Because the thought occurred now and it might be gone tomorrow
To all dog owners out there: if you can, catalogue every single dog photo you’ve taken and compare that to the total number of photos you have saved. For me, it’s 239/4803. So, 5% of my photos are dog photos. I suspect that that figure is fairly normal.
But enough of my rambling. You want to see dog photos!
–Simon
…but it is illegal in some states. No, I’m not talking about marijuana (which still isn’t legal here). I’m referring to capturing rainwater. For the most part, this law correlates to the abundance of natural rainwater and by definition–how its variations will effect the local ecology*. Here, no one cares if I capture a 55-gallon barrel of rain because the average annual precipitation for my city is 41.1 inches (according to weatherbase.com), and since 1 inch of rain per acre is 27,154 gallons (according to water.usgs.gov), and since I have 0.48 acres, if I do the math right (27154*0.48*41.1) then I receive an average of 535,694.1 gallons of precipitation per year on my property alone. Excluding precipitation from the winter months, I have roughly 88.1 days with rain. Every time it rains, I inevitably capture a full barrel, so 88.1*55 would be 4,845.5 gallons of captured rainwater per year (assuming I capture a full barrel every time–which I don’t because I don’t always use it up before it rains again, and the spigot is necessarily located where I can’t access all the water anyway), which is 0.9% of the total precipitation for that land mass. Yeah, who cares?
*Except Texas. Last I checked, they still don’t have revised water laws, despite the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer. And of course, there’s the Las Vegas area….
Therein lies the background, but why would I want to bother with this? Firstly, it’s a free resource that saves me money. 4,845.5 gallons = 647.7 cf, at $26.9 per 1000 cf, that’s… $17.42 saved for the year. Okay I suppose that isn’t much for an entire year, but still, it’s free. Secondly, there’s the smug factor. I’m doing my part for the environment. Nevermind that I use twice that per shower…. Thirdly, we had the barrel sitting around as a souvenir from our trip to Kentucky, and it wasn’t serving any purpose, and besides–a project! These reasons were as good as any.
The barrel had sat on the patio for several years at the townhouse, and a lot of water had leached into it in that time. It was a two person effort to move the thing, so before I did anything else with it I needed to drain it. Choosing the widest board–the one with the plug–I drilled a hole near the bottom to both drain it and to place a spigot. The resultant bilge smelled wonderfully of residual Wild Turkey and was perfectly clear with a slight amber color, and having filtered through carbon and infused with ethanol, was probably okay to drink. Still, I erred on the side of caution and refrained.
While it drained I needed to figure out a screen system for the input. So I simply cut a board, assembled a square, fastened it together with a staple gun, then attached nylon screen to both sides.
Next, I needed to drill a hole in the top. I admit, this sounded simpler than it was. I did not fully appreciate the strength of American White Oak, hardened by fire and essentially pressure-treated with bourbon. Nor did I posses the appropriate tools for the job. The process claimed four drill bits.
I wanted the frame removable yet secure, so I opted for 4 wood finishing nails.
Then I had to find a way to attach a spigot. I went to Lowe’s a perused the plumbing. My first thought was to attach a bulkhead, but the wood was rather thick for that. I stood with the parts in had, staring at the barrel, but then I considered that I might be overthinking it. After all, the beauty of the wood was that it was solid yet flexible, and it’s water-tightness was because it swelled when saturated. Perhaps the wood alone would make a seal around the brass. I widened the hole just enough to get the first threads in, then with brute strength and a set of vice grips, forcefully cranked the spigot in. Then to test it, I positioned the barrel upon a couple beams so it was high enough to access the spigot, filled it partially with water, and waited. Initially, it leaked, as was expected. But after several hours, the leak stopped. Satisfied, I cut the downspout to accommodate the barrel.
A year later and it’s still working just fine. I’ve since drilled an overflow, although in downpours it just spills everywhere anyway. But I’ve also installed the rain garden since so all the excess flows away. I’m thinking we could use another one of these for the front yard. With two, I could save $34.84 a year–enough for a bottle of bourbon.
Added to my vegetable garden, it’s one more incremental step towards self-sufficiency.
–Simon
As an addendum to Part 1, this evening saw another rainbow. It accompanied hail. With the sunlight, it was a bizarre meteorological event. Maybe it’s not a blessing after all. Maybe the next event will be locusts. Hmm.
–Simon
Yes, Destiny. I write the word with mixed emotions: elation and depression, excitement and irritation, hope and self-delusion.
Why the dichotomy? It might be easier to explain in list form, and the Internet loves lists, so here’s what I liked about the game:
Here’s what I didn’t like about the game:
Those are very short lists, but they cover the fundamental assets and detriments of the game. I will elaborate:
Rarely-explored genre (mythic science fiction)
I like science fiction. I also like fantasy. I also like not fully understanding the universe with which I’m presented–I like metaphysical conceptual abstractions. This game does these well, all while maintaining that trademark Bungie theme of hopelessness and self-annihilation. It’s as if a bunch of really smart people got old and jaded and wrote a story, and that’s something that resonates with me.
Shooter/RPG hybrid
Too often are RPGs reserved for the sword and sorcery genre. That’s a good match, but I want to build an arsenal of guns.
Cooperative story
Simply put, I want to play a game with friends. And I find that accomplishing an objective together is more rewarding that shooting my friends. Although shooting my wife does bring an odd sense of satisfaction….
Seamless party system
No one wants to mess around with the menu for a half hour, trying to figure out how to get a party going. And no one likes it if someone has to unexpectedly drop and it terminates the game.
Limited amount of exploration
In a fantastically-built universe, I want to go see it, not simply consume it passively while busy with an objective. Destiny offered some very minor rewards for doing this, but the explorable area was relatively small and didn’t do much to build upon the mystery. This really detracted from the sense of wonder.
Repetition
Shoot the guy and accomplish the objective. Then there’s daily missions, which involve going back and shooting that same guy. Then there’s difficulty multipliers and skull challenges, which involve going back and shooting that same guy under slightly different circumstances, all while he absorbs an absurd amount of bullets, which brings me to….
Sense of personal insignificance
No task remains as statically completed. Why an I going back and shooting that same guy and listening to that same story again? So doing that before meant nothing. Also, since it’s MMO-y, there’s the lingering knowledge that everyone else did that same thing. No adventure is unique to the individual, and with everyone doing the same adventure, it’s hard to feel as if me killing that guy did anything to impact the future.
Obsoletion of obtained equipment
So I killed that guy and got this really cool gun, which was cool for a week before the next expansion dropped. Now that gun does nothing, and I need the next and better one. It kills motivation to work for anything, knowing something better is coming, and it undermines the entire RPG system.
Ultimately, all these negative points are compounded by the fact that every expansion is NOT cheap. It’s an arms race against a universe that doesn’t value your time or personal contributions. It’s a time and money sink.
So what do I do when confronted with these contradictions, with Destiny 2 on the way? Well, I’ll buy it anyway and enjoy the good times with the bad.
–Simon
Nothing truly stays dead in the plant kingdom. The late frost, which I suspected had killed my basil, had only slowed it. In keeping with the saying that it’s only a weed if you don’t want it, basil would very much be a weed indeed were it not so tasty. Behold, the two plants I had started in December:
And like my Evil Morning Glories, I have applied a new taxonomic designation. When I make pesto from these, they will grant me regenerative properties.
–Simon