Possum Living

Slab City Coverage in Mainstream Media

2012-02-03T22:21:00.000-06:00

I've mentioned Slab City here before. It is a former military base (and adjacent to a current military base) in the southern California desert, where an impromptu community of RV tramps and off-grid types has sprung up. Life is hard at the Slabs, but the rent is free and no community development types come around to hassle you. For some people, the sense of freedom there is more important than the comforts of a modern home. They are enough of a minority to keep Slab City out of the mainstream press, most of the time. But there are exceptions to every rule, as this article on Time proves:

"The Last Free Place in America" lives up to its nickname. Want to hang out nude in thermal mud baths or skateboard stoned in the bowl of an Olympic-size pool? Go for it. In the mood to construct outlandish pieces of art with scrap metal, dig an SUV-size trench for no particular reason or play 18 holes of golf on a grassless course to the sound of bombs in the distance? This is the place. Yet despite the anything-goes reputation, those who stick around the Slabs long enough insist they are made to feel welcome, provided they have the right attitude. Free meals and entertainment are on offer, capped by Saturday-night concerts at the Range, a clapboard venue that showcases live acts of varying quality. This bohemian aspect was featured in the 2007 film Into the Wild, rare mainstream attention that drew a surge of newcomers to Slab City.

DIY Wood-Fired Water Heater

2012-02-02T13:57:00.000-06:00

by Mark Crush

This is a cheap wood burning water heater; great for missionary work or a remote cabin, backwoods lodge or camp.

Here is what you will need to build your own wood-fired water heater:

Gas water heater new or used, with all of the gas lines, burner assembly etc. removed from the bottom. Any used or new hot water heater will work as long as it is gas, with a built-in center stack/vent. Electric heaters will not work because they lack this vent.
Used truck rim. The correct rim is known as a Dayton rim, and it is used on large trucks with 20-inch or larger tires. Most tire shops will have these laying around. These truck rims have no bolt pattern, and are hollow in the middle.
A barn door hinge.
Two, 5-foot sections of angle iron. Old bed frame material works fine.
A piece of 1/4-inch or 3/8-inch thick steel, large enough to cover the wheel when it is laying on its side.

Use a cutting torch or grinder to cut a side door into the rim. This is where you will feed wood into the heater. Weld the hinge to the section you cut out, and to the wheel. See the first picture.
Cut adapter plate out of 1/4-inch or 3/8-inch steel. The adapter plate will be basically a large washer, that will fit the bottom of gas water heater opening to the truck rim opening.
Weld the angle iron to the bottom, as in the second photo.
Leave the bottom open and set it on a brick base.
This heater will make more hot water than you can imagine. Once the water is hot and you have a good bed of coals in the base, you have enough hot water to take 6 long showers in a row and still scald a pig with whats left. Great camp site hot water, no propane to buy or run out.

If you get fire too hot, the water heater pop off valve will relieve the excess pressure and let cold water in. This set up is cheap to use.
Once the water is hot, it will stay hot for 24 to 36 hours depending on out side temperature. If you add insulation it will stay hot even longer. This idea even could be used as a hot water boiler for heating the house in cold weather.
Warning: this water heater is for outside or out-building use only; it is not safe for use in a dwelling or any building attached to a dwelling.

Mark is the author of the Water Well Drilling Troubleshooting Guide

He may be reached at Drillcat.com or waterwelldrillingschool.com.

Living In A Van (Off The Grid)

2012-01-20T23:50:00.000-06:00

This guy has a pretty nice van. Since it is a 1-ton van, if he wanted to he could put a nice-sized battery bank in the back, underneath his sleeping area. I did that with my old Mobile Traveler 1-ton Dodge camper van. I had an 880 ampere/hour bank consisting of eight golf-cart batteries wired series-parallel for 12 volts, feeding a Trace 2500 watt inverter. That setup could run a 5,000 BTU air conditioner overnight, without running the generator. It weighed about 500 pounds, but that is nothing for a 1-ton. In fact it gave the van more traction. I drove it on all kinds of unpaved roads in the desert in Utah and Colorado, as well as muddy roads around Lake Superior and in the South. With those batteries in the back I never had a problem with wheelspin.

This Website Does NOT Support SOPA

2012-01-18T13:12:00.000-06:00

I have noticed that for the past several years the US government has been casting about for any possible handle it can use to control (and tax) the Internet. It has finally found an issue that is supported by the huge and powerful entertainment industry, in the form of the "Stop Online Piracy Act and "protect IP Act;" both of which follow the standard US government tactic of misnaming Draconian new laws to disguise them as benefiting anyone but the government and its lapdogs.
The reason the entertainment industry supports this power grab is obvious. The Internet is a medium of communication that allows content creators and publishers to reach a large audience directly. This medium is in competition with the entertainment industry, which is accustomed to having a captive audience. Under SOPA, anyone could shut down any site by merely accusing it of copyright infringement. We do not need that. We already have copyright laws, and anyone whose copyrights are violated can take it to court. No Soviet-style censorship needed.
Imagine if "Big Auto" lobby groups were able to use the power of government to prevent the sale in the US of a small car that cost $2500 new and got 56 mpg. Oh, wait... anyone ever heard of the Tata Nano?

Welding With 6010/6011 Electrodes

2011-12-05T15:47:00.000-06:00

Here is a video demonstrating the use of 6010 and 6011 arc welding electrodes. Personally, I use more 6011 than any other electrode because it is very easy to use and gives good penetration and a strong weld even on poorly prepared steel. 7018 is better for welding high-carbon steel, but for me 6011 is where it's at for most welding of mild steel.

Solar Cooker From A Tire

2011-11-30T13:46:00.000-06:00

This is one of those, "Why didn't I think of that?" ideas. Tires are black and non-shiny, so they grab a lot of heat from the sun. That is why the common practice of using a tire as a planter doesn't work well in the South unless you paint the tire white.
Speaking of paint, the instructions in the video say to paint the pot black. I think a better plan would be to use a cast iron Dutch oven, which will already be black if you have been using it very much. The cast iron also adds thermal mass, which is a good thing. Besides all that, a Dutch oven is also very useful for cooking on a fire. In fact, that is what it was designed for.
One of the commenters claimed that this is a bad idea because the tire may outgas toxic fumes. You will have to decide for yourself if the reward is worth the risk, but consider a couple of pertinent facts. First, the Dutch oven makes a fairly good seal; which limits the ingress of any vapors. Second, if you use a used tire, most of the outgassing that is going to occur has already happened. I could see choosing a used tire that fits my truck or Jeep and is somewhat worn but undamaged. That way I have a second spare tire (sans wheel) in case I need it, as well as a way to slow-cook something in the sun while I am out exploring or whatever. I think this would work well in the desert.
I have been in situations where that extra tire would be a good thing. I would have my Dutch oven along anyway, and I would also have a scrap of plywood (they work well as a base for the Hi-lift jack on soft ground). The only additional thing I need is a pane of glass. An old car window would be perfect as long as it is packed in a way to prevent breakage; or a cheap piece of Plexiglass from the hardware store would suffice.

Everything You Need To Know about the Kindle Wireless Reader

2011-11-23T22:30:00.000-06:00

With the new, lower prices, a lot of people are considering the purchase of their first Kindle e-reader this year. I have written about it before, but here is the Wikipedia entry and a link to buy one, either for yourself or a gift.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Amazon Kindle

A third generation Kindle in graphite color
Developer	Amazon.com
Manufacturer	Foxconn
Release date	November 19, 2007
Introductory price	$399
Operating system	Linux 2.6.26
CPU	Freescale 532 MHz, ARM-11
Storage capacity	(total/user available) 256 MB/180 MB (original) or 2 GB/1.4 GB (Kindle 2) or 4 GB/3 GB (Kindle 3) or 4 GB/3.3 GB (Kindle DX) internal flash memory
Memory	256 MB (Kindle 3)
Display	6 in diagonal, 3.6 in (91 mm) × 4.8 in (122 mm), 600 × 800 pixels or 0.48 megapixels, 167 ppi density, 4-level grayscale (original) or 16-level grayscale (Kindle 2 and 3) electronic paper 9.7" (246 mm) diagonal, 1200 x 824 pixel, 150 ppi (Kindle DX)
Input	USB 2.0 port (micro-B connector), SD card (original model only), 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack built-in stereo speakers, AC power adapter jack
Connectivity	Amazon Whispernet using EVDO/CDMA AnyDATA wireless modem (selected models), 802.11bg Wi-Fi (Kindle 3)
Dimensions	8.0 × 5.3 × 0.8 in (203 × 135 × 20.3 mm) (original) 8.0 × 5.3 × 0.36 in (203 × 135 × 9.14 mm) (Kindle 2) 7.5 × 4.8 × 0.34 in (190 × 123 × 8.51 mm) (Kindle 3) 10.4 x 7.2 x 0.38 in (264 x 183 x 9.65 mm) (Kindle DX 2)
Weight	10.2 oz (290 g) (Kindle 1 & 2) 8.7 oz (247 g) (Kindle 3) 8.5 oz (241 g) (Kindle 3 Wi-Fi only) 18.9 oz (540 g) (Kindle DX 2)

Amazon Kindle models

Grouped by product lines

Kindle (original) (White)
Release date: November 19, 2007
Kindle 2 (White)
February 23, 2009
Kindle 2- International (White)
October 19, 2009
Kindle Keyboard- 3G and Wi-Fi (White/Graphite)
August 27, 2010

Kindle DX (original) (White)
June 10, 2009
Kindle DX International (original) (White)
January 19, 2010
Kindle DX International 2 (Graphite)
July 1/7?, 2010

Kindle Keyboard- Wi-Fi (Graphite)
August 27, 2010
Kindle Keyboard with Special Offers - Wi-Fi (Graphite)
May 3, 2011
Kindle Keyboard with Special Offers - 3G/Wi-Fi (Graphite)
May 25, 2011
Kindle Classic (Silver)
Sep 28, 2011
Kindle Touch (Silver)
Sep 28, 2011
Kindle Touch 3G (Silver)
Sep 28, 2011
Kindle Fire
Sep 28, 2011

The Amazon Kindle is an e-book reader developed by Amazon.com subsidiary Lab126 which uses wireless connectivity to enable users to shop for, download, browse, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, and other digital media. The Kindle hardware devices use an E Ink electronic paper display that shows up to 16 shades of gray, minimizes power use and simulates reading on paper.
There have been several iterations of hardware devices for this platform, including a main Kindle line (first introduced 2007) and a Kindle DX line with a larger screen (introduced 2009). Devices with touch sensitive screens (Kindle Touch), and a tablet computer with a reader app and a color display (Kindle Fire) were announced in September 2011, along with a keyboardless low priced (Kindle) model. With the introduction of the 2011 Kindles the original Kindles are renamed Kindle Keyboard.
Amazon has also introduced Kindle software for use on various devices and platforms, including Microsoft Windows, iOS, BlackBerry, Mac OS X (10.5 or later, intel processor only), Android, webOS, and Windows Phone 7. Amazon also has a "cloud" reader to allow users to read, and purchase, Kindle books from a web browser.
Content for the Kindle can be purchased online and downloaded wirelessly in some countries, using either standard Wi-Fi or Amazon's 3G "Whispernet" network. Whispernet is accessible without any monthly fee or wireless subscription, although fees can be incurred for the delivery of periodicals and other content when roaming internationally beyond the customer's home country. Through a service called "Whispersync," customers can synchronize reading progress, bookmarks and other information across Kindle hardware devices and other mobile devices.
In the last three months of 2010, Amazon announced that in the United States, their e-book sales had surpassed sales of paperback books for the first time.

Devices

Original version

A first generation Kindle

Amazon released the Kindle First Generation on November 19, 2007, for US$399. It sold out in five and a half hours. The device remained out of stock for five months until late April 2008.
It is the only Kindle with expandable memory, via an SD card slot.
The device features a 6 inch (diagonal) 4-level grayscale display, with 250 MB of internal memory, which can hold approximately 200 non-illustrated titles.
Amazon did not sell the Kindle First Generation outside the United States. Plans for a launch in the UK and other European countries were delayed by problems with signing up suitable wireless network operators.

Kindle 2

A second generation Kindle

On February 10, 2009, Amazon announced the Kindle 2. It became available for purchase on February 23, 2009. The Kindle 2 features a text-to-speech option to read the text aloud, and 2 GB of internal memory of which 1.4 GB is user-accessible. By Amazon's estimates the Kindle 2 can hold about 1500 non-illustrated books. Unlike the Kindle First Generation, Kindle 2 does not have a slot for SD memory cards. It was slimmer than the original Kindle.
To promote the new Kindle, author Stephen King made UR, his then-new novella, available exclusively through the Kindle Store. On October 22, 2009, Amazon stopped selling the original Kindle 2 in favor of the international version it had introduced earlier in the month.
According to an early review by iFixIt, the Kindle 2 features a Freescale 532 MHz, ARM-11 90 nm processor, 32 MB main memory, 2 GB moviNAND flash storage and a 3.7 V 1530 mAh lithium polymer battery.
On November 24, 2009, Amazon released a firmware update for the Kindle 2 that it said increased battery life by 85% and introduces native PDF support.
On July 8, 2009, Amazon reduced price of the Kindle 2 from the original $359 to $299. On October 7, 2009, Amazon further reduced the price of the Kindle 2 to $259. The Kindle 2 was criticized for its high original retail price, compared to the $185.49 manufacturing cost estimated by iSuppli.

International version

On October 7, 2009, Amazon announced an international version of the Kindle 2 with the ability to download new titles in over 100 countries. It became available October 19, 2009. The international Kindle 2 is physically very similar to the U.S.-only model, although it uses a different mobile network standard.
The original Kindle 2 used CDMA2000, for use on the Sprint network. The international version used standard GSM and 3G GSM, enabling it to be used on AT&T's U.S. mobile network and internationally in 100 other countries.
Kindle 2 International Version is believed to have a noticeably higher contrast screen, although Amazon does not advertise this. Another review done by Gadget lab, disputes this and actually states that the font appears to be fuzzier than the first generation kindle. The review goes on to say that changes to the Kindle 2 have made it harder to read the smaller font sizes that most books use. On another website they also discuss how the font size is at times worse than the Kindle 1's. It appears that whether or not the Kindle 2 is clearer or fuzzier than the prior model depends on the font size. These issues became moot when Amazon sourced a higher contrast "E-ink" technology it dubbed "Pearl E-ink" and which it utilized on all of its e-reader devices going forward.
On October 22, 2009, Amazon lowered the price on the international version from $279 to $259 and discontinued the U.S.-only model. On June 21, 2010, hours after Barnes & Noble lowered the price of its Nook, Amazon lowered the price of the Kindle 2 to $189

Kindle DX

The larger Kindle DX with a Kindle 2 for size comparison

Amazon announced the Kindle DX on May 6, 2009. This device has a larger screen than the standard Kindle and supports simple PDF files. It was also the thinnest Kindle to date and offers an accelerometer, which enables the user to seamlessly rotate pages between landscape and portrait orientations when the Kindle DX is turned on its side. It is marketed as more suitable for displaying newspaper and textbook content. The device can only connect to Whispernet in the United States. It can be distinguished from the later International version by a serial number starting with "B004".

International version

Since January 19, 2010, the Kindle DX International has shipped in 100 countries. The Kindle DX comes with a 9.7-inch E Ink screen instead of the 6-inch basic Kindle screen. It has support for International 3G Wireless, and its serial number will start with "B005".

Kindle DX Graphite

The second generation Kindle DX in graphite color

On July 1, 2010, Amazon released a new revision of the Kindle DX "Graphite" (3rd Generation Kindle DX). As well as dropping the price from $489 to $379, the new Kindle DX has an E Ink display with 50% better contrast ratio (due to new E Ink Pearl technology) and comes only in a "graphite" case color. It is speculated the case color change is to improve contrast ratio perception further, as some users found the prior white casing highlighted that the E Ink background is light gray and not white. Like the prior Kindle DX, it does not have a Wi-Fi connection. Its serial numbers start with "B009". The DX Graphite (DXG) is generally accepted to be of the 3rd generation, yet it is a mix of 3rd generation hardware and 2nd generation software. The CPU is of the same speed as Kindle 3 but it is of a different revision. Even though DX Graphite has a larger case, it has only a half the system memory (128MB) of the Kindle 3 (256MB). Due to these hardware differences, DXG runs the same firmware as Kindle 2 (currently at version 2.5.8). Therefore, DXG cannot display international fonts (such as the Cyrillic font, Chinese, or any other non-Latin font), and PDF and the web browser are limited to Kindle 2 features.

Kindle Keyboard

Amazon announced a new generation of the Kindle on July 28, 2010. While Amazon does not officially add numbers to the end of each Kindle denoting its generation, reviewers, customers and press companies often refer to this updated Kindle as the "Kindle 3" or now, "Kindle Keyboard".

Kindle Keyboard. (Left to right) Volume control, headphone jack, microphone, USB and power switch

The Kindle Keyboard is available in two versions. One of these, the Kindle Wi-Fi, is initially priced at US$139 / GB£111, and connects to the Internet exclusively via public or private Wi-Fi networks. The other version, considered a replacement to the Kindle 2, is priced at US$189 / GB£152 and includes both 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity. The built-in free 3G connectivity uses the same wireless signals that cell phones use, allowing it to have download and purchase capability from any location with cell service. The new Kindle with 3G is available in two colors: classic white and graphite. Both models use the new E ink "Pearl" display, which has a higher contrast than prior displays and a faster refresh rate. However, it remains slower than traditional LCDs.
The Kindle Keyboard utilizes a Freescale i. MX353 applications processor, Freescale MC13892 power management chip, Epson EINK controller and Samsung DRAM and Flash. Other hardware changes include a larger 1750 mAh lithium polymer battery, AnyDATA DTP-600W 3G GSM modem and Atheros AR6102G 802.11bg Wi-Fi chip.
The third-generation Kindle is 0.5 inches shorter and 0.5 inches narrower than the Kindle 2. It supports additional fonts and international Unicode characters. An experimental browser based on the popular WebKit rendering engine is included, as well as text-to-speech menu navigation. Internal memory is expanded to 4 GB, with approximately 3 GB available for user content. Battery life is advertised at up to two months of reading on a single charge with the wireless turned off.
Pre-orders for the new Kindle concurrently began with the announcement of the device, and Amazon began shipping the devices on August 27, 2010 in the United States and United Kingdom. With the announcement of the Kindle Keyboard, Amazon also launched an Amazon.co.uk version of the Kindle store. On August 25, 2010, Amazon announced that the Kindle 3 was the fastest-selling Kindle ever.
In late January 2011, Amazon announced that digital books were outselling their traditional print counterparts for the first time ever on its site, with an average of 115 Kindle editions being sold for every 100 paperback editions.
An ad-supported version, the "Kindle with Special Offers" was introduced on May 3, 2011, with a price reduction of $25 less at $114. On July 13, 2011, Amazon announced that due to a sponsorship agreement with AT&T, the price of the Kindle 3G with Special Offers would be lowered to $139, $50 less than the Kindle 3G. With the 2011 Kindle announcement, the price of the "Kindle Keyboard with Special Offers" was reduced to $99.
The Kindle Keyboard generally received good reviews after launch. In their Kindle Keyboard Review, Review Horizon, describes it as offering "the best reading experience in its class" while Engadget says "In the standalone category, the Kindle is probably the one to beat".
After the introduction of the low priced Kindle version, and Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire readers in September 2011 Amazon began describing the older Kindle version as the 'Kindle Keyboard' instead of the Kindle 3.

Kindle (2011)

Latest Kindle (2011)

Amazon announced the new lower-priced ($79 ad supported, $109 non-ad supported) version of the Kindle on September 28, 2011. This new version of the Kindle has five hard keys and a cursor pad but no keyboard; the device retains the 6 inch e-ink display of the previous Kindle model, in a slightly smaller and lighter form factor. The e-reader was initially made available in two sales versions, with the lower priced version displaying advertisements and other offers when in screensaver mode and on the home screen. The total flash storage is reduced to 2GB, and battery life to one month (from an estimated two months and 4GB for a Kindle Touch/Keyboard).

Kindle Touch

Amazon announced a touchscreen version of the Kindle on September 28, 2011; available with Wi-Fi ($99 ad supported, $139 no ads) or Wi-Fi/3G connectivity ($149 Ad supported, $189 no ads), the device uses the same 6 inch E-ink screen of the previous Kindle model, with the addition of an infrared touch-screen control. Memory and estimated battery life were the same as the previous Kindle model, at an estimated two months, and 4GB total.. The kindle touch begun to ship on Nov. 15th, 2011.

Kindle Fire Tablet

Amazon announced an Android-based tablet with a color touch screen on September 28, 2011. It costs $199 and has a 7-inch IPS display. This is the first Kindle without an E Ink display. Unlike previously released Kindles, there is no 3G option. The Kindle Fire does not have a microphone, camera, or SD slot, which other tablets commonly have. It has 8GB of storage and has a projected battery life of under eight hours.

Kindle applications

Amazon released a "Kindle for PC" application in late 2009, available as a free download for Windows 7, Vista, and XP. This application allows thousands of books to be read on a personal computer in color, with no Kindle unit required, as e-books can simply be purchased from Amazon's store. Amazon later released a version for the Macintosh, in early 2010. In June 2010, Amazon released a "Kindle for Android" version. With the Android application release, versions for the Apple iPhone, the iPad, Windows and Mac computers, and BlackBerry cellphones are also available. In January 2011, Amazon released Kindle for Windows Phone 7. In July 2011, Kindle for HP TouchPad (running under WebOS) was released in the US as beta. In August 2011, Amazon released an HTML5 based webapp supporting Chrome and Safari Browser called Kindle Cloud Reader. It will have access to millions of apps, movies, tv shows, and books from the Amazon and Android market.

Kindle sales

Specific Kindle sales numbers are not released by the company; however, Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, stated in a shareholders' meeting in January 2010 that "millions of people now own Kindles." According to anonymous inside sources, over three million Kindles have been sold as of December 2009, while external estimates, as of Q4-2009, place the number at about 1.5 million. According to James McQuivey of Forrester Research, estimates are ranging around four million, as of mid-2010. On March 6, 2011, AT&T stores officially started sales of the Amazon Kindle.
In 2010, Amazon remained the undisputed leader in the e-reader category, accounting for 59% of e-readers shipped, and it gained 14 percentage points in share. According to an IDC study from March 2011, sales for all e-book readers worldwide reached 12.8 million in 2010; 48% of them were Kindle models.

Content support

Content from Amazon and some other content providers is primarily encoded in Amazon's proprietary Kindle format (AZW). It is also possible to load content in various formats from a computer by simply transferring it to the Kindle via USB (for free) or by emailing it to a registered email address provided by Amazon (for a fee via 3G, or free via Wi-Fi); the email service can convert a number of document formats to Amazon's AZW format and then transmit the result to the associated Kindle over Whispernet. In addition to published content such as books and periodicals, Kindle users can also access the Internet, free of charge, via either Wi-Fi or 3G.

The New Yorker subscribed on a Kindle 3

The Kindle's terms of use forbid transferring Amazon e-books to another user or a different type of device. However, Amazon announced on December 30, 2010 that lending books on Kindles was allowed. Users can select reading material using the Kindle itself or through a computer at the Amazon Kindle store and can download content through the Kindle Store, which upon the initial launch of the Kindle had more than 88,000 digital titles available for download. This number continued steadily increasing to more than 275,000 by late 2008, and exceeded 500,000 in the spring of 2010. As of July 4, 2011, there were more than 765,000 books available for download, about 36,000 of them in German language. In late 2007, new releases and New York Times best sellers were being offered for approximately US$11, with first chapters of many books offered as free samples. Many titles, including some classics, are offered free of charge or at a low price, which has been stated to relate to the cost of adapting the book to the Kindle format. Magazines, newspapers and blogs via RSS are provided by Amazon per a monthly subscription fee or a free trial period. Newspaper subscriptions cost from US$1.99 to $27.99 per month; magazines charge between $1.25 and $10.99 per month, and blogs charge from $0.99 to $1.99 per month. Amazon e-book sales overtook print for one day for the first time on Christmas Day of 2009.
International users of Kindle pay different prices for books depending on their registered country. For U.S. customers traveling abroad, Amazon originally charged a $1.99 fee to download books over 3G while overseas. That charge was quietly dropped in May 2010. Fees remain for wireless delivery of periodical subscriptions and personal documents.
In addition to the Kindle store, paid content for the Kindle can be purchased from various independent sources such as Fictionwise, Mobipocket and Webscriptions. Public domain titles are also obtainable for the Kindle via content providers such as Project Gutenberg and World Public Library. A survey has revealed that the Kindle store has more than twice as much paid content as its nearest competitor, Barnes and Noble.
The device is sold with electronic editions of its owner's manual and the New Oxford American Dictionary (UK version includes the Oxford Dictionary of English). Users are able to purchase different dictionaries from the Kindle store as specified in the included manual. The Kindle also contains several free experimental features including a basic web browser. Users can also play music from MP3 files in the background in the order they were added to the Kindle. Operating system updates are designed to be received wirelessly and installed automatically during a period in sleep mode in which wireless is turned on.

File formats

Original Kindle

The original Kindle supported only unprotected Mobipocket books (MOBI, PRC), plain text files (TXT), Topaz format books (TPZ), and Amazon's proprietary DRM-restricted format (AZW).

Kindle 2 and 3

The Kindle 2 (U.S. and International) added native Portable Document Format (PDF) support with the Version 2.3 firmware upgrade. Earlier versions did not fully support PDF, but Amazon provided "experimental" conversion to the native AZW format, with the caveat that not all PDFs may format correctly. Kindle 2 added support for Audible Enhanced (AAX) format, but dropped support for Audible versions 2 and 3.
On the Kindle 2, it was possible to view HTML files that were stored directly on the unit itself. This allowed creation of local offline content in linked web-pages that could be used even if the unit had no active connection to the internet at the time. Such pages could be accessed by directing the browser address to the local filesystem (as in file:///mnt/us/test.html for example) as opposed to a live website address (as in http://www.wikipedia.org for example.) The Kindle 3 is not able to browse local HTML in this manner, only live external websites.

Kindle Touch and Touch 3G

The Kindle Touch and Touch 3G are able to display Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, and PRC files natively. HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP are supported through conversion. They are also able to play Audible (Audible Enhanced(AA,AAX)) and MP3 files.

Email conversion

Amazon offers an email-based service that will convert JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP graphics to AZW. Amazon will also convert HTML pages and Microsoft Word (DOC) documents through the same email-based mechanism, which will send a Kindle-formatted file to the device via 3G for $0.15 per MB or via WiFi for free. These services can be accessed by sending emails to @kindle.com and to @free.kindle.com for Whispernet-delivered and WiFi-delivered file conversion, respectively, but these are services available just for those who bought a true Kindle device, not available for those who just own the digital Kindle application (iPhone, iPad, etc.). The file that the user wants to be converted needs to be attached to these emails. Users could also convert PDF and other files to the first-generation Kindle's supported formats using third-party software. The original Kindle supported audio in the form of MP3s and Audible audiobooks (versions 2, 3 and 4), which had to be transferred to the Kindle via USB or on an SD card.

Epub support

The Kindle platform does not support the international EPUB ebook standard. However there is software available (e.g. calibre) which can convert a non-DRM EPUB file into the unprotected Mobipocket format that the Kindle can read. Additionally, Amazon offers a free program called KindleGen which converts EPUB and several other formats.

Multiple device support and organization

A book may be downloaded from Amazon to several devices at the same time. The devices sharing the book must be registered to the same Amazon account. A sharing limit typically ranges from one to six devices, depending on an undisclosed number of licenses set by the book publisher. When a limit is reached, the user must remove the book from some device or unregister a device containing the book in order to add a book to another device.
The original Kindle and Kindle 2 did not allow the user to organize books into folders. The user could only select what type of content to display on the home screen and whether to organize by author, title, or download date. Kindle software version 2.5 (released July 2010) allowed for the organization of books into "Collections" which roughly corresponds to folders except for the fact that a collection can not include other collections, and that one book may be added to multiple collections. These collections are normally set and organized on the Kindle itself. calibre has a plugin that makes it possible to organize these collections on a computer. There remains no option to organize by series or series order, as the AZW format does not possess the needed metadata fields.

User-created annotations

Users can bookmark, highlight and look up content. Pages can be dog-eared for reference and notes can be added to relevant content. While a book is open on the display, menu options allow users to search for synonyms and definitions from the built-in dictionary. The device also remembers the last page read for each book. Pages can be saved as a "clipping", or a text file containing the text of the currently displayed page. All clippings are appended to a single file, which can be downloaded over a USB cable.

Kindle Development Kit (KDK)

On January 21, 2010, Amazon announced the forthcoming release of their Kindle Development Kit. Their aim is to allow developers to build 'active content' for the Kindle, and a beta version was announced with a February 2010 release date. A number of companies have already experimented with delivering active content through the Kindle's bundled browser, and the KDK promises 'sample code, documentation and the Kindle Simulator' together with a new revenue sharing model for developers.
The KDK is based on the Java Programming Language, specifically, the JSR 1.1.2 Personal Basis flavor of packaged Java APIs.

Textbook rentals

On July 18, 2011, Amazon began a program that allows college students to rent Kindle textbooks from three different publishers for a fixed period of time.^[83]

Kindle Direct Publishing

Concurrently with the Kindle device, Amazon launched the Kindle Direct Publishing, where authors and publishers independently publish their books directly to Kindle and Kindle Apps worldwide. In open beta testing as of late 2007, the platform has been promoted to established authors by an e-mail and by advertisements at Amazon.com. Authors can upload documents in several formats for delivery via Whispernet and charge between $0.99 and $200.00 per download.
In a December 5, 2009 interview with The New York Times, CEO Jeff Bezos revealed that Amazon.com keeps 65% of the revenue from all ebook sales for the Kindle. The remaining 35% is split between the book author and publisher. After numerous commentators observed that Apple's popular App Store offers 70% of royalties to the publisher, Amazon began a program that offers 70% royalties to Kindle publishers who agree to certain conditions.
Other criticisms involve the business model behind Amazon's implementation and distribution of e-books. Amazon introduced a software application allowing Kindle books to be read on an iPhone or iPod Touch. Amazon soon followed with an application called "Kindle for PCs" that can be run on a Windows PC. Due to the book publisher's DRM policies, Amazon claims that there is no right of first sale with e-books. Amazon states they are licensed, not purchased; so unlike paper books, buyers do not actually own their e-books according to Amazon. This has however never been tested in the courts and the outcome of any action by Amazon is by no means certain. The law is in a state of flux in jurisdictions around the world.

Remote content removal

On July 17, 2009, Amazon.com withdrew certain Kindle titles, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, from sale, refunded the cost to those who had purchased them, and remotely deleted these titles from purchasers' devices after discovering that the publisher lacked rights to publish the titles in question. Notes and annotations for the books made by users on their devices were left in a separate file, but "rendered useless" without the content they were directly linked to. The move prompted outcry and comparisons to Nineteen Eighty-Four itself. In the novel, books, magazines and newspapers in public archives that contradict the ruling party are either edited long after being published or destroyed outright; the removed materials go "down the memory hole", nickname for an incinerator chute. Customers and commentators noted the resemblance to the censorship in the novel, and described Amazon's action in Orwellian terms. Some critics also argued that the deletion violated the Kindle's Terms of Service, which states in part:

"Upon your payment of the applicable fees set by Amazon, Amazon grants you the non-exclusive right to keep a permanent copy of the applicable Digital Content and to view, use and display such Digital Content an unlimited number of times, solely on the Device or as authorized by Amazon as part of the Service and solely for your personal, non-commercial use."

Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener stated that the company is "… changing our systems so that in the future we will not remove books from customers' devices in these circumstances." On July 23, 2009, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos posted an apology about the company's handling of the matter on Amazon's official Kindle forum. Bezos said the action was "stupid", and that the executives at Amazon "deserve the criticism received."
On July 30, 2009, Justin Gawronski, a Michigan high school senior, and Antoine Bruguier, a California engineer, filed suit against Amazon in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Gawronski argued that Amazon had violated their terms of service by remotely deleting the copy of Nineteen Eighty-Four he had purchased, in the process preventing him from accessing annotations he had written. Bruguier also had his copy deleted without his consent, and found Amazon "deceit[ful]" in an email exchange. The complaint, which requested class-action status, asked for both monetary and injunctive relief. The case was settled on September 25, 2009, with Amazon agreeing to pay $150,000 divided between the two plaintiffs, on the understanding that the law firm representing them, Kamber Edelson LLC, "...will donate its portion of that fee to a charitable organization...". The settlement also saw Amazon guaranteeing wider rights to Kindle owners over their eBooks:

For copies of Works purchased pursuant to TOS granting "the non-exclusive right to keep a permanent copy" of each purchased Work and to "view, use and display [such Works] an unlimited number of times, solely on the [Devices]. . . and solely for [the purchasers'] personal, non-commercial use", Amazon will not remotely delete or modify such Works from Devices purchased and being used in the United States unless (a) the user consents to such deletion or modification; (b) the user requests a refund for the Work or otherwise fails to pay for the Work (e.g., if a credit or debit card issuer declines to remit payment); (c) a judicial or regulatory order requires such deletion or modification; or (d) deletion or modification is reasonably necessary to protect the consumer or the operation of a Device or network through which the Device communicates (e.g., to remove harmful code embedded within a copy of a Work downloaded to a Device).

On September 4, 2009, Amazon offered affected users a restoration of the deleted ebooks, an Amazon gift certificate, or a check for the amount of $30.
In December 2010, three eBooks by author Selena Kitt were removed due to violations of Amazon's publishing guidelines. For what Amazon describes as "a brief period of time," the books were unavailable for redownload by users who had already purchased them. This ability was restored after it was brought to Amazon's attention; however, no remote deletion took place.
References

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.45 ACP Ammo Source

2011-11-21T20:51:00.000-06:00

A few days ago I received an offer of a box of .45 ACP ammunition in exchange for a review of the supplier, AmmoForSale.com. After due diligence to ensure that the offer was from a legitimate company, I agreed. Three business days later the Brown Truck of Happiness dropped off a 50-round box of Magtech 230 grain hardball ammo. I grabbed my trusty Norinco 1911A1 and hied forth to the range to do some shooting.
I have bought Magtech ammo before. Unlike the cheap Russian steel-cased ammo, Magtech ammunition uses reloadable, boxer-primed brass cases. This is important to me because I reload my own ammo, and I don't like to spend money on ammo I can't reload. Magtech is a reloading-friendly ammo maker, and they also sell reloading components. In fact, I have bought and used their jacketed hollowpoint component bullets in the past.
So how did the ammo work? Just fine, thank you. This pistol is completely unmodified. If you know me very well, you know that is quite unusual; but I am trying to fully break-in this Chinese pistol before I modify it. I have less than 10,000 rounds through it, so I don't consider it well-broken-in yet. That doesn't mean I have had problems with it; I haven't. But this review is about the ammo and its supplier, not the gun.
The ammo shot very well, with zero malfunctions. It was accurate and shot to point of aim at 50 yards from my Norinco. The velocity of this 230 grain FMJ ammo is listed on the back of the box as 780 fps. I ran seven rounds across the screens of my 15 year old Chrony F1 chronograph and got an average of 810 fps, so it actually does a bit better than its paper specs indicate. Either way, it is within the correct velocity range for military .45 hardball.
I recommend that you check out AmmoForSale.com; they have very reasonable prices for the most popular types of pistol, rifle and shotgun ammo and loading components.

Why The Government Doesn't Need More Money

2011-11-07T12:39:00.001-06:00

With the 2012 election approaching, the issue that is at the forefront of discussion in the campaigns and the national media is, how can the government get more money? They don't ask that question straight out; they use terminology designed to bypass the question of whether it is even in our interest for the government to have more money. These big-government lapdogs always start with a preconceived notion, an underlying premise that you are not supposed to even notice, much less question. Those on the left point fingers at the rich capitalists who control the huge corporations, while neglecting the fact that big government is always in bed with those large corporations, no matter which party controls the White House. Meanwhile, those on the right get behind such things as a "999 plan" which leaves the income tax system in place, reduces the income tax of its supporters while increasing the taxes of a group they hate, and adds the Pandora's box of a national sales tax to further increase revenue.
They are two sides of the same coin. Both sides want to cut spending on projects that benefit groups they oppose and increase taxes for the same and/or other groups they oppose, resulting in a net increase of funding for projects they support. Either way the government gets more money of which it spends small portions on projects designed to appease both sides, and large chunks on furthering the hidden agenda of all governments in human history: totalitarianism. As pointed out on End Of The American Dream, "...the government is watching you more closely than ever, and they are spending billions upon billions of dollars to enhance their surveillance capabilities even further." Read more. Or as David Galland says in The Problem With Seeing Government As God;
"It's like all but the tiniest minority of the world's population have been brainwashed into joining a dangerous cult. A cult whose leaders are unscrupulous about stripping their followers of their wealth, their dignity and their sense of individuality, while rewarding their most ardent supporters with pensions, tax breaks, a leg up over competitors and, if push comes to shove, hard cash in the form of bailouts."
Indeed.

EMP Dangers

2011-11-07T10:59:00.003-06:00

What Is EMP and How Is It Created?

The most important mechanism for Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) production from a nuclear detonation is the ionization of air molecules by gamma rays generated from the explosion. These gamma rays ionize the air molecules by interacting with the air molecules to produce positive ions and recoil electrons called Compton electrons. This pulse of energy, which produces a powerful electromagnetic field, particularly within the vicinity of the weapon burst, is called an electromagnetic pulse. EMP can also be produced from non-nuclear sources, such as electromagnetic bombs, or E-bombs.

High-altitude nuclear detonations and electromagnetic bombs can generate EMP that has the potential to damage or destroy electronic devices over widespread areas. Electric power systems would also be at risk from surges produced by such weapons. However, the EMP from a kiloton-range surface nuclear explosion would not be expected to produce serious damage outside the radius of severe destruction from blast.

A 1.4 Megaton bomb launched about 250 miles above Kansas would destroy most of the electronics that were not protected in the entire Continental United States. During the brief return to atmospheric testing in 1962, a 1.4 megaton nuclear weapon was detonated over Johnston Island at an altitude of about 250 miles. The effects of EMP were observed in Hawaii, 800 miles east of the detonation. Streetlights and fuses failed on Oahu and telephone service was disrupted on the Island of Kauai.

Is EMP Radioactive?

EMP is not radioactive, but a pulse of energy produced as a side effect of a nuclear detonation or electromagnetic bomb.

What Are the Health Effects?

EMP has no known effect on living organisms, but can temporarily or permanently disable electrical and electronic equipment.

What Are the Effects on Electronics and Cars?

When "detonated," an EMP weapon produces a pulse of energy that creates a powerful electromagnetic field capable of short-circuiting a wide range of electronic equipment, particularly computers, satellites, radios, radar receivers and even civilian traffic lights. Since EMP is electromagnetic energy traveling at the speed of light, all of the vulnerable electronic equipment in the detonation zone could be affected simultaneously.

Society has entered the information age and is dependent on electronic systems that work with components that are very susceptible to excessive electric currents and voltages. Many of these electronic systems are controlled in some way by semiconductors. Semiconductor devices fail when they encounter an EMP because of the local heating that occurs. Failure of semi-conductive chips could destroy industrial processes, railway networks, power and phone systems, and access to water supplies.

Commercial computer equipment is particularly vulnerable to EMP effects. Computers used in data processing systems, communications systems, displays, industrial control applications, including road and rail signaling, and those embedded in military equipment, such as signal processors, electronic flight controls and digital engine control systems, are all potentially vulnerable to the EMP effect.

Other electronic devices and electrical equipment may also be destroyed by the EMP effect. Telecommunications equipment can be highly vulnerable and receivers of all varieties are particularly sensitive to EMP. Therefore radar and electronic warfare equipment, satellite, microwave, UHF, VHF, HF and low band communications equipment and television equipment are all potentially vulnerable to the EMP effect. Cars with electronic ignition systems/ and ignition chips are also vulnerable.

Some other notable collectors of EMP include railroad tracks, large antennas, pipes, cables, wires in buildings, and metal fencing. Although materials underground are partially shielded by the ground, they are still collectors, and these collectors deliver the EMP energy to some larger facility. This produces surges that can destroy the connected device, such as, power generators or long distance telephone systems.

What Can Be Done to Protect Electronics

There are two basic ways to protect or harden items against EMP effects. The first method is metallic shielding. Shields are made of a continuous piece of metal such as steel or copper. A metal enclosure generally does not fully shield the interior because of the small holes that are likely to exist. Therefore, this type of shielding often contains additional elements to create the barrier. Commonly, only a fraction of a millimeter of a metal is needed to supply adequate protection. This shield must completely surround the item to be hardened.

The second method, tailored hardening, is a more cost-effective way of hardening. In this method, only the most vulnerable elements and circuits are redesigned to be more rugged. The more rugged elements will be able to withstand much higher currents. This method has shown unpredictable failures in testing, though it is thought it may be useful to make existing systems less vulnerable.

EMP As a Weapon

The non-lethal nature of electromagnetic weapons makes their use far less politically damaging than that of conventional munitions, and therefore broadens the range of military options available. For weapons purposes EMP producing sources other than nuclear detonations have been successfully developed. Several nations, with United States at the forefront, are reported to have developed non-nuclear bombs capable of generating EMPs. Electromagnetic bombs (E-bombs) are specialized, non-nuclear tools designed to destroy information systems. These devices are primarily intended for battlefield application, and their effects would be restricted to a relatively small area.

An EMP shock wave can be produced by a device small enough to fit in a briefcase. High Power Electromagnetic Pulse generation techniques and High Power Microwave technology have matured to the point where practical E-bombs are becoming technically feasible, with new applications in both Strategic and Tactical Information Warfare. Although much of this work is classified, it's believed that current efforts are based on using high-temperature superconductors to create intense magnetic fields. The development of conventional E-bomb devices allows their use in non-nuclear confrontations to defeat an enemy without causing loss of life.

Regardless of the method of delivery, experts agree that EMPs can be powerful enough to cripple electronic wiring and circuitry over a geographic area as large as several square miles, posing a real threat to the nation's critical infrastructure. In addition, the Defense Department's reliance on satellites and commercial computer equipment to conduct real-time command and control of forces around the world also puts military operations at risk, experts say. It is this aspect of the EMP effect which is of military significance, as it can result in irreversible damage to a wide range of electrical and electronic equipment, particularly computers and radio or radar receivers.

Source: Washington State Department of Health, Office of Radiation Protection
Copyright: Public Domain

Review: Maglite 2D, Classic Incandescent Flashlight

2011-11-03T11:46:00.001-06:00

I have had many Maglites over the years, of almost every description. I have hurled a few of them into ravines and such in frustration. I have converted some to LED (although I have never owned a factory LED Maglite), and I have built several high-performance modified incandescent Maglites. The one I am writing about today I bought because it was on sale at a price I couldn't pass up, and I used it in its factory configuration because it included batteries and my frugal nature dictated that I use them before I starting hacking the light. Once those batteries were spent, I hadn't decided which modification to go with. But the light was pretty useful as-is, so I just stuck another pair of alkalines in it and continued to use it. Now, I have pretty much decided to keep it stock. This light is the basic 2-D-cell Maglite.
I have a couple of 2-C Maglites that blow it away. They are different versions of the MAG-ROP LE (Roar Of the Pelican, Lithium Edition). They are useful, but they are race horses. The stock 2D is a mule.

The 2D doesn't put out a whole lot of light. If I hear a noise outside and want to see if if feral dogs are after my livestock, for example, the 2D won't cut it. But if I'm working on the generator at night during a power outage, that 2D provides hours and hours of just enough light without flickering, overheating or fading. That has an appeal all its own.
Of course, most people use LED lights for that sort of thing (and everything else, pretty much) nowadays. But for most of my life the go-to flashlight for just about everyone was the plain old 2D incandescent that every flashlight company produced. It is one of those tools that gets forgotten because it just does its job with a minimum of fuss. Sure, it's "brown" light, compared to the blueish glow of an LED or the bright white of an overdriven halogen. But that reliable brown light has a certain nostalgic quality, for me at least. And incans are EMP-proof, for those who are worried about that.

Larger Maglites produce more light, and can even double as a defensive weapon. But they are physically harder on the batteries, too. In my experience the larger the Maglite, the more trouble you will have with it. There are more cell-to-cell connections, and they are prone to go black just as something moves in your peripheral vision at night. For me, a 3-cell is generally the maximum length for reliability in an unmodified Maglite. But the 2D version really shines (sorry) because it combines the reliability and long battery and bulb life of the ubiquitous 2D flashlight with the sturdy, water-resistant aluminum body of the Maglite. That makes it basic equipment at my homestead.

Cheap Desert Homesteading

2011-11-01T12:54:00.000-06:00

Phil Garlington is a former newspaper reporter who got tired of the daily grind of working at a "normal" job. When he got fired from his last job, he decided to drop out of the whole scene. Phil had a small patch of worthless desert land he had bought for next to nothing a few years prior, and decided to try his hand at living there.
By his own admission, Phil was a klutz with no real hands-on skills. Still, he managed to build a desert hogan out of sandbags and salvaged materials to create an austere homestead on his land. In his book "Rancho Costa Nada," Phil details how he lives on next to nothing. The descriptions of other desert denizens in Phil's vicinity are worth the price of the book in entertainment value alone, and the practical advice is invaluable to anyone who wishes to be prepared for hard times.

How To Replace The Starter on a First-Generation Cummins (Dodge)

2011-10-26T12:45:00.002-05:00

The first-generation Cummins diesel engine that was available in 1989 through 1993 Dodge three-quarter-ton and one-ton trucks used a robust, reliable Nippon-Denso starter. Like all electrical devices though, the starter eventually wears out and needs replacement. Symptoms of impending failure include slow starter operation and a clicking noise when you first turn the switch. If your truck begins occasionally displaying these symptoms, it is only a matter of time before the starter fails altogether.
Fortunately, starter replacement is not beyond the capabilities of the average home-garage mechanic who owns a basic selection of tools.

You Will Need:

Floor jack
Jack stands
1/2-inch combination wrench
1/4-inch-drive ratchet handle
8mm socket
12-point Metric combination wrench set
3/8-inch-drive, 12-point Metric socket set
3/8-inch-drive, 10-inch extension bar
3/8-inch drive ratchet handle

Steps:

Set the truck's parking brake.
Disconnect the negative battery cable. Use the 1/2-inch wrench to loosen the terminal nut. Push the terminal out of the way so it cannot come in contact with the negative post of the battery.
Disconnect the small solenoid-control wire from the top of the starter. Use the 8mm socket and 1/4-inch ratchet to remove the nut that holds the wire in place.
Place the floor jack under the front suspension crossmember if the truck is two-wheel-drive, or under the front axle if four-wheel-drive. Raise the truck high enough to permit working underneath, and place the jack stands underneath the frame rails.
Climb underneath the truck behind the left front tire. Slide to a position under the starter, with your feet pointing toward the rear of the truck. This will allow you to work on the starter with both hands.
Disconnect the battery cable from the starter. Use a 15mm wrench to remove the nut that secures it.
Place the closed end of a 10mm wrench on the starter mounting bolt nearest you. The bolt has a star head, so the wrench must be a 12-point. Slip the closed end of a 14mm wrench over one prong of the open end of the 10mm wrench so it locks when you pull it counterclockwise. That is a trick I learned years ago. The bolts are very tight, and the 14mm wrench will add leverage to enable you to loosen the bolt. It is not critical that the wrench you use is 14mm, but 14mm is best because it is the largest Metric wrench that will fit correctly on the 10mm wrench. Once the bolt is loose, remove the 14mm wrench and use the 10mm wrench to remove the bolt.
Place the 10mm wrench on the second bolt, located between the starter body and the engine block. This is a tight fit, and you will only be able to turn the bolt a few degrees. Again, use the 14mm wrench for leverage. Once the bolt is loose, use a 12-point 10mm socket on the 10-inch extension bar to access the bolt from the far end of the starter. Use the ratchet handle to remove the bolt.
Place the 10mm combination wrench on the third bolt in a horizontal position. The third bolt is on top of the starter, and you can access it by reaching inside the truck frame with your left arm and outside the frame with your right arm. Use the 14mm wrench for leverage to loosen the bolt, then support the bottom of the starter with your left hand while you remove the bolt with the 10mm wrench in your right hand.
Slide the starter towards the front of the truck and down to remove it.
Follow the steps in reverse order to install the new starter.

Reference:

Chrysler Full-Size Trucks 1989-96 Repair Manual; Jaffer A. Ahmad; 1996

How To Get An Old Travel Trailer Home

2011-10-25T12:22:00.000-05:00

A reader emailed me asking for advice on finding tires for an old travel trailer he had bought, and finding someone to help him get it home from where it is parked. Because he asked specifically for finding someone to help him get it home, I suggested a hauling company near his home who could move it for him (perhaps on a flatbed equipment trailer) with coverage by their insurance policy. But it gave me the idea for writing a few pointers describing how to get a trailer home that you are thinking about buying. I made two assumptions: the trailer is not currently registered and hasn't been moved in awhile, and you want to move it yourself. Here's how to approach the problem.

First, check your local and state laws. You are looking for such things as: is the trailer too big to haul without a special permit? Do you have a grace period after purchase, during which time you can move it with just a bill of sale and/or registration slip signed over to you? In many places you have anywhere from 7 to perhaps 30 days before you have to have current tag and registration.
Next, inspect the trailer. Hopefully, you do this before you strike a deal with the seller. Bring along a ball-peen hammer, large flat-blade screwdriver, and something like WD40, PB Blaster, or a squirt bottle of a mixture of automatic transmission fluid and kerosene. Spray that stuff on the trailer hitch, first. Take note of what kind of hitch coupling the trailer has. Chances are good that it is something standard, but it could be something off the wall that would cost money to adapt to your truck. Standard trailer couplings are not expensive, and it may be cheaper to replace than to accommodate an oddball coupling. Of course you're not going to try to replace a fifth-wheel coupling with a ball coupling, nor should you replace a 2 5/8" ball coupling on a large trailer with a 2" coupling in an attempt to save money. If the factory used a coupling with a high weight rating, there is a reason.
Now look underneath at the frame rails. Use the hammer and screwdriver to probe, poke and prod. Pay special attention to obvious rusted areas. If you find rust holes in the frame, you may want to pass on this trailer. Just use your judgement. If you are getting a 1946 Spartan Imperial Mansion for $100, maybe it is worth repairing some frame damage, especially aft of the axles.

Speaking of axles, that is what you want to look at next. Axles and everything connected to them, including wheels and tires. Make a note of the tire size. That was one of the questions the reader asked, in fact: how to find tires to fit his trailer. But don't automatically assume that the tires are obsolete just because your local tire shop doesn't carry them. Let's say, for example, that your trailer has 11-22.5 tires and the local tire guy responds with a blank stare or tells you nobody makes them anymore. Don't take his word for it. Go to a trailer equipment specialist and you will find that it is indeed a standard size, or that there is a standard replacement (in this case 275/80R 22.5).

Once you have looked the trailer over and decided to buy it, talk with the seller. If possible, rather than doing a transfer immediately, see if the seller would be willing to accept a deposit and give you 30 days to prepare to move it, before legally transferring ownership. That gives you time to deal with any potential problems, and it insures that you are not wasting any registration grace period you may have for moving it.
Once you get that out of the way, jack up one of the wheels. If the trailer has brakes and they are not on all axles, choose a wheel that has a brake. Block the axle securely (don't rely on just the jack) and remove the entire wheel and hub, including brake drum if there is one. To do this, don't take out the lug nuts or bolts. Instead, pop off the bearing cover with your screwdriver, remove the cotter pin from the spindle, and remove the spindle nut. Turn and pull the wheel until it slides off. Catch the outer bearing and pull off the inner bearing, put them in a plastic bag and bring them along. Before you go, stick a tape measure under there and measure the center-to-center distance between the spring pads. Go ahead and spray some of your rust buster on the U-bolts and their nuts, too. You may need to pull the axles, and letting your solvent work on the threads for a couple of days will make this much easier. Spray some on all the lug nuts or bolts too, including on the wheel you just took off.
Now take the wheel assembly to your local trailer equipment supplier. Or do what I would do; take it home and put all the numbers and measurements (including bearing numbers, hub bore measurement, and bearing bore measurements) into an online search engine to see what they are and what fits. Chances are good that you will find a match. You should be able to determine the weight rating from the bearings; if not, the tires will have a weight rating listed on the side.
You have already checked the availability of the tire size; now look for wheels (in the correct weight range, of course) that match the mounting hole pattern of your existing wheels. Even if it is an oddball size but your wheels and hubs are in good condition, you may want to keep them and try to find a couple of spares. Conversely, perhaps it would be better to replace your wheels and hubs with standardized parts and list your obsolete parts on a vintage trailer group website. You never know what a collector might be willing to pay for them. RV Basics has a list of suppliers of used RV parts; some of them would probably take your unwanted parts in trade for items you need.
Brakes: even if the tire, wheel and bearing sizes are not a problem, that still leaves the brakes. While companies like Custom Friction can reline your original brake shoes or build new ones, if the brake drums are worn out it may not be economically feasible to repair or replace them. Of course nothing is impossible; contact Custom Friction or a similar company for a quote, if you really want to keep your original wheels.

If you run into problems with any of the above, consider replacing the hubs and bearings with standard parts. Even if you were unable to find the bearing part numbers, go back to the trailer and use a caliper to measure the spindle diameter at the points where the inner and outer bearings sat. Make sure there is not a bearing race (looks like a sleeve) still on the spindle; if there is, you will need to remove it. The inner bearing mount surface may be larger in diameter, or the same size as the outer. Also measure the center-to-center distance of the mount surfaces. Once you have this information, go to a trailer parts supplier to find the parts you need. Eastern Marine is one example of an online supplier; their website lists bearings by inside diameter, weight rating and which hubs they fit. The chances are good that you can find a hub and bearing set that will allow you to keep the old axles while updating the wheels, tires, hubs and brakes to new, commonly available parts. As a last resort, the same parts suppliers can supply a whole new axle, or you can even buy them from Amazon.com. At a quick look, Amazon had a brand new 7,000 lb axle, complete with hubs and electric brakes, for less than $500 each at this writing. It accepts standard 8-lug wheels; the same ones your tow vehicle probably uses. If you only need 5,200 lb or smaller axles, or you don't need brakes on all axles, your costs will be less. Either way it is entirely possible that you could upgrade to brand-new, standard parts for less money and effort than trying to chase down usable replacements for your obsolete parts.

An Old Farmer's Advice

2011-10-25T10:42:00.002-05:00

I saw this on the Van Dwellers group. I think I've seen it before, somewhere else.

Anyway, it's a worthwhile read.

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong.

* Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.

* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.

* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

* Forgive your enemies.  It messes up their heads.

* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.

* Every path has a few puddles.

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen, anyway.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

* Live a good, honorable life.  Then when you get older and think back, you'll

enjoy it a second time.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from

the mirror every mornin'."

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody

else's dog around.

DIY Alcohol Stove Design

2011-10-22T12:59:00.000-05:00

This is an article from Wikipedia describing the function and design of the diy Trangia-style alcohol stove that is commonly made from aluminum drink cans. I have seen these designs all over the 'Net, and have built a few of them myself. Most of the articles I have seen simply give step-by-step instructions for building a stove. This article doesn't give building instructions; it rather explains how and why the design works, and compares different versions of the stove.

Beverage-can stove

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beverage-can stove (the pot stand is omitted for clarity)

A beverage-can (or pop-can) stove is a homemade, ultralight portable stove. The simple design is made entirely from aluminium cans and burns denatured alcohol. Countless variations on the basic design exist.
Total weight, including a windscreen/stand, can be less than one ounce (30 g). The design is popular with ultralight backpackers due to its low cost and lighter weight than most commercial stoves. This advantage may be lost on long hiking trips, where a lot of fuel is packed, since alcohol has less energy per weight as some other stove fuels.

History and design

The basic design dates back more than a century.It consists of a double-wall gas generator, a perforated burner ring, and an inner preheat chamber. A similar design was patented in 1904 by New York coppersmith J. Heinrichs. Trangia has been selling a commercial version of the design since 1925, and Safesport marketed a stainless-steel stove in the 1990s. The Trangia stove burner is made from brass, although all the other associated parts that come with it are aluminium. A plastic bag is provided for the burner, so that when packed away the two dissimilar metals do not corrode.
In the unpressurized open-top design the double wall acts as a gas generator, transferring heat from the flame to the fuel. This effect enhances combustion, producing more heat than other passive designs. The inner wall also creates a convenient preheat chamber for starting the stove. Once the fuel has warmed up, its vapor will travel up the hollow wall, pass through the perforations, and form a ring of flame. This improves air/fuel mixing and therefore combustion. Vapor also rises from the center of the stove, but will pass through the ring of flame for efficient combustion as long as a pot is over the stove. Other pressurized designs aim for efficient combustion through closing the fuel chamber after filling, or by filling through the gas-jet holes.
A wick may be inserted into the hollow wall, where it will draw fuel upwards closer to the hot parts of the burner. Evaporating fuel from the wick removes heat from the top parts of the burner and subsequently the fuel at the bottom receives less heat. This slows down evaporation through the center while increasing the gas pressure inside the wall, spreading the ring of flame outwards while the center of the burner produces almost no flame, leading to a more controlled burn and faster starting. Suitable wick materials include fiberglass or cotton cloth. The wick will not burn because the evaporating fuel keeps it cool, and the pressure inside prevents air from entering the hollow until the burner can no longer produce enough gas to support a flame.

Fuel is poured into the stove and ignited, burning in the center.

The flame heats the fuel and interior of the stove, causing the fuel to vaporize.

When the temperature is high enough, vapor pressure causes fuel jets and a ring of flame.

Aluminium-can construction

Three-piece beverage-can stove (exploded view).

The stove is made from two aluminium can bottoms. An inner wall is cut and rolled from the can material. A ring of holes is pierced into the top with a pin. Parts are glued with high-temperature epoxy, or sealed with thermal foil tape, although this is not strictly necessary. Total height is less than two inches (50 mm), though dimensions may be increased to hold more fuel or decreased to take up even less space.
The choice of aluminium has several advantages—light weight, low cost, and good thermal conductivity to aid vaporization of fuel. Alternative construction materials have been used, including stoves made of tin cans such as cat food tins, tuna cans, and juice cans—the basic design is very similar. Windscreens/stands can be fabricated from tin cans, cut to size with ventilation holes added.

Operation and performance

Each stove is designed for one or two people. When used to cook larger meals (greater than 2 cups (0.5 litres)), it is less efficient than a more-powerful stove which delivers more heat to a pot. This is because a longer cooking time is required, during which more heat is lost to the surroundings. A more powerful, pressurized version is shown below.
To use the stove, a small amount of fuel is poured into the stove and ignited. The pot is then placed above the stove, on a windscreen or stand. The flame is small at first, only burning from the inner chamber. Once the fuel has warmed up (requiring about one minute) its vapor will pass through the perforations and form a ring of flame. Enough heat from the flame is passed to the fuel to maintain full combustion until the fuel runs out.

Ratings

Time to boil 2 cups (500 ml): ~12 minutes (45 ml of fuel)
Time to boil 4 cups (1 l): ~24 minutes (90 ml of fuel)
Burn time: ~16 minutes (60 ml/4 tablespoons of fuel)

Comparison with other stoves

The stove can outperform some commercial models in cold or high-altitude environments, where propane and butane canisters might fail. Roland Mueser, in Long-Distance Hiking, surveyed hikers on the Appalachian Trail and found that this stove was the only design with a zero-percent failure rate.
Fuel usage (by weight) is about fifty percent greater than a butane/propane stove. Can stoves weigh less than an ounce, compared with three ounces for the lightest gas stoves. Many commercial stoves also require special fuel canisters, adding to overall stove weight. No such canisters are necessary in a can stove; denatured alcohol can be carried in virtually any lightweight container, such as a plastic soda bottle. The weight advantage of the beverage-can stove is diminished by the greater fuel consumption (especially on longer hikes), but may still be offset by its reliability and simplicity.
Other attributes of the beverage-can stove are its nearly silent operation and its suitability as an emergency backup. Denatured alcohol is a (relatively) environmentally-friendly fuel that does not leave a residue of soot, although it is toxic to drink. (Pure ethanol is rarely used as stove fuel in the United States, since it is usually subject to a liquor tax.) Denatured alcohol is commonly available at camping outfitters and hardware stores. These stoves operate marginally on 90% isopropyl alcohol, poorly on 70% and not at all with 50%. Water typically can not be boiled with isopropyl.
Unsealed alcohol stoves are inherently dangerous, since spilling is possible and the fuel burns with a nearly invisible flame. Trangia offers an anti-flashback fuel bottle with an auto-shut-off pourer. If a spill occurs the best course of action is to step back and let the alcohol burn up.

Variations

Beverage-can stove variations with cross sections in yellow. From left to right—standard design; inverted two-piece; side-burner; pressurized.

A side-burner stove built from a single can as part of a Scouting project.

Standard: The classic ultra-lightweight backpacking stove. Designed for one person, lighter than commercial models of the same design
Inverted two-piece: Smaller and lighter than the standard version; difficult to fill
Side-burner: Doubles as its own pot stand (holes are in the side). A tight-fitting pot can increase fuel pressure
Pressurized: A more powerful version, but heavier and more difficult to make. The stove is sealed with a thumbscrew after filling with fuel; this allows the stove to control the rate of heat output. An additional base is used to hold fuel for preheating
Back-Pressured: Back-pressured stoves simplify the pressurized design by eliminating the thumbscrew and the base needed for preheating, while still controlling the rate of energy output
Insulated: A variation on the standard design, with an inner wall and insulated with fiberglass
Other: Numerous designs in use
Multiple-unit: When cooking for a larger number of people, nothing prevents the use of more than one unit under the same pot

Safety issues

The Boy Scouts of America now prohibits "equipment that is handcrafted, homemade, modified, or installed beyond the manufacturer’s stated design limitations or use. Examples include alcohol-burning 'can' stoves, smudge pots, improperly installed heaters, and propane burners with their regulators removed."

Notes

^ U.S. Patent 560,319: W.J.D. Mast (1895)
^ U.S. Patent 766,618: J Heinrichs (1904)
^ Robinson, Roy. "The Cat Food Can Alcohol Stove". Retrieved on March 17, 2007.
^ Mueser, Roland Long-Distance Hiking: Lessons from the Appalachian Trail (1997)
^ "Weight comparison of beverage-can stoves vs. some commercial stoves"
^ http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/680-013WB.pdf BSA Policy on Use of Chemical Fuels. Accessed January 22, 2011.

References

Berger, Karen: Hiking Light Handbook (2004)

External links

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Make Your Own Diesel Fuel

2011-09-20T16:33:00.001-05:00

If you are or have ever been interested in making your own biodiesel, you have probably noticed that the only simple instructions to be found deal with making a tiny, one liter batch using 2-liter drink bottles; hardly enough to be worth the bother, except as a means of getting your mind around exactly what it is you are trying to do. The rest of the readily available instructions are full of science, require a fully-equipped laboratory, and stress a need for perfection in measuring and testing.

Many people have been turned off entirely from the prospect of making their own fuel by the seeming requirement for a PhD and thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment and chemicals. Others wonder, if the simple method can make a liter of acceptable fuel, why can’t it make 5 gallons?

Read more: Biodiesel The Easy Way

DIY Dryer Repair

2011-09-13T14:49:00.001-05:00

This is a series of videos detailing, step by step, how to fix any problem your Whirlpool heavy-duty dryer may develop. The video producer is an appliance repairman by trade, and he says this is probably the best and most common dryer on the market, having been produced with no major changes for over 30 years.
What he says appears to be true. My dryer is actually labeled a Kenmore, sold by Sears. I looked up the model number and found that the 110 prefix denotes Whirlpool as the manufacturer. Mine was made in 1986. I replaced the heating element 12-14 years ago. Last week it started making a rumbling noise, so I looked around for a replacement. I found several locally on Craigslist, and the most common by far were Kenmores and Whirlpools that look identical to mine. I found that interesting, and an idea began to form.
I read an article once in the short-lived Practical Survival magazine about buying used commercial washers and dryers. When this dryer started making noise, I remembered that article and decided to see what I could find. Looking at prices on ebay quickly made me take another look at the old Whirlpool. The fact that there are so many functional used Whirlpools out there is an indication that it is a good design. Also, there is a ready supply of new and used parts.
As this video series shows, these dryers are simple to work on. I'm keeping mine.
Here's a link to a replacement belt for these dryers. If you have a dryer like this, you will eventually need this belt:

SoCal Power Outage

2011-09-09T07:45:00.000-05:00

The power grid glitch that left millions without electricity yesterday in parts of California, Arizona and Baja, Mexico was reportedly caused by a power company employee switching out a problematic piece of equipment in Arizona. Some people aren't buying that, and claim there must be more to the story. I'm not one of them.
This just illustrates how vulnerable the national grid is. The distribution system is running very near capacity if such a minor occurrence can bring it down, even if only for a few hours. Of course, if an unintentional act can bring it down, consider what an intentional act might do. It wouldn't have to be anything as dramatic as a suitcase nuke on Hoover Dam, either. A few firebombs in strategic locations could just as effectively cripple large parts of the national infrastructure.
I was reading some of the online comments about this story, and amid the usual "conservatives" blaming illegal aliens and "liberals" blaming tea partiers, there were a couple of interesting nuggets of, if not wisdom, at least food for thought. The first was someone who opined that the federal government should invest in our infrastructure (invest what, exactly?) and the second asked, "where is all the solar power Obama promised us?"
I have some advice for those people, and anyone who will listen: stop sitting around waiting for the government to take care of you. You can buy a backup generator that will keep a refrigerator and a small air conditioner running for as little as $200. You can buy an inverter that will do the same for well under $200, although you will have to spend at least $500 on a bank of golf cart batteries or the like to power it, and a charger to keep the batteries charged when the power is on. A setup like that would at least keep you going for a few hours. Better yet, do both while you can. Later on, add one of those under-$200, 45 watt solar panel sets to help keep the batteries charged without needing fuel. Do you think there is never going to be another power outage? Even somebody working at McDonald's while supporting a family can occasionally invest $200 in preps. That is the best thing you can do, not only for yourself and your family, but for the country too.
Consider that last point. Nowadays, the government tries to convince us that individual prepping and self-sufficiency is suspect at best, bad for the country, bordering on terrorism. Believe it or not, there was a time when the government told us it was our patriotic duty to be as self-sufficient as possible. It doesn't take much brain power to realize that the latter sentiment is closer to the truth. If the grid goes down in your area and you switch over to your offgrid power system (no matter how rudimentary) for the duration, switching off your main breaker and waiting until you know power is restored in your area before switching it back on, you have just reduced the load under which the grid will be laboring when it does come back. That helps to prevent problems from the sudden startup surge, and it protects your appliances from the voltage spikes that accompany that surge. It also keeps you from needing to be rescued if the situation persists for several days or longer, which makes the job of the recovery teams easier. In short, preparing for this stuff in advance is win-win all around. Think about it.

Here is a video of a makeshift backup power system I threw together during the tornado event a few months ago, when the grid was down for several days. I have a better setup here now.

I, Pencil

2011-08-30T12:41:00.001-05:00

by Leonard E. Read

I am a lead pencil—the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and adults who can read and write.

Writing is both my vocation and my avocation; that's all I do.

You may wonder why I should write a genealogy. Well, to begin with, my story is interesting. And, next, I am a mystery—more so than a tree or a sunset or even a flash of lightning. But, sadly, I am taken for granted by those who use me, as if I were a mere incident and without background. This supercilious attitude relegates me to the level of the commonplace. This is a species of the grievous error in which mankind cannot too long persist without peril. For, as a wise man observed, "We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders."

I, Pencil, simple though I appear to be, merit your wonder and awe, a claim I shall attempt to prove. In fact, if you can understand me—no, that's too much to ask of anyone—if you can become aware of the miraculousnesswhich I symbolize, you can help save the freedom mankind is so unhappily losing. I have a profound lesson to teach. And I can teach this lesson better than can an automobile or an airplane or a mechanical dishwasher because—well, because I am seemingly so simple.

Simple? Yet, not a single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me. This sounds fantastic, doesn't it? Especially when it is realized that there are about one and one-half billion of my kind produced in the U. S. A. each year.

Pick me up and look me over. What do you see? Not much meets the eye—there’s some wood, lacquer, the printed labeling, graphite lead, a bit of metal, and an eraser.

Just as you cannot trace your family tree back very far, so is it impossible for me to name and explain all my antecedents. But I would like to suggest enough of them to impress upon you the richness and complexity of my background.

My family tree begins with what in fact is a tree, a cedar of straight grain that grows in Northern California and Oregon. Now contemplate all the saws and trucks and rope and the countless other gear used in harvesting and carting the cedar logs to the railroad siding. Think of all the persons and the numberless skills that went into their fabrication: the mining of ore, the making of steel and its refinement into saws, axes, motors; the growing of hemp and bringing it through all the stages to heavy and strong rope; the logging camps with their beds and mess halls, the cookery and the raising of all thefoods. Why, untold thousands of persons had a hand in every cup of coffee the loggers drink!

The logs are shipped to a mill in San Leandro, California. Can you imagine the individuals who make flat cars and rails and railroad engines and who construct and install the communication systems incidental thereto? These legions are among my antecedents.

Consider the millwork in San Leandro. The cedar logs are cut into small, pencil-length slats less than one-fourth of an inch in thickness. These are kiln dried and then tinted for the same reason women put rouge on their faces. People prefer that I look pretty, not a pallid white. The slats are waxed and kiln dried again. How many skills went into the making of the tint and the kilns, into supplying the heat, the light and power, the belts, motors, and all the other things a mill requires? Sweepers in the mill among my ancestors? Yes, and included are the men who poured the concrete for the dam of a Pacific Gas & Electric Company hydroplant which supplies the mill's power!

Don’t overlook the ancestors present and distant who have a hand in transporting sixty carloads of slats across the nation from California to Wilkes-Barre!
Complicated Machinery

Once in the pencil factory—$4,000,000 in machinery and building, all capital accumulated by thrifty and saving parents of mine—each slat is given eight grooves by a complex machine, after which another machine lays leads in every other slat, applies glue, and places another slat atop—a lead sandwich, so to speak. Seven brothers and I are mechanically carved from this "wood-clinched" sandwich.

My "lead" itself—it contains no lead at all—is complex. The graphite is mined in Ceylon. Consider these miners and those who make their many tools and the makers of the paper sacks in which the graphite is shipped and those who make the string that ties the sacks and those who put them aboard ships and those who make the ships. Even the lighthouse keepers along the way assisted in my birth—and the harbor pilots.

The graphite is mixed with clay from Mississippi in which ammonium hydroxide is used in the refining process. Then wetting agents are added such as sulfonated tallow—animal fats chemically reacted with sulfuric acid. After passing through numerous machines, the mixture finally appears as endless extrusions—as from a sausage grinder—cut to size, dried, and baked for several hours at 1,850 degrees Fahrenheit. To increase their strength and smoothness the leads are then treated with a hot mixture which includes candelilla wax from Mexico, paraffin wax, and hydrogenated natural fats.

My cedar receives six coats of lacquer. Do you know all of the ingredients of lacquer? Who would think that the growers of castor beans and the refiners of castor oil are a part of it? They are. Why, even the processes by which the lacquer is made a beautiful yellow involves the skills of more persons than one can enumerate!

Observe the labeling. That's a film formed by applyingheat to carbon black mixed with resins. How do you make resins and what, pray, is carbon black?

My bit of metal—the ferrule—is brass. Think of all the persons who mine zinc and copper and those who have the skills to make shiny sheet brass from these products of nature. Those black rings on my ferrule are black nickel. What is black nickel and how is it applied? The complete story of why the center of my ferrule has no black nickel on it would take pages to explain.

Then there's my crowning glory, inelegantly referred to in the trade as "the plug," the part man uses to erase the errors he makes with me. An ingredient called "factice" is what does the erasing. It is a rubber-like product made by reacting rape seed oil from the Dutch East Indies with sulfur chloride. Rubber, contrary to the common notion, is only for binding purposes. Then, too, there are numerous vulcanizing and accelerating agents. The pumice comes from Italy; and the pigment which gives "the plug" its color is cadium sulfide.

Does anyone wish to challenge my earlier assertion that no single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me?
No One Knows

Actually, millions of human beings have had a hand in my creation, no one of whom even knows more than a very few of the others. Now, you may say that I go too far in relating the picker of a coffee berry in far off Brazil and food growers elsewhere to my creation; that this is an extreme position. I shall stand by my claim. There isn't a single person in all these millions, including the president of the pencil company, who contributes more than a tiny, infinitesimal bit of know-how. From the standpoint of know-how the only difference between the miner of graphite in Ceylon and the logger in Oregon is in the type of know-how. Neither the miner nor the logger can be dispensed with, any more than can the chemist at the factory or the worker in the oil field—paraffin being a by-product of petroleum.

Here is an astounding fact: Neither the worker in the oil field nor the chemist nor the digger of graphite or clay nor any who mans or makes the ships or trains or trucks nor the one who runs the machine that does the knurling on my bit of metal nor the president of the company performs his singular task because he wants me. Each one wants me less, perhaps, than does a child in the first grade. Indeed, there are some among this vast multitude who never saw a pencil nor would they know how to use one. Their motivation is other than me. Perhaps it is something like this: Each of these millions sees that he can thus exchange his tiny know-how for the goods and services he needs or wants. I may or may not be among these items.

There is a fact still more astounding: The absence of a master mind, of anyone dictating or forcibly directing these countless actions which bring me into being. No trace of such a person can be found. Instead, we find the Invisible Hand at work. This is the mystery to which I earlier referred.
THE INVISIBLE HAND

By directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain. . . . He is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. . . . By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it.
adam smith, The Wealth of Nations

It has been said that "only God can make a tree." Why do we agree with this? Isn't it because we realize that we ourselves could not make one? Indeed, can we even describe a tree? We cannot, except in superficial terms. We can say, for instance, that a certain molecular configuration manifests itself as a tree. But what mind is there among men that could even record, let alone direct, the constant changes in molecules that transpire in the life span of a tree? Such a feat is utterly unthinkable!

I, Pencil, am a complex combination of miracles: a tree, zinc, copper, graphite, and so on. But to these miracles which manifest themselves in Nature an even more extraordinary miracle has been added: the configuration of creative human energies—millions of tiny know-hows configurating naturally and spontaneously in response to human necessity and desire and in the absence of any human master-minding! Since only God can make a tree, I insist that only God could make me. Man can no more direct these millions of know-hows to bring me into being than he can put molecules together to create a tree.

The above is what I meant when writing, "If you can become aware of the miraculousness which I symbolize,you can help save the freedom mankind is so unhappily losing." For, if one is aware that these know-hows will naturally, yes, automatically, arrange themselves into creative and productive patterns in response to human necessity and demand—that is, in the absence of governmental or any other coercive master-minding—then one will possess an absolutely essential ingredient for freedom: a faith in free men. Freedom is impossible without this faith.

Once government has had a monopoly of a creative activity such, for instance, as the delivery of the mails, most individuals will believe that the mails could not be efficiently delivered by men acting freely. And here is the reason: Each one acknowledges that he himself doesn't know how to do all the things incident to mail delivery. He also recognizes that no other individual could do it. These assumptions are correct. No individual possesses enough know-how to perform a nation's mail delivery any more than any individual possesses enough know-how to make a pencil. Now, in the absence of a faith in free men—in the unawareness that millions of tiny know-hows would naturally and miraculously form and cooperate to satisfy this necessity—the individual cannot help but reach the erroneous conclusion that mail can be delivered only by governmental "master-minding."

If I, Pencil, were the only item that could offer testimony on what men can accomplish when free to try, then those with little faith would have a fair case. However, there is testimony galore; it's all about us and on every hand. Mail delivery is exceedingly simple whencompared, for instance, to the making of an automobile or a calculating machine or a grain combine or a milling machine or to tens of thousands of other things. Delivery? Why, in this area where men have been left free to try, they deliver the human voice around the world in less than one second; they deliver an event visually and in motion to any person's home when it is happening; they deliver 150 passengers from Seattle to Baltimore in less than four hours; they deliver gas from Texas to one's range or furnace in New York at unbelievably low rates and without subsidy; they deliver each four pounds of oil from the Persian Gulf to our Eastern Seaboard—half-way around the world—for less money than the government charges for delivering a one-ounce letter across the street!

The lesson I have to teach is this: Leave all creative energies uninhibited. Merely organize society to act in harmony with this lesson. Let society's legal apparatus remove all obstacles the best it can. Permit these creative know-hows freely to flow. Have faith that free men will respond to the Invisible Hand. This faith will be confirmed. I, Pencil, seemingly simple though I am, offer the miracle of my creation as testimony that this is a practical faith, as practical as the sun, the rain, a cedar tree, the good earth.

This work is in the public domain.

Why Black People Should Vote For Ron Paul instead of Obama

2011-08-17T10:54:00.001-05:00

If a lot of black people feel like this guy does, Ron Paul is going to win the election regardless of what the media does. At the end of this video, the viewer will give some choices of related videos. Look for the one titled "a black man's view on Ron Paul being racist part 1." I highly recommend watching that video. I just found it myself; in fact I edited this to add these comments.
Check out the right-wing forums to see what Rick Perry supporters believe. It seems to me that they support forcing their world-view on everyone in the world who isn't in lock-step with them. And when I say "forcing," I mean that quite literally: they are big supporters of US military actions and of recruiting veterans of those actions for the ever more intrusive and militarized police forces, who then use the same tactics against Americans that they used against suspected Al Qaeda operatives overseas.

A pretty sizable chunk of people who do not support the Republican status quo nevertheless also do not support Obama; and this includes a lot of people who did support Obama in 2008. If this describes you, I submit that the best (perhaps only) way to beat the Republican war machine is to support Ron Paul.

Ron Paul Exploding

2011-08-16T22:15:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I used Alex Jones' search terms, but here is the video of Jon Stewart talking about the media blackout on anything related to Ron Paul except to disparage him. That's one of the great things about the Internet, though: you can find all kinds of stuff the mainstream media won't show you. The question is, why are the media and the establishment Republicans so afraid of him?

The Left-Right Paradigm

2011-08-15T12:41:00.000-05:00

Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz and seemingly nearly everyone else is pushing Rick Perry as the Republican candidate for the 2012 election. Here is a 2010 video by Alex Jones, explaining why he is not part of the paradigm those commentators belong to.
Although he doesn't mention it in this video, Alex Jones has been warning us for four years (since before the 2008 Presidential campaign) that Rick Perry is being groomed to run in the 2012 election. In May, 2011 Perry made a big show of telling everyone who would listen that he was not going to run for President. Alex Jones, who lives in Austin, Texas, has been telling us two things: that Perry is going to run, and that he would be a terrible choice. He has been proven correct on the first point. I think he's right on the second, too.

Obama beat McCain and Palin in 2008, in spite of Republican fears of Obama's agenda. Do the Republicans really believe that running another typical, mainstream Bush clone is the answer? Isn't it finally time to give Ron Paul a chance? The Republicans claim Ron Paul isn't electable. They are wrong, for a simple reason: If Ron Paul is on the general ballot, most if not all Republicans will vote for him regardless of what they think of him; as a vote against a second Obama term if nothing else. But a lot of other people will also vote for him, who would not vote for a Rick Perry or a Mitt Romney if you held a gun to their heads. For example, the Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party would get practically no votes, because nearly every one of their members would vote for Ron Paul. In fact, if Paul is on the ballot, I would not be surprised if the Libertarian and Constitution Parties did not even field a candidate, and instead endorsed Ron Paul. Furthermore, if Ron Paul is on the general ballot, a lot of Democrats would even support him.
For those reasons, I really don't think Obama would have a chance against Ron Paul. On the other hand, if the Republicans field another of their typical candidates, it is going to be another close race.

Here's another thing to consider: Ron Paul is quitting his post in Congress to concentrate on his Presidential campaign. He has also announced that he is changing his tactics this time around. Translated: he is going all-in. The Republicans who believe a vote for Paul is a wasted vote should think about that for a moment. Here is my prediction: if Ron Paul does not win the Republican nomination, he will do things a bit differently this time and run under one of the third parties. Don't you Republicans think you might just lose some votes if that happens?

Look at it this way, Republican voters: voting for Ron Paul in your state's primary cannot possibly cause your party to lose the general election. If you vote for him and he doesn't win, whoever does win will be the strongest Republican candidate available, and you haven't lost anything.

Science, According to Al Gore

2011-08-12T14:54:00.000-05:00

Al Gore's definition of science obviously involves making up an elaborate hoax, investing money in that hoax, and promising money and political power to anyone who will join him in perpetuating the hoax. So what happens when that money and political power starts slipping from your grasp? Why, conduct more in-depth scientific study in the form of yelling expletives about those who expose the hoax, of course. Hey, it got him a Nobel Peace Prize; what further proof could you need? The science of yelling obscenities must have replaced the outmoded Scientific Method since I left grade school.

George at Utterpower describes the majority of Gore's followers:

They are young.
They believe we are on the verge of developing free energy.
They believe the Government is the source of all money, many believe that printing money is the same as making it.
They believe that a Government job is exactly the same as a job in private enterprise.
They have never seen hard times, and they believe they are entitled to the living standard they have had in the past.

George also points out that Gore has other followers who do not fit that description. Mostly people who, like Al himself, invested heavily in the hoax and still hope to make billions from it. Read more...

You know, come to think of it, that seems like a pretty fair assessment of Obama supporters, too.

Wisconsin Flash Mob

2011-08-06T13:42:00.000-05:00

This past Thursday, August 4, 2011, a mob of people went on a rampage at the Wisconsin State Fair in Milwaukee. According to reports, this mob consisted of people of a certain shared race who arbitrarily attacked anyone who was of a different race; and also robbed stores. Read more here...

Never mind all the political discussion about racism or trying to understand why these things happen; the fact is that they do happen, and are very likely to happen more frequently as society and the economy deteriorates. The important thing for us to consider is what we should do if we are ever caught in a similar situation.The most important thing is to practice situational awareness so that you do not get caught completely off guard. If you see it coming in time, you can make the decision of whether to simply leave the area, take cover, or stand your ground. If you cannot leave, you should at the very least get your back against a wall or other obstacle to prevent being hit from behind. If you can get out of the direct path of the mob, so much the better. Then you will have a better chance to assess the situation and decide on your next move, which could be further retreat, or stepping up to try to rescue someone who is being attacked, like the woman who jumped out of her car to help the kid who was being attacked.

If you have any choice in the matter, go armed. Fortunately for Wisconsinites, the state of Wisconsin does recognize the right to openly carry a gun; and for those who believe in paying for government permission to exercise a Constitutional right, Wisconsin recently passed a law that will allow its residents to obtain a license to carry concealed. Personally, if I found myself in a situation like that I would rather be open-carrying an AR-15. It is highly doubtful that I would have to actually use it; I think even those idiots who were rampaging would have enough sense to avoid a guy with an AR at the ready. But if I couldn't do that, a Glock 17 9mm or a 1911 .45 Automatic would be reasonable second choices. Whether it was carried openly or concealed would make little difference, because if I were confronted with such a mob, I would draw it and hold it in the ready safe position, pointed at 45 degrees to the ground. It is worth pointing out here that you should never point a gun, intentionally or not, at anyone you do not intend to shoot. If someone is approaching you with ill intent, prepare to shoot them if they do not stop. But if they stop and back down, return to the safe but ready position.

Of course, there are some areas you will not be allowed to enter with your gun. In some areas you will even be searched and not even allowed to enter with so much as a pocketknife. I don't go in those places unless I have no choice. There are also some states that make carrying the means of personal protection a felony for most people. I avoid those states too, as much as possible. They certainly don't need my tax money.

None of this constitutes legal advice. I am not a lawyer; I am only describing what I do or might do in a given circumstance.

Right To Travel

2011-07-30T14:19:00.000-05:00

One of the major factors that interfere with a true possum living lifestyle is the governmental demand that we buy permission to travel, in the form of a driver's license, vehicle registration and insurance. Sure, you can still walk or ride a bicycle in most areas without the need to purchase these government permission slips, but that only works if you live within easy walking or bicycling range of the places you need to visit on a regular basis. In other words, close to town. But then you are subjected to similar regulations on your domicile. Towns and cities generally have high property taxes and worse, restrictions that prevent you living anything resembling a self-sufficient lifestyle. If only you could live offgrid on some cheap land out in the boonies, and have something like an old VW Rabbit diesel to drive to town periodically, while getting 60 mpg on biodiesel that cost $1 per gallon to produce at home; without needing to pay hundreds of dollars per year to the government for the privilege. And it is a privilege, right? That is what we have been told all our lives by the government.

Good news. Personal travel is a right. From the Free Enterprise Society:
"Government, in requiring the people to file for drivers license, vehicle registrations, mandatory insurance, and demanding they stop for vehicle inspections, roadblocks, etc. are restricting and therefore violating the peoples’ common law right to travel."

Here are some court decisions that back up this claim:

"Even the legislature has no power to deny to a citizen the right to travel upon the highway and transport his property in the ordinary course of his business or pleasure, though this right may be regulated in accordance with the public interest and convenience." Chicago Motor Coach v. Chicago, 169 NE 22.

("Regulated" here means traffic safety enforcement: stop lights, signs, etc.)

"The right of the citizen to travel upon the public highways and to transport his property thereon, either by carriage or by automobile, is not a mere privilege which a city may prohibit at will, but a common right which he has under the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Thompson v. Smith, 154 SE 179.

It could not be stated more conclusively that citizens of the states have a right to travel, without approval or restrictions (license), and that this right is protected under the U.S. Constitution.

"The right to travel is a part of the liberty of which the citizen cannot be deprived without due process of law under the 5th Amendment." Kent v. Dulles, 357 US 116, 125.

"Undoubtedly the right of locomotion, the right to move from one place to another according to inclination, is an attribute of personal liberty, and the right, ordinarily, of free transit from or through the territory of any State is a right secured by the 14th amendment and by other provisions of the Constitution." Schactman v. Dulles, 96 App DC 287, 293.

Our system of law dictates that there is only one way to remove a right belonging to the people. That is by a person knowingly waiving a particular right.

It is important to be aware of a different point of view about traffic since a ~~near~~ police state exists on America’s highways today.

Excerpted from "Traveling Is A Right," by the Free Enterprise Society.

Synchroscope

2011-07-20T10:35:00.001-05:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In AC electrical power systems, a synchroscope is a device that indicates the degree to which two systems (generators or power networks) are synchronized with each other.

For two electrical systems to be considered synchronized, both systems must be operating at the same frequency, and the phase angle between the systems must be zero. Synchroscopes measure and display the frequency difference and phase angle between two power systems. Only when these two quantities are zero is it safe to connect the two systems together. Connecting two unsynchronized AC power systems together is likely to severely damage any equipment not protected by fuses or circuit breakers.
[edit] Use in power plants
This synchroscope was used to synchronize a factory's power plant with the utility's power grid.

Since it is necessary to synchronize AC power systems before connecting them, synchroscopes are used in any power plant that connects to an outside power grid and also in isolated plants containing more than one generator, as each generator must be synchronized with the others before being connected to the plant bus. If line voltages are unequal when they are connected, a heavy current will flow as each line will attempt to equalize the other, causing damage in the process.

When operators of an electric generator wish to connect it to the grid, they first start the generator spinning at a rate approximately equal to the line frequency of the grid with which they plan to connect. The voltage of the generator is then matched with the grid by adjusting the field/armature current. The synchroscope is connected to the power grid and to the generator being started.

If the generator is turning at a lower frequency than the grid, the synchroscope needle rotates continually in the direction (usually counterclockwise) marked "slow" or "lag" on the dial to indicate that the generator is running slower than, or lagging behind, the grid. If the generator is running faster than the grid, the needle rotates continually in the opposite direction, marked "fast" or "lead". Next, the plant operator adjusts the speed of the generator until it is running at precisely the same speed (frequency) as the grid. As the frequency of the generator nears that of the grid, the synchroscope needle slows down and when the frequencies match, the needle stops rotating.

At this point, there is one more task to perform before the generator can be connected to the grid. Although the generator and the grid are now operating at the same frequency, they are not necessarily at the same position in the rotational cycle as each other. If two electrical networks operating at two different phase angles were to be connected to each other, a fault similar to a short circuit would occur and most likely destroy the generator and damage the grid.

The position (as opposed to rotation) of the needle on a synchroscope indicates the phase angle between the two systems. The angle between the systems is zero when the synchroscope needle is pointing directly to the line in between the "slow" and "fast" markings on the dial. (In the picture example in this article, the zero-phase-angle position is straight upwards, at the twelve o'clock position.)

If the needle reads "fast," then the plant's generator is slowed down by a very small amount and the needle turns counterclockwise (toward the zero mark). Alternatively, if the needle reads "slow," then the plant operator speeds the generator up slightly, and the needle turns clockwise. Slightly before the needle reaches the zero mark, the plant operator returns the generator to the grid frequency in order to stop the needle when it reaches the zero mark. When the needle is at zero and is not moving, the two systems are synchronized.

Once the two systems are synchronized, they can be safely connected.

Depending on the application and the circuit design, the breaker is closed when the synchroscope is pointing at approximately 5 minutes to noon, while traveling slowly in the fast direction, to allow the incoming generator to come onto the grid as a source. The purpose of this action is to prevent the possibility of the oncoming generator paralleling onto the grid as a load. This has the potential to cause the generator to operate as a motor which can cause damage to the generator and the prime mover.
[edit] References

Technical description of how a synchroscope works

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Off Grid Power Synchronization

2011-07-19T15:34:00.000-05:00

I saw a question on an off-grid generator forum of which I am a member. The question went something like this: "I've seen a lot of information about solar (PV) systems, wind generators, and other offgrid power sources, but I haven't found much information about store-bought or home-built synchronizers for these power sources, beyond a few expensive inverters that have built-in synchronization. Where can I find more information on this subject?" I contributed my 0.02 there, then decided the subject was worth touching upon here as well. So, how do I synchronize my offgrid power sources?

That's what the inverter does. Solar, wind and micro-hydro energy is stored as DC in a battery bank, then drawn out as needed by the inverter(s), which inverts it to regulated AC. There are only two scenarios I am aware of that require synchronization: combining two or more generators when the output of one alone is insufficient for a particular load, or combining a pair of inverters for 120/240 volt single phase operation. As noted, inverters which can do this are expensive, so most North American off-gridders just run the generator when they need 240 volts.

Synchronizing a pair of generators can be a good idea, though. Let's say for example that you have a typical off-grid home that only needs a 5KW generator to power all its normal loads, whether it be the primary power source or backup to wind/solar/whatever. But let's say you also have a shop with a welder, air compressor, etc. You may need 8KW or more when you use the shop, even if you don't try to weld and run the compressor at the same time, and even if you totally disconnect the house loads from the generator while you are welding. Of course you could buy a generator big enough to power the shop, and you should if you plan to use the shop very much. Even better, you could have both a big genny for powering the shop, and a smaller one for efficiently powering the house. These could be on completely separate systems. That is a great way to do it for a couple of reasons. First, generators work better and use less fuel if they are operated at 75-80% of capacity. A generator uses a certain amount of fuel any time it is running. The greater the load on the generator, the smaller the percentage of total fuel usage is expended just keeping the generator online. It's kind of like a car: if it is not moving, it is getting zero mpg. Up to a certain point, the more load you put on a generator, the more efficiently it operates. A 5KW generator powers a 4KW total load quite efficiently, but a 10KW generator powering a 4KW load is wasting fuel. Second, even a very good quality 5KW generator is less expensive to buy, maintain and service than a 10KW generator. So why not put most of the wear on the smaller genny, and conserve the big one for the occasion that its capacity is really needed?
But the point here is generator synchronization, and if you have a generator that is big enough to power your heaviest load, you don't need to synchronize them.
Consider this scenario: instead of buying a big generator, you buy two smaller generators, each sized to power your normal household load. They can act as backups for each other, and you can periodically change which generator is active and which is backup, to equalize the wear on both generators. If one generator develops a problem that requires major service or even replacement, the homestead can continue to function normally on the second generator while the problem generator is in the shop. And here is where synchronization comes in: with a pair of 5KW generators, when you need to run the welder or other heavy load, you can run both generators to almost double the output of one generator alone. I say "almost," because nothing is 100% efficient, and you will incur some losses when you connect the two generators together.

So, how do you synchronize a pair of generators? The easiest way to do it is to buy a pair of generators that are designed to synchronize together, and use the factory synchronization cable. Some Honda generators are designed this way, and I'm sure there are others, as well. But it is possible to synchronize a pair, or even three or more, generators that lack the factory synchronization hardware.
One would assume that generator controllers would be available to the off-gridder who wishes to parallel two or more generators. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and for a very good reason: an automatic generator paralleling controller is a very complicated and expensive piece of equipment, and a manual controller requires a level of understanding of how generators work that the average generator owner simply does not possess. With that in mind, here is a description of how it can be done. Do not use this as a set of instructions. This is not enough information to constitute instructions. You should only attempt this if you are confident in your knowledge of generators and electricity and understand exactly what you are doing. If you do this and something goes wrong, I am not responsible.
With the forgoing in mind, here is how it works. Do not think of this as paralleling two identical generators; think of it as adding generators to a live bus. The live bus is one or more generators that are already running. To begin with, it will be one generator, and it should be the largest generator if they are not the same size. You will have to match the voltage, frequency, and most importantly, the phase of the generators before you connect them. To do this you will need three AC voltmeters. One goes on each generator, and one goes from one leg of the fist generator to one leg of the second generator. You will also need a frequency readout on each generator. You can get by with a multimeter that has a frequency readout, and use it to measure the output of each generator individually. But for the phasing meter (the one that connects between the two generators) you really need an analog meter that is capable of displaying double the voltage of the generators. An analog meter allows you to track the voltage changes; a digital meter doesn't. Some people have successfully used a pair of light bulbs connected in series across the two generators, but this is a pretty imprecise method.
A better way to monitor the generators, instead of a multimeter, is to use a dual-trace oscilloscope. If you do this, you should still use an analog voltmeter across the generators, just to make sure you are getting it right.
Another thing you will need is a voltage (field) control circuit on at least one generator, and governor speed control of the generator you will be adding to the live bus.
Once you have the two generators connected to the load, you will need a means of measuring the current each generator is supplying.

Start both generators and allow them to warm up. Connect the most powerful generator to the bus, and adjust its voltage and frequency to the correct levels. With the second generator running but disconnected, adjust its speed so that its frequency exactly matches that of the live bus. Then adjust its voltage to also be the same as the live bus.
Now manipulate the governor control of the unconnected generator so that its frequency and voltage lags that of the bus. What will be happening at this point is best described in racetrack terms: the bus will be "lapping" the unconnected generator.
Watch the analog voltmeter that is connected across the two generators. The voltage will be rising to the combined voltages of the two generators (double the voltage of one leg) when the generators are 180 degrees out of phase, and falling to zero when the generators are in phase, then rising again. Gradually increase the speed of the unconnected generator so that this rise and fall is as slow as possible. Then when the voltage is at zero, connect the second generator to the bus. At this point, you can begin adding loads to the bus.
Monitor the current drawn from each generator, and try to maintain equal load percentages on each generator. For example, if the first generator can handle 7,500 watts, the second generator can handle 5,000 watts, and the load is using 3,600 watts at 240 volts (15 amps), the governor of the second generator should be adjusted so that it supplies approximately 6 amperes, with the remaining 9 amps being supplied by the larger generator. Theoretically, that should allow the two generators to respond similarly when you apply a larger load. It will not be precisely what the calculations say it will be, but so long as you monitor it to prevent either generator from overloading, it will be fine.
If necessary, you can add a third and even fourth generator to the bus in the same manner. Just keep in mind that losses increase and efficiency goes down with each generator you add.

There is one other way to increase capacity of your setup while actually increasing the efficiency in the low-power mode. I will address that in a later article.

Road Trip Tips

2011-07-11T12:35:00.003-05:00

How to Take a Road Trip

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

No matter your age or occupation, everyone could use a little fresh air from time to time. Taking a road trip with your friends or family can be an excellent way to shed some old skin and live a little, destress and forget your troubles for a while, and to make some fond memories along the way. It's also one of the rites of passage for those who live in a country large enough to make road trips truly exciting, such as the USA, Canada and Australia – at least one road trip in a lifetime is essential before you can truly feel that you understand the pulse of your country better. Here is how to rejuvenate your spirit by hitting the road...

Steps

Consider which people you'd like to come with you on your journey. These people should be in need of some fun, and willing to have it. They need to be prepared to rough it at times and to be stuck in the car for hours at a time when you just keep on driving. It also helps if each person coming along is able to and is willing to drive for some of the way, so that you can share the driving chore (with the obvious exception of children).
- Read How to take a road trip for your family and How to take a road trip with a friend for more ideas.
Take a day or evening to get together with these folks to brainstorm ideas for your trip. Dinners and shopping trips are great ways to do so, but over a few cocktails is the best way for many to get their creative juices flowing. Planning the trip should be fun and get people excited. Don't stress about the details or you're completely defeating the purpose. Even a general idea of a direction can be sufficient, with maybe a much desired place or site to visit included as one must-do or a turn back point.
- There are plenty of online planning sites that will help make it super easy for you to plan a rough itinerary and to get travel times, etc. Using these can speed up the decision-making process.
Get an idea of how long your trip will be, and what types of places people may want to visit. The only thing that you need to bear in mind as you amble along on the road trip is the return date. It's not going to be very helpful to be in San Francisco when you need to be in New York City the next day or so. Some planning is essential to ensure that your road trip gets you back to where you came from on time! In addition, if there are particular must-do visits, find out times of opening, dates of special events, and the accommodation needs. If you're heading to a festival or similar event, accommodation may be booked out if it's popular, so you might need to be prepared to sleep in the car or rough it in bivouacs; at least know beforehand so that you can be prepared.
Set a budget and stick with it. If you're low on cash, make a pact to stay in cheap hotels and skimp on the dining out. Also pack well, so that you have towels, blankets, sleeping bags, food supplies, etc., that will help to keep down the costs if you need to rough it or you drive into town too late for a decent meal, etc. Some suggestions for things to pack are outlined in later steps. Have at least one credit card for emergencies, preferably one per person, as well as small amounts of cash for the cash-is-best deals such as cheap accommodation and meals.
- Plan ahead for prices of fuel using sites such as gasprices.mapquest.com or roadtripamerica.com (both USA sites).
- If you stop for a swim after roughing it for the night, use their showers to clean up. Other places to find showers include camping grounds and RV parks but usually you'll have to pay for the privilege of a shower in these places.
- Stay in national parks and state/provincial parks (you'll need an annual pass). If you do this, it will cost very little each stay and you will get the benefit of a car space and a tent space (just be sure to take your tent), as well as basic hygiene facilities. And there is nothing like waking up to the sounds of nature in the early morning.
- Avoid toll roads and big city stops and you'll avoid having to pay for road usage and parking. Take an up-to-date road atlas with you so you know how to avoid the tolls.
- Read How to choose a camping spot on a road trip for more ideas.
Check the car. Your most important element of a road trip is your car, which needs to be both reliable, fuel efficient, and safe. Obviously, start with a car in top working order and have it serviced before leaving. Spending most of the road trip stuck in a garage won't be fun, so spare yourself such a nightmarish outcome by having the car checked first. Some things you might need to consider include wheel realignment, tire changes, fresh oil, fixing a chipped windshield, checking clutch and brakes, and general condition of the engine. Once you're satisfied the car's in great shape, you have one big weight off your mind.
- Have the spare tire checked too. And if you don't have one, get one now, along with a jack. Ask the mechanic to show you how to change a tire if you don't know already; it's better to be slightly embarrassed now than to be frustrated in the middle of the desert with nobody for miles to help you.
- Check that there are jumper cables in the car.
- You'll also want to make copies of the car keys and give everyone one set. This will keep you from getting locked out, and will be more convenient when you switch drivers. It also helps should one person lose their set of keys; at lease one other person will have a back-up!
- Be sure to sign up for roadside assistance, such as the AAA. As well as roadside assistance, often such companies can set you up with free maps and even directions to your final destination.
- If possible, choose the most fuel-efficient car over any gas guzzlers.
- Read How to check your car before a road trip for more information.
Pack supplies. Some planning for contingencies is important. Food, sleeping items, clothing, and water are essentials to add to your packing so that you're self-reliant. Be sure to wear and take comfortable clothing as you'll be sitting for long periods and time and you don't want to feel hot and constricted.
- Include some sleeping gear. Have at least one sleeping bag, one pillow, and one polar fleece or cotton blanket per person traveling. Add a tarpaulin or two for all sorts of purposes and some dish cloths/hand towels or similar for quick makeshift curtains for the car windows if you have to sleep in it overnight.
- Throw in some activity gear, like a soccer ball to kick at road stops, a Frisbee to throw, and a pack of cards for a game or two at a cafe.
- Include paper towels, utensils, dish cleaning gear, storage and garbage bags, and spare toilet paper. All these "just-in-case" items can help save money and get your out of a tight spot.
- Remember you may be traveling through the middle of nowhere pretty frequently and will need to pack a few safety things. Bring a gallon (3.7 liters) of water and a gallon (3.7 liters) of oil. Bring 50-100 feet (15 to 30 meters) of rope, duct tape, a first aid kit, a flashlight (the kind that doesn't use batteries is nice because you don't have to worry about batteries), bug spray, jumper cables, a pocket knife, a compass, an umbrella, and blanket(s). It can also be helpful to have an electricity convertor for charging your music players, laptops, cell phones, etc.
- If you plan on crossing country borders, have your passport and any visas needed, as well as checking that your passport has enough time left on it.
Take care of food and snack needs. Food is one of the most important aspects of the trip, especially if you're trying to drive cross-country in two days. If you want to cover the most ground, you can't stop to eat too often. If you're concerned about health, you shouldn't do drive-throughs all the time, either. Indeed, if you eat a poor diet while on the road you'll be sleepy and less aware, increasing the risk of accidents. Be prepared to pack things you may not like to eat, but must anyway. Snack or energy bars are a great choice, as well as fresh fruit, cereal, nuts, seeds, trail mix, etc. For cooking purposes, take along some seasoning, pasta, quick-cook rice, and camping style food packages, and you can pick up fresh fruit, veggies, fish, and meat as you travel, especially from local farmers and fishing operations – fresh is best and that's part of your discovery experience on a road trip. It's especially important to carry plentiful supplies of food if you have dietary restrictions, such as gluten intolerant, vegetarian, etc., as the roadside diners won't always have what you can eat.
- Find a good, collapsible cooler that will not take up any more space than one seat and pack it full. Buy ice packs or sealable bags and fill them with ice. Do not put ice directly in the cooler because when it melts it will be a pain, and you'll need to get more ice at every stop; always have it in a container. If you stay in overnight accommodation, an icepack can be refrozen in the bar fridge but remember to take it with you each time.
- You can always bake cookies, eggs, or other food on your car engine if you bring along some aluminum foil and seasoning! See How to bake cookies on your car dashboard and How to cook food on your car's engine for inspiration.
- Read How to keep food fresh on a road trip for more ideas.
Pack a map and/or GPS. Always have paper maps or a map book with you, even if you have GPS. Something could go wrong with the GPS and you don't want to be stranded just because it's all you relied upon.
Have each person create a mixed CD with a theme for the car ride. For example, one with all music that reminds them of summer, music that was popular in junior high school, etc... Each person should bring items to the car that coincide with this theme, such as candy, tiaras, cheap sunglasses, tie-dye... you get the picture. It's funny if you keep these details a secret until you hit the road.
Take care driving. A road trip is an awesome experience but don't mar it by driving dangerously or thoughtlessly. Try to drive during the cooler parts of the day (less air-conditioning and not so hot for all of you), and use cruise control where possible to enable a steady speed. There are a number of things to be very conscious of when driving a road trip:
- Never pass or overtake on blind bends or hills, no matter how confident you start feeling as you keep on driving. Another car or truck coming the other way has nothing to do with your confidence!
- If you feel as if you've done enough driving for the day, heed that feeling. Pushing yourself beyond your limits puts you into the danger zone of drowsiness, poor reaction time, and bad decision-making. Any drowsiness should be heeded; find the nearest rest stop, pull over and take a good 20 minute break that includes stretching, walking, and perhaps eating and drinking.
- Heed the space needed for large vehicles such as trucks, RVs, buses, etc. when overtaking or passing them, as well as giving them wide berth when they're turning. Remember that if you can't see their mirrors, they cannot see you; pass by them quickly but safely, and don't cut in too soon when pulling back in.
- Have one person sleep, and one person awake, if you happen to be traveling at night.
- If you have to drive through the night and everyone is tired, take shifts that are 1 hour 45 minutes long. Everyone sleeps in cycles, and these cycles are typically 1.5 hours long. Adding the extra fifteen minutes allows for you to settle in and get to sleep. It's also best to begin waking the next person up a few minutes before you actually stop.
- To stay awake: drink caffeine, eat crunchy things like apples, shine lights into your eyes, roll down the windows, turn the music up (unless this wakes up the others), bite your cheek, pinch yourself, or change lanes frequently. Read How to stay awake when driving for more details.
Sleep with care if car-bound. If you choose to sleep in the car, take care with your choice of sleeping location. Look for areas that are well lit, out of the way of pedestrian or vehicle traffic, and that aren't likely to have traffic patrol knocking on your window!
- The car park of the motel that told you they're all full might be a good location, especially if you're all really tired and fed up looking for somewhere to sleep. These are often well lit and out of the way of traffic; however, beware the possibility of thieves trying to break into cars that might be surprised by people in a car!
- Camping grounds and RV parks can be a spot to park (for a cost) but not actually get out of your car. This will still cost you but can save time by not setting up a tent if you're in a hurry.
- Well-lit truck stops are a good choice for sleeping. Many truck drivers use them, so it's a generally accepted habit in such places.
Travel against peak traffic or outside peak times when traversing cities and large towns. There is nothing more frustrating (and somethings scary) than a free-as-a-bird road trip getting snagged in a traffic jam as you're transiting through an unknown city to get to the other side. Check the traffic flow (jams usually occur into big city centers in the early morning and away from them in the mid to late afternoon) and avoid going that way. Or, opt to transit through when the traffic is only non-peak.
- If you do get caught up and you're feeling drained of energy, frightened by the traffic, or tired, take the first exit and wait it out. Use it as a chance to explore wherever you've turned off to, or to get a coffee.
Head out and enjoy the drive! Once you've taken care of all the planning, checking, and you're fully aware of how to deal with any of the risks and problems that can crop up, it's time to head off on your road trip. The road trip will be as monumental, amazing, and memorable as you decide to make it, so don't be hung up by preconceived notions or unrealistic ideas. If things interest you along the way that you didn't expect to, give in to the whim and discover something completely new. You won't regret discovering and exploring new aspects of life around you and you may even meet the most incredible people.
- If you're in a different part of the country, take the scenic route whenever you can. You may be surprised how different and beautiful your country can be.
- Be spontaneous. If you see a billboard for some off-the-wall store or a crazy attraction, go. Don't get caught up in an itinerary or time schedule.
- Wherever you go, make sure you go out on the town and mingle with the locals.
- Do your best to avoid eating at chain restaurants. Local restaurants are much better 95 percent of the time and much more fun 100 percent of the time. Besides, you're more likely to meet some great characters at local diners and restaurants.
Keep amused. Remember that conversation will likely be your number one source of entertainment, but you need to plan for those times during which you run out of things to talk about for the moment. It's a long time inside the car and you won't always be entertained by the scenery or conversation on board. If you can read in a car, books and magazines might work for you to pass some time. If not, explore the possibilities – listen to your iPod or the music in the CD player, watch DVDs on a portable DVD player, look for shapes in the clouds, count cars, etc. and play some car games:
- Play the game "I spy": Pick an object everyone can see and say "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with [insert letter]; or something that is [insert color/size]". Whoever guesses correctly gets to go next.
- Play "Guess the license plate": Spot where cars come from and work out the state or province, perhaps even country, that they're from. The winner is the person who has seen the most states/provinces by the end of the road trip. (It's probably a good idea to keep a record in a small notebook.) Or, vary the game by using the letters of each license plate to make a phrase, such as "CBD" could be "cows in broad daylight", etc.
- Play "Scavenger hunt": Have someone draw up a list of items that have to be spotted during the set time. The first to check off all the items on the list wins.
- Play "Count the cows": Count as many cows or other objects as possible within a defined period of the trip. Passing a cemetery loses you all your points and you have to start again. The winner is the one with the highest count.
- Play the "Alphabet game": Search for each letter of the alphabet on your side of the road, in signs, storefronts, on vehicles, etc. The winner is the one to get the whole alphabet first.
- Play "Storytelling": Simply relate a line, then the next person has to make up another line, and so forth until a whole tale is spun. The crazier, the better; have a good laugh!
- Read How to choose kid's games for road trips for more ideas. And don't forget sing alongs!
Enjoy the developing relationships on board your road trip vehicle. As you travel together, you'll get to know one another more than ever. If you and your fellow road trippers start arguing, falling in love, discovering deep and meaningful things about one another, etc., take the time needed to sort through your feelings and exchanges with each another. This is definitely a part of the road trip - bonding and learning more about one another, so don't simply ignore anything and let feelings get out of control. Stop and listen to one another!
- Being in such close proximity for so long with certain friends can lead to the friendship reaching break point. If so, this can be especially awkward when you still have to drive 1000 miles back home with the guy, so be sure to take "breathers" every now-and-then so you don't get on each others nerves.
Keep a record of your road trip. Finally, but not least, keep your memories of the road trip alive for the rest of your life by documenting it in digital and written form. At the very least, take pictures! No matter where you are or what you're doing, if you don't, you will regret not taking pictures of your experiences. As well, try to keep at least a bare bones daily record of the places you've visited and traveled through. If you also have the energy to write down your feelings, do that too. All of these memories will bring the trip back to you in years to come.
- Digital is the way to go when taking travel photos. Just make sure you have plenty of fully-charged batteries and adequate storage capacity. If memory cards get full they can be downloaded to CDs at the photo departments at big box stores and pharmacies anywhere. Or, if staying with family or friends, just use their computers to backup to disc.
- Don't be miserly with the photos; take many and there will be at least one gem per round of shots of the same monument, scenery, or feature!
- Photograph such structures as a bridge crossing between states, border signs, motels where you slept and have a funny story to tell, interesting signs, etc.
- Make a checklist of photos that must be taken by each person on the trip. For example, each day someone must take a picture with a random family, a garden gnome, a monument, a particular franchise, a church, etc. Take a picture of one person at each state or provincial line. While it may be tacky, you're guaranteed laughter and these photos will make great keepsakes later on.
- Be sure to get lots of photos of your traveling companions. And if you can, get their daily or regular impressions of the trip too and write these down.

Tips

If you plan on staying in hotels or motels, make reservations before leaving so you're assured a place to stay. Use your cell phone to both locate and book such places as you're traveling in the region. Use time estimators on maps to let the motel know your likely arrival time but it also helps to tell them where you are currently so that they understand if you're later than you said you would be.
If traveling with kids and/or pets, make all necessary arrangements to bring their gear and to take good care of them. Both need frequent stops, frequent feeding, good ventilation at all times, entertainment, and reassurance. It can be done but it will make your road trip experience a little more "responsible"!
If planning on staying with friends or family anywhere along the way, be sure to ask first and don't just assume that they have the room, time, or interest in having you. Be polite and make sure they have room for everyone. If it's clear they feel awkward, let them know it's no problem and suggest that you simply catch up for coffee or a meal together instead. And you can always visit couchsurfing.com if you really need to bunk down somewhere free.
Cell phones are to fun as sponges are to spills. Each member of the trip should hold another person's phone to ensure adherence to the rule. Only take them out if you're going to make accommodation or emergency calls. Or you could prank each other!
Dumpster dive! many places throw away good food constantly! Supermarkets throw away everything, cafes throw away pastries and bagels and what's better than a doughnut log?
Always have a tent in the trunk. You never know when it may come in handy.
If possible, hire a caravan; it will be easier to store food, sleep and maybe watch some movies.
Bring a car charger for your cell phone.
If you want to work during the road trip, look for seasonal work, look in local employment gazettes, visit a temp agency specializing in day work, help people set up at events or swap meets, find out what events are on by asking at the local Chamber of Commerce that you might be able to get work at, and visit resorts to see if any casual work is available.
Did you know? In the USA, highway routes that run north and south have odd numbers, while highway routes that run east and west have even numbers.

Warnings

While not knowing where you'll end up is part of the fun, be sure you at least have a general idea of how you'll get back home, or you could be in trouble.
Don't drive so far that you can't afford to get back.
Follow all road rules/regulations when traveling out of state (s) for the first time ever. You want to be safe and still have your fun, and that includes wearing your seatbelt.
Avoid picking up strangers or hitchhikers. It's dangerous and can end badly.
Be alert all the time to possible problems. Don't overstate anything but be aware of possible dangers from animals on the road to people stealing things from you..
Don't rat out your friends for embarrassing things they did upon your return. Most probably they'll tell a story about you if you do that.
Choice of music can cause some dissension amongst the ranks if the tastes are vastly different. If there is argument, let the driver choose.
Don't continue driving when you are tired. Use the advice in the tips section only to keep you alert until you reach the next rest stop. Don't hesitate to wake someone else up if you are tired! Short-term sleep (even if it lasts only 1 or 2 seconds) can lead to fatal car accidents. Don't risk it.

Things You'll Need

Bags, clothes, shoes
Food and water, including snacks
Cell phone
Entertainment (music, games, books, writing materials)
Journal or diary and pen
Camera
Emergency supplies for car (jack, spare tire, safety triangle, etc.)
Emergency supplies for you (medications, first aid kit, candles and warm clothing if traveling in winter, water (you can never have too much) etc.)
Sleeping gear, pillows, neck pillows, and cloths for covering windows, a tarp
Budget, credit card and cash
Maps, atlases, GPS
Sunglasses, sunscreen, hats, insect repellant, antiseptic wipes

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

http://www.howcast.com/videos/465-How-To-Prepare-For-a-Road-Trip – research source, shared with permission
http://www.howcast.com/videos/23201-How-To-Take-a-Cheap-Summer-Road-Trip – research source, shared with permission
http://www.howcast.com/videos/395051-How-To-Play-RoadTrip-Games – research source, shared with permission
http://www.howcast.com/videos/83362-How-To-Find-Day-Work-on-a-Road-Trip – research source, shared with permission

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Take a Road Trip. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How I Connect My Generator to the House

2011-07-07T20:05:00.001-05:00

We had yet another power outage today. I waited about 20 minutes to see if it would come back on, then started the generator. That seemed like a good opportunity to do a short video and writeup about how I connect the genny to the wiring in my home, so here it is.
Note that I said how I do it, not how you should do it. This information is presented for its entertainment value and should not be construed as practical advice. This can be dangerous and may even be illegal where you live.
With that out of the way, here are the particulars:
The generator is the same Changfa I have featured in some other videos. I have had the basic generator for years, but the original Changchai S1100 needs an overhaul (after which it will probably become a boat motor) so I replaced it with a Changfa S195 engine that I bought new for that purpose in 2007, and have only recently gotten around to installing. Both engines are of the same design, and as far as I have been able to determine, all of these engines use the same stroke of 115mm. The bore or piston diameter is what varies, and the "1" refers to number of cylinders. Thus, S195 is a single cylinder with 95mm bore and 115mm stroke for 815cc; S1100 is a single cylinder with 110mm bore and 115mm stroke, and S1115 is a single with 115mm bore and 115mm stroke. They all make maximum power at around 2000-2200 RPM, and most generator applications (this one included) direct-drive a 4-pole generator head at 1800 RPM for 60 cycles. This is a good RPM at which to operate these engines. 1500 RPM works well too, and is the proper speed to turn a 4-pole generator to produce 50 cycles for our British cousins.
Both of my engines came equipped with a radiator mounted atop the cylinder, with a belt-driven fan to force air through the radiator. This is a really poor excuse for a cooling system, especially if you run antifreeze in it. For one thing, it absolutely relies upon that fan belt doing its job, as it does not hold enough coolant to work for very long without it. For another, in cooler temperatures it can over-cool the engine, resulting in poor efficiency, carbon buildup in the combustion chamber, and increased engine wear. With antifreeze in the mix, the temperature can go far above optimal operating temperatures on a hot day, even if it did have enough coolant in it. Early in the life of the S1100, the belt got loose, started slipping and eventually broke while it was running unattended while loaded. The radiator boiled over and then melted down, and the piston skirt expanded enough to greatly increase friction in the cylinder walls and shut down the engine. The engine survived and ran fine after this event, but I had learned my lesson.
I set that engine up with a thermosiphon tank-cooling system. I spent a lot of money on 25 gallons of antifreeze to achieve 50 gallons of 50-50 coolant for my 55 gallon drum cooling tank. That was still not a good way to go; the 50-50 mix still allowed the temperature to rise too high on a hot day. If I had used pure distilled water or rainwater, I could have used much less water for cooling and let the boiling point of pure water set the operating temperature.
I have since figured out that hopper-cooling with pure water is a brilliant, deceptively simple means of cooling an engine. The millions of engines like this that are used for all kinds of chores all over the world mostly use hopper cooling because it is simple, cheap and works well, but the fact of the matter is that it doesn't just work well; it works better than anything else you can come up with. It happens that the boiling point of pure water is a nearly ideal temperature to run an internal combustion engine. In the winter, just drain the water out of the engine and hopper when it is not in use. Store your cooling water in the house in jugs. In fact, set the jugs near the woodstove or whatever, and pour warm water into the hopper to pre-warm the engine when you are ready to start it.
The hopper on this engine is the one I was welding up in a previous video about welding with an automotive alternator.

Ok, on to the description of how I connected the generator to the wiring in the house. I needed electricity in my shop to power lights, power tools and welders. I can get by with only 30 amps at 120/240 volts, because the largest welding electrodes I use are 1/8-inch so I never need over about 140 amps of welding current, and 30 amps at 240 volts can supply that. I just have to be sure to turn off the air compressor before I weld. I had a scrounged breaker box from a house I helped to rewire, so I mounted that in the shop and spliced into the dryer circuit of the house to feed it. That means I can't weld while the dryer is running, either. No biggie; I used to live offgrid so I understand power management.
I also scrounged some 8 gauge aluminum power cable from the dryer circuit of the same house I helped rewire, so I used that to connect the generator to a 30 amp 2-pole breaker in the shop panel (the same one the cable was connected to in its previous life, to power the dryer). Now I can turn on the "dryer" breaker and turn off the main breaker in the shop to power the shop from the generator; or I can switch off the "dryer" breaker and switch on the main breaker to power the shop from the house. But let's pretend I don't have that added complication, and just consider how to connect the house to the generator. What I could do is scavenge a connection plug from a discarded dryer at the scrapyard, and connect it to a cable running through the wall (or a window) from the laundry room out to the generator. My generator has a circuit breaker on it too, so I would keep it switched off when not in use. So here is what I would do when the power goes off:

Go to the service panel and switch off the main breaker. This is of utmost importance; never allow the main breaker to be on when the generator is connected.
Switch off the breaker that controls the dryer.
Go to the dryer. Unplug it and plug the generator connector into the dryer outlet.
Go outside and ready the generator for starting. Make sure the breaker is switched off. Check the oil, fuel and cooling water. Add fluids as necessary.
Start the generator and let it warm up.
Go back in the house and double-check all connections and especially make sure the main breaker is off, while the generator is warming up.
Practice power management: switch off the breakers to any non-critical loads and heavy loads that I do not want starting all at once. Also switch off loads that are too large for the generator, such as a central HVAC system if I had one and my generator wasn't large enough to handle it. Switch off the breaker to the electric stove and water heater. The water heater stores hot water for a long time, and I can always switch it on to run for a cycle later, if necessary.
Go outside, bring the now-warm generator up to full speed, and switch on its breaker.
Go inside, check that the main breaker is still off, and switch the dryer breaker on to power up the house through its circuit.

And that's it; I am running on generator power. When I am ready to switch back to public utilities, I use the following order of operations: switch off the dryer breaker, go outside and switch off the generator breaker, shut down the generator, unplug the generator cable from the dryer outlet, plug the dryer back in, and switch the main breaker back on.

The New Generator Gets Put To The Test

2011-06-30T00:29:00.000-05:00

This is the same engine as in some of my other videos. I have installed it in my older generator, the original engine of which needs to be overhauled.
Earlier in the day in which I shot this video, a storm came though and my electricity went off. I didn't have a proper fuel tank nor cooling system on the generator, so I scrounged a fuel tank from a riding mower, connected the generator to the house wiring (after shutting off the main breaker, of course), and used my cordless drill to bore some holes in this aluminum cookpot. I bolted the pot to the engine as a cooling hopper, filled it with water, and started the generator.
It powered my lights, two air conditioners, TV and satellite receiver for several hours. I had to check and top off the water in the hopper about every 15 minutes.
I had the breaker for the 4,500 watt water heater off most of the time, but at one point I took a shower and then shut down one of the air conditioners, switched on the breaker for the water heater, and let it run for a full cycle so I would continue to have hot water.

Rights Under Assault in Texas

2011-06-14T09:47:00.000-05:00

We see it every day, and most people just accept it if they don't outright support it: the entire culture, among local government types, of ignoring our rights. Some of them do it with the attitude of "yeah, we'll pretend that you have rights, if you want to play it that way," while while pulling out their bag of tricks to punish you for "playing it that way." Others brazenly ignore our most basic rights as if they didn't exist, secure in the knowledge that they will get away with it, no matter what.
Here is a guest post by Sharon Secor about her difficulties with Texas' misnamed Child Protective Services, who have a problem with Sharon's intent to homeschool her children:

Please Help Us Protect Our Rights

Yet again, in what appears to be becoming an annual event, I am forced to defend our most basic rights. I hope you'll take a couple minutes of your time to assist.

Long-time readers and friends already know the background of this situation. For those who do not, I included that information and links to further details. Thank you for taking the time to read and, hopefully, send an e-mail or make a phone call.

Here is today's CPS e-mail exchange:

I sent an e-mail to Anthony Ramos:

Allegations

From: Sharon Secor
To: ANTHONY.RAMOS@dfps.state.tx.us
Cc: JAMES.BJORUM@dfps.state.tx.us LETICIA.GARCIA@dfps.state.tx.us CONSUELO.HERNANDEZ@dfps.state.tx.us legalg@hslda.org

Date:Mon, Jun 13, 2011 10:03 am

Good Morning Sir:

I am respectfully requesting that you e-mail me a copy of your allegations. I thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Sharon Secor, Freelance Writer

His supervisor, Leticia Garcia responded:

RE: Allegations

From: LETICIA.GARCIA@dfps.state.tx.us

To: sherrithewriter@aol.com

Date:Mon, Jun 13, 2011 5:27 pm

Ms. Secor, Mr. Ramos is out today. This serves as a response to your request. I am unable to provide you with the written allegations either by e-mail or regular mail. The investigator, Mr. Ramos will need to meet with you personally to provide you with this information. Please let him or I know as soon as possible when you can meet with him to discuss the reported allegations. Your cooperation is truly appreciated.

Letty Garcia
Unit QO Supervisor
Region 10-Marfa
432-729-3131

My response to her, which I also forwarded to their legal department:

Re: Allegations

From: Sharon Secor

To: LETICIA.GARCIA@dfps.state.tx.us

Cc: CONSUELO.HERNANDEZ@dfps.state.tx.us ANTHONY.RAMOS@dfps.state.tx.us JAMES.BJORUM@dfps.state.tx. legalg@hslda.org

Date: Mon, Jun 13, 2011 8:40 pm

Ms. Garcia:

Let us not be disingenuous here. You and I both know that under Texas law, it is my right to have a copy of your allegations. A right stands on its own. It is not a privilege to be denied.

In addition, a right is not a bargaining chip. I have a right to a copy of those allegations, meeting or not. Those are two separate issues.

Perhaps you are not responding with a lack of candor. Perhaps your response stems from a lack of knowledge, rather than a deliberate effort to deny me my rights under Texas law.

Because I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt on this point, I've done you the favor of forwarding our conversation on the matter to your legal department so that they may enlighten you on the subject.

I shall look forward to seeing your spurious allegations against me.

Sharon Secor, Freelance Writer

Friends and Readers, Readers and Friends... Please feel free to use the above contact information to remind these people that they are bound by law to respect the rights of my family and myself. It has been my experience that these sorts of people are more inclined to do so when they know that others are watching.

Here is an excerpt from my recent letter to Governor Perry. It explains the situation, a bit of background (which can also be found by scrolling through the blog for anyone interested), and my position on the matter:

"My family has had to contact your office regarding Brewster County DFPS caseworker Anthony Ramos twice before and due to his continued harassment of my family, today I am forced to contact you again, requesting any assistance you may be able to provide in aiding me to protect my children from this man. As I have discussed with your office before, Ramos has had numerous complaints against him for multiple instances of abuse of power and intimidation.

Last year, I successfully resisted his unconstitutional demand that I present my children for inspection with the help of your office and other concerned parties. During that incident, you requested that Anne Heiligenstein, Commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, look into the matter. On Friday June 3, 2011, Anthony Ramos contacted me again, demanding a meeting, claiming a report was made. However, last year he contacted my brother, David Secor, stating the same thing, despite the fact that his partner, Azucena Carrasco, said specifically there was no new report or complaint, but that they were hoping to wrap up loose ends in the prior year’s investigation, which was unfounded and closed 4/17/2009.

Please note that in 2009, I was investigated and cleared (Ramos signed the 2009 letter himself, I have it still in its original envelope) in absentia, the fact that I wasn’t even a resident of Brewster County at the time adding a truly surreal element to the situation. I have never seen this man face to face and until our telephone conversation of June 3, 2011, I have never even spoken to him before. This is a very small community and everyone, including our local deputies, knows that I do not neglect or abuse my children. However, due to Ramos’s past and continuing behavior, I cannot trust this man to behave in a professional, fair manner.

Furthermore, as a full-time writer, I am particularly invested in the concept that words mean things. The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution and Section 9 of the Texas Bill of Rights state unequivocally that “no warrant to search any place, or to seize any person or thing, shall issue without describing them as near as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.”

The Texas Bill of Rights offers further protection, stating in Section 29 that “PROVISIONS OF BILL OF RIGHTS EXCEPTED FROM POWERS OF GOVERNMENT; TO FOREVER REMAIN INVIOLATE. To guard against transgressions of the high powers herein delegated, we declare that everything in this "Bill of Rights" is excepted out of the general powers of government, and shall forever remain inviolate, and all laws contrary thereto, or to the following provisions, shall be void.”

The highest courts in the nation have affirmed that the protections of the Fourth Amendment do extend to child abuse investigations, with one notable case being Calabretta vs. Floyd, which also addresses intimidation and coercion techniques as being forbidden and unconstitutional. It has also been established judicially that each of my children has her own Fourth Amendment protections. And, it is very clear what the Fourth demands prior to searching any place or seizing any person (including for involuntary questioning or ‘interviews’) – a warrant based upon probable cause and supported by oath or affirmation.

Ramos is not excepted from this demand and the abridgement of that protection is forbidden in the state of Texas by the simple, direct words of Section 29 of the Texas Bill of Rights. To my mind, the issue here is a simple one – do the federal and state constitutions mean what they say or not? As the highest laws of the land, I believe that they do. And, I hope that you do too."

So, basically here we go again. I am rapidly collecting information and extend my deep gratitude to those who have already been so helpful to me in that arena. As I contemplate my various options, I welcome input in developing my strategy for managing this situation. I shall look forward to hearing from those who choose to share their experience, expertise, ideas, and suggestions.

Smart Phones for Survival

2011-06-07T11:29:00.000-05:00

I have written in the past about the usefulness of smartphones, but have never really taken the time to write anything comprehensive about the subject. Recently, Kelly H. posted a good article at Survivalblog about this concept. Here is an excerpt from the article, listing some useful smartphone apps for the survivor:

The “All-in-One’s”
An Application I draw on time and time again is called “U.S. Army Survival Guide” and it is exactly what it sounds like. This App contains the entire Army survival guide. It includes illustrations and diagrams and is broken up into 23 chapters including a full glossary and appendix. It offers basic to mid-level survival tips, ranging from Shelter construction and trapping, to starting a fire and how to stay hidden. It’s always better to know this information off-hand but as a reference, this is the app you want.
Another infinite possibility app is “Google Books”. This allows you to purchase and store an e-book on almost any subject you can think off. A quick search for survival books netted me hundreds of results. What this offers is the ability to download almost any book that you might already own and to draw on it when needed, or even just to learn more techniques when the time comes. Lugging around half a dozen books can be taxing on both space and energy, especially if survival requires being mobile. Beyond survival purposes this is a great way to keep your mind off any situation you might be in. E-Books are a great way to utilize multiple SD Cards. With the almost infinite library of information at your fingertips, you can store thousands of books and guides.
An e-book might be too much information to quickly draw upon. For this reason I also use an app called “WikiPock” that can download specific Wikipedia entries that can be viewed at a later time. You can be as specific or generic with this information as you want to be. I have several entries ranging from hot wiring a vehicle to greenhouse gardening. As phone storage improves I wouldn’t be surprised if you could soon download the entire English language Wikipedia to your phone. An uncompressed ‘wiki dump’ is about 27 gigs - compressed comes in at about 6 gigs.
Navigation
There are about a dozen or so free and proven off-line map applications. What this offers is the ability to store and view maps from anywhere in the world without data coverage. The basic principal is that with a little common knowledge of navigation you can find your way. I use an app called “MapDroyd”. I was able to download a vector map of the entire United States at any detail – there are maps for almost any country. A physical map is still going to be your most efficient way to find where you are. But, with these Apps you aren’t limited by size and scope.
Keep in mind this isn’t a topography map. There is an app called “BackCountry Navigator” for topography but costs about $10. Also, without GPS or cell-tower connection you won’t be able to automatically pinpoint your location – this is why basic navigating skills are just as important.
Some offline maps offer tools such as address searching or point A to point B directions. Feel free to experiment with different apps to find the right fit.
First-Aid
Like the other apps, this area of survival has a lot of options to choose from. The Army Survival Guide App also has an entire section devoted to first aid and medicinal plants. For my purposes I use an app called “iTriage”. It has a number of tools to choose from, but is most effectively used as a way to diagnose symptoms. A good guide or reference book is still your best bet for getting detailed information and instructions – both of which can be found with Google Books.
Tools & Miscellaneous
KnotsGuide - A knot tying reference App with color photos, step-by-step instructions, and recommended usage for each knot. Can’t live without this.
ElectroDroid – Especially useful for TEOTWAWKI scenarios, this App is a great way to learn how electricity and circuitry works, and how to get it working.
Scanner Radio – This App requires a data connection, but allows you to listen to the dispatch radio of almost any city in the country. Get direct information before hearing about it on the news.
Flashlight – By no means a replacement for a sturdy flashlight, but this App is a good backup or tent light. It utilizes the ‘camera flash’ led on most phones when taking pictures.
Google Translate – Need to speak to someone in a different language, or read the warning label on a foreign-made package? This app allows you to type or speak almost any language and translates it to text or speech, especially useful if traveling.
Camera or Video – Your phone’s basic camera or video function is incredibly versatile. It is a way to remember where you started a trail, or to reference a certain plant or building. The ability to keep photographic record is invaluable.
Games – Surviving is not just about keeping your wits, it’s also about maintaining your spirits and fighting boredom. Games are an easy way to take a break from the situation you might be in. It’s not going to get you out of it physically, but mentally it might make a difference.

There is more to the article than just this app list, so be sure to read it in its entirety.

Induction Generator Load Test

2011-06-04T12:17:00.000-05:00

As promised on the no-load vid of this induction generator, here is a video of the first load test. I have both a 120 volt and 220 volt connection; the 120 is powering the light bulb (which is 100 watts; these will soon be outlawed so stock up) and the 220 is powering a heating element from an oven. As you can see and hear, the single belt and lack of a belt tensioner is the limiting factor. When I switch on the heating element, the voltage drops to 160 or so, with a corresponding dimming of the light bulb. But when I shove the 2x4 in there to tension the belt, the bulb brightens again and the high voltage rises to about 210 volts. At this voltage, the current into the heating element is about 7 amps, which equates to a bit under 1500 watts. Add the 100 watt light bulb and you get almost 1600 watts, with no sign of any problems.
I ran this setup with both loads connected for about 20 minutes. The water was boiling, but that's ok. I didn't want to run it any longer without a larger cooling hopper, though.
One thing I neglected to check during filming was the frequency. I remembered to check it after I had put the camera away but while the generator was still running, and I found that it was only 54 Hertz. So I increased the speed of the engine, reaching 58 cycles and 218 volts under load into the heating element. Because I was checking the frequency with the same meter I had been using to monitor the amps, I didn't get a current reading at that voltage. But it was definitely increasing its power output, because I could not reach 60 cycles. When I increased the speed beyond the 58 cycle setting, the single belt reached its limit and started slipping even though I had pounded a short chunk of 4x4 between the motor and generator so it would hold tension.
So why am I out here messing with this thing in 100 degree weather (literally. I was gonna say something like it wasn't really that hot, it was only 98 degrees; then I went and looked at the thermometer to get an accurate reading, and it is 102 degrees outside)?
Because the electricity was off when I was shooting this. It was off when I woke up this morning, then it came back on for about an hour, then went back off again. Typical day here. So I really need to put this engine on the 7.5 KW generator that is sitting beside it, because I need a generator that can run the air conditioner, refrigerator, deep freeze and all that stuff, and the engine that is currently (no pun intended) on the generator needs a rebuild. So I needed to get this experiment out of the way to free up that engine. Don't worry though; I am sufficiently pleased with the outcome of this test to want to do some further testing and use it for some practical applications as well; just with a different engine. I have a little 6.5 hp Kubota diesel engine that is not currently employed...

Generator From Electric Motor

2011-06-04T12:11:00.001-05:00

Here I have a 208/220V; 440V, 5 horsepower 3-phase motor that I am experimenting with converting to an inductive generator, powered by my Changfa S195 Chinese 12 hp diesel engine. I'm learning here; I have never done this before. In both clips, the motor is wired for low (208/220) voltage. That means it is wired Wye-Wye (two sets of windings paralleled), whereas it would need to be wired Wye (both sets in series) for 440V. Does this mean I could produce 440 volts with this setup? Undoubtedly. Rectify that to DC and power the plate circuit of a tube linear amplifier without the big transformer normally required. Add a small transformer for the low voltage stuff, and this would make a good power supply for a legal-limit ham radio station.

So anyway, in the first clip I am using only one capacitor, and it is the only capacitor I could find in the microFarad range that was rated for high voltage AC. It has nowhere near enough capacitance; I think it was 0.75 uF or something like that. As you can see, it didn't work.
Digging around in cyberspace, I found reference to C-2C wiring for this specific purpose. Unfortunately the guy who was describing it didn't have a firm grasp of what he was describing, having simply followed someone else's directions. Thus, although it would seem that "2C" would imply double the capacitance of "C", the narrative did not leave me with a feeling of confidence that that was what he meant. Not disrespecting the guy or anything, just telling it like it is.
So I searched further and ascertained that, indeed, 2C means 2C and not merely C2. I found other stuff about it too, which gave me the confidence to actually spend a bit of money.
Basically, it works like this: imagine a delta-wound, 3-phase motor. There are of course 3 legs to which the power connects; L1, L2 and L3. L1 and L2 will be the output. C, the first capacitor, connects in parallel across L1-L2. 2C connects in parallel across L2-L3. Nothing connects across L3-L1.
2C can be either a single capacitor of double the value of C or, as you see here, two caps of the same value as C, connected in parallel.

So I went to everybody's least favorite online auction site and bought three identical, new, 55 uF 440V motor run capacitors. As you can see, this works; at least as far as producing voltage. Stay tuned, because next I plan to load it with some heating elements to see

Simple, Free Electricity and Fuel

2011-06-02T14:46:00.002-05:00

by Mark Crush

Air-cooled diesel engine powering a transfer pump.

I remember one of Tracy's great posts, about the famous 271 Detroit diesel generators. The older two stroke Detroits were great, but they did have one problem: they weigh 2000 pounds or more. They can also be expensive because they are sought after.
At Drillcat we test many things for missionaries overseas. Missionaries and people living off the grid need a simple way to charge their batteries that is not expensive. The problem with gasoline generators is their higher fuel consumption. With gas prices the way they are, it costs $18.00 for a simple 5 gallon can of gas. Diesel generators have always been more efficient, the problem is that most of them are large and expensive. There are a few small, simple diesel engines available, and one of the most common is the Yanmar L100, 10 horsepower air cooled diesel engine. This is a reasonably affordable choice at approximately $1800 new There are also Chinese clones of the Yanmar L100 for around $600. These are a good choice for those on a budget. The 100% Yanmar air cooled diesel will run a full 8 hours on 1-1/4 gallons of diesel fuel. Amazing fuel pincher. We did test the china clone 10hp air cooled diesel engines. They burned 2 1/4 gallons per 8 hours which is still great. Some people are even putting this engine on motorcycles and getting 150 mpg.

The great thing about these air cooled diesel engines is that they are direct injection and have a very high compression ratio. They will start in below 0 weather also. Direct injection means you can actually burn other fuels besides diesel. We have successfully tested and run these engines on straight used motor oil (WMO). The used motor oil must first be filtered through a 10 micron filter. The filtering is only to remove the dirt and debris, and no other processes are needed to prepare the oil for use as fuel. In warm weather these engines will actually run on 100% WMO and even crank easily. In cold weather, you may have to mix diesel or kerosene to thin the oil enough to work properly.
Even though these engines are rated at 10 horsepower, they actually put out more horsepower than this. The horsepower ratings are purposely lowered to pass emission standards for the USA. We have successfully used these 10 horsepower rated engines to replace 15 and 18 horsepower power units.
To use one of these diesel engines to make your own generator, you can use a simple belt to drive an alternator for battery charging, a PMA (permanent magnet alternator), or a standard generator head. The same engine will also drive a transfer pump to salvage waste motor oil, which is how you get free fuel.
Many engines will run on vegetable oil, the problem is everywhere you ask for vegetable oil it is already taken. Used motor oil and hydraulic oil is the solution. Every mechanic shop or oil change shop is a place to get free fuel. These places of business are glad to get rid of the oil. The only thing you need is some way to remove the oil from their tanks. This is why we set up an engine to drive a transfer pump. These pumps transfer 25 gallons per minute or more. Our pump is a gear drive so it works great even in below zero weather.
These engines are not the only ones that will run on filtered WMO. The older Dodge trucks with the first generation Cummins 5.9l diesel engine had a higher pressure pump than the later ones. We have personally tested 1991 and 1992 year model Cummins trucks. They are direct injection and burn the waste motor oil very well; they don't even smoke any more than usual. They actually get 2 to 3 MPG better than regular diesel in fuel mileage. In cooler weather you will have to thin the oil with diesel or kerosene to prevent problems with the injection pump. In hot summer weather there's no problem.
One question that you may ask is, will it hurt the injection pump? So far we have not seen any problems with this. We do change fuel filters regularly. But look at it this way: to get an older 5.9 diesel injection pump rebuilt costs $600 to $800. At $4.00 per gallon diesel and $100 fill-ups, it wouldn't take long to pay for an injection pump rebuild even if you did have issues. Besides the way new EPA standards keep squeezing more and more things out of the fuel, the new diesel fuel is so dry without additives that it used to have, it is actually more dangerous to run than the used oil.
Try a test in your area, there may be hundreds of gallons of free used motor oil which equals free fuel or electricity in your area.

--
Thanks
Mark Crush
Master Well Driller
Water project Missionary Consultant
Hands on drill training Instructor
Author - Water Well Drilling Troubleshooting Guide
Volunteer
Email: drillcat@gmail.com
www.drillcat.com
www.waterwelldrillingschool.com

BTW, if you want one of the Yanmar clone engines Mark is talking about, you can get it here: small diesel and gas engines
This is the company I bought mine from back in 2007, so they are obviously in it for the long haul.

New Bookstore Section: Off Grid

2011-06-01T17:02:00.000-05:00

I have recently added a new section to the bookstore. Titled "Off Grid", it contains books about exactly what you would expect: off grid power systems.
Click here to check it out.

DIY Automotive Air Conditioning

2011-05-31T23:15:00.000-05:00

The more I learn about automotive air conditioning, the more I realize that an R-12-based system is the way to go.
I still have three vehicles (including a motorhome) that have R-12 Freon systems, and although auto repair shops pretty much all recommend conversion to R134, R-134 just doesn't cool as well as R-12 Freon, even in an air conditioner that was designed for it. I used to have a 1979 Jeep Wagoneer with an R-12 system that would literally blow ice crystals on a hot day. R-134 air conditioners don't do that.
And then there is the huge expense. The only way to properly convert to R-134 is to replace everything in the system; and anecdotal evidence suggests that if you do convert to R-134a refrigerant, you will replace everything: because anything you don't replace will not be long for this world, and when it goes it will probably take everything else with it.
Fortunately, there are a couple of refrigerants available that were designed specifically to be a direct replacement for R-12 Freon. One of these is Freeze-12. According to the manufacturer's website, all you have to do to use Freeze-12 is evacuate the old Freon and recharge with Freeze-12, because it is compatible with the lubricating oil in the R-12 system. You can get everything you need to recharge your R-12 air conditioner with Freeze-12 right here:

There are other R-12 replacements out there as well, but Freeze-12 is the most well-known and accepted.

But there is a better way, too. You can build your own DIY air conditioner system that will cause icicles to form on your nose, and if done properly will never need to be recharged. A lifetime system. And it will not cost any more than a proper R-134a conversion. Here's what you do:
First, get rid of the old, inefficient compressor and replace it with a newer, efficient design with better seals so you don't lose the refrigerant charge. You may as well get a big one, because it won't cost much if any more than a small one. Something like this Sanden compressor, which was factory-installed on Freightliner trucks:

Once you have the compressor, you will have to fabricate a mount for your engine. If you don't have the setup to do that, just look for a local shadetree mechanic to help you. It is really not difficult.
First though, take all the hoses off your existing system and take them, along with your new compressor, to an air conditioning service shop. What you want them to do is make new hoses using barrier hose and crimped connectors, to fit your existing system. Except, of course, have them install the proper compressor fittings to fit the new compressor, as they will likely be different from your original compressor.
You can use your existing evaporator and condenser (assuming they don't leak) or install new, larger ones if you have the space and want an even colder system.

While you have it all apart, replace the drier. You don't want the old one ruining all your work. Then just install the new lines and compressor, evacuate the system for several hours, put in a new oil charge, and lastly, put in either Freeze-12 or, if you can find any, R-406a.

Product Review: SuperbrightLEDs FL-1W-70 Flashlight

2011-05-27T11:46:00.000-05:00

I got a new flashlight last week; the FL-1W-70 from SuperbrightLEDs.com.This is a compact, aluminum-bodied "tactical" light that uses three AAA cells to power a single, high-performance LED. According to the listed specifications, it outputs 100 lumens with a beamspread of 10 degrees and a throw of 100 meters. Input power is specified as 1 watt for a claimed battery life of 180 minutes, presumably with alkaline cells.
This flashlight has a nice,even, black anodized finish. The head has a crenelated bezel, and the body is just the right diameter (1.1 inch) and length (4.8 inches) for a firm grasp if you need to use those serrations to fend off an attacker.
The switch is located in the end cap and is covered with a rubber diaphragm. The end cap is also sealed with an O-ring for weatherproofing.

Overall, this is a really nice little flashlight for daily use. It puts out way more light than those little 9-LED jobs, and more than a 2-cell incandescent Maglite, too. It's not one of those lights that roast your retinas and destroy your night vision if you turn it on indoors, but it does produce enough light to illuminate stuff on the far side of the yard at night. And it is quite affordable. Similar lights at Walmart typically cost as much or more than this light costs including shipping, and then you have to factor in sales tax and your time, if you buy at Walmart. I prefer to buy stuff like this online anyway.

If you have a need for a compact, powerful flashlight that won't break the bank either in initial purchase nor operating costs, check it out here.

Possum Living Billionaire?

2011-05-27T00:15:00.001-05:00

Ok, it is probably a bit of a stretch to say that Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg is into possum living, but he is eating only meat that he kills. Not exactly in the way that Ted Nugent does it, but Zuckerberg does buy a live animal (goats, pigs and chickens, so far) and kill it himself before paying a pro to butcher it. Says Zuckerberg; "I started thinking about this last year when I had a pig roast at my house. A bunch of people told me that even though they loved eating pork, they really didn't want to think about the fact that the pig used to be alive," he said.
"That just seemed irresponsible to me. I don't have an issue with anything people choose to eat, but I do think they should take responsibility and be thankful for what they eat rather than trying to ignore where it came from."

I was pleasantly surprised when I read this. And I can understand paying someone else to do the butchering chore, for someone as busy as he obviously is.

CDC on Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness

2011-05-21T23:03:00.001-05:00

The Centers for Disease Control has issued a document dealing with the possibility of a zombie apocalypse, including advice on how individuals can prepare for it. One of their recommendations is to have a bugout bag handy, because you probably wouldn't want to hang around if a bunch of flesh-eating undead were lurking around the area. Here, in part, is what they have to say:

"So what do you need to do before zombies…or hurricanes or pandemics for example, actually happen? First of all, you should have an emergency kit in your house. This includes things like water, food, and other supplies to get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp (or in the event of a natural disaster, it will buy you some time until you are able to make your way to an evacuation shelter or utility lines are restored). Below are a few items you should include in your kit, for a full list visit the CDC Emergency page.

Water (1 gallon per person per day)
Food (stock up on non-perishable items that you eat regularly)
Medications (this includes prescription and non-prescription meds)
Tools and Supplies (utility knife, duct tape, battery powered radio, etc.)
Sanitation and Hygiene (household bleach, soap, towels, etc.)
Clothing and Bedding (a change of clothes for each family member and blankets)
Important documents (copies of your driver’s license, passport, and birth certificate to name a few)
First Aid supplies (although you’re a goner if a zombie bites you, you can use these supplies to treat basic cuts and lacerations that you might get during a tornado or hurricane)

Once you’ve made your emergency kit, you should sit down with your family and come up with an emergency plan. This includes where you would go and who you would call if zombies started appearing outside your door step. You can also implement this plan if there is a flood, earthquake, or other emergency.

Identify the types of emergencies that are possible in your area. Besides a zombie apocalypse, this may include floods, tornadoes, or earthquakes. If you are unsure contact your local Red Cross chapter for more information.
Pick a meeting place for your family to regroup in case zombies invade your home…or your town evacuates because of a hurricane. Pick one place right outside your home for sudden emergencies and one place outside of your neighborhood in case you are unable to return home right away.
Identify your emergency contacts. Make a list of local contacts like the police, fire department, and your local zombie response team. Also identify an out-of-state contact that you can call during an emergency to let the rest of your family know you are ok.
Plan your evacuation route. When zombies are hungry they won’t stop until they get food (i.e., brains), which means you need to get out of town fast! Plan where you would go and multiple routes you would take ahead of time so that the flesh eaters don’t have a chance! This is also helpful when natural disasters strike and you have to take shelter fast.

If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak. CDC would provide technical assistance to cities, states, or international partners dealing with a zombie infestation."

Read more
Thanks to The Urban Survivalist for the heads-up on this.

Changfa Water Cooled Diesel Engine

2011-05-09T14:11:00.000-05:00

I bought this 12 hp engine new about four years ago. I already had an S1100, and wanted to get another of the same design before the US government could ban their importation which, of course, they have since done.
When I bought it, I started it once and ran it for maybe one minute. A few minutes before I shot this video, I disassembled the fuel filter and lines and double checked that there were no metal shavings or the like in there, then I started it and immediately shut it back down while bleeding the lines. So this video is the third time I have ever started it.
After I shot the video, I started it again and ran it for 20 minutes.
Right after I got it and before I ever started it, I removed the radiator and fuel tank. I wanted to have access to every part of the engine, plus you can really see the roots of the design with all that stuff gone. Also, when I got my S1100 I had a couple problems with it early on, and those problems were caused by the radiator and the fuel tank.
I plan to put a decent-sized hopper on this one for cooling, and use a boat gas tank or something like that.
I set my S1100 up for thermo-siphon cooling and a 55 gallon drum for a fuel tank.

Note the pop-up oil pressure indicator at 3:43. If I remember correctly, it has pressurized oiling only to the valvetrain; with the bottom end being splash lubed. That is a good thing, actually, because all mechanical things eventually fail, and if the oil pump fails it would only increase wear to the rocker arms. Even at that, probably not much. After all, my Lister CS clone doesn't have pressure lubrication at all. You're supposed to lube the rockers when you start it, and every few hours while it is running. It might actually be an improvement on this engine to eliminate the oil pump altogether, and set up a gravity feed oiling system for the rockers. That would eliminate the parasitic drag of the oil pump thereby slightly increasing fuel efficiency, and it would eliminate the potential failure point of the rocker oil feed line, which could drain the oil sump if it developed a leak and I didn't catch it in time.

These engines were very popular among off-gridders back in the 1980s and '90s. I read all kinds of articles about them in Backwoods Home Magazine, American Survival Guide, and other publications. I even have a book I bought back then called "More Power To You" that was all about using a generator based on this engine as the basis of an off-grid electrical system. That is why I bought the S1100, which I still have.

I wish I could give you a link to where you can buy one if you want one, but our heroic government works diligently and tirelessly to protect us from anything that might serve to reduce our dependence, and this is yet one more "sharp tool" they have taken away from us.

Diesel Generator/Battery Charger, Part 2

2011-05-03T17:45:00.003-05:00

Here is another video of my cobbled-together generator, taken a few hours after the first one. In this video you can see the setup a bit better, because I rigged up an overhead light. I know it's a mess in there, but I had to move stuff around in the dark and drag the generator out from where it had been residing under a workbench, then haywire it all together.
You will notice in the last clip that the inverter is complaining. That is because I had just turned on a 900 watt coffee-maker in addition to the fridge, lights and other stuff that was already operating. This is only a 1500 watt inverter, but that is not why it was complaining. It was complaining because the input voltage was getting low due to a combination of insufficient battery capacity, insufficient wire size and connection quality both from the alternator to the battery and battery to inverter, and not enough output from the alternator to make up the difference. But a bigger inverter, higher capacity battery, and proper wire sizing and connections would allow much larger short-term loads, such as my coffeemaker, without increasing the size of the alternator.
This video is from the power outage following the Alabama tornadoes, which I wrote about here.

Here is a link to the store I bought this engine from, back in 2007: small diesel and gas engines
This one is 10 hp, but they have other sizes as well as gas engines.

For those who have seen the Harbor Freight coupon for a 2000 watt inverter for $130, this one is a better deal:

At 2000 watts for $130, the HF inverter costs $65 per KW. At 2500 watts for $160, this one is $64 per KW. Plus you get free shipping on this one, but you have to pay either shipping, sales tax, or both on the HF.

Home-built Diesel Generator/Battery Charger

2011-05-03T14:36:00.002-05:00

Here is a video of my cobbled-together generator, powering the refrigerator and a few other things during the recent power outage following the tornadoes.
The generator consists of a Chinese clone of the Yanmar L100 10 horsepower air-cooled diesel engine, powering a Delco automotive alternator. When I put this thing together a couple of years ago, I found that the internal regulator had failed. So I bypassed the regulator and used power resistors to manually control the field current and hence output voltage/current.
Sorry for the low quality of the video; at this early stage in the game I was relying on my 2-cell Maglite to light my way to the generator.
The inverter is an old 1500 watt Statpower. This particular inverter is no longer available, but I have added a link to a 2500 watt inverter that has gotten good ratings.

Click here for Part 2.

Alabama Tornado Disaster

2011-04-30T23:28:00.006-05:00

As long-time readers know, I lived 100% offgrid for several years. I do not currently, though. At least I didn't until Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at about 1 PM. That is when the tornado disaster began in my part of north Alabama. As I write this, it is just after 1 PM on Saturday, so it has been just about 72 hours. Even those somewhat prepared folks who had a 72 hour bug-out bag are wondering what to do now.

We are doing OK. Here at the new place I do not have my full offgrid setup, nor even a portable generator. What I do have is an experimental DC generator that I put together awhile back for a Youtube video, consisting of a Chinese 10 horsepower air-cooled diesel engine powering an automotive alternator. This is charging a spare truck battery, which in turn is powering a portable 1500 watt Statpower inverter. This has been enough to run the refrigerator for a cycle a couple of times per day, power the satellite Internet transceiver/modem for long enough to check in once a day, keep my laptop charged, power the TV and its satellite receiver for an hour or so each day, keep other assorted battery-powered devices charged, power a few lights, etc. That puts us in far better condition than most people in north Alabama.

When all this started, the reports were that power would be restored within 72 hours. Now they have revised that to one week. Who knows how long it will really last. What if the storms come through again? The power utility spokesman said that even when the power is restored, they will not have the normal system redundancy for several weeks.

I woke up this morning thinking about all that, and wondering if I should perhaps work on bringing one of my serious continuous-duty generators here, so that we can power the water heater and air conditioners. I've decided to hold off on that, because it would take at least a full day of labor to do so. Instead, I have been working on improving my existing setup, switching the portable inverter out for the commercial-grade hard mount inverter I used in my offgrid setup, and swapping out the truck battery for a pair of golf-cart batteries from the original battery bank. They showed only a couple of volts each when I tested them, but I connected the 10 amp battery-charge stator of the engine to them yesterday, and they seem to be coming back to life. If they work OK today and tomorrow, maybe I will get the other six out of storage Monday. That will go a long way toward improving matters here.

I have been shooting some video of the makeshift generator in operation, through a couple of stages of improvement. I don't plan to upload them until the utilities are restored, because even a few minutes of video takes all day to upload with my satellite connection. When I do upload them, I will embed the videos here.
Update: OK, here's the first video, and here's another one. You can go here to watch the original video of the genny.

I've said it before and I'll say it again; a real 60-cycle AC generator head is far, far better than any automotive alternator. Automotive alternators are horribly inefficient and produce very little power for the fuel they consume. I built it not because it makes a good generator, but just to show people what can be done if it is all you have. You can put together a workable generator for minimal, short-term electrical power generation for under $100, especially if you already own a lawn mower from whence to source the engine. In fact, if you have a riding mower, you can add an alternator to it, and still be able to use it for mowing.

Update: since I wrote the above, our utilities have been restored. The news outlet I was monitoring is in a nearby large city. Their utilities are still off, as far as I know. But we live in a different county and our electricity is coming from a different direction, so even though we are in a quite rural area, having a smaller system worked in our favor. This time.

Nevertheless, I put in several hours of work, improving my makeshift power plant so that if the utilities go down again I can react immediately.

Lessons learned:

Have a generator. While I didn't totally fail in that regard, I'm really happy that these past few nights have been cool, as I didn't have enough generating capacity to run an air conditioner. I really need to set up one of my "real" gensets here.
Have fuel. Again, not a total failure, because I did have a bit of diesel fuel, and was able to pump some out of the tractor to make up the difference. But I used to store a 55 gallon drum of diesel fuel, and I need to do that again. We took a road trip for more fuel to make sure we would have enough. One thing I noticed was that diesel fuel was in far more plentiful supply than gasoline. Also, diesel fuel lasts much longer in storage than gasoline. That should tell you something about what kind of generator you should have.
Cooking and heating fuel, too. I had one 20 lb tank of propane and one gallon of Coleman fuel. Also a little kerosene and one bag of charcoal briquettes. And I have the means of cooking with all of the above. Of course, I also have a nearly unlimited supply of dry wood, so I will definitely be able to cook and heat stuff. But I really need to keep a couple of 20 lb propane tanks and my two, 100 lb tanks full at all times, a couple of additional gallons of Coleman fuel, and more kerosene. It is nice to know that you don't have to worry about cooking and heating fuel, especially if this had been a winter event.
Food. We were a bit low of food, but we certainly had enough to last a week. More canned goods would be good though, both store-bought and home-canned varieties.
Cash. It is a good idea to keep at least $100 on hand.

A few thoughts are in order about the road trip. I was amazed to see no fuel stations up and running on generator power the day after the event, although by the second day I was hearing reports that some local stations did have generator power. But I'll bet somebody drove to Nashville to buy generators.
We took the road trip to buy diesel to make sure we had enough to last at least a week, and to fill up one vehicle. We took a gasoline-powered vehicle, but in retrospect it would have been better to drive the diesel truck and bring back gas and diesel in cans. We thought we would only have to go to the Tennessee state line, which is fairly close, since we had it on good authority that the power was on there. What we didn't count on was that everybody else in north Alabama had the same idea. There was a long line extending down the road from most gas stations, traffic jams in between, and many stations were running out of gasoline (but not diesel, as I mentioned). All of the stations were accepting cash only. Remember where I said it is a good idea to keep $100 on hand? We only had $40 on hand. And there was price gouging. Between the time I pulled up to the pump and when I reached the register after standing in line, the price went up. We got $20 worth of diesel at the new higher price, and saw the tanker truck pulling in to replenish the gasoline supply, so we waited and got $20 of gas, too. Then we headed for the Interstate to find a place that would take the card. We found one, but everyone was sitting around waiting while the station raised the prices. Literally. They made everyone stop pumping, and shut the pumps down so they could price gouge right before our eyes. So we left, with the intention of driving all the way to Nashville if we had to, to conduct a normal business transaction. We found success in Columbia, TN.
So, do I think "there oughtta be a law?" No, but unfortunately, the state legislature is talking about it now. I think governmental price controls are a very bad idea. I just think the consumer should make note of businesses that price gouge, and take their business elsewhere. Permanently. And tell other people about it, too. I don't want to deal with jerks like that anyway, even if the government forces them to set prices at a reasonable level.
But if we were more prepared, we wouldn't have to venture out during the disaster in the first place. And that applies to bugging out, too. Sometimes it is necessary. But it is far better and safer to "bug in", if the situation allows and you are prepared to do so.
By the way, if you would like a small diesel engine like the one I am using in this application, you can get one at this link:
10 hp air-cooled diesel engine
The last time I checked, they had 10 in stock, with free shipping to the lower 48. This is the same company, located in Michigan, that I bought mine from in 2007, and they are still in business. So they are a reliable company.

Lock Up Your Cell Phone!

2011-04-23T13:56:00.000-05:00

In this post, I reported on the new legal reality that police can view the contents of your cell phone under the Supreme Court's "closed container" ruling. Michigan is now taking that further than even I would have expected, this soon at least.
Michigan State Police are now asking for your cell phone along with the standard travelling papers you are required to present. If you hand it over, they use a device called UFED to download its contents. Everything. Contacts, texts, GPS data tracking everywhere you have been, photos, videos, notes. Probably even GPS records of how fast you have driven and where, which they could conceivably use as probable cause for the search in the first place, if speeding is what they pulled you over for.

The UFED is not some new tool designed for the police, by the way. A company called CelleBrite produces it for use by your cell phone provider, to program your phone. That brings up another possibility: suppose the police, after downloading your data, upload a backdoor into your phone so they can access it remotely at will? The phones certainly have this capability, as this 2006 story shows, but it may not be accessible to local cops. That immediately changes for any police agency that has a UFED.
The ACLU is fighting this in Michigan, but the police are stonewalling and refusing to give them information. Well, okay, not quite refusing: they have agreed to give them access to some data from five of the UFEDs, for a small administrative fee of just $544,680, a bit over a half million dollars. ACLU must be getting the word out that you are not required to hand over your cell phone though, because TV networks in the Detroit area are airing "public service" ads by the state police advising you to comply if you have nothing to hide.
Believe me, you have everything to hide.

As for my advice in my earlier article to password protect your cellphone, that is no longer enough. UFED bypasses the password. So I would still password protect it, but also never leave the phone out where a cop can see it, and don't reply if he asks for it. Don't lie and say you don't have one, just remain silent on the issue. In fact, I think it would be a good idea to put a lockable container of some sort in your car to keep things you don't want to hand over to cops, and just reach over and lock it anytime you are pulled over or see a roadblock ahead. Preferably, this container will be something that can be locked into the vehicle as well, so bad guys of all description will not be able to easily remove it from your car. It is sad indeed that law-abiding folks need to take such precautions, but that is the way things have gotten here.

Oh, by the way: just because only Michigan is mentioned in the article, don't assume your local or state police aren't doing it too. If they aren't now, it is a near certainty that they will be, or that you will eventually encounter some agency who does.

Why Are We So Dependent on Foreign Oil?

2011-04-16T16:48:00.000-05:00

Vlad just sent me this:

"PRICE OF GAS AROUND THE WORLD

Prices are quoted in US dollars per gallon for regular unleaded as of March 2011

Oslo, Norway $6.82

Hong Kong$6.25

Brussels, Belgium $6.16

London, UK $5.96

Rome, Italy $5.80
CANADA $5.36

Tokyo, Japan $5.25

Sao Paul o , Brazil $4.42

New Delhi, India $3.71

Sidney, Australia $3.42

Johannesburg , South Africa $3.39

Mexico City$2.22

Buenos Aires, Argentina $2.09
... YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS ....

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia $0.09

Kuwait $0.08

Caracas, Venezuela $0.12

Gee, if only the U.S. was an oil producing nation....."

Those countries subsidize fuel prices for the citizenry. It's smoke and mirrors, exactly the same way that prescription meds in the US are sometimes 50 cents a bottle for those with good insurance, while the same stuff is $300 without the insurance. That is the real reason most gasoline in the US contains ethanol, and most US-built cars are now "flexi-fuel": because the US government subsidizes corn. It is also in what the market will carry. Most Americans make enough money to pay $3.00 per gallon, and a large percentage of Americans are leftists who think it should be even higher.
Some of those oil-producing countries are having monetary troubles of their own, at least partially as a result of those subsidies. But we mustn't allow the proles to become alarmed by suddenly having to pay market price for fuel, right?
Instead of bellyaching about the price of oil, Americans need to wake up and start buying natural gas fuel conversion kits for their vehicles. They are available now, emissions are lower, operating cost is much lower, and the car can still be operated on gasoline same as before. Besides all those advantages, America is the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. Not from the standpoint of subsidies, but from the standpoint of supply. That means that every CNG-powered car or truck out there reduces our dependence on foreign oil. I'm pretty sure you can buy a CNG ready vehicle directly from the dealer, too. If not, it wouldn't take very long for the automakers to get the message if we started refusing to buy ethanol-oriented cars and demanded CNG-powered cars. I mean, gasoline-electric hybrids don't even make economic sense, yet the automakers build them. Why? Consumer demand.

Look, I don't claim to have all the answers. But I have a few little pieces of information I have gleaned here and there, and I have learned to recognize mass-control rhetoric when I hear it.
There is one man who has proven himself to know what he is talking about, at least when it comes to the energy situation, and he seems to be straight up about it. By that I mean, the end result of what he says doesn't lead to ever more government control. That man is T. Boone Pickens, and anyone who is interested in the politics and realities of energy owes it to themselves to spend ten bucks for his book. Here is a link:

Ultimate Survival Tablet

2011-04-13T00:23:00.000-05:00

Jesse at Repair Launch just sent me this. In the opening paragraph it says: "As tech nerds we don’t like to think of the day when the power grid goes kaboom and our favorite toys become absolutely useless. Our solution comes in the form of the ultimate survival tab or the SHTF Tab." I've gotta admit, it got me thinking. After all, I'm not just a DIY get-by-on-a-shoestring survivalist; I'm a tech geek on top of all that. I remember going into a daydreaming trance the first time I saw the communicators, tricorders and phasers on Star Trek. But I wanted all that stuff in one compact unit. So I'll play along, but I've gotta make a few changes to the basic idea.

First, no Apple stuff for me. It's gotta be open source. I want mine to run on a replaceable 18650 lithium ion rechargeable cell, too. They're cheap, the latest ones hold a 3 amp-hour charge, and any old 5 volt source can power an internal charging circuit. It needs to have removable storage; I like the SD form factor. I want internal, user-accessible GPS (the government requires it in cellphones, but it is usually not accessible to the owner, who is paying for it.

What else? A shortwave receiver would be nice. And how about a transmitter, too? Low power; you would be amazed what 50 milliwatts will do on HF. CW (Morse code) only, for power efficiency. You don't know Morse code, you say? It has a keyboard and a computer, so you don't really need to know Morse.
And how about wifi networking and digipeating? That you can disable of course, for opsec.
Might as well add a bright LED flashlight. Everybody uses their cellphone as a flashlight anyway; I don't know why the manufacturers haven't caught on.
And how about a capacitive-discharge firestarter? It could double as that weapon they were talking about.
What else? Night-vision viewer. They already have CCD cameras and LCD monitors; CCDs are night vision capable already. Add a bright IR LED for illumination, and you have a night vision device.

OK, that's enough for now. Note that these are all functions that could be realistically built into a small device, or in some cases are already there, ready to be hacked into functionality.

Are Your Emails Secure From Government Intrusion?

2011-04-10T15:30:00.000-05:00

In a recent article, Wired.com warns that email left on a third-party server, such as your webmail account, loses its fourth-Amendment protection after six months. That means government types can access it at will without a search warrant, your permission or even knowledge. A group of ISPs and other groups, including Google and AT&T, are pushing legislation to change that. But the government is having none of it, saying that requiring a court order or search warrant to access your and my emails would be "an unnecessary burden" on the government.

"James A. Baker, associate deputy attorney general, testified:

"Congress should recognize the collateral consequences to criminal law enforcement and the national security of the United States if ECPA were to provide only one means — a probable cause warrant — for compelling disclosure of all stored content. For example, in order to obtain a search warrant for a particular e-mail account, law enforcement has to establish probable cause to believe that evidence will be found in that particular account. In some cases, this link can be hard to establish. In one recent case, for example, law enforcement officers knew that a child exploitation subject had used one account to send and receive child pornography, and officers discovered that he had another email account, but they lacked evidence about his use of the second account.""

"Don’t expect Congress to come out in favor of expanding Americans’ civil liberties in the post–Sept. 11 world."

Or more importantly, upholding our natural rights. But they didn't prior to 9/11, either.

"CNET reported that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said demanding warrants would be a burden to law enforcement in addition to “the court system.”

Yeah, I know. Don't we members of the great collective known as "the public" know that it is our primary duty to make cops' and courts' jobs easier?

By the way, I found out about this from Dr. Gary North, one of the smartest men I know.

Bolger on Shantyboat Living

2011-04-06T11:24:00.000-05:00

Phil Bolger is a name well known to anyone who builds, or contemplates building, their own boat at home. Here are some excerpts from a commentary he wrote by way of introducing a design for a live-aboard boat.

"Most readers live in a house of sorts, paying rent or mortgage, i.e., using significant portions of their budget for comfortable shelter. That money can be used effectively on the water as well, spending it first on a suitable craft, and then on supplies, repairs, fuel, etc. Indeed, depending on where, when, and how you care to live afloat, it may well be the cheapest and least regulated form of "living in comfortable shelter," assuming you actually like your local roots to be not much deeper than the bury of your anchors.

We are not talking here about dedicated mileage eating, cruising under sail or power. We are talking here about the usually overlooked option of moving rather limited distances at a time, under perfect choice of weather conditions, to a place you can either see already a few hundred yards away or can readily scout in a faster runabout carried aboard. We are talking here about "lifting your anchor every two weeks" as a local ordinance! harbormasters may require. We are talking here about living cleanly without discharge, be it in full view of but without annoying property owners ashore, or quietly tucked away in a marsh creek or an oxbow surrounded by nothing but nature. We are talking about the option of "staying around the area" for the full year, within reach of your post box ~ or gently "drifting" up and down the waters with the seasons, covering just a few miles or ten a day. Some formal berths, such as marinas and wharves, are suddenly very affordable in winter when the fair-weather yachties are all gone and ice and snow could make access to the shore unpredictable from day to day if you stayed out in the local bay or backwaters. Or you may already live in/move to a milder region in which a moderate amount of insulation won’t require much of a heating budget during the shorter days.

Between cell phones, photovoltaics, and windmills, working together with affordable huge industrial batteries, modern low electrical consumption radios, TVs and PCs, common availability of gasoline or #2 diesel, propane if you like it aboard, and endless square miles of empty dryout or flooded coastal marshland on the East and Gulf Coasts at least, and equally endless rivers, canals, estuaries, a formally itinerant lifestyle is perfectly possible around the town where your (temporary) job is, with true itinerant intentions unrestricted to last as long as you like it.

After the initial investment of savings, sweat, and some blood in the chosen craft, and a small emergency fund stashed away, onboard living can be pulled off with fixed income or periodic temp jobs to pad your budget a bit. If you can work out of your floating home, the better. But apart from getting supplies, including fuel, hitting formal pump-out stations (instead of going 3-plus miles offshore before pumping out waste), or tying up for repairs impossible afloat and by yourself, contact with people, authorities, and costly support services can be kept at a minimum if so desired. If you are determined and set it up right, you won’t be bothered by property taxes, building codes, snow in the driveway, flooding in the basement, termites in the roof, home improvement junk mail, and missionaries knocking on your door eager to convert you one more time.

You won’t be stuck with intolerable neighbors, nor the advances of the local cable company. You will have other problems, but as a lifestyle choice, they may be part of the experience you like, or at least tolerable side effects. If you want to be rational about any such choices, figure out what you might like better, see how you can get there, and have some reserves/plan to change your mind again eventually. Being aware of your options, the pluses and the minuses, is the rational part of it. The rest is obvious and hopefully fun. Ergo, this discussion of options.

Living aboard with minimal interest in actual miles-per-day-traveled allows equally overlooked opportunities in the choice/design of respective craft. To do this, you certainly would neither need a trust fund to finance the "suede lush life" on a large, complex, and costly power cruiser (or worse, offshore capable auxiliary), nor need to be cooped up in a tiny space with odd ergonomics, Spartan accommodations, surrounded by hardware and hull geometries fit to sail the coast but useless for your purpose. Ergo big budget power and sailing cruisers are off the table, why blow that much money, as should be much less pretentious but often tortured ideas of converting an aged and cheap fiberglass sailboat of moderate size.

What should be on the table for this particular purpose would be a craft with limited but reliable mechanics, with an easy to maintain and stout shape able to live upright on the mud in tidal waters, all quite obvious points. But it also has to more or less look like a boat! If the neighbors ashore dislike your craft, the accessible universe shrinks immediately, all the way to the harbormaster sending you packing for good, with the Coast Guard lurking outside to get you trying to head out of the harbor with your "thing." It has to resemble a real boat! You can not risk looking like a squatter, notwithstanding the fact that you actually are sort of."

From "Messing About In Boats," Volume 16 No. 14.

29er Aluminum Bicycle Fork For Sale

2011-03-24T12:47:00.002-06:00

I just bought a used rigid fork on ebay that was advertised as a Dimension 26" chrome-moly with 1-1/8" threadless steerer tube that is 9" long. I needed it because I just got a GT mountain bike that has a bent suspension fork that I want to replace not only because it is bent, but also because I'm a curmudgeon who doesn't like suspension on bicycles. I wanted chrome-moly because I plan to ride this bike pretty hard in rough terrain.
Imagine my surprise when it arrived and is not only aluminum, but also for a 29 inch wheel! It is set up for cantilevers or V brakes. It is in great condition except for a couple of minor scratches. Nice and light, only 880 grams. I know there are lighter forks, but they also cost $300 and up. From what I have seen, any 29er fork costs at least $100, even if it weighs 1500 grams.
Have you been wanting to build a 29er? Make me an offer. I need to make my money back so I can buy the fork I need.
The steerer tube is 1-1/8" x 9" threadless.
If you are interested in the fork, email me at Tracy (at) PossumLiving.com and put "Fork" in the title bar.

Maximize Your Money Mindset

2011-03-17T10:16:00.000-06:00

guest article from DebtConsolidation.com

The difference between surviving and thriving financially is your money mindset. Make some key changes in the way you think about earning money and using it to increase your net worth, and you can make the transition between struggling to live comfortably.

Creating Life

Harv Eker, author of “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind,” wrote that wealthy people choose to create their own life, believing their choices and work ethic dictate their lifestyle. He says this is a huge difference from poor people who believe that their lifestyle is decided for them by their circumstances, which are beyond their control. Accept that where you are now is only temporary, and that you have the power to change your net worth and lifestyle.

The Right Vehicle

The way you make money can be just as important as how you manage your money. If you are a teacher there is a definite limit to how much money you can make educating children. In other words, you can’t win the Kentucky Derby riding a donkey. You have to be working hard at the right opportunity to earn large amounts of money, then invest that money right so it works for you. These opportunities often pay you for results you create rather than the amount of time you work.

At the same time you can’t wait forever for the stars to align and all the lights to turn green. You don’t learn to succeed without failing along the way, and you can’t win without trying.

Working Backward

Begin with the end in mind. Hard work is motivated by strong goals and a vision to accomplish them. Those goals are the reason behind everything you do, so those goals need to come first. Decide what you want to accomplish, and what you want out of life.

Dream about those results coming true for you, then go and touch them a little bit. Tour your dream home, test drive your dream car, watch a travel video about the country or resort your want to visit. Only when you’re sure about you want will you work hard to get it.

Constantly Growing

Wealthy people understand that reading what successful people write, listening to what they have to say, and learning to emulate them is a sure way to succeed themselves. Poor people often assume the wealthy lucked into success, achieve it dishonestly, or that they have nothing to learn from them.

DebtConsolidation.com