ThoughtsFromRVa

Reminded [yet again] of why I travel the extra mile…

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:10:44 +0000

… To shop at the [more] ‘affluent’ grocers.

A travesty in an attempt to be ‘green’, I find myself unwilling to use the supermarket (Food Lion, ugh, I hate it) a mere few blocks away. Instead I either drive 2 or 3 miles to the Ukrops which comes in a quick second on my ‘list of dissapointing grocers to shop at’ due to their closure on Sundays and their choice to not sell any form of alcohol, OR I pay the 35 cent toll, and go the 2 miles across the river to the Kroger (sigh of relief, even the name brings joy to my soul).

On with the story…

a few nights ago, I ventured to the Food Lion which I rarely shop at due to the long lines, lack of clerks, absense of ‘self-checkouts’, poor selection of healthy food and produce, akward isle arrangements, and rude and annoying clientelle.

On this particular visit, I was reminded yet again why I choose to shop at grocers in the ‘nicer’ parts of town.

I was looking for a quick fix of beer and ice cream (<– health fanatic here…), and figured Food Lion would be the quickest bet. Boy was I wrong.

I got inside, settled on some Bryers Reduced Fat Oreo Ice Cream and decided to give Hop Hound a try. Well what took me a mere two minutes to pick out, took me over five times that to pay for. I sat in a 3 party line while the family infront of me separated their what must have been 40 or more items into multiple purchases to make their way into the Express line. That all went fine until what I can only assume was the Grandmother couldn’t figure out how to work her card. She didn’t know whether it was debit or credit, didn’t know her pin and after a few minutes of standing around dumfounded swiping away and mashing buttons, she somewhere got the mix right and her purchase was approved.

Infront of me, and up next, was a younger gal who had pulled a Seventeen magazine from somewhere in the store and was browsing through it while shuffling forward in the line and balancing a half-assed conversation on the phone at the same time. When she got up to the clerk, she put the magazine on the counter to the side of the clerk. When the clerk picked it up and attempted to ring her up for it she mubbled “Oh nah… i aint buyinat” and went back to yapping on her cell. Confused the clerk set the magazine aside (for either her or another employee to return to its place in the store at a later time due to this girls lack of regard). Up next was a frozen pizza, two packages of cookies, three bags of chips, and two rolls of tin foil. At this point the young woman finally ended what could barely be considered a conversation with another individual on the other end of the phone line, hung up and watched her items being run up. When the clerk got to the tin foil she blurted out “Nah… how much it?”; “The foil?”, asks the clerk. “Bof um” responds the refined young patron. And after running a price check and selecting the Food Lion Brand Foil over the Reynolds (suprise, Food Lions was cheaper, what did you honestly think?), the clerk had to remove the Reynolds from the order and set it aside with the Seventeen which was tossed aside.
When the total came to just over $12.00 the girl pulled out one of many credit cards from her wallet and swiped away. “Please see manager for assistance” read the machine [a polite way to tell you your card was declined]. At this point the clerk suggests to try debit and the young woman goes that route… Still declined. Now one by one items are removed from the order and the card swiped EVERY TIME an item is removed. Guess what? Still declined. When we get just under $5.00 and the only item left being the pizza, the card is still declined. The girl gets snappy, picks up the phone “PPPppppsssshhhhhh” and walks away and out the door without saying a word.
The poor clerk, still dumfounded at what just happened puts the items all aside to ‘re-shop’ and return to their rightful places in the store at a later time.

By this time I can’t believe I’ve actually made it up to the front. I’m like the boy in “A Christmas Story” who gets on Santa’s lap and freezes up, can’t remember what he came for or what to do.

I finalize my transaction and go home to enjoy a beer and some ice cream.

Down on hard financial times? Thats understandable, and I feel for you. But to walk around and go through life like your the only one that matters? Jeez, get off your high horse. Be polite, say please and thank you, and have some respect for others and their jobs.
Sadly incidents like this are not uncommon, which again, is why I chose to make that extra trip to go spend my money where the polite people are.

Project Veg-Out

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:28:17 +0000

With the electric car gone and a new plan in place, I begin the undertaking of converting a diesel rabbit to run on WVO and biodiesel.

The plan to switch from going electric to going veg was a tricky one with much of it focusing on personal preferrence and overall viability.

First, I know next to nothing about electric cars or electric systems in general. I know far more about internal combustion engines and whatnot.

Second, my home heat runs on what is essentially diesel [heating oil], and currently has a 90/10 diesel/bio(soy) mix in the tank which is quickly running dry after the second year and a much colder one than last. Why not have a home and car which can run on the same fuel? Oh yes, but you could have had one which worked the same but on electricity! And you’re correct! Electricity which I purchase from the grid (I don’t have the capital to invest in solar). It makes more sense to me to get free fuel in the form of waste vegetable oil, and run my home and car on that rather than purchase electricity produced by coal fired plants.

Third, diesels and necessary equipment surrounding biodiesel and WVO are FAR cheaper than the electric car equivalent.

Fourth, I was able to sell the EV, pay off all debt, finish my garden fence, prepay even more on my mortgage, put some $ away for renovations on the bathroom, and put plenty away in savings… Oh yes, and spend the leftovers on the diesel project.

So, with those justifications and plenty more in hand for why this will work better for me personally, here I go.

Everything in this photo was acquired for free of of freecycle, craigslist, through work surplus or through friends. With many stable sources of free WVO, I’ve set off to begin acquiring the necessary gear to process the WVO for use and for biodiesel conversion. So with the collecting of necessary items for WVO processing going on, lets have a look at what will be burning this stuff.

This video was recorded a month or so ago. Since then Ive got much more work completed on the project, its almost done and ready to run on a diesel/veg mix. Im working on gathering the parts for a full veggie conversion now.

In the interim, we swapped a diesel motor into my friends rabbit and have been running various diesel/veg mixes at various ambient temperatures. A few leaking problems ocurred with hoses which were already seeping when running on regular diesel. I attribute the worsening of the leaks to the higher pressures seen at the injector due to more viscous fuel. Once the hoses were replaced, the leaks were fixed. So far we have had alot of luck running mixes on the unmodified 1.6 Diesel motor. We have noticed a slight increase in mileage, a much cleaner burn than straight diesel and a quieter motor. Jamie even noted that it felt like it had a bit more power.

Anyhow, I hope to have my rabbit running soon so I can install the axillary tank and warming setup to run straight veggie.

A dissapointment in education

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:57:51 +0000

For the past year I have been taking part in some ‘higher education’ and working towards a second major, this time at a local community college. To my dismay, and as just annouced tonight for a second time, the college has a hard time drawing attendance for a number of its mechanical / archetectual engineering courses. Two out of three of the courses I have attended have been in jeapordy of disbanding after the first few sessions due to attendance being too low.

Now I understand that the fact that the college is still required to rake in enough revenue to make the class financially viable since they have overheads and salaries to pay. But what I find dissapointing is the seemingly lack of regard for the students that the college has. If the minimum isn’t met or if attendance drops below the minimum before registration closes (even after the first [few] classes), the class is simply dropped from the course offering and subsequently both the students time and the professors time is wasted.

The community college, being a 100% commuter school with some students driving as long as an hour to get to class needs to have a better notification program in place so that students don’t show up for class on the first, second, or third day without any indication that class is canceled or no longer being held.

Actually, the first class I attended here, the professor didn’t think was going to make so he didn’t even bother showing up. A confused lot of 10 students was left wandering the halls for a knowledgeable administrator who could tell us what was going on. Needless to say, no class was held that evening. Time wasted.

In addition to the time students waste when classes don’t meet their required minimum, the students are left out in the cold if they are working towards a certificate or degree. They are simply told to ‘come back next semester and hopefully there will be enough people for the class to make’. This makes for a very difficult track to follow for those wishing to follow a rigid timeline on which to acquire a degree. This is the exact opposite of VCU where I received my first degree. The closer you are to graduating in the busienss school, the more scarce the classes are which you need to graduate, they fill up quick and no surplus classes are held for those waiting to get in, your just told ‘better luck next semester’.

*shrugs* don’t know which I prefer.

So a sad yet happy day for the Electric Car…

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:41:44 +0000

I broke down and decided to sell the EV. I didn’t have $1500 to spend in new batteries, plus whatever else it may need and figured the cash from the sale would be better spent paying off the couple hundred I have on my credit card, plus finishing preparing for my garden for the upcoming year, plus set aside some money for my bathroom renovation, and still have a grand to toss in the bank.
It’s a sad day indeed but it was just a project that is too grand to tackle and I figure it could better serve someone with the time and money to get it back on the road than sitting in my garage as an ornament, taking up space.
On the bright side, I’m acquiring a beat and broken diesel rabbit to attempt a veggie car build. Mechanics come to me much easier than electrical.

So long to the Solectria Force, I’ll drink a beer on you Hello mr. Rabbit, now my 82 1.7 gasser will have a playmate.

In ‘Eat Local’ Movement, Cuba Is Years Ahead

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:34:23 +0000

So I saw this article and it immediately struck my interest. Cuba, being somewhat “shut-off” from the world and ‘shunned’ by the US for so long has always intrigued me as to how they have become very self-sufficient even in the midst of developing global economies. What has always been of interest to me is their food policy and supply and their energy policy and supply.
Given that Laurie from All-Star Market and I are looking to start a local non-profit to increase the presence of urban farming and cultivation of public lands, this article has an increased importance.
With Richmond having so much ‘green space’ compared to other cities, it will be interesting to see if Richmond in the near or distant future will embrace urban cultivation as a means to reduce (even by small amount) its dependency on transported and imported foodstuffs.
Spring is just around the corner

In ‘Eat Local’ Movement, Cuba Is Years Ahead
by Esteban Israel

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/12/16-6

HAVANA – After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Cuba planted thousands of urban cooperative gardens to offset reduced rations of imported food.

A banana plantation is seen in San Antonio de los Banos in Havana in this July 18, 2008 file photo. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Cuba planted thousands of urban cooperative gardens to offset reduced rations of imported food. Now, in the wake of three hurricanes that wiped out 30 percent of Cuba’s farm crops, the communist country is again turning to its urban gardens to keep its people properly fed. (Reuters/Enrique De La Osa/Files) Now, in the wake of three hurricanes that wiped out 30 percent of Cuba’s farm crops, the communist country is again turning to its urban gardens to keep its people properly fed.

“Our capacity for response is immediate because this is a cooperative,” said Miguel Salcines, walking among rows of lettuce in the garden he heads in the Alamar suburb on the outskirts of Havana.

Salcines says he is hardly sleeping as his 160-member cooperative rushes to plant and harvest a variety of beets that takes just 25 days to grow, among other crops.

As he talks, dirt-stained men and women kneel along the furrows, planting and watering on land next to a complex of Soviet-style buildings. Machete-wielding men chop weeds and clear brush along the periphery of the field.

Around 15 percent of the world’s food is grown in urban areas, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a figure experts expect to increase as food prices rise, urban populations grow and environmental concerns mount.

Since they sell directly to their communities, city farms don’t depend on transportation and are relatively immune to the volatility of fuel prices, advantages that are only now gaining traction as “eat local” movements in rich countries.

ROOFTOPS AND PARKING LOTS

In Cuba, urban gardens have bloomed in vacant lots, alongside parking lots, in the suburbs and even on city rooftops.

They sprang from a military plan for Cuba to be self-sufficient in case of war. They were broadened to the general public in response to a food crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba’s biggest benefactor at the time.

They have proven extremely popular, occupying 35,000 hectares (86,000 acres) of land across the Caribbean island. Even before the hurricanes, they produced half of the leaf vegetables eaten in Cuba, which imports about 60 percent of its food.

“I don’t say they have the capacity to produce enough food for the whole island, but for social and also agricultural reasons they are the most adequate response to a crisis,” said Catherine Murphy, a U.S. sociologist who has studied Cuba’s urban gardens.

GREEN PRODUCTIVITY

In Alamar, the members get a salary and share the garden’s profits, so the more they grow, the more they earn. They make an average of about 950 pesos, or $42.75, per month, more than double the national average, Salcines said.

The co-op, which began in 1997, now produces more than 240 tons of vegetables annually on its 11 hectares (27 acres) of land, which is about the size of 13 soccer fields.

The gardens sell their produce directly to the community and, out of necessity, grow their crops organically.

“Urban agriculture is going to play a key role in guaranteeing the feeding of the people much more quickly than the traditional farms,” said Richard Haep, Cuba coordinator for German aid group Welthungerhilfe, which has supported these kinds of projects since 1994.

When the Soviet Union fell apart, Cuba’s supply of oil slowed to a trickle, hurting big state agricultural operations. Chemical fertilizers were replaced with mountains of manure, and beneficial insects were used instead of pesticides.

Unlike in developed countries, where organic products are more expensive, in Cuba they are affordable.

“We have taken organic agriculture to a social level,” said Salcines.

Some experts fear that rising international food prices along with the destruction of the hurricanes will return Cuba to the path of agrochemicals. The government is planning to construct a fertilizer plant with its oil-rich ally Venezuela.

But Raul Castro, who replaced ailing brother Fidel Castro as president in February, has also borrowed ideas from the urban gardens as he implements reforms to cut the island’s $2.5 billion in annual food imports, much of it from the United States.

Castro has decentralized farm decision-making and raised the prices that the state pays for agricultural products, which has increased milk production, for example, by almost 20 percent.

And, in September, the government began renting out unused state-owned lands to farmers and cooperatives, measures that met with approval of international aid groups.

“Decentralization and economic incentives. If those elements are expanded to the rest of the agricultural sector, the response will be the same,” said Welthungerhilfe’s Haep.

(Reporting by Esteban Israel; Editing by Jeff Franks and Eddie Evans)

Dear Republicans…

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:36:04 +0000

Thank you. I’m proud of you, really am. I appreciate you blocking the bailout bid this time around. Who knows if it may re-appear and get approved later on down the line but for now; Ya done good.

This is what got me though:
negotiators worked late into Thursday evening to broker a deal, but deadlocked over Republican demands for steep cuts in pay and benefits by the United Automobile Workers union in 2009.

So greed and a stubborn will have now essentially in the doomsday scenerio you painted, cost you and your employees / union workers their jobs… Congrats UAW, congrats.

FULL STORY:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/business/12auto.html?hp

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday night abandoned efforts to fashion a government rescue of the American automobile industry, as Senate Republicans refused to support a bill endorsed by the White House and Congressional Democrats….

Greenhouse Gas Suits Obstacle To Fed Aid – Auto Bailout

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:46:33 +0000

Auto Cos. Greenhouse Gas Suits Obstacle To Fed Aid Say Dems

December 05, 2008: 01:14 PM EST

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. auto makers’ attempts to sue several states to block laws bringing forward stricter greenhouse gas emission limits is a significant obstacle among some Democratic lawmakers to providing the companies with emergency financial aid, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D- Mass., said Friday.

He told the heads of the three major car companies their efforts were proving to be a road block among some progressive Democratic members of the House of Representatives.

The issue is unlikely to be the deciding factor over whether an emergency rescue package is approved by Congress, but it is evidence that the longer the question drags on, the more reasons not to give aid are likely to emerge.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., asked lawmakers why taxpayers should approve a rescue of the companies when that money could be used to fund these suits. ” Why in the world should taxpayers in New York state or any state provide $38 billion in loans to your companies if you will continue to undo laws we have adopted in our states,” she said.

She asked each of the three executives whether they would pledge to not use any of the money they might receive from Congress to pay for legal or lobbying costs toward fighting tougher emissions bills.

None of the executives responded directly to her challenge, instead each of them said they preferred a national emissions standard as opposed to state-by- state legislation.

Maloney responded that 16 states were attempting to pass greenhouse gas laws similar to that adopted by California.
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Ok, so let me get this straight… US automakers are up a creek thats name starts with S. They have lost their paddle and are asking for a group of 50 people on shore to help save them. Yet they are going to continue to sue some of those same people they are asking to help… To further allow them to float down the creek if they choose to do so…

This makes absolutely no sense. None. They need money to stay afloat primarily because of bad business decisions and lack of foresight. They know that fuel efficiency is the wave of the future, yet they are too stubborn to drop lawsuits which would enforce tougher standards on fuel efficiency… And they want to use some of these funds from the bailout to [either directly or indirectly] pay for the continuation of these lawsuits… Why should the taxpayers help you if you are essentially suing them?! (among many other flawed reasonings).

I’m not a fan of the bailout, but if it goes ahead these emissions/effeciency lawsuits need to be dropped ASAP and they need to respect the states decisions. The automakers are in no position to be making demands of any kind right now.

An old company-wide email from someone who doesn’t know how to keep political cheapshots and banter out of the office.

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:42:03 +0000

“Everyone should take time to remember on June 6, 1944 Brave men and women were representing God and Country for our Freedom at Normandy. Don’t let “CHANGE” for the sake of change in November, Degrade that Sacrifice…”

Just found that email which was written over the summer, in my in-box. Makes me giggle. It is upsetting though that people feel the need to push their political views through company-wide emails, this was not the first, I’m sure it won’t be the last.

*shrugs* oh well, *delete*, moving on

Guerilla Gardening

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:24:10 +0000

http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

This blog began as a record of my illicit cultivation around London. It is now a growing arsenal for anyone interested in the war against the neglect of public space and has become a meeting place for guerilla gardeners around the world.

Well after posting a link and thread on the WHYS ‘after the show’ blog/forum and Pink touching on it again under the Urban Growers article I posted, I decided to post it on its own page.

I saw this short bit on Guerilla Gardening (I think on Planet Green, not entierly sure though) at some random time in the morning awhile back and it instantly had me interested. Fortunately though, public space around Richmond, is somewhat well kept and the amount of ‘green space’ seems to be much greater than that of London, DC, New York, etc. The need for GG around here seems a bit less than in other cities except for neglect of private property. There are TONS of lots around the city and its suburbs which are vacant or have been abandoned for years and serve as shelter for illicit activity, help to create unsafe neighborhoods, and attribute to an eyesore which has plagued the Richmond area over the past few decades. As noted in my response to Pink, there are plenty of plans and laws in place requiring land owners in the city of Richmond to keep their properties in a certain order, though it seems these laws are rarely enforced (unless maybe in cases of public outcry?). Of course the land in question being privately owned, is on the other end of the spectrum from the previously mentioned GG statement detailing the war on neglect of ‘public’ space.

In any case, have a look at the link above, share your thoughts, stories, ideas, etc.

US Army to buy electric cars

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:36:30 +0000

Army to buy electric cars

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/army_electric_cars_112408w/

By Kris Osborn – Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 25, 2008 7:26:14 EST

Aiming to save fuel and advance alternative-energy plans, the Army, Navy and Air Force intend to buy thousands of battery-powered, 35-mile-an-hour electric cars and light trucks to provide on-base transport, senior Army officials said.

“The Neighborhood Electric Vehicle [NEV] will be at Fort Belvoir, [Va.,] before Dec. 15. Our goal is to have the secretary [of the Army, Pete Geren] there to drive in one of the first ones,” said Paul Bollinger, deputy assistant Army secretary for energy and partnerships. “We are having bumper stickers put on and decals on the doors which say ‘Army Green, Army Strong.’ ”

The Army plans to order the street-legal NEVs from E-Z-Go, Native American Biofuels International and other electric-car makers. E-Z-Go, which is a subsidiary of defense giant Textron, makes golf carts that are listed online at about $1,300 each.

“We’re excited about this,” said James Cooke, CEO of Native American Bio-fuels International, Arlington, Va. “We’ve been working on alternative energy for about three-and-a-half years. We’ve innovated with Native American tribes all over the country.”

Next year, 800 cars will be delivered and 4,000 over the next three years. Ultimately, “we should be able to go to at least 10,000 vehicles overall,” Bollinger said.

The Army’s plan has persuaded its sister services to jump on board.

“The good news is that the Air Force and Navy have come to us and said that they want to piggyback on the order. Previously, the Air Force was looking at low-speed vehicles, which are actually still gasoline vehicles. We’ve skipped that and we are going straight to electric. We are eliminating the fuel issue, period,” Bollinger said.

An Air Force official confirmed his service’s involvement in the electric car purchase, but could not immediately provide details.

The Army is moving quickly; the purchase plans were unveiled last month as part of the service’s ambitious new energy strategy, which also calls for the construction of solar and geothermal facilities.

Bollinger said each electric car would use an average of about $400 in electricity per year, compared to the roughly $2,400 in fuel needed to run a gas-powered car, citing General Services Administration figures. Moreover, the 4,000 electric cars will save 11.5 million gallons of fuel per year, he said.

Daniel Goure, vice president of the Lexington Institute, a Va.-based think tank, noted that the price of fuel is nearly half of its record high earlier this year.

“In a few months, the savings that they could have expected has dropped by half,” he said.

The first batch of vehicles will likely be leased per year from Native American Biofuels International, Bollinger said. The Army expects to continue to lease the electric cars on a yearly basis and possibly buy them down the road.

“We will not be paying any more for the NEV than for a standard gasoline-powered vehicle,” Bollinger said.

The NEVs, now powered by lead-acid batteries, may one day be operated by lithium batteries, which are able to store and dispense larger amounts of energy at a lighter weight compared with lead-acid batteries.

The Army hopes to inspire a broader market for electric cars and has been telling automakers about the plans.

“Chevy is looking at making the Volt, a street vehicle that will go highway speeds. We don’t need that because the speed limit on our installation is 30 mph. We don’t need something that big or expensive, but we might need something that powerful. So in the future, if they are able to make it, that is great,” Bollinger said.

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Well, well, well… Hats off to the US Army for at least dabbling in the thought of conservation. Kudos to you, kudos, keep it up….