Self Sufficient Future

Garlic Harvest 2011

2011-07-05T11:21:00.001-07:00

Garlic Harvest 2011, a photo by sumantamandal on Flickr.

This was the first time I have grown garlic. Has a fairly successful harvest. The widest one is ~ 2inch in diameter. Learnt a lesson: The garlic was growing in backyard during April- May and there was not enough sun in the backyard so I moved them to front yard in late May. The lack of sun light during the earlier phase of its growth cycle stunted its growth a little bit.

Spring Daze festival @ Bond Park, Cary NC

2011-04-30T18:59:00.001-07:00

GEDC0362, a photo by sumantamandal on Flickr.

It was a beautiful cool day in Cary today. Bond park was the perfect place for the festival. Besides the usual craft, arts, popcorn and live music, here is a couple of remarkable highlights from the event:

The Town of Cary's earth day celebration. It is structured around ten focus areas

Pre-treatement
Stormwater
Recycling
Horticulture
Greenways
Sustainability
Aquastar
Hemlock Bluffs
C-Tran (Public Transportation)
Water Conservation

I was excited to see town officials getting involved in some of the topics very close to my heart.
I had a very good conversation with the folks at sustainability booth. The conversation
was about the clothes drying rack. I'm thinking of following up with the town officials about my work.

Hemlock Bluffs sounds like another fun place for me to check-out. This could be a fun trail for running.

Natural Soap
I have been very focussed on food, shelter and energy aspects of self-sufficiency for last three years. Soap has been in the periphery. The ladies at Natural Soap Cauldron detailed out the ingredients of commercially available soaps and their products. Many medicines are applied as a patch, so prolonged exposure of chemicals on skin can lead to their infusion in blood stream. I do not want to highlight any specific company in this blog but few concepts which will drive our soap purchase decisions in future
* Natural component
* Home made/locally artisan made

Book Scanner Improvements

2011-04-10T14:00:00.001-07:00

Book Scanner Improvements, a photo by sumantamandal on Flickr.

The book scanner continues to evolve with passage of time.
Last week's work has been a great success.
The three improvement areas are:

Camera
Switched from regular camera to five year old Nikon D50 SLR.
This camera allows remote controlled operation. The remote allows a single operator to scan books. The operator does not have to physically touch any buttons on the camera to take a picture, the relative location of the camera to the page remains constant even after multiple shots.
The picture taken by the SLR camera is exactly the same as seen from the view finder. There is no offset and there is no need for guessing.
This camera allows fine control over shutter speed, aperture and ISO in the manual mode. It is possible to fine tune these parameters to get an awesome picture in normal room lighting conditions. Thus eliminating the need for any additional lighting.
Aperture - Lower aperture (high F stops) as the image does not have depth. This leads to a sharper image (F11)
Shutter speed - Lower shutter speed to compensate for poor room lighting conditions (1/2.5 seconds)
The lowest ISO number for the camera is 200.
Book Stop
The book stop prevents the book from sliding. This allows a fixed location of the camera to the book as the successive pages are flipped.
Software
Wrote an auto-numbering script last year in python. This script auto-numbers successive even/odd pages to the actual number of the page.
Photoshop allows batch operation. Once a picture is cropped, then the same cropping settings can be used for multiple images in an automated manner.
OCR software was able to convert image to text with a 6 Mega Pixel image resolution images.

It is now possible to get good quality images with minimal room lighting conditions.

Apple Mac multi-user environment

2011-04-03T18:06:00.001-07:00

Getting the most out of a machine is one of objectives.

When I purchased the Mac laptop last year, I was not aware of its multi-user capabilities.

Mac allows the creation multiple user account and provides a very helpful Parental control

capabilities. These two features are available user System Preferences.

It is possible to be logged in from multiple user account simultanesly. Example:

One can record TV shows from account while doing some other account at the same time.

Parental Control provides a very granular controlling mechanism:

Apps
Web
People
Time Limits
- Weekday time limits
- Weekend time limits
- Bedtime
Other

Book Scanner Stabilizer

2011-04-03T18:05:00.001-07:00

Book Scanner Stabilizer, a photo by sumantamandal on Flickr.

The book scanner platform has a tendency to move during the page flipping process.
The movement of the platform changes the orientation of the page relative to the camera. In order to prevent the movement of the platform, I took pieces of 2/4 wood and cut notches in them. The scanner platform legs are inserted in the notches. The 2/4 is anchored to the workbench using hold fast.

Unlock Sony e-book reader PRS-500

2011-03-11T16:31:00.000-08:00

When I reached home this evening, I found out that my younger son has turned on the lock feature of the Sony e-book reader. No one in my household knew the four digit code to unlock the device. This device is exclusively used in our household to store cooking recipes.

In a world loaded with processed food, cooking recipes play a vital role in our self-sufficiency goals.

Steps to unlock the device:

(1)Hold the reset button at the back of the device for more than 3 seconds.

(2)Slide the power switch to on position. The device will display 'Starting up'

(3) As the device is showing 'Starting up', press the + Volume button and the Mark button simultaneously. The Mark button is located at the bottom of the device near the big fat page circular button. The volume button is on the side.

(4) The device will ask you, if you are ok with deleting all the files. Press the '5' button to say Yes.

(5) All files get deleted from the device. Restart the device by sliding the power switch to on position.

(6) Plugin the USB cable to your computer to copy all files back to the device.

This task took about 5 minutes and all recipes are back on the e-book reader and ready for use!

Garlic Plant

2011-02-27T15:23:00.001-08:00

GEDC0358
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

I planted garlic cloves 2" to 3" under the surface in 10" pots back in September-October. The warmth of last couple of weeks has done wonders. I can see green shoots in four out of the six garlic cloves that I planted. The sub-freezing temperatures of winter did not kill the garlic. I have read on the web that the cold of winter is needed to start the side buds. The side buds grow and swell become cloves.

Kindle DX Cover

2011-02-20T10:01:00.001-08:00

GEDC0358
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Kindle DX is the largest (9.7" Display) e-book reader in the market today with a good ecosystem of publishers. We received this device about a month back and since then it has become the most popular device in our household. Unlike other electronic reading devices like monitor, laptop, this device is meant to be held in hand for hours.

Human hand is not used to holding plastic devices for hours. We are more used to holding paper books sometimes with paper hard cover or sometimes with fabric. Fabric/paper has more natural feel to it than a shiny piece of plastic. A cover for the device also helps to protect it from daily wear and tear.

The covers available for this model of kindle are either too expensive (over $50) or not in stock.

I had some denim fabric lying around (about a yard of fabric). I went to the local fabric store and picked up 1" wide elastic to secure the kindle device to the back cover. The black elastic was stitched to the four corners of the back cover. Card board from the packaging material was inserted between fabric layers to provide the necessary stiffness.

It took me an hour to complete this project. This is relatively simple project for someone with average sewing skills on a sewing machine.

This cover has been in constant use for last 2 weeks and its still holding strong.

This kind of cover can be made for any e-book reader. Borders filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy last week. It seems that book publishing business is moving away from paper as e-book readers and tablets get more adoption in the market.

You can get really creative with the type and color of fabric for this project. Please try and share your project images.

Weight Loss and Staying Healthy

2010-12-29T18:27:00.000-08:00

Maybe this topic is a little detour from the goal of this blog. A closer look at the topic may change your opinion.

Please allow me to make my case.

In a world of diminishing resources, it would become very difficult to manufacture anti-biotics.
Obesity leads to large number of health issues. This is very well documented in the medical world.
Staying healthy is one of the very important self sufficiency missions.

Earlier this year, I started with the goal of losing 20% weight to bring my weight to the normal level. I started running on weekdays at the gym for 30 minutes. As time progressed, I increased my running speed gradually. After loss of 10% weight, I started controlling my portion size.

I'm very happy to say that I met my target by end of the year. Now I have to maintain my weight at the current level. I plan to continue to run daily.

Someday, if we are hunting and are not fast enough then we may not have our next meal :)

Building Block

2010-12-05T11:12:00.001-08:00

Building Block
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Cut a couple of cubic sections using a hand saw from a 2X2 lumber. Drilled a 3/4" hole on one of them for a circular mortise using a Frostner bit. The tenon is made using a tenoning bit on the drill press. These are the basic wooden building blocks out of which bigger structures can be assembled by kids. Simple, inexpensive and lot of fun to make and use.

Composting Tub

2010-12-05T11:09:00.001-08:00

Composting Tub
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Built a composting box out of a tub. Drilled 11/4" holes on all sides. Six holes underneath the tub. Six on longer side and four on the shorter side of the tub. Will add brown matter (leaves) and green matter (kitchen green waste) to it and se how it goes. Please stay tuned in...

Pecan Pie

2010-11-27T11:34:00.000-08:00

Made pecan pie from scratch for Thanksgiving this year.

Re-inventing the Wheel

2010-09-19T17:02:00.001-07:00

Side View of the toy
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

This weekend I spent some time with my kids to design and fabricate a basic two wheel toy. First we designed the toy using google sketchup.

This toy is made out of wood available at local hardware store. The toy consists of:
* two 4" diameter wheels
*9" long axle
*2 wheel caps
*connecting rod to axle
* string for pulling

I used a 4" hole saw to cut the wheels out of wooden board. The holes in the wheels for the axle was cut using a Forstner bit. The two end of the axle was rounded on the lathe. The diameter of the axle is 3/4"

We might not have re-invented the wheel but we had a lot of fun building this project. The kids got an opportunity to learn the fun of design and got to appreciate the basic building blocks of transportation.

Click here for more pictures.

Please leave your questions, comments and suggestions about this project.

First Tomato Harvest from 2010

2010-08-10T06:10:00.001-07:00

First Tomato Harvest from 2010
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

This year I planted Roma tomatoes in the same pot that I used for beefstake tomatoes last year. Did not add any fresh potting soil this year. Added a bit of organic manure and powedered egg shells plus regular dose (once in 2-3 weeks) of fish fertilizer.

Found cracks on several tomatoes. Tells me that the plant needs more watering.

Used the tomatoes for Roasted Ricotta Roma Tomatoes (RRRT) immediately after they were harvested.

My First turning work - French Rolling Pin

2010-07-25T18:04:00.001-07:00

DSC_0076
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

It was a hot summer day. Like the heat melts two metal bodies to one, two of my hobbies, cooking and wood working came together today. . This lovely french rolling pin can stand on its own (no pun intended) ;) I'm yet to try out the rolling characteristics of this pin. This was a good project to start my wood turning adventure.

Have you ever wondered, we all have different hand sizes and hand structures, then why should we use the mass produced rolling pins? Shouldn't the rolling pins be taylored for you?

Book/Document Scanner setup

2010-05-23T07:03:00.001-07:00

DSCN0981
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

The challenges of using a traditional flat bed scanner are:

Flatbed Scanners are slow due to the moving mechanical scan head. A typical sub $200 scanner can scan a document in 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
Very hard to scan a thick book. The scanner cover does not cover the book fully and the scan does not turn out too well.
The bindings of a book does not like the scanning process

I did some search on google.com for an alternate solution and came across the wonderful site http://diybookscanner.org/ maintained by Daniel Reetz.

There were some wooden boards lying around my workshop and I put something real quick. I was not satisfied by the image quality of Nikon L14 (7.1 megapixels) camera so I went to Compusa store to pick up a 12.2 megapixels digital camera.

Picked up $2.5 glass plate from local hardware store (Lowes). The glass plate keeps the page flatter. The glass plate also creates reflection of the opposite page. The black card board is used to prevent the reflection from the facing page.

Finally, I'm happy with the results...

Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-05-02T17:54:00.001-07:00

Peanut Butter Cookies
Originally uploaded by

It has been a while since I made cookies. The last time I made cookies at home, I used Nestle's frozen cookie dough. This time I decided to make cookies from scratch. Ended up with 16 cookies. By the time I was able to get hold of a camera, 3 cookies were already gone.

They turned out to be a little on the soft side as I was generous with heavy cream. Maybe next time, I will try to make them a litte more chewy.

Prep Time - 30 min
Cook Time - 30 min
8 servings

Ingredients
1¼ cups of flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup heavy cream

Directions
1. Combine flour, salt, & baking powder. Sift.
2. In a separate bowl, combine peanut butter, brown sugar, sugar, and butter.
3. And cream until fluffy.
4. Beat in egg and vanilla.
5. Blend in flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture.
6. Your batter should be stiff enough that when you stick your spoon in vertically, the spoon will stay in place and not fall over (if it is too runny, add a bit more flour). At this point, I usually refrigerate my dough for about 20-30 minutes. For me, this dough is easier to work with when it’s chilled.
7. After chilling (if you chose to do so), roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on greased baking sheet (I line mine with parchment paper instead). Press fork into dough to make an impression.
8. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes, or until bottom edges turn light brown. Remove from oven and place sheet on wire rack/stove top. Allow the peanut butter cookies to sit on the baking sheet for 2 - 3 minutes (or else they will crumble). Then, transfer the peanut butter cookies from baking sheet to plate. Enjoy!

Squat Toilet Adapter

2010-01-24T18:05:00.000-08:00

About seven months ago I read a very interesting post on LATOC with title
Psychological effect of cars and sitting in chairs. This post inspired me to come up with the idea of squat toilet adapter.

In most of Asia, squatting is a way of life. Squat toilet can heal constipation and many other health problems. The benefits of squat toilet is well documented in Squat - Don't Sit post.

In western world, squat toilet is near impossible to find. Folks living in apartments can't change their toilets even if they want to.

This wooden frame structure is made from 2X4 and panels which I got from local hardware store. When this structure is placed over the existing toilet, it is possible to use the toilet in a squatting position.

Clothes Drying Rack Video

2009-12-20T13:46:00.000-08:00

It has been six months since I built my first clothes drying rack. Now I have two of these structures at my home. They have been working out great for my family. We have an electric dryer but we hardly use it. It takes about 24 hours for clothes to dry indoors even in winter temperatures hovering around 30 F. I received quiet a few requests to provide more details about the construction of this clothes drying rack.

The photo of this dryer published six months ago did not have enough details. Hopefully this youtube video will do justice to this rack.

This clothes drying rack is built from PVC pipes available at local hardware store.

Some of the salient features of this drying rack are:
(1) Light weight
(2) Portable
(3) Relatively cheap
(4) Built from easily available material

Materials used:
(1) 40 ft of 3/4" thick PVC pipes.
Usually the hardware stores sell 10 ft long pipes
This will cost ~ $8

(2)20 3/4 inch Tee Socket
It is cheaper to buy a bag of 10.
This will cost ~ $10

The material cost of this rack is under $20

(1) Cut 16 section of 18" length
(2) Cut 8 section of 24" length
(3) Join the sections with T-sockets

The Bottleneck

2009-11-17T20:05:00.001-08:00

Webster Defines bottleneck as "a narrow route"

Why did the Neanderthals disappear? They lived for 400 thousand years.
Why did Homo Sapiens survive and all others disappeared?

What is the differentiation factor?

Saw this one on TV last week
Becoming Human Last Human Standing

Though there is an embedded message.

We are at another evolutionary bottleneck. Another resource crunch. The bottle-neck of Peak Oil. Those of us who can survive and adapt to a much lower energy lifestyle will come out of this bottleneck. Rest will disappear in the endless sand of time and become the Neanderthal fossils. We need to redefine progress and growth. Infinite growth on a planet is mathematically impossible. Rest of the world wants to follow the so called 'developed' nations. This is not a path to prosperity but a path to the proverbial yeast killing itself in its own alcoholic excrement.

Growth is embedded in human evolutionary physiology. It is impossible for politicians, corporate leaders and rest of the people in power to even think of a path other than growth. Anyone who wants to come out of the bottleneck ahead of us must think against the concepts of growth embedded in our DNA and move to much much lower energy lifestyle.

Toddler socks

2009-11-12T08:45:00.001-08:00

I made this pair of socks for my toddler son last year.

Instructions

These are made in sport weight yarn, with a ribbed leg. You can do them in one colour, or in a combination of colours. I made a pair in orange, with black stripes at the top of the leg and black for the heel and toe. (they were for the baby of a teacher I work with, and these are the school colours!)

**Special Abbreviation: ssk - this is an alternative to the old psso decrease. To ssk, you slip the next two stitches knitwise, then insert the tip of the left hand needle into the front of these two stitches, then knit them together. If you prefer, you could always use the psso decrease instead. (Slip 1, knit one, pass slipped stitch over), but I find the ssk is quicker and neater.

Materials:

One set of 3.25 mm double-pointed needles.

Sport or DK weight yarn.

Optional: contrast for stripes, heel and toes.

Cast on 32 stitches, distributed evenly on three needles:

1st needle: 10 stitches

2nd needle: 12 stitches

3rd needle: 10 stitches

Rib in k1, p1 ribbing for 4 inches.

Heel:

k1, p1 for 8 stitches off of the first needle. Turn, p8, then p8 from third needle. You now have 16 stitches on one needle for the heel flap. Turn.

Work another 12 rows in stockinette stitch.

Turning the heel:

Row 1: k8, place marker, k2, ssk, k1, turn

Row 2: sl 1, purl to 2 stitches past the marker, p2tog, p1, turn

Row 3: sl 1, knit to 3 stitches past the marker, k2tog, k1, turn

Row 4: sl 1, purl to 3 stitches past the marker, p2tog, p1, turn

Row 5: sl 1, knit to 4 stitches past the marker, k2tog, turn

Row 6: purl to 4 stitches past the marker, p2tog, turn

Row 7: knit

Pick up 8 stitches along the first side of the heel flap. Using the second needle, knit across the 16 instep stitches. Using a third needle, pick up 8 stitches on the other side of the heelflap, and knit 5 stitches from the first needle.

Shaping the instep:

Next round: knit

Decrease round: 1st needle - knit to last three stitches, k2tog, k1.

2nd needle - knit across.

3rd needle - k1, ssk, knit to end.

Repeat these two rounds until there are 32 stitches remaining.

Knit 15 rounds in stockinette stitch.

Shaping the toe:

Next round: knit

Decrease round: 1st needle - knit to last three stitches, k2tog, k1.

2nd needle - knit 1, ssk, knit to last three stitches, k2tog, k1.

3rd needle - k1, ssk, knit to end.

These instructions are from geocities.com but the link is not working.

Useful youtube vidoes:

1840s Carolina Village

2009-11-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

On October 24th I went visited Hart Square. This is a 200 acre farm owned by Dr. Hart. He has tried to recreate life of settlers in Catawba county in 1840s in his farm. This place is open to visitors only once a year on the 4th Saturday of October. The tickets get sold out very fast

This place is close to Hickory NC. It was raining very hard so the drive up there was not too great. There was no rain at Hart Square so we were able to enjoy rest of the day. Life back then was simple with no plastic pumpkins. There was no TV, no malls and people had real jobs.

I took as many pictures I could from different types of professions people had back then like coopering, shoe making to wheel wrights.

We picked up a pound of $2 corm meal from the water driven grain mill. The corn bread made from this corn meal was delicious :)

Pictures cannot do justice to the great atmosphere that me and my family enjoyed that day. Please enjoy this sideshow of over 200 pictures. The originals of each picture is 16X of the one shared on web. If anyone is interested in any specific original then please leave a comment on my blog and I will get back to you.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Wood Shaving's from board Jointing

2009-11-01T17:09:00.001-08:00

Wood Shaving's from board Jointing
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Yesterday, I finally got some time to use my shiny new
#7 Jointer plane. Its a beautiful product from Lie Neilsen.
Works right out of the box without any need for tuning.
This picture below tell the story of shavings from this
white oak board. I could have had this board jointed at
the lumber yard for $0.35/bf but I would have denied myself
the joy of shaving and some arm exercise.

Antique Farm Equipment

2009-10-17T18:47:00.000-07:00

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Today I visited NC State Fair 2009. There was one hall loaded with antique farm equipment. The old farm equipment is a joy to watch. This is the beginning of life long journey to farm using the older equipment. My goal is the understand the purpose of each human or animal powered equipment and build few of them as no one builds these equipments any more.

HDTV Antenna - Day 1

2009-10-11T17:11:00.001-07:00

HDTV Antenna
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

It has been months since we have digital only television at home. We have been using the old black rabbit ear antenna since then. We were constantly adjusting the rabbit ear antenna to get reception. Today I finally decided to build my own HDTV antenna.

This antenna uses GH10- rev 2, Hoverman design from
http://www.jedsoft.org/fun/antennas/dtv/gh.html

The antenna is not complete yet as I ran out of time today. I tested only the main element by hanging it from the PVC frame. I cut some reflector parts. I will install them in next few weeks.

I'm using 3/4" thick PVC pipes for frame and 1/4" Outer Diameter soft copper pipe for the metal element of the antenna.

Even without the reflector, we are getting a much better reception of all local channels. Hopefully with reflector elements we will get few more channels. I will write more about the size, cost of the parts and the building process.

Mount DeWalt DW621 router to Kreg Precision Router Table insert plate

2009-08-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend I finally had some time to mount my router on router table's insert plate. This router table has been sitting un-assembled since April, 2009. It will take me another weekend to finally get this router table fully assembled.

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Mark the edge of the router base plate that you want to face front with a piece of masking tape

Step 2: Place the insert plate face down on work surface with Kreg logo close to you

Step 3: Position the bull’s eye template so that the concentric rings line up with the opening of the insert plate.

Step 4: Remove the base plate from the router and using it to find the correct drill bit size for drilling holes in the insert plate

Step 5: Place the base plate face down on the bull’s eye template and center it on the concentric rings. Use the masking tape to secure the two together

Step 6: Place a sacrificial board on the drill press under the plate to reduce the possibility of blowout

Step 7: With three items secure, drill the holes using drill press

Step 8: Clamp the insert plate to drill press and drill holes into the insert plate

Step 9: After the holes are drilled separate the three items and using a counter sink bit to counter sink each hole on the top side of the insert plate to accommodate the mounting hardware

Step 10: The screw head should not sit above flush or too far below. I used 20mm long base plate screw to connect the base plate to router

I tried to ensure that the router bit stay at the center of the circular opening of the router table's insert plate. One of the mounting screws hole is on the edge
. I used a 14 mm long screw for this lower height hole.

Resizing the length of machine screws

2009-08-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

The 25 mm long M4X0.7 finally arrived this week.

Here are the steps to re-size the screws to 20 mm length:

Step 1: Cut router plate screws to proper length

Step 1a: Gather up the necessary tools and materials
(i) Vice
(ii) Hacksaw
(iii)Marker pen
(iv)File
(v)Foot rule

Step 1b: Measure the length of the Router plate screw needed.

Step 1c: Mark a circle on the screw where it needs to be cut.

Step 1d: Setup the screw in a vice to cut it to proper length

Step 1e: Cut the screws with hacksaw

Step 1f: Measure the length of the cut screws and file the bottom

Step 1g: Test the screws on router

Simple Pleasures

2009-08-07T10:51:00.001-07:00

DSCN0410
Originally uploaded by countrygirl30

You might be wondering, “What do candles have to do with self-sufficiency?” There is more to self-sufficiency than just surviving off the land. It’s also about freeing oneself from the material world in which makes us unhappy even anxious at times. Two nights ago, my family and I sat on the couch in the living room with nothing more than burning candles to light up the room. As we watched the glowing and flickering candlelight we suddenly felt calmer and more relaxed. Even our oldest son sat still in my husband’s lap the whole time which is a surprise. Normally during the day he’s bursting with extreme energy and constantly running around. My husband and I enjoyed a hot cup of tea over long conversations. It was very pleasant. We blew out the candles at 9:05 PM and I took our son to his room and put him to bed. When I came back downstairs and began working on dishes I noticed that my breathing had changed. It was deeper and steadier than I had ever felt. I had never felt so calm like that before. The next day our son told me how he enjoyed himself and that he wants to have more candlelight time. As self-sufficient people, it is the simple things in life that we enjoy most.

Seed Saving

2009-08-07T10:21:00.001-07:00

DSCN0403
Originally uploaded by countrygirl30

In this day and age when job losses are becoming more frequent food is a major concern for everyone. What if one can have food without worrying about having a job to pay for it? That is nothing short of possible. This peach came in a box of six and was purchased at our local farmer’s market. The peach seeds have been rinsed off and pat dry with a paper towel. They sat at room temperature to dry for 1-2 weeks and then placed inside an enveloped and sealed in a glass jar. The day we set up our farm these seeds will be sown and grown for our food. We’ll never have to worry about worry about jobs or income ever again. Our crops are the income that will feed us for the rest of our lives.

Housekeeping the Way It Was Meant To Be

2009-08-03T18:51:00.001-07:00

DSCN0405
Originally uploaded by countrygirl30

There have been many commercial cleaning products that I have used to clean the house which doesn’t exactly work the way it was supposed to. To top it all off, I didn’t feel any safer to use cleaning products which had strong, toxic fumes and were not environmentally friendly. The warning labels were just plain scary to read. I had to find a solution to this problem as soon as I could for the sake of my family’s heath and well being. Finally, I found a cleaning solution that put my fears to rest. This solution consists of 1 cup of white distilled vinegar to 1 gallon bucket of hot water. An extra bucket of hot water was used to rinse out the vinegar solution as it would dry out and damage the sponge mop, according to the directions for this vinegar and water solution. With any cleaning process, of course, there has to be ventilation. I began by sweeping away all dust and other particles that were visible. As I started using this solution on my vinyl floor I was amazed at the results. It cleaned much better than any other product I have ever used in my life. I couldn’t even smell much of the vinegar as I was cleaning. Using a pitcher of warm water, I poured a little bit on the floor at a time, mopped up the water, and wrung it into the water bucket, not the vinegar bucket. Then, whatever dampness was left I wiped it up with rags and let the floor air dry. When my job was done there was not a scent of vinegar to be detected and my floor looked better than ever. I can now clean my house with peace of mind. I will continue to search for more environment friendly cleaning mixtures that will keep my family healthy and happy for years to come.

Sunrise in the pot

2009-08-02T12:23:00.001-07:00

Sunrise in the pot
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Watching sun rise over the horizon is a wonderful experience. Today I will use sunrise as a metaphor.
It has been little over two months since I posted my first blog entry on tomatoes growing in pots in our front yard. Today these two tomatoes have completed a full circle. I can see a reddish hue at the bottom of both the tomatoes. These are the first two tomatoes maturing this season. Two months of hard work and we have these two beauties teasing us to pick them up and cook something delicious.
The joy of watching the reddish hue first thing in the morning today was as wonderful as watching the first rays of sun in the morning.
The sun, the rain, the bees, the workers at the planting pot making factory, the makers of Miracle Grow fertilizer and the curious onlookers have contributed to this success. Thank you goes to all of them. We have a great team here. Hope to repeat this success for rest of the tomatoes this season and more in next season.

Metric measurement in a world of US measurement system

2009-08-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

I have never thought about the type of screws in my power tools, let alone the measurement system used the measure them.

Things changed this weekend. This weekend I was planning to mount DeWalt DW621 router on Kreg precision router table. I had to get longer screws than the ones originally mounted on router to mount the router to the insert plate of the router table. The insert plate for router is 3/8” thick. Kreg provides a video to install a router on the insert plate.

I have an inch-system micrometer which measures thickness in fraction of inches. I used this micrometer to get an approximate measurement of the screw. I thought the screw is 5/32” thick at its threads. I could not find any odd fractional machine screw at my local Lowes. I picked up a few 8-32 ¾” screws. When I came home and tried the new screws on router, they did not fit.

The next step was to do some online research on this particular screw. eReplacement parts.com has a nice picture of all the router parts for DW621

Fig # 7 in the above link is the screw type I was looking for but twice its original length. The Part Number is: 945121-00. The length is 10 millimeter.

It is a M4X0.7 screw. What is a M4X0.7 screw after all? In the metric measurement world, M is followed by the value of the nominal diameter D and the pitch P, both expressed in millimeters and separated by the multiplication sign “×”.

I need a M4x0.7 screw with 20 millimeter length. I could not find 20 mm M4X0.7 screw online but I found a 25mm long M4x0.7 screw at amazon.com

Once I get this screw, I will use a hack saw to cut it down to the required length.

I also ordered a metric drill bit to drill a hole for this 4mm screw.

Next week I will be experimenting with the metric drill bit and metric screw from amazon.com.

Couple of interesting links on metric measurement system, I came across during my research:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_metric_screw_thread

http://www.france-property-and-information.com/imperial-system-and-history.htm

The Fruits of Our Labor

2009-07-28T08:29:00.001-07:00

DSCN0398
Originally uploaded by countrygirl30

We started working on these tomato plants back in May 2009. With daily watering, powdered eggshells as plant food to provide calcium for growth and strength, some fish fertilizer, and weekly pruning we have had a successful season. Today we have an excellent crop of about 50 tomatoes total. We see more tomatoes coming out almost everyday. The best part about this is when I need tomatoes for cooking I don’t have to go to the store. I can walk right out the door, pick however many I need, wash them off and use them. We know that we are getting the best quality food because we grow it ourselves. It was a fun activity to do and even my oldest son gets involved in watering them. It makes me happy to see that we can sustain ourselves through gardening. We’ve only just begun. There’s much more to come in our efforts to be self-sufficient.

Blockbuster Store Closing

2009-07-26T18:40:00.001-07:00

Blockbuster Store Closing
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

This blockbuster store is in Raliegh, NC. I tried to take a pic of this last weekend but my camera malfunctioned. This weekend I finally got a picture.

Wood Working Hand Tools Purchasing Spree

2009-07-26T10:42:00.001-07:00

Hand Tools Shopping Spree
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

I started woodworking at the tender age
of 10 back when I was growing up in India.
All I had back then was:

A hand saw,
A fret saw,
A hammer,
Couple of cheap hand planes and
Nails.

That's all I could afford back then.

I got a little too obsessed with the Power of Power Tools when I moved to USA.

During the last couple of years I have become more appreciative of my hands and the wonderful things hands can do. I do not plan to give up any existing power tools at the same time my future focus will be on hand tools.

Maybe indirectly this is power down for me. This is an appreciation for quality over quantity. Many woodworkers may question my last statement. I have seen very high quality furniture made using power tools.

The quest for hand tools made me go through old issues of Fine Woodworking, 2008 Tools Guide from Taunton’s and Hand Tool Skills 2008 by Taunton. I learned a lot from sites like:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net
http://lumberjocks.com/
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/

I started with a goal of acquiring hand tools almost a month ago. My initial hand tools research led to a sub-research on sharpening tools.

Sharpening Tools
The folks at ncwoodworker.net were very helpful in my research for hand tools. Here is a thread I started looking for advice: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/f31/need-advice-sharpening-tool-24591/

Mike Davis’s post in this thread really inspired me to take a serious look at water stones for tool sharpening.

A Trip to the Sharpening Doctor, Gary Rogowski’s video and article with same title from July/August 2009 issue of Fine Woodworking magazine was also very helpful in my research.

Eventually, I decided to go for a mix of hand tools and power tools for tool sharpening needs. Hand tools for honing and sharpening and power tool for grinding. I got 15% discount on the tools I bought from the physical store. I got free shipping from Woodcraft.com on the clearance items.

Hand Sharpening Tools
• Veritas Mk. II Honing Guide
• King Brand Deluxe Waterstone, 800 Gri t
• King Brand Deluxe Waterstone, 1200 Grit
• King Deluxe Gold Polishing Stone, 8000 Grit

Power Sharpening Tools
• Grizzly Wet Grinder T10010 [Not Purchased Yet]
• Tormek Pro Angle Master
• Tormek Square Edge Jig
• Tormek Long Knife Jig

I plan to use Tormek Jigs on Grizzly Wet Grinder. That’s enough about sharpening tools. Let’s get back to the Hand Tools.

Hand Planes

I started my journey with hand planes.
There are expensive lie-neilson hand planes at one end and then there are many varieties of cheaper hand planes. Woodcraft has introduced their own brand of WoodRiver hand planes recently.

If you have some serious money and passion for hand tools there is Hotley Classic hand planes. I can’t afford neither these Hotley hand planes nor the hand planes from lie-neilson.

I hear a lot of good things about Stanley handplanes. Woodworkers usually buy them from flea markets and eBay. When I saw Stanley reintroduce sweet heart handplanes, I thought it was a great opportunity. The 15% discount this weekend from Woodcraft made the deal even sweeter. I felt like a kid in the candy store and I got them all.

• Stanley SW No 4 Smoothing Bench Plane
• Stanley SW No. 9-1/2 Block Plane
• Stanley SW No. 62 Low Angle Jack Plane
• Stanley SW No. 60-1/2 Low Angle Block Plane

Here is Stanley Plane Dating Flowchart.

Measuring and Marking Tools
I picked up a few measuring and marking tools to take advantage of the 15% discount at Woodcraft.
• PFEIL "Swiss Made" Marking Knife
• CROWN Rosewood and Brass Sliding Bevel 12"
• CROWN Awl, Round-Blade
• STARRETT Protractor Head For 12" Square

I plan on sharing my wood working experiences using these tools in future posts.

You won't find this at retail stores.

2009-07-19T07:28:00.001-07:00

DSCN0383
Originally uploaded by countrygirl30

Most shirts, or clothing for that matter, you find in retail stores have no uniqueness, creativeness, or even appropriateness. Most of the time you can never find the right size that fits you just right. That's when I decided to make clothes for myself and for my family. It gives me the flexibility to choose the style that fits my personality and fits me the way it should, unlike those cookie-cutter sizes they sell in stores that don't always fit right. In this case, It fits my oldest son the way it's supposed to. Since he has a long torso like his father the front and back pieces needed to be lengthened so that it doesn't look too short on him. The sleeves were also lengthened so that my son can grow into his shirt making it last longer by at least another year or two. This was a practice shirt since I had never made shirts before, despite my sewing experience through high school courses. Credit also goes to my husband for his help since my mother-in-law made his clothes growing up. I have to confess though, this shirt was not made from a homemade sewing pattern but it's the first step towards making patterns at home. What I did was take measurements of my son and wrote them down. Then we placed dressmakers tracing paper between the commercial pattern and large pieces of paper to transfer the pattern onto the large paper. This large paper can be found at any office supply store. As we traced the pattern onto the large paper we added more length to the pieces that needed lengthening using our son's measurements. When we finished transferring the pattern we went over the pattern with a thin marker and used a yardstick for the straight edges. We also marked any darts, dots, arrows, and such onto the new altered pattern piece and also, with a ball point pen, wrote the notes from the commercial pattern itself. We double stitched the seams for a stronger hold. Here you see the finished project. My son is so happy about his new shirt that he wants to wear this on his first day of school. If you ever notice when you make something for a family member they will take extra good care of it. Why? Because it was made from the heart not bought from some retail store. He even got to pick out his own fabric. He picked out Lightning McQueen fabric and suggested to our son that next time he should pick something that's not quite so loud. Otherwise, he loves it and we enjoyed making it for him.

Vertical clothes air dryer

2009-06-30T05:51:00.001-07:00

Vertical clothes air dryer
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

This structure was originally designed last year to support pumpkin vines. There are no vines this year so I was thinking of putting the structure to a new use.

With temperature crossing 90 F it makes perfect sense to use this structure for clothes drying. It is a nice compact structure with
Length = 2 feet; Width = 2 feet and 6.5 feet high.

There are eight 2 feet horizontal bars for hangers. That is an equivalent of 16 feet length for hangers. It can hang 32 hangers with mixed sized clothes. That's about a load of laundry.

A 5000 Watt dryer running for an hour consumer 5 kWh of electricity. If 1 kWh of electricity costs $0.10 then 5 kWh will cost $0.50 per load. 100 loads per year is $50.00 of electricity savings per year. This is a conservative number but one can save anywhere from $40 to $60 per year just by air drying laundry. This is post tax money :)

This puppy is made out of 3/4" PVC water pipes and PVC joints. This structure can be easily disassembled any time and stowed away.

First Tomato of the season!

2009-06-24T18:23:00.001-07:00

First Tomato of the season!
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

48 hours after pruning and I see the first tomato of the season. It is very exciting. Pruning definitely helped but I don't want to send the wrong message that pruning results in tomatoes.

Tomato Plant in pot

2009-06-24T18:21:00.001-07:00

Tomato Plant in pot
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

I went a little crazy with pruning after reading tomato pruning tips from Fine Gardening
http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/pruning-tomatoes.aspx

Pruning was done on Monday 06/22/2009

Home made bread is ready

2009-05-17T17:31:00.001-07:00

Home made bread is ready
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Yes, home made bread is ready and it is ready to be sliced. It smells great! The recipe is at http://self-sufficient-future.blogspot.com/2009/05/home-made-bread.html

Home made bread

2009-05-17T17:25:00.001-07:00

Home made bread
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

This is a simple recipe to make two loaves of home made bread.

Ingredients:
(1) 8 cups of flour
(2) 2 teaspoon yeast
(3) 2 teaspoon baking powder
(4) 2 teaspoon salt
(5) Cooking Spray

Bread Pan Size: 9.25" X 5.25"

Steps:
1) Add the ingredients and 8 cups of water.
2) My son helps me mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon
3) Let the mixture sit for an hour. The picture is taken after and hour of mixing the ingredients. The mixture rises.
4) Grease the inside of the bread pans with either butter or cooking spray and pour the mixture in bread pans
5) Bake at 450F in oven for 45 minutes

Home made bread is ready to be sliced!

Closed Wolf Camera store

2009-05-17T17:12:00.001-07:00

Closed Wolf Camera store
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

I went to my nearest mall today. The wolf camera store has no items on the shelves. This is one of the Wolf camera stores which was closed last month as the parent company Ritz Camera Centers Inc went bankrupt.

Headphone cable repair

2009-05-17T17:07:00.001-07:00

Headphone cable repair
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Last year my son used a pair of scissors to cut cable of my Bose over the ear headphones. These are good quality and expensive headphones . They were $100 when I bought them.

Today evening. I started my repair session with a set of soldering iron and solder. Very soon I realized there are four cables. Two for left and tow for right ear. One pair is green and bronze, the other pair is red and bronze. A simple multi-meter connectivity test failed for these cables.

Each cable is a very thin twisted wire with a non-metallic thread at the core. The failure of connectivity test meant that there is some kind of lacquer/paint covering the thing twisted wires. I used my flat tip soldering iron with a little bit of solder to melt the paint and also create a soldering connection with the wires.

I repeated this step for all eight cables coming from two broken ends. This time multi-meter connectivity test passed. The multi-meter connectivity test was performed on the connector end of the broken set. This proves that the hot solder was able to melt the paint and also create an electrical connection with the wires.

I took the same colored cables from both broken ends and soldered them. I tested the ear-phone with my iPod. It was working!. Finally I used black electrical tape to seal the soldered ends.

Tomato and Cilantro

2009-05-13T04:14:00.001-07:00

Tomato and Cilantro
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

I spent last couple of weekends to move some of the tomato and cilantro sprouts to slightly bigger containers.

This year there is no money to buy clay pots so I'm using plastic cup as container.

Potato

2009-05-13T04:12:00.001-07:00

Potato
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

I planted potato last year in the same container. The plant died last year from bug attack. I think some of the roots from last year survived and when the temperature was right this year, it started growing.

Lesson learned: Potato can survive under ground during winter and grow during summer

Green Shoots

2009-05-13T04:10:00.001-07:00

Green Shoots
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Very successful sprouting of onion and chili pepper seeds. Over 90% success rate. Never had this kind of success rate in past.

The seeds were planted by my wife so credit goes to my wife.

Left half is chili pepper and right half is onion.

I may not have enough space to grow these plants to full maturity. I have to check with my friends if they are interested in taking some of these sprouts.

By the way, these are real green shoots and not the fake green shoots that financial media is talking about these days.

Tomato Sprouts

2009-05-04T05:26:00.001-07:00

Tomato Sprouts
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

I bought these tomato seeds with pellets at the end of the gardening season last year at 50% discount. This is the third weeks since they were planted in the pellets. I'm satisfied with their growth so far. This is the first time I have used seeds from previous year. This is a good money saving idea.

We are also collecting all the egg shells from the eggs we eat. I grounded the egg shells we have collected so far. Finely powdered egg shells is going to be a good source of calcium for tomato plants this year. Slightly bigger chunks of egg shells will be used as slug deterrent .

Chili Pepper

2008-09-22T10:21:00.001-07:00

Chili Pepper
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

It is great to see the first fruits in my garden. I had disastrous season with pumpkins. Pumpkins plants were destroyed by bugs. Within days the whole pumpkin plant died. The chili pepper plants earlier flowered but did not produce any fruits as were not getting enough sun shine. The sun rays were blocked by pumpkin vines. The death of pumpkin plants allowed more sun rays to reach the chili pepper plants and we have wonderful chili peppers :)

Gardening Update: lettuce

2008-06-30T07:15:00.001-07:00

lettuce
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

A couple of lettuce plants died. They can't handle too much of wind or burst of rain. They needed to be supported.

Gardening Update 1: Pumpkin Vines

2008-06-30T07:12:00.001-07:00

Pumpkin Vines - View from inside apaprtment
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

View from inside apartment

Gardening Update 1: Pie Pumpkin Plant - 1

2008-06-30T07:11:00.003-07:00

Pie Pumpkin Plant - 1
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Gardening Update 1: Pie Pumpkin Plant - 2

2008-06-30T07:11:00.001-07:00

Pie Pumpkin Plant - 2
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Gardening Update 1: Plants in Pots

2008-06-30T07:10:00.003-07:00

Plants in Pots
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

An array of Walmart plastic green pots

Gardening Update 1: Dill Plant

2008-06-30T07:10:00.001-07:00

Dill Plant
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

This Dill plant is from store bought seed. This was later on transplanted to a bigger plastic pot

Gardening Update 1: Sage Plant

2008-06-30T07:09:00.001-07:00

Sage
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

That is a Sage plant sprouted from seeds and then transplanted to a plastic pot

Gardening Update 1: Basil Plants

2008-06-30T07:08:00.001-07:00

Basil Plants
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Couple of basil plants

Gardening Update 1: Chilli Pepper Plant

2008-06-30T07:07:00.001-07:00

Blossoming Chilli Pepper Plant
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

It has blossomed for the first time and we can see a tiny white flower at the center.

Gardening Update 1: Potato Plant 1

2008-06-30T07:06:00.003-07:00

Potato Plant 1
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

This potato plant is from one of the potatoes we bought from the grocery store.

Gardenig Update 1: Potato Plant 2

2008-06-30T07:06:00.001-07:00

Potato Plant 2
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

This potato plant is from one of the potatoes we bought from the grocery store

Gardenig Update 1: Blooming Pumpkin Male Flowers

2008-06-30T07:01:00.001-07:00

Blooming Pumpkin Male Flowers
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Don't they look great?

Garden Update 1: Pumpkin Vines

2008-06-30T06:59:00.001-07:00

View of pumpkin vines from outside apartment
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

View of pumpkin vines from outside apartment

Garden Update 1: Side View of garden

2008-06-30T06:58:00.001-07:00

Side View of garden
Originally uploaded by sumantamandal

Countdown to $200 Crude (9)

2008-06-28T05:30:00.000-07:00

Another Friday and another new oil high. It crossed $140/barrel mark. Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose as high as $142.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before pulling back sharply in a spate of late-day profit-taking to settle up 57 cents at a record $140.21 on 06/27/2008.

Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink

2008-06-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink ;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born on 21 October 1772 in the rural town of Ottery St Mary, Devonshire. He is best known for his long poems, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Christabel. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner relates the supernatural events experienced by a mariner on a long sea voyage. These quotes are from the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Two centuries have passed since this poem was crafted by Samuel Coleridge. They have become so much more meaningful in today's world with global population of over 6.5 Billion.

The freedom to collect rain water a.k.a rain water harvesting is slowly disappearing in US.

"
Do I Really Need a Permit for My Rain Barrel?

Not for a traditional residential rain barrel but maybe for a larger cistern. The difficulty in defining the permitting requirements for rainwater collection lies in differentiating between the systems that cause little, if any, hydrologic impact (the vast majority of small systems) and those systems that could cause impairment to other water right holders (including streams), notably in closed basins where no new water rights are being issued. Rainwater collection for consumptive use (irrigation) could potentially cause impairment of other water rights by limiting the amount of water that would otherwise flow into freshwater streams with their own water right or streams that supply other water right holders.
"

In the State of Colorado the installation of rainwater collection barrels is an offense.

Bolivia: Bechtel and the fight for public water

Bechtel in their efforts to privatize ALL water, tried to regulate the collection of rain water in Bolivia. It lead to riots, and the people took over from "The Corporation

Saudi Arabia: Shoura demands explanation for ongoing water crisis

RIYADH: Outraged by the aggravating water crisis in the Kingdom, several Shoura Council members demanded that the concerned minister and the top official of the water desalination corporation should be called to the council.

Water and Electricity Minister Abdullah Al-Hussayen and Governor of the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) Feheid Al-Shareef had appeared before the council in similar circumstances months ago. After that the water crisis eased but the situation deteriorated and even worsened with the coming of the summer season.

The members, who described the water situation as catastrophic, made the demand while discussing a report submitted by the council’s Water and Electricity Committee on the ministry’s performance in its last meeting presided by Assistant Chairman Abdul Rahman Al-Barrak, Al-Eqtisadiah daily reported yesterday.

Various cities, including Riyadh, Jeddah, Taif and Abha, have been suffering water shortages and people have been made to wait for several hours for a truck of water in front of water distribution centers. Some had to get water from the black market after paying as much as SR400 for a tanker, which normally costs SR114. Sometimes, the price goes up as high as SR800.

There have been reports of people waiting more than 10 hours at the center to obtain a delivery truck.

In Jeddah, Saudis are reportedly being given preference at the main distribution center. Marginalized neighborhoods in the port city can go up to 45 days without water in the main lines, while other neighborhoods receive water in the lines once or twice a week. Water lines feed into buildings’ cisterns. When those cisterns dry up, building residents must obtain water by delivery trucks until the next time the lines fill the reservoirs.

“Immediate solutions to the water shortage should be found and implemented without being complacent with time-consuming plans and projects,” the council advised the ministry in a statement. “The minister had made a promise on the floor of the council to bring about radical solutions to the water crisis last summer. But the problem has raised its ugly head again and the ministry has not made any effective move to contain it. On the other hand, the problem has spread to more cities.”

Shoura members stressed that it was quite logical to call the minister and the SWCC chief again to the council for an explanation as the water crisis remained unresolved despite their promises a few months ago.

Expressing his disappointment at the dismal performance of the ministry, a member went to the extent of demanding to take away the task of solving the water crisis from the ministry and entrusting it to an emergency committee.

“The Shoura Council has received complaints from citizens in various cities about the disappointing manner in which water officials have been handling the crisis,” he said.

The committee in its report on the performance of the ministry urged the ministry to speed up formulating transparent regulations regarding privatization, as it did before privatizing the electricity sector. It urged the ministry to give due consideration to social issues while privatizing the water sector.

The committee also recommended that the ministry should take necessary steps to complete the water and sewage water projects on schedule and avoid delays by removing obstacles faced by contractors.

Several steps have been taken to alleviate the water crisis in the Kingdom. The latest is the introduction of two floating water desalination plants near Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest producer of desalinated water and accounts for 29.2 percent of the total world desalination capacity, according to a recent statement by Al-Hussayen.

Movie Review: Garbage Warrior

2008-06-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

Garbage Warrior is an amazing life story of Architect Mike Reynolds spanning over 35 years. The warrior who fought one battle after another with one goal in mind. The goal is self sufficient, sustainable habitation for humanity using garbage. If "garbage" is a taboo word then we can use "recycled material" :)

It is an awesome movie. Words can not describe this movie. I literally felt the struggle that Mike went through in his 35 year of expedition of self sufficient homes.

He believes that progress evolves through making mistakes.

Nothing comes in or goes out these houses. No water lines, No sewer lines, No electric lines. Sewage is internalized. Family of four can easily survive without going to a store. That's what I call "freedom" :)

Movie time line
4:20 - He says, we are running out of oil. He is peak oil aware :)

4:30 - Population is exploding - That's Malthusian theory :)

12:20 - Cities cannot support themselves. He sees them getting abandoned and people going out there to mine out the goods. I agree with this.

13:20 - Beating dirt into tires and creating thermal mass. Thermal mass stores heat.

54:17 Renni 'Zee' Zifferblatt (Bill Analyst Judiciary Committee) looks gorgeous with long black hair. :) She has a very deep voice. Love her black dress :p

1:00:00 Mike and 7 crew members respond to an urgent call for help for the tsunami hit Andaman Islands in India (We may end up a similar devastation, when post peak oil hits the world)

01:13:00 Mike says: "It was great to see something happen in 14 days in India when in 3 years it could not happen in a developed country (US)."

01:16:10 August 2005: Hurricane Katrina slams into the Gulf Coast of America

01:19:00 Renni says - "you do not want to scare people so much that they are paralyzed by their fear" This is a very important message for peak oil educators.

01:19:30 Mike mentions oil shortage again

01:20:20 Senator Leonard Lee Rawson says: "you can not prove global warming"

01:23:20 Mike says: "American dream in my opinion is in the toilet. It is history. It is gone. The American dream is now how do we survive in the future. It is not having eight bedroom home or eleven bathrooms. It is not having a career and a lawn and all the amenities.It is simply how does our children and children's children even have a chance at life."

Time Line of events in Mike's Life:

1969: Graduated from the University of Cincinnati

1972: Thumb House (Used beer cans wired together into "bricks," which were mortared together and then plastered over )

1976-1986: Castle Compound, Taos, New Mexico, USA. A decade of evolution.

1988: First earthship for himself and his future wife in New Mexico. There is no heating or cooling.

1990: Greater World Community, Taos, New Mexico

Late 1990: He surrendered his state architect's license to avoid prosecution for malpractice. His national license was revoked a year later.

2004: Mike drafts a new law to allow for easier testing of sustainable building
47th Legislative Session, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The bill dies due to filibustering. This will make you wonder if the representatives are really doing their job.

2005 April: Mike and 7 crew members respond to an urgent call for help for the tsunami hit Andaman Islands in India

2005 August: Hurricane Katrina slams into the Gulf Coast of America. Mike is back in US

2006 January: New Mexico State Legislature Mike re-presents his bill

2006 February: Mike's second attempt to introduce new legislation failed.

2006 October: U.S. Board of Architects learns of Mike's work in the Andaman Islands, India, they invite him to reapply for architect's license. A poetic justice :)

The section of the movie which covers earthship building in India has so many stories to tell and leaves us with so many open questions

(1) Sometime it takes a tragedy for humans to wake up
(2) It is remarkable that a community can rebuild itself in such a short time even after massive destruction.

Time is running out as we pass peak oil. Humanity can still survive and there is hope.

At a personal level, it brings back my memories of growing up in India. I used to be that boy who used to shower with a mug and a bucket of water, 20 years ago. I got spoiled with hot showers and 24/7 running water in US for almost a decade. If post peak oil situation demands me to shower with a bucket of water and a mug, I will do it again :)

You can buy this DVD from http://www.garbagewarrior.com/
I bought it from Amazon.com. It is few bucks cheaper at Amazon.com

Garden: Vine Support Structure using PVC pipes

2008-06-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was thinking about ways to support the pumpkin vines.
I came up with a design today. I went to local Lowes store and bought

(1)3/4" X 5' PVC Pipe Plain X 6
(2)3/4" SCH40 Tee
(3)3/4" SCH40 Cross

I used my hacksaw and miter box to cut these pipes to 18" and 9" sections

I came across a good DIY on working with plastic piping

http://www.easy2diy.com/cm/easy/diy_ht_3d_index.asp?page_id=35749959

At the end of the evening, it was a satisfying experience.
This structure can be expanded in both horizontal and vertical directions.

Garden Prototype Progress (1)

2008-06-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

After over a month's work, it is nice to see some veggies growing.
Lessons:
(1) There have been germination issues with some of the seeds.
(a)Only 2 out of 6 carving pumpkin seeds sprouted.
(b)Only 2 out of 6 onion seeds sprouted
(c)No success with spinach, pie pumpkin & parsley
(2) There were couple of stray animal attacks in the first few
weeks and that ruined the first set of transplanted carrot and chili
pepper. A cage type was structure was built to reduce animal attacks.
Ever since the caging, there has been no animal attacks.

This just the beginning. This is a prototype garden. There is long
way to go in order to achieve food self sufficient.

Yes, thats lettuce at the center!

The pumpkins are growing fast and I need to build a structure to support their vines.

Planting Potatoes

2008-06-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

I got three regular potatoes from grocery store almost a month ago
just for growing purposes. I let them sit in kitchen for a month
for the buds to sprout. Two out of three looked ready for planting
and one looked rotten. I got rid of the rotten potato.

I bought:
(1)55 lbs of Moisture Control Potting Mix from Costco for $10.50
(2)Two green plastic pots for $15 each for gardening section of a store.

Potting Mix

Potatoes with buds

Pot

Pot with a layer of gravel

Countdown to $200 Crude (8)

2008-06-06T14:05:00.000-07:00

My last entry in series was over two weeks ago.
Oil futures surged $10.75, or 8 percent, to $138.54 a barrel on the NYMEX.

Here is what New York Times has to say:

Oil Prices Skyrocket, Taking Biggest Jump Ever
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/07/business/07oil.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1212783157-jpsCNQJ4JKCCOCbF3zLqiw

Oil prices had their biggest gains ever on Friday, jumping nearly $11 to a new record above $138 a barrel, after a senior Israeli politician raised the specter of an attack on Iran and the dollar fell sharply against the euro.

The unprecedented gains on Friday capped a second day of strong gains on energy markets, and fueled suspicions that commodities might be caught in a speculative bubble.

DOW JONES industrial index tumbled today by almost 400 points

Seeds

2008-05-29T16:49:00.000-07:00

I found some seeds selling at 50% discount and bought 17 packets of them for $14.68

Seed Type
Balsam Camellia Flowered Mixed Colors
Bean Scarlet Runner
Beet Detriot Dark Red
Broccoli Early Dvidend Hybrid
Carrot Tendersweet
Cilantro Longstanding
Garden Bean Royal Burgundy
Garden Bean Tendergold
Garden Bean Romano
Garden Bean Cherokee Wax
Garden Bean Improved Tendergreen
Garden Bean Kentucky Wonder
Marjoram
Pea Alaska
Pea Early Perfection
Pea Dwarf Grey Sugar
Thyme

I will vacuum them and store them in refrigerator.

Google Trends on "Peak Oil"

2008-05-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

Google Trends is an interesting indicator for search patterns on internet
There is a spike in News Reference Volume of "Peak Oil" in last 30 days
US consumer 25% of global oil and it is at #3 in Google Trend Region

Countdown to $200 Crude (7)

2008-05-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

Crude Oil prices have gone crazy today. Crude futures surged to a fourth straight record, up $4.19, or 3.3%, to $133.17 a barrel in New York.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121136745978710341.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news

Countdown to $200 Crude (6)

2008-05-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

Third successive day oil prices jumped. Today, the jump was $2.02. It is relatively big jump.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/24715573

Oil Prices Set Another Record, Closing Above $129
U.S. light, sweet crude futures closed at $129.07 a barrel on the Nymex.

Why build more warehouses and increase inventory in US?

2008-05-19T16:00:00.001-07:00

I saw cnbc.com today this newwire:
Amazon to open new facility in Hazelton, Pa., creating 1,100 jobs
http://www.cnbc.com/id/24713947/for/cnbc

I have been an Amazon Prime customer for several years. They give me 2-day free shipping. My average transactions per year is in double digits

I have noticed that starting this year even a 2-day shipment takes only one day. UPS is Amazon's carrier. I tracked UPS orders and found that recently they have increased the number of warehouses (these are either Amazon's warehouses or third part warehouses).

I became so confident about 2-day delivery getting delivered overnight, that I ordered mother's day gift on 8th May. It was delivered on 9th May.

This may look like a bullish news on surface.

I have an alternate theory behind this one. Just in Time (JIT) has been the corner stone of supply chains for over two decades. It is built around the assumption of cheap oil prices. With rise in gas prices, JIT world is slowly collapsing.

This means retailers (regardless of online or brick & mortar) needs to build more warehouses and stock up goods and supplies.

When I look at last quarter's GDP numbers, inventory played a vital role.

Why should companies stock up when they are aware of US consumer's

reduced purchasing power?

It makes sense when warehousing cost is smaller than shipping cost.

Pain at the Other Pump: Shoe Prices Rise

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121064588191087389.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace

One more factor, China has increased minimum wage and this also adds up to cost.

Here is a crude example:

Lets say I can sell 100 pairs of shoes (each $50 today) in next 2 years and I also know that in next 2 years

shoes prices will $100/pair. It makes sense to stock up 100 shoes today even if I can't sell them in next

quarter.

If my theory is correct, then we will see significant upside in inventory numbers in next quarter's GDP report

In 2006, Apple shipped an iPod from Shanghai in 2 days via FedEx. I seriously doubt if Apple is still mailing

iPod from Shanghai directly. It would make more sense for them to stock up iPods at local Apple store

instead.

Countdown to $200 Crude (5)

2008-05-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

Start of brand new week and we have a new record for crude oil $127.05. It crossed $127 for first time at the closing of trading on Nymex

http://www.cnbc.com/id/24698484
Nymex-traded oil finished Monday at yet another record high, hitting $127.05, after a seesaw trading session that saw crude prices hit alternately by profit-taking and supply concerns.

OPEC President Chakib Khelil reiterated recent comments from the cartel that despite record prices, oil markets were well supplied and blamed high prices on speculation, a weak dollar and geopolitical problems.

Qatar oil minister Abdullah al-Attiyah also insisted there was no need to boost oil supplies to global markets. "The market doesn't need more oil," he said, pointing to a cut in forecast oil demand growth by the International Energy Agency.

Countdown to $200 Crude (4)

2008-05-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

Another Friday and another new crude record. It settled at $126.29. That is $0.33 higher than the record set on last Friday. This is not a big jump but a new record nevertheless.

CNBC says Oil Prices Finish at Record Above $126 a Barrel
http://www.cnbc.com/id/24656461

Oil prices shot to new highs again Friday as traders, unimpressed by U.S. and Saudi efforts to boost supply, kept buying on the belief that prices had more room to rise. Light, sweet crude for June delivery jumped $2.17 to settle at record close of $126.29 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, prices surged to $127.82 a barrel, also a new high. It was the eighth time in the past 10 sessions traders rewrote the record books, and the first time prices topped $127 a barrel.

Investors shrugged off news from Saudi Arabia's oil minister, Ali Naimi, that the country increased its production by 300,000 barrels a day last week in response to requests from customers. The market also had little reaction to the Energy Department's announcement said it would cancel shipments into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for six months beginning July 1.

Oil industry observers questioned whether either move would have a significant effect on soaring energy prices.

"It's ridiculous because I don't think this is going to bring the price down," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading, of the Energy Department's move.

What would $120 oil mean for the Global Economy

2008-05-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

Wescott Report is from April 2006. A little over 2 year old.
Robert could not foresee the following factors:

(1)Plateau of global oil production

(2)Federal Reserve going on a US$ printing binge

(3)Limitation of global refining capacity

(4)Speculation

There has been no coordinated terrorist attacks in last 2 years and yet oil is over $120/barrel.

Some of us maybe thinking that, there will be no negative consequences on Global Economy due to $120/barrel of oil

and it is just another number. Robert F. Wescott thinks otherwise. His thoughts are:

Stock market valuations would likely fall more than they did after the Kuwait invasion or after 9/11. Given the negative confidence effects and negative supply effects,the global recession would likely be severe.

What would $120 oil mean for the Global Economy
http://www.secureenergy.org/reports/westcott_report.pdf

Info about SAFE:

Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) works as a nonpartisan,
not-for-profit organization committed to reducing America's
dependence on oil and improving U.S. energy security in order
to bolster our national security and strengthen the economy.

The Wescott Report
This report gives an overview of the broad economic effects of
a scenario in which oil prices surge to $120 a barrel due to
coordinated terrorist attacks on global oil transportation
infrastructure. It is not intended to be an exhaustive analysis.
This scenario was the basis for a simulation exercise conducted
by Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) at the World Economic
Forum Annual Meeting 2006 in Davos, Switzerland.

Summary

If oil increased to $120 a barrel and stayed there for a year because of coordinated
terrorist attacks on oil facilities, the world's oil bill would be about 8% of
world GDP (even assuming some reduction in the quantity of oil demand) - higher than
at any time in modern history. Such oil prices would almost certainly precipitate
a global recession. In addition to negative demand effects, there would be large
negative supply side effects, policy effects, and confidence effects. Meanwhile
financial markets would likely judge these attacks on global energy supplies more
seriously than Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait of the 9/11 attacks, because of
their continuing disruptive effects. Stock market valuations would likely fall
more than they did after the Kuwait invasion or after 9/11. Given the negative
confidence effects and negative supply effects,the global recession would likely be
severe.

Garden: Plant Protection

2008-05-10T15:52:00.001-07:00

That is picture of chili pepper leaf nibbled by bird

40 in. X 25 ft Garden Fence

Cable Ties (500)

Last week I had a bad experience of freshly sprouted chili pepper plants nibbled by birds. The birds also pecked the soil in the pot. They must be looking for worms. I had to do something to prevent future mishaps like this one.

I went to the local hardware stores "Home Depot" and Lowe's today and bought a bunch of stuff to give some protection to my plants from birds:

Lowe's
Code Item Cost(US$)
215893 1-1/2"X1 - 1/2"-1FT (14GA) 15.88
4@3.97

Home Depot

Code Item Cost
030699182206 Zinc Plated Slotted Angle 3' 31.92
4@7.98
099713032064 40 in. X 25 ft Garden Fence 8.88
728494139302 Cable Ties (500) 6.97
030699032211 5/16 1" Bolts (3/pack) 3.92
4@0.98
030699075546 5/16 Hex Nuts 3.38
030699076642 5/16 Washers 3.60

Total Before Taxes $74.55

I prefer metal slotted angles for frames:

Pros:
(1) Results in a sturdy structure
(2) Faster to assemble and disassemble
(3) Metal is a good investment against
a falling US$

Cons: High initial cost

Final Assembled Product: Plant Protector (Hopefully this will work)

Countdown to $200 Crude (3)

2008-05-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

TGIF! It is another summer day here, nice and warm. Crude prices reached another new height today. It was $125.96 on the NYMEX. Here is what CNN had to say about the gas prices:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/09/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?postversion=2008050916

Commodity prices surge: U.S. light crude oil for June delivery settled at a record $125.96 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after hitting a trading record of $126.20 per barrel earlier.

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas rose to a record $3.671 from $3.645 the previous day, according to AAA.

Little Giant MegaLite Aluminum Ladder

2008-05-08T18:01:00.000-07:00

I bought two of these ladders from Costco today.
The cost of ladder is $200.

Why buy Ladder?
(1) They are useful tool around home, workshop
and farm
(2) The cost of aluminum commodity has gone up in last several years and it will continue to go up in near future. Aloca (AA) last quarter was not that good as they lost their margins on higher price of aluminum. US$ will continue to get weaker and it is better to invest in hard assets than keeping US$ in bank. The spot price of Aluminum today is 1.3/lbs Just the aluminum in these ladders is worth $40
(3) I will debit $400 from anticipated stimulus check

Features:
* Meets or exceeds all of OSHA & ANSI standards
* Heavy-duty construction
* Slip-resistant rubber feet
* 1.12" square rungs for better foot comfort and more stability
* Folds to a compact size for storage and portability
* Maximum capacity: 300 lbs.
* Extension Height: 15'
* Storage height: 4’ 7”
* Step ladder height: 4' – 7’
* Scaffold height 4'
* Weight: 31 lbs.

Countdown to $200 Crude (2)

2008-05-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

Another brand new day and another new record.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/24510436

U.S. crude oil futures ended at a record high on Thursday, fueled by yet another rally in
heating oil futures, which hit a new peak.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, June crude

NYMEX CRUDE OIL FUTURES Front Month

US%40CL.1

124.6 1.07 +0.87%

BIS

Quote | Chart | News | Profile

settled up 16 cents, or 0.13 percent, at $123.69 a barrel. It traded from $121.58 to $123.90 in regular floor trading hours.

"The heating oil price strength is providing evidence of a global tightening in gasoil/diesel supplies that hasn't been fully priced into the market," said Jim Ritterbusch, president
of Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois.

World oil markets have enough supply now, but OPEC is willing to pump more if needed to keep pace with demand, Abdullah al-Badri, the group's secretary-general, said in a
statement on Thursday.

OPEC exports, excluding Angola and Ecuador, will rise 220,000 barrels per day in the four weeks to May 24 on Asian demand and a recovery in Nigerian supplies after a strike that crippled output, said Roy Mason, an analyst at British consultancy Oil Movements.

Saudi Arabia has booked eight supertankers to carry 16 million barrels of crude to the United States through May and early June, the highest number of spot cargoes this year,
according to a shipping industry source.

Countdown to $200 Crude (1)

2008-05-08T05:22:00.000-07:00

Crude futures closed at an all-time settlement high of $123.53 a barrel Wednesday (05/07/2008). I think we will hit $200 by 2010. This is my first post on this series.
I will have a new post every time Crude hits a new high.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/08/news/economy/gas_prices/index.htm?postversion=2008050806

Retail gas prices soar to fresh record
With nationwide prices at an all-time high of $3.645 a gallon, drivers now pay 20% more than they did last year.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Retail gasoline prices have jumped to new record high, auto group AAA's Web site showed Thursday. The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline rose to $3.645, surpassing the previous record set May 1. Gas prices have been marching steadily higher since the start of the year. Drivers now pay 20% more than they did a year ago, when a gallon of gas cost on average $3.034. The price of gas has been pushed up by record high crude prices. Crude futures closed at an all-time settlement high of $123.53 a barrel Wednesday

Bank of America increased overdraft/return item fees by 25% from 4.18.08

2008-04-19T08:18:00.001-07:00

I was going through my BofA account statement and I saw a notice at the bottom:

Changes to overdraft and returned item fees effective 4.18.08: For the 1day your account has an occurance (occurrence is a day with at least one overdraft or return item), the fee for each overdraft item and each returned item changes from $20 to $25. For each subsequent day your account has an occurance during the current month and prior 12 months, the fee for each item remains $35. The fee applies to a maximum of 7 items per day. These changes amend your Personal
Schedule of Fees.

This must be an offshoot of liquidity and credit crisis in financial institutions.

Are other banks also increasing overdraft/return item fees?