June 25-July 1, 2007
We did the kids' summer album camp today, where kids brought their photos to make albums. I decided to take advantage of my captive audience of young, impressionable minds to raise awareness based on pippa brighton's mission idea. The kids & I built solar cookers from junk we had lying around over the weekend and when kids came in the morning, we had them put their afternoon snack on the cookers while they worked-- that way, when it was time to be done, they had a yummy, hot snack! We did hot dogs, s'mores and then later in the week we did watermelon and cantalope after walking to the local fruit stand.
Life has been interesting this week-- and I've started to feel so lucky that despite living in the cush pocket of suburbia that the steps we've been taking towards earth-friendliness have been paying off!
1. While much of the nation has been experiencing black-outs-- especially here on the west coast, the City of Santa Clara, which ALREADY got around 50% of it's energy from renewable resources before the oil shock has not had as much of a problem. Add to that the fact that we have been spending an extra $20/month to ensure that OUR energy comes from renewable resources (an option made available to us last year) and despite some very bleak perspectives, I'm not feeling like this is so bad. It is still recommended that we reduce consumption wherever possible-- and I think the news & buzz about the oil shock has been helping, but people seem to be self-regulating fairly well. There was the one black-out last week, during which our freezer gave out & we had a BBQ to consume the meat. It turns out that in response to the oil shock, the city decided to divert the majority of it's holdings to renewable resources of power. During that time of transition, the power went down. The question now is if there are enough producers of renewable energy to support the state's power needs... Not yet...
2. Just as we did during the energy crisis in California a few years ago, we've established peak hours, during which we try not to use more power than necessary & most companies in Silicon Valley have been operating in a "low-power" mode. The tricky part is climate control for all of those little microprocessors & computers. And then of course, the economy is reeling from the rest of the country/world drifting into oil shock and the economy is faltering.
3. In general-- I'm seeing more families riding bikes & walking since Earth Day and there seems to be a kind of Enviro-revolution going on in 2007 where people really are modifying their habits & thinking about the impact THEY, personally, have on the planet. Maybe it's just because my son's teacher Andrea spent so much of last year showing them the particulars of recycling, composting- talking about helpful insects & how we can save the Earth-- little things like how she would bike to school each day... I think it raised the awareness in the households of all of the kids from last year.
Really- this type of energy deficit in California is nothing new and the rise in gas prices is nothing for us. The real effect comes from other attitudes and responses to shipping rates & so on. I worry about the really HOT places in the country as the weather heats up.
Planet Organics, our grocery delivery service that supplies us with weekly local organic produce has been a bit lean on some things, but I think everyone's being patient. We're finally seeing yield from our garden and the fruit stand around the corner has settled down a bit with the local growers as people calm down & start thinking about alternative solutions for their individual challenges. Maybe we'll even start selling the fruit stand (or our neighbors) some of our watermelons & strawberries once they're all ready!
YES we need to change... YES we needed to change YESTERDAY (or 20 years ago...), but many of the systems are in place-- not to the extent that we need, but if we all do our part & practice patience, I'm confident that it will work out in the end.
The human spirit is remarkably resilient- It has triumphed through 9-11, Katrina, the holocaust... and while change might not happen in time for ONE, specific person or town or country or time, it will change. Anne Frank, herself, was lost, but her spirit lives on and the atrocities of WW2 have served as a powerful lesson for the rest of us. Many people have been lost and myself or my family may not make it through whatever happens next-- be it a meteor crashing into the earth, a car accident or some wierd anomaly having to do with this nutty oil shock... but overall-- I truly believe that we- as a people will do just fine when we work together, do our best and practice patience & understanding.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Sunday, May 6, 2007
World Without Oil- Week 7
(This is a fictional account from the fantastic alternative reality game World Without Oil join in! )
June 18-24, 2007
Summer Vacation! What better way to kick-off summer vacation than with a big barbeque?! Because of some long black-outs, we're getting worried about the meat in our extra freezer. We consolidated to 1 freezer/fridge since the power has been spotty- unplugged the extra freezer & fridge & took out the massive stores of lamb, chicken breasts, steak & ribs and fired up the grill! We called friends and invited them to come & hang with us-- bringing whatever sides they might have to contribute, firewood/charcoal, drinks, or just their hungry tummies.
The kids played in the backyard on the swings. and we just hung out, ate and visited. Of course, then I saw the "worth its weight in gold" post and wish we had thought to preserve some of this meat instead of blowing our stash. We still have a "normal" amount left and we might look at preserving that meat. Luckily my mother-in-law is a culinary instructor with lots of experience in smoking and making lox... maybe it's time for a "SMOKE-OUT" next week! She had been ramping up for a doomsday event for a while now and does have many useful survival skills. I'm wondering now if it would be better to try to get our family into the same area and work more together.
We even hung out with our neighbors-- whom we tend to avoid because of their idiosyncracies, but between Rodrigo's mechanical skills & Mark's massive store of "junk" from big garbage day and his ideas & passion for making things, it's been good to connect with them. They even started talking about what kinds of generators & windmills they could build from old car parts for our 3 houses to use. We might put something up on Marks' tree house (that we hated because it looks into our backyard) with cables that go to our 3 houses for "emergency" energy if we keep having long black-outs.
How serious is this thing anyway? Some areas of the country sound like some kind of Mad Max scenario-- and then there's rumors about some kind of "incident" with Canada. I don't know what to think. Here, it's just black-outs. People helping each other where they can... but it's pretty low-key overall. Black-outs we can handle. High gas prices (in this part of the country- significantly higher than other parts), we can also handle. I used to wait in line with gas at $3.70+/gal BEFORE the oil shock.
We've been reading more. The library is a popular hangout, as people take advantage of their cooling system when it's available. They've been offering puppet shows & animal experiences as part of their summer reading program for kids. They usually have family movie night, and a concert on Sundays and this week, the performers did an acoustic performance because the power was out... not really a big deal.
I'm glad our cranking flashlights also charge our cell-phones. Now if only I had better coverage at our house! Glad we have a landline at the house, though-- some of our friends couldn't receive calls during black-outs because they only had cordless systems. Most people are buying at least 1 phone with a cord... see- sometimes it pays to hang on to the same phone from the 80's! -grin-
Next week, I'm holding the kids' summer album-making camp and have a very full house. They are all excited and have a lot to write about. I can't wait to see how it goes. It's also nice to have a meaningful activity for kids that doesn't require power.
I've had a lot of people approach me about sorting & organizing their photos. It seems that with the slow-down, many people are starting to get around to stuff they had put-off for a while and they are looking forward to meaningful, quiet activities. Sales are up. I just hope that there aren't crazy delays in shipping products...
My husband's long-time friend in Berkeley has always had a corn-oil-burning car. I'm wondering if that would be worth implementing just to save some $$. It seems like a good idea- but is it practical? I mean- I don't know how long this will last and it is a lot of work and we didn't even drive our car the last 4 weeks (amazing what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it). Of course, we would probably save a few hundred dollars just during our trip to Southern California next week. That might be something worth looking into. I just wonder-- if everything really does go totally doomsday... I don't grow corn... and I certainly don't make corn oil... or safflower oil or any of those things... and if we need to transport corn oil from the midwest... does that really save anything in the long run? Sure, *WE* stand a lot to gain as a family suimply because it's cheaper & of course it's better for the environment as a whole, but does it really solve the problem? I dunno- I'll have to think about it...
The kids & I are planning to do a little project after the summer album camp-- we found plans to make a small windmill to learn about power. We have the crank radios & stuff & they wanted to see how it worked, so we're going to try some different ideas just to see how things work (because I don't dare let them take apart the ones that are working!) and because we're starting to run-out of batteries for the "regular" flashlights and with all of the black-outs, I'm not going to keep buying them. So we're going to hook-up these little gadgets to little flashlights & stuff to see if we can get them to work-- who knows... maybe we can build a BIG windmill this summer if it really does go all doomsday on us!
PS-- I LOVE the solar lights & alternative energy gadgets that we got last year-- they've been really helpful and we've even started bringing them in at night to use as lights-- putting them out before we go to bed so they catch the morning's rays in the back yard (because we just worry about people taking them since they are so useful.)
A long post again-- I've been saving up for a week after all! (I figure it's better to post it all at once than to do daily updates).
June 18-24, 2007
Summer Vacation! What better way to kick-off summer vacation than with a big barbeque?! Because of some long black-outs, we're getting worried about the meat in our extra freezer. We consolidated to 1 freezer/fridge since the power has been spotty- unplugged the extra freezer & fridge & took out the massive stores of lamb, chicken breasts, steak & ribs and fired up the grill! We called friends and invited them to come & hang with us-- bringing whatever sides they might have to contribute, firewood/charcoal, drinks, or just their hungry tummies.
The kids played in the backyard on the swings. and we just hung out, ate and visited. Of course, then I saw the "worth its weight in gold" post and wish we had thought to preserve some of this meat instead of blowing our stash. We still have a "normal" amount left and we might look at preserving that meat. Luckily my mother-in-law is a culinary instructor with lots of experience in smoking and making lox... maybe it's time for a "SMOKE-OUT" next week! She had been ramping up for a doomsday event for a while now and does have many useful survival skills. I'm wondering now if it would be better to try to get our family into the same area and work more together.
We even hung out with our neighbors-- whom we tend to avoid because of their idiosyncracies, but between Rodrigo's mechanical skills & Mark's massive store of "junk" from big garbage day and his ideas & passion for making things, it's been good to connect with them. They even started talking about what kinds of generators & windmills they could build from old car parts for our 3 houses to use. We might put something up on Marks' tree house (that we hated because it looks into our backyard) with cables that go to our 3 houses for "emergency" energy if we keep having long black-outs.
How serious is this thing anyway? Some areas of the country sound like some kind of Mad Max scenario-- and then there's rumors about some kind of "incident" with Canada. I don't know what to think. Here, it's just black-outs. People helping each other where they can... but it's pretty low-key overall. Black-outs we can handle. High gas prices (in this part of the country- significantly higher than other parts), we can also handle. I used to wait in line with gas at $3.70+/gal BEFORE the oil shock.
We've been reading more. The library is a popular hangout, as people take advantage of their cooling system when it's available. They've been offering puppet shows & animal experiences as part of their summer reading program for kids. They usually have family movie night, and a concert on Sundays and this week, the performers did an acoustic performance because the power was out... not really a big deal.
I'm glad our cranking flashlights also charge our cell-phones. Now if only I had better coverage at our house! Glad we have a landline at the house, though-- some of our friends couldn't receive calls during black-outs because they only had cordless systems. Most people are buying at least 1 phone with a cord... see- sometimes it pays to hang on to the same phone from the 80's! -grin-
Next week, I'm holding the kids' summer album-making camp and have a very full house. They are all excited and have a lot to write about. I can't wait to see how it goes. It's also nice to have a meaningful activity for kids that doesn't require power.
I've had a lot of people approach me about sorting & organizing their photos. It seems that with the slow-down, many people are starting to get around to stuff they had put-off for a while and they are looking forward to meaningful, quiet activities. Sales are up. I just hope that there aren't crazy delays in shipping products...
My husband's long-time friend in Berkeley has always had a corn-oil-burning car. I'm wondering if that would be worth implementing just to save some $$. It seems like a good idea- but is it practical? I mean- I don't know how long this will last and it is a lot of work and we didn't even drive our car the last 4 weeks (amazing what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it). Of course, we would probably save a few hundred dollars just during our trip to Southern California next week. That might be something worth looking into. I just wonder-- if everything really does go totally doomsday... I don't grow corn... and I certainly don't make corn oil... or safflower oil or any of those things... and if we need to transport corn oil from the midwest... does that really save anything in the long run? Sure, *WE* stand a lot to gain as a family suimply because it's cheaper & of course it's better for the environment as a whole, but does it really solve the problem? I dunno- I'll have to think about it...
The kids & I are planning to do a little project after the summer album camp-- we found plans to make a small windmill to learn about power. We have the crank radios & stuff & they wanted to see how it worked, so we're going to try some different ideas just to see how things work (because I don't dare let them take apart the ones that are working!) and because we're starting to run-out of batteries for the "regular" flashlights and with all of the black-outs, I'm not going to keep buying them. So we're going to hook-up these little gadgets to little flashlights & stuff to see if we can get them to work-- who knows... maybe we can build a BIG windmill this summer if it really does go all doomsday on us!
PS-- I LOVE the solar lights & alternative energy gadgets that we got last year-- they've been really helpful and we've even started bringing them in at night to use as lights-- putting them out before we go to bed so they catch the morning's rays in the back yard (because we just worry about people taking them since they are so useful.)
A long post again-- I've been saving up for a week after all! (I figure it's better to post it all at once than to do daily updates).
Saturday, May 5, 2007
World Without Oil- Week 6
(This is a fictional account from the fantastic alternative reality game World Without Oil join in! )
June 11-17, 2007
It's the last week of school. Instead of going to a nearby park as was scheduled for the end-of-year picnic, we are holding it on the field. The lights have been off in the classrooms to save on energy and the talent show happened as scheduled with no stage lights-- we just opened the doors to let in natural light & practiced patience to stay quiet enough to hear what was happening on stage.
We've been spending a lot of time playing in the sprinklers in the back yard to fend off the heat-- thankfully this area isn't bad at all, with only 3 days a year that are thoroughly uncomfortable & with large shade trees, we manage to do just fine. Never had air conditioning, so not feeling too much of a difference there. The novelty of eating by candle-light has worn off & our life is set to follow the availability of sunlight.
Of course, this isn't the dark ages, we are just careful-- we try to just use 1 light at a time-- we prefer to maintain energy for the fridge & other "necessaries." Lots of outdoor living.
No riots here, but it's scary to hear about these things going on in the news. We spend a lot of time at the school with other families-- that's where we get news & updates. I'm going to miss this when school gets out.
At $5+/gal, we've decided to cancel our camping trips for the year. Our trip to San Diego in July is going to hold a heavy price tag, but I think it's still worth it... I think. I'm not registering for the conference in Southern California-- just cutting back on expenses. Trying to figure out if going to our national convention in August makes sense-- I'm just not sure about being away from home.
That being said, business is good, but not in the way I had intended. People are working on their albums, coming together- documenting their personal histories. I've seen a rise in business- and the shipping rates we set out in April have held us well for now-- I haven't had to raise shipping rates yet for my customers- we'll see what happens.
June 11-17, 2007
It's the last week of school. Instead of going to a nearby park as was scheduled for the end-of-year picnic, we are holding it on the field. The lights have been off in the classrooms to save on energy and the talent show happened as scheduled with no stage lights-- we just opened the doors to let in natural light & practiced patience to stay quiet enough to hear what was happening on stage.
We've been spending a lot of time playing in the sprinklers in the back yard to fend off the heat-- thankfully this area isn't bad at all, with only 3 days a year that are thoroughly uncomfortable & with large shade trees, we manage to do just fine. Never had air conditioning, so not feeling too much of a difference there. The novelty of eating by candle-light has worn off & our life is set to follow the availability of sunlight.
Of course, this isn't the dark ages, we are just careful-- we try to just use 1 light at a time-- we prefer to maintain energy for the fridge & other "necessaries." Lots of outdoor living.
No riots here, but it's scary to hear about these things going on in the news. We spend a lot of time at the school with other families-- that's where we get news & updates. I'm going to miss this when school gets out.
At $5+/gal, we've decided to cancel our camping trips for the year. Our trip to San Diego in July is going to hold a heavy price tag, but I think it's still worth it... I think. I'm not registering for the conference in Southern California-- just cutting back on expenses. Trying to figure out if going to our national convention in August makes sense-- I'm just not sure about being away from home.
That being said, business is good, but not in the way I had intended. People are working on their albums, coming together- documenting their personal histories. I've seen a rise in business- and the shipping rates we set out in April have held us well for now-- I haven't had to raise shipping rates yet for my customers- we'll see what happens.
Friday, May 4, 2007
World Without Oil- Day 3
(This is a fictional account from the fantastic alternative reality game World Without Oil join in! )
It’s fine being ideallic when it’s just you—or even you & a spouse. As anyone will tell you, life gets complicated when kids come along. And I don’t care how ideallic you are, not many parents choose to handwash cloth diapers these days! Most use disposable, some use a diaper service- which is heavy on gas for delivery & pick-up & we won’t even talk about the industrial washers and chemicals used… So, how to cope with the oil shock with 3 young kids—2 of whom have sports, school & activities they’ve committed to and 1 of whom is still in diapers.
First off- we used to do as much walking & biking as we could—but how do you transport 3 children & their gear the 3 miles between various locations? Ah what a tangled web of cushy suburbian routine we had constructed—perfect for piling kids in a suburban or expedition to hop from errand to errand. Life is different—TIME is different when gas is so expensive.
The 6-year-old is ok biking himself for a mile, the 5-year-old is good for .5 miles and of course if we really need to get somewhere, the 2 year-old is still in the bike trailer (Because she is just too little to ride for long without running into bushes). And this is only one-way. As the oil shock hits, we are looking at what we need to do differently. Money is already tight, gas is already expensive, the earth is already choking on our fumes-- could it really get WORSE?
We already had carpools in place, but now we are finding that making it to some kind of practice 30 minutes after school lets out is just not feasible if we're biking. Cushy middle class is getting… different.
We have a built-in network of parents & teachers that live close by who are helpful. Luckily we have already planted our garden—unfortunately, we don’t have anything to HARVEST yet!
Maybe it's time to dig out my guide to edible plants to see what kinds of things we can find growing in our lawn. There are still tangerines on our tree and in a few months, we’ll have some nectarines & lemons. I suppose it won't be the same when we are RELYING on the fruit instead of just periodically grabbing a yummy treat. Same with the veggies. It used to be a novelty to grab a cucumber or two each day… we would even give some away! Now, I can’t wait for when our vine starts seriously PRODUCING this summer! As for meat- cheese- what will we have to start cutting back on?
Maybe this is just what the doctor ordered... more exercise- healthier eating- less meat. I wonder what it would take to keep a goat in our backyard—eating the grass (since we won’t waste gas mowing the lawn) for milk and a chicken or two... city ordinances aside.
I can see life slowing down tremendously and re-focusing on the basics.
I suppose it's time to potty-train the baby & stop being lazy using diapers...
I think we all need baskets on our bikes so it's easier to haul & carry things and so that each of us can carry their own stuff... Perhaps this is just the sense of independence the kids need. The past few days- when the baby was still napping, a parent near the school biked my son home. Maybe it's time to examine our schedule and see what's really feasible based on the new constraints that have been introduced to our family.
If we bike or walk, we need to spend more time there to rest. We could spend more time at school talking to other families & their kids. School is such a safe environment--I know people there- I know the kids- I know we are safe and it's a very close, cooperative community. I can see eating better with packed lunches.
Hmmm- just starting to feel the squeeze... no just starting to perceive it, really, in this cush, middle-class, gourmet-led, middle-class lifestyle.
I worry about my mom in San Diego-- It's hotter there & they've replaced their fruits & veggies with a lot of indigenous foliage and a backyard "habitat" for local wildlife. The good news is that I think their house runs on about 30% alternative fuels between the solar panels & hot water panels and if they cut their consumption, they might be in good shape. Being a prodigious gardener, she will no-doubt do better than I. I take it back-- they should be fine.
It’s fine being ideallic when it’s just you—or even you & a spouse. As anyone will tell you, life gets complicated when kids come along. And I don’t care how ideallic you are, not many parents choose to handwash cloth diapers these days! Most use disposable, some use a diaper service- which is heavy on gas for delivery & pick-up & we won’t even talk about the industrial washers and chemicals used… So, how to cope with the oil shock with 3 young kids—2 of whom have sports, school & activities they’ve committed to and 1 of whom is still in diapers.
First off- we used to do as much walking & biking as we could—but how do you transport 3 children & their gear the 3 miles between various locations? Ah what a tangled web of cushy suburbian routine we had constructed—perfect for piling kids in a suburban or expedition to hop from errand to errand. Life is different—TIME is different when gas is so expensive.
The 6-year-old is ok biking himself for a mile, the 5-year-old is good for .5 miles and of course if we really need to get somewhere, the 2 year-old is still in the bike trailer (Because she is just too little to ride for long without running into bushes). And this is only one-way. As the oil shock hits, we are looking at what we need to do differently. Money is already tight, gas is already expensive, the earth is already choking on our fumes-- could it really get WORSE?
We already had carpools in place, but now we are finding that making it to some kind of practice 30 minutes after school lets out is just not feasible if we're biking. Cushy middle class is getting… different.
We have a built-in network of parents & teachers that live close by who are helpful. Luckily we have already planted our garden—unfortunately, we don’t have anything to HARVEST yet!
Maybe it's time to dig out my guide to edible plants to see what kinds of things we can find growing in our lawn. There are still tangerines on our tree and in a few months, we’ll have some nectarines & lemons. I suppose it won't be the same when we are RELYING on the fruit instead of just periodically grabbing a yummy treat. Same with the veggies. It used to be a novelty to grab a cucumber or two each day… we would even give some away! Now, I can’t wait for when our vine starts seriously PRODUCING this summer! As for meat- cheese- what will we have to start cutting back on?
Maybe this is just what the doctor ordered... more exercise- healthier eating- less meat. I wonder what it would take to keep a goat in our backyard—eating the grass (since we won’t waste gas mowing the lawn) for milk and a chicken or two... city ordinances aside.
I can see life slowing down tremendously and re-focusing on the basics.
I suppose it's time to potty-train the baby & stop being lazy using diapers...
I think we all need baskets on our bikes so it's easier to haul & carry things and so that each of us can carry their own stuff... Perhaps this is just the sense of independence the kids need. The past few days- when the baby was still napping, a parent near the school biked my son home. Maybe it's time to examine our schedule and see what's really feasible based on the new constraints that have been introduced to our family.
If we bike or walk, we need to spend more time there to rest. We could spend more time at school talking to other families & their kids. School is such a safe environment--I know people there- I know the kids- I know we are safe and it's a very close, cooperative community. I can see eating better with packed lunches.
Hmmm- just starting to feel the squeeze... no just starting to perceive it, really, in this cush, middle-class, gourmet-led, middle-class lifestyle.
I worry about my mom in San Diego-- It's hotter there & they've replaced their fruits & veggies with a lot of indigenous foliage and a backyard "habitat" for local wildlife. The good news is that I think their house runs on about 30% alternative fuels between the solar panels & hot water panels and if they cut their consumption, they might be in good shape. Being a prodigious gardener, she will no-doubt do better than I. I take it back-- they should be fine.
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