Loving YouTube and the Internet

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As a homeowner, I've often done my own repairs when they're simple.  However, there are certain projects that I've been afraid of int he past and always called in the experts, be they plumbers, electricians, or appliance repair experts.  When we lived in Florida, I had my list of trusty experts that I could call on when needed and knew they would show up at a prearranged time.  Moving to the country has been challenging for two reasons - I don't have a list of dependable people anymore and it's quite a drive that some aren't willing to make.  

A couple of months ago I discovered that our dishwasher had sprung a leak.  In the old days, I would have immediately called someone to repair it.  This time I decided to investigate to see if I could do it myself.  I loosened the bracket that held it to the counter, slid it out, and turned it on.  I immediately saw the problem.  One of the hoses had pinhole leak.  Upon further investigation, I realized the hose was held in place at both ends by simple clips.  Deciding I could fix it myself, I visited one of the big box home improvement stores and located a "universal" hose for much less than the cost of a home service call.  I happily snapped it up and raced home to complete my task.  Unfortunately, universal is not universal.  The hose didn't work.  But I wasn't deterred.  I pulled out my appliance manual and found the description and part number for that brand's hose and did a quick internet search.  I found the part I needed, still for much less than the cost of a service call, and placed an order.  On my next trip into town, I returned the "universal" hose.  A few days later, the correct part arrived and it was simple to remove the old hose and install the new one.  The most difficult part was to get the dishwasher lined up with the cabinet so I could reattach the brackets.  I felt pretty good after the job was done.

A few weeks ago I had another problem.  When I went to use my laundry sink, the faucet snapped off in my hands (I'm not that strong so I'm not sure what went wrong).  "Ah ha!"  I thought to myself; another opportunity to do a home repair.  Again, it wasn't as simple as it sounds and so, several weeks later, the sink still isn't repaired.  One problem is that it is impossible to get to the nuts that connect the faucet to the water supply lines.  There was no wiggle room to maneuver a wrench.  How on earth did they do it?  My first thought was that I had to remove the sink.  Then I remembered that I would also have to disconnect the drain line.  My light bulb moment - perhaps someone had done a YouTube tutorial on this topic.  Yes!  A nice plumber, bless his soul, had made one and even identified the tool - a basin wrench!  Once again, a quick search and there it was.  Another search revealed that big box home improvement stores carry them and they're not expensive.  So on my next trip into town, I'll be bringing one home.  And my laundry sink will soon be ready for duty.

Poem: The New York Poem

The New York Poem

by Sam Hamill

I sit in the dark, not brooding
exactly, not waiting for the dawn
that is just beginning, at six-twenty-one,
in gray October light behind the trees.
I sit, breathing, mind turning on its wheel.

Hayden writes, “What use is poetry
in times like these?” And I suppose
I understand when he says, “A poet
simply cannot comprehend
any meaning in such slaughter.”

Nevertheless, in the grip of horror,
I turn to poetry, not prose,
to help me come to terms—
such as can be— with the lies, murders
and breathtaking hypocrisies

of those who would lead a nation
or a church. “What use is poetry?”
I sat down September twelfth,
two-thousand-one in the Common Era,
and read Rumi and kissed the ground.

And now that millions starve
in the name of holy war? Every war
is holy. It is the same pathetic story
from which we derive
“biblical proportion.”

I hear Pilate’s footsteps ring
on cobblestone, the voice of Joe McCarthy
cursing in the senate, Fat Boy exploding
as the whole sky shudders.
In New York City, the crashes
 
and subsequent collapses
created seismic waves. To begin to speak
of the dead, of the dying... how
can a poet speak of proportion any more
at all? Yet as the old Greek said,

“We walk on the faces of the dead.”
The dark fall sky grows blue.
Alone among ash and bones and ruins,
Tu Fu and Basho write the poem.
The last trace of blind rage fades

and a mute sadness settles in,
like dust, for the long, long haul. But if
I do not get up and sing,
if I do not get up and dance again,
the savages will win.

I’ll kiss the sword that kills me if I must.

Quote for the Day

"Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box.

Religion is the smile on a dog."

~Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians

Pictures Worth Thousands of Words

Recently, my heart was breaking over what we are doing to our planet.  And I realized part of the problem is that people in the westernized world never see the results of the unquenchable thirst for *things.*  Some of the damage cannot be seen (such as radioactive and toxic waste), although we can see the aftermath.  Other damage can be clearly seen, if you know where to look.  I hope these photos, provided in no particular order, give a glimpse into what is happening to our world.  It might not be in our backyards, but it will ultimately catch up with us.

Cement dome built in the Marshall Islands to contain radioactive contamination from nuclear testing
Source:  Wikipedia

Mountain top removal
Source:  Unknown

Ecological damage from oil pipeline explosion in Nigeria
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Oil leaking from Nigerian pipeline burns in a swamp
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Deserted Chernobyl with nuclear power station in background
Source:  Flickr

Polluted Citarum River, Indonesia
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Fresh Kills Landfill
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Amazon rainforest cleared for oil and gas exploration
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Deforestation in Brazil
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Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Gulf of Mexico
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Aral Sea was once the world's fourth largest lake
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Mir diamond mine in Russia
Source:  Wikipedia

Gold mine in Australia
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Land cleared for palm oil plantations in Malaysia
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Copper mine in Chile
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Another copper mine in Chile
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Uranium mine
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Military cemetery
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I include this photo of a military cemetery because military conflicts are about the struggle over control and use of resources.  When we are told that conflict is to protect "American interests" or for our "security," the underlying message is that we need more resources.

There is hope.  We can do something about it but we need to remove the blinders from our eyes.  What we see in our everyday lives is a sanitized version of what is really happening in the rest of the world.  In our everyday lives, we need to consume less and to be more content.  We must be vocal about environmental issues by telling corporate leaders and politicians that we are opposed to policies that degrade our environment - around the world.  We must educate ourselves and share the knowledge we gain.  People can make a difference.

I'll close with a quote attributed to Gandhi:  "The world has enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed."  

Farm Friday

Eye makeup remover ingredients

A few random thoughts and things for Farm Friday:

I continue to strive towards more sustainable living.  One project this week was to make my own eye makeup remover.  It's not aesthetically pleasing but it seems to get the job done.  Maybe if I put it in an opaque rather than clear container, I wouldn't notice the off color.

I've also started baking my own "no knead" bread with pretty good results.  I've never had much success with bread making - and it actually scared me.  But this recipe, which seemed too good to be true, also was too good to pass up.  I'll have to share the recipe in another post.

Since my reflective period back in September, I've been trying to reduce my energy consumption by driving less and cutting down on the loads of clothing that I wash and dry.  Since it's not growing season, we don't have to make multiple trips to make CSA deliveries and to sell at the farmer's market so I've gotten more deliberate about grouping errands.  For instance, we got our pork processed at a USDA facility so we could sell it.  The processor is about an hour away and is on the way to Greensboro, NC where I shop at a natural foods grocery store.  So, since I had to pick up our pork, I first visited the grocery store, picking up a variety of things, including cans of organic olive oil, safflower oil, fair trade organic tea, bulk organic oatmeal, and bulk organic spelt flour.  Now I won't need to go back to that area for a while, thus saving gas and wear and tear on my vehicle.  I also started using my portable drying rack more, hanging many of my clothes to dry rather than using the clothes dryer.  

As part of our commitment to the environment and our community, we decided to get more involved with the anti-uranium push in our area.  As I mentioned earlier this week, we attended an important meeting on this topic on Tuesday night.  This afternoon we attended a press conference at which our lieutenant governor announced his personal support of continuing the moratorium on uranium mining.  You can read his official statement here.  It's great to get his support but the struggle is far from over.

In doing some research on the uranium topic, I found a "pro uranium" blog that had an infographic showing how many mined materials go into solar panels.  A very valid point.  No matter how we generate our power or manufacture our goods, it is important to know we are still using valuable resources and must treat them as such.

A final note:  When we built our house, I made sure that the windows in our main living areas faced our best view.  What I didn't plan for was the spectacular sunsets that the view includes.  I need to remind myself not to take those sunsets for granted.

Have a great weekend!

Wellness Wednesday

One way to protect your health is to become an activist.  Although I prepared a long, detailed blog post to explain this conclusion, I realized that you just need the short story.

Last night I spent 3 hours at a public hearing on uranium mining.  There is a uranium deposit about 20 miles from my house.  After researching the legacy of uranium mining in the west, I realized the importance of maintaining the current uranium mining ban in Virginia.  This mine has the potential to contaminate our water, our land, and our air.  Not only are local people at risk, but people downstream, all the way to the coast, could be affected.  While all the government officials, those who are supposed to protect us, assured us that they had safeguards in place and that they would be on top of things, accidents and natural disasters happen.  The levees in New Orleans and the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico are good examples of man-made structures that were regulated by the government.  Yes, the government was on top of things, doing its job, following regulations - but it didn't prevent the devastating damage.

For governmental agencies, it seems that being on top of things entails taking action once contamination has occurred.  This was a common theme last night.  I heard discussion about condemning contaminated wells, preventing the sale of contaminated meat and produce from local sources, monitoring cancer clusters, etc.  This was not very reassuring to me as that means the damage would have already been done.  

My situation highlights the importance of knowing what industries are in or are coming to your area and any possible health consequences.  According to the World Health Organization, about one-fourth of diseases in the world are caused by environmental factors.  Further, for children under the age of 5, environmental factors are blamed for one-third of diseases.  While some of these environmental factors are personal, such as diet, substance use, and lack of physical activity, others are caused by outside influences.  Becoming an informed activist is beneficial to your health and well being.

How to Save 50%

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Stop following directions.  That's right; if we stop following directions we can save up to 50%, sometimes even more, by refusing to follow directions.  From grade school on, we're taught to adhere to the teacher's directions, color inside the lines, *bubble in the answer*, etc.  As a result this has spilled over into our everyday lives.  

Lather.  Rinse.  Repeat.  How often have we seen this?  And most of us follow it.  What would happen if we didn't?  What if we just lathered and rinsed?  Do you fill the dishwasher cup to the top?  And the laundry detergent cap to the suggested line?  Have you ever thought about why repeat or fill to the line or the full cup?  Rather than it being the most effective amount, maybe it's the most the manufacturer can make us use without experiencing negative results.  

By refusing to conform and follow directions, we'd cut some of our expenses in half.  And for those who haven't switched to eco-friendly toiletries and cleaners, it would reduce the amount of toxins from those products by half - and the amount of plastic and other containers.  You can go further by thinking of the necessity of some daily activities.  Two showers a day?  Is it a necessity?  Can you plan your activities so that only one is necessary?  Same with washing your hair.  Does it need to be done every day or would every other day suffice?  Rethinking these things can cut some expenses in half.  So I suggest you view everyday activities with a critical eye. Do you really need to follow the directions?