| So It
Starts
Here. . . We see a lot on the news everywhere about living greener, saving the planet, etc., mostly about major projects that while they do serve the purpose, these ideas are basically someone's idea on making profits - some of them HUGE profits. What I want to do in this space is point out some ways that the average person can accomplish the same goal while saving some money. The idea is we can keep our money out of the pockets of those who have too much already. A few years ago, a major oil profiteer announced a plan to build a solar energy plant in west Texas that would be able to power six million homes. The idea met a lot of ridicule when further investigation revealed the proposed plant would cover an enormous area of thirty miles by thirty miles. If you do the math (don't worry - I already did), this means that a 2000 square foot home could be powered by 64 square feet of solar panels. Much more manageable, don't you think? This same tycoon has been leasing land all over the country and building wind farms, which the local people hate because of the giant turbines that clutter up the rural landscape and make a lot of noise, 24/7. Once again, most homes could be powered individually with two wind turbines less than six feet in diameter, not to mention the innovative vertical turbine that is practically silent and not a damage risk due to no spinning blades to be launched. While looking into other projects over the last few decades, something occured to me around 2003 It is not such a far-fetched idea to build a home/work space that is not just sustainable and energy-efficient, but public energy-independent. Sounds crazy until you see plans and cost projections for a well and solar-powered pump house and see that it is possible for the system to pay for itself in less than five years! I will be presenting some of those inovations that are fas- cinating, good for our enviroment, and good for your pocketbook. This is what I call “My Sister's Big Idea”. I will be looking into feasible and affordable ideas for work/living spaces for the average person. I love making and building things myself so what you will be seeing here are do-able plans and tips. I don't have a lot of money to work with, so nothing will be expensive, either. (OK, all you people who know me, I'll admit it -- even if I had a lot of money to work with, nothing here would be expensive.) I grew up on a farm, so sustainable to me means food. I once grew silver queen corn in a palm tree planter - in December - in south Florida! On that note, I'm going to start with some innovations that deal with gardening and water options. I am also a very practical person so collecting rain water not only saves our potable water sources but can also help protect the foun- dation of your home and save you money in the long run. Back to Top A Simple Guide to Building Rain Barrels Many people make rain barrels out of inexpensive 50-gallon food-grade drums that were used to carry juices, olives, pickles, etc. Often you can find barrels for around $10 from drum and barrel suppliers. Be sure to get a heavy-grade plastic container that won't let in light — clear or translu- cent barrels can speed the growth of algae which can clog pipes. The water savings from using stored rain- water rather than municipal or even well water can be substantial over a period of time. A typical 1/2-inch rainfall will fill a 50- to 55- gallon barrel. Figure about a half gallon of water per square foot of roof area during a 1-inch rainfall. A 2,000-square-foot roof can collect about 1,000 gallons of water (accounting for about 20% loss from evaporation, runoff and splash). Leaf debris, bird droppings and chemicals from roof material won't likely be harmful to plants. Use a window screen or wire mesh to keep out debris and insects and clean the tank periodically to remove any settling. Check with your county to see if a permit is required to install a small rain barrel for landscape watering. Some subdivisions with deed restrictions prohibit them. You can also check your local codes for guidance. Renters should of course, discuss any plans with your landlord first - - some people may even offer help with the small expense involved if you offer the plan and the labor. And remember -- it is important to keep your rain barrel independent from existing house or sprinkler system pipes to prevent a cross-connection to your potable water. Building Your Own Rain Barrel Decide where to place the barrel — many people put them under a downspout or easy attachment. Also, consider the distance to your plants, gardens and flowerbeds. If you don't have gutters, put the barrel under a valley in the roof that sheds a lot of water. Be sure to put a screen over an open barrel to keep out debris, small animals and insects. This will take a lot longer to fill, but may be more practical for your location. High-enders could consider an underground cistern with gutters installed to reserve all rain water for future use. Step
1. Clean The Barrel
Use
food-quality containers, not ones that held harsh chemicals, or
55-gallon garbage cans.Rinse the inside of the barrel with a mixture of 1/8 cup of bleach and 5 gallons of water to wash away food or juice remnants. Step
2. Install a Hose
Spigot
To install a
3/4" hose spigot, drill a 15/16" hole for the spigot threading just a
few inches fromthe bottom of the barrel. This will provide a few inches of clearance for attaching a hose or filling a watering can and allow for debris to settle below the outlet to reduce clogging. Step
3. Build a Platform
Concrete cinder
blocks provide a strong, stable and level platform for your rain
barrel. If you usemore than one layer of blocks, stack them in a crisscross pattern so they won't tip over. Depend- ing on your yard or garden, you might also consider using a commercially available platform dolly if you are using 55-gallon garbage cans. These are usually available where large garbage cans are sold and are built to lock to the bottom of the can. Step
4. Connect Downspout
to Barrel
Position the
barrel at its set height and measure where you need to cut or
disconnect yourdownspout. Often you can disassemble the downspout at the gutter by taking out screws or drilling out rivets. If you do have to cut it off, use a fine-toothed hacksaw blade or tin snips. A flexible extender makes an easy transition from the downspout to your barrel lid and elimin- ates exact measurement issues because it bends and stretches to the length as needed. Step
5. Cut Barrel Opening
Place the
downspout connection in the barrel. If your barrel comes with a lid, or
if it has asealed top, you will need to cut a hole in it. Overflows
and Multiple Barrels
carry excess water that would normally overflow the barrel to another part of the yard or into another rain barrel. Back to Top The Moving Chronicles - April 2009
Back
to Top
The Moving Chronicles II- October 2009
Back to Top 10 Ways to Be Happier How happy are you - really? If there's room for improvement, then Gretchen Rubin has some suggestions. A few years ago, on a morning like any other, I had a sudden realization: I was in danger of wasting my life. As I stared out the rain-spattered window of a New York City bus, I saw that the years were slipping by. "What do I want from life?" I asked myself. "Well, I want to be happy." I had many reasons to be happy: my husband was the tall, dark, handsome love of my life; we had two delightful girls, ages 1 and 7; I was a writer, living in my favorite city. I had friends; I had my health; I didn't have to color my hair. But too often I sniped at my husband or the drugstore clerk. I felt dejected after even a minor professional setback. I lost my temper easily. Is that how a happy person would act? I decided on the spot to begin a systematic study of happiness. (A little intense, I know. But that's the kind of thing that appeals to me.) In the end, I spent a year test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and tips from popular culture. If I followed all the advice, I wanted to know, would it work? Well, the year is over, and I can say: It did. I made myself happier. And along the way I learned a lot about how to be happier. Here are those lessons. 1. Don't start with profundities. When I began my Happiness Project, I realized pretty quickly that, rather than jumping in with lengthy daily meditation or answering deep questions of self-identity, I should start with the basics, like going to sleep at a decent hour and not letting myself get too hungry. Science backs this up; these two factors have a big impact on happiness. Learn how to Get a Good Night's Sleep. 2. Do let the sun go down on anger. I had always scrupulously aired every irritation as soon as possible, to make sure I vented all bad feelings before bedtime. Studies show, however, that the notion of anger catharsis is poppycock. Expressing anger related to minor, fleeting annoyances just amplifies bad feelings, while not expressing anger often allows it to dissipate. (See 16 Ways to Manage Your Anger from Real Simple) 3. Fake it till you feel it. Feelings follow actions. If I'm feeling low, I deliberately act cheery, and I find myself actually feeling happier. If I'm feeling angry at someone, I do something thoughtful for her and my feelings toward her soften. This strategy is uncannily effective. (Sheila's note: This was our beloved Mama Lucy's advice, too) 4. Realize that anything worth doing is worth doing badly. Challenge and novelty are key elements of happiness. The brain is stimulated by surprise, and successfully dealing with an unexpected situation gives a powerful sense of satisfaction. People who do new things - learn a game, travel to unfamiliar places - are happier than people who stick to familiar activities that they already do well. I often remind myself to "Enjoy the fun of failure" and tackle some daunting goal. 5. Don't treat the blues with a "treat." Often the things I choose as "treats" aren't good for me. The pleasure lasts a minute, but then feelings of guilt and loss of control and other negative consequences deepen the lousiness of the day. While it's easy to think, I'll feel good after I have a few glasses of wine - a pint of ice cream - a cigarette - a new pair of jeans, it's worth pausing to ask whether this will truly make things better. 6. Buy some happiness. Our basic psychological needs include feeling loved, secure, and good at what we do and having a sense of control. Money doesn't automatically fill these requirements, but it sure can help. I've learned to look for ways to spend money to stay in closer contact with my family and friends; to promote my health; to work more efficiently; to eliminate sources of irritation and marital conflict; to support important causes; and to have enlarging experiences. For example, when my sister got married, I splurged on a better digital cam- era. It was expensive, but it gave me a lot of happiness bang for the buck. 7. Don't insist on the best. There are two types of decision makers. Satisficers (yes, satisficers) make a decision once their criteria are met. When they find the hotel or the pasta sauce that has the qualities they want, they're satisfied. Maximizers want to make the best possible decision. Even if they see a bicycle or a backpack that meets their requirements, they can't make a decision until they've examined every option. Satisficers tend to be happier than maximizers. Maximizers expend more time and energy reaching decisions, and they're often anxious about their choices. Sometimes good enough is good enough. 8. Exercise to boost energy. I knew, intellectually, that this worked, but how often have I told myself, "I'm just too tired to go to the gym"? Exercise is one of the most dependable mood-boosters. Even a 10-minute walk can brighten my outlook. Try one of these 15-Minute Workouts. 9. Stop nagging. I knew my nagging wasn't working particularly well, but I figured that if I stopped, my husband would never do a thing around the house. Wrong. If anything, more work got done. Plus, I got a surprisingly big happi- ness boost from quitting nagging. I hadn't realized how shrewish and angry I had felt as a result of speaking like that. I replaced nagging with the following persuasive tools: wordless hints (for example, leaving a new lightbulb on the counter); using just one word (saying "Milk!" instead of talking on and on); not insisting that something be done on my schedule; and, most effective of all, doing a task myself. 10. Take action. Some people assume happiness is mostly a matter of inborn temperament: You're born an Eeyore or a Tigger, and that's that. Although it's true that genetics play a big role, about 40 percent of your happiness level is within your control. Taking time to reflect, and conscious steps to make your life happier, really does work. So use these tips to start your own Happiness Project. I promise it won't take you a whole year. About the Author Gretchen Rubin is the author of several books, and she keeps a daily blog at www.happiness-project.com. Back to Top Three Little Words (Originally printed on Yahoo! Shine in September, 2008) Nooo -- not the ones you think, even though 'I love you' does make the spirit stronger. I am talking about acceptance, forgiveness and faith. Acceptance -- the world and everyone are how they are (just
as you are how YOU are) so you can Forgiveness -- not forgiving only eats YOU up. Even if
someone screws up over and over and over, Faith -- not necessarily in God, or Allah, or whatever you
call the GREAT BIG WHATEVER (I like to Back to Top Really Smart, Genius or Just Plain Nuts? (Originally printed on Yahoo! Shine in September, 2008) There's a big difference between being really smart and being a genius. While geniuses do tend to be ex- ceptionally smart, they also use imagination and creativity to invent, discover or visualize something com- pletely original. They find "new territory" rather than simply remembering or reciting existing information. Geniuses do not usually operate inside a vacuum, either -- nearly all of them study the work of other great minds and use that information to make new discoveries. Self-taught geniuses, on the other hand, often explore information in unexpected ways, mostly because of their lack of formal training. In either case, the ability to imagine new possibilities is as important as intelligence. Studies have shown that listening to Mozart could raise IQ scores. Some
parents start playing Mozart for One of the stereotypes surrounding above-average-intelligence children is
that they have trouble fitting in While we are on the subject of genius, we have got to go to that thin line
that many think divides genius Back to Top My Sister's BIG Idea Factory After spending most of the last 8 months trying to figure out just how I was going to pay bills, I received an email November 30 that jarred me back to my original game plan. I have spent a good portion of the last ten years learning how to write grant proposals. The first three years or so, I mainly got feed-back telling me what I had done wrong. In 2003, with my middle child spending time with me and looking over my shoulder, I finally got results -- as in the man I send my proposal to liked it so much that he decided to accept my plan without me! This person lives on Perdido Key and was trying to sell a block of 8 townhouses he had built with the notion of making a fortune on short-term rentals. My daughter and I rode by almost daily -- occassionally jumping out of the car to made clandestine measurements and to check on some other things. I sent him a plan where he could make me a working partner by giving me one of the townhomes and I would proceed to get government grants as a new landlord, thereby upgrading the property to high-end long-term rentals with an exit plan of owner-financing the other units to viable tenants and turning it into a condo property, with him keeping all profits and me getting free title to my unit. Just think of my excitement when he called about a week after receiving my proposal and invited me to lunch! The lunch was great and my excitement continued to grow as he asked about me and my personal life. I had not given much thought to the fact that his daughter and son-in-law had joined us (after all, he was in his late '70's or so and probably didn't drive anymore.) Finally, after we had finished lunch and ordered drinks, he told me how much he liked my proposal and how it showed so much diligence on my part. He seemed geniunely impressed when I humbly told him how much that meant to me, since I had written it myself after educating myself as to the proper way to proceed. Then he dropped the bomb - he had decided to instigate MY plan with HIS DAUGHTER and SON-IN-LAW!! I thanked him for lunch and immediately went back to my car to cry in the parking lot for about half an hour. Finally cried out and driving back home, I realized the good in a really bleak situation -- I had learned how to write an influencial business proposal. Now I needed to educate myself on how to protect my proposals, but at least I knew I could get my ideas across in a professional, viable way. Back to the present and my November 30 email -- the web site I had used for organizing my business plan has been keeping an eye on me and wondered if I planned to upgrade my plan in the near future as the small business money everyone has been talking about since the beginning of this Stimulus-Package- Bail-Out-Whatever-You-Want-to-Call-It appears to finally be on the horizon! I have a lot of new stuff, in- cluding one product market test that was very successful and one product market test that was a complete disaster. Also, with real estate prices still in free fall, maybe I can get everything together in one pile now. I did have a great time and something of a success with my Sunday After Church Flea Market in Northport and while not the financial success of my previous effort, Starving Artist Saturdays are at least bringing about some interest -- that is, until Thanksgiving weekend. Hopefully, it is the almost seven inches of rain we've had since then that is keeping away the customers. I will just keep on keep- ing on, as they say -- and now I have a goal with a deadline and I always love that. I have to have a completely upgraded business plan by the end of February for the GO BIG Network as well as Creative Capital, who have both shown a real interest in my ideas. I have also figured out who is out there making promises they cannot keep so at least I don't have to wade through all of that again. Wish me luck! Back to Top Merry Christmas, Again I had been planning to write about my mother today, just like last year - nobody loved Christmas like Memaw - but it is coming a little slow again. Instead, I am giving you something that someone else wrote that I found very interesting -- it is also what I printed for Christmas last year. It still applies and will forever. . . Spirituality Spot Found in Brain What makes us feel spiritual? It could be the quieting of a small area in our brains, a new study suggests. The area in question - the right parietal lobe - is responsible for defining "Me," said researcher Brick Johnstone of Missouri University. It generates self-criticism, he said, and guides us through physical and social terrains by constantly updating our self-knowledge: my hand, my cocktail, my witty conversation skills,my new love interest. . . People with less active Me-Definers are more likely to lead spiritual lives, reports the study. Most previous research on neuro-spirituality has been based on brain scans of actively practicing adherents (i.e.meditating monks, praying nuns) and has resulted in broad and inconclusive findings. (Is the brain area lighting up in response to verse or spiritual experience?) So Johnstone and colleague Bret Glass turned to the tried-and-true techniques of neuroscience's early days - studying brain-injured patients. The researchers tested brain regions implicated in the previous imaging studies with exams tailored to each area's expertise - similar to studying the prowess of an ear with a hearing test. They then looked for correlations between brain region performance and the subjects' self-reported spirituality. Among the more spiritual of the 26 subjects, the researchers pinpointed a less functional right, a physical state which may translate psychologically as decreased self-awareness and self-focus. The finding suggests that one core tenant of spiritual experience is selflessness, said Johnstone, adding that he hopes the study "will help people think about spirituality in more specific ways." Spiritual outlooks have long been associated with better mental and physical health. These benefits, Johnstone speculated, may stem from being focused less on one's self and more on others - a natural consequence of turning down the volume on the Me-Definer. In addition to religious practices, other behaviors and experiences are known to hush the Definer of Me. Appreciation of art or nature can quiet it, Johnstone said, pointing out that people talk of "losing themselves" in a particularly beautiful song. Love, and even charity work, can also soften the boundaries of "Me," he said. The greatest silencing of the Me-Definer likely happens in the deepest states of meditation or prayer, said Johnstone, when practitioners describe feeling seamless with the entire universe. That is, the highest point of spiritual experience occurs when "Me" completely loses its definition. "If you look in the Torah, the Old Testament, the New Testament, in the Koran, a lot of Sufi writings, Buddhist writings, and Hindu writings, they all talk about selflessness," said Johnstone. Back to Top The Story Behind The Story of Panhandle Pete "Panhandle Pete" is not in any way based on any one person. If anything, he is my alter ego. Occasionally, I have used names of family and friends to entertain my children. Those children are young adults now. They know who they are and also will see themselves in this "new and improved" version of stories they have heard thousands of times. I would like to acknowledge the great Gene Autrey wrote a song in the 1930's or '40's called, "Panhandle Pete". His family members who run the Gene Autrey Foundation were very kind when I emailed them, asking permission to use the name in 2000. His Pete was a cowboy in the Texas Panhandle. My Pete is from the Florida Panhandle and did not even have a name for the first ten years I told my children wild stories about him. The stories began when my son was very small. He preferred bedtime stories featuring himself as the star after he fell in love with "Where The Wild Things Are." When my daughters were born some years later, I told them the same stories, but the main character was named Prince Boo, the Boss of You. Boo was my son's nickname as a baby so it just sort of evolved. When my girls were still pre-schoolers, we had a neighbor who, among other things, was a gifted poet. He named our hero and wrote comical verses for my daughters. We spent the summer of 1991 on the Bimini Deck at AJ's in Destin FL, writing more verses which I then illustrated. We pursued having it published briefly, but with no luck. The Harry Potter series came out around that time and even though my character was in a different locale and the story was in verse, publishers kept pointing out the similarities so I laid Pete to rest for the next ten years. In May, 2000, my husband's work took us to Tallahassee FL and I spent ten days in our new apartment with no telephone, no cable and no internet. The weather was absolutely beautiful so I spent alot of time walking with our dog, Pearl and just thinking about the past. My son and I had been estranged for a few years and had just begun rebuilding our relationship. I spent many hours thinking about when he was small and quite naturally the old stories came to mind. I actually wrote all the new verses of Part I during that period. I spent about three months trying to find a publisher but no one seemed to know how to classify it. Is it a children's book? It really flys when it is read out loud. Is it a humor book? Everyone who has seen it to seems to enjoy it, especially those who have connections to the Gulf Coast's sugar-white beaches. When I started building this web site in 2007, I started looking at Pete again. With improved skills on my part and improved software, I have revamped The Story of Panhandle Pete once again. I still don't know in what category it fits, I only know I laugh out loud every time I read it. I hope you will, too. Click here to order or to look over the preview.
Back to Top Grey-Water Gardening Coming Soon! Back to Top Wind Power Coming Soon! Back to Top |
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I guess this is more "The Moving Photo Journal" -
I love it when people come to the door and ask me,
