"Keep a Journal: How else are you going to get a good look at who you were?"

Monday, June 16, 2008

Dollar Store Stew:

1 kg pack of stew beef, fresh or thawed.

1 - 2 Can dollar store potatoes. The "pearl" kind that are golf-ball sized chunks of pre-cooked, peeled potatoes

1 Can dollar store carrots

1 Can dollar store cut green beans

1 Can dollar store kernel corn (niblet style, not creamed corn).

Salt/pepper/taco spice, whatever you have.

Ketchup

Steak sauce.

Fill a large pot (4 to 6 litre) about 3/4ths full of water. Add salt, pepper, spices, and beef. If the beef chunks are larger than about 3 cm square, cut them into smaller pieces (I use scissors). Bring to boil. Reduce heat and add a few shakes of ketchup (no, I'm not kidding) and the steak sauce...heck, shake in some tabasco if you crave a little adventure! Now leave the lid of the pot slightly askew so the steam can escape, but not too open or the pot won't stay hot. Simmer 2-3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes, or whenever you remember to, doesn't really matter. Just don't let the pot boil over! When the liquid level in the pot is down to about half, add the canned veggies and potatoes. Simmer for another 30 mins to an hour, stirring once or twice to make sure everything mixes well, and that the liquid level doesn't get too low (all the contents should be covered in liquid, but you don't want to be making soup). Serve with your favorite bread product.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Last Saturday...I spent SIX HOURS on the back lawn. I put FOURTEEN bags of grass clippings to the curb; I had to, that week was "yard waste pickup" in Delta.

Our tax dollars at work. Delta Corp. used to pick up once a month, in season. Now it's every two weeks.

I assumed that as I had only left the lawn to grow for two weeks, that a normal mowing would take three hours and produce seven bags of clippings.

I guess I left it longer than I thought; I finished in 90 mins, and the clippings were only one-and-a-half bags. It was (comparatively) easy.

All I have to do now to enjoy this level of ease in mowing the back is continue to do so EVERY SINGLE WEEK. As the weather is somewhat variable here in the lower drainland, this means I have to mow the lawn sometime between Wednesday and Saturday of a given week...as soon as it is clear and dry enough to do so. I'll be watching the skies.

Marv Walling. What a guy.

He has me doing some web research for him, subject: Hydrogen Power.

Marv has the idear to build a Large Scale Electrolysis Cell...and use the output to feed a homebuilt gas-powered generator. Object: to start selling power back to BC Hydro. Hmmm. Good luck with that.

There is a LOT of mahooha on the subjects of free energy and hydrogen power on the 'net. Finding the Real Deal thru all the noise has been something of a chore. Of course, I first had to overcome my own skepticism.

Current Scientific opinion will tell you that hydrogen is NOT a viable fuel. "It's an energy storage medium...not an actual source of energy." In short, there is NO WAY you could produce enough energy burning hydrogen to offset the energy cost in producing the hydrogen in the first place. Michael Faraday's experiments on electrolysis began in 1834. There have been some improvements in the field of electrochemistry since that time. The scientific community has, at present, no interest in re-opening the subject of water electrolysis.

So...it's been up to the tinkerers.

Currently, the bright stars on the hydrogen powered horizon have been the Booster Cell; a small-scale electrolysis cell that can be installed on an average car and produce enough disassociated hydrogen and oxygen gas (from distilled water) to reduce the engine's fuel consumption somewhat. Claims of 20% to 25% increase in fuel economy have been made. Then there is the late Stan Meyer, who claimed to have invented a very special type of inline electrolyser that delivered hydrogen and oxygen gasses at the cylinder port; to that point, what had flowed into his "injectors" was water. Stan Meyer suffered an untimely death, and it is reported that his workshop was burglarised shortly afterward and all notes, plans, and prototypes were taken. There have been a few others since Stan to claim to have come up with a similar gadget, or even to have duplicated his work. I can make neither head nor tails of any of their documentation, or even their claims.

The third bright star I found was Bob Boyce. Bob Boyce built a Large Scale Electrolysis Cell because logic told him that if a small cell could provide a supplement to the fuel feed of a gasoline-powered engine, then a larger cell could actually fuel the car. It's not really that easy, of course, and the finished product (took several years of tinkering to perfect it) is a pretty sophisticated piece of engineering. There are also a few caveats: an ordinary gasoline-powered internal combustion engine is NOT designed to burn hydrogen...not for long, at any rate. The combustion temperature and the nature of the detonation effects of hydrogen are different enough from the expected gasoline vapor/air mix that any un-modified engine will quickly break down.

But it's do-able...and Marv says he already has an engine that's been modified to run on propane gas. It would need some further modification for running on hydrogen...but not nearly as much as a gasoline-powered engine.

Hmmmm. He might be able to pull this off. I hope I'm there to see it.

Finally, I offer a couple of departure points, if you feel like taking a look yourself:

www.waterpoweredcar.com - has some good links, and some not so good ones. Has some info on Stan Meyer's "water fueled" dune buggy.

http://pesn.com/2007/01/08/9500445_Bob_Boyce_Electrolyzer_Plans/

A page from the Pure Energy Systems Network. Not as wacko as other "free energy" sites, and they have a 43-page .pdf document on the theory and practical set-up of Bob Boyce's Large Scale Electrolyzer.

Sunday, June 01, 2008

I want a canoe.

Here I am, living within a few miles of False Creek, the Fraser River and the Ocean fer cryin' out loud...and I don't even own a boat.

Spotted a canoe club on Craigslist that looks like it might be fun.

I am adjusting to "single" life. L and I aren't even "legally separated" yet. Of course, there is no such state as "legal separation" in BC, but you can and ought to have a separation agreement. Terms of this agreement include payment of child/spousal support and separation of residences and finances.

That last would be the snag in the process. L cannot afford to live the life we're living without access to 100% of my income, apparently. Of course the "we" is her and the kids. She just can't do the separate bank account thing until she's got her Financial Independence. That comes with the Good Job she'll be getting in the future to replace the "hobby" job she has at the moment with BC lotto. Unfortunately, this hypothetical future keeps getting pushed further and further ahead. The course she has to have next won't be open until next January! Then there will be another course and then...well, you get the idea. The course she's already taken in medical terminology (and did very well at) by itself is apparently not enough to get the Good Job, or at least, not a Good Job that she's interested in.

I remind myself that she supported my unemployed ass for 3 months when we were first married. This meant that after the honeymoon, I endured constant nagging until I got a job - "ANY job!!!"

Well, 14 years later, and I'm still at that same job. I actually interviewed for HBC in Dec. '93, shortly after our return from Florida, but the new DC wasn't open for business until Feb. '94.

Now, she declared us "un-married" on or about Nov. 20 of last year. This means that I have been subsidizing her under-employed ass for about the last six months. Shortly after she dropped the "D-bomb" I proposed a separation agreement regarding our finances: we take our 3000$ net combined monthly income and divide it down the middle. This meant me giving her about 900$ per month in child and "other" support. Bills would be divided in half.

Sounds fair, doesn't it?

L didn't go for it. So...here we are still married - "on paper" - and she's dating Roger. I'm kinda wondering when she'll be moving in with Roger - or when Roger will be moving in here...

Speaking of subsidies...80 cents of every dollar she spends was earned by me. I have no problem subsidizing her education...but it REALLY chaps my hide to be susidizing her social life. I kinda wish she'd grow up and pay for her dates with her OWN money.

I suspect adultery...which is not illegal in BC, and has no bearing on the separation/divorce process. Might bear some consideration in a custody hearing; should there be one in the future.

I need some legal advice. Soon.