A meandering blog with no clear topic. You will find me talking about knitting, building, kids, social and economic issues, Alaska, and lots of other stuff.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Quick update

Haven't had a lot of time to blog, even with the new computer. Work has been crazy busy, and home life has been crazy busy, and between the two there is not much time left over. I have been working lots of overtime at work. I am working again Saturday, but I am going to try out the new computer with the working from home thing.

James found some beautiful stone tile on sale at Home Depot, and we are in the process of putting a floor in the arctic entry. We have the tile laid, sealed and grouted, but we need to touch up the grout a little bit and reseal it. When it is done, I will post a picture of it. We also looked at cabinets and we think we have some picked out for when PFD's get here.

A friend of a friend gave us some foam blocks about 4 inches thick that we are putting around the bottom of the house to keep the underside of the house warm. It will save us a lot of wood this winter. (this friend also has cashmere goats and gave me a bag of their fur. I am very excited, but I can't bring it in the house til I wash it, cause it smells goaty.) Also, James has the plumbing for water out of the house done, and is working on the plumbing for water coming in to the house.

Ryan has been ordained a deacon, and Becky is getting baptized this Saturday. Like I said, lots going on.

Friday, July 25, 2008

technology on the last frontier


So, my little cabin in the woods now is on the leading edge of technology. I have no electricity, no phone lines, cables, or satellite dishes on my property, or anywhere nearby. But I am online. I now have a laptop computer, and an internet connection. I bought a car charger for my laptop, and I can also plug it in at work. I am looking at getting extra batteries too. But the cool thing is the internet. You see, my cell phone service is through AT&T, and they have this cool gizmo that hooks into a USB port in my new laptop, and voila! I am connected. It is essentially a cell phone for my computer. It is very cool. So I am sitting here at my kitchen table, blogging. It also means that I can work from home one day a week or so, to cut down on the commuting. This is especially good since my little Geo is going through oil at the completely alarming rate of a quart every time I get gas. We are thinking we should have rebuilt the engine when we fixed the head. Now we will have to take it apart again, it looks like.

Friday, July 18, 2008

thought provoking

 
"Is it possible to imagine any other time in American history when we would have consented to see an entire major city laid waste, without ever rebuilding even its most basic infrastructure? Is it possible to imagine another time when we would have shrugged and accepted the knowledge that our basic infrastructure, things like highways, sewers and subways, are simply falling apart and that we have no intention of fixing them? Is it possible to imagine another time when we knew we were in danger of handing our children a future of hunger, poverty and drought, and sat around debating whether congress might want to consider raising fuel efficiency standards? Has there ever been a time in history when citizens felt so powerless to stop the forces that were driving them to disaster? ... Few of us have put all the pieces together, but when we failed to rebuild New Orleans, when we accepted that we can't afford the tax base to keep bridges from falling on motorists and sewers from backing up, when we accepted that electric grid failure will kill people in the inevitable heat waves, we implicitly acknowledged what we have not yet faced up to consciously — that things have changed, and many of our problems are going to continue getting worse because we either lack the will or the money or the energy or the time to fix them."
 
You should read her post. It is very thought provoking. Essentially her point is that we keep talking about what will happen when TSHTF (when the sh*t hits the fan), with peak oil and a host of other problems we are facing, but that it is happening now. It is no longer a matter of when.  Even before reading this article, after much discussion between my husband and I, we are convinced that it isn't a matter of when.  It is happening, all around us. 

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

eklutna lake

On Saturday, we decided to do something fun as a family, so we loaded up all the bikes, and went for a bike ride on a trail that runs alongside Eklutna Lake.  It was absolutely beautiful.  We made it probably halfway to the glacier, about 6 miles, before we had to turn back because we didn't want Steven to get too tired to make it back.  He made it the whole way, though, on those little legs.  It was really cool to watch James pedal alongside Steven, holding onto Steven's handlebars, helping him up the hills.

the hills are alive with the sound of music...

I bought this piano last week.  It is in great shape, seems like it only needs minor tuning, and best of all, only cost $125.  I am very excited.  Now I can have music in my house without electricity!