"Build it and Ride It"

I found an amazing book from 1948 called "Build It and Ride It." It has plans for a couple dozen soap box derby racers. I need to get to a copy shop and start scanning that stuff in and posting up on Bloomington Carbon Free Racing, but dizzam! this book rocks.

This could inspire a lengthy column about how "back in the old days" people had to make their own toys but I'm not in the mood, nor, I suspect, is the rest of the planet.

Suffice it to say that this is a well written book directed at young readers (and possibly their parents, though I also suspect in 1948 parents weren't too concerned with turning their kids loose with a bunch of tools and wood) that is definitely also a relic of a different time.

Giant leaf-sucking vacuums

Last week it seems the concept of doing away with the giant leaf sucking vacuums was being bandied about by the city.  It really only makes sense.  I, of course, turn all that carbon into compost, and would encourage others to do the same, if they garden. But not everybody like plants, or flowers, or food, or saving the planets, so we can expect everybody to do so.

This is a good example of a service that is nice but unnecessary. People have been raking their lawns for a long time, or paying some neighborhood kid to do it. A newer service like this is kind if cool but not necessary. I bought an electric leaf blower for $25 that can be reversed and used as a mulcher. The biggest pile of leaves can be turned into a pile less than 1/4 of the size in no time at all. Compost them, fill in holes, spread them on your lawn.

In my readings on compost, wide ad varied that they are, I have read about communities starting their own compost piles. IF these leaves were going to something like that then it might be worthwhile, however, I'm pretty sure these are ending up in the landfill.

This could be a good service for someone to get into. A monthly yard waste and non-toxic bio-waste removal (as in everything that is kitchen waste except for meats, bones and oils, the basic non-compostable stuff)with a composting facility where yard waste couple be mulched and mixed with kitchen waste. Stir, add water, and bada-bing. You got yerself a product to sell- compost.

Fucking sleep study

DAMMIT. I have to go back for the SECOND time to that creepy fucking clinic and have wires stuck all over me AGAIN and have some technician monitor me all night so I can spend a thousand fucking dollars on a goddamn machine to help me sleep better.

Or maybe, more pertinently, to make my wife sleep better.

I, of course, won't care if I die in my sleep. I'll be dead. Darkness at the top of the stairs, etc. But my kick-ass wife et al might bum on that, and meanwhile, while I DON'T die in my sleep from Sleep Apnea, my wife wakes up when I start sawing down the rain forest. So fuck it. Hopefully I'll sleep THIS time.

Grass roots and compost

The bus ride this morning WAS a pleasant mood changer in that is was a heartening bit of sunshine that it was as busy as it was. Again, not that I like crowded buses, I'm not a frotteurist, but the possibility that a younger generation might be rejecting the notion that riding in a car is always the best solution.

I recently read, though I can't remember where, that younger people are also less inclined to see cars as status symbols. Of course, both of these things can change as people age, we all get more conservative in some ways as we age. But I'm going to take this as a good sign for the future.

The problem is, most of these same kids didn't vote. I'm not going to rehash Mark Morford's column today because while it does highlight the angry side of my brain today, that side is tired. But the disillusionment of these young voters needs to be addressed. Morford dismisses them all as whiny. Well, maybe true, but they're also young, and so maybe they just don't know any better.

The Tea Party is/was a fake grass roots ('AstroTurf') movement, started the minute a black dude got the White House (or the minute Ron Paul got his feelings hurt by not getting elected POTUS, again, your choice).

What do these kids care about? Where do their self interests lie?

Hopefully, they realize THEY are the 'grandchildren' we are supposed to be worried about in regard to global climate change. They are the ones who will inherit submerged condos and crowded cities of the plains, dust bowls and likely 20+% unemployment in the coming years. They will inherit gravel and dirt roads.

But who am I kidding? It's all happening now. I wouldn't care so much about gravel roads if there was a train network and if locally the State wasn't talking about building I-69 (it costs money- there isn't any). WE are the grand-kids. We are inheriting all these problems. So maybe, aside from the glimmer of hope on the bus this morning, I came to realize that I had more in common with those kids than I previously thought.

Say what you will about kids these days...

On my morning bus ride today, thinking about what a mess this election turned out to be and thinking about how it is all the fault of the youth of America, a strange dichotomy was made evident.

First of all, 90% or more of the MANY passengers were young. That's good. The two kids next to me were complaining about hating the bus because it is crowded, but the simple fact that young people are making this sensible decision to leave their cars at home (if they have them) and ride is a good sign.

Beyond that, they were all polite and I don'tthink I saw more than 10 people out of 60 or 70 get off without thanking the driver. That was cool.

One of the people who DIDN'T thank the driver was the oldest person on the bus.  Admittedly, this lady came off as more bag lady than classy dame. But apparently this lady thought "Get out of the way you brain-dead, I need to get off" is an appropriate substitution for "Excuse me, this is my stop."

Score one for the youth of America.

Men are Predominatly Slackjawed Chickenshits- An Assessment of the 'Yelling Shit While You're Driving Past Phenomena'

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Mompocalypse-Alzheimer's is a bitch, and Death ain't much better

It's been building up to this for some time, but yesterday's attempted visit with mom quickly turned violent. We are setting up a new care plan meeting but our visits only agitate her and she hit both Blythe and I and went of on an obscenity laden tirade. She had to be restrained by staff.

Later that day, 9 Below Zero played at an interesting event for a guy named Bill Niswander. This is a guy who was a fixture around town for many years on the blues and jam scene primarily. I don't really know him or know if we ever played together at a jam or even really met. Recently he received a sudden terminal cancer diagnosis.

Sunday's event at the Player's Pub was both a benefit and an awareness event, but it also served as something of a living wake.

I did not want to go after the scene at the nursing home. But Mom, when she was still REALLY Mom, the person she no longer is, was a firm believer in nothing so much as "the show must go on," and so I put my depression on a back burner and dragged my ass in to Player's. It was pretty full. Bill is obviously a man loved by many people, and if there is any mark of of the worthiness any human being that is it. I got there in time to see quite a bit of Bill playing with David Baas, Cathy Spiaggia, and 9 Below Zero's own Paul "Wine" Karrafa.  As they ran through a set of songs by Dylan and the Band, Pure Prairie and others, I was extremely impressed by Mr. Niswander.

Here was a man getting up to play music with his friends for quite possibly the last time. And there were tears in the audience, as any such event combined with booze will do, and who's to say those tears weren't fitting or appropriate? But from the man himself, I felt nothing but calm and dignity, and when he sang happy birthday to his son, who turned thirteen yesterday, a sense of real joy and gratitude tha he'd brought this young man into the word.

Love, dignity, and sharing music. No ego, no self pity, no anger. A mighty lesson; the end comes for all of us one way or another, quickly or prolonged.  Love your people while you can, and face the darkness with your head held high.

Vermiculture

I started a vermiculture bin this weekend with 30 red wigglers from the Fishin' Shedd. I'm hoping to go to a vermiculture workshop this Saturday but time may not allow. In the meantime, fed the little fuckers a bunch of veggie cuttings on the damp paper bed. we'll see how it turns out.

Today's Hustler-style extreme closeup Heap Centerfold

OMG! That is soooo hot!

Actually, it IS pretty hot. The white stuff you see is some serious chemical reactin' and what you can't see is the steam coming off of the pile. I suppose I'm going to have to wait until cooler weather to get a really good shot.

Today's Heap Centerfold

ooooooooohh baby!

The Most Miserable Motherscratcher of the Morning...

was a punk driving his SUV on the B-Line between Kirkwood and 6th streets. He was apparently avoiding the construction on Kirkwood. He was grinning and thought he was pretty clever.

As they say, never a cop around when you need one.

But this is the third very stupid and very dangerous thing I've seen "young-people-who-certainly-appear-to-be-students-but-jeez-don't-want-to-label-anyone-unfairly" do in the last 12 hours (the first two being guys running stop signs... also in SUVs), the fourth possibly-accident-causing bad driving (the other being a person in the right turning lane who went straight... not so bad unless you're illegally merging into a single lane with the person who is in the correct lane.

Two days ago, while on my bike, a pedestrian and I were crossing on the crosswalk at 2nd and Walnut (with the "walk' light on for us, after we waited for the eastbound lane's green arrow to change) and some lady turning north on Walnut (and on the phone, driving one handed) forced her way past us. I'm sure that the cursing I leveled at her was loud enough for the person on the other end of the phone to hear. I certainly hope she hasd a nervous breakdown, or cried herself to sleep, or whatever.

Most of which adds up to just plain stupidity and highlights the fact that most people just shouldn't be driving. But the jerk this morning, quite obviously pleased as punch with himself for his clever rebelliousness, just needs his clock cleaned. That is the kind of dangerous arrogance that threatens bicyclists everyday.

Are bikers annoying? Yes, many are, and many exhibit their own brand of hubris and dangerous behavior. I sincerely feel sorry for any rational motorist who runs over some stupid biker who blows off a stop sign or whatever. But being two-wheeled and self-propelled most of the time these days I do see a lot of really ridiculous behavior from people in cars. Not to mention that we still haven't put our foot down as a society on people who are simply too old to be driving anymore. This IS a hard one; I know, I've had to take the keys from my own mom. But them old folks is dangerous.

6 years ago today

the adoption of my daughter was finalized in court. It was a great day. Each year we celebrate the kid's adoption day in a special way. Hopefully she won't choose Cheeseburger in Paradise again, but at least they have beer.

Cooler weather

sure does highlight some good steam coming off of the pile.

Ye Olde Heap Got to Stinkin' Yesterday

I did a little experiment I like to call "The Cellulose Experiment" over the last few days on the heap.

Using my big old 55 gallon trashcan I frequently use for staging and mixing I pulled most of the semi-intact foodstuffs and paper and cardboard out of the heap and put it in the can, mixed in a smaller amount of more refined compost, stirred like hell, and soaked the whole thing. Stirred frequently over the next couple of days.

Last night, I dumped it out. It smelled like a sewer/swamp, especially at the bottom. The smell disipated pretty quickly though (releasing methane into the atmosphere, though, so a bit too long without stirring, I'd say) and what was left was nasty, gunky proto-Black Gold. So in general it worked well, though I need to shorten the cooking time or stir more frequently to avoid the anaerobic conditions that breeds the stinks. I was worried it wouldn't disipate and I'd have angry neighbors with pitchforks coming after me. But I wasn't too worried; I, too, have a pitchfork.

Bill McKibben, writing in TomDispatch

and reprinted in Truthout here.

When a rational guy and Methodist Sunday school teacher like McKibben says "this is fucked up" it's time to listen. We have been failed by our political representatives at all levels, from the POTUS on down. Perhaps our local reps, city councils, etc., should be spared, but in most cases, they're probably not doing enough.

Cap and trade was an opportunity. PACE is an opportunity and "cash for caulkers is an opprtunity. But the greed-fest of globalization has blinded every suit from sea to shining sea into thinking life and the planet are endless schmorgasbords.

Not so.

As McKibben writes, NOAA, which admittedly shouldn't be treated as the world's most reliable newsource at times , but which SHOULD be believed on something this basic, reveals we have just been through "the hottest decade, the hottest year, the hottest 6 months, and the hottest April, May, and June" in the history of recording weather.

It reminds me of the beginning of "The Road Warrior" where the wheels of industry grind to a halt while the world falls apart and the politicians "talk."

So, as McKibben says, it's time to get mad. This is the new civil rights movement, in terms of the effort that will be needed. Time to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

24 years ago today

I foolishly ran a motorcycle into a parked car at somewhere between 40 and 60 miles per hour. Luckily, I got out of the deal alive.

It's a good thing stupid shit like that mostly happens to us when we're young and strong enough to survive it, maybe.

But it makes you wonder why, even though we cry over the fatalities if they're close to us, or shake our heads in abstract sadness if they're not, why we tolerate 40,000 or more deaths on the road every year?

Unfortunately, the answer is obviously money. Oil companies and auto companies stand to lose too much from sanity, or regulation of "The American Way" of limitless freedom. Buy your 16-year-old a car. Make sure they drive everywhere.

GRIST online ran a somewhat weepy but nonetheless interesting analysis of how bicyclists are treated in film. Basically, if you're on a bike and not in a car, you're a loser. Now, I drive too, and "I'm an excellent driver," unlike most of the rest of the world (and most of the rest of the world believes themselves to be "excellent drivers" also. They are not.), but I love biking and I'd love convenient (more convenient, I should say, it's not too bad in Bloomington) mass transit. One car per family SHOULD be enough. But until infrastructure catches up, we're pretty much stuck.

Infrastructure won't catch up until politicians do. Politicians won't catch up until we do. When we're ready to vote for people who aren't just whores for oil and big business, maybe fewer people will die. Maybe.

Dymaxian car pages

Seem to be proliferating on the web.

For the 10/10/10 350.org Bloomington Carbon Free Racing Street Challenge I think I'm going to try to build a Dymaxian.

So the pool house WILL be a tiny house

in addition to being a playhouse for the kids. Dual purpose, right? I might even get started after the wedding, but it may have to wait until after the 10/10/10 Carbon Free Outlaw Racing Day, because there are some cars to be built.

But it's basically a no-brainer. I'll need to poor a semi-foundation (it sits about halfway on the pool deck as it is) mostly just to help insulate and seal against bugs and other critters. We're going to change the slope of the shed, but I'm not exactly sure how at the moment. My current thought is to leave the northern facing half as is, and remove the southern half, and use the semi-clear corrugated plastic as roofing to let light in. The current gable is at a 30 degree slope, so the new half of the roof would go at a 10 or 15 degree slope from the centerline. That will raise the height by several feet, open it up, let light in.

A real door, and some windows. I'd like to get some idiosyncratic windows, like portholes or something, but I'll make due with whatever fits. They will need to be smaller, but If I can get a glass door along with the "clear" plastic roofing, there should be plenty of light. Then, insulation,, paneling, a wood floor, minimal furnishings (fold out bed and end table) and a small wood stove and it's pretty much done. Thinking about electricity, though; if I could scrounge a solar panel and get enough juiceto have a light on or maybe a small A/C in the summer? Paradise.

My gong fu

My gong fu is strong, but unmotivated.

R.I.P Dale Cassiday

Dale was the husband of the forever drama teacher at Brown County High School, Janice Cassiday. He was a fixture in the ciommunity and ever present at High School and Civic theater productions. He was a sweet guy and a great father and husband and a good friend, and he will be missed.