler arm of DaimlerChrysler began selling vehicles to the general public at the same low prices their employees pay.

But any further escalation in pump prices could slam the brakes on sales of the gas-guzzlers, some analysts say.

"Some people say that until it gets over $3 dollars (a gallon) it won't really matter," Gettelfinger told reporters on Friday, when asked how gas prices were affecting demand for Detroit's most profitable vehicles.
"I think when the average person pulls up to the fuel pumps it does have an impact on them," he said.
A union source said Gettelfinger has raised his concern about gas prices in talks with GM about the company's demand for union concessions on health care and other benefits to help the automaker return to profitability.
GM is preparing to roll out a new lineup of full-size trucks and SUVs as part of a turnaround plan. If the vehicles do poorly the world's largest automaker, which has lost $2.5 billion in North America so far this year, could find itself in an even deeper hole.

Gettelfinger did not elaborate on the impact of high fuel prices. But he said consumers had to make "a judgment call" when shopping for a new car or truck.

"I drive a hybrid myself, a Ford Escape hybrid. I love it," he said.
'New age'
He called the compact SUV, built with some technology that Ford licenses from Toyota Motor Corp. part of "the new technology age of vehicles."

The problem for Detroit, and for the UAW which celebrated its 70th anniversary on Friday, is that Toyota and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. seem to be leading the new age by getting a big head start in the hybrid market.
Toyota's Prius passenger car, first launched in Japan in 1997, is the most popular hybrid.
Hybrids burn less fuel by adding one or more electric motors to a conventional gasoline engine. Batteries help power the vehicles and recharge automatically by capturing energy during braking.
GM is working on hybrid technology with DaimlerChrysler, and it is developing a "two-mode" hybrid system, adapted from its transit bus hybrid already on the market in some U.S. cities. But GM's first widespread commercial use of the system won't be until late 2007 on its Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon full-size SUVs.
Vehicles mentioned in this story:

Ford Escape Hybrid
Toyota Prius
Feedback

Copyright 2005 Reuters All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Story Tools

BROADWAY BATTERY FACTS

· One AAA battery weighs 11.5 grams, or about one-half ounce.

· One AA battery weighs 24 grams, or about one ounce.

· Alkaline batteries (AA, AAA, 9-volt) contain manganese dioxide, zinc, potassium hydroxide (35%), and graphite.* Although mercury is no longer added, most batteries still contain up to 1% mercury by volume.

· It would be safe to say that since 1985, nearly every show on Broadway has used wireless microphones and/or wireless clearcom.

· To ensure the highest possible sound quality and lessen the chance of microphone failure during a performance, wireless microphone batteries are used ONE TIME (new batteries are installed in each wireless microphone before every performance).

· The average Broadway musical** uses approximately 400 batteries weekly in its wireless microphones, and at least two dozen more in its wireless headset systems. During tech periods, battery use can easily double, or even triple.

· This one-time use means that, an average Broadway musical will use more than 2,000 batteries, a month or 24,000 batteries per year. There are, on average, twenty shows of varying sizes (musicals and plays) on Broadway at any given time. In addition there is on average, another half dozen shows in various stages of opening.

· The ten largest Broadway musicals currently use – and throw away -- approximately 20,000 pounds – or ten tons -- of batteries per year. All other shows (smaller musicals, plays, and limited engagements) collectively use at least the same amount. Therefore, Broadway shows are responsible for disposing of approximately 40,000 pounds of batteries annually into New York City’s waste stream.


* SOURCE: Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), Duracell Alkaline Batteries, 6/25/04.
** 24 wireless microphones being average (several shows use as many as 28-32 or more)


Environmentally Sound
“Greening Broadway, One Show At A Time”

Scott Armstrong, President
(518) 857-7392

I recently found this story from April of this year. That makes it old as far as news goes but I believe that his points are still valid four months later. It's one of the best articles I’ve read lately about some of the problems the USA faces heading into it’s permanent energy crisis.

The article below is from:
http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=4511


Globalist Analysis > Global Economy, The Downsizing of the Dollar in Oil Prices

By Bernard Wasow Tuesday, April 26, 2005

As the price of gas in the United States continues its bumpy ride upward, many Americans are pointing to China's voracious appetite for energy, Iraq's post-invasion interruptions in supply and other elements as root causes. Bernard Wasow zeroes in on the U.S. dollar's exchange rate and U.S. economic policies as key factors in oil prices.

One important fact about oil consumption is usually overlooked — the oil price in dollars has risen much more than the price of oil in euros or even in yen.
The value of the dollar against both oil and other currencies is falling because the United States is issuing too many dollar-denominated IOUs.

This is because the dollar has lost so much value relative to the euro and the yen. Since George W. Bush took office at the beginning of 2001, the value of the dollar has fallen from 1.07 to 0.77 euros per dollar.
That fall has softened the rise in the price of oil for Europeans. In dollars, the price of petroleum has more than doubled. In euros, the price has risen by 50%.
The falling dollar has made the petroleum price crunch much more severe for Americans than for people in other rich countries.

Bad news

The bad news to come is that this might get a lot worse — fast. The price of oil and the value of the dollar have taken quite a ride since Mr. Bush took office.



Ignoring the high frequency of ups and downs and just looking at annual averages, the story is pretty simple: The price of oil has gone up, up, up — and the value of the dollar has gone down, down, down.

Surplus and deficit

These are not isolated trends. While they are not joined at the hip — various influences on the supply and demand for both oil and dollars enter the story — they have one powerful common source.
Were it not for the central banks of China and Japan — which are trying to preserve the competitive edge of their exports — the dollar would have fallen much further already.
The value of the dollar against both oil and other currencies is falling because the United States is issuing too many dollar-denominated IOUs.
The big change since the late 1990s is in the government sector, where large budget surpluses have been converted into huge annual deficits.
Nobody, from oil exporters and private individuals to businesses and foreign central banks is happy to accumulate the flood of Treasury securities that the United States is selling to finance these deficits.

Picking up the tab

What is more, the U.S. Treasury depends on the rest of the world to buy new U.S. debt issues because U.S. buyers don't want them. Instead, American consumers and the federal government are engaged in a frenzy of consumption, going more and more into debt, leaving the rest of the world to pick up the tab.
Apart from the Social Security trust funds and the Federal Reserve, other wealth holders in the United States — that is, private institutions and businesses — own fewer Treasury securities today than they did when President Bush took office, even though the total national debt held outside the U.S. government has grown by more than $1 trillion since early 2001.

The fall of the dollar

Everybody expects U.S. interest rates to rise as the government issues more and more debt. The pressure for the dollar to fall — especially against Asian currencies — is growing stronger.
American consumers and the federal government are engaged in a frenzy of consumption, going more and more into debt — leaving the rest of the world to pick up the tab.
Nobody wants to accumulate too much of this depreciating paper. "Nobody" includes the oil exporters.
In fact, were it not for the central banks of China and Japan, which are trying to preserve the competitive edge of their exports, the dollar would have fallen much further already.
It is inevitable that the dollar will fall, especially against Asian currencies. When this happens, the rising prices of raw materials and basic industrial inputs, already producing inflationary pressure in the United States, will be joined by rising prices of manufactured imports. We can expect a sharp rise in the rate of U.S. inflation.

Demand for real estate

The prospect of rising inflation and interest rates has helped fuel the demand for real estate, with buyers eager to lock in low mortgage rates, even in the overheated property market of California and the east coast of the United States.
Prices of these assets, like prices of financial assets, are at levels that cannot persist.
A sinking dollar
What does the future hold? Will the dollar continue to sink gently while the price of oil rises? Will interest rates adjust gradually and property values level off?
Since George W. Bush took office at the beginning of 2001, the value of the dollar has fallen from 1.07 euros to 0.77 euros.

That is the optimistic scenario. Steady price movements are what one hopes for when markets become jittery. The alternative is a rush to the exits, a crisis — with a lot of blood spilled in the struggle not to be left behind.
The Bush Administration is fiddling with tax rates, trying to lower them further and cement earlier "temporary" tax cuts in place.

At the same time, it shows no sign of getting serious about cutting spending or raising some taxes. It's time to take notice, fellows. You might be headed for a fall.

Recycling is a good thing, but Precycling can reduce the amount of recycling you need to do by preventing waste before it happens.

Precycling is thinking about the products you buy and the packaging they come in. Below are some precycling rules of thumb to keep in mind when you go shopping.

First and foremost, avoid disposable items.
Buy durable and repairable goods.
Whenever possible buy items that contain recycled content.
Avoid over-packaging.
Buy in bulk.
Buy larger sizes.
Buy in concentrate.
Use refillable containers.
Choose products that come in packaging that is recyclable or reusable.

Remember that by reducing, reusing and buying consciously, we can minimize the amount of waste we create, conserve resources and save money.
Comments welcome
Scotty

Today I want to talk about the Blooming Grove Stair Company. Their website is http://www.bloominggrovestair.com/.

Why talk about them?
Well, it all started about two months ago when I noticed that there were a couple big wooden dumpsters out in front of their building. One time after they were closed I drove up and parked next to the dumpsters and saw that they were filled with all kinds of scrap wood. Not knowing if it was okay to help myself (still not sure of the legality of dumpster diving in NY). I only grabbed a few pieces that were representative of what was in the dumpster. I took them home and started brainstorming about what I could do with the wood that they were throwing away. A lot of ideas came to me such as making bird feeders, bat houses, wood letters and possibly even trying to build a unit that would turn the scrap wood into wood gas, which I would then be able to burn in our propane appliances. I know that sounds crazy but it's a real possibility. It didn't take long to see that this was an opportunity I should seize. I called them to ask what was up with the dumpsters out front. They were as nice as could be and the lady explained that in the summer they put them out there for people to take the scraps. Jackpot! Makes me wonder what they do in the winter. I’m assuming they burn it to heat their shop. Anyway, since then I've been several times a week to load the pickup with all sizes and shapes of their scraps. I think I've already got enough kindling to last the winter. Now I've just got to finish building my combination wood/wvo stove. In fact I’ve got so much kindling that I've already filled a box for my sister in Syracuse and a big nylon onion bag for my sister in Albany. Truth be told, everyone I know that burns wood is going to get some kindling for Christmas! So act surprised. Free kindling is good, but it gets better. At first I wasn't exactly sure of what kind of wood I was getting. Then the a couple weeks ago, I finally remembered to look for their website. As you'll see if you check out their site on the main page they show the ten different woods they use most often. How helpful. What I’ve learned is that I'm mostly getting Maple, Poplar, Oak and Pine. It appears that maple seems to be the wood they use most and that's great news for me. Why? Because maple makes excellent flooring. In fact most sports floors are maple and come to think of it, so are a lot of theatre stages. Anyway, I know it would probably be easier and maybe even cheaper in the long run to go buy a pre manufactured wood floor but convenience and cost are not the main concerns here. One thing is that I want to learn how to put down a traditional wood floor. Secondly to be able to use reclaimed wood will just be completely awesome! Thirdly since I’ll have the advantage of having more than enough wood, if I screw it up I can always try again and it wont cost any more. Lastly think of all the great tools I’ll get to buy in the name of ‘putting down a reclaimed wood floor’ honey.

Something else I learned yesterday is that people who are serious about barbeque pay money for maple wood chips and sawdust to help flavor their foods. That might explain why last week when Peg and I barbequed some salmon and I made the fire out of maple it tasted so yummy!

Comments welcome,
Scotty

Expanding on yesterday’s topic, here's another place that's working to reduce the garbage stream. I hope to check out the store sometime really soon. Please check out their web site and patronize them if and when you need some building supplies. Once again, you can save money and help the environment. How cool is that?
Comments welcome,
Scotty


The Build It Green! NYC Warehouse is a non-profit retail outlet for reusable, environmentally-friendly and low-cost building materials.

Salvage & Surplus: Build It Green! NYC Warehouse sells salvaged and surplus building materials at the warehouse -- great products at half or below their new price. And you help keep perfectly useful material out of the landfill!

We have over 75 tons of materials on sale:
• doors
• flooring
• sinks and toilets
• lighting
• windows
• trim
• cabinets
• metal studs
And much, much more...

Green Products: Build It Green! will be expanding its stock of building materials to include environmentally friendly and non-toxic materials.

They’re two groups in specific I'd like to showcase.

One is http://www.freecycle.org/.
Freecycle is a place where you can list things that you no longer use and would like to give away for free. I have used them several times as both a giver and a getter. They have detailed explanations about how it all works, so I won't repeat it all here. Go check out their site and see what it's all about.

Secondly is http://www.wastematch.org/ they're a NYC based group that is trying to keep reusable items out of the garbage stream. So far I have used their service to get three steel 55-gallon drums and eight 55-gallon garbage bags full of hardwood shavings. Later this week I'll be getting some plastic barrels for a rainwater reclamation system Peg and I want to get started. The steel barrels came from a company called Torre products. Here's a link to a story about what they do. http://www.nypress.com/16/41/food/foos2.cfm
The wood shavings/chips/sawdust came from a company that makes high-end furniture. Here's their website.http://www.girardemilia.com/
So far the total cost of all these things = FREE. The barrels I'll be getting later in the week are a measly $3 each. They come from http://www.paradiseproductscorp.com/.

It's mostly business-oriented but they don't seem to mind individuals using their FREE service at all. I love that they're slogan is "Out of your dumpster, on to your bottom line".
I know that if I ran a business that had to continually pay for garbage removal that I would do a comprehensive study of what I was throwing away and find out whether or not it could be given away or sold. In fact someone running a company would be remiss in their duties if they were not getting every bit of profit that they could out of their waste stream. When you throw in the added benefit of helping to reduce the amount of waste that needs to be land filled or incinerated, it's a no brainer!

I like to dream about this idea spreading and becoming a national idea, used by thousands of businesses. Can you imagine how much we could do to help our selves and the environment by not disposing of perfectly useful items?

Comments always welcome.
Scotty

Ok. This time it's for real.

I won't promise that'll be everyday but I do promise to post something you need to know at least a couple times a week.

Scotty

This is a link to a homesteading forum I found.

This is a great job site that lists jobs with green businesses and organizations.

Definitely worth checking out.

This link will take you to NYSERDA.
If you live or have a business in New York you can get money from the state to help you save energy. They offer so many kinds of programs that I couldn't begin to explain them all so go look around and see for yourself. If you own a business you'd be remiss in your duties to not see if you qualify. After all we're talking about something that directly affects your bottom line. Saving energy is saving money!

This is a link that will help you find out if you can purchase green energy where you live. Green energy may cost you a little more but with a little effort toward saving energy you could actually end up lowering your bill. Change your most often used lights to CF's and that should cover the extra expense of buying environmentally friendly electricity.

This guy is great and I have been a big fan for a while. It even works well on a dialup connection so don’t let that be an excuse for not checking it out.

Yesterday we cooked some Fava beans in the sun oven. They came out great and Peg turned them in to a very yummy dish of Fulmadonnas? (Spelling?). For fun, I call them, full Madonna's.

10:30 Setup oven with back leg at highest notch for maximum tilt. It’s about 30° outside. Light to no wind. No clouds
11:00 Oven at 150° - Put black pot in oven with one bag of Fava's and three quarts of cold water. (About 50°)
11:30 Oven at 220°
Noon Oven at 200° - caused by a little shading from tree
12:45 Oven at 240°
1:30 Oven at 260°
2:00 Oven at 260°
4:00 Oven at 150° Sun mostly blocked my branches on neighbors tree. When we took out the beans and measured the temperature of the water it was 180°.

Not too bad for end of February.
I'm beginning to think that the 105 days of sun that we average will lead to us cooking at minimum fifty meals a year in the solar oven or the equivalent of one per week. That means the sun oven will probably pay for itself in less than two years. Which is great and it could be even sooner if we use it more often than that.

It also has rekindled my idea about getting a solar hot water heater. I now have a better understanding of how well it would work even in our northern climate. More on that later.

Very exciting!
To me anyway!

Hello,

The auto and oil companies are leading us astray.

Right now, a very dedicated group of electric car advocates are holding an indefinite ralley outside GM's training facility in Burbank, California. There mission is to free 77 electric cars before they're crushed.
Why GM wants to crush these cars is a matter of opinion but go read about it and decide for yourself if you think they're hiding something.
I have been interested in electronics and cars for a long time but only recently have I become aware of how much better electric cars would be for some people and situations. Go check out their website Blog www.EV1.org.

Together we can help bring America towards sustainable development. One in which domestic energy supplies our cars and our industries which will strengthen our economy. I urge you to send out a mailing and to support their mission. Creating a better America starts by changing our habits within. Alternative cars and green energy are two possible catalysts for a strong new economy. Let's make it happen.

Scotty

Hello,

A few weeks ago I had the chance to see him speak and even though I've been interested in alternative energy for a long time what he had to say was a real eye opener.

I urge you to read it.
Scotty


Read the speech here.
http://www.kunstler.com/spch_hudson.htm

Man Tries to Toss Cigarette, SUV Ignites
February 18, 2005 8:04 AM EST
SAN FRANCISCO - A man barely escaped serious injury Thursday after a lit cigarette he tried to toss out the window while driving across the Bay Bridge blew back in and ignited the vehicle, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The unidentified man was driving westbound at about 10:40 a.m. when he tossed the cigarette out the window of his Ford Expedition, said CHP Officer Shawn Chase.
Carried by the wind, the cigarette landed in his back seat and almost immediately burst into flames. The man quickly pulled to the side of the road, and leapt from the flame-filled SUV, which continued rolling into a guard rail, Chase said.
"He thought he had thrown it in park, but he didn't and it just kept going," the officer said. "It was in flames by the time he got out. He had some of his hair singed on the back of his head. It burnt down to the frame. There was nothing left."
The incident forced the closure of the Harrison Street off-ramp and one lane of traffic flowing into the city for about an hour.
He said the man will likely face a misdemeanor charge for littering.
"We see people throwing cigarettes out the window all the time but never a situation like this where it comes back in," Chase said. "This guy was lucky."

I'm glad to see that at least one other person is paying attention to our impending oil crisis.

February 08, 2005
New cop car will go easy on the green
By Paul Brooks Times Herald-Record pbrooks@th-record.com
Ellenville – "Charge it" is taking on new meaning for the Ellenville Police Department. Instead of pulling up to the gas pump, the department's newest car sidles up to an electric outlet. It's a GEM, or global electric motorcar. Just plug it in, said Ellenville police Chief Phil Mattracion. The vehicle resembles a plump golf cart out for a stroll rather than a snarling prowler eager for high-speed pursuit. The GEM tops out the speedometer at a not-so-sizzling 30 mph. But like the proverbial tortoise and hare, the electric-powered, two-seater will cruise around for eight hours. Try that with a gas guzzler. "Obviously, the costs will be minimal," Mattracion said. Way minimal, considering it's not costing the village anything. The biggest chunk of the funding – $10,000 – comes from Provident Bank Charitable Foundation. Provident has branch offices in Ellenville and Sullivan County. It picked up the branches when it bought out the former Ellenville National Bank. "We have a responsibility to help out not only in dollars but in time," said Robert Sansky, a vice-president with Provident Bank. "The more we do the more it comes back to us in the form of those residents and the residents of the surrounding area." Mattracion got the idea for an electric car for the department three years ago during a visit to Ithaca, where he saw one of the cars zipping around the village. As chief, he's always on the lookout for ways to save the village money, he said. "And it's environmentally responsible. What a great thing," he said. The vehicle will see most use in the downtown business area and at special events like the Fourth of July parade. It can go off-street as well, Mattracion said. A local businessman, Levy Hecht, has given the village another $3,000 to pay for the police lights, striping and other last-minute details needed to finish the car. The car, purchased under state contract, is coming from a dealer in Dutchess County. If everything goes well, Mattracion could have it in March, he said.

Arctic pipeliners fear aboriginal legal move may create new regulatory layer
Bob Weber Canadian Press (National Post)
http://www.canada.com/news/business/story.html?id=6666f97c-d7a0-4a47-abfb-62
February 9, 2005(CP) - Proponents of a $7-billion Arctic natural gas pipeline are worriedlegal manoeuvres by a northern aboriginal group could add a new layer ofregulation and delay an already halting process.The Deh Cho First Nation, which claims land on 40 per cent of thepipeline's route, has reactivated a lawsuit calling for any pipelineapprovals to be declared invalid, said Grand Chief Herb Norwegian. Talkson an out-of-court settlement have stalled and a big part of any dealwould be a new permitting agency giving his group final control overdevelopment, he said."I've instructed our lawyers to continue our litigation," said Norwegian."We may have hit bottom here."Last fall, the Deh Cho First Nation, made up of about 4,500 Dene in thesouthwest corner of the Northwest Territories, filed two lawsuits inFederal Court. The Deh Cho want the court to block the pipeline review anddeclare any decision reached by the review panel invalid until the FirstNation is included in the process.A settlement seemed near as recently as mid-January, but Norwegian saidOttawa is now balking, largely over Deh Cho demands for their ownregulatory body.The Deh Cho no longer want to be governed by the Mackenzie Valley Land andWater Board, Norwegian said. That board grants all pipeline permits withthe exception of the extreme north and has authority over regional bodies.Deh Cho chiefs want final say over any development on what they considertheir traditional lands. The group is currently also negotiating a landclaim."It's not so that we would be able to stop development, it's so we wouldhave some say over it," Norwegian said.But that would change the regulatory rules in the middle of the game, saidHart Searle, spokesman for the pipeline proponents.A plan for the various northern regulators to co-operate has already beenworked out and energy companies have made plans based on that, saidSearle."This co-operation plan as laid out was a central part of our planning. Wemade a lot of fundamental decisions based on that," he said."It's critical that all the (regulatory) agencies remain accountable to it."Both a new regulatory player and further legal action carry the threat offurther delays to the project."Delays add to cost," said Searle."The economics of our project are not robust. Anything that factors intothat diminishes the attractiveness of the economics."Norwegian said he will seek a meeting with Indian Affairs Minister AndyScott to try to clear the roadblock.But it's the second piece of bad news for the pipeline project in as manyweeks.Last week, the pipeline proponents were told by regulators that theirenvironmental impact statements contained so many information gaps that nohearings on the project can be scheduled until those holes are plugged.
© The Canadian Press 2005

Hello,

I’m happy to report that Sunday here was mostly sunny with only some very wispy clouds late in the afternoon. This provided us with a chance to try and actually cook something in the Sun Oven. Below are the details. Thanks for reading.

10:30 Setup on side yard and focus. Back leg at highest notch for maximum tilt. It’s about 40° outside. Light to no wind.

11:30 up to 300° Opened door to see which pans would fit. The temperature dropped to about 250° and then went back up to 300° in about five minutes.

11:44 Little over 300°, put brownies in oven. We used a clear glass 9x9 pan. I’ve read a lot of places saying not to use clear glass but it was the best fitting pan we had.

12:05 Down to 250° because of some shading.

12:15 Pull brownies out of oven. They came out very cake like and YummY! Clear pan seemed to work fine for brownies.

12:17 Burn my tongue eating very hot solar baked brownies. Couldn't wait any longer

Cooking Dinner:
12:45 260° Put curried rice and lentils recipe in oven.

1:30 210° - There are some wispy clouds in front of the sun now.

2:00 moved up to deck for last bit of sun while we went grocery shopping.

4:30 Just over 100°, took out rice in lentil dish. The four cups of water were absorbed into the rice and lentils and the texture was great. A very YummY recipe.

Hello,

Well even though the weathermen predicted today would be cloudy it was not... Not even a little! That made it a good day to give the Sun Oven a test. The directions say to let it burn for 60-90 minutes before cooking in it. I thought a whole day experimenting to see how well it would work on a February day in mid-state New York would be a more prudent start.

All temperatures in Fahrenheit – even if I wish America could learn to use the metric system. It’s really not that hard.

9:oo it’s 30° with no clouds, and medium to strong winds.
I focused the oven directly at the sun with the back leg at full extension.

9:30 No reading yet on thermostat. The wind blew it over one time. It’s hard to keep it in the sun on the deck because the sun is so low on the horizon and is partially blocked by trees. For this reason I decided to move it to the front yard up near the driveway where there is more unobstructed sun.

9:50 looked out and saw that it had blown over again. Thinking maybe this won’t happen when there’s the extra weight of a pot with food in it.

10:00 Put about four quarts of water in our five quart stock pot and placed it in the oven. Although the temperature gauge wasn’t reading anything yet, it was warm in the oven when I opened the door.

10:30 Finally a temperature reading of 140° and it hasn’t tipped over since I added the pot. That makes me think I’ll need to find a brick to put in there when I’m preheating the oven and it’s windy out.

11:00 still only 140° and the sun is being shaded on and off by big tree in backyard.
11:30 still only 140° and the sun is being shaded on and off by big tree in backyard.

Noon 175°. Thinking that maybe if it was mounted on a cart with wheels it would be easier to move it around. In fact if the seasonal angle adjustment was built in to the cart the box could simply be square or rectangular. I’m also thinking that access through a back door would be a better way to go since it’s awkward to have to reach over the reflectors to get to the oven compartment. This would also allow the reflectors to be made sturdier. Not to say the Sun Oven reflectors aren’t sturdy.

1:00 still175°
2:00 it's up between 200° – 250°. However, since all the condensation is right over the temperature gauge I can’t read the gauge. I think the fact that the temperature gauge is inside the oven is a design oversight. They should’ve used the long shaft kind through a small but well sealed hole instead. Then it would be outside the box and easier to read. I think it’d be good if it were flush mounted on the back.

3:00 still can’t read the gauge but I think it’s between 175° and 200°.
For the record it’s still about 30° outside.
4:00 Took water out and measured it at 170°.

Used it to wash the dishes.

Since this was the first time I’m not sure if I consider these results good or bad. The test today made me realize that I definitely made the right choice buying one pre built. It allowed me to see how it’s made and where it could be improved. I already know that I can build a better one when I get the tools and the time.

Overall I’d say I’m happy to learn that even on a cold winters day if there’s good sunshine that I could at least make some rice or soup.

Scotty

Courtesy of: http://www.thestreet.com/_googlen/stocks/retail/10208246.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

Wal-Mart to Close Union-Targeted Store -- Report By Nat WordenTheStreet.com Staff Reporter2/9/2005 4:59 PM EST

Wal-Mart (WMT:NYSE - news - research) said Wednesday that it will close a store in Canada where workers were close to establishing the retail giant's first labor union, according to The Associated Press.
The company plans to close the store in Jonquiere, Quebec, because it says union negotiators are making unreasonable demands that threaten the store's business.
Last week, the United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada asked Quebec labor officials to appoint a mediator in its talks with Wal-Mart in hopes that it would help break a logjam in negotiations.
"We were hoping it wouldn't come to this," Wal-Mart spokesman Andrew Pelletier told the AP. "Despite nine days of meetings over three months, we've been unable to reach an agreement with the union that in our view will allow the store to operate efficiently and profitably."
Any success enjoyed by the Canadian union with Wal-Mart could have ultimately impacted the company's business in the U.S. One of Wal-Mart's competitive advantages is low labor costs. That was especially apparent throughout its recent foray into the grocery business, which prompted massive labor strikes across Southern California as traditional grocery chains attempted to cut health and other benefits to their workers in an attempt to compete.
"Is Wal-Mart sending a message here [about organized labor in its stores] ? It's too soon to tell," said Richard Hastings, retail economist with Variant Research. "It's all about expenses, and Wal-Mart is all about expense controls. The unionization of that store ruins the expense budget for that store, so Wal-Mart definitely looks at it as something to eliminate."

“Call a professional heating contractor"

Is the phrase I heard and read more than any other while I was deciding what to do about our slowly dying heating system last year.

Here's why I don't recommend that option. In Feb. 2004, I bought a new house. The propane boiler that handled both the baseboard hot water heating and the domestic hot water was about fifteen-years-old. When we looked at the house the home inspector said we’d be lucky if it would last two more years. Well shortly after moving in, it started acting up. First it started by running only for short periods of time before shutting down. Then it wouldn't fire up unless I killed the power to it and waited a few minutes. Needless to say this got rather annoying! I can live without a lot of comforts but hot showers are not one of them. So I opened the yellow pages and called three different companies to come out and take a look at it. Much to my surprise, not one of them said they could fix it. I blame the companies themselves, not the guys they were sending to fix it. All three of these guys were probably in elementary school when this boiler was built and just never had to work on this model. I can understand that. What I don't understand is that they all offered to send a sales person out either later that day or early the next day to let me know how much it would cost to replace. Not one of them offered to have another (maybe older) guy come and look at it. Since the estimates were free, what did I have to lose to find out how much it would cost to have a new one installed? Three estimates later, the cheapest was $3500 and they couldn't do it till next week at the earliest. Well, F-them! I went online and started reading everything I could find about propane boilers and hydronic heating systems. I quickly learned that it wasn’t going to be worth fixing the old Junker because it was so old that it was highly inefficient as far as BTU’s of gas in to BTU’s of heat out. More research leads me to discover that all three estimates included boilers on the low end of the efficiency scale. Well after some more research I discovered that the most efficient way to heat our house and domestic water was not with a boiler at all. The three proposals all included systems where the boiler would run throughout the summer to provide the domestic hot water. It seems kind of dumb to run the boiler when all I want is hot water and not heat. Well after a little bit more looking around I came to find out about on demand hot water heaters. I order two new propane Takagi TK jr’s. One for the domestic hot water and one for the baseboard heating. I installed them myself and have had mostly smooth sailing even though everyone I talked to and almost every web page I found said to let a professional install them. Oh yeah and I'm saving a ton of money! Because these hot water heaters are so efficient.

Believe it or not.
Johnson & Johnson has been one of the companies leading the way to the greening of large businesses by having less environmental impact.
I'm not saying they're 100% great but at least they're trying.
They understand the concept that it's cheaper to use less energy and fewer materials than to not. The financial incentive of having less waste is often overlooked because waste is generally not costly to get rid of.

As an example: It's a fact that GE dumped a lot of PCB's in the Hudson river and if you figured out what it's cost them over the years I'd bet it's wouldn’t even be 1% off gross profits from any decade. If big business can continue to get off the hook, and not pay the actual costs for the waste it generates nothing will change. However, the tide seems to be turning since the amount of waste we generate, and what we do with that waste are questions that are being addressed more often. The fact is we're running out of places to 'hide it' and burning it is slowly killing our ecosystem and us. Yeah, there may be a lot of square miles of places to bury trash but they're increasing farther from the places that generate the trash, so it'll cost more to get it there. Couple that with the fact that the earth only has a finite amount of each material, sooner or later it'll be cheaper to recycle everything than not.

Anyway,
Below is another example of their commitment. Sooner than later this investment is going to payoff big for shareholder, since electricity costs are projected to do nothing but rise (and probably sharply) in the next decade.



J&J aims to install solar energy system at Montgomery facility By: Kara Fitzpatrick, Staff Writer 02/04/2005
Array would be most productive on East Coast, representatives say.
MONTGOMERY — Johnson & Johnson representatives outlined Tuesday plans to erect what was described as the East Coast's most productive solar energy system at its Consumer Products facility off of Grandview Avenue. The presentation was made before a receptive Environmental Commission. The proposed solar array, which likely will span 70,000 to 100,000 square feet behind the campus' main building, will cost $3.3 million to construct. But the company will receive a $1.9 million rebate for the project through the New Jersey Clean Energy Program — a state initiative to encourage renewable energy systems. The solar setup, a PowerTracker ground-mounted system manufactured by California-based PowerLight, would produce enough energy during its peak times to power 600 homes, said David Eisenbud, PowerLight project development manager for the Northeast region. "It will be the most productive installation on the East Coast to date," said Mr. Eisenbud. The PowerTracker system, which will provide 2.9 percent of the annual energy used at company's buildings, is designed to have rotating panels to follow the sun, said Mr. Eisenbud. Stephen Baldwin, Johnson & Johnson director of facilities and services, said the initiative is being undertaken largely for its positive environmental benefits. "This is a big environmental project for our location," said Mr. Baldwin. "It will save a little money, but it is for the environment." The project was presented in front of the commission to garner feedback. "This is an environmental committee, and we'd certainly like their support," Mr. Baldwin said. Environmental Commission members seemed open to the idea. "I certainly think this is wonderful," said member Beth Torpey. "I'm really happy." The company hopes to complete the project in the fall, said Iris Grossman, Johnson & Johnson communications manager. It is slated to go before the Planning Board later this month. "The Skillman campus is very excited about this," said Mr. Baldwin, adding that the company's credo "states that we are to protect the environment." When complete, the project will eliminate 260 tons per year of carbon dioxide emissions, said Ms. Grossman. The project supports "our mission to help the environment and the community," she said. "We appreciate having a neighbor like this," Ms. Torpey said during the presentation. Mayor Louise Wilson, although not present at the meeting, said the proposal is "very exciting. I'd love to see what they have in mind," she said, adding that the concept is "forward thinking." Mr. Eisenbud said there are about 15 to 20 solar energy systems in the state. But, he said, demand for the solar panels, which are produced by companies such as British Petroleum, Sharp and Kyocera Solar, has increased in the last 15 months. In the last two years, solar panel manufacturing capacity has doubled, said Mr. Eisenbud. "I think the industry has stepped up very well to meet global demand," said Mr. Eisenbud. He also credits those who chose to adopt the solar energy system. "There's leadership behind getting this done," Mr. Eisenbud said of the technology. Ms. Grossman said Johnson & Johnson has solar energy systems at a handful of its other campuses, including Janssen Pharmaceutica in Hopewell Township and Cordis in Warren. The company also has plans to implement the technology at its corporate headquarters in New Brunswick, said Ms. Grossman.

Lately I have been learning more about using solar ovens and the sun for cooking.
In fact today I'm expecting the arrival of the SunOven I ordered last week.
http://www.sunoven.com/usa.asp

I was going to build one and I even made a scale model to show Peg how it would work. Last week though I decided I didn't want to wait until it was warm enough to work outside and I got all the right tools and pieces and parts. In this case I'm sure buying the one made by a company that's been making them for years was the right decision. I got a great deal on it and Free shipping. Thank you Froogle! It's going to pay for itself every time we cook or bake something in it and save that much propane!

However. as murphy is always lurking after 12 straight days with no percipitation of any kind we're starting a four or five day stretch of mostly cloudy days, rain and snow. Great timing there! Well at least I'll get to see what the mimimum results will be. I guess I'm supposed to be thankful to see upfront the feasibility of using it on those not so nice days.

I also learned about something called a Haybox. A haybox is simply a well insulatedbox that you put a hot pot in. It's perfect for making things like soup and rice.You only have to heat it up for a short time and then you put the pot in the boxto let it finish cooking without using fuel. This saves a lot of energy. Between 60-80%.

Although both of these technologies may seem foreign to you, they're used in countries around the world every day! In fact most people do not simply use the microwave or the gas or elec stove. I will definitely build us a haybox this summer, as there's no where that sells them. I'm not actually going to use hay for my insulation but will probably use one that is madefrom blue jean waste. http://www.bondedlogic.com/


Last weeks Bread:
Last week I made sourdough bread from scratch using our 1847 starter (thanks Carl). It has been a long time since I made bread from scratch, so I was very surprised by how great it turned out. I was so happy you would've thought I invented bread.

This weeks Bread:
With much confidence I turned my attention to a much different recipe. Latvian Sourdough rye bread.
With some disapointment I tasted the final results this morning after getting up at 5am so the bread would be ready for Peg to have for breakfast. This is a very thick heavy bread which I usually like but the recipe called for all cider and no water. The resulting bread is too cidery for me and I love cider. Another problem is that the crust is nearly impossible to get the bread knife through, let alone your teeth. Max will be getting a lot crust this week. Peg really liked it though, or she's a good actress. Well, while I was typing this I ate another piece and it's not too bad but I already have some ideas about a couple changes next time I try this recipe.

Hopefully the next bread I make will be cooked in the Sunoven. After all that's one of the main reasons I bought the solar oven, so that we could make our own bread and eliminate the most costly part of the process, the cost of the propane used to bake it. The sun may take a little longer but it's free!

Have a great day

Hello,

This is the first day of my new blog. What exciting adventure lays ahead? No one knows but stayed tuned to find out. Well at least stay tuned as long as the electricity in your area lasts and the internet is still functioning. If you're wondering what I mean by that read on.

"Peak oil"

Have you ever heard this phrase before? If you answered no than you're in for a very rude awakening. I you answered Yes, you can skip this posting or read it for a refresher.

Here's the low down:


The world faces a devastating oil crisis because global production will peak as early as 2002, then decline over the next 70 years, says one analysis. As oil reserves decline, prices will rise steeply, making the oil crises of 1973 and 1979 look "minor and transitory" by comparison.

The concept of oil shortages remains contentious because of the many cries of "wolf" by oil economists after the oil crises of the 1970s that all available stocks would be depleted by the end of the 20th century. This time, however, the warnings are being sounded by a small group of international petroleum geologists who have built new mathematical models to predict peak production and ensuing decline.

Their model is based on a formula devised in the 1950s by geologist M. King Hubert and used with extreme accuracy throughout the oil industry to predict peak yield in individual fields. Now applied on a global scale, the model shows oil production as a bell curve with the apex at the point when half of the available oil has been used up Suddenly the glass that the world has considered to be almost full has been revealed to be nearly half-empty.

Researchers have also used an offshoot of chaos theory to plot probable distributions of as yet undiscovered oil and suggest that the majority of the world's oil has already been discovered.

The leading proponents of the new theory are Colin Campbell and Jean Laherrere, both of whom have been employed in the oil industry for 40 years and are currently working with Petroconsultants, owner of one of the most authoritative data bases on oil production and reserves, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Unlike those who predicted global oil exhaustion in the wake of the last oil crises, Campbell, author of the "The Coming Oil Crises," insists that it is not the point at which the world runs out of oil that is crucial but the halfway point, when production begins to taper off and demand forces prices up.

"The impression that the oil companies give is that oil will just keep on coming," Campbell said. "The reason that they want to do this is simple. They operated in a global market and they have to protect their shares. Unfortunately, it is simply not true. There is a finite amount of oil."

Campbell and Laherrere say the key issue in recent years has been the false impression that oil reserves have been "growing" as companies have revised up their estimates.

In a paper written for the journal Scientific American earlier this year., Campbell and Laherrere reported that their research into reserve estimates that had been published by the oil industry has identified widespread systemic errors, not least the widely used practice of including the highest possible estimates for reserves.
"According to most accounts, world oil reserves have marched steadily upwards over the past 20 years. Extending that trend into the future, one could easily conclude, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration has, that oil production will continue to rise unhindered for decades to come, increasing almost two-thirds by 2020.
"Such growth is an illusion. About 80 percent of the oil produced today flows from fields that were found before 1973, and the great majority of them are declining."
Campbell and Laherrere are not alone in predicting peak production early in the next millennium. A separate analysis out by Craig Bond Hatfield of the University of Toledo, using official U.S. Geological Survey figures, says conventional oil production will peak within twenty five years, even with the most optimistic estimates.