I have deleted my Facebook account. I have no substantial reason for doing so, but I really didn't use it that much save for a few lame games and moody posts. There have also been a number of posts about privacy violations on Reddit, and while I didn't have much on there, I don't like giving up more information than necessary to anyone who wants it. If it was just for developers and such, okay, but they've gone pretty corporate.

That's that.

I just started listening to an audiobook version of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence". I'm only on the fourth chapter, but I can already tell that it is my kind of book. Now, if only I didn't have a tragic fear of riding a motorcycle.

My Pioneer receiver is dead. Long live Pioneer.

I've been one of those lucky few that has Restless Leg Syndrome for many a year, long before anyone called it that. I used to call it my 'Energetic Leg' problem, because it made me want to dash out and run a thousand yards, even if I was so tired I could barely move. It has oft prevented me from falling asleep, as it makes it very difficult to do so when you're overwhelmingly desiring excercise. While I certainly experience this more when I'm a few pounds heavier than I'd like, I find it happens far more while my mind is racing.. which tonight it certainly is.

There exists a real possibiliy of this venture exploding and becoming something great. That part of my head that tries not to get too excited isn't doing a very good job these days, probably because I see that there is a need, and what we're doing could fill it. Every day seems to bring news of more issues over food and water, problems that have always been problems, but the solutions weren't the right ones, or carried out in the right manner. Like we've lost part of something that was worth remembering, and in remembering, we've discovered it anew.

While the system looked at as a whole can be mind bogglingly complex, the little pieces that make up certain parts are almost rediculous in their simplicity. Its like the answer was always there, we just never asked the question quite the right way. Fish and plants.. gosh, its not like you never see those in nature together. *headsmack*

I was giddy with another possibility, as well. A video we were watching was going over different methods of raising food for the fish, and they were using maggots. Well, to make maggots, you simply put out rotting food waste and make a means to capture the fully stuffed maggots before they turn into flies. While giving this demonstration, the man in the video was showing his maggot farm amidst hens, who were more than content to help themselves to his sample.

heh, Chickens. Maybe it's time I revisted my dream of an army 10,000 strong.

The number of pieces falling into place to make this business a reality has been astonishing. I would say it has been easy, but it has actually been a fair amount work. Its just, well, that work seems to pay off in spades. A nearby eco villiage may offer the possibility of playing host to some of our work.. they also may be able to help us sell and excess veggies and fish we produce without needing to get certain government agencies involved. A few days searching has turned up several huge storage tanks and water barrels, but also a greenhouse, water pumps and a cheap water clarifier.

Some time spent in research seems to reveal a couple of names over and over again.. Michael Pollan, obviously, but through him another person that I really want to meet.. Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms. A little better timing and we would have caught him in Louisville this past weekend. Tonight we stumbled upon an excellent tutorial video from Australia.. it helped answer most of the questions I have had since I first put plants to water.

That's enough for now, I should try to get some sleep.

Breakthrough! At last!

I have been struggling for several years, now. The work-a-day life really doesn't suit me. Turning sixteen was a double edged sword: I could drive a car, but I had to start working to pay for it. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, most of my answers were vague and abstract.. "Rich" was a common one, if only to escape the family history of poverty. I tend to stay at most jobs for less than three years, hoping to escape into something better, which never comes. The solutions to this problem are either find ways to live without working, or become self employed.

While the former has its appeal, the sacrifices needed to sustain it frighten me. So, perhaps, with a bit of luck and science, the latter will have to do.

Cecelia and I started working on a jigsaw puzzle a few nights ago. I'm a big picture person, and while I can appreciate certain kinds of details, focusing on my own problems tends to be smattered in chaos. Our conversation while working on the puzzle whittled away some of that chaos, and born from that may very well be our salvation.. in a business sense.

My current position at the Hox gives me ample time to read articles on the web. From this, my interests are pretty varied, but I tend to migrate towards stories concerning politics, the environment, developments in sciences (nanotech, neuroscience, biology, robotics, ecotech...), and general world affairs. Out of these, I've gathered that we're in for a serious mashup of ecological catastrophes on the verge of reaching a culmination in fantastic evolutionary technology, but mired in a political stalemate. This leaves any developments to be made REQUIRED to come from the ground up. No amount of tax dollars can save the world if nobody knows how to spend them.

Having this discussion out loud, we worked away on the problems that concerned me the most. What is our single biggest political issue (that everyone ignores) ? Easy.. the environment.

We're on the verge of a major water shortage. It is already underway. California is (was?) selling all public water sources to independent corporations to manage due to the budget crisis. (I could spin yards on that farce, but let's stay on topic.) Desertification is happening in almost a third of the world, mostly in Africa and Asia. The EPA just lost the ability to cover any body of freshwater that isn't "Navicable", which translates to all lakes and creeks that you can't take a large boat onto, so they will fall back to 70's era pollution dumping. Treatment plants are large, inefficient, and dump more chemicals into water than were already in it. Factory farms spew excess fertilizer into nearby watersheds.. it just goes on and on.

We have a food crisis. This has been going on since WWII, possibly earlier, but we've completely separated ourselves from the food that we eat. We trust grocery stores, meat packers, the farming industry and even the poorly budgeted school cafeteria to feed us properly. Most (American) people barely know how to cook, and often find it more work than time allows. Personally, I've sat in Drive Thrus that took far longer than it would be to make a home cooked meal, and I didn't have to drive anywhere. Even "Super Size Me" pointed out that more people know what's on a Big Mac than the words to national anthem or the pledge of allegience.

Despite which side of the argument you are on, we are in a pollution crisis. Here, our major transportation system involves hundreds of millions of cars, each of which emit enough pollution to kill you in a contained room very quickly. Yes, even a Prius. Coal sludge and smoke from power, oil spillage into the water from broken tankers and oil rigs, PLASTIC GARBAGE ISLANDS THE SIZE OF TEXAS in the pacific. Even if you don't think Global Climate Change is real, at least admit that we should curb some of these emissions. If you've ever stodd at a busy intersection trying to cross the street, the smell alone should wake you up.

So, what to do? I've been fighting with the answer to that question for so long, I'm sick of asking it. But I didn't want to give up.

The conversation continues. I'll make it no secret that I've been interested in Hydroponic farming now for years. About this time last year, I actually built my first setup. A 3'x3' tray filled with volvanic pebbles, a 50 gallon tote filled with nutrient-rich, aerated and heated water, a pump on a timer and a few High Pressure Sodium lamps. For the sake of this post, it was bought with proper intentions. The system worked pretty well, but I ran into problems with nutrient balance. I also had ventillation issues, but that was mainly because of the room I was using, no fault of the system. I stuffed it away about midway though last year, not really sure where to go next.

Two weeks ago, I read an article in the New York Times concerning Hydroponics, but with Fish in the tank. They dubbed it 'Aquaponics', a combination of hydroponics and aquaculture. Buh? Could it be that simple? Simply, the waste created by the fish combined with a natural bacterial process provides plants with a balance -pretty close- to what they need in nature. And that's it! ..or so the story goes. So, this makes me dig out all of my equipment and get the system running again. Tonight, I tossed 20 feeder goldfish into the nutrient tank. Only the future will tell for sure.

While going over these details and the innate simplicity of the system, we began to discuss how to make a bona fide business out of it. The idea flow has gone from stagnant to gushing river in only three days. I'm focusing on the how-to, Cecelia is focusing on the how-to-sell.

So, here we are. A legitimate crop of Spinach, Basil, Mesclun and Catnip using nothing but water, electricity and a little fish crap. A little refinement, and that electricity could be removed, too. Research has also pointed out that 1) This is one of the fastest and least water-consuming ways to grow food, 2) You can actually grow the food for the fish within the system, 3) with the right kind of plants, you can actually -filter- water that would otherwise be unusable, and my favorite, 4) going to the grocery store could be a thing of the past. Fresh fish and veggies without ever leaving home. Eat that, Kroger!

It's so simple, it hurts. I seriously can't believe this isn't everywhere already. So, we gave it a name:

Simple ReVision.

Coming soon!

Awww, yeah. The Bengals are in the playoffs.

..AND WE'RE GOING TO THE GAME!

While I generally have a distaste for commercials and even the product it's trying to sell...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL9hj9dLFvA


..I totally want to do this.

Tis the second day of a new year, and I have found myself hard at work. As an unexpected christmas gift, the Captain ordered a new water heater for the house. It was certainly due, as the previous one was installed in 1975, leaked water and ran constantly. Along with the new unit, we had ordered a water pressure regulator, as pressure was far too high and inconsistent. By mistake, they had shipped us a CASE of valves, leaving us with four that we did not need. That quickly resulted in a big pile of Home Depot credit, quickly spent on other fixtures in need of replacement. We chose today, the coldest day of the season, to run the gamut of water related repairs: Water regulator, water heater, utility sink, kitchen sink and a handful of leaky fittings. The water is hot and it already feels dryer.. here's hoping for a dramatic decrease in utilities this month.

I have big hopes for this year. If I stay at the Hox, I'm finally going to take advantage of the free tuition I get at the University of Cincinnati. The ball is already rolling, and if I get in, I will be majoring in Environmental Sciences. Other opportunities may lead to chances to get out of the state again, but we'll see on that as they come around. The market seems to be recovering, so selling the house isn't as out of the picture as it once was, should the right person read my resume.

I'm also hoping our dear President grows a pair and starts following through on some of those campaign promises. I'm kinda sick of hearing him cater to anyone and everyone who argues a different point of view. While we don't need another idealogical disaster, SOME directive and focus would feel nice. And can we LEGALIZE already, please? Please, please with sugar on top?

Happy New Year, Everybody! Best wishes!


-Mariner

I so want to live on Pandora. Well, as a Na'vi, anyway. Humans kinda have it hard.

Flobots. Live at Southgate house tonight. Verdict: AWESOME!!!

White Castle in Newport-
+++++: Verdict: Stomach WILL PAY!!!

So, I had this thought on the way home.

We often hear about city planning, and occasionally about nation planning, but what about planet planning? I think if we're going to continue for any length of time on this planet or begin colonizing others, we should seriously reconsider what is valuable to us. Lengthy survival certainly requires a better budget of our resources, and ideally we will shape our technology in that direction, ulltimately to the point of true renewability. Recycling and creating biodegradeable products is a good first step, but the cost of production always requires energy from somewhere. A new focus should deliver results that get the best bang for the buck.

If you live in a desert, you can not live on the resources it alone provides. You likely need to import sources of water for ourselves and the agriculture, and any resident of such places can attest to the need to cool down. A similar dillema goes with colder climates, as you need energy to melt ice and create warmth. Consumption of any local resources can only be made for so long without devastating effects, as people are just waking up to realize. Cutting our appetite can only do so much, as these things take time to replenish, if they can at all. Already we see signs of reuse taking a higher value than blind harvesting alone. A japanese junkyard is presently worth more in valuable metals than most prosperous strip mines, but even the cost of re-harvesting comes with a steep price.

City dwellers tend to consume less than their suburban counterparts, as they can utilize shared resources more effectively. Busses and commuter trains take less to power than a stream of automobiles, apartments make better use of land and utilities than do houses, and the evidence of the cost of living is more prevalent when the citizens see it on a grander scale. Sharing and cooperation leave the realm privlege and become necessity. Urban futurists propose vertical farms and self-developing buildings; working, living and eating in the same building. As the expense of living far from these centers increases, the gravity of cities will increase. Detroit's recent suburban collapse is an example of this process starting.

If we are to survive, we need to get better at this. To tax the natural powers of our planet alone may not be enough, as wind and water power has limitations, even if it is a better alternative than harvesting million-year-old rocks, liquids and gasses. Our sun is our best ally, as it will give us the longest amount of time before needing to self-perpetuate our own energy sources. The fuels we tap now are the result of a few billion years of stored solar energy nd inertia from this planet's birth. Pacing ourselves simply delays the inevitable, as with our numbers, this road is paved with certain and total depletion.

Enter, planet planning, the art of determining the best use of our natural sources. (Resources implies that they will be available repeatedly, they will not.) Leave the deserts, leave the icy regions, leave the rural and suburban lands behind. Let it be our gift to nature for allowing us to be nurtured by her. We center ourselves into the best places to live--the largest existing hubs of concentrated people and places best suitable for using the least amount of enegry to prevail. Homes of consistent climates, abundant waters and rich land. Channel our science to give back as much or more than we take. Supercharge the soil, purify the waters and spread grand forests deep and wide.

City centers will rise rather than spread. The highest peaks will pierce the clouds, sending streams of uninterrupted solar power for our every need, which will be lessened as our society develops and our numbers slowly ebb. Every mineral, crystal and chemical can be refashioned and reshaped in time. Our newfound quest for energy efficiency will give us the strength to leave and seek other worlds, sharing bountiful life on the worlds without, and perhaps discovering a few with. Beyond that, it is anyone's fantasy.



If there is any doubt that we must change, just ask yourself a question: How many places that were once groves of trees or open plains now play host to housing, strip malls and business centers in your own lifetime? Or your parents' lifetime?

And more importantly: Can we continue to do it for much longer?


-MtR